382 Letter ii. to [Part III. 



but, the Indians are free, and so are the gypsies in 

 England. And I most solemnly declare, that 1 would 

 sooner live the life of a gypsy in England, than be a. 

 settler, with less than five thousand pounds, in the Illi- 

 nois ; and, if I had the five thousand pounds, and was 

 resolved to exchange England for America, >vhat in the 

 name of common sense, should induce me to go into a 

 wild country, when I could buy a good farm of 200 

 acres, with fine orchard and good house and out-build- 

 ings, and stock it completely, and make it rich as a 

 garden, within twenty miles of a great sea-port, af- 

 fording me a ready market and a high price tor every 

 article of my produce I 



627. You have, by this time, seen more than you 

 had seen, when you wrote your " Letters from the 

 " lUinois." You Mould not, I am convinced, write such 

 letters noio. But, lest you should not do it, it is right 

 that somebody should counteract their delusive effects; 

 and this I endeavour to do as much lor the sake of this 

 country as tor that of ray own countrymen. For a good 

 while I remained silent, hoping that few people would 

 be deluded ; but when I heard, that an old friend, and 

 brother sportsman; a sensible, honest, frank, and 

 friendly man, in Oxfordshire, whom 1 will not name, 

 had been seized with the Illinois madness, and when I 

 recollected, that he Mas one of those, who came to visit 

 me in prison, I could no longer hold my tongue : for, if 

 a man like him ; a man of his sound understanding, 

 could be carried away by your representations, to what 

 an extent must the rage have gone ! 



628. Mr. HuLME visited you with the most friendly 

 feelings. He agrees with you perfectly as to notions 

 about forms of government. He wished to give a good 

 account of your proceedings. His account is favour- 

 able; but h\^ facts, which I am sure are true, let out 

 what I could not have known for certainty from anv 

 other quarter. However, I do not care a farthing lor 

 the degrees of goodness or of badness ; I say all new 

 countries are all badness for English farmers. I say, 

 that their place is near the great cities on the coast ; 

 and that every step they go beyond forty miles from 

 those cities is a step too far. Thev ivant freedoin : they 



