The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1779-03-13 00:00:00, page 1

I. A negro child born of a [lave in a man's family, is
to be considered as a white child abandoned by its parents
and laid at his door. Humanity will oblige him to pre
serve its life, arid give it all needful assistance, if there be
no ether way provided to relieve him of this burden.
But as he is not bound to provide for it gratis,; the child
is bound to pay him by fits labour as if grows up, all ne
cessary expences and no more. This is just and reason
able; but to oblige it and all its posterity to be slaves for
ever, to pay this debt, is unmercifully hard and severe;
and the fame may be applied to the case of a negro child,
the difference of the colour makes no difference in the jus
tice or iniquity of their cause.
z. As the one half of mankind are supposed to die be
fore they are ten yearscf age, a man ruris the hazard of
Jofing all the.expence and care employed in railing a
child if it fliould die before it be able to repay him for his
trouble and cost in railing it. Hence foundling children
are seldom cast as a burden on private performs, but are
taken care of by the public for four or five years, till they
be fit to be bound out as apprentices. But the nursing and
providings for an infant for four br five, or (possibly) for
fix years in the cheapest timea, is worth fifty pounds,
which the master of a negro child by this law cannot ex
pe& ; besides the child's life is ensured for so many years.
3. Hence I conclude that a female negro child should
serve as many years as a male, as the expences and hazard
of dying is equal in both ; and that twenty-one years ser
vice is by no means fufficient to repay the master or person
for his trouble and hazard, who undertakes to raise and
find them from the womb till they can repay him by their
labour. Hutchefoh arid other moralists who condemn
flayery, have determined that a child found in body and
mind, a little before, or when thirty years of age, may be
able to make full fatisfadion, and if the time be much
shorter, the master must be a loser; and hence our laws
have heretofore determined that mulatto slaves should serve
till they were thirty brie, as being cast on the care of their
master from the womb, and not provided for by the pub
lic as foundling children.
This law provides for negro infants, whose maffers are
bound to find them and give them freedom dues as four
years servants ; but,as matters are not bound to teach such
Servants to read or write, as they are supposed to be taught
these things already, it seems hard, Uncharitable and uri
chriftian, to make no provision for the inftrudton of ne
gro children in the principles of religion. Abraham, the
father of the faithful, was allowed to keep slaves, but he
was bound to circumcise them and inftruft them in the
knowledge of God and of their duty. Is there any great
probability that all these poor infants shall be inftruhed
to read the scriptures and in the knowledge of the terms
of the gospel covenant, if they be not taught before they
be from under the care of a master? Let their maffers
therefore be bound by this law to teach them to read the
Holy Scripture, and to accustom them to attend some
where on public worship. Negroes have fouls; their lot
is cast among chriftians; and for the good of their foub,
and for the honour of our holy and benevolent religion,
and for the honour of our state, their tender minds should
be e^rly imbued with the principles of religion and virtue,'
to make many of them more ufeful members of society;
their masters should be bound to teach them writing, and
(possibly) the common rules of arithmetick ; and these
benefits that are so necessary for these infants, justly re
quire that they serve their masters so much the longer
time in confideraticn of the expences and time spent in
their schooling. Some masters in this state, from prin
ciples of equity and benevolence, are inclined to give their
servants or slaves their freedom not when worn out with
years and hard labour, but when they are in the vigor of
life and fit to get what may support them in sickness or old
*^ e ; but they are greatly discouraged through fear, that
such negroes may afterwards, through some casualty, be
come a burden to them or their children.
It deserves the public consideration, whether it would
not be just and humane to free the master from this bur-
Mr. DUNLAP,
IN your Adyertifer for the fourth of March, I fee a
bill in favour of a poor, djftreffed<lafs of people arhong
Vs, printed and offered to public confideratipn.
As every man is by this method, called and allowed to
make his remarks and communicate them t® the Affernbly
of this state, this seems a fafer and a farer way to prevent
mistakes in forming our laws, than to have an Upper and
a Lower Hcufe Invested with legislative authority, who,
from the peryerfenefs of human nature, must in all their
debates mix their own pride and prejudices, and obstina
cy, and spend much timeand money in contending with,
and contradicting one anotheb. But the Assembly ought
to adhere to the constitution, and make no new l^ws un
til the whole Rate had time to confider them.
As the abolishing of/domeftic slavery, in whole or in
part, must give great fatisfaftion to many in Pennsylva
nia; so the law for that purpose justly calls for the public
attention ; for this reason the subscriber desires to convey
his remarks to the Assembly by your paper, to excite
others of greater abilities to confider the law and offer
their amendments.
^^^fOl ri^h^^nv^
O R
GENERAL
SATURDAY,
[Price Fifteen Pence single, One Shilling by the quantity. Published every Tuel'day, Thursday and Saturday.]
den, who does not seek to enrich himfeif by the laboursof
his slave, but is willing to let him go free when thirty, or
one, two or three and thirty years of age, and no older,
fbr tneo the fervaht is strong and vigorous ; his reason is
opened and ripening; his youthful passions are weaken
ing, and a desire of getting riches begins to take pl ice,
By this amendment in the law in favour of such as by it
ate doomed to continue in slavery, many may be relieved,
and the public be in ho danger to fuf r r much by their
freedom ; mulattos have this privilege allowed, and there
has been few complaints (none that I ever heard) that their
masters were freed from any further care of them ; and white
servants, it free from diseases, though above thirty, when
free, are accounted no burden to the public; and why
play not the fable favour be allowed to negro slaves, if known
to be ound and healthy, when they obtain their freedom.
The amendments proposed are, that every n gro child
should be inftru&d by its master to read and write, and
to attend public wor!h:p, as well as to receive freedom
dues.—That no child, male or female, should be fit free
before they are twenty-eight or thirty years old.—And
that if masters give their slaves their freedom before they
are past thirty or thirty-three years of age, and free from
known diseases, their masters shall not be longer accounta
ble for them, nor accountable to the overseers of the poor
for any expences, if through sickness or any other acci
dent, they becomes charge to the townihip.
A CITIZEN.
frHE unnatural enemies of this country, not fatisfied
4 with their frequent but fruitlefs attempts to destroy
the credit of our Paper Currency, have, at length, intro
duced large sums of counterfeit Half Joes arid Dollars
among as, in order to buy up the paper money and there
by flam, a diferedit upon it; but, thank God, this vil
lainy has been deteßed in its bud, tho' the perpetrators
of the fame are still unknown.
Beware of counterfeit Half Johannes and
Dollars.
The Half Johannes are admirably well imitated, and
require the nicest observation to diftinguifn the genuine
from the counterfeit.. The following are the marks by
which the counterfeits may be known:
Half Joes—Are rather of a lighter yellow than the
genuine,, are remarkably well cut generally round the
edge, though not, always, and afterwards waflied ; fa
that, unless the walking is scraped off with a knife, it
will be impo ble to diftinguilh it from the true.. The
crown feeins to be considerably worn, probably with de
fen to make them pass more readily for Half Joes that
have been in use.
The Dollars—Are not so well executed; they appear
iduch used, are not quite so heavy as the genuine, and on
the pillar fide the M in the word VNU M, is thus—a
considerable distance from the rest of the word.
A P ROCLAMATION.
WHEREAS the Hon. Thomas M'Kean, Esq;
Chief Justice, IVilliam Augustus Atlee,
Esq; second Justice, and John Evans, Esq; third Justice
of the Supreme Court, and of the Courts of Oyer and
Terminer and General Goal Delivery for the Common
wealth of Fennfylvahia, have issued their precept bearing
date the fifth day of December last, to me directed, for
holding a Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Goal
Delivery at the State-house in the City of Philadelphia,
for the City and County of Philadelphia, on Monday the
°f April next. NOTICE is hereby given to all
Juftice o of the Peace, the Coroner, Efcheators and Consta
bles within the said City and County, that they be then
^"''. ^ their own persons, with their rolls, records,
indißments, and other remembrances, to do th®fe things
which to tneir offices in that behalf appertain to be done,
Also all tney tnat will prosecute against the prisoners that
are or then shall be in the Goal of the said City and
County, are to be then and there to prosecute against
then), as shall be just, And all others whom it may con
cern, particularly those who were summoned to the last
Court of Oyer and Terminer as Petit Jurors, are desired
to take notice hereof, and attend the tryal of those persons
against whom bills of indi&ment were found at said last
Court, and govern themselves accordingly.
Dated at Philadelphia the tenth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and
seventy-nine, and in the third year of American In
dependance.
TO BE SOLD BZ
WILLIAM MILLE R,
In Front-street, the corner of Gray's Alley, between
Chefnut and Walnut- ftreetn
A FEW hogsheads of choice Weft-India RUM;
also some excellent COFFEE in tierces and
barrels.
I ^l^ta^M I
JAMES CLAYPOOLE, Sheriff.
God save the Common wealth.
1 B
O^^^W!
.THE
ADVERTISER
Sunbury, No:Cumberland Count% March 4
0 committest to my cufiody thei^dtfGlibber lafl, on
fu/ficion of defying to go to the enemy, or being run
awfyfiivH, t%v< >Negro Men •, -one named \:*M? # s Hays
fays be drove a team in the Continentalferroice for William
'Stall, Ifosg at the Head of Elk; tie other teamed Richard
Pierpoint, fays he also drove a team in the Continental
frvice for Henry Stull, eftbe feme place, fames Hays Is
a likely intelligent fellro,. Wout fve jeet ter. inches high
twenty three, ears of age cr thereabouts, is fiber and man
nerly. Richard Pierpont is about tzventy-fx,ears oj a^c,
"boutfive feet threeorfour inches high, has large eyes and
^^ "^ Jf^s fend offtrong d^r, but is,very civil and
btduble. she above described Negroes so, that they, vmb
their waggons, were taken by the enemy ,t Rhode Ifand,
and carried to between TChi, Plains at d New-lorf from
whence the, made their efcafe, and on their return miffed
their read, and wandered about until the, firuH on the
N. E. branch, of the river Sufquebanna, above Shamokin
where they were taken up. Tie, both fa, th, CT fr%
and were difeharged by Proclamation at the ffi (loft of
General Quarter Refout of the Peace beld for the couu,
aforfaid, on the 23d of February lap, from /^impeachment .
of their intentions f going to the enemy, no witness appear.
in « a.gainf th^ ; the, are therefore new confined cn no other
accusation than a fufricion of being run-awayflaves. 1 heir
master or masters, ip ay, the, have, are defad, to come,
prove their property, pay charges and take them awe, in
fix weeksfrom the dale hereof, other wife they will be fold
out for their fees, by'
GEORGE KEISER, Gaoler.
To be SOLD Ct Public Suk,
OfijrnuUday the fi ft day of April next, on Chefnut hill
in .Germantown Township; Philadelphia C,, nty,
A TWO gory ftbne HOUSE, with a valuable or
chard of one acre possessed of the left apple and
pear trees: There is a stable and exceeding gocd well
belonging to said house. The title is indisputable. At
tendance will be given by'
_ martin hauser.
Philadelphia, February 22.
ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD.
STOP THIEF!
STOLEN dfecond time, last night, out of the fub
feriber's ftab^ in Vine-street, a likely black Horse
near sixteen hands high, rising fix years o'd next fprin%
shod all round, his near bind foot white, and a final!
streak of white on the inside of the off bind one, a w^ ite
flip on h^ forehead, And is remarkably shy whA touch
ed on or near the ea^s; he paces, trots erd ca;frwell,
carries lofty, and is high Spirited. Whoever secures
the thief and hojfe, so that the thief be brought to jus
tice and the horte returned to the owner, fiiallhave the
above reward, or Fifty Dollars for the herfeonly,
with reasonable charges.
DAVID JACKSON.
T RONMONGERV and other HARDWARE,
I BOHEA TEA by the chest,
SUGAR by the bullhead or barrel,
And COFFEE by the barrel,
To be SOLD for the emissions out of circulation.
By BENJAMIN DAVIE S,
InThird-ftreet, between Market and Arch-ftrects.
TO BE SOL D,
A PLANTATION in Piles-grove, Silem county,
about tour miles from Allaway's Creek, three front
the Giats-hpufe, and four from Woodftowfi, containing
one hundied and feyety acres of land, with a frame
house and kitchen adjoiftfog, a large peach and apple
orchard; plenty of good water, eight or ten acres of
meadow, and about thirty more may be made at a (mall
expence ; there are about seventy acres of eleared land,
the rest woods and swamp. Also another small tene
ment with a small peach orchard, &c. in which a family
has lived for federal fe&rs; likewise a good cutlet for
cattle. Fer terms apoly to Mr. William Richman,
two nines from the Fine tavern in Pitt^-grove, Salem
county; Mtffrs. Bonsall and Shoemaker, in Phila
delphia; or Mr. Samuel Shinn, near the New Mills
in Jersey.
N. B. The above place will be fold the fifteenth day
of Match inst. at public vendee, on the premffes, if
hot fold before at private sale. The purchaser may have
twelve months credit for half the purcLafe money, if
required, paying interest on proper security.
CAME to an Island in the river Sufquehann^
near the Blue Rock, whereon the subscriber lives
a stray sorrel MARE, with a blaze in her face, mid
dle sized, branded on the near buttock and Moulder,
but the brand cannot be made out, about ten or twelve
years old, and paces. The owner is deiired to come,
prove property, pay charges and take her awar.
Dec. 1778. THOMAS MALSON.'
MARCH is, i^'