Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1824-04-13


favorable soil in Europe TO their growth, and
they accordingly soon sprung up in some
luxuriancc. Permit mc to pause here a mo-
mont, and contrast England with Spain in this
regard ERglaud gained people, manufacture
|, ing skill, ana capital, by the folly and wick
etncss of the rulers of foreign nations. Spain,
Oh the contrary, having all these advania res
in her own bosom, lost them by her own folly
and wickcdness, by the expulsion of the MoorS.
Let us now survey the English constitution
and government. She at an early period es-
tablished the reformed religion, the advantages
ofwhich have already mentioned: she was the
oaly country iii Europe which hal . representa-
tive body, thereby clcvatinS the people to
share in political liberty. She had led the way in
the abolition ofthc fcua system; ono of the most
rapacious and unprinciplcd kings thu; she ever
had, even contributed To this, by an act of cum
mug, or left-handcd wisdom, as my lord Bacon
would call it. | aludc to Henry VIZ, who, by
opening the way to the alienation of lands, de-
signed to break down his mobiles, wtheut seeing
the great consequences which were To follow.
Upon the abolition of the fcudal system, the
third estate of the realm began to acquire pro-
perry; this stimulated industry of every kind :;
Il spring was given TO commerce, which as early
as the days OF Elizabeth, we are told by Lord
Bohngbroke, carried the English over all the
known, and even into the till then unknown,
parts of the world, to the Dwina, the Volga,
across the Caspian sea, into Persia, to the coasts
of Africa to the East Indies first bv the tract OF
the Vcnctians, and then by the Cape of Good
Hope though the same author tells us, that in
the reign of her father Henry the eth, the Eng
lish were obliged to hire, or borrow ships of
Hamburger, Lubec, Dantzick, and other places.
conc now to the physical causes, which have
given new vigor to her flight, new pinions To her
Il, 4
an island, and her internal navigation superior
to that ofany country of equal extent on the
globe. Her insular position teens with advan-
tagcs. Whilst the nations on the continent of
Europe, for purposes OF safety, were obliged to
keep up standing armies, and barriers offortified
towns, which have been happily said to be alike
armor too heavy to he borne, which wastes the
strength of tho who bear them, England was
protected by 4 continued maritime frontier,
which cost her nothing TO defend it, but a navy.
Thus, by rare fortune, her position invited
and impclcd her by an irresistible destiny to the
pursuits of commerce; and whilst in quest of
commercial gain, formed by means of her incr-
camille marine, perfect nursery of seamcr, to
man that very navy, which scry ed her in lieu of
a fortified barrier, not only with less expense,
hut with much less danger to the constitution,
than the armies and barriers of the continent.
The people of England, then, being ernancipa-
ted from tcuial bon lagc, participating by their
Representatives. lii the constitution and govern
FDcnt, secure in their persons and property, hav-
ing their minds freed from the letters OF Porish
superstition, 4 new, and compared with the rest
OF Europe, an UneNampled degree o: elasticity
was communicated to the spring of their in us-
try and enterprise. Operated upon by these
irnaeliing moral and political, causes, and aided
by the gift of Nature with all the local and ply
MI ,Ic', =.
not surprising that they should, as they did, en-
gage IN the most extensive foreign commerce.
and acquire the highest mercantile marine in the
world. They carried their colonies to the four
quarters OF the globe-to Europe, Asia, Africa.
and A;nerica-S0nc for defence, some for com
mcrcial gain. The productions ofmany of these
colonies offering new equivalents for the pro-
auctions Of labor at horne, created new S. ND
iants; these new nrolucts, both Of the parent
state aiii colonies, enriched, her not only by
themselves, but by ,hc transportation of them
respectively. Thus, sir it was the rich and cx-
tcnsivc foreign commerce OF England, proIuc-
ed by the causes which have mentioned, which
contributed essentially to the increase OF her
wealth. Ii, Mr.. Chairman. we look into the
page OF history, we shall find that foreign com
nercc has been fruitful source of wealth, in
ancient, as well as modern times. Look at ST.
don and Tyre; at Venice, Genoa. and Pisa at
Lubec, Hamburg, and the other Hanse towns.
See TO what 4 pitch of opuience these towns
were each carried by its aid. Look, sir at the
Northern States ofthis Union. 1t operates as a
cause of wealth, by giving increased pro ,uc-
iivcEcss to the agricultural and other labJr of
the country which possesses it, by means OF the
5ound!ess market which it opens for its surplus
produce. Where its own country, either from
the poverty or smalncss of its territory, has no
Ifb Ct, ,lirsp &c =.
eiIecting an exchange of the produce of foreign
countries, and thus reciprocally lrnparting value
to that which each wanted, and which each had to
spare. When, by these means, capital is ac-
cunuiatca, and the population full, then come
manufactures; which as they cannot exist with
out capital necessarily presupposc its previous
accumulation. But if in the tide of time and
the vicissitudes of human affairs, and any cir
cunstanCcs turn this commerce into new chan
mel, the capital which lowed from it takes the
same direction, and the manufactures, winch
depended for their existence on that capital,
follow in It's train, and associate themselves a
new with it, III its new habitation. According
", Mr.. Chairman, in the Italian cities, and
tlaDse towns, whilst the capital from for
eign commerce remained with them, so did man
uiactureS; but since its departure, nothing is
left of them but the sad Temento and melancholy
remembrance of their former opulence and gran
deur! This is the inevitable course OF things.
and you might as well attempt TO arrest the pro-
grcss of the earth, by the stamp of the foot as 70
attempt 10 alter it. Nothing, then, remains,
after these soourners have taken their flight,
but the solid agricultural wealth of the country
which possesses it. In this respect, sir, the
United States enjoy fclicitous position in the
scale Of nations; possessed of a territory vast in
extent and Of great fertility, we have the deep
foundations of our wealth laid upon the fixed
and permanent basis Of agricultural labor pos