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A Character of the Province of Maryland / Described in four distinct parts; also a small Treatise on the Wild and Naked Indians (or Susquehanokes) of Maryland, their customs, manners, absurdities, and religion; together with a collection of historical letters. cover

A Character of the Province of Maryland / Described in four distinct parts; also a small Treatise on the Wild and Naked Indians (or Susquehanokes) of Maryland, their customs, manners, absurdities, and religion; together with a collection of historical letters.

Chapter 27: To my Honored Friend Mr. T. B.
By George Alsop
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History - AmericanHistory - Early Modern (c. 1450-1750)

About This Book

The tract presents a promotional portrait of Maryland intended to encourage emigration, describing fertile land, navigable waterways, and economic prospects while mixing practical observation with exuberant praise. It is organized in four parts and includes a separate treatise on the Susquehanoke Indians that catalogs their customs, religion, and manners as observed by the author. The narrative outlines the redemption system and the terms and experiences of bonded servants, and it offers reports on colonial life, social conditions, and agricultural opportunity. A collection of historical letters supplements the account, and the tone shifts between colloquial rhetoric and deliberate persuasion aimed at prospective migrants.

{105}

To my Honored Friend Mr. T. B.

SIR,

THis is the entrance upon my fifth year, and I fear ’twill prove the worst: I have been very much troubled with a throng of unruly Distempers, that have (contrary to my expectation) crouded into the Main-guard of my body, when the drowsie Sentinels of my brain were a sleep. Where they got in I know not, but to my grief and terror I find them predominant: Yet as Doctor Dunne, sometimes Dean of St. Pauls, said, That the bodies diseases do but mellow a man for Heaven, and so ferments him in this World, as he shall need no long concoction in the Grave, but hasten to the Resurrection. And if this were weighed seriously in the Ballance of Religious Reason, the World we dwell in would not seem so inticing and bewitching as it doth.

We are only sent by God of an Errand into this World, and the time that’s allotted us for to stay, is only for an Answer. When God my great Master shall in good earnest call me home, which these warnings tell me I have not long to stay, I hope then I shall be able to give him a good account of my Message.

Sir, My weakness gives a stop to my writing, my hand being so shakingly feeble, that I can hardly hold my pen any further then to tell you, I am yours {106} while I live, which I believe will be but some few minutes.

If this Letter come to you before I’me dead, pray for me, but if I am gone, pray howsoever, for they can do me no harm if they come after me.

Vale.
Your real Friend,
G. A.

From Mary-Land, Dec. 13. Anno