Romans states the population of St. Augustine, in 1775, to have been only one thousand.

The remainder of the Province was always thinly peopled. Among the population of this country, may be fairly rated the Indians, as the immediate descendants of its aborigines; who have been much diminished by frequent wars. Yet

it is very certain, that in the statements or estimates of the population of the country, they have not been fairly brought into calculation.

After the evacuation by the British, in 1784, few of the old settlers remained in the province, most of them having emigrated to the neighbouring states, and to the Bahamas and other British possessions in the West Indies; thus leaving the Spaniards to occupy the towns, beyond which they did not venture, except to keep up a semblance of occupancy.Very shortly after the departure of the English, the Indians came into the neighbourhood of St. Augustine, burnt Bella Vista, the country-seat of Governor Moultrie, and created so much alarm among the Spaniards, as to impede, if not annihilate, the farther progress of cultivation.

Attempts were made, by the governors of the Province, to encourage settlers, by offering lands, but these were fruitless, until some of the inhabitants of the Bahamas, having failed in their efforts to reap even a bare subsistence from those barren rocks which were assigned to them by the British, as an asylum in return for their loyalty, availed themselves of the opportunity of returning, as a dernier resort, to avoid total ruin and starvation, and settled near the Mosquito. But the want of protection from the Spanish government rendered

their settlements alike temporary and unproductive; and those whose property was free from incumbrances removed to the United States, from which, in turn, some of embarrassed circumstances, as well as others, withdrew to Florida, and did much in improving the country, when the revolution in 1812 caused their removal.

The militia in East Florida was about six hundred and fifty strong, in 1817.

The whole population has been variously rated at from eight to ten thousand in the provinces, of which about three thousand are in St. Augustine.

The number of Indians cannot be well ascertained, owing to their distracted and dispersed state. It has been estimated that they have 3,000 warriors, which will be thought inconsiderable by many; but, as they are without leaders, even this calculation cannot be considered accurate.

The present population of the Floridas cannot be rated at more than six thousand of all descriptions, in East Florida, and five thousand in West Florida, according to the best information.

No doubt remains in my mind, that when the population of this country shall have increased by the emigration of our Eastern neighbours, (which there is no doubt it will in a short time,) accompanied by their industry, talents, and economy, the country will be improved to such a degree as to be scarcely recognizable.

The perfidious policy of the regal government of Spain has always been marked by its fixed determination to keep the Americans from its colonies, owing to their great dread

of those principles of liberty so happily diffused throughout the continent of North America; from this proceeded, not only the aversion to their residence among them, but an absolute order from the crown, prohibiting them from holding lands in Florida, while the British openly and constantly enjoyed that privilege. This fact is established by the grants made to several inhabitants from the Bahama Islands, as well as to others. The day has at length arrived when Spain, conscious of her inability to oppose the tide of liberty, must yield to justice, what she intended only as acts of indulgence for a population of European aristocrats whom she invited in vain to this quarter.

The state of society in this territory, although assimilated, in some respects, to that of Louisiana on its fortunate accession to the American confederacy, presents a novelty of character under still more variegated forms and peculiar circumstances, requiring a wise and perhaps vigorous administration; one that will encourage an industrious, and keep in check a disorderly population. Some, no doubt, will resort thither, without a respect for either religion or the laws, and others, more from absolute want, than a laudable ambition.

The philanthropic project of civilizing the Indians cannot be too highly commended; and when it is considered that they are the aborigines of the country, the inducement is enhanced, and the mind is roused to researches for their good qualities. A writer of celebrity has observed, that when an Indian attains a certain degree of civilization, he displays a great facility of apprehension, a judicious mind, a natural logic, and a particular disposition to subtilize, or sever, the

finest differences in the comparison of objects. He reasons coolly and orderly, but he never manifests that versatility of imagination, that glow of sentiment, and that creative and animating art, which characterize the nations of the south of Europe.

Whenever a question as to the Indians arises, it has been too common to contemplate ferocity, and the worst traits which characterize the human heart, and to seek for apologies for what is termed retaliation for atrocities; as if one evil was a palliation for another. An abhorrence of this race of people may have been tolerated, from political motives, by Europeans; but surely no well founded reason can be adduced, why the same spirit, so revolting to humanity, should be fostered by the Americans, whose forbearance and liberality are, in many other respects, proverbial, and should be exemplified by acts of benignity and good fellowship worthy of natives of the same soil, and from whom is expected those religious considerations so much and so laudably reverenced at the present day.

As the welfare of a society depends on the basis of religion, it is so ordered by the great Author of Nature, that the successful establishment of the one shall depend on the existence of the other. It is fully manifested, that the regulations of a community are imperfect without the influence of religion, and that the prosperity of a country must depend, in a great degree, on the moral qualities of its inhabitants. Consequently, it becomes important to encourage some species of people in preference to others,

as far as may be consistent with the true spirit of our republican institutions, which admit of a mixed population, but which may be adapted to the views and circumstances of different sections of the Peninsula.

Let our eastern brethren migrate thither, and be the pioneers of good morals, steady habits, and civilization, gradually adapting them by imperceptible changes to the settlers, who will eventually become useful members of society, and fitted for that species of independence so consonant with the true principles of freedom, and so happily diffused throughout the union.

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