DEDICATION. 
XXV 
0nits being reftoi'ed to the Dutch ; and in 
.giving his reafons for making this requifition 
a cardinal point in the negociation, diicover- 
ed a very competent knowledge of the fub- 
je6l. He very fagacionily obferved, that the 
Gape, in the hands of the Dutch^ could be of 
very little ufe, except furnifiiing a conveni- 
ent place for fliipping to touch at, on their 
voyage to the Eaft-Indies ; but in the hands 
of the Englijh (laid De la Croix) the foutli- 
ern territory of Africa would be colonized, 
and a new fource of commerce in all proba- 
bility arife, the advantages of which are in- 
calculable. Here the republican plenipoten- 
tiary entered into an elaborate and peripic- 
uous difculEon of the fubjeci: ; demonftrat- 
ed what the active raiius of the Enriiih, 
movmg on fo great |i fcale, w^ould produce, 
and how the prefent trade of the European 
Pxations would be injured, by opSning to 
that nation, fnch a new and fertile fource 
for commercial adventure. From thefe dif- 
cuffions, the people of both nations have ac- 
quired a more competent knowledge of the 
fubjecfc than formerly ; and this gives an ob- 
fdnacy to both their demands, which I be- 
lieve in a great meafure impedes the way to 
reconciliation. 
In ftatiiig what occurred on this fabjeft 
at Paris, I give a certain weight to my own 
opinion. It is true, I have lately traverfed 
aconfiderable part of the fouihern continent 
of Africa, and form my judgment from 
