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Brochure to attract settlers to Georgia
Source: A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia in America #173
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[Included in 1741 A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Geogia] THE Mind of Man is Naturally curious and enterprising; we easily feed our Wishes into Realities, and affect and look upon every Novelty in the most favorable Light; how easy then is it for Cunning and Artifice to latch on to the weak Sides of our Fellow-Creatures, as we catch Fish with a Hook baited to their particular Gout? TO prove this Charge, we shall only transcribe some Passages from a Piece of Prose and some from a Piece of Poesie; by which Specimens the Reader may judge of some considerable Number which were dispersed and vended of the same Stamp. THE First are from a Pamphlet printed at London, 1733, entitled, A new and accurate Account of the Provinces of South Carolina and Georgia. The Author has not thought fit to favor us with his Name; but it is easy to conceive that we, who suspected no Artifice or Design, would conclude that it came from the best Authority, from the Circumstances of its being dispersed publicly and not being contradicted, and from the Author's intimate Acquaintance (at least so pretended) with all the Trustees’ Measures and Designs. After a high Encomium upon the Trustees, Page 7, he says, “The Air of Georgia healthy, being always serene and pleasant, never subject to excessive Heat or Cold or sudden Changes of Weather; the Winter is regular and short, and the Summer cooled with refreshing Breezes; it neither feels the cutting Northwest Wind that the Virginians complain of, nor the intense Heats of Spain, Barbary, Italy and Egypt. The soil will produce anything with very little Culture.” — Page 19, All sorts of Corn yield an amazing Increase; One Hundred fold is the common Estimate; though their Husbandry is so slight that they can only be said to scratch the Earth and neatly cover the Seed: All the best sort of Cattle and Fowls are multiplied without Number, and therefore without a Price: Vines are Natives here.” — Page 21, “The Woods near Savannah are not hard to be cleared; many of them have no Under-Wood, and the Trees do not stand generally thick on the Ground, but at considerable Distances asunder: When you fall the Timber for Use, or to make Tar, the Root will rot in four or five Years; and in the meantime you may Pasture the Ground; but if you would only destroy the Timber, it's done by half a Dozen Strokes of an Ax surrounding each Tree a little above the Root, in a Year or two the Water getting into the Wound rots the Timber, and a brisk Gust of Wind fells many Acres for you in an Hour, of which you may make one bright Bonfire. Such will be frequently here the Fate of the Pine, the Walnut, the Cypress, the Oak and the Cedar.” Such an Air and Soil can only be described by a Poetical Pen because there is no Danger of exceeding the Truth; therefore, take WALLER'S Description of an island in the Neighborhood of CAROLINA to give you an Idea of this happy Climate: “The Spring which but salutes us here Inhabits there and courts them all the Year. Ripe Fruits and Blossoms on the same Tree live; At once they promise what at once they give. So sweet the Air, so moderate the Clime, None sickly lives or dies before his Time; Heav'n sure has kept this Spot of Earth uncursed.” To show how all Things were created first. Page 27, “The Indians bring many a Mile the whole Deer's Flesh, which they sell to the People who live in the Country for the Value of Six-pence Sterling; and a Wild Turkey of Forty Pound weight for the Value of Two-pence.” —In Page 32, the Author when recommending the Georgia Adventure to Gentlemen of decayed Circumstances who must labor at Home or do worse states the following Objection: “If such People can't get Bread here for their Labor, how will their Condition be mended in Georgia?” Which he solves in the following Manner: “The Answer is easy; Part of it is well attested and Part self-evident; they have Land there for Nothing, and that Land so fertile, that as is said before, they receive a Hundred fold Increase for taking very little Pains. Give here in England ten Acres of good Land to one of those helpless Persons, and I doubt not his Ability to make it sustain him, and by his own Culture, without leasing it to another; but the Difference between no Rent and rack'd Rent, is the Difference between Eating and Starving.” — Page 32, “These Trustees not only give Land to the Unhappy who go there, but are also empowered to receive the voluntary Contributions of charitable Persons to furnish the poor Adventurers with all Necessaries for the Expense of their Voyage, occupying the Land, and supporting them till they find themselves comfortably settled; so that now the Unfortunate will not be obliged to bind themselves to a long Servitude to pay for their Passage; for they may be carried gratis into a Land of Liberty and Plenty, where they immediately find themselves in the Possession of a competent Estate, in a happier Climate than they knew before, and they are unfortunate indeed if here they cannot forget their Sorrows.” — Nay, as if such Assertions as these were not powerful enough to influence poor People, Calculations are attached to demonstrate that a Family consisting of one poor Man, his Wife, and Child of seven Years old may in Georgia earn sixty Pounds Sterling per Annum, and this abstracted from Silk, Wine, &c — Page 41, “Now this very Family in Georgia, by raising Rice and Corn sufficient for its Occasions, and by attending the Care of their Cattle and Land (which almost everyone is able to do in some tolerable Degree for himself) will easily produce in gross Value the Sum of sixty Pounds Sterling per Annum; nor is this to be wondered at, because of the valuable Assistance it has from a fertile Soil and a Stock given gratis; which must always be remembered in this Calculation. The Calculation of One Hundred such Families when formally extended, stands thus, —Page 43, In London One Hundred poor Men earn 500 00 0 One Hundred Woman and One Hundred Children, 500 00 0 Total 1000 00 0 In Georgia a Hundred Families earn, One Hundred Men for Labor, 1200 00 0 Ditto for Care of their Stock at leisure Hours, 1200 00 0 One Hundred Woman and One Hundred Children, 2400 00 0 Land and Stock in ‘themselves, 1200 00 0 Total 6000 00 0
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