The New-York gazette, and the weekly Mercury — New-York [N.Y.], 1777-03-10 00:00:00, page 1

To the PRINTER.
By inserting in your next Gazette, the following
Address to the People of North America, and,
more particularly to the inhabitants of the mid
dle, a^dfouthern colonies,,bu will oblige Z.
NOTHING is more common than
to fee individuals, following the
dictates of some predominant pas
sion, persist in a course of conduct,
which certainly and directly leads to their
ruin ; they themselves totally insensible of its
approach, altho' obvious and evident to the
uninterested fpedator : This case is not so fre
quent in communities, or large societies of
men, considered as such ; and the reason is,
because our passions in general are by no means
so much affected with what relates to the pub
lic, as with what concerns the individual per
sonally and immediately; the hill voice of
reason has therefore, in this latter case, a
much better chance of a calm and candid
hearing, when it seldom fails of making a
proper, governing impression. Thus it hath
been often observed, that the body of the
people, in most countries, underhand their
ewn interest ; —from your condud indeed it
would seem that you are an exception to this
rule, as, for a considerable time past, you have
been signally adive in forwarding your own
deltrudion. Satiated with the charms of ease,
affluence, and peace, which you enjoyed un
der the mild influence of the molt benign,
and belt tempered confiitution, that human
wisdom has as yet produced, you have made
the greatest efforts, efforts that would do ho
nour to any nation, engaged in a virtuous,
constitutional contest, to deliver yourfelves—
from your own happiness. A delusive phan
tom flitted before your eyes, which, to your
diffracted imagination o , appeared adorned
with all the purity and refulgence of that real
liberty, which you had too long poffefled,
without knowing its value. Enchanted by a
shadow, you engaged madly in pursuit of it,
at the rilk of all the blessings you enjoyed ;
you left the Goddess, and followed an empty
cloud, which will for ever elude your disap
pointed grasp. It is not a time now, nor
shall I attempt to difeufs the principles on
which you entered into the rebellion, in which
you are engaged; whatever they were, your
leaders have long since confeffedly left them;
and the question is now reduced to a small
compass ; the only point to be considered is,
whether you will kill, in contempt of honour,
faith, and gratitude, and at the peril of im
m nent ruin, persist in your endeavours to
continue and ettablifh the power of your pre
sent tyrants ; or whether, following the dic
tates of just, and manly resentment, you will
arise, animated with one spirit, and either
secure, or drive from amongst you, those vil
lains,' by whom you have been so long, and
so grofly deluded and enslaved ? Doing this,
you would merit the pardon of a most graci
ous sovereign, and, in consequence, be en
titled to a restoration of those invaluable
rights and privileges, which, by your unna
tural rebellion, you have relinquished and
forfeited. One would imagine that even the
dirtant profped of peace and security would
induce a people, in your desperate situation,
to make the greatest efforts to attain them ;
and, in sass, less rtrenuous exertions would
be neceflary for this purpose, than those you
have already made in order to ruin your
selves : the way is plain before you ; return
to your duty, and you will return to your
former happiness. You have no other way
left, unless you are absolutely determined on
political suicide, for there is not now the
most remote chance of effecting that Inde
pendency, after which your leaders, mad with
the idea of despotic power, so ardently aspire :
'in vain will you object your numbers and
strength ; your armies have been almost con
stantly defeated; your country is impoverish
ed ; you are already familiar with all the hor
rors of war and pestilence ; and famine, with
haCy Strides, is advancing to join the dread
ful cavalcade: the grand prop of that mighty
faperftrudure, which the congress fondly
aimed at eroding, their fallacious currency,
is now tottering, and ready to tumble to the
ground, and beware left all your property
be prostrated by itsfall. It is indeed aftonifh
wg that a sensible, ingenious people Should
have been deceived by a device so apparently
gross and absurd : early in this rebellion, the
congress were told, that they had no funds,
Monday, March 10, 1777.'
NE W-Y ORK
AND
WEEKLY
ASSIZE of BREAD. Flour at 30s. per Cent.
A White Loaf of the finert FLOUR, to weigh
3 lb. 40Z. for 14 Coppers, and in the fame
Proportion for Loaves of a lesser Weight.
Published January 10, 1777.
Containing tbe eatUeff ^ot)ices
0 Printed by HUGH GAINE, at the BIBLE and CROWN, in HANOVER-SQUARE.
no resources ; this objection to the measures
they were then pursuing was too obvious and
true to be denied, and too strong not to be
in some manner avoided ; they boldly deter
mined to try how far the credulity of the
people would serve them instead of real
wealth, well knowing that if they were trac
table on this occasion, there was no expedi
ent, however absurd and deftrudive, to which
they would not tamely submit; they ven
tured the grand attempt; their fictitious cur
rency was emitted, and received with such
facility as astonished even the makers of it,
and which posterity, unable to account for,
but feeling its dreadful effects, will equally
curse and admire. How different was the
conduct of the people of Ireland with refped
to an attempt somewhat similar in its nature,
altho' vastly inferior in degree and absurdity :
with what spirit, and even violence, did they
oppose the introduction of Wood's adultera
ted coin into that kingdom ; this however
was of a real intrinsic value, altho' indeed
inferior to the denomination at which it was
to pass, and the whole sum intended to be
current was comparatively trifling : this op
position was indeed founded on just political
principles; the hirtories of many countries
furnifh us with instances of the worst effeds
arising from the abuses of coin, by debating
the metal, or enhancing the nominal value;
for as money is the Symbol of property, if
its value be arbitrary or unafeertained, the
case mult be the fame with the property it re
presents. Your continental currency has in
deed leafed to represent property, having al
ready absorbed all that you possessed; so vast
is the nominal value of this mere inanity !
At length you became sensible of its futility ;
but your leaders then imagined themselves
too firmly feared to stand in need in this re
fped of either deceit or moral suasion ; they
had immediate recourse to violence ; the most
despotic, and highly penal edicts, were issued
to enforce its circulation ; these however have
proved ineffectual, and a few months will,
without doubt, put an entire end to it; and
can you imagine that a war, that a rebellion,
founded on such a basis, has any chance of
success ? Your leaders are perfectly sensible
that it has not ; would to God, that you,
for your own fakes, were as well informed in
this particular. But there is now no time for
hesitation ; the crisis is at hand, the season
for action approaching; the fleets and armies
of Great-Britain, and her auxiliaries, under
the direction of a consummate Admiral, and
victorious General, are prepared for the at
tack; and for what grand, what mighty ob
ject, would you rifle the tremendous conse
quences of their operations? Can it be from
a personal regard to these leaders, whom you
so well know, now feeling the smart of the
wounds they have inflicted ? You cannot cer
tainly at this time want instances of their
tyranny, and barbarity ; and as to the design
they had originally' in view in exciting, and
enflaming the present rebellion, the declara
tion of independency, timed as it was, is a
glaring and positive proof; it was to mount,
on your necks, to the summit of power; the
whole to be effected at your risk ; the dan
ger certainly yours ; dominion, and pro
perty, in cate of success, as certainly theirs :
the tyrants had, as they thought, made all
sure ; they had provided a retreat, if fortune
Should chance to frown; thither some of them
are already fled ; thither the rest are prepared
to fly, the instant danger approaches them
personally, leaving you to bear all the horrors
of unfuccefsful rebellion ; —war, peflilence,
famine, deftrudion!
But if, notwithstanding the terrible expe
rience you have had, you still remain torpid
and insensible, deaf to the voice of reason,
unaffected by the charms of peace, and legal
government, (which are within your reach)
and to be moved only by the iron whips and
goads, with which the furies, your tyrants,
continually drive you on to perform their dia
bolical work ; you must even perish in your
folly ; you are felf defined to ruin, and per
haps intended as an exemplar to other nati
ons, not to exchange the substantial blessing
of civil liberty, flowing from, and dependant
on legal rule, for the uncertainty and vio
lence of anarchy, or the tyrannic domination
of villains, who, ferfat like, firft fafeinate,
and then devour.
Z.
Monday, 6 Min. after 10
Tuesday, 57 Min. after 10
Wednesday, 34 Min. after 11
Thursday, 41 Min. after 12
HIGH-WATER at NEW-YORK, this Week.
TEE
Friday, 34 Min. after 1
Saturday, 27 Min. after 2
Sunday, 23 Min. after 3
Firfl Quarter next Sunday.
SIR,
I CONCLUDED my last Letter by ex
pounding the humble Confeffion of Sins,
fee forth by the meek and lowly Convention
at Fish-Kills, and their Acknowledgment of
the divine Judgements which have followed
them. I endeavoured to make (as good Ex-,
pefitors do) a practical Use of their DoCtrine,
in order to impress it upon the Minds of my
Readers. I shall pursue the fame Course in
the present Letter, and continue to do so to
the End of the Chapter.
By a pretty strong Figure, not always al
lowed in sober Prose, our Convention have
called the States of Egypt, Babylon, Syria, and
Rome by the Name of Tyrants. However, it
may be a Blunder of the Copyist, who fancied
they were so many Persons without Christian
Names; and therefore, puffing that by, I shall
proceed in my Notes and Illultrations.
Speaking of the Inhabitants of Britain,
called in the Text our Enemies, the Conven
tion fay, that “ they are of a Nation and
“ People bound to us by the strongest Ties. A
“ People by whose Side we have fought and
“ bled, whose Power we have contributed to
“ raise, who owe much of their Wealth to
“ our Industry, and whose Grandeur has been
“ augmented by our Exertions." Gentle
R,& ler, here is a great deal of Matter in few
Words, which, as they are poftive, and conse
quently true, deserve some Consideration. The
People of Britain “ were bound to us by the
“ strongest Ties." I suppose our Convention
meant, by faying this, to give us a Proof of
their great Strength in having burst those Ties
asunder. And as the Connection was of so lit
tle Worth to our Peace and Happiness, it may
be fairly argued, they have great Merit in
doing it. So had Samson, when he pulled
down the House upon the Head of the Phi
lirtines: For, like our Convention, perhaps,
he did not think his own worth preferring. —
“ A People by whose Side we have fought and
“ bled." —I presume, they do not mean, that
cue Americans went over to Europe to fight
and bleed by the Side of Britons, in order to
protest them against, or to prevent an In
vasion from their Enemies ; but rather that
they came over hither, at our Reque^, when
the French and Indians invaded us, and that
then we generously ftept [forth and fought
“ by their Side :" That is, sometimes on one
Side, and sometimes on the other, as suited
ourlntereft bed. This! take to be the genuine
Sense ; because we all know it to be a Fad.—
“ Whose Power we have contributed to raise."
—That is, Great-Britain had no Power till
after she had drained herfelf of People, in
order to krengthen us, that we might strength
en her. She was scarce known among the
Nations, till she had fettled the Maffachufets
Colony in the Time of Charles the First ; and
through all the succeeding Reigns, till she
had expended above Seventy Millions at
least in Wars upon our Account, and above
Forty Millions in Bounties and Establish
ments here, her Power cannot be supposed to
have been raised. We, by shewing her the
Way to all this Expence, have vainly increased
her Strength and augmented her Opulence.
If Great-Britain had two or three more such
Helpers, she would be Great-Britain indeed.—
“ Who owe much of their Wealth to our In
“ duhrv." —Thatis, they have been so lazy at
Home, that in order to procure them Wealth, cue
have generously made unusual Exertions of In
dustry. They ovje Wealth to us: Weare not, nue
cannot be in the Nature of Things, ice never
were in Fad, indebted to them. Our Names are
not in their Books ; but they owe to our People
immense Sums for Goods exported hence, for
which they are so base, and so dishonest as to
refufe to Account. Sad Rogues indeed!—
“ And whose Grandeur has been augmented
" by our Exertions."- -We have paid her
Armies and her Fleets; We have maintained
her Ambassadors abroad and her numerous
Eftablifnments at Home; We have carried
forth her Trade to all Parts of the habitable
World ; and under our Banners, and by cur
Exertions, is she arrived at her present Gran
deur. For Centuries past, we have been her
Support; and, to prove the Greatness of our
Power, what we have hitherto supported, we
now mean to destroy. This is a plain Para
phrase of the above Words of our Convention,
which in themselves are bard to be underfiood,
To SPRINT ER.
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Flour, 30s. od.
Brown Bread, 255. od.
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New-England do. ss. od.
1324.]
GAZETTE:
T H E
MERCUR Y.
PRICE CURRENT, in NEW-YORK.
Mufcovado Sugar, 51. 10s.
Single refin'd ditto, 2s. gd.
Molasses, 3$ . 6d.
Beef per Barrel, 90s. od.
Pork, 51. lOS.
foreign ana Domefficfo
and the Sentiments of which I believe (in the
Languageof Scripture) many have vsrefled to
their own Deftruflion.
The next Passage seems as difficult. After
praising the Happiness of the Times, which
we have passed underßritifh Government, and
that perfed Security we have hitherto enjoyed;
the Convention assure us, " That the People
" of Britain never claimed a Right to dispose
" of us, and every Thing belonging to us, ac
“ cording to their Will and Pleasure, until!
“ the Reign of the present King of that
“ Bland. And that to enforce this abomi
“ nable Claim, they have invaded our Coun
" try by Sea and by Land. From this extra
" vagant and iniquitous Claim, and from the
" unreasonable as well as cruel Manner, in
" which they would gain our Submission ; it
“ seems as though Providence were determi
“ ned to use them as Instruments to punifo the
" Guilt of this Country, and bring us bach to a
" Sense of Duty to our Creator." In order to
understand this right, gentle Reader, you
must underhand the Cause, the End, and the
Means, which our right godly Convention
have, in the Overflowings of their Zeal for
our Welfare, here laid down before us. The
Cause assigned is Providence: The End intend
edis Puniihment of our Sins (which we have,
before considered) and a Renovation of our
Minds, which have loft all Sense of Duty. In
order to induce this Sense, so callous are our
Feelings, Providence is represented as using,
for Means, a most abominable, extravagant, and.
iniquitous Claim, which Providence, therefore,
must have cau'fed the People of Britain to set
up for this Purpose of our Puniihment. But,
after all, what is this Claim? Why, that:
America, for whom so much Expence has
arisen to Great-Britain, and for whose Pro
te&ion great Sums have been constantly ex
pended by her, Should contribute a certain
Proportion to the general Defence of the Empire.
This is abominable enough. We therefore
refufe to pay it. We will be protected for
nothing, and share in all the Advantages of
Britilh Subjects besides. The King and Peo
ple of “ that Eland" (this contemptuous
Word is used to distinguish our vafi Continent)
think this Argument unreasonable, and insist
upon our Contribution. We still refufe, and
in Consequence (according to our Convention)
they invade OUR Country by Sea and by Land.
We strive to butcher their Soldiers, and they
are so unreasonable and cruel as to fight:
again.—But still I don't know what to make
of our Convention, when they throw the whole
Blame of the Matter, as they do in Fad, upon
ourselves. They tell us, that all these extra
ordinary Combu^ions were occasioned by the
Guilt of this Country, and are intended to
operate as so many Punishments on account:
of it. In this View, ove are the People to
be blamed, not the People of Britain : We
are the Folks, who are to feel the Rod,
not the English : We have loft the Sense of
Duty to our Creator rather than our Mother
Country, whom our Convention here adually
represent as the Instrument of Providence only
to bring us back to it. Of course, all this
Impiety, Bloodshed, Animosity, and Evil of
War, are to be imputed to ourselves. We need
not go abroad for the Causes of these Mif
fortunes : They all originate at Home, and
spring fr^m our own evil CounfeE, and our
own guiltv Condud.—This certainly must be
the genuine Meaning of our Convention, be
cause both Sense and Fad confirm it. To read
it otherwise, would be admitting that our godly
Representatives could publicly proceed with
the most impudent Falfhood and Hypocrisy
before God and Man ; which from such gentle
sincere Creatures cannot even be presumed.
The Reader will, therefore, take the Matter
in this Way ; and then the Text is pretty clear
of all Ambiguity.
We are next called upon to remember, that,
to obtain a Redress of our Grievances, duti
ful, the ms dutiful, and (what is more) the
humbieft of all Petitions were presented. —'Tis
rather too hard, by the Bye, to call upon all
of us to remember; for we have, generally
speaking, very bad Memories, which (as we
have been taught to cohfefs) do not retain
proper Impreflions of Gratitude, or any Sense
of Duty. I own, Reader, that I for one do
not recoiled any most dutiful or most humble
Petitions; but 1 have somewhat of a faint
Remembrance of a Petition or two so called,
which we sent home, and, at the fame Time,
Fine Salt, 10$. ®d #
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Indian Corn per Bu. 6s. 6d.
Coffee, is. gd.
Chocolate, 265. per Doz.