Page:The Hasty-Pudding.djvu/32

24 and vivacity, becoming a more peaceful citizen and perhaps a better man.

4th. That maize possesses a great superiority over rye, barley, oatmeal, or potatoes—not that it contains a greater quantity of gluten, but that its constituent parts are better proportioned, and consequently make a better article of food.

5th. That, admitted into England duty free, it would be a cheaper article of food than any of those above named, besides being vastly superior to them in nutritive and healthful properties.

6th. That it can be obtained in any quantities from all parts of the United States, and particularly from the middle and southern states, on the Atlantic sea-board—as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, whose proximity to the sea and ports of shipment, give them great advantages by saving inland conveyance. The whole valley of the Mississippi also yields it in abundance.

7th. That the people of all parts of the United States are consumers of British manufactures; for in spite of national asperities, they adopt the habits, tastes, fashions, and dress of their English ancestors. This, I think, is a natural feeling in the human breast, for I never yet knew a son who was offended by being told that he resembled his parent. The imported grain then would be paid for in the products of British industry.

8th. That the rapidly increasing population and limited superficial surface of the British Isles, will speedily render a foreign supply of grain necessary even in the most productive seasons—and consequently a reduction of duties must ensue; it is therefore advantageous to the agricultural interests, as land is becoming so valuable, to reserve as much of the soil of England as possible for the cultivation of wheat and more valuable products; and nothing will tend to promote this object more than the introduction of a copious supply of cheaper farinaceous food for the poor and labouring classes.