The Virginia gazette — Williamsburg, Va., 1776-01-12 00:00:00, page 5

Mn. PURDIE ,
TO remove any unfavourablc impres—
on which they who_ are unacquainted
with me might receive from Your publica
tion of the gjgjinstant, signed Thomas
.Snead, and.co exposc a lecc of base in
Frntitudcct, ] desire- ou wi ] publish the fol
owing narrative o facts, which are incon
sitkonrtible. On Thursda the 14th in
Rmt I was informed :: vcsseYfi-om the Eas
ter'n Shorc had ], so that day brought to
3 dur fentrlea at York, having a quantity .ct
' turn on board,, for which mr. Snead
asked 6}: pcr' allon, declaring it Was old
M. Notwit and'mz that arricle Was
much wanted at.York;' he could find no
one who would give such an extrava ant
- price; upon which he tproceeded to illi
lmshurg, in hopessi, tom the scarcity of
that comnssiodit , to get more than he was
authorised to alz, as col . Henry can testify,
who has his certisicate of the great age qf
hit ram, and an account of the amount of
it ; and who, fromhsist known ctcandour and si.
ssintegrit , ] doubbnot, will satisfy any one
- in'clinah to be ac uainted. with it. Re
' ' ated account: jo. this ilie al proceeding
\ ; g mentioned in my pre exiee, ] thought
it my duty, as ajdrt'uht of the country, and
"hot as acting' under the fron)" (for I have
sinoth' to do with the crown, t'n office
'not' te tin to it in " the sunnes} egree)
_' to go add eejf that ram was ]egally imisi'ct
_ pened; and the dutypaid to the country;
_si- which I had great reason, from various
. dlsi'chmstances, to belieye was not, as my.
' Bind declared at York he shqnid not have
stopged, had he not been brought to by
sisi tho' entrieaf ThesiSnnda following, the
"th ! went to William rg to see is he
had ictanded his tum, and .to Frevent the
ctiphlbitflm fmm sayd! him or it till tho
-si matter Was fenle . Tffiis I blickl de
.- ciassfed'ossnbmrd the'vefl'el. thudiu'g, ow
ever, he-had'iaaded no him, ] vex onsi
{Wix'glfmsh upon ashing some qn '
thout the rlimss, the captain seemed much
'sidiseoncel'ted, but very soon told me nir.
Snead had a certificatc of the rub being
legal?- ipported ; "and shortly "after mr.
Snea appearedin sight,. with mr. South
ull, msirJssTewis, nfl'. Goodson, ] believe,
and several 'other gentlemen of the town.
On mr. Snead's coming on board, ] asked
: him if he had-a certifitate of his rum beifl
iegally imforted'. He saidlhe had, zing
immediate y produced one (such a one as
it is) without a date, and by some has been
snspected to be forged. However; had as
it aplpeared, in ssthe presence of all these
ch emen, ] told him I was very lad to
ee he had it, which I vow to Go} is the
truth; and moreover, that his rum, [be;
Jievecl, siwssal safe, but that he must bring
hiasi'vessel to York again, and take out a
eymic to land it, which ! had a right to
sinhst 09: Mr. Shead and the captain both
ocggeu num, ana pleaged ignorance; u -
on which I took mr. Snead and mr ..Sout -
all on share," had as soon as we landed on
the bench ] told mr. Snsiead that he might
land it in the Mornin , as soon as he pleas
ed, provided he Wou d come to York for
sighed by the cqllector and comptroller,
; Which the law requires. Upon the bcach
"! tcssfld mr. Snead, in the presence os mr.
Southall, for the trouble he had given me,
god theindulgensice shewn him, in notoblig
mg him to return with his vessel back to
York, the least he could do would be to
tqsscat ing with my dinner and club at mr.
ngthall'j; to which mr. Southall replicd,
to be sure he Would, and ought to be very
much obliged to me. So we parted; and ,
how they game to soist in the horses, ] ss
cannot conceive: But mr. Southall'l
charging the man with a c{"at-mit, for many
days after mr. Snead ha paid it to me, is
still more extraordinary. Any one may
plainly see the malice here intended; but.
mr. Southall, I have no doubt, will pub—
lickly disavow such a charge in his account.
Hdd I been disposed to take an advantage
of this ungratesul man, I knew his rurn
would have been landed in the morning,
wnen ne would have lolt ]: all. 1 thank
my stars, my reputation is not to be sul
lied with any thing mr. Snead, or his
nmanuensii,can sa osme. Whether mr.
Snead,, by publi ing so many glaring
falsehouds, or I , for complying wnth my
duty, ase servant of the publick, are
most deserving of a halcer, let the world
determine. / -
. ,MATTHEW POP-E.
,, , si-,P. S. In your GaZette of the 29th ult';
siyou informed the public]: there was a
small mifiake in the account published by
sitnrss-Sneadss-in mr. Pinkney'o papensiLgmssss 7
moths; : losseto know how : direct knovi-n
falsitysi can be termed : mistake. Snead
knew it. to be false. Thin indeed is
sin mistake compared to his-Pnblish'
mr..' uthall'c name; to sit Without his
knowledge, or consent, as mr. Southall
hal declared ; and what simr. Southall as
sern, ] am confident no 'one will dishelieve 5
_I have -0n_ce indulged and besriended mrct
Snead, and before ! take my leave of him
'shall-give'him apiece of advice, to be
more cautious in sunge of such mifiakes,
-f'osir mistakecinot versidisserent from this
have brought manx sia'man to the gallows.
-. .ssMlsi'.Pvnms.,ss _ _ .
HATjhey who are, fireality, guilty
'o£ actions unfriendssly to the liberties
ct XAlsinerica. should beheld up to ublick
contempt and detestatiqn, is, ] am \ on gly
siofop'mionct very prayer, if not absolutely
sineiessaey ; but that dflicen should be (tig
matised for doing what the duty of their \
offlee requires, 'sian office chh the laws
of the country not (mly tolerate, but ren
der necessary,si and *thil too undersithe sa
eredi pretext of zeal for the freedom of the
country, this "is such an insult upon com
m sense, such an abnse of our glorious
cause, that, did not the insigmficancy
of Thomas Soead occur to our ininds,
patience with such behaviour wouldss be
almost a crime. \ if we were to judge of
doctor Pope, even fi-om Thomas Snead's
publication, the. opinion that must be
formed would be, that doctor Pope was
a faithful servant to the country, and an in
'ctduigmt officer'to ignorant traidmhnd '
*a permit for so doing, it being out of my
power to give him one these, they being
erastsmcn. or shippers; and of Thomas
Sneadsi we would think, that he was wil
lids; to take advantage of these distracted
times, thai he wis msensible of obligati
ons, and,- instead of being unsriendly to
doctor Pope, most unsriendly to himself.
But doctor Pope's characterss-(I mean his
policical one, does not depend on any single
transaction, which malice or anger may
wish to misrepresent. In a pubhck part
of the country, known to many of the
gsi-fflncipal men in the colony, he could
(! mapy who ,would vouch for him,
that, though not aneutru], his conduct
hll been unexceptionable.
NO PSEUDOuPATRIOT.