Note 144 — Chapter XIV · SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION.

Before the Revolution this grievance had come to awaken fierce resentment. A letter printed in 1751 exclaims: “In what can Britain show a more sovereign contempt for us than by emptying their gaols into our settlements, unless they would likewise empty their offal upon our tables?... And what must we think of those merchants who for the sake of a little paltry gain will be concerned in importing and disposing of these abominable cargoes!”—Virginia Gazette, May 24, 1751.