in practice. I desire for agriculture no prefer- 

 ence over other branches of industry. It needs 

 no such assistance ; it can benefit by no such as- 

 sistance. All that it requires is that equal pro- 

 tection which an enlightened legislature will ex- 

 tend to every branch of lawful industry ; and to 

 which it cannot surely be the least entitled, when 

 the most valuable of the whole. 



But so little am I disposed to carry its preten- 

 sions too far, and so little influenced in my pre- 

 sent argument by any disregard of our colonial 

 industry, that were the 'present measure designed 

 to give the same exclusive advantage to our home 

 growers over the colonists, as it gives to the colo- 

 nists over them, I should equally dislike it. For 

 this reason, were the intention only to give a 

 free admission of sugar to the distillery, I should 

 be far from objecting to it ; as far as I should 

 be from objecting to a Tree export of our home 

 produce to the colonies. Such mutual inter- 

 course would not only be advisable as a pre- 

 sent expedient, but as a permanent regulation. 

 Let our colonists have constant free access to the 

 market of distillation, and push it as far as they 

 can*. Our home growers will never suffer mate- 



* The difficulties of equalizing the duties cannot, I should think, 

 bo insurmountable. If they should, however, I think matters 



F 



