TOBACCO AND COMMERCE. 45 
‘ 
to the nations who fostered its growth,—and increased 
the commerce of both England and Spain, doing much to 
make the latter what it once was, one of the most powerful 
nations of Europe and possessor of the largest and richest 
colonies, while it greatly helped the former, already unsur- 
passed in intelligence and civilization, to reach its present 
position at the commercial head of the nations of. the world. 
As Spain, however, has fallen from the high place she once 
held, her colonial system has also gone down. And while 
England, thanks to her more liberal policy, still retains a 
large share of the territory which she possessed at first, 
Spain, which once held sway over a vast portion of America, 
has been deprived of nearly all of her colonies, and ere long 
may lose control of the island on which the discoverer of 
America first saw the plant.* 
It is an historical fact that wherever in the English and 
Spanish colonies civilization has taken the deepest root, so 
has also the plant which has become as famous as any of the 
great tropical products of the earth. The relation existing 
between the balmy plant and the commerce of the world is 
of the strongest kind. Fairholt has well said, that “the 
revenue brought to our present Sovereign Lady from this 
source alone is greater than that Queen Elizabeth received 
from the entire customs of the country.” 
The narrow view of commercial policy held by her 
successors, the Stuarts, induced them to hamper the colonists. 
of America with restrictions; because they were alarmed 
lest the ground should be entirely devoted to tobacco. Had 
not this Indian plant been discovered, the whole history 
of some portions of America would have been far different. 
In the West Indies three great products—Coffee, Sugar- 
Cane, and Tobacco,—have proved sources of the greatest 
wealth—and wherever introduced, have developed to a great 
extent the resources of the islands. Thus it may.be seen 
that while the Spaniards by the discovery and colonization 
“Spain has doubtless conquered more of the Earth's surface than any other modern 
nation ; and her peculiar national character has also caused her to make the worst use of 
them. ‘It was always easier for the Moor to conquer than to make a good use of his con- | 
quests; and go it has always been with Spain.” 
