The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1779-05-01 00:00:00, page 2

From the Sr. James's Chronicle.
tybe following is a Copy of the Test prescribed io be taken
by the Roman Catholics in Ireland, by the late A 3 of
Parliament made in that C untry\
THE TEST.
I A. B. do take Almighty God, and his only Son Jesus
'Chrift, my Redeemer, to witness that I will be faithful,
an! bear true allegiance to our most gracious sovereign,
Kin. George the fnird, and him will defend to the ut
nioft of my power against a|l conspiracies and attempts
whatever that fhdl be made against his person, crown,
and li nity ; and I will do my utmost end^vour to dis
close and mike known to his Majesty, and his Heirs, all
treasons md traitorous conspiracies which may be formed
a^ainAT/un or them and Ido faithfully promise to main
tain, support and defend, to the utmost of my power, the
fucceffionof the Crown ip bis Majesty's family again 2
any person or persons whatsoever, hereby utterly renounc
ing end abjuring any obedience or allegiance unto the
person, taking upon himfelf the stile and title of the Prince
of Wales, in the life t ; me of his father, and who since his
de ith is Aid to have assumed the stile and title of King of
Great Britain and Ireland, by the name of Charles the
Third, and to any other person, claiming or pretending a
right to the Crown of these realms^
And I do (wear that I do reject and defect, as unchristian
and impious to believe, that it is lawful to murther or de-,
■ ftrey any person or perlons whatsoever,, for or under pre
tence of their being Hereticks, and also that unchristian
and impious principle, that ns faith is to be kept with He
reticks.
I further declare, that it is no article ofmy faith, and
that I do renounce, reject and abjure the opinion, that
Princes excommunicated by the Pepe and Council, or by
any authority of the See of Rome, or by any authority
whatsoever, may be deposed and furthered by their fub
je^s; or by any person whatsoever, and I do promise
that T will not hold, maintain or abet any such 'opinion,
contrary to What is expressed in this declaration.
And I do declare I do not believe that the Pope of Rhme,
or any other foreign Prince, Prelate, State or Potentate,
hat or ought to have any temporal or civil jurifdi&ion,
power, superiority or pre eminence, directly or indiredly,
within this realm ; and I do solemnly, in the presence of
God, and of his only Son Jesus Christ my Redeemer, pre
fefs, teflify and declare, that I make this declaration, and
every part thereof, in the plain and ordinary sense of the
words of the oath, without any evasion or equivocation,
or m ntal reservation, whatsoever, and without any dif
penfdtion already granted by the Pope, or any authority
of the See of Rome, or any person whatever, and without
thinking I am or can be acquitted before God and Man,
or absolved of this declaration, or any part thereof, al
though the Pope, or any other person or persons, or autho
rity wuatfoever, shall dispense with or annul the fame, or
declare that it was null and void from the beginning.—so
help me God.
From the LONDON GENERAL ADVERTISER.
To the MEMBERS of the Minority, in both Houses
of Parliament.
OU R frail dependence on our fleets and armies, is
now no more. Our sea girt Ihores cannot long pro
test us. The bulwark totters; lend a friendly hand to
prop if, ere it falls. Arise, and make one glorious effort
to save your expiring country. The critical moment is
arrived, let it not pass in vain; lay aside all private pique,
all jealousies, ill little animosities, and, united in one firm
band, fly to the closet. Your prefenee there would strike
more terror to the fouls of guilty Ministers than thousands
of Frenchmen on our coasts. There plead, with energy,
old England's cause; probe deep the wound, and call the
culprits forth. Be the faviours of your country, and im
mortalize your names.i
Extra# oj a letter from Leeds in Yorffbire. Taken from a
late Englijb paper.-
" Whatever are the intentions of the Minifters' I will
not prteend to define; neither will T presume to prognos
ticate the future events of the present war : All that I in
tend by this, is to paint, in true characters, the fat I ef
fe&s which have arisen in this part from the pusillanimity
of the former, and, which has happened in consequence
thereof, the bad success and tardioefs of the latter, which,
if not prosecuted on a vigorous plan, must, in the end,
reduce this once flourishing nation to ruin and deftruftion.
“ Trade, in this part, hath already received a severe
shock, by the capture of the Duchess of Tufoany, a vessel
belonging to Hull, in this county, and bound up the
Straits, which was principally loaded with goods of our
manufactory, to the amount of at least 59,000!. property
of merchants here An accident of such magnitude as this
has thrown such a damp on the spirits of the merchants,
that none will dare to export, but rather fuffer what few
goods they have on hand to lay in their warehouses, and
wait the chance of home coufumption.
<' This accident, joined with other calamities which at
present rend this once happy country, has occasioned
great want of employ to many hundreds of induftrieus
manufacturers Every day prefects frefh feenes of distress;
and nothing else presents itfelf to the poor and laborious
manufacturer but war and famine.
" The only trade here that seems to flourifh, is that of
a foldierj the recruiting Serjeants have a right to rejoice
at the slackness of business ; for it is them that are reaping
benefits by th^ labourers distresses.
“ Miserable beyond description, and driven to the very
briak ofdeftruflion, through want of work, what can the
industrious do? Nothing presents itfelf but the fame woe
ful picture; and want, misery, and the present winter
feene, fill up the whole of this profpeft! What hope is left ?
None. Every day's frefh news is more unwelcome than
the past, and on y serves to add to the number who daily
wapder the streets for want of better employ. The dejec
tion in the countenance of the unemployed manufudurer
is not to be defcrioed ; the anxiety of his mind net to be
felt but by him who endures it.
“ Such, not with standing what has been asserted to the
contrary by the Ministerial Agents, is the true picture that
presents itfelf in tnis part. They assert trade fiourifhes.
I deny it. If it does, it is that of bribery and corruption,
and not that of the commercial part of tnis kingdom. Wo
be to them who firft promoted the American war !
BALTIMORE, April t 7.
T R E N T O N, April 28.
Extra# of a letters from Albany, April 17, 1779.
“ From the well ward we have certain accounts, that on
Sunday last, the ,-th instant, twelve Indians and two
tories came near Sir William Johnston's old house, and
took four prifopers, one of whom however luckily made
his escape, and fays their intention was to take two or
more principal inhabitants to gain intelligence, but they
miffed their aim. We hear they have killed two people
on their return, who endeavoured to escape their savage
hands."
We hear the Commissioners, who lately met at Amboy
to agree .upon a cartel for a general exchange of prisoners,
have broke up without fettling it.
At a Court of Oyer and Terminer held in Bergen county
nn the izth ult. William Cole apd Thomas Weicher, alias
Straw, were convi&ed of felony, and executed on Friday
the ninth inflant,
These are worthies by Mr. Robertson cf New-York, in
his Royal American Gazette of the < sth instant, called
loja/ifo. They were famous all over the country for rob
bery, house-breaking, pocket-picking and horse healing,
few so eminent in that vacation. Americans may perhaps
wonder, but they will please to know these are recom
mending qualifications in a loyalist.
On Saturday the ,7th instant, two of the militia of Ber
gen county, who in conjundion with fevegal others had
been out as a reconnoitring party, fufpefting from the
conduct of a boy they saw running in great haste towards
a house on the bank of Hudson's river, about a mile above
Wiehawk, that some of the inf mous gang o' robbers that
have for some time infefted this county and the neighbour
ing parts of the state of New-York, were concealed there,
advanced as faft as possible to the aufe ; one of them en
tered immediately and difeovered five or fix in the house,
several of whom had arms, and with admirable presence
of mind calling aloud to his companion as if a large party
had accompanied him, difeharge^ his market and killed
the chief of the gang on the spot. Retiring to load his
piece, the, rest of the villains took to their heels, but were
fired upon by him and his companion, by which one of
them was supposed to be wounded.
Friday last two f^ldiers were executed at Camp for de
sertion. Let such as are instrumental in debauching and
spiriting away the foldlers from their allegiance reflect on
their infamous condud; and let others be warned and on
their guard how they listen to their solicitations.
On Sund ly night the 28th ult. a party of about thirty
men, belonging to Lieut Col. Van Bufkirk's corps of to
ries and embodied refugees, stationed at Hoebuck, ' in the
county of Bergen, who came out as far as Clofier, for the
purpofeof Dealing horses and of robbing the inhabitants,
were attacked and put to flight by nine of the militia,
commanded by Lieut. J. Huyler, leaving their plunder
behind them, and one of their officers, the noted Peter
Myer, Ensign in Capt David Peak's company, dead on
the field. Another of their officers was wounded in the
arm, and the infamous Weart Banta, To notoriously known
for his complicated villainies, thefts and robberies, was
Shot through the knee, and i. is supposed will, by the am
putation of a limb, be disabled from kidnapping and plun
dering the loyal Subjects of this state in future
Tuesday last twenty-eight fail of square-rigged British
vessels put to sea from Sandy Hook.
We are told that the price of wheat, from the present
profpeft of very fine crops the ensuing season has fallen
Six Dollars per bushel ; and we have no doubt this cir
cumstance will operate forcibly with refpe& to importati
ons from abroad, as the French, Dutch, and other nati
ons, will be the more readily induced to corae to our mar
kets when they fad the produce of the country falling so
considerably.
" P. S. Within these few days, raft numbers of hands
have been discharged from the different work-shops in
Sheffield."
A large French ship from St. Domingo, and seven other
vessels from St. Euftatia, all richly laden, are arrived in
James River, Virginia.
Extra# of a letter from Washington County, in this State
dated the zotb infant.
" We have undoubted intelligence that the Indians,
about two weeksfince, rirurk the settlement on the Yeck
Glades, about ten or twelve miles within the State line.
It appears that, as five men were covering a cabin, they
were fired on, four were killed on the spot, the other
efeaped, and fays the number of the Indians was about 25,
A large body of Savages hath been difc©vered lurking
about the Horse Shoe Bottom, no doubt with hostile in
tentions."
A letter from St. Euftatia advises, that the celebrated
DoCtor Franklin, in behalfof the United States of America,
hath negotiated a loan of ten millions of Guilders, in Hol
land, France having geheroufly become counter security
for the re payment of the money, with interest. Since
this event became known irf the Weft-Indies, Continental
Loan Office Certificates have been looked on with wifhful
eyes, by the knowing ones.-—The letter-writer adds, that
those Certificates were taken at St. Euftatia, about the
laftof March, at four for one.—A Guilder is txd sterling.
The greatest exertions are making in the Eaflern States
to flrengthen General Waftiingtonrs army, and to defeat
the enemy's designs in that quarter.
Elizabeth Town, April 15, 1779.
SIR,
" I received your Excellency's letter of the 10th instant
this afternoon, and had an opportunity about an hour there
after, to fee a copy of it in the New-York American Ga
%e%te, together with mine of the 29th 6f March, which oc
casioned it. Your Excellency by these publications, com
pared with a certain passage in your letter, seems determi
ned to close our correspondence, by precluding me from a
reply. But by the laws of England, Sir, the best of which
we intended to adopt, leaving the rest to our old friends of
the realm) he who opens a cause, hath the privilegeof con
cluding it.,
“ It is the obfervatiou of foreigners, that America has
Shewn her superiority to Great-Britain, no less in the de
cency of her writings, th ain the success of her arms. I
have too great a refped for my native country, whatever
I ought to have for Sir Henry Clinton, 'to furnifh an in
fiance in contradiction of so honorable a remark.
“ Perhaps, Sir, you entertain too exalted an opinion of
your own importance, in deeming it a condefeenfon in you,
to apfwer a letter informing you, in the most inoffenfivo
terms, of an overture made Ly one of yotir General Offi
cer to have me assassinated. Alas, iiow many a hopeful
gentleman has been made giddy by a Star and Garter !
It had doubtless redounded more to your honour, and af
forded a Wronger argument of your abhorring such infa
mous measures, to have called upon me for the proofs, and
manifested a proper resentment against the criminal, than
to flourish about the capability of „ur foul, and to betray
a want of politeness, so unulual in persons of your rank,
and breeding; and that without any other provocation
than my complaining to you of the conduct of one under
your command, so repugnant to the law of arms, and the
sentiments of humanity.
“ That ,cw have a foul capable of harbouring so infamous
an idea as affaf/i nation, I was so far from intimating, that
I told you, I thought it highly improbable you foculd either
countenance, connive at, or be privy to, a defignfofangui
nory and^ifraceJul : And I remember that when I used
the word improbable, I had like to have said impofi^e ;
but t..at I was deterged, on recollecting numerous instan
ces, by the extreme difficulty cf precisely ascertaining the
utmost pofibifit, ®fßritilh cruelty. Whatever your foul
may be capable of, I liquid have ventured, before the re
ceipt of your letter, to have pronounced it impossible for
you to be capable of opprobrious language. How far Sir,
I am 1 ->w to believe rhis impofiibility, I leave you, in your
cooler moments, to determine.
“ How trying an exd soever yen may suppose would be
obtained by my assassination, you certainly thought my
capture, not long Since, important enough to make me a
principal obje& of what was, in a literal feiife, a very dir
ty expedition.'
“ What could 'induce you to fay that I beaded of the
power of being able to diftofe of ,our lij e , by means of inti
maars 0) min^, ready to murder at my command, lamat a
loss to epefs. Is there a word in my letter either about
your lite, or about murder ? Or is your Excellency so
haunted with the thoughts of murder, from a confeioufnefs
of Britifli barbarity, that you c.nnot write three para
graphs, without being flartled at the Shocking fpeftre?
And if there are any intimates in the case, how do you
know but that they are intimates of your own ? I told
you that your person was more in my power than 1 bad rea-
Jen to think you imagined. But is there no such thing as
one 'perfon's being in the power of another without mur
der ? Indeed, Sir, from this specimen of your inductions,
you ought to be a much better General than you .appear
to be a logician, or America need be under no apprehen
sions about her Independence, during your admir.i
firation.
“ As to your must not be troubled with any further cor
reftondence with Mr. Hvingfon,---believe me, Sir, that I
have not the least passion for interrupting your more ufe
ful correfpond,ence with the British Ministry, by which
the nation will doubtless be greatly edified, and which will
probably furnilh materials for the most authentic hiffory
of the present war; and that you cannot be less ambitious
of my correspondence than I am of your's ; beeaufe what
ever improvement I might hope to receive from you in the
art of war, and especially in the particular branches of
conducting (a) moon-tight retreats, and planning (b) Sec
ret expeditions ; I Should hot expeft, from our correspon
dence, any considerable edification or refinement, in the
epistolary way. I am therefore extremely willing to
terminate it, by wishing you a fafe voyage across the At
lantic, with the Singular glory of havij g attempted to re
duce to bondage, a people determined to be tree and inde
pendent. I am, Sir,
,Your Excellency's humble Servant,
WIL. LIVINGSTON.
His Excellency General 1
Sir Henry Clinton,
(a) Sir Henry informed the Ministry that in bis retreat
at Monmouth, be took the advantage of the moon-lights
when in reality be did not begin bis retreat till some hours
after the moon was set.
(b) It is remarkable that of all the Secret expeditions plan
ned by this Gentleman, face be has bad the chiej command of
the British army (and tbofe expeditions have been multifa
rious) not one 0) them has succeeded. It is therefore to be
prifumed that Great Britain proftefa to obtain, by bis Ge
neratfoife, a most untrifling end.
XMM^WX^X^^MX^^
WHEREAS the fubferiber stands in
debted by bond in the Sum of Sixty Pounds to
Mrs. Ann Clay, of Newcastle, and hath at sundry times
attempted payment, by making her a tender of the sum
aforefaid, which She as repeatedly refufed;and upon my
last application to her for that purpose, She assured me
that She had assigned over her ri^ht to the fame to some
other person, whose name file refutes to make known to
me. These are therefore to inform the person er per
sons to whom such alignment may be made, that if the
bond and papers relative thereto are not produced, and
a demand of the debt made, at or before the tenth day
of June next, that I design td pay the fame into the
hands of the Treasurer appointed by Law to receive
debts forfeited in like mar ner.
April 20. FRANCIS MOORE.
To be LETerSOLD,
And may be entered on immediately,
A COMMODIOUS TANYARD, with a
dwelling-house, garden, orchard, arid paftuie
ground, situate in the Northern Liberties, about three
miles from Philadelphia. Any person inclining to rent
or purchase, by enquiring of the Printer may be further
informed.
Best Clayed S UGA R S,
In hogsheads and barrels, to be SOLD by
JOHN B E NEZ ET.
Who continues to give the very highest price for Bille
on the Ceinmiffioners at Paris, for inteieft due on
Loan-Office Certificates.
WANTE D,
AN APPRENTICE to the Silver-smiths busi
ness. Enquire of John Murdoch, in Front
ftreet, below the Drawbridge.