The Connecticut courant, and the weekly intelligencer — Hartford [Conn.], 1779-01-26 00:00:00, page 1

TUESDAY, January 26, I,;, THE (Number 73^
CONNECTICUT COURANT,
AND THE
WEEKLY INTELLIGENC ER.
From THS CONNECTICUT JOURNAL.
H 0 N. E ST U S.
Number IV.
THE extensive view which I have taken of fe
deral of the questions of Senex. in the procee
ding numbers, has prepared the way for a more con
cise and general answer to those. to which as yet no
reply has been made. My motto, and the whole
tenor of my reasoning, is an answer to his third en
quiry. Righteoafnefs will ever exalt a nation;
while fin will bring reproach and ruin on.any peo
ple. Laws for the government of mankind ought
to be all founded on the principles of morality, hu
man liberty and ha'ppinefs. It may nevertheless be
cbferved in full confiGency with these principles.
That laws may be just and necessary, as they refp^Ct
the common fafety, and the ad niiniftration of justice
in general, which, on account of a great variety of
circumflances that may happen, will, in their ope
ration, be an occafen of injustice to individuals.
The common law cannot provide against this. The
very exifterte of courts of chancery in which the
Lord Chancellor, who is the only judge, moderates,
or as it were sets a fide the writtenlaw, and governs
himfelf only by the law of nature and conic ence;
clearly (peaks this language, and shows it to be a
greeable to the common sense of mankind. The
written or common law, which provides for the
public fafety, and is a good rule for the administra
tion of justice in general, is never the less just, be
c*ufe it cannot reach every case, and do juflice to all.
These cbfervitions are applicable, as a general reply
to the fourth question of Senex, in which he asks,
Is there any jufticc, equity or rightcoufnefs in a law
which obliges a creditor to difeharge a debt of 600
Spanish mill'd dollars, which the debtor actually
received in hard money, (perhaps the whbie edate
of a Widow or orphan child) for 600 Continental
dollars under their present depreciated value, which
will not. at this time, purchase more of the necessa
ries of life than JOO Spanish mill d dollars.
The law refered to in this case, as it refprAs t!ie
common fafety and the administration of justice in
general, must be termed both necessary and just.
The common fafety, which according to that uni
versally received maxim, Salos populi fuprema est
lex, and the administration ofjuflice in general, make
it, in the present date of affairs, absolutely necessary.
To be sure this is the case unless the writer is whol
ly mistaken as to the principles and arguments ad
vanced in the proceeding papers. The repeal of
this la'w, of which Senex seems to complain, as be
ing void of all colour of justice, would not afford any
certain relief to the creditor; the widow and the fa
therlefs ; but, as has been shewn, might greatly in
jure them, as well 4s do almost infinite injustice to
others. The great injustice in these cases does not
so much arise from the particular kind of our money,
nor from the law which makes it a tender of equal
value with gold and silver, as from the peculiar cir
cnmflances of the country, and from the advantage
which unrighteous men take of the present times.
The fame causes, too great a plenty of money, and
an uncommon demand for the n?ceffaries of life, pro
dace the fame effects, in New-York, and on the ad
jacent islands with regard to silver money, which
they do with us with refped to our paper currency.
Six hard dollars, Ifuppofe will not purchase more
provisions now, in those places, than one would have
done three or four years ago ? And, even among
ourselves I believe, it is fa&, that two hard dollars,
scarce as they be, will not purchase more, take things
in general, than one would have done three years
since. I would in my turn enquire ofSeneX; Whe
ther a law at New'York and the Islands adjacent,
which obliges the ^editor, the widow.and the cr
phan, to receive 600 Spanish mill'd dollars for a
debt es thaVamount contracted four years ago; which
will not now in those places, perhaps, purchase more
of the necessaries of life than too Spanish milled dol~
hs would have done at the time of the contrast,
can have any jufiice or equity in it? Or whether
HARTFORD: Printed by WATSON and GOODWIN,near the Great Bridge.
there can be'any righteousness in a law, in Connecti
cut, which obliges the creditor; a poor widow or
orphan to receive two hundred hard dollars for a
debt for that sum contracted three years ago, which
will not, at this time, purchase more commodities
foreign and doineflic than one hundred would have
done at tlie time of the contrast ? Shall the debtor,
at New-York, be allowed with one yoke of oxen,
and with one bushel of wheat to pay the poor widow
and orphan for fix just such yoke of oxen, and for
fix just such bushels of wheat ? Shall the fatherlefs
childin Connecticut, with only one yoke of oxen,
be paid for two just such yoke fold four years ago ?
When Senex has given a fatisfadory answer to these
queftions,%e will have no difficulty with a number
of his own. That there is great injustice done, in
these cases, through the w keduefsof men and the
uncommon circumftanc^ of the country, is not to
be disputed ; but I neither pronounce the law nor
the lawgiverunjuft. In such cases Esthe money can
be laid up till things return to their old course, or
where debts can be fuffered to lie unpaid till that
time, the injustice and cruelty will not be so great,
as in those, where it is needed, and must be expend
ed for the support of families, and of public inftitn
tions. In such cases the injustice is affe&ing and
really distressing. It well merits the deepest consider
ation of every debtor who feels Wmfelf inclined to
make his advantage of the difficulty of the times,
That he has a solemn account soon to fettle with
him, whose eyes are upon all the ways Of man; is
a father of the fatherlefs and judge of the widows in
his holy habitation ; who will be a refuge for the op
pressed and an avenger of their wrongs : and that
in his kingdom the unrighteous have no inheritance.
In a most venerable book I have seen it written;' He
that getteth riches and not b; ' 4^ ihall leave them
in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a
fool."
These observations will throw some light on the
fifth queftibn, viz. Is it honest, just or right, that
the clergy should be oblig'd to accept the nominal
sum of their salaries, in Continental bills, which will
not purchase more than one sixth part of the peceffa
ries of life, that the sum stipulated for would pur
chase, when the contract was made ?
That great injustice is done the clergy in general
and all other salary men is readily granted ; but is it
right that far greater and more general injustice should
be done that they in particular may be relieved ?
Or can the law in such emergencies as the present
make provision for them ? Is it honest, in New-
York or on Long Island, that the clergy should be
obliged to receive the nominal sum due to them in
hard money since it will not perhaps, purchase
more than a fix h part of the necessaries of life, which
it would have done some years ago ? Or is it honest
and just, in Connecticut, that the clergy should be
obliged to receive the nominal sum of their salaries,
even in hard money, because it will not. perhaps
purchase more than one half of what it would have
done three years ago I And because it may not,
possibly, in a short time purchase more than one quar
ter of that quantity of provision .and clothing ? Do
not these things show that their redress, in such ex
traordinary seasons, is to be fought from the people
of their refpe&ive charge, and not from the law I
But Senex still goes on enquiring in this manner, viz.
Q 6. Was our present contest with Great-Britain,
and any further emission of bills immediately to cease,
would not go oo®l. sterling worth of well sorted
vendible European goods imported into this State;
and fold at the present advance and two more such
taxes as we have la@ paid, draw all the money out
of the pockets of nine tenths of the inhabitants of
this Sta'e?
1 7- When that effected by what method will
the remaining part of the out-standing bills be call'd
in, funk and discharged ?
Q. 8. Will not the possessors of the bills, then
eftefm every Continental dollar they are peffeh'd of,
equal to a Spanish mill'd dollar, Or part with them
unless equal to filver'
(The remainder is in the last page.)
STRICTURESon the Add refs of Com
mon Sense to Mr. Deane.
He&or adefl fecumque Deos in prtelia ducit
Quoque ruit, non ta folum terreris, Ulisses,
Sed fortes etiam. Ovid,
Favor'd by Gods (to whom all mortals yield,)
The mighty He&or rushes to the field,
And braves the foe ; at his tremendous fight
Not you alone, 0 Deane ! decline the fight :
More ancient heroes, lift'ning from afar,
Crouch at the name and dread th' impendingtfan
To COMMON SENSE.
WHEN your intention of entering the lifts war
anouaced to the public, various wfl the
opinions entertained by the curious concerning the
object and stile cf your proposed address Such as
knew you only by your nom de guerre, or travelling
name, imagined, from the patriotic eff.fi )ns in some
of ycur former productions that the object of your
address would be to express your gratitude to
Mr. Deane for his ufeful and interesting inf6ft
mation ; particularly in making the public ac^
quainted with the various and incompatible offi
ces held by four gentlemen of the fame family ;
and that you would have expressed your sentiments
on this matter with the honed zeal ofa patriot, who
makes measures, not men, theobjeds of his difcuffion h
Others, who profeffed themselves better acquain
ted withthe circumflances and motives of your com
ing to this country, of the manner in which you had
by the violence of the storm and the puffs of your
friends been elevated to an important office, averred,
that the object of your address would be, if pcffible,
to throw Mr. Deane under a cloud, and to cast a
gloss on the character and conduct cf those whose
connexions and adherents you deemed yourfelf in
debted to, not only for the acquisition of your office,
but for your future enjoyment of it ; and that the
language you would use would be wort: y cf the
profeffion you have been brought up in, and the na
ture of the contest you meant to adopt. Your ela
borate performance has since appeared. The public
are now to determine which class of the persons I
have alluded to were right in their predictions. As
this matter is ®f some importance, not only as it re*
fpeCls the present fubjeft but the degree ofcredibility
which you are intitled to in future I shall take the
liberty to make some ftri&ures upon your studied
address, in order to enable the honest and reflecting
part of rhe community to form a right judgment.
Should I in doing this avoid those flowers of rheto
ric, those coarse and vehement expreffibns which
yourfelf (with whatjuftice the public can easily de
termine) censure in Mr. Deane, and yet adopt you
will not, I flatter myfelf impute it to a contempt of
the great talents you possess in this line, but to a dif
ference of education and profeffion in the present wri
ter, and to the motives which call forth his pen---
Besides, he must honestly confefs that, exclusive of
these considerations, his pride would restrain him in
this refpeft. Your pre eminence in these great ac
complishments of con troverfial writing, is so general
ly felt and acknowledged, that to attempt to rival
you would serve only toexpofe my own inferiority,
and to encreafe the reputation of an antagonist alrea
dy formidable, even with the found ofa name. My
path shall be different ; and I will take for my guides
plain truth and purity of intention.
The writer of the address introduces himfelf with
a very solemn air of official importance; without
doubt to make a favourable impression on the minds
of the public, (often too credulous in believing what
ever comes from a person in office, without confi
derih^ his character and views,) and to flrike the ob=
je& of bis animldyerfion with such a panic, as might
bereavehirnof the faculty of making a reply. He
fays " he is no Granger to Mr. Deane's negociatfons
66 and contrails in France, his difference with his
« colleagues, the reasons cf his return to America,
6< and the matters which have occurred since."
From the mannerin which this is expressed, and the
general frift of the address, it is easy to perceive it