(NU»® 34 )
AN
GENERA
V E R T I S E R.
W E D N E S D A Y, November 12, 1788.
T
Per C E N T I N E L.
Meflil!; PRINTERS,
SUPPOSE a memorial, like the fol-^
lowing, Oiould be fent to the affern-
bly, by a perfon in the fituation
therein defcribcd, I (hould think it
would confider itfelf bound to re-
dicf> the grievances there ftated,
either by applying a remedy to the
particular cafe, or elle (more con-
fiilent with dignity) by deviling
Inch a plan for the adminiftration
of juftice, as to prevent our annaU
being ftained in future with fuch
reprefentations.
To th^ionorable the General Aflem-
bly, &c. &c.
The Memorial of
Humbly Sheweth,
HAT your memorialjfti^’s
native of the county of—
polTell'ed of a wife and nine children,
with an eftate of 400 acres of land and
four working Haves—that in the year
^1778 he became entitled to a property
ill Haves and Ipecie of the value of two
thoufand five hundred pounds, at the
lowell computation ; whicli property
having fallen into the hands of ,
is withheld by him from your memo-
rialifi: cn fundry pretences— that your
memorialift, from his averfion to dif-
putes, fuffered himfelf to be amufed
for two years, by promifes of an ami'
cable fettlement and other artifices of
the faid , when he found himfelf
at length under the neceflity of infii-
tuting a fuit, to recover by the interpo-
fition of the law what he ceuld not
otherwife obtain—that he brought the
faid fuit in the court of his county at
the term of November, 1780, and ob
tained a verdi6l: and judgment in his
favour, at the term of Auguft,
from which the faid appealed to
the fuperior court of the diftridf, where
the caufe was continued to the term of
■ , in the year 1786, when the judg
ment of the county court was fully
confirmed, eftablifhing vour memo
rialift’ s right concIufively,as he hoped ;
hut hoped, it feems, in vain ; for the
faid hath carried the fuit into the
court of equity, where it is now refted,
and appears (from the quantity Bof
bufineis in courfe before it) likely to
reft in peace during ihe^emainder of
his life-—that your memorialift is a.
i^man of fmall property, whofe conftant
attention is necefl'ary to the fupport
of his family, with too poor an income
to fupport the charges he hath been
drawn into, without the greateft dif-
trt’fs to his affairs—that he hath with
extieme difficulty, found means to fuf-
tain them and the lofs of time, in at
tending at eleven county and ten fupc-
l ior courts upon this fuit, jill at length
he now finds himfelf tit^ly exhaufted
of all further lefources Tor purfoing
his juft, and to him important cfaim,
while in addition to the cruelty of his
lituation, he happen^ to be oppoTcd to
a crafty man, who at ^this time pof-
lefling property fufficie^t to enable liim
to dilchaige expence? which over-
wdielm your memorialift, is univerlal-
Iy Jlchcycd to be fo involved and de
clining in his circnmTlanccs, that, un-
iclsjufticeis fpeedily obtained againft
hiiTi, he will be without effects wherc-
fion* to procure it.
Vv liereupoii, the whole taken toge
ther, the condition of your memorial
ift is this:—He hath been ten years*
deprived of his property by a villain
who diverts himfelf with his diftrefies ;
he hath fought redrefs at law for
eight years, during which the food,
cloathing, and education of his family
have been facrificed to the profecution
of it ; and he is at length likely to be
turned out of doors by the demands
of his witneffes, with the expeftation
that he will, in fome few years, be re-
compenced for all this, by hearing his
competitor read the 40s. oath.
That your memorialift thus having
rcafon to complain of an evil of the
firft magnitude exifting in the govern
ment, viz. the amazing delay of juftice,
he is induced to apply with the greateft
deference to your honourable body for
relief in his diftrefs, becaufe it is from
your wifdom and juftice that every citi
zen has a right to expe6t: good govern
ment. A plain labouring man, un-
verfed in politics, he prefumes not to
attempt at pointing out the caufe of
this evil, but he reprefents to you, that*
he is an indifputable good citizen of
the ftatc—that he hath paid due alle
giance to it, and performed all the du
ties of his ftaticn with alacrity, and is
TT
therefore entitled to proteflion ; that
the chief article of the protedfion he
claims, the great point for which irien
enter into fociety, and fabmit to ifs
reftraints, is the certainty for fupport
againft oppreflion, and redrefs for
injuries, not dilatory diftant redreft,
but that which is fpeedy and effectu
al. He acknowledges that juftice is as
attainable by him as by others ; for
he is not ignorant* of the incredible
number of honeft families, who are
pining in want, doubt, and wretched-
riefs, from the effeCts of the mifehief
he complains of; but he is forced to
apply to the legiflature, becaufe he
hath fought for juftice in the ordinary
way and cannot acquire it ; he hatfi
not been denied it, but it is delayed,
which for many 3^ears has, and for as
many more may be to him, the fame
as a denial.
Yisur memorialift, therefore, having
made his grievous fituation known to
you, and begging leave to remind you
that it is only a fingle inftanceof fimi-
lar calamities, fo great and numerous
as to have become a fubjeCf of general
-complaint, irremediable without your
interpofition ; and confidering that iz
is a common praftice to apply to the
legifiature in fuch cafes as require their
affiftance, even in concerns trifling to
the laft degree, when compared to this,
and that theaffembly pay due regard
to fuch applications—he humbly pray s
that you will be pleafed to take his
cafe into immediate confideration, and
grant fuch relief as to your wifdom
(hall feem proper—and your memo
rialift, &c.
Education.
I N order to render himfelf more
extenfively ufeful to Wilmington
and its Vicinity,—the Reverend Mr.
STEWART propofes opening School,*
as foon as a competent Number of
Scholars offer. He will inftruft the
Youth that may be committed to his
Care, in the learned Languages, tl.e
Englilh, grammatically, and the pri;i-
cipics of Religion, natural, and re-"^
vealed.
Wilmington, Sept. 30th, 1788.