8867. WAR, Avoidance of.—
To remove
as much as possible the occasions of making
war, it might be better for us to abandon the
ocean altogether, that being the element
whereon we shall be principally exposed to
jostle with other nations; to leave to others
to bring what we shall want, and to carry
what we can spare. This would make us
invulnerable to Europe, by offering none of
our property to their prize, and would turn
all our citizens to the cultivation of the earth.
It might be time enough to seek employment
for them at sea, when the land no longer
offers it.—
Notes on Virginia. Washington ed. viii, 413.
Ford ed., iii, 279.
(1782)
