to ſee Honour, Juſtice, and every ſocial Virtue exerciſed among them with the ſtricteſt Punctuality, though there is never a Lawyer, and but one Clergyman, in all the Iſlands. As to the little odd Cuſtoms and whimſical Diverſions in uſe among them, they are ſuch as are, at leaſt, innocent, and ſhew the Humour and Temper of the People who practiſe them.
Some, perhaps, may object to the Stile, or Language of this Hiſtory, for its Plainneſs or Want of Embelliſhments; to which I ſhall anſwer, that a plain Deſcription of intereſting Matters of Fact, of the Importance of theſe Iſlands to England, and the Improvements they are capable of, is thought moſt neceſſary: Being ſuitable to the People and Manners deſcribed; whoſe Morals and Behaviour flow from the Dictates of pure ſimple Nature, and Reaſon unſophiſticated.
I have
