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THE ROYAL
GEORGIA GAZETTE.
SPEECH of Lieutenant Governor
Bruere to the AfTcmbly of Ber
muda the 19th of June last.
Gentlemen of the Council,
Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the
Ajfemhly ,
and educated in the
freed empire the world
I’ B | ever knew, I never
S-j* conceived the lead tax
cd F . and rrr^r,!
nf it could have wished
to change such happiness for any other
fyflem, We have lived to fee the ma
chinations of the artful,* redlef?, wic
ked, and ambitious, prevail so far on
ci I’&iiti If M . I?
take up arms againd the bed of Sove
reigns and the milded government;
though, could it be flippofed that the
leaders might prevail in their mad at
tempts, the multitude had nothing to
expetfb but tyranny, wounds, and
death.
Here, indeed, those who had influ
ence chose to and did a did Rebellion
more effectually than they could by
open force or per final p rowel’s •, the
retro r pedt is neccdTiry, as our situation
requires every individual to think*.
The delusion exposed, 1 trud the dc
luders wiltmeet-•-with- the jud resent
ment of,their much injured country;
that the hontd and loyal will have
honour, indead of being pointed out
as the enemies of Bermuda.
It is too well known the leading
people here manifeded a predileftion
in favour of the Rebel colonies, by
causing Delegates to be chosen from
the several parjfhes, and when rhat il
legal Aflembly was met, adJrtfiing
that other illegal AfTcmbly the Ame
rican Cong refs; and it is a fad of
publick notoriety that the King’s ma
gazine of these islands was broke open
in the night, and one hundred barrels
of gunpowder conveyed from thence
to the Rebels, there being the dronged
presumption, from circumdances at
tending, that it was not effected with
out the aflidanee and privity of many
of the inhabitants. Has not Tophi (try
almod generally edablifhed here the
doflrine, that supplying the enemy
with fait,-correfponding and trading
with Rebels, aie not tieafuns and trea
sonable ? To what date have wicked
designing men brought these isles ?
Indead of fitting out armed vessels,
enriching themfelvcs, and perhaps
even being indruments in diortening a
cruel, bloody civil war, they have
caused a mifgiiided-andLdtluded people
** to do a.l they could to ferye the
Americans.” Have not those, who
dare to oppose their di. bolirai lydem
v bfen threatened, abused, opprtfjed,
tfffociatcd againd*, and has not the law
even been perverted* to aid those ends?
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1781.
What in return have the Americans
done? What hftory (hews has ever
been the return of Rebels ; they lovrd
the treason, but when the lupphes fell
short they chele to confifcate the monies
in their hands, and itlerved the additi
onal purpole of cheering their droop
ing pirates, by the chance of plunder
ing your unarmed vessels.
Was I to enumerate the illegal meet
ings and rising in/orce to compel Bri
t sh privateers to give up their legally
captured Bermuda vessels, or to oblige
Crown Officers to relirqmfh their duty,
I should take up time I wish employed
in providing for defence and our many
parficul r]y the rumo-us.
condition of the GovernmentTToufe
and,offices, not fit for the reception of
his Majedy's Repre Tentative. The,
laws want to be enforced, new enabl-
I wish may be such as are
consonant to my duty and inilru&ions
to pass. Every one cries out againd
the wretchedness of our Police, the
indudrious are difeouraged by the de
pre ationsof the idle, who prefer th.eft
to labour.
The revenue differs, and has long
fuffered, by the almod general edab
-1 iHied pradlice of smuggling ; * and
though St. Euftatius is no longer a
medium, St. Thomas and othe? neu
tral ports are becoming repositories for
the Rebels, their confederates and se
cret friends here and elsewhere.
There never was yet any place,
where order, good government, and
the general weal fLurifhed, that j.ur
fued illicit trade. A ned of smugglers
is a disgrace to a country, an abuse of
a high nature that requires to be reme
died; the clipping and falfely milling
half Jqhanneles mud infallibly hurt the
fair and honed trader. Is there a man
who can maintain that it is not fraudu
lent to fell any commodity as of more
weight than it actually is; and if so, is
not a dandard of coin to be kept up ?
It is in every well regulated commu
nity.
I mud observe, that, however wil
ling and interested in getting forward
your fortifications, those chosen from
your joint committees are not diffid
ently assiduous and publick spirited in
forwarding them ; theie are more dif
ficulties in carrying on works here than
I ever observed elsewhere.
At the requed of your Speaker, the
Committee of*Council and Affemblv,
that were to have met the fiid Wed
nesday in May, was put off to the firft
AVednefday in June, at which time the
Speaker and Committee of your Houfc
were required punctually to attend, to
tax several ptfblkk bills, but did not.
This,, Gentlemen,- is followed with
very bad consequences, as those who
ferve the publick ought to be paid,
more especially as 1 take it there is now
15001. or upwards in the Treasury.
Your country loudly calls upon you
to provide for defence ; the moment of
atrack should not be the tnoment*of
preparation. * >
It is my opinion a tax such as yous
ancedors laid for labour and materials
1 . _ y each parish would
be the speediest and ra-jft efFcdluai
means of fortifying these isles.
The Friends of Government will
Ibew themselves such by giving notice
of any intercourse whatever with the
Rebels, which, according toinftru'Ti
ons, as well as for the fafety of Go.
yernrnent, I am obliged and determiri
■td, to tfreutmo/t W toy poWer,. to prc
vent, and to bring to puniihment such
as dare violate that law cf nations.
I (hall by meflage acquaint you with
what has been done, and what may be
further neceflary. ‘
Gevt, einert of the Council and Gentlemen
• of the Ajfmbly,
I (hall be happy to concur and co
operate with you in any meafurea for
the publick good. I wish peace and
unanimity; I have reprobated mea
lures, not men; when~a subaltern I
ever resolved to do my duty; in my
prtitnt difficult situation have, and am’
determined to do it; and will, in every
other I may happen to be in; allured
thereby to gain the applause of the ho
ntft and loyal, careltfs of the enmity
and malice of the wicked, difaffcdltd,
and rebellious.
Charlefitncn, September r. After having indis
criminately plundered this unhappy ptovince
without regard either to friend or foe, the Rebels
hive at length thought fit to difehtim such proce
dures ; with this view, and perhaps more from the
idea of impliedly vindicating their past, than re
claiming their future conduit, Mr. Rutledge, the
titular Governor of South Carolina, has published
the following Proclamation ; “ t ■
South Carolina.
1 y Joyfe Rutledce, Esq. Go
vernor and Commander in chief of the’faid State
A PROCLAM ATI O N. *’
W n f rc f s many P crfons * raking advantage of
* * the late disturbed and* Qhfettled condition of
the Hate, and hoping, in the confufion and disor
der occanOned by the calamities of war, to efcapo
puniihment, have committed the moil wanton and
rapacious ails of plundering, fome under colour of
indemnifying themselves for losses which they have
iufl.iined, others under pretence that the persons to
whom such property belonged are Tories or ene
mies of the state; and others from a wicked and
inordinate desire of acquiring wealth by any means,
however unjuftifiable, and from any persons, whe
ther friends or foes: And whereas the publick
faftty requires that the moil effedlual meafurea
ihould be taken for suppressing such an unwarrant
able and pernicious prailice, inasmuch as good and
faithful fubjeas ihould be secured and protefted
in the full and free enjoyment of their property,
and no man, although criminal, ihould bedefpoiled
of his estate but by due course of Jaw: I have
therefore thought fit to issue this proclamation,
Hri&ly forbidding all perfom - from - plundering,-
taking, or holding, the property of others, under
any pretence, or for any cause whatever; warning
persons possessed of such property of the danger
Which they will incur by continuing to withhold
it, and charging them immediately to restore factor
[N 0 . 135.]
