The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1781-07-07 00:00:00, page 2

Col. Denn;fon, the commander of the fort, finding
it impossible to make any effectual refinance, went
with a flag of truce to the inhuman Butler, the Ge
neral of the enemy, to know what terms he would
grant if he would surrender. Butler, with ail the
phlegm of a real savage, answered, ' The hatchet.'
The Governor having d fended the place till most
of the garrison wa^ dedroyedor disabled, surrendered
at diferetion. Some of the unhappy persons in the fort
were carried away alive, but the conquerors, to save
the trouble of murder in detail, ftut up the greater
part in the houses and barracks, whih having set
on fire, they enjoyed the savage pfeafure of behold
ing the whole consumed in one general blaze. They
then proceeded to IVilkefborough, which, in hopes
of obtaining mercy, surrendered without refinance.
Here the tragedy was renewed with aggravated hor
rors. Here they found 70 of the militia, men employ
ed merely for the defence and guard of rhe frontiers;
with these the daughter was begun, and they were
butchered with every circumDance of wantoir cruelty.
The remainder of the men, women, and children,
were flint up in the houses, which being set on fire,
they prrihed all together in the flames.
“ A general feene of devaluation was now spread
through all the townships• fire, sword, and other
different instruments of defirudion, triumphed alter
nately.-
“ Toe corn fields were set on fire, and the (landing
corn, now ripe for the ficle, burnt as it grew The
houses and valuables of every kind, together with all
the improvement which owed their rife to the per
severing industry of man, were as completely destroy
ed as them nature or the industry of the spoilers
would admit. The settlement ofis? Tories, or the
King's friends, alon% generally escaped, and appear
ed as IDands in the midfl of the surrounding ruins.
Esefe savages, by way of relaxation and amusement,
cut out the tongues of the horses and cattle leaving
mem Ilill alive to prolong their agony."
The following are a few of the more singular cir
cu&lances of cruelty which are related as parts of the
massacre.
As a proof of this I fendyou a short account of the
cruelty praCtifed upon the American revoltcrs by the
king's friends, the Tories, Refugees, and savage In
dians, in 1779, from the annual regifler 1779.
“ After the Tories, and their allies, the Indians,
had defeated a large party of the Americans, whom
by treachery they had circumvented, they invefled
fort Kingston, and to chetr the spirits of the garri
son, they sent them the bloody scalps of 200 of their
relations, friends, and comrades
nent to ^n a&, entitled, an aft for funding and re
deeming the bills of credit of the United States of
America, and for providing means to bring the pre
fect war to an happy conclusion," shall be assessed and
levied on thereturns of taxable persons and property
made or to be made, in pursuance of the directions of
the aft for railing erie i^e supplies for the year one
thousand seven hundred and eighty one, peffed the
twenty firft day of June, one thousand seven hun
dred and eighty one, any thing in the aforefaid ^Hs to
the contrary notwithfbuding.
Signed by order of the House,
FREDERICK A- MUHLENBERG, ' Speaker.
EnaCted into a Law at Philadelphia,
on Monday, the twenty-fifth day
of June, in the year 1781.
Samuel Sterett, Clerk of the General Assembly-
STATE of PENNSYLVANIA.
A SUPPLEMENT to an ACT, entitled, “ An Ad
for efiablifhiog a Land Office, 'and for other Pur
poses therein mentioned "
WHEREAS it appears necessary to explain cer
tain parts of the aft entitled, ' An all for
eflablifhing a land offi-e, and for other purposes there
in mentioned,' and to make some amendments thereto :
Therefore,
Be it enacted, and it is hereby enafled, by the re
?refentatives of the freemen of the commonwealth of
enufylvanh, in general affably met, and by the
authority of the fame, that the meaning of the word
location, mentioned in the fifth region of the said ait,
was, is, and is hereby declared to be, an applicar on
made by any person or persons for land in the' office of
the secretary of the )ate land office of Pennsylvania,
and entered in the books of the said office, numbered
and sent to the surveyor general's office.
And be it further enacted by she authority aforesaid,
that it shall and may be lawful to and for the prefi
dent, or in his absence the vice president in council, to
fignall and every warrant and warrants of acceptance;
re survey and partition as fully as toe governor of
the late province of Pehnfylvania, or comnyffibner of
property, might or Could have done.
And be it further enabled by the authority aforefaid,
that the receiver general shall once in every month pay
into the hands of the treasurer of this commence Ith,
all monies which shall come to his hands by virtue of
the said aft, to which this is a supplement, which shall
be fubjeCt to the disposal of te legislature of this
state, to whom he fs to account once in every yet
And be it further enacted by the authority aforefaid,
that the rate of exchange at which the rece ver gene
ral shall receive the five pounds Derlin? for every hun
dred acres of land, shall, and is hereby declared to be
at the rate of one hundred and sixty hx and two thirds
of the currency of this Date for one hundred pounds
sterling.
Signed by order of the House,
FREDERICK A. MUHLENBERG, Speaker.
Enabled into a Law, at Philadelphia,
on Monday, the twenty-fifth day
of June, in the year 1781.
Samuel Sterett, Clerk of the General ' Assembly.
From the LONDON COURAN f, January 1781.
h^ H E Daughters committed by the Tories and
£ Savages in North-America, can only be matched
by a Dory of Scotch barbarity committed on their
own countrymen, related in Dr.Johnfon's tour through
the Hebrides.
T 1 UME, the great apologia of the flewarts, fairly
n owns that the 6rft war declared by Charles these
cond againf lthe Dutch was occasioned more by politi
cal than juf lor reafonabe motives. Ooe principal
reason, he fays, was an intention to ravish from them
by force, what could not be obtained but by industry.
Charles the fecund in an indecent letter which he wrote
to his fitter, the dutches of Orleans, seems to have no
cause of quarrel with the Hollanders, except their be
ing dirty an: slovenly republicans, who knew not how
to pay a proper refpe& to a crowned head.
When both countries were tired of the war, the En
glifn ministry infixed upon terms inadmjffible. De
Wit sent de Ruyter with a firong fleet into the Thames ;
he burnt our fhiping and Chatham, and insulted us
in all our ports. The insolent and indolent Charles
Steuart was forced to patch up a peace, and to giveup
such terms as would have been granted, had not his
arms been so thoroughly disgraced.
The second Dutch war began, like the present, with
out giving any previous notice, or even a declaration
of war fir Thomas Holmes was sent secretary to at
tac< the Dutch Smyrna fleet ; the perfidious Holmes
invited the Dutch admiral. Van Nefs, who commanded
the convoy, on board his ship; but the Dutchman was
on his guard, and r.fufed the invitation. The English
attacked them three Several tunes ; in tne las iattack
they 101 l a man of war, and three of their most incon
siderable merchantmen/ Jfume is not willing to al
low this action to be perfidious, though called so by
all Europe: he owns, indeed, it was irregular.
The second Dutch War was carried on for two years',
entirely againfl the inclinations of the people and the
parliament, who at that tine, not being the corrupt
tools of the court as they have been of late years, obli
ged the king, sorely againfl his will,to give peace to the
Dutch on reasonable terms.
It mud not be forgotten, that France and England
were united againf lthe Dutch, who, ootwithftanding
they bad such powerful enemies to contend with
preserved their territor es undiminished, the indepen
dency of their state, and secured their very extensive
commerce.
Where are the times when a minister of England could
fay, that nobody should fire a cannon in Europe, with
out permission from England?
In 1740. Ldeb Carteret.
Rr ? HOSE times ceased at patting the American flamp
£ aft, the Boston port bill, duties on glass, paper;
painters' colours, and tea; alfa the bill for bringing
persons supposed guilty of crimes in America Co En
gland for trial, unlimited powers given To courts of
vice-admiralty, suspending the legislation of some of the
colonies, &c. &c. —~ Againfl all these, and many 0-
ther grievances, they remonfifated and petitioned, but
all in vain, and were refufed, contrary to the bill of
rights, to be heard-
The port of Bofion was next shut up,* and the
King's Ihrps of war made prizes of the Drips of that
port, having not only beeti refufed to be heard, but
now thrown out of the Crown's proteaion, and troops
imported and quartered on them, and tie inhabitants
killed in their fireets by the troops. Desperation en
sued ; the people armed: Lexington flirmith, and the
battle of Bunker's Hill soon followed ; more troops were
sent—a Congress affembbd; an army rdfed ; alliances
fought in Europe, and obtained with France and Spaim ;
battles fought with various success; Holland obtainedas
another ally; Ruflia, Sweden and Denmark arming
to countenance the revolt. — These are the reasons that
all those powers do, and will most tremendously fire their
cannon io Europe, without permission from England,
unhappily brought into greater distresses than it ever
knew, by Scotch councils and Scotchmen, who have ve
ry narrow ideas of juflice or liberty. PRICE.
* By the starvation ad.-
" A Captain Bedlock, who had been taken priso
ner, being stripped nake I, had cis .body duck full of
sharp pine splinters, and then a heap of knots of the
fame wood piled round him: the whole was fit on fire,
and his two companions, Captains Ranfon and Du^gee,
throws alive into the flames. It is laid that the re
turned Tories, who had at different times abandoned
the settlement, in order to join in those savage e±pe
ditions, were the most d'iflinguifh d for their cruelty.
Among these, one whose mother had married a second
husband, butchered with his own hands, both her, his
father in law, his own sisters, and their infant children.
Another who, during his absence, had sent home fe
vers! threats againfl the life of his father, now not only
realifed them in perf@n, but was himfelf, with his own
hands, the exterminator of his own family. Mother,
brothers, and kindred, mingled their blood in one
common carnage, with that of the ancient husband and
father.—— Blush 1 blush ! G——. — ! These are thy
triumps! thy exploits !
“ In these horrid expeditions and bloody massacres,
the King's friends, the Tories and Refugee', appear
to be the principal agents. They by their acquain
tance with the Situation of the settlements, and the
information they received from their friends on the
spot, brought the savages to the defined plrtce of
Daughter ; without suspicion of the unarmed inhabi
tants, they led them directly to the spoil, and brought
them off without any danger.
" The custom of burning people alive in towns, vil
lages, houses, and barracks, is now become so fami
liar to the British soldiery io North Anterica, that it
raises no wonder in those who read of such uncommon
ads of such savage brutality. This is a practice of
which I never read before these accounts of American
conflagrations, except in Dr. Johnson's tour through
the Hebrides, where he relates the hiflory of one Chri
Cutting up another in a church and setting it on fire :
while the piper played a particular tune, which is
handed down to late posterity, ill commemoration of
this glorious vitlory."
They who with to read a more ample detail of the
exploits of the Tory refugees and savages, will find
their curiosity fatisfied in that rich magazine of know
ledge and genuine intelligence, the Annual Register
for 1779.
" The idea of peace naturally brings to^mind gov
ernor Pownall's admmiDration! when notwithflanding
a foreign war, we were blessed with internal peace, and
happy in our connection with Great- Britain. Had
the fame jufl government continued,, both countries
would have been now happy in each other, and proba
bly would have continued so for ages to come. But
the demon, avarice, has rent them asunder, and there
by deprived pofterity' of the fight of the greatest em
pire, founded on r ght government, that ever exifled.
To look back answers no purpose, any farther than to
correct prift errors. If Britain, by a review of her
conduct, should fee the dupliity and injufbee of it,
her ill treatment of individuals who exerted their ut
moD to undeceive her ministers, and her cruelty since
to 6he American prisoners in her power, and by such
review fliouid be induced to aft an opn and generous
part, in her conduct with regard to such prisoners, it
would tend to revive a confidence in her, and cause her
proportions for a peace, if (he thought proper to make
any, to be attended to in proportion to their reafon
ablem fs, and their confiDency with the principles a
bove mentioned, from which it may be relied on, A
merica will never depart."
Philadelphia, July 7.
By the UNITED STATES, in Congress alfemble
June 26, 1781.
RasoiVrD, That the board of admiralty inform
JO-N BARRY, esquire, commander of the frigate
Alliance, th it Congress approve his conduft, in. releaf
iug the fllip belonging to the subjects of the republic of
Venice, retaken, by him from a British privateer, on
the fourth of March, last ; it being their determinati
on, always, to pay the utmost refpeCt to the rights to
neutral commerce.
Extract from the minutes,
GEORGE BOND, Deputy Secretary.
" But nothing can be more contrary to tru th than
all this; the events df-war, indeed, are uncertain •
but it does not appear pr^b Ire, that a weakened ene
my can efra a conquest, to which the execution of l
his full strength has proved unequal, especially when
he has a new and much greatest power to contend with.
If the idea of cchquef lishdl kept up, Britain w 11 con
tinue the war, and the will experience, as me has hit
herto, whether there is not more to be loft than gained
by it. If that idea be rdiinquimed, as I think it must
be by every one not influeiiced by the partial and
falfe re prefenta fions fnt from. America ; representa
tions, however hone Ply meant, - collected from persons
interefled or difaffeQed, or that have obtained their
information only from those on their own fide of the
question, and wim our judjugation— to what purpose
is it to continue the war ? The longer it is continued,
the less valuable will peace be o her, whenever it foal!
take place ; particularly in this infiance amongothers,
that use will habitfate us to foreign commodities and
manufactures, to the exclusion, in a great degree, of
Britim, which from custom, if time does, not efface it,
would be preferred on equal terms. I go upon the
supposition of a free trade, refusing from independen
cy; from'which America cannot and will not now re
cede. A peace on the principles of independency and
a fr fl trade, if not too long deferred, would secure to
Britain the greatest part of the American trade from
the preference which the lore of habit would give to
her commodities. On these principles only, now be
come indifpenfibly necessary, is peace to be hoped for.
Vain and futile will be the expectations of it an the
contrary principles. Of the above mentioned fads,
Mr. Temple, I believe, wis abundantly convinced,
bn from bis own observation, and from the concur
ring sentiments of the principal people of these Dates,
with whom he fr ely converted while he was here.
Extras of a letter from a leading Member of the
Council in the Date of Massachusetts; to airinde
pendent patriotic Member of the lag Parliament,
who continued his services to the public while there
appeared to him any profpeft of refloring the public
affairs, but when that profpeft ceased, he retired.
" I thank you for your favour by Mr. by
which I perceive you are not in the good graces of the
Britifli Ministry any more more than the Americans,
with thi. sdifference, however, that they have not made
you the object of natural vengeance as they have
them. One would think the experience of the last 15
years, during which the rinraaer and intereffs of the
nation have been declining, and rapidly so since their
mak ng war on America, should convince them with
all the force of demonstration, that their measures
were essentially and fy Dematically wrong. What a
contrast do the beginning and end of this period ex/
hibit ! You can draw a lively and melancholy de
scription of it. It is probable the ministerial sy stem
refpeaing America originated here, which, though
calculated ostensibly to procure a revenue to Great-
Britain, was principally intended to operate to the
advantage of those who planned it. Bence the re
presentations and misrepresentations to induce minist
ry to adopt it ; one of which was, that not the people
at large, but merely a faction were opposed to it-
After the cleared evidence of the contrary, evidence
sealed with the blood of thousands, is it not fur
prizing that the fame language mould be continued
in the preterit stage of th 1 dispute, and that it should
be reprefeoted, that it is only a faftion, which upholds
Congress ; that for the fake of peace the people would
relmquifn their independency, &c. &c. These ideas
are held forth by Gov. johnnone in some of his late
speeches iu parliament; by the commissioners, and
other public men, in some of their publications, and
in the newspapers of New-York, by which last especi
ally, publiDied .under the infpeßion of the government
of the city, the good people of England may be induced
to think, that the authority of Congress is at an end,
the union of the States d'rffolving, the new alliance
execrated, and that one campaign more, if it ffiould
not effect a total conquer, will at least bring the
confederated Dates to renounce the alliance, and again
become fubjed to Britain.