The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1783-03-06 00:00:00, page 2

Supplement to the afl entitled, " An am for the support
" ofcgovernment, and administration of inface."
WH EREAS doubts have arisen refpe&ing the mean
ing of the second feftion of the ad, entituled " An
" A^ for the support of government, and admintfration of
" juflice," so far as the fame relates to the Secretary of
the Supreme Executive Council: For remedy whereof,
Be it enabled, and it is hereby enabled by the Reprefenta
tines of the freemen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
in General Afembly met, and by the authority of the fame,
That from and after the passing of this ad, the salary of
the Secretary of the Supreme Executive Council fliall be
the sum of Five Hundred Pounds per annum, including the
expence of Clerks, and as a full recompence for all the
duties which the said Secretary, by law or custom, is
obliged to perform.
And be it further enabled by the authority aforefaid, That
the Secretary of the Supreme Executive Council fiaall con
tinue to receive the usual fees and perquisites of his office,
and shall make entry thereof in a book to be kept by him
for that purpose, and pay the lame quarterly unto the
Treasurer of this State, on oath or affirmation, under
the penalty of One Thousand Pounds for each and every
such negled or refufal, to be recovered in any Court of
Record by an aftion of debt, at the suit of the Common
wealth, for the use and support of government.
Signed, by Order of the House,
FREDERICK A. MUHLENBERG, Speaker.
Enabled into a Lava, at Philadelphia, on Tuesday,
the twenty fifth day of February, in the year of
our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred Eighty and
Three.
PETER Z. LLOYD, Clerk of the General Assembly.
■ANECDOTES of 'be COUNT DE GRASSE.
From the London Magazine fr August 1782.
TH E capture of a Commander in Chief, and his being
brought home a prisoner to the metropolis 0 his enemy,
is one of those great events in war, which fa Seldom occurs, that
the eager curiosity of all ranks of people to behold the French
Admiral lately in that situation. is not in the least to be won
dered at. With refpe& to the vulgar, who are always influenced
by external appearances, it moil likewise be considered, that
this was the firft trophy of victory exhibited to their view du
ring the course of a calamitous war, the burthen of which they
have severely felt. Thcufands were gratified with this uncom
mon fpe&acle, but many more were difappinted from various
eaufes; fume for want of opportunity ; others fr m apprehension
of dangers from the prodigi^ us concourse of people that surround
ed him wherever he went,
As for memoirs if this brave, though unfortunate commander,
few can be expend, and th fe but impefeA, of a man wh^fe
name was scarcely known in tlis crop try, till the victorious
Rodney made it familiar to us; however, the little we have to
relate may be depended on as authentic.
The Count de Craffe is the son of the eldest branch of a noble
family, who have long eujo,ed a cnfiderable paternal estate and
a title in France. He was very early in li f e destined to the ma
rine service of his country, in which he is grown old, being in
the 69th year of bis age. Towards the close of the last war he
rose to the rank of Captain, and nearly the whole time of the
late peace he commanded a frigate, which kept conftantiy cruiz
ing in the Weft Indies and America, as is supposed to watch the
motions of our military and civil Governors in the Weft-Indies,
to obtain information cf our progress in the cultivation and im
provement of the inlands ceded to Great-Britrin, and generally
to make such observations there, and in America, as might
prove ufeful to his country in a future war. This is the con
flant fne of conduct of the French in time of peace, and the
reason they are better prepared for a fueden rupture.
In the course of the present war, the Count de Gr?ffe has been
chiefly employed on the Weft-India station, but. if we a,e right
ly informed, he was second in command of the fleet under Mm
fieur de Barras, which engaged Rear-Admiral Graves and Sir
Samuel Hood, in the Chefape^k, in September 1781, and fam
superior numbers, gained a trifling advantage over the Britilh
fleet.
At length, the decisive day arrived, when this gallant French
man was obliged to surrender his laurels to the immortal Rod
ney. From the number of killed and wounded < n board La Ville
de Paris, the C unt's ffiip, from the length of time that he
fought, and a variety of other circumflances, it is evident, that
the.Count exhibited the strongest proofs of pe fonal valour and
perseverance; if therefore his countrymen have any well-found
ed charge to bring ^ainft him, it must be upon feme deficiency,
or error of judgment ; but as (peculations of this fort previous to
his trial are ungenerous and improper, we shall drop the fubje&,
most heartily wishing that he may be honourably acquitted.
From the time of his surrender, to that of his departure fr>m
London for France, he was treated with every mark of refpe&
and attention, which thara&erife the generous lons of Britain.
His noble conqueror and his officers set the example; but it is
rep rted, that he was not so grateful to Admiral Rodney as
might be expe&ed, being piqued at the necessary refufal of some
improper demands; be this as it may, to every other per on who
Shewed him any civilities, his returns beQoke the gentleman and
the man cf feeling.
On his passage to England, he was so extremely il ! , as to be
almost helpleb, when Sir Peter Parker's lady (whose amiable
character is well known) humanely bellowed every requite at
tention upon the Count, with as much care and tendemefs as
if he had been a near relation. In Ihort, so sensible was the
noble prisoner of this lady's condefeending kindr.efs, that he
could hardly bear to be absent fom her, while he remained in
London, and would often take her by the hand and burst into an
involuntary flood of tears.
Sir Peter Parker was no less attentive to his charge, and did
every thing in his power to alleviate the captivity of his prifmer.
Upon his landing at Pbrtfmouth, Sir Peter took care to provide
him with every accommodation suitable to his rank, and when
he arrived at London he was conducted to the house of Mrs. Nu
gent, Lady Parker's mother, in Queeu's-fquare, Weftminfler.
The Count was soon after accommodated with a fuit p of apart
ments at the Royal Hotel in Pali Mall, at the expence of the
Crown, and his Majesty, with that supreme dignity which
adorns all his actions, returned him his sword, which he had
delivered up according to custom to Admiral Rodney, when he
went on board the Ville de Paris# This etiquette enabled the
Count to appear at Court, where he was received in a manner be
coming his rank and situation by their Majesties and the Royal
Family. The French officers who accompanied him, were, La
Vifromte de Graffe, his nephew, La Comte de Cibon, and La Mar
quis de Beaulieu.
From the time of the Count's arrival in London, which was
on Saturday the 3d of August, to that of his departure on Mon
day the 12th, he was ernpl>yed in paying visits to the great
officers of state, and fume of the principal nobility of the king
dom; by whom he was entertained in a fumptaous and hospita
ble style. He likewise took a view of the Bank, and other pub
1 he edifices, and cf Vauxhall, and other places of amusement.
It must havr been a great fatisfaaion to him to find, that every
mark of refperi was (hewn to him, even by the common people,
in teftimeny of his valour; far otherwise would have been his
reception, if he had forrendered himfelf and his ffiip Without
rMdintainirfg he bloody contest to the last.
The Count is one of the eighty Knights of the order of the
gr,d Grate of St. Louis, and wears a red ribbon, much in the
fame manner Us our Knight of the Batn. He is tall in Nature,
rie.firiog exactly fix feet four inches, and very robust in his
m tee, but has entr&d a habit of Looping, from long service
on board a frigate, the low cabin of which must have be?n very
todblefome to him. He has a son in France, in the King's
Guards, who in support of his father's cbara&er, afperfed by
ungenerous young officers of other regiments, has been obliged to
fight ftveral duels, and in the last has been dangerously wound
ed, btr is not dead, as was fairly reported in the public prints.
Preparations are making in France for the trial 01 the Count,
and of Munfieur de Bougainville his second in command, as
they reciprocally exhibit charges against each other: fhouM the
event prove honourable to the Count, this account of him, ira
peHeft .s it is, will hereafter be referred to with pleasure.
Lift Monday evening advice was received here,
that his majeily's ship Bllifaius, Richard Graves,
enquire, commander, was poke with by a (loop of
war, on Friday or Saturday lad, off Chincoteague ;
previous to which, (he had been engaged with the
letter of marque (hips, Alexander and Tartar, the
so iner of twenty fix and the latter of twenty nine
pounders (they fitted out at Roflon.) Captain Graves
informed the commander of the cruizer who (poke
him, that soon after the commencement of the action,
the Alexander bore away and bfcaped, and that the
Tartar, which had fifty men on board, and all her
guns in close quarters, was oblig'd to strike tier co
jours, after a severe confl ft which laded upwards of
an hour ; the number cf the killed and wounded on
board of her we have not brant. The loss of the
BeHifarius, we hear, was three men killed and four
wounded. Sire w.s left fleering for this port with
her prize.
The following are extraßs of letters from gentlemen
in Cadiz, to their correfponderts in Philadelphia,
The originals, wrote in the Sparifh language, were
found on board the brig Prudent, which was lately
captured by the privatetr Fair American, captain
Burton:
From Quintin, Brothers and Co. to Lacaze and
Mallet.
Cadiz, 21st December, 1782.
" T'e hopes that we had of an approaching peace
are vanished. It appears that the negociations so
long going on at Paris are broke off, by the demands
of the English, wno pretend to have a peace mide as
if tl ey weie every where vidorious. Orders are come
to ac e erate the departure of the expedition that has
b<en pr paring in this port, which is the mod rrfpel.
able tnat ever went to America during thr or ^ny
former war; it will consist of at lead 50 men ot war,
and twelve to fifteen thousand men. Toe Brest divifi
on arrived this dry, and the departure of the whoh is
fix’d for the 15th of January. The athviiy of tee
count d'Estaing, tee commander in chief, leads us to
hope it wiil be nearly about that time; and that the
operations of the general will procure us an a Ivanta
genus peace the next campaign, which appears from
henceforth indifpenfible.'’
From Manuel Hermes, to Francisco Rendon, his ca
tholic majeftyS agent.
Cadiz, 24th December, 1782-
" The marquis de la Fayette arrived la fi night ; he
came fix leagues by land, as the Richmond frigate was
obliged to come to an anchor at that distance, from
its tailing calm in the night. The general commaids
te troops on board tie iquadrou, and it is said he
goesout to America with the fame charge. 1 hey fay
that the squadron will absolutely be composed of 48
ships of the line."
From John Mallet, to his brother Michael M Het.
Cadiz, 24th December, 1782.
" The count d'Eflaing animates the operations go
ing on here in such a manner, that I make not t<e le .t
doubt his expedition will fail in all January ; there
will be five ships of 110 guns, it is not exiftly afeer
tained whether the number of the men of war will be
s°°r 55.
" We have some favourable accounts from the East
Indies, our fleet, after three adions with that of ad
miral Hughes, have forced a passage into the bay of
Trinquamale, the principal port in the island of Cey
lon, where they can winter. The English hold firm
possession of the principal fort. Mr. de Buffy has
sent from the Isle of France 2400 men, with two new
ships of war, to dislodge them; the convoy are to
fland for the cape of Good-Hope, in ordr to pass
with eight or ten thousand mea, to the coast of Coro
It was yeflerday reported, that a coppered twenty
gun (hip from England, arrived in Gardener's.'bay la ft
Saturday ; {goals had been made from her for a pilot
to bring her down the Sound, but apprehending a de
coy, none would go on board. She left that bay on
M nday. and it was difeovered her destination was for
New York ; and yeflerday evening advice was
brought to town, that two pendant and four merchant
vessels were Banding in to Sao y-Hook.
On Thursday were sent in here, by his majefly's
Clips, Diomede, Quebec and Atalama, a prixe (hip
mounting 2% nine pounders, one of 16 fix pound rs,
another, force not known,and a brig; one from Nantt
and the others fro n Bordeaux.
Wednesday vas brought in here, the schooner
Speedwell, prize to the ; rivateer boat Duck, captain
Lawrence, laden with co rn ; she was captured off
Reedy island, in the Delaware, and left that river the
night before- The Speedwell saw nothing till (he
got within the Hook, and was then nearly retaken by
one of the New-Jersey whale boats. The Duck was
left in purfait of a large (loop, laden with several
hundred barrels of flour, and was in a fair way of
taking her.
N EW YO R K, Marc./ r
mandal, hom whence they make no doubt, bus, with
the affittance of his old friend, Hyder Ally, to drivs
out the English entirely.
" It is said, that the reflitution of Gibraltar to
Spain, and the liberty for all nations to trade in the
Indies, without either having any fortifications, are
the two points which have flopped the peace; for the
independence of America is no longer the fubjeft of
couteft."
Philadelphia, March 6.
Extract of a letter dated Martinique, Jan. 22, 1783.
" Nothing but a peace is talked of ; the frigate Ve
nus arrived here yeflerday in 23 days from France;
the news runs, that the king of Great Britain had ac
knowledged American independence, and only wishes
to continue the war againftthe house of Bourbon.
The rigate Alliance, captain Barry, is also arrived
here from France, and fays that he saw in a letter from
doftor Franklin, that the preliminaries of peace were
signed, and that he procured a passport from England,
for an American pacquet boat to carry this news to
the congress The frigate Ceres, commanded by the
son in law of lord Keppel, is again taken from the
English . by the French frigate la Nymphe.”
By > gentleman from North-Carolina we are in
formed, that a large three decked (hip, which mount,
ed 18 guns (but had thrown ten of them overboard in
a (form) bound from Jamaica to New-York, arrived
at Wilmington about the 25th of January. A num
ber of American prisoners on board, with the affiflance
of some of the crew, on their coming near the Ameri
can coast, rose upon the officers, and took the ship,
which was before that commanded by Oswald Eves,
late of Philadelphia, and had on board 500 hogsheads
of rum and 50 of sugar, besides lord Montague, his
family, and several officers of rank.
About the fame time captain John Hacburn, in *
vessel belonging to Newbern, to which place she was
bound from Havanna, was rose upon by some of his
hands ; the captain was murdered and thrown over
board ; but an American privateer afterwards retook
her, and carried her into Savannah, where it is hoped
the barbarous villains will be punished agreeable to
their deserts.
The 12m of February two schooners arrived at
Newbern, one from Martinique and the other from
Godaloupe. At the time of their leaving those ports,
it was (aid that the co^nt d'E&aing, with a very for
midable armament, had arrived in those seas from Eu
rope.
The Torbay, formerly a prifonihip at Charleflown,
but filice taken from the emmy, left Newbern the be
ginn ng of February, laden with spars. The second!
day of her being out die sprung a leak, when they
hove about and flood for the land, but had scarcely
got into f>uo ings before toe vessel filled. The cap
tain and crew, 26 in number, got into their boats,
which could not refill the heavy seas ; and according
ly overfet, wnen all but fix of the people periled.
Before our informant left Nor^h Carolina (about
fifteen days ag^iwo veffelshad arrived at different
ports in that hate fron France, which they left about
the end of December, but they bring us no further
information refpeding the negociations at Paris.
The last account from Charleftown do not mentis
on that a, y thing new had happened in that quarter
since the evacuation.
A letter from E: Zibeth-town, dated on Sunday
even ng, fays that accounts had been received of a
number 0! prizes being lately taken off Chefapeak,
by British cruder-; but they do not mention their
names or the places where bound.
txtrads from the Journal
Gs the United States in Congress Assembled.
(Continued from cur P per of Tuesday last. )
TUESD AY, December 17, 1782.
THE committee, confining of Mr. Hamilton, Mfr
M"difon and Mr. Fitzsimmons, to who n was refer
red a motion of Mr Clarice, report as their opinion,
tnat the deputation appointed to go to the slate of
Rhude-Kfaed, ought to proceed as soon as possible.
Resolved, t hat congress agree to the said report.
WEDNESDAY, December 18, 1782.
Mr. J. Montgomery, a delegate for Pennsylvania,
attended and took his feat.
Ou the report cf a committee, confining of Mr. Ram
say, Mr. Nath and Mr. Peters, to whom was refer
red a letter of the zzd November, from E. Hazard
and J. Bryfon, relative to an explanation of the refo
lotion of congress o f tne 12th of December, 1780:
Resolved, That the auditors of accounts, in fettling
the accounts of t e poll-office department, be autho
rifrd to give the fame retrofpe& to the allowance for
travelling expences as to the yearly salary of the fur
reyors of the post roads.
The f cretary at war, to whom were referred sundry
charges against S Hodgdon, late cornmiffary of mili
tary Fore., a petition ot Mary Coren and an affidavit
of J. Hail, refpeaing the condud of the said Hodg
don, with orders to proceed by court of enquiry or
court martial, againti the said Hodgdon, in order
that he may be acquitted or condemned, accord ng to
the law martial, ot tne charges exhibited against him ;
having laid before congress the proceedings of a court
of enquiry appointed pursuant to the above orders;
and the said proceedings anQ report of the said court
being read,
Ordered, That the charges abovementioned be dip
miffed.
T H URSD A Y, December 19, 1782.
Ordered, That the order of the day for elefting 2
secretary for foreign affairs, be portioned till Thwrf
day next.