The Connecticut courant, and the weekly intelligencer — Hartford [Conn.], 1783-12-02 00:00:00, page 1

At a General Afrmbly of the Governor and Company ofthe
State of Conne&icuc holdn at New-Haven, on the fecund
Th&rfda, of barber, Anno Domini 1783.
UPON the petition of Benjamin Hanks ofLitchfield, shewing
to this Afi'smbly that be has, with great study for a number
of years,applied himfelf in fcarch of mechanical knowledge
and, in pursuance thereof, has invented and executed a clock
which winds itfclf up by the effect of air, and which will con
tinue so to do without any otter uffißance rill the component
parts are deftroycJ by friaien, and that laid clock will keep
time, in the molt regular manner, as it is wound up without any
variation or flop put to its mechanical operation, and that con
sequently laid invention is a gre improvement in mechanical
knowledge, praying for the p nlege of an executive right to
make and vend clocksfo c^d ua.d for the term of fourteen
years—as by memorial on hie.
RESOLVED, by this Assembly, That the prayer of the said pe
titioner be granted—and that he the said Benjamin Flunks be
and be hereby is legally veiled with the sole and exclusive right
,f making, executing and vending clocks, ofthe beforemen
tioned description and conftru&ion, for the term of fourteen
years—and that any perlon or persons who shall make any
clock conftru&cd conformable to the aforefaid description or
Similar thereto, or shall import or bring into or vend any such
clock within this State, so as to defeat the exclusive right,
which it is the intention of this a& to vest the said Benjamin
Hanks with the privilege to make and vend,as a reward for his
fludy and invention, as aforefaid, during the term aforefaid,
every such person mr persons for every such clock conftru&ed or
brought into this State contrary to the design and intention of
this ad and without the consent of the said Benjamin Hanks shall
forfeit to him or to his heirs or executors the value of every such
clock so conftru&ed or brought into this State, which value
shall not be estimated at less than twenty pounds lawful money,
to be recovered by the said Berjamin Hanks, his beirs, executors
or adminillrators before any court having cognizance of such
offence.
Provided nevertheless, that nothing shall be considered or
deemed an offence against this a&, by which any forfeiture shall
accrue to him the said Benjamin Hanks, or to his heirs or execu
tors, but what shall be committed in the life of the said Benja
min Hanks.
Resolved futtber, that this a& shall be adjudged a public a&,
after it shall have been published in three fucccflirc papers in
each es the public newspapers in this State.
A true copy of record examined by
GEOROE WYILYS. Secretary.
DANIEL JONES, & Co.
HEREBY acquaint their Customers and the Public in gene-1
ral, That they have removed their Goods to the Store of|
Mi. Samuel Talcott, jun. lately occupied by Mess. Jeremiah and
Ebenezer Platt, about eighty rods north of the Court House.
They have lately received a fresh Supply of GOODSfuicable
for the season, and have on hand as great a variety, perhaps, as
may be found in any one Store in Hartford. They flatter them
selves their condud has hf.etofore been such, that their former
customers will be kind enough to continue their favours.
Flour, Wheat, Rye, Indian Corn, Oats, Flax Seed, Pork and(
ether Country Produce will be received in payment, and the
smallest favours gratefully acknowledged.
Hartford, November 18, 1783.
Twenty Dollars Reward.
LAST night the Shop of the fubferiber was broke open, end
the following articles taken away, viz. 1 piece dark
ground striped Callico ; 1 piece red and white fpotced Calico;
I piece redish ground Callico ; 2 and half dozen black Silk Bil
boa Handkerchiefs ; 1 piece red and white Sik ditto ; 1 piece
red Pullicat ditto ; 2 pieces white striped Gauze ; 1 piece plain
ditto ; 2 yards Tinfey Gauze; 6 Gauze handkerchiefs white
with striped borders ; 1 pair black Silk Mitts : 11 pair black
worsted ditto ; 6 pair grey Jcrfey knit rib'd Stockings; 2 pieces
Black Ribbon : about half pound Sewing Silk different colours;
fame fine Thread; 2 dozen Tapes ; 7 yardslight grey Coating;
some hard and State money, &c. Whoever will take up the
thief or thieves and fecurc them so that they may b< brought to
justice and the Goods secured, shall receive the above reward,
or Ten Dollars for the Goods only, and a rcafonsble reward for
any part ofthem, paid by EZRA CORNING.
Hertford; "November 16, 1783.
SOME time since Jefiah Olcott, jun. being disordered in hi
mind, left home he is about 30 years of age, midling
file and Nature; short dark brown hair, his complexion a medi
um between dark and light; had on plain fummcr cloaths, an
old beaver hat bound with ferric---be is supposed to be gone
•westward. Whoever shall have knowledge of him, and will
give intelligence to the Subscriber, shall be allowed any neces
sary expence, and will much oblige their humble servant,
JOSIAH OLCOTT.
Haft-Hartford, November 14, 1783.
Non Refdents, look toyour Interejt !
NOTICE is hereby given to the Non-Resident Proprietors in
Hartland; that so much oftheir Lands, will be fold at
Public Vendue, at the Sign poll in Hartland, on the I6ch ofDe
eembec next, as will pay their refpediVe rates with incident
charges to the Subscriber, viz. Ashbel Burnham,Jonathan Hunt,
William Knex, Moses Olmftcad, Joseph Peas, Jonathan Smith,
Eliphas Steel, Matthew Talcott, Thomas Williams, Jonathan
Walker.
TITUS ALLEN, jun. Society Collca&r.
Hartland (fecord Society) November 10, 1783.
Blanks of most kinds used in this
State printed on good Paper, with spaces much
larger than usual, may be had ofthe Printers hereof,
&% cheap as they were fold before the war,
TUESDAY, December 2, 1783. T # HE Number 984;
Connecticut Courant,
AND
WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER.
HERTFORD : Printed by H UDSO N and GOODWIN, near the Great Bridge.
[From the Gentleman's and London Magazine.]
Seme Account of Benedict Awt^d, Brigadier Ge
neral in the British Army.
WHEN a man is steeped to the lips in guilt, and
publicly branded, it may be considered an
insult to the amiable part of mankind, W bellow a
thought on him ; but leave him on the gibbet of infa
my,as an example to after ages, of perfidy and ingra
titude. Yet, though we have viewed, and still view,
the despicable hero of our memoirs, in a light the
molt offehfivc to the human light, fall we hold it
highly laudable to preserve the features of so Singu
lar a traitor; and those anecdotes of his life, in
which we behold the steps that raised him from po
verty to those honors that ndw give a faint splendor
to his situation. Doctor Franklin fays, "Mr. Arnold
was born in Norwich in Conreaicut, some time in
the year 1736. . His father was by profeffion a shoe
maker and carpenter, but failing in both he com
menced merchant : and in this was equally unfor
tunate. From this failure his creditors became cla
mourous, and they threw him into jail at Norwich,
where he died about 1750, leaving the fubjed of
our memoirs entirely destitute of any provision to
support him. A short time after his father's death,
young Arnold happened to be taken particular no
tice of by Dr. Lothrop, a gentleman of estimable
life, and considerable property : who, commiserating
his forlorn situation, received him into his service,
and inftrufted him in the business of an apothecary.
—With this gentleman he continued sometime after
his apprenticeship, and gained the summit of his em
ployers esteem, insomuch, that on his separation,
the amiable Doctor gave him gcbl. Sterling.
With this sum, and some (Erdng letters of recorn
merdafyn, ft f.,t put for England, where; a short
while after hft'arrival, he fettled. Some affirm, they
knew Tim when he engaged in the business of an
eminent druggist in Holborn : and others remember
him to have kept an apothecary's (hop about Shad
well. Be thia as it may, he met with so little encour
agement, that he commenced dealer ir. horses, and
proved equally unfortunate. To remove the load
of anxiety he laboured under, he took leave of Eng
land, leaving no one to lament his departure.
He returned to America, opened an apothecary's
shop in his native country, and met with great suc
cess ; if he had now been frugal, he might have liv
ed with ease and respectability; but diffiparion led
him astray, ind he was not waked from his folly till
he fuffered some months imprisonment for debt. A
former biographer fays, " After an event like this,
it may be concluded, that to restore his credit as a
man of business, would be a talk of great difficulty,
supposing it for a moment practicable at all The
enemies of our hero gave out, that on his rcleafement
from prison, he insinuated himfelf into the good
graces of a yeung lady, daughter to the high fheriff
ofNew-Haven, and that she became with child by
him. The resentment of her father was, in conse
quence of this, very violent for a short time; but the
difgracd of his daughter being in some rel'peCt ex
tenuated by marriage, both the and her husband
were feftored to favour; and Mr. Arnold was re
ceived into the family of his father-in-law.
This reconciliation being effected, he was em
ployed by his father-in-law as supercargo to the
Welt-Indies,where that gentleman had two or three
fhips'engaged in trade. It was his custom to go to
the islands in spring, and return in autumn with mo
lafles, rum, and sugars. In winter he went to the
head of Hudson's river into Canada with good^,
which he exchanged for horses ; these generally
making the principal part of a Connecticut cargo to
the Weft-Indies. In these voyages he became an
expert failor,the only advantage he derived from
them ; for he seems to have been doomed to be un
fuccefsful in trade. To whatever cause it was ow
ing, reportsfay,thathewould once more have taken up
his residence in prison, had not the troubles in A
merica found employment for all his abilities, and
prevented his creditors from pursuing him rigorouf
iy. Previous to this event, he had became embar
rafied in a law suit, the loss of which added to the
miserable Rate of his finances, rendered him an ob
jeCt qualified for, and ready to engage in any febeme
of desperation. In the year 1774 he headed a mob,
which had for some time been the terror of the loy
alists; though it does not appear that he made use
ofit in such a manner as to produce any considera
ble mifchiefs : he was, however, on account of his
attachment to the American ciufe, about the fame
time, appointed a Colonel by the A^Qtyly of the
province. The activity of his disposition had now
full scope toexercife its faculties. Each party bad
appealed to the sword, and blows only were to de
termjue the rectitude of party measures, and to as
certain disputed rights. In the beginning of the
year 1775, he went with a party and scoured the
Lake Champlain, with great success and effeCt.
These exploits recommended him further to the Con
gress, by whom he was promoted to the fame rank
he had received from the provincial Assembly. His
daring and intrepid spirit had pointed him out as a
proper person to command a Separate detachment,
and he was soon afterwards chosen to make an irrup
tion into Canada, at the head of 1200 men. This
detachment confuting of two battalions, under Col.
Christopher Green and Col. Roger Enos, and three
companies of rifle men, making in all thirteen com
panies. They marched from the head quarters at
Cambridge, Sept. 13, and proceeded by long and fa
tiguing journies, in which they experienced hard
ships of various kinds, arrived on the 13th ofNo
vember before Quebec, which they immediately fat
down before, and the next day summoned the town
to surrender. Two days after, he was encouraged
to continue the siege, by hearing of the success of
bis friend Montgomery, at Montreal. On the firft
of December that officer joined him, and they im^
mediately in conjuaion raised batteries, and carri
ed on the siege with spirit, depending for success on
the weak state of the garrison, and the lukewarm
ness ofthe Canadian inhabitants."---Every one re
members the repulse they met with from the British
army in Quebec. —Montgomery was killed Arnold
wounded, and the besiegers of his party forced to
surrender pai foners of war. "It was in th is enter
prise that Arnold acquired the whimsical addition to
his name ; General Carleton, in relating the cir
cumftances of the siege, spoke of him under the title
of one Arnold, by which appellation he has free
been diftjnguiihed. Though he was unfuccefsfn
in this attack, he Hill continued to block up the place;
and in March 1776, defeated a party of Canadians
who were marching to relieve it. He also
burned part of the suburbs, and in April raised two
new batteries against the town. On the third of
May he attempted to burn the (hipping, but without
effea. This was his last effort. On the sixth he
decamped with great precipitation, on the appear
ance of Commodore Dowglas from England, who
came very opportunely for the relief of the place.
The Americans this summer, by extraordinary
exertions, colleaed a naval force, and the command
of it was given to Mr. Arnold, now a Brigadier Gene
ral and an Admiral. His cendua in this situation
was spirited and brave : he seemed alike for the ser
vice, both by land and sea. Meeting with the fleet
commanded by Captain Philips and General Carle
ton, he engaged it, though with ill success, he ran
his veflel a-ground, but did not desert it until she
was on fire, keeping his flag flying to the last. For
his gallantry in this affair he was promoted to the
rank of Major General.
Ir. spring 1777 he was employed in Connecticut,
his native colony, against General Tryon, who had
made an inroad in that province, and burnt some rs
the magazines there. He loft no reputation during
this campaign, though his efforts were not attended
with any brilliant successes. On one occasion, he
brought up his men clofc to the British troops, and
received a very heavy fire, which at the fame time
disordered his forces and killed his horse. On this
occasion he shewed the coolness of his temper; for
disengaging himfelf from the dead animal, he cut the
girth, and throwing the saddle over his back, retrea
ted with so much deliberation, that his enemies, in
whose fight this tranfa&ion happened, bore testimo
ny to his merit as a soldier.
The reputation which he had now been some time
acquiring received an ample compensation this year,
in the famous but unfortunate affair at Saratoga,
where he commanded under General Gates. On
the 19th of September he attacked General Bur
goyne at Freeman's Farm, and fought him with
great obftiriacy from three o'clock to fun set. In
this engagement he loft goo men killed, and 1500
wounded. This was only a prelude ato more des
perate undertaking. On the 12th ofOftober, when
General Burgoyne made a movement with 1500
men, Arnold, without waiting for orders, marched
out and attacked him. Being convinced ofthe dan
ger of permitting his enemy to approach so near as
to use their artillery, xlrnold determined on vigor
ous measures, and carried on his attack with such