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who had theſe tender and pleaſing ties to bind them to the property.[1]
A planter who wiſhes to look forward to future independency, ſhould not be too ſanguine in his purchaſes, under the idea of puſhing his property to decreaſe his debt: he ſhould conſider, that, for what he buys, notwithſtanding the temptations of a long credit, he muſt be at laſt obliged to pay; he ſhould conſider beſides that intereſt is a perpetual motion, and that even with the beſt proſpects, hurricanes may ſweep away, the blaſt deſtroy, or drought burn up his canes. Expence is certain, but the fruits of that expence precarious: and I rather think that eſtate will be the ſooneſt clear of debt (for I conſider almoſt all in the Weſt-Indies to be ſo, particularly ſince the late calamitous viſitations of heaven) which proceeds with a mild and ſteady operation of its ſtrength and means, the proprietor of which is more
- ↑ I am of opinion that the average of negro children raiſed upon a plantation will be worth more ſeven years after their birth, than the ſame number of African ſlaves ſeven years after their purchaſe. A creole of twelve years old I conſider of more value to the plantation upon which he is born, than the pick of two out of a ſhip would ultimately turn out to be.
