The Virginia gazette (Williamsburg [Va.]), 1771-06-20 00:00:00

VIRGINIA
GAZETTE.
With the frehest 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.
To Mess. PURDIE & DIXON.
GENTLEMEN,
OBSERVE, from the last Week's Papers, that only twelve Clergymen met at the Convention; that these twelve were greatly divided in Opinion upon the Expediency of an American Episcopate...
And can Mr. Horrocks, and these few Clergymen who espouse this Scheme, suppose the Laity will remain silent when an Attempt is making, in this very extraordinary and unusual Manner, by a very small Part of the Community...
A Gentleman, indeed, who calls himself a Layman, and a Country Gentleman, has appeared in Defence of this Scheme. But these Characters do not belong to him; they are fictitious, and not real: For no Country Gentleman is so great an Enemy to his Country as to be an Advocate for a Measure which will destroy its Liberties.
He is a Clergyman, who thinks, under the disguised Character he has assumed, his Arguments will have the greater Weight. As I suppose the Reasons given by him are the Reasons which prevailed with Mr. Horrocks, and the other few Clergymen, to embrace his Sentiments, I will take the Liberty to examine them, and point out the pernicious Effects of this Scheme to the Colonies, if it should be perfected.
The Gentleman tells us, he believes the People in general are satisfied that it would be much for the Advantage of this Country if more of the Natives were in Orders, and that this Advantage is much obstructed by the Distance of the Bishops, from whom Orders must be received; and that he cannot but think it would be a great Proof of the Candour of the Clergy, who are most of them not Natives, to endeavour to bring over a Bishop, that more of the Natives should be ordained.
Now I admit it would be for the Advantage of this Country if more of the Natives were in Orders, and that this Advantage is obstructed by the Distance of the Bishop from whom Orders must be received. But what then? Are we, to obtain this Advantage, to give up a much greater; and, for the Sake of having a few more of our Natives in Orders, to consent to the Establishment of an Ecclesiastical Hierarchy over the Colonies? But why will not those Clergymen, who are not Natives, permit the Natives to judge for themselves? No Application has been made by any of the Natives, or by the People in general, to those Clergymen for their Interest to bring over a Bishop; that the Natives, who intend to enter into holy Orders, might not undergo the Fatigue, Danger, and Expense of two very long and troublesome Voyages, to be ordained. And if no such Application has been made, why do these Clergymen endeavour to force their Scheme upon the Natives, who are in general averse to it?
Do they understand the Interest of the Colony better than the Natives themselves? Or do they propose this Project from a Regard to the Colony, that all our Parishes may be filled, in future, with Natives, to the Exclusion of those who are not Natives? This, I acknowledge, would be an Instance of great Self-Denial in those Clergymen; but whether it ever was within the Intention of their Scheme must be left to themselves, for I pretend not to dive into their Thoughts.
The Gentleman says, indeed, the People in general are satisfied an American Episcopate would be an Advantage to the Colony; and I say, the People in general are not satisfied of the Advantage of such an Establishment to the Colony. The Clergy themselves differ about the Expediency of such an Establishment; and, if their absenting themselves from the Convention is to be considered as a Disapprobation of the Scheme, more than nine Tenths of the Clergy are against it.
In a Case of such Consequence, about the Expediency of which the Clergy themselves differ greatly in Opinion, why was not the Sense of the People in general taken by their Representatives? Prudent Men would certainly have done this before they came to any Determination upon it. They would have communicated the whole Scheme to the Legislature, that they might avoid the Suspicion of intending an Attack upon the Constitution of the Colony, and the Rights and Liberties of the Laity. But this is not done; the Clergy intend to act by themselves, independent of, I might say in Opposition to, the Powers of this Government. For we are told, if the proposed Plan of an Episcopate be disgusting to the Laity of this Dominion, the Petition for it, made publicly, cannot be expected, in these Times, to meet with such rapid Success but that the Laity will have Time enough to over-set it.
Is not this a striking Evidence that the Abettors of this Scheme intend to act by themselves, and to bid Defiance to those who are against it? Especially as they know no Assembly can meet, at this Time, to make a regular Opposition to it.
Within these few Years many Dissenters have sprung up amongst us, and are daily increasing. Is a Bishop to be appointed, armed with spiritual Powers, to extirpate these Dissenters? If this is not intended, why are some of the Clergy so warm, at this particular Juncture, for such an Establishment? And why do they refuse to wait till the Legislature can declare their Opinion upon this great Question?
Is not this sufficient to alarm the Dissenters, and every other moderate Man who is a Friend to religious Liberty, and thinks that Mankind have a Right to pursue that Road to Heaven which appears to them the best and most direct? For my Part, I think there is great Reason for the Alarm, especially as we know the Toleration Act of King William is not in Force in this Colony; and that a Bishop, fond of spiritual Dominion, may gain such Influence with the British Ministry (Enemies to American Liberty) as to prevent our obtaining such an Act.
If this should be the Case, our Civil as well as Religious Liberties will be destroyed. The spiritual Courts will usurp a Power to draw Civil Causes to their Tribunals, under Pretence of their being spiritual Offences, and will be supported in this usurped Power by an arbitrary Ministry. If this happens (and it is not impossible but it may happen under an Ecclesiastical Hierarchy) we may bid adieu to our Liberties, and our Constitution. The Canon and Civil Law will then supersede the established Laws of the Land, which will be considered as so many Encroachments upon the Rights of the Clergy. The severe Statutes of Queen Elizabeth, and the first Years of James the first, will be executed upon all Men indiscriminately, whether Clergy or Laity; and we shall become absolute Vassals to the British Ministry, who, through their Bishop, will punish every Man who has Fortitude or Virtue enough to oppose their Edicts. This will be the deplorable Situation of the Country under an Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, not restrained by Acts of Parliament made since the Revolution; a Situation which every Friend to Mankind ought to guard against, with all his Powers.
I know the Gentleman says the Bishop is to have no Authority or Power whatever over the Laity, nor encroach upon any of the Privileges which they at present enjoy.
In Answer to this, give me Leave to observe that the Laity, that is every Order of Men amongst us, except the Clergy of the established Church (for the dissenting Teachers themselves, of every Denomination, are, by the Acts of Parliament made before the Revolution, considered as Part of the Laity) I say the Laity of this Country do not, at present, enjoy the legal Indulgencies the Laity in England do; as no Act of Parliament, granting Liberty of Conscience to the Laity in England, is in Force in this Colony.
So that though the Bishop, according to this Gentleman, is not to encroach upon any of the Privileges the Laity at present enjoy, this will not exempt them from the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, but they will be subject to it whenever they transgress the very penal Acts of Parliament made before the sixth Year of James the first; all which Acts, I understand, are adjudged to be obligatory upon us.
It is true our General Court, pursuing the Spirit of the Act of Toleration, has granted the same Indulgencies to the Dissenters here that their Brethren enjoy in England, but this Power in the General Court is much disputed; and it is said, by some good Judges, that if it was to be brought into a legal Question (as I hope it never will) it would be determined against their Power.
However, let this be as it may, I consider this Flourish of the Gentleman to be Nothing better than a Decoy, a poisonous Pill nicely gilded over, which, if the Laity could be tempted to swallow, would become exceeding bitter, and produce the most dreadful and destructive Effects in the Constitution of the Country.
Hæ nugæ seria ducunt In mala
But it is said, the Appointment of a Bishop to reside in America will save the Expense the Natives must be put to who make a Voyage to England to be ordained. But what is that Expense when compared to the Expense which must inevitably attend the Appointment of a Bishop, or Bishops (for I suppose one will not be sufficient to superintend all America) they must not only be maintained themselves, but they must have their Deans, Archdeacons, Vicars General, Chancellors, Commissaries, Prebendaries, and a Thousand other subalternate Officers, who must all be maintained in a State suitable to their Ranks. And must not this Army of spiritual Dignitaries exceed, without Comparison, that of a few Natives making a Voyage to England for six or seven Months? Surely no Man, let his Affection for an American Episcopate be ever so ardent, can deny it.
But here let me ask from what Funds the Money is to issue for the Support of these spiritual Establishments. Is it to issue from Funds to be appropriated to that Purpose by the Legislatures of the Colonies? The warmest Abettors of the Scheme do not, I am persuaded, expect such Compliance from the Colonies; with whom they do not deign to consult, though in a Matter of the greatest Moment to them.
Or is it to issue from Funds to be established by the British Parliament, from internal Taxes to be imposed on the Colonies which the Advocates for the Scheme intend to solicit? This will revive the old Contest of internal Taxation, with perhaps more disagreeable Circumstances than the Stamp Act produced. For my Part, I can discover no Way for supporting this extraordinary Establishment but by making the Scheme complete at once; that is, by erecting America into an Archbishoprick, and establishing suffragan Bishops in every Colony, with all the other spiritual Dignitaries, according to the Ecclesiastical Constitution of the English Church. Under such an Establishment, the American Clergy may meet in Convocation and tax themselves for the Support of their own Officers. This is the only feasible Scheme I can think of, without infringing the Rights of the Laity; and it has this Advantage, that an ambitious Man, who is not content with Places and Preferments which have been accumulated upon him beyond his Merit, may have a Chance to become a Metropolitan, and thereby have it more in his Power to overturn the Constitution of that Country to which he is beholden for Bread.
But allow me to ask, once more, how is this great Alteration to be made in the Constitution of the Colonies? Is an Act of Parliament to be solicited for this Purpose? Beware, I say again, of the Consequences of the Stamp Act, and of the Refinement of the People against the Stamp-masters. Is the King to be petitioned for this Establishment? Consider MAGNA CHARTA, which allows no Proceedings in any Court to be established by the Prerogative, nisi per legem terræ, et legale judicium parium; and that all such Proceedings must be according to the ordinary Rules of the common Law, and such Proceedings cannot be had in Ecclesiastical Courts. In short, the Scheme is so big with Mischief that I think no Person, who considers it with Attention, can be a Friend to it and at the same Time a Friend to the Liberties of the American Colonies.
The Truth is, if we ourselves begin to break down the Banks of our Constitution, though we may only intend to make a small Breach, we shall soon be overwhelmed with the mighty Torrent of spiritual Tyranny; and our Country will be involved in the Labyrinth of Distemper, Confusion, and Opposition. But a Bishop is to be brought over to dedicate our Churches, as such a Practice will contribute towards making some Men, even the weakest of the Clergy, enter a Place solemnly set apart to the Worship and Service of God with a deep Sense of the divine Presence.
I can scarce think the Gentleman is serious when he gives this as a Reason for an American Episcopate; but if he is really so, let me remind him of the Figure Bishop Laud made when he consecrated Catharine Creed Church in London. A particular Description of the Ceremony is in Rushworth's Collections, which I defy the gravest Man to read without Laughter or Contempt. This Instance demonstrates the absurd and ridiculous Effects of Superstition and Bigotry, even in Men of considerable Learning and Abilities; and surely the Gentleman does not intend to delude the weakest of our Brethren into a superstitious Veneration for the Place of publick Worship by such idle and vain Fopperies, which will suit a Popish much better than a Protestant Church. The Way, in my Judgment, to consecrate our Churches, the most acceptable to God, is by our pious and religious Deportment when we attend the publick Service, and not by fanciful and antick Gesticulations and Buffoonery.
But if the Dedication of the Temple at Jerusalem is a Proof that our Churches ought to be dedicated by external Ceremonies, it is also a Proof that the King, the supreme Head of Civil as well as of Spiritual Jurisdiction, ought to dedicate them, and not a Bishop; for Solomon the King, and not Zadok the High Priest, dedicated the Temple at Jerusalem.
However, though I myself have no Faith in the Necessity of external Ceremonies not warranted by the holy Scripture, yet I would willingly indulge those who believe they cannot serve God acceptably but in a Church consecrated by a Bishop, and that their future Salvation depends upon their being confirmed according to the Direction in our Common Prayer Book, if such Indulgence would not be attended with the most destructive Consequences to my Country.
But the Gentleman says, the Bishop's Court, which consisted of the Commissary, and some of the Clergy whom he chose for Assessors, had been long laid aside. He should have first proved that such a Court had existed in this Country, before he told us it has long been laid aside. Our Laws know no such Court, nor do our Annals inform us that such a Court ever had Existence amongst us.
It is true, I remember, some Years ago a Farce was acted in a Corner by a Commissary and two Reverend Assessors, as the Gentleman dignifies them, about a Clergyman; but when the Catastrophe was expected, their Reverences discovered they had acted without Authority, and retreated from their Corner, to the great Diversion of the Auditory.
But let us hear the Gentleman again. Some Person, it is plain, of competent Authority, is wanting to assist the Clergy in their Functions, to advise, to direct, to reprove, to punish if Need be, to suspend, and deprive. This Want is so severely felt by the Colony that at present a Dispute subsists whether the General Court had not better take upon them the Exercise of this Authority than have it altogether unexercised.
Here, I think, the Gentleman gives a very disadvantageous Character of the moral Conduct of our Clergy.
He is contending for a Person with competent Authority to remove, punish if Need be, suspend, and deprive the Clergy whose Offences may subject them to such Punishments. The Want of a Person armed with such an Authority, he tells us, is severely felt by the Colony. By this Representa-
tion, our Clergy must surely be a Set of sad Men, if the Colony severely feels the Want of a Person with competent Authority to punish them; and with a considerable Number I have not heard of more than two or three whose moral Conduct deserves the Gentleman's severe Reprehension. I think it necessary to do this Justice to the Clergy in general, to convince them that my Opposition to the Scheme some of them are endeavouring to obtrude upon the Colony does not arise from Refinement to their Persons, Country.
But, however this may be, he is very candid and ingenuous in another Particular.
The Jurisdiction of the General Court, in Ecclesiastical Causes, is the great Rub that gives Uneasiness to some of the Clergy who consider themselves as a distinct Body in the Community from the Laity, and not subject to the Controul of the same Power.
Hence arises their Opposition to the Authority of the supreme Court of the Colony, and their Anxiety to have that Court deprived of one Part of its legal Jurisdiction.
A Clergyman is, at this Time, prosecuted in the General Court for a Complication of Offences. This is therefore one Reason at least for desiring an Episcopate at this Time in the Colony, that the Administration of Ecclesiastical as well as Civil Powers may not be in the same Hands. Hinc illa Lachrymæ that are to give Motion to the spiritual Machine, which, by its mighty Force, is to overthrow our established Constitution, and subject the Colony to an arbitrary Hierarchy.
The General Court is established by positive Law, which has received the Royal Approbation. That Law declares the "General Court shall take Cognizance of, and shall have Power and Jurisdiction to hear and determine all Causes, Matters, and Things whatsoever, relating to or concerning any Person or Persons, Ecclesiastical or Civil; or any Person or Things, of what Nature soever the same shall be."
These Words, in my Understanding, and I believe in the Understanding of every Man who pays a greater Regard to Common Sense than to the Refinement and subtle Distinctions of Civilians, give the General Court Jurisdiction in all Causes, Ecclesiastical as well as Civil. For if these Words give the General Court Jurisdiction in all Civil Causes, which is not denied, they must give that Court Jurisdiction in all Ecclesiastical Causes; as the same Words which declare the Court's Jurisdiction in Civil Causes are used to declare the Court's Jurisdiction in Ecclesiastical Causes, and must have the same Construction in both Cases. But the Examination of this Question, to its full Extent, will carry me much beyond the Limits I have prescribed to myself. I shall therefore only observe that the Gentleman is mistaken when he says, that at present a Dispute subsists whether the General Court had not better take upon them the Exercise of this Authority than to leave it altogether unexercised.
The Dispute is, whether the Law establishing the General Court gives that Court Jurisdiction in Ecclesiastical as well as Civil Causes or not. I believe the Laity in general take the affirmative, and the Clergy the negative Side of the Question, which never has, that I know of, received a judicial Determination; and, if it ever should receive such a Determination, I am convinced the Judges will not assume to themselves the Exercise of an Authority the Law does not give them. If there is any Case, either Ecclesiastical or Civil, which that Court has not legal Jurisdiction in, the Colony had much better submit to the Inconvenience, till the Legislature provides a Remedy, than that the Court should usurp an illegal Authority.
Thus, I think, I have examined all the Gentleman's Reasons for desiring an Episcopate at this Time. If I have expressed myself with Refinement, it is against the Measure, and not against the Man who defends it; for I assure him my differing with him in Sentiment upon a political Question shall not draw me into a personal Dispute with him.
But of all Tyrannies a spiritual Tyranny is the most to be dreaded, and of all Schemes to enslave the Colonies this of establishing Bishops is the most effectual. From such Powers, and from such Councils, good Lord, of thy infinite Mercy, save and protect the American Colonies. A Prayer which ought to be offered up daily by every Friend to American Liberty. So sayeth A REAL LAYMAN.
To the Reverend Mr. CAMM.
Venescia mea hæc sunt.
PERMIT me, Sir, to acknowledge, with Gratitude, the Favour of your Remarks upon the Protest. I cannot think trifling the Reasons it contains, since they have called forth into Opposition your Pen. The Dexterity you discover in defending a Question doth not, upon this Occasion, exceed your Politeness. Of your Displeasure I am not afraid, as I have no sinister Motive in View. Candour and mutual Esteem will render the Cause of Truth common to us both, without giving to either Offence. It is not so much by Conviction we are wounded as by the Manner in which we are convinced.
The Path you have marked out I shall endeavour to tread, and regulate by your Answer my Reply. Though you are copious, I shall be brief. It is peculiar to yourself to be long, and to be read.
You begin with remarking that the Clergy did not meet to do any Business in the Way of Representation. If so, the twelve Clergymen who composed the Convention could enter into no Transactions which concerned more than themselves. What you have concealed beneath your &c. I know not, but you would not have us suppose an Address to a Governor and an American Episcopate of equal Importance. Upon farther Recollection, I doubt not you will discover that the Reason assigned in Convention against addressing the King differed widely from this which you now have given. The Motions, you agree with the Protest, were distinct from each other; and I, with you, allow the whole Conduct was very suitable to the Circumstances of the Meeting. You will therefore pardon me if I am not yet convinced that the Terms were improper, and ought to be retracted.
We will suppose the Expression, American Episcopate, should not necessarily include a Jurisdiction over the other Colonies. Ingeniously answer me (you hate Dissimulation) whether an Episcopate, thus comprehensives, be not your Aim? If not, would it have been less proper to apply for an Episcopate in Virginia? You inform us the Clergy of the northern Colonies, and Maryland, have already petitioned. If they have requested a Bishop for more than themselves, they have not been authorized by the Clergy of this Province. The Clergy of this Province must have been egregiously injured, unless they are mere Ciphers, on the left Hand of a Sum. I confess, Sir, a Want of Genius to discover the Consistency of your Reasoning upon the next Object of your Attention, when compared with your Answer to Article the sixth. You inquire how the natural Rights and fundamental Laws of the Colonies in general can be materially affected by an American Episcopate. The Reason upon which your Inquiry is founded is that you think the Colonies in general to be, in this, a happy Copy of the Parent Country, that Episcopal Government in the Church is interwoven with the Constitution of the State. How doth this agree with your after Assertion, that Episcopal Government in America is quite a Non-Entity? As to the Question itself, what the natural Rights of the Colonies are, your own Heart will interpret; for the fundamental Laws, I refer to their Charters.
You cannot discern how an American Episcopate can any Way weaken the Connection between the Mother Country and her Colonies, or that it has any the least Relation to the present unhappy Disputes between them. Have you then, Sir, forgotten the Violences in New England occasioned by the Stamp Act, which, at this Hour, have scarcely subsided? If Men have been driven to such Extremities, when contending pro Facie, what may we not expect when pro Aris is added? You may perhaps be ignorant that one Cause of the civil War now raging in North Carolina is an

Answer to Ecclesiastical Establishments. The liberal Compliment you pay to the Infidels Disputers will be received with as much Complacency as it was offered with Sincerity.
One Reason why the Measure of Convention was filed extremely indecent, and an Usurpation upon the Rights of Mankind, is this: When the Com-missary proposed an Application to the Legislature for their Concur-rence, you, yourself, Sir, affirmed it could never succeed. Upon the Delivery of an Assertion so truly oracular, the Convention was convinced, and the Motion was quashed. Should the Words of the Protest still want Justification, I am ready to dissect the Arguments in your Answer. The Desire you have expressed that Nothing should be concealed will exculpate me for disclosing so much of our Arcana, and thus dragging "into Light the hidden Things of Darkness."
With Respect to the Compliment on the Bishop of London, I confess myself, without blushing, so much of a Christian as to "give Honour to whom Honour is due." To have proved that his Lordship did not deserve it you should have showed his Administration to have been either inequitable, unjust, or harsh; for notwithstanding you now deny the Existence of his Government you before acknowledged that an Episcopal Government does exist in the Colonies, and you afterwards speak of your Plan as not inconsistent with a suffragan Bishop, acting under the Authority of the Bishop of London. To this, you say, your Plan contains no Objection. May I be indulged with the Information where this Plan can be found? I have seen none, I have heard none, I have known none. I requested the Favour of it, in Convention, if any such was in Being; but no Plan was produced. If, since that Time, a Plan hath been formed, I own your Answer hath re-awakened my Curiosity to see it. From History, and past Experience, you tell us we may know that Episcopal Government in the Church, and Monarchical Government in the State, fell together in the Middle Ages; and that their joint Fall led the Nation into a long Variety of Confusion, under which it could find no Rest till it restored both these Forms of Government. I would not be too sanguine, but does it not look like the Intent of your Plan, whatever some Persons have pretended, to establish in America this Species of Episcopate, which a long Course of uninterrupted Experience hath showed to be productive of such blessed Effects? What confirms me in the Belief of this Conjecture, is, that when the Bishops were extruded from the Upper House they were not deprived of their Ecclesiastical Functions. Assure me that the real Objects of your Scheme are the Title of Lordships, the Revenue of Parsonages and Palatinates, along with the gorgeous Trappings of Hierarchical Pomp, I will forthwith make a publick penitent Recantation, and henceforth become a zealous Convert to so holy a Cause: Dat nobis hæc Otia fecit. But to return to your suffragan Bishop. If the Law Books say true, how could he restrain the Enormities of the Clergy? Godolphin, Gibson, Wood, and Burn, affirm that a suffragan Bishop may supply the Place of his Principal in Matters of Orders, but not of Jurisdiction. Those Enormities of the Clergy, which you so devoutly wish were corrected, you charge me as painting at the Convention with high colouring. Far be it from me to aggravate the Crimes of the unhappy; I would rather turn from them with a Tear. You yourself, Sir, would have blamed me for touching them too faintly, had you ever heard of a LUNAN, or a— BRUNSKILL! From whence did you discover it to be the Protesters Opinion that the English Bishops, including the Bishops of London, are in a Conspiracy with several Bodies of Clergy-men, and with Bishops and others who have left Legacies for an American Episcopate, to strip the Bishop of London? Certainly, not from the Protest. How far Mr. Gwatkin's Faith may extend I will not determine; but, for my own Part, I can most truly aver that I never did believe the Swaddlings of the good facetious Dean (who was wont to call himself Bishop of Virginia) existed beyond the Island of Luggnag, and yet some such Belief is necessary to account for contemporary Bishops of London. I, indeed, knew that the late Archbishop of Canterbury was pregnant with an American Episcopate; but after a Labour, long and sore, as any his Grace, in his obstetrical Pamphlet De Partu difficili , hath described, he fatally miscarried of a still-born Fetus. You seem, Sir, well convinced that his Lordship of London hath but little Affection for his Authority in America. Have you heard why he suppressed the Maryland Petition? And whence is it that we hear Nothing of those Petitions having been presented which you tell us were sent from other Colonies in the North? With perfect good Humour, you have found out a Motive for the Compliment in the Protest. To what may I attribute the Compliment, in your Answer, of exalting the same Bishop into a Metropolitan? Our Sentiments by no Means coincide, with Regard to the Oath of Canonical Obedience. It was offered by the Protesters in Defence of their Conduct, but is too keen a Weapon to be used in Attack. If, however, you will force it into my Hand, keen as it is, I must urge it home. In your next Observation, as well as in a former, you mention the high founding Words of the Protest. For this Sublimity of Sound they are indebted to you. Sir, it was silent as an Epitaph on a Tombstone. The Protesters addressed it, not to the Ear, but the Eye. Accept, however, our united Thanks, Euphonie Gratias. But, though you give with one Hand you retract with the other, Having disembodied our Reasoning of the Form in which it appeared, you have substituted a haggard Phantom in its Room, not a Feature of which resembles the Original.
I cannot conclude without assuring you, Sir, that Nothing but the Respect I entertain for your Character could have drawn from me a Reply to your Answer. If I have inadvertently overlooked aught that it contains, I flatter myself it will not be omitted in a Defence of the Protest, undertaken by a Gentleman more able to do Justice to your Arguments than, Reverend Sir,
Your most obliged humble Servant, SAMUEL HENLEY.
TO THE COUNTRY CLERGYMAN.
SIR,
I DID not expect to see you fall so soon into that vulgar Track of Answerers, by which they are led to ramble from the Question, and leave what they had undertaken, that they may amuse themselves and their Readers with foreign Matter, with Words of ill Sound, with antiquated cant. Terms, with hacknied Abuse, with Misrepresentation, with vile Sophistry, and glaring Falsehood; but this you do, in the very Beginning of your last Letter. I little thought of having, in this Dispute, Occasion to tell You that the Promoters of the Plan of an American Episcopate are no Advocates for Ecclesiastical Tyranny, no high Churchmen, do not dress themselves in Armour fabricated in the Laudan Age, nor will they suffer you to put any such Armour upon them. It seems you have Nothing to say against what they do propose, but a great Deal against what they do not propose. And so have they too a great Deal to say against what they do not propose, though they may not think that it will show either the Meekness of the Dove or the Wisdom of the Serpent to rant and roar so much as you, my meek and wise Country Clergyman, do against a Danger which does not exist. Read the Plan for an American Episcopate, and you will find that the Favourers of that Plan prove themselves to be as great Enemies to Ecclesiastical Tyranny, to the Armour of the Laudan Age, to High Church Principles, and to rigid Discipline, as any you can mention. They are declared Advocates for a primitive Bishop, for a Bishop without any civil Power, for a Bishop without Power of any Kind, except what relates to the Clergy. Show us any Scheme of Church Government in the World so moderate. The Promoters of an American Episcopate think, to say the least, that there is no more Connection between Ecclesiastical Tyranny, or any Part of the Monster you warn us against, and the Episcopal Form of Church Government, than between this said Monster and the Presbyterian Form of Church Government. They think that Tyranny of all Kinds, civil or religious, springs not so much from the Office as the Man in Office. And since their Bishop must be a Man, they are anxious to have him guarded, as much as possible, against all Temptations to any tyrannical Abuse of his Office. If, indeed, it be one of the blessed Fruits of your boasted Education, of your boasted Preparedness to make a Figure in this Dispute, to labour under so unfortunate an Association of Ideas as that you cannot separate the Ideas of Ecclesiastical Tyranny, of Laudan Armour, of High Church, or of rigid Discipline, from the Ideas of Episcopal Government in these Days, it may be proper for the Consideration of others, though not for yours at present, how far you may be guided by a Degree of Madness, in the Place of sober Reasoning, on such Topics; for I think it is agreed, by all the modern Writers which I have had an Opportunity of seeing, that Madness is Nothing but a wrong Association of Ideas.
What you say of the Commissary does by no Means exculpate you from pretending to have no Quarrel with him, in Relation to the Discussion of the Subject we are upon, at a Time when you could have no Quarrel with any Body else on that Subject.
You begin your third Paragraph with saying, "When I mentioned the Distance of the Advisers of an American Episcopate, as a Reason against not running headlong into it, I was thoroughly persuaded that if Advice be good it is of no Consequence whether it come from the Distance of one Mile or of ten Hundred." Indeed! were you so thoroughly persuaded of this? Then what Occasion was there for you to make any Mention of the Distance of the Advisers? Since your Reaction against the Clergy, in running headlong into the Episcopate, would have been full as strong and pertinent had that Distance never been mentioned. But is this Account of the Matter at last true? Did you desire only to warn the Clergy against running headlong into the Episcopate? If so, you may set yourself at Rest; for the Clergy are not running headlong into it, but proceeding, as far as I can judge, by slow and very deliberate Steps. You go on: "But if People, situated so far from us, discover Grievances in our present Ecclesiastical Constitu-
tion, of which we were never sensible before, does it not concern us to be very cautious, &c." Here you are pleased to take for granted what I believe no Body will allow you; namely, that People far situated from us have discovered Grievances to us, in our present Ecclesiastical Constitution, of which we were never sensible before. We have been long very sensible, both Laity and Clergy, of the great Grievances arising from the having no proper Tribunal before which a Clergyman, though ever so culpable, can be deprived of his Office. Nay, moreover, some Attempts to obtain a proper Remedy for those Grievances have been long ago made by the principal Persons among the Laity; and, for ought you or I know, by some of the Clergy too. But if the Clergy have been less active in these Attempts than the Laity, it is for their Credit; it is because they thought these Attempts in the best Hands already. "Were Episcopacy (you say) a new Discovery, I should not blame the Clergy of Virginia for receiving the first Intelligence of this mighty Blessing with all the Meekness of the Dove." So then, according to you, what the Clergy received Intelligence of from their distant Advisers is not any new Discovery, but the old Affair of Episcopacy. If it had been any new Discovery, you would not have blamed them for receiving the first Intelligence of it with all the Meekness of the Dove. Indeed! but I should have blamed them for giving it a good Reception barely on Account of its Newness. Is Episcopacy the worse for being old? So old as to be of Apostolical Institution, and therefore really a mighty Blessing, however sincerely you may use these Terms; in the Opinion of most Country Clergy, as well as many others. Christianity is grown very old. Is it therefore to be despised on that Account? You add a Wish that the Clergy, "as the Case now stands, would temper it (with the Meekness of the Dove) with the Wisdom of the Serpent." I heartily wish it too; for if there be Country Clergy among us who think the Newness of any Species of Church Government a Recommendation to it, it is Time to look about us. If we once depart from the old Affair of Episcopacy, and prefer another Species of Church Government because it is newer , we may change our Church Government as often as the Fashion of our Clothes; the newest Cut is always to be preferred to the Model last in Use, and we may at length be carried we know not whither. You proceed: "For to let so many Years pass without taking proper Measures to obtain a Removal of their Grievances must be a severe Reflection upon their (the Clergy's) Honesty." How do you know all this, which you so roundly assert? How do you know that the Clergy, in a Course of many Years, have not taken all the proper Measures, that were in their Power, to obtain a Removal of their Grievances? Is their not having yet met with Success in their Endeavours the smallest Proof that they have not used any? The Clergy, I find, must have a very hard Time with you, since you are resolved to blame them either for Precipitancy on the one Hand, or Remissness on the other; and it is the harder, because you are not able to prove against them either of these Accusations. "But for my own Part (you say) I am perfectly acquainted with the Artifices of our High Churchmen." Name them then; name their High Churchmen, and their Artifices. If you know any High Churchmen, or their Artifices, in this Country, or that can give any reasonable Ground of Apprehension to this Country, why should you keep their Secret? If you would have us pay the smallest Regard to such bold Assertions, give some Proof that you are not totally without Foundation for what you assert. "By the Publications from the Northward we were taught to believe our intended Bishop is to have Nothing to do with Courts, and the usual Appendages of Ecclesiastical Authority; but the Mask now begins to be thrown aside, and we have been informed by some Clergy that all these Things are not only highly useful but absolutely necessary. You also seem to subscribe to the same Opinion. A Dispute, you tell us, subsists, whether the General Court had not better take upon them the Exercise of Ecclesiastical Authority than leave it altogether unexercised. I will make no Reflections upon your invidious Representation of this Matter; as if the Exercise of such Authority was purely arbitrary, the Effect of Necessity, not of a constitutional Power granted by Law. You know, or at least ought to know, that the General Court has supreme Authority over all Causes, as well Ecclesiastical as Civil. There are many Arguments which might be produced in Defence of this Position. But since some Persons have thought proper to dispute it, and a Cause of great importance is depending upon the Determination of it, I do not think myself at Liberty to carry on this Debate any farther at present." Was there ever a more pitiful Attempt than that which is contained in this Passage to extort Meanings which were never meant, and to build an Argument on dark Hints and Suspicions inspired by the most absurd Jealousy? But let us take the Pains to consider it more particularly. "By the Publications from the Northward (say you) we were taught to believe our intended Bishop is to have Nothing to do with Courts, and the usual Appendages of Ecclesiastical Authority." Very well then, you have Nothing to say against the Publications of our Northward Advisers. You cannot pull the Mask off them without first putting it upon them; the Mask I mean of Ecclesiastical Tyranny, High Church Principles, Laudan Armour, &c. You cannot attack them but by the Imputation of Designs which they utterly disclaim. Do you expect them, or me, or any other Wellwishers to an American Episcopate, to show our Hearts any other Way than by speaking and writing? We would (I verily believe I may speak for them as well as myself in this Point) we would, Sir, lay open our Hearts on this Occasion by more direct and convincing Means than those of speaking and writing, if it was in our Power. Or do you pretend to a Knowledge of Mens Hearts any farther than Men discover them by their Words and Actions? "But the Mask begins to be thrown aside." What Mask, Sir? You are not able to put any upon us, and we have none of our own. A Mask cannot be thrown aside which was never worn. We do not like the Mask which you are so willing to furnish us with, and we neither have worn nor will wear any other. "We (you say) have been informed by some Clergy that all these Things are not only highly useful but absolutely necessary." What Wc ? What Clergy? All what Things? Are you afraid or ashamed to tell us whom this Wc comprehends, who these some Clergy are, and what they have said? If your some Clergy should have talked foolishly in the Presence of you or your Friends, what is that to the Publications from the Northward, to me, to other Favourers of the American Episcopate, or to any Man breathing but you and themselves? You go on with, "You also seem to subscribe to the same Opinion." Do I but seem to subscribe to this same Opinion? Then, perhaps, I may not subscribe to this same Opinion. But what is this same Opinion? For you have not expressed yourself concerning it in such a Manner as that I can certainly tell what you drive at. Addressing yourself to me, you proceed with, "A Dispute, you tell us, subsists whether the General Court had not better take upon them the Exercise of Ecclesiastical Authority than leave it altogether unexercised." Had you been under the Guidance of that Honesty with the Want of which you reproach the Clergy, on a Supposition existing only in your own Brain, you would not have quoted from me in this Manner; you would not have placed the Word Ecclesiastical where it stands. But to take the Passage as it stands quoted by you, what is this Ecclesiastical Authority which has been left for some Time past altogether unexercised, and may be in Danger of being still left altogether unexercised? It is Nothing but the Power of punishing Ecclesiastical Persons, as Ecclesiastical Persons, of suspending and depriving Clergymen. This Power the General Court has never yet exercised. If there be any other Power which they have exercised, call it Ecclesiastical Authority , or the usual Appendages of Ecclesiastical Authority, or what you please, I tell you, over and over again, that they are heartily welcome to it; and that the Promoters of an American Episcopate have no Idea that any such Power can be placed in better Hands than where it has been exercised so long, so safely, and so properly. They have no Objection to the Continuance of any such Power, where it is at present, to the last Syllable of recorded Time. "I will make no Reflections on your invidious Representation of this Matter." You cannot; for I made no invidious Representation of this or any other Matter. I had no Intention, no Room, or Occasion, to make any. "As if the Exercise of such Authority was purely arbitrary, the Effect of Necessity, not of a constitutional Power granted by Law." If this be so clear a Point with you, why do you not reproach the General Court with the Want of Honesty, for having so long omitted to use the Power which you say is so clearly granted to them by Law; when it is agreed, on all Hands, that there have been very pressing Occasions for the Use of such a Power? Such Language would become You, would be consistent in You; because you have used it already, in Respect to the Clergy, on a similar Occasion. I speak, and think too, more reverently of the General Court. Their Proceedings, in Relation to this very Point, have been such, as to prove that they have not yet been satisfied of their having such a Power granted to them by Law. They have given a signal Instance of their Tenderness, of their Caution, of their left, though much pressed to it, they should assume Power not granted by Law; for which they deserve the Thanks, the Praise, and Commendations, of all good Men. "You know, or at least ought to know, that the General Court have supreme Authority over all Causes, as well Ecclesiastical as Civil." In direct Opposition to this, I know, or at least ought to know, that the General Court have not supreme Authority over all Causes as well Ecclesiastical as Civil; for, in numberless Causes, of all Sorts, there lies an Appeal from the General Court to a higher Court. I know, or at least ought to know, that the King is supreme over all Causes, Civil and Ecclesiastical, because there lies no Appeal from the King's Courts to any foreign Court whatever. But yet, notwithstanding this Supremacy of the King, he does not, that I know of, determine all Causes; he does not, that I know of, suspend or deprive a Clergyman,
but leaves that, as well as other Causes, to the Determination of the proper Officers or Magistrates. If a Power to suspend or deprive Clergymen be granted by Law to the General Court, how came a Commission from the Crown to the Bishop to enable him to empower his Commissary to exercise the same Power to be lawful? Where a Court is supreme it may have a Power to try Appeals, without a Power to try the Cause in the first Instance. "There are many Arguments which might be produced in Defence of this Position." Why do you not then produce them? But since some Persons have thought proper to dispute it, and a Cause of great Importance is now depending upon the Determination of it, "I do not think myself at Liberty to carry on this Debate any farther at present." Strange Reasons these for not producing more Arguments, if you had any more to produce, which seem to me capital Reasons for producing more Arguments, if you had any more to produce, as well as for producing those which you have produced. But, "you do not think yourself at Liberty to carry on this Debate any farther at present." Why not? Who hinders you? Such a staunch Advocate for Liberty, One would think, should disdain to be hindered. Now, Sir, upon the Whole of this Passage, if you have no Mask to keep on yourself, what should make you so dark, so cloudy, so perplexed, so much upon the reserve, so cautious of speaking out, so trifling, and disingenuous? Depend upon it, until you learn to express yourself more clearly, you can make no great Figure in this or any other Controversy. Your Readiness to suspect others, without any apparent Cause, proves Nothing but the Badness of your own Heart, or the ill State of your own Head. If I thought you in your right Mind, I should expect that whenever you reflect on so phrenetical a Passage from your Pen, as that which I have here been at the Pains to consider, you will blush in your Closet.
[To be continued.]
L O N D O N, April 20.
REPORT goes that the Crown Lawyers are employed to secure a legal Acquittal of the Messenger of a great Assembly, rather than ruin the Mode of Privilege any farther, as the People seem resolved not to swallow any Draughts that are hurtful to the Constitution.
Yesterday there was a Levee at St. James's, after which the great Officers of State had a Conference with his Majesty.
Last Night a Council was held at the Secretary of State's Office in Cleveland Row, at which most of the Ministry assisted.
Yesterday many People attended in Westminster Hall, expecting the Lord Mayor and Mr. Oliver would have been brought before the Court of Common Pleas.
We can assure the Publick that Monday Morning, ten o'Clock, is fixed for the Lord Mayor and Mr. Alderman Oliver being brought up to the Court of Common Pleas, by Habeas Corpus.
Notwithstanding the great Veneration the Patriots let the World see they have for one another, we are well assured that if Mr. Wilkes persists in standing Sheriffs for the Year ensuing Mr. Oliver is determined to decline.
Yesterday, at six o'Clock in the Afternoon, the Inhabitants of Tower Ward, preceded by their Beadle with the Mace, waited on the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, in the Tower, with the following Address. To the Right Honourable Bras Crosby, Esquire, Lord Mayor of the City of London.
The Address of the Deputy, Common Council, and Inhabitants of the Ward of Tower.
"My Lord, "Deeply affected at the Violence offered to the Laws of our Country, the Rights and Privileges of every Englishman, and to the Citizens of this Metropolis in particular, by the Imprisonment of your Lordship for having faithfully discharged the Duties of your high Office, we think it our indispensable Duty to assure your Lordship of our most firm Attachment and Support.
"With the utmost Concern, we have observed the Representatives of this Kingdom become Instruments, in the Hands of a corrupt and despotic Administration, to wrest from the Subject their most sacred Rights; yet we trust that the Spirit of Liberty, the Attachment to the Laws, and the Love of our Constitution, as settled at the Revolution, which have ever distinguished the City of London, glows full in our Breasts with undiminished Fervour.
"We are therefore determined, to the utmost of our Power, to resist every Invasion of our Rights, from whatever Quarter it may flow.
"Entertaining these Sentiments, we return you, my Lord, our ardent Thanks for your spirited, legal, and manly Conduct in Support of the Privileges of the People, both as Legislator and chief Magistrate of this great City. By Order of the Inhabitants.
J. MORGAN, C. W.
To which his Lordship returned the following Answer.
"Gentlemen of the Ward of Tower, "The Testimony of my own Conscience, joined to the repeated Approbation of the Citizens of London, gives me the greatest Satisfaction; and I feel myself sufficiently rewarded in the Exercise of my Duty by these publick Demonstrations of your Esteem. Had I in the least deviated from that Line of Integrity which my Situation, as your chief Magistrate, requires, I should think myself unworthy of the Honours which you, and your Fellow Citizens, have conferred upon me; but I flatter myself my Conduct will be consistent and uniform. I have no Views but the Prosperity of my Country, which I shall always endeavour to promote to the best of my Abilities, and am persuaded that in the Prosecution of these Ends I shall always have the Continuance of your Protection and Support." To Richard Oliver, Esquire, Alderman of the City of London.
The Address of the Deputy, Common Council, and Inhabitants of the Ward of Tower.
"SIR, "When the violent Resolutions of one Branch of the Legislature are set up in Opposition to the general Rights of an Englishman, and the peculiar Privileges of a Citizen, and when our Magistrates are sentenced to close Imprisonment for acting agreeably to the established Law of the Land and the solemn Obligation of an Oath, every generous Man must glow with Indignation. At such a Juncture Neutrality becomes mean, dastardly, and criminal.
"The Liberties of this Country never received a deeper Stab than when you, Sir, was committed to this Prison, for refusing to violate divine and human Laws. By this, and various other illegal Acts of the Representatives of the People, they have basely betrayed their Trust, and rendered themselves unworthy of future Confidence.
"Thus oppressed by a wicked Administration, and deserted by a corrupt Majority of the House of Commons, our last Resource is the Virtue of the People.
"Animated with these Sentiments, the Inhabitants of the Ward of Tower cannot but express their entire Approbation of your Conduct, both as a Magistrate and a Senator, and assure you of their firm and steady Support."
Mr. Alderman Oliver's Answer.
"Gentlemen of the Ward of Tower, "The Honour I receive by your Testimony of Approbation is more than a sufficient Reward for my Conduct on a recent Occasion, as without Applause the Effect of Integrity is its own Recompence.
"I think, with you, in such Times as these, that Neutrality is a Defection of Duty. I believe it necessary to prove myself a bona fide Magistrate, and a faithful Representative of London, when called upon to exercise Justice, and to manifest my Principles. Could I make you every proper Return for the Favours you now bestow on me, none could be so agreeable to you as the Assurance, which I request you to accept, that I will not fail in the conscientious Discharge of my Trusts, both as your Magistrate and your Representative.
"From the Virtue of the People of this Country, I have the warmest Hopes of such Support as will not fail to procure the ablest Defenders of the Cause of the People, while I can offer the most honest Endeavours for redressing their Grievances."
Yesterday Henry Crabb Boulton, and John Walsh, Esquires, Members of Parliament for Worcester, waited on the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, in the Tower, with the Freedom of that City, and the following is an exact Copy.
"City of Worcester, in the Time of Edward Wellings, Esquire, Mayor, April 15th, 1771, the Right Honourable Bras Crosby, Esquire, Lord Mayor of the City of London, was admitted a Freeman of this City gratis.
WILLIAM BOND, Town Clerk."
We hear the Inhabitants of the Ward of Farringdon Without intend meeting, the Beginning of next Week, to consider of an Address to the Lord Mayor, and Messieurs Aldermen Wilkes and Oliver.
The Report which has of late been industriously propagated, that Lord North is disgusted, and intends speedily to resign, is absolutely and totally groundless. It is supposed to be raised by some of those who are Enemies to the Prosperity and stability of his Majesty's Government, as the Tongue of Envy has not yet been able to fix one single Strain upon his Lordship's Character. Finding they have not been able to intimidate his Lordship by Attempts upon his Person, they now try to raise a Jealousy between his Royal Master and him; but his Majesty hath too much Discernment not to see through this low Artifice, and to-ard an Love for his People to part with so able and confidential a Servant. Another Instance of ther-

POETS CORNER.
An INVITATION to the FEATHERED RACE.
A GAIN the balmy Zephyr blows, Fresh Verdure decks the Grove, Each Bird with vernal Rapture glows, And tunes his Notes to Love. Ye gentle Warblers, hither fly, And shun the Noon Tide Heat; My Shrubs a cooling Shade supply, My Groves a safe Retreat. Here freely hop from Spray to Spray, Or weave the mossy Nest; Here rowe and sing the live-long Day, At Night here sweetly rest. Amidst this cool translucent Rill, That trickles down the Glade, Here bathe your Plumes, here drink your Fill, And revel in the Shade. No Schoolboy rude, to Mischief prone, E'er shows his ruddy Face, Or twangs his Bow, or hurls a Stone, In this sequester'd Place. Hither the vocal Thrush repairs, Secure the Linnets sings, The Goldfinch dreads no slimy Snares, To clog her painted Wings. Sad Philomel! ah quit thy Haunt, Yon distant Woods among, And round my friendly Grotto chaunt Thy sweetly plaintive Song. Let not the harmless Redbreast fear, Domestick Bird, to come And seek a sure Asylum here, With One that loves his Home. My Trees for you, ye artless Tribe, Shall Store of Fruit preserve; Oh let me thus your Friendship bribe! Come feed without Reserve. For you these Cherries I protect, To you these Plums belong; Sweet is the Fruit that you have pick'd, But sweeter far your Song. Let then this League, betwixt us made, Our mutual Interests guard; Mine be the Gift of Fruit and Shade, Your Songs be my Reward.
HIS Majesty's Postmaster General having (for the better facilitating of Correspondence between Great Britain and America) been pleased to add a fifth Packet Boat to the Station between Falmouth and New York, Notice is hereby given that the Mail, for the future, will be closed, at the Post Office in New York, at twelve of the Clock at Night, on the first Tuesday in every Month, and despatched by a Packet, the next Day, for Falmouth. By Command of the Deputy Postmaster General. ALEXANDER COLDEN, Secretary.
On a Motion made, THURSDAY, June 13, 1771. ORDERED, THAT the Clerks of the several County Courts in this Colony do transmit to the Clerk of this House, in the first Part of every Meeting of the General Assembly, a List of the Tithables in their Counties, containing the Names of such Tithables; and that they transmit also, at the same Time, a List of the publick Charges of their respective Counties. ORDERED, That the Clerk of this House do cause the same to be published in the Virginia Gazette. By the House of Burgessses. GEORGE WYTHE, C. H. B.
To be LET on Charter, for Glasgow, A SHIP of about four Hundred and eighty Hogheads, or one of about Half that Burthen, on reasonable Terms. Apply to Mr. Neil Campbell at Richmond, or to the Subscriber at Rocky Ridge. JAMES LYLE.
To be SOLD, pursuant to the last Will and Testament of WILLIAM STITH, deceased, FIFTEEN Hundred Acres of LAND, lying on Herring Creek, in Charles City County, adjoining the Buckland Estate, and Berkley Tract. Any Person inclinable to purchase the Whole, or any Part of it, may know the Terms by applying to the Subscriber, in Dinwiddie. ROBERT WALKER.
DUMFRIES, June 6, 1771. WHEREAS the Subscriber carried on a Trade in Charles County, in the Province of Maryland, in Company with John Semple, now of Prince William County, in the Colony of Virginia, from the Year 1757 to the Year 1763, when the Partnership was dissolved; and in the Year 1760 the said Semple purchased of Messrs. John Carlyle and John Dalton, for the Behoof of that Concern, a Lot of Land in the Town of Alexandria, for which the Subscriber paid the Purchase Money, by Semple's Bill of Exchange drawn on him on Account of the Company, on which Lot the Company made several valuable Improvements; and afterwards, in the Year 1764, the said Semple took a Deed in his own Name for the said Lot and Improvements; and whereas, by the Articles of Copartnership, the said Semple bound himself not to draw any Money or Effects from that Concern, until the whole Debts due by it were fully satisfied, and totally paid off: This, therefore, is to forewarn any Person or Persons whatsoever from taking any Assignment of the said Lot, without the Consent of the Subscriber, who solely manages and transacts the Business of the said Partnership (Mr. Semple not having had any Management therein these six Years past) otherwise his or their Right will be of no Validity, as I shall dispute the Title John Semple may presume to assign him or them, it being diametrically repugnant to the Spirit, Meaning, and express Words of the said Articles of Copartnership, recorded in Charles County aforesaid. JAMES LAWSON.
To be SOLD, A VERY good Tract of LAND, on Warresqueat Bay, James River, in Isle of Wight County, about ten Miles below Hog Island, containing above three Thousand five Hundred Acres, whereon are three Plantations cleared, and in good Order for Cropping, sufficient to work thirty five Hands. On the Manor Plantation is a handsome Brick House, sixty by twenty six, two Stories high, well finished and wainscotted, with two Brick Outhouses forty Feet by twenty, Barns, Stables, and every other necessary House, a handsome Garden, completely laid off, a Hundred and five Yards by seventy five. On the three Plantations there are at least seventeen Hundred Apple Trees, and a great Variety of other Fruits. Near the said Land is a Tract containing eighty five Acres, with a well accustomed Mill thereon, and as fine a Stream as any in the Colony. Any Person inclinable to purchase the above Tracts of Land, or any Part thereof, may know the Terms by applying to the Subscriber, who live on the Spot. To be sold also, an exceeding rich Tract of high Land, containing near a Thousand Acres, lying on Rappahannock River, between Barnes's and Edwards's Ferries, about fifteen Miles below Halfax Town, North Carolina, well wooded and watered, is beautifully situated, and convenient to Church and Mill; a sufficient Quantity thereof is cleared to employ fifteen Hands, and is in good Order for Cropping. For Terms apply to Mr. Wylie Jones, North Carolina, or to the Subscribers. ROBERT BURWELL. NATHANIEL BURWELL.
To be SOLD, on the 25th Instant (June) at twenty five Shillings an Acre,
ONE Hundred and thirty five Acres of well wooded LAND lying on James River, in Warwick County, about six Miles from Hampton, with an Apple Orchard, and many other Fruit Trees thereon. Sixty Pounds of the Purchase Money will be required on the Day of Sale, and two Years Credit allowed for the Remainder, on giving Bond, with approved Security, to ROBERT BROWN.
LATELY imported, in the Commerce, from Glasgow, without a Bill of Lading, two Casks marked S in a Diamond, No. 1 and 2. The Proprietor may have them by applying to Mr. Henry Lockhead, Merchant in Petersburg. DAVID CONKIE.
VINEYARD, York County, June 13, 1771. STRAYED away, two STEERS. One all black, about four Years old; the other pied, about three Years old, white on the near Shoulder and Flank. Both are bob tailed, and the pied One's Tail is tipped with white. They are cropped and slit in the Ears, and have a Hole bored through their Horns. Whoever will bring the said Steers, or inform the Subscriber where he may have the same, shall have all reasonable Charges allowed them. ANDREW ESTAVE.
COMMITTED to the Jail of Chesterfield, on the 23d of May, a Lad whose Name is Abraham, about seventeen or eighteen Years of Age, of a yellow Complexion, and says he belongs to Philip Cockram of Halifax County. The Owner is desired to pay Charges, and take him away. JAMES BALL, Jailer.
TREASURY OFFICE, June 5, 1771. I WOULD gladly exchange GOLD and SILVER for any of the old or new PAPER MONEY, especially such as is torn or defaced. RO. C. NICHOLAS, Treasurer.
NEWCASTLE, June 4, 1771. ALL Persons indebted to the late Partnership of Johnson and Tinley are requested to repair to the above Place, and finally settle their Accounts, on or before the 25th of October next, as the Subscriber intends to embark for Great Britain directly after the Expiration of that Time. Those who fail, I must beg Leave to inform, will be unhappy enough to settle their Accounts with a Lawyer. WILLIAM JOHNSON.
THE Negroes at Westover took up, in the Fresh last Week, a fifteen Hoghead FLAT, a large FERRY BOAT, and a Hoghead of TOBACCO marked MFD, No. 4, which has sustained but little Damage. The Owners are desired to apply there for them.
WILLIAMSBURG, June 6, 1771. JOURNEYMEN BRICKLAYERS will meet with good Encouragement by applying to HUMPHREY HARWOOD.
HANOVER, June 1, 1771. I INTEND for ENGLAND immediately. MERIWETHER SKELTON.
For SALE, At the old Store, near Cabin Point, in Surry, A PARCEL of European GOODS, to the Amount of about three Hundred Pounds Sterling, consisting of Irish Linens, German Osnabrugs, Mens and Womens Shoes and Pumps, Felt Hats, Mens brown Thread Hose, Stationary, Wool, Tow, and Cotton Cards, several Pieces of Duroy, with Trimmings, several Casks of sixpenny and twentypenny Nails, Plantation and Carpenters Tools, Gunpowder, Shot, and a Variety of other Articles. These Goods are all from London, and great Part of them just imported in the Randolph, Captain Walker. Fifty Pounds ready Money will be required of the Purchaser, who will be allowed Credit for the Remainder until the first of April 1772, on giving Bond, with good Security. An Inventory of the Goods may be seen at any Time, and farther Particulars known by applying to THOMAS FENNER.
To be SOLD, ONE Hundred and ninety six Acres of LAND, lying on the east Side of Deep Creek, in Warwick County, pleasantly situated on the Mouth of the said Creek, well timbered with Pine and Oak, and not above forty Acres cleared in the Whole. The Land is very good for Corn, Wheat, or Tobacco, affords excellent Pasturage for all Kinds of Stock, and is very convenient to fine Fish, Oysters, and wild Fowl. Any Person inclinable to purchase the said Land may know the Terms by applying to the Subscriber, at Warwick Courthouse. ROBERT BROWN.
BLANDFORD, May 27, 1771. THE Subscribers have missing two Casks marked WR, No. 1 and 2, containing Shot and Bar Lead, imported last Fall in the Blaad, Captain Hugh Wylie. Whoever has such Casks in Possession, and will send a Line to us, the Charges shall be paid, and the Favour acknowledged. BOYD & POYTHRESS.
TAKEN up by the Subscriber, in Charles City, a small bay MARE about four Feet three Inches high, branded on the near Shoulder and Buttock M, and on the off Shoulder C. Potted, and appraised to five Pounds. WILLIAM CHRISTIAN.
TAKEN up, in Mecklenburg, a bright bay MARE about twelve or thirteen Years old, with some white Hairs in her Forehead, a hanging Mane and Switch Tail, a Film over one of her Eyes, and branded as near as can be made out. SWEPSON JEFFRIES.
TAKEN up, in Amelia, a black MARE COLT about four Feet two Inches high, a natural Pacer, neither docked nor branded. Potted, and appraised to fifty Shillings. DRURY TUCKER.
TAKEN up, in Orange, seven BARROWS marked with a Swallow-fork and Underkeel in each Ear, two of them of a sandy Colour, with some black Spots, and the others white; they appear to be about a Year and a Half old. Potted, and appraised to three Pounds. JAMES TAYLOR.
TAKEN up, in Amelia, a dark brindled COW that appears to be very old, marked with a Crop and Slit in the left Ear, and a Swallow-fork in the right. Potted, and appraised to thirty Shillings. GEORGE TUCKER, Senior.
PORTSMOUTH, May 25, 1771. WANTED , a convenient Situation on James River for erecting a Grist Mill. INGLIS & LONG.
VIRGINIA, sc. At a GENERAL COURT held at the Capito', May 7, 1771. Thomas Blackmore, Dorsey Pentecost, Thomas Speake, James Lindsey, Nathaniel Barrett, and Thomas Wadlington, Plaintiffs, against James Fowler, of the Province of Pennsylvania, Edward Snickers, Thomas Colston, George Jump, Joseph Elbridge, William Bilboro, Stephen Johnson, David Abney, and Thomas Shepherd, Defendants, In Chancery. THE Defendant James Fowler being beyond Sea, and not having entered his Appearance according to the Rule of this Court, on the Motion of the Plaintiffs, by their Counsel, it is ordered that the other Defendants, who have Effects of the said Fowler in their Hands, as is suggested, do pay, convey away, or secrete such Effects, until the further Order or Decree of this Court concerning the same; but that they deliver up such Effects, or so much thereof as will be of Value sufficient to satisfy the Demand of the Plaintiffs, unto the said Plaintiffs, upon their giving Security to the Clerk of this Court for the Return of such Effects, in such Manner, and to such Persons as the Court shall hereafter adjudge. And it is farther ordered that the said Defendant (Fowler) do appear here on the first Day of the next Court, to answer the Plaintiffs Bill; and that a Copy of this Order be, within fifteen Days, inserted in the Virginia GAZETTE, for two Months successively, and published on some Lord's Day, immediately after divine Service, in the Church of the Parish of Frederick, in the County of Frederick; and be also posted up at the front Door of the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg. BEN: WALLER.
MIDDLESEX, May 7, 1771. RUN away, a dark Mulatto Man named BARNABY, about five Feet two Inches high. He is artful in his Answers, and has an Impediment in his Speech. Had on a Suit of dark coloured Russia Drab. Whoever will apprehend him, and have him committed to Jail, shall have TWENTY SHILLINGS Reward. TU AUGUSTINE SMITH.
AS twelve Months are nearly expired since the Store kept at Todd's, on Account of Messrs. McCall and Elliot, of Glasgow, by the Subscriber, has been discontinued, it is expected that such Persons as are indebted there will be ready, upon Application, to discharge their respective Balances; and it may be depended upon that such as do not will be sued, as the Indulgence already given the Customers has been such that no farther can be allowed, or reasonably expected. I have about fourteen Hundred Pounds Sterling worth of GOODS, which I would sell cheap. TU ROBINSON DAINGERFIELD.
WANTED In NORBORNE Parish, Frederick County, A SCHOOLMASTER well qualified to teach Writing and Arithmetic; if of Latin also, the more agreeable, and the Salary enlarged. It will not be expected that he should teach more than fifteen or twenty Scholars. For farther Particulars inquire of the Printer of this Paper; or of Y. Nourse at Piedmont, in the said County. None need apply but such as can have an undoubted Character for Diligence and Sobriety. N. B. It is thought a Dancing Master likewise would meet with Encouragement in the above County. TU
To be SOLD, on long Credit, the three following Tracts of LAND, viz. ONE Tract containing four Hundred Acres, lying in Spotsylvania County, on the Head of Bluff Run, about eighteen Miles from Fredericksburg. One other Tract lying in Amherst County, on Queen's Creek, containing four Hundred Acres; it is well timbered, and a good Soil for Tobacco and Indian Corn. One Tract lying in Pittsylvania County, on Sycamore Creek, near Captain Benjamin Clement's, containing two Hundred Acres; this is likewise good Tobacco Land. Any Person inclinable to purchase either of the above Tracts of Land may know the Terms by applying to Mr. Charles Irving, Merchant in Albemarle County, or to the Subscriber in Richmond Town. The above Lands are the Property of John Loving, Senior, of Amherst County, but made over by a Deed of Trust to the Subscriber. Two Years Credit, or longer if required, will be given, on Bond and approved Security. TU WILLIAM MITCHELL.
For SALE, And may be entered on in NOVEMBER next, THE LAND whereon I now live, containing two Hundred and seventy four Acres. It is exceeding good for Grain, Tobacco, &c. and lies so level that nine Tenths may be plowed with the greatest Ease. The Improvements on the same consist of a Plantation, in good Order, sufficient for working seven or eight Hands, the Whole lying to the Plow; an Ordinary House fifty four Feet long, finished off in a complete Manner, has three Rooms with Fireplaces below Stairs, besides lodging Rooms, and three Rooms above Stairs, one of which has a Fireplace; a House twenty Feet in Length, and sixteen in Width, with two Rooms below, and one above Stairs, wherein lives the Clerk of the County, and keeps the Office; two Kitchens, one of which is very valuable; a Dairy, Meathouse, Barn, fine strong Stables, Corn Houses, two fine Gardens, of the best fawed Framing and Palings; and, in short, every Convenience that is necessary for the Ordinary and Plantation Uses. There are also, on the same Plantation, two large standing Stores kept, of very considerable Trade; the Storehouses are large and commodious, the cheapest of which did not cost less than a Hundred and fifty Pounds; to each Storehouse belongs a House for the Residence of the Merchants, one of which cost upwards of a Hundred Pounds, the other upwards of seventy five; there also belongs to the Stores fine strong Stables, &c. There are two Tailors Shops, with Kitchens, and other Conveniences, belonging thereto; as also three Blacksmiths Shops, &c. The Rents of which, in the Whole, amount pretty considerably. Besides these two Stores on my Plantation, a third, of considerable Trade, is settled (for the Convenience of their Diets, &c. in the Ordinary) within, or about, three Hundred Yards from my Ordinary Door, on Land that does not belong to me. This Place is more commodiously situated, and better calculated for Trade, than perhaps any of the back Parts in this Colony at least, if not on the Continent. To every Dwellinghouse, Store, &c. &c. (Tailors and Blacksmiths Shops excepted) are good Brick Chimneys, the Houses underpinned with Bricks, and good Cellars, and all in good Repair. The Whole of the Buildings are placed uniform, in Lines and Squares, so as to resemble a Town. None of the Buildings have been built over eight Years, and almost all the valuable Buildings within five Years. The Situation is high, and remarkably healthy, commanding a delightful Prospect of the Mountains and Country round. It lies about eight Miles from Amherst Courthouse, on the main Carolina Road, which is greatly used by Travellers, and, together with the great Resort of Gentlemen to this Place, consumes as much Liquors as cost me annually three Hundred Pounds, besides Provisions for Men and Beasts. As Persons at a Distance inclining to purchase may better judge whether it would be worth their While to come and see the Place, I think it not amiss to inform them that I will take eight Hundred Pounds for the Place, and give a reasonable Time for Payment, which is many Hundred Pounds below the intrinsic Value of it.
I will also sell to the Purchaser (if required) most of the Furniture belonging to the Ordinary, at least ten good Feather Beds, with Furniture to the same; Walnut and Mahogany Tables, Chairs, &c. &c. TU GABRIEL PENN.
N. B. All the Merchants, Storekeepers, Clerk of the County, their Servants, &c. are boarded in the Ordinary, the Profits of which are pretty considerable to me. RUN away from the Subscriber, at the Falls of James River, the Middle of last Month, a Negro Man named DAVY, belonging to the Hon. William Byrd, Esquire, about thirty Years old, five Feet eight Inches high, and very stout made; he is of a yellow Complexion, has a down Look, and a Defect in some of his fore Teeth. He is supposed to be lurking about Hanover Town, Petersburg, or gone towards Carolina. Whoever will apprehend the said Fellow, and bring him to me, shall have FORTY SHILLINGS Reward; and if taken out of the Colony, FIVE POUNDS. TU DAVID PATTESON.