The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1779-08-10 00:00:00, page 2

Mr. DUNLA P,
ON the Saturday preceeding the election of a Com
mittee for the city and liberties, I was under an en
gagement to publish, inyour paper of that day, an answer
to Mr. Deane's application to Capt. Peale, receding some
expressions used by the latter at the Cosset-house, on the
morning of the last Town Meeting.
It was uapleafant to me to find myfelf obliged to fay less
in that publication then was generally expected , and it
was not till after I had made the engagement that I saw
tee necessity of being somewhat reserved. lam persuaded
Mr. Deane is not so ignorant of the matter as he tfefts to
be, an I that he only wanted to bt furnished with" an op
portunity to make an ill use of.
4 hadlikewife another reason, which was, t^tas Mr.
Deane bad applied for tome information to Capt. Pe de,
which mylelf only could give him a proper answer upon, f
intended, by not doing it in the public papers, to improve
r inro an opportunity that should bring him and me face
to face, as well on th .t, as on all other matters t. )ac
compliih which, and hkewife to prevent any ill use being
made of the publication above mentioned, I sent the fol
lowing letter to Mr. Deane the next morning.
'Market-free; Sunder;, Avyufiff 1779.
It you really wanted- the information you applied for to
Capt. Peale, 1 (hall in this letter put ~uin a way to pro
cure it. You will at thefamrtime po^c to-observe, that
as I was not at the Coffee hou : when me conversation pas
sed, to which you allu.-,;.ur:? 0 .. rof the 27th ult.
neif er canl learn from any # lit whif the precise words
were, force representing them mo:candiome less, I can
not make myfel • a jud eo that pre of the bufiuefs : nei
tu^r will they affi it one way or other the matter tn quef
non. It it should turnout (asit will not) that noooffer
was made to me for any purpose whatever, your affairs
will Baudjuft as they did ; and if the contrary Iho'uld be
found, and that your affairs were feme way or otberton
nefxed with that offer, they will not appear toe better tor
it.
I believe Capt. Pele's-motive for mentioning 'it was to
frience the groundless and illiberal reflexions of tnofe who
eiide voured to give cut; that I wrote for reward, when I
made my publications on your affairs. In these publica
tions I have done honor to the generous people of France,
to whom we are happily allied ; I have 'done'jufloce to the
Slates, and no injustice to you; and so far, Sw, from being
paid i&r writing them, £ might have been rewarded either
tohave'let them alone, or to have Concurred in medines
that might have been pointed opt to me. What those
•ineafures were was not mentioned.
I had many reasons for pot-giving the whole in the pa
mper of last Saturday, which I am persuaded every well
wfher to his Country, Could he know anffeel these reefons
as well as I do, would honor me for. By not doing it I
Submitted mylelf to a temporary inconvenience ; yet had
I done it without taking the ueceffary precaution to -pre
vent misrepresentation lam wdlaware of the ill use would
have been made of it.
I ought to have expelled that on the appearance of Sa
turday's paper, you would have requeued Cangrefs to have
enquired into the matter, and desired I might have been
immediately called before them. Your negle& in so doing
shows, to me at least, that you are not very anxious, and
that your application for a name, was to answer forae o
ther end than barely to know. A name might have
served a purpose, and added to the falfe colouring which
have been industriously cast on the Committee for detain
ing the flour, and enquiring into the circumflances of the
exportation of that article, been ungenerously and illibe
rally played off to fwt the purpose of an election naw on
hand.
Sir, make your application to me in company with any
three gentlemen wao are or have been Members of Con
gress, and I will meet you at any time and place to be a
gr^ed on, within the space of one week, in company with
three gentlemen e, the fame rank, and give every parti,u
lar and cir. umftance that you may require, or I can recol
lefl, refpefling the matter in quefticn.
If you chafe t© confine your ^queft to three Members
of Connecticut*, I whl c&>6 < mine to three who now are
or have been Members oi .ri: State. D;y<uciufe to be
more general, 1 (hall of ohfequ^nce have a right<o be the
fame. Iw ; ll hkewife fubmir m,Mf tn be atk"d by you any
questions, refp.ita any of my publications, or any part
of my con v.T an..: Ith II hkewife claim the ri, ,t o ask
ing you/any queftioos, resp Xing such parts of your coo
duft, as my publications have animadverted irpon, ann a
ny cutfti.no on either file, whi. n (hall be deemed impro
per by the gentlemen prefect, (hall be answered or not at
the ch >ice o the party to whom they (hall be put.
You will please to f o our me with your answer to this
feme time to day , the sooner the more agreeable.
I am. Sir, your obedient humble servant,
THOMAS P AINE.
Silas Deane, Esq ;
In the evening 1 received the following.
^ Tur net's-Lane, Sunday afternoon, 1 o'clock.
SIR,
Your letter of this day was 'this moment put int® my
hands by Col. Mitchel. 'I am engaged in company and
(hall not return to town nntil evening. J (hall take the
firft convenient opportunity to give you a proper answer.
I am. Sir, your humble servant,
Mr. Paine. SILAS DEANE.
The next morning I received the following evasive re*
'fufal of the proposal I had made.
Philadelphia, Augufi 2, 17,9.
SIR,
I was well informed and I firmly believe, that Mr.
Peaie said at the Coffee-Houfe, you had been offered a
bribe not to write against me. From hence, it would na
turally be supposed that I had directly or indirectly been
concerned in that offer. I therefore called on him for the
name or names of the parties. As to the circumstances
they can be of no consequence, for I am confident that up
,on an investigation of the matter, evidence must appear
to exculpate me from the charge, much more fatisfaXpry
to the candid and honest part of my countrymen than any
thing it is ppffible for you to fay.
* Mr. Deane is a native of that State.
I am but at little loss to guess the quarter from whence
the late abusive pieces Signed Cato, arid others of the fame
cast, really came, and the end they were designed th an
swer ; but so much have the authors of them been mistaken,
that, without the lead endeavors of mine, the resentment
they hoped to excite has fallen upon themfelve^ ; and they
have, at the fame time, added to my reputation by bring
ing m y refufal of an advantageous offer into public notice,
which otherwise might have rested in oblivion, or been
very little known; it being near seven months since the
affair happened.
But must it not appear very extraordinary that the man
who last winter threw a whole country into the utmost
conlufion under the pretence of serving them, should now
fhfink from a genteel and honorable opportunity of vindi
cating himfelf Irom the heavy suspicions that have since
taken pl ce against him ? If he be not guilty, the offer
must have been agreeable; and if he be, he had best take
care cf himfelf. I have by me copies of several letters he
has wrote to Congress complaining of my publications; but
why do not his connexions in that House, if they think
him innocent demand an hearing for him, or why does
he not demand one for himfelf, or why does he not accept
that which I have offered him ? I have waited beyond the
time of a week, to give him an opportunity of acceding to
it, notwithstanding his declining it in his letter to me.
Upon the whole; is it so light a matter to be fufpefled
of defrauding the country of a very large sum of money
and embezzling the public dispatches to conceal the delin
quency, that Mr. Deane does not think it worth his while
to vindicate himfelf from the suspicions? Or can he be so
foolifh as not to fee the suspicion is become almost univer
sal? The silence of that Congress he once so much confided
in, his own silence, and the silence of his most intimate
connections, all tend to (how that something is the matter.
T. F.
Inow think it full time to take my leave ofMr. Deane,
neither can he, after declining the fair and open offer I
made to him, have the itaft pretence to complain. If he
be an honed man, and 'innocent ®f the things which he
well knows I fufpeC thim guilty of, he would have met rqe
on the ground I proposed, glad of the opportunity of
proving. me wrong,
Way be fliould ass & to be fatisfed, or what right he
can have to conclude " that my pubacaiion contains a fuj
fcier.t dfevnwal of Mr -eal/j qffertton), lam quie at
a loss to find out. Mr Peale has a much greater right to
fay that Mr. Deane admits what tie asserted at the Coffee
houfe, by his declining to meet Mr, Paine on the fdbjeCt.
I believe Mr. Deane expresses himfelf very sincerely
when he declares how little refpeCt he has for me. 'I have
refigmed one salary under Con,efs, and declined the offer
of two others of more value, that I might be perfectly at
liberty to do the country justice against his impositions,
and it is not very natural he should express himfelf other
wise I, therefore, parden the affront for the fake of the
truth it contains, fully believing it to be the honestest ex
pr&ffion he has used since his return to America.
B OS T O N, July 26.
TH E Captain of the brig Sally, bound from Topfham
to Trepafy, (Ireland) and taken off Cape Race by an
American privateer, appeared before the Hon. Council of
this State on Thursday last and teftified as follows:—That
he failed from Torbay the 23d day of May, with a fleet
under the command of Admiral Arbuthnot, confiding of
fix fail of the line, viz. 3 of 74, 2 of 64, and 1 of 50 guns,
and two frigates, one of which was bound to Newfound
land, the other, with a ship of 64 guns, bound to Quebec.
The Admiral was bound to New-York, and the rest to
different parts of America. That he left them about a
month or five weeks ago, in long. 20, eastward of the
Westward Islands. That it was reported they had 7000
land forces with them bound to America which were Hes
sian and British. The Experiment was bound to
Georgia.
Mr- Peale's and Mr. Paine's intentions are alike indif
ferent—you engaged he give the information required, in
Saturday's paper; you have not done it. But you (peak
of force proposition made to you, and you could net pos
sess yourfelf of the mind of the gentleman who proposed it
so as to declare what every intention of his might be. But
that you well know the acceptance of it would have effec
tually prevented your publicati< n of the 16th of February.
From hence, this one thing at least is evidently apparent,
that you are far from acknowledging the offer alledged by
Mr Peale.
It is by no means my business to investigate the bar
gains you may have made for the use or abuse of your pen,
and did I desire it? you are the last person to whom I
should apply for the real state of Jacts If you or any
ether (hall affirm, that I or any person by my order, or
with my knowledge, made you directly or indirectly any
offer whatever, to purchase y@ur silence with relation to
me or my affairs, it will become me to require the name
or names, but at present it is quite fufficient to assert the
falfity of such allegations.
Since you appear felicitous to know the reasons of my si
lence in regard to your publications, I will give you one
which your own ton feioufnefs must convince you is quite
ftsfadory. As Mr. Paine cannot bring any evidence
whatever in fuppurt of his charges, the injustice of which
he must be himfelf fully convinced of, it would not only
be beneath the character of a frithful public servant, but an
insult on the public candor to attempt a confutation of
them. You have it seems left the investigation of your
bribe to Congrefc. I am content. Let them investigate
it, if they think the importance of the thing merits en
quiry. In die interim, you and your friend Mr. Peale
may at your leisure determine whether you told him a
falfeloo 1, or he told one 'to the people at the Coffee-houfe;
or whether if force person has really bribed or offered to
bribe you, it not now incumbent on Mr. Paine to mention
the nime as publicly as Mr. Peale mentioned the thing.
The citizens of Philadelphia may also determine w ether
they hive nor a right to infill on it. But as Mr. Paine's
publication contains a fufficient disavowal of Mr. Peale's
aff.rtions I am fatisfied ; and I pray you to be ieve that 1
am far from having so much refpeX either for the person
or character of Mr Thomas Paine, a? tecovet any con
versation or rintercourfe with him which is not,abfolutely
necessary. I am, Sir,
'Your humble servant,
To Mr. @ Paine. SILAS DEANE.
Since our last arrived in port a prize ship with 800 bar,
rels of beef, 600 barrels of pork, and 500 barrels of flour;
prize to the General Pickering.
We heir that Lord Cornwallis comes over to America is
the Greyhound frigate to fupercede Clinton as Commander
in Chief, wkofe reputation has greatly funk in the estima
tion of hi- employers.-
It is conjectured by some, that not with (landing it's be
ing given out that the Count D'Eftaing is gone to Grena
da, his real design is against Jamaica.
Last Thursday night about 40 prisoners made their
escape from one of the guard (hips in this harbour, taking
with them a final! schooner with a quantity of Sugar, Cof
fee, &c.
Yesterday two prizss were sent in here, taken by the
brave Capt Manly in the priva e armed ship the Jason,
lately captured from the enemy. The prizes are brigs, the
one a privateer from Liverpool, of 18 guns, well manned
and fitted ; the other from Scot End of 16 guns and 6 how
itzers They came out from New York in concert to
cruize, and vain of their own flrength, were expressing
their wishes that they mi o ht meet, and have the honor of
taking a Yankee frigate. Capt. Manly behaved in this
whole affair with great coolnels, judgement and intrepidi
ty. He never returned the fire of the enemy till he came
close up with them ; then running between them he firft
gave the Liverpool privateer a bioadfide that immediate
ly flung her into the utmost confufi ^n, and Killed and woun
ded 30 of her men ; the other broadside was instantly gi
ven to the Scotch privateer, wheu both flruck without ^~
ny further refinance.
POUGHKEEPSI E, ^^^2.
By one of the enemy's Orderly booss, which fell into
our hands in the fort at Stoney-Point, it appears, that
they were apprised of our design o' attacking the fort, and
had prepared for it, by giving dirc&ioms at 9 o'clock that
night, for thegarrifon to man the walls, and lie on thejr
arms. It appears also from Rivington's Royal Gazette of
the 12th of July, that 13 deserters, or r ther traitors, (se
duced by bribery and falfe pretences of the British emissa
ries, to become enemies to their country) had informed the
enemy ofour design to attack the fort, tho'it is not proba
ble, that they had ritny knowledges the intended time of
attack, but by cohjeXure. Rivington's paper, tho' it
might with great propriety, be called A magazine of lies,
yet forcetimes contains articles ©f truth—That is when a
matter of truth, happens to coincide with, and favor their
Aefigns of fraud apd villany—ln thi^in france therefore we
may believe him, when to injure our cruse, die tells us
they knew of our design of attacking the fort—Tho' it is
probable they had such confidence in their own flrength,
that they did not make a neceff try imp rovement of the in
formation.
FISHKIL L, Augufl,
Extrafl of a letter from Boson, dated July 28, >779.
" This moment there is an account received frem Sa
lem, of an engagement between Count D'Eftaing and Ad
miral Byron---That the Count had taken five line of bat
tle (hips, and difmafted many others-.-that the enemy
made to wards Jamaica; and that the Count was following
them."
The Qift ult. about 150 Tories and Savages, led by
Brandt, fell on Minifink, and took several prisoners kil
led and scalped four, destroyed a church, 8 dwelling-hen
fes, 8 barns, and one or two mills ; they took some cattle
and plunder, force of which our people retook, and deli
vered to the owners About 120 of the militia were spee
dily colle&ed, pursued and came up with the enemy at
Leglieway, 27 miles from Minifink, as they were trans
porting their plunder over the Delaware; here our troops,
commanded by Col. Hawthorne, attacked and killed ma
ny, but getting into disorder the enemy rallied, and re
crossed the river, having its said, got a reinforcement from
K dhe^hton --we had a few killed, 21 officers and privates
are miffing, among whom is Lieut. Col. Tuften.---A
more full account of this aXion will be in our next.
We learn, that on force day last week, about sixty of
Colonels Moyland and Sheldon's light horse, fell in with
about two hundred of the enemy's cavalry, took twenty
of them, and killed a few : Our horses being much fatigu=
ed, delayed their march until the enemy who lay a few
miles off came up in force, and recovered seventeen of the
prisoners- --Our people brought off three of them with ve
ry little loss. Our accounts lire imperfect --when farther
particulars of this affair come to hand, we shall commu
nicate it to the public- --Our men behaved with great bra
very.
PROVIDEN C E, July 29.
Friday morning last arrived at Newport, a fleet of 37
fail of viXuallers, ftorethips and wood vessels, from New-
York and Long-Island, under convoy of the Renown, of
<0 guns, and two or three other armed fllips.
The virtuous citizens of Philadelphia, continue to low
er the prices of the necessaries of life, &c. and by that
means help in restoring the credit of tne currency, with a
Spirit that does them honour. The prices of all articles
were reduced in that city, on the firft of this in fiant (July)
to what they were the firft of April last. And it is with
the greatest pleasure we can inform our readers, that ac
counts from all quarters, make it certain, that the noble
attempt to refl'ore the credit ®f our money is every where
attended to, throughout these States.
NEW-YOR K, 7^24.
We are informed that the Packet for New York failed
from Falmouth before the Greyhound man of war, Capt.
Dickson, who arrived here last Wednesday. In this fri
gate the Right Honorable Lord Cornwallis, Brigadier Ge
neral Patterson and the Honorable Charles Stewart, Lieu
tenant Colonel of the Cameronian regiment, were passen
gers.
CHATHAM, Augufi 3.
The enemy have destroyed at Fairfield and Norwalk,
232 horses, 155 barns, 30 (lores, 40 (hops, 4 mills, and
5 vessels.
^*±^**±*±X^^^d^^^^^^
TO BE S O L D,
A NEGRO WENC H.
Enquire of SAMUEL YOUNG, near the Draw
bridge, Philadelphia.