HISTORY OF THE [book hi. 
156 
What Warner began wisely, was happily com¬ 
pleted by his immediate successor Mr. Lake, under 
whose administration Nevis rose to opulence and 
importance “He was a wise man,” says DuTertre, 
“ and feared the Lord.” Making this island the 
place of his residence, it flourished beyond example. 
It is said that about the year 1640, it possessed 
four thousand whites; so powerfully are mankind 
invited by the advantages of a mild and equitable 
system of government! Will the reader pardon me, 
if I observe at the same time, that few situations 
in life could have afforded greater felicity than that 
of such a governor. Living amidst the beauties of 
an eternal spring, beneath a sky serene and un¬ 
clouded, and in a spot inexpressively beautiful, (for 
it is enlivened by a variety of the most enchanting 
prospects in the world, in the numerous islands 
which surround it), but above all, happy in the re¬ 
flection that he conciliated the differences, adminis¬ 
tered to the necessities, and augmented the com¬ 
forts of thousands of his fellow-creatures, all of 
whom looked up to him as their common father 
and protector. If there be pure joy on earth, it 
must have existed in the bosom of such a man; 
while he beheld the tribute of love, gratitude, and 
approbation towards him in every countenance, and 
whose heart at the same time told him that he de¬ 
served it. 
I am sorry that I must present the reader with 
a very different picture, in the account that I am 
now to give of Antigua. 
