The New-Jersey gazette — Burlington [N.J.], 1784-04-20 00:00:00, page 2

On ibe Liberty of the PRESS;
^ind a certain nonfenfeal Advertisement against
Scipio.
PAR T 111.
I Refume this fubjed because I stand engaged to
do it by express promise. I think it however ra
ther hard, that an author who means to serve
his country, by pointing out how greatly our
taxes would be alleviated by duly calling to account
all those who are accountable to the state, should be
dragooned into personal rencounters with every indi
vidual delinquent of this numerous group. At this rate,
it will be impossible for me to make any considerable
progress in the business during the present century ; and
J recoil at the melancholy rebellion of devolving upon
my great great great grandchildren, a debt that might,
by only collecting our outstanding dimands, be greatly
reduced, if not wholly cancelled, during my life. I
therefore with that all these political leaches would
unite in a joint letter of attorney, appointing one of
their number (I care not who) to attack and abuse me
in the name of the whole fraternity. In this way I
might, perhaps, still be able to scramble along the road
with tolerable dispatch. But what tingle man can fight
a legion? I have already been flopped in my journey,
much against my inclination, and longer than I intend
to be in future, by one of those who had rather write
a thousand advertisements than legally account for a
thousand pence. I have been furioufly assaulted upon
the high road, without either rhyme or reason, by
this unaccounting giant, who has already roared and
bellowed louder than the Cyclops in Homer, when
Ulysses scooped out his tingle eye-ball. For no sooner
had I uttered the words, that he ought legally to ac
count (words that cannot, one would think, injure
an innocent man) but out he runs into the open streets,
fcarccly allowing himfelf time to put on his breeches,
with a spear on afaff "* u CT -wearer's team, and a
cane as long as a hoop pole, demanding my name of
the printer, and threatening to knock me on the head,
unless I perfectly acquiefcc in his trials, coram non
judice : Denouncing at the fame time against my de
voted head, all the comminutions and curses that are
recorded in the life and writings of TriJlram Shandy ;
and charging me with intending, of malice prepente,
to burn up the Delaware, and expose the whole con
tinent. to an earthquake.—l protest 1 have no such in
tention. But never, never will I leave him unhaunted
by night, nor unpurfued by day, until he thews the
people of New-Jersey, in due form of law, what is be
come of that money. I have neither laid, nor inhnu
aied, that he has been guilty either of deliberate fraud,
cr of such negled of duty as will make him judicially
liable for th'e money, lie may be able, for what 1
know, to evince his innocence as to both. But sure I
am, that if he continues writing, he will, previous to
a trial, convince every jury in Christendom, that he is
guilty. People will think it next to impossible, that
an innocent man should work himfelf up to such a fer
ment ; or with to avail himfelf of such unavailing ex
culpation as he is trumpeting about the country. I
«ili not, however, even after all this evidence against
him of his own production, judge him culpable. No
man ought to be condemned without a fair trial : Nor
ought any man, in his case, to be finally acquitted by
either branch, or by both branches of the Legislature,
in the way of resolution. Such matters are too intri
cate and involved, and depend upon too great a vari
ety of circumftanees in fait, and too many questions
ia law, that will necessarily occur, to be decided by
Aifemblies—l fay, by Aflbmblie% which are usually
immcrfed in a multiplicity of bufintfs properly fegifla
tive ; and that do not proceed according to the rules
of our cftablilhcd tribunals, by which the state in ge
neral, and every citizen in particular, has a right to be
adjudged; and by which only, in controversies about
meum et tuum, they can be conflitutionally adjudged.—
Jn communicating this fame idea in a former paper,
it was as far from my intention to be illiberal towards
our Assembly (a falfehood groundlessly aliened by
this calumniator) as is the north pole from the south.
I am confident that there is no citizen in the state,
that hath a greater veneration and esteem for our Af
fcmbly than 1 have: Nor is any man living let's difpofcd
to treat so refpe^able a body with incivility. On this
head, as I scorn the imputation, I shall be more copi
ous in a future paper. To return.—l fay that the sus
picious against him, however grounded, are constantly
increased by his own conduct. 1 will endeavour to
illustrate the assertion by a parable. Let us therefore
suppose that a constable, upon complaint to a ma
gistrate that a certain man was fufpelted of larceny (I
don't mean petty larceny) should be sent with a war
rant to apprehend him ; and upon taking the man and
Shewing him the warrant, the prisoner should fay,—
" Sir, you are in the way of your duty. I cannot
" blame you, nor his worihip, the justice. 1 find by
" this that lam fufpeded of a certain larceny. The
'' suspicion indeed is totally groundless : B_t that is
" not to be determined by my proteltations, nor set
" tied between you and me. I know that lam amen
" able, as is every other man, to the laws of my
'' country. If lam fufpeded, I ought to be tried ac
" cording to law. Nay more.—ls I am fufpelted, I
'' choose to be so tried, because I with effectually to
'' annihilate the suspicion by a legal acquittal. For as
" I thank Heaven that I am innocent, i am sure that
" no man can prove me to be guilty. God and my
'' country will therefore fend me a good deliverance.
" Walk on Mr. constable; I follow." Should the fuf
pedted man, I fay, treat the constable in this manner,
would not his behaviour afford a strong presumption
of his innocence? Doubtless. But should he, on the
contrary, brandishing his cane with his right hand,
putting his left a-kimbo, lifting up his eyes in laugha
bly-folcmn guise, and {wearing by all the gods of the
Pniliftines, that he knows nothing of the theft, accost
the peace-officer in the following manner: " Sirrah !
" you a constable ! and what then, by the authority
^ °' ? cm °hhenes, is your name? For I won't stir
" an inch, by the beard of Pygmalion I won't, till I
" know your true name." "My name Sir," replies
the constable, with hat in hand, “ is Tom Tfflaff; an't
please your honour, I don't mean to offend your
'' honour by serving his worfhip's precept." '' That
" is a lie, firrah," rejoins the prisoner, " thy true
" name is Orlando Captando, and I will not stir an inch
" till I know the true name of the justice, aye, the
" pretended justice, or his worfliip as you call him.
" I am sure his name is not Rowland de Quorum, as
" he has signed it to this scrawl; I fufpelt it is Fer
" nando Flandango, and that he is a Papist ; and until
" I know to a fraction, to a fraction, firrah ! which is
" which, I won't stir an inch. But be it what it will,
‘ tell him that 1 scorn and will neglect all his out-iffu
" ings and paper-conundrums. 1 will not submit to
^' his court, nor to any court. I will be tried upon
c ‘ this identical spot, and by my own protestations;
'' and against whomsoever man, woman or child, born
or unborn, that shall dare to call these unlawful
" evidence, I fay havoc, firrah! and let l&ofe the dogs
" of war. And as for you, Mr. Bum, and your
" Burnfes and Shaws, and your Nelsons and Daltons,
and your Cokes upon Littleton, and his worihip
" and the courts, and the people, and all mankind,
" nonymous or anonymous, the devil take you all. —
" Therefore instantly avaunt and be gone; for by the
" beard of Pygmalion, I will not be tried." Should
the suspected felon, I fay, instead of treating the con
llabie in the decent and dispassionate way Rated in the
former instance, insult and mal-treat him as is supposed
in the latter, would it not naturally augment the sus
picion of his guilt? Certainly. The impartial world
will always conclude that an innocent man, thinking
himfelf fcure in his innocence, and inclofed as it were
in a wall of brass, as it is beautifully expressed by a
Roman poet, and thus impregnable against all assaults,
would calmly fay, I am ready to be tried by a jury of
my country ; and I fear not the ftri&eft scrutiny and
investigation into my conduit. This is what every in
nocent man ought to fay, for his own lake. I with I
could make this man fay so ; but he will not do it.
And why thus pertinaciously, thus inflexibly opposed
to the only mode of trial that can possibly flop the
murmur of the people, and clear him in such manner
as effectually to silence all future discontent and cla
mour? If upon such trial he is acquitted, every body
ought to be content. Every body, I presume, will be
content. If upon such trial he is, on the contrary,
found guilty, he ought to refund the money. Why
then has he constantly opposed this only legal and fa
tisfaltory mode of inquiry, whenever it has been
brought upon the carpet within doors ? and why is he
forever Ihaking his cane, and menacing to split every
human foul into ten thousand immortal splinters, that
propounds it out of doors? Is the publick to be fatif
fied with his ipfe dixits to five his money? Or is it
to be fatisfied with a parcel of blundering ridiculous
expartc affidavits, of which, though 1 doubt not the
truth, as far as concerns the veracity of the deponents,
they certainly do not contain the whole truth ; and were
at any rate evidently taken to serve a particular pur
pose ? Is the publick, I aft, to be fatisfied with this ?
it is not. It will not.
But come forth Scipio, and I will dissed you. Pretty
encouragement truly for a man to come forth, when his
forthcoming is to be attended with such tragical and
sanguinary effect! Can it be supposed that any rea
sonable man will come forth for the express purpose of
being hatched and mangled, excoriated and decarnated,
to gratify this gentleman's blood-thirsty humour? For
whether he means, upon my coming forth, to cut me
in pieces as a butcher, or to turn me as an anatomitt
into a fkdeton ; in either case I must decline the ope
ration during my lifetime. If, indeed, after my death,
the difftition of my corpse shall be thought for the
benefit of mankind, or the advancement either of the
practice of phytic or forgery, I have no objection
against peaceably submitting to the instrument of inci
hon: But to be cut up in the full vigour of life, as
loon as ever 1 shall come forth, and before 1 have had
the pleasure of feeing his defence in a court of justice
against the suit for so much money received to the use
of the state, positively, friend Demodhenes, I cannot
agree to the terms. S CIPI O.
LONDO N, January io.
TH E deftrultion of the late Ministry will give
the refpeltable personages who composed the
groupe, an opportunity of pursuing their refpe&ive
avocations. Mr. Fox will return to his darling amuse
ment; Mr. Sheridan will adjust the perplexed state
of the Opera House amusements, so that every cre
ditor, who cannot compel the payment of his demand,
may receive it at the Greek calends; Mr. Buike will
visit his Beaconsfield farm, and, in the patriarchial
style, live on the produce of his flocks and herds. —
The exchanges will be happy for the nation ; how far
they will benefit individuals, time must evince.
The ruin of almost every Minister may be ascribed
to some daring stratagem opposite to the sense and in
terest of the nation. An infamous excise scheme
proved the deftrultion of Sir Robert Walpole ; a still
more infamous plan to fubjigate America by slaugh
tering the inhabitants, occasioned the removal of Lord
North ; and an India Bill, calculated to promote fac
tious ends by the violation of private property, has,
Foreign Intelligence.
happily for this country, driven the rabble rout o
apostate whigs from those ftate-offices which were
diffionoured by being in such hands.
Mr. f ox is in some refpelts in a similar predicament
with the celebrated Captain Macbeath. The gam
ing-table was the ruin of the Captain ; and the ex-
Minister loft his patrimony by too frequent visits to
such tables. The road, indeed, did Captain Mac
heath great justice, and it would not be furprizing if
some of the gentry now so deservedly kicked out of
office were to try their fortunes in the fame line.
An excellent caricature will be published in a few
days, representing Messrs. Fox, Burke and Sheridan,
consoling each other for the loss of their places; with
pertinent labels inning from the mouth of each. The
fubjed is a fruitful one ; for, as it is said of Mac
heath, in the Beggars' Opera, “ Nothing is more af
feding than to fee a great man in diflrefs ;" so when
a triumvirate of the most virtuous characters this
countiy ever knew, falls like Lucifer, from the feat
of power, the fpedacle is extremely moving indeed.
The Duke of Manchester just came over in time
to spare the messenger the trouble of travelling to Pa
ris with a letter of recal. The Saratoga General is
also in a similar predicament, for in all probability his
retreat from the feene of command will save him the
expences of another journey to Ireland.
Lord Mountftuart, and Mr. James Stuart, sons of
the Earl of Bute, are strongly connelled with Mr.
Fox; the former, on Mr. Fox's going out, resigned
his office, and the latter voted for the India Bill.
A correspondent observes, that the number of hats
that are now fafhionable among the ladies, is like that
of the capital fins seven There is the flying
hat, the pimping hat, the enticing hat, the considering
hat, the air balloon hat, the simple hat, and the ma
jestic hat. The latter is borrowed from the Knights
of the Garter, and adopted by the top-ladies.
Philadelphia, April io.
Extrafl of a letter from London, dated November
14, 1783.
" Your envoys, Messrs. Adams and Jay, are ar
rived here two or three days ago, for the purpose of
entering into a commercial treaty with Great-Britain.
1 hey are treated with great refpelt and attention,
which affords a striking picture of the fall of pride
and oppression, and the change of all human affairs."
At a meeting of the inhabitants of the town of
Boston, legally assembled the 15th March, a letter
from the chairman of the committee of the towns of
Wrentham and Medway was read, proposing a meet
ing of the county, to take into consideration the alt
of commutation, and the power granted by the state
of Massachusetts to Congress to levy the five per cent,
impost; which those towns confider as grievances.
The fele&men of Boston, in answer, after expres
sing their disapprobation of these measures, conclude
as follows :
" WITH refpe& to the fubjel tof your letter,
commutation, and the alt of the state on the impost,
we must take the liberty to express our entire disap
probation of your intended endeavours, as they seem
clearly to us, to be not only vain but very unjust.
Why should we wish to keep from the officers of our
army the hard earned reward they may receive from
the commutation ? It was promised most solemnly by
Congress, in the hour of danger. It was then ap
proved of by the people, and ought on every equita
ble principle to be made good in this day of peace, a
peace obtained by the perilous exertions of these very
men (in conjunction with our magnanimous allies) who
are to receive the pittance, and a pittance it is, when
we confider the money they realize from this mighty
boon will not make good the arrearages of their pay ;
and although your towns, and the towns of the felc&-
men whose advice you follow, may be averse to the
commutation, yet we presume they will not deny the
justice of pay for the time they were in altual service:
If they will then raise immediately as much money as
will pay their proportion of only two-thirds of the ar
rearages due to the officers, with this money they may
purchase the amount of the whole, and the commuta
tion into the bargain. This we think the only way
for those who fay they are aggrieved to fettle the mat
ter. For if the states were able to prevent paying it
(and could be once so loft to a sense of justice and ho
nour as to desire it) the commutation is so wifely
blended with the national debt, that all the county
conventions upon the face of the earth could not make
the diminutions. If therefore there are any who have
the ability, but want the honesty to contribute their
proportion, they must set down contented, for in our
opinion it is out of their power to prevent it.
“ With refpel tto the impost, we are of opinion, that
if we ever mean to be a nation we must give power to
Congress, and funds too; for without them we can
never pay our debts, and without a just payment of
our debts, in what other light can we possibly be
viewed by the world in general, and every honest man
in particular, than that of bankruptcy or knavery ?—
The former is by no means the case, for we are rich
in refourecs, and want only the will to bring them