estrictions imposed upon it. In particular, all kinds of military
stores are now permitted to be exported by any one paying the duties,
salt petre, rhubarb, &c. And the exploring and working of mines, have
also been lately encouraged. Though there are vast mines in this
empire, yet they were never worked upon till the time of Peter the
Great. Before that period Russia imported all her iron, copper, lead,
&c. principally from Sweden. At this day Russia exports as much iron
(the exportation of copper is prohibited) as Sweden, that is, one year
with another, about three millions of poods, a pood being forty pounds
Russian, a little more than thirtysix pounds English. Some of the iron
of Russia is at least as good as the best Swedish, particularly what
is called old sable iron. We used to import considerable quantities of
the Swedish, if I am not mistaken.

Upon my arrival here, I found a strong apprehension prevailing, that
we should rival this country in the other parts of Europe, especially
in the important articles of iron and hemp. Besides what I have said
upon this subject in the reflections contained in my letter of June
28th, I endeavored to show the high improbability of our going into
the business of mining, even to a degree to answer our own demands,
for an age at least, much less for foreign markets. From the dearness
of labor, when our mines if worked at all must be worked by freemen,
and not as in Europe in general, by slaves, as we had no white slaves,
and had prohibited the importation of blacks; that by this means,
aided by the enemy, who in their progress through the southern States
had stolen them from many plantations, and shipped not a few to their
Islands, we should shortly see an end of slaves in our country; that
the policy of our governments was opposed to the commerce of slaves;
that upon the supposition we could work our mines by freemen nearly as
cheap as Russia, yet we should import her iron in great quantities,
because the nature of the other commodities we should take from hence
is such as would require our vessels to be ballasted, and that they
would wish to take in iron in preference to other unprofitable ballast
and without freight, so that it would always arrive among us at an
advantageous rate. From the prodigious extent of our uncultivated
territory, joined to the ease with which every inhabitant might make
himself an independent proprietor of a sufficient portion of it, for
the comforta