The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1777-12-10 00:00:00, page 3

to your own. Hove an Englishman as my foul, but
I am far from being enamored with the nation, and
1 ahhor their government. May you, my friend,
i^fpire the fame way of thinking in the men yon are
going to train to the art cf war. May you indem
nify them f?r the lot's of so gallant an officer as Lee
which fam afra dis ro true. Whatever be your
lucres, be allured of my v>ws for you aid your
cau'e. N^w in the decline of life, I (hall reflect
with pleasure on an immense Continent being armed
in defence of their undoubted rights; and no I fs
pleasing will it be to me to think, that the compa
nion of my vouth, and rhe friend of my age, my
dear , was a principal in so glorious an en
terprize."
At the arniverfary Election for Representatives,
&C. ft rhe State of Pennfylvana, hdd on rhe 14th
day of October last, the following Gentlemen were
clew'd Rep r e'entatives for the several counties, viz.
/ hiladetybia Count,. John Baya'd, Robert Knox,
William Cea's, Archb^d Thompfop, Frederick
Antis, Robert Lofar, Enquires.
Bucks Count,. J feph Kirkbride, John Kellar,
Gilliam Coroe'l, Arthur Wat^s, John Folwed,
Matthew Greer, Enquires.
Che,Per County. Joseph Gaidner, John Fulton,
Samuel Cunningham, J hn Culbertlon, Lewis Gro
now, Stephen Cochran, E quires.
Lane fer County. William Brown, Philip Ma"-
ffefer, Alexander Lowrey John MMullan, James
Anderfn, Ludwick Laumm, Efqui es.
York Count, David Dunwoocdy, John Agnew,
James Dck'on, Michael Hahn, Mathew DJI,
John 0 r , Enquires,
Cumber'ani County. William Duffield, Jarres
M'C'ean, William Clark, James Brown, Robert
Whitehill, John Harris, Ffqci es.
Berks County. James Read, Adam Wrman,
Berjanfn Spyker, Sebastian Levan, Daniel Hunger,
Banzer Gehr, Enquires.
Northam,on Counts. Perer Pu~khc!de r , John
Ralston, Si mn Defbach, John Van Campen, Pe
ter Rhoads, William M'Farran, Enquires.
Bedford^ ount, Herman Husband, Charles CTna,
Willem M'Coom^e, Jho Buid, Join Stevens,
John Sewart, Efqui?es.
Northumberland County. Samuel Deal. Robert
Fruit. James Murray, Wi ham Irwin, Simon Hern
rod. Robert Fleming, Enquires.
Weysnore l and County. 1 homas Galbreath, James
Smith, John Carmichael, John Shreds, David
Semple, Chriftepher Hays, &qu es.
In GEN FR AL ASSEMBLY.
Thursday, December ^% 1777. A. M.
On Motion, Kef ved, That this Houle do recom
mend to his Exceile cy the Prefid mt and Supreme
Executive 'cu mil of this State, to issue a premia
mation to diff^ve the Council of Safety confti uted
by an ad of General ASEmbly, passed the 13 h day
of O&cberLft, agreeable to the powers vifted in
the said President and Executive Cou cil b) the
fail aft.
Friday, December ,b. 1,7.
1 wo gentlemen of the Executive Council came
into die - flemb'y with a message from the Council,
d<fi tog to know, whether it was the lefe of the
Flo fe, intheir resolve of yesterday, rMpefrng the
d Ablution of the Council of Safety, that the Ordi
nances made by that body Should allo be repealed ;
it was thereupon
Ordered, I hat Col. Coats and Col. Irwin, wait
upon the Council for copies of the laid 0 dir.ances.
The said Ordinances were accordingly broughtin,
and after being read, were ordered to lie on the
table for corfi.Deration.
Monday, December 8, 1777. P. M.
The House nfumed the confid.^tion of the On
dinances made by the Council of Safety, constituted
bya fate Act or Assembly of this State: Whereup
omit was
Ordered, 1. That the Ordinance dated at Laucaf
ter the 2 id day cf October last, for taking peffeffi
co of the effeds of those who have , or over t o the
enemy, and for appointing Commissioners in the le
veral counties for that purpose.
2. And that one other Ordinary dated at Lan
caster the Bth day of November last, for co^eßmg
arms, blankets, &c. and the warrants issued in pur
suance thereof.
3. And that one other Ordinance dated at Lari
calter the 7th day of November last, for preventing
foreftaling and engroffiug.
4. And that one other Ordinance dated at Lan
caster on the 7th day of November last, hr regu at
ing the price of whiffy.
5. And that one other Ordihar.ee da r ed at Lan
caster on the 25th day of October raft, f>r a p ant
ing and authorizing an additional number of Sub-
Leutenants to aft in the county of Lancaster.
6. And that one ot ier Ord^^ dated at Lm
cafter the 25th day of October .alt, for tut more es-
feaual levying the monies advanced for substitutes
in the militia, and tines due to the public for disobe
dience to the militia law,
Be and they are hereby declared to be in full force
ard virtue, until further order be taken therein by
this or fame future legislature.
And it was further ordered, That a supplementary
Ordinance, dated at Lancaster the 4th day of this
inst. December, impowering the colledors of arms,
blankets and cloathing, to use force and appoint a(-
fiftants,
And also that a recommendation of the (aid Coun
cil dited the sth day of November last, to the Com
mifTary General and Quarter Matter General and
their deputies, to fix the prices of the following arti
cles as below mentioned, viz.
Wheat, 8f 6d. Rye, 8/ 6d. Indian Corn, 6f 6d.
per bushel.
WhiSky, full proof, 8f 6d. per gallon.
Hay, best firft crop, at 7/. tof per ton.
Second crop, at 61. per ton.
Good pork, 7 dollars per hundred.
Good beef, 10 dollars per hundred, (finking the
fifth quarter.)
Be and they are hereby declared to be repealed,
ard from henceforth null, void, and of no force or
elfefh Extra ft from the Minuter,
JOHN MORRIS, Junior,
Clerk of General Assembly.
The r ubr& of the following genuine letters, the
time when they were written, and the rank and re
putation of the writers, render them of much impor
tance to the public.
“ F-g'e, June 20, 1776.
" Y CANNOT, my worthy friend, permit the
I letters and parcels which I have sent you, in
the state 1 received them, to be landed, without ad
ding a word upon the injurious extremities in which
cur unhappy disputes have engaged us.
" You will learn the nature of my mission from
the official difpaches which 1 have recommended to
be forwarded by the fame conveyance. Retaining
ad th: earnestness I ever expressed, to fee our diffe
rences accommodated, 1 Shall conceive, if I meet with
the difpefition in the Colonies which I was once
taught to expeff, the mod flattering hopes of proving
Serviceable, in the objects of the King's paternal so
hcitude, by promoting the eftabriihment of Lifting
peace and union with the Colonies. But if the deep
rooted prejudices of America, and the necessity of
preventing her trade from pairing into foreign chan
nels, must keep us ftili a divided people, 1 Ihall, from
every private and public motive, most heartily la
ment, that it is not the moment wherein those great
objects of my ambition are to be attained; and that
I am to be longer deprived of an opportunity to assure
you personally of the regard with which I am
" Your moil sincere and faithful humble servant,
“ H OW E.
PS. “ I was disappointed of the opportunity I ex
peded for lending this letter at the time it was dated,
and have been ever since prevented by calms and
contrary winds, from getting here to inform General
Howe of the commission with which I have the fatis
fadlioh to be charged, and of his being joined in it,
Off Sandy Hook, 12th July." Superscribed,
7?Besjamin Franklin, Esq; Philadelphia.
" Philadelphia, Ju) 30, 1776.
" T Received fafe the letters your Lordihip so kind
& ly forwarded to me, and beg you to accept my
thanks.
“ The official difpatcbes, to which you refer me,
contain nothing more than what we had seen in the
a& of Parliament, viz. Offers of pardon on lubmif
(ion; which I was lorry to find, as it mutt give your
Lordship pain to be sent so far on so hcpele.s a bufi
nels.
" Dite&ing pardons to be offered to the Colonies,
who are the very parties injured, expresses indeed
that opinion of cur ignorance, balenels, and inlenli
biliry, which your uninformed and proud nation has
long been pleated to entertain of us; but it can have
no other effect than that of encreafing our resent
ments. It is impossible welhould think of submission
to a government that has, with the most wanton bar
barity and cruelty, burnt our defencelefs towns in
the midst of winter, excited the savages to massacre
ou peaceful farmers, and our Haves to murder their
mattes; and is even now bringing foreign mercena
ries to deluge our settlements with blood. Thele
atrrocious injuries have extinguished every spark of
ass ft on for that parent country we once held so
dear; But, were it possible for us to forget and for
give them, it is not puffible for you, I mean the Bri
ufh nation, to forgive th^ people you have so heavily
injured; you can never confide again in those as fel.
low iubje£b, and permit them to enjoy equal free
dom, to whom, you know, you have given such just
cables of lading enmity; and this must impel you,
were we again under your government, to endeavor
the breaking ou fpiri r , by the severest tyranny, and
obftru&ing, by every means in your power, our grow
ing ftieagth and prosperity.
“ But your Lordfliip mentions “ the King's pa
ternal lolicitude lor promoting the efiablilhment us
lading peace and union with the Colonies." If by
peace.is here mean: a peace to be entered into by dif
tinft states, now at war, and his Maj:fty has given
your Lordihip power to treat wi^h us or such a peace,
I may veniuie to lay, though without authority, th«t
I think a treaty for that purpole not quite impracti
cable, before we entt i to foreign alliances; but I
am persuaded you have no such powers. Your na
tion, though by punishing those American Governors
who have fomented the difeord, rebuilding out burnt
towns, and repairing, as far as possible, the mi'chief
done us, she might tecover a great fhate of our re
gard, and the greatell Share otour growing commerce,
with all the advantages of that additional Strength
to be derived from a friendfliip with us: Yet 1 know
too well her abounding pride, and deficient wisdom,
to believe She will ever take such salutary meafives.
Her fondness for conquest, as a warlike nation; her
lust for dominion, as an ambitious one ; and her
thirst for a gainful monopoly, as a comme cial one;
(none of them legitimate causes of war,) will adjoin
to hide from her eyes every view of her true interest,
and will continually goad her on, in these ruinous,
distant expeditions, so deftrudtve both of lives and
of treasure, that they must prove as pernicious to her
in the end, as the Croifades formerly were to most
of the nations of Europe.
“ I have not the vanity, my Lord, to think ofin
timidating, by thus p editing the effects of this war;
for I know it will in England have the fate of all my
former predictions, not to be believed till the event
Shall verify it.
“ Long did I endeavour, with unfeigned and un
wearied zeal, to preserve from breaking that fine and
nob ! e china vale- -the British empire; for I know,
that being once broken, the Separate parts could not
retain even their Shares of the strength and value that
existed in the whole; and that a perfe& re union of
these parts could Scarce ever be hoped for. Your
Lordfllip may possibly remember the tears of joy that
we° my cheek, when at your good Sifters in London,
you once gave me expectations that a reconci iauun
might soon take place. I had the misfortune to find
these expectations difappoinred, and to be treated as
the cauie of the mifehief I was labouring to prevent.
My consolation under that groundjefs and malevolent
treatment was, that I retained the friendship of many
wife and good men in that country, and, among the
rest, some Share in the regard of Lord Howe.
" Ihe well founded esteem, and permit me to fay,
affection, which I Shall always have lor your Lord-
Ship, make it pain ul for me to fee you engaged in
conducting a war, the great ground of which, as de
scribed in your letter, is “ the neceffi y of preventing
the American trade from palling into foreign chan
nels:" To me it seems, that neither the obtaining
nor retaining any trade, how valuable Soever, is an
object for which men may justly spill each others'
blood ; that the true and lure means of extending and
securing commerce, are the cheapn Ts and goodness
of commodities; and that the profits of no trade can
ever be equal to the expence of compelling it, and
holding it by fleets and armies. I confider this war
against us, therefore, as both unjust and unwise; and
I am persuaded that cool and dispassionate posterity
will condemn to infamy those who advised it; and
that even Success will not fare from feme degree of
dishonour thole who have voluntarily engaged to con
duct it.
“ I know your great motive in coming hither was
the hope of being instrumental in a reconciliation;
and believe, when you And that to be impossible, on
any terms given you to propose, you will relinquish
so odious a command, and return to a more honor
ableprivate Ration. With the greatest and most Sin
cere relpe&, I have the honor to be,
My Lord, your Lordship's most
Obedient humble Servant,
Direfled, B. FRANKLIN.
To the Right Honorable Lord Hif count Howe.
^^*^^±^^¥^±±^^±±±^2
WHEREAS David Hayes, of
Oxford town Ship, Chester county, and
state of Pennsylvania, bought of John Cooper a trad
or parcel of land, lying in the township and county
aforelaid, for which he gave three bonds, and Wil
liam Bonting bail, the firft payable on demand, the
second payable in the year 1775, and the third in
1776: And whereas said David Hayes immediately
gave up his bargain to Allan Simplon, who got pos
session of the premises and paid the firft bond of one
hundred pounds. This is therefore to warn the
public to take no alignment on said bonds, for I will
pay no more until there be a right made from John
Cooper, and the legatees of Thomas Cooper, deceased.
Dec. 6, 1777. ± ALLAN SIMPSON.