Chap. nr. 
of the ENGLISH//? AMERICA. 
before we fend them to Market ; we educate our Chil- 
dren before we expefl they fhould provide for them- 
felves ; and why fliould not we take the fame Care of 
this Colony, before we expedt public Advantages from 
thence ? 
It has been already fhewn what may be expedted from 
the different Method purfued in the eftablifhing this and 
other Colonies ; and how eafily, and how entirely, it 
may be turned to the Service of Great Britain^ fo as in 
the Compafs of a few Years to anfwer national Expedla- 
tions, better than Colonies that have been much longer 
fettled. But we muft keep thele Points in View-, we 
miift proceed as we have begun, or all that we have hi- 
therto done will be thrown away ; and if it fhould, we 
can blame no body but ourfelves. We have feen the 
Silk Trade planted there we have feen it take Root, and 
even bring forth Bloffoms, which, if the beft Judges may 
be trufted, promife the fairefl: Fruit ; let it not then be 
loft for a little Care or a little Expence, if that be necef- 
fary, in pruning and watering it. 
I might likewife take Notice of the raifing Wine here ; 
indeed I have promifed it, but I have infilled fo long 
upon Silk, that I can be but fhort upon this Head ; yet 
fomething I will fay. There were great Hopes that this 
Improvement might foon have been brought to Per- 
fedlion, but fome Difficulties have been found in the Way, 
and they are chiefly thefe : The Coat of the natural 
Grape is not flrong enough, and therefore when it grows 
ripe they burfl. The Frofl, about the vernal Equinox, 
frequently kills the Vines when they are ffiooting and 
^ as to the European Grapes, it is found that the Infebls of 
the Country deflroy them. Yet Experience has fhewn, 
that by grafting the European on the wild Vine, all thefe 
Inconveniencies are an a great Meafure prevented for 
then it fhoots later, and fo efcapes the Frofl better ; the 
Grape Skins become thicker and flronger, and Infebts do 
it lefs Prejudice ; So that there are ftill Hopes that Wine 
may be made there, both in great Plenty, and in great 
Perfeflion ; and if we reflebl on the Miflake we made, 
with refpefl to the Cape of Good Hope^ which we aban- 
doned as worth nothing, and which the Dutch^ by their 
Induflry, have made one of the finefl and mofl valuable 
Plantations in the World j we fhall not be hafty in flight- 
ing thefe Hopes. 
Befides, there is nothing wanting in this Country but a 
fufficient Number of Inhabitants, to render it, in every 
refpedl, a fertile and a pleafant Settlement. They reap 
very good Wheat here in May ; they mow their Grafs 
in June they might cultivate Rice here-to great Advan- 
: tage, if that was judged proper, which, however, for 
I many good Reafons is thought not fo *, Olives flourifh 
there in the greatefl Perfeblion ; and fo do Oranges in the 
[ South Part of the Province, where (I fpeak on the Credit 
of Eye-witnefles) an Orange Tree has been known, in 
^ leven Years Time, to have been fifteen Foot from the 
: Root to the Branches. 
Thefe Confiderations, with Rcfpefl to the Confe- 
i quences that may follow from the Improvement of this 
lafl Settlement, which I look upon to be the Honour 
of the prefent Age, have proceeded folely from a regard 
to Truth, and to the public Service, which are the fame 
! Motives that have direfled me through the Courfe of 
r this Undertaking. It appeared to me that there were 
li many things, in relation to moft of the Colonies, and 
particularly in refpebl to this, about which the World iii 
general was either mifinformed or not informed at all % 
and therefore I thought it would be doing fome Service 
to Trade, to the Colonies, and to the Public^ if thefe Points 
were fully and fairly treated ; for which Purpofe I took 
Pains to procure the beft Materials I could, and have di-^ 
gefted them in the beft Method I was able, but in fuch a 
way that the principal Fads appear all along with their pro- 
per Authorities ; fo that the Reader fees to what he gives 
Credit, and is not obliged to take any thing iipon Truft 
from me ; all my Reafonings being fubmittedi as they 
ought to be, to his Judgment, with full Liberty to ad- 
mit as little or as much as he thinks fit, when he has duly 
weighed the Arguments that are offered in fupport of 
them. It is in this way, and in this way only, that 
fedentary Perfons can make themfelves ufeful to Society, 
and in this way they may be Very ufeful, by furniffiing 
others with an Opportunity of viewing and refleding 
upon things which otherwife might never have come to 
their Notice. 
One thing more I muft obferve before I conclude this 
Sediori, which is, that if there be any thing in it, or in- 
deed in any of thofe relating to the Britifo Plantations, 
which ought, in a particular Manner, to claim the At- 
tention of the Public j it is, in a great Meafure, due to 
the Lights afforded by the Honourable James Oglethorpe^ 
Efq; from whom, if the Author has caught any Part of 
that generous Spirit, which inclines a Man to bend all his 
Thoughts, and turn all his Labours, to the Service of his 
Country, it is but juft that he fliould acknowledge it ; 
and this he is the more ready to do, becaufe if there be 
any Merit in his Performance, capable of making it 
kpown to, and efteemed by, Pofterity ; he would wil- 
lingly confecrate it as a Mark of his Efteem and Grati- 
tude, for the many Informations he has received, and the 
right Turn that has been given to his Inquiries, by 
that knowing and worthy Perfon, who is equally hap- 
py in rendering the greateft perfonal Services himfelf 
to the Community, and by infuflng the like Difpofi- 
tion in others, both by his Example and Converfation. 
There remains, in order to complete our Hiftory of 
the lEeJi Indies^ no more than an Account of the French 
and Dutch Settlements in that Part of the World, in re- 
ference to which We may have leave to be the ftiorter in 
our Relations, as we have already taken Occafion to de- 
liver many things concerning the former, and there 
cannot be a great deal faid with refpedt to the latter. 
In treating both, however, we fhall endeavour to repre- 
fent all things fairly and agreeable to Truth, without 
exaggerating, as fome have done, the Power of the 
French^ or as others, the Induftry of the Dutch : Both 
indeed are worthy our Notice and our Attention, but 
neither as things ftand at prefent can juftly provoke our 
Envy, fince there is no Comparifon between our Con- 
dition and theirs •, nor can we juftly apprehend any Con- 
fiderable Alteration in our Circumftances but what muft 
follow from our own Negligence, rather than from any 
Attempts of theirs ; though it muft beconfeffed that both 
are ready enough to catch at any Advantages for pro- 
moting their Interefts in that Part of the World, though 
it fliould be at the Expence of their Neighbours ; things 
that ought to teach us Care and Circumfpeblion, which are 
as neceffary to fecure Profperity, as to obtain it. 
SECTION 
