ICELANDIC REVOLUTION. 355 
this not be the case (and such seems more than 
probable, from the late decrees of that country, 
strictly prohibiting, on pain of death, all inter¬ 
course with the British), then will the state of 
the natives be more wretched than ever; unless, 
which I sincerely flatter myself will be the case, 
England should no longer hesitate about the 
adoption of a step to which every native Icelander 
looks forward as the greatest blessing that can 
befal his country, and which to England herself 
would, I am persuaded, be productive of various 
signal advantages, the taking possession of Iceland 
and holding it among her dependencies. Iceland, 
thus freed from the yoke of an inefficient but pre¬ 
sumptuous tyrant, might then, guarded by the 
protection of our fleets and fostered by the liberal 
policy of our commercial laws, look forward to a 
security that Denmark could never afford, and to 
a prosperity that the selfishness of the Danes has 
always prevented; while England would find her¬ 
self repaid for her generous conduct by the exten¬ 
sion of her fisheries, the surest source of her 
prosperity, and by the safety which the numerous 
harbors of the island afford for her merchantmen 
against the storms and perils of the arctic ocean, 
END OF APPENDIX. A. 
