Fowle's New-Hampshire gazette and general advertiser ([Portsmouth, N.H.]), 1787-05-19 00:00:00

NEW-HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE,  A N D  GENERAL ADVERTISER.
"WHEN ANGRY NATIONS PART IN LEAGUES OF PEACE, LET PRIVATE FEUDS AND CIVIL DISCORDS CEASE."
PORTSMOUTH: Printed and published by JOHN MELCHER, in Market-Street, where Subscriptions, (at FOUR SHILLINGS for six months) Advertisements, &c. for this Paper are taken in, the favours of correspondents carefully attended to, and the Printing Business carried on at a reasonable rate.—Also—Advertisements, Subscriptions, &c. taken in by T. ODIORNE, Esq. Exeter.
An INQUIRY into the Effects of Public Punishments upon Criminals, and Society. Read in the Society for promoting political Inquiries, convened at the House of his Excellency BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Esq. in Philadelphia, March 9, 1787.
(CONCLUDED FROM OUR LAST)
I CANNOT conceive any thing more calculated to diffuse terror through a community, and thereby to prevent crimes, than the combination of the three circumstances that have been mentioned in punishments. Children will press upon the evening fire in listening to the tales that will be spread from this abode of misery. Superstition will add to its horrors, and romance will find in it ample materials for fiction, which cannot fail of encreasing the terror of its punishments.
Let it not be objected, that the terror produced by the history of these secret punishments, will operate like the abortive sympathy I have described. Active sympathy can be fully excited only through the avenues of the eyes and ears. Besides, the recollection that the only design of punishment is to reform the criminal, will suspend the action of sympathy altogether. We listen with patience to the history of a tedious and painful operation in surgery, without a wish to arrest the hand of the operator. Our sympathy, which in this case is of the passive kind, is mixed with pleasure, when we are assured, that there is a certainty of the operation being the means of saving the life of the sufferer.
Nor let the expense of erecting and supporting a house of repentance, for the purposes that have been mentioned, deter us from the undertaking. It would be easy to demonstrate, that it will not cost one-fourth as much as the maintenance of the numerous jails that are now necessary in every well regulated state. But why should receptacles be provided and supported at an immense expense, in every country, for the relief of persons afflicted with bodily disorders, and an objection be made to providing a place for the cure of the diseases of the mind?
The nature—degrees—and duration of the punishments, should all be determined, beyond a certain degree, by a court properly constituted for that purpose, and whose business it should be to visit the receptacle for criminals once or twice a year.
I am aware of the prejudices of freemen, against entrusting power to a discretionary court. But let it be remembered, that no power is committed to this court, but what is possessed by the different courts of justice in all free countries; nor so much as is now wisely and necessarily possessed by the supreme and inferior courts, in the execution of the penal laws of Pennsylvania. I shall spend no time in defending the consistency of private punishments, with a safe and free government. Truth, upon this subject, cannot be divided. If public punishments are injurious to criminals and to society, it follows, that crimes should be punished in private, or not punished at all. There is no alternative. The opposition to private punishments therefore, is founded altogether in
prejudice, or in ignorance of the true principles of liberty.
The safety and advantages of private punishments, will appear further, when I add, that the best governed families and schools are those, in which the faults of servants and children are rebuked privately, and where confinement and solitude are preferred for correction, to the use of the rod.
In order to render these punishments effectual, they should be accommodated to the constitutions and tempers of the criminals, and the peculiar nature of their crimes. Peculiar attention should be paid, likewise, in the nature, degrees and duration of punishments, to crimes, as they arise from passion, habit or temptation.
The punishments should consist of BODILY PAIN, LABOUR, WATCHFULNESS, SOLITUDE and SILENCE. They should all be joined with CLEANLINESS, and a SIMPLE DIET. To ascertain the nature, degrees and duration of the bodily pain, will require some knowledge of the principles of sensation, and of the sympathies which occur in the nervous system. The labour should be so regulated and directed, as to be profitable to the state. Besides employing criminals in laborious and useful manufactures, they may be compelled to derive all their subsistence from a farm and a garden, cultivated by their own hands, adjoining the place of their confinement.
These punishments may be used separately, or more or less combined, according to the nature of the crimes, or according to the variations of the constitution and temper of the criminal. In the application of them, the utmost possible advantages should be taken of the laws of the association of ideas, of habit, and of imitation.
To render these physical remedies more effectual, they should be accompanied by regular instruction in the principles, and obligations of religion, by persons appointed for that purpose.
Thus far I am supported, in the application of the remedies I have mentioned, for the cure of crimes, by the facts that are contained in Mr. Howard's history of persons, and by other observations. It remains yet to prescribe the specifick punishment that is proper for each specifick crime. Here my subject begins to oppress me. I have no more doubt of every crime having its cure in moral and physical influence, than I have of the efficacy of the Peruvian bark in curing the intermitting fever. The only difficulty is, to find out the proper remedy or remedies for particular vices. Mr. Dufriche de Valaze, in his elaborate treatise upon penal laws, has performed the office of a pioneer upon this difficult subject. He has divided crimes into classes, and has affixed punishments to each of them, in a number of ingenious tables. Some of the connections he has established between crimes and punishments, appear to be just.—But many of his punishments are contrary to the first principles of action in man; and all of them are, in my opinion, improper, as far as he orders them to be inflicted in the eye of the public. His attempt, however, is laudable,
and deserves the praise of every friend to mankind,
If the invention of a machine for facilitating labour, has been repaid with the gratitude of a country, how much more will that man deserve, that shall invent the most speedy and effectual methods of restoring the vicious part of mankind to virtue and happiness, and of extirpating a portion of vice from the world?—Happy condition of human affairs! when humanity, philosophy and christianity, shall unite their influence to teach men, that they are brethren; and to prevent their preying any longer upon each other! Happy citizens of the United States, whose governments permit them to adopt every discovery in the moral or intellectual world, that leads to these benevolent purposes!
Let it not be objected, that it will be impossible for men, who have expiated their offences by the mode of punishment that has been proposed, to recover their former connections with society. This objection arises from an unfortunate association of ideas. The infamy of criminals is derived, not so much from the remembrance of their crimes, as from the recollection of the ignominy of their punishments. Crimes produce a stain, which may be washed out by reformation, and which frequently wears away by time; but public punishments leave scars, which disfigure the whole character; and hence persons, who have suffered them, are ever afterwards viewed with horror or aversion. If crimes were expiated by private discipline, and succeeded by reformation, criminals would probably suffer no more in character from them, than men suffer in their reputation or usefulness from the punishments they have undergone when boys at school.
—Methinks I hear the inhabitants of our villages and townships counting the years that shall complete the reformation of one of their citizens. I behold them running to meet him on the day of his deliverance.—His friends and family bathe his cheeks with tears of joy; and the universal shout of the neighbourhood is, "This our brother was lost, and is found—was dead, and is alive."
It has long been a desideratum in government, that there should exist in it no pardoning power, since the certainity of punishment operates so much more than its severity, or infamy, in preventing crimes. But where punishments are excessive in degree, or infamous from being public, a pardoning power is absolutely necessary. Remove their severity and public infamy, and a pardoning power ceases to be necessary in a code of criminal jurisprudence.—Nay, further—it is such a defect in penal laws, as in some measure defeats every invention to prevent crimes, or to cure habits of vice. If punishments were moderate, just and private, they would exalt the feelings of public justice and benevolence so far over the emotions of humanity in witnesses, juries and judges, that they would forget to conceal, or to palliate crimes; and the certainity of punishment, by extinguishing all hope of pardon in the criminal, would lead him to connect

the beginning of his repentance with the last words of his sentence of condemnation. To obtain this great and salutary end, there should exist certain portions of punishment, both in duration and degree, which should be placed by law beyond the power of the discretionary court before mentioned, to shorten or mitigate.
I have said nothing upon the manner of inflicting death as a punishment for crimes, because I consider it as an improper punishment for any crime. Even murder itself is propagated by the punishment of death for murder. Of this we have a remarkable proof in Italy. The Duke of Tuscany, soon after the publication of the Marquis of Beccaria's excellent treatise upon this subject, abolished death as a punishment for murder. A gentleman, who resided five years at Pisa, informed me that only five murders had been perpetrated in his dominions in twenty years. The same gentleman added, that after his residence in Tuscany, he spent three months in Rome, where death is still the punishment of murder, and where executions, according to Doctor Moore, are conducted with peculiar circumstances of public parade. During this short period, there were sixty murders committed in the precincts of that city. It is remarkable, the manners, principles, and religion, of the inhabitants of Tuscany and Rome, are exactly the same. The abolition of death alone, as a punishment for murder, produced this difference in the moral character of the two nations.
I suspect the attachment to death, as a punishment for murder, in minds otherwise enlightened, upon the subject of capital punishments, arises from a false interpretation of a passage contained in the old testament, and that is, "he that sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed." This has been supposed to imply, that blood could only be expiated by blood. But I am disposed to believe, with a late commentator * upon this text of scripture, that it is rather a prediction than a law. The language of it is simply, that such will be the depravity and folly of man, that murder, in every age, shall beget murder. Laws, therefore, which inflict death for murder, are, in my opinion, as unchristian as those which justify or tolerate revenge; for the obligations of Christianity upon individuals, to promote repentance, to forgive injuries, and to discharge the duties of universal benevolence, are equally binding upon states.
The power over human life is the sole prerogative of HIM who gave it. Human laws, therefore, rise in rebellion against this prerogative, when they transfer it to human hands.
If society can be secured from violence, by confining the murderer, so as to prevent a repetition of his crime, the end of extirpation will be answered. In confinement, he may be reformed—and if this should prove impracticable, he may be restrained for a term of years, that will probably be coeval with his life.
There was a time, when the punishment of captives with death or servitude, and the indiscriminate destruction of peaceable husbandmen, women and children, were thought to be essential to the success of war, and the safety of states. But experience has taught us, that this is not the case. And in proportion as humanity has triumphed over these maxims of false policy, wars have been less frequent and terrible, and nations have enjoyed longer intervals of internal tranquility. The virtues are all parts of a circle. Whatever is humane, is wise—whatever is wise, is just—and whatever is wise, just, and humane, will be found to be the true interest of states, whether criminals or foreign enemies are the objects of their legislation.
I have taken no notice of perpetual banishment, as a legal punishment, as I consider it the next in degree, in folly and in cruelty, to the punishment of death. If the receptacle
* The Reverend Mr. WILLIAM TURNER, in the second Vol. of the Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester.
for criminals, which has been proposed, is erected in a remote part of the state, it will act with the same force upon the feelings of the human heart, as perpetual banishment. Exile, when perpetual, by destroying one of the most powerful principles of action in man, viz. the love of kindred and country, deprives us of all the advantages, which might be derived from it, in the business of reformation. While certain passions are weakened, this noble passion is strengthened by age; hence, by preserving this passion alive, we furnish a principle, which, in time, may become an over match for those vicious habits, which separated criminals from their friends, and from society.
Notwithstanding this testimony against the punishment of death and perpetual banishment, I cannot help adding, that there is more mercy to the criminal, and less injury done to society, by both of them, than by public infamy and pain, without them.
The great art of surgery has been said to consist in saving, not in destroying, or amputating, the diseased parts of the human body. Let governments learn to imitate, in this respect, the skill and humanity of the healing art. Nature knows no waste in any of her operations. Even putrefaction itself is the parent of useful productions to man. Human ingenuity imitates nature in a variety of arts. Offal matters, of all kinds, are daily converted into the means of increasing the profits of industry, and the pleasures of human life. The soul of man alone, with all its moral and intellectual powers, when misled by passion, is abandoned, by the ignorance or cruelty of man, to unprofitable corruption, or extirpation.
If the foregoing reasonings and facts have been urged in vain, in favour of private punishments, I shall add one more argument, which I hope will be irresistible. The punishments, of wicked men, in the world of spirits, are invisible; we have no knowledge of their reality, nature, degrees, or duration, but what was revealed to us near eighteen hundred years ago; and yet governments owe their stability, chiefly, to that morality, which the terror of these invisible, remote, and indefinite punishments, excites in the human mind.
For the honor of humanity it can be said, that in every age and country, there have been found persons in whom uncorrupted nature has triumphed over custom and law. Else, why do we hear of houses being abandoned near to places of public execution? Why do we see doors and windows shut on the days or hours of criminal exhibitions and processions? Why do we hear of aid being secretly afforded to criminals, to mitigate or elude the severity of their punishments?—Why is the public executioner of the law an object of such general detestation? These things are the latent struggles of reason, or rather the secret voice of God himself, speaking in the human heart, against the folly and cruelty of public punishments.
I shall conclude this inquiry by observing, that the same false religion and philosophy, which once kindled the fire on the altar of persecution, now doom the criminal to public ignominy and death. In proportion as the principles of philosophy and Christianity are understood, they will agree in extinguishing the one, and destroying the other. If these principles continue to extend their influence upon government, as they have done for some years past, I cannot help entertaining a hope, that the time is not very distant, when the gallows, the pillory, the stocks, the whipping post, and the wheelbarrow (the usual engines of public punishments) will be connected with the history of the sack, and the stake, as marks of the barbarity of ages and countries, and as melancholy proofs of the feeble operation of reason, and religion, upon the human mind.
B O S T O N, May 15.
By a gentleman from Great Barrington, in the county of Berkshire, we are informed, that numbers of the fugitive Rebels are daily collecting in small numbers in New-York State, near the line of this Commonwealth,
with a professed intention of rescuing the traitors who are ordered for execution the 24th inst. and who are now confined in Great Barrington jail;—and that in consequence, the minute men (about one third part of the militia) are ordered to march, and be at Great Barrington the 20th inst. to protect the sheriff in the due execution of the law.
Two of the Insurgents, Jenkins and Davis, the former of West Stockbridge, who were ordered from Barrington to Northampton, to be tried on an indictment for Treason, we are told, made their escape from the guard, commanded by Lieut. Edwards, of the federal troops.
L O N D O N, March 12.
TRADE WITH AMERICA.
Mr. W. G. Greville moved the Order of the day for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the whole House, to take into consideration the state of the trade of the United States of America. The Order being read, and the question put, the Speaker left the Chair, and Mr. Steele took his seat at the table.
The Acts 23 and 24 being read,
Mr. Greville rose, and in a speech of considerable length, stated the ground upon which it was deemed expedient to apply to Parliament for an Act to authorise the continuance of the trade with the United States of America, subject to the discretion of the Privy Council, for another year. Mr. Greville said, the nature of our intercourse with America had been so amply detailed last session, that it was unnecessary to take up the time of the House by going again over the matter. He would therefore confine himself to such points as more particularly called for explanation, in order that the House might know the true situation of our commerce with America, as far as it respected the trade carried on between the British West India Islands and Great Britain and the American Continent, and between the British West India Islands and America. He began his detail with a statement of the manner in which the West-India Islands had been supplied with flour and grain, and lumber, the two articles which he considered as the most important of the whole supply furnished to the West-India Islands. He enlarged upon this head of his subject, and stated the quantity which Great-Britain had been able to supply Jamaica and the other islands with, and asserted that it was a species of commerce highly useful to our navigators, as it employed 50,000 tons of shipping, and 4,000 seamen annually. He admitted that the price of provisions, slaves, &c. purchased in America had risen far above all former precedent, but imputed it not so much to the want the islands felt of such articles, as to the peculiar state of the American provinces and to a variety of other circumstances. He next went into an enumeration of rice, shingles, and the various other articles of supply furnished to the West-India Islands, stating the quantity exported from the United States of America, and from the neutral islands. In this part of his speech he spoke from a document in his hand. We cannot therefore pretend to follow him with any hope of accuracy, and for that reason shall not attempt to report in detail what he said. After going through the statement of the different articles, he proceeded to speak of the market that our remaining American Provinces offered for Rums, and said, the commerce of our colonies was growing, and that it promised a rapid increase, a circumstance that could not but prove extremely beneficial to the merchants and planters of the West-India Islands. He recapitulated the quantity of puncheons of rum imported in the course of the last year into America, and the British colonies on the continent, reasoning upon fact, as corroborative of his preceding argument. One thing, he said, he was obliged to mention, and respecting which he meant to apply to the House to administer such a remedy as to their wisdom should seem fit. What he alluded to was, that upon a comparison of the quantity of tons of shipping

employed in the years 1785 and 1786, in the year 1785 we employed 58,000 tons, and in the last year only 50,000 tons. He accounted for this falling off, and stated the sort of remedy he meant to purpose. He next stated, why it had been judged more proper to apply for an act of another year's continuance, vesting the power in his Majesty in Council, than for a permanent Bill, declaring that, at present it was so difficult to decide whether the United States of America were under one government, whether they consisted of many discordant governments, or whether they were under no government at all, that it was deemed more expedient to wait till their government assumed some settled and established form, than to offer any terms of commercial intercourse at present. After much perspicuous statement, and a necessary share of elucidatory reasoning, Mr. Grenville concluded with moving, that the Chairman be directed to move,
"That leave be given to bring in a Bill for "further continuing, and more effectually enforcing the provisions of the said "Acts of the 23d and 24th years of his present Majesty."
Lord Penbryn rose to observe, upon that part of the Right Hon. Gentleman's speech in which he had stated the quantity of gallons of Rum exported from the British West India Islands to America, and declared he did not think the R. H. Gentleman's statement accurate. His Lordship also took notice of the acknowledged advanced price of articles necessarily purchased in America for the use of the British West India Islands, and argued upon it, as a proof that the Merchants and Planters were entitled to the consideration and favor of Parliament, wherever either could be shewn, without disadvantage to the general interests of the Empire. He observed likewise, that though the Right Hon. Gentleman had in the early part of his speech talked of our continuing the intercourse between Great Britain and the West India Islands, as highly flattering, with a view to our Navigation, towards the close of it, he had been under the necessity of admitting, that in respect of tonnage of shipping employed, we had diminished 8000 tons upon a comparison of the last year preceding.—His Lordship shortly commented upon these particulars.
Mr. Grenville assured the noble Lord, that he had every reason to believe the statements contained in the paper, from which he had spoken, to be accurate; and as to the deficiency in respect to the quantity of tonnage of shipping employed, he begged the noble Lord to recollect, he had in his former speech declared, he should propose means of preventing the cause of that deficiency continuing. But, without adverting to that, it was evident, that although we had not in 1786 used 58,000 tons of shipping, as in 1785, we had used 50,000 tons, which employed four thousand seamen: and was, on that account, a great and solid ground of satisfaction to the country.
Mr. Dempster said, when he had originally given his consent that the Government of the Trade with America should be vested in his Majesty in Council, he had done it reluctantly, being conscious that he resigned the powers of that House in an unconstitutional manner, but the unsettled condition of the United States of America and the peculiar circumstances of the times, appeared to him to warrant such a resignation of his own right, as a Member of Parliament and to justify it. The case was, however, now different, and he saw no reason why the House should not resume their powers, and return as soon as possible to the exercise of their own functions. Every friend to the Constitution, he conceived must feel with him upon the subject, and as the persons who originally asked for the Act, confessed themselves at the time, to be conscious that they were unavoidably obliged to desire what was obviously unconstitutional, he saw no reason why they should not be as anxious as himself to do that by Act of Parliament, which had hitherto been done by Proclamation of the King in Council.
Mr. Grenville replied, and stated, that the passing of an Act from year to year, equally spoke the sense and caution of that House, and of the administration upon the subject, and while America remained in the present unsettled state, it did not appear to him that the matter could, with any sort of public convenience, be better regulated. The conduct of the Privy Council was, he said, amenable to Parliament, and therefore he saw not any danger to the constitution from the business continuing another year in their hands.
Mr. Dempster said, annual Acts were no novelty; they had repeated instances of them. Why not, therefore, put the intercourse between Great Britain and the West India Islands, under the authority of an Act of Parliament? As to the United States of America, he had no objection to the matter respecting them remaining in the hands of the Privy Council, 'till the Government of the United States was settled; but the sooner the House returned to the ancient practice, and the less they trusted to the discretion of the executive Government, the better.
The Question was put and agreed to.
The following is an estimate of the present value of the several manufactures of Great Britain:
   The Woollen £. 16,800,000   Leather 10,500,000   Flax 1,750,000   Hemp 890,000   Glass 630,000   Paper 780,000   Porcelain 1,000,000   Silk 3,350,000   Cotton 960,000   Lead 1,650,000   Tin 1,000,000   Iron 8,700,000   Steel and Plating 3,400,000   Total 51,410,000  
These are estimated to give employment to upwards of five million of people.
J A M A I C A.
KINGSTON, March 24. We are informed, that the Schooner St. Andreas, Capt. Van Assendelft, sailed about three months ago from the Mosquito Shore, with a number of male and female passengers on board for this island; but being overtaken by a heavy gale of wind, in which the Schooner lost her masts, rigging and sails, Capt. Van Assendelft was obliged to bear away for Carthagena, after keeping the sea several weeks and exhausting almost his whole stock of provisions, where he arrived in the greatest distress, and made known his helpless situation to the officers of the Spanish government, whom he satisfied as to the truth of his relation; upon which the Viceroy of the kingdom of Santa Fe, Don Cavilliero, who was then at Carthagena, with singular humanity, gave orders that the vessel should be completely refitted and victualled out of the King's stores; and that the passengers should be entertained in apartments belonging to his own palace, and his orders were strictly complied with.—When the vessel was once more ready for sea, Captain Van Assendelft waited upon the Viceroy, and offered him bills upon this island, to defray the expence of her repairs; but the noble Spaniard, with unexampled magnanimity, refused any compensation whatever, by saying, in substance, "that he would not accept of any pecuniary acknowledgment; for it was sufficient (to be relieved) that any stranger came to Carthagena in distress, and he was sure his royal master would highly approve his conduct on the occasion."
N E W Y O R K, May 10.
Captain Smith, in the ship Anna, arrived at Philadelphia, in 26 days from Bristol, brought European papers to the 31st March, but they contain nothing of a very interesting nature, except—That there has been a dreadful fire in Constantinople, which destroyed 200 houses—That the Maratocs and Tippoo Saib, are again at war—That the French gain strength daily in the East, having lately landed at Pondicherry, near 5000 troops; the Dutch have ceded to them the harbour of Trincomale—That France and Portugal have entered into a Commercial Treaty, which has concerned Old England—That the idea of a commutation for Gibraltar is once more brought forward in England—That, it is reported, another riot has taken place in Holland—That his Majesty, by his royal proclamation, is
still to regulate the commercial intercourse with the West-Indies and America, for one year longer—That, it is said, that a convention has lately been signed between their most Catholic and Christian Majesties, relative to a mutual guarantee of trade and commerce in the West-Indies, and America—&c.
S P R I N G F I E L D, May 8.
From Canada we learn, that the British are strengthening the western posts with additional fortifications and detachments of men, that it was given out that they would not be evacuated until the Americans had fully complied with the Treaty of Peace respecting the Loyalists—and that Shays, and a few of his clan, were there in April; unnoticed; dejected; and in a suffering condition.
W O R C E S T E R, May 17.
Accounts from the southward and the westward say, that one consolidated government is now fully talked of, to extend from New Hampshire to Georgia; but it is to be hoped there is yet that virtue in United America, as will enable her to support the free governments her citizens now enjoy.
B O S T O N, May 17.
On Monday evening an express arrived in town from the county of Berkshire, with letters for his Excellency the Gov. and the Hon. Gen. Lincoln, from several Gentlemen of distinction in that county, which, we are informed, contain accounts of the Rebels, to the amount of 7 or 800, being collected in the state of Vermont, in the vicinity of this Commonwealth, and that it was given out by them, that they intended in the course of the present week, to make incursions into several parts of this state, and to kill, plunder, burn, and destroy whatever comes in their way.—That Shays, Day, Parsons, &c. had been seen at Crown-Point, on their way to join them.—That the town of Sharon in Connecticut had turned out a company of men, properly officered, for the purpose of assisting the Rebels—and that the militia in Berkshire county had orders to hold themselves in readiness to oppose the inroads of these daring infatuated men.
Tuesday evening last, arrived in town, the Hon. JOHN HANCOCK, Esq. and LADY, and Mrs. JEFFRY, from a tour to New York.
Warrants for the execution of the sentence of death, pronounced on the four Traitors now in confinement in the western counties, were received by the respective Sheriffs about the 4th inst. Those who were pardoned are liberated.
Tuesday last, the Hon. Major General LINCOLN, left this town, on his way to the Western counties.
C H A R L E S T O W N, May 18.
It is said, that Vermont has refused to accept of a place in the confederation, because she will not make herself liable to pay any of our unjustly accumulated debts. Kentucky, probably, will follow the example as soon as Vermont sets up for herself. In a few years the new states will contain more inhabitants than the old. They will be free of debt, rich, and happy, while we, the elder sisters, shall be divided into tenants and landlords, and consequently miserable, with governments truly aristocratick, and our states divided into confederated and unconfederated.
P O R T S M O U T H, May 19.
Letters from France advise, that the Marquis de Montmorin, had succeeded that distinguished Nobleman the Court de Vergennes, as His Most Christian Majesty's Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Reasonably is it to be expected, says a correspondent, that the deliberations of the sages and patriots, who are to meet in convention at Philadelphia this month, will be attended with much good.—An union of the abilities of so distinguished a body of men, among whom will be a FRANKLIN and a WASHINGTON, cannot but produce the most salutary measures.—These names affixed to their recommendations (and it is to be hoped that this will be the case) will stamp a confidence in them, which the narrow-soul'd, antifederal politicians in the several States, who, by their influence, have hitherto d—d us as a nation, will not dare to attack, or endeavour to nullify.
Accounts from Scotland advise, that some thousands of the peasantry of the Highlands, a brave and hardy race, 'nurs'd on the mountain's brow,' were quite impatient to quit their native country, and embark for the deserts of North-America.
We learn that his Excellency John Adams, Esquire, our Minister at the court of Great Britain, has asked permission to return home; and may be expected next spring at furthest.
N A V A L - O F F I C E,
PORT of PISCATAQUA, May 12, 1787.
   ENTERED,  FROM.    Brig Dover,  St. Eustatia.    Manning,     Schooner Polly,  Baltimore.    White,    

Parnassian Spring.
On the coming of the American Fabius to the Federal Convention in May.
Had not great Cromwell aim'd to gain a crown, Unfullied tales would hand his mem'ry down.
THE hero comes, each voice resound his praise, No envious shafts can dare to chill his rays; All hail! great man! who, for thy country's cause, Flew at her call for to protect the laws. But while dull notes like these my song disarm'd, His rigid virtues ev'ry patriot warm'd; Inspir'd each leader at his standard met, Laurens who fell, with Greene and La Fayette. Like the fair structure on the river side, Which from reflection dazzles on the tide, Each caught the flame, celestial pow'rs unite, And stimulate them on to aid the fight. He fought, he won, and calm'd the raging storm, Tho' rais'd by pride abstruse, in fury's form; Thy unambitious steps will paint thy name To future ages thro' historic fame. Columbia now, with independence crown'd, Proclaims her consequence on foreign ground. For, oh! great Washington! while war did rage, From Clinton retrospectively to Gage, Stood firm—'till peace did crown thy native shore, By superceding war's terrific roar.
A time of rest at length appear'd in view, With all its happiness in blooming hue; A calm which oft the hero wish'd to see, Where rural blessings with his mind agree; But fly once more the Senate house with grace, And crown the States with everlasting peace.
ALEXIS.
From the HUDSON WEEKLY GAZETTE.
Mr. Stoddard,
I AM daily importuned by the inquisitive to give my opinion concerning the late dispute in Massachusetts, and, as their solicitations are rather troublesome, I would wish to prevent them for the future, by publishing my sentiments in your Gazette. Your giving them a place will oblige your constant reader.
JANUS.
  What Shays's plan allows,  I hold for truth and faith    My conscience disallows,  What Lincoln's party faith    And I will never yield  I solemnly declare    That Shays shall win the field,  And 'tis my daily prayer    I never will content  That Lincoln may succeed    With Shays to be content,  I firmly am agreed    I ever shall disdain  To fight on Lincoln's side    The mob to entertain.  It is my chiefest pride    To aid the troops of Shays  I give my hand and heart    My conscience doth amaze,  To fight on Lincoln's part    I think they're in the right  The regulating crew    Who would against them fight,  I hope they are but few    I'm not a friend to Shays  Should any dare pretend    I will avouch always,  I am not Lincoln's friend    Who would with Lincoln join  He is a scoundrel base    Who feels the court's disgrace. He is a friend of mine.  Who feels the court's disgrace. He is a friend of mine.  
Elizabeth Butler,
WOULD beg leave to inform the LADIES of PORTSMOUTH, that she having acquired a complete knowledge of MANTUA MAKING, in the genteel taste, from one of the first in that line of business in BOSTON, from whence she has lately returned; holds herself ready to attend the call of any LADY who may be so good as to employ her. She also does any kind of MILLINARY.
TO BE LET,
A commodious House, Garden and Barn, just above the Hay-market, for further particulars apply to the Printer hereof. April 13.
Samuel Hill
Informs his friends and customers, that he has imported in the last ship from London,
A general assortment of Spring and Summer
GOODS, which he has for sale at his Store opposite the Market, viz.
  Yard wide,  Pewter    7-8ths and 3 qrs.  of all sorts,    Irish Linnens,  Desk Furniture,    Dowlas, Bed Ticks,  Joiners Tools,    Check Linnens,  Files of various sorts    Chintzes and Calli-  Sickles,    coes,  Brass Cocks,    Sattins, Modes and  Writing, Cartridge    Sarsnets,  and Bonnet Paper,    Ribbons of various  Dutch Quills,    forts,  Ink Powder, Wafers    Cambricks & Lawns  and Spectacles,    Black and white  Wool, Cotton and    Gauzes,  Clothier's Cards,    Silk Cotton & Lin-  Floor, Hearth, Cloth    nen Handkerchiefs  and Buckle Brushes,    Worsted, Hemp and  Buckles of various    Thread Hose,  forts,    Broad Cloths,  Rat & Mouse Traps,    Serges, Ratteens,  Cod, Haddock and    Fustians, and Jeans,  Mackerel Lines,    Trimings of all sorts  Hooks for ditto,    Callimancoes,  Sein and sewing    Tammies, Durants  Twine,    and Camblets,  Best English Gun-    Locks and Hinges,  Powder and Shot    Cafe-Knives and  of all sorts,    Forks,  Brimstone, Coppe-    Cutteaus and Pen-  ras and Allum,    Knives,  Best German Steel,    Scissors and Shears,  Plated Stirrups, Bits    Nails of all sorts,  and Spurs,    10 by 8, 9 by 7 and  Hunting Whips,    8 by 6 Window  and many other    Crown Glass,  articles, too nume-    Frying-Pans,  rous to enumerate.  
May be had at the same place, West-India Goods, New-England Rum by the large or small quantity, Dye Woods, Iron hollow Ware, English and Nova-Scotia Grindstones, Cash or any of the above Goods given for Pot and Pearl Ashes, Flax-Seed and Shipping Furs in their season.
Portsmouth, May 18,
ALL persons indebted to Gavon Patterson, of Greenland, are hereby requested to make him immediate payment, as he intends to move from that part soon;—as he is under the necessity of calling upon every person that owes him, he hopes that none will neglect to comply with his request, as all those who should, may depend upon having their accounts put in suit.
GAVON PATTERSON. Greenland, April 26, 1787.
Flax-Seed for sowing.
FLAX-SEED, free from dirt, wild seed, &c. to be sold by Edmund H. Quincy, at his Store nearly opposite the Post-Office. Portsmouth, April 13, 1787.
A genteel HANGER for sale, Apply to the Printer hereof.
State of New Hampshire,
NOTICE is hereby given to the non-resident proprietors and owners of land in the township of Antrim, who are delinquent in paying their taxes for the year 1786, that unless they pay the same to me the subscriber, on or before the 5th day of June next, that so much of their lands as will pay the same together with incidental charges, will be sold at public vendue at ten o'clock on said day, at my dwelling house in Antrim, unless prevented by previous payment.
   Name Acres State Specie Facile   A. B. s. d. s. d. s. d.     David Putnam 100 0 8 4 1 2 1 2   Samuel Dodge 50 4 2 9 9   Maj. Curtice 100 8 4 1 6 1 6   Judge Lynds 100 8 4 1 6 1 6   Will'm Ramsey 70 5 10 1 2 1 2   William Moore 590 2 19 2 10 8 10 8   R. Moore's heirs 608 2 10 8 9 1 9 1   David Clark 13 1 1 2 2   Rich. Emerson 55 4 7 9 9   John Miltemore 125 10 5 3 9 3 9   William Dunlap 54 4 6 1 2 1 1   Abijah Hadley 50 4 2 9 9   Jos. Clark's heirs 100 8 4 1 6 1 6   Robert Moore 9 1   Mathew Clark 1 6 1 6   Daniel Miltemore, jr. 1 2 1 1  
THOMAS NICHOLS, Constable. Antrim, April 30, 1787.
State of New Hampshire,
NOTICE is hereby given to the non-resident owners of land in Raymond, who have not paid their taxes for the years 1782, 1783 and 1785, that so much of their lands will be sold at public vendue, on the first Tuesday in June next, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, at the house of Lt. Benjamin Bean, in said Raymond, as will pay said taxes and incidental charges unless prevented by previous payment.
   Name N. Acres State Specie Facile   A. B. s. d. s. d. s. d.     not known 71 100 9 1 3 5 0 0 7   Jethro Tilton 72 75 8 9 2 4 4 0 8   Joshua Wingate 84 100 16 3 4 8 0 1 4   Philemon Blake 124 50 8 2 2   Reuben Sanborn 54 100 13 9 4 6 10 1 1   Jacob Basford 107 100 12 2 3 6 1 5  
DANIEL MOODY, Constable. Thomas Gorden's list of taxes, for 1785.
   Name N. Acres State Specie Facile   A. B. s. d. s. d. s. d.     not known 71 100 2 3   Jethro Tilton 72 50 1 2   Joshua Wingate 84 100 3   Jonathan Sanborn 48 100 2 3   Philemon Blake 124 50 1 6   Thomas Dean 106 100 2 6   Reuben Sanborn 54 100 2 7   Jacob Basford 107 100 2 3   Samuel Prescott 96 100 2 3   not known 103 14 1 1  
THOMAS GORDEN, Constable. Raymond, April 23, 1787.
A Bargain!
A handsome Fall-back Chaise to be sold very cheap, and payment made easy,—apply to William Sowerby, nearly opposite Mr. Joseph Bass's, in broad street, where he carries on the trimming and harness-making business, those who favor him with their commands may depend on being dismissed with dispatch.
Portsmouth, April 26th, 1787.
TO BE SOLD very cheap, A good second hand Chaise, for Cash, Lumber or West-India Goods. Inquire of the Printer hereof.
FOR SALE, Several Silver mounted SWORDS, among which is one very Elegant. Apply to Samuel Drown, Portsmouth.