Travels through the Middle Settlements in North America

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Andrew Burnaby (1732 – 1812) was an English clergyman, ordained in 1756. In 1759, he toured the British colonies in America for a year, publishing a travelogue Travels through the Middle Settlements in North America, in the Years 1759 and 1760: With Observations upon the State of the Colonies in 1775. In 1798 a third edition, "revised, corrected, and greatly enlarged," was published. The third edition contains a footnote which mentions George Wythe, in reference to the character of the inhabitant of the Virginia colony:

Text from the 3rd edition, 1798

Page 24n

‡ General characters are always liable to many exceptions. In Virginia, I have had the pleasure to know several gentlemen adorned with many virtues and accomplishments, to whom the following description is by no means applicable. Amongst others, I cannot resist the inclination of mentioning George Wyth [sic] Esquire, who, to a perfect knowledge of the Greek language, which was taught him by his mother in the back woods, and of the ancient, particularly the Platonic philosophy, had joined such a profound reverence for the Supreme Being, such respect for the divine laws, such philanthropy for mankind, such simplicity of manners, and such inflexible rectitude and integrity of principle, as would have dignified a Roman senator, even in the most virtuous times of the republic.—This gentleman is, I believe, still living.

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