Dunlap's Pennsylvania packet , The general advertiser — Philadelphia, Pa., 1776-04-15 00:00:00, page 1

Philadelphia,
Ta the FREEHOLDERS and INHABITANTS
of the respective W ARDS in the City of Phila
delphia, and others, qualified by the laws of the Pro
vince of Pennsylvania to ele& Members of Asssmbly.
Gentlemen,
IN PURSUANCE of an Act of General As
sembly of the Province of Fennfylvania aforefaid,
,affed the twenty-third day of March last, intitwed, “bin
Art to mc r eafe toe number of Representatives in Affemb!y,for
the Citv oj Philadelphia, &c." 1 HEREBY GIVE PUBLIC
NO liCE, That on W^cf^j, the firlt day of Ma, next,
at Ten o'clock in tie forenoon, at the State-House,
in the City of Philadelphia aforefaid, an ELECTION
will then and there be held to ele& FOUR Freeholders
of the City and County of FbFadelpbia aforefaid, of moft'
note for virtue, wisdom End a ility, as an additional
number of Burgesses, Representatives, or Dele
gates, to represent the City of Philadelphia aforefaid in
the General Assembly of the laid Province, the pre
lent year, agreeable to the Aft of Assembly aforefaid.
Dated at Philadelphia aforefaid, the thi d day of April,
y%6 WILLIAM DEWEES, "Sheriff.
'April io, 1776.
I,H L annual election of Directors and a Treasurer
X for the Library Company of Philadelphia, for the
entiling year, will be held at the Library Room, on Mon
day the 6th day of May next ; at which time and place
the Treasurer will attend, to receive the, early pay merits.
ANDREW ROBESON, Secretary.
INDIANA LAND^OFFICE.
tl E Grantees and Proprietors of the Retribution Lands,
nous cabled INDIANA, herein ajter described, hav
ing, by certain deeds and articles of agreement, Jett ed and
afeereaihed their federal and refpefiive flares in the said
traft oj land and premises, and agreed upon certain rules
and regulations Jor the sale thereof ;and having for that
purffe appointed the fubferiber, George Morgan, Se
cretar, and Receiver-General cf their Land Office, and im
powered him to ifoe warrants for the taring up oj lands, to
receive the price or confederation-money, and to grant patents
or deeds of confirmation of the fame This, iberejore, is to
give Notice, That the Jaid Proprietors Land-Office will be
opened on or before the frfl da, of next Ma,, on the premises,
jor all persons mho have made Jettlements and improvements
before the firfl da, of January laji pafl, within an, fart of
that traN oj cour.tr, beginning at tbe feutherl, fide of the
month of Little Kenbawa Creek, where it empties itfelf into
the River Ohio, and running from thence Joutb eafl to the
Laurel Hill, thence along the Laurel- Hill until it Jlrikes the
River Monongebela, thence down the flream of tbe jaid River
Monongebela, according to tbe feverul courses thereof, to the
foutbern boundary line oj the province of PennJjlvania,
thence weJlerly along the course of tbe said province bcunda r y
line, as Jar as the fame Jball extend, and f? om thence by ibe
some cou r se to the River Ohio, thence down tbe said River
Ohio, according to the feverat ccurfes thereof, to the place of
beginning— And the said Office will continue open until the
f r f da, of January next—b itbin which time all such settlers
may, on application to the Land-Office, have warrants for
any quantity of Land not exceeding four hundred acres, with
the allowance of Six per cent. Jor roads and highways, at
the rate oj Fifty 'Spanifh Milled Dollars weighing feventecn
pennyweights and fix grains each, or the value thereof in
current money of any of the neighbouring Colonies, for
every one hundred acres, and the allowance, without re,
serving any quit-rent to them the said Proprietors.' Ibe
purcbafe-money to be said immediately after the return cf the
jurvey, or a bond and mortgage on the premises, to be give,
to the Proprietors for securing the payment thereof, with in
terefl at Five , er cent.
Ibe actual settlers being thus firfl secured in their lofeffi
©ns, the unsettled lands will ail be surveyed into lots oj Jour
hundred acres each, Jor the Proprietors, and the terms on
which they will be fold, made public.
April 1, 1776. GEORGE MORGAN.
The fatlers of Indiana, and others, may, on application
to Mr. Morgan, view and examine the title deeds oj the
Proprietors, and bejurnifad with attefled copies of the In
dian grant to them.
fHE fubferiber, after returning thanks to the
public for their past favours, begs leave toac
quaint them, That he has opened a PUBLICK-HOUSE
in Trenton, at the sign of the Royal Oak, in the house
where the Irte Mr. Cottnam dwelt, which is well accom
modated with good tabling, carriage-house, &c. having
turnifhed himfelf with things necessary, hopes to merit
their cuflom by his diligence; which shall be thankfully
acknowledged by the public's humble servant,
+ ° R^NSSEL. WILLIAMS.
wf^ern coto fruit u^
^
Y'ol. V,
M O N D A Y,
O R,
D U N L A P's
To be SOLD, by PUBLIC VENDUE,
At the village of New-Ark, in New-Castle County, by
order of the Trustees of New-Ark Academy, on Mon
day, the zzd of April inst. to begin at two o'clock in
the afternoon, where due attendance will be given by
the fubferiber, for that purpose, who is properly au
thorized,
ON E dwelling-house, situated on the main street, al
most new, two stories high, 30 feet by 20, com
plcatly weather-boarded and falh'd, with three rooms on
etch floor, and fire places in each ; also adjoining 7 acres
and 4.0 perches of prime land ; garden, out-houses, &c.
all in tolerable good repair The purchase money will
not be wanted immediately, on the purchasers giving
proper security. The conditions of sale, at the time and
place, will be made known. The aforefaid premises is
under rent untii next spring, which rent and premises,
when fold, will be transferred to the purchaser, from
the day of sale.
SAMUEL PATTERSON.
N. B. Any perlon wanting to view the premises, be
fore sale, please to apply to the Reverend Mr. M'Dowell,
at said village. ,f
March 26, 1776.
WHEREAS JOHN CRATHERS,
of Northumberland County, Tanner, obtained
of me the fubferiber, two notes of hand for twelve pounds
ten (hillings each, for a mare that he fold me, the firft
payable some time in June next, the other payable in
November following, and as the said mare is unsound,
contrary to our bargain, I do forewarn ail persons from
taking an assignment on either of the aforefaid notes, as
I am determined not to pay them, unless compelled there
to by law.
t WILLIAM RODMAN.
&s@g-, * -<H,-~+#++"**-$•-{• so4#
Totbe PEOPLE of PENNSYLFANI A.
LETTER VII.,
TH E author of Common Sense does not trust wholly to
hisfcripture doctrines for the demolition of monarchi
cal government ; and indeed how could he? For he items
only to have begun his study of the bible “ since the fa
td igth of April, 1775." Before that period, as he elo
quently tells us, “ no man was a warmer wisher to re
conciliation (with monarchical government) than him
felf." It may be proper, then, -to take some notice of
what he offers by way of argument against monarchy,
and particularly the hereditary kind.
" Ifhereditary fucceflions" fays he (meaning succes
sion to monarchical government) “ did ensure a race of
good men, it would have the seal of divine authority."
Thus we find him, with his own hand, affixing the leal
oflleaven to what lie has before told us, the Devil in
vented, and the Almighty entered bis protest against. A
strange inconsistency as well as heterodoxy ! For if mo
narchy be from Holland reprobated by Heaven, how can
a succession to it be fandtified by the authority of everlast
ing goodness ?
He finds another curious argument against the English
Monarchy, in particular, by tracing it to the rascally
original of a French bajiard. Yet, in the estimation of
many, this will prove as little against the inftitu tionitfclf,
as it would prove against this author's argument or mine,
in the present controversy, if both of us were di feovered
not only to have sprung from bastards, but to be such
ourselves. The Family Scutcheon, that is without a blot,
must be but of very frefh date. The Roman empire, by
this author's argument, had a double or twin-rafcality
in its original. Romulus and Remus did not know
their own father “ They were, fays Sidney, the sons
of a Nun, conftuprated (or plumped up) as is probable
by a lufy folder, who was (by the language cf flattery, af
terwards) said to be Mars, and for their vigor and va
lor were made heads of the people." The rest of his ar
guments appear nothing better than these, even where
he displays his whole force, in laying before us the ma
terials ot the English constitution, under different heads.
" First —I he remains of monarchical tyranny, in the
person of the King. " Secondly—The remains of arifio
cratica! tyranny, in the persons of the Peers. " Thirdly
The new republican materials, in the persons of the Com
mons. These he intimates, may he virtuous; but he
should have made them as tyrannical as the others, so far
as these Colonies are concerned 5 else what are we con
tending for against them ?
Alas ! What more than Augean labour have I under
taken; in attempting to answer a writer, who, under the
specious name cf Common Sense, is constantly dealing cut'
paradoxes, and setting himfelf up, not only in contradic-!
tion to the sober sentiments of the wisest of mankind, but|
often in contradiction to himfelf ? Can any man ckpeal
credit, who will gravely assert that a people, long famed !
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ADVERTISER.
for wisdom and love cf liberty, would have employed
tbemfelves for a thousand years, in compounding and rear
ing upa constitution, out of the materials of the differ
entfmple forms of government, and, all the while, have
feiected nothing but the tyrannical remains of each? To
reason with such a writer would be loft labour. Some
assertions are too absurd for the possibility of refutation.
The rules of logic cannot lay hold of them.
In such a case, the belt answer that can be given, is to
lay ,before the reader a true account of the English consti
tution ; the praises cf which have adorned and filled the
volumes of the greatest men, in our own and other coun
tries. In this part ofmy work, therefore, 1 foall have
little more to do than to copy them ; and as the senti
ments of foreigners may be deemed more impartial than
our own, 1 (hall take one of the greatest of them the jl
luftrious Montesquieu, for my chief guide. But as
this truly enlightened genius, with the dignity ofa pro
°"nd.law^v,i delivers himfelf almost in the concise
"" e that he may be more ufeful to men
whole clear and comprehensive understanding renders
taem fit for the like office themselves, in the service of
c ? u ^"^ ' ! ':" endeavour to convey the fubflance
of his doctrines in the most familiar style, retaining as far
as I am able, his sense and spirit. I shall likewise venture
lometimes to makea few additions, either for illustration
° r '° bri . n / his general principles more closely home to
the English constitution.
There is certainly something too venerable in a fabric
built up with so much care by our anceftois, cemented
with so much blood, and to which they have adhered for
io many ages, to be lightly given up, upon the partial
representations, or general inve&ives, of any writer or
number of writers, arguing from the abuse of things
against the use of them. We would not lock ourselves
out of an old habitation, till we had provided a new and
better one ; nor part with a common friend upon the
palhonate accusations of an avowed enemy, without hear
ing what he could fay in his defence, and giving him a
| tr 'a a F°^' at this ""' we could have nothir >g of
the least liability, or permanency upon earth ; and obr
"" ves would be employed in making and unmaking,
, „^ u P and pulling down, without ever reaping the
finalleft fruit of cur labours.
The author of Common Sense Hands lingular in his rage
for condemning the Englifli constitution in the lump, and
the ad ministration of it from the beginning. The im
mortal Sidney himfelfgives it a different character, and
speaks with reverence of the wisdom of our ancestors.
“ They evidently appear, fays he, not only to have in
tended well, but to have taken a right course to ac
" complifli what they intended. This had effe& as long
" as the cause continued, and the only fault which can
" be ascribed to that which they established is, that it has
“ not proved to be perpetual, which is no more than may
“ be justly said of the best human constitutions that ever
“ have been in the world. Ifwe will be just to our an
" cefors it will become us, in our time, rather to pursue
what we know they intended, and by new confitutions
" to repair the breaches made upon the old, than to accuse
them of defefts tbat willJor ever attend the actions oj men."
Montesquieu, in the. cool moments of philosophical
reflection, unbiaffed by local prejudices, and remote,
both in time and place, from the feenes he describes, has
given us an inHru&ive lesson on this head.
“ A very droll fpedacle (fays he) it was in thelaft cen
" tury, to behold the impotent efforts the Englifli made
“ for the establishment of democracy or republican govern
ment. The spirit of one fiction was suppressed only
" by that of a succeeding faction. The government was
" continually changing. The people, amazed at so ma
ny revolutions, fought every where for a democracy,
" without being able to find it" any where. " At length,
" after a series of tumultuary motions and violent fliocks,
'' they were obliged to have ricourfe to that very goverh
" ment, which they had so odiously proscribed."
Every government, in order to be compleat, must have
within itfelf the power of preserving its being, as well as
pursuing its well being. Arid such a power necessarily
implies three things.— ift.l^egiflatton, or the making laws
and regulations for the good of the community. zd.The
execution of these laws. gdly. The judging when they
a f° dul y executed, and punishing offenders? The great
object of the whole is political liberty, which Montefaaieu
defines—" That tranquility or peace cf mind arising
" from the opinion each person has of his fafety. In br
" der to have this liberty, it is requisite that the govern
" ment be so cenffituted, as one man need not be afraid
" of another,"* either im refreft of his person or pro
perty. Every man's own feelings can tell him that this
is a true definition.
But the union of these three powers, the legislative, the
executive and judicial, in one man or any number of men,
is not liberty but tyranny tompleat ; because there can be
* Mutdcfqnien, IS. MJ.. Ch.
A P R I L 15th, 1776.
NUM B. 234.
T HE