So Lord Selkirk found it, when he
undertook to help the poverty-stricken Celts of the Scottish Highlands
and of the West of Ireland. He had the sympathising heart; he had the
true vision; and he had as few others of his time had, the power to
plan, the invention to suggest, and the skill and pluck to overcome
difficulties, but the carrying out of his intent brought him infinite
trouble and sorrow. His prospectus, offering the means to the
poverty-stricken people of reaching what he believed to be a home of
ultimate plenty on the banks of the Red River, was an entirely worthy
document. His first point is, that his Colonists will be freemen. No
religious tenet will be considered in their selection. This was even
freer that was that of Lord Baltimore's much-vaunted Colony, on the
Atlantic Coast, for Baltimore required that every Colonist should
believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. Then, the offer was to the
landless and the penniless men. Employment was to be supplied; work in
the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company, or free grants of land to actual
settlers, or even a sale in fee simple of land for a mere nominal sum;
free passages for the poor, reduced passages for those who had small
means, food provided on the voyage, and the prospect of new world
advantages to all.
Pages:
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52