CHAP. IX.

[Sidenote] All commotions and oppressions in Europe favourable to

America.

The war between England and France still raged in Europe, and being

carried on under many disadvantages on the side of the allied army, was

almost as unsuccessful as their enemies could have desired. The battle of

Fontenoy was obstinate and bloody, and many thousands were left on the

field on the side of the vanquished. The victorious army had little

reason for boasting, having likewise bought their victory very dear.

Though bad success attended the British arms on the continent at this

time, yet that evil being considered as remote, the people seemed only to

feel it as affecting the honour of the nation, which by some fortunate

change might retrieve the glory of its arms; but a plot of a more

interesting nature was discovered, which added greatly to the national

perplexity and distress. A civil war broke out within the bowels of the

kingdom, the object of which was nothing less than the recovery of the

British crown from the house of Brunswick. Charles Edward Stuart, the

young pretender, stimulated by the fire of youth, encouraged by the

deceitful promises of France, and invited by a discontented party of the

Scotch nation, had landed in North Britain to head the rash enterprise.

Multitudes of bold and deluded Highlanders, and several Lowlanders, who

owed their misfortunes to their firm adherence to that family, joined his

army. He became formidable both by the numbers that followed him, and the

success that at first attended his arms. But at length, after having

struck a terror into the nation, he was routed at Culloden field, and his

party were either dispersed, or made prisoners of war.

What to make of the prisoners of war became a matter of public

deliberation. To punish all, without distinction, would have been

unjustifiable cruelty in any government, especially where so many were

young, ignorant, and misled: to pardon all, on the other hand, would

discover unreasonable weakness, and dangerous lenity. The prisoners had

nothing to plead but the clemency of the King, and the tenderness of the

British constitution. Examples of justice were necessary to deter men

from the like attempts; but it was agreed to temper justice with mercy,

in order to convince the nation of the gentleness of that constitution,

which made not only a distinction between the innocent and guilty, but

even among the guilty themselves, between those who were more, and those

who were less criminal. The King ordered a general pardon to pass the

Great Seal, in which he extended mercy to the ignorant, and misled among

the rebels, which pardon comprehended nineteen out of twenty, who drew

lots for this purpose, were exempted from trial, and transported to the

British plantations. Among other settlements in America, the southern

provinces had a share of these bold and hardy Caledonians, who afterwards

proved excellent and industrious settlers.

As every family of labourers is an acquisition to a growing colony, such

as Carolina, where lands are plenty, and hands only wanted to improve

them; to encourage emigration, a door was opened there to Protestants of

every nation. The poor and distressed subjects of the British dominions,

and those of Germany and Holland, were easily induced to leave

oppression, and transport themselves and families to that province. Lands

free of quit-rents, for the first ten years, were allotted to men, women,

and children. Utensils for cultivation, and hogs and cows to begin their

stock, they purchased with their bounty-money. The like bounty was

allowed to all servants after the expiration of the term of their

servitude. From this period Carolina was found to be an excellent refuge

to the poor, the unfortunate, and oppressed. The population and

prosperity of her colonies engrossed the attention of the mother-country.

His Majesty's bounty served to alleviate the hardships inseparable from

the first years of cultivation, and landed property animated the poor

emigrants to industry and perseverance. The different townships yearly

increased in numbers. Every one upon his arrival obtained his grant of

land, and sat down on his freehold with no taxes, or very trifling ones,

no tythes, no poor rates, with full liberty of hunting and fishing, and

many other advantages and privileges he never knew in Europe. It is true

the unhealthiness of the climate was a great bar to his progress, and

proved fatal to many of these first settlers; but to such as surmounted

this obstacle, every year brought new profits, and opened more

advantageous prospects. All who escaped the dangers of the climate, if

they could not be called rich during their own life, by improving their

little freeholds, they commonly left their children in easy or opulent

circumstances. Even in the first age being free, contented, and

accountable to man for their labour and management, their condition in

many respects was preferable to that of the poorest class of labourers in

Europe. In all improved countries, where commerce and manufactures have

been long established, and luxury prevails, the poorest ranks of citizens

are always oppressed and miserable. Indeed this must necessarily be the

case, otherwise trade and manufactures, which flourish principally by the

low price of labour and provisions, must decay. In Carolina, though

exposed to more troubles and hardships for a few years, such industrious

people had better opportunities than in Europe for advancing to an easy

and independent state. Hence it happened that few emigrants ever returned

to their native country; on the contrary, the success and prosperity of

the most fortunate, brought many adventurers and relations after them.

Their love to their former friends, and their natural partiality for

their countrymen, induced the old planters to receive the new settlers

joyfully, and even to assist and relieve them. Having each his own

property and possession, this independence produced mutual respect and

beneficence, and such general harmony and industry reigned among them,

that those townships, formerly a desolate wilderness, now stocked with

diligent labourers, promised soon to become fruitful fields.

[Sidenote] Cultivation attended with salutary effects.

It has been observed, that in proportion as the lands have been cleared

and improved, and scope given for a more free circulation of air, the

climate has likewise become more salubrious and pleasant. This change was

more remarkable in the heart of the country than in the maritime parts,

where the best plantations of rice are, and where water is carefully

preserved to overflow the fields; yet even in those places cultivation

has been attended with salutary effects. Time and experience had now

taught the planters, that, during the autumnal months, their living among

the low rice plantations subjected them to many disorders, from which the

inhabitants of the capital were entirely exempted. This induced the

richer part to retreat to town during this unhealthy season. Those who

were less able to bear the expences of this retreat, and had learned to

guard against the inconveniencies of the climate, sometimes escaped; but

laborious strangers suffered much during these autumnal months.

Accustomed as they were in Europe to toil through the heat of the day,

and expose themselves in all weathers, they followed the same practices

in Carolina, where the climate would by no means admit of such liberties.

Apprehensive of no ill consequences from such exposure, they began their

improvement with vigour and resolution, and persevered until the hot

climate and heavy toil exhausted their spirits, and brought home to them

the unwelcome intimations of danger.

[Sidenote] Mean heat in Carolina.

In the months of July, August, and September, the heat in the shaded air,

from noon to three o'clock, is often between ninety and an hundred

degrees; and as such extreme heat is of short duration, being commonly

productive of thunder-showers, it becomes on that account the more

dangerous. I have seen the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer arise in

the shade to ninety-six in the hottest, and fall to sixteen in the

coolest season of the year; others have observed it as high as an

hundred, and as low as ten; which range between the extreme heat of

summer and cold in winter is prodigious, and must have a great effect

upon the constitution of all, even of those who are best guarded against

the climate; what then must be the situation of such as are exposed to

the open air and burning sky in all seasons? The mean diurnal heat of the

different seasons has been, upon the most careful observation, fixed at

sixty-four in spring, seventy-nine in summer, seventy-two in autumn, and

fifty-two in winter; and the mean nocturnal heat in those seasons at

fifty-six degrees in spring, seventy-five in summer, sixty-eight in

autumn, and forty-six in winter.

[Sidenote] The diseases of the country.

As this climate differs so much from that of Britain, Ireland, and

Germany, and every where has great influence on the human constitution,

no wonder that many of these settlers should sicken and die by the

change, during the first state of colonization. In the hot season the

human body is relaxed by perpetual perspiration, and becomes feeble and

sickly, especially during the dog-days, when the air is one while

suffocating and sultry, and another moist and foggy. Exhausted of fluids,

it is perhaps not at all, or very improperly, supplied. Hence

intermittent, nervous, putrid and bilious fevers, are common in the

country, and prove fatal to many of its inhabitants. Young children are

very subject to the worm-fever, which cuts off multitudes of them. The

dry belly-ache, which is a dreadful disorder, is no stranger to the

climate. An irruption, commonly called the Prickly Heat, often breaks out

during the summer, which is attended with troublesome itching and

stinging pains; but this disease being common, and not dangerous, is

little regarded; and if proper caution be used to prevent it from

striking suddenly inward, is thought to be attended even with salutary

effects. In the spring and winter pleurisies and peripneumonies are

common, often obstinate, and frequently fatal diseases. So changeable is

the weather, that the spirits in the thermometer will often rise or fall

twenty, twenty-five, and thirty degrees, in the space of twenty four

hours, which must make havock of the human constitution. In autumn there

is sometimes a difference of twenty degrees between the heat of the day

and that of the night, and in winter a greater difference between the

heat of the morning and that of noon-day. We leave it to physicians more

particularly to describe the various disorders incident to this climate,

together with the causes of them; but if violent heat and continual

perspiration in summer, noxious vapours and sudden changes in autumn,

piercing cold nights, and hot noon-days in winter, affect the human

constitution, the inhabitants of Carolina, especially in the maritime

parts, have all these and many more changes and hardships during the year

to undergo. Not only man, but every animal, is strongly affected by the

sultry heat of summer. Horses and cows retire to the shade, and there,

though harassed with insects, they stand and profusely sweat through the

violence of the day. Hogs and dogs are also much distressed with it.

Poultry and wild fowls droop their wings, hang out their tongues, and,

with open throats, pant for breath. The planter who consults his health

is not only cautious in his dress and diet, but rises early for the

business of the field, and transacts it before ten o'clock, and then

retreats to the house or shade during the melting heat of the day, until

the coolness of the evening again invites him to the field. Such is his

feebleness of body and languor of spirit at noon, that the greatest

pleasure of life consists in being entirely at rest. Even during the

night he is often restless and depressed, insomuch that refreshing sleep

is kept a stranger to his eyes. If unfortunately the poor labourer is

taken sick in such weather, perhaps far removed from, or unable to

employ, a physician, how great must be his hazard. In towns this heat is

still rendered more intolerable by the glowing reflection from houses,

and the burning sand in the streets. But how it is possible for cooks,

blacksmiths, and other tradesmen, to work at the side of a fire, as many

in the province do during such a season, we must leave to the world to

judge.

[Sidenote] Climate favourable to the culture of indigo.

This hot weather, however, has been found favourable to the culture of

indigo, which at this time was introduced into Carolina, and has since

proved one of its chief articles of commerce. About the year 1745 a

fortunate discovery was made, that this plant grew spontaneously in the

province, and was found almost every where among the wild weeds of the

forest. As the soil naturally yielded a weed which furnished the world

with so useful and valuable a dye, it loudly called for cultivation and

improvement. For this purpose some indigo seed was imported from the

French West Indies, where it had been cultivated with great success, and

yielded the planters immense profit. At first the seed was planted by way

of experiment, and it was found to answer the most sanguine expectations.

In consequence of which several planters turned their attention to the

culture of indigo and studied the art of extracting the dye from it.

Every trial brought them fresh encouragement. In the year 1747 a

considerable quantity of it was sent to England, which induced the

merchants trading to Carolina to petition parliament for a bounty on

Carolina indigo. The parliament, upon examination, found that it was one

of the most beneficial articles of French commerce, that their West India

islands supplied all the markets of Europe; and that Britain alone

consumed annually six hundred thousand weight of French indigo, which, at

five shillings a pound, cost the nation the prodigious sum of one hundred

and fifty thousand pounds sterling. It was demonstrated by the merchants,

that this vast expence might be saved, by encouraging the cultivation of

indigo in Carolina, and commonly believed that in time the colony might

bring it to such perfection, as to rival the French at the markets of

Europe. This petition of the merchants was soon followed by another from

the planters and inhabitants of Carolina, and others to the same effect

from the clothiers, dyers, and traders of different towns in Britain. It

was proved, that the demand for indigo annually increased, and it could

never he expected that the planters in the West Indies would turn their

hands to it, while the culture of sugar canes proved more profitable.

Accordingly, an act of parliament passed, about the beginning of the year

1748, for allowing a bounty of sixpence _per_ pound on all indigo raised

in the British American plantations, and imported directly into Britain

from the place of its growth. In consequence of which act the planters

applied themselves with double vigour and spirit to that article, and

seemed to vie with each other who should bring the best kind and greatest

quantity of it to the market. Some years indeed elapsed before they

learned the nice art of making it as well as the French, whom long

practice and experience had taught it to perfection; but every year they

acquired greater skill and knowledge in preparing it, and received

incredible profit as the reward of their labours. While many of them

doubled their capital every three or four years by planting indigo, they

in process of time brought it to such a degree of perfection, as not only

to supply the mother-country, but also to undersel the French at several

European markets.

[Sidenote] The manner of cultivating and making indigo.

Here it may not be improper to give the reader some account of the manner

in which the people of Carolina cultivate this plant, and extract the dye

from it. As we pretend to little knowledge of this matter ourselves, we

shall give the following rules and directions of an ingenious person, who

practised them for several years with great success. "As both the

quantity and quality of indigo greatly depend on the cultivation of the

plant, it is proper to observe, that it seems to thrive best in a rich,

light soil, unmixed with clay or sand. The ground to be planted should be

plowed, or turned up with hoes, some time in December, that the frost may

render it rich and mellow. It must also be well harrowed, and cleansed

from all grass, roots, and stumps of trees, to facilitate the hoeing

after the weed appears above ground. The next thing to be considered is

the choice of the seed, in which the planters should be very nice; there

is great variety of it, and from every sort good indigo may be made; but

none answers so well in this colony as the true Guatimala, which if good

is a small oblong black seed, very bright and full, and when rubbed in

the hand will appear as if finely polished.

"In Carolina we generally begin to plant about the beginning of April, in

the following manner: The ground being well prepared, furrows are made

with a drill-plow, or hoe, two inches deep, and eighteen inches distant

from each other, to receive the seed, which is sown regularly, and not

very thick, after which it is lightly covered with earth. A bushel of

seed will sow four English acres. If the weather proves warm and serene,

the plant will appear above ground in ten or four-teen days. After the

plant appears, the ground, though not grassy, should be hoed to loosen

the earth about it, which otherwise would much hinder its growth. In good

seasons it grows very fast, and must all the while be kept perfectly

clean of weeds. Whenever the plant is in full bloom it must be cut down,

without paying any regard to its height, as its leaves are then thick and

full of juice, and this commonly happens in about four months after

planting. But, previous to the season for cutting, a complete set of vats

of the following dimensions, for every twenty acres of weed, must be

provided, and kept in good order. The steeper or vat in which the weed is

first put to ferment, must be sixteen feet square in the clear, and two

and a half feet deep; the second vat or battery twelve feet long, ten

feet wide, and four and a half feet deep from the top of the plate. These

vats should be made of the best cypress or yellow-pine plank, two and a

half inches thick, well fastened to the joints and studs with seven-inch

spikes, and then caulked, to prevent their leaking. Vats thus made will

last in Carolina, notwithstanding the excessive heat, at least seven

years. When every thing is ready, the weed must be cut and laid regularly

in the steeper with the stalk upward, which will hasten the fermentation;

then long rails must be laid the length of the vat, at eighteen inches

distance from one another, and wedged down to the weed, to prevent its

buoying up when the water is pumped into the steeper. For this purpose

the softest water answers best, and the quantity of it necessary must be

just sufficient to cover all the weed. In this situation it is left to

ferment, which will begin sooner or later in proportion to the heat of

the weather, and the ripeness of the plant, but for the most part takes

twelve or fifteen hours. After the water is loaded with the salts and

substance of the weed, it must be let out of the steeper into the

battery, there to be beat; in order to perform which operation, many

different machines have been invented: but for this purpose any

instrument that will agitate the water with great violence may be used.

When the water has been violently agitated for fifteen or twenty minutes

in the battery, by taking a little of the liquor up in a plate it will

appear full of small grain or curdled; then you are to let in a quantity

of lime-water kept in a vat for the purpose, to augment and precipitate

the faeculae, still continuing to stir and beat vehemently the indigo

water, till it becomes of a strong purple colour, and the grain hardly

perceptible. Then it must be left to settle, which it will do in eight or

ten hours. After which the water must be gently drawn out of the battery

through plug-holes contrived for that purpose, so that the faeculae may

remain at the bottom of the vat. It must then be taken up, and carefully

strained through a horse-hair sieve, to render the indigo perfectly

clean, and put into bags made of Osnaburghs, eighteen inches long, and

twelve wide, and suspended for six hours, to drain the water out of it.

After which the mouths of these bags being well fastened, it must be put

into a press to be entirely freed from any remains of water, which would

otherwise greatly hurt the quality of the indigo. The press commonly used

for this purpose is a box of five feet in length, two and a half wide,

and two deep, with holes at one end to let out the water. In this box the

bags must be laid, one upon another, until it is full, upon which a plank

must be laid, fitted to go within the box, and upon all a sufficient

number of weights to squeeze out the water entirely by a constant and

gradual pressure, so that the indigo may become a fine stiff paste; which

is then taken out and cut into small pieces, each about two inches

square, and laid out to dry. A house made of logs must be prepared on

purpose for drying it, and so constructed that it may receive all the

advantages of an open and free air, without being exposed to the sun,

which is very pernicious to the dye. For here indigo placed in the sun,

in a few hours will be burnt up to a perfect cinder. While the indigo

remains in the drying house, it must be carefully turned three or four

times in a day, to prevent its rotting. Flies should likewise be

carefully kept from it, which at this season of the year are hatched in

millions, and infest an indigo plantation like a plague. After all, great

care must also be taken, that the indigo be sufficiently dry before it is

packed, lest after it is headed up in barrels it should sweat, which will

certainly spoil and rot it."

In this manner indigo is cultivated and prepared in Carolina, and the

richest land in the heart of the country is found to answer best for it.

The maritime islands, however, which are commonly sandy, are not

unfavourable for this production, especially those that contain spots of

land covered with oak, and hickory trees. It is one of those rank weeds

which in a few years will exhaust the strength and fertility of the best

lands in the world. It is commonly cut in the West Indies six and seven

times in the year, but in Carolina no more than two or three times before

the frost begins. Our planters have been blamed by the English merchants

for paying too much attention to the quantity, and too little to the

quality of their indigo, hence the West-India indigo brings an higher

price at the market. He that prefers the quality to the quantity, is very

careful to cut the plant at the proper season, that is, when the weed

begins to bloom; for the more luxuriant and tender the plant, the more

beautiful the indigo. While it is curing, indigo has an offensive and

disagreeable smell, and as the dregs of the weed are full of salts, and

make excellent manure, therefore they should be immediately buried under

ground when brought out of the steeper. It is commonly observed, that all

creatures about an indigo plantation are starved, whereas, about a rice

one, which abounds with provisions for man and beast, they thrive and

flourish. The season for making indigo in Carolina ends with the first

frosty weather, which puts a stop to fermentation, and then double labour

is not only requisite for beating it, but when prepared it is commonly

good for nothing.

[Sidenote] The common methods of judging of its quality.

The planters bring their indigo to market about the end of the year, and

frequently earlier. The merchant judges of its quality by breaking it,

and observing the closeness of its grain, and its brilliant copper, or

violet blue colour. The weight in some measure proves its quality, for

heavy indigo of every colour is always bad. Good indigo almost entirely

consumes away in the fire, the bad leaves a quantity of ashes. In water

also pure and fine indigo entirely melts and dissolves, but the

heterogeneous and solid parts of the bad sink to the bottom like sand.

From this period it became a staple to Carolina, and proved equally

profitable as the mines of Mexico or Peru. To the mother country it was

no less beneficial, in excluding the French indigo entirely from her

market, and promoting her manufactures, and trade. I shall afterwards

take notice of the rapid progress made in the cultivation of this

article; particularly with respect to the quantity produced and yearly

shipped to Britain, to supply the markets in Europe.

[Sidenote] Nova Scotia settled.

The great bounty and indulgence of Britain towards her American colonies

increased with their progress in cultivation, and favour after favour was

extended to them. Filled with the prospect of opening an excellent market

for her manufactures, and enlarging her commerce and navigation, in which

her strength in a great measure consisted, these colonies were become the

chief objects of her care, and new ones were planted for the protection

of the old. At this time the peace of Aix la Chapelle left a number of

brave sailors and soldiers without employment. Good policy required that

they should be rendered useful to the nation, and at the same time

furnished with employment for their own subsistence. Acadia, which was

ceded to Britain by the treaty of peace, changed its name to Nova Scotia,

and was capable of producing every species of naval stores. The sea there

abounded with excellent fish, which might furnish employment for a number

of sailors, and be made an useful and advantageous branch of trade. But

the excellent natural harbours which the country afforded, of all other

things proved the greatest inducement for establishing a colony in it,

the possession of which would not only promote trade in the time of

peace, but also prove a safe station for British fleets in time of war.

Besides, for the sake of commercial advantage, it was judged proper to

confine the settlements in America as much as possible to the sea-coast.

The parliament therefore determined to send out a colony to Nova Scotia,

and, to forward the settlement, voted forty thousand pounds. The

following advantageous terms were held forth to the people by government,

and a number of adventurers agreed to accept them. Fifty acres of land

were to be allowed to every soldier and sailor, two hundred to every

ensign, three hundred to every lieutenant, four hundred and sixty to

every captain, and six hundred to all officers of higher rank; together

with thirty for every servant they should carry along with them. No

quit-rents were to be demanded for the first ten years. They were also to

be furnished with instruments for fishing and agriculture, to have their

passage free, and provisions found them for the first year after their

arrival. Three thousand seven hundred and sixty adventurers embarked for

America on these favourable terms, and settled at Halifax, which place

was fixed on as the seat of government, and fortified. The Acadians, the

former inhabitants of the country, were allowed peaceably to remain in

it, and having sworn never to bear arms against their countrymen,

submitted to the English government, and passed under the denomination of

French neutrals. The greatest difficulty which the new settlers of Nova

Scotia had to surmount at this time arose from the Micmac Indians, who

held that territory from nature, and for some time obstinately defended

their right to their ancient possessions; and it was not without

considerable loss that the British subjects at length, by force of arms,

drove them away from those territories.

[Sidenote] The great care of Britain for these colonies.

Nor did this new settlement engross the whole attention and liberality of

the parent state; the province of Georgia also every year shared

plentifully from the same hands. Indeed the bounty of the mother country

was extensive as her dominions, and, like the sun, cherished and

invigorated every object on which it shone. All the colonies might have

been sensible of her constant attention to their safety and prosperity,

and had great reason to acknowledge themselves under the strongest

obligations to her goodness. If she expected a future recompense by the

channel of commerce, which is for the most part mutually advantageous, it

was no more than she had justly merited. The colonists, we allow, carried

with them the rights and liberties of the subjects of Britain, and they

owed in return the duties of obedience to her laws and subjection to her

government. The privileges and duties of subjects in all states have been

reciprocal, and as the mother country had incurred great expence for the

establishment and support of these foreign settlements; as she had

multiplied her burdens for their defence and improvement; surely such

protection and kindness laid a foundation for the firmest union, and the

most dutiful returns of allegiance and gratitude.

[Sidenote] Low state of Georgia.

However, the province of Georgia, notwithstanding all that Britain had

done for its population and improvement, still remained in a poor and

languishing condition. Its settlers consisted of two sorts of people;

first, of indigent subjects and foreigners, whom the Trustees transported

and maintained; secondly, of men of some substance, whom flattering

descriptions of the province had induced voluntarily to emigrate to it.

After the peace Oglethorpe's regiment being disbanded, a number of

soldiers accepted the encouragement offered them by government, and took

up their residence in Georgia. All those adventurers who had brought some

substance along with them, having by this time exhausted their small

stock in fruitless experiments, were reduced to indigence, so that

emigrants from Britain, foreigners, and soldiers, were all on a level in

point of poverty. From the impolitic restrictions of the Trustees, these

settlers had no prospects during life but those of hardship and poverty,

and of consequence, at their decease, of bequeathing a number of orphans

to the care of Providence. Nor was the trade of the province in a better

situation than its agriculture. The want of credit was an unsurmountable

obstacle to its progress in every respect. Formerly the inhabitants in

and about Savanna had transmitted to the Trustees a representation of

their grievous circumstances, and obtained from them some partial relief.

But now, chagrined with disappointments, and dispirited by the severities

of the climate, they could view the design of the Trustees in no other

light than that of having decoyed them into misery. Even though they had

been favoured with credit, and had proved successful, which was far from

being their case; as the tenure of their freehold was restricted to heirs

male, their eldest son could only reap the benefit of their toil, and the

rest must depend on his bounty, or be left wholly to the charge of that

Being who feeds the fowls of the air. They considered their younger

children and daughters as equally entitled to paternal regard, and could

not brook their holding lands under such a tenure, as excluded them from

the rights and privileges of other colonists. They saw numbers daily

leaving the province through mere necessity, and frankly told the

Trustees, that nothing could prevent it from being totally deserted, but

the same encouragements with their more fortunate neighbours in Carolina.

[Sidenote: Complaint of the people.]

That the Trustees might have a just view of their condition, the

Georgians stated before them their grievances, and renewed their

application for redress. They judged that the British constitution,

zealous for the rights and liberties of mankind, could not permit

subjects who had voluntarily risked their lives, and spent their

substance on the public faith, to effect a settlement in the most

dangerous frontiers of the British empire, to be deprived of the common

privileges of all colonists. They complained that the land-holders in

Georgia were prohibited from selling or leasing their possessions; that a

tract containing fifty acres of the best lands was too small an allowance

for the maintenance of a family, and much more so when they were refused

the freedom to chuse it; that a much higher quit-rent was exacted from

them than was paid for the best lands in America; that the importation of

negroes was prohibited, and white people were utterly unequal to the

labours requisite; that the public money granted yearly by parliament,

for the relief of settlers and the improvement of the province, was

misapplied, and therefore the wise purposes for which it was granted were

by no means answered. That these inconveniencies and hardships kept them

in a state of poverty and misery, and that the chief cause of all their

calamities was the strict adherence of the Trustees to their chimerical

and impracticable scheme of settlement, by which the people were refused

the obvious means of subsistence, and cut off from all prospects of

success.

We have already observed, that the laws and regulations even of the

wisest men, founded on principles of speculation, have often proved to be

foreign and impracticable. The Trustees had an example of this in the

fundamental constitutions of John Locke. Instead of prescribing narrower

limits to the industry and ambition of the Georgians, they ought to have

learned wisdom from the case of the Proprietors of Carolina, and enlarged

their plan with respect to both liberty and property. By such indulgence

alone they could encourage emigrations, and animate the inhabitants to

diligence and perseverance. The lands in Georgia, especially such as were

first occupied, were sandy and barren; the hardships of clearing and

cultivating them were great, the climate was unfavourable for labourers,

and dangerous to European constitutions. The greater the difficulties

were with which the settlers had to struggle, the more encouragement was

requisite to surmount them. The plan of settlement ought to have arisen

from the nature of the climate, country, and soil, and the circumstances

of the settlers, and been the result of experience and not of

speculation.

Hitherto Georgia had not only made small improvement in agriculture and

trade, but her government was feeble and contemptible. At this time, by

the avarice and ambition of a single family, the whole colony was brought

to the very brink of destruction. As the concerns of these settlements

are closely connected and interwoven with the affairs of Indian nations,

it is impossible to attain proper views of the circumstances and

situation of the people, without frequently taking notice of the relation

in which they stood to their savage neighbours. A considerable branch of

provincial commerce, as well as the safety of the colonists, depended on

their friendship with Indians; and, to avoid all danger from their savage

temper, no small share of prudence and courage was often requisite. This

will appear more obvious from the following occurrence, which, because it

is somewhat remarkable, we shall the more circumstantially relate.

[Sidenote] Troubles excited by Thomas Bosomworth.

I have already observed, that during the time General Oglethorpe had the

direction of public affairs in Georgia, he had, from maxims of policy,

treated an Indian woman, called Mary, with particular kindness and

generosity. Finding that she had great influence among the Creeks, and

understood their language, he made use of her as an interpreter, in order

the more easily to form treaties of alliance with them, allowing her for

her services an hundred pounds sterling a-year. This woman Thomas

Bosomworth, who was chaplain to Oglethorpe's regiment, had married, and

among the rest had accepted a track of land from the crown, and settled

in the province. Finding that his wife laid claim to some islands on the

sea-coast, which, by treaty, had been allotted the Indians as part of

their hunting lands; to stock them he had purchased cattle from the

planters of Carolina, from whom he obtained credit to a considerable

amount. However, this plan not proving so successful as the proud and

ambitious clergyman expected, he took to audacious methods of supporting

his credit, and acquiring a fortune. His wife pretended to be descended

in a maternal line from an Indian king, who held from nature the

territories of the Creeks, and Bosomworth now persuaded her to assert her

right to them, as superior not only to that of the Trustees, but also to

that of the King. Accordingly Mary immediately assumed the title of an

independent empress, disavowing all subjection or allegiance to the King

of Great Britain, otherwise than by way of treaty and alliance, such as

one independent sovereign might make with another. A meeting of all the

Creeks was summoned, to whom Mary made a speech, setting forth the

justice of her claim, and the great injury done to her and them by taking

possession of their ancient territories, and stirring them up to defend

their property by force of arms. The Indians immediately took fire, and

to a man declared they would stand by her to the last drop of their blood

in defence of their lands. In consequence of which Mary, with a large

body of savages at her back, set out for Savanna, to demand a formal

surrender of them from the president of the province. A messenger was

despatched before hand, to acquaint him that Mary had assumed her right

of sovereignty over the whole territories of the upper and lower Creeks,

and to demand that all lands belonging to them be instantly relinquished;

for as she was the hereditary and rightful queen of both nations, and

could command every man of them to follow her, in case of refusal, she

had determined to extirpate the settlement.

The president and council, alarmed at her high pretensions and bold

threats, and sensible of her great power and influence with the savages,

were not a little embarrassed what steps to take for the public safety.

They determined to use soft and healing measures until an opportunity

might offer of privately laying hold of her, and shipping her off to

England. But, in the mean time, orders were sent to all the captains of

the militia, to hold themselves in readiness to march to Savanna at an

hour's warning. The town was put in the best posture of defence, but the

whole militia in it amounted to no more than one hundred and seventy men,

able to bear arms. A messenger was sent to Mary at the head of the

Creeks, while several miles distant from town, to know whether she was

serious in such wild pretensions, and to try to persuade her to dismiss

her followers, and drop her audacious design. But finding her inflexible

and resolute, the president resolved to put on a bold countenance, and

receive the savages with firmness and resolution. The militia was ordered

under arms, to overawe them as much as possible, and as the Indians

entered the town, Captain Jones, at the head of his company of horse,

stopped them, and demanded whether they came with hostile or friendly

intentions? But receiving no satisfactory answer, he told them they must

there ground their arms, for he had orders not to suffer a man of them

armed to set his foot within the town. The savages with great reluctance

submitted, and accordingly Thomas Bosomworth, in his canonical robes,

with his queen by his side, followed by the various chiefs according to

their rank, marched into town, making a formidable appearance. All the

inhabitants were struck with terror at the sight of the fierce and mighty

host. When they advanced to the parade, they found the militia drawn up

under arms to receive them, who saluted them with fifteen cannon, and

conducted them to the president's house. There Thomas and Adam Bosomworth

being ordered to withdraw, the Indian chiefs, in a friendly manner, were

called upon to declare their intention of visiting the town in so large a

body, without being sent for by any person in lawful authority. The

warriors, as they had been previously instructed, answered, that Mary was

to speak for them, and that they would abide by her words. They had

heard, they said, that she was to be sent like a captive over the great

waters, and they were come to know on what account they were to lose

their queen. They assured the president they intended no harm, and begged

their arms might be restored; and, after consulting with Bosomworth and

his wife, they would return and settle all public affairs. To please them

their muskets were accordingly given back, but strict orders were issued

to allow them no ammunition, until the council should see more clearly

into their dark designs.

On the day following, the Indians having had some private conferences

with their queen, began to be very surly, and to run in a mad and

tumultuous manner up and down the streets, seemingly bent on some

mischief. All the men being obliged to mount guard, the women were

terrified to remain by themselves in their houses, expecting every moment

to be murdered or scalped. During this confusion, a false rumour was

spread, that they had cut off the president's head with a tomahawk, which

so exasperated the inhabitants, that it was with difficulty the officers

could prevent them from firing on the savages. To save a town from

destruction, never was greater prudence requisite. Orders were given to

the militia to lay hold of Bosomworth, and carry him out of the way into

close confinement. Upon which Mary became outrageous and frantic, and

insolently threatened vengeance against the magistrates and whole colony.

She ordered every man of them to depart from her territories, and at

their peril to refuse. She cursed General Oglethorpe and his fraudulent

treaties, and, furiously stamping with her feet upon the ground, swore by

her Maker that the whole earth on which she trode was her own. To prevent

bribery, which she knew to have great weight with her warriors, she kept

the leading men constantly in her eye, and would not suffer them to speak

a word respecting public affairs but in her presence.

The president finding that no peaceable agreement could be made with the

Indians while under the baleful eye and influence of their pretended

queen privately laid hold of her, and put her under confinement with her

husband. This step was necessary, before any terms of negotiation could

be proposed. Having secured the chief promoters of the conspiracy, he

then employed men acquainted with the Indian tongue to entertain the

warriors in the most friendly and hospitable manner, and explain to them

the wicked designs of Bosomworth and his wife. Accordingly a feast was

prepared for all the chief leaders; at which they were informed, that Mr.

Bosomworth had involved himself in debt, and wanted not only their lands,

but also a large share of the royal bounty, to satisfy his creditors in

Carolina: that the King's presents were only intended for Indians, on

account of their useful services and firm attachment to him during the

former wars: that the lands adjoining the town were reserved for them to

encamp upon, when they should come to visit their beloved friends at

Savanna, and the three maritime islands to hunt upon, when they should

come to bathe in the salt waters: that neither Mary nor her husband had

any right to those lands, which were the common property of the Creek

nations: that the great King had ordered the president to defend their

right to them, and expected that all his subjects, both white and red,

would live together like brethren; in short that he would suffer no man

or woman to molest or injure them, and had ordered these words to be left

on record, that their children might know them when they were dead and

gone.

Such policy produced the desired effect, and many of the chieftains being

convinced that Bosomworth had deceived them, declared they would trust

him no more. Even Malatchee, the leader of the Lower Creeks, and a

relation to their pretended empress, seemed satisfied, and was not a

little pleased to hear, that the great King had sent them some valuable

present. Being asked why he acknowledged Mary as the Empress of the great

nation of Creeks, and resigned his power and possessions to a despicable

old woman, while all Georgia owned him as a chief of the nation, and the

president and council were now to give him many rich clothes and medals

for his services? He replied, that the whole nation acknowledged her as

their Queen, and none could distribute the royal presents but one of her

family. The president by this answer perceiving more clearly the design

of the family of Bosomworth, to lessen their influence, and shew the

Indians that he had power to divide the royal bounty among the chiefs,

determined to do it immediately, and dismiss them, and the hardships the

inhabitants underwent, in keeping guard night and day for the defence of

the town.

In the mean time Malatchee, whom the Indians compared to the wind,

because of his fickle and variable temper, having, at his own request,

obtained access to Bosomworth and his wife, was again seduced and drawn

over to support their chimerical claim. While the Indians were gathered

together to receive their respective shares of the royal bounty; he stood

up in the midst of them, and with a frowning countenance, and in violent

agitation of spirit, delivered a speech fraught with the most dangerous

insinuations. He protested, that Mary possessed that country before

General Oglethorpe; and that all the lands belonged to her as Queen, and

head of the Creeks; that it was by her permission Englishmen were at

first allowed to set their foot on them; that they still held them of her

as the original proprietor; that her words were the voice of the whole

nation, consisting of above three thousand warriors, and at her command

every one of them would take up the hatchet in defence of her right; and

then pulling out a paper out of his pocket, he delivered it to the

president in confirmation of what he had said. This was evidently the

production of Bosomworth, and served to discover in the plainest manner,

his ambitious views and wicked intrigues. The preamble was filled with

the names of Indians, called kings, of all the towns of the Upper and

Lower Creeks, none of whom, however, were present, excepting two. The

substance of it corresponded with Malatchee's speech; styling Mary the

rightful princess and chief of their nation, descended in a maternal line

from the emperor, and invested with full power and authority from them to

settle and finally determine all public affairs and causes, relating to

lands and other things, with King George and his beloved men on both

sides of the sea, and whatever should be said or done by her, they would

abide by, as if said or done by themselves.

After reading this paper in council, the whole board were struck with

astonishment; and Malatchee, perceiving their uneasiness, begged to have

it again, declaring he did not know it to be a bad talk, and promising he

would return it immediately to the person from whom he had received it.

To remove all impression made on the minds of the Indians by Malatchee's

speech, and convince them of the deceitful and dangerous tendency of this

confederacy into which Bosomworth and his wife had betrayed them, had now

become a matter of the highest consequence; happy was it for the province

this was a thing neither difficult nor impracticable; for as ignorant

savages are easily misled on the one hand, so, on the other, it was

equally easy to convince them of their error. Accordingly, having

gathered the Indians together for this purpose, the president addressed

them to the following effect. "Friends and brothers, when Mr. Oglethorpe

and his people first arrived in Georgia, they found Mary, then the wife

of John Musgrove, living in a small hut at Yamacraw, having a licence

from the Governor of South Carolina to trade with Indians. She then

appeared to be in a poor ragged condition, and was neglected and despised

by the Creeks. But Mr. Oglethorpe finding that she could speak both the

English and Creek languages, employed her as an interpreter, richly

clothed her, and made her the woman of the consequence she now appears.

The people of Georgia always respected her until she married Thomas

Bosomworth, but from that time she has proved a liar and a deceiver. In

fact, she was no relation of Malatchee, but the daughter of an Indian

woman of no note, by a white man. General Oglethorpe did not treat with

her for the lands of Georgia, she having none of her own, but with the

old and wise leaders of the Creek nation, who voluntarily surrendered

their territories to the King. The Indians at that time having much waste

land, that was useless to themselves, parted with a share of it to their

friends, and were glad that white people had settled among them to supply

their wants. He told them that the present bad humour of the Creeks had

been artfully infused into them by Mary, at the instigation of her

husband, who owed four hundred pounds sterling in Carolina for cattle;

that he demanded a third part of the royal bounty, in order to rob the

naked Indians of their right; that he had quarrelled with the president

and council of Georgia for refusing to answer his exorbitant demands, and

therefore had filled the heads of Indians with wild fancies and

groundless jealousies, in order to breed mischief, and induce them to

break their alliances with their best friends, who alone were able to

supply their wants, and defend them against all their enemies." Here the

Indians desired him to stop, and put an end to the contest, declaring

that their eyes were now opened, and they saw through his insidious

design. But though he intended to break the chain of friendship, they

were determined to hold it fast, and therefore begged that all might

immediatly smoke the pipe of peace. Accordingly pipes and rum were

brought, and the whole congress, joining hand in hand, drank and smoked

together in friendship, every one wishing that their hearts might be

united in like manner as their hands. Then all the royal presents, except

ammunition, with which is was judged imprudent to trust them until they

were at some distance from town, were brought and distributed among them.

The most disaffected were purchased with the largest presents. Even

Malatchee himself seemed fully contented with his share, and the savages

in general perceiving the poverty and insignificance of the family of

Bosomworth, and their total inability to supply their wants, determined

to break off all connection with them for ever.

While the president and council flattered themselves that all differences

were amicably compromised, and were rejoicing in the re-establishment of

their former friendly intercourse with the Creeks, Mary, drunk with

liquor, and disappointed in her views, came rushing in among them like a

fury, and told the president that these were her people, that he had no

business with them, and he should soon be convinced of it to his cost.

The president calmly advised her to keep to her lodgings, and forbear to

poison the minds of Indians, otherwise he would order her again into

close confinement. Upon which turning about to Malatchee in great rage,

she told him what the president had said, who instantly started from his

seat, laid hold of his arms, and then calling upon the rest to follow his

example, dared any man to touch his queen. The whole house was filled in

a moment with tumult and uproar. Every Indian having his tomahawk in his

hand, the president and council expected nothing but instant death.

During this confusion Captain Jones, who commanded the guard, very

seasonably interposed, and ordered the Indians immediately to deliver up

their arms. Such courage was not only necessary to overawe them, but at

the same time great prudence was also requisite, to avoid coming to

extremities with them. With reluctance the Indians submitted, and Mary

was conveyed to a private room, where a guard was set over her, and all

further intercourse with savages denied her during their stay in Savanna.

Then her husband was sent for, in order to reason with him and convince

him of the folly of his chimerical pretensions, and of the dangerous

consequences that might result from persisting in them. But no sooner did

he appear before the president and council, than he began to abuse them

to their face. In spite of every argument used to persuade him to

submission, he remained obstinate and contumacious, and protested he

would stand forth in vindication of his wife's right to the last

extremity, and that the province of Georgia should soon feel the weight

of her vengeance. Finding that fair means were fruitless and ineffectual,

the council then determined to remove him also out of the way of the

savages, and to humble him by force. After having secured the two

leaders, it only then remained to persuade the Indians peaceably to leave

the town, and return to their settlements. Captain Ellick, a young

warrior, who had distinguished himself in discovering to his tribe the

base intrigues of Bosomworth, being afraid to accompany Malatchee and his

followers, thought fit to set out among the first: the rest followed him

in different parties, and the inhabitants, wearied out with constant

watching, and harassed with frequent alarms, were at length happily

relieved.

[Sidenote] With difficulty settled.

By this time Adam Bosomworth, another brother of the family, who was

agent for Indian affairs in Carolina, had arrived from that province, and

being made acquainted with what had passed in Georgia, was filled with

shame and indignation. He found his ambitious brother, not contented with

the common allowance of land granted by the crown, aspiring after

sovereignty, and attempting to obtain by force one of the largest landed

estates in the world. His plot was artfully contrived, and had it been

executed with equal courage, fatal must the consequence have been. Had he

taken possession of the provincial magazine on his arrival at Savanna,

and supplied the Creeks with ammunition, the militia must soon have been

overpowered, and every family must of course have fallen a sacrifice to

the indiscriminate vengeance of savages. Happily, by the interposition of

his brother, all differences were peaceably compromised. Thomas

Bosomworth at length having returned to sober reflection, began to repent

of his folly, and to ask pardon of the magistrates and people. He wrote

to the president, acquainting him that he was now deeply sensible of his

duty as a subject, and of the respect he owed to civil authority, and

could no longer justify the conduct of his wife; but hoped that her

present remorse, and past services to the province, would entirely blot

out the remembrance of her unguarded expressions and rash design. He

appealed to the letters of General Oglethorpe for her former

irreproachable conduct, and steady friendship to the settlement, and

hoped her good behaviour for the future would atone for her past

offences, and reinstate her in the public favour. For his own part, he

acknowledged her title to be groundless, and for ever relinquished all

claim to the lands of the province. The colonists generously forgave and

forgot all that had past; and public tranquillity being re-established,

new settlers applied for lands as usual, without meeting any more

obstacles from the idle claims of Indian queens and chieftains.

[Sidenote] The charter surrendered to the King.

The Trustees of Georgia finding that the province languished under their

care, and weary of the complaints of the people, in the year 1752

surrendered their charter to the King, and it was made a royal

government. In consequence of which his Majesty appointed John Reynolds,

an officer of the navy, Governor of the province, and a legislature

similar to that of the other royal governments in America was established

in it. Great had been the expence which the mother country had already

incurred, besides private benefactions, for supporting this colony; and

small had been the returns yet made by it. The vestiges of cultivation

were scarcely perceptible in the forest, and in England all commerce with

it was neglected and despised. At this time the whole annual exports of

Georgia did not amount to ten thousand pounds sterling. Though the people

were now favoured with the same liberties and privileges enjoyed by their

neighbours under the royal care, yet several years more elapsed before

the value of the lands in Georgia was known, and that spirit of industry

broke out in it which afterwards diffused its happy influence over the

country.

[Sidenote] George Whitfield's settlement.

In the annals of Georgia the famous George Whitfield may not be unworthy

of some notice, especially as the world through which he wandered has

heard so much of his Orphan-house built in that province. Actuated by

religious motives, this wanderer several times passed the Atlantic to

convert the Americans, whom he addressed in such a manner as if they had

been all equal strangers to the privileges and benefits of religion with

the original inhabitants of the forest. However, his zeal never led him

beyond the maritime parts of America, through which he travelled,

spreading what he called the true evangelical faith among the most

populous towns and villages. One would have imagined that the heathens,

or at least those who were most destitute of the means of instruction,

would have been the primary and most proper objects of his zeal and

compassion; but this was far from being the case. However, wherever he

went in America, as in Britain, he had multitudes of followers. When he

first visited Charlestown, Alexander Garden, a man of some sense and

erudition, who was the episcopal clergyman of that place, to put the

people upon their guard, took occasion to point out to them the

pernicious tendency of Whitfield's wild doctrines and irregular manner of

life. He represented him as a religious impostor or quack, who had an

excellent knack of setting off to advantage his poisonous tenets. On the

other hand, Whitfield, who had been accustomed to bear reproach and face

opposition, recriminated with double acrimony and greater success. While

Alexander Garden, to keep his flock from straying after this strange

pastor, expatiated on the words of Scripture, "Those that have turned the

world upside down are come hither also." Whitfield, with all the force of

comic humour and wit for which he was so much distinguished, by way of

reply, enlarged on these words, "Alexander the coppersmith hath done me

much evil, the Lord reward him according to his works." In short, the

pulpit was perverted by both into the mean purposes of spite and

malevolence, and every one catching a share of the infection, spoke of

the clergymen as they were differently affected.

[Sidenote] Whitfield's Orphan-house.

In Georgia Whitfield having obtained a track of land from the Trustees,

erected a wooden house two stories high, the dimensions of which were

seventy feet by forty, upon a sandy beach nigh the sea-shore. This house,

which he called the Orphan-House, he began to build about the year 1740,

and afterwards finished it at a great expense. It was intended to be a

lodging for poor children, where they were to be clothed and fed by

charitable contributions, and and trained up in the knowledge and

practice of the Christian religion. The design, beyond doubt, was humane

and laudable; but, perhaps, had he travelled over the whole earth, he

could scarcely have found out a spot of ground upon it more improper for

the purpose. The whole province of Georgia could not furnish him with a

track of land of the same extent more barren and unprofitable. To this

house poor children were to be sent from at least a healthy country, to

be supported partly by charity, and partly by the produce of this land

cultivated by negroes. Nor was the climate better suited to the purpose

than the soil, for it is certain, before the unwholesome marshes around

the house were fertilized, the influences of both air and water must have

conspired to the children's destruction.

However, Whitfield having formed his chimerical project, determined to

accomplish it, and, instead of bring discouraged by obstacles and

difficulties, gloried in despising them. He wandered through the British

empire, persuaded the ignorant and credulous part of the world of the

excellence of his design, and obtained from them money, clothes, and

books, to forward his undertaking, and supply his poor orphans in

Georgia. About thirty years after this wooden house was finished it was

burned to the ground; during which time, if I am well informed, few or

none of the children educated in it have proved either useful members of

society, or exemplary in respect to religion. Some say the fire was

occasioned by a foul chimney, and others by a flash of lightning; but

whatever was the cause, it burnt with such violence that little of either

the furniture or library escaped the flames. When I saw the ruins of this

fabric, I could not help reflecting on that great abuse of the fruits of

charity too prevalent in the world. That money which was sunk here had

been collected chiefly from the poorest class of mankind. Most of those

bibles which were here burnt had been extorted from indigent and

credulous persons, who perhaps had not money to purchase more for

themselves. Happy was it for the zealous founder of this institution,

that he did not live to see the ruin of his works. After his death he was

brought from New-England, above eight hundred miles, and buried at this

Orphan-house. In his last will he left Lady Huntingdon sole executrix,

who has now converted the lands and negroes belonging to the poor

benefactors of Great Britain and her dominions, to the support of

clergymen of the same irregular stamp with the deceased, but void of his

shining talents, and it is become a seminary of dissension and sedition.

[Sidenote] Sketch of his character.

As George Whitfield appeared in such different lights in the successive

stages of life, it is no easy matter to delineate his character without

an uncommon mixture and vast variety of colours. He was in the British

empire not unlike one of those strange and erratic meteors which appear

now and then in the system of nature. In his youth, as he often confessed

and lamented, he was gay, giddy and profligate; so fondly attached to the

stage, that he joined a company of strolling actors and vagabonds, and

spent a part of his life in that capacity. At this period it is probable

he learned that grimace, buffoonery and gesticulation which he afterwards

displayed from the pulpit. From an abandoned and licentious course of

life he was converted; and, what is no uncommon thing, from one extreme

he run into the other, and became a most zealous and indefatigable

teacher of religion. Having studied some time at Oxford, he received

ordination in the church of England; yet he submitted to none of the

regulations of that or any other church, but became a preacher in

churches, meeting-houses, halls, fields, in all places, and to all

denominations, without exception. Though little distinguished for genius

or learning, yet he possessed a lively imagination, much humour, and had

acquired considerable knowledge of human nature and the manners of the

world. His pretensions to humanity and benevolence were great, yet he

would swell with venom, like a snake, against opposition and

contradiction. His reading was inconsiderable, and mankind being the

object of his study, he could, when he pleased, raise the passions, and

touch the tone of the human heart to great perfection. By this affecting

eloquence and address he impressed on the minds of many, especially of

the more soft and delicate sex, such a strong sense of sin and guilt as

often plunged them into dejection and despair. As his custom was to

frequent those larger cities and towns, that are commonly best supplied

with the means of instruction, it would appear that the love of fame and

popular applause was his leading passion; yet in candour it must be

acknowledged, that he always discovered a warm zeal for the honour of God

and the happiness of men. While he was almost worshipped by the vulgar,

men of superior rank and erudition found him the polite gentleman, and

the facetious and jocular companion. Though he loved good cheer, and

frequented the houses of the rich or more hospitable people of America,

yet he was an enemy to all manner of excess and intemperance. While his

vagrant temper led him from place to place, his natural discernment

enabled him to form no bad judgment of the characters and manners of men

wherever he went. Though he appeared a friend to no established church,

yet good policy winked at all his irregularities, as he every where

proved a steady friend to monarchy and the civil constitution. He knew

well how to keep up the curiosity of the multitude, and his roving manner

stamped a kind of novelty on his instructions. When exposed to the taunts

of the scoffer, and the ridicule of the flagitious, he remained firm to

his purpose, and could even retort these weapons with astonishing ease

and dexterity, and render vice abashed under the lash of his satire and

wit. Sometimes, indeed, he made little scruple of consigning over to

damnation such as differed from him or despised him; yet he was not

entirely devoid of liberality of sentiment. To habitual sinners his

address was for the most part applicable and powerful, and with equal

ease could alarm the secure, and confirm the unsteady. Though, in prayer,

he commonly addressed the second person of the Trinity in a familiar and

fulsome style, and in his sermons used many ridiculous forms of speech,

and told many of his own wonderful works, yet these seemed only shades to

set off to greater advantage the lustre of his good qualities. In short,

though it is acknowledged he had many oddities and failings, and was too

much the slave of party and vain-glory, yet in justice it cannot be

denied, that religion in America owed not a little to the zeal,

diligence, and oratory, of this extraordinary man.

Having said so much with respect to the character which Mr. Whitfield

bore in America, if we view the effects of his example and manner of life

in that country, he will appear to us in a less favourable light. His

great ambition was to be the founder of a new sect, regulated entirely by

popular fancy and caprice, depending on the gifts of nature, regardless

of the improvements of education and all ecclesiastical laws and

institutions. Accordingly, after him a servile race of ignorant and

despicable imitators sprung up, and wandered from place to place,

spreading doctrines subversive of all public order and peace. We

acknowledge the propriety and justice of allowing every reasonable

indulgence to men in matters of religion. The laws of toleration being

part of our happy constitution, it lies with men to learn their duty from

them, and claim protection under them. But after a church has been

erected and established by the most skilful architects, and for ages

received the approbation of the wisest and best men, it serves only to

create endless confusion to be making alterations and additions to

gratify the fancy of every Gothic pretender to that art. Though Whitfield

was in fact a friend to civil government, yet his followers on that

continent have been distinguished for the contrary character, and have

for the most part discovered an aversion to our constitution both of

church and state. Toleration to men who remain peaceable subjects to the

state is reasonable; but dissention, when it grows lawless and

headstrong, is dangerous, and summons men in general to take shelter

under the constitution, that the salutary laws of our country may be

executed by its united strength. No man ought to claim any lordship over

the conscience; but when the consciences of obstinate sectaries become

civil nuisances, and destructive of public tranquillity, they ought to be

restrained by legal authority. For certainly human laws, if they have not

the primary, have, or ought to have, a secondary power to restrain the

irregular and wild excesses of men in religious as well as in civil

matters.

[Sidenote] A congress with Creeks.

About the year 1752 the flames of war broke out among some Indian

nations, which threatened to involve the province of Carolina in the

calamity. The Creeks having quarrelled with their neighbours for

permitting some Indians to pass through their country to wage war against

them, by way of revenge had killed some Cherokees nigh the gates of

Charlestown. A British trader to the Chickesaw nation had likewise been

scalped by a party of warriors belonging to the same nation. Governor

Glen, in order to demand satisfaction for these outrages, sent a

messenger to the Creeks, requesting a conference at Charlestown with

their leading men. The Creeks returned for answer, that they were willing

to meet him, but as the path had not been open and safe for some time,

they could not enter the settlement without a guard to escort them. Upon

which the Governor sent fifty horsemen, who met them at the confines of

their territories, and convoyed Malatchee, with above an hundred of his

warriors, to Charlestown.

[Sidenote] The governor's speech to them.

As they arrived on Sunday the Governor did not summon his council until

the day following, to hold a congress with them. At this meeting a number

of gentlemen were present, whom curiosity had drawn together to see the

warriors and hear their speeches. When they entered the council-chamber

the Governor arose and took them by the hand, signifying that he was glad

to see them, and then addressed them to the following effect: "Being tied

together by the most solemn treaties, I call you by the beloved names of

friends and brothers. In the name of the great King George I have sent

for you, on business of the greatest consequence to your nation. I would

have received you yesterday on your arrival, but it was a beloved day,

dedicated to repose and the concerns of a future life. I am sorry to hear

that you have taken up the hatchet, which I flattered myself had been for

ever buried. It is my desire to have the chain brightened and renewed,

not only between you and the English, but also between you and other

Indian nations. You are all our friends, and I could wish that all

Indians in friendship with us were also friends one with another. You

have complained to me of the Cherokees permitting the northern Indians to

come through their country to war against you, and supplying them with

provisions and ammunition for that purpose. The Cherokees, on the other

hand, alledge, that it is not in their power to prevent them, and

declare, that while their people happen to be out hunting those northern

Indians come in to their towns well armed, and in such numbers that they

are not able to resist them.

"I propose that a treaty of friendship and peace be concluded first with

the English, and then with the Cherokees, in such a manner as may render

it durable. Some of your people have from smaller crimes proceeded to

greater. First, they waylaid the Cherokees, and killed one of them in the

midst of our settlements; then they came to Charlestown, where some

Cherokees at the same time happened to be, and though I cautioned them,

and they promised to do no mischief, yet the next day they assaulted and

murdered several of them nigh the gates of this town. For these outrages

I have sent for you, to demand satisfaction; and also for the murder

committed in one of your towns, for which satisfaction was made by the

death of another person, and not of the murderer. For the future, I

acquaint you, that nothing will be deemed as satisfaction for the lives

of our people, but the lives of these persons themselves who shall be

guilty of the murder. The English never make treaties of friendship but

with the greatest deliberation, and when made observe them with the

strictest punctuality. They are, at the same time vigilant, and will not

suffer other nations to infringe the smallest article of such treaties.

It would tend to the happiness of your people were you equally careful to

watch against the beginnings of evil; for sometimes a small spark, if not

attended to, may kindle a great fire; and a slight sore, if suffered to

spread, may endanger the whole body. Therefore, I have sent for you to

prevent farther mischief, and I hope you come disposed to give

satisfaction for the outrages already committed, and to promise and agree

to maintain peace and friendship with your neighbours for the future."

[Sidenote: Malatchee's answer.] This speech delivered to the Indians was

interpreted by Lachlan McGilvray, an Indian trader, who understood their

language. After which Malatchee, the king of the Lower Creek nation,

stood forth, and with a solemnity and dignity of manner that astonished

all present, in answer, addressed the Governor to the following effect:

"I never had the honour to see the great King George, nor to hear his

talk--But you are in his place--I have heard yours, and I like it

well--Your sentiments are agreeable to my own--The great King wisely

judged, that the best way of maintaining friendship between white and red

people was by trade and commerce: --He knew we are poor, and want many

things, and that skins are all we have to give in exchange for what we

want--I have ordered my people to bring you some as a present, and, in

the name of our nation, I lay them at your Excellency's feet--You have

sent for us--we are come to hear what you have to say--But I did not

expect to hear our whole nation accused for the faults of a few private

men--Our head-men neither knew nor approved of the mischief done--We

imagined our young men had gone a-hunting as usual--When we heard what

had happened at Charlestown, I knew you would send and demand

satisfaction--When your agent came and told me what satisfaction you

required, I owned the justice of it--But it was not adviseable for me

alone to grant it--It was prudent to consult with our beloved men, and

have their advice in a matter of such importance--We met--we found that

the behaviour of some of our people had been bad--We found that blood had

been spilt at your gates--We thought it just that satisfaction should he

made--We turned our thoughts to find out the chief persons concerned;

(for a man will sometimes employ another to commit a crime he does not

chuse to be guilty of himself) --We found the Acorn Whistler was the

chief contriver and promoter of the mischief--We agreed that he was the

man that ought to suffer--Some of his relations, who are here present,

then said he deserved death, and voted for it--Accordingly he was put to

death--He was a very great warrior, and had many friends and relations in

different parts of the country--We thought it prudent to conceal for some

time the true reason of his death, which was known only to the head men

that concerted it--We did this for fear some of his friends in the heat

of fury would take revenge on some of your traders--At a general meeting

all matters were explained--The reasons of his death were made known--His

relations approved of all that was done.--Satisfaction being made, I say

no more about that matter--I hope our friendship with the English will

continue as heretofore.

"As to the injuries done to the Cherokees, which you spoke of, we are

sorry for them--We acknowledge our young men do many things they ought

not to do, and very often act like madmen--But it is well known I and the

other head warriors did all we could to oblige them to make

restitution--I rode from town to town with Mr. Bosomworth and his wife to

assist them in this matter--Most of the things taken have been

restored--When this was over, another accident happened which created

fresh troubles--A Chickesaw who lived in our nation; in a drunken fit

shot a white man--I knew you would demand satisfaction--I thought it best

to give it before it was asked--The murder was committed at a great

distance from me--I mounted my horse and rode through the towns with your

agent--I took the head men of every town along with me--We went to the

place and demanded satisfaction--It was given--The blood of the Indian

was spilt for the blood of a white man--The uncle of the murderer

purchased his life, and voluntarily killed himself in his stead--Now I

have done--I am glad to see you face to face to settle those matters--it

is good to renew treaties of friendship--I shall always be glad to call

you friends and brothers."

This speech throws no small light on the judicial proceedings of

barbarous nations, and shews that human nature in its rudest state

possesses a strong sense of right and wrong. Although Indians have little

property, yet here we behold their chief magistrate protecting what they

have, and, in cases of robbery, acknowledging the necessity of making

restitution. They indeed chiefly injure one another in their persons or

reputations, and in all cases of murder the guilty are brought to trial

and condemned to death by the general consent of the nation. Even the

friends and relations of the murderer here voted for his death. But what

is more remarkable, they give us an instance of an atonement made, and

justice satisfied, by the substitution of an innocent man in place of the

guilty. An uncle voluntarily and generously offers to die in the place of

his nephew, the savages accept of the offer, and in consequence of his

death declare that satisfaction is made. Next to personal defence, the

Indian guards his character and reputation; for as it is only from the

general opinion his nation entertains of his wisdom, justice and valour,

that he can expect to arrive at rank and distinction, he is exceedingly

watchful against doing any thing for which he may incur public blame or

disgrace. In this answer to Governor Glen, Malatchee discovers

considerable talents as a public speaker, and appears to be insensible

neither to his own dignity and freedom, not to the honour and

independence of his nation. Genius and liberty are the gifts of heaven;

the former is universal as that space over which it has scope to range,

the latter inspires confidence, and gives a natural confidence to our

words and actions.

During the months of June, July, and August, 1752, the weather in

Carolina was warmer than any of the inhabitants then alive had ever felt

it, and the mercury in the shade often arose above the nintieth, and at

one time was observed at the hundred and first degree of the thermometer;

and, at the same time, when exposed to the sun, and suspended at the

distance of five feet from the ground, it arose above the hundred and

twentieth division. By this excessive heat the air becomes greatly

rarified, and a violent hurricane commonly comes and restores the balance

in the atmosphere. In such a case the wind usually proceeds from the

north-east, directly opposite to the point from which it had long blown

before. Those storms indeed seldom happen except in seasons when there

has been little thunder, when the weather has been long exceeding dry and

intolerably hot, and though they occasion damages to some individuals,

there is reason to believe that they are wisely ordered, and productive

upon the whole of good and salutary effects. Among the close and dark

recesses of the woods the air stagnates, and requires some violent storm

to clear it of putrid effluvia, and render it fit for respiration. At the

same time the earth emits vapours which in a few days causes the finest

polished metals to rust. To penetrate through the thick forest, and

restore the air to a salubrious state, hurricanes may be useful and

necessary. And as such storms have been observed to be productive of good

effects, the want of them for many years together may be deemed a great

misfortune by the inhabitants, especially such as are exposed to the

noon-day heat, to the heavy fogs that fall every morning and evening, and

all the severities of the climate.

It is not improbable that the maritime parts of Carolina have been

forsaken by the sea. Though you dig ever so deep in those places you find

no stones or rocks, but every where sand or beds of shells. As a small

decrease of water will leave so flat a country entirely bare, so a small

increase will again cover it. The coast is not only very level, but the

dangerous hurricanes commonly proceed from the north-east; and as the

stream of the Gulf of Florida flows rapidly towards the same point, this

large body of water, when obstructed by the tempest, recurs upon the

shore, and overflows the country.

[Sidenote] A hurricane at Charlestown.

In the month of September, 1752, a dreadful hurricane happened at

Charlestown. In the night before, it was observed by the inhabitants that

the wind at north-east began to blow hard, and continued increasing in

violence till next morning. Then the sky appeared wild and cloudy, and it

began to drizzle and rain. About nine o'clock the flood came rolling in

with great impetuosity, and in a little time rose ten feet above high

water mark at the highest tides. As usual in such cases, the town was

overflown, and the streets were covered with boats, boards, and wrecks of

houses and ships. Before eleven all the ships in the harbour were driven

ashore, and sloops and schooners were dashing against the houses of

Bay-Street, in which great quantities of goods were damaged and

destroyed. Except the Hornet man of war, which by cutting away her masts,

rode out the storm, no vessel escaped being damaged or wrecked. The

tremor and consternation which seized the inhabitants may be more easily

conceived than expressed. Finding themselves in the midst of a

tempestuous sea, and expecting the tide to flow till one o'clock, its

usual hour, at eleven they retired to the upper stories of their houses,

and there remained despairing of life. At this critical time Providence

however mercifully interposed, and surprised them with a sudden and

unexpected deliverance. Soon after eleven the wind shifted, in

consequence of which the waters fell five feet in the space of ten

minutes. By this happy change the Gulf stream, stemmed by the violent

blast, had freedom to run in its usual course, and the town was saved

from imminent danger and destruction. Had the water continued to rise,

and the tide to flow until its usual hour, every inhabitant of

Charlestown must have perished. Almost all the tiled and slated houses

were uncovered, several persons were hurt, and some were drowned. The

fortifications and wharfs were almost entirely demolished: the provisions

in the field, in the maritime parts, were destroyed, and numbers of

cattle and hogs perished in the waters. The pest-house in Sullivan's

island, built of wood, with fifteen persons in it, was carried several

miles up Cooper river, and nine out of the fifteen were drowned. In

short, such is the low situation of Charlestown, that it is subject to be

destroyed at any time by such an inundation, and the frequent warnings

the people have had may justly fill them with a deep sense of their

dependent condition, and with constant gratitude to Providence for their

preservation.

[Sidenote] The advantages of poor settlers in the province.

We have seen the hardships under which the Carolineans laboured from the

hot climate and low situation of the province, it may not be improper to

take a view of those advantages afforded them which served to animate

them amidst such difficulties to industry and perseverance. In that

growing colony, where there are vast quantities of land unoccupied, the

poorest class of people have many opportunities and advantages, from

which they are entirely excluded in countries fully peopled and highly

improved. During the first years of occupancy they are indeed exposed to

many dangers in providing for themselves and families an habitation for a

shelter against the rigours of the climate, and in clearing fields for

raising the necessaries of life. But when they have the good fortune to

surmount the hardships of the first years of cultivation, the

inconveniencies gradually decrease in proportion to their improvements.

The merchants being favoured with credit from Britain, are enabled to

extend it to the swarm of labourers in the country. The planters having

established their characters for honesty and industry, obtain hands to

assist them in the harder tasks of clearing and cultivation. Their wealth

consists in the increase of their slaves, stock and improvements. Having

abundance of waste land, they can extend their culture in proportion to

their capital. They live almost entirely on the produce of their estates,

and consequently spend but a small part of their annual income. The

surplus is yearly added to the capital, and they enlarge their prospects

in proportion to their wealth and strength. At market if there be a great

demand for the commodities they raise, this is an additional advantage,

and renders their progress rapid beyond their most sanguine expectations;

they labour, and they receive more and more encouragement to persevere,

until they advance to an easy and comfortable state. It has been

observed, on the other hand, that few or none of those emigrants that

brought much property along with them have ever succeeded in that

country.

[Sidenote] The advantages of money lenders.

Or, if the poor emigrant be an artificer, and chuses to follow his trade,

the high price of labour is no less encouraging. By the indulgence of the

merchants, or by the security of a friend, he obtains credit for a few

negroes. He learns them his trade, and a few good tradesmen, well

employed, are equal to a small estate. Having got some hands, instead of

a labourer he becomes an undertaker, and enters into contract with his

employer, to erect his house; to build his ship; to furnish his

plantations with shoes, or the capital with bricks. In a little time he

acquires some money, and, like several others in the city whose yearly

gain exceeds what is requisite for the support of themselves and

families, lays it out on interest. Ten and eight _per cent._ being given

for money, proved a great temptation, and induced many, who were averse

from the trouble of settling plantations, or were unable to bestow that

attention to them which they demanded, to take this method of increasing

their fortune. If the moneylender followed his employment in the capital,

or reserved in his hands a sufficiency for family use, and allowed the

interest to be added yearly to the capital stock, his fortune increased

fast, and soon became considerable. Several persons preferred this method

of accumulating riches to that of cultivation, especially those whom age

or infirmity had rendered unfit for action and fatigue.

Notwithstanding the extensive credit commonly allowed the planting

interest by the merchants, the number of borrowers always exceeded that

of the lenders of money. Having vast extent of territory, the planters

were eager to obtain numbers of labourers, which raised the demand for

money, and kept up the high rate of interest. The interest of money in

every country is for the most part according to the demand, and the

demand according to the profits made by the use of it. The profits must

always be great where men can afford to take money at the rate of eight

and ten _per cent._ and allow it to remain in their hands upon compound

interest. In Carolina labourers on good lands cleared their first cost

and charges in a few years, and therefore great was the demand for money

in order to procure them.

[Sidenote] And of the borrowers.

Let us next take a view of those advantages in favour of the borrower of

money. His landed estate he obtained from the Crown. The quit-rents and

taxes were trifling and inconsiderable. Being both landlord and farmer he

had perfect liberty to manage and improve his plantation as he pleased,

and was accountable to none but himself for any of the fruits of his

industry. His estate furnished him with game and fish, which he had

freedom to kill and use at pleasure. In the woods his cattle, hogs and

horses grazed at their ease, attended perhaps only by a negro boy. If his

sheep did not thrive well, he had calves, hogs and poultry in abundance

for the use of his family. All his able labourers he could turn to the

field, and exert his strength in railing his staple commodity. The low

country being every where interspersed with navigable rivers and creeks,

the expence of conveying his rice to the market, which otherwise would

have been intolerable, was thereby rendered easy. Having provisions from

his estate to support his family and labourers, he applies his whole

staple commodities for the purposes of answering the demands of the

merchant and moneylender. He expects that his annual produce will not

only answer those demands against him, but also bring an addition to his

capital, and enable him to extend his hand still farther in the way of

improvement. Hence it happened, that in proportion as the merchants

extended credit to the planters, and supplied them with labourers for

their lands, the profits returned to the capital yearly according to the

increased number of hands employed in cultivation.

It is no easy thing to enumerate all the advantages of water carriage to

a fruitful and commercial province. The lands are rendered more valuable

by being situated on navigable creeks and rivers. The planters who live

fifty miles from the capital, are at little more expence in sending their

provisions and produce to its market, than those who live within five

miles of it. The town is supplied with plenty of provisions, and its

neighbourhood prevented from enjoying a monopoly of its market. By this

general and unlimited competition the price of provisions is kept low,

and while the money arising from them circulates equally and universally

through the country, it contributes, in return, to its improvement. The

planters have not only water carriage to the market far their staple

commodities, but on their arrival the merchant again commits them to the

general tide of commerce, and receives in return what the world affords

profitable to himself, and useful to the country in which he lives. Hence

it happened, that no town was better supplied than Charlestown with all

the necessaries, conveniencies, and luxuries of life.

[Sidenote] Great benefits enjoyed by colonists.

Besides these advantages arising from good lands given them by the Crown,

the Carolineans received protection to trade, a ready market, drawbacks

and bounties, by their political and commercial connection with the

mother country. The duties laid on many articles of foreign manufacture

on their importation into Britain were drawn back, sometimes the whole,

almost always a great part, on their exportation to the colonies. These

drawbacks were always in favour of the consumers, and supplied the

provincial markets with foreign goods at a rate equally cheap as if they

had been immediately imported from the place where they were

manufactured. Hence the colonists were exempted from those heavy duties

which their fellow-subjects in Britain were obliged to pay, on most

articles of foreign manufacture which they consumed. Besides, upon the

arrival of such goods in the country, the planters commonly had twelve

months credit from the provincial merchant, who was satisfied with

payment once in the year from all his customers. So that to the consumers

in Carolina, East-India goods, German manufactures, Spanish, Portugal,

Madeira and Fyal wines came cheaper than to those in Great Britain. We

have known coals, salt, and other articles brought by way of ballast,

sold cheaper in Charlestown than in London.

But the colonists had not only those drawbacks on foreign goods imported,

but they were also allowed bounties on several articles of produce

exported. For the encouragement of her colonies Great Britain laid high

duties on several articles imported from foreign countries, and gave the

colonists premiums and bounties on the same commodities. The planting

tobacco was prohibited in England, in order to encourage it in America.

The bounties on naval stores, indigo, hemp, and raw silk, while they

proved an encouragement to industry, all terminated in favour of the

plantations. Nor ought the Carolineans to forget the perfect freedom they

enjoyed with respect to their trade with the West Indies, where they

found a convenient and most excellent market for their Indian corn, rice,

lumber, and salt provisions, and in return had rum, unclayed sugar,

coffee and molasses much cheaper than their fellow-subjects in Britain. I

mention these things because many of the colonists are ignorant of the

privileges and advantages they enjoy; for, upon a general view of their

circumstances, and a comparison of their case with that of their

fellow-subjects in Britain and Ireland, they must find they had much

ground for contentment, and none for complaint.

Another circumstance we may mention to which few have paid sufficient

attention. It is true, Great Britain had laid the colonists under some

restraints with respect to their domestic manufactures and their trade to

foreign ports, but however much such a system of policy might affect the

more northern colonies, it was at this time rather serviceable than

prejudicial to Carolina. It served to direct the views of the people to

the culture of lands, which was both more profitable to themselves and

beneficial to the mother country. Though they had plenty of beaver skins,

and a few hats were manufactured from them, yet the price of labour was

so high, that the merchant could send the skins to England, import hats

made of them, and undersell the manufacturers of Carolina. The province

also furnished some wool and cotton, but before they could be made into

cloth, they cost the consumer more money than the merchant demanded for

the same goods imported. The province afforded leather, but before it

could be prepared and made into shoes, the price was equally high, and

often higher, than that of shoes imported from Britain. In like manner,

with respect to many other articles, it would be for the advantage of the

province as well as mother country to export the raw materials and import

the goods manufactured. For while the inhabitants of Carolina can employ

their hands to more advantage in cultivating waste land, it will be their

interest never to wear a woollen or linen rag of their own manufacture,

to drive a nail of their own forging, nor use any sort of plate, iron,

brass or stationary wares of their own making. Until the province shall

grow more populous, cultivation is the most profitable employment, and

the labourer injures himself and family by preferring the less to the

more profitable branch of industry.

Few also are the restrictions upon trade, which, in effect, could be

deemed hurtful; for, excepting the vessels which traded to the southward

of Cape Finisterre, and were obliged to return to England to cancel their

bond before they sailed for Carolina, every other restraint may be said

to be ultimately in favour of the province. It was the interest of such a

flourishing colony to be always in debt to Great Britain, for the more

labourers that were sent to it, the more rapidly it advanced in riches.

Suppose the planters this year stand much indebted to the merchants, and,

by reason of an unfavourable season, are rendered unable to answer the

demands against them; the merchants, instead of ruining them, indulged

them for another year, and perhaps intrusted them with double the sum for

which they stood indebted. This has frequently been found the most

certain method of obtaining payment. In like manner the merchants must

have indulgence from England, the primary source of credit. If the

province could not obtain such indulgence from any part of the world as

from the mother country, it must be for its interest to support its

credit with those generous friends who were both able and disposed to

give it. To lodge the yearly produce of the province in the hands of

those English creditors as soon as possible, is the surest means of

supporting this credit. Besides, the London merchants being the best

judges of the markets of Europe, can of course sell the staple

commodities to the best advantage. The centrical situation of that city

was favourable for intelligence; her merchants are famous over the world

for their extensive knowledge in trade; they well knew the ports where

there was the greatest demand for the commodity; all which were

manifestly in favour of the province in which it was raised. Were the

planters to have the choice of their market, it is very doubtful whether

such liberty would be for their interest. Were they to export their

produce on their own bottom, they would certainly be great losers. Some

who have made the attempt have honestly confessed the truth: While it

divided their attention, it engaged them in affairs to which they were in

general very great strangers. Even the provincial merchants themselves

are not always perfect judges of the markets in Europe, nor could they

have obtained such unlimited credit in any other channel than that

circumscribed by the laws of their country. Here is a co-operation of a

number of persons united for promoting the interest and advantage of one

another, and placed in circumstances and situations well adapted for that

purpose. So that, in fact, it is not for the interest of Carolina, in its

present advancing state, to be free from debt, far less of its planters

to engage in trade, or its inhabitants in manufactures.

[Sidenote] Progress of the province.

To form a right judgment of the progress of the province, and the mutual

advantages resulting from its political and commercial connection with

Britain, we need only attend to its annual imports and exports. We cannot

exactly say what its imports amounted to at this time; but if they

amounted to above one hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling in the

year 1740, as we have already seen, they must have arisen at least to two

hundred thousand pounds sterling in 1754. The quantities of rice exported

this year were 104,682 barrels; of indigo, 216,924 pounds weight, which,

together with naval stores, provisions, skins, lumber, _&c._ amounted in

value to two hundred and forty-two thousand, five hundred and twenty-nine

pounds sterling. This shews the great value and importance of the

province to Britain. And while she depends on the mother country for all

the manufactures she uses, and applies her attention to such branches of

business as are most profitable to herself and most beneficial to

Britain, Carolina must in the nature of things prosper. Without this

dependence, and mutual exchange of good offices, the colony might have

subsisted, but could never have thrived and flourished in so rapid a

manner.