An Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the Colonies of South Carolina And Georgia Volume II Part 9

To testify the high sense his Majesty had of the conduct and bravery of his officers and soldiers during the late war, and to encourage the settlement of the colonies, tracks of land were offered them as the rewards of their services. Orders were given to the governors on the continent, to grant, without fee or reward, five thousand acres to every field officer who had served in America, three thousand to every captain, two thousand to every subaltern, two hundred to every non-commissioned officer, and fifty to every private man; free of quit-rents for ten years, but subject, at the expiration of that term, to the same moderate quit-rents as the lands in the other provinces, and to the same conditions of cultivation and improvement. In the new colonies, for the encouragement of the people, they were to be allowed civil establishments, similar to those of the other royal governments on the continent, so soon as their circ.u.mstances would admit, and the same provision was made for the security of their lives, liberties and properties under the new as under the old governments.

[Sidenote] Georgia begins to flourish.

No province on the continent felt the happy effects of this public security sooner than the province of Georgia, which had long struggled under many difficulties, arising from the want of credit from friends, and the frequent molestations of enemies. During the late war the government had been given to James Wright, who wanted neither wisdom to discern, nor resolution to pursue, the most effectual means for its improvement. While he proved a father to the people and governed the province with justice and equity, he discovered at the same time the excellence of its low lands and river swamps, by the proper management and diligent cultivation of which he acquired in a few years a plentiful fortune. His example and success gave vigour to industry, and promoted a spirit of emulation among the planters for improvement. The rich lands were sought for with that zeal, and cleared with that ardour, which the prospect of riches naturally inspired. The British merchants observing the province safe, and advancing to a hopeful and flourishing state, were no longer backward in extending credit to it, but supplied it with negroes, and goods of British manufacture, with equal freedom as the other provinces on that continent. The planters no sooner got the strength of Africa to a.s.sist them than they laboured with success, and the lands every year yielded greater and greater increase. The trade of the province kept pace with its progress in cultivation. The rich swamps attracted the attention not only of strangers, but even of the planters of Carolina, who had been accustomed to treat their poor neighbours with the utmost contempt, several of whom sold their estates in that colony, and moved with their families and effects to Georgia. Many settlements were made by Carolineans about Sunbury, and upon the great river Alatamaha. The price of produce at Savanna arose as the quant.i.ty increased, a circ.u.mstance which contributed much to the improvement of the country. The planters situated on the opposite side of Savanna river found in the capital of Georgia a convenient and excellent market for their staple commodities. In short, from this period the rice, indigo and naval stores of Georgia arrived at the markets in Europe in equal excellence and perfection, and, in proportion to its strength, in equal quant.i.ties with those of its more powerful and opulent neighbours in Carolina. To form a judgment of the progress of the colony, we need only attend to its exports. In the year 1763, the exports of Georgia consisted of 7500 barrels of rice, 9633 libs. of indigo, 1250 bushels of Indian corn, which, together with deer and beaver skins, naval stores, provisions, timber, _&c._ amounted to no more than L. 27,021 sterling; but afterwards the colony thrived and increased in a manner so rapid, that, in the year 1773, it exported staple commodities to the value of L.

121,677 sterling.

[Sidenote] A plan adopted for encouraging emigrations to Carolina.

No less favourable and happy were the blessings of peace and security to their neighbours of Carolina; for never did any country flourish and prosper in a more astonishing degree than this province has done since the conclusion of the late war. The government had been given to Thomas Boone, who was not only a native of the province, but had a considerable estate in it, which naturally rendered him deeply interested in its prosperity. The French and Spaniards being removed out of the way, its progress was no more r.e.t.a.r.ded by any molestation from them. The a.s.sembly appropriated a large fund for bounties to foreign Protestants, and such industrious poor people of Britain and Ireland as should resort to the province within three years, and settle on the inland parts. Two townships, each containing 48,000 acres, were laid out; one on the river Savanna, called Mecklenburgh, and the other on the waters of Santee at Long Canes, called Londonderry; to be divided among emigrants, allowing one hundred acres for every man, and fifty for every woman and child, that should come and settle in the back woods. The face of the country in those interior parts is variable and beautiful, and being composed of hills and vallies, rocks and rivers, there is not that stagnation in the air, which is so exceedingly hurtful to the human const.i.tution in the flat marshy parts of the province. The hills occasion an agitation in the atmosphere, and by collecting the air in streams, these run along the earth in pleasant breezes, and mitigate the rigour of the hot season. The climate in those inland parts is not only more mild and wholesome, but the soil, particularly in the vallies, which are covered with lofty trees and luxuriant bushes, is exceedingly fertile, and promised in the amplest manner to reward the industrious labourer. In consequence of this encouragement offered, it was hoped that mult.i.tudes would resort to Carolina, and settle those extensive and fruitful territories in the back woods, by which means the frontiers of the province would be strengthened, its produce increased, and its trade enlarged.

[Sidenote] A number of Palatines seduced into England.

Not long after this a remarkable affair happened in Germany, by which Carolina received a great acquisition. One Stumpel, who had been an officer in the King of Prussia's service, being reduced at the peace, applied to the British ministry for a tract of land in America, and having got some encouragement returned to Germany, where, by deceitful promises, he seduced between five and six hundred ignorant people from their native country. When these poor Palatines arrived in England, the officer finding himself unable to perform his promises, fled, leaving them in a strange land, without money, without friends, exposed in the open fields, and ready to perish through want. While they were in this starving condition, and knew no person to whom they could apply for relief, a humane clergyman, who came from the same country, took compa.s.sion on them, and published their deplorable case in the news-papers. He pleaded for the mercy and protection of government to them, until an opportunity might offer of transporting them to some of the British colonies, where he hoped they would prove useful subjects, and in time give their benefactors ample proofs of their grat.i.tude and affection. No sooner did their unhappy situation reach the ears of a great personage, than he immediately set an example to his subjects, which served both to warm their hearts and open their hands for the relief of their distressed fellow-creatures. A bounty of three hundred pounds was allowed them; tents were ordered from the Tower for the accommodation of such as had paid their pa.s.sage and been permitted to come ash.o.r.e; money was sent for the relief of those that were confined on board. The public-spirited citizens of London, famous for acts of beneficence and charity, a.s.sociated, and chose a committee on purpose to raise money for the relief of these poor Palatines. A physician, a surgeon, and man-midwife, generously undertook to attend the sick gratis.

From different quarters benefactions were sent to the committee, and in a few days those unfortunate strangers, from the depth of indigence and distress, were raised to comfortable circ.u.mstances. The committee finding the money received more than sufficient to relieve their present distress, applied to his Majesty to know his royal pleasure with respect to the future disposal of the German Protestants. His Majesty, sensible that his colony of South Carolina had not its proportion of white inhabitants, and having expressed a particular attachment to it, signified his desire of transporting them to that province. Another motive for sending them to Carolina was the bounty allowed to foreign Protestants by the provincial a.s.sembly, so that when their source of relief from England should be exhausted, another would open after their arrival in that province, which would help them to surmount the difficulties attending the first state of cultivation.

[Sidenote] Sent into Carolina.

Accordingly preparations were made for sending the Germans to South Carolina. When the news was communicated to them they rejoiced, not only because they were to go to one of the most fertile and flourishing provinces on the continent, but also because many of them had friends and countrymen before them. Two ships, of two hundred tons each, were provided for their accommodation, and provisions of all kinds laid in for the voyage. An hundred and fifty stand of arms were ordered from the Tower, and given them by his Majesty for their defence after their arrival in America; all which deserve to be recorded for the honour of the British nation, which has at different times set before the world many n.o.ble examples of benevolence. Every thing being ready for their embarkation, the Palatines broke up their camp in the fields behind White-Chapel, and proceeded to the ships attended by several of their benefactors; of whom they took their leave with songs of praise to G.o.d in their mouths, and tears of grat.i.tude in their eyes.

[Sidenote] And settled at Londonderry.

In the month of April, 1764, they arrived at Charlestown, and presented a letter from the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations to Governor Boone, acquainting him that his Majesty had been pleased to take the poor Palatines under his royal care and protection, and as many of them were versed in the culture of silks and vines, had ordered that a settlement be provided for them in Carolina, in a situation most proper for these purposes. Though their settlement met with some obstructions from a dispute subsisting at that time between the Governor and a.s.sembly about certain privileges of the house; yet the latter could not help considering themselves as laid under the strongest obligations to make provision for so many useful settlers. Accordingly, in imitation of the n.o.ble example set before them in London, they voted five hundred pounds sterling to be distributed among the Palatines, according to the directions of the Lieutenant-Governor, and their necessities. That they might be settled in a body, one of the two townships, called Londonderry, was allotted for them, and divided in the most equitable manner into small tracts, for the accommodation of each family. Captain Calhoun, with a detachment of the rangers, had orders to meet them by the way, and conduct them to the place where their town was to be built, and all possible a.s.sistance was given towards promoting their speedy and comfortable settlement.

[Sidenote] Some emigrate from Britain, and mult.i.tudes from Ireland.

Besides foreign Protestants, several persons from England and Scotland resorted to Carolina after the peace. But of all other countries none has furnished the province with so many inhabitants as Ireland. In the northern counties of that kingdom the spirit of emigration seized the people to such a degree, that it threatened almost a total depopulation.

Such mult.i.tudes of husbandmen, labourers and manufacturers flocked over the Atlantic, that the landlords began to be alarmed, and to concert ways and means for preventing the growing evil. Scarce a ship sailed for any of the plantations that was not crowded with men, women and children. But the bounty allowed new settlers in Carolina proved a great encouragement, and induced numbers of these people, notwithstanding the severity of the climate, to resort to that province. The merchants finding this bounty equivalent to the expenses of the pa.s.sage, from avaricious motives persuaded the people to embark for Carolina, and often crammed such numbers of them into their ships that they were in danger of being stifled during the pa.s.sage, and sometimes were landed in such a starved and sickly condition, that numbers of them died before they left Charlestown. Many causes may be a.s.signed for this spirit of emigration that prevailed so much in Ireland: some, no doubt, emigrated from a natural restlessness of temper, and a desire of roving abroad, without any fixed object in view. Others were enticed over by flattering promises from their friends and relations, who had gone before them. But of all other causes of emigration oppression at home was the most powerful and prevalent. Most men have a natural fondness and partiality for their native country, and leave it with reluctance while they are able to earn a comfortable livelihood in it. That spot where they first drew the breath of life, that society in which they spent the gay season of youth, the religion, the manners and customs of those among whom they were educated, all conspire to affect the heart, and endear their native country to them. But poverty and oppression will break through every natural tie and endearment, and compel men to rove abroad in search of some asylum against domestic hardship. Hence it happened that many poor people forsook their native land, and preferred the burning sky and unwholesome climate of Carolina, to the temperate and mild air of their mother country. The success that attended some friends who had gone before them being also industriously published in Ireland, and with all the exaggerations of travellers, gave vigour to the spirit of adventure, and induced mult.i.tudes to follow their countrymen, and run all hazards abroad, rather than starve at home. Government winked at those emigrations, and every year brought fresh strength to Carolina, insomuch that the lands in Ireland were in danger of lying waste for want of labourers, and the manufacturers of dwindling into nothing.

[Sidenote] And from the northern colonies, resort to Carolina.

Nor were these the only sources from which Carolina, at this time, derived strength and an increase of population. For, notwithstanding the vast extent of territory which the provinces of Virginia and Pennsylvania contained, yet such was the nature of the country, that a scarcity of improveable lands began to be felt in these colonies, and poor people could not find spots in them unoccupied equal to their expectations. Most of the richest vallies in these more populous provinces lying to the east of the Alleganny mountains were either under patent or occupied, and, by the royal proclamation at the peace, no settlements were allowed to extend beyond the sources of the rivers which empty themselves into the Atlantic. In Carolina the case was different, for there large tracks of the best lands as yet lay waste, which proved a great temptation to the northern colonists to migrate to the south. Accordingly, about this time above a thousand families, with their effects, in the s.p.a.ce of one year resorted to Carolina, driving their cattle, hogs and horses over land before them. Lands were allotted them on the frontiers, and most of them being only ent.i.tled to small tracks, such as one, two or three hundred acres, the back settlements by this means soon became the most populous parts of the province. The frontiers were not only strengthened and secured by new settlers, but the old ones on the maritime parts began also to stretch backward and spread their branches, in consequence of which the demand for lands in the interior parts every year increased.

The Governor and Council met once a-month for the purpose of granting lands and signing patents, and it is incredible what numbers of people attended those meetings in order to obtain them; so that; from the time in which America was secured by the peace, Carolina made rapid progress in population, wealth and trade, which will farther appear when we come particularly to consider its advanced state and annual exports.

[Sidenote] Regulations for securing the provinces against Indians.

In proportion as the province increased in the number of white inhabitants, its danger from the savage tribes grew less alarming. But to prevent any molestation from Indians, and establish the peace of the colonies on the most lasting foundation, his Majesty, by his royal proclamations after the peace, took care to fix the boundaries of their hunting lands, in as clear a manner as the nature of the country would admit. No settlements were allowed to extend any farther backward upon the Indian territories, than the sources of those great rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, and all British subjects who had settled beyond these limits were ordered to remove. In this restriction his Majesty evidently made a distinction between the rights of sovereignty and those of property; having excluded his governors from all manner of jurisdiction over those lands which were not specified within the limits of their respective provinces. All private subjects were prohibited from purchasing lands from Indians; but if the latter should at any time be inclined to dispose of their property, it must for the future be done to the King, by the general consent of their nation, and at a public a.s.sembly held by British governors for that purpose. All traders were obliged to take out licences from their respective governors for carrying on commerce with Indian nations.

[Sidenote] John Stuart made superintendant for Indian affairs.

Such regulations were in many respects useful and necessary; for the French and Spaniards being excluded, it only remained to guard the provinces against the danger arising from Indians. And as they were liable to much abuse and oppression from private traders, it was thought necessary that the office of a superintendant should be continued for the southern as well as the northern district of America. Accordingly this office was given to Captain John Stuart, who was in every respect well qualified for the trust. Attakullakulla had signified to the Governor and Council, after the Cherokee war, that the province would receive no molestation from Indians were this officer appointed to reside among them, and to advise and direct them. The a.s.sembly had not only thanked him for his good conduct and great perseverance at Fort Loudon, and rewarded him with fifteen hundred pounds currency, but also recommended him to the Governor as a person worthy of preferment in the service of the province. After his commission arrived from the King, the Carolineans rejoiced, and promised themselves for the future great tranquillity and happiness. Plans of lenity were likewise adopted by government with respect to those Indian tribes, and every possible precaution was taken to guard them against oppression, and prevent any rupture with them.

Experience had shewn that rigorous measures, such as humbling them by force of arms, were not only very expensive and b.l.o.o.d.y, but disagreeable to a humane and generous nation, and seldom accompanied with any good effects. Such ill treatment rendered the savages cruel, suspicious and distrustful, and prepared them for renewing hostilities, by keeping alive their ferocious and warlike spirit. Their extirpation, even though it could easily be compleated, would be a cruel act, and all the while the growth and prosperity of the settlements would be much r.e.t.a.r.ded by the attempt. Whereas, by treating Indians with gentleness and humanity, it was thought they would by degrees lose their savage spirit, and become more harmless and civilized. It was hoped that by establishing a fair and free trade with them, their rude temper would in time be softened, their manners altered, and their wants increased; and instead of implacable enemies, ever bent on destruction, they might he rendered good allies, both useful and beneficial to the trade of the nation.

[Sidenote] Decrease of Indians, and the causes of it.

It has been remarked, that those Indians on the continent of America, who were at the time of its discovery a numerous and formidable people, have since that period been constantly decreasing, and melting away like snow upon the mountains. For this rapid depopulation many reasons have been a.s.signed. It is well known that population every where keeps pace with the means of subsistence. Even vegetables spring and grow in proportion to the richness of the soil in which they are planted, and to the supplies they receive from the nourishing rains and dews of heaven; animals flourish or decay according as the means of subsistence abound or fail; and as all mankind partake of the nature of both, they also multiply or decrease as they are fed, or have provision in plenty, luxury excluded. The Indians being driven from their possessions near the sea as the settlements multiplied, were robbed of many necessaries of life, particularly of oysters, crabs, and fish, with which the maritime parts furnished them in great abundance, and on which they must have considerably subsisted, as is apparent from a view of their camps, still remaining near the sea-sh.o.r.e. The women are not only much disregarded and despised, but also naturally less prolific among rude than polished nations. The men being often abroad, at hunting or war, agriculture, which is the chief means of subsistence among a civilized people, is entirely neglected by them, and looked upon as an occupation worthy only of women or slaves. That abstinence and fatigue which the men endure in their distant excursions, and that gluttony and voraciousness in which they indulge themselves in the times of plenty, are equally hurtful to the const.i.tution, and productive of diseases of different kinds. Now that their territories are circ.u.mscribed by narrower bounds, the means of subsistence derived even from game is less plentiful. Indeed scanty and limited are the provisions they raise by planting, even in the best seasons; but in case of a failure of their crops, or of their fields being destroyed by enemies, they perish in numbers by famine. Their natural pa.s.sion for war the first European settlers soon discovered; and therefore turned the fury of one tribe against another, with a view to save themselves. When engaged in hostilities, they always fought not so much to humble and conquer, as to exterminate and destroy. The British, the French and Spanish nations, having planted colonies in their neighbourhood, a rivalship for power over them took place, and each nation having its allies among the savages was zealous and indefatigable in instigating them against the allies of its neighbour. Hence a series of b.l.o.o.d.y and destructive wars has been carried on among these rude tribes, with all the rage and rancour of implacable enemies.

But famine and war, however destructive, were not the only causes of their rapid decay. The smallpox having broke out among them, proved exceedingly fatal, both on account of the contageous nature of the distemper, and their harsh and injudicious attempts to cure it by plunging themselves into cold rivers during the most violent stages of the disorder. The pestilence broke out among some nations, particularly among the Pemblicos in North Carolina, and almost swept away the whole tribe. The practice of entrapping them, which was encouraged by the first settlers in Carolina, and selling them for slaves to the West India planters, helped greatly to thin their nations. But, of all other causes, the introduction of spirituous liquors among them, for which they discovered an amazing fondness, has proved the most destructive. Excess and intemperance not only undermined their const.i.tution, but also created many quarrels, and subjected them to a numerous list of fatal diseases, to which in former times they were entire strangers. Besides those Europeans engaged in commercial business with them, generally speaking, have been so far from reforming them, by examples of virtue and purity of manners, that they rather served to corrupt their morals, and render them more treacherous, distrustful, base and debauched than they were before this intercourse commenced. In short, European avarice and ambition have not only debased the original nature and stern virtue of that savage race, so that these few Indians that now remain have lost in a great measure their primitive character; but European vice and European diseases, the consequences of vice, have exterminated this people, insomuch that many nations formerly populous are totally extinct, and their names entirely forgotten.

[Sidenote] Present state of Indian nations in the southern district.

The princ.i.p.al tribes around Carolina that now remain are, the Cherokees, the Catabaws, the Creeks, the Chickesaws, and Choctaws, and a few others that scarcely deserve to be mentioned. In 1765 the Cherokees, who inhabit the mountains to the north of Charlestown, could scarcely bring two thousand men to the field. The Catabaws have fifteen miles square allotted them for hunting lands, about two hundred miles north of Charlestown, with British settlements all around them; but they are so much reduced by a long war with the Five Nations, that they could not muster one hundred and fifty warriors. The Creeks inhabit a fine country on the south-west, between four and five hundred miles distant from Charlestown, and the number of both the Upper and Lower nations does not exceed two thousand gun-men. The Chickesaw towns lie about six hundred miles due west from Charlestown, but the nation cannot send three hundred warriors to the field, owing to the incessant wars which they have carried on against the French, by which their number has been greatly diminished. The Choctaws are at least seven hundred miles west-south-west from Charlestown, and have between three and four thousand gun-men; and as their settlements border on West Florida, the greatest part of them till the late peace remained allies of France. But as these artful and insinuating rivals were removed out of the way, and the British government had adopted prudent plans of civilizing and managing those barbarous nations, the colonies for the future were in a great measure freed from all apprehensions of danger from them. I shall therefore conclude my observations respecting Indians with a speech of Mr. Stuart the superintendant, delivered at a general congress held in Mobile, at which Governor Johnstone and many British officers and soldiers attended.

For as he was so well acquainted with the humours, tempers and characters of these tribes, this speech, in which is exhibited a good specimen of the language and manner proper for addressing barbarous nations, may not be unworthy of the reader's attention.

[Sidenote] Mr. Stuart's first speech to the Indians at Mobile.

"Friends and brothers, the Supreme Being who made the world and all its inhabitants, has been pleased to permit many great warriors of the British and Indian nations to meet together in peace. The great King, who is the father of all white people in Great Britain and America, and defends them from danger, this day stretches out his arms to receive his red children into favour. He has been pleased to appoint me superintendent of the affairs of all Indian nations to the southward of Virginia. In his name I speak to you, and as the words you hear are his words, I hope you will listen to them with attention, and allow them to remain deeply impressed on your minds. They are calculated to promote not only your happiness, but that of your children and childrens children for ever.

"When the great kings of Britain and France were at variance, the storms of war raged through this great forest, the Indian nations were divided, brothers against brothers, and your country was stained with blood.

Malice and revenge went forth, all paths were made crooked, and your land was covered with darkness. Now that it has pleased the Author of life to restore the blessings of light and peace, it is our duty to make a proper use and improvement of them. As fogs gathered in the night are dispersed by the rising sun, so words dictated by the rage of war should be forgotten in the time of peace. The great King, full of wisdom and magnanimity, knows the frailty of his red children, and forgives their disobedience and rebellion. He extends his love to them all, even to those that lifted up the hatchet against him. To render them secure, he has resolved that the English and French shall be for ever separated by the great river Mississippi, and that all nations on this side of it shall have him for their common father. He commands all strife and enmity between his white and red children to cease, and expects that the allies of Britain will take those Indians, the former allies of France, by the hand, and live together like brethren of one family. That his white and red children may be near one other, and mutually supply each other's wants, he has ordered some of his good subjects to come over the great waters, and live on the fruits of this land, which the Supreme Being made for the use of mankind in general. To open this friendly intercourse, I have invited you all to meet me at this place, and I rejoice that so many brothers are come to accept of the royal favour and protection.

"Ye Chickesaw warriors, I speak first to you, and I know your ears are open to my words. The great King regards you as children brought up in their father's house, who from their infancy have been dutiful and obedient, and by that means merited what you have always enjoyed, his particular care and affection. While darkness surrounded you on every side, he has defended you from all those snares and dangers to which you were exposed. Now the day is clear and unclouded. Your father continues to love you. The paths from your towns to all nations shall be made straight and plain, and nothing shall be permitted to hurt your feet.

Your children shall rejoice and grow up in safety, and your houses shall be filled with abundance of corn and venison. I am come to tell you the good news, and to see that justice be done you in all commercial dealings.

"In the next place I speak to you, ye warriors of the great party of the Choctaw notion. You were like sons separated from their father, and removed at a great distance from his protection; but by persisting in obedience you were ent.i.tled to his love. The great King always acknowledged you, but now he receives you into his family, and offers you all the favours and privileges of sons. While you continue dutiful and obedient, the eye of your father shall be upon you, and his hand shall be open to relieve your wants. Under his care you shall enjoy all the blessings of peace and safety. You shall receive no injuries from friends, nor be exposed to any dangers from enemies. Your arms shall be kept bright, your hunting lands no man shall be permitted to take from you, and there shall be abundance of corn about your village.

"But as for you, ye Choctaw warriors of the Six Villages, you were like children early lost. While you were wandering out of the way, without knowing your brothers you blindly struck them. You found a father, indeed, who adopted you, and you have long served him with zeal, and shewn many proofs of your courage. You have received from your French father such poor rewards for your services as he could bestow; but all the while you remained under his care you were hungry, naked and miserable. He gave you many fair words and promises, and having long deceived you, at last is obliged to leave you in your present forlorn and wretched condition. Now your true father has found you, and this day stretches forth his arms to receive you under his protection. He has forgotten all your past offences. He knows your weakness, and forgives your errors. He knows your wants, and is disposed to relieve them. I have but one tongue, and always speak the truth; and as I bring you good news, I hope my words shall not be blown away by the wind. The great King is wise, generous and merciful, and I flatter myself with the hopes that you will never forget your obligations to his goodness.

"It is my duty to watch over Indians, and protect them against all manner of danger and oppression. For this purpose my ears shall be always open to your complaints, and it shall be my study to redress your grievances.

I must warn you to beware of all quarrels and outrages, by which you will certainly forfeit the royal favour, and plunge yourselves again into misery. I hope you will always observe my advice, and conduct yourselves accordingly, that I may be able to transmit good accounts of your behaviour to England. It is only by the permission of the great King that your wants can be supplied, and that traders can come into your villages with guns, powder, b.a.l.l.s, knives, hatchets, flints, hoes, clothes and other necessaries. These things you cannot make for yourselves, and no other nation will be allowed to furnish you with them. Therefore the great King has a right to expect your grat.i.tude and obedience, for all he requires is with a view to your own tranquillity and happiness.

"As you are all received into the family of the great King, it is expected that Indians will not only live in friendship and peace with white men, but also with one another. In imitation of his Majesty's good example, you must forget all injuries and offences, and throw aside all national jealousies and antipathies. The King expects that the great chieftains, to whom he has given medals and gorgets, will consider them not merely as ornaments, but as emblems of the high offices they bear, and the great trust reposed in them. All presents made you are in consideration of the good services expected from you. Therefore, ye wise and great leaders, I expect you will use your authority like fathers, and restrain your young men from all acts of violence and injustice, and teach them that the only way to merit honour and preferment is to be just, honest and peaceable, and that disgrace and punishment will be the consequences of disorderly practices, such as robbing plantations, and beating or abusing white people.

"Ye warriors who have no commissions, I speak to you also in name of the King, and I hope you will reverence his authority and love your brethren.

Listen at all times to your wise rulers, and be careful to follow their advice and example. By their wisdom and justice they have arrived at an high pitch of preferment, and stand distinguished by great and small medals. If, like them, you wish to be great, like them, you must first be good. You must respect them as children do their father, yielding submission to their authority, and obedience to their commands. Without the favour of your chiefs, you will neither get your wants supplied nor reach the station of honour. An armourer will be sent into your nation to clean and repair your rifles, but he will have instructions to mend arms to none but such as shall be recommended by their chiefs, it being proper that such leaders should have it in their power to distinguish those that are peaceable and obedient from the obstinate and perverse.

"I am to inform you all, that I will send a beloved man into your towns, who will be vested with authority to hear and determine all differences between you and the traders, to deliver all messages from me to you, and all talks from you to me. And as he will come to promote your welfare and tranquillity, I hope you will receive him kindly, protect him against all insults, and a.s.sist him in the execution of his office.

"When the French governor took his leave of you, he advised you to look upon yourselves as the children of the King of Great Britain. The advice was good, I hope you will remember it for ever. The great King has warriors numerous as the trees of the forest, and stands in no need of your a.s.sistance; but he desires your friendship and alliance to render you happy. He loves peace and justice, but he will punish all murders and rebellion. Be careful, therefore, to keep your feet far from the crooked and b.l.o.o.d.y path. Shun all communication with Indian tribes who lift the hatchet against their white brethren. Their talks, their calamets, their belts of wampum, and their tobacco are all poisonous. If you receive them into your towns, be a.s.sured you will be infected with their madness, and be in danger of rushing into destruction. Be cautious; above all things, of permitting great quant.i.ties of rum to be brought into your villages.

It poisons your body, enervates your mind, and, from respectable warriors, turns you into furious madmen, who treat friends and enemies alike. Mark those persons, whether they be white or red, that bring rum among you, for bad men, who violate the laws, and have nothing else in view but to cheat, and render you despicable and wretched.

"Lastly, I inform you that it is the King's order to all his governors and subjects, to treat Indians with justice and humanity, and to forbear all encroachments on the territories allotted for them. Accordingly, all individuals are prohibited from purchasing any of your lands; but as you know that your white brethren cannot feed you when you visit them unless you give them grounds to plant, it is expected that you will cede lands to the King for that purpose. But whenever you shall be pleased to surrender any of your territories to his majesty, it must be done for the future at a public meeting of your nation, when the governors of the provinces, or the superintendent shall be present, and obtain the consent of all your people. The boundaries of your hunting grounds will be accurately fixed, and no settlement permitted to be made upon them. As you may be a.s.sured that all treaties with you will be faithfully kept, so it is expected that you also will be careful strictly to observe them. I have now done, and I hope you will remember the words I have spoken. Time will soon discover to you the generosity, justice and goodness of the British nation. By the bounty of the King, and a well-ordered trade with his subjects, your houses shall be filled with plenty, and your hearts with joy. You will see your men and women well clothed and fed, and your children growing up to honour you, and add strength to your nation; your peace and prosperity shall be established, and continue from generation to generation."

Having now endeavoured to give some account of the rise and progress of this colony for the first century after its settlement, or rather from the time the Proprietors received their second charter in 1665 to the year 1765, we shall add a general view of its present state and condition. I have purposely delayed speaking of several things, particularly of the temper, manners and character of the people, until this period, when they come more immediately under my own notice; and such observations as I have made shall now be submitted to the public view for the use of strangers, leaving all men acquainted with provincial affairs to judge for themselves, according to the different lights in which matters may have occurred to them.

[Sidenote] A description of Charlestown.

With respect to the towns in Carolina, none of them, excepting one, merit the smallest notice. Beaufort, Purisburgh, Jacksonburgh, Dorchester, Camden, and George-town, are all inconsiderable villages, having in each no more than twenty, thirty, or, at most, forty dwelling houses. But Charlestown, the capital of the province, may be ranked with the first cities of British America, and yearly advances in size, riches and population. It is situated upon a neck of land at the continence of Ashley and Cooper rivers, which are large and navigable, and wash at least two third parts of the town. These rivers mingle their streams immediately below the town, and, running six or seven miles farther, empty themselves at Sullivan's island into the Atlantic Ocean. By means of such broad rivers the sea is laid open from east to southeast, and the town fanned by gentle breezes from the ocean, which are very refreshing to the inhabitants during the summer months. The tide flows a great way above the town, and occasions an agitation in the air which is also productive of salutary effects. So low and level is the ground upon which Charlestown is built, that the inhabitants are obliged to raise banks of earth, as barriers, to defend themselves against the higher floods of the sea. The streets from east to west extend from river to river, and, running in a straight line, not only open a beautiful prospect, but also afford excellent opportunities, by means of subterranean drains, for removing all nuisances; and keeping the town clean and healthy. These streets are intersected by others, nearly at right angles, and throw the town into a number of squares, with dwelling houses on the front, and office-houses and little gardens behind them. Some of the streets are broad, which in such a climate is a necessary and wise regulation, for where narrow lanes and alleys have been tolerated, they prove by their confined situation a fruitful nursery for diseases of different kinds.

The town, which was at first entirely built of wood, as might be expected, has often suffered from fire; but such calamities, though they fell heavy on individuals, have given the inhabitants frequent opportunities of making considerable improvements in it. Now most houses are built of brick, three storeys high, some of them elegant, and all neat habitations; within they are genteelly furnished, and without exposed as much as possible to the refreshing breezes from the sea. Many of them are indeed enc.u.mbered with balconies and piazzas, but these are found convenient and even necessary during the hot season, into which the inhabitants retreat for enjoying the benefit of fresh air, which is commonly occasioned, and always increased, by the flux and reflux of the sea. Almost every family have their pump-wells, but the water in them being at no great distance from the salt river, and filtered only through sand, is brackish, and commonly occasions severe griping and purging to every person not accustomed to it. The town consisted at this time of, at least, twelve hundred dwelling houses, and was in at advancing state. The public buildings are, an Exchange, a State-House, an Armoury, two churches for Episcopalians, one for Presbyterians, two for French and Dutch Protestants; to which may be added, meeting-houses for Anabaptists, Independents, Quakers and Jews. Upon the sides of the rivers wharfs are built, to which all ships that come over the bar may lie close; and having stores and ware-houses erected upon them, are exceedingly convenient for importing and exporting all kinds of merchandise.

The harbour is also tolerably well fortified, the King having at different times presented the province with great guns for that purpose.

Towards Cooper river the town is defended by a number of batteries, insomuch that no ships of an enemy can approach it without considerable hazard. Besides these, the pa.s.sage up to it is secured by Fort Johnson, built on James's Island, about two miles below the town. This fort stands in a commanding situation, within point-blank shot of the channel, through which every ship, in their way to and from Charlestown, must pa.s.s. The commander of Fort Johnson is commissioned by the King, and has authority to stop every ship coming in until the master or mate shall make oath that there is no malignant distemper on board. It has barracks for fifty men; but, in case of emergency, it obtains a.s.sistance from the militia of the island. During the late Cherokee war a plan was also formed for fortifying the town towards the land, with a horn-work built of tappy, flanked with batteries and redoubts at proper distances, and extending from river to river; but, after having spent a great sum of money on this work, peace being restored, the design was dropt.

[Sidenote] The number of its inhabitants.

In 1765 the number of white inhabitants in Charlestown amounted to between five and fix thousand, and the number of negroes to between seven and eight thousand. With respect to the number of white inhabitants in the province we cannot be certain, but we may form some conjecture from the militia roll; for as all male persons from sixteen to sixty are obliged by law to bear arms and muster in the regiments, and as the whole militia formed a body of between seven and eight thousand, reckoning the fifth person fit for military duty, the whole inhabitants in the province might amount to near forty thousand. But the number of negroes was not less than eighty or ninety thousand. As no exact register of the births and funerals has been kept at Charlestown for several years, we cannot ascertain the proportion between them. Formerly, when bills of mortality were annually printed, the common computation was, that, while no contagious disorder prevailed in town, one out of thirty-five died yearly, or one out of each family in the s.p.a.ce of seven years. However, the list of deaths is often increased by the sailors and transient persons that die in the town, and by malignant distempers imported into it. It is generally believed, that the number of births among the settled inhabitants exceeds that of funerals; but we shall affirm nothing with respect to this matter without better authority than common observation and conjecture.

[Sidenote] A general view of the manners _&c._ of the people.

With respect to temper and character, the inhabitants of Carolina differ little from those of Great Britain and Ireland; I mean, such as derived their origin from those islands, for the descendents of other nations still retain something of the complexion, manners and customs of those countries from whence they came. In stature, the natives of Carolina are about the middle size; for in Europe we meet with men both taller and shorter. They are, generally speaking, more forward and quick in growth than the natives of cold climates. Indeed we may say, there are no boys or girls in the province, for from childhood they are introduced into company, and a.s.sume the air and behaviour of men and women. Many of them have an happy and natural quickness of apprehension, especially in the common affairs of life, and manage business with ease and discretion; but want that steadiness, application and perseverance necessary to the highest improvements in the arts and sciences. Several natives who have had their education in Britain, have distinguished themselves by their knowledge in the laws and const.i.tution of their country; but those who have been bred in the province, having their ideas confined to a narrower sphere, have as yet made little figure as men of genius or learning.