COLONY. 



321 



Spain, and the neglect of the Portuguese colonies, 

 resulting from this union. Moreover, all the ene- 

 mies ot Spain, particularly the Dutch, were now 

 also enemies of Portugal, and the fabric of Portu- 

 guese greatness in the East Indies could not be pre- 

 vented from hastening to ruin. Portugal never 

 carried on commerce with the East Indies by means 

 of a privileged society, but by fleets which started 

 every year, in February or March, for India, under 

 the protection of the government. The coasting 

 trade in India, which was confined to a few seaports, 

 the Portuguese, in very early times, endeavoured to 

 monopolize ; but they contented themselves with 

 carrying goods to Lisbon, without attempting to ex- 

 port them to the rest of Europe. The disadvantages 

 of this system were soon felt by their marine, parti- 

 cularly as it allowed the Dutch to become dangerous 

 . rivals. From this time, the Portuguese maintained 

 a place among the important colonial powers of 

 Europe only by the possession of Brazil. It was fortu- 

 nate, as regarded the colonization of this country, 

 that its gold mines were not discovered till 1698, its 

 wealth in diamonds not until 1728, and that its trade 

 was not monopolized by two companies till the tune 

 of Pombal. 



At about the same time as the Portuguese, the 

 Spaniards also became a colonial power. October 

 11, 1492, Columbus discovered the island of San Sal- 

 vador, and, in his three following voyages, the group 

 of the West India islands, and a part of the American 

 continent. St Domingo or Hispaniola became of 

 great importance to Spain, on account of its gold 

 mines. Attempts were also made to colonize Cuba, 

 Porto Rico, and Jamaica, from 1508 to 1510. The 

 great kingdom of Mexico was subjected by Cor- 

 tes, 15191521 ; Peru, Chile, and Quito, 1529 

 1535, by Pizarro and his followers : in 1523, Terra 

 Firma, and 1536, New Grenada, were conquered. 

 The nature of the countries of which the Spaniards 

 took possession, decided, from the first, the character 

 of their colonies, which afterwards continued unchang- 

 ed in the main. They did not produce the various pre- 

 cious articles of the East Indies, instead of which 

 the Spaniards found gold and silver, the great objects 

 of their desire. While, therefore, the colonies of 

 the Portuguese in India were, from the beginning, 

 commercial, those of the Spaniards in America were 

 always mining colonies. It was not till later times 

 that they received some modifications of this cha- 

 racter. To maintain their extensive dominion, par- 

 ticularly over the wild nations of the interior, the 

 Spaniards endeavoured to convert the Indians to Chris- 

 tianity by the establishment of missions, and to induce 

 them to live in permanent abodes. The government of 

 the colonies, in its fundamental traits, was settled in 

 1532, during the Reign of Charles V. A council 

 of the Indies in Europe, viceroys, at first two, after- 

 wards four, together with eight independent captains- 

 general, in America, were the heads of the administra- 

 tion. The real audiencia was the council of the vice- 

 roys or captains- general. Cities were founded, at first 

 along the coasts, for the sake of commerce and as mili- 

 tary posts ; afterwards also in the interior, in particular 

 in the vicinity of the mines ; as Vera Cruz, Cumana, 

 Porto Belle, Carthagena, Valencia, Caracas ; Aca- 

 pulco and Panama, on the coast of the Pacific ; Lima, 

 Conception, and Buenos Ayres. The whole ecclesi- 

 astical discipline of the mother country was transferred 

 to the colonies, except that, in the latter, the church 

 was much more independent of the king. The precious 

 metals were the chief article of export from the colo- 

 nies, and the commerce in them was subjected to very 

 rigorous inspection. The intercourse with Spain was 

 confined to the single port of Seville, from which two 

 squadrons started annually the galleons, about twelve 

 il. 



in number, for Porto Bello, and the fleet, of fifteen 

 large vessels, for Vera Cruz. While, therefore, the 

 commerce was not expressly granted, by law, to a so- 

 ciety, it remained, nevertheless, entirely in the hands 

 of a few individuals . Spain had taken possession of the 

 Philippine isles in 1564, and a regular intercourse was 

 maintained, from 1572, by the South sea galleons, 

 between Acapulco and Manilla ; but, owing to the 

 great restrictions on commerce, those islands, not- 

 withstanding their advantageous situation, were an 

 expense to the crown, instead of being profitable to 

 it : religious considerations alone prevented them from 

 being abandoned. 



Far greater activity and political importance were 

 communicated to the colonial commerce of Europe, 

 when two commercial nations, in the full sense of 

 the word, the Dutch and the English, engaged in 

 it. The Dutch, during the struggle for their inde- 

 pendence, first became the formidable rivals of the 

 Portuguese, then subjected to the Spanish yoke. The 

 participation of the Dutch in the colonial system im- 

 parted to the colonial commerce a new impulse and 

 a far greater extent. They had already, for some 

 time, carried on the trade in East India merchandise 

 between Lisbon and the rest of Europe, and had seen, 

 during the struggle for their independence, the 

 weakness of the Spanish naval force. The tyranny of 

 Philip II. forced them to a measure which they would 

 not readily have adopted from choice, that of lighting 

 their enemies in the East Indies. The intercourse of 

 the Dutch with Lisbon had already been prohibited 

 by Philip in 1584 ; the prohibition was revived, in 

 1594, with the utmost severity, and a number of 

 Dutch vessels in the harbour were seized. Excluded 

 from all trade in the productions of India, they had 

 no alternative left, but to resign this branch of 

 commerce entirely, or to import directly from In- 

 dia the articles which were refused to them in Europe. 

 Encouraged by Cornelius Houtmann, a well-informed 

 man, who had made several unsuccessful attempts to 

 find a northern passage to the East Indies, the " com- 

 pany of remote parts," composed of merchants of Am- 

 sterdam and Antwerp, equipped four vessels, which 

 set sail for the East Indies, April 2, 1595, under the 

 command of Houtmann and Molenaer. Though the 

 profits of the first expedition were not so great as had 

 been expected, the weakness and unpopularity of 

 the Portuguese, who were universally hated in India, 

 were discovered, and similar companies were soon 

 formed, which sent fleets to this rich region. The 

 number of competitors in India was thus immo- 

 derately increased, and the continued hostility of the 

 united Spanish and Portuguese power induced the 

 states-general, not many years afterwards, to unite 

 the separate societies into one, called the Dutch 

 East India company, which, by a charter granted 

 March 20, 1602, and rene\ved afterwards at dif- 

 ferent times, received not only the monopoly of 

 the East India trade, but also sovereign powers over 

 the conquests which they should make and the colo- 

 nies which they should establish in India. The su- 

 perintendence which the states-general retained for 

 themselves was little more than nominal. The co- 

 lonial system of the Dutch in the East Indies was 

 rapidly developed, and early received the decided 

 character which it has ever since retained. Their 

 colonies in the East Indies became commercial 

 colonies ; and the Moluccas and the great Sunda 

 isles, being more easily defended than the continent 

 of India, which was then subjected to powerful 

 rulers, became the principal seat of their power. 

 This was undoubtedly the chief cause of their con- 

 tinuing so long in a flourishing condition, as they 

 required only the dominion of the sea to maintain 

 them. In 1618, the newly built Batavia was made, 



