362 Nations lately become Literary. 



as be left. He was a very ardent friend to the 

 diffusion of knowledge, and freely opened his Li- 

 brary for the use of all who sought information. 

 Colonel Byrd died about the middle of the cen- 

 tury. He made a few small publications, but they 

 were not of a nature to command much of the 

 public attention at this time. 



In North-Carolina and Georgia nothing worthy 

 of notice was done for the promotion of literature, 

 until the latter half of the eighteenth century. In 

 those provinces there was not, until this period, a 

 single seminary of learning worthy of the name; 

 no native citizen had been at all distinguished 

 for his attainments in knowledge. Of the few 

 clergymen then residing in those provinces, the 

 greater part were both illiterate and dissipated ; 

 and almost all those of the learned professions, 

 who were tolerably well informed, were either 

 foreigners, or had received their education abroad. 



The literary situation of South-Carolina, in the 

 former part of the century under review, was 

 much more respectable/' At the commencement 

 of this period, all the literary characters in that 

 province were Europeans. The Clergy were few, 

 and not more than one of them had been born 

 in the province. The Physicians were also Eu- 

 ropeans, and chiefly persons who had connec- 

 tions with the British army or navy. The same 

 mav be affirmed of the Lawyers; these all resided 

 in Charleston, and were from Great-Britain or Ire- 

 land. In 1700 a provincial library was established 

 in Charleston, by the munificence of the Lords 

 Proprietors, and of the Rev. Dr. Thomas Bray. 

 This introduced a taste for reading among a por- 



i For the greater part of what is here stated respecting South-Carolina, 

 the author is indebted to Dr. David Ramsay, of Charleston, who, on 

 application, favoured him with a full and instructive communication on 

 the subject. 



