The Pennsylvania ledger, or, The Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, & New-Jersey weekly advertiser — Philadelphia, Pa., 1776-07-06 00:00:00, page 1

Just printed, pudlifbed and to be Sold, By
JAMES HUMPHREYS, junr.
G R 2E C J£
GRAM MATICX
INSTITUTIO COMPENDIARIA.
IN USUM SCHOLARUM.
A U TO R E
ED V. WETTENHALL, D. D.
Nuper Epifeopb Kilmor, & zlrdag.
FULLER and FISHER
if AVE removed their ,to;e Iroin vVatcr
1 Ilreet to Benjamin Fuller's house in Front
ftreec, a little below the Draw-bridge, the third
door above Union-l|reet, where they have for tale,
for calh only, Oznabrigs, sheetings, Britanias,
dowlefs, checks and stripes, worded and hair
pjii:s, mens white silk hole, fiik knee garters and
a Aw pickets of pins
FOUR DOLLARS RETARD.
RAN AWAY from the lubferiber of New-
Hanpver townihip, Philadelphia county, on
the i 3 th of May lad pail, JOHN HUNT, an
indented Engidh servant L A D; he is about 20
years old, little for his age; is pock marked has
whitilh yellow hair; speaks broken German, and
had on when he went away, a half worn felt hat,
•a shirt of Ruffii Iheeting, a blue regimental coat"
turned up with b own, tow trowters, and half
• worn ikoes.. .Whoever apprehends laid Servant
and brings him to his miller, or secures him so
that he may have him again, may receive the a
bove Reward and reasonable charges paid by
July 3. * J.4C08 BISHOP.
cfa:focfa%c^cx^c^^ +c^c^ocfocfafa^o cfocfocfo
HOUSE of LORDS
Tue-sday, March 5.
On a motion for an bumble fd'drefi to bis Majesty,
ferrying, that be mould be graciously .pleased to
countermand the march of the troops of Hcffe,
H man, and Brunswick; and likewise give directi
ons for an immediate fufpenfon of bofilities in
Am rica, in order to lay a foundation for a bafr
py and permanent reconciliation, between the divi
ded parts of this difraßed Empire.
r rHI3 was the obj a of the propof d address;
but the prayer was introduced with a series
of fads, relative to the treaties entered into' with
the Landgrave of Hesse, the Duke'of Brunswick,
and the Hereditary Prince of Hesse, in which they
were cenured in very direct and pointed.terms, as
being contrary to the gen-rd interests and deroga
tory to the honpur and dignity of this country.
I'he Duke of Richmond having firft delivered in
his motion in writing, and the fame being read by
.the Clerk, his Grace entered into a view of these-
Veral material points on which his motion and the
general matures reforming America were connec
ted, particularly r.loiveto the conduct of the war,
and the obj 61s pursued by adminftration, as they
rose in lucceffion since its firft commencement. We
cannot avoid giving this testimony in the noble
Duke's favour, that we do not recoiled at any time
to have he ird a motion of luch extent and vast im
portance more ably supported, or more substantially
or judiciously enforced. His Grace opened with an
.apology to the House, for the trouble he was going
to give them; and expressed a confcioulhefs of his
own inability, and a wilh that others mote equal to
the talk cad flood forth, at so tremendous a crisis;
a crisis which h'e'feared would decide the fate of this
great Empire for ever. He lamented in a very pa
thetic manner, the absence of two noble Lords,
whom he was sorry not to fee in their places. One
of then; (Lord Chatham) a noble Earl, who, when
this nation was on the brink of deftruftion. rescued
it from impending ruin, and not reding there, gave
a luftre to our arms, and an efficacy and steadiness
to our councils, never before known in the annals
of this country. The other of them, a noble Mar
quis (Marquis of Rockingham)' who in a season of
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public diftradion, presided at the head of their na
tional councils, with honour to himfelf and fatis
fadion to the nation; and though his adminftration
was but of a fliort continu nice, had the good for
tune to quit his Nation with a,confcioulhefs of ha
ving healed thole unhappy disputes, which threat
ened the Empire with the moil serious and alarm
ing confequ nets; but which have since broke out
with redoubled vigour and malignity; He was a
ware, he said, how much he fhoul I feel the ablence
and consequent support of the two noble Lords in
prosecuting the butinefs of this day, but however
unequal to the attempt himfelf, he deemed it a part
of his duty, and without ceyfidering minutely all
the consequences, he should, in discharge of that
duty, abandon and renounce every collateral consi
deration whatever, and do what he could instead of
effecting what he might wilh.
His Grace observed, that the justice, of the Ame
rican war, the rights of the mother country and
the claims ol America, had been so frequently and
so amply difeuffed, that he should avoid, as much
as possible, every fact and argument that could pol
fibly tend to introduce thole funjeds into the present
debate He should endeavour to confine himielf to
the terms of his motion reipefting the treaties, and
only advert to fuch'parts of the conduct of admin
ftration, and the means hitherto adopted in the
prosecution of the war, as directly applied to them.
The firft ground he took was, giving a ihort hiltory
'of the feveraf treaties entered into with the Land
graves of Hesse, beginning with that made in the
year 1702, and.ending with thole Several expirati
ons and modifications ol that made at the com
mencement of the late war, down so late as the year
1761, when his Serene Highness was indemnified
for the losses fuflained in his Landgraviate, by that
country's being frequently made by the enemy the
feat of war. In this historical detail his Grace
shewed, that the successive Landgraves hill from
time to time rose in their demands, and Rill as they
continued to extort better terms, they never failed
to ehablilh the former extortion as a precedent lor
the basis of the succeeding treaty, always taking
care to make some new demand on this country.
.This he infixed was the cale of the present. The
preceeding treaty to a subsidy added its continu
ance to a certain period. The one now under con
sideration doubled the subsidy. His Grace then
entered into several computations on the different
heads of pay, levy money, subsidy, victualling and
tranlport service for the troops, which he affirmed
'would amount to 1,196,0001. and that this, with
transport service for the victuallers, would make
1,123,0001. and if the other articles under the head
ol contigencies, &c. were included, the expence of
which could not now be ascertained, he had little
doubt that the whole, taken together, would be
full one million and an hall. He contended that
this was a molt enormous sum lor the afliftance of
only 17,300 men, an expence, he would venture to
maintain, considering the number to be employed,
not known in the hiltory of mankind. Thole mat
ters, however serious in the present miserable date
of our finances, and the enormous load of public
burdens we labour under, were not, he said, what
pressed so forcibly & his mind. It was the tenor
of the treaties, the ambiguous terms in which they
were worded, in some places, the dangerous prece
dents they established were glided in; that princi
pally alarmed his fears'. He observed with grief and
the best founded jealousy, that an over-ruling influ
ence had for some years pervaded our Councils;
that this influence had been exercised in effecting
measures of a mod dangerous and dark complexion;
that it sometimes made its approaches, by health, at
other times made itfelf vilible in Qpen day, and
proceeded to ads of violence. Hanoverians had
been brought into the dominions of the British
Crown without the consent of Parliament. An at
tempt was made to introduce a body of foreigners
into Ireland, which mifearried. He /aid that he
underwood that th^ fame attempt would be repeat
ed, though he did not pretend to authenticate it
as a matter of fad. And if any doubt remained,
the present treaties afforded ample matter for great
and serious alarm. In the firft place he observed,
THE
that they were formed on no found principle of
alliance or reciprocal lupport. It is tru<, they
were laid to be formed 011 the basis ol muiuA .uc
cour and support, but thole expreflions imported
nothing, they were mere words of course. It was
a downright mercenary bargain, lor, the taking into
pay a certain number ol hirelings, who were bought
and fold like so many beads for flaughier. There
was no common interest which mutually bound the
parties; and if there was the conduct of the foreign
Princes was the mod extraordinary that was ever
known. They were to be lubfidized. They were
to have levy money. They were to,have double
subsidy. Their corps were to be kept' up complete.
Tlley were to be paid till the troops were returned
to their refpedive countries; and the subsidies were
to be continued according to the tenor ol the re
fpccfive treaties, one or two years after the troops
ceased to be of any service to us. But taking it on
tlie orhei ground, that tlie treaties were formed on
tile title basis of-alliance, what would be tlie con
lequence? 1 hat if any of those powers were attack
ed, or should wantonly provoke any attack, for the
engagement was left general and unconditional,
that we should give them (donner) all the fuccour
in our power. Thus, for the assistance of a few
thousand foreign mercenaries, we are not only to
pay double, but we are to enter into a solemn en
gagement, to exert our whole force to give them all
the fuccour in our power, if the Landgrave, or
Duke shall be attacked or disturbed in the possession
of his dominions. His Grace begged next to recall
to the memory of their Lordships, the language
held by the friends of the present measures towards
the cloie of the late war. He laid a very ingenious
gentleman (Mr.Mauduit) at that period wrote a
pamphlet, entitled, “ Considerations on the Ger
man war," in which he introduced several compu
tations of the coll of every French scalp to hrs na
tion; and made it amount to ten thouland pounds
per head. He therefore recommended to the noble
Lords who then approved ol that gentleman's eßi
mate, to confider what an American fcalp'would
cost, when 17,000 foreigners would hand us in at:
the rate of one million and a half per annum He
observes, he had many noble Lords in his eye who
profeffed themselves of that opinion One noble Lord,
now absent from his place, (Lord Bute) made use
of the, very arguments here adverted to, in debate
And a noble Duke now 'deceafed (the Duke of Bed
ford) maintained the lame opinions. He remem
bered a little after, when we were victorious in every
quarter of the globe, when all we wanted was mo
ney, and all we had to contend with was climate,
to prevent us from possessing ourselves of the whole
of Spanish America, the lame two noble Lords, and
their friends, juftined the peace on no other ground
but our inability to raiie new taxes. Thev allowed
that couqued was certain, but that the nation d debt
was enormous. Where then was the material ch m^e
of circumllances, after the conclusion of the present
campaign, when the debt which was after a' thir
teen year's peace, not reduced above feyen millions,
where the conqued was not certain, and where rs
it were, it would be a conquest over our own fub
jcds. # operating to our own ruin, unaccompanied
by either fame, honour, or reputation : would not
we then, as at the elofe of the late war, be in a fi.u
acion, when even to protective* cert in conquest
would be the height of folly and political frenzy?
His Grace then proceeded to point out several
exceptionable paifiges in the treaties. He remarked
on the danger of keeping a body of 12,000 foreign
ers together, under tlie ablolute command of one
•of their cwn Generals; of the poffi hiity though he
should consent to serve under ajunior officer, of his
arriving to th\_ supreme command; and of tlie con
fufii)n whicli might be created by a difference on
this head, between the foreign General and the
Commander in Chief. He laid great llrefs on that
pdfige in the Heffim treaty, in which it was pro
vided, article 9, that his Majesty shall nuke use of
this body oftroops by land in Europe whenever lie
shall tliink proper. He i/id, he could notfee what
operations they could be employed in, unless it
were in this country, in cale of a rebellion, or a
revolt, which none forefaw biff the advisers of th 4
Numb. LXXVI.