Books: Letters from an American Farmer

H >> Hector St. John de Crevecoeur >> Letters from an American Farmer

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The further descriptions he gave us of the Hebrides in general, and
of his native island in particular; of the customs and modes of
living of the inhabitants; greatly entertained me. Pray is the
sterility of the soil the cause that there are no trees, or is it
because there are none planted? What are the modern families of all
the kings of the earth, compared to the date of that of Mr. Neiel?
Admitting that each generation should last but forty years, this
makes a period of 1200; an extraordinary duration for the
uninterrupted descent of any family! Agreeably to the description he
gave us of those countries, they seem to live according to the rules
of nature, which gives them but bare subsistence; their
constitutions are uncontaminated by any excess or effeminacy, which
their soil refuses. If their allowance of food is not too scanty,
they must all be healthy by perpetual temperance and exercise; if
so, they are amply rewarded for their poverty. Could they have
obtained but necessary food, they would not have left it; for it was
not in consequence of oppression, either from their patriarch or the
government, that they had emigrated. I wish we had a colony of these
honest people settled in some parts of this province; their morals,
their religion, seem to be as simple as their manners. This society
would present an interesting spectacle could they be transported on
a richer soil. But perhaps that soil would soon alter everything;
for our opinions, vices, and virtues, are altogether local: we are
machines fashioned by every circumstance around us.

Andrew arrived at my house a week before I did, and I found my wife,
agreeable to my instructions, had placed the axe in his hands, as
his first task. For some time he was very awkward, but he was so
docile, so willing, and grateful, as well as his wife, that I
foresaw he would succeed. Agreeably to my promise, I put them all
with different families, where they were well liked, and all parties
were pleased. Andrew worked hard, lived well, grew fat, and every
Sunday came to pay me a visit on a good horse, which Mr. P. R. lent
him. Poor man, it took him a long time ere he could sit on the
saddle and hold the bridle properly. I believe he had never before
mounted such a beast, though I did not choose to ask him that
question, for fear it might suggest some mortifying ideas. After
having been twelve months at Mr. P. R.'s, and having received his
own and his family's wages, which amounted to eighty-four dollars;
he came to see me on a week-day, and told me, that he was a man of
middle age, and would willingly have land of his own, in order to
procure him a home, as a shelter against old age: that whenever this
period should come, his son, to whom he would give his land, would
then maintain him, and thus live altogether; he therefore required
my advice and assistance. I thought his desire very natural and
praiseworthy, and told him that I should think of it, but that he
must remain one month longer with Mr. P. R., who had 3000 rails to
split. He immediately consented. The spring was not far advanced
enough yet for Andrew to begin clearing any land even supposing that
he had made a purchase; as it is always necessary that the leaves
should be out, in order that this additional combustible may serve
to burn the heaps of brush more readily.

A few days after, it happened that the whole family of Mr. P. R.
went to meeting, and left Andrew to take care of the house. While he
was at the door, attentively reading the Bible, nine Indians just
come from the mountains, suddenly made their appearance, and
unloaded their packs of furs on the floor of the piazza. Conceive,
if you can, what was Andrew's consternation at this extraordinary
sight! From the singular appearance of these people, the honest
Hebridean took them for a lawless band come to rob his master's
house. He therefore, like a faithful guardian, precipitately
withdrew and shut the doors, but as most of our houses are without
locks, he was reduced to the necessity of fixing his knife over the
latch, and then flew upstairs in quest of a broadsword he had
brought from Scotland. The Indians, who were Mr. P. R.'s particular
friends, guessed at his suspicions and fears; they forcibly lifted
the door, and suddenly took possession of the house, got all the
bread and meat they wanted, and sat themselves down by the fire. At
this instant Andrew, with his broadsword in his hand, entered the
room; the Indians earnestly looking at him, and attentively watching
his motions. After a very few reflections, Andrew found that his
weapon was useless, when opposed to nine tomahawks; but this did not
diminish his anger, on the contrary; it grew greater on observing
the calm impudence with which they were devouring the family
provisions. Unable to resist, he called them names in broad Scotch,
and ordered them to desist and be gone; to which the Indians (as
they told me afterwards) replied in their equally broad idiom. It
must have been a most unintelligible altercation between this honest
Barra man, and nine Indians who did not much care for anything he
could say. At last he ventured to lay his hands on one of them, in
order to turn him out of the house. Here Andrew's fidelity got the
better of his prudence; for the Indian, by his motions, threatened
to scalp him, while the rest gave the war hoop. This horrid noise so
effectually frightened poor Andrew, that, unmindful of his courage,
of his broadsword, and his intentions, he rushed out, left them
masters of the house, and disappeared. I have heard one of the
Indians say since, that he never laughed so heartily in his life.
Andrew at a distance, soon recovered from the fears which had been
inspired by this infernal yell, and thought of no other remedy than
to go to the meeting-house, which was about two miles distant. In
the eagerness of his honest intentions, with looks of affright still
marked on his countenance, he called Mr. P. R. out, and told him
with great vehemence of style, that nine monsters were come to his
house--some blue, some red, and some black; that they had little
axes in their hands out of which they smoked; and that like
highlanders, they had no breeches; that they were devouring all his
victuals, and that God only knew what they would do more. Pacify
yourself, said Mr. P. R., my house is as safe with these people, as
if I was there myself; as for the victuals, they are heartily
welcome, honest Andrew; they are not people of much ceremony; they
help themselves thus whenever they are among their friends; I do so
too in their wigwams, whenever I go to their village: you had better
therefore step in and hear the remainder of the sermon, and when the
meeting is over we will all go back in the waggon together.

At their return, Mr. P. R., who speaks the Indian language very
well, explained the whole matter; the Indians renewed their laugh,
and shook hands with honest Andrew, whom they made to smoke out of
their pipes; and thus peace was made, and ratified according to the
Indian custom, by the calumet.

Soon after this adventure, the time approached when I had promised
Andrew my best assistance to settle him; for that purpose I went to
Mr. A. V. in the county of----, who, I was informed, had purchased a
tract of land, contiguous to----settlement. I gave him a faithful
detail of the progress Andrew had made in the rural arts; of his
honesty, sobriety, and gratitude, and pressed him to sell him an
hundred acres. This I cannot comply with, said Mr. A. V., but at the
same time I will do better; I love to encourage honest Europeans as
much as you do, and to see them prosper: you tell me he has but one
son; I will lease them an hundred acres for any term of years you
please, and make it more valuable to your Scotchman than if he was
possessed of the fee simple. By that means he may, with what little
money he has, buy a plough, a team, and some stock; he will not be
incumbered with debts and mortgages; what he raises will be his own;
had he two or three sons as able as himself, then I should think it
more eligible for him to purchase the fee simple. I join with you in
opinion, and will bring Andrew along with me in a few days.

Well, honest Andrew, said Mr. A. V., in consideration of your good
name, I will let you have an hundred acres of good arable land, that
shall be laid out along a new road; there is a bridge already
erected on the creek that passes through the land, and a fine swamp
of about twenty acres. These are my terms, I cannot sell, but I will
lease you the quantity that Mr. James, your friend, has asked; the
first seven years you shall pay no rent, whatever you sow and reap,
and plant and gather, shall be entirely your own; neither the king,
government, nor church, will have any claim on your future property:
the remaining part of the time you must give me twelve dollars and
an half a year; and that is all you will have to pay me. Within the
three first years you must plant fifty apple trees, and clear seven
acres of swamp within the first part of the lease; it will be your
own advantage: whatever you do more within that time, I will pay you
for it, at the common rate of the country. The term of the lease
shall be thirty years; how do you like it, Andrew? Oh, Sir, it is
very good, but I am afraid, that the king or his ministers, or the
governor, or some of our great men, will come and take the land from
me; your son may say to me, by and by, this is my father's land,
Andrew, you must quit it. No, no, said Mr. A. V., there is no such
danger; the king and his ministers are too just to take the labour
of a poor settler; here we have no great men, but what are
subordinate to our laws; but to calm all your fears, I will give you
a lease, so that none can make you afraid. If ever you are
dissatisfied with the land, a jury of your own neighbourhood shall
value all your improvements, and you shall be paid agreeably to
their verdict. You may sell the lease, or if you die, you may
previously dispose of it, as if the land was your own. Expressive,
yet inarticulate joy, was mixed in his countenance, which seemed
impressed with astonishment and confusion. Do you understand me
well, said Mr. A. V.? No, Sir, replied Andrew, I know nothing of
what you mean about lease, improvement, will, jury, etc. That is
honest, we will explain these things to you by and by. It must be
confessed that those were hard words, which he had never heard in
his life; for by his own account, the ideas they convey would be
totally useless in the island of Barra. No wonder, therefore, that
he was embarrassed; for how could the man who had hardly a will of
his own since he was born, imagine he could have one after his
death? How could the person who never possessed anything, conceive
that he could extend his new dominion over this land, even after he
should be laid in his grave? For my part, I think Andrew's amazement
did not imply any extraordinary degree of ignorance; he was an actor
introduced upon a new scene, it required some time ere he could
reconcile himself to the part he was to perform. However he was soon
enlightened, and introduced into those mysteries with which we
native Americans are but too well acquainted.

Here then is honest Andrew, invested with every municipal advantage
they confer; become a freeholder, possessed of a vote, of a place of
residence, a citizen of the province of Pennsylvania. Andrew's
original hopes and the distant prospects he had formed in the island
of Barra, were at the eve of being realised; we therefore can easily
forgive him a few spontaneous ejaculations, which would be useless
to repeat. This short tale is easily told; few words are sufficient
to describe this sudden change of situation; but in his mind it was
gradual, and took him above a week before he could be sure, that
without disturbing any money he could possess lands. Soon after he
prepared himself; I lent him a barrel of pork, and 200 lb. weight of
meal, and made him purchase what was necessary besides.

He set out, and hired a room in the house of a settler who lived the
most contiguous to his own land. His first work was to clear some
acres of swamp, that he might have a supply of hay the following
year for his two horses and cows. From the first day he began to
work, he was indefatigable; his honesty procured him friends, and
his industry the esteem of his new neighbours. One of them offered
him two acres of cleared land, whereon he might plant corn,
pumpkins, squashes, and a few potatoes, that very season. It is
astonishing how quick men will learn when they work for themselves.
I saw with pleasure two months after, Andrew holding a two-horse
plough and tracing his furrows quite straight; thus the spade man of
the island of Barra was become the tiller of American soil. Well
done, said I, Andrew, well done; I see that God speeds and directs
your works; I see prosperity delineated in all your furrows and head
lands. Raise this crop of corn with attention and care, and then you
will be master of the art.

As he had neither mowing nor reaping to do that year, I told him
that the time was come to build his house; and that for the purpose
I would myself invite the neighbourhood to a frolic; that thus he
would have a large dwelling erected, and some upland cleared in one
day. Mr. P. R., his old friend, came at the time appointed, with all
his hands, and brought victuals in plenty: I did the same. About
forty people repaired to the spot; the songs, and merry stories,
went round the woods from cluster to cluster, as the people had
gathered to their different works; trees fell on all sides, bushes
were cut up and heaped; and while many were thus employed, others
with their teams hauled the big logs to the spot which Andrew had
pitched upon for the erection of his new dwelling. We all dined in
the woods; in the afternoon the logs were placed with skids, and the
usual contrivances: thus the rude house was raised, and above two
acres of land cut up, cleared, and heaped.

Whilst all these different operations were performing, Andrew was
absolutely incapable of working; it was to him the most solemn
holiday he had ever seen; it would have been sacrilegious in him to
have denied it with menial labour. Poor man, he sanctified it with
joy and thanksgiving, and honest libations--he went from one to the
other with the bottle in his hand, pressing everybody to drink, and
drinking himself to show the example. He spent the whole day in
smiling, laughing, and uttering monosyllables: his wife and son were
there also, but as they could not understand the language, their
pleasure must have been altogether that of the imagination. The
powerful lord, the wealthy merchant, on seeing the superb mansion
finished, never can feel half the joy and real happiness which was
felt and enjoyed on that day by this honest Hebridean: though this
new dwelling, erected in the midst of the woods, was nothing more
than a square inclosure, composed of twenty-four large clumsy logs,
let in at the ends. When the work was finished, the company made the
woods resound with the noise of their three cheers, and the honest
wishes they formed for Andrew's prosperity. He could say nothing,
but with thankful tears he shook hands with them all. Thus from the
first day he had landed, Andrew marched towards this important
event: this memorable day made the sun shine on that land on which
he was to sow wheat and other grain. What swamp he had cleared lay
before his door; the essence of future bread, milk, and meat, were
scattered all round him. Soon after he hired a carpenter, who put on
a roof and laid the floors; in a week more the house was properly
plastered, and the chimney finished. He moved into it, and purchased
two cows, which found plenty of food in the woods--his hogs had the
same advantage. That very year, he and his son sowed three bushels
of wheat, from which he reaped ninety-one and a half; for I had
ordered him to keep an exact account of all he should raise. His
first crop of other corn would have been as good, had it not been
for the squirrels, which were enemies not to be dispersed by the
broadsword. The fourth year I took an inventory of the wheat this
man possessed, which I send you. Soon after, further settlements
were made on that road, and Andrew, instead of being the last man
towards the wilderness, found himself in a few years in the middle
of a numerous society. He helped others as generously as others had
helped him; and I have dined many times at his table with several of
his neighbours. The second year he was made overseer of the road,
and served on two petty juries, performing as a citizen all the
duties required of him. The historiographer of some great prince or
general, does not bring his hero victorious to the end of a
successful campaign, with one half of the heart-felt pleasure with
which I have conducted Andrew to the situation he now enjoys: he is
independent and easy. Triumph and military honours do not always
imply those two blessings. He is unencumbered with debts, services,
rents, or any other dues; the successes of a campaign, the laurels
of war, must be purchased at the dearest rate, which makes every
cool reflecting citizen to tremble and shudder. By the literal
account hereunto annexed, you will easily be made acquainted with
the happy effects which constantly flow, in this country, from
sobriety and industry, when united with good land and freedom.

The account of the property he acquired with his own hands and those
of his son, in four years, is under:

Dollars

The value of his improvements and lease 225
Six cows, at 13 dollars 78
Two breeding mares 50
The rest of the stock 100
Seventy-three bushels of wheat 66
Money due to him on notes 43
Pork and beef in his cellar 28
Wool and flax 19
Ploughs and other utensils of husbandry 31
---
240 pounds Pennsylvania currency--dollars 640

LETTER IV

DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET, WITH THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS,
POLICY, AND TRADE OF THE INHABITANTS

The greatest compliment that can be paid to the best of kings, to
the wisest ministers, or the most patriotic rulers, is to think,
that the reformation of political abuses, and the happiness of their
people are the primary objects of their attention. But alas! how
disagreeable must the work of reformation be; how dreaded the
operation; for we hear of no amendment: on the contrary, the great
number of European emigrants, yearly coming over here, informs us,
that the severity of taxes, the injustice of laws, the tyranny of
the rich, and the oppressive avarice of the church; are as
intolerable as ever. Will these calamities have no end? Are not the
great rulers of the earth afraid of losing, by degrees, their most
useful subjects? This country, providentially intended for the
general asylum of the world, will flourish by the oppression of
their people; they will every day become better acquainted with the
happiness we enjoy, and seek for the means of transporting
themselves here, in spite of all obstacles and laws. To what purpose
then have so many useful books and divine maxims been transmitted to
us from preceding ages?--Are they all vain, all useless? Must human
nature ever be the sport of the few, and its many wounds remain
unhealed? How happy are we here, in having fortunately escaped the
miseries which attended our fathers; how thankful ought we to be,
that they reared us in a land where sobriety and industry never fail
to meet with the most ample rewards! You have, no doubt, read
several histories of this continent, yet there are a thousand facts,
a thousand explanations overlooked. Authors will certainly convey to
you a geographical knowledge of this country; they will acquaint you
with the eras of the several settlements, the foundations of our
towns, the spirit of our different charters, etc., yet they do not
sufficiently disclose the genius of the people, their various
customs, their modes of agriculture, the innumerable resources which
the industrious have of raising themselves to a comfortable and easy
situation. Few of these writers have resided here, and those who
have, had not pervaded every part of the country, nor carefully
examined the nature and principles of our association. It would be a
task worthy a speculative genius, to enter intimately into the
situation and characters of the people, from Nova Scotia to West
Florida; and surely history cannot possibly present any subject more
pleasing to behold. Sensible how unable I am to lead you through so
vast a maze, let us look attentively for some small unnoticed
corner; but where shall we go in quest of such a one? Numberless
settlements, each distinguished by some peculiarities, present
themselves on every side; all seem to realise the most sanguine
wishes that a good man could form for the happiness of his race.
Here they live by fishing on the most plentiful coasts in the world;
there they fell trees, by the sides of large rivers, for masts and
lumber; here others convert innumerable logs into the best boards;
there again others cultivate the land, rear cattle, and clear large
fields. Yet I have a spot in my view, where none of these
occupations are performed, which will, I hope, reward us for the
trouble of inspection; but though it is barren in its soil,
insignificant in its extent, inconvenient in its situation, deprived
of materials for building; it seems to have been inhabited merely to
prove what mankind can do when happily governed! Here I can point
out to you exertions of the most successful industry; instances of
native sagacity unassisted by science; the happy fruits of a well
directed perseverance. It is always a refreshing spectacle to me,
when in my review of the various component parts of this immense
whole, I observe the labours of its inhabitants singularly rewarded
by nature; when I see them emerged out of their first difficulties,
living with decency and ease, and conveying to their posterity that
plentiful subsistence, which their fathers have so deservedly
earned. But when their prosperity arises from the goodness of the
climate, and fertility of the soil; I partake of their happiness, it
is true; yet stay but a little while with them, as they exhibit
nothing but what is natural and common. On the contrary, when I meet
with barren spots fertilised, grass growing where none grew before;
grain gathered from fields which had hitherto produced nothing
better than brambles; dwellings raised where no building materials
were to be found; wealth acquired by the most uncommon means: there
I pause, to dwell on the favourite object of my speculative
inquiries. Willingly do I leave the former to enjoy the odoriferous
furrow, or their rich valleys, with anxiety repairing to the spot,
where so many difficulties have been overcome; where extraordinary
exertions have produced extraordinary effects, and where every
natural obstacle has been removed by a vigorous industry.

I want not to record the annals of the island of Nantucket--its
inhabitants have no annals, for they are not a race of warriors. My
simple wish is to trace them throughout their progressive steps,
from their arrival here to this present hour; to inquire by what
means they have raised themselves from the most humble, the most
insignificant beginnings, to the ease and the wealth they now
possess; and to give you some idea of their customs, religion,
manners, policy, and mode of living.

This happy settlement was not founded on intrusion, forcible
entries, or blood, as so many others have been; it drew its origin
from necessity on the one side, and from good will on the other; and
ever since, all has been a scene of uninterrupted harmony.--Neither
political, nor religious broils; neither disputes with the natives,
nor any other contentions, have in the least agitated or disturbed
its detached society. Yet the first founders knew nothing either of
Lycurgus or Solon; for this settlement has not been the work of
eminent men or powerful legislators, forcing nature by the
accumulated labours of art. This singular establishment has been
effected by means of that native industry and perseverance common to
all men, when they are protected by a government which demands but
little for its protection; when they are permitted to enjoy a system
of rational laws founded on perfect freedom. The mildness and
humanity of such a government necessarily implies that confidence
which is the source of the most arduous undertakings and permanent
success. Would you believe that a sandy spot, of about twenty-three
thousand acres, affording neither stones nor timber, meadows nor
arable, yet can boast of an handsome town, consisting of more than
500 houses, should possess above 200 sail of vessels, constantly
employ upwards of 2000 seamen, feed more than 15,000 sheep, 500
cows, 200 horses; and has several citizens worth 20,000 pounds
sterling! Yet all these facts are uncontroverted. Who would have
imagined that any people should have abandoned a fruitful and
extensive continent, filled with the riches which the most ample
vegetation affords; replete with good soil, enamelled meadows, rich
pastures, every kind of timber, and with all other materials
necessary to render life happy and comfortable: to come and inhabit
a little sandbank, to which nature had refused those advantages; to
dwell on a spot where there scarcely grew a shrub to announce, by
the budding of its leaves, the arrival of the spring, and to warn by
their fall the proximity of winter. Had this island been contiguous
to the shores of some ancient monarchy, it would only have been
occupied by a few wretched fishermen, who, oppressed by poverty,
would hardly have been able to purchase or build little fishing
barks; always dreading the weight of taxes, or the servitude of men-
of-war. Instead of that boldness of speculation for which the
inhabitants of this island are so remarkable, they would fearfully
have confined themselves, within the narrow limits of the most
trifling attempts; timid in their excursions, they never could have
extricated themselves from their first difficulties. This island, on
the contrary, contains 5000 hardy people, who boldly derive their
riches from the element that surrounds them, and have been compelled
by the sterility of the soil to seek abroad for the means of
subsistence. You must not imagine, from the recital of these facts,
that they enjoyed any exclusive privileges or royal charters, or
that they were nursed by particular immunities in the infancy of
their settlement. No, their freedom, their skill, their probity, and
perseverance, have accomplished everything, and brought them by
degrees to the rank they now hold.

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