I have often thought, that the success of our navy was in a great measure
owing to _cool, deliberate firing_; and there is no doubt but that the
military fame of our ancestors was owing to their great superiority in
shooting the long bow; for the exercise of which, butts were erected in
every village in the kingdom. -
From
Yours, &c
* * * * *
_Philadelphia, February 12th, 1796._
DEAR FRIEND,
Were I to characterise the _United States_, it should be by the
appellation of the _land of speculation_.
Such has been the rapid rise of every article of american produce, of
house-rent, and land (to say nothing of mercantile speculation, great part
of the carrying trade of Europe being now in the hands of the Americans),
that surely there never was a country where that passion was so universal,
or had such unbounded scope.
The last great purchase of land from the Indians, on the confines of
Georgia, was at the rate of a cent per acre; one hundred acres for a
dollar!
Before the american war, flour, was sold at _two_ dollars, per barrel; it
is now selling at _fourteen_.
But perhaps the most tempting speculation is that of the _mines_. Our
friend, Parsons, who is here looked upon as an agent to some english
speculators, has lately received the enclosed, which I begged a copy of,
for your perusal but should first inform you, the cheapest fuel you can
burn in some parts of America, is english coal from Liverpool!
