The Virginia gazette — Williamsburg, Va., 1776-12-13 00:00:00, page 1

"DECEMBER 13, me. ; ss _NUMBim 93.
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High HEAVEN lo (.RACIOUS l-INDS dm-ctx the STORM!
in the llousz of DELEG AT ns , T/uusdsisi-ssy,
Novembcr 28, 1776.
MR . Jcsserson, from the Committce m"
Privileges and Elections, repurtesi.,
that the committee had, according to or
der, had under their consideration the
petition os An'rnun UWHUR, to them
referred, and ]le rgrecd to the shlhm'si-sig
"Wort and rcshlution thereupon; which he
read in his place, and ustcrwnrds delivered
in at: the clerk's table, where the same
were again twice read, and agreed tu.
Your committec lind, that the snid Att
Tntllt UPsuun having schral vessels on
the (tocks, cleared one of them cut for
si the British West Ind'zcs on the zoth day of
i]uly 1775, but. that the said vessel was not
aunched until the 26th day of August;
- that on the zd day of Scptember, when
the storm happened, thc sssxid vcfiel had no
part of her loaning on hoard ; that the shid
vessel sailed after the loth day of Septcm
her to one osthe ('orcign West- lndia'tsluudb,
.with a load of ]nd'mn corn; that. on the
_ n.! day ofOctober souowing the commit
'f teaof the cnnnty of Accmnack proceeded
si" to inquire into the matter, and on such
inquiry declared the said Upsnu it had vin
. lated the continental associatsiton by scndin 1!
si out the said vessel, and ordered his cnsc
to be published in the Virginia anctte;
that after the return of the said will], the
said UPSI-ttttt (as appears by the minutes
of the said committee) denyjng that he
had intentionally violated the (aid aflsi-xz'm
tion, voluntarily submitted the matter
again to the determinatlon of the commit
tec, Who, at & scsiion held on the 8th day
of jannnry 1776, upon sarthcr inquiry,
were of opinion that. he had violated the
said association ignorantly, but that, hav—
htfzbehaved ohffinatclv, and ill afterwards ,
hsoughc to be smed , mid they accordingly
sincd him Ioo]. which sum the said UP
Invn dcpofited with a member of the.
committee. Your committec farther sind,
that. she said petitioncr hath, both before
and since the said transaction, conducted
himself as a friend to the American cause.
Re/blwd, that though the committee os
Accomflck were actuated by the best of
-. motives, yet they errcd in proceeding to
impose the fine upon the petitioncr, and
that therefore the said sine ought, to be
, reflored to the said pecitioner by the person
with whom it was drposited .
Rqsolvcd, that the said petitioncr having
violated the asshciation throu gh ignorance ,
and having in other rcspccts conduct?!
himselfas a sricnd to the Amcr'lcan cuu e,
ought to he restored to the rights osdcal—
ing and intercourse with his- country.
EDMUND PENDLETON, speaker.
By ordbr of the House.
JOHN _TAZEWELI., clerk.
"w
To the PUBLlCK.
N the me of cnntemplntion, it appears
extraordinary that :: people engaged in
.
Was for their xerv exiflcnrc :zs; free mcn
should )ct smd leisure (sior the most permit—
! l'LL'fisiuiiitiOHS ot'pcace and tranquillity._
' c\ss.:*si_\' revolution, religion is sure to
c-sixsi in her ( I:..im, sometimes urging it with
'si-si—uzr. v' ::nd moderation; at others,
x-siu ss-z ;, and pcrpctrming violence.
H'ss; '.". Zsszvss-zss =n is meum every samallick moclc
ut' v.-.—-r<hip that has been displuycd sOl'
scvmcusiu scnturics, through various. parts
us tih: world. 'l'he simple ;uiorzniun ns
COD, and the performance nl'mnm] du—
tics (though undoubtedly the only true
religion) has not yet obtained thar charac
ter; norwillit, butinsomcverycnlighten
ed age.
Credulity is the parent of physick and
religion. The buik of mankind, too ig
norant to invesiigatc the mechanism of
their own bodies, and the divine principle
whichnnimates it, throw themselvesblind
ly on their doctor and their priest ; whence,
they ostcntimcs die under the one, and
always live soolishly under the other.
l'hilosophers, on the contrary, whose si."
gacity enables them regularly to trace ei
srcts back to their caules, pursue nature
through all her general laws; from the
motion of a singer, up to the scnsorium,
:md vivisying power of all auimal ]ise.
Here their inquries are suspcndcd, consci
ous that mortals have not faculties to
comprchznd immortality. Truth is assent
to unis-zrm concurrcncc osexperimcnts,
or sialogous rcuscming from them. By
this stanclard, every system of religion,
shut hus-bc-cn hitherto inliituted , is equally
false and foolish ; from the Roman Catho
lick with his host, down to the Asrican
with his scttish. ]ndividuuily, therefore,
the scctarics arc right; that each should
he.: i'oolish in his own way, without contri
hu'siingtothcituol'othcrs. Collectivcly,
they are wrong; shr recent experience
has taught, that shmcparticular scds hold
principlcs not only incompntihic with the
prosperity! but even the very existence,
olsi eltablllhed govex'nnicnts. ers the
state summon all its members to arms, sur
mutualdcicncc ? Their saith forbids their
bearing arms, on any occasion whatsoevcr.
Docs its safety demand va rigid authority
over a proportion of its inhabitants?
Their religion tczichcs, that the souls of
all men are equal in the sight of God;
mid, for religious purposes, they level so
indiscriminately, with those they should
command, that all subordination must be
destroyed by it.
R'cliginus evils have no remedy, but
cmmternctin each other; and hence the
cxpediencc of an sistnblishedchurch, which ,
while it receives protection si'om govern
ment, always pays a due obedience to its
authority, and does remotely1 though
secbly, lay some restraint on systems more
noxious than its own.
The sectaiies, then, are mistaken when
they suppose they are taxed for the support
osa soreign church; they only contribute
to the support of government. for no go
vernment can be well regulatcd which
turns every religious order, uncontrouled,
loosc on society. ' "
Tolcration carries satire in every letter
osit. Litcrally, it means the suffering an
uhule. w ho ever heard of tolerating wis
dom and virtue? Frec states, for the in- '
cruusc of trnde and population_, have al
ways hu-n hbcral nl'it. On the contrary,
monarchies have bcelt prove to perfecuti—
un. ltcpubhcks have sought, by every
means, to' nggmndisc themselves; while
nmu'siu-chhm have been attentive to prescrve
what they puflbss. Under Trajnn, the
Christians wcrc persecuted; but, by the
trading Dutch, they have been tolerated
through all their various suits. Waving
awry othct pmuf' a ainst them, can a
people be supposed right in their religious
sentiments who suffered persecution under
the wisest and best prince that ever ruled
an cmp'n'e, and whose orders were execut
ed by the most accomplished minister that
ever lived? si si
Mr. Pu no ! E.,
At the fl;llowing extract fisom MULLi-l'l
treatise osAlt'l'sillJLP-Y "my be ]erice
llll/lss' to thcyoung shodmt in that science;
I bag thefiwour ojyou topubllsh it iuyour -
C'azctte.
S the insicm'inn of the exercise, in time
ofpcnce, is to render the yonngctar
tillerist skilful in all the different branchel
of [in business, ] think isk'ascinc battericl
were raised now and then, and platforms
laid, in ordn' that they might know how
to do it in time of war, and at the same
time accustom the men to fire through
(nlhrushrcS, it would conduce very much
to their pcrsccssliouct: for the manner the ex
ercise is carried on at present, upona stone
platform, withoutany (lcclivity, and with
out brcallwork, can g'lvcno truejdea ofthe
(Bring in asicgc. 'l'he most it can dossusiet'o
represent :! saint notion of siring in aboute;
where no battcry nor platform is "triacle,,
cxccpting in some cases where a post in to
he defended. ] know an excuse [I made,
that ltls tue duty of the enyneen, and
not that of the artillc officers, to meke
the batteriea; and Zey have hithertu
made them accordingly, as far as [know.
th as this custom is grounded upon very
err-vneous principlcs, as we shall prove, it
oussght to be abollshed; for how seldom
does it happen that an engineer in this
country has an opportumty to make a
battery, and when he has, how shall he'
know whether the embrasures are rightly -
made, or whatdeciivity the platshrmshouhl
have, exccpfinghe is well acquainted with
artillery ? It may be said, he ought to be
acquainted with whwt has been done by
sormer enginecrs ; but as the length and
weight of piccas is changed almost every
day, and of course the making the embra
sures and platforms must change likewise,
it is impossible he should know how to
make a battery in a proper manner unless
he was ordered to make experiments every
time pieces arc changed, which is newer
done: Whereas, on the contrary, the
officers osartillery are on the spot, and by
siring these guns have all the Opportunity
they can wish to determine these thing;,