The Virginia gazette — Williamsburg, Va., 1777-05-16 00:00:00, page 1

'THE
MAY 16, 1777.
nU
N
M
E
on,
B
&
2
VIRGINIAssssctsi
G
A
2
T
E
E
T
si' .; .,
ALWAYs IOR LIBERT\ ljsiY —
\ND THE PUBLICK GOOD.
High HEAVEN 10 GRACIOUS 15an ..siircctx the Sl'URM!
WILLIAMSBURG, [Way 13, 1777.
THE meetings of the Duct)! l'or pru
motsimg uscfsiul know ledge having been
interrupted for two years psilst, p nr-ssly by
the critical situltsimn of our coumry, and
parlly by the' difficulcy of crmvcning so
large :: number of members as were re—
quired to constitutc a mecting, it was
therefore judged necessary, and resolved
by a meeting held yesterd-sily at the C.1p'1
tol, that for the future scvcn members,
with the president or vice president in
clusivc, might proceed to business, and
that a committec then appointed shoulsil
immediately examine and publish such
papcrs as they should judge worthy of a
place in their trans-zctiuns.
As it has been obsijcctcd lw some gentle
men, that the business of such sucieti-cs is
generally confined to ubsh'usc sciences, or
mere matters of speculatiou, which ought
not to engage our attention in the present
situation of our co'untry, and therefore
thar. th: socicty had better be laid aside
till we may with more propriety amend to
such matters, ] must beg leave to observe,
that the objectors seem not aware of the
intimate connexxon there is between those
abstrusc sciences, as they are called, and
those arts which are absnluzcly neccssxry
to the intercoux'se of mankind, and to the
suz-nishing the conveniencies, comforts,
and elegmcies of life. Thus, without
the assiitance of geometry, astronomy
would be extremely defcctive, and almost
uselcsz; without astrtxnomy, gcography
must be imperfect ; and without gcogra
phy, nnvigarion must have- bccn confined
to rivers and have, and the cummerce and
happyintercours: of different, (iistant na
tions, could not have existed. Again,
without this us:sul science, geometry,
surveving. by which we are able to asccr
tain the cxceut and llslflhi of the different
states, and of each man's land therein,
must have been unknown; and without
mechanicks, that labour which is now
prrsormed by a siug1e hand nmst have
employed the strength of horses. 'l'o
botmy, and chymish'y, we are indebjzcd sor
many valuablc medicines; to the latter,
for the art of extracting metals from their
ores, and dycs from plmts, &c. and sn
thc art of making- guupowder, glass,
bronzc, brass, sactititirzus germ, &c. &c.
and as to what is called a more matter of
speculatisi'm, it may be observed, that the
rescslrchcs of philosophers have often led
to the noblest Llisc-zvsrics, even when they
appeared to be confined to sulzjzcts of little
importance, and indeed ol' mere amuse
ment, as in the discovery of the proper
ties of the cycloid, and the nppiicntion us
electsiic'sty to the preservcuion os buildings
and ships against lisstzh's-FHLZ- ,
But, above all, it should be conhdcrcctl
that the sciences must :1zizrzizziiksir to agn
culturc, and all the ulbthl ;n'ts 11:le manu
sacturcs we are now so much in nud of',
OF xixcy un nchss-si arrive at any tolerable
degree of persectnu; am! lh-ss—xlssxsilrc thc
]):Cllsi'ls Objects of the. fizciuy, vsiixmh can!
never muse require their nlliilnncc simd
attention than in the presunc shuation us
Amcrica. Bdisilcs, who would wish that
am institutlon which surnillles an us;:lctul,
manly, and (lcfli-sizsilulssul entertainmcnt for
lb; members, wh'zch dissuscs abroad a spix it
of sssclsiul inquiry, sh'rs up ;: lsict-u-siln'ulc cmu—
lz-ltlon :unuuglt men ol'yss'enizn, dmwz out
OF ubscurlty and bring; illlu action men of
abillties, whusss, modcllv wsixuld otherwise
haue deprived the world utsi thfir labours,
should ever be lulcl aside?
There are others, who object that such
a soclcty c-ctm alfctrcl but little ullict-fnncc to
the sciences, zu-zl llmulzl therefore confine
llsclfto husbandry ausii mfmusctctures; but
to this I must answer, that there is grmc
room for ixuprovcmcnts and (life weries in
lna'gnctism, elessftrlcity, chymistw, ;uul
natural history; that the ;;cdgraphy and
natural hiltmsiy us our country is but little
known, and that the scrcnity of our lky
gives us a great asilvantagcsiovcr the astro
nomerssuf Europe, and enables us to makcss.
the observatiuns necessxry tu perfect their
tables. lf we exert ourselves, tllfrcsorc,
we may nope w uave me nonour or mruw
ing some light on several of the sciences,
of render'xug all of them familiar to our
countryrnen, and of applying them with
propriety and cfflcacy to the persccting of
those arts which may be most csscntially
serviceable to our country. '
These are the viewa of the society,
which it is expected every member will
labour to accomplish, and every lover of
the sciences, and friend of mankind, en
deavour to promote.
Although the meetings have been long
discontinued, the business of the society
has not altogether stood still; for several
papers on curious and uscsul subjectl, some
ushssonomicul ubservations, and many very
valuzblc metcorological journals, have
been given in, together with several pre
sents which may lay the soundntion os :\
collection of such curiolitics as wouhl
adoru any cabinet in Europe. For shr—
ther particuL-ssrs ] must refer thc publick
to the transactions of the socicty, which
it is hoped may soon be ready For the
press. All gentlemen, therefore, who
are wmmg man mclr omcrvnuc-us m iuly
of th: sciences, or on any usesul arm and
mnnusactures, or on agriculture, should
appear in our first volume, are re
quested to send them to the revereml Mr.
MADlsoN, professor o? mathematicks at
'Willium :md Mary college," who is one
as the (Zcrctnrics, and curator to the s.)
cicty, or to the subscribsr.
_] 0 H N P A 0 15, prcs. soc.
Al)VERTISEMENTS.
HAVE shr shlc two good WAGGONS
and TEAMS, which mnv bc ssscn at
mr. [Matthew Andmj/bn's (;f Gioucr/fcr.
.] GEORGF. ANDEKSON,
KlNG & QUEEN, May 1, 1777.
lNT 15; ' D sur Europe in a short lime
]OSEPH DAVZLNPOR'F
Wluctumsnunc, May15, 1777.
BFJNG appointed by the honourable
the General Assembly of North Caro
lzsiua printer to that state, ] lhllik it
isi-eccssiry to inform the pubiick thereof,
that so soon as ] settle my affairs in
Virginia, which I hope will be in a few
Weeks, ] shuii repair there. in order not
only to carry on the immediate l'U B Ll C K
BU NI NESS of me sctime, but also a srcc
am] indcpcndcnt VEHICLE cleTELLI—
GENCE, which will be published weckly.
Those who may be willing n') encourage
thc undermhing, so obviurctfly ulcsu! and
bencsicial in any state, will please to leave
their names with either Willis jane:, esq;
nt Haliflu, doctor William Sarmge. at
Edentan, mr. Tumla'n/on, tavern-keeper at:
Newbcrn, or with any other persons whom
the above gentlemen may send subsC'iption
pnpcrs to for that purpose; and the s-soner
they do this the better, as [shall be anxiuus
to go to work immediately after my
arrival among them . Asit is indispensixbly
requisite, on account of the enormous
expcnse of every material, that half the
suhscription money should be pȝid at. the
tune or lublcnomg, no gentleman,
expect, will refuse to do it; and l promise
them no pains shall be wanting to giv*e
satisfaction. The price of the Gazotte
will be zos. per amzum proc.---—l cannot
sutlicientlyexpresi my thanks tothe worthy
representatives os North Carolina for the
unanimous choice of me as their servant;
but, I trust, my grat'siude will be more
fully evinced by a due observance towards
the impartialicy of my paper, and a strict.
adherence to all the other duties of my
office. ] am, with the utmost deserence
:zutl respect, their's and the publick's mosi:
obedient servant, jOHN PlNKNEY.
WALES, Apri/ 79, 1777.
H E land mr. fame: Gray purchased
ofme was, in consormity to :: decree
olssDz'nwiddic court, publickly advertised,
and suld to the highest biddcrat Southamp
ton courthouse, in the neighbourlrood of
the said Gray. Finding it incunvenient to
attend myself, the sale, at my request,
was conducted by a gentleman who prac
tised in Southamptan court ssas _a _lawycr,
and in that capacity had obtained the above
decree against me. He took mr. Gray's
bond for 25]. the consiclcrafion money, and
delivered it to me. True it is that ] rc
sused m cxccutc a deed with general war
rauty for the said land, 'not thinking my—
sclf obsigcd so to do from the tenour of
the decrees, the termsofmy advertiscment,
or the information my friend gave me
rcspecting the actual (ble he made. I am
always ready to arbitratc this mattc, and
wish to do it br—snre mr. Gray leaves this
state, otherwise it must be postponecl for
litigctsiuion hereafter. Suffcrmc, however,
to bbscrve to him, that the land having
been morlguged to me by a third person,
and such as part oi'his estate, it cannot be
omkmal, I think, 'm un". (Pray, or myself,
usi; ssil aside th: salc much: as ::sores-zid
2" CRAY BRIGGS.