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instrument towards promoting a pursuit which 

 would redound to the advantage of both, hath 

 occasioned me to enter more largely into this 

 subject than I at first intended. If my ex- 

 pectations are too sanguine to be borne out by 

 the opinions of persons more enlightened there- 

 on than I can pretend to be, I w^ould much 

 rather they may be attributed to an erroneous 

 judgment, than a wilhngness to commit myself 

 to the chance of misleading a single individual, 

 by hazarding any unguarded or unfounded re- 

 presentations. 



To ascertain, in the scale of importance, to 

 what degree the North American colonies rise, 

 their present value, and how much that value is 

 capable of being increased, it is necessary to 

 take a view of their commercial concerns, in 

 order to bring their resources fairly before us. 

 In attempting to introduce this subject, I feel 

 no small degree of diffidence, from the reflexion 

 that it is one much out of the line of my pro- 

 fessional pursuits, in the discussion of which er- 

 roneous opinions are very liable to intrude, and 

 that by meddling with it I may be blamed by 

 many for the imperfect performance. My ob- 

 ject is to attract to this point the attention of 

 men well informed on the intricate questions of 

 mercantile policy, in the hope that some much 

 abler pen than mine may, at no remote period, 



