Chap.' III. of the ENGLISH m A-M ERICA. 297 
and black Afh, Beech, Chefnuts, Cedar, Wall- 
nut, Cyprefs, and Swamp ; the moft durable of ail 
are Poplar, Gumwood, Hickery, Saffafras ; and as for 
Shrubs, Snakeroot, Sarlapariila, Salop, Spruce, and 
Cranberries ; Wheat, Barley, Oats, Rye, Peas, Beans, 
Water Melons, Mufmelons, Apples, Pears, Cherries, 
Apricots, Carrots, Turnips, Parfnips, Onions, Cucum- 
bers, Quinces, are in great Plenty here ; as alfo 
Indian Corn, Hemp, Flax, Cfc. It is common for one 
Bulhel of Corn fown here to yield forty, often fifty, and 
fometimes fixty Bufhels. One Mr. Edward Jo?ies had 
for one Grain of Englijh Barley feventy Stalks and Ears 
of that Corn, in his Plantation on the Schoolkill. Of 
living Creatures there are for Food and Trade, Deer, the 
Elk as big as a fmall Ox, Rabbits, Raccoons, Beaver ; 
plenty of Oxen, Cows, and Sheep ; of the latter, it is 
common for Farmers to have four or five hundred in a 
Flock. Horfes, fome very good, and handfome enough. 
Of Fowl here are very fine Bullards forty or fifty Pounds 
Weight, Pheafants, Heath Birds, Pigeons, Partriges, 
Clouds of Blackbirds, Swans, Geefe, Braindes, Tucks, 
Teal, and Snipe. The Fifh here are Sturgeons, Her- 
ring, Eels, Smelts, and Perch; the latter caught in 
abundance in de la War Bay ; and in the River above 
the Frefhes, Oyflers, Crabs, Cockles, and Mufcles. 
There are alfo Rock, Shat, Catfhead, Sheepfhead, and 
other Fifh, not worth our particular Regard. 
We need not wonder, that in a Country fo fruitful 
and fo pleafant, and where there was fo clear a Profpedl 
of living happily, with moderate Induftry, People fhould 
refort in fuch Numbers. At firft, without doubt. Re- 
ligion was a llrong Motive, and the Quakers willingly 
followed Mr. Benn^ from a Country where they were 
perfecuted, to a Land of Plenty and Peace. But, in 
Time, and indeed in a little Time, this Argument 
ceafed, and People reforted thither as they did to the 
other Colonies, upon the ordinary Motives of Gain and 
Trade ; we may, however, venture to affert that Mr. 
Tenn\ original Contrad, for fo the firll Conflitution 
drawn by him was ftiled, had a very great Influence in 
procuring Inhabitants, fince it mufl be allowed there 
never was a more beneficent Scheme of Government de- 
vifed by the Wit of Man. 
By degrees, however, this alfo has been fomewhat 
altered, not by the Proprietor or thofe afting under his 
Authority, but at the Defire and on the Requefl of the 
People, with refpedt to whom it may pofTibly be true, 
that fuch Alterations, in procefs of Time, might be- 
come neceffary. The Spirit, however, of Mr. Penn\ 
Inftitution is flill preferved, and the People here are as 
free, and as well, and as cheaply governed, as in 
any part of the known World. A very ftrong Proof of 
this may be drawn from the greateft Error in Govern- 
ment that was ever committed there, which was laying 
a Tax of Five Shillings a Head upon all new Comers ; 
which fhews, that they were once in fome Apprehenfion 
of being over-ftocked ; but this Law was very foon re- 
pealed, as it ought to be. At prefent it would be a very 
difficult Thing to pretend to compute the Number of 
People in this flourifhing Colony, but we may form 
fome Notion of it from the following Inflance, ' which 
is very certain, viz. that the Inhabitants of PhiladeE 
^hia in 1 740 were full fifteen thoufand. 
14. As to the Commerce of Penfylvania with refpedl 
to Europe and America., the Cafe, according to the beft 
Accounts we have, ftands thus : Their Merchandize 
confifts of Horfes, Pipe-Staves, Pork, Beef, and Fifh, 
faked and barrelled up, Skins and Furs ; all Sorts of 
Grain, viz.' Wheat, Rye, Peas, Oats, Barley, Buck- 
Wheat, Indian Corn, Indian and Beans, Pot-afhes, 
Wax, and in return for thefe, they import from 
the Caribhee IJlands and other Places, Rum, Sugar, Mo- 
ioffes, Silver, Negroes, Salt, and Wine ; and from 
Great Britain Houfhoid-Goods and Cloathing of all 
Kinds, Harc^-Ware, Tools, and Toys. They have al- 
fo fome Rice, but no great Quantities, and a little To- 
bacco of the work Sort. Their Trade with the Indians 
confifts but in a few Articles ; they, receive of the Na- 
tives chiefly Skins and Furs of their wild Beafts, for which 
they givet hem Clothing, Arms, Ammunition, Rum, 
. VoL. II. Numb. 89, 
and other Spirits in return. This, as well as other Nor- 
thern Colonies, has alfo a clandeftine Trade with the 
Spaniards upon the Coaft of Terra Firma, furnifh- 
ing them with European Goods and Merchandize, for 
which they receive chiefly Dollars in return ; and they 
alfo trade to the Bays of Honduras and Campeachy for 
Logwood, by Connivance, as 'the Spaniards fay ; but the 
Subjedls of Great Britain infift- that they have a Right to 
that Trade, and as we have already ftiewn, they dp not 
infift upon this, without juft Grounds, in the Opinion of 
thofe who are the beft and propereft Judges of that Mat- 
ter. But after all, it muft be admitted, that P enfylvania 
has no ftaple Commodity, which, hov/ever, is not juft- 
ly chargeable upon the Inhabitants of this Colony ; who, 
notwithftanding this, have never fet up any Manufac- 
tures of their own. 
But the Point to be enquired into is. Whether they 
might not have fuch a ftaple Commodity if they went 
about it themfelves induftrioufly, and received from hence 
proper Encouragement ? It is a Point out of difpute, 
that ho Country in the World is more proper than Pen- 
fylvania for producing Hemp and Flax ; and with re- 
fpe(5l to thefe, we ought ferioiifly to confider, that there 
is nothing plainer than that Hemp and Flax are fo ufeful 
in Navigation and Trade that we cannot do without 
them ; the firft for Cordage of all Sorts, the latter for 
making Sail-Cloth, as well as for the Linen Manufac- 
tures carried on in this Kingdom. The Necelfity we are 
under for thefe Commodities ought to put us upon all 
imaginable Care how to provide them, that we may not 
fall under the fame Neceflity for them that we did in the 
Year 1703 for Pitch and Tar, when the Government 
of Sweden abfolutely refufed to let us have them for 
our Ready-Money, otherwife than in their Shipping, 
from their Tar Company here, at their own Price, and 
only in fuch Quantities as they thought fit. Upon that 
Difappointment, the Government, by allowing a con- 
fiderable Encouragement for carrying on the Manufac- 
tures of Pitch and Tar, had fufficient Quantities from 
our own Plantations ; and it is greatly to be wiftied the 
like Encouragement was given for raifing Hemp and 
Flax; and as all Sorts of Naval Stores may be raifed with 
fo many Advantages to this Kingdom, it would be un- 
accountable to leave us dependent, and at an Uncertainty 
for them. It is very well known, that our Land is too 
dear for Hemp and Flax, and what does grow here 
(though it is tough, and makes ftrong Linen) neither 
dreflTes fo kindly, nor whitens fo well as that which grows 
in hotter Climates. In Rujfia the beft Hemp and Flax 
grow in the fouthermoft Parts of the Empire, where 
the Summer is hot and the Air clear, and yet the Flax is 
not accounted fo good as that which grows in Egypt or 
Italy. Egypt has always been efteemed for its Linen, 
and even now fupplies Leghorn with large Quantities, 
and the Coaft of Syria., Afia Minor., Smyrna., Confianti- 
nople^ and other great Cities, have a Supply, of Hemp 
and Flax from thence. 
All our Colonies (which run twelve or fourteen hun- 
dred Miles in length, all the way bordering upon the Sea) 
have very hot Summers, the fouthermoft Parts of them 
lie near the fame I.atitude with Egypt., and the North 
Part much about the fame with Ancona or Bologna in 
Italy, where Hemp and Flax grow ; therefore, we have 
the greateft Profped to receive mighty Supplies of Hemp 
and Flax from them. Part of the Land in the Colonies 
are very rich, and of fo fmall Value, there will be Op- 
portunity of breaking up frefli as often as there is Occa- 
fion to change the Ground, which if laid down will re- 
cover itfelf again without the Charge of Manuring, as 
v/e do here, to the very great Damage of our Ploughing 
Lands. Nothing iinpoverifhes Land more than Hemp 
and Flax ; and though it is manured, that alone will not 
do fo well, for the Land ought to be changed after three 
or four Crops, and generally the fineft and fatteft Pieces 
are converted to that Ufe. Thofe great Conveniendes of 
having Land fo very cheap, and fo fine a Climate, 
which we know produces excellent Hemp and Flax, fo 
commodioufly fituated along the Sea Coafts, with fuch 
Numbers of large Rivers running up the Country to the 
moft inland Settlements, where Provifipns may be raifed 
X. G s| 
