National gazette. — Philadelphia [Pa.], 1793-10-09 00:00:00, page 1

For the National Gazette.
Fello-w Citizens of Philadelphia*
VARIOUS causes being alfig*ed for the
present peflile'hce t!i-.t is carrying a-
Vay hundreds c the inhabitants of oui
city, I rake the liberty to present you with
a few that are fn.!: .i en t cau.es to diau
down the judgment of Gcd upon its, and I
have no doubt, they are, i nppu t, the cau.c
of our distress. The scripture informs us
that death is the wages of fin : our fir I t pa
rents, while in paradise, brought death in
to the world by eating of the ftfiTfielde;!
fruit. From theui we received a corrupt
nature, are under condemnation, and a, e
inclined to every evil way ; so that there it.
jio other way to be (aved but by coming to
Chriftjefus, our Lord, taking hold of his
righteousness, anil counting our ewn rig.i
leoufnefs as filthy rags in point of jullifiea
tion before God.
Ob rift's righteonihefs doth not lead to
licentiousness, as fxme people think, bu!
enlivens us to our duty in prayer, in Img
,ing, in reading the scriptures, in meditati
on,in going to charcli, nd to private meet
ings.
Now, my dear friends, I will unfold to
yon some of the causes of the prefcnt judg
ment the Lord has sent upon this city.
Ahd sirs, fitting in our markets on the
Sabbath day ; felling meat, fruits, milk &
herbs. This the Lord forbids ; aslikewilt
keeping open ou that day grocers' ihops
taverns, and tippling lioufes. Audit is to.;
cuilojnary ilfo for bakers and barbers to
perform their daily occupations on the Sab
bath. The Sabbath is made a day for
dealing, and for taking pleasure, by the
greater part of the inhabitants of this city.
Somtfof our rulers and magiilrates, infle.nl
of doing their duty, and keeping holy tin
Lord's day, are seen riding through tin
country. It would be better for them tu
be fees rrcHnr; through the city, fnppreflrng
vice, and apprehending drunkards that art
blafpheaiing the name of the ever blefled
Trinity.—The Lord has strictly enjoinetl
magistrates to do their duty in administer
ing jnflice between man and mail; like
■wife to be a terror to evil-doers, as you
may fee from Romans, chap. 13.— The
Lord commands mioifters to do their duty,
to warn the wicked of their danger ! bill
it is to be feared that there are many thai
know not their own danger, and the Lore
•w ill require the blood of the sinner at theii
hands, as you may fee from Kzekiel. chap.
13, and Bth verse. They are such as Ifaial:
speaks of in chap. 56, verse 10. They arc
blind and ignorant, dtimb dogs that cannoi
bark ; yea,'they are greedy dogs which cai:
never have enough ; and they are fliep
herds that cannot understand : they all
iook to their own way, every one for hi:
gain from his qiiarter.
The dav is approaching vhen the Su
preme Ruler will punifli sinners. In the
6th verse of the t tth Psalm, it isfaid, " Up
on the wicked he fliall reign fire and brim
flone, and an horrible tempest."—and ir
isaiah, ch. 66, v. 14, " The indignation ol
the Lord fliall be known towards his ene
mies. "—Matt. ch. 23, v. 22, "Wo untc
you hypocrites,"—v. 33, " How can yt
escape the damnation of hell?" Theft
threatenings are against all hypocrites thai
have not an interest in the righteousness o!
the Son of God, the Saviour of the world.
I will disclose to my fellow citizens some
of the heinous causes why God is fruiting
this city at this time with a deadly pesti
lence. The Scriptures inform us that there
i$ one Mediator between God and man,
the man Christ Jesus our Lord, ttfollows,
that it is finful to acknowledge more me
diators. Ciifift was once ottered up for u;
for a facrifice on the cross, and that is fut
fleieiu for us.—The Sabbath day is en
joined upon us to be kept holy ; how little
is this attended to by thousands in this city,
who consecrate that sacred day to plea
lure and the god of this world- Reading
of prayers and sermons may be anothei
cause of this dreadful viftation. What
fort of a christian is he that can't pra>
■without a book, or a minister that can't
preach without a book ? My brethren all
those are such as make a trade of the Gos
pel. They go to church with a large book
in their pockets full of human inventions,
and deceive the people with mere morali
ty. When they go into the pulpit, take
away their book from them, and you will
know what Isaiah meaneth by dumb rlo£s
that cannot bark. —Away with such form
ality as this, alike dishonourable to God
and definitive to mar. !
NeMett of family duty may be another
the vengeanw that i» ftiowered
Nome! 99 of Vol. lI.J WEDNESDAY, October 9, 1793.
Bv P. FR ENEA U: (at No. 209, Market Street) PubUJked WednKUATS and Saturdays, [Three Dollars per annum.]
down upon us. Family duty is though!
but little of. It is a mournful truth, that
there is not one family in a hundred in this
city that w«rfhips God according to his
word, morning and evening: nay, there
art 1 many In our city that tread the word
of Got 1 under their feet, and tell the peo
ple that Christ died not fcr theeleft on
ly bt;t for the condemned in hell & the de
vils. To these we may add others that
trust Chrilt for nothing, but confide whol
ly in their own feelings & the light within.
They don't baptize nor fiiew forth the
Lord's death till he comes to judgment,
which we are commanded to do by the Lord
of Glory. With such praaices in religion
how can we otlierwife than meet with
temporal judgments ! .They do not allow
of a Hated ministry, but all speak their
dreams and delusions. Hcing wile above
what is written, others of theiii speak a
gaiuft the doctrines of the bible ; and lay
that the doctrine of tleifion came Ironi
hell, and that they a will to do good
ofthemfelvA ; that they may be children
of God to day mid "of the devil to filbrrow.
They, in effect, calfCiirift a fays
that his people (hall never perifli.' "What
blasphemous language is this for mortals to
speak ; and yet they fay they beliete that
men atld women are inspired in this day, as.
the prophets and apoltles were before the
canort of the scriptures was fulfilled 1
Away With such errors as these! Let
us not deceive ourselves. Unless we turn
from our fin's & will-worship, God will go
Diitopunilh us with his fierce and terrible
judgments. These are some of the things
for which the Lord is visiting this city at
the prefeiit time.
Unless we repent, we fliall all likewise
perifli. Turn us O Lord, and we fhallbe
turned. The Lord dwells in Sion. May
le pardon all our traufgreflioiii, look down
.ipou his oftsnding creatures with an eye of
companion, and lave us for liis name and
mercy's fake.
My afflicted brethren of Philadelphia,
I air l Your's in Christ,
A Fellow-Citizen.
for the National Gazette.
Mr. Fretieau,
A CERTAIN popular preacher in this
'*■ oity, more rcmarkable.for his vocife
'ous than his conneitefl or eUgati) manner
preaching, in enumerating the many
leinsuslins tha.t the inhabitants of PhiTa
lelphia have lately been guilty of, roenti
jtie'd the Play houjts as one of the grcatcfl.
The manner in which he did this will cer
ainly not merit much praise, either for its
'ioerality or 'decency, The house he de
nied to bj a fink of fin and a building ap
jropriated to the Jervice of the devil, and
lie encouragers of it but little better than
ib?ttors of such iniquitousfcenes ; —At the
ame time taking care to obferve,that thole
,vho c*uld life their money in such a way,
nd none for the clergy or church —Whe-
her mammon was then uppermost in the
gentleman's thoughts, or whether he was
lank.-ririg after the loaves and fi/Les, with
rther good things of this world at that time,
ir aot, I (hall not pretend to determine,
>ut leave that matter to be fettled betweei:
limfelf and his conscience. What I
jvifli to remark On here at prefeut is, the
(liberality of such pulpit clamour.—ll
he new and elegant Theatre lately erect -
;d here, which this reverend personage
jolltcly terms a dijgrace and aborninatiot,
o the city (though with all due deference
:o his superior judgment, I conceive it tc
je the reverse) is the occasion of our pre
ent calamitous affliction, it is fomewhal
'in-prizing that the cities of Europe w hen
hey have increased so greatly, with the
numerous towns on thiscontinent in which
;hey have been ere£ted within a few years,
[hould not have experienced afimilar vifili
ation. Perhaps the gentleman does 1101
know that a number ot h's own profellior
have given their countenance to the ftag<
by their dramatic writings ; or that th<
treat Addifon, whole character (lands ft
eminently conspicuous in America and hi:
native country, (and that among clergy
men of perhaps equal goodness with him
felf)bothasa man and chriflian, through
all hfs. writings speaks highly of a well re
gulated theatre, not an inconliderable por
tion of which was expressly devoted to it;
use. Can he with any degree of propriety
amidst all his declaiming againlt its im
moral tendency, suppose that there exist:
a fmgle sentence in those two noble trage
dies"' Cato and Guftavus Vala the re-
Itorer of his country, that can have the
u»ft pernicious effect %vha;eyvr 011 :!:y
minds of on audience ? On the contrary,
do they ot abound with the nooleii: and
piirrit ft. timents of humanity, philanthro
py, virt.le and liberty?—lt is hoped he
can have no objeition to ideas of this
kind beii 3; inculcated and prefled on the
minds of the people.
I wai,') now, Sir, while lam writing on
this lubjecc, just make a remark or two 011
a numV £ of pieces that have appeared in
print within a .short time part, attacking
moll viol, iitly the theatres,their managers,
I the circt;.J &c. and the legislature for not
palling an order for {hutting them up,
when it is well known they had been so
for Come time before the motion was made
for that purpole in the hGufe of Alfembly.
TheCirtu- whs not only (hut, but the pro
prietor of :' had left the city and gone to
New-Yorl some time before this epide
mic difeal'- 1 made its appearance ; from
which we !.ad no reason to frppofe he in
tended to return in a conliderable time.
iThe Old American company (the only
Comedians then in Philadelphia) had
(hut up thek- house oil the 23d ofAuguft,
asfobn as it was generally kntfwn that an
infeftiolis dlfeafe was prevalent here, nor
has ireverfincebeenopened. Perhapsfome
may fay. this was more owing to their ex
pectation of notcollefting a fufficient num
ber to defray t.he expence'of the house than
to their virtue ; for the fake of peace let it
be so : but so long as they appear deter
mined to keep it fnut, let it be owing to
whatever caiife it may, wherein conlifts
the neceflitj of a legislative edict for that
purpose ? As to those performers who
iiave lately arrived here from Europe. I
would juft'obferve, that it might, perhaps,
be ;is well for our more virtuous brethren,
to wait for their committing the crime, or
at leali mat ifelting/ow* intention cfdoing
it, while the city remains in its present dif
trefi'ed lilu tion, before they punifti them
" ' -*•
Although I am defending what I con
ceive to be a rational amtifement, yet I
would by no means have it thought that I
with for these places to be opened in our
present diftreued lituatio I —l conceive
that both policy and religion commands
they /hould be flint for the.present. I as an
xioully wifti they may continue to be so as
any other person can do; and I have'iio
doubt but the good sense and prudence of
the managers 'will keep thern so till a more
proper season for their opening shall offer.
All r.iy delign in thii is, to detest the ab
surdity of some over zealous t-erfons, and
preserve these places for our future use.thai
may prove not only a pleasure but a bene
flt'to us.
Philatl. Oft. 3.
CONSISTENCY.
Some Financial Particulars relative to the
J}ate of VE R M ONT.
[From Mr. Lyon's Partners'* Library.']
" I HAVE been led to make some cal
culations of what the people of the (late of
Vermont annually pay into the national
treasury, and what tliey receive out of it,
which I here venture to laj» before tilt
public; —
"■ln the firft piace, I suppose this (late tc
cr ntain 90,000 sauls, which nurctier, divi
ded by 5, the number of fouls in the re
spective families when averaged, and there
appears to be iS.ooo families in the slate ;
these families on.u witb another, I fuppol't
use in their honfes, for their cattle, am
for salting their meat, three bulhels of fail
per annum each ; and suppose that fait tc
weigh 841b. each bushel, the duty paid ai
the lea ports will amount to 9,720 dollars
Nextly, I suppose that the 18 thoufam
lies, one with another, each use 4 pound
of tea in a year, (which I fear is a ver;
fmail computation) and suppose one ter.tl
to be green tea, and two thirds of it to bt
imported in American vefiels ; at this rate
the duty on the tea we drink, amounts tc
9,240 dollars.
fcextly, I suppose the iß,oco families,
one with another, each drink 4 gallons of
rum, brandy, gin, wine, or other imported
llrong liquor ; this, when we take into
tonlideration, what is drank at hatveft, a;
railings, in taverns, and in all kinds of iick
nefs, will not be thought too large a com
putation, and set the duty at 30 cents per
gallon, w luc-h is far below a medium, and
11 amounts to 21 ,Cco dollars.
Laftiy, I suppose that the 18,000 families,
one with another, piirchafe in other gro
ceries and in imported woolens, line*?,
calicoes, chintzes. libel, tradefmens' tools,
cutlery, crockery, glades,drugs and paints,
anus and ammuniiiuCj bunko, paperj &c.
the value of twelve collars and a half at
prime cost each family, and allowing theni
goods to pay 8 per cent upon their value,
which is below a medium, and the duty oil
tliefe articles will amount jo iS,ocodpl
lars ; so that the account between the Rate
of Vermont and the national treasury
Hands thus— Dollars.
Duty paid on fak - - 9i7 2 0
«n tea - - .9,240
on imported liquors - 21,600
— 011 other goods - - 18,000
Total paid ; in - jß,jc»
Out of which is received into
Vermont—by
4. Senators and Representatives to
Congress - - 4,f?00
for the salary of a diftricl judge -
for the'falary of the attorney of
the U. S. I understand - 300
"or the fees of the clerk and mar
shal, perhaps - - 4c©
7 or thefalaryof supervisor and the
infpe£tor of the revenue - 4c®
or the pay for the service of the
custom-house officer, and the
contingencies of the office,l will
guess at ... 1, co«
"or the pay of the persons employ
ed in the port office department,
over and above the avails of tlie
poflage on letters, (\ve can
ft now but little about it) I will
suppose it to amount to - sc#
heproduce of the ftilTsin this Hate
I will not compute at anything
more than enough to pay those
who look to them ; so that there
is left in Vermont - B,aco
•vhich fubftraft from - 58.50
ind there remain 50,360 dollar?, annually,
11 the national treasury, of the hard earn
ngs of the Vermonters, which go to
wards the payment of the interest of the
lational d<?bt ; the fopport of the Indian
A ar, and the civil lift falsrieSj &c. &c. &c.
— an enormous fnm to be drawn froinftich
i handful of people, in a new and but par
ially cultivated country ; is it not the by
inefs of the people to look as ter such a
um as 50,360 dollars; to fee \\ hat becomes
>f it; and to make use of the fliare of
lower they have, by their representatives to
>btain a revilion of the fyfttm that leads
>n to this bulinefs, the end of which (if not
eafonably prevented) mud be Britilh cor
iiption ar •' Britilh bankruptcy ; anil fur
her to retrench those demands, which
h aw Inch large sums of money out of the
reafnry, to lop off such of tlie taxes si
iperate molt unequally, and with them the
ifelefs salaries."
Mr. FreneAU,
THE observations in your last, on the
tfew-Bruufwick Resolves, should have
jeen preceded or followed by those
Rejohes. Our brethren of New-Jersey
lave ever been considered staunch friends
:o Republican Liberty. With such an opi
nion, I was aftonilhed to find the 9th arti
:le (more especially) published in any pa
3er of that state. Neither do I think it
ucper or becoming for any aflociation of
persons to lake upon them to judy,e
sf the cofltlhft, criminate, or condemn, the
•eprefentative of a foreign power. There
s another mode of effettiiig this purpose,
:f necefiary.in a national way. I am coin in
:ed several of these Resolutions do not
"peak the sense of the people, but of some
lefigningcharaiter s amongthem.
luclofcd are the Resolves, which' pleas?
.0 republifli.
Philadelphia Oft. 7, 1793.
Rej'olve, I. That the commercial, agri
:tiltural, and mechanical interefls of tliefe
;otinties are fully represented in this meet
ng. ,
11. That we feel oiirfelves happy under
he eXisting government of" the United
states, and as far as our observation Ix
:ends, an entire fatisfaftion with the pre
ent adminill ration prevails among all clafll s
j{ citizens in the state of Nt w-Jerfey.
111. That although vigilance with regard
o the executive departments of govern
ment be laudable and a ■virtue in republic?,
i'et, calumny and fatiion are vices, and
end to the subversion of that liberty they
irofefs to fupfort.
IV. That the proclamation of the Prefi
lent, enjoining on the citizens of the Unit
ed States a cor.dust friendly and impartial
owards the present belligerent powers of
Europe, was a mealure well timed and
jrudenr, jult and conftltutiohal, wifely
.-alculated to promote the welfare a:xl
prefervj tjie peace cf tki. co-.jntry.
[Total Numb. 203,]