Special Collections, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

The Virginia Gazette. Number 1171, March 17, 1774

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The Virginia Gazette. Number 1171, March 17, 1774

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MARCH 17,1774 NUMBER[?]
THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE.
With the [?freshest] ADVICES,
FOREIGN and DOMESTICK.
IN CIVITATE LIBERA LINGUAM MENTEMQUE LIBERAS ESSE DEBERE.----Suet inTib S.28.
Printed byALEX. PURDIE,andJOHN DIXON,at the POST OFFICE.

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PICTURES OF THE TIMES.

GOD.] That there is a God, is evident
from our own Existence. The Or-
der and Regularity which is diffused
throughout the whole Creation, the
Planets still running in one continued
Course, and not breaking in upon one
another, which would invert the Order of Nature,
and bring all Things to Ruin and Confusion, the glo-
rious Luminary that gives us Light, the starry Firma-
ment, in short, every Insect and Thing that breathes,
manifests it beyond all Possibility of Doubt; yet,
strange to tell! there are those who affect to disbelieve
it. Affectation or Madness it undoubtedly is, for no
Man in his Senses would go to assert what even his
own Existence proves to be false. By Chance it is im-
possible we can exist, the very Idea argues our Absur-
dity; for if we existed by Chance, we should be Equals
onlys with the Brutes, whereas at present we are en-
dowed with superior Faculties, and capable of dis-
cerning Good from Evil. Those Faculties were cer-
tainly never intended to be misapplied, or to be laid
by as useless; the Supposition is idle. If it was not,
that Order which is so visible, and the only Cement of
Kingdoms and States, would inevitably fall to the
Ground, and the whole World be one general Scene
of Misery and Confusion.

DEVIL and HELL.] Those only who pretend to
disbelieve a God will doubt a Devil or Hell. As there
is an Habitation for the Righteous, there is of Course
one for the Wicked; and a Prince of Evil, as well as
Good. Let the wicked Man appeal to his own Con-
science, and say whether this be false. What farther
Hell need we than a guilty Conscience? For, sup-
posing no other, this would be insupportable.

"____ Which Way shall we fly

"Infinite Wrath and infinite Despair?

"Which Way we fly is Hell, ourselves are Hell."

A bad Conscience is a burning, unbearable, and never-
dying Hell; and none but the most obstinate Madman
would run himself headlong into Eternity, disbeliev-
ing what every Day tells him is true.

"If it so should fall out, as who can tell,

"But there may be a God, a Heaven, and Hell,

"Mankind had best consider well, for Fear

"It should be too late when their Mistakes appear."

MAN.] Man is that proud haughty Being which
stalks along the Earth with Pomp and Splendour, as
though he were a God. He imagines he alone ought
to be sole Lord of the Creation,and, though his Stay
is here only for a Day, treasures up Riches, and throws
away his Time in Luxury, Folly, and Dissipation, as
if he were to continue here for ever.

"____ See (says he) all Things for my Use!

"See Man for mine," replies a pamper'd Goose;

"And just as short of Reason he must fall

Who thinks all made for one, not one for all."

RELIGION.] Religion, which ought to be the
Link of Happiness and Friendship, and the Chain of
Society, and whose Purity, Innocence, and Simpli-
city, ought to be inviolably preserved, is become a
Cause for Contention; and, under its Cloak, the most
artful Villanies, and base Purposes, are effected. The
Bishops, instead of setting pious and good Examples,
set us the very worst; and the enthusiastick Brawl of
some Preachers, and the Inactivity, Indolence, and
Drowsiness of others, rather disgust than give us Plea-
sure: So that, when our Teachers cease to instruct,
it is no Wonder we cease to be religious.

VIRTUE.] The People of the present Age have
almost forgot the Meaning of the Word. The Polite
will have Nothing to do with it, amd the inferiour
Class only countenance it as being very necessary in
Trade. The Ladies knit their Brows at the bare
Mention of it; and if, by Accident, it intrudes upon
them, they take every possible Means to shake it off.

MODESTY.] Modesty and Virtue were formerly
very intimate, and in Bess's Days great Favourites of
the Fair; but the Politesse of the present enlightened
Age have happily got rid of both. Even little lisping
Miss at the Boarding School can now cock up her Eye
and look as impudent as she pleases, without Mamma's
Displeasure. Mamma likes to see her Darling a little
in the Ton; and, to be sure, why should not young
Ladies look a little sprightly? There can be no Harm
in it. As for Modesty, it is only fit for Beggars; and
polite Company show their Breeding, by kicking it
out of Doors.

HOSPITALITY] Hospitality (happily for it-
self) is got out of the Smoke of London, or it would
have inevitably been choaked. It lies now in a very
infirm State in Herefordshire, but the very bad Year

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of Cider will soon oblige it to move; and ifit gets into
Wales, one severe Winter will surely end it. At any
Rate, poor Hospitality will have a hard Struggle to
hold out much longer.

CHARITY.] Hospitality and Charity were both
brought up under the same Roof, and are determined
to live and die together. They some Time ago ap-
plied for Assistance to the Clergy, their old Friends;
but they unhappily took them for Impostors, and very
politely pushed them out of Doors.

FRIENDSHIP.] The Name of Friend still remains,
and that is all. The Heaven-born Tree itself is quite
rooted up, and lost; and unless where some Advantage
is like to follow, Friendship will not intermeddle.
Friendship in a fatal Hour contracted an Acquaintance
with Flattery, and was ruined. Flattery hath since
assumed Friendship's Habit, and it requires some Study
to detect the Impostor.

HONESTY.] Honesty lived with some Merchants
in the Metropolis a considerable Time; but, going
backwards and forwards to Court with Petitions and
Remonstrances, was unluckily lost. It found its Way,
however, to some of the principal Towns in the King-
dom, but was very coldly received; and, going several
Times after to Court with Petitions, became so sick,
and tired of Life, that it suddenly disappeared, and
it is supposed to be now in Herefordshire, with Hospi-
tality and Charity.

The Reading of HISTORY pleasing and
advantageous.

NOTHING affords a more pleasing Amusement
to the human Mind than the taking a retros-
pective View of preceding Ages, and contemplating
the Transactions of former Times. All the Nations
of the World pass in Review before us, and we be-
come acquainted with their Rise and Decline, their
Grandeur and their Fall. One Page of History pre-
sents us with a powerful Empire stretching her Sceptre
over various Kingdoms, and sitting as Queen among
the Nations; in the next, we behold her stripped of
her Power, and humbled in the Dust.

When the Romans had subdued all the adjacent
Nations, and most of the Kingdoms of Europe had
submitted to their Yoke, their Empire, stretched to
such a vast Extent, soon lost its Spring and Force. It
contained, within itself, the Seeds of Dissolution; and
the violent Irruption of the Goths and Vandals, with
other barbarous Nations of the North, hastened its
Destruction. These fierce Tribes, who came to take
Vengeance on the Empire, either inhabited the va-
rious Provinces of Germany which had never been
subdued by the Roman Arms, or were scattered over
the vast Countries of the North of Europe, and North
East of Asia, now inhabited by the Danes, the Swedes,
the Russians, and the Tartars. They were drawn
from their native Country by that Restlessness which
actuates the Minds of Barbarians, and makes them
rove from home in Quest either of Plunder or new
Settlements. The first Invaders met with a powerful
Resistance, from the superiour Discipline of the Ro-
man Legions; but this, instead of daunting Men of a
strong and impetuous Temper, served only to rouse
them to Vengeance. They returned to their Country,
acquainted them with the unknown Conveniencies
and Luxuries that abounded in Countries better cul-
tivated, or blessed with a milder Climate, than their
own. They informed them of the Battles they had
fought, the Friends they had lost, and warmed them
to Resentment against their Opponents. "Vast Bo-
dies of armed Men (says an elegant Histororian, in
describing this dreadful Scene of Desolation) with
their Wives and their Children, their Slaves and
their Flocks, issued forth, like regular Colonies, in
Search of the new Settlements. New Adventurers fol-
lowed them. The Lands they deserted were occupied
by more remote Tribes of Barbarians. These, in
their Turn, pushed forward into more fertile Coun-
tries; and, like a Torrent, continually increasing,
rolled on, and swept every Thing before them.
Wherever the Barbarians marched, their Track was
Blood. They ravaged or destroyed all around them.
They made no Distinction between what was sacred
and what was profane. They respected no Age, no
Sex, no Rank. If an Historian was called upon to fix
on that Period during which the Condition of the
human Race was most calamitous and afflicted, he
would, doubtless, without Hesitation, fix upon that
which elapsed from the Death of Theodosius the

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Great, in 395, to the Establishment of the Lombards
in Italy, which happened in 571. The contemporary
Authors, who beheld that Scene of Desolation, la-
bour, and are at a Loss, for Expressions to describe
its Horrour. "The Scourge of God, the Destroyer
of Nations," are the dreadful Epithets by which they
distinguish the most noted Leaders of these barbarous
Nations.

The Western and the Eastern Empire having been
divided by Constantine the Great, soon after his em-
bracingthe Christian Religion, a great Alteration was
unfortunately introduced. The Western and Eastern
Provinces were separated from each other, and go-
verned by different Sovereigns. The withdrawing
the Roman Legions, from the Rhine to the Danube,
threw down the Western Barriers of the Empire,
and laid it ope to these inhuman Invaders.

Weakened by this Division, and deprived of the
greater Part of her conquering Legions, Rome be-
came a Prey to the barbarous Nations. Her ancient
Glory, vainly deemed immortal, was effaced; and
Adoaces, a Barbarian Leader, sat down on the Throne
of the Caesars. These Irruptions into the Empire were
gradual and successive. The immense Fabrick of the
Roman Empire had been the Work of many Ages,
and several Centuries were employed in its Demolition,
The military Discipline of the ancient Romans was so
efficacious that the Remains of it descended to their
Successours, and must have proved sufficient to render
all the Attempts of the Enemy abortive, had it not
been for the Vices of the Roman Emperours, and the
universal Corruption of Mankind that prevailed among
the People. Satiated with the Luxuries of the known
World, the Emperours was at a Loss for new Provo-
catives. The most distant Regions were explored,
the Ingenuity of Mankind was exercised and the
Tribute of Provinces expended on one favourite Dish.
The Tyranny and Deprevation of Manners, that
prevailed under the Emperours, could only be equal-
led by the Barbarity of those Enemies who laid all
their Honours in the Dust.

Scarce any Vestige of the Roman Policy, Jurispru-
dence, Arts, or Literature, remained. New Forms
of Government, new Laws, new Names of Men
and Countries, were every Where introduced, and
Europe exhibited a most melancholy Picture of
Gothick Barbarity. Literature, Science, Taste, were
Words scarce heard of for many Centuries. The
human Mind, neglected, uncultivated, and depressed,
sunk into the most profound Ignorance; the Mantle
of mental Darkness was drawn over Europe.

Such were the Causes of that dreadful Revolution
in the Roman State. Luxury, that Bane of every
generous Effort of the Soul, exerted all its Influence,
and prevailed in this alarming Conflict. And surely
the large Strides it has lately made in this Kingdom
should rouse us from the Lethargy of a careless Inat-
tention, and induce us, before it is too late, to prevent
the same Destruction from overwhelming our Coun-
try.

An humorus Description of the MANNERS
and FASHIONS of LONDON. In a Letter
from an
Oxonian, to the Reverend Mr.
_________, of _________ College,
Oxon.

This Metropolis is exceeding large; the People,
Pleasures, and Customs, almost infinite; yet
they have not deterred me from inquiring after what
is remarkable and curious. The Manner of my Living
is such as it was at College, therefore I rise in the
Morning as soon as the Sun appears, but this great
Luminary is not seen by the major Part of the Inha-
bitants of this Place so long as we behold it at Oxford;
and though the Climate is the same, for above one
Half of the Year it is as it were invisible. Though
this, Sir, may seem strange, it may, without a great
Depth in Philosophy, be accounted for.

In the last Lecture I heard at your Chambers, you
mentioned the almost Impossibility of a perpetual
Motion. I am convinced, Sir, of the Practicableness
of it by Demonstration, for the Hackney Coaches
never cease their Noise and Hurry Day or Night.
Seneca, I believe, wrote of the Tranquillity of Life
after having his Ears dinned with the Hackney
Coaches of his Time. The Reason for this Conjec-
ture is, that I was informed a Poet of our Age, to
write a Description of the Spring the better, lodged,
during the Time he composed it, in Thames Street.

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[damaged, illegible] ous Cries of the People who walks the streets
[damaged, illegible] Herbs, Milk, Fruit, old Clothes, Sand,
[damaged, illegible] Dust, News, Ghosts, and bloody Murders, in
[damaged, illegible]e their Noise in such a horrid Manner that they
[damaged, illegible]em so many Furies in the Regions of Pluto.

As for the People in general, they are not unlike
those of the City of Oxford in most Respects, for
eating and drinking well is what pleases them; and
if their Industry can support their Belly, and a few
fine Clothes, they think themselves happy. They
seem no great Admirers of Antiquity, but are more
delighted with Novelty; for they seek chiefly new
Books, new Mistresses, new Ministers, and new
Friends.

The Women are very fine and handsome. They
who have Cunning or Beauty have a Command
over the Men; Husbands here are treated as their
Servants, Gallants as atheir Slaves. I have observed,
by the Number of Nurses, it is not the Fashion for
Mothers to suckle their own Children; nor is it
the Fashion to keep up a female Virtue, called
Housewifery; there are few Penelopes who weave;
and Needle Work, with an unanimous Consent, has
been voted pernicious to the Eyes.

Marriages, which I always thought were for Life,
among the politer People, are, after a certain Time,
dissolved. My Lord and My Lady, after the first
Month, are never seen together, never eat together,
and, I had almost said, never lie together. The
Husband lives quietly at one End of the House, the
Wife makes merry at the other; and when they
have been married a few Years, they endeavour to
seperate as soon as possible.

Dress seems a favourite Passion here, in both
Sexes. Every One is for appearing gay; and, con-
sidering the Deference which in this City is paid
to Clothes, this Foible is not unpardonable. A laced
Coat, Waistcoat, or Trimmings, are so common,
that they are indifferently wore by the Master and
the Servant; nor is it easy to distinguished the Cham-
bermaid from the Mistress. Here are two particular
Classes of People who are not much different in their
Principles, though of contrary Sexes, which are
worthy of Notice: The Men are called Beaus, the
Women are Coquets; they are singular from the rest
of the World in their Dress, their Customs, and
Manners; their whole Study, Ambition, and Busi-
ness of Life, is to be admired by all; their Pleasure,
to admire none but themselves; they are Idolaters,
and all the Devotion they pay is to a Phantom in a
Glass, which they omit not to admire and adore every
Morning, for some Hours together.

There are several Theatres here, where almost
every Evening People of all Ranks assemble; from
whence you may judge of the Prosperity and Riches,
or of the Decline and Poverty, of tbis great Merto-
polis, as your Reason suggests. But if iti is true what
an Ancient said, "That excessive Expense is a cer-
tain Sign of a City being in Decay," One would not
think London in a very flourishing State. Whenever
Cato, or any noble Greek or Roman, appears on the
Stage, the Audience is thin; but a little French
Gentleman in a party-coloured Jacket, whom they
called Monsieur Harlequin, is a great Favourite, and
prodigiously followed.

The Attornies, the Quacks, the Gamesters and
the Footmen, are very numerous. The Inhabitants
complain of them as a common Nuisance, but I
think them a very ornamental and instructive Set
of People. The first teach us to avoid Wrangling
and the Law, lest by our Folly we lose our Estates;
the second show us the Way to Chastity and Sobriety,
that we amy not fall into their Hands and be killed
with their Medicinces; the Gamesters are an Exam-
ple to us of the Instability of Fortune; and the
Footmen inculcate Humility, and teach us to serve
ourselves, that we may not have Enemies in our own
Houses. The Lawyers here are surprising Logicians,
and Westminster Hall has stranger Paradoxes main-
tained in it than the Schools at Oxford; for in this
they prove right wrong, and wrong right. This
Hall is said to be the largest Room in England;
and yet it is filled in Term Time with those who de-
fend their own Estate, or endeavour to get another's.
I should be glad to see the Floor of this Hall, as Cato
would have had the Courts of Law in his Time,
stuck full with Tenter Hooks, to tear the Feet of
those who first entered to begin a Lawsuit.

The Physicians of this Place kill and cure, as they
do all the World over; they ask too the same imper-
tinent Questions: What, Sir is the Matter with
you? What's your Distemper? That which seems
the greatest Injustice is, that One pays the same Fee
to the Physician who kills him as to him that cures,
and no Judge has Power to punish an ignorant Phy-
sician.

BOSTON, February 14.

By Captain Corbett, who arrived at Marblehead last Week from
the West Indies, we are informed that he spoke a Brig in Distress,
which had sprung a Leak, in Latitude 40:10, Longitude 59:35, but
could not learn the Master's Name, nor where bound, but understood
she came from the Grenades. Captain Corbett stayed by them three
Days and Nights, and one Morning they attempted to come on Board in
their Yawl, but she sunk along-side; they made a second and fatal
Attempt in the Evening in their Longboat, when the first Sea after they
had quitted the Brig struck them, filled the Boat, and every Soul perished.
It blew so excessively hard that it was impossible to give them any Assis-
tance in their deplorable Situation, though all possible Means were used
that could be at such a Time. After the People were lost, the Vessel
soon disappeared. The Brig appeared to be about 140 or 150 Tuns, had
a Figure Head, the upper Works painted with light Colours, the Quarter
Board red, with white Streaks round them, and had Irish Colours
hoisted in the main Shrouds.

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NEWPORT (Rhode Island) February 14.

Last Friday Morning a Countryman stepping out of a Sloop, at
Brown's Wharf, with a small Bag of the accursed East India Tea
in his Hand, fell into the Dock, and had like to have been drowned; the
Tea was entirely ruined. Be cautious how you travel with this baneful
Article about you, for the Salt Water seems of late to attract it as a
Loadstone attracts Iron.

Verses addressed by the Ladies of Bedford, at their Meeting to resolve against
TEA, to the Gentlemen of that Place.
What you can raise upon your Farms
We'll eat and drink with Hearts so free;
The coarsest Food we choose to eat,
Before we'll lose our Liberty.
Don't cast Reflections on our Sex,
Because the weaker Sort we be;
We'll work our Fingers to the Bone,
Before we'll lose our Liberty.
Our honest Hearts abound with Zeal,
We'll fight it out with Courage free;
And bid adieu to India Stuff,
Before we'll lose our Liberty.

NEW YORK, February 28.

By Letters from St.Croix, we are informed that they have received
a Royal Edict from Copenhagen, dated September 16th, 1773, in
which the Duties upon Importation into that Island, from North America,
of Salt Beef, Fish, Pork, Pease, Lime,&c. &c. are reduced from 25 per
Cent. to no more than 5 per Centum; and that a Stamp Act was to be
enforced in the ensuing Spring, which, from its unpalatable Operation
upon the Minds of the Inhabitants of that Country, evinces them to pos-
sess that Spirit of genuine Liberty which is breathed by all the good
People in the British Empire.

Wednesday last the General Assembly of this Province voted his Excel-
lency our Governour the Sum of 5000l. Currency, to compensate, in
some Measure, for the Loss sustained by the late dreadful Fire at Fort
George, and to express their great Esteem for his Excellency's Person
and Family.

In a Letter from New Brunswick, East Jersey, we are informed that
the Ice broke in the Rariton on the 20th Instant in a boisterous Manner,
tumbling down chief of the Lumber on the Wharfs, racking some Stores,
and moving one bodily, viz. Mr. Schurman's, with a considerable Quan-
tity of Grain and Flower therein. We have not been able to know what
Damage is received, the Water continuing high, occasioned by the Ice
being stopped a little below the Town.

Extract of a Letter from Halifax, Nova Scotia, dated February 6, 1774.

"On the 29th ult. a Fire broke out here, within fifty Yards of the
Barracks, which destroyed three Houses before it could be extinguished.
The Wind was from the North West, which blew the Fire from the
Buildings, otherwise the whole Barracks must have been consumed. All
the Wells of the Garrison were drained quite dry, and the People saved
the principal Part of their Effects. The Military behaved extraordinary
well, but the Inhabitants, a few excepted, most shamefully, for they
gave no Assistance at all."

The 17th Instant, as Mr. John Keating was driving down a Hill in a
Sleigh at Wapping's Creek, wherein was Mr. Samuel Warren, and
another Man, the Horses took Fright, ran off a Bridge at the Foot of a
Hill, and overset the Sleigh, by which Accident Mr. Warren was so
bruised that he died the next Day. Mr. Keeting was cut near the Eye,
but the third Person received no Hurt.

Captain Wilson, in a Brig belonging to Philadelphia, was seized at
Leoganne, in the Island of Hispaniola, the latter End of January last,
for having on Board a few Kegs of Hogs Lard.

WILLIAMSBURG, March 17.

We are favoured with the following remarkable Intelligence, which
we hope may be the Means of bringing to Light so mysterious an
Occurrence, and prove serviceable to those who are concerned in it.
Some Time last December a Sloop of about 100 Hogsheads Burthen
stood in for Machotick Creek, on Potowmack, and ran aground on a
Mud Bank, a little Way up the Creek. Soon after, a decent well looking
Man, dressed in Black, with a Gold laced Hat, came on Shore from the
Sloop, and calling at a Gentlewoman's House in the Neighbourhood, told
her he was bound for Alexandria, to purchase a Load of Wheat, but that
his Hands had left him, and he wanted the Loan of a Horse to carry him
to Leeds Town, to engage others. Being disappointed in getting a Horse,
he went to a Planter's House a few Miles distant, where he lodged all
Night, went off in the Morning, and has never been heard of since. On
his Way he stopped at a petty Ordinary, where he left three ruffled Shirts,
a neat Fowling Piece, and a great Coat; but carried with him a Pair of
Saddle Bags, which the Landlord concluded, from their Weight, con-
tained a considerable Sum of Money. After the Vessel had continued near
a Fortnight in the Creek, with her Sails standing, some of the Gentlemen
in the Neighbourhood went on Board; and, upon searching her,
found neither Provisions, Water, Chests, Papers, or any other Effects,
than one Feather Bed, a Gold laced Hat, a Sailor's Jacket, a Pair of
Trousers, some Cooking Utensils, and two Sea Compasses made in Salem.
She is a long sharp built Vessel, with only a Cabin, containingfive Births,
and Hold. On her Stern is painted, in white Letters, FALMOUTH
PACKET; and the same Words, in Letters made of Cloth, are on her
Pendant.

Captain Russell, fromFincastle, brings the disagreeable Intelligence
that a general Discontent appears among the Indian Nations; that the
Cherokees and Shawanese have combined together; and that, in short,
the Frontier Inhabitants are under the most dreadful Apprehensions
from the ill Temper prevailing amongst those Barbarians.

Mr. James Rivington, of the City of New
York, hoping to meet with Encouragement fromthe Lovers of Literature in
America, is now publishing a neat Edition of
Dr. Hawkesworth's Account of
Captain Cook's Voyage round the World, undertaken by his Majesty's
Command, for the Discovery and exploring of Countries in the South Seas.
The excessive high Price of this very curious and entertaining Work, published
in England, is
three Guineas; but Mr. Rivington engages to furnish Sub-
scribers with his Edition at
one Dollar and a Half, and requests those who
intend favouring him with their Subscription in Virginia to send in their
Names to the Post Office, Williamsburg.

To my ANSWERER.

My humble Petition for Instruction, concerning the Rule established
in the Schools, that Similes should run on All-Fours, has, I find,
brought me into a Scrape, which I must get out of well as I can. Hard
it is that a Man, thrown into Doubts and Perplexities, cannot ask a
civil Question for Information's Sake, but he must be presented with a
Catalogue of his Faults, nay must be told of more than he has committed,
and must have imputed to him for Absurdities the wilful and perverse
Misconceptions of a fiery Answerer. But this, I suppose, is a Tax that
must be paid by those who seek for Wisdom and Improvement, especially
if they apply to their learned Neighbours for Assistance in the Pursuit.
So much for the Proem. I shall now consider more closely what you,
my obliging Answerer, have advanced by Way of Reply to my former
Request.

You are pleased to say of me, and youself, "As he not only discovers
a Desire of acquiring Information, but also a Disposition to receive it,
I shall humbly attempt to communicate it to him." I rejoiced greatly at
these Words, in which is contained so noblr a Resolution of yours to
enlighten the Ignorant. I thought they would certainly be followed by
a History of the important Rule established in the Schools, as well as
a full Explantion of the Terms in which it is laid down; setting forth,
at large, their Force, Beauty, and Elegance. Instead of what I ex-
pected, you tell me, that no two Objects can be compared together any
farther than as they resemble each other.
This Dogma of your's is, I think,
a Mistake; for I am of Opinion that two Objects may be compared
together in Points wherein they disagree, as well as in those wherein
they agree, Contrast being one Branch of Comparison as well as Simili-
tude. But I will suppose you to have said what I think you meant,
namely, that in Respect to a Simile it is enough if two Objects be com-
pared together so far as they agree. The Consequence fromthis will be,
that if two Objects agree but in one single Point, a just and proper
Simile may be formed upon their Agreement in this one single Point;
which, so far from explaining of confirming the Rule that Similies
should run on All-Fours, seems, to me, altogether to annihilate this
Rule, by leaving it no Kind of Meaning of Signification whatever.
You afterwards say, that the sudden Cure of the Wound, and the sud-
den Coagulation of the Milk, were not compared together, but the
Suddenness of the one to the Suddenness of the other; that the Morning
and the Lobster were not compared together, but a Change from Black
to Red was compared to a Change from Black to Red. These may be
deep and wonderful Observations, but neither do they contribute any
Thing towards lessening my Embarrassment; they throw no Light upon
the Rule that Similies should run upon All Fours. I am therefore con-

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vinced, that, notwithstanding your fair Promises, you did not intend to
give me Instruction on the Subject of my Inquiry; but, under a Pretence
of communicating Instruction on this Head, you meant to banter me,
which is jot the most handsome and liberal Way of deserting an Argu-
ment, that a Writer undertakes, but feels himself unable to support.

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Collection

Citation

Purdie and Dixon, printer, “The Virginia Gazette. Number 1171, March 17, 1774,” Special Collections, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, accessed March 29, 2024, https://cwfjdrlsc.omeka.net/items/show/165.
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