The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1779-02-23 00:00:00, page 2

ROM li, Oflaber so
in ARDINAL Caetano Fantozzi, who was created
in 1758 by Pope Clement XIII. died here last Thurf
dav.
eetrforgb, 01. 6. Saturday being the Anniversary
of the Empress's Coronation, her Imperial Majesty was
complimented in the morning, and the day concluded with
a ball. On this occasion Mons. Michaelson was railed to
the rank of Major General, and invested with the order of
St. Alexander. The Ccuntefs Romanzow, mother to the
Marfh.il, was appointed Grande Gouvernante. Several
ribbons of St. Ann were given away, and feur new Gen
tilhommes de la Chambre were made.
Vienna, OR. 17. The Pru ffian Lieutenant-General de
Wunfch remains Rill in his Camp behind Ruckers. The
army under the King of Prbffia has not yet entirely quit
ted their Camp behind Schatzlar; by thelaft accounts on
ly a part had gone into Silesia; but the greatest part of
their artillery has been transported thither,
P^rj, Oft. 19. Itis said that the Empress of Ruffa has
wrote to Madame Denis, Mr. Voltaite's niece, to request
of her to fell his library, and particularly the notes he
ina, have made on different works, to her Majesty. Ma
dame Denis answered the Empress, that she esteemed the
library and manuTripts of her uncE among the most valu
able of all he had left her, and had determined to keep
them all her life, but that she should be particularly happy
to be able to offer arty thing to so great a Princess that
could be agreeable to her. '/
St James's, 01. 31. The King has been pleased to
appoint Ge L >rd Viscount Stormont to be his Majesty's
Joffice-General, in Scotland, in the room of Charles
Duke of Queeniberry, deceased.
(don^elt, (Ireland) 09. zz. The cavalry camp near
this to^n broke up yeflerday, and the troops marched to
their different quarters.
Confldntivople, Sett. 17. On the 4th of this month a
fire broke out in the quarter of the Schifmatich Greeks,
which lasted 13 hours, and burnt >OOO houses belonging
to those Greeks, zoo belonging to the Catholics, and 1 oco
Turkilh Ihops and boufes, with four Mosques, and it cost
-he Patriarchs 7000 piaftres to save the Church of St.
•Matthias.
L O N DO N.
Olober 31. Yesterday Gvermor Johnftone helda con
ference with the Lords North and Weymouth, at the
breaking-up of the Drawing-Room; and after the above
Noblemen had tranfa&ed their business with his Majesty,
the Governor was conducted to a private audience in the
Cbfet, which detained the King at St. James's till after
three o'clock.
There is certainly a difference of very serious nature
between Admiral K and one of his Flag Officers,
which it is said will speedily undergo an official inveftiga
'tion.
TheAttorney-General of the Kingdom of Ireland (Mr.
Scott,) is now over in England, and, as it is conjectured,
on matters of national importance.
Letters from Madrid mention, that two Spanish frigates,
out upon a cruize, had taken and carried into Carthagena
. a Swedish ship, witli warlike stores, sent by the Court of
Stockholm as a present to the Dey of Algiers.
Orders are given from the Admiralty Office for the men
of war which are destined for the East-Indies and the
Mediterranean, to rendezvous as faft as possible, the for
mer at Plymouth, and the latter at Spithead.
TheSynod of Dumfries met on the 20th instant, and
appointed a solemn faft on the firft Thursday of Decem
ber on account of abounding fin, and the present melan
choly state of public affairs.
Yesterday feme d'ifpatches were brought to Lord Wey
mouth's Office from the Hon. Robert Walpole, Esq. his
Majesty's Ambassador at the Court ofLifbon, which are
to be laid before the Privy Council.
The lame day some dispatches were brought to Lord
Weymouth's Office from Paris, which were forwarded by
a Messenger to his Majesty at Kew.
The fame day at noon his Majesty fat out from Kew to
review the troops encamped on Coxheath, accompanied by
the Queen, and they are expected to return to theQueen's
palace to-morrow evening.
Exirafi of a letter from the Hague, Olober 27.
“ Last Saturday morning a deputation of the Merchants
of Amderdam, composed of 32 members, waited upon the
Prince Stakeholder, and by word of mouth, represented
to him their grievances and complaints with regard to the
fufferings of their trade and flapping by the Engliili, &c.
From the Prince they went to the Grand Penfionary, Mr.
de Bleyfwyk, to whom they made the fame representa
tion ; they then went to theGreffier, Mr. Fagel, to whom
they delivered a Petition, to belaid before the States Ge
neral, in which they requeued a speedy and efficacious
protection of their trade, and the reimbursement of all
the damages and losses they have sustained by the English
since the year 1,34 to the present time. We do not know
what answer, or whether any was returned to this extrava
gant demand.
“ The mail of'the 20th of October, which arrived the
morning before yesterday, is said to have brought to the
States General a letter from Count Welderen, their Am
baffader at the Court of London, written to that Minister
by Lord Suffolk, in answer to the Memorial which he pre
sented to the English Government refecting the com
plaints of the Merchants of this Country, dec. The a
bovementioned letter, which was read yesterday morning
in the Afferhbly of their High Mightinesses, is written in
the most moderate 'and favourable stile, and repeats
What the Britifli Minifier had declared to them before;
and further, that the King of Great-Britaim offers to pur
chase the cargoes of'ammunition and warlike stores with
which the Dutch (hips brought into his ports are loaded,
and to pay their owners for them, indemnifying them at
the fame time for their expences, even the freight, &c.
“ It is said, that the French Ambassador had a con
ference this morning with the States General, in which he
presented a Memorial to their High Mightinesses, of
which most people are anxious to know the purport, par
ticularly in the present circumstances."
Extra! of a letter from Paris, Olober 12.
“ Public prayers have been put up by the Jewifa na
tion in all the Synagogues of this kingdom, for the happy
delivery of our august Queen; among these different pray
ers, that of the Synagogue of Metz is remarkable, and
begins thus ;
" "Sovereign Master of the Universe, God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob! O thou, whose infinite goodness has
ever protested us in the days of our humiliation and mise
ry, by affording us a place of refuge in the dominions of
those glorious French Monarchs, whose sublime Throne
was always the asylum of the unfortunate, and the scourge
of the creel prosecutors! Almighty God, vouchfafe to
lend a favourable ear to the prayers of thy people, dictated
by zeal and gratitude, for the most august, and the most
excellent pair that have ever appeared among the Sove
reigns of the children of men, Ac."
Extra! cfa Letter from Edinburgh, dated September 25.
“ We mentioned in cur last, that an unhappy
raifunderftanding had arisen in Lord Seaforth's High
land regiment, and that near five hundred of the pri
vate men, in place of embarking at Leith on Tues
day, had gone off, and taken possession of a high hill
in the neighbourhood of this city, called Arthur's feat.
Besides their reasons of complaints mentioned in our
last, these men had got a notion, that they were fold
to the East India Company. The inhabitants of this
city, many of whom are Highlanders, liberally sup
plied their countrymen upon the hill with provisions
and drink. On Wednesday morning General Skene
went up to them, and promised to pay any arrears,
enliftiog money, &c. that might be found duetothem,
and to redrels their grievances, and pass over in ob
livion all that had happened, if they would embark.
This seemed at firft to have some weight with them;
bat some officious persons who were on the hill, per
suaded them that the whole was a deception to in
veigle them on board.
On Wednesday and Thursday several messages pas
sed between General Skene and his men. They were
alfa visited by the General, Lord Dunmore, Lord
M'Donald, and several other noblemen, gentlemen,
and clergy, who endeavoured to sooth them.
ANTIGU A, December 10.
Copies of I.ETTERS from the Rebel Agent to our
Governor, with His Excellency's spirited answer.
July 3d, 1778.
SIR,
fl Principle of duty leads me to make a proposal to you
jh f° r fettling a cartel for the mutual exchange of Bri
tifli and American Prisoners,
As the feat of your government is likewise the rendez
vous of the Britifli fleet, and as most of our prisoners are
carried into Antigua, I am induced to make an application
to you before I address myfelf to any other of his Britan
nic Majesty's Governors in the windward Ulands.
I think it would be doing you great injufiice to suppose
that I should not find in you a ready difpefition to com
ply with my request, as the advantages refusing from
your compliance will be-in every refpe& reciprocal, as it
will tend to lessen the calamities of war, the operations of
wsieh should be always accompanied with humanity, and
as it is Rating in conformity to the rules and practice of
all civilized nations.
Upon the firft notice of your acquiescence, I will do my=
felf the honor of pointing out what I think may be .the
properest mode of fettling the exchange, or will be happy
to concur in any that you may propose, which may be
thought just and equitable.
I have the honor to be, with the greatest refpeft,
Your Excellency's most obedient
And very humble servant,
Signed Wm. BINGHAM,
Agent for the United States of America,
in the Weft-Indies.
tniliam Mattbeiv Burt, Esquire.
St. Pierre, Martinique, Oft. 15, 1778.
S I R,
THave already done myfelf the honor of addressing your
_ Excellency on the funjeß of the present letter, and the
indifference with which you at that time treated it, has
not altogether difeouraged me from renewing the applica
tion.
I sincerely lament your want of sensibility, if upon con
sidering the nature of it and consulting your own feelings,
they do not inform you that I must have fuffered less than
you did, from the inattention you were pleased to pay it ;
as the purport of it was to promote an exchange of priso
ners upon a plan of perfect equality and reciprocal advan
tage; an obje& mutually interesting, and which I had
reason to expert you would have freely concurred in, as
it would tend to mitigate the calamities of war and allevi
ate the distresses of unfortunate men, whose fufferings have
a claim upon their country's pity. However, my fur
prize at not receiving an answer from you was much les
sened, when I reflected on the uniform difpefition of the
Britilh government towards the Americans, and the con
tempt of them, approaching to insolence, which has been
displayed in all the military enter.prizes of their troops,
and which has hitherto formed the distinguishing charac
ter of their forces in America. Indeed, Britifli Generals
and Governors have so far forgot the interests of their
country in its resentment?, as oftentimes to refufe to lis
ten to proposals which it was really advantageous for them
to accept, from an affected impropriety of treating with
rebels ; a name dignified by being applied to an American.
However, you may at present draw some degree of conso
lation from considering, that the defers of the British go
vernment in regard to America having arrived at their ul
timate point of folly, their affairs seem returning in aeon
trary direction. A perseverance in the fame line of con
dud and ineffectual resentment is no longer thought ad
visable. The history of their misfortunes has taught
them a lesson of moderation which the example of the
Americans in the midst of their successes has no less for
cibly inculcated. Hence, that vindictive spirit towards
them, so strikingly observable in all the measures of the
civil and military government of Great-Britain, seems
wifely to have given way to a more mild and temperate
fyflem, and overtures of reconciliation through Commis
sioners, to have fuccceded to unavailing threats of uncon
ditional submission.
With theft favorable appearancesof 2 return to reason,
I think I may with some profpe& of faccefs renew my
proposal for the eftablilhing a cartel for the relief and ex
change of such prisoners as may be taken and carried into
any of the Inlands under your Government, for an equal
number of such as the chance of war may throw into the
hands of the Americans, and may be under confinement
in this place.
[ have an additional reason to believe that you will
not reject the proposal, as at present there can be no im
propriety in your acquiescence, and as the practice is
founded on immemorial custom betwixt belligerent
Powers.
I have heard, and the facts seem to be well authenti
cated, that many of our prisoners have received unneces
sary severity in the English fflands- that many of them
have fuffered a peculiar kind of punilliment, which only
an imagination ingenious in torture 'could have invented,
that of being forcibly embarked on board of armed vessels
and compelled to tight again ft their friends and country
men. Others have been sent to England to languifh'
in imprisonment. A considerable number that have been
taken on board of English prizes and brought into this
port, have confirmed one part of the melancholy detail,
by solemnly declaring, that they were forced to enter into
the service of the enemy, from a dread cf fuffering every
possible calamity that a fiate of captivity is expoled to.
It is an error in judgment to believe, that the diftreN
fes ofthefe men will have any eff^Et in changing their
opinions, by subduing the firmnefs of their minds ; for
having a Religious affection for the cause they are engag
ed in, their attachment for it will increase ia proportion
to their fufferrogs and persecution.
This cruel treatment is a reproach upon your national
character, which for the honor of humanity should be'
recorded against you to a proverb. However confor
mable it may have been to the views of.an unthinking
Legislature, it must be attended with very serious conse
quences, as the Americans have actually in their pos
session a great number of English prisoners, on whom the
lex talioms may be exercised with the flri&efl justice,
and the greatest rigor.
Should your Excellency acquiesce in the proposal I
now make to you, 1 would wifli that the prisoners should
partake of the benefit of it as fcca as possible. The
distress that they must be exposers to from confinement
in a warm climate, and the a£lual scarcity of provisions,
should prompt a generous and humane mind to alleviate
their (offerings by shortening the duration of them; for
which purpose, I would propose that the prisoners should
be reciprocally sent forward for an exchange, as four , as
they may arrive, and receipts mutually taken for their
delivery, in order to determine their exa& number.
I have the honor to be, with perfect refped,
Your Excellency's most obedient humble fervent
Signed WILLIAM BINGHAM,
Agent for the United States of America,
in the Weft-Indies,
His Excellency William Matthew Burt. Esquire,
Governor of the .Bland of Antigua, &c.
A LETTER signed William Bingham, Agent for the
United States of America in the Weft-Indies, has
been handed to me ; it is below even contempt ; but the
audacity and ignorance of this writer in desiring a Gover
nor cf his Britannic Majesty my Royal and gracious Mas
ter. and Sovereign of America, to fettle a cartel with him
refilling in Martinique, for the exchange of prisoners car
ried to that island, surpasses the wildest imagination, and
can be the result of nothing but madness and the darkest
ignorance; I shall immediately transmit this insult offered
t® the Marquis de Boullie, his Most Christian Majesty's
Governor, to him. 'Tis the Marquis de B^ullie alone wild
has a power to fettle a cartel for Martinique ; hewillmot
fuffer the rebellious Rancor of William Bingham's male
volence to be extended to the loyal fubjeas of Mr. Ling
ham's King and Master.
Loyal fubjeßs are never cruel or ill treat prisoners ; but
remember if you presume to ill treat a finale loyal fubjeft
of the King your and my Mailer, the great humanity and
benevolence which has been extended in this government
to all the. deluded Americans shall be withdrawn.
Signed WILLIAM MATTHEW BURT.
St. Chriflopber, Nov. t, 1778,
WILLIAM BINGHAM, Esq;
SlP™' '""'' (Martinique) Nov, 15, r„s.
TO enter into a contest with you, how great soever
may be the provocation received, is disgracing the
spirit of revenge. If I was to give my name to the pub
lic I should make an apology for writing to^you, as the
letter that has given rife to my remarks has not fufficient
dignity to attrad my cenfure.—lt has appeared in a pub
lic Gazette, as if you were proud of your performance,
and let the world judge of its decency. Its vulgar lan
guage and incorrea style neither befpeaft the gentleman
nor the scholar. Whutpity that places of trust and con
fidence should be conferred on men of such weak judg
ment and illiberal manners. If your other letterson pub*
lie business are equally contemptible, your Adminiftratioii
must be a satire upon all government; your friends must
blulh at your ignorance, your enemies triumph in your
weakness.
a he pointed terms of the second letter addressed to you
by the Agent of Congress might perhaps have been often
five, but you must attribute them to the indecency of re
futing to answer the firft.lt did not juftify you in defeen
ding into the line of personal abuse. You should have con- ,
tfoverted the fads advanced in it, and endeavoured to
have proved them calumnies. And then, if you would
have indulged the emotions of resentment, you should
have done it with the spirit of a man, and in thelanguage
of a gentleman. But, if the narrowness of your education
and abilities damped all hopes of succeeding in that line,
as the affair regarded you in a public capacity, you should
have called together your Council, confeffed your weak
ness, and talceq their opinion. You might then have pre
served your reputation, and I would hot insult you by
faying, that the acknowledgment would have disgraced
your under Handing.
But the indecency of your letter is surpassed by its inhu
manity. To Ihew mercy to the miserable, is what the
laws of society, and the precepts of the gospel equally in
culcate, and I leave the impartial world to judge, whether
your fuffering our unhappy prisoners th perish in confine-