“ country, about fifty years ago, was uncultivated and almoft
“ deftitute o f inhabitants.
“ A Chinefe merchant, commander o f a vefifel which he em-
“ ployed in commerce, frequented thefe coafts ; being a man of
“ that intelligent refledtive genius, which fó charadferiftically
<t marks his nation, he could not, without pain, behold immenfe
<< trails of ground condemned to fterility, though naturally more
“ fertile than thofe which formed the riches of his own
“ country ; he formed, therefore, a plan for their improvement :
d wjth this view, having firft of all hired a number o f la-
“ borers, fome Chinefe, others from the neighboring nations,
« he, with great addrefs, infinuated himfelf into the favor o f
“ the moft powerful princes, who, for a certain fubfidy, afiigned
“ him a guard for his protedtion.
“ In the courfe o f his voyage to Batavia, and the Philippine
“ iflands, he borrowed from the Europeans their moft ufeful dif-
|| coveries and improvements, particularly the art o f fortificali
tion and defence ; with regard to internal police, he gave the
« preference to the Chinefe. The profits o f his commerce foon
0 enabled him to raife ramparts, fink ditches, and provide arti
tillery ; thefe preliminary precautions fècùred him from a
<s coup de main, and protected him from the enterprizes o f the
“ furrounding nations ofbàrbàrians.
“ He diftributed the lands to his laborers, without the leaft
refervation o f any of thofe duties or taxes known by the names
“ o f fervice, or fines o f alienation ; duties which, by allowing no
ft real property, become the moft fatal fcourge to agriculture,
« and is an idèa which revolts againft the common fenfe of
“ every
“ every wife nation. He provided his colonifts at the fame time
« with all forts o f inftruments proper for the labor and improve-
« ment of their grounds.
“ In forming a laboring, and commercial people, he thought
M that no laws ought to be framed, but thofe which nature has
eftabliihed for the human race in every climate; he made
<< thefe laws refpeited by obeying them firft himfelf, and exhi-
“ biting an example o f fimplicity, induftry, frugality, humanity,
“ and good faith : he formed, then, no fyftem o f laws—he did
« more— he eftabliihed morals.
“ His territories foon became the country o f every induftri-
“ ous man who wiihed to fettle there; his port was open to all
« nations. The woods were cleared, the grounds judiciouily
“ labored, and fown with rice ; canals cut from the rivers wa-
“ tered their fields; and plentiful havvefts, after fupplying them
“ with fubfiftence, furniihed an objeit o f extenfive commerce.
<l His integrity, his moderation, and his humanity, made him re-
« fpedfed. He never wiihed to reign, but only to eftablifh the
“ empire o f reafon; his fon, who now fills his place, inherits
« his virtues as well as his pofieffions; by agriculture, and the
“ commerce he carries on with the produce of his lands, he has
become io powerful, that the barbarians, his neighbors, ftile
“ him king, a title which he defpifes : he pretends to no right of
“ fovereignty, but the nobleft o f all, that of doing good ; happy
“ in being the firft laborer and the firft merchant o f his country,
“ he merits, as well as his father, a title more glorious than that
u o f king— the friend o f mankind.
“ T he barbarians.of the neighborhQod„amazqd to fee abun-
H a “ dance