1116 MISCELLANEOUS. 



RECIPROCAL TRADE WITH BRITISH COLONIES. 



Extract from Haliburtorfs " Historical and Analytical Account of 

 Nova Scotia," pub. 1829. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COLONIAL TRADE TABLES EXHIBITING COM- 

 PARATIVE STATEMENTS OF THE TRADE OF NOVA-SCOTIA AT DIFFERENT 

 PERIODS REVENUE, &C. 



When America was first discovered, the motives which induced 

 individuals to migrate to the Colonies, were, in some instances, the 

 mines and precious metals, and in others relief from religious perse- 

 cution; but the parent state had no definite object in view. Public 

 opinion was much divided, as to the expediency of engaging in these 

 transatlantic settlements. Hume informs us, that " speculative rea- 

 soners during that early age, raised many objections to the planting 

 of these remote Colonies, and foretold that after draining the mother 

 countries of inhabitants, they would soon shake off her yoke, and 

 erect an independent government in America." The British Colo- 

 nies, therefore, owe their origin more to fortuitous circumstances and 

 civil commotions, than to the wisdom or policy of the government of 

 that day, and the opinion which is generally entertained, that they 

 were founded for the extension of commerce, and for markets for 

 British Goods, is erroneous. So late as 1622, the exports of England 

 were 2,320,436, and the imports 2,619,315. We may also form 

 some opinion of the state of her manufactures, by the condition of 

 her agriculture, inasmuch as it furnishes the materials for the labour 

 of art. The sudden transitions so often mentioned by historians, 

 from the lowest to the highest price of grain at that time, and 

 the prodigious inequalities in its value in different years, are 

 sufficient proof that the produce entirely depended on the seasons, 

 and that skill had done nothing to fence against the injuries of the 

 heavens. The nation was dependent on Foreigners for bread, and if 

 ever the supplies from the Baltic, or from France, were interrupted, 

 the bad consequences were felt by the whole kingdom. Manufactures 

 were few, and those but indifferent. Naval stores and ships were 

 both supplied by their neighbours. Germany furnished all articles 

 of metal, even to nails. Wine, paper, linens, and an infinite variety 

 of other articles, came from France. Markets, therefore, were not 

 wanting to those who were themselves importers. From this it is 

 obvious, that accidental circumstances and not political foresight, 

 gave birth to the Anglo American Provinces ; and an attentive peru- 

 sal of the history of that time, will convince us that the restrictions 

 of Colonial Trade owe their origin to the same causes, and not to 

 national avarice or illiberality. The first European settlements were 

 scattered and weak, and it became necessary to shun the observations 

 of strangers, who might be invited to attack, by the certainty of suc- 

 cess, or to plunder, by the knowledge of the value of the booty. 

 Boundaries were unsettled and titles insecure, and possession infor- 

 mal or incomplete ; and as the interests of the Colonies of the several 

 nations, and their respective claims, were adverse, the inclinations of 

 the contending parties became hostile, and little or no mutual inter- 



