The New-York gazette, and the weekly Mercury — New-York [N.Y.], 1777-02-17 00:00:00, page 1

IT was but a few Days ago, when, full of
the Importance, the Utility, and (if you
please) of the Profits of my intended
Office, I laid before you, as Accomptant
General of the High and Mighty States,
an Estimate of the Receipts and Disburse
ments, which would probably attend our Esta
blishment. I was captivated with an Opinion,
which gave me all the Joy of a Patriot, that!
had hit upon some Ways and Means to keep
the Heads of my Masters in Congress above
Water, and afford them a Supply of what we
all very much wanted, a little hard Case to
keep up their Spirits. But, what a World do
we live in ? How soon are all our Schemes
and Speculations, by some cross Wind, blown
away from their Purpose ? Or, entering into
Contact with the external Air, what a tranfmu
tative Process do they sometimes sustain (more
wonderful perhaps than any chemical one) and
become altogether airy themselves ? I had no
sooner laid my Plan, formed my Calculations,
and set down my Thoughts; but up starts a
single Somebody, (I hear a Lord ProteAor)
and throws' the whole Scheme into Confufion.
My Masters, the Highs and Mighties of our
Congress, tell me indeed, that his Power is
ho last but fix Months ; but I could have told
them, if they would have asked an old Man's
Opinion, that, at fix Months End (if Things
don't go wrong) he will be their Master as
well as mine, and will teach us all better
Manners than to dispute his Authority. We
have all heard of good Master Cromwell; and
I ^tn lure; gwoct Master dTafbixg/on has followed
him very closely hitherto, in every Thing—
but his Sense and Succejs. 1 would fain know,
however, which of us is to draw out the Li
on's Tooth at the appointed Time ? Egad,
Master Printer, not 1. You shall never find
me such an Ass in my old Age.
Well, Sir, whether it be Congress or
Washington, or Wafhingtoa and Congress,
or Wethington without Congress ; Patriots
must live, and talk, and write, and make a
Noise, and (under the Rose) get Money too.
Not a Mother's Son of us would think any
Thing of this said Patriotism, if it did not
line our Bellies, our Pockets, or our Backs.
Witriefs the Conduct of my worthy Masters,
who have made a rare Bank for us on t'other
Side of the Water; and, indeed between our
selves, I long to be taking a little Account of
it, lam resolved, fer my Part, to live and
die like another Vicar of Pray; at leak, if
any Thing is to be got by it; as many glori
ous Patriots have done before me. Agreeable,
therefore, to this common Rotation of Things
about us, I have thought proper to change my
Plan, and purpose now to qualify myfelf as
Accomptant General to my Lord Protedor, and
shall beg Leave to submit to His Most Excellent
Excellency [I beg Pardon, I should have said,
Highnef] a little Arrangement of Matters, ac
cording to his Establishment ; hoping and be
lieving that, as I shall confider him in all his
dignified Rank and Importance, together witli
the Multitude of Expences inherent to it, he
will not fail to confider me in the Establishment
Ipropofed for myfelf; and especially as we
both of us have the Honor to act upon the
fame good Principle. Besides, we can do Bu
siness better now, than we even could in Con
gress: My Lord Protector has only to fay,
Prefio, and it is gone; or Hifto, and it comes.
We need not be so stupidly formal in getting
Supplies as the Brethren of the Congress; for
^e ffiall have a brave Set of Collectors, com
pletely furnished with Swords, and Bayonets,
and Rifle Shirts, who will not run whining to a
Court of Law or a Justice, when we want the
Summurn Bonum, but will manfully take it for
us with all the due Honors of War. Thanks
to ny Stars, I live to fee the Game already
begun. What Business has a Set es vile
old Conftitutionalifts to live, or to eat, or
to drink? God surely made the American
World for Mr. Waffiington and Co. and,
therefore, we do nothing but right in ta
king our own. It is an Instance of My Lord
Protector's Grace, that he fuffers any Body to
enjoy any thing: And so our Secretary the
great Author of Common Sense, in other
Words, has told us. He reasons like an honest
Man, where he pleads, that we have a right
to conffcate the Property of Persons, whom we
have firft called difaffe&ed for that very Pur
ASSIZE of BREAD. Flour at 30s. per Cent.
A White Loef of the fineft FLOUR, to weigh
3 lb. 40Z. for 14 Coppers, and in the fame
Proportion for Loaves of a lesser Weight.
Publilhed January 10, 1777.
Monday, February 17, 1777.
NE W-Y ORK
AND
WEEKLY
To the PRINTER.
SI R,
Containing tbe careen Eunices
0 Printed by HUGH GAINE, at the BIBLE and CROWN, in HANOVER-SQU ARE.
pose, and to make ourselves happy by their Ex
pulfon either out of this Country, or out of
this World (for he does not fay which); and, I
am sure, we shall aft like brave Men, if we
follow his Advice. But, what is all this to
Accounts, fays one? Have Patience with an
old Man, who loves to tell a round-about Sto
ry, and you shall hear.
Now, my Lord Protestor, to support the
Dignity of his Office, muff have a Court ;
and, as the Congress thought themselves equal
to the Talk of making Knights, he may possi
bly take it into his Head to make Lords; and
then, who knows but I, old as I am, may be
a Lord yet before I die? This Court, Mr.
Printer, must be maintained, and maintained
too according to the Bulk of our vast Empire ;
that is, it must have a large Maintenance.
None of your little paltry Courts, such as
Great-Britain, France, and the like: We
have a Country as big as all of them put to
gether, and we ought to Ihew away like our
selves.—There's a fine Field for Accounts !
I shall estimate the Eftablilhment of my
Lord Protestor, not upon the Scala of the lit
tle Kings of Britain, of France, or of Spain,
who cannot afford to spend above a Million
or so a Year upon their domestic and civil
Lifts, but fuitabiy to the amazing Grandeur of
his own mod exalted Importance; and there
fore I Ihall set him down at Two Millions Ster
ling to begin with. When Things are fettled,
and Times mend, I Ihall propose to Him to take
up a Couple of Millions more, in order to
convince the World of his and our Grandeur.
And, indeed there will be no managing Mat
u/s properly without it.
We must confider, that, if the Congress
wanted 50,000 Men to support their Autho
rity, a single Man will require at leak 100,000
to defend his. As in some Machines, the more
fimpie the Frame the greater must be the
Power to put it in Motion; so in our Body
politic, as in all others, the Government by
a mere single Person, whether he be the Grand
Seignior, the Dey of Algiers, or Emperor
of Morocco, requires a much larger Force,
than the mixed Government of England, or
the old Government of these Colonies. Setting
down 100,000 Men, therefore, at the Rate I
mentioned in my last Letter, they will stand
us in full two Millions Sterlings Annum.
I will suppose, that our Na\y will be ex
a&ly the fame as I calculated before; though
I am well informed, that I (or rather my wor
thy Deputy) have stated the Matter too low :
But, Mr. Printer, I hate to exaggerate ; it
always throws a Damp upon Things of this
Sort; and, if I should be disappointed of my
intended Office by any unlucky Overfet of
my Accounts, I should. get as deep into the
Dumps as my late intended Masters of the
Congress. I am resolved, therefore, to let
this Matter stand as before. However, it will
be right just to mention one Thing, for the
Honor and Convenience of my Lord Protec
tor, which will add a Trifle to the Account
of about £. 2000 per Annum; and that is, a
Yacht to convey him from one Part to ano
ther of our extensive Dominions. We won't
call it a Royal Yacht ; because, as yet, the
Word Royal would found too oftenfive for
common Ears; though, I have no Doubt
(such, Alas ! is the Frailty of human Na
ture) that it would be to the full as agreeable,
in lime, to somebody else, as it once was to
good Master Cromwell of pious and blessed
Memory.
I own, that I am not very deep in the Se
cret, and I believe Affairs are so young and
tender, that there is not yet any Secret form
ed upon them; but I must conclude, that the
Lord Protestor will have a great Number of
Sub-Governors, and others, for the proper
Administration of our Affairs. The Burden
would be rather too heavy for his Shoulders,
and would soon make him as impatient to
get rid of it, as Sancho Panca was of his Go
vernment of Barrataria. And all these Go
vernors and their Suites must be paid, and per
haps as well paid as by the illustrious Con
gress itfelf; though, I hope for my own Sake,
with something better than Continental Cur
rency. I should be vexed to the Heart, if in
stead of having my Eyes bleft with foes, and
Half-fees, and Dollars, I should be treated
with nothing but the Sight of a Parcel of fni
velling Bits of Paper, that are fit for nothing
but However, let Things go as they
will, Mr. Printer, I am resolved to take Care
Monday, 17 Min. after
Tuesday, 19 Min. after
Wednesday, 1 Min. after
Thursday, 48 Min. after
HIGH-WATER at NEW-YORK, this Week.
THE
^^^^^^^^^^
e^^W^^^^^^
5 Friday, 57 Min. after 8
6 Saturday, 20 Min. after 9
7 Sunday, 2 Min. after 10
7 Full Moon next Saturday.
of myfelf; for, whenever I meet with a round
Dollar, or some other precious Pieces of Me
tal, I intend to take them off for a few Slips
of our Paper; as my worthy Friends in Con
gress have done before me. A Man can never
be wrong in following so good an Example :
Besides, some of our Clergy have hit upon a
clever expedient to salve a broken Honesty,
by proving, that “ the End will always fanc
" tify the Means, let the Means be what
" they will." This was my Lord Protestor
Cromwell's Notion of Things; and an excel
lent one it is for all great Politicians. Now I
have mentioned the Clergy, I am afraid we
Ihall have none to hold forth in another Year
or two. Such is their Eagerness to shew
themselves of the right Church militant here
upon Earth, that they are converting them
selves into Generals, and Colonels, and Cap
tains, and Lieutenants, and the Lord knows
what, on purpose to drive People into, not
point out to them, the Kingdom of Heaven.
Upon reviewing what I have set down, I
perceive we shall save in some Articles by
this new Arrangement, and lose in others.
The following is the nearest Estimate I can
form at prefect of the whole : There are, and
there will be, many other Particulars, which
will not and canned be accounted for. In
deed, I was going to fay, like a Punster, that
we are now got into a State, that is perfectly
unaccountable. But let that pass: Old Fel
lows have no Business with Jokes.
Annual Expence of the Government, or
civil, naval, and military Eftablilhment of
our Grand American Empire.
First Year's Expence £. 8,571,420 0 0
Upon my Word, Things mend bravely.
We are going on at a noble Rate. Only
Eight Millions and a Half Sterling,
Mr. Printer, to be paid in the firft Year, for
the Honor and Benefit of our grand Empire.
A Country, which is able to spend so much,
is able to do almost any Thing. It does ray
old Heart good to fee our Glories increase so
faft upon us.
As to raifa^ the Money, we need not stand
now upon the Niceties I mentioned in my last
Letter. Oliver Cromwell has Ihewn us how to
manage Parliaments, and Representatives, and
Assemblies, and People of that Sort, and I
dare fay, we shall find a Sword, which if it
cannot cut so keenly, will have full as much
to cut out, as the ©ld Protestor's. My only
Fear is, we shall do so much in the firft Year,
that we shall have nothing to manage in the
second.—But, let Things go as they will, we
shall be the last to starve ; and that is some
Comfort to an old Man, whose End is advan
cing upon him, Day by Day. When " lam
“ as dead, however, as Julius Cmfar himfelf,
" I should not like to be cut up and be found
“ not worth a Farthing," We old Men, next
to being rich indeed, are universally fond of
being thought so. But, after all, Mr. Prin
ter, I think I should not die with a found
Conscience (a Sort of Parable in these Days)
if I did not confefs to You, that I don't
believe our Affairs can stand at any Rate
very long, and that they would not have flood
half so long as they have, if some of our
leading Men knew how to get a Bit of Bread
in another Way. For, though I will do them
the Justice to believe that they are no more
fond of fighting than I am, yet such is the
miserable Situation of their Affairs, they
would be reduced to the merest Beggary upon
any Compromise with Great-Britain. By fight
ing they live; and probably by fighting they
may die, with the pious Consolation of having
drawn some Thousands, as so many Attend
ants, into another World with them. But that
is their Affair; I thank God 'tis none of mine.
Pardon the Garrulity of Age and this tedi
ous Trespass upon your Patience ; and allow
To the Lord Protec-) ,
1 2,600,000 0 0
tor, and ms Courtj
To 13 Sub-Governors - 26,000 0 c
To annual Ex; ence of Nan, 2,254, Ico 0 0
To ditto — Army 2,000,000 0 0
To -imbaffadors, &c- - 90, goo 0 0
To Indians, &c. - 10,000 0 0
To Accountant-General 1,000 0 0
£, 6,381,120 0 0
Add (as before) firft Cf) ,
c > M 2,190,300 0 0
of the Navv J > 7a
Wheat per Bushel, 9s. od.
Flour, 30$. od.
Brown Bread, 255. od.
Weft-India Rum, Bs. od.
New-England do. ss. od.
[No. 1321.)
GAZETTE:
THE
MERCU R Y.
PRICE CURRENT, in NEW-YORK.
Mufeovado Sugar, 51. 10s.i
Single refin'd ditto, 2s. gd.!
Molasses, gs. 6d.|
Beef per Barrel, 90s. od.l
Pork, 51. xos.|
foreign ano Domenici.
me to add another Observation, which I offer
more from the Spirit of Experience than of
Prophecy. From all that I can fee of our
Doings and Undoings, I can trace cut no
thing that promises a very great Degree of
Security and Happiness. We have fought, we
have expended our Subflance, we have bled ;
and (I speak it in Faithfulnefs to my Consci
ence) we are pursuing the fame Course, with
out Resources, or Honor, or End.—But I
shall difeover what my Friends at Baltimore
and Philadelphia think of these Matters, if
I fay more, and so, by letting the Cat out of
the Bag, lose my projected Office and all my
Emoluments, which, in these hard Times,
would be a little too imprudent. We must
bluffer, and keep up our Countenances, and
tell a few Fibs now and then ; or our People
will be as low in Spirits as ourselves ; which
would be wretched Policy indeed, considering
that we have the firft Commanders and the
fined Army and Navy in the World to cope
with and demolish, before we can properly
put our Machine into Motion. If we only vote
(like the good Assembly of Connecticut) five
or fix thousand Yards of Duck for the Supply
of Tents to the Army, or rejoice to fend so
many thousand Bushels of Salt for their Pro
vision-Stores, when we have neither a Yard of
Duck nor a Grain of Salt to tranfm.it them ;
kill we are doing something, if we can but
persuade the People that we are doing some
thing. 'Tis all fair to delude in such despe
rate Cases ; for to be poor, and to seem poor,
is the very Quintessence of Poverty itfelf.
But I new take my Hand from the Table;
for I must wait upon ferae of our great Men :
Though, to tell you the Truth I am almoff:
affiamed ; as I have but one poor Thread-bare
Coat fer my Back; since my Rogue of 2 Tay
lor, after embezzling some Cloth I sent him for
a new Suit, took it into his Head to becomea
General ; and all for the Good es his Country.
But “ every Deg has his Day ;" and it may
be my Turn to be served next. So, Mr. Prin
ter, for the piefent, Adieu!
X INTEGER.
—^^re—fflCT^rtoßß^^
LONDON, October 5.
The celebrated Mons. Voltaire, metwith
ftanding his great age, kill enjoys a petfe& state
of health; a gentleman just returned from,
spending a few weeks with him at his chatteau,
asked him his opinion on modern Englilh tra
vellers, to which he farcaltically replied, “ Most
Englishmen, in my opinion, who travel abroad,
leave men unstudied to fee pi&ures?"
A correspondent has sent us the following
copy of a tree Irife advertisement, which was
inserted in all the Dublin papers, in conse
quence of Mr. Bailey, being loft in the Aurora.)
some years since in his pafiage to theEaft-Indies.
" A Post assembly will be held at theTholfel
" of the city of Dublin, on Monday thesis
" teenth day of May instant, at one o'clock in
“ the afternoon ; for the purpose of ^tyrgme/fo
“ ftr.g Aiderman Mathew Bailey, for non atten
“ danceon his duty, and having totally abfa
" zed himself from, and deserted, and left this
“ city, and gone to reside altogether in another
''place, and never having since returned."
Dated this 10th day of May, 1776.
Signed, Benjamin Taylor, Town-Clerk.
The Inhabitants of Ireland have lately been
numbered by order of Government, when it
was found the four colonies contained as under ;
Proteffants Fapifts
Connaught 2 37^ — 246142
Leinfter —— 214173 — 474^63
Munster 134061 ' — 491738
Ulster - 379217 — 194602
751169 140734$
75 ii 69
Total number of fouls —2158514.
1 Tuesday morning, before the company of
Trained bands were assembled in Salifoury
court, the journeyman of an eminent peruke
maker, not far from St. Bride's passage, Fleet
ftreet, firing a gun which had been overcharg
ed, the explosion broke five panes of glass, and
laid him sprawling on the floor, in fucha man
ner that it was much ado he could be persua
ded he was not ihot in reality.
Fine Salt, 10$. od.
Coarse Salt, Bs. od.
Indian Corn per Bu. 6s. 6d.
Coffee, is. gd.
Chocolate, 265. per Doz&