Gazette of the United States & evening advertiser. (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1793-1794, January 16, 1794, Image 3

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    liveredtothem, they took paffeffion of all
our papers, and went immediately to plun
dering our cloths and cabin stores ; they
then lent the captain, the mate and my
felf, on board the privateer, where we
were kept separated, and not permitted to
talk with each otb-r; if we attempted it,
we received a kick, and were called damned
Englishmen—they several times drewtheir
knives, and threatened to cut our throats.
On Sunday the 20th, they brought us
into the harbor of Callres, the chief town
of this island. On Monday the 21ft our
trial came on before the Court of Admi
ralty, before whom the captain, mate and
myfelf, weie separately exa
mined ; but not a paper was produced to
them refpe&ing the register and clearance
from Barbados j all our other papers, fay
the sea letters, portage bill, bill of lading,
invoice of our outward cargo, my orders,
the captain's orders, my account current at
Barbados, &c. &c. were secreted or de
flroyed. After I had been before the Court
of Admiralty, and was again taken on
board the privateer, I expressed myfelf
somewhat freely respecting the villainy of
the captain in destroying my papers, in
eonfequence of which he put me in irons.
On the 2id our vefTel and cargo were
condemned as a prize, and an order sent
off from the Authority, for the fix English
prisoners belonging to the schooner Alice,
captured by La Diligent, to be commit
ted to proifon. We were then taken on
store and committed td prison as Englilh
prisoners, and treated in every refpeft as
prisoners of war; in the day time we had
the liberty of a small yard, but at night
were closely confined in one-common room
with'negroes, English prisoners, & French
malefaftora. Our allowance, a small loaf
of bread with a little fait fifh, and plenty
of water. There fortunately happened
to be two American vessels at this place, to
the Captains of which we are greatly in
debted for their afliitance; through their
influence, and a petition to the Governoi,
we were yesterday, after an imprisonment
of days liberated from goal. The of
ficer j and whole crew being a set of pirates,
robbed us of every tiling, not one of us
has any clothes or a farthing of money j
one fliirt, an old great coat, and a pair of
©verballs are all the clothes I possess ; my
watch they made bold to take from me the
second night I was on board the privateer,
and before our vessel was condemned ; the
day after (he was condemned they took her
to Martinique where I suppose they im
mediately fold her.
As for the Judges, they believed or
pretended to believe all the captain of the
privateer told them; they fuffered us to
be kept- on board the privateer, where no
American was permitted to go off to fee
us, and when we were carried on shore to
be examined before the court, no Ameri
can was allowed to speak to us. Thus
you fee, we had no opportunity of gaining
friends, of employing counsel, or any
chance for a defence. The merchants and
people in general at this place, are con
vinced of the injultice of the condemnation
and profefs to be our friends, and I flatter
myfelf with the idea that the property
will be restored and damages recovered.
Restitution in some way or other must be
made : if the property of the owners of
the privateer be infufficient, the colony of
St. Lucia is liable—• —if the colony of St.
Lucia refufe to do it, the Nation at large
must be accountable. I have taken a co
py of the condemnation, and protested a
gainst it, which is all that is neceflary to
be done here. To-morrow Capt. Goold
and myfelf take passage to Martinique
where the principal proprietors of the pri
vateer live. I (hall there represent the
matter to the American Consul, to whom
I wrote very particularly on the 2jth, but
whose answer I have not yet received, and
(hall take his advice ; I do not however
expe£t to get a bill to obtain redress with
out returning to America, for copies of
those papers that have been destroyed.
Those are my adventures, those the cir
cumstances of the voyage, and such has
been our treament by our friends the
French.
I am gentlemen, with the greatest ref
peft, your most obedient and very
humble servant
JOSEPH BRIDGHAM.
TO BE SOLD,
THE Fount of LONG PRIMER
on which the Gazette of the United
States was lately printed. The Fount
will weigh about Three Hundred Pounds.
The price is Twenty Cents per pound.
Enquire of the Editok.
FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE
FRANCE.
NATIONAL CONVENTION.
- October 19.
Billaud Varennes, in the name of the
committee of public fafety, communicat
ed the following letter:
Head-Quarters, Maubeuge, Oft. 17,
the sixth day of the third decade
of the firft month of the Republic,
one and indivitible.
" The Reprelentatives of the people
of the army of the north to the National
Convention :
" The Republican army has vanquish
ed that of the combined despots, who have
disappeared before it: and we have entered
Maubeuge in the midst of the acclamations
of the people and of the numerous garri
son delive ed by us. The battle lasted
two successive days, from the break of
day till ni^ht; we were ready to re-com
mence it this morning, when our recon
noitering parties brought word that no e
nemy were to be seen. Our troops then
took pofleflion of their camp, which was
strewed with carcases.
" Never were more formidable disposi
tions made against any place. The en
trenchments which the enemy chrew up
with the greatest activity for seventeen
days, wljould have dismayed and discoura
ged any other than French and republican
troops.
" Cobourg thought his position so un
attackable, that he said, ' I own that the
French are fierce republicans, and I (hould
become so myfelf were they to drive me
hence.' Our brave fellows being told of
this, the pod was carried an hour after
wards. The enemy having united all their
forces at this decisive moment, forced us
for a minute to evacuate it; our foldiens
drove them from it a second time ; the e
nemy again re-took it. The republicans,
indignant, at so much resistance, charged
with fixed bayonets, and came off victori
ous. The enemy fled with precipitation,
and all their artillery would probably have
fallen into our hands, if the garrison of
Maubeuge could have been informed of
what was pafling on our fide, and made
a sortie at the fame time that we attacked
the enemy in front.
" The coup-de' effai of General Jour
don, in having beaten Cobourg, is the bell,
eulogy of his talents ; his patriotism is the
theme of all his companions in arms. He
was well seconded by the generals under
his command.—You will without doubt
again declare, that the army of the North
have deserved well of their country.
" The enemy, in flying; committed the
most horrible devaluations. They burnt
almost all the villages ; they revenged their
disaster on the unhappy country people.
The law declares, that they (hall be in
demnified. This should be done as soon
as poflible, and we have provisionally pla
ced the sum of 200,000 livres, at the dis
posal of the diftridt of Avefnes, in order to
lupply the principal wants of these victims
of Cobourg's imperial and royal rage.
(Signed) " Carnot, DuciyESNoy,
and Bar."
Another letter from General Jourdon
confirmed the news of this victory :
" The enemy loft 6000 men : we had
only 200 killed, and 1200 wounded."
The National Convention decreed, that
the army of the North have a second time
deserved well of its country.
Upon Goffuin's proportion, the com
mittee of public fafety was ordered to fix
the indemnities due to the unfortunate ci
tizens of the North ruined by the enemy,
and the President was charged to write a
letter of fatisfa£lion to the army of the
North.
" The committee of public fafety,"
added Billaud d« Varennes, " has thought
the army ought not to confine itfelf to the
delivering of Maubeuge. It has written
to the Representatives of the people, and
to General Jourdon, to pursue the enemy,
and not to flop till the latter are entirely
defeated."
LONDON, Oft. 29.
The French, animated by their success
at Maubeuge, are attacking the whole
chain of polls that cover Maritime Flan
ders.
On the 22d, they entered Furnes. The
garrison confiding of 400 Hessians, under
the command of Gen. Wurms, retreated
to Nieuport, whither the French imme
diately followed.
The j3d was the only British regiment
at Nieuport, making with some Hanove
rians, and 100 of the Irish anillery,about
700 men, but unprovided with cannon to
fuitain a siege. The (luices were opentd
to inundate the country,and fuccoure were
expe&ed from Oltcnd ; but towards the
evening of the 23d, the place was evacua
ted by the allies, and soon afterwards, was
observed to be on fire.
The garrison got fafe to Oftcnd, where
the 4 regiment* lately embarked had re
landed. When the accounts camc away,
the enemy had not appeared at Oftend,but
as their force and their motions were equal
ly unknown, a considerable alarm prevail
ed.
October 28,
The hon. Temple Luttrell, whom the
Parisians honor with the appellation of bro
ther-in-law to the King of England, is
now in a very disagreeable and dangerous
predicament. A petition has been pre
sented to the Convention that he may be
inclosed in an iron cage, and that an ap
peal be made to the people of Great Bri
tain. The only crime which is imputed
to him is, that by the marriage of his lif
ter with the Duke of Cumberland, he is
related to the King.
DEAL, Oft. 28-
This morning Sir Charles Grey, Gen.
Dundas, Col. Jervis, Major Maitland,&c
arrived at the Three Kings Hotel, and af
ter partaking of a cold refrefhment, im
mediately embarked cn board the Quebec
frigate, and failed for Ofteud, withAdm-
Macbride. An express arrived here early
this morning to the Admiral, to fay, that
the troops on board the transports, and in
Plymouth and Portsmouth, viz. the 3d,
28th, 54th, and 59th regiments, bound
to the Weft Indies, &c. had (in(tead)been
ordered to proceed to Oftend immediate
ly, as that place is in hourly expeflation
of being inverted by the French troops, &
without a considerable reinforcement can
holdout but a very (hort time.
A detachment of the guatds, amount
ing to 600 men, will embark on Friday
next, under tbe command of major-ge
neral Grinfield, to join the army under
the command of his royal highness the
Duke of York.
On the 25th inft. his majesty's (hip the
Blande, in which Gen. Prefcot and Gen.
Dundas, lately failed for the Weft Indies
was chafcd into Falmouth by 3 French
frigates. The French were at one time
within (hot of the Blande, but by throw
ing part of their (tores overboard, (he out
sailed them.
The very critical fitnation, in which
Oftend was known to be on the evening of
the 23d, and the Flanders mail due yef
derday, not having yet arrived, gave birth
to a variety of reports. We (hall menti
on only that which, wifiling it to be true
we think the mod probable.
A letter is said to be received from
Commodore Murray, dated Odtober 26,
dating that having found me*ns to com
municate with Major Matthews, the
commanding officer of the fifty-third regi
ment at Nieuport, major Mathews deter
mined on making a vigorous resistance ;
and that by the aid of three guns planted
on the sands in such a fitnation as to seem
undercover of the guns of the ships, altho'
111 reality the ships were prevented by the
wind, from affording them any effectual
prote&ion, the French were checked in
their approach, and their attack repelled.
It is added, that the 53d loft 17 men and
two officers.
PHILADELPHIA,
JANUARY 16.
Extract of a letter from a gentleman in
Bristol, to his brother in this City, da-
ted October 6, 1793
" Times, Cnce I wrote last, are not al
altered in any refpeft forthebetter. Warliat
made strange alterations here, and, if the
People of your fide know what they are
about, they will do all in their power to
preserve Peace. We are informed, there
were several privateers fitted out in the
United States on account of the French;
no doubt it may be to the advantage of
some individuals, but, if it (hould in the
end bring on a war, it will be very much
to the injury of your rising empire, and
flop up the only avenue by which the dif
trefled of all Europe, can hope to flee to
better times.
" I do not wifti you to think me an ene
my to France—l consider them fmgly,
and alone, as ftniggling for their Liberty,
and the Liberty of all Europe—and, in the
end, I have not the lcaft doubt, but that
they will be fuccejlfu/. The whole «f the
force againil them this year, (and I at
not think greater exertions can be made than
•what have been,) have made scarcely r.ny
impreifions on them ; and it is my opinion,
that before next spring, things will take a
great turn in their favor.
"We have had a melancholy scene in
Bristol this week: The time for the ex
piration of the Bridge-Tax being arrived,
the people expe&ed it to be taken off.—
The Bridge Commiflioners let the Toll
again ; a riot ensued—a mob who had as
sembled on the bridge, burned the toll-gates.
The magilt rates called out the military,
and in a wanton manner, ordered them to
fire on the People ; on which, the soldiery
fired in all directions, down every Street
near the bridge, by which 70 or 80 people
were killed and wounded—l 7 are alrea
dy dead, a.d more it is expc&ed will die.
" The government is so afraid of a re
volution, that Guns and Bayonets arc ap
plied on the moll trifling occasion."
Congress of the United States.
House of Rtpref ntathvrs.
Wednesday, Jan. i,
( Concluded. J
A resolution received from the Senate,
proposing an amendment to the Conititu
tion, was read and laid on the table.—
This refers to the suability of states.
The papers accompanying the meflage
of the President of the United States, re
ceived this day, it was voted, {hould be
printed.
Mr. Boudinot of the committee appoin
ted to enquire and report on the acts that
are near expiring, reported fundryaftsin
that predicament.
A petition of Jacob Millegan, of South-
Carolina, was read—and referred to the'
Secretary of the Treasury.
A . report on the petition ofEphraim
Kimberly was read—and referred to a fe
left committee, to prepare and bring in a
bill- Adjourned.
Thursday, Jan, 16.
The resolution received from the Senate
yeftcrday, proposing an amendment to the
constitution of the United States, was rtml
the second tiime, and made the order of
the day for Monday next.
In committee of the whole, Mr. Trum
bull in the chair—The report of the Se
cretary of State, on the foreign commerce
of the United States—and the resolutions
of Mr. Madison rounded thereon—were
again under consideration—Mr. Nicholas
spoke largely on the subject in favor of the
general principle of the resolutions—some
observations were made by several other
members—the committee at length rose
and reported progress.
A meflage was received and read from
the Proficient of the United States, com
municating intelligence recently received
from Europe. This intelligence was con
tained in extraiSs of letters which origi
nated in a correspondence between our mi
nister at Paris, and the French minister
for foreign 2'fairs, relative to sundry com
mercial tranfaftionS— the detention of
American vessels in the harbour of France
—and the capture of the American fliip
Laurens, &c. There was one paper writ
ten in French, which it was directed,
ftiould be translated.
A communication was received from
the Secretary of the Trealiiry, containing
ftateraents refpefting the loan-offices
read and laid on the table.
After reading and referring several pe
titions, See.—the house adjourned.
A letter from Baltimore to a gentle
man in this city informs, that a veflel is
arrived there from Amsterdam—the cap
tain of which reports, that the French
hare taken Oftend, the army and milita
ry stores therein—that the Duke of York
accompanied by one officer, only, had
made his escape, and was arrived in En
gland—Theabove velTchvas in the Downs
abeut the middle of November, wl
Captain received this Intelligence.
PRICE of STOCKS.
Philadelphia, 1794.
6 per cents, 18/
3 ditto, \of
Deferred, I if
IT. S. Bank, ii per .cent, advance.
N. A. ditto, 20 ditto ditto.
Pennsylvania do. 7 ditte ditt*.