The Virginia Gazette

To Messrs. PURDIE & DIXON,

GENTLEMEN,

No apology to you is unnecessary, as your paper seems to be open to every one. The following piece I imagine will not be very entertaining, but I hope it will be beneficial to the publick in general, if strictly observed. My indulgence of late to many of my creditors has disabled me from complying with my own engagements, wherefore I have been unhappily engaged in two or three lawsuits, wherein I have been defendant, and consequently have had all the charges to pay rising therefrom, which amounted to upwards of 40 s. each suit; an expense that might have easily been saved, and for the future shall by me, and hope will by every prudent and considerate man. It is certainly incumbent on every person that has money due to him to give his debtor notice before he commences suit, and when he finds his creditor is determined to wait no longer with him, it undoubtedly would be greatly to every man's advantage to give from under his hand to the Clerk of the Court, desiring him to enter judgment against him, staying execution 8, 10, or 12 months, or any other space of time as the parties can agree upon; which would cost us only 5 lb. of gross tobacco, whereas we generally go through a regular course of law, and, when finished, the Clerks and Sheriffs fees often amount to 150 or 200 lb. of tobacco, exclusive of Lawyers fees, a charge too heavy for us to encourage; I believe there is no person but what is well acquainted with the scarcity of money at present, and how many of us must be distressed even to pay our just debts, exclusive of that immense charge that evidently must attend lawsuits. In my opinion, unless we fall on some method to suppress that unnecessary and vile practice of going to law, many of us must inevitably be totally ruined. I have been credibly informed, and indeed have made many calculations myself, and do find that the Clerks and Sheriffs fees in the province of Virginia amount to between 200,000 and 300,000 lb. of tobacco, and upwards of 20,000 l. current money annually; a sum too large for us to bestow on the above set of Gentlemen, to maintain them in their extravagance and luxury, and indeed in the most disagreeable manner too: For when arrested, many are dragged away to prison; and if we were to follow this method, we should entirely escape the hands of many malicious and inhuman Sheriffs, who delight in distressing the poor. Let us all seriously consider the disadvantages we labour under, by such irregular proceedings. It is a maxim well known that every province has flourished by the industry and prudence of its inhabitants, and have always sunk into poverty and contempt by indolence and luxury. May it then be the business of America to take every method to raise herself to opulence and wealth, by the internal power she has of doing it. It may be justly hoped that every lover of his country, and particularly the inhabitants of Hanover county, will endeavour to discourage every thing that may tend to reduce it to a state of poverty. We have now got a new set of officers in the said county, who appear to me, and I believe to many others, to be void of gratitude and humanity, and to delight in distressing the poor indigent sort of people; but I hope every judicious person will strictly observe the above method of obtaining judgments, and totally abolish that unnecessary and expensive way that is daily put in execution.

BENEVOLENCE.