The New-York gazette, and the weekly Mercury — New-York [N.Y.], 1777-04-21 00:00:00, page 1

Containing tbe cadica Eunices
Monday, April 21, 1,77.
NEW-YORK
AND
WEEKLY
ASSIZE of BREAD. Flour at 30s. per Cent.
A White Loaf of the fineft FLOUR, to wei^h
3 lb. 40Z. for 14 Coppers, and in the fame
Proportion for Loaves of a lefier Weight.
Published January 10, 1777.
By his EXCELLENCY
Sir WILLIAM HOWE,
Knight of the Moss Honorable Order of the
Bath, one of His Majesty's Commissio
ners for restoring Peace to the Colonies,
General and Commander in Chief of
all his Majesty's Forces within the Colo
nies lying on the Atlantic Ocean, from
Nova Scotia toWasT Florida, inclusive,
&c. &c. &c.
PROCLAMATION.
WrHEREAS it has been represented to
me that many of His Majesty's
European and American Subjects
are compelled by Force, or otherwise
induced, to bear Arms in Oppefition to the
Re-eßabliihment of the constitutional Author
rity of Government in America, and are
difeouraged from returning to their Allegiance
by ill-founded Doubts of the Reception such
Tender of their Duty may meet with : I
therefore Declare, and do hereby
promise and engage, That ail Persons bearing
Arms as aforefaid, who Ihall surrender them
selves to any Officer commanding any Part of
His Majesty's Forces, on, or before the
Pirst Day of May next, shall be entitled to
Pardon for all Offences heretofore committed
against His Crown and Dignity, and their
Estates and Effects be secured from Seizure,
Forfeiture, or Confifeation. — That every
non-commissioned Officer and private Man
who shall come in with his Arms, Ihall also re
ceive the full Value for them. —ThattheA me
rican born Subjects shall be permitted to enter
into any of the Provincial Corps in His Ma
jesty's Service, or to return Home, as they
think fit, —And that the British and Irish
born Subjects fhai'leither be taken into His
Majesty's Service, or conveyed to the Place
es their Nativity, at their own Option.
GIVEN under my Hand, at Head
Quarters in New-York, the 15th Day
of March, 1777.
W. HOWE.
By His Excellency's Command,
Robert Mackenzie, Sec'ry.
By His Excellency
Sir WILLIAM HOWE,
Knight of the moss Honorable Order of the
Bath, one of His Majesty's Commissioners
for reftori n'g Peace to the Colonies, General
and Commander in Chief of all His Maje
sty's Forces within the Colonies lying on
the Atlantic Ocean, from Nova-Scotia to
Weft-Florida, inclusive, &c. &c. &c.
PROCLAMATION.
WHEREAS a plentiful Supply of
Vegetables, and of frefh Provisi
ons of all Kinds, will greatly tend
to the Preservation of the Health
of His Majesty's Troops and others; and the
railing large Quantities of Hay, and other
Forage, will very much conduce to His Ma
jesty's Service, as well as be of general Use :
In Order therefore to give all due Encourage
ment to all His Majesty's liege Subjects, so
that they may chearfully exert themselves in
railing such Supplies, under a full Assurance
©f enjoying all pokible Protection in so doing,
I have thought fit to issue this Proclamation,
ftrißly charging and commanding, that no
Person or Persons whomsoever, under any
Colour or Pretence whatsoever, presume to
trespass upon any Inclofure belonging to any
other Person or Persons, or to take or carry
away any Produce from the Owner or Owners
thereof, or to break down, destroy, pr in any
Manner injure any Inclofure or Fences what
soever, now Randing, or hereafter to be created,
as they will answer for the fame at their Peril.
And to the End that this Proclamation may be
more ftri&ly observed, I do hereby further
charge, require, and command all Officers,
Soldiers, and others, to seize and deliver over
to any Officer commanding any Part of His
Majesty's Forces, or to the Provoß Marshal,
allfuch Persons as they shall find adding in Dis
obedience hereto, in order that such Offenders
may be brought to condign Punishment for the
lame ; hereby declaring that any Neglect
herein shall be considered and punished as a
Breach of Orders. And I do further charge
and require the commanding Officers of any
^ His Majesty's Forces, and Provoll Marshal,
^ Printed by HUGH GAINE, at the BIBLE and CROWN, in HANOVER-SQUARE.
Monday, 25 Min. after 8
Tuesday, 4. Min. after 9
Wednesday, 46 Min. after 9
Thursday, 29 Min. after 10
from Time to Time to receive into Cuflody all
such Offenders as ihall be brought to them as
aforefaid, and duly to make Report thereof.
Given under my Hand at Head Quarters,
in New-York, the Twentieth Day of
March, 1777.
W. HOWE.
By His Excellency's Command,
Robert Mackenzie, Sec'ry.
[Continua+ion of Capt, Smyth's Narrative, &c.]
/ W 'HANKS to Heaven I recovered,
I then Lieut. Cameron, Lieut. M'Lean,
A and myfelf, were put in a Room to
gether, fele&ed from the Rest, to experience
the dire ERe&s of their inhuman Malice, and
a Centinel placed at our Door, to prevent
our speaking or being spoken to. In Decem
ber, the Goaler came with a Guard and plun
dered us again, under Pretence of searching
for Papers, and abused us in the moR injuri
ous Manner. December roth, The Carolina
Prisoners were sent off to Baltimore under a
Guard, and on the 11th, Sixty Jersey Men
from Shrewfbury, were sent away tied with
Ropes to each other, under a small Guard.
Our Confinement was now become so insup
portable, that even Death would have been
an agreeable Deliverance. This set us on a
desperate Scheme of breaking through; and
with incredible Difficulty and Labour we got
through the Vaulting, cut afterwards with a
Penknife through a two Inch Plank, and got
up, by the Cupola, on the Top of the House,
intending to defeend on a Rope, to cross the
Delaware, and pu£h for the British Army
then at Burlington, only eighteen Miles off.
But our Rope, consisting of Sheets, Blankets,
&c. gave with Cameron, who descended firft ;
he fell forty-eight Feet perpendicular 011 the
Pavement. His Life was miraculously saved,
but his Bones were broke ; and he has fuffered
amazingly ever since. M'Lean and myfelf
were then Gripped of our Money, Papers,
and every individual Thing we had, even my
Journal, and were thrown into the Dungeon
for condemned Felons, without Light, or
Bedcloaths, or even our Great Coats to pre
serve us from the intense Cold ; and without
Food or Drink for twenty-four Hours. Here
I expeßed nothing but to End my Days in
Misery, but the Goodness and the Jußice of
our Cause fupportH my Spirits, and I felt
nothing for myfelf; all my Distress was for
poor Cameron, as they all cried, ' let him
' die and be damned,' and wished me in the
fame Condition. In this Condition they kept
us until Orders were given for our removal to
Baltimore, as they every Day expelled 11
Attack on Philadelphia. They then brought
out. Twenty of us in all, viz. Seven Gentle
men, eight Privates belonging to the Twen
ty-third and some other Regiments, and five
Sailors: Put us in Irons, every Two ironed
together, and with a Guard of fifty or sixty
chosen Dutchmen, marched us on Foot to
Baltimore, and that Night lodged us in Chester
Goal, without taking off our Irons at all.
The Irons kept me from Sleep every Night,
besides they were too small, causing me to
swell prodigiously, and were very painful.
Yet in this Condition they marched us until
Ten o'clock every Night, which was parti
cularly severe on me, who had been then
close confined thirteen Months in a Room,
without any Kind of Exercise, so that my
Feet were covered with Millers. At the Head
of Elk, at the Head of Chefapeak-Bay, we
were put on board of one Privateer, and our
Baggage on board of another. There were
two Rebel Colonels, One Price, a Hatter, and
Gunby, formerly a Skipper of a Bay Craft,
that maltreated, and infused us very much.
They took Possession of the Cabin, &c. and
we were thrown indiscriminately into the
Hold in Irons, without any Thing to lie on
but Pig Iron and Stones, and no Kind of
Covering. The Snow was falling faft upon
us, and they would not fuffer the Hatches to.
be fnut to keep it off. We were kept thus,
every Two ironed together, for two Days
and a Night, with fifty or sixty Men to guard
us, besides the Privateers Crew, until we ar
rived at Baltimore ; having had but one Meal
the whole Time, that we brought with us;
and we were obliged to bear our own Expen
ces besides all the Way. The Commanders of
these Privateers were moil notoriously cruel,
HIGH-WATER at NEW-YORK, this Week.
THE
Friday, 14 Min. after ii
Saturday, 0 Min. after 12
Sunday, 50 Min. after 12
Moon's L. i!>uar. the 30th.
insulting, and rebellious, their Names are
Patterson, and Robinson. At Baltimore we
were much better used, only the two Messrs.
Goodriches, were felecled from us, and thrown
into Goal. We were kept under Guard.
The Maryland Matroffes mounted Guard on
us for two Days, then the Baltimore Militia
for two Days more, but they were so very
friendly to us, that the Congress ordered them
away, and obliged the Artillery to do con
stant Duty: There were a Hundred hnd Ten
of them, and §z composed our Guard. They
were almost all Europeans, and generally
friendly, to that I could have brought them
off clear, the greateß Part would have come
away with me. They were Seven always on
Duty on us :—Four of us efeaped into an
adjoining empty Room, and from the Win
dow cf it we descended by a small Rope,
which cut my Hands v-y much, by flipping
through them. I had provided a Sloop, seven
Miles below the Fort and Chain, and by the
Affißance of a Guide got on board, and by
next Night we were in Hooper's Streights,
above a hundred Miles, after being much
alarmed by a little Privateer that kept about
ns. I landed firft, and soon found Friends
from whom we met with a most cordial Pro
te&ion, as they offered me Two hundred
Men, to guard us to Lewis Town, about
sixty Miles. But we chose to travel in the
Night with only two, whole Names I mud
now conceal, as they are yet in the Power of
the Rebels, This was the 11th January,
1777. At the Mouth of Delaware we expec
ted to find the Roebuck, but Rie failed from
there the Bth, and from that Time no Ship of
War touched at that important Station, until
the 12th March, except the Falcon, which
landed some Prisoners, and burnt a Schooner
at the Mouth of Indian River, on the 20th
January.
On the 12th March, we saw two Ships of
War Landing towards the Capes, and at
Night eleven of us set out in a Pettiauger
with Oars. We had sixteen Miles to row
out at Sea, to get to the Cape where the Ships
lay, and the Night was dark, ftoimy, and
threatening, with much Lightning and Thun
der. After rowing twelve or fifteen Miles, a
violent Squall right a Head, obliged us to
turn back fix or eight Miles, but we could
not reach the Shore, on Account of the Brea
kers which ran very high, and the Night was
so dark we could not find the Way over the
Bar at the Inlet, without the greatest Danger
of being all loft; so we went about once
more, and Rood again for the Cape. After
rowing about the greatest Part of the Night,
without being able to find a Ship, we landed
close by a Rebel Guard, and remained on the
open Beacli in the Rain until Day break,
when we pushed off the Shore. After rowing
about in a prodigious thick Fog for a long
Time we heard a Cock crow, and by that
found the Preston, in so thick a Fog, that we
could not fee the Ship a hundred Yards. My
Joy was inexpressible to fee the Name Preston
on the Stern of the Ship, as we were under
some Apprehension of Rebel Privateers. The
worthy Commodore Hotham, and all the
Officers on board, received us in the molt
kind and friendly Manner. I fortunately got
a Passage immediately in the Daphne, which
convoyed three fine Prizes fafe into this Pert,
and am under many Obligations to Captain
Chinnery, and all the Officers for their very
kind and obliging friendly Usage. We arrived
on the 18th or 19th March.
I have omitted a thousand Circumstances
of Cruelty, and mortifying Insults I met with,
to avoid being tedious; having related only|
plain Matters of Fad, without any Embel
lishments, the Veracity of which I will an
swer for.
JOHN F. D. SMYTH.
Nezu-York, March 28, '777°
¥^^^^^^
REMARKS on some late Decrees of the
Rebels in Maflachufet's Bay, Ryling them
fclvcs, The Council and House of Representa
tives.
IN the Beginning of February last thefel
People publilhed, what they call, " An)
A& against Treason and Misprision of Trea
son, and for regulating Trials in such Cases,
and for directing the Mode of executing
Judgements against Persons attainted of Fe
lony."
Wheat per Bushel, ,s. od.
Flour, 30s. oL
Bro% Bread, 255. od.
Weft-India Rum, Bs. od.
New-England do. ss. od.
il [No. 1330.]
GAZETTE:
THE
MERCU R Y.
PRICE CURRENT, in NEW-YORK.
Mufeovade Sugar, 51. 10s.
Single refin'd ditto, 2s. 9?.
Molasses, 3s. 6J.
Beef per Barrel, 90s. od.
Pork, 51. ros.
foreign anti Domenici.
They set out by declaring, " That all Per
fens abiding within this State, and deriving
Protedion from the Laws cf the fame, owe Al
legiance to this State and are Members thereof;
and that all Persons passing through, visiting,
or making a temporary Stay in this State,
being entitled to, and actually receiving the
Prote&ion of the Laws, during the Time of
such Visitation or temporary Stay, owe, du
ring the fame Time, Allegiance to this State,"
In their own Case, it is curious to observe,
how tenaciously they maintain a Principle,
which but very lately they as firmly opposed
in the Claims of Great-Britain, as tyrannical
and oppressive.
They next adjudge Death without Benefit of
the Clergy, to all Persons who ihall levy War
or commit what they call traiterous Offences
against “ the State of Maffachufet's Bay, or
any other of the United States ;" and also
enaa, that if any of the Crimes, mentioned
in this Act, are committed " without the
Limits of this State," the Offenders may nct^
withßanding be tried by Order of the Juferemc
executive Authority of this State in any Count,
therein, to ail Intents and*Purpo fes, as if
the laid Crimes had been committed in it.
All Forfeitures, on Account es these pre
tended Treasons, are enacted to the Use of
this Gang of Rebels.
Perfens , who Rand mute, are to be consi
dered as having pleaded net Guilty; and the
Trial is to proceed accordingly, the Prifener
not being “ admitted to make any Challenges
to the Jurors."
Ihe Punishment is, " Hanging by the
Neck till they are dead."
There are however, many Persons, in all
the Colonies, who will take due Care to
note and remember all and every Peifon
or Persons, who shall be aiding and effing
either at the Trial, Condemnation, or Execution
cf any faithful Subjects, who may be mur
dered by these Villains, under rhe Sanction
of this or any other pretended AR. Tbofe,
who give Judgement without Meicy, have no
Title to Mercy for themselves.
GN the sth of February, the above Gen
try gaffed another Decree to flop the Exporta
tion of Rum, Molafies, and all Sorts of Pro
visions, from the Maffachufets, giving this
for the Reason, “ that they are all needed for
" the Supply of the Army and the Inhabi
“ tants of this State." —Thus may the other
Colonies fee, how ready these People, who
led them into the Serape, are to with-hold
every Succor from them, and to take Care
only for themselves
1 heir Board of War alone is allowed to
make Exportations of <he prohibited Articles
for the public Advantage. Their Committees
are to have one half of the Confifeations, that
may arise from the Breach of this AR, as an
Encouragement for their Diligence ; and the
pretended State is to have the other.
At the lame Time, they passed another
Injunction “ to prevent the arresting of Sol
" diers for small Debts, who have euhßed or
“ fcall enlif in the Continental Army."
The Policy of this Ordinance seems to be,
the getting as many of the Rogues and Vaga
bonds of the Colony, as feel bold enough for
fighting, into their Army. At the fame Time,
it affords them an honed Encouragement to
distress ail the industrious Part of the Com
munity, who may be seduced to give them
Credit, under the Sum of Ten Pounds, Ten
Shillings. Besides this, the Efate of no Sol
dier Ihall be liable to Attachment, unless his
Debt exceeds Forty-five Founds.
They passed another AR on the 15th of
March, to amend an AR passed only in the
Month before, in order to fettle the Price of
Beef, which by this Ordinance, they fix at
Three Pounds, Fourteen Shillings per Barrel.
It may be observed in general of all their
late Acts and Regulations, that they appear
to be the Elicds of political Phrenzy and
Desperation. They do and undo, like the
tumultuous and diftraßed Enthusiasts, just
after the Death of Cromwell. Their Conduß
is arbitrary and oppreflive in the highest Ex
treme, and, in short, is such as no People
can live under and endure. The Determining
the Prices of merchantable Goods according
to the Opinion of a Set of pettifogging Law
yers, instead of the Quantity at Market, would,
at an, Time, be fufficient to put an End to
all Trade, and, at this Time, will inevitably
be fatal to their assumed Importance. Their
Fine Salt, tos. cd
Coarse Salt, 8$ . od
Indian Corn per Bu. 6s. 64
Coffee, is. gd
Chocolate, 265. per Do.