University of Virginia Library

LETTER VII.

The general invitation which
William Broadbrim had given to all persons
who were destitute of a home, to come
and take shelter under his roof, and the
gentle humane treatment which those
who accepted the invitation met with,
spread his fame abroad, and brought him
much company. His family was sometimes
compared to the Ark of Noah, because
there was scarcely any kind of being,

of whatever shape, size, complexion,
disposition, or language, but what might
be found there. He had also the art to
keep them pretty well employed. Industry,
frugality, and temperance, were
the leading principles of his family; and
their thriving was in a ratio compounded
of these three forces. Nothing was wanting
to make them as happy a family as any
in the world, but a disposition among
themselves, to live in peace. Unluckily,
however, this desirable blessing, on account
of the variety of their humours and
interests, was seldom found among them.
Ambition, jealousy, avarice, and party
spirit, had frequent out breakings, and
were with difficulty quelled. It is needless
to enter into a very particular discussion
of the grounds or effects of these dissentions:
family quarrels are not very
entertaining either at home or abroad, unless
to such as delight in scandal. But
there was one cause of dissention which it
would be improper not to notice, because
I have already hinted at the principle
from which it proceeded. William's
aversion to fire arms was so strong, that
he would not suffer any of his family to
molest the wild inhabitants of the forest,
though they were ever so mischievous.
While the family was small, the savage
animals who lived in the neighborhood
being well fed, were tolerably tame and
civil, but when the increased number of
the family had penetrated farther into the
forest, the haunts of the natives were dissturbed,
and the straggling labourers were
sometimes surprised, and having nothing
to defend themselves with, fell a sacrifice
to savage resentment. Remonstrances
were presented to Mr. Broadbrim one
after another, but he always insisted on
it that the sufferer must have been the
aggressor, and that “they who take the
sword must expect to perish by the sword.”
At length the dead corpse of one of the
labourers, mangled and torn in a dreadful
manner, was brought and laid at the
door of William's parlour[1] with a label
affixed to the breast, on which were written
these words, “Thou thyself must be
accounted my murderer, because thou
didst deny me the means of defence.” At
sight of this horrid spectacle, Broadbrim
turned pale! the eye of his mind looked
inward! Nature began to plead her own
cause within him! he gave way in some
degree to her operations, though contrary
to his preconceived opinion, and with a
trembling hand signed a permission for
those to use the carnal weapon, [2] who could
do it without scruple; and when they
asked him for money to buy guns, powder
and ball, he gave them a certain sum
to provide the necessaries of life, leaving
them to put their own construction on the
words. By degrees his squeamishness decreased,
and though it is imagined he has
still some remainder of it, yet necessity has
so often overcome it, that there is not
much said on the subject, unless it be very
privately and among friends.

During the time of which we have
been speaking, Mr. John Bull had undergone
another sickness,[3] not so long nor so
violent as the former, but much more
beneficial in its effects. His new physicians
had administered medicines which
composed his nerves; he eat, drank, and
slept more regularly; and he was advised
to marry again, for his former wife had
died of a consumption a little before this
sickness came on. By these means his
vigour was renewed, but still his whimsical
disposition remained, and broke out
on several occasions. When he viewed
his extensive forest, now planted and
thriving, under the honest hand of industry,
he thought within himself that still
greater advantages might be derived from
that territory. There was yet a part of it
unsettled between the plantation of Charles
Indigo, and the dominions of Lord Strut;

and Bull thought it a pity to let so much
remain a wilderness. The other plantations
had been made by discontented servants
and needy adventurers, who, struggling
with hardships, a steady perseverance
had surmounted many difficulties,
and obtained a comfortable living.
“Now, said Bull, if these fellows have
done so well, and got so far aforehand,
without having any capital of their own
to begin with, what cannot be done by the
force of my great capital? If they have
performed such wonders, what greater
wonders may be brought into view by my
own exertions, with all the advantages
which it is in my power to command?
To it, boys, I vow I'll have a farm of my
own that shall beat you all!”—Having
hit upon this project, his brains immediately
became pregnant with ideas; but
according to the rule which he had lately
prescribed to himself, he communicated
the matter to his wife. This good lady
was not free from an ambitious turn of
mind. She was extremely fond of having
it thought that she had great influence
over her husband, and would sometimes
gratify his humour at the expense of her
own judgment, rather than not keep up
this idea. His expectations from his new
project were very sanguine. The land
on which he had cast his eye was enough
for a large farm; it had a southern exposure,
it was warm, rich and fertile in
some parts, and in others boggy or sandy.
He had conversed with some foreigners,
who told him that it was proper for the
cultivation of wine and silk, and he imagined
that if he could but add these articles
to the list of his own productions,
there would be a great saving in the family.
Mrs. Bull too was pleased with the
idea of having her silk gowns and ribbands
of her own growth, and with the expectation
of having the vaults filled with wine,
made on her own plantation; for these and
other good reasons, her thereunto moving,
madam gave her consent to the proj
ect. The person appointed to carry it
into execution was George Trusty,[4] a sensible
well bred merchant, but one who had
only speculated in the science of agriculture,
and knew nothing of it by experience.
Having collected a number of poor
people who were out of employment, he
sent them to the spot, with strict orders to
work fix days in seven, to keep their tools
free from rust, and their fire arms in readiness
for their defence. Whatever they
should earn was to be their own as long as
they lived, and after their death their possessions
were to descend to their sons, and
in default of male issue to revert to the orriginal
grantor. They were not allowed
to use black cattle in the labour of the
field; and were expressly forbidden to
drink grog. Their business was to cultivate
vines and mulberry trees, and to
manufacture wine and silk. Upon this
project another was grafted by the very
sagacious Doctor Squintum, who chose this
new plantation as the most convenient
spot in the world for a charity school,
where Orphans might receive the best education
and be fitted to be the pillars of
church and state.

But notwithstanding the sums which
Bull so freely lavished out of his bags for
the support of the vine and mulberry
plantations; and notwithstanding the collections
which Squintum made among
his numerous devotees, these projects
were either so impracticable in themselves,
or so ill conducted in the execution, that
neither of them answered the expectations
of the projectors. For want of black cattle,
the soil could not be properly tilled;
and for want of grog, the labourers fainted
at their work; the right of inheritance
being limited to the male line, women
and girls were not fond of living there,
and the men could not well live without
them; land, cattle, women and grog,
were to be had elsewhere, and who would
be confined to such a place? The land,

too, was claimed by Lord Strut, who
sent them writs of ejectment. As to the
Charity school, it was, on trial, found
that the cost was more than the profit,
and the building which had swallowed up
thousands of charity money, was finally
consumed by fire. Poor George Trusty
was discouraged, and begged Mr. Bull
to take the plantation into his own hands;
however, Bull continued to supply him
with cash, and he kept making attempts.
Alterations were made in the terms of settlement,
the restrictions were removed,
cattle and grog were allowed, Lord Strut
was ousted, and possession held; the
swamps were drained; rice and indigo
were cultivated instead of silk and wine;
and upon the whole, considerable improvements
were made, though at such a
vast expense, that Mr. Bull never saw any
adequate returns.

The ill success of this adventure did
not deter him from another project. He

was extremely fond of Trout,[5] and thought
if he could have them regularly catched
and brought to his table, he should exceed
all his neighbours in delicate living;
and now and then be able to send a mess
to his particular friends. Lord Peter's
family too, he thought, would be glad to
buy them, as they were very useful in the
long lents, and frequent meagre days observed
by them. There was a part of the
forest on the north-east quarter, which
was very conveniently situated for this
employment.[6] It had been occupied by
Alexander Scotus, a purblind fellow,
who had straggled thither no one
could tell how; and it was matter of
doubt whether he derived his right from
Bull, or Lewis; for both of them laid
claim to the land, and their claims had
not been fairly decided in law. To make
sure of the matter, Mr. Bull, by advice of
his wife, sent a waggon to bring off the
family of Scotus, whom he distributed a
mong the other families of his tenants;
and in their room sent thither[7] a parcel
of naked, half starved people, who could
live no where else, and supported them
for several years with provisions, furnished
them with skiffs, lines, hooks and other
implements to carry on the fishery;
but every trout which they catched, cost
him ten times as much as if he had bought
it in the common market; nor could
he, after all, get half what he wanted for
his own consumption. His trout fishery,
and his mulberry plantation, rendered him
the laughing stock of his neighbours,
nor could he ever gain even the interest
of the money he had laid out upon them;
while the foresters who had settled at their
own expense, grew rich and became respectable.
He had indeed, the benefit of
their trade, which kept his journeymen
at work, and obliged him to enlarge their
number; for the foresters had a respect
for their old master and landlord, and
when they had any thing to sell, they always
let him have the refusal of it, and
bought all their goods of him. But
though he called himself their father, and
his wife their mother, yet he began to abate
of his parental affection for them;
and rather looked on them with a jealous
eye, as if they were aiming to deprive him
of his claim and set up for independence.
Had he been contented with the profits of
their trade, as was certainly his interest,
they might have remained his tenants to
this day; but ambition, avarice, jealousy
and choler, inflamed by bad counsellors,
have wrought such a separation, that it
is thought Mr. Bull will go mourning all
the remainder of his days, and his grey
hairs will be brought down with sorrow
to the grave.