COLONY. 



Colon r. 



cvluniei. 



t.crally believed, that there existed, in unknown parts of 

 America, \ctns of gold and silver, a* abundant at those 

 of copper or iron in Europe. Hence credit was given 

 to the tales which led Gonzalo, lY/arro, Orellano, and 

 others from Peru to the inhospitable tracks along the- ri- 

 ver Amazons ; hence, likewise, the avidity in this coun- 

 try to believe Sir Walter Raleigh's fiction of the king- 

 dom of El Dorado, and of a chief, whose throne was 

 made of solid gold. These deceptions were propagated 

 and continued, years after years, from a solicitude, on 

 the part of the oppressed Americans, to send forward 

 their troublesome visitors to a distant region. ( Southey's 

 liraziJ, vol. i.) Accordingly, it was not until the se- 

 venteenth century, that our countrymen began to settle 

 as cultivators, either in the West Indies or North Ame- 

 rica. To the Dutch, an opportunity of aggression on the 

 Portuguese settlements in the East and West was open- 

 ed, by the assumption of the crown of Portugal by their 

 mortal enemy, Philip II. That step gave rise to long 

 continued warfare in Brazil, and to a series of exploits in 

 the Indian sea;, which laid the foundation of very exten- 

 sive conquests. 



We shall now proceed to treat, in succession, of the 

 several colonial settlements of European powers, obser- 

 ving, in the outset, that the working of mines has not 

 been prosecuted in any other settlements than those of 

 Spain and Portugal. That the want of those dazzling 

 attractions is very far from being a disadvantage, will be 

 sufficiently apparent, when we come to treat, in the se- 

 quel of our work, of the nature of mines. Human in- 

 dustry cannot be applied to a more precarious pursuit ; 

 and it is a well known fact, that, poorly cultivated as 

 are Brazil, Mexico, and Peru, there is infinitely more 

 comfort among the inhabitants of the agricultural than 

 of the mining districts of these countries. 



Spanish Colonies. The history of the transatlantic 

 possessions of Spain, affords a most striking example of 

 the evils of monopoly. All European nations have er- 

 red in this respect, and have injured themselves accord- 

 ingly ; but the sum total of their trespasses is trifling 

 when put in comparison with those of the Spanish go- 

 vernment. To put colonial trade into the hands of an 

 exclusive company, is to create a body of which the in- 

 terest is in direct opposition to that of the colony. In- 

 stead of favouring the progressive advance of consump- 

 tion and production, the object of the company is to 

 make sure, by a very plain process, of their personal 

 profit at the expence of both. Abroad, the company's 

 profit is obtained by limiting the supplies exported from 

 the mother country ; at home, by limiting the imports 

 from the colony. The Spanish government was wholly 

 ignorant of the principles of trade, and wonderfully jea- 

 lous of the entrance of foreigners into their transatlantic 

 possessions. It continued, until very lately, under the 

 delusion, that the grand advantage of Mexico and Pe- 

 ru consisted in their mines, and that no pains should be 

 spared to prohibit the access of such individuals as were 

 not employed by government, to these mysterious de- 

 posits. It was determined, therefore, to confine the 

 American trade to a single harbour, and, during several 

 ages, Seville was the favoured port. It was not till 

 1720, two centuries after the occupation of America, 

 that the privilege of colonial trade was extended to Ca- 

 di/. Even then, no person was allowed to ship an ar- 

 ticle of goods for Spanish America without a licence 

 from the exclusive managers of the trade. These mana- 

 gers conducted their affairs with all the confidence and 

 supineness of men assured of an uninterrupted possession 

 of the colonial commerce. The vessels for Peru, Chili, 

 -'id Terra Firma, were called galleons, and sailed only 



once a year. Mexico and the northern province! were 

 supplied by what was called the flota, which sailed in a 

 collective shape only once in three years. No foreigner, 

 and even no Spaniard, embarked on board these v 

 without the permission of government ; and, in the pas- 

 sage, the fleets were prohibited from touching at any in- 

 termediary port. But this was not all ; the American 

 colonies were strictly interdicted from holding a commer- 

 cial communication with each other. Caraccas, for ex- 

 ample, could receive no supplies from the neighbouring 

 island of Trinidad, nor could Mexico relieve its wants 

 by an application to the southern colonies. In short, the 

 merchants were prevented from transacting business ex- 

 cept at prescribed seasons, and at a few specified sea- 

 ports. These were for the continent, Carthagena, with 

 the unhealthy towns of Porto Bcllo, and Vera Cruz ; in 

 Cuba, the less exceptionable station of the Havanna, 

 which, from the excellence of its harbour, and its central 

 position, was the appointed rendezvous of all homeward 

 bound fleets. Under such a system, we need not wonder 

 that Robertson's Histori/ of America, cautiously ai:d 

 temperately as it is written, was not permitted to obtain 

 circr.lation in Spain. The Royal Academy of History, 

 at Madrid, unanimously elected him one of their mem- 

 bers in 1777, in testimony of their approbation of his 

 work, and appointed a gentleman to traiishte it into 

 Spanish ; but after considerable progress had been made 

 in the translation, the Spanish government, dreading the 

 publication of a work which so fully explained the na- 

 ture of the trade with America, and the system of co- 

 lonial administration, interposed its authority to stop the 

 undertaking. See Mr Stewart's Life of Dr Robertson. 



The consequence of cramping, in such a manner, the 

 intercourse between the mother country and the colonies, 

 was an exorbitant enhancement of the articles exported, 

 it being common to charge in America double, and some- 

 times triple, the European price. That intelligent tra- 

 veller, Ulloa, relates, that he has seen a pound of iron 

 currently sold in Peru at four shillings and sixpence, and 

 the pound of steel for six shillings and ninepence ster- 

 ling. Such a state of things could not fail to lead to 

 smuggling. Accordingly, all the exertion, the expen- 

 diture, and the rigour shewn, age after age, by the 

 Spanish government, were ineffectual in preventing the 

 existence of a clandestine intercourse of great extent. 

 One penal law was added to another, and even spiritual 

 punishment, the most formidable of all punishments to 

 a Spaniard, was threatened ; but the wants of the colo- 

 nists, and the vast extent of accessible coast, had the ef- 

 fect of counteracting all impediments. It was a singu- 

 lar circumstance, that the English contraband traders 

 in Jamaica were supposed to enjoy as much of the Spa- 

 nish colonial trade as the mother country herself ; and 

 the consequence was a progressive diminution of the re- 

 gular shipments from the latter, until at last they threat- 

 ened to fall off altogether. 



The mortifying evidence of experience led ultimately 

 to a gradual modification of this absurd monopoly. In 

 1740, the Spanish government consented to the use of 

 " register ships," which may be defined " separate equip- 

 ments, unconnected with the periodical fleets, and less 

 limited in regard to freedom of intercourse witii the co- 

 lonial seaports." This, however, produced hardly any 

 other good effect than an increased frequency of expor- 

 tation, for a heavy tax was exacted by government on 

 the register cargoes, as well in the shape of license at ot 

 duty. It was not till 176* that regular packets wen- 

 established between the colonies and the mother coun- 

 try. These packets sailed from Corunua, and were al- 

 lowed to carry both out and home limited investments of 



Colony. 



