The New-Jersey gazette — Burlington [N.J.], 1781-11-21 00:00:00, page 1

BYHISEXCELLENCY
William Liyingfton, Esquire,
Governor, Captain-Genera!, and Commander in Chief
in and over the State of New-Jersey, and the territo
ries thereunto belonging, Chancellor and Ordinary in
the fame.
PROCLAMATION.
WHEREAS the Honourable the Congress
on the twenty-sixth day of October
last, jffued a Proclamation in tie words
following, to wit;
" WHEREAS it hath pleased Almighty God, the
'' Father of Mercies, remarkably to assist and fuppoyt
" the United States of America, in their important
'' struggle for liberty against the long continued efforts
" of a powerful nation; it is the duty of all ranks to
" observe and thankfully acknowledge the interpofiti
'' ons of his providence in their behalf. Through top
" whole of the contest, from its firft rife to this time,
" the influence of Divine Providence may be clearly
" perceived in many signal ipftance„ of which we
" mention but a few:
" In revealing the councils of our enemies, when
'' the difeoveries were fcafonable and important, and
"the means fcemingly inadequate and fortuitous;
" —in preserving and even improving the union of
“ the several states on the breach of which our ene
" mies placed their greater dependence;—in increaf
" ing the number and adding to the zeal and attach
" ment of the friends of liberty ; in granting remark
'' able deliverances, and blessing us with the most
" signal success, when affairs seemed to have the most
'' difeouraging appearance; in railing up for us a most
" powerful and generous ally, ip one of the firft of
'' the European powers;—in confounding the coun
" cils of our enemies, and fpffering them to pursue
" such measures as have most dire&ly contributed to
" fruftrate their own desires and expectations; —above
" all, in making their extreme cruelty to the inhabi
“ tants of theft states, when in their power, and their
" savage devaft^tion of property, the very means of
" cementing opr union, and adding vigour to every
" effort in opposition to them.
" And as we cannot help leading the good people
'' of these states to a retrospect on the events which
'' have taken place since the beginning of the war, so
" we recommend, in a particular manner, to their
'' observation, the goodness of God in the year now
'' drawing to a conclusion; in which the confedera
" tion of the United States has been completed ;—in
" which there have been so many instances of prowess
" and success in our armies, particularly in the sou
" thern states, where, notwithstanding the difficulties
" with which they had to'ftrnggle, they have recover
" ed the whole country which the enemy had over
" run, leaving them only a pod or two on or near the
" sea which we have been so powerfully and
" effectually assisted by our allies, while in all the
'' conjunct operations the most perfect harmony has
" fubfiited in the allied army; —in which there has
" been so plentiful a harvest, and so great abundance
" of the fruits of the earth of every kind, as not only
" enables us easily to supply the wants of our army,
" but gives comfort and happiness to the whole peo
" ple ; —and, in which, after the success of our allies
" by sea, a General of the firft rank, with his whole
" army, has been captured by the allied forces, under
" the direction of our Commander in Chief.
" It is therefore recommended to the several states
" to set apart the THIRTEENTH day of DECEM
'' BER next, to be rcligioufly observed as a day of
“ THANKSGIVING and PRAYER; that all the
" people may assemble on that day, with grateful
" hearts, to celebrate the praises of our gracious bene
" factor; to confefs pur manifold jins; to offer up our
" most fervent Applications to the God of all Grace,
" that it may please him to pardon our offences, and
" incline our hearts for the future to keep all his laws;
" to comfort and relieve all our brethern who are in
" distress or captivity; to prolper our husbandmen,
" and give success to all engaged in lawful commerce;
'' to impart wisdom and integrity to our counfellors,
"judgment and fortitude to our officers and fcldiers;
" to protect and prosper our illustrious ally, and fa
'' vour our united exertions for the speedy establish
" ment of a fafe, honourable, and lading peace; to
" bless all seminaries oflearning; and cause the know
" ledge of God to cover the earth, as the waters
" cover the seas."
I HAVE therefore thought fit, by and with the
advice of the Honourable the Privy Council (as well
in conformity to the laid recommendation, as from
a deep sense of our indispensable duty to celebrate
with united hearts, in social worship, throughout
[Vol. !%] THE ' [Numb.^^
NEW-JERSEY GAZETTE^
WEDNESDAY, November 2; 1781.
the whole continent, the praises of that Great Dif
,pofer of all events, who hath so often and so gonfpi
cuoufly during the present war displayed his omnipo
tent arm for our deliverance) to appoint the said
Thirteenth day of December next, to be observ
ed in this State as a day of Thanksgiving and
Praise, hereby recommending it to the Ministers of
the Gospel of eyery denomination therein, to per
form divine service, and to the people committed to
their charge to attend on publick worship on that
day, and to abfrain from fervilc labour and all recre
ations inconsistent with the fplemnity of the feftival.
Given under my hand and seal at qrms, at Trenton,
the twelfth day of November, in the year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-one,
and in the Jixtbyear of the independence of the Unit
ed States of America.
WIL. LIVINGSTON.
By His Excellency's command,
Bowes Reed, Sec'ry.
GOD SAVE THE PEOPLE.
From the Mary la nd Journal.
To the Printer of the Maryland Journal, &c.
Though the following thoughts may hot be suited to the
tempers of the pebble, yet I am convinced there are
few can deny but what they are very proper for the
present day, and are worthy of serious attention ; you
will therefore much oblige one of your readers, by in
fecting them in your next.
ITHE late important success of the allied forces,
A against the British in the reduction of the Gar
rison of York Town, commanded by Earl Cornwal
lis, is so deciLvcly tyterefting to the confederated states
of America, as to fill eyery amicable heart with un
feigned joy, and ihould fill ourfouls with molt abound
ing gratitude to GOD, who hath given us the victory.
But shall we (hew forth this joy and gratitude by
excels of debauchery^ by rioting, madness and folly?
Shall we pour forth Libations of wine, a; though the
heathen God Bacchus, or Mars, had presided in the
day of battle!—O my God! thou eternal Arbiter of
nations, can the people think this the proper way to
celebrate thy praise | to ihew their Gratitude to a
holy, pure and righteous God! Can they imagine
that such offerings will meet thy acceptance ! We
have reason, O Lord! to deprecate thy wrath, on
account thereof, and to humble ourselves before fhee,
left thou, in thy vengeance, bring the enemy upon us
again as a flood, and turn our joy into mourning,
and our rejoicing into forrpw of heart. Thou haft
(hewn us, O God ! that the battle is not always to
the strong; otherwise, the .enemy would have over
whelmed us long ago: And (hull we now forget thine
Almighty Arm, and believe that the borfe is not a
vain thing for battle; and that our own arm will get
us the victory? Shall our intoxication tempt ns to
abandon thy Providence, and excite thee to cgft us
off in thy displeasure ? O Lord God! make us to
confider, teach us to praise thy holy Name for thy
goodness, and for thy wonderful works done for us;
for out of many dangers, and extreme difficulties,
thou haft delivered us apd given us the necks of our
enemies; and we trust thou wilt yet father save and
deliver us, and eftabiifh us in peace, upon the un
ffiaken rock of equal liberty, undyr the smiles ofthy
benign and indulgent Providence; to which future
ages shall (land sensibly indebted for every civil and
religious privilege, and learn to-praise thee in a more
acceptable manner than we do, even in this day of
our deliverance.
October 26, 178;.
LONDO N, August 8.
Extradis from a journal of the most material occur
rences at Gibraltar, between the 34 of June and
29th of the fame month:
June 4. '['HIS being the anniversary of His Majef-
' ty's birth day, the royal standard was
hoisted as usual, which drew a heavy fire upon us
from the Spanish batteries; several of their foot went
through it; but, spite of the Dons, it continued
flying till the usual rime of hauling it down. &
one o'clock in the afternoon we gave them a royal
salute from every battery that could be brought to
bear upon them; Willis's, the grand battery, Old
Mole, Montagu, and the King's lines.
June 9. The Spanish magazine, a little distance
from the Catalan camp, under the foot of the hill,
took fire; the expiofion was so great, the Ring's
Bastion and S. Barracks felt the shock; it is supposed
that upwards of 120 barrels of powder were destroy
ed and 300 loaded (hells; the difeharge of the shells
continued several minuses, and resembled parapet
firing; there must have been a great number killed
especially in their laboratory, which was close by.
It would have Ihocked you to fee the numbers of poor
wretches flying from the flames, cavalry, infantry,
&c. and when they thought the shells all expended;
and were on their return to tne place, many (till copl
tinned to burst. The guard and artillery ^t Willisls
gave three hearty cheers upon the occasion, 'whieh
being heard from the enem/s fort Santa Barbara,
occafioped their commencing a warm fire: It had
happily, however, no other effect than killing twp
men, and wounded a third.
June 11. At five o'clock this morning a small boat,
with a flag of truce, came within ioo yards of th^
boom at the New Mole unohferveQ. After a CQnfi^
derable delay, a boat from one'of' the men of waz
went out to her, with an officer of the navy and the
town-major, to enquire into the reason of the fiag ,;f
truce:' They were aniweted, that it was to kpoyf
what induced the garrison to fire at a neutral vtff4
yeftprday; the one we fired at, it seems being a Nea
politan. The Governor fent'foranfw^r, that the firfl:
(hot was to bring her too, and every fucceftive gug
t&fink her. His Excellency was much enraged at
the inattention of the centinels in permittmg the boa;
to clime so near to the walls.
June 15. Another flag of truce, with people on
board, inhabitants of the garrison, who had been
taken off Lisbon in their passage to England. The^
met with very ill treatment from the Spaniards.''
Accounts received, that the Spaniards are ex
tremely harraffed up the Medit, r,an an by the Alge
rines, who have fitted out a iquadron of 18 xeb.cfy
which have done considerable mifchicf; they dre raid
to bedivided into three divisions, one of which i com;
manded by a brother of Adtnirf Barcelo's, who
turned Mahometan some years lii.ee: lliould the two
meet, there will no doubt be a bloody battle
i„h, 18th, and igth. Nothing particu'ar; that
is, nothing besides the fire from the enemy, which
does us very little damage; the town has been ren
dered uninhabitable for some time past; but the for
tifications still remain in perfra good condition; the
Dons have therefore, ftri&ly (peaking, done nothing
to facilitate the redu& ; on ofthe garrison: our fo/diers
are in the best health and spirits, and are daily wild
ing for an opportunity to revenge the death of fomf:
of their unfortunate comrades.
29th. An extraordinary experiment tried this
morning; a mortar and fix pieces of cannon were
fired from the Old Mole Head, at the enemy's camp,
three miles distant, three of the shells burst in the
middle of it, and threw the Dons into no small con,
fufion; all the foot also reached, to our utter asto
nishment: the enemy kept up a hot fire upon the
Mole from St. Philip's battery, but could not ftrik^
it; you knowing how low it lays in the water, will
not be surprised at thfo Grefe improvements are
expelled to be made upon this experiment, and we
are in hopes shortly to fee their whole Spanish camp
in flames. A visit from the gun boats at idght.
Admiralty- Office, August 21, 1781.
Copy of a letter from Capt. Drury, of His Majesty's
flqop Camcleon, to Mr. Stephens, dated Sbi^d-
August 16, 1781.
Be pleased to inform pay Lords Commissioners of
the Admiralty, that in cbnfequhnce of an order from
Vice Admiral Drake, Commander in Chief of His
Majesty's (hips and vessels in the Downs, to exercise
between the Galloper, Middleburgh, and the Broad
Fourteens, the 14th instant, at fix A. M. the Tcxel
bearing S. E, distant fix leagues, we gave chacc to
a Dutch Dogger, belonging to the States of Holland,
mounting 18 fix pounders and zo fwiveA; a quarter
before nine got close along fide, and defiled him to
fcrike his colours to His Britannick Najeftyhs flag;
he immediately fired Lis broadside into us, which we
instantly returned, and continued the action, yard
arm and yard arm, till half past nine; fne then blew
up close along fide. The Ihock was so very great,
that it shook the people off their legs, and the cloud
of fmoak was so very thick, that it was impossible
to fee each other upon deck for the space of two
minutes; it then began to clear away, and we soon
perceived our top fails on fire in several places, par
ticularly the main top fail and the fore-top-gallant
fail, which I was obliged to cut from the yards.
The file in our fails was occasioned by the splinters
from the wreck, which had blown up in the expio
fion; many pieces of human flefti were found (tick
ing against our malts and rigging, and some limbs of
the Dutchmen were taken up upon deck. We hav<;
great reason to believe that his main-mast went over
us, as we saw it about the vessel's length to leeward
of us; his colours flew on board us all on fire. We
as soon as possible hoisted out our boat, in hopes of
taking up some of the people, but could not fee one
living; we picked up his pendant, and a marine's
hat. • 1 .