108 An Essay on Commsnial Policij. 



say that from this period a foundation was laid for a nursert'' 

 of seamen in Scotland, and that, though no other record 

 remained, the laws of the subsequent reigns would prove 

 that the fisheries continued to en""as:e the attention of the 

 trading conmiunity. Undoulitedly they would be affected 

 by the tumults of the reformation and of the civil wars, but 

 perhaps not to the extent which is generally imagined. For 

 people habitually disposed to industry do not readily enter 

 into political contentions, particularly if their industry be 

 maritime; and the fact is, that both the reformation and 

 the civil wars were managed by the chieftains and their ad- 

 herents. The boroughs and towns would, no doubt, take 

 an interest in the procession of events during those two tu- 

 multuous periods, but not to such a degree as the factious 

 chieftains and their predatory clans were incited. There- 

 fore, when we consider the various laws which were passed 

 in the reign of Charles II. for the (encouragement of the 

 Scottish fisheries, we must regard them as directed to their 

 revival, and not their establishment. And when wc pass 

 along the intervening events till the year 1694, in which 

 the Darien expedition was projected, we can easily under- 

 stand that there must have been then in Scotland a number 

 of seamen who would be the first to embark in an enter- 

 prise that promised so fairly an unprecedented reward of 

 affluence. The judgment with wliich that expedition was 

 planned, and the spirit with which it was executed, reflects 

 as much honoin- upon the Scottish nation as the policy by 

 which it was undermined disgraces the disposition and reigTi 

 of William III. The English and Dutch East India com- 

 panies, foreseeing the effects of the advantat2;eous situation 

 which the Scots had selected, influenced William to coun- 

 teract the expedition ; and private partialities, and an ig;no- 

 rance of the true interests of trade, induced him to destroy 

 a colony that by careful fostering would have extended the 

 commerce of his kingdoms. The consequence of William's 

 policy did not terminate in the ruins of the Darien colony ; 

 the mariners who sailed with the expedition were for ever 

 lost to the country. The fisheries were for many years after 

 of no importance, and the Dutch in the interval obtained 

 an insurmountable preference for their herrings in the mar- 

 kets of Europe. A reduction in the amount of the fisheries 

 was not the only evil 3 the proper knowledge of the trade 

 became almost extinguished, and for nearly a eenturv since 

 has the British legislature been annually occupied with 

 schemes and projects to restore that knowledge. It is as 

 well known as any historical truth whatever, that prior to 



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