[Illustration: _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.” _TOWARD A FREE PRESS_