The Virginia Gazette

From the Westminster Journal
To the Author,

Long Forbearance increases frustration, Sir, says the Man who sees with deep Concern that the French and Spaniards are making more Advantage of us by their baffling and cajoling Arts, during what we call a Peace, than they possibly could have done had open War been continued, especially in the Manner we at last found it expedient to carry it on.—

But I have done with this 'Squire Touchit, and am now for a Sort of Supplement to my last (by your Permission I should say) and a Kind of Apology for my not signing then, as I heretofore had done, a True Briton.

DE True Briton certainly signifies something; and I understood it to signify one, who maugre every other Consideration, could and would be hearty in the Cause, the Interest of Great-Britain.

But when a Mongrel Race assume the same Signature, and call themselves by the same Name;—that Race I mean, who, provided they could secure to themselves what they account their own Property, would be glad if they could see Great-Britain, and all which appertains thereto, swallowed up by the raging Deep;—One of whom I find has been hard upon you, has been nettled, has grin'd and shewn his Teeth at your Endeavours to urge Britons to have a strenuous Regard to their own Welfare, the British Fishery. — I say, since this Race of the worst of Mongrels have assumed the Title of True Britons, 'tis Time I give it up, unless I can get into the Knack of talking somewhat masterly in their Strain. For once, I'll try.

Thus then : Our dear, dear Friends!—our true, hearty, and natural Allies the Dutch!—a People, —who have always understood our Interest, and have advanced it far much better than we could, or ever knew how to do ;—a People, — who — in one of the most exalted Crises of Great-Britain's Folly and Madness, furnished her with a Remedy,— sent her over a most glorious Deliverer :—who at once quieted the Perturbations of her Peoples Minds, and established a certain Fund for draining off the Cause of that other Branch of her Malady, viz. the Redundancy of the Root of all Evil

And shall we, ungrateful Wretches! tho' we have been told from the greatest Height, yea, and from the lowest Profundity of rational Politics, that they, our dear, dear Friends, begin to be afflicted and distressed on Account of the Stagnation of their Commerce (not a Word, I beseech you, of this being principally owing to their not having united their Power to that of Great-Britain, in order to have banged the French when it might have been done :)

Shall we, I say, add to these their Distresses ? Shall we augment their Afflictions, by preventing them to follow the natural Bent of their Genius, their Occupation and their Calling, by interrupting them in their Fishery on our Seas, or by not suffering them to enter our Ports and our Harbours when their Interest prompts them that Way, for Fear, forsooth, of running down or destroying a little, petty, lousy fishing Boat or two?

If the English must be Fishermen, let them go to the Banks of Newfoundland as usual, or to the catching the Remains of the Dutch Whale Fishery at Greenland.—or, let them stay at Home and be starved, if they like that better :For, be this as it may let the Dutch, by whose Politics we were saved. and are (may I not say ?) even now supported, always have the free Liberty of traversing our Seas and our Coasts, and of using our People at Pleasure.

I see that he that sets about to drub a huge Fellow because he is saucy, and fails in his Attempt, must expect to find the huge Fellow abundantly saucier. Thus it is Sir, notwithstanding your close speculative Politicks, betwixt us and Spain.

Spain, amongst other Things, would not let us enter the Bay of Campeachy, and cut what Logwood we pleased : —So we endeavoured, by dry Drubbings, to convince them we had as much Right to do this as they themselves. —We failed,—and they are building Forts along the said Bay, — increasing the Number of their Guarda Costa's, and tell us in plain Terms—we shall not come there at all. —Is not this fair?

France we know to be a fierce and powerful Nation.—Item—we had to remember, that at our last Variance with them — when their Magazines were exhausted, and their Army to all Appearance must have
perished for Want; -- France, I say, at this critical Conjuncture, prevailed on (I had almost said compelled) England to supply her Wants, at the Thought of having her whole Displeasure poured forth against us? and to send her over ample Relief. -- How ought we then to tremble by letting her keep quiet Possession of the contested neutral Islands, and -- What therefore, if we were to secure ourselves of her Friendship, not to say a Word more about them? - And, how would it increase her Friendship, and her Favour, and her Pity too, if we were to add Barbadoes, and some two or three more of our Islands into the Bargain? wished for; and we have ill-naturedly enough, 'til now, in some Measure Trade, which she so greatly hankers after, and has long and ardently — How easy, by this Means, might she be possessed of the whole Sugar- kept out of her Hands? - How beneficial to France would this be? How add to the Support of the numerous poor Families with which she abounds? and the Rest of our troublesome Possessions in those Seas to whom we And why might we not as well deliver up Jamaica to the Spaniards, for Contentions and Strivings than we at present are? -- Let us do this thought most proper? Some to the Dutch, who appear much more fitted Spain shall please to set to our Settlements on the Continent, as Carolina, and retire ; - let us confine ourselves to the Limits which France and New-England, &c. Effects thereof, might be transferr'd to, and distributed amongst -our tur- Thus Wrangling and Jangling, and the various unpleasing and unpolite bulent and not-to-be satisfied Neighbours, who are each of them ready to we set them together by the Ears, leave them, and laugh at them, and say. take us by the Nose even for the Value of a single Straw. —Thus might Much good betide you with your Windward and your Leeward Islands, your Bays of Honduras and Campeachy, your Gulphs of Mexico, and of What if we were to quite settle our Peace with the Spaniards, by giving Florida, to all of which we bid a last Adieu. And, them up those stale Bones of Contention Gibraltar and Minorca? the whole of the Mediterranean and the Levant Trade!s This by And what if we were to permit them, together with the French, to have the bye, would save us from the Discredit of being obliged to it :— And we might also, by way of Apology, cry out lustily, — What have Protestant Powers to do with a Traffick carried on by, and only suitable to, Turks and Papists ! But, before those Things are punctually brought to pass, before our Fleets are set aside as quite useless Machines ;— let us perform one more grand Feat of Quixotism, and be what some, for want of due Con- Sideration, may foolishly enough term us--the Cat's Paw. Let us send the Man who is still alive, the who tumbled the Ports of the Spaniards about their Ears;--he----who would also have tumbled the Ports of France about the Ears of Frenchmen, had he been in earnest permitted so to have done : -nire I say, let us first send this Man with a Squadron so powerful,that it shall lay the Bulwarks on the Barbarian Coast level with the Earth, and open a fair Way for having her insolent Powers, who are an Eye-sore to the Pride of Spain, and a sort of Curb to the ambitious Views of France, entirely extirpated. I suppose it will be demanded by some of our Wiseacres, what the English are to do after all these Things are done ? --I answer, eat Bread, and drink Water if they can get it; and if they have not Room enough for themselves and their Cubs, there are still Possessions to be met with on this Terraqueous Globe, no Part of which could by the All wise Creator be created as useless. —New-found-land is not yet thoroughly peopled, and there is a large Tract of uncultivated Country, contiguous to the West and North of Hudson's Bay. Nova-Scotia, Sir, being a new Scene, had well nigh slipt my Notice; of which, I find there may be a Query started, whether Great-Britain was not a little too rash, too much in a Hurry to attempt to make a Settlement there, without Permission first intreated, had, and obtained of the French. For I find it to be a Country very well seated, and what would be extraordinarily commodious for the said French in promoting their Fishery at Cape-Breton. -- But this, upon nicer Consideration, will be far more preferable, when cleared, and the Settlements made good : And so would the Coast on the other Side; I mean Westward of the Bay of Fundy, down to the River Sagadahoc or Kennebec Bay, and would furnish the Means for the French's holding a nearer Correspondence with their City of Quebec. Let us therefore whilst the Fit is upon us of doing the utmost to please and to serve our Neighbours, make these Places fitting, and then let us resign them to the French :--And still continuing to be enamoured with the Spirit of Peace, of Humility, and of Self-denial, let us retire with what they please to let us carry off, our Litter and our Lumber (as I even now intimated) North and West of Hudson's Bay, where we may in all Likelihood dwell for Ages without being elbowed or envied by these Enemies to Peace and Tranquillity. Thus, Sir, I think I have outdone my former Outdoings ; have beat the True Briton, whom you take upon you to contend with, all to Rags; and this too with his own Weapons, in the most new Stile, and the most flourishing Method. And am, Sir, Your humble Servant, A real True Briton, Sept. 10, 1750. C. P. G.