The Virginia Gazette. Number 439, Thursday October 6, 1774
Item
Dublin Core
Creator
Title
Date
Extent
Identifier
Language
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Page 1
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1774. THE NUMBER 439
VIRGINIA GAZETTE.
OPEN TO ALL PARTIES, BUT INFLUENCED BY NONE.
WILLIAMSBURG: PRINTED BY JOHN PINKNEY,
FOR THE BENEFIT OF CLEMENTINA RIND’s CHILDREN.
All Persons may be supplied with this GAZETTE at 12s.6d. a Year. ADVERTISEMENTS, of a moderate Length, are inserted for 3s. the first Week,
and 2s. each Time after; long ones in Proportion.———PRINTING WORK, of every Kind, executed with Care and Dispatch.
Column 1
A PRETTY STORY, written in the year of our LORD, 2774, by
PETER GRIEVOUS, esquire.
THE PREFACE
A BOOK without a preface is like a face without a nose. Let the
other features be ever so agreeable and well proportioned, it is looked on
with detestation and horror if this material ornament be wanting.
Or rather, a book is like a house: The grand portion is the dedication; the
flagged pavement is an humble address to the reader, in order to pave the way
for a kind reception of the work; the front door with its fluted pillars, pedi-
ment, trigliffs, and modillons, are the title page with its motto, author’s
name and titles, date of the year, &c. the entry is the preface (oftentimes of
a tedious length) and the several apartments and closets are the chapters and
sections of the work itself.
As I am but a clumsy carpenter at best, I shall not attempt to decorate my
little cottage with any out of door ornaments; but as it would be inconvenient
and uncomfortable to have my front door open immediately into the apartments
of my house, I have made this preface by way of entry.
And now, gentle reader, if you should think my entry too plain and simple
you may set your imagination to work, and furnish it with a grand staircase,
with cornices, stucco, and paintings; that is, you may suppose that I entered
very unwillingly upon this work, being compelled to it by a chain of unforeseen
circumstances; that it was written in the midst of a great hurry of other busi-
ness, and under particular disadvantages of time and place, and that it was
only intended for the inspection of a few friends, without any expectations of
ever seeing it in the press.
You may, kind reader, go on to suppose that when my friends perused my
work, they were struck with the energy of my genius, and insisted that the
public ought not to be deprived of such a fund of amusement and improvement
through my obstinate modesty; and that, after many solicitations and powerful
persuasions, I had been prevailed upon to bless mankind with the fruits of my
labour.
Or, if you like not this, you may suppose that the following sheets were
found in the cabinet of some deceased gentleman, or that they were dug out of
an ancient ruins, or discovered in a hermit’s cave, or dropped from the clouds
in a hail storm. In short, you may suppose just what you please; and when,
by the help of imagination, you have seasoned the preface to your palate, you
may turn over this leaf, and feast upon the body of the work itself.
CHAPTER I.
ONCE upon a time, a great while ago, there lived a certain
nobleman, who had long possessed a very valuable farm,
and had a great number of children and grandchildren.
Besides the annual profits of his land, which were very
considerable, he kept a large shop of goods; and being
very successful in trade, he became, in process of time,
exceeding rich and powerful; insomuch, that all his neighbours feared
and respected him.
With respect to the management of his family, it was thought he had
adopted the most perfect mode that could be devised; for he had been at
the pains to examine the oeconomy of all his neighbours, and had selected
from their plans all such parts as appeared to be equitable and beneficial,
and omitted those which from experience were found to be inconvenient;
or rather, by blending their several constitutions together, he had so
ingeniously counterbalanced the evils of one mode of government with
the benefits of another, that the advantages were richly enjoyed, and
the inconveniencies scarcely felt. In short, his family was thought to be
the best ordered of any in his neighbourhood.
He never exercised any undue authority over his children or servants;
neither, indeed, could he oppress them if he was so disposed; for it was
particularly covenanted, in his marriage articles, that he should not at
any time impose any tasks or hardships whatever upon his children,
without the free consent of his wife.
Now the custom in his family was this, that at the end of every seven
years his marriage became, of course, null and void; at which time his
children and grandchildren met together, and chose another wife for him,
whom the old gentleman was obliged to marry, under the same articles and
restrictions as before. If his late wife had conducted herself, during her
seven years marriage, with mildness, discretion, and integrity, she was
re-elected; if otherwise, desposed. By which means the children had
always a great interest in their mother-in-law; and through her, a rea-
sonable check upon their father’s temper. For besides that he could
do nothing material respecting his children without her approbation, she
was sole mistress of the purse strings, and gave him out, from time to
time, such sums of money as she thought necessary for the expences of
his family.
Being one day in a very extraordinary good humour, he gave his chil-
dren a writing under his hand and seal, by which he released them from
many badges of dependence, and confirmed to them several very impor-
tant privileges. The chief were the two following, viz. that none of
his children should be punished for any offence, or supposed offence, until
his brethren had first declared him worthy of such punishment; and
secondly, he gave fresh assurances that he would impose no hardships upon
them without the consent of their mother-in-law.
This writing, on account of its singular importance, was called the
GREAT PAPER. After it was executed with the greatest solemnity,
he caused his chaplain to publish a dire anathema against all who should
attempt to violate the articles of the grand paper, in the words following.
”In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, amen! Whereas
our lord and master, to the honour of God, and for the common profit of
this farm, hath granted, for him and his heirs forever, these articles
above written, I, his chaplain and spiritual pastor of all this farm, do
admonish the people of the farm once, twice, and thrice; because that
shortness will not suffer so much delay as to give knowledge to the people
of these presents in writing: I therefore enjoin all persons, of what estate
soever they be, that they, and every of them, as much as in them is,
shall uphold and maintain these articles, granted by our lord and master
in all points. And all those that in any point do resist, or break, or
in any manner hereafter procure, counsel, or any ways assent, to resist,
or break these ordinances, or go about it by word or deed, openly or
privately, by any manner of pretence or colour, I, the aforsaid chaplain,
by my authority, do excommunicate and accurse, and from the body of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and from all the company of Heaven, and from all the
sacraments of holy church, do sequester and exclude.”
:CHAPTER II.
NOW it came to pass that this nobleman had, by some means or
other, obtained a right to an immense tract of wild, uncultivated coun-
try, at a vast distance from his mansion-house. But he set little store by
this acquisition, as it yielded him no profit; nor was it likely to do so,
being not only difficult of access, on account of the distance, but was
also over-run with innumerable wild beasts, very fierce and savage; so
that it would be extremely dangerous to attempt taking possession of it.
In process of time, however, some of his children, more stout and en-
terprizing than the rest, requested leave of their father to go and settle
on this distant tract of land. Leave was readily obtained; but before
they set out certain agreements were stipulated between them. The
principal were: The old gentleman, on his part, engaged to protect and
defend the adventurers in their new settlements; to assist them in chacing
away the wild beasts, and to extend to them all the benefits of the go-
Column 2
vernment under which they were born; assuring them that although
they should be removed so far from his presence, they should, never-
theless, be considered as the children of his family and treated accord-
ingly. At the same time he gave each of them a bond for the faithful
performance of these promises; in which, among other things, it was
covenanted, that they should, each of them, in their several families,
have a liberty of making such rules and regulations, for their own good
government, as they should find convenient; provided these rules and
regulations should not contradict, or be inconsistent with, the general
standing orders established in his farm.
In return for these favours, he insisted that they, on their parts, should
at all times acknowledge him to be their father; that they should not
deal with their neighbours without his leave, but send to his shop only
for such merchandize as they should want. But in order to enable them
to pay for such goods as they should purchase, they were permitted to sell
the produce of their lands to certain of his neighbours.
These preliminaries being duly adjusted, our adventurers bid adieu to
the comforts and conveniencies of their father’s house, and set off on
their journey. Many and great difficulties they encountered on their
way; but many more, and much greater, had they to combat on their
arrival in the new country. Here they found nothing but wild nature.
Mountains overgrown with inaccessible foliage, and plains steeped in
stagnated waters. Their ears are no longer attentive to the repeated
strokes of industrious labour, and the busy hum of men; instead of these,
the roaring tempest, and incessant howlings of beasts of prey, fill their
minds with horror and dismay. The needful comforts of life are no
longer in their power; no friendly roof to shelter them from inclement
skies; no fortress to protect them from surrounding dangers. Un-
accustomed as they were to hardships like these, some were cut off by
sickness and disease, and others snatched away by the hands of barbarity.
They began, however, with great perseverance, to clear the land of en-
cumbering rubbish, and the woods resound with the strokes of la-
bour; they drain the waters from the sedged morass, and pour the sun
beams on the reeking soil; they are forced to exercise all the powers of
industry and oeconomy for bare subsistence, and like their first parent,
when driven from Paradise, to earn their bread with the sweat of their
brows. In this work they were frequently interrupted by the incursions
of the wild beasts, against whom they defended themselves with heroic
prowess and magnanimity.
After some time, however, by dint of indefatigable perseverance, they
found themselves comfortably settled in this new farm, and had the
delightful prospect of vast tracts of land, waving with luxuriant harvests;
and perfuming the air with delicious fruits, which before had been a
dreary wilderness, unfit for the habitation of men.
In the mean time they kept up a constant correspondence with their
father’s family, and at a great expence provided waggons, horses, and
drivers, to bring from his shop such goods and merchandize as they
wanted; for which they paid out of the produce of their lands.
CHAPTER III.
NOW the new settlers had adopted a mode of government in their
several families similar to that their father had established in the old farm,
in taking a new wife at the end of certain periods of time, which wife
was chosen for them by their children, and without whose consent they
could do nothing material in the conduct of their affairs. Under these cir-
cumstances they thrived exceedingly, and became very numerous; living
in great harmony amongst themselves, and in constitutional obedience to
their father and his wife.
Notwithstanding their successful progress, however, they were fre-
quently annoyed by the wild beasts, which were not yet expelled the
country, and were moreover troubled by some of their neighbours, who
wanted to drive them off the land, and take possession of it themselves.
To assist them in these difficulties, and protect them from danger, the
old nobleman sent over several of his servants, who with the help of the
new settlers drove away their enemies. But then he required that they
should reimburse him for the expence and trouble he was at in their be-
half: This they did with great chearfulness, by applying from time to
time to their respective wives, who always commanded their cash.
Thus did matters go on for a considerable time, to their mutual happi-
ness and benefit. But now the nobleman’s wife began to cast an avarici-
ous eye upon the new settlers; saying to herself, if by the natural conse-
quence of their intercourse with us my wealth and power are so much
encreased, how much more would they accumulate if I can persuade them
that all they have belonged to us, and therefore I may at any time de-
mand from them such part of their earnings as I please. At the same
time she was fully sensible of the promises and agreements her husband
had made when they left the old farm, and of the tenor and purport of
the great paper. She therefore thought it necessary to proceed with great
caution and art, and endeavoured to gain her point by imperceptible steps.
In order to this, she first issued an edict, setting forth, that whereas
the tailors of her family were greatly injured by the people of the new
farm, inasmuch as they presumed to make their own clothes, whereby
the said tailors were deprived of the benefit of their custom; it was there-
fore ordained that for the future the new settlers should not be permitted
to have amongst them any shears or scissars larger than a certain fixed
size. In consequence of this, our adventurers were compelled to have
their clothes made by their father’s tailors; but out of regard to the
old gentleman, they patiently submitted to this grievance.
Encouraged by this success, she proceeded in her plan. Observing that
the new settlers were very fond of a particular kind of cyder which they
purchased of a neighbour, who was in friendship with their father (the
apples proper for making this cyder not growing on their own farm) she
published another edict, obliging them to pay her a certain stipend for
every barrel of cyder used in their families! To this likewise they sub-
mitted; not yet seeing the scope of her designs against them.
After this manner she proceeded, imposing taxes upon them on various
pretences, and receiving the fruits of their industry with both hands.
Moreover she persuaded her husband to send amongst them from time to
time a number of the most lazy and useless of his servants, under the
specious pretext of defending them in their settlements, and of assisting
to destroy the wild beasts; but in fact to rid his own house of their com-
pany, not having employment for them; and at the same time to be a
watch and a check upon the people of the new farm.
It was likewise ordered that these protectors, as they were called,
should be supplied with bread and butter cut in a particular form: But
the head of one of the families refused to comply with this order. He
engaged to give the guests, thus forced upon him, bread and butter suf-
ficient; but insisted that his wife should have the liberty of cutting it in
what shape she pleased.
This put the old nobleman into a violent passion, insomuch that he
had his son’s wife put into gaol for presuming to cut her loaf otherwise
than as had been directed.
CHAPTER IV.
AS the old gentleman advanced in years he began to neglect the affairs
of his family, leaving them chiefly to the management of his steward.
Now the steward had debauched his wife, and by that means gained an
entire ascendency over her. She no longer deliberated what would most
benefit either the old farm or the new; but said and did whatever the
Column 3
steward pleased. Nay, so much was she influenced by him that she could
neither utter ay or no but as he directed. For he had cunningly persuaded
her that it was very fashionable for women to wear padlocks on their lips,
and that he was sure they would become her exceedingly. He therefore
fastened a padlock to each corner of her mouth; when the one was open,
she could only say ay; and ween the other was loosed, could only cry no.
He took care to keep the keys of these locks himself; so that her will
became entirely subject to his power.
Now the old lady and the steward had set themselves against the people
of the new farm, and began to devise ways and means to impoverish and
distress them.
They prevailed on the nobleman to sign an edict against the new settlers,
in which it was declared that it was their duty, as children, to pay
something towards the supplying their father’s table with provisions, and
to the supporting the dignity of his family; and for that purpose it was
ordained that all their spoons, knives and forks, plates and porringers,
should be marked with a certain mark, by officers appointed for that end;
for which marking they were to pay a certain stipend; and that they should
not, under severe penalties, presume to make use of any spoon, knife or
fork, plate or porringer, before it had been so marked, and the said
stipend paid to the officer.
The inhabitants of the new farm began to see that their father’s af-
fections were alienated from them, and that their mother was but a base
mother-in-law, debauched by their enemy the steward. They were
thrown into great confusion and distress. They wrote the most suppli-
cating letters to the old gentleman, in which they acknowledged him to
be their father in terms of the greatest respect and affection; they re-
counted to him the hardships and difficulties they had suffered in settling
his new farm, and pointed out the great addition of wealth and power his
family had acquired by the improvement of that wilderness, and shewed
him that all the fruits of their labours must, in the natural course of things
unite, in the long run, in his money box. They also, in humble terms,
reminded him of his promises and engagements on their leaving home,
and of the bonds he had given them; of the solemnity and importance of
the great paper, with the curse annexed. They acknowledged that he
ought to be reimbursed the expences he was at on their account, and that
it was their duty to assist in supporting the dignity of his family. All this
they declared they were ready and willing to do; but requested that they
might do it agreeable to the purport of the great paper, by applying to
their several wives for the keys of their money boxes, and furnishing him
from thence; and not be subject to the tyranny and caprice of an avari-
cious mother-in-law, whom they had never chosen, and of a steward who
was their declared enemy.
Some of these letters were intercepted by the steward; others were de-
livered to the old gentleman, who was at the same time persuaded to
take no notice of them; but, on the contrary, to insist the more strenu-
ously upon the right his wife claimed of marking their spoons, knives
and forks, plates and porringers.
The new settlers observing how matters were conducted in their father’s
family, became exceedingly distressed and mortified. They met together
and agreed, one and all, that they would no longer submit to the arbi-
trary impositions of their mother-in-law, and their enemy the steward.
They determined to pay no manner of regard to the new decree, con-
sidering it as a violation of the great paper; but to go on and eat their
broth and pudding as usual. The cooks also and butlers served up their
spoons, knives and forks, plates and porringers, without having them
marked by the new officers.
The nobleman at length thought fit to reverse the order which had
been made respecting the spoons, knives and forks, plates and porringers,
of the new settlers; but he did this with a very ill grace; for he at the
same time avowed and declared that he and his wife had a right to mark
all their furniture, if they pleased, from the silver tankard down to the very
chamber pots; that as he was their father he had an absolute controul
over them, and that their liberties, lives, and properties, were at the
entire disposal of him and his wife; that it was not fit that he who was
allowed to be omnipresent, immortal, and incapable of error, should be
confined by the shackles of the great paper, or obliged to fulfil the bonds
he had given them, which he averred he had a right to cancel whenever
he pleased.
His wife also became intoxicated with vanity. The steward had told
her that she was an omnipotent goddess, and ought to be worshipped as such;
that it was the height of impudence and disobedience in the new settlers
to dispute her authority, which, with respect to them, was unlimited;
that as they had removed from their father’s family, they had forfeited
all pretensions to be considered as his children, and lost the privileges of
the great paper; that, therefore, she might look on them only as tenants
at lill upon her husbands farm, and exact from them what rent she pleased.
All this was perfectly agreeable to madam, who admitted this new
doctrine in it full sense.
The people of the new farm, however, took little notice of these
pompous declarations. They were glad the marking decree was reversed,
and were in hopes that things would gradually settle into their former
channel.
CHAPTER V.
IN the mean time the new settlers encreased exceedingly, and as they
encreased their dealings at their father’s shop were proportionably en-
larged.
It is true they suffered some inconveniencies from the protectors that
had been sent amongst them, who became very troublesome in their
houses; they seduced their daughters, introduced riot and intemperance
into their families, and derided and insulted the orders and regulations
they had made for their own good government. Moreover, the old
nobleman had sent amongst them a great number of thieves, ravishers,
and murderers, who did a great deal of mischief by practising those
crimes for which they had been banished the old farm. But they bore
these grievances with as much patience as could be expected, not chusing
to trouble their aged father with complaints, unless in cases of important
necessity.
Now the steward continued to hate the new settlers with exceeding
great hatred, and determined to renew his attack upon their peace and
happiness. He artfully insinuated to the old gentleman and his foolish
wife that it was very mean and unbecoming in them to receive the con-
tributions of the people of the new farm, towards supporting the dignity
of his family, through the hands of their respective wives; that upon
this footing, it would be in their power to refuse his requisitions when
ever they should be thought to be unreasonable, of which they would
pretend to be judges themselves; and that it was high time they should
be compelled to acknowledge his arbitrary power, and his wife’s omnipo-
tence.
For this purpose another decree was prepared and published, ordering
that the new settlers should pay a certain stipend upon particular goods,
which they were not allowed to purchase any where but at their father’s
shop, and that this stipend should not be deemed an advance upon the
original price of the goods, but be paid on their arrival at the new farm,
for the express purpose of supporting the dignity of the old gentleman’s
family, and of defraying the expences he affected to afford them.
This new decree gave our adventurers the utmost uneasiness. They
saw that the steward and their mother-in-law were determined to oppress
Page 2
Column 1
and enslave them. They again met together and wrote to their father,
as before, the most humble and persuasive letters, but to little purpose;
a deaf ear turned to all their remonstrances, and their dutiful requests
treated with contempt.
Finding this moderate and decent conduct brought them no relief, they
had recourse to another expedient: They bound themselves in a solemn
engagement not to deal any more at their father’s shop until this uncon-
stitutional decree should be reversed, which they declared to be a violation
of the great paper.
This agreement was so strictly adhered to that in a few months the
clerks and apprentices in the old gentleman’s shop began to make a sad
outcry. They declared that their master’s trade was declining exceed-
ingly, and that his wife and steward would, by their mischievous machi-
nations, ruin the whole farm. They forthwith sharpened their pens and
attacked the steward, and even the old lady herself, with great severity;
insomuch that it was thought proper to withdraw this attempt likewise
upon the rights and liberties of the new settlers. One part only of the
new decree remained unreserved, viz. the tax upon water gruel.
Now there were certain men on the old farm who had obtained from
the nobleman an exclusive right of selling water gruel. Vast quantities
of this gruel were vended amongst the new settlers; for it became very
fashionable for them to use it in their families in great abundance. They
did not, however, trouble themselves much about the tax on water gruel;
they were well pleased with the reversal of the other parts of the decree,
and considering gruel as not absolutely necessary to the comfort of life,
they were determined to endeavour to do without it, and by that means
avoid the remaining effects of the new decree.
The steward found his designs once more frustrated, but was not dis-
couraged by this disappointment. He formed another scheme, so artfully
contrived that he thought himself sure of success. He sent for the per-
sons who had the sole right of vending water gruel, and after reminding
them of the obligations they were under to the nobleman and his wife
for their exclusive privilege, he desired that they would send sundry wag-
gon loads of gruel to the new farm, promising that the accustomed duty
which they paid for their exclusive right should be taken off from all the
gruel they should send amongst the new settler, and that in case their
cargoes should come to any damage, he would take care that the loss
should be repaired out of the old gentleman’s coffers.
The gruel merchants readily consented to this proposal, knowing that
if their cargoes were sold they would reap considerable profits, and if they
failed the steward was to make good the damage. On the other hand,
the steward concluded that the new settlers could not resist purchasing the
gruel to which they had been so long accustomed, and if they did pur-
chase it when subject to the tax aforesaid, this would be an avowed ac-
knowledgment on their parts that their father and his wife had a right to
break through the tenor of the great paper, and to lay on them what
impositions they pleased, without the consent of their respective wives.
But the new settlers were well aware of this decoy; they saw clearly
that the gruel was not sent to accommodate, but to enslave them, and
that if they suffered any part of it to be sold amongst them it would be
deemed a submission to the assumed omnipotence of the great madam.
CHAPTER VI.
ON the arrival of the water gruel the people of the new farm were
again thrown into great alarms and confusions. Some of them would
not suffer the waggons to be unloaded at all, but sent them immediately
back to the gruel merchants. Others permitted the waggons to unload,
but would not touch the hateful commodity, so that it lay neglected about
their roads and highways until it grew sour and spoiled. But one of the
new settlers, whose name was Jack, either from a keener sense of the
injuries attempted against him, or from the necessity of his situation,
which was such that he could not send back thegruel, because of a num-
ber of mercenaries whom his father had stationed before his house to
watch and be a a check upon his conduct, he, I say, being almost driven
to despair, fell to work, and with great zeal stove to pieces the casks of
gruel, which had been sent him, and utterly demolished the whole
cargo.
These proceedings were soon known at the old farm. Great and ter
rible was the uproar there. The old gentleman fell into great wrath,
declaring that his absent children meant to throw off all dependence upon
him, and to become altogether disobedient. His wife also tore the pad-
locks from her lips, and raved and stormed like a Billingsgate. The
steward lost all patience and moderation, swearing most prophanely that
he would leave no stone unturned till he had humbled the settlers of the
new farm at his feet, and caused their father to trample on their necks.
Moreover, the gruel merchants roared and bellowed for the loss of their
gruel, and the clerks and apprentices were in the utmost consternation,
lest the people of the new farm should again agree to have no dealings
with their father’s shop. Vengeance was immediately set on foot, par-
ticularly against Jack. With him they determined to begin, hoping that
by making an example of him they should so terrify the other families of
the new settlers that they would all submit to the designs of the steward,
and the omnipotence of the old lady.
A very large padlock was accordingly prepared to be fastened upon Jack’s
great gate, the key of which was to be given to the old gentleman, who
was not to open it again until he had paid for the gruel he had spilt, and
resigned all claim to the privileges of the great paper; nor then nei-
ther, unless he thought fit. Secondly, a decree was made to new model
the regulations and oeconomy of Jack’s family in such manner that they
might for the future be more subject to the will of the steward. And
thirdly, a large gallows was erected before the mansion-house in the old
farm, and an order made that if any of Jack’s children or servants should
be suspected of misbehaviour they should not be convicted or acquitted by
the consent of their brethren, agreeable to the purport of the great paper,
but to be tied neck and heels, and dragged to the gallows at the mansion-
house, and there be hanged without mercy.
No sooner did tidings of this undue severity reach the new farm but
the people were almost ready to despair. They were altogether at a loss
how to act, or by what means they should avert the vengeance to which
they were doomed; but the old lady and steward soon determined the
matter; for the padlock was sent over, and without ceremony fastened
upon Jack’s great gate. They did not wait to know whether he would
pay for the gruel or not, or make the required acknowledgments, nor give
him the least opportunity to make his defence. The great gate was lock-
ed, and the key given to the old nobleman, as had been determined.
Poor Jack found himself in a most deplorable condition. The great
inlet to his farm was entirely blocked up, so that he could neither carry
out the produce of his land for sale, nor receive from abroad the necessa-
ries for his family.
But this was not all: His father, along with the padlock aforesaid,
had sent an overseer to hector and domineer over him and his family, and
to endeavour to break his spirit by exercising every possible severity; for
which purpose he was attended by a great number of mercenaries, and
armed with more than common authorities.
On his first arrival in Jack;s family he was received with considerable
respect, because he was the delegate of their aged father; for notwith-
standing all that had past, the people of the new settlers loved and revered
the old gentleman with a truly filial attachment, attributing his unkind-
ness entirely to the intrigues of their enemy the steward. But this fair
weather did not last long. The new overseer took the first opportunity
of shewing that he had no intentions of living in harmony and friendship
with the family. Some of Jack’s domestics had put on their Sunday
clothes, and attended the overseer in the great parlour, in order to pay
him their compliments on his arrival, and to request his assistance in re-
conciling them to their father; but he rudely stopped them short in the
midst of their speech, called upon them a parcel of disobedient scoundrels, and
bid them go about their business. So saying, he turned upon his heel,
and with great contempt left the room.
CHAPTER VII.
NIOW Jack and his family, finding themselves oppressed, insulted,
and tyrannised over, in the most cruel and arbitrary manner, advised with
their brethren what measures would be adopted to relieve them from
their intolerable grievances. Their brethren, one and all, united in sym-
pathising with their afflictions; they advised them to bear their suffer-
ings with fortitude for a time, assuring them that they looked on the
punishments and insults laid upon them with the same indignation as if
they had been inflicted on themselves, and that they would stand by and
support them to the last. But, above all, earnestly recommended it to
them to be firm and steady in the cause of liberty and justice, and never
acknowledge the omnipotence of their mother-in-law, nor yield to the
machinations of their enemy the steward.
In the mean time, lest Jack’s family should suffer for want of neces-
saries, their great gate being fast locked, liberal and very generous con-
tributions were raised among the several families of the new settlements,
for their present relief. This seasonable bounty was handed to Jackover
the garden wall; all access to the front of his house being shut up.
Now the overseer observed that the children and domestics of Jack’s
family had frequent meetings and consultations together; sometimes in
the garret, and sometimes in the stable; understanding, likewise, that an
agreement not to deal in their father’s shop, until their grievances should
be redressed, was much talked of amongst them, he wrote a thundering
prohibition, much like a pope’s bull, which he caused to be pasted up in
every room in the house; in which he declared and protested in these
Column 2
meetings were treasonable, traiterous, and rebellious, contrary to the
dignity of their father, and inconsistent with the omnipotence of their
mother-in-law; denouncing also terrible punishments against any two of
the family who should from thenceforth be seen whispering together,
and strictly forbidding the domestics to hold any more meetings in the
garret or stable.
These harsh and unconstitutional proceedings irritated Jack and the
other inhabitants of the new farm to such a degree that * * * * * * *
Coetera desunt.
*** Several gentlemen having expressed a desire to have the above
piece in a pamphlet, they now receive notice that it is printed in that
manner, and may be supplied upon the earliest applications. It is done in
an elegant manner; the price of which is one pistereen.
THE GLORIOUS SEVENTY FOUR
A NEW SONG. To the tune of HEARTS of OAK.
COME, come, my brave boys, from my song you shall hear,
That we’ll crown seventy four a most glorious year;
We’ll convince Bute and Mansfield, and North, though they rave,
Britons still, like themselves, spurn the chains of a slave.
| CHORUS. | |
| Hearts of oak are their sons, | |
| Like them we are ready, as firm and as steady, | |
| To fight for our freedom with swords and with guns. |
Foolish elves, to conjecture, by crosing of mains,
That the true blood of freemen would change in our veins;
Let us scorch, let us freeze, from the line to the pole,
Britain’s sons still retain all their freedom of soul.
Hearts of oak, &c.
See———our rights to invade, Britain’s dastardly foes,
Sending bysons and congoes, did vainly suppose,
That poor shallow pates, like themselves; we were grown,
And our hearts were as servile and base as their own.
Hearts of oak, &c.
Their tea still is driven away from our shores,
Or presented to Neptune, or rots in our stores;
But to awe, to divide, till we crouch to their sway,
On brave Boston their vengeance they fiercely display.
Hearts of oak, &c.
Now unask’d, we unite, we agree to a man,
See our stores flow to Boston from read and from van;
Hark! the shouts, bow it flies, freedom’s voice, how it sounds!
From each country, each clime, bark, the echo rebounds!
Hearts of oak, &c.
Across the Atlantic, so thund’ring the roar,
It has rous’d Britain’s genius, who dos’d on his shore;
Who has injur’d my sons, my brave boys o’er the main,
Whose spirits to vigor it renews me again!
Hearts of oak, &c.
With sons, whom I foster’d and cherish’d of yore,
Fair freedom shall flourish till time is no more;
No tyrant shall rule them, ’tis Heaven’s decree,
They shall never be slaves while they dare to be free.
Hearts of oak, &c.
BOSTON, September 8.
AT a meeting of the committees from every town and district in the county
of Middlesex, and province of Massachusetss Bay, held at Concord, in
the said county, on the 30th and 31st of August, 1774, to consult upon
measures proper to be taken at the present very important day, the honourable
JAMES PRESCOT, esquire, chosen chairman; after having read the
late act of the British parliament, entitled “An act for the better regulating
the government of the province of Massachusetts Bay in New England,” and
debated thereon; VOTED, that a committee be appointed to take into considera-
tion the said act, and report to this meeting. VOTED also, that Mr. Jona-
than Williams Austin of Chalmsford, captain Thomas Gardner of Cambridge,
doctor Isaac Foster of Charlestown, captain Josiah Stone of Farmingham,
Mr. Richard Deavens of Charlestown, doctor Oliver Prescot of Groton, Henry
Gardner, esquire, of Stow, Mr. William Brown of Farmingham, and Mr.
Ebenezer Bridge, junior, of Billerica, be the committee; who reported as
follows:
IT is evident to every attentive mind that this province is in a very dan-
gerous and alarming situation. We are obliged to say, however painful it may
be to us, that the question now is, whether by a submission to some late acts of
the parliament of Great Britain, we are contented to be the most abject slaves,
and entail that slavery on posterity after us, or by a manly, joint, and virtu-
ous opposition, assert and support our freedom.
There is a mode of conduct, which, in our very critical circumstances, we
would wish to adopt, a conduct, on the one hand, never tamely submissive to
tyranny and oppression; on the other, never degenerating into rage, passion,
and confusion. This is a spirit, which we revere as we find it exhibited in
former ages, and will command applause to latest posterity.
The late acts of parliament pervade the whole system of jurisprudence, by
which means we think the fountains of justice are fattily conducted. Our de-
fence must therefore be immediate, in proportion to the suddenness of the at-
tack, and vigorous in proportion to the danger.
We must now exert ourselves, or all those efforts, which for ten years past
have brightened the annals of this country, will be totally frustrated. Life
and death, or, what is more, freedom and slavery, are in a peculiar sense
now before us, and the choice and success, under God depend greatly upon
ourselves. We are therefore bound, as struggling not only for ourselves, but
future generations, to express our sentiments in the following resolves; senti-
ments which, we think, are founded in truth and justice, and therefore sen-
timents we are determined to abide by.
RESOLVED, that as true and loyal subjects of our gracious sovereign
George the third, king of Great Britain, &c. we by no means intend to
withdraw our allegiance from him, but, while permitted the free exercise
of our natural and charter rights, are resolved to expend life and treasure
in his service.
Resolved, that when our ancestors emigrated from Great Britain, Char-
ters and solemn stipulations expressed the conditions, and what particular
rights they yielded, what each party had to do and perform, and which
each of the contracting parties were equally bound by.
Resolved, that we know of no instance in which this province has
transgressed the rules on their part, or any ways forfeited their natural and
charter rights to any power on earth.
Resolved, that the parliament of Great Britain have exercised a power
contrary to the above mentioned charter, by passing acts which hold up
their absolute supremacy over the colonists, by another act blocking up
the port of Boston, and by two late acts, the one entitled “an act for
better regulating the government of the province of Massachusetts Bay,”
the other entitled “an act for the more impartial administration of
justice in said province,” and by enforcing all these iniquitous acts with a
large armed force to dragoon and enslave us.
Resolved that the late act of parliament entitled “an act for the better
regulating the government of the province of the Massachusetts Bay, in
New England,” expressly acknowledges the authority of the charter,
granted by their majesties king William and queen Mary to said province,
and that the only reasons suggested in the preamble to said act, which is
intended to deprive us of the privileges confirmed to us by said charter,
are the inexpediency of continuing those privileges, and a charge of their
having been forfeited, to which charge the provinces has had no opportuni-
ty of answering.
Resolved, that a debtor may as justly refuse to pay his debts, because
it is expedient for him, as the parliament of Great Britain deprive us of
our charter privileges, because it is inexpedient to a corrupt administration
for us to enjoy them.
Resolved, that in all free states there must be an equilibrium in the
legislative body, without which constitutional check they cannot be said
to be a free people.
Resolved, that the late act, which ordains a council to be appointed by
his majesty, his heirs, and successors, from time to time, by warrant un-
der his or their signet or sign manual, and which ordains that the said
counsellors shall hold their offices respectively for and during the pleasure of
his majesty his heirs, and successors, effectually alters the constitutional
equilibrium, renders the council absolute tools and creatures, and entirely
destroys the importance of the representative body.
Resolved, that no state can long exist free and happy where the course
of justice is obstructed, and that when trials by juries, which are the
grand bulwarks of life and property, are destroyed or weakened, a people
fall immediately under arbitrary power.
Resolved, that the late act, which gives the governor of this province
a power of appointing judges of the superior and inferior courts, com-
missioners of oyer and terminer, the attorney generals, provosts, marshals,
and justices of the peace, and to remove all of them (the judges of the
superior court excepted) without consent of council, entirely subverts a
free administration of justice, as the fatal experience of mankind, in all
ages, has testified that there is no greater species of corruption than when
judicial and executive officers depend, for their existence and support, on
a power independent of the people.
Column 3
Resolved, that by ordaining jurors to be summoned by the sheriff only,
which sheriff is to be appointed by the governor without consent of
council, that security which results from a trial by our peers is rendered
altogether precariouos, and is not only an evident infraction upon our
charter, but a subversion of our common righs as Englishmen.
Resolved, that every people have an absolute right of meeting together
to consult uon common grievances, and to petition, remonstrate, and
use every legal method for their removal.
Resolved, that the act which prohibits these constitutional meetings
cuts away the scaffolding of English freedom, and reduces us to a most
abject state of vassalage and slavery.
Resolved, that it is our opinion, these late acts, if quietly submitted
to, will annihilate the last vestiges of liberty in this province, and there-
fore we must be justified by God and the world in never submitting to
them.
Resolved, that it is the opinion of this body, that the present act,
respecting the government of the province of Massachusetts Bay, is an
artful, deep laid plan of oppression and despotism, and that it requires
great skill and wisdom to counteract it. This wisdom we have endeavour-
ed to collect from the united sentiments of the county; and although we
are grieved that we are obliged to mention any thing that may be attended
with such very important consequences as may now ensue, yet a sense of
our duty as men, as freemen, as christian freemen, united in the firmest
bonds, obliges us to resolve that every civil officer now in commission in
this province, and acting in conformity to the late act of parliament, is
not an officer agreeable to our charter, therefore unconstitutional, and
ought to be opposed in the manner hereafter recommended.
Resolved, that we will obey all such civil officers, now in commission,
whose commissions were issued before the first day of July, 1774, and
support them in the execution of their offices according to the manner
usual before the late attempt to alter the constitution of this province;
nay, even although the governor should attempt to revoke their com-
missions; But that if any of said officers shall accept a commission under
the present plan of arbitrary government, or in any way or manner what-
ever assist the governor or administration in the assault now making on
our rights and liberties, we will consider them as having forfeited their
commissions, and yield them no obedience.
Resolved, that whereas the honourable Samuel Danforth and Joseph
Lee, esquires, two of the judges of the inferior court of common pleas
for this county, have accepted commissions under the new act, by being
sworn members of his majesty’s council appointed by said act, we there-
fore look upon them utterly incapable of holding any office whatever.
And whereas a venire, on the late act of parliament, has issued from the
court of sessions, signed by the clerk, we think they come under a pre-
ceding resolve of acting in conformity to the new act of parliament; we
therefore resolve, that a submission to courts thus acting, and under these
disqualifications, is a submission to the act itself, and of consequence, as
we are resolved never to submit one iota to the act, we will not submit to
courts thus constituted and thus acting in conformity to said act.
Resolved, that as, in consequence of the former resolve, all business at
the inferior court of common pleas and court of general sessions of the
peace next to be holden at Concord must cease, to prevent the many in-
conveniencies that may arise therefrom, we resolve, that all actions,
writs, suits, &c. brought to said court ought to remain in the same con-
dition as at present (unless settled by consent of parties) till we know
the result of a provincial and continental congress. And we resolve, that
no plaintiff, in any cause, action, or writ, aforesaid, outght to enter said
action in said court, thus declared to be unconstitutinal. And we resolve,
if the court shall sit in defiance to the voice of the county, and default
actions and issue executions accordingly, no officer ought to serve such
process. And we are also determined to support all constables, jurors,
and other officers, who, from these constitutional principles, shall refuse
obedience to courts which we have resolved are founded on the destruction
of our charter.
Resolved, that it is the opinion of this body of delegates, that a pro-
vincial congress is absolutely necessary in our present unhappy situation.
These are sentiments which we are obliged to express, as these acts are
intended immediately to take place. WE must now either oppose them,
or tamely give up all we have been struggling for. It is this that has
forced us so soon on these very important resolves. However, we do it
with humble deference to the provincial and continental congress, by
whose resolutions we are determined to abide; to whom, and the world,
we chearfully appeal for the uprightness of our conduct.
On the whole, these are “great and profound questions.” We are
grieved to find ourselves reduced to the necessity of entering into the dis-
cussion of them; but we deprecate a state of slavery; our fathers left a
fair inheritance to us, purchased by a waste of blood and treasure. This
we are resolved to transmit equally fair to our children after us; no danger
shall affright, no difficulties intimidate us; and if in support of our rights
we are called to encounter even death, we are yet undaunted, sensible
that he can never die too soon who lays down his life in support of the
laws and liberties of his country.
Which report being maturely deliberated,
Voted,that the sense of the whole body, respecting the same, be col-
lected by yeas and nays, which bring done, there were 146 yeas and 4
nays.
Voted, that it be recommended to the several towns and districts in
this county that each appoint one or more delegates to attend a provincial
meeting to be holden at Concord, on the second Tuesday of October
next.
Voted, that a fair copy of the proceedings of this meeting be made out
and forwarded to the grand continental congress, and also to the town
clerk of each town in this county.
Voted, that the thanks of this meeting be given to the honourable
JAMES PRESCOT, esquire, for his faithful services as chairman.
Voted, athat this meeting be dissolved, and it was accordingly dissolved.
A true copy. Attest. EBENEZER BRIDGE, Clerk.
To the printers of the PENNSYLNANIA JOURNAL.
Gentlemen,
Please to insert in your paper the following extract from the minutes of
the congress now sitting at Philadelphia. By order of the congress.
CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary.
IN CONGRESS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1774.
THE resolutions entered into by the delegates from the several towns
and districts in the county of Suffolk, in the province of Massa-
chusetts Bay on Tuesday the 6th instant, and their address to general
Gage, dated the 9th instant, were laid before the congress, and are as
follows:
At a meeting of the delegates of every town and district in the county of
Suffolk, on Thuesday the 6th of September, at the house of Mr.
Richard Woodward, of Dedham, and by adjournment, at the house
of Mr. ______ Vosa, of Milton, on Friday the 9th instant, Joseph
Palmer, esquire, being chosen moderator, and William Thompson,
esquire, clerk, a committee was chosen to bring in a report to the
convention, and the following being several time read, and put para-
graph by paragraph, was unanimously voted, viz.
WHEREAS the power, but not the justice, the vengeance, but not
the wisdom, of Great Britain, which of old persecuted, scourged, and ex-
cited our fugitive parents fron their native shores, now pursues us, their
guiltless children, with unrelenting severity; and whereas this then
savage and uncultivated desart was purchased by the toil and treasure, or
acquired by the blood and valour of those our venerable progenitors, to us
they bequeathed the dear bought inheritance, to our care and protection
consigned it, and the most sacred obligations are upon us to transmit
the glorious purchase, unfettered by power, unclogged with shackles, to
our innocent and beloved offspring. On the fortitude, on the wisdom,
and on the exertions of this important day is suspended the fate of this new
world and of unborn millions. If a boundless extent of continent, swarm-
ing with millions, will tamely submit to live, move, and have their being
at the arbitrary will of a licentious minister, they basely yield to voluntary
slavery, and future generations shall load their memories with incessant
execrations. On the other hand, if we arrest the hand which would ran-
sack our pockets; if we disarm the parricide which points the dagger to
our bosoms; if we nobly defeat that fatal edict which proclaims a power
to frame laws for us in all cases whatever, thereby entailing the endless
and numberless curses of slavery upon us, our heirs, and their heirs for-
ever; If we successfully resist that unparallelled usurpation of unconstituti-
onal power, whereby our capital is robbed of the means of life; whereby
the streets of Boston are thronged with military executioners; whereby
our coasts are lined and harbours crouded with ships of war; whereby
the charter of the colony, that sacred barrier against the encroachments
of tyranny is mutilated, and in effect, annihilated; whereby a murderous
law is framed to shelter villains from the hands of justice; whereby that
unalienable and inestimable inheritance which we derived from nature,
the constitution of Britain, and the privileges warranted to us in the
charter of the province, is totally wrecked, annulled, and vacated, pos-
terity will acknowledge that virtue which preserved them free and happy;
and while we enjoy the reward and blessings of the faithful, the torrents
of panegyrists will roll our reputations to that latest period, when the
streams of time shall be absorbed in the abyss of eternity. Therefore we
have resolved, and do resolve,
Page 3
Column 1
1. That whereas his majesty George the third is the rightful successor
to the throne of Great Britain, and justly entitled to the allegiance of the
British realm, and, agreeable to compact, of the English colonies in
America; therefore, we the heirs and successors of the first planters of
this colony do chearfully acknowledge the said George the third to be our
rightful sovereign, and that said covenant is the tenure and claim on
which are founded our allegiance and submission.
2. That it is an indispensable duty which we owe to God, our coun-
try, ourselves, and posterity, by all lawful ways and means in our power
to maintain, defend, and preserve those civil and religious rights and
liberties, for which many of our fathers fought, bled, and died, and to
3. That the late acts of the British parliament for blocking up the
harbour of Boston, for altering the established form of government in this
colony, and for screening the most flagitious violators of the laws of the
province from a legal trial, are gross infractions of those rights to
the charter of the province.
4. That no obedience is due from this province to either or any part
of the acts of above mentioned, but that they be rejected as the attempts of
a wicked administration to enslave America.
5. That so long as the justices of our superior court of judicature,
court of assize, &c. and inferior court of common pleas in this county are
appointed, or hold their places, by any other tenure than that which the
charter and the laws of the province direct, they must be considered as
under undue influence, and are therefore unconstitutional officers, and as
such no regard ought to be paid to them by the people of this country.
6. That if the justices of the superior court of judicature, assize, &c.
justices of the court of common pleas, or of the general sessions of the
peace, shall sit and act during their present disqualified state, this county will
support and bear harmless all sheriffs and their deputies, constables, jurors,
and other officers, who shall refuse to carry into execution the order of
said court; and as far as possible to prevent the many inconveniencies
which must be occasioned by a suspension of the courts of justice, we do
most earnestly recommend it to all creditors that they shew all reasonable
and even generous forbearance to their debtors, and to all debtors, to pay
their just debts with all possible speed, and if any disputes relative to
debts, or trespasses shall arise, which cannot be settled by the parties, we
recommend it to them to submit all such causes to arbitration, and it is
our opinion that the contending parties, or either of them, who shall
refuse so to do, ought to be considered as co-operating with the enemies of
this country.
7. That it be recommended to the collectors of the taxes, constables, and
all other officers, who have public money in their hands to retain the
same, and not to make any payment thereof to the provincial county
treasurer until the civil government of the province is placed upon a
constitutional foundation, or until it shall otherwise be ordered by the
proposed provincial congress.
8. That the persons who have accepted seats at the council board, by
virtue of a mandamus from the king, in conformity to the late act of the
British parliament, entitled “An act for the regulating the go-
vernment of the Massachusetts Bay,” have acted in direct violation of the
duty they owe to their country, and have thereby given great and just
offence to this people, therefore resolved, that this county do recommend
it to all persons who have so highly offended, by accepting said depart-
ments, and have not already publicly resigned their seats at the council
board, to make public resignations of their places at said board, on or
before the 20th day of this instant, September; and that all persons re-
fusing so to do, shall, from and after said day, be considered by this county
as obstinate and incorrigible enemies to this country.
9. That the fortifications begun and now carrying on upon Boston
Neck, are justly alarming to this county, and give us reason to appre-
hend some hostile intention against that town, more especially as the
commander in chief has in a very extraordinary manner removed the
powder from the magazine at Charlestown, and has also forbidden the
keeper of the magazine at Boston, to deliver out to the owners the powder
which they had lodged in said magazine.
10. That the late act of parliament for establishing the roman catho-
lic religion and the French laws in that extensive country now called
Canada is dangerous in an extreme degree to the protestant religion, and
to the civil rights and liberties of all America; and therefore as men and
protestant christians, we are indispensably obliged to take all proper
measures for our security.
11.That whereas our enemies have flattered themselves that they
shall make an easy prey of this numerous, brave, and hardy people,
from an apprehension that they are unacquainted with military discipline,
we therefore, for the honour, defence, and security of this country and
province, advise, as it has been recommended to take away all commis-
sions from the officers of the militia, that those who now hold commis-
sions, or such other persons be elected in each town as officers in the
militia, as shall be judged of sufficient capacity for that purpose, and who
have evinced themselves the inflexible friends to the rights of the people;
and that the inhabitants of those towns and districts, who are qualified,
to use their utmost diligence to acquaint themselves with the art of war
as soon as possible, and do for that purpose appear under arms at least once
every week.
12. That during the present hostile appearances on the part of Great
Britain, notwithstanding the many insults and oppressions which we most
sensibly resent, yet, nevertheless, from our affection to his majesty,
which we have at all times evidenced, we are determined to act merely
upon the defensive, so long as such conduct may be vindicated by reason
and the principles of self preservation, but no longer.
13. That as we understand it has been in contemplation to apprehend
sundry persons of this county, who have rendered themselves conspicuous
in contending for the violated rights and liberties of their countrymen,
we do recommend, should such an audacious measure be put into practice,
to seize and keep in safe custody, every servant of the present tyrannical
and unconstitutional government throughout the county and province,
until the persons so apprehended be liberated from the hands of our ad-
versaries, and restored safe and uninjured to their respective friends and
families.
14. That until our rights are fully restored to us, we will, to the ut-
most of our power, recommend the same to the other counties, with-
hold all commercial intercourse with Great Britain, Ireland, and the
West Indies, and abstain from the consumption of British merchandize
and manufactures, and especially of East India teas and piece goods, with
such additions, alterations, and exceptions only, as the grand congress of
the colonies may agree to.
15. That under our present circumstances it is incumbent on us to
encourage arts and manufactures among us by all means in our power,
and that [blank spaces] be and hereby are appointed a committee to
consider of the best ways and means to promote and establish the same,
and to report to this convention as soon as may be.
16.That the exigencies of our public affairs demand that a provincial
congress be called to concert such measures as may be adopted and vigo-
rously executed by the whole people; and we do recommend it to the
several towns in this county to chuse members for such a provincial con-
gress to be holden at Concord, on the second Tuesday of October next
ensuing.
17. That this county, confiding in the wisdom and integrity of the
continental congress, now sitting at Philadelphia, pay all due respect and
submission to such measures as may be recommended by them to the co-
lonies for the restoration and establishment of our just rights, civil and
religious, and for renewing that harmony and union between Great
Britain and the colonies, so earnestly wished for by all good men.
18. That whereas the universal uneasiness which prevails among all
orders of men, arising from the wicked and oppressive measures of the
present administration, may influence some unthinking persons to commit
outrage upon private property; we would heartily recommend to all per-
sons of this community not to engage in any routs, riots, or licentious
attacks upon the properties of any person whatsoever, as being subversive
of all order and government; but by a steady, manly, uniform, and per-
severing opposition, to convince our enemies that in a contest so impor-
tant, in a cause so solemn, our conduct should be such as to merit the ap-
probation of the wise, and the admiration of the brave and free, of every
age and of every country.
19. That should our enemies, by any sudden manoeuvres, render it
necessary to ask the aid and assistance of our brethren in the country, some
one of the committee of correspondence, or a select man of such town, or
the town adjoining, where such hostilities shall commence, or shall be
expected to commence, shall dispatch couriers with written messages to
the select men or committees of correspondence of the several towns in
the vicinity, with a written account of such matter, who shall dispatch
others to committees more remote, until proper and sufficient assistance
be obtained; and that the expence of said couriers be defrayed by the
county, until it shall be otherwise ordered by the provincial congress.
PHILADELPHIA, September 21.
Extract of a letter from London, dated July 27.
WITH respect to politics, it is not necessary, in this advanced part of
the season, to write much. The resolutions of Philadelphia, and
those of Maryland and Virginia, I must, however, tell you, are esteemed both
by the court and the merchants of the city, as very inoffensive, and as the
Column 2
mere ebullitions of a set of angry men, whose force was spent the day they were
made; and the proposed congress is spoken of, and realy considered, both by
administration, and all the merchants of the city, as a scheme that will produce
no sort of security to the liberty of the colonies, nor trouble to administration;
and it is under this general apprehension that the stocks continue so uncommonly
high as they are at present, and have been for some time past. Mr. Hutchin-
son is in good health, and in apparent high spirits. He is much quoted by
administration; and they are assured by him that their proper and spirited
measures will unquestionable excite a perfect submission in all parts of
America. Depend on it that it is only such parricides as Mr. Hutchinson,
&c. that support the despotic and destructive schemes and wishes of the enemies
of America; and it is from their infamous suggestions that administration is
taught to laugh at your proposed congress, as they are assured by them, and
from both New York and Philadelphia, that it will produce nothing more than
a remonstrance or petition of right (which by the bye it is already determined
not to receive) and that you are so attached to your private interests you will
never stop either imports or exports. The honest hearted Americans, at pre-
sent in this city, are daily both at court and in London ridiculed, on account
of the high sounding declarations of patriotism, made, as it is said, by the
cowardly Americans, and are hourly mortified with the detestable opinions of
Hutchinson, and other natives of America, being pleasingly repeated, and re-
lied on. But, for my part, however I am perpetually insulted with the
prostituted sentiments of these men, I persuade myself your countrymen are not so
contaminated with the vices and effeminacy of this nation not to see that this is
the important crisis when they ought to make a solemn, sullen, united, and
invincible stand, against the cruel, tyrannic, and ruinous system of policy,
adopted and exercising by this legislature against the rights and freedom of Ame-
rica; and, let me add, that if the deputies of the several provinces, when
convened in congress, do not one and all firmly resolve to establish through
every county and township, in their respective provinces, a solemn league and
covenant, and under the obligation of an oath or affirmation, not to purchase
or use the manufactures of this country (save what are collected already within
the provinces) and, if possible, not to export any provisions to the West India
islands, and, at the same time, they do not religiously resolve to meet again in
congress every six months, for the purpose of forming a suitable plan, for the
permanent security of American rights and freedom; I say, if these things are
not done, and if they do not determine faithfully to stand by each other, until
every act passed this session is reversed, and until all their just rights and pri-
vileges are fully recognized and established by this legislature, our children
will be irremediably deprived of that inheritance of liberty which our fathers
carefully and piously transmitted to us.
Extract of a letter from London,</e,> dated July 1.
”I am sorry to learn, by late letters from Philadelphia, that you are likely
to have an Indian war, by the imprudence of some of the back inhabitants. I
most sincerely wish that steps may be taken to prevent it; for you may be assured
the people in power here wish for it. They say it will be the means of humbling
and reducing the rebellious Americans to obedience. This they are determined
to do, let the consequence be what it may. I am much grieved to hear that the
unjust and tyrannical steps taken by government here, against the Massachusetts
Bay, are not, by the other colonies, looked upon as an attack upon all America,
but intended only against that province. The policy of this country is to divide
and conquer; and if the other colonies sit quiet, and suffer the people of New
England, for want of their uniting and making it one common cause, to be
reduced to the necessity of subscribing to such terms as government here shall hold
out to them, they will attack the other colonies, and then farewell to the liber-
ties of America; for the Americans will be soon as absolute slaves as the
Frenchmen. The infamous Quebec bill, which establishes popery and arbitrary
power through a country, capable of maintaining more people than England,
France, and Spain, is intended to keep the old colonies in awe; and people here
in power make no secret of saying, that by keeping the Canadian militia well
disciplined, they shall be able, with them, and the fleet, to keep the colonies
always in subjection. Would you believe, that out of all the bishops, only the
bishop of St. Asaph had virtue enough to vote against this bill? I hope we
shall never suffer one of them to set his foot in America. Nothing can save
America but their uniting and religiously entering into an agreement, and sa-
credly keeping it, not to import any goods from Great Britain, nor to export
any goods either to Great Britain or the islands, until justice is done them by
this country, and their liberties settled on a firm and solid basis. This, in less
than one twelve months, will bring the people of this country to reason, and
force them, contrary to their inclinations, to do the Americans justice; for they
have no trade but what is against them, save to Ireland and America.”
On Friday last the honourable delegates,, now met in general congress,
were elegantly entertained by the gentlemen of this city. Having met
at the City Tavern about 3 o’clock, they were conducted from thence to
the statehouse by the managers of the entertainment, where they were
received by a very large company, composed of the clergy, such genteel
strangers as happened to be in town, and a number of respectable citizens,
making the whole near 500. After dinner the following toasts were
drank, accompanied by music and a discharge of cannon.
The king. The queen. The duke of Gloucester. The prince of
Wales and royal family. Perpetual union to the colonies. May the co-
lonies faithfully execute what the congress shall wisely resolve. The
much injured town of Boston and province of Massachusetts Bay. May
Great Britain be just and America free. No unconstitutional standing
armies. May the cloud which hangs over Great Britain and the colonies,
burst only on the heads of the present ministry. May every American
hand down to posterity, pure and untainted, the liberty he has derived
from his ancestors. May no man enjoy freedom who has not spirit to de-
fend it. May the persecuted genius of liberty find a lasting asylum in
America. May British swords never be drawn in defence of tyranny.
The arts and manufactures of America. Confusion to the authors of the
Canada bill. The liberty of the press. A happy reconciliation between
Great Britain and her colonies, on a constitutional ground. The virtu-
ous few in both houses of parliament. The city of London. Lord
Chatham. Lord Camden. Bishop of Saint Asaph. Duke of Richmond.
Sir George Saville. The Marquis of Rockingham. Mr. Burke. General
Conway. Mr. Dunning. Mr. Sawbridge. Dr. Franklin. Mr. Hancock.
The acclamations with which several of them were received, not only
testified the sense of the honour conferred by such worthy guests, but the
fullest confidence in their wisdom and integrity, and a firm resolution to
adopt and support such measures as they shall direct for the public good at
this alarming crisis.
WILLIAMSBURG.
His excellency lord Dunmore, we hear, has amicably settled matters
with the Delaware, Wyndot, and Seneca Indians, who have lately
brought many tokens of their peaceable disposition, and of their deter-
mination to maintain peace. His lordship set off some time since with
a detachment, in order to compromise affairs with the other nations,
and it is supposed he will be equally successful.
Many of the principal merchants at Baltimore, in Maryland, have
received letters from general Gage for blankets, &c. which they po-
sitively denied granting him. The merchants there have sent letters to
the congress; their contents we are not informed of.
On Saturday morning last died, at Mansfield, the seat of Mann Page,
esquire, near Fredericksburg, the honourable JOHN PAGE, esquire, of
North river, Gloucester county. He was one of his majesty’s council of
this colony.
Mr. PINKNEY,
If nothing which will better answer the design of the enclosed should come
to hand, you may insert it in your next paper. I am, sir, your
CONSTANT READER.
ON THE DEATH OF MRS. RIND.
YE mournful bards! why are your lyres unstrung!
Shall CLEMENTINA’S praise remain unsung!
Sooner the lowest of the tuneful throng
Shall raise his lays to elegiac song:
To her, blest shade, a plaintive verse is due,
Lov’d by the muses, and fair science too;
And sure a happy proof of this remains,
In her soft numbers, and harmonious strains.
With manly sense, and fortitude of mind,
The softer graces of her sex combin’d,
To form a bright example in her life,
Of friend, of mistress, daughter, mother, wife.
Aid us, religion! to receive the stroke,
Which fatally those dear connections broke.
When worth and genius prematurely die,
All men must give th’ involuntary sigh;
But when that worth is intimately known,
We pay the tribute of a heart-felt groan!
To be SOLD, at Amherst courthouse, on Monday the 5th of December
next, being court day,
FIFTEEN VIRGINIA BORN SLAVES.
TWELVE or eighteen months credit will be allowed, the purchaser
giving bond, to carry interest from the date, with approved secu-
rity. The interest will be remitted to those who pay the principal in 12
months from the day of sale. 3 DANIEL GAINES.
Column 3
PATRICK BEECH,
At the BRICK SHOP, opposite Mr. Turner’s store,
WILLIAMSBURG,
BEGS leave to inform the public that he makes and
sells all sorts of GOLD, SILVER and JEWELLERY WORK,
after the newest fashions, and at the lowest prices, for ready money only.
Those who are pleased to favour him with their commands may depend
upon having their work done in the neatest manner, and on the shortest
notice; and their favours will be most gratefully acknowledged.———He
gives the highest prices for old GOLD, SILVER, or LACE, either in
cash, or exchange.———Commissions from the country will be carefully
observed, and punctually answered.
TWO good, sober, creditable, JOURNEYMEN CABINET-
MAKERS, will meet with good encouragement by applying to
the subscriber, in Williamsburg.
3 RICHARD BOOKER.
To be SOLD, at public auction, before the Raleigh door, in Williamsburg,
on Friday the 29th instant (October) at 4 o’clock in the afternoon,
THAT valuable TRACT of LAND, near the mouth of Archer’s
Hope creek, where Mrs. Tate lately lived. There are on it a
commodious dwellinghouse, and convenient out houses; adjoining to
the high land is a considerable quantity of very good marsh. Any person
inclining to purchase may treat with Robert C. Nicholas, esquire, as to
the payments, which will be made easy, upon bond, with approved se-
curity; and the land, &c. will be shewn by Mr. Everard’s overseer,
at the adjoining plantation.
3 SARAH TATE.
To be SOLD, by public vendue, at Camden, the sale to begin on Monday
the 7th of November next, being the time of the court there, to continue
from day to day until the whole are sold,
ALL the valuable lands, stores, houses, mills, boats, waggons, horses,
and stock of store goods, with about 100 as valuable negroes as
any in this province, being chiefly coopers, millers, bakers, waggoners,
jobbing carpenters, boatmen, and field slaves, belonging to the late part-
nership of Kershaws, Chesnut, and company, of Camden, which expired
with the month of April last.
The town of Camden being regularly laid out into large and commodious
lots for building upon, will be sold in separate lots to the highest bidder;
every purchaser to make choice of a lot as it is knocked off, excepting
such lots as are already improved. The healthy and advantageous situati-
on of Camden for trade, with the promising prospect of its soon becoming
the most considerable inland town in this part of America, are well known,
and need not be enlarged upon.
Their lands, consisting of many thousand acres, lying chiefly upon the
Watcree river and its branches, among which are many settled and well
improved plantations, a great part whereof is rich river low ground as
any in America, will be set up, in convenient tracts, from one hundred to
one or two thousand acres, so as to accommodate purchasers of all ranks.
Their saw and grist mills, which no cost has been spared to make as
compleat as any on the continent, will be set up with the necessary lands
adjoining.
At the same time and place will be sold, their commodious and well
situated stores at Granby, on the Congaree river, where their business is
carried on under the firm of John Chesnut and company.
On Wednesday. the 16th day of November next, and the following days,
at the courthouse at Long Bluff, will be sold, that valuable plantation
called Liberty Hill, and all their other lands at and near Cheraw Hill, on
Peedee river, together with their stores, houses, mills, remaining stock
of store goods, and about 50 valuable negroes, employed in carrying on
their business at Chatham, under the firm of Ely Kershaw and company.
The whole being to be sold in order to make a final settlement of the
copartnership which lately subsisted between the subscribers. Twelve
months credit will be given, if required, upon all sums above 100£ on
paying interest from the day of sale, giving such security as shall be ap-
proved of by
JOSEPH KERSHAW,
JOHN CHESNUT,
ELY KERSHAW,
WILLIAM ANCRUM,
AARON LOOCOCK.
*** Any person inclinable to purchase any of their lands or lots at
Camden, already build upon, may have them at private sale.
A list of their lands, with plats annexed, as also a plan of the town of
Camden, may be seen in the hands of any of the said late copartners.
All persons indebted to them at any of their stores above mentioned,
or in Charlestown, are desired to take notice that their accounts, bonds,
or notes, must be discharged in the course of the ensuing fall, as no
longer indulgence can be given.
PORT ROYAL, September 22, 1774.
WHEREAS by a decree of the honourable the general court, April
the 13th, 1772, in a suit in chancery, Edward Dixon and others,
complainants, against Thomas Turner and others, defendants, in consi-
deration of the reports made and returned, and the order of his majesty
and his privy council, it is, among other things, decreed and ordered,
that the said Thomas Turner, and the said Edward Dixon, and his chil-
dren, pay the balance of certain debts and costs, in the said decree men-
tioned and referred to, in proportion to the value of the estates which
they took under the will and codicil of Thomas Turner, the testator, in
the said decree likewise mentioned, and that the said Edward Dixon, and
Thomas Turner, if they shall think fit, sell so many of the slaves devised
to them respectively, and the children of the said Edward, by the will
of the said testator, as will raise money sufficient to pay and discharge
their proportions of the said debts and costs, as by the said decree may
particularly appear. And whereas the proportion of the said debts and
costs, for which the said Edward and his children were made responsible
by the said decree, amount to about 3000£ current money, the said
Edward Dixon proposed to offer for sale, to the highest bidder, for ready
money only, about 100 entailed SLAVES, devised to him and his chil-
dren as aforesaid; the sale to begin at his plantation, near Burk’s Bridge,
in Caroline county, on the 4th day of November next ensuing, and at his
plantation, near the Mount church, in the said county; also at Port
Royal on the 8th of the same month, and at his plantation at the Cobler
Mountains, in Fauquier county, on the 18th day of the same month.
The said sale is to be continued till as much money can bee raised as will
amount to the proportion aforesaid. If either of the days aforesaid should
prove bad, the sales to be on the next succeeding fair days. A good
title will be made to the purchasers, agreeable to the said decree, by
EDWARD DIXON.
N. B. As I am giving up trade, I request of all those, whose ac-
counts are unsettled on my books, to come and settle them immediately,
and pay the balances that are due, as no longer indulgence can be given.
STOLEN out of the subscriber’s stable at Smithfield, on Sunday the
2d instant, October, a dark bay horse, upwards of 14 hands high, has
many saddle spots, and other spots, on different parts of his body, thin
mane and switch tail, paces, trots, and gallops, goes well in harness,
and has lately been galled on the breast, which plainly appears, and is
branded on one of his buttocks (but am not certain which) I G. He
formerly was the property of Mr. Robert Mitchell of Richmond; and I
am apprehensive the thief is gone that way. I will give FORTY
SHILLINGS for the delivery of the horse, and pay reasonable
charges, and FIVE POUNDS on conviction of the thief.
3 ARTHUR SMITH.
NORFOLK, October 4, 1774.
THE directors of the LIGHTHOUSE are desirous to engage imme-
diately with some person to carry a quantity of stone fromCape
Henry to the place whereon the lighthouse is to be fixed, about one mile
and a half distance.
tf BASSETT MOSELEY.
FOR LONDON,
THE snow GALE, Henry Jefferson, master, has good accom-
modations for four cabin passengers, and will sail on or before
the 20th of October. Any person inclinable to take a passage in the
above vessel may apply to the said captain, at Mr. Mussenburg’s, about 3
miles above Newport News, near Norfolk, opposite where the ship loads.
WILLIAMSBURG, September 27, 1774.
I INTEND shortly to leave the colony.
3 AGATHA CURTIS.
To be SOLD, on Wednesday the 19th of October,
ABOUT one thousand acres of exceeding good LAND for tobacco,
wheat, and corn, in the lower end of Middlesex county, on Rappa-
hannock river, which abounds with the finest fish and oysters, and is very
convenient to the church and mill. The land will be laid off in small parcels
to suit the purchasers, one half of the money to be paid down, and the
other half on the 10th day of April, 1775, for which bond, with secu-
<rity, will be required. The land will be shewn by Benjamin Hersin and
Benjamin Hackney, or the subscriber. WILLIAM CHURCHILL.
MIDDLESEX, September 17, 1774.
Page 4
Column 1
WILLIAMSBURG, September 6, 1774.
I BEG leave to inform the public, and particularly those gentlemen
who were pleased to take my subscription papers to their respective
counties, to raise a small sum of money for the encouragement of making
SALT, that after viewing many places on this and the other side of the
bay, and on the sea coast of the Eastern Shore, I have now fixed on a
convenient spot, on the coast, for erecting proper works; and as nothing
more can be done on my part without money, I must beg the favour of
them to forward such sums, as they may be able to collect, to Robert
Carter Nicholas, esquire, who is so kind as to take the trouble of receiving
and paying the money out to me. Proper security shall be lodged in his
hands for any sum that I may draw. The certainty of being able to make
salt as good as any whatever is hardly to be doubted, form the severel
experiments which I have made, and which are pretty fully certified by
gentlemen of veracity, whose certificates will be lodged in the hands of
Mr. Nicholas. The gentlemen will readily see the necessity I am under
of requesting speedy assistance, when I inform them that I have for some
time past devoted my whole attention to this business, and given over
every pursuit from whence my family might have derived any advanaage,
and that, in order to put the works in as great a forwardness as it was in
my power, I have incurred a considerable expence, and been obliged to
contract for some of the necessary materials.
JAMES TAIT.
MR. TAIT having produced to me a sample of salt made on the
Eastern Shore, together with a certificate of a gentleman of un-
questionable credit, I have no doubt, with proper encouragement, of his
succeeding in his proposed scheme, from which it seems highly probable
that this country will reap the greatest advantage: I shall, therefore,
most chearfully comply with his request, and take great pleasure in con-
tributing every thing in my power towards carrying it into execution.
RO. C. NICHOLAS.
PURSUANT to a decree of the honourable the general court, and by
letter of attorney from colonel Geroge Mercer, of Virginia, now in
London, will be sold, at public auction, about 3500 acres of L A N D,
in the county of Loudoun, near West’s ordinary, about 12 miles from
Leesburg, 40 from Alexandria, and 35 from Dumfries, on Powtowmack.
This land is well known by the description of the Bull Run Mountains,
and is very fertile. Also 6500 acres of Shanandoah river, in the county
of Frederick, opposite to Snicker’s ordinary, and binding on the river
about 7 miles. As this tract is part of a survey, one of the first in that
part of the colony, its quality cannot be questioned; it is well watered,
will admit of 2 mills on land streams, and others on the river. There
are now in it 6 plantations, well improved for cropping, 110 slaves, and
very large and choice stocks of horses (some of the dray breed) black cat-
tle, hogs, and sheep, which; together with the crops of corn and wheat
now growing (expected to be upwards of 2000 barrels, and 5000 bushels)
will be sold, on the premises, on the 24th of November next, or next
fair day. The Loudoun lands will be sold at West’s ordinary on the 21st
day of the same month, and both tracts laid off in lots to suit every pur-
chaser, who may see them by applying to Mr. Francis Peyton, living near
the Loudoun lands, and Mr. William Dawson, who resides on the Shanan-
doah tract. Among the slaves are 2 good blacksmiths, 2 carpenters, and
an exceeding trusty and skilful waggoner. The aged black cattle and
grown hogs will be fattened for slaughter. Purchasers above 25£. will be
allowed credit for 12 months, on giving bond and security to the sub-
scribers, who will be prepared to make conveyances.
JOHN TAYLOE
tf GEORGE WASHINGTON
To be SOLD, on Monday the 10th of October, at Louisa courthouse, being
court day, to the highest bidder,
A TRACT of LAND in said county, whereon is a very good
dwellinghouse, all other necessary out houses, barns, &c, and a
good crop of corn growing on the plantation; being the tract of land
which Mr. George Barclay lately lived upon, and purchased of Mr. Clifton
Rhodes. The terms of payment will be made known on the day of sale.
by 2 WILLIAM FRASER.
Pursuant to an act of assembly, will be SOLD, at Smithfield, on Thurs-
day the third of November next,
EIGHTEEN hundred and sixty eight acres (the remaining part of a
tract) of well timbered, level LAND, in Isle of Wight county, be-
longing to Mr. James Burwell. This land is laid off into 7 lots, and is
within 11 miles of Smithfield, and 5 of a very fine merchant mill. Any
person who has thoughts of purchasing, may know the terms by applying
to Mr. James Burwell, in York county.
LEWIS BURWELL,
DUDLEY DIGGES,
THOMAS NELSON, junior.
NATHANIEL BURWELL.
To be SOLD, to the highest bidder, for ready money, on Wednesday the 5th
of October, at John Wilkinson’s plantation, in New Kent county,
TWENTY ONE LIKELY
NEGROES,
Consisting of men, women, boys, and girls; also the stock of cattle and
horses, some household furniture, and one riding chair, by virtue of exe
cutions obtained in New Kent court by Mess. John Eilbeck, David Ross,
and company, against the estate of the said Wilkinson.
JOSIAH HOLT, D. S.
PURSUANT to the last will and testament of Samuel Hening, deceas-
ed, will be sold, on the 1st day of November next, at his late
dwellinghouse in Culpeper county, several SLAVES, stocks of HORSES,
CATTLE, SHEEP, and HOGS; among the cattle are many BEEVES.
Also will be sold, some HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE. All persons
indebted to the said estate are desired to come and settle; and those that
have any demands against it ware requested to make them known before
the day of sale. There is likewise a quantity of INDIAN CORN to be
sold. (2) DAVID HENING, Executor.
FOR SALE,
A TRACT of exceeding good LAND, containing about 430 acres,
one which is a large, commodious dwellinghouse, with all conve-
nient out houses, in good repair, situated on the south branch of Pa-
munkey river, adjoining the lands of colonel Thomas Nelson and colonel
Syme. The terms may be known by applying to the last named gentle-
man, Mr. Clough at Rockey Mill, or to
(3) DAVID HOOPS.
RUN away from the subscriber in York county, in August last, a negro
man slave, upwards of 6 feet high, of a tawny complexion, and
has lost some of his fore teeth, has a black spot in his forehead, and calls
himself STEPNEY BLUE. He has been seen in Gloucester county, was
the property of Sarah Mingham, who I have since married, and as I have
been informed, has a forged pass, with his mistress’s name to it, giving
him leave to hire himself. He went away with a free negro woman
named Easter Roberts, which I am told is his wife, and I make no doubt
but he will, or has got a pass, in order to go as a free man. Any person
who will take up the said slave, and secure him so that I can get him again,
shall receive 20s. if taken up within 20 miles of this place, 40s. if at a
greater distance, and 5£. if out of the colony, besides what the law allows.
2 NATHAN YANCEY
FOR CHARTER
THE ship LONDSDALE, JAMES GRAYSON, master, burthen
about 430 hogsheads, British built, 2 years old, a very good vessel,
well fitted and found. For terms apply to Richard Squire Taylor, in King
William county.
TAKEN up, in Loudoun, within 3 miles of Leesburg, a light roan
horse, about 12 years old, 13 hands 3 inches high, branded on the
near buttock W, his mane and tail almost black, and has a black spot, about
the size of a musket bullet, near the pitch of each of his shoulders. Posted,
and appraised to 8£. ( ) JOHN M’BRIDE.
TAKEN up, in Fauquier, a small bay horse, about 13 hands high,
has a short tail, with a hanging mane, a star in his forehead, his
right hind foot white, about 4 years old, branded on the near buttock J,
trots naturally, and is shod before. Posted, and appraised to 10£.
( ) FRANCIS ATWELL.
NORFOLK, September 13, 1774.
I DO hereby give notice that the partnership of Hargraves and Orange
is dissolved by mutual agreement, Mr. Hargraves having purchased
my part of the stock, and has taken the whole on himself. Those who
have any demands against the said concern are desired to apply to Mr.
Hargraves. (3) WILLIAM ORANGE.
THERE is remaining in Byrd’s warehouse, Henrico county, a
hogshead of TOBACCO, marked M W G, No. I, weighing
912 gross, 107 tare, 805 neat. The owner’s name is not known. It
was inspected JulyI, in the year 1771, and will be sold according to
law, if no owner claims it within the limited time.
4 SAMUEL and ROBERT PRICE.
TAKEN up, in Chesterfield, a bay mare, about 10 years old, 4 feet 5
inches high, a large star in her forehead, and has a white streak
leading towards her nose, two of her feet white, has some saddle spots,
and branded on the near buttock I C. Posted, and appraised to 8£.
WILLIAM AKIN.
Column 2
RUN away from the subscriber, lying on Byrd Creek, in Goochland
county, on Saturday the 9th of July, SAMUEL GREGORY,
alias NAILING, an apprentice, about 18 years of age, swarthy com-
plexion, thin visage, grey eyes, a down, inoffensive look, shews his teeth
much when he laughs, has short sandy coloured hair, round shouldered,
and stoops in his walk; had on an oznabrig shirt and trowsers. I have
been credibly informed he went to Loudoun county, or some of the coun-
ties adjacent. I expect he will employ himself in the carpenter’s busi-
ness, as he has been in that branch for 3 years past. Whoever brings
him to me shall have FIVE POUNDS.
t f TURNER ANDERSON..
RUN away from the subscriber, living in Nansemond county, near
Suffolk town, a negro woman named MILLA, who has been absent
ever since the year 1768; she has a scar upon the back part of each of
her hands, near her little fingers, and another on the top of one of her
feet, is about 4 feet 6 inches high, and about 20 years old. I am told
she has been in Norfolk; and I am also informed that at the house of Mr.
Thomas Husk, between Rappahannock and Potowmack rivers, there is a
wench that calls herself free Milla,who may probably be the same.
TEN POUNDS will be given to the person who will bring her to
JOHN HARRISON, junior.
RUN away from the subscriber, about the 20th of April last, a mu-
latto fellow named PETER BROWN, a painter by trade, but can
do carpenter’s work; he is 35 or 40 years of age, of a dark complexion,
5 feet 8 or 9 inches high, slim made, has a thin visage, several of his
upper foreteeth are out, is fond of singing, which he can do very well,
and is a remarkable fine whistler. The said fellow has several suits of
cloaths, therefore I cannot describe his dress. He was some years past
tried for a robbery, but obtained the governor’s pardon, on suffering one
year’s imprisonment; after that he was sold to Mr. John Fox, of Glon-
cester, with whom he lived one or two years; he then run away, and
passed for a free man in the counties of King William, Caroline, and Ha-
nover, where he was taken up and brought home. As he has a wife at
Mr. Benjamin Hubbard’s, it is likely he may be lurking in that neigh-
bourhood; and as he was raised in Petersburg, it is probable he may be
about there. Whoever will take up the said runaway, and deliver him
to me, at Osborne’s, shall receive FORTY SHILLINGS reward. All
persons are forbid harbouring or carrying him out of the colony.
PETERFIELD TRENT.
STRAYED from the subscriber, the 10th of May last, a dark bay mare,
about 4 feet 6 inches high, not branded, has a mealy nose, thick
mane, and long switch tail, strong made, has good courage, paces, trots,
and gallops. THIRTY SHILLINGS will be given to any person that
will deliver her to the subscriber, in King & Queen, or to Mr. David
Anderson, junior, merchant in Louisa, where she was bred.
3 MATTHEW ANDERSON, junior.
TAKEN up, in Southampton, a black horse, about 4 feet 4 inches
high, near 12 years old, branded on the near buttock in the form of
a heart, and has the scar of a fistula. Posted, and appraised to SIX
POUNDS. LUCY TAYLOR.
TAKEN up, in Sportsylvania, a black steer, with two crops and an
underkeel in the right ear, and a hole in the left. Posted, and ap-
praised to I£. 15s. ( ) MARY PENN.
FOR SALE,
A TRACT of LAND, containing upwards of 3000 acres, in the
county of Richmond, upon Rappahannock river, opposite to the seat
of Robert Beverley, esquire, extending more than 2 miles upon the river;
the land is extremely well timbered, a great part of it lies well, and is
equal to any in that part of the country. There are also, beside the
quantity of dry land above mentioned, between 4 and 500 acres of valua-
ble marsh, which may easily be reclaimed; a large water course running
through the greatest part of the tract affords a considerable quantity of
rich, valuable meadow land, and a good mill seat. There are also several
delightful situations for a gentleman’s seat, commanding extensive pros-
pects up and down the river, where the greatest plenty of fish and fowl
are to be had. A part of the tract is in possession of several tenants at
will, some of whom pay from 2o£ to 25£. annual rent for 100 acres. It
will be sold (and may be entered upon next Christmas) either together,
or in parcels, by private bargain, at any time before the 10th of October,
and if not disposed of before that time (of which notice shall be published
in this gazette) it will then be offered for public sale, upon the premises,
on the 3d Monday in November. Twelve or 15 months credit will be
allowed, upon giving bond, with good security; to bear interest from the
25th of December, if the purchase money is not paid agreeable to the
contract. The terms will be made known to those who incline to pur-
chase privately, and the lands shewn, if required, and an undoubted title
made, by the subscriber, living in Westmoreland county.
10|| c 10 oct. WILLIAM BERNARD.
NEW YORK, July 27, 1774.
FIFTY POUNDS REWARD.
WHEREAS on the 19th of June last past a certain JOSEPH
THORP was entrusted with a considerable sum in half jo-
hannes, of nine penny weight, to be delivered by him at Quebec, and as
he has not yet made his appearance there, with other suspicious circum-
stances, it is apprehended he is gone off with the money. He is a native
of England,about 6 feet high, swarthy complexion, very dark, keen
eyes, and pitted with the smallpox, of a slender make, stoops as he walks,
talks rather slow, and has some small impediment in his speech. He
lived some time in Boston, from whence he removed to Quebec, assuming
the character of a merchant in both places; he was also once in trade
in Newcastle, Virginia, and has a brother settled there. It is believed
he went on board captain John F. Pruym, for Albany. and took with
him a blue casimir, and a dark brown cloth suit of clothes. Whoever se-
cures the said Joseph Thorp in any of his majesty’s gaols on this continent
shall be entitled to ten per cent. on the sum recovered, and the above
reward of 50£. when convicted. Apply to Cuson and Seton of New York,
Joseph Wharton, junior, of Philadelphia, Robert Christie of Baltimore,
James Gibson and company of Virginia, John Bondfield of Quebec, Me-
latiah Bourne, or John Rowe, of Boston. It is requested of those who
may have seen this Joseph Thorp since the 19th of June last past, or
know any thing of the rout he has taken, that they convey the most
early intelligence thereof to any of the above persons, or Greenwood, Rit-
son, and Marsh. in Norfolk, or to Mr. Robert Pleasants and company, at
Four Mile creek, Herico county; the favour will be gratefully acknow-
ledged. All masters of vessels are forewarned from taking him off the
continent.
NORFOLK, April 21, 1774.
NOTICE is hereby given, that a number of vessels
will be wanted this summer to bring about 6000
tons of stone from Mr. Brooke’s quarry, on Rappahan-
nock, and land the same on Cape Henry, for the light-
house. Any person inclinable to engage in such work
are desired to treat with Matthew Phrip, Paul Loyall,
and Thomas Newton, junior, esquires. The directors
of the lighthouse will also be glad to purchase one or
two flat bottomed vessels from 80 to 120 tons burthen.
tf BASSETT MOSELEY.
FOR SALE,
ABOUT twelve thousand acres of exceeding rich
TOBACCO LAND, in Amherst county, whereon
are several plantations and improvements sufficient to
work forty of fifty hands. There is on this land for sale
a very valuable GRIST MILL, lately built, with a
stone dam and a pair of good COLOGNE MILL-
STONES, which mill has for two years past got up-
wards of 100 barrels of toll corn, and is situated on a
never failing stream. The land will be shewn by William
Womack, who lives at one of the plantations, and the
prices of the land made known by him. One or two
years credit will be allowed, interest being paid for the
second year, and also for the first, if the money is not
paid agreeable to contract. The land is to be laid off
and surveyed by Colonel William Cabell, at the expence
of the purchaser. Deeds will be made, upon bond and
approved security being given, either to Call, William
Cabell, or the subscriber. Six per cent. discount will be
allowed for ready money, or good merchants notes. If
any person would chuse to exchange lands in the lower
part of the country, on or near some navigable river,
that are good, it is more than probable we should agree.
CARTER BRAXTON.
Column 3
FOR SALE,
NINE hundred and forty acres of valuable land, lying
on both sides of Contrary River, in Louisa, with
three plantations thereon, two of which has sufficient
houses for overseers and negroes; the other is improved
with all necessary buildings, and orchards of all kinds
fit for the reception of a gentleman, the houses being
finished in the best manner. This tract is well timbered
and watered, lies within 32 miles of Fredericksburg, and
43 of Page’s warehouse; there are at least 400 acres of
low grounds, of the best soil, 300 of which are now to
cut. The three plantations are under good fences and
in good order to work 12 or 15 hands. Robert Flem-
ing, John Massey, and John Lain, are now in possession
of the plantations, who will shew the land to any person
inclinable to purchase, and Major Thomas Johnson will
agree with them for the price. The above tract is esteem-
ed the most valuable in Louisa for growing corn, wheat,
or tobacco, and situated in the best range for stock of any
below the great mountains. (tf I * )
FOR SALE,
FIVE hundred acres of land, lying on Deep Creek, in
Louisa, about 45 miles of Richmond town, and is
exceeding good land, well watered by Deep creek, and
a large branch thereof, which runs through the middle
of the land, and affords a large quantity of rich meadow
ground. Any person inclinable to purchase may see the
land, and know the terms, by applying to the subscriber,
living near it. tf I * GEORGE MERIWETHER.
TO BE RENTED,
FROM YEAR TO YEAR, OR FOR A TERM OF YEARS,
BELVOIR,
THE beautiful seat of the honourable George William
Fairfax, esquire, lying upon Potowmack river, in
Fairfax county, about 14 miles below Alexandria. The
mansion house is of brick, two story high, with four con-
venient rooms and a large passage upon the lower floor,
five rooms and a passage on the second, and a servants
hall and cellars below; convenient offices, stables, and
coach house, adjoining, as also a large and well furnish-
ed garden, stored with great variety of valuable fruits, in
good order. Appertaining to the tract on which these
improvements are, and which contains near 2000 acres
(surrounded, in a manner, by navigable water) are se-
veral valuable fisheries, and a good deal of cleared land
in different parts, which may be let altogether, or sepa-
rately, as shall be found most convenient. The terms
may be known of Colonel Washington, who lives near
the premises, or of me, in Berkeley county,
tf FRANCIS WILLIS, junior.
FOR SALE, AND VERY CHEAP,
A PLANTATION in good order for cropping, none
of the land having been cleared above six years,
with all necessary houses, quite new, together with 1500
acres of exceeding rich land, the soil of which is so good
that it will bring large tobacco for five or six years with-
out dung. I have made on this plantation above three
thousand pounds of tobacco per share. The place is very
healthy, and has a fine range for stock. This land lies
in the lower end of Buckingham county, near to Appo-
mattox river, on each side of Great Ducker’s and Mayo
creeks. Tobacco has been carried above this land near
to Petersburg by water, and last month, in the dry wea-
ther, two canoe loads of wheat were carried near to
Petersburg, and the canoes brought back; they were
loaded but a little below this land. I make no doubt
but Appomattox river will be soon cleared, and then the
expence of sending wheat, tobacco, &c. will be trifling.
Any person inclinable to purchase will see, by the produce
of the land, that it is exceeding rich. I really do not
know any better high land in the colony. This tract of
land is well timbered, and has excellent water on it. I
do not know a better place for a merchant mill than is on
Ducker’s creek. People are going much on raising wheat
in these parts, and a good mill would be very advantage-
ous to the owner. Also another tract of land of 826
acres, in Albemarle county, I believe about ten miles
from the courthouse, joining Mr. James Harris and the
quarters of Mr. John Winston. On this land is a small
plantation, a good apple orchard, &c. The land is
good, and my price so low, that I am convinced any
person who viewed either of the above tracts of land
would not hesitate to give the price I shall ask. Neither
of these tracts are under any incumbrance whatsoever.
A reasonable time of payment will be allowed.
tf ANTHONY WINSTON.
For S A L E,
A TRACT of land, on Charles river, York county,
containing about 600 acres, part of which is marsh
that may be drained with very little expence. The situ-
ation of this place is very convenient for a family, as it
lies upon a river that abounds with oysters and fine fish,
particularly sheepheads; it is within 200 yards of a mill,
and 2 miles of the church. My reason for selling it is,
my having bought a tract of land more convenient to me.
Whoever inclines to purchase may know the terms by
applying to the subscriber, in York town.
THOMAS NELSON, junior.
WANTED for the lighthouse directors eight second-
hand ANCHORS, nearly a thousand weight
each. Any person having such for sale are desired to
make their terms known to the subscriber in Norfolk.
t. f. BASSETT MOSELEY.
YORK town, June 9, 1773.
THE subscribers being very solicitous to comply with
the will of their testator, the late Honourable
William Nelson, desire that all persons who were indebted
to him will endeavour to make as speedy payments as
possible. Those who have accounts open on his books,
and who cannot immediately discharge the balances,
are desired to give their bonds. This request is the
more necessary, as most of the legacies bequeathed by
the testator are to be paid in sterling money, and he has
directed that his younger sons fortunes shall be placed
out at interest upon undoubted securities, so soon as it
can be done. Those who have any demands are desired
to make them immediately known.
| Thomas Nelson, | Hugh Nelson, |
| Thomas Nelson, jun. | Ro. C. Nicholas. |
Original Format
Collection
Citation
