The Pennsylvania journal, or, Weekly advertiser — Philadelphia, Pa., 1776-03-20 00:00:00, page 2

For the PENNSYLVANIA JOURNAL.
ANNO in the 37th year of Henry 111, the 1 rior
A^^he Hofpiul of St: John, in C ,, n r%^Pfc
Kof a notorious injury, and Grewing some charters
graded by former Kings, and by the King h^mfelf. He r epl^
L%er and with a great oath, 84 you and the Templets have
so many liberties and charters, that your fuperfluo^ . P °hof e
fions make you proud, and your pride makes you mad,
partly, be revoked ^ ^
imprudently granted ; and added,-Sc ri ego mfr^ b^c,
&^asebJtas quas ,rede 6 efee CT & ego temere ,
The matter of the hospital (the Prior) anfirered milk y,
with an created countenance, " What is that you fay, my
? God forbid that so unseemly a word mould come out
of your mouth : ^m diu juffici^mobfervas, Rex est potent :
& quam cite banc injregros, Rex efe
y Pctyt's Jus Pariiamehtanum, page
* So -will Ibreak this and other charters, which m, predectfors
m^elf have indiferetd, granted..
+As long as you ofce and do justice, you ma, continue to be
King; but the moment you break your faith, you cease to ue King.
FRIES addressed to all the found Heads and honest Hearts
tn A MERICA.
WHEN a King breaks through Charters, solemnly
granted by his predecessors, the conditions of which
grants have been faithfully fulfilled :
, When he makes war upon his faithful subjects:
Whn he interdicts their fifheries, and other means of
maintaining their families:,
When he gives orders to burn their defencelefs tow^,
confirming the dwellings and winter provisions of hundreds
of famdies, just before the setting in of that severe fa
fon, and driving out women and children, to feck shelter
where and when it may be hard to be obtained :
When he hires foreign troops, to enable him the more ef
fectually to dertroy his people: m„, te
When he endeavours to engage even lavages to afiffinate
them and their wives and children in their dwellings, that
being the known method i# which the Indians make what
they call war: , a
When he orders even slaves to be encouraged to rife and
mu dcr their matters, and furnifhes them with arms for that
P "when° he uses all his interest with foreign powers to pre
vent his fubjefts being supplied with any means or defence
against such cruelties: c mn o
When, besides all this, he rejeas the frequent and most
humble petitions of his people with contempt, and refufes to
redrew any of their grievances :
Is such a King a legal Sovereign, or a tyrant.
Does he not by such conduct forfeit the allegiance of his
I's not; by what means may it or can it possibly be for
feited'
Are they men or brutes that can submit to such treatment,
and still propose to continue his fubje&s. And what will
probably be the fate of their pofterty ?„
What arc we to think of soldiers, who (hould be men of
honor, and yet can submit to be the instruments of such a
tyrant, in carrying fire and sword through a country, whofc
only offence is a determination to defend its right..
What are we to think of the nation, who profeffing the
love of Liberty, can yet fit coolly with folded arms, and fee
their countrymen butchered for defending it .^
And what are we to think of those Americans, who can
betray the m< ft important interests of their country, by join
ing with the fervams of such a tyrant to enclave it, and ad
vising a submission to his will and pleasure . .
Was the crime of Nero, however atrocious, in putting to
death Ws mother, his wife, and a few or his courtiers and
minifies rqtWly pernicious to his people with that of a prince,
who L^ order his army to fall upon and destroy them and
""Do not fevera/h,Adrians of credit deny the charge against
Nero that ht iordered the burning of Rome.
Do not all historians agree, that he contributed largely to
the rebuilding it with magnificence?.
Aad that when Lyons, a city in one of his provinces, was
accidental!, confirmed by fire, he re-edified it at his own cx-
P M^/it not therefore, be justly said of a certain Prince, that
'WILLIAM S B UR G, (Virg^af March ~
*EUraR of a letter from a member of the Provincial Congress of
Norto-Carolina, 10 Col.,Howe, dated at Halifax, deb. 14, 177•
“ A gentleman bv the name of Smith has just now lodged
ftven of the Raders of the Regulators in Halifax jail, among
are four of the Fields. The names of the others 1
do u < know, but neither Hunter nor Piles arc amongst them.
iuhrmFmc, that the infurrecbon is entirely iuppreded
with rel?c& to the Regulators, and fays, he thinks the High
landers are dispersed before now. I do not give implicit cre
ditto this 'aft mentioned conjure, because we have later
accounts th in Mr. Smith's, (who was only as lowdown, I be
lieve as Chatham Court house) which contrad&t. How
ever ' it is clear to me that there will not be a gun fir.d upon
this occasion ; for the number of our troops (not lets perhaps
than 5000) will undoubtedly awe the Highlanders into lub
miffi !o if they are not already dispersed. Governor Mar
tin it seems, had kept up a correspondence with the difaf
feeVd in the western part of this province, had formed apian
of inf^ colonels commiffio, to many
ties for this purpose, and ordered that such men as fli mid
take arms (ho^d repair to the royal &' u ^
by the 15th of this month, prompting that th.y Ihoula be
then and there supported by jooo ^^s.
« Your mind being relieved from all anxiety for us you
will be at full liberty to exert all your powers for bhe good
of Virginia; and I flatter mykd that your condua wi,l
bring credit to your country, and honor to you; c f.
Efraß of a letter from Hampton, dated beb. %8.
" General Clinton, with two men of war (the Mercury
and Kingfisher) three transports, and four tenders failed on
Monday' I believe for sea; and this morning another Kings
ihip, w'hich I took to be t^t Liverpool, and a tender, came
d.^ from Norfolk, and 1 imagine are gone out of the
' Northampton County Feb. %%, 1776.
Aiout a week ago two minute companies arrived here from
Mirvland, one from Kent county, under the command of
Can: William Henry, the other from Queen Anne, under
&cmn^d Cap.. James K nt. They are two very fine
.x.em-iy 4.11 aimed, have amongst them many
g n^m-nor amiy and fortune, and are examples of good
cline and subordination.
Mtncb 3 We have intelligence that the jail distemper
, with gre^ violence on board lord Dunmore s fleet, par
ticular 1 among the negro forces, upwards of M° o . f whom,
it is pofoely affirmed, have died within a short time, and
who as faft as they expire, arc tumbled into the deep, to
regale the fliarks, which it seems swarm thereabouts, and no
doubt keep as iharp a look-out, for all such. forts of pro
vision, as the land animals do for frefh pork, good mutton,
P °Twclve'deferters have come into Suffolk within these few
days from the fleet at Norfolk, viz. a ferjeant and corporal,
with five marines, and five common sailors, who all confirm
the miserable situation of the people on board, occasioned by
the jail fever breaking out among them; and one of the
marines declared, that he firmly believed his captain would
come on Ihore likewise, had he a good opportu^ry.
At this time, the falt-petre works at Warwick, Petersburg,
and Blandford, produce full 100 weight per day; and two
other works, now erecting on James River, ^1 increase the
quantity to upwards of 350 weight per day. A powder mill
is also ereaing, which, when completed, will amply fupp!y
this colony with that necessary article. N. B. The above in
telligence is from undoubted authority, and may be depend
' Yetoday 3% members of the Assembly met at the Capitol,
Durfuant to adjournment; which not being a fuffictent num
ber to proceed on bufibefs, and no eprefentanve of the King
appearing, they thought proper fat.her to adjourn, to the
firft Thursday in May next, when that honorable body will
meet a* well as the General Convention, for the dtfcuffion
of Sundry important matters, tending to the fafety and well
being of the colony, and of America in general.
CAMBRIDG E , March 6.
The Continental army, affixed by a large body of militia,
are new carryi .g on the fcye of Boston with great vigor.
Saturday night our artill ry at the fortrelfo of ^l^,ll
and Letchmorc's-point, below this town, and at ^ambs d m
in R ^bury, bombarded and cannonaded the town; the fol
lowing night the fame was continued with great brilknefs.
°WA TERTO W N, Mach 4
Yesterday fe'nnight the Yankey Hero sent into Newbury-
Port another prize, a fine brig, of about zoo tons burthen,
laden with coal, cheese, &c. bound from White-Haven, tor
the use of the mihifterial butchers, under the command of
General Howe, governor of Boftoh. This is the fifth prize
out of eight which failed from the above port, and we are in
hopes of giving a good account of the three remaining
March n. Tuesday last being the anmve.-fary of the s th
of March 177°, agreeable to a vote of the to*n of Bolton
tr a meeting was duly notified, aud accordingly metat
the mcet'ing-ho.fe in Watertown, at re o'clock in the fore
noon; and after choosing the Hon. Benjam, Austin, Esq;
M Aerator, the Rev. Mr. Peter Thatcher, of Malden, deli
vered an ORATION, (proceeded with a prayer by the Rev.
Mr. Cooper) on the dangerous tendency ot Banding armies
being placed in free and populous cities, in time's of peace,
and so perpetuate the memory of the hornd massacre perpe
trated on the sth of March, by a party of folders of the 29th
regiment under the command of Capt. Thomas Predon,
which was received with universal approbat on. A Commit
tee was then appointed to return the Orator the thanks of rhe
tows, and to request a copy for the press. Another Commit
tee was also chosen to engage a suitable perlon to pronounce
an Oration at the next anniversary; after which the meet
ing was dissolved. „ c
Capt Manley, and two other privateers, the beginning of
week took and carried into Portsmouth, a ship of about
: ons birthen, (being the sixth out of eight fro, White-
Haven) laden with coal, cheese and porter, bound for the
ministerial butchers in Boston. r
Monday last the battalion raised by the Colony of Con
nedticut marched from Canarn for Quebec, under the com
mand of Col. Charles Burrall.
In our last we mentioned the commencement of the bom
bardment of Boston, on Saturday and Sabbath day nights.
The whole of Monday night the bombardment continued
incessantly; our foot and shells were heard to make a great
crashing in the town ; and by a master of a vessel who came
out of Boston on Friday last, we learn that one cannon ball
took off fix mens legs in one barrack; and that many were
wounded in different parts of the town. The en # my return
ed the fire from their batteries at' Weft Boston, and from
their lines on the Neck very vigeroufly. They threw many
shells into the battery at Lechmore's Point, one into the fort
on Prefpea Hill, and one or two as far up a,
within a quarter of a mile of the College. On Monday
night we hid two killed, Lieutenant Mayo, at Roxbury, by
a cannon ball; and a man at Lechmore, Po,t by a ffiell,
which with one or two wounded, is all the !ofs, of any con
feauen'ce that we then sustained. After Monday night there
was a cessation of firing on both sides till last Saturday even
ing when the bombardment and cannonading was greater
thak heretofore: Through the imprudence of five of our
people who went on Dorchester Neck, near Boston, and
made a fire four of them were killed, among wnom, we
hear was Dr. Dole of Chockfett, the names of the three
others we have not heard; this is all the loss ,e fufred.
We have not heard what loss they have met with in Boston,
but we heartily fympirhize for our distressed friends there.
It is reported the Regulars are embarking.—Our friends
on the continent, we hope, will be on then guard.
Ou Monday night a body of the continental troops took
noff ffion of two large hills at Dorchester, about a mile from
the ftuh part of Boston, where they are now strongly forti
fied These aretwo of the heights which General Burgoyne
Did in a letter to a noble Lord commanded the town of
Boften and which he also Did it was necessary the Britilh
troops'fhould be possessed of.
We hear that a transport brig of 14 guns, laden with na
val Bores and provisions, bound from Boston for the mintf
terial fleet at the southward, ran ashore at the back of the
cape, the beginning of last week : On feeing of which, a
number of people went on board and difmafted her; and
afterwards fafe unloaded her. She had on board five barrels
of powder, and about goal, sterling in specie, of which go<,d
care is taken. She hove over three of her guns before the
EWPO R T, (Rbode-Ifland) March rr.
Last Tuesday night we had a very heavy gale of wind here,
from S W. in which a schooner belonging to the mirnftcrial
fleet lying near Hope, in this Bay, loft both her masts and
bowsprits, one sloop belonging to said fleet loft her maftand
bowsprit, and another her mart, and the Rose, Capt. V al
lace, was within a few rods of going afliore on Hope. One
tender funk at her anchors.—George Romeo was very near
fuff-ring ship wreck in said gale.
NE W-Y O R K, March 14.
Extraß of a letter, dated pa,if of St. Thomas, xa leagues below
Quebec Jan. %7, 1776, $
< cThe inhabitants in the country are enlisting, and are to a
man fob the Americans, and Dy, that if the army are not able
to take the town, that they will do it themfelvcs; for, it it is
not taken, that in the fprngth<y will be ruined by the Eng
lish, for doing what they have." „ ~ . L
We have undoubted authority to assure the pubic, that a
ship belonging to Messrs Franklins, loaded with salt, some
time ago taken by the men of war here, and sent for Boston,
was on Wednesday last cafaway on the rocks on Montank
Point, at the east end of Long Island; the vessel is iotirely
bilged, and the salt all run out; the people ha g^a ' s
culty to save their lives, some of them being much bru^d
when taken out of the water. There were fourteen men and
an officer belonging to the Asia on board, who were all mace
prisoners, and on Monday they set off with a strong gw^d for
this city, and may be expeaed here in a day or two : tne of
ficer is named Smith, and said to have been very arrive t"e
night the Asia fired on the town ; he behaved with great in
folence, and ordered Colonel Mulford to provide a coach >1
carry him on board his ship. , . ,
The seven regiments from Cork for Virginia, it is said D^
the time the packet did, under convoy of twelve frigates.
AVe hear the French Ambassador at the British court has de
clared, in case Great-Britain fends any foreign troops to Airier
rica, his master intends taking an active part.
The (loop Captain jobnfon, owned in V allingsfortf
Conneaicut, foundered some time last fall off Barbados ; the
Captain and crew were taken up by one of the packets, and
carried into Falmouth. Capt. Johnson came pafogcr in the
Swallow packet, just arrived here.
The fliip Julius Caesar, Capt. John Thompson, of Chester-
Town, Maryland, having fafeiy landed her cargo in Fal
mouth, received freight, and the ship being difeharged, the
men were also paid off and difeha^cd, and rhe ship laid up
fate in the harbour, for the benefit of those concerned, viz
M< ffrs. Smyth and Ringgold, Chester-Town, Maryland.
By a letter from St. Euftatia of the sad of February, we
learn, that part of the fleet of transports that was blown < ff
this c'oaft last fall, passed by that inland the d.g before, under
convoy of the Vipei;, sloop of war, and that the remainder,
about twenty fail, were to follow the next day, under convoy
of his Mafcftv's fliip the Experiment, of $• guns ; that provi
fi ns was very scarce and dear in the Weft Indies, floor bring
no less than gd. per pound at Coracea, and all other forts of
American produce in porportion.
The 15th of December, in the House of Lords, Lord
Mansfield in speaking of the Retraining Bill, “ Explained
the clause as clearly to the fcizure of any American viffels
which miaht be found either in the harbours or in the docks.
The bill impowered the King's fhips^to seize them pncilJy
in the fame manner as during the watt with France and Spain,
the veffeis of those nations had been icized in their refpectiv,
harbours.".
On Thursday last about 6or 70, of , h f mechanicks cf this
city convened at the house of David ? pips, and from thence
attended the Committee of mechanicks to the Exchange, where
thev delivered a very pathetic address of thanks to the General
Committee of Infpe&ion, for their kind attention to the pub
lic good, in particular for their refalve of the 9 th inst, limit*
ing the prices of Wert-India produce.
PHILADELPHIA.
A gentleman wh® came passenger in the Swallow Packet,
gives the following intelligence: Having read a paragraph in
a late New-York Gazette, tending to mifkad the good peo
ple of America, and lull them into a fatal security, until! the
government of England have accumulated a great army in the
bowels of this much injured and opproffed country; does
assert, from the bert authority, that the intelligence above
alluded to, is falfe and groundless, thecontrary bring the fia.
The intention of fending Commissioners here oeing merely
to bribe, corrupt and divide the provinces; that rhe whole
may be the more easily fallowed up and reduced to the ^ort
abje& state of conquered countries; which idea the present
retraining bill mutt make evident to the meanest capacity :
All American property witherfoever found being rendered,
by the a& of Parliament that authorifes the crown to tend our
commissioners—LEGAL PLUNDER, and under the pre
emption of its being pirated, is by the proclamation of the
best of Princes, bearing date, St. James's, Dec 27, 1775-
apportioned out in shares among the royal pirates. That the
court of France have generously interfered, through the court
of Sweeden, and thereby prevented the embarkation cf the
Ruffians, which has reduced our humane prince to the neccf
fity of fending his hungry, though confidential Hanoverians
to take charge of our garrisons of Gibraltar and Minorca, hr
order the better to enable him to carry on his mild scheme of
cutting the throats of his American fubjefb. Became they
have, the presumption to leok upon and hold the hpneft earn
ings of their indufby to be their own property.
From the fame authority we are likewise informed, thrt
administration is renewing their application to Russia, and
that France is extremely anxious to know what part America
intends to a& in the prefect trying conjuncture. Her great
preparations by land and sea have special reference to the
present dispute between Britain and America,- and it is fai^
by persons of undoubted intelligence, that the monie it Arne
rica declares off from Great-Britain,Fra cc will dec! re uihtr
favor. —How mad must America be it the brii'an s 4 d dri.^
this declaration till France gets difeonraged, and leaves Bri
tain to drive a bargain with Russia at her pleasure! Todep- d
on any terms that arc to be offered us by the C^mmilhoncis,
Did to be coming over to treat with us, is peri ally riai.w
---lous; since by the tenor of the adt enabling tie British King
to conftitae them, they are only appointed to receive ftio h>
fions, grant pardons, and open trade to such prices or .pro
vinces as will acknowledge the fopiemacy of parliament. It
is said, that when Lord Howe was acquainted with rhe terms
the ministry intended to charge him wi>h, he declined she
service, unless he might carry such terms as he conceived ^e
Americans might reasonably be expected to be pleated with.
It is said, that 6,000 Hessians arg to be expected, and the
utmift efforts are uted to recruit in Great-Britain and Ireland*
The interested nobility and gentry add half a guinea a head
to increafc the royal bounty for recruits, no^ithrtand^g a'f
which, the business goes oa very heavily; which was exp.ebiy
acknowledged by Lord Barrington in parliament.
As a certain gentleman is said (by the tories in Neiv-fork)
to have informed them, that the Commiflionera coming ° v ,
were verted with " unlimited powers;" we are well informed ri
was so said, but by the gentleman explained to mean, that
they had unlimited powers to draw upon the treafn, for what
sums they wanted for the purposes above declared.
Notwithstanding the various reports of the fate of Col.
ALLEN, who was taken and sent to England in irons by
General Prefcot, we arc allured by a Gcadanai>, now n
this city, that he fiw him in England, confined in a ioath
feme jail, and fuffering under a heavy load of irons.—How
different the situation of ALLEN and Prefcot ;—die bit
taken fighting tor Life, Liberty and Property, is treated^
a villain ; while the other, taken fighting to fuppott tbcciuel
edicts of a tyrannical ministry, whole aim is to rob and en
slave, is lodged at a firft rate tavern in this city, and ted
with the best the markets afford.— Oh ! George ! who is the
savage ? After this, can any man blame the Americans,
should they retaliate ?—
Extras of a letter from Cambridge, March 9, 1776.
“ On Saturday night last, we began to canonadc and ^m #
bard Borton from Leechmore'sPoint: The trowo acR.%
bury kept it up, and the enemy returned it from Bort m —
We intermitted our operations from those quarters in the
day time, and returned them at night, both Sunday and Mon
day. The grand object we had in view was thereby happily