The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. 01
History
The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. 01
United States -- Foreign relations -- 1775-1783; United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Sources
These are the outlines of a proposed grant, which you see contains
more than 25,000,000 acres of land, the one fifth of which, if a
settlement is carried on vigorously, will soon be of prodigious value.
At this time a company might be formed in France, Germany, &c. who
would form a stock of one hundred thousand pounds sterling, to defray
the expense of this settlement. By such a step, you, in the first
place, extend the circle of your connexion and influence. You increase
the number of your inhabitants, proportionably lessen the common
expenses and have in the reserve a fund for public exigencies.
Further, as this company would be in a great degree commercial, the
establishing commerce at the junction of these large rivers, would
immediately give a value to all the lands situate on or near them
within the above extensive description, and future grants might admit
of larger reserves, amply sufficient for defraying the expenses of the
war, and possibly for establishing funds for other important purposes.
It may be objected that this is not a favorable time for such a
measure. I reply it is the most favorable that can happen. You want
money, and by holding up thus early to view a certain fund on which to
raise it, even the most certain in the world, that of land security,
you may obtain the loan and engage the monied interest of Europe in
your favor. I have spoken with many persons of good sense on this
subject, which makes me the more sanguine.
As to a loan, I will now dismiss this scheme to speak of that, only
adding, or rather repeating what I have in a former letter written,
that a large and generous allowance ought immediately to be made to
the officers and soldiers serving in the present war, in which regard
should be had to the wounded, the widows or children of those that
fall, and to the term or number of campaigns each one serves. This
will make the army consist literally of a set of men fighting for
freehold, and it will be a great encouragement to foreigners, with
whom five hundred or a thousand acres of land has a great sound.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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