The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1779-06-12 00:00:00, page 2

perplexity wf proper names, of military terms, and foreign
phraseology It would pass over in silence the history of
little acquisitions, and petty obstacles. It leaves us to
deduce,the valour of the troops front their atchievements,
Lad the wisdom of the General from his dispositions.
With what do your dispatches present us? Not with acti
vity and enterprise, bet toe lazy pomp of preparation
Net wi % , the ruin of armies, and the c^queft of provinces,
'as you would have us to^ieve • buW&ith harmless ikir
miihes, partial and undecided actions, the burning of vil
,l Zes, the capture of oxen, and returns of military Hores.
but, 'Sir, the rood feafe ofmis country is not to be so im
p^foi upon. Tuey know that triumph is not success, that
cmaon'is not deb y They know that victories are not
gained without bloodshed ;if pr fecute %that they are t
{ n fed with advantage. Through all the studied obfeurrty
of your accounts, tuey difc&rn your coniuH animated by
die fame principles. They,acknowledge that you have the
merit of being uniform and consistent. You adhere flea
dhy to your purpose, and defy t; e power of honor, of
gratitude, of flume, or national attachment, to break in
you for a moment.
,After the reduction ofForts Washington and Lee, Lord
Cornwallis, at the head of ten thousand men, advanced
into the Jerfies. Tae American army every where aban
doned the country .before him. That army, indeed, no
Yager deserved the name. It was now reduced to a corp?
Lout three thouGnd men, broken with fatigue, an I
flying in confufion. There was no force to oppose you:
Every thing was full of consternation and dismay. A vi
gorous pursuit it this time must infallibly have enabled
you not only to reduce or dissipate the remains of their
army, but to pass the Delaware md Lize on Philadelphia,
"hat barrier, between you being once passed, it would have
been impolfible for them ever again to bring an army into
the field. We require a reason, Sir, why Lord Cornwal
lis's power of pursuit was so wonderfully limitep? When
Liat officer arriv-d at Brunfwi<k, the term of his commit
iio:i, he eacneftly Elicited for further leave, with the
tirongeft affiirame of being able to reduce the army, and
secure the passage of the Delaware. He was, at that time,
within a few miles o i their rear; and year ®wn letter bears
witness, that it was only by the breaking of a bridge that
luey ftived themfehes from being cut to pieces. You re
turned for answer, that you would advance yourfelf S x
lays'after you arrived with a reinforcement. In these cir
cumflances, it is evident, that it could serve oaly to retard
vour propels. By this delay the enemy were enabled,
Lot only to traverse the whole extent o the Terfir's unma-
Lhed, but topa^ the Delaware, and effectually to deprive
y;u of every means to follow them. Notwithstanding all
y car backwardness, their rear-guard had but just accom
plished the passage of toe river, when part of your army
appeared upon its banks. I anxtired of commenting on
yohr conduct : It (peaks for itfelf. .
Your firft campaign procured you winter-quarters ,in
New York; For t^e defeat at Trenton deprived you of
the Jprfies. Tnat 3000 militia ihould cross the Delaware,
in toe depth of winter, during a severe storm of hail and
firow, advance, in day light, to one of your tn ampments
without being difeovered, surround and take prisoners a
b dy of 4500 veter ms, retire without being once attacked,
and repays the Delaware, with all their captives, in per-.
fed order, is, no doubt, a proof of the.groffeft negligence
or milbehaviour m some quarter. You were resolved that
we should not judge where , for you did not deign to give
usany information, with regard to it. I will not, how
ever, impute this disaster to you as a crime. It is said to
have arisen chiefly from a line of encampment that had
been too far expended, from a view to fe< ure and protect
the country. We allow the merit of the purpose to com
pensate for its imprudence, as well as for the negligence
and inability which appear in the execution of it.
I cannot attend you through the operations of another
year. H moor and humanity recoil at the very mention
of them. Your retreat from the fervicej your defection
of Burgoyne, and the consequent deftruftion of his gal
lant army . the loss of two months ih the Lafon for acti
on; the attack at Brandywine, decorated with the name
of vifiory; the furprize at Germantown, where the va
lour of your tro ps compensated your negligence , the me
rited defeat and daughter of the Hessians at Red bank;
your forward movement to the rebel camp at White
marsh, which you ini.lit have carried if you would: All
these together from the mAi fiogular assemblage of t y
and disgrace, that ever wis exhibited in so Short a time,
or in the con lust of a single man. It defies the power of
malice to difcolour, or fusion to exaggerate.
Such, Sir William, is the career you have run. Delay
without prudence, success without advantage, is the histo
ry of your campaigns. The loss of America, the ruin
of your country's greatness, an indelible disgrace fixed
noon the honour of its arms, the lives of many brave
men facrificed tJ no purpose, a foreign war, a war which
may involve us in bankruptcy, and reduce our empire to
tins little iflaod : These, Sir, form the melancholy cata
logue of your achievements. Confider the Situation in
Which you were placed, the objects of ambition present
ed to you, and the ease with which you mighty have won
them: Then reflect one moment; for what ha've they
keen relinquished —the emoluments of office, and the en
joyment of W**r w s—Aftoiidhing ! That there Should be
found in the universe so groveling a foul, so dead to fame
and every honourable passion, so firmly pinioned to the
dust, as once to have attended to them! But you are
most miferibly deceived, if you think you ever can be
happy. Believe me, there is Something in the tmiverfal
{corn of the British people, which the compliments of a
evurt cannot conceal, nor the splendor of a Mefchianza
compensate. It will pierce your ear, even in your npft
silent retreats. The pleasures of an ample fortune will
have no chance to sooth the horrors of your remembrance,
'i ney will haunt you in the closet of your Sovereign, in
tee circle of the gaming table, in the arms of your mis
tress. Even society will deny you any refuge f®r yourfelf;
the looks of every Briton will upbraid you ; the relations
' of your Slaughtered countrymen will Yvery where present
themselves.—Scorn, contempt, and indignation will at
tend you, wherever you appear. To bear these with
coolers is a precious advantage, attached to confeious
integrity alone. They wound the guilty foul, and turn
its poison on itfelf. Having survived thus for a while,
insensible to pleasure, a prey to mel ncholy and remorse,
you will at last fall by the hand of f ; and, like him
who defiroyed a temple, the wonder of the world, be
remembered only by ^,e mifchief you have done. But I
trust that your puniffiment shall not be left to your hand,
nor even to these emiffiries of the Divine justice. I trust
that the ven eance of your country sh 11 overtake you.—
Be not deceived by the present calm ; It is the deceitful
prelude of a storm. The people of this country, how
ever broken by misfortunes, have still enough of spirit to
. revenge tLemfelves upon the authors of their ruin. At
present Joey flatter tbemfelves that America niay still be
conquered. But w.<en their troops Ih til be recalled, (and
the period canpot be diffant) their collected indignation
will burst upon your head. In vain will you trust to the
favour of your Sovereign, or retire under the wings of Mi
nisterial protection, the Minister hirafel.tleas much to
fear. And a Sovereign of Greaf-Britain, if he wishes to
be fife, must abandon his minions .to the juffice of his
people. L UCIUS.
From the NEW-JERSEY GAZETTE.
To the PEOPLE of AMERICA.
IHsA V E served in your army from the beginning of
tee war, and now ? while I am indulging the pleasing
t ought ©f our having Nearly completed Che salvation of
our country, I hear a clamour that all is going to ruin. I
therefore beg leave to speak a few words, alt is agreed, I
think by all our talkers and writers, that the depreciation
of our money and morals, is the only dangerous symptom
in our nation. And shall we, like dastard fouls, think
'this difficulty unsurmountable ? And after bearing mill
stones, link under tae weight of a feather ! Let us not stain
our glory by ranking this among dfficuhhs. — It is even
infamousin us, who are hono .red.by Heaven to defend
the rights of mankind and posterity, who are pursuing na
tional Nivation and solid glory, to hesitate and fay, "ilwe
is a Lion in.the ^a," — When our General leads us on to
attack the enemy, we don't pause and alk if there are not
difficulties to'encounter—we know that nothing glorious
can be doae without labour, hazard br expence —IA like
manner, the people must follow and put in execution the
orders of our Supreme Council Let Congress dired the
means an^ mode of redress for the depreciation of our cur
reocy, and let the people set about it instantly, and pursue
it with vigor, and the might, difficulty so much talked of
will soon vanish There is nothing to oppose it but a raftally
(pardon the expression) love of pelf. And shall this dirty
grovelling passion for earth, bury all our glorious designs
for the happiness of living millions and unborn ages I —
Then witness Agaioft us, ye beings who people other worlds
—and let us fink (like Satan in Mt^on) "nine times the
space that measures day and night," nor any longer slain
the annals of the world.
The depreciation of morals is ah evil big with ruin, but
like tie other, admits a cure. Vices, like noxious weeds,
commonly have a fmaH beginning ; but if fuffered to take
root and Ipread, they destroy the, beauty and happiness of
creation. A great deal has been said and, written against
profane swearing, but what avails a clamour ? A remedy
must beapplied that will make men,eel; for if there was
not a defeat in their mexta lii,, they would not practice a
vice as destitute of honour, pleasure or profit, as Satan is
of beauty or virtue---a vice which is thefth of conversa
tion, disgusting to the virtuous and wife, and condemned
by the wisdom of the whole universe. Therefore they
must Jeel before they will reform. The remedy is with
the People, they must never difhonour themselves by
chufing men to represent them who difhonour God or their
country. Let no man be exalted to a feat in Congress
who has n®t a foul too great to countenance an, vice;
and when none but the virtuous and wife fit in Congress,
you will fee wisdom and virtue prevailing in eyery inferi
or flation. I believe there is as much patriotism and wis
dom in Congress as in any political assembly on earth,
but it wounds my feelings when I hear of fume in that au
gust Council who set examples unworthy of imitation: I
hope they are few, very few in number. And that State
should blush which fends a bAr/ty/W character to fit in that
Council, which ought to be entirely composed of wisdom
and virtue. There is nothing wanting to remove all our
national difficulties, and to complete the happiness of
America,, but a noble exertion of those means which God
hath put into our hands. Then let us make this exerti
on, and our independence will be secure and our fame im
mortal.
May, 1779. A SOLDIER.
P. S. Many have endeavoured to rouse their country
men to exertions by painting the wickedness of our ene
mies, and the horrors of tyranny ; as they are both too
black for description, I will not attempt it. But the horrid
murder of hundreds and thousands of our brethren in the
gaols and dungeons of the Britifli Manners, ought to be
ever frefh in our minds I And while we contemplate the
numberless tortures inflicted on our brave and virtuous ci
tizens, we shall haturally confider what our portion would
be, should Heaven in wrath permit the accursed foe to pre
vail over us.—
Were there not many innocent persons in Britain who
might fuffer by the continuance of the'war, I query, whe
ther it would not be an offence to Heaven to make any
peace with the tyrant, until we had scourged him off
the face of the earth.
Mr. DUNLA P,
Please to publish the following clause of an Aft puffed the
last sessions of Assembly, refpe&iug the concealment
and distribution of Grain, as the Lme may at this time
be ufeful.
'' VIZ HERE AS many of the good citizens of this
VV Commonwealth, by being often of late called
out as militia for the defence ®f their rights and liberties,
or having been obliged by the enemy to abandon their ha
bitations, have thereby been deprived of the opportunity
of putting in their crops, and taking due care of their
harvest, and if some remedy be not applied, many ofthefe
brave men and their families must, before harvest, fuffer
through want of bread, not by reason of any real scarcity
of that article, but chiefly because many of those persons
who remained at home, and minded their farms, refuting
to turn out in defence of their country, have by that
means railed large quantities of grain, and being prompt
ed by avarice, minding only their own private gain, and
regardless of the public weal, or the fuffcrings of their
fellow-citizens, have hoarded up or monopolized the fame,
and refufe to fell any part thereof, either for the relief of
private individuates want, or for the ufe-of the United
States*
"Be it therefore enacted, and it is hereby enaAed by the
Representatives of the Freemen of the Common-wealth of
Pennsylvania in GeneralAffembly met,and by the authority
of the fame; That when, add as often as fuffit lent informa
tion shall be given to any Justice of the Peace within this
Common-we,hh, either by any private peffon, or by any
Qiarter-Mafter -General, Commrffary General, his or
ti,eir Deputy or Assistant, that any perlon or persons re
siding within twenty miles of such Judice, orwithm the
township, ward or diftri& wherein such Justice dwells, is
or are possessed of any larger quantity of vheit, rye, bar
ley, Indian-corn, oats, fpelts or buckwheat, of the.cr®p -
or crops now in hand, or any other fort pfgraio, or any
flour, thahis (efficient for the support of the family, and
heceffary for the feed and ftdek of such person or perfons'
until thefirfl day of Awguft next, it shall and mayfoe law
ful for such Juhice, and he is hereby required and enjoin
ed immediately by hig warrant under bis hand, to appoint
at lead three difereet and prudent iniabitants of the town
ship, ward or diftriH, where information shall be given as
aforefiil, that such grain or flour is contained, and there
by authorize and dired them to go to the place where the
said wheat, rye, barley, oats, Indian-corn, fpelts, buck
wheat or flour is fugg fled to be kept, and if the fame is
supposed tp be contained in any house, burn, oit-houfe,
mill, ware house or store, and the owner or possessor there
of shall neglect or refufe, on demand, to open the said
houfe\ barn, out-house, mill, ware house or store, it shall
and may be lawful to and for the said inhabitants so ap
pointed, and they are hereby impowered and required in
the day time to break open and enter the fame by force, if
necessary; and the said inhabitants so appointed, thall care
fully examine what quantity of the said grain or four such
person or persons is, or are possessed of, and how much
thereof can be (pared over and above what may be necef-
Dry for the support of the owner or possessor, his or their
families : and the flock, bona fine, Kept by him or them,
which overplus they shill appraise at the current price for
which the like refpeQivc articles shall, at the time of such
appraifement, fell in the neighbourhood ; and shall make
a return to the Justice, who appointed them, of the guan-.
thy which each person can spare as aforefaid, and the price
at which they shall appraise the fame# after which return
and appraisement, if the owner or possessor of such grain
flrail refufe to fell the fame at. the appraised price, it shall
and may be lawful for the said Justice, and he is hereby
required and enjoined, on the application of any of the
citizens of this Common-wealth, and fatisfaHory proof
given that the person or persons applying, is, or
are in want of such grain or flour, for the use of his,
her, or their families or flock, -and is or are ready to pay
the appraised value thereof, to issue his warrant under his
hand and seal directed to, and empowering the Constable
of the township; ward or difiria,' wherein such grain or
flour shall be appraised, to take such and so many persons
as he may think necessary, and to seize all, or so much
of the said grain or flour as the said Justice shall think ab
solutely necessary for the support of the family and fiock
of such person or persons until the firft da) of August
next, which quantity and the appraised value thereof,
shall be interted in tne said warrant, and ftiall deliver the
said grain or flour to the person or persons obtaining such
warrant, on his, her, or their paying the money at which
the fame shall be appraised, or tendering the fame to the
owner or possessor of such grain or flour."
^^^^cfc^^d^^^^^^^ c±±2^J^^
TO BE SOLD BY
ROBERT W I LSO N,
In Water-street, a few doors above Walnut-street, on
as reasonable terms as times will admit,
'r"' '°" ow i n ^ articles, \iz. brown sugar in hogf
£ heads and barrels, coffee in bags, cotton in ditto,
I Ith linens per piece, knives and forks in dozens, pen
knives in ditto, scissors in ditto, Hollands and cambricks,
thread flockings, fagatbies, pins, needles, pocket hand
kerchiefs, ivory combs by the dozen, cambists, ever
l stings, a quantity of gilt coat and jacket buttons, and
a lm-11 afl^tment of ghfs ware, such as tumblers, de
canters, drinki g gaffes, jelly glasses, &c.
Philadelphia, June 12.
TO BE SOLD BY
JOH N BARCLAY and Co.
At their stores on Montgomery's wharf, opposite the
Bird-in-hand,
IX7 ° EST-INDI A and French rum by the hogshead,
molaffrs by the hogshead, cefftf by the bag, and
a neat assortment of Ironmongery.
They have &lfo for sale, a very valuable plantation in
Newcastle county, on the road leading from this city to
Wiimington, within one mile of the latter, containing
one hundred and fifty one acres, twenty whereof is ex
cellent mat ffi meadow, in good order. There is on the
premises a large new stone house, two stories high; with
four rooms on a floor, and a new stone stable that will
con :ia thirty hordes, besides other valuable buildings.
The situation and foil are equal to any on the Delaware.
Also to be fold, a house in Carter's Alley, now in the
tenure of Mr. Thomas M'Fee. Indilputable titles will
be given. For further particulars enquire as above.
WHEREAS the fubferiber, of the town
(hip of Gwinned, in the county of Philadelphia,
bought a plantation in the fame township, of one Petek
Wells; of Chester county, far a certain sum of money;
and upon my paying him part of the money he gav< me
a deed for the fame, on my giving him my bonds for
the residue, payable at the rite of iool. at the expiration
of every year until the whole be paid And whereas one
of the payments became due in April last, since that
time I have tendered the fame, and finding the said Pe
ter Wells to be deceased, and my bond being in the
hands of his sons, who administered on his estate, I of
fered the nioney to one of them, who refufed to take it,
and said the bond was in the hands of his b other, who
was gone to Virginia : This is therefore to give notice
to them, or any other person who may have said bend
in their poff.ffion, to produce the fame and receive the
money due therecn, in three weeks from the date here
of, otherwise I will pay it into the hands of the Trea
fuher, as the Law direfts, and take his difeharge for the
fame to make the bond void.
June n, 1779. PHILIP H OQD.