The Advantage Of Being Able To Convey Themselves
By Sea, To Within Forty Miles Of The Spot, The Richness Of The Soil,
Etc., Made Them Cheerfully Quit An Island On Which There Was No
Longer Any Room For Them.
There they have founded a beautiful
settlement, known by the name of New Garden, contiguous to the
famous one which the Moravians have at Bethabara, Bethamia, and
Salem, on Yadkin River.
No spot of earth can be more beautiful; it
is composed of gentle hills, of easy declivities, excellent low
lands, accompanied by different brooks which traverse this
settlement. I never saw a soil that rewards men so early for their
labours and disbursements; such in general with very few exceptions,
are the lands which adjoin the innumerable heads of all the large
rivers which fall into the Chesapeak, or flow through the provinces
of North and South Carolina, Georgia, etc. It is perhaps the most
pleasing, the most bewitching country which the continent affords;
because while it preserves an easy communication with the sea-port
towns, at some seasons of the year, it is perfectly free from the
contagious air often breathed in those flat countries, which are
more contiguous to the Atlantic. These lands are as rich as those
over the Alleghany; the people of New Garden are situated at the
distance of between 200 and 300 miles from Cape Fear; Cape Fear is
at least 450 from Nantucket: you may judge therefore that they have
but little correspondence with this their little metropolis, except
it is by means of the itinerant Friends. Others have settled on the
famous river Kennebeck, in that territory of the province of
Massachusetts, which is known by the name of Sagadahock. Here they
have softened the labours of clearing the heaviest timbered land in
America, by means of several branches of trade which their fair
river, and proximity to the sea affords them. Instead of entirely
consuming their timber, as we are obliged to do, some parts of it
are converted into useful articles for exportation, such as staves,
scantlings, boards, hoops, poles, etc. For that purpose they keep a
correspondence with their native island, and I know many of the
principal inhabitants of Sherburn, who, though merchants, and living
at Nantucket, yet possess valuable farms on that river; from whence
they draw great part of their subsistence, meat, grain, fire-wood,
etc. The title of these lands is vested in the ancient Plymouth
Company, under the powers of which the Massachusetts was settled;
and that company which resides in Boston, are still the granters of
all the vacant lands within their limits.
Although this part of the province is so fruitful, and so happily
situated, yet it has been singularly overlooked and neglected: it is
surprising that the excellence of that soil which lies on the river
should not have caused it to be filled before now with inhabitants;
for the settlements from thence to Penobscot are as yet but in their
infancy. It is true that immense labour is required to make room for
the plough, but the peculiar strength and quality of the soil never
fails most amply to reward the industrious possessor; I know of no
soil in this country more rich or more fertile. I do not mean that
sort of transitory fertility which evaporates with the sun, and
disappears in a few years; here on the contrary, even their highest
grounds are covered with a rich moist swamp mould, which bears the
most luxuriant grass, and never-failing crops of grain.
If New Gardens exceeds this settlement by the softness of its
climate, the fecundity of its soil, and a greater variety of produce
from less labour; it does not breed men equally hardy, nor capable
to encounter dangers and fatigues. It leads too much to idleness and
effeminacy; for great is the luxuriance of that part of America, and
the ease with which the earth is cultivated. Were I to begin life
again, I would prefer the country of Kennebeck to the other, however
bewitching; the navigation of the river for above 200 miles, the
great abundance of fish it contains, the constant healthiness of the
climate, the happy severities of the winters always sheltering the
earth with a voluminous coat of snow, the equally happy necessity of
labour: all these reasons would greatly preponderate against the
softer situations of Carolina; where mankind reap too much, do not
toil enough, and are liable to enjoy too fast the benefits of life.
There are many I know who would despise my opinion, and think me a
bad judge; let those go and settle at the Ohio, the Monongahela, Red
Stone Creek, etc., let them go and inhabit the extended shores of
that superlative river; I with equal cheerfulness would pitch my
tent on the rougher shores of Kennebeck; this will always be a
country of health, labour, and strong activity, and those are
characteristics of society which I value more than greater opulence
and voluptuous ease.
Thus though this fruitful hive constantly sends out swarms, as
industrious as themselves, yet it always remains full without having
any useless drones: on the contrary it exhibits constant scenes of
business and new schemes; the richer an individual grows, the more
extensive his field of action becomes; he that is near ending his
career, drudges on as well as he who has just begun it; nobody
stands still. But is it not strange, that after having accumulated
riches, they should never wish to exchange their barren situation
for a more sheltered, more pleasant one on the main? Is it not
strange, that after having spent the morning and the meridian of
their days amidst the jarring waves, weary with the toils of a
laborious life, they should not wish to enjoy the evenings of those
days of industry in a larger society, on some spots of terra firma,
where the severity of the winters is balanced by a variety of more
pleasing scenes, not to be found here?
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