The Virginia gazette (Williamsburg [Va.]), 1771-06-06 00:00:00

VIRGINIA
GAZETTE.
With the freshest ADVICES,
FOREIGN and DOMESTICK.
IN CIVITATE LIBERA LINGUAM MENTEMQUE
LIBERAS ESSE DEBERE. Suet. in Tib. S. 28.
Printed by ALEX. PURDIE, and JOHN DIXON, at the POST OFFICE.
On the constant successive IMPROVEMENT of the WORLD by TIME.
TIME, Age, Reflection, do Wonders in the World. They constantly place, before the attentive Eye, a new Creation of Things; and these are Truths in various successive Shapes, whether we consider them as Lessons of Virtue, for the Improvement of our moral Conduct, or as Utilities and Embellishments in Life, by the Discovery of Arts and Sciences. To speak according to the Narrowness of our Ideas, there seem to have been only two Things in the Choice of the Deity when he determined to create Mankind, either to place them in a certain subordinate Degree of Happiness, with Power to promote themselves to higher Degrees, or to have given them the highest possible Happiness at once. This last, it is likely, is the very Thing which all who are dissatisfied with their present Condition long for, but, indeed, if carefully attended to, will perhaps be found to be an impossible Case; for it seemingly implies a Contradiction, even for infinite Power itself, to make any positive Degree of Happiness, how great soever, the greatest possible. Between what is infinite, and the next Step to it, there must always be an immeasurable Void, which will ever afford Room for the Supposition of going farther and farther, without coming to any determinate End. So that the only Way which our beneficent Creator had of communicating the greatest Happiness to his Creatures was by setting no Bounds to it, but allowing us to go on from one Degree of Truth to another, from one Degree of Perfection to another, in an endless Progression. Had the Deity placed us in any fixed determined Degree of Happiness, with Understanding enough to see that there might be higher Degrees, we should have been Losers by this Appointment.
If it be said, that, even allowing this progressive State to be the best, we might have set out from a higher Step in the Scale, it might be answered, that, wherever the first Step was taken there would lie the same Matter of Complaint against it as against the present.
In Fact, if we were to be placed in a State of Morality, that is, in such a State as to be able, by our own Choice, to become the Authors of our own Happiness or Misery, such an Allotment of Things, as at present obtains, seems in some Sort necessary, where the Balance is pretty near equally suspended; so that there should be no great Force upon the Will, or Preponderancy in Favour of one Side more than the other. All that is wanting, or can be desired, in such a State, is, that the Proportion of Good may appear so sufficiently above the bad that we may, with Reason, conclude the Deity had our Happiness in View at Creation. And if it should be farther evident that this Happiness is growing daily greater, by the Discovery of the many important Truths Length of Time has drawn out of the Womb of Obscurity, we have the fairest Argument, which Analogy can afford, that it will continue ever to do so; which is also greatly strengthened by that Stretch and Tendency which every One must experience in his Mind to get forward, by that Appetency after future good Things, that Grasping after Happiness, that lies still beyond our Reach, which was certainly never implanted in our Nature merely to mock and disappoint us.
Beings of a Day, as we are, can, however, form but imperfect Notions of such vast Designs as are, and have been, the Business of Eternity. Notwithstanding our boasted Privilege of looking before and after, all, we can clearly say, is just the narrow Spot that lies around us; one Scene, perhaps, or less, of the great Drama in which all Mankind are merely Players, and have their Exits and their Entrances. And it matters not at all whether one Man has a longer Part in this Scene than another, as they will both so soon quit it to enter on the next; and we must stay the concluding Act, to know whether exact poetical Justice has been done or not. Enough for us, if we can, in the mean Time, learn, from what is past, what is most likely to be hereafter; if we can see just a distant Opening of the Plot, enough to lead us to guess, with Probability, at the Catastrophe.
If then, from those Parts which have been already acted, we can discover a Tendency for better Discoveries in Things by Time and Reflection, we may rest satisfied, and safely conclude, that they will for ever go on in the same Way; that the World is, and has been continually, from the first Notice we have of it, in a State of Improvement, with Regard to every Particular that can be thought to raise or dignify our Nature; that it is now, in all Respects of that Sort, better than ever it was before; and that consequently the common Notion many give into, "that Virtue, and with it Happiness, the Arts, and, in short, every Thing which gives a Grace and Dignity to Life, has long been upon the Decline," is equally false and frivolous.
One of the principal Reasons for this Opinion seems to have been the unfair Comparison which is usually made between present Virtues and Vices and those which are past.
Do we not hear of more Vices being practised now than formerly were, and fewer Virtues, is a Question which almost every One is ready to ask; and from thence it is an easy Step to the Conclusion, "that consequently the Manners of Men are plainly in a State of Degeneracy." If the World has been really making a continual Progress to greater Degrees of Perfection, how is it possible that Men should so far overlook its Advances as to think and say it has been daily growing worse? In what Light are we to look upon those Improvements which, so far from becoming Matter of common Observation, have not been visible enough to prevent a Conclusion which entirely overthrows the very Supposition of their Existence?
This may pass, with some, for very plausible arguing; but it will be found, perhaps, on due Inquiry, to have, in Fact, no other Foundation than this: We feel the Effects of present Vices, and therefore they excite in us strong Emotions of Indignation; whereas we can look at those, which are past, as unmoved as we are unhurt by them.
Neither let any One think it a sufficient Reply to this to say, "that for the same Reason we should estimate also at a higher Rate present Virtues, as we are in like Manner immediately sensible of their good Effect;" which if we did, it must be owned we should still keep the Balance fair and even. But, unluckily, the Proposition which asserts, "that we are more strongly affected by what we see and feel than by what we hear or read of," is only true in a partial Respect, as we shall find by attending to the different Effects which Virtue and Vice make in our Affections.
Actions that shock us do indeed affect us more by happening in our Time, in our own Country, and in our own Neighbourhood, than when they happen at a Distance; as we are by these Means made acquainted with many little Circumstances that increase our Horror, but yet are too trivial for History or Relation to particularise, which generally gives us Things only in the Gross. But it is not equally true that those of a better Kind affect us in the same Manner. In the Case of the present Vices, we tremble for our Friends, our Families, and ourselves; and as scarce any One thinks himself concerned to extenuate their heinous Quality, except the Actors of them, or their Associates, for whom it is usually dangerous too, and always of little Consequence to appear in the Defence, they receive no Alleviation but such as Time brings, which commonly blots out some of the worst Circumstances attending them. People, too, when the Danger is over, begin, with greater Calmness, to consider Things, and make Allowances; till, at Length, Crimes of the blackest Hue lose their most frightful Features, and appear with a softer Aspect and a fairer Complexion.
The Process is by no Means the same with Respect to good Actions: As the former, when present, are more shocking; so, in the same Circumstances, the latter appear less striking. It has long ago been discovered, though not sufficiently attended to, "that Virtue, instead of affording greater Pleasure the nearer it comes to our View, has a strange Kind of Property to hurt the Eye of the immediate Beholder, and is scarce ever seen in its full Beauty and Perfection but through the Medium of
"History." This gives a Shape and Roundness to it; which, on Account of the Blaze it occasions, present Beholders cannot so well distinguish.
Envy too, and a Thousand other Circumstances, such as Party Quarrels and Family Connexions, step in between the living Man of Worth and his due Commendation; but when he is once gone, he has removed the hardest Obstacle which stood in his Rival's Way to Greatness. To make him Amends for their former niggardly and unwilling Allowance of that Honour which his Merits might have justly claimed, Men are eager to heap even unmerited Praises on his Memory; especially as they are but too apt to hope they shall, by this Means, lessen the Pretensions of those who, on the present Stage, are treading after him in the Path of Glory.
The Case must therefore be altered when History has taken the Honours of the Dead under its Protection. This, in Proportion as it is written at a farther Distance from the Time when a great Man lived, clears off more and more of that Obloquy and Detraction which sullied his living Glory. Those Spots which, seen too nearly, intercepted so much of his true Brightness, in this new Position gradually disappear, until at length there is Nothing left but the fair and amiable Picture of his Virtue; which must always strike, when viewed in its true Light. And, if it has the farther good Fortune to fall into a Poet's Hands, it is set off and adorned with every Grace that may give it a superiour Lustre; with every Stroke and Touch of Art that may attract Attention, or win Admiration from all who see it.
But, in the main, it may serve to little Purpose to trace out the Sources from which Men have probably derived their common Notion, that the World has been growing worse and worse continually; as it may almost be Argument enough, to show its Falsehood, just to observe, that, had it been true, there must have been an End of the World, and its Wickedness too, before this Time. It is such a down-hill Road to Ruin and Perdition, that, had Men entered upon it, had they begun to decline in Virtue and Perfection, so early and so fast as Complaints would make them, they must, long ere this, have reached the lowest Pitch of Degeneracy, and the Bands by which Society is held together had been all long ago loosened and destroyed. Thanks to the Christian Religion, which maintains and supports the Cause of Virtue; whilst, at the same Time, it lays the Axe to the Root of every Vice. Men, enveloped in the Cloud of animal Appetite, may decry its Dogmas of Faith; but its transcendent Morality argues its divine Origin, and, superior to all Opponents, it will improve Mankind in Goodness, it will continue to make and keep them happy, to the End of the World.
It is therefore really true that we are now in Possession of greater Advantages than God ever gave to Men before. Learning and Arts are at present in a diffused State, under the Care and Protection of several different Governments, all jealous of maintaining their respective Share; and the Consequence should be, on our Part, greater Degrees of Virtue to deferve, and of Diligence to improve, them.
It can hardly be necessary, One should think, to explain what One means by such common Terms as Science and the Arts of Life. Left, however, any Mistake should be made, I mean by Science all that Knowledge which Mankind are possessed of, by what Means soever, or of whatever Sort it be; and by the Arts of Life I understand the practical Productions of Science into Use, comprehending all those various Inventions which contribute, in any Degree, to supply Men either with Necessaries, Conveniences, Elegancies, or even Amusements.
That Arts and Sciences have been, upon the Whole, in an improving State, from the Beginning of the World to this Time, is, strictly, to be proved only by the Authority of History, or Matter of Fact, as it stands related there; yet such a Degree of Probability arises, from the very Nature of the Thing, as may make it seem unnecessary to attempt a direct and formal Proof.
For if, as sacred History informs us, Mankind derived its Being from two original Parents, how necessarily must these two, ignorant and unskilled at first, unless they were to live by mere Instinct only, make daily Advances in some new Discoveries, either of what was needful or convenient for them, allowing them to have received from their Maker some slight Information about what was fit for them to eat, what they should do, or what avoid. Would their own Experience, think you, make no Addition to these first Impressions, this so scanty Fund of Knowledge? Would not they find, towards the Close of Life, that they knew much more than they did at the Beginning of it? Would they not perceive, that, had they known Things at first as well as they did then, they would have got through Life more comfortably than they had done? And would not they treasure up those Documents of Experience, as useful Lessons to their Children? These Questions are so very clear, that they contain their Answers. Their Children then, even supposing them not to make all the Use of Instruction which they might, would certainly, by this Means, set out in the World with much greater Advantages than their Parents had done; and in a Succession of Generations, supposing the natural Abilities of Mankind to be the same, this must continue for ever to be the Case.
Now let us suppose Mankind to be so far increased, by Degrees, as to have become, at first, too numerous for one Family, and, afterwards, for one Country to contain. Necessity, in this Case, would oblige the too populous Commonwealth to discharge itself of a Part of its cumberous Weight, and to send away some of its superfluous Inhabitants, in Places which were before uninhabited, in Climates too which differed much from that they left, in Soil, Fruits, and Temperature. These new Adventurers, then, to make their Subsistence easy and comfortable, must, besides the Principles they brought from home with them, set themselves, with all Diligence, to find out and learn many other Things both useful and necessary to be known; and this, again, would give Rise to several new and valuable Discoveries.
If we suppose, lastly, these separate Communities to be arrived at the highest Degree of Perfection, which, independently of each other, they were capable of attaining, how vastly would they all be improved by a mutual Intercourse with each other, and that in Proportion to the Ease and Frequency of this Intercourse? What a Number of Things would be found in Use among one People that had never been thought of by others, which yet might be introduced into their Practice with the greatest Success?
Whoever considers how much the Art of Navigation, the grand Means of Conveyance from one Country to another, has lately been improved by the Invention of the Compass, and, in Consequence of this, how much Commerce has been extended (whose Interest it is to be acquainted, as much as possible, with the Ways and Manners of different People, whose Business it is to supply the Wants of one Nation with the Superfluities of another, nay whose Study it is even to make Superfluities) will easily see, and allow, how much the Advantages which modern Times have derived from this Intercourse must exceed any which could be obtained from it heretofore.
If any One thinks that Sciences have not reaped the same Benefit by this Means which Arts have, it must be merely because he looks upon Science to be built on different Foundations from those of Nature and Experience; for, otherwise, the Improvements of them both must have been nearly equal.
The East, however well suited it was for the first Race of Mankind to make their Appearance in (as by its genial Warmth there would be a Kind of spontaneous Production of Fruits for their Subsistence) or however well it might be calculated for the speedy Dispersion of Mankind (as it consisted chiefly of fruitful Vales, too narrow for an increasing Multitude to dwell in, and disjointed from each other by large extensive Deserts) it must be, for the same Reasons, ill adapted to any considerable Improvements. The same Heat which was favourable to the Fruits of the Earth would be extremely injurious to the Strength of the Body, which would become languid and averse to Labour, the chief Sinew of all Art and Industry. That large Extent of Continent too, with such vast Deserts in it,
would render all Trade and Commerce extremely hazardous and inconvenient; by which Means the Arts would be deprived of their principal Support and Encouragement.
Greece and Italy partook, in some Respects, though in a less Degree, of the Inconveniences of the East; and therefore, though their Advancements in Art were carried considerably beyond the narrow Bounds of their eastern Predecessors, they must fall short of what we, their more western, or rather more northern Successors, have arrived at. And if there be any Truth in the old Proverb, "that Necessity is the Mother of Invention," the most numerous Productions of Art are always to be expected in those Places where the Defects of Nature are the greatest. What could make the Dutchman ingenious but Necessity? And what but Ingenuity could make such a Marsh as he lives in not only a habitable Country, but one which, a few Years ago, could vie with the greatest and proudest State in Europe?
However, though Necessity be the strongest Motive to put Men upon the first Trials of their Skill, yet this End is soon satisfied; and the Arts require a better Paymaster, and much higher Encouragement, than it can give to show themselves in any Degree of Perfection. It will follow, from hence, that, of all Places, Arts must flourish most in those where Nature has been rather sparing in her choicest Gifts, and yet the Genius and Riches of the Inhabitants incline them much to Luxury and Pleasure.
If the Situation of such a Place should, moreover, afford Opportunity for an extensive Commerce, and the Quantity of what are called Staple Commodities should, farther, make this Commerce an advantageous One (so that even in acquiring Elegancies Men acquire fresh Opulence, the Means of getting more) here it is that Arts must naturally attain to the highest Summit of Improvement.
The Cloud of Darkness which, after the Dissolution of the Roman Empire, so fatal to Letters, overspread the Face of all human Affairs, makes a most dreadful Void in the History of Science, though it was but the natural Consequence of one Nation's arrogating to itself supreme Dominion; which is no otherwise to be acquired, or maintained, by those who attempt it, than by carefully keeping to themselves all Learning, Riches, and Means of Power, from the rest of Mankind, who are to be their Slaves, and consequently they and Learning must fall together. This, it is to be hoped, will never again be the Case. It cannot, at least, happen by the same Means, so long as there are rival Nations, jealous of each other's Greatness; and whose Interest it is, and is known to be, to maintain what is called a Balance of Power.
From this Cloud, Mankind, some Years ago, happily emerged, and have recovered enough of ancient Learning, if not to satisfy their Curiosity, at least to inform them of almost every Thing material that was known in the World before. The Space included between this Era and the present is what, in general, goes under the Denomination of modern Times, when they are mentioned with Reference to former Ages; but it is equally true, that we have been improving from that Time to this.
What Comparison then shall we institute between ancient Knowledge and modern Acquisitions, when the whole Sum of the former makes but, as it were, the Basis on which the latter are built? We can easily make all that Men formerly knew our own, and then, without being tired with any previous Search, with all our Vigour fresh about us, can from thence set out on new Discoveries; which we are still more likely to attain to, because we can calmly look down from our Eminence, and see where they who went before us were misled and lost their Way, can correct their Mistakes, avoid their Errors, and mark out, and pursue, with less Embarrassment, the direct Road which leads to Truth.
From the London Weekly Journal, March 2, 1771.
IN an infant growing Society, the Sympathy which is felt for the injured, and the Disorder which arises from Oppression and Violence, suggest the Idea of Restraint, and of Laws. The Individual gives up a Part of his natural Right, and is protected, in Return, both in his Person and in his Property. In the Selection of those to whom he submits, he is not guided by Chance, or by Caprice; he looks for Men who possess permanent and respectable Qualities, and he is easily disposed to pay Submission and Obedience where he has placed his Veneration. The Office of a King is then elective, and not hereditary. He continues to govern while his Conduct is prudent and wise, and when it ceases to be so he ceases to reign.
It perpetually happens, however, in the Revolutions of Society, that Governments pass from being elective to be hereditary. The Imagination proceeds, with an easy Transition, from the Father to the Son. The People conceive a Gratitude for the Advantages which they have received from the Administration of an able Monarch, and they are disposed to respect his Pottery. Hence the Descendant of a Prince is invested in his Place; and what ought perpetually to be an Object of the Choice of the People, is made a Matter of Claim. Kingdoms become Estates, and descend in Succession. Birth, and not the Possession of Wisdom, or political Talents, gives a Title to the most important, the most difficult, and the most honourable Office in Society.
In an elective Monarchy, the Prince, ever attentive to exert that Capacity to which he owed his Elevation, is active and enterprising. He is watchful over the Interests of his People, and forms Prospects for their Grandeur and Prosperity. The Citizens then rise from the lowest Rank to the highest; and Courage, Ability, and Virtue, are the only Roads that lead to Preferment. It is in this Situation that Nations advance to Greatness and Empire.
In an hereditary Kingdom, the Monarch, accustomed to Ease and Splendour, neglects the Duties of a Station for which he is not indebted to his Merit. He gives himself up to Indolence and Repose, or employs himself in the Gratification of private and ignoble Passions. The bright Days of a Nation are now at an End. Pimps, Parasites, and Informers, engross every publick Honour. The People, neglected and despised, lose, in Time, the Spirit of Liberty. Chains are forged for them, and they become effeminate and obscure.
During the Anglo-Saxon Constitution, the Kings of England were elective; and when they infringed upon Liberty by their Ambition, or were unequal to the arduous Task of Government, their Authority was set aside. Sagacity in Council, and Conduct in the Field, were then more requisite in Monarchs than illustrious Descent. The Pretensions of Edgar Atheling, it is well known, were neglected to make Way for the Advancement of a Subject. The royal Blood which ran in his Veins could not balance the Merits of Harold; who mounted a Throne to which he was called by the most honourable of all Titles, the Election of a free People.
But the Battle of Hastings gave a fatal Blow to the Saxon Manners and Government, and to the Liberty of Englishmen. The Norman Institutions were then introduced into England; our Kings became hereditary; and from this Period, the Spirit of Democracy seems, with a few Exceptions, to have constantly given Way to the Encroachments of Tyranny.
The Concessions granted by Magna Charta, so much vaunted, so often appealed to, and generally so little understood, were disgraceful to King John, but of no permanent Utility to the Kingdom. The Rights of the People were invaded in the succeeding Reign; the Resentment of the Barons was again excited; and Henry III. confirmed Privileges which his Successors were eager to infringe.
Edward I. elated by the Success of his Arms, haughty and cruel, was not disposed to foster the Spirit of Liberty among his People; and his Son and Successor, Edward II. addicted to Favourites, and totally unqualified for the Station of a Prince, involved his Country in the most tragical Disorders. Even the glorious Reign of Edward III. was not free from domestick Disturbance; and amidst the Wars and Contentions occasioned by the Descendants of the Dukes of Lancaster and York, his third and

fourth Sons, the Spirit of Democracy was banished from among the People; who ambitiously contended to support the two famous Factions, known under the Names of the Red and White Roses. They should have returned to their ancient Method of Election; they should have set aside the Pretensions of the Chiefs; and England would not have been deluged with Blood for near a Century.
Richard II. had neither Capacity nor Honesty; Henry IV. governed his Subjects more by Terror than Affection; and under both, the royal Prerogative was rather increased than diminished. Henry V. able and ambitious, added to the Pretensions of the Crown; and, if the Incapacity of Henry VI. rendered him of little Importance, the Conduct of his Queen was exorbitant and tyrannical, and introduced those Disorders which paved the Way for the Usurpation of Richard III.
Henry VII. by introducing the Alienation of Property in Land, disabled the Nobles from opposing his Measures; and the Reign of Henry VIII. was as absolute as that of an eastern Despot. The Government of Mary was not less violent and sanguinary. The Administration of Elizabeth was attended with Advantages, but these Advantages did not respect the Liberty of the Subject. King James was quite enamoured of Prerogative, and inculcated in his unfortunate Son those Maxims which brought him to the Scaffold. The Death of Charles opened the Way for the Advancement of Cromwell, who governed without Control; and the Tyranny of the Protectorship was succeeded by the Return of Royalty. The People had it in their Power to new model the Government, and lost the Opportunity. Charles II. though indolent, and addicted to Pleasure, was yet sagacious and political. He promoted the Interest of the Crown, by removing every Suspicion from the People. His Sceptre passed, with Tranquillity, into the Hands of the Duke of York. James II. was ambitious, but possessed no political Talents. His Pride did not allow him to conceal his Views. Revengeful, obstinate, and cruel, he could not desist from Enterprises of which it was easy to foresee the Consequences. He fled from a Throne, under the Ruins of which he should have perished; and the English had another Opportunity to make their Crown elective. The Cabals of a Faction prevailed over the Prospect of Liberty, and the Prince of Orange was called to the Government of England. King William, of a dark and severe Disposition, distrustful and jealous, inflexible, and ignorant of the People whom he was to govern, acted rather with the Caprice and Humour of a Tyrant than the Tenderness of a Prince who respects his People and the Laws. Men protected in their religious Rights felt too strongly the Obligation, and were not sufficiently careful to attend to their civil Privileges. The Reserve of this Monarch was explained into political Discernment and Prudence; and though he scarce ever attempted a Siege which he did not raise, and never fought a Battle which he did not lose, he has been extolled as a Prodigy of Heroism.
The immediate Successors of William did not relinquish the Plan of adding to the regal Prerogatives; and at present, we have to dread, it is thought, the Encroachments of a Power that would overthrow every Claim of the Subject. In the constant War which has subsisted between the King and the People since the Conquest of the Duke of Normandy, we may perceive the Disadvantage of an hereditary Form of Administration; but though the People, at present, complain of Grievances and Infringements, we trust that they are rather alarmed than oppressed. In those Junctures, however, of a State, when Indigencies are carried to Extremity, and when the most valuable Rights of the People are invaded, they look into History; and contemplating the elective Form, and the Liberty of the Saxon Constitution, may perceive a Remedy to their Calamities. The sacred Flame that burns in the Bosom of the Patriot will, in such a Situation, be transported from one Citizen to another; one glorious Effort will remove them from the Attempts of Tyranny, and place them under a Government where the Prince will owe to his Merit his Advancement, and the Continuance of his Dignity.
Of the Laws, of Punishments, and of Exile, in RUSSIA. From Abbe d'Auteroche's Journey to SIBERIA.
M OLTAIRE tells us, in his History of Russia, that in 1722 Peter I. finished the new Code of Laws begun in 1718, and improved under the Empress Elizabeth. Peter I. forbade all the Judges, on Pain of Death, to deviate from this Code, or to substitute their private Opinions to the general Law. This severe Decree was fixed up, and is still posted in all the Courts of Judicature throughout the Empire. He also forbade the Judges, under the same Penalties, to receive any Fees, and every Man in Office to accept of any Presents. Moens de la Croix, Chamberlain to the Empress Catharine, and his Sister, Madame de Balc, Lady of the Bedchamber to the Empress, being convicted of having taken Presents, Moens was condemned to be beheaded; and his Sister, a Favourite of the Empress, to receive eleven Strokes of the Knout.
This Severity is greatly relaxed, since the Death of Peter I. All the Provinces have passed through their own Courts of Justice, which are called Chanceries. The Tribunals relating to civil and criminal Matters depend upon the Senate, and upon the College of Justice. I have observed that, in all Courts of Chancery at any Distance from the Capital, Justice was almost publicly sold; and the poor Man, though innocent, was generally sacrificed to the wealthy Criminal.
Since the Accession of the Empress Elizabeth to the Throne of Russia, the Punishments are reduced to two Kinds, the Padoqi and the Knout. The Padoqi are considered in Russia merely as a Correction of the Police, exercised on the Soldier by military Discipline, by the Nobility on their Servants, and by Persons in Authority over all such as are under their Command.
I saw this Punishment inflicted at my Return from Tobolsky to St. Petersburg. I looked out of a Window, on hearing Somebody cry out in the Yard, where I saw two Russian Slaves pulling a Girl of fourteen or fifteen Years of Age by the Arms. She was tall, and well made. By her Dress, she appeared to belong to some good Family. Her Head, dressed without a Cap, was reclined backwards. Her Eyes, fixed on one Person, pleaded for Mercy; which her Beauty should seem to have ensured to her, independent of her Tears. Nevertheless, the Russians led her into the Middle of the Yard, and in an Instant stripped her to the Waist. They then laid her prostrate on the Ground, and placed themselves on their Knees; one of them holding her Head tight between his Knees, and the other the lower Part of her Body. Rods were then brought, which they continued constantly applying on the Back of this Girl, until some One cried out enough. This unfortunate Victim was then raised, so disfigured that she was scarcely to be known; her Face, and her whole Body, being covered with Blood and Dirt. This severe Punishment led me to imagine that the young Girl had been guilty of some very flagrant Offence. Some Days after I learned that she was a Lady's waiting Maid, and that her Mistress's Husband had ordered her to be punished in that Manner on Account of some Neglect. In any other Part of the World, she might perhaps have been turned away, if her Mistress had happened to be in an ill Humour. The Russians think themselves obliged to treat their Servants thus in Order to make them faithful. These unhappy Slaves, finding so many petty Tyrants in their Masters, are obliged, on this Account, to live in perpetual Mistrust; so that, even in the Midst of their Families, they are under a Necessity of being constantly on their Guard with every One who comes near them.
I never saw the Punishment of the Knout inflicted; but as I was going over St. Petersburg with a Foreigner, who conducted me to see all the Curiosities in the City, we stopped upon the Spot where Madam Lapouchin had suffered this Punishment. The Foreigner had been present on this Occasion, and was full so much affected with the Affair that he gave me a particular Account of it on the very Spot. I shall relate the Incident as he told it to me.
Every Body who has been at St. Petersburg knows that Madam Lapouchin was one of the finest Women belonging to the Court of the Empress Elizabeth. She was intimately connected with a foreign Ambassador, then engaged in a Conspiracy. Madam Lapouchin, who was supposed to be an Accomplice, was condemned, by the Empress Elizabeth, to undergo the Punishment of the Knout. She appeared at the Place of Execution in a genteel Undress, which contributed still to heighten her Beauty. The Sweetness of her Countenance, and her Vivacity, were such as might indicate Indiscretion, but not even the Shadow of Guilt; although I have been assured, by every Person of whom I have made Inquiry, that she was really guilty. Young, lovely, admired, and sought for at the Court, of which she was the Life and Spirit, instead of the Number of Admirers her Beauty usually drew after her, she then saw herself surrounded by Executioners. She looked on them with Astonishment, seeming to doubt whether such Preparations were intended for her. One of the Executioners then pulled off a Kind of Cloak which covered her Bosom. Her Modesty taking the Alarm, made her start back a few Steps. She turned pale, and burst into Tears. Her Clothes were soon after stripped off, and in a few Moments she was quite naked to the Waist, exposed to the eager Looks of a vast Concurrence of People profoundly silent. One of the Executioners then seized her by both Hands, and turning Halt round threw her on his Back, bending forwards, so as to raise her a few Inches from the Ground. The other Executioner then laid Hold of her delicate Limbs with his rough Hands, hardened at the Plough, and, without any Remorse, seized her on the Back of his Companion, in the properest Posture for receiving the Punishment. Sometimes he laid his large Hand brutally upon her Head, in Order to make her keep it down; sometimes, like a Butcher going to slay a Lamb, he seemed to sooth her, as soon as he had fixed her in the most favourable Attitude.
This Executioner then took a Kind of Whip called Knout, made of a long Strap of Leather prepared for this Purpose. He then retreated a few Steps, measuring the requisite Distance with a steady Eye; and, leaping backwards, gave a Stroke with the End of the Whip, so as to carry away a Slip of Skin from the Neck to the Bottom of the Back. Then striking his Feet against the Ground, he took his Aim for applying a second Blow parallel to the former; so that, in a few Moments, all the Skin of her Back was cut away in small Slips, most of which remained hanging to the Shift. Her Tongue was cut out immediately after, and she was directly banished to Siberia. This Incident is known to all Persons who have been in Russia. In 1762 she was recalled from Banishment, by Peter III.
The ordinary Punishment of the Knout is not disgraceful, because every Individual under this despotic Government is exposed to Incidents of the same Nature, which have often been the Consequence merely of Court Intrigues.
Russians who have committed Crimes, with Regard to Society, are condemned to the great Knout. This Punishment is generally used on the same Occasion as racking on the Wheel in France. The great Knout differs only in some Particulars from the common Knout. The Criminal is raised into the Air by Means of a Pulley fixed to a Gallows, and a Cord fastened to the two Wrists tied together; a Piece of Wood is placed between his two Legs, also tied together; and another, of a crucial Form, under his Breast. Sometimes his Hands are tied behind his Back, and when he is pulled up in this Position his Shoulders are dislocated.
The Executioner can make this Punishment more or less cruel. They are so dexterous, that, when a Criminal is condemned to die, they can make him expire at Pleasure, either by one or several Strokes.
Besides the Punishment of the Knout, that of breaking on the Wheel was in Use before the Reign of the Empress Elizabeth. Sometimes Criminals were impaled through the Side, sometimes they were hanged by the Ribs upon Hooks, in which Situation they lived several Days; as did Women, who were buried alive up to the Shoulders, for the Murder of their Husbands. Beheading was a Punishment equally inflicted on the common People as on the Nobility.
It appears evidently, from the Example of the Kingdom of Russia, that neither the Death of Criminals, nor the Severity of their corporal Punishments, do contribute to reform Mankind.
The Empress Elizabeth has kept up the Punishment of the Knout only, as I have before observed. Criminals are even seldom condemned to this. Banishment of the Nobility, confiscating their Property, and putting the common People to publick Labour, have been substituted instead of it. I have known several Persons who blamed the Conduct of the Empress Elizabeth in this Respect, considering these Punishments as too mild.
There may be some Reason for this Opinion with Regard to Crimes of a peculiar Nature, but it is evident that such Persons were little acquainted with the Nature of Banishment as practised in Russia.
All Criminals condemned to publick Labour are treated in the same Manner. They are shut up in Prisons surrounded by a large Piece of Ground enclosed with Stakes fifty or sixty Feet high. In bad Weather they retire within the Prison, and when the Season permits they walk about in the Enclosure. They have all Chains to their Feet, and are kept for a very trifling Expense, being generally allowed Nothing but Bread and Water; or, according to the Place they are in, some other Food instead of Bread. They are guarded by a certain Number of Soldiers, who lead them to the Mines, or other publick Labours, where they are treated with the utmost Severity. This Punishment, in many Instances, is not adequate to the Crimes. It has not that Effect on the Minds of the Russians as One might expect, because they are Slaves. It would certainly have a very different Effect on a free and civilized Nation, where a perpetual Punishment of this Kind would prove a more powerful Restraint upon the People than the Fear of Death. Some Villains even look upon that Moment as the End of all their Sufferings, to which Circumstance we may impute the Resolution with which some of them have behaved on the Scaffold; but I believe it might be very dangerous to expose such Criminals, as they do in Russia, to the publick View. The Habit of seeing these unhappy People at length destroys Sensibility; and this Sentiment is of such Importance to Society that every Method ought to be taken to preserve it among People who are already possessed of it, or to excite it in the Breasts of those who are yet Strangers to it. I am persuaded that the disagreeable Sight of such a Number of Wretches in Chains, as are met with in most of the Towns in Russia, has contributed much to produce that Ferocity and Savageness of Character so remarkable among the Inhabitants of this Realm.
All exiled Persons are not confined. While I was at a Manufactory in Siberia, where I came to get some Things I wanted made under my own Inspection, a Man, whom I took at first for a Russian Peasant, came into the same Place. His Countenance was pale, his Beard long and disgusting, his Dress was ragged, and his whole Appearance expressed the greatest Misery. Observing that he fixed his Eyes on me, and that there was a Kind of Uneasiness diffused over his singular Countenance, I could not avoid being surprised. I went up to him, in Order to make some Inquiries; but how great was my Astonishment when, under such an Appearance, I found a Man of extraordinary Learning! He conversed with me in Latin upon the Sciences, upon Government, and upon the Interests of the European Powers, &c. I soon found that he was one of the unfortunate Exiles who live in this Country. I was going on with my Conversation when I observed a Russian Soldier come in, who turned pale on seeing me with this Man. As I was acquainted with the Country, I winked upon the Exile, who understood me, left off speaking without turning about, and soon after went away. I took Care not to follow him, however desirous I was of doing it. I searched for him in vain some Days after, walking about in all Places where I had Hopes of meeting with him. I never saw him after, and imagine he must have been confined at least for some Time.
Banishment in Siberia is a Kind of State of Reprobation. It makes a Man so miserable, that, although he lives among his Fellow Creatures, every Body flies from him; no Person dares to have any Kind of Connection with him; but this is not so much on Account of the Crime he is supposed to have been guilty of as for Fear of the Government.
The least unhappy of the Exiles are such as are allowed to go into Service among the Russians; they live at least with human Beings. I have known some of these very well satisfied with their Condition, living with Merchants who had some Regard for these unfortunate People. One of these Exiles brought me one Day a small Vial full of a Liquor, which he assured me was a sovereign Remedy against all Diseases. It may readily be imagined that I gave him whatever he asked for it.
I have read in the Works of some preceding Travellers that the Exiles in Siberia were employed in hunting the Animals which supply the Russians with their beautiful Furs. I have never been a Witness of this Practice, but indeed it was impossible for me to see every Thing. Besides, the Russians are in general so mistrustful that when they are asked any Questions, even concerning Matters independent of Government, they always answer, "God knows, and the Empress."
L O N D O N, April 3.
Extract of a Letter from the Isle of Ely, dated December 5, 1770.
T HE Rains have been so unusually severe, and so contrary to the usual Indications of Weather by the Barometer and Hydrometer all the Time, that I suspect the Cause has been not altogether ordinary, but somewhat foreign to our own Atmosphere. As I have no particular Business to mention at present, I shall presume to subjoin my Sentiments of the Matter.
The great Newton, in the third Book of his Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, speaks to the following Effect. "The only Food of Vegetables is Water; it is the Element which constitutes their Parts and Increase. Now when they are dead they do not return to Water; but a considerable Part of their Substance is, by Means of Putrefaction, converted into Earth. From whence the terrestrial Part of the Globe increases from Day to Day. whilst, for the contrary Reason, the aqueous Part diminishes. So that this last would soon be reduced to Nothing, if the Tails of the Comets, rarified to an infinite Degree, and dispersed in the Space of the Heavens, did not, in falling by little and little upon the Planets, furnish Vapours to their Atmospheres, and Moisture to their Seas."
Again, Whiston, in his Astronomical Principles of Religion, says, "that the System of the Comets is very considerable; that they are the most numerous Bodies of the entire solar System; that they have such vast Atmospheres about them, and Tails derived from the same, especially after the Perihelia, and those subject to such Mutations, pass through such Cold and Darkness near their Aphelia, and so much Light and Heat near their Perihelia, as imply them designed for very different Purposes from the Planets; that they seem fit to cause great Mutations in the Planets, particularly in bringing on them Deluges and Conflagrations, according as the Planets pass through their Atmospheres in their Descent to, or Ascent from, the Sun; and to seem capable of being the Instruments of divine Vengeance upon the wicked Inhabitants of any of these Worlds."
Now, if we take these Affertions of these two great Men & Truths, and reflect that about, or less than, two Years ago, a Comet appeared for a long Time, and that another has been observed in the last or recent Year, is it unlikely that they, or one of them, may have been some Cause of these deluging Rains? Especially if our Earth passed through their or either of their Atmospheres, or has received Vapours and Moistures falling
from their Tails; which curious Observers (such as Mr. Maclayne, Astronomer Royal at Greenwich) must have determined by Observations. I before observed that the usual Indications of the Weather by the Barometer and Hydrometer have been quite anomalous; for the Barometer here was at the Mark of fair during all the heaviest Rains, and at the mark of Rain on the fairest Days. The Hydrometer has been constantly as usual in the most fair and dry Weather. Now, such extraneous Vapours (as I have before mentioned) added to, or falling upon, our Earth's Atmosphere, may perhaps have thus altered its usual Indications of Weather by the Barometer and Hydrometer for the Time, as well as afforded Supplies for excessive Rains.
I should be glad to know what you think of this Surmise; and if it appears to have any good Foundation, you can possibly learn what the curious Observers in and about London have determined, as to the Paths and Directions of these late Comets. I have no Superstition about me; but as a Point of natural Philosophy, which so much affects us, I long to know their Opinions of it. I believe you love the Study of Nature, and so will excuse this very long Letter relating thereto.
Copy of a Letter from the Committee of the Common Council of London to Mr. Alderman Oliver.
SIR, THE Common Council, well satisfied with the faithful Performance of your Duty as a Magistrate, and desirous of giving you an early Testimony of their Approbation and Gratitude, have passed the following Resolution.
TRECO THICK, Locum Tenens. CROSBY, Mayor.
A Common Council holden in the Chamber of the Guildhall of the City of London on Tuesday the 26th of March, 1771.
A Motion being made, and Question put, that during the Confinement of Mr. Alderman Oliver in the Tower of London a Table be provided for him at the Expense of this City, under the Direction and Management of the Committee appointed at the last Court to assist the Lord Mayor and the Aldermen Wilkes and Oliver in their Defence on the Charge brought against them by the House of Commons, the same was unanimously resolved in the affirmative, and ordered accordingly. HODGES.
In Consequence of this Resolution, we desire your Directions, that we may execute this Trust in the Manner most agreeable to yourself. We have the Honour to be, with great Esteem and Affection, your most obedient humble Servants. HODGES.
Signed for and by Order of the Committee.
Guildhall, London, March 27, 1771.
Mr. Alderman OLIVER's Answer.
GENTLEMEN, I beg the Favour of you to return my Thanks to the Common Council of London for this affectionate Proof of their Attention to the Situation of one of their Magistrates. Though the faithful Administration of Justice, according to my Oath, was the sole Motive of my Conduct, yet I cannot but confess that their Approbation makes my Duty more pleasing. The Satisfaction of their Concurrence is, however, the only Advantage I mean to receive from their Resolution. Many strong Reasons, both publick and private, oblige me to decline the Table they have provided for me, and I hope they will not be offended at my Refusal. I am happy, Gentlemen, to find that the Common Council agree with me in thinking that an Apology is due from the House of Commons, who have violated the Laws, and not from the Magistrate, who has fulfilled them. This Country has been unhappy from the Moment that the present prevailing Councils have influenced the Sovereign. The last ten Years have afforded, to the City of London in particular, every Instance of Neglect, Unkindness, Insult, and Injury. Their Petitions have been rejected, slighted, ridiculed; their Property unjustly conveyed to others; their Charters violated; their Rights invaded; their Laws contemned; their Magistrates imprisoned. The Power that consumes us has the plainest and most odious Marks of Despotism; abject abroad, and insolent at home.
Whether our Rights will, in the End, be peaceably reestablished, or whether this Violence will be purified, is more than I can certainly declare; but this I will venture to say, for myself, they must either change the Laws or the Magistrate, for my Adherence to my Duty shall be invariably the same, regardless of the Consequences.
I am, Gentlemen,
with the greatest Respect,
your most obedient and
Tower, March 29.
faithful humble Servant,
RICHARD OLIVER.
Yesterday the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor attended by Mr. and Mrs. Oliver, went to the Tower Chapel, where a Sermon was preached by the Reverend Mr. Evans, his Lordship's Chaplain, after which his Lordship gave an elegant Entertainment to the Deputy Governor, and the other Officers of the Garrison, at his Apartments in the Tower.
WILLIAMSBURG, June 6.
The Protest against the Proceedings of the CONVENTION holden at William and Mary College on the 4th Day of June, 1771.
W HEREAS the following Resolution was agreed to by a Majority of the Clergy assembled at the said Convention, That a Committee be appointed to draw up an Address to the King for an American Episcopate, and that the Committee shall apply for the Hands of the Majority of the Clergy of this Colony, in which, if they succeed, the Bishop of London is to be humbly addressed for his Concurrence, and requested to present their Address to his Majesty, but without a Concurrence of a Majority of the Clergy the Address not to be transmitted; and that the Reverend Messrs. Camm, Wythe, Stuyvesant, and Fontaine, or any three of them, are appointed a Committee to prepare the said Address:
We whose Names are hereunto subscribed, and who did vote against the said Resolution, do publicly declare our Dissent, and protest against it.
First. Because, as the Number of the Clergy in this Colony is at least a Hundred, we cannot conceive that twelve Clergymen are a sufficient Representation of so large a Body.
Secondly. Because the said Resolution contradicts a former Resolution of the same Convention, which puts a Negative upon the Question whether the King should be addressed upon an American Episcopate; and that an Assembly, met upon so important an Occasion, would retcind a Resolution agreed to and entered down but a few Minutes before, is, in our Apprehension, contrary to all Order and Decorum.
Thirdly. Because the Expression, an American Episcopate, includes a Jurisdiction over the other Colonies, and the Clergy of Virginia cannot, with any Propriety, petition for a Measure which, for ought that appears to the contrary, will materially affect the natural Rights and fundamental Laws of the said Colonies, without their Consent and Approbation.
Fourthly. Because the Establishment of an American Episcopate, at this Time, would tend greatly to weaken the Connexion between the Mother Country and her Colonies; to continue their present unhappy Disputes, to infuse Jealousies and Fears into the Minds of Protestant Dissenters, and to give ill disposed Persons Occasion to raise such Disturbances as may endanger the very Existence of the British Empire in America.
Fifthly. Because we cannot help considering it as extremely indecent for the Clergy to make such an Application without the Concurrence of the PRESIDENT, COUNCIL, and REPRESENTATIVES of this Province; an Usurpation directly repugnant to the Rights of Mankind.
Sixthly. Because the Bishops of London have always, hitherto, exercised ecclesiastical Jurisdiction over this Colony; and we are perfectly satisfied with the mild, just, and equitable Government of our excellent Diocesan, the present Lord Bishop of London, and do think a Petition to the Crown to strip his Lordship of any Part of his Jurisdiction but an ill Return for his past Labours, and contrary to our Oath of canonical Obedience. We do farther conceive, as it had been unanimously determined, by this very Convention, that his Lordship should be addressed for his Opinion relative to this Measure, the Clergy ought to have waited for his Lordship's paternal Advice before they had proceeded any farther in an Affair of such vast Importance.
Seventhly. Because we have particular Objections to that Part of the Resolution by which the Committee are directed to apply, as it is termed, for the Hands of the Majority of the Clergy in this Colony; a Method of Proceeding, in our Opinion, contrary to the universal Practice of the Christian Church, it having been customary for the Clergy to sign all Acts of an ecclesiastical Nature in publick Convention, whereas the Manner of procuring their Concurrence now proposed is unworthy the Decorum and Dignity by which so venerable a Body ought ever to be guided.
SAMUEL HENLEY, Professor of Moral Philosophy in William and Mary College.
THOMAS GWATKIN, Professor of Mathematicks, and Natural Philosophy, in William and Mary College.
We hear that there is another PROTEST, signed by the Reverend Richard Hewitt, Rector of Hargary's Parish, in Northampton, and by the Reverend William Bland, Rector of James City Parish, in James City County.

GENTLEMEN,
AS Doctor Chan ler's Appeal to the Publick may not be frequent in Virginia, the following Extracts therefrom may be serviceable to inform the Minds, and remove the Prejudices, of some who otherwise would be fond of the Plan which the Doctor therein recommends.
"It may be proper, in a Work of this Nature, to make the following Declaration to the Publick (and I appeal to every Reader who is acquainted with the Matter for the Truth of it) that it has been long settled by our Friends and Superiors at home, and the Clergy of this Country have often signified their entire Approbation and Acquiescence therein. That the Bishops to be sent to America shall have no Authority but purely of a spiritual and ecclesiastical Nature, such as is derived altogether from the Church, and not from the State. That this Authority shall operate only upon the Clergy of the Church, and not upon the Laity, nor Dissenters of any Denomination. That the Bishops shall not interfere with the Property or Privileges, whether civil or religious, of Churchmen or Dissenters. That in particular they shall have no Concern with the Probate of Wills, Letters of Guardianship and Administration, or Marriage Licenses, nor be Judges of any Cases relating thereto; but that they shall only exercise the original Powers of their Office, as before stated, namely, ordain and govern the Clergy, and administer Confirmation to those who shall require it."
"This, without any Reservation or Equivocation, is the exact Plan of an American Episcopate, which has been settled at home, and is the only One on which Bishops have been requested here, either in our general or more particular Addresses."
"As to Tithes, of which many Americans have had formidable Apprehensions, there could be no Reason to fear the Payment of them here, even should the Authority of our Bishops be as full and extensive as it is in England. Tithes cannot be demanded by Bishops in this Country, because there are none belonging to the Church. They are demanded in England only because they are due to the Church. They are due to the Church there, because they have been freely given to it by the ancient Proprietors of the Lands; and the Laws relating to them do not convey them to the Church, but make them recoverable as its Property, to which it had a previous and complete Right. This Right was vested in the Church by King Ethelwulf, with the Consent of his Barons, in the Year 854. At that Time, all the Lands in England were properly the King's Domain; and he had as good a Right to dispose of them in this Manner as any Proprietor or Owner of Lands in this Country has to dispose of them to such Persons, and for such Purposes, as he thinks proper, &c."
"But it may be inquired whether new Laws will not be made, in Case of an American Episcopate, to subject us to the Payment of Tithes. But of this there can be no more Reason to be apprehensive than if Bishops were not to be sent hither. Tithes are not paid in England to Bishops, but to the Incumbents of Parishes; and the Clergy in this Country will have no greater Need of Tithes after the Arrival of Bishops than they now have, and have had always. In several Provinces on this Continent, the Clergy are regularly and well supported; and in the others, we have no Prospect but still to depend, in a great Measure, upon the Charity of our Benefactors at home, until God shall either enable or dispose our Friends in this Country to do more for us. But it may farther be asked, shall we not be taxed in this Country for the Support of Bishops, if any shall be appointed? I answer, not at all. No Tax is intended; nor, I trust, will be wanted. It has been proposed, from the very Beginning, that the American Bishops should be supported without any Expense to this Country. A Fund accordingly has been established, for this particular Purpose, for more than Half a Century past, under the Influence and Direction of the Society for Propagation of the Gospel, and many worthy Persons have contributed generously and largely to the Increase of it; and if the Stock is not sufficient for the Support of a proper Episcopate in America, I imagine the Difficulty in making it sufficient will not be great, for as many have given liberally on the remote Prospect of its being needed, it is not to be doubted but Benefactors will be raised up when Assistance shall be called for by a present Necessity."
FROM Richmond we learn that they receive daily Accounts of the Devastation occasioned by the late Floods. From the Mountains, to the Falls, the low Grounds have been swept of almost every Thing valuable; and the Soil is so much injured that it is thought not to be of Half its former Value, and a great Part is entirely ruined. One Instance may suffice: A Tract of Land where the River forks, which before the Fresh was judged to be richly worth ten Thousand Pounds, is not now rated at so many Hundreds. Fourteen Negroes belonging to that Estate were drowned, and only one House left out of forty, which were sixty by forty Feet. Off Elk Island, between six and seven Hundred Head of Cattle, Hogs, Horses, and Sheep, have been lost, and near a Hundred Houses; besides Grain, Tobacco, &c. At Farrar's Island, which the highest Fresh never before affected, above eighty Acres of fine Land are rendered for ever incapable of Cultivation, the Soil being gone, and in its Stead ten or twelve Feet deep of Sand, upon which is a Layer of Stones, as if paved. Many other Islands have been tore to Pieces, Hills of Sand thrown up, Channels float and their Courses altered, and, in short, the Face of Nature almost changed. Old Joe, an honest and well known Negro Fellow at the Falls of James River, who is intimately acquainted with the Remains of an Indian Nation that has resided there for Ages, says that he was shown by their old Men the Marks of the greatest Fresh handed down to them by Tradition; and that, upon his carefully measuring, it wanted near fifteen Feet of the late dreadful One. A Ship at Warwick founded from the Beginning of the perceivable Increase of the River, and found that the Fresh, at its Height, was upwards of forty Feet higher than the common Tides. The lessened Value of Lands, Loss of Stocks, Houses, Tobacco, Wheat, and Corn in Houses, with Fencing, and the Crops on the Ground, baffle all Description. Byrd's, Shocko, Richmond, Rocky Ridge, and Warwick, have suffered amazingly; in the Loss of Merchandise and Tobacco, besides Houses, &c. Between five and six Thousand Hogheads of Tobacco are gone from these Places. The Distresses of the People in Albemarle, and those Parts of the Country in the Reach of the Fresh, is not to be described; most of them being left without Bread to eat, or Dwellings, and their Stocks gone. The trading Part of the Country has likewise suffered excessively, in European and other Goods, as well Imports as Exports. The Losses, and very great Distresses, of the numerous Sufferers, call loudly for the Interposition and Assistance of the Legislature; which no Doubt that respectable Body will take into as early Consideration as may be, and grant the immediate and effectual Relief which is so much wanted. In some Places, Trees, Carcases, &c. are matted together, from twelve to twenty Feet in Height; and, from the horrid Stench, there is no coming near enough to separate them. Happily, if, at this Season, we escape some contagious Disorder. Miles in Length of Trees and Logs came driving down the River, and Nothing could withstand their Force. The Logs were almost up to the Boltsprits of many Vessels; so that their Anchors could not avail them, and were chiefly lost. There were no Rains to speak of at Richmond, and thereabouts, so that they must have fallen from the Mountains to about thirty or forty Miles above the Falls. From the first perceivable Rise of the River at that Place was about sixty Hours, and the Water sometimes rose at the rapid Rate of sixteen Inches an Hour. Daily Accounts are received of the Loss of whole Families; and Houses came floating down, with People on them calling for Help, though none could be afforded. Accounts are already received of fifty odd People being drowned.
Appomattox has been little or Nothing affected, which proves that the Rains must have fallen high up the Country. The Devastation on Roanoke is, if possible, still greater; in the Ruin of valuable Lands, Loss of Negroes, Stocks, Houses, &c. On Pamunkey River, the low Grounds are chiefly laid under Water, the Crops and Meadows destroyed, and the Fencing gone. Many Houses and Mills are carried away, and a Deal of Grain and other Commodities spoiled.
A Letter from Fredericksburg says that several Houses and Mills have been swept away from that Place and Falmouth; that the highest Fresh in Rappahannock never came up to the Floors of the Warehouses, but that this rose as high as the Joists, whereby a large Quantity of Tobacco was floated out, nine Hundred Hogheads from Falmouth, or the lower Warehouses, and three Hundred from Dixon's, the upper Inspection. Much Salt, and other Goods lost; several Vessels driven from their Anchors; a Deal of valuable Land washed away; incredible Quantities of Trees and Fencing come down the River; only one Life lost, that had been then come to the Knowledge of it.
We have no Accounts from Potomack; but, from its Communication with the Rivers at the Mountains, there is no Probability of their having escaped this almost general Calamity.
Upon the Whole, it is believed that History scarcely affords an Instance of equal Damage being done to any Country, or the Destruction of Lands, Loss of Property, &c. be included.
A waggon Blade at Richmond, we are told, laid it was his Opinion Old Nick had bored a Hole through the Mountains, and let in the South Sea upon them.
Extract of a Letter from Brunswick County, dated the 18 th Instant. "I can give you no particular Account of the Action between the Governor and Mob in Carolina, only that the latter were defeated, with the Loss of about two Hundred Men in killed and wounded. It is said they are still in Arms, and that there is Reason to apprehend another Engagement. No One has been this Way lately from the back Parts of Carolina, the River Roanoke having been impassable for some Time, by Reason of an astonishing Fresh. The Loss which the Inhabitants have sustained, in their Crops, Stocks, Houses, and Fencing, is, I am told, almost incredible."
From the different Accounts we have been able to collect, since our last, of the Battle in North Carolina, we find that the Description we then gave of it varied but in few Particulars from the Reality. We shall now mention what farther has come to our Knowledge of that Engagement: That Governor Tryon had under him a Thousand Men, and that the Regulators amounted to three and twenty Hundred; that his Excellency was much insulted by them, particularly one Fellow, whom he shot dead on the Spot, as he was approaching him; that this happened but a very short Time before the Expiration of the two Hours allowed them by the Governor, upon which the Engagement began; that both Parties fought with great Animosity, for two Hours and upwards; that the Artillery was discharged six and thirty Times, and that one Shot struck a Tree, which in its Fall killed thirty odd of the Regulators; that the Governor had his Horse killed under him, and the Breech of the Gun he had in his Hand shot away; that a Hundred and sixty of the Regulators were killed, and two Hundred wounded, forty of whom were taken Prisoners; that the Regulators were badly conducted, and fought in the utmost Confusion, their Ranks being, in some Places, a Hundred Men deep, and that many of them were unarmed; that the Governor had only two Men killed, and sixty wounded. One Man, it is said, of the Governor's Party, was so much incensed against the Regulators, by whom he had been threatened, that he was determined upon an ample Revenge, or losing his Life; for it is thought he killed upwards of thirty with his own Hands, walking backwards and forwards on the Flanks of his Party during the Engagement, and charging with as much Coolness as if hunting of Squirrels. The Regulators have lost a Number of Horses, Guns, and Carriages; to the Amount, it is said, of more than a Thousand Pounds. The Families of these poor deluded People are much to be pitied, as they must be reduced to very great Distress. The Province likewise, in general, is in the greatest Distress. And however faulty those who stile themselves Regulators may have been, as we learn that the Cause of their Complaints has been removed (their Leaders, it is probable, being bad Counsellors, and to have urged them on from one Step of Rebellion to another) it ought to be a Lesson for all good Governments to futter no Set of Men, under the Saction of Authority, to fleece the People.
Extract of a Letter from North Carolina. "We have just received an Account that the Regulators have been attacked and defeated by Colonel Waddell. The Engagement was long and obstinate. The Conquerors were but four Hundred in Number, and the vanquished a Thousand. The Ringleaders of the Regulators have all abconded."
This Engagement, it is supposed, must have been subsequent to the above. A Vessel arrived at Norfolk, from New York, says that the Packet arrived just before he failed; and that it was reported the Price was as hot in England as ever, News having come there that a large Fleet of French and Spaniards had passed the Gut of Gibraltar, with Intent, it was imagined, to destroy the Russian Squadron in the Mediterranean. The Peggy, Ramsay (via Boston) the Nancy, Paterson (via Grenades) and the Elizabeth, Leitch, from Glasgow, are arrived in James River.
Advertisements.
TREASURY OFFICE, June 5, 1771.
I WOULD gladly exchange GOLD and SILVER for any of the old or new PAPER MONEY, especially such as is torn or defaced. RO. C. NICHOLAS, Treasurer.
NEWCASTLE, June 4, 1771.
ALL Persons indebted to the late Partnership of Johnson and Tinsey are requested to repair to the above Place, and finally settle their Accounts, on or before the 25 th of October next, as the Subscriber intends to embark for Great Britain directly after the Expiration of that Time. Those who fail, I must beg Leave to inform, will be unhappy enough to settle their Accounts with a Lawyer. WILLIAM JOHNSON.
FREDERICKSBURG, May 28, 1771.
THE Subscribers this Day became Partners in the Practice of PHYSICK and SURGERY, and have opened a Shop on the main Street, opposite to Mr. Henry Mitchell's Store, furnished with a large Assortment of DRUGS and MEDICINES of the best Quality, just imported from London; where Gentlemen of the Profession, and others, may be supplied at easy Rates, for ready Money. HUGH MERCER. EWEN CLEMENTS.
THE Negroes at Westover took up, in the Fresh last Week, a fifteen Hoghead FLAT, a large FERRY BOAT, and a Hoghead of TOBACCO marked MFD, No. 4, which has sustained but little Damage. The Owners are desired to apply there for them.
WILLIAMSBURG, June 6, 1771.
JOURNEYMEN BRICKLAYERS will meet with good Encouragement by applying to HUMPHREY HARWOOD.
HANOVER, June 1, 1771.
I INTEND for ENGLAND immediately. MERIWETHER SKELTON.
For SALE, At the old Store, near Cabin Point, in Surry,
A PARCEL of European GOODS, to the Amount of about three Hundred Pounds Sterling, consisting of Irish Linens, German Osnabrugs, Mens and Womens Shoes and Pumps, Felt Hats, Mens brown Thread Hose, Stationary, Wool, Tow, and Cotton Cards, several Pieces of Duroy, with Trimmings, several Casks of sixpenny and twentypenny Nails, Plantation and Carpenters Tools, Gunpowder, Shot, and a Variety of other Articles. These Goods are all from London, and great Part of them just imported in the Randolph, Captain Walker. Fifty Pounds ready Money will be required of the Purchaser, who will be allowed Credit for the Remainder until the first of April 1772, on giving Bond, with good Security. An Inventory of the Goods may be seen at any Time, and farther Particulars known by applying to THOMAS FENNER.
To be SOLD,
ONE Hundred and ninety six Acres of LAND, lying on the east Side of Deep Creek, in Warwick County, pleasantly situated on the Mouth of the said Creek, well timbered with Pine and Oak, and not above forty Acres cleared in the Whole. The Land is very good for Corn, Wheat, or Tobacco, affords excellent Pasturage for all Kinds of Stock, and is very convenient to fine Fish, Oysters, and wild Fowl. Any Person inclined to purchase the said Land may know the Terms by applying to the Subscriber, at Warwick Courthouse. ROBERT BROWN.
To be SOLD to the highest Bidder, on Thursday the 13 th of June next, at the late Dwellinghouse of James Long, deceased, in the Town of Blandford,
SUNDRY HOUSEHOLD and KITCHEN FURNITURE, together with a complete Set of WIG-MAKING Utensils, and a Variety of HAIKS, newly imported. Six Months Credit will allowed for all Sums above twenty five Shillings, on giving Bond, with Security, to ELIZABETH LONG, Executrix.
All Persons indebted to the Estate of the said Long are desired to make immediate Payment, and those who have any Demands against it to make them known by the Day of Sale.
BLANDFORD, May 27, 1771.
THE Subscribers have missing two Casks
marked WR, No. 1 and 2, containing Shot and Bar Lead, imported last Fall in the Bland, Captain Hugh Wythe. Whoever has such Casks in Possession, and will send a Line to us, the Charges shall be paid, and the Favour acknowledged. BOYD & POYTHRESS.
TAKEN up by the Subscriber, in Charles City, a small bay MARE about four Feet three Inches high, branded on the near Shoulder and Buttock M, and on the off Shoulder C. Posted, and appraised to five Pounds. WILLIAM CHRISTIAN.
TAKEN up, in Mecklenburg, a bright bay MARE about twelve or thirteen Years old, with some white Hairs in her Forehead, a hanging Mane and Switch Tail, a Film over one of her Eyes, and branded as near as can be made out. SWEPSON JEFFRIES.
TAKEN up, in Amherst, a black MARE COLT about four Feet two Inches high, a natural Pacer, neither dockt nor branded. Posted, and appraised to fifty Shillings. DRURY TUCKER.
TAKEN up, in Orange, seven BARROWS marked with a Swallow-fork and Underkeel in each Ear, two of them of a sandy Colour, with some black Spots, and the others white; they appear to be about a Year and a Half old. Posted, and appraised to three Pounds. JAMES TAYLOR.
TAKEN up, in Amelia, a dark brindled COW that appears to be very old, marked with a Crop and Slit in the left Ear, and a Swallow-fork in the right. Posted, and appraised to thirty Shillings. GEORGE TUCKER, Senior.
BLANDFORD, May 24, 1771.
THE Death of my late Partner, Mr. Samuel
Gordon, renders it absolutely necessary that the Concern of Gordon and Ramsay should be immediately settled. This is therefore to give Notice, to all those concerned, that unless they discharge their Debts before the first of August next, or give Merchants Notes payable at the October Court, that all Bonds and Accounts due to that Company will then be put in Suit, without Respect of Persons.
On Wednesday the 26 th of June will be sold to the highest Bidder, in the Town of Blandford, four very likely young Virginia born NEGRO FELLOWS; also a LOT in Ravencrest Town, near Petersburg, the Property of the above Company. Credit will be allowed until the 10 th of December next, upon Bond and Security being given to PATRICK RAMSAY.
The Subscriber will sell his Houses and Land whereon he now lives, containing twenty three Acres pleasantly situated, and lately annexed to the Town of Blandford; on reasonable Terms, and Credit.
PORTSMOUTH, May 25, 1771.
WANTED, a convenient Situation on James River for erecting a Grist Mill. INGLIS & LONG.
To be SOLD, on Tuesday the 18 th of JUNE, before the RALEIGH TAVERN,
MY STORES and LOT at West Point, which I advertised some Time ago, but did not describe them. The Storehouses are new, twenty eight Feet by sixteen each, stand close to the Water Side, and are as well finished as any in the Colony. One of them is intended for wet Goods, Grain, &c. and has an exceeding good dry Cellar; the other is for dry Goods, and has a Lodging Room, with a Brick Chimney, at one End, plastered and whitewashed. There is also a very strong new Stable, twelve Feet by sixteen, with an eight Feet Shed at one End, and a Necessary House eight Feet square, quite new. The Lot is posted and railed in. Fifty Pounds of the Purchase Money to be paid down, and two years Credit will be allowed for the Remainder, on giving Bond and Security. JOHN G. FRAZER.
MIDDLESEX, May 14, 1771.
IMPORTED in the Matty, Captain Fox, a small Box of Merchandise, marked MET in a Piece, which was to have been delivered at Urbanna; but through a Mistake, I imagine, has been landed at some other Place. If any Person can give me Intelligence of the same, by Letter, or otherwise, the Favour will be greatly acknowledged by MARY E. THACKER.
WITH the Help of GOD, I WILLIAM
ROWAN, now at Mr. John Price's, Inspector at SHOCKO, can completely cure the following Disorders, though of ever so long Standing, and deemed incurable by others; having never once failed of Success since my Arrival in Virginia, which is now twenty five Months. —The Scurvy, Leprosy, Ulcers, Cancers, Blotches, Evil, Files, Fistula, Ringworms, Head-itch, Rheumatism, Gout, Chouck, Agues, Fevers, old Sores, Fluxes, the Venereal in all its dreadful Stages, also the general Maladies entailed upon the Females, Gravel, Deafness, all Disorders in the Head and Eyes, with many others, too tedious to mention. 2||
STRAYED from the Subscriber, on the 20 th of April last, a bay HORSE about four Feet and a Half high, with a roached Mane and short Switch Tail, a Feather runs up each Side of his Mane, almost to his Ear, paces seven or eight Miles an Hour, and branded on the near Shoulder and Buttock with a Heart. Any Person that will contrive Word to Andrew Lepard, or to the Subscriber, both in Chesterfield County, where the said Horse may be had, shall have TWENTY SHILLINGS Reward. CHARLES CAYCE.
YORK Town, May 29, 1771.
STRAYED from this Place, about six Weeks ago, a large brown MARE five Years old, with a blaze Face, her hind Feet white, neither dockt nor branded. Whoever delivers the said Mare to me shall have FORTY SHILLINGS REWARD. THOMAS POWELL.
NEWCASTLE, May 16, 1771.
THE Subscribers have about seven or eight
Hundred Pounds Sterling worth of fortable GOODS, which they are willing to dispose of at a low Advance, payable in twelve Months. SAMUEL PEARSON. DAVID COCHRAN.
VIRGINIA, &c.
At a GENERAL COURT held at the Capitol, May 7, 1771.
Thomas Blackmore, Dorsey Pentecost, Thomas Spake, James Lindsey, Nathaniel Barrett, and Thomas Waddington, Plaintiffs, against James Fowler, of the Province of Pennsylvania, Edward Snickers, Thomas Colson, George Jump, Joseph Eldridge, William Bilbrough, Stephen Johnson, David Abney, and Thomas Shepherd, Defendants, In Chancery.
THE Defendant James Fowler being beyond Sea, and not having entered his Appearance according to the Rule of this Court, on the Motion of the Plaintiffs, by their Council, it is ordered that the other Defendants, who have Effects of the said Fowler in their Hands, as is suggested, do no pay, convey away, or secrete such Effects, until the further Order or Decree of this Court concerning the same; but that they deliver up such Effects, or so much thereof as will be of Value sufficient to satisfy the Demand of the Plaintiffs, unto the said Plaintiffs, upon their giving Security to the Clerk of this Court for the Return of such Effects, in such Manner, and to such Persons as the Court shall hereafter adjudge. And it is farther ordered that the said Defendant (Fowler) do appear here on the first Day of the next Court, to answer the Plaintiffs Bill; and that a Copy of this Order be, within fifteen Days, inserted in the Virginia GAZETTE, for two Months successively, and published on some Lord's Day, immediately after divine Service, in the Church of the Parish of Frederick, in the County of Frederick; and be also posted up at the front Door of the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg. ELN: WALLER.

THE MIDSUMMER WISH.
OPHOEBUS! down the western Sky Far hence diffuse thy burning Ray; Thy Light to distant Worlds supply, And wake them to the Cares of Day. Come, gentle Eve, the Friend of Care, Come, Cynthia, lovely Queen of Night! Refresh me with a cooling Breeze, And cheer me with a lambent Light. Lay me where o'er the verdant Ground Her living Carpet Nature spreads; Where the green Bower, with Roses crown'd, In Showers its fragrant Foliage sheds. Improve the peaceful Hour with Wine, Let Mufick die along the Grove; Around the Bowl let Myrtles twine, And every Strain be tun'd to Love. Come, Stella, Queen of all my Heart! Come, born to fill its vast Desires! Thy Looks perpetual Joys impart, Thy Voice perpetual Love inspires. While, all my Wish and thine complete, By Turns we languish, and we burn, Let sighing Gales our Sighs repeat, Our Murmurs murmuring Brooks return. Let me, when Nature calls to Rest, And blushing Skies the Morn foretell, Sink on the Down of Stella's Breast, And bid the waking World farewell.
HIS Majesty's Postmaster General having (for the better facilitating of Correspondence between Great Britain and America) been pleased to add a fifth Packet Boat to the Station between Falmouth and New York, Notice is hereby given that the Mail, for the future, will be closed, at the Post Office in New York, at twelve of the Clock at Night, on the first Tuesday in every Month, and despatched by a Packet, the next Day, for Falmouth. By Command of the Deputy Postmaster General, ALEXANDER COLDEN, Secretary.
CHARLOTTE County, May 20, 1771. JOURNEYMEN TAILORS, who understand their Business well, may depend on good Encouragement by applying to the Subscriber, at Mr. Robert Burton's Store. JOHN BRIDGES.
WANTED, A BILLIARD TABLE CLOTH of the best Quality. Whoever has such a One to dispose of, by sending the Price and Place to Messrs. Purdie & Dixon's Office, may hear of a ready Money Purchaser, especially if the Cloth can be contrived to the Post Office in a Month after an Answer to the Notice.
WILLIAM ATTWOOD BEGS Leave to inform the Gentlemen of Williamsburg that he teaches the French HORN, HAUTBOY, and German FLUTE; and has, for that Purpose, rented a Room near the College. Gentlemen who are desirous to learn any of those Instruments (should they think it inconvenient to attend) will be waited upon at such Times as they shall please to appoint.
To the PUBLICK. IT having been industriously propagated, by some ill disposed Persons, that our Settlement with Don Manuel de Estrada (relative to our Transactions with him) respecting his unfortunate Seizure and Condemnation, has not been conducted by us upon the Principles of Honour and Generosity; and as such Insinuations may prevail to the Prejudice of our Reputation, we judge it incumbent on us to lay a State of the Matter before the impartial Publick, as settled by John Randolph, Esquire, a Friend to the Parties concerned, which State was first fully explained to Don Manuel by his own Interpreter, in Mr. Randolph's Presence, and is as follows.
MEMORANDUM. Don Manuel de Estrada, James Campbell and Company, and John and Thomas Gilchrist, have agreed to a Composition, on the following Terms, namely: The Amount of the Loss and Charges to be estimated as follows. The Cargo, valued at one Thousand and fifty Pounds } 1050- 0- 0 Virginia Currency. Cost of the Vessel, two Hundred and fifty Pounds. } 250- 0- 0 Lawyers Fees, and Expenses, three Hundred Pounds. } 300- 0- 0 One Month's Demurrage, one Hundred and eighty Dollars. } 51- 15- 0 £. 1651- 15- 0 Don Manuel de Estrada his Half, eight Hundred and } 825- 17- 6 twenty five Pounds seventeen Shillings and Sixpence. James Campbell and Company, and John and Thomas } 825- 17- 6 Gilchrist, the other Half. £. 1651- 15- 0
Don Manuel to be charged his Half the Loss in Account current; and after deducting that, and the Company's private Account against him, independent of the above Matter, the Balance due him to be paid, and mutual Releases to be executed, written in English.
TEST. Signed John Randolph, as to Don } YNORO MANUEL DE ESTRADA. Manuel and John and } JAMES CAMPBELL & Co, Thomas Gilchrist. } James Archdeacon, to the } JOHN & THOMAS GILCHRIST. Whole of the Parties } signing. THOMAS BURKE.
Conformable to the above Agreement, Don Manuel's Account current was made out, and every Charge explained to him. He had no Objection to any Article in it, and the Balance of his Money was paid to him. A common Receipt was, with Difficulty, obtained; but he refused giving a Release, according to the Tenour of the Agreement. Upon this Refusal, and learning that he had avowed his Intention of reimbursing himself for all the Losses he sustained in this Country whenever he should find any of our Vessels in a Spanish Port; dreading likewise Spanish Litigation, and being advised his Receipt could not sufficiently protect us from it, we resolved to compel him to perform his Part of the Agreement, which we are informed will render us more secure of Justice in Spain, or give us a better Right, if refused us, to interest the British Court in our Protection. We paid eight Hundred and twenty five Pounds, seventeen Shillings and Sixpence, for no Consideration but the Hope we had of alleviating his Misfortunes, and of finally concluding a troublesome Affair. Have we not therefore a Right to expect that the Conditions on which we agreed to pay it should be performed? Mr. Attorney General, before a respectable publick Company, declared, at the Time of his concluding the Agreement for the Spaniard, he thought it just and equitable; that he was persuaded he was befriending him in concluding it; and that every Word was explained, every End and Consequence represented; and that he cheerfully consented to it; also that he thought it finally conclusive; and that it ought to be so, not only because consented to, but because equitable. Many Opinions have been conceived, and without Testimony. We have therefore given this publick State, and refer to any Man of Sense and Candour the Censure or Approbation of our Conduct. Whether he can be obliged or not to perform his Contract must be left to the Laws.
For LONDON, THE Ship SAVANNAH LE MA, which has excellent Accommodations for Passengers, and will sail in ten or twelve Days. Those who intend taking their Passage in the said Vessel may be treated with by applying to the Subscriber, in Petersburg. RICHARD HANSON.
Just IMPORTED from London, Glasgow, and Bristol, and to be SOLD by the Subscribers, in Norfolk, on the most reasonable Terms, either by Wholesale or Retail, A LARGE Assortment of EUROPEAN GOODS, suitable to the Season. We have also on Hand a considerable Quantity of the last Year's Crop of West India RUM, NEW do. MUSCOVADO SUGAR, MADEIRA and TENERIFE WINES; which we will sell cheap, for Cash, or short Credit. LOGAN, GILMOUR, and Company.
GEORGE III. by the Grace of GOD, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. to the Sheriff of Norfolk County, greeting: We command you that you summon William Bradley, Thomas Newton, Neil Jamieson, Matthew Phipps, Goodrich Boult, and John Wilson, Trustees of the said William Bradley, to appear before our Justices of our General Court, in Chancery, at the Capitol in Williamsburg, on the first Day of the next Court, to answer a Bill in Chancery exhibited against them by John Prentis and Company; and this they shall in no Wise omit, under the Penalty of one Hundred Pounds each; and have then there this Writ. Witness William Nelson, Esquire, President of our Council, at Williamsburg, the 6th Day of May, in the eleventh Year of our Reign. BEN: WALLER.
TAKEN up, in Amelia, a dark bay MARE about four Feet six Inches high, with a dull Star in her Forehead, some Saddle Spots on her Back, lighter about her Nose and Hams than any other Part, has a Sprig Tail, and branded on the near Buttock, as well as can be made out, R. Posted, and appraised to six Pounds. JOHN BUTLER.
TAKEN up, in Brunswick, a red and white HEIFER, with a smooth Crop in the right Ear, and two Nicks in the left. Posted, and appraised to twenty five Shillings. WILLIAM MASSEY.
TAKEN up, in the Fork of Nottoway, a red and white COW, with a large Star in her Forehead, a Swallowfork in each Ear, an Underkeel in the left, and has a Calf with her. Posted, and appraised to forty Shillings. JAMES BURFORD.
TAKEN up, in Hanover, a dark gray HORSE COLT, about three Years old, dockt, no perceivable Brand, about four Feet five Inches high, Half his Hoof is white striped with black. Posted, and appraised to seven Pounds. NATHANIEL THOMPSON.
TAKEN up, in Bedford, a gray HORSE, about four Feet three Inches high, branded on the off Buttock —, and has a Scar on his off Side about the Size of the Brand. Posted, and appraised to four Pounds ten Shillings. SAMUEL COLEMAN.
TAKEN up, in Mecklenburg, a black MARE, about four Feet six Inches high, with a Switch Tail, but not branded, and has on a small Bell. A black MARE COLT, two Years old this Spring, neither dockt nor branded. A dun MARE, four Feet five Inches high, about three Years old, dockt, and branded on the Shoulder I. Posted, and appraised, the first to five Pounds, the second to forty Shillings, and the third to six Pounds. JOHN FRALLS.
TAKEN up, in Botetourt, a MARE about twelve Hands and a Half high, about six Years old, paces and trots, dockt, branded on the near Buttock I M, and had on a Bell. Posted, and appraised to two Pounds fifteen Shillings. JAMES SHARKEY.
TAKEN up, in Brunswick, a small bay HORSE, about four Feet four Inches high, branded on the near Buttock O I, with a Strok. through the O, one hind Foot white, and is about twelve Years old. Posted, and appraised to four Pounds. PATRICK HALL.
TAKEN up, in Caroline, an Iron gray MARE, about four Feet four Inches high, and branded on the near Buttock R B. Posted and appraised to four Pounds ten Shillings. JOHN SCANDLAND.
TAKEN up, in Charlotte, a fleabitten gray MARE, about four Feet four Inches high, with a hanging Mane and Sprig Tail, had on a Bell, is branded on each Shoulder S, and on the near Buttock ML in a Piece. Posted, and appraised to three Pounds. SILVANUS STOKES.
TAKEN up, in Halifax, a bright bay HORSE, about four Feet five or six Inches high, has a Star and small Stroke down his Face, one hind Foot white, branded on the near Buttock G, a roached Mane and Bob Tail, and is about seven or eight Years old. Posted, and appraised to six Pounds. NIMROD FERGUSON.
TAKEN up, in Caroline, a small sorrel Horse, about five Years old, four Feet high, with a large Blaze in his Face, flaxen Mane and Tail, roached and bobbed, has some Saddle Spots, all his Feet white, but no perceivable Brand. MARTHA SULLLENGER.
TAKEN up, in Mecklenburg, a gray HORSE about seven or eight Years old, four Feet three Inches high, branded on the near Buttock JW, with a roached Mane and Switch Tail. Posted, and appraised to three Pounds ten Shillings. JOHN BILBO.
TAKEN up, in Cumberland, a brindled STEER with a white Face, about six Years old, marked with a Crop in the right Ear, and a Swallowfork, Underkeel, and Overkeel in the left; also a red HEIFER with a white Face, about four Years old, marked with a Swallowfork in the right Ear, and a Crop and Half Crop in the left. Posted and appraised, the Steer to fifty Shillings, and the Heifer to forty Shillings. ARTHUR MOSELEY.
TAKEN up, in Chesterfield, five CATTLE, namely, a black COW, and red HEIFER with a white Face, marked with a Slit in the right Ear, and a Crop and two Slits in the left; also a black COW with a white Face, marked with a Crop and Slit in the right Ear (the said Cow had a Calf last Spring, which is now with her) likewise a red and white HEIFER, two Years old, with a white Face, marked with a Crop in each Ear. Posted, and appraised to five Pounds fifteen Shillings. ARCHIBALD JOHNSTONE.
TAKEN up, in Cumberland, a dark brindled STEER, about three Years old, marked with a Swallowfork and Underkeel in the right Ear, and a Crop and Underkeel in the left. Posted, and appraised to thirty Shillings. JAMES BRYANT, Junior.
TAKEN up, in Mecklenburg, a middle sized COW, somewhat brindled, with a white Spot in her Forehead, her Belly white, all her Legs white, marked with a Swallowfork in the right Ear, and a Nick under it, and has a Hole in the left. Posted, and appraised to thirty five Shillings. WILLIAM LAWRENCE.
TAKEN up, in Charlotte, a black MARE about four feet high, with a roached Mane, branded on the near Buttock with a Flesh Fork, and has some Saddle Spots on her Back. Posted, and appraised to three Pounds ten Shillings. RICHARD HANEY.
MIDDLESEX, May 7, 1771. RUN away, a dark Mulatto Man named BARNABY, about five Feet two inches high. He is artful in his Answers, and has an Impediment in his Speech. Had on a Suit of dark coloured Russia Drab. Whoever will apprehend him, and have him committed to Jail, shall have TWENTY SHILLINGS Reward. AUGUSTINE SMITH.
RICHMOND Town, April 30, 1771. RUN away from the Subscriber, on the 18th Instant, an outlandish Negro named MINGO. He had on a blue under Jacket, and a light brown One over it, has a sore Finger on his left Hand, and speaks but indifferent English. Whoever delivers the said Negro to me at Richmond, or to Mr. James Marsden at Norfolk, shall have TWENTY SHILLINGS Reward, besides what the Law allows. JOHN BROOKE.
AS twelve Months are nearly expired since the Store kept at Todd's, on Account of Messrs. McCall and Elliot, of Glasgow, by the Subscriber, has been discontinued, it is expected that, such Persons as are indebted there will be ready, upon Application, to discharge their respective Balances; and it may be depended upon that such as do not will be sued, as the Indulgence already given the Customers has been such that no farther can be allowed, or reasonably expected. I have about fourteen Hundred Pounds Sterling worth of GOODS, which I would sell cheap. ROBINSON DAINGERFIELD.
To be SOLD, on reasonable Terms, HIS Majesty's PATENT, or Grant, for twenty Thousand Acres of LAND in West Florida. Any Person, or Persons, inclined to purchase may be informed of the Particulars by inquiring of Joseph Caden, at the Sign of the Cross Keys, the Corner of Chesnut and Third Streets, Philadelphia. 12
To be SOLD at Fredericksburg, on Thursday the 20th of June, being Spotsylvania Court Day, THE DWELLINGHOUSE now possessed by me, with the Timber Yard adjoining, whereon are erected a Kitchen, Smokehouse, and every Convenience necessary for a Family; it is situated on the main Street in Fredericksburg, and may be easily converted into a Store. Credit will be given until October General Court for one Half the Money, and until April General Court for the other Half. THOMAS MILLER.
WANTED in NORBORNE Parish, Frederick County, A SCHOOLMASTER well qualified to teach Writing and Arithmetic; if Latin also, the more agreeable, and the Salary enlarged. It will not be expected that he should teach more than fifteen or twenty Scholars. For farther Particulars inquire of the Printer of this Paper; or of J. Nourse at Piedmont, in the said County. None need apply but such as can have an undoubted Character for Diligence and Sobriety. N. B. It is thought a Dancing Master likewise would meet with Encouragement in the above County. 12
To be SOLD, on long Credit, the three following Tracts of LAND, viz. ONE Tract containing four Hundred Acres, lying in Spotsylvania County, on the Head of Bluff Run, about eighteen Miles from Fredericksburg. One other Tract lying in Amherst County, on Owen's Creek, containing four Hundred Acres; it is well timbered, and a good Soil for Tobacco and Indian Corn. One Tract lying in Pittsylvania County, on Sycamore Creek, near Captain Benjamin Clement's, containing two Hundred Acres; this is likewise good Tobacco Land. Any Person inclined to purchase either of the above Tracts of Land may know the Terms by applying to Mr. Charles Irving, Merchant in Albemarle County, or to the Subscriber in Richmond Town. The above Lands are the Property of John Loving, Senior, of Amherst County, but made over by a Deed of Trust to the Subscriber. Two Years Credit, or longer if required, will be given, on Bond and approved Security. WILLIAM MITCHELL.
For SALE, And may be entered on in NOVEMBER next, THE LAND whereon I now live, containing two Hundred and seventy four Acres. It is exceedingly good for Grain, Tobacco, &c. and lies so level that nine Tenths may be plowed with the greatest Ease. The Improvements on the same consist of a Plantation, in good Order, sufficient for working seven or eight Hands, the Whole lying to the Plow; an Ordinary House fifty four Feet long, finished off in a complete Manner, has three Rooms with Fireplaces below Stairs, besides lodging Rooms, and three Rooms above Stairs, one of which has a Fireplace; a House twenty Feet in Length, and sixteen in Width, with two Rooms below, and one above Stairs, wherein lives the Clerk of the County, and keeps the Office; two Kitchens, one of which is very valuable; a Dairy, Meathouse, Barn, fine strong Stables, Corn Houses, two fine Gardens, of the best sawed Framing and Pales; and, in short, every Convenience that is necessary for the Ordinary and Plantation Uses. There are also, on the same Plantation, two large standing Stores kept, of very considerable Trade; the Storehouses are large and commodious, the cheapest of which did not cost less than a Hundred and fifty Pounds; to each Storehouse belongs a House for the Residence of the Merchants, one of which cost upwards of a Hundred Pounds, the other upwards of seventy five; there also belongs to the Stores fine strong Stables, &c. There are two Tailors Shops, with Kitchens, and other Conveniences, belonging thereto; as also three Blacksmiths Shops, &c. The Rents of which, in the Whole, amount pretty considerably. Besides these two Stores on my Plantation, a third, of considerable Trade, is settled (for the Convenience of their Diets, &c. in the Ordinary) within, or about, three Hundred Yards from my Ordinary Door, on Land that does not belong to me. This Place is more commodiously situated, and better calculated for Trade, than perhaps any of the back Parts in this Colony at least, if not on the Continent. To every Dwellinghouse, Store, &c. &c. (Tailors and Blacksmiths Shops excepted) are good Brick Chimneys, the Houses underpinned with Bricks, and good Cellars, and all in good Repair. The Whole of the Buildings are placed uniform, in Lines and Squares, so as to resemble a Town. None of the Buildings have been built over eight Years, and almost all the valuable Buildings within five Years. The Situation is high, and remarkably healthy, commanding a delightful Prospect of the Mountains and Country round. It lies about eight Miles from Amherst Courthouse, on the main Carolina Road, which is greatly used by Travellers, and, together with the great Resort of Gentlemen to this Place, consumes as much Liquors as cost me annually three Hundred Pounds, besides Provisions for Men and Beasts. As Persons at a Distance inclining to purchase may better judge whether it would be worth their While to come and see the Place, I think it not amiss to inform them that I will take eight Hundred Pounds for the Place, and give a reasonable Time for Payment, which is many Hundred Pounds below the intrinsic Value of it. I will also sell to the Purchaser (if required) most of the Furniture belonging to the Ordinary, at least ten good Feather Beds, with Furniture to the same; Walnut and Mahogany Tables, Chairs, &c. GABRIEL PENN. N. B. All the Merchants, Storekeepers, Clerk of the County, their Servants, &c. are boarded in the Ordinary, the Profits of which are pretty considerable to me.
RUN away from the Subscriber, at the Falls of James River, the Middle of last Month, a Negro Man named DAVY, belonging to the Hon. William Byrd, Esquire, about thirty Years old, five Feet eight Inches high, and very stout made; he is of a yellow Complexion, has a down Look, and a Defect in some of his fore Teeth. He is supposed to be lurking about Hanover Town, Petersburg, or gone towards Carolina. Whoever will apprehend the said Fellow, and bring him to me, shall have FORTY SHILLINGS Reward; and if taken out of the Colony, FIVE POUNDS. DAVID PATTESON.