156 



" called upon by every tie of justice, friendship, and humanity, to relieve 

 their distresses." 



In the convention of Virginia Mr. Grayson affirmed that " if. is well 

 hi02v?i that the Ncufoundland fisheries and the Mississippi are balances for 

 one another; that the possession of one tends to the preservation of the 

 other. This," he continued, " accounts for the eastern policy. They 

 thought that if the Mississippi was given up, the southern States would 

 give up the right of the fisher}^ on which their very existence depends. 

 It is not extraordinary, therefore, while these great rights of the fishery 

 depend on such a variety of circumstances — the issue of the war, the 

 success of negotiation, and numerous other causes — that ney should 

 wish to preserve this great counterbalance." Patrick Henry, in dis- 

 senting from these views, and in reply, exclaimed: "But, said the 

 honorable gentleman, the eastern States will wish to secure their fish- 

 ery, and will therefore favor the right to the Mississippi. How does 

 he draw the inference? Is it possible that they can act on that princi- 

 ple ? The principle that led the southern States to admit 'if the cession 

 was, to avoid the most dreadful perils of war. But their difficulties are 

 now ended by peace. Is there anything like this that can influence 

 the minds of the people of the North ? Since the peace, those States 

 have discovered a determined resolution to give awa}^ the Mississippi, 

 to discourage emigration thither." 



In the convention of Massachusetts, one member observed, that 

 as the different members of the confederacy regulated their commerce 

 at pleasure, and did not even protect the coasting trade of the country, 

 "a vessel from Rosaway or Halifax found as hearty a welcome, with 

 its fish and whalebone, at the southern ports, as though it was built, 

 navigated, and freighted from Salem or Boston;" and that "this would 

 continue to be the case, unless a more perfect union of the States was 

 formed:" while a second member remarked, that abroad we were held 

 in contempt, for since the war we had been engaged in " commerce 

 with six different nations of the globe, and if he might believe good, 

 honest, credible men," our position with them was like that of "a well- 

 behaved negro in a gentleman's family." 



The sentiments thus uttered — north and south — indicate, the feelings 

 of eminent statesmen of the time, as well as reveal to us some of the 

 arguments in fiivor of the adoption of the constitution; and serve, more- 

 over, to show that the branch of industry at present so fallen in public 

 estimation was continually referred to by our fathers in connexion 

 with, and as equivalent to, "the Mississippi," or the western country. 



Pursuing our inquiries in chronological order, we are led now to cite 

 the opinions of the founders of the present national government, as pre- 

 served in the debates in the 1st Congress. Our quotations must be 

 confined to the discussions which occurred during the first session, and 

 upon the bill to levy "duties on imports." The pure and highly gifted 

 Fisher Ames thus spoke : * 



* The Hon. Fisher Ames was born in Dedham, Massachusetts, in 1758, and was educated at 

 Harvard University. In the Revolution he was a zealous whig. He was a member of the 

 convention of Massachusetts which considered and adopted the constitution of the United 

 States, and was elected the first representative to Congress from Boston. He occupied a 

 seat in the House for eight years, and was a principal speaker in the debates on every import- 



