At the close of the war, the country was exhausted by its long and protracted struggle with the colossal power of England.  The Eastern States, which furnished most of the shipping, had made great sacrifices, and had contributed more than their share in men, money, and ships to the common defence.  They were creditor States, and their means were locked up in “final settlements.”  Their remaining capital was insufficient to equip their vessels and give them full cargoes.  The country was impoverished, too, by the suits of foreign creditors, to whom our merchants had become deeply indebted before the war.  Under these circumstances, commerce was slowly resumed.  For several years our exports did not exceed ten millions.  But our merchants were not disheartened; they gradually enlarged their trade and extended their field of adventure; privateers were put into the India trade, and entered into successful rivalry with the more cumbrous ships of the East India Companies.  The new Constitution was adopted, the public debt funded, and duties imposed to meet the interest.  The war-worn officer, the patriotic merchant, and the humble capitalist, who had relied on the honor and justice of the country, were paid in public stocks which found favor abroad.  Old capital was resuscitated and became the basis of commerce.

In 1793 our tonnage had risen to 488,000 tons; and in 1799 it had grown to 939,488 tons, and was still increasing.  The aggressions of France in 1798 and 1799 were met with a bold spirit and proved of brief continuance, a proper chastisement was inflicted on the corsairs of Africa, the honor of the flag was maintained, our commerce moved onward until the close of 1807, and by the official report of that year our tonnage had increased to 1,208,735 tons, or at least five hundred per cent. in the first twenty-four years after the close of the war.  The revenue had risen to fifteen millions, and the official report of the Treasurer showed a balance in the Treasury of eighteen millions in bonds and money; it stated, also, that twenty-six millions of the public debt had been extinguished in the seven years preceding.  Our ships, too, had become the great carriers of the deep; our exports for 1807 were $108,343,750, of which $59,622,558 were of foreign origin; our ports, remote from the seat of war, had become the depots of goods; and our commerce, whitening the surface of every ocean, had begun to tempt the cupidity of contending nations.  In 1807, the United States, in addition to its domestic produce, which went principally to English ports, exported of foreign goods, in round numbers, to

Holland,  . . . . . . . . $14,000,000
French ports, . . . . . .  13,000,000
Spanish  "    . . . . . .  14,000,000
Italian  "    . . . . . .   5,500,000
Danish   "    . . . . . .   2,500,000
English and other ports,.  10,000,000

In those prosperous days of navigation, during the first period of twenty-four years after the Peace