The Virginia Gazette

Mr. Parks,

In your Gazette No 14, appeared a Letter from Sir John Randolph, Knt. to Alexander Spotwood, Esq; And seeing your Press was made the Medium, to convey to me his Worship's Sentiments, I hope he will not fall out with you, and cut off your Salary from the Assembly, if you carry back to him my Answer to his extraordinary Epistle.

Tell his Worship then, from me, that upon seeing his Letter, I congratulated myself upon the full Detection of a False Brother, whom I had, for several Years past, been relying on for a Friend; whom I had entrusted with many of my Interests; and to whom I had frequently unbosomed myself in private Concerns; imagining that a Man, who owed to me his first Promotion in the World, and for advancing whom I had had, during my Administration, some remarkable Contests, and created to myself not a few Enemies thereby, would have retained some grateful Sense of the good Offices, done by me, to him and his Relations; and I might have expected him to have been the last Man, who could grudge me a Vindication of my Character, or take Offence at my modestly justifying myself, in a Matter of no very great Moment; who could officiously, without the least Provocation to him, turn a virulent Pamphleteer against me, bent upon giving the most invidious Turns to every Word and Action of mine; and who could set himself to publish partial and fallacious Representations of Facts, and rake in the Burgess Journals, for Matters nothing relating to the Point in Question, merely to afford him an Handle to throw out some spiteful Reflection. But since this special Performance of his, serves for a Key, to open to me a dark Scene, which shews me how I have been all along Betray'd; tell his Worship, that he may now go on, and openly Rail at his Quondam Patron, to pleasure his Patron of the Day; for tho' he Should enlarge his Periods, with bestowing Commendations, or Censures on any Man, yet will they pass in the World for no more, than the single Say-so of such a Person, as he has manifested himself to be.

Tell his Worship, that I am not Fool enough to answer every Part of his Publication, so as to be drawn in to gratify his Pride and Spleen; by giving him an Handle to have me called before the House, for a Breach of Privilege, and then to be dismissed with one of his Special Reprimands. And altho' he plainly aims to work up to such a Charge, what has already passed, when he says, that I would place my Self above a Determination of the Representatives of the Country, and treat that Body without any Decorum, in Terms not fit to be used against any Power in Being: Yet I presume, the Wisdom of the House will not suffer themselves to be led into such an Opinion; and will observe, that I do not take upon me to censure or condemn any Determination of theirs, but only offer to clear up a Passage, wherein my Name stands published to the whole Colony, in no reputable Light: And if, after I have set forth what is admitted to be Fact, I appeal to the General Sense of Mankind thereupon; I hope the Burgesses of Virginia do not esteem themselves above that Tribunal, any more than I, in my private Station of Life, think myself above them, in their collective Body.

What his Worship has, in the Fullness of his Spleen and without any Direction from the public published, I shall venture to answer. And to his charging me with taking no Notice of any thing beyond the Session in 1734, I say, my Letter plainly tells him, that I aimed at stating the Case briefly, so as not to tire the Readers with more than might serve to let them understand the Point in Question: And now he has troubled them with the Journals of Sixteen Years, I still see not the least Reason to waive my Appeal.

His Worship is pleased to expatiate upon Two Subjects, to try his Strength how he can pervert Truth and Justice; and has such an Itch for exercising his noted Talent of Railing, that he cannot forbear, tho' unprovoked, to fall foul on the Character of his Benefactor; and for so doing, Shamelessly pleads Duty and Integrity, and the Spirit moving him to let his Thoughts take their Course. And then, after Sir Knight has given in his Evidence against me, he proceeds, as my Judge, to sum up my Accusation, with spiteful Aggravations; and concludes the Farce, with expressing his sincere Sorrow, highest Concern, and deepest Affliction, while he passes Sentence on me for my Misdeeds; averring withal, that my best Friends concur with him in the Condemnation.

But all unbias'd Persons in this Colony may better judge, by the following Answers, whether the Knight or the Squire, deserves most to be condemned.

His Worship tells the Publick, That in the Year 1720, I passed an Act, for paying to my Self, or the Commander in Chief, for the Time being, 1000l. to be laid out in Arms; and 500l. for Buildings in Spotsylvania County: That in May, 1722, I issued a Warrant, for paying my Self the whole Sum appropriated for Arms; and that I had no Reason to take above one Half of that Sum into my Hands, but to prevent my Successor from meddling with it.

To this I answer: That, immediately after passing the said Act in 1720, I wrote to London to provide 600 Firelocks, Bayonets, and Cartouch-Boxes; the one Half to be mark'd with the Name of Spotsylvania; and the other Half with that of Brunswick; as my Letters, at that Time, to the Earl of Orkney, and Mr. Micajah Perry, can testify: For I presumed to engage his Lordship, as a more competent Judge of Arms, than a Merchant, to choose and contract for them; and directed Mr. Perry to pay the Cost of them, and to take Care of sending them in. Accordingly, in January, 1721, I was charged 368 l. 8s. 7d. Sterling, for the Cost of the first 300 Arms; and soon after, with another Sum of 42 l. 13s. 9d. for Ammunition, paid out of my Money in my Merchant's Hands: And I expected to see, in my next Account Current from him, the rest of the Arms and Ammunition paid for, in like Manner, out of my Money in London.

And will his Worship not allow this a Sufficient Reason for my Draught upon the Treasurer, in May, 1722? I am persuaded, he did not let the 320l. which the Assembly gave him, for his Two Trips to England, lie Two Years in the Treasurer's Hands, without calling for any Part thereof: And I do not doubt of his having already received the whole Sum; notwithstanding the Service, for which he was to have 2200l. is not yet performed: Unless he can Shew, that That Sum was given him only to go Home, and abuse the Body of Merchants, with his scurrilous Pamphlets.
His Worship would willingly pass over the Payments for the Buildings; saying, That when I received the Money appropriated to the Buildings in Spotylvania, need not be mentioned, since the Matter is over. But I must take Notice of his declining such Enquiry, as a flagrant Instance of his Partiality, and singling me out for the Object of his spiteful Attacks: For, he is not ignorant, that Col. N. Harrison, who was, by the Act of Assembly, entrusted with the Buildings in Brunswick County, received the 500l. appropriated to that Use, soon after passing the Act; and yet, the Buildings there (as I'm informed) have been but begun since my Return to Virginia: Whereas those in Spotylvania, were finished long before I went to England, except the Church, which I left almost completed. And can his Worship lay any Claim to Sincerity and Integrity, as he frequently arrogates to himself, who would pass over one Man's keeping 500l. of the Public Money in his Hands, for Ten or Twelve Years; and rage, at the same Time, against another for keeping 239l. 17s.? And will the Readers of his virulent Letter, think that he has a Grain of Modesty in him, to rail at me, for not answering more readily the House of Burgesses Claim upon me, for 239l. 17s. when they shall understand that I had, at the same Time, a much larger Claim upon the Country?

He may allege, that the House of Burgesses had rejected that Claim of mine: Yet nevertheless, the World will conclude it to have been a just one, when it is known, that the Governor here, with all the Twelve Council of Virginia, reported to the Lords of the Treasury, that it was justly due to me; and that His Majesty, after having had the Opinion of the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, and of the Lords of the Treasury thereupon, determined in my Favour, and accordingly ordered 936l. Sterling to be paid me, out of the Revenue of this Government, in Discharge of my Claim. ---- And now pray, who has most Reason to complain; They, who have been kept out of 239l. Virginia Money; or I, who have been kept, almost as long, out of 936l. Sterling?

His Worship next enters on a long Detail of the Proceedings of the House of Burgesses upon my Accounts; but I will not, as I have already declared, venture to answer him upon their Proceedings: However, I must not pass over some material Passages, which the Knight industriously conceals, in giving his Evidence against me.

He pretends to be very particular in displaying all the Steps taken about my Accounts, and in narrating every Attendance thereupon: Yet he says not a Word of my going, in the Year 1723, down to Williamsburg, 130 Miles from my Place of Residence, to attend upon the first Assembly which my Successor called, and there waiting with my Accounts Ten Weeks, from the Beginning to the End of the Session: Neither does he take Notice, that the House of Burgesses had 2 or 3 Sessions under my Successor, before my Departure out of the Government: And He, who would insinuate a wicked Cause, such as a Jugg le between me and my Agent, for the Burgesses refusing to allow longer Time to make up the Accounts, does not offer any honest Reason why they did not call for my Accounts, while I was personally in the Country, to answer any Objections thereto. Moreover, his Worship is pleased to lard his Epistle with many Complaints of the Inhabitants of Brunswick not having their full Complement of Arms: But conceals the Reason given for that Deficiency; which he could not be ignorant of, as being Clerk to the House of Burgesses, when my Letter, dated the Third of June, 1732, in Answer to one I received from the Speaker, by Order of the House, told the House, That "all the Arms for Brunswick County had been at first bespoke, but afterwards forbid to be sent in; by Reason, that the late Col. N. Harrison, who was, at that Time the County-Lieutenant, wrote to me, desiring that I would order in no more than One Hundred Firelocks, for Brunswick County; alleging, that a greater Number would only lie to rust and spoil, until there were more Inhabitants in that County to arm."

And here I cannot but observe, what an high Transgression his Worship would make a Delay in furnishing the poor People of Brunswick with a few Arms; while the
depriving them of a Place of Divine Worship, and of a Court of Justice, for Ten or Twelve Years, passes with him for a trivial Omission, that deserves not the least Notice.

He has thought fitting to make a Digression to my Albany Expedition; and begins with tallying my Speech to the Assembly, in the Year 1722, publishing Expressions of his own Invention, by which he would insinuate, as if that Treaty was set on Foot solely by my Intigation, and with no honester View, than to secure my Settlements on the Frontiers. But whoever will have Recourse to my Speech at large, and to the Journals of Council, for the Proceedings on Indian Affairs, as well as to the afore-mentioned Report of the Governor and Council, (Matters too voluminous to be inserted here,) may plainly see how his Worship is bent upon perverting Truth.

He says in the next Paragraph, That the House being quite wearied out with my Accounts, there was a Disposition among them, to have discharged me from the Balance. Yes, indeed, I remember, that he himself was the Ambassador sent to notify the same to me; and I reflect how He, under the Mask of a Friend, used many Arguments to draw me into such a Bargain, as the accepting 239l. Currency, in Lieu of 936l. Sterling: And I now come to understand, why his Worship, at his last Return from England, sent me a Confession, under his Hand, that I owed no Obligation to him, for the Success of my Affair at the Treasury. For, I perceive, that, from the Time I baffled him in his Embassy, he commenced to be my secret Enemy; and by what he has now published to the World, it appears he was an utter Enemy to my Claim; but concealed his Enmity, that he might the better disappoint me therein; for it was upon his own voluntary Tender of his Service, at his going to England, in the Year 1732, that I, deceived by his false Professions of Friendship, entrusted him with the negotiating that Affair for me: But I find I should have had little Success therein, had I not had a more faithful Solicitor at Home, than his Worship.

He says, my Agent produced to the House a shameful Account. -- But the House, who had it under their Consideration, and debated on every Article thereof, passed no such Censure: And as the Expressions of a common Railer, bear no more Credit, than those of a common Swearer; his Worship should have instanced, at least, some of the Articles, whereby those, who never saw the Account, might judge whether it deserved so currilous an Epithet. And as to his following Words, vizt That the Account was made up in direct Contradiction to the plain Words of the Law, and extremely to my Dishonour; I hope I may be allowed to clear myself of so foul an Imputation, without being called upon for a Breach of Privilege, in meddling with the Determinations of the House of Burgesses.

What his Worship means by the Account being made up in direct Contradiction to the plain Words of the Law, I take to be explained by his Words in another Place, where he says, that I had no Power to exceed 500l. in the Buildings. Now the Circumstances of this Matter are thus: While I was Governor of the Colony, the House of Burgesses having an Opinion of my Management, in the projecting and carrying on Buildings; and finding their Money more frugally and faithfully laid out under my Direction (who served them Gratis) than by the Method they had before been in; of employing Overseers under Wages, always applied to me, whenever they found it necessary to give Money for any Public Work; desiring me to take upon myself the Trouble of carrying on the same: And altho' they always appropriated a certain Sum to each Work, and their Acts expressly said, not exceeding Such or Such a Sum; yet when the Accounts of the Expences were laid before the House, they honourably paid off the Exceedings, to the utmost Penny, without making any Objections: And, far from telling me, that I had acted dishonourably, in direct Contradiction to the plain Words of the Law, they again and again, applied to me, to act for them in the like Manner; as the several Buildings at Williamsburg, of the Governor's House, the Church, the Prison, and Magazine, will testify. And why the same Measure of Justice should not be meted out to me, after I ceased to be their Governor, I leave his Worship to account.
I count for to the general Sense of Mankind; as well as with what Face of Honesty he can term it a shameful Attempt, to produce the Valuation of the Buildings in Spotsylvania County, according to the Judgment of several disinterested Workmen: For, if the House had questioned the Fidelity, or Skill of the Appraisers, They might have ordered a new Appraisement to be made.

And here it may not be improper to remark, That altho' the House refused to allow the Exceedings on the Buildings, which appeared to be 281l. 19 s. 11d. and also thought fitting to cut off another Sum of 57l. 9 s. 6 d. for Expences on the Arms; yet I quietly sat down with the Loss, and acquiesced in their Determination, without ever troubling them more on that Head, or publishing my Dislike of their Proceedings thereon. But if a Member of their House will, without any Necessity, revive them; and, turning a Scurrilous Reviler in Print, strive to blast my Character, with fallacious and partial Representations of those Matters, I conceive I may, without Offence to the House, set them in a true Light. And altho' his Worship takes the Liberty to charge the House with wronging the Inhabitants of Brunswick County, of One Hundred Pounds, which he alleges they gave me for no Service at all; and also with a Disposition among the Burgesses to wrong the Said Inhabitants of the whole Sum of 239l. 17s. Yet I will not presume to say, that they wrong'd me of 239l. 9s. 5d. in the Settlement of my Accounts, for the Buildings and Arms; as hoping that, at some more favourable Conjunction, They will reconsider, and discharge that Ballance, as honourably as their Predecessors had done on the like Occasions.

Then, passing over with Contempt, abundance of his Worship's unmannerly Scoffs, and rude way of expressing himself to me, which only serve to betray his base Education: I come to his Exceptions taken to my Bill of Exchange, and say, That it was drawn at the first Meeting of a new Assembly, before I could learn who was chosen Speaker: And if it had been the House's Pleasure, to have had it made payable to any Person by Name, I should very readily have conformed thereto; and if the House should have thought it not just to have allowed me the present Difference of Exchange, between Sterling and Currency, I should have submitted, and not contended about that Matter: And as for the Precaution I took, in Case the Arms should have been provided, before the presenting the Bill, I am persuaded no Man, of common Sense and Honesty, will find Fault with it.

In the next Paragraph, his Worship would make the Publick imagine, that I writ a private Letter, cajoling him to use his Interest, to put off, Two Years longer, the calling for the Arms: And from such false Appearances he takes Occasion to boast of his being Proof against Corruption, and not to be Sway'd, by any Cunning, from his Duty and Integrity. Now the Letter I writ, was directed to the Speaker of the House of Burgesses, without Name; and his Worship is mistaken, if he thinks I did him the Honour, to condescend to write to him, in the Terms I expressed myself: No, it is well understood, that whatever is addressed to the Speaker, is writ, or spoken to the whole House; and the Conclusion of my Letter will plainly shew, that I meant otherwise: For, after setting forth the several Steps I had taken to provide the Arms, and the Occasion of the Disappointment, I conclude in these Words; "Now I hope the Gentlemen of the Assembly, after they have weighed these Circumstances, and considered, that the Delay has not proceeded from any Slight I had of their Resolutions, nor been occasioned by any Neglect of mine, will indulge me so far, as to be satisfied with the Delivery of the Arms upon the Arrival of the next Shipping."

And as to the Piece of Cunning, which he expresses his Abhorrence of, I see nothing that any Man of Honour need be ashamed of. --- I sent my Bills, by one of the Representatives of the County where I live, and desired him, that if he found the House would not be satisfied with the Apology I had writ, then to present my Bills; whereby they might be convinced I had no Intention to evade the Payment of the Money.

And now I come to the last Paragraph of his Worship's Epistle; where he appears like a Rattle-Snake that had spit all his Venom; or like a Crocodile, that weeps over the Man he would destroy: For, after he has, through 18 Paragraphs, been endeavouring, by all foul Means, to destroy both my Reputation and Interest, he, in the 19th becomes a fawning Creature, assuring me, that no Body should be more concerned, and even afflicted, than him-Self, to see me slighted or injured, or in any Degree deprived of the Respect due to a Gentleman of my Character: And in fine, tells me, he is, with very great Respect, my most obedient Servant. But how inconsistent such a Conclusion is with all the rest of his Letter, will best appear by following his Worship's Method, in Recapitulating and Placing together, what he stands accused of, from this special Performance of his

He stands charged by me, as an ungrateful Person, whose Pride and Spleen has made him turn against his Benefactor, who first promoted him in the World. That while I was continuing my faithful Friendship to him, he was, as he has now discovered himself, my secret Enemy. ----- That while I was relying on him, as a bosom Friend, and employing him in Concerns, that required Secrecy; he, without the least Provocation from me, published his virulent Letter, to throw Dirt at me all manner of Ways. --- That almost every Sentence of his Publication, is pointed with either malicious Accusations, spiteful Insinuations, or unmannerly Scoffs. ---- That under the Mask of a Friend, he laboured to draw me into a most disadvantageous Bargain. ---- That under the same Mask, and concealing the Rancour of his Heart, and particularly his Enmity to my Albany Claim; he got himself entrusted by me, to solicit in my Behalf, for that very Claim in England; which he never moved one Step in there. ---- That whilst he had undertaken to give in his Evidence of all Matters, for 16 Years past; relating to the Point in Question; and had pretended to have published the whole Truth, he is plainly convicted of having concealed many material Passages in my Favour. ----- That he has falsify'd my Speech to the Assembly, as well as my Letter to the House; in order to make them square with his sinister Views, of poisoning the People of this Colony, with wrong Notions of Matters. ---- That he has, with the utmost Partiality, singled me out, to rave against; whilst he takes no Notice of what others had done, in a much higher Degree, in the like Case. ---- And that he has inveighed against me, for what he judged was right in himself, to have done.

Now having replied to his Worship's Letter, as far as I thought proper, for me, to take Notice of it; I here break off all further Correspondence with such a Man, as he has shewed himself to be. ----- And to conclude with a Word to the Printer.

Mr. Parks,

IF his Worship will permit you to publish in your News-Paper, this my Answer to his late Letter, you may be assured, it is the only one I shall trouble myself to make to any of his Performances; so that he may hence-forward rail, and write, and publish, whatever his Spleen dictates to him, without expecting any Reply in Print again, from

Sir, Your Humble Servant,

ALEXANDER SPOTSWOOD.