The Virginia Gazette

To the PRINTER.

SIR,

By publishing the following Extract from the Works of a Good Man, you will oblige One who wishes Comfort to the Distressed in all Parts of the World.

"H, 'tis severely cold! Who is so hardy as not to shrink at this excessive pinching Weather? Every Face is pale; even the blooming Cheeks contract a gelid Hue, and the Teeth hardly forbear chattering. Ye that sit easy and joyous in your commodious Apartments, solacing yourselves in the diffusive Warmth of your Fire, be mindful of your Brethren in the cheerless Tenement of Poverty. Their shattered Panes are open to the piercing Winds, a tattered Garment scarcely covers their shivering Flesh, while a few faint and dying Embers, on the squalid Hearth, rather mock their Wishes than warm their Limbs. While the generous Juice of Madeira sparkles in your Glasses, O remember that many of your Fellow Creatures, amidst all, all the Rigour of these inclement Skies, are emaciated with Sickness, and benumbed with Age. Let their Loins bless you for comfortable Clothing; supply them with Food, with Fuel, and baffle the raging Year: So may you never know any of their Distresses, but only by the Hearing of the Ear, the Seeing of the Eye, or the Feeling of tender Commiseration."

"Methinks the bitter blustering Winds plead for the poor Indigents; may they breathe Pity into your Breasts, while they blow Hardships into their Huts! Observe those blue Flames, and ruddy Coals, in your Chimney: Quickened by the Cold, they look more lively, and glow more strongly; silent, but seasonable Admonition, to the gay Circle that chat and smile around them. Thus may your Hearts, at such a Juncture of Need, kindle into a peculiar Benevolence! Detain not your superfluous Piles of Wood; let them hasten to the Relief of the starving Family; bid them expire, in many a willing Blaze, to mitigate the Severity of the Season, and cheer the bleak Abodes of Want: So shall they ascend, mingled with Thanks giving to God, and ardent Prayers for your Welfare, ascend more grateful to Heaven than curling Columns of the most costly Incense."