o F 7/74 ‘Ml fyA GREAT BRITAIN CONSIDERED • With Regard to Her COLONIES And the ACQUISITIONS of CAN . . J A and GUADALOUPE. To which arc added, ORSERVATIONS concerning the Increafe of*-Mankind, Peopling of Countries, ^c. ^^ As the very ingenious, ufeful, and worthy Author of this Pamphlet [5-----n F-----n, LL. D.] is well-known and much efteemed by the principal Gentlemen in England and Amtrica; and feeing that his other Works have been received with univerfal Applaufe ; the prefent Production needs no further Recommendation to a generous, , a free, an intelligent and publick-fpirited People. *BMBaHMHBanHKn9MBBB^MOTat3KMMM»M3WZ9MWWRrwnai LONDON, Printed, mdcclx. BOSTON : Reprinted, by B. Mecom, are ufual or neceffary in Europe. e The remarker, however, thinks, that our real c dependance for keeping “ France or any other na-y “ tion true to her engagements, mull not be in c “ demanding fecurities which no nation whilft inde- -' “ pendent can give, but on our own ftrength and our “ own viligance.” * No nation that has carried 118 on a war with difadvantage, and is unable to con-tinue it, can be faid, under Rich circumftances, to >p- be independent; and while either fide thinks itfelf in a condition to demand an indemnification, there ^ is no man in his fenfes, but will, ceteris paribus, ble prefer an indemnification that is a cheaper and of more effectual fecurity than any other he can think ^ of. Nations in this fituation demand and cede anj countries by almoft every treaty of peace that is xo- made. The French part of the ifland of St. Cri- dn- ftopher’s was added to Great Britain in circumftan- ited ces altogether fimilar to thofe in which a few >rces months may probably place the country of Canada. itted n an and ifmg_ ts of ufets-only or it, »m of hat is is un- from ity to y can hunt-hereby he ex- Farther fecurity has always been deemed a motive with a conqueror to be lefs moderate; and even the vanquilh’d infill upon fecurity as a reafon for demanding what they acknowledge they could not otherwife properly alk. The fecurity of the frontier of France on the fide of the Netherlands, was always confidered, in the negotiation that began at Getruy-denburgh, and ended with that war. For the fame reafon they demanded and had Cape Breton. But a war concluded to the advantage of France has always added fomething to the power, either of France or the houfe of Bourbon. Even that of 1733, whith ihe commenced with declarations of B her * Remarks, p. 25, ' [ 50 ] . . her having no ambitious views, and which finifhed by a treaty at which the minifters of France repeatedly declared that die defired nothing for herfelf, in effect gained for her Lorrain, an indemnification ten times the value of all her North American .pofleflions. In fhort, fecurity and quiet of princes and Rates have ever been deemed fufficient reafons, when fupported by power, for difpofing of rights ; and fuch difpofition has never been looked on as want of moderation. It has always been the foundation of the moft general treaties. The fecurity of Germany was the argument for yielding confiderable pofleflions there to the Swedes : and the fecurity of Europe divided the Spanijh monarchy, by the partition treaty, made between powers who had no other right to difpofe of any part of it. There can be no cefllon that is not fuppofed at leaft, to increafe the power of the party to whom it is made. It is enough that he has a right to afk it, and that he does it not merely to ferve the purpofes of a dangerous ambition. Canada in the hands of Britain, will endanger the kingdom of France as little as any other cefllon ; and from its fituation and circumftances cannot be hurtful to any other ftate, Rather, if peace be an advantage, this cefllon may be fuch to all Europe. The pre-fent war teaches us, that difputes arifing in America, may be an occafion of embroiling nations who have no concerns there. If the French remain in Canada and Louijiana, fix the boundaries as you will between us and them, we muft border on each other for more than 1500 miles. The people that inhabit the frontiers, are generally the refufe of both nations, often of the worft morals and the leaft diferetion, remote from the eye, the prudence, and the reftraint of government. Injuries are [ ” ] d are therefore frequently, in fome part or other of '- fo long a frontier, committed on both Tides. Re- •r fentment provoked, the colonies firft engaged, and i- then the mother countries. And two great na- f- tions can fcarce be at war in Europe, but fome other prince or ftate thinks it a convenient oppor-:s tunity, to revive fome ancient claim, feize fome n advantage, obtain fome territory, or enlarge fome d power at the expence of a neighbour. The flames is of war once kindled, often fpread far and wide, e and the mifehief is infinite. Happy it prov’d to :- both nations, that the Dutch were prevailed on g finally to cede the New Netherlands (now the pro- d vince of New York} to us at the peace of 1674; a peace that has ever fince continued between us, s but muft have been frequently difturbed, it they :. had retained the pofleflion of that country, border- it ing feveral hundred miles on our colonics of Pen- n fylvania weft ward, Connecticut and the Maffacbufetts □ eaftward. Nor is it to be wondered at that peo- e pie of different language, religion, and manners, e fliould in thofe remote parts engage in frequent • f quarrels, when we find, that even the people of our s own colonies have frequently been fo exafperated y againft each other in their difputes about boun- daries, as to proceed to open violence and blood-fhed. - But the rcmarkcr thinks we fliall be fufliciently fecure in America, if we “ raife Englijh forts at b ‘ fuch pafles as may at once make us refpedtable to ‘ the French and to the Indian nations.’ * The t fecurity defirable in America, may be confidered u as of three kinds; 1. A fecurity of pofleflion, that y the French fliall not drive us cut of the country, s 2. A fecurity of our planters from the inroads of ie favages, and the murders committed by them. :s 3. A • g * Remarks, p. 25. [ 12 ] 3. A fecurity that the BriiiJlj nation (hall not be oblig’d on every new v/ar to repeat the immenfe expence occafion’d by this, to defend its pofieflions in America. Forts in the moft important pafles, may, I acknowledge be of ufe to obtain the fir ft kind of fecurity : but as thofe fituations are far advanc’d beyond the inhabitants, the expence of maintaining and fupplying the garrifons, will be very great, even in time of full peace, and immenfe on every interruption of it; as it is eafy forfkulk-ing parties of the enemy in fuch long roads thio’ the woods, to intercept and cut oil our convoys, un-lefs guarded continually by great bodies of men. The fecond kind of fecurity, will not be obtained by fuch forts, unlefs they are connected by a w all like that of China, froni one end of our fettle-ments to the other. If the Indians when at war, march’d like the Europeans, with great armies, heavy cannon, baggage, and carriages, the pafles thro’ which alone fuch armies could penetrate our country, or receive their fupplies, being fecur’d, all might be fufficiently fecure; but the cafe is widely different. They go to war, as they call it, in fmall parties, fiom fifty men down to five. Their hunting life has made them acquainted with the whole country, and fcarcc any part of it is impracticable to fuch a party. They can travel thro’ the woods even by night, and know how to conceal their tracks. They pafs eafily between your forts undifeover’d; and privately approach the fettlcments of your frontier inhabitants. They need no convoys of provifions to follow them; for whether they are fhifting from place to place in the woods, or lying in wait for an opportunity to ftrike a blow, every thicket and every ftream fur-nifties fo fmall a number with fufficient fubfiftence. When they have furpriz’d feparately, and murder’d [ ] and fcalp’d a dozen families, they are gone with inconceivable expedition thro* unknown ways, and ’tis very rare that purfuers have any chance of coming up with them.* In fhort, long experience has taught our planters, that they cannot rely upon forts as a fecurity apamft Indians: The inhabitants of Hackney might as well rely upon the tower of London to * * Although th* Indians Ytvc Scattered, as a hunter’s lifere-* quires, they may be collected together from almcft any dif. 4 tance, as they can find their fubfiftcnce from their gun in * their travelling. But let the number of the Indians be what 4 it will, they are not formidable merely on account of their 4 numbers; there are many other circumflances that give them 4 a great advantage over the Englijh. The English inhabitants, 4 though numerous, are extended over a large trad of land, * 500 leagues in length on the Ga-lhore; and altho’ fomc of ' their trading towns are thick fettled, their fettlements in ‘ the country towns mud be at a diltance from each other : be- 4 fides, that in a new country, where lands are cheap, people 4 are fond of acquiring larpe tracts to themfelvcs ; and thcrc-4 fore in the out fettlements they mull be more remote: and 4 as the people that move out are generally poor, they fit down, 4 either where they can eafied procure land, or fooneft raife a 4 fubfi ftence. Adil to th if, that the Englijh have fixed fettled 4 habitations, the eafieft and fnorteft paflages to which the 4 Indians, by conftantly hunting in the woods, are perfectly 4 well acquainted with; whereas the Englijh know little or 4 nothing of the Indian country, nor of the paflages thro’ the 4 woods that lead to it. Ti e Indian way of making war is by 4 fudden attacks upon expofed places; and as fcon as they have done mifehief, they retire, and either go home by the fame or fome different rent, as they think fafeft; or go to fome other place at a diflance, to renew their ftroke. If a fut-ficient party fhould happily be ready to purfuc them, it is a great chance, whether in a country, confilling of woods and ‘ fwamps, which the Englijh are not acquainted w ith, the enemy do not lie in ambufn for them in fome convenient place, ’ and from thence dellroythem. If this fhould not be the cafe, but the Englijh fhould purfuc them, as foon as they have gained the rivers, by means of their canoes, to the ufe of which they are brought up from their infancy, they pre-fently get out of their reach : further, if a body of men were 4 to to fecure them againft highwaymen and houfebreak-crs. As to the third kind of fecurity, that we fhall not in a few years, have all we have now done to do over again in America •, and be oblig’d to employ the fame number of troops, and Ihips, at the fame immenfe expence to defend our poflef-fions there, while we are in proportion weaken’d here : * to march into their country, to the places where they are * fettled, they can, upon the leaft notice, without great dif-* advantage, quit their prefent habitations, and betake them-* (elves to new ones.’ Clara’s Obfervations p. 13. * It has been already remarked, that the tribes of the In-* dians living upon the lakes and rivers that run upon the back * of the £»f//^fettlements in North-dmerica, are very numerous, * and can furnifh a great number of fighting men, all per-‘ fedly well acquainted with the ufe of arms as foon as capable * of carrying them, as they get the whole of their fubfiftence * from hunting; and that this army, large as it may be, can be * maintained by the French without any expence. From their * numbers, their fituation, and the rivers that run into the * Englijb fettlements, it is eafy to conceive that they can at any * time make an attack upon, and conftantly annoy as many of * the expofed Englijb fettlements as they pleafe, and thofe at * any diilance from each other. The cifefts of fuch incurfions \ have been too feverely felt by many of the Britijh colonies, * not to be very well known. The entire breaking up places * that had been for a confiderable time fettled at a great ex-• pence, both of labour and money ; burning the houfes, de-* itroying the flock, killing and making prifoners great num-* bers of the inhabitants, with all the cruel ufage they meet * with in their captivity, is only a part of the fcenc. All other • places that are expofed are kept in continual terror; the * lands lie wafte and uncultivated from the danger that attends * thofe that fhall prefume to work upon them : befides the * immenfe charge the governments muft be at in a very inef-• fedual manner to defend their extended frontiers; and all * this from the influence the French have had over, but com-• paratively, a few of the Indians. To the Gme or greater * evils flill will every one of the colonies be expofed, when-* ever the fame influence fhall be extended to the whole body * of them.* - Ibid. ^. zo. here : fuch forts I think cannot prevent this. During a peace, it is not to be doubted the French, who are adroit at fortifying, will likewife ereft forts in the moil advantageous places of the country we leave them, which will make it more difficult than ever to be reduc’d in cafe of another war. We know by the experience of this war, how extremely difficult it is to march an army thro’ the American woods, with its neceflary cannon and ftores, fufficient to reduce a very flight fort. The accounts at the treafury will tell you what amazing fums we have neceflarily fpent in the expeditions againft two very trifling forts, Duquefne and Crown Point. While the French retain their influence over the Indians, they can eafily keep our long extended frontier in continual alarm, by a very few of thofe people •, and with a fmall number of regulars and militia, in fuch a country, we find they can keep an army of ours in full employ for feveral years. We therefore (hall not need to be told by our colonies, that if we leave Canada, however circumfcrib’d, to the French, “ we have done “ nothings* we fhall foon be made fenfible our-felves of this truth, and to our cofl. I would not be underllood to deny that even if wc lubdue and retain Canada, fome few forts may be of ufe to fecure the goods of the traders, and proteft the commerce, in cafe of any fudden mif-underitanding with any tribe of Indians: but thde forts will be belt under the care of the colonies in-terefted in the Indian trade, and garrifon’d by their provincial forces, and at their own expence. Their own interell will then induce the s/merican governments to take care of fuch forts in proportion to their importance; and fee that the officers keep their corps full, and mind their duty. But any troops * Remarks, p. 26. I [ ] troops of ours plac’d there and accountable here, would, in fuch remote and obfcure places and at lb great a diftance from the eye and infpe&ion of fuperiors, foon become of little confequence, even tho’ the French were left in poffeffion of Canada. If the four independent companies maintained by the Crown in New York more than forty years, at a great expence, confitted, for mod part of the time, of faggots chiefly, if their officers enjoy’d their places as fine cures, and were only, as a writer * of that country (tiles them, a kind of military monks; if this was the Rate of troops polled in a populous country, where the impofition could not be lb well conceal’d ; what may we expect will be the cafe of thofe that fhall be poited two, three or four hundred miles from the inhabitants, in fuch obfcure and remote places as Crown Point, Ojwego, Duquefne, or Niagara? they would fcarce be even faggots; they would dwindle to meer names upon paper, and appear no where but upon the mutter rolls. Now all the kinds of fecurity we have mention’d are obtain’d by fubduing and retaining Canada. Our prefent pofleffions in America, are fecur’d ; our planters will no longer be maffacred by the Indians, who depending abfolutely on us for what are now become the neceffaries of life to them, guns, powder, hatchets, knives, and cloathing ; and having no other Europeans near, that can either fupply them, or inftigate them againft us; there is no doubt of their being always difpos’d, if we treat them with common juftice, to live in perpetual peace with us. And with regard to France, flic cannot in cafe of another war, put us to the immenfe expence of defending that long extended frontier •, we fhall then, as it were, have our * Doutrlafs. our backs againft a wall in America, the fea-coaft will be eafily protected by our fuperior naval power ; and here “ our own watchfulnefs and our own ftrength” will be properly, and cannot but be fuccefsfully employed. In this fituation the force now employ’d in that part of the world, may be fpar’d for any other fervice here or elfewhere; fo that both die offenfive and defenfive ftrength of the Britijh empire on the whole will be greatly increafed. But to leave the French in pofleflion of Canada when it is in our power to remove them, and depend, as the remarker propofes, on our own “ ftrength and watchfulnefs” * to prevent the mil' chiefs that may attend it, feems neither fafe nor prudent. Happy as we now are, under the beft of kings, and in the profped: of a fucceflion pro-mifing every felicity a nation was ever blefs’d with: happy too in the wifdom and vigour of e-very part of the adminiftration, particularly that part whofe peculiar province is the Brit ifb plantations, a province every true Englifhman fees with pleafure under the principal direction of a nobleman, as much diftinguilh’d by his great capacity, as by his unwearied and difinterefted application to this important department; we cannot, we ought not to promife ourfelves the uninterrupted continuance of thofe bleflings. The fafety of a con-liderable part of the ftate, and the intereft of the whole are not to be trufted to the wifdom and vigor of future adminiftrations, when a fecurity is to be had more effectual, more conftant, and much lefs expen five. They who can be moved by the apprehenfion of dangers fo remote as that ot the’future independence of our colonies (a point I Hull hereafter confider) feem icarcely confiftent C with [ IS ] with themfelves when they fuppofe we may rely on the wifdom and vigour of an adminiftration for their fafety. , ' ' I fhould indeed think it lefs material whether' Canada were ceded to us or not, if I had in view only the fecurity ofpoffeffwn in our colonies. I entirely agree with the Remarker, that we are in North America “ a far greater continental as well “ as naval power ; ” and that only cowardice or ignorance can fubjedt our colonies there to a French conqueft. But for the fame reafon I difagree with him widely upon another point. I do not think that our “ blood and treafure has been expended,” as he intimates, “ in the caufe of the colonies,” and that we “ are making conquers for them: ” * yet I believe this is too common an error. I do not fay they are altogether unconcerned in the event. The inhabitants of them are, in common with the other fubjefts of Great Britain, anxious for the glory of her crown, the extent »f her power and commerce, the welfare and future repofe of the whole Britifh people. They could not therefore but take a large fhare in the affronts offered to Britain, and have been animated with a truely Britifh Jpirit to exert themfelves beyond their ftrength, and againft their evident intereft. Yet fo unfortunate have they been, that their virtue has made againft them; for upon no better foundation than this, have they been fuppofed the authors of a war carried on for their advantage only. It is a great miftake to imagine that the American country in queftion between Great Britain and France, is claimed as the property of any individuals or publick body in America, or that the poffeffion of it by Great-Britain, is likely, in any lucrative view, to redound at all to the advantage of any perlon there. ' On • Remarks, p. 26. ['91 . . i On the other hand, the bulk of the inhabitants of •' North America are land-owners, whofe lands are * inferior in value to thofe of Britain, only by the f want of an equal number of people. It is true the r acceflion of the large territory claimed before the . war began, Specially if that be fecured by the pof- i feflion of Canada, will tend to the increafe of the I Briti/h fubjeds, fafter than if they had been con- • fin’d within the mountains : yet the increafe within ) the mountains only, would evidently make the i comparative population equal to that of Great : Britain, much fooner than it can be expected when . our people are fpread over a country fix times as i large. I think this is the only point of light in ; which this queftion is to be viewed, and is the ; only one in which any of the colonies are con. cerned. No colony, no pofleffor of lands in any • colony, therefore wifhes for conquefts, or can be f benefited by them, otherwife than as they may be a . means of fecuring peace on their borders. No i confiderable advantage has refulted to the colonies t by the conquefts of this war, or can refult from . confirming them by the peace, but what they muft j enjoy in common with the reft of the Briti/h peo- > pie; with this evident drawback from their fhare of thefe advantages, that they will neceffarily lef-j fen, or at leaft prevent the increafe of the value of । what makes the principal part of their private pro' perty. A people fpread thro’ the whole tract of i ' country on this fide the Mi/fiJ/ipi, and fecured by . Canada in our hands, would probably for feme , centuries find employment in agriculture, and . thereby free us at home effectually from our fears of r American manufactures. Unprejudic’d men well > know that all the penal and prohibitory laws that . ever were thought on, will not be fufficient to pre- 1 vent manufactures in a country whofe inhabitants furpafs [ 2° ] furpafs the number that can fubfift by the huf-bandry of it. That this will be the cafe in America foon, if our people remain confined within the mountains, and almoft as foon fhould it be unfafe for them to live beyond, tho* the country be ceded to us, no man acquainted with political and commercial hiftory can doubt. Manufactures are founded in poverty. It is the multitude of poor without land in a country, and who muft work for others at low wages or ftarve, that enables undertakers to carry on a manufacture, and afford it cheap enough to prevent the importation of the fame kind from abroad, and to bear the expence of its own exportation. But no man who can have a piece of land of his own, fufficient by his labour to fubfift his family in plenty, is poor e-nough to be a manufacturer, and work for a ma-fter. Hence while there is land enough in America for our people, there can never be manufactures to any amount or value. It is a ftriking obfervation of a very able pen, that the natural livelihood of the thin inhabitants of a foreft country, is hunting; that of a greater number, pafturage; that of a middling population, agriculture •, and that of the greateft, manufactures j which laft muft fubfift the •bulk of the people in a full country, or they muft be fubfifted by charity, or perilh. The extended population, therefore, that is moft advantageous to Great Britain, will be beft effected, becaufe only effectually fecur’d by our poflefllon of Canada. So far as the being of our prelent colonies in North America is concerned, I think indeed with the remarker, that the French there are not “ an enemy “ to be aprebended,” * blit the expreflion is too vague to be applicable to the prefent, or indeed to any other cafe. Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, unequal • Remarks, p. 27. 2I. ] equal as they are to this nation in power and numbers of people, are enemies to be ftill apprehended; and the Highlanders of Scotland have been fo for many ages by the greateft princes of Scotland and Britain. The wild Irijh were able to give a great deal of difturbance even to Queen Elizabeth, and coft her more blood and treafure than her war with Spain. Canada in the hands of France has always ftinted the growth of our colonics: In the courfc of this war, and indeed before it, has difturb’d and vex’d even the beft and ftrongeft of them, has found means to murder thoufands of their people, and unfettle a great part of their country. Much more able will it be to ftarve the growth of an infant fettlcment. Canada has alfo found means to make this nation fpend two or three millions a year in America ; and a people, how fmall foever, that in their prefent fituation, can do this as often as we have a war with them, is methinks, “ an ene-“ my to be apprehended." ; . Our North American colonies are to be confi-dered as the frontier of the Briti/h empire on that Iide. The frontier of any dominion being attack’d, it becomes not merely “ the caufe" of the people immediately aftedted, (the inhabitants of that frontier) but properly “ the caufe" of the whole body. Where the frontier people owe and pay obedience, there they have a right to look for protedticn. No political propofition is better eftablifhed than this. It is therefore invidious to reprefent the “ blood and treafure” fpent in this war, as fpent in “ the * caufe of the colonies” only, and that they are abfurd and ungrateful” if they think we have done nothing unlefs we “ make conquefts for “ them,” and reduce Canada to gratify their “ vain ambition,” &c. It will not be a conqueft for them, nor gratify any vain ambition of theirs. [ 22 ] It will be a conqueft for the whole, and all our people will, in the increafe of trade and the eafe of taxes, find the advantage of it. • Should we be obliged at any time to make a war for the protection of our commerce, and to fecure the exportation of our manufactures, would it be fair to reprcfcnt fuch a war merely as blood and treafure fpent in the caufe of the weavers of York/hire, Norwich, or the Weft, the cutlers of Sheffield, or the button-makers of Birmingham ? I hope it will appear before I end thefe iheets, that if ever there was a national war, this is truly fuch a one : a wai in which the intereft oi the whole nation is di-reCUy and fundamentally concerned. Thole who would be thought deeply (killed in human nature, affeCt to difeover felf-interefted views every where at the bottom of the faireft, the moft generous conduct. Suipicions and charges of this kind, meet with ready reception and belief in the minds even of the multitude •, and therefore lefs acutenefs and addrefs than the remarker is pof-iefled of, would be fufficient to perfuade the nation generally, that all the zeal and fpirit manifefted and exerted by the colonies in this war, was only in “ their own caufe” to “ make conquefts for “ themfelves,” to engage us to make more for them, to gratify their own “ vain ambition.” But Ihould they now humbly addrefs the mother country in the terms and the fentiments of the remarker, return her their grateful acknowledgments for the blood and treafure fhe had fpent in “ their “ caufe,'* confefs that enough had been done w for them ” allow that “ Englijh forts raifed in M proper pafles, will, with the wifdom and vigour “ of her adminiftration” be a fufficient future pro-’teClion; exprefs their defiresthat their people may be confined within the mountains, left if they are : fuffered I . J 23 ] differed to fpread and extend themfelves in the fertile and pleafant country on the other fide, they fhould w increafe infinitely from all caufes” “ live “ wholly on their own labour” and become independent; beg therefore that the Frc»tZ> may be fuffered to remain in pofleflion of Canada, as their neighbourhood may be ufeful to prevent our increafe; and the removing them may “ in its confe-“ quences be even dangerous *. ” I fay, fhould fuch an addrefs from the colonies make its appearance here, though, according to the remarked it would be a molt juft and realbnable one; would it not, might it not with more juftice be anfwered; We underftand you, gentlemen, perfectly well: you Have only your own intereft in view: you want to have the people confined within your pre-fent limits, that in a few years the lands you arc poffeffed of may increafe tenfold in value I you want to reduce the price of labour by increafing numbers on the fame territory, that you may be able to fet up manufactures and vie with your mother country! you would have your people kept in a body, that you may be more able to difpurc the commands of the crown, and obtain an independency. You would have the French left in Canada, to exercife your military virtue, and make you a warlike people, that you may have more confidence to embark in fchemes of difobedience, and greater ability to fupport them 1 You have tailed too, the fweets of rwo or three millions Sterling per annum fpent among you by our fleets and forces, and you are unwilling to be without a pretence for kindling up another war, and thereby Occafion a repetition of the fame delightful doles I But, gentlemen, allow us to underftand our * Remarks, p. 50, 51. [ 24 ] our intered a little like wife: we Ihall remove the French from Canada that you may live in peace, ’ and we be no more drained by your quarrels. You (hall have land enough to cultivate, that you may have neither neceflity nor inclination to go into manufactures, and we will manufacture for you, and govern you. . ’ ’ A reader of the remarks may be apt to fay ; if this writer would have us redore Canada on principles of moderation, how can we confident with thofe principles, retain Guadalupe* which he repre -fents of fo much greater value 1 I will endeavour to explain this, becaufe by doing it I Ihall have an opportunity of fhowing the truth and good fenfe of the anfwer to the intereded application I have jud fuppofed. The author then is only apparently and not really inconfident with himfelf. If we can obtain the credit of moderation by redoring Canada, it is well: but we Ihould, however, redore it at all events •, becaufe it would not only be of no ufetous, but “ the pofleflion of it (in his opinion) “may in its confequence be dangerous*.’* as how? Why, plainly, (at length it comes out) if the French are not left there to check the growth of our colonies, “ they will extend themfelves al mod without “ bounds into the inland parts, and increafe in-“ finitely from all caufes;—becoming a numerous, “ hardy, independent people, poflefled of a drong “ country, communicating little or not at all with “ England, living wholly on their own labour, and “ in procefs of time knowing little and enquiring “ little about the mother country.” In Ihort, according to this writer, our prefent colonies are large enough and numerous enough, and the French ought to be left in North America to prevent their increafe, led they become not only ufelefs but dangerous to Britain. I * Remarks, p. 50, 51. I agree with the gentleman, that with Canada in our pofleflion,our people in America will increafe amaz-inD^' I know that their common rate of increafe, where they are not molefted by the enemy, is doubling their numbers every twenty-five years by natural generation only, exclufive of the acceflion of foreigners.* I think this increale continuing, would probably in a century more, make the number of Britijh fubjeds on that fide the water more numerous than they now are on this ; but I am far from entertaining, on that account, any fears of their becoming either ufelefs or dangerous to us ; and I look on thofe fears to be merely imaginary and without any probable foundation. The remarker is referv’d in giving his reafons, as in his opinion this “ is not a fit fubjeft for difcuflion.” I Hull give mine, be-caufe I conceive it a fubjeft neceflary to be dif-cufled ; and the rather, as thofe fears, how ground-lefs and chimerical foever, may, by poflefling the multitude, poflibly induce the ableft miniftry to conform to them againft their own judgment, and thereby prevent the afluring to the Britijh name and nation, a liability and permanency that no man acquainted with hiftory durft have hoped for, till our * The reafon of ibis greater increafe in America than in Europe, is, that in old fettled countries, all trades, farms, offices, and employments are full, and many people refrain marrying till they fee an opening, in which they can fettle themfelves, with a reafonable profpeft of maintaining a family : but in A, nerica, it being cafy to obtain land which with moderate la- ■ hour will afford fubfiftence and fomething to fpare, people . marry more readily and earlier in life, whence arifes a nume-j, rous offspring and the fwift population of thofe countries. *Tis Sa common error that we cannot fill our provinces or increafe the number of them, without draining this nation of its people. »he increment alone of our prefent colonies is fufficient fot Both thofe purpofes. D [ *6 J our American poffeffions opened the pleafing pro-fped. The remarker thinks that our people in America, “ finding no check from Canada, would ex-“ tend themfelves almoft without bounds into the “ inland parts, and increafe infinitely from all “ caufes.” The very reafon he afligns for their lb extending, and which is indeed the true one, their being “ invited to it by the pleafantnefs, fertility “ and plenty of the country,” may fatisfy us, that this extenfion will continue to proceed as long as there remains any pleafant fertile*95 : 3 : 4 1747 8 2,404 ; 17 : 7 17 5 2 201,566 : 19 : U 1757 * 268,426 : 6 : 6 AT. B. The account for 1758 and 1759 are not yet com-pleatcd; but thofc acquainted with the North American trade, [ 39 ] markable for the plain frugal manner of living of its inhabitants, and the molt fufpcded of carrying on manufactures on account of the number of German artizans, who are known to have tranfplanted themfelves into that country, though even thefe, in truth, when they come there, generally apply themfelves to agriculture as the fureft fupport and moft advantageous employment. By this account it appears, that the exports to that province have in 28 years, increafed nearly in the proportion of 17 to 1 ; whereas the people themfelves, who by other authentic accounts appear to double their numbers (the ftrangers who fettle there included) in about 16 years, cannot in the 28 years have in-creafed in a greater proportion than as 4 to 1 : the additional demand then, and confumption of goods from England, of 13 parts in 17 more than the additional number would require, muft be owing to this, that the people having by their in-duftry mended their circumftances, are enabled to indulge themfelves in finer cloaths, better furniture, and a more general ufe of all our manufactures than heretofore. In fact, the occafion for Englifi goods in Ncrlh America, and the inclination to have and ufe them, is, and muft be for ages to come, much greater than the ability of the people to pay for them ; they muft therefore, as they now do, deny themfelves many things they would other-wife chufe to have, of increafe their induftry to obtain them ; and thus, if they fhould at any time manufacture fome coarfe article, which on account , of trade, know, that the increafe in thofe two years, ha* been in a Hili greater proportion ; the laft year being fuppofed to exceed any former year by a third ; and this owing to the increafed ability of the people to fpend, from the greater quantities of money circulating among them by the war. [ 4° ] of its bulk or fome other circumftance, cannot fo well be brought to them from Britain, it only enables them the better to pay for finer goods that otherwife they could not indulge themfelves in : fo that the exports thither are not diminilhed by fuch manufacture but rather increafed. The fingle article of manufacture in thefe colonies mentioned by the remarker, is bats made in New England. It is true there have been ever fince the firft fettlement of that country, a few hatters there, drawn thither probably at firft by the facility of getting beaver, while the woods were but little clear’d, and there was plenty of thole animals. The cafe is greatly altered now. The beaver fkins are not now to be had in New England, but from very remote places and at .great prices. The trade is accordingly declining there, fo that, far from being able to make hats in any quantity for exportation, they cannot fupply their home demand; and it is well known that fome thoufand dozens are fent thither yearly from London, and fold there cheaper than the inhabitants can make them of equal gohdnefs. In faCt, the colonies are fo little fuited tor eftablilhing of manufactures, that they are continually lofing the few branches they accidentally gain. The working brafiers, cutlers, and pewterers, as well as hatters, who have happened to go over from time to time and fettle in dr colonies, gradually drop the working part of their bufinefs, and import their refpeCtive goods from England, whence they can have them cheaper and better than they can make them. They continue their (hops indeed, in the fame way of deaiing, but become fellers ofbrafiery, cutlery, pewter, hats,*^. brought from England, inftead of being makers of thole goods. Thus Thus much as to the apprehenfion of* our colonies becoming ufelefs to us. I fhall next confider the other fuppofition, that their growth may render them dangerous. Of this I own, I have not the leaft conception, when I confider that we have already fourteen feparate governments on the maritime coaft of the continent, and if we extend our fettlements /hall probably have as many more behind them on the inland fide. Thole we now have, are not only under different governors, but have different forms of government, different laws, different interefts, and fome of them different religious per-fuafions and different manners. Their jealoufy of each other is fo great that however neceffary an union of the colonies has long been, for their common defence and fecurity againft their enemies, and how fenfible foever each colony has been of that neceffity, yet they have never been able to effect fuch an union among themfelves, nor even to agree in requefting the mother country to eftablifh it for them. Nothing but the immediate command of the crown has been able to produce even the imperfect union but lately feen there, of the forces of fome colonies. If they could not agree to unite for their defence againft the French and Indians, who were perpetually haraffing their fettlements, burning their villages, and murdering their people; can it reafonably be fuppofed there is any danger of their uniting againft their own nation, which protects and encourages them, with which they have lb many connections and ties of blood, in-tereft and affection, and which ’tis well known they all love much more than they love one another ? In Ihort, there are fo many caufes that mull operate to prevent it, that I will venture to fay, an union amongft them for fuch a purpole is not merely improbable, it is impoffible, and if the union of ' F the [ 42 ] the whole is impofiible, the attempt of a part muft be madnefs: as thofe colonies that did not join the rebellion, would join the mother country in fupprefling it. When I fay fuch an union is impofiible, I mean without the moft grievous tyranny and oppreflion. People who have property in a country which they may lofe, and privileges which they may endanger •, are generally difpos’d to be quiet; and even to bear much, rather than hazard all. While the government is mild and juft, while important civil and religious rights are fecure, fuch fubjeds will be dutiful and obedient. The waves do not rife, but when the winds blow. W hat fuch an admini-ftration as the Duke of Alva's in the Netherlands, might produce, I know not; but this I think I have a right to deem impofiible. And yet there were two very manifeft differences between that cafe, and ours, and both are in our favour. The firft, that Spain had already united the feventeen provinces under one vifible government, tho* the ftates continued independent: The fecond, that the inhabitants of thofe provinces were of a nation, not only different from, but utterly unlike the Spaniards. Had the Netherlands been peopled from Spain, the worft of oppreflion had probably not provoked them to wilh a feparation of government. It might and probably would have ruined the country, but would never have produced an independent fovereignty. In fad, neither the very worft of governments, the worft of politicks in the laft century, nor the total abolition of their remaining liberty, in the provinces of Spain itfelf, in the prefent, have produced any independency that could be fupported. The fame may be obferved of France. And let it not be faid that the neighbourhood of thefe to the feat of government has prevented prevented a reparation. While our ftrength at fea continues, the banks of the Ohio (in point of ealy and expeditious conveyance of troops) are nearer to London, than the remote parts of France and Spain to their refpe&ive capitals ; and much nearer than Connaught and Uljler were in the days of Queen Elizabeth. No body foretcls the diflb-lution of the Ruffian monarchy from its extent, yet I will venture to fay, the eaftern parts of it are already much more inacceffiable from Peterjburgh, than the country on the Miffiffipi is from London; I mean more men, in lefs time, might be conveyed the latter than the former diftance. The rivers Oby, Jenefea and Lena, do not facilitate the communication half fo well by their courfe, nor are they half fo practicable as the American rivers. To this I fhall only add the obfervation of MachiaveL, in his Prince, that a government feldom long pre-ferves its dominion over thofe who are foreigners to it; who on the other hand fall with great eafe, and continue infeparably annex’d to the government of their own nation, which he proves by the fate of the Englijh conquefis in France. Yet with all thefe difadvantages, fo difficult is it to overturn an eftabliffied government, that it was not without the affiltance of France and England, that the United Provinces fupported them-felvcs : which teaches us, that if the vifionary danger of independence in our colonies is to be feared, nothing is more likely to render it fubftantial than the neighbourhood of foreigners at enmity with the fovereign government, capable of giving either aid or an afylum, as the event fhall require. Yet againft even thefe difadvantages, did Spain pre-ferve almoft ten provinces, merely through their want of union, which indeed could never have taken place among the others, but for caufes, fome [ 4+ J of which are in our cafe impoflible, and others it is impious to fuppofe poflible. The Romans well underftood that policy which teaches the fecurity arifing to the chief government from feparate ftates among the governed, when they reftored the liberties of the ftates of Greece, (op-prefled but united under Macedon) by an edift that every ftate Ihould live under its own laws.* They did not even name a governor. Independence of each other, and feparate interests, tho* among a people united by common manners, language, and I may fay religion, inferior neither in wifdom, bravery, nor their love of liberty to the Romans themfelves, was all the fecurity the fovereigns wifh-ed for their fovereignty. It is true, they did not call themfelves fovereigns ; they fet no value on the title ; they were contented with pofiefling the thing ; and poflefs it they did, even without a handing army. What can be a ftronger proof of the fecurity of their pofleflion ? And yet by a policy fi-milar to this throughout, was the Roman world fub-dued and held : a world compos’d of above an hundred languages and fets of manners different from thofe of their mafters.-f Yet this dominion was unfhakeable, till the lofs of liberty and corruption of manners overturned it. But * Omnes Gracorum civitates, qua in Europa, quaque in Afa eftnt, libertatem ac fuas leges baberent, &c. Liv. lib. 33. c. 30. f When the Romans had fubdu’d Macedon and Illyricum, they were both form’d into republicks by a decree of the fe-nate, and Macedon was thought fafe from the danger of a revolution, by being divided, into a diviiion common among the Romans, as we learn from the tetrarchs in fcripture. Omnium primum liberos eft placebat Macedonas atque lllyrios ; ut omnibus gentibus apareret, arma populi Romani non libcris fernsitutem, fed contra fer-uientibus libertatem afferre. Ut et in libertate gentes qu^r ef/ent, tutam earn fibi perpetuamque fub tutela populi Romani *ft: & qua fub regibus vi-verent, & in preJens tempus mitiores cosjujliorffquc rejpefiu populi Romani habere ft i & Ji qteando hel- ium [ 45 ] But what is the prudent policy inculcated by the remarker, to obtain this end, fecurity of dominion over our colonies: It is, to leave the French in Canada, to “ check" their growth, for other-wife our people may “ increafe infinitely from all “ caufes.” * We have already feen in what manner the French and their Indians check the growth of our colonies. ’Tis a modeft word this, check, for mafTacring men, women and children. The writer would, if he could, hide from himfelf as well as from the public, the horror arifing from fuch a propofal, by couching it in general terms : ’tis no wonder he thought it a “ fubjed not fit for dif-“ cuflion” in his letter, tho’ he recommends it as “ a point that fhould be the confiant objeft of the “ miniftcr’s attention!”---------But if Canada is re-ftored on this principle, will not Britain be guilty of all the blood to be fhed, all the murders to be committed in order to check this dreaded growth of our own people ? Will not this be telling the French in plain terms, that the horrid barbarities they perpetrate with their Indians on our colo-nifts, are agreeable to us •, and that they need not apprehend the refentment of a government with whofe views they fo happily concur ? Will not the colonies view it in this light ? Will they have rea-ibn to confider themfelves any longer as fubjeds and children, when they find their cruel enemies halloo’d upon them by the country from whence they iprung, the government that owes them protedion lum cum fopulo Romano regibus fuiffet fuis, exitum ejus ‘vifioriam Romanis, fibi libertatem allaturum crederent.-In quatuor regio-nes defcribi Macedonian, at futtm quteque concilium haberet, pla-cuit : & dimidium tributi quant quod regibus ferre foliti erant, papula Romano pendere. Similia his & in lllyricum mandata. Liv. lib. 45. C. 18. • Remarks, p. 50, 51. . i 4® t. te&ion as it requires their obedience ? Is not this the moft likely means of driving them into the arms of the French, who can invite them by an offer of that fecurity their own government chu-fes not to afford them ? I would not be thought to infinuate that the remarker wants humanity. I know how little many good-natured perfons are affeded by the diftrefies of people at a di (lance and whom they do not know. There are even thofe, who, being prelent, can fympathize fincerely with the grief of a lady on the fundden death of her fovourite bird, and yet can read of the finking of a city in Syria with very little concern. If it be, after all, thought neceffary to check the growth of our colonies, give me leave to propofe a method lefs cruel. It is a method of which we have an example in fcripture. The murder of hufbands, of wives, of brothers, fillers and children, whole pleafing fociety has been for fome time enjoyed, affedts deeply the re-fpedlive furviving relations : but grief for the death of a child juft born is (hort and eafily fupported.. The method I mean is that which was dictated by the Egyptian policy, when the “ infinite increafe ’* of the children of Ijrael was apprehended as dangerous to the ftate.* Let an aft of parliament, then be made, enjoining the colony midwives to ftifle in the birth every third or fourth child. By this means you may keep the colonies to their pre -fent fize. And if they were under the hard alternative of fubmitting to one or the other of thefe fchemes for * And Pharoah faid unto his people, behold the people of the children of Ifrael are more and mightier than we; come on, let us deal wifely with them ; left they multifly and it come to pafs that when there falleth out any war, they join alfo unto our enemies and fight againit us, and fo get them up out of the land. ——And the king ipake to the Hebrew midwives, l^c. Exodus, Chap. i. . [ 47 1 for checking their growth, I dare anfwer for them, they would prefer the latter. But all this debate about the propriety or impropriety of keeping or reftoring Canada, is poffi-bly too early. We have taken the capital indeed, but the country is yet far from being in our pof-feflion ; and perhaps never will be : for if our M-.—rs are perfuaded by fuch counfellors as the rernarker, that the French there are “ not the worft of neighbours,” and that if we had conquered Canada, we ought for our own fakes to re-ftore it, as a check to the growth of our colonies, I am then afraid we Ihall never take it. For there are many ways of avoiding the completion of the conqueft, that will be lefs exceptionable and lefs odious than the giving it up. The objection I have often heard, that if we had Canada, we could not people it without draining Britain of its inhabitants, is founded on ignorance of the nature of population in new countries. When we firft began to colonize in America, it was necelfary to fend people, and to fend feed-corn ; but it is not now neceflary that we fhould furnifh, for a new colony, either one or the other. The annual increment alone of our prefent colonies, without dimini (hi ng their numbers, or requiring a man from hence, is fufficient in ten years to fill Canada with double the number of English that it now has of French inhabitants.* Thole who are proteftants among the French, will probably chufe to remain under the English government; many will chufe to remove, if they can be allowed to fell their lands, improvements and effects : the reft in that thin-fettled * In fad, there has not gone from Britain to our colonic# thefe 20 years part, to fettle there, fo many as i d families a year; the new fettlers are either the offspring of the old, or emigrant:' from Germany or the north of Ireland. . [ . 48 ] fettled country, will in lefs than half a century, from the crouds of Engli/h fettling round and among them, be blended and incorporated with our people both in language and manners. , ^. In Guadaloupe the cafe is fomewhat different; and though I am far from thinking * we have fugar-land enough f, I cannot think Guadaloupe is fo de-firable an increafe of it, as other objects the enemy would probably be infinitely more ready to part with. A country fully inhabited by any nation is no proper pofleffion for another of different language, manners and religion. It is hardly ever tenable at lefs expence than it is worth,--But the ifle of Cayenne, and its appendix Equinoblial-France, would indeed be an acquifition every way fuitable to our fituation and defires. This would hold all that migrate from Barba does, the Leeward IJlands, or Jamaica. It would certainly recal into an Engli/h government (in which there would be room for millions) all who have before fettled or purchafed in Martineco, Guadaloupe, Santa-Cruz or St. John's; except fuch as know not the value of an Engli/h government, and fuch I am fure are not worth recalling. But fhould we keep Guadaloupe, we are told it would enable us to export f. 300,000 in fugars. Admit it to be true, though perhaps the amazing increafe of Engli/h confumption might flop moft of it here, to whofe profit is this to redound ? to the # Remark, p. 30, 34. + It is often faid we have plenty of fugar-land ftill unemployed in Jamaica : but thole who are all well acquainted with that ifland, know, that the remaining vacant land in it is generally fituated among mountains, rocks and gullies, that make x carriage impradiable, fo that no profitable ufe can be made of it unlcfs the price of fugars fhould fo greatly increafe as to enable the planter to make very expenfive roads, by blowing-up rocks, eretting bridges, ktfc. every 2 or 300 yards. [ 49 ] the profit of the French inhabitants of the ifland : except a fmall part that Ihould fall to the fliare of the Englijb purchafers, but whofe whole purchafemoney mull firft be added to the wealth and circulation of France. I grant, however, much of this £. 300,000 would be expended in Britijb manufactures. Perhaps, too, a few of the land-owners of Guadaloupe might dwell and fpend their fortunes in Britain, (though probably much fewer than of the inhabitants ofNortbAmerica). I admit the advantage arifing to us from thefe circumftances, (as far as they go) in the cafe of Guadaloupe, as well as in that of our other V/ejl India fettlements. Yet even this con-fumption is little better than that of an allied nation would be, who ftiould take our manufactures and fupply us with fugar, and put us to no expence in defending the place of growth. But though our own colonies expend among us almoft the whole produce of our fugar, * can we or ought we to promife ourfelves this will be the cafe of Guadaloupe. One 100,000 j. will fupply them with Britijb manufactures ; and fuppofing we can effectually prevent the introduction of thofe of France, (which is morally impoffible in a country tiled to them) the other 200,000 will (till be fpent in France, in the education of their children and fupport of themfelves; or elfe be laid up there, where they will always think their home to be. Befides this confumption of Britijb manufactures, much is fajd of the benefit we fhall have from the fituation of Guadaloupe, and we are told of a trade to the Caraccas and Spanijb Main. In what refpcCt Guadaloupe is better fituated for this trade than Jamaica, or even any of our other iflands, I am at a lofs to guefs. I believe it to be G not • Remarks, p. 47. [ 5° ] not fo well fituated for that of the windward coaft, as 7*obago and St. Lucia., which in this as well as other refpefts, would be more valuable pofleffions, and which, I doubt not, the peace will fecure to us. Nor is it neady fo well fituated for that of the reft of the Spani/h Main as Jamaica. As to the greater fafety of our trade by the pofleflion of Guadaloupe, experience has convinced us that in reducing a Angle iftand, or even more, we ftop the privateering bufinefs but little. Privateers ftill fubfift in equal if not greater numbers, and carry the veflels into Martinico which before it was more convenient to carry into Guadaloupe. Had we all the Ca-ribbees, it is true, they would in thofe parts be without ftielter. Yet upon the whole I fuppofe it to be a doubtful point and well worth confidera-tion, whether our obtaining pofleflion of ah the Ca-ribbees, would be more than a temporary benefit, as it would neceflarily foon fill the French part of Hif-paniola with French inhabitants, and thereby render it five times more valuable in time of peace, and little lefs than impregnable in time of war; and would probably end in a few years in the uniting the whole of that great and fertile ifland under a French government. It is agreed on all hands, that our conqueft of St. Chriftopher's, and driving the French from thence, firft furnifh’d Hifpaniola with fkilful and fubftantial planters, and was confequently the firft occafion of its prefent opulence. On the other hand, I will hazard an opinion, that valuable as the French pofleffions in the Weft Indies are, and undeniable the advantages they derive from them, there is fomewhat to be weighed in the oppofite fcalc. They cannot at prefent make war with England., without expofing thofe advantages while divided among the numerous iflands they now have, much more than they would, were they pof-fefled I 5’ ) fcfled of St. Domingo only ; their own (hare of which would, if well cultivated, grow more fugar, than is now grown in all their Weft India iflands. I have before faid I do not deny the utility of the conqueft, or even of our future pofleflion of Guadaloupe, if not bought to dear. The trade of the Weft Indies is one of our moft valuable trades. Our poflefiions there deferve our greateft care and attention. So do thofe of North America. I fhall not enter into the invidious talk of comparing their due eftimation. It would be a very long and a very difagreeable one, to run thro* every thing material on this head. It is enough to our prefent point, if I have Ihown, that the value of North America is capable of an immenfe increafe, by an acquifition and meafures, that muft neceflarily have an effect the direct contrary of what we have been induftrioufly taught to fear; and that Cuada-loupe is, in point of advantage, but a very fmall addition to our Weft India poffefTons, rendered many ways lefs valuable to us than it is to the French, who will probably fet more value upon it than upon a country that is much more valuable to us than to them. . There is a great deal more to be faid on all the parts of thefe fubje&s; but as it would carry me into a detail that I fear would tire the patience of my readers, and which I am not without appre-henfions I have done already, I fhall referve what remains till I dare venture again on the indulgence of the publick. [ 52 ]' IN Confirmation of the Writer’s Opinion concerning Population, Manufactures, &c. he has thought it not amifs to add an Extra# from a Piece written fome years fince in America, where the Fads muft be well known, on which the Rea-fonings are founded. It is intitled OBSERVATIONS concerning the Increafe of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, &c. Written in Penjylwania, 1751. 1. ^T^ ABLES of the proportion of marriages to births, of I deaths to births, of marriages to the numbers of inhabitants, &c. formed on obfervations made upon the bills of mortality, chriftenings, &c. of populous cities, will not fuit countries; nor will tables formed on obfervations made on full fettled old countries, as Europe, fuit new countries, as A-'meri ca. 2. For people increafe in proportion to the number of marriages, and that is greater in proportion to the eafe and convenience of fupporting a family. When families can be eafily fup-ported, more perfons marry, and earlier in life. 3. In cities, where all trades, occupations and oflices are full, mary delay marrying, till they can fee how to bear the charges of a family ; which charges are greater in cities, as luxury is more common; many live Angle during life, and continue fervants to families, journeymen to trades, ^c. hence cities do not by natural generation fupply themfelves with inhabitants; the deaths are more than the births. 4. In countries full fettled, the cafe muft be nearly the fame; all lands being occupied and improved to the heighth ; thofe who cannot get land, muft labour for others that have it; when labourers are plenty, their wages will be low ; by low wages a family is fupported with difficulty; this difficulty deters many from marriage, who therefore long continue fervants and fingle.— Only as the cities take flipplies of people from the country, and thereby make a little more room in the country, marriage is a little more encouraged there, and the births exceed the deaths. 5. Great part of Europe is full fettled with hufbandmen, manufacturers, l^c. and therefore cannot now much increafe in people : America is chiefly occupied by Indians, who fubfift moftly by hunting.--But as the hunter, of all men, requires the greateft quantity of land from whence to draw his fubfiftence, (the hufbandmen fubfifting on much lefs, the Gardener on ftill lefs, [ 53 1 lefs, and the manufacturer requiring lead of all) the Europeans found America as fully fettled as it well could be by hunters; yet thefe having large trails, were eafily prevailed on to part with portions of territory to the new comers, w ho did not much interfere with the natives in hunting, and furniflted them with many things they wanted. 6. Land being thus plenty in America, and fo cheap as that a labouring map, that underftands hufbandry, can in a fhort time fave money enough to purchafe a piece of new land fufficient for a plantation, whereon he may fubfift a family; fuch are not afraid to marry; for if they even look far enough forward to confidcr how their children when grown up are to be provided for, they fee that more land is to be had at rates euually eafy, all cirmcumftances confidercd. 7. Hence marriages in America are more general, and more generally early, than in Europe. And if it is reckoned there, that there is but one marriage per annum among 100 perfons, perhaps we may here reckon two; and ifin£wo/e they have but four births to a marriage (many of their marriages being late) we may here reckon eight; of which if one half grow up, and cur marriages are made, reckoning one with another, at twenty years of age, our people muft at Icall be doubled every twenty years. 8. But notwithflanding this increafe, fo vaft is the territory of North America, that it will require many ages to fettle it fully ; and till it is fully fettled, labour will never be cheap here, where no man continues long a labourer for others, but gets a plantation of his own ; no man continues long a journeyman to a trade, but goes among thofc new fettlcrs, and fets up for himfelf, (Ac. Hence labour is no cheaper now, in Penjilvania, than it was thirty years ago, tho* fo many thoufand labouring people have been imported from Germany and Ireland. 9. The danger therefore of thefe colonies interfering with their mother country in trades that depend on labour, manufac-1 lures, iAc. is too remote to require the attention of Great Britain. 10. But in proportion to the increafe of the colonies, a vaft demand is growing for Briti/h manufactures; a glorious market wholly in the power olBritain, - in which foreigners cannot interfere, which will increafe in a ihort time even beyond her power of fupplying, tho’ her whole trade fliould be to her colonies. * * * * * ♦ ♦ > ♦ 12. ’Tis an ill-grounded opinion that by the labour of Haves, America may poflibly vie in cheapnefs of manufactures with Britain. The labour of Haves can never be fo cheap here as the labour of working men is in Britain. Any one may compute it. Intereft of money is in the colonies from 6 to 10 per Cent. Slaves one with another coft 30 I. Sterling per head. Reckon E 54 1 Reckon then the intereft of the firft purchafe of a flave, the in-furance or rifque on his life, his cloathing and diet, expences in his ficknefs and lofs of time, lofs by his negleCl of bufmcfs (negleCl is natural to the man who is not to be benefited by his own care or diligence) expence of a driver to keep him at work, and his pilfering from time to time, al molt every flave being from the nature of flavery a thief, and compare the whole amount with the wages of a manufacturer of iron or wool in England, you will lee that labour is much cheaper there than it ever can be by negroes here. Why then will Americans purchafe flaves ? Becaufe flaves may be kept as long as a man pieales, or has occafion for their labour; while hired men are continually leaving their mailer (often in the midft of his bufinefs) and feting up for themfelves. § 8. 13. As the increafe of people depends on the encouragement of marriages, the following things mull diminilh a nation, •viz. 1. The being conquered ; for the conquerors will engrofs as many offices, and exaCt as much tribute or profit on the labour of the conquered, as will maintain them in their new eftablilhmcnt; and this diminilhing the fubfiftence of the natives, difeourages their marriages, and fo gradually diminilhes them, while th® foreigners increafe. 2. Lofs of territory. Thus the Britons being driven into Wales, and croudcd together in a barren country infufficient to fupport fuch great numbers, diminished till the people.bore a proportion to the produce, while the Saxons in-creafed on their abandoned lands, till the illand became full of Englijh. And were the Englijh now driven into Wales by fome foreign nation, there would in a few years be no more Englijh-rnen in Britain, than there are now people in Wales. 3. Lofs of trade. Manufactures exported, draw fubfiftence from foreign countries for numbers; who are thereby enabled to marry and raife families. If the nation be deprived of any branch of trade, and no new employment is found for the people occupy’d in that branch, it will foon be deprived of fo many people. 4. , Lofs of food. Suppofe a nation has a fifhery, which not only employs great numbers, but makes the food and fubfiftence of the people cheaper: if another nation becomes matter of the feas, and prevents the fifhery, the people will diminilh in proportion as the lofs of employ, and dearnefs of provifion makes it more difficult to fubfift a family. 5. Bad government and infecure property. People not only leave fuch a country, and fettling abroad incorporate with other nations, lofe their native language, and become foreigners; but the induftry of thofe that remain being difeouraged, the quantity of fubfiftence in the country is leflen-cd, and the fupport of a family becomes more difficult. So heavy taxes tend to diminilh a people. 6. The introduction of flaves. The negroes brought into the Englijh fugar illands, have have greatly diminifhcd the whites there; the poor are by this means deprived of employment, while a few families acquire vail eftates, which they fpend on foreign luxuries, and educating their children in the habit of thole luxuries ; the fame income is needed for the fupport of one, that might have maintained one hundred. The whites, who have flaves, not labouring, arc enfeebled, and therefore not fo generally prolific ; the flaves being worked too hard, and ill fed, their conftitutions are broken, and the deaths among them are more than their births ; fo that a continual fupply is needed from Africa. The northern colonies having few Haves, encrcafe in whites. Slaves alfo pejorate the families that ufe them ; the white children become proud, dilgufted with labour, and being educated in id'enefs, are rendered unfit to get a living by induftry. 14. Hence the prince that acquires new territory, if he finds it vacant, or removes the natives to give his own people room ; the legiflator that makes effectual laws for promoting of trade, increafing employment, improving land by more or better tillage, providing more food by fifheries, fccuring property, ffc. and the man that invents new trades, arts or manufactures, or new improvements in hufbandry, may be properly called Farbers rf their Nation, as they are the caufe of the generation of multitudes, by the encouragement they afford to marriage. 15. As to privileges granted to the married, (fuch as the jus trium liberorum among the Romans) they may haften the filling of a country that has been thinned by war or peftilence, or that has otherwise vacant territory, but cannot increafe a people beyond the means provided for their fubfiftence. 16. Foreign luxuries and needlefs manufactures imported and ufed in a nation, do, by the fame reafoning, increafe the people of the nation that furnifhes them, and diminilh the people of the nation that ufes them.------Laws therefore that prevent fuch importations, and on the contrary promote the exportation of manufactures to be confumed in foreign countries, may be called (with refpeCt to the people that make them) generative lavs, as by increafing fubfiftence they encourage marriage. Such laws likewise ftrengthen a country doubly, by increafing its own people and diminilhing its neighbours. 17. Some European nations prudently refufe to confume the manufactures of Eaf-India :—They fhould likewife forbid them to their colonies ; for the gain to the merchant is not to be compared with the lofsby this means of people to the nation. 18. Home luxury in the great increafes the nation’s manufacturers employed by it, who are many, and only tends to diminilh the families that indulge in it, who are few. The greater the common fashionable expence of any rank of people, the more cautious they are of marriage. Therefore luxury ihould never be fuftered to become common. 19* [ 56 ] 19. The great increafe of offspring in particular families, is not always owing to greater fecundity of nature, but fometime* to examples of induftry in the heads, andindurtrious education; by which the children are enabled to provide better for them-felves, and their marrying early is encouraged from the profped of good fubfiftence. 20. If there be a fed therefore, in our nation, that regard frugality and induftry as religious duties, and educate their children therein, more than others commonly do; fuch fed muft confequently increafe more by natural generation, than any other fed in Britain.— 21. The importation of foreigners into a country that has as many inhabitants as the prefent employments and provisions for fubfiftence will bear, will be in the end no increafe of people, unlefs the new comers have more induftry and frugality than the natives, and then they will provide more fubfiftence and increafe in the country ; but they will gradually eat the natives out.—Nor is it neceffary to bring in foreigners to fill up any occafional vacancy in a country ; for fuch vacancy (if the laws are good, § 14, 16) will foon be filled by natural generation. Who can now find the vacancy made in&wMbr, France, or other warlike nations, by the plague of heroifm 40 years ago; in France, by the expulfion of proteftants ; in England, by the fettlemcnt of her colonies ; or in Guinea, by 100 years exportation of Haves that has blackened half^mfwrt ?------The thinneft of the inhabitants in S/>ain, is owing to national pride and idle-nefs, and other caules, rather than to the expulfion of the Moors, or to the making of new fettlements. 22. There is in fhortno bound to the prolific nature of plants or animals, but what is made by their crowding aud interfering with each other’s means of fubfiftence. Was the face of the earth vacant of other plants, it might be gradually lowed and overfpread with one kind only; as for inftance, with Fennel; and were it empty of other inhabitants, it might in a few ages be replenilhed from one nation only; as for inftance with Eng-lijhmen. Thus there are fuppofed to be now upwards of one Million English fouls in North America, (tho’ ’tis thought fcarce 80,000 have been brought over fea) and yet perhaps there is not one the fewer in Britain, but rather many more, on account of the employment the colonies afford to manufacturers at home. This million doubling, fuppofe but once in 25 years, will in another century be more than the people of England, and the greateft number of Englishmen will be on this fide the water. What an acceffion of power to the Britijh empire by fea as well as land ! What increafe of trade and navigation 1 What numbers of ihips and fcamen ! We have been here but little mor# [ 57 ] more than 100 years, and yet the force of our privateers in the late war, united, was greater, both in men and guns, than that of the whole BritiJlj navy in queen Elizabeth's lin.c.---------- How important an affair then to Britain, is the pref?nt treaty f for fettling the bounds between her colonies and the French, and how careful fhould fhe be to fecure room enough, fmcc on the room depends fo much the' Increafe of her people ? 23. In fine, a nation well regulated is like a polypus; J take away 3 limb, its place is foon fupply’d; cut it in two, and each deficient part fhall fpeedily grow out of the part remaining. Thus if you have room and fubfiftence enough, as you may by dividing, make ten polypufes out of one, you may of one make ten nations, equally populous and powerful; or rather increafe a nation tenfold in numbers and ftrength. ********* f 1751. t A water-infelt, well-known to r.aturalijls. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [ 58 ] SINCE the foregoing fheets were printed off, the writer has obtained accounts of the Exports to North America, and the Weft India IJlands, by which it appears, that there has been fome increafe of trade to thofe Iftands as well as to North America, though in a much lefs degree. The following extraft from thefe accounts will (how the reader at one view the amount of the exports to each, in two different terms of five years -, the terms taken at ten years diftance from each other, to Ihow the increafe, viz. Firft Term, from 1744 to 1748, inclufive. Northern Colonies. Wejl India IJlands. ’744“£-640,114 12 4----------------Z-796»112 '7 9 1745---------534>316 2 5 -----------503,66919 9 ’746---------754»945 4 3 -----------472»994 *9 7 1747---------726,648 5 5------------856,463 18 6 ’748---------83°’243 16 9 ----------734>°95 *5 3 Total, £. 3,486,268 1 2 Tot. Z- 3,363,3 3 7 ,o 10 Difference, 122,930 10 4 £.3,486,268 1 2 Second Term, from 1754 to 1758, inclufive. Northern Colonies. Wejl India IJlands 1754------------1,246,615 1 11----------685,675 3 o 175 5-----------1,177,848 6 10----------694,667 13 3 ’756------------1,428,720 18 10----------733>458 16 3 ’757------------1»727>924 2 10----------776,488 o 6 1758------------1,832,948 13 10----------877,571 >9 11 Total, £.7,414,57 4 3 Tot. £.3,767,841 12 11 Difference 3,646,215 11 4 £-7>W>57 4 3 [ 59 ] In the firft term, total for Weft India Iftands, 3.363,337 10 10 In the fecond Term, ditto, - - - - 3,767,841 u 11 Increafe only £.0,404,5 04 2 I In the firft Term, total for Northern Colonies, 3,486,268 1 2 In the fecond Term, ditto, - - - - 7,414,057 4 3 Increafe, £.3,927,789 3 1 By thefe accounts it appears, that the Exports to the Weft India Iftands and to the Northern Colonies were in the firft term nearly equal; the difference being only 122,936/. 105. 4^. and in the fecond term, the exports to thofe iftands had only increafed 404,504/. 2j. id.-----Whereas the increafe to the Northern Colonies is 3,927,789/. jl id. almoft Four Millions. Some part of this increafed demand for Englijb goods, may be afcribed to the armies and fleets we have had both in North America, and the Weft Indies ; not lb much for what is conlumed by the foldiery; their cloathing, ftores, ammunition, &c. fent from hence on account of the government, being (as is fuppofed) not included in thefe accounts of merchandize exported ; but, as the war has occafioned a great plenty of money in America, many of the inhabitants have increafed their expence. Thefe accounts do not include any exports from Scotland to America, which are doubtlefs proportion-ably confiderable; nor the exports from Ireland. THE END. Advertisement. Lately publi/hed in London, and to be fold by [aid Mecom (Price 8f L. M.) [Afcrib'd to Mr. F.] N Hi Por leal Review of the Conftitution and Government of Pensylvania, from its Origin-, fo far as regards the feveral Points cf Con -troverfy which have, from Time to Time, arifen between the feveral Governors of that Province, and their feveral Ajfemblics. Founded on authentic Documents. Dedicated to the Right Honourable ARTHUR ONSLOW, Efq. Speaker of the Honourable Houfe of Commons. Thofe who would give up Essential Liberty to purchafe a little Temporary Safety, de-ferve neither Liberty nor Safety. In the Dedication are thefe Words : “ The Caufe we bring is in Fact the “ Caufe of all the Provinces in one : It “ is the Caufe of every Britifh Sub-“ jeft in every Part of the Britilh Domin-*‘ ions. It is the Caufe of every Man who “ deferves to be free every where.” So the above flotation from the Dedication, the following Paragraphs are added, as a Specimen of the Author’s Ability to handle and apply thofe authentic Documents in an accurate and juf Manner. ** 'J'O obtain an infinite Variety of Purpofcs, by a few plain Principles, is the Charaderiflic cf Nature. As the Eye is afleded, fo is the Underftand-ing : Objeds at diftance ftrike us according to their Dimehfions, or the Quantity of Light thrown upon them ; near, according to their Novelty or Familiarity ; as they are in motion or at reft. ’Tis the fame with with Aftions. A Battle is all Motion ; a Hero all Glare : While fuch Images arc before us, we can attend to nothing cHe. So/on and Lycurgus would make no Figure in the fame Scene with the King of Prnflia-, and wc are at prefent fo loft in the military Scramble on the Continent next us, in which it muft be con-fefled we are deeply intcrefted, that we have fcarce Time to throw a Glance towards America, where we have alfo much at Stake, and where, if any where, our Account muft be made up at laft. Introdudl. “ We love to ftare more than to reflect, and to be indolently amus’d at our Leifure, than to commit the fmalleft Trefpafs on our Patience by winding a painful tedious Maze, which would pay us in nothing but Knowledge. Introduction. “ Surely, to a Nation born to Liberty like This, bound to leave it unimpair’d as they received it from their Fathers in Perpetuity to their Heirs, and inter-efted in the Confervation of it in every Appendix of the Britijb Empire, the Particulars of fuch a Conteft cannot be wholly indifferent. Intro. “ On the contrary, it is reafonable to think,the firft "Workings of Power againft Liberty, and the natural Efforts of unbiafted Men to fecure themfelves againft the firft Approaches of Opprcflion, muft hate a captivating Power over every Man of Senfibility and D.'fcernment amongft us. Introd. “ It is a known Caftom among Farmers to change their Corn from Seafon to Seafon for the Sake of filling the Buflacl : And in Cafe the Wifdom of the Age fhould condcfcend to make the like Experiment in another Shape, from hence we may learn, whither to repair for the proper Species. Intro. “ Courage, Wifdom, Integrity and Honour are not to be meafured by the Sphere afligned them to act in, but by the Trials they undergo, and the Vouchers they furnifh : And if fo manifefted, need neither Robes, or Titles to fet them off. Intro. From the Body of the Booh. “ There is fomething in Connexion and Dependance which gives afecrctBiafs to all we think and with, as well as what we fay : And in all Difputes this muft be duly allowed for on both Sides. “ Men who want a prefent Convenience muft not be over-folicitotis about future Contingencies ; and, in general, we chufe to be blind to fuch Obstacles as we fear we have not Strength enough to remove. “ Though Protection is die Reafon, and, con-fcquently fequently Ihould be the Eftd of Government, we ought to be as much upon ouK Guard againft our Protestors as againft our Enemies. ’ " << Power, like Water, is ever working its own Way; and wherever it can find or make anOpening, is altogether as prone to overflow whatever is fubjeft to it. ** And tho’Matter of Right overlooked, maybe reclaimed apdre aflumed at any Time, it Cannot be too foon reclaimed and re-aflumed. “ To unite the Subtilty of the Serpent with the Innocence of the Dove, is not fo eafily done as faid. Speaking of a Party-Difpute, the Author fays-- ** Thus Heat kindled Heat : Animofity excited Animofity: And each Party refolving to be always in the Right, were often both in the Wrong. Speaking i^ ^nfifcation of tke Conduct of the fenserai Afembltes, in'^^r^in.Hl/ffi<^^e'Jays,_ “ Men'they were : PqifltoihMftd rntera&tliQy .^nfequeiftly^ And if they were fometimes carried away a little too far by them, it is obvious the Paflions and Interefls of others worked up the Ferment firft, and never relented to the laft. “ It is true, an over-rjgjd Performance of Conditions is not to be expedecTof Government, and.icl-dom can be.exafted from-it. But then.if th'e Repre-fentative. Part is not tenacious, almoft to a Fault, of the Rights ahd Claims of ^People, they will in a Couric of Time lofe tneir very Pretenfions to them. He alfo affirms, that “ Of all political Cements, Reciprocal Intereft is the ftrongeft : And the Subjects Money is never fo well difpofed of as in the Maintenance of Order and Tranquility, and the Purchafe of gotkiiaws. Towards the Cojiclufon are the following Paragraphs. “ The Thus S.taVe of Penjylvania is now before us.—It is apparent die Afiemblies of that Province have afted from the Beginning on the defenjhve only ': The Defenfive is what every Man, by the Right and Law of Nature, is intitled to.— Jealoufy is the firft Principle of Defence : If Men were not to* fufpeft, they would rarely, if ever, be upon their Guard. — Mama Charta is apparently founded upon this Prin-ciple p nay, provides, That Oppofition Ihould be alwayseat ,Hand to confront and obviate Danger. — Penn, the Founder of the Colony, founded it upon Magna Charta : And, as we have feen, the Birth-Rignts of his Followers were rather enlarged than / ■ diminiihed diminilhed by his Inftitutions.— That the latter Part of his aftive Life, therefore, was employed in undermining his own Foundations, only ferves to excite our Concern, That fo few fhould be of a Piece with themfelves; and to make him anfwerable in Part for the Trefpafles of his Heirs. “ Fatally verified, however, we fee, both there and every where elfe, the Fable of Jie ^x, which having been gratified with as much Wood only as would ferve it for a Handle, became immediately the Inftrument to hew down the Forelt, Root and Branch, from whence it was taken. “ It is as apparent, on the other Hand, That thefe Proprietaries have afted an offensive Part ; have fet up unwarrantable Claims; have adhered to them by Inftruftions yet more unwarrantable ; have availed themfelves of the Dangers and Diftrefles of the Province, and made it their Bufinefs • (at leaf! their Deputies have) to increafe the Terrors of the Times, pur-pofely to unhinge the prefent Syftem ; and, by the Dint of Aflumptions, Snares, Menaces, Afperfions, Tumults, and every other unfair Praftice whatfoev er, would have either bullied orwheadled the Inhabitants out of the Privileges they were born to : Nay, they have actually avowed this perfidious Pur pole, by a-vowing and difperfing thofe Pamphlets in which the faid Privileges are infolently, wickedly, and foolifhly pronounced repugnant to Government, the Sources of Confufion ; and fuch as, having anfwered the great End of caufing an expeditious Settlement, for which alone they were granted, might be refumed at Piea-fure, as incompatible with the Dictatorial Power they now challenge and would fain exercife, “ And This being the Truth, the plain Truth, and Nothing but the Truth, there is no need to direft the Cenfures of the Public ; which, on proper Information, are always fure to fall in the right Place. “ The Parties before them are the T-wo Proprietaries of a Province, and the Province itfclf.------And Who or What are thefe Proprietaries ? In the Province unfizeable Subjefts and unfufficient Lords.-— At Home, Gentlemen, ’tis true, but Gentlemen fo very private, that in the Herd of Gentry they are hardly to be found :---------------------------Not in Court; not in Office; not in Parliament. “ And w'hich is of moft Confequence to the Community ; Whether their private Ejlate ffiall be taxed, •r the Province (hall be Javed ? “ Whether “ Whether thefe Two private Gentlemen, in Virtue of (heir abfolute Proprietary/bif, (hall convert fo many Felloe-Subjects, born as free as themfelves, into PajTals ? Or, Whether fo noble and ufeful a Province /hall for eyer remain an djylum for all that with to remain as free as the Inhabitants of it have, hitherto, made a Shift to pieferve themfelves ? Sub Judice Lis eJi. “ What Part the Offices here at Home have taken in this Controverfy, it will be Time enough to fpecify when ’tis over : And Appeals, refpe&ively made, argue a Prefumption, That Right will be done. Tothefaid Review is added an Appendix containing fundry original Papers, relative to the feveral Points of Controverfy between the Governors and Aflemblies of Penfylvania. 22.0 072 *