USA > New Jersey > Documents relating to the revolutionary history of the state of New Jersey, Vol. II > Part 2
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That officers in the kings service taken on the 27th of November, and Mr. John Brown, a deputy commissary,
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are to be tried in Jersey for high-treason ; and that Mr. Iliff and another prisoner have been hanged.
Though I am neither authorised to threaten or to sooth, my wish to prevent an increase of horrors, will justify my using the liberty of an old acquaintance, to desire your interposition to put an end to, or to prevent measures which, if pursued on one side, would tend to prevent every act of humanity on the other, and render every person who exercises this to the king's enemies, odious to his friends.
I need not point out to you all the cruel consequences of such a procedure. I am hopeful you'll prevent them, and excuse this trouble from, Sir,
Your obedient humble servant JAMES ROBERTSON.
N. B. At the moment that the cry of murder reached my ears, I was signing orders, that Fell's request to have the liberty of the city, and Colonel Reynolds 1 to be set free on his parole, should be complied with. I have not recalled the order, because though the evidence be strong, I can't believe it possible, a measure so cruel and im- politick, could be adopted where you bear sway.
To William Livingston, Esq. &c. &c.
Governor LIVINGSTON'S Answer.
January 7, 1778.
SIR,
HAVING received a letter under your signature, dated the 4th instant, which I have some reason to suppose you intended for me, I sit down to answer your inquiries con- cerning certain officers in the service of your king taken
1 Thomas Reynolds, Colonel Second Regiment, Burlington militia, re- signed December 18th, 1782. A son of Patrick Reynolds, mill and planta- tion owner and one of the founders of New Mills, now Pemberton.
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on Staten-Island, and one Browne who calls himself a deputy commissary; and also respecting one Iliff and another prisoner, (I suppose you must mean John Mee, he having shared the fate you mention) who have been hanged.
Boskirk,1 Earl 2 and Hammel,3 who are, I presume, the officers intended, with the said Browne, were sent to me by General Dickinson as prisoners taken on Staten-Island. Finding them all to be subjects of this state, and to have committed treason against it, the council of safety com- · mitted them to Trenton gaol. At the same time I ac- quainted Gen. Washington, that if he chose to treat the three first who were British officers as prisoners of war, I doubted not the council of safety would be satisfied. General Washington has since informed me that he in- tends to consider them as such; and they are therfore at his service, whenever the commissary of prisoners shall direct concerning them. Browne I am told committed several robberies in this state before he took sanctuary on Staten-Island, and I should scarcely imagine that he has expiated the guilt of his former crimes by committing the greater one of joining the enemies of his country. However, if General Washington chooses to consider him also as a prisoner of war, I shall not interpose in the matter.
1 Captain Jacob Van Buskirk, of the Third Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers (Loyalists) and a son of Lieutenant-Colonel Abraham Van Buskirk, who, after the war, became Mayor of Shelburne, Nova Scotia. Jacob Van Buskirk was severely wounded in the battle of Eutaw Springs, South Carolina.
2 Lieutenant Edward Earle, of the Fourth Battalion and. in 1781, Cap- tain of the Third Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers (Loyalists) .
3 Surgeon John Hammell, until after the battle of Long Island, was Surgeon's Mate of Colonel Van Cortlandt's Battalion of General Heard's Brigade. He then accepted service in the British army, and became Surgeon of the New Jersey Volunteers November 25th, 1776. He was Surgeon of the Third Loyalist Battalion at the close of the war. Van Buskirk, Earle and Hammell, together with John Brown, of whom little or nothing is known, were committed to the jail in Trenton for high treason, the Council of Safety for that purpose sitting in Princeton on Sunday, November 31st, 1777, Governor Livingston presiding.
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Iliff was executed after a trial by a jury, for enlisting our subjects, himself being one, as recruits in the British army, and he was apprehended on his way with them to Staten-Island. Had he never been subject to this state, he would have forfeited his life as a spy. Mee was one of his company, and had also procured our subjects to enlist in the service of the enemy.
If these transactions, sir, should induce you to coun- tenance greater severities towards our people, whom the fortune of war has thrown into your power, than they have already suffered, you will pardon me for thinking that you go farther out of your way and find palliatives for inhumanity, than necessity seems to require; and if this be the cry of murder to which you allude as having reached your ears, I sincerely pity your ears for being so frequently assaulted with cries of murder much more audible, because much less distant, I mean the cries of your prisoners who are constantly perishing in the gaols of New-York (the coolest and most deliberate kind of murder) from the rigorous manner of your treatment.
I am, with all due respect, Your most humble servant,
WILLIAM LIVINGSTON.
James Robertson, Esq. &c. &c. &c.
P. S. You have distinguished me by a title which I have neither authority nor ambition to assume, I know of no man, sir, who bears sway in this state. It is our peculiar felicity, and our superiority over the tyrannical system we have discarded, that we are not swayed by men -In New-Jersey, sir, the laws alone bear sway.
To the PRINTER of the NEW-JERSEY GAZETTE. SIR,
WHOEVER considers the importance of education in a political light, will readily acknowledge it worthy the greatest encouragement from the public. The superior
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advantages derived to the community from men of letters, in the various offices of government, and especially in the character of legislators and magistrates, to what are to be expected from those who have neglected the culti- vation of their minds, are too numerous to be recounted. Impressed with a deep sense of the happy effects of liter- ature upon civil society, the wisest lawgivers have ever been studious to promote and encourage it. For this purpose, they have founded seminaries, endowed colleges, pensioned men of eminent erudition, and explored even foreign nations for the ablest professors in every science.
Of the advantages that have already redounded to this State from the college of New-Jersey, many of the gen- tlemen who have been there graduated, and since preferred to different offices, have afforded us abundant and striking proofs. We cannot, therefore, compare the late flourish- ing figure of that institution, (in which the means of education were perhaps not inferior to those in the most celebrated universities of Europe) with its present de- plorable condition, without lamenting the change; and feeling ourselves deeply affected for the interests of pos- terity. Nor can it be expected, that parents will put their children to college, while they are subjected, in the course of their studies, to be called out in the militia; which not only endangers their morals, but must of necessity obstruct their progress in learning. And indeed to oblige matriculates to perform military duty, is a thing so unexampled, that there is perhaps not an instance of it in history. They are, I believe, universally excused from war; and for that reason not treated as men bearing arms, when their country is invaded by an enemy.
Considering, therefore, the unspeakable importance of a liberal education to civil society, the impossibility of obtaining it under its present embarrassments, and how highly it becomes the legislative. body of a free people to encourage the liberal arts, (which naturally inspire the most exalted love of our country) and by that means
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nurture for the succeeding age, a race of sages and patriots ' to carry to full perfection, that illustrious fabric of liberty, the foundation of which has been laid by the present .- Considering these things, I say, I flatter myself that our superiors will not, for the comparatively trifling service which the collegians are capable of rendering the public in the capacity of soldiers, continue the present embargo upon the seat of the muses; nor compel the arts and sciences, against which none ought to wage war, to war against any. And should I be disappointed in my expectations, the disappointment will be greatly alleviated by the pleasing reflection of having discharged my duty, in endeavoring to encourage the advancement of learning; which, next to religion, deserves the most serious attention of the guardians of the people.
CATO.1
TO THE PUBLIC.
ANY person that has for sale beef, pork, flour, wheat, and potatoes, will find a purchaser in William Crispin, Commissary to the State fleet of Pennsylvania, at Trenton.
Mountholly, Jan. 8, 1778.
WILLIAM CHEW,
At the house formerly occupied by the Rev. Mr. Brainard,2 near the Friends new meeting-house, in Mountholly, hath now for sale on reasonable terms,
A LARGE assortment of white threads by the pound, quarter, ounce, or skein; sewing silks of all colours; black silk stockings and breeches pieces; men's and women's white cotton and silk stockings; silk ferrets and
1 A possibility that "Cato" signed to this article may have been John Witherspoon, then member of Congress from New Jersey and President of the college.
^ Located on Brainerd street and from which place he conducted his missionary efforts.
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ribbons; worsted and silk knee garters of all colours; mohair, silk and hair, and' scarf twist; silk stay-laces ; silk Damascus and Loretto's; black hat-band crape; India nankeens; white corded dimitty; men's stamped jacket shapes ; children's thread and worsted hose; men's and parson's gloves ; a few fine sewing needles ; shagreen tea-spoon cases; gold hat buttons and looping; likewise tea, coffee, sugar, molasses, pepper, cinnamon, alspice, &c. &c.
BOND AND PAIN,
Have for sale, at their STORE in Morristown, SUGAR, coffee, chocolate, pepper, alspice, indigo, snuff, cloves, mace, cinnamon, nutmegs, handkerchiefs, pins, spelling- books, primers, a quantity of bohea tea, steel plate, hand- saws, a few pieces of Dutch linen, &c. &c .- New-Jersey Gazette, No. 7, Jan. 14, 1778.
For the NEW-JERSEY GAZETTE.
1
To his MAJESTY of GREAT-BRITAIN.
DELUDED Prince! how wretchedly art thou mistaken in thy idea of true grandeur ? That Prince is truly great who draws his sword with reluctance, and sheaths it with pleasure-Who draws it against the enemies of liberty, and the oppressors of human kind-Who builds on his empire, what in real value transcends all empire, virtue, patriotism, philanthropy, and the happiness of millions ; and thus makes his throne a scaffold to the skies. But what are thy notions of glory, who art waging war un- provoked and beyond example sanguinary ? War against those it was thy duty, thy bounden thy sworn duty, to protect; and for complaining that thou didst not protect them ? War against liberty, and against men for defend- ing liberty ?
2
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Tutored by preceptors of arbitrary principles, and but too prompt a scholar under such tutorage, thou wast early intoxicated with the love of despotic sway. Prerogative over-rating, undervaluing law, and mistaking the true glory of a British monarch, and of all monarchs-the power of doing good; you placed it in power boundless and unlimited. To secure to yourself this delusive phantom, you eagerly adopted a plan (a plan of murder and havoc, desolation and tyranny) invented by hell, matured by a Scotch faction, and now executing by hell's prime agents, thy bloody, mercenary ministers of vengeance. A plan for depriving, by fire and sword and plunder and torture, of liberty and property, habitation and life, a people who never gave thee cause of offence, but loved thee for thy grandfather's sake; and would have loved thee for thine own sake, hadst thou not compelled them, by a reversed ambition, to turn their love into hatred, and defend them- selves by open force against the bloody schemes of a raging tyrant, whom neither reason could convince, justice reclaim, nor supplication mollify.
HORTENTIUS.
BURLINGTON, Jan. 21.
A correspondent desires to insert the following: Ex- tract from a letter dated Philadelphia Jan. 9, 1778.
"This city has lately been entertained with a most as- tonishing instance of the activity, bravery, and military skill of the royal navy of Great-Britain. The affair is somewhat particular, and deserves your notice. Some time last week two boys observed a keg of a singular con- struction, floating in the river opposite to the city, they got into a small boat, and attempting to take up the keg, it burst with a great explosion and blew up the unfortu- nate boys. On Monday last several kegs of a like con- struction made their appearance An alarm was im-
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mediately spread thro' the city-Various reports prevailed; filling the city and the royal troops with un- speakable consternation. Some reported that these kegs were filled with armed rebels; who were to issue forth in the dead of the night, as the Grecians did of old from their wooden horse at the siege of Troy, and take the city by surprize; asserting that they had seen the points of their bayonets thro' the bung-holes of the kegs. Others said they were charged with the most inveterate com- bustibles, to be kindled by secret machinery, and setting the whole Delaware in flames, were to consume all the shipping in the harbour; whilst others asserted that they were constructed by art magic, would of themselves ascend the wharfs in the night time and roll all flaming thro' the streets of the city, destroying every thing in their way .- Be this as it may-Certain it is that the shipping in the harbour, and all the wharfs of the city were fully manned -The battle begun, and it was surprizing to behold the incessant blaze that was kept up against the enemy, the kegs. Both officers and men exhibited the most un- parallelled skill and bravery on the occasion; whilst the citizens stood gazing, as solemn witnesses of their prowess. From the Roebuck and other ships of war, whole broad- sides were poured into the Delaware. In short, not a wandering chip, stick, or drift-log but felt the vigour of the British arms. The action began about sun-rise, and would have been compleated with great success by noon, had not an old market woman coming down the river with provisions, unfortunately let a small keg of butter fall overboard, which (as it was then ebb) floated down to the scene of action. At sight of this unexpected rein- forcement of the enemy, the battle was renewed with fresh fury-the firing was incessant till the evening closed the affair. The kegs were either totally demolished or obliged to fly, as none of them have shewn their heads since. It is said his Excellency Lord Howe has dispatched a swift sailing packet with an account of this victory, to the court
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of London. In a word, Monday the 5th of January 1778, must ever be distinguished in history for the memorable BATTLE OF THE KEGS."1
Trenton, January 12, 1778.
To the MAGISTRATES in TRENTON.
Gentlemen,
I HAVE the honour to acquaint you, that having the com- mand of a corps, which, from the fatigues of a laborious campaign, and the severity of the season, is under the necessity of taking shelter to recruit and re-establish itself in your State, am desirous of guarding against any at- tempts of the enemy which might bring distress upon the good people of this town and its neighbourhood, as you must undoubtedly be sensible that the seat of war is ever exposed to the fury and depredations of the enemy- Nothing on my part shall be neglected to prevent such evils; but all my vigilance may not suffice, without the assistance of the inhabitants, to render my quarters secure: I therefore request of you gentlemen, and the good people of this town, to give me the earliest intelli- gence of any movement of the enemy you may discover towards this quarter, when, upon all such occasions, I shall take the most efficacious measures to exempt the in- habitants of this town from falling victims to the rage of desperate and cruel enemy, and convince the publick that the zeal of the troops I command, will prove the justice of those inestimable rights they defend.
I further request you will use your endeavours to procure me every convenience necessary for the sub- sistence of my troops while they occupy this post, in order that I may be enabled to make head against any incursions of the enemy. I expect that your patriotism will inspire you with that diligence and activity requisite to give satisfaction to those men, who from motives of honour, sacrifice themselves to a cause so righteous as that of
1 This incident was commemorated by Francis Hopkinson in his satirical poem, "The Battle of the Kegs."
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liberty. These my requests may, if you judge necessary, be printed and handed to the inhabitants of this neigh- bourhood.
I have the honour to be, with respect, Gentlemen, your most obedient humble servant, C. PULASKI, Gen. of Cavalry.1
Cumberland County, West New-Jersey, Jan. 21.
TWENTY DOLLARS REWARD.
RAN AWAY from the subscriber, on the 20th of August last, an indented MULATTO BOY named Levi, eighteen years of age; he has a down look, slim and straight built: Had on and took with him five shirts, two of them striped flannel; three pair of trowsers, one pair of them striped ; three vests, one a light colour, the other a pale red; one pair of light coloured cloth breeches; a cloth coloured great coat. He passes for a free negro, says he has worked about Cohansey Bridge. Any person securing said servant, so that his master may get him again, shall have the above reward paid by
ABIJAH HOLMES.
December 26, 1777.
TO BE SOLD,
By JOSEPH CARSON, at Bordentown,
A FEW hogsheads of tobacco, sugar in barrels, loaf sugar ditto, green tea in bottles, West-India rum in hogs- heads, ivory combs, needles, and a few dozen of psalters,
1 Commissioned by Congress September 15th. 1777, resigning the com- mand of Cavalry March 28th, 1778. At this time General Pulaski had been in the United States about nine months, having been temporarily attached to the staff of General Washington.
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six half pieces superfine cloth, and eighteen pieces of striped shamoys .- New-Jersey Gazette, Vol. I., No. 8, Jan. 21, 1778.
A gentleman from Tom's river, in Monmouth County, East Jersey, saw six or seven topsail vessels at sea, seemingly bound to New-York; and ascending a vessel's masts, he discovered ten or twelve more, pursuing the same course. Two American vessels unknown, which the enemy had captured, and sent for that port, have some weeks since been wrecked on the Jersey coast.
The Academy of Newark will be opened by the 25th instant for the reception of Twenty Scholars, under the tuition of the Rev MR. ROBERT DAVIDSON, at Forty Shillings each quarter for tuition, and Fifteen Pounds for boarding.
For two days past the weather has been so intensely cold, that the Delaware, opposite to this city,1 is frozen over .- The Pennsylvania Packet, January 21, 1778.
New-York, January 26. Alexander Worth, a Soldier belonging to Col. Barton's 2 Battalion, being cut off from his Company when the Rebels were last over on Staten Island, was obliged to have Recourse to a Canoe, and paddle over to the Jersey Shore, where he concealed him- self for some Days, but was at Length taken and carried to Morris Town, where he was tried on Suspicion of being a Spy, found guilty by their Laws, and had his Choice either to be burnt in the Hand, or serve in the Continental Army, and fight against his King. He declared he would suffer Death, rather than comply with the last Requisition, but nobly bore the former, which was performed by one Carmichael, Sheriff of the County of Morris, with great Dexerity, by fixing his Hand and Arm down to a Block
1 Report from Philadelphia.
2 Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Barton, of the First and Fifth Battalions, Loyalist. He was captured on Staten Island August 22d, 1777. Very little is known of his personal history.
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prepared for that Purpose. He is since returned to the Island.
Died since our last, John Barton, aged 15 years, and Joseph Barton, aged 6 years, both Sons of Col. Barton, now a Prisoner in Connecticut. Since the Colonel's Confinement he has lost his Wife and three Sons.
From the very uncommon Quietness of the Rebels in the different Parts of the Country, there is Reason to conclude they are meditating some Stroke against his Majesty's good Subjects in America, and from the best Accounts we can assure the Public there are very few Men . to be seen in Arms in almost any Part of the Province of New-Jersey, in the East or West Side of the North-River, or in the North East Part of this Province, towards Connecticut, and we are told that Putnam is gone to Peek's Kill.
By a late Law of the Province of New-Jersey, one half of the Inhabitants are always to be on Duty, to guard Elizabeth-Town, Newark, &c. &c. In case of Refusal, or Neglect of any Person, the Capt. of the Company to which he belongs has Power to hire a Man in his Room, for a certain Sum agreed upon for one Month, which Sum is to be levied off the Delinquent's Estate, at the Expiration of the Time, and sometimes the Fine amounts to £100 .- New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, Jan- uary 26, 1778.
PROVIDENCE, December 27.
The most Honourable the Continental Congress have recommended to the several Legislatures of the United States, to call in five millions of dollars, by quarterly taxes, within the year 1778, in the following proportion, viz.
* * New Jersey
270,000 Dollars
*
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On the 19th instant died, in the sixty-sixth year of his age, FRANCIS FURGLER, the Hermit, who existed alone twenty-five years in a thick wood about four miles from this city,1 through all the inclemencies of the seasons without fire, in a cell made by the side of an old log in form of a small oven, not high or long enough to stand upright in or lie extended. His recluse manner of living excited the curiosity of strangers, by whom he was often visited. His reasons for thus secluding himself from human society we believe he never communicated to any person in these parts, but it is thought he meant by it to do penance for crimes committed in his own country; for he was a man subject to violent passions. He sub- sisted upon nuts and the charity of people in the neigh- bourhood. From whence he came or who he was no body could find out, but appeared to be by his dialect a Ger- man, yet he spoke that language imperfectly, either through design or from a defect in his intellects .- The evening before his death a friend carried him a little nourishment, of which he partook, earnestly praying for his dissolution; and would not suffer himself to be re- moved to a more comfortable dwelling. Next morning he was found dead in his cell, with a crucifix and a brass fish by his side; and on the 20th he was decently in- terred in Friends burying-place in Mountholly.
A gentleman of credit lately from Fishkill informs, that the Mercury, a British ship of twenty-eight guns, coming down the North River, struck on the chevaux de frise and sunk, in so short a time that not half of her crew were saved-she had many sick on board.
Wednesday last several persons, who had been taken up a few days before in Gloucester county, were brought to the gaol in this city,1 where they are confined-charged with trading, contrary to law, with the enemies of the United States now in Philadelphia.
1 Burlington.
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Morristown, January 16, 1778.
In COUNCIL of SAFETY.
WHEREAS it has been represented to us, that some evil minded persons, enemies to the liberties of America, or preferring private lucre to the important interests of their country, endeavour to persuade the more ignorant and unwary, that a certain act of the legislature passed the eleventh day of December last, intitled, An act for regulating and limiting the price of sundry articles of produce, manufacture and trade, and to prevent fore- stalling, regrating and engrossing,1 will not be carried into execution ; hoping by such wicked arts to discourage a due obedience thereto, and to defeat the salutary pur- poses thereby intended: And whereas the public safety indispensibly requires, and the executive authority of this State is in duty bound to have the said act punctually carried into effect; it is therefore earnestly recommended to, and strictly enjoined upon all Justices of the peace and other officers whom it may concern, on pain of being prosecuted for neglect of duty with the utmost rigour of law, to execute the said act with all possible vigour and diligence; and if need be, to apply to this Board for their aid and co-operation in the premises, and to transmit the names of all such delinquents (together with those of the witnesses) who shall presume to speak contempt- uously of the said law, or to act in violation thereof, in order that they may be brought to speedy and condign punishment, and treated as persons dangerous and dis- affected to the present government.
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