The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1780-08-29 00:00:00, page 2

EXTRACTS from the Observations of the Court of
France, on the Memorial oi the Court of London.
(Continued from eur last, )
IT is certain that Mr Deane was charged with two
commifßons, the one of which, was to eftiblilh com
mercial relations between the King's fubjefts and the
Americans, and the other, to propose to the King, D °t
only a treaty of commerce, but also an alliance, conceit
ved in the most extensive terms.
Toe King might affurediy, without degrading his dig
nity, without vulatin> the f rith of treaties, without offer
ing any prejudice to the rights of sovereigns, have heark
ened to the overtures of the American Agent; his Ma
jesty did in sass hearken to them, but he let Mr. Deane
know, that his intention was not to form any political
connexion with the colonies : He not only did refufe to
receive the plans of treaties which that American offered
him, but he would not even acknowledge the title of Com
.miffioner, which he had received from Congress, and be
confined himfelf to the granting Mr. Deane (as a private
individual an asylum in his dominions, with the fame
protection to which all Grangers are entitled there ; this
condua might displease the Court of London, but they
lad the leafl right to censure it, as they still keep at this
time a chief of rebels in their pay.* The English Mi- #
niftry looked however on it as an infraction of the treaties,
and 1 eir iacenfed pride blinded them to such a degree,
trat they ordered the Vifeount Stormont to demand Mr^,
Deane as a rebellious fubjed, or at least, to infill on his
cxpulfion from the dominions of his Majesty : The pub
lic will themfeives ascribe its proper charaAer to such an
inconsiderate lisp, and the King has certainly no ntid to
juftiy the refufal which was contained in his arfwer.
The Faghih Ambassador, exasperated at the King's de
termination, wh.ch, however, he ought to have exposed,
gave, no doubt, the impression of his ill humour, to the
reports he ma .e to his Court, it is at lead certain, that it
appeared in his conduit, for he efiablifhed in all the
ports of the kingdom, an indecent, fcahdalous, and un
exampled Ef;ionnage,t every Clip that was fitted out, all
the eloathing and warlike stores, that were purchafrd,
were, according to his Emffaries, for the Americans. The
perpetual complaints which were the consequence of thole
informations, were examined into with exactness and dis
patch, and they were almost always found to be without
any foundation, and the small number which appeared to
b? well grounded, never failed to meet with speedy re
dress.
It is here proper to explain the nature of the cem
plaintr, and unjust demands of the Court of London.
T nt Court began, by desiring that the King should
forbid his lubjeas all fort of relation and commerce with
the Americans, that he sh mid forbid them above all, the
felling of arms and ammunition to those colonies, that tie
should punish them in case of tranfg reHi on,, that he fliould
prevent me American privateers from felling their prizes,
and that he should even treat them as pirates, by prohi-;
biting them his ports.
TheKing was so desirous of preferviag a good intelli
gence between him and the Court of London, and was so
far from thinking of any Conn &ions with the Americans
Cat he granted the grerieft part of the above demands :
His Mij-fty prohibited very severely, the exportation of
arms and ammunition to the continent of North America:
He forbid the commanders of the American privateers to
fell (heir prizes in France, and his fubjefts to purchase
them, and he did not even allow those fame privateers
to remain in the ports of his kingdom, any longer than
the time prescribed by the treaty of Uteecht, and under
theexpreis conditions stipulated in the fame treaty. No
thing can be a Wronger proof of the exadoefs with which
the King's orders were carried into execution, than the
repeated representations of the Deputies of Congress, and
tie di(content of Messrs. Hodge, Cunningham, and
Wicksin particular, which they carried with them to
America.^
But while the Court of London was heaping complaints
upon complaints, and the King was doing ali in his pow
er to fatisfy them, not only by afls of justice, but also of
a condefeenfion which he bad made it his fyflem to carry
to the highest degree, the English commanders were be
having in the most violent and arbitrary manner towards
the French ffiips; and instead of afing the forms pre.
Scribed by the treaties, they fired with ball to oblige
them to strike, § they seized on the Captains with armed
* Pascal Paoli.
, “ A word, which, thank God," fays a noble Lord,
" does nor yet admit of an English explanation." See the
debates in the House of Lords, in onr last paper.
Mr Canningham, the commander and owner of an
American privateer, after having greatly hurt theEnglifh
trade, put into the port cf Dunkirk, where be disarmed
h ; s veff I, and declared he was going to fit her out again
f r one of the ports of Norway. As this declaration ap
piared suspicious, Mr. Cunningham was desired to give
a security, he offered two, Mr, Hedge and Mr. Allen,
both Englißimeo, He left in if?, the port of Dunkirk
without being armed, but he transported secretly in the
bight, mtn, cannon and ammunition on board bis ship,
which.was in the road; he set fail afterwards, and it was
not-lon, before he took the English packet boat the Prince
of Orange. As soon as the French government had no
tice of Mr. Cunningham's fraud, they caused Mr. Hodge,
one of the securities, to be arrested, and ,ut into the
Baftile, and the packet beat was restored to the Court of
London, without any other formality, the fault of Cun
ningham having been' evident and public.
With regard to Mr. Wicks, likewise an American
ernizer, he had taken two considerable prizes, but before
he brought them into the port of Nantz, he had opened
the (cuttles, either to examine the merchandize, or to fell
it clandeflinely. As this proceeding is contrary to the
text of the treaties and ordinances, the two prizes were
cotififcated io the King, but his Majefly caused them to
be r< Rorod to the English owners.
§ When ships of war meet in the high seas, with vettels
that appear fvfpicious to them, they are authorized by
ceflom, to gi.e them summons, and oblige them to
strike: For this purpose they fire a gun loaded only with
ponder, and willful difobedjence only, can give them a
right to ftre with ball. Such is the received praAice
amongall nations. But the Englifli officers, accustomed
to an arbitrary conded, and above all, to impunity, did
daily transgress this rule, and so intolerable a conduct,
excited complaints so much the more frequent, that it
hands,* and not fatisfied witk the regularity of the fea
papers, as the treaties require, they would search, overturn
and plunder the cargoes ; f mo vessel could come out of the
French inlands, but muff submit to that despotic inquifi.
tion. A number of fen ences given ia the English iflaods
had adjudged to the English captors, prizes, the illegality
of which was evident ;j the Vice-Admiralties of those
islands had condemned as lawful captures, vessels, some
of which were laden with goods purchased in the French
islands, because those fame things were presumed to be the
productions of North-America^ § and others, taken on
the high seas, and which were laden with merchandize,
that might be convenient to the Americans ;\\ English
privateers had violated the King's territories, both in Eu
rope and America ;q a great number of French flips had
been confifeated only because their cargoes might be ufeful
to the Colonies, and there were no legal means of having
redress for the iniquitous judgments of the Vice- Admiral
ties: The establishment of a Commission of Appeals was
incessantly promised, and those promises were never fol
lowed by any effed. ** These are what the authors of the
Jußificative Memorial terms " general and ambiguous
accusations, the elaborate obfeurity of which is infereffed
with the character of fha.me and artifice; these are what
he calls vague and obfeure complaints; thele are the
phantoms which he did not think proper to fight againff."
[ To be continued. J
was almost always productive of excesses and accidents,
but the English Ministry, far from regarding these com
plaints, did even find th~m unjufi, and approved of the
conduct of the Britith officers, maintaining, againff no
toriousness, that the custom of firing with ball, wasac
kaowledged, and even innocent. It is left to the trading
nations, to appreciate such a jurisprudence.
* A violence which is exprefly provided againff by
the 24th article of thetreaty of Utrecht.
Thisarticle is given at full length in the original of
these obfervatiors. It is to be regretted, that the nature
of this extract dees not permit toiafert it also here, as well
asa considerable number of faffs, which afford the most in
conteftible proofs of the truth of the Court's assertions.
It is to be hoped, that some abler hand will oblige the
public with a rranflation of the whole performance, in
which there is not a single line, but tends to set in the
cleared light, the coudud, no l ess indecent than wnjuft,
of the English sea officers, and the unwarrantable beha
viour of the Minfty of Great Britain* The following
fad, extrafted from the cbfervations, will alone fwffi-e
to convince every candid reader, of toe justice of the
complaints of the Court of France.
The Sieur Maffie, Captain of the ship Don Pafleur, co
ming from Martinico, fell in on the 21^ of December
177/, oppose. Cape Gatte, (on the coati of Spain) with
the English 'rigate, t e Weftmoreland, This frigate, 'af
ter having fired a gun-loaded with ball, drew near to the
Bon Pasteur, ^nd sent er her long boat and fix men, each,
armed with two pair ofp ftdls and acutlafe. As soon as
they were on tear 1, they capped a piflol to the fberf
ra^'s throat, feit^Lupon thetelm, took the command of
the vessel, and took the Captain by force on board their
ship, ordering tiei to take with him all his papers. The
commander of the English frigate, having received the
papers of the Sirur Maffie, in fiend of examining thrm,
locked them in his f futore, and told the French Cap
t>ia, that he was persuaded he was hot coming from
Martinique, but from North America, that his vessel was
certainly loaded with tobacco, rice, wheat, &c. and that
be would take her to Mahon, in order to have her search
ed.
It is to be remarked, that the Baron D'Arbaud de
Jerque, Major-General of Martiriico, was a passenger
on board the Bon Pa-Rcur. Tnis officer was ordered on
board the frigate, where he underwent an interrogation,
and half the lading of the fllip was offered him, if he
would but own that it confined of merchandize from the
British co'onies. At last the English commander determi
ned to fend back the Baron d'Arbaud, and Caps. Maffie,
but the latter, when returned on b^ard his ship, found all
therein the greateff coelution. This affair was laid be,
fore theEnglifh Ministry, who referred it to the Board
of Admiralty.
t A# they did those of the Vi^or, Captain L'Aaine, the
C^far, Capt. FaToxgd, the Esperance, Capt. Vincent,
and t^e Incognito Capt. Bodiaeri Add to these, twenty
three declarations of Captains plundered, and most un
warrantably used.
I The ship Providence, Capt. Poitevin, having left the
cape on the :6rh of August 17,7, was taken the next day,
and condemned as a lawful prize at Jamaica, under pre
tence, that a large quantity of wine which was on board
of her, was deftibed for the Americans'.
The Tr iteur, r e Poftillon, the Joli-coeur, the Pom
pee, the Efperance, and twenty other ve.lAs, were ta
ken and condemned, on fufpirinns of the fame kind.
§ The ship Aimable Reiue, laden with tobacco and in
digo.
|| There were more than twenty such vessels taken,
none of which had on board either arms, or any warlike
stores. They were all deflated for the French Weft-In
dia islands.
q[Tnis assertion is supported in t^e obfen/ations, by
a great number of unqueftonable fafts, the relation of
which, cannot be inferred here on account of in length.
** There wan no commission eflablifhed to determine
onappealf, at the time when the Marquis de Noailles
left the Court of London.
— — : : —; — ,—_
L 0 N D O N.
NOTHING shews the wicked industry and atten
tion with which Minilters are preparing for a gene
ral election more than the mode in which the quarters cf
the Militia are fettled for this summer ; every regiment is ;
to be Rationed at the part of the Kingdom the most re-,
mote from their own residency, by way of throwing eve
ry difficulty on the voters, who are in the relpeflive corps,
and to enhance the expences of the independent candi
dates, for the more expensive the election the better for
the Court. In the Warwickfllire regiment, for inflance, .
there are at least two hundred voters for Coventry,and for
that reason, they are to be in the neighbourhood of Lon
don. The Yorkshire regiments too, are for similar rea
son to beat a diffance from that county, and the case
the fame with all the other regiments.
We hear from Lisbon, that Gomraodore Johnflene, as.
ter an unfucceftful cruise, has at length get fife into the
harbour of beauty, by taking to the nuptial bed Miss
Charlotte Dee, a celebrated beauty there.
The Channel fleet will not, at soonest, be ready to pro
ceed to sea till the latter end of Jure.
^x'raa of a letter from B^nff, May 17.
" I am sorry to tell you that the French or American
privateers are making great havock among the fliipp ng in
the Murray Frith, and particularly off t^is place, owing
to the pegleft or misinformation of the cruizers sent to
prated our trade."
Extrafe of a letter from Glasgow, May 20,
“ Wednesday last 60 pipes of French brand, were im
ported at the Bromielaw, out cf the Triton, Thomas
Martindale master, from Dublin, for which the duties
ware paid at the Custom-house and Excise office in Glas
gow. This is the firft importation at that place, it being
now a port independent frsm the port of Glasgow."
Last night and this morning there was a very hot press
on the River Thames, and on the shore on both sides there
of. A great many bands were picked up, who were put
on board a tender, in order to be immediately sent cio?,u
to the Nore.
Extract of a letter from Dover, Ma, 25.
" Last week was carried from this port to Dunkirk,
one of the larfcfi and fafteft failing boatsin England, be
ing 60 feet keel 17 feet beam, and 80 tons burthen, and
there fold tor 800 guineas. She is to mount ten two
pounders, besides swivels, and to carry 70 men. This
may warn all coasters without convoy, that may lie in the
Nore or Margate Roads, bound round the North Fore
land, and under Dungenefs, as those places, and in the
Swin, will be most in danger."
Tee famous preacher, Weftly, may be now racked "a
rating the pensioned hirelings of the court, and has been
busily employed in some ,parts of Yorkshire very lately,
putting forth h;s pious political tenets, which are so con.
genial to his brothers of the dark robe, that the eftab/ilh.
ed chinches in many places have been laid open to him.
At Bihgly and Halifax, this has been the case, and in his
ferroons he has repeatedly exhorted his difcipjes to pur
chase a little (curpequy Look, which he calls a true Rate or
account of the war in America, an extras from the para -
phlets and evidence of the famous Mr. Galloway, th^n
which nothing can be more fraught with ndfieprefenhu^n
and fadhood.
WILLIAMSBURG, Anguft 19.
Extract of a letter from Halifax, North-Carolina, to a
gentleman in this city, dated August 12, 1780.
'' General Gates is in peffeffion of Camden by this
time, I imagine, as he was near that place when Captain
Watts left hira advancing, and the enemy retreating, and
hope shortly we fhadbe near Charleftown. We have had
several ikirmiflies with the enemy, and have always been
fucceftful. We hear that there has been an embarkation
lately from Charleftown of 1000 men for New-York; I
fancy they begin to be fearful of the French fleet attack
ing that place."
The firft of May last died at Pprtfmoutb, Sir Charles
Hardy. The corpse was efcerted through the town by
the senior and junior officers, and then put into a bearfe
in order to be carried to Rawlings, in Oxfordfhire, for
interment.
BO S T O N, August 14.
By Capt. Fellows, who arrived here HR Saturday in
21 days from Port-au-Prince, we are informed, that a
fleet of 35 fail, French and Spanish, intended to com
mence their attack on Jamaica, on or about the firft in
stant..
Thursday evening last a number of prisoners on board
the guard ship mutinied, seized and disarmed the guard,
confining of eight men, cut the cable, and she drove a
shore near Lechmert's Point, leading up Cambridge ri
ver. On the alarm being given, th 6 Town Maj^r (John
Rice, jun. Esq ;) attempting to go on board with an ad
ditional guard to quell the mutiny, was fired on from
the guard-ship, when the Serjeant, Thomas Bickford,
was killed ; on which, the Major calling to the shore,
mad informing of what had happened, it being very fog
gy, thetown was alarmed, when a number cf boa^s went
D U BLt N, May 23.
A short view of the advantages given to the Sooth rrarm
faaurerof linens, more than is given to the linen nt
fa&urer rtfiAng in Ireland.
The mar.u.'aaurer of Scotch linens who flips them for
a foreign market, from any port in Scotland, receives an
immediate bounty cf 1 1-2 1. per yard on linens from 6d.
to ißd. per yard (making full iz per cent.) upon his
own oath; but the manufaaurer of Irish linens, who ex
ports them from Ireland, to any foreign market, hath not
hitherto received any bounty, unless through the circuit
ous medium of Orest-Britain, by which means, of the
12 per cent, bounty, £ 3-4 are in time of peace frittered
from it, and in time of war 13 1-2 per cent, are but bire
y fufficient to defray the expence.
Seven thousand per annum are granted to the Scotch
for encouraging them to cultivate flax and hemp; to us
nothing, or (by the delays and difficulties thrown in the
way of payment) something worse than nothing.,
The Parliament of Britain grants annually a large sum
to make and repair the Scotch roads ; the linen weaver in
Ireland is annually taxed from two to three fliillings per
acre on his little farm, to make and repair ours. When
England pays two millions land tax, Scotland pays about
45,c00k The taxes to raise this sum are trifing.
* Ireland, poor Ireland, set apart to feel all the mise
ries without partaking of one of the advantages of our
happy government,
I. s. d.
Pgs annually about —- - 1,200,000 0 0
Our national debt amounts to
about — £34,086 19 3
Besides by tontines during the
two Lift f ffions — 440,000 0 0
And this feffioo a loan cf 166,000 0 0
And to absent landlords about 600,0e0 0 0
Labouring under these heavy disadvantages, how is it
possible for our linen manufacture to appear at foreign
markets in competition with that of Scotland? Let the
impartial senator judge,
* This Rate was made out in 1775; it cannot since
have changed for the better.