Hugh Jones

“ Which Book when he gave me, he told me that it had not the desired Effect, neither did his Preaching avail as much as could be wished, because Policy and Interest intervening often superseded the Promotion of the Gospel, and the debauched Lives and vile Practices of our ordinary People give Examples very pernicious to Religion; for the Indians think, that they may surely be allowed the same Liberty as we; and if our Folks don't act, as they say, they should, the Indians may think the Christian Profession to be a Cheat, when our pretended Principles are contradicted by our Actions. ”

“ Indeed while Tobacco is the only Staple Commodity of any Consequence to Virginia, the Country may be easily over-stock'd with Negroes, because the Trade can't find Vent for near all the Tobacco that so many Hands will make; so that the Market being over-charged, is thus spoiled; for too much of any Commodity is as bad, if not worse, for the Planter, the Merchant, and the Publick, than too little. For which Reason the Honourable the Assembly of Virginia has from Time to Time endeavoured to make prudent Provision against raising too much Tobacco. ”

“ The best true Account that we have of the Primitive wild Inhabitants of the Earth, not civilized by Government, nor assisted by Learning, Arts and Communication with Strangers, is of the Canaanites; whose State of Nature the Indians still retain, resembling them in most Respects, who may be their Cousins descended from Joktan, and may be some cursed Generations, for Reasons hidden from us. ”

“ If the Manufacture of Silk was carried on in Virginia, every Body knows what Profit it must bring to make Silk of the Produce of our own Dominions, in great Plenty, and at cheaper Rates than we can have it from Asia. ”

“ In general the Country of Virginia is plentiful, pleasant and healthy; especially to such as are not too fond of the Customs and Way of living they have been used to elsewhere; and to such as will endeavour at first to bear with some small Matters, and wean themselves, and make every Change as agreeable as they can.
Without such Proceeding the best Country in the World would not please them; since wherever they go from Home they must certainly find many Things different from what they have been accustomed to. ”

“ They can't live without this Mart for their Manufactures and Market, for Supply of Goods that they want; where they have a great Interest, from whence they are descended, to which they are united by Blood, Religion, Language, Laws, and Customs, and also they have and may always expect to find greater Favour, Encouragement, and Protection in England, than from any other Nation in the World. The Plantations cannot possibly subsist without some Trade, Correspondence, Union, and Alliance in Europe, and absolute Necessity obliges them to fix these perpetually in Great Britain. ”

“ It is an Opinion as erroneous as common, that any sort of Clergymen will serve in Virginia; for Persons of immoral Lives, or weak Parts and mean Learning, not only expose themselves, but do great Prejudice to the Propagation of the Gospel there; and by bad Arguments or worse Example, instead of promoting Religion, become Encouragers of Vice, Profaneness, and Immorality. Whereas were such confined to the narrow Limits of a Parish or two in England, where their Knowledge and their Name would scarce extend farther than the Circumference of their own Country ”

“ These are Matters of greatest Consequence to our Plantations, and the trading Part of our Nation; and therefore ought not to be neglected and slighted, but committed to the Management of such Persons, of the greatest Honour, Resolution, and Discretion, who prefer the Publick before their private Trade, mind the Interest of their Country as much as, or more than their own, that will make it their chief Business to find, that dare to attack, and are able to conquer, these bold and desperate Rovers, the greatest of Reprobates. ”

“ Most other Plantations, especially they that are granted away to Proprietors, are inferior to Virginia: where the seeming Interest and Humour of the Owners often divert them from Pursuit of the most proper Methods; besides, they cannot have such a right Claim to the Favour of the Crown, nor demand its best Protection, since they may often interfere with its Interest: whereas Virginia is esteemed one of the most valuable Gems in the Crown of Great Britain. ”

“ In Virginia there is no Ecclesiastical Court, so that Vice, Prophaneness, and Immorality are not suppressed so much as might be: The People hate the very Name of the Bishop's Court. There are no Visitations, so that the Churches are often not in the best Repair, nor as decently adorned as might be; neither in some Places can the Lord's Supper be administer'd with such holy Reverence as it should be, for want of proper Materials and Utensils. ”

“ But most Gentlemen, and such as are beforehand in the World, lodge Money in their Merchant's Hands here, to whom they send their Crop of Tobacco, or the greatest Part of it.
This Money is employed according to the Planter's Orders; chiefly in sending over yearly such Goods, Apparel, Liquors, &c. as they write for, for the Use of themselves, their Families, Slaves and Plantations; by which Means they have every Thing at the best Hand, and the best of its Kind.
Besides English Goods, several Merchants in Virginia import from the West-Indies great Quantities of Rum, Sugar, Molossus, &c. ”

“ But indeed when they come to England they are generally put to learn to Persons that know little of their Temper, who keep them drudging on in what is of least Use to them, in pedantick Methods, too tedious for their volatile Genius.
For Grammar Learning taught after the common round-about Way is not much beneficial nor delightful to them; so that they are noted to be more apt to spoil their School-Fellows than improve themselves; because they are imprisoned and enslaved to what they hate, and think useless, and have not peculiar Management proper for their Humour and Occasion. ”

“ What Detriment would it be to work up Iron there, if it may be done cheaper, and by the same People, who are so numerous in England that they can (abundance of them) hardly get Work and a poor Livelihood? But if it will not be granted that Iron shall be wrought in Virginia, yet might it be cast there; if Forges will not be allowed there, yet might Furnaces be encouraged, from whence our Merchants may be supplied with better and cheaper Iron than from other Places; and Recompence might easily be made in the Trade to Spain and Sweden, &c. ”

“ Every small Town is a petty Kingdom govern'd by an absolute Monarch, assisted and advised by his great Men, selected out of the gravest, oldest, bravest, and richest; if I may allow their Dear-Skins, Peak and Roenoak (black and white Shells with Holes, which they wear on Strings about their Arms and Necks) to be Wealth.
Sometimes there are general Emperors, who have several petty Kingdoms in some Measure under their Protection and Power.
They dwell in Towns some twenty, some a hundred Miles, and some farther from one another, each Town having a particular Jargon and peculiar Customs ”

“ Having thus delivered my Sentiments concerning Learning and Education, Religion, Arts and Inventions, and Trade in Virginia, with some general Remarks concerning all the Plantations, I draw near a Period upon these Subjects, supposing that what I have here mentioned may be enough to inform the Curious, and satisfy the candid Reader; knowing that I have writ a great deal more than they will relish or approve of, whose Humour or Interest may clash with my Opinion and Propositions ”

“ Many Disputes and Differences arise between some of the Clergy and People; but this generally proceeds from the uncertain and precarious Footing of Livings, and some Disputes about the Nature and Manner of the Payment of the established Salary; which though it may be esteemed sufficient, yet is not so well regulated, as might be wished and expected in such a great Colony of so long a standing, and free from the Molestation of Church Faction, and Dissenters. ”

“ The Days and Nights are there always much nearer the Equality of twelve Hours, than in the Latitude of England.
At the sudden Changes of the Weather, from Heat to Cold, People are apt to take Cold, often neglecting to shift their Cloaths with the Weather; which with Abundance of Damps and Mists from the Water, and by eating too plentifully of some delicious Fruits, makes the People subject to Feavers and Agues, which is the Country Distemper, a severe Fit of which (called a Seasoning) most expect, some time after their Arrival in that Climate ”

“ But for the generality, the Servants and inferior Sort of People, who have either been sent over to Virginia, or have transported themselves thither, have been, and are, the poorest, idlest, and worst of Mankind, the Refuse of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Outcast of the People. ”

“ That all these Goods are to be transported to England, so that in reality Virginia would be only as a Yard or Work-House where these Servants and Journeymen would labour for the English; besides several of these Things are such as we are wholly or in part supplied with from other Nations; and certainly we had better have Goods of the Produce of our own People and Countries, than buy them of Strangers, who make them for us ”

“ If New England be called a Receptacle of Dissenters, and an Amsterdam of Religion, Pensylvania the Nursery of Quakers, Maryland the Retirement of Roman Catholicks, North Carolina the Refuge of Run-aways, and South Carolina the Delight of Buccaneers and Pyrates, Virginia may be justly esteemed the happy Retreat of true Britons and true Churchmen for the most Part; neither soaring too high nor drooping too low, consequently should merit the greater Esteem and Encouragement. ”

“ The young Indians, procured from the tributary or foreign Nations with much Difficulty, were formerly boarded and lodged in the Town; where abundance of them used to die, either thro' Sickness, change of Provision, and way of Life; or as some will have it, often for want of proper Necessaries and due Care taken with them. Those of them that have escaped well, and been taught to read and write, have for the most Part returned to their Home, some with and some without Baptism, where they follow their own savage Customs and heathenish Rites. ”

“ Arts, Sciences, Trades, and useful Inventions are now planted there in some Measure, and with due Cultivation may thrive wonderfully.
Providence has furnish'd this Province with all Necessaries of Life, and Industry may supply it with all Conveniences and Advantages, for Profit, Ease, and Pleasure.
The best Measures have been concerted and proposed, and Schemes have been nicely drawn for the Encouragement of useful Discoveries and laudable Undertakings, both for the Security and Benefit of the Publick. ”

“ The Extent, the Wealth, the numerous Inhabitants, the Hands employed, the Goods consumed, the Duties and Customs occasioned by the Plantations, especially such as Virginia, are well worthy the most serious Consideration, and claim the greatest Favour and Encouragement in the Trade and Manufactures of those Places, which are vastly larger than all his Majesty's Dominions in Europe, and in Time may become as considerable ”

“ They are more inclinable to read Men by Business and Conversation, than to dive into Books, and are for the most Part only desirous of learning what is absolutely necessary, in the shortest and best Method. ”

“ Here too would be great Inducements for their Friends to advise and persuade them to go through with their Learning; when they are certain, that they will thus be regularly improved, and have Prospect of a cheap Education, and Hopes of the best Preferment in their Country in Church and State; and have equal (if not superior) Chance with others for Promotion abroad in the World; being bred compleat Gentlemen and good Christians, and qualified for the Study of the Gospel, Law, or Physick; and prepared for undertaking Trade, or any useful Projects and Inventions. ”

“ The greatest Part of Virginia is uneven: and near the Water they are free from great Stones, Rocks, and high Hills; but far in the Country they have vast Rocks, Stones, and Mountains; and though in the Salts there is no Stone for Lime nor Building; (but with Oyster-Shells they make good Lime and enough) yet up the Freshes, and above the Falls of the Rivers are discovered free and common Stone of several Sorts, among which may be expected Lime-Stone. ”

“ This I have committed to Paper, for the better Information of such as may in any Respect be concerned in Affairs relating to Virginia, especially its Government, Religion, and Trade: For without exact Notions of the Temper, Lives, and Manners of the People, and the Nature and Produce of the Country, none can frame a correct Judgment of what is most proper to be added, altered, or continued, nor know what Steps are to be taken for the Advancement of either the publick or private Good of that Colony, in Respect either of Church, State, or Trade. ”

“ Thus they have good natural Notions, and will soon learn Arts and Sciences; but are generally diverted by Business or Inclination from profound Study, and prying into the Depth of Things; being ripe for Management of their Affairs, before they have laid so good a Foundation of Learning, and had such Instructions, and acquired such Accomplishments, as might be instilled into such good natural Capacities. Nevertheless thro' their quick Apprehension, they have a Sufficiency of Knowledge, and Fluency of Tongue, tho' their Learning for the most Part be but superficial. ”

“ The Habits, Life, Customs, Computations, &c. of the Virginians are much the same as about London, which they esteem their Home; and for the most Part have contemptible Notions of England, and wrong Sentiments of Bristol, and the other Out-Ports, which they entertain from seeing and hearing the common Dealers, Sailors, and Servants that come from those Towns, and the Country Places in England and Scotland, whose Language and Manners are strange to them ”

“ They are such Lovers of Riding, that almost every ordinary Person keeps a Horse; and I have known some spend the Morning in ranging several Miles in the Woods to find and catch their Horses only to ride two or three Miles to Church, to the Court-House, or to a Horse-Race, where they generally appoint to meet upon Business; and are more certain of finding those that they want to speak or deal with, than at their Home.
No People can entertain their Friends with better Cheer and Welcome; and Strangers and Travellers are here treated in the most free, plentiful, and hospitable Manner ”

“ Hogs, horned Cattle, and Sheep thrive and encrease there mightily; and Salt and Casks being very cheap, vast Advantage might be made more than is, by raising of great Stocks, and salting up Beef and Pork for victualling of Ships, and supplying the West-Indies and other Places with Provisions, which they might afford to do very cheap, did some of the additional Part of the Servants before-mentioned make it their Business to tend Flocks and Herds, and provide better and more Food for them in the Winter, than what they now usually have. ”

“ The last Sort of Servants that I should be for sending over to Virginia (besides such as are sent by the Methods already in Use) are the greatest Part of the Parish Poor all over England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland; so that they should be burdened with none but such as are very old, very young, or else sickly or disabled, which would prove a very grateful Ease in most Places, where the general Complaint is the vast Charge of a numerous Poor ”

“ A large Tract of Land claimed by Virginia and North Carolina, and under the Government of neither, rightly called the disputed Bounds, is a kind of American Mint, whither several wicked and profligate Persons retire, being out of the certain Jurisdiction of either Government, where they may pursue any immoral or vicious Practices without Censure and with Impunity. ”

“ But in our Colonies and Plantations the Case is vastly different; we have there few or none of the Indian Inhabitants intermix'd with us; the Country is capacious enough for our Reception in the Islands and along the Coasts, and there is sufficient Room for the Indians backwards upon the Continent. Our Colonies are all inhabited for the most Part by Britons and Irish; their Trade and Interest, Customs, Laws, and Religion are agreeable to, or the same with ours ”