L E T T E R S F R 0 M A N AMERICAN FARMER: DESCRIBING CERTAIN PROVINCIAL SITUATIONS, Manners, and customs, NOT GENERALLY KNOWN; SOME IDEA OF THE LATE AND PRESENT INTERIOR CIRCUMSTANCES BRITISH COLONIES NORTH AMERICA. WRITTEN. FOR THE INFORMATION OF A FRIEND By J. HECTOR ST. JOHN,. Wirn AN ACCVRA%E INDEX. A NEW EDITION, advertisement. E following Letters are the genuine production of the American Farmer •wbofe natne they bear. They were privately written, to gratify the curiofity of a friend ; and are made public, becaife they contain much authentic information, little known on this fide the Atlantic. Fhey cannot, therefore, fail of being highly interefing, to the people of England, at a time when every .body’s attention is direBed toward the affairs of America. Fhat thefe Letters, are the aSiual refult of a private correfp07idence ?nay fairly be inferred (exclufive of other evidence) from the fiyle and tnanner in 'which they are con- A 3 celved ; ADVERTI SEMENT. cei’oed-, for, though plain atid familiar, and fometimes animated, they are by no means ex¬ emptfrom fucb inaccuracies as mujl unavoida¬ bly occur in the rapid effufions of a confejfedly- inexperienced writer. Our Farmer had long been an eye-witnefs of the tranfaSiions which have deformed theface of America. He is one of thofe who dreaded, and has feverely felt, the deflating confe- quences of a rupture'between the parent- fate and her colonies: for. he has been driven from a fituation, the enjoyment of which the reader will find pathetically defcribed in the early, letters of this vo¬ lume. fihe unhappy contefi is, at length, however, drawing toward a period j and it is now only left us to hope, that the obvious interefs, and mutual wants, of both countries, may, in due time, and in fpite of all obfacks, happily re-unite them. Should advertisement. Should our Farmer's letters be found to afford matter of ufeful entertainment to an intelligent and candid public, a fecond volume, equally intereffing ’mith thofe now publijhedi may foon be expeSled. A4 AD- AD VERTISEMENT To the Second Edition. OINCE the publication of this volume, we hear that Mr. St. John has accepted a public employment at New York. It Is therefore, perhaps, doubtful, whether he will foon be at leifure to revife his papers, and give the world a fecond colleftion of the American Farmer’s Letters. ABBE RAYNAL, F.R.S. ■|3EHOLD, fir, an humble American planter,, a fimple .cultiv.a.tor of the earth, addreffing you from the farther fide of the Atlantic, and prefuming to fix your name at the head of his trifling lucubrations. I wifli they were worthy of fo great an honour. Yet why fhould not I be permitted to difclofe thofe fenti- ments which I have fo often felt from my heart? A few years.fince, I met, acci¬ dentally, with your Political and Philofo- phical Hiftory, aud perufed it with infinite pleafure. For the firft time in my life, I • refledled .on .the .relative .ftate of nations > DEDICATION. I traced the extended ramifications of a commerce which ought to unite, but now convulfes, the world; I admired that univerfal benevolence, that diffufive good¬ will, which is not confined to the narrow limits of your ov/n country, but, on the contrary, extends to the whole human race. As an eloquent and powerful ad¬ vocate, you have pleaded the caufe of hu¬ manity, in efpoufing that of the poor A- fricans. You viewed thefe provinces of North America in their true light: as the afylum of freedom; as the cradle of future nations, and the refuge of diftreffed Euro¬ peans. Why, then, ftiould I refrain from loving and refpefting a man whofe writings I fo much admire ? Thefe two fentiments are infeparable, at leaft in my breaft. I conceived your genius to be pre- fent at the head of my ftudy : under its in- vifible, hut powerful, guidance, I profe- cuted my fmall labours ; and now, permit me to fenctify them under the aufpices of your DEDICATION. your name. Let the fmcerity of the mo¬ tives which urge me prevent you from thinking, that this well-meant addrefs contains aught but the pureft tribute of re¬ verence and affedtion. There is, no doubt, a fecret communion among good men throughout the world i a mental affinity, connedling them by a firailitude of fenti- ments. Then why, though an American, Ihould not I be permitted to ffiare in that extenfive intelledlual confanguity ? Yes, I do; and, though the name of a man, who poffeffes neither titles nor places, who ne¬ ver rofe above the humble rank of a farmer, may appear infignificant; yet, as the fen- timents I have expreiTed are alfo the echo of thofe of my countrymen, on their be¬ half,, as well as on my own, give me leave to fubfcrlbe myfelf. Sir, Your very fmcere admirer, J. HECTOR ST. JOHN. TABLE O F CONTENTS. LETTER I. Page iNfROBUCTION . % LETTER II. On the fituatmi, feelings, and fleafures, of an American farmer - -- -- -- 21 LETTER III. What is an American ------ LETTER IV. i)eJcription of the ijland of Nantucket; with the manners, cuftoms, policy, and trade, of the inhaUtants - -- -- -- - LETTER CONTENTS. . L E T T E R V. CufiOmary education and enifloyment of the inha- hitants of Nantucket ----- i^o L E T T E R VI. Defcription of the if.and of Marthas Vineyard, andof thevjhale-fifnery - -- -- LETTER VII. Manners and ciiftoms at Nantucket - - 176 LETTER VIII. Peculiar cujlotns at Nantucket - - - - 154 LETTER IX. Defcription of Charles-tosjon j — thoughts on Jlavery 5 —on phyftcal evil ■,—a melancholy Jcene - 213 LETTER X. On Jnakes and on the hurnming-hird - - 235 LETTER CONTENTS. LETTER .XI. From Mr. hso —« Al —z, a Rujfmn gentleman, defcribing a vifit he paid, at my reqtieft, to Mr. John Bertram, the celebrated Fennjylvanian botanijl - -- -- -- -- 24y LETTER XII. Fijlrejfes of a frontier-man ----- nyp Map of the iflatjd of Nantucket - - - - izz Map of Martha’s Vineyard - - - - i6o I I letters 1 AMERICAN FARMER. LETTER I. INTRODUCTION. d'W'YYHO would have thoughtj that, be- 1 y Y ^ received you with hofpitality :;] and kindnels, you Ihould imagine me ;| capable of writing with propriety and perfpi- fcuity? Your gratitude mifleads your judge- ^ ment. The knowledge, which I acquired from Slyour converfation, has amply repaid me for .'lyour five weeks entertainment. I gave you ;; nothing more than what common holpitality ‘Miftated; but could any other gueft have in- “ ftrufted me as you did ? You condudted me, on '.|the map, from one European country to ano- :•* ther; told me many extraordinary things of our famed mother-country, of which I knew very little 5 of its internal navigation, agriculture, ■ ^ arts, manufactures, and trade: you guided me through an extenfive maze, and I abundantly 2 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. '| profited by the journey; the contraft therefore ': •proye? die: debt of gratitude, to .be on my fide. ;.i ' The treatment you received at my houfe pro- is ceeded from,the warmth of my heart, and from p the correlponding fenfibility of my -wife j what p you now defire muft flow from a very limited K power of m.ind. The talk requires recollec- r tion, and a variety of talents which I do not ts poffefs. It is true I can defcribe our American modes of farming, our-manners, and peculiar p cuftoms, with fome degree of propriety, be- i caufe I have ever attentively ftudied them; but | my knowledge extends., no farther. And is this local and unadorned information fufficient to | anfwer all your expedtations and to fatisfy, your | Guriofity ? I am furprifed that, in the courfe of | your American travels, you Ihould not have | found out perfons more enlightened and better | educated than I am. Your prediledlion excites I my wonder much more than my vanity; my lhare I of the latter being confined merely to the neat- | nefs of my rural operations. | My father left me a few mufty books, which 1 bis father brought from England with him. | But what help can I draw from a library con -1 filling moltly of Scotch divinity, the Nayiga.-| tion of Sir Francis Drake, the Hiltory of C^een | Elizabeth, and a few mifceUaneous volumes ? | Our miniller often comes to-_lee me, though \ he lives upwards of twenty miles .^iftant, | '; ■ .■ ''. il ir^TRObUCtORY letter, 3 i have fliewn him your letter, -aflced his advice, and folicited his affiftance j he tells me that he hath no time to ipare, for that, like the reft of us, he muft till his farm, and is moreover to ftudy what he is to fay on the fabbath. My wife (and-1.never do any thing without cOnfulting her) laughs, and tells me that you cannot be in earnefti What! fays Ihe, James, wouldffi' thee pretend to fend epiftles to a great European man, who hath lived abundance of time in' that big houfe called Cambridge j where, they fay, that worldly learning is fo abundant,' that people get it only by breathing the air of the place ? Wouldft not thee be aftiamed to write unto a man who has never in his life done a Angle day’s work, no, not even felled a tree? who hath expended- the Lord knows how many years in ftudying ftars, geometry, ftones, and flies, and in reading folio books? Who hath travelled, as he told us, to the city of Rome itfelf! Only think of a London man going to Rome ! Where is it that thefe Engliftt folks won’t go ? One who hath feen the faftory of brimftone at Su- Vius, and town of Pompey under ground! Wouldft thou pretend to letter it with a perfon who hath been to' Paris, to the Alps, to Pe-^ terlburgh, and who hath feen fo many fine things up and down the old countries , who hath come over the great fea unto us, and hath jour-' neyed from our New Hampihire in tlie Eaft to B 2 our 4 ' INTRODUCTORY LETTER, our Charles Town in the South 5 who hath vi- fited all our great cities, knows moft of our famous lawyers and cunning folks; who hath converied with very many king’s men, gover¬ nors, and counfellors, and yet pitches upon thee for his correlpondent, as thee calls it ? . Surely he means to jeer thee! , I am fure he does: he cannot- be in a real fair earneft. James, thee muft read this letter over again, paragraph by paragraph, and warily obferve whether thee can’ll perceive fome words of jelling; fome- thing that hath more than one meaning. And now I think on it, hufband, I wifli thee wouldft let me fee his letter. Though I am but a wo¬ man, as thee mayeft fay, yet I underhand the purport of words in good meafure; for, when I was a girl, father fent us to the very belt matter in the precindt.-She then read it herfelf very attentively. Our minifter was prefent. We lif- tened to and weighed every fyliable. We all u- nanimoufly concluded that you muft have been in a fober earneft intention, as my wife calls it, and yoiir requeft appeared to be candid and fin- cere. Then, again, on recolledting the difference between your fphere of life and mine, a new fit of aftonilhment feized us all! Our minifter took the letter from my wife, and read it to himfelf. He made us obferve the two laft phrafes, and we weighed the contents to the heft of our abilities. The conclufion we all INTRODUCTORY LETTER. S all drew, made me refolve at lafl; to write.---— You fay you want nothing of me but what lies within the reach of my experience and know¬ ledge : this I underftand very well ; the dif¬ ficulty is, how to colleft, digeft, and ar¬ range, what r know. Next you aflert, that writing letters is nothing more than talking ■on paper; which, I mull: confefs, appeared to me quite a new thought.—Well then, obferved our, minifter, neighbour James, as you can talk well, I am fure you mufl: write tolerably well alfo; imagine, then, that Mr. F. B. is ftill here, and fimply write down what you would fay to him. Suppofe the queftions he will put to you in his future letters to be afited by him viva voce^ as we ufed to call it at the college j then let your anfwers be conceived and expreffed ex- aftly in the fame language as if he was pi'efent. This is all that he requires from you, and I am fure the talk is not difficult. He is your friend. Who would be afhamed to write to fuch a perfon ? Although he is a man of learning and tafte, yet I am fure he will read your letters with pleafure. If they be not elegant, they will fmell of the woods, and be a little wild. I know your turn j they will contain fome matters which he never knew before. Some people are fo fond of novelty, that they will overlook many er¬ rors of language for the fake of information. We are all apt to love and admire exotics, though 6 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. they may be often inferior to what we ppflefs j and that is the reafon, I imaginej why fo many perfons are continually going to vifit Italy, r-» That country is the daily refort of modern tra-! yellers. ‘James. I Ihould like to know what is there to be feen fo goodly and profitable^ that fo many Ihould wilh to vifit no other country ? . Minifter. I do no,t very' well know, I fancy their objeft is to trace the yeftiges of a once-flourifhing people now extinft. There Aey amufe themfelves in viewing the ruins of temples and other buildings which have yery little affinity with thofp of the prefent age, and muft therefore impart a knowledge which ap¬ pears ufelefs and trifling. I haye often won¬ dered that no fkilful botanifls or learned men fnould come oyer here, Methinks there would be much more real fatisfadlion in obferving among us, the humble rudiments and embryos of focieties fpreading eyery where, the recent foundation of our towns, and the fettlements of fo many rural diftrifts, I am fure that the rapidity of their growth would be more pleafing to behold than the ruins of old towers, ufelefs aquedudts, or impending battle¬ ments. James. What you, fay, minifter, feems yery true. Do go on. I always love to. hear you TJ?TRODUCrORY LETTER. 7 Do not you think, neighbour James, that the mind of a good and enlightened En- glifhman would be more improved in remarking, throughout thefe provinces, the caufes which render fo many people happy ? In delineating the unnoticed means by which we daily increafe the extent of our fettlements? How we con^ vert huge forefts into pleafing fields, and exhibit, through thefe thirteen provinces, fo' fingular a dif- play of eafy fubfiftence and political felicity ? In Italy, all the objefts of contemplation, all the reveries of the traveller, mult have a.refe¬ rence to ancient generations, and to very diftant periods, clouded with the mill; of ages. —> Here, on the eontrary, every thing is modern, peace¬ ful, and benign. Here we have had no war to defolate our fields.* Our religion does not opprefs the cultivators. We are ftrangers to thofe feudal inftitutions which have enfla- ved fo many. Here nature opens her broad lap to receive the perpetual acceffion of new comers, and to fupply them with food. I am fure I cannot be called a partial American when I fay, that the fpeftacle, afforded by thefe pleafing fcenes, muff be more entertaining, and more philofophical, than that which arifes from B 4 beholding * The troubles, that lately convulfed the American colo¬ nies, had not broke out when this and fome of the follow¬ ing letters were written. 8 INTRQDUCTORY LETTER. beholding the mufly mins of Rome. Here ever7 thing would infpire the refledting travel¬ ler with,the moft philanthropic ideas. His ima¬ gination, inftead of fubmitting to the painful and ufelefs retrofpedt of revolutions, defolations, and plagues, would, on the contrary, wifely Ipring forward to the anticipated fields of future cultivation and improvement, to the future ex¬ tent of thofe generations which are to replenilh andembellifli this boundlefs continent. There the half-ruined amphitheatres, and the putrid fevers of the Campania, muft fill the mind with the molt melancholy refledtions, whilft he is feeking for ’ the origin and the intention of thofe ftradtures with which he is furrounded, and for the caufe of fo great a decay. Here he might contemplate the very beginnings and out-lines of human fociety, which can be traced no where now but in this part of the world, The reft of the earth, I am told, is in Ibme places too full, in others, half depopulated. Mifguided religion, tyranny, and ablurd laws, every where deprefs ^d afflidt mankind. Here we have, in fome meafure, regained the ancient dignity of our ^ecies; our laws are fimple and juft j we are a race of cultivators; our cultivation is unre- ftrained, and therefore every thing is prolperous and flourilhing. For my part, I had rather ad¬ mire the ample tern of one of our opulent farmers, who himfdf felled the firft tree in his plantation. INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 9 and was the firft founder of his fettlement, than Rudy the dimenfions of the temple of Ceres. I had rather record the progreffive fteps of this in- duftrious farmer, throughout all the Rages of his labours and other operations, than examine how modern Italian convents can be fupported without doing any thing but Tinging and praying. , However confined the field of fpeculation might be here, the time of Englilh travel¬ lers would not be wholly loR. The new and unexpeiRed afpeft of our extenfive fettlements, of our fine rivers, that great field of adtion every where vifible, that eafe, that peace, with which fo many people .live together, would greatly intereft the obferver ; for, whatever difficul¬ ties there might happen in the objeft of their refearches, that hofpitality, which prevails from one end of the continent to the other, would in all parts facilitate their excurfions. As it is from the furface of the ground, which we till, that we have gathered the wealth we poflefs, the furface of that ground is therefore the only thing that has hitherto been known. It will require the induftry of fubfequent ages, the energy of future generations, ere mankind here will have leifure and abilities to penetrate deep, and, in the bowels of this continent, fearch for the fubterranean riches it no doubt contains. -Neighbour James, we want much the I affiftance of mqn of leifure and knowledge. £0 INmODUCTORY LETTER, we want eminent chemifts to inform our iron mafters; to teach us how to make and prepare mofi: of the colouis we ufe. Here we have none equal to this talk. If any ufeful difcoverie^ are therefore made among us, they are the effedts of chance, or elfe arife from that reftlefs in- duftry which is the principal chara6beriftic of thefe colonies. "James. Oh! could I exprefs myfelf as you do, my friend, I fliould not balance a Angle iii- ftant; I Ihould rather be anxious to commence a correlpondence which would do me credit. Minifter. You can write full as well as you need, and would improve very faft. Truft to my prophecy : your letters, at leaft, wiU have the merit of coming from the edge of the great wil- dernefs, three hundred miles from the fea, and three thoufand miles over that fea; this will be no detriment to them, take my, word for it. You intend one of, your children for the gown, who knows but .Mr, F. B. may give you feme aflif- tance when the lad : comes to have concerns with, the bilhop. It is good for American farr mers to have friends even in England. What he requires of you is but Ample.—What we Ipeak out among ourfelves we .call converfation, and a letter is only converfation put down in black and white. James. You quite perfuadg me. If he laughs at my aukwardnefs, furely he will be pleafed INTRODUCTORY TETTER. with my ready compliance. On my part it will be well meant, be the execution what it may. I will write enough, and fo let him have the trouble of lifting the good from the bad, the ufeful from the trifling: let him felefl: what he may w^nt, apd rejeft what may not anfwer his purpofe. After all, it is but treating Mr. F. B. now that he is in London, as I treated him when' he was in America under this roof ■, that is, with the beft things I had, given with a good in* tention, and the beft manner I was able. Ve¬ ry different, James, very different indeed, faid my wifej I like not thy comparifon. Our fmall houfe and cellar, our orchard and garden, afforded what he wanted : one half of his time Mr. F. p. poor man, lived upon nothing hut fruit-pies, or peaches and milk. Now thefe things were fuch as God had given us; myfelf and wench did the reft. We were not the crea¬ tors of thefe viftuals, we only cooked them as well and as neat as we could. The firft thing, James, is to know what fort of materials thee haft within thy own felf, and then, whether thee, canft dilh them up.—^Well, well, wife, thee art wrong for once. If I was filled witli worldly vanity, thy rebuke would be timely, but thee knoweft that I have but little of that. How lhall I know what I am capable of till I try ? Hadlb thee never employed thyfelf in thy father’s houfe 12 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. to leam and to praftife the many branches of l^ufe-keeping that thy parents were famous for, thee wouldft have made but a forty wife for an A- merican farmer; thee never fliouldft have, been mine. I married thee not for what thee hadft, but for •what thee kneweft. Doeft thee not obferve what Mr. F. B. fays befide ? He tells me, that the art of writing is juft like unto every other art of man; that it is acquired by habit and by perfe- verance. That is Angularly true, faid our mini- fter. He, that lhall write a letter every day of the week, ■will, on Saturday, perceive the fixth flowing from his pen much more readily than the firft. I obferved, when I firft entered into the miniftry and began to preach the word, I felt perplexed and dry; my mind was like unto a par¬ ched foil, which produced nothing, not even weeds. By the blefling of heaven, and my .per- feverance in ftudy, I grew, richer in thoughts, phrafes, and words; I felt copious, and now I can abundantly preach from any text that occurs to my mind. So will it be with you, neighbour James; begin therefore without delay ; and Mr. F. B.’s letters may be of. great fervice to you : he ■wiU, no doubt, inform you of many things; cor- relpondence confifts in reciprocal letters. Leave off your diffidence, and I will do my beft to help you whenever I have any leifure. Well then, I am refolved, I faid, to follow your counfel j my letters fliall not be fent, nor will I receive INTRODUCTORY LETTER. any, without reading them to you and my wife. Women are curious: they love to know their hulband’s fecrets. It will not be the firft thing which I have fubmitted to your joint opinions. Whenever you come to dine with us, thefe lhall be the laft difli on the table. Nor will they be the moft unpalatable, anfwered the good man. Nature has given you a tolerable lhare of fenfe, and that is one of her belt gifts, let me tell you. She has given you befides fome per- fpicuity, which qualifies you to diftinguilh inte- reftingobjefts, a warmth of imagination which enables you to think with quicknefs. You often extra£b ufeful refleftions from objefts which pre- fent none to my mind. You have a tender and a well-meaning heart, you love defcription, and your pencil, alTure yourfelf, is not a bad one for the pencil of a farmer : it feems to be held without any labour.' Your mind is wHat we called, at Yale college, a tabula rafa, where • fpontaneous and ftrong impreffions are delineated with facility. Ah, neighbour, had you received but half the education of Mr. F. B. you had been a worthy correfpondent indeed. But, per¬ haps, you will be a more entertaining one, dref- fed in your fimple American garb, than if you were clad in all the gowns of Cambridge. You will appear to him fomething like one of our wild American plants, irregularly luxuriant in its yarious branches, which an European fcholar 14 INTRODtrCTOUt LETTfeft. fcholar may probably think ill placed and ufei- lels. If our foil is not remarkable as yet for the excellence of its fhiits, this exuberance is howr- ever a ftrong proof of fertility, Vrhich wants no¬ thing but the progrelEve knowledge acquired by time to amend and to correft. It is eafier to retrench than it is to add. I do not mean to flatter you, neighbour James j adulation would ill become my charafter j you may therefore be-‘ _Hevewhat your paftor fays. Were I in Europe, I Ihould be tired-with perpetually feeing efpa- liers, plalhed hedges, and trees dwarfed into pigmies. Do let Mr. F. B. fee on paper a few American wild cherry-trees, fuch as nature forms them here, in all her unconfined vigour, in all the amplitude of their extended limbs and Ipreading ramifications,—let him fee that we are poATeffed with ftrong vegetative embryos. After all, why Ihould not a farmer be allowed to make ufe of his mental faculties as well as others. Becaufe a man works is he not to think ? and, if he thinks ufefuUy, why Ihould not he, in his lei- fiire hours, fet down his tlioughts ? I have com- pofed many a good fennon as I followed my plough. The eyes, not being then engaged on any particular objeft, leaves the njind free for the introduftion of many ufeful ideas. It is not in the noify Ihop of a blackfmith or of a carpenter that thefe ftudious moments can be enjoyed. It is as we filendy till the ground, and inufe along the odoriferous introductory, letter. 15 odoriferous furrows of our lowlands, uninter¬ rupted either by ftones or flumps. It is there that the falubrious effluvia of the earth, animate our fpirits, and ferve to infpire us. Every other avocation of our farms are fevere labours com¬ pared to this pleafing occupation. .Of, all the talks, which mine impofes upon ine, ploughing is the moft agreeable, becaufe I can think as I work; my mind is atleifure; my labour flows from inftinft as well as that.of my horfes; there is no kind of difference between us in our dif¬ ferent lhares of that operations one of them keeps the furrow;, the other avoids it: at the end of my field.they turn either to.the right or left as they are bid, whilft I thoughtlefsly hold and guide the plough, to which they are harnef- fed. Dp therefore, neighbour, begin this corrc- fpondence, and perfevere. Difficulties will va- nifh in proportion as you draw near them. You will be forprifed at yourfelf .by and by. When you come to look back, you will fay as I often faid to myfelf, had I been diffident I had never .pro¬ ceeded thus far. .Would you painfully till yoiiir ftony up-land and negledl tho fine rich bottom which lies before your door ? Had you never tried, you had never learned how to mend and make your ploughs. . It will be no fmall plea- fure to your children to, tell hereafter, that .their father was not only one of the- moft in- duftrioas- i6 INTRODtjreTORY LETTER. duflxious farmers in the country, but one of th6 heft writers. When you have once begun, do as when you begin breaking up your fummet fal¬ low j you never confider what remains to be done; you view only what you have ploughed.. There¬ fore, neighbour James, take my advice; it will go well with you, I am fore it will.-And do you really think fo. Sir ? Your counfel, which I have long followed, weighs much with me. I verily believe that I muft write to Mr. F. B. by the firft veflel.-If thee perfifteft in being fuch a fool-hardy man, faid my wife, for God’s fake let it be kept a profound fecret among uh If it were once known abroad that thee writeft to a great and rich man over at London, there would be no end of the talk of the people. Some would vow that thee art going to turn author j others would pretend to forefee fome great al¬ terations in the welfare of thy family. Some would fay this, fome would fay that. Who would wifli to become the fobjeft of pub¬ lic talk ? Weigh this matter well before thee beginneft, James:—confider that a great deal of thy time and of thy reputation is at ftake, as I may fay. Wert thee to write as well as friend Ed¬ mund, whofe Ipeeches I often lee in our pa¬ pers, it would be tfie very felf fame thing: thee wouldfl: be equally accufed of idlenefs, and vain notions not befitting thy condition. Our co¬ lonel INimODUCTORt LETTER. 17 lonel would be often coming here to know what it is that thee canft write fo much about. Some would imagine that thee wanteft to become either an affembly-man or. a magiftrate, which God forbid, and that thee art telling the king’s men abundance of things. Inftead of being well looked upon, as now, and living in peace with all the world, our neighbours would be making ftrahge furmifes ; I had rather be as we are, neither better nor worfe than the reft of our country folks. Thee knoweft what I mean, though I fliould be forty to deprive thee of any honeft recreation. Therefore, as I have faid be¬ fore, let it be as great a fecret as if it was fome heinous crime. The minifter, I am fure, will not divulge it: as for my part, though I am a woman, yeti know what it is. to be a wife.— I would not have thee, James,,pafs for what the world calleth a writer; no, not for a peck of gold, as. the faying is. Thy father, before thee, was a plain-dealing honeft man ; punftual in all things. He was one of yea and nay, of few words; all he minded was his farm and his work. I wonder from whence thee haft got this love of the pen ? Had he Tpent his time in fending epiftles to and fro, he never would have left thee this goodly plantation free from debt. All 1 fay is in good meaning. Great people over fea may write to our town’s folks, becaufe they have nothing elfe to do. Thefe Englifhmen are C ftrdnge i8 INTRODUCTORY LETTER, ftrange people; becaufe they can live upon what they call bank notes, without worldng, they think that all the world can do the fame. This goodly country never would have been tilled and cleared with thefe notes. I am fure, when Mr. F. B. was here, he faw thee fweat and take abundance of pains. He often told me how the Americans worked a great deal harder than the home Englilhmen; for there, he told us, that they have no trees to cut down, no fences to make, no negroes to buy and to clothe. And, now I think on it, when wilt thee fend him thofe trees he befpoke ? But, if they have no trees to cut down, they have gold in abundance, they fay j for they rake it and fcrape it from all parts far and near. I have often heard my grand- ■ father tell how they live there by writing. By writing, they fend this cargo unto us, that to the Weft, and the other to the Eaft, Indies., But, James, thee Jtnoweft that it is. not by writing that we fliall .pay the blackfmith, the minifter, the weaver, the tailor, and the Engliflr fhop. But, as thee art an early man, follow thine own inclinations. Thee wanteft fome reft, I am fure, and why fliouldft thee not employ it as it may feem meet unto thee ? However, let it be a great fecret. ■ How wouldft thee bear to be called, at our country meetings, the man of the pen ? If thisfcheme of thine was once known, travellers, as they go along, would point out to our houfe. faying, j INTRODUCTORY LETTRR/ tg faying, Here liveth the fcribbling farmer. Bet-' ter hear them, as ufual, obferve. Here liveth the warm fubftantial family that never begrudgeth a meal of viftuals or a mefs of oats to any one that fteps in. Look how fat and well clad their negroes are. Thus, Sir, have I given you an unafFedled and candid detail of the converfation which de.- termined'me to accept of your invitation. I i thotight it rieceffary thus to begin, and to- let you into thefe primary fecrets, to the end that you may not hereafter reproach me with any degree of prefumption. You’ll plainly fee the motives which have induced me to begin, the Fears which I have entertained, and the princi¬ ples on which my diffidence hath been founded. I have now nothing to do but to profecute my taflc.—Remember, you are to give me my fub- : jefts, and on no other lliall I write, left you I lhould blame me for an injudicious choice.— However incorreft my ftyle, however inex¬ pert my methods, however trifling my obfer- vations may hereafter appear to you, aflure yourfelf they will all be the genuine difcates of my mind, and I hope will prove acceptable on that account. Remember that you have laid the foundation of this correfpondence. ■ You v/ell know diat I am neither a philofopher, politi¬ cian, divine, or naturalift, but a fimple far¬ mer. I flatter myfelf, therefore, that you’ll re- 20 INTRODUCTORY LETTER, ceive my letters as conceived, not according. to fcientific rules, to which I am a perfeft ftrangef, but agreeable to the fpontaneous impreflions which each fubjeft may infpire. This is the only line ! am able to follow: the line which nature has herfelf traced for me. This was the covenant which I made with you, and with which you feemed to be wellpleafed. Had you wanted the ftyle of the learned, the refieftions of thepatriot, the difcuffions of the politician, the cu^us ob- fervations of the naturalift, the plealing garb of the man of tafte, hirely you would have applied to fome of thofe men of letters with which our cities abound. But Cnee, on the contrary, and for what reafon .1 know not, you wifh to corre- ipond with a cultivator of the earth, with a fun- pie citizen, you muft receive my letters for better . or worfe. LETTER AMERICAN FARMER. ai LETTER IL ON .THE SITUATION, FEELINGS, AND PLEASURES, OF AN AMERICAN FARMER. A S you are the firft enlightened European I had ever the pleafure of being acquainted with, you will not be furprifed that I fhould, ac- cofdino- to your earneft defire and my promife, appear anxious of preferving your friendlhip and bdrrefpondence. By your accounts, I obferve a material difference fubfifts between your huf- batidry, modes, and cuffoms, and ours. Every thing is local. Could we enjoy the advantages of the Englifli farmer, we Ihould be much happier, indeed ; but this wifli, like many others, im¬ plies a contradiction j and, could the Englilh farmer have fome of thofe privileges we poffefs, they would be the firft of their clafs in the worldl ’ Good and evil, I fee, are to be found in all focieties, and it is in vain to feek for any fpot where thofe ingredients are not mixed. I therefore reft fatisfied, and thank God that my lot is to be an American farmer, inftead of a Ruf¬ fian boor or a Hungarian peafant. I thank you kindly for the idea, however dreadful, which you have given me of their, lot and condition. Your obfervations have confirmed me in the juftnefs of my ideas, and I am happier now than I thought myfelf before. It is ftrange that C 3 ' mifery. £2 SITUATION, &c. pE AN ' - mifery, when viewed in others, fliould become toms a fort of real good j though I am far from rejoicing to hear that there are in the world men fo thoroughly wretched. They are no doubt as harmlefs, induftrious, and willing to work, as we are. Hard is their fate to be thus condemned - to a flavery worfe than that of our negroes. Yet, when young, I entertained fqme thoughts of felling my farm. I thought it afforded but a dull repetition of the fame labours and pleafures, I thought the former tedious and heavy: the latter few and infipid. But, when I came to con- fider myfelf as diveflied of my farm.-1 - then found the world fo wide, and every place fo i full, that I began to fear left there would be no room for me. "My farm, my houfe, my barn, prefented, to my imagination, objefts from which I adduced quite new ideas: they. were, more forcible than before. Why Ihould not I find myfelf happy, faid I, where my father was oe- fore.? He left me no good books it is true j he gave me no other education than the art of readr ing and writing? but he left me a good farm and his experience : he left me free from debts, and no kind of difficulties to ftruggle with.— I married; and this perfeftly reconciled me to myfituation. My wife rendered my houfe all at once cheerful and pleafing : it no longer apr peared gloomy and folitary as before. When l| went to work in my fields, I worked with .inorej alacrity! AMERICAN FARMER. 23 alacrity and fprightlinefs. 1 felt that I did not work for myfelf alone, and this encouraged me much. My wife would often come with her knitting in her hand, and fit • under the lhady tree, praifing the ftraightnefs of my furrows and the docility of my horfes. This fivelled my heart and made every thing light and pleafant, and I regretted that I had not married before. I felt myfelf happy in my new lituation, and where is, that Ration which can confer a more fubftantial fyftem of felicity than that of an Ar merican farmer, pofleffing freedom of aftion, freedom of thoughts, ruled'by a mode of govern¬ ment which requires but little from us ? I owe nothing but a pepper-corn to my country, a fmall tribute to my king, with loyalty and due relpeft. I know no other landlord than the Lord of all land, to whom I owe the moll fincefe gra¬ titude. My father left me three hundred and feventy-one acres of land, forty-feven of which are good timothy meadow, an excellent orchard, a good houfe, and a fubftantial barn. It is my duty to think how happy I am that he lived to build and to pay for all thefe improve¬ ments. What are the labours which I have to undergo ? What are my fatigues when compa¬ red to his, who had every thing to do, from the firft tree he felled to the finifliing of his houfe ? Every year I kill from 1500 to aooo weight of pork, 1200 of beef, half a dozen of good we- C 4 thers 24 SITUATION, &c. OF AN thers in-harveft; of fowls my wife has always a great ftock: what can I wilh more ? My ne¬ groes are tolerably faithful and healthy. By a long feries of induftry and honeft dealings, my father left behind him the name of a good man. I have but to- tread his paths to be happy and a good man like him. I know enough of the law to regulate my little concerns with propri¬ ety, nor do I dread its power. Thefe are the grand outlines of my fituation; but as I can feel much more than I am able to exprefs, I hardly know how to proceed. When my firft fon was born, the whole train of my ideas was fud- denly altered. Never was there a charm that adted' fo quickly and powerfully. I ceafed to ramble in imagination through the wide world. My: excurlions, fince, have not exceeded the bounds of my farm; and all my principal plea- fures are now centered within its fcanty limits; but,-at.the.lame time, there is not an operation belonging to it in which I do not find fame food for .ufeful , reflexions. This is the reafon, I luppofe, that, when you were here, you ufed, in your refined ftyle, to denominate me the farmer of feelings. How rude muft thofe feelings be in him who daily holds the ax or the plough! How much more refined, on the contrary, thofe of the European, whofe mind is improved by education, example, books, and by every acquired advan¬ tage! Thofe feelings, however, I will delineate as AMERICAN FARMER. 25 as well as. I can, agreeably to your earneft re- queft. When I contemplate my wife, by my fire-fide, while ftie either fpins, knits, darns, or fuckles our child, I cannot defcribe the va¬ rious emotions of love, of gratitude, of con- fcious pride, which thrill in my heart, and often I overflow' in involuntary tears. I feel the necef- fity, the fweet pleafure, of adting my part, the part ^of a huflaand and father, with an attention and propriety which may entitle me to my good fortune. It is. true thefe pleafing images va- nilh with the fmoke of my pipe, but, though they difappear from my mind, the i'mpreflion they have' made on my heart is indelible. When I play with the infant, my warm imagination runs forward, and eagerly anticipates his future temper and conftitution. I would willingly I open the book of fate, and know in which page his deftiny is delineated. Alas! where is the fa¬ ther, who, in thofe moments of paternal extacy, can delineate one half of the thoughts which dilate his heart ? I am fure I cannot. Then again I fear for the health of thofe who are become fo dear to me; and, in their ficknefles, I feverely pay for the joys I experienced while they were well. : Whenever I go abroad it is always involuntary. I I never return home without feeling fome plea- I fmg emotion, which I often fupprefs as ufelefs and fpolilh. The inftant I enter on my own land, ;he bright idea of property, of exclufive right, of SITUATION, &c. OF AN a6 of independence, exalt my mind. Precious foil, f I fay to myfelf, by what fingular cuftom of law 1 ' is it that thou wall made to conftitute the riches f ' of the freeholder ? What Ihould we American c farmers be witliout the diftinfl; poffelSon of that j; foE? It feeds,, it clothes, us; from it we draw j- cven a great exuberancy, our beft meat, our S richeft drink; the very honey of our bees comes from this privileged fpot. No wonder we f Ihould thus cherilh its polfelTion: no -wonder ! that fo many Europeans, who have never been i able to fay that fuch portion of land was theirs, j crols the Atlantic to realize that happihefs! ! This,-formerly rude foil has been converted by j my father into a pleafant farm, and, in return, it has eftablifned ail our rights. On it is founded our rank, our freedom, our power, as citizens ; our importance, as ii-ihabitants of fuch a diftridb. Thefe images, I muft confefs, I always behold with pleafure, and extend them as far as my ima¬ gination can reach ; for this is what may be caE Ted the true and the only philofophy of an Ame¬ rican fanner. Pray do not laugh in thus feeing an artlefs countryman tracing himfelf through the Ample modifications of his life. Remember that you have required it, therefore, with can¬ dour, though v/ith diffidence, I endeavour, to follow the thread of my feelings, but I cannot tell you all. Often, when I plough my low ground, I place . my litde boy on a chair .which' ferews AMERICAN FARMER, fcrews to the beam of the plow. Its motion and that of the horfes pleafe him : he is per- feftly happy, and begins to chat. As I lean over the handle, various are the thoughts which croud into my mind. I am now doing for him, I fay, what my father formerly did for me: may God enajale him to live that he may perform the fame operations for the fame purpofes when I am worn out and old! I relieve his mother of fome trouble while I have him with me; the odoriferous furrow exhilarates his fpirits, and feems to do the child a greaf deal of good, for he looks more blooming fmce I have adopted that praftice. Can more pleafure, more dignity, be added to that primary occupation ? The father, thus ploughing with his child, and to feed his family, is inferior only to the emperor of China ploughing as an example to his kingdom. In the evening, when I return home through my low grounds, I am aftonilhed at the myriads of infcfts which I perceive dancing in the beams of the fetting fun. I was before fcarcely ac¬ quainted with their exiftence; they are fo fmall that it is difEcuk to diftinguifh them : they are carefully improving this fhort evening fpace, not daring to expofe themfelves to the blaze of our meridian fun. I, never fee an egg brought on my table but I feel penetrated with the won¬ derful change it would have undergone but for my gluttony. It might have been a gentle ufe- ful 28 SITUATION, &c. OF AN fbl hen leading her chicken with a care and vi¬ gilance which fpeaks fliame to many women, A cock, perhaps, arrayed with the moft rha- jeftic plumes, tender to its mate, bold, coura¬ geous, endowed with an aftonilhing inftinft, with thoughts, with memory, and every diftin- guilhing charafteriftic of the reafon of man ! I never fee my trees drop their leaves and their fruit in the autumn, and bud again in the fpring, without wonder. The fagacity ofthofe animals, which have long been the tenants of my farm, aftonilh me: forhe of them feem to furpafs even men in memory and fagacity. I could tell you lingular inftances of that kind. What then is this inftindt which v/e fo debafe, and of which we are taught to entertain fo diminutive an idea ? My bees, above any other tenants of my farm,' attraft my ■ attention and refpeft. I am afto- nilhed to fee that nothing exifts but what has its enemy; one fpecies purfues and lives upon the other. Unfortunately our kingbirds are the de- ftroyers of thole induftrious infedts j but, on the other hand, thefe birds preferve our fields from the depredation of crows which they purfue' on the wing with great vigilance and aftonifliing dexterity. Thus divided by two interefted mo¬ tives, I have long refifted the defire I had to kill them, until lafl: year, when I thought they in- crealed too much, and my indulgence had been carried too far. It was at the time of fwarming^ when AMERICAN FARMER. 519 when they all came and fixed themfelves on the neighbouring trees, whence they caught thofe that returned loaded from the fields. This made me refolve to kill as many as I could, and was juft ready to fire, when a bunch of bees, as big as my fift, ilTued from one of the hives, rufhed on one of thcfe birds, and probably flung him, for he inftantly fcreamed, and flew, not as before in an irregular manner, but in a di- redt line. He was followed by the fame bold phalanx, at a confiderable diftance, which un¬ fortunately becoming too fure of viftory, quit¬ ted their military array and difbanded themfelves. By this inconfiddrate ftep they loft all that ag¬ gregate of force which had made the bird fly off. Perceiving their diforder, he immediatelv returned, and fnapped as many as he wanted; nay, he had even the impudence to alight on the very twig from which the bees had driven him. I killed him, and immediately opened his craw, from which I took 171 bees. I laid them all on a blanket, in the fun, and, to my great furprile, 54 returned to life, licked themfelves clean, and joyfully went back to the hive ; where they pro¬ bably informed their companions of fiich an adventure and efcape, as I believe had never happened before to American bees ? I drav/ a great fund of pleafure from the quails which in-; habit my farm ; they abundantly repay me, by their various notes and peculiar tamenefs, for tile JO SITUAtlON, &c. OF AN the inviolable holpitality I conftantly Ihew theifi in the winter. Inftead of perfidioufly taking advantage'of their great and affefting diftrefs, when nature offers nothing but a barren uni-< verfal bed of fnow, when irrefiftible neceffity forces them to my barn doors, I permit them to feed unmolefted j and it is not the leaft a- greeable fpeftacle which that dreary feafon pre- fents, when I fee thofe beautiful birds, tamed by hunger, intermingling with all my cattle j and Iheep, feeking, in fecurity, for the poor | fcanty grain, which, but for them, would be ufe- ' lefs and loft. Often in the angles of the fen¬ ces, where the motion of the wind prevents the fnow from fettling, I carry them both chaff and grain ; the one to feed them, the other to prevent their tender feet from freezing faft to the earth, as I have frequently obferved them to do. I do not know an inftance in which the Angular barbarity of man is fo ftrongly de¬ lineated, as in the catching and murthering thofe harmlefs birds at that cruel feafon of the year. Mr. ****, one of the moft famous and extraordinary farmers that has ever done honour to the province of Connefticut, by his timely and humane afliftance in a hard winter, faved this fpecies from being entirely deftroyed. They perifhed all over the country ; none of their delightful wjiiftlings were heard the next Ipring, but upon this gentleman’s farm j and to his humanity AMERICAN FARMER. 3 ^. humanity v?e owe the continuation of their mu^ fic. When the feverities of that feafon have dif- pirited all my cattle, no farmer ever attends them with more pleafure than I do : it is one of thofe duties which is fweetened with the moft rational fatisfaftion. I amiife myfelf in behold¬ ing their different tempers, aftions,” and the va- irious effefts of their inftinft, now powerfully impelled by the force of hunger. I trace their (various inclinations, and the different effed's of their paffions, which are exadly the fame as, among men. The law is to us precifely what I am in my barn yard, a bridle and check to pre¬ vent the flrong and greedy from oppreffing the timid and- weak. Confcious of fuperiority, they always ftrive to encroach on tlieir neighbours., Unfatisfied with their portion, they eagerly fwallow it in order to have an opportunity of taking what is given to others, except they are prevented. Some I chide ; others, unmindful of my admonitions, receive fome blows. Could victuals thus be given to men, without the affif- tance of any language, I am lure they would not behave better to one anotlier, nor more philofophically, than my cattle do. The fame fpirit prevails in the ftable; but there I have to ! do with more generous animals; there my well- j known voice has immediate influence ; and foon i reftores peace and tranquillity. Thu.s, by fupe- I rior knowledge, I govern all my cattle' as wile 33 SITUATION &c. OF AN ’ men are obliged to govern fools and the ignd-* I rant. A variety of other thoughts croud on my I mind at that peculiar inftaiit, but they all vanilh ' by the time I return home. If, in a cold night, I fwiftly travel in my fledge, carried along at the rate of twelve miles an hour, many are the re- fieftions excited by furrounding circumftances. I aflc myfelf what fort of an agent is that which we caU froft ? Our minifter compares it to needles, J the points of which enter our pores. What isi/ become of the heat of the fummer ? In what parti i of the world is it that the N. W. keeps thefel | grand magazines of nitre ? When I fee, in the| I morning, a river over which I can travel, that, in/ i the evening before, was liquid, I am aftonifhed j indeed! What is become of thofe millions of in- ; fefts which played in our fummer fieUs and in ; our evening meadows ? They were fo puny and | fo delicate, the period of their exiftence was fo | Ihort, that one cannot help wondering how they i could learn, in that Ihort fpace, the fublime art : to hide themfelves and their offspring in fo perfedi: j a manner as to baffle the rigour of the feafon, and preferv^e that precious embryo of life, thatfmall portion of ethereal heat, which, if once defboyed, would deifa-oy the fpecies! Whence that irrefffli- ble propenfity to fleep, fo common in all thofe who are feverely attacked by the froft ! Dreary as this feafon appears, yet it has, like all others, its miracles. It prefents to man a variety of pro¬ blems American FARMEk. 33 lllems which he can never refolve. Among the left, we have here a fet of fmall birds which ne- I er appear until the fnow falls. Contrary to all thers, they dwell and appear to delight in that lement. it is my tees, however, which afford me ae mofl: pleafing and extenfive themes. Let me look at them when I will, their govern¬ ment, their induftry, their quarrels, their paf- jons, always prefent me with fomething new; for which reafon, when weary with labour, my common place of reft is under my locuft trees, !clofe by my bee-houfe. By their movements [I can predidt the weather, and can tell the day of their fwarming; but the moft difficult point is, when on the wing, to know whether they want to go_ to the woods or not. If they have |previoufly pitched in fome hollow trees, it is [not the allurements of fait and water, of fennel, [hickory leaves, &c. nor the fineft box, that can [induce them to ftay. They will prefer thofe rude, irough, habitations, to the beft polilhed mahoga- j'ny hive. When that is the cafe with mine, I fel- idom thwart their inclinations. It is in freedom ■that they work. Were I to confine them, they ^wotild dwindle av/ay and quit their labour. In ; fuch excurfions we only part for a while. I am ^generally fure to find them again the follow- fing fall. This elopement of theirs only adds D to SITUATION, &c. OF AN 34 - to my recreations. J I know how to deceive even their fuperlative inftinft. Nor do I fear loling them, though eighteen miles from my houfe, and lodged in the moft lofty trees in the tnoft impervious of our forefts. I once took you along with me in one of thefe rambles, and yet you infift on my repeating the detail of our operations. It brings back into my mind many of the ufeful and entertaining refledfiona with which you fo happily beguiled our tedious hours. After I have done fowing, by way of recre¬ ation, I prepare for a week’s jaunt in the woods, not to hunt either the deer or die bears, ^ my neighbours do, but to catch the more harmlefs bees. I cannot boaft that this chace is fo noble or fo famous among men, but I find it lefs fatiguing, and full as prof.table; and the lafl: confideration is the only one that moves me. I take with me my dog,, as a companion, for he is ufelefs as to this game. My gun, for no man you know ought to enter the woods without one, my blanket, fome provifions,. feme wax, vermi¬ lion, honey, and a fmall pocket-compafs. With thefe implements I proceed to fuch woods as are at a confiderable diftance from any fettlements. I carefully examine whether they abound with large trees j if fo, I make a fmall fire, on feme flat ftones, in a convenient place. On the fii-e I AMERICAN EARMER. 3S I put feme wax i clofe by this fire, on another ftone, I drop honey in diffindi: drops, which I furround with fmall quantities, of vermilion, laid on the ftone j and then I retire carefully to watch whether any bees appear. If there are any in that neighbourhood, I reft affured that the fmell of the burnt wax will unavoid¬ ably attradt them. They will foon find out the honey, for they are fond of preying on that which is not their own; and, in their approach,- they will necelTarily tinge themfelves with fome particles of vermilion, which will adhere long to their bodies. I next fix my compafs, to find out their courfe, which they keep inva¬ riably ftrait, when they are returning home loaded. By the affiftance of my watch, I ob- ferve how long thofe are returning which are marked with vea-milion. Thus, poflefled of the courfe, and, in fome meafure, of the dif- tance, which I can eafily guefs at, I follow the firft, and feldom fail of coming to the tred wliere thofe republics are lodged. I then mark it; and thus, with patience, I have found out fometimes eleven fwarms in a feafon ; and it is inconceivable what a quantity of honey ■ thefe trees will fometimes afford. It entirely depends on the fize of the hollow, as the bees never reft nor fwarm till it is all replenillied j for, like men, it is only the want of room that induces them to quit the maternal hive. Next I pro- D 2 ceed 36 SITUATION &c. OF AN ceed to fome of the neareft fettlements, where I procure proper afliftance to cut down the trees, get all my prey fecured, and then return home with my prize. The firft bees I ever procured were thus found in the woods by mere accident j for, at that time, I had no kind of Ikill in this method of tracing them. The body of the tree being perfeftly found, they had lodged them- felves in the hollow of one of its principal limbs, which I carefully fawed off, and, with a good deal of labour and induftry, brought it home, where I fixed it up in the fame pofition in which I found it growing. This was in April. I had five fwarms that year, and they have been ever fince yery profperous. This bufinefs gene¬ rally takes up a week of my time every fall, and to me it is a week of folkary eafe and re¬ laxation. The feed is by that time committed to the ground. There is nothing very material to do at home, and this additional quantity of honey enables me to be more generous to my home bees, and my wife to make a due quantity of mead. The reafon, Sir, tliat you found mine better than that of others, is, that fhe puts two gallons of brandy in each barrel, which ripens it, and takes off that fweet, lufeious, tafte, which it is apt to retain a long time. If we find any AMERICAN FARMER. 37 ■Where in the -woods, no matter on whofe land, ■what is called a bee-tree, we muft mark it. In the fall of the year, when we propofe to cut it down, our duty is to inform the proprietor of the land, who is entitled to half the contents. If this is not complied with, we are expofed to an aftion of trelpafs, as well as he who Ihould go and cut down a bee-tree which he had neither found out nor marked. We have twice a year the pleafure of catch¬ ing pigeons, whofe numbers are fometimes fo aftonilhing as to obicure the fun in their flight. Where is it that they hatch ? for fuch multi.- tudes mull require an immenfe quantity of food. I fancy they breed toward the plains of Ohio, and thofe about lake Michigan, which abound in wild oats j though I have never kil¬ led any that had that grain in their craws. In one of them, lafl: year, I found fome undigelled rice. Now the nearefl: rice fields, from where I live, mull be at leafl: 560 miles j and either'their digellion mull be fufpended while they are flying, or elfe they mull fly with the celerity of the wind. We catch them with a net ex¬ tended on the ground, to which they are allured by what we call tame "wild pgeons, made blind, and'faftened to a long firing. His fliort flights, and his repeated calls, never fail to bring them down. The greateft number I ever caught was fourteen dozen, though much larger quan- 38 SITUATION, &c. OF AN tides iiaye often been trapped. I have fre¬ quently feen them at the market fo cheap, that, for a penny, you might have as many as you could carry away; and yet, from the extreme cheapnefs, you muft not conclude that they are but any ordinary food ; on the contrary, I think they are excellent. Every farmer has a t’kme wild pigeon in a cage, at his door, all the year round, in order to be ready whenever the feafon comes for catching them. ' The pleafure I receive from the warblings of the birds in the fpring is fuperior to my poor defcription, as die continual fucceflion of their tuneful notes is for ever new to me. I generally rife from bed about that indiftinS; interval, which, prope.dy fpeaking, is neither night nor day; for this is the moment of the molt univerfal vocal choir. Who can liften, unmoved, to the fweet love-tales of our robins, told from tree to tree r or to the fhrill cat¬ birds ? The fublime accents of the thrufh, from on high, always retard my fteps, that I may liften to the delicious mufic. The varie¬ gated appearances of die dev/-drops, as they hang to the different objedls, muft prefent, even to a clownilh imagination, the moft volup¬ tuous ideas. The aftonifiiing art which all birds dilplay in die conlfrudlion of their nefts, ill-provided as we may fuppofe them with proper tools, their neatnefs,. their convenience^ always make AMERICAN FARMER. 39 make me afhamed of the flovenlinefs of our faoufes. Their love to their dame, their itidef- fant careful attention, and the peculiar fongs they addrels to her while Ibe tedioufly incu¬ bates their eggs, remind me of my duty, could I ever forget it. Their afFeftion, to their help- lefs little ones, is a lively precept j and, in Ihort, the whole ceconomy, of what we proudly call the brute creation, is admirable in every circumftance ; and vain man, though adorned with the additional gift of reafon, might learn, from the perfeftion of inftindi:, how to regulate the follies, and how to temper the eiTors, which this fecond gift often malces him commit. This is, a fubjefl on which I have often be- ftowed the moft ferious thoughts. I have often blulhed within my'felf, and been greatly afto- niflied, when I have compared the unerring path they all follow, all juft, all proper, all wife, up to the necelTary degree of perfedlion, with the coarfe, the impei-fedt, fyftems of men, not merely as governors and kings, but as maf- ters, as hulbands, as fathers, as citizens. But- this is a fanftuary in which an ignorant farmer muft not prefume to enter. If ever man was permitted to receive and enjoy fome bleffings that might alleviate the many forfows to which he is expofed, it is certainly in the country, when he attentively conliders thofe ravilhing fcen'es with which he is every where furrounded. D 4 This 40 SITUATION, &c. OF AN This is the only time of the year in which I am avaricious of every moment: I therefore lofe none that can add to this Ample and inoffenfive happinefs. I roam early throughout all my fields. Not the leaft operation do I perform which is not accompanied with the moft plea- ling obfervations. Were I to extend them as far -as I have carried them, I fhould become te¬ dious. You would think me guilty of affefta- tion, and perhaps I Ihould reprefent many things as pleafurable, from which you might not per¬ haps receive the leaft agreeable emotions. But, believe me, what I write is all true and real. Some time ago, as I fat fmoking a con¬ templative pipe in my piazza, I faw, with amazement, a remarkable inftance of felfifli- nefs difplayed in a very fmall bird, which I had hitherto refpected for its inoffenfivenefs. Three nefts were placed almoft contiguous to each other in my piazza. That of a fwallow was afiixed in the corner next to the houfe, that of a phebe in the other; a wren poffefled a little box, which I had made on purpofe, and hung between. Be not furprifed at their tamer nefs. All my family had long been taught to relpeift them as well as myfelf. The wren had fhewn before figns of diQike to the box which I had given it, but I knew not bn what ac¬ count. At laft it refolvedj fmall as i; was, to ^ driye AMERICAN FARMER. 41 drive the fwallow from its own habitation, and, ro my very great furprife, it fucceeded. Im¬ pudence often gets the better of modefty, and this exploit was no fooner performed than it removed every material to its own box with the moft admirable dexterity. The figns of triumph appeared very vifible j it fluttered its wings with uncommon velocity ; an univerfal joy was perceiveable in all its movements. Where did this little bird learn that fpirit of in- juftice ? It was not endowed with what we term reafon ! Here then is a proof that both thofe gifts border very near on one another, for we fee the perfection of the one mixing with the er¬ rors of the other! The peaceable fwallow, like the pallive Quaker, meekly fat at a fmall dif- tance, and never offered the leafl; refiftance. But, no fooner was the plunder carried away, than the injured bird went to work with unaba¬ ted ardour, and, in a few days, the depredations were repaired. To prevent, however, a repeti¬ tion of the fame violence, I removed the wren’s box to another part of the houfe. In the middle of my parlour I have, you may remember, a curious republic of induftrious hor¬ nets. Their neft hangs to the cieling by the fame twig on which it was fo admirably built and contrived in the woods. Its removal did not difpleafe them, for they find, in my houfe, plen- 42 SITUATION, &c. OF AN ty of food j and I have left a hole open, in one of the panes of the window, which anfwers all their purpofes. By this kind ufage they are be¬ come quite harmlefs. They live on the flies, which arc very troublefome to us throughout the fiimmef. They are conftantly buiy in catching them, even on the eyelids of my children. It is furprifing how quickly they fmear them with a fort of glue, kft they might efcape; and, when thus prepared, they carry them to their nefts as food for their young ones. Thefe globular nefts are- moft ingenioufly divided into many ftories, aU provided with cells and proper communica¬ tions. The materials, with which this fabric is built, they procure from the cottony furze, with which our oak-rails are covered. This fub- ftance, tempered with glue, produces a fort of pafteboard, which is very flrong, and refifts all the inclemencies of the weather. By their aflif- tance I am but litde troubled with flies. All my faiTiily are fo accuftomed to their ftrong buzzing, that no one takes any notice of them ; and, though they are fierce and vindidlive, yet kihdnefs and holpitality have made them ufeful and harmlefs. , We have a great variety of wafps. Moft of them build their nefts in mud, which they fix againft the fliingles of our roofs, as nigh the pitchy they can. .Thefe aggregates reprefent nothings AMERICAN FARMER. 43 nothing, at firft view, but coarfe and irregular lumps, but, if you break them, you will ob- ferve that the infide of them contains a great number of oblong cells, in which they depofit their eggs, and in which they buiy themfelves in the fall of the year. Thus immured, they fecurely pafs through the feverity of that feafon, and, on the return of the fun, are enabled to perforate their cells, and to open the'tnfelves a paffage from thefe recelTes into the funlhine. The yellow wafps, which build under ground, in our meadows, are much more to be dreaded; for, when the mower unwittingly pafles his fcythe over their holes, they immediately fally forth with a fury and velocity fuperior even to the ftrength of man. They make the boldeft fly, and the only remedy is to lie down and cover our heads with hay, for it is only at the head they aim their blows ; nor is there any poflibility of finilhing that part of the work, until, by means of fire and brimftone, they are all filenced. But, though I have been obliged to execute this dreadful fentence in my own de¬ fence, I have often thought it a great pity, for the fake of a little hay, to lay wafte fo ingenious a fubterranean town, furniflied with every con- veniency, and built with a moft furprifing me- chanifm, I never Ihould have done, were I to recount : the many objeds which involuntarily ftrike my i imagination 44 SITUATION, &c. OF AN imagination in the midfl: of my work, and fpontaneoufly aSbrded me the moft pleafing relief. Thefe may appear inlignificant trifles to a perfon who has travelled through Europe and America, and is acquainted with books and with many fciences. But fuch Ample objedh of contemplation fuffice me, who have no time to beftow on more extenfive obfervations. Happily thefe require no ftudy: they are ob¬ vious: they gild the moments I dedicate to them, and enliven the fevere labours which I perform. At home my happinefs fprings from very different pbjefts. The gradual unfolding of my children’s reafon, the ftudy of their dawning tempers, attraift all my paternal atten¬ tion, I have to contrive little punifliments for their little faults, fmall encouragements for their good aftions, and a variety of other ex¬ pedients diftated by various occafions. But thefe are themes unworthy your perufal, and which ought not to be carried beyond the walls of my houfe, being domeftic myfteries, adapted only to the locality of the fmall fanc- tuary wherein my family refides. Sometimes I delight in ^venting and executing machines, which limplify my wife’s labour. I have been tolerably fuccfefsful that way. And thefe. Sir, are the narrow circles within which I con- ftandy revolve; and what can I wilh for beyond \ them ? I bleft God for all the good he has given AMERICAN FARMER, 45 given me. I envy no man’s profperity, and wifla no other portion of happinefs than that I may live to teach the fame philofophy to my children, and give each of them a farm, lliew them how to cultivate it, and be, like their fa¬ ther, good fubftantial independent American far¬ mers. — An appellation which will be the molt fortunate one a man of my clafs can poffefs, fo long as our civil government continues to ilied bleflings on our hulbandry. Adieu. LETTER III. WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. I WISH I could be acquainted with the feel¬ ings and thoughts which mull agitate the heart and prefent themfelves to the mind of an enlightened Englilhman, when he firlt lands on this continent. He mull greatly rejoice that he lived at a time to fee this fair country difcovered and fettled. He mull necelTarily feel a lhare of national pride when he views the chain of fetdements which embellilh thefc extended Ihores. When he fays to himfelf, this is the work of my countrymen, who, when convulfed by faftions, afflifted by a variety of miferies and wants, reftlefs and impatient, took refuge 46 WHAT IS AN AMERICAN, refuge here. They brought along with them their national genius, to which they principally owe what liberty they enjoy and what fubftance they poflefs. Here he fees the induftry of his native country dilplayed in a new manner, and traces, in their works, the embryos of' all the arts, fciences, and ingenuity, which flourifll in Europe. Here he beholds fair cities, fub- ftantial villages, extenfive fields, an immenfe country filled with decent houfes, good roads, orchards, meadows, and bridges, where, a hundred years ago, all was wild, woody, and uncultivated ! What a train of pleafing- ideas this fair fpeftacle muft fuggefl:! It is a profpedl; which muft infpire a good citizen with the moft heartfelt pleafure ! The difficulty confifts in the manner of viewing fo extenfive a fcene. He is arrived on a new continent: a modern fociety offers itfelf to his contemplation, dif¬ ferent from what he had hitherto feen. It is not compofed, ■ as in Europe, of great lords who poffefs every thing, and of a herd of peo¬ ple who have nothing. Here are no ariftocra- tigal families, no courts, no kings, no biffiops, no ecclefiaftical dominion, no invifible power giving to a few a very vifible one, no great manufaftures employing thoufands, no great refinements of luxury. The rich and the poor are not fo far removed from each other as they are in Europe. Some few towns excepted. WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. 47 we are all tillers of the earth, from Nova Sco¬ tia to Weft Florida. We are a people of; cultivators, fcattered over an immenfe territory, i communicating with each other by means ofi good roads and navigable rivers, united by the j filken bands of mild government, all refpeft- ; ing the laws, without dreading their power,; becaufe they are equitable. We are all ani-; mated with the fpirit of an induftry which is, unfettered and unreftrained, becaufe each perfon works for himfelf. If he travels through our; rural diftrifts, he views not the hoftile caftlc and the haughty manfion contrafted with the clay-built hut and miftrable cabin, where cat¬ tle and men help to keep each other warm, and dwell in meannefs, liuoke, and indigence. A pleafing uniformity of decent competence ap¬ pears throughout our habitations. The mean- eft of our log-houfes is a dry and comfortable ha¬ bitation. Lawyer or merchant' are the faireft titles our towns afford: that of a farmer is the only appellation of the rural inhabitants of our country. It muft take fome time ere he can re¬ concile himfelf to our didtionary, which is but Ihort in words of dignity and names of honour. There, on a Sunday, he fees a congregation of refpedlable farmers and their vrives, all clad in neat homefpun, well mounted, or riding in tlieir own humble waggons. There is not among them' an efq'uire, faving the unlettered magif- trate. 48 WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. trate. There he fees a parfon as fimple as hia flock, a farmer who does not riot on the la¬ bour of others. We have no princes, for whom we toil, flarve, and bleed. We are the mofl: perfeft fodetjr now exifting in the world. Here man is free as he ought to be j nor is this plea- fing equality fo tranfitory as many others are. Many ages will not fee the fliores of our great lakes replenilhed with inland nations, nor the unknown bounds of North America entirely peopled. Who can tell how far it extends ? Who can teU the millions of men whom it will feed and contain ? for no European foot has, as yet, travelled half the extent of this mighty continent. The next wifii of this traveller will. be, to know whence came all thefe people ? They are a mixture of Englilh, Scotch, Irilh, French, Dutch, Germans, and Swedes. From this pro- mifcuous breed, that race, now called Americans, have arifen. The Eaftern provinces muft indeed be excepted, as being the unmixed defcendents of Englilhmen. I have heard many wilh that they had been more intermixed alfo : for my part, I am no wilher, and think it much better as it has happened. They exhibit a mott con- fpicUous figure in this great and variegated pifhire. They too enter for a great lhare in the pleafing perfpeftive difplayed in thefe thirteen •WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. 49 thirteen provinces. I know it is fafliionable to refleft on them, but I refpeft them for what they have done ■, for the accuracy and wifdom with which they have fettled their territory ; for the decency of their manners; for their early love of letters; their antient college, the firft in this hemifphere j for their induftry j which to me, who am but a farmer, is the cri¬ terion of every thing. There never was a peo¬ ple, fituated as they are, who, with fo ungrate¬ ful a foil, have done more in fo Ihort a time. Do you think that the monarchical ingredients, which are more prevalent in other governments, have purged them from all foul ftains ? Their hiftories aflert the contrary. ! In this great American afylum, the poor of I Europe have by fome means met together, and in confequence of various caufes. To what I purpofe fhould they afk one another what coun- I trymen they are ? Alas, two thirds of them I had no country. Gan a wretch, who wanders I about, who works and ftarves, whofe life is a I continual fcene of fore affliftion or pinching Ipenury; can that man call England or any iother kingdom his country ? A country that |had no bread for him; whofe fields procured |him no harveft; who met with nothing but the ^frowns of the rich, the feverity of the laws, 5|With jails, and punilhments ; who owned not .a ^^fingle foot of the extenfive furface of this E planeti JO WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. planet. No ! Urgdd by a variety of motived here they came. Every thing has tehded to regenerate them. New laWs, a hew fhdde of living, a new focial fyftem. Here they are be¬ come then. In Europe tltey were as fo ihahy tifelefs plants, wanting vegetative mould and tefrelhing IhoWers. They withered; and were mowed down by want, HOfiger, and War; but how, by the power of tranfplantatioh, like all other plants, they havfe taken root and flourifhed! Formerly they were not numbered ih any civil lifts of their country, except in thole of the poor: here they rank as citizens. By what in- vilible power hath this furprifing metamorpho- fis been perfonned ? By that of the law's and that of their induftry. The laws, the indulgent laws, proted them as they arrive, ftarhping on them the lymbol of adoption: they receive am¬ ple rewards for their labours ;• thefe accumulated rewards procure them lands : thofe lands con¬ fer on them the tide of freemen, and to that title every .benefit is affixed which rheh can poffibly. require. This is the great operation daily performed by our laws. Whence pro¬ ceed thefe laws ? From our government. Whence that government ? It is .derived from the original genius and ftr'ong defire -of the people ratified and confirmed by the crown. > This is the great chain Svhich links us all; this is the pidure tvhich every province exhibits, Nov?, WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. SI Nova Scotia excepted. There the cro-wn has done all. Either there were no people who had genius, or it was not much attended to. The confequence is, that the province is very thinly inhabited indeed. The power of the Crown, in conjunftion with the muiketoes, has prevented men from fettling there. Yet fome parts of it flourillied once, and it contained a mild harmlefs fet of people. But, for the fault of a few lead¬ ers, the whole was banilhed. The greateft po¬ litical error, the crown ever committed in Ame¬ rica, was, to cut off men from a country v.'hich wanted nothing but men. What attachment can a poor European emi¬ grant have for a country where he had no¬ thing ? The knowledge of the language, the love of a few kindred as poof as himfelf, were the only cords that tied him. His country is i now that which gives him his land, bread, pro- j teftion, and confequence. Ubi pants ibi patria ' is the motto of all emigrants. What then is j the American, this new man ? He is neither an European, nor the defeendent of an European: hence that ftr'ange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other cotintry. I could point out to you a family, whofe grandfather v’ifas an Englilhman, whole wife was Dutch, whofe fon married a French Woman, and whofe prefent four fons have now four wives of dif¬ ferent nations. He- is an American, who, lea- E a ving j2 WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. ' Ting behind him all his antient prqudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds. He be¬ comes an American by being received in the broad lap of our great alma mater. Here indi¬ viduals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whofe labours and pofterity will one day caufe great changes in the world. Ame¬ ricans are the weftern pilgrims, who are carrying along with them that great mafs of arts, fciences, vigour, and induftry, which began long fince in the eaft. They will finilh the great circle. 5 The Americans were once fcattered aU over Europe. Here they are incorporated into one of the fineft fyftems of population which has ever appeared, and which vrill hereafter become diftindb by the power of the different climates they inhabit. The American ought therefore to love this coun¬ try much better than that wherein either he or his forefathers were born. Here the rewards of his induftry follow, with equal fteps, the pro- grefs of his labour. His labour is founded on ^ the bafts of aarntt, felf-intereft: can it want a ftxonger allurement ? Wives and children, who before in vain demanded of him a morfel of bread, now, fat and frolickfome, gladly help their father to clear thofe fields whence exube- - rant crops are to arife, to feed and to clothe them WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. 53 tliem all, without any part being claimed, ei¬ ther by a defpotic prince, a rich abbot, or a mighty lord. Here religion demands but little of him; a fmall voluntary falary to the minifter, and gratitude to God: can he refufe thefe ? ''^^The j American is a new man, who a£ts upon new pr«i-i' ciples ; he muft therefore entertain new ideas and'; form new opinions. From involuntary idlenefsi'‘ fervile dependence, penury, and ufelefs labour, he has paffed to toils of a very different nature, rewarded by ample fubfiftence. — This is an A- merican. Britilh America is divided into many pro¬ vinces, forming a large aflbciation, fcattered along a coaftof 1500 miles extent and about 200 wide. This fociety I would fain examine, at leaft fuch as it appears in the middle provinces; if it does not afford that variety of tinges and gradations which may be obferved in Europe, we have colours peculiar to ourfelves. For inftance, it is natural to conceive that thofe who live near the fea muft be very different from thofe who live in the woods: the interme¬ diate fpace will afford a feparate and diftindt clafs. Men are like plants. The goodnefs and fla¬ vour of the fruit proceeds from the peculiar foil and expofition in which they grow. Wc': are nothing but what we derive from the air ; we breathe, the climate we inhabit, the go-: E 3 vernmenc 54 WHAT IS AN AMERICAN, vemment we obey, the fyftem of religion we profefs, and the nature of our employment. Here you will find but few crimes; thefe have ‘ acquired as yet no root among us. I v/ilh I were able to trace all my ideas. If my ignorance pre¬ vents me from defcribing them properly, I hope I lhall be able to delineate a few of the outlines, which is all I propofe. Thofe, who live near the fea, feed more on nlh than on flefh, and often encounter that boifterous element. This renders them more bold and enterprifing: this leads them to ne- gleft the confined occupations of the land. They fee and converfe with a variety of people. Their intercourfe with mankind becomes exten- live. The fea inlpires them with a love of traf¬ fic, a defire of tranlporting produce from one place to another; and leads them to a variety of refources, which fupply the place of labour. Thofe who inhabit the middle fettlements, by far ^ the mofi: numerous, muft be very different. The fimple cultivation of the earth purifies them; bur the indulgences of the government, the foft lemonftrances of religion, the rank of indepen¬ dent freeholders, muft neceflarily inlpire them with fentiments very little known in Europe a- mong a people of the fame clafs. What do I fay ? Europe has no fuch clafs of men. The early knowledge they acquire, the early bargains they WHAT ?S AN AMERICAN. 55 tliey m^e, give them a great degree of fagacity. As freemen they will be litigious. Pride and obftinacy are often the caufe of law-fuits; the nature of our laws and governments may be a- npther. As citizens, it is eafy to imagine that they will carefully read the newfpapers, enter into every political difquifition, freely blame, or cenfure, governors and others. As farmers, they will be careful and anxious to get as much as they can, becaufe what they get is their own. As northern men, they will love the cheerful'cup. As Chriltians, religion curbs' them not in their opinions; the general indulgence leaves every one to think for themfelves in fpiritual matters. The law inlpefts our aftions; our thoughts are left to God. Induftry, good living, felfilhnefs, ' litigioufnefs, country politics, the pride of free¬ men, religious indifference, are their charafte- riftics. If you recede ftill farther from the fea, you will come into more modern fettlements: they exhibit the fame ftrong lineaments in a ruder appearance. Religion feems to have ftill lefs influence, and their manners are lels impro¬ ved. Now we arrive near the great woods, near ■ the lafl: inhabited diftrifts. There men feem to be placed ftill farther beyond the reach of government, which, in fome meafure,. leaves them to themfelves. How can it pervade every corner, as they were driven there by E 4 mis- 56 WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. misfortunes, neceflity of beginnings, defire of acquiring large tracks of land, idlenefs, frequent ■want of oeconomy, antient debts. The re-union of fuch people does not afford a very pleafing fpeftacle. When difcord, want of unity and friendftiip, when either drunkennefs or idlenefs, prevail in fuch remote diftridls, contention, in- a:(?civity, and -wretchednefs, muft enfue. There are not the fame remedies to thefe evils as in a ^ long-eftablilhed community. The few magif- trates they have are, in general, little better than the reft. They are often in a perfeft ftate of war j that of man againft man; fometimes deci¬ ded by blows, fometimes by means of the law: that of man againft every wild inhabitant of thefe venerable woods, of which they are come to difpoffefs them. There men appear to be no better than carnivorous animals, of a fuperior rank, living on the flefh of wild animals when they can catch them, and, when they are not a- ble, they fubfift on grain. He, who would wifh ■ to fee America in its proper liglrt, and to have a ■ true idea of its feeble beginnings and barbarous i rudiments, muft vifit our extended line of fron- tiers, -where the laft fettler? dwell, and where he may fee the firft labours of fettlement, the mode of clearing the^earth, in all their different ap¬ pearance^. Where men are wholly left depen¬ dent on their native tempers and on the fpur of uncertain ; WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. 57 uncertain induftry, which often fails when not - fanftified by the efficacy of a few moral rules. There, remote from the power of example and check of Ihame, many families exliibit the moft hideous parts of our fociety. They are a kind of forlorn hope, preceding, by ten or twelve years, the moft refpedlable army of veterans which come after them. In that fpace, profpe- rity will polifli fome, vice and the law will drive off the reft, who, uniting again with others like themfelves, will recede ftill farther, making room for more induftrious people, who will finifli their improvements, convert the log-houfe into a convenient habitation, and, rejoicing that the firft heavy labours arc finiflied, will change, in a few years, that hitherto-barbarous country into a fine, fertile, well-regulated, diftrift. Such is our progrefs, fuch is the march of the Euro¬ peans toward the interior parts of this conti¬ nent. In all focieties there are off-cafts. This impure part ferves as our precurfors or pioneers. My father himfelf was one of that clafs; but he came upon honeft principles, and was there¬ fore one of the few who held faft. By good condudt and temperance he tranfmitted to me his fair inheritance, when not above one in four¬ teen of his cotemporaries had the fame good fortune. Forty years ago this fmiling country was thus inhabited. It is now purged. A general decency 58 WI^T IS AN AMERJCAN. d^ency of manners prevails throughout, and fudi been the fate of our befl: countries. Exclufive of thofe general charafleriftics, each province has its own, founded on the govern¬ ment, climate, mode of hufbandry, cuftoms, and pecuharity of circumftances. Europeans fub.- rok infenfibly to thefe great powers, and be¬ come, in the courfe pf a-few generations, not only Anericans in general, but either Penn^ fyivanians, Virginians, or provincials, under ; fonae other nanae. Whoever traverfes the conr tinent muft eafily obferye thofe ftrpng differen¬ ces which will grow more evident in time. Tlie inhabitants of Canada, Malfachufet, the mid¬ dle provinces, the fouthern ones, will be as dif¬ ferent as their climates. Their only points of u- nity will be thofe of religion and language. As I have endeavoured to Ihew you how Europeans became Americans, it may not be difagreeable to fliew you bkewife how the various Chriftian fefts introduced wear out, ^nd how religious indifference becomes preva¬ lent. When any eonfiderable number of a particular fedt happen to dwell contiguous to each other, they immediately ereft a temple, and there worfliip the Divinity agreeably to their own peculiar ideas. Nobody difttirbs them. If any new fedt fprings up in Europe, it may happen that many of its profeffors will come WHAT IS AN AMERICAN, 59 «pome and fettle in America. As they bring their zeal with them, they are at liberty to.m^? profelytes if they can, and to build a meet¬ ing, and to follow the dilates of their coiit fciences j for neither the government nor any o- ther power interferes, If they are peaceable fubjedts, and are induftrious, what is it to their neighbours hoW and in what manner they think fit to addrefs their prayers to the Supreme Being? But, if the fedlaries are not fettled clofe togC:- ther, if they are mixed with other denomina¬ tions, their zeal will cool for want of fuel, and will be extinguiflied in a Iktle time. Then the Americans become, as to religion what they are as to country, allied to all. In them the name of Englifliman, Frenchman, and European, is loft, and, in like manner, the ftridt modes of Chriftianity, as praftifed in Europe, are loft alfo. This effeft will extend itfelf ftill farther here¬ after, and, though this may appear to you as a ftrange idea, yet it is a very true one. I lhall be able perhaps hereafter to explain myfelf bet¬ ter j in the mean while, let tire following exam¬ ple ferve as my firft juftification. Let us fuppofe you and I to be travelling. We obferve that in this houfe, to the right, lives a Catholic, who prays to God as he has been taught, and believes in tranfubfta.ntiatioi). He works and raifes wheat, he has a large family of 66 . WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. of children, all hale and robuft. His belief, his prayers, offend nobody. About one mile far¬ ther, on the fame road, his next neighbour may be a good honeft plodding German Lutheran, ■who addreffes himfelf to the fame God, the God of all, agreeably to the modes he has been edu¬ cated in, and believes in confubftantiation j by fo doing he fcandalizes nobody. He alfo works in his fields, embellifiies the earth, clears fwamps, &c. What has the world to do with his Lu¬ theran principles ? He perfccutes nobody, and nobody perfecutes him j he vilits his neighbours, and his neighbours vifit him. Next to him lives a Seceder, the moll enthufiaftic of all feflaries} his zeal is hot and fiery ; but, feparated as he is from, others of the fame complexion, he has no congregation of his own to refort to, where he might cabal and mingle religious pride with worldly obftinacy. He likewife raifes good crops, his houfe is handfomely painted, his or¬ chard is one of the faireft in the neighbourhood. How does it concern the welfare of the country, or of the province at large, what this man’s re¬ ligious fentiments are, or really whether he has any at all ? He is a good farmer, he is a fo- ber, peaceable, good, citizen. William Penn himfelf would not wifh for more. This is the vifible charafter; the invifible one is only gyefled at, and is nobody’s bufinefs. Next again WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. 6i again lives, a Low Dutchman,- who implicitly believes the rules laid down by the fynod of Dort. He conceives no other idea of a clergy- ' man than that of a hired man. If he does his work well he will pay him the ftipulated fum ; if not, he will difmifs him, and' do without his ftrmons, and let his church be ftiut up for years. But, norwithftanding this coarfe idea, you will find his houfe and farm to be the neateft in all the country; and you will judge, by his waggon and fat horfes, that he thinks more of the affairs of this world than of thofe of the next. He is fober and laborious, therefore he is all he ought to be as to the affairs of this life; as for thofe of the next, he muft truft to the great Creator. Each of thefe people inftruft tht WfiA^ fS AN AMERICAlSf. many tKe. fon of the Secedef, and fettle by themfelves at a diftance from theii* parents. What religious education will they give theif diildreh ? A very imperfeS: one. If therfe hap,- pens to be in the neighbourhood any place of worlhip, we will fuppofe a Quaker’s meeting, ra- dierthan not Ihew their fine clothes, they will go to it, and fome of them may perhaps attach themfelves to that fbciety. Others will remain in a perfedfc ftate of indifference. The children of thefe zealous parents will not be able to tell what their religious principles ate, and their grandchildren liill lefs. The neighbourhood of a place of worfliip generally leads them t6 it, and the acHon of going thither is the ftrOhigeft evidence they can give of their attachment to any feS:. The Quakers are the only people who retain a fondnefs for their' own fnOde Of worlhip; for, be they ever fo far feparated from each other, they hold a fort of comniuriiort with the fociety, aiid feldom depart from its rules, at leaft in this country. Thus all fe£ts are mixed as well as all nations. Thus religious indifference is imperceptibly dilfemi'nated from one end of the continent tO the other, which is at prefent one of the ftrohgeft charafteriftics of the Americans. "Where this will reach no one can tell: perhaps it may leave a vacuum fit to receive other fyftems. Perlecution, reli¬ gious pride, the love of contradiftion, are the food WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. fobd of wHat the world cdrrihfonly ealls feli^ giSri. Thele motives have eeafed here ; zeal, in Ebrope; is cohfined: ha'e, evaporates in the great diilahce if has to travel; thefej if ish’gfaifi of powder incldfed; here, if btlrftS away ih fhe open air, and cbnfumes without'’efFeet-. Bdt to fetufh to our back fettlefs.' I mua^tell youi that there is fomething in the-.-prOsimity of the woods which is very fihgul'af -Tt is Tyifh iaes as- if Is with'' the plants and' animals that groyv • and live in the forefts. They are entirely diffe¬ rent from thofe that live in the plains. I will can-, didly fell yOu all my thoughts, hut you are h&fto expeft that I fhall advance arty reafons. By living j in of near the woods, their actions are regulated j by the wildnefs of the neighbourhood. The deer Ofteft come to eat their grain,- the vJolves to deftrdy their Ih'eep, the b'eafs to kill their hogs, the foxes to catch their poultry. This -fufroundihg hoftility immediately-puts the gun into their ■ hands: ■ they watch, thefe animals; they kill fom'e;,and thus, by defendihg their property, they fo'on become profelTed hunters. This is the pfOgfefs.- Once hunters, fafewei to the plough. The chafe renders them ferO- -cious, gloomy, andunfocial. A hunter wants no neighbour; he rather hates them, becaufehe dreads the ^fnpetition. In a little time their fuccefs in- the-woods malces them negleft titeir tillage. They trull: to the natural fecundity of 64 WHAT IS AN AMERICAI^. of the earth, and therefore do little. Carelefli nels in fencing often expoles what little they fbw to deflxuftion: they are not at home to watch : in order therefore to make up the defi¬ ciency, they go oftener to the woods. That new mode of life brings along with it a new fet of manners, which I cannot eafily defcribe. Thefe HOT manners, being grafted on the old flock, produce a . flrange fort of lawlefs profliga¬ cy, the .impreffions of which are indelible. The manners of the Indian natives are refpeft- able compared with this European medley. Their wives and children live in floth and in- afdvity, and, having no proper purfuits, you may judge what education the latter receive. Their tender minds have nothing elfe to con¬ template but the example of their parents; like them they grow up a mongrel breed, hdf civilized, half favage, except nature flamps on them fome conftitutional propenfities. That rich, .that voluptuous, fentiment is gone, which ftruck them fo forcibly. The pofleiTion of their freeholds no longer conveys to their minds the fame pleafure and pride. To all thefe reafpns you mult add their lonely fituation, and you cannot imagine ' what an alFeft on manners the great diflances they live from each other hast Conlider one of the lafl fettlements in its firft view; of what is it comppfed ? Europeans, who have not that fulficient lhare of knowledge they WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. 65 they ought to have, in order to profper: people, ■who have fuddenly pafled from oppreffion, dread of government, and fear of laws, into the unli¬ mited freedom of the woods. This fudden change muft have a very great effedt on moft men, and on that clafs particularly. Eating of wild meat, whatever you may think, tends to alter their temper, though all the proof I can adduce is, that I have feen it; -and, having no place of worlhip to refort to, what little fociety this might afford is denied them. The Sunday meetings, exclufive of religious benefits, were the only fo- cial bonds that might have infpired them with fome degree of emulation in neatnefs. Is it then furprifing to fee men, thus fituated, immerfed in great and heavy labours, degenerate a little. ? It is rather a wonder'the effect is not more diffu- five. The Moravians and the Quakers are the only inftances in exception to what I have ad¬ vanced. The firft never fettle fingly; it is a co¬ lony of the fociety which emigrates; they carry with them their forms, worlhip, rules, and de¬ cency. The others never begin fo hard; they are always able to buy improvements in which there is a great advantage, for, by that time, the country is recovered from its firft barbarity. Thus our bad people are thofe who are half cul- / tivators and half hunters ; and the worft of them are thofe who have degenerated altogether into F the 66 WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. the hunting ftate. As old ploughmen and new men of the woods, as Europeans and new-made Indians, they contraft the vices of both.. They adopt the morofenels and ferocity of a native, without his. mildnefs, or even his induftry at home. If rnanners are not refined, at leaft they are rendered fimple and inoftenfive by tilling the earth : all our wants are fupplied by it: our time is divided between labour and reft, and leaves none for the commifiion of great mifdeeds. As hunters, it is divided between the toil of the chafe, the idlenefs of repofe, or the indulgence of ine¬ briation. Hunting is but a licentious idle life, and, if it does not alway pervert good difpofi- tions, yet, when it is united with bad luck, it leads to want: want ftimulates that pro- penfity to rapacity and injuftice, too natural to needy men, which is the fatal gradation. Af¬ ter this explanation of the .effedts which follow by living in the woods, lhall vre yet vainly flat¬ ter ourfelves with the hope of converting the Indians? We Ihould rather begin with con¬ verting our. back-fettlers; and now, if I dare mention; the. name of religion, its fweet ac¬ cents v.'ould be loft in the immenfity of thefe woods. Men, thus placed, are not fit ei¬ ther to receive or remember its mild inftruc- tions; they want temples and minifters; but, as foon as men ceafe to remain at home and begin to lead an erratic life, let them be either WMAt is AN AMERICAN.- 67 either tawny or white, they ceafe to be its difciples. Thus have I faintly and imperfeftly endea¬ voured to trace our fociety from the fea to our woods; yet you muft not imagine that every perfon, who moves back, a£l:s upon the fame principles, or falls into the fame degeneracy. Many families carry with them all their decen¬ cy of conduft, purity of morals, and refpedt of religion; but thefe are fcarce, the power of example is fometimes irrefiftible. Even among thefe back-fettlers, their depravity is greater or lefs, according to what nation or province they belong.. Were I to adduce proofs of .this, I might be accufed of partiality. If there happens to be fome rich intervals, fome fertile bottoms, in thofe remote diftrifts, the people will there prefer tilling the land to hunting, and will at¬ tach themfelves to it; but, even on thefe fertile Ipots, you may plainly perceive the inhabitants to acquire a great degree of rufticity and fel- filhnefs. It is in confequence of this ftraggling fitua- tion, and the aftonilhing power it has on man¬ ners, that the back-fettlers of both the Caro- linas, Virginia, and many other parts, have been long a fet of lawlefs peoplej it has been even dangerous to travel among them. Go¬ vernment can do nothing in fo extenfive a country j better it Ihould wink at thefe irregu- 58 WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. larities than that it fliould ufe means incon- fiftent witli its ufual mildnefs. Time will ef¬ face thofe ftains: in proportion as the great body of population approaches them, they will refoma, and become polillied and fubordinate. Whatever has been fald of the four New- England provinces, no fuch degeneracy of manners has ever tarnifhed their annals; their back-fettlers have been kept within the bounds of. decency and government, by means of wife laws, and by the influence of religion. What a deteftable idea fuch people muft have given to the natives of the Europeans ! They trade with them ; the word: of people are permitted to do that w'hich none but perfons of the belt cha- rafters fliould be employed in. They get drunk with them, and often defraud the Indians. Their avarice, removed from the eyes of their fupe- riors, knows no bounds; and, aided by a little fuperiority of knowledge, thefe traders deceive them, and even fometimes flied blood. Hence thofe fliocking violations, thofe hidden devaf- tations which have fo often ftained our fron¬ tiers, when hundreds of innocent people have been facrificed for the crimes of a few. It was in confequence of fuch behaviour that the Indians took the hatchet againft the Virginians in 1774. Thus are ourfirftfteps trodden, thus arc our firft trees felled, in general, by the moft vicious of our people j and thus the path is opened WHAT IS AN AMERICAN 69 opened for the arrival of a fecond and better ciafs, the true American freeholders; the moft refpeftable fet of people in this part of the world: refpeftable for their indultry, their happy independence, the great fliare of freedom they poffefs, the good regula¬ tion of their families, and for extending the trade and the dominion of our mother-coun- try. Europe contains hardly any other deftindtions bat lords and tenants; this fair country alone is fettled by freeholders, the poffeffors of tlie foil they cultivate, members of the government they obey, and the framers of their own laws, by means of their reprefentatives. This is a thought which you have taught me to cherilli; our diftance from Europe, far from diminilhing, rather adds to, our ufefulnefs and confequence as men and fubjedls. Had our forefathers remained there, they would only have crouded it, and perhaps prolonged thofe convulllons which had fhaken it fo long. Every induftrious European, who tranfports himfelf here, may be comparetl to a fprouc growing at the foot of a great tree; it enjoys and draws but a little portion of rap; wrench it from the parent roots, tranfplant it, and it will become a tree bearing fruit alfo. Colonifts are there¬ fore intitled to the confideration due to tire moft ufefui fubjedts; a hundred families, barely F 3 ex- 70 WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. exifting in fome parts of Scotland, will here, in fix years, caufe an annual exportation of 10,000 bulhels of wheat: 100 bulhels being but a com¬ mon quantity for an induftrious family to fell, if they cultivate good land. It is here then that the idle may be employed, the ufelefs become ulefiil, and the poor become richj but by riches I do not mean gold and filver, we have but little of thofe metals: I mean a better fort of wealths cleared lands, cattle, good houfes, good clothes, and an increafe of people to enjoy them. There is no wonder that this country has fo many charms, and prefents to Europeans fo many temptations to remain in it. A traveller in Europe becomes a ftranger as foon as he quits his own kingdom; but it is otherwife here. We know, properly fpeaking, no Arrangers; this is- every perfon’s country; the variety of our foils, fituations, climates, governments, and pro- duce, hath fomething which mufi: pleafe every body. No fooner does an European arrive, no matter of -what condition, than his eyes are opened upon the fair profpeft; he hears hi.s language Ipoken, he retraces many of his own country manners, he perpetually hears the names of families and tov/ns with which he is acquainted; he fees happinefs and profperity . / in all places difieminated; he meets with hof- pitality, kindneis, and plenty, every where: he •^^HAT IS AN AMERICAN 71 he beholds hardly any poor, he. feldom hears of punilhments and executions; and he wonders at the elegance of our towns, thofe miracles of induftry and freedom. He cannot admire enough our rural diftrifts, our convenient roads, good taverns, and our many accommoda-' tions; he involuntarily loves a country where every thing is fo lovely. When in England, he was a mere Engriftimanj here he ftands on a larger portion of the globe, not lefs than its fourth part, and may fee the produc¬ tions of the north, in iron and naval ftoresj the provifions of Ireland, the grain of Egypt, the indigo, the rice, of China. Redoes not find, as in Europe, a crouded fociety, where every place is over-ftocked; he does not feel that perpetual collifion of parties, that difficulty of beginning, that contention which overfets fo many. There is room for every body in' America ■, has he any particular talent or in- < dtifiry ? he exerts it in order to procure a live¬ lihood, and it fucceeds. Is he a merchant ? the avenues of trade are infinite. Is he eminent in any refpedl ? he will be employed and refpedted. Does he love a country life ? pleafant farms pre- fent themfelves; he may purchafe what he wants, and thereby become an American far¬ mer. Is he a labourer, fober and induftrious ? he need not go many miles, nor receive many informations before he will be hired, well fed 72 WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. at the table of his employer, and paid four or five times more than he can get in Europe. Does he want uncultivated lands ? thoufands of acres prefent themfelves, which he may purchafe cheap. Whatever be his talents or inclina¬ tions, if they are moderate, ne may fatisfy them. I do not mean that every one who comes will grow rich in a little time; no, but he may procure an eafy decent mainte¬ nance by his induftry. Inftead of ftarving he will be fed, inftead of being idle he will have employment; and thefe are riches enough for fuch men as come over here. The rich i/ftay in Europe; it is only the middling and poor Aat emigrate, Would you wilh to travel in independent idlenefs, from north to fouth, you will find ealy accefs, and the moft cheer¬ ful reception, at every houfe; fociety without oftentation, good cheer without pride, and every decent diverfion which the country af¬ fords, with little expence. It is no wonder that the European, who has lived here a few years, is defirous to remain; Europe, with all its pomp, is not to be compared to this continent, for men of middle ftations or labourers. An European, when he nrft ai-rives, feems li¬ mited in his intentions as well as in his views } ybut he vejy fuddenly alters his fcale; two hun- \/ dred miles formerly appeared a very great dift Wace, it is now but a trifie; he no foooner breathes WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. 7J breathes our air than he forms fchemes, and embarks in defigns, he never would have thought of in his own country. There the plenitude of fociety confines many ufeful ideas, and often extinguilhes the moft laudable fchemes which here ripen into maturity. Thus Europeans be¬ come Americans. But how is tliis accomplifhed in that croud of low indigent people, who flock here every year from all parts of Europe ? I will tell you ; they no fooner arrive than they immediately feel the good effefts of that plenty of provifions we poffefs: they fare on our beft food, and are kindly entertained j their talents, charac¬ ter, and peculiar induflry, are immediately in- quired intoj they find countrymen every where dilTeminated, let them come from wltatever part of Europe. Let me feleft one as an epi¬ tome of the reft; he is hired, he goes to work, and works moderately; inftead of being em¬ ployed by a haughty perfon, he finds himfelf with his equal, placed at the fubftantial table of the farmer, or elfe at an inferior one as good; his wages are high, his bed is not like that bed of forrow on which he ufed to lie: if he be¬ haves with propriety, and is faithful, he is careffed, and becomes as it were a member of the family. He begins to feel the effedts of a fort of refurredtion; hitherto he had not lived, k' o. but fimply vegetated; he now feels himfelf a manj, 74 WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. man, becaule he is treated as fuch; the laws of his own country had overlooked him in his infig- nificancy; the laws of this cover him with their mantle. Judge what an alteration there mull arife in the mind and the thoughts of this man; he begins to forget his former fervitude and dependence> his heart involuntarily fwells and glows; this firft fwell infpires him with thofe new thot^hts which conftitute an American. What love can he entertain for a country where his exiftence was a burthen to him ? if he is a generous good man^ the love of this new adoptive parent will link deep into his heart. He looks around, and fees many a prolperous perfon, who, but a few years before, was as poor as himfelf. This encourages him much; he begins to form fome little fcheme, the firft, alas! he ever formed in his life. If he is wife, he thus fpends two or three years, in which time he acquires knowledge, the ufe of tools, the modes of working the lands, felling trees, &c. This prepares the foundation of a good name, the moft ufeful acquilition he can make. He is encouraged, he has gained friends; he is adviled and direfted, he feels bold, he pur- chafes fome land; he gives all the money he has brought over, as well as what he has earned, and trufts to the God of harvefts for the difcharge of the reft. His good name pro¬ cures him credit; he is now poffelTed of the deed. WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. 75 deed, conveying to him arid his pofterity the^fee Ample and ablblute property of two hundred acres of land, fituated on fuch a river. What an epocha in this man’s life! He is become a freeholder, from perhaps a German boor; he is now an American, a Pennfylvanian, an Eng- lifli fubjedt. He is naturalized, his name is en¬ rolled with thofe of the other citizens of the province. Inftead of being a vagrant, he has a place of refidence; he is called the inhabi¬ tant of fuch a country, or of fuch a diftridt, and,' for the firfttime in his life, counts for fome- thing; for hitherto he had been a cipher. I only repeat what I have heard many fay; and no wonder their hearts Ihould glow, and be agi¬ tated with a multitude of feelings, not eafy to defcribe. From nothing, to ftart into being; from a fervant, to the rank of a mailer; from being the flave of fome defpotic prince, .,.tD_ be¬ come a free man, inveiled with lands, to which' every municipal bleffing is annexed! What a change indeed! It is in confequence of that change that he becomes an American. This great metamorphofis has a double effedt; it .extinguiihes all his European prejudices, he forgets that mechanifm of fubordination, that fervility of difpofition, which poverty had taught him; and fometimes he is apt to for¬ get it too much, often paffing from treme to the other. If he is a good one ex- 76 WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. forms fchemes of future prolperity, he propofcs to educate his children better than he has been educated himfelf; he thinks of future modes of conduS:, feels an ardour to labour he never felt before. Pride fteps in, and leads him to every thing that the laws do not for¬ bid: he refpefts them; with a heart-felt gra¬ titude he looks toward the eaft, toward that in-, fular government from whofe wifdom all his new felicity is derived, and under whofe wings and protedion he now lives. Thefe refledions con- ftitute him the good man and the good fubjed. Ye poor Europeans, ye, who fweat, and work for. the great; ye, who are obliged to give fo. many {heaves to the church, fo many to your lords, fo many to your government, and have hardly any left for yourfelves; ye, who are held in lefs eftimation than favourite hunters or ufelefs lap-dogs; ye, who only breathe the air of nature, becaufp it cannot be withholden from you; it is here that ye can conceive the pof- fibilityof thofe feelings I have been defcribing; it is here the laws of naturalization invite every one to partake of our great labours and fe¬ licity, to till unrented, untaxed, lands! Many, corrupted beyond the power of amendment, have brought with them all their vices, and, difregarding the advantages held to them, have gone on in their former career of iniquity, until they have been overtaken and puniflied by our laws. WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. 77 laws. It is not every emigrant who fucceeds; no, it is only the fober, the honeft, and in- duftrious: happy thofe to whom this tranfi- tion has ferved as a powerful fpur to labour, to profperity, and to the good eftablifliment of children, born in the days of their poverty! and who had no other portion to expeft but the rags of their parents, had it not been for their happy emigration. Others, again, havebce.n led aftray by this enchanting fcene; their new pride, inftead of leading them to the fields, has kept them in idlenefs; the idea of poffeffmg lands is all that fatisfies them; though fur- rounded with fertility, they have mouldered away their time in inaftivity, mifmformed huf- bandry^ and ineffeftual endeavours. How much wifer, in general, the honeft Germans than almoft all other Europeans; they hire themfelves to fome of their wealthy landfmen, and, in that apprenticefhip, learn every thing that is neceffary. They attentively confider the profperous induftry of others, which im¬ prints in their minds a ftrong defire of poffef- fing the fame advantages. This forcible idea never quits them; they launch forth, and, by dint of fobriety, rigid parfimony, and the molt perfevering induftry, they commonly fucceed. Their aftonifhment at their firft arrival from Germany is very great; it is to them a dream; the contrail mull be very pov/erful indeed; 78 WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. they obferve their countrymen fiourilhing in every place; they travel through whole counties where not a word of Englifli is fpoken j and, in the names and the language of the people, they retrace Germany. They have been an ufeM acquifition to this continent, and to Pennfylvania in particular j to them it owes fome lhare of its profperity: to their mechanical knowledge and patience it owes the fineft mills in all America, the beft teams of horfes', and many other advantages. The recolleftion of their former poverty and flavery never quits them as long as they live. The Scotch and the Irilh might have lived in their own country perhaps as poor; but, enjoy¬ ing more civil advantages, the effects of their new fituation do not llrike them fo forcibly, nor has it fo lading an elFeift. Whence the difference arifes I know not; but, out of twelve families of emigrants of each country, gene¬ rally leven Scotch will fucceed, nine Ger¬ man, and four Irifli. The Scotch are frugal and laborious, but their wives cannot work fo hard as German women, who on the con¬ trary vie with their hulbands, and often ll;iare with them the moft fevere toils of the field,, which they underftand better. They have therefore nothing to ftruggle againft but the common cafualties of nature. The Irilh do not prolper fo well j they love to drink and WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. 79 to quarrel; they are litigiouSj. and foon take to tlie gun, which is the ruin of every thing; tliey feein befide to labour under a greater degree of ignorance in hufbandry than the others; perhaps it is that their induftry had lefs fcope, and was lefs exercifed at home, I have heard many relate how the land was parcelled out in that kingdom; their ancient conqueft has been a great detriment to them, by overfetting their landed property. The lands, poflefled by a few, are leafed down ad infinitum, and the occupiers often pay five gui¬ neas an acre. The poor are worfe lodged there than any where elfe in Europe; their potatoes, which are eafily raifed, are perhaps an induce¬ ment to lazinefs; their wages are too low and their whilky too cheap. There is no tracing obfervations of this kind without malting at the fame time very great allowances, as there are every where to be found a great many execeptions. The Irilh themfelves, from different parts of that king¬ dom, are very different. It is difficult to ac¬ count for this furprifing locality; one v/ould think, on fo fmall an ifland, an Irifliman muff be an Irifliman; yet it is not fo ; they are dif¬ ferent in their aptitude to, and in their love of, labour. -The Scotch, on the contrary, are all induftri- ous and faving; they want nothing more than a field So WHAT IS AN AMERICAN, a field to exert thetnfelves in, and they are com¬ monly fure of fucceeding. The only difficulty they labour under is, that technical Ameri¬ can knowledge which requires fome time to obtain; it is not eafy for thofe who feldom faw a tree, to conceive how it is to be felled, cut up, and iplit into rails and polls. As T am fond of feeing and talking of proiperous families, I intend to finilh this letter by relating to you the hiftory of an honeft Scotch Hebridean, who came here in 1774, which will Ihew you, in epitome, what the Scotch can do, wherever they have room for the exertion of their induftry. Whenever I hear of any new fettlement, I pay it a vifit once or twice a year, on purpofe to obferve the dif¬ ferent Heps each fettler takes, the gradual improvements, the different tempers of each family, on which their profperity in a great mealiire depends; their different modifications of induftry, their ingenuity, and contrivance j for, being all poor, their life requires fagacity ’and prudence. In an evening I love to hear them tell their ftories, they furnifli me with new ideas; I fit ftill and liften to their an¬ cient misfornanes, obferving in many of them a ftrong degree of gratitude to God and the government. Many a well-meant fermon have I preached to fome of them. When I found lazinefs and inattention prevail, who could^ refrain WHAT is AN AMERICAN. 8i refrain from wifliing well to thefe new country¬ men, after having undergone fo many fatigues. Who could withhold good advice ? What a happy change it mult be, to defcend from the high, fterile, bleak, lands of Scotland, where every thing is barren and cold, and to reft on fome fertile farms in thefe middle provinces! Such a tranfition rnuft have afforded the moft pleafing fatisfaftion. The following dialogue paffed at an out-fet- tlement, where I lately paid a viftt: Well, friend, how do you do now ? I am come fifty odd miles on purpofe to fee youj how do you go on with your new cutting and flalhing ? Very well, good Sir, we learn the ufe of the axe bravely, we lhall make it out; we have a belly full of viftuals every day, our cows run about, and come home full of milk, our hogs get fat of themfelves in the woods: Oh, this is a good country 1 God blefs the king and William Penn; we lhall do very well by and by, if we keep our healths. Your log- houfe looks neat and light, where did you get thefe fhingles ? One of our neighbours is a New-England man, and he lliewed us how to fplit them out of chefnut-trees. Now for a barn ; but all in good time, here are fine trees to build it with. Who is to frame it, fure you do not underftand that work yet ? A country¬ man 82 WHAT IS AN AMERICAN- man of ours, who has been in America thefe ten years, offers to wait for his money until the fecond crop is lodged in it. What did you give for your land ? Thirty-five fliillings per acre, payable in feven years. How many acres have you got ? A hundred and fifty. That is enough to begin with. Is not your land pretty hard to clear ? Yes, Sir, hard enough, but it would be harder ftill if it was ready cleared, for then we fliould have no timber, and I love the woods much; the land is nothing without them. Have not you found out any bees yet ? No, Sir, and if we had we Ihould not know what to do with them. I will tell you by and by. You are very kind. Farewel, honeflman, Godprofper you whenever you travel toward **, enquire for J. S. he will entertain you kindly, provided you bring him good tidings from your family and farm. In this manner I often vifit them, and carefully examine their faoufes, their modes of ingenuity, their different ways; • and make them relate all they know, and defcribe all they feel. Thefe are fcenes which I believe you would willingly Ihare with me. I well remember your philanthropic turn of mind. Is it not better to contemplate, under thefe humble roofs, the rudiments of future wealth and population, than to behold the ac¬ cumulated bundles of litigious papers in the office of a lawyer ? To examine how the world WHAT IS AN AMERICAN, is gradually fettledj how the howling fwamp is converted into a plealing meadow, the rough ridge into a fine field; arid to hear the cheer¬ ful whiftling, the rural fong, where there was fio found heard before, fave the yell of the fa- vage, the fcreech of the owl, or the hiffing of the fnake ? Here an European, fatigued with luxury, riches, and pleafures, may find a fweet relaxation in a feries of inferefting fcenes, as af- fefting as they are new. England, which now contains fo many domes, fo many caftles, was once like this, a place woody and marlhy j its in¬ habitants, now the favourite nation for arts and commerce, were once painted like our neigh¬ bours. This' country will flourilh in its turn, arid the fame obfervations will be made which I have juft delineated. Pofterity will look back, with avidity and pleafure, to trace, if pollible, the tera of this or that particular fettlement. Pray, what is the reafon that the Scots are in general more religious, more faithful, more honeft, and induftrious, than the Irifli ? I do not mean to infinuate national refleftions, God forbid ! It ill _ becomes any man, and much lefs an American; but, as I know-men are nothing of themfelves, and that they owe all their differerit modifications either to government or other local circumftances, there muft be fome powerful caufes which conftitute this great national difference. G 2 Agreeable 4 WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. Agreeable to the account which feveral Scotchmen have given me of the north of Britain, of the Orkneys, and the Hebride Iflands, they feem, on many accounts, to be unfit for the habitation of men 3 they appear to be calculated only for great Iheep paftures. Who then can blame the inhabitants of thefe countries for tranfporting themfelves hither? This great continent muft in time abforb the pooreft part of Europe; and this will happen in'proportion as it becomes better known; and as war, taxation, oppreflion, and mifery, increafe there. The Hebrides appear to be fit only for the refidence of malefaftors, and it would be much better to fend felons there than either to Virginia or Maryland. What a ftrange compliment has our mother-country paid to two of the fineft provinces in America! England has entertained in that refped; very miftaken ideas; what was intended as a punifii- ment is become the good fortune of feveral; many of thofe, who have been tranfported as felons, are now rich, and ftrangers to the Rings of thofe wants that urged them to vio¬ lations of the laws; they are become induftri- ous, exemplary, and ufeful, citizens. The Englifh government Ihould purchafe the moft northern and barren of thofe iflands; it fhould fend over to us the honeft primitive Hebri¬ deans, fettle them here on good lands, as a WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. 85 reward for their virtue and ancient poverty, and replace them with a colony of her wicked , fons. The feverity of the climate, the incle¬ mency of the feafons, the fterility of the foil, the tempeftuoufnefs of the fea, would afflidt and punifli enough. Could there be found a fpot better adapted to retaliate^ tlie injury it had received by their crimes? Some of thofe iflands might be confidered as the hell of Great Britain, where all evil fpirits flrould be fent.,. Two elTential ends would be anfwered by this fimple operation. The good people, by emi¬ gration, would be rendered happier; the bad ones would be placed where they ought to be^,^ In a few years the dread of being fent to that wintery region would have a much ftronger effedt than that of tranfportation.—This is no place of punifhment; were I a poor hope- lefs, breadlefs, Englilhman, and not re- ftrained by the power of fliame, I fliould be very thankful for the paffage. It is of very little importance how and in what manner an indigent man arrives; for, if he is but fober, honeft, and induftrious, he has nothing more to alk of heaven. Let him go to work, he will have opportunities enough to earn a com¬ fortable fupport, and even the means of pro¬ curing fome land; which ought to be the ut- moft wilh of every perfon who has healtli and bands to work. I knew a man, who G 3 came S6 WHAT IS AN AMERICAN. came to this country, in the literal fenfe of the expreffion, ftark naked; I think he was a French¬ man, and a failor on-board an Englifli man of war. Being difcontented, he had ftripped himfelf and fwam on-fliore; where, finding clothes and friends, he fettled aftenvards at Maraneck, in the county of Chefter, in the province of New- York: he married and left a good farm to each of his fons. I knew another perfon, who was but twelve years old when he was taken on the frontiers of Canada by the Indians; at his arrival at Albany he was purchafed by a gentleman, who generouQy bound him ap¬ prentice to a tailor. He lived to the age of ninety, and left behind him a fine eftate and a numerous family, all well fettled; many of them I am acquainted with.—^Where is then the induftrious European who ought to delpair ? After a foreigner from any part of Europe is arrived, and become a citizen, let him devoutly liften to the voice of our great parent, which fays to him, “ Welcome to my Ihores, dif- “ treffed European; blefs the hour in which « thou didfi: fee my verdant fields, my fair “ navigable rivers, and my green mountains! “ —If thou wilt work, T have bread for thee; if thou wilt be honeft, fober, and induf- “ trious, I have greater rewards to confer on « thee—eafe and independence. I will give “ thee fields to feed and clothe thee; a com- “ fortable HISTORY OF ANDREW, &c. 87 “ fortable fire-fide to fit by, and tell thy chil- “ dren by what means thou haft profpered; “ and a decent bed to repofe on. I lhall en- “ dow thee belide with the immunities of a “ freeman, if thou wilt carefully educate thy “ children, teach them gratitude to God, and " reverence to that government, that phi- “ lanthropic government, which has collefted “ here fo many men and made them happy. “ I will alfo provide for thy progeny; and! “ to every good man this ought to be the moft holy, the moft powerful, the moftearneft,. “ wifli we can pofllbly form, as well as the “ moft confolatory profpeft when he dies. “ Go thou, and work, and till; thou fhaltproft “ per, provided thou be juft, grateful, and “ induftrious.” HISTORY OF ANDREW, THE HEBRIDEAN. LET hiftorians give the detail of our charters, the fucceffion of our feveral gover¬ nors, and of their adminiftrations; of our political ftruggles, and of die foundation of our towns; let annalifts amufe themfelves with collefting anecdotes of the eftabliftiment of our modern provinces: eagles foar high— I, a feebler bird, cheerfully content myfelf with Ikipping from bulb to bufli, and living on infignificant infe(fts. I am fo. habituated HISTORY OF ANDREW, to draw all my food and pleafufe from the fur- face of the earth which I till, that I cannot nor indeed am I able to quit it.—I therefore prefent you with the Ihort hiftory of a Ample Scotchman; though it contain not a Angle re¬ markable event to amaze the reader; no tra¬ gical fcene to convulfe the heart, or pathetic narrative to draw tears from fympathetic eyes. All I wiAi to delineate is, the progrefAve fteps of a poor man, advancing from indi¬ gence to eafe; from oppreffion to freedom; from obfcurity and contumely to fome de¬ gree of confequence — not by virtue of any freaks of fortune, but by the gradual operation of fobriety, honeAy, and emigration. Thefe are the limited Aelds through which I love to wander; fure to And in fome parts the fmile of new-born happir.efs, the glad heart infpiring the cheerful fong, the glow of manly, pride ex¬ cited by vivid hopes and rifing independence. I always return from my neighbourly excurAons extremely happy, becaufe there I fee good living almoft under every roof, and profperous en¬ deavours almoft in every Aeld. But you may fay, why don’t you defcribe fome of the more ancient opulent fettlements of our coun¬ try, where even the eye of an European has fomething to admire? It is true, our Ameri¬ can Aelds are in general pleaAng to behold, adorned and intermixed as they are with fo many THE HEBRIDEAN. 89 many fubftantial houfes, fiouriftiing orchards, and coppices of woodlands ; the pride of our farms, the fource of every good we poflefs. But what I might- obferve there is but natural and common; for to draw comfortable fub- fiftence from well-fenced cultivated fields is cafy to conceive. A father dies and leaves a decent houfe and rich farm to his fon j the fon modernizes the one, and carefully tills the other; he marries the daughter of a friend and neigh¬ bour : this is the common profpedt; but, though it is rich and pleafant, yet it is far from being fo entertaining and inftruftive as the one now in my view. I had rather attend on the fhore to wel¬ come the poor European when he arrives; I ob¬ ferve him in his firft moments of embarraff- • ment, trace him throughout his primary difficul¬ ties, follow him ftep by ftep, until he pitches his tent on fome piece of land, and realizes that energetic wilh which has made him quit his native land, his kindred, and induced him to traverfe a boifterous ocean. It is there I want to obferye his fii-fl; thoughts and feelings, the firft effays of an indyftry, which hitherto has been fupprelTed, I wifh to fee men cut down the firft trees, eredl their new buildings, till their firft fields, reap their firft crops, and fay, for the firft jiime in their lives, " This is “ our own grain, raifed from American foil— 90 HISTORY OF ANDREW, on it we fliall feed and grow fat, and convert “ the reft into gold and filver.” I want to fee how the happy effedb of their fobriety, honefty, and induftry, are firfl: difplayed: and who would not take a pleafure in feeing thefe ftrangers fe ttling as new countrymen, ftruggling with ar¬ duous difficulties, overcoming them, and be¬ coming happy ? Landing on this great continent is like going to fea, they mult have a compafs, fome friendly direiEting needle; or elfe they will ufelefsly err and wander for a long time, even with a fair wind: yet thefe are the ftruggles through which our forefathers have w'aded; and they have left us no other records of them, but the poffeffion of our farms. The refleftions I make on thefe new fettlers recal to my mind what my grandfather did in his days; they fill me with gratitude to his memory as well as to that government which invited him to come, and helped him when he arrived, as well as many others. Can I pafs over thefe reflec¬ tions without remembering thy name, O Penn 1 thou beft of legiflators; who, by the wifdom of thy laws, haft endowed human nature, within the bounds of thy prqvince, with every dignity it can poffibly enjoy in a civilized ftate; and Ihewed, by this lingular eftablifhment, what all men might be if they would follow thy ex¬ ample I In THE HEBRIDEAN. 9* In the year 1770, I purchafed fome lands In the county of- , which I intended for one of my fons ; and was obliged to go there in order to fee them properly furveyed and marked out: the foil is good, but the country has a very wild afpeft. However, I obferved, wifli pleafure, that land fells very fall; and I am in hopes, when the lad gets a wife, it will be a well-fettled, decent, country. Agreeable to our cuftoms, which indeed are thofe of nature, it is our duty to provide for our eldeft children while we live, in order that our homefteads may be left to the youngeft, who are the molt helplefs. Some people are apt to regard the portions given to daughters as fo much lofs to the family; but this is felfilh, and is not agree¬ able to my way of thinking; they cannot work as men do; they marry young; I have given an honeft European a farm to till for himfelf, rent free, provided he clears an acre of fwamp every year, and that he quits it whenever my daughter fhall paarry. It will procure her a fubftantial hufband, a good farmer—and that is all my ambition. Whilft I was in the woods I met with a party of Indians; I fliook hands with them, and I perceived they had killed a cub; I had a little peach brandy, they perceived it alfo, we there¬ fore joined company, kindled a large fire, and ate a hearty fupper. I made their hearts glad, and HISTORY OF ANDREW, S2 and we all repofed on good beds of leaves. Soon after dark, I was furpriled to hear a pro¬ digious hooting through the woods j the Indians laughed heartily. One of them, more fldlful than the reft, mimicked, die owls fo exaftly, that a very large one perched on a high tree over our fire. We foon brought him down j he meafured five feet feven inches from one ex¬ tremity of the wings to the other. By Cap¬ tain -I have fent you the talons, on which I have had die heads of fmall candlefticks fixed. Pray keep them on the table of your ftudy for my fake. Contrary to my expeftation, I found myfelf under the neceffity of going to Philadelphia, in order to pay the purchafe-money, and to have the deeds properly recorded. I thought litde of the journey, though it was above two hundred miles, becaufe I was well acquainted with many friends, at whofe houfes I intended to ftop. The third night after I left the woods, I put up at Mr. ——’s, the moft worthy citi¬ zen I know; he happened to lodge at my houfe when you were there. — He kindly enquired after your welfare, and defired I would make a friendly mention of him to you. The neatnefs of thefe good people is no phenomenon, yet I think this excellent family fiirpalles every thing I know. No fooner did I lie down to reft than I thought myfelf in a moft THE HEBRlDEAH. 93 moft odoriferous arbour, fo fweet and fragrant were the fheets. Next morning I found my hoft in his orchard dcftroying caterpillars. I think, friend B. faid I, that thee art greatly departed from the good rules of the fociety} thee feemeth to have quitted that happy fim- plicity for which it hath hitherto been fo re¬ markable. Thy rebuke, friend James, is a pretty heavy one; what motive can!! thee have for thus accufing us ? Thy kind wife made a miftake lafl: evening, I faid; ftie put me on a bed of rofes inftead of a common one; I am not ufed to fuch delicacies. And is that all, friend James, that thee haft to reproach us with ?—Thee wilt not call it luxury I hope i thee canft but know that it is the produce o(f our garden; and friend Pope fayeth, that “ to enjoy is to obey.” This is a moft learned excufe indeed, friend B. and mtift be valued becaufe it is founded upon truth. James, my wife hath done nothing more to thy bed than what is done all the year round to all the beds in the family ; ftie fprinkles her linen with rofe-water before fire puts it under the prefs; it is her fancy, and I have nought to fay. But thee lhalt not efcape fo, verily I will fend for her ; thee and Ihe mtift fettle the matter, whilft I proceed on my work, before the fun gets too high.--Tom, go thou and call thy miftrefs Philadelphia. What, faid I, is thy 54- HISTORY OF ANDREW, wife called by that name? I did not know that before. I’ll tell thee, James, how it came to pafs: her grandmother was the firfl: female child born after William Penn landed with the reft of our brethren; and, in compliment to the city he intended to build, Ihe was called after the name he intended to give it ; and lb there b always one of the daughters of her family known by the name of Philadelphia. She loon came; and, after a moft friendly altercation, I gave up the point j breakfafted, departed, and in four days reached the city. A week after, news came that a veflel was arrived with Scotch emigrants. Mr. C. and I went to the dock to fee them difembark. It was a fcene which infpired me with a variety of thoughts: here are, faid I to my friend, a number of people, driven by poverty, and other adverfe caules, to a foreign land, in which they know nobody. The name of a ftranger, inftead of implying relief, afliftance, and kindnefs, on the contrary conveys very different ideas. They are now diftreffed j their minds are racked by a variety of apprehenfions, fears, and hopes. It was this laft powerful fentiment which has brought them here. If they are good people, I pray that heaven may realize them. Whoever were to fee them, thus gathered again, in five or fix years, would behold a more pleafing fight, to which this would THE HEBRIDEAN. " 95 \TOuld ferve as a very povyerful contraft. By their honefty, the vigour of their arms, and the benignity of government, their condition will be greatly improved; they will be well clad, fat, poffefled of that manly confidence which property confers; they will become ufeful citizens. Some of their pofterity may aft confpicuous parts in our future American tranfaftions. Moft of them appeared pale and emaciated, from the length of the paflage, and the indifferent provifion on which they had lived. The number of children feemed as great as that of the people ; they had all paid for being conveyed here. The captain told us they were a quiet, peaceable, and harmlefs, people, who had never dwelt in cities. This was a valuable cargo; they feemed, a few excepted, to be in the full vigour of their lives. Several citizens, impelled either by fpon- taneous attachments or motives of humanity, took many of them to their houfes; the city, agreeable to its ufual wifdom and humanity, ordered them all to be lodged in the bar¬ racks, and plenty of provifions to be given them. My friend pitched upon one alfo and led him to his houfe, with his wife, and a fon about fourteen years of age. The majority of them had contrafted for land the year before, by means of an agent; the reft depended en¬ tirely upon chance; and the one who followed g6 HISTORy OF ANDREW, us was of this laft daft. Poor man, he fmiled on receiving the invitation, and gladly accepted it, bidding his wife and fon do the fame, in a language which I did not underftand. He gazed with uninterrupted attention on every thing he faw; the houfes, the inhabitants, the negroes, and carriages: every thing appeared equally new to him; and we went flow, in order to give him time to feed on this pleafing variety. Good God! faid he, is this Phila¬ delphia, that bleflTed city of bread and pro- vifions, of which we have heard fo much ? I am told it was founded the fame year in which my father was born ; why it is finer than Gree¬ nock and Glafgow, which are ten times as old. It is fo, faid my friend to him, and, when thee haft been here a month, thee will foon fee that it is the capital of a fine province, of which thee art going to be a citizen: Greenock enjoys neither fuch a climate nor fuch a foil. Thus we flowly proceeded along, when we met feveral large Lancafter fix-horfe waggons, juft arrived from the country. At this ftupendous fight he ftopped Ihort, and with great diffidence aflced us what was the ufe of thefe great moving houfes, and where thofe big horfes came from ? Have you none fuch at home, I alked him ? Oh no; thefe huge animals would eat all the grafs of our ifland! We at laft reached my friend’s houfe, who, in the glow of well-meant hofpitality. tJ4E HEBRIDEAN. 57 hofpltality, made them all three fit down to a good dinner, arid gave them as much cider as they could drink. God blefs the country, arid the good people it contains, faid he j this is the belt meal’s viftuals I have made a long time;—I thank you kindly. What part of Scotland dofl: thee come from, friend Andrew ? faid Mr. C. Some of us come from the Main, fome from the ifland of Barra, he anfwered, I myfelf am a Barra man. I looked on the map, and, by its latitude, eafily gueffed that it mult be an inhofpitable climate. What fort of land have you got there ? I afked him. Bad enough, faid he; we have no fuch trees as I fee here, no wheat, no kine, no apples. Then, I obferved, that it muft be hard for the poor to live. We have no poor, he anfwered, we are all alike, except our laird ; but he cannot' help'every body. Pray what is the name of your laird ? Mr. Neiel, faid Andrew j the like of him is not to be found in any of the ides j his forefathers have lived there thirty genera¬ tions ago, as we are told. Now, gentlemen, you may judge what an ancient family-eftate it muft be. But it is cold, the land is thin, and there were too many of us, which are the reafons that fome are come to feek tlieir for¬ tunes here. Well, Andrew, vs^hat ftep do you intend to take in order to become rich ? I do not know. Sir j I am but an ignorant man, a H ftranger 9S HISTORY OF ANDREW, ftranger befides:—I muft rely on the advice - of good Chriftians,, they would not deceive me, I am fure. I have brought with me a charafter from our Barra minifter, can it do me any good here ? Oh, yes; but your future fuccefs will depend entirely on your own condudb; if you are, 3 fober man, as the certificate fays, laborious and honeft, there is no fear but that you will do well. Have you brought any money with you, Andrew? Yes, Sir, eleven guineas and a half. Upon my word it is a confiderable fum for a Barra man! how came you by fo much money ? Why feven years ago I received a legacy of thirty-feven pounds from an uncle, who loved me much; my wife brought me two guineas, when the laird gave her to me for a wife, which I have faved ever fince. I have fold aU I had; I worked in Glafgow for fome time. I am glad to hear you are fo faving and prudent; be fo ftiU : you muft go and hire yourfelf with fome good people ; what can you do ? I can threfh a little, and handle the fpade. Can you plough ? Yes, Sir, with the little breaft-plough I have brought with me. Thefe won’t do here, Andrew; you are an able man; if you ai-e willing you wdl foon learn. I’ll tell you what I intend to do; I’ll fend you to my houfe, where you fliall flay two or three weeks, there you m.uft exercife yourfelf with the axe, that is the principal tool THE HEBRIDEAN. 59 tool the Americans want, and particularly the back-fettlers. Can your wife fpin ? Yes, Ihe can. Well then, as foon as you are able to handle the axe, you ftiall go and live with Mr. P. R. a particular friend of ■ mine, who will give you four dollars per month for the flrft fix, and the ufual price of five as long as you remain with him. I lhall place your wife in another houfe, where fhe fhall receive half a dollar -a week for fpinning; and your fon a dollar a month to drive the team. You fhall have befides good vidtuals to eat, and good beds to lie on ; will all this fatisfy you, Andrew ? He hardly underftood what I faid; the honeft tears of gratitude fell from his eyes as he looked at me, and its expreffions feemed to quiver on his lips.—Though filent, this was faying a great deal; there was befides fomething extremely moving to fee a man fix feet higii thus fired tears; and they did not leffen the good opinion I had entertained of him. At laft he told me, that my offers were more than he deferved, and that he v/ould firfl; begin to v/ork for his vic¬ tuals. No, no, faid I, if you are careful and fober, and do what you can, you firall receive what I told you, after you have ferved a fliort apprenticefhip at my houfe. May God repay you for all your kindneffes ! faid' Andrew ; as long as I live I lhall thank you, and do what I can for you! A few days after, I font them all H 2 three ICO HISTORY OF ANDREW, three to- ■, by the return of fome waggons, that he might have an opportunity of viewing and convincing himfelf of the utility of thofe ma¬ chines, which he had at firft fo much admired. The farther defcriptions he gave us of the Hebrides in general, and of his native ifland in particular j of the cuftoms and modes of living of the inhabitants; greatly entertained me. Pray is the fterility of the foil the caufe that there are no trees, or is it becaufe there are none planted? What are the modern fa¬ milies of all the-kings of the earth, compared to the date of that of Mr. Neiel ? Admitting tliat each generation Ihould laft but forty years, this makes a period of 1200; an extraordinary duration for the uninterrupted defcent of any family! Agreeably to the defcription he gave us of thofe countries, they feem to live accord¬ ing to the rules of nature, which gives them but bare fubliftence; their conftitutions are uncontaminated by any excels or effeminacy, which tlieir foil refufes. If their allowance of food is not too fcanty, they muft all be healthy, by perpetual temperance and exercife; if fo, they are amply rev/arded for their poverty. Could they have obtained but neceffary food, they would not have left itj for it was not in confequence of oppreffion, either from their patriarch or the government, that they had emigrated. I wifli we had a colony of thefe honcfl: THE HEBRIDEAN. lOI honeft: people fettled in fome parts of this pro¬ vince j their morals, their religion, feem to be as funple as their manners. This fociety would prefent an interefting fpeftacle, could they be tranfported on a richer foil. But perhaps that foil would foon alter every thing; for our opinions, vices, and virtues, are altogether local: we are machines fafliioned by every circumftance around us. Andrew arrived at my houfe a week before I did, and I found my wife, agreeably to my inftrudtions, had placed the axe in his hands as his firfl; taflc. For fome time he was very aukward, but he was fo docile, fo willing, and grateful, as well as his wife, that I forefaw he would fucceed. Agreeably to my promife, I put them all with different families, where they were well liked, and all parties were pleafed. Andrew worked hard, lived well, grew fat, and every Sunday came to pay me a vifit on a good horfe, which Mr. P. R. lent him. Poor man, it took him a long time ere he could fit on the faddle and hold the bridle properly. I be¬ lieve he had never before mounted fuch a beaft, though I did not choofe to afk him that queftion, for fear it might fuggeft fome morti¬ fying ideas. After having been twelv? rngntlis at Mr. P. R.’s, and having received his own and his family’s wages, which amounted to eighty-four dollars, he came to fee me on a H 3 week- lOT HISTORY OF ANDREW, week-day, and told me, that he was a man of middle age, ^?nd would willingly have land of his own, in order to procure him a home, as a Ihelter againft old age : that, whenever this period Ihould come, his fon, to whom he would give his land, v/ould then maintain him, and thus live all together j he therefore required my advice and afliftance. I thought his delire very natural and praife-worthy, and told him that I Ihould think of it, but that he mull re¬ main one month longer with Mr. P. R. who had 3000 rails to Iplit. He immediately con- fented. The Ipring was not far advanced enough yet for Andrew to begin clearing any land, ■even fuppoling that he had made a purchafe j as it is always necelTary that the leaves Ihould be out, in order that this additional combulli- ble may ferve to burn the heaps of brulh more readily. A few days after, it happened that the v/hole family of Mr. P. R. went to meeting, and left Andrew to take care of the houfe. While he was at the door, attentively reading the Bible, nine Indians, juft come from the moun¬ tains, fuddenly made their appearance, and unloaded their packs of furs on the floor of the piazza. Conceive, if you can, what was Andrew’s confternation at this extraordinary fight! From the Angular appearance of thefe people, the honeft Hebridean took them for,a lawlcfs THE HEBRIDEAN. 103 lawlels band come to rob his mailer’s houfe. He therefore^ like a faithful guardian, precipi-' tately withdrew, and lliut the doors ; but, as moll of our houfes are without locks, he was reduced to the neceflity of fixing his knife over the latch, and then flew up flairs in quell of a broad fword he had brought from Scotland. The In¬ dians, who were Mr. P. R.’s particular friends, guefled at his fufpicions and fears ; they forcibly lifted the door, and fuddenly took poflefllon of the houfe, got all the bread and meat they wanted, and fat themfelves down by the fire. At this inflant Andrew, with his broad fword in his hand, entered the room; the Indians earneflly looking at him, and attentively watch¬ ing his motions. After a very few refledlions, Andrew found that his weapon was ufelefs, when oppofed to nine tomahawks. But this did not diminilh his anger; on the contrary, it grew greater, on obferving the calm impudence with which they were devouring the. family-provi- fions. Unable to refill, he called them names in broad Scotch, and ordered them to defift and be gone; to which the Indians (as they told me afterwards) replied in their equally broad idiom. It-mull have been a moll unintel¬ ligible altercation between this honefl Barra man and nine . Indians who did not much care for any thing he could fay. At lafl he ventured to lay his hands on one of them, in order to H4 turn 164 HISTORY OF ANDREW, turn him out of the houfe. Here Andrew’s fidelity got the better of his prudence; for t’ne Indian, by his motions, threatened to fcalp him, while the reft gave the war-hoop, This horrid noife fo effectually frightened poor Andrew, that, unmindful of his courage, of his broad Iword, and his intentions, he rulhed out, left them lu^ers of the houfe, and dif- appeared. I have heard one of the Indians fay fince, that he never laughed fo heartily in his life. Andrew, at a diftance, foon recovered from the fears which had been infpired by this infernal yell, and thought of no other remedy than to go to the meeting-houfe, which was about two miles diftant. In the eagerjiefs of his honeft intentions, with loolis of affright flill marked on his countenance, he called .Mr. P. R. out, and told him with great vehe- inence of ftyle, that nine monfters were come to his houfe—^fome blue, ;'jaie red, and fome black; that they had little axes in their hands, out of which, they fmoked ; and that, like high¬ landers, tliey had no breeches; that they were devouring all his victuals; and that God only knew what they would do more. Pacify your- felf, faid Mr, P. R, my houfe is as Me with thefe people as if I was there myfelf. As for the.vifluals, they are heartily welcome, honeft Andrew; they are not people of much cere¬ mony ; they help tliemfelves thus whenever THE HEBRIDEAN. 105 they are among their friends; I do fo too in their whigwhams, whenever I go to their viE lage: you had better therefore ftep in and hear the remainder of the fermon, and when the meeting is over we will all go back in the wag¬ gon together. At their return, Mr. P. R. who fpeaks the Indian language very well, explained the whole matter; the Indians renewed their laugh, and Ihook hands with honeft Andrew, whom they made to fmoke out of their pipes; and thus peace was made, and ratified, according to the Indian cuftom, by the calumet. Soon after this adventure, the time ap¬ proached when I had promifed Andrew my beft afllftance to fettle him; for that purpofe I went to Mr. A. V. in the county of--, who, I was informed, had purchafed a track of land contiguous to-fetdement. I gave him a faithful detail of the progrefs Andrew had made in the rural arts; of his honefty, fo- briety, and gratitude; and prelTed him to fell him a hundred acres. This I cannot com¬ ply with, faid Mr. A. V. but at the fame time I will do. better; I love to encourage honeft Europeans as much as you do, and to fee them profper: you tell me he has but one fon 3 I will leafe them a hundred acres for any term of years you pleafe, and make it more valu¬ able to your Scotchman, than if he was pof- feiTed io6 HISTORY OF ANDREW, fcffed of the fee fimple. By that means he may, with that little money he has, buy a plough, a team, and fome ftockj he will not be incum¬ bered with debts and mortgages ; what he raifes will be his ownj had he two or three fbns as able as himfelf, then I fhould think it more eli¬ gible for him to purchafe the fee fimple. I join with you in opinion, and will bring Andrew along with me in a few days. Well, honeft Andrew, faid Mr. A. V. in eonfideration of your good name, I will let you have a hundred acres of good arable land, that fhall be laid out along a new road; there is a bridge already ere(fl:ed on the creek that palTes through the land, and a fine fwamp of about twenty acres. Thefe are my terms; I cannot fell, but I will leafe you the quantity that Mr. James, your friend, has afked; the firfi feven years you fhall pay no rent, whatever you fow and reap, and plant and gather, fhall be entirely your own; neither the king, govern¬ ment, nor church, will have any claim on your future property; the remaining part of the time you muft give me twelve dollars and a half a year; and that is all you will have to pay me. Within the three firft years you muft plant fifty apple trees, and clear feven acres of fwamp within the firft part of the leafe; it will be your own advantage: whatever you do more, within that time, I will pay you for it. THE HEBRIDEAN. 107 at the common rate of the country. The term of the leafe fliall be thirty years j how do you like it, Andrew ? Oh, Sir, it is very good; but I am afraid, that the king, or his minifters, or the governor, or fome of our great men, will come and take tlie land from me; your fon may fay to me, by and by, this is my father’s land, Andrew, you muft quit it. No, no, faid Mr. A. V. there is no fuch danger; the king and his minifters are too juft to take the labour of a poor fettler; here we have no great men, but what are fubordinate to our laws; but, to calm all your fears, I will give ' you a leafe, fo that none can make you afraid. If ever you are diffatisfied with the land, a jury of your own neighbourhood .lhall value all your improvements, and you lhall be paid agreeably to their verdiifb. You may fell the leafe; or, if you die, you may previoufly difpofe of it as if the land was your own. Expreflive, yet inarticulate, joy was mixed in his counte¬ nance, which feemed impreffed with aftonilh- ment and confufion. Do you underftand me well ? faid Mr. A. V. No, Sir, replied An¬ drew, I know nothing of what you mean about leafe, improvement, will, jury, &c. That is honeft, we will explain thefe things to you by and by. It muft be confelTed that thofe were hard v/ords, which he had never heard in his life j for, by his own account, the ideas they convey HISTORY OF ANDREW, io8 convey would be totally iifclefs in the ifland of Barra. No wonder,, therefore, that he was embarrafled; for how could the man, who had hardly a will of his own fince he was born, ima¬ gine he could have one after his death ? How could the perfon, who never pofleffed any thing, conceive that he could extend his new domi¬ nion over this land, even after he fliould be laid in his grave ? For my part, I think An¬ drew's-amazement did. not imply any extraor¬ dinary degree of ignorance; he was an aftor introduced upon a new fcene, it required feme time ere he could reconcile himfelf to the part he was to perform. However, he was foon en¬ lightened, and introduced into thofe myfteries with which we native Americans are but top v/ell acquainted. Here then is honell Andrew, invefted v/ith every municipal advantage they confer j be¬ come a freeholder, poffeffed of a vote, of a place of refidence, a citizen of the province of Pennfylvania. Andrew’s original hopes and the diftant profpefts he had formed in the ifland of Barra, were at the eve of being realized j we therefore can eafily forgive him a few fponta- neous ejaculations, which would be ufelefs to repeat. This fliort tale is eafily tojd 5 few words are fufficient to deferibe this fudden change of Ctuarion; but in his mind it was gradual, and took him above a week before he could be fure, that. THE HEBRIDEAN. 109 that, without difburfing any money, he could pof- fefs lands. Soon after he prepared himfelfj I lent him a barrel of pork, and 200 lb. weight of meal, and made him purchafe what was necelTary befides. He fet out, and hired a room in the houfe of a fettler, who lived the mpft contiguous to his own land. His firft work was to clear fome acres of fwamp, that he might have a fupply of hay the following year for his two horfes and cows. From the firft day he began to work . he was indefatigable; his honefty procured him friends, and his induftry die efteem of his new neighbours. One of them offered him two acres of cleared land, whereon he might plant corn, pompions, fquafhes, and a few potatoes, that very feafon. .It is aftonifhing how quick men v/ill learn when they work for themfelves. I faw with pleafure, two months after, Andrew holding a two-horfe plough, and tracing his furrows quite ftraight: thus the fpade-man of the ifland of Barra was become the tiller of Ameri¬ can foil. Well done, faid I, Andrew, w'ell done 5 I fee that God f|>eeds and direcls your works; I fee profperity delineated in all your furrows and head-lands. Raife this crop of corn with attention and care, and then you ivill be mailer of the art. As he had neither mowing nor reaping to- do tliat year, I told him that the time was come no HISTORY OF ANDREW, to build his houfe; and that, for the purpofe, I would myfelf invite the neighbourhood to a frolic j that thus he would have a large dwell* ing ereSied, and feme upland cleared, in one day. Mr. P. R. his old friend, came at the time appointed, with all his hands, and brought viftuals in plenty; I did the fame. About forty people repaired to the Ijjot; the longs and merry ftories went round the woods from duller to duller, as the people had gathered to tlieir different works; trees fell on all fides; bulhes were cut up and heaped; and, while many were thus employed, others with their teams hauled the big logs to the fpot which Andrew had pitched upon for the ereiftion of his new dwell¬ ing. We all dined in the woods ; in the after¬ noon the logs were placed with Ikids and the ulual contrivances. Thus the rude houfe was raifed, and above two acres of land cut up, cleared, and heaped. Whim all thefe different operations were performing, Andrew was abfolutely incapable of working; it was to him the moll folemn holiday he had ever feen; it would have been lacrilegious in him to have defiled it with me¬ nial labour. Poor man, he fanftified it with joy and thankfgiving, and honell libations !— he went from one to the other with the bottle in his hand, preffmg every body to drink, and drinking himfelf to Ihew tlie example. He fpent THE HEBRIDEAN. m fpent the whole day in fmilingj laughing, and littering monofyllables. His wife and fon were there alfo 5 'but, as they could not underftand the language, their, pleafure muft have been altogether that of the imagination. The power¬ ful lord, the wealthy merchant, on feeing the fuperb manfion finifhed, never can feel half the joy and real happinefs which was felt and enjoyed on that day by this honeft Hebridean, though this new dwelling, ereded in the midll of the woods, was nothing more than a fquare inclofure, compofed of twenty-four large clumfy logs, let in at the ends. When the work was finifhed, the company made the woods refound with the noife of their three cheers, and the honeft vfilhes they formed for Andrew’s profperity. He could fay nothing; but, with thankful tears, he lliook hands with them all. Thus, from the firft day he had landed, Andrew niarched towards this impor¬ tant event: this memorable day made the flin fhine on that land on which he was to fow wheat and other grain. What fwatnp he had cleared lay before his door; the effence of fu¬ ture bread, milk,- and meat, were fcattered all round him. Soon after lie hired a carpenter, wha put on a roof and laid the floors; in a week more the houfe was properly plafter- ed and the chimney finifned. He moved intoitj and piirchafed two cows, wliich found plenty Hi HISTORY OF ANDREW, plenty of food in the woods j his hogs had thd fame-advantage. . That very year, he and his fon lowed three bulhels of wheat, from which he reaped ninety-one and a half j for I had ordered him to keep an exaft account of all he fhould raife. His firft crop of other corn would have been as good, had it not been for the fquirr'els, which were enemies not to be dilperfed by the broad fword. The fourth year I took an inventory of the .wheat this man polTelfed, which I fend you. Soon after, farther fettle- ments were made on that road, and Andrew, inftead of being the laft man towards the wil- dernefs, found himfelf, in a few years, in the middle of a numerous fockty. He helped others as generoufly as others had helped him ; and I have dined many times at his table with feveral of his neighbours. The fecond year he was made overfeer of the road, and ferved on two petty juries, performing as a citizen all the duties required of him. The hiftori- ographer of fome great prince or general does not Bring his hero viftorious, to the end of a fuccefsful campaign, with one half of the heart-felt pleafure with which I have con- dufted Andrew to the fituation he now en¬ joys : he is independent and eafy. Triumph and military honours do not always imply thofe two bieffings. He is unincumbered with debts, fervices, rents, or any other dues: the fucceffes THE HEBRIDEAN. 113 luccefles of a campaign, the laurels of war, mufl; be purchafed at the deareft rate, which makes every cool, refledling, citizen to tremble and Ihudder. By the literal account, hereunto an¬ nexed, you will eafily be made acquainted with the happy efFe£is which conftantly flow, in this country, from fobriety and induftry, when united with good land and freedom. . The account of the property he acquired with his own hands and thofe of his fon, in four years, is as under: Dollars. The value of his improvements and leafe 225 Six cows, at 13 dollars - - - 78 Two breeding mares - - - 50 The reft of the ftock - - 100 Seventy-three bulhels of wheat - 66 Money due to him on notes - - 43 Pork and beef in his cellar - - 28 Wool and flax - - - -19 Ploughs and other utenfils of hulbandry 31 240!. Pennfylvania currency.—Dollars 640 I LETTER DESCRIPTION OP LETTER lYi PESCRIPTION or THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET^ •WITH THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, POLICY, AND TRADE, OF THE INHABITANTS. T he greateft compliment that can be paid to the belt of kings, to the wifeft minif- ters, or the moft patriotic rulers, is to think, that the reformation of political abufes, and the happinefs of their people, are the primary objefts of their attention. But, alas! how difagreeable muft the work of reformation be! how dreaded the operation! for we hear of no amendment: on the contrary, the great num¬ ber of European emigrants, yearly coming over here, informs us, that the feverity of taxes, the injuftice of laivs, the tyranny of the rich, and the oppreffive avarice of the church, are as intolerable as ever. Will thefe cala¬ mities have no end? Are not the great rulers, . of die earth afraid of lofing, by degrees, their moft ufeful fubjefts ? This country, providen¬ tially intended for the general afylum of the world, will fiourilh by the oppreflion of other people j they will every day become better ac¬ quainted with the happinefs we enjoy, and feek for the means of tranlporcing themfelves here,- in Ijiite of aU obftacles and laws. To what purpofe then have fo many ufeful books and 15 ■ N A N T U C K,E T, and divine maxims been tranfmitted to us from preceding ages ?—Are they all vain, all ufelefs ? Mull human nature ever be' the Iporc of the few, and its many wounds remain un¬ healed? How happy are we here, in having fortunately efcaped the miferies which attended our fathers! how thankful ought we to be, that they reared us in a land, where fobriety and induftry never fail to meet with the molt ample rewards! You have, no doubt, read feveral hiftories of this continent; yet there are a thoufand fafts, a thoufand explanations, overlooked. Authors will certainly convey to you a geographical knowledge of this country; they will acquaint you with the teras of the feve¬ ral fettlements, the foundations of our towns, the Ipirit of our different charters, &c. yet they do not fufficiently difclofe the genius of the people, their various cuftoms, their modes of agriculture, the innumerable refources which the induftrious have of railing themfelves to a comfortable and eafy fituation. Few of thefe writers have relided here; and thofe who have had not pervaded every part of the country, nor carefully examined the nature and prin¬ ciples of our affociation. It would be a tallc worthy a fpeculative genius, to enter intimately into the fituation and charafters of the peopls from Nova Scotia to Wefl: Florida; and furely hiftory cannot poflibly prefent any fubjeft I 2 more ii6 DESCRIPTION OF more pleafing to. behold. Senfible how unable I am to lead you through fo vafl: a maze, let us look attentively for fome fmall unnoticed corner; but where lhall we go in queft of fuch an one? Numberlefs lettlements, each diftin- guiflied by fome peculiarities, prefent them- felves on every fide 5 all feem to realize the moft fanguine wilhes that a good man could form for the happinefs of his race. Here they live by fifliing on the moft plentiful coafts in the world; there they fell trees, by the fides of large rivers, for mafts and lumber ; here others convert innumerable logs into the 'belt boards; there again others cultivate the land, rear cattle, and clear large fields. Yet I have a fpot in my view, where none of thefe occupa¬ tions are performed, which wiU, I hope, re¬ ward us for the trouble of infpeftion; but, though it is barren in its foil, infignificant in its extent, inconvenient in its fituation, de¬ prived of materials for building, it feems to have been inhabited merely to prove what mankind can do when happily governed ! Here I can point out to you exertions of the moft fuccefsful induftry; inftances of native fagacity unaffifted by fcience ; the happy fruits of a well- direfted perfeverance. It is always a refrefli- ing Ipeftacle to me, when, in • my review of the various component, parts of this immenfe "^hole, I .obfen^e the -labours of its inhabitants fingularly N A N T U C K E T. Angularly rewarded by nature; when i fee them emerged out of their firft difEculties/ living' with decency and eafe, and conveying to their pofterity that plentiful fubfiftence, which their fathers have fo defervedly earned. But, when their pofterity arifes from the goodnefs of the climate, and fertility of the foil, I partake of their happinefs it is true, yet ftay but a little while with them, as they exhibit nothing but what is natural and common. On the contrary, when I meet with barren fpots fertilized, grafs growing where none grew before; grain ga¬ thered from fields which had hitherto produced nothing better than brambles; dwellings raifed where no building materials were to be found ; wealth acquired by the moft uncommon means : there I paufe, to dwell on the favourite ob- jedi: of my fpeculative inquiries. Willingly do I leave the former to enjoy the odoriferous furrow or their rich vallies, with anxiety repairing to the fpot, where fo many difficulties have been over¬ come; where extraordinary exertions have pro¬ duced extraordinary effedfs, and where every natural obftacle has been removed by a vigorous induftry. I want not to record the annals of the ifland of Nantucket;—its inhabitants have no annals, for they are not a race, of warriors. My fimple wiffi is, to trace them throughout their progreffive fteps, from their, arrival here to I 3 this ii8 DESCRIPTION OF this prefent hour; to enquire by v/hat means they have raifed themfelveSj from the mofl: humble, the moft infignificant, beginnings, to the eafe and the wealth they now poffefs; and to give you fome idea of their cuftoms, religion, rpanners, policy, and mode of living. Tins happy fettlement was not founded on intruGon, forcible entries, or blood, as fo many others have been; it drew its origin from neceflity on the one Gde, and from good will on the others and, ever Gnce, all has been a fcene of uninterrupted harmony. — Neither political nor religious broils, neither dilputes with the natives, nor any other contentions, have in the leaft agitated or difturbed its de¬ tached fociety. Yet the Grft founders knew nothing either of Lycui^s or Solon 5 for this fettlement has not been the work of eminent men or powerful legiGators, forcing nature by the accumulated labours of art. This lingu¬ lar eftablilhment has been effefted by means of that native induftry and perfeverance, com¬ mon to all men, when they are .protedled by a government which demands but little for its protedlions when they are permitted to enjoy a fyftem of rational laws founded on per- fe£l freedom. The mUdnefs and humanity of fuch a government neceffarily implies that confidence which is the fource of the moft arduous undertakings and permanent fuccefs. Would • \ ^ , N A N T U C E T. 119 Would you believe that a fandy fpot, . of about twenty-three thoufand acres, affording neither ftones nor timber, meadows nor arable, yet can boaft of a handfome town confiding of more than 500, houfes, fhould poffefs above 200 fail of veffels, conftantly employ upwards of 2000 feamen, feed more than 15,000 Iheep, 500 cows, 200 horfes, and has feveral citi¬ zens worth 2o,oool. fterling? Yet all thefe facts are uncontroverted. Who would have imagined that any people Ihould have aban¬ doned a fruitful and extenfive continent, filled with the riches which the mod ample vegeta¬ tion affords, replete with good foil, enamelled meadows, rich padures, every kind of timber, and with all other materials neceffary to render life happy and comfortable, to come and inhabit a little fand-bank, to which nature had refufed thofe advantages 5 to dwell on a Ipot where there fcarcely grew a Ihrub to announce, by the budding of its leaves, the arrival of the fpring, and to warn, by their fall, the proxi¬ mity of winter? Had this ifland been conti¬ guous to the fhores of fome ancient monarchy, it would only have been occupied by a few wretched fifhermen, who, opprelfed by poverty, would hardly have been able to purchafe or build little filhing barks; always dreading the weight of taxes, or the fervitude of men of war. Inftead of that boldnefs of fpeculation I 4 for 120 DESCRIPTION OF' for which the inhabitants of this ifland are lb remarkable, they would fearfully have con¬ fined themlelves within the narrow limits of the moil: trifling attempts; timid in tlieir ex- curlions, they never could have extricated themfelvcs from their fii-ft difficulties. This jfland, on the contrary, contains jooo hardy people, who boldly derive their riches from the element that furrounds them, and have been compelled, by the fterility of the foil, to leek abroad for the means of fubfiftence. You muft not imagine, from the recital of thefe fafts, that they enjoyed any exclufive privileges or royal charters, or that they were nurfed by particular immunities, in the infancy of their fettlemcnt. No; their freedom, their Ikill, their probity, and perfeverance, have accom- plilhed every thing, and brought them by de¬ grees, to the rank they now hold. From this firfl; Iketch, I hope that my par¬ tiality to this ifland will be juftified. Perhaps you hardly know that fuch an one exifts in the neighbourhood of Cape Cod, ■V^’'hat has hap¬ pened here has and will happen every where elfe. Give mankind the full rewards of their indufiiy, allow them to enjoy the fruit of their labour under the peaceable lhade of their vines and fig-trees, leave their native aflivity unlhackled and free, like a fair ftream with¬ out dams or other obftacles j the firft will fer¬ tilize NANTUCKET. 121 tiiize the very fand on which they tread, the other exhibit a navigable river, fpreading plenty and cheerfulnefs wherever the declivity of' the ground leads it. If tlrefe people are not famous for tracing the fragrant furrow on the plain, they plough the rougher ocean, they ga¬ ther from its furface, at an immenfe diftance and with Herculean labours, the riches it affords; they go to hunt and catch that huge filh, which, by its ftrength and velocity, one would imagine ought to be beyond the reach of man. This ifland has nothing deferving of notice but its inhabitants; here you meet with neither ancient monuments, fpacious halls, folemn temples, nor elegant dwellings; not a citadel nor any kind of fortification, not even a bat¬ tery to rend the air with its loud peals on any folemn occafion. As for their rural im¬ provements, they are many, but all of the mofl; fimple and ufeful kind. The ifland of Nantucket, a map of which, drawn by Dr. James Tupper, fonof the Iheriff of the ifland, I fend you inclofed, lies in lati¬ tude 41° 10'. 100 miles N. E. from Cape Cod. 27 N. from Hyanes or Barnftable, a town on the moft contiguous part of the great peninfulaj 21 miles W. . by N. from Cape Pog, on the vineyard; 50 W. by N. from Wood’s Hole, on Elizabeth Ifland; 80 miles N. from Bofton; 120 from Rhode-Ifland; 800 S. 122 DESCRIPTION OF 8cx3 S. from Bermudas. A table of references, to the map is added below*. Sherborn is the only town on the ifland, which confifts of about 5JO houfes, that have been framed on the main; they are lathed and plaftered within, handfomely painted and boarded without; each has a cellar underneath,^ built with ftones fetched alfb from the main: they are all of a fimilar confiruftion and appearance; plain and en¬ tirely devoid of exterior -or interior ornament. I obferved but one which was built of bricks, belonging to Mr. —, but like the reft it is. ■unadorned. The town ftands on a rifing fand-bank, on the weft fide of the harbour, which., • References to the 1 Point Coitou. 2 Brand-Point, on which ftands the light-honfe. 3 Eel-Point. 4 Smith-Point. 5 Bitter Eels Creeks. 6 Siafconcet-Track. 7 Sandy-Point. 8 The town, docks, and 9 Shoal - water Lagoon, which fupplies the in¬ habitants with oifters. 10 The Track of Crofskaty. 11 Squam. 12 Long Pond. 13 The Walhing-Pond. 14 Miacomet-Pond. 15 The Bar, nine feet wa- 16 Tetookemah Lots. Map of Nantucket. 17 The Narrow Pond. 18 Quays, a valuable track of land. 19 Sheep-Pafture. 20 The track called Palpus. 21 The fifliing-houfes of Si- afconcet. 22 SnflacacherPond. 23 Crofskaty Pond, full of black ducks. 24 Eaft Pond, famous for brants. 25 The North Pond. 26 Tuckanuck Ifland. 27 South Side Beach. 28 Matacut Harbour. 29 Kapan high Sand Cliffs. 30 The Cliffs. 31 New Town Meadow. 32 Tomine Head, a high ground. NANTUCKET. 123 which is very fafe from all winds. There are, two places of worfhip, one for the fociety of Eriends, the other for that of Prelbyterians j and in the middle of the town, near the market¬ place, ftands a fimple building, which is the county court-houfe. The town regularly afcends toward the country, and in its vicinage they have feveral fmall fields and gardens, yearly ipanured with the dung of their cows and the foil of their ftreets. There are a good many cherry and peach trees planted in their ftreets and in many other places ■, the apple-tree does not thrive well, they have therefore planted .but few. The ifland contains no mountains, yet is very uneven; and the many rifing grounds and eminences, with which it is filled, have formed in the feveral vallies a great variety of fwamps, where the Indian grafs and the blue bent, peculiar to fuch foils, grow with tole¬ rable luxuriancy. Some of the fwamps abound with peat, which ferves the poor inftead of fire-wood. There are fourteen ponds on this ifland, all extremely ufeful, fome lying tranf- yerfely, almoft acrofs it, which greatly help to divide it into partitions for the ufe of their cattle; others abound with peculiar fifh and fea fowls. Their ftreets are not paved, but this is attended with little inconvenience, as it is never crouded with country carriages; and thofe they have in the town are feldom made ufe 124 DESCRIPTION OF tife of but in the time of coming in and be¬ fore the failing of their fleets. At my firlt landing I was much furprized at the 'difagree- able fmeU which ilrack me in many parts of the town; it is caufed by the whale-oil, and is unavoidable; the neatnefs peculiar to thefe' people can neither remove or prevent it. There are near the wharfs a great many ftorehoufes, where there ftaple commodity is depofited, as well as the innumerable materials which are always wanted to repair and fit out fo many whale¬ men. They have three docks, each three hundred feet long, and extremely convenient; at the head of which there are ten.feet of water. Thefe docks are built like thofe in Bofton, of logs fetched from the continent, filled with ftones, and covered with fand. Between thefe docks and the town there is room fufficient for the landing of goods and for the paflage of their numerous carts; for almoft every man here has one: the wharfs, to the north and fouth of the docks, are built of the fame materials, and give a ftranger, at his firft land¬ ing, a high idea of the profperity of thefe people; and there is room around thefe three docks for 300 fail of veflels. When their fleets have been fuccefsful, the buftle and hurry of bufinefs on this fpot, for fome days after their ar¬ rival, would make you imagine, that Sherborn is the capital of a very opulent and large pro¬ vince. NANTUCKET- 125 vince. On that point of land, which forms the weft fide of the harbour, ftands a very neat light-houfe; the oppofite peninfula, called Coitou, fecures it from the moft dangerous winds. There are but few gardens and arable fields in the neighbourhood of the town, for nothing can be more fterile and fandy. than this part of theiflandj they have however witli unwearied perfeverance, by bringing a variety of manure, and by cow-penning, enriched feveral fpots where they raife Indian corn, potatoes, pompions, turnips, &c. On the higheft part of this fandy eminence, four windmills grind the grain they raife to import; and contiguous to them their rope-walk is to be ften, where full half of their cordage is manufadured. Between the Ihores of the harbour, the docks, and the town, there is a moft excellent piece of mea¬ dow, inclofed and manured with fuch coft and pains as ftiew how ncceffary and pre¬ cious grafs is at Nantucket. Towards the point ofShemah theidand is more level and the foil better; and there they have confiderable lots well fenced and richly manured, where they diligently raife their yearly crops. There are but very few farms on this ifland, becaufe there -are but very few fpots that will admit of culti¬ vation without the affiftance of dung and other manure; which is very expenfive to fetch from the main. This ifland was patented, in the 126 DESCRIPTION OF year 1671, by twenty-feven proprietors, undej" the province of New- York; which theti claimed all the iflands from the Neway Sink to Cape Cod. They found it fo univerfally barren, and fo unfit for cultivation, that they mutually agreed not to divide it, as each could neither live on, nor improve, that lot which might fall to his lhare. They then call: their eyes on the fea, and, finding themfelves obliged to be¬ come filhermen, they looked for a harbour; and, having found one, they determined to build a town in its neighbourhood and to dwell to¬ gether. For that purpofe they furveyed as much ground as would afford to each what is generally called here a home-lot. Forty acres were thought fufficient to anfwer this double purpofe; for, to what end fliould they covet more land than they could improve, or even inclofe? not being poflefled of a Angle tree in the whole extent of their new dominion. This was all the territorial property they allotted; the reft they agreed to hold in common ; and, feeing that the fcanty grafs of the illand might feed flieep, they agreed that each pro¬ prietor fliould be entitled to feed on it, if he pleafed, 560 flieep. By this agreement, the national flock was to confift of 15,120; that is, the undivided part of the Ifland was, by fuch means, ideally divifible into as many parts or lhares; to which neverthelefs no certain de¬ terminate • ^ NANTUCKET. terminate quantity of land was affixed: for they knew not how much the ifland contained, nor could the moft judicious , furveyor fix this fmall quota as to quality and quantity. Far¬ ther they agreed, in cafe the grafs fhould grow better by feeding, that then four flieep fhould reprelenta.cow, and two cows a horfe: fuch was the method this wife people took to enjoy in common their new fettlement; fuch was the mode of their firft eftablifhment, which may be truly and literally called a paftoral one. Several hundred of ffieep-pafture titles have fince been divided on thofe different ti-acks, which are now cultivated; the reft by inhe¬ ritance and intermarriages have been fo fub- divided, that it is very common for a girl to have no other portion but her outfet and four fheep-paftures, or the privilege of feeding a cow. But, as this privilege is founded on an ideal though real title to fome unknown piece of land, which one day or another may be afeertained, theje Jheep-faJiure titles fhould convey to your imagination fomething more valuable and of greater credit than the mere advantage arifing from the benefit of a cow, which in that cafe would be no more than a. right of commonage. Whereas here, as labour grows cheaper, as misfortunes from their fea- adventures may' happen, each perfon, poffeffed of a fufficient number of thefe fheep-pafture titles. 128 DESCRIPTION OF tides, may one day realize them on fome pe« culiar fpot, fuch as Ihall be adjudged, by the council of the proprietors, to be adequate to their value; and this is the reafon that thefe people, ve^ unwillingly fell thofe fmall rights, and efteem them more than you would imagine. They are the reprefentation of a future freehold, they cherilh in the mind of the pofleffor a latent, though diftant, hope, that, by his fuccefs in his next whale feafon, he may be able to pitch on fome predilecled fpot, and there build himfelf a home, to which he may retire, and fpend the lat¬ ter end of his days in peace. A council of pro¬ prietors .^ways exifts in this ifland, who decide their territorial differences; their titles are re¬ corded in the books of the county, which this town reprefents, as well as every conveyance of lands and other fales. This ifland furniflies the naturalift with few or no objedts worthy obfervation: it appears to be the uneven fummit of a fandy fubma- rine mountain, covered here and there with forrel, grafs, a few cedar-bulhes, and fcrubby oaks; their fwamps are much more valuable for the peat they contain than for the trifling palture of their furface; thofe declining grounds which lead to the fea-fliores abound with leacb grajs, a light fodder when cut and cured, but very good when fed green. On the eaft fide of the ifland they have feveral tracks M A N T U C K E ,T. t2^ ti'acks of fait gralTes, which, being carefully fenced, yield a conliderable. quantity of that yrholefonle fodder. Among the niany ponds, or lakes, with v/hich this ifland abounds, there are fome which have been made by the in^ trufion of the fea, fuch as Wiwidiah, the Long, the Narrow, and feveral others, confequently thofe are fait and the others frelh. The for¬ mer anlw'er two confiderable purpofes; firft, by enabling them to fertce the ifland v.dth greater facility, at peculiar-high tides a great numbet of filh enter into them, where they feed and grow large, and, at fome known feafons of t!ie year, the inhabitants affcmble and cut down the fmall bars which the waves always throw tip. By thefe eafy means the waters of the pond are let out, and, as the fifh follow their native element, the inhabitants with proper nets catch as many as they want, in their way out, without any other trouble. Thofe which are moft common are the ftrealced bafs, the blue fifti, the tom-cod, the mackarel, the teW-tag, the hei-ring, the flounder, eel, &c. Fifhing is one of the greatefl: diverfions the ifland affords. At the weft end lies the harbour of Mardiket, formed by Smith Point on the foutli-weft, by Eel Point on the north, and fuchanut Ifland on the north-weft, but it is neither fo fafe, nor has it fo good anchoring ground, as that near wiiich the towns ftands. Three linall creeks run into K it,. 130 DESCRIPTION OF it, which yield the bittereft eels I have ever tailed. Between the lots of Palpus on the call, Barry’s Vally and Miacomet pond on the Ibuthj and the narrow pond on the weft, not far from Shema Point, they have a con- fiderable track of even ground, being the leaft fandy and the bell on the iflarid. It is di¬ vided into feven fields, one of which is planted by that part of the community which are en¬ titled to it. This,is called the common plan¬ tation, a -fimple but ufeful expedientj for, were each holder of this track to fence his propertj-, it would require a prodigious quantity of pofts and rails, which you mull remember are to be purchafed and fetched from the main. Inftead of thole private fubdiviftons, each man’s allotment of land is thrown into the general field, which is fenced at the expence of the parties; within it every one does, with his own portion of the ground, whatever he pleafes. This apparent coinmunity faves a veiy material expence, a great deal of labour, and perhaps raifes a fort of • emulation among them, which urges every one to fertilize his {hare with the greateft care' and attention. Thus, every feven years, the whole of this track is under cultivation, and, en¬ riched by manure and-ploughing, yields after¬ wards excellent pafture; to which the town- co’.vs, amounting to 50c, are daily led by the town-fliepherd, and as regularly driven back in the eveningy/There each animal eafily finds the houfe to which it belongs, where they are fure to be well rewarded, for the milk they give, by a prefent of bran, grain, or fome farina¬ ceous preparation; their oeconomy being very great in that refpeft. Thefe are commonly called Tetoukemah lots. You mult not ima¬ gine that every perfon on the ifland is either a land-holder, or concerned in rural operations; no, the greater part are at fea, bufily employed in their different fiflieries; others are mere flrangers, who, come to fettle as handicrafts, mechanics, &c. and, even among the natives, few are poflelfed of determinate ftiares of land ; for, engaged in fea affairs or trade, they are fatisfied with poffeffmg a few flieep-paftures, by means of which they may. have perhaps one or two cows. Many have but one; for, the great number of children they have has caufed fuch fubdivifions of the original proprietorfhip as is fometimes puzzling to trace; and feveral of the moft; fortunate at fea have purchafed and realized a great number of thefe original pafture titles. The bed land on the ifiand is at Palpus, remarkable for nothing but a houfe of enter¬ tainment. Quayes is a fmall but valuable track, long fmce purchafed by Mr. Coffin, where he has erefted the belt houfe on the ifland. By long . attention, proximity of the K 2 fea. DESCRIPTION OP 132 fea, &c. this fertile Ipot has been .well ma¬ nured and is now the garden of Nantucket. Adjoining to it, on the weft ftde, there is a final! Itream, on which they have erefted a fulling- niill; on the eaft fide is the lot, known by the name, of Squam, watered likewife by a fmall rivulet, on which ftands another fulling-mill. Here is a fine loomy foil, producing excellent clover, which is mowed twice a year. Thefe mills prepare all the cloth which is made here; you may eafily Ibppofe that, having fo large a flock of Iheep, they abound in wool j part of ■this they export, and the reft is fpun by their induftrious wives, and converted into fubftan- tial garments. To -the fouth-eaft is a great divifion of the ifland, fenced by itfelf, known fay the name of Siafconcet lot. It is a very uneven track of ground, abounding with livamps j here they turn in their fat cattle, or fuch as they intend to ftall-feed for tlieir win¬ ter’s' provifions. It is on the Ihores of this part of the ifland, near Pochick Rip, where they catch their beft fifli, fuch as fea bafs, tew-tag, or' black fifli, cod, fmelt, perch, ftiadine, pikey.&c. They have erefted a few filhing- houfes on this fliore, as well as at Sankate’s Head, and Suflakatche Beach, where the filher- men dwell in the filhing feafon. Many red cedar bufbes and beach grafs grow on the pe- ninfijla of Coitou; the foil is light and fandy, and NANTUCKET. 133 and ferves as a receptacle for rabbits. It is here that their Iheep find flielter in the fnow- ftorms of the winter. At the north end of Nantucketj there is a long point of land, pro- jefting far into the fea, called Sandy Point; nothing grows on it but plain grafs j and this is the place 'whence they often catch porpoifes and fharks, by a very ingenious method. On this point they commonly drive- their horfes in the fpring of the year, in order to feed -on the grafs it bears, which is ufelefs when arrived at maturity. Between that point and the main ifland they have a valuable fait meadow, called Crolkaty, with a pond of the fame name, famous for black ducks. Hence we mufl: return to Squam, which abounds ^ clover and herds-grafs; thofe who polTefs it follow no mai'itime occupation, and therefore negleft nothing that can render it fertile and profitable. The reft of the undefcrifaed part of the ifland is open, and ferves as a common palhjre for their flieep. To the weft of the ifland is that of Tackanuck, where, in the fpring, their young cattle are driven to feed; it has a, few oak bufhes, and two frelh-water ponds, •abounding with teals, brandts, and many o- ther fea fowls, brought to this ifland by the proximity of their fand-banks and lhallows; where thoufands are feen feeding at low water. Here they have neither wolves nor foxes; thofe K ^ inhabitants DESCRIPTION OF , ^34. inhabitants therefore,, who live out of town, raife with all fecurity as much poultry as they want} their turkeys are very large and excel- .lent. In fummer this climate is extremely pledant; they are not expofed to the fcorching fun of the continent, the heats being tempered by the fea breezes, with which they are perpe- pially refrefhed. In the winter, however, they pay feverely for thofe advantages} it is ex¬ tremely cold} the nprthrwefl: wind, the tyrant of this country, after having efcaped from our mountains and forefts, free from all impedi¬ ment in its fhort paffage, blows with redoubled force, and renders this ifland bleak and uncom¬ fortable. On the other hand, the goodnefs of their houfes, the focial hofpitality of their fire-fides, and their good cheer, make them ample amends for the feverity of the feafon; nor are the fnpws fo deep as on the main. The neceSary and unavoidable inadtivity of that feafon, combined with the vegetative reft of nature, force mankind to fufpend their toils: often, at this feafon, more than half the inhabi¬ tants of the ifland are at fea, fifliing in milder laritudes. This ifland, as has been already hinted, ap- . pears to be the fummit of fome huge fandy mountain, affording fome acres of dry land for the habitation of man} other lijbmarihe ones lie to the fouthward of diis, at different depths NANTUCKET.” 135 depths and different diftances. This dangerous region is well known to 'the mariners by the name of Nantucket Shoals; thefe are the bul¬ warks which fo powerfully defend this ifland from the impulfe of the mighty ocean, and re¬ pel the force of its waves; which, but for the accumulated barriers, would ere now have diffolved its foundations, and torn it in pieces. Thefe are the banks which afforded to the firft inhabitants of Nantucket their daily fub- fiftence, as it was from thefe Ihoals that they drew the origin of that weakh which they now poffefs; and it was the fchool where they firfl: learned how to venture farther, as the fifli of their coaft receded. The fhores of this ifland abound with the foft-fhelled, the hard-fhelled, and the great, fea-clams, a moft nutricious fliell- fifh. Their fands, their fhallows, are covered with them 5 they multiply fo faff, that they are a never-failing refource. Thefe, and the great variety of fifli they catch, conftitute the prin¬ cipal food of the inhabitants. It was likewife that of the aborigines, whom the firfl:. fettlers found here; the pofterity of whom ftill live to¬ gether in decent houfes along the fhores of Miacomet pond, on the fouth fide of the ifland. They are an induftrious, harmlefs, race, as ex¬ pert and as fond of a feafaring life as their fel¬ low inhabitants, the whites. Long before their jirrival they had been' engaged in petty wars K 4 againfh 536 DESCRIPTION OF againft one another j the latter brought them peace, for it was in queft of peace that they abandoned the main, • This ifland was then luppofed to be under the jurifdiffion of New York, as well as the iflands of the Vine-? yard, Elizabeth’s, &c. but have been fince adjudged to be a part of the province of Maf-? fachufet’s Bay, This change of jurifdidlion procured them that peace they wanted, and which their brethren had fo long refufed them in the days of their religious phrenfy: thus have enthufiafm and perfecution, both in Europe as well as here, been the caufc of the moft ar¬ duous undertakings, and the means of diofe rapid fettlements which have been made along thefe extended fea-fliores. This ifland, having been lince incorporated with the neighbouring province, is become one of its counties, known By the name of Nantucket, as well as the ifland of the Vineyard by that of Duke’s County, They enjoy here the fame municipal eftablilh- ment in com.mpn with the reft j and therefore every requinte oiiicer, fuch as flieriff, juftice of the peace, fupervifors, affeflbrs, conftables, overfeers of the poor, &c. Their taxes are proportioned to thofe of the metropolis j they are levied, as v/ith us, by valuations, agreed on and fixed according to the laws of the pro-; vincej and by afiTefiments fomaed by the affef-; foK, who arc yearly chofen by die people, an^ 137 NANTUCKET. whofe.office obliges them to take either an oath pr an afErmation. Two-thirds of the magiftrates they have here, are of the fociety of Friends. Before I enter into the farther detail of this people’s government, induftry, mode of living, &c. I think it necelTary to give you a Ihort Iketch of the political ftate the natives had been in a few years preceding the arrival of the whites among them, They are haftening towards .a total annihilation, and this may be, perhaps, the laft compliment that will ever be paid them by any traveller. They were not extirpated by fraud, violence, or injtJftice, as hath been the cafe in fo many provinces] on the contrary, they have been treated by thefe people as brethren] the peculiar genius of their fedt infpiring them with the fame Ipirit of moderation which was exhibited at Pennfylvania. Before the arrival of the Europeans, they lived pn the fifli of their Ihores ] and it was from the fame refources the firft fettlers were compel¬ led to draw -dieir firft fubfiftence. It is un¬ certain whether the original right of the Earl of Sterling, or that of the Duke of York, was founded on a fair purchafe of the foil or not ; whatever injuftice might have been committed in that refpeft cannot be charged to the ac¬ count of thpfe Friends, who purchafed from Others, who, no doubt, founded their right on Indian grants: and, if their numbers are now fo decreafed. 138 DESCRIPTION -OF decreafed, it muft not be attributed, either to tyranny or violence, but to fome of thofe caufes, which have uninterruptedly produced the fame efiefts from one end of the continent to the other, wherever' both nations have been mixed. This infignificant fpot, like the fea-fhores of the great peninlula, was filled with thefe people; the great plenty of clams, oifters, and other fifh, on which they lived, and which they eaCly caught, had prodigioufly increafed their numbers. Hiftory does not inform us what particular nation the aborigines of Nantucket were of; it is however very probable that they anciendy emigrated from the oppofite coaft, perhaps from the Hyannees, which is but twenty-feven miles diftant. As they then fpoke and Hill fpeak the Nattick, it is reafonable to fiippofe that they muft have had fome affinity with that nation; or elfe that the Nattick, like the Huron, in the north-weftern parts of this continent, muft have been the moft prevailing one in this region. Mr. Elliot, an eminent New England divine, and one of the firft founders of that great colony, tranflated the Bible into this language in the year 1666, which was printed foon after at Cambridge, near Bofton; he tranflated alfo the catechifm, ■and many other ufeful books, which are ftill very common on diis ifland, and are daily made ufe of by thofe Indians who are taught to read. NANTUCKET. 139 The young Europeans learn ic with the fame facility as their own tongues j and ever after fpeak it both with eafe and fluency. Whether the prefent Indians are the defcendants of the an¬ cient natives of the ifland, or whether they arc. the remains of the many different nations which, once inhabited the regions of Mafhpe and Nobf- cuffet, in the peninfula now known by the name of Cape Cod, no one can pofitively tell, not even themfelves. The laft opinion feems to be that of the mofl: fenfible people of the ifland. So prevailing is the difpofition of man to quarrel, and to fhed blood; fo prone is he to divifions and parties; that even the ancient natives of this little fpot were feparated into two communities, inveterately waging.war againft each other, like the more powerful tribes of the continent. What do you imagine was the caufe of this national quarrel ? All the coaff of their ifland equally abounded with the fame quantity of filh and clams j in -that inftance there could be no jealoufy, no motives to an¬ ger ; the country afforded them no game: one would think this ought to 'have been the coun¬ try of harmony and peace. But behold the Angular deftiny of the human kind, ever in¬ ferior, in many inftances, to the more certain .inftinft of animals; among which the indivi¬ duals of the fame fpecies are always friends, though reared in different climates: they under- ftand DESCRIPTION OF 14© ftand the ftme language, they fiied not .each other’s blood, they eat not each other’s fiefli., -That part of thefe rude people, who lived on the eaftern fliores of the ifland, had from time immemorial tried to deftroy thofe who lived on the wefti thofe latter, infpired with the fame evil genius, had not been behind hand in re¬ taliating: thus was a perpetual war fublifting between thefe people, founded on no other reafon but the adventitious place of their na¬ tivity and refidence. In procefs of time both parties, became fo thin and depopulated, that the few who remained, fearing left their race fhould become totally extinft, fortunately thought of an expedient which prevented their entire.annihilation. Some years before the Eu¬ ropeans came, they mutually agreed to fettle -a partition line, which Ihould divide the ifland from north to fouth; the people of the weft agreed not to'kill thofe of the eaft, except they were found tranfgreffing over the weftern part of the line ■, thofe of the laft entered into a re¬ ciprocal agreement. By thefe Ample means peace was eftablilhed among them, and this is the only record which feems to entitle them to the denomination of men. This happy fettle- ment put a ftop to their fanguinary depreda¬ tions j none fell afterward bpt a few ralh im¬ prudent individuals j on the contrary, they multiplied greatly. But another misfortune awaited. NANTUCKET. [41 awaited them; when the Europeans came, they caught the fmall-pox, and their improper' treat¬ ment of that diforder fwept away great num¬ bers: this calamity was fucceeded by the ufe of rum; and thefe are the two principal caufes which fo much diminiflied their numbers, not only here but all over the continent. In fome places whole nations have difappeared. Some years ago, three Indian canoes, on their return to Detroit from the falls of Niagara, unluckily got the fmall-pOx from the Europeans with whom they had traded. It broke out near die long point on lake Erie; there they all perilhed; their canoes, and their goods, were afterwards found by fome travellers journeying the fame way; their dogs were yet alive. Befides the fmall-pox, and the ufe of fpirituous liqiiors, the two greateft curfes they have received from us, there is a fort of phyfical antipathy, which is equally powerful from one end of the conti¬ nent to the other. Wherever they happen to be mixed, or even to live in the neighbour¬ hood of the Europeans, they became expofed to a variety of accidents and misfortunes to which they always fall vifrims; fuch are par¬ ticular fevers, to which they w'ere ftrangers before, and finking into a fingular fort of in¬ dolence and (loth. This has been invari¬ ably the cafe wherever the fame affociation has taken place; as at Nattick, Maflipe, Soc- canqket DESCRIPTION OF I 4 i canoket in the bounds of Falmouth, Nobfcufi fet, Houratonick, Monhaufet, and the Vineyard- Even the Mohawks themfelves, who were once fo populous and fuch renowned warriors, are now reduced to lefs than 200 fince the European fetdements have circumfcribed the territories which their anceftors had referved. Three years before the arrival of the Europeans at Cape Cod, a frightful difteraper had fwept away a great many along its cdafts, which made the landing and intrufion of our forefathers much eafier than it otherwife might have been. In the year 1763, above half of the Indians of this ifland perilhed by a ftrange fever, which the Europeans who nurfed them never caught; they appear to be a race doomed to recede and difappear before the fuperior genius of the Europeans. The only antient cuftom of thefe people that is remembered is, that, in their mu¬ tual exchanges, forty lun-dried clams, ftrung on a ftring, paffed for the value of what might be called a copper. They were flrangers to the ufe and value of wampum, fo well known . to thofe of die main. The few families now remaining are meek and harmlefs; their andent ferocity is gone; they were early chriftianized by the New-England miflionaries, as w^ell as thofe of the Vineyard, and of fe- veral other parts of the Maflachufets; and to this day they remain ftrift obfervers of the laws NANTUCKET. ^ 4-3 laws and cuftoms of that religion, being care¬ fully taught while young. Their fedentary life has led them to this degree of civilization ipuch more effeftually than if they had Hill remained hunters. They are fond of the fea, and expert mariners. They have learned from the Quakers the art of catching both the cod and whale; in confequence of which, five of them always make part of the complement of men requifite to fit out a whale-boat. Many have removed hither from the Vineyard, on which account they are more numerous in Nan¬ tucket than any where elfe. It is ftrange what revolution has happened among them in lefs than two hundred years! What is become of thofe numerous tribes which formerly inhabited the extenfive Ihores of the great Bay of Malfachufets ? even from Numkeag, (Sedetn,) Saugus, (Lynn,) Shawmut, (Bojion,) Pataxet, Napoufet, (Milton,) Matapan, (Dor- chejler,) Wincfimet, (Cheljea,) Poi'alTet, Pokano- ket, (New Plymouth,) Suecanoffet, (Falmouth,) Titicut, (Chatham,) Nobfeuffet, (Yannontb,) Nauflit, f ptyannees, (Barnjlafk,)?icc. and many others who lived on fea-flrores of above three hundred miles in length; without men¬ tioning thofe powerful tribes which once dwelt between the rivers Hudfon, Connefticut, Piffta- laqua, and Kcnnebeck, the Mehikaudret, Mo- higuine, Pequods, Narraganfets, Nianticks,, ■ ' ' • , Maffa- 144 DESCRIPTION OF . MaflachufetSj Wamponougs, Nipnets, Tarra'ii- teens, &c.—They are gone, and every me- morid of them is loft 5 no vefliges what¬ ever are left of thofe fwarms which once inha¬ bited this country, and replenilhed both Tides of the great peninfula of Cape Cod: not even one of the pofterity of the famous Maf- conomeo is left, (the fachem of Cape Ann); not one of the defcendants of Maflafoit, father of Metacomet, and Wamfutta, (Alex¬ ander,) he who firft conveyed fome lands tO the Plymouth Company. They have all dif- appeared either in the wars which the Eu¬ ropeans carried on againlt them, or elfe they have mouldered away, gathered in Tome of their ancient towns, in contempt and oblivion: nothing remains of them all, but one extraor¬ dinary monument, and even this they owe to the intfuftry and religious zeal of the Europeans,. I mean the Bible, tranflated into the Nattick tongue. Many of thefe tribes, giving way to the fuperior power of the whites, retired to their ancient villages, collefting the fcattered re¬ mains of nations once populous; and, in their grant of lands, referved to themfelves and pof¬ terity certain portions, which lay contiguous to them. There, forgetting their ancient man¬ ners, they dwelt in peace; in a few years their territories were furrounded by the improve¬ ments of the Europeans, in confequence of which N A N T U'C K E T. 145 \vhich they grew lazy, inadtive, unwilling, and unapt, to imitate or to follow any of our trades, and, in a few generations, either totally periflied or elfe came over to the Vineyard, or to this ifland, to reunite themfelves with fuch foci- eties of their countrymen as would receive them. Such has been the fate of many nations, once warlike and independent; what we fee now on the main, .or on thofe iflands, may be juftly confidered as the only remains of thofe ancient tribes; might I be permitted to pay, perhaps, a very ufelefs compliment to thofi at lead: who inhabit the great peninfula of Namfct, now Cape Cod, with whofe names and ancient fituation I am well acquainted. This peninfula was divided into two great re¬ gions ; that on the fide of the bay was known by the name of NobfcuflTet, from one of its towns; the capital was called Naufit, (now Eajiham)-, hence the Indians, of that region were called Naufit Indians, though they dwelt in the villages of Pamet, Nolfet, Pafhee, Poto- maket, Soktoowoket, Nobfcuflet, (Yarmouth). The region on the Atlantic fide was called Malhpee, and contained the tribes of Hyan- nees, Coftowet, Waquoit, Scootin, Saconafiet, Maflipee, and Namfet. Several of thefe Indian towns have been fince converted into fiourifli- ing European fettlements, known by different names; for, as the natives were excellent judges L of 146 DESCRIPTION OF of land, which they had fertilized befides with the fhells of their fifli, &c. the latter could not make a better choice; though in general this great peninfula is but a Tandy pine track, a few good fpots excepted. It is divided into feven townfhips, viz. Barnftable, Yarmouth, | Harwich, Chadiam, Eaftham, Pamet, Nam- Tet, or Province-town, at the exti'emity of the Cape. Yet thele are very populous, though : I am at a lofs to conceive on what the inha- 3 bitants live, befides clams, bifters, and fifh; ; their piny lands being the mofl: ungrateful foil j in ^eWorld. The minifter of Namfet, or Pro- : vince-tcwn, receives from the government of i Maffachufet a falary of fifty pounds per annum; and, fuch is the poverty of the inhabitants of that place, that, unable to pay him any money, each mailer of a family is obliged to allow him two hundred horfe feet, (Jea fpin,) with ■which this primitive prieft fertilizes the land of his glebe, which he tills himfelf: for nothing will grow on thefe hungr}r foils with¬ out the afliflance of this extraordinary manure, fourteen bufhels of Indian corn being looked upon as a good crop. But it is time to return from a digfeflion, which I hope you will par¬ don. Nantucket is a great nurfery of Teamen, pilots, coafters, and bank-fifhermen; as a country belonging to the province of Maffa- chufets, ifhas yearly the benefit of a court of Common —.- 147 NANTUCKET; Common Pleas> and their appeal lies to the fupreme court at Bofton. I obferved before, that the Friends compofe two-thirds of the magiftracy of this ifland; thus they are the proprietors, of its territory, and the principal rulers of its inhaibitants; but, with all this ap¬ paratus of law, its coercive powers are feldom wanted or required. Seldom is it that any individual is amerced or punilhed; their jail conveys no terror ; no man has loft his life here judicially lince the foundation of this town, which is upwards of a hundred years. So¬ lemn tribunals, public executions, humiliating punilhments, are altogether unknown. I faw neither governors, nor any pegeantry of ftate; ■neither oftentatious magiftrates, nor any indi¬ viduals clothed with ufelefs dignity; no arti¬ ficial phantoms fubfift here, either civil or re¬ ligious ; no gibbets loaded with guilty citizens offer themfelves to your view; no foldiers are appointed to bayonet their compatriots irito fervile compliance. But how is ■ a Ibciety compofed of 5000 individuals preferved in the bonds of peace and tranquillity ? How are the weak protefted from the ftrong? I will tell you. Idlenefs and poverty,' the' caufes of fo many crimes, are unknown here; each feeks, in the pro'fecution of his lawful buunefs, that honeft gain which fupports them; every period of their time is full, either ' on ' flrdre La or 14$ DESCRIPTION OE or at fea. A probable expeftation of reafon- able profits, or of kindly affiftance, if they fail of fuccefs, renders them, ftrangers to licen¬ tious expedients. The fimplicity of their manners fliortens the catalogue of their wants; the law at a diftance is ever ready to exert itfelf in the proteftion of thofe who ftand in need of its affiftance. The greateft part of them are always at fea, purfuing the whale, or raifing the cod from the furface of the banks; fome cultivate their little fanns with the ut- mbft diligence; fome are employed in exerci- fing various trades; others again in providing every neceffary refource in order to refit their veffels or repair what misfortunes may happen, looking out for future markets, &c. Such ^ is the rotation of thofe different fcenes of bu- finels which fill the meafure of their days, of that part of their lives, at ieaft, which is en¬ livened by health, fpirits, and vigour. It is but feldom that vice grows on a barren fand like this, which produces nothing without ex¬ treme labour. How could the common follies of fociety take root in fo delpicable a foil ? they generally thrive on its exuberant juices; here there are none but thofe which admi- nifter to the ufeful, to the necefiary, and to the indifpenfable, comforts of life. This land muft neceffarily either produce health, tempe¬ rance, and a great equality of conditions, Or the moft NANTUCKET. moft abjeft mifeiy. Could the manners of lux¬ urious countries be imported' here, like an epi¬ demical diforder they would deftroy every thing; the majority of them could not exift a month, they would be obliged to emigrate. As in all focieties, except that of the natives, fome dif¬ ference muft neceffarily exifi: between indivi¬ dual and individual, (for there muft be fome more exalted than the reft either by their riches or their talents,) fo in this, there are what you might call the high, the middling, and the low; and this difference will always be more re¬ markable among people who live by fea-ex- curfions than among thofe who live by the cultivation of their land. The firft run greater hazard, and adventure more; the profits and the misfortunes attending this mode of life muft neceffarily introduce a greater - difparity than among the latter, where the equal divifion of the land offers no ftiort road to fuperior riches. The only difference that may arife among them is that of induftiy, and perhaps of fuperior goodnefs of foil: the gradations, I obferved here, are founded on nothing more than the good or ill fuccefs of their maritime enterprifes, and do not proceed from education; that is the fame throughout every clafs; fimple, ufeful, and unadorned, like their drefs and their houfes. This neceffary difference in their fortunes not however caufe thofe' heart-burnings, L 3 which does EDUCATION, &c. 150 •which in other focieties generate crimes. The fea, -which furrounds them, is equally open to all, and prefents to all an equal title to the chance of good fortune. A cplledtor from Bofton is the only king’s ofhcer -who appears on thefe Ihores to receive the trifling duties •which this community owe to thofe who pro- teS: them, and under the fliadow of v/hofe wings they navigate to all parts of the worid, LETTER V. CUSTOMARY EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT OF THE INHABITANTS OF NANTUCKET. T he eafieft way of becoming acquainted with the modes of thinking, the rules of Gohduft, and the prevailing manners of any people, is to examine what fort of education they give their children j how they treat them at home, and what they are taught in their places of public worfliip. At home their tender minds muft be early {truck with the gra¬ vity, the ferious though cheerful deportment, of their parents; they are inured to a principle of fubordination, arifing neither from fudden paflions nor inconfiderate pleafure; they are gently holden by an uniform filk cord, which unites AT NANTUCKET. 151 unites foftnefs and ftrength. A perfeft equani¬ mity prevails in moil: of their families^ and bad example hardly ever fows in their hearts the feeds of future and fimilar faults. They are corredted with tendernefs, nurfed with the moft affeftionate care, clad with that decent plain- nefs, from which they o'bferve their parents never to depart; in fhort, by the force of ex¬ ample, which is fuperior even to the ftrongeft inftinft of nature, more than by precepts, they learn to follow the fteps of their parents, to de- fpife oftentatioufnefs as being finful. They ac¬ quire a tafte for that neatnefs for which their fathers are fo confpicuous; they learn to be prudent and having; the very tone of voice, with which they are always addreffed, efta- blilhes in them that foftnefs of didlion, which ever after becomes habitual. Frugal,' fober, orderly, parents, attached to their buftnefs, conftantly following fome ufeful occupation, never guilty of riot, diflipation, or other irre¬ gularities, cannot fail of training up children to the fame uniformity of life and manners. If they are left with fortunes, they are taught how to fave them, and how to enjoy them with moderation and decency; if they have none, they know how to venture, how to work, and toil, as their fathers have done before them. If they fail of fuccefs, there are always in this ifland (and wherever this fociety prevails) L 4 eftablilhed iji EDUCATION, &c. cftabliflied refources, founded on the moft be¬ nevolent principles. At their meetings they are taught the few, the fimple, tenets of their feet; tenets, as fit to render men fober, induf- trious, juft, and merciful, as thofe delivered in the moft magnificent churches and cathe¬ drals: they are inftrufted in the moft eflential duties of Chriftianity, fo as not to offend the Divinity by the commiflion of evil deeds; to dread his wrath, and the punifhments he ha? denounced; they are taught at the fame time to have a proper confidence in his mercy, while they deprecate his juftice. As every feft, from their different modes of worfhip, and their different interpretations of feme parts of the Scriptures, neceffarily have various opinions and prejudices, which contribute fomething in forming their charafteriftics in fociety, fo thofe of the Friends are well known: obedience to the laws, even to non-refiftance, juftice, good- • will to all, benevolence at home, fobriety, meeknefs, neatnefs, love of order, fondnefs and appetite for commerce. They are as re¬ markable here for thofe virtues as at Philadel¬ phia, which is their American cradle, and the boaft of that fociety. At fchool they learn to read, and write a good hand, until they are twelve years old; they are then in general put apprentices to die cooper’s trade, which is the fecond effendal branch of bufinefs followed here; AT NANTUCKET. 153 here; at fourteen they are fent. to fea, where in their kifure hours their companions teach them the art of navigation, which they have an opportunity of praftifing on the ipot. They learn the great and ufeful art of working a Ihip in all the different fituations which the fea and wind fo often require; and furely there cannot be a better or a more ufeful fchool of that kind in the world. They then go gradually through every flation of rowers, fteerfmen, and harpooners; thus they learn to attack, to pur- fue, to overtake, to cut, to drefs, their huge game: and, after having performed feveral fuch voyages, and perfefted themfelves in this buli- nefs, they are fit either for the counting-houfe or the chafe. The firft proprietors of this ifland, or rather the firft founders of this town, began their career of induftry with a Angle whale-boat, with which they went to fifh for cod; the fmall diftance from their fltores, at v/hich they caught it, enabled them foon to increafe their bufmefs, and thofe early fucceffes firft led them to conceive that they might likewife catch the whales, which hitherto fported undifturbed on their banks. After many trials, and feveral mifcarriages, they fucceededj thus they proceeded, ftep by ftep; the profits of one fuccefsful enterprize helped them to purchafe and prepare better materials for a more extenfive one: as thefe were at¬ tended EDUCATION, &c, 154 - tended -with little cofts, their profits grew ^eater. The fouth fides of the ifland, from eaft to weft, were divided into four equal parts, and each part was affigned to a com¬ pany of fix, which, though thus fepara.ted, ftill carried on their bufinefs m common. In the middle of this diftance they erefted a niaft, provided with a fufficient number of rounds, and near it they built a temporary hut, where five of the aiTociates lived, whilft the fixth from his high ftation carefully looked toward the fea, in order to obferve the fpouting of the whales. As foon as any were difeovered, the centinel defeended, the whale-boat was launched, and the company v/ent forth in queft of their game. It may appear ftrange to you, that fo flender a vefiel as an American whale- loat, containing fix diminutive beings, fiiould dare to purfue and to attack, in its native ele¬ ment, the largeft and ftrongeft fifti that nature has created. Yet, by the exertions of an admi¬ rable dexterity, improved by a long praftice, in which thefe people are become fuperior to any other whale-men, by knowing the temper of the whale after her firft movement, and by many other ufeful obfervarions, drey feldom failed to harpoon it, and to bring the huge leviathan on the Ihores. Thus they went on, until the profits they made enabled them to purchafe larger veffels, and to purfue them far¬ ther. at NANTUCKET. '55 ther, when the whales quitted their coafts; thofe, who failed in their enterprizes, returned to the cod-fiflieries, which had been their firfl; fchool, and their firfl; refource 5 they even began to vifit the banks of Cape Breton, the ifle of Sable, and all the other fifhing-places, with which this coafl; of America abounds.. By degrees they went a whaling to Newfoundland, to the Gulph of St. Laurence, to the Straits of Belleifle, the coafl; of Labrador, Davis’s Straits, even to Cape Defolation, in yo° of latitudes where the Danes carry on fomc fifneries in fpite of the perpetual feverities of that inhofpitable climate. In procefs of time they vifited the weftern iflands, the latitude of 34°, famous for that fifh, the Brazils, the coafl of Guinea. Would you believe that they have already gone to the Falkland Iflands, and that I have heard feveral of them talk of going to the South Sea! Their confidence is fo great, and their knowledge of this branch of bufi- nefs fo .fuperior to that of any other people, tlrat they have acquired a monopoly of this commodity. Such were their feeble be¬ ginnings, fuch the infancy and the progrefs of their maritime fchemes; fuch is now the degree of boldnefs and aftivity to which they are arrived in their manhood. After their ex¬ amples feveral companies have been formed in many of our capitals, where every neceffary article iS6 EDUCATION, &c. artfcle of provifions, implements, and timber, are to be found. But the induftry, exerted by the people of Nantucket, hath hitherto enabled them to rival all their competitors j confe- quently this is the greateft mart for oil, ■whale¬ bone, and fperma-ceti, on the continent. It does not follow however that they are always fuc- cefsful; this would be an extraordinar}' field indeed, v/here the crops Ihould never fail; many voyages do not repay the original coft of fitting out: they bear fnch misfortunes like true merchants, and, as they never venture their all like gamefters, they try their fortunes again j the latter hope to win by chance alone, the former by induftry, well-judged fpeculation, and fome hazard. I was there when Mr. ——- had miffed one of his veffels; Ihe had been given over for loft by everybody, but happily arrived, before I came away, after an abfence of thirteen months. She had met with a va¬ riety of difappointments on the. ftation Ihe was ordered to, and, rather than return empty, the people fteered for the coaft of Guinea, where they fortunately fell in with feveral whales, and brought home upward of 600 barrels of oil, befide bone. Thofe returns are fome- times difpofed of in the towns of the continent, where they are exchanged for fuch commodities as are wanted; but they are moft commonly fent to England, where they always fell for calh. AT NANTUCKET. U7 cafli. When this is intended, a veffel larger than the reft is fitted out to be filled with oil on the fpot where it is found and made, and thence Ihe fails immediately for London. This expedient faves time, freight, and ex¬ pence; and from that capital they bring back whatever they want. They employ alfo feve- ral veffels in tranfporting lumber to the Weft- Indian Iflands, from whence they procure in return the various produftions of the country, which they afterwards exchange wherever they can hear of an advantageous market. Being extremely acute, they well know how to im¬ prove all the advantages which the combina¬ tion of fo many branches of bufmefs conftantly affords; the fpirit of commerce, which is the Ample art of a reciprocal fupply of wants, is well underftood here by every body. They poffefs, like the generality of the Americans, a large fhare of native penetration, aclivity, and good fenfe, which leads them to a variety of ocher fecondary fchemes too tedious to men¬ tion ; they are well acquainted with the cheapeft method of procuring lumber from Kcnnebeck River, Penobfcot, &c. pitch and tar, from North Carolina; flour and bifcuit, from Phi¬ ladelphia; beef and pork, from Connefticut. They know how to exchange their cod-filh, and Weft-Indian produce, for thofe articles which they are continually either bringing to their ifiand, 15S NANTUCKET. ifland, or lending off to other places where they are wanted. By means of all thefe com¬ mercial negotiations, they have greatly cheap¬ ened the fitting out of their whaling Seets, and therefore much improved their filheries. They are Indebted for all thefe advantages, not only to their national genius but to the poverty of their foil; and, as a proof of what I have lb often advanced, look at the, Vineyardi (their neighbouring iQand,) which is inhabited by a let of people as keen and as fagadous as them- felves. Their foil being in general extremely fertile, they have fewer navigators; though they are equally well finiated for the fifhing-bulinefs. As, in my way back to Falmouth on the Main, I vifited this lifter ifland, permit tne to give you, as concifely as 1 can, a Ihort but true de- feription Of it; I am not fo limited in the principal objeft of this journey as to wifh to confine myfelf to the fingle fpot of Nantucket. LETTER MARTHA’S VINEYARU. 1-59 LETTER VI. DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND OF MAR-THa’s VINEYARD; AND OF THE WHALE-FISHERY. . T his iOand is twenty miles'in length, and from feveh to eight miles in breadth, as you may fee by the annexed map.* It lies nine miles from the continent, and, with the Elizabeth Iflands, forms one of the counties 'o'f Maffachufet’s Bay, knov/n by the name of Duke’s County. Thofe latter, which are fix in number, are about nine miles diftarit from the Vineyard, and are all famous for’excellent dairies. A good ferry is efliabliflied between Edgar Town and Falmouth on the main, the diftance being nine miles. Martha’s Vineyard is divided into three townfliips, viz. Edgar, 'Chilmark, and Tilbury; the number of inha¬ bitants is computed at about 4000, 300 of which * References to the Map of Martha’s Vineyard. 1 Sta:rbuck Point. ■ 2 . Beniah Norton’s houfc, the colonel of the illand. 3 Thehoufeof James Athcarn, Efq. i6o DESCRIPTION OF wKich are Indians. Edgar is the beft fea-porf,- and the Ihire-town, and, as its foil is light and landy, many of its inhabitants follow the ex¬ ample of the people of Nantucket. The town of Chilmark has no good harbour, but the land is excellent and no way inferior to any on the continent; it contains excellent paftures, convenient brooks for mills. Hone for fencing, &c. The town of Tilbury is remarkable for the excellence of its timber, and has a har¬ bour where die water is deep enough for lliips of the line. . The flock of the ifland is 20000 fheep, acxx) neat cattle, belides horfes and goats; they have alfo fome deer, and abundance of lea-fowls. This has been from the beginning, and is to this day, the principal feminary of the Indians; they live on that part of the ifland which is called Chapoquidick, and were very early chriftianifed by the relpeftable family of the Mahews, the firft proprietors of it. The firft fettler of that name conveyed by will to a fa¬ vourite daughter a certain part of it, on which there grew many wild vines; thence it was called Martha’s Vineyard, after her name, which, in procefs of time, extended to the whole ifland. The poflerity of the ancient aborigines remain here, to this day, on lands which their forefathers referved for themfelves, and which are, religioully kept from any inr croachments. The New-England people are remarkable. MARTHA’S VINETARD. i6t remarkable for the honeft-/ with which they have fulfilledj all over, that province, thofe antient covenants which in many others have been' difregarded, to the fcandal of thofe go¬ vernments. ■ The Indians there appeared^ by the decency of their manners, their induftry, and neatnefs, to be wholly Europeans, and no way inferior to many of the inhabitants. Like them they are fober, laborious, and religious, which are the principal charafteriftics of the four New-England provinces. They often go, like the young men of the 'Vineyard, to Nan¬ tucket, and hire themfelves for wlralemen or filhermen; and indeed their ikill and dexterity in all fea affairs is notliing inferior to that of the whites. The latter are divided into two claffes; the firft occupy the land, which they till with admirable care and knowledge; the fecond, who are poffeffed of none, apply them- felves to the fea, the general refource of man¬ kind in this part of the world. This ifland therefore, like Nantucket, is become a great nurfery, which fupplies with pilots and fearnen tlie numerous coafters with which this extended part of America abounds. Go where you will, fi-om Nova Scoria to the Miffinppi, you will find almoft every v/here fome natives of thefe two iflands employed in leaianng occupations. Their climate is fo favourable to population, that marriage is the objeS; of every man’s M earlieit i 62 AC'COUNt OF THE earliefl: wilhj and it is-a blefling fo eafrly ebtained, that great numbers are obliged to quit their native land and go to fome other countries in queft of fubfiftence. The inhabi¬ tants are all- Frefbyterians,- which is the efta- blilhed religion of Maflaehufets; and here let me remember, with gratitude, the holpitable- treatment I received from Bv Norton, Efq. the colonel of the ifland, as well as from Dr, Mahesv, the lineal defcendant of the firft pro¬ prietor. Here are to be found the moll; ex¬ pert pilots, either for the great bay, their -found, Nantucket fhoals, or the different ports •in their neighbourhood. In ftormy weather they are always at fea, looking out for yeffels, which they board with lingular dexterity, and hardly ever fail- to bring fafe to their in¬ tended harbour. Gay-Head, die weftern point of this ifland, abounds with a variety of ochres of different colours, with which the inhabi¬ tants paint their houfes. The veffels mofi: proper for whale fifhing arc brigs of about 150 tons burthen, particularly when they are intended for diflrant latitudes; they always man them with thirteen hands, in order that they may row two whale-boats; the crews of which, mufl; necelTarily confifl: of fix, four at the oars, one ftanding on the bows with the harpoon, and the other at the helm. It is alfo neceflary that there fliould be two of . thefs WHALE FISHERY. 163 theie boatSi that, if one fliould be deftroyed in attacking the whale, the other, which is never engaged at the fame time, may be ready to fave the hands. Five of the thirteen are al¬ ways Indians j the laft of the complement re¬ mains on-board to fteer the veffel during the aftion. They have no wages j each draws a certain eftablilhed fhare in partnerfhip w'ith the proprietor of the veffel; by which cEconomy they are all proportionably concerned in the fuccefs of the • enterprife, and all equally alert and vigilant; None of thefe whale-men ever exceed the age of forty: they look on thofe who are pall; that period not to be poffeffed of all that vigour and agility which fo adventurous a bufihefs requires. Indeed if you attentively confider the immenfe difproportion between the objedb affailed and the affailants; if you think on the diminutive fize and weaknefs of their frail vehicle i if you recolleft the treachery of the element on which this fcene is tranfacted; the fudde'n and unforefeen accidents of winds, &c. you will readily acknowledge, that it mull require the moft confummate exertion of ail the ftrength, agility, and judgement, of which the bodies and the minds of men are capable, to undertake thefe adventurous encounters. As foon as they arrive in thofe latitudes where they expeft to meet with whales, a man is fent up to the mafc-head; if he fees one, he i 64 account of TH£ immediately cries out awaite pawana, hen is a ■whale ; they all remain ftill and filent un¬ til he repeats pawana, a whale, v/hen in lefs than fix minutes the two boats are launched, filled with every implement necelTary for the attack. They row toward the whale with aftonifliing velocity; and, as the Indians early became their fellow-labourers in this new war¬ fare, you can eafily conceive how the Nat- tick expreflions became familiar on-board the whale-boats. Formerly it often happened that whale-veflels were manned with none but In¬ dians and the mafter; recoiled alfo that the Nantucket people underftand the Nattick, and and that there are always five of thefe people on¬ board. There are various ways of approaching the whale, according to tiieir peculiar fpecies; and tills previous knowledge is of the utmoft confequence. When thefe boats are arrived at a reafonable diftance, one of them refts on its oars and ftands ofi", as a witnefs of the ap¬ proaching engagement; near the bows of the . other the harpooner ftands up, and on him principally depends the fuccefs of the enter- prife. He wears a jacket clofely buttoned, and round his head a handkerchief rightly bound; in his hands he holds the dreadful weapon, made of the belt fteel, marked fometimes with the name of dieir town, and fometimes with that of their vefiel; to the {haft of which the end WHALE FISHERY. 165 ■end of a cord of due ftrength, coiled up with the utmoft care in the middle of the boat, is firmly tied ■, the other end is fattened to the bottom of the boat. Thus prepared, they row in profound filence, leaving the whole con- duft of the enterprife to the harpooner and to the fteerfman, attentively following their di- re(ttions. When the former judges himfelf to be near enough to the whale, that is, at the dittance of about fifteen feet, he bids them ftop: perhaps fhe has a calf, whofe fafety at- trafts all the attention of the dam, which is a favourable circumttance; perhaps Ihe is of a dangerous fpecies, and it is fafeft to retire, though their ardour will feldom permit them; perhaps flie is afleep, in that cafe he balances high the harpoon, trying in this important moment to colleft all the energy of which he is capable. He launches it forth—flie is ftruck; from her firtt movement they judge of her temper as well as of their future fuc- cefs. Sometimes, in the immediate impulfe of rage, Ihe will attack the boat, and demolifh it with one ttroke of her tail: in an inttant the frail vehicle difappears, and the alTailants are immerfed in the dreadful element. Were the whale armed with the jaws of the iliark, and as voracious, they never would return home to amufe their littening wives with the interefting tale of the adventure. At other times flie will M 3 dive i66 ACCOUNT OF THE dive and difappear from human fight; and every¬ thing muft then give -way to her velocity, or elfe all is loft. Sometimes flie -will fwim away as if untouched, and draw the cord with fuch fwiftnefs that it -will fet the edge of the boat on fire by the fridtion. If flie rifes before fhe has run out the whole length, fhe is looked upon as a fure prey. The Wood fhe has loft in her flight weakens her fo much, that, if fhe finks again, it is but for a fhort time; the boat follows her courfe with an almoft equd fpeed, She foon re-appears; tired at laft with conyul- fing the element, which fhe tinges wkh her blood, fhe dies, and floats on the furface. At other times it may happen that fhe is not dangeroufly wounded, though fhe carries the harpoon fall in her body j when fhe -will alter¬ nately dive and rife, and fwim on with uot abated vigour. She then foon reaches beyond the length of the cord, and carries the boat along with amazing velocity: this fudden imr pediment fometimes will retard her fpeed, at other times it only ferves to roufe her anger and to accelerate her progrefs. The harpooner, with the axe in his hands, ftands ready. When he obferves that the bows of the boat are greatly pulled down by the diving whale, and that it begins to fink deep and to take much water, he brings the axe almoft in contadt with the cord; he paufes, ftill flattering himfelf that fhe will WHALE FISHERY. 167 wHl relax 3 but the ' moment grows critkali ■unavoidable danger approaches:' ., fometimes men, more intent on gain than , on the prefer- vation of their lives, will run great rilks; and it is wonderful how far thefe people have carried their daring courage at this, awful, moment! But it is vain to hope, their lives muft be faved, the cord is cut, the boat rifes again. Ifi after thus getting loofe, flie, re-appears, they will attack and wound her fecond time. She foon dies, and, when dead, Ihe is towed along-lide of their velTel, where fhe is fattened. The next operation is to cut,, with axes and fpades, every part of her body- which yields oil 5 the kettles are fet a boiling, they fill their barrels as fatt as it is made 3 but, as this operation is much flower than that of cut- iing-uf, they fill the hold of their fhip with thofe fragments, lett a ttorm fliould arife and oblige .them to abandon their prize. It is attonifhing what a quantity of oil fome of thefe filh will yield, and what profit it affords to thofe who are fortunate enough to overt-alce them! The river St. Laurence whale, which is the only one I am well acquainted with, is feventy.-fi.ve feet long, fixteen deep, twelve in the length of its bone, wliich commonly weighs 3000 lb. twenty in the breadth of their tails, and produces 180 barrels of oil: I once faw j,6 boiled out of the tongue only. After M 4 having i68 ACCOUNT OF THE having once vanquilhed this leviathan, there are two enemies to be dreaded befide the wind j the firfl: of which is the lhark: that fierce voracious' -fifli, ‘ to which nature has given fuch dreadful oSenfive weapons; often comes along-^ fide, and, in fpite of the people’s endeavours, will lhare with them in their prey; at night particularly. They are very mifehievious, but the fecond enemy is much more terrible and irrefiftible;' it, is the killer, fometimes called the thralher, a fpecies of whales about thirty feet long. They are pofTelTed of fuch a degree of agility and fi.ercenefs as often to attack the largeft fpermaceti whales, and not feldom to rob the fifliermen of their prey; nor are there any means of defence againft fo potent an advetT fary. When all: heir barrels are full, (for every thing is done at fea,) or when their limited time is expired and their ftores almoft expended, they. return home, freighted with their valuable cargo; unlefs they have put it on-board a velTel for the European market., Such are, as briefly as I can relate them, the different branches of the ceepnomy practifed by thefe bold navigators, and the method with which they go fuch dif- tances from their ifland to catch this huge game. The following are the names and principal characteriftics of the various fpecies of whales known to thefe people; The WHALE FISHERY. 169 The river St. Laurence whale juft defcribed. The difko, or Greenland ditto, The right whale, or feven feet bone, com- nnon on the coafts of this country, about fixty feet long. The fpermaceti-whale, found all over the world, and of all fizes ; the longeft are fixty feet, and yield about 100 barrels of oil. The hump-backs, on the coaft of Newfound¬ land, from forty to feventy feet in length. The fin-back, an American whale, never kil¬ led, as being too fwift. The fulphur-bottom, river St. Laurence, ninety feet long; they are but feldom killed, as being extremely fwift. The grampus, thirty feet long, never killed on the fame account. The killer or thraflier, about thirty feet, they often kill the other whales with which they ai'c at perpetual war. The black-filh whale, twenty feet, yields from 8 to 10 barrels. The porpoife, weighing about 160 lb. In 1769 they fitted out 125 whalemen; the firft 50 that returned brought with them iiooo barrels of oil. In 1770 they fitted out 135 veffels for the fiftieries, at thirteen hands each; 4 Weft-Indiamen, twelve hands; 25 wood veffels, four hands; 18 coafters, five hands; London traders, eleven hands. All thefc amount 170 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS amount ta 2158 hands, employed in 197 veflels. Trace their progreffive fteps between the poffeflion of a few whale-boats and that of fuch a fleet I The moral conduft, prejudices, and cufl:oms, of a people, who live mo-thirds of their time at fea, muft naturally be very different from thofe of their neighbours, who live by culti-r vating the earth. That long abftemioufnels to which the former are expofed, the breathing of faline air, the frequent repetitions of danger, the boldnefs acquired in furmounting them, the very impulfe of the winds, to which they are expofed; aU thefe, one would imagine, iriufl: lead them, when on fliore, to no fmall defire. of inebriation, and a more eager purfuit of thofe plealures, of which they have been fo long deprived, and which they muft foon forego. There are many appetites that may be gratified on fliore, even by the pooreft man, but which muft remain unfatisfied at fea. Yet, notwithr- ftanding the powerful effefts of all thefe caufes, I obferve here, at the return of their fleets, no material irregularities; no tumultuous drinking affemblies: whereas, in our conti¬ nental towns, the thoughtlefs feaman indulges himfelf in the coarfeft pleafures; and, vainly thinking that a week of debauchery can com- penfate for months of abftinence, fooliflily laviflies, inafewdaysof intoxication, the fruits of halt a year’s labour. On the contrary, all AT NANTUCKET. 171 was peace here, and a general decency pre¬ vailed throughout; the reafon, I believe, is, diat almofl; every body here is married, for they get wives very young; and the pleafure of returning to their families abforbs every other defire. The motives, that lead them to the fea, are very different from thofe of moll; other fea-faring men; it is neither idlenefs nor profligacy that fends them to that element; it js a fettled plan of life, a well-founded hope of earning a livelihood; it is becaufe their foil is bad that they are early initiated to this profefTion, and, were they to flay at home, what could they do ? The fea therefore becomes to them a kind of patrimony; they go to wha¬ ling with as much pleafure and tranquil indif¬ ference, with as ftrong an expeftation of fuc- cefs, as a landman undertakes to clear a piece of fwamp. The firft is obliged to advance his time and labour to procure oil on the fur- face of the fea; the fecond advances the fame to procure himfelf grafs from grounds that produced nothing before but halTocks and bogs. Among thofe who do not ufe the fea, I obferved the fame calm appearance as among the inhabitants on the continent; here I found, without gloom, a decorum and referve, fo natural to them, that I thought myfelf. in Philadelphia. At my landing I was cordially received by thofe to whom I was recommended, and 172 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS and treated with unafFeiSed holpitality by fnch others with whom I became acquainted j and I can tell you, that it is impofiible for any traveller to dwell here one month without knowing the heads of the principal families. Wherever I went' I found limplicity of didlion and manners, rather more primitive and rigid than I expefted; and I foon perceived that it proceeded from their fecluded fituation, which has prevented them from mixing v/ith others. It is therefore ealy to conceive how they have retained every degree of peculiarity for which this fedb was formerly diftinguiflied. Never was a bee-hive more faithfully employed in gathering wax, bee-bread, and honey, from all the neighbouring fields, than are the members of this fociety; every one in the town follows Ibme particular occupation with great diligence, but without that fervility of labour which I am informed prevails in Europe. The me¬ chanic feemed to be defcended from as good parentage, was as well dreffed and fed, and held' in as much eftimation, as thofe who em¬ ployed him; they were once nearly related; their different degrees of profperity is what has caufed the various fliades of their community. But this accidental difference has introduced, as yet, neither arrogance nor pride on the one part, nor meannefs and fervility on the other. All their houfes are neat, convenient, and com¬ fortable 5 AT NANTUCKET 173 fortable : fome of them are filled with two fa¬ milies j for, when the hufbands are at fea, the wives require lefs houfe-room. They all abound with the moft fubftantial furniture, more valuable from its ufefulnefs than from any ornamental appearance. Wherever I went, I found good cheer, a welcome reception; and after the fecond vifit I felt myfelf as much at my eafe as if I had been an old acquaintance of the family. They had as great plenty of every thing as if their ifland had been part of the golden quarter of Virginia, (a valuable track of land on Cape Charles): I could hardly perfuade myfelf that I had quitted the adjacent continent, where every thing abounds, and that I was on a barren fand-bank, fertilized with whale-oil only. As their rural improvements are but trifling,- and only of the ufeful kind, and as the beft of them are at a confiderable diftance from the town, I amufed myfelf for feveral days in converfing with the moll intel¬ ligent of the inhabitants of both fexes, and making myfelf acquainted with the various branches of their induftry, the diflerent objefts of their trade, the nature of that fagacity, which, deprived as they are of every neceflary mate¬ rial, produce, &c.^ yet enables them to flourilli, to live well, and fometimes to make confide¬ rable fortunes. The whole is an enigma to be folved only by coming to the fpot and obferving the 174 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS the national genius which the original founders brought with them, as well as their unwearied patience and perfeverance^ They have all, from the higheft to the loweft, a lingular Iceen- nels of judgement, unaflifted by any academical light; they ail poffefs a large lliare of good fenfe, improved upon the experience of their fathers; and this is the fureft and beft guide to lead us through the path of life, becaufe it ap¬ proaches neareft to the infallibility of inftinfb. Shining talents and Univerlity knowledge' would be entirely ufelefs here, nay, would be dangerous; it would pervert their plain judge¬ ment, it would lead them out of that ufeful path which is fo well adapted to their lituation i it would make them more adventurous, more prefumptuous, much lefs cautious, and there¬ fore lei's fuccefsful. It is pleating to hear fome of them tracing a father’s progrefs and their own through the different viciflltudes of good and adverfe fortune. I have often, by their fire-fides, travelled with them the whole length of their career, from their earlielt fteps, ’ from their firll commercial adventure, from the' poffeliion of a fi.ngle whale-boat, up to that of a dozen large veffels! This does not imply, however, that every one, who began with a whale-boat, has afcended to a like pitch of fortune; by no means; the fame cafualty, the fame combination of good and evil which at¬ tends- AT NANTUCKET. 175 tends human affairs in every other part of the globe, prevails here: great prolperity is not the lot of every man, but there are many and vari¬ ous gradations ■, if they all do not attain riches, they all attain an eafy fubfiftence. After all, is it not better to be poffeffed of a fingle whale¬ boat, or a, few Iheep-paftures; to live free and independent under the mildeft government, in a healthy climate, in a land of charity and bene¬ volence ; than to be wretched, as fo many are in Europe, poffeffmg nothing but their induftry; toffed from one rough wave to another,- en- rgaged either in the moll fervile labours for the frhalleft pittance, or fettered with the links of the moll irkfome dependence, even without the- hopes of rifing? The majority of thofe inferior hands which are employed in this filhery, many of the me¬ chanics, fuch as coopers, fmiths, catdkers,, •carpenters, &c. who do not belong to the fo- ciety of Friends, are Prefbyterians, and ori-r -ginally carne from the main. Thofe who are poffeffed of the greateff fortunes at prefent be¬ long to the former; but they all began as ■fimple whalemen : it is even looked upon as -.honourable and neceffary for the fon of the wealthieft man to ferve an apprcnticelhip to •the fame bold, adventurous, bufinefs which has enriched his father; they go feveral voyages, and thefe early excurfions never fail to harden their 176 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS their coi^tutions, and introduce them to the knowledge of their future means of fub- fiftence. LETTER VII. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS AT NAN’i’UCKET. A S I obferved before, every man takes a wife as foon as he choofes, and that is ge¬ nerally very early; no portion is required, none is expected; no marriage-articles are drawn up among us, by flcilful lawj^ers, to puzzle and lead pofterity to the bar, or to fatisfy the pride of the parties. We give nothing with our daughters; their education, their healthy and the cuftomary out-fet, are all that the fa¬ thers of numerous families can alfor d; as the wife’s fortune confilts principally in her fu¬ ture ceconomy, modefty, and Ikilful manage¬ ment, fo the hufband’s is founded on his abi¬ lities to labour, on his health, and the know¬ ledge of feme trade or bufinefs. Their mu¬ tual endeavours, after a few years of conftant application, feldom fail of fuccefs, and of bring¬ ing them the means to rear and fupport the new race v/hich accompanies the nuptial bed. Thofe children, born by the fea-fide, hear the roaring of its waves as foon as they are able to liften; it is the firft noife. with which they become AT NANTUCKET. 177, become acquainted, and by early plunging in it they acquire that boldnefs, that prefence of mind, and dexterity, which make them evef after fuch expert feamen. They often hear their fathers recount the adventures of their youth, their combats with the whales; and thefe recitals imprint on their opening minds an early curiolity and tafte for the fame life. They often crofs the fea to go to the main, and learn, even in thofe fhort voyages, how to qualify themfelves for longer and more dan¬ gerous ones; they are therefore defervedly ebn- fpicuous for their maritime knowledge and ex¬ perience all over the continent. A man born here is diftinguilhable by his gait from among a hundred other men, fo remarkable are they for a pliability of finews, and a peculiar agi¬ lity, which attends them even to old age. I have heard fome perfons attribute this to the effefts of the whale oil, with which they are fo copioufly anointed in the various opera¬ tions it mult undergo ere it is fit either for the European market or the - candle-manii- faftory. But' you may perhaps be folicitous to aOc, what becomes of that exuberancy of population which muft arife from fo much temperance, from heaithinefs of climate, and from early marriage? You may juftly conclude that their native' ifland and town can contain but a li- N mited 173 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS mked number. Emigration is both natural and eaf7 to a maritime people, and that is the very reafon why they are always populous,^ problematical as it may appear. They yearly go to different parts of this continent, con- ftantly engaged in fea affairs as our internal; riches increafe, fo does our external trade, which eonfequendy requires more fliips and more men; fometimea they have emigrated like bees, in regular and connefted fwarms. Some of the Friends, (by which word I always mean the people called Quakers,.) fond of a contemplative life, yearly vifit the feveral congregations which this fociety has formed throughout the conti¬ nent. By their means a fort of correfpond- dence is kept up among them all; they are ge¬ nerally good preachers, friendly cenfors, check¬ ing vice wherever they find it predominating ^ preventing relaxations in any parts of the an¬ cient cuftoms and -worfhip. They every where carry admonition and ufeful advice j and, by thus travelling, they unavoidably gather the molt neceffary obfervations concerning the various fituations of particular diftridts, their foils, their produce, their diftance from navi¬ gable rivers, the price of the land, &c. In confequence of informations of tliis kind,, re¬ ceived at Nantucket in the year 1766, a con- fiderable number of them purchafed a large track of land in the county of Orange, in North 179 AT NANTUCKET. jjorth Carolina, fituated on the feveral fpring- heads of Deep-River, ■ which is the weftern branch of Cape Fear, or North Weft R.ivef. The advantage of being able to convey them- felves by fea to within forty miles of the fpot, the richnefs of the loil, &c. made them cheerfully quit an ifland on which there was no longer any room for them. There they have founded a beautiful fettlement, known by the name of New-Garden, contiguous to the famous one which the Moravians have at Beth- abara, Bethamia, and Salem, on Yadkin River. No fpot of earth can be more beautiful it is com- pofed of gentle hills, of eafy declivities, excel¬ lent low lands, accompanied by different brooks which traverfe this fettlement. I never faw a foil that rewards men fo early for their labours and difburfements j fuch in general, with very few exceptions, are the lands which adjoin the innumerable heads of all the large rivers which fall into the Chefapeak, or flow through the provinces of North and South Carolina, Geor¬ gia, &c. It is perhaps the mofl: pleafing, the moll bewitching, country which the continent affords: becaufe, while it preferves an eafy com¬ munication with the fea-port towns at fome feafons of the year, it is perfeftly free from the contagious air often breathed in thofe fiat countries, which are more contiguous to the Atlantic. Thefe lands are as ricii as thofe i8o MANNERS AND CUSTOMS over the Aliigany; the people of New-Gsrdere are finiated at the diftance of between 200 and 300 miles from Cape Fear; Cape Fear is. at. leaft 450 from Nantucket: you may judge therefore that ‘they have but little correfpon- dence with this their little metropolis, except it is by means of the itinerant Friends. Others have fettled on the famous river Kennebeck, in that territory of the province of Maffachu- fets, which is known by the name of Sagada- hock. Here they have foftened the labours of clearing the heavieft timbered land in Ame¬ rica, by means of feveral brandies of trade, which their fair river and proximity to the lea afford them. Inftead of entirely confuming the timber, as we are obliged to do, fome parts of it are converted into ufeful articles for exportation, fuch as ftaves, fcandings, boards, hoops, poles, &c. For that purpofe they keep a correfpondence w'ith their native Hand, and I knoiv many of the principal inha¬ bitants of Sherburn, who, though merchants and living at Nantucket, yet poffefs valuable farms on that river; from whence they draw great part of their fubfiftence, meat, grain, fire-wood, &c. The tide of thefe lands is vetted in the antient Plymouth Company, under the powers of which the Maffachufets •was fettled 5 and that company which refides in Boftoa AT NANTUCKET. i8i Bofton are ftill the granters of all ^ the vacant lands within their limits. Although this part of ^ the province is fo fruitful, and fo happily lituated, yet it 'has been fingularly overlooked and neglefted: it is furprifing that the excellence of that foil, which lies on the river,' Ihould not have caufed it to be filled before now vdth inhabitants; for the lettlements, from thence to Penobfcot, are as yet hut in their infancy. 'It is' true that im- menfe labour is required • to make room for the plough, but. the peculiar ftrength and quality of the foil never fails moft amply to reward the induftrious poffeffor; I know of no foil in this country more rich or more fertile. I do not mean that fort of tranfitory fertility which evaporates with the fun, and difappears in a few years; here, on the contrary, even their higheft grounds are covered with a rich, moift, fwamp, mould, which bears the moft luxuriant grafs, and never-failing crops of grain. If New-Garden exceeds this fcttlement by the foftnefs of its climate, the fecundity of its foil, and a greater variety of produce from lefs labour, it does not breed men equally hardy, nor capable to encounter dangers and fatigues. It leads too rhuch to idlenefs and effeminacy; for great is the luxuriance of that part of America and the eafe with which the earth js cultivated. Were I to begin life again, I N 3 would 35^2 MANNERS ANP CUSTOMS Vfould prefer the country of Kennebeck to the other, however bewitching; the navigation of the river for above aoo miles, the great abunr dance of fifli it contains, the cpnft^t healthi- nefs of the climate, the happy feverities of the winters always Weltering the earth with a yo-. luminous coat of Ihow, the equalty happy ne- ceffity of labour: all thefe reafons would greatly preponderate againft the fofter fituatipns pf Carolina; where mankind reap too much, do not toil enough, and are liable to enjoy too faft the benefits of life. There are many, I know, wlio would delpife my , opinion, and think me a bad judge; let thofe go. and fettle at the Ohio, the Monogahela, Red-Stone Creek, &c. let them go and inhabit tire, extended fliores of that fuperlative river; I with, equal cheerfulnefs would pitch my tent on. the rougher Ihores of Kennebeck; this will always be a country of health, labour, and ftrong adlivity, and thofe are charafteriftics of fociety which I value mote than greater opulence and volupr tuous eafe. Thus, though this fruitfid hive conftantly fends out fwarms as induftrious as themfelves, yet it always remains full without having any ufelels drones: on the contrary, it exhibits cpn- ftant fcenes of buljnefs and new fchemes; the richer an individual grows, the more extenfive his field of adtion becomes; he that is near. ending AT NANTUCKET. 183 Tiding his career, drudges on as well as he who has jxifl: begun it j. nobody Hands ftiil. Bur •is it not ftrange, that, after having accumu- ■lated riches, they fliould never wifli to ex¬ change their barren fiuiation for a more fliel- •tered, more pleafant, one on the main ? Is it not ftrange, that, after having fpent the morn¬ ing and the meridian of rheif days amidft the jarring waves., weary with the toils of a labo¬ rious life, they lliould not wilh to enjoy the evenings of tliofe days of induftry, in a larger fociety, on fome fpots of terra firma, where the feverity of the winters is balanced by a variety of more pleafing fcenes, not to be found here ? But the fame magical power of habit and cuftom.j which makes the Laplander, the Siberian, the Hottentot, prefer their climates, their occupations, and their foil, to more be¬ neficial fituations, leads thefe good people to think, that no other fpot on the globe is fo analogous to their inclinations as Nantucket, Here their conneftions are fonned; what would they do at a diftance removed from them ? Live fumptuoufly, you will fay, procure them- felves new friends, new acquaintances, by their fplendid tables, by their oftentatious generofity, and by affefted hofpitality. Thefe are thouglits that have never entered into their heads; they would be filled with horror at the thought of form¬ ing wifltes and plans fo different from that fimpii- N 4 city, 1.84 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS city, which is their general ftandard in afflu¬ ence as well as in poverty. They abhor the very idea of expending, in ufelefs wafte and vain luxuries, the fruits of profperous labour; they are employed in eftablilhing their fons, and in many other ufeful purpofes: ftrangers to the honours of monarchy, they do not afpire to the pofleffion of affluent fortunes, with which to purchafe founding titles, and frivolous names! Yet there are not at Nantucket fo many wealthy people as one would imagine, after having confidered their great fucceffes, their induftry, and their knowledge. Many die poor, though hardly able to reproach fortune with a frown; others leave not behind them that affluence which the circle of their bufmefs and of their profperity naturally promifed. The reafon of this is, I believe, the peculiar expence neceffarily attending their tables; for, as their ifland fupplies the town with little or nothing, (a few families excepted,) every one mufl: pro¬ cure what they want from the main. The very hay their horfes confume, and every other ar¬ ticle neceffary to fupport a family, though cheap in a country of fo great abundance as Maffachufets; yet the neceffary wafte and.ex- pences, attending their tranijport, render thefe commodities dear. A vaft number of little Ycffels from die main, and from the Vineyard, AT NANTUCKET. 185 are conftantly refordng here, as to a market. Sherburn is extremely well fupplied with every thing, but this very conftancy of fupply ne- ceflarily drains off a great deal of money. The firft • ufe they make of their oil and bone is to exchange it for bread and meat, and whatever elfe they want; the neceflities of a large family are very great and numerous let its cEconomy be what it will; they are fo often repeated, that they perpetually draw off a con- fiderable branch of the profits. If by any ac¬ cidents thofe profits are interrupted, the capital mufl: fuffer; and it very often happens that the greateft part of their property is floating on the fea. There ^re but two congregations in this town. They alTemble every Sunday in meet- ing-houfes, as firnple as the dwelling of the people; and there is but one prieft on the whole ifland. What! (would a good Portuguefe obferve) — but one fingle prielt to inttruft a whole Ifland, and to direft their confciences! It is even fo; each individual knows how to guide his owh, and is content to do it, as well as he can. This lonely clergyman is ^ Prelbyterian minifter, who has a very large and refpeftable congregation; the other is com- pofed of Qnakei's, who, you know, admit of no particular pcrfon, who, in confequence of being ordained, becomes exclufively entitled to preach. 186 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS preach, to catechile, and to receive certain falaries for Ids trouble. Among them, every one may expound the Scriptures, who thinks he b called fo to do; befide, as they admit of neither facrament, baptifm, nor any other outward forms whatever, fuch a man vmuld be ufelefs. Moft of thefe people are continue ally at fea, and have often the mofl: urgent reafons to worfliip the Parent of Nature in the midft of the ftorms which they encounter. Thefe two fedls live in perfedb peace and har¬ mony with each other; thofe ancient times of religious diicords are now gone, (I hope never to return,) when each thought it meretorious, not only to damn the other, which would have been nothing, but to perfecute and murther one another, for the glory of that Being, who requires no more of us than that we ftiould love one another and live! Every one goes to that place of worlhip which he likes bell, and thinks not that his neighbour does wrong by not following himj each, bulily employed in their temporal affairs, is lefs vehement about Ipiritual ones, and fortunately you will find, at Nantucket, neither idle drones, voluptuous devotees, ranting enthufialls, nor four dema¬ gogues. I wifli I had it in my power to fend the moft perfecuting bigot 1 could find in- to the whale-fiflieries j in' lefs than three or four AT NANTUCKET, 1S7 ^ur years you would find him a much more trac-t table mam and therefore a better Chriftian, Singular as it may appear to you, there ar^ but two. medical profelTprs bn the ifland,- for pf wh^t fovice can phyCc be in a primitive fociety, where the excefles of inebriation are fo rare f What need of galenical medicines* tvhere fevers, and ftomachs loaded by the lols. of the digeftive powers, are fo few? Tem¬ perance, the calm of paffions, frugality, and- continual exercife, keep them healthy, andpre- ferve- unimpaired that cpnftitution which they have received frpm parents as healthy as them- felves.; wlip, in the unpolluted embraces of the earlieft and cliafteft love, conveyed tp them the foundefl: bodily frame which nature could give, But, as no habitable part of this globe is exempt from- fome difeafes, proceeding either from climate or modes of living, here they are Ibme--, times fubjedt to confumptions and to fevers. Since the foundation of that town no epidemi¬ cal diftempers have appeared, which, at times, caufe fuch depopulations in other countries; many of them are extremely well acquainted with the Indian methods of curing fimple difi-. cafes, and praftife them with fuccefs. You will hardly find, any where, a community, compofed of the fame number of individuals, poffeffing fuch uninterrupted health, and ex¬ hibiting fo many green old men, v.'ho fhew their . 1-88 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS dieir advanced age by the manirity. of their wifdom rather than by the winkles of their faces; and this is indeed one of the principal bleflings of the ifland, which richly com- penfates their want of the richer foils of the fbuth; where iliac complaints and bilious fevers grow by the fide of the fugar-cane, the ambrofial ananas, &c. The fituation of this ifland, the purity of the air, the nature of their marine occupations, their virtue and moderation, are the caufes of that vigour and health which they polTefs. The poverty of their foil has placed them, I hope, beyond the danger of conqueft or the wanton defire of extirpation. Were they to be driven from this ^ot, the only acquifition of the conquerors would be a few acres of land, inclofed and cultivated; a few houfes, and fome moveables. The genius, the indaftry, of the inhabitants would accompany them; and it is thofe alone which conftitute the foie wealth of their ifland. Its prefent fame would perifh, and, in a few years, it would return to its priftine flate of barrennefs and poverty; they might, perhaps, be allowed to tranfport themfelves, in their ovvn velfels, to fome other fpot or ifland, which they would foon fertilife by the fame means with which they have fertilifed this. One fingle lawyer has, of late years, found means to live here, but his bell: fortune pro-. ceeqs AT NANTUCKET. 189 ceeds more from having married one of die ■wealthieft heireffes of the ifland than from the emoluments of his praftice; however he is' fometimes employed in recovering money lent on the main, or in preventing thofe accidents to which the contentious propenfity of its in¬ habitants may fometimes expofe them. He is feldom employed as the means of felf-defence, and much feldomer as the channel of attack ; to which they are Arrangers, except the fraud is manifeAr, and the danger imminent. Lawyers are fo numerous in all our populous towns,, that I am furprifed they never thought before of eArabliAiing themfelves here; they are plants that will grow in any foil that is cultivated by the hands of others; and, when once they have taken root, they will extinguiAi every other ve¬ getable that grows around them. The for¬ tunes they daily acquire, in every province, from the misfortunes of their fellow citizens, are furprifing! The moA: ignorant, the moll bung¬ ling, member of that profeffion, will, if placed in the moA: obfcure part of the country, pro¬ mote litigioufnefs, and amafs more wealth, without labour, than the moft opulent farmer ■with all his toils. They have fo dexterouAy in¬ terwoven their doftrines and quirks with the laws of the land, or rather they are become fo neceffary an evil in our prefent confcitutions, drat it feems ujiavoidable and paO; all remedy. What *90 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS "What a pity that our forefathers, who happily extinguiflied fo many fatal cuftoms, and exi punged from their new government fo many errors and abufes, both religious and civili did not alfo prevent the introduftion of a fet of men fo dangerous! In fome provinces^ where every inhabitant is conftantly employed in tilling and cultivating the earth, they are the only members of fociety who have any knowledge; let thefe provinces atteft what ini¬ quitous ufe they have made of that knowledge. They are here what the clergy were in paft centuries with you; the reformation, which clipped the clerical wings, is the boaft of that age, and the happiefi. event that could pofllbly happen; a reformation equally ufeful is now wanted, to relieve us from the lhameful fhackles and the oppreffive burthen under which we groan: this perhaps is impoffible; but, if man¬ kind would not become too happy, it were an event molt devoutly to be wilhed. Here, happily, unoppreffed with any civil bondage, this fociety of filhermCn and mer¬ chants live, widiout any military eftablifli- ments, without governors, or any mailers but the laws; and their civil code is ib light, that it is never felt. A man may pafs (as many have done whom I am acquainted with) through the various fcenes of a long life, may ftruggle againft a variety of adverfe fortune, peaceably enjoy AT NANTUCKET. iSi enjoy the good when it comes, and never, in that long interval, apply to the law either for redrefe or afliftance. ' The principal benefits it confers is the' general proteftion of individuals, and this proteftion is purchafed by the mofi moderate taxes, which are cheerfully paid, and by the trifling duties incident in the courfe of their lawful trade (for they defpife contraband). Nothing can be more Ample than their muni¬ cipal regulations, though fimilar to thofe of the other counties of the fame province; becaufe they are more detached from the reft, more dif- tindl in their manners as well as in the nature of the buflnefs they purfue, and more unconnefted widt the populous province to which they be¬ long. The fame fimplicity attends the wor- lliip they pay to the Divinity j their elders are the only teachers of their congregations, the iiiftruflors of their youtli, and often the ex¬ ample of their flock. They vifit and comfort the Tick; after death, the fociety bury them, with their fathers, without pomp, prayers, or ceremonies; not a ftone or monument is erefted, to tell where any perfon was buried; their memory is preferved by tradition. Tlie only eflential memorial, that is left of them, is their former induflry, their kindnefs, their cha¬ rity, or elfe their moft confpicuous faults. The Prelbyterians live in great charity with them, and with one another; their minifter. t9J MANNERS AND CUSTOMS as a true paftor of the golpel, inculcates to them the doftrincs it contains, the rewards it promiles, the punifhmerits it holds out to thofe who fhall commit injuftice. Nothing can be more difencumbered likewife from ufe- lefs ceremonies and trifling forms than their mode of worfliip; it might with great propriety- have been called a truly primitive one, had that of the Quakers never appeared. As fellow Chriftians, obeying the fame legiflator, they love and munially aflift each other in all their wants; as fellow-labourers "they unite with cordiality, and without the leaft rancour, in all their temporal fchemes; no other emula¬ tion appears among them but in their fea-ex- curfions, in the art of fitting out their veflTels, in that of failing, in harpooning the whale, and in bringing home the greateft haiwefi:. As fellow-fubjefts, they cheerfully obey the fame laws and pay the fame duties: but let me not forget another peculiar charadleriftic of this community: there is not a Have, I be¬ lieve, on the whole ifland, at leaft among the Friends; whilft flavery prevails all around them, this fociety alone, lamenting that Clocking infult offered to humanity, have given the world a Angular example of mode¬ ration, difintereftednefs, and Chriftian cha- rit}', in emancipating their negroes. I fliali explain to you fiirtiie’r the Angular virtue and AT NANTUCKET. 193 merit to which it is fo juftly entitled by ha¬ ving fet, before the reft of their fellow-fubjedts, fo pleafing, fo edifying, a reformation. Happy the people who are fubjedb to fo mild a - go¬ vernment! happy the government whicft. has to rule over fuch harrhlefs and fuch induftrious . fubjefts 1 While we are clearing forefts, making the face of nature fmile, draining marlhes, culti¬ vating wheat, and converting it into flour, they yearly Ikim, from the furface of the fea, riches equally necelTary. Thus, had. I leifure and abilities to lead you through this continent, I could Ihew you an aftonilhing profpeift very little known in Europe i one diffufive fcene of happinefs, reaching from the fea-fliores to the laft fettlements on the borders of the wil- dernefs: a happinefs, interrupted only by the folly of individuals, by our fpirit of litigioufnefs, and by thofe unforefeen calamities, from which no human fociety can poflibly be exempted. May the citizens of Nantucket dwell long here in uninterrupted . peace, undifturbed eitheq by the waves of the furrounding element,, or the political commotions which fometimes agitate our continent! LETTER 194 PECULIAR CUSTOMS LETTER VIIL PECULIAR CUSTOMS AT NANTUCKET. T he manners of the Friends are entirely founded on that fimplicity which is their boaft, and their mofl: diftinguiflied charafte- rifticj and thofe manners have acquired the authority of laws. Here they are ftrongly at¬ tached to plainnefs of drefs as well as to'that of language; infomuch that, though fome part of it may be ungraminatical, yet, fhould any perfon, who was born and brought up here, attempt to fpeak more correftly, he would be looked upon as a fop or an innovator. On the other hand, fliould a ftranger come here and adopt their idiom in all its purity, (as they deem it,) this accomplilhment would immediately procure him the molt cordial reception; and they would cherilh him like an antient member of their fo- ciety. So many impolitioris have they fuffered on this account, that they begin now indeed to grow more cautious. They are fo tenacious of their antient habits of induftry and frugality, that, if any of them were to be feen with a long coat, made of Englifti cloth, on any other than the firjl-day, (Sunday,) he would be greatly ridiculed and cenfured; he would be looked upon as a carelefs fpendthrift, whom it would be AT NANTUCKET. 19^ be unfafe to trufl: and in vain to relieve. A few years ago two fingle-horje chairs were im¬ ported from Bofton, to the great offence of thele prudent citizens j nothing appeared to them more culpable than the ufe of fuch gaudy painted vehicles, in contempt of the more ufeful and more Ample cartr of their ^ fathers. This piece of extravagant and un¬ known luxury almofl: caufed a fchifm, and fet every tongue a-going j fome predifted the ap¬ proaching ruin of thofe families that had im¬ ported them; others feared the dangers of ex¬ ample ; never, fince the foundation of the town, had there happened any thing which fo much alarmed this primitive community. One of the poffelTors of thefe profane chairs, filled with repentance, wifely fent it back to the continent; the other, more obftinate and per- verfe, in defiance of all remonftrances, per- fifted in the ufe of his chair until' by degrees they became more reconciled to it; though I obferved that the v/ealthieft and the moft re- fpeftable people Itill go to meeting or to their farms in a fmgle-horfe cart, with a decent awn- ihg fixed over it: indeed, if you confider their fandy foil, and the badnefs of their roads, thefe appear to be the befi-contrived vehicles for this ifland. Idlenefs is the moft heinous fin that can be committed in Nantucket: an idle man would O a - foon 196 PECUUAR CUSTOMS foon' be pointed out as an object of companion; for idlenefs is confidered as another word for want and hunger. This principle is fo tho¬ roughly well underftood, and is become fo univerfal, lb prevailing, a prejudice, that, lite¬ rally fpeaking, they are never idle. Even if they ^ to the market-place, which is (if I may be allowed , the expreffion) the coffee-houfe of the town, either to tranfact bufinefs, or to eonverle with their friends, they always have a piece of cedar in their hands, and, while they are talking, they will, as it were inftinft- ively, employ themfelves in converting it into fomething ufeful, either in making bungs or Ipoyls'for their oil-calks, or other ufeful articles. I mult confefs that I have never feen more ingenuity in the ufe of the knife; thus the molt idle moments of their lives become ufe- fully employed. In the many hours ofleifure, which their long cruifes afford them, they cut and carve a variety of boxes and pretty toys, in wood, adapted to different ufes j which they bring home, as tellimonies of remem¬ brance, to their wives and fweethearts. They have Ihewn me a variety of little bowls and other implements, executed cooper-wife, with the greateft neatnefs and elegance. You will bepleafedto remember they are all brought up to the trade of coopers be their future inten¬ tions or fortunes what they may t therefore almoft every AT NANTUCKET. 197 every man in this ifland has always two knives in his pocket, one much larger tlian the other; and, though they hold every thing that is called fafim in the utmoft contempt, yet they are as difficult to pleafe, and as extravagant in the choice and price of their knives, as any young buck in Bofton would be about his hat, buckles, or coat. As foon as a knife is injured, or fuperfeded by a more convenient one, it is carefully laid up in fome corner of their dellc. I once faw upwards of fifty thus preferved at Mr.-’s, one of the worthieft men on this illand; and, among the whole, tliere was not one that perfeftly refembled anotlier. As the fea-excurfions are often very long, their wives, in their abfence, are necelTarily obliged to tranfafl: bufmefs, to fettle accounts, and, in fliort, to rule and provide for their families. Thefe circumftances being often' repeated give women the abilities as well as a tafte for that kind of fuperintendency, to which, by their prudence and good management, they feem to be, in general, very equal. Tliis employment ripens their judgement, and juftly entitles them to a rank fuperior to that of other wives; and this is the principle reafon why thofe of Nan¬ tucket as well as thofe of Montreal * are fo O 3 fond * Mofl; of the merchants and young men of Montreal fpend the greatefl: part of their time in trading with the- In¬ mans, at an amazing diftance from Canada; and it often happens that they are three years together abfciu front 198 PECULIAR CUSTOMS fond of fociety, fo affable, and fo converfant with the affairs of the world. The men at their return, weary with the fatigues of the fea, full of confidence and love, cheerfully give their confent to every tranfaftion that has happened during their abfence, and all is joy and peace. “ Wife, thee haft done well” is the general approbation they receive for their application and induftry. What would the men do without the agency of thefe faithful mates ? The abfence of fo many of them, at particular feafons, leaves the towm quite defolate; and this mournful fituation difpofes the women to go to each other’s houfe much oftener than when then- hulbands are at home: hence the cuftom of inceffant vifiting has infefted every one, and even, thofe whofe hulbands do not go abroad. The houfe is always cleaned before they fet out, and with peculiar alacrity they purfue their intended vifit, which confifts of a focial chat, a difli of tea, and a hearty fupper. "When the good man of the houfe returns from his labour, he peaceably goes after his wife and brings her home; mean while the young fellows, equally vigilant, eafily find out which is the moft convenient houfe, and there they affem.ble with the girls of the neighbourhood. Inftead of cards, mufical inftruments, or fongs, they relate ftories of their whaling voyages, their various lea-adventures, and talk of the different . AT NANTUCKET. 1C19 different coafts and people they have vifited. “ The ifland of Catharine in the Brazils, fays “ one, is a very droll ifland; it is inhabited by~^ " none but men ; women are not permitted to “ come in light of it 5 not a woman is there « on the whole ifland. Who among us is not “ glad it is not fo here ? The Nantucket girls “ and boys beat the world !” At this innocent fally the titter goes round, they whifper to one another their fpontaneous reflexions ; pud¬ dings, pies, and cuftards, never fail to be pro¬ duced on fuch occafions; for I believe there never were any people, in their circumftances, who lived fo v/ell, even to fuperabundance. As inebriation is unknown, and mufic, finging, . and dancing, are holden in equal deteftation, they never could fill all the vacant hours of their lives without the repaft of the table. Thus thefe young people fit and talk, and divert themfelves as well as they can; if any one has lately returned from a cruize, he is generally the fpeaker of the night; they often all laugh and talk together; but they are happy, and would not exchange their pleafures for thofe of the molt brilliant affemblies in Europe. This lafts until the father and mother return; when all retire to their refpeftive homes, the men rc- condufting the partners of their affeftions. Thus they fpend many of the youthful evenings of their lives; no wonder, there- O 4 fore, PECULIAR CUSTOMS fore, that they marry fo early. But no fooner have they undergone this ceremony than they ceafe to appear fo cheerful and gay; the new rank they hold in the fociety impreffes them -with more ferious ideas than were entertained before. The title of matter of a family ne- ceffarily requires more folid behaviour and deportment j the new wife follows in the tram¬ mels of cuttom, which are as powerful as the tyranny of falhiofi j Ihe gradually advifes and directs j the new hufband foon goes to fea,j he leaves her to learn and exercife the new go¬ vernment in which llie is entered, Thofe who ttay at home are full as paflive in general, at leaft with regard to the inferior depart¬ ments of the family. But you mutt not imagine from this account that the Nantucket wives are turbulent, of high temper, and difficult to be ruled; on the contrary, the wives of Sherburn, in fo doing, comply only with the prevailing cuttom of the ifland; the hufbands, equally fubmiffive to the ancient and refpedlable man¬ ners of their country, . fubmit, without ever fufpecting that there can be any impropriety. Were they to behave otherv/ife, they would be afraid of fubvcrting the principles’ of their fo¬ ciety by altering its ancient rules: thus both parties are perfectly fatisfied, and all is peace and concord. The richeft perfon now in the ifland ovres all iris prefent profperity and fuccefs AT NANTUCKET. 201 fuccefs to the ingenuity of his wife: this is a ' known fadt which is well recorded; for, while he was performing his firft cruifes, flie traded with pins and needles, and kept a fchool. Af¬ terward Ihe purchafed more confiderable ar¬ ticles, which fhe fold with fo much judgement, that fhe laid the foundation of a fyftem of bufmefs that fhe has ever fince profecuted with equal dexterity and fuccefs. She wrote to London, formed connedtions, and, in fhort, became the only oftenfible inftrument of that houfe, both at home and abroad. Who is he in this country, and who is a ■ citizen of Nan¬ tucket or Bofton, who does not know -Amt jCefiah? I muft tell you that fhe is the wife of Mr. C ' ■ n, a very refpeftable man, who, well pleafed with all her fchemes, trufts to her judgement, and relies on her fagacity, with fo entire a confidence, as to be altogether paflive to the concerns of his family. They have the beft country-feat on the ifland, at Quayes, where they live with hofpitality, and in perfedb union: He feems to be altogether the contemplative man. To this dexterity, in managing the hufband’s bufmefs whilfl: he is abfent, the Nantucket wives pnite a great deal of induftry. They Ijsin, Or .caufe to be fjnin, in their houfes, abun¬ dance of wool and flax j and would be for ever difgraced and looked upon as idlers if all the family 202 PECULIAR CUSTOMS family were not clad in good, neat, and fuffi- cient, homefpun cloth. Fuji Fays are the only feafons -when it is lavTful for both fexes to ex¬ hibit fome garments of Englifli manufafture; even tbeje are of the moft moderate price, and of the gravefl; colours : there is no kind of difference in their drefs, they are all clad alike, and refemble in that refpedt the members of one family. A fingular cuftom prevails here among the ■women, at -which I -was gready furprized; and am really at a lofs how to account for the ori¬ ginal caufe that has introduced in this primitive fociety fo remarkable a fafliion, or rather fo extraordinary a want. They have adopted, thefe many years, the Afiatic cuftom of taking a dofe of opium every morning; and, fo deeply rooted is it, that they would be at a lofs how to live without this indulgence ; they would rather be deprived of any neceffary than fore¬ go their favourite luxury. This is much more prevailing among the women dian the men, few of the latter having caught the contagion ; though the Iheriff whom I may call the firft perfon in the ifland, who is an eminent phyCcian belide, and whom I had the pleafure of being well acquainted with, has for many years fubmitted to this cuftom. He takes three grains of it every day after break- AT NANTUCKET. 203 feftj without the efFedts of which, he often told me, he was not able to franfadt any bufinefs. It is hard to conceive how a people, always happy and healthy, in confequence of the exercife and labour they undergo, never opprelfed with 4:he vapours of idlenefs, yet Ihould want the fidli- tious effedts of opium to preferve that cheer- fulnefs, to which their temperance, their cli¬ mate, their happy fituation, fo juftly entitlei:hem. But where is the fociety perfedlly free from er¬ ror or folly ? the lead imperfedt is undoubtedly that where the greateft good preponderates j and, agreeable to this rule, I can truly fay, that I never was acquainted with a lefs vicious or more harmlefs one. The majority of the prefent inhabitants ai'c the defeendants of the twenty-feven firft pro¬ prietors, who patenteed the illand; of the reft, many others have fince come over amongft them, chiefly from the Maflfachufets : here are neither Scotch, Irilh, nor French, as is the cafe in moft other fettlementsj they are an unmixed Englifh breed. The confequence of this ex¬ tended connexion is, that they are all in feme degree related to each other : you mult not be furprized, therefore, when I tell you, that they always call each other coufin, uncle, or aunt; which are become fuch common ap¬ pellations, that no other are made ufe of in their daily intercourfe: you would be deemed ftifF and =04 PECULIAR CUSTOMS and affefted were you to refufe conforming yourfelf to this ancient cuftom, which truly de- pifts the image of a large family. The many who refide here, that have not the leaft claim of relationlhip with any one in the town, yet by the power of cuftom make ufe of no other addrefs in their converfation. Were you here yourfelf but a few days, you would be obliged to adopt the fame phrafeology, which is far from being difagreeable, as it implies a general acquaintance, and friendlhip, which connedls them all in unity and peace. Their tafte for fifliing has been fo prevailing, that it has engroffed all their attention, and even prevented them from introducing fome higher degree of perfedtion in their agriculture. There are many ufeful improvements which might have meliorated their foilj there are many trees which if tranfplanted here would have thriven extremely well, and would have ftrved to flielter as well as decorate the fa~ vourite fpots they have fo carefully manu¬ red. The red cedar, the locuft the but¬ ton-wood, I am perfuaded would have grown here rapidly and to a great fize, with many others ; but their thoughts are turned altoge¬ ther toward the fea, The Indian corn begins * A fpecies of what we call here the two-thorn acacia: it yields the mofl; valuable timber we have, and its lhade is very beneficial to the growth and goodnefs of the grafs. ATNANTUCKET. 205 to yield them confiderable cropSj and the wheat fown on its Hocks is become a very profitable grain; rye will grow with little care; they might raife, if they would, an immenfe quan¬ tity of buck-wheat. Such an ifland, inhabited as I have defcribed, is not the. place where gay travellers Ihould re¬ fort, in order to enjoy that variety of plea- fures the more fplendid towns of this conti¬ nent afford. Not that they are wholly de¬ prived of what we might call recreations and innocent paftimes; but opulence, inftead of luxuries and extravagancies, produces nothing more here than an increafe of bufinefs, an ad¬ ditional degree of hofpitality, greater neatnefs in the preparation of dillies, and better wines. They often walk and converfe with each other, as I have obferved before; and, upon extraordi¬ nary occafions, will take a ride to Palpus, where there is a houfe of entertainment ; but thefe rural amufements are condufted upon tlie fame plan of moderation as thofe in towui. Tliey are fo fimple as hardly to be defcribed; the pleafure of going and returning together, of chat¬ ting and walking about, of throwing the bar, heaving Hones, &c. are tlie only entertain¬ ments they are acquainted with. This is all they praiHife, and all they feem to defire. Tlie houfe at Palpus is the general refort of thofe who polTefs the luxury, of a hoife and cliaife, 2 o 5 PECUUAR customs as well as thofe who ftill retain, as the ma¬ jority do, a predeliffion for their primitive ve¬ hicle. By reforting to that place they enjoy a change of air, they tafte the pleafures of ex- ercife ; perhaps an exhilarating bowl, not at all improper in this climate, affords the chief indulgence known to thefe people on the days of their greateft feftivity. The mounting' a horfe muff afford a moft pleafing exercife to thofe men who are fo much at fea. I was once in¬ vited to that Jioufe, and had the fatisfaftion of conduffing thither one of the many beauties of that ifland, (for it abounds with handfome women,) dreffed in all the bewitching attire of the moft charming fimplicity ; like the reft of the company, ftie was cheerful without loud laughs, and fmiling tvithout affeftation. They all appeared gay without levity. I had never before in my life feen fo much un- affedled mirth mixed with fo much modefty. The pleafures of the day were enjoyed with the greateft livelinefs and the moft innocent free¬ dom ; no difgufting pruderies, no coquetilh airs tamiOied this enlivening affembly; they behaved according to their native difpofitions, the only rules of decorum tvith which they were acqu^nted. What would an European vifitor have done here without a fiddle, without a dance, without cards ? He would have called it an mfipid affembly, and ranked this among the AT NANTUCKET. 207 the dulleft days he' had ever fpent. This rural excurlion had a very great affinity to thofe pradtifed in our province, with this difference only, that we have no objedtion to the fportive dance, though condudted by the rough accents of fome felf-taiight African fidler. YJt returned as happy as we went; and the brightnefs of the moon kindly lenghtened a day v/hich had paft, like other agreeable ones, with fmgular rapi¬ dity. In order to view the ifland in its longefl; di- reftion from the town, I took a ride to the eaft- ernmoft parts of it, remarkable only for the Po- chick Rip, where their befl: filh are caught. I paft by the Tetoukemah lots, which are the fields of the community; the fences were made of cedar pofts and rails, and looked perfedlly ftraight and neat; the various crops they enclofed were flourilhing: thence I defcended into Barrey’s Valley, where the blue and the /pear grafs looked more abundant than I had feen on any other part of the ifland; thence to Gib’s Pond; and arrived at laft at Siafconcct. Several dwellings had been erefted on this wild fhore, for the purpofe of flieltering the fifhermen in the fea- fon of fifliing; I found them all empty, except tliat particular one to which I had been di^ reded. It was like the others, built on the higheft part of the Ihore, in the face of the great ocean; the foil appeared to be compofed of 208 PECULIAR CUSTOMS of no other ftratum but fand, covered with a thinly-fcattered herbage. What rendered this houfe ftni more worthy of notice, in my eyes, ■was, that it had been built on the ruins of one of the antient huts, eredted by the firfi: fettlers for obferving the appearance of the ■whales. Here lived a fmgle family without a neighbour; I had never before feen a fpo6 better calculated to cherilh contemplative ideas; perfectly unconnedled with the great world, and far removed from its perturba¬ tions. The ever-raging ocean was all that prefented itfelf to the view of this family; it ir- reCftibly attradled my whole attention; my eyes were involuntarily directed to the horizontal line of that watery furface, which is ever in motion, and ever threatening deftrudtion to thefe fliores. My ears were ftunned with the roar of its waves, rolling one over the other, as if impelled by a fuperior force to overwhelm the Ipot on which I flood. My noflrils in¬ voluntarily inhaled the faline vapours which arofe from the difperfed particles of the foam¬ ing billows, or from the weeds fcattered on the flrores. My mind fuggefled a thoufand vague reflections, pleafing in the hour of their Ipontaneous birth, but now half forgotten, and all indiflindt. And who is the landman that can behold, without affright, fo Angular an ele¬ ment, which, by its impetuoflty, feems to be the deflroyer AT NANTUCKET. 209 ^eftroyerof this poor planet, yet, at particular times, accumulates the Icaltered fragments, and produces iflands and continents fit for men to dwell on j Who can obferye the regular vicif- fitudes of its waters without aftonilhment ? Now, fwelling themfelves in order to penetrate through every river and opening, and thereby ftcilitate navigation; at other times, retiring from the Ihores, to permit man to colleft that variety of fliell-fifli which is the fupport of the poor! Who can fee the ftorms of wind, blowr ing fometimes with an impetuofity fufficiently Ibong even to move the earth, without feeling himfelf afFefted beyond the fphere of common ideas ? Can this, wind, which but a few days ago refreflred our American fields and cooled us in the lhade, be the fame element which now and then fo powerfully convulfcs the waters of the fea, difmafts velfels, caufes fo many fliipwrecks, and fuch extenfive defola- tions ? How diminutive does a man appear to himfelf when filled with tliefe thoughts, and handing, as I did, on the verge of the ocean! This family lived entirely by filliing, for the plough has not dared yet to difturb the parched furface of the neighbouring plain; and to what purpofe could this operation be performed ? Where is it that mankind will not find fafety, peace, and abundance, with freedom and civil |iappinefs ? Nothing was wanting here to make P this 210 .PECULIAR CUSTOMS this a moft philofophic retreat, but a few an¬ cient trees, to flielter contemplation in its beloved folitude. There I faw a numerous family of children of various ages, — the blef- fings of an early marriage; they were rud¬ dy as the cherry, healthy as the fiflr they lived on, hardy as'the pine-knots; the eldeft were already able to encounter the boifterous waves, and Ihuddered not at their approach; early initiating themfelves in the myfteries of that fea-faring career, for which they were all in¬ tended ; the younger, timid as yet, on the edge of alefs-agitated pool, were teaching themfelves with nut-lhells and pieces of wood, in imitation of boats, how to navigate,- in a future day, the larger veffels' of their father through a rougher and deeper ocean. I ftaidstwo days there on purpofe to become acquainted with the diffe¬ rent branches of their oeconomy and their man¬ ner of living in this fingular retreat. The clams, the oifcers, of the Ihores, with the ad¬ dition of Indian dumplings,* conilituted their daily and moll; fubftantial food. Larger filh were often caught on the neighbouring rip; thefe afforded them their greateft dainties; they had likewife plenty of fmoked bacon. The noife of the wheels announced the induftry of the mother and daughters; one of them had been ♦ Indian dumplings are a pecnliar preparation of Indian meal boiled in large lumps. AT NANTUCKET. 211 been bred a weaver j andj having a loom in the houfe, found means of clothing the whole fa¬ mily 5, they were perfectly at eafe, and feemed to want for nothing. I found very few books among thefe people, who have very little time for reading; the Bible and a few fchoo] tracts, both in the Nattick and Englilli lan^ages, conftituted their mofl: numerous libraries. I faw indeed feveral copies of Hudibras and Jo- fephus; but no one knows who firft imported them. It is fomething extraordinary to fee this people, profefledly fo grave, and ftrangers to every branch of literature, reading with pleafltre the former work, which fliould feern to require fome degree of tafte and antecedent hiftorical knowledge. They all read it much, and can, by memory, repeat many paflages j which, yet, I could not difeover that they underftood the beauties of. Is it not a little lingular to fee thefe books in the hands of filhermen, who are perfedt ftrangers almoft to any other? Jofe- phus’s hiftory is indeed intelligible, and much fitter for their modes of education and tafte, as it delcribes the hiftory of a people, from whom we have received the prophecies which we believe, and the religious laws which we follow. Learned travellers, returned from feeing the paintings and antiquities of Rome and Italy, ftill filled with the admiration and reverence P 2 they 21Z PECULIAR CUSTOMS, they infpire, would hardly be, perfuaded that fo contemptible a Ipot, which contains nothing re¬ markable but the genius and the induftry of its inhabkants, could ever be an objeft worthy at-, tendon. But I, having never feen the beauties which Europe contains, cheerfully fatisfy my- felf with attentively examining wha.t my native country exhibits: if we haye neither ancient amphitheatres, gilded palaces, nor elevated. Ipirc^ we enjoy in our woods a fubftantial happinefs which the wonders of art cannot com-, municate. None among us fuffer oppreffion either from government or rehgion; there are very few poor except the idle, and, fortunately, the force of example and the mpfl: ample en¬ couragement foon create a new principle of aclivity, which had been extinguilhed, perhaps, in their nadve country, for want of thofe op- portunides which fq often compel hpneft Euro¬ peans to feek Ihelter among us. The means of procuring fubfiftence in Europe are limited; the army may be full, the navy may abound with feamen, the land perhaps wants no additional labourers, the manufacturer is overcharged with liiperaumerary hands; •—what.thenmuftbecome of the unemployed? Here, on the contrary, human indukiy has acquired a boundlefs field to exert itfeif in; — a field which will not be fully cultivated in .many ages! , . letter 213 ft ( e H A R L E S -1 O W N. LETTER IX. description of charles-to’wn-; -thoughts ON SLAVERY; ON PHYSICAL EVIL; A MELAN¬ CHOLY SCENE; C HARLES-TOWN is in the .north what Lima is in the fouth; both.'are capitals of the richefb provinces of their refpeftive he- tnifpheres; you may therefore conjefliurej that both cities mufl: exhibit the appearances necef- farily refulting from riches. Peru abouhding in gold, Lima is filled with inhabitahts, who en¬ joy all thofe gradations of pleafure, refinement; and luxury, which proceed from wealth. Caro¬ lina produces commodities, more valuable per¬ haps than gold, becaufe they are gained by greater induftry; it exhibits alfo on our nor¬ thern ftage a difplay of riches and luxury, in¬ ferior indeed to the former, but far fuperior to what are to be feen in our northern towns; Its fituation is admirable; being built at the confluence of two large rivers, which receive, in their courfe, a great number of inferior ftreams; all navigable, in the fpring, for flat boats. Here the produce of this extenfive ter¬ ritory concentres; here, therefore, is the feat of the molt valuable exportation; tlieir wharfs, their docks, their magazines, are extremely P j convenient DESCRil^TION OE 214 convenient to facilitate this great commercial bufinels. The inhabitants are the ga-yeft in Ammca; it is called the center of our beau monde,' and is; always filled with the licheft: planters in the province^ who refort hither in quell: of health and pleafure. Here is always to be feen a great number of valetudinarians fiom the Weft-Indies, feeking for die renova¬ tion of health, exhaufted by the debilitating nature of their fun, air, and modes of living. Many of thefe Weft-Indians have I feen, at thirty, loaded with Ae infirmities of old age; for, nothing is mote common, in thofe countries of wealth, than for perfons to lofe the abilities of enjopng the comforts of life at a time when we northern men juft begin to tafte the fkiits of our labour and prudence. The round of plealure, and the expences of thofe citizens’ tables, are much foperior to what you would imagine: indeed the growth of this town and province have been aftonifliingly rapid. It is piqr that the narrownefe of the neck, on which itftands, prevents it from increafing, and which is the reafbn why houfes arefo dear. The heat of the' climate, which is fometimes very great in the interior parts of the country, is always temperate in Charles-Town, though, fometimes, wltth they have no fca breezes, the fun is too powerful. The climate renders exceffes of all kinds very dangerous, particularly thofe of the table i C H A R L E S-T O W N. 21^ tables and yet, infenfible or fearlefs of danger, they live on, and enjoy a Ihort and a merry life: the rays of their fun feem to urge them irrefiftibly to. dillipation and pleafure: on the contrary, the women, from being abftemious, reach to a longer period of life, and feldom die without having had feveral hufbands. An European at his firfl: arrival mult be greatly furprifed when he fees the elegance of their houfes, their fumptuous furniture, as well as the magnificence of their table's; can he ima¬ gine himfelf in a country, the eftablilhmcnt of which is fo recent? The three principal claffes of inhabitants are, lawyers, planters, and merchants; this is the province which has afforded to the firfl: the richeft: fpoils; for nothing can exceed their wealth, their power, and their influence. They have reached the ne-'plus-tdtra of worldly felicity; no plantation is fecured, no title is good, no will is valid, but what they diftate, regulate, and approve. The whole, mafs of. provinci.al property is become tributary to this fociety; which, far above priefts and bifhops, clifdam to be fatisfled with the poor Mafaical portion of the ' tenth. I appeal to the many inhabitants, w'ho, while contending perhaps for their right to a few hundred acres, have loll by the mazes of the law their whole patrimony. Thefe men are more properly law-givers than interpreters of the P 4 law, ai6 REFLECTIONS ON law, and have united here, as well as in moll other provinces, the Ikill and dexterity of the fcrlfae with the power and ambition of the prince : who can tell where this may lead in a future day ? The nature of our laws, and the Ipirit of freedom which often tends to make us litigious, mull neceffarily throw the greateft; part of the property of the colonies into the hands of thefe gendemen. In anodier century, the law wUl poffefs in the north what now the church poffeffes in Peru and Mexico. While all is joy, feftivity, and happinefs, in Charles - Town, would you imagine that fcenes of mifery overfpread in the country ? Their e^s, by habit, are become deaf, their hearts are hardened ; they neither fee, hear, nor feel for, the woes of their poor flaves, from Whofe painful labours all their wealth proceeds. . Here the horrors of flavery, the hardlhip of in- eehant toils, are unfeen ; and no one thinks with companion of thofe fhowers of fweat and of tears which from the bodies of Africans , daily drop, and moiften the ground they till. The cracks of the v.'hip, urging thefe miferable beings to exceflive labour, are far too diftant from the gay capital to be heard. The chofen race eat, drink, and live happy, while the un¬ fortunate one grubs up the ground, railes in¬ digo, or huflcs the rice; expofed to a fun full as fcorching as their native one, without the fupport NEGRO SLAVERY. ai7 fupport of good food, without the cordials of any cheering liquor. This greatcontrail: has often afforded me fubjedts of the moft af- flifting meditations. On the one fide, behold- a people enjoying, all that life affords moft^ bewitching and pleafurable, without labour-,, without fatigue, hardly fubjefled to the trouble of wifhing. With gold, dug from Peruvian mountains, they order veffels to the coafts of Guinea; by virtue of that gold, wars, murders, and devaftations, are committed in fome harm- lefs, peaceable, African neighbourhood,, where dwelt innocent people, who even knew not but that all men were black. The daughter torn from her weeping mother, the child from the wretched parents, the wife from the loving hulband j whole families fwejJt away, and brought, through ftorms and tempefts, to this rich metropolis ! There, arranged like horfes at a fair, they are branded like cattle, and theii driven to toil, to flarve, and to languilh, for a few years, on the different plantations of thefe citizens. And for whom muft they work ? For perfons they know nor, and who have no other power over them than that of vio¬ lence ; no other right than what this accurfed metal has given them ! Strange order of things! O Nature, where art thou ? — Are not thele blacks thy children as well as we ? On the Other fide, nothing is to be feen but the mofl: diffufivq^ 4 i 8 reflections ON diffufive rriifery and wretchedne'fs, unrelieved e- Veil ill thought or wiflit Day after day they drudge on without any profpedt of ever reap¬ ing for themfelves; they' are obliged to devote their lives, their limbs, their will, and every vital exertion, to fwell the wealth of mailers, who look not upon them with half the kind- nels arid affeCfcion .with winch they conlidef their dogs and horfes. Kindnefs and affec¬ tion are not the portion of thofe who till thie earth, who carry burdens, who convert the logs into uleful boards. This reward, fimple and natural as one would conceive it, would border on humanity 3 and planters mull have none of it! If negroes are permitted to become fathers, this fatal indulgence only tends to increafe their mifery: the poor companions of their fcanty pleafiires are likewife the corripanions of their labours 5 and when, at feme critical feafons, they could wilh to fee them relieved, with tears in their eyes they behold them perhaps doubly opprefledi obliged to bear the burden of na¬ ture—a fatal prefent!^—as well as that of unabated tafks. How many have I feen curfing the ir- relifiible propenfity, and regretting that, by having tailed of thofe harmlefs joys, they had become' the authors of double rhifeiy to their wives. Like their mailers, they are not permitted to partake of thofe ineffable fenfa- NEGRO SLAVERY. 2-9 dons witih which nature infpires the hearts of fathers and mothers; they muft repel them all, , and become callous and pafiive. This unnatu¬ ral ftate often occaiions die moft acute, the moll: pungent, of their affidions ; they have no time, like us, tenderly to rear their helplefs olFsprlng, to nurfe them on their knees, to enjoy the delight of being parents. Their paternal nefs is iihbitfered by conCdering, that, if thdr children live, they mull live to be (laves like themlelyes; no rime is allowed them to exer- cife their pious office,, the mothers mult faftea them on their Backs, and, with this double load^ follow their hulbands in the fields, where they too often no other found than that of the voice' of whip cf the talk-mafter, and the cries of their infants broiling in the fun. Thefe na- . fortunate creatures cry and weep, iilce their parents, sylthouf a poffibility of relief; the ye-, ry inftindl of the brute, (b laudable, fo ir- xefiflible, runs counter here to their tnafterV inteareft; and, to that god, all the laws of nature mult give way. Thus planters get rich; fo raw, fo inexperienced, am I in this mode' of life, that, were I to be poflefled of a plantation, and. my (laves treated as in general they are here, never could I reft in peace; my deep would be perpetually difturbed by a retrolpefl of the frauds committed in Africa in order to entrap them ; frauds, furpaffing in enormity every 420 REFLECTIONS ON every thing -which a common mind can poflibly conceive. I fhould be thinking of the barbarous treatment they meet -with on fhip-board; of their anguiftij of the delpair neceffarily infpired by their fituatipn; when torn from their friends and relations; when delivered into the hands of a people, differently coloured, whom they cannot underftand; carried in a ftrange ma¬ chine over an ever-agitated element, which they had never leen before ; and finally delivered over to the feverities of the whippets and the excelEve labours of the field. Can it be pof-^ fible that the force of cuftom Ihould ever make , me deaf to aU thefe refiedtions, and as infen- fible to the injuftice of that trade, and to their miferies, as the rich inhabitants of this town, feem to be ? What then is man ? this being who faoafts fo much of the excellence and dig¬ nity of his nature, among that variety of in-. fcrutable myfferies, of unfolyable problems,, ■with which he is furrounded ? The r.eafon why man has been thus created is not the leaft aftor nilhing. It is faid, I know, that they are much"" happier here than in the Weft-Indies ; becaufe, land being cheaper upon this continent than in thofe iflands, the fields, allowed them to raife their fubfiftence from, are in general more ex- tenfiVe. The only poffible chance of any alle- viadon depends on the humour of the planters, who, bred in the midft of Haves, learn, from the example nE:GRO.sl:ay.ery 221 example of their parents, to defpifethem; and feldom conceive, either from religion or philofo- phy, any ideas that tend to make • their fate lefs calamitous j except fome ftrong native tender- nefs of heart, fome rays of philanthropy, over¬ come the obduracy contrafted by habit. I have not refided here long enough to be¬ come infenfible of pain for the objefts which r every day behold. In the choice of my friends and acquaintance, I always endea¬ vour to find out thofe whofe difpofitions are fomewhat congenial with my own. We have flaves likewife in our northern provinces; I hope the time draws near when they will be- all emancipated: but how different their lot, how different their fituation, in every poffible refnect! They enjoy as much li¬ berty as their rpafters, they are as well clad and as well fed; in health and ficknefs they are tenderly taken care of; they live under the fame roof, and are, truly fpeaking, a part of our families. Many of them are taught to read and write, and are well inflrufted in the principles of religion; they are the com¬ panions of pur labours, and treated as fuch; they enjoy many perquifites, many efta- blifhed holidays^ and are not obliged to work ■ more than white people. They marry where inclination leads them; vifit their wives every "Wfek; are as decently clad as the common people; 222 REFLECTIONS ON pee^e; Aejr are indniged in educating, cherifi:- Hi^,and chafiifiijg, their children, who are taught jSilsordinadoa tothein as toth«rIawfiil parents; in fhorr, diey participate in many of the benefits of ear Ibciety, without being obliged to bear any of its burthens. They are fat, healthy, and hear¬ ty, and far from repining at their fate j they think, themfehres happier than many of the lower dais of whites: th^ fhare with their matters the wheat and meat prorifion they help to raife^ many of Aafe, whom the good Quakers Jave emancipated, hsEfC received that ^eat benefit with tears of re- ^ec, and have never quitted, though free, their fimner maflers and benefaSors, But is it really true, as 1 Have heard it aSeited here, that thofc blacks are iric^able of feeling thelpursof emulation and the cheerful feund of encouragement? By no means; there are a thoufand proofs exiftii^ of their gratitude and fidelity : thofe hearts, in which fuch noble diC- pofitioos can grow, are then like ours, they are fufceptible of every generous fentiment, every ufefiil motive of aftion; they are capable of receiving fights, of imbibing ideas, that would greatly alleviate the weight of their rati- feries. But what methods have in general been made ufe of to obtain fodefiraltte an end ? None; the day, in which they arrive and ss^ fold, isthefirftof their labours t labours, which feom that hojir admit of no refpitc; f flxong, and lb full of limbs, as to refembfe young trees ■, I once afcended one of tliem four feet above the ground. Thefe produce natural arbours, rendered often ftill more compadt by the alTiftance of an annual creeping plant, which we call a vine, that never fails to entwine itfelf among their branches, and always pro¬ duces a very defirable lhade. From this fimple grove I have amufed myfelf a hundred times in obferving the great number of humming¬ birds with which our country abounds: the wild blolToms every where attract the atten¬ tion of thefe birds, which, like bees, fubfifl; by fudtion. From this retreat I diftinfUy watch them in all their various attitudes; but their flight is fo rapid that you cannot diftinguilh the motion of tlieir wings. On this little bird Nature has profufely lavifhed her moll fplendid colours; the moft perfeft azure, the molt beautiful gold, the moft dazzling red, are for ever in contraft, and help to embellilh the plumes of his majeftic head. The richell pal¬ let of the moft luxuriant painter could never invent any thing to be compared to the va¬ riegated tints with which this infeft-bird is arrayed. Its bill is as long and as lharp as a coarfe fewing-needle; like the bee, nature has taught it to find out the calix of flowers and blolToms, thofe mellifluous particles that ferve ■ it for fufficient food; and yet it fcems to leave THE HUMiVTlNG-ElRDi 243 leave them untouched, undeprived of any thing that our eyes can poffibly diftinguifh. When it feeds, it appears as if immovable, though con¬ tinually on the wingj andi fometimes, from what motives I know not, it will tear and lace¬ rate flowers into a hundred pieces; for, llrange to tell, they are the mofl: irafcible of the fea¬ thered tribe. — Where do paffions find room in fo diminutive a body ? — They often fight with the fury of lions, until one of the combatants falls a facrifice and dies* When fatigued, it has often perched within a few feet of me, and, on fuch favourable opportunities, I have fur- veyed it with the molt minute attention. Its little eyes appear like diamonds, refledling light on every fide: mofl: elegantly finifhed in all parts, it is a miniature-work of our great Pa¬ rent ; who feems to have formed it tlie fmallefr, and, at the fame time, the molt beautiful, of the winged fpecies. As I was one day fitting folitary and penlive in my primitive arbour, my attention was en¬ gaged by a ftrange fort of ruftling noife at fome paces diflance. I looked all around without diltinguifhing any thing, until I climbed one of my great hemp-ltalks j when, to my aftonilh- ment, I beheld two fnakes of confiderable length, the one purfuing the other, with great celerity, through a hemp-ltubble field. The aggreffor was of the black kind, fix feet long; R 2 the 244 A FURIOUS BATTLE the fugitive was a water-fnake, nearly of equal dimenfions. They foon met^ and, in the fury of their firft encounter, they appeared in an inftant firmly twifted together; and, whilft their united tails beat the ground, they mutu¬ ally tried with open jaws to lacerate each other. What a fell afpeft did they prcfent! their heads were comprelTed to a very fmall fize, their eyes flaflied fire; and, after this conflidt had lafted about five minutes, the fecond found means to difengage itfelf from the firft, and hurried toward the ditch. Its antagonift in- ftantiy afliimed a new pofture 5 and, half creep¬ ing and half erect, with a majeftlc mein, over¬ took and attacked the other again, which placed itfelf in the fame attitude and prepared to relift. The fcene was uncommon and beauti¬ ful ; for, thus oppofed, they fought with their jaws, biting each other with the utmoft rage; but, notwithftanding this appearance of mutual courage and fury, the water-fnake ftill feemed defirous of retreating coward the ditch, its na¬ tural element. This was no fooner perceived by the keen-eyed black onve, than, twilling its tail twice round a ftalk of hemp, and feizing its adverfary by the throat, nor by means of its jaws, but by twilling its own neck twice round that of the water-fnake, pulled it back from the ditch. To prevent a defeat, the latter took hold likewife of a ftalk on the bank, and, by BETWEEN TWO SNAKES. 045 by the acquifition of that point of refiftance, became a match for its fierce antagonift. Strange was this to behold; two great fnakes ftrongly adhering to the ground, mutually faftened to¬ gether, by means of the wrichings, which lalhed them to each other, and, ftretched at their full length, they pulled, but pulled in vain; and, in the moments of greacefl: exertion, that part of their bodies which was entwined feemed extremely fmall, while the reft appeared in¬ flated, and, now and then, convulfed with ftrong undulations rapidly following each other. Their eyes feemed on fire and ready to ftart out of their heads; at one time the conflidb feemed decided ; the water-fnake bent itfelf into two great folds, and, by that operation, ren¬ dered the other more than commonly out- ftretched; the next minute, the new ftruggles of the black one gained an unexpedted fupe- riority; it acquired two great folds likewife, which neceffarily extended the body of its adverfary in proportion as it had contrafted its own. Thefe efforts were alternate; viftory feemed doubtful; inclining fometimes to the one fide and fometimes to the other; until, at laft, the ftalk, to which the black fnake faftened, fuddenly gave way, and, in confequence of this accident, they both plunged into the ditch. The water did not extinguifhed their vindidtive rage; for, by their agitations, I could trace, R 3 though 246 A FURIOUS BATTLE. though not diltinguifli, their mutual attacks. They foon re-appeared on the furface twilled together as in their firfl: onfet; but the black fnake ftemed to retain its wonted fuperiorityj for its head was esaftly fixed above that of the other, which it inceffandy preffed down under the water until it was llifled and funk. The victor no fooner perceived its enemy incapable of farther refiflance, than, abandoning it to the current^ it returned on Ihore and difappeared, J^ETTER VISIT TO MR. BERTRAM. 247 LETTER XI. FROM MR. IW-N AL-Z, A RUSSIAN GENTLE¬ MAN, DESCRIBING THE VISIT HE PAID, AT MY request, to MR. JOHN BERTRAM, THE. CELE¬ BRATED PENNSYLVANIAN BOTANIST. E xamine tWs flourilhing province, in whatever light you will, the eyes, as well as the mind, of an European traveller are equal¬ ly delighted, becaufe a diffufive happinefs ap¬ pears in every part; happinefs which is efta- blilhed on the broadeft bafis. The wifdom of Lycurgus and Solon never conferred on man one half of the blelTmgs and uninterrupted profperity which the Pennfylvanians now polTefs. The name of Penn, that fimple but illuftrious citizen, does more honour to the Englifli nation than thofe of many of their kings ! In order to convince you that I have not be¬ llowed undeferved praifes in my former letters on this celebrated government, and that either nature or the climate feems to be more favoura¬ ble here to the arts and fciences than to any o- ther American province, let us together, agreea¬ ble to your defire, pay a vilit to Mr. John Ber¬ tram, the firfh botanift in this new hemifphere; become fuch by a native impulfe of difpofition. It is to this fimpIe man that America is indebted 24? VISIT TO MR. BERTRAM, for feveral ufeful difcoveries and the knowledge of many new plants. I had been greatly pre- poflelTed in his favour by the extenfive corre- Ipondence which I knew he held with the mofl; eminent Scotch and French botanifts ; I knew alfo that he had been honoured with that of Queen Ulrica of Sweden. His houfe is fmall, but decent; there was fomething peculiar in its firft appearance, which feemed to diftinguilh it from thofe of his neigh¬ bours : a fmall tower, in the middle of it, not only helped to ftrengthen it, but afforded con¬ venient room for a ftaircafe. Every difpofition of the fields, fences, and trees, feemed to bear the marks of perfect order and regularity, which, in rural afiairs, always indicate a profperous in- duftry. I was received at the door by a woman dref- fed extremely neat and Ample, who, without courtefying, or any other ceremonial, afked me, with an air of benignity, whom I wanted ? I an- fw'ered, I Ihould be glad to fee Mr. Bertram. If thee wilt ftep in, and take a chair, I will fend for him. No, I faid, I had rather hav? the pleafure of walking through his farm; I fliall eafily find him out, with your diredtions, After a litde time I percei/ed the Schuylkill, winding through delightful meadows, and foon caft my eyes on a new-made bank, which fecined greatly to confine its ftream, After having T H E B O T A N I S T. 249 having walked on its top a confiderable way I at laft reached the place where ten men were at work. I alked, if any of them could tell me where Mr. Bertram was ? An elderly- looking man, with v/ide trowlers and a large leather apron on, looking at me, faid, " My “ name is Bertram, doll: thee want me?” Sir, I am come on purpofe to converfe with you, if you can be fpared from your labour. " Very eafily, (he • anfwered,) I direft and “ advife more than I work.” We .walked to¬ ward the houfe, where he made me take a chair while he went to put on clean clothes, after which he returned and fat dov/n by me. The fame of your knowledge, faid I, in Ame¬ rican botany, and your well-known holpitality, have induced me to pay you a vilit, which I hope you will not think troublefome: I Ihould be glad to fpend a few hours in your garden. “ The greateft advantage (replied he) which “ I receive, from what thee callefl: my botani- “ cal fame, is the pleafure which it often pro- " cureth me in receiving the vifits of friends “ and foreigners: but our jaunt into the gar- “ den mull: be poftponed for the prefent, as “ the bell is ringing for dinner.” We entered into a large hall, where there was a long table full of vidualsj at the lowefl: part fat his ne¬ groes, his hired men were next, then the family and 250 VISIT TO MR. BERTRAM, and myfelf; and, at the head, the venerable father and his wife prefided. Each reclined his head and faid his prayers, divefted of the tedious cant of fome, and of the oftentatious ftyle of others. “ After the luxuries of our cities, (oblerved he,) this plain fare muft appear to " thee a fevere faft.” By no means, Mr. Bertram, this honeft country dinner convinces me that you receive me as a friend and an old acquaintance. ‘‘ I am glad of it, for thee “ art heartily welcome. I never knew how toufe ceremonies j they are infufficient proofs “ of lincerity j our fociety, befides, are utterly ftrangers to what the world calleth polite " expreffions. We treat others as we treat “ ourfelves. I received yefterday a letter “ from Philadelphia, by which I underftand “ thee art a Ruffian; what motives can pof- “ fibly have induced thee to quit thy native “ country and to come fo far in quell of know- “ ledge orplealure? Verily it is a great com- ‘‘ pliment thee payeft to this our young pro- “ vince, to think that any thing it exhibiteth “ maybe worthy thy attention.” I have been moft amply repaid for the trouble of the paf- fage. I view the prefent Americans as the feed of future nations, which will replenilli this boundlefs continent; the Ruffians may be in fome refpects compared to you; we likewife are a new people, new I mean in knowledge, arts. THE BOTANIST. 251 arts, and improvements. Who knows what re¬ volutions RulTia and America may one day bring about; we are perhaps nearer neighbours than we imagine. I view, with peculiar attention, all your tov/ns; 1 examine their lituation, and the police, for which many are already famous. Though their foundations are now fo recent, and fo well remembered, yet their origin will puzzle pofberity as much as we are now puzzled to afcertain the beginning of thofe which time has in fome meafure deftroyed. Your new buildings, your ftreets, put me in mind of thofe of the city of Pompeia, where I was a few years ago. I attentively examined every thing there, particularly the foot-path which runs along the the houfes. They appeared to have been confi- derably worn by the great number of people which had once travelled over them. But now how diftant: neither builder nor proprietors re¬ main ; nothing is known ! Why, thee haft “ been a great traveller for a man of thy years.” Few years, fir, will enable any body to journey over a great track of country, but it requires a fuperior degree of knowledge to gather harvefts as we go. Pray, Mr. Bertram, what banks are thofe which you are making ? to what pur- pofe is fo much expence and fo much labour beftowed ? “ Friend Iwan, no branch of in- duftry was ever more profitable to any coun- ZS2 VISIT TO MR. BERTRAM, '' try as well as to the proprietors. The Schuyl- kill, in its many windings, once covered a " great extent of ground, though its waters were “ but fliallow even in our higheft tides; and, " though fome parts were always dry, yet the whole of this great track prefented to the eye ‘‘ nothing but a putrid Iwampy foil, ufelels either “ for the plough or the fcythe. The proprietors “ of thefe grounds are now incorporated: we “ yearly pay to the treafurer of the company a “ certain fum, which makes an aggregate fupe- “ rior to the cafualties that generally happen “ either by inundations or the mulk fquafli. It “ is owing to this happy contrivance that fo ma- ny thoufand acres of meadows have been " refcued from the Schuylkill, which now both “ enricheth and embeUifheth- lb much of the “ neighbourhood of our city. Our brethren of “ Salem, in New Jerfey, have carried the art of “ banking to a ftill higher degree of perfedtion." It is really an admirable contrivance, which greatly redounds to the honour of the parties concerned, and Ihews a fpirit of difcernment and perfeverance which is highly praife-worthy. If the Virginians would imitate your example, the ftate of their hulbandry would greatly im¬ prove. I have not heard of any fuch affocia- tion in any other parts of the continent. TPenn- fylvania, hitherto, feems to reign the unrivalled queen THE BOTANIST. 253 queen of. thefe fair provinces. Pray, fir, what expences 'are you at ere thefe grounds be fit for the fcythe ? “ The- expences are very con- “ fiderable, particularly when v/e have land, “ brooks, trees, and brufh, to clear away. ‘^But, fuch is the excellence of thefe bottoms, “ and the goodnefs of the grafs, for fattening of '' cattle, that the produce of three years pays “ all advances.” Happy the country where nature has befto-vvd fuch rich treafiires, trea- fures fuperior to mines ! faid I; if all this fair province is thus cultivated, no wonder it has acquired fuch reputation, for the profperity and the induftry of its inhabitants. By this time the working part of the family had finiflied their dinner, and had retired with a decency and filence which pleafed me much. Soon after I heard, as I thought, a diftant con¬ cert of inftruments. — However fimple and paf- toral your fare was, Mr. Bertram, this is the defert of a prince; pray what is this I hear ? “ Thee muft not be alarmed, it is of a piece " with the reft of thy treatm.ent, friend Iv/an.” Anxious I followed the found; and, by afcend- ing the ftaircafe, found that it was the effeQ; of the -wind through the ftrings of an Eolian harp j an inftrument which I had never before leen. After dinner we quaffed an honeft bottle of Madeira wine, without the irkfome labour of 2J4 VISIT TO MR. BERTRAM^ of toafts, healths, or fentiments; and then re¬ tired into his fhidj. I was no fooner entered, than I obferved a coat of arms, in a gilt frame, with the name of John Bertram. The novelty of fuch a deco¬ ration, in fuch a place, ftruck mej I could not avoid alking. Does the Society of Friends take any pride in thefe armorial bearings, which, fometimes, ferve as marks of diftinftion between families, and, much oftener, as food for pride and oftentation ? “ Thee muft know “ (faid he) tliat my fatlier was a French- “ man, he brought this piece of painting over “ with him; I keep it as a piece of family- “ furniture, and as a memorial of his re- “ moval hither.” From his ftudy we went into the garden, which contained a great va¬ riety of curious plants and fhrubs; fome grew in a green-houfe, over the door of which were written thefe lines j “ Slave to no fcft, who takes no private road, “ But looks, through nature, up to nature’s God!” He informed me that he had often followed. General Bouquet to Pittlburgh, with the view of herbarizing; that he had made ufeful col- leftions in Virginia, and that he had been em¬ ployed by the King of England to vilit the two Floridas. Our walks and botanical obfervations en- grofied fo much of our time, that the fun was almoft T H E B O T A N I S T. 255 almofl; down ere I thought of returning to Phila¬ delphia. I regretted that the day had been fo llrortj as I had not fpent fo rational an one for a long time before. I wanted to ftay, yet was doubtful whether it would not appear impropeij being an utter ftranger. Knowing, hotvever, that I was vifiting , the leaft ceremonious people in the world, I bluntly informed him of the plea- fure I had enjoyed, and with the defire I had of flaying a few days with him. “ Thee rat as “ welcome as if I was thy father. Thee art no flranger. Thy defire of knowledge, thy be- " ing a foreigner befides, entitleth thee to confi- “ der my houfe as thine own as long as thee “ pleafeth: ufe thy time with the mofl perfe(5t “ freedom; I toolhalldo fomyfelf.” I thank¬ fully accepted the kind invitation. We went to view his flivourite bank; he fliewed me the principles and method on which it v/as erefted; and we walked over the grounds which had been already drained. The whole flore of nature’s kind luxuriance feemed to have been exhaufled on thefe beautiful mea¬ dows; he made me count the amazing num¬ ber of cattle and horfes now feeding on fo- lid bottoms, which but a few years before had been covered with water. Thence we rambled through his fields, where the right-angular fences, the heaps of pitched flones, the fiou- rifliing 25 ^ VISIT TO MR. BERTRAM, rifhing clover, announced the bell hufbandry as well as the moft afliduous. attention. His cows were then returning home, deep bellied, fhorc legged, having udders ready to burfl:; feeking, with feeming toil, to be delivered from the great exuberance they contained : he next fliewed me his orchard, formerly planted on a barren fandy Ibil, but long fince converted into one of the richeft fpots in that vicinage. “ This, faid he, is altogether the fruit of my « own contrivance. I purchafed, fome years “ ago, the privilege of a fmall fpring, about a mile and a half from hence, which, at a « confiderable expence, I have brought to this “ refervoir; therein I throw old lime, aflies, “ horfedung, &c. and, twice a week, I let it run, thus impregnated. I regularly fpread “ on this ground, in the fall, old hay, ftraw, “ and whatever damaged fodder I have about my barn. By thefe fimple means I mow, " one year with another, fifty-three hundreds “ of excellent hay per acre, from a foil which “ fcarcely produced five-fingers [a finiall plant “ refeinblhig flravjberries\ fome years before.'*' This is. Sir, a miracle in hufbandry; happy the country which is cultivated by a fociety of men, whole application and tafte lead them to profecute and accomplifli ufeful works [ “ I am not the only perfon who do thefe “ things, (he laid,) wherever water can be had C( THE BOTANIST. " it is always turned to that important ufej wiierever a farmer can water his meadows, the “ greateft crops of the befl: hay and excellent " after-grafs are the fure rewards of his labours. “ With the banks of my meadow-ditches “ I have greatly enriched my upland fields; “ thole which I intend to reft for a few years “ I conftantly fow with red clover, which is the “ greateft meliorator of our lands. For three " years after, they yield abundant pafture. “ "When I want to break up my clov'er-ficlds, “ I give them a good coat of mud, wliich “ hath Iteen expofecl to the feverities of three “ or four of our winters. This is the reafon " that I commonly reap from twenty-eight to “ thirty-fix bullicls of v/hcat an acre; my .fiax, " oats, and Indian corn, I raile in the fame “ proportion. Yvouldft thee inform me whe- “ ther the inhabitants of thy country follov/ “ the fame methods of hufbandryNo, Sir; in the neighbourhood of our towns there are indeed fome intelligent farmers, who profccute their rural fchemes tvith attention; but we fliould be too numerous, too happy, too power¬ ful, a people, if it were polTible for tire whole Ruffian Empire to be cultivated lii-ie the province of Pennfylvania. Our lands are fo unequally divided, and lb few of our farm.ers are polTelTors of the foil they til!, that they S cannot •258 VISIT TO MR. BERTRAM, cannot execute plans of hufbandry vfith the fame vigour as you do, who hold yours, as it -were, from theMafter of nature, unincumbered and free. O America! exclaimed I, thou knoweft not as yet the whole extent of thy hap- pinefs; the foundation of thy civil polity muft lead thee in a few years to a degree of popu¬ lation and power tvhich Europe little thinks of! " Long before tliis liappen (anfwered the '' good man) we fltall refl beneath the turfj it “ is vain for mortals to be prefumptuous in their conjectures: our country is, no doubt, “ the cradle of an extenfivc future population; “ the old world is growing weary of its inha- bitants, they muft come here to flee from “ the tyranny of the great. But doth not thee '' imagine, that the great will, in the courfe of “ years, come over here allb; for it is the mif- “ fortune of all focieties every where to hear " of great men, great rulers, aiid of great tyrants.” My dear Sir, I replied, tyranny never can take a ftrong hold in this country, the land is too wifely diilributed: it is po¬ verty in Europe that makes (laves. “ Friend " Iwan, as I make no doubt that thee under- “ ftandeft the Latin tongue, read this kind epiftie which the good Queen of Sweden, “ DTr/cc, fent me a few years ago. Good wo- “ man! that (he lliould think, in her palace " at Stockholm, of poor John Bertram on “ the THE BOTANIST. -6o VISIT TO MR. BERTRAM, ■' though I know tliat lome of our friends have laughed at it.” I am not one of tiiofe peo¬ ple, Mr. Bertram, who aim at finding out the ridiculous in what is fincerely and honeftiy aver¬ red. “ Well, then. I’ll tell thee. One day I “ was very bufy in holding my plough, (for thee feeft I am but a ploughman,) and, being wea- “ r}', I ran under the lhade of a tree to repofe •' myfelf. I cafe my eyes on a ; I plucked “ it mechanically, and viewed it with more cu- “ riofity dean common country farmers are “ wont to do, and obferved therein very many “ diftinct parts, fome perpendicular, fome ho- rizontal. a Jljo.me, Jaid my mind, or Jomethiiig that injpired my mind, that thee “ fcoiildjl have employedJo -many years in tilling “ the earth end dejlroying Jo many flozvers and " plants, osithout being acquainted vjitb theirJlruc- “ tares and their vjes ! This feeming infpira- “ tion fuddenly awakened my curiofity, for “ thefc were not thoughts to which I had “ been accuftomed. I returned to my team, “ but this new defire did not quit my mind; “ I mentioned it to my wife, who greatly difeouraged me from profecuting my nev/ “ fchem.e, as lire called it. I was not opulent " enough, fhe faid, to dedicate much of my " time to ftudies and labours which might rob me of that portion of it which is the “ only wealth of the American farmer. How- “ ever. THE BOTANIST. 261 ever, her prudent caution did not difcourage “ me; I thought about it continually, at fup- '' per, in bed, and wherever I went. At laft “ I could not refill the impulfe ; for, on the , “ fourth day of the following week, I hired a “ man to plough for me, and went to Phila- “ delphia. Though I knew not what book to “ call for, ! ingenucully told the bookfeller “ my errand, who provided me v/ith fiich as “ he thought bell, and a Latin grammar be- “ fide. Next I applied to a neighbouring “ fchoolmafter, who in three months taught “ me Latin enough to underftand Idnnaeus, “ which I purchafed afterward. Then I be- “ gan to botanize all over my farm; in a little “ tiiPie I became acquainted with every vege- “ table that grew in my neighbourhood; and “ next ventured into Maryland, living among “ the Friends ; in proportion as I thought ‘‘ myfelf more learned I proceeded farther, “ and, by a Heady application of feveral years, I have -acquired a pretty general knowledge of every plant -and tree to be found in our “ continent. In procefs of time I was ap- “ plied to from the old countries, whither I “ every year fend many colle&ions. Being “ now made eafy in my circumftances, I have “ ccafed to labour, and am never fo happy as “ when I fee and converfe with my friends. “ If, among the many plants or Ihrubs I am S3 “ acquainted T H E B O T A N I S T. 263 ciety treats them now as the companions of our labours; and, by this management as well as by means of the education we have given them, they are in general become a new fet of beings. Thofe, whom I admit to my table, 1 have found to be good, trufly, moral, men ; wltcn they do not what we think they fiiould do, we difmifs them, which is ail the punifliment we infiidt. Other focieties of Chriftians keep them ftiil as flaves, without teaching them any kind of religious principles. Yvhat motive befide fear can tliey have to behave well ? In the firft fettlement of this province, we employed them as flaves, I acknowledge; bur, vrhen we found that good example, gentle admo¬ nition, and religious principles, could lead them to liibordination and fobriety, v/e re- linquiflied a method fo contrary to the pro- fcflion of Chriftianity. We gave them free¬ dom, and yet few have quitted their ancient mailers. Hie vvomen breed in our families; and we become attached to one another. I taught mine to read and to write ; they love God, and fear his judgements. The oldeft perfon r.mong them tranfafts my bufi- nefs in Philadelphia witli a punauality from which he has never deviated. They conftantly attend our meetings, they participate in health and ficknefs, infancy and old age, S 4 “ in a64. VISIT TO MR. BERTRAM. •' in the advantages our Ibdety affords. Such are the means we have made ufe of to relieve “ them from that bondage and ignorance in “ which they were kept before. Thecj pcrltaps, haft been furprifed to fee th.em at my table, bur, by elevating them to the rank of freemen, they necefl'arily acquire that emulation, with- “ out which we curfelves lltould fall into de- bafenient and proSigate ways.” Mr. Ber¬ tram, this is the moft philofophical treat- m,ent of negroes that I have heard of; happy would it be for America would other denomi¬ nations of Chrillians imbibe the fame prin¬ ciples, and follow the fame admirable rules ! A great number of men would be relieved fro t ^ c Lci lhackles, under v/hich they nov; groan; and, under this impreffion, I can¬ not endure to fpcnc more time in the fotuhern provmccs. 1 ne method with which they are treated there, the meanntfs of their food, the fcv'eriiy of their taffts, are fpeCtacies I have nor patience to behold. I am glad to fee “ that thee haft fo much compaSion; are there “ any fiaves in thy country ?” Tes, unfortu¬ nately ; but they are more properly civil than domeftic Haves; they are attached to the foil on which they live; it is the remains of an¬ cient barbarous cuftoms, eftabiifoed in the days of the greateft ignorance and favageneis of manners, and preferved, noewithftanding the repeated T H E B O T A N I S (T. -265 repeated tears of humanity, the loud calls of policy, and the commands of religion. The pride of great men, with the avarice of land¬ holders, make them look on this clafs as ne- ceffary tools of hufoandry, as if freemen could not cultivate the grotind. “ And is it really “ fo, Friend Iwan ? To be poor, to be wretched, “ to be a fiave, is hard indeed j exiftence is “ not worth enjoying on thefe terms. I am “ afraid the country can never flourilh under “ fuch impolitic government.” I am very much of your opinion, Mr. Bertram ; though I am in hopes that the prefent reign, illuftrious by fo many afts of the founded policy, will not expire without this falutary, this neceffary, emancipation, which would fill the Ruffian em¬ pire with tears of gratitude. '' Hov/ long haft thee been in this country ?” Four years. Sir. “ Why thee fpeakeft Englilh almoft like “ a native; what a toil a traveller muft under- “ go to learn various languages, to diveft him- “ felf of his native prejudices, and to accom- “ modate himfelf to the cuftoms of all thofe “■ among v/hom he choofcth to refide 1” Thus I fpeiit my time with this enlightened botanift—this worthy citizen j who united all the fimplidty of ruftic manners to the moft ufcful learning. Various and extenfive were the converfations that filled the meafure of my vifit. I accompanied him to his fields, to his barn, to 266 VISIT TO MR. BERTRAM, to his bank, to his garden, to his ftudy, and at the laft to the meeting of the fociety on the Sun¬ day following. It v/as at the town of Chefter, v/hither the whole family Vvent in two waggons ; Mr. Bertram and I on horfeback. When I entered the houfe where the Friends were af- fembled, who might be about tvro hundred men and women, the involuntary impuife of ancient cuftom made me pull off my liatj but, foon recovering myfelf, I fat v/itli it on at the end of a bench. The meeting-houfe was a fquare building, devoid of any ornament whatever; the tvhitenefs of the walls, the con- veniency of feats, that of a large ftove, which in cold weather keeps the whole houfe warm, were the only effential things which I obferved. Neither pulpit nor defle, fount nor altar, taber¬ nacle nor organ, were there to be feen; it is m.erely a fpacious room, in which thefe good peo¬ ple meet every Sunday. A profound filence en- fued, which lafted about half an hour; every one had his head reclined, and feemed abforbed in profound meditation; \vhen a female friend arofe, and declared, with a moft: engaging modefey, that the fpirit irioved her to entertain them on the fubject {he had chofen. She treated it with great propriety, as a moral ufefui difeourfe, and delivered it without theologi¬ cal parade or the oftentation of learning. Either fhe mull have been a great adept in public THE BOTANIST. 267. fpeaking, or had ftudiouily prepared herfelf; a circumftance that cannot well be ftippofed, as it is a point, in their profelTion, to utter no¬ thing but what arifes from fpontaneous im- pulfe ; or elfe, the great Spirit of the world, the patronage and influence of which they all came to invoke, '-■■'.'.ifl; have infpired her with the foiindeft morality. Her difcourfe lafted three qnarti rs of an hour. I did not obferve one fingle face turned totvard her; never before had I feen a congregation liftening with fo much, attention to a public oration. I obferved neither contortions of body, nor any kind of afi'ectation in her face, flyle, or manner of ut¬ terance ; every thing was natural, and there¬ fore pleafing ; and, flrall I tell you more ? flie w'as very handfome, although upward of forty. As foon as flie had finiflied, every one feemed' to return to their former meditation for about a quarter of an liour; when they rofe up by common confent, and, after ibme general con- verfation, departed. How fimple their precepts, how unadorned their religions fyfcein ; how few the ceremonies through which they pafs during the courfe of their lives ! At their deatlis they are interred by the fraternity, without' pomp, without prayers; tliinking it then too late to alter the courfe of God’s eternal decrees; and, as you ■well know, without £68 VISIT TO MR. BERTRAM, without either monument or tomb-ftone. Thus, after having lived under the mildeft gOj^ vernment, after having been guided by the mildeft doftrine, they die juft as peaceably as thole who, being educated in more pompous religions, pafs through a variety of facra- ments, lubfcrifae to complicated creeds, and enjoy the benefits of a church-eftabiifti- ment. Thefe good people flatter them- felves with following the doctrines of Jefus Chrift in that fimplicity with which they were delivered : a happier fyftem could not have been devifed for the ufe of mankind! It appears to be entirely free from thofe orna¬ ments and political additions which each country, and each government, hath fafliioned after its own manners. At the door of this meeting-houfe I had been invited to fpend fome days at the houfes of fome refpeaable farmers in the neighbourhood. The reception I met with every where infenfibly led me to fpend two months among thefe good people; and I muft fay they were the golden days of my riper years. I never lhall forget the gratitude I owe them for the innumerable kindneffes they heaped on me; it was to the letter you gave me that I am indebted for the extenflve acquaintance I now have throughout Pennfylvania. I muft defer thanldng you, as I ought. T botanist. 269 I ought, until I fee you again. Before that time comes, I may, perhaps, entertain you with more curious anecdotes than this letter affords. Farewel. DISTRESSES OF t^Q LETTER XII. DISTRESSES OF A FRONTIER-MAN. I WISH for a change of place; the hour is come at laft that I muft fly from my houfe and abandon my farm! But, what courfe Ihall I fteer, inclofed as I am ? The climate, befl: adapted to my prefent fituation and humour, would be the polar regions, where fix months day and fix m.onths night divide the dull year: nay, a Ample Aurora Borealis would fuffice me, and greatly refrefh my eyes, fatigued now by fo many difagreeable objefts. The feverity of thofe climates, that great gloom, where melancholy dwells, would be perfeflly anala- gous to the turn of my mind. Oh ! could I remove my plantation to the fhores of the Oby, willingly would I dwell in the hut of a Samo- yede; with cheerfulnefs would I go and bury myfelf in the cavern of a Laplander. Could I but carry my family along wdth me, I would winter at Pello or Tobohky, in order to enjoy the peace and innocence of that country. But, let me arrive under the pole, or reach the antipodes, I never can leave behind me the remembrance of the dreadful fcenes to which I have been witnefs; therefore never can I be happy! Happy! why would I mention that fweet„ A FRQNTIER-MAN, 271 fweet, that enchanting, word ? Once happinefs was our portion j now it is gone from us, and I am afraid not to be enjoyed again by die prefent generation. Which ever way I look, nothing but the moft frightful precipices pre¬ fent themfelvcs to my view, in which hun¬ dreds of my friends and acquaintances have already perillied: of all animals, tliat live on the furface of this planet, vdiat is iiian when no longer connefted with focicty; or when he finds himfelf furrounded by a convulfed and a half-dilToIved one r Ke cannot live ia folitude, he mull: belong to feme com¬ munity, bound by fome ties, however im- perfeft. Men mutually ■ fupport and add to die boldnefs and confidence of each other j the weaknefs of each is ftrengthened by the force of the whole. I had never, before thefe cala¬ mitous times, formed any fuch ideas; I lived on, laboured, and profpered, v/ithout having ever ftudied on what the fecurity of my life and the foundation of my profperity were efta- bliflied. I perceived them juft as they left me. Never was a fituation fo finguiarly terrible as mine, in every poffible refpeft j as a member of an extenfive Ibciety, as a citizen of an in¬ ferior divifion of the lame freiety. as a huftiand, as a father, as a man wiio exquiiutc!;' fr;.;: the miferies of otheii weil as .for i:::. c.vn f But, alas ! fo m.Ui. , i ^ 272 DISTRESSES OF verted among us, that the very word mijery, vdth which we were hardly acquainted before, no longer conveys the fame ideas; or rather, tired with feeling for the miferies of others, every one feels now for himfelf alone. Vfhen I confider myfelf as connefted in all thefe cha- radters, as bound by fo many cords, all uniting in my heart, I am feifed with a fever of the mind, I am tranfported beyond that de¬ gree of calmnels which is necelTary to delineate our thoughts. I feel as if my reafon wanted to leave me, as if it would burft its poor weak tenement: again I try to compofe myfelf^ I grow cool, and, preconceiving the dreadful lofs, I endeavour to retain the ufeful gueft. r You know the pofition of our fettlement; I need not therefore defcribe it. To the weft it is inclofed by a chain of mountains, reaching to •-; to the eaft, the country is as yet but thinly inhabited; we are almoft infulated, and the houfes are at a confiderable diftance from each other. From the mountains we have but too much reafon to expedl our dreadful ene¬ my ; the wildernefs is a harbour where it is impoffible to find them. It is a door through which they can enter our country when¬ ever they pleafe ; and, as they feem deter- jnined to deftroy the w-hole chain of frontiers, our fate cannot be far diftant: from Lake Champlain, almoft all has been conflagrated one A FRONTIER-MAN. 273 one after another. What renders thefe incurfions ftill more terrible is, that they mofl; commonly take place in the dead of the night. We never go to our fields but we are feifed with an involun¬ tary fear, which leffens our ftrength and weakens our labour. No other fubjeft of converfation intervenes between the different accounts, which fpread through the country, of fucceffive afts of devaftation ; and thefe, told in chimney-cor¬ ners, fwell themfelves, in our affrighted imagi¬ nations, into the mofl: terrific ideas 1 Wc' never fit down, either to dinner or fupper, but the leafl: noife immediately fpreads a general alarm, and prevents us from enjoying the comfort of our meals. The very appetite, proceeding from labour and peace of mind, is gone : we eatjuft: enough to keep us alive :■ our fleep is difturbed by the mofl: frightful dreams: fometimes I flart • awake, as if the great hour of danger was come; at other times the howling of our dogs feems to , announce the arrival of our enemy; we leap out of bed and run to arms: my poor wife,- with panting bofom and filent tears, takes leave cf me, as if we were to fee each other no more; file fnatches the youngeft children from their beds, who, fuddenly awakened, increafe, by their innocent queftions, the horror of tlie dreadful moment. She tries to hide them in the cellar, as if our cellar was inacceflible to the fire. T I 274 DISTRESSES OF I place all my fervants at the windows and myfelf at the door, where I have determined to perifli. Fear induftrioufly incre^es every found; we all liften; each communicates to the other his ideas and conjedlures. We remain thus fometimes for whole hours, our hearts and our minds racked by the mpft anxious fufpenfe: what a dreadful ficuation, a thoufand times worfe than that of a foldier engaged in the raidfl; of the mofl; fevere confiift! Sometimes; feel¬ ing the fpontaneoiis courage of a man, I feem to wilh for the decifive minute ; the next in- ftant a meffage from my wife, fent by one of the children, puzzling me befide tvith their lit¬ tle queftions, unmans me: away goes my cou¬ rage, and I defeend again into the deepeft de- fpondency. At laft, finding that it was a falfe alarm, we return once more to our beds; but what good-can tire kind fleep of nature do to us when interrupted by Ftich feenes ! Securely placed as you are, you can have no idea of our agitations but by hear-iay : no relation can be e- qual to W'hat we fufFer and to v/hat we feel. Eve¬ ry morning my youngefl: children are fure to have frightful dreams to relate : in vain I exert my au¬ thority to keep them filent; it is not in my pow¬ er ; and thefe images of their difturbed imagina¬ tion, inftead of being frivolou.fiy looked upon as in the days of our happinefs, are, on the contrary, confidered A FRONTIER-MAN. 275 confidered as warnings and fure prognoftics of our future fate. I am not a fuperftitious man, but, fince our misfortunes, I am grown more ti¬ mid, and lefs difpofed to treat the doftrine of o- mens with contempt. Though thefe evils have been gradual, yet they do not become habitual like other inciden¬ tal evils. The nearer I view the end of this ca- taftrophe, the more I fliudder. But why fiiould I trouble you with fuch unconnected accounts ? Men, fecure and out of danger, arc foon fitigiied with mournful details. Can you enter with me into fellowfhip with all thefe affliftive fenfiitions? Have you a tear ready to Hied over the ap¬ proaching ruin of a once opulent and fubftantial family ? Read this, I pray, with the eyes of fympathy ; with a-tender forrow pity the lot of thofe whom you once called your friends; vdio were once furrounded with plenty, eafe, and perfect fecurity ; but who nowexpedt every night to be their laft, and who are as wretched as cri¬ minals under an impending fentence of the latv! As a member of a large fociety, which ex¬ tends to many parts of the world, my con- nedtion with it is too diftant to be as hrong as that which binds me to' tlie inferior di- vihon, in the midft of which I live. I am told that the great nation, of which w‘e are a part, is juft, wife, and free, beyond any other T 2 on 276 DISTRESSES OF on earth, within its own infular boundaries, but not always fo to its diftant conquefts. I fhall not repeat ail I have heard, becaufe I cannot believe half of it. As a citizen of a fmaller fociety, I find tliat any kind of oppofition to its now-prevailing fentiments immediately be¬ gets hatred. How eafily do men pafs from lo¬ ving to hating and curfing one anotlier! I am a lover of peace, what muft I do ? I am di¬ vided betv,-een the refpeft I feel for the antient connection and the fear of innovations, with the confequence of which I am not well acquainted, as they are embraced by my own countrymen. I am confcious that I was happy before this un¬ fortunate revolution. I feel that I am no lon¬ ger fo ; therefore I regret die change. This is the only mode of reafoning adapted to perfons in my fituation. If I attach myfelf to the mo¬ ther-country, which is 30C0 miles from me, I be- com.e what is called an enemy to my own region; if I follow the reft of my countrymen I become oppofed to our ancient mafters: both extremes appear equally dangerous to a perfon of fo litde weight and confequence as I am, vehofe e- nergy and example are of no avail. As to the argument, on which the difpute is founded, I know litde about it. Much has been faid and written on both fides, but v,-ho has a judge¬ ment capacious and dear enough to decide ? The A FRONTIER-MAN. 277 The great moving principles which aftuate both parties are much hidden from vulgar eyes like mine; nothing but the plaufible and the proba¬ ble are offered to our contemplation. The in¬ nocent clafs are always the vidtims of the few : they are, in all countries and at all times, the in - ferior agents, on which tire popular phantcfin is eredled j they clamour, and muff toil, arid bleed, and are always fure of meeting with oppreflion and rebuke. It is for the fake of the great leaders, on both fides, that fo much blood mull befpilt; that of the people is counted as no¬ thing. Great events are not atchieved for us, though it is by us that they are principally ac- complilhed j by the arms, the fweat, the lives, of the people. Books tell me fo mucli that they in¬ form me of nothing. Sophiftry, the bane of free¬ men, launches forth in all her deceiving attire ! After all, moft men reafon from paffions; and lhall fuch an ignorant individual as I am decide, and fay this fide is right, that fide is wrong? Sen¬ timent and feeling are the only guides I know. Alas, how fliould I unravel an argument in which reafon herfelf has given way to brutality and bloodlhed ! What then mull I do ?. I aflc the wi- feft lawyers, the ableft cafuiffs, the warmefl: pa¬ triots, for I mean honeftly. Great Source of wif- dom! infpire me with light fufficient to guide my benighted fteps out of this intricate maze! T 3 Shall 278 DIStRESSES OF Shall I difcard all my ancient principles, fliall 1 renounce that name, that nation, which I held once fo relpeftable ? I feel the powerful attrac¬ tion. The fentiments they infpired grew with my earlieft knowledge, and were grafted upon the firft rudiments of my education. On the other hand, lhall i arm myfelf againft that country where I firft drew breath, againft the play-mates of my youth, ray bofom-friends, my acquaintance ? — the idea makes me Ihudder I Muft I be called a parricide, a traitor, a vil¬ lain ; lofe the efteem of all thofe whom I love to preferve my own; be fhunned like a rattle- fnake, or be pointed at like a bear ? I have neither heroifm nor magnanimity enough to make lb great a facriSce. Here I am tied, I am faftened, by numerous ftrings, nor do I re¬ pine at the prefTure they caufe. Ignorant as -I am, I can pervade the utmoft extent of the caisraities which have already overtaken our ' poor aSiicted country. I can fee the great and accumulated ruin yet extending itfelf as far as the theatre of war has reached ; I hear the groans of thoufands of families now ruined and ccfolated by cur aggrelTors. I cannot count the mukirude of orphans this war has made, ' nor afcertain the immenfiry' of blood we have loft. Some have alked whether it was a crime to reSft, to repel, fome parts of this evil. Otlrers have aftcrted, that a refiftance fo general makes A FRONTIER-MAN. 279 makes pardon unattainable and repentance ufe- lefs, and dividing the crime among fo many ren¬ ders it imperceptible. What one party calls meritorious^ the other denominates flagitious. Thefe opinions vary, contraft, or expand, like the events of the war on which they are founded. What can an infignificant man do in the midft of thefe jarring contradiftory parties, equally hoftile to perfons fituated as I am ? And, after all, who will be the really guilty ?—^Thofe moll certainly who fail of fuccefs. Our fate, the fate of thoufands, is then neceffarily involved in the dark wheel of fortune. Why then fo many ufelefs reafonings ? we are the fport of fate. Farewel, education, principles, love of our coun¬ try, farewel; all are become ufelefs to the gene¬ rality of us. * He, who governs himfelf according to what he calls his principles, may be puniihed, .either by one party or the other, for thofe very principles. He who proceeds without principle, as chance, timidity, or felf-prefervation, directs, will not perhaps fare better, but he will be lefs blamed. What are we in the great fcale of e- vents, we poor defencelefs frontier-inhabitants ? What is it to the gazing world whether we breathe or whether we die ? whatever virtue, whatever merit and diftintereftednefs, we may exhibit in our fecluded retreats, of what avail ? We are like the pifmires deftroyed by the T 4 plough^ oSo DISTRESSES OF plough, -phofe defb-uftion prevents not the fu¬ ture crop. Self-prefervation, therefore, the rule of nature, feems to be the beft rule of conduft. Vf hat good can we do by vain refiftance, by ufe- lefs efforts ? The cool, the diftant, fpeftator, placed in fafet)', may arraign me for ingratitude, may bring forth the principles of Solon or Monteiquieu; he may look on me as wilfully guilty; he may call me by the moft opprobrious names. Secure from perfonal danger, his warm imagination, undifturbed by the ieaft agitation of the heart, will expatiate freely on this grand queftion, and will confider this extended field but as exhibiting the double fcene of attack and defence. To him the object becomes abftrac- ted; the intermediate glares, the perfpedlive diftance, and a variety of opinions unimpaired by affections, prefent to his mind but one fet of ideas. Here he proclaims the high guilt of the one, and there die right of the other: but let him come and refide with us one Angle month; let him pafs with us through all the fuccefiive hours of neceffary toil, terror, and af- frigli:; let him watch with us, his mufket in his han-.i, through tedious, fleepkfs, nights, his ima- gi.natioii furrowed by the keen chiffel of every paf- fion; let Lis wife and his children become expo- fed to the moft dreadful hazards of death j Jet the exiiknce of his property depend on a Angle fpark. A FRONTIER-MAN. 281 fpark, blown by the breath of an enemy; let him tremble'with us in our fields, Ihudder at the ruftling of every leaf; let his heart, the feat of the moft afFefting paflions, be power¬ fully wrung by hearing the melancholy end of his relations and friends; . let him trace on the. map the progrefs of thefe defolations;' let his alarmed imagination predift to him the night, the dreadful night, when it may be his turn to perifli as fo many have periihe.d before! obferve then, whether the man will not get the better of the citizen, whether his political max¬ ims will not vanilli! . Yes, he will ceafe to glow fo warmly with the glory of the metro¬ polis ; all his wifhes will be turned toward the prefervation of his family. Oh! were he fituated where I am, were his houfe perpetually filled, as mine is, with miferable vidlims juft efcaped from the flames and the fcalping-knife, telling of barbarities and murders, that make human nature tremble! his fituation would fufpend every political refleftion, and expel every ab- ftradt idea. My heart is full, and involun¬ tarily takes hold of any notion whence it can receive ideal cafe or relief. I am in¬ formed that the king has the moft numerous, as well as the faireft, progeny of children, of any potentate now in the world; he may be a great king, but he muft feel as we common mor¬ tals DISTRESSES OF aS2 tais doj in the good wiflies he forms for their lives and profperiiy. His mind, no doubt, often Iprings forward on the wings of anticipation, and contemplates us as happily fettled in the ■world. If a poor frontier-inhabitant may be allowed to fuppofe this great perfonage, the firft in our fyftem, to be expofed, but for one hour, to the exquilite pangs we fo often feel, would not the prefervation of fo numerous a family engrofs all his thoughts; would not the ideas of dominion, and other felicities attendant on royalty, ail vanilh in the hour of danger ? The regal charafter, however facred, wotild be fu- perfeded by the ftronger, becaufe more natural, one of man and father. Oh! did he but kno-w the circumftances of this horrid war, I am lure he would put a flop to that long deftruc- tion of parents and children. I am fure that, while he mrned his ears to ftate-policy, he ■would attentively iiften alfo to the diftates of Nature, that great parent; for, as a good king, he, no doubt, wilhes to create, to fpare, and to protect, aslhe does. Mult I then, in order to be called a faithful fubjeft, coolly and philo- fophically fay, it is neceflary, for the good of Britain, that my childrens brains fhould be da&ed againft the walls of the houfe in which they were reared; that my wife Ihould be {tabbed and fcalped before my face; that I liiould be either murdered or captivated; or that A FRONTIER-MAN. 283 that, for greater expedition, we Ihould all be locked up and burnt to afhes as the family of the B-n was ? Muft I with meeknefs wait for. that laft pitch of defolation, and receive, with perfeft refignation, fo hard a fate from ruffians, afting at fuch a difbance from the eyes of any fuperior 5 monfters, left to the wild impulfes of the wildeft nature ? Could the lions of Africa be tranfported here and let loofe, they would, no doubt, kill us in order to prey upon our carcaffes ; but their appetites' would not require fo many victims. Shall I wait to be puniffied with death, or elfe to be dripped of all food and raiment, reduced to defpair without redrefs and without hope ? Shall thofe, who may efcape, fee every¬ thing they hold dear deftroyed and gone ? Shall thofe few furvivors, lurking in fome obfcure corner, deplore in vain the fate of their fa¬ milies, mourn over parents, either captivated, butchered, or burnt; roam among our wilds, and wait for death at the foot of fome tree, without a murmur, or without a figh, for the good of the caufe ? No, it is impoffibk ! fo aftoniffiing a facrifice is not to be expefted from human nature; it mud belong to beings of an inferior or fuperior order, aftuated by lefs or by more refined principles. Even thofe great perfonages who are fo far elevated above the common ranks of men, thofe, I mean, who DISTRESSES OF aS4 who wield and direft fo many thunders; thofe who have let loofe againfl; us thefe demons of war 5 could they be tranlported here, and me- tamorphofed into fimple planters as we are, they would, from being the arbiters of liu- man deftiny, fink into miferable victims; they would feel and exclaim as we do,'and be as much at a lofs what line of condudl to profe- cute. Do you well comprehend the difficulties of our fituation ? If we flay,' we are fure to perilh at one time or another; no vigilance on our part can fave us: if we retire, we know not where to go; every houfe is filled with refugees as wretched as ourfelves; and, if we remove, we become beggars. The property of fanners is not like that of merchants; and ab- Iblute poverty is worfe than death. If we take up arms, to defend ourfelves ; we are de¬ nominated rebels ; fiiould we not be rebels againfl; nature, could we be ftiamefully paflive ? Shall we then, like martyrs, glory in an al¬ legiance, now become ufelefs, and voluntarily expofe ourfelves to a Ipecies of defolation, which, though it ruin us entirely, yet en¬ riches not our ancient mailers ? By this in- fiexible and fullen attachment, we Ihall’ be delpifed by our countrymen, and deftroyed by our ancient friends ; whatever we may fay, whatever merit we may claim, will not Iheicer us from thofe indifcriminate blows, given A FRONTIER-MAN. , 285. given by hired banditri, animated by all thofe paflions which urge men to fhed-the blood of others ; how bitter the thought 1 On the contrary, blows, received by the hands of thofe from whom we expefted pro- teftion, extinguiflt ancient refpeft and urge us to felf-defence.—perhaps to revenge ; this is the path which Nature herfelf points out as well to the civilized as to the uncivilized. The Creator of hearts has himfelf ftam.ped on them thofe propenfities at their firft for¬ mation ; and mull we then daily receive this treatment from a pow^r once fo loved ? The fox flies or deceives the hounds that purfue him ; the bear, when overtaken, boldly refllb and attacks .them; the hen, the very timid hen, fights for the prefervation of her chicken, nor does flie decline to attack, and to meet on the wing, even the fwifc kite. Shall man then, provided .both with inftinft and reafon, unmoved, unconcerned, and paflive, fee his fubfiftence confumed, and his progeny either ra- viflied from him or murdered ? Shall fifl;itious reafon extinguifli the unerring impulfe of in- ■ ftindt ? No ; my former refpcdl:,' my former attachment, vaniflies with my fafety; that re- fpect and attachment were purchafed by pro- tedtion, and it has ceafed. Could not the great nation we belong to have accompliflted her de- figns by means of her numerous armies, by means of thofe fleets which cover the ocean ? Mull: 286 DISTRESSES OF Muft thofe who are matters of two-thirds of the trade of the world; who have in their hands the power which almighty gold can give; who poflefs a fpecies of wealth that increafes with their delires; muft they eftablilh their conqueft with our infignificant innocent blood ! Muft I then bid farewel to Britain, to that renowned country ? Muft I renounce a name fb ancient and lb venerable ? Alas! Are her- felf^ that once-indulgent parent, forces me to take up arms againft her. She herfelf firft inlpired the moft unhappy citizens of our re¬ mote diftridts with the thoughts of ftiedding the blood of thofe whom they ufed to call by the name of friends and brethren. That great nation, which now convulfes the world ; which hardly knows the extent of her Indian kingdoms ; which looks toward the univerfal monarchy of trade,, of induftry, of riches, of power; why muft Ihe ftrew our poor fron¬ tiers with the carcafles of her friends, with the wrecks of our infignificant villages, in which there is no gold r When, oppreffed by painful recollection, I revolve all thefe fcattered ideas in my mind; when I contemplate my fituation, and the thoufand ftreams of evil with which I am furrounded; when I defcend into the par¬ ticular tendency even of the remedy I have propofed, I am convulfei—convulfed fome- times to that degree as to be tempted to exclaim—Why has the Mailer of the world permitted A FRONTIER-MAN. 287 permitted fo much indifcriminate evil through¬ out every part of this poor planet, at all times, and among all kinds of people ? It ought fureiy to .be the punifliment of the wicked only. I bring that cup to my lips, of which I mult foon take, and fliudder at its bitternefs. What then is life, I alk myfelf, is it a gracious gift ? No, it is too bitter ; a gift means fome- thing valuable conferred, but life appears to be a mere accident, and of the v/orll kind: we are born to be viftims of difeafes and pafllons, of mifchances and death : better not to be than to be miferable.—Thus impioufly I roam, I fly from one erratic thought to another, and my mind, irritated by thefe acrimonious refleTions, is ready fometimes to lead me to dangerous, extremes of violence. When I recollecl. tliat 1 am a father and a hulband, the return of thefe endearing ideas ftrikes deep into my heart. Alas! they once made it glow with pleafure and with every ravifliing exultation; but now they fill it with forrow. At other times, my wife, induftrioufly roufes me out of thefe dreadful meditations, and foothes me by all the reafon- ing fhe is miltrefs of; but her endeavours only ferve to make me more miferable, by refieffing that file mull fhare with me all thefe calamities, the bare apprehenfions of which, I am afraid, will fubvert her reafon. Nor can I, with pa¬ tience, think that a beloved wife, my fiiithful helpmate helpmate throughout all my rural fchemes, the principal hand which has afllfted me in rear¬ ing the prolperous fabric of eafe and inde¬ pendence I lately poffelTedj as well as my children^ thofe tenants of my hearty Ihould daily and nightly be expofed to fuch a cruel fate. Self-prefervation is above all political precepts and rules, and even fuperior to the deareft opinions of our minds ; a reafonable accommodation of ourielves, to the various exi¬ gencies of the times in which we live, is the moft irrefiftible precept. To this great evil I muft feek fome fort of remedy adapted to remove or to palliate it. Situated as I am, what fteps Ihould I take that will neither in¬ jure nor infulc any of the parties, and at the fame time fave my family from that certain deftruftion which awaits it if I remain here much longer ? Could I infure them bread, fafety, and fubfiftence; not the bread of idle- nels, but that earned by proper labour as here¬ tofore ; could this be accomplilhed by the facrifice of my life, I would willingly give it up. I attefi: before heaven, that it is only for thefe I would wifh to live and toil; for thefe W'hoin I have brought into this miferable ex- iftence. I refemble, methinks, one of the ftones of a ruined arch. Hill retaining that priftine fonn which anciently fitted the place I occu¬ pied, but the centre is tumbled downj I can be A FRONTIER-MAN. 289 be nothing until I am replaced, either in the former circle, or in fome Wronger one. I fee ' one on a fmaller fcale, and at a conliderable dif- tance, but it is within my power to reach it; and, fince I have ceafed to confider myfelf as a mem¬ ber of the ancient ftate, now coiivulfed, I wil^ lingly defcend into an inferior one. I will re-' vert into a ftate approaching nearer to that of nature, unincumbered either with voluminous laws or contradictory codes, often galling the ve¬ ry necks of thofe whcnn they proteft, and, at the fame time, fufficiently remote from the brutality of unconnected favage nature. Do you, my friend, perceive the path I have found out ? it is that which leads to the tenants of the great- village of-, where, far removed from the accurfed neighbourhood of Europeans, its inha¬ bitants live with more eafe, decency, and peace, than you imagine; who, though governed by no lav/s, yet find, in uncontaminated fimple manners, all that laws can afford. Their fyftem is fuffi¬ ciently complete to anfwer all the primary wants of man, and to conftitutehim a focial being, fuck as he ought to be in the great foreft of nature. There it is that I have refolved at any rate to i tranfport myfelf and family; an eccentric i thought, you may fay, thus to cut afunder all I former connections, and to form new ones i with a people whom nature has flamped with i U luck DISTRESSES OF ago fuch different charafteriftics ! But, as the hap- pinefs of my family is the only objeft of my •wifhes, I care very little where we are, or where we go, provided that we are fafe and all united together. Our new calamities, being fhared e- qually by all, will become lighter; our mutual affeftion for each other will, in this great tranf- mutation, become the ftrongeft link of our new fociety, will afford us every joy we can receive on a foreign foil, and preferve us in unity, as the gravity and coherency of matter prevent the world from dilTolution. Blame me not j it would be cruel in you; it would befide be en¬ tirely ufelefs; for, when you receive this, we lhall be on the wing. When we think all hopes are gone, muff we, like poor pufillanimous wretches, defpair and die ? No. I perceive be¬ fore me a few refources, though through many ’ dangers, which I will explain to you hereafter. It is nor, believe me, a difappointed ambition which leads me to take this ftep; it is the bit- ternefs of my fituation, it is the impoffibility of knowing what better meafure to adopt. My e- ducauon fitted me for nothing more than the moft ■ fimple occupations of life; I am but a feller of -trees, a cultivator of lands, the moft honourable title an American can have. I have no exploits, no difcoveries, no inventions, to boaft of; I have cleared about 37.0 acres of land, fome for the . , plough, A FRONTIER-MAN. 291 plough, fome for the fcythe; and this has oc¬ cupied many years of my life. I have never poffeffed, or wifli to pofiefs, any thing more than what could be earned or produced by the united induftry of my family. I wanted nothing more than to live at home independent and tran¬ quil, and to teach my children how to provide the means of a future ample fubfiftence, founded on labour, like that of their father. This is the career of life I have purfued, and that which I had marked out for them, and for which they feemed to be fo well calculated by their inclinations and by their conftitutions. But, now thefe pleafing expedtations are gone, we mult abandon the accumulated induftry of nineteen years, we muft fly we hardly know whither, through the moft impervious paths, and become members of a new and ftrange com¬ munity. O virtue! is this all the reward thou haft to confer on thy votaries ? Either thou art only a chimera, or thou art a timid ufelefs being; foon affrighted, when ambition, thy great adverfaiy, diftates, when war re-echocs the dreadful founds, and poor helplefs individuals are mowed down by its cruel reapers lilce ufcle.fs grafs. I have at all times generoufly relieved what few diftreflfed people I have met with; I have encouraged the induftrious; my houfe has always been opened to travellers; I have not ■loft 3 month in illnefs fince I have been a man; I U 2 have 292 DISTRESSES OF have cauftd upwai'ds of a hundred and twenty fa¬ milies to remove hither. Many of them I have , led by the hand in the days of their firfl; trial j diftant as I am from any places of worfliip or fchool of education, I have been the paftor of my family, and the teacher of many of my neighbours. I have taught them, as ■virell as I could, the gratitude they owe to God, the Father of harvefts; and their duties to man : I have been an ufeful fubjeft; ever obedient to the laws, ever vigilant to fee them refpefted and obferved.' My wife hath faithfully followed tire fame line within her province; no woman, was ever a better csconomift, or fpun or wove better linen ; yet we muft perifli, perilh like wild beafts, included within a ring of fire 1 Yes, I will cheerfully embrace that refource, it is a holy inlpiration : by night and by day it prefents itfelf to my mind; I have care¬ fully revolved the fcheme j I have confidered, in all its future efiefts and tendencies, the new mode of living we muft purfue, without fait, without fpices, without linen, and with litde other clothing; the art of hunting we muft acquire, the new manners we muft adopt, the new language we muft fpeak; the dangers attending the education of my children we muft endure. Thefe changes may appear, more terrific at a uiftance, perhaps, than when jrown A FRONTIER-MAN, 293 grown familiar by praftice : what is it to us, whether we eat well made paftry, or pounded alagriches ; well - roafbed beef, or fmoked venifon ; cabbages, or fquadies ? Whether we wear neat homefpun, or good beaver: whether we deep on featherbeds, or on bear-fkins ? The difference is not worth at¬ tending to. The difficulty of the language, the fear of fome great intoxication among the Indians ; finally, the apprehenfion left my younger children ftould be caught by that Angular charm, fo dangerous at their tender years, are the only confiderations that ftartle me. By what power does it come to pafs, that children, who have been adopted when young among thefe people, can never be prevailed on to re-adopt European manners ? Many an anxious parent have I feen laft war, who, at the return of the peace, went to the Indian villages where they knew their children had been carried in captivity; when, to their inexpreffible forrow, they found them fo perfefUy Indianifed, that many knew them no- longer j and thofe, whofe more advanced ages, permitted them to recolleft their fathers and mothers, abfolutely refufed to follow them, and ran to their, adop¬ tive parents for protedlion againft the effufions of love their unhappy real parents lavifired on them. Incredible as this may appear, I have heard it afferted in a thoufand inftances. 294 DISTRESSES OF among perlbns of credit. In the village of-j where I purpofe to go, there lived, about fifteen years ago, an Englifhman and a Swede, whofe hiftory would appear moving had I time to re¬ late it. They were grown to the age of men when they were taken 5 they happily efcaped the great punifliment of war-captives, and were obliged to marry the Squaws who had faved their lives by adoption. By the force of habit, they become at laft tlioroughly natu- ralifed to this wild courfe of life. While I was there, their friends fent them a confider- able fum of money to ranfom themfelves with. The Indians, their old mailers, gave them their choice, and, wdthout requiring any confider- ation, told them, that they had been long as free as themfelves. They chofe to remain; and the reafons they gave me would greatly furprife you : the moll perfect freedom, the eafe of living, the abfence of thofe cares and corroding folicitudes wEich fo often prevail with ITS; the peculiar goodnefs of the foil they cultivated, for they did not trull altogether to hunting; all thefe, and many more motives, which I have forgot, made them prefer that hfe, of which we entertain fuch dreadful opi¬ nions. It cannot be, therefore, fo bad as we generally conceive it to be ; there mull be in their focial bond fomething Angularly captiva¬ ting, and far hipcrior to any thing to be boalted of A FRONTIER-MAN. 295 of among us; for thoufands of Europeans are Indians, and we, have no examples of even one of thofe Aborigines having from choice become Europeans! There mull: be fomething more congenial to our native difpofitions than the fiftitious fociety in which’ve live; or elfe why Ihould children, and even grown perfons, be¬ come in a Ihort time fo invincibly attaclted to it? There mud be fomething very bewitching in their manners, fomething very indelible, and marked by the very hands of nature. For, take a young Indian lad, give him the bed education you polTibly can, load him with your bounty, with prefents, nay with riches; yet he will fecretly long for his native woods, which you would imagine he mull: have long lince forgot; and, on the firft opportunity he can poffibly find, you will fee him voluntarily leave behind all you have given him, and return with inexprefiible joy to lie on the mats of his fathers. Mr.-, fome years ago, received from a good old Indian, who died in his houfe, a young lad of nine years of age, his grand- fon. He kindly educated him with his chil¬ dren, and bellowed on him the fame care and attention in refpedt to the memory of liis ve¬ nerable grandfather, who was a worthy man. tie intended to give him a genteel trade; but in the fpring feafon, w'hen all the family went to the woods to make their maple fugar, he U 4 fuddenly 296 DISTRESSES OF fuddenly difappeared; and it was not until feventeen- months after that his benefaftor heard he had reached the village of Bald-Eagle, where he ftill dwelt. Let us fay what we will of them, of their inferior organs, of their want of bread, &c. they are as flout and well-made as the Europeans. Without temples, without priefls, without kings, and without laws, they are in many inflances fuperior to us; and the proofs of what I advance are, that they live without care, deep without inquietude, take life as. it comes, bearing all its afperities with unparalleled patience, and die without any kind of apprehenfion for what they have done or for what they expefl to meet with hereafter. What fyflem of philofophy can give us fo many necelTary qualifications for happi- nefs? They mofl certainly are much more clofely connected with nature than we are; they are her immediate children; the inhabi¬ tants of the woods are her undefiled offspring; thofe of the plains are her degenerated breed, far, very far, removed from her primitive laws, from her original defign. It is therefore re- folved on. I will either die in the attempt or fucceed; better perifh all together in one fatal hour than to differ what we daily endure. I do not expeft to enjoy, in the village of-, an uninterrupted happinefs; it cannot be our lot let us live where we will; I am not founding my A FRONTIER-MAN. 297 my future profperity on golden dreams. Place mankind where you will, they muft always have adverfe circumftances to ftruggle with; from nature, accidents, conftitution j from fea- fons; from that great combination of mifchances which perpetually leads us to difeafes, to po¬ verty, &c. Who knows but I may meet, in this new fituation, fome accident, whence may fpring up new fources of unexpedted pro¬ fperity ? Who can be prefumptuous enough to predidt all the good ? Who can forefee all the evils which ftrew the paths of our lives ? But, after all, I cannot but recolledt what facrifice I am going to make, what amputation I am going to fufFer, what tranlition I am going to experience. Pardon my repetitions, my wild, my trifling, reflections, they proceed from the agitations of my mind and the fulnefs of my heart; the adtion of thus retracing them feems to lighten the burthen, and to exhilarate my fpirits; this is, befides, the laft letter you will receive from me; I would fain tell you all, though I hardly know how. Oh ! in the hours, in the moments of my greatefl: anguifh, could I intuitively reprefent to you that variety of thought which crouds on my mind, you would have reafon to be furprized, and to doubt of their polTibility. Shall we ever meet again ? If we fhould, where will it be ? On the wild lliores of-r. If it be my doom tO DISTRESSES OF ^19? to end my days there, I -will greatly improve them 5 and perhaps make room for a few more families, who will choofe to retire from the fury of a ftorm, the agitated billows of which will yet roar for many years on our extended fhores. Perhaps I may repoflefs my houfe, if it be not burnt down; but how will myimprovements look ? why, half-defaced, bear¬ ing the ftrong marks of abandonment, and of the ravages of war. However, at prefent I give every thing over for loll: j I will bid a long farewel to what I leave behind, if ever 1 re- poflefs it, I Ihall receive it as a gift, as a re¬ ward for my conduit and fortitude. Do not imagine, hov/ever, that I am a ftoic r by no m.eans : I mull, on the contrary, confefs to you, that I feel the keeneft regret at aban¬ doning a houfe which I have in fome meafure reared v/ith my own hands. Yes, perhaps I may never reviflt thofe fields which I have cleared, thofe trees which I have planted, thofe meadows v/hich, in my youth, were a hideous wildernefs, now converted by my induftry into rich pafhires and pleafant lawns. If in Europe it is praife-worthy to be attached to paternal inheritances, how much more natural, how much more powerful, mull the tie be with us, who, if I may be permitted the expreflion, are the founders, the creators, of our own farms. When I fee my table furrounded widr my blooming; A FRONTIER-MAN. 259 blooming offspring,, all united in the bonds of the ftrongeft affeftion, it kindles in my paternal heart a variety of tumultuous fentiments, which none but a father and a hufband in my fitua- tion can feel or deferibe. Perhaps I may fee my wife, my children, often diftreffed, invo¬ luntarily recalling to their minds the eafe and abundance which they enjoyed under the paternal roof. Perhaps I may fee them want that bread which I now leave behind; overtaken by dif- eafes and penury, rendered more bitter by the recolleftion of former days of opulence and plenty. Perhaps I may be alfailed on every fide by unforefeen accidents, which I fnall not be able to prevent or to alleviate. Can I con¬ template fuch images without the mofl; unutter¬ able emotions? My fate is determined; but I have not determined it, you may alfure your- felf, without having undergone the mofl: pain¬ ful conilifts of a variety of palTions;—intereft, love of eafe, difappointed views, and plea- fing expeftations fruftrated; —I fhuddered at the review! Would to God I was mafter of the ftoical tranquillity of that magnanimous fed; oh 1 that I were polfelfed of thofe fublime leflbns which Apollonius of Chalcis gave to the em¬ peror Antoninus 1 I could then with much more propriety guide the helm of my little bark, which js foon to be freighted with all that I polTefs molt dear on earth, dirough this ftormy palfage to afafe DISTRESSES OF a lafe harbour; and, when there, become, to my fellow-paffengers, a furer guide, a brighter ex¬ ample, a pattern more worthy of imitation, throughout all the new fcenes they muft pafs and the new career they muft traverfe. I have oblerved, notwithftanding, the means hithecto made ufe of to arm the principal nations againft our frontiers: Yet they have not, they will not take up the hatchet againft a people who have done them no harm. The paffions, neceflary to urge thefe people to war, cannot be roufed, they cannot feel the ftings of ven¬ geance, the thirft of which alone can impel them to filed blood: far fuperior in their mo¬ tives of action to the Europeans, who, for fix- pence per day, may be engaged to Ihed that of any people on earth. They know nothing of the nature of our dilputes, they have no ideas of fuch revolutions as this; a civil di- vifion of a village, or tribe, are events which have never been recorded in their traditions: many of them know very well that they have too long been the dupes and the vidtirhs of both parries; fooliflily arming for our fakes, fometimes aga’mft each other, fometimes againft our white enemies. They confider us as born on the fame land, and, though they have no reafons ta love us, yet they feem carefully to avoid entering into this quarrel, from whatever motives. I am fpeaking of thofe nations with which I am beft acquainted. A FRONTIER-MAN. 301 acquaintedj a few hundreds of the worft kind, mixed with whites worfe than themfelves, are now hired, by Great-Br'itain, to perpetrate thofe dreadful incurlions. In my youth I traded with the-under the condudt of my uncle, and always traded juftly and equitably; fome of them remember it to this day. Happily their village is far removed from the dangerous neighbour¬ hood of the v/hites. I fent a man, lafl: Ipring, to it, who underftands the woods extremely well, and who fpeaks their language; he is juft re¬ turned, after feveral weeks abfence, and has brought me, as I had flattered myfelf, a firing of thirty purple wampum, as a token that their honeft chief will ipare us half of his wigwham until we have time to ereft one. He has fent me word that they have land in plenty, of wiiich they are not fo covetous as the whites; that we may plant for ourfelves, and that, in the iriean time, he will procure us fome corn and meat; that filh is plenty in the waters of-, and diat the village, to which he !iad laid open my propo- fals, have no objeftion to our becoming dwellers with them. I have not yet communicated thefe glad tidings to my wife, nor do I know how to do it. I tremble left llie fliould refufe to follow me; left the fudden idea of this removal, rufhing on her mind, might be too powerful. I flatter myfelf I ftiall be able to accomplilh it, and to prevail o02 DISTRESSESOF prevail on her; I fear nothing but the effefts of her ftrong attachment to her relations. I would •willingly let you know how I purpofe to remove my family to fo great a diftance, but it would become unintelligible to you, becaule you are not acquainted with the geographical fituation of this part of the countr)^. Suffice it for you to know, that, with about twenty-three miles land-carriage, I am enabled to perform the reft by water; and, when once afloat, Icare not whe¬ ther it be two or three hundred miles. I pro- pofe to fend all our provifions, furniture, and clothes, to my wife’s father, who approves of the fcheme, and to referve nothing but a few ne- cefiTary articles of covering, trufting to t’ne furs of the chace for our future apparel. Were we imprudently to incumber ourfelves too much with baggage, we ffiould never reach to the waters of -which is the moft dangerous, as well as the moft difficult, part of ourjourney, and yet but a trifle in point of diftance. I intend to fay to my negroes,—^In the name of God, be free, my honeft lads; I thank you for your paft fervices; go, from henceforth, and work for yourfelves; look on me as your old friend and fellow-labourer; be Ibber, frugal, and induftrious, and you need not fear earning a comfortable fubfiftence.—^Left my countrymen fnouid think that I am gone to join the incendiaries of our frontiers, I intend to A FRONTIER-MAN. 303 . to write a letter to Mr—, to inform him of our retreat, and of the reafons that have urged me. to it. The man, whom I fent to-village, is to accompany ns alfo, and a very ufeful companion he will be on every account. You may therefore, by means of anticipation, behold me under the wigwham; I am lb well acquainted with the principal manners of thefc people that I entertain not the leaft appre- henfion from them. I rely more fecureiy on their ftrong hofpitality than on the witneffed compadfs of many Europeans. As foon as pof- fible after my arrival, I defign to build myfelf a wigtvham, after the fame manner and fize tvith the reft, in order to avoid being thought fingu- iar or giving occafion for any railleries; though thefe people are I'eldom guilty of fuch Euro¬ pean follies. I lhall eredt it hard by the lands which they propofe to allot me, and will en¬ deavour that my wife, my children, and my¬ felf, may be adopted foon after our arrival. ■Thus, becoming truly inhabitants of their vil¬ lage, we lhall immediately occupy that rank, within the pale of their fociety, which will afford us all the amends we can poffibly expedt for the lofs we have met with by the convulfions of our own. According to their cuftoms we lhall likewife receive names from them, by which we lhall always be known. My youngeft ■ children lhall learn to fwim, and to llioot with the DISTRESSES OF 304 the bow, that they may acquire fuch talents as will neceffarily raife them into fome degree of efteem ainong the Indian lads of their own agej the reft of us muft hunt with the hunters. I have been for feveral years an expert markf- man; but I dread left the imperceptible charm of Indian education may feife my 'younger children, and give them fuch a propenfity to that mode of life as may preclude their re¬ turning to the manners and cuftoms of their parents. I have but one remedy to prevent this great evil; and that is, to employ them in the labour of the fields as much as I can; I have even refolved to make their daily fubfift- ence depend altogether on it. As long as we keep ourfelves bufy in tilling the earth, there is no fear of any of tis becoming wild; it is the chafe and the food it procures that have this ftrange efied. Excufe a fimile;—thofe hogs which range in the woods, and to whom grain is given once a week, preferve their former degree of tamenefs; but if, on the contrary, they are reduced to live on ground-nuts, and on vrhat they can get, they foon become wild and fierce. For my part, I can plough, fow, and hunt, as occafion may require; but my wife, deprived of v/ool and flax, will have no room for induftry; what is flie then to do? like the other fquaws, flie muft cook for us the nafaump, the ninchicke, and fuch other preparations A FRONTIER-MAN. 305 preparations of corn as are cuftomary among thefe people. She mufi: learn to bake fquaflies and pompions under the alhes; to flice and fmoke the meat of our own killing, in order to preferve it 5 ftie muft cheerfully adopt the man¬ ners and cuftoms of her neighbours, in their, drefs, deportment, condudi:, and internal ceco- nomy, in all refpefts. Surely, if we can have fortitude enough to quit all we have, to remove fo far, and to affociate with people fo different from us, thefe neceffary compliances are but fubordinate parts of the fcheme. The change of garments, when thofe they carry with them are worne out, will not be the leaft of my wife’s and daughter’s concerns ; though I am in hopes that lelf-love will invent feme fort of repara¬ tion. Perhaps you would not believe that tlrere are in the woods looking-glaffes and paint of every colour; and that the inhabitants take as much pains to adorn their faces and their bodies, to fix their bracelets of filver, and plait their hair, as our forefathers, the Pidis, ufed to do in the time of the Romans. Not that I would wilh to fee either my wife or daughter adopt thofe favage cuftoms; we can live in great peace and harmony with them without defeending to every article; the interruption of trade hath, I hope, fufpended this mode of drefs. My wife underftands inoculation per- fedtly well; flie inoculated all our children one after ^06 DISTRESSES OF after another, and has fticcefsfully performed that operation on feveral fcores of people, who, fcattered here and there through our woods, were too. far removed from all medical af- fiftance. If we can perfuade but one family to fubmk to it, and it fucceeds, we lhall then be as happy as. our lituation will admit of 5 it will raife her into fomiC degree of conhderation: for, whoever is ufeful, in any fociety, will al¬ ways be refpedted. If we are fo fortunate as to carry one family through a diforder, which is the plague among thefe people, I trull to the 'force of example, w'e lhall then become truly necelTary, valued, and beloved: ■ we, indeed, owe every kind office to a fociety of men who fo readily offer to admit us into their focial part- nerlhip, and to extend to my family the Ihelter of their village,. the llrength of their adoption, and even the dignity of dieir names. God grant us a prolperous beginning, we may then hope to be of more fervice to them than even milTiona- ries who have been fent to preach to them a gofpel they cannot underlland. . . As to religion, our mode of worlliip v/ill 'not 'liiffcr much by this removal from a cul¬ tivated country into the bofom of the woods; for it cannot be much fimpler than that which .,v/e have followed here thefe many years: and I will, with as much care as I can, redouble my attention, and, twice a week, retrace to them A FR-ONTIER-MA-N. 307 them the great outlines of their duty to God and to man. I will read and expound to them fome part of the decalogue; which is the method I have purfued ever fince I married. Half a dozen of acres on the .fliores of --, the foil of which I know well, will yield us a great abundance of all we want;' I will make it a point to give the overplus to fuch Indians as llrall be molt. unfortunate iii their huntings; I will perfuade them, if I can, to till a little more land than they do, and not to truft fo much to the produce of the chafe. To encourage them ftill farther, I will give a quirn ■ to every fix families j I have built many for our poor back fettlers, it being often the want of mills which prevents them from raifing grain. As I am a carpenter, I can build my own plough and can be of great fervice to many of them; my example alone may rqufe the induftry of fome, and ferve to direft others in their labours. The difficulties •of the language will foon be removed; in my evening converfations, I will endeavour to make them regulate the trade of their; village in fuch a manner as that thofe pefts of the continent, thofe Indian traders, may not come within a certain diftance ; and there they ffiall be obliged to tranfadl their bufinefs before the old people. I am in hopes that the conftant refpeft which is paid to the elders, and ffiame. 308 DISTRESSES OF may prevent the young hunters from infrin¬ ging this regulation. The fon of - will foon be made acquainted with our fchemes, and I tnift that the power of love, and the ftrong attachment he profeffes for my daughter, may bring hjm along with us: he will make an excellent hunter; young and vigorous, he will equal in dexterity the ftoutefl: man in the village. Had it not been for this fortunate cir- cumftance, there would have been the greateft danger; for, however I refped the fimple, the xnoffenfive, fociety of thefe people in their villages, the ftrongeft prejudices would make me abhor any alliance with them in blood: difagreeable, no doubt, to nature’s intentions, which have ftrongly divided us by fo many indelible characters. In the days of our fick- nefs, we lhall have recourfe to their medical knowledge, which is well calculated for the ■fimple difeafes to which they are fubjedt. Thus lhall we metamorphofe ourfelves, from neat, decent, opulent, planters, lurrounded with every conveniency which our external labour and in¬ ternal indulby could give, into a ftill Ampler people, divefted of every thing belide hope, food, and the raiment of the woods: aban¬ doning the large framed houfe, to dwell under the wigwham; and the feather-bed, to lie on the mat or bear’s Ikin. There lhalj we fleep undifturbed by frightful dreams and appre- henfions j A FRONTIER-MAN. 309 henfions; reft and peace of mind will make us' the molt ample amends for what we fliall leave behind. Thefe bleffings cannot be ptirchafed too dear j too long have we been deprived of them! I would cheerfully go even to the Miffi- fippi to find that repofe to which we have been fo long ftrangers. My heart, fometimes, feems tired with beating, it wants reft like my eye-lids, which feel opprefied with fo many watchings. Thefe are the component parts of my fcheme, the fuccefs of each of which appears feafi- ble;' whence I flatter myfelf with .the pro¬ bable fuccefs of the whole. Still the danger of Indian education returns to my mind, and alarms me muchi then again I contrafl: it with the education of the times; both ap¬ pear to be equally pregnant with evils. Reafon points out the necefiity of choofing the leaft dangerous, which I muft confider as the only good within my reach j I perfuade myfelf that induftry and labour will be a fovereign prefervative againft the dangers of the former ; but I confider, at the fame time, that the fliare of labour and induftry which is intended to procure but a fimple fubfiftence, with hardly any fuperfluity, cannot have the fame reftriftive effefts on tnir minds as when we tilled the earth on a more extenfive fcale. The furplus could be then realized into X 3 folitl JIO DISTRESSES OP folid -wealth, and, at the fame time that this realization rewarded our pail labours, it en- grofled and fixed the attention of the labourer, and cherifhed in his mind the hope of future richesi In order to fupply this great deficiency of induftrious naotives, and to hold out to Aem a real objeft to prevent the fatal confe- quences of this fort of apathy, I will keep an exact account of all that fliall be gathered, and give each of them a regular credit for the amount of it to be paid them, in real property, at the return of peace. Thus, though feem- ingly toiling for bare fubfiflence on a foreign land, they fhall entertain the pleafing profoeft of feeing die fum of their labours one day rea-: iifed, either in legacies or gifts, equal, if not fur perior, to it. The yearly expence of the clothes, which they would have received at home, and of which they will then be deprived, lhall likewife be added to their credit; thus I flatter myfelf that they will more cheerfully wear the blanket, the matchcoat, and the mockaffins. Whatever fuccefs they may meet with in hunting or filhing fhall be only confidered as recreation and paftime j I lhall thereby pre¬ vent them from eilimating their fkill in the chafe as an important and neceflary accom- pliihnient. ' I mean to fay to them, “ You lhall “ hunt and fifii merely to lliew your new com- panions that you are not inferior to thern “ in A FRONTIER-MAN. “ in point of fagacity and dexterity.” Were I to fend them to fuch fchools as the inferior parts of our fettlements afford at prefent, what can they 'learn there ? How could I fupport them there ? What imifl; become of me ? Am I to proceed on my voyage and leave them ? That I never could fubmit to! Inftead of the' perpetual difcordant noife of difputea, fo -com¬ mon among us, inftead of thofe fcolding fcenes, frequent in every houle, they will obferve nothing but filence at home and abroad; a' lingular appearance .of peace and concord- are the firft charafteriftics which ftrike you in" the villages of thefe people. Nothing can be more pleafmg, nothing furprifes an European fo much, as the filence and harmony which pre¬ vail among them, and in each family; except when difturbed by that accurfed fpirit given them by the wood-rangers in exchange for their furs. If my children learn nothing of geome¬ trical rules, the ufe of the compafs, or of the Latin tongue, they will learn and praftife fo- briety, for rum can no longer be fent to thefe people; tliey will learn tliat modefty and diffi¬ dence for which the young Indians are fo re¬ markable ; they will confider labour as the mofl: effential qualification, hunting as the fecond. They will prepare themfelves in the profecution of our fmall rural . fchemes, car¬ ried on for the benefit of our little community, X 4 to 512 DISTRESSES OF to extend them farther, when each fliall receive his inheritance. Their tender minds will ceafe to be agitated by perpetual alarms; to be made cowards by continual terrors: if they acquire, in the village of-, fuch an aukwardnefs of deportment and appearance as would render them ridiculous in our gay capitals, they will imbibe, I hope, a confirmed tafte for that fim- plicity, which fo well becomes the cultivators of the land. If I cannot teach them any of thofe profeffiohs which Ibmetimes embellifli and fupport our fociety, I will Ihew them how to. hew wood, how to conftrudt their own ploughs, and, with a few tools, how to fupply themfelves. with every neceffary implement both in the houfe and in the field. If they are hereafter obliged to confefs that they belong to no one particular church, I fhall have the confolation of teaching them, drat great, that primary, worfhip, which is the foundation of all others. If they do not fear God according to the tenets of any one feminary, they fhall learn to worfhip him upon the broad fcale of nature. The Supreme Being does not refide in peculiar churches or communities; he is equally the \ great Maniton of the woods and of the plains; and, even in the gloom, the ohfeurity, of thofe very woods, his juftice may be as well underftood and felt as in the moft fumptuous temples. Each worfliip with us hath, you know, its pe¬ culiar A FRONTIER-MAN. 313 culiar political tendency j there it has none, but to infpire gratitude and truth: their tender minds lhall receive no other idea of the Su¬ preme Being than that of the Father of all men, who requires nothing more of us than what tends to make each other happy. We lhall fay with themj Soungwaneha, efa caurounkyawga nughwonlhauza neattewek nefalanga. — Our father., be thy will done in earth as it is in great heaven.. Perhaps my imagination gilds too llrongly this diftant profpeft; yet it appears founded on fo few and limple principles, that there is not the fame probability of adverfe inci¬ dents as in more complex fchemes. Thefe vague rambling contemplations, which I here faithfully retrace, carry me fometimes to a great diftance; I am loft in the anticipa¬ tion of the various circumftances attending this propoled metamorphofis! Many unfore- feen accidents may doubtlefs arife. Alas 1 it is eafier for me, in all the glow of paternal anxi¬ ety, reclined on my bed, to form the theory of my future conduft, than to reduce my fchemes into praftice. But, when once fe- cluded from the great fociety, to which we now belong, we lhall unite clofer together, and there will be lefs room for jealoufies or con¬ tentions. As I intend my children neither for the law nor the church, but for the cultivation of 3^4 DISTRESSES OF cf the land, I wifn them no literary accom- plifhments; I pray heaven that they may be one day nothing more than expert fcholars in hufbandry: this is the fcience which made our continent to fiourilh more rapidly than any other. Were they to grow up where I am now lituated, even admitting that we were in fafety, two of them are verging toward that period of their lives when they mull neceffarily take up the muiket, and learn, in that new fchool, all the vices which are fo common in armies. Great God! clofemy eyes forever rather than I fliould live to fee dtis calamity 1 May they rather become in¬ habitants of the woods. Thus then, in the village of-, in the hofom of that peace it has enjoyed ever fince I have knovm it, connefted with mild, hofpitable, people, ftrangers to our political difputes, and having none among themfelves; on the fliores of a fine river, furrounded with woods, abounding with game; our little fociety, united in perfect harmony with dte new-adoptive one in which we fliall be incorporated, lhall reft, I hope, from, all fatigues, from all appre- henfions, from our prefent terrors, and from our long watchings. Not a word of politics fliail cloud our fimple converfiition; tired either with the chafe or the labours of the field, we fliall fleep on our mats without any diftrefling want, having learnt to retrench every fuper-, fiuous A FRONTIER-MAN. 315 fluous one; we fhall have but two prayers to make to the Supreme Being; that he may flied his fertilizing dew on our little crops, and that he will be pleafed to reftore peace to our un¬ happy country. Thefe lhall be the only fub- jedt of our nightly prayers and of our daily ejaculations; and, if the labour, the induftry, the frugality, the union, of men, can be an agree¬ able offering to him, we fhall not fail to receive’ his paternal bleffings. There I flrall contemplate Nature in her molt wild and ample extent; I fhall carefully ftudy a fpecies of fo- ciety of which I have, at prefent, but very im- perfedl: ideas ; I will endeavour to occupy, with propriety, that place which will enable me to enjoy the few and fufficient benefits it confers. The folitary and unconnedted mode of life I have lived in my youth muft fit me for this trial; I am not the firfl: who has attempted it: Europeans did not, it is true, carry to the wildernefs numerous fiimilies; they went there as mere fpcculators; I, as a man feek-! ing a refuge from the defolation of war, They went there to ftudy the manners of the abori¬ gines ; I, to coitform to them, whatever they , are; fome went as vifitors, as travellers; I, as a fojourner, as a fellov/ hunter and labourer, go determined induftrioufly to work up among them fuch a fyftem of happinefs as may be adequate to mv future fituation, and may be a fufficient DISTRESSES OF 3^6 fufficient cotnpenfatiorr for all my fatigues and for .the misfortunes I have borne; I have always found it at home, I may hope likewife to find it under the humble roof of my wig- wham. O Supreme Being! if, among the immenie variety of planets, inhabited by thy creative power, thy paternal and omnipotent care deigns to extend to all the individuals they contains if it be not beneath thy infinite dignity to call: thy eyes on us wretched mortals i if my future felicity is not contrary to the neceffary effedts of thofe fecret catifes which thou haft appointed > receive the fup- plications of a man, to whom, in thy kind- nefs, thou haft given a wife and an offspring: view us all with benignity; fanftify this ftrong conflift of regrets, wilhes, and other natural paffionsj guide our fteps through thefe un¬ known paths, and blefs our future mode of life. If it is good and well-meant, it muft proceed from thee ; thou knoweft, O Lord, our enter- prife contains neither fraud, nor malice, nor re¬ venge. Bcftow on me that energy of condufl:„ now become fo neceffary, that it may be in my power to carry the young family thou haft given me, through this great trial, with fafety- and in thy peace. Inlpire me with fuch inten¬ tions and fuch rules of conduft as may be mofb acceptable to thee. Preferve, O God, preferve,, the: A FRONTIER-MAN. 317 the companion of my bofom, the beft gift thoii haft given me: endue her with courage and ftrength fufhcient to accomplifh this perilous journey. Blefs the children of our love, thofe portions of our hearts; I implore thy divine affiftance; fpeak to their tender minds, and in- fpire them with the love of that virtue which alone can ferve as the balls of their condudl in this world and of their happinefs with thee. Reftore peace and concord to our poor af- flidted country; afluage the fierce ftorm which has fo long ravaged it! Permit, I befeech thee, O Father of nature, that our ancient virtues and our induftry may not be totally loft; and that, as a reward for the great toils we have made on this new land, we may be reftored to our ancient tranquillity, and enabled to fill it with fucceflive generations, that will conftantly thank thee for the ample iubfiftence thou haft given them! The unreferved manner in which I have written muft give you a convincing proof of that friendlliip and efteem, of which I am fure you never yet doubted. As members of the fame fociety, as mutually bound by the ties of affedtion and old acquaintance, ' you certainly cannot avoid feeling for my dif- treffes; you cannot avoid mourning with me over that load of phyfical and moral evil with which 3i8 .distresses, &c. which we are all oppreffed. My own fiiare pf it I often overlook when I minutely con¬ template all that hath befallen our native country! FINIS. t 319 ) A borigines of Nantucket. See native blacks of Nantucket. Advantages of emigrating.to America very great, p. 70-76. Alligators, fnakes, ferpents, and fcorpions, moll nume¬ rous in the fouthern provinces of America, 236. America. Advantages that might-ar'Ife from travelling thither rather than to Italy, 7. . - The want of men of genius there, 9. -- Simplicity of its government, 46-48. —^- Defeription of the firll fettlers, 48-57. -- Change of manners, 57, et feq. -- Special encouragement to emigrants, 73. -- Benefited by the oppreffions of other countries,- An^American progreflively deferibed, 45-113. American farmer. His {lender helps and little encourage¬ ments to literary undertakings, 2, n, 16. - Determines to write, 13. -- His apology, 19, 20. - His ideas at firll fetting out in life, 32. ■ .— His fituation, 23. ■- His feelings as a hulband, father, and free¬ holder, 25, 26, 44. -His government of his cattle, 31. -- His vilits to fome infant fettlers, and his re¬ flexions thereon, 80-83. . ■■ — ■ His journey to Philadelphia, 91-94. - His reception at Martha’s Vineyard, 171, 172. .. Forced to fly, on the breaking-out of the truu- ^--— Doubtful which caufe to efpoufe, 276, 277. I- Refolv.es to retire among the Indians; with reflexions on the confequences that may attend his re¬ treat, illuftrated by examples, 289, 292-296, 304, 309-316. ■ - Retrofpefl: of his pall life, 290-292. - His refignation, 298. . ■ - Receives tokens of fricndlhip and invitation from an Indian village, 301. American 320 I N D E X. American Fanner. His propofed method of living among the Indians, 303-313. ' Invocation to the Deity for fuccefs in his en- terprife, 316, 317. An American former -n-idely different from an Englilh former, 21. And from a Rufiian farmer, 257. Americans. Their hofpitality, cSrc. 70. Andrew. See Scotch Hebridean. -- Anecdote of him and the friendly Indians, 102. Aunt Kefiah, 201. Back-fettlers in .America, 55, 99. --Gradnrily neglect hufoandry and become hun¬ ters ; ttiththe confequcnces of this change, 63-67. Barra, 97, 9S, 100. Barrennefs of Nantucket, 116, 119. Barrey’s Valley, in the eaftern fhore of the ifland of Nan¬ tucket, 130, 207. Bertram, the Pennfylvanian Botanill. Defeription of a vilic paid to him, 247-269. -- His honfe, 248. --- His improvement of land, 252, 256. ■ ■ — His firil incitement to the ftudy of botany,. 260. Bees. 28, 35-36. Bee-tree, 37. Black fnakes, 236. 240, 241, 243. --Their mode of deflropng birds and fquir- Brigs, the mok proper for whale-fifhcry, i6z. Britain the aggrelfor in the American quarrel, 2S6. Britiih America, 53. Cape Cod, 120, 121, 126. Cape Fear, 180. Charles-town, the capital of North-America, 213-216. - —- Its fituation, 213. ---Climate, 214. Colonization confidered, 69. Crofkaty, 133. D. Defmption of a houfe on the moll eaftern fhore of Nan- Dialogue, between the author and the minifter of the place, on the motives for travelling to Italy, &c. 6. Duke’s County, 159. INDEX. 32J Edgar, Chilmarki and Tilbury, the three townfliips which form the ifland of Martha’s Vineyard, 159. - — — Defeription of them, 160. Elizabeth lilands, fix in number, 159. Elliot, a New-England divine, tranllated the Bible into the Nattick language, for the inftruaion of the blacks of Nantucket, 138. Emigration, natural and eafy to a maritime people, 178. Englilhman. The natural ideas his lirll: landing in Ame¬ rica muft infpire, 46, et feq. Eolian harp, 253. Filhing, almod the foie employ of the inhabitants of Nan¬ tucket, 129, 177, 193, et feq. Foundation of Nantucket, 113. Friends. See Quakers. Frontier-man. His diftrelTes', 270-318. - Dangers of his fituation, 272. • " ■ In continual alarm, 273. Froft, reflexions upon it, 32. Gay-Head, the weftern point of Martha’s Vineyardj proj duces ochres of different colours, 162. Germans, 77. Gib’s Pond, on the eaftern Ihore of Nantucket, 207. Health and longevity of the inhabitaiits Of Nantucket^ 187, 188. Hebrides, a fit place for tranfported malefaSors, 84. Heroes. The moll fuccefsful butchers acquire that name, 226. Hornets, 41. Humming-bird, 241-243; Idlenefs, the greatell fin at Nantucket, Ig;, 196. Indian dumplings, 210. Inhabitants of Nantucket, live happy and free from op- preflion, 149, 150. -- Their boldnefs and aftivity, 135. • ■ ■ Owe their fuccefs to their induftry, and their induftry to the barrennefs of their foil, 158. ' Wholly Englilh, 203. - Their mode of lalutation, 203, 204. Inoculation, 305. InlUnft in bealls, 31. InlUndl N D E X. Inftina in birdsj 39. Infoffidency of books relating to AmeticM cuftoins, and tbe reafon of it, 115. Iriflunen, 78, 79. Kennebeck-riirer, In Aat partpf Maflachiifets called Sa- gadahock, 157. - Account of a fettlement there, 180-182, ‘ _ This fcttlement compared with that of New- Garden ih North-Carolina, and preferred to, it, with thereafons, 181, 182. Killer, or thrafher, a fpecies of whale, 168, 169. Kingbird, curious anecdote of one, 28 , 29. Knives, 156, 197. Labour and ftudy combined, 14. Lake Champlain, 272. Language of the Quakers, 194. Lawyers, 187-1 go, 213, 216. _Little efteemed at Nantucket, 188. - One of the three principal clalTes of people In Charles-town, 215. Letters. The authenticity of thefe letters evident from the ftyle, Advertifement. __ A fecond volume promifed, ibid. - Dedicated to AbbeRajuial. Lima, the capital of South-America, 213. Luxury, the effeSs it would probably produce In fuch a place as Nantucket, 149. ^ M. Mahews, family of, 160, 162. Martha’s Vineyard, illand^ofi called alfo Duke’s County, 136. — Defcribed, 159, 162. __:— Map of it, facing p. 159. ___ Extent, fituation, and number of inhabitants, 159. _ Its produce, and whence its name is derived, 160. __— A nurfery for feamen, as well as Nantucket, 161. __ The climate favourable to population, 161, 162, _ The inhabimts Prelbyterians, 162. Maryland, 84. Maflipee, 143-. Maffachufets-Bay, 136. Mead, improved fay brandy, 36. N- Nantucket, ifland of, 114-212, ct feq. Nantucket, INDEX.' 32J Nantucketj owes every thing to the induftry of its inha- bitahts, 116, 120. ^ . •— A hurfery for feameh and fiihermen, &c. iiq, ia6 ■ - Its fituation, 121. • ^ ‘t • — Map of it, 122. ' Nature of the foil, and its produce, 123-127, - Included in the New-York patent, 12c, 126. • - Unpromifing afpea of the foil, 126. —— The fifft fettlers, 126, 127. Filh, and the manner of catching them, 120. iJc - Climate, 134. ^ ~—- Since adj udged part of the province of Maflachu- fets-Bay, 136. ’ Taxes levied by afeifors yearly chofen by the people, 137. •'Probable origin of the blacks which the Englilh found there, 138. '—^—■ Two-thirds Quakers, one-third Prelbytetians, 147. --- Quiet and harmlefs mode of living, 147. — - Employment of the inhabitants, 148, et feq. ■ Simple mode of education, 150-153. ■ - No perfon at a lofs how to gain a livelihood, 152. - Divifion of the ifland by the firli fettlers, 154. ■ - The greatefl mart for oil, whalebone, and fpef- maceti, on the continent, 156. ■' ■ Tranlports lumber to the Weft-India iflands, 157, ■ Manners and cuftoms, 170-212. ■' — ■ Simple mode of government, igo, 191. — - . Peculiar cuftoms, 194-212. -- Few of the inhabitants die rich, 184, 185. •—Blit one prieft in the whole ifland : very eafily accounted for, 1S5. ^ • -- And but two profeflbrs of phyfic, 187. - - One lawyer, i88. ' Vifiting and recreations, 198, 199, 205, 206. — - - Charafter of the married women, 197,200,201. «—— Soil of the molt eafterly parts, 207. Native blacks of Nantucket defcribed, 135-146. -- Their political ftate before the arrival of the whites, 137. *■■ — Their probable origin, 138. -- Their quarrels, 139. -Caiifes of their decline, 139-143. - Unaccountable extermination of many tribes, 143- -- '—r— The Bible, tranflated into the Nattick lan- guage, their only monument, 144. ' Their decline in fome meafure accounted for,. Native I N D E X. 3H Native blades of Nantucket. Several of their towns have been converted into European fettlementSj and have received new names, 146'. Negro-flavery, 216, 23;, 262,' 265. --T Deplorable fituation of the blacks at Charles- -- Reflerions, 217, et feq. -- Blacks well treated in the more northern pro- - An anecdote, 224.' --:—r Among the Lacedemonians and among the Ro¬ mans. 224, 225. ■ ' , .7-:-:— A melancholy feene, 232. . -- In'RalSa, 264, New-Eng!aad provinces remarkable for probity, fobriety, induftry, 'and religion, 160, 161. , Norton, (B.) Efq. 162. O.' . ■ ' ; \ : Oil and whalebone fent from Nantucket to England^ iS^» '57- Opium ufed fay the people'bf Nantucket, 202. , Orkneys, 84. . ' P- ' - Palpus, J30, 131. Penn, 81, go, 94, 247, et feq, Pigeons, 37. -- How caught, 37, 38. Pilot, or copperrhead, a fort of fnake. The dreadful effeSs of its faite, 236. Pine-barren, the largeft fpecies of fnake at Nantupket, 2 36 . Plymouth-company, 180. PochickRip, 207. . Prelbyterians, 147, igi. ■» --Compared with the Quakers, 192. Province-town, the extreme poverty of its foil, 146.. Q2 Quails, 29. Quakers, 62, 185, 186, 194, et feq, — at Nantucket, their inode of education, 152, ■ — — Have fet a laudable example, by freeing all their flaves at Nantucket, &c. 192, 262. Quakers meeting, with remarks on the Quakers, 266> 269. Quayes, 131. ■ ■ R. Rattlcfnake, 237-240. Refleftions years, 113. Scotchmen, 78, 79, 80, 83. Seamen of Martha’s Vineyard compared with thofe of the continental towns, 170. Shark, 168. Sherborn, the only town on the ifland of Nantucket, 122. ■-Situation of it, 123. — - The country thereabout very barren, 123, 125. — -- Punilhments unknown, and thereafon,147,148. Siafconcet, on the ealiern fliore of Nantucket, 207. Slavery. Se£ Negro-flavery, .. Small-pox. Its dreadful ravages among the aborigines of Nantucket, 141. Snakes, 235-241, 243-24$. — ■ ■ A ftrange and dreadful accident, 238. •T- A furious battle between two fnakes, 243-246. Squam, 132. Squaws, the appellation of the Indian women, 304, etfeq. T. Tackanuck, 133, Tuckannt-ifland, 129, V. 6 ? . N D E X, Vug^nia, 84. . : i W. Wafps, 4S. -- YeUow, 43. Weft-rlndians, zi4. Whale of the Riw St. Lanrence defcribed, I67. Whale-fiflieiy at Nantucket, 153-158. ——— At Martha’s Vineyard, 162-170. . — '— Gradual ptogrefs and improvements of the iir& proprietors of Nantucket in this art, 153, 155. . Men employed in it never exceed the age of forty ; and the reafon, 163. -- Manner of attacking the whale, 164, et feq. Whaleman. His iitnation in life preferred to fomeotherr^ Wh^. An account of the different fpecies, 163. Winter-birds, 33. Women of Sherbom, 4 oo. Wren and fwallow, ftory of, 41. Youth, proper mode of treatment, 150>. . Taught by example at Nantucket, 15 s.. THE END, ERRATA. Page 117, line 6, far pofterity prolpelity, 124, g, fer there read their.-