The Virginia gazette (Williamsburg [Va.]), 1774-05-26 00:00:00

VIRGINIA GAZETTE.
With the freest 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.
L O N D O N.
The following Act of Parliament, passed in the present Sessions, and which takes Place on the 1st of June next, is printed for the Information of the Merchants of Great Britain and Ireland trading to North America. [And by the Printer of this Paper for the Information of his Customers.]
An Act to discontinue, in such Manner, and for such Time, as are therein mentioned, the landing and discharging, lading or shipping of Goods, Wares, and Merchandise, at the Town and within the Harbour of Boston, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, in North America.
WHEREAS dangerous Commotions and Insurrections have been fomented and raised in the Town of Boston, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, in New England, by divers ill affected Persons, to the Subversion of his Majesty's Government, and the utter Destruction of the publick Peace and good Order of the said Town, in which Commotions and Insurrections certain valuable Cargoes of Teas, being the Property of the East India Company, and on Board certain Vessels lying within the Bay or Harbour of Boston, were seized and destroyed; and whereas, in the present Condition of the said Town and Harbour, the Commerce of his Majesty's Subjects cannot be safely carried on there, nor the Customs payable to his Majesty duly collected, and it is therefore expedient that the Officers of his Majesty's Customs should be forthwith removed from the said Town: May it please your Majesty that it may be enacted, and be it enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, that from and after the first Day of June 1774 it shall not be lawful for any Person or Persons whatsoever to lade or put, or cause or procure to be laden or put, off or from any Quay, Wharf, or other Place within the said Town of Boston, or in or upon any Part of the Shore of the Bay commonly called the Harbour of Boston, between a certain Headland or Point called Nahant Point, on the eastern Side of the Entrance into the said Bay, and a certain other Headland or Point called Alderton Point, on the western Side of the Entrance into the said Bay, or in or upon any Island, Creek, Landing, Place, Bank, or other Place within the said Bay or Headlands, into any Ship, Vessel, Lighter, Boat, or Bottom, any Goods, Wares, or Merchandise whatsoever, to be transported or carried into any other Country, Province, or Place whatsoever, or in any other Part of the said Province of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England; or to take up, discharge, or lay on Land, or cause or procure to be taken up, discharged, or laid on Land, within the said Town, or in or upon any of the Places aforesaid, out of any Boat, Lighter, Ship, Vessel, or Bottom, any Goods, Wares, or Merchandise whatsoever, to be brought from any other Country, Province, or Place, or any other Part of the said Province of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England, upon Pain of the Forfeiture of the said Goods, Wares, and Merchandise, and of the said Boat, Lighter, Ship, Vessel, or other Bottom, into which the same shall be put, or out of which the same shall be taken, and of the Guns, Ammunition, Tackle, Furniture, and Stores, in or belonging to the same. And if any such Goods, Wares, or Merchandise, shall, within the said Town, or in any of the Places aforesaid, be laden, or taken in from the Shore, into any Barge, Hoy, Lighter, Wherry, or Boat, to be carried on Board any Ship or Vessel outward bound to any other Country or Province, or other Part of the said Province of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England, or be laden or taken into such Barge, Hoy, Lighter, Wherry, or Boat, from or out of any Ship or Vessel coming in, and arriving from, any other Country or Province, or other Part of the said Province of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England, such Barge, Hoy, Lighter, Wherry, or Boat, shall be forfeited and lost.
And be it farther enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, that if any Wharfinger, or Keeper of any Wharf, Crane, or Quay, or their Servants, or any of them, shall take up or land, or knowingly suffer to be taken up or landed, or shall ship off, or suffer to be Water-born, at or from any of their said Wharfs, Cranes, or Quays, any such Goods, Wares, or Merchandise, in every such Case, all and every such Wharfinger, and Keeper of such Wharf, Crane, or Quay, and every Person whatsoever who shall be assisting or otherwise concerned in the shipping or in the loading or putting on Board any Boat, or other Vessel for that Purpose, or in the unshipping such Goods, Wares, and Merchandise, or to whose Hands the same shall knowingly come after the loading, shipping, or unshipping thereof, shall forfeit and lose treble the Value thereof, to be computed at the highest Price which such Sort of Goods, Wares, and Merchandise, shall bear at the Place where such Offence shall be committed, at the Time when the same shall be so committed, together with the Vessels and Boats, and all the Horses, Cattle, and Carriages whatsoever, made Use of in the shipping, unshipping, landing, removing, Carriage, or Convoyance, of any of the aforesaid Goods, Wares, and Merchandise.
And be it farther enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, that if any Ship or Vessel shall be moored, or lie at Anchor, or be seen hovering within the said Bay, described and bounded as aforesaid, or within one League from the said Bay so described, or the said Headlands, or any of the Islands lying between or within the same, it shall and may be lawful for any Admiral, Chief Commander, or commissioned Officer of his Majesty's Fleet, or Ships of War, or for any Officer of his Majesty's Customs, to compel such Ship or Vessel to depart to some other Port or Harbour, or to such Station as the said Officer shall appoint, and to use such Force for that Purpose as shall be found necessary; and if such Ship or Vessel shall not depart accordingly, within six Hours after Notice for that Purpose given by such Person as aforesaid, such Ship or Vessel, together with all the Goods laden on Board thereon, and all the Guns, Ammunition, Tackle, and Furniture, shall be forfeited and lost, whether Bulk shall have been broken or not.
Provided always, that nothing in this Act contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to any military or other Stores for his Majesty's Use, or to the Ships or Vessels whereon the same shall be laden, which shall be commissioned by, and in the immediate Pay of, his Majesty, his Heirs, or Successors; nor to any Fuel brought Coast-wise from any Part of America, for the necessary Use and Sustenance of the Inhabitants of the Town of Boston, provided the Vessel wherein the same are to be carried shall be duly furnished with a Cocket and Let-pass, after having been duly searched by the proper Officers of his Majesty's Customs at Marblehead, in the Port of Salem, in the said Province of Massachusetts Bay; and that some Officer of his Majesty's Customs be also there put on Board the said Vessel, who is hereby authorised to go on Board and proceed with the said Vessel, together with a sufficient Number of Persons, properly armed, for his Defence, to the said Town or Harbour of Boston; nor to any Ships or Vessels which may happen to be within the said Harbour of Boston on or before the first Day of June 1774, and may have either laden or taken on Board, or be there with Intent to load or take on Board, or to land or discharge any Goods, Wares, and Merchandise, provided the said Ships and Vessels do depart the said Harbour within fourteen Days after the said first Day of June 1774.
And be it farther enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, that all Seizures, Penalties, and Forfeitures, inflicted by this Act, shall be made and prosecuted by any Admiral, Chief Commander, or commissioned Officer of his Majesty's Fleet or Ships of War, or by the Officers of his Majesty's Customs, or some of them, or by some other Person deputed or author-
ised, by Warrant from the Lord High Treasurer, or the Commissioner of his Majesty's Treasury for the Time being, and by no other Person whatsoever; and if any such Officer, or other Person authorised as aforesaid, shall, directly or indirectly, take or receive any Bribe or Reward to connive at such lading or unlading, or shall make or commence any collusive Seizure, Information, or Agreement, for that Purpose, or shall do any other Act whatsoever whereby the Goods, Wares, or Merchandise, prohibited as aforesaid, shall be suffered to pass either inward or outward, or whereby the Forfeitures and Penalties inflicted by this Act may be evaded, every such Offender shall forfeit the Sum of 500 l. for every such Offence, and shall become incapable of any Office or Employment, civil or military. And every Person who shall give, offer, or promise, any such Bribe or Reward, or shall contract, agree, or treat with any Person, so authorised as aforesaid, to commit any such Offence, shall forfeit the Sum of 50 l.
And be it farther enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, that the Forfeitures and Penalties inflicted by this Act shall and may be prosecuted, sued for, and recovered, and be divided, paid, and applied, in like Manner as other Penalties and Forfeitures inflicted by any Act or Acts of Parliament, relating to the Trade or Revenues of the British Colonies or Plantations in America, are directed to be prosecuted, sued for, or recovered, divided, paid, and applied, by two several Acts of Parliament; the one passed in the fourth Year of his present Majesty, entitled "An Act for granting certain Duties in the British Colonies and Plantations in America; for continuing, amending, and making perpetual, an Act passed in the sixth Year of the Reign of his late Majesty King George II. entitled An Act for the better securing and encouraging the Trade of his Majesty's Sugar Colonies in America; for applying the Produce of such Duties, and of the Duties to arise by Virtue of the said Act, towards defraying the Expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the said Colonies and Plantations; for explaining an Act made in the 26th Year of the Reign of King Charles II. entitled An Act for the Encouragement of the Greenland and Eastland Trades, and for the better securing the Plantation Trade; and for altering and disallowing several Drawbacks on Exports from this Kingdom, and more effectually preventing the clandestine Conveyance of Goods to and from the said Colonies and Plantations, and improving and securing the Trade between the same and Great Britain." The other passed in the eighth Year of his present Majesty's Reign, entitled "An Act for the more easy and effectual Recovery of the Penalties and Forfeitures inflicted by the Acts of Parliament relating to the Trade or Revenues of the British Colonies and Plantations in America."
And be it farther enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, that every Charter-Party Bill of Loading, and other Contract for consignment, shipping, or carrying any Goods, Wares, and Merchandise whatsoever, to or from the said Town of Boston, or any Part of the Bay or Harbour thereof, described as aforesaid, which have been made or entered into, or which shall be made or entered into, so long as this Act shall remain in full Force, relating to any Ship which shall arrive at the said Town or Harbour after the first Day of June 1774, shall be, and the same are hereby declared to be, utterly void, to all Intents and Purposes whatsoever.
And be it farther enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, that whenever it shall be made to appear to his Majesty, in his Privy Council, that Peace and Obedience to the Laws shall be so far restored in the said Town of Boston that the Trade of Great Britain may safely be carried on there, and his Majesty's Customs duly collected, and his Majesty, in his Privy Council, shall adjudge the same to be true, it shall and may be lawful for his Majesty, by Proclamation, or Order of Council, to assign and appoint the Extent, Bounds, and Limits of the Port or Harbour of Boston, and of every Creek or Haven within the same, or in the Islands within the Precinct thereof; and also to assign and appoint such and so many open Places, Quays, and Wharfs, within the said Harbour, Creeks, Havens, and Islands, for the landing, discharging, lading, and shipping of Goods, as his Majesty, his Heirs, or Successors, shall judge necessary and expedient; and also to appoint such and so many Officers of the Customs therein as his Majesty shall think fit: After which it shall be lawful for any Person or Persons to lade or put off from, or to discharge and land upon, such Wharfs, Quays, or Places, to be appointed within the said Harbour, and none other, any Goods, Wares, and Merchandise whatever.
Provided always, that if any Goods, Wares, or Merchandise, shall be laden or put off from, or discharged or landed upon, any other Place than the Quays, Wharfs, or Places so to be appointed, the same, together with the Ships, Boats, and other Vessels employed therein, and the Horses, or other Cattle, and Carriages used to convey the same, and the Person or Persons concerned or assisting therein, or to whose Hand the same shall knowingly come, shall suffer all the Forfeitures and Penalties imposed by this, or any other Act, on the illegal shipping or landing of Goods.
Provided also, and it is hereby declared and enacted, that nothing herein contained shall extend, or be construed, to enable his Majesty to appoint such Port, Harbour, Creeks, Quays, Wharfs, Places, or Officers, in the said Town of Boston, or in the said Bay or Islands, until it shall sufficiently appear to his Majesty that full Satisfaction hath been made by, or on Behalf of, the Inhabitants of the said Town of Boston, to the united Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies, for the Damage sustained by the said Company, by the Destruction of their Goods sent to the said Town of Boston, on Board certain Ships or Vessels as aforesaid, and until it shall be certified to his Majesty, in Council, by the Governor or Lieutenant Governor of the said Province, that reasonable Satisfaction hath been made to the Officers of his Majesty's Revenue, and others who suffered by the Riots and Insurrections above mentioned, in the Months of November and December in the Year 1773, and in the Month of January 1774.
And be it farther enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, that if any Action or Suit shall be commenced, either in Great Britain or America, against any Person or Persons, for any Thing done in Puruance of this Act of Parliament, the Defendant or Defendants in such Action or Suit may plead the General Issue, and give the said Act and the special Matter in Evidence, at any Trial to be had thereupon, and that the same was done in Puruance and by the Authority of this Act; and if it shall appear so to have been done, the Jury shall find for the Defendant or Defendants. And if the Plaintiff shall be non-suited, or discontinue his Action after the Defendant or Defendants shall have appeared, or if Judgment shall be given, upon any Verdict or Demurrer, against the Plaintiff, the Defendant or Defendants shall recover treble Costs, and have the like Remedy for the same as Defendants have in other Cases by Law.
From the Whitehall Evening Post of March 15. Substance of the AMERICAN PAPERS read before the House of COMMONS on Friday last, with Remarks. THESE Papers consist of Copies and Extracts of Letters from the Commander of the Forces, and from the several Governors, in America; of Threats and prophetic Warnings to the Gentlemen to whom the Tea was consigned; Narratives of Transactions; of Copies of Letters from the several Consignees at Boston to a Ringleader of the Faction in that Town; of Votes of the Town of Boston previous to the Arrival of the Tea; of a Petition of the consignees to the Council of Massachusetts, praying "that they and their Property might be taken under their Protection," with the absolute Denial of the Council (observe, of his Majesty's Council) to afford the least Support or Assistance, or even a Promise of it; of Notes from the India House; of Letters from the Admiral com-
manding at Boston Harbour, and from Lieutenant Colonel Leslie, of the 64th Regiment, in Barracks at Castle William; of a Proclamation of the Governor against the factious Meetings of the Inhabitants, which they treated with ineffable Contempt; of Copies of treasonable Papers printed in America; of a Copy of the Transactions of the Massachusetts Council, condemning the Destruction of the Tea, and advising legal Prosecutions against the Perpetrators, which they knew no Person would dare to carry on, and expressing their own Abhorrence of the unjustifiable Deed, although they would not take any previous Step to prevent it, even when petitioned for that very Purpose. So far relative to the Massachusetts.
The Papers written, and printed, from the other Colonies, are exactly of the same Nature. They are the regular official Information of the different Governors transmitted to the American Secretary of State, with Copies of all the inflammatory fugitive Papers, Hand Bills, Alarms, Resolves of Town Meetings, and Minutes of Council. In short, the whole Budget of Abuse that has been vented against Parliament, and the Ministry, from New England to the Carolinas, was read to themselves on Saturday last.
As there was no Outrage committed but at Boston, it would be superfluous to narrate all the incendiary Scribbling and Printing in the different Colonies. It may suffice just to observe, that all the printed Bills read were fully larded with the Phrases of "desperate Plans of Despotism, "ministerial Designs to ruin their Liberties, Slavery, galling Fetters, "forging infernal Chains, Popery, despotick Rule," &c.
The Massachusetts Council appeared in a very jesuitical Point of View: They would not give the least Assistance or Protection to the Consignees, or to the East India Company's Property; they would not even take into Consideration the landing and securing the Teas. By their Replies, it would seem that they rather rejoiced in the Opposition formed by the Faction; and if they did not openly range themselves on its Side, at least by their Neutrality, and the Purport of their Answer, it was sufficiently evident that they did not even wish to interpose as Mediators. The Consignees prayed, "to resign themselves, and the Property intrusted to their Care, to the Council; not only as their Guardians and Protectors, but also those of the People at large." But these worthy Gentlemen thought proper to have nothing to do with them, and rather hinted that the Tea Scheme was calculated to disturb the Peace of the Town and Province.
The Letters from the different Governors contain a minute and regular Detail of the State of their different Provinces, but particularly of the Capitals of each, from the first Intelligence of the Tea's being shipped at home to its Arrival in America, and Return back, or Destruction.
Above all the rest of the Advices, Governor Hutchinson's Letters are most precise, exact, and circumstantial. He endeavoured both to force and intimidate the Faction. It was he himself who advised the Consignees to apply to Council for their personal Safety, and Security of their Property; for his two eldest Sons were two of the Consignees. He also, during the Height of their turbulent and unlawful and factious Assemblies, before the Destruction of the Tea, sent the Sheriff to the Town Meeting at Boston, commanding them to break up and depart. When the Sheriff, Mr. Greenleaf, arrived in the Hall, and intimated "that he had a Paper to read from the Governor," the Faction put it to Vote "whether he should be permitted to read it or not?" After some Debate, Permission was granted; and the Sheriff accordingly pronounced the Governor's Orders for them to disperse. The instant he had finished the Faction saluted him with an universal Hiss, which continued, and accompanied him out of Doors. The Proclamation was afterwards published in the Gazette, from whence it was copied into the other Papers, and criticised and commented upon with every Mark of Contempt and Indignity. Before the Arrival of the Tea, the Governor, who is very insinuating, appeared to have taken every Measure that Reason could suggest both for the Safety of the India Property and the Safety of the Consignees. The principal Leader of the Faction was applied to; he commanded the Governor's Company of Cadets, but it was not to be expected that the Leader of the Faction would muster the Cadets to oppose his own Party and his own Plots. The Applications, of Course, had no Effect. Perhaps Acquiescence was not expected, though it might be deemed proper, in Point of Duty, to make the Request, or rather to issue the Order.
By Governor Hutchinson's Letters, the People of the Town, or the Faction, obliged Mr. Rotch, the Owner of Captain Hall's Vessel, to demand a Clearance outwards from the Customhouse, in Order that the Tea might be carried back. Mr. Rotch resisted a long Time; but his Person being threatened, nay his Life, made him comply. The Customhouse refused to grant him an illegal Clearance. The Governor was then applied to for a Pass, without which the Vessel would have been stopped at Castle William; but this was also refused to Mr. Rotch, because it was totally inconsistent with the Duty of a Governor to grant a Pass to a Vessel that had not been regularly cleared at the Customhouse. This Negotiation, or Insurrection, or Rebellion, came to a Crisis about the Middle of December. The Faction, sitting in Town Meetings, heard the Account of the Refusals above mentioned from Mr. Rotch. It appears they expected such Answers, and were prepared for the Event; for, immediately after Mr. Rotch's Account, Signals were given both from within and without the Meeting. A Number of Men, disguised, boarded the Vessels containing the Tea, and, as it is said, threw the Whole into the Sea; though some Unbelievers may think not a little of it might be purloined, and that Madam Thesis had not so strong a Dith of Tea that Evening as some People may imagine.
This is a recollected Summary of what was heard with Regard to the Facts, as they happened in regular Progression. The Opinions of the Writers, as far as may be judged from what is expressed in their Letters, now come to be mentioned.
Upon the Face of the whole Transaction, in every Colony where the Tea arrived, it is evident that the Governors acted with the utmost Prudence and Circumspection. It happened that the Ship bound for Boston was the first that reached her destined Port. Every civil Precaution seems to have been tried to preserve the Peace of the Town: His Majesty's Council, the Cadets, and the Militia, were all applied to, without Effect; the Sheriff read a Proclamation to the Faction, commanding them to dissolve their Assembly, and this Proclamation was immediately afterwards inserted in the Gazette. Both the Sheriff and the Proclamation were treated with Insult. The People of Boston seem, on this Occasion, to have been fairly tried; the Governor seems to have taken, from the Beginning, a Determination not to call either on the naval or military Force, then in the Bay and at Castle William. The loyal and peaceable People of that Town were altogether left to the Exercise of their own Judgment, and they have given all the World a notable Proof of it, by wantonly destroying a valuable Property, when all they had to do was to keep firm in their Resolution not to buy or drink any of it. They will, however, pay for their outrageous Pastime; they must make good the Loss; and they will feel the indemnification the more bitter, as they must pay for a Commodity which they declare they did not taste, and which they pretend to abhor.
The other Governors, after the Accomplishment of the Boston Exploit, wisely agreed to let the Tea be carried back, as what had already happened was sufficient to arouse the English Nation and Parliament; and, by this prudent Conduct, they put it out of the Power of the People under their Government to act in the same foolish and frantic Manner as the People of Boston.
As to Governor Hutchinson, if it had not been for his Resolution not to irritate the People, by calling in the Assistance of the Navy, the Tea would have been saved; but as the Bostonians always made great Com-

plaints of the Interposition of the Navy and Army, and not only declared, but forewarned, they had always begun every Disturbance, every rational Man will be glad to find that their Governor gave them no such Plea on this Occasion. They were left to their own Will and Pleasure, and behaved ten Times worse than ever.
It appears, by all the Letters from America, that nothing can be done there by Officers, civil, military, or naval, to effectuate the Re-establishment of Peace in that Country. They can make no Movement, even the most trifling, but what is exclaimed against by the licentious Bostonians, as an Infringement of their Liberties. They have therefore remained, for these three last Years, in total Inactivity, submitting to the Insults of Faction with the most patient Endurance, in Hopes that Parliament, by an Alteration and Regulation of absurd Charters, will at last relieve them, and all the rest of his Majesty's good Subjects in the Colonies.
Governor Hutchinson's settled Opinion is, "that no Efforts in the Colonies, by any Body of Men, civil or military, can remove the Evils that now reign amongst them. It is Parliament, and Parliament only, which can restore that turbulent Country to Peace and Order, out of Confusion; and it is said, that his Letters, for these six Years past, have uniformly inculcated and held forth the same Doctrine."
L O N D O N, March 10.
T HE Remains of Opposition seem to have lost all Principle. The Colonies are in open Revolt, but that gives them infinite Satisfaction. They have long fixed their hungry Eyes on the Treasury to no Purpose. In the present Crisis, they think they have some Chance of partaking the Sweets of Office, by opposing the Good of their Country, and the Punishment of the Boston Mutineers. They imagine they will perplex the Minister, and perhaps overlet him in their tedious Storm; but they will only expose themselves to the Disgrace and Detestation of every true Patriot; for the Question is reduced to this, Whether the Colonies shall give Laws to England, or England to the Colonies?
Yesterday Lord Beauchamp, and Mr. Cornwall, kissed his Majesty's Hand, at St. James's, on their being appointed Lords of the Treasury, in the Room of the Honourable Mr. Charles Fox and Mr. Dyson, who have resigned.
March 11. If the spirited Measures at present talked of should take Place respecting the Americans, the next Cargo of a certain Commodity may be called Gunpowder Tea, and they must take it with a little Smack of British Spirit.
March 12. There never was, perhaps, since the Revolution, so important a Crisis in the Constitution of this Country as the present State of American Affairs, now before an august Assembly. To speak neither in the Language of Fear or in the Style of Pomposity, no less than the Fate of a great Empire trembles on the Decision. How much then does it become our Legislators, in this general Hour of Intricacy, to lay down all their little Cabals, personal Animosities, and interested Differences, and unite their wisest and coolest Observations for the general Good! To be governed by any other Influence at this Period, though even for a lesser Good, brands that Man (which we hope, for the Sake of the Cause, does not exist) with no less an ignominious Epithet than that of being a Traitor to his Country.
One of the Morning Papers mentions that Lord Hillsborough was at the Levee on Monday, and had a long Conference with his Majesty, said to be concerning some Intelligence his Lordship had lately received from North America, which we are desired to say is an entire Mistake. His Lordship only informed his Majesty of some American Turkeys he some Time ago had from Virginia; that having neglected clipping their Wings, in proper Time, they had now got such high Notions of their Freedom and Liberty that they constantly roosted on the highest Trees in his Park; nor could he, by every Stratagem he could devise, get the better of their lofty Disposition, unless he levied War, and subdued them by Arms; that if he had Recourse to Powder and Ball, he was afraid he should not be able to take any of them alive, for that it was more than probable that those who escaped the Shot would be more than ever inclined to Freedom, especially as the Park was very extensive, and the Turkeys naturally inclined to move; that, at any Rate, if they were disturbed, he should not have any of their Eggs to make Puddings.
A Correspondent observing the Wishes of some Writers in the Newspapers against our taking any concise Measures with the Americans, asks how the Parliament can possibly decline a concise Plan of Operation when the Colonies have left them no Alternative? The Inhabitants of Boston have not waited for the Resolution of the Mother Country: Before the Determination of the Mother Country was entered upon, they proceeded to Hostilities; they struck the first Blow, shut our Ships out of our own Harbours, maltreated our Subjects, and destroyed our Property. If we can sit tamely down under Injuries like these, if we can put up with a Stroke, nay a downright Threshing, from our own Subjects, and if we can take from them what the greatest Power in Europe would tremble to offer us, there is an instant End of England; and, out of Respect to what the British Name formerly hath been, the Seat of Government should be immediately removed to Massachusetts's Bay, since the People of that Province are the only People on Earth who could trample on our once boasted Spirit with Impunity.
March 14. All forcible, as well as pacific Measures will be nugatory and ineffectual with the Boston Rebels, unless their Charter is vacated. It is the Spring and Source of all their Insolence and unjustifiable Acts. The Council, being chosen by the People yearly, must vote according to their Pleasure; so that, in fact, they are not Councillors of the King, but the Tools of the Faction. The People of the Massachusetts Province are also over-represented; the Number ought to be reduced to a fourth Part of the present. Boston, instead of sending four Members, should send but two at most; one would do better. Without this previous necessary Step every other Attempt to bring them to Reason will be in vain, whether the Method be gentle or vigorous; it will be only pruning and watering the Tree of Sedition, instead of striking at its Root.
B O S T O N, April 21.
Y ESTERDAY arrived in this Town, from the Eastward, Mr. William Goddard, by whom Letters are received from the Committees of Correspondence of Portsmouth, Newbury, Newbury Port, Salem, &c. expressive of the hearty Concurrence of the Gentlemen of those Towns with the Proposal of erecting a Post Office upon constitutional Principles throughout the Continent. Subscriptions are set on Foot in each of them, and they have already succeeded beyond the most sanguine Expectation in all. The Removal of Dr. Franklin from the Post Office had added fresh Spirit to the Promoters of this salutary Plan, as several viewed an Opposition to his Interest, at a Time when he had signally served the Cause of America, as a very disagreeable Object; but all Reluctance from that Quarter must now vanish, and all the Friends of Liberty rejoice that they have now an Opportunity of taking up a Gentleman, discarded by an unrighteous Ministry for the faithful Discharge of his Duty, and placing him above a Dependence on their Caprice, in the grateful Arms of his applauding Countrymen.
To the PRINTER.
SIR,
Be pleased to present to your Readers the following short Address of a prophetic Pennsylvanian to Lord North, in Consequence of the happy Dismissal of Dr. Franklin from the ministerial Post Office in America, extracted from a London Paper of the 5th of February last. I heartily congratulate my Countrymen on this auspicious Event, and am persuaded they will now unanimously join in wishing the Prediction of our absent Friend; and I believe I may say, without any extraordinary Gift of Prophecy, that a CONSTITUTIONAL AMERICAN POST OFFICE will be permanently established in six Weeks from the 21st Day of April, 1774. A NEW ENGLANDMAN.
To Lord NORTH.
MY LORD,
As an American, give me Leave to assure your Lordship that I think the dismissing Dr. Franklin from the Office of Postmaster General in North America, at this particular Crisis, one of the most fortunate Events that could have happened for that Country. It was that Gentleman that brought the Post Office in America to be of some Consequence, and to yield something of a Revenue to the Mother Country. The People there never liked the Institution, and only acquiesced in it out of their unbounded Affection for the Person that held the Office, who had taken infinite Pains to render it convenient to the several Colonies. But what will follow now, my Lord? I will tell you: The Post from Philadelphia to Boston is that alone which produces any Profit worth mentioning; the others, taken together, do not more than maintain themselves; and between Philadelphia and Boston, you may depend on it, the Americans will immediately set up a Carrier of their own, which you, with all your Brethren in Power, together with Lord Hillsborough's Abilities, cannot prevent, and thereby they will entirely starve your Post between these two capital Cities; and thus will happily end your boasted Post Office, so often given as a PRECEDENT for taking the Americans. A PENNSYLVANIAN.
NEW YORK, May 5.
Extract of a Letter from PORTSMOUTH, dated March 1.
T HE Mercury Man of War, Captain M c Carney, is now in her Passage, Express from this Place for Boston. The Lively, Captain Bulhop, is fitting out, to accompany Vice Admiral Greaves to the same Port; and many more Ships are daily expected to be commissioned, for that Station. Yesterday the Somerset of 64, and the Boyne of 70 Guns, both Guardships at Plymouth, were ordered to be full manned, and got ready for Sea with all Expedition; and it is thought they likewise are to form a Part of Mr. Greaves's Squadron.—Captain John Hanson, of your City, is at length rewarded for some very important Services done for this Country, by a Provision for Life of 500 l. Sterling per Annum, payable out of your thriving Quittrents.—The Time and Attention of the Ministry is at present engaged upon East India Business; but on Monday next Lord North will, agreeable to his Promise, lay the very interesting Papers relating to the Affairs of America before the House, whose Proceedings thereon I will communicate to you by next Packet.—Doctor Tucker, Dean of Gloucester, has wrote upon American Affairs; his Performance is, by those who wish that moderate Measures towards our Brethren in the Colonies may be adopted, very much approved; he is a sensible Man, and though an Ecclesiastick has a consummate Knowledge of the commercial Interest of Great Britain.—Doctor Rotheram, who wrote an incomparable Essay on Faith, has just published an Apology for the Athanasian Creed, which will be productive of a fresh Controversy with the Enemies to the established Church.—Doctor Campbell's Political Survey of Britain is to make its appearance in a Fortnight; he has been upwards of twenty Years engaged in writing this Work, from which the most exalted Expectations are entertained.—Mr. Temple has been removed from the Customs, and his Lieutenant Government; but as it is expected that our Noble Marquis, and his Friends, will be soon again in Possession of Power, it is not doubted that he will be presently afterwards restored, as will Mr. Charles J. Fox, who has lately left Administration, after opposing, in very harsh Terms, the Measures of Lord North in the House of Commons."
Extract of two Letters from London, February 10 and 14.
"I hope that you, as a Lawyer, keep staunch in the Support of North American Liberties, and that you do not attempt to qualify them away into Forms and Shadows, as our great Lawyers do here. If you do, expect no Grace or Favour from me; for I am an Enthusiast in the glorious Cause of universal Liberty. But though I condemn our Lawyers in the Gross, let me except one Doctor of Laws, however, from the general Censure; I mean the great Doctor Franklin, that glorious Western Constellation, who, like the Sun, is great through all his Race, but more mildly magnificent in his Evening than his Meridian. Dismissed and prosecuted, he towers above his Enemies, and looks down with Contempt on Creatures who have nothing but Titles and Estates to distinguish them from the common Herd of Mankind."
"You will have heard, before this reaches you, how infamously Doctor Franklin has been treated by Administration, and you will soon see in what Light they beheld American Petitions. There is not a more obnoxious Character here, at present, than that of a Friend to America. The Colonies should, therefore, be more particularly attentive in cultivating Union and Harmony among themselves. The Spirit of this Country is extremely hostile to them, and they have nothing to depend upon but their own Union and Firmness."
The following is the Conclusion of the Report of the Committee of Council of Plantation Affairs, to whom his Majesty had referred the Address of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts Bay, complaining of the Conduct of Governor Hutchinson and Lieutenant Governor Oliver, and praying his Majesty to remove them from their Posts. It is dated the 29th of January last. "The Lords of the Committee do agree humbly to report, as their Opinion to your Majesty, that the said Petition is founded upon Resolutions formed upon false and erroneous Allegations, and that the same is groundless, vexatious, and scandalous, and calculated only for the seditious Purposes of keeping up a Spirit of Clamour and Discontent in the said Province. And the Lords of the Committee do farther humbly report to your Majesty, that nothing has been laid before them which does, or can, in their Opinion, in any Manner, or in any Degree, impeach the Honour, Integrity, or Conduct, of the said Governor or Lieutenant Governor; and their Lordships are humbly of Opinion, that the said Petition ought to be dismissed."
In Consequence of which Report, the following Order was issued: "His Majesty taking the said Report into Consideration, was pleased, with the Advice of his Privy Council, to approve thereof; and to order that the said Petition of the House of Representatives of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay be, and it is hereby dismissed this Board, as groundless, vexatious, and scandalous, and calculated only for the seditious Purpose of keeping up a Spirit of Clamour and Discontent in the said Province. G. CHETWYND."
There are Letters which say that so great an Appearance of the Lords of the Privy Council in a Committee was never known before, on any Occasion; and another Letter, from a Gentleman present at the Hearing, says that the Report was unanimously accepted.
There were 35 Lords and others present at the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs, and 23 Privy Councillors present with his Majesty. May 9. The Subscription for the CONSTITUTIONAL POST OFFICE was opened at Boston the Day before the late Advices arrived there from England.
A Letter from Boston says, that Admiral Greaves was hourly expected there in the Preston, of 64 Guns, with three other Ships of the Line, and six Frigates.
Wednesday last we had a smart Snow Storm, which lasted from Day-light till nine o'Clock, attended with a high Wind at N. W. and the Weather colder than ever was known by the oldest Men living here, at this Season of the Year; which we are afraid will be very destructive to Peaches, Apricots, &c.
A Proposal was made last Week, by some Merchants of this City, to raise a Sum of Money to be employed in the Whale Fishery, and in a few Days 7000 l. was subscribed for that Purpose; and it is not doubted but double that Sum will be added this Week, when it is expected several Vessels will be immediately despatched on the Whaling Account. Near 10,000 l. was last Season sent from hence to Nantucket, for Oil, &c.
PHILADELPHIA, May 9.
ON Tuesday last, about three o'Clock in the Afternoon, the Fuggies of Alexander Wedderburne, Esq; convicted of traducing the Americans and insulting their Agent, before his Majesty's Privy Council, for doing his Duty, and Thomas Hutchinson, Esq; Governor of Massachusetts's Bay, convicted of an Attempt to incense Great Britain against her Colonies, were put into a Cart, and conducted through the Streets of this City. On the Breast of Wedderburne was the following Label, "The infamous WEDDERBURNE ."
"A pert prime Prater, of a scabby Race, Guilt in his Heart, and Famine in his Face."
CHURCHILL altered.
"Similis Proteo mutet, at falacior Catalina."
"Hunc vos, Britanni cavete!"
"He availed himself of the License of the Bar to insult the venerable Dr. Franklin, whose Knowledge in Philosophy, universal Benevolence, just Sentiments of Liberty, and indefatigable Labours to promote Harmony between Britain and her Colonies, entitle him to the Esteem of the Learned, of every Nation, the Love of all good Men, and the sincere Affection of every honest Briton and American."
"But the base born Solicitor, who attempted to turn his Learning, Benevolence, and Patriotism, into Ridicule, is (like Hutchinson) a Parricide of the first Rank, who would sacrifice his Country, his Liberty, and his God, and delight in the Carnage of the most faithful British Subjects in America, to gain Promotion at Court."
"Such horrid Monstrosities are a Disgrace to human Nature, and justly merit our utmost Detestation, and the Gallows, to which they are assigned, and then burnt by Electrick Fire."
With several others, among which was the following Lines from Hudibras:
So a wild Tartar, when he foies A Man that's handsome, valiant, wife, If he can kill him, thinks t' inherit His Wit, his Beauty, and his Spirit; As if just so much he enjoy'd, As in another is destroy'd.
Governor Hutchinson, who was represented with a double Face, had affixed on his Breast the following Label: "Governor Hutchinson, whom we now consign to the Gallows and Flames, as the only proper Reward for double Dealing and Treachery to his native Country."
After being exposed for several Hours, they were hung on a Gallows erected near the Coffeehouse, set in Flames by Electrick Fire, and consumed to Ashes about six o'Clock, amidst a vast Concourse of People, who testified their Rejection against the Originals by the loudest Acclamations.
WILLIAMSBURG, May 26.
ON Tuesday last the Honourable the HOUSE OF BURGESSES came to the following Resolution, which was directed to be forthwith printed and published: "This House being deeply impressed with "Apprehension of the great Dangers to be derived to British America, "from the hostile Invasion of the City of Boston, in our Sister Colony "of Massachusetts Bay, whose Commerce and Harbour are on the 1st "Day of June next to be stopped by an armed Force, deem it highly "necessary that the said first Day of June be set apart by the Members "of this House as a Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer, devoutly "to implore the Divine Interposition for averting the heavy Calamity "which threatens Destruction to our civil Rights, and the Evils of civil "War; to give us one Heart, and one Mind, firmly to oppose, by all "just and proper Means, every Injury to American Rights; and that "the Minds of his Majesty, and his Parliament, may be inspired from "above with Wisdom, Moderation, and Justice, to remove from the "loyal People of America all Cause of Danger from a continued Pursuit "of Measures pregnant with their Ruin."
"Ordered, therefore, that the Members of this House do attend in their "Places at the Hour of ten in the Forenoon, on the said 1st Day of June "next, in Order to proceed with the Speaker and the Mace to the "Church in this City for the Purposes aforesaid; and that the Reverend "Mr. Price be appointed to read Prayers, and the Reverend Mr. "Gwatkin to preach a Sermon suitable to the Occasion."
Upon the Reverend Mr. Gwatkin's petitioning to be excused from complying with his Appointment, the Reverend Mr. Price, Chaplain to the House, was directed to preach in his Stead.
Extract of Letter from London.
"There is a Persuasion here, that America will see, without any Interposition, the Ruin of Boston. It is of the last Importance to the general Cause that your Conduct should prove the Opinion erroneous. If once it is perceived that you may be attacked and destroyed piecemeal, it is certain that every Part, in Turn, will feel the Vengeance which it would not unite to repel, and a general Slavery must ensue. The Colonies should never forget Lord North's Declaration in the House of Commons, that he would not listen to the Complaint of America till she was at his Feet. The Character of Lord North, and a Consideration of what surprising Things he has effected towards enslaving this Country, makes me own that I tremble for yours. Plausible, deep, and treacherous, he has no Passions to divert him, no Pursuits of Pleasure to withdraw him, from the accursed Design of deliberately destroying the Liberty of his Country. A perfect Adept in the Arts of Corruption, and indefatigable in the Application of them, he effects great Ends by Means almost magical; because they are unfeen. In four Years he has overcome the most formidable Opposition in this Country, from which the Duke of Grafton fled with Terror. At the same Time, he has effectually enslaved the East India Company, and made the vast Revenue and Territory of India, in Effect, a Royal Patronage. Flushed with these Successes, he now attacks America; and certainly, if we are not both firm, united, and wise, he will triumph in the same Manner over us. In my Opinion, a general Resolution of the Colonies to break off all commercial Intercourse with this Country, till they are secured in their Liberties, is the only advisable and sure Mode of Defence."
Since our last arrived in this City, from Philadelphia, the Honourable ANDREW ALLEN, Esq; his Majesty's Attorney General in the Province of Pennsylvania, the Honourable JAMES TILGHMAN, Esq; Secretary of the Land Office there, and JAMES TILGHMAN, Esq; Barrister at Law.
And on Tuesday last arrived from the Southward, on his Way to New York, HUGH FINLAY, Esq; one of the joint Deputy Postmasters General for North America. This Gentleman's chief Business, we hear, is to facilitate Correspondence throughout his Department, by every Means in his Power.
We hear from Port Royal, that on the 17th Instant a Purse of fifty Pounds was run for there, and won by Moore Fauntleroy, Esq; his bay Mare Miss Alcop.
The Subscription Purse of 75 l. run for on the 12th Instant, at Richmond, being Fair Day, was won, with Ease, by a forrel Mare of Mr. William Hardyman's, against a Mare the Property of James Parke Farley, Esq; a Horse belonging to Mann Page, Junior, Esq; of Gloucester, and a Mare of Mr. Halcott Pride's.
The Liberty, Outram, Arnold, Waterman, and Rising Sun, Peterfon, from London, the Tom, Clarke, from Liverpool, Jane and Elizabeth, Powell, and Dunmore, Tomkins, from St. Kitt's, are arrived in York River.
The Captains Bradstreet and Christie, from London, are arrived in Potomack.
RULES OF PRECEDENCY, compared and adjusted from the several Acts and Statutes made and provided in England, for the Settlement of the Precedency of Men and Women in America, by JOSEPH EDMONDSON, Mosenbury Herald.
  Governour of the Colony, or Province, Governour's Wife,   President of the Council, his Wife.   Counsellors, their Wives.   Speaker of the Commons House of Assembly his Wife.   Chief Justice, his Wife.   Treasurer, his Wife.   Associate Judges, their Wives.   Baronets, their Wives.   Attorney General, his Wife.   Judge of the Admiralty, his Wife.   Secretary of the Colony, or Province, his Wife.   Gentlemen of the Assembly, their Wives.   Mayor, his Wife.   Aldermen, their Wives.   Members of the Corporation, their Wives. 
The Gentlemen of the Assembly, Crown Officers, &c. of any particular Colony, or Province, have no other Rank out of their Colony, or Province, than what belongs to them in their private Capacity as Men. The Widow of a late Governor has not any Precedence, as such.
A Governor of one Colony, or Province, or his Wife, coming into another Colony, hath not in that Colony where they visit any Precedency above their Rank in private Life.
All Captains in the Navy, or Army, only rank as Esquires.
FRIDAY, May 27. Yesterday, between three and four o'Clock P. M. the Right Honourable the Earl of Dunmore sent a Message to the Honourable the House of Burgesses, by the Clerk of the Council, requiring their immediate Attendance in the Council Chamber, when his Excellency spoke to them as follows:
Mr. SPEAKER, and Gentlemen of the House of Burgesses, I have in my Hand a Paper, published by Order of your House, conceived in such Terms as reflect highly upon his Majesty and the Parliament of Great Britain; which makes it necessary for me to dissolve you, and you are dissolved accordingly.
And this Day, at ten o'Clock, the Honourable Members of the late House of Burgesses met, by Agreement, at the long Room in the Raleigh Tavern, in this City, called the Apollo, when the following Agreement was unanimously entered into by that patriotick Assembly, in Support of the constitutional Liberties of AMERICA, against the late oppressive Act of the British Parliament respecting the Town of Boston, which, in the End, must affect all the other Colonies.
"We his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal Subjects, the late Representatives of the good People of this Country, having been deprived, by the sudden Interposition of the executive Part of this Government, from giving our Countrymen the Advice we wished to convey to them in a legislative Capacity, find ourselves under the hard Necessity of adopting this, the only Method we have left, of pointing out to our Countrymen such Measures as, in our Opinion, are best fitted to secure our dearest Rights and Liberty from Destruction, by the heavy Hand of Power now lifted against North America. With much Grief we find that our dutiful Applications to Great Britain for Security of our just, ancient, and constitutional Rights, have been not only disregarded, but that a determined System is formed, and pressed, for reducing the Inhabitants of British America to Slavery, by subjecting them to the Payment of Taxes, imposed without the Consent of the People or their Representatives; and that, in Pursuit of this System, we find an Act of the British Parliament, lately passed, for stopping the Harbour and Commerce of the Town of Boston, in our Sister Colony of Massachusetts Bay, until the People there submit to the Payment of such unconstitutional Taxes, and which Act most violently and arbitrarily deprives them of their Property, in Wharfs erected by private Persons, at their own great and proper Expense; which Act is, in our Opinion, a most dangerous Attempt to destroy the constitutional Liberty and Rights of all North America. It is farther our Opinion, that as TEA, on its Importation into America, is charged with a Duty, imposed by Parliament for the Purpose of raising a Revenue, without the Consent of the People, it ought not to be used by any Person who wishes well to the constitutional Rights and Liberty of British America. And whereas the India Company have ungenerously attempted the Ruin of America, by sending many Ships loaded with Tea into the Colonies, thereby intending to fix a Precedent in Favour of arbitrary Taxation, we

deem it highly proper, and do accordingly recommend it strongly to our Countrymen, not to purchase or use any Kind of East India Commodity whatsoever, except Saltpetre and Spices, until the Grievances of America are redressed. We are farther clearly of Opinion, that an Attack made on one of our Sister Colonies, to compel Submission to arbitrary Taxes, is an Attack made on all British America, and threatens Ruin to the Rights of all, unless the united Wisdom of the Whole be applied. And for this Purpose it is recommended to the Committee of Correspondence, that they communicate, with their several corresponding Committees, on the Expediency of appointing Deputies from the several Colonies of British America, to meet in general Congress, at such Place annually as shall be thought most convenient; there to deliberate on those general Measures which the united Interests of America may from Time to Time require.
A tender Regard for the Interest of our fellow Subjects, the Merchants and Manufacturers of Great Britain, prevents us from going farther at this Time; most earnestly hoping, that the unconstitutional Principle of taxing the Colonies without their Consent will not be persisted in, thereby to compel us, against our Will, to avoid all commercial Intercourse with Britain. Withholding them and our People free and happy, we are their affectionate Friends, the late Representatives of Virginia.
The above was immediately signed by the Honourable the Speaker and all the Members of the late House of Burgessies, as well as by a Number of Clergymen and other Inhabitants of the Colony, who, after having maturely considered the Contents of the Association, did most cordially approve and accede thereto.
This Evening there is to be a Ball and Entertainment at the Capitol, given by the Honourable the House of Burgessies to welcome Lady DUNMORE and the rest of our Governor's Family to Virginia.
By Letters of good Authority from Philadelphia, we learn that the Armament destined for Boston is arrived before that Place; and that the Troops, consisting of eight Regiments, had landed, under the Command of General Gage, who likewise takes upon himself the Government of the Massachusetts Bay.—Governor Franklin, of New Jersey, is displaced, and Colonel Dalrymple appointed in his Room.
Mr. PRINTER,
NORFOLK BOROUGH, May 10, 1774.
FINDING myself called upon, a few Days ago, to discharge a Tax of which I had not the smallest previous Intimation, and being informed by the Sheriff that it was my Proportion of a Sum assessed upon the Inhabitants of this County, to be raised for the Purpose of building a House for the Reception of Persons who might hereafter be seized with the Smallpox, or other contagious Malady, it led me to an Inquiry into the Propriety of such a Tax, and the Power by which it had been imposed; and having learned that it was by Virtue of an Act of Assembly, made for regulating the Inoculation of the Smallpox in this Colony, I made no Doubt but the Act itself would be a sufficient Explanation of the Design and Propriety of such an additional Burthen. Although no Casualty in the Law, an attentive Perusal of that Act of Assembly has enabled me to form some Opinion of its benevolent Intention, and convinced me that the Legislature acted upon Principles diametrically opposite to the Conceptions of the County Magistrates, who have lately had the Construction of it. A very moderate Share of Penetration will enable those who read the Act, with unbiaffed Sentiments, to perceive that the Legislature only meant to prevent the Propagation of a Distemper which in its natural Progress has been attended with the most destructive Consequences, but which, when under proper Regulations, has been divested of its Terror, and to provide for those accidentally inflicted with it in such a Manner as might be least oppressive to the Healthy. The 5th Clause in the Act is that on which the Magistrates are said to have grounded their late Conduct, and from which they are supposed to derive their Authority to erect such Houses as they may think necessary, in Order to prevent the Contagion. Far be it from me to suppose that they have intentionally deviated from the Sense of that Paragraph, or that they meant to harrafs the Poor with unnecessary Taxes. If the House now intended to be built is for the Purpose of carrying on Inoculation, notwithstanding the Motive is laudable, yet it does not appear to me to be warranted by that Law; and if it is not for that sole Purpose, it is absolutely repugnant to it. But that vague Assertion may not supply the Place of Argument, let us minutely and impartially examine the Words of this Clause in the Act, and we shall then be able to judge, with some Degree of Certainty, how far this Tax is consistent with the Meaning of it. The third and fifth Clauses have such an intimate Connection with each other, that it is impossible to separate them in Idea; it would, therefore, be unfair to disjoin them in Argument. The third Clause says, that in Case any Person shall think himself or Family, in Danger of catching the Smallpox, he may give Notice to the chief Magistrate, who shall summon the other acting Magistrates, who shall consider, whether, upon the whole Circumstances of the Case, Inoculation may be prudent or necessary, or dangerous to the Health and Safety of the Neighbourhood, and thereupon either prohibit such Inoculation, or grant a License for it, under such Regulations as to them may seem expedient. And the 5th Clause says, whereas checking the Progress of the said Distemper, where it may accidentally break out, or the Regulations which may be established for carrying on Inoculation, may be attended with some Expense, it shall be lawful for the Justices to levy so much Tobacco, or Money, as may be sufficient to defray the Expenses necessarily incurred for the Purposes aforesaid. This being the Substance, though not the whole Words of the two Clauses, it is evident from them that there is nothing therein empowering the Magistrates to build Houses at the Expense of the County, even for the Purpose of Inoculation; for the Words, "under such Regulations as to them may seem expedient," cannot, by the most extended Construction, allude to any other than the Danger which may arise to the Neighbourhood from the Introduction of the Smallpox into it. So that these Regulations are confined to the Persons among whom the Contagion may first display itself, and not to authorise the erecting of a House at the farther End of the County, to which a Patient may be removed; for surely it would never enter the Imagination of any Man, not alarmed by vain Fears, to remove a Person under a dangerous and infectious Disorder from the upper to the lower End of the County, which would be only transferring the Disorder from one Neighbourhood to another. Farther, the Magistrates are to consider whether it may be proper to permit Inoculation in the Place where the first Infection appears, and not whether it may be proper to remove the Sufferer; and if they shall think Inoculation improper, they are to endeavour, in the best Manner they can, to check the Progress of the Infection, consistent with the known and established Laws of the Country, which, it is certain, consider every Person's own House as his Asylum, or Sanctuary, from which he cannot be legally removed, but by the King's Writ, or his own Consent. And, indeed, an Attempt to stop the Communication of a contagious Distemper, by carrying the Person under the Malady round the County, is such a Satyr on Common Sense, that
"But to laugh would argue Want of Grace, And to be grave exceeds all Power of Face."
The most strenuous Advocates for the building of an Inoculating House must admit that it is only by Implication that they conclude a Power vested in the County Magistrates to raise a Sum for that Purpose, by an Assessment upon the Inhabitants. But let me remind such People, that they are hereby clothing the executive Power of a County with a Right which they deny to the Legislative Body of Great Britain; and the most superficial Politician can deliver, as an incontrovertible Doctrine, that, according to the British Constitution, nothing less than express Words can have the magnetic Virtue of attracting Metal from a British Pocket. But, that we may meet such Theorists upon equal Ground, let us inquire how far Arguments from Implication will operate against them. In the 5th Clause, not only the Magistrates of a County, but the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Councilmen of a Borough, are authorised to levy the Sum wanting to defray the necessary Expenses. From these Words, agreeable to the Doctrine of the Anti-Inoculators, the Corporation of this Town have a Right to burthen the Inhabitants of it with a Tax for another House, if they shall deem it necessary. And it clearly appears, from the most literal Construction of the whole Words in the said 5th Clause, that the County Court have, by that Law, no Right whatever to tax the Borough Inhabitants, under any Pretence; because, whatever Power may be given, is, so far as it regards a City or Borough, vested solely in the Mayor and the other Members of the Corporation; and, without straining the Implication, the whole Law taken together, I mean the 3d and 5th Clauses, which are all that relate to the Regulations and Expenses, seems to imply only such necessary Expenses as may accidentally arise in checking the Distemper after its Appearance, or in promoting Inoculation when deemed necessary in any particular Neighbourhood, and not to entail a perpetual Burthen upon us, first for erecting a House before any Disorder appears, and then for the continual Support of it, which must be equally requisite. The Words, "Expenses necessarily incurred," certainly mean a Debt already contracted; and therefore, until such Expenses had been incurred, the Law gives no Right to levy a Tax for defraying them. And those Persons resident in the Borough are, at any Rate, only to discharge such Sums as may be necessarily contracted within it; and building a House, two Miles from hence, can by no Means be called Expenses incurred within the Borough. But, admitting all that has been hitherto said to be founded upon a mistaken Construction of the
Intention of the Legislature, and the Words of the Act of Assembly, surely the professed Enemies of Inoculation will not say that the House which they propose building is a Regulation to be established for the Purpose of carrying on Inoculation; and, if it be not, it is beyond a Doubt repugnant to the Meaning and Letter of the Law, which, in express Words, mentions such Regulations as may be established for that Purpose. This is too plain to admit of any Reasoning, and none but those whose Perceptions were weakened by Prejudice could have seen it in any other Light; and the Arguments must be exceedingly fallacious which can induce any Person to believe that erecting a House for the Reception of a Patient under any Malady, which is the avowed Intention, is the proper Means of checking the Progress of the natural Smallpox. But this Subject is swelled to a greater Length than was at first designed; let me therefore conclude, by observing, that building a House for public Utility upon entailed Land is an Absurdity which would have escaped the Attention of very few rational Beings.
The Members of the Society for promoting useful Knowledge are desired to meet on Tuesday the 31st of this Instant.
Advertisements.
Just Published, and to be sold at both Printing Offices, Price 2 s. 6d. for the Benefit of the Charity, A SERMON preached in the Parish Church of Bruton, Williamsburg, May 1, 1774, by Appointment of the Trustees and Subscribers to a Fund for the Relief of the poor Widows and Orphans of Clergymen in Virginia. By the Reverend J. BRACKEN.
MAY 14, 1774.
A DIVIDEND of the Cash collected from the Estate of Mr. Robert Brent will be made, in Dumfries, by the Trustees, the first Monday in July; at which Time and Place it is requested the Creditors will have their Accounts, properly adjusted, that every Person's Proportion may be ascertained. (6)
YOUNG BAJAZET, a beautiful Mohogany Bay Stallion, upwards of fifteen Hands high, and got by Bajazet, out of a Fanks Mare bred by Berrington Moore, Esq; of North Carolina, will be sold before the Raleigh Tavern, to the highest Bidder, on Monday the 13th of June, by the Subscriber, in whose Possession he was left by Joseph Fauts. (2) CUTHBERT HUBBARD.
AMHERST, May 1, 1774.
WE Intend to leave the Colony soon. WILLIAM PENN. MOSES PENN. (11)
OCCOQUAN FORGE, May 10, 1774.
I INTEND for Britain in a few Weeks. (4) JAMES LAWSON.
RUN away, from the Subscriber, in Sussex County, the 16th of February, a well set Negro Man of a yellowish Complexion, about five Feet two or three Inches high, and 22 Years of Age; had on, when he went away, an old Felt Hat, a Purple coloured Fearnought Jacket, a Waistcoat without Sleeves of Country Cloth, and something longer than his Jacket, a Virginia Cloth Shirt striped with Blue, Negro Cotton Breeches, a Pair of Cotton Boots, and a Pair of old Shoes. Most of his Clothes are new, his Hair nicely trimmed, as is customary for Waiting Boys, and, as he is yellow, he may attempt to impose on the Publick for a free Man. Whoever apprehends the said Slave, and conveys him to me, shall have 5l. Reward, if taken out of the Colony, and 40s. if in it. THOMAS HUSON.
TEN POUNDS Reward.
RUN away, from the Subscriber, in Botetourt, on the Night of the first Instant (May) two convict Servants, viz. JOHN JONES, a Shoemaker, born in Liverpool, but I believe can speak Welsh, of a yellow Complexion, brown Hair, a large Nose, and pitted with the Smallpox, about 36 Years of Age, five Feet eight Inches high, round shouldered, thick made, stoops much in his Walk, and has a Scar on his right Leg, occasioned by a Wound when he followed the Sea; had on, and took with him, a light coloured Sailor's Jacket, Fearnought Breeches, two Shirts of Country made Linen, a Pair of Trousers, and Osnaburghs to make another Pair. I also miss a new Pair of Buckskin Breeches, with John Stewart wrote on the Inside of the Waistband, which I suspect he has taken. ELIZABETH LEWELLIN, a Welsh Woman, about 25 Years of Age, five Feet six Inches high, black Hair, full faced, fresh and lufy, wants one of her fore Teeth, and has a very remarkable Scar on her Throat; had on, and took with her, a new Calico Gown that buttons before, black Calimaco Petticoat and Shoes, an old Pair of green coloured Stays, new striped Country made Linsey Bed Gown and Petticoat, and sundry other Clothes. She is smart and active, and capable of any Business, can read and write, and probably may forge a Pass. She has, as I am informed, a Sum of Money which she brought into the Country; and I imagine they will make for a Seaport, as the Man formerly followed the Sea. Whoever takes up and secures the said Servants, so that I get them again, shall have the above Reward, besides what the Law allows; and I forewarn all Masters of Vessels, and others, from carrying them off at their Peril. PATRICK LOCKHART.
TAKEN up, in Brunswick, a BLACK HORSE about four Feet seven Inches high, eight Years old, a Star in his Forehead, a Snip on his Nose, three white Feet, paces, and has had Fistula. Potted, and appraised to 8l. (11) WILLIAM WALL.
MAY 19, 1774.
AGREEABLE to the Act of Assembly for clearing Rivers and Creeks, the Court of Cumberland have appointed Commissioners to agree with any Person, or Persons, willing to undertake the clearing of Willis's River in the said County. The Subscribers give Notice that they will attend at Horn Quarter Bridge, on the said River, on Thursday the 9th of June, to let, to the lowest Bidder, the said Work. Bond and Security will be required of the Undertaker, for the due Performance of the same. GEORGE CARRINGTON. JOHN WOODSON. JOSEPH CALLAND. THOMAS TABB. ROBERT SMITH. JOSEPH CARRINGTON.
IN May 1773, or near that Time, I gave my Bond to John Reid, of Amherst County, for one Hundred and twenty five Pounds Currency, payable in April 1774. I forewarn any Person from taking the said Bond of Reid, as I will not pay any of the Money till such Time as the said Reid fulfils his Bargain with me. (2) CHARLES SIMS.
LOST between Colonel Burwell's Ferry and Williamsburg, an old SILK POCKET BOOK, having in it some Money, and Papers of no Use to any but the Owner Any Person finding the same shall have 10s. on delivering it to BENJAMIN ALLEN.
Just imported, and to be sold for ready Money only, A NEAT Assortment of PAPER HANGINGS for Rooms, Staircases, &c. forty per Cent. cheaper than they have ever been sold in this Place. Also a Quantity of ready made SACKING BOTTOMS for different Sizes, Brass Nails, Upholsterers Tacks, Brass Casters for Tables and Bedsteads, Bed Screws of the best Kind, Brass Caps to cover the Heads of Ditto, small Brass Rings, Brass Hooks, Pullies for Draw-up Window Curtains, &c. JOSEPH KIDD.
To be SOLD,
TWO valuable Tracts of LAND, one containing 500 and the other 351 Acres, adjoining each other, lying in Guilford and Surry Counties, North Carolina, upon Dan River; whereon are high, dry, and healthy Situations, a very good Place for drawing the Seine or setting Traps for Fish, convenient to Courthouse, Church, Meeting House, Mill, &c. a good Range for Stock of any Kind, and the Land is in the Heart of a good Wheat and Tobacco Country, either of which, or any other Commodity, may be advantageously disposed of at Campbellton. For Terms apply to the Subscriber, near the Premises. (11) ADAM TATE.
To be SOLD, agreeable to the Will of Joseph Tate deceased,
A TRACT of 490 Acres of LAND, near the Land of Mr. Adam Tate, most of which is low Ground and rich high Land; in short, it is very little inferior to any in the Province. The Terms may be known by applying to the Subscribers.
ADAM TATE, JOHN TATE, JOSEPH TATE, } Executors.
To be RENTED for a Term of Years
THE Plantation known by the Name of Mulberry Island, upon Dan River, near the aforesaid Lands. The Terms may be known by applying to the Subscriber, at Guilford Courthouse. JOHN TATE.
Just imported from London, and sold by the Subscriber, at her Store opposite the Raleigh in Williamsburg, on reasonable Terms, for ready Money only,
A WELL chosen Assortment of the neatest Goods, consisting of fine Thread and Blond Lace, white Sain and Lustrine, blue Sain and Sarcenet Petticoats, white Do. for Weddings, Satin and Queen Silk Shoes, Muslin, Gauze, Catgut, and Wire, worked Linen, Ribands, plain and ribbed Silk, Cotton and Thread Stockings, small Do. for Children, Patent Net Aprons, equal in Beauty to Joining Lace, Silk Gloves and Mits, Rolls and Curls, Tambour Sword Knots, Boys Beaver and Hufar Caps, Ladies Riding Hats, Feathers, and Whips, Childrens Sashes and Stays, a large Quantity of Didbury's Shoes, Sheeneal, fine Chip and Cane Hats, Fans, Cloaks, Gauze Handkerchiefs, Purfes, Bags and Puffs, Pearl for Work, Tureen, Punch, and Pap Ladies, Stone, Silver, Gilt, and Pinchbeck Buckles, both Shoe and Knee, Paste, Garnet, Gold, and Black Stock Do. India Plate Salts, Do. Snuffers and Snuff Pans, Silver Tea Spoons, Tea Tongs, Salt Shovels, Do. Coral and Bells, Paste, Marcassite, Pearl, and Bead Necklaces and Earrings, Gold Wires, Silver howed Scissors and Silver tipped Sheaths, Lancet Cases, Watch Chains and Keys, Combs, Pocket Books and Etwee Cases, Frees-mason and other Brooches, Paste Sprigs and Pins, Tooth Brushes, fine Irish Wafers, Sword Canes and Pen Knives, black Bags and Rofes, black Pins, Stay Hooks, Thimbles, Silver Shoe Claps, Fruit Knives, Dolls and other Toys, with many other Articles too numerous to insert. C. RATHBELL.
N. B. At the same Place may be had an exceeding fine SILVER WATCH, capped, and runs on Diamonds; also a beautiful GOLD WATCH, with Gold Hands, and an engraved Case.
Warranted BOULTING CLOTHS,
LARGE and complete Assortment of Superfine, Fine, Middling, and Coarse, to be sold, on the lowest Terms, for Cash only, by Isaac Melcher, about Midway between Arch and Race Street, Philadelphia. If any, on Trial, should not answer the Purposes intended, he will take them back and supply the Parties with others in their Room, provided they are returned, without Damage, within three Weeks or a Month. Any Orders left with Mr. William Holt, near Williamsburg, or Messrs. John Goodrich and Co. in Portsmouth (Post paid) will be carefully forwarded, and punctually executed. (2) N. B. Great Abatement to those who purchase to sell again.
YORK TOWN, April 25.
WILLIAM DAVIS, Tailor, begs Leave to inform the Publick that he carries on his Business in this Place, and will be much obliged to those who may please to favour him with their Custom (especially such as he is indebted to) as he will ever make it his Study to pay a strict Attention to their Commands.—He will furnish the following Articles complete, for ready Money, viz. A Suit of best superfine Cloth, middle Size, 7l. 10s. Do. of Casimir, 8l. Do. of Duroy, lined through, 4l. 5s. Do. of Sagathy, lined, 4l. 15s. A best Barb Coating Surtout Coat, 2l. 10s. A Barb Coating Coat and Waistcoat, 3l. 10s.—He will likewise wait upon Gentlemen, within twenty or thirty Miles, to serve them; and he makes LADIES RIDING DRESSES, in the genteellest Manner.
ON the 13th Day of April last two Negro Slaves, by Name BOB and BRISTOL, ran away from my Plantation at Swan's Point, in Surry County. They were taken up in Williamsburg on the 26th of the same Month, and carried to John Cocke, residing in that City, who was induced, by the Plausibility of their Story, to give them a Pass, dated the Day they were apprehended; and from the particular Circumstances mentioned therein, it may be easily discovered, if they should ever show it, that they are Runaways. But as it is doubtful whether they will or not, I thus describe them: Bob is a tall Mulatto Fellow, and thin visaged. He has been a Ferryman for many Years, and from his Acquaintance with Gentlemen has assumed an immoderate Stock of Assurance. He is artful, designing, and exceedingly smooth tongued, and it is imagined will endeavour to pass as a Freeman. Bristol is an outlandish Fellow, about five Feet six Inches high, and is as ignorant as tho' he was artful. If they stay together (the contrary of which I have no Reason to conjecture) he will, I suppose, entirely submit to, and confide in, his Companion's Councils. I hereby promise to give any Person who will convey the said Slaves to me, at Swan's Point, 20s. for each, and forewarn all Captains of Ships from carrying either of them out of the Colony. JOHN HARTWELL COCKE.
RUN away from the Subscriber, in Warwick County, in February last, three Negro Men, GEORGE, JOE, and ARCHER. George is a tall Fellow, black Complexion, very artful in Speech, and belongs to C. Blair, in Williamsburg. Joe is of a yellow Complexion, about five Feet ten Inches high, appears to be about nineteen or twenty Years of Age, and belongs to William Rogers, in James City. Archer is a short, thick, well set Fellow, and speaks very fine, of a yellow Complexion, and belongs to the Estate of Francis Dancy, deceased, of Charles City. I will give 20s. Reward if they are secured in Jail, or delivered to me, in Warwick County, at Blunt Point. SAMUEL LONG.
MAY 16, 1774.
RUN away, from the Snow Carlisle, William Binsley Master, now lying at York Town, three indented Servants, viz. ANTHONY WILLIAMS of Monmouthshire, a middle sized Man, wears his own Hair, about 25 or 26 Years of Age, by Trade a Tailor. JOHN FIELD, who says he came from Herefordshire, middle sized, 25 or 26 Years of Age, and is a Hossler or Gentleman's Man. WILLIAM MACKNELL of Wiltshire, about 19 Years of Age, wears his own Hair, and is of a low Stature. Whoever takes up the said Servants, and delivers them to the Master on Board, or secures them in any of his Majesty's Jails, so that he gets them again, shall have 20s. Reward for each. (2)
COMMITTED to the Jail of Norfolk County, a Negro Fellow named SHARPER, formerly the Property of Mr. Matthew Phipp of this Borough, and sold to Captain Theodore Munford, of Prince George County. The Owner is desired to take him away, and pay Charges. SAMUEL PORTLOCK, Jailor.
TAKEN up, in Charlotte, a YELLOW BAY HORSE COLT a Year old last Spring, three Feet eleven Inches high, but neither docked nor branded. Potted, and appraised to 40s. DAVID JAMES.

POETS CORNER.
SONGS.
FREEDOM's Charms alike engage Blooming Youth and hoary Age;
FRIENDSHIP is the Joy of Reason, Dearer yet than that of Love;
WILLIAMSBURG, May 10, 1774.
THE Plan of the Lots, and Common, at Princess Anne Port, within this City (commonly called the College Landing) being lost,
MATT: DAVENPORT, Town Clerk.
Just imported, and to be sold by the Subscriber, on very reasonable Terms, in Williamsburg,
AGENTEE Assortment of MILLINERY in the newest Taste, Brussels, Minionet, and Blond Lace, a Variety of Coloured and White Silk Stockings, Thread and Cotton Do. Plain, Striped, and Sprigged Mullins, Jewellery, Childbed Linen, Robes, Didbury's Shoes, Grehams's Satin and Calimanco Do. Ladies Riding Hats, Childrens Do. with Feathers, Satin Quilts, Gentlemens Embroidered Waistcoat Patterns, White Quilting for Ladies Petticoats, very fine Hyson Tea, Basts of the late Lord Botetourt, and many other Articles.
MARGARET HUNTER.
PUBLICK Notice is hereby given, that the Partnership of James Henderson, Thomas Griffin Peacy, and Co. of Amelia County, is dissolved; and all Persons whose Accounts with them were closed the 1st Day of September last are hereby required to pay off, or give Bonds for their respective Balances, before the 10th Day of June.
WARWICK, May 10, 1774.
HAVING a Deed of Trust from Hezekiah Coleman, for eighty five Acres of Land in Amelia County, to secure a Debt due by him to James and Robert Donald, and Co. which Land Coleman purchased of William Tucker, and as a Deed from Tucker to Coleman has not been recorded, to be destroyed since passing the said Deed of Trust, I give this Notice, to prevent any Person purchasing the Land without knowing of this Encumbrance.
NORTHAMPTON, May 3, 1774.
I INTEND to leave the Colony soon ROBERT POLK.
FOR SALE,
A VERY valuable Tract of Land in King William County, on Mattapony River, a little above Frazer's Ferry, which was lately the Property of Mr. Roger Gregory, and contains about 300 Acres. There is a very genteel two Story Brick House, with three Rooms below and four above, which is pleasantly situated upon a high Hill near the River, and commands a wide and extensive Prospect.
CARTER BRAXTON.
For SALE, by the Subscribers in NORFOLK, SINGLE and double refined London SUGAR; Madeira a WINE of the London, New York, and Virginia Qualities; Jamaica and Barbados SPIRITS; Barbados and Leeward Island RUM; Muscovado SUGARS; Coffee, Ginger, Pimenta, Molasses, Liverpool bottled Beer, Cheeses, Anchors, Sail Canvass, Irish LINENS in small Packages, &c. &c.
JOHN LAWRENCE, & Co.
STOLEN, or STRAYED, from Porto Bello, on the 2d of this Instant (May) a large BAY MARE, about fifteen Hands high, with a black hanging Mane and Switch Tail, has a Saddle Spot on her Back, and branded on the near Buttock C. TWENTY SHILLINGS Reward will be given for bringing her to Porto Bello, or the Palace.
NANSEMOND, April 20, 1774.
WHEREAS the Concern of the Subscribers, by the Death of one of the Partners, is now dissolved, it is most earnestly requested of all those indebted to them, either in this Colony or North Carolina, to make immediate Settlement, by Payment or Specialty, as those who fail to comply need expect no Indulgence; and all those who have Demands against the said Concern are desired to make them known, and they shall be adjusted. The Books, &c. belonging to their Store in this County, are put into the Hands of Mr. John McDowell, who is properly authorised to collect and grant Receipts, and will settle with all those who have Demands against the said Company.
JOHN HAMILTON, & Co.
Just imported, and to be sold at a low Advance, on Credit,
A QUANTITY of SHOES, well assorted, in Casks from 201. to 351. Sterling Value. For Terms inquire of Mr. David Russell in Blanford, Mr. Robert Burton in Richmond, or the Subscriber in Warwick.
JOHN LEITCH.
For CHARTER,
THE Ship Cæsar, William Weiberald, has made only one Voyage, Further 45c Hogheads, now lying at Norfolk. For Terms apply to the said Mallet, or
GREENWOOD, RITSON, & MARSH.
N. B. On Board said Ship is a Quantity of Whitehaven COAL, of the best Quality, which will be sold very cheap. Apply to Mr. Jessop Kidd, in Williamsburg.
To be let on CHARTER, to any Part of Europe, or the West Indies,
THE Brigantine Hamilton, Burthen about 300 Hogheads, a new Vessel now on the Stocks, and will be ready to take on Board by the first of June. For Terms, apply to me in Norfolk.
ROBERT GRAY, & Co.
HANOVER TOWN, May 6, 1774.
RUN away from the Subscriber, in March, last, a likely Virginia born Wench named BETTY, about 22 Years of Age, stout and well set, wears Silver Earrings set with white Stone, and carried with her several Suits of Clothes. She was formerly the Property of Mr. James Mitchell, deceased, at York, and has been used to attend in a Publick House from her Infancy. She has been seen at several Places on James River, but last at Captain William Arvill's, in Charles City, where I am informed she has several Relations. Any Person that will secure the said Slave, so that I get her again, shall have THREE POUNDS Reward.
HARDIN BURNLEY.
VIRGINIA, sc. At a General Court held at the CAPITOL the 23d of April, 1774.
George Riddell and Jaquelin Ambler, Plaintiffs, against Perkins, Buchanan, and Brown, late of London, Merchants, William Gosley, Thomas Adams, Sampson & George Matthews, Patrick Courts, Ames & James Ladd, William Arvill, Ryland Randolph, Major Wilcox, & Co. Thomas Stewart, James Watt, Meriwether Smith, William Smith, Carter Braxton, Corbin Griffin, Samuel Griffin, and William Griffin, Defendants,
THE Defendants, Perkins, Buchanan, and Brown, being beyond Sea, on the Motion of the Plaintiffs, by their Counsel, it is ordered that the other Defendants, who have Effects of the said Perkins, Buchanan, and Brown, in their Hands, as is suggested, do not pay the said Effects to the Defendant Gosley, or any other Person, nor convey away or secrete the same, until the further Order or Decree of this Court concerning such Effects; that the said Defendants, Perkins, Buchanan, and Brown, do appear here on the first Day of the next Court, to answer the Bill of the Plaintiffs; 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 Henrico, in the County of Henrico, and be also posted up at the front Door of the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg.
BEN. WALLER.
To be SOLD to the highest Bidder at Henrico Courthouse, in Richmond, on Monday the 6th of June,
THE TENEMENT lately occupied by Mr. James Buchanan, on Part of which Byrd's Warehouses now stand. It may, with Convenience, be divided into three separate Tenements, one of which will include a very good Dwelling-House, Kitchen, Smokehouse, Dairy, and a Garden under good Paling. The second will include a very good Brick Store, a large commodious Lumberhouse, and the Reversion of Byrd's Warehouses. The third joins the Lands of Colonel Thomas Turpin, whereon are the Houses now in the Tenancy of Messrs. Trents and Mr. Powell. There is a good Stable on this Lot, and a large new House that may, at a small Expense, be converted into a Dwelling-House, or Store. The Situation of these Lots, and Convenience of the Houses, will sufficiently recommend them to those who view them. They will be sold altogether or separately, which ever shall appear most advisable. Half of the Money to be paid at, or before, the Meeting in November next, and the Remainder by the first of May 1775. The Bonds to bear Interest from the Date, unless the Agents of Messrs. James and Robert Donald, and Co. should agree upon other Terms on the Day of Sale. Any Person inclining to purchase may be shown the Premises, and know the Terms at large, by applying to Mr. James Buchanan.
JAMES MILLER.
All those indebted to the said Messrs. James and Robert Donald, and Co. for Dealings with Mr. James Buchanan, at their Stores in Richmond, Albemarle, and Amherst, are once more requested to make speedy Payment; and as many Accounts are yet standing open, particularly at their Store in Richmond, those concerned are desired to close the same immediately, otherwise longer Indulgence cannot be given.
To be SOLD by the Subscriber, at Stafford Courthouse, on the second Monday in June, if fair, otherwise first fair Day,
THREE TRACTS of LAND adjoining each other, and lying in Stafford County, on Potomack Creek, on one of which is a very commodious Tavern, and other necessary Houses, Garden, &c. within a few Yards of the Courthouse. The Situation is very advantageous for the Publican Business, and remarkable for Fish and Fowl. Fifteen Acres of the Land were laid down in Timothy about four Years ago, and there are very near forty Acres of Marsh, which might be easily reclaimed, at a small Expense. The Terms will be made known on the Day of Sale.
GEORGE DENT, Junior.
NORFOLK, April 21, 1774.
NOTICE is hereby given, that a Number of Vessels will be wanted this Summer to bring about 6000 Tons of STONE from Mr. Brooke's Quarry on Rappahannock, and land the same on Cape Henry, for the Lighthouse. Any Person, or Persons, inclining to engage in such Work, are desired to treat with Matthew Phipps, Paul Loyall, and Thomas Newton, Esqrs. The Directors of the Lighthouse will also be glad to purchase one or two FLAT BOTTOMED VESSELS, from 80 to 120 Tons Burthen.
BASSETT MOSELEY.
To be SOLD to the highest Bidder, at Goochland Courthouse, on Monday the 20th of June, being Court Day,
A TRACT of rich well timbered Land lying opposite to Elk Island, in the said County, belonging to the Estate of Mr. John Smith, deceased, containing 2000 Acres, which will be put up in four separate Lots. Likewise a Tract containing between 3 and 400 Acres, lying on both Sides the Little Bird Creek, near the Head thereof, in said County. Those Lands having been fully described in a former Advertisement, renders it unnecessary here. The Time of Payment will be made known on the Day of Sale, and Bonds with good Security required of the Purchasers, by
WILLIAM ANDERSON, Executor.
The Purchasers at the different Sales of the Negroes and personal Estate of Joseph and John Smith, deceased, are desired to take Notice that their Bonds will, in a very short Time, become payable, and that no Indulgence can, or will, be allowed to any Person. I shall constantly attend at the County Courts of Henrico and Hanover, and the Meeting of Merchants in Williamsburg, in Order to receive Payment. Those who have open Accounts on the Books of John Smith, deceased, are once more requested to come and settle.
Five Pounds Reward.
RUN away from my Plantation near this Place, last Night, two Servant Men, named GEORGE and JOHN ALLEN, very lately imported in the Fustitia, consigned to Mr. Thomas Hodge at Leeds Town. George is a likely young Fellow about 25 Years of Age, five Feet ten or eleven Inches high, stoops much, and is remarkably round shouldered; had on, when he went away, a dark coloured Bearskin Jacket and Breeches, and a small round Hat with a black Riband and Buckle. John is Brother to George, slender made, and two Inches under his Size; had on the same Sort of Clothes, only a Pair of old Shoes cut open at the Toes. Any Person who will apprehend the said Servants, and secure them so that I may get them, shall be entitled to the above Reward; and all Persons are hereby forewarned, as they may probably pretend to pay for Sailors, from carrying them out of the Country.
(4)
THOMAS MONTGOMERIE.
DUNFRIES, April 25.
NEABSCO FURNACE, April 1, 1774.
RUN away from the Neabsco Furnace, on the 16th of last Month, a light coloured Mulatto Man named BILLY or WILL, the Property of the Honourable John Taylor, Esquire. When I tell the Publick that he is the same Boy, who, for many Years, used to wait on me in my Travels through this and the neighbouring Province, and, by his Perverseness, or rather Impudence, was well known to almost all my Acquaintances, there is the less Occasion for a particular Description of him. However, as he is now grown to the Size of a Man, and has not attended me for some Time past, I think it not amiss to say that he is a very likely young Fellow, about twenty Years old, five Feet nine Inches high, stout and strong made, has a remarkable Swing in his Walk, but is much more so by a surprising Knack he has of gaining the good Graces of almost every Body who will listen to his bewitching and deceitful Tongue, which seldom or ever speaks the Truth; has a small Scar on the right Side of his Forehead, and the little Finger of his right Hand is quite straight by a Hurt he got when a Child. He had on when he went away a blue Fearnought and an under Jacket of green Baize, Cotton Breeches, Osnaburg Shirt, a mixed blue Pair of Stockings, a Pair of Country made Shoes, and yellow Buckles. From his Ingenuity, he is capable of doing almost any Sort of Business, and for some Years past has been chiefly employed as a Founder, a Stone Mason, and a Miller, as Occasion required; one of which Trades, I imagine, he will, in the Character of a Freeman, profess. I have some Reason to suspect his travelling towards James River, under the Pretence of being sent by me on Business. Whoever apprehends the said Mulatto Slave, and brings him to me, or to his Master, the Honourable John Taylor of Mount Airy, or secures him so as to be had again, shall have double what the Law allows, and all reasonable Charges paid by
(tf)
THOMAS LAWSON.
ROCKY MILL, HANOVER COUNTY, April 14, 1774.
RUN away from the Subscribers, on the 27th of March, two indentured Servant Men, namely, JOSEPH GOTHARD, by Trade a Cooper, has a Scar over one of his Eyes and Ankles; had on a Drab coloured Frieze Jacket, with Metal Buttons, old Leather Breeches, a Half worn Hat, a Pair of Sale Hose, and a Pair of coarse Shoes. THOMAS JACKSON, by Trade a Coachman, about thirty Years of Age, of a ruddy Countenance, about five Feet eight Inches high, with light Hair; had on an old Hat, dark Broadcloth Coat much patched, an old Virginia Cloth blue twilled Jacket, with Pewter Buttons, without Sleeves, a Pair of very narrow Duck Trousers patched on each Knee with new Osnabrugs, a Pair of Country Shoes, and black Hose. Whoever will deliver both the above mentioned Servants at Newcastle, or the above mentioned Place, shall receive 51. or 50. for either, if taken in the Colony; and if in any other, reasonable Satisfaction will be made by the Subscribers.
(tf)
JOHN SYME. JOHN CHRENSHAW.
To be SOLD, together or in Parcels,
THAT fertile and well timbered Tract of Land lying in Princess Anne County, known by the Name of GIBBS'S WOODS, whereon are several Settlements, and whereof Jeremiah Tinker, Esq; Grandson of the late Governor Gibbs now stands seized, under the Deed of Gift of his Mother, the Daughter and Heiress of the said Governor Gibbs. Persons inclining to purchase may be informed of the Terms by applying to Mr. James Parker, Merchant in Norfolk, or to Edward Foy, in Williamsburg, who will give an undoubted Title.
(tf)
FOR SALE,
A TRACT of LAND in Amelia County, containing 500 Acres, about four Miles below the Courthouse, it is remarkable fine Land for Grain, and will bring good Tobacco. The Plantation is in good Order for Cropping, sufficient to work six or eight Hands, with all necessary Houses. Any Person inclining to purchase may depend on having a Bargain, and know the Terms by applying to
(tf)
WILLIAM MARSHALL.
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.
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. One or two Years Credit will be allowed, Interest being paid for the second Year, and also for the first, if the Money is not paid agreeable to Contract. The Land is to be laid off and surveyed by Colonel William Cabell, at the Expense of the Purchaser. Deeds will be made upon Bond and approved Security being given, either to Colonel William Cabell, or the Subscriber. Six per Cent. Discount will be allowed for ready Money, or good Merchants Notes. If any Person will choose to exchange Lands in the lower Part of the Country, on or near some navigable River, that are good, it is more than probable we should agree.
(tf)
CARTER BRAXTON.
To be SOLD, SEPARATELY or TOGETHER
TWO TRACTS of LAND. One lies in Albemarle County, on Hardwarer 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 Lickinghole 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. The Improvements are a good Dwelling-house, Kitchen, Smokehouse, a Dairy, four good Tobacco Houses, with Negro Quarters, and other convenient Buildings, also a fine Apple and Peach Orchard. The Place is pleasantly situated, has fine Water, is as healthy as any Part of the Colony, and is convenient to Church or Providence Meetinghouse, and several Mills, besides one on the Land turned by a Spring Branch to grind for three or four Families the whole Year, and is not in the least unhealthy, as the Water may be ground off every Day. Credit will be given for Part of both Tracts. Any Person inclining to purchase may know the Terms by applying to Mr. William Mitchell, Merchant in Richmond, or to the Subscriber, who will show the Land.
(tf)
WILLIAM PRYOR.
GOOCHLAND, November 3, 1773.
ALL Persons may be supplied with this PAPER at 12s. 6d. a Year, and have ADVERTISEMENTS (of a moderate Length) inserted in it for 3s. the first Week, and 2s. each Week after. All Sorts of PRINTING WORK done at this Office in the neatest Manner, with Care and Expedition.