TWENTY-i^lFTU CONURESS, 1837-39. 173 



coimected with the public service, and the preventing of 

 those impostures, to which both individuals and the public 

 are liable, while important physical truths remain unex- 

 plained. 



Motives of hig-her import are not wanting : inducements 

 drawn from an exalted patriotism might be presented, in 

 favor of such measures as might place our national re- 

 sources, institutions, and arms of defence above a depend- 

 ence on the science of foreign nations. 



In recognizing the important truth, that the power, free- 

 dom, and happiness of nations are essentially connected 

 with a comprehension of their own natural advantages, not 

 less than with the wisdom, firmness, and prudence of those 

 who are exalted to civil authority, we discover at once the 

 vast magnitude of the obligation imposed on the people of 

 this Union to become thoroughly acquainted with the re- 

 sources of their country. 



It is said, and said truly, that every freeman should 

 understand the civil constitutions of the country which 

 secure his rights ; and is it less imperative to understand its 

 physical constitution, which secures his existence ? 



Whoever loves his countrj^ would see her great, power- 

 ful — loved at home, and respected abroad. And what ele- 

 ment in her greatness, her power, her loveliness, her 

 respectability, is more sure to win the affections, than the 

 rich abundance of her natural advantages, and the ability 

 of her citizens to comprehend, to develop, and enjoy them ? 



It is a mark of a meek colonial dependence, to remain 

 ignorant of all but the most obvious features and produc- 

 tions of a country ; and it is an evidence of something 

 worse than colonial dependence, for a nation professing to 

 be independent, to receive from foreigners all the knowledge 

 that they ever acquire of the natural features and resources 

 of the country, and of their application to useful purposes. 

 Wh}" need we cite the examples of antiquity ? Why go to 

 India, to Africa, to New Holland, to seek illustrations of 

 this truth ? What is the condition of the colonies still 

 remaining on this continent, in regard to a knowledge of 

 their respective territories ? With what jealousy did the 

 courts of Madrid and Lisbon spread for three centuries a 

 midnight of ignorance, with regard to the arts, over the 

 fairest portions of the globe ! 



And what was the state of the useful arts, in those coun- 

 tries, at the moment when they at last greeted the uncertain 

 dawn of a questionable liberty ? What is their degree of 

 weakness and irresolution, even at this day, superinduced 



