The New-York gazette, and the weekly Mercury — New-York [N.Y.], 1777-03-03 00:00:00, page 1

To the PRINTER.
SIR,
^ —g ^HE longer one lives in the World,
the more Reason one has to com
plain of the frail Mutability of all
Things: And he is to be edeemed
the wisest Man, who can either preserve his
Fortunes from the common Decay, or catch the
most Sunshine to make them flourifh. Some
Degree of Skill and Merit on the one Hand,
Or a competent Portion of Addrcfs and Aflu
rance on the other, are the belt Sails that can
be spread for the stormy Sea of Life. As the
World goes, a Man might better want Merit
itfelf, than Confidence. An imposing Air,
with a moderate Share of Worth, will fuc
teed nine Times out of ten ; while a Perlon
(as a celebrated Author observes) " who sets
out in the World with real Timidity and Dif
fidence, has not an equal Chance upon it :
He will be difeouraged, put by, or trampled
on."
To apply this Observation to my own Case :
I find, I am not likely to succeed in my Ap
plication for the Office of Accomptant General
to the Grand American Empire. I perceive,
I want a fufficient Fund of Impudence to carry
my Point through, and that my intended Ma
kers wish to have People about them, who
would not Humble at a moral Impediment,
but flounder on through thick and thin, tell
Lies, and vow they are Truths, and many
Things of that Sort, which [don't feel myfelf
qualified to do. I wish to spend the few
Days yet allotted to my Age, in a little Tran
quillity, which would be impossible, if I were
to follow the Dilates of some People I could
name, instead of the Dictates of my own
Conference. To make short of the Matter,
I shall mils my Employment, partly for Want
of the Assurance above-mentioned, but chiefly
' because the Congress wifely intend to keep no
Accounts at all, and in the true Spirit of that
Charity which begins at home, wish to cover
all Things of this trying Nature with Obli
vion. They will readily pablifh their Jour
nals and other wordy Proceedings; because
they are not only convenient Vehicles for po
litical Insinuation, but Handing ostensible Do
cuments of their Authority: And that is a
material Point, which must be kept constantly
in View. Were they to deal in Debtor and
Creditor, they could not but Hate for the pub
lic Eye the numerous Cargoes, and Chests of
Cash, which they have remitted to Europe on
their own Account since the Beginning of
these Troubles, and thereby acknowledge a
more weighty Balance against them, than ei
ther their Prudence or their Inclination can
be supposed to allow. To talk of purchasing
Frigates here and there to fight the King's
Ships with, when no Frigates are found and
no Proof appears that they ever will be found,
can never answer in Accompts. Promises may
amuse the gaping Multitude for a Time; but
'tis vulgar Arithmetic that must fatisfy them
at the long Run : And this our wife Leaders
as well as myfelf, who have been behind the
Curtain, and know pretty exactly the true
State of our Affairs, are sensible enough will
be the Issue; but we must protra& the Thing
as long as we can, and " make our Hay while
the Sun shines." The Storm will be heavy
enough at last : But what then ?—We have
taken Care to provide a comfortable Shelter
for our own Retreat.
Giving up, therefore, for the present, all
Thoughts of Success in the accounting Depart
ment," I intend (as I most cordially hate to be
idle) to turn myfelf to some new Employ
ment, in which if I cannot be so beneficial to
myfelf as in the other, I may at lead be at
tempting something (to speak like a Patriot)
for the Good of my Country. While I was
musing on what Line I should pursue, I call
mv Eye upon a Paper, which has had a pretty
brift Circulation, entitled, " An Address
of the Convention of the Represen
tatives of the State of New-York to
their .Constituents." I read it over di
ligently and refpeafully, as every Patriot
should the Performance of a Body of Men,
dignified with so pompous a Title. But yet l
will acknowledge, that there are so many My
steries and Obscurities in the Work, so many
Ambiguities and Alluvions, so many Sarcasms and
Innuendos, that I was very often at a Loss to
comprehend the Sense or the Truth of many
important Articles and Informations. I could
not help thinking therefore, that, to clear
Monday, March 3, 1777.
NEW-YORK
AND
WEEKLY
ASSIZE of BREAD. Flour at 30s. per Cent.
A White Loaf of the fineft FLOUR, to weigh
3 lb. 40Z. for 14. Coppers, and in the fame
Proportion for Loaves of a Itffer Weight.
Published January 10, 1777.
Containing tbe earliefl lattices
0 Printed by HUGH GAINE, at the BIBLE and CROWN, IN HANOVER-SQUARE.
They set out by telling their Confituents,
that " the Freedom and Happiness, or the
" Slavery and Misery, of the present and fu--
" ture Generations of Americans is to be de
" termined on a solemn Appeal to the Su
" prerne Ruler of all Events." —'Tis right to
begin with a transparent Piece of Piety. A
Jclemn Appeal is made to God Almighty. This
solemn Appeal, candid Reader, does not mean
Prayers, as some filly People might think, but
a good broad Sword, a Rifle-Gun and Bayo
net, Gun-powder taken from the King's Stores,
and some of his Cannon, to knock his Peo
ple's Brains out, or to run them through the
Body; with which Sacrifices God is, undoub
tedly, well pleajed, when offered up by our
holy Appellants.—On this solemn Appeal,
which God is very likely to attend to, “ the
Freedom and Happiness of Americans is to
be determined.' 'That is, gentle Reader, the
Americans have not been free and happy in
Times past ; and, therefore, unless the Order
of Things be totally inverted, under which
they have heretofore been mifaable Slaves,
they never shall be happy in Times to come.
All of us know, what Wretches, what Isra
elites in Bondage, we have hitherto been, till
our good Representatives above mentioned un
dertook our Deliverance. Nobody could pos
sess his Farm, or dispose of his Merchandize ;
nobody lived either in Peace or Security ;
nobody could even fay, that he had Life or
Property ; before we were under the Direction
of our Congresses, Conventions, and watch
ful Committees. All this, therefore, is a
most divine Truth, which our said patriotic
and faithful Convention, in great Concern
away this Dust (which may possibly be thrown
into some People's Eyes) the Text of our ref
pedable Convention Hood in great Need of a
Comment ; and that, as I was likely to have
some little Time upon my Hands, I mightas
well try what Success I could meet with in the
Shape of an Expositor. The Thought gave
me some Hope of Amusement at least; and
accordingly, with your Leave, Mr. Printer,
I will chearfully set about, it. If 1 have not
quite so much Learning and Inspiration as
my Authors, I assure myfelf that I need not
come behind them in Integrity,
I shall begin with the Title. My Brethren
of the'Fifo Kill Hyle their Performance " An
Address of the Representatives of the State of
New- York to their Conflituents." The Autho
rity we have to believe, that these good Men
and true, are the real Representatives of the
aforefaid State, is the Testimony of our wor
thy Abraham Ten Broech, President (as he sub
scribes himfelf) of the said Representatives,
dated at Fife Kill, Dec. 23, 1776. To ex
pound this aright, my Reader must know,
that this City of the Fjh-Kitl is the Metro
polis of the said State of New York, and has
been so ever since a nameless Accident, which
some People thought might prove fatal to
Health, drove the aforefaid Representatives
out of the old Seat of Empire, upon the Bland
of Manhattan. The Reader mud also imagine,
which is very possible with a small Degree of
Invention, that the said Reforefentatlves were
legally chosen by the free Consent of a great
Majority of the People, who attended at the
Election ; and that the Representatives of all
the Counties upon Long-Island, Staten Island,
Yorklfl;nd, &c. were also present. The lime
and Place of Election, however, through some
Blunder or other, has never been rightly re
corded, and 'tis no Wonder therefore it should j
have flipt out of our Memory. We have net-j
withstanding Abraham Ten Braeck's Word for|
it, the President of this Convention, and latel
Sturgeon monger; and that Man deserves to
be pickled like a Sturgeon, who does not ;
believe it, or rather to have his Part in the 1
several Combinations and Denunciations,;
which are found written in the Book of the
said Convention. 1 his Book is called, An Ad
dress to their Confituents, and is, printed, I
suppose, for the Benefit of those who are wt
their Constituents. And much Good a right I
Perusal of it may possibly do them; and for
a just Comprehension of the Subject, it is my
Ambition to afford them a little AHiHance. 1
will endeavour to elucidate the difficult Pas
sages, clear the Text of Ambiguities, care
fully attend to Etymolygies, offer new Trans
lations, and, in short, act the Part of an up
right Commentator. Thus much by Way of
Preface.
Monday, 46 Min. after 3
Tuesday, 40 Min. after 4
Wednesday, 32 Min. after 5
Thursday, 29 Min. after 9
HIGH-WATER at NEW-YORK, this Week.
THE
Friday, 24 Min. after 7
Saturday, 18 Min. after 8
Sunday, 13 Min. after 9
New Moon next Sunday.
for our Welfare, have set before u 3. Remem
ber, Reader, and profit.
" You and all Men were created free, and
" authorized to ekablifh civil Government."
This is Gospel [i. e. Good News, fre m a Saxon
Word] for the Blacks; not a black GofpeL
Negroes, being Men, are all free among us,
and as such are authorized to set up a Go
vernment. We may therefore jufliy expe& to
have, in a little 1 ime, a black Assembly, a
black Council, a black Governor, and a black
Common Wealth; so that we fhali fodn be
" black and all black." Such a Constitution
would Urine like my Shoe. There seems,
however, a little Blunder in the Text, per
haps (as is often the Case with Manuscripts)
through the Ignorance of the Tran fcribcf.
Our learned Convention certainly never meant
to assert, that all Men are or mere created, be
cause it is said in Scripture, that only one was
in that Predicament; and Midwives tell us,
that People now a days are all born, without
Exception. The illiterate Copyist certainly
merits Flagellation for mistaking the Mode,
in which such Rogues as himfelf have ap
peared to trouble the World.
" It is the Duty of every Man to oppose and
“ repel all thole, by whatever Name or Title
" dittinguifhed [i. e. under whatever Prc
“ terce] who prostitute the Powers of Go
“ vernment to destroy the Happiness and
" Freedom of the People." This is good
and found Doctrine. Every honest Man mutt
approve it. They, therefore, who, though
distinguished by any Name or covered by any
Pretence, shall seize upon People's Proper
ties merely because they differ in Opinion
from themselves, or shall drag them away
from their Families into Prisons, or shall ex
clude them from their native Country, where
they had always been free, and where they
wish to be quiet; are Destroyers of the Hap
piness and Freedom of that People; and, as
such, ought to be opposed and repelled.
This is an Explication of the Doctrine : The
Reader's good benfe will make a suitable Ap
plication
" We should frill have enjoyed the Blessings
“ of Peace and Plenty, if we had not forgotten
“ the Source from which those Bleflings flowed,
" and permitted our Country to be contami
" nated by the many fhameful Vices, which
“ have prevailed among us," This Sentence
contains at once an instructive Truth, and an
humble Confeffion of Sins. We cannot deny
but we might fill have enjoyed all our former
Blessings, it we had not forgotten their Source,
and car own. Ingratitude, to our Shame
be it spoken, has been one of our Tices, of our
many Vices, of our many fhameful Vices. We
have received continual ' favours and Bounties,
much Protection and Security, and might have
received more, and been happy Hill, if me had
not forgotten from whence they came, and how
freely they came. We have not duly permitted
this Vice of Ingratitude, but encouraged it ; for
which Reason, and as a Proof of the Sincerity
of our Repentance, we ought to turn from the
Evil of our Ways.---This is the evident Sense
of our pious Convention, in their holy Care
ibr the good of our Souls. But this is not
enough; for they immediately add,
“ It is a well-known truth, that no virtuous
" People were ever oppressed ; and it is also
" true, that a Scourge was never wanting to
“ thole of an oppolite Character." All this
is right; and if we had been but a virtuous and
a grateful People in general, we should never
have fullered the Opprcffion of those, who have
hunted us from Place to Place, have banished
us to diffant Countries far from ourHomes,have
confined us in Misery and Iron, and threatened
our utter Deftruflion, if we refufed to join in
their wicked Ways. We Should have refilled
the firft Beginning of such vicious Proceedings
among us, and have prevented their Prevalence,
of which we so justly complain. Law and Or
der would have had their wonted Influence
among us, and imparted the Bieffings ofPeace,
but for this base Condud, for which, as we
have supported lately the opposite Character
above-mentioned, we receive and are entitled
to the Scourge of Poverty and War. We now
feel this Scourge for our Ingratitude and other
jhameful Tices; and I hope therefore we shall
make a due Improvement from this Doctrine
ofour contrite Convention.
“ You were born equally free with the Jews."
—lbelieve, it should have been, " equally free
with the Blacks ;" at lead, it might have been
Wheat per Bushel, 9s. od.
Flour, 30s. od.
Brown Bread, 255. od.
Weft-India Ru'm, Bs. od.
New-England do. ss. od.
/7 tN^^bf
GAZETTE:
THE
MERCU R Y.
PRICE CURRENT, in NEW-YORK.
Mufcovado Sugar, 51. 10s.1
Single refin'd ditto, 2s. gd.
Molasses, 38. 6d.
Beef per Barrel, 90s. od.l
Pork, 51. ios.|
foreign and Domeflick.
I as well the one as the other, since “ all Men"
are free born.— “ And have as good Right to
I '' be exempted from the arbitrary Domination
1" ofßritain, as they had from the Invasions of
I“ Egypt, Babylon, Syria, or Rome."---That
is, America being Parcel of the British Em-
I pire, as Judea was not of the Egyptian or
I Babylonian, no Briton has a Right to come
into it; because the Egyptians or Babylonians
could not lawfully come into Judea Or per
haps it means, that the Government of Britain
is as arbitrary as thole of Egypt or Babylon ;
which every Body, that has read History, must
know to be a certain truth. I take this last to
be the genuine Sense, and the better Reading ;
because we have, ever since the Plantation
of these Colonies, found the Domination of
Britain extremely arbitrary indeed. We have
been teized to Death with her and het Armies,
fighting with french and Indians in our Back-
Country, difturbihg our good Neighbourhood
by the Conquest of Canada, removing the In
fluence of cur Best friends (as Mr. Crifa
calls the French and Spaniards) from Canada
and Florida by the Peace of 1763, filling our
Ports with Ships of various kinds, and troubling
us to hoist her Colors in foreign Harbors under
a Pretence of Security. We have had her ar^
bitrary Grants, her arbitrary Bounties, her arbi
trary Reimbursements, her arbitrary Money,
and a hundred more such arbitrary Matters.
In short, we were always as miserable as the
poor Jews in Egypt under her arbitrary Domi
nation, and never yet tailed any Happiness,
Plenty, or Security, from her, or by her. She
has always been as " cruel and implacable a
" Tyrant" as Pharaoh. But what Halcyon.
Days we have now r How happy, how free>
how contenteq, is every Man among us, un
der the tender Domination of our most tender
Convention at Fifn-Kill? How mild and be
nign is the g. acious Influence of our admirable
Congress ? What have we not to exped from the
Truth and other Virtues of our most wonderful
Dictator ? What Security, what Peace, what a
flourilhing and extensive Commerce, do ween
joy, under our present most mild and fettled
Government ? Every Man now fits under his
own Vine, and under his own Fig-tree, none
making him afraid. Surely, the Convention
may believe that the Millennium itfelf, for their
Sakes, is most happily begun in America!
—Let this Rear' r, serve for your present Medi
tation : We will pursue our Exposition at
another Opportunity.
INTEGER.
St. JAM E S's, November I.
THE King has been pleased to confer the
honour of the Moss Honourable Order,
of the Bath on John Clavering, Esq; Lieute
nant, General of his Majesty's forces.
London; Nov. 9, Yesterday Sir Thomas Ha
lifax, Knt. Lord Mayor Eled for the year
ensuing, was sworn at Guildhall; when the
Chair and other ensigns of Mayoralty were sur
rendered to him in the accumftomed manner.
This day the new Lord Mayor, accompa
nied by the late Lord Mayor, the Alderman,
and Sheriffs, in their scarlet Gowns, went in
their coaches to the water fide, the Sword and
Mace being carried before them, and the city
officers attending ; and from thence proceeded
in the city barge, attended by the several Com
panies in their refpedive barges, adorned with
dreamers and pendents, to Westminster ; and
having walked round the Hall, and solemnly
saluted all the Courts, they went to the Exche
quer Bar, and the new Lord Mayor did there
take the eaths appointed ; and having recorded
warrants of Attorney in the proper Courts,
returned by water to Black Fryars, and from
thence in coaches with cfual solemnity to
Guildhall, where a magnificent entertainment
was provided ; at which were present the Lord
Chancellor, the Judges, and many others per
forms of quality and diitin&ion.
A few days since his Grace the Duke ofNor
thumberland ordered his Steward to remit the
sum of iccol. to the Earl of Piercy for the re
liefof the wives and children of private sol
diers in America,
The following letter was on Tuesday sent
to Mess. Bynas and Co. merchants in the city
from the Secretary of the Admiralty :
“ Gentlemen, Having laid before the Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty the letter from
the merchants trading to the Miffilippi and
Weft-Florida, requeuing that a ship of war
IFine Salt, ioc. ®d.
Coarse Salty Bs. od.
Indian Corn per Bu. 6s. 6d.
Coffee, it. gd.
Chocolate, 265. par Doz.