The Pennsylvania gazette — Philadelphia, Pa., 1776-06-26 00:00:00, page 1

toBE SOLD,
AV ALUABLE two story stone mdlhage or tenement,
plafitiian and tract of lind thereunto belonging, situate
in Bristol townffiip, Philadelphia county, about 7 miles from
the city of Philadelphia, adjoining lands of William Wilton,
Henry Rhor and others, containing about z@o acres, more or
kfsj there are about too acres of good plowland, 12 acres of
excellent meadow, about 5 acres of good orchard, end the rest
%.CG!&a< in ear hA^Eis-St?:^ ~L- LC&^nf ^--^—=-—-.^xt—st
which the water may be easily brought to. The title is indif
ptabh. For terms, apply to the fubferiber, living on the
premises. Thomas Griffith. %
FIVE DOLLAR) Re ard.
Run away from the fubferiber, living in Union township,
Berks county, in the night of the 16th of June instant,
a ferviat man, named John William Petre, a Prufiian,
about 5 feet 2 or 3 inches high, 28 years of age, brown hair,
thin visage, blind of the left eye, speaks broken English, is fond
of strong liquor, and profeffes to be Something of a Drummer ;
had on, when he went away, a lightish coloured home made
cloth jacket, and lappelLd under ditto, t^w ffiirt and trpwfern,
old fefc hat, and half-worn /hoes, tied with thongs. Whoever
takes up Lid servant, and Secures him in any goal, so that his
tnaftec may get him again, shall have the above reward, an 4 all
rafonaWeebygeypajty TH°,M,A S PA R^
June 20, 1776.
FORTY SHILLINGS Reward.
RUN away, last night, from the fubferiber, living near
Lar,cutter, an Irish servant lad, named Michael Racket,
near 18 years of age, about 5 feet 5 inches high, well set, brown
hair, almcft bdd on one fide of the crown ; had on, and took
with him, a felt hat, bound with worked binding, a brown coat,
light coloured jacket, two new skirts, and two pair of trowfers,
this country made linen, ffioes with buckles, a wallet with bread
and cheese, ^hat other things uncertain ; he cannot read but can
talk Lilli, and has been near four years in this province. Any
perfun Securing said servant in any goal, so that his master may
get him again, fiall have, if ten miles from home, Twenty
Shillings, and if twenty miles, the above reward, with rea
fctub'e charges ' "
Alien s-Ttron, Naw fyerfy June 15, 1776.
SIX POUNDS Reward.
Y^,HERE AS a certain John Kelly, a dpferter from one
ftof the Jersey battalions, a thick well set fellow, about
5 feet 5 inches high, has by coliufion and artifice induced my
servant William Ricb^rdfon, an English lad, about 20 years of
age, to sign an indenture on himfelf to him the said ~^y, and
have gone off together. I. do hereby offer the reward of Three
Pw&, to any person who shall take up either of the above
persons, and ffiaU secure them in any goal in this or the neigh
bouring provinces, and give notice thereof to me
EDWARD GRIFFEES.
just printed, and now felling, by
ROBERT B E L L,
Next Poor to St. Paul's Church, in Third-street,
(Price Two Shillings)
THE TRUE INTEREST or BRITAIN, set
Forth in regard to the COLONIES; and
the only MEANS of living in Peace and'HARMbNY with
THEM, Including Five different Plans for effc&ing this
M enrHle Event. By JOS. TUCKER, D. D. Dean of
Gloucester, Author of the Essay on the Advantages and
Disadvantages which receptively attend France and Creat-
Britain, v-ith regard to Trade. Io %obicb is added by rhe Printer,
& few ware Affords on the Freedom of the Press in America.
X. E, At Lid Bell's may be had Doctor Jones on
Wounds and Fractures. ^c. &c.
A'"' '° U ND, a CONTINENTAL BILL of
VV some Value. The Owner, by applying to the Printers
hereof, proving his Property, and paying Charges, may have it
again.
fX T A ” ° kc " up on the tenth of March lad; an old grey
VV HORS E, with a Saddle and Bridle, low in flefh,
and was Prod before with old ffioes. Apply to
ISAAC LORT, in Strawberry-alley.
STRAYED or STOLEN, on the igfh of June inst.
ft, cut of the oa Lire of .William Graham, in Southwark, a
bU MARE, bet«een 13 and 14 hands high, no brand ner
ear-mark, has two grey Spots on the near fide o' her neck, paces
and trots, is c years old. Whoever takes up the said mare and
thief, if stolen, ard Secures both, so that the thief be profecured
to conviaion, ffiall receive Tbree Pounds reward, and Err the
mare alone, if taken within Paffyunk or Moyamenfing town
ships, Theory Shillings, if at a greater diflance Forty Shillings, and
reasonable charges, paid by William Graham, at the sign
of the Black Horfo in Market-street, Ph^ „ f
Cbefter County, June 2C, 1776.
AME to the plantation of Richard Buffington, in East-
Qln, Some time in May last, a young MA RE, fuppnfed
to be abbot 3 years old, middle sized, a dark brown hath rot
been docked nor used, neither brand nor ear-mar.., nor any
white on her, in tolerable good order. The owner applying,
proving property, and paying charges, may have her again.
' JOSEPH SKEEN.
^t.L'-wi —^rt*, 7 ^^™™^^^
L xor m^c aev, Adr,er elements lec the tou. tn Page. ^
JUST PUBLISHED, and to BE SOLD 1Y ,
HALL and SELLERS,
At the New Printing-Office, in Market-street,
(Price T<wo Pounds Seven Shillings)
The ACTS of ASSEMBLY
Of the Province of Pennsylvania,
Carefully compared with the Originals.
And an' A P PENDI X,
Containing such A&s, and Parts of Acts, relating to Pro
perty, as are expired, altered or repealed.
TOGETHER WITH
The Royal, Proprietary, City and Borough Charters;
AND THE
Original Concessions of the Hon. William Penn
. to the firft Settlers of the Province.
Publifad by ORDER of ASSEMBLY.
The Pennsylvania
Containing the Frefeeft Ad-
%ne 26, 1776.
To THE ? EO P L E.
IN times like the prefers, it is necefftry that the chain
of political occurrences Should he continued among
the people without any material interruptions; because,
in order to be unanimous in our conduct, our knowledge
of men and things must lead the way; for people cannot
be expend to a& alike who are not alike informed. For
this reafori, therefore, ths following concise clue or chain
of circumftanccs which . .;e happened in the politics of
this city, fihee the meet; :g -at the State-House, on the
20th of May, is given to the public.
The purpole of that meeting was to agree upon a pro
test to be presented to the Locle of Assembly against their
having any thing to d- with the resolve of Cungrefs, of the
15th of May, for establishing a new government : And the
realms aligned Were the embarrafimekts the Houle were
under, by oaths of allegiance to our enemy—their a&ing
in co^jundi in with the King's Representative —their in
fufficiency fur bufmefs in general, and the influence which
many of the members appeared to be under by crown
and proprietary connexions and dependencies; To which
we may now add, that the conduct of those men fin,e
har Shewn that the fufpLions of the public were well
grounded.
The Protest was delivered into the Assembly soon after
the didbiution of the ihce'u^; on the part of which, it
should be obfcrved, that it flfe&ions rigair,ft the autho
rity. of the House were limited to,the tingle inftahce of
their framing a new govZruneiit, and left it at large in
Mother cases. “We mean not" fay the proichors,
" to object against the House exercising the proper pow
ers it has hitherto been accustomed to use for the fafcty
and convenience of the p evince, until such time as a
rew couftitution, originating from, and founded on the
authority of the people, c U be finally fettled by a Pro
vincial Convention to be ceded for that purpofc." This
being the case, it follows t at neither the House, nor any
Separate members thereof, ran lay hold on any thing fai'd
or insinuated in the Profc., as an excuse or Subterfuge
for their own neglect of th public fafety.
Let us now take a revier of thecondud of the House
on this occasion. The Bateft being read was ordered
to lie on the table: Some ropofed to have it laid under
the table. It fignified but little which was done, as the
m,C ^W I" ' Yen 2 + ,tfd. varL and intended to go
tu.dagu wiin toe mailer.
In this fitting the Assembly got into a double way of
doing business; part of their resolves were only passed
and circulated among the people, but are not to be found
upon their printed votes, and in cue case their printed
votes contradict their verbal resolves: Por it was given
out that the House had refolded to do buhnefs without
the Governor: Consequently they no longer acknow
ledged him in that character, yet their votes are utled as
before, John Penn, Esq; Governor. It was given out
that they had absolved, or dissolved, or feme bow or
other got over and thrown aside the oaths of allegiance,
but nothing of this appears upon their printed votes;
neither have we any authority for believing it, unless Mi.
James Rankin's letter to the inhabitants of York county
be admitted as evidence. In this he fays, . " the Com
mittee of York might have known that the House has dis
pensed with the oaths."
No Ayes or Nays are to be found this fitting; for when
any objecting members found that they could not carry
their point, they withdrew their obje&ion to avoid being
known to the public.
It is impossible that confidence can be placed in any
House, let its name be what it may, that acts one thing
within doors, and in its printed votes holds forth a differ
ent one to the world.
The case rejecting the oaths is as follows. The new
members were admitted to take their feats without them.
A member then moved that the German inhabitants of
this province be hereafter considered as legal voters with
out taking the oaths of < ilegiance. This was certainly
a just and reasonable motion; for if allegiance was no
longer a necessary qualification for a representative, it
was no longer a necelfar, qualification in an eleXor. On
this, one of the proprietary gentlemen, who had taken
his feat without oaths, mooted to have the matter refpe&-
ingtae admission of the Germans put off. He was fe
coneed by another of th^ fame call; but finding that
such a glaring partiality would not be Supported by the
House, they withdrew the r motion, to avoid appearing
among the nays. A Comffittee was afterwards nomi
nated to draw up “ refolut^ons for rendering naturaliza
tion, and the oaths or affirmations of allegiance unne
cessary in all cases;" But the matter dropped here and
never passed the House.
It is peculiarly remarkable, that the persons who ob
jected ^gaiuß admitting tje Germans were put on the
Committee for taking off t^eir disqualifications ; by which
artful Scheme the objedors to their enfranchisement were
represented in the votes asitheir friends. Nor was there
a Committee of any cor^hquence throughout the last
filing, in which the name; of the proprietary party are
not to be found. This co aid not but be considered as a
conlant insult upon the proteftors, as one of their prin
cipal causes of objection againft' the House was the
weight of that influence in t.
It tye votes of the House be examined, it will appear
that they have gone thr%gb nothing—Spent their time
to no p^pofe; and the ,mfe of this neglect is clearly
evident. They were goti into parties, and though they
forcctimesfoined in gene' 1 matters, yet the greater part
°. r ''''yj' m \ was taken c; in watching each other's mo
tions. Ihe proprietary p, ty, ft.nl pinning its dependence
upon tne cro\c, had th ^ruinous delusions of reconcili
ationin view. :he poplar party, believing that nothing
. but a final lepw^tion freh Britain, and a well confeder
ated union of at the Connies, could secure our happi-
©'^^ •
§$ ^ % ^^^%^L,
CT ^\r ^ r :.
vices. Foreign and Domestic.
fiefs, were very suspicious of the defigtis of the proprie
tary party; and between these two, a certain gentleman,
the framer of the firft inftru&icns to the Deicgates,
Steered an indefinite course, Sometimes agreeing w th
one fide, Sometimes with the other, Sometimes wth
neither; Seeming upon the whole to i^oe 110 other fixed
object in view than himself.
The firft business which appears upon the prime A vote
is the appointment of a Committee lor crawo/g uc a
inemorial to be presented to Congress, rr:„; ; ic be in
formed J whether the Aftemblits and Corn ' wiLus, now
lubfifting in the Several Colonics, are, or?re net, the
" bodies, to whom the confederation of Cntinmng tiw
" old or adopting new governments is reffoed?'' V & s
memorial contains an intuit boteh upon the xropje r^ the
CoFgrefs; because it Solicits a quabficatit Mroin.U" '-
grefs, which the Congress, in the prear/de otacir re-
Solves, Say, ought to came from the peope : Neither .does
the resolve of Congress fay any thing feout continuing
the old government, hut of totally Jub $ n g it. V'her.-
fore the memorialifts request an ez/auation on a case
which is not within the meaning of if resolve. CutZ:%
like whatever eife the Assembly tori in band in th©r late
and last fitting, came to nothing, being never rr.fo.t^d.
The affair of the row tallies c,me next on Inmd. Meo
in office are naturally jealous of their honour. ('Specialty
when they conceive that they have done their duty. The
engagement between the flips and the row-gallics being
the firft of the kind happe/mg here, was managed on the
part of the latter beyonu/ny thing that could be expected.
Nevertheless the Captains conceived themselves aggrieved
by Some reports circulated Soon after the engage merit, to
remove which theyfeu bellied a hand bill; and the Com
mittee of Safety, L order to juftify, or perhaps rather
to revenge themfc'ves went much farther with it, and al
though the Committee of the House of Assembly had an
opportunity to &aye Softened and healed up the difference,
they by their report have only irritated and made it worse,
and after complying with the request of the Captains for
an hearing, broke up without fuhdlmg it —This matter
viGuid.jut have risen to the present height, had there
been no Secret enemy at the bottom.
wt^ the House was fitting, it received a letter from
the Convention of Virginia, setting forth the reasons
which induced that body to Support the doctrine of in
dependence, wmen iciLcr was read in the HcuL, Hal
;aide, and no aid war returned. The incivility <f Sucha
proceeding tends to weaken the friendship, and coiife
gnentiy the union of the Colonies.
In confequcnce of a memorial from the freemen of
Cumberland county, a motion was made in Assembly for
withdrawing the inftruftions to the Delegates, and after
a debate of three days new ones were agreed upon ; the
preamble to the new inftruXions runs thus, " when by
“ our inftrudions of lad November, we ftridtly enjoined
“ you, in behalf of this colony, to dissent from and
“ utterly to rejeX any proposition, fliould such be made,
" that might cause of lead to a reparation from Great
" Britain, er a change of the form of this government,
" our reftridtions did not arise from any diffidence of
“ your abilities, prudence or integrity, but from an
“ earnest desire to serve the good people of Pennfykpama
'' ewithf de/ity.
The reason here given is vague, general and unsatisfac
tory, neither did the circumstances of things then confirm
or corroborate with the reason given now, because the
necessity of a Continental Union exited as much at that
time as this. But since the House h-th pleaded a kind of
“ not guilty" excise for their inftfudioDb, it is but right
that they should klow part of the opinion which Some of
the public entertained retpedting those inftruTions, which
was, that they considered them as an artful and felfifh
compromise for the fafety of the persons who were the
promoters of them, and there is very little doubt to be
made, but that the honour of firft drawing them up,
paffihg them or acting under them, would have been
ftrongiy contended for, and pleaded as an evidence of the
loyalty both of the House of Assembly and their Dele
gates, in case the enemy had been able to have penetrated
this province. The new inftrudtions left the Delegates
at large, yet we have no reason to believe that their con
duct in Congress is altered thereby. The opponents of
independency may as well invite the enemy at once, as
continue to do it by holding out the dodhine of recon
ciliation, for we observe that Britain of late has directed
all her force towards those provinces only where inde
pendence prevails least, because from such provinces Ihe
naturally expects the least refinance.
The refeinding the old inftrubpons was violently oppo
sed by the proprietary party, every thing rel'petting the
King of Great- Britain was represented by them in the
fofteft colours. One of those gentlemen declared in the
House, that he thought the King's answer to the petition
of the city of London “ a very proper one."
After passing those inftrudtions, a new febeme began to
appear in the House, which, it carried into execution,
would have probably thrown the province into irrecover
able disorder. It was wished by Some friends, that in
order to conciliate matters, the House would pass a re-
Solve recommending the He ..^ of a Convention on the
equitable plan proposed on the zeth of May; but those
members who conceived themselves disappointed, be
cause the Resolve of Congress was not wholly left to the
House, formed a Scheme for carrying the matter respect
ing the Convention much farther than bare approbation;
and were for entering upon he business itfel'f, by fixing
the numbers the Convention should consist of, the pro
portion to each county, and other matters. As the Eoufe
had never been requeued, but on t. e contrary forbidden,
to interfere in any part of the business of a new govern
ment, and as nearly all the counties had at that time
nominated their Deputies to the Conference, feme of
Numb. 24^^.