The Connecticut courant, and the weekly intelligencer — Hartford [Conn.], 1781-01-30 00:00:00, page 1

escaped by swimming, and difeovered the vio^
hence of the English, had been detained on board'
the Romney, which thg Commodore himfelf
commanded ; and from which vessel alone forL
ty Portuguese seamen were set at liberty, exclu=
five of those which were taken from the others
Britlfh frigates, privateers, and merchant ships
in theTagus. When the Intendant of thepolice.
Executed,ii.s Commifhon, he was accompanied
by a fecund vessel, on board which was a detach ^
merit of soldiers ; and when the Romney gave;
them up, this veffel;was along fide of her. Thi^
is the firfl; time, they have ever demanded ah
£ifbon,; by. force a pfaryn's,: the delivering up of;
any natives, that. wer^,on Board foreign vessels ;•
but Commodore' Johnfone is al.fo, perhaps, the:
firft example of a-commandant, who has acted
as an Independent Sovereign in X foreign porto .
, Paris, SGph<24J> The^vorks are. nofdifeon-"
tipped at Bred. Ris said the second division of
M. de Rochambeau's army,'will be sent off im
mediately.'
LEYDEN, (Holland) OcTober 2,
TH E conjectures in our last, relFcUing the
embargo laid on the British vefels in the,
Tagus, is confirmed. By posterior advices i^
appears to be true, and the taking away the Por
tuguese sailors on board these vessels, is nothing
morethan a previous fymtom ofthechange which
has happened in the system of the Court of Por
tugal.
The circnmftances oftaking away these sailors,)
are still less honorable to Commodore Johnftone;
than was at firft related. The sailor who had
V „ to ^T ¥.. . * ^ '•A.
,L O N .D O N, .September 20. ™
Mr. BURKE made the following SPEECH
on the.huttings at Bristol, when he declined/
Gentlemen,' , J .....•.., •„i
"I decline the election/. It has ever beety ray
rule through.life to obfefye 4 proportion between
my efforts and my objects. I have never been,
remarkable.,for a bold, active and sanguine pur
suit of advantages that are personal to myfelf.
“ I have not convaffed the whole of this city
in form ; but I have taken such a view of it, as
Satisfies my oWn mind, that your choice will not
ultimately fall upon me. Your city, Gentlemen,
is in a Rate of.miferable diftraTion : and I am
resolved to withdraw whatever (hare my preten-.
fions may have had in its unhappy divisions. I
have not been in haste ; I have tried all prudent_
means ; I have waited for the effect of all con
tingencies. If I were fond of a contest, by the
partiality of my numerous friends (whom you
know to be among the most weighty and respec
table people of the city) Ihave the means of a
fliarp one in my hands. But I thought it far bet
ter, with my Rrength unspent, and my reputati
on unimpaired, to do, early and from forefight,
that which I might be obliged to do from neces
sity at last.
" I am not in the lead surprised, nor in the
lead: angry at this view of things, I have read the
book of life for a long time, and I have read other
books a little. Nothing has happened to me,
but what has happened to men much better than
me, and in times, and in nations full as good as
the age and country thathye live in. To fay that
I am no way concerned, would be neither de
cent nor true. The representation of Bristol was
an objeT on many accounts dear to me; and I
certainly ihould very far prefer it to any other in
WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER.
HARTFORD :
TUESDAY, January 30, 1781.
Printed by HUDSON and G OO D V/ I N, near the Great Bridge.
the kingdom. My habit! areiffiade to it : and
it is in general more unpleasant to be reje&ed,
after long Rial, than not to be ahofen at all.
1 f But; Gentlemen, I will ;fee rfothiug except
your former kindncfs,,and I will give .way '0 no
other sentiments than those of gratitude; ' From
the bottom of my heart, I thank you for what you
have clone fefr me... You have given mea long
term, which is nofv expired. I performed the
conditions, ' and enjoyed all the profits to the full;
hhd I now surrender four estate into your hands,
without being in:i # fingl^ tile, or a tingle ft&he &
impaired ,or 'wafted by my ufei I have served
the publicfor fifteen years; T have served you
in particular for fix': .What is pafled is well ftor
-od. It-is fafe; andoiit of the -power of fortune.
What,is to come, is in wiser hinds than our's ;
ind h% in whose hands it is, heft, knows whe^
dher it is beftfor you and me, that,! should be
in The Parliament, or even in the world..<
§ “ Gentlemen, the melancholy event of yef
terdaf, reads to us a^awful lessen against being
too much troubled about any of the objects of
ordinary ambition. The worthy gentleman
(Mr. Combe) who has been snatched from us at
the moment of the: election, and in the middle
of the contest, whilst his desires were as warm,
add his hopes as eager as our's, has feelingly
tpld us, what, shadows we are, and what fra
dows we pursue-D : :•
/' It, has beemufual for a candidate who d%
clines, to take his leave by a letter to the She
riffs, but I received your trust in the face of day,
and in the face of day I accept your difgiiffion.
Jam not--: lam not at alp ashamed to took
upon you ; nor can my presence difeompofe the
order of business here, I humbly arid fefpeaful
ly take my leave of the Sheriffs, the candidates
and ele&ors,^ wishing heartily that ;the choice
maybe for the best, at a tjrhe which calls,jf e~,
ver tirde did ea& for service that is notriominah
It is no playthiug,ycware about. I tremble wh'en^
I coriffler the trust shave presumed to alk. I,
confider perhaps too much in my intentions..
They were really fair and upright ; and Tam
bold to fay, that I ask mo ill thing for you, when
on parting from this place I pray, that whoever
you choose to faceted me, f may referable me ex
aftly in all things, except in my abilities to serve,
and fortune to please you." .
* Yesterday twenty-two prifopefs were, tried at,
the Old Bailey, two of whom were capitally con
victed. One, , .
Joseph Carter, for feloniouflf and traiteroufly
counterfeiting the current silver coin of this,
realm, called half crowns, shillings and sixpences,
at his house in Water lane; Black-friars, where
he was found at work, with every material about
him proper forth is bufineffy to gather with divers'
pieces finished, and some in their rough itate. ^
The Recorder, in his charge to the jury yeU
terday on the trial of Carter, convi&edhof coin
ing, his wife and two daughters, remarked, tha,
tho' the law in high treason, wnerh the life cf
his Majesty, or the fafety of the kingdom were
concerned, made nodiftin&ion,as in othercafes,"
between a man and his wife, yet in his opinion,'
the crime of coining was an exception to that
doArine. As to the younger child, the jury
were left to confider how far her tender years
would wipe away the impression of guilt : the
wife however, was entitled to an acquittal. The
jury found the father only guilty.
other nation are equally objects of their.refqluti-^
ons, They have already jnfifted on participating
the Levant trade, and demand restitution of some
of the primes fold in the ports of Spain. The
houfes of Bourbon as well as-Eriglarid, must yield:
toa temporary fubmidion to tbefe innovations a,
peace only .can determine the permanency of
their clainn,"
By an agreement between our court and that
of Peteriburg, the Ruifyn fleet, if they do not ar
rive time enough to reach their own ports, are to
winter fn.Pfymouth ; that seems as if there wasa
very good understanding bet ween the two powers.,
; Sept; 26. There are now two late presidents
confined in th^Tovyer, viz. Lord George Gor--
don, formily Prefitlent of the Protestant Affoci--
ation ; and Mr. Henry Laurens,, formerly Prefi
dentof the American Corigrefs.-, • ; °
A letter from Quebec, Aug. 25, fays, " There,
have been above ^5 large American privateers*
cruizing, in our £ulph since May. . Out of 47
fail of our traders, which left Torbay under con
voy of two frigates, only sixteen areyet arrived ; r
we have reafop tp/think all tfie left are taken. It;
has been, told usTy the matters and crews of two
20 gun privateers, and a brig of 14,-which we #
have taken, that feme large {hips are to cruizes
for the provision fleet, which we are anxiously
looking for." ;>,. ~
A correspondent in Edinburgh affure3 vs, that
the news of the Spanish revolt, which we had by
way of Glafgow,'a fortnight ago, will not turrw
ont to be any great matter ythe prifon^rs have
since arrived at Edinburgh ; and foriae,gentlemen,
who underftand.SpariifhJhavey cO.m 7 erfed, witli
thefri, and find) it is-an old-ftorfyahd that all was*
quiet when the packet_(finee taken, and now at
Greenock) left .Buenos Ayres, the taxes which
the South, Americans complained of,; having
been abobihed. It seems to be an artifice of the
Prjeft, to amuse our Ministry, and procure fa
vour to himfelf. :,;
The Sybil was sent last week with inftruUiong
to Sir George Rodney. The Medea was sent last
week with instructions to Sir Henry Clinton;
and on Thrirfday another vessel was sent with
further inftrudtions to Sir Henry Clinton, con
wadiaing those sent last week.
Whentho virdi& was announced, there was
an uncommon mixture of anxiety and gladrefs
in the countenance of Joseph Carter. • Joy for
the eicape of his wife and children, whom he
had'involved in the danger of his guilt, feemed'
to contend with the difirefs he felt for the ap
proach of his own deftmy.. The emotions of his
wife and children, on the other hand, seemed as
powerful from the sense of their own narrow
escape, and the agony of obtaining it on so hard
conditions as that of the conviaion of a hufband
and a father, the. el left daughter flew to the fa
ther's embrace ; he* faiutea his wife and his
daughters, with a paihonate tenderness. The
fye&acle would move the sympathy of the molt
frozen and inanimate nature, no eye could re
frain from ' tears. The ttyo daughters are very
pleasing, ruodeft looking girls, the eldest to ap
pearance about seventeen years of a'ge, # and the*
youngest about fourteen, both of them drefled ve^
ry neat and,decent.'. •,* *,
Sept. 22; If we may credit the foreign papers,
the confederacy entered into by the northeft
powers, is not totally, levelled against- the com-'
mercial interests of reat-Britain, but that every-
(No. 836.)