The Columbian informer, or, Cheshire journal — Keene, N.H., 1793-12-11 00:00:00, page 1

[No. 37. ofNoL. 1.1
e^tyce/^Tiy.
r^umthe NEWyER^Er JOURNAL.
^ bIF.. *'
SHORT time ago, hivirgafev
Jeifure weeks, curiofty led me to cake a
Uur on hofeback from this place through
th? central parts cf the Eillern States to
Portsmouth in Newham,fh : re,from thence
alongthe post road to Savannahin Georgia,
and from there back to this place, p king
through the central parts of the Southern
and middle hates on my return. A report
having prevailed previous to my com
mencing my journey, as Scandalous to the
United States as it was to humanity, in
duced me to pay a short visit to every gaol
in all the cities and towns through which
I passed, when to my great surprise end
aftonilhnen:, I found the report true.
There were no less than 547 of the old
continent.'! army, who continued in the
fervor during the whole war, confined ir
th ~ -rear prifo^s ; 327 of whom had
families while t^ey were in service ; 14.7
have married since the establishment of
peace, and amung the unhappy rubber,
there were 63 c'mmiffioarci officers, viz.
1 Lieutenat Colonel, 3 M jo% 11 Cap
tains, 12 L e ^tenants, 22 Ensigns, 2 Ad
jutants 1 Quarter Mafter,ane 2 Surgeons
•ord:;', h^ing rarefied fin pry ~!: :?.
value i,tiling he wgj, nncn they re
turned from the victorious field of glory
and honour, to the shade of private life,
with nothing to shew for the laurels they
had jutlly acquired, but .cars, i frmi
tiesand wourd ? , they expeded to have
Iharedatleall an equal d antag, with their
fellow ciiz nscfth.fr blrffingswhichthir|
gallantry had ensured to their country—l
but what was their treatment ? What did|
they receive in return far all th i r services ; 1
Final settlement notes; as fubfti ures for|
their real pay, which they kept until dire
neceffitw; their calamities, fuff rings and
distressed families, compelled hem to part
with them from 29 down to f) on the
pound, which wa not half equal to the in
terest then due. Good heavens ! is this
the case ? Will future p ferity be made to
believe that their ancestors received such
nfoge as this, after baling the Independ
ence of the U. i.ed S ates with their blood.
Many flu, id ignorant people fay, if the ar
ray had kept their fi ml fe'tlements until
now, they might receive their full pay ; or
in other word, their nominal value. Such
language is an insult to common under-;
Randi'g. As well might the ravilher cf
ris ''<^f r -d^d innocence, as for people
,tg.ff I.uch >"Th. frgid lan
gi%<. „ Jr is .ell known that the most of
these br^ve ror, in returning triumphant'
ff6m the field rfglory, were but in indi
gent circumflnces, thrir business of every
kind having lain de d fcrfeven ye?rs ;
those In particular who had fmoies, being
obliged to run more in 0 debt for their
maintenance, while in service, than their
whole pav would fell for at the clef: of the
war. Is there no way to extricate these
brave men from c r uel confinement, and
worse than Bab lonian captivi y ? Shall
the very men who were covered with fears
in fecaring the liberty of America, lose
their own liberty through the cruel, the
infamous, the scandalous and perfidious
injustice of that country their -swords have
rescued from worse than Algerine slave
ry ? Does jullice already wear so sickly a
countenance in these infant republicks,
that the diflemper has become mortal /
Shall the mif-rable (peculator, the dark
designing infamous tory, and other parri
cides in America, whose councils,aid, 2nd
Columbian Informer;
°[T^L""!fI' ; & URN A L
?R ^ TED AND Published B Y H E N RrmCTffiffQK^NS; N E <,.HA M p s h, R E .
I am,fir,and hope ever shall have reason
to be, with the most exalted sent merits of
refped, your sincere well wither and obe
dient humble servant,
IT is mv intention at this time, to re
mark upon the various ill-timed and in
considerate doings of the human race ; in
ding which,it cannot be supposed I would
be so foolifh as to expose family defeats,
vith awy other view than to taife a sense
if honor among the out branches of the
Sh avbrs, who seem to be so far distant
; : . on withou; a blanket, when a month'#
j,-y would riot purefiefe a gill of-..; ^-,?
It was tne almon immortal light in whc<
hey viewed you, the incomparable love
they h^d for you, the veneration, refpeCt
and adoration they paid you, that made
them encounter more ditirefs and difficul
ties than any other army ever did for the
rights and liberties of the human race ;
}therefore, to you, General Walhington,
Iwhile they are experiencing worse than
G thick barbarity, they now look for re
-Ilief; they haveajaft right so todo ; fom
you, Sir, they surely have a right to
cl ; m your ir fluence towards the tt ccom
pifli nent of that justice which ,cu so of
ten and so solemnly pledged your word
and honor, as a commander in chief, that
they th old deceive; and if the enluing
Congress negle^s or denies doing them
j iftice, there will be fumething more to
fear than a breach of neutrality or weftern
savages. The wound too often irritated
may at last become incurable ; and how
truly awful and melancholy does it appear,
to fee the legislature of a nation, wth im
punity, look on such i. foftice, and wan
tonly make (port cf the most humble en
treaties and tears forjqlHce of the bewail
ing widow, distressed orphan, and the ru
ined heart-broken patriot. It is not on-|
1, the'arm% m :ver, true repubf- .'-
bread in America, that pants for an c .
to these iniquitous, cruel dud ^jult (offer
ings
For the Columbian Informer, &r.
arms, during the late war, aff n ffinated the
virtuous patriot, and deluged their coun
tte>ith the blood of its inhabitants, reap
,1 the advantage which is due to the
tytave, indefatigable, worn out foidicr: '
It is unnecessary for me to pointer a
: r ~U f rt h m , „,,; e f. ,h ? able nene ar
I t^ ^ .
and memory will fn ne with unfading !
luttre and brilliancy, many hundred years
after which we fha.il be no more (while
their oppofers in this mulljuft of all causes
will lay buried io ebiture licence) have l
pointed out a mode of redress for those 1
grievances complained of, as obvious as
the fun in its meridian height. Itis nor
oniy this part of the army, but eight
tenths of all the red are equal fufit ers,'
except confinement. The old army are
much surprised to find that never since
your circular letter to the govern )urs of the
union, and your farewell orders to them
(both wrote ten years ago) that not a single
pubtick Speech,nor a Angle address to any
pub ick body has made its appearance
from you, favourable towards mitigating
their fullerings. Their dependence in the
time efthe war was not on any energy in
Congress, nor on any friendly disposition a
great many ts the community bore to
wards them. It was yuar repeated gene
ral orders to them, your pohtive promises,
your solemn engagement to them for lev
el years together, and your having fpon
taneoufty assumed yourteif their advocate ;
it was this that kept them in the field half
naked, half starved, barefoot in the mid
df" oi u; ter, & the cold fr. zen gro^^d'
A true Friend to virtuous 7
Liberty and Equality. )
Wyoming, Sept, 4, 1793.
The S HAVE R.
° E c [Whole No. 37. j
.... =rc ezron, ant ;i j -pfi^,>^
I, e ' ^dnit get, except by the vifttb of
h< . torses r 1 m&fftiv . ,, <.. & :,-,-. „ .
rei.^ a man generally in c : ih, be: ^
>thfi with his pocket-pieces, it ma ter o
not his profeflior—that dame Margery
fc/h her flax and pork unknown to her
fppife, and therewith buys whiteface,
(naff and tobacco ; that Betty is a ranter
asd sparks it with not less e>ery week,
thin the number competing a Corporal's
guard ; that Susan plays the coquette or
jilt, just as (he finds herfelf situated--that
Knte must now look out a father for her
f^rfulnefs, and that Dolly must now wafli
het own fm-ck ; that the married ladies
are determined to conduit themselves as
:h|. please, and no longer be under the
c#troul of their hufbmds, who confine
them gt home, while they themselves
b^ak their marriage vow ; that Bridget
hod miscarried and laved her reputation,
while others (who were more virtuous, but
h^ been catched, and could not get the
Dpaor to attempt murder) had been obi
gid to bear ;heir ignominy." Thus at
the tea-table, or at other meeting-, they
study Hander, affed the reputation of their
neighbours, without nicrCafiog their own.
And, thus from their childhood, with no
left an example than the parent, t'hey are
taught to be ccnforious,& are initiated in
cothe : tofc-T^mtairg fr^n^hhc^.,
'^.^.^tr:. ^avc ?: < ^ i^en P-lves of HI.
child's nip, or attained to fufficienc ienle
to difctrn between vice and virtue.
To the married Ladies, I would re
commend keeping ar home, & at all times
shunning such company as make the weak
nefs of others their conversation ; learn
to value and etteem your husbands, for
the good qualities they peffefs, and let
orhers(fjr you have no bufmefs with them)
who would draw ,ou aside for their own
sinister views, by falfe protestations, vain
expressions or gaudy dress, pass as the
Balking reptiles of your deftrudion.
To young Ladies,! would also observe,
that nothing can recommend them so
much to the judicious observer as an inno
cent chearfulnefi, a cleanly appearance,
an industrious disposition, an eaty deport-|
ment and a heart susceptible of the tender,
emotions of Love, whenever they find a
Man possessed of ftnccrity : Mrs. Scan
dal, Moll Tattle and Peg Censure my
! folk 41 to neaj^jflmr i&fta
t - le Feminine fflffl^^^qfymjfo
<precedence with me, afll^fyl
I r iliout of po;nenefste^rem>faro
re paper, the rougher parity
1, and introduce my present
• their persfal; but
O; G-peci^e >%'U%T^
I ft 4 it a general custom a.no g ^
fair s x, as soon as they are allowed
ihe use f high heeled shoes, to con*
filer thenfelves comp!e eiy qral fied
[for every thing ; they then begin if
affociute with those of their age, and are
p eased with the atteiri^n of every young
fallow who happens tointroduce himfeif
as their humble lervanr, without ever te-
Aecting, that he may probably belong tc
my family, and be omit their Sa AVE r. —
When they have got a general acquaint
ance, they meet together and converse
ab rat the absent ; tell m^y Tories, few
of which contain praise, buomany of them
Hinder ; and if they are reprimanded,
Jetty will tell you, “ My mother indrucl
td me, die uled to do the fame, when
Mrs. Scandal, Moll l^te and P:g
Censure uftd to visit her, ther always uftd
to tell wonderful things of others, such as
that the Parson's wife, fmrird in the face
of the Deacon— hit the Jolly tavern
dame granted the lalt favor, whrn, <er her
guests exceeded a zof reckoning —tha.
aunt such a one was never so happy ar
when (he could get her hulband from
home--* *##*##••#
########•##
/AMONGST the many calamities
with which the Almighty is pleated to
vilit the children of men, in orcer to re
duce them to a just sense of their own
weakneis and entire dependence upon
him, there is scarce any that are more
produaive of true penitent humiliation,
and of a light of what is really good and
evil, than those contagious diliempers,
which an effer.red God tuffers to rage a
mong the people. In the year 1665 the
city of London was sorely visited by the
plague : An account of the progress and
fteCls of that vifitatiun was kept by a
citizen who remained there during the
whole time es the sickness, and appeal#
to have been candid and judicious in his
t marks thereon. I trull my readers
may, in a ffiort description of that mem
orable judgment, meet with futh !tffons
es best tyitara . O J ;^ L : & ; fo cf.
Uric, 17 ^oct&i as a cl>f aac ftrioua
,c.vene wan a- -<-h .~c ^ .etc.«
Lzdod
was by some goods imported from Hob
land, which had been brought thither
from the Levant. It fi ft br, ke out in
the house where the goods were opened,
from whence it fpre d to other houses. In
Ithe firft house that was infeded there died
4 persons : A neighbor who went to visit
Ithem, returning home, gave it to her fami
ly & died with all her houfh)ld. The parifli
officers who were employed about the tick
persons being alfj infected the phyfictans
perceived the danger,and,upon narrow id
fpe&ion, assured, that it was indeed the
plague with all its terrifying particulars;
and 'hat it threatened a general infection.
The people began now to be alarmed all
over the town ; the ofual number of buri
als within the bills of mortality for a week
were generally about 240 or 300,001 from
the 17th to the 24th January the printed
bill was 474. However this wenteff a
gain, and the fruit continuing very levere
till near the end of February,the bills de^
created again, and the pe< ple began to
look upon the danger as good as over;
but in May the bills greatly encreafed,and
the weather becoming hot : the infection
(oread again, in a dreadful manner.
t^ ard I the autemper ha. no&.^ack
ed to that fide of the ciy cut rergob.ur
nood continued ear, ; out at locu hei end
of the to^n the consternation was very
great, and the nobility and gentry throng
ed cut of the town frith their families in
an unusual manner; nothing to be seen
but waggons, carts and coaches with roods
and people,and horse-men attending them,
hurrying away ; then empty waggons and
carts appeared, who were apparently re
turning to fetch more people, Betides in
numerable numbers of people on horse
back, fitted out for travelling. This was
a very melancholy profped ; indeed there
was nothing else of moment to be seen, it
filled my mind with very serious thoughts
of the misery that was coming upon the
city, and the unhappy^condition of those
that would be left in it By the end cf
July the contagion had spread and encreaf
ed to a great degree . •Sorrow and sadness
fat upon every face; and though some
• then be uthcred in vain ; conkt us umo-
’ # ^"' c ?° wetland detraction, and will
time conquer the female Saav ^rs
^^ptyutation.
A ^' information of cur readers cue in
follu-win. Amount es itoe ?iugue :
i the eii) of fr v-def^ij Lu of sale been i,r
fied.j
A Short Account of the PLAGUE, the
laittime it fpreid in the city of London,
in he year 1665, extracted from the
memoirs of a person who resided there
during the whole time of that infection;