Books: Letters from an American Farmer
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Hector St. John de Crevecoeur >> Letters from an American Farmer
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The Scotch and the Irish might have lived in their own country
perhaps as poor, but enjoying more civil advantages, the effects of
their new situation do not strike them so forcibly, nor has it so
lasting an effect. From whence the difference arises I know not, but
out of twelve families of emigrants of each country, generally seven
Scotch will succeed, nine German, and four Irish. The Scotch are
frugal and laborious, but their wives cannot work so hard as German
women, who on the contrary vie with their husbands, and often share
with them the most severe toils of the field, which they understand
better. They have therefore nothing to struggle against, but the
common casualties of nature. The Irish do not prosper so well; they
love to drink and to quarrel; they are litigious, and soon take to
the gun, which is the ruin of everything; they seem beside to labour
under a greater degree of ignorance in husbandry than the others;
perhaps it is that their industry had less scope, and was less
exercised at home. I have heard many relate, how the land was
parcelled out in that kingdom; their ancient conquest has been a
great detriment to them, by over-setting their landed property. The
lands possessed by a few, are leased down ad infinitum, and the
occupiers often pay five guineas an acre. The poor are worse lodged
there than anywhere else in Europe; their potatoes, which are easily
raised, are perhaps an inducement to laziness: their wages are too
low, and their whisky too cheap.
There is no tracing observations of this kind, without making at the
same time very great allowances, as there are everywhere to be
found, a great many exceptions. The Irish themselves, from different
parts of that kingdom, are very different. It is difficult to
account for this surprising locality, one would think on so small an
island an Irishman must be an Irishman: yet it is not so, they are
different in their aptitude to, and in their love of labour.
The Scotch on the contrary are all industrious and saving; they want
nothing more than a field to exert themselves in, and they are
commonly sure of succeeding. The only difficulty they labour under
is, that technical American knowledge which requires some time to
obtain; it is not easy for those who seldom saw a tree, to conceive
how it is to be felled, cut up, and split into rails and posts.
As I am fond of seeing and talking of prosperous families, I intend
to finish this letter by relating to you the history of an honest
Scotch Hebridean, who came here in 1774, which will show you in
epitome what the Scotch can do, wherever they have room for the
exertion of their industry. Whenever I hear of any new settlement, I
pay it a visit once or twice a year, on purpose to observe the
different steps each settler takes, the gradual improvements, the
different tempers of each family, on which their prosperity in a
great nature depends; their different modifications of industry,
their ingenuity, and contrivance; for being all poor, their life
requires sagacity and prudence. In the evening I love to hear them
tell their stories, they furnish me with new ideas; I sit still and
listen to their ancient misfortunes, observing in many of them a
strong degree of gratitude to God, and the government. Many a well
meant sermon have I preached to some of them. When I found laziness
and inattention to prevail, who could refrain from wishing well to
these new countrymen, after having undergone so many fatigues. Who
could withhold good advice? What a happy change it must be, to
descend from the high, sterile, bleak lands of Scotland, where
everything is barren and cold, to rest on some fertile farms in
these middle provinces! Such a transition must have afforded the
most pleasing satisfaction.
The following dialogue passed at an out-settlement, where I lately
paid a visit:
Well, friend, how do you do now; I am come fifty odd miles on
purpose to see you; how do you go on with your new cutting and
slashing? Very well, good Sir, we learn the use of the axe bravely,
we shall make it out; we have a belly full of victuals every day,
our cows run about, and come home full of milk, our hogs get fat of
themselves in the woods: Oh, this is a good country! God bless the
king, and William Penn; we shall do very well by and by, if we keep
our healths. Your loghouse looks neat and light, where did you get
these shingles? One of our neighbours is a New-England man, and he
showed us how to split them out of chestnut-trees. Now for a barn,
but all in good time, here are fine trees to build with. Who is to
frame it, sure you don't understand that work yet? A countryman of
ours who has been in America these ten years, offers to wait for his
money until the second crop is lodged in it. What did you give for
your land? Thirty-five shillings per acre, payable in seven years.
How many acres have you got? An hundred and fifty. That is enough to
begin with; is not your land pretty hard to clear? Yes, Sir, hard
enough, but it would be harder still if it were ready cleared, for
then we should have no timber, and I love the woods much; the land
is nothing without them. Have not you found out any bees yet? No,
Sir; and if we had we should not know what to do with them. I will
tell you by and by. You are very kind. Farewell, honest man, God
prosper you; whenever you travel toward----, inquire for J.S. He
will entertain you kindly, provided you bring him good tidings from
your family and farm. In this manner I often visit them, and
carefully examine their houses, their modes of ingenuity, their
different ways; and make them all relate all they know, and describe
all they feel. These are scenes which I believe you would willingly
share with me. I well remember your philanthropic turn of mind. Is
it not better to contemplate under these humble roofs, the rudiments
of future wealth and population, than to behold the accumulated
bundles of litigious papers in the office of a lawyer? To examine
how the world is gradually settled, how the howling swamp is
converted into a pleasing meadow, the rough ridge into a fine field;
and to hear the cheerful whistling, the rural song, where there was
no sound heard before, save the yell of the savage, the screech of
the owl or the hissing of the snake? Here an European, fatigued with
luxury, riches, and pleasures, may find a sweet relaxation in a
series of interesting scenes, as affecting as they are new. England,
which now contains so many domes, so many castles, was once like
this; a place woody and marshy; its inhabitants, now the favourite
nation for arts and commerce, were once painted like our neighbours.
The country will nourish in its turn, and the same observations will
be made which I have just delineated. Posterity will look back with
avidity and pleasure, to trace, if possible, the era of this or that
particular settlement.
Pray, what is the reason that the Scots are in general more
religious, more faithful, more honest, and industrious than the
Irish? I do not mean to insinuate national reflections, God forbid!
It ill becomes any man, and much less an American; but as I know men
are nothing of themselves, and that they owe all their different
modifications either to government or other local circumstances,
there must be some powerful causes which constitute this great
national difference.
Agreeable to the account which several Scotchmen have given me of
the north of Britain, of the Orkneys, and the Hebride Islands, they
seem, on many accounts, to be unfit for the habitation of men; they
appear to be calculated only for great sheep pastures. Who then can
blame the inhabitants of these countries for transporting themselves
hither? This great continent must in time absorb the poorest part of
Europe; and this will happen in proportion as it becomes better
known; and as war, taxation, oppression, and misery increase there.
The Hebrides appear to be fit only for the residence of malefactors,
and it would be much better to send felons there than either to
Virginia or Maryland. What a strange compliment has our mother
country paid to two of the finest provinces in America! England has
entertained in that respect very mistaken ideas; what was intended
as a punishment, is become the good fortune of several; many of
those who have been transported as felons, are now rich, and
strangers to the stings of those wants that urged them to violations
of the law: they are become industrious, exemplary, and useful
citizens. The English government should purchase the most northern
and barren of those islands; it should send over to us the honest,
primitive Hebrideans, settle them here on good lands, as a reward
for their virtue and ancient poverty; and replace them with a colony
of her wicked sons. The severity of the climate, the inclemency of
the seasons, the sterility of the soil, the tempestuousness of the
sea, would afflict and punish enough. Could there be found a spot
better adapted to retaliate the injury it had received by their
crimes? Some of those islands might be considered as the hell of
Great Britain, where all evil spirits should be sent. Two essential
ends would be answered by this simple operation. The good people, by
emigration, would be rendered happier; the bad ones would be placed
where they ought to be. In a few years the dread of being sent to
that wintry region would have a much stronger effect than that of
transportation.--This is no place of punishment; were I a poor
hopeless, breadless Englishman, and not restrained by the power of
shame, I should be very thankful for the passage. It is of very
little importance how, and in what manner an indigent man arrives;
for if he is but sober, honest, and industrious, he has nothing more
to ask of heaven. Let him go to work, he will have opportunities
enough to earn a comfortable support, and even the means of
procuring some land; which ought to be the utmost wish of every
person who has health and hands to work. I knew a man who came to
this country, in the literal sense of the expression, stark naked; I
think he was a Frenchman, and a sailor on board an English man-of-
war. Being discontented, he had stripped himself and swam ashore;
where, finding clothes and friends, he settled afterwards at
Maraneck, in the county of Chester, in the province of New York: he
married and left a good farm to each of his sons. I knew another
person who was but twelve years old when he was taken on the
frontiers of Canada, by the Indians; at his arrival at Albany he was
purchased by a gentleman, who generously bound him apprentice to a
tailor. He lived to the age of ninety, and left behind him a fine
estate and a numerous family, all well settled; many of them I am
acquainted with.--Where is then the industrious European who ought
to despair?
After a foreigner from any part of Europe is arrived, and become a
citizen; let him devoutly listen to the voice of our great parent,
which says to him, "Welcome to my shores, distressed European; bless
the hour in which thou didst see my verdant fields, my fair
navigable rivers, and my green mountains!--If thou wilt work, I have
bread for thee; if thou wilt be honest, sober, and industrious, I
have greater rewards to confer on thee--ease and independence. I
will give thee fields to feed and clothe thee; a comfortable
fireside to sit by, and tell thy children by what means thou hast
prospered; and a decent bed to repose on. I shall endow thee beside
with the immunities of a freeman. If thou wilt carefully educate thy
children, teach them gratitude to God, and reverence to that
government, that philanthropic government, which has collected here
so many men and made them happy. I will also provide for thy
progeny; and to every good man this ought to be the most holy, the
most powerful, the most earnest wish he can possibly form, as well
as the most consolatory prospect when he dies. Go thou and work and
till; thou shalt prosper, provided thou be just, grateful, and
industrious."
HISTORY OF ANDREW, THE HEBRIDEAN
Let historians give the detail of our charters, the succession of
our several governors, and of their administrations; of our
political struggles, and of the foundation of our towns: let
annalists amuse themselves with collecting anecdotes of the
establishment of our modern provinces: eagles soar high--I, a
feebler bird, cheerfully content myself with skipping from bush to
bush, and living on insignificant insects. I am so habituated to
draw all my food and pleasure from the surface of the earth which I
till, that I cannot, nor indeed am I able to quit it--I therefore
present you with the short history of a simple Scotchman; though it
contain not a single remarkable event to amaze the reader; no
tragical scene to convulse the heart, or pathetic narrative to draw
tears from sympathetic eyes. All I wish to delineate is, the
progressive steps of a poor man, advancing from indigence to ease;
from oppression to freedom; from obscurity and contumely to some
degree of consequence--not by virtue of any freaks of fortune, but
by the gradual operation of sobriety, honesty, and emigration. These
are the limited fields, through which I love to wander; sure to find
in some parts, the smile of new-born happiness, the glad heart,
inspiring the cheerful song, the glow of manly pride excited by
vivid hopes and rising independence. I always return from my
neighbourly excursions extremely happy, because there I see good
living almost under every roof, and prosperous endeavours almost in
every field. But you may say, why don't you describe some of the
more ancient, opulent settlements of our country, where even the eye
of an European has something to admire? It is true, our American
fields are in general pleasing to behold, adorned and intermixed as
they are with so many substantial houses, flourishing orchards, and
copses of woodlands; the pride of our farms, the source of every
good we possess. But what I might observe there is but natural and
common; for to draw comfortable subsistence from well fenced
cultivated fields, is easy to conceive. A father dies and leaves a
decent house and rich farm to his son; the son modernises the one,
and carefully tills the other; marries the daughter of a friend and
neighbour: this is the common prospect; but though it is rich and
pleasant, yet it is far from being so entertaining and instructive
as the one now in my view.
I had rather attend on the shore to welcome the poor European when
he arrives, I observe him in his first moments of embarrassment,
trace him throughout his primary difficulties, follow him step by
step, until he pitches his tent on some piece of land, and realises
that energetic wish which has made him quit his native land, his
kindred, and induced him to traverse a boisterous ocean. It is there
I want to observe his first thoughts and feelings, the first essays
of an industry, which hitherto has been suppressed. I wish to see
men cut down the first trees, erect their new buildings, till their
first fields, reap their first crops, and say for the first time in
their lives, "This is our own grain, raised from American soil--on
it we shall feed and grow fat, and convert the rest into gold and
silver." I want to see how the happy effects of their sobriety,
honesty, and industry are first displayed: and who would not take a
pleasure in seeing these strangers settling as new countrymen,
struggling with arduous difficulties, overcoming them, and becoming
happy.
Landing on this great continent is like going to sea, they must have
a compass, some friendly directing needle; or else they will
uselessly err and wander for a long time, even with a fair wind: yet
these are the struggles through which our forefathers have waded;
and they have left us no other records of them, but the possession
of our farms. The reflections I make on these new settlers recall to
my mind what my grandfather did in his days; they fill me with
gratitude to his memory as well as to that government, which invited
him to come, and helped him when he arrived, as well as many others.
Can I pass over these reflections without remembering thy name, O
Penn! thou best of legislators; who by the wisdom of thy laws hast
endowed human nature, within the bounds of thy province, with every
dignity it can possibly enjoy in a civilised state; and showed by
thy singular establishment, what all men might be if they would
follow thy example!
In the year 1770, I purchased some lands in the county of----, which
I intended for one of my sons; and was obliged to go there in order
to see them properly surveyed and marked out: the soil is good, but
the country has a very wild aspect. However I observed with
pleasure, that land sells very fast; and I am in hopes when the lad
gets a wife, it will be a well-settled decent country. Agreeable to
our customs, which indeed are those of nature, it is our duty to
provide for our eldest children while we live, in order that our
homesteads may be left to the youngest, who are the most helpless.
Some people are apt to regard the portions given to daughters as so
much lost to the family; but this is selfish, and is not agreeable
to my way of thinking; they cannot work as men do; they marry young:
I have given an honest European a farm to till for himself, rent
free, provided he clears an acre of swamp every year, and that he
quits it whenever my daughter shall marry. It will procure her a
substantial husband, a good farmer--and that is all my ambition.
Whilst I was in the woods I met with a party of Indians; I shook
hands with them, and I perceived they had killed a cub; I had a
little Peach brandy, they perceived it also, we therefore joined
company, kindled a large fire, and ate an hearty supper. I made
their hearts glad, and we all reposed on good beds of leaves. Soon
after dark, I was surprised to hear a prodigious hooting through the
woods; the Indians laughed heartily. One of them, more skilful than
the rest, mimicked the owls so exactly, that a very large one
perched on a high tree over our fire. We soon brought him down; he
measured five feet seven inches from one extremity of the wings to
the other. By Captain----I have sent you the talons, on which I have
had the heads of small candlesticks fixed. Pray keep them on the
table of your study for my sake.
Contrary to my expectation, I found myself under the necessity of
going to Philadelphia, in order to pay the purchase money, and to
have the deeds properly recorded. I thought little of the journey,
though it was above two hundred miles, because I was well acquainted
with many friends, at whose houses I intended to stop. The third
night after I left the woods, I put up at Mr.----'s, the most worthy
citizen I know; he happened to lodge at my house when you was
there.--He kindly inquired after your welfare, and desired I would
make a friendly mention of him to you. The neatness of these good
people is no phenomenon, yet I think this excellent family surpasses
everything I know. No sooner did I lie down to rest than I thought
myself in a most odoriferous arbour, so sweet and fragrant were the
sheets. Next morning I found my host in the orchard destroying
caterpillars. I think, friend B., said I, that thee art greatly
departed from the good rules of the society; thee seemeth to have
quitted that happy simplicity for which it hath hitherto been so
remarkable. Thy rebuke, friend James, is a pretty heavy one; what
motive canst thee have for thus accusing us? Thy kind wife made a
mistake last evening, I said; she put me on a bed of roses, instead
of a common one; I am not used to such delicacies. And is that all,
friend James, that thee hast to reproach us with?--Thee wilt not
call it luxury I hope? thee canst but know that it is the produce of
our garden; and friend Pope sayeth, that "to enjoy is to obey." This
is a most learned excuse indeed, friend B., and must be valued
because it is founded upon truth. James, my wife hath done nothing
more to thy bed than what is done all the year round to all the beds
in the family; she sprinkles her linen with rose-water before she
puts it under the press; it is her fancy, and I have nought to say.
But thee shalt not escape so, verily I will send for her; thee and
she must settle the matter, whilst I proceed on my work, before the
sun gets too high.--Tom, go thou and call thy mistress Philadelphia.
What. said I, is thy wife called by that name? I did not know that
before. I'll tell thee, James, how it came to pass: her grandmother
was the first female child born after William Penn landed with the
rest of our brethren; and in compliment to the city he intended to
build, she was called after the name he intended to give it; and so
there is always one of the daughters of her family known by the name
of Philadelphia. She soon came, and after a most friendly
altercation, I gave up the point; breakfasted, departed, and in four
days reached the city.
A week after news came that a vessel was arrived with Scotch
emigrants. Mr. C. and I went to the dock to see them disembark. It
was a scene which inspired me with a variety of thoughts; here are,
said I to my friend, a number of people, driven by poverty, and
other adverse causes, to a foreign land, in which they know nobody.
The name of a stranger, instead of implying relief, assistance, and
kindness, on the contrary, conveys very different ideas. They are
now distressed; their minds are racked by a variety of
apprehensions, fears, and hopes. It was this last powerful sentiment
which has brought them here. If they are good people, I pray that
heaven may realise them. Whoever were to see them thus gathered
again in five or six years, would behold a more pleasing sight, to
which this would serve as a very powerful contrast. By their
honesty, the vigour of their arms, and the benignity of government,
their condition will be greatly improved; they will be well clad,
fat, possessed of that manly confidence which property confers; they
will become useful citizens. Some of the posterity may act
conspicuous parts in our future American transactions. Most of them
appeared pale and emaciated, from the length of the passage, and the
indifferent provision on which they had lived. The number of
children seemed as great as that of the people; they had all paid
for being conveyed here. The captain told us they were a quiet,
peaceable, and harmless people, who had never dwelt in cities. This
was a valuable cargo; they seemed, a few excepted, to be in the full
vigour of their lives. Several citizens, impelled either by
spontaneous attachments, or motives of humanity, took many of them
to their houses; the city, agreeable to its usual wisdom and
humanity, ordered them all to be lodged in the barracks, and plenty
of provisions to be given them. My friend pitched upon one also and
led him to his house, with his wife, and a son about fourteen years
of age. The majority of them had contracted for land the year
before, by means of an agent; the rest depended entirely upon
chance; and the one who followed us was of this last class. Poor
man, he smiled on receiving the invitation, and gladly accepted it,
bidding his wife and son do the same, in a language which I did not
understand. He gazed with uninterrupted attention on everything he
saw; the houses, the inhabitants, the negroes, and carriages:
everything appeared equally new to him; and we went slow, in order
to give him time to feed on this pleasing variety. Good God! said
he, is this Philadelphia, that blessed city of bread and provisions,
of which we have heard so much? I am told it was founded the same
year in which my father was born; why, it is finer than Greenock and
Glasgow, which are ten times as old. It is so, said my friend to
him, and when thee hast been here a month, thee will soon see that
it is the capital of a fine province, of which thee art going to be
a citizen: Greenock enjoys neither such a climate nor such a soil.
Thus we slowly proceeded along, when we met several large Lancaster
six-horse waggons, just arrived from the country. At this stupendous
sight he stopped short, and with great diffidence asked us what was
the use of these great moving houses, and where those big horses
came from? Have you none such at home, I asked him? Oh, no; these
huge animals would eat all the grass of our island! We at last
reached my friend's house, who in the glow of well-meant
hospitality, made them all three sit down to a good dinner, and gave
them as much cider as they could drink. God bless this country, and
the good people it contains, said he; this is the best meal's
victuals I have made a long time.--I thank you kindly.
What part of Scotland dost thee come from, friend Andrew, said Mr.
C.? Some of us come from the main, some from the island of Barra, he
answered--I myself am a Barra man. I looked on the map, and by its
latitude, easily guessed that it must be an inhospitable climate.
What sort of land have you got there, I asked him? Bad enough, said
he; we have no such trees as I see here, no wheat, no kine, no
apples. Then, I observed, that it must be hard for the poor to live.
We have no poor, he answered, we are all alike, except our laird;
but he cannot help everybody. Pray what is the name of your laird?
Mr. Neiel, said Andrew; the like of him is not to be found in any of
the isles; his forefathers have lived there thirty generations ago,
as we are told. Now, gentlemen, you may judge what an ancient family
estate it must be. But it is cold, the land is thin, and there were
too many of us, which are the reasons that some are come to seek
their fortunes here. Well, Andrew, what step do you intend to take
in order to become rich? I do not know, Sir; I am but an ignorant
man, a stranger besides--I must rely on the advice of good
Christians, they would not deceive me, I am sure. I have brought
with me a character from our Barra minister, can it do me any good
here? Oh, yes; but your future success will depend entirely on your
own conduct; if you are a sober man, as the certificate says,
laborious, and honest, there is no fear but that you will do well.
Have you brought any money with you, Andrew? Yes, Sir, eleven
guineas and an half. Upon my word it is a considerable sum for a
Barra man; how came you by so much money? Why seven years ago I
received a legacy of thirty-seven pounds from an uncle, who loved me
much; my wife brought me two guineas, when the laird gave her to me
for a wife, which I have saved ever since. I have sold all I had; I
worked in Glasgow for some time. I am glad to hear you are so saving
and prudent; be so still; you must go and hire yourself with some
good people; what can you do? I can thresh a little, and handle the
spade. Can you plough? Yes, Sir, with the little breast plough I
have brought with me. These won't do here, Andrew; you are an able
man; if you are willing you will soon learn. I'll tell you what I
intend to do; I'll send you to my house, where you shall stay two or
three weeks, there you must exercise yourself with the axe, that is
the principal tool the Americans want, and particularly the back-
settlers. Can your wife spin? Yes, she can. Well then as soon as you
are able to handle the axe, you shall go and live with Mr. P. R., a
particular friend of mine, who will give you four dollars per month,
for the first six, and the usual price of five as long as you remain
with him. I shall place your wife in another house, where she shall
receive half a dollar a week for spinning; and your son a dollar a
month to drive the team. You shall have besides good victuals to
eat, and good beds to lie on; will all this satisfy you, Andrew? He
hardly understood what I said; the honest tears of gratitude fell
from his eyes as he looked at me, and its expressions seemed to
quiver on his lips.--Though silent, this was saying a great deal;
there was besides something extremely moving to see a man six feet
high thus shed tears; and they did not lessen the good opinion I had
entertained of him. At last he told me, that my offers were more
than he deserved, and that he would first begin to work for his
victuals. No, no, said I, if you are careful and sober, and do what
you can, you shall receive what I told you, after you have served a
short apprenticeship at my house. May God repay you for all your
kindnesses, said Andrew; as long as I live I shall thank you, and do
what I can for you. A few days after I sent them all three to----,
by the return of some waggons, that he might have an opportunity of
viewing, and convincing himself of the utility of those machines
which he had at first so much admired.
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