The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1780-08-26 00:00:00, page 2

fifefy both in coming to and going from the House, and
had lifter. ato what'they (aid. Their chief argument
was, " N^Ppry! we fllid be burnt; no more bon-
; r sio Smidifi IViet ns have the Protestant religion, and
Ictus have peace!" He added, that he looked in the fa
ces of t. of. who uttered thee femiments, and he saw evi
dent marks of sincerity in their countenances ; he (aw
that the people (from what motive he would not under
take to fay) believed What they said, and afted from that
convi&ion. It behoved government therefore to cop
duh themselves with prudence, to distinguish between the
efforts of religious opinion, however ill directed, howe
ver eroneou<, and the violence of ill-intentioned men.
Let them not madly have recourse to the cutting knife ;
having the law in their power, and at their will, let them
life it with caution, and at any rate, accompany it with
such other measures as would th p w a liberality @f (enti
rrent, and an equal readintfs to enforce the claims of
just ce and to do what was right in compliance with the
wishes and petitions of the people. Prosecution however
rigorous, however certain of effe&, singly, would do
more harm than good , accompanied with other measures,
it would p'ove equally wife and effectual. There were
three subj &s under difeuffion, each easy to be embra
ced—the puniihment of the rioters, the repeal of the Que
bec Aft, and the regulation of the Police of Weftminftet!
Take t em up together, and there could be no doubt of
producing all that Lbtr, confederate politicians could with
for under the present circumfiances!
The Dukeof Manchester (aid, he was not in the
House when the noble Lord at the head of the Council
opened the debate; lie wished therefore to have some lit
tle explanation of the weeding of it. The term " extra
^p was very extensive, he Ihould be glad therefore to
know what fort of fads, government dtfigned to take
notice of, and what those ind laments were, which the no
ble Lord had talked of. Were the poor deluded people
who hallowed out in the streets, " no Popery," to be
prosecuted on indictments for capital felony, or in what
manner were they to be proceeded against ?
The Lord President said, he would readily fatisfy the
noble Duke ; that those persons who were apprehended in
t^e Sardinian Ambassador's chapel, in Duke fireet,
Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the very ad of setting fire to the
wainfeot and such parts of it as they could not remove
into the Greet, being apprehended in the sass of commit
ting capital ft lony, would be proceeded against according-
Ip.l p . And others, just as, upon the examination of wit
nesses, and aste evidence went, it sh uld appear pro
per, but that it was not the intention of governm lit to
proferute those, who wearing blue cockades, had mere y
joined or made a part of the mob, and called out " No
Popery, &c." That it would b beneath the dignity of
government to institute any such prosecutions, and he
most certainly, for one, should have advised to the con
trary, had any person in the Council hinted at such an
idea.
The Duke of Manchester said a few words and de
clared no one of their Lordships, was more an enemy to
such licentious proceedings as those of the day before,
than be was, he only willed that government mi^ht ad
with that caution which ought to govern every judicial
proceeding, and not give occasion for any suspicion, that
they had been under the influence of daftardntfs during
rhe riot, and that now the danger was over, they were
aduated with rage for revenge. Mis Grace (aid, he should
certainly support the motion, because it appeared to him
exceedingly proper and indifpenfibly necessary.
The Marquis of Rockingham supported the motion
likewise, but fever 4y reprehended the inattention of Mi
niflers, who, having had the advertfement of Lord
George Gordon before their eyes, for some days, did
nut take ttf'eflr.al means for preventing the affembiing of
such a mob, as had infultcd their Lordships, and done so
much miLhief to the chapels of the foreign Ambaffi
dors. Tae Marquis said, every wife Siatefman always
pref erred a preventive to a remedy, and that the chief use
of the authority office gave, was to intervene in great ca
ses, and forerun mifehief. That when he was in office,
it had happened that while he was in the country, intel
ligence war brought him that a bell man of a neighbour
ing village had delivered hand bills about for a co fide
rable extent of country, summoning all perfens residing
in that dißriß, to me-t on an appointed day in the mar
ket pl .ce at P mtefrad, in order to prevent by force, the
price of corn from being railed. This intellignce was no
soon r given him,t ,an he rode seventeen miles from Went
w rth to a Justice of Peace who lived near the bellman,
and direfbd him immediately to issue his warrant for ap
pkehendhig the bchmm, and if it thonld appear on his
examination, that he bad delivered any such hand bills,
to commit him to York Castle. The Justice, the Mar
quis said, took his advice, and there was no mob; for
the moment they heard that the bellman, who had sum
moned them together, was in York Cable, they were af
fraid of being fentthere likewise, and therefore never
went to Pontefra&. The fame fort of conduct ought to
have obtained in this case. Lord George Gordon should
have been proceeded against, and his loud tongued-fol
lowers wou'd have been appalled. As a noble friend of
his had Rated, what he heard the mob fay, he would do
the fame: he had heard them cal! out " No Popery,"and
clapping his hand to his watch to secure it, he had felt
Several hands directed to it; it was pretty obvious there
fore what some of the mob came for. His Lordship did
not approve o' immediately repealing the Quebec Aft, be
cause be thought that Canada might not be in our hands
at the time that intelligence might arrive in Canada of the
repeal of it : Another Sessions it would be right to pro
ceed upon it. [The Duke cf Richmond here (hook his
head, and said, " by all means repeal it immediately."]
The Marquis declared, if it were possible to repeal it
mow, he certainly had no objection, but he thought it
wife to proceed mere immediately to other points. He
reprobated in most decisive terms, the willingaefs of Mini-
Rers to call out the Military, and said, when he was Mi
mifter, he always opposed it. That the Justices in York
shire, were repeatedly writing to him to that end, but
that he ufd cue general argument to dissuade them from
such a measure, and after a little time, he found no great
difficulty in putting an end toany farther application on
the (object. He commended the motion, but advised mo
deration in the use of the means government had in their
power.
The Duke of Richmond and other Lords having said
a great deal relative to Mr, Wright's declaration at the
bar, and his Grace having ebferved, that in jaftice to
that gentleman, it would be right to fend for him and
hear what he had to fay in his defence.
The Earl of Pembroke (who had been beckoned to
the bar by a person prefect at the debate, and informed,
that Mr. Wright was a gentleman of great honor and
integrity, and that he would be a; much above the mean
ness of Ratioga falfehood,as any one of their Lordfhips,and
having been further told, that shocked at what was said
about him, the person had sent for him, and that Mr.
Wright was then attending at the King's Arms Tavern,
expelling to be called) rose, and Rated to their Lord
-111 ps, that he had been credibly told, that Mr. Wright
was attending, and that there were two Mr. Wrights in
the Commission.
The Duke of Northumberland immediately in
formed the House, that there must, he apprehended be
some mistake, for that Mr. Wright who had been axa
mined the preceding day, was a very refpeaable and
worthy Magistrate, who had, on every occasion during
the time of his being in the commission, (in which he had
been for many years,) done great credit to himfelf, and
afTemiU service to the city of Westminster. His Grace
then went into an examination of the office of a Justice of
Peace for Wefiminßer, and shewed that it was an excee
ding tioublefome office; and that those who executed it,
got very little thanks for their pains. That, for this
reafan, it was impossible to persuade gentlemen of family
and fortune to undertake it, and that, notwithflanding the
popular prejudices to the contrary, if the House would
give themftlves the trouble to enquire into the characters
of many of the gentlemen now in the commission for
Westminster, they would find the greatest part of them
very liberal minded, honest, worthy men ; that every
pains had been taken both by him as Cufios Rotulorum
for Middlefexfeand by the gentlemen of the commission
tl emfelves, to extirpate and keep out of it, all doubtful
characters, and every individual who could stoop to dirty
practices. His Grace described the eftablifhmect and
re ulations of the different public offices in Westminster,
and particularly ihewed that the office in Litchfield street
was constituted on the most liberal pl«n. That the
gentlemen who fat there, afted without fee or reward to
themselves, and that the receipts upon warrants, &c were
appropriated solely to the difeharge of the rent of the
House, in which the office was held, and that the Magi
strates who attended there, never put afhilHng of the ge
neral receipt into their own pockets. His Grace also Ra
ted to the House that there were but about seventy fix
Cooßablei in Westminster, and had they been ail conve
ned the preceding day, they could not poffioly haveafted
with any effed against such a tremendous mob as were ix
the streets. Hs Grace concluded with repeating his en
comiums on Mr. Wright, and expressing a wiin, that he
might be sent for and heard in his defence.
An order was immediately made for the attendance of
Mr. Wright, and as the Lord President of the Council
had Rated, that Mr. Chamberlain, Solicitor to the
Treasury, was the person, who carried the orders to the
Magistrates from the firft Lord of the Treasury, a mes
senger was at the fame time difparched to him, that he
and Mr Wright might be confronted and heard at the
bar together.
The question was then put and carried Nairins Dfen
tientc.
BRUSSEL S, April 10, 17^0.
YIT HEN two or more nations announce to the rest of
" Europe that they are going to make a bloody the
atre, ail the fpeftators, whether indifferent or interefled,
calculate its duration according to the ideas they have of
the situation and firength of the belligtrant powers. We
almost conftan.ly flatter ourselves with an approaching
peace, but are often deceived by experience, because we
do not forefee all the obstacles, and because the operations
of war are not as easily executed as projected- At the
opening of the firft campaign between France and Eng
land, it was generally thought that one firoke would ter
minate the quarrel j that the English troops would be
driven from the continent of America, and that Gteat-
Britain was not in a condition to support the war above a
year. That haughty power, preserving the remembrance
of her glory and the hope of revenge, thought, on the
other hand, that the bare appearance of her fleets would
difperle a new created marine: She has found her miftuke.
At the opening of the second campaign the politicians
were all unanimous in presaging the fall of the British
empire and tne end of all its quarrels with the House of
Bouroon : It was threa:ened in every quarter and with the
most terrible efforts ; it has even experienced some con
siderable losses, and her pride has fuffered more than once
in the Weft Indies : But her courage has not abated, be
cause wind and fortune, by proteaing her commerce,
have given her sensible advantages over that of her ene
mies. And naw, contrary to expe&ation, we are at the
commencement of a third campaign, and our politics have
been twice deceived. It seems that all Europe is now
combined to put it out of the power of Great-13ritain to
continue the war; the fees on all sides either enterprizing
enemies, or concealed ones we fecre ly with her abase
ment: The powers upon whose alliance she counted most,
are the firlt to arm for the fuppprt of neutrality : After
this, we should have better foundation than ever to be
lieve, that notwithstanding the vigour of her constitution,
fixe is not in a condition to make head against such united
forces ; and could almost venture to assert that the mo
ment of reconciliation is not far distant,, did not the ex
perience of two years teach us to distrust our own judg
ment.
We know that the Court of Russia, far from manifeft
ing the smallest intention of assisting Great-Britain, has,
on the oth^r hand, ever since the commencement of the
present war, been incessant in making her the most serious
representations on her violent and arbitrary conduct with
reaped to the ships of neutral powers. The declaration
of the Czarina is founded on proper motives; she estab
lishes excellent general principles for neutral nations in
time of war. We there fee the invariable sentiments of
the august sovereign of all the Ruffias, for the protection
of her own fubjeds and the maintenance of the law of na
tions. They write from the Hague, that this declaration
will have great weight with the States General, and has
caused very agreeable sensations throughout the United
Provinces. The invitation she has given them to concur
with her and the other Northern powers, in all the mea
sures necessary to secure the navigation and commerce of
7g the Printer of the Pennsylvania Packet.
SIR,
I WILL be very much obliged to you for inserting
in your papers, the following extras from the anfwir of
the Court of France, to the late Justificative Memorial
of the Court of London. As it is impossible you should
publish the whole, (the original containing , no leh than
8% quarto pages) I have translated whkt parts efit I have
thought most important, and belt calculated to ihew the
noble candour and fimpiicity with which France opposes
plain fa&s, to the specious arguments, of a Court long
praftifed in the arts of mifreprefcntaiiGn and falfe ream
ing. X. Z.
ft '^ HE Court of London has jopublißied, under the
'f, title of a Jufijficative Memorial, a minifttrial .an.
fixer to toe expofttion of ths motives of th: Kng's con
du&, in relation to Gfeat-Britafar: If foppofed or mifee.-
presented faffs, if falfe or ill applied principles, frfophi
fir, and abuse are able to juftify the proceedings an f un
warrantable affections of Great Britain, it mufi be ac
knowledged that the English Min dry have performed
their talk with great success: But the impartial judges
to whom they have appealed, persuaded that t: e King
takes care of his honor, his reputation and his glory
will, no doubt, have suspended their judgment, till his
Majesty has either avowed or deßroyed the accusations
which they have allowed themselves to utter agarnft him.
The King would certainly have condemned to fiknee and
oblivion, all the errors and inve£hve°, which are the basis
of the defence of the King of Great-Briiain, and it is not
without the greatest reluctance, that his Majesty finds
himfelf obliged to call them back : He thinks however,
that to destroy them isa duty he owes to himfelf, in fia
ting the truth of the facts, and expofog ail the motives
and views by which his fleps have been direded. But the
King will take particular care not to imitate the Rile and
tone of the Court of London : As he will only (peak the
language of justice and reason, the Simplicity of his ex
pressions, will equal the moderation of his sentiments,
and he flatters himfelf, that the force of the truth he is
going to expose, will alone irrevocably fix the opinion of
all the powers. In the Memorial of the Court of Lon
don, the King is said to have forgot the faith of teaties,
the duties of an ally, and tie rights nf sovereigns, in or
der to employ himfelf solely to t e taking advantage of
circumflances, which feemtd to favour his arhbitiu^s pro
jefts : He has Degraded his dignity, by forming f-cr t
connexions with the Americans ; and after having exhaus
ted all the infamous resources of perfi iy and diffimu ati
on, he has dared to acknowledge the forerun treaty which
his Miniflers had signed with the obfeure Ag nt ' of the
Englilh colours. Such are the chief accu'ations which
the Court of London forms against toat of Versailles, In
o/der to enable the public to form a right judgment, it is
necessary to enter into the particulars of t. e King's con
duct to compare it with that of the Court of London, to
develope the principles by which both have been dir fled,
in fine, to destroy such fids as have been f^ppofed by
the British Ministry, to restore those they have altered,
and to mention those which they have thought proper to
omit : In a word, a canfe is going to be Brought to
truth, which interests all nations, and which the Court of
London has perverted in the mail grange manner.
All the powers of Europe are obliged to acknowledge
that the King has hitherto kept inviolably to the pacific
assurances he never cease to give them; and the King of
England might render this testimony better than any
other sovereign, because he has particular proofs of the
sincerity of his Majesty's wishes, for the prof ruing of th#
general peace, and because he must remember the repeat
ed Reps his Majesty has taken, to maintain the harmony
which subsisted between the Courts of Versailles and Lon
don. But that Prince, or rather his Miniflers, who have
their faults to conceal, have thought it much more con
venient to their views, their personal interest, and per
haps their fafety, to represent all his Majesty's fieps as so
many proofs of his perfidy, in accusing him to have fo
mented, supported, and completed the,revolution in Ame
rica, in reproaching him, his having taken advantage of
the circumstance which this fame revolution offered him,
to carry bis pretended ambitious projefb into execution.
In order that all nations to whom the King appeals, as
well as the Court of London, may be enabled to appreci
ate that catalpuge of pretended enormities the principles
will be faithfully exposed, by which the King's conduct
has been direded : It will be shewn with the most (crapu
lous exaftoefs, hew, when, in what circumflances, and
in what views his Majesty has formed a conoeaiou with
the United States of North America,
their fubjeas, has been received with (he most lively gra
titude. They are fatisn/d tart an armed neutrality, at
the head of which a power an formidable as Russia would
be, can alone prefer,ve them from Britßh spite and vex
ation : This news has animated their confidence, and we
are assured that they press with the utmoil activity the
intended augmentation of their marine.
According to the last advices from Portug I, it appears
that there is a very important negociaticn on foot at the
Court of Litton. Upon looking into the motions of the
cabinet, the activity of their armaments, and the levies
ordered to compieat their land forces, it may be presumed
that they are near declaring themselves, and that the
neutrality they profeffed in favor of England will soon
undergo some alteration. Commodore Johnflone, when
foe flopped at Lifbpn with his small squadron, was wufy
in negocia^ing armaments against the enemies of Great #
Britain; but the merchants of that capital who wish for
peace, saw with concern, that there were then seven pri
vateers fitted out under their eves by order of the Euglifh
Ministry, ready to fail from Lisbon : We are even assured
that the Courts of France and Spain, being informed of
this almost open infraction of the neutrality, have pressed
the Portuguese Minifler to explain himfelf precildy on
that fubje& : It is easy to fee that this explanation can
not be such a one as they wish for, without changing
the face of the politics of Portugal. The general opinion
is, that file will seize with pitafure this opportunity of
Ihaking off a heavy yoke, and will follow the example of
Holland.
All the merchants of Sweden and Denmark are incessant
in their felicitations to their Courts, for the proteaion
of their commerce in the course of the present war; and
we hear that they are busy in all the ports of these two
powers, in equipping the ships destined to convoy their
merchant vessels.