The Virginia Gazette

Extract of a letter from Petersburg, May 18.

The affair of General Douglas being come to light, appears quite different from what was at first given out. It is not true that this general's daughters accused him of high treason, or anything like it. They did indeed desire to be conducted hither, in order to complain to the Empress of the ill usage they pretended to have received from their father, and to beseech her imperial majesty to protect them against the like treatment hereafter. At the same time they expressed an inclination to become members of the Greek Church. General Douglas having been examined, did not deny that he had treated them with some severity, but observed that in so doing he had not exceeded the bounds of parental authority. That he had perceived they had fixed their affections much below their birth, and were in great danger of being dishonoured in the eyes of the public; and then he set forth all the reasons he had to fear they would bring a scandal upon their family. The Empress having heard the complaints on both sides, was pleased to order that the young ladies should remain at court, and be instructed in the Greek religion, until an opportunity offers for settling them in the world.