Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1861-10-23
TRAITORS IN rHE REyoLuTIoN.


The following extracts, of newspapers in
the Revolution" and 'saction of State Legis-
latureS," from the pen of b. /. Losing, the
Revolutionary historian, will be read with in
terest as similarity in the present state Of
the country
ssIn all colonies there were only thirty sew
en- newspapers, and of these, at the time in
questi on, only seven we're devoted to the in
terests of the British government. These were
soon stif1ed by public opinion wherever the
Wings. as the patriots were called, bore rule,
while five of the remaining thirty were seduced
by gold or frightened by inuendoes into the
support of the Crown. Rvington's ROYAL Ga
sehe, published In New Y York, took ground
boldly against the Revolutionary movement;
aud at MONDAY, late in the autumn of l775, il
was surrounded by one hundred light horse
men from Connecticut, led by Capt. Sears, q
distinguished sSon of Liberty in New York.
They destroyed the press and other appara-
tus, put the type into bags, and, without one
word Of complaint from the people, returned
to Connecticut, carrying with them a tory
clergyman named Seabury, who had preached
against the Wings and the Continental Con-
gress. The type they cast into bullets. All
the people except the sspeace party' of that
day, said, Amen After that, the newspaper
press ceased to be troublesome to the Wings,
and pamphleteers wrote anonymously.
In the course of the war for Independence,
the several State Legislatures passed numer-
Gus acts for the punishment of the sympathf-
zers with the enemies of the country. In
Massachusetts, they could be arrested under
Magistrate's warrant, and banished unless they
would take the oath of allegiance TO the
Wings cause. The selectmen or trustees of
towns could prefer charges of political treach-
cry in town meetings, and the accused, if con-
victed by a jury, might be Immediately ban
lshed into the region occupied by the enemy.
Many persons were subjected to these penal
ties in that State.
Rhode Island passed laws still more severe
against the tories. Any person who should
communicate with the ministry, or their rep
resentatives, or who should pilot armed ships
of the Kings, or who afforded supplies to tho
enemy's forces, might, by law, be punished by
death and confscation OF estate. There were,
also, special acts passed in that State, by
which the property of certain persons named
was confiscated and sequestered.
In Connecticut, speaking, writing or acting
against the doings of Congress, or the Assem-
bly, OF Connecticut, subjected the offender to
the penalties of disqualification for office, the
seizure of his arms and Imprisonment. For
furnishing the royal troops with supplies or
personal aid, the offender might be punished
by the confscation of his estate, and impris-
onment for term not exceeding three years.
In New Hampshire, similar laws were pass
ed, and under them large number of tories,
former citizens OF that commonwealth, were
prohibited from entering within her borders
and the estates OF about thirty residents were
confiscated.
In New York, those who were opposed to
the Declaration of independence were prohib-
tied from practising law in the courts, and
their estates might be conflscated. A parent
whose sous Joined the enemy was taxed nins
pence on the pound of his estate for each and
every son. County committees we're author
lied to apprehend and decide upon fhe guilt
Of all persons who should be accused of corre-
spondence with the enemy, and they had the
power to punish them with Imprisonment or
banshment.
The Legislature of Virginia provided by law
that certain tories should be treated as aliens,
their property to be sold, and the proceeds
placed in the public treasury. They also, by
law, forbade certain persons entering the
bounds of that commonwealth, and subjected
them to penalties for the violation Of the COM
mand.
New Jersey passed several acts for the pun
ishment of tories, subjecting them to impris-
onment and forfeiture of estates.''