The New-Jersey gazette — Burlington [N.J.], 1779-10-20 00:00:00, page 1

The following has been handed to us for pubteation.
To the Honourable the Legislative-Council and
General Assembly of the State of New-jersey.
The REMONSTRANCE and PETITION of
a Number of the Inhabitants of the County of
Gloucefler- --prefented at the last fitting.
Gentlemen,
HIS State, as well as the neighbouring
States, being now relieved from the galling
■ yoke of kingly power, and at full liberty to
.A enaCt and complete, without the aid of a
man beyond the Atlantic, whatever laws fhallappear
molt agreeable to justice and good policy ; it is with
the greater freedom and hope of success, that we ad
drels you on the present occasion, in order to obtain
what we conceive to be our right.
This county, it is well known, has fuffered more
by the British troops th^i most of the other counties
of the State; but as the aggreffcrs are out of the reach
of our laws, and the means of obtaining refutation
m them not in the cower ofthe State, it is with
chearf^nets % submit to the burden, however un
equal it may seem. No individual complains—be
caule no individual conceives himfelf to be unfairly
dealt by But had'thefe aggressors been amenable
to our laws, and pollened of property fufficient to
make restitution, and that property at the disposal of
our representatives, we thould certainly have expect
ed to fee restitution made. Judice would have called
for it: and e\^ry honest man must have declared him
felf in favour of the measure.
But however great our fufferings by the enemy
may have been, they are far from being all that have
fallen to our Ihare. The whigs, or at lead many of
them, have fuffered much 'more by our own people —
by the refugees, than by the common enemy; and
what makes this part of our fufferings seem the harder
to bear, is the manner in which those aggressors were
induced to turn against us.
While the enemy were in possession of Philadelphia
and the Delaware, this county, tho' then a frontier
to the main body ofthe army, and of course exposed
to their frequent incursions and depredations, was left
almost totally unsupported by the other counties of
the State; even so much so, that small plundering
parties, by taking advantage of the extent of our
coast, and the smallness of our numbers to guard it,
were able to do us nearly what damage they pleased.
This being o r unhappy situation, many of our
people became dispirited, and complained heavily of
the neglect with which we were treated. The Cap
tain-General of the militia was applied to for fuccour,
(which might very well have been sent from the inte
rior parts of the State, not bordering on New-York,)
but it was said the applications were treated with
neglcCt. It was indeed thought a disposition appeared
to fuffer this part of the State to fall a prey to our un
relenting and merciless enemy.
Thus neglected, dispirited and distressed, and no
prospect of relief, or even kinder treatment appearing,
those unhappy people, now called refugees, prompted
by feelings of resentment and despair, turned their
eyes even to our enemies for protection; and being
thus turned against us, daily encreafed our misfor
tunes by praCtifing the most unheard of outrages up
on us. This perhaps some of them were induced to
do, even against their own feelings and inclinations,
in order the better to recommend thernfelves to the
favour and confidence of their new masters. They
burnt and destroyed our houses, plundered us of our
property, and some of us they captivated and carried
to the enemy, where, at their instigation, we were
thrown into loathsome gaols, and detained until our
lives were despaired of.
NEW-JERSEY GAZETTE.
Amidst all these fufferings however, we thought we
had this consolation, That our country, in whose
cause we were struggling, and whose rights we were
proud of ahifling to defend, would certainly allow us
compensation out of the elates of those offenders for
whatever property we could prove they had taken or
destroyed. But how were we amazed when the law
for con tifcating their real estates made its appearance;
the proviso contained in the sixteenth fedion of which,
appearing to us to have been purposely calculated to
deprive us of the right we have mentioned. But what
makes this law appear still more remarkable is, the
different spirit and temper it breathes from the law for
confifeating the personal estates of those offenders,
passed by your immediate predecessors. The twelfth
feCtiou of which being directly to our purpose, and,
as we think, exactly conformable to justice, we shall
here take the liberty of troubling you with the whole
of it. The words are,
" And to the end that no person or perfm% hav
ing any demand in law or in equity u^on ; against
the estate of any person against whom inqujfition shall
[Vol. ll.]
WEDNESDAY. October 20, 1779.
have been found and judgment thereon entered in fa
vour of the State as aforefaid, may in anywise fultain
loss by any forfeiture consequent upon such judgment;
Be it enabled by the authority iforejaid, That the com
missioner or cominiffioners having the charge and ma
nagement of any such eßate, : shall, within one month
after completing the sale, of 'fuch part thereof as is
hereby directed to be fold, ,i\e notice in the New
jerfey Gazette, if the fame hail at that time be pub
lished, and aifo by advertifenfent^fet up bilge of the
most publick places of the county in which fu&i eitate
may lie, to ail persons who have any clam& interest
or demand to, 111 or against the said chate, to appear
with their refpedive accounts, vouchers and eviden
ces, to make good the famfat a time fixed, not ex
ceeding three months from the date of the advertife-'
ment; which claims, interests and demands any two
ot the said commillioncrs, inronjunttion with any one
justice of the peace of Qi &fauty, arc hgeby empow
ered to examine, adjuit and allow ; and'the said com
miflioner or commiHionci c saving charge of the estate
as aforesaid, against win n tht accounts and claims
are exhibited, shall, at tbe expiration of the time li
mited, pay the amount or balance allowed on each,
it the produce of the part of tbe estate against which
they are brought, directed to be fold as aforefaid, af
ter deducting commifiions and other charges thereon,
shall be fufficient for the purpose, otherwise to make
a dividend, and pay in proportion to the several debts
and claims which upon examination and adjustment
shall appear to be due. And in all cases where the
part of the estate, directed to be fold as aforefaid, shall
not be fufficient to fatisfy the debts and claims exhi
bited and allowed against the fame, the rents and pro
fits of the real estate, if any such estate there be, shall
be applied as they arise t 0 the fatisfadion and difeharge
of such debts and claims, in due proportion as afore
faid, until the whole arc fatisfied and discharged."
Now why the right Secured to individuals by this
was taken from them by the proviso abovementioned,
we are utterly unable to conjecture. We are indeed
well aware that a change <f?en, without any other
reason, has sometimes produced a change of measures;
and when the change of measures appears to be for
the better, that is, when the measures appear more
wife and more just, we are apt to conclude the change
of men must have been judicious.
By the firft law, the way to justice was made plain
and easy ; every individual was enabled to obtain his
right—and he was enabled to obtain it without much
trouble or expence. By the latter, those who have
demands of damage against the refugees are entirely
excluded ; and those who have demands of debt, have ,
their way to obtain those demands made so tedious
and expeniive, as, in most cases where the demands
are but small, to amount to an exclusion also : the
trouble and expence of obtaining them, must neces
sarily exceed the sums when obtained.
But why debts Ihould, even in appearance, be re
coverable and not damages, we are utterly unable to
conjecture. If damages may be as justly due as a debt,
then doubtless they ought aifo to be as recoverable;
and that they may be as justly due, we suppose will
not be denied. For if A, having purchased one yoke
of oxen of B for a hundred pounds, takes another of
equal value fi om him by force, 'tis plain that B would
have as equitable a demand upon A for a hundred
pounds, at least, in the latter case as in the former;
and was he to be allowed the former and not the lat
ter, we suppose every judicious honest man would
feel himfelf disposed to blush at the diftindtion. In
deed whether the taking of the oxen in the tortious
manner we have mentioned, or the withholding of
restitution, was it to be done, would be the greatest
act of injustice, may be a question nice and difficult
to determine.
It has, we understand, been advanced, " That as
some who fullained loss by the refugees, fuffered by
such as had no property, and of course must lose their
right ; others ought to lose their's allo, that all may
fare alike." But such reasoning as this we hope will
never prevail among those who are elected to guard
our rights. That A's estate ought not to make resti
tution for the damages done by A, because B left no
estate to repair the damages he did, is indeed a spe
cies of reasoning that we are far from fuppoling the
Legislature of this State capable of adopting: reason
ing, indeed, it is not ; it may be advanced by indivi
duals in order to mislead the unwary, or palliate a
denial of right; but can never, in the esteem of the
judicious, hear the least appearance of reason drjuftice.
With regard to forfeited property in general, or
the right the State may have to the estates of offend
ers, we conceive it can never extend farther than to
the clear estates of such offenders, that is, to what
shall remain after the just demands of all private per
THE
funs';re#&& : for what is the right of an
individual, cannot be the right of the State also: these
two rights can never exist at one and the fame time.
If any individual has a right to five hundred pounds
of the estate of a refugee, or other offender, and the
State takes it from him, it takes not the property of the
offender, but of the innocent man; and we conceive the
injustice to the latter would be as flagrant, and the
iniquity as great, as^if that sum had been taken by
violence and without right out of his pocket or deik,
To punilh those villains who have taken up arms
against their country, by forfeiting their estates to the
use of the State, seems to be confident with justice
and good policy ; but to punish the innocent with the
, guilty, mull be cruel, unjult and impolitic. By for
feiting the estates of those offenders, however, and
Sweeping them all into the treasury, regardless of the
rights and claims of individuals, the innocent are pu
nithed with the guilty, and that to an enormous de
gree. Ard when we conflder that this punishment
falls chiefly on the best whigs and firmed friends to
the present government, the cruelty and imprudence
of the meafuce dwells in our view, and appears still
more forking. The best of your friends are punished
with the word of your enemies, and just in the fame
way; that is, by depriving them of their property;
or, in oQer words, by putting it out of their power
to obtain their right, which is in effect exactly the
fame thing.
They dept forward and flood firm in your cause;
—they rilk'd their all in defence of your rights ; —and
what has. been their reward? Plundering and destruc
tion of property on one hand, and a denial of restitu
tion on the other: the former seemed trying and hard
to bear; but the latter is indeed much more so. For
although the injustice in either case may be nearly the
fame, yet, considering the former as the works of our
enemies, and the latter as done by those we with to
esteem as our best friends—as the guardians of our
rights and promoters of our interests, our feelings on
the occalion are exceedingly different.
How far this denial of restitution may encourage
the spirit of whiggifm, or induce people to step for
ward in their country's cause, we shall leave for your
honourable body to det^rmibe; but that it will en
courage the refugees to destroy the 'property of the
whigs, we think is too clear to admit of a doubt, or
need elucidation : for as the sole end and aim of those
incendiaries in committing the outrages we have men
tioned, is to punilh and distress the whigs, whatever
tends to promote this end, must naturally encourage
them to attempt it. And as a denial of restitution is
0 plainly a continuation of the punishment they inflict
ed, it evidently promotes the end they had in view,
and encourages them to go on in their wickedness.
In a word, it rivets their vengeance upon us, and fi
nifhes the business they but begun.
Were their estates to be applied, so far as the cases
Ihould require, to make compensation for the da
mages they have done, as it would in a great de
gree defeat those a&s of revenge, so it must in pro
portion tend to fuppreG them: for what could in
duce these men to destroy the property of the whjgs,
if they knew at the fame time their own must soon
make them whole ?
By the divine law (Exodus xx) restitution was to
be made in all cases of theft and trespass ; in some
two, in others four, and some five fold. Indeed so
high a sense had the divine lawgiver of the equity
and propriety of the measure, that where the offender
had not wherewithal to make restitution, he was to
be fold to raise money for the purpose. And as we
no where find such an exertion of the law in favour
of claimants in any case of debts legally contracted,
it seems reasonable to conclude, that this great legis
lature, acting under the immediate influence and
guidance of the all-wife lawgiver himfelf, conceived
the equity of the demand in cases of damage, to be
more strong and forcible than in cases of debt. And
indeed we think it clearly so from the nature and
reason of the thing itfelf.
We would beg leave also to observe, before we con
clude, that as the losses we have sustained by the re
fugees, were, in all probability, brought upon us by
that aid and support which we were infilled to re
ceive from the other counties of the state being chief
ly withheld, were those counties to seize and dispose
of for tlwufe of the state the estates of those offend
ers, so as to deprive us of our right, it would seem
as though they intended to avail thernfelves of their
own neglect, and heap up riches from the ruins of
their fellow-fubjeCts.
Some of the refugees thernfelves, on their return
Ihome, declared, that as they had estates fufficient to
make ample amends for the damages we have sus
tained by them, they were exceedingly willing to do
[Numb. 95.]