This richest land on
earth was held prisoner in the bonds of a foolish tyranny. The rich
were less rich than their estates warranted, and the poor were ground
down by bitter poverty. There was little corn in the land, tobacco
being the sole means of payment, and this meant no trade in the common
meaning of the word. The place was slowly bleeding to death, and I had
a mind to try and stanch its wounds. The firm of Andrew Sempill was
looked on jealously, in spite of all the bowings and protestations of
Mr. Lambie. If we were to increase our trade, it must be at the
Englishman's expense, and that could only be done by offering the
people a better way of business.
When the harvest came and the tobacco fleet arrived, I could see how
the thing worked out. Our two ships, the _Blackcock_ of Ayr and the
_Duncan Davidson_ of Glasgow, had some trouble getting their cargoes.
We could only deal with the smaller planters, who were not thirled to
the big merchants, and it took us three weary weeks up and down the
river-side wharves to get our holds filled. There was a madness in the
place for things from England, and unless a man could label his wares
"London-made," he could not hope to catch a buyer's fancy. Why, I have
seen a fellow at a fair at Henricus selling common Virginian
mocking-birds as the "best English mocking-birds".
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