The Connecticut courant, and the weekly intelligencer — Hartford [Conn.], 1780-05-09 00:00:00, page 2

Parliamentary Transactions.
HOUSE of COMMONS.
Wednesday, February 9.
The House met, pursuant to adjournment. Mr,
Chapman preferred according to order, heads of a
bril for the relief of insolvent debtors.
The Recorder moved for leavn to bring in heads
of a bill for a Habeas Corpus. Leave was granted
accordingly.
Mr. Ferber presented heads cf a bill to make the
Judges comnfffionr Qjamdiu fe bene ,HTxint.
Sir Richard Jnhnfon moved that the cell of the
House, which war ordered for Monday n^x:, be ad
joumed tc Wednesday following, as he on that day
prepofed moving to the House for leave to bring in
heads cf a bill for the repeal cf the Aft passed in the
reign of King Henry the Seventh, in this kingdom,
which ena&; ' Th^t ail bills to be transmitted
from thi, kingdom, shall be drawn and certified by
the Privy Council, commonly called Poyning's
L^." The call was accordingly adjourned.
Mr. Former rose, and after many pertinent obfer>
various on the ntceffity there was as soon as pcffiblt;
to give the extension, our trade had received the fill
left operation, by inking off the present duties on
feme articles, and laying some upon others, moved
that the Committee of Supply be opened tc morrow.
Mr. Grattan <fcd whether this Committee of
Supply was a general one, including the grants or
money bills for eighteen months.
Mr. Former said it was ihte>ded that the whole
bufiuefs of the money bills should be gene through.
Mr. Grattan said, that since that was the case, be
mast eppofe the motion, as it was impcffible to finifh
this business before the assizes would commence,
when of course. a great number of the Members, and
those not the mod incocfiderable part, would be ne
c< ffi ated to leave town ; that at this time it was ab
solutely neceffarythe ftnfe of the people should be
known, before new grants to the Crewn were made ;
and when they were to be made, it required the ut
raoft Solemnity of cenfidcration. A long recess had
patfad, and then an adjournment face the lift grants,
immediately at its expiration, the money bills are
again brought on ; must nothing but money-bills be
agitated in this House ? The appearance, I coafefs,
thisd„, is very alarming; Administration shew a
concern for relieving our commercial grievances,
but will give us no time to confidcr of our political
ones, and seem fearful that we teuld enter upon
them and redress thgn, Do they confider the spirit
of the times, when every man is called upon, if he
regards his country, to f&ve her to his ntmoft abili
ties. or spill his blood in i s defence ? The time for
hkewarnmefs is no more; address cannot extinguish
public spirit. A f.es trade, without constitutional
freedom is an abuse of words. Great constitution
al m atters requite difeu ffion : The repeal of Poyning's
Law, and o.hcr ^reat queflions ; and therefore it is
absolutely oeceffiry for the prefect to postpone en
tering into this Committee.
Mr. Foster again contended that it was the duty
cf Parliament to yve operations to cur trade. The
duty he said oa woolens for example, which now
exited, .would prevent their exportation ; and was
(added he) the business of affixes the only bufiaefs
es the nationalist all must flop for them ?
Mr. G attan said, that if the money bills were to
be difeufUd during affixes, it would be only by part
of the House, who tvere not the sense of the Com
mons. And was the puffing of the money bills for
18 months a matter of such haste, that it could not
be delayed one ?
Mr. Dennis D^y declared he agreed, in part;
with both the gentlemen who had spoken on the oc
casion, he thought they could not, too fcon; give the
new extension cf trade operation, but, as to the in
eluding the general money bills by the present mo
tion, it was unprecedented and inexpedient, to give
into the supply during the affixes, when it must be
deliberated in a thin House.
Mr. Connoly Seconded Mr. Former's motion, in
doing which, he only spoke on the expediency of
going in'o the Supply as a commercial regulation ;
1< he Sir Lucious O'Brien, and Mr. Mufon, who
~1 fpokeon the fame fide, seemed to have forgot,
that a general money b 11 was included in the motion.
Sir Henry Cavendish declared against the motion,
^a -vent fart er than commercial regulation'.
Mr. Dennis Daly afad the gentlemen on the other
zHoUfe, if tl ey meant that this Committee
th, ir 'fit during tl e affixes, cr adjourn ?
?% Footer answered, that by a diligent attendance
; 0 ^ M terr, the business might be over before
fiba sh ^ld commence.
: A^^CT-Geneial fa'd, shall we, while the
<IE J^d are expediting the If sh bufi
: $ rice cy will permit, protract our part
7^'ff^y irimded to a(certain
, ^;'/-- obetaifed I xndcbierv
ed, ri at it would fouid cePy to the people cf En
gland, if we who, a few days or w„k# ago, de
clared our dfheffes, Should now be in Such haste to
grant Supplies, without ever cerfatring our abili
ties to furnifli them.
Mr, Merge said he had no obj &ioi to the Com
mittee of Supply opening in part, that is to fay, for
the commercial regulations.
M-. George Ogle declared against the motion.
Mr. Bufhe after sfkin^ if the Committee would
flop during the affixes, declared also against it.
Mr. Dennis Daly said, he felt himfrif in a strange
fi.nation ; he was really much disappointed; for, it
was his intention to fcpport an Adminifhation, the
Members of which he refptAed ; but nr w, he feared,
& was impeffibh for him to do it, at what had fallen
out this day had just given grounds for strong fuf
picicn.
Mr. Forfler then withdrew a Short while with Mr.
Duly, aid, on returning, waved his motion in part,
by confining it to a Committee of Suppy on com
mercial regulations only.
The motion was then put, and p iff:d unanimously.
Sir William Osborne asked the gentleman in the
confidence of G ;vernnun', Had every reffriaion on
the trade cf this kingdom been taken off? No an
swer being made, he said; there till exifled some very
material ones ; the Glair Aft, particularly, had been
but partially repealed, and what had been done in
refpa& to it, was an infidions imp: fi ion on this na
tion ; he therefore gave notice to the House, that he
should, on the day appointed for the call, deliver
his fcntiments on this fubje&.
Ine House adjourned until to morrow.
PHILADELPHI A, April 25.
Extract ofa letter from Charleflqwn, South Carolina.
" Though we had repeated information from
Congress cf the intention of the enemy, and authen
tic accounts of their failing and numbers, yet until
the day of their landing we did not seem fatisfied of
their designs. It pleased God to difpeife them in a
violent storm off Cape Hatteras wherein they loft all
t^ir hors?, and it is fiid mollof their artillery.
This retarded them so long, that our alarm at the
news cf the.r failing wore eff and we had not the
leal intelligence of their arrival at Savannah, until
they appeared off J?hnri Ifl^d and landed on the
izth cf February. Had they then proceeded to the
town we were so alarmed difp : rited and unprepared,
that we could have made but a very faint refitiarce.
Bat they committed so great an error by dcby, that
we have reason to hope they will fail of fic^ft.
Since their landing they have spent their time in
fortifying a place of arms on the other file of Ashley
river, ri^ht against the town. There they seem to
have ereaed three batteries which can play into the
town and along oar lines on the neck, but at a mb's
defiance ; by thefa and a battery they have eieAed
on Jimis Iflind, below the town, they have cleared
the rivarofour water defence. They now..fe:m to
wait for their fh ; pping, which lay off the bar, and
have been disappointed at the last Springs by south
weft winds, which kept down the tides; so that they
could not ^et over. This day. being the 19th of
March, the Springs are at the higher; bu; the wea
ther so hazy, that they will fcareely attempt it, and
it will probably clear up with unfavourable windr ;
and we begin to hope that Providence has interposed
a second time to prevent their getting ever till we
areready. If they should get over either new, or
hereafter, there will probably be the hottest contest
that has happened this war just iff Fort Moultrie.
The enemy's ffipa defined to come in are said to be
the Rmowa, so guns. Roebuck, 44, Blond 32,
P^rfeus 20 and Camilla 20. Theft and Some fay
another frigate with some galleys are to force their
way past the town and cut off cur commu&i.wioa
with the country. To oppose their paffipg the fort
we have thrown a boom cf cables across the chan
nel at the fort, and flationed the Providence of 32
guns, Boston 28, B'cole 28, Adventure 20, French
vessel 20, Qjeen of Frar ce 18 Treit 20 and 3 gal
leys 7 guns, which are Rationed so that either the
fort or they must rake the enemy as they piss, and
with the boom they hope to deain them so long, as
to do it effectually. And as 'he enemy's chance of
faccefi depends entirely on getting up their Dripping,
and our hopes of defending the town greatly depend
on preventing it, our people seem determined to fell
the passage immensely high. The Commodore, I
am informed, in sailor language, (wears if he cannot
defeat them, he will run both them a^d himfelf
afhoe, and all Ihall perilh together ; for that other
wise it will be another Penobfcot affair; and every
officer in our navy are ready to second his refoluti
-00. Colonel Laurens commands the marines on
board the Providence on this occasion, and it is pro
bible our fh:ps will be as well manned as the enemy's.
" Tuesday evening. Yefte.-day morning, being
the 2).h, the en^my got their flip? over the bar:
they con^fl of so v^iLls of force, form twenty gunt
Upwards to 64 a; feme fay, others ^53; however,
cure appeared so inadequate to c,p:fe them by Fort
Moultrie, that they are all ordered cp to town. On
the fi.fi alarm of the arrival of the enemy, the EaJz
prior beat was difpatcbed to the Havanoah to solicit
iffi^a ce horn Spain. Colonel Tonant went with
the dispatcher, and is this evening returned. Report
ftys that he has succeeded, and that we may expsA
three seventy fours and thirteen frigates every hour,
with 3000 land so ex Nothin, has yet tranfpir^d
hem authority I am just come stem the Generali,
but can learn nothing without being too ir quifitiv*.
If is now left to a (land in the town, which I trust
will be mide until Woodford arrives with the Vir
ginia line. They have not yet fernnxmd the town
nor made any movement indicating an immediate
attack. It is Lid Lord Cornwallis is against it en
tirely, and that the army seems m^chd/fpirited ; but
Clinton it bent on it. This is the most of cur pre
sent intelligence. Our lines round the whole town
are nearly completed, exc^p by Gulden's whasff,
where our wo ks on the bay should join those on the
land. Our prep'r are hard at work there new, as we
dread ih^ enemy '3 Shipping on that quarter. We have
on the Ashley river, or feuih fide cf the town, fix
batteries, feme iogun„ some 6, force 4, none lcfc:
foihat no ve@l can lay before th^ra. Four of them
croL fire the only landing place on that quarter, bc
fidet field pincer at proper diflances an along the
line. On the bay fih we have four batteries of Pal
metto, and a line of Palmetto. On the neck we have
seven batteries along the line, some redoubts to the
left, a regular fort to the right, and a horn work by
the gate way. In front of the Ine in good so cf
abbatis, and the ditch double picketed, arid in front
cf rhe abbatis, a canal, most if it filled with water,
and the fide of the canal is abbat'ed aifo. Only the
north eift corner rather than a fife, by GtcY^'s
whaiff unprovided with p'cp^r defence. This I
trust we will have time to fo+tJy.
" Four p ; %cs cf cannon feenv the canal in front
of the lines."
B O S T O N, Nay 4.
To the Gentlemen Merchants and other Periods in
America, who remit B Ils of Exchan e fr E *ope.
Nantes, February 8, 1780.
Gentlemen,
OF the many B 11s which have been sent from
America to me, few whole feds have arrived,
parts of them (Firsts, Seconds, Thirds or Fourths)
having been thrown overboard or taken. -Of these
which I have received, a great number have been
only blank endors'd, which leaves them as much ex
posed to fraud as if they had been p^y ^bb to the bear
er. I have accordingly moretfaH cure foend, on
ptefenjog a second bill for acceplarc^, that the fi ft
had been already paid, and on examining the bid so
paid, I have fcen my friends name on the back with
out a syllable by which I could difeever the hands
it had afterwards puffed through. In cne instance,
I accidentally diicDvered that tkt bril paid bad been
in the poffrflinn of a Captain of a tßritilb Privateer,
which clearly pre ves that cur encores confider bills
cf exchange bla^.k endorsed as a gaud uric!, cf
plunder.
In order to remedy this evil tffcaually, I rnh r%
fp£& p epofe to you, to m^ke it an ii.vari-bk mle
fully to endorse all bills which pass through y^ur
hands, and to make them payable to the orders of the
person to whom you remit them.
So far as this ^ff<&s myfelf or my friends, it would
only be necessary to write to ray conefponderce to
put a flop to it ; but as iti# cf a very extensive naif
ture, and may occasion great left to many individu
als, I think it my duty thus publicly to caution all
perfexs in America against it.
I have the honour to be,
With great relpea. Gentlemen,
Your mod obedient, and
Most humble fervent,
JONATHAN WILLIAMS.
We with pleafare no ify our readers, that Sunday
week, Captain Munro, in the florp Humbird, dri
ved at the Highannas, in 20 drys ficin Martin/co,
and brings the following exhderating intelligence,
viz. That on the 23d day of March arrived there
from Breß, Admiral Count DtShang, with 17 Sail
cf the Line, several Frigates 100 Transports and 50
Sail cf Merchantmen, having on board 7000 Regu
lar Troops; previous to the arrival cf the above
Fleet, the Enemy had colkAed all their S\,i of
F^rce and Troops from Antigua, St c Kitts and Bar
bados, 2nd were rr Lived co an Expedition ; but the
arrival of this Armada, deleted them from profe
citing their laentinnf. Captain Munro failed in
Con pany with the Continental Frip^t* Confederacy,
and a Brig of 20 Guns, laden with Pubic Srirr%
which he parsed with 8 days before h a arrival He
also addi, that:he Britiffi impress all Aoiericiu Pa-