On Commerce. 2?i 



this in another place. After the enumerations of such a 

 variety of foreign articles (and many, very many more might 

 be mentioned), absolutely necessary in this country, Am I 

 not justified in saying that there is no country which can 

 produce all that is necessary for the comfort, health, pro- 

 tection, and security of its inhabitants ? Or, in other words,. 

 By having a reciprocal intercourse with other countries, we 

 make our security more strong, we increase the necessaries 

 of life, we enlarge our comforts, we multiply our pleasures, 

 we procure more means of preserving health and of mitiga- 

 ting pain. 



But Mr. Lapis brings forth another argument, which, if 

 founded on facts, would certainly have great weight, (viz.) 

 That if any country did not produce all that was necessary 

 for the health, comfort, &c, of the inhabitants, such coun- 

 try would be deserted, or no inhabitant would reside in such a 

 situation. Now I cannot admit the truth of this observa- 

 tion ; and to prove the contrary, I will not draw the atten- 

 tion of your readers to the barren wilds of Lapland, or the 

 mountainous forests of Norway, or some more distant 

 countries. — I will confine my observations nearer home, 

 where the facts I mention can be more easily ascertained. 

 Let those who have not visited the Shetland Islands, only 

 read the accounts given by every traveller. The inhabitants, 

 with a few exceptions, are in a state of inconceivable wretch- 

 edness ; they every year are dependent on foreign supplies 

 for meal, and the distress which they often suffer for want 

 of this article is great in the extreme ; they cannot be said ta 

 have any one necessary article of life in plenty except fish, 

 The making of kelp is the staple manufactory ; and it is. 

 principally with these two articles, fish and kelp, that 'they 

 procure, as far as they can, a few, and but a very few, of 

 the most common necessaries of life. Yet Shetland is not de- 

 serted, its inhabitants are as much attached to the place in 

 which they live as the people who are placed in far more 

 favoured situations. Some may, however, suppose that this 

 proceeds from their knowing no better, and being, from 

 their insular situation, cut off from any intercourse with the. 

 main land. I will not at present stop to answer ihis objec- 

 8 tion, 



