The Virginia Gazette

From a late Paper.

Miss Blandy, (whose unhappy Case is at present the Subject of Conversation in most Companies) had the Education of a Gentlewoman. She was received as such in the Country where she lived; and her Behaviour and Conversation was so agreeable, that Ladies of great Rank and Fashion were fond and desirous of her Acquaintance. She was amiable, Spritely, and extremely good humoured; and was esteemed as one of the principal Ornaments of the polite Assembly at Reading.
Such was her Demeanour in general. To her Father, she was an affectionate, dutiful, respectful Child. This many Witnesses were at her Trial. This the Witnesses against her confessed,

Til at the last, a cruel Spoiler came.

Til that damned Villain Cranton, as the poor Father so justly called him, returned the kindest Offices of Hospitality by the Ruin of a poor Love-sick Girl; by bringing the Father to the Grave, and the Daughter to the Gallows.

Here then is the Cause of all that Tragedy, which hath happened in this little innocent Family; or indeed the total Destruction of a kind and tender Father; of an affectionate and dutiful Daughter. The Villain crept into the unguarded Heart of this thoughtless Girl. There he first infused those poisonous Sentiments, which were afterwards to convey Arsenic into the Veins of the best and tenderest of Fathers.

For this Fact we will leave the condemned Criminal to the Execution of that Sentence, which she hath so justly received from an earthly Judge, and to that Mercy, which, I hope, a sincere Penitence will obtain for her from that most awful, most tremendous Tribunal, where she must shortly appear.

Let us only cast our Eyes on the Wretch, who hath caused all this, who hath hitherto escaped the Hands of Justice; perhaps to be more exquisitely punished in the State of a profligate abandoned Fugitive; and like the first Murderer, to wander over the Earth; 'til he shall cry with Cain, My Punishment is greater than I can bear.

But I will leave this Wretch likewise to the Horrors of his own Conscience, to Wandering, to Beggary, to Shame, to Contempt. This Letter is designed for the Use of the loveliest, and, I sincerely think, the best Part of the Creation, who seldom stray but when they are misled by Men; by whom they are deceived, corrupted, betrayed, and often brought to Destruction, both of Body and Soul. In the Sequel therefore, I will treat in general of these Corrupters of the Innocence of Women; and of the extreme Baseness as well as Cruelty of this Practice, how favourably so-ever the World may please to receive it.

This base and barbarous Man was, they say, an Officer in the Army; a Sort of People who, I know not for what Reason, live in an eternal State of real Hostility with the female Sex; and seem to think that by destroying our Enemies in War, they contract a Right to destroy our Wives and Daughters in Time of Peace.

I would not be here understood to insinuate that there are many Crantons to be found in the English Army; on the contrary, I sincerely believe it would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to pick out such another; yet certain it is, that thro' the Prevalence of Custom, the Ruin of a Woman is far from being regarded amongst our military Gentlemen, or indeed amongst others, with that Abhorrence and Detestation which it deserves. It is often made the Subject of Mirth; nay, I am deceived if, instead of being considered on the Man's Side as a Mark of Disgrace, it is not sometimes treated as a Point of Honour, viewed in the Light of a Victory, and thought to add new Laurels to those which have been acquired in the Field.

The Reason of this, in a great Measure, is the Levity with which this Matter hath been handled by some of our fashionable Authors; who, instead of exposing so execrable a Vice in it's proper odious Colours, have given it the soft Term of Gallantry; have at most endeavoured to make it the Subject of Ridicule; I am afraid have even represented it in an amiable Light to their Readers.

I will endeavour therefore to strip the Monster of all its borrowed Ornaments, and to display it in its native and true Deformity; such as, I think, cannot fail of attracting all that Abhorrence and Contempt which is its Due.

I Shall at present pass by all those persuasive Arguments which Religion affords against this Practice. These are already well known; and if they are not sufficient to deter Men, the Reason is but too obvious as well as deplorable.

But tho' many of my gay Readers may be ready enough to own that they have no Faith, there are few I believe who will own they have no Honour. If they have a Vanity in desiring to be thought no Christians, they will at least be ashamed of being no Gentlemen.

First then, can any Thing be more dishonourable than to engage in a Combat with one who is greatly inferior in Strength; and this is surely the Case in all our Attacks on the Virtue of Women: For, without any Disparagement to the Understanding of my fair Countrywomen, their Hearts are at least weaker than ours, and it is the Heart of the Woman which is aimed at in all these Engagements.

And in what Manner are these Attacks carried on? Is not the basest Fraud and Treachery constantly used on this Occasion? Doth any Man when he first aims at this Conquest, avow and openly assert his evil Intentions? Doth he declare War against that Chastity and Honour which he means to violate? On the contrary, doth he not approach with Smiles and Cringes, with Soothing and Flattery, with Protestations, Vows, and Oaths of the tenderest Love and the sincerest Friendship; By these Means, the innocent Heart of a poor thoughtless Girl is in a Manner bribed to betray its Owner into the Arms of her Seducer.

If we consider the Matter therefore in this warlike Light, the Assailant, instead of entitling himself to any Honour by such a Conquest, deserves truly an Appellation which few military Men will affect, namely that of a treacherous Coward.

And what shall we say of this Vice, when thrown under another Allegory, and that too a very familiar one to our fine Gentlemen! What do we say of the Gamester who throws a Levant? who draws another in to play for a large Stake, while he himself deposits nothing real on the other Side? Would not all Men allow such a Person to be a Cheat and a Pick-pocket? And what is he who engages a Woman, where her Innocence, Honour, Interest, indeed every Thing valuable of which she is possessed, are at Stake; while he himself plays at the Risque only of his Damnation, which all fine Gentlemen will allow to be nothing; O., as some Gamesters call it, MOONSHINE?

In the first place, let me appeal to the Humanity of these Gallants; and this the rather as the Latins often use the Word Humanitas for the chief Qualification of a Gentleman. Now what Man of Humanity (take the Sense of the Word from which Language you please) can bear the Reflection of having by all the Means of Baseness, Falsehood and Treachery, purchased the Affections of a young, innocent, unguarded Creature; of having made this Creature from her Affections to him, the Object of his Pleasure and Delight, and of having repaid those Affections and this Pleasure, by the utter Ruin of such a Creature! Can he bear to see her stripped of her Innocence, of her Reputation, of every Thing lovely, every Thing which might have made her happy in her Life, or recommended her to others; deserted and abandoned by the whole World, and exposed to Shame, Beggary, Disease, in a Word, to total Misery and Ruin! Can he see all this, and know himself to be the Cause of all this, without hanging himself? If he can, I heartily wish he was, as he well deserves to be, hanged by the Laws.

I am, Sir,

Your sincere Well-wisher,

AXYLUS.