The New-York gazette, and the weekly Mercury — New-York [N.Y.], 1777-04-07 00:00:00, page 1

By his EXCELLENCY
Sir WILLIAM HOWE,
Knight of the Mod Honorable Order of the
Bath, one of His Majesty's Commifao
ners for restoring Peace to the Colonics,
General and Commander in Chief or
all his Majesty's Forces within the Colo
nies lying on the Atlantic Ocean, from
Nova Scotia to West Florida, inclusive,
&c. &c. &c.
PROCLAMATION.
W-HEREAS 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 111 Opposition to the
Re-establishment of the constitutional Autho
rity of Government in America, and are
difeouraged from returning to their Allegiance
by ill-founded Doubts of the Reception fucb
Tender of their Duty may meet with : I
therefore Declare, and do hereby
promise and engage, That all Persons bearing
Arms as aforefaid, who shall surrender them
selves to any Officer commanding any Part of
His Majesty's Forces, on, or before the
first Day of May next, shall be entitled to
Pardon for all Offences heretofore committed
agatnft His Crown and Dignity, and their
Estates and Effects be fecnred from Seizure,
Forfeiture, or Confirmation.—That every
ron-commiffioned Officer and private, Man
who shall come in with his Arms, shall also re
ceive the full Value for them. T hat tl eAME
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 shall either be taken into His
Majesty's Service, or conveyed to the Place
of their Nativity, at their own Option.
G IVEN 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 m®ft Honorable Order of the
Bath, one of His Majefly's Commissioners
for raftering Peace to the Colonies, General
and Commander in Chief of all His Maje
. fly's Forces within the Colonies lying on
the Atlantic Ocean, from Nova-Scotia to
Weft-Florida, inclusive, &c. &c. &c.
PROCLAMATIO N.
WHEREAS a plentiful Supply of
Vegetables, and of frefh Provisi
ons of all Kinds, will greatly tend
to the Preservation of the Health
cf 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
raising such Supplies, under a full Assurance
of enjoying all possible Protection in so doing,
I have thought fit to issue this Proclamation,
firidly 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, or in any
Manner injure any Inclofure or Fences what
soever, now handing, or hereafter to be erected,
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 Provost Marshal,
^llfuch Persons as they shall find acting in Dis
obedience hereto, in order that such Offenders
may be brought to condign Punishment for the
fame ; hereby declaring that any Neglect
herein shall be considered and punched as a
Breach of Orders. And I do further charge
and require the commanding Officers of any
•f His Majesty's Forces, and Provost Maxfoal,
Monday, April 7, 1777-
N E W-Y OR
AND
WE EK L
ASSIZE of BREAD. Flour at gos. per Cent.
A White Loaf of the fineft FLOUR, to weigh
3 lb. 4oz/f®r 14 Coppers, and in the fame
Proportion for Loaves of a lesser Weight.
Published January 10, 1777.
Containing tbe eatliffl Sonics
O Printed by HUGH GAINE, at the B
from Time to Time to receive into Custody all
such Offenders as shall 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.
^w^www^mw
Vo the PRINTE R.
SIR,
PERMIT me to trouble you with one
Letter more upon the Subject of our
Convention of the Fish-Kill, in which
I hope to wind up the Matter, and then leave
you and my Readers to their own Contempla
tions. I know not how it happens, but when
one is got into the Chapter of Politics, or
begun with (as his polite Excellency of New-,
Jersey, Maker Billy Li^ingfon, expresses it)
the Difcuflion of " Bankrupts, Bullies, and
“ Blockheads ;" it is difficult to get out of
the one, and unpleasant to leave the other,
till both are exhausted and dispatched. Of
these last Gentry we have quite a Efficient
Stock. Our political Field is perfectly over
run with them. Yet, old as I am, I hope to
live and fee the Day, when these Rats, these
Vipers and Vermin, in the Shape of Men,
shall no longer prove the Curse and Detesta
tion of our Country.—But, that I may not
glow testy, let me recur to the cooling Re
flections from the Fish-Kill.
Our worthy Convention, from the dismal
Picture they have fhev/n us of Britifo Affairs,
properly enough conclude, that there is no
Room " to harbour the smallest Doubt of
'' their own being fuccefsful. In a very
promising Way most undoubtedly they are.
We have°a Plenty of Men; and, with refoed
to Money, our Treasury is quite inexhaustible.
We have also paid oft all the Arrears of our
People (I don't fay Soldiers ;—that would be
too fierce a Name); and the utmost Unani
mity subsists among us. Our Congress have
paired a new Aft of Uniformity, which is to
model Soul and Body, Heart and Purse, to
their own Opinion. And when we are all
alike; " where in the World (fays Solomon
“ Gundy) can be the Difference f" In short,
let us make a Contrast, after the Manner of
the Convention, between the two Countries ;
and Things will appear (i. e. we would have
'em appear) in the following Order.
Great-Britain. America.
_ ~ , , Strong and well-sup-
Feeble and destitute. ported.
Drained of Men and Overflowing with Men
Money. and Money.
In Arrears to her Sol- Army well eloathed
diers. and exactly paid.
Her Credit funk. Our Credit high.
, .. Our Trade free and
Her Trade ruined# flourifhing.
Her Inhabitants divi- Our Inhabitants hap
ded. Py and unanimous.
Overwhelmed with Our Debt nothing at
Debt. all-
Her Weft-India Elands We fat and well-lik
ftarved. i n g*
Her Ships taken. Our own all fafe.
Her Merchants, Bank- Our Merchants, rich
rupts. and easy.
He that runs may read ; and I will not insult
my Reader's Understanding by a Comment.
The good Convention next recur to Exam
ples, inSnpport of their Argument; in Imi
tation perhaps of the old Divines, who used
to split their Subject into Doctrine, Uje, and
Application. The firft Instance they hold forth
to us, is the Struggle, which the Dutch were
enabled to make, against the Efforts of Spain ;
and a very parallel Case it is, as I shall en
deavour to explain to my Reader. Ihe In
quisition had been introduced into the Low
Countries, of which the Provinces of liol
land, Zealand, &c. made a Part,, under the
Spanifii Government, by a Prince bigotted to
the'Popifh Religion, and determined to shew
no Sort of Mercy to these, who differed from
him in Opinion, or who would not affirm that
a Cake of common Flour was really @ Piece
of raw Meat. Accordingly, this Bigot, Phi
lip the Second of Spain, butchered Hundreds
of his Protestant Subjects, because they would
not fubferibe to this said pretty Article of
Tranfubftantiaticn, Elizabeth, Queen of Eng-
Monday, 45 Min. after 8
Tuesday, 46 Min. after 9
Wednesday, 40 Min. after jo
Thursday, 35 Min. after 11
HIGH-WATER at NEW-YORK, this Week.
THE
Y (^mw
Friday, 30 Min. after 12
Saturday, 26 Min. after 1
Sunday, 16 Min. after 2
M'sEirft F^. next Monday.
land, was then at War with Spain ; and there
fore, partly out of Regard to Protestantism,
and partly from good Policy to reduce the
then formidable Power of her Enemy, she
aided the Dutch in the most effectual Manner,
and finally procured the Establishment both
of their civil and religious Liberties. —Now,
all the World must fee, that cur Situation is
and has been perfectly similar. We have been
persecuted on Account of our Religion.
There never has been any Thing like religi
ous Liberty or religious Toleration among
us. None could profefs his Principle, or go
to Heaven in the Road which pleafed' him
bed. We have therefore resisted, and refilled
unto Bleed. Being very near at Hand to cur
J&veral great Allies, as the Dutch were to Queen
Elizabeth, it may be presumed that we are
able to combine, as they did, the most pow
erful Force against Britain; and especially,
if it be considered, that we are entirely Ma
kers of the Sea. It was the Interest likewise
of several German States to countenance the
Dutch against the Spreading Influence cf Spain ;
and being upon one Traff of Country, they
could supply them with infinite Resources be
yond the Possibility of Prevention ; which is
cxadly cur Case too, as may be seen by a very
cursory View of a Map of the World. Thus,
considering the heavy Burdens we have long
endured, the unutterable Opprefions we have
ever 'fu stained, the Chains that have been
thrown ' upon our Conferences, the Mrferies
we have always undergone, through the " ar
“ bitrary Domination cf Britain," on the
one Hand; and the great Alliances we have
formed very near and very ready to help us,
the Difpdfition those Allies are in to expend
the Riches of their Monarchies to support us
in our Views of a Republic, and their great
Love to the Poteftant Religion and Liberty,
on the other Hand; I fay, considering all
this, we have every Reafon.to think, that we
shall soon be in as happy a Situation as the
Dutch Commonwealth is at this Day. This
free Republic, however, 'tis but fair to inform
my Reader, is bleft with a Government not
merely democrati,cal, as many ignorantly sup
pose, but absolutely ariftocratical; in which
(fays the late Lord Cheferfeld) " the People
" have not the leaf Share, either themfel^es,
“ or by Peprefentati^es of their onon chafing :
" They have nothing to do but to pay and
" grumble." Now, this is exactly the Plan
of our Congress, and for very wife Ends no
Doubt of their own.
The Examples of Switzerland and England,
when oppressed by Tyrants, are next adduced,
and are equally apposite to our Case with the
above recited Instance of Holland. The King
of Great-Britain, as a Proof of his tyranni
cal Intentions, has sent over Commiffoners to
hear our Complaints, and to take the necel
fary Steps for the Redress cf our Grievances ;
but they are not Men of our Cast : 1 hey are
not " contaminated," as we are, “ with many
“ feameful Dices," and therefore we have most:
religiously resolved to shed all the Blood and
ruin all the Property of the Country, rather
than negotiate with them. We would not
even take the least Bit of Paper from them,
unless they acknowledged us to be, what we
must instantly disclaim ourselves to be, in
Case any Agreement should pe£ibly arjfe.
This Shews with what Sincerity we mean to
terminate all Deputes, and how ready we
are to relinquish every Assumption of Power.
Next follows the Peroration of our excellent
.Fife-Kill Representatives. “ If Freedom be
“ our Birth right, let us rot fell it for a Mess
“ of Pottage, nor fuffer it to be torn from us
“ by the Hand ofViolence." The Author of
Common Sense and the Crifo, admirably illus
trates this beautiful Allusion. " He that would
“ fell his Birth-right fora little Salt (fays he)
“ is as worthless as he who fold it for Porridge
'' without Salt." In this wonderful Tradation
upon Porridge and Pottage, I owr I am not a
Efficient Adept in the culinary Art to make
the proper Diftindions, and therefore cannot
fay, whether they are, or are not, really one
and the fame Thing. 1 can only aver, that
Porridge or Pottage, without Salt, must be
nearly as insipid as anArgument without Sense;
and that I freely relinquish my Share in the
Mess for an Encouragement to our Porridge
Differtators. But the Question is, What has
all this Mess of Porridge or Pottage to do with
our Business ? Everv Man, furely,has a Right
to eat his MeG in his own Way. If he chofel
LE and CROWN, in HANOVER-SQUARE.
Wheat per Bushel, gs. od.
Flour, 30s. od.
Brown Bread, 255. ' od.
Welt-India Rum, Bs. od.
New-England do. ss. od.
GAZETTE:
THE
MERCUR Y.
PRICE CURRENT, in NEW-YORK.
IMufeovado Sug^r, ft tos.
I Single refin'd ditto, 2s. 9^.
I Motaffes, 3s. 6d.
I Beef per Barrel, 90s. od.
I Pork, ' 51. 10s.
Foreign anj Domeffich.
to take it boiling hot, and so burn his Mouth ;
I fliould not call it Liberty, if he chofc likewise
!to shed it upon my Legs, merely because we
differed in cur Explanations of the Word Free
dom. In aSt^tc of true Freedom, every Man
has a Right to enjoy, and certainly to conceal,
his @wn Opinion, without the Dauger of being
sent to Jail, and of having his Family ruined
upon Account of it. None but Inquiftors,
who are the worf, and the meanef Tyrants in
the World, ever attempt to rummage the Clo
sets cf People's Hearts, and to extort reluctant
Declarations from them. Patrons of /me Li
berty never ad in this Manner ; they love ge
nerous Sentiments, free and unconfiramed Pro
, sessions, an upright manly Uonduft, solid and
;juft Principles, and a uniform Simplicity of
Heart and Life. Darkness, Didruft, Mysteri
ousness, and all the other Indications of a cun
'ning narrow Soul, are their Abhorrence and
:Difdain. Slyness and Policy are very widely dif
ferent; and good and fer.fible Minds underhand
their Difference, and can fee, that as the one
will sooner or later defeat itfelf, the other will
deserve, if not answer, its own Expectations.
People of this Spirit will never part with Li
berty upon any Considerations ; but they know
what Liberty is, and can distinguish it from
Anarchy and Licentiousness, from Faction and
Intrigue, from the Dictates of a Mob, as well
as from the Dictates of a Prince. Liberty ab
hors " che Hand of Violence," borne by any
kind of terfon, whether covered by the Glove
of Patriotism, or bare as the Impudence of
Vice. It covets Peace ; and it courts Security.
If our Convention meant all this, every heneft
Man must agree with them, and rrftft deleft
those profligate Charters, who have macle
Liberty a Problem among vs, and excited,
inHead of allayed, the Horrors of War. Every
honest Man must also agree with them in the
Quotation they have adopted, that " if ever
" a Test for the Trial of Spirits can be ne
" ccffary, it is now. If ever those of Liberty
" and Farion ought to be dfirguifad from
" each other, it is now. If &ver it is incum
" bent on the People to hno<v Truth, and to
" follow it, it is now."---But I am indulging
the too serious Humor of Age.
I remember to have seen, when I was a Lad,
a lifeful Compilation, by "lujcanella, of the
most remarkable Epitheta, Zntitbeta, and Ad s
juKfta found in the Works of Cicero. It was
formed profeffedly to mend the Language of
Tyros in the Latin Tongue. Now I, who re
joice at any Thing that looks like Improve
ment in Art and Science, would most heartily
recommend this Bock of our Convention, as a
Model to Youth, for the Rarity of Dupion,
the Politeness of Manner, and the Elegance
of Style. I have heard of a very celebrated
College at London, where extemporary Phi
lippics, adorned with the most fifhy, if not the
most flowery, Tropes and Figures, are delivered
with as much Energy of Action and Spirit,
as Demofhenes himfelf, were he alive, could
pQfhbly desire. Their Arguments are per
fcftly feeling, and usually make a very forci
ble Impression. But, as our Country in other
Refpe&s is furpafling all others, and as both
the Seat of Empire and the Seat of the Muses,
are said to be defined for cur Weflern World ;
1 fee no Reason, why we should not have such
an illwftrious Institution, as one cf this Kind,
set up among us. lam sure we are immense
ly capable of it. I would therefore earneilly
wish, that, among other new Arrangements,
we should have some Endowment of this Sort
eflablifned: And I know of no fitter Perlons
to be President and Vice-Frefident of such a
Seminary of polite Erudition, than the renown
ed Authors of Common Eenfe and the Crisis, and
of this godly ^ddrefs cf our Convention. 1 would
pitch 'em (to use the Phrase of Gamblers)
against all the World for Volubility and Co
piousness of Speech, and for the Salt and
Vinegar of Expression. Such Delicacy of
Sentiment, such Elegance of Language, such
a marvellous and delightful Diction, such Co
piousness, Fervor, and what not, are to be
found in their refpeftive Competitions, as ren
der the Style of Demofbenes and Ciceto, in the
Comparison, as flat as dead Beer. If it were not
for tfefpaffing upon the Reader's Patience (i fay
nothing of my even) I would cull some choice
Floweis out of thele political Nosegays for his
Entertainment and Amusement.—But this
would likewise exceed the Bounds! have pro
mised. Suffice it, therefore, to add, for the cri
tical Character of these charming Perform-
Fine Salt, res. od
Coarse Salt, Bs. od
Indian Corn per Bu. 6s. 6.1
Coffee, is. gd
IChocolate, 265. per Do