The Virginia gazette (Williamsburg [Va.]), 1774-02-24 00:00:00

VIRGINIA
GAZETTE.
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FOREIGN and DOMESTICK.
IN CIVITATE LIBERA LINGUAM MENTEMQUE
LIBERAS ESSE DEBERE.—Suet. in Tib. S. 28.
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To Mr. HENLEY.
SIR,
FROM a pretty good Acquaintance with your Temper and Disposition, I could have few Doubts of the Use you would endeavour to make of my former Silence. Having publickly told you, that I should think I had lived to very little Purpose , if any Thing you might advance could operate to my Prejudice, I retained the same Sentiments, and, however desirous I may be, on all Occasions, of cultivating the good Opinion and Friendship of Mankind in general, remained indifferent as to every unfavourable Impression the utmost Efforts of your Art and Malice could make on the Minds of those, who would subject themselves to their Influence. You possibly might have been hurt by what you considered as a criminal Neglect of the Merits of your Performance; but, how my declining to answer your Letter could turn to your Disadvantage, with Respect to the Dispute, you had involved me in, seems to have been reserved as a Discovery for that superior Genius, which can give every Thing a double Aspect, and, at Pleasure, produce different and contrary Effects from one and the same Cause.
You may remember, Sir, the Deal of Work, which the very polite Card, you honoured me with in May last, brought upon my Hands. I had to pay my Respects to you in the first Place ; this called into Action your Friend and Coadjutor "A Clergyman of the Church of England," as he was pleased to stile himself; his virulent Attacks I endeavoured to repel in Mess. Purdie & Dixon's Gazette of the 3d of June, and, in this Paper, appeared your Letter. The very same Day another most violent Assault was made upon me from Mr. Rind's Press by your same dear Friend the Clergyman, under the feigned Signature of "Hoadleianus." I fully intended to have answered you both the succeeding Week, and, for this Purpose, bespoke a Place in each Gazette; but, Hoadleianus having first engaged my Attention, I found, in the Midst of a Variety of other Business, that I should only be able to dispatch him that Week, and therefore sent the Note, you have quoted, to the Printer, still continuing my Resolution to give you a Reply the Week after. The 12th our Vestry met and chose a Minister. Upon reviewing your Letter, and considering how much the Publick had been teased and worried with Disputes, which I thought, and told you at first, they had very little Concern in, I determined to cut the Matter short by my Silence, being persuaded that a very slight Apology would be admitted by the Publick for what they would be apt to consider as being better than my Word . Whether this Silence, so far as you were concerned, was owing to the Motives you suggest, or to any other Reasons, which can be thought unfriendly to you, let the Impartial determine. The chief Passages of your Letter relating to your Publications, and some particular Parts of your Conduct as a Minister, had been anticipated in my Answers to your Card, to the Clergyman and Hoadleianus; so that I should have scarce thought it necessary to touch again on these Topics, unless it had been to expose the * Misrecital of a very material Passage of your Sermon (a Trick, which, from some late exhibitions, you seem to be hacknied in) or to have shown either the Unfairness of your Reasoning, or your Ignorance of the Word + Herefy , which you are so fond of sounding in our Ears, and which you had tortured merely to involve me in an Absurdity. Of the many Questions, relating to Matters within my Knowledge, which you were pleased to propound, in your equivocal Way, though they imply direct Affirmations, I should not have thought more than one deserved any other Answer than might have been collected from what I had written. It was, "Whether, when I last applied to you for your Vote you will deny telling me that my Opposition to this very Episcopate had not given you Offence, as you left Gentlemen to judge for themselves." This, in Justice to myself and to Truth, I must have denied, and still do deny. I am sensible that I have not the best Memory in the World, and cannot pretend to repeat particular Words after a con-
siderable Length of Time. When your Letter first made its Appearance, I endeavoured to recollect whether any Thing like what you insinuated had passed between us. I have done so repeatedly since, and declare upon my Honour that I do not remember my mentioning the Episcopate; if I did, I am confident it could not have been in the Manner you have suggested. One Thing I will aver without any Reserve, which is, that I never knowingly told an Untruth to you or any Man living; had I laid what you plainly assert, I should have uttered an absolute Falsehood, and such an One as I must have been sure you might have detected me in. It is very well known to many Gentlemen, that, in private Conversations, I had frequently blamed your Conduct respecting the Episcopate, and I had Reason to believe, from many Circumstances, that you knew this; that I expressed the same Sentiments publickly, in the Year 1772, you could not have been ignorant. In your Letter you charged me with an Insinuation on your VERACITY, and commanded me, if I had any Thing against you on that Score, to speak out. In Answer to this I should have referred you to many Gentlemen, whom you have so often astonished; and could have told you, that the very Apologies of some of your Friends contain the keenest Satire. You little suspected, when you threw down this GAUNTLET, how many would be ready to take it up; and that, whilst it excited the Indignation of some, others would be apt to treat it as a Subject of Merriment. If the Boast of your unfulfilled MORALITY was intended to form a Contrast between our Characters (for I observe your Insinuation that I have Something about me, which will not bear being brought to the Light) I must drop the Contest, as soon as you prove your Claim to be well founded, my Pretensions having never soared so high. But perhaps our Ideas may differ about the Thing called Morality ; the System may have been as much altered since my Acquaintance with the Schools, as the Rule relating to Similes , which I find to be just the reverse of what it was in former Days. If so, I beseech you to favour us with your new System; it will come out properly under the Title ETHICA HENLEYANA ; and, that it may make a more conspicuous Figure, bind it up with your Life of PETRARCH, which the learned World hath so long waited for with such eager Expectation. It could not have escaped my Notice, as it was pretty remarkable, that in the Postscript to your Letter, you only deny your having PREACHED any Doctrine contrary to the Articles of the Church; but you do not deny your having maintained heterodox Opinions, the Thing you were charged with, in private Companies; indeed, in a former Part of your Letter, you seem to chime in with your Friend in his Justification of this Practice. I have given him a full Answer on this Head, to which you may refer, if you please. You declared farther in your Letter, that "no Person ever subscribed the Articles of the Church, in a Sense more conformable to that of the Compilers, than you did." Nothing were easier than to have shown the Inconsistency of this Declaration, with the Evasions you made Use of in a former Passage, where you refer to the 6th and 20th Articles, with a Design, I presume, if the Reference has any Meaning, to prove that every Clergyman hath a Right to preach and maintain any Doctrine he thinks fit, however inconsistent with the Articles of the Church, if, in his private Opinion, it is warranted by Scripture. We heard of this 6th Article before, quoted for a like Purpose; I gave a Comment to shew the Absurdity of the very strained Construction attempted to be put upon it, and I may take Occasion hereafter to repeat some of my Observations. In this same Letter you mention Mr. Kidd's Recantation, and I observe you still rely on it, as a Circumstance in your Favour. Let some indifferent Person inquire into this Matter, and the Manner of your obtaining it; and I fancy it would be found you have very little Reason to plume yourself on this Circumstance. The holding over an inoffensive, honest Tradesman, the Terrors of the Law, and, under this Influence, almost compelling him to sign whatever you were pleased to dictate, would hardly be considered as an Instance of your Candour. But all these Circumstances you may consider as trivial in Comparison of the main Point. You affected to complain of my not publishing the Evidence of these Facts I had alluded to, and expressed your Concern at my being "backward in appearing before the Tribunal of the Publick." I will readily agree that your Letter could not have been properly and fully answered without producing this Evidence, and my
Unwillingness to do it I as frankly acknowledge. The End of my Opposition to your Election had been answered; of Course the chief Reasons of it ceased, and I never entertained the most distant Wish to do you an Injury.
I am again charged with being influenced by private Pique and Resentment. This I formerly denied, and you should have produced some competent Testimony to prove the Allegation, before you ventured to repeat it; unless you took for granted, a Thing probable enough, that your bare Ditum would pass current upon this, as well as all other Occasions. You may perhaps have observed, in the Course of your Attendance upon Courts, the serious Warning which is sometimes given to ignorant Witnesses, or those of suspicious Characters; but surely, Sir, you did not consider me as one of this Sort, when you laid me under so solemn an Adjuration . I will not gratify you so far as to take an Oath in the impertinent Terms you prescribe, but will declare with all that Truth and Sincerity, which ought to influence the Words and Actions of every honest Man, that my Opposition to you and the Measures I pursued to prevent your being elected our Minister were dictated solely by my Regard for Religion and our established Church, and a Sense of that Duty, which I thought I owed this Parish, as one of its Vestry. I will go farther, and say, it was with no small Reluctance, and with some considerable Share of Pain, that I engaged in so disagreeable a Task. To pretend that I did it out of "brotherly Affection for you" would be ridiculous. You have made one very notable and ingenious Discovery: Mr. Bracken it seems hath, at last, furnished you with a "Key to my Conduct," in saying that "my End was obtained;" and, "if this be true, my End was not that I suggested, but another." The Keenness of your Eyes, as well as the Quickness and Strength of your Ears, are really astonishing; you can pervade the hardest Millstone at a Glance. But did ever any Man, besides yourself, think it necessary to search for a Key to unlock a Door that stood wide open? I should have thought that my Conduct had been made publick enough, and the Motives to it as publickly explained; but it seems, if Duty had been my governing Motive, I ought to have exposed those Principles to the World, "pointed out their pernicious Tendency, and cautioned against them the Ignorant and Thoughtless." I thank you, Sir, for the Compliment which follows; perhaps my Modesty restrains me from repeating it. Had I anticipated and pursued this Advice, may I not, with some Degree of Confidence, venture to give it as my Opinion that both you and your Friend would have stood foremost in condemning me? How would our publick Papers have rung with the most bitter Cries and Invectives against persecuting Spirits? And who would have been honoured with the first Rank in this List may be easily guessed. Though my Benevolence may not be so unbounded as your own, yet why would you wish to extinguish in me every Spark of Charity? Perhaps I might have hoped, from what had happened, that you would see your Error. Reformations are always to be wished, though the Expectations of them should not be too much relied on. Doctor Secker, you have told us, was "a professed Deist till he went into the Church;" if this was really the Case, I am satisfied he became a sincere Convert to the true Faith, and died one of the best of Christians. But suppose, Sir, my Duty had required that I should have given what you emphatically called the "Watch Word;" this you told me, in your first Letter, had been done, and the Determination of our Vestry, which was made publick, held out to the World at least a sufficient Caution.
You now "conjure" me, you "dare" me, to speak out. The Publick you appoint your Judges, and "fear not to trust your Honour with them." Brave, candid, ingenuous, though much injured, Mr. Henley! What a Pity that such earnest Entreaties should not be complied with, and how dastardly must I appear to shrink from such a Challenge? An Appeal, Sir, to the wide World may be convenient, and, on certain Occasions, extremely judicious. So various are the Avenues to the human Breast, and the Passions of Mankind, that hard indeed must be his Fate, who, in a general Scramble for favourable Opinions in so large a Circle, finds himself entirely disappointed. Solemn Protestations of Innocence, joined with bold Defiances, being often esteemed the Marks of Innocence, may have the desired Effects on some, even in
* The Words "absurd as they may be" omitted in the Quotation, and this very Omission taken Advantage of by a subsequent Observation, as the Reader may see by having Recourse to the Letter.
† Here is a palpable Misrepresentation of my Letter, as may be seen upon a Comparison; or there is no Difference between the fundamental Articles of Religion and the Ritual of our Church, which I have always discriminated.

those Instances where they are only the Recourses of Desperation. But, remember, good Sir, that Facts, with certain Concomitants, are stubborn Things, and must be yielded to, when rightly understood. It is an old Saying, that they who talk a great Deal ought to have long Memories; may not this be applied to some Persons, who are fond of writing a great Deal? You say to Mr. Bracken, "three Years almost I preached in your Pulpit without being suspected by any but the Treasurer, and only by him (that I knew of) till the 12th of last June." One would be apt to suppose from hence that you had preached almost constantly in our Pulpit for three Years, whereas I believe you did it only now and then occasionally, till you officiated for Mr. Horrocks during his Indisposition and Absence; and I must question, though I will not be positive, whether the whole Time exceeded eighteen Months. The Length of Time it is plain you intended to rely on as material: Newspapers we know are read in foreign Countries as well as at home, and perhaps it is best to give good large Tale both in Respect to Time and Circumstances. But you were not suspected by any One but the Treasurer till the 12th of June, that you knew of. Read the angry Advertisement prefixed to your printed Sermon, which was preached in March 1772, and certified to have been printed at Cambridge, though it was done in this City. In this you give as your Reasons for publishing the Discourse that it had "exposed its Author to Obloquy;" and say that "some Gentlemen have taken Offence at the Subject." What had been said of this Sermon, and some of your other Publications, must have convinced you that you were at least suspected. Could you have doubted but that those Persons, in whose Presence you had delivered such strange Opinions, must have entertained Suspicions? Some of these I had given you Notice of in my Letter published in May; so that the Suspicions of others could not have been new or a Surprise to you the 12th of June, the Day our Vestry was held.
When you undertook to give an Account of the Evidence offered to the Vestry, you certainly must have been under a strange Insinuation, or you never could have obtruded on the World so partial and unjust a Representation. Perhaps you might have flattered yourself that my Fears were still predominant, and that I should be deterred from ever making my Appearance again. In Hopes of rescuing you from so great a Delusion, that the Characters of the Witnesses, which you have dared to asperse, and that my own Conduct may appear in a proper and true Light, I will undertake to state the Facts, as they really were, together with some other corroborative Proofs, and will venture to appeal to others for the Truth of all I advance. This will lead me into a Detail, which I would gladly have avoided; but the candid and judicious Readers, in whose Decision I shall acquiesce with all Cheerfulness, will best know to whom they are indebted for so great a Trespass on their Patience.
You must remember, Sir, that, in my Answer to your Card, I offered either to give my Author's Names into your own Hands, or mention them to the Vestry, as might be most agreeable to you. You did not signify to me your Choice, and therefore I proceeded in my own Way. When the Vestry met, you were, upon my Motion, made acquainted that several Matters had been objected to you, and that, if you chose it, the Vestry were ready and willing to hear every Thing you had to say, but that they did not pretend to have any Authority to cite you before them. You, in Consequence of this Message, attended. I proposed that the Witnesses should be sworn, but you were polite enough to desire that this Ceremony might be waived, declaring that you should be as well satisfied without it. Colonel Richard Bland, who was first called upon, declared he remembered well, as it made a deep Impression on his Mind, that, in a Conversation with the Speaker and you, some considerable Time past, upon the Divine Perfections, the DIVINITY OF OUR SAVIOUR was mentioned; that he attempted to defend this Doctrine, and cited several Texts from the Holy Scriptures to prove it, particularly the first Chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews. That this gave Occasion to the Introduction of a Bible, and that you undertook to explain this Chapter so as to deprive our Saviour of his DIVINE CHARACTER; that you made HIM nothing more than a Messenger particularly appointed by God to promulgate an universal Religion to Mankind, in the same Manner as Moses and the Prophets of the Old Testament had been appointed to publish a particular Religion and declare the Will of God to the Jewish Nation; that, in this Respect, HE was so much better than the Messengers under the Jewish Dispensation, who preceded HIM, as, by the Universality of his Religion, HE had obtained a more excellent Name than they; that HIS Religion was to supersede the Jewish, and that, for this Reason, the Text says, let all the Angels of God worship him , that is, let all the Messengers, or which in your Opinion was the same Thing, the Religion they established give Place and pay Obedience to the Religion HE was sent to establish universally, which was more excellent than the Religion of the Jews. He declared, that, by your Argument, Faith in our SAVIOUR'S DIVINITY was explained away, and his Divine Dignity degraded so as to make him very little superior to the Prophets of the Old Testament. That he was greatly surprised such a Doctrine should come from a Clergyman of the established Church, and told you, with some Resentment, that your's were the Principles of the Socinians; to which you answered, Sir, I am not a Socinian, and he replied, I do not say you are, but whoever understands the Scriptures, in the Sense you have explained them, must be a Socinian. He farther declared, that he would not pretend to say you delivered your real Sentiments, but that he was fully convinced, from your Manner, that you spoke your own Opinion, and from that Time considered you as entertaining no favourable Sentiments of our SAVIOUR'S DIVINITY. He also declared, that soon after this Conversation he was at my House, when, upon some Occasion or other, I spoke in your Favour, which I believe he had formerly done; that he then told me how much his Opinion was changed, and related the Substance of the Conversation herein recited; that he mentioned it likewise to one or two other Persons of this City; that when he returned into the Country, a Gentleman of the Parish he lives in mentioned a prevailing Report that their Parish was likely to become vacant, and, on that Event, told him he might have an Opportunity of introducing his Friend Mr. Henley; that he informed the Gentleman his Sentiments were entirely changed with Respect to you, and gave, for Reason, the strange Opinions he had lately heard you maintain. I mention these Circumstances to show that Colonel Bland could hardly be mistaken; his Veracity and Integrity are too well established for any One, to suppose that he would utter an Untruth, and his Knowledge must have enabled him thoroughly to understand the Subject he was upon. He could have had no private Views in giving an Account of the Matter, as he had mentioned it to different Persons long before any Disputes happened in this Parish; and I can bear him Witness that it was with very great Reluctance he appeared in Vestry to give his Testimony against you. Mr. Speaker was called upon to give an Account of this Conversation. This Gentleman can need none of my Encomiums; of his Integrity and Veracity I have ever had the fullest Conviction. He declared to have remembered a Conversation and Debate between you and Colonel Bland on the Subject of Religion; that the Colonel seemed well pleased with your Conversation, and, upon being asked whether he intended to the Play that Evening, said that he had rather stay and converse or argue with you; that he did not remember to have heard you utter any Thing like those Sentiments Colonel Bland had expressed; that his Lady (whose Virtues and Integrity are justly admired by all who know her) was also present at the Conversation, and had declared to the same Purpose. This I think was the Substance of the Evidence given by the Speaker; if he said any Thing more that was material, it has escaped my Memory, and is not suppressed through Design. Every Thing, which was said, fell vastly short, in my humble Opinion, of a Declaration of the Injustice, "as you are pleased to term it, of the Charge which this Witness had brought." This Gentleman and his Lady might not have been immediately concerned in the Debate, and therefore may be supposed not to have attended to particularly to it, as the other Gentlemen, who was. Debates, especially of this Sort, are often spun out to such Lengths as to become tedious to By-standers; I will not say how it may be with others, but know very well that I have often been in Company, and could truly say that I did not remember whether such or such Things passed; but, at the same Time, could not venture to declare that they did not happen. I must take the Liberty of referring you to a Passage in your former Letter to me, where you ask this Question. "But are you certain, Sir, that your Informant understood the Principles of Socinus? I ask this Question, because my Argument, to which you refer, was a Defence of the Doctrine of our Church in Opposition to them. Disprove it if you can." By this you must allude to Colonel Bland, who proves the contrary of what you assert. This seems to be another of your bold Defiances. It strongly marks your Ingenuity and Dexterity at a Shift. Aware of the Force of his Testimony, you endeavour to annihilate it, by charging him in Effect with the very Thing you knew he would accuse you of; he must have espoused the Principles of Socinus, or else you were arguing and contending without an Opponent. But, Sir, did Mr. Speaker recollect this Argument of yours? I do not remember that he did; and, if not, I hope you will allow that his Attention might have been interrupted, as I have supposed. Or have you any Evidence to prove that Colonel Bland ever maintained the Principles of Socinus? The second Witness with the "vague Ideas" was Mrs. Nicholas.
† Your Note to the Ladies is inimitable, and bears the strongest Marks of its Author's usual Consistency; it is worth the Reader's particular Attention.
cholas. It gave me much Concern to be obliged to call upon her. The Cause, however, I considered was not my own (though you had endeavoured to make it so) but that of the whole Parish. Her Veracity I was sure could not be impeached, and I knew that her Testimony might be supported by several others of unquestionable Veracity, to whom she had communicated what she had to say, long before any Disputes happened in the Parish, and, I believe, while you were upon very friendly Terms with me. If you doubt her Capacity to give competent Testimony, even in Matters of Religion, because "St. Paul forbids Women to speak in the Church," you had better undertake to examine her. Her Testimony, with your "Interrogation," as nearly as I can recollect the material Parts of it, was as follows. She declared, that in a Conversation she had with you about two Years before, or upwards, upon the Subject of Religion, you, to the best of her Remembrance, denied the DIVINITY OF OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST, the Existence of the Devil; that there was any such Place as Hell, or that there would be any eternal Torments; that, upon this, she asked you, if these were your Sentiments, how you could satisfy your Conscience about subscribing the Articles of the Church of England? To which you replied, that it was expressed in one of the Articles, that if any Thing in the said Articles should be found contrary to the Word of God it should not be obligatory on the Person subscribing, and therefore was not binding on you, as you understood the Scriptures in a Sense different from the Articles. She declared, that she would not be positive as to your identical Words, but that they were to this Effect. Being asked whether she had ever heard of the Article you alluded to, before you mentioned it, she declared she had not. Mrs. Ambler was the third Witness you mentioned; she declared, as well as I can recollect, that her Sister Nicholas had, above two Years before, told her of a Conversation with you, and that you had denied our Saviour to be the Son of God, the Existence of the Devil, such a Place as Hell and eternal Torments, and that the same Question and Answer passed between you about the Articles. Upon this you called out, see, they differ! Mrs. Ambler then said, she knew of no Difference between denying our Saviour to be the Son of God and denying his Divinity. Mrs. Nicholas likewise added, she would not be positive which of the Words you made Use of; that they conveyed the same Ideas to her, and she had always considered them as synonymous Terms. This, and this only, could have been what you call an essential Difference between their Testimony, and Mrs. Nicholas's varying materially, upon Interrogation, in her Mode of Expression. You made some Strictures upon this Evidence, which I own to you I did not understand. You denied having said what was alleged respecting the Divinity or our Saviour's being the Son of God; I do not remember your saying any Thing of the Devil; but, as to Hell, you ludicrously told us you did not know that the Geography of it had ever been settled. Mrs. Nicholas was asked whether you had said any Thing of Annihilation in the Course of your Conversation; she said that she could not be sure; that she had heard of your preaching that Doctrine in our Church, and possibly might have blended this Account with what she might think you had said to her, and therefore desired that it might not be regarded as any Part of her Testimony. Upon this you said you would not deny it to be your Opinion (whether you acknowledged that you had preached this Doctrine I will not be positive) that the Wicked, after undergoing a certain Degree of Punishment, would be annihilated. It was proved to the Vestry that our late worthy PRESIDENT BLAIR, in his last Illness, which was in the Time of your officiating for Mr. Horrocks, desiring the Assistance of a Clergyman, returned to have you, but desired that Mr. Johnson might be sent for. His Reasons may easily be supposed, and I believe can be proved. From this Relation of Facts, it is submitted to the Candid to determine what was the Inconsistency of the Testimony. Suppose the second Witness could not be positive as to the Identity of your Expression; one of two Things was proved; they were both equally exceptionable; and, pray, where could be the essential Difference? If by your Observations you meant to invalidate the whole Testimony, I would gladly know how Mrs. Nicholas could have been mistaken as to what passed between you respecting the Articles, particularly that, which she declared she had never before heard of. From the Question and Answer it is plain that you must have maintained some Doctrine, contrary to the fundamental Articles of our Church. The particular Article under which you attempted to justify yourself must have been the 6th or 20th, which you referred to in a former Letter. Let any Man of Sense read and compare them with the other Articles, and the Absurdity of your Construction will be striking. The Dissenters from our Church, at least many of them, are desirous of being relieved from Subscription; even they know it cannot be done without Consent of Parliament, and therefore apply for this Purpose; I with all my Heart that they may obtain their Desire; but their Case and yours is surely quite different. Could they assume the Latitude you seem to do, they need not be uneasy about Subscription, since one or two of the Articles, upon this Supposition, would enable them to get rid of all the rest. What you say of the "good Lady," as you are pleased to call her with a Sneer, is a palpable Misrepresentation: You say she "urged home the Imputation upon you with Vigour, because you once had called our Saviour a Prophet; though Moses and St. Peter had done so before you." The Person you allude to was Mrs. Ambler, and the Truth is this: When you were contradicting Colonel Bland in almost every Thing he asserted, Mrs. Ambler told you that you need not deny what he charged you with, because she heard you preach a Sermon last Good Friday much to the same Purpose, in which you compared our Saviour to Moses, and gave him but a small Degree of Preference; a Fact which, I am told, can be proved by several others. I remember the farther told you, that, since the head of the Conversation you had held with her Sister, she had been attentive to your Behaviour at Church, and took Notice that you did not join in some Parts of the Service; I think the mentioned one or more of the Creeds.
Before the Vestry met, I had heard, in general, of other Testimony which might have been produced against you; but, as I had not been made acquainted with the Particulars, and consequently my Conduct could not have been influenced by them in the Opposition made to you, I declined making Inquiries, lest it should be supposed that I had Occasion to sift out new Testimony to support Facts already advanced. The Gentleman, I had been referred to, was in Town the same Week, but I did not speak to him on the Subject. Some recent Transactions, however, at last determined me to do it. I have Permission to call upon him to attest certain Facts, and I hope he will not take it amiss, if I refer you to him on the Topic of Veracity also. I know you are well acquainted with Mr. Page of Rosewell, and that you cannot question his Integrity and Honour. This Gentleman will declare that he hath been frequently astonished at the strange Opinions you have maintained; that he hath heard you argue against the Doctrine of the ADORABLE TRINITY, and assert that by the three Persons was only meant the three Characters under which God had made himself known to Men, viz. as their Creator, as the Means of their Redemption, and as inspiring them with good Thoughts; for that the Word Person was borrowed from Persona, which signified an Actor's Mask. He is positive as to your denying the Doctrine of the Trinity, and of your Affection as to Persona, but will not be so as to the very Words in which you explained that Affection, though thinks they were as above related. That, he thinks, he hath heard you maintain that all the Expressions in Scripture concerning the Devil were but allegorical, and that he heard you deny, in the Company of several other Gentlemen, the Existence of Angels and a future State of Punishments; when you, at several other Times, attempted to prove that the Punishment of the Wicked would be Annihilation, without qualifying this Doctrine, as you attempted to do in Vestry, by saying they were to undergo some Degrees of Punishment and then be annihilated. This same Gentleman will declare, that, at another Time, he heard you deny the Divinity of the Son and Holy Spirit. That you were asked, either by him or another Gentleman present, if these were your Sentiments, how you could use the first Parts of the Litany of our Church; to which you answered, I read it so or thus, and then proceeded, by some strange Kind of Emphasis, to shew how you discriminated the Words and used them in a Sense different from what the Church intended. Need I comment upon all this? To do it would surely be an Insult on the Understanding of the most cursory Reader. Why should I multiply Words any farther, when, if I understand common English, you have by your Letter, in Effect, told us that it is immaterial, whether a Man is an Albanian, an Arian, or Socinian? I will not say you have received a Deputation from the "Representative of St. Peter," but One would be apt to suspect that you must have made large Purchases from his Storehouse of those Dispensations, Indulgencies, &c. &c. which we read of, and which we are told will justify a Man in all Equivocations, mental Evasions, and secret Reservations whatever. It is much to be feared that "the Translations in the Steeple of Bruton" will be too long remembered. I have now recorded them, by your express Command; and, whether, in so doing, I have reared a Monument of my own "hypocritical Pretences," or of your Honour and Glory, the present and future Generations will judge. Before you tell us again of the Inefficacy of Faith, and the transcendent Merits of good Works, I must take the Liberty of recommending to you a Revival of the Scriptures, and particularly the Epistles of our favourite Apostle St. Paul, and the general Epistle of St. James; compare and consider them well together. Remember also that St. Paul gives us
many other Characteristics of true Charity besides what you have quoted; such as, "Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly."
Before I conclude, I must express a Wish, a most earnest Wish, that you would cease to persecute and disturb the Peace and Tranquility of this Parish. I have great Pleasure in believing that we are blessed with a very worthy Minister, who I am persuaded will make it his Study to render us all happy. The other Parts of your Letter relate chiefly to him, and he may answer them as he thinks fit. I am confident he will do it with Truth and Candour.
Whether, after what you have written, you can, without some considerable Change, properly use all those spiritual Weapons with which you propose to "meet him on other Ground," I will not determine; but, that you may entitle yourself to the Helmet of Salvation , is the sincere Wish of your humble Servant,
R. O. C. NICHOLAS.
P A R I S, December 3. The Duke of Gloucester has been here some Days. It is believed that he will not go to Court. Having walked on Monday last, without any of his Retinue, accompanied by a French Gentleman, to request of the French Comedians the Representation of two Pieces of his Choice for the next Day, he saw with what Eagerness his Desires were complied with, notwithstanding the Measures taken for playing two other Pieces which had been announced to the Publick, and fixed up. Some of the Guards conduct him to all the publick Places, and make Room for him without naming him.
The Rejoicings in the City on Account of the Marriage of the Count D'Artois have been not only extremely elegant, but have likewise been distinguished by many Acts of Generosity and Humanity. Besides Provisions, Wine, &c. distributed to the Poor, large Sums of Money have been given away. The Magistrates have likewise married twenty Orphan young Women, to each of whom they gave Clothes, Furniture, and 1000 Livres in Money. They were all married at once, and afterwards entertained, with their Husbands and Friends, at the Expense of the City. The Marshal Duke de Brissac, Governor of Paris, whose Humanity and Benevolence add Lustre to his Rank, conducted one of these young Women to the Altar in Person, and gave her a Portion of 2000 Livres over and above what was paid by the City.
L O N D O N, December 4. Among the Resolutions of the 10th House of Commons, it was agreed that a Halfpenny Stamp shall be on every Newspaper, and 6d. for every Advertisement inserted in them.
A Grant is ordered to be prepared of several Thousand Acres of Land on the Ohio, in consequence of a Determination of a Committee of the Privy Council, that it would be advantageous to the Nation to farm Settlements there. Mr. Walpole, and several other Persons, are to pay 1460l. for the Grant, and a Quirient of two Shillings for every Hundred Acres, after the Expiration of twenty Years of the Lands that shall be cultivated.
Robberies are now committed by two or three very genteel Highwaymen in different Parts of Essex. A few Days ago a Gentleman was accosted in this Manner by one of these polite Highwaymen. Sir, do you see that Gentleman that rides before you? Yes, Sir, says the other; which then? Why, says he that asked the Question, he is a Robber; look behind you, and observe that Man that follows us, he will certainly rob you as he has me. What shall I do? replied the other. Why deliver to me your Money, and you will be safe; for as he knows I am robbed, he will not suspect me. Upon this the Gentleman gave his Purse to this officious Gentleman, who rode on pretty smartly before him. Soon after, the Highwayman got up to the Gentleman who had parted with his Money, and asked him if he had spoke with that Man that rode on a little before? Yes, Sir, said the Gentleman. O then, replied the other, you are very safe; I give you my Word none of our Friends will meddle with you, for he is one of us.
This Evening, at Half past six o'Clock, arrived at Hicks's Hall, Mr. Powell, Clerk to a Gentleman in New Inn, and immediately got into a Post Chaise, which conveyed him to the Angel Inn, St. Giles's, where he slept that Night. Mr. Powell undertook to walk from London to York, and back again, in six Days; for which Purpose he set out from Hicks's Hall on Monday Morning the 29th of November, at sixteen Minutes past twelve o'Clock, and arrived at Stamford that Night. He reached Doncaster the next Night; and at Half past two o'Clock arrived at York, where he delivered a Letter to Mr. Clark, Watchmaker. He stayed at York an Hour and a Half, and returned to Ferrybridge that Night. The next Night he slept, or rather set himself down, at Grantham; for he rested there but two Hours, having strained himself, and being behind his Time. He came to Baldock on Friday Evening; and on Saturday, at the above mentioned Time, to the Surprise and Astonishment of the World, returned to London. It is imagined there were 300 People on Foot, Horseback, and in different Carriages, who attended him from Highgate, accompanied him with French-horns, and near 100 Link-boys. Mr. Powell's triumphal Entry would have had an exceeding pretty Effect, had the same been conducted with due Form and Decorum; but Curiosity, joined with the hearty Desire of his Friends to congratulate him on his safe Return, made it a Scene of Confusion. Mr. Powell, when he set out, was very ill; but being obliged to begin his pedestrian Expedition some Monday in November, or lose his Deposit, he preferred the Fatigue of the Journey and Risk of his Life for the small Compensation of about 20l. However, it is believed that the Noblemen and Gentlemen, who have won some Thousands on his Performance, will raise a handsome Present for him; to whose hard Labour, and incorruptible Integrity, they are so much indebted. It is very well known Money was offered to Mr. Powell while on his Journey, which he refused to take. He declared, when he set out, that he thought he should not be able to perform the Journey, but that he would do it if possible, or perish in the Attempt.
The following may be depended on. In the Course of last Summer a Lady who had been to Reading in Berkshire, on some particular Business, had returned to London without a Paper of the utmost Consequence to her, which she happened to mention in the Hearing of Mr. Powell; who, without saying any Thing to the Party, got up at five o'Clock the next Morning, returned to Norfolk Street in the Strand at Tea Time the same Afternoon, and delivered the Paper to the Lady, to her great Surprise.
December 7. The Jesuits must certainly have been very rich; the Plate alone belonging to their Colleges at Rome amounts to 6400lb. Weight.
This Day, at one o'Clock, the Sheriffs came upon the Husting at Guildhall, and having declared to the Common Hall the Numbers for each Candidate on the Election for Member of Parliament for this City, returned the Right Honourable Lord Mayor as being duly elected.
On the Arrival of the News that the Lord Mayor had carried his Election for the City of London, a certain patriotick Hostler at Castle Cary, in Somersetshire, ordered the Bells to be rung, and the Ringers to drink 45 Pints of strong Beer at every Publick House in the Town; and, what is remarkable, it just amounted to 45s.
Extract of a Letter from Tewkesbury, December 4. A Suit is instituted, in the Consistory Court of the Diocese of Gloucester, against Mr. Evanon, the Vicar of this Parish. The Accusation against him is for depraving the publick Worship of God contained in the Liturgy of the Church of England, asserting the same to be superstitious and antichristian, preaching, writing, and conversing, against the Creeds and the Divinity of our Saviour, and assuming to himself the Power of making arbitrary Alterations in his Performance of the publick Worship. The Question between him and his Parishioners is plainly this: Whether a Minister of the established Church, who publicly avows a Disbelief of the Faith of that Church, although he has repeatedly and solemnly declared his Assent to it, reproaches the same Church with Hypocrisy and Idolatry, rejects its lawful Commands, and the lawful Commands of the State relating to it, and in every Respect discovers himself to be a real Dissenter from it, should still continue in its Ministry, and receive the Emoluments belonging to that Ministry, as a Reward for abusing it.
No Present, we are assured, has yet been made to Mr. Powell, his whole Gains for his long Walk having been no more than 20 or 30l. a Bet of his own, and which Sum he was obliged to borrow to stake. Mr. Powell was born at Horsforth, near Leeds in Yorkshire, is middle aged, slender made, and about five Feet eight Inches high.
Extract of a Letter from the Hague, November 30. Prince Gallitzin, the Russian Minister, on the 25th Instant received the following Account of a Victory gained by Major General Ungar over a Body of 12,000 Turks. "I have the Honour to acquaint your Excellency, that Field Marshal Romanzow, being taken ill, was removed to Jassy, the Capital of Moldavia, in Order to have proper Care taken for the Recovery of his Health; that General Count de Solukow immediately after took the Command of the Imperial Army, having under him the General Suwarow and Ungar; that they passed the Danube, attacked the Enemy, and pursued them fifteen Versts. The Particulars of this Affair are not known, but our Advantage is said to have been very considerable, &c."
The last Letters from Berlin advise, that the King of Prussia is determined not to drive the Jesuits out of his Dominions. The following

Letter is said to have been written by his Prussian Majesty to his Agent at Rome, in their Behalf: "Abbe Colombini, you have my Authority to declare to every Body, without Ostentation or Affection, and you will take an Opportunity to inform the Pope, or his Prime Minister, that my Determination with Respect to the Jesuits is to protect them in my Dominions, in the same Manner as they have been hitherto. By the Treaty of Breslau, I guaranteed the Religion, in statu quo, and I never met with better Priests than the Jesuits. You may add, that as I am of the Class of Heretics, his Holiness cannot grant me a Dispensation for breaking my Word, not for deviating from the Duty of an honest Man or a King."
December 9. The King of Prussia has caused it to be insinuated at St. James's that he is not that Monster the World has painted him, at least he will soon convince England of it.
Letters from Dantzick advise, that during the present unhappy Situation of their Affairs great Numbers of its Inhabitants have left the Place, and several Merchants have retired to Stralsund, to accept the advantageous Offers made by the King of Sweden to such Merchants as will settle there.
If the Queen's Health will permit her to accompany his Majesty, we hear, for certain, that he will visit Dublin, and Edinburgh, the ensuing Summer.
Letters from Petersburg mention, that fresh Proposals for Peace have lately been received there from Constantinople.
Letters by the last Mail mention, that the King of the Sicilies, having hearkened to the Dictates of Humanity, has granted an Act of Indemnity to the late Insurgents.
The Court of Vienna has ordered the Persons of the Jesuits, as well as their Goods (the Value of which, in the Austrian Dominions, is supposed to amount to forty Millions of the Empire) to be detained till farther Orders.
The last Letters from Constantinople advise, that an English Ship, named the Resolution, was lately wrecked on the Coast of the Morea, in a violent Gale of Wind, and that the Captain and Crew were murdered by the Natives.
The King of Prussia, we are informed, has appointed Commissaries in different Places in his Dominions, who are enjoined, after the most careful Inquiries, to fix Prices on the real Necessaries of Life.
At a General Court of the Proprietors of East India Stock, held yesterday at their House in Leadenhall Street, for the Purpose of electing a Director, in the Room of the late Dr. Hawkesworth, Mr. Cumming was unanimously chosen.
The last Letters from Gibraltar mention that a Spanish Man of War of seventy Guns, called the Princess, was by a violent Storm totally lost off Cape Malaga, the 4th of last Month, and that every Soul on Board perished.
The Emigrations from the Highlands still increase. On the 16th of last Month 250 Persons sailed from the Frith of Dornock for New York; another is loading with the same Cargo for Carolina. About the same Time 250 Emigrants sailed for Fort George, and 308 of the Macdonalds of Glenelg and the neighbouring Districts for Fort William.
December 12. We have fine Hopes of the rising Generation, when we consider what glorious Struggles the young Gentlemen at Eton are now making for Liberty, and the free Indulgence of such Privileges as they think they have an undoubted Right to. It seems the Master of Eton School has judged it advisable to prohibit these high spirited Youngsters from attending Horse Races; and, what is still worse, he will not suffer any of them, though never so well born, to keep a Pack of Hounds. This has brought on a furious Rebellion, and what will be the Consequence the Politicians of Eton cannot foresee. Seriously speaking, the Ills arising from the Education of our high born Youth are owing to the ill judged Indulgence of their Parents, who furnish them with so much Money that their Passions are roused before they know how to moderate them; they are tempted to behave contrary to that Sobriety which is necessary to advance their Studies, and to act in Contradiction to the Discipline of the Seminary to which they belong. In short, they ought to receive no Money but what is given them through the Hands of the Master and Tutors. This would confine them within just Bounds, and create a proper Reverence and Regard for their Teachers.
Extract of a Letter from Worcester. "When the Procession was over which succeeded the Poll, Sir Watkin Lewes dined at the Crown with about 100 Gentlemen, who all insisted on paying equally, and would not put their Candidate to any Expense. The same noble Proof of independent Spirit and Support were shown throughout the whole Election, which affords an Example worthy the Imitation of the whole Kingdom, and for which the Citizens of Worcester will be recorded in the Annals of their Country, for having so greatly withheld the Treasury of the East, and the Influence of Power, thus nobly asserting the Freedom of Election."
Extract of a Letter from Cowbridge, December 10. "The following extraordinary Method of preventing the Crows from eating the Corn after sown was tried by a Gentleman Farmer not twenty Miles from this Town, and answered the End so well that our Farmers intend following his Method. He took a Cat and tied her by the Leg fast to a Stake in the Middle of the Field; no sooner was this done than the Cat began crying, and so continued for two or three Days (being well fed Night and Morning) and not a Crow has been seen in the Field since."
WILLIAMSBURG, February 24. LAST Monday, about two o'Clock, a smart Shock of an Earthquake was felt at Westover, the Seat of the Honourable William Byrd, Esq; which shook the Dwelling-House very much. It was likewise felt in this City the same Day by a few People, and on the Wednesday Night following there was a violent Tremour of the Earth. And by a Gentleman from Richmond we learn that the Shock was severely felt in that Town, at the same Time it was observed at Westover, accompanied by a loud Noise like Thunder; and at Petersburg and Blandford the Motion of the Earth was still greater, many Houses having been moved considerably off their Foundations, and the Inhabitants so much alarmed as to run out of Doors. The same Gentleman says, that the Earthquake, he heard, had been much greater up the Country.
Extract of a Letter from Fredericksburg, February 23. "On Monday last, about two o'Clock after Noon, we felt a small Shock of an Earthquake, which lasted about Half a Minute. It shook the Glasses on the Tables, &c. and terrified the Inhabitants greatly, but no bad Consequences attended it."
By private Letters from London, we learn that the following was the State of the Poll, upon its being cast up, for a Member of Parliament for the City of London, in the Room of Sir Robert Ladbroke, deceased: For the Lord Mayor (Mr. Bull) 2695; for Mr. Roberts, 2431. Both Candidates, before the Election began, took an Oath, that they neither, directly or indirectly, made Use of any Bribery or Corruption. The Poll for a Member for the City of Worcester stood thus: For Mr. Rous (backed by Lord Clive and 20,000 l.) 900; for Sir Watkin Lewes, 635. Mr. Kelly, who was one of the Candidates, gave up before the Election, and Sir Watkin Lewes only declared himself that Day; for whom, it is said, a Scrutiny was to be demanded.
The Right Honourable the Countess of DUNMORE, with Lord Fincastle, and the junior Branches of that noble Family, accompanied by Captain Foy and his Lady, set out from New York the 24th of this Instant, and may be hourly expected at the Palace in this City.
The Virginia, Howard Esten, from London, with five Tuns of Half-pence on Board, is arrived in York River; the True Patriot, Aspelby, from Bristol, Bowman, Taylor, and Jenny, Kerr, from Glasgow, in James River.
The London, Captain Robinson, is safe arrived at the Port which bears her Name, and may be expected cut in the Spring.
Captain West, of the Schooner Hawke, belonging to Salem, and bound to Baltimore, on the 17th Instant landed at Cape Henry the Crew of the Brig Fanny, William Moseley Commander, bound to Lisbon, which he took off said Vessel on the 7th, at the Hazard of the Lives of his own People, as the Boat he despatched for their Relief was upwards of five Hours out in a high Sea, and had very near been lost. Captain Moseley, and his Crew, received the most humane Treatment from Captain West while on Board his Vessel.
The Crew of another Vessel belonging to Norfolk, and bound for Jamaica, one Talbot Commander, which had foundered at Sea, was brought in a few Days ago by a Ship for Nansemond River.
The Neptune Captain White, which sailed about a Fortnight ago, with a Load of Wheat, for the Straights, put into Norfolk last Tuesday, having sprung a Leak.
Deaths.] Mrs. ELIZABETH SMITH, at her House in Surry County, in an advanced Age. This Lady has bequeathed several Charities to the Parish in which she lived.
The Reply to a certain QUERE. THOUGH 'tis granted St. Paul debars Women of Speech (See a Letter he wrote the Corinthian People) When in Churches they'd use it, to talk or to preach; We deny, th' Injunction extends to the Simple.
To the PRINTER.
SIR, MR. BRACKEN and Co. may suppose, if they please, their last Production unanswerable. Whether it be, or be not, your Readers will judge. I must, however, remark, that it is incumbent on the Person whose Signature it bears (if he expects for the future to be treated as a Gentleman) publicly to convict me of the Falsehoods with which, in that Letter, I am charged. SAMUEL HENLEY.
ASOBER well disposed MAN, capable of teaching Children to read and write, may meet with Employment by application to Charles Carter of Corotoman, Lancaster County. (4)
BERKELEY, February 24, 1774. TEN very likely young VIRGINIA born SLAVES will be sold at Chesterfield Courthouse, on Friday the 1st of April, upon Credit till the 10th of January next, the Purchasers giving Bond with good Security to (6) BENJAMIN HARRISON.
NORFOLK, February 9, 1774. AS the Partnership of William and Thomas Farrer expires in July next, all Persons indebted thereto are desired to make Payment, by Bond or otherwise; and those who have any Demands are desired to bring in their Accounts, that they may be adjusted.
AS the Copartnership of the Subscribers will expire on the 1st of June next, all Persons indebted thereto are requested to settle their Accounts and make Payment; and as sufficient Time has already been granted to many for that Purpose, those who fail therein, by the ensuing Meeting of the Merchants in Williamsburg, may depend on Suits being brought against them, without farther Application. Those who have any Demands against the said Copartnership are desired to make them known, and they will be paid. The Business, in the Meantime, will be carried on as usual. HECTOR McALESTER, & Co.
PRINCE GEORGE, February 17, 1774. THE Subscriber has lately purchased of Mr. John Thompson, Junior, of this County, a Tract of Land known by the Name of Eldridge's, and both Mr. Thompson and Captain John Thompson of Sussex, have jointly made a Deed of Conveyance to me; and as I am under Apprehensions that it may be under some Encumbrance, by Deed of Trust, Mortgage, &c. I take this Method to inform the Publick, that, if it should, I shall be much obliged to any Person that will make the same known immediately. WILLIAM BONNER, Junior.
NOTICE is hereby given to the Gentlemen, Officers, and Soldiers, who claim Land under his Majesty's Proclamation of the 7th of October, 1763, having obtained Warrants from His Excellency the Right Honourable the Earl of Dunmore, directed to the Surveyor of Fincastle County, and intending to locate their Lands on or near the Ohio, below the Great Kanawha, that several Assistant Surveyors will attend at the Mouth of the New River, or Great Kanawha, on Thursday the 14th of April, to survey for such only as have or may obtain his Lordship's Warrants for so doing. I would therefore request that the Claimants, or their Agents, will be very punctual in meeting at the Time and Place above mentioned, properly provided with Chain Carriers and other Necessaries to proceed on the Business without Delay. As several Gentlemen, who are acquainted with that Part of the Country, are of Opinion, that, to prevent Insults from strolling Parties of Indians, there ought to be at least fifty Men on the River, below the Mouth of the Kanawha, to attend the Business in such a Manner as the Gentlemen present judge most proper until it is finished, or the Season prevent them from surveying any more, should the Gentlemen concerned be of the same Opinion, they will doubtless furnish that or any less Number of Men they believe necessary. It is hoped the Officers, or their Agents, who may have Land surveyed, particularly such as do not reside in the Colony, will be careful to send the Surveyor's Fees when the Certificates are demanded. (5) WILLIAM PRESTON, Surveyor of Fincastle.
THE Assignees under the Statute of Bankruptcy against Messrs. Perkin & Brown, late of London, Merchants, and Partners with Mr. Buchanan, having sent us a Power of Attorney to collect the Debts due to the said Partnership in this Colony, all Persons concerned are desired to attend to this Notice. CHARLES YATES. ROBERT PRENTIS.
Y O R I C K, WHOSE Pedigree and Performances are sufficiently known to Sportsmen, will cover this Season at his usual Price of THREE POUNDS, and FIVE SHILLINGS to the Groom; the Money is expected to be paid when the Mares are taken away. Good Pasturage is given, but I will not be answerable for Escapes. He stands at Mount Airy, in Richmond County, quite fresh, and in high Health and Vigour, where due Care will be taken by the Publick's most humble Servant, where due Care will be taken by the Publick's most humble Servant. (4) JOHN WHELTON.
SURRY, February 23, 1774. THE Commanding Officers of the Southern District are requested to appoint their General Musters upon the following Days, which will put it in my Power to make a full Return of the Militia, when they will be waited on by their most obedient Servant, (2) COLIN CAMPBELL, Adjutant.
  SURRY, MONDAY 34th MARCH.   PRINCE GEORGE, WEDNESDAY 16th   CHESTERFIELD, FRIDAY 18th   CUMBERLAND, MONDAY 21st   PRINCE EDWARD, THURSDAY 24th   AMELIA, MONDAY 28th   BRUNSWICK, WEDNESDAY 30th   DINWIDDIE, FRIDAY 1st APRIL.   SUSSEX, MONDAY 4th   SOUTHAMPTON, MONDAY 11th   ISLE OF WIGHT, FRIDAY 15th   NANSEMOND, MONDAY 18th   NORFOLK, WEDNESDAY 20th   Borough, FRIDAY 22nd   PRINCESS ANNE, MONDAY 25th 
FOR SALE, A VALUABLE FARM of 1500 Acres, within sixteen Miles of Petersburg. The Terms may be known on Application to the Subscriber. (tf) HENRY SKIPWITH.
To be SOLD by publick Auction, on Wednesday the 30th of March, A QUANTITY of fashionable PLATE and all the HOUSEHOLD and KITCHEN FURNITURE at Eagle's Nest in Stafford; also several valuable SLAVES, Men, Women, and Children. Credit will be allowed for all Sums above 40 s. until the 30th of March 1776, and be allowed for all Sums above 40 s. until the Time to carry Interest from all Bonds not paid in one Month after that Time to carry Interest from the Day of Sale. Bond and Security to be given to the Honourable John Tayloe, the Executors of Charles Carter, deceased, and Joseph Jones, Esq.
RUN away from the Subscriber, in King and Queen, about the 1st Instant (February) two Negroes. One a noted old Fellow named JOHN, who was Coachman to the late Speaker; he carried away with him two yellow Livery Cloth Coats, a Waistcoat and Breeches, a blue Cloth Coat, and some other Clothes. His Son ROBIN, a very likely young Fellow, about five Feet ten Inches high; he had on two Kendal Cotton Waistcoats, and Breeches. They were seen together a few Days after at Mr. Peter Lyons's, in Hanover, as I have been informed, and passed as on an Errand of mine to Richmond Town. This is to request the Favour of any Person having Knowledge of the said Slaves, or either of them, to give me the earliest Notice; or if apprehended, so that I get them again, shall receive what the Law allows. (2) WILLIAM GRIFFIN.
WILLIAMSBURG, February 24, 1774. STRAYED or STOLEN, on Sunday Night the 13th Instant, two BAY HORSES, one about fifteen Hands, the other fourteen Hands high, and have both hanging Manes. The largest Horse has a Bob Tail, a small Notch in one of his Ears, and is branded HL in a Piece. The other has a small Star in his Forehead, a Sprig Tail with some white Hairs in it, but no Brand that I know of. Whoever brings the said Horses to me shall have 20 s. Reward; if stolen, on Conviction of the Thief, 5 l. CHARLES TALIAFERRO.
COMMITTED to Chesterfield Jail, a Mulatto Boy about twelve or fourteen Years of Age, who says he was born free, and that his Parents lives in Gloucester County, from whence he was stolen about three Years ago by some Sailors who carried him to Warwick, and sold him to Mr. John Scott of Albemarle. His Name is CHARLES HOWELL, and his Father is of the same Name. His Parents have now an Opportunity of hearing from him and making his Freedom appear, or his Master of proving his Property, on paying Charges and taking him away. JAMES BALL, Jailor.
WHEREAS the Copartnership of Andrew McCrea and Co. is dissolved, by the Death of Andrew McCrea all Persons indebted to the said Copartnership are once more desired to settle and discharge their Balances; and as I cannot grant any farther Indulgence, every Account that is not immediately settled will be put into the Hands of Mr. Thomas Claiborne to bring Suit, without Respect to Persons. JAMES AGNEW, Administrator to Andrew McCrea, deceased.
To be SOLD, on Monday the 28th Instant (February) THE Stock in Trade of Andrew McCrea and Co. consisting of DRY GOODS, IRONMONGERY, &c. and sundry other Articles too tedious to mention; also a few Hogheads of RUM, a NEGRO BOY, and a HORSE. Six Months Credit will be allowed, the Purchaser giving Bond, with approved Security. JAMES AGNEW, Administrator to Andrew McCrea, deceased.
LEEDS, February 4, 1774. ALL Persons who have had any Dealings with the Subscriber at his Store here, since the 4th Day of October, 1773, to the 31st of December last, are desired to settle their Accounts with Mr. Andrew Crawford; and those that cannot pay their Balances, I hope, will give him Bonds. I shall also be greatly obliged to those Gentlemen who had Dealings with me formerly that they will now settle their Accounts, and give Mr. Crawford Bonds, in my Name, for the Balances. THOMAS JETT.
TAKEN from a Negro Fellow and a Negro Wench belonging to Mrs. Anne Hall, about the 18th of last Month, three Pieces of VIRGINIA CLOTH, one Piece of 8 3/4 Yards, wove M's and O's, one Piece of 8 Yards, striped with Black and Copperas, the other Piece 9 Yards, striped with Copperas; also a Pair of CHANNEL PUMPS, and a Virginia Cloth COTTON TOWEL. The Owner may have them of the Subscriber, living on Swift Creek, about four Miles below Chesterfield Courthouse. (21) ROBERT BURTON.
RICHMOND Town, February 1, 1774. THE Partnership of Carter and Trent being this Day dissolved, all Persons indebted thereto are desired to make immediate Payment, or give Bond for their respective Balances. Such as fail to comply with this Request will be sued, without farther Notice. The Debts due from the Partnership will be paid by Peter Field Trent. EDWARD CARTER. PETER FIELD TRENT. N. B. The Stores in which Mr. Carter was concerned will be continued, and supplied as formerly, by PETER FIELD TRENT.
RICHMOND Town, February 14, 1774. AS I have administered on the Estate of my deceased Brother Andrew Edmonstone, late of this Place, I hereby give Notice to all Persons indebted to come and pay off their Accounts, or give Bond; such as fail may depend their Accounts will be put into a Lawyer's Hands to bring Suit, as great Indulgence has already been given. All Persons that have any Demands against the said Estate are desired to give in their Claims. And as I intend to leave the Colony soon, I have empowered Mr. Edward Johnstone, of Manchester, and Mr. Robert Baine, of this Place, to act for me in my Absence, who will give proper Discharges. JOHN EDMONSTONE.
COBHAM, February 10, 1774. THIS is to inform the Publick that the ORDINARY and FERRY from Cobham to Jamestown is now opened, where all Gentlemen who please to favour me with their Company may be assured of the best Entertainment; and any who choose to leave their Horses, &c. at this Place, may depend the greatest Care will be taken thereof, by (1) WILLIAM SMITH, Junior.
NEWPOST, February 10, 1774. APOLLO will begin to cover the 1st of April, at 5 l. the Season, the Money to be paid when the Mares are taken away. Should that not be convenient, a Note of Hand, payable in October at the Fredericksburg Races, will be accepted. Good Pasturage will be found, and the greatest Care taken of the Mares; but I will not be answerable for any that may get away. I propose taking Corn, Wheat, and Pease, at the Market Price, as it may not suit every One to pay the Cash. (10) ALEXANDER SPOTSWOOD.
PETERSBURG, February 10, 1774. SEVERAL Bales of ROLLS and OSNABRUGS, imported last December in the Thomas, Captain Robinson, will be sold at publick Vendue, on Saturday the 26th Instant, for the Benefit of the Ensurers. (2) HENRY LOCHHEAD.
WANTED, A PERSON qualified to act as a DRAWER in a large Publick House. Such a One may hear of good Encouragement by applying to the Printer of this Paper.
To be SOLD before the Raleigh Tavern, in Williamsburg, on Wednesday the 9th of March, for ready Money, FOURTEEN or fifteen likely Virginia born NEGROES, consisting of Men, Women, Boys, and Girls. N. B. The above Negroes will positively be sold at the Time and Place above mentioned. (1)

POETS CORNER. Q N I N N O C E N C E.
WHAT's Innocence? A brighter Gem Than e'er enrich'd a Diadem, A Gem that bears a Price so high As Crowns and Empires cannot buy...
WILLIAMSBURG, February 15, 1774. A SKILFUL GARDENER will meet with good Encouragement by applying to JAMES HUBARD.
SPOTSYLVANIA, January 1774. I INTEND to leave the Colony soon. JOHN MITCHELL.
To be SOLD, A TRACT OF LAND adjoining Mr. John Tabb's in Amelia, containing by Estimation 750 Acres, but, if required, it will be surveyed...
FOR SALE, A TRACT OF LAND in Wake County, North Carolina, lying on both Sides of Newle Kiver, containing 725 Acres, the Soil of which is well adapted to the Culture of Wheat, Corn, and Tobacco...
To be SOLD, pursuant to a Decree of Gloucester Court, on Tuesday the first of March, on the Premises, A TRACT OF LAND in said County, containing about 500 Acres...
STRAYED or STOLEN from the Subscriber, about the 15th of January, a BRIGHT BAY MARE about four Feet eight Inches high, three Years old last Spring...
RUN away from the Subscriber, in King William, a Mulatto Fellow named DAVID GRAFFENREAD, about five Feet seven or eight Inches high, well made, a remarkable wide Mouth...
RUN away from the Subscriber, in November last, near Hillsborough, Orange County, North Carolina, a Woman Servant named SARAH HASSETT, about twenty Years of Age...
COMMITTED to Gloucester Jail the 8th of this Instant (February) a Negro Man who says his Name is HARRY PERFUME, about thirty Years of Age, is much Pock-pitted...
TAKEN up, in Bedford, a DARK BAY HORSE eight or nine Years old, thirteen Hands and a Half high, with some Saddle Spots, but no Brand perceivable.
TAKEN up, in Orange, two WHITE HOGS, marked with a Crop, Under and Overkeel, in the right Ear, in the left with two Slits and a Nick...
To be SOLD, or RENTED, THE HOUSES and LOTS in Hanover Town late in the Possession of Mr. John Meriwether, immediate Possession of which will be given to the Purchaser.
YORK COUNTY, February 4, 1774. I INTEND to leave the Colony soon. ALEXANDER GRAHAM.
COLEMAN THEEDS, and ELIZABETH his Wife, having this Day parted by mutual Consent, and given Bond each to the other, the Subscribers being Witnesses to their Agreement...
LUNENBURG, February 1, 1774. THERE is arrived, in some Vessel lately from Glasgow, a small BOX directed to the Subscriber (to the Care, I believe, of Mr. George Wright, Merchant in Amelia County)...
For SALE, A TRACT of Land in Gloucester County, containing upwards of 300 Acres, pleasantly situated on Mobjack Bay, between East and North Rivers.
To be RENTED, for a Year or Terms of Years, THE LOTS and HOUSES in Hanover Town, the Property of Samuel Giff, Esq; of London; they are in good Repair, having a large commodious Brick Store with two convenient Rooms...
To be SOLD at Tappahannock, on Monday the 18th of April, by Virtue of a Decree of the Honourable General Court, bearing Date the 10th of April, 1773.
TWO LOTS numbered 47 and 50, and Half of a Lot Number 49, in the Town of Tappahannock, on which there is a good Dwelling-House and sundry other Houses, lately possessed by William Ramsay, deceased...
LOST by a Negro two Miles from Woodson's Ferry, in Henrico, a BROWN BAY MARE, fourteen Hands high, a small Snip on her Nose, a short Switch Tail, and branded on the near Buttock N B.
CHESTERFIELD County, January 22, 1774. RUN away, about the first of November, a Negro Woman named RACHEL, well made, about 22 Years of Age, four Feet eight or nine Inches high...
TAKEN up, in King George, a BLACK MARE, four Feet seven Inches high, about four Years old, docked, but no Brand perceivable.
TAKEN up, in Princess Anne, a BRINDLED HEIFER two Years old, marked with a Crop, Undernick, and Overnick, in the left Ear, and a Crop, under Half Crop, and Slit, in the right.
TAKEN up, in Prince Edward, a RED and WHITE STEER marked with a Crop and two Underkeels in each Ear, and appears to be ten or twelve Years old.
TAKEN up, in King George, a RED and WHITE PIED COW marked with a Slit in the right Ear, and Half Spade in the left.
TAKEN up, at a Plantation of Mr. John Smith's, in Bedford, a small BRIGHT BAY MARE about four Feet and an Inch high, a small Slit in her left Ear, had on a large Bell, but no Brand or other Mark perceivable.
TAKEN up, in King George, a small SORREL MARE about eight Years old, three Feet seven Inches high, branded on the off Buttock H, and appears to have been branded with the same Letter on the near Buttock, but not very perceivable.
NORFOLK, February 1, 1774. WE have just imported a Parcel of choice MADEIRA WINE, of the London, New York, and Virginia Qualities, which we will sell on the most reasonable Terms.
COMMITTED to the publick Jail, a Runaway Negro Man, named BEN, middle sized, very black, has lost his right Eye, stoops a little when he walks, and appears to be above forty Years old; being an African, he speaks bad English...
RUN away, on Monday the 18th of October last, a likely Mulatto Girl named FANNY, about fourteen or fifteen Years of Age; she formerly belonged to Mr. Augustine Smith, of Middlesex, with whom I am informed her Mother, named Joan, now lives as Cook.
WILLIAMSBURG, February 3, 1774. RUN away, a Negro Girl named JUDITH, about fourteen Years old; and I imagine she is harboured about this Town. Whoever brings her to me shall have TEN SHILLINGS.
To be SOLD, to the highest Bidder, on Tuesday the 15th of March, on the Premises, and may be entered on immediately.
A VALUABLE TRACT of LAND on Dan River, Halifax County, containing 1758 Acres, Part of which is rich low Grounds, and there are all convenient Houses on it. A farther Description is thought needless, as it is presumed no Person will purchase without viewing it.
To be SOLD for ready Money, or Credit not exceeding five Years, or RENTED upon good Terms.
THE beautiful and pleasant Seat known by the Name of OXFORD, together with the Land adjacent, containing 1000 Acres, whereon Granville Courthouse and Jail now stands. The Land lies very level, Part of which will produce Tobacco, and most of it is very good for Wheat, Indian Corn, Oats, &c.
(12||) JESSE BENTON.
NEWMARKET (Carolina) December 1, 1773.
RUN away from the Subscriber, the latter End of October 1772, a likely Mulatto Man named RANDOLPH, about thirty Years of Age, and five Feet eight or nine Inches high; he had on, when he went away, a Suit of Green, with red Livery. As he has many Acquaintances about Williamsburg, it is probable he is lurking about that Place.
For SALE, the LOT and HOUSES near Cabin Point Warehouses, at present possessed by the Subscriber.
THE Lot consists of four Acres well enclosed, a good Dwellinghouse with all necessary Outhouses, a Storehouse, Counting Room, and two Lumber Houses, all at present in very good Repair. A TRACT of LAND in Surry, about six Miles from Cabin Point, containing 335 Acres, on which there is a Dwellinghouse, a small Apple and Peach Orchard, and a Quantity of very good Pine Timber.
(tf) JAMES BUCHANAN.
FOR SALE, THE HOUSES and LOTS, in the Town of York, where the Subscriber now lives. The Dwelling-House is of very large commodious One, with four Rooms above and four below, a very large Brick Storehouse, a large and well cultivated Garden, Stables, Kitchen, Wash House, &c. in good Repair.
(tf) JACQUELIN AMBLER.
FOR SALE, ABOUT twelve Thousand Acres of exceeding rich TOBACCO LAND, in Amherst County, whereon are several Plantations and Improvements sufficient to work forty or fifty Hands.
There is on the said Land for Sale a very valuable GRIST MILL, lately built, with a Stone Dam and a Pair of good Cologne Millstones, which Mill has for two Years past got upwards of 100 Barrels of Toll Corn, and is situated on a never-failing Stream. The Land will be shown by William Womack, who lives at one of the Plantations, and the Prices of the Land made known by him.
(tf) CARTER BRAXTON.
To be SOLD, SEPARATELY or TOGETHER TWO TRACTS of LAND. One lies in Albemarle County, on Hardwade River, about five Miles from the great River, containing 370 Acres, 100 of which are the best Kind of low Grounds, and situated so as always to have the best Range for Stock of any Land between the Capes and Little Mountains.
The other Tract lies in Goochland County, on Lickingbale Creek, near the Three Notched Road, and contains 700 Acres. The high Land is equal to any in these Parts, fine for Tobacco and Wheat, or any Kind of Grain or Meadow. About 200 Acres are cleared, now under good Fences, laid off in three Fields, and in fine Order to work about ten Hands to great Advantage.
(tf) WILLIAM PRYOR. GOOCHLAND, November 1773. 3.
YORK Town, June 9, 1773. THE Subscribers being very solicitous to comply with the Will of their Testator, the late Honourable William Nelson, desire that all Persons who were indebted to him will endeavour to make as speedy Payments as possible.