The New-York gazette, and the weekly Mercury — New-York [N.Y.], 1779-04-26 00:00:00, page 5

Mr. GAI NE,
YOU are requeued to re-print in your Gazette the Letters
lately publifoed in this City, under the Signature .of
Papinian Several of yw Cufomers have often
nui/hed to fee this done, as it would ginfe a wider Circu
lation to those Letters, which may be of feme Service to
the Cause of Truth and Loyaln. This Circumflance, I
am perfaaded, would be a fuffcient Inducement to you
to undertake it four Compliance will oblige alt your
Readers, and particularly him, who sis your humble Ser
vant.
An Old Customer.
New-York, April 20, 1779.
To HENRY LAURENS, Esq;
SIR,
o*°'Tr=% "' ' a " procedure of the Congress in de
*H ' tainin^ an d impxifonine Lieut. Hele,
of the Hotham sloop, bearing a flag of
g truce, being a flagrant violation of the
law of nations, should not pass without
repfehenfion ; nor the sophistry which would attempt
to juftify it, without being detected and exposed.
The spirit which dilated this extraordinary measure,
is perfectly similar to that which actuates the Congress
in all their other proceedings ; this is an additional rea
son why it Should be held up to public view, that the
men and their measures may be the better known.
The anftuer of Congress to Admiral Gambier's
letter, requiring the release of Lieut. Hele and his
associates, having been authenticated by the signature
ofyour name, I (hall address to you the followingfofe
tures on that answer, which, I presume, you and
they deem a full vindication of your conduct
The circumstances which gave rife to the above
answer, are so recent and well known, that it is need
teE to recapitulate them minutely. It will be fuffi
cient to observe—that the King's Commissioners, af
ter making the most generous offers to the Congress,
(such as no American in the hour of sober reason and
reflection had aright toexpeft, or would have refu
fed) and attempting to bring about a reconciliation
with the revolted colonies, in vain, thought proper,
On the 3d of Oct. 1778, to issue their final manijeflo
and proclamation, renewing their former offers, and in
timating their intention of returning to England spee
dily, in case they were rcje&ed--that this proclamation
was addraffed in the firft instance to the Congress---
that Lieut. Hele, in the Hotham sloop, bearing a
flag of truce, was charged with the delivery of the
proclamation to the Congress--that his sloop was wreck
ed in the Bay of Delaware, while proceeding on this
business—that two of his people perished on the wreck
--and that himfelf and the remainder, who with diffi
culty reached the Shore, were seized and flung into
prison, by order cf the Congress.
On receiving the firft intelligence of this inhuman
a&, so repugnant to the practice of all nations, civil
ized or savage, Admiral Gambier ordered an appli
cation to be made to Mr. Beatty, the rebel Commis
sary of Prisoners, demanding the immediate release
of Lieut. Hele and his companions. Two refolds
of the Congress, authorifing this nefarious deed, were
transmitted by Mr. Beatty; and no other Satisfaction
was obtained : Lieut. Hele and his men were still
detained in prison.
A gallant officer will poignantly feel any insult
offered to his Sovereign--any injury done to those
who serve under him. The Admiral wrote a very
sensible, spirited letter to the Congress, repeating the
former demand, and expostulating with them on the in
jufticeof their procedure. Among other things he urged,
“ iff. That it was an undue advantage taken of the
" calamity of a wreck, and that wreck a flag of truce.
2d. " The resolution on which the Congrels now
" wish to juftify themselves, is subsequent in date to
" the faCt of Which they complain.
“ 3d. The manifefto in queition was addressed in
“ the firft instance to the Congress themselves, and
" could not possibly be seditious.
To these arguments, equally true, just and forcible,
the Congress returned an oracular retyonfc; fe.ting
forth--" That as the manifeftos on board that vcflcl
" (the Hotham) were of a seditious nature, ad in
* tended to open an unwarrantable correspondence ;
" their being covered with a flag of truce is by no
“ means an extenuation of the offence.--That as no
“ refpeft is due by the law of nations to a flag of truce
" when employed in illicit practices, so when deteCt
" ed,all the rights of a flag are forfeited ; nor does the
" accidental wreck of the veflel in question make any
“ diftin&ion in favour of those who navigated her."
The disingenuous sophistry of this part of your an
swer (and it is of a piece with the rest) is as contemp
tible, as the measure it would juftify, is base and
abominable. Everf circumstance relative to the flag
oftruce is misrepresented ; every thing is called by
an appellation which implies guilt, and an air of
criminality is thereby thrown upon the whole, in or
der to make out the appearance of an argument for
your vindication. A manifefto containing the most
liberal overtures of accommodation, and addressed
to the Congress, is pronounced seditious, and tending
to open an unwarrantable con efoon'dence ; a flag of truce
engaged openly to convey those manifeftos to the
Congress, is said to be employedin illicit practices ; and
to be detected in those practices, when wiecked on
her passage! Can any thing be more disingenuous,
or a grofler violation of truth ?
Yet were every tittle of this true, it would by no
means juftify your conduct. The law of nations
would not authorife you to detain Lieut. Hele and
his crew, supposing him to be even employed on the
design you alledge, and to have arrived at Philadel
phia: That law would juftify no more on your part
than a refufal of the manifestos, the preventing their
circulation, and a difmiffion of the flag of truce, to
return from whence She came; but utterly forbids
your barbarity to him when wrecked on hii passage.
The law of nations is no other than the law of
reason applied to communities, in their intercourse
wilh each other, whether in peace or „r; ngd all
Supplement to the New-York Gazette, and Weekly Mercury. [No. 1436.]
sense ofit we muft.learn from their practices in par
ticular cases. As peace is rhe legitimate object of
war--as this obje& cannot be obtained, nor the
horrors of war foftened otherwise than by the in
tervention of performs who Shall tranfad between the
belligerent powers: Mankind have always agreed
in paying a reverential regard to those who were
employed for those salutary purposes, whether cal
led ambassadors, envoys, plenipotentiaries, depu
ties, heralds, officers with a white flag, a drum,
trumpet, or any thing effe that was expreflive of
their pacific design. Their perlons were held sacred
and inviolable; they were considered as amenable to
those only who sent them; they might misbehave
whilst in an enemy's country, but this was not thought
Efficient to authorife an enemy to puniffi them.
I he state to which they were sent might, in this case
fend them home, or accuse them to their masters,
who then became their judges or accomplices. The
utility arising from the intercourse which was kept up
by those persons, was not the only cause of their
fafety : A sense of honour and public faith in the
Hates to which they were sent, contributed to it much
more; for these were considered as plighted to pro
tect the man who came with a peaceful, salutary in
tention, and voluntarily threw himfelf on the huma
nity of his enemies.
Were it necessary I could fill pages with quota
tions from ancient authors, and from modern writers
on the law of nations, to evince what is here assert
ed. Their fuffrages arc unanimous on this point;
and those fuffrages are supported by cogent arguments
and the practice of nations. Whoever chafes it may
turn to Grotius,Puffendorf,Budd^u>,Bai bcyiac, Buria
maqui or Montesquieu, among foreigners, or to Seiden,
Hutchinson or Ruther forth, of cur own nation, and
he will find their testimony clear, united and decisive.
It may however be proper to produce an instance
from hittory which will apply to the present case;
of a multitude that occur, I shall fele& one from
the Roman history, at a period when, [ dare fay,
you, Sir, and your associates most admire the prin
ciples and conduH of that people--it was when they
abolished the Regal authority. Soon after Tarquin's
expulsion from Rome, he sent deputies or ambas
sadors, that is, in modern language, persons with a
flag of truce, to demand his ctfc&s: The depu
ties were admitted to an audience, by the Senate, and
the latter took fevcral days to deliberate whether the
demand should be granted or refufed. During this
interval, Tarquin's deputies remained in the city,
and meeting with several persons who were desirous
of restoring the ancient government, entered into a
plot with them for the purpose; the plan was regu
larly concerted — Tarquin was to be fecretely admit
ted in the night—every thing was ready for execu
tion, when the whole was discovered; and the ac
tive part which was taken by ' the king's deputies,
that is, his officers bearing a flag of truce, was
clearly detected and proved. What followed? Did
the Romans judge that according to the law of na
tions, " the rights of a flag were forfeited by those
" men thus detected in illicit practices ; " and were
they not accordingly imprisoned or put to death?
No--quite the reverse. De legatis, fays Livy, in
his concise way, paullulum addubitatum est; et
quanquam vififunt commfffr, ut hoflium loco effint,
jus tamen gentium valuit. i. e. " For some time they
(the Senate and Consuls) were in suspense how to
proceed with the amb^fiadors or deputies; and al
though the latter deserved to be treated as enemies,
yet a regard to the law of nations prevailed." Ac
cordingly, the deputies were difmiHed without injury.
Re &'& on this case, Sir, and compaie the conduct
of those Romans, with yours in the affair before 11s.
There, deputies from an abjured monarch, under
the pretext of demanding his effeas, entered into a
conspiracy against the new goveri ment of Rome
even within its wails. 'I hey were detedUd in the
conspiracy, their guilt was clearly proved ; yet such
was the refpe& paid by the Romans to the law of na
tions, and to the sacred character of Ambassadors,
that they sent away those conspirators to their master,
without offering them any violence. Here Lieutenant
Hele, on a much more intcrefting and important oc
casion, (for he came with propositions to reftorc peace
and re-unite a great empire, they only to demand
some old furniture) approached your city; he came
openly and undisguised, relying on that public faith
and honour which had ever been the protection of per
sons in his character; he engaged in no conspiracy ;
had no other intention than to deliver his dispatches ;
he was unfortunately wrecked : And you, without
compassion for his misfortune, without regard to the
character he bore, seized him and flung him into a
dungeon!
' Really, Sir, the procedure of the Roman Senate is
so opposite to that of the American Congress, in cir
cumstances nearly resembling each other, that one
would be tempted to adopt the sentiments of the sar
castic Gulliver, at least in one instance. Whilst in the
IJland of Sorcerers, where the Governor could sum
mon the dead to appear just as they were when for
merly alive, Capt. Gpliiver '' desired that the Senate
" of Rome might appear before him in one large
" chamber, and a modern representative in counter
" view, in another. Thefirft, fays Gulliver, seemed
" to be an assembly of heroes and demi-gods ; the
" other a knot of pedlefs, pick-pockets, highway
" men and bullies."
I grant indeed that there arc precedents which you
may plead--Instances where Ambassadors, and others
in a similar character, have been imprisoned, nay,
even murdered. But you will be pleased to remember,
that this always happened through the violence of
faction, or the brutality of some individuals. Every
thing of this fort has been condemned by the united
voice of mankind, as dishonourable, impious and con
trary to the law of nations-^has been disapproved and
disowned by the very people who were the aggreflors ;
and fy^ of the bl^dkft wars melded w Wffpry
were undertaken on this account. Provoked by such
an insult, David, King of Israel, made; war on the
Ammonites, and took severe revenge. For 'this ibi^
reason, the. Romans entered into a wat successively
with the Veieptes, Fidcnates and Falifci, the Illyria
ans, Ligurians, &c. to fay nothing of other nations.
And were there no other cause for prosecuting the
present war with rigour, your treatment of Lieut.
Hele would fufficiently juftify our Sovereign in doing so,
until those were brought to reason who presumed thus
to insult his officers, and trample on the law of nations;
There is perhaps no part of the law of natjons which
hath been held more sacred by mankind, or that hath
been more driaiy observed, than that which regards
the protection and liberty of Ambassadors, and other
mefiengers of peace, by whatever name dillinguifhed;
between hostile States. One instance--and one only
--have I met with where it is said to be violated, with
out disapprobation, by any people : It is by some
of the savage nations of this continent. Charlevz^. ,
speaking of some Indian tribes in North-Au^
when at war, fays--" It becomes their Er
“ Plenipotentaries to exert their abilities and
" quence; for if the terms they offer ae not accepts <
" of, they had need to stand on their guad. itfre
" quentlv happens that a blow with an hatchet is the
" only return given to theirpropofitions. They are
" not out of danger if they are even so fortunate as
" to avoid the stroke; they may expe& to be purlued,
" and if taken, to be burnt." The ingenious Dr.
Robertfn's observation on this paflage, is--" Men
" capable of such violence seem to be unacquainted
" with the firft principles*upon which the intercourse
" between nations is founded." Perhaps you will
urge, that your conduct excells that of those Indians,
refueling the messengers of peace that seizing one
of them is not so bad as knocking him on the head
with an hatchet--mor putting him in a dungeon so
atrocious as committing him to the flames. Be it so ;
yet our feelings are greatly hurt to find that chriftians
and proteffants are capable of anting a part which
bears so near a resemblance to the brutal conduct of
Savages--and in an instance where so very few, even
among Savages, will give it any countenance. You
must also allow on your part, that the Indians have
the advantage of you in one refpe6L: They permit
the mefl'enger of peace, who offends them, to depart,
and thereby give him a chance for his liberty ; where
as you instantly seize, and put him in durance.
And this reminds me of another observation which
your conduct hath often suggested. Among civilized
nations, war is carried on witblittle or no animosity.
The fame principles and knowledge which serve to
reline and improve manners, in the peaceful feenes
of social life, serve also to foften the horrors of war,
and preclude rage and resentment from mingling with
its operations. The reverse of this is the case of Sa
vages. Instigated with relentless rancour, with un
bounded insolence, to destroy and exterminate is their
'object. lam ferry to fay that the wanton cruelty
every where exercised on loyalists, and the mfults with
which they are treated--that the illiberal spirit, the
rage and insolence which stimulate your Congress and
their adherents, with very few exceptions, and mark
their proceedings, give reason to compare your con-
duCt with that of Savages in this instance also.
Hitherto I have reasoned with you on the supposi
tion, that this country was actually, and of right, in
dependent- that your Cougrefs werejuftly vested w ; th
fipreme authority as the representatives of America,
and had been unanimously chosen as such by all the
Americans. Even on this supposition, your treat
ment of Lieut Hele would not only be unjuilifiable,
but highly criminal.l
But luiely, Sir, you cannot in the fond hour of
your greatest felf-importance and exaltation admit
the supposition to be true. You cannot but know
that King George was, and IS the rightful So
vereign of these colonies--that he flill claims their
allegiance--that a large majority of the colonies pre
fer his government to your tyrannical ulurpation—
that not a twentieth part of them have voted for
your Congfefs--and that the members of the Congress
themselves, and their adherents, are revolted fubjeCts
of the British crown. These fads are certainly true,
whether you will admit them or not; nor can the
Congress, with all their fubtil artifice and tyranny,
conceal them, or obliterate them from the minds of
the good people of America.
Confider these circumstances for a moment, and
how do they aggravate your crime ! In hoW detestable
alight mult your conduct appear ! The Gentleman
whom you imprisoned, was a messenger of peace from
your injured Sovereign. In vain did the law of na
tions throw its Shield over him, and promise him pro
tection : You Spurned that law, and were deaf to his
remonstrances. He brought the most liberal over
tures of accommodation--such as would make this
country the happiest and freed upon earth : Yet equal
ly callous to the dictates of reason, duty, honour and
humanity, you rejected those overtures with disdain,
and doomed America to be a feene of war, desola
tion and wretchedness, rather than resign that ideal
importance which the temporary infatuation of a few
had conferred on you. Nay, you added insult to re
bellion. You not only Shut the door against a'l fu
ture accommodation, so far as in you lay ; but by an
adt ever held in detestation among civilized nations,
and deemed the most provoking, you have juftified
the feveiett retaliation that Britain can make ! Hither
to, her aim was to reclaim, not to destroy, or even
conquer: You have done all in your pov/er to com
pel her to adopt different measures; and you have
probably entailed on this country a war, whole de
solating ravages may not cease but with the utter ruin
of America.
But I turn from the horrid fubjea with disgust ;
and as this letter is already protracted to a fufficient
length, shall defer mv Jlri&ures on the remaining
part of your answer to some future opportunity.
J am, Sir, yours, PAPINIAN.