September 4, 1778. THE ,-- Number 444.
NORTH-CAROLINA GAZETTE.
With the latcft ADVICES, Foreign and Domestic.
SEMPER PRO UBERTATE, ET BONO PUBLICO.
!
fif. WILKES'; Speech in the House tf Commons, on the
third reading of the two Conciliatory Biil0r effecting America.
Concluded from our latt
ANOTHER honourable gentleman (Thomas GiK
bert, b qui re, member for LiichficL) complains,
that every thing refpe&ing the public is in a
great degree neglected, and that fome of our mod
imnorrant concerns are fcarcelv regarded." He has
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accordingly, with much good fenfe, held out to the houfe the idea
of a committee to examine into the expenditure of the public mo
ney during this war. I agree with him, that nothing is now fe
core", or indeed properly taken care of , -except the protejlant fue
cejjion. His propofal meets my full and warm opprobation. A
oome'r committee, however feems to me ftill more immediately
nccclTary, a committee to enquire into the nature and caufes of
the failure of the Canadian expedition, for we cannot hide the
rain's fear. I am forry to be informed that the houfe is to be
prorogued at Eafter, for I fear we cannot in this feflion undertake
both hefe important concerns. The enquiry into the Canadian
expedition te lofs of a Britifn army, and the horrid cruelties
committed on our fellow fubjects, is of the firtt importance, both
to vindicate the honour of our fovereign, and the humanity of the
nation. I am (hocked, Sir, at the falfe rumour daily fpread,
and the foul reproaches call on the common father of his people.
It it repeatedly circulated in print, Sir, tnat on the i 7th of Octo
ber, after Burgoyne'6 capitulation, in which Gates demonftrated
a refined delicacy of honour unparalleled in European armies,
the Britifh general was received with refpect, and dined with the
American hero, that nothing unkind was faid to him, except
afkiog how be could find in bis heart t bnrn the poor country people i
btnJet where be pojfed, and that he anfwercd, it was the King's or
ders. From alt ifte letters of Burgoyne it has been repeatedly af
ferted, that the projea of the Canadian expedition originated
from the dofet of the King, and the office of the American fecre
mmmmm mwiA tkat k ftn nlovino the l'a.vapcs a??intt our fellow Tub-
jerts, was among the primary idea adopted on that occafion.
The American fecetary, in a letter to general Carlton, dated
Whitehall, March 26, 1777. fy I thi Plan cannot be ad
vantageoufly executed without the aflhtance of Canadians and ln
dians. bis majefy ftrongly recommends it to your care to turuifil both
expeditions wrth good ana fufficient bodie of thnfe men. And 1
am happy in knowing yoor influence among them is fo great that
there can be no room to apprehend yon will find it difficult to
fulfill bis majejh's intentions: In the M thoughts for condading
the war from the ude of Canada, by General Burgoyne," which
were approved by the King, Burgoyne defires 1000 or more fa
vagea. Col. Butler was direaed to deftribute the King's bounty
money among fach of the forages as would join the army, and, af
ter the delivery of the prefents, he afks for 401 1 1. Yoik curren
cy, tefoee he left Niagara. Burgoyne's barbarous proclamation
appenra now to be only a confequence of his fanguinary iuflruc
tions. General Gates's letters have informed the wotld with what ra
vage ferocity and cruelty the Indians carried on a war, to which
they were fo frongly inviied. An Indian campaign is known to
be productive of every fpecies of torture to which the hums
frame is fubject. In the lad campaign fcarcely fewer women and
children in fome parts where the war raged with the greateft fu
ry, expired under the tomahawk and fcalping knife, than were
killed by the (word arid bayonet among thole who bore arms
Col. Butler's letter to Sir Guy Carle ton, of July 28 :h, fays,
many of the prioners were, conformable to the Indian cugom, after
wards kilted.11 'Has the fecretary at war yet thanked the favagea
In the king's name for their alacrity? I have not had time fully to
examine the numerous pa pet s on our table, and therefore I am
ignorant whether we have any letter from his lo'dihip fimilar to
that from the war office, of the 1 ith of May, 1768, " that hav
ing had the honour of mentioning to the King the behaviour of the
detachment from thejeveral tribes of Indians, which have lately
been employed in the fcalping and tomahawking his American fub
jects, he has great pleaiure in informing the general, that his ma
jefy highly approves of the conduct both of the Indian chiefs and
the men, and means that his royal approbation fhould be commu
nicated to them through the General. Employing Indians in
fuch a fervice gives him (the humane fecretary at war) pain, but
it is necefTary. He hopes they will continue to perform their du
ty with alacrity. Every pofiiole regard (hall be (hewn to their
zeal, and they (hall have the protection of the Jaw, and hit cfSce,
under every difagreeable circumftance." ,j
- JVlr. Burgoyne held himfelf out as an aSive agent on this oc
cafioa, not by the flighted mention of any fuppofsd military ta
lents, but by fuch an abject flattery of the American fecretary, as
I hope no other man in Europe could commit. He declares in a
letter to Lord George Gcrmaine, dated from Hertford ftreet,
Jan. 1, 1777, " I humbly laid rnyfelf at his maieftys feet for
luch aSi've employment as he might think me worthy of Thie
was the iubftance of my audience on my part. I undertook it,
and I now report it to your Lordftip, in the hope of your patronage
in this purfuit; a hope, my Lord, founded not only upon a juft
fenfe of the henour your Lordlhip's friendfh p mult reflect upon
me but alfo upon a feeling that I deferve it, in as much as a fa
it d refpeS, and fin cere per fan al attachment can confiitute fuch a)
claim.' fn his letter ot June 22, Vfffl he feems to have fully
entered into the ideas of his principal ; tor he fays, " that he met
the Indians vefttfday in Congrefs, and gave them a war feafi ac
cording to their enfom,' of which war feajl we know the molt fo
lemn ceremony to be drinking human blood out of the (kulls of
their enemies. In the fame conference he contents to the man
gling of the dead, for, fays he, ' allowing the Indians to take
the fcalps of the dead " Surely, Sir, an enquiry into thofe hor
rors, and the failure of an expedition, which has not Only dif
graced our arms, but obfeured the name of Englifhnen, and fix
ed a foul (lain on our national character, is ftill more worthy of
our enquiry than the wafte of public treafure, although we are, I
fear, it the war continues, too near the brink of a general bank
ruptcy. u
I obferve, Sir, that gentlemen have this day been very fond of
giving advice to the minifters. I am not fond at any time of
giving advice, but I will for once follow the example. My ad-,
vice then, Sir, to adminiftration is, to fupplicate his majefty to
order an immediate ceffation of arms in North America, and to re-