334 Letter ii. to [Part III. 



part of their value. Who does not see in this fact a 

 great cause of disunion ? On this side the mountains^ 

 there are twelve hundred miles of coast to blockade ; 

 but you, gentlemen Prairie owners, are like a rat that 

 has but one hole to go out and to come in at. You ex- 

 press your deep-rooted attachment to your adopted 

 country, and [ am sure you are sincere ; but, still I may 

 be allowed to doubt, whether you would cheerfully wear 

 bear-skins, and gnaw your meat off the bones for the 

 sake of any commercial right that the nation might go to 

 war about. I know that you would not starve ; for coiPee 

 and tea are not necessarj'^ to man's existence ; but, you 

 would like to sell your flour and pork, and would be 

 very apt to discover reasons against a war that would 

 prevent you from selling them. You appear to think it 

 very vricked in the Atlantic People to feel little eager- 

 ness in promoting the increase of population to the 

 Westward ; but, you see, that, in this want of such 

 eagerness, they may be actuated by a real love for their 

 country. For my part, 1 think it would have been good 

 policy in the Congress not to dispose of the Western 

 Lands at all ; and I am sure it would have been an act 

 of real charity. 



630. Having now performed what I deemed my 

 duty towards my countrymen, and towards this country 

 too, I wiU conclude my letter with a few observations, 

 relative to mills, which may be of use to you ; for, I 

 know, that you will go on ; and, indeed, I most sincerely 

 wish you all the success that you can wish yourself, 

 without doing harm to others. 



631 . You have no mill streams near you ; and you 

 are about to erect a wind-mill. Man is naturally prone 

 to call to his aid whatever will save his bones laoour. 

 The water, the tvind, the Jire : any thing that will help 

 him. Cattle of some sort or other were, for a long 

 while, his great resource. But, of late, water-powers, 

 wind-powers, fire-powers. And, indeed, wondrous 

 things have been performed by machines of this kind. 

 The water and the wind do not eat, and require no 

 grooming. But, it sometimes happens, that, when all 

 things are considered, we resort to these grand powers 

 without any necessity for it; and that we forget how 

 ewily we could do the thing we want done, with our own 



