Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1816-01-06

4 , 'u''o' "'i'i iUiuer reaiiZe tneir
| snare OF this benefit, in the augmented va
Tue oil their lands /; the manufacturer aud
pne merchant, IN the increased and diver
sined demand Tor their industry and capt
tai.
Nor, are the higher interests of society
less indebted Tor their advancement to the
multiplication and Improvement of these
channels of useful intercourse. They af-
lord the means of exploring the natural
! resources oil country. and invite the ge-
| mus otspeculation to lit them for the uses
OF man. Lands too remote from market
TO tempt cultivation forests, hitherto re-
garded as inaccessible beds of minerals or
! fossils unknown or neglected, are brought
within the reach of ordinary enterprise,
| and rendered subservient to the convent
ence and comfort of the citizen, or TO the
defence and safety of the state.
fney confer on an extended empire the
Pr0nptitudc aud energy OF action which
are considered peculiarly characteristic of
one OF narrow dimensions since. with
cut contracting the, limits of It's ierrito-
| ry, they reduce the distance, ard expedite
the communication between the. seat of
It's government and its remotest extremi-
ties.
Whether the public force. is to be spread
out Tor defence, or combined for attack.
they alike contribute To the rapidity and to
the yigOr OF its operations.
IA republic, especially. when public
OPINION exerts, CONTROLLING influence. and
public virtues should be the sprinr of all
public actiOa, they may be considered an
Important auxiliary, If not a necessary IN
gredient of political liberty. They tend TO
dtiiuse more equally the knowledge which
experience acquires, and the leisure which
wealth alone can purchase; they strength
en- The cords OF social Rnion, aud quicken
that generous feeling of patriotism, which
IS ever ready to eXclaim at the contempla-
ton OF an extended scene of public i'm
provemeRt love my country, because
she Is worthy OF my aEaction,''
| The duty, which is obligatory Gpon all
| governments, is peculiarly incumbent on
/ one, whose territory, like that of VirFinia.
| nature has done so much both to urIte and
to separation whom She has pre- yented Sd
maay advantages to improve, ard so maoy
obstacles to overcome. No state in ne
Union is intersected by so many nayicable
rivers, nor dYised by so many chains Of
iOity mountains /: none, PERHAPS, abound.
VITA such happy varieties of climate stIt
soil, and so many resources for internal
! commerce. la her coal, iron. lead and
salt, she is uurivailed. Her tobacco AMI
grain command the highest prices abroad
The fertile banks of her rivers. and tbt
moist vallies Of her mountains Weld ahnn,
dant crops Of flax aud hemp. Her low
lands would supply her with cotton fo,
mn A..
her HOcks, which pasture on her hills. mr.,
not surpassed in quality. Notwithstand
ing. taeSe advantages, the principal part O.
ner commerce, and almost the whole of BIZ,
navigation, pass out OF her hands to eu,.;cl
the golfers of her neighbors. There (;
scarcely village to the West of the RIn,
Ridge, and very few abDve tide wafer
IRON the Roanoke to the Potomac. wbicl
derive any part OF their supplies of manu-
featured commodities, either foreign ~
domestic, from the seaports of Virginia.
White many other States have been al
vancing in wealth and numbers, with a ,.a
pldity which has astonished themselves
the ancieut dominion and elder sister ~
the Union has remained stationary.
a. very large proportion of her wester,
territory Is yet animpr owed, while q consi
derab.e part OF her eastern has recede,
from ITS former OpuIence. How many -,
spectacIes do her low-lands presenf -
wasted and deserted fields of Jwellior
abandoned by their proprieto rs of Church
es IN ruins The genius of her ancien
hospitality, benumbed by ,lhe cold touch q
penury, spreads his scant.y board in make,
halls, on seems cVatser, but more uIente
Gus repast in the lonely cabins of IN,
West. The fathers &C the Iand are eone
where another outlet to the ocean turn,
their thoughts from fie place Of their natl
witty, and their affections from the baunts n
their youth. Beyond the AIIegany. ar
unexpected Resolution threatens tie At
lanuc states IN general, the accomplish.
ment oil witch will create new interest.
aud views in that Hourishing and import
ant section Of America, and bar, forever
the nope OF re-uniting It by commercial
ties 10 the markets of the East.
, 1t be true, as your committee confident
! ly believe, that ia a connection between the
Roanoke, tie James, or the Potomac river
with the waters Of the Kanawha or Ohio.
this commonwealth possesses the best
means Of arresting the progress of this re-
volutlOn, 1t is duty which she owes not
only to herself, but to the Atlantic states.
and to the Union at large, to call Those
means into action.