The New York packet, and the American advertiser — New York [N.Y.], 1776-06-27 00:00:00, page 1

Now in the Prefa and ver,foon -will be fublifoed,
OBSERVATIONS
ON THE
NATURE of CIVIL LIBERTY,
THE
Principles of Government, and the Ju
stice 'and Policy of the War with Ame
rica.
To which is added.
An A PPENDI X,
Containing a State ofthe National Debt, an Es
timate of the Money drawn from the Public
by the Taxes, andan Account of the National
Income and Expenditure since the last War.
Hew rfferi fives ! non Hoflem, inimicaque caflra,
Peflras Spes uritis. ViRG.
By RICHARD PRICE, D. D. F.R.S.
g^ Dr. Price's reputation in the republic
of letters is such, as renders any encomiums on
this performance altogether unnecessary ; how
ever, that thole who are unacquainted with his
character, may have an opportunity of forming
fomejudgment for themselves, the following
Extracts from the Pamphlet, are inserted here,
" We have been used to speak of the colo
rfbs as our colonies, and to think of them as in
a state of subordination to us, and as holding
their existence in America, only for our ts. The
meanest person among us is disposed to look up
on himfelf as having a body of fubje&s in Ame
rica, and to be offended at the denial of his right
to make laws for them, though perhaps he does
not know what colour they are of, or what lan
guage they talk. Such are the natural prejudi
ces of this country; but the time is coming, I
hope, when the unreasonableness of them will
be seen, and more just Sentiments prevail."
===" Pride, and the love of dominion are
p inciples hateful enough ; but blind resent
ment and the desire of revenge are infernal prin
ciples ; and these, I am afraid, have no small
(hare at present in guiding our public conduct
One cannot help indeed being astonished at the
virulence with %hich some speak on the present
occasion against the colonies. For what have
they done? Have they crofted the ocean and
invaded us? Have they attempted to take from
us the fruits of our labour, and to overturn that
form of government which we held so sacred ?
This cannot be pretended. On the contrary,
this is what we have done to them. We have
transported ourselves to their peaceful retreats,
and employed our fleets and atmies to flop up
their ports, to destroy their commerce, to seize
their effects, and to burn their towns. Would
we but let them alone, and Suffer them to enjoy
in security, their property and governments, in
ffead of disturbing them, they would thank and
bless us. And yet it is cue who imagine our
selves ill used. The truth is, we expected to find
them a cowardly rabble, who would lie quietly
at our feet, and they have disappointed us.
They have risen in their own defence, and re
pelled force by force. They deny the plenitude
of our power over them, and inlift on being
treated as free communities. It is this that has
provoked us, and kindled our Governors into
rage."
-==::" What then muff follow, when one
of the most profitable branches of our trade is
destroyed; when a third of the empire is loft ;
when an addition of many millions is made to
the public debt; and when, at the fame time,
perhaps some millions are taken away from the
revenue? I shudder at the profped. A king
dom, on an edge so perilous, ihould think of no
thing but a retreat."
==^“ In this hour of tremendous danger,
it would become us to turn our thoughts to
Heaven. This is what our brethren in the co
lonies are doing. From one end of North-A
merica to the other, they are Fading and Pray
ing. But what are we doing? Shocking
thought! we are ridiculing them as Fanatics,
and fcoffing at Religion. We are running wild
after pleasure, and forgetting every thing seri
ous and decent at Masquerades. We are gam
bling in gaming-houses ; trafficking for bo
roughs ; perjuring ourselves at elections, and
felling ourselves for places. Which fide then is
Providence likely to favour ?"
ASSIZE of BREAD. Flour at 17 s. per Ct.
A Wheaten Loaf of thefineft FLOUR, to
11 " weigh i lb. ii 1-2 oz. for 4 Coppers.
Bubbled March 18, 1,76.
V 0 I. NUMB 26.
THE
^W^^^^^^^^ ^^^*^^^
k^W^Of^^^^ 'T^^CT t^^'^ ^H fr? %
AMERICA N ADVERTISER.
= - — __— _ - ' — —— —— — _
THURSDAY, ^^^ % JUNE 27th, 1776.
Printed by SAMUEL LOUDON, in Water-Street, between the Coffee-House and the Old Slip.
Thursday, 49 Min. after gl
Friday, 27 Min. after 61
Ssarday, 17 Min. alter 71
Sunday, 11 Min. after 8
====" They wi 1 rejoice, particularly, in
the last restraining aft. It might have happen
ed that the people would have grown weary of
their agreements not to export or import. But
this ad will oblige them to keep those agree
ments ; and confirm their unanimity and zeal.
It will also furnifh them with a reason for con
fifeating the elates of all the friends of our go
vernment among them, and for employing their
feilors, who would have been otherwise idle, in
making reprisals on British property. Their
ships before useless, and confiding of many hun
dreds, will be turned into mips of war; and all
that attention, which they have hitherto con
fined to trade, will be employed in fitting out a
naval force for their own defence; and thus the
way will be prepared for their becoming, much
sooner than they would otherwise have been, a
great maritime power. This ad of Parliament,
therefore, crowns the folly of our late measures.
None who know me, can believe me to be dis
posed to superstition. Perhaps, however, lam
not in the present instance free from that weak
ness. I fancy, I fee in these measures foine
thing that cannot be accounted for merely by
human ignorance. I am inclined to think
that the hand of Providence is in them work
ing to bring about some great ends."
In the follovdng Speech, the rights of nature, and
the privileges ofthe Members ofthe BritiJh con
stitution are so juftty fated, the ruinous conse
quences, that will inevitably be the lot of Bri
tain, from a purfait of the present min serial
rufures, are so clearly laid down; and the whole
being so full offound reafining and of undoubt
ed falls, has induced us, at the desire of a number
of our readers, to give it a place in our paper.
The SPEECH of Gov. JOHNSTON,
in the House of Commons, on Thursday the
26th of October, 177,.
^d^^*/^^,^ HE Speech of the Honour
f.&^^oo^^rf able Baronet who spoke last
Z § s^s I^ (Sir Adam Fergufon)is very
I T§ much like that we have jut
I s^^ § a heard from the throne, full
^^coo^woo^T of affirmed falfe faffs, and
*'^^*^^ / * general undisputed axioms,
which the people in America are as ready to
close with, as their adversaries on this fide. As
for instance, the honourable Gentleman fays,
" the Americans had fi^ne reasons for their
conduct in the firft of those disputes ; but now
they have refufed their just proportion of taxes,
by rejecting Lord North's conciliatory propositi
on oflaft year, and relifting the constitutional
authority of parliament, he is ready to devote
them to deftruftion." Who does not fee that
the whole quellion, even according to this Hon.
Gentleman, turns upon just proportion, and
constitutional authority ? Nowl deny, that the
people of America have ever refufed to contri
bute their just proportion when called upon in a
constitutional way, and those who assert the
contrary, ought to proveit. If the Hon. Gen
tleman vindicates the severity of his conduct a
gainst his fellow-fubjefts in America, for reject
ing the proposition of last year, which the noble
Lord introduced about the middle ofthe session,
I think he rests on as feeble a ground, as any
man ever flood on. How does he vindicate the
Severities in which he concurred, before it could
be known whether the Subjects in America
would accede to this marvellous indulgence or
not ? His mind must have been flrangely biaffed
to the noble Lord, if this could turn the Scale of
his reason. I really thought this foolilh piece
of paper had been so universally condemned,
that I should never again have heard any argu
ments founded on so flimfy a foundation. The
purpose was merely to amuse the people on this
fide the Atlantic, and to divide the people on
that. Having failed in its effect, I understood
from many friends of government, that every
rational argument in Support of the proposition
had been reprobated ; for, what, indeed, can
be more truly ridiculous, than in a dispute con
cerning the power of taxation, lerioufly to fay
t© a sensible people, we admit there are many
unanswerable reasons why this Assembly are un
fit to impose taxes upon you, and therefore, if,
you will only tax yourselves to our fatisfa&ion,
we will forbear the exercise of a right, to which
HIGH WATER at NEW-YORK.
Monday, o Min. after 9
Tuesday, ^ Min. aftq to
Wedrzefday, 0 Min. after 11
Full Moon, ift July.
However, Sir, absurd as this appears, it is
not my capital objection to that mode of railing
money, nor is it the objeaion of the Americans;
they maintain the power of giving and granting
their on n money by their own free and volun
tary content, is the only Security they can re
tain for the just administration of government,
at so great a diftanef from the feat of empire.
That it is the main Spring in their Several esta
blishments, upon which the meeting and power
of their Several Assemblies depend, from whence
the singular prosperity of the British Colonies,
above all others on the face of the earth, have
flowed. They admit you have the power of li
miting the means, by which you may acquire
property, but they deny you the power of dis
posing of this property, after it is so acquired.
Thus, in his Majesty's speech, the fame general
undefiled axioms prevail ; “ to be a fubjed of
Great-Britain, with all its consequences, is to
be the freeft member of any civil state in the
known world." All America, with one voice,
agreein this truth, their writings and their acti
ons proclaim their belief; but they maintain,
as I assert in their behalf, that one of the unali
enable consequences of that situation, is the giv
ing and granting of aids for the support of go
vernment, according to the exigency that shall
appear to their own understanding; and that t®
tax them in an Assembly where they have no
representatives, and by men who have no inte
rest in the subsidy they impose, is contrary to
the spirit ofthe British constitution, and in its
consequences, must deprive them of all the es
sential rights of a British fubjed. Another es
sential right of a British fubje& is trial by jury ;
has not this been abrogated in many cases by
the late $ of Parliament, and totally deflroy
ed in all civil causes in the extensive province of
Quebec ? The writ of habeas corpus," is another
eflential right of a British fubje&? has not this
also been done away ? I forbear to enumerate
the other oppressive proceedings, contrary to the
whole tenor of our government, dissolving of
charters without evidence, trial, or forfeiture ;
laws to deny the natural gifts of the elements,
confounding the innocent with the guilty; be
cause, when once the three great pillars of the
British constitution are removed, taxing without
representatives, trial withoutjury, imprisonment
without relief by habeas corpus, the whole must
necessarily fall into confufion, and the rest is not
worth contending for. The people in America
, wifely fee the suppression of all their rights, in
the train of those iniquitous innovations. They
perceive, that every thing which is dear to a
freeman is at flake, and they are willing, as be
comes the children of their ancestors, to put all
to the rifque, and Sacrifice their lives and for
tunes, rather than give up the liberty of a fub
jed of Great Britain, with all its consequences.
The Hon. Baronet, has concluded his speech
with another reason for inducing us to join i^
we declare by the proposition we are incompe
tent; but some men will fay, the Parliament
can judge fufficiently well ofthe gross sum, the'
unfit and incapable of determining on the man
ner in which it is to be raised. Who that is ac
customed to reason accurately, does not perceive
that the estimate of supply must be regulated
frora a thorough knowledge of the ways and
means, and that they are united in common
sense, as well as by the English conflitution, to
r^fide in the fame persons. But the Hon. Ba
ronet forgets the main argument which drew
the concession of the conciliatory proposition
turns on this : The Americans have no Repre
sentatives in the British Parliament ; they have
not the security of other fubje&s residing in Bri
tain, who may not be represented, namely, that
the members in taxing them, muff tax them
selves ; on the contrary, it is the interest of e
very member to lay as much as possible on A
merica, to case himfelf. This was the conside
ration which " drew iron tears from Pluto's
cheek," and has effeded so many members not
remarkably tender towards the feeling of their
fellow-creatures. But let us confider if this ir
resistible objection, as it has been called by one
of the friends of administration, against taxing
America by the British Parliament, does not e
qually apply, when we approve of the sum of
fered, and tax them in the lump, as when we
tax them in detail.
PRICE-CURRENT, in NEW-YORK.
Wheat per Bushel, ss. 6d.
|Flour, - - - igs. od.
/Brown Bread, -13 s. od.
h Weft-India Rum, 9s. 6d.
Ii New-England do. gs. od.
Mufcovado Sugar, L. 7
Single refin'd do. 2s. 6d.
Molafles, - - - qs. od.
Beef, per Barrel, 70s. od.
Port, - - - 9^5. od.
the coercive measures proposed by the address,
which is dill more extraordinary, laying,
“ Whether we succeed or not may be uncer
tain ; but if we fail, we shall even then be no
worse than we were." These are the very
words of the noble Lord on the Treasury Bench
last year. lam persuaded the worthy Baronet
has words of his own so much at will, that he
borrows from no man; but I am futprifed he
can fan&ify such opinions by his voice. If A
merica is forced to invite foreign powers to lhare
in her commerce ; if she is drove to the needfi
ty of following , the example of Holland and
Switzerland; if our armies are destroyed, our
fleets wrecked, our treasures wafted, our reputa
tion for justice and humanity loft, our senates
corrupted by the emoluments which mud fall
to individuals, in the prosecution of so expensive
a war, and four Killings land tax entailed on us
for ever; will the Honourable Gentleman fay,
we are only where we were? What objects can
call the attention of the House, in a Stronger
degree than those I have enumerated? And yet
they are all involved in the question now be
fore you, if you rejedl the amendment propos
ed. I fay, it is unfair in administration, and an
affront to every individual member of the House
t® call upon them, without any information
laid on your table, without evidence brought to
your bar, deftitute,of every material by which a
rational creature can resolve, toiequire he ihould
give his unlimited landtion to measures of such
moment, on the very firft da| ,perhaps of his ar
rival in town. The reason is obvious to me.
The Minister clearly perceives, if men we e ar
quainted with the real state of things in Ameri
ca, if they had time to acquire information, to
reason and reflect, that all men of generous feel
ings would leave him, and even his most despe
rate followers might be shaken : Men are to he
brought to this black business hoed winked;
they are to be drawn in by degrees, till they can
not retreat. On the one hand, a dutiful ad
diefs to his Majesty, full of those general assur
ances of loyalty and refpet becoming fubjeds
to the firft magistrate, is offered to your deter
mination ; on the other, a hasty approbation of
mealures, you have had no time to confider,
from men you have every reason to fufped, lies
before you. Is there a man who feels the
dignity of his situation, that can hesitate upon
his choice of such an alternative?
I shall now expose to the House the falfe fads
which are assumed in his Mayfly's speech, as
composed by the minister. Firft,' the minister
tells you he has called you early together. This
I deny. The commencement of open hostilities
was in April, the battle of Bunker's Hill in
June, and the petition from theCongrefs in July :
They severally arrived in England within five
or fix weeks after the events. Now I maintain,
as a member of Parliament, intruded with 4
voice in the supreme authority of the empire,
that I am called late to deliberate in the nation
al council 011 such great events. The next no
u rious untruth is, that the Americans are col
leding a naval force. The third afUrrion, th.t
the Americans meant only to amuse by vague
expreflions of attachment to the parent state, is
equally injurious to their honour and to truth.
This can only be inserted as an excuse for th^
bad conduct of Administration, and their ill fuc- :
cefs. The Africans told you in language the,
most direct and iimple, again and again repeat
ed, that they would resist to the last appeal those
arbitrary innovations; but you affected not to
believe them ; nevertheless, I maintain the arm
aments were calculated to refill men in arm ,
and the jnfufficiency arose from a total igno
rance of the force, character and dispositions of
the people in America, as well as a mifeoneep
tion upon the effed rhe several retraining bills
passed last sessions would produce; in Ihortfroni
a perfect ignorance of the operations of cruelty
and oppreflion on high minded men, noting on,
der the spirit of freedom. All their knowledge
seems to have been drawn from one source, that
of Governor Hutchinson. The civil war now
raging in America seems, step by hep, to hive
been carried on by his advice. Whoever reads
his letters published in America, fees everv me -
lure pursued by Adfamiftration to h^ve been
antecedently pointed out by this gentleman in
his confidential carrefyundence, until his fenti-
Fine Salt, ... None.
Coarse Salt, - - Ss. 6d.
Indian Corn, per Bush. 3s. od.
Chocolate, -' - 2s, 6d.