Page:American History Told by Contemporaries, v2.djvu/81

No. 20] oppress'd in so tender a Point as their Consciences, 'tis but reasonable to suppose, that many of them will go where they can make themselves easy ; for the Confirmation of this Observation, we need look no further at present than Ireland, from whence, if I am rightly inform'd, above 6000 Scotch Presbyterians have shipp'd off themselves and their Effects within these few Years for the Plantations of America, chiefly on the Account of the Uneasinesses they were under, with Regard to the free Exercise of their Religion : And great Numbers are still going over every Summer, which if the Legislature are not pleas d to take into Consideration, may in Time very much weaken, if not totally subvert the Protestant Religion in that Kingdom.

To such Causes as these, New-England owes the vast Increase of its Inhabitants. . . the whole Number of Inhabitants must now amount to 160 or 165,000, and of them about 30 or 35000 fighting Men, which is the Military Strength of the Country.

this Calculation we may conclude, that the Province of New-England is in no great Danger at present from any of its Neighbours, for the Indians are an inconsiderable Body of themselves, and if the French should joyn them, though they might ravage the Frontiers by their flying Parties, they could make no Impressions upon the Heart of the Country ; besides the Indians are divided, some being in Alliance with the French, and others with the English so that in case of a War they may be play'd one against the other. . ..

As the Government of New-England is dependant on the Crown of England, so is their Trade ; tis impossible to make an exact Estimate of the Exports and Imports from New-England, without examining the Custom-House-Books, but 'tis computed by the most experienced Merchants trading to those Parts, that they receive from hence all Sorts of Woollen-Drapery, Silks, Stuffs, and Hats ; all Sorts of Linnen, and printed Callicoes, all Sorts of Iron Manufacture, and Birmingham Ware, as Tools for Mechanicks, Knives, Scissars, Buckles, Nails &c. to the Value of 100,000 l. annually, and upwards.

Return for these Goods, our Merchants export from thence about 100,000 Quintals of dried Cod-fish yearly, which they send to Portugal, Spain, and the several Ports of Italy, the Returns for which are made to London out of the Product of those Countries, and may amount to the Value of about 80,000 l. annually. . ..

in the Concerns of Civil Life, as in their Dress, Tables, and Conversation, they affect to be as much English as possible ; there is no