INDUSTRY & FRUGALITY Proposed As the fared Means to make us A Rich and Flourilhing PEOPLE: AND The Linen Manufacture Recommended As tending to promote Thefe among us. WITH Some curfory Reflexions on CHARITY, So Far as it regards our Diftributions to the POOR, -cur-carse Non aliquid patriae tanto emetiris acervo ! BOSTON: Printed by Tboirn Fleet, at the Heart and Crown in CornhilJ, J 753’ (3 ) hdujlry and Frugality propofed as the furelt Means to make A Rich and Flouriftung People, ista T HAT particular Branch of Benevolence which we call Patriolifm, or the Love of our Country , may be look’d upon as ore of the nobkft Virtues that ever inhabited the human Breaft. Where it has had Opportunity to exert itfelf in any confiderable Degree, it has ftldom fail’d to make thofe famous who have been pofiefs’d of it. Public Reverence and Ho¬ nours have been their Reward whilft living, and Star tues and monumental Infcriptions have preserv'd their Memory when dead. All Nations have, at fome Time or other, cultiva¬ ted and encouraged this Principle, becaule, ar fome ;Time or other, all Nations have reap’d the greateft Advantages from it. The Ancients, both Greeks and Romans , carry’d it to the higheft Pitch. Among them, he was a happy Man who could devote him- , felt to fure and fpeedy Deftruftion for the Good cf his Country. Duke et decorum efi fro patria mori Wgs a Leffon they were early taught, and which they A 2 neves' never fuffer’d to Aide out of their Mind. While this Spirit prevail’d, thofe States, in which it did prevail, arofe to be the moft eminent in the World. The pub¬ lic Good was chea the Aim of every Man: This was the Point in which all their Views center’d^ and to which all their Aftions were directed. But when they once came to lofe Sight of this Rpint, and to look on themfelves as fo many Individuals, diftintt from the Public, they foon fet up and purfued particular Interefts of their own, and the Public was always negjefted and often facrifked to thele private Purfuits, when it came in Crmpetition with them. Thus was their Union diffolved and their Strength diffipated. The Bun ije b came untied and thofe Arrows which, when united, could hardly be bent, now feperate and Angle, were eafily broken. There never was a Time, perhaps, that call’d more loudly for the Exercife of this public Spirit, of which We have been fpeaking, than the prefent. But Thanks be to God, we have no Occafion to carry it fo far as we fee it has been carry’d in former Ages. The Good they purchafed for their Country, at the Ex- pence of their Lives, we may purchafe for ours at a much cheaper Rate. A Part of our Wealth, and a fmall Part too, properly apply’d, will go a great Way towards removing the Difficulties which at prelent lie fo heavy upon us. That we are under Difficulties, will be deny’d by none •, by what Means we became fo, may be difputed by many. Some may impute u to the Calamities of the late War, and our exert¬ ing Efforts above our Strength, in the feveral Expe¬ ditions in which we have been engaged. Some may charge it to the violent Shock our Trade has felt from fhe great and hidden Change in our Currency. Many .304 c $■) and loud have been the Declamations on both thefe Topics; whether juft or not, it is not my Bufwefs at preient to enquire. Whatever the Means were that brought us into our Diftrefs, and however we may dif¬ fer in our Sentiments about thefe Means, we fhall at lead agree in this, that it will be doing us an acceptable Piece of Service to ffiow us our Way out. Nor is this, perhaps, fo hard a Tafk as fome may be apt to imagine. The greateft Difficulty will be to perfuade us to take this Way, when it is ffiown to us. If we confider, with any Degree of Attention, the many Advantages we are ftill in Pofteffion of, we ffiill find them fuch as will enable us to maintain the Superiori¬ ty we have always held over the Provinces about us. In faying this and in enumerating thefe Advantages, I do not intend, as has been the Praftice of fome late Ame¬ rican Writers, to difparage the Circumftances of our neighbouring- Colonies; as tho’ it was neceffary to build our Profperity on the Ruins of theirs; or at lead to deface their Building to furniffi Materials for the enlarging and embellilhing our own. No; while we are happy, may they be fo too. Their Felicity may add to, but can never pall or diminilh cun. The more extenfive Happinefs is, the more it is raft¬ ed by a benevolent Mind, and could it be univerfal, to fuch a Mind it would be complete. But while we neither envy nor defpife the Ativan-, tages of others, let us be careful to improve our own, God has given us a pleafant Land and a fruitful one.' tie has not indeed feen fit to exempt it from the ge¬ neral Curfe, which the Fall of our firft Parents drew on the World; nor has he exempted us from out- Share in that Curfe. If we eat our Bread, we muft ( 6 ) and Thirties that our Fields bring Forth to us, are not fo much a Proof of the Ground’s Barrennefs a$ of our Sloth. We mull reap our Corn before we can £11 our Barns, and we muft plough and fow before we can hope to reap. But if we will fit with folded Arms, expedting the Earth fpontaneoufly to heap its Fruits in our Lap, we (hall be, as it is fit we fhould be, certainly dilappointed. We inhabit, as I have already, faid, a fertile Region. Our Land is good and, with proper Culture, capable of producing every Thing we want, it will yield us Hemp and Flax and every Kind of Corn. The Bread we fetch from abroad, we may find at home, and the vaft Sums in Silver and Gold, or, which is the fame Thing, in Bills of Exchange, which we fend away to purenafe it, may be kept among us. Qur Pafture is inferior to none on the Continent, and our whole Country is plentifully fupply’d with Springs and vein’d with Brooks and Ri¬ vulets of clear and wholfome Water. We have Wood- Lands well ftock ? d with Timber for Ship-Building, equal, at leaft, in Goodnefs to any that our fouthern Neighbours can boaft of. We have fair and goodly Pines for Marts and Boards which, under proper Re- fiuftions, may bring us confiderabie Riches; and we have Rivers to afiift our Carriage to and from the in¬ land Parts of the Province. We have many large and populous Tov/ns on the Sea Coaft, with capacious and iafe Harbours for Ships, and every Thing convenient for Navigation and foreign Commerce. The Sea, the rtcheft Mine in the Wot Id, is open to us, and prefents us with an inexhaufttbie Source of Wealth. That Part of it that wadies our Shore, is ftored with all Kinds of Ftfh for our prefent Ufe, and for fupplying the Weft India Markets; and we are well fituated for carrying on the Cod and Whale I'ifhery to the great- dt Advantage, C 1 ^ While we are thus furveying the Gifts that Nature has beftow’d upon us, with fo liberal, I had almoft faid fo laviffi an Hand, can we believe ourfelves to be poor? or if we really are fo, can we own it with¬ out Blufhing ? I know very well, the Cry of Poverty has been for a long Time growing upon us. But I know too, that if we are now footer than we were thirty Years ago. we are at the fame Time finer. Our Ornaments have encreafed with our Poverty; and if fo, our Complaints mull be vaiin. With an ill Grace muft that Tradefman complain of hard Times and the Difficulty of getting a Livelihood, whofe Wife and Daughters are cover’d with Scarier and Velvet; or thac Labourer, whofe Table is every Day fpread with th» daintieft and moft coftly Provifions. 1 would not be here miftaken, as tho’ I look’d upon this fair out¬ ward Shew, as an Evidence of our Riches. I think it a ftrong Symptom of the contrary ; as it is a Proof that our Expences are great, while our Income is fmall. But what I mean to lay is, that we ought to retrench our Finery before we complain of our Poverty. O- therwife we may ftill be poor and we may ftill com¬ plain, but our Complaints will never be heard, or if they are heard, will excite Indignation rather than Pt- fy. But this is a tender Point, and I muft pafs light¬ ly over it, becaufe my Bufinefs is to perfuade, net" to provoke. * Nature, we fee, has done enough for us; it is our Bufinefs to improve her Gifts. Let us increafe our In- duftry and abate our Extravagance, and the Cry of Poverty will foon ceafe. I fay, let us eftabhfh In- duftry and Frugality, and Profperity will foon follow them. By thefe have the weake/t States been raifed |o Wealth and Power, while the oppofite Vices of Sloth ?nd Luxury have funk the moft opulent ones imo Po¬ verty and Ruin, It would be waftirs Tim?’"to cC. fu' fi ( fnl'lreii mi'l twlirtlirr i)i°ir unnatural Parent} will or ioi, to pla< •" them old to liicli Trade', or Employments as msy m 'lime enable them to acquire an honelt Subaltern:':. I lif Objection, that thb would infringe the r,'final Rights of Mankind, is weak and frivolous. There are lev/ Laws that do not, n iota: Way or oth°r and in Ibtnc Degree, affeft thefe Rights, anti every Min, that becomes a Member of any Community, gives up Line Part of them, Without doing fo, it is impofhble for us to enjoy the Benefits of . Sod"ty, or to reap any Advantage from the wifeftij and heft Regulations. The Athenians were as free a : < People as any under the Sun. They knew the Worth| of Liberty, am! were jealous of j t in the bigheft Degree.| ( iO • Yet they, Free as they were, had a Law that inflifted i fcvcre Penalties on Idlenefs. This Law was made by that wife Man Solon, and it impower’d certain Magi- ' ftrates to call any Man before them, and to examine into his ordinary Expences and the Means by which Jhe was enabled to fupporc them. Far from looking on'this as a Diminution of their Liberty, they fub- mitted to it, as a wile Inftitutibn, and doubtlefs ex¬ perienced the good EfT’eft of if By the Scheme I juft now mentioned, I mean that for introducing and tllablifhing the IJuen Mamtfaflure among us. This is a noble Undertaking, and many and great are the Advantages the Province muff reap : from it, i! it is vigoroufly fupported and wifely managed. By taking oli from the Number of our Poor, it will take oil’from mir Burden, and by multiplying our ufe- fu! Hands, it will add to our Strength. This will em¬ ploy thole that mull otherwih- he idle ( and it will employ them at hYulons in which no oilier Employment can be ; followM, b will employ Multitudes, it will employ all, fm it is a liiiliiiHs in Hu Danger of being overdone, I Hull It'll ailrmpl Hi coo,pule wlui tjiunfif'/ of 1 .Iliefi mr loiplitl, tl'u Vvluf. tiillhs ale (e||l out in f'.iyilleni fill II, It is filin' irfil lor my jiirh'lll I'lllpole, if If can l/h that bod, til'll- 011,11 be gfr,f. A,|.| f, ,|„ t |,is, wr need only M.pfrlM lew roiilhnt and nnivrfbl f|," Idle of this IVfamif-ii'liirc is, That oil! IVds, our Tables and nur Bodies air coveted witli it; and that the great f ft Fart (and in a Manner fill of any Emends and' Va- Uuc) is brought to us from foreign Countries, This Con- f federation, 1 fay, will fufliee to lliow, that our Con- lumption is exceeding great, and that the Advantage of lupplying ourfelvcs mult be fo too, as it will employ great Numbers of Hands, and fave among us great Sums of Money. It will, befides this, quicken our De¬ mand for Flax, and thereby encourage our railing it R ? more (n) more generally and in greater Quantitiest And the Seed of this will be a new and profitable Article for Exporta¬ tion. Thys our Lands will be further improved, our Importation leflen’d and our Exportation encreafed. It is an Undertaking therefore that deferves our utmoft Attention, and Charity, bellow’d on this, is well be¬ llow’d. A fmall Sum, given here, will diffufe its Bene¬ fit to hundreds. Let us not then repine at any Expence neceflary to bring this important Projeft to Maturity. It is an Undertaking which, like all others, requires nurling in its Infancy. Let us be content to feed it in its weak State, it will foon be able to (land alone. It will thrive and gather Strength. It will maintain itfelf, it will maintain thoufands •, it will give us back, with Interell, what we now bellow on its Support, and will, in its Turn, fupporc us, and entich us. It gives me, I confels, no fmall Pleafure to confider what Encouragement this great Undertaking has al¬ ready met with, and how many Men of Character, and Ability are to be iound among its Patrons. The Gentlemen, who have the more immediate Management of it, are hearty Friends to it, and in being fo, are Eearty Friends to their Country. They difcharge their Truft with great Integrity and Succefs. A confidera- ble Part of th‘ir Time is freely bellow’d on its Affairs, nor have their Purfes been fiiut when its particular Oc- cafions have required them to be open. The Subfcribers to it are numerous, and among them are many who punctually and chearfully pay their Sublcriptions, as all would doubtlefs do, it they would give themfelvts Time to confider the many Benefits arifing from it. And here with Gratitude, I mull mention the generous Donation of an ingenious Gentleman in a neighbouring Province, whole Benevolence extends to Mankind in general, and to whom Mankind in general ire under thg greateft Obligations. Qyr Metropolis, the Town ( 13 3 of Bojlon is well difpofed towards it. Of this they have- .given a fmfible Proof, at their general Meeting in March, by the free Loan of a confiderable Sum of Money, to be improved in this Manufa&uriA And I heartily with proper Application was made to our Le- giflature, for their Favour and Afliftance. The Fathers tf our Country would furely encourage what is fo evi¬ dently beneficial to it, and their Wifdom would fug¬ ged: the Manner and Degree in which this Encourage¬ ment ought to be given. Nor muff I, by any Means, Forget the liberal Bene- ifaftion of the Ladies, by which the Managers have 'been enabled to open a new School, where Spinning will be taught our female Youth, and where poor Children will be provided with Wheels and other Uten- ifils without any Charge or Expence to their Parents. .This is a truly ufeful and extenfive Charity, and you .who have contributed to it cannot fail of your Re- yward ; a Reward that may more properly be faid to | be mukiply’d to you, than divided among you. How ■l great muff your Satisfa&ion be to vjfit your School t | for yours it now is. There to fee a Number of |modeft Maidens, furnifh’d with the Means of gaining an honeft Livelihood, who muft otherwife, perhaps, | have eat their Bread at the Expence of their Innocence, | and having once enter’d upon a Courfe of Vice, muft: I have gone on in the fame, during a Life continually |inrreafing in Wretchednefs, becaufe continually increafing in Guilt. Behold thefe now earning, inftead of begging their daily Bread. Earning it, not as the Wages of Iniquity, but as the Fruits of a laudable Induftry, Thefe you have tranfplanted from Penury and Want, to a decent Competence. Yon have refcued them from Vice, by fnatching them from the Temptations to Vice. You have delivered them from Mifery in this World, and perhaps laid the Foundation of their Happinefs in the ( *4) the nod. How happy muft you be in thefe Reflexions if They muft furely give you the moft refined Pleafures 3 Pleafures fuited to a rational Mind, which will never fatiate, and which you can never indulge to Excefs, And yet how many are there that have it in their Power to be thus happy ! The fame well difpofed Cha¬ rity will afford the fame Reflexions, and thefe Reflexions the fame Happinefs. Thus has this Scheme been hitherto encouraged, Let us not fuffer our Zeal for it to abate. Let us rather exert ourfelves with double Vigour for its Sup¬ port, fince the Welfare of our Country is fo deeply ; concerned in its Succefs. It is ibis that will make us j induftrious and frugal, and till we are fo, we may pro- jeft ten thoufand Means for our Relief, they will all prove ineffectual. Let us improve our Lands to the I utmoft. Let thefe fupply us with Corn for the Bread we eat, and with Flax for the Linen we wear, and at the fame Time, let us retrench fome of our unneceflary i Expences, and we muft, even under all our other Dif- j advantages, foon become a rich and flourifhing People, j I therefore repeat it again, and I wifh I could repeat it j till it was univerfally believed, let us banifli Luxury j and Sloth; let a Spirit of Induftry and Frugality pre- 1 vail, efpecially among the Poor •, and let every Scheme j that has a Tendency to introduce and confirm this Spi- I rit among them, be alfifted and encouraged by the Rich then, and not till then, fhall the State of our Affairs j change for the better, and a new and lovely Scene fhall j open to our View. Our Trees fhall bend beneath their j Load, and our Fields and Paftures fhall be cloathed with Corn and Grafs. Our Barns fhall be filled with the Fruits of the Earth, and our Flocks and Herds fhall be multiply’d exceedingly. In cur Towns, Trade j and Commerce, efpecially the moft profitable Branches of them, fhall revive and fburifh, and the bufy Hand of Induftry C If } Induftry fhall be every wherein Motion. Our Trades¬ men fhall no longer complain for Want of Work, nor for Want of their Money when their Work is done. The chearful Labourer fhall fing over his daily Tafk, becaufe he will be fure of his Wages, and his Em¬ ployer fhall punctually pay thefe Wages, becaufe he will be fure they were earned. A general Satisfaction fhall run through all Ranks of Men; good Offices fhall become reciprocal and common-, the Rich fhall be bet- . ter ferv’d and the Poor better paid. And what Heart would not leap at fuch a ProfpeCt! : What Hand would not contribute to the Purchafe of lit! A ProfpeCt, not like others to be obfcured by ; Milts and Clouds, and which at beft, by being often ' view’d, become indifferent, perhaps tirefome, to the | Eye. This, on the contrary, will be ever improving ; ; it will brighten with Time, and be continually prefent- i ing us with frcfh Beauties, and frefh Delights. Hap- j py is the Eye that fhall behold if, but happier the i Hand that fhall be inftrumental in procuring it.