WEALTH OF NATIONS. 171 



suggested by different circumstances, and founded on 

 different principles. Their names sufficiently show this 

 diversity. The Greek settlement was called, a-Trot/aa, a 

 going from home ; the Latin, colonia, a plantation ; the 

 former kinds of colony lost all connexion with the parent 

 state ; the latter were its advanced posts or garrisons in a 

 conquered country ; both originated or at least had some 

 connexion with the narrowness of the home territory, and 

 the necessity of obtaining settlements elsewhere. With 

 the Greeks, no other purpose was served but to get rid of 

 their surplus population; with the Romans, beside this, 

 the securing their conquests formed a motive for coloni- 

 zing. The modern colonies had some concern with the 

 convenience of emigration, but far more with the promo- 

 tion of commerce and the extension of dominion. After 

 the Venetians and Portuguese had enriched themselves 

 by the East Indian commerce, the Spaniards and Portu- 

 guese turned themselves to exploring and settling the 

 islands and continent of South America, where the rich 

 returns of gold and silver gave them so great commercial 

 renown, that England, France, and Holland pursued a 

 like course, and planted colonies in the American islands 

 and continents. The jealousy with which Spain and 

 Portugal prevented all foreign intercourse with their 

 colonies made it necessary for other countries to obtain 

 similar possessions, if they would have any trade in the 

 valuable produce of those distant fertile countries; and 

 each nation successively founded its colonial policy upon 

 the same jealous and exclusive spirit which had shut 

 them all out of the colonies first established. The motive 

 of all these colonizing projects was the thirst of gold ; in 

 all of them the traffic in other produce was soon found 



