452 MORUS ALBA. 
them new views and habits. As they brought with them their slaves, it became 
necessary that an immediate return should be realized. Hence the culture of 
rice, indigo, and tobacco, from which an immediate profit could be derived, took 
precedence to that of silk, which would have required a steady perseverance for 
a course of years. 
In the earliest infancy of the settlement of Georgia, in the year 1732, a piece 
of ground belonging to government, was allotted as a nursery plantation for white 
mulberry-trees, and the attention of some of the settlers was soon engaged in 
rearing silkworms. The trustees of the colony not only transmitted mulberry- 
trees, but the seeds of this tree, and silkworms' eggs. And this branch of rural 
economy was considered to be nearly brought to perfection, and was of so much 
national importance, that the public seal of the colony represented silkworms in 
the various stages of their growth; and had for its inscription, " Non sibi sed 
aliis." In the year 1730. a quantity of raw silk was raised in that colony, and 
was manufactured at Derby, in England, by Sir Thomas Lombe, into a piece of 
stuff, which he presented to the queen. The culture of silk gradually, though 
slowly increased, both in Georgia and Carolina; and as it was desirable on the 
part of Britain to be enabled to draw supplies from its colonies, rather than be 
dependent upon foreign states for a material of continual and increasing demand 
for its manufacturers, an act of parliament was passed in 1749, for encouraging 
the growth of colonial silk, under the provision of which, all that was certified to 
be the productions of Georgia and Carolina, was exempted from the payment of 
duty on importation into the port of London. Encouraged by the increasing 
growth of raw silk in these colonies, which induced a belief, that, by the adop- 
tion of more judicious plans, an abundant supply might be drawn from them, 
sufficient to answer all the demands of the Knirlisii manufacturers, a bounty was 
offered for the production of silk, and a man named Ortolengi, from Italy, was 
engaged, at a suitable salary, to proceed to Georgia, and instruct the colonists in 
the Italian mode of management. Although, for a time, hopes were entertained 
that the Georgians might find in this pursuit a valuable branch of industry; yet, 
in consequence of one or two unfavourable seasons, and still more from the 
quality of the silk, in most instances, proving very indifferent, its culture soon 
began to decline, and the reduction of the bounty became a signal for its aban- 
donment by the planters. A few years, however, before the war of independence, 
considerable quantities of raw material began to be raised, which was said to be 
equal, in some cases, to the best Piedmont silk, and worked with less waste than 
the Chinese article. In the year 1760. more than twenty thousand pounds of raw 
silk were imported into England from Georgia. After the revolution, this branch 
of business gradually declined, and by the end of the last century, the production 
of silk was wholly discontinued, as an article of commerce, not only in Georgia, 
but in all the states of the union, except Connecticut. 
The rearing of silkworms had also been an object of interest in Carolina as 
early as the year 1732. It was undertaken by the small farmers, many of whom 
produced from forty to fifty pounds of silk in a season. The endeavours to 
increase and perfect its production in this colony were long persevered in. In 
April, 1764, Rev. Mr. Gilbert formed a settlement of French protestants in the 
township of Hillsborough, called New Bourdeaux, where, among other branches 
of rural industry, he attended to the rearing of silkworms. In the year 1765, he 
raised six hundred and thirty pounds of cocoons on the plantation of Mr. David 
Manigauld, called " Silk Hope." In 1766, the House of Assembly of this prov- 
ince voted the sum of one thousand pounds currencv towards establishing a silk 
filature in Charleston, under the direction of Mr. Gilbert. In 1771, M. Louis de 
St. Pierre, of New Bourdeaux. made a representation to the government, that, at 
the expense of his whole fortune, he had brought to perfection the art of making 
