The Pennsylvania ledger, or, The Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, & New-Jersey weekly advertiser — Philadelphia, Pa., 1776-07-13 00:00:00, page 1

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R AAT AP R DAY
WHATEVER objections [ may have to the
original cause of the dilpute between both
countries, however I may condemn the mode in
which it has been hitherto conducted, or how much
foever I may disapprove of the mealure of employ
ing {oreigners to make a conquest of our own fub
jeéts, and commiflion them to carry all the horrors
of a war into a part of the dominions of the Britith.
Crown; 1 own I have still, it possible, stronger and
more material objections againit some matters which
make their appearance in the treaties now before
your Lordships. I think I perccive something which
bears the {trongelt, nay molt unquivocal murks of
that secret influence, that black complexion, which
openly or covertly, as opportunities served or cir
cumiltances concurred, have pervaded our Councils
for some years back.. Amerioa is to be coerced, no
matter by what means. The blood and treasure of
this country is to be lavithly thrown away in effec
ting this purpose. A set of beggarly, infignificant
German Princes are to be doubly lubfidized to give
this extraordinary measure fucceis. But that is not
all; the commander of this body of mercenaries is to
be invested with the supreme command, indepen
dent of the control of cither King or Parliament.
It any dispute thould arise, where are the parties to
appeql? not to t e King, for he has no power over
them; not the Pariiament, for they can pretend to
none. Where then, as no provision is made in the
treaty, but to the Prince to whom they belong?
Thus you will have a body of 12 coo men, with
a veteran General at their head, free from any con
trol whatever. Suppole any dispute should arise
betweenour Commanders and theirs, who isto de
cige it? The toreign General knows no superior
but his master; and the consequence will be, that
in any such event, all operations must cease till he
«reccives mftrucions trom home; and thus the very
end for which thoie foreigners are brought into the
kidgdom will be defeated, and the nation put to a
monitrous expence for nothing.
Lord Efftngham. 1 should not have troubled your
Lordthips upon a fubjeé which has been {o fully and
repeacedly difgufled in all its parts, did not three
points which naturally present themselves on the
present occasion, strike me very strongly. Those
are the force which America is able to oppote to
ours, with the re ources for maintaining that force,
the profpe& of fuccels on our part, and th: means
of defence againlt the attacks ¢f our natural ene
mies, The firit may be considered in two lights,
the number of troops America will be able to bring
into the field, and the mode adopted for paying
them. This, my Lords, is a point that calls for
your Lordthips most serious consideration. With
such as deny the justice of the war, it will operate
as proving itsimpracticability, as well as injustice ;
with such as contend for its justice, it will create
a very strong objection as to the expediency. By
the measures propoled by the Continental Congress
for obliging every province to contribute a certain
number of men, and a certain fpecific fam of mo
ney for their {upport, is was directed that the inha
bitants of each province should be numbered, and
the men and money proportioned to {uch returns.
On this occasion, as might be expeéted, the returns
were short, considerably, ot the real number of
fouls; notwithstanding this, they amonnted to three
millions and a half, which is more by almost one
half, than any gross compuration had amounted to.
To pay those men, the Congress gave orders to
strike off four millions of dollars in paper currency,
which sum, accordingly as the paper is emitted, is
to pass current in the respective provinces where
the revenue arises. = Thus, thongh paper be emitted
itis {till paid away without incurring a debt; for
the supplies are by this means raised within the
year, every man contributing his own share, and
the whole state, as one body, fill left . free of any
debt or incumbrance whatever. On the second
point, it is plain, including the foreigners, and
supposing the Britith corps complete, which I am
sure they are not, the whole force adting on the
H'O"U S E ophili"o R s
Tuvespavy, March g 0
(Continued from our laf}. ) g
The Duke of M ANCHESTER.
Juiy 13, 1776,
part of Qg%t-Britain, wil' " much exceed 40,000
effedtive men. SO ‘ur Lordthips affere,
or be perfu%al:g: i <an army of 40,000
men will be &b e m Mo laten, or in any given
time, to makeac ¢ aquelt of three millions
and a half of peopic; zeaious for their liberties, .ind
resolutely determined to defend them to the last
extremity ?—I am sure there is not.
If o, then every pretence to expedition and put
ting a {peedy end to the present civil war, is at once
over. The force will be found inadequate; and I
- will fay more, any force you will or can fend will
be so. As to the last point of domeltic defence, how
does that stand? Let us presume for aminute, that
the military force remgining in this kingdom, aided
by the militia, was fufficient for the purpose of de
fending this island; will it be pretended that Ire
land, with a force in it of only 6000 men, will be
equally secure? I am confident such a monltrous
aflertion will not be made; 12,000 men, even in
times' of peace, has been at all times thought ne
ceflary for the preservation of its internal tranquil
lity. I would appeal to a noble Lord near me
(Lord Townfhend) supposing no attack hud been
made from wicthout, whether the military establish-"
ment, afier the embarkation, would he equal even
to the fuppreflion of domestic riot op disturbance,
much less it a body ,of French or Spaniards thould
make a descent there. For my” part, I think and
believe, the noble Viscount who presided there {o
many years as-Chief Governor, is of the fame opi
nion, that 10,000 men might march from one end
of the Kmgdom ro the other witmout molerauon,
there being no barrier, natural or artificial to pre
vent them but the Shannon; 1o that on the whole,
putting the justice of the war out of the question, I
am persuaded that the present measures are big with
ruin in every light, and can, in the narure of things,
be never attended ‘with success, but are vain, il
lusory, and chimerical, and originate from obstinacy
or something worse. ;
Lord Talbot. The noble Earl who {poke last, has
certainly hit off one leading feature of the Ameri
cans. His Lordthip teils you, that even in the midst
of their zeal for tfrecdom and independency, they
were not able to conquer their natural propensity to
fraud and concealment. He tells you, that to evade
the order ot the Congress for supplying their quotas
of men and money, they purposely concealed their
rcal numbers. However [ may differ from the noble
Lord in the deduction he has drawn from this fa&,
I am not permitted to doubt the truth of it, as_
coming from a person in whose efimation and good
‘opinion, they bear 10 high a rank. This with me,
would be the ftrongeit realon ‘imaginable for not
trusting to their profeflions, when it is seriously -
stated, that they are to be held by no ties whutever,
not even by their mos sacred eLgagements to sup
port a cauie which they deem effentiul to their very
existence as a {ree people. They. have all along a
reluctance to order and good government, and I +m
every day more and more convinced, that this peo
ple will never be brought back tn their dury and the
subordinate relation they stand in to this country,
till reduced to an unconditional effeétual fubmifion.
Let them promite or hold out what present conve
nience or future views of independence may sug
gest, belicve me, my Lords, they will never give
up their favourite objed, till they are fully convin
ced, that thar object is unattainable. No conceflion
on our part, no lenity, nor no endurance will have
any other effe®, but that of incre;«ﬁng their inio- :
lence; and encouraging them daily to rile in their
demands. They huve been obftinuate and ungovern
able trom the very beginnig; from their firlt ecarly
and infant settlements in that country. They be
gan to manifelt this (pirit {o early as the reign of
Charles the ficft. They disputed our right of fith
ing on their coasts, in the times of the common
wealth and proteorate. But was this claim to
exemption acceded to on our part, or this privilege
inf{eparably conneéted with sovereignty, relinquilh
ed? Not then as now, they were both treated as
presumptuous and ridiculous. Indeed the principle
of abflute unconditional supremacy, was so fully
eftablithed in the reign of Churles the second, that
what by some people eltablifhes a right on our past
Numb. LXXVII.