My Friends:
In the following letter I shall tell you of some trouble that these shipwrecked persons met, in following out their new plan of life.
After they had spent several months in doing up the work which past neglect had made needful, and after the harvest was gathered in, the good minister found many evils coming upon them, for want of enough work to keep them all busy. Idleness is the parent of a thousand evils and vices, and therefore something he saw must be devised, in order to keep all hands employed.
The company came together to talk over this matter. At this meeting it was stated that their clothing and furniture were going to destruction even with careful use, and that as more must be provided soon, this might afford
employment to idle hands. It was then urged by some of the company that they should take what wool they could get from their sheep, and what flax they could raise, and make a kind of coarse and strong cloth called linsey woolsey, and then all might dress alike, and thus there would be no more trouble about some having better clothes than others. But it soon was shown that this would not remedy the difficulty about employment. For such coarse and strong clothing would last so long, that all those who now had employment in making and mending and refitting and in doing fine sewing, would be thrown out of employ.
At length it was agreed that an embassy should be sent to the king, to request him to let the company trade with at least one store on their borders, where they might exchange the products of their lands for clothing and furniture. This request was granted, on this condition, that each individual might bring all he raised himself, and get whatever he wanted, but that no one should take any thing that he did not pay for with the fruits of his own labour.
After this arrangement was made, a great
change took place in the palace. Those who were diligent, active and bright, discovered various ways of raising large crops, or of making ingenious articles, which they exchanged at the store for such furniture and clothing as they liked. But those who were dull, or lazy, or vicious, did not succeed in raising the means to buy new things, and were obliged to put up with old or very cheap ones. Sometimes those who lived in the finest rooms would agree to give up those rooms to those who were most successful, in order to share in some of their profits. And thus it came about that many who had the plainest rooms, and clothing, and furniture, by their industry and enterprise, finally came to possess the finest rooms and handsomest clothing and furniture. And so on the other hand, some of those who at first by lot had gained the best of every thing, were driven by their ignorance or indolence, to take the poorest of every thing.
These changes at first produced great discontent. But the good minister took unwearied pains to convince the discontented ones, that though some evils came from having some
persons gain so much superior advantages, yet on the whole, it was far better than to have them hold property in common, and all fare alike. For, as he showed them, a great part of mankind are disposed to be careless and indolent, and would never exert themselves, unless some great advantage was to be gained by care and industry. For this reason, it is a great advantage to every body to have persons around them, who own beautiful, or convenient things that can be gained by themselves only by intelligence and industry. For thus every one will be stimulated to improve his mind, and employ his time diligently.