IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 ^ViUi 1.1 l.-^KS L25 iU 11.6 6" PhDtographij3 Sciences Corporation 93 WBT MAIN STRUT WP^STIR.N.Y. 14SM (716) 172-4303 '^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/iCIVIH Collection de mi Canadian institute for Historicai iVIicroreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiquat ci^ T«ehnieal and BiMlographie Notaa/NotM taehniquM at MMiographlquM Th« iMtHut* hat attamptad to obtain tha baat original copy avaHaMa for filming. Faaturaa of thia copy whieh may ba MMIographloally unlqua, which may altar any of tha Imagaa In tha raproductlon, or whieh may tlgnlfleantty changa tha usual mathod of filming, ara chackad balow. D n n n n Coloured covora/ Couvartura da coulaur I I Covara damaged/ Couverture endommagAe Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture resteurAe et/ou pelliculAe □ Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque □ Coloured maps/ Cartes gAographiques an coulaur □ Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couieur (i.e. autre que bieue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Pianches et/ou iiiustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ NeliA avac d'auties documents Tight binding mey cause shadows or distortion along interior mergin/ La re iiure serrie peut causer de i'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int^rieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouttes iors d'une restauration apparaissent dans ie texte, mais, lorsque cela Atait possible, ces pages n'ont pas AtA fiimAes. Additional comments:/ Commentaires supplAmentaires: L'inatltut a mlcrofHmA le meWeur exemplaire qu'll lui a 4t* possible de se procurer. Les details da eat exempleire qui sent paut-Atra unlquae du point de vue Mbllographlque. qui peuvent modifier una Image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la m4thoda normaki de filmage aont indiqute ci-dessous. r~n Coloured peges/ Pagea de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommegtes Pages restored end/oi Pages restsur*es et/ou peliicuiAes Pages discoloured, stained or foxet Pages dicolorAes, tachetAes ou piquies Pages detached/ Pages d*tach*es Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of prin Quality inAgale de I'impression Includes supplementary materii Comprend du metAriel suppi^mentsire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponibie pn Pages damaged/ r~1 Pages restored end/or laminated/ ry\ Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ I I Pages detached/ r~~l Showthrough/ I I Quality of print varies/ I I Includes supplementary material/ I — I Only edition available/ D Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc.. have teen refiimed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement oi< partieiiement obscurcies par un feuillcit d'errata. une pelure, etc.. ont At6 flimtes A nouveau de fapon A obtenir la meilleure image possible. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Co document est film* eu taux de reduction indiqu* ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X y 12X 16X 20X a4X 28X 32X Th« copy fllin«d h&tm has lM«n r«produe«d thanks to th* g«n«roelty of : Library of tha Public Archivat of Canada L'axamplaira film4 fut raproduit grioa i la O«n«roaiti da: La bibliotMqua dot Archlvaa publiquaa du Canada Tha inwgaa appaaring hara ara tha boat quality poasibia consMaring tha condition and iafiibllity of tha original copy and in Icaaping with tha filming contract spacifications. Original copies in printed papar covars ara filmad beginning with tha front covar and ending on tha last page with a printed or illustrated Impres- sion, or the becic cover when appropriate. All other originei copies are filmed lieglnning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, end ending on tlie last pege with a printed or illustrated impression. The last rscordsd frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — ^> (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or tha symbol ▼ (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Lae images suivantee ont 4t* reproduitae avac la plus grand soin, compta tanu da la condition at da la nettet4 do rexempibire film4. et en conf ormitA avac las conditions du contrat de fllmage. Lea exemplaires origineux dont la couverture en papier est imprimto sent fllmto en commen9ant par la premier plat at en terminant salt par la darnlAre pege qui comporte une empreinte d'impresslon ou d'iilustretion, soit par la second plot, selon le cas. Tous las autres exempleires origineux sent filmte en commen^ent par la premiere pege qui comporte une empreinte d'impresslon ou d'iiiustration et en terminant per la dernMre page qui comporte una telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la dernlAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: la symboia — »• signifia "A 8UIVRE", le symbols ▼ signifie "FIN". Mbp». plates, charts, etc., mey be filmed at different reduction ratios. Thojs too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner left to right end top to bottom, as many frames ss requirsd. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Lea certes, pisnches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre fiimte A des taux de rMuctlcn diffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grend pour Atre reproduit en un soul clichA, 11 est fllmA A partir de I'angia supArieur gauche, de geuche A droite, et de haut en bes, en prenant le nombre d'Imagas nAcsssaire. Les diagrammes suivants iilustrsnt la mAthode. £■-€..';• U:Mv, ., 3 \-{ .: , 1 2 3 4 5 6 ?^ w. i f ■■"4-*»- '**»••■-.. u,,. jTfee Effects of distant Colonization on the Parent State; A PRIZE ESSAY, RECITED IN THE THEATRE AT OXFORD, June 7, 1815. *' And God blessed them, and God said unto them, < Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it."' — Gen. i. 33. V. ■''■■il, ■■.■^ ■•iJr-fcr:.— m T"" ^■ SYNOPSIS. The four diflferent causes are enumerated, which, in the early days of the world, induced individuals to forsake their native homes, and fix their abode elsewhere. — From these are collected by analogy four causes of Colonization. Colonization from the first cause, namely, want of com- fortable subsistence in the Parent Country — ths necessity which drives men thus to emigrate is commonly the result of human misgovernment.— Colonization from the second cause, namely, the forcible expulsion of men from their country on account of their crimes, or opinions — How this species may be rendered most beneficial. — Coloniza- tion from the third cause, namely, a wish to increase the national wealth and power. — Objections to a Colonial System — first, from its instability, and draining the re- sources of the Parent State— Answer to this objection. — Second objection, that distant Colonies will become inde- pendent, and probably hostile to the Mother Country.— This objection considered. — The evil of separation may be retarded by a wise policy.— The advantages of Coloniza- tion are immediate and great, though sometimes chequered by incidental evils: — Colonization from the fourth cause, namely, a wish to extend the progress of Civilization and true Religion. — Beneficial effects of this system both tp the Colonies and to the Parent State. B 3 I i The J^ects of distant Colonization on the Parent State* In the early days of the world, whenever a fa- mily became too numerous to subsist in one place, a separation of its members necessarily followed ; and the father saw his younger children forsake their paternal roof^ -and become in their turn the patriarchs of new families in a new place of abode. At other times the causes which led to a parting were more to be deprecated : incorrigible miscon- duct on the part of a son was sometimes sufficient to dissolve the ties of kindred; and the parent drove out into exile his disobedient child, with no other purpose than that of preserving the peace and happiness of his household, by the expulsion of a wicked or turbulent member. In the course of human affairs, the removal of evil must ever precede the acquisition of good. When enough had been done to secure to a family subsistence and tranquillity, other motives might Bd 6 ii yet be found strong enough to overpower the voice of natural affection. The younger children of the house might not unreasonably wish to add to the comforts of their parent, by procuring for him the beautiful or useful productions of foreign coun- tries ; and to improve at the same time their own condition, by exchanging competency for plenty, and enabling themselves to live according to their inclination, and not as necessity compelled them. 1 Some also there might be found, who might dis- cover yet higher motives for leaving their native home. The head of the family might reflect, that his house, which had flourished for so many ages, might soon, in the natural course of human events, dwindle to decay ; and that in the place where it stood there might remain of it no memorial. He would rejoice therefore to see a scion of so revered a stock planted in a fresh soil, where it should spring up in the vigour of youth, and pre- serve the remembrance of its parent for a thousand generations. He would exult too at the wide dif- fusion of happiness which this seasonable separa- tion would be the means of producing : he would delight to think, that for his children might be reserved the glory of civilizing and benefiting the rude peasantry amongst whom they were to dwell ; and V lid consider, that the most calculating pru- dence .lould not condemn him for indulging him- self in these pleasures, since they would be accom- panied by substantial advantages ; by an increase of wealth, and an accession of influence, at least until the lapse of years should dissolve the inti- macy of connection subsisting between the severed branches of his family. From the different causes which have been sup^ posed to influence indiWduals in leaving their pa- rental home, may be gathered in close analogy the sources of Colonization. And though the good derived to the state from each of these diflerent ways of relieving it of its subjects be of course exceedingly unequal, yet it should seem that evil could scarcely arise from any of them. To take the first two cases : — we shall find that in one the emigration is the result of simple neiiessity ; and it can hardly be doubted, but that a country is happier with one million of people, all of whom are provided with a competent maintenance, than it would be with an infinitely greater number, of which a large proportion is pining in want. Un- der such circumstances the mere removal of a large B 4 TT S body of citizens out of the country is in itself a benefit, as it brings the population to a level with the resources possessed by the state for supplying; them with food. But to determine the precise number of inhabitants which a nation is able to support, not by its own natural productions, but by its industry, is a problem which it behoves every statesman to endeavour to solve. It rarely happens but that the distress which leads t( emigra- tion arises from causes which are remediable by human wisdom : and though when such distress has actualljr existed, any means of relieving it may be accounted beneficial; yet how heavy is the re- sponsibility incurred by that government, by whose neglect it comes to pass that the country is forced to cast away its children, like so much un- profitable lumber ; forced to lessen its population, and by consequence its greatness ; forced to ampu- tate a limb in order to preserve life ; when, under a better management, the body with all its mem- bers might have been nourished in health and vigour. The second case, that, namely, where the separa- tion had its origin in feelings of hostility, either in one p: rty or in both, may appear to contain in 9 it more of diBiculty. With regard to criminals however, and persons who are positively mis» chievous to society at home, to expel them from amongst us must clearly he good ; and to endea- vour to extract benefit from them in their state of banishment, to form out of them a Colony, where, by a regular continuance in well doing, the convict may be changed into the citizen, appears to offer a picture still more captivating. Yet when we re- flect that a Colony of this description, situated probably at a great distance from the Mother Coun- try, and holding out little that could tempt any honest and good man to choose it as his residence, is not very favourable to the reformation of crimi- nals ; and that, if it does not tend to reform them, all expences incurred in setting it on foot have been not only useless but pernicious, in thus bringing a mass of evil together in a situation where it will be free from control, and will have every facility for disseminating itself; we shall perhaps hesitate before we decide in favour of such a system, and shall be driven to allow, that in this one instance Colonization seems to be deserted by its usual advantages'^. For those settlements which are composed of persons driven from their homes on account of their opinions, religious or 10 political, the benefit which the Parent State may reap from their expulsion, must be estimated ac- cording to the danger or infectious nature of their tenets. At any rate, in this, and in all cases what- soever, where it is found necessary to bat.'ish any portion of citizens from their country, it 'n an imr perious duty upon the government to make dome provision for their future welfare. If this be not done, they 'vill not fail to transfer their allegiance to some rival, probably to some hostile sovereign, and will exert all their talents and industry in re- venging themselves, wherever they can, upon the country from which they were exiled. 1 ^ i 5; In proceeding to the third case^ or that of regu- lar Colonization undertaken for the purpose of po- sitively increasing the stock of national prosperity, we should be tempted, were we tc judge of it the- oretically, to draw a far more beautiful picture than the truth of history would realize. From plantations in which human policy improved, without perverting the plain dictates of nature, and followed carefully and wisely the natural pro- gress of events, we might expect nothing but un- mixed good : the Parent State at once relieved and strengthened ; the very assemblage that burthened 11 her at home, converted into an accession of wealth and power ; her influence widely extended ; her supplies and luxuries abundantly increased : not to mention the glory she would derive from dissemi- nating her religion, her laws, and her language over a larger portion of the world. Why, in point of fact, the consequences of Colonization have not been always so beneficial, and how far the evil which has been so often intermixed with them i* either accidental, or may admit of remedy or coun- terpoise to it, will therefore be no unprofitable subject of inquiry. -; n It has been with many a favourite topic of de- clamation, to inveigh against the instability of a colonial power, and also to represent Colonies as continual drains upon the resources of the Parent State. The examples of Athens, of Carthage, and of Holland, have been often adduced in support of one or other of these positions : and the conclu^ sion has been rashly drawn, that distant Coloniza- tion is therefore an evil. It would be nearer the trutii to say, that, like other good tilings, it is liable to be abused and misapplied ; and that the states above mentioned were injured, as far as they were injured, solely from an abuse of the system : while :• 12 in the great prosperity which they for a while en* joyed, we may trace the direct beneficial effects of it, struggUng against a multitude of disadvantages* That which serves to increase the power of a great and populous nation, may be a weight which a small one is unable to bear ; as the foliage which ornaments without weakening the trunk of the oak, bends to the ground the stem of the ivy* Colonization was at first the offspring of necessity : when men became so numerous that the land was not able to bear them, a portion of them naturally sought an abode elsewhere. Does it follow from hence, that a nation should empty itself of half its population, when the whole amount is scarcely sufficient to fill the land, and make it produce to the greatest extent of its resources ? To her naval power and her colonics, two things almost inse> parably connected with each other, Athens was in- debted for her glory and her empire. That in the exercise of her sovereignty she committed innu* merable acts of cruelty, to which she was prompted by a consciousness of the natural disproportion be- tween her power and her dominion; and that she was at last obliged to yield to the military confe> deracy of Peloponnesus ; are facts which only prove the insufficiency of the base to support the vasi 13 fabric raised upon it: which show, that when a little state like Attica attempts to rise to an unna-^ tural greatness, the mightiest engines are unable permanently to maintain her in a station^ which she is radically unfit to occupy. The same may be said of Carthage and of Hol- land. In one case a single city aspired, and almost with success, to the conquest of the world. In the other, seven inconsiderable provinces, preserved from the ocean by unremitting industry, pretended to hold an equal rank with the most powerful kingdoms of Europe. For all that is brilliant in the fortune of either country, for the triumphs of Thrasymenus and Cannae, for those proud days when De Ruyter insulted the navy of England in her harbours, and when the German Cssars courted the alliance and protection of the Dutch merchants, both nations are beholden to their commercial and colonial systems. But even these could not achieve impossibilities : so Carthage perished in the course of the unequal contest on which she had ventured ; and Holland has gra- dually descended from her eminence to the rank of a secondary, or third rate, power. 14 it' f ! I mi 11 I' ' Nor does the example of Spain furnish the ad- rersaries of a colonial policy with arguments more substantial than those which they can derive from the history of the nations already mentioned. The population of that country was little affected by the emigrations to America^ and its present amount is far greater than it has been at any former pe- riod. And if the industry of the people was damped by the immense importation of gold and silver which followed their first conquests in the new world, this could only prove, not surely that all distant colonies are injurious, but those simply, where the precious metals form the staple com- modity transmitted to the Parent State. But we may observe, that the present feebleness of Spain, and its inferiority to some other European nations, not only in industry, but in all moral and intellectual excellence, may be accounted fo? on much more probable grounds than ihe ingots of Peru : and in a country where civil and religious despotism have long since reigned uncontrolled, and where the Inquisition has combated with so much energy the progress of all useful knowledge, it might be thought that the causes of degeneracy were not very difficult to discover. f 15 the ad- ts more ve from id. The cted by amount mer pe- damped d silver :he new that all simply, le com- e. But jness of uropean )ral and fo? on gots of eligious itroUed, with so wledge, eneracy Another accusation brought against the system of colonial policy, has been drawn from the event of that war which deprived Great Britain of her North American Colonies ; and will now pro- bably be reinforced with fresh arguments by the struggle in the foreign dominions of Spain. The objection is this : large and distant Colonies must necessarily in process of time become indepen- dent ; and as no country is disposed willingly to relinquish any part of its power, their indepen- dence will certainly be the dear bought fruit of a contest. And as no hostility is so bitter and implacable as that of civil wars, so both parties will retire from the combat with feelings of un- subdued enmity, and the Parent State will find her most inveterate foes in her own children. This, and the other charge which has been con- sidered above, are most commonly coupled toge- ther, when it is wished to paint Colonization in its worst colours. What madness is it, we are told, to drain our resources, and weaken our power, for the very purpose of fostering future enemies. As long as they remain in subjection to us, they will for ever be involving us in wars, and drag us down with an additional load of expence : till in the end, when 16 r> 5 u '!!» V { . t we shall have sufficiently lavished our blood and treasure in their behalf^ they will suddenly renounce our authority, and attack us with the very power which our bounty has given them. What folly then to compass sea and land for the sake of gain- ing a prize so ruinous ! Better for every man to sit under his own vine, and eat of his own fig tree ; to live amongst his friends and his brethren, and be gathered to his rest in the sepulchre of his fathers. It is not the purpose of this Essay to enter into an indiscriminate defence of the Colonizing Sys- tem, but to discover, if possible, what are its real merits and defects. Like many other questions, it has been too often treated in England as a mat- ter of party ; and the advocates or enemies of a colonial policy have connected their opinions on these points with their tenets respecting commerce and agriculture, a military or a mercantile line of affairs. It is surely possible to examine the sub- ject without prejudice ; to separate the contingent good and evil of Colonization from its natural or necessary results, and so to form a fair judgment on the wisdom or folly of adopting it. It is true that no nation can hope to hold ip 17 permanent subjection a powerful and remote Co« lony. In process of time there arises in the Colony a distinct society, and a distinct public spirit; which, finding sufficient scope and employ- ment at home, takes but a faint interest in the welfare of the Parent State. When such a state of things has arisen, the project of a fair and federal union between the Mother Country and its dependencies, even were it practicable, would not. long continue to answer its proposed end. A large and growing Settlement would soon become weary of sending representatives to a national council held at the other extremity of the earth ; and even if its interests were always fairly con- sulted, it would be still impatient of seeing itself without a name, and of having all its glory lost and confounded in the exploits of the Parent State''. It may then be almost considered as an axiom, that a large Colony will always in process of time become independent; and it is nearly as certain, whilst human nature continues the same, that this independence will never be peaceably obtained. It is also greatly to be feared that so much animosity will be engendered in the con- flict, that th'j two Nations will thenceforth con- sider each other as comprized in the already too c 18 in 1 1 If ^ ill i > f I, numerous catalogue of natural enemies. This is a melancholy prospect : but it is one, to the truth of which both theory and experience can testify. Even though we were to make some abatement in the darkness of this colouring, and suppose that the conduct of a Na'^'on to its Colonies be more liberal thanlias usually been the case, and that no such leaven of bitterness mingle in the first origin of the Settlement, as unfortunately tainted the very earliest intercourse of England with her North American dependencies ; still the operation of the principles above stated is so universal, that a different result is scarcely to be expected. Is it in human nature to expect such uninterrupted wisdom in any Government, as that no weak Prince, or ambitious Minister, should offer some provocation, however slight, to a powerful and re- solute Colony ? And when the cup has long been full, and nothing has been wanting but a touch to make it overflow, will no unkindly accident ever supply that deficiency ? Or will there never fall upon matter so inflammable some spark, which may suddenly blaze forth, and involve the whole fabric in one fatal conflagration ? There must surely then be some extraordinary 19 advantages derived from Colonization, which have made all nations so eagerly adopt it, in spite of the ultimate dangers with which it threatens them. Those dangers have been stated freely, and with- out any disposition to underrate their magnitude : a more agreeable task remains for us, in contem- plating the favourable side of the picture. In the first place, much may be done by a wise policy to retard the dreaded sera of separation. Where the first inhabitants of a new Settlement are men who have fled from their country, on account of the rigour of its laws concerning them, and who find themselves left entirely to their own care in their present abode, their feelings to the land of their fathers can scarcely be of the most kindly nature : and if, in their succeeding inter- course with that land, they experience more of its vexatious restraints and arbitrary enactments, than of its parental tenderness and regard, what wonder is it, if they early become converts to the doctrine which teaches that allegiance and protection are reciprocal ; if they are eager to detach themselves from a connection whose evils alone they have experienced? It may be, that in many cases the opinions of the persons exiled were so pernicious c 2 20 to the existing institutions of the Parent Country, that imperious necessity dictated their expulsion. But such a measure will find its best justification in a subsequent course of attentive zeal and regard to their welfare ; from whence it will become ap- parent, that in forbidding them to live with us, we were really actuated by motives of self-defence, and not of enmity. In a foreign land they cannot hurt our establishment, but they may be made abundant sources of good : and by a careful pro- vision for their first wants, a sacred regard for their freedom, and a liberal encouragement of their in- dustry, we should in all probability soon remove, or at least assuage, their angry feelings, and con- vert them into loyal and serviceable subjects'^. But even where a less friendly system is pur- sued, a long time must necessaril) elapse before a Colony can acquire sufficient strength and con- sistency to aspire to the rank of an independent Nation. Now there is no principle more generally recognized in human nature, than the indiflerence with which it regards remote evil when set in the balance against immediate good. Let an event be once deferred, and ail its terrors seem to vanish : the mind calculates on a thousand chances which 21 tiiay occur to prevent its fulfilinent ; and the un« certainty of human affairs is a truth not less capa- ble of inspiring hope than despondency. But if every man feels this with regard to the short period of his own individual existence, how much more forcibly does it apply to the political life of a State; and how trifling do those evils appear, which will fall only on our children*8 children, in the thousandth generation ! When therefore it is proposed to send out a Colony to a newly dis- covered region, the keenest and most far sweeping glance can scarcely discern those dim forms of danger which rise so faintly in the remotest dis- tance, when the nearer prospect, for many a league around, is nothing but tranquillity and beauty. Long before the small and dependent band, which is now borne with all its substance in a few barks across the ocean, can become a great and a hostile nation, the country of their fathers may be a wil- derness, and the»sole remnants of its language and its name be preserved amongst the posterity of its exiled children. Far less remote is the good which a wise Go- vernment may justly hope to derive from its Colo- c3 w i u I. i ■ i. I'll'! \:\ Jl. s> ll>.\ 22 iiies. No spot oil the globe is so worthless, as not to contribute something, when properly managed, to the stock of* natural greatness. Either it has commodities which may serve to increase the com- forts of mankind; crit is useful in regard to its situation, as a point of support from which its set- tlers may gradually advance to a better and richer country; some places again, like St. Helena, and the Cape of Good Hope, are convenient as keeping up the chain of communication between the most distant parts of an empire, and as offering valuable stations of refreshment to seamen bound on long and wearisome voyages. In all these Colonies the inhabitants will naturally look to the Mother Country for a supply of many of the necessaries, and almost all the conveniences of life: and will therefore secure an ample sale for its manufac- tures*^, in return for the produce, whatever it be, which they export to it. For a long time too, any Colonist who shall have risen to coi^iderable wealth, will be tempted to transfer it to the Parent State, which, from its superior civilization, appears to offer the fittest place for the enjoyment of the fruits of his industry : and thus a large tribute will be con- tinually poured into the heart of the empire, from H 23 whence it will again circulate through the mem- bers, and will multiply itself with unceasing acti- vity. In attributing to Colonies these beneficial re- sults, it will be understood that we forbear to cal- culate on several accidents, which have at different times brought ruin upon infant Settlements. An unhealthy climate, against which few precautions have been taken ; disscntions amongst the Colo- nists themselves ; the neighbourhood of fierce and numerous tribes of savages ; neglect on the part of the Government at home; and other such causes, being no more than incidental evils, and such as may mostly be prevented by w^om and experience, ought not in fairness to be put in the balance against the benefits of Colonization, which arise from it naturally, and almost necessarily* Still less will the general question be affected by errors which may have been committed in the detail of commercial regulations between a Colony and its Parent State. In these points the nations of modern Europe are accused of having followed a most iUiberal line of policy; of having treated their Colonies more as slaves, than as children. c 4 24 However that be, the Colony trade has always been highly beneficial' to the Mother Country; and also, if we may judge from their rapid growth in wealth and power, to the Colonies themselves. Again, whether the system of monopolies be wise or no, is of little consequence to our present argu- ment. Most countries have received benefit from thieir Colonies, vcn though their trade was carried on by exclusive companies. A free trade might pel haps have produced more benefit, but at any rate the effect of Colonization has, even under pre- sent circumstances, been decidedly salutary. II It is possible however that the view of the ques- tion hithj^to taken may to many appear unsatis- ^factory. Admitting the t^uth of our whole state- merit, acknowledging that Colonies do indeed pro- mote the commerce and the riches of the Parent State, they may consider them as on that account only the more prejudicial. Scared by the phantom of lujiury, and taught to attribute to that cause the downfall of empires, they will earnestly de- precate a system, which tends in their opinion to gratify unnecessary desires, and foster unbounded profligacy : they will regret that the low and mer- cenary*^ clamour of buyers and sellers should be 25 Buffered to pervade every part of the political fa- bric, and will feelingly deplore that decay of ancient simplicity, and that avidity for dissipation and folly, which they are apt to consider as the necessary consequence c^ an extensive commercial intercourse with foreign nations. . , . . In thoughts of this nature it is easy to forget that we are living, as Harring on calls it, " in " the dregs of the Gothic empire," and to trans- port ourselves to all the pleasures of the most beautiful Utopia. We may be sure that no Go- vernment will ever, in point of fact, attempt to check the wealth of its subjects for the sake of preserving tlieir morality. Colonization therefore will ever be practised, until some results of a more alarming tendency than an increase of national riches be found to spring from it. But we are not without some consolation to offer to the high- minded patrons of purity and virtue. Though amongst the treasures which Colonization offers to us, eight statues be of gold, a ninth may yet be found of a fairer and more lovely material ; and those who despise its gaudy companions, may yet turn with delight to the contemplation of this. 26 Return we then to those principles, which, at the foundation of our first American Settlemeiits, were professed ^ as the motives which should in- duce our countrymen to join in the enterprize. A language was then held more worthy of English- men and of Christians, than that which has in later times superseded it. Vve were then told, not only that our trade and wealth would be increased, but that fruits far more various in kind, and more excellent in nature, should be the reward of our exertions. For the poorer members of the com- monwealth might find in the Colonies a salutary maintenance ; a situation where their industry would be encouraged and rewarded: and even if some of more disorderly and profligate habits were numbered amidst the new Settlers, their evil qualities, awed by the example, or curbed by the authority, of their more virtuous associates, might in a distant land be corrected, or at least rendered less noxious ; as 4ie weed which we diligently expel from our gardens is tolerated, and perhaps admired, upon the heath or the mountain. Nor was it a small thing to consider how immensely the knowledge of nature would be increased by the discovery of a new world ; whose productions. 27 both animal, vegetable, and mineral, would present a boundless field for the researches of science, and contribute to establish by more numerous ex- amples the soundness of the great inductive posi- tions of natural philosophy. Meanwhile the sight of new countries, and new nations ; the prospect of oceans to be crossed, forests to be cleared, and mountains to be climbed ; the familiarity with " most disastrous chances, and moving accidents by flood or field," which the stirring recital of such noble enterprizes would communicate to the minds of the people at large ; the proud thought of chang- ing at once by their exertions the infancy of the world into its maturity ; of elevating the savage to the rank of civilized man ; of founding a new na- tion of Englishmen and of Christians : all these things would implant in the breast an infinite va- riety of hopes and of motives ; would trtmsport the thoughts of the community beyond the range of this " ignorant present," and the little circle of in- significant occurrences which are attached to the every day life of an individual ; would give them a wider scope, and a nobler aim ; would multiply their faculties, and elevate their intellectual na- ture. If war itself, with all its horrors, has some- 28 times been made the subject of eulogy, for the sake of the powerful stimulus which it communi- cates, and the principles which it calls forth into ac- tion: how much more excellent is Colonization, which inspires equal enterprize and courage, fosters and developes equal abilities ; and this not for the purpose of creating misery, but of disseminating blessings. 'I >t n 1!^' ■ ! >l 1^ Nor let it be said, that whilst we so higlily ex- tol the system of planting distant Settlements, we are undervaluing the sanctity of local affection, or would release mankind from all those ties which bind them to the land in which they were born. We do not purpose to destroy this feeling, but to extend its influence. For in every nation many will be found, who from vaflous causes are become dead to hope and to affection ; to whose palled and sickly appetites every object in their native land is distasteful ; who regard their country with aver- sion, and behold in it only the witness of their vices, or the scene of their misfortunes. To men like these emigration to a distant region is like a new state of being, on which they enter with all that freshness of hope, all that liveliness of feeling, 29 with which in youth they began their former ca- reer. A new country may awaken their patrio< tism, since it has no connection with their sorrows or their remorse j and thus by the happy magic of Colonization, all the energies of the intellect and of the heart are made to spring up in a soil, which before was overgrown with sloth and apathy k. But this is not all : there is yet one inestimable good attendant on the Colonization conducted by the nations of modern Europe, which our great an* eestors well knew how to value — the glory and happiness of diffusing the light of the Gospel amongst poor and blinded Pagans. It demands an eloquent pen to sketch worthily the picture of a Colony conducted on principles like these, and a cool judgment to curb the enthusiasm which such a subject can scarcely fail of exciting. But there are some features which will not be overlooked. In the midst of the desert shall flow forth the streams of life ; in the gloomy wilderness shall blossom the rose of Sharon. The Colonist shall appear, not bearing in one hand the sword, and in the other the Bible disfigured and polluted with the blood which he has so plentifully shed : the sword 30 f li' f I shall be turned into a ploughshare, and the sacred volume shall light his path with its mild and un- clouded radiance. A new nation of civilized be- ings shall be brought into existence ; the stock of human happiness largely increased ; the expect- ants of immortality multiplied a thousand fold. The Parent Country shall reflect with comfort, that when the course of human events shall have con- signed it to oblivion, its name and language shall be perpetuated by its children in a far distant land. Colonization must ever continue to take place till the earth be fully peopled, in compli- ance with a necessary law of nature. God's bless- ing was early pronounced upon it, and therefore it must be in itself capable of producing good. Happy are they who make themselves the instru- ments of producing it ; who crave the honour of being the channel of so much happiness to the world. That for our own country this glory may be reserved, is our natural and pardonable prayer. It will be the crown of all her triumphs, the con- summation of all the bounties which Providence has vouchsafed unto her. And our hope is not without foundation. There yet lives within us that mighty spirit by which we have delivered Mff») xa\ enrsipoxa^ia. Vid. Xenophon. Cyropeed. lib. I. 36 Page 26. g. ' See particularly a beautiful pamphlet, entitled, " The New Life of Virginia," printed at London in the year 1612, by an author who signs himself R. I. full of the most just, liberal, and pious views of the duties of Colonists, and the great benefits of Colonization, *" n • Page 29. g. In an Essay by M. Talleyrand, ** Sur les Avantages k re- tirer de Colonies nouvelles dans les Circonstances pr^- sentes," this point is particularly insisted on. " Aprds les crises r^volutionnaires, il est des hommes fatigues et vieillis sous I'impression du malheur, dont il faut en quel- que sorte rajeunir Tame. II en est qui voudroient ne plus aimer leur pays, k qui il faut faire sentir qu'heureusement cela est impossible." He then enumerates those persons, for whom " un ciel nouveau est devenu un besoin. Ceux qui, rest^s seuls, ont perdu, sous le fer des assassins, tout ce qui embellissoit pour eux la terre natale : et ceux pour qui elle est devenue inf^conde, et ceux qui n'y trouvent que des regrets, et ceux mdme qui n'y trouvent que des re- mords : et les hommes qui ne peuvent se resoudre k placer I'esp^rance Ik oix ils ^prouv^rent le malheur." Printed by S. Cdlingwood. ^