From ———: Scheme for Making Rivers Navigable (unpublished)

33. Hemp, Flax, Raw silk, Pitch and Tar, Corn, Skins, and Furrs &ca. &ca., Nay, and all this without quarreling either with the English or the Spaniards, about Limits and Boundaries; besides the great and additional Convenience of having Water Carriage free from falls, down the Great Rivers, and the opportunity of making as many Canals in the level Country towards New Orleans as they pleased themselves; which Canals, as they would render the Country more Commodious for carrying on every branch of Commerce, so likewise would they render those naturally Rich Soils & marshes, more firm, more healthy, less swampy, & porous and fitter for the purposes of Cultivation and Residence in every Respect.

But alas! it is a difficult, and an Exceeding difficult matter to root out prejudices, especially those of a long standing. And the more we reflect upon this Subject, the more we must acknowledge the Truth of that Remarkable saying of Count Oxienstern, Nescis, mi fili; Nescis, quantilla sapientia regitur Mundus.

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