John Page Jr. letter to John Norton, 1768 August 26

John Page Jr. letter to John Norton, 1768 August 26

John Page Jr. letter to John Norton, merchant of London, England. Page writes concerning the shipment of tobacco from Rosewell in Gloucester County, Virginia and the political situation in England and America. Page comments on the riots in London following the imprisonment of John Wilkes for his penning of the North Briton and the uncertain situation in America resulting from parliamentary and ministerial actions following the American response to the Townshend Acts, in particular the situation in Boston resulting from the issuance of the Massachusetts Circular Letter. Page notes that Americans are heartened by the actions of the Earls Camden and Chatham.

MS 1936.3.133
Folder 12

John Norton and Sons Papers, MS 1936.3

Special Collections, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Ink on paper

Page 1

Rosewell August y^e 26^th. 1768

Dear Sir

I wrote you by Capt. Lilly that I had bought
ten Hhds of Tob^o., had been disappointed of my Money,
was under a Necessity of drawing on you for £52 S16,
was obliged to your Son for the Ballance; & told
you that I would repay your Son this Fall.
Capt. Robertson will bring you 14 Hhds. 4 of the same
sort I sent you last Year, made at Rosewell, the other
10 as good as I could purchase. The Harvest
in general has been plentiful & good; & if we shall have
a Rain soon, for we are very dry now, it is thought
there will be fine Crops of Corn; but unless the
Fall should be extrememly favorable there will be
nothing like a fall Crop of Tobacco made in the
Country. I hope long before this your terrible
Riots are over. In what an unhappy Situation was
Great Britain! Unsteadiness in her Councils, Confusion
Riots & Tumults little short of Rebellion in her
very Metropolis; Discontent in all her Colonies, each,
& every one justly complaining of the Arbitrary
Proceedings of Parliament; & many of them provoked
at the Severe Restrictions on their Trade, are ready
to give a Stab almost vital to the Trade of Gt. B-n.
Great God! Was ever any Nation under Heaven capable
of being happier than the British. Our most invaluable
Constitution & the immense extent of the british Dominions
filled with the most loyal Subjects in the World,

Page 2

one would think, would make the British Empire the
most flourishing & glorious that ever existed. And so it
must be, when ever that excellent Constitution shall be
strictly observed & when that loyal People shall be treated
like British Subjects. But unhappy for us, unhappy for
G. B. the rising Prospect of that Glorious Empire, is obscured
if not the View intirely & forever intercepted, by the Gross Vapours
of Ministerial Ignorance or Villainy. But gross as those
Vapours are they may be dispel'd by the Rays of Abilities
& Integrity; which I hope ere long will shine forth.

I can not help blushing, when I think how justly our present
System of Politics is the Ridicule of all Europe; & I am
grieved when I consider how destructive it is to the Peace
& Happiness of thousands in America. A great Consolation
to America however this is, that her Sentiments of the late
Parliamentary Proceedings are the same with those of
Camden & Chatham; the one as great a Judge as any in
the World, & the other as able a Statesman. So that any
one who is acquainted with the Honesty & Abilities of those
great Men, must agree that those disagreeable Measures taken
by Parliament & Ministry have been justly opposed by America,
& are unconstitutional, & absolutely impolitic. The un-
happy Situation of Affairs at Boston, & the Riots I mentioned,
& which your Papers say daily happen in London, drew me
into that Train of Thoughts with which I have troubled you.
But not to dwell too long on one Subject, or tire your Patience with
a long Letter. The Accounts of Sales you sent me pleaseed every
Body I shewed them to. My Wife joins with me in best Wishes
to you y^r. Lady & Family.

I am Sir y^r. obliged Humble Servant
& Friend John Page Jun^r.

Address leaf

Virginia Aug^st. 26^th. 1763
John Page Jun^r.

Rec'd 24^th Oct^o.
p Cap^t. Robertson

Ans^d y^e March 1769
p Briliant