Page:Sketches of the life and character of Patrick Henry.djvu/168

 144 SKETCHES OF THE

ed to apprehend that the pubHc treasuiy would be the next object of depredation, and that a pretext would be sought for it, in the reprisal which had just been made. He therefore addressed, from Doncastle's, the following letter to Robert Carter Nicholas, esq. the treasurer of the colony.

« May 4, 1775.

" Sir,

" The affair of the powder is now settled, so as to produce satisfaction to me, and I earnestly wish to the colony in general. The people here, have it in charge from Hanover committee, to tender their service to you, as a public officer, for the purpose of escorting the public treasury to any place in this colony, where the money would be judged more safe than in the city of Williamsburg. The reprisal now made by the Hanover volunteers, though accomplished in a manner least liable to the imputation of violent extremity, may possibly be the cause of future injuiy to the treasury. If, therefore, you apprehend the least danger, a suffi- cient guard is at your service. I beg the return of the bearer may be instant, because the men wish to know

��concerned, has testified a spirit ofcruelty unprecedented in the annals of civiliz- ed times; that, in his late notice to the president, he has added insult to cruelty; and that, considering- the circumstances already mentioned, of one of the most considerable inhabitants of said town, he has discovered the most hellish principles that can actuate a human mind.

" Resolved, That it be recommended to the inhabitants of this town, and to the country in general, that tl.ey do not entei-tain or show any other mark of civihty to capt. Montague, besides what common decency and absolute necessity require.

" Resolved, That the clerk do transmit the above proceedings to the pub- lic printers to be inserted in the Virginia gazettes. (A true copy.)


 * ' William Rissell, Clk. Com."

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