Masthead of Purdie’s VIRGINIA GAZETTE before the adoption of the Virginia Resolution for American Independence on May 15, 1776, by the Virginia Convention of Delegates meeting at the Capitol in Williamsburg.
May 10, 1776. NUMBER 67.
THE
VIRGINIA GAZETTE.
Always for LIBERTY, And the PUBLICK GOOD.
ALEXANDER PURDIE, Printer.
Masthead of Purdie’s VIRGINIA GAZETTE, substituting type ornaments for a coat of arms of the Royal Colony of Virginia, the first issue after the adoption of the Virginia Resolution. There had not been time to develop a new cut.
MAY 17, 1776. NUMBER 68.
THE
VIRGINIA GAZETTE.
THIRTEEN
UNITED COLONIES.
United, we stand—Divided, we fall.
Always for LIBERTY, And the PUBLICK GOOD.
Masthead of Purdie’s VIRGINIA GAZETTE in a following issue, showing the new cut that reflected the growing spirit of independence.
JUNE 7, 1776. NUMBER 71.
THE
VIRGINIA GAZETTE.
Always for LIBERTY, And the PUBLICK GOOD.
High HEAVEN to GRACIOUS ENDS directs the STORM:
After Hunter’s death in 1761, the printing office had a succession of owners and operators. As tension increased between Great Britain and her American colonies, especially after the adoption of the Stamp Act in 1765, the relation of public printer to government became more difficult. The printer faced the necessity of maintaining good relations with both loyalist and patriot elements in the House of Burgesses. One loyalist reader of the Gazette, the Reverend John Camm, complained in the early 1760s that Hunter’s successor, Joseph Royle, refused to publish Camm’s pamphlet arguing the cause of Church of England clergymen because of its “Satyrical Touches upon the Late Assembly.” On the other hand, certain patriot members criticized Royle in the columns of the Maryland Gazette for allegedly refusing to print their criticisms of local government. The printer was caught between fires.
Criticism of the Gazette continued after Royle died in January 1766, and Alexander Purdie, a Scotsman, took over the business. In what is thought to have been his first issue, Purdie announced that “the press shall likewise be as free as any Gentleman can wish, or desire; and I crave the countenance and favour of the publick no longer than my conduct may appear to merit their approbation.” Later the same month, Purdie wrote, “As I understand it is thought by some that I have neglected, or refused, to publish the account of a late transaction at Hobb’s Hole [Tappahannock], this is to assure the publick ... that I never saw the same, nor was it ever offered to me to publish, otherwise it would have seen the light before this time: For I do now, as I have heretofore declared, that my press shall be as free as any Gentleman can wish or desire; that is, as free as any publick press upon the continent.” In 1775, after Purdie established another Virginia Gazette, his paper bore the appealing motto “Always for Liberty, and the Publick Good.”