The Virginia gazette — Williamsburg, Va., 1775-11-24 00:00:00, page 2

time with the said provision and sue] on
board to Norsolk, oswhich mr. Rowland
immediately gave information to the
lion. Committee of Sasety. It farther
appears, that in a short time after, two
-tefl'den shut: the navy carr: up to the
He): of Archer's Hope creek and seized
' other vessels, which were in the same
predicament with mr. Rowland's. Upon
consideration of which, this committee
' Malignant-out;} of opinion that the pro
,' re of the aid vessel as above-menti
sdsictcd, contrary to the determination of
. the lion,!!omminee of Safety, was not
W will! the rivity, knowledge, or
mfmtss ofthe aid Zachariah Rowland ;
si bit sithatsshe has done every thing in his
thus, to (apply therewith, and through
, put __the whole of hiz'conduct upon that
;:flgcasngmfled himselffa 1:cal friend
1}? "'sz liberties 0 11 coumr .
M-sithe WZachariah Rowland, ari'd
ss _ el Dnval,'his security, are discharg
Wssct sifromsstheir reco izance above-menn
WF'which i! here y declared to be void.
zf'si sif' By order of the committee.
are}; _ jonN BECKLEY, clerk.
m; ' ss .
,. fctMr-ct PUKDIE, _ .
- E'EE, you have a proclamation that
, {tull nonce show the basencs: of lord
sin nmoie'sjhehrt; his malice and trejchclsilry
si .. ;tbe o ewbo were onceun er is
'ctamstnpe In! his officiom violation of
'siilffi'z, ctssssice, and hunzanisstylrf, not to
ctsisictss' -— mogati' 'to im e a power
'si'sisissfct 4 'iepifthersihe e?! assume, nor any
j 'si- et: w-ss 'siearrh invefl: him with.
If. " " ssz-si'n the legim si
'- ' si. Hsiuflcmadevilme damn'd
L' . 'f ."ss'ctB'xc-E LL e Nor, (ye,
L.;ss-Psi? ss'ictojzc-ssLA MA !" 1 0 N,
. . Wimmaiued hopes that an
sssssi'Fssss — -- - - tion' might have taken
,' Gradffilmdandthiseolony,
, 'ctsiss 'ct"ss'---_W __ H'z du! , to
" :ctssctsi , si sikyfibflszshl/utely
. ctsisi's ,sh'ct Irendercd so by & bod ,os
si " si " Wawsully assembled, ring
?"- '.x.t. '
" ( , ctltenderl, and the sormation
.zssss , .
, _ ', 'and that army now on their
?
];
,; Name]: his majeltssy's troops, and
, s si Mol'siWeli—difpoled ubjects of this
ct' 3", ' ' ,Toct'defeat such treasonable pur—
" - ,iffisstfissn till such traitors, and their
t si- ss ,;may bsie brought to justice, and
sict 'peace and good order of this
msisiWY be _sia a'm restored, which the
. _ si—ss'l course o the cissvil law is unable to
ss : si—' , I have thought fit to issue this my
' s;,tggtion, hereby declaring, that until
si ctss dstsald—ZW pur oses can be obtain
7.
sisiss; sisi o, inmrtue-of't epower and autho
'T- ' cttsssso mesigiven, hi: majesty, determine
- sssisisiflssecute martial aw, and cause the same
A '3 rflsisintsi'osieuted throughout this colony;
ct : to th'e'ctmd that peace and good order
-- ay the sooner be restored,. ] do require
her)! person capable of hearing arms to
_ sort to his majesty's STANDARD, or
iooked upon as traitor-'a to his majesty's
' me and government, and thereby be
_ me liable to the penalty the law inflicts
pou'sheh offences, such as forfeiturc of
si 't,;;_coqfi/sscation of land:, &c. &c. And!
ydoss_hereby farther declare all indented/br
'ssvantt', negroer, or others (appertaining
ssl'ebels) fice, that are able um] willing
si bear arms, they joining his majq/Iy':
. oopsi, as soon as_rnay be, for the more
_1 reaucmg tms colony to a proper
e' 0 their duty, to his majesty's crown
ctss (] dignitss ,. I do farther order, and
require, his majesty's liege subjects to
" etain'silheir quitrents, or any other taxes
, he, or that may become due, in their
.own custody, till such time as peace may
be again restored 'to this at present most
unhappy country, or demandecl of them
for their former salutar purposes, by offi
cers roperlyauthorise toreceive the same.
Gxom on board the ship William, off
Norfolk, the 7th dqy of Novcmben
\
Air. Pvanm,
COPY us the above proclamation hav
ing fallen into my hands, I thought
it was necessary, for the welt'ure As two
sorts of people, that its publick appear
ance should be attended with comments
of the following nature. Such as have
mixed much in societssv, and have had op
portunities of hearing the subject of the
present unnatural contest disculled, vt ill be
but little startled at the appellation of
rebel, because they will know thatit is not
merited; but others there may be whose
circumstances may, in a great measure,
haycte excluded them from the knowledge
ofpublick matters, who may be sincerely
attached to the interests of their country,
and who may yet he flightened to act
against it fm'" the dread of incurrinp; a
guilt which all good men, is justly
abbot-fees." - ' ese, 'it may be proper
to addresen -' . - .*-:marks upon this procla
matiossn; " a si- part of thesiproclamation
lClllCLLB [DE "!.sUCI, auu ]Cculfi lU Oijel'
something ve.y flattering and desirable to
them, it may be doing them, as well as
the conntr , a service, to give them a just
view osw at they are to expect-, should
they be so weak and wicked as to comply
with what lord Dunmorc requires. si
Those, then, who are asraid osbc'ing
styled rebels, ] would be;: to consider,
that although lord Dmmzore, in this
ss roclamation, insidioufl mentions his hav
ing till now entertained, hopes of an ac
commodation, yet the whole tenour of
his" conduct, For many mouths past, has
had the most direct and strongest tendency
to widen the unhappy breach, and render
a reconciliation more difficult. For what
other purpose did he write his false and
inflammatory letters to the ministers of
state,? Why did he, under cover of the
light, takesisisrom us our powder, and ren
der uselesi the arms os-our publiek maga
zine? *Why_ did he secretly and treacher
ouflvhctg [narcs for the lives of our unwary
brethren, shai'Zsithactt had likely to have
proved .lmt Two cssc'ss mal? Why did he,
under siidle-p-_'f:;csi-z:...s, withdraw himself
from the seat of government, where alone
he could, had he been willing, have
done essentiai siservice , to our country ?
Why, by his authorithy, have continual
depredations been sinCe made upon such
of our countrymen as were situated with—
in the reach of ships of war and tenders ?
Why have our towns been attacked, and
houses destroyed ? Whv haVe the persons
of many of our most respect-able brethren
been seized upon, torn from all their con
nections, and confined on board of ships ?
Was all this to bring about a reconciliati
on? Jnd & for yourselves, whether the
injuring of} our persons and properties be
the readiest way to regain our affections.
After insulting- our persons, he now pre-'
sumes to insult our understandings ctalsh.
Do not believe his words, when his acti
ons so directly contradict them. ls he
wished for an accommodation, if he had
a desire to restore peace and order, as he
prosesses, it was to be u'pon terms which
would have been disgracesul, and in the
end destructive of every thing dear and
valunble. Consider again the many at
tempts which have been made to enslnvc
us. Nature gave us equal privileges with
the people of Great Britain; we are
equally, with them, entitled to the
disposul of our own property; and we
have never religned to them these rights,
which we derived from nature. But thev
have endeavour-ed, unjustly, to rub us (is
them : They have made ac'ts ofparliament ,
in which We in no manner concnrred,
which dispose of our property ; acts which
and uliichssyose burthcns and resh'aints
abridge us liberties we once enjoyed,
upon us too heavy to be born. Had we
immediately taken up arms to aflsiert our
rightS, and to prevent the exercise us un
lawsnl power, though our cause would
have been just, yet our conduct would
have been prccipimte, and sitsztl'ltlmncnl—le.
We might then, with sinne lind-w: nf'j-ctf'.
tice, lmve heen charged ui-sih rr/sief/zau, or
a disposition to rebelsi. But this was not,
the wav we hchzivcd: \Ve petitioned
once and again, in the most slutisul man
ner; we hoped that the righteoulitesh of
our cause would appear, that our Cum—
plaints would he heard and attended to;
wc wished to avoid the horronrs us;-1 civil
war, and so long proceeded inthis li'uitless
track that our not adopting a more vigo
rous opposition seemed rather to proceed
from a spirit of meannelss and fear than of
peace and loyalty, and all that we gained
was to be more grievoufly oppressed. At
length, we resolved to with—holdour com—
merce from Britain ; and, by thus affect
ing her interest, oblige her to redress out
rievances. But in this also we have
feen disappointed : Our associations have
been deemed unlawsul combinations, and
opposition to'government; we have been
entirely deprived of our trade to soreign
countries, and even amongst ourselves,
and fleets and armies have been- sent to
reduce us to :: compliance with the un
just and arbitrary demands of the British
minister, andcorrupt parliament. Redu
ced to such circumstances, to what could
we have recourse but to arms? Ever
other expedient having been tried, and,
sound ineffectual, this alone was lest ; and
this we have, at last, unwillingly adopt
ed. If it be rehelliorz to take up arms in
such a cause as this', rebellion then is not
only a justifiable, but an honourable
thing. But, let us not be deceived with
empty sounds . They siwho call us reb'els
cannot make us so. Rebellion is open,
and avows opposition to lawful authority '
but it is usurped and arbitrary ower whic
we have determined to oppo e. Societies
are formed, and *m_agistrates appointed,
.that men may the better enjoy'the blesiingl
of life. Some of the rights which'they
have derived from nature they part with,
that they may the more peaceably and
sizfely possess the rest. To preserve the
rights they have reserved is the duty of
every member of soeiety, and to deprivc
a people of these is treason, is rebellion
again/I the state. Is this doctrine then be
right, which no one, l'belicve, will ven
ture to deny, we, my countrymen, are
dutisul members of society ; and the per
sons who endeavour to rub us osour rights,
they are the 'rebelr, rebel: to their country;
and to the right: of human nature. I repeat
it again, let us not be deceived with empt '
sounds.' We are acting the part of loya
subjects, of faithful members osthe-com
munity, when we stand forth in opposition
to the arbitrary and Oppresiive acts of any
man, or set of men. Rcsort not then to
the flandard which lord Dzmmore has set
up; and is any oi'you have been so sat
mistaken in your duty as to join him, fly
from his camp, as an infected place, and
speedily rejoin your virtuous sufferin _
countrymen; sor, be ye well assurecs
that the time will come when these inva
ders oi'the rights of human kind will suffer
the punishment due to their crimes ; and
when the insulted and oppressed American:
will, is they preservc their virtue, triumpl
over all their enemies.
The second class of peOple, sor Mhosi
sake a few remarks upon this proclama—
tion seem necessary, is the negrocss's. The}
have been flattered with their sreedomsi
ifthey be able to bear arms, and wi]
speedily join lord Dzmmm'e's troops. T'
none then is freedom promised but to sucf
as are able to do lord Dunmore service
The aged, the infirm, the woman au
children, are siiil to remain the propcrt
ol'their masters, ofmasters who will [)
provoked to severity, should part oi'thei
flaves desert them. Lord Dunmorc's de
duration, therefore, is a cruel dccluratio
to the negroen. He does not even pre
tend to make it out osany tenderness !
them, but soi'cly upon his own account
I