AGREEABLY to your request contained in your letter of the 29th of August, 1789, I have at last set down to communicate such facts to you, upon the subject of migration to this country, as have been the result of numerous enquiries and faithful observation. I am aware that this subject has been handled in a masterly manner by doctor Franklin, in his excel­lent little pamphlet, entitled "Advice to those who would wish to remove to America," but as that valuable little work is very general, and as many important changes have occurred in the affairs of the united states since its publication, I shall endeavour to comply with your wishes, by adding such things as have been omitted by the doctor, and shall accommodate them to the present state of our country.

I shall begin this letter by mentioning the descriptions of peo­ple, who ought not to come to America.

I. Men of independent fortunes who can exist only in compa­ny, and who can converse only upon public amusements, should not think of settling in the united states. I have known several men of that character in this country, who have rambled from state to state, complaining of the dulness of each of them, and who have finally returned and renewed their former connexions and pleasures in Europe.

II. Literary men, who have no professional pursuits, will often languish in America, from the want of society. Our authors and scholars are generally men of business, and make their literary pursuits subservient to their interests. A lounger in book stores, breakfasting parties for the purpose of literary conversation, and long attic evenings, are as yet but little known in this country. Our companies are generally mixed, and conversation in them is a medley of ideas upon all subjects. They begin as in England with the weather—soon run into politics—now and then diverge into literature—and commonly conclude with facts relative to commerce, manufactures and agriculture, and the best means of acquiring and improving an estate, Men, who are philoso­phers [Page 4] or poets, without other pursuits, had better end their days in an old country.

III. The united states as yet afford but little encouragement to the professors of most of the fine arts. Painting and sculpture flourish chiefly in wealthy and luxurious countries. Our native American portrait painters who have not sought protection and encouragement in Great Britain, have been obliged to travel occa­sionally from one state to another in order to support themselves. The teachers of music have been more fortunate in America. A taste for this accomplishment prevails very generally in our large cities: and eminent masters in that art, who have arrived here since the peace, have received considerable sums of money by exercising their profession among us.

I shall now mention those descriptions of people, who may better their condition by coming to America.

I. To the cultivators of the earth the united states open the first asylum in the world. To insure the success and happiness of an European farmer in our country, it is necessary to advise him either to purchase, or to rent a farm which has undergone some improvement.

The business of settling a new tract of land, and that of im­proving a farm, are of a very different nature. The former must be effected by the native American, who is accustomed to the use of the axe and the grubbing hoe, and who possesses almost ex­clusively a knowledge of all the peculiar and nameless arts of self-preservation in the woods. I have known many instances of Europeans who have spent all their cash in unsuccessful attempts to force a settlement in the wilderness, and who have afterwards been exposed to poverty and distress at a great distance from friends and even neighbours. I would therefore advise all farmers with moderate capitals, to purchase or rent improved farms in the old settlements of our states. The price and rent of these farms are different in the different parts of the union. In Pennsylvania, the price of farms is regulated by the quality of the land—by the value of the improvements which are erected upon it—by their vicinity to sea ports and navigable water—and by the good or bad state of the roads which lead to them. There is a great variety, of course, in the price of farms: while some of them have been sold for five guineas—others have been sold at lower prices, down to one guinea, and even half a gui­nea [Page 5] per acre, according as they were varied by the above circum­stances.

It is not expected that the whole price of a farm should be paid at the time of purchasing it. An half, a third, or a fourth, is all that is generally required. Bonds and mortgages are given for the remainder, (and sometimes without interest) payable in two, three, five, or even ten years.

The value of these farms has often been doubled and even trebled, in a few years, where the new mode of agriculture has been employed in cultivating them: so that a man with a mo­derate capital, may, in the course of fifteen years, become an opulent and independent freeholder.

If, notwithstanding what has been said of the difficulties of effect­ing an establishment in the woods, the low price of the new lands should tempt the European farmer to settle in them, then let me add, that it can only be done by associating himself in a large company, under the direction of an active and intelligent Ame­rican farmer. To secure even [...] company of European settlers from disappointment and want in the woods, it will be necessa­ry to clear a few acres of land the year before, and to sow them with grain, in order to provide subsistence for the company, till they can provide for themselves, by clearing their own farms. The difficulties of establishing this new settlement, will be fur­ther lessened, if a few cabins, a grist and a saw mill be erect­ed, at the same time the preparations are made for the temporary subsistence of the company. In this manner, most of the first settlements of the New England men have been made in this country. One great advantage, attending this mode of settling, is, a company may always carry with them a clergyman and a schoolmaster, of the same religion and language with themselves. If a settler in the woods should possess a taste for rural elegance, he may gratify it without any expense, by the manner of laying out his farm. He may shade his house by means of ancient and venerable forest-trees. He may leave rows of them standing, to adorn his lanes and walks—or clusters of them on the high grounds of his fields, to shade his cattle. If he should fix upon any of those parts of our western country, which are covered with the sugar-tree, he may enclose a sufficient number of them to supply his family with sugar; and may confer upon them at the same time the order and beauty of a fine orchard. In this manner, a highly-improved seat may be cut out of the woods [Page 6] in a few years, which will surpass both in elegance and value a farm in an old settlement, which has been for twenty years the subject of improvements in taste and agriculture. To con­template a dwelling-house—a barn—stables—fields—meadows—an orchard—a garden, &c. which have been produced from ori­ginal creation by the labour of a single life, is, I am told, to the proprietor of them, one of the highest pleasures the mind of man is capable of enjoying. But how much must this pleasure be increased, when the regularity of art is blended in the prospect, with the wildness and antiquity of nature?

It has been remarked in this country, that clearing the land of its woods, sometimes makes a new settlement unhealthy, by exposing its damp grounds to the action of the sun. To obviate this evil, it will be necessary for the settler either to drain and cultivate his low grounds, as soon as they are cleared, or to leave a body of trees between his dwelling house, and the spots from whence the morbid effluvia are derived. The last of these methods has, in no instance that I have heard of, failed of preserving whole families from such diseases as arise from damp or putrid exhalations.

To country gentlemen, who have been accustomed to live upon the income of a landed estate in Europe, it will be necessary to communicate the following information, viz. that farms, in con­sequence of the unproductive woodland, which is generally con­nected with them, seldom yield more than three or four per cent. a year in cash, except in the neighbourhood of large cities. Be­sides, from the facility with which money eno may be saved in a few years, to purchase land in this country, tenants will not accept of long leases: and hence they are not sufficiently interested in the farms they rent, to keep them in repair. If country gentlemen wish to derive the greatest advantage from laying out their money in lands, they must reside in their vicinity. A capital of five thousand guineas, invested in a number of contiguous farms, in an improved part of our country, and cultivated by tenants under the eye and direction of a landlord, would soon yield a greater income than double that sum would in most parts of Europe. The landlord in this case must frequently visit and in­spect the state of each of his farms: and now and then he must stop to repair a bridge or a fence in his excursions through them. He must receive all his rents in the produce of the farms. If the tenant find his own stock, he will pay a half of all the grain he [Page 7] raises, and sometimes a certain proportion of vegetables and live stock, to his landlord. The division of the grain is generally made in the field, in sheaves or stacks, which are carried home to be thrashed in the barn of the landlord. An estated gentleman, who can reconcile himself to this kind of life, may be both hap­py and useful. He may instruct his tenants by his example, as well as precepts in the new modes of husbandry: he may teach them the art and advantages of gardening: he may inspire them with habits of sobriety, industry, and economy; and thereby become the father and protector of a dependant and affectionate neighbourhood. After a busy summer and autumn, he may pass his winters in the bosom of society, in any of our cities, and in many of our country villages.

But should he be disinclined to such extensive scenes of busi­ness, he may confine his purchases and labours to a single farm, and secure his superfluous cash in bonds and mortgages, which will yield him six per cent.

Under this head, it is proper to mention, that the agricultural life begins to maintain in the united states, the same rank that it has long maintained in Great Britain. Many gentlemen of education among us have quitted liberal professions, and have proved, by their success in farming, that philosophy is in no bu­siness more useful or profitable, than in agriculture.

II. MECHANICS and MANUFACTURERS, of every descrip­tion, will find certain encouragement in the united states. During the connexion of this country with Great Britain, we were taught to believe that agriculture and commerce should be the only pursuits of the Americans: but experiments and reflexion have taught us that our country abounds with resources for ma­nufactures of all kinds; and that most of them may be conduct­ed with great advantage in all the states. We are already nearly independent of the whole world for iron-work, paper, and malt liquors: and great progress has been made in the manufactories of glass, pot-ash, and cloths of all kinds. The commercial habits of our citizens have as yet prevented their employ­ing large capitals in those manufactories: but I am per­suaded that if a few European adventurers would embark in them with capitals equal to the demand for those manufactures, they would soon find an immense profit in their speculations. A single farmer in the state of New York, with a capital of five thousand pounds, has cleared one thousand a year by the manu­facture of pot-ash alone.

[Page 8] Those mechanical arts, which are accommodated to the infant and simple state of a country, will bid fairest to succeed among us. Every art, connected with cultivating the earth—building houses and ships, and feeding and clothing the body, will meet with encouragement in this country. The price of provisions are so different in the different states, and even in the different parts of the same state, and very so much with the plenty and security of money, that it would be difficult to give you such an account of them, as would be useful. I need only remark that the disproportion between the price of labour and of provisions, is much greater in every part of the united states, than in any part of Europe: and hence our tradesmen every where eat meat and butter every day: and most of them realize the wish of Henry IV. of France, for the peasants of his kingdom, by din­ing not only once, but two or three times, upon poultry, in every week of the year.

It is a singular fact in the history of the mechanical arts in this country, that the same arts seldom descend from father to son. Such are the profits of even the humblest of them, that the sons of mechanics generally rise from the lower to the more re­spectable occupations: and thus their families gradually ascend to the first ranks in society among us. The influence, which the prospects of wealth and consequence have in invigorating in­dustry in every line of mechanical business, is very great. Many of the first men in America, are the sons of reputable me­chanics or farmers. But I may go farther, and add, that many men, who distinguished themselves both in the cabinet and field, in the late war, had been mechanics. I know the British offi­cers treated the American cause with contempt, from this cir­cumstance: but the event of the war shewed, that the confidence of America was not misplaced in that body of citizens.

III. LABOURERS may depend upon constant employment in the united states, both in our towns and in the country. When they work by the day, they receive high wages: but these are seldom continued through the whole year. A labourer receives annually, with his boarding, washing, and lodging, from fifteen to eighteen guineas, in the middle states. It is agreeable to observe this class of men frequently raised by their industry from their humble stations into the upper ranks of life, in the course of twenty or thirty years.

[Page 9] IV. PERSONS who are willing to indent themselves as servants for a few years, will find that humble station no obstacle to a future establishment in our country. Many men, who came to America in that capacity, are now in affluent circumstances. Their former situation, where they have behaved well, does not preclude them from forming respectable connexions in marriage, nor from sharing, if otherwise qualified, in the offices of our country.

V. The united states continue to afford encouragement to gen­tlemen of the LEARNED PROFESSIONS, provided they be prudent in their deportment, and of sufficient knowledge: for since the establishment of colleges and schools of learning in all our states, the same degrees of learning will not succeed among us, which succeeded fifty years ago.

Several lawyers and physicians, who have arrived here since the peace, are now in good business: and many clergymen, na­tives of England, Scotland, and Ireland, are comfortably settled in good parishes. A minister of the gospel in a country place must not expect to have all his salary paid in cash: but he will notwithstanding seldom fail of obtaining a good subsistence from his congregation. They will furnish his table with a portion of all the live stock they raise for their own use: they will shoe his horses—repair his implements of husbandry—and assist him in gathering-in his harvests, and in many other parts of the business of his farm. From these aids, with now and then a little cash, a clergyman may not only live well, but, in the course of his life, may accumulate an handsome estate for his children. This will more certainly happen, if he can redeem time enough from his parochial duties, and the care of his farm, to teach a school. The people of America are of all sects: but the great­est part of them are of independent, presbyterian, episcopal, bap­tist, and methodist denominations. The principles held by each of these societies in America, are the same as those which are held by the protestant churches in Europe, from which they derive their origin.

VI. SCHOOLMASTERS of good capacities and fair characters, may expect to meet with encouragement in the middle and southern states. They will succeed better, if they confine their instructions to reading, writing, English grammar, and the sci­ences of number and quantity. These branches of literature are of general necessity and utility: and of course every township will [Page 10] furnish scholars enough for the maintenance of a schoolmaster. Many young men have risen by means of the connexions they have formed in this useful employment, to rank and consequence in the learned professions in every part of this country.

From this account of the united states, you will easily perceive, that they are a hot-bed for industry and genius in almost every hu­man pursuit. It is inconceivable how many useful discoveries necessity has produced within these few years, in agriculture and manufactures, in our country. The same necessity has produced a versatility of genius among our citizens: hence we frequently meet with men who have exercised two or three different occu­pations or professions in the course of their lives, according to the influence which interest, accident, or local circumstances have had upon them. I know that the peculiarities, which have been mentioned in the American character, strike a European, who has been accustomed to consider man as a creature of habit, formed by long established governments, and hereditary customs, as so many deviatons from propriety and order. But a wise man, who knows that national characters arise from circumstances, will view these peculiarities without surprise, and attribute them wholly to the present state of manners, society, and government in America.

From the numerous competitions in every branch of business in Europe, success in any pursuit, may be looked upon in the same light as a prize in a lottery. But the case is widely different in America. Here there is room enough for every human talent and virtue to expand and flourish. This is so invariably true, that I believe there is not an instance to be found, of an in­dustrious, frugal, prudent European, with sober manners, who has not been successful in business, in this country.

As a further inducement to Europeans to transport themselves across the Ocean, I am obliged to mention a fact that does little honour to the native American; and that is, in all competi­tions for business, where success depends upon industry, the Eu­ropean is generally preferred. Indeed, such is the facility with which property is acquired, that where it does not operate as a stimulus to promote ambition, it is sometimes accompanied by a relaxation of industry in proportion to the number of years or generations which interpose between the founder of an American family and his posterity. This preference of European mechanics arises likewise from the improvements in the different arts, which [Page 11] are from time to time imported by them into our country. To these facts I am happy in being able to add, that the years of anarchy, which proved so disgusting to the Europeans who ar­rived among us immediately after the peace, are now at an end, and that the united states have at last adopted a national go­vernment which unites with the vigour of monarchy and the stability of aristocracy, all the freedom of a simple republic. Its influence already in invigorating industry, and reviving credit, is universal. There are several peculiarities in this government, which cannot fail of being agreeable to Europeans, who are dis­posed to settle in America.

1. The equal share of power it holds forth to men of every religious sect. As the first fruits of this perfection in our go­vernment, we already see three gentlemen of the Roman catho­lic church, members of the legislature of the united states.

2. Birth in America is not required for holding either power or office in the federal government, except that of president of the united states. In consequence of this principle of justice, not only in the national government, but in all our state con­stitutions, we daily see the natives of Britain, Ireland, and Ger­many, advanced to the most respectable employments in our country.

3. By a late act of congress, only two years residence in the united states are necessary to entitle foreigners of good cha­racter to all the privileges of citizenship. Even that short period of time has been found sufficient to give strangers a visible in­terest in the stability and freedom of our governments.

It is agreeable to observe the influence which our republican governments have already had upon the tempers and manners of our citizens. Amusement is every where giving way to business: and local politeness is yielding to universal civility. We differ about forms and modes in politics: but this difference begins to submit to the restraints of moral and social obligation. Order and tranquility appear to be the natural consequence of a well-balanced republic: for where men can remove the evils of their governments by frequent elections, they will seldom appeal to the less certain remedies of mobs or arms. It is with singular pleasure that I can add further, that notwithstanding the viru­lence of our dissensions about independence and the federal go­vernment, there is now scarcely a citizen of the united states, who is not satisfied with both, and who does not believe this country [Page 12] to be in a happier and safer situation, than it was, in the most flourishing years of its dependence upon Great Britain.

The encouragement held out to European emigrants, is not the same in all the states. New England, New York, and New Jersey, being nearly filled with cultivators of the earth, afford encouragement chiefly to mechanics and labourers. The inha­bitants of New England have far surpassed the inhabitants of the other states, in the establishment of numerous and profi­table manufacturies. These wonderful people discover the same degrees of industry in cultivating the arts of peace, that they did of enterprize and perseverance, in the late war. They alrea­dy export large quantities of wrought iron, hats, women's shoes, cheese, and linen and woolen cloth. The state of New York has likewise discovered a laudable spirit for manufactures and domestic improvements. European artists, therefore, cannot fail of meeting with encouragement in each of the above states.

Pennsylvania affords an equal asylum to all the descriptions of people that have been mentioned, under the second head of this letter. Agriculture, manufactures, and many of the liberal arts seem to vie with each other for preeminence in this state. Each of them is under the patronage of numerous and respectable soci­eties. No state in the union affords greater resources for ship­building, malt liquors, maple sugar, sail cloth, iron work, woolen and linen cloths, pot-ash, and glass. Coal, likewise, abounds on the shores of the Susquehanna, a large river which runs through half the state. The variety of sects and nations, which compose the inhabitants of this state, has hitherto prevented our having any steady traits in our character. We possess the virtues and weaknesses of most of the sects and nations of Europe. But this variety has produced such a collision in opinions and interests, as has greatly favoured the progress of genius in every art and science. We have been accused of being factious by our sister states. This must be ascribed chiefly to our state constitution, which was established by violence in the beginning of the late war, and which was never assented to by a majority of the peo­ple. But that majority have at length asserted their power. A convention, composed of an equal representation of the peo­ple, has met and formed a new constitution, which comprehends in it every principle of liberty and just government. From the excellency of this constitution—from the harmony it has restored to our citizens—from the central situation of our state— [Page 13] from the number and courses of our rivers—from the facility with which we are able to draw the resources of the lakes to the Delaware—from the wealth of our capital—and above all, from the industry and sober habits of our citizens—there can be no doubt that Pennsylvania will always maintain the first rank, for national prosperity and happiness, in the united states.

There is one circumstance, peculiar in a great degree to Penn­sylvania, which cannot fail of directing the eyes of the inhabi­tants of several of the European nations to this state—and that is, the natives of Britain, Ireland, Germany, France, Switzer­land, and Holland, may here meet with their former fellow sub­jects, and receive from them that welcome and assistance, which are the natural consequences of the tie of country. So strongly does this principle operate in America, that the natives of Ger­many and Ireland have formed themselves into societies in the ci­ty of Philadelphia, for the express purpose of protecting, advising, and assisting their countrymen, as soon as they set their feet upon the shores of Pennsylvania.

It has been said, that the lands in Pennsylvania are dearer than in some of our sister states. They sell, it is true, for a greater nominal sum, than the lands of the neighbouring states▪ but in the end, they are much cheaper. The soil is deep, rich, and durable, and from the superior industry and skill of our farmers, our lands are more productive than those of our neigh­bours; hence their higher price: for the price of lands is always in a ratio to their quality, produce and situation: hence likewise, we are able to tell the value of a farm in any part of the state, by first finding out the quantity of grain an acre will produce, and the price of this grain at the nearest mill or store, mak­ing some little allowance for the improvements which are con­nected with the farm. This remark is so universally true, that a farmer never mistakes the application of it in purchasing land. There is a certain instinct, which governs in all purchases and sales of farms, and which arises out of the principle I have men­tioned: it is in general as accurate, as if it arose out of the nicest calculation. It is from an ignorance or neglect of this prin­ciple, that so many of our citizens have migrated to Kentucke, under a delusive expectation of purchasing lands cheaper than in the old states. They are, in fact often much dearer, when you estimate their price by the profit of the grain which is cultivated upon them. For instance: an acre of land in Kentucke, [Page 14] which sells for a quarter of a guinea, and yields 30 bushels of corn, at four pence sterling per bushel, is dearer than land of the same quality in Pennsylvania, at a guinea per acre, that yields the same quantity of corn, which can be sold at the nearest mill or store for two shillings sterl. per bushel. To cure this passion for mi­grating to the waters of the Ohio, there is but one remedy, and that is, to open the navigation of the Mississippi. This, by raising the price of produce, will raise the value of land so high, as to destroy the balance of attraction to that country. This truth is at present a speculative one; nor do I suppose it will be reduced to practice, if nations continue to be what they have been, until the waters of the Ohio and Mississippi have been dyed with the blood of two or three hundred thousand men.

The states to the southward of Pennsylvania possess immense resources for political happiness: but while they tolerate negro slavery, they can never be an agreeable retreat for an European. This objection applies chiefly to the sea coasts of those states; for in the western parts of them, the land is cultivated chiefly by freemen. The soil and climate of the extensive western country of those states is kind and mild to a very great degree. There Europeans may prosper and be happy.

Thus, sir, have I complied in a few words with your request. In communicating many of the facts contained in this letter, I have not considered you simply as a citizen of London, or a subject of the crown of Britain. The whole family of mankind, I know are your brethren: and if men be happy, I am sure it is a mat­ter of indifference to you whether they enjoy their happiness on this side or on the other side of the Atlantic ocean.

From a review of the facts that have been mentioned, you will perceive that the present is the age of reason and action in Ameri­ca. To our posterity we must bequeath the cultivation of the fine arts and the pleasures of taste and sentiment. The foreigners who have visited and described our country, without making allowan­ces for those peculiarities which arise from our present state of soci­ety, have done as little honour to their understandings, as they have done to human nature. Nor have those Europeans discovered more wisdom, who have blended with the American character, the accidental disorders, which were the offspring of our late public commotions. They resembled the swelling of the sea, which succeeds a storm. At present, they have as perfectly subsi­ded as the disorders produced by the civil wars in England, in the last century.

[Page 15] It is somewhat remarkable that in every age, great inven­tions and great revolutions in human affairs have taken place in a quick succession to each other. The many curious machines for lessening labour, which have lately been discovered in Europe, will necessarily throw many thousand artificers out of employ­ment. Perhaps the late successful application of the powers of fire and water to mechanical purposes in your country, was delayed until the present time, only that the sanctuary of our na­tional government might be perfectly prepared to receive and protect those industrious bodies of people, who formerly lived by the labour of their hands, and who might otherwise become a burden to the countries in which they had been deprived of the means of supporting themselves. Perhaps, too, the revolutions, which are now going forward in several of the governments on the continent of Europe, have occurred at the present juncture for a purpose equally wise and benevolent. The first effect of the establishment of freedom in those countries, will be to pro­mote population, by reducing taxes, disbanding standing armies, and abolishing the vows and practices of celibacy: for I take it for granted that military institutions in the time of peace, and monastaries of all kinds, must yield to the present force and cultivated state of human reason, in those countries, which are now the theatres of revolutions in favour of liberty. This increase of population will require an increase of territory, which must be sought for in the united states: for it is not probable that men who have once tasted of the sweets of liberty, will ever think of transporting themselves to any other country. This outlet for supernumerary inhabitants from the nations of Europe, will eventually promote their interests and prosperity: for when a country is so much crouded with people, that the price of the means of subsistence is beyond the ratio of their industry, mar­riages are restrained: but when emigration to a certain degree takes place, the balance between the means of subsistence and industry is restored, and population thereby revived. Of the truth of this principle there are many proofs in the old coun­ties of all the American states. Population has constantly been advanced in them by the migration of their inhabitants to new or distant settlements.

In spite of all the little systems of narrow politicians, it is an eternal truth, that universal happiness is universal interest. The divine government of our world would admit of a controversy, [Page 16] if men, by acquiring moral or political happiness, in one [...] added to the misery of the inhabitants of another part, of [...] globe.

I shall conclude this long letter by the two following re­marks:

I. If freedom, joined with the facility of acquiring the means of subsistence, have such an influence upon population—and if existence be a title to happiness—then think, sir, what an ocean of additional happiness will be created, by the influence which migration to the free and extensive territories of the united states will have, upon the numbers of mankind.

II. If wars have been promoted in all ages and countries, by an over proportion of inhabitants to the means of easy subsist­ence, then think, sir, what an influence upon the means of sup­porting human life, migration to America, and the immense in­crease of the productions of the earth, by the late improve­ments in agriculture, will probably have, in lessening the temp­tations and resources of nations to carry on war. The pro­mises of heaven are often accomplished by means in which there is no departure from the common operations of nature. If the events, which have been alluded to, should contribute in any degree to put an end o [...] wars, it will furnish a noble triumph to your society ^*, by shewing how much enlightened policy and national happiness are connected with the dictates of christianity.