The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1782-03-30 00:00:00, page 2

4gnoratfce made a prefentmerft in these words, " we
fay en that "John Stevens is a man, we cannot tell what
tomike of him. And he hath books we do not under
stand them:" this was pretty much such another stroke
as that of declaring " an election to be void, tho' not
one of the ch rges against it Should be proved," surely
it was not intended to set the el &ion aside, at any
rate, whether the fads alledged against it ffiould prove
true or fahe.
The next article of dissent is founded on the old
doctrine of cumulative charges. Iris wrong we are
told to confider the charges separately. Take them in
a lump, they loose their weight by being examined
fepara ely Upon the principles of mathematical de
monflratton, a thousand nothings amount to nothingat
last: butit seems a number of charges, each of which
amount to nothing by itfelf, when multiplyed by the
table of political arithmetick amount te fufficient to
accomplish the purpose in view, whether it be to bring
an obnoxious man to ruin and disgrace, or to set aside
an elation. This cursed dodrine has been the bane
of justice, and the disgrace of party in former ages.
In England their criminal history is filled with a thou-
Hand infiances which are enough to make the blood
curdle G,h, horror, when a confufed jumble of cumu
lative charges, without being separately considered, and
of confequenre without being accurately examined,
have been ontrived to ensnare the wretched victim.
Men have Suffered as traitors without being guilty of
any one aft of treason, and the fame men who at one
time;have fat in judgement in these wretched tribunals,
have in the reverse of party fallen in their turn, en
tangled in the fame wicked Snare of general and
cumulative charges. Thomas Cromwell was beheaded
for treason in the reign of Henry the Bth: the only cir
<comftance of his condud, fays the historian, by which
he seems to have merited his fate, was his being the in
firmrent of the king's tyranny, in conducing like in
iquitous proceedings against others. The parlia
mentary history of England is equally disgraced by such
proceedings: among an hundred other instances the
celebrated fir Richard Stele, was turned out of the
Bfitiih house of commons in this manner, by the tories
in the reign of queen Anne ; and Mr. Wilkes, in the
reign of the present British tyrant, was expelled the
ho^fe of commons on a firing of charges, every one of
which considered separately, was believed to be falfe or
frivolous by a great majority of the house, yet such
was the effect of taking things in the lump, that he
was expelled because the different minorities upon the
Several points joining together, formed a majority on
the whole.
The third article of dissent contains a jumble of faffs,
parti lly and untruely Bated, and assured us that,
even the request of a man in power, tho' made in
^he mod humble manner, in effect destroys the reedom
of€le ftions. Taking it for granted that such request had
been made by Some of the militia officers, which never
was proved ; f would aik the honorable proteßors where
they found this law, or who gave them the power of
creating new laws?
There is no law exiting which precludes a man in
office, whether in the militia or out of it, from mixing
with his fellow citizens, and using his influence at an
ehdion, and the house of commons in England, when
th^y undertook to declare new laws by their votes in
the case of Mr. Wilkes, gave an alarm to all the friends
of liberty in the British empire. It is enough for good
citizens to comply with the laws in being; they are not
to be tried by maxims unheard of till after the tranf
a&ion were over: after all, if the honorable proteflors had
even the power of enabling laws, that would be a hor
rid law indeed, which ffiould preclude militia officers
from the common rights of citizens!
The protestors detl re in the close of the protest that
they retired from the board because the vote was car
ried for confidently the charges separately : the board
adopted the only mode that could possibly be pur
sued for the attainment of justice, and the honourable
protestors were so extremely angry at the resolution
that they left their feats for that re^fon,and have appeal
ed to the world.
Whenever the people of this or any ctber state, Shall
come to adopt the principle held forth by these hon
ourable gentlemen, of judging upon charges in the
lump without Separating, and consequently without
examining them they will fink into a Bate of th@ mod
horrid injustice and tyranny : parties will often take
place in a commonwealth, and if the prevailing party
ffiall here her be fuffered to decide upon charges in the
lump, without a minuter examination, no man will be
fafe; but every one in his turn will be exposed to that
blind and bloody rage, which heretofore animated our
ancestors in England, during the contentions between
the red rose and the white, and under the wicked reigns
of the Tudors and the Stuarts* AN OLD WHIG.
Dec. 4. The changes expected to take place are the
chancellor to go out with a pension, in addition to his
agreement, of loool* a year; lord Loughborough to
Succeed him, and enter the cabinet, were he is much
wanted, with a pension in reversion of 60001. a year,
if he is obliged to quit the seals ; Mr. Wallace to Suc
ceed lord Loughboroug; Mr. Mansfield to be attor
ney-general, and Mr. Macdonnald, foliciter-general.
lord George Germain will certainly go out.
'The good people of England, whether citizens, mer
chants, traders, members of corporations, freeholders
of counties, or others, cannot make too much hafle,
confident with good Speed, to assemble together, to
consult, deliberate, and resolve upon the proper modes
of addreffiag the throne, and infiruHing their repre
sentatives concerning the present alarming state of
their affairs, before it be too late, when all applications
of that kind will be fruitlefs and hopeless.
This is plain from the movements of the minister,
who is galloping post-haste to obtain the Supplies, by
rash and unadvised votes of the house, which he means
thereby to tie down to all his pernicious measures and
moonshine Schemes, by the cant word of parliament
pledging itfelf to do so, by voting an address, voting
a Supply, &c. &c.
It becomes therefore highly necessary for the peo
ple to inftrud their representatives on this momenta
O N D
“ Parliament has voted immense Sums for the Service
of the navy. If these Sums have been wifely, ufefully
and effectually applied, I (hall be the firft man to pro
pose public marks of applause to be conferred on the
officer, whoever he be, that was intru fted with the ex
ecution of this department, has in this manner attained
the public wishes. But if, on the contrary, it Shall
appear, that these immense Sums have been voted in
vain; that partly diverted, or wholly misapplied, they
have been loft by ths nation, which has derived no use,
nor collected no fruits from them, except such as are
Shameful; then when the guilty Shall be discovered to
attempt to Shelter such wretches from the Scourge of
justice, would be to commit an outrage on justice her
felf: Let them be delivered up to all her Severity!
" This enquiry, on the part of parliament, is a du
ty which the nation has a right to call upon parliament
to fulfil. The people pressed down with the burden
of taxes, furnifh with difficulty, arid by an oppressive
diminution of the means offubfiftena*, the Sums grant
ed for the Support of the fleet, have a right to call for
an account of the use made of their money, it will
be a Satisfaction to inform them by mea. s of this en
quiry, that they have not vainly trusted the Sweat of
their brows, the trice of their labours to government,
that the befl possible use has been made of their hard
ly earned contributions. But if otherwise, that the chas
tisement of the guilty, while it consoles the people,
may have an exemplary effect on those who Succeed the
offenders in effice, and thus public affairs may here
after be better conduced.
ons point, before they go too far to retreat with honour
and prudence, to pledge themselves and the people too,
to the will and pleasure of a rapacious, extravagant,
and indolent minifler.
HOUSE of COMMONS, Friday Nov. 30, 1781.
Mr. Minchin made a long Speech, introductory to
Sundry motions concerning the marine, to the fol
lowing ett>R:
"I^ ' design being to open the business upon the
' ar ^ e " ground possible, in order to a firia
encuiry ; I am of course obliged to call for
a great number of public papers. To prevent confu
fion, I Shall range those papers under their different ti
tles or heads, and begin by asking for those which
naturally present themselves firA in order, and then
for those which will eafl light on the sirs lmotion.
These willdead us to fee where we are to ota the en.
quiry ; who deserves to be punished for trie decay,
ihaftion and mismanagement ino which our marine is
fallen. Afterwards,! Shall propose a committee to ex
amine these papers, and if I have the honour to be a
member of this committee, I declare beforehand, that
I with that the enquiry be carried on with the greatest
candour; with all the impartiality that can be ex
pected, from a man, who is rather disposed to pay the
tribute of praise, where it is due, than to rail against
any who Shall be found negligent.
" If it were necessary to prove by reasons, I do not
fay the utility, but the in'difpenfable nature of the en
quiry which I propose, how many powerful motives,
more preffi^g one than another, offer themselves at
the fame time. Of all the 'confederations which must
Strike the house o' commons, I Shall however mention
one only. A noble lord of the admiralty (lord Mul
grave) has acknowledged here, before all' the honour
able members who hear me Speak, that our marine is
not only inferior to that of the house of Bourbon, but
even to that of France singly : adding that whenever
this last power turned all her efforts towards her sea
force, it was impossible for England to contend with
her. Here you fee our inferiority is acknowledged.
Let us enquire if this be necessarily so, and if it be red
ly true that though we have heretofore, yet at present
we are not able to contend with France, because She di
re&s all her efforts towards her marine. This is what
I greatly doubt ; it is what no one will believe ; the no
ble lord himfelf does not think so.
“ Our inferiority is but too certain ; yet it is not of
necessity. I am perfectly convinced, that if the ma
nagement of our marine was put into other hands to
morrow, we Should quickly be in a condition to make
head not only against France, but Spain and all our ene
mies. Besides he who asserts too much, ' proves nothing.
Is it not precisely true that the : avy of France alone is
Superior to ours. If we reckon vessels from 50 guns
down to sloops cf war, we have to for one. As to Ships
of the line, I think my lifts are exact ; f have made
them out with great care, and whatever may be Said of
the lifts which appear from time to time in the news
papers, whether national or foreign, I believe it will
not be easy to contradict me when I lay it down as a
faC tthat we have only ygfail of the line in proper con
dition and actual Service. France has only 76. It will
doubtless be large allowance if we confide, those of
Spain as 57, to which we have only the 3 beyond the
fleet of France to oppose. But while I Speak, we have
been very forward in building or repair about 6 for one
French or Spanish Ships. The mifehief therefore is not
absolutely and irrecoverably in the inferiority of num
ber. It lies in the vice of the administration, in thedif
couragement which deprives us of our best officers and
the prime of our sailors. The noble lord who labours
to juftify the admiralty, and the firft commissioner in
particular, has told us among other things, that since
the direction of our marine has been in the hands of
lord Sandwich, it has been considerably, improved,
and is at present on a much Superior footing, to what
it was when lord Hawke left the ! oard. This asserti
on I take the liberty to deny; and to prove to the
house how ili founded it is, I Shall present a picture,
of our naval Strength, compound ; such as they now are
in 1781, and such as they were under lord Hawke in $
i77°> (here he produced a comparative state of each.)
At present we have 79 Ships of the line, in 1770 we
had 80. Thus after the tons of gold we have Spent du
ring it years, in hopes and with expreU design to aug
' I begin then by propofingthat a committee be ap
po n'ed to make this enquiry; but in order to remove
arrobjeftion which may be m?de to a public difeuffien
of these delicate fubjeds, as it may reveal to a danger
ous degree to our enemies, many circumstances, and
fads, of which they ought to he kept ignorant, I wish
that this committee be a Secret one.
The honourable DAVID RAMSEY, esquire, late
ly appointed a delegate in congrefa for the state of
South-Carolina, arrived here on Thursday last from
that quarter.
The general assembly of South Carolina finished a
session of five weeks on the 26th of February, in which
they tranfaaed a variety of important business with
great unanimity- They have adopted such vigorous
and effedual methods for completing their continental
battalions, that, in all probability, they will have their
full quota in the field by the firff of May. During
the republican government, before the Surrender of
Charleftown, the friends of his Britannic majesty were
allowed to depart the state, and to fell or remove with,
them the whole of their property ; but the Savage man
ner in which the British have carried onthe war, in
burning houses, plundering the inhabitants, laying
waste the country; and especially the precedent of lord
Cornwallis, who by proclamation sequestered the pro
perty of flie friends of America, have at length indu
ced the legislature of that state to depart from their firft
plan, and to retaliate on British property. They ac
cordingly passed an aft for the confiscation and im
mediate tale of the estates, both real and personal, of
such of the adherents to royal government, as had been
<active in their endeavours to re-eftablifli British tyran
ny on the ruins of rhe free constitution of the country.
Though this business was begun, carried on and com
pleted with the greatest deliberation, within 36 miles of
Charleftown, yet general Leslie attempted nothing more
for the relief of his friends, than to retail in every
gazette a proclamation, which promised them ample
Security and protection, and threatned Severe venge
ance on all who took part in the Second usurpation.
The RoyalG zette which contained this proclamation,
had also on the fame page a lift of the persons whole
estates were confifcatrd by the rebel assembly.
A considerable force of cavalry and infantry com
manded by colonel Thomson, Sallied put from Charlef
town on the fide opposite to the encampment of tl,econti
nental army,which Surprized and dispersed a pa„ r tyof mi
litia and state troops On the 24th and 25th of February.
Major Eenfon, of colonel Horry's corps, and Mr.
Thos. Braughton were killed, and ten others were kill
ed and wounded. A number of horses were I@fl, and
baggage of Several officers takeh. The British retreated
within their lines before general Greene could fend re
inforcements to attack them.
The above are prizes to the fuccefsfu.l and sass failing
cruizer Fair American, captain Neal.
" That the commissioners, flore-keepers, master Ship
rights, mailer rope-makers, and fail-makers of the pub
lic yards at Portsmouth and Plymouth, prepare exaCt
and circumstantial accounts of all materials whatever
used in their respective departments, (Specifying the
number quality and value) between the firft of October
1780, and the firft of OCtober 1781, together with a
particular account of the works which have been be
gan or finifheJ, and of the expences of th^m within the
12 months aforementioned."
Mr. Minchin was opposed by Mr. Penton, one of
the commissioners of the admiralty, wh* let forth the
mifehief which would ensue from such accounts
being layed before the house, by disclosing to the ene
my the inside of our naval affairs. Lord Mulgrave
also rose against the motions of Mr. Minchin, who
thought it better to withdraw his motions, than to
rifque a negative. :
Prizes sent in since our last.
N 8 W-Y OR K, March 23.
The Ship Mercury pierced for 22 guns, laden with
140 puncheons of rum, and 40 pipes of wine, bound
from Newbury Port for Philadelphia.
A brigantine with wine aud Spermaceti candles frora
the eastward for Philadelphia.
On Sunday the loth inflant, the Ship Mercury, capt.
Thomas (or captain Martin) with ten 6, and four 2,
pounders, laden with fait, oil and rum, bound from
Newbury Port to Baltimore, by his majesty's Ship
Pandora, ,captain Inglis, who drove ashore a brigantine
to the Southward of cape Henry, She seemed to be bound
into Chefeapea k, his majesty's Ships Warwick and Mar
garetta were in fight.
On Monday the 11th inflant his majefly's Ship San
ta Margaretta, took the Sloop Portnoy al, laden with
tobacco and tar,the Warwick and^Pandora in company.
On Wednesday thf 13th, his majesty's Ship Ada
mant took the Sloop Superb, laden with dry goods
for Baltimore, the Warwick, Margaretta, and Pandora
in fight. • —-
meat our navy, we have the vexation to fee by this lift
that we have lessened our number during that time.
For the 80 of lord Hawke are indisputable, and of the
79 which our present lifts exhibit, it is notorious that
9 are unfit for service, and that these wormeaten Ike
litons are only kept afloat to Swell the lift. This is all
the use they are, cf, or we can ever expert from them. 1
have seen this lift carried up to 104, and many are Sim
ple enough to believe it, insomuch that the expence
they are at in publishing these lifts, is not quite thrown
away. Unfortunately, our enemies have lifts that are
more certain, and are quickfighted enough to difeover
at the foot of these formidable lifts the damp of the ad
miralty"
Mr. Minchin concluded by reading his five motions,lf
you know the firft, you will know them all. The others
apply to the fllip-yards of Sheerness, Chatham, Dept
ford and Woolwich.
A number of transports h^d arrived in the latter end
of February at Charlefiown, which gave rife' to vari
ous conjectures, and induc'd many to flatter themselves
with a belief that the evacuation of that important poll
was intended. This was confidently asserted both with
in and without the British lines.
The Rover privateeer of four carriage guns and
182 barrels of flour, was boarded and captured near
St. Helena, found, on her way from Providence to
Charleßq,wn on thezift of February by a party of mi
litia, headed by captain Jenkins. Letters on board
mention, that, the people of Providence daily expected
a visit from the Spaniards, and that they had Sent to
Chaileftown for reinforcen euts. This firft prize since
there-establishment of American government, wash-
Philadelphia, March 30.