HISTORY
436 BOOK
III.
OF
THE
Warner began wifely, was happily completed by his immediate successor Mr. Lake, under whose administration Nevis rose to opulence and importance. “ He was a wife man,” fays Du Tertre, “ and feared the Lord.” Making this island the place of his residence, it flourished beyond example. It is said, that about the year 1640, it possessed four thousand whites : so powerfully are mankind invited by the advantages of a mild and equitable system of government ! Will the reader pardon me, if I observe at the fame time, that few situations in life could have afforded greater felicity than that of such a governor. Living amidst the beauties of an eternal spring, beneath a sky serene and unclouded, and in a spot inexpressively beautiful (for it is enlivened by a variety of the most enchanting prospects in the world, in the numerous islands which surround it) but above all, happy in the reflection that he conciliated the differences, administered to the necessities, and augmented the comforts of thousands of his fellow creatures, all of whom looked up to him as their common father and protector ! If there be pure joy on earth, it must have existed in the bosom of such a man ; while he beheld the tribute of love, gratitude and approbation towards him in every countenance, and whose heart at the fame time told him that he deserved it. WHAT
sorry that I mult present the reader with a very different picture, in the account that I am now to give of Antigua. I AM
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