The Situation Of This Island, The Purity
Of The Air, The Nature Of Their Marine Occupations, Their Virtue And
Moderation, Are The Causes Of That Vigour And Health Which They
Possess.
The poverty of their soil has placed them, I hope, beyond
the danger of conquest, or the wanton desire of extirpation.
Were
they to be driven from this spot, the only acquisition of the
conquerors would be a few acres of land, inclosed and cultivated; a
few houses, and some movables. The genius, the industry of the
inhabitants would accompany them; and it is those alone which
constitute the sole wealth of their island. Its present fame would
perish, and in a few years it would return to its pristine state of
barrenness and poverty: they might perhaps be allowed to transport
themselves in their own vessels to some other spot or island, which
they would soon fertilise by the same means with which they have
fertilised this.
One single lawyer has of late years found means to live here, but
his best fortune proceeds more from having married one of the
wealthiest heiresses of the island, than from the emoluments of his
practice: however he is sometimes employed in recovering money lent
on the main, or in preventing those accidents to which the
contentious propensity of its inhabitants may sometimes expose them.
He is seldom employed as the means of self-defence, and much
seldomer as the channel of attack; to which they are strangers,
except the fraud is manifest, and the danger imminent. Lawyers are
so numerous in all our populous towns, that I am surprised they
never thought before of establishing themselves here: they are
plants that will grow in any soil that is cultivated by the hands of
others; and when once they have taken root they will extinguish
every other vegetable that grows around them. The fortunes they
daily acquire in every province, from the misfortunes of their
fellow-citizens, are surprising! The most ignorant, the most
bungling member of that profession, will, if placed in the most
obscure part of the country, promote litigiousness, and amass more
wealth without labour, than the most opulent farmer, with all his
toils. They have so dexterously interwoven their doctrines and
quirks with the laws of the land, or rather they are become so
necessary an evil in our present constitutions, that it seems
unavoidable and past all remedy. What a pity that our forefathers,
who happily extinguished so many fatal customs, and expunged from
their new government so many errors and abuses, both religious and
civil, did not also prevent the introduction of a set of men so
dangerous! In some provinces, where every inhabitant is constantly
employed in tilling and cultivating the earth, they are the only
members of society who have any knowledge; let these provinces
attest what iniquitous use they have made of that knowledge.
They are here what the clergy were in past centuries with you; the
reformation which clipped the clerical wings, is the boast of that
age, and the happiest event that could possibly happen; a
reformation equally useful is now wanted, to relieve us from the
shameful shackles and the oppressive burthen under which we groan;
this perhaps is impossible; but if mankind would not become too
happy, it were an event most devoutly to be wished.
Here, happily, unoppressed with any civil bondage, this society of
fishermen and merchants live, without any military establishments,
without governors or any masters but the laws; and their civil code
is so light, that it is never felt. A man may pass (as many have
done whom I am acquainted with) through the various scenes of a long
life, may struggle against a variety of adverse fortune, peaceably
enjoy the good when it comes, and never in that long interval, apply
to the law either for redress or assistance. The principal benefit
it confers is the general protection of individuals, and this
protection is purchased by the most moderate taxes, which are
cheerfully paid, and by the trifling duties incident in the course
of their lawful trade (for they despise contraband). Nothing can be
more simple than their municipal regulations, though similar to
those of the other counties of the same province; because they are
more detached from the rest, more distinct in their manners, as well
as in the nature of the business they pursue, and more unconnected
with the populous province to which they belong. The same simplicity
attends the worship they pay to the Divinity; their elders are the
only teachers of their congregations, the instructors of their
youth, and often the example of their flock. They visit and comfort
the sick; after death, the society bury them with their fathers,
without pomp, prayers, or ceremonies; not a stone or monument is
erected, to tell where any person was buried; their memory is
preserved by tradition. The only essential memorial that is left of
them, is their former industry, their kindness, their charity, or
else their most conspicuous faults.
The Presbyterians live in great charity with them, and with one
another; their minister as a true pastor of the gospel, inculcates
to them the doctrines it contains, the rewards it promises, the
punishments it holds out to those who shall commit injustice.
Nothing can be more disencumbered likewise from useless ceremonies
and trifling forms than their mode of worship; it might with great
propriety have been called a truly primitive one, had that of the
Quakers never appeared. As fellow Christians, obeying the same
legislator, they love and mutually assist each other in all their
wants; as fellow labourers they unite with cordiality and without
the least rancour in all their temporal schemes: no other emulation
appears among them but in their sea excursions, in the art of
fitting out their vessels; in that of sailing, in harpooning the
whale, and in bringing home the greatest harvest. As fellow subjects
they cheerfully obey the same laws, and pay the same duties:
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 50 of 79
Words from 49875 to 50876
of 79752
