LETTER I.

THE last Time I had the Honour of conversing with your Lordship, you intimated a Desire, that I, should draw into one Point of View, the several Hints which I had at different Times, taken the Liberty to suggest to your Lordship, on the present State of the British Colonies, and the Improvements possible to be made in the Culture, and Commerce of them, to their and the Mother Country's mutual Advantage, that you might be able with the greater Ease and Accuracy to form a Judgement yourself, and convince others of the Reality of such Advantage, and the Feasibility of the Means proposed to obtain it.

Every Intimation of your Lordship's Pleasure is a Law to me; because I know from Experience, that it is found­ed in Wisdom, and tends to the public Good. I shall therefore enter readily upon the Task you have prescrib­ed, without any ostentatious Parade of Diffidence in my own Abilities, (which would be an Insult to your Lord­ship's [Page 6] Judgement, rather than a Proof of my Modesty) and in the plain Words of Truth, and good Intention, lay before your Lordship those Observations, which much Experience hath enabled me to make on this important Subject, together with the Facts upon which such Obser­vations have been formed; without studying any of those Ornaments of Writing (a Study indeed, which my Life has been too closely employed in other Matters to spare Time for) that are oftenest used to gloss over a bad Cause, and mislead rather than inform the Judgement, fully sen­sible that your Lordship, in Things of this Nature, con­siders the Matter more than the Manner; and will never turn your Face away from Reason, for not being intro­duced in the most fashionable Dress.

In the Execution of this Attempt (for by no other Name can the Labours of any one Man to investigate a Subject of such immense extent be properly called) I have made Choice of this Method of conveying my Thoughts to your Lordship, in a Series of Letters, for several Reasons.

The first, and most applicable personally to myself, is, that having been mostly, if not solely accustomed to the epistolary Style, in a Life of Business, I can express my Thoughts more readily, and perhaps more clearly in that, than in any other. Though were not this the Case, there are abundant other Reasons to determine me to this Choice.

By this Manner of writing, I have an Opportunity of dividing my Work, so as to avoid the grievous Disadvan­tage of having the Reader break off, perhaps in the Middle of my Argument, because he does not see a rest­ing Place prepared for him; the most indolent, or inat­tentive, seldom having so little Curiosity, or being so soon tired, as to stop before they reach the End of a Letter of moderate Length.

Beside, in this Method, I may myself take the Li­berty of stopping a little, while or going a few Steps out of [Page 7] my Way, now and then, to take Notice of any Thing that may illustrate my Subject, or enforce my own Sen­timents, without Fear of giving that Offence, which might be taken at such Freedoms; in a Work of a more regular Nature; and also of recapitulating my Argu­ment in proper Places, so as to keep it always in View, and upon Occasion collect its Force into one Point to face any Opposition.

I mention these Particulars, my Lord, not as unknown to your Lordship, but to obviate the Objection of Vanity, which may probably be made to my using this Mode of Writing, as if I intended to insinuate by it, a greater in­timacy with a Person of your Lordship's high Rank, and higher Character, than I really am honoured with, or ought to disclose, if I am.

In like Manner, it is my Duty to observe, that in the Course of these Letters, I shall frequently have occasion to mention, and often to dwell upon the Proof of many Things, which are already sufficiently known to your Lordship; but this, as I said in the former Instance, is not done with the most distant Insinuation of informing you; but solely to convey that Information to others, who may not have had the same Opportunity of acquiring it; to which Knowledge I must also beg your Lordship's Pardon, and Indulgence for taking the Liberty of appealing upon many Occasions, where I apprehend that the indisputable Au­thority of such a Voucher may be necessary to support my own Credit.

Having thus, my Lord, given the Reasons both for my presuming to address my Thoughts on this Subject to your Lordship particularly, and in this particular Man­ner, I shall in my next Letter give an Account of the Matter, which I propose to submit to your Judgement, and the Method in which that Matter shall be arranged; and then proceed to obey your Lordship's Commands, without trespassing upon you with any farther Preface, or Apology. I am with Attachment and Respect, My Lord,

LETTER II.

IT is an old Remark; that the Value of a Friend is sel­dom known, till he is lost. I most sincerely with, this may not be the Case of Great-Britain with Regard to her American Colonies. While we went on smoothly together, we enjoyed the Advantage of our Intercourse, unequal as it was to what it might have been rendered, without ever considering the Quarter it came from, or the Means of improving, or even preserving the Continuance of it, as is too often the Case, in Respect to the greatest Blessings of Heaven.

I would not be understood to limit this Remark to ei­ther Side. It is unhappily too applicable to both. But as the first Object of every Man's Thoughts, who turns them to Matters of public Concern, is, or at least should be, the immediate Advantage of his native Country, I shall first consider how far the Colonies are advantageous to Great-Britain; as also how that Advantage may be still farther improved, and then the reciprocal Advantage re­ceived by the Colonies will follow of Course, and prove the mutual Interest of both to preserve that good Agree­ment, and Unanimity, by which alone such Advantage can be preserved; in the Discussion and Proof of which Points, the Means necessary to obtain that great End, and accomplish the many Improvements of which that Ad­vantage is capable, will naturally, and obviously be in­cluded.

When I say, that "the first Object of a Man's Thoughts should be the Advantage of his native Country," I do not in any Sense mean that he should do, or devise any Thing unjust in itself, or injurious to the just Interest of any other Country to procure that Advantage. All I intend, is, that where the opposite Interests of his own and another Country are balanced in the Scale of Justice, he owes a Duty to the former, which will necessarily make it pre­ponderate in his Thoughts; a Duty of the same Nature, [Page 9] and derived ultimately from the same Origin, with that so strongly enforced by Reason, and Revelation, which we owe to our Parents, the Place where, as well as the Persons through whom we are called into this Life, being appointed by the Divine Giver of all Life, and conse­quently entitled to the same filial Attachment and Affec­tion, though in a lesser Degree, as the Force of Filiation, by being centered in one Point is preserved entire, where­as that of Patriotism is divided perhaps between Millions, and thereby lessened on each Individual; not to insist up­on the obvious Reason of the more immediate and intimate Connection in the former, than in the latter. And this shews the Error in the general Application of the antient Philosopher's saying, that he was a Citizen of the World, as if it implied, that all Countries ought to be equally dear to a Man of Sense, the true Meaning of it being only to inculcate Philanthropy, or in the sacred Style, Good-Will to­wards all Mankind; and not by any Means to deny, or in­validate the natural, and indispensible Attachment, by which every Man is bound to his native Country.

How universal the Sense of this Attachment has ever been, and in what high Estimation the Exertion of it held, is sufficiently proved by the Honour paid to those, who even sacrificed to it the nearest Connections of Nature, as in the Instance of the Roman Brutus, and the first Prin­ciple of human Action, Self-preservation, in those of the Decii, with many others, both Romans and Athenians, un­necessary to be enumerated here; and this among the most civilized Nations; those more ignorant carrying the Point still farther, and in the enthusiastic Ardour of their Gratitude, thinking human Honours too little, and therefore confering divine, on such general Benefactors of Mankind.

Your Lordship will pardon this little Digression in Elucidation of a Point so dear to you, as to be made the evident Rule of your public Life, for the Necessity of it to obviate the Imputation of Partiality, in these Researches into a Subject of so delicate a Nature in it­self, [Page 10] as the Intercourse between a Mother Country, and her Colonies; and more particularly so at this Time, and in this Instance.

In Order to give due Weight to what I shall say on this important Subject, it is necessary that I should ex­plain the Origin and extent of that Experience, which I hinted at in my first Letter, as the Reason that induced your Lordship to prescribe this Attempt to me.

I have had the Honour to inform your Lordship of the Discoveries I made in the Year 1744; as also that since that Time I have traversed the whole Coast of Ame­rica, from Lat. 68. North, to Cape Florida, and penetrat­ed some thousands of Miles westward, into the Wilder­ness, many Parts of which were never before trodden by European Feet.

The Accounts therefore, which I shall give of these, I had almost said boundless Regions, are not taken upon Trust, on the Relation of others. They are the Result of real Experience, on the Testimony of my Senses; as the Observations I shall offer on them are founded on the unerring Evidence of Facts.

The same Foundation of Experience also supports what I shall offer in in Respect to the Commerce of the West-Indian Islands, as well as of the Colonies on the Continent.

In the Course of more than thirty Years, which I have been closely and constantly engaged in mercantile Business, in all its various Extent, I have had Inter­course in dealing with the Colonies of Hudson's Bay, Newfoundland, Quebec, New-England, Pennsylvania, Virgi­nia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia—With Bar­badoes, Grenada, St. Vincents, Dominica, Antigua, Montse­rat, Nevis, St. Christophers, and Jamaica.—The Com­merce therefore of these Places cannot reasonably be supposed to be unknown to me, or my Remarks upon it, only the chimerical Dreams of groundless Speculation, as [Page 11] has most shamefully been the Case with too many of those who have written on this most important Subject.

A clear but concise Account of what particularly struck my Observation in the different Parts of America, with which I propose to begin, will be the best Introduc­tion to those Hints of Improvement, which I would humbly suggest to your Lordship, in the Culture and Commerce of our Colonies there, and the most solid Basis, upon which to found the Expedience, and Practicability of them; and at the same Time afford the most convinc­ing Proof of the inestimable Value of those Colonies to the Mother Country; and the indispensible Necessity in every Sense of political Prudence, of healing those un­happy Differences, which seem so alarmingly to threaten an Interruption at least, if not a total Loss of Intercourse with them, at this most critical Period.

It must not be expected though, that this Account shall include Descriptions of the Appearances of those Countries, or of the Persons, Manners, Customs, &c. of the Inhabitants. These Points have long been suffi­ciently set forth; or if any Curiosity concerning them still remains, it may soon and easily be gratified, by Re­course to the many Accounts extant of every Particular of this Kind in them. The Nature of the Soil, and its Aptitude by Climate and Situation for Agriculture and Commerce, in the Production of the Necessaries and Conveniencies of Life, both for the immediate Support and Use of the Inhabitants, and Communication and re­ciprocal Interchange with other Countries; and for the Transportation of them for such Interchange, and re­ceiving the Returns of it, were the Objects of those Ob­servations, which I here propose to submit to your Lord­ship's and the public Consideration; and from the Dis­cussion of which, as I have said before, the Improve­ments that may be made in them, will naturally follow.

No more would I be understood to intend entering into the Disputes agitated at present between the Mother [Page 12] Country, and her Colonies, as a Partizan of either. I am too conscious of my own Insignificancy to obtrude my Sentiments on a Subject so much above my Sphere. Such Officiousness much oftener prejudices, than serves a Cause; the Pride of the human Heart turning away with Disdain from the Advice of an Inferior, however just and wise in itself, because the very Act of giving Advice implies a Superiority in that Instance.

I do not by this, my Lord, preclude myself absolutely from either of these Topicks, when in the Course of my present Undertaking, they shall fall naturally in my Way. Wherever the Manners and Customs of the present In­habitants, Native or European, appear to me to influence the Interest of the Colony, either to its Advantage or Prejudice, I shall hold it my Duty to point out such In­fluence, and to suggest any Alteration of Manners or Customs, which I shall conceive likely to remove that Prejudice, or extend the Advantage.

The same Liberty I shall think myself entitled to, with Respect to the Systems of Policy adopted in the Admini­stration of our Colonies both here, and on the Spot, Wherever they shall obviously appear to promote or clash with the Interests and Advantage of both in any Instance, for separated they cannot be, I shall not hesitate shew that Instance, and the Manner in which it is so affected, nor to suggest with proper Deference and Sub­mission to better Information and superiour Power, what Means I think most efficacious to improve the former, and to remedy the latter.

LETTER III.

I SHALL shall begin this Review with one of the least noticed, but far from the least important in it­self, [Page 13] of our Settlements, were the Advantages, obviously, and most easily to be made of it, properly attended to, which is that of Hudson's-Bay.

The Time, Manner, and Occasion of the Discovery of this vast Sea, and the Regions bordering on it, so far as they are yet discovered, are so well known, that it is unnecessary to recount them here.

Though the Design, which first led our daring Coun­trymen into the dark Recesses of the North, failed in its first Object, the Discovery of a Passage that Way to China, the Attempt failed not of producing other Con­sequences which well repaid to their Country, if not im­mediately to themselves, the Fatigue, Danger, and Ex­pence of it to the bold Adventurers, by laying them un­der a Necessity of stopping, when the Severity of the Climate made the Seas no longer navigable, to explore their inhospitable Shores, for the Support of Life, till the Return of the Season proper for pursuing their Pro­ject, whereby they opened with the Inhabitants an Inter­course of Commerce, unthought of before, and which but for this Cause, would never have been sought for through so many and such discouraging Difficulties.

The Seclusion of these Inhabitants from the more in­formed Part of Mankind by their Situation; and the Ste­rility of their Country, which confined their Cares with­in the narrow Circle of the indispensible Necessaries of Life, without supplying a single Article, that could suggest, much less gratify a Thought of any Thing farther, ne­cessarily brought Commerce with them back to its origi­nal, of immediate Barter, or Exchange of one Commo­dity for another, without the Intervention of Money, the artificial Medium made use of in Countries of more extended Intercourse, and Produce, to supply the De­fects, and remedy the inconveniencies of such Barter.

The Advantages of such a Commerce to a Country able to avail itself of them are sufficiently obvious. It [Page 14] takes off such of its Produce and Manufactures as are most plenty, and cheap, at their real Value to those who want, and not being able to procure them elsewhere, beat not down their Price on Account of that Plenty, nor require such Accuracy and Ornament in the manu­facturing of them, as make them come dearer to the Vender, without being of greater Use to the Purchaser; and for any Deficiency in which they would be rejected by other Purchasers; and brings in Return the Produce of the Country of the Barterers, at the low Rate set up­on it by those who do not want it, who have no other Vent for it, and consequently are glad to exchange it at any Rate for what they do want, and cannot obtain other­wise; not to dwell upon the great national Advantage of its being unmanufactured, and thereby affording Employ­ment to the various Artificers, who prepare it for Use.

These Circumstances were too striking not to be imme­diately perceived; but their Effect was circumscribed in such a Manner by the very Means injudiciously taken to improve and extend it, that what would have been a most important Advantage to the whole Nation, was, by the Grant of an extensive Charter, confined to a few Individuals, who actuated by the most selfish, sordid an short-sighted Po­licy, or rather Cunning, restrained, instead of extending that Commerce, for Fear of its becoming an Object of pub­lic Consideration, and the Monoply of it taken from them, should the ( comparatively immense) Profits which it might produce, be known; and thereby with the grossest Dis­honesty defeated intentionally, the express End for which such Charter had been originally granted, on the most plausible Pretences, and strongest Assurance to the con­trary, and was still from Inattention, or Misrepresenta­tion, suffered to remain with them.

This will be best explained, and proved by the follow­ing List, and Estimate of the several Articles exported from England to, and imported into England from this Settlement, which are drawn with the utmost Exactness, and from the best Authority.

[Page 15]

The first View of these Lists, and Estimates will most probably be thought to contradict what has been advanc­ed before of the Importance of this Settlement; but when it is considered that in the above List of Exports is includ­ed all that the Company sends for the Support and Main­tenance of their Settlements, and for which consequently there can be no Return, as it is immediately consumed by their People—When it is proved that the Com­merce of it is kept thus low by Design, and the Means [Page 16] taken to accomplish that Design are shewn, the Truth of my Position will appear in its full Force. But this must be the Subject of another Letter.

P. S. Your Lordship will observe, that in estimating the Imports from Hudson's-Bay, I strike the Price of them by that paid for the same Articles at Quebee.

The Reason of my doing this is, that the Hudson's-Bay Company conduct all their Affairs with such impenetrable Secrecy, that it is not possible to know at what Rate they exchange their Goods for those of the Natives; an Oath of Secrecy being imposed upon their Servants; and the Observation of all, upon whom they cannot impose such an Oath, prevented by the molt brutal Inhospitality and Exclusion from every Kind of Intercourse.

Nor will the gross Quantity of the Exports open any satisfac­tory Insight into this Mystery; as it is not known, nor can for the above Reasons be discovered with any Degree of Precision, how much of that Quantity is consumed by the Company's Servants; and consequently no Return for it brought Home in the Imports.

This much I know from my own Experience, that there is no fixed Rate for the Barter of any Commodity, the Company allowing just what they please at that Time; in which Allowance, they are so equitable and reasonable, that I myself have seen Instances of their be­ing conscientiously content a Profit of not above one thousand per Cent. upon particular Articles.

These Lists therefore only shew what Advantage the Nation reaps at present, from the Commerce of this Set­tlement, under their Monoply. What it would reap, were there no such Monoply, with a more particular Ac­count of the curious Methods taken to keep it in its pre­sent State of national Insignificancy, shall be shewn in the proper Place.

LETTTER IV.

I HAVE shewn the present inconsiderable State of the Commerce to Hudson's-Bay. I have asserted that it is capable of such Improvement as would make it a considerable Advantage to the Nation. It remains now that I prove this Assertion. In doing this it will be ne­cessary for me to look back for a Moment to Circumstances not attended to at present, but which have influenced this Commerce, from its very first Institution, and do still In­fluence it, in the most pernicious Manner.

At the Time when the Hudson's-Bay Company was establish­ed, in 1670, the Minds of all People of Power, or Pro­perty, were so fixed upon the Intrigues of the Court, and the Consequences immediately apprehended from them at Home, that they would not spare a thought for any thing so remote in Situation and Effect, as foreign Colonization, by which Means that most Important of political Enter­prizes fell to those, who were in every Respect least quali­fied to pursue it to Advantage.

Under these inauspicious Circumstances, an exclusive Charter for trading to the Countries confining on the Sea, called Hudson's-Bay, was without enquiring into the Con­sequences, granted to a Set of Private Adventurers, who without Support or even Countenance from Government, undertook upon the narrow Foundation of their own For­tunes to establish a Trade, attended with such difficulties in Appearance, as would have discouraged any Men not fully persuaded of the Certainty of Success. Nor were they disappointed; the Event exceeding their most san­guine Expectations, in their very first Experiment.

Such Success from so weak a Beginning, shewed to what an Height it might be carried, on a more extended Foun­dation. But the Scheme it suggested was very different: Instead of extending their first Plan, and making their Success known to procure an Enlargement of their Capi­tal, [Page 18] the Company turned all their Care to conceal the whole, (which the distractions of the Times gave them too good an Opportunity of doing) and keep the Profits of the Trade entirely to themselves, contracted as it was, rather than run the Hazard of their being shared in by others, should it be pushed to its natural Extent; a Care, which, as I before observed to your Lordship, has never been relaxed since.

For this sordid Purpose, they contented themselves with proceeding on the low Capital, which Necessity had at first obliged them to set out upon, and making a few paultry Settlements, barely sufficient to carry on the re­strained Trade which such a Capital could support. The E­vent has in this also too well answered their Design. The inconsiderable Amount of their Exports, and consequent­ly of the Returns, have kept the Trade in such Obscurity as to seem beneath the Attention of Government, whereby it has remained, according to the Letter, however contrary to the Spirit of their Charter, exclusively in their own Hands.

It must be owned that the Temptations to this Conduct were powerful. Without hazarding, or even advancing more than a comparitive Trifle, they have long reaped, and do still reap a Profit, which a Capital tentimes as large could not produce, in any other Channel of Commerce; a Reason, which too many instances prove sufficient, in the present Times, to over-balance national Advantage, and justify breach of Faith: for by no other Name can so manifest a Violation of the Professions of promoting that Advantage, upon which all such Charters are granted, be called, without as manifest a Violation of Truth.

I am aware, that it will be objected to this, by those who are interested to keep these Affairs in their present State of Darkness, that the Imports prove the Sufficiency of the Capital for the Trade, and that it is absurd and un­natural to think any Men should be so blind to their own Advantage, as not to make large Exports could they have adequate Returns for them. The latter of these Objec­tions [Page 19] has been already obviated. I shall now shew the Fallacy of the former, and in what Manner the Imports are kept down to their present low Stand: low, I mean as to what they might be, for they are high beyond all parallel, considering what they cost.

Though the Natives of the vast Countries around Hudson's-Bay, with whom the Traffick of the Company is carried on, are still in that State of natural Ignorance, which People more informed, have arrogantly presumed to call savage, Heaven has not denied them the Knowledge necessary for the few Purposes of their narrow Sphere of Life. They were not long engaged in this Traffick, therefore, before they discovered some of the gross Im­positions practised upon them, though they could not possibly form even a Conception of the whole.

I have observed to your Lordship, that the Commerce of Hudson's-Bay Company consists in bartering some of our Manufactures and Commodities, the cheapest and worst of their Kinds, with the Natives, for their Furs. The first Thing, which Reason would suggest to be done in such a Traffick, by those, who had the Lead in it, must be to fix the Rates of the several Articles to be brought by them for Barter, at such a Standard, as should ob­viate their being ever under a Necessity of altering it, and thereby raising a Suspicion of Injustice in the others, who being neither able to judge of these Terms, nor of the accidental Circumstances, which might at particular Times make an Alteration in them necessary, were they struck with exactness, would certainly take Offence at such Alteration, though they could not avoid submitting to the first Establishment, in the making of which I have not presumed to mention the least Regard to Justice.

But instead of this, a new Standard is arbitrarily im­posed by the Company every Season, not on Pretence e­ven of any Alteration in the Value of their own Commodi­ties, or those of the Natives; but solely according to the Quantity of the latter, the whole of which be it more or [Page 20] less than on other Years, they calculate so as to get for their own, whose Quantity is nearly the same every Sea­son. Such an Imposition was too glaring to escape unno­ticed even by Savages, who though they could not shew their Resentment of it, in the same Manner, as People in other Circumstances, by discontinuing the Trade, yet did not fail to take the obvious Means of preventing it for the future, by bringing no more Furs, than their little Experience had taught them would suffice to procure in Exchange all the Commodities of the Company, the Quantity of which they also knew by Experience. The Remainder, for in their huntings for Food they slay many more of the various Animals, than they bring the Furs of to Market, they either consume themselves in Uses they might dispense with, could they turn them to any better Use, or actually throw away; practising out of Resent­ment the same Policy with the Dutch, in Regard to their superfluous Spices.

The Effects of a different Conduct must be the Subject of another Letter.

LETTER V.

THE Cause and Consequences of the Conduct, which has been invariably pursued by the Hudson's­Bay Company, ever since it was established, having been considered, let us now consider what would be the Ef­fect, had they adopted a different System, or rather had no such Establishment been made from the Beginning, but the Trade left open in its natural State; indeed the only State in which any Trade can prove beneficial to a [...], all Monopolies by their Principles counteracting the publick Interest, and setting up a private one in Opposi­tion to it. The only Trade (or at least the only one worth taking any Notice of) carried on at present by the [Page 21] Hudson's-Bay Company, is the Fur-trade. But beside this, there are others already discovered, which if pushed to their proper Extent, would very soon not only equal, but most probably even exceed that; not to mention the Probability of discovering still more.

The first of these which I shall mention; and which, to the Surprize of Reason, has not hitherto been thought of any Consequence, is the Fishery. I will take upon me to say, that the Whale and Seal Fisheries in Hudson's­Bay, and Baffin's-Bay, are capable of affording sufficient, and sufficiently profitable Employment to several hun­dred fishing Vessels. Nor is this a vague Assertion. I speak it from Experience, having been some Years per­sonally engaged in the Greenland Fishery, after my be­ing at Hudson's-Bay, and gained a clear Insight into every Branch of it.

The Advantages which would necessarily result from this are most obvious. It would encrease the Numbers of our Seamen and Shipping, and every Branch of Com­merce which does that, encreases the essential Strength of the Nation. And it would not only supply us with a Suf­ficiency of the Produce of these Fisheries for Home Con­sumption, but also give us the Command of the Trade so effectually, as to enable us to undersell all Rivals in it, at foreign Markets. That it is impossible for such a Trade to be carried on properly under the unnatural Re­straints of an exclusive Charter, even were the Company to make the Attempt, is too evident to require Proof; and how much the Nation suffers by being secluded from it, may be judged from this one Circumstance, that instead of several hundreds of Vessels, and Thousands of Sea­men, which this single Trade would employ if laid open to public Emulation, the whole Trade of the Hudson's­Bay Company employs no more than four Ships, and one hundred and thirty Seamen.

Another most valuable Article of Commerce, which those Countries could supply in the greatest Plenty, is [Page 22] Copper. In the Year 1744, I myself discovered there se­veral large Lumps of the finest Virgin Copper, which in the honest Exultation of my Heart at so important a Discovery I directly shewed to the Company; but the thanks I met, may be easily judged from the System of their Conduct. The Fact, without any Enquiry into the Reality of it, was treated as chimerical Illusion; and a Stop arbitrarily put to all farther Search into the Matter, by the absolute Lords of the Soil.

The Advantages which would arise from a sufficient Supply of this Metal, are also obvious to every Capacity. It would afford Employment to all our various Artificers who work in it; and enable us to undersell all Competitors at foreign Markets; and this at a Time, when our internal Supplies of it seem to be nearly exhausted, and the Use of it is daily encreasing in all Parts of the World.

I have said that Copper is to be found in Plenty in those Countries, for this Reason. Wherever any Metal is found in Lumps, on or near the Surface of the Earth, it is a certain Proof that the Earth abounds with it deeper down; such Lumps being protruded from the Body of the Me­tal, like Sparks from a large Fire. Nor is it unreason­able to expect, that Metals still more valuable might be found in the Pursuit of this; the richest Gold-mines in the East being intermixed with those of Copper, as Cop­per itself is with Gold in Proportion to the Fineness of the former; and finer than the Lumps I found there have I never seen.

It must not be objected to what I have here advanced, that the Intensity of the Frost in those Climates would defeat all Attempts of mining, or at the best render them so difficult and destructive to the Lives of the Miners, as to make it not worth the Attempt. This is only a vulgar Error. It is known that Frost penetrates but a little Way into the Earth; no farther than the immediate Action of the Atmosphere; where the Sphere of that Action there­fore ceases, Frost ceases of Course; and the most igno­rant [Page 23] Labourer knows that the deeper he can work into the Earth, the warmer Air he will breath.

LETTER VI.

HAVING traced the present State of the Trade to Hudson's-Bay to its Cause, in the Conduct of the Company, and shewn some of the Consequences which would follow a different Conduct, the next thing is to shew what that different Conduct should be.

The Impossibility of attaining to a just Knowledge of any Country, without first conciliating the Confidence of the Natives, is clear to reason, and has been proved by invariable Experience, as also that such Confidence is not to be conciliated, especially among less informed People, any Way but by long Acquaintance, much Intercourse, and many good Offices, to wear off the natural Shyness and Suspicion, inseperable from their seeing Actions not only new, but also incomprehensible to them.—In the Knowledge of a Country, I include its various Products, and Connections, as well as the exterior Face of it.

In order to this, the first Thing necessary (indeed in­dispensibly so) is to settle Colonies, to which the Natives may resort at all Times, to gratify Curiosity, carry on Commerce, or implore Assistance in any Circumstances of accidental Distress; and where they should always be received in an humane, and friendly Manner, without any Appearance of immediate Distrust, tho' at the same Time, without appearing to relax the Vigilance and Care necessary to preserve Respect, and obviate their being tempted by too great Secutity, to meditate any Thing hostile; which Colonies should be planted in as many different Parts of the Country, as consistent with Conveniency, to make the Acquaintance with the Natives as general as possible, [Page 24] and prevent the Misrepresentations, which are always made, by those who go between different People, for the Purposes of Trade, in order to enhaunce the Merit of such Mediation, and keep it exclusively to themselves; and this as well among savage as civilized Nations, from the same interested Views.

The Effects of such an Intimacy of Intercourse are most obvious. The hospitable Natives would communi­cate to their beneficent Guests, all the Knowledge which Nature had learned from Experience. They would shew them the Secrets of the Land, and assist them with their Labour to turn every Thing to their own Advantage.

These Reflections, my Lord, are applicable to the first Principles of Colonization. In the present Case, the Conduct here recommended, would have these particular good Effects. It would, in all human Probability, en­large the Fur-Trade, the only Trade, as I have observed before, now carried on there, by the Discovery of Animals, not sought after at present by the Natives, because their Flesh is not esteemed by them for Food, but whose Skins might be a valuable Addition to their Commerce; it would encrease the Consumption of our own Manufac­tures, in Proportion to the Increase of our Acquaintance with the Natives; and it would be the most certain Means of discovering that Passage to India, which first led our Mariners into those Seas, if any such Passage there is, or else put an End to the Trouble and Expence of making farther Attempts for such a Discovery; and so accom­plish the first Object proposed by their Charter.

Nor are these the only Advantages which would re­sult from the Establishment of such Colonies. They would necessarily extend to every other Branch of Com­merce capable of being pursued here by habituating our People to the Climate and keeping them upon the Spot, by which Means they would be ready to commence their Work earlier, and able to pursue it longer in the Season, than they can at present, coming from afar, and obliged to get away soon, to save their Passage home.

[Page 25] The only Objections which can possibly be made to this, are the want of People at Home to spare for planting Co­lonies; and the Improbability of their thriving in so se­vere a Climate. But upon the least Examination, both these Objections will vanish.

The Numbers of Beggars, who infest our Streets, shew that we have more People, than we can give Employment to, or at least, than will apply themselves to the Employ­ments proper for them; and consequently, who can be well spared, to be sent elsewhere. It will be said perhaps, that while the Streets of our great Cities swarm, our Fields and Villages are thin; but this alters not the Case. Their Labour, not their Number is an Advantage to the Publick; and when that is discontinued, they become an Incumbrance to Industry, like Drones in a Hive, and had better even not be at all, than to be supported at a Loss. 'Till it is thought proper therefore to put the Laws against such Vagrants, in Execution, or to frame others, if the present are insufficient to restrain the labouring People from leaving their own Settlements, where their Work is wanted, and crowding to the Cities, particularly the Metropolis, where there is not proper Work Sufficient for them; every Scheme for removing them to Places, where they can get such Work, makes an Addition of that Work to the general Stock, and saves the Value of their present un-earned Consumption. Beside the Notion, that planting Colonies depopulates as Country has been long re­futed, it being proved by Experience, that in the Countries where Industry is encouraged properly, there will always be as many Inhabitants, as there is good Room and Em­ployment for, an encreased Generation, like Bees, sup­plying the Place of those who go away; and it is the Want of this Industry, the Necessity of which is seemingly removed, by the Treasures returned from her Colonies, that has depopulated Spain, not the Numbers of the Peo­ple sent to form those Colonies.

As to the other Objection of the Climate, it is no more than a meer vulgar Error, derived from the ancient one [Page 26] of uninhabitable Zones, it having been long proved, that there is no Climate under Heaven to which the human Constitution cannot be reconciled by every little Care; the Necessity even of which Care would cease with the first Settlers themselves, as the Climate would be natural to their Children born and bred up in it.

Nor is their greater Weight in the Miscarriage of the poor Attempts hitherto made to raise Corn, and Vegeta­bles for the Support of these Colonies, in those Parts of the Country which lie near to the Company's Forts; such Miscarriage being far from proving that better Success might not attend more judicious Attempts made in other Parts, particularly on Mouse and Albany Rivers, which lie nearly in the same Latitude with London. Or even should all Attempts fail; Meal, Flour, Cheese, Butter, and esculent Roots may be carryed thither at an easy Rate, and Fish and Flesh, particularly that of Fowls, are most excellent in their Kinds, and so plenty, as to be below Price.

Having thus, my Lord, shewn the Loss suffered by the Nation, from the injudiciously granted, and more in­judiciously (not to give it an harder Name) conducted Mo­nopoly of the Trade to Hudson's-Bay, and the natural and easy Means of preventing such Loss for the future, on a Revocation of that Monopoly, I must beg Leave to trespass up­on your Lordship a little farther, while I lay before you a short View of the present and proposed State of that Trade, brought together for Comparison.

The Hudson's-Bay Company employ four Ships, and 130 Seamen.—They have four Forts, which contain 186 Men.—And they export Commodities to the Va­lue of £ 16,000 a Year, and bring Home Returns to the Value of £ 29,340—which yield to the Revenue £ 3734.

If the Trade were laid open, the Fishery alone in Hud­son's-Bay, Baffin's-Bay, and Davis's Streights (in the last of which the Dutch find Fish as Plenty as in Japan, where they kill them solely for their Bone) would afford Em­ployment [Page 27] for 800 Vessels of every Kind, and 16000 Men.—

The Trade would require and support Twelve Colo­nies, consisting of 3000 settled Inhabitants of both Sexes.—And, the Exports would in the Course of seven Years at the very farthest, amount to £ 320,000. the Returns to £ 586,800, which would yield to the Reve­nue £ 74,680, being twenty Fold the present Amount of each, with a certain Prospect of farther Increase. But so it is, that all these national and great Advantages are sacri­ficed to fatten a few worthy Individuals.—

I need not pursue the Subject any farther. The in­ference from what has been shewn, is obvious; and must open the Eyes of all, who are not determined to keep them shut. Happy for the Nation that such is not your Lordship's Case! That you hold not yourself above re­ceiving Information from your Inferiors; and that Hea­ven has blessed you with Ability to turn that Information to the best Advantage.

P. S. Among the Things neglected by the Hudson's­Bay Company, and what will always be neglected be every monopolizing Company, as foreign to their immediate Pro­fit, I have not made any Mention of civilizing the Na­tives, and instructing them in the Christian Religion, though to pass over the moral Duty of doing it, the great Advantages in Point of Interest, which the French have reaped from their Labours in this Way, in other Parts of the World, should be an Incitement to other Nations not to neglect it.—

LETTER VII.

THE Country, I wish I could say Colony, that comes next under Consideration, in our Return from the North, is Labrador.

[Page 28] The strange Neglect of forming any Settlement in this Country, is one of these glaring Instances of the Blindness of Man to his best Interest, which prove the Insufficiency of his boasted Wisdom, and the indespensible Necessity of a ruling Providence to lead him right in the plainest Road. For though this Land does not immediately yield Gold, Silver, precious Stones, or those Foods for Luxury and Ostentation, which are in such mad Request, it would yield a Treasure much more solid, permanent, and ad­vantageous to the Common-weal, in the Fruits of Indu­stry, which encreases the Strength along with the Wealth of a Nation; Labour rewarded by Plenty invigorating the present Race, and encreasing Population, in its hap­piest Appearance, an healthy and vigorous Progeny.

The Climate on the Coast of Labrador is less severe, than that of the Countries confining on Hudson's-Bay. The Country is covered with Forests of valuable Timber, abounding with various Animals, whose Furs would be a most profitable Addition to our Trade in that Branch, and whose Flesh, in the general, is most wholesome, as that of the various Fowls with which the whole Country also abounds, is most delicious Food. The Soil, with proper Cultivation, is capable of producing Corn, and most Kinds of esculent Roots, and Vegetables; and the Rivers and Sea-Coasts yield Fish, excellent for Food, as well as Trade, in a Plenty that almost exceeds Conception. All this is immediately on, or near the Sea-Coast; our Dis­coveries extending but a very little Way farther. Were the interior Parts of the Country known, it is more than probable, that many other Advantages would be disco­vered in them; and of this the Fewness of the Natives hitherto seen gives the strongest Presumption; it being much more agreeable both to Reason and Experience to suppose, that those few we see are only Vagrants, and that the Body of the People find Attachments to fix them the Centre of their Country, than that such a Country should be thinly peopled throughout.

The only Attempt hitherto made to carry on any Trade here, has been in the Fishery; which makes the follow­ing [Page 29] Exports yearly to Great-Britain, Portugal, Spain, and Italy.

There are no Exports from Great-Britain, that can with any Propriety be placed against this. With the Natives we have no Trade. In the Country we have no Settle­ment; and the Consumption of the People, employed in carrying on the Fishery, is supplied by the different Places whence they come every Season, and whither they return at the End of it; and for the Time they stay, consists of the bare Necessaries of Life, and Implements of their Business, without entering at all into our Manufactures.

How different would the Case be were these Colonies established. The Advantages of such Establishments have been explained in the preceding Instance of Hudson's­Bay. All those enumerated there (except the local one relating to the North-west Passage) are applicable to this Country, in the strictest Sense. They would be filled with People of our own, whom it were a saving to the Publick to send abroad; or with People of other Na­tions, who allured with the Advantage, would settle with us, and become our own. They would turn to proper Advantage the Articles of Commerce already discovered there, and most probably discover still many more. They would take off our Manufactures, and send us in Return the Produce of the Country to be manufactured by us; and they would necessarily encrease the Numbers of our Shipping and Seamen, the best Wealth, and Strength of Great-Britain.

The Number of Colonies proper to be planted here, is not for me to determine. If we would begin with only [Page 30] two, or even one, the Experiment would soon prove its own Utility, and shew where, and in what Manner we should proceed farther.

P. S. Another (and that a most important) Advantage that would arise from the Establishment of Colonies, on this Coast, is the convenient Opportunity it would afford of boiling down the Blubber, and making the Whale­bone merchantable on the Spot; by which Means they might be carried directly to Market, and the Loss of Time and Expence of bringing them Home in the Gross, as at present, saved.

LETTER VIII.

CONTINUING our Course from the North, we come next to the Island of Newfoundland. The Climate of this Island differs not very much from that of Labrador; and that Difference is still less to its Advan­tage, the heavy Fogs which hang over it, for so great a Part of the Year counter-balancing any little Abate­ment in the Intensity of the Frost. The Country is well stocked with Timber fit for the most valuable Purposes of Ship-building. It has many fine Rivers; and on the Coast are several large, commodious, and safe Harbours. But, on the other Hand, the Soil is so poor, and unfit for the Purposes of Vegetation, that the Heat of the Summer, though very great, cannot force it to produce any Thing in Plenty, or Perfection.

This is on, or very near the Sea-Coast, to which our Knowledge of the Country has been hitherto confined. When the interior Parts of it shall be known also, it is far from being in the least improbable, that this Com­plaint may in a great Measure cease, and many Advan­tages, a yet unthought of, be discovered.

[Page 31] But it is not the Island, or its Produce, that is the Object of our Attention. It is the Cod-Fishery on the Coast, or as they are called, the Banks of Newfoundland, the greatest, and the best Fishery in the known World.

The Importance of this Fishery to Great-Britain has been long and well known to the People of this Nation. Would to Heaven, it had been as well taken Care of by its Governors. At the Peace of Utrecht it was ceded to us by the French, and discontinued by the Spaniards; but both soon broke through their Engagements, and re­sumed the Trade, not indeed avowedly in the Names of the respective Nations; but in private, and seemingly clandestine Attempts of Individuals, which were taken so little Notice of here, if they were not even connived at, that the French in particular before the breaking out of the last War, had gradually worked themselves, into a great Share of it, which has been since confirmed to them, at the Peace of Paris.

I must not, my Lord, indulge my Thoughts upon this Subject! It is too late! The Deed is done, and all that remains now is, to remedy its Effects, as far as possible; in order to do which, it is necessary to take a distinct View of the present State of this Trade.

[Page 32] In carrying the foregoing Articles to Newfound­land from London, Pool, Weymouth, Dartmouth, Tynemouth, Topsham, Bristol, Liverpool, and different Parts of Ireland, and in bringing the Fish and Oil to the several Markets, in Portugal, Spain, and Italy; as also in catching and curing the said Fish, there are employed

In the foregoing List of the several Articles sent to Newfoundland, I have not included Salt—Wheaten-Meal—Oaten-Meal—Barley—Peas—Beans, &c. car­ried from Philadelphia; and our other American Colonies thither; which though they do not go immediately from Great-Britain, yet as they increase the Trade of those Colonies, their Profits consequently centre with her.

The Balance of £71,600 in the Favour of Great­Britain, which appears upon the Face of this State, is by no Means to be taken for the whole Amount of the Profits of the Trade. The Prices here set upon the Cod-fish and Oil, are only what they are worth upon the Spot. At the several Places where they are disposed of, they bring much more than twice that Sum; so that at the most moderate Computation, this Trade adds annu­ally a clear Profit of more than half a Million to the Wealth of the Nation.

The Importance of such a Trade proves itself at the first View; and the Variety, as well as the Amount of [Page 33] the Articles exported, shews how extensively, and deeply it enters into our Manufactures; and the Numbers of the Seamen bred up in it, to every Hardship of that labori­ous Life, make it the Nursery of our Navy, and there­fore one of the main Sinews of our most natural, most essential Strength.

Nor is this Importance bounded by its present State, prosperous as it is. The Prospect extends still farther; and I will be bold to say, that the Advantages, reaped from this Fishery, may be doubled within the Course of a very few Years, if the proper Means are taken, and pursued with proper Vigilance, and Vigour.

I have observed to your Lordship, that the Coast of this Island abounds with large, and safe Harbours. The first Thing to be done to improve the Trade to its na­tural Extent, would be to plant Settlements on such of these Harbours as lie most convenient to the Banks, for curing the Fish, where Stages, &c. should be erected of Strength sufficient for long-continued Use, and preserved for it, so as to save the Expence, Inconvenience, and Loss of Time, experienced from the temporary ones now used.

As the Quantity of Fish upon the Banks is inexhausti­ble, by having such Settlements established, ready pre­pared for curing them, we should immediately be able to supply all our West-India Islands, with Fish for the Sup­port of their Negroes, so much cheaper than the Way they are supported at present, that they would be able not only to supply the Mother Country with Sugars for Home Consumption, infinitely cheaper than at present; but also to undersell every other Rival in the Trade at foreign Markets.—

Let Britain ever preserve its hitherto unsullied Honour of keeping inviolable the Faith of Treaties!—Let the French enjoy what they have gotten; but give them [Page 34] no more, nor let them encroach beyond the Bounds (too extensive already) indulged to them.

LETTER IX.

WE will now, if your Lordship pleases, quit the Coast of the main Ocean, for a few Moments, and make a short Excursion up the great River St. Lawrence, to our newly-acquired Dominion of Canada.

The Advantages that must necessarily arise from this Country to Great-Britain, have been so lately, and so ful­ly canvassed, as is the Case of all new acquisitions, that it cannot be necessary to enter into the Proof of them here. A bare Recital of a few of the most considerable for Refe­rence, is all therefore which I shall trespass upon your Lordship's Time with at the present.

By expelling an inveterate, active, and insidious Ene­my from the Centre of our Colonies, on that vast Con­tinent, we secure them from the Danger of being at­tacked from behind; and enable our People to attend with proper Spirit, and Industry, to the Improvement, and Extension of their Settlements in the interior, and more remote Parts of the Country, where the Fertility of the Soil, or any particular Production, or Convenience, may induce them to settle. It removes a rival Power out of the Sight of the Natives, and leaves them with­out Assistance, or even Hope of Impunity in any hostile Attempt against us. It brings their Resource for all the Conveniencies of Life solely to ourselves, and thereby puts us in the sole Possession of their Commerce. It gives us an Opportunity to push that Commerce to its full Extent, and to enlarge it with those farther Disco­veries of new Articles, which the little Experiments we have hitherto been able to make, give us just Reason to [Page 35] expect there. It affords Employment for a great Addi­tion to the Numbers of our Ships and Seamen; and thereby encreases our national Strength.—And last­ly, it doubles all these Advantages ten-fold, in our Hands, by taking them out of the Hands of our Enemies.

Your Lordship will observe, that in summing up these Advantages, I suppose all proper Means to be taken for making the most of our Acquisition. On the contrary Supposition, the whole will be reversed. The Advan­tages will slip out of our Hands, and arm the Hands of our Enemies against us. Nor must this be looked upon as only meer Speculation, or raising Phantoms of impro­bable Danger. The Pertinacity, with which the French Crown insisted on the Restitution of the Island of Cape­Breton, when taken from them in the War before last,—the enormous Sums expended in fortifying it for, and de­fending it in the last War,—and the Reluctance with which they gave up their Claim to it, after it had been again taken from, and was evidently impossible to be re­covered by them, prove, beyond a Doubt, their Con­viction of the Importance of this Country, for keeping in their own Hands the Command of the Navigation to which, as well as for the Support of their Encroach­ments upon us in the Newfoundland Fishery, these Fortifi­cations were built, and defended; as our unvaried Ex­perience of their political Faith, and Regard to Treaties sufficiently shews their Intention in the Infringements al­ready made by them upon the Bounds set them by the Treaty of Paris; and must open our Eves to what we are to expect, whenever they shall find a favourable Op­portunity for setting up a Claim of Right to what they shall get hold of by such Infringments,

The best Means therefore of obviating such Inten­tions, are the proper Objects of our present Considera­tion; as the Efficacy of those Means will best appear from a Representation of the present State of our Com­merce with that Country.

[Page 36]

Which Trade is carried on by 34 Sail of Ships, na­vigated by about 400 Men.

[Page 37] The foregoing View of the Nature, and present Amount of this Trade proves beyond a Doubt the Practicability of pushing it to such an Extent, as must make it of the most essential Importance to this Nation. The Commo­dities it takes off are all, except the India-goods, imme­diately of our own Produce, and Manufacture; and the Returns it makes are in the unmanufactured Produce of that Country; which single Circumstance of their being unmanufactured, doubles their Value to us, by the Em­ployment it affords to our Manufacturers, whose Labour is one of the chief Sources of our national Wealth. As to the Quantities both of those Commodities, and the Re­turns for them, the least Attention to the Circumstances of the Country will shew how short they fall of what they may be.

In all our Conquests, the Inhabitants naturally have a Diffidence and Dread of their Conquerors, how­ever humane in their Manner of waging war, and be­neficial in their Measures of governing after. If it should be objected in the present Instance, that the only Inhabitants of this Country, who can properly be said to have been conquered, are the French, the Natives only exchanging one Master for another, it alters not the Case. The Dominion, which the French had acquired over the Minds of the ignorant Natives, as well those apparently free and independent of them, as their imme­diate Subjects, by the Arts of their Priests and Friars, always successful in Proportion to the Ignorance of those upon whom they are practised; and the Animosity and Abhorrence which they instilled into them against us, have been severely experienced in too many Instances, during the whole Course of the War: While any of these Priests and Friars therefore are permitted to remain a­mong them to keep up those Prejudices, and sow the same pious Seeds of Discord and Hatred, it is in vain to expect, that the Natives should enter into sincere Amity, and Confidence with us.

The first Thing therefore to be done, in Order to con­ciliate [Page 38] their Confidence, is to banish effectually the French Priests, and Religious of all Denominations, and to send in their Room a labouring Clergy of our own, who breathing the true Spirit of Christianity themselves, and practising it in its most sacred. Fruits of universal Bene­volence, and Philanthropy, or in the Phrase of holy Writ, in Charity to all Men, should set such an Example to their Flocks, as could not fail to eradicate their Pre­judices against us, and implant in their Stead, Confi­dence, Respect, and Brotherly Love.

The common Reproach brought even by ourselves against our Clergy, that they follow only the Loaves and Fishes of the Church; and are too lazy, and too much attached to the present Enjoyment of the good Things of this World, to labour in the Vineyard of their Lord; and bear the Heat and Burthen of the Day, in converting savage Nations to his Laws, must not be opposed to what I have here offered. The Pains taken to this End by some Individuals, in other Parts of Ame­rica, and the Success with which Heaven has blessed those Pains, prove that our Religion gives not a Sanction to such Neglect of Duty; and that Protestants can be as indefatigable in propagating the Gospel of Christ, as Papists of any Denomination whatsoever.

By Protestants, my Lord, I mean Christians protesting against spiritual Tyranny in all its Exertions, and obey­ing in the Freedom of Conscience the Laws and Doc­trines of Christ, as explained by the best Power of Rea­son, without stooping to enter into the nominal Distinc­tions, into which the Restlessness of human Imagination, more than any real Difference, has divided that Name.

I must not, my Lord, be understood by thus urging the Banishment of the Popish Clergy to contradict my­self, and propose a Practice opposite to the Principles of Christian Liberty which I profess. Where the Princi­ples of any Set of Men are professedly subversive of that Liberty, and expressly contrary to the most essential Prin­ciples [Page 39] of that Religion which they profess in common with us, the most, indeed the only effectual Way to pre­serve both, is to drive them out from among us; and that such are the Principles of those who assume to them­selves a Right to put Shackles on the human Mind, and limit God's Mercies to the Profession of their own Opinions, is too evident to require Proof.

The Secular Advantages to ourselves, which must ne­cessarily follow from this Attention to the Spiritual Wel­fare of these People are most obvious. Informed in their Minds, they would become civilized in their Manners. They would soften from that Ferocity, which prompts them to those barbarous Wars, and Murders, that have almost desolated their Country, and increasing in their Numbers would proportionably increase in their De­mands for the Conveniencies of Life, with which our Trade supplies them; and would consequently apply themselves to procure an equivalent Encrease of their own Produce to give in Exchange for them. They would assist us with their Strength and Experience of their Country to improve the Trade at present carried on be­tween them and us, and to prosecute with better Pro­spect of Success our Endeavours to enlarge it by the Dis­covery of new Articles. And by their Intercourse with us in the fraternal Amity of Religion, they would ac­quire Knowledge of the Excellence, and be glad to put themselves under the Protection of our Laws, and so in the End make their Numbers our Strength, and become one People with us.

In enumerating these Advantages, your Lordship may possibly be surprized at my confining myself to such as are immediately secular. But in this I conform to the Humour (if I may so call it) of the Times, to which Proposals for Practice must never run counter: But I live, my Lord, in Hopes of seeing better Times, when the Advantages of this Life shall be held in Esteem only as they are conformable to the more valuable ones of that which is to come; and no Means pursued, at least [Page 40] professedly, to procure the former, which shall not also conduce to the latter. And in this Hope I am, humanly speaking, confirmed by the Experience of all Ages, in which it has been invariably observed, that when Things arrive at a certain Point, they always change; and if Immorality and Irreligion are not ar­rived at their Height among us, Lord have Mercy upon those who are to behold their Advance!—

The next, and only Thing farther, which I would propose for the Improvement of this Important Acquisi­tion, is Agriculture. The other Branches of its Trade are in the Hands of the Natives, and should be left un­disturbed with them, as best qualified to pursue them with Success, I mean the Fur, and Peltry-trades, for any Encrease that can possibly be made in the former of which, either in this, or any other Part of our Domi­nions, or in any of the Countries where we have Settle­ments, we can never want advatageous Vent; and for a large Encrease in the latter we have sufficient Room, and sufficient Reason to expect that Encrease, particularly in the Article of Deer-Skins, a much greater Quantity of which than is now imported could be brought with the greatest Advantage into our Manufactures; but as for Tillage, they do neither understand, nor are yet suffici­ently settled in their Dispositions to attempt it.

The internal Advantages of pursuing Agriculture, are sufficiently known. It supplies Employment, and plen­teous Support to the People, and that Plenty supplies more People to be supported and employed. Nor is this Article liable to be carried too far, as most others are, it being impossible that Bread should ever be too plenty; the Mouths to eat it encreasing in Proportion as there is Bread for them to eat; and externally it would enable us to supply with the Overflowings of our own Plenty, those Countries which might stand in Need of such Sup­plies; and this without Danger of ever interfering with the Corn-Trade of Great-Britain, or our other Colonies, there being, as I have before observed, a sufficient De­mand [Page 41] for both, and that nearest hand being always the first taken off.

The Quantity of Corn at present exported from Cana­da, has been shewn to be 12000 Quarters; but this is ra­ther a Proof that the Country can produce Corn, than any Measure of its Production; as I will be bold to say, That Fifty Times that Quantity may be produced annu­ally without neglecting proper Attention to any other Branch of Commerce.

In a Word, my Lord, by proper Application to this single Article of Agriculture, Canada may be made with­in the Compass of a few Years, to reimburse to Great­Britain, all the Blood and Treasure, expended in the Conquest of it.

LETTER X.

FROM Canada, we will descend with the Stream to Nova Scotia, a former Acquisition from the same Power, situate on the Mouth of the River St. Lawrence.

Though this Province has been in our Possession above half a Century, since the Peace of Utrecht, little or no Advances were made in the Settlement of it, 'till after the War before the last, when a most numerous Colony, amply provided with every Thing necessary, was sent and settled there, and an excellent Dock-yard, &c. built for the Service of the Navy, stationed in those Parts of America, with good Houses for the Officers and Artificers employed in it, and Barracks for the Army, composing together the handsome Town of Hallifax, all at the great Expence of Government. But the Success has no Way answered this Expence, except so far as it respects the [Page 42] particular Service of the Navy; the only Advances made in cultivating and improving the Country, being con­fined within the narrow Limits of the immediate Envi­rons of the Town, all at any Distance remaining in the same unprofitable State as before; so that there is not a sufficient Supply of the poor Products of the Place even for the Inhabitants, who instead of being able to make any Exports, are obliged to depend for their own Sup­port upon our other Colonies; which they would not be able to pay for, but for the Money spent among them by the Navy and the Army; the only Benefit received by them from the latter, who are found totally incapa­ble of defending them from the Outrages of the Natives. How far this Benefit may be equivalent to the Expence; and whether Part of that Expence might not answer the End better, if applied in another Manner, not to men­tion the Loss of so many Men's Labour and Lives, the Scurvy carrying them off in Numbers, are Points well deserving the Attention of Government.

As to the Navy, the Advantage to that is very great, as the Shipping have not only a safe and convenient Har­bour to be laid up in, during the Winter Season, when all Navigation is impracticable in those Seas; but can also be repaired, and supplied with any Thing they may want, without the Fatigue, Danger, and Loss of Time of coming Home upon every Occasion of the Kind, as heretofore.

The Miscarriage in the Settlement of this Province, must not be attributed solely to any insuperable Incapa­city in the Province itself. The Climate, though far from being the best, or most agreeable, is yet equally far from being unwholesome, or unfit for the Purposes of Vegetation, if taken timely Advantage of, nor is the Soil so poor, but that with proper Cultivation and Care, it would produce the most valuable of all vegetable Pro­ductions, Wheat in great Plenty; and many of the escu­lent Plants and Roots in Request among us, if not in so high Perfection as other Countries, yet wholesome and good for Use.

[Page 43] The true Reason of this Miscarriage, is the inveterate Hostility of the Natives, who though very few in Number, yet by lying in wait always, and in all Places, frequently find Opportunities of committing the most horrid Cruelties and Murders upon the Settlers; and even where they fail of this, they keep them in such a State of continual Alarm and Dread, that they cannot apply themselves to make any lasting or considerable Improvement.

An Enquiry into the Cause of this Malignity in the Natives towards our People is not so immediately to the present Purpose. The first Thing necessary to be done is to guard against the Effects of it; and for this, sad Experience has proved that European Soldiers are utterly unqualified, being neither active enough in themselves, sufficiently acquainted with the Country, nor sufficiently inured to the Severity of the Climate, to watch and pur­sue an Enemy possessed of all these Advantages, and actu­ated by the keenest Hatred and Animosity. Instead therefore of sending Soldiers from hence, the most effec­tual Means to put an End to the Inroads of these Sava­ges, obviously, is to procure a Body of the Natives of some of the neighbouring Colonies, most firmly attached to us to encounter them. These from the natural Fero­city of their Disposition, might be brought at a very trifling Expence, comparatively to what we are now at to no Purpose; and when once let loose upon the others, would in a very short Time establish the Country in a State of Safety, by cutting off all those actually engag­ed in Hostilities, and whom Experience has proved it to be impossible to reconcile to us; and taking the rest of all Ages and Sexes Prisoners, to be dispersed among other distant Colonies, where they should not imbibe, nor have an Opportunity of practising such Prejudices.

I am very far myself, my Lord, from approving of the Extirpation of the Natives of any Country, by their Conquerors; and even if I did, have the Honour of knowing your Lordship too well to venture such a Pro­posal to you. But here the Case is very different. The [Page 44] Country is so large, and so very thinly inhabited, that our Settlements upon it can hardly be called an Intrusion, and are by no Means even an Inconvenience to the Inha­bitants; notwithstanding which, and notwithstanding all the Advantages held out by us to them, we have ever found it impossible to subdue their Savage Hatred in the least; so that this Severity against them is sanctified by the great, and eternal Law of Self-preservation. The Safety of the Settlers being once established, they would be able to seek out, and establish their Settlements in the Places, most fertile in themselves, and most convenient for their different Purposes of living and Commerce; and soon make such Returns, particularly in Wheat, Hemp, and Flax, for the Production of which, the Soil of the Coun­try is in most Places excellently adapted, as would amply reimburse the Expence of sending them thither.

By this State, the Trade of this Country appears to [...] entirely of Timber, and the Produce of the Fishery; but if it were once well settled, not only these might be [Page 45] advanced (the latter to more than double its present Amount, and the former without Bounds, as the Forests cover the whole Face of the Country) but also a new and most advantageous Trade be opened in the several Arti­cles of Tillage before enumerated; beside what more might be struck out, upon Experience, and a better Know­ledge of the interior Parts of the Country.

LETTER XI.

WE will now take a Trip, for a few Moments from the Continent to the adjacent Islands of St. John's, and Cape-Breton.

The Island of St. John's differs very little in Climate, but most materially in Soil, from Nova Scotia; the latter being much fitter for Tillage, and the former for Pasture. But this Difference is far from a Disadvantage to either, as it gives Rise to an Interchange of their respective Pro­ducts, in its Nature necessarily attended with Advantage, which their Nearness to each other frees from all Incon­venience, or Danger of Interruption.

While the Inhabitants therefore of Nova Scotia apply themselves to Agriculture, those of St. John's may turn their Lands to Pasturage; and thereby not only have their Time more at Command to pursue their own Fish­ery; but also be able to supply those engaged in the other Fisheries with Beef for their Support, and to establish a most profitable Trade in that Article, with the West Indian Islands, where it will always meet abundant Vent.—I do not mean by this, that Nova Scotia is utterly unfit for Pasturage; or St. John's for Agriculture. I only speak of the Produce, for which each is most fit, and which consequently it must be their Interest to pursue principally, as a Point of Commerce.

[Page 46] The Spirit, with which the Settlement of this Island was undertaken immediately at the Conclusion of the last War, and the Numbers, Rank, and Wealth of the Per­sons engaged, gave Reason to expect a farther Progress by this Time, than appears to have been yet made in it; but whatever has been the Cause of the Delay, it is to be hoped that the bad Consequences of it are sufficiently seen; and that the Undertaking will be re-assumed with Effect.

As to the Island of Cape Breton, its Importance consists solely in its Situation, of which the French took sufficient Advantage, while it was in their Possession, for the Pro­tection of their own and Annoyance of our Fishery upon the Banks of Newfoundland. But that Importance has ceased upon its falling into our Hands, who are in the acknowledged Superiority of Possession of the whole Fish­ery; and therefore the Fortifications erected by them for their Purposes, have been demolished by us, as not being of Use equivalent to the Expence of maintaining them.

The Island though does not thereby lose all Use to us; for as the Cod-Banks extend up to, and all along the Coast of it, it affords a convenient Station for curing the Fish caught there, without the Trouble, Delay, and Expence of carrying them to any other Place for that Purpose; not to dwell upon the Importance of its Harbour, to the Navigation of the River St. Lawrence.

Other Purposes it can answer but very few; the Climate, being still worse than that of Nova Scotia, and the Soil more unfit for Vegetation of every Kind, both on Account of the Rockiness of the Island itself, and its Exposure equally to the Cold of Winter, and Heat of Summer, there being no Forests to shelter Cultivation from them, as on the Continent. To attempt making any permanent Set­tlements therefore on this Island, must be in vain, as they can never succeed sufficiently to induce the People to stay, or to reimburse the Expence.

LETTER XII.

I AM now come to New England, a Country that well deserves that Name, as being both the first and greatest Colony established by us in America.

The Climate, Soil, and Produce of this Country are so well known, that any Account of them here must be utterly unnecessary: It's Importance to the Mother Coun­try will sufficiently appear in the following State of the Trade carried on between them.

[Page 48]

The above Amount speaks for itself; but when the Nature of the Trade is considered, and that most of the Articles exported from New England being carried to other Markets, the greatest Part of the Returns made to us for our Exports are in the Money for which their's are sold, the Consequence of it will appear in a still stronger Light.

It is most delicate, my Lord, to mention any Thing that may seem to allude in the remotest Sense to the un­happy Disputes at present subsisting between Great Britain and her American Children. I shall therefore only ob­serve, that if the Trade of this Colony, on it's present Footing, is so advantageous, what must it have been be­fore those Disputes arose, when our Exports thither a­mounted to near £ 550,000 per Annum? And what should we not do to bring it back to that Amount?

The Complaints made by the Colonies (this along with the rest) of the Scarcity of Coin among them, must not be taken to invalidate what I have here advanced of our being paid in Money, for the greatest Part of our Exports to New England. The Fact is the very Reverse. That Money comes not immediately from thence, but from the Countries where her Commodities are vended, whence it is brought directly to us, the Imports of New England from all other Countries but Great Britain, being too inconsiderable, to have any Weight in the Scale of Com­merce; so that the Scarcity of Coin there proceeds ne­cessarily from their paying us in Money, instead of pre­venting it.

[Page 49] If it should be enquired how this Colony can dispense with the want of the several Articles of Commerce, their discontinuing to take which, as formerly, has made such a Fall in our Exports thither, the Answer is obvious. It appears from the foregoing State of these Exports, that by very much the greatest Part of them consists of the Luxuries, or at best the dispensible Conveniencies of Life, the Country supplying the Necessaries in abundance. Now, as the Inhabitants pride themselves more than any other People upon Earth in that Spirit of Freedom, which first made their Ancestors leave their native Country and settle there; and do really, as Individuals, enjoy more Inde­pendency, from several peculiar Circumstances in their Manners, Laws, and Situation, it is natural to conceive that upon the first Apprehension (whether justly founded or not makes no difference!) of any Invasion of that Free­dom, and Independency, they should take Fire, and sacrifice to Resentment, (May I not say virtuous Princi­ple?) the Passions whose Gratification consumed those Articles of Convenience and Luxury, and confine them­selves to meer Necessaries. That they have already be­gun to do this, is too well known and felt. How much farther they may proceed in it, is far from being pleasing in the Prospect. Such Principles gain Strength by Prac­tice; and that Practice will soon make those Wants, which at the first may have been most painful, become so familiar as to be no longer felt.

I am well aware, my Lord, that this contradicts the Notion of a necessary Dependence upon us for those Ar­ticles, which by artful and industrious Propagation has become popular here. But upon a proper Enquiry, this Notion will be found unable to support itself. The People of New England owe that Independency of Indi­viduals, in which the very Essence of true Liberty ex­ists, and which is the best Protection of it, to a particu­lar Law of Inheritance, by which the Possessions of the Father are divided equally among all his Children; so that they are kept in that happy Mediocrity, which by obliging them to turn their Thoughts to Industry, in [Page 50] order to avoid Want, exempts them from Temptation to, as as well as denies them the Means of gratifying Luxury; and at the same Time, by supplying them with a Foundation for that Industry to work upon, ex­empts them also from the Necessity of submitting to any Encroachments on their Liberty. A State, which they are known not to be yet refined enough in their Taste, to hazard, much less barter, for any Gratification whatsoever; and consequently the Necessity of their De­pendence for such Gratification, is meerly imaginary.

I have before observed to your Lordship, that the Products of which this Country is capable, are suffici­ently understood. The only Articles in which there is Room for Improvement are Hemp and Flax; Commo­dities for the Production of which their Soil and Cli­mate are peculiarly proper, and of which it is impos­sible for us to raise too much, even for our own Con­sumption.

The Advantages which must necessarily arise from our having a sufficient Supply of these most essential Articles offer themselves to View, at the first Mention of it; nor can the Interest of any Set of Individuals engaged in that Channel of Trade by which they are at present supplied, deserve to be put, but for a single Moment, in Competition with that of the Nation in General, so nearly concerned in having this Trade brought home thus to ourselves.

LETTER XIII.

THE Colonies of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire come naturally under Consideration next after New England, of which they originally were, and still in most Respects may be considered as a Part; the Observations therefore made upon that are all neces­sarily applicable to these it's younger Brethren.

[Page 51] The Produce of these Colonies is mostly the same as that of New England; and their Trade with Great Bri­tain carried on in the same Articles, and so blended with it, that it is more difficult, than it may seem ne­cessary, to draw the Line between them in many parti­culars. However, in order to throw as much Light as possible upon so interesting a Subject, I here lay before your Lordship a State of their separate Trade, as far as it is carried on with any apparent Separation.

[Page 52] The Difference between these Exports, and those of New England is evidently no other than is always, and every where between different Parts of the same Coun­try, all the Articles in the above List being included in that of the Exports of New England, as Part of an Whole.

As to the Balance against Great Britain, upon the Face of this State, it is only in Appearance. Their Trade di­rectly with us has been shewn to consist almost totally in the Conveniencies nearest to being absolutely necessary to Life. Is therefore it may appear that they do not take from us a Quantity of these, proportioned to their Num­bers, the Reason is, that they get them nearer at hand from the other Colonies, particularly New York, and New England, who in a great Measure carry on their Trade for them; so that the Produce of the Excess of their Exports over their Imports is to be placed to the Credit of those Colonies, and centers ultimately with us, as I have had the Honour to intimate to your Lordship in the preceeding Letter.

And now, my Lord, as the four Colonies of New England, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, are so inseparably connected with each other in every Sense, I shall here lay before your Lordship some farther Hints concerning them, which will probably be found to affect the general Interest of them all; and consequently that of Great Britain, which is as inseparably connected with them.

As the Importance of the Colonies arises solely from the Numbers of their Inhabitants, not from any Produc­tion of their own, or Advantages of Situation for Com­merce peculiar to them; the first Thing to be thought of, is how to turn those Inhabitants to such Pursuits, as shall best supply their Necessities, and at the same Time en­gage their Attention too closely to give them Leisure for forming those Schemes, which Contemplation of their Numbers might, in a State of Idleness, suggest to them.

[Page 53] For this Purpose the two Objects evidently most proper (if not solely so) are Agriculture and Manufactures; but these are to be proposed to their Pursuit, on very different Principles.

Agriculture, as hath been hinted before, is impossible to be pushed too far, Consumers encreasing regularly with the Encrease of the Subject to be consumed; and a Foreign Demand being always certain for any Excess of Home Consumption. But in respect to Manufactures, a very different Conduct is to be observed. Instead of giving a general and indiscriminate Encouragement to every Exertion of Art, as in Great Britain, their Endea­vours should be delicately and judiciously directed to such particular Objects, as there may be just Reason to expect their succeeding in; and these are the immediate Necessaries, or at least the almost indispensible Conve­niencies of Life.

I must not, my Lord, be understood to insinuate, by this, a natural Incapacity in the Inhabitants of these Colonies for any Arts. The Contrary is well known. All I intend by this Limitation is, that their Capacities should be applied to such Arts as the Materials and Cir­cumstances of their Country are proper for bringing to Perfection; and as are exerted in producing those Ma­nufactures, which the poorer Part of the People are not able to purchase, or cannot or at least will not dispense with the want of, without Discontent.

I am well aware, that selfish, short-sighted Politici­ans will instantly take the Alarm at this; and exclaim that what I propose for the Benefit of these Colonies must necessarily be an equal Prejudice to the Mother­Country. But I hope to prove, that the Contrary is the Fact; and that the most effectual Way of making them serviceable to us, and that in the most extensive and im­portant Sense, is by encouraging them first to serve them­selves, by pursuing these two Objects.

[Page 54] The sound and salutary Policy of promoting Agri­culture is too well, and too universally known to require Proof. The first and greatest Advantages arising from it, are it's supplying Employment and Sustenance at the same Time. In the present Instance the Application proposed to Manufactures effects the first, and comes nearest to the second of these Advantages, there being many Manufactures, scarcely, if at all, less necessary to Life, than Bread itself. Where these therefore can­not be fabricated immediately by the Consumers them­selves, their Eyes are necessarily turned to those Places, where they may be purchased; and if they want Mo­ney, the common medium of such Purchase, that Want is supplied by Barter of the Things in their Possession.

Thus far it may appear that the Progress is on right Principles; and so in the general it is. But particular Circumstances make a material Difference in the present Case.

It has been said that the Importance of these Colo­nies consists solely in the Numbers of the Inhabitants; and that these Inhabitants enjoy a State of Independence in a Manner peculiar to themselves. But it must be ob­served also that the very Means by which that Indepen­dence is preserved to them, by keeping them at the same Time in a State of Poverty prevents their consuming a Quantity of the Manufactures of the Mother-Country proportioned to their Numbers, and even confines their present scanty Consumption to those Articles on which the Profit to the Manufacturer is the lowest.

To free them therefore from this Poverty, without undermining their Independence, is the readiest and most effectual Method of turning their natural Importance to our Advantage; and this can be done easiest, if not in­deed only, by the Encouragement here proposed to be given to Agriculture and Manufactures; the former, by supplying them with Sustenance, and a Stock to trade upon, which will never fail of a Market; and the lat­ter [Page 55] by enabling them to make a sufficient Quantity of those other Necessaries, for which they now barter that Stock, and thereby leaving it in their Hands, to barter for other Conveniencies of greater Price, which they cannot reach in their present Circumstances, though they repine for, and never will be content without them.

Let the Inhabitants of these Colonies, I say, be pro­perly encouraged to raise Flax and Hemp, to tan the Hides of their Cattle, to Spin the Wool of their Sheep, &c. &c. and work them up into the most immediate Ne­cessaries; and they will then be able to apply the Price of their Exports, which now goes to purchase those Ne­cessaries, to the Purchase of Other Articles, less necessa­ry, but of greater Price and Profit to the Vender; and not only this, but they will also exert their Industry to provide still more for Exportation, as soon as they be­come acquainted with the Enjoyments thus procured for them.

Nor is this the only Advantage that will arise from this Measure. It will divert them from the carrying Trade, the only Track in which they can possibly inter­fere with us, and leave it entirely in our Possession, by turning their Thoughts wholely to internal Pursuits; an Advantage, so obvious, and great that the very Mention is sufficient to enforce every Means for obtaining it.

It must not be objected, that the Increase of Popula­tion, which would necessarily follow such an Applica­tion to Agriculture as is here proposed, might be an In­couragement to attempt shaking off Dependence upon Great Britain. That is only the Fear of a most contract­ed Policy. Our Possessions on that Continent exceed any Uses to which the Power of Imagination can assign them. While the Inhabitants therefore find Room for extending their Settlements interiourly, and a certain Vent and satisfactory Return for the Produce of them, they will never think of breaking the Connection, from [Page 56] which they experience such Advantage; and by the Breach of which they cannot expect even to keep, much less to improve that Advantage. And this is that Com­mercial Dependance, which has been so much talked of, and so little understood of late: A Connection which, cemented thus by mutual Advantage would become in­dissoluble, and make their Numbers our Strength, as I have observed in another Instance.

These, my Lord, are some of the Hints, I proposed submitting to your Lordship's Attention, under which I flatter myself that they may be improved to the End for which they are humbly offered. Others, not less im­portant, are reserved for another Place, as being more general in their Nature, and equally applicable to others of our Colonies.

LETTER XIV.

THE next Province, that in Course offers itself to your Lordship's Consideration, is New York, in every Respect the happiest for Habitation in all North­America; the Healthfulness of the Climate vying with the Fertility of the Soil; which not only produces abo­riginally every Necessary of Life, but also brings all the vegetable Productions of Europe, that have been tried there, to perfection, and many of them in a much higher Degree, with little or no Trouble, than they ar­rive at in England, under the most careful and expen­sive Cultivation.

Our Acquaintance with this Country is in every Sense so intimate, that it must be unnecessary to enter in o any particular Account of it here: I shall therefore only lay before your Lordship the following View of the Trade [Page 57] at present carried on between it, and Great Britain, as the most proper Introduction to the few Remarks which I shall beg Leave to hint to you thereupon.

[Page 58] The high Amount of our Exports plainly shews the Importance of this Trade to the Mother-Country; but this Importance will appear in a still stronger Light, when it is considered that the greatest Part of the Ex­ports of this Province are carried to other Markets, and consequently the Returns for ours made in Money, the most advantageous System of Trade, that can be car­ried on with any Country.

The flourishing State of this Province has led many to conclude that it is come to it's Meridian. But the contrary is the Fact. The same Encouragement to Agriculture, and Manufactures of the coarser and more immediately necessary Kinds, that has been proposed in the preceding Letter to be given to New England, Connecti­cut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, would be found to be equally beneficial to New York, and through that to Great Britain. The Reasons which irrefragably sup­port this Opinion are obvious in themselves, and have been so fully shewn in those Instances, that a Repetition of them cannot be necessary here. I shall therefore only observe to your Lordship, as a Proof of what this Pro­vince can produce, above its immediate Exports, that there are above 2000 Tons of Hemp and Flax, of it's own Growth, worked up annually for it's own Use.

Nor are the Improvements of which this Province is still capable, confined to the particular Channels above­mentioned, highly advantageous as they are: The Success of repeated Experiments, has proved that it abounds in valuable Metals. Iron, and Copper, have already been raised in such Quantities, as to become ca­pital Articles of Commerce; and there can scarce be a Doubt, but other Metals, still more valuable, will also be found, when properly sought for; and so open new Sources of Trade, equally advantageous to the Colo­ny and the Mother-Country, with whom all its Wealth ultimately centers.

LETTER XV.

THE adjoining Colony of Pennsylvania equals New­York in all the Gifts of Nature, and perhaps ex­ceeds it in those of Fortune, as we speak; it's Form of Civil Government being better calculated to promote private Happiness, and consequently Public Prosperity, than any other, with which we are acquainted, under the Sun.

That this is not an Exaggeration in either Instance will appear from the following State of the Commerce of this Colony with Great Britain.

The Nature of these Exports from this Colony shews that almost the whole of them is carried to other Mar­kets, beside Great Britain, and consequently the Returns, for ours, are made in the Money for which these are sold there; a Circumstance, the Advantage resulting from which, as well as from the Amount of our own Exports in this Trade, has been observed in the Letter preceding this.

As this Colony is in every Respect circumstanced in the same Manner as New York, it is capable of equal Im­provement by the same Means, a Repetition of which cannot be necessary here.

The Province of New Jersey is situated immediately next to New York, and Pennsylvania, and yields to nei­ther in the Blessings of Nature, but in other Circum­stances is yet far behind them.

The Produce of this Country is in every Instance the same with that of the others, as is it's Trade; both of [Page 61] which are capable of much greater Improvements than the former, for this Reason, that they are not yet nearly so much improved.

The Cause of this Backwardness though being no other than the Impossibility of attending to too many Things at one Time, it is to be hoped that it will soon cease; and New Jersey, from the Example of it's Neigh­bouring Countries, perhaps from the Spreading of their Inhabitants, as the Means of Improvement are the same, rise to that Figure in itself, and Importance to Great Britain, for which it is so well and abundantly qualified.

The Trade of this Province being at present carried on solely with and from New York and Pennsylvania, though it wants not good and convenient Ports of it's own, is inseperably included, both inwards and out­wards, with theirs, to which it makes no inconsiderable Addition, especially in the valuable Article of Copper­Ore, the greater Part of which, exported by them, is raised here.

LETTER XVI.

FROM New Jersey we come to Virginia and Mary­land, two Colonies in all Respects circumstanced so exactly alike by Nature, and so inexplicably connected with each other in Trade and Intercourse, that though politically divided into distinct Governments, they are in themselves to be considered rather as Parts of one, than as different Countries, any Attempt at drawing a Line between them in the Seale of their Commerce, being much more difficult to execute, than the Exe­cution of it would be advantageous.

[Page 62] I shall therefore lay before your Lordship a State of their Trade, as it is jointly carried on by them at present, without entering here into any other Specifica­tion of their Produce, or Proof of their natural Aptitude for still further Improvement.

[Page 63] The first Thing, that strikes the View, in the State of the Trade of these Provinces, is the Balance that appears upon the Face of it, against Great Britain. But this, as hath been observed in other Instances, is only in Ap­pearance. All the Articles exported from Great Britain to Virginia and Maryland are of our own Produce and Manufacture, except a very few; and these also are of our own Importation, in the most lucrative Channels of our Trade; so that our Profit upon them bears a near Proportion to, if it does not equal their first Cost to us: Whereas, not an inconsiderable Part of the Exports of Virginia, and Maryland, goes to the neighbouring Co­lonies, in Exchange for Articles of their Produce, with which we could not supply them, but at second hand, and consequently so much dearer, that it would be equally absurd and oppressive, to expect they should take them from us.

But this is far from being the Circumstance of most Advantage in the Trade of these Provinces. The capital Article of their Produce is Tobacco, a Commodity, which, exclusive of the private Profits of Trade to the Merchant, yields immediately to the Publick a Revenue greater than any other, in the whole Circle of our Commerce.

To prove this, I must beg Leave to observe to your Lordship, that of the 96,000 Hhds of Tobacco imported annually into Great Britain from Virginia and Maryland, only 13,500 Hhds are consumed at home, the Duty paid by which, at the Rate of £ 26 10 per Hhd, amounts to £ 351,675; the remaining 82,500 Hhds being ex­ported by our Merchants to the other Parts of Europe, and their Value returned to Great Britain.

It must be unnecessary to enter into a Detail or Proof of the Advantages arising from such a Trade, which from the Overflowing of a Non-necessary, keeps in our Hands a Balance against those Necessaries, which we are obliged to purchase from other Countries, indispensibly, and therefore at a Loss. They prove themselves on the [Page 64] bare Mention of them. I shall therefore only add, that this single Trade gives constant Employment to 330 Sail of Ships, and 3,960 Sailors, to shew that it's Advan­tages are not confined only to our Wealth, but extend to the most essential Part of our National Strength also.

It is natural to think, that Advantages so obvious, and so great, have not been neglected. The Truth is, the Cultivation of this Commodity has been carried as far as it will bear, there not being Vent for any greater Quantity than is now raised. But this does not preclude these Provinces from Improvements in other instances. Attention to their Tobacco has made them in a great measure neglect the Tillage of Corn, and be too remiss even in the Articles of Hemp and Flax, for all which they are most happily situated. To these they should be encouraged to apply themselves with Spirit, as also to the Manufactures of most immediate Necessity to them, and least Profit to the Importer from other Countries.

The Evils indeed arising from the Neglect of these indispensibly necessary Articles, at length begin to be perceived by the People of these Colonies, who have ac­cordingly made some weak Efforts in Agriculture to raise the Corn necessary for their own Subsistence, and free themselves from the Expence and Danger of depending for their daily Bread upon other Countries, when put so bountifully within their Reach by Heaven. But the Attempts of Individuals are liable to too many Inter­ruptions, and at best will advance too slowly to remedy an Evil, that has taken so deep Root it they are not both encouraged and assisted by publick Munificence.

I presume not, my Lord, to direct the Manner in which this is to be done. The bare Hint is all that can come with Propriety from me to your Lordship; nor is it to be doubted, but those to whom his Majesty has de­legated the Care, will with the Example of our Tillage­Act before their Eyes, soon see the Expediency of what is hare suggested, and apply the most effectual Measures for carrying it happily into Execution.

[Page 65] The Benefits which must necessarily arise from this Policy have been shewn in the former Instances, in which it has been recommended. To what has been there said, I shall not trespass upon your Lordship with any further Addition, than that in the Case of these Provinces, it seems in some Measure more immediately necessary, than in any other, the Want of a Variety of internal Employment having weakened the Spirit of Industry, and of course introduced a Turn to Dissipation and Ex­pence in the Inhabitants of all Degrees, that must in­stantly affect, and if not corrected, in Course of Time totally overturn the Prosperity of any Country.

LETTER XVII.

Next to Virginia and Maryland, lie the two Pro­vinces of North and South-Carolina. The almost total Neglect, under which the former of these Provinces lay, till very lately; and the very little Advances made even yet, in the Improvement of it, can be accounted for only from this Observation, that the first Settlement of Countries is directed by Chance, much more than by Choice; and that even where such Choice can be made, all Things cannot be attended to at one Time. Well it is, that our Eyes are at length opened to Advantages, which Blindness only could overlook; and that Leisure begins to be found to improve a Country, whose Soil and Climate court Cultivation with Assurances of the most grateful Returns.

Under such Disadvantages, it cannot be expected that the (I had almost said Infant) Trade of this Province can have arisen to any considerable Height. The fol­lowing Account shews it in it's present State. What it may be improved to, shall be considered after.

[Page 66]

The Excess of the Exports of this Province over it's Imports from Great Britain, is to be accounted for in the same Manner, as the like Excess has been in other Instances. Much the greater Part goes to the neighbour­ing Colonies, in Exchange for Commodities of their Pro­duce, so that the Balance upon the whole is in Favour of Great Britain.

[Page 67] But no Judgment can justly be formed of the Value of this Province from the present Amount of it's Trade, as hath been observed before. Every Article of it's Produce might be pushed to many Times the Quantity it is now at; and many new Articles introduced with a Certainty of Success, were the Advantages of Nature properly pursued. Pitch, &c. and Rice, are the only Commo­dities which North Carolina now sends to Europe. The two former must necessarily increase, with the Increase of Inhabitants, from the Clearing of the Country, as the Settlements are extended; and the Certainty of a good Market will encourage the Cultivation of the latter, as an Article of Commerce, as well as for Home-con­sumption.

The most obvious of the new Articles, which may be introduced into the Trade of this Province, are Corn and Wine. No Argument can be wanted to enforce the Cul­tivation of these first Necessaries, if not Indispensibles of Life, wherever Nature will allow it. Bread (made of Corn) is " the Staff of Life:" and " Wine maketh glad the Heart of Man."—All therefore that can be necessary for the present Purpose is to prove, that this Country is not improper for their Production.

And in this, my Lord, I have the Advantage of hav­ing Reason supported by Experience. The Appearance of the Soil and Temperature of the Climate soon tempted the European Settlers to try the Growth of Corn in various Parts of this Country, in every one of which the Success has invariably answered their most sanguine Expecta­tions. But they have gone but little, or no further. Satisfied with the Experiment, or unable to pursue it, at least with any View to Commerce, they go on in the beaten Path, turning their Backs to an Advantage so obvious and so great. That such Advantage must really arise from the Culture of Corn for Exportation, will sufficiently appear from this single Consideration, that this is the last of the British Provinces, to the South­ward, that will produce Corn, and consequently that it can supply the more Southern Colonies at a cheaper Rate, than those at a greater Distance.

[Page 68] Though the Experiments hitherto made for the Cul­ture of the Vine, have not, for obvious Reasons, been so many, nor so extensive as the former, the Success has been abundantly sufficient to encourage the Pursuit of them; and scarce leaves a Doubt but this Country is capable of producing the Wines of Switzerland, Ger­many and France, in Quantities sufficient to supply all our Colonies, and of such Quality, as perhaps in Time to tempt the Mother-Country to give it a Share of that Trade with her, in those Articles, which is now wholly in the Hands of Strangers.

The Advantages, which must result from this, are in a Manner self-evident. Wine is in such universal Use, that the Countries which cannot produce, must purchase it; as the Want of it will not be dispensed with by any.

That the Climate and Soil of Great Britain will not bring the Grape to such Perfection, as to make it's Juice in Request, either for Health or Pleasure, has been long known! That the Climate and Soil of several of our Southern Provinces in America, beginning at this of North Carolina, will, has been sufficiently proved by Ex­perience! Why we should not then encourage our own Subjects to produce a Sufficiency of it, not only for their own Use, but also to supply us, and so give the Profits of the Trade to them, from whom it will return ultimately to ourselves, rather than to other Nations, cannot be reconciled with any Principles of common Prudence, much less of sound Policy.

I have mentioned only these two Articles, my Lord, not as all which may be added to the commercial Stock of this Province, but as the most obvious, and easiest to succeed in; and because I would not distract the Atten­tion, by proposing too many Objects at once. In the Pursuit of these, many others will naturally open them­selves, in Circumstances which will best point out the proper Methods of pursuing them also; and these I have only just touched upon here, as I shall have Occasion to pursue the Subject in other Instances.

LETTER XVIII.

IN the Complaint of Neglect made by North Carolina, the next Province of South Carolina has no Right to join in any Sense. Of all the British Colonies in Ame­rica, this has been cultivated with most Attention, Spirit and Expence; and the Success has been answerable. The Country is well peopled, and wears a Face of Im­provement and Civilization, scarce inferior to any Part of Europe. It's aboriginal Products are cultivated with proper Care, and the Products of other Countries intro­duced, and carried nearer to the Perfection of their Na­ture, than Exoticks in any other Country we know.

The Advantages derived from this flourishing Colony (by the Mother Country) will appear from the following State of it's Trade.

The high Amount, and Nature of the Exports from Great Britain to this Colony (all consisting of it's own Produce and immediate Manufactures) shew the Im­portance of it: The Excess of the Exports of South-Carolina over these Imports, is to be accounted for in the same Manner, as the like Excess has been in other In­stances. What Improvements this Country, and of course it's Trade, is still capable of, comes now to be considered.

The favourable Representation which I have made of this Province to your Lordship, must not be applied in­discriminately to the Whole, nor taken to preclude all Necessity of farther Improvements of it.

The first Settlements being naturally made as near as possible to the Sea; the Improvements of the Country of course begun there: But though they have been ex­tended from thence a great Way inwards, there still re­mains a much greater Extent unimproved, at least com­paratively to what it is capable of.

In Praise of the Spirit and Industry of the Inhabitants, and for the Encouragement of their Successors to follow so laudable an Example, it is proper to be observed, that by much the greater Part where the Improvements above-mentioned have been so successfully made, was [Page 71] not only the most difficult to work upon, but also the least qualified by Nature to make a suitable Return, the Country adjoining to the Sea, and from thence near eighty Miles inwards, being mostly a dead Flat, and of a light, shallow, sandy Soil; though a late Discovery has shewn, that this very Soil is in a peculiar Manner adapted to produce one of the most valuable Articles of Commerce.

But from the Commencement of the Hilly Country to the Extremity of the Province, Heaven has bestowed it's Blessings with a most bounteous Hand. The Air is in­finitely more temperate and healthful, than nearer to the Sea. The Hills are covered with valuable Woods! the Vallies watered with beautiful Rivers! and the Fertility of the Soil is equal to every vegetable Production. All that remains therefore is to turn these Blessings to our best Advantage.

From the foregoing State of the Exports of this Country, it appears that the capital Article of it's Pro­duction is Rice. Great as the Quantity already raised of this is, a still greater might be raised, to answer any new Demand. The Quantities of Skins and Pitch, &c. would necessarily increase with the Settlement of the back Country. The Importance of Indigo, the Produce of the sandy Soil hinted at above, is already too well known, to require any Illustration or Argument to urge Attention to it.

The only new Article, both of Commerce and Home­consumption, obviously and immediately necessary to be introduced into the Stock of this Country, is Wine. The Expediency of making this, wherever Nature will allow it, has been sufficiently shewn in the preceding Instance of North-Carolina. To what has been there advanced, it is sufficient to add, in the present Case, that South­Carolina has been proved by repeated Experiments, to be capable of producing the same Wines of Switzerland, Germany, France and Portugal, as her more Northern Sister, and that too with an equal, at least, if not a greater Degree of Perfection.

[Page 72] I am aware, that there is another Article, of which some Experiments have been made, and speculative Men talked much, as capable of being cultivated with Ad­vantage in this Colony. This is Silk. The Importance of such an Addition to the Trade of any Country re­quires no Proof. The only Question is, whether that Importance, great as it is, may not be purchased at too high a Price. The Thinness of Population, in all our Colonies, makes every Article, that requires many Hands, come so dear, that it is found better to import than make them. Add to this, that our next Colony of Georgia is in every Respect much better adapted to the Production of this valuable Article, than South-Carolina. Let us then confine the Cultivation of it to the latter, and not, by seeking more than we can compass, run the Hazard of neglecting what is in our Power, and so losing, the Substance to grasp at the Shadow.

The same may be said with respect to Cotton, which, though possible to be produced here, is yet the natural Produce of the more Southern Colonies, from whence it may, of course, be had with more Advantage.

I have not, my Lord, said any Thing of the Proba­bility of discovering valuable Mines in either of the Colonies of North or South-Carolina, for several Reasons. Where the certain Advantages are sufficiently great, it is unnecessary, if not dangerous, to propose such as are doubtful to the Pursuit. Beside, that I really think the Riches earned by gradual Industry are in their Conse­quences infinitely more valuable, than those which come upon us, as it were, in an accidental Shower.

LETTER XIX.

OUR next Province, to the Southward of the Ca­rolinas, is Georgia. Though the Necessity of es­tablishing a Barrier between our's and the Spanish Co­lonies, the first Motive for forming a Settlement in this Country, has been removed by the Cession of the Flo­ridas to Great Britain, the Attempt has opened other Advantages of Weight abundantly sufficient to determine us not to relinquish the Undertaking, the Soil and Climate being found to be particularly proper for the Production of some most valuable Commodities, which our other Colonies cannot produce in equal Perfection, nor at all without much more Labour and Expence.

But before I enter into an Investigation of what this Country is capable of producing, I shall first lay before your Lordship a State of it's present Trade, according to the Plan I have pursued, through the Course of this Undertaking.

Inconsiderable as the Amount of this may at first View appear, yet when the very late Establishment of the Co­lony, and the very many Difficulties it has had to struggle with, are taken into the Consideration, it will appear more worthy of Remark, that it should have risen so high. The Reason of the Excess of it's Exports over it's Im­ports has been already explained in similar Instances.

The capital Articles in the present Trade of Georgia are Rice Indigo and Skins; every one of which may, and most probably will, for the Reasons given in the pre­ceding Instances of the Carolinas, be pushed to many Times the above Amount, as the Settlement of the Country shall be extended.

But the Importance of this Province is not rested on these Articles alone, important as they evidently are. In Addition to them, others of equal, perhaps greater Weight in the Scale of Commerce, may be introduced. These are Wine and Silk.

The Expediency, I may almost say Necessity, of cul­tivating the Vine, wherever it can be brought to Per­fection, has been already shewn. To what has been there laid down, it is sufficient to add in the present In­stance, that this Province of Georgia has been proved by Experience to be in every Respect proper for pro­ducing the Wines of Portugal, Spain, Italy, Madeira and [Page 75] the Canaries, of Quality at least not inferior to what we purchase from these Countries, and in Quantities equal to our Demand for them.

The National Advantages which must necessarily re­sult from bringing home such a Trade to ourselves, from the Hands of foreign Nations, are self-evident. I shall therefore say no more on the Occasion, than that if the Conduct of the First of the Countries above-mentioned, from whence we are now chiefly supplied with Wine for our Home-consumption, for some Years past, is adverted to, indignant and just Resentment will enforce the Pur­suit of such a Measure.

The Arguments adduced in the Case of Wine, may, in a great Degree, be applied to Silk. Use has brought it to be reckoned almost a Necessary of Life. At least the Want of it will not be dispensed with by those who can possibly purchase it, at any Price. The Production of this Article therefore, if only in Quantity sufficient for our own Use, must be an important Saving; if sufficient to be introduced into foreign Trade, a most important Addition to the publick Stock.

The Climate of Georgia has been found to agree in every Respect with the Silk-Worm; the Vegetables, which are it's natural Food, are indigenous to it; and the Silk that has been produced there, has proved equal in Quality to the best, that can be purchased any where. The only Obstacle then that appears to oppose the Pur­suit of so advantageous an Object, is the Want of a suf­ficient Number of Hands to prepare it in such a Quan­tity as may deserve publick Attention. But even this Obstacle lessens, when taken into nearer Consideration.

The only Hands required to fit the Work of the Silk­worm for Trade, are those of Women and Children, before they arrive at Age and Strength for more laborious Occupations. That the Application of these to this Branch will not interfere with any other that can be of publick Concern, is obvious; as it is also a known Fact, that the Number of People increases in Proportion to [Page 76] the Increase of the Support which they can earn by their Industry. While the Men therefore turn their Attention and Time to such Business as they only can execute, that Part of their Families, which would otherwise be a Burden to their Industry, and keep them in continual Want and Depressure of Spirits, will, by the Means here proposed, reverse the whole Scene, filling their Ha­bitations with Plenty, and their Hearts with Gladness, the true and never-failing Sources of Population. That this is not visionary Speculation, and that this Trade is capable of producing the Effects here ascribed to it, ap­pears in all the Countries where it is pursued, which, though labouring under many Difficulties and Dis­couragements unknown in the Dominions of Great Britain, are still full of an healthy and chearful People.

I have thus, my Lord, endeavoured to point out the Advantages, which may be reaped from this, till very lately neglected Country. That in the Pursuit of these many others may open themselves, is more than pro­bable. But I have religiously adhered to the Principle laid down at my Entrance upon this Undertaking, to ad­vance nothing upon meer Conjecture, or which I cannot vouch upon my own Experience.

There are other Particulars, beside what immediately relates to the Produce and Trade of this Colony, which in their Consequences must affect them, and therefore well deserve Attention. But I shall reserve these for an­other Letter, as they are applicable also to the Country which comes next under Consideration; and this is al­ready swelled to too great a Length.

LETTER XX.

WE are at length arrived at Florida, the Boundary of the British Empire, and consequently the End of our Travels on the Continent of America. A new Acquisition of Territory is always the Subject of much Speculation and Controversy. This of Florida has been so much and so contrarily described, since it came into our Possession, that a Word on either Side of the Question in sure of meeting Contradiction. In such Cases, the middle Way is generally held to be the safest; in this it is certainly the right; the Advantages and Disadvan­tages, the Praise and Dispraise of this Country being equally exaggerated in every Particular, and that from the same Motive of Self-Interest. This will appear when it is considered who the Persons are, who have given such Descriptions.

The People, who have obtained Grants of Lands in Florida, and want to settle or sell them, represent the whole Country as a Canaan, "flowing with Milk and Honey," in order to tempt Purchasers, or allure Adven­turers to go thither with them. The Army, who have been sent there to take and keep the Possession, exclaim against it as an Aceldama, "a Field of Blood," designed to be the Burying Place of all Strangers, who are so unhappy as to go there.

Contradictory as these Representations are, it is not so difficult, as it may appear, to reconcile them. The Sea­Coasts, where the Fortresses, judged necessary for pro­tecting the Navigation and maintaining the Possession, have been erected, are barren and unhealthy in an ex­tream Degree. The inland Country, from the Com­mencement of the Hills, is healthful, and not only fer­tile in all it's aboriginal Productions; but also sit to pro­duce many exotick to it, in the highest Perfection. All necessary therefore to decide between the different Cha­racters, drawn with equal Warmth and Confidence of Assertion, of Florida, is to distinguish between those two [Page 78] Parts of it, and give to each it's own. The Consequence in respect to the former is obvious. Of the latter, it is not mine to judge. All that comes within my Pro­vince, being to point out the Advantages, in a com­mercial View, which this Country is capable of pro­ducing to Great Britain.

Florida is divided, like Carolina, into two Provinces of the same Name, and distinguished only be their Situa­tion on the Eastern or Western Sides of the Country.

Most of the Disadvantages, indiseriminately imputed to the whole Country, should be confined to East Florida, which is for the greater Part a flat, sandy, and almost barren Desert. The most considerable Fortress and Port for Trade in this Province is St. Augustine.

It is not to be expected, that a Settlement so new, and under such Circumstances, can have yet made any very considerable Advances in Trade. Our Exports to St. Augustine consist of the same Commodities, as those to the neighbouring Provinces of Georgia and Carolina, and amount to about £ 7,000 annually. Imports from thence, we have yet received none worth bringing to Account.

It must not be concluded from hence though, that the Country is incapable of producing any Commodities proper for Exportation, or that it may not be brought to take off much greater Quantities of ours, than it does at present. The Contrary is the Fact, in both Instances. With proper Cultivation it will produce Rice, Indigo, Silk, Wines and Cochineal, so as to be brought into Commerce on advantageous Terms. The Importance of these Articles requires no Proof. The last in particular will be one of the most advantageous Additions that can be made to our commercial Stock, as it enters deeply into the Manufacturing of some of our most valuable Commodities, for which Purpose we are now obliged to purchase it from others, at what Price they please to impose; whereas, if we produce it ourselves, we shall not only save the greater Part of that Price, and there by [Page 79] be enabled to carry those Manufactures to Market on cheaper Terms, than we can at present; but also to turn the Sc [...]es, and set our own Price upon it to other Countries.

The Importance of this Colony though arises not from the immediate Produce of this or any other Article, how­ever important in itself; but from the Advantage of it's Situation, indeed of the whole Country of Florida, for carrying on a Trade with the Spanish Colonies; it being certain, that a regular Intercourse might be established with them, which would open a Vent for the Commo­dities of Great Britain, and yield Returns for them in Gold and Silver, the most profitable of all Kinds of Com­merce, to an Amount superior to any Trade we have.

LETTER XXI.

AS the Disadvantages under which East Florida has been shewn to labour, extend not to it's Sister Pro­vince of West-Florida, the latter consequently adds the Importance of internal Produce, and Aptitude for Po­pulation, to that of peculiar Situation for Trade with the Spanish Colonies, in which, as hath been observed before, it shares equally with it; there not being per­haps on the whole Continent of America any Place better qualified by Nature to afford not only all the Necessaries of Life, but also all the Pleasures of Habitation, than that Part of this Country, which lies upon the Banks of the Missisippi.

Of this Difference between these two Provinces, the different Amount of their respective Trades, occasioned by the Difference between their Population, is the best Proof.

The Infancy of the Colony will sufficiently account for the Fewness of the Articles in the above List of Ex­ports; as it will also for the Balance against them in Value; the Surplus being indispensibly necessary to ef­fect the Settlement, and keep a Stock in Hand for the Spanish Trade, till a sufficient Fund shall be established for that Purpose.

Beside the Articles here enumerated, West Florida yields all the West-Indian Produce naturally; and is also capable of producing many of the most valuable Articles of other Countries, particularly Medicinal Drugs of se­veral Kinds, Wines, Indigo and Cochineal, all of which are of such known Importance in Commerce, that no Argument can be necessary to enforce the Cultivation of them.

[Page 81] A Country so rich in commercial Produce, and so happily situated for the richest Species of foreign Com­merce, cannot want People. It's Advantages only want to be known to draw Men of Enterprize and Genius from every other Country to the Harvest, especially under the Protection of such a Government as that of Great Bri­tain, which ensures the free Enjoyment of their Acqui­sitions to them, and so makes every Son of Freedom it's own.

In what I had the Honour to suggest to your Lordship concerning the Province of Georgia, I mentioned reserv­ing some farther Hints to another Place. This, my Lord, is the Place I meant.

It has been observed, that the original Motive of Great Britain for settling Georgia, was to establish a Bar­rier between our other Colonies, particularly the Ca­rolinas, and the Spaniards and their Indians, in Florida.

The Acquisition of Florida, instead of taking away, has in reality heightened the Necessity of such a Barrier, by changing the Place of it; as it is evident, that the Spaniards will be doubly jealous of a Colony, advanced so much nearer to their's, and situated so conveniently for a Trade with them, that counteracts a fundamental Principle of their Government, that of keeping the Sup­ply of their American Dominions with European, Commo­dities entirely in their own Hands.

That a military Force, and Fortresses, or Places of Arms, are indispensibly necessary for the Purpose of pro­tecting a Country that lies open to the Inroads of Ene­mies, is evident; but though they may be the first, they are by no Means the only Necessaries in the present In­stance; where the Indians, the Enemies principally to be guarded against, act entirely by Surprize, invading in small Parties, like Robbers, murdering the People, and destroying all the Effects which they cannot carry off.

The Inefficacy of Forts, and the Inability of European Soldiers to protect a Country from such Ravagers, have [Page 82] been shewn in former ^† Instances; and the ^‡ Remedy proper to be applied in the present Instance, pointed out. Against the Indians, while Enemies, there is no Safety. They must be made Friends, to make their Neighbours safe. Nor is this difficult. In their natural Dispositions they are brave, honest, generous and friendly, and as grateful for Benefits, as revengeful of Injuries. Honest, generous and friendly Treatment will therefore evidently win them to our Interest; and this the more readily, as they know the Difference between it, and that of the Spaniards, whose Oppressions and Cruelties they have a most lively and indelible Sense of; and will eagerly and cordially connect themselves with those, who shall not only use them better, but also give them a Prospect of Protection and Assistance, whenever Occasion may offer for their gratifying their darling Passion of Revenge.

I mean not by this, my Lord, to stimulate these un­informed People to Acts of Violence against others, which we complain of ourselves. I only shew how we may avert this Violence from our own Heads, so effectually as even to turn it against those of our Enemies, if we should be authorized by Necessity so to do.

Nor is this the only Advantage, to be proposed with moral Certainty of Success, from such a Conduct to­wards the native Indians. They would soon learn our Manners, and, incorporating themselves with us, become a Part of our own People; I will confidently say, a most useful Part, as they would take that Labour upon them, which, from the Difference of Climates, we are unequal to, and so free us from the Necessity and Danger of im­porting the untractable Negroes of Africa, whose Num­bers hourly threaten the Safety of our Colonies, as their Expence is an heavy Burthen upon their Trade.

I shall not enter here into the Advantages and Duty of informing these Indians in the Christian Religion; as it will properly come into another Place, where the Appli­cation will be more general.

LETTER XXII.

HAVING thus ran down the whole Length of the British Empire, on the Continent of America, I shall beg your Lordship's Leave to stop here for a Mo­ment, and cast a Look back over the immense Regions we have traversed.

At our setting out on this Journey, I said it was the mutual Interest of Britain and her Colonies, to preserve Harmony and good Agreement with each other. To prove the first Part of this Position, the Interest of Britain, I have distinctly and faithfully shewn the great Advan­tages, which at present are, and the greater which yet may be received by her from these her thriving Children. The Advantages reciprocally received by the Colonies, require no Proof. They appear self-evident, from the Nature of the Connection and Intercourse between them. Their Wants are supplied! Their Weakness is supported! They sleep in Peace, and the awake in Freedom, under the Protection of a powerful and indulgent Parent!

It will probably be remarked, that in the Course of these Observations I have universally recommended Agri­culture and Extention of Settlement. The latter estab­lishes itself; it being evident, that the Wealth, Strength and Importance of every Country are in Proportion to it's Population. As to Agriculture, however strange it may appear to those, who search no deeper than the Sur­face, to propose the same Thing, in so many Countries, differing, so widely from each other in every Circum­stance, it will be found, upon closer Inquiry, that this is essentially and equally proper and necessary for them all.

The greatest Disadvantage possible for any Country to labour under, is not to have the indispensible Necessaries of Life within itself; not only because of the constant Danger of Delay or Miscarriage of Supplies from other Countries, but also because those Countries always have [Page 84] it in their Power to distress the Purchasers, by imposing what Price they please upon that, the Want of which they know cannot be dispensed with. The first Thing therefore to be taken Care of in establishing foreign Colonies, is to enable them to raise their own immediate Subsistence at Home, without being obliged to depend upon other Countries for it. Subsistence may be said to be a Term so comprehensive as to include every Thing, that may be eaten; but in the present Case I use it in a more limited Sense, and intend only that first Necessary of Life, Bread, whether made of our Corn, or of Rice, the Corn of the Southern Hemisphere; any, if not in­deed all, other Kind of Food, animal or vegetable, being unnecessary, in Comparison with this.

This sufficiently proves the general and indispensible Necessity of Agriculture; a Necessity for which Heaven has made as general Provision, there not being any known Country on the Globe, which will not, with proper Cul­tivation, yield this Support, this Staff of Life. And this Necessity was so obvious, that Tillage was the first Fxer­tion of human Industry, and that to which the highest Honour was annexed, in the uncorrupted Simplicity of antient and true Wisdom. Nor was the Preheminence given only by Man. The Pursuit of it has even been encouraged by Heaven above all others, with the Re­wards of Health, Strength and Increase, the first Bles­sings of Life.

I would not be understood by this to recommend Agri­culture equally in all Countries. Many Circumstances may vary the Degree, in which it should be pursued. Climate, Soil, Inconvenience for Exportation may clog it with so many Disadvantages, that to attempt more than acquiring a Sufficiency for immediate Subsistence would be most imprudent. Let that be amply provided every where! But let those only who can carry their Harvest to an advantageous Market, and on Terms of Advantage, go further. Plenty of Corn at Home makes every Thing necessary for the Support of Life plenty, and consequently cheap; but as an Article of Commerce, too much will glut the Market, and make it of no Price; [Page 85] A Caution applicable also to the Fisheries on the several Coasts of Hudson's Bay, Labrador and Newsoundland, &c. of the Produce of which, taken in proper Proportion, there may be found advantageous and sufficient Vent to establish their Prosperity; but if pursued too far in any one Place, it would ruin not only that, but also all the rest.

The same Restriction, my Lord, I must beg Leave to make in other Instances. In the Accounts I have given of the several Provinces, which we have reviewed, I have carefully and faithfully enumerated every Article, which I know, or have just Reason to think them capable of producing. But I do not by this recommend the Cul­ture of every Article indiscriminately, every where. Those only, which can be produced to best Advan­tage, would I have pursued, at least with any View to Commerce.

An Instance or two will perhaps explain this more fully.

It has been shewn, that South Carolina will produce Silk, and Georgia Cochineal. This they most certainly can do, and that to Advantage, if we had no other Places, which would produce them to greater; but as it is known, that Georgia will produce Silk better than South Carolina, and Florida Cochineal better than Georgia, what an Absurdity would it be to fly in the Face of Na­ture, and pursue the Cultivation of either, where she has denied the Advantage. It is right to know the Ex­tent of every Country's Produce! It is right to pursue only the most advantageous.

There is another Particular, my Lord, which I have just glanced at in one or two Instances, but which I am convinced is the Means most essentially necessary to be taken to push the Advantages of those Colonies, to their natural Extent. This is cultivating, civilizing, chris­tianizing, if I may so say, the Natives.

The Advantages of this in a political, and the Duty in a religious Light, are equally obvious. Nor can it [Page 86] be attended with any Difficulty, that should discourage the Attempt. Except in the single Instance of Nova Scotia, the Disposition of the native and neighbouring Indians of every Country we possess, invites it. Their own Vices and Virtues are those of uninformed Nature. Like a too luxuriant Soil, they want only proper Culti­vation, to make the Produce uniformly good, that is, as far as the weak, unstable Nature of Man can be so. This much is certain, that they have learned their greatest Vices from us; and therefore we surely have no Right to upbraid them with them. For Good they naturally re­turn Good, as they naturally return Evil for Evil; be­cause they have not been taught otherwise, either by Precept or Example. Ought we then to complain, if the Measure, with which they mete to us our own, over­flows? Was their Respect, their Esteem, their Affection won by good Offices, by upright and generous Dealing, they would return them an hundred-fold. They would lie down at our Feet; they would work for us by Day, and guard us by Night.

The Duty in a religious is still greater than the Ad­vantage in a political Light, as, beside the greater Ex­cellence of the Object, it also includes that Advantage. To explain this Duty to a People professing Christianity, would be an Insult either upon their Principles, or their Understanding. If they know it not, they have the Scriptures! If they will not believe them, "neither will they believe the Voice of one risen from the Dead;" much less that of a Man coming without Power or Au­thority to speak to them. I shall therefore only say, that to expect Advantage from any Undertaking, without first striving to conciliate the Favour of Heaven by such most obvious, most indispensible Means, is to contradict the Light of Reason as well as of Religion, and slight the Experience of all Ages.

I must not presume to say more. The Duty is suffi­ciently known. The Right, the Power of enforcing it, with any Prospect of Success, is not in me.

LETTER XXIII.

THOUGH I hope I have clearly proved, by the unerring Evidence of Facts, the mutual Advan­tages, which Great Britain and her Colonies reap from each other; yet as Matter diffused over a large Space may not operate so strongly upon the Mind, as when collected together, I shall beg Leave to draw the Whole into one Point of View, and then leave Reason to from it's own Conclusion.

The first Ends proposed in planting Colonies, are to increase the Strength of the Mother Country, by pro­viding Room for an Increase of People, and to increase it's Wealth, by establishing with them an Intercourse of Commerce, mutually advantageous; Colonization in any other View than one of them, or tending to them, being absurd, and subversive of itself.

That our Colonies on the Continent of America will abundantly answer the first of these Purposes, has been proved by Experience, wherever the Experiment has been made, and is clear to Reason in those others, where either Want of Time, or other less justifiable Causes, have hitherto prevented the Trial in any Extent, as at Hud­son's Bay, Labrador, Nova Scotia, &c. &c.

The only Objection possible to be made to pushing this Advantage to it's full Heighth, is the Danger of de­populating the Mother Country, on a Supposition of it's not having People to spare for such Transplantations; but this Supposition, and of course the Apprehension arising from it, are groundless. The Overflowings of this Metropolis (London) who, for want of being pro­perly employed, are a dead Weight upon the Industry of those who are, and upon the Trade of the Nation, their unearned Consumption being the real Cause of the Scarcity and Dearness of the Necessaries of Life, which makes all our Manufactures come so dear to Market, [Page 88] would afford a greater Stock to breed, than would be requisite to plant every Colony I have proposed; and consequently sending them out for that Purpose, instead of distressing the Mother Country, would double the Ad­vantage immediately to her, by delivering her from that dead Weight, as hath been already shewn at large ^†. The quick Increase of Population, where there is proper Encouragement, and Room for Industry to procure Plenty, is sufficiently known.

That the second of these Ends, the Establishment of an advantageous Commerce, has been already answered by every Colony we have planted, will be proved to Conviction by the State of the respective Trade of each. How much farther that Advantage may still be carried, has been repeatedly and clearly shewn in the preceding Remarks.

[Page 88] Total Amount of British Ships and Seamen employed in the Trade between Great Britain and her Colonies on the Continent of America—of the Value of Goods exported from Great Britain to these Colonies,—and of their Produce exported to Great Britain, and elsewhere—

Let the Addition of the above Numbers of Ships and Seamen—the Profits upon the above Cost of the Goods exported from Great Britain, and upon the Value of the unmanufactured Produce of the Colonies sent in return, with the Employment given to the Manufacturers, be taken into Consideration! And then let him who will presume to say, that our American Colonies do not pay an Equivalent for every Benefit they receive, stand forth, and prove his Assertion, by the same Evidence of Facts, as this.

[Page 89] Nor do I rest the Point here. I will be bold to say farther to your Lordship, that when the Amount of the Revenue received by Government from these Exports, and the returned Produce is added to the Account, it will incontestibly appear, that, instead of being a Bur­then upon Great Britain, her Colonies do in reality lighten her Burthen, by taking fully their Proportion of it upon them.

But this, my Lord, must be reserved till we shall have continued our Progress through the West-Indian Islands; as attempting to divide the Revenues arising from their blended Trade and Produce would only cause Confusion, and embarrass the Question.