First, The engrossing of uncultivated land,
though it has by no means been prevented altogether,
has been more restrained in the English
colonies than in any other. The colony
law, which imposes upon every proprietor the
obligation of improving and cultivating, within
a limited time, a certain proportion of his
lands, and which, in case of failure, declares
those neglected lands grantable to any other
person; though it has not perhaps been very
strictly executed, has, however, had some effect.
Secondly, In Pennsylvania there is no right
of primogeniture, and lands, like moveables,
are divided equally among all the children of
the family. In three of the provinces of New
England, the oldest has only a double share,
as in the Mosaical law. Though in those
provinces, therefore, too great a quantity of
land should sometimes be engrossed by a particular
individual, it is likely, in the course of
a generation or two, to be sufficiently divided
again. In the other English colonies, indeed,
the right of primogeniture takes place, as in
the law of England: But in all the English
colonies, the tenure of the lands, which are all
held by free soccage, facilitates alienation; and
the grantee of an extensive tract of land generally
finds it for his interest to alienate, as fast
as he can, the greater part of it, reserving only
a small quit-rent. In the Spanish and Portuguese
colonies, what is called the right of
majorazzo takes place in the succession of all
those great estates to which any title of honour
is annexed. Such estates go all to one
person, and are in effect entailed and unalienable.
The French colonies, indeed, are subject
to the custom of Paris, which, in the inheritance
of land, is much more favourable to
the younger children than the law of England.
But, in the French colonies, if any part of an
estate, held by the noble tenure of chivalry
and homage, is alienated, it is, for a limited
time, subject to the right of redemption, either
by the heir of the superior, or by the heir of
the family; and all the largest estates of the
country are held by such noble tenures, which
necessarily embarrass alienation. But, in a
new colony, a great uncultivated estate is likely
to be much more speedily divided by alienation
than by succession. The plenty and
cheapness of good land, it has already been
observed, are the principal causes of the rapid
prosperity of new colonies. The engrossing
of land, in effect, destroys this plenty and
cheapness. The engrossing of uncultivated
land, besides, is the greatest obstruction to its
improvement; but the labour that is employed
in the improvement and cultivation of land
affords the greatest and most valuable produce
to the society. The produce of labour, in this
case, pays not only its own wages and the
profit of the stock which employs it, but the
rent of the land too upon which it is employed.
The labour of the English colonies,
therefore, being more employed in the improvement
and cultivation of land, is likely to
afford a greater and more valuable produce
than that of any of the other three nations,
which, by the engrossing of land, is more or
less diverted towards other employments.
Thirdly, The labour of the English colonists
is not only likely to afford a greater and
more valuable produce, but, in consequence
of the moderation of their taxes, a greater proportion
of this produce belongs to themselves,
which they may store up and employ in putting
into motion a still greater quantity of labour.
The English colonists have never yet
contributed any thing towards the defence of
the mother country, or towards the support of
its civil government. They themselves, on
the contrary, have hitherto been defended almost
entirely at the expense of the mother
country; but the expense of fleets and armies
is out of all proportion greater than the necessary
expense of civil government. The expense
of their own civil government has always
been very moderate. It has generally
been confined to what was necessary for paying
competent salaries to the governor, to the
judges, and to some other officers of police,
and for maintaining a few of the must useful
public works. The expense of the civil establishment
of Massachusetts Bay, before the
commencement of the present disturbances,
used to be but about L.18,000 a-year; that of
New Hampshire and Rhode Island, L.3500
each; that of Connecticut, L.4000; that of
New York and Pennsylvania, L.4500 each;
that of New Jersey, L.1200; that of Virginia
and South Carolina, L.8000 each. The civil
establishments of Nova Scotia and Georgia
are partly supported by an annual grant of
parliament; but Nova Scotia pays, besides,
about L.7000 a-year towards the public expenses
of the colony, and Georgia about
L.2500 a-year. All the different civil establishments
in North America, in short, exclusive
of those of Maryland and North Carolina,
of which no exact account has been got,
did not, before the commencement of the present
disturbances, cost the inhabitants above
L.64,700 a-year; an ever memorable example,
at how small an expense three millions of
people may not only be governed but well governed.
The must important part of the expense
of government, indeed, that of defence
and protection, has constantly fallen upon the
mother country. The ceremonial, too, of the
civil government in the colonies, upon the reception
of a new governor, upon the opening
of a new assembly, &c. though sufficiently decent,
is not accompanied with any expensive
pomp or parade. Their ecclesiastical government
is conducted upon a plan equally frugal.
Tithes are unknown among them; and
their clergy, who are far from being numerous,
are maintained either by moderate stipends,
or by the voluntary contributions of