The Connecticut courant, and the weekly intelligencer — Hartford [Conn.], 1782-06-18 00:00:00, page 3

ToStr GUY CARLETON.
IT is the nature of compaflion to associate with misfor
tune; and I address this to you even in behalf of an ene
my, a Captain in the British service, now on his way to the
Head-Quarters of the American army, and unfortunately
doomed to death for a crime not his own.---A sentence so
extraordinary, an execution so repugnant to every human
sensation, ought never to be told without the circumstances
which produced it: And as the destined vi&im is yet in ex
igence, and in your hands refit his life or death, I shall
briefly state the case and the melancholy consequence.
Captain Huddy, of the Jersey militia, was attacked in a
small fort on Tom's river, by a party of refugees in the Bri
tish pay and service, was made prisoner together with his
company, carried to New-York, and lodged in the provost
of that city : About three weeks after which, he was taken
out of the provolt down to the water fide, put into a boat
and brought again upon the Jersey shore, and there, contra
ry to the pra&ice of all nations but savages, was hung up
on atree, and left hanging until found by our people, who
took him down and buried him.
The inhabitants of that part of the country where the
murder was commited sent a deputation to General Wash
ington, with a full and certified Rate of the fa^. Struck,
as every human breast must be, with such brutish outrage,
and determined both to punish and prevent it for the future,
the General represented the case to General Clinton, who
then commanded, and demanded that the refugee officer
who ordered and attended the execution, and whose name
is Lippencot, should be delivered up as a murderer; and in
case of refufal, that the person of feme British officer should
fuffer in his stead. The demand, though not refufed, has
not been complied with; and the melancholy lot (not by
feledion, but by calling lots) has fallen upon Captain Af
gil, ofthe guards, who, as I have already mentioned, is on
his way from Lancaster to camp, a martyr to the general
wickedness ofthe cause he is engaged in, and the ingrati
tude of those he has served.
The firft reflexion which arises on this black business is,
what fort of men must Englishmen be, and what fort of order
and discipline do they preserve in their army, when, in the
immediate place of their Head-Quarters, an# under the eyes
and nose of their commander in chief, a prisoner can be
taken at pleasure from his confinement and his death made
a matter of sport.
The history of the most savage Indians does not produce
instances exa&ly of this kind. They, at least, have a for
mality in their punishments. With them it is the horridness
of revenge, but with your army it is the Rill greater crime,
the horridness of diversion.
The British Generals who have succeeded each other, from
the time of General Gage to yourfelf, have all affe&ed to
speak in language they have no right to. In their procla
mations, their addresses, their letters to General Washing
ton, and their Applications to Congress (for they deserve
no other name) they talk of British honor, British genero
fry and British clemency, as if those things were matters of
fa& ; whereas we, whose eyes are open, who speak the
fame language with yourselves, many of whom were born
on the fame spot with you, and who can no more be miftak
cn in your words than in your actions, can declare to all the
world, that so far as our knowledge goes, there is not a
more detestable character, nor a meaner or more barbarous
enemy than the present British one. With us you have for
feited all pretension to reputation, and it is only by holding
you like a wild beast, afraid of your keepers, that you can
be made manageable.—But to return to the point in quef-
won.
Though I can think no man innocent who has lent his
hand todeftroy the country which he did not plant, and to
rain those he could not enslave, yet abftra&ed from all ideas
of right or wrong on the original question, Captain Afgil,
in the present case, is not the guilty man. The villain and
the vidim are here separated charaders. You hold the one
and we the other. You disown or affed to disown and re
probate the condud ofLippencot, yet you give him fan&ua
ry; and by so doing you as effectually become the excuti
oner of Afgil, as if you put the rope on his neck an d dismis
sed him from the world.
Whatever your feelings on this extraordinary case may be
are belt known toyourfelf. Within the grave of your own
mind lies buried the fate of Afgil. He becomes the corpse
of your own will, or the surviver of your justice. Deliver
up the one, and you save the other; withhold the one and
the other dies by your choice.
On our part the case is exceedingly plain ; Mn office? has
teen taken from his confinement and murdered, and the murderer is
Within your lines. Your army have been guilty of a thousand
instances of equal cruelty, but they have been rendered equi
vocal and sheltered from personal detention. Here the
•rime is fixed; and is one of those extraordinary cases which
•an neither be denied nor paliated, and to which the custom
of war does not apply; for it never could be supposed
that such a brutal outrage would ever be committed. It is
an original in the history of civilized barbarians, and is
tritely British.
On your part, you are accountable to us for die personal
fafety of the prisoners within your walls. Here can be no
miltake, they can neither be spies nor fufpe&ed as such ;
your fecurjty is not endangered, nor your opperations fub
jeded to mifearriage, by men immured within a dungeon.
They differ in every circumstance from men in the field, and
leave no pretence for severity or punishment. But if to the
dismal condition of captivity with you, must be added the
constant apprehensions of death; if to be imprisoned is so
nearly to be entombed ; and if, after all, the murderers are
to be protested, and thereby the crime encouraged, wherein
do you differ from Indians either in charader or condud.
We can have no idea of your honor or your justice in any
future tranfadion, of whatever nature it may be, while you
shelter within yourlinesan outrageous murderer andfacrifice
in his stead an officer of your own. If you haveno regard to
us, at least (pare the blood which it is yourduty tofave. Whe
ther the punishment will be greater on him, who, in this
case, innocently dies, or on him who fad neccffiiy forces to
retaliate, is, in the nicety of sensation, an undecided ques
tion ? It reds with you to prevent the fufferings of both.
You have nothing to do but to give up the murderer, and
the matter ends.
But to protest him, be he who he may, is to patronize his
crime, andto trifle i: off by frivolous and unmeaning en-
quiries fsto promote if. There is no decGration you tan
make, no promise you can give, that will obtain credit. It
is the man, and not the apology that is demanded.
You fee yourfelf pressed on all sides to f,are the life of
your own officer, for die he will if you withhold justice.
The murder of Captain Huddy is an offence not to be borne
with, and there is no security we can have that such actions
or similar ones shall not be repeated, but by making the
punishment fall upon yourselves. To deffroy the last secu
rity of captivity, and to take the unarmed, the unrefilting
prisoner to private and sportive execution, is carrying bar
barity too high for Silence. The evil must be put an end to ;
and the choice of persons rests with you : But if your attach
ment to the guilty is Wronger than to the innocent, you in
vent a crime that must destroy your chara&er, and if the
cause of your King needs to be so supported, forever cease,
Sir, to torture our remembrance With tha wretched praises
of British honor, British generosity, and British clemency.
From this melancholy circumstance, learn, Sir, a lessen of
morality. The refugees are men whom your predeceflors
have intruded in wickedness, the better to fit them to their
master's purpose. To make them ufeful, they have made
them vile, and the consequence of their tutored villainy is
now defeending on the heads of their encouragers. They
have been trained like hounds to the fcenc of blood, and
cherishedin every species ofdiffolute barbarity. Their ideas
of right and wrong are worn away in the constant habitude
of repeated infamy, till, like men praQifed in executions,
they feel not the value of another's life.
The task before you, though painful, is not difficult ; give
up the murderer, and save your officer, as the firft outlet of
a necessary reformation. COMMON SENSE.
Philadelphia, May JE, ^y&x#
NEW-YORK May 30.
Yesterday arrived the &ofs Islet fehooner, in 17
days from St. Lucia, by her we have received
the following particulars.
C A REN A G E, April 30, 1782.
On Sunday arrived here his Majesty's frigate
Triton, Capt. John M'Laurin, from his Excel
lency Sir George Bridges Rodney.
We have autnority from his Excellency Gene
ral Matthew, Commander in Chief, &c. &c. &c.
to publish the following extras of a letter from
his Excellency Sir George Bridges Rodney, &c.
&c. &c. dated at sea the 15th of April, relative
to the engagement between the British and
French fleets on the 12th instant.
“ The action began at seven o'clock in the
morning, and continued till half past seven in
the evening, without intermilTion. The Formi
dable tired 80 broadsides. The Ville de Paris
had 200 killed and upwards of 200 wounded,
when she struck. The following is a lift of
French ships taken and funk, viz.
La Ville de Paris, 1 Had on board in the En
noguns , gagement 1,300 men.
Le Glorieux, 74 750 men, 150 soldiers.
Le Cvefar, 74 750 150
Le Hector, 74 750 15°
L' Ardent, 64 650 100
One funk, Name unknown."
Extract of a letter from Si r Samuel Hood to
General Matthew.
" The Andromache, has now left the fleet for
England, on board of which ship is that truly
gallant and amiable young noblemen, Lord Ro
bert Manners, who has very unfortunately loft
one leg, wounded in the other, and has his right
arm broke, Capt. Bayne ofthe Alfred, and Capt.
Blair of the Anson, are killed : and Capt. Savage
of the Hercules, is wounded."
It was the Caesar not the Glorieux (as menti
oned in our Gazette of Saturday) that was blown
up by the careleflhefs of a Marine, and 400 of
her crew unfortunately perished, the people who
boarded her did not belong to the Triton, as was
also mentioned. The Glorieux was difmafted,
and not taken pofleffion of until the next morn
ing. The Ville de Paris did not strike till it was
almost dark. She had been attacked by several
of our fllips, and was making off, when that
brave officer Sir Samuel Hood, in the Barfleur
threw himfelf in her way, and after battering
her for some little time, she struck to him, and
was taken pofleffion of by Capt Deacon, then
Sir Samuel's firft Lieutenant. A little more
day-light would have made a considerable addi
to our capture, but the enemy Hole away under
cover of the night, in a most wretched condition,
particularly in their hulls, their chain pumps go
ing continually. Never were men more deter
mined and unanimous in their duty to their King
and country than those of our fleet were; and
though the loss of the brave men who fell upon
the occasion is much to be lamented, yet, in the
whole, it is considerably less than might have
been expeded, from the length of the battle ;
only 236 were killed, and 750 wounded, in all
our fleet, in both engagements.
His Excellency Sir George Bridges Rodney
carried his prizes with him to Jamaica—The
unfortunate Compte de Grafle was on board the
Formidable, but was allowed at hi; own request.
Monday came to town by land from Balti
more, Mr. Richard Dayton of Groton, late be
longing to the Sloop Nimble-Nine-pence, Capt.
Siftarre ; he informs that the Sloop was drove
a-Shore by a Privateer on one of the Keys in the
Old Straights of Bahama on the 13th of March ;
from whence the crew got to the Havanna ; and.
about the 21st of April took Passage in a Fleet
of 65 Sail, with between 2 and 3000 Troops on
Board, for the island of New-Providence ; 15 fail
ofthe fleet belonged to this continent : The ex
pedition was commanded by the Governor of
Havanna : Commodore Gillon, in the South-
Carolina Frigate, commanded the Fleet: They
arrived off the Bar the 6th May, and on the Bth
the garrison and town surrendered without op
position; the garrison confided of 300 troops :
About 90 fail of flapping of different sizes, were
taken at the above place.
It is reported that the Spaniards, after garri
soning Providence, were to proceed either to St.
Augustine or Bermuda, with a view to the re
duftion of those places.
HARTFOR D, June 18.
On the 27th of May last, departed this life at
Stafford, in the 88th year of her age, Mrs. DI
NAH WARNER, wife of Mr.DANIEL WAR
NER—She gave fatisfa^ory evidence to those
that were acquainted with her, that she was a
sincere chriftian. Her defeendents are numer
ous, viz. 5 children, 60 grand-children, 103
great grand-children, and 3 of the next genera
tion, in the whole 171 —Thirty-two of this num
ber have deceased-—Eighty-one of her posterity
followed the corpse to the grave.
to return with his suite, on board of his late fliip,
the Ville de Paris, after (lie had been put in a pro
per Rate.
On Thursday last a sue de joie was fired from
the garrisons of Morne Fortune, and Pidgeon
Island, on the above great events
BOSTO N,june 1%
A schooner of the King of France r La Levfette,
arrived in this port last MondaQight from Cape
Francois after a padage of 21da„.*We learn by
her that the combined fleet commanded by the
Marquifs de Vaudreuil and Don Solano was to
fail the 25th of May from that place, amounting
to 4$ ships of the line, in good condition, to con
voy beyond the Capes 306 fail of merchantmen
going to France. The troops assembled at St.
Domingo make up 20,000 men, commanded by
Don Galvez and the Marquis de St. Simon.
Their destination was still a secret
Two days before the departure of the King's
schooner, advice was brought to the Cape, by a
cutter, the Pandouz, which came from Brest,
that the Count Guichen commanding a fleet of
French and Spanish ships, had intercepted, off
Cape-Finiftre, an Englilh convoy of 100 trans
ports, with 5 frigates, and 3 ships of the line.---
This news was announced at the Cape the 18th
of May, by the difeharge of cannon from the
forts. The Marquifs de Bouille, his lady, and
M. de Bougianville had failed for France, on
board the Medea.
NEW-LOND O N, June 14.
Wednesday returned into port, the brig Han
cock, Capt. Lodowick Champlain, and brought
in the brig Thetis, Peter Robinson, late matter,
which he captured on Monday evening near the
Hook. She had left New-York the fame day,
bound to Charleftown, laden with various arti
cles of merchandize, as tea, wine, dry goods,
soap, candles, &c<
We learn by the prisoners taken in the above
brig, that go fail of empty transports lately failed
from New-York, bound, as it was thought, to
Charleftown.
RPCEIPT of continental taxes from the State of Connec
ticut, published in pursuance of the 6th article of inftruftionc
from the office of Finance, dated the twelfth day of February
last f
For the month of April, 1782, received nothing.
For the month of May, 1,82, received nothing.
Hartford, June xft, 1782.
HEZ. ME R RILL,
Receiver of Continental
Taxes for Connedicut.
"TO BE SOLD,
A LOT of land, in the north end of Ashford, lying in the
half mile lots, called the tenth lot, containing xi 4
acres, being a good timbered lot, which is valuable in that
part. Any gentlemen desirous to purchase said land, for
particulars may enquire of HHNRY BRACE, jun. of
Hartford weft society.
June 17. 1782.
CLOTHIER's'PR ESS'A TlTrs 7
Of an Excellent Quality, to be Sold by the
Gross or Dozen, by the Printers hereof,