m. The state of the Russian trade is
briefly thus:

From the year 1722 to 1731,--250 ships were, on a
medium, sent each year to St. Petersburgh, Narva, Riga,
and Archangel, for _hemp_, 250 Ships.

And from the year 1762 to 1771,--500 ships were
also sent for that purpose, 500
----------
_Increase_ in ten years, 250 Ships.

Here then, it is obvious that in the last _ten_ years there was, on a
medium, an increase of 250 ships in the Russian trade. Can it be
consistent with the wisdom and policy of the greatest naval and
commercial nation in the world, to depend wholly on _foreigners_ for
the supply of an article, in which is included the very existence of
her navy and commerce? Surely not; and especially when God has blessed
us with a country yielding _naturally_ the very commodity, which draws
our money from us, and renders us _dependent_ on Russia for it[3].--

[3] "It is in settlements on the Mississippi and Ohio that we
must look for _hemp_ and _flax_, which may in those fertile
tracts be cultivated in such abundance, as to enable us to
_undersell_ all the world, as well as supply our own consumption.
It is on those _high_, _dry_, and _healthy_ lands, that vineyards
would be cultivated to the best advantage, as many of those hills
contain quarries of stone, and not in the _low, unhealthy sea
coasts_ of our present colonies. Of such infinite consequence to
Britain is the _production of staples_ in her colonies, that were
all the people of the _Northern_ settlements, and all of the
_tobacco_ ones (except those actually employed in raising
tobacco) now spread over those parts of our territories to the
Southward and _Westward_, and consequently employed in the same
manner as the few are who do reside therein, Britain, in such a
case, would _export_ to the amount of above _nine millions more_
in manufactures, &c. than she does at present, without reckoning
the infinite _increase in public revenue, freight, and seamen_,
which would accrue. To enlarge upon all the advantages of such a
change, would be _impertinence_ itself."

_Political Essays concerning the British Empire._

As we have only hitherto _generally_ stated the _small_ expence of
carriage betwee