The Virginia gazette (Williamsburg, Va.), 1771-02-21 00:00:00

VIRGINIA
GAZETTE.
Open to ALL PARTIES,
but influenced by NONE.
LETTER of JUNIUS.
To the Right Honourable Lord MANSFIELD.
My Lord,
THE appearance of this letter will attract the curiosity of the public, and command even your Lordship's attention. I am considerably in your debt, and shall endeavour, once for all, to balance the account. Accept of this address, my Lord, as a prologue to more important scenes, in which you will probably be called upon to act or suffer.
You will not question my veracity, when I assure you, that it has not been owing to any particular respect for your person, that I have abstained from you so long. Besides the distress and danger with which the press is threatened, when your Lordship is party, and the party is to be judge, I confess I have been deterred by the difficulty of the task. Our language has no term of reproach, the mind has no idea of detestation, which has not already been happily applied to you, and exhausted. Ample justice has been done by abler pens than mine, to the separate merits of your life and character. Let it be my humble office to collect the scattered sweets, till their united virtue tortures the sense.
Permit me to begin with paying a just tribute to Scotch sincerity, wherever I find it. I own I am not apt to confide in the professions of Gentlemen of that country, and when they smile, I feel an involuntary emotion to guard myself against mischief. With this general opinion of an ancient nation, I always thought it much to your Lordship's honour, that, in your earlier days, you were but little infected with the prudence of your country. You had some original attachments, which you took every proper opportunity to acknowledge. The liberal spirit of youth prevailed over your native discretion. Your zeal in the cause of an unhappy Prince, was expressed with the sincerity of wine, and some of the solemnities of religion. This, I conceive, is the most amiable point of view, in which your character has appeared. Like an honest man you took that part in politics, which might have been expected from your birth, education, country, and connections. There was something generous in your attachment to the banished House of Stuart. We lament the mistakes of a good man, and do not begin to detest him until he affects to renounce his principles. Why did you not adhere to that loyalty you once professed? Why did you not follow the example of your worthy brother? With him you might have shared in the honour of the Pretender's confidence—with him you might have preserved the integrity of your character, and England, I think, might have spared you without regret. Your friends will say, perhaps, that although you deserted the fortune of your liege Lord, you have adhered firmly to the principles which drove his father from the Throne; that without openly supporting the person, you have done essential service to the cause, and consoled yourself for the loss of a favourite family, by reviving and establishing the maxims of their government. This is the way in which a Scotchman's understanding corrects the error of his heart. My Lord, I acknowledge the truth of the defence, and can trace it through all your conduct. I see through your whole life one uniform plan to enlarge the power of the Crown, at the expence of the liberty of the subject. To this object your thoughts, words, and actions, have been constantly directed. In contempt or ignorance of the common law of England, you have made it your study to introduce into the court, where you preside, maxims of jurisprudence unknown to Englishmen. The Roman code, the law of nations, and the opinion of foreign civilians, are your perpetual theme; but who ever heard you mention Magna Charta, or the Bill of Rights, with approbation or respect? By such treacherous arts the noble simplicity and free spirit of our Saxon laws were first corrupted. The Norman conquest was not complete, until Norman lawyers had introduced their laws, and reduced slavery to a system. This one leading principle directs your interpretation of the laws, and accounts for your treatment of juries. It is not in political questions only (for there the courtier might be forgiven) but let the cause be what it may, your understanding is equally on the rack, either to contract the power of the jury, or to mislead their judgment. For the truth of this assertion, I appeal to the doctrine you delivered in Lord Grosvenor's cause. An action for criminal conversation being brought by a Peer against a Prince of the Blood, you were daring enough to tell the jury that, in fixing the damages, they were to pay no regard to the quality or fortune of the parties; that it was a trial between A and B; that they were to consider the offence in a moral light only, and give no greater damages to a Peer of the Realm than to the meanest mechanic. I shall not attempt to refute a doctrine, which, if it was meant for law, carries falsehood and absurdity upon the face of it; but, if it was meant for a declaration of your political creed, is clear and consistent. Under an arbitrary government, all ranks and distinctions are confounded. The honour of a Nobleman is no more considered than the reputation of a peasant, for, with different liveries, they are equally slaves.
Even in matters of private property we see the same bias and inclination to depart from the decisions of your predecessors, which you certainly ought to receive as evi-
dence of the common law. Instead of those certain, positive rules, by which the judgment of a court of law should invariably be determined, you have fondly introduced your own unsettled notions of equity and substantial justice. Decisions given upon such principles do not alarm the public so much as they ought, because the consequence and tendency of each particular instance is not observed or regarded. In the mean time the practice gains ground; the Court of King's Bench becomes a Court of Equity, and the Judge, instead of consulting strictly the law of the land, refers only to the wisdom of the court, and to the purity of his own conscience. The name of Mr. Justice Yates will naturally revive in your mind some of those emotions of fear and detestation, with which you always beheld him. That great lawyer, that honest man, saw your whole conduct in the light that I do. After years of ineffectual resistance to the pernicious principles introduced by your Lordship, and uniformly supported by your humble friends upon the Bench, he determined to quit a court, whose proceedings and decisions he could neither assent to with honour, nor oppose with success.
The injustice done to an individual is sometimes of service to the public. Facts are apt to alarm us more than the most dangerous principles. The sufferings and firmness of a printer have roused the public attention. You knew and felt that your conduct would not bear a parliamentary inquiry, and you hoped to escape it by the meanest, the basest sacrifice of dignity and consistency, that ever was made by a great Magistrate. Where was your firmness, where was that vindictive spirit, of which we have seen so many examples, when a man, so inconsiderable as Bingley, could force you to confess, in the face of this country, that, for two years together, you had illegally deprived an English subject of his liberty, and that he had triumphed over you at last? Yet I own, my Lord, that your's is not an uncommon character. Women, and men like women, are timid, vindictive, and irresolute. Their passions counteract each other, and make the same creature at one moment hateful, at another contemptible. I fancy, my Lord, some time will elapse before you venture to commit another Englishman for refusing to answer interrogatories.
The doctrines you have constantly delivered in cases of a libel, is another powerful evidence of a settled plan to contract the legal power of juries, and to draw questions, inseparable from fact, within the arbitrium of the court. Here, my Lord, you have fortune on your side. When you invade the province of the jury, in matter of libel, you, in effect, attack the liberty of the press, and with a single stroke, wound two of your greatest enemies at once. In some instances you have succeeded, because jurymen are too often ignorant of their own rights, and too apt to be awed by the authority of a Chief Justice. In other criminal prosecutions, the malice of the design is confessedly as much the subject of consideration to a jury as the certainty of the fact. If a different doctrine prevails in the case of libels, why should it not extend to all criminal cases? Why not to capital offences? I see no reason (and I dare say you will agree with me, that there is no good one) why the life of the subject should be better protected against you, than his liberty or property. Why should you enjoy the full power of pillory, fine, and imprisonment, and not be indulged with hanging or transportation? With your Lordship's fertile genius, and merciful disposition, I can conceive such an exercise of the power you have, as could hardly be aggravated by that which you have not.
But, my Lord, since you have laboured (and not unsuccessfully) to destroy the substance of the trial, why should you suffer the form of the verdict to remain? Why force twelve honest men, in palpable violation of their oaths, to pronounce their fellow subject a guilty man, when, almost at the same moment, you forbid their inquiring into the only circumstance, which in the eye of law and reason constitutes guilt,—the malignity or innocence of his intentions?—But I understand your Lordship.—If you could succeed in making the trial by jury useless and ridiculous, you might then with greater safety introduce a bill into Parliament for enlarging the jurisdiction of the court, and extending your favourite trial by interrogatories to every question, in which the life or liberty of an Englishman is concerned.
Your charge to the jury, in the prosecution against Almon and Woodfall, contradicts the highest legal authorities, as well as the plainest dictates of reason. In Miller's cause, and still more expressly in that of Baldwin, you have proceeded a step farther, and grossly contradicted yourself.—You may know perhaps, though I do not mean to insult you by an appeal to your experience, that the language of truth is uniform and consistent. To depart from it safely requires memory and discretion. In the two last trials your charge to the jury began, as usual, with assuring them that they had nothing to do with the law,—that they were to find the bare fact, and not concern themselves about the legal inferences drawn from it, or the degree of the defendant's guilt.—Thus far you were consistent with your former practice.—But how will you account for the conclusion? You told the jury that, "if after all, they would take upon themselves to determine the law, they might do it, but they must be very sure that they determined according to law, for it touched their consciences, and they acted at their peril." If I understand your first
proposition, you meant to affirm, that the jury were not competent judges of the law in the criminal case of a libel;—that it did not fall within their jurisdiction; and that, with respect to them, the malice or innocence of the defendant's intentions would be a question coram non judice .—But the second proposition clears away your own difficulties, and restores the jury to all their judicial capacities. You make the competence of the court to depend upon the legality of the decision. In the first instance you deny the power absolutely. In the second, you admit the power, provided it be legally exercised.—Now, my Lord, without pretending to reconcile the distinctions of Westminster-Hall with the simple information of common sense, or the integrity of fair argument, I shall be understood by your Lordship, when I assert that, if a jury, or any other Court of Judicature (for jurors are judges) have no right to understand a cause, or question of law, it signifies nothing whether their decision be or be not according to law. Their decision is in itself a mere nullity;—the parties are not bound to submit to it; and, if the jury run any risk of punishment, it is not for pronouncing a corrupt or illegal verdict, but for the illegality of meddling with a point, on which they have no legal authority to decide.
I cannot quit this subject without reminding your Lordship of the name of Mr. Benson. Without offering any legal objection, you ordered a special juryman to be set aside in a cause, where the King was prosecutor. The novelty of the fact required explanation. Will you condescend to tell the world by what law or custom you were authorised to make a peremptory challenge of a juryman? The parties indeed have this power, and perhaps your Lordship, having accustomed yourself to unite the characters of judge and party, may claim it in virtue of the new capacity you have assumed, and profit by your own wrong. The time, within which you might have been punished for this daring attempt to pack a jury, is, I fear, elapsed; but no length of time shall erase the record of it.
The mischiefs you have done this country are not confined to your interpretation of the laws, you are a Minister, my Lord, and, as such, have long been consulted. Let us candidly examine what use you have made of your ministerial influence. I will not descend to little matters, but come at once to those important points, on which your resolution was waited for, on which the expectation of your opinion kept a great part of the nation in suspense.—A constitutional question arises upon a declaration of the law of Parliament, by which the freedom of election, and the birthright of the subject were supposed to have been invaded.—The King's servants are accused of violating the constitution.—The nation is in a ferment.—The ablest men of all parties engage in the question, and exert their utmost abilities in the discussion of it.—What part has the honest Lord Mansfield acted? As an eminent judge of the law, his opinion would have been respected.—As a Peer, he had a right to demand an audience of his Sovereign, and inform him that his Ministers were pursuing unconstitutional measures.—Upon other occasions, my Lord, you have no difficulty in finding your way into the closet. The pretended neutrality of belonging to no party will not save your reputation. In questions merely political, an honest man may stand neuter. But, the laws and constitution are the general property of the subject;—not to defend is to relinquish;—and who is there so senseless as to renounce his share in a common benefit, unless he hopes to profit by a new division of the spoil. As a Lord of Parliament you were repeatedly called upon to condemn or defend the new law declared by the House of Commons. You affected to have scruples, and every expedient was attempted to remove them.—The question was proposed and urged to you in a thousand different shapes.—Your prudence still supplied you with evasion;—your resolution was impenetrable. For my own part, I am not anxious to penetrate this solemn secret. I care not to whose wisdom it is intrusted, nor how soon you carry it with you to your grave. You have betrayed your opinion by the very care you have taken to conceal it. It is not from Lord Mansfield that we expect any reserve in declaring his real sentiments in favour of government, or in opposition to the people; nor is it difficult to account for the different motions of a timid, dishonest heart, which neither has virtue enough to acknowledge truth, nor courage to contradict it.—Yet you continue to support an administration which you know is universally odious, and which, on some occasions, you yourself speak of with contempt.
You would fain be thought to take no share in government, while, in reality, you are the main spring of the machine.—Here too we trace the little, prudent policy of a Scotchman. Instead of acting that open, generous part which becomes your rank and station, you meanly skulk into the closet, and give your Sovereign such advice, as you have not spirit to avow or defend. You secretly engross the power, while you decline the title of Minister; and though you dare not be Chancellor, you know how to secure the emoluments of the office.—Are the seals to be for ever in commission, that you may enjoy five thousand pounds a year? I beg pardon, my Lord; your fears have interposed at last, and forced you to resign.—The odium of continuing Speaker of the House of Lords, upon such terms, was too formidable to be resisted. What a multitude of bad

passions are forced to submit to a constitutional infirmity: But, though you have relinquished the salary, you still assume the rights of a Minister.—Your conduct, it seems, must be defended in Parliament.—For what other purpose is your wretched friend, that miserable Serjeant, posted to the House of Commons? Is it in the abilities of Mr. Leigh to defend the great Lord Mansfield?—Or is he only the Punch of the puppet-show, to speak as he is prompted by the CHIEF JUGGLER behind the curtain?
In public affairs, my Lord, cunning, let it be ever so well wrought, will not conduct a man honourably through life. Like bad money, it may be current for a time, but it will soon be cried down. It cannot consist with a liberal spirit, though it be sometimes united with extraordinary qualifications. When I acknowledge your abilities, you may believe I am sincere. I feel for human nature when I see a man, so gifted as you are, descend to such vile practice.—Yet do not suffer your vanity to console you too soon. Believe me, my good Lord, you are not admired in the same degree, in which you are detested. It is only the partiality of your friends that balances the defects of your heart with the superiority of your understanding. No learned man, even among your own tribe, thinks you qualified to preside in a Court of Common Law. Yet it is confessed that, under Justinian , you might have made an incomparable Prætor .—It is remarkable enough, but I hope not ominous, that the laws you understand best, and the judges you affect to admire most, flourished in the decline of a great empire, and are supposed to have contributed to its fall.
Here, my Lord, it may be proper for us to pause together. It is not for my own sake that I wish you to consider the delicacy of your situation. Beware how you indulge the first emotions of your resentment. This paper is delivered to the world, and cannot be recalled. The persecution of an innocent printer cannot alter facts, nor refute arguments.—Do not furnish me with farther materials against yourself.—An honest man, like the true religion, appeals to the understanding, or modestly confides in the internal evidence of his conscience. The impostor, employs force instead of argument, imposes silence where he cannot convince, and propagates his character by the sword. JUNIUS.
THE K--G's ANSWER TO JUNIUS. Of the 8th of MARCH last.
Taken from a late ENGLISH PAPER.
Faction may be resembled to bodies in their descent; their motion is increased in proportion to the space they fall through. No great degree of sagacity was requisite to foretell, that a writer, who had malevolently attacked the greatest Officers of State, would at last lay his hand upon the Throne, and shake even the Monarch, who wished he would not forfeit every title to clemency. An animated stile is far from investing a subject with a right to raise himself upon a level with his Sovereign, and to arraign his conduct in terms that shew a total disregard both to decency and allegiance; but supposing such an outrage could at any time exist, supposing the Sovereign should lay aside the sceptre, and descend to the character of a fellow subject, he might express himself in terms of this kind; which, though abstracted from the forms of Royalty, might still convey his ideas in expressions drawn from his real character, and breathe all the benevolence of one who is paternally affected for the welfare of his subjects.
I AM not surprised at the attack lately received from the pen of Junius, his pen spares no characters. Impunity, instead of furnishing him with suspicion, has hardened him in effrontery. But calumny and sedition is the characteristic of the age; he may have been willingly carried down the stream, because it will land on the shore of popularity.
To abuse extraordinary talents is the highest ingratitude that can be committed against the donor; it favours much of the conduct of the first rebel in the creation, who was both a being of the highest order of intelligent creatures, and was likewise a Devil. Had Junius urged any thing worthy of notice, unless it be for its malignity, he would have been indulged all the freedom of a patriot, and I would have laid aside the King to become a disciple.
A long letter, which has a tendency to disturb the tranquillity of my reign, is stretched out to its enormous length by trite maxims, and every artifice is employed to alienate the affections of my subjects. The charms of novelty are neglected to introduce the poison of malignity, and I am to be exposed to my people for being in the same circumstances as other Kings have been in before me. It has been frequently observed by the votaries of the people, that the voice of truth seldom reaches the ears of a King. This may too often be the case with weak and arbitrary Princes, but will my greatest enemy, will even Junius dare to stigmatize me with being arbitrary or despotic? Has there never been a popular Minister in this kingdom? What is the general character of Burleigh and Wallingham? They certainly conveyed the dictates of truth to the ears of Royalty, and are sufficient to explode the maxim of the people. A patriotic Prince may find it as difficult to be addressed with the falshood of adulation, as a despotic one with the oracles of truth. The language of complaint is not always the language of truth; grievances may not be real; faction will create causes for complaint, if she cannot find them already existing, and popular discontents, when traced to their source, may rather be the murmurs of a few disaffected, than the real sighs of an injured nation. The histories of all nations abound with instances in proof of this assertion: Pity it is, that will not permit future ages from committing similar mistakes. The people are too soon seduced to join in the cry against their superiors, and their passions are too often captivated by those who were unable to have convinced their understanding. But I am precluded every topic which I could urge in my defence; my conduct is asserted to be wrong from principle, and the lessons I have learned from my youth, are stigmatized as pernicious. Yet still I am said to be naturally benevolent; but how that could be, after my habits were become pernicious by education, is a problem of which few will undertake the solution. It is much in my favour that my nature was originally good, as it has rescued me from an inconveniency, that is a species of treason, for unless it had been so, I am told by one of my subjects, that they would
long since have adopted a stile of remonstrance very distant from the humility of complaint. What this stile is, let the nation judge—nay—let Junius explain. The menace is little better than the menace of sedition. If we should trace the thunderbolt to the hand from whence it was cast, it would be found to have proceeded from the hand of Briarius, who was engaged in an attack to dethrone Jupiter. The general maxim, that the King can do no wrong, which was intended to secure Majesty against the poisonous shafts of malecontents, is wrested to inflict wounds in my government; and too often in the natural world, those gifts which were designed by nature to support life, are converted into means of destroying it; the latter flows from perversity of judgment, the former from perversity of will. I ascended the Throne with a sincere and determined resolution to give universal satisfaction to my subjects; I looked on myself as accountable to the King of Kings in the discharge of my duty; and when I considered that my will and pleasure, and happiness, depended on following the dictates of my conscience, I thought myself well secured from doing amiss. The general acclamation and joy of the nation on my accession, made me promise myself that my Throne would be placed in their hearts; and when I considered the thorns which twined themselves round the diadem, I imagined the people would be more ready to invite me to assume the sceptre, than I really was to accept it. The brightest sunshine is too often intercepted by a cloud; I find too soon, that earthly glory, like light in its progress, is liable to fits and intermissions. The very means I took to secure general affection were urged against me, to deprive me of so inestimable an acquisition.
Declared the King of several nations, I looked upon the natives of each kingdom as my subjects. I thought they ought equally to participate of my affections. Impartiality demanded this, and I knew that partiality was, in a Monarch, a species of injustice. The comprehensive term of being King of Great-Britain, whispered to me that all the subjects in Great-Britain were equally allied to me as their Sovereign. The Tweed did not bound my dominions; those that were born north of that river were as much my subjects as those that were born nearer the place of my residence. My affection spread itself, like the light of the sun, in every corner of my dominions, and I knew of no other restraint, no other attraction to my favours, but desert. The North as well as the South Briton partook equally of the warmth of my bounty. I was King of both, and was bound to treat them both as my subjects. None but a person of a narrow mind could blame me for making my benevolence general. He that would blame me for this, must blame the sun for shining upon other nations as well as his. I know indeed that some malecontents thought me partial, because all my favours were not confined to those that were born on the south of the Tweed, and they stigmatize my generosity with the invidious terms of predilection. I looked upon myself as a common father to all my subjects wherever disseminated. Surely it is not a crime in a father to let all his children have a part in his heart. So far was I from being biased by any error imbibed in my education, that I divested myself of the natural predilection which every one has to the peculiar spot in which he was born, and I looked upon myself in the same light as the ancient sage; I looked upon myself not as the citizen of the world, but as if born in every district of my dominion, and bound to care for them with equal portions of affection. The alteration made in the system of government, was the effect of deliberation, it does not become me to add, of wisdom likewise; I do not think myself obliged to reveal the secrets of government to vindicate myself from the aspersions of every one who blames my conduct. A condescension of this kind would unhinge every part of state machinery, extirpate the very idea of subordination, and erect anarchy upon the ruins of order and government. It was necessary to change what would not be controuled, and despotism in a Minister was esteemed no less intolerable than in a Prince; it can be no crime in a Sovereign to rule, it would be weakness in him to suffer himself to be ruled by a servant. I am blamed for discarding a Minister, who was at that time very popular, but sure I cannot be blamed for that step now, for even the people have divested him of the feathers with which they had dressed him, and have more than once pronounced him unworthy of popularity.
If my conduct may admit a vindication in these points, it is not less vindicable with respect to Mr. Wilkes, the God of the people's idolatry. The outrages he committed against my person, the aspersions which he cast upon my dearest relations, were long suffered with contempt, with impunity, if not with pity. As the highest stretch of law may become injustice, in the opinion of the Roman moralist; so when clemency is carried too far it becomes criminal. I never thought that when I put on my Crown, I ceased to be a man; or that at the time when I accepted of the sceptre, I ceased to be a son. If filial duty reigned still in my heart, religion will pardon me the commission of that crime: If filial duty reigned still in my heart let the son judge, for the son only can judge the agonies which I felt at the aspersions which were cast upon her to whom I owe my birth. To defend her could be no crime, to punish her calumniators was to obey the call of justice. But even in this point, I suffered Royalty to stifle the agonies of the man, and bearing a public character, I would not suffer myself to be roused by less than a public injury. The laws shewed resentment to be founded upon justice; the delinquent is now suffering no punishment from personal pique, but the punishment which he has called down upon his own head, by infringing those sanctions which are the bulwarks of civil life, and the only props of government.—Even in the midst of punishment, I listened to the voice of mercy, and the lenity of my government shone forth, even in the pains which were inflicted upon the delinquent; in this case the Magna Charta and Bill of Rights were adhered to, with unexampled scrupulosity. The satisfaction awarded was rather the satisfaction of a private person, than that of a Monarch: It satisfied me; for homo sum , &c. is as much my favourite maxim, as that of the most compassionate individual. The rays of Royal clemency were collected upon Wilkes, in greater quantities than those of indignation, and it was my intention to illuminate and instruct, not to consume. It is no surprising thing, that he should be aggrandized by his punishments. The lower order of mankind fix their attention more upon the sufferings, than the crime, and when their hearts are melted into compassion, they in a manner forget, that the sufferer is a criminal. It is not my intention to destroy, but to save. When the delinquent is worthy of favour, my arms are open to receive him: And if I understand the workings of my own heart, I would rather die to save the meanest individual, than force an individual to die to save me. Faction will always sow her seeds in the best governments, why not in mine, as well as in another? It is her peculiar province to distort the truth which she cannot annihilate: And an erroneous light, is sometimes more pernicious than total blindness. Through her glass the most minute object appears very considerable, why then should we wonder at the aggrandizement of Mr. Wilkes, when it is known he appears so, only through the microscope of faction.
The expulsion of Mr. Wilkes and the election of Col. Luttrell, afford a wide field for censure to expatiate in. Like other controverted points they may be agitated a
long time and may never be brought to a decision. The lawyers have argued the case pro and con; each side is sanguine, each thinks himself in the right. But how are we to know on which side the truth lies, when each opposite party avers, that it lies on his? The only judge of these controversies, the House of Commons, have indeed decided the case. Shall I snatch the balance out of their hands? Shall I shew myself arbitrary, because I am accused, falsely accused, of being so? Shall I overturn the power of Parliament, one of the pillars of the constitution, and take a step that would give despotism, all the advantages it desires over freedom? No! I was raised to govern a free people. I would scorn to be King over a nation of slaves.—The greatest glory of an earthly King is to resemble the King of Kings; and his service is perfect freedom. It is a remarkable circumstance in my favour, that the same persons that censure my conduct, fix the brand of calumny upon the great senate of the kingdom. In days of despotism, the Monarch and the Parliament were always at variance, and it is an infallible symptom of civil liberty and constitutional rectitude, that all the three branches of the constitution should be unanimous. Shall I cut down the prop which supports my palace? The voice of faction may demand it, but the voice of freedom irresistibly forces me to leave the national Council without controul—it shall be free; I would rather be enslaved myself, than promote the triumphs of slavery: The affections of my subjects cannot be purchased too dearly: I live only to promote their welfare. While I regulate my conduct on the principles of reason, I am secure of the love of all the lovers of their country. My interest is inseparable from theirs, and while they have any regard for themselves, they cannot but have as great a one for me; the calm, the dispassionate, the rational subject, has already assured me of his loyalty, I can have no other enemy but the foe, to his country and the enemy of order; I can never be hated or despised while I pursue the paths of honour and justice. Nor shall my conduct be perverted by the clamours of malecontents. Non civium ardor prava jubentium , is a maxim that describes and ennobles the duty of Royalty. Inconsistency only can give birth to contempt; malevolence is the only parent of hatred. As I shall avoid both the progenitors, I am under no apprehensions from their offspring. Ask me not upon what part of my subjects I would rely for assistance. I claim the assistance of all. I claim it upon the natural right of a parent, and the son may as soon draw his sword upon his parent, as any of my subjects may upon me. Ireland knows I have merited her esteem, though the daughter, she is not less caressed than the mother. America may be considered in the same light. Neither of them would murmur from what they feel, but from what they have been taught. The complaints of either are not the complaints of distress, but the mere echoes of seditious demagogues. It is true they may make a noise, but the voice if articulate, is not suggested by a heart which hath felt a real pang. Not doubtful of finding many an unperverted subject in either of those regions; I am still less doubtful of my northern subjects. If Royal favours can secure fidelity, I may assure myself of theirs. When their conduct is altered from what it has been, they have a claim not only for forgiveness but likewise for reward. And having already tasted the sweets of allegiance, they can have no cause for not being faithful. The army is neither my last nor my best resource. The guards deserve my protection, and being nearest my person, cannot but claim my attention. The other regiments with to be guards, and if the guards were to be substituted in their place, they would wish to be my guards again. This is an honour which only one part of the military can enjoy, and to grieve or grow sullen on that account, would be to realize the fable of the contest between the belly and its members. The marching regiments have a strong sense of the great original duty they owe their country, I have no cause to doubt their fidelity. To doubt, would be to deserve. Every department of the army has had all the rewards they purchased by their merits. Their eminent services have raised them to eminent posts, nor can there ever exist the same contest here as among the Romans; the Pretorian bands and the distant legions will never be at variance, and if they should be, it would not be in the power of the distant legions, nor even of the Pretorian bands to give away the empire of Great-Britain. Which way soever I look, I see no cause for perplexity or distress. I have deserved the affections of my subjects, and I will rely upon them. Our happiness is interwoven, is incorporated. God has joined them together, let no mortal therefore dare to put them asunder.—To exert prerogative to its full extent would be to procure a divorce; to exert it in a case in which I have no immediate concern, would be to forfeit what I value more than life, it would be to forfeit the confidence of future Parliaments, and even the confidence of all my subjects in general.—It is both my interest and my duty to prevent the three estates from encroaching upon the province of each other. With what face can I then begin the encroachment, or depart from the constitutional line which terminates the sphere of my prerogative? The liberties taken with the present House of Commons, deserve no countenance, as they have no foundation. General censure is no censure at all; it is a tribute which commonly attends desert, and it is the indication of merit likewise. All Parliaments have been blamed more or less, and till there be a possibility of meeting with one that shall please all parties, it would be in vain to struggle for it. The very possibility is a strong proof of the flourishing state of freedom; only in a state of slavery all subjects are of one opinion. I should be poor indeed, if the fortune which made me a King forbade me to have a friend. Every one of my subjects is my friend, and I am and will be his: They who are convinced that the establishment of the family of Hanover was necessary to the support of their civil and religious liberties, were my friends and must still be so. I desire no other throne but the hearts of my people; and while I secure that, I shall fear no revolution, from a conviction that the same principles which brought my ancestors to the crown, will always be powerful enough to keep it in my family.
Charles-Town, S. Carolina, Jan. 7.
ON Tuesday the 25th of last month, about half an hour past one in the afternoon, a dreadful fire broke out in some wooden buildings on the wharf next the Exchange, which continued with great violence till near four o'clock, when, by the repeated exertions and alertness of the fire-masters and other inhabitants, assisted by a number of men under an officer from his Majesty's ship Fowey, it was happily got under, after having consumed all the buildings from where it began, to the last range of Col. Beale's wharf. The damage sustained is said to be about 7000 l. sterling. When the fire first appeared, the wind was to the eastward of north, but in a little time it very providentially shifted about four points to the westward, whereby the town was saved; yet the intenseness and violence of the heat was such as to set on fire the cornice of the Exchange,

my; and that the garrulity than in the peaceable tim very severe things were short, they were attack upon their ignorance, ne ardice. However, they sh majority; and incessantly kept the question! which at length was for the adjournment, and 121 against it.
The debates in the Upper House, on very spirited. Lord Camden attacked Lord with a becoming spirit and dignity. He said his ship's paper, given to the Clerk the day before, he sidered as a challenge to himself; that his Lordship h thrown down the glove, and he was determined to tak it up. He then proposed to Lord Mansfield three questi ons, and demanded answers to them. Lord Mansfield replied, it was unfair; that he was taken by surprize, and said that he would not answer interrogatories. Lord Camden pressed that a day might be appointed, and said, he was ready to meet the noble Lord upon his ground of law. Lord Mansfield at last, was brought to pledge himself to the House, that the matter should be discus- sed. The Duke of Richmond then congratulated the House, upon the noble Lord's having pledged himself to the point. This brought Lord Mansfield up again; he said he did not pledge himself to the H. He only said, that he should hereafter give his answer to the The spirit of the House of Commons are, it is said, to be for the future bolted during the present session, whenever any national affairs are on the carpet.
January 1, 1771. Soon after the holidays many im- portant motions will be made in the Lower Room of the Robinhood Society, according to notice given by the different Members.
Mr. Burke is to move for an enquiry into the military transactions in St. George's Fields.
Mr. Sawbridge is to move for a triennial or annual Parliament, as well as for a bill to exclude placemen and pensioners.
Mr. Alderman Townsend is to move for the repeal of the two last acts concerning game and dogs; as likewise for the rescinding of a resolution of the House of Com- mons, which denies privilege to Members in matter of libel.
Mr. Dowdeswell is again to make a string of moti- ons, respecting the freedom of election.
Mr. Dunning is to renew his motion on the subject of the insults received by the Lower Room from the Upper Room. And
Mr. Serjeant Glynn is to move incessantly till the right of juries is established.
We are assured that the Earl of Buchan will be e- lected one of the sixteen Peers of Scotland, in the room of the late Duke of Argyle, and not the Earl of Dysart, as mentioned in some of the papers. This Nobleman is one of the most accomplished men in Europe, and his character is every way suitable for that important and honourable office, and will not be influenced by any party whatever, but do equal honour and justice both to his King and country.
January 2. This day came on at Edinburgh the elec- tion of one of the sixteen Peers to serve in Parliament for Scotland. It is expected there will be a warm con- test, as many of the Scots Peers, among whom is a noble Duke, have declared their unalterable resolution to retrieve their dignity, and support their independence on this and every other occasion.
Advice has been received, that the whole city of Ve- nice had like to have been destroyed by the late great floods, the waters in the lowest place being five feet a- bove the ground; they destroyed a vast magazine of vitriol, which poisoned all the rivers, and nothing was to be seen but dead fishes floating upon the surface, which the Magistrates had forbid to be eaten; but the poor people, not regarding that order, had consumed the fish, and great numbers were, by that means, killed by the poisonous influence of the vitriol.
By the freshest accounts from the Levant we hear, that the Russians have not conquered any one capital island in the Archipelago, and that the taking such of the lesser islands as fell into their hands, was attended with much blood-shed, and a loss pretty equal on both sides.
A correspondent says, it is very remarkable, that the two persons who appear at present to be most in the confi- dence of the Premier, are, Mr. Robinson, Secretary of the Treasury, closely connected with Sir James Low- ther, son-in-law to the Thane, and Mr. Brommel, Pri- vate Secretary to the Premier bred up under the Thane.
We hear that at Liverpool no less than a thousand men have been raised for his Majesty's fleet.
WILLIAMSBURG, March 21.
On Saturday the 9th of March, 1771,
died, after a lingering and painful Sickness, GEORGE NICHOLAS, Esquire, of the County of Dinwiddie
Many Years Clerk :
An Office he discharged with Fidelity and Perspicuity.
He was an Husband and Parent the most indulgent; an obliging Neighbour; a sincere Friend.
Adorned with Benevolence of Heart, Integrity of Life, and Simplicity of Manners; he was esteemed by all his Acquaintance; beloved
by those who knew him well. To sum the Whole, he was an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no Guile!
A May But I Be calm May I To him di May they in Thence friendly May those, who See hence the Sclams And be convinc'd how Whilst they a mistress, to
* The common acceptation. but here is meant a set of men love, and despise matrimony.
RICHMOND tow
ON Monday the 11th instant, KET, a young Gentleman, & Neill Campbell, of this place, in atten- creek on horse-back, unfortunately lost sight of a Negro girl, at a little distance, alarm, and though the greatest haste was assistance, it was an hour and a half before he, or a horse (which was likewise drowned) could be found. Every experiment that imagination could suggest for his recovery, was tried without effect. He was, in the bloom of youth, the favourite son of a tender mother, the friend of the distressed, beloved by his intimates, and much lamented by all who knew him. On Tuesday his remains were accompanied by a number of Gentle- men to the place of interment; and on Wednesday a sermon was preached by the Reverend Mr. WILLIAM COURTS, to a numerous, and respectable audience, from Ecclesiastes, IX. 11. But time and chance happeneth to them all.—But whether well suited to the occasion, or delivered in a new and animated manner, is left to the judgment of the critics.
Adieu, dear youth, favour'd by Heav'n's decree To 'scape those ills which we are doom'd to see; On earth's vain sons thou pitying canst look down; And smile at reptiles striving for a Crown: See, unconcern'd, "gloves dash'd," with clangor dire, "And worlds crush'd whilst bon vivants expire."
"Hence, generous youths!" who leave your native clime, Rush not on danger, "but redeem your time!" Fix'd be your purpose, trust in Providence, "For all's ordain'd, and nothing comes by chance!" "Tis wisdom's fool, though Deity in France!"
To PHILO-DICAIOI.
GIVE me leave to assure you, Sir, I never should have guessed at, the person concealed, under the mask of, B. D. much less have hurled at a Burgess, a "thou art the man," had not your sagacity, seen through, the dis- guise. Your other accomplishments, as a writer, I, be- fore, have commended; for I venerate what is laudable, although, in a foe. But these, all, "hide their diminish'd heads" at this, blaze of, penetration. With what con- viction do you, "bring to light, the hidden things of darkness!" From the form, under which he lay hid, hath this Devil, at the touch of your pen "for no falsehood can endure Touch of celestial temper"
flashed up,
into his own likeness, discovered. But may I not ask, if truth, be not truth, whencesoever it proceed? And, whether, to have substituted, a little of, argument, you might not, in part, have forgone your in- jective? Would it not have been as proper, in refuting a charge, to have furnished a reason, instead of, assertion? For aught you have offered, C. R. and PHILO-DICAIOI may still be, one person: Or, at least, as nearly connect- ed as, the two Kings of Brentford; not smelling at, the same nose gay, indeed; but however, at the same plant of, tobacco. Till this charge be refuted, how does it happen, that your property in the address, is, anywise, injured?—Or, your good name at the bottom of it, flished away from you? Your property, Sir, I do not dilucidate; nor do I dispute, that your's is, a good name. The Shan- delian hypothesis, on this subject, I long have adopted, and PHILO-DICAIOI hath my approbation:—Though, per- haps, not, in so high a degree, as if, you had been better acquainted with, Greek. But, may I, enquire, "who gave you this name?" From a regard to justice, did you gain, this addition? Names, sometimes, mean the contra- ry of what they express. In calling B. D. a "false ca- lumniator," you, yourself, give us, an example to, the rule. A false calumniator!—Let conscience inform us, if you meant not for a screen, this, equivocation. It is too transparent, however, to render indistinct, the iden- tity of C. R. and PHILO-DICAIOI. The former, looks backward, like the elder face of a JANUS, while, under the latter, you look forward with, the younger. Or, to use a similitude, more apt to the subject, like a sick crab, that has just shed its shell, C. R. may be the old one, and PHILO-DICAIOI the new. After all, if this be not true, I will readily allow, what you have affirmed, that he that hath flished from you, your good name, hath taken that, which enriches not himself; and, if the loss of it make you poor, you must be, poor indeed! So much for B. D. whom, I should not have noticed, had not his cause been, blended with, my own.
Notwithstanding you assert "there is no truth in my paper," I cannot forbear suspecting, that you really think so. Could you not have disproved, what you pass by, in silence, as well as, what you "proclaim, from the top of the house?" But, perhaps, over an enemy that is fallen, you are too generous to triumph! To your strictures, however, give me leave to reply. "In the first place, you say, he charges me with declaring that this law hath
w the eccl dox," this, it list of nels of But, as of fame," your situation w to quote SHAKES the following reflection.
"I ha Like little wanton boys, in a But far beyond my depth; At length broke under me, an to the me Of a rude stream, that must, for
AS there is the most pressing the money that is due for the sales of Col. Moore's estate, I give this notice that I shall attend the April General Court, at Amelia court in May, at the Oyer court in June, in order to receive the said money; and shall immediately after bring suits for all that shall then remain unpaid. I shall at the same time bring suits for all the debts due to me for the sales of Negroes. JOHN HAWKINS.
To be SOLD to the highest bidder, on the premises, pursuant to an act of Assembly, on Wednesday the 15th of May next,
TWO thousand eight hundred acres of land, being the upper part of a tract belonging to Armistead Lightfoot, Esq; in Brunswick county. It will be laid off into lots, to make it convenient to the pur- chasers. Any person inclined to buy, may be shown it, by applying to Thomas Gibson, who lives on it. Credit will be given till the first of November next, upon giving bond and security to
LEWIS BURWELL, JAMES BURWELL, THOMAS M. RANDOLPH, JOHN WOODSON, } Trustees.
MARCH 20, 1771
THE next meeting of the Treasurer, Trustees, and subscribers to the fund for the relief of the widows and orphans of clergymen, is to be held at the College, on Saturday the 4th of May. Trustees for the present year, the Rev. Messrs. Henry Skyring, James Maury Fontaine, Arthur Hamilton, William Willie, Thomas Wilkinson, and Alexander White. Preachers, the Rev. Messrs. Jehiah Johnson, in the morning, and Sa- muel Henley, in the afternoon. Treasurer, John Camm. By order. JACOB BRUCE, Clerk.
BENJAMIN G. PITTS, TAILOR,
BEGS leave to inform the public, that he is now settled in Ware parish, Gloucester county, on the plantation of Mordecai Cocke, Esq; where he proposes carrying on the above business in all its branches, and on the most reasonable terms. Those who please to favour him with their custom, may depend on having their work done in the neatest manner, and with the utmost dispatch.
WILLIAMSBURG, March 21, 1771.
A JOURNEYMAN BARBER, who understands his business well, will meet with good encouragement, by applying to
WALTER LENOX
STOLEN from the subscriber, on the 21st or 22d of last June, in York or Williamsburg, two MOURNING RINGS, each of them has a large single diamond, and each of them for one of the family of the Honourable John Grymes, in Middlesex. Also a pair of STUDS, stone set in gold, with the letters J. G. under each stone. If any person will deliver them, or either of them, to Doctor Griffin in York town, or the subscriber in Lancaster, shall receive fifty shillings for each of the rings, and ten shillings for the studs, and no enquiry made, but the favour greatly acknowledged by THOMAS B. GRIFFIN.

February 23, 1771.
Given to all persons to the estate of Col. ... county, deceased, that all said to settle his account, either by discharging with approved security, if required, after that date, will immediately be paid by an attorney; and all those to said estate, are requested to discharge same, it being necessary to settle the estate as possible; and in order thereto, it is requested that all who have any demands against said estate, to them known, that they may be discharged, by SAMUEL BROWNE, JOHN ATKINSON, } Executors. THOMAS JACK,
For SALE,
TWENTY thousand acres of LAND, in the counties of Frederick and Hampshire, which was advertised some years ago in this colony, and the neighbouring provinces, and its situation and qualities then described; therefore think it needless to repeat them now. It will be sold very cheap, and reasonable time of payment will be allowed the purchaser, or purchasers, for one half of the purchase money, who may be shown the premises by applying to the subscriber, in Winchester. BRYAN BRUIN.
GEORGE the Third, by the grace of God, of Great-Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. To the Sheriff of Loudoun county, greeting. We command you that you summon Thomas Patterson, brother and heir of John Patterson, late of Leesburg, in the said county, merchant, deceased, to appear before the Justices of our said county court, at the court-house thereof, on the 2d Monday in December next, to answer a bill in chancery, exhibited against him and Fleming Patterson of Leesburg, merchant, by Henry McCabe of Alexandria, merchant, William Craufurd, jun. and company, merchants, William Craufurd, Thomas Dunmore, and company, of Great-Britain, merchants. And this he shall in no wise omit, under the penalty of 100l. and have then there this writ. Witness Charles Binns, clerk of our said court, the 15th day of November, in the 11th year of our reign, 1770. CHARLES BINNS.
AYLETT's, October 15, 1770.
WHEREAS Messrs. Murdochs, Donalds, and Co. of Glasgow, have discontinued their trade at this place, I hereby give notice to all those who have open accounts on my books to come and settle them; and in order to prevent disputes hereafter, bonds will be required for their respective balances, for which purpose I will attend regularly at this place during the ensuing winter and spring, unless when the General and Oyer Courts, or any of the neighbouring county courts, intervene. As personal application to every one concerned cannot be made, therefore due regard it is hoped will be paid to this advertisement. Those who fail to settle in due time must blame themselves for laying me under the necessity of bringing suits against them without further notice; as those who shew the greatest readiness to settle may expect the greatest indulgence. The GOODS on hand will be sold by wholesale, on very reasonable terms, which may be known by applying to ARCHIBALD GOVAN.
FREDERICK, July 2, 1770.
THE subscriber thinks proper to inform the public, that he purposes beginning to inoculate the SMALL-POX on the 12th day of September next, and to continue the same until July following, at his house, six miles from Winchester. The situation healthful and agreeable. The terms for each patient TWO PISTOLES for inoculation, and 20s. a week for board. He flatters himself that his experience in Europe, and his repeated success in inoculating in this county, will render any account of his being regularly qualified, unnecessary. To these he chooses to appeal, rather than speak confidently of himself. Patients may depend upon every necessary accommodation; likewise the greatest care and tenderness; and need not be under any apprehension of confinement. JOHN M c DONALD.
Maryland, August 15, 1770.
THE subscriber, who has been regularly bred to the practice of PHYSIC and SURGERY, gives this public information that he begins to inoculate on the 5th of September, and continues till the last of June 1771, at his house which stands about half a mile from Baltimore Town, on a healthy situation, with a very agreeable prospect. The price (as before) TWO PISTOLES, and twenty-five shillings per week for board. The sickness is really trifling, and the confinement none. They may safely return to their homes in 21 days. Those that choose to come, are requested not to alter their diet, and to give timely notice, that necessary care may be taken to prevent their being disappointed. NEGROES will be insured at five per cent. The subscriber declares he has inoculated upwards of eight thousand, and has lost but seventeen, and they died more from obstinacy and a too great indulgence, than from the small-pox. HENRY STEVENSON.
RUN away from Mr. Robert Dudley's, a young Negro fellow, named RICHARD WEAVER, he is about 19 years of age, of a yellow complexion, and very spare; had on when he went off a grey serge coat and waistcoat, lined with red, and a pair of leather breeches. He may possibly want to pass for a free man, though an indentured servant. I will give FORTY SHILLINGS reward, besides what the law allows, to any person who brings him to the said Robert Dudley, living in King & Queen county. WILLIAM DUDLEY.
li- me- ectic y, the Sorry; apply to very assistance ted to his care, e of the case will e any cause in hand his client, and his own SUSSEX DARE. erhip, deeds, leases, and ers of attorney, &c. drawn The subscriber will be glad en in the country to conduct Court. Whoever this will suit, ber with a line, the same shall S. D.
on Tuesday the 7th day
next, being court day, at Mr.
Philip Pouch's, in Winchester,
INF LOTS in the said town, late the property of John Greenfield, deceased; several of the said lots are 5 acres of common appendant thereto, are conveniently situated, and well improved. Also 2 tracts of land in Hampshire county, one near Cropper's bridge, and the other joining Hugh Murphy, late the joint property of Major James Livingstone, and the said Greenfield. Purchasers will be allowed six months credit for half the price, and twelve months for the remainder, giving bond and security to ANGUS M c DONALD, and } Executors. ALEXANDER WHITE,
Pursuant to an Act of Assembly, on Monday the 1st day of April next, will be exposed to public sale, on the premises,
THE GLEBE LAND belonging to the parish of Frederick, situate within 6 miles of the town of Winchester, containing about 200 acres of excellent good land, on which there is a good and convenient dwelling house, kitchen, barn, stables, and a draw-well, in which standing water is to be insured the purchaser. The above tract of land cost the parish six hundred pounds 4 years ago, since which, a barn of the value of thirty-six pounds has been erected on it. Twelve months credit, and immediate possession, will be given the purchaser, on entering into bond, with approved security, to ROBERT WOOD, } Commissioners. ANGUS M c DONALD, ALEXANDER WHITE,
To be SOLD for ready money, on Thursday the 25th of April next, before the Raleigh tavern, in Williamsburg,
TWO hundred and fifty acres of LAND, lying on Queen's creek, in York county, about a mile the other side of the Capitol landing, formerly the property of Fips Jackson, sen. deceased; there are on the said land, a good dwelling house, 4 rooms below and 2 above, with 2 brick chimneys, a kitchen, barn, &c. There is likewise upon the plantation, close on the creek, a good dwelling house, with all convenient outhouses, at present occupied by Mr. Thomas Cobb, where is an extraordinary fine landing for oysters. The goodness of this land is so well known that it needs no description. FIPS JACKSON.
N. B. I forewarn all persons whatever from cutting or carting any wood off the said land.
SOUTHAMPTON, February 13, 1771.
THE subscriber hereby gives notice that he has lately removed to the county of Southampton, on Nottoway river, where he proposes to continue the HOSPITAL, and practice of SURGERY and PHYSIC, in the same manner it was conducted by his father, the late Col. Jesse Browne, deceased, and hopes to give the like satisfaction to all Gentlemen who will favour him with their commands, as was generally given by his predecessor. SAMUEL BROWNE.
General Post Office, New-York, Jan. 22, 1771.
HIS Majesty's POST MASTER GENERAL having (for the better facilitating of Correspondence between Great-Britain and America) been pleased to add a 5th 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 12 of the Clock at Night, on the 1st Tuesday in every Month, and dispatched by a Packet the next Day for Falmouth. By Command of the DEPUTY POST MASTER GENERAL, ALEXANDER COLDEN, SECRETARY.
WANTED ON CHARTER,
TO load tar and turpentine, in North Carolina, a vessel about 1500 barrels burthen. For terms apply to James Marsden, Norfolk, or the subscribers at Richmond; who have for sale a quantity of good SEINE TWINE. STORRS & ELLIS.
STAFFORD LIGHTBURN, Jan. NOR THUMBERLAND, March 1, 1771. RAYED or stolen from the Rev. Mr. Thomas Smith's last Christmas, a dark bay mare, about 14 hands and an inch high, with foal, and about 12 years old; I suppose she may make to Russ's ferry, where she has often crossed to Middlesex. Whoever will deliver her to me, at Indian creek, shall receive TWENTY SHILLINGS reward. JOHN SMITH.
TAKEN up in Henrico, on Four Mile creek, two fows, the one black, marked with a crop in the right ear, and a hole in the left, the other white and black, marked with a crop in the left ear; likewise twelve pigs belonging to the said fows. Appraised to 30s. CHARLES WOODSON.
TAKEN up in New Kent county, a small bay mare, about 4 years old, 4 feet 3 inches high, has a small blaze in her face, one of her hind feet white, her near eye entirely out, and is neither docked or branded. Possed, and appraised to 3l. 10s. WILLIAM ARMISTEAD.
FEBRUARY 23, 1771.
RUN away from the sloop Betsy, Edward Massey, commander, belonging to Mr. Thomas Hodge, out of Corotoman river, in Lancaster county, three servant men, viz. One named Samuel Tudor, an Englishman, about 5 feet and an half high, and about 19 years old; had, when he went away, two cloth coats, one of a blue, the other of a claret colour, a claret coloured cloth jacket, check and white shirts. One Virginia born Negro, named Alexander Richardson, about 5 feet 10 inches high, about 21 years old, and much pock pitted; had on a light coloured fearnought labelled jacket and breeches, an old oznabrig shirt, and one check ditto. The other an East Indian, upwards of 5 feet and an half high, about 22 years old, of a very dark complexion, and has long black hair; he had on an old blue jacket, a Negro cotton ditto, cotton breeches, and a check shirt. They are all three convicts, belonging to the said Thomas Hodge. They stole from the said sloop, a new broad cloth coat, made of superfine cloth, a striped silk jacket, and a pair of nankien breeches, with a parcel of shirts and stockings. Also a nice foot boat, belonging to Mr. William Chilton. It is thought they will endeavour to get on board some vessel in order to get out of the country. All masters of vessels are desired to take notice of this advertisement. Whoever will apprehend the said servants, and deliver them on board the said sloop, or to Mr. Thomas Hodge, at Leeds town, shall be paid FIVE POUNDS reward, beside what the law allows. N. B. A boat was seen, the same day, going across the Bay, opposite to Gwynn's island, in which, most probably, were the above runaways.
WILLIAMSBURG, February 28, 1771.
I WILL give the best price, and ready money, for any kind of OLD LEAD. JOSEPH KIDD.