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THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF

stop its progress altogether. The course of its prosperity re-turned as soon as it was relieved from that oppression. It isnow the most important of the sugar colonies of the WestIndies , and its produce is said to be greater than that of allthe English sugar colonies put together. The other sugarcolonies of France are in general all very thriving.

But there are no colonies of which the progress has beenmore rapid than that of the English in North America .

Plenty of good land, and liberty to manage their own affairstheir own way, seem to be the two great causes of the pros-perity of all ne,w colonies.

In the plenty of good land the English colonies of NorthAmerica , though, no doubt, very abundantly provided, are,however, inferior to those of the Spaniards and Portuguese ,and not superior to some of thdse possessed by the French before the late war. But the political institutions of theEnglish colonies have been more favourable to the improve-ment and cultivation of this land, than those of any of theother three nations.

First, the engrossing of uncultivated land, though it hasby no means been prevented altogether, has been more re-strained in the English colonies than in any other. The co-lony law which imposes upon every proprietor the obligationof improving and cultivating, within a limited time, a certainproportion of his lands, and which, in case of failure, declaresthose neglected lands grantable to any other person; thoughit has not, perhaps, been very strictly executed, has, however,had some effect.

Secondly, in Pennsylvania there is no right of primogeni-ture, and lands, like moveables, are divided equally amongall the children of the family. In three of the provinces ofNew England the oldest has only a double share, as in theMosaical law. Though in those provinces, therefore, toogreat a quantity of land should sometimes be engrossed by aparticular individual, it is likely, in the course ot a genera-tion or two, to be sufficiently divided again. In the otherEnglish colonies, indeed, the right ot primogeniture takesplace, as in the law of England. But in all die English co-lonies the tenure of the lands, which are all held by lree soe-cage, facilitates alienation, and the grantee of any extensivetract of land, generally finds it for his interest to alienate, asfast as he can, the greater part of it, reserving only a smallquit-rent. In the Spanish and Portuguese colonies, what is