this is a genial happening, or an adventitious good; I mean more than this. I mean that there is duty and obligation on the part of nations thus, and in this manner, to contribute to the well-being of the human race. I want sugar; I want tea; I want cotton fabrics for my family; I want utensils of metal for domestic use; and the luxuries of foreign lands for pleasure and gratification.
But the country in which I live cannot perhaps produce tea; nor supply me with china for my table; nor cotton fabrics for my wear; nor the luxuries I have mentioned for my delight; nor the articles for common need and convenience.
But the Chinese and the English, the Americans and the French, are able to supply me with these articles, for a proper remuneration. Moreover, these people cannot get oils, and dyes, and other articles we can command, which they need for constant use; and therefore if they will supply our needs, we, in return, can give them what they seek and desire.
What is duty in this case? Why, most assuredly, that those foreigners are bound by duty to meet my wants, and I am equally bound to meet theirs.
I say, without hesitation, that this is duty; and God teaches this most clearly by his providence. When a nation or a number of nations refuse to do their commercial duties, one to the other, they are punished: the healthful life-blood of the body politic ceases its natural flow, and stagnation ensues, or progress and civilization are retarded, or the nation is either judicially smitten down at once, or a sudden check is given to its free and genial growth, and it
