COMMERCE. 257 



and could defend ourselves in that distant country as well as other 

 nations, but those new states and empires which have arisen in 

 South America have been shown that we could punish wrongs 

 and enforce rights, and had the good of mankind, as well as our 

 own prosperity, at heart. Power, judiciously exhibited, is the 

 great peacemaker of the world ; and a people whose institutions 

 are not yet thoroughly established, as those in South America, 

 want looking after with a steady eye. In attending to these duties, 

 it is impossible for our naval commanders to explore those seas for 

 the purpose of discovering new places. Their duty is to watch the 

 old ; and this is a sufficient task for any force we can send there. 



" The whale-ships having a specific object in view, and gene- 

 rally under strict orders, cannot waste an hour in the business of 

 discovery ; nor can they, consistently with their duties, stop a day 

 to explore and examine what they may accidentally discover. 

 The Northwest-coast trader has also a specific object, and a more 

 direct path than the whaler. 



" It seems well understood, at this time, that it is for our interest 

 and for our honour to be well acquainted with the capacities of the 

 globe ; to see what resources can be drawn from that great common 

 of natioris, the ocean. The enlightened statesman, therefore, sur- 

 veys all parts of it with the view of opening new channels for 

 commerce and trade ; and he does not refuse to advance them by 

 a present expense, when coupled with the certainty of a future 

 and a greater good. 



********* 



" No one who has reflected on the vast resources of the earth, 

 * which is our inheritance,' can doubt that a large portion of it 

 contains many things which may be turned to good account by 

 the enterprise and good-management of our people ; and those are 

 the true profit of commerce. The great mass of the intelligence 

 of the country is for it, and is calling on the national legislature 

 for aid in the undertaking. 



33 



