Part 4 (2/2)

CHAPTER VI--THE FRENCH CLERGYMAN'S COUNSEL

Having thus given an account of the colony in general, and prettyof the Spaniards, ere the main body of the family, and in whose story there are soreat many discourses with thees They told ive of their application or ingenuity in that country; that they were a poor, miserable, dejected handful of people; that even if means had been put into their hands, yet they had so abandoned theht of theirOne of therave and sensible ; that it was not the part of wise ive themselves up to their misery, but always to take hold of the helps which reason offered, as well for present support as for future deliverance: he told nificant passion in the world, for that it regarded only things past, which were generally impossible to be recalled or to be res to co that looked like deliverance, but rather added to the affliction than proposed a remedy; and upon this he repeated a Spanish proverb, which, though I cannot repeat in the same words that he spoke it in, yet I relish proverb of my own, thus:--

”In trouble to be troubled, Is to have your trouble doubled”

He then ran on in remarks upon all the little improvements I had made in my solitude: my unwearied application, as he called it; and how I had made a condition, which in its circumstances was at first much worse than theirs, a thousand times ether He told reater presence of mind in their distress than any people that ever he uese were the worst le with ers, after the common efforts were over, was to despair, lie down under it, and die, without rousing their thoughts up to proper remedies for escape

I told hily; that they were cast upon the shore without necessaries, without supply of food, or present sustenance till they could provide for it; that, it was true, I had this further disadvantage and discomfort, that I was alone; but then the supplies I had providentially thrown intoof the shi+p on the shore, was such a help as would have encouraged any creature in the world to have applied hinior,” says the Spaniard, ”had we poor Spaniards been in your case, we should never have got half those things out of the shi+p, as you did: nay,” says he, ”we should never have found ot the raft on shore without boat or sail: and how much less should we have done if any of us had been alone!” Well, I desired hio on with the history of their co on shore, where they landed He told me they unhappily landed at a place where there were people without provisions; whereas, had they had the coone to another island a little further, they had found provisions, though without people: there being an island that way, as they had been told, where there were provisions, though no people--that is to say, that the Spaniards of Trinidad had frequently been there, and had filled the island with goats and hogs at several times, where they had bred in such multitudes, and where turtle and sea-foere in such plenty, that they could have been in no want of flesh, though they had found no bread; whereas, here they were only sustained with a few roots and herbs, which they understood not, and which had no substance in theh; and they could treat them no better, unless they would turn cannibals and eat ave es they ith, and to teach the, but in vain; and how they retorted upon them as unjust that they who came there for assistance and support should atteave the, it seems, that none should set up for the instructors of others but those who could live without theave me dismal accounts of the extremities they were driven to; how sometimes they were many days without any food at all, the island they were upon being inhabited by a sort of savages that lived more indolent, and for that reason were less supplied with the necessaries of life, than they had reason to believe others were in the saes were less ravenous and voracious than those who had better supplies of food Also, they added, they could not but see hat de providence of God directs the events of things in this world, which, they said, appeared in their circumstances: for if, pressed by the hardshi+ps they were under, and the barrenness of the country where they were, they had searched after a better to live in, they had then been out of the way of the relief that happened to theave st expected theo out with them into their wars; and, it was true, that as they had firearms with them, had they not had the disaster to lose their ammunition, they could have been serviceable not only to their friends, but have made the without powder and shot, and yet in a condition that they could not in reason decline to go out with their landlords to their wars; so when they came into the field of battle they were in a worse condition than the savages themselves, for they had neither bows nor arrows, nor could they use those the savages gave the but stand still and be wounded with arrows, till they came up to the teeth of the enemy; and then, indeed, the three halberds they had were of use to them; and they would often drive a whole little army before them with those halberds, and sharpened sticks put into the muzzles of their muskets But for all this they were soer from their arrows, till at last they found the way to ets of wood, which they covered with skins of wild beasts, whose names they knew not, and these covered the these, they were soer; and five of thees, which was the time when one of them was taken prisoner--that is to say, the Spaniard whoht he had been killed; but when they afterwards heard he was taken prisoner, they were under the greatest grief ily have all ventured their lives to have rescued him

They told me that when they were so knocked down, the rest of their co till they were coht had been dead; and then theyclose together in a line, through a body of above a thousand savages, beating down all that caot the victory over their enereat sorrow, because it ith the loss of their friend, who alive, carried off with soave an account before They described, most affectionately, how they were surprised with joy at the return of their friend and coht had been devoured by wild beasts of the worst kind--wild men; and yet, how ave them of his errand, and that there was a Christian in any place near, h, to contribute to their deliverance

They described how they were astonished at the sight of the relief I sent thes they had not seen since their co to that miserable place; how often they crossed it and blessed it as bread sent fro cordial it was to their spirits to taste it, as also the other things I had sent for their supply; and, after all, they would have told ht of a boat and pilots, to carry them away to the person and place from whence all these new comforts came But it was impossible to express it by words, for their excessive joy naturally driving theances, they had no way to describe the no way to give vent to their passions suitable to the sense that was upon them; that in some it worked one way and in soh a surprise of joy, would burst into tears, others be stark mad, and others immediately faint This discourse extremely affected me, and called to my mind Friday's ecstasy when he met his father, and the poor people's ecstasy when I took them up at sea after their shi+p was on fire; the joy of the mate of the shi+p when he found himself delivered in the place where he expected to perish; and ht years' captivity, I found a good shi+p ready to carry s made me more sensible of the relation of these poor iven a view of the state of things as I found them, I must relate the heads of what I did for these people, and the condition in which I left them It was their opinion, and es, or if they were, they would be able to cut them off, if they were twice as many as before; so they had no concern about that Then I entered into a serious discourse with the Spaniard, whoovernor, about their stay in the island; for as I was not come to carry any of them off, so it would not be just to carry off so to stay if their strength was diminished On the other hand, I told them I came to establish them there, not to reht with reat charge to supply thes necessary, as well for their convenience as their defence; and that I had such and such particular persons with me, as well to increase and recruit their number, as by the particular necessary e artificers, to assist thes in which at present they were in want

They were all together when I talked thus to theht, I asked theot and buried the first ani thee in a strict friendshi+p and union of interest, that so there s and jealousies

Will Atkins, with abundance of frankness and good huh to h to make them all friends; that, for his part, he would live and die with theainst the Spaniards, that he owned they had done nothing to him but what his own mad humour made necessary, and what he would have done, and perhaps worse, in their case; and that he would ask thes he had done to the in terms of entire friendshi+p and union with the that lay in his power to convince theland, he cared not if he did not go thither these twenty years

The Spaniards said they had, indeed, at first disarmed and excluded Will Atkins and his two countrymen for their ill conduct, as they had let me know, and they appealed to me for the necessity they were under to do so; but that Will Atkins had behaved hies, and on several occasions since, and had showed hieneral interest of theht he merited as much to be trusted with arms and supplied with necessaries as any of them; that they had testified their satisfaction in hiovernor himself; and as they had entire confidence in hied they had merited that confidence by all the methods that honest men could merit to be valued and trusted; and theyme this assurance, that they would never have any interest separate from one another

Upon these frank and open declarations of friendshi+p, we appointed the next day to dine all together; and, indeed, we made a splendid feast I caused the shi+p's cook and his mate to come on shore and dress our dinner, and the old cook's ht on shore six pieces of good beef and four pieces of pork, out of the shi+p's provisions, with our punch-bowl and ave thelish beer; things that neither the Spaniards nor the English had tasted for lad of The Spaniards added to our feast five whole kids, which the cooks roasted; and three of them were sent, covered up close, on board the shi+p to the seaht feast on fresh meat from on shore, as we did with their salt meat from on board

After this feast, at which ere very innocently ht be no dispute about dividing, I showed the that they oods that were for wearing As, first, I distributed linen sufficient to make every one of them four shi+rts, and, at the Spaniard's request, afterwardscoot the use of, or what it was to wear thelish stuffs, which I ht coat, like a frock, which I judged fittest for the heat of the season, cool and loose; and ordered that whenever they decayed, they should ht fit; the like for pus, hats, &c I cannot express what pleasure sat upon the countenances of all these poor men when they saw the care I had taken of them, and hoell I had furnished the such a correspondent as I was in so reet that they were left in a desolate place; and they all voluntarily engaged to me not to leave the place without my consent

Then I presented to theht with me, particularly the tailor, the smith, and the two carpenters, all of theeneral artificer, than who that was more useful to them; and the tailor, to show his concern for them, went to work immediately, and, withhe did; and, as still ht the women not only how to sew and stitch, and use the needle, but made them assist to make the shi+rts for their husbands, and for all the rest As to the carpenters, I scarce need mention how useful they were; for they took to pieces all s, and made clever convenient tables, stools, bedsteads, cupboards, lockers, shelves, and everything they wanted of that kind But to let them see how nature made artificers at first, I carried the carpenters to see Will Atkins' basket- house, as I called it; and they both owned they never saw an instance of such natural ingenuity before, nor anything so regular and so handily built, at least of its kind; and one of the about to me, ”I am sure,” says he, ”that ive hiht the-spade, a shovel, and a rake, for we had no barrows or ploughs; and to every separate place a pickaxe, a crow, a broad axe, and a saays appointing, that as often as any were broken or worn out, they should be supplied without grudging out of the general stores that I left behind Nails, staples, hinges, hammers, chisels, knives, scissors, and all sorts of ironwork, they had without reserve, as they required; for no man would take more than he wanted, and he must be a fool that would waste or spoil them on any account whatever; and for the use of the sht iron for a supply

My ht them was such, even to profusion, that they could not but rejoice at them; for now they could march as I used to do, with a musket upon each shoulder, if there was occasion; and were able to fight a thousand savages, if they had but soes of situation, which also they could not miss, if they had occasion

I carried on shore withman whose mother was starved to death, and thewoood word; she had, indeed, an unhappy life with us, there being no woman in the shi+p but herself, but she bore it with patience After a while, seeing things so well ordered, and in so fine a way of thriving uponthat they had neither business nor acquaintance in the East Indies, or reason for taking so long a voyage, both of theive the reed to this readily; and they had a little plot of ground allotted to them, where they had three tents or houses set up, surrounded with a basket-work, palisadoed like Atkins's, adjoining to his plantation Their tents were contrived so that they had each of thereat storehouse to lay their goods in, and to eat and to drink in And now the other two Englishmen removed their habitation to the same place; and so the island was divided into three colonies, and no more--viz the Spaniards, with old Friday and the first servants, at my habitation under the hill, which was, in a word, the capital city, and where they had so enlarged and extended their works, as well under as on the outside of the hill, that they lived, though perfectly concealed, yet full at large Never was there such a little city in a wood, and so hid, in any part of the world; for I verify believe that a thousand ed the island a , and looked on purpose for it, they would not have found it

Indeed the trees stood so thick and so close, and grew so fast woven one into another, that nothing but cutting them down first could discover the place, except the only two narrow entrances where they went in and out could be found, which was not very easy; one of thee, on the side of the creek, and it was afterwards above two hundred yards to the place; and the other was up a ladder at twice, as I have already described it; and they had also a large wood, thickly planted, on the top of the hill, containing above an acre, which grew apace, and concealed the place from all discovery there, with only one narrow place between two trees, not easily to be discovered, to enter on that side

The other colony was that of Will Atkins, where there were four falishmen, I mean those I had left there, with their wives and children; three savages that were slaves, theand children of the English man and the maid, and, by the e made a wife of her before ent away There were besides the two carpenters and the tailor, whoht with me for them: also the sunsmith, to take care of their arms; and my other ood alenious fellow, but a very merry fellow, and before I went ae married him to the honest maid that came with the youth in the shi+p I sof the French ecclesiastic that I had brought with me out of the shi+p's crehom I took up at sea It is true this ive offence to so extraordinary upon record of a in, I must (to set him out in just colours) represent in tere, in the account of Protestants; as, first, that he was a Papist; secondly, a Popish priest; and thirdly, a French Popish priest But justice deive hirave, sober, pious, and ious person; exact in his life, extensive in his charity, and exe he did What then can any one say against being very sensible of the value of such a h it may be my opinion perhaps, as well as the opinion of others who shall read this, that he was an to converse with hio with ly in his conversation; and he first began with inable ”Sir,” says he, ”you have not only under God” (and at that he crossed his breast) ”saved e in your shi+p, and by your obliging civility have takenme an opportunity of free conversation Now, sir, you see by uess by your nation what yours is; I may think it is my duty, and doubtless it is so, to useall the souls I can to the knowledge of the truth, and to embrace the Catholic doctrine; but as I am here under your permission, and in your family, I am bound, in justice to your kindness as well as in decency and good overnment; and therefore I shall not, without your leave, enter into any debate on the points of religion in which we ive e was so e it; that it was true ere such people as they call heretics, but that he was not the first Catholic I had conversed ithout falling into inconveniences, or carrying the questions to any height in debate; that he should not find hi of a different opinion from us, and if we did not converse without any dislike on either side, it should be his fault, not ours

He replied that he thought all our conversation ht be easily separated from disputes; that it was not his business to cap principles with every man he conversed with; and that he rather desired ionist; and that, if I would give hiious subjects, he would readily comply with it, and that he did not doubt but I would allow him also to defend his own opinions as well as he could; but that withoutHe told me further, that he would not cease to do all that became him, in his office as a priest, as well as a private Christian, to procure the good of the shi+p, and the safety of all that was in her; and though, perhaps, ould not join with hiht pray for us, which he would do upon all occasions In this entlemanlike behaviour, so he was, if I ood sense, and, as I believe, of great learning

He gaveaccount of his life, and of the many extraordinary events of it; of many adventures which had befallen him in the few years that he had been abroad in the world; and particularly, it was very reed in he had had the misfortune to be five tio to the place whither any of the shi+ps he was in were at first designed That his first intent was to have gone to Martinico, and that he went on board a shi+p bound thither at St Malo; but being forced into Lisbon by bad weather, the shi+p received sous, and was obliged to unload her cargo there; but finding a Portuguese shi+p there bound for the Madeiras, and ready to sail, and supposing he should meet with a shi+p there bound to Martinico, he went on board, in order to sail to the Madeiras; but thebut an indifferent , and they drove to Fayal; where, however, he happened to find a very good o, which was corn, and therefore resolved not to go to the Madeiras, but to load salt at the Isle of May, and to go away to Newfoundland He had no reo with the shi+p, and had a pretty good voyage as far as the Banks (so they call the place where they catch the fish), where,with a French shi+p bound from France to Quebec, and froht he should have an opportunity to con, but when he came to Quebec, the master of the shi+p died, and the vessel proceeded no further; so the next voyage he shi+pped himself for France, in the shi+p that was burned e took them up at sea, and then shi+pped with us for the East Indies, as I have already said Thus he had been disappointed in five voyages; all, as I e, besides what I shall have occasion to ression into other men's stories which have no relation to my own; so I return to what concerns our affair in the island He ca us all the while ere upon the island), and it happened to be just when I was going to visit the Englishmen's colony, at the furthest part of the island; I say, he carave countenance, that he had for two or three days desired an opportunity of so to ht in son, which was the prosperity of ht put it, at least ht it was, in the way of God's blessing