The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1782-07-11 00:00:00, page 2

TrorA iheßoften 'Confrettal Joutn', 'd^ted June 27.
To the PEOPLE of Maffi-chufctts.
Friends ^ Fellow 'Cihzen^,
I^ID I not lo c eyour recdom, delight in your hap
, pin fs, and Shudder ar your danger, t'e f nti
,merits of a^ unknown, ?n I incoafi lerrble individual,
fhouid not nave intern ed th^mfeb es upon you in this
-paper.
Thi. isa cedis, fraught with events, which while they
alf nifh th? world, rill fix a new epochs, that t^me it
fe|f with all its changes can nev;r subvert. But whe
ther this date ,ha'l ove its birth to tout fupnenefs per
fidy aAd bafeuefs in America, widen shall tfink her deep
in the a+yfs of diigra.ee and misery, or to her ripening
into an independent, a free and glorious country, is
now the quefiion.
The Lion of Britain difappuinted of the prey for
which he !ad whetted is devouring jaws, and finding
himfelf complexly repulsed by the lamb, his imagi
nation hadalready swallow d, now assumes t .e servile
fawning of te ^pani I, and by the cunning of the fox,
i;opes to allure tee devo ed innocent within his reach.
But my fellow citizens, my affoci^tes in the cause
of freedom, there is a m^linefs in being conquered af
ter a gallant,but unfucctfsfwl opposition - but a mean
neT in being cheat, a bat flattersdifgrace and infamy
through all Succeeding hiflory.
In January, 1774 the haughty North, who at that
'time was but the echo of an obbioate and ambitious
tyrant, said in parliament that America muff be
brou ht to unconditional fu^miffion: that die mus fbe
brought low at die feet of her foreign, give herfelf
up to his difpolai, and receive such a charter of free
dom as he should be pleased to grant. Upon this decla
ration of the prin e-minister, what a combination of
pafions glowed in the mind of all America! Let this
be wifneffed by the honourable records of each meet/
ing of freemen in this commonwealth. ' To die or be
free ! “ was 1 he mono impressed on the armour cf each
citizen ; nay it was read in capital over the door of
each inhabitant, hi this fentime.it, wives their husbands
and mothers, their sons, delivered over to the dangers
of war, ^ith an approving pie; fare, “ Go (said they)
return freemen or return no more." A sense of civil
freedom in its fulleft energy, seemed to fill and pervade
the whole public mind. The noble sentiments fpokea
in the character of Gustavus Vaf,in the excellent dra
matic performance of that name, seemed to be wafted
upon each breeze, and wifpered by eve r y wind.
" Oaliberty, hea/'os choice prerogative ! true bond
"of law, thou Social foul of property, thou breath of
" reason, life o'life itfel'! for thee the valiant bleed. 0
" sacred liberty! wing'd from the summer's snare,
" from flattering ruin, like the bold stork go seek the
" wintry shore bave courts and palaces to slaves,
" cleave to the cold and red upon the ftorm—Upborne
" by thee my foul disdains the terms of empire—when
“ offered at the h^nd of tyrants. With thee I fought
" this favorite foil: with the? these favorite sons I
" sough ; thy sons 0 liberty ! for ev'n amid the wilds
“ you lead them, lift their low rafted cottage to the
" clouds, (mile o'er their heaths, and from their moun
" tain tops beam glory on the nations."
Is there now my countrymen, any thing but the a
bove sentiments to support the desolate fouls of our nu
merous widows, or our more numerous orphans? Is
there any thing but these Divine sentiments to atone for
the effufion of blood in the couteft ? If to preserve the
freedom of the human race, the liberty of the citizens of
the whole world, is a fufficient juflificaion for unsheath
ing the national sword, we have been right, and the
blood so profufely fpil is not to be required of us, but
at the hands of our enemy.
That Omnipotent and Divine Being, who governs all
things, and who hath ' n his word affurd us, that not
a sparrow can fall to the ground without his permission,
hath supp rted us in such a manner, that we have been
conquerors, and more than conquerors, thro' his di
vine beneficience. Our enemies finding themselves foil
ed ; feeing their armies furrendef, and their treasures
exhausted, now begin to Confefs their miflake, and
giving over our fubduaion by force as idle and chime
rical, are fub'illy alking us to submit ourselves uncon
ditionally to their will and pleasure, that (heir fraud
might accomplis what their swords have in vain at
tempted. It is for this that they have changed their mi
nistry —lt is for this that tleir parliament hath em
powered their king to conclude a peace or truce with
America. I should have been under no nec-ffity to
difeufs this point closely, were it not that the delusive
voice of peace is founding in your ears like the voice
of the charmer, and that there is yet in the land, a set of
beings, whole perfidy and baseness, under all circum
fiances, are unparalelled by the records of past ages.
When Britain firft demanded your freedom, you were
unknown to the nations of the earth. She had artful
ly concealed from the world your proficiency in the
arts and sciences, as well as your wealth and numbers.
So thick and impervious had the court of London wove
the vail she had cast over you, that your brethren in
the island of Great-Britain, were very lately aflonifh
ed to find, that your sons were civilized, and that
their fathers were not savages. Thus circumflanced,
you could have but small hopes of foreign alliances;
but no sooner had your cause been made known to
the court of Versailles, than the generous monarch of
France conceived sentiments of friendfllip for you, and
finally, upon having evidence of your fiocerity and
union; upon having full assurance that the ideas of ci
vil and social liberty here, were not confined to a few
fpeculatifts, but that they were the breath of the bo
dy of the people; he entered into a treaty the mod
generous and difinterefled that ever was signed by a
prince. Since which his fleets and armies have, at his
own expence, been devoted to your service. His fub
jeds of birth, of fame and of fortune, have fought
and bled by your fide. It is true that his fleet hath
been lately unfuccefsful, and what adds to the calami
ty is, that the man who delivered the earl Cornwallis
with his army, into our hands, is now a prisoner. But
this is so far from being a difeouragement in the minds
of Americans, that it becomes a powerful stimulus in
them, to a& with redoubled vigour ; and thus to ex
hibit tire fame generous disposition to the French king
Wanted Immediately,
A Wet Nurse with a frefh
Bread of Milk, who can be well recommended , gene
rous encouragement will be given to such a person.
The mihiftry of Great-Britain never gave over the
plin of unconditional submission, not even in pretensi
on, until the treaty of Paris ; nor have they even un
til this day, (though the hope of effecting it by force
is vanished) ever relinquished their plan of lawless domi
nation. The prefect ministry have offered you nothing
more than their p'redecefforsdid before them. They have
sent an aft oft eir parliament, empowering their king
to make a peace or truce with his revolted colonies in
America. The very form of the bill excludes the idea
of your independence, and therefore offers nothing but
an affront to your under handing.
The propofi ion of a separate peace hath something
in it more alarming than any flep our enemies have yet
taken ; let us attend one minute to this position. Should
Britain offer a separate peace, the moment America
likens toil, would be her moment of perdition. For
the bare receiving of the proposition into her contempla
tion, would be a breach of her treaty of alliance with
Frine; her ally would infiantly withdraw her aid.
England, thus feeing us flripped of our assistance, and
judly deprived of our friend, will then demand such
conceffous in the compact of peace, as will be but lit
tle, if any thing, short ®f unconditional submission ;
and thu- all our exertions will be crowned with the in
famy of a gracious pardon. Pardoned but for to drag
out a painful life in the toils of our infiduous and tan
tdizing conquerors, the hiss of nations, and the pro
verbial flandard of abjed infamy; nay more, France
thus a'ufed, after having lavished her treasures, and
fpilt her bes lblood in our cause, could never juftify it
to the feelings ofhumanity, national honour, the laws
of religion or found policy, not to revenge herfelf am
ply upon us for the insult.
You cannot upon the whole but be sensible, that
Britain hath never yet in reality, given up one jot or
tittle of her old claim to unconditional submission; but
only hath fhitted as well the men as the manner of her
attack ; and should you now, wearied with the expence
of the war, relmquilh your righteous claim of freedom,
while the object of your enemy is the fame as when
you took up your arms, you would be justly anfwera
ble for all the blood which hath been shed in the con
troversy ; for if you were right at firfl, you are so
now, with many additional reasons of jollification :
and since your brethren have yielded their lives to ob
tain your freedom, can you now withhold you proper
ty from securing what their blood hath purchased for
you ?
Therefore, as you love the land of your liberty, as
you regard the lives and happiness of a great and nu
merous people, should any one be hardy enough to lisp
his wish for a separate peace, or a return to a state of
dependence upon Great Britain, let such insidious be
trayer be instantly dragged to the feet of public juflice.
" My dear countrymen I are ye not marked by all
“ the circling world, as the only supporters of freedom's
" entign? Say, is it not your wealth, the thirst of food,
" the scope and bright ambition of your fouls? Why
" else have you and your renowned forefathers, from
" the proud summit of your cloud top'd mountains so
<c often foild the murderous savages, and as often de
" fied the fhafts of tyrants more fierce than they ?
“ and will ye now shrink from the hopes of the ex
" pelting world; and bid your high honours stoop to
" a tyrant's insult, and in one hour give up to infamy,
“ a glorious harvest bought with so much blood."
The numerous ghofis of tbofe who fought at your
request, and fell in your defence, with plaintive voice
Bill call you to the field : they call aloud to each of you
“ to firike for liberty; to firike to save your injured
" country, your towns from fire, your infants from
" the sword, your couch from lust, your daughters
" from pollution, and your large honours from eter
" nal infamy "
as he did to us, when he took us to his arms, loaded
with misfortunes, and borne down with peculiar dif
tr-ffes.
It is true that your burthens have lately been heavy ;
but they nave arisen principally from the uuforefeen
consequences of the paper.currency You-havein pay
ing the two lad taxes in paper money, paid an im
mense debt that might have rested long upon the shoul
ders of groaning' poflerity. Perhaps it might have
been better that fame part of it had remained till a calm
and leisure hereafter should have taken place, but com
panion to individuals and infy flematical po'icy, hath
determined otherwise, and we have nearly accomplish
ed it ; but it does not all either pay or feed one centi
nel. Upon the whole, it muff be confeffed that our
circumstances are infinitely more eligible, and our
burthens vafily lighter, than the mod sanguine whig
dared to hope after a seven yearswar with Great-Bri
tain.
To attempt a separate peace, as hath been before bb
ferved, is only to place ourselves within the power of
our enemy ; for when Britain finds our national honour
meanly facrificed, and cur congress without an a'ly,
she will seize upon u, Ike the folcon upon the dove ;
nay, if she had made ever so many treaties with us,
they would vanish as the parchment containing them,
would do amidfl the flames. There is no mean between
dependence and independence ; if we are dependent up
on them, their parliament will of right legislate for
us, and tax us at pleasure, till groaning under a load
not to be endured, we shall again draw the sword, but
without an ally to aid us. The fubjeds of that fink
ing crown, will by no means consent to fiee you from
the payment of an hundred millions, borrowed in con
sequence of a rebellion, which you, by your fubmiffi
od, will establish to be an unjuftifiable piece of wanton
ness, and a feene of unpardonable treason. France
wou'd claim her slaughtered sons, her loft ships and
immense expences at your hands, and as she hath been
countenanced by the powers of Europe, in supporting
your independence, so she will be aided by them in
recompenhug the injury you would do to her national
honour.
Philadelphia, July 10, 1782.
O Y virtue of a Writ of Venditioni Ex
-0 ponas, to me directed, will be exposed to Public
Sale, at the Coffee-houle, on Wednesday the 24th in
stant, at (even o'clock in the evening, the following
LOTS, during the natural life of John Vanderin, the
younger, which he holds in right of Esther his wife,
late Either Melcher, viz.
A certain LOT or Piece of GROUND, lituate on
the east fide of Second-street and louth fide of Gilbert's
alley, containing in breadth, north and south, eight
and i, n le ngth fifty feet, bounded northward by
Gilbert's-alley, eastward by a lot of Jacob Melchior,
southward by another lot of said Jacob, and westward
by Second-street.
Also one other LOT of GROUND, at the diflance
of fifty feet from Second-street, and eight feet from the
south fide of Gilbert's alley, containing in breadth,
north and south, eight feet, and in length fifty feet,
bounded eastward by ground late of Adam Clampffer,
southward by ground of Aquila Jones, westward by a
lot of Jacob Melchior, northward by another lot of
said Jacob.
Allo another LOT of GROUND, situate in the
Northern-liberties, bounded by land of Richard Wis.
ter, William Henry, Jacob Melcher, and by the Wif
fahicon road, containing two acres and one hundred
perches.
Also one other LOT, situate in Kensington, in
breadth, east and weft, ninety feet, and in length fe
vm hundred and eighty-fix feet, bounded eastward by
a lot of Jacob Melcher, southward by Qieen ttreet,
we ward by Hanover street lots,and northward by Pine
ftreet; taken in execution by
WM WILL, Sheriff.
Philadelphia, July 10, 1782.
D Y virtue of a Writ of Venditioni Ex
ponas, to me dire^ed, will be exposed to Public
Sale, on Saturday the 20th instant, at the Coffee-houfe
at seven o'clock in the evening, the following LOTS'
Two LOTS or Pieces of GROUND, situate on the
south fide of Mulberry street, between Sixth and Se
venth-streets, from Delaware, in the city of Phila
delphia, each Lot containing in breadth thirty two feet
eight inches, and in depth one hundred and fix feet,
bounded by ground late of Joseph Fox and others, fub
jeft to a ground-rent of sixteen Spanish milled filve,
dollars, per annum, each lot.
A certain other LOT of GROUND, situate on the
north fide of High-street, in the said city (opposite to
John Cunningham's meffuage) containing by estimation
about thrae quarters cf an acre.
Also another LOT of GROUND, on the east fide
of Front street, in Southwark, containing in breadth
thirty feet, and in depth two hundred and twenty-five
feet, bounded by Front-street aforefaid, and by ground
of Richard Dennis and others, and fubj+& to a ground
rent of fix pounds lawful money of Pennsylvania per
annum.
And also fourteen other LOTS of GROUND, situ
ate in B^th town, between old Germantown road and
Third-street, in the Northern lit ertits afore said, each
Lot containing in breadth about twenty feet and in
depth about feet; taken in execution as late the
estate of Dodor John Kearfl/v, the younger, deceased
by WM. WILL, Sheriff.'
Also another LOT on the south fide of Hickory-lane
in the Northern liberties, containing by estimation a
bout four acres and an half (be the fame mare or left)
bounded by Hickory-lane, and by lands late of Joshua
Maddox nd others.
Baltimore, May 1, 1782.
AL L perf ns, in the -fcveral UNITED STATES,
who stand indebted to SAMUEL CURSON, late
of St.^uftsfius, merchant, on separate account, and
to CURSON and GOVERN! UR, me chants and co
partners. on a joint account, are n qutfted to pay their
refp<aive balances to the fubferiber, who is impower
ed to receive the fame. The ft nation of those gentle
men will, undoubtedly, apologize for the pref nt ap
plication of RICHARD CURSON-
TAKEN awar from Mr. Hedge's wharf, an AN
CHOR, weighing about iroolb. it was left lean
ing against one of the dores : it was put there in Sep
tember last and miffiag in March. Whoever wil give
information ccnc< rning it, io that it may be had again,
to the fubferiber, or who has taken it away, shall be
genteelly Rewarded. P. D. ROBERT. July 10.
D AN AWAY frem the Fubferiber, near Chester, on
" the 18th of Jut--, A NEGROE MAN, named
JACK, or JOHN WHITE, about 24. years of age,
5 fret 8 inches high, inidling black, grum spoken 2nd
pockmarked : Had on when he went away, a failcr's
blue j cket, black breeches, wh te yarn flockings and
leather cap. It is foppofc-d that he wll get to Phila
delphia, and offer himfe f as a filer; cr a waiter to a
gentleman. Whoever takes up the said Negroe, and
secures him so that his mailer gets him again, shall
have the above reward and resfonable charges paid, b,
me, SAMUEL SAYRE, July 10.
A CITY COUR T will be
held at the Coutt-houfe in this city, on Mon
day the 22d instant, at 10 o'clock in the forenoon, of
which all perlons bound by recognizance to appear
thereat, and all city constables are to take notice and
give their attendance accordingly. All public house
keepers within the city are allo notified to apply by pe
tition to this court for recommendations for licences for
the ensuing yey. WM. WILL, Sheriff.
Philadelphia, July 10, 1782.
Ten Dollars Reward.