The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1778-06-10 00:00:00, page 5

Lancaster, fuze n, 1773.
^xtrafis from his Excellency Governor Livingston's
Menage to the General Assembly of the State of New
ferfey.
Gentlemen,
I HEARTILY congratulate you upon the agree
able news we have received from France, since I
h^d the pleasure of meeting you last in this place.
The treaties of alliance, and of amity and commerce,
between his Most Christian Majesty and the United
States of America, by which our freedom, sovereignty
and independence are fully recognized, ratified and
guarantied, and our trade left free and unembarrassed,
are so advantageous on our part, and dilplay such ge
nerosity and magnanimity on that of our illustrious ally,
as cannot but excite in our breads the most cordial
refpeX for that powerful monarch, arid the devoutest
acknowledgment of that propitious Providence which
hath influenced the heart of a foreign Prince to inter
pole his assistance for delivering us from the bloody
persecution of one so lately our own. As we were at
firft compelled into a declaration of independence, it
was the highest wisdom to solicit a suitable alliance for
its security and support. To both these measures we
may appeal to the whole world, that we were driven by
a tyrannical King, a venal Parliament, and a flagitious
Minidry. Indeed the conduct of our oppressors has,
thro' the whole cotirfe of the war, been so infatuate and
remorseless, as if Heaven had deprived them of common
sense, as well as Hell inspired them with all its malice.
But their day of national correction is fwiftly aproach
ing. Their unparalleled cruelties both in the teaftern
and western world, have at last enkindled the divine
vengeance ; and the judgments of God are now over
taking a nation which has filled up the measure of its
iniquity ; and long been the most impious and irreli
gious of any in Christendom. To chastise her insolence,
the force of France and America is now united in an
indissoluble league. How must haughty Britain be con
founded at the dreadful news; and curse the fatal
consequences ofher moon-struck policy? Methinks I
fee her power and grandeur crumbling into ruin, and
all her towering honours levelled with the dust. That
decisive influence which the has long maintained in the
scale of Europe, is now rapidly verging to sullen impo
tence ; and the mistress of the ocean become the con
tempt of those veiy potentates, who lately revered her
councils and trembled at her arms. But how speedily
soever flic may be doomed to final perdition, it is our
duty to guard against the vindictive effects of her ex
piring struggles. When all the horrors of desperation
seize her; and utterly hopeless of conquest, the deter
mines to rife even above herfelf, by feme signal stu
pendous a& of barbarity, basing, like the Devil in the
apocalypse, great wrath, becauje foe knoweth that fe
hath butflort time; the may attempt to desolate what
the finds it impoflible to subdue. Against such ravage
and deftruftion, to which, we know by experience, it
is not beneath her dignity to condescend, it is our in
teteft to oppose the most strenuous exertions. We want
only one spirited and general effort to expel her rem
nant of banditti from the Continent, and forever to
emancipate ourselves into compleat and uninterrupted
liberty. One campaign more will, in all probability,
decide the important contest : And in whose favour it
is likely to terminate, is written by the hand of Pro
vidence in characters too legible to be misunderstood.
The alacrity of our men to enter into the service, and
the great dispatch with which our battalions are corn
pleating, must also affect every lover of his country
with singular pleafore.
The resolution of Congress of the 19th of March,
refpe&ing the railing the quotas of men, and the pro
viding their accoutrements, is herewith laid before
you, together with that of the 17th of April, pursuant
to which this State is only to compleat three regiments
ts infantry in the manner recommended by the refclu
tion of the 26th day of February last.
Gentlemen,
As you role at the last fitting of the Assembly with
out ratifying the Articles of Confederation and perpe
tual Union between the States, I hope they will engage
your early attention at the present.
The Congress, by % their resolution of the 10th of
March, having earnestly requeued the Governors and
Presidents of the relpective States to transmit to them
as soon as possible, attested copies of the a&s passed by
their refpeaive legislatures, in pursuance of recom
mendations of Congress, which they may have received
since the firft day of November last, and of all a&s
which they may hereafter pass in consequence of future
recommendations. You will be pleased to furnifh me,
for that purpose, with attested copies of the a&s firft
described, with all convenient speed.
I embrace this opportunity farther to communicate
to you a resolution of Congress, of theist instant, re
commending it to the several States to empower the
executive authority of such States, from time to time,
to grant exemptions from duty in the militia to such
persons as may, from time to time, be employed in
manufacturing military stores and other articles, for
the use of the United States.
The present condition of our public accounts ren
ders it indispensably necessary to appoint some perlon
in the charter of Auditor, with a fufficient salary to
induce a gentleman of adequate fltill and abilities to
accept of the appointment.
I hope, Gentlemen, it will engage your seasonable
consideration what measures ought to be adopted re
fpeXing those amphibious inmates, (ever-willing citi
zens to all the purposes of'deriving from the State every
legal benefit and protection, but to none of returning
reciprocal duty and allegiance) who seem resolved, to
the very end of the quarrel, to maintain a kind of
Ihameful and most ditingenuous neutrality ; hoping,
by not avowedly espousing either fide, but occasionally
and indirectly abetting both, to secure to themselves
a favourable reception witli the prevailing party, let
that party eventually prove to be the oppressive or op
pressed. Such political hypocrites ought, by a gene
ral test, to be dragged from their lurking holes, fer
retted cut of their duplicity and refuge oj lies, and be
taught by an a& for the purpose, that however willing
the legislature may be to imitate the example of the
generous houfholder, who made no difference in his
payments between, those who went to labour in his
vineyard at the firft or eleventh hour ; they are deter
mined not to set the firft example in the world, of al
lowing wages to those who never would enter the
vineyard at all, 'til the grapes were fully ripe, by the
cultivation of others ; and came then only with the
view of sneakingly fpungirig upon, and regaling them
selves with, the wine of other peoples expressing.
There are in this State many valuable and consci
entious citizens, who are scrupulous of taking an oath
in the present form, and with the Englilh ceremony
of kissing the book; which they confider as superstiti
ous, and a remnant of popery. Amidst that liberality
of sentiment, and utter abhorrehce of infringing upon
the rights of conference, which seems to mark the pre
sent sera with peculiar luftre; can it be consistent with
found policy, or the generous spirit of our con ftitution,
to debar an honest man for a religious (cruple from the
privileges of society, which the meft profligate and
abandoned are permitted to enjoy in the lulled lati
tude? I therefore flatter myfelf that cur leg ; flature
will be so indulgent to this scrupulosity, which is at
lean innocent, as to authorize the magistrate in the
administration of an oath, to dispense with such part
of it as may embarrass the conscience, and is beyond
question altogether formal, arid in no refpe& essential
to its nature or solemnity.
I have farther to lay before you, Gentlemen, a re
solution of Congress, of the 23d of April, recom
mending it to the legislatures of the several States to
pass laws, or to the executive authority of each S ate,
if invested with fufficient power, to iffae proclamations
offering pardon, with such exceptions and under such
limitations and reftri&ions as they fhnll think expedi
ent, to such of their inhabitants or fubje&s as have le
vied war against any of the States, or adhered to, aided
or abetted the enemy, and (hall surrender themselves
to any civil or military officer of any of these States,
and (hall return to the State to which they may belong,
before the tenth day of June next, and recommending
it to the good and faithful citizens of those States to
receive such returning penitents with compassion and
mercy, and to forgive and bury in oblivion their past
failings and transgressions.
Tho' I think it my duty to fubrait this resolution
to your serious confederation, because it is recom
mended by Congress, I do not think it my duty to
recommend it to your approbation, because it appears
to me both unequal and impolitic. It may, confid
ently with the piofounded veneration for that august
Assembly, be presumed that they are left acquainted
with the particular circumffances and internal police
of some of the States than those who have had more
favourable opporturities for that purpose. There
feems,' it is true, famething so noble and magnani
mous in proclaiming an unmerited -amnesty to a
number of disappointed criminals fuhmitting them
selves to the mercy of their country ; and there is
in reality something so divine and chriftian in the for
givenefs of injuries, that it may appear rather invidi
ous to offer any thing in obftrußion of the intended
clemency. But as to the benevolent religion to
which we are under the highest obligations to conform
ourcondu&, though it forbids at all times, and in all
cases, the indulgence of personal hatred and malevo
lence, it prohibits not any treatment of national ene
mies or municipal offenders, neceffarv to felf-preferva
tion, and the general weal of society. And as to
humanity, I could never persuade myfelf that it con
fided in such lenity towards our adversaries, either
British or domestic, as was evidently productive of
tenfold barbarity on their part; when such barbarity
would probably have been prevented by our retaliating
upon them the firft perpetration; and consequently
our apparent inhumanity, in particular instances,
have certainty been humane in the final result. Alas !
how many lives had been saved, and what a feene of
inexpressible misery prevented, had we, from the be
ginning, treated our bosom-traitors with proper seve
rity, and infli&ed the law of retaliation upon an ene
my too savage to be humanized by any other argu
ment 1 As both political pardon and punishment
ought to be regulated by political considerations, and
must derive their expedience or impropriety from
their salutary or pernicious influence upon the com
munity, I cannot conceive what advantages are pro
posed by inviting to the embraces of their country a
set of beings, from which any country, I should ima
gine, would esteem it a capital part of its felicity to
remain for ever at the remoteftdistance. It is not
probable that those who deserted us to aid the most
matchiefs connoisseurs in the refinements of cruelty,
(who have exhausted human ingenuity in their en
gines of torture) in introducing arbitrary power and
all the horrors of flayery, and will only return from
disappointment not from remorse, will ever make
good fubjeXs to a state founded in liberty, and inflex
ibly determined against every inroad es lawless domi
nion. The thirty one criminals lately convicted of
the most flagrant treason, and who, by the gracious
interpolation of government, were, upon very hopeful
signs of penitence, genercufty pardoned, and then,
with hypocritical cheerfulnefs, inlifted in our service,
have all, to a man, deferred to the enemy, and are
again in arms against their native country, with the
accumulated guilt of its being now not only thecoun
try that firft gave them life, but which hath, after
they had moll notoriously forfeited it, mercifully res
cued them from death. Whence it is probable that
a real Tory is by any human means abfolutel, incon
vertible, having so entirely extinguished all the pri
mitive virtue and patriotism natural to man, as not
to leave a tingle (park to rekindle the original flame.
It is indeed against all probability that men, arrived
at the highest poflible pitch of degeneracy, the prefer
ring of tyranny to a free government, should, except
by a miracle of Omnipotence, be ever capable of one
tingle virtuous imprtffion. They have, by a kind of
gigantic effort of villainy, astonished the whole world,
even that of tranfeending, in the enormities of deso
lation and bloodshed, a race of murderers before
unequalled, and without competitor. Were it net
for these mifereants, we fliould have thought that for
cool, deliberate cruelty, and unavailing, undecisive
havoc, the fdns of Britain were without parallel.
But considering the education of the latter, which
has familiarized them to the Shedding of innocent
blood, from the mere thirst of lucre, they have been
excelled in their own peculiar and diffinguifhing ex
cellence, by this monstrous birth and eff-fcouring of
America, who, in defiance of nature and of nurture,
have not only by a reverft ambition chosen bondage
before freedom, but waged an infernal war against
their dearest connexions, for not making the like ab
horred and abominable eleXion. By them have num
bers of our most ufeful and meritorious citizens been
ambushed, hunted down, pillaged, unhouled, Aolen
or butchered. By them has the present contest, on the
part of Britain, been encouraged, aided and protract
ed, They are, therefore, refpontible for all the additional
blood that has been fpilt by the addition of their weight in
the scale of the enemy. Multitudes of them have fuperadd
ed perjury to treason! At the commencement of our oppo
sition they appeared more sanguine than others, and, like the
crackling es thorns under a pot, exceeded in blaze and noise, the
calm and durable flame of the fleady and persevering. They
have associated, fubferibed and sworn to assist in repelling
the ho^ile attempts of our bowellefs oppressors. They have
with awful solemnity; plighted their faith and honcurto
Hand, with their lives and fortunes, by the Congress and
their General, in support of that very liberty which, upon
the firft opportunity, they perfidioufly armed to oppose
and have since acrilegioufly sworn utterly to exterminate;
This worthy citizen has loft a venerable father; that one a
beloved brother; and a third, a darling son, either imme
diately by their hands, or by their betraying him to the ene
my, who, from a momentary unintentional relapse into
humanity, were sometimes inclined to spare, when these
pitiless wretches insisted upon daughter, or threatened to
complain of a relenting officer, merely because he was not
diabolically cruel. —Nor will such an a& of grace prove
eventual of restoring to their injured country the most pro
per objeds of pardon. The more ignorant and deluded (if
such ignorance and delusion there can be) will not be able
to obtain leave from their vigilant tafk-maflers to return to
their duty. The most dangerous and influential will be in
dulged with this privilege, and that only to save their estates
without the least compunction of conscience, alteration of
sentiment, or melioration of heart. These having already
been sworn and forfworn, will, without ceremony, repeat
their pe jury whenever it appears conducive to the intro
duction of tyranny.—To screen such characters from popu
lar rtfentment and personal infuit, I presume no prudent
man would chufe to become surety. Those of our citizens
who have from the very beginning of the rlluftrious conflict,
hazarded their perf.ns and property, will think it iniquita
ble to receive such malignants into a full participation of all
the blessings resulting from that independence, which, with
the smiles of Providence, has by their co-operation been so
gloriously contefled, and at so great expence and peril, bat
tled out of the very jaws of tyranny. There is, in some of
our counties in particular, who have more eminently fuffer
ed by their wanton ravages, so rooted an aversion against
this kind of gentry, that the more conspicuous Whigs (ge
nerally the greater fufferers) would think it extremely hard
to proffer them all the immunities of that happy constituti
on, which they at infinite rifque have been instrumental in
establishing, while those non-naturals were meditating our
deftrudion, spilling our blood, and ardently wishing for our
final enthralment. And can they ever expect to regain the
confidence of their late feliow-fubje&s, whose very looks
methinks must confound and abash them? Surely their
mean spiritedness in brooking to return to their country,
circumflanced as they are, is only to be equalled by the/*
guiltin deferring it. Should we not be much happier, to
gether with the abolition of regal mis-rule, to purge the
continent also of this political pollution, which must neces
sarily tarnish the luftre, and may gradually infect some of
the flill incorrupted sons of America ? Will it not be better
policy to inflfl upon a perpetual separation from those whose
intercourse with us must conftantiy revive the most painful
ideas, and whose very presence among the genuine sons of
freedom, would seem as unnatural as that of Satan among
the fans of God? The disgrace they have brought upon their
native country can never be expunged but by expunging
them. Let them, therefore, rather go into voluntary banith
ment, and fettle some uninhabited island, rocky, if they
please, as their hearts, and feared as their consciences, where
not having one honest man among them, but being all in
volved in the fame atrocious and insuperable crime of parri
cide, no one traitor can upbraid a brother-traitor with his
treason j nor any individual of the whole culprit-fraternity
print at a greater fcelerat than himfelf—There let them
establish a system of vassalage most suitable to their own flav-,
ifh dispositions; and ere& an infamous monument in putrid
memorial of those apoflates from reason and converts to
despotism, who fled from Justice, for an attempted assassi
nation of Liberty.—Or let them take fanduary in a certain
already fettled island (probably their favourite spot, because
contaminated with every species of infamy) where it is no
bar to the royal favour to have embrued one's hands in a
brother's blood; where the massacre and.famifhing of thou
sands has been rewarded with a peerage; and where no
man need to despair of promotion for being a rascal.
WIL. LIVINGSTON.
Princeton, May 29, 1778.
d^^^^^d^^^&^^^d^d^^
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