The Virginia gazette — Williamsburg, Va., 1775-06-16 00:00:00, page 1

]UNE 16, 1775
NUMBER 23.
VIRGINIA
GAZET TE.
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."'
. 4.
__ siAND THE PUBLICK GOOD. '
T ZAL E xssA N D E R
P U R,D If;
PRINTER.,
?, . To the P'Uilesi 1<, _
ss. Y whose savour missed? si bfiufiffl
(s 'suhiistchC Wcrc secondc andndvasshsic
ed, and {vhom ] huvc'alrcady assured os
f'riy sixcd purpose OF scrving, I must
now again address myself. to confirm my
'sormer proseflions. My disposition to show
how far I stand indebted to them, though
steady and unalterable, hath been hitherto
circumscribcdct within narrow bounds. _A
flender. stock to enter into business upon,
a scarcity of necessary implements and
materials, which, ifco be purchascdsial all,
* were unattainahle in Amcrica, but at the
.. highest rices, threw difficultics into my
fsi. way, w ' ]! the benevolence and candour
s' of the publick could alone retrieve me
fsi from. ,However, the never to be forgotten
f-distinctictn Which I have so latel received
from finding-(incurable the lion e of Bur
si gesses,ss If! out: cofidescension to appoinc
? me-thcdssp'rintcr, has enablcd meito extend
? my business upon a larger plan, and to
ctfamish my office with those conveniencics
ssfliitwill asiist my intentions to give satis
T'? faction upon all occasions.
? ' I am the publick's most devoted servant."
&? ss ALEXANDER PURDIE.
"W—
5 non the disposition which the ene
isssi mien of this country have already
Tshewn, there-is but too much reason to
Lsssuspect that the late proceeding: in- this
mlony will be representedssfn England in n'
ssss light the most unsavourablsiitfi the people;
'r and perha s some actions' have beens
' committe , which, to t e Who view
- them from :. distance, and have not felt
it the provocations which led" to them, may
si & pear violent and unjustifiable. To en—
? llile mankind, therefore, to form a pro
jss per judgment of what has passed, a plain
' narrative ossacts seems necessary, a narra
' tive published upon the s dot, where any
falsehood may be contradicted, any errousir
,or partiality corrected, and every measure
stzpported by its true motives. Something
o this kind has appeared to extery one ne
cessary, it has been looked for, but the
general expectatioh has been disappointed ;
and it is to be feared, 'that our friends in
other countries will interpret our lilence
into an inability to justisy our conduct,
whilst our, enemies will triumph, in the
supposition that we have at length quitted
the aths of wisdom and osvirtue. Such
considerations as these have induced me to
attempt what I wished to see from some
abler hand; and probably my weak ended
vo'urs may he the means of rousinpss' others,
Who are more capable, of doing justice to
the subject .
'l'hc rilc and progress of the present
troublcs in Amcrica are so well known,
through most parts of the world, and our
l'csistance to arhitrary power so gem-rnfly
,apphudcd, that ] may well he excused
rom looking sur backwards, am] smm
Vindicating the first steps qumcrsilcnn op
position. Though Virginia most heartily
concurrcd, and in mnnv instances took th':
lead, in the virtuous strnss'sifz-ssh-s oi'Lhc su'm—
him, yet, til] liltclv, .flw was sru' from
those (!h'csul cssecsstsctos ministcr'ml luxmny
Which some other parts us the (sinmsimcnt
1sissss'fxpcficnccd. The sirst'thiug which pur
si—
ticulurly disturbed hcr' ranquillity was &
'threatencd insurreesitie iternc-gro (lawes,
in the beginning ot'the spring 1775. \Vhe
ther this, was general, or who were the
inlligntors, remains asyctasccrnt. 'l'hcrc
was reason, however, to believe that most
of the negroes were too Well affected to
their master], and too a'p )rehensivc osthe
bad consequences, as we ] as susyicious of
the friendship ofsiour adversaries, to join
in such a wicked sthemc. From some
hints, it Wasinserrcd that the negroes had
not been without encouragement from :!
Gentleman of the Navy, who has distin
guished himseli'lzltcly infiurrivers. What
ever the plat was, it wis scasimnbly disco
vered, and Will easures takento sup—
press it. ' i ' thward, the storm
seemed to thicken : every shi ) from En 7
land brought intelligence of some fie-i]!
instance of ministerial vengeance denounc
ed a ainst us; our hopes of peace and re- -
dre s from that'quartcr declined daily; '
and we saw nothing besorejus but abject
slave , or the honour; of : civil War.
We v1ewed the alternative with sorrow,
but hesitatcd not a moment which to pre
sEr. The Convention of March 1775' di
rected that. the eolony should be putctinto
the bell: poliure of defence, ahdssjlisskcttgsi
whilst every step was taken to procure an
honourable reconciliation, nothing. should
be omitted which could enable no, b the
sword, to defend our just rights an ' ri
vileges. in the third week oprril, ale
country was again alarmed, by the Go r
nour's removing in the night from the eo
lsiony magazine, and putting on board his
Majesty's schooner the Magdalen, Capt.
Collins, fifteen barrels ot' gnnpowder,
nearly the \\ hole which the magazinc at
that time contained ; and it was also dis
covered, thxit he had spoiled several of
the fire-arms as their locks. Upon the
first intelligence of this mition, many of
the inhabitants of VVilliznniburg flew to
their arms, and resolved in that way to
demand reparsiition. No violence, how
ever, was committed ; they were persua—
ded to disperse, and the common hall
addressed his Excellency. Their address
set forth, that the nmgnzine was erected
at the publick expense of the Colony, and
appropriated to the safe—keeping of such
munition as should be lodged there, for
the protection and security ostheeountry,
to be used by the militia in ease osinvaii
ons or inshrrections , and that it was, there
lore, tnc only proper lssL'Puuuny lu ucnct—
sorted to in times of imminent danger;
that, from various reports osinternul in
snrrecsitions, the utmost attention to their
security was become necessary ; and they
therefore desired to know his motives for
carrying offthe powder in such a manner,
and entrented him innn'ediutelv to return
it to the magaxine. 'lctq t-hishissi lstgeeihsinev
t'epiied, that the report of an iniin'reetioil
in a neighhrnn'ingsi' conntssv hadindueed him
to remove the you der from the insiijgct-sssssifilre,
where he did not think it shse, to :1. pizit'c
ospersees fet-mity ; thsilt he would return
it, when it was. n.:nted on any insurre-si tion:
that he had removed it in the night, to
prevent any :dzn'm; that he was surprised
to hcsitr the people were under arms on
this occasion, and that he should not think
it prudent to put powder into their hand;/va
in such : situano'n. This an wer gave no
sittisfuction : The people could not con
:
ceive how disurming them would discou-ct —
rage their negroes from rising, should they
be so disposed ; nor could they divine how
he could procure the Howder, npon'an
entergeney, from ave el whose (tation for
one hour was uncertain. The magazine
had never yet been attempted by the ned
groes; and, had this been ap'prehended,
they thou ght it might easil have been se
eured by 21 guard. Upon t e whole, they
looked upon the Govemour's answer- as
evasive and insulting; and the people were,
with difficulty, kept within the bound: of
moderation . _
( T 0 be confirmed )
(; A M- :: It l'D G E, May-35.
B OU T half after 8 o'clock o'n Wed
nesday evening, last week, afire broke .
outin a harmck on fill-eat 's whars , imBo-ston . '
It was occalioned liy the soldierg receiving __
a number of cartrid es; one of'fwhiejsimk , si'si
fire, and communicated it tomanMes- ssss
which ilnmediptely set fire to the robmf -. ;
and such catche'd- the acljoining' bulldih ;. si '_'_'*'
All the stot'sisii'lctdlsiv'dctnd shut]: side offliesi dSsihsisiss—I
are destroyed, except that at the he'ad'df'gfct'
the whars, occupied by Mr. Samnel Elliosit. ',
All the store! from Mr. Elliot's to Mr. "3 ;
Ellis Gra 's, which make: the north comen-.. ,ctsssszss
of'Spc-ar s whars, excepting that occupied L. ss
as the commillsiary's office, are alsodesh'o - tssi
ed. The fire raged with great sury all ie sisict-ssjsifsifct
night. The following letter containxan silct
account of the transactions osthe military - fct'ctsi
at the fire, and will give the public}; same"
idea of the present wretched police of that
once well governed town.
Extract of:: letter/Pain Boston . ,
" ] proposc to giye you & eircnmstantisihl
account of the late hre, n'evious to which
please to observe, that or ten days fist I.
report had been propasgated that the liber
ty party intended to et hre to the town,
in different places, as soon as the greater,
part osthem had got out. The General -
was alarmed, took the engines under guard,
and appointed new capiains, which gave
umbrage to the lasiteenpsiine—men. But to
the pomt : Upon Dcmg lnlormcd that thcsi
burrack was on firc, ] ran through the street.
crying sire, as no bells raan; but was
stopped by a man, \\ho told me it war
the officcr's orders orders not to cry fire,
one ha'v'mg thrcntcned to hent a man's
bralns out that did, the drums all this'
time heating to arms. When I came tom .
the fire, I found no engine tlu-rc ; hnt ap—ss'si
plying to one of the late engine-men, tosi
know the reason, he inshrmcd me that he
had npplicd sor the engine, but a bayo
or: was pointed to him, and he was told
that he must :1ppl_.si to some niliccr for an
order hesorc he could have it. After thls
lsiiltizl delay the cnsirincs appeared, with
the new appointed curtain: and mili'ffiry
er-sisi-wn'ds ; and a milm'uhlc figure they
(THI . the former not lsszmm ing hou; to obey,
32"th latter had known how to command.
L simn whole, it appears tomc as plain
as the meridian sun, had the cngincs been
on the old fecting, the fire would have
gc—v.---Iv "n.-by;... I