The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1779-12-18 00:00:00, page 3

PHILADELPHIA, December 18
Tle Sapene Court and t e Court of Oyer anl Teb
firiner, held at I 1 darielphia for the- city and county of
- Philadelphia, hr ing been adjourned from the 3d of Octo
ber, to thezzi of November 779, -gain met, when Pe
ter Miller, and Richard Mason were tried for treason and
acquitted; William C ffedv, alias William Thompson,
was tried and convicted of treason a d fente^ced to death ;
Cnarles Humphreys, Esq; was tried, and acquitted of
misprision of treason ; JHepi Pritchard, was tried, and
conviaed of mif,rifion of treason, and ordered to beconfin
ed in Jail, during the present war, and to forfeit one
half of his goods and chattels, lands and tenements, to the
. life of the State.
From the LONDON EVENING POST.
SIR, Sept. zi.
WH E Nwe obferye ourselves threatened with the
most imminent arid alarming dangers, it is natural
to enquire, what are our profpeds of escape from them ?
Wecan look for no help from those, who have plunged us
into the deepest distress. Qur Miaifters of grace, the Ca
talines and Cethegufes of Lie age, who have already filed
rivers of innocent blood, would rather involve the nation
in farther miferi^s, than restore it to its former fpjendpr,
if they even poffefftd abilities to do this. Our fleets oblige tee
enemy to run with crouded fail, after them. Our armies
abroad are nearly cat off; our armies at home, have not
yet been tried, out when one pronounces them invincible,
another may with propriety ask, why they are said to be
so? If we vi^w our encampments, we find that the hospi
tals are numerous. At Cox Heath, which is the healthi
est of them, there seems to be no less throne fourth of the
men upon the ficklift Of those, who are said to be in
health, great numbers are half rotten and decriped by de
bauchery. Too many of the common soldiers are an a
abandoned set of men, who can scarcely utter a fiqgle sen
tence wit butfome horrid blasphemy, -and who are ripe
for every species of mifchief, and too many of their officers
are little better. While they would pals for gentlemen,
their anions declare them to be quite the reverse, and
while they would be refpeded, as the defenders of our ci
vd and religious liberties, they glory in their flume,
trampling upon every civil and religious obligation.
Though they are the livery servants of the public, they draw
their {words upon t*eir master for wishing them a good
night,and whe & they should be presenting their devout Tup
plications s o t - God of armies, they are living as if there
wae no God in toe World, They have even call off all ao
pearan eof decency, asi it was difera te ful to them to
keep up to the commonLel of the ru eh Barbarians. Se
ven naked officers with seven naked whores, m -Id a danc
ing party on Sunday the 5 h instant, and on Sunday the
12th, while the m jority o f these miscreants, attended by
a band of mafic he d a public card Assembly at the As
sembly room on Cox Heath, a detached party of the
fame class be aved like bedlamites, or rather like devils in
the town of Mai iftone. T ey placed themselves on the
balcony of the Star Inn, in the public flreet, sung bawdy
songs, anda^'d so riotuoufly and impudently in every
otherr fpeft, as one must have thought was beyond the
audacity ®f the mongers of hell.
Such then are our defenders, and with such defenders
we must perish. If would be impious to expert, that Pro
vidence will strengthen the hands of such men i* the day
of battle. Their very atheism must chill their coward
hearts, and their works of darkness, beyond the example
of the most licentious heathens, and done in the face of
day, point down the thunder of Heaven upon their guilty
heads.
In th >rt, neither the cable in which we are engaged, nor
the instruments of our defence, afford us any other than
the moft'difconfohate profpea. As a people, we must re
linqbifh our unrighteous mrafures and do juffly, love mer
cy, and Walk humbly with our'God, to have any assured
hope that he will have-mercy uprn us. It will be as use
less, I fear, to preach this doctrine to our armies, as it
would be to preach it to the wind and waves; but there are
perhaps, feme young men of rank and of resp stable con-
n v aioDS, who would be Blocked to be described in the pub.
lie papers, as guilty of those excesses which nature blulh
es ro repeat. Let such, therefore, be cautioned not to of
fend for the future. L.
At a meeting of the Trustees on Thursday lap, D?Ror
John Ewi^g waselected Vice- Provost of the University
of Pennfylvauia, and Profeffor of Natural and Experi
mental Philosophy; and David Rittenhouse, Esq;
was elected Profeffor of Astronomy.
The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania meet on
Tuesday evening next, at fix o'clock, at the Council
Chamber in the State-home, of which the Tru flees are re
quested to take notice and give their attendance according
jy. By Order of the Board,
T. MATLACK.
er/ertaidmeot was given at Stationers Hall, by Mr. She
riff Wright to the Aldermen, &c. On Thursday Sheriff
Pugh will give an entertainment at the fame hall. Their
carriages are elegant. Sneriff Wright's livery is orange
coloured, his hbrfes dressed with orange coloured and
'white ribbons; S teriff Pugh's livery is green, richly la
ced with gold They bath make as elegant an appearance
as any Sheriff have done for some years.
In GENERAL ASSEMBLY, November 19, 1779.
The Bill entitled, " An All for the amendment of the
Law relative to the punifliment of treasons, robberies,
misprisions of treason, and other offences," was read a se
cond time, and being debated by paragraphs was ordered
to be tranferibed, and in the mean time printed for consi
deration. Extras from the Minutes,
THOMAS PAINE,
Cirk of the General Assembly.
An ACT for the amendment of the Law relative to the
punishment of treasons, robberies, mifpiifions of treasons,
and other offences.
WH EREAS in and by the Aft of Assembly en
titled, “ An Aft for the advancement of justice
and the more certain administration thereof," made and
passed the thirfy-firft day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thou fandfeven hundred and eighteen, the puaifh.nent
of death is inflated, in the case of robbery, upon such on
ly as commit the fame on or near the highway, so that no
adequate provision seems to kave been made for punishing
O^e Thousand Dollars Regard.
ST OLEN out of the house of the fubicriber, in
Third-street, near C.hefnut-ftfeet, Philadelphia, in
te evening o' the 15th inst. (December) Twenty one
Pieces es double foldd DUTCH CHE CK S, about
eighteen yards in each piece. Whoever feewes the
Goods so that the owner may have them again, shall
receive the above reward, paid by
ROBERT PAISLEY.
TVM SAL T,
At 501. per bushel,
TO BE SOLD BY
ANDREW and JAMES CALDWELL.
—r~ O~—B E SOL D,
SI X and a half acres of LAN D, on Keyfer's Lane,
one mile out of Germantown; three acres thereof
good watered meadow and one acre woodland. Enquire
of the Printer.
WHEREAS Hannah Shafer, daughter
of the fubferiber, has not been heard of by her
father since the year 177-, at which time (he was in fer
vce with Peter Carolus, in Front street, near Chefnut
street, Philadelphia, who removed on the approach of
the en my to the fad city, but not known to what place ;
This is therefore to request the favour of any person
who may know where said Hannah Shafer refid.es, (if
she be living) to give information thereof to her father,
in Hamilton township, Northampton county, which
will confer an obligation on him that will ever be ac
knowledged with gratitude and thanks.
JACOB SHAFER.
the most atrocious robberies, if the fame be committed
else where.
Be it therefore enabled, and it is hereby enabled, by the
Representatives of the Freemen of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and by the au
thority of the fame, That from and after the passing of
this Aft, if any person or persons shall commit robbery,
which robbery is done by assaulting another, putting him
in fear, and taking from ids person money or other goods
to any value whatsoever, whether the fame robbery be
committed on or near the highway sr elsewhere in any
place or places whatfoeVer within this Commonwealth, he
or they so offending, his or their councilors, aiders, com
forters and abettors, being thereof duly convicted or at
taioted, or being indited and Handing mute, or chal
lenging peremptorily above the number of twenty persons
returned to serve of the Jury, shall fuffer as felons without
benefit of clergy, in like manner as by the laws of this
Commonwealth is provided in the case of robbers on er near
the highway.
AND WHEREAS the forfeiture of lands, goods
and chattels, in the case of manslaughter, is of late rarely
exa&ed, and the burning in the hand of such felons in more
heinous and aggravated instances of this kind ofhomicide,
which may approah nearly to murder, is too light and
inadequate a punishment: To the end, therefore, that
the lives of the citizens of this Commonwealth may be
guarded and preserved from danger,
Be it enabled by the authority aforefaid, That in all
cases of con visions of manfl iu/hter other than by dabbing,
as described in the Aft of Assembly here ; n before menti
oned, the said forfeiture shall be removed and hereafter no
more incurred; but inßead thereof the Court shall give
judgment against such offender of impri fonment for any
time not exceeding two years, and of fine at the diferetion
of the Court, and moreover shall sentence such offender to
find Security for his good behaviour during life.
AN Din order for the punching by banishment offend
ers whose lives might be (pared, and at the fame time
whose wicked conduit and example may render it highly
dangerous that they Should remain and enjoy the bene
fits of this free State; and to lessen sanguinary punish
ments,
Be it enabled by the authority aforefaid, That it Shall
and may be lawful to and for the President or Vice Presi
dent and Council of this Commonwealth, upon the prayer
of any person or persons under Sentence of death for treason
or felony, to grant to such person or persons a pardon for
their lives, consonant with the limitations of the Conftitu
tiori, with condition that such person or persons shall writ
in a limited time depart from this State to foreign par's be
yond the sea, and that he or they shall not return into tais
State or any of the United States of America ; and that if
any person or persons so pardoned on tire condition afore
filfhall break the fame condition, by not departing with
in the said time or by returning again into this S ate or
any of the United States aforefaid, the fame pardon shall
be void, and such person or persons not departing, or re
turning as aforefaid, shall fuffer death according to the
femerice which had been before pronounced against them.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforefaid,
That from and after the end of the present war between
the United States of America and G#cat-Britain, and the
acknowledgment of the independency of the said United
States by the King of Great Britain, no attainder shall
extend to the disinheriting of any heir, nor to the preju
dice of any person or persons other than the offender.
A ND in order to the detecting and punishing in some
measure persons accused of treasons or misprisions of trea
son by one witness, and at the fame time to avoid con
founding very different degrees of guilt in the fame punish
ment, and for removing doubts concerning the legality
thereof,
Be it enacted and declared by the authority aforefaid,
That in all cases where any charge is made upon oath
against any person or persons of falls amounting to treason
or misprision of treason, it shall and may bf lawful for the
Attorney General, with the leave of the Court or by the
direction of the Grand Jury, to proceed against and charge
such person or persons with a misdemeanor, and give in
evidence any aft or afts of treason or misprision of treason,
or other proper and legal testimony, as if such person or
persons were proceeded against for treason or misprision
of treason, and such person or persons upon conviction
flail fuffer as in cases of misdemeanor.
Philadelphia, December 3.
Two Hundred Dollars Reward.
STRAYED or STOLEN out of a pasture on the
Commons or this city, between tte Bettering hpufe
and the Light borfe Stables, on the n ght 0; the 29th
of November last,. a large brown OX with ring wide
horns, both ears cropped, branded On one fide U S,
though not eafi y fe-n, ard is in excellent order. Also
a large black CO W, with a white face, nine or ten
years old, in good erder and within a few days of
calving. Whoever wii, give information o' the above
described cattle so that the owner may get them again,
shall receive, if strayed, One Hundred Dollars, but if
stolen and the thief brought to justice, the above reward,
paid by JOSEPH OGDEN.
Philadelphia, December 7.
Tuft imported and to be fold by
JONAS P H I LLI P S,?
At his store the South fide of Market street, four doors
below Mr Dunlap's Printing office,
THE following Goods, (or ready money) viz finq,
and coarse beaver and c^ftor hats, fhallyuns & L 4
cadimannces, keriey, w m ns silk and kid glove: and
mitt, ribbed and plain mens fi k and worried stockings,
thread and sewing silk ; an affurtmerd of striped, phia
and flowered utefamgs and fatting ?f different colours ;
ducapcs, fx leton wirfs, mens buckfkn and lamb U°veg
of different colours, gilt coat and j>ck,t buttons, , orn
moulds, ivory and horn combs, an affortm nt or hard
ware, brafs-knon door locks, brass nails nd teks,
carpenters plains and saws, bed fitting kirby books,
needier; ^d, 6% gd and x£d nails; brads; Pruffim
blue and Spindh brown, ground in oil; 10 by 12 and
g by 10 window glass, io.ig to acco pipes, mulcovadb
and loaf fu^art, boh, and congo tea, Drum ns, brim-
Itone, rhubarb, manna, arid sundry other go ds.
N. B. He takes in all k nds obMerchancizs' for sale
on Commit ns. These who fn ill plcaie to tavor him
with the tale of their Goods may depend on a speedy
remittance.
nr H E Commissioners for the city and county
, of Putlad&piiia take this method to inform the
taxable inhabitants of aid county of the days of ap
peal, and where herd, for the lirg Continental Tax for
the year 1779.
For Lower Merion, Lower Dublin, Kingfeffing and
P ffeunk, in rhe upper chamber of toe Court-nou'e on
Monday the 27th of December, 1779
For Blockley, Ox.cud, Buftol and Cheltenham, en
Tuesday the 28 h.
For N Ith, H gh-ftreet aad Upper Delaware Wards,
on Wednesday tn. 29 h.
For Dock, Walnut, Chefnut and Lower Delaware
Wards, on Thursday the 30th.
For the Northern Liberties, Est and Weft, and
Moyamenfing, on Friday the gift.
For Mulbeirv, South and Mioule Wards, on Mon^
day the 10th of January next.
For the following townships, at the house of Jacob
Wentz, Jun. in Worcester to ^rih p:
For Providence, Marlborough, Freurn, Upper
Salford, Lower Salford, Upper Hanover and Hatfield
townships, on Tuesday the 4th of January next.
Fo DouJafy, Upper Merion, Whitpaiue, Frankford
and New- Hanover, Limerick, Rerkiomen am. Skippack,
Gwinedth, Montgomery and Franconia townships, on
Wednesday the sth of January next.
For Plymouth, Norriton, WortyUr and Towamen
fing townfllips, on Thursday the 6th.
For the remaining townships, at th^ hpufe of John
H;ff~r, in Germantown, viz
For Upper Dublin, Ho fh^m, WinCim Th, Roxho
rough, Binury and Springfi-id oanihips, on Friday the
7th of January next.
For Germantown, Manor of Moreland and fi irig*
ton towngrips, on Saturday the 3 n.
The appeals to begin each d,y at Nine o'clock in the
morning.
Al persons having estates in townships or wards where
they do not reside, Will take notice that there is no trans
fer of property, each estate must pay the tax in toe
township nr ward where it is. It is exp &ed that all
persons intending to appeal will attend on r e days ap
p anted, as they cannot be heaid any other time, it be
ing absolutely necessary that the tax be co rifted and
paid into the Tre for. with the utmost expedition.
By order of the Board,
GEORGE HONEY, Junior, Clerk.
FOR SA L E,
AQU ANTITY of Fuftick, about one hundred
and forty bushels of rough Rice, a few boxes of
white clayed Sugars, and a few two pound Cannon,
and Swivels with carriages. Enquire cf CHARLES
MILLER, in Arch-street, near Fifth street, Phila
delphia. Dec. 10.
One Hundred and'fwenty Dollarsßeward.
STRAYED about a month ^g , from the pasture
of the subs ribe iEvin in the dutria of S uthwark,
a very fine Sorrel H OkSE, between five and fix years
old, about fourteen and a half h.-nds and one inch high,
without fhoe#; a few while hairs on his forehead, with a
longcock ano fwitchtri. AUo a Ima'l Black HORSE,
very old, with two white feet and a fear, and full of nits-
Whoever take* up the fame, and will bring them to
Mrs. Ferguson, in Front street, between Walnut and
Chestnut street#, or to John Jones in the diftrid of
Southwark, shall b ave the above reward, or 0 it Hund
red Dollars or the Sorrel, and Twenty Dollars lor the
Black H de, and ail reafonble charges.
7b be L ET, and entered on immediately t
r T 4 HE Bunch o,t Grapes TAVERN, in Third S icet,
between Markerand Aich S reels. Enquire 01 John
Benezet, at the North East coiner 0 Front and Pmc
Streets. December 14 . h.