The Virginia Gazette

LONDON, April 20.

A REPORT goes that the Crown Lawyers are employed to secure a legal Acquittal of the Messenger of a great Assembly, rather than put the Mode of Privilege any farther, as the People seem resolved not to swallow any Draughts that are hurtful to the Constitution.
Yesterday there was a Levee at St. James's, after which the great Officers of State had a Conference with his Majesty.
Last Night a Council was held at the Secretary of State's Office in Cleveland Row, at which most of the Ministry assisted.
Yesterday many People attended in Westminster Hall, expecting the Lord Mayor and Mr. Oliver would have been brought before the Court of Common Pleas.
We can assure the Publick that Monday Morning, ten o'Clock, is fixed for the Lord Mayor and Mr. Alderman Oliver being brought up to the Court of Common Pleas, by Habeas Corpus.
Notwithstanding, the great Veneration the Patriots let the World see they have for one another, we are well assured that if Mr. Wilkes persists in standing Sheriff for the Year ensuing Mr. Oliver is determined to decline.
Yesterday, at six o'Clock in the Afternoon, the Inhabitants of Tower Ward, preceded by their Beadle with the Mace, waited on the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, in the Tower, with the following Address.

To the Right Honourable Brass Crosby, Esquire, Lord Mayor of the City of London.

The Address of the Deputy, Common Council, and Inhabitants of the Ward of Tower.

"My Lord,

Deeply affected at the Violence offered to the Laws of our Country, the Rights and Privileges of every Englishman, and to the Citizens of this Metropolis in particular, by the Imprisonment of your Lordship for having faithfully discharged the Duties of your high Office, we think it our indispensible Duty to assure your Lordship of our most firm Attachment and Support.

With the utmost Concern, we have observed the Representatives of this Kingdom become Instruments, in the Hands of a corrupt and despotic Administration, to wrest from the Subject their most sacred Rights; yet we trust that the Spirit of Liberty, the Attachment to the Laws, and the Love of our Constitution, as settled at the Revolution, which have ever distinguished the City of London, glows still in our Breasts with undiminished Fervour.

We are therefore determined, to the utmost of our Power, to resist every Invasion of our Rights, from whatever Quarter it may flow.

Entertaining these Sentiments, we return you, my Lord, our ardent Thanks for your spirited, legal, and manly Conduct in Support of the Privileges of the People, both as Legislator and chief Magistrate of this great City."

By Order of the Inhabitants,

J. MORGAN, C. W.

To which his Lordship returned the following Answer.

"Gentlemen of the Ward of Tower,

The Testimony of my own Conscience, joined to the repeated Approbation of the Citizens of London, gives me the greatest Satisfaction; and I feel myself sufficiently rewarded in the Exercise of my Duty by the publick Demonstrations of your Esteem. Had I in the least deviated from that Line of Integrity which my Situation, as your chief Magistrate requires, I should think myself unworthy of the Honours which you, and your Fellow Citizens, have conferred upon me; but I flatter myself my Conduct will be consistent and uniform. I have no Views but the Prosperity of my Country, which I shall always endeavour to promote to the best of my Abilities, and am persuaded that in the Prosecution of these Ends I shall always have the Continuance of your Protection and Support."
To Richard Oliver, Esquire, Alderman of the City of London.

The Address of the Deputy, Common Council, and Inhabitants of the Ward of Tower.

"SIR,

When the violent Resolutions of one Branch of the Legislature are set up in Opposition to the general Rights of an Englishman, and the peculiar Privileges of a Citizen, and when our Magistrates are sentenced to close Imprisonment for acting agreeably to the established Laws of the Land and the solemn Obligation of an Oath, every generous manly Bosom must glow with Indignation. At such a Juncture Neutrality becomes mean, dastardly, and criminal.

The Liberties of this Country never received a deeper Stab than when you, Sir, was committed to this Prison, for refusing to violate divine and human Laws. By this, and various other illegal Acts of the Representatives of the People, they have badly betrayed their Trust, and rendered themselves unworthy of future Confidence.

Thus oppressed by a wicked Administration, and deserted by a corrupt Majority of the House of Commons, our last Resource is the Virtue of the People.

Animated with these Sentiments, the Inhabitants of the Ward of Tower cannot but express their entire Approbation of your Conduct, both as a Magistrate and a Senator, and assure you of their firm and steady Support."

Mr. Alderman Oliver's Answer.

"Gentlemen of the Ward of Tower,

The Honour I receive by your Testimony of Approbation is more than a sufficient Reward for my Conduct on a recent Occasion, as without Applause the Effect of Integrity is its own Recompense.

I think, with you, in such Times as these, that Neutrality is a Dereliction of Duty. I believe it necessary to prove myself an honest Magistrate, and a faithful Representative of London, when called upon to exercise Justice, and to manifest my Principles. Could I make you every proper Return for the Favours you now bestow on me, none could be so agreeable to you as the Assurance, which I request you to accept, that I will not fail in the conscientious Discharge of my Trusts, both as your Magistrate and your Representative.

From the Virtue of the People of this Country, I have the warmest Hopes of such Support as will not fail to procure the ablest Defenders of the Cause of the People, while I can offer the most honest Endeavours for redressing their Grievances."
Yesterday Henry Crabb Boulton, and John Walsh, Esquires, Members of Parliament for Worcester, waited on the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, in the Tower, with the Freedom of that City, and the following is an exact Copy.

"City of Worcester, in the Time of Edward Wellings, Esquire, Mayor, April 15th, 1771, the Right Honourable Brass Crosby, Esquire, Lord Mayor of the City of London, was admitted a Freeman of this City gratis."

WILLIAM BOND, Town Clerk.
We hear the Inhabitants of the Ward of Farringdon Without intend meeting, the Beginning of next Week, to consider of an Address to the Lord Mayor, and Messieurs Aldermen Wilkes and Oliver.
The Report which has of late been industriously propagated, that Lord North is disgusted, and intends speedily to resign, is absolutely and totally groundless. It is supposed to be raised by some of those who are Enemies to the Prosperity and Stability of his Majesty's Government, as the Tongue of Envy has not yet been able to fix one single Stain upon his Lordship's Character. Finding they have not been able to intimidate his Lordship by Attempts upon his Person, they now try to raise a Jealousy between his Royal Master and him; but his Majesty hath too much Discernment not to see through this low Artifice, and too ardent a love for his People to part with so able and confidential a Servant. Another Instance of their