A JUST and MODEST VINDICATION OF THE Scots Design, For the having Established a Colony at Darien.

WITH A Brief Display, how much it is their Interest, to apply themselves to Trade, and particularly to that which is Foreign.

Sanctiora sunt Patriae Jura, quam Hospitii.▪ Corn. Nep. in vit. Timoth. Nemo Patriam amat quia Magna est, sed quia Sua. Senec. Epist. 66.

Printed in the Year, 1699.

TO THE READER.

THere being no Dedication of this Dis­course; a Preface is therefore not only the more allowable, but necessary. For how vain, as well as impertinent soever, they are deservedly accounted, who think either to recommend, or to cover, an unseasonable, useless and trifling Book, from Censure, Contempt and Ridi­cule, by their Emitting it under the usurped Pa­tronage of a great Name; yet it is to Treat those, into whose Hands Authors are ambitious to have their Papers to fall, and of whose good Opi­nion they are covetous, with Rudeness, as well as with want of Respect, not to afford them those pre­vious Advertisements, and vouchsafe them the Lights which may let them decently in to what they are invited to Peruse, and serve both to obviate Misapprehensions of the Writer, and to prevent Groundless and Satyrical Reflections upon his Per­formance.

And the endeavouring of the one and the other of these, is the more indispensably needful in the present case; in that (if credit may be given to vulgar Reports) there are some advanc'd to Emi­nent [Page] Posts, and cloath'd with lofty Characters, who from Politicks peculiar to themselves, have declar'd their Opinions, and oracularly given forth their Decisions, concerning the Question hereafter Debated, as if they were Partizans of the King of Spain, rather than State-Councellors and Ci­vil Ministers of His Britannick Majesty. For besides their having in their private Conversations not only question'd, but aspersed the Legality and Justice of the late Vndertaking of the Scots at Da­rien; they are by their Friends, as well as by their Enemies, represented to have given both Encourage­ment unto, aud to have bestowed liberal Rewards upon, the unmannerly, little and despicable Writer of the Defence of the Scots Abdicating Darien. In which scurrilous Pamphlet, there are not only those intollerable Invectives against the whole King­dom of Scotland, as well as against the Directors of their Indian and African Company, that are more calulated to exasperate that Nation, and to run them into disloyalty, than any ways adapted to allay their Resentments, and to quench their intemperate Heats under that misfortune; but there are likewise such insolent assertions, and those bottom'd upon Brutal Ignorance, in relation to the Legitimacy of the De­sign to have Setled upon the Isthmus of America, that no Spaniard wou'd have had either the effron­tery, or the ill breeding to have utter'd them.

For, as if it were not enough for the Mercinary Scribler, to assume the impudence of affirming, that the Motives upon which the Proclamations were emitted in the English West-India Colonies, for­bidding the Supplying, Relieving, and Assist­ing the Scots at Darien, or in any parts of Ame­rica, where they should Settle, was because the [Page] Government of England would not be acces­sary to an Act, which the World might judge to be Felonious, p. 4. of his Epist. Dedicat. he takes the boldness to add afterwards in Terms that are most slanderous, as well as defamatory, p. 7. of the same Epistle, that their attempt of Planting on the Isthmus, was the Setling a Co­lony in another Man's Dominions, unless by vertue of their Presbyterian Tenet of Domini­ons being founded in Grace, the Scots, who are the presumptive Elect, pretend a Divine Right to the Goods of the Wicked, and so take upon them to cloath the Councellors of their Colony, with such another Commission, as God gave the Hebrews when they departed out of Egypt. Which Language tho' agreeable to the Education, Manners, Politicks, and Inferior Stations of Harris and D—1 to have been the one the Belcher, and the other the Voucher of; yet it cannot miss being esteemed extremely odd and in­congruous, that a Person, who is not only a Schol­lar, a Gentleman, but a Minister of State, should be reputed to have both authorized the reproachful Falshood, and to have paid liberaly for the inven­ting and divulging of it.

But the forwardness express'd by one in an Ho­nourable Office (and as is commonly said with Ra­ptures of Joy) in the speedy Communication to the Spanish Ambassador, that the Scots had aban­donn'd Darien, would seem not only to insinuate his being possess'd with a greater Picque against the Kingdom of Scotland (omitting at present all those further Instances that give evidence of it, which occur numerously enough both in the fore­mention'd Pamphlet, and in that other, Stil'd, [Page] The Defence of the Scots Settlement at Da­rien Answer'd, which are Publish'd under the Safeguard of his Countenance, as well as Vented and Sold with his Connivance) than is reconcilea­ble with the Duty of one in his Post under a Prince, who is no less King and Soveraign of that Nation, than he is of England; but it doth also intimate a warmer concern for the Interest of the Catholick King, and for the having his desires, and the wishes of his Subjects complied with and grati­fied, than was either prudential for an English Se­cretary of State, or correspondent to the Zeal which a Person in his Station ought to have had for the Success and Prosperity of all and of every one of his Masters People in their Vndertakings, to have rendred himself obnoxious to the being charged with. Not to add how little and mean it was in it self, and what aversion from, and dis­affection it proclaimed against the Scots, to have af­fected the Pleasure and coveted the Glory of being the first Author and Conveyer of that News to the forementioned Ambassador. Especially when trans­mitted to himself upon no surer Intelligence, than that such a Report being arrived at Jamaica, the Tydings thereof were dispatch'd hither by one who might be suspected the more credulous in believ­ing it; because it was that which out of Enmity to the Caledonian Colony he earnestly longed for and desired.

Nor is it without a Pointed (tho' but tacit) Re­flection upon a certain Gentleman's Conduct in this Matter, that the Writer of the Paris Gazette of Nov. 14. hath inserted in the Paragraph from Ma­drid of October 22. That il arriva ici le 14 [...]n Courier extraordinaire des pesche de Lon­dres [Page] par le Marquis de Canales Ambassadeur d'Espagne en Angleterre avec s'avis de l'aban­donement de le Colonie de Darien, qui avoit este receu par un des Secretaires d'Estat & Communique a cet Ambassadeur, There had on the 14th an extraordinary Courier come thither from the Marquis of Canales the Spa­nish Ambassador in England, wish News of the abandoning the Colony at Darien, which one of the Secretaries of State having received, had Communicated to the said Ambassador.

But there having been a Message delivered since by the same English Minister to the said Foreign Ambassador, which how ravishing soever it might be unto the former to Convey, could not be very joyous and delightful to the latter to Receive; I shall only observe in relation to the diversity of the Mat­ter, and the different relish between the said Mes­sage and the foregoing Intelligence, that there is sometimes a vast dissimilitude, betwixt what one may find himself obliged to perform in obedience to the Order and Injunction of a Master, who is no less wise in what he Commands, than Authoratative and Vncontrolable in the having it Executed; and what the same Person may run himself into the indiscretion of Doing when not directed by a greater Prudence than his own, nor over-ruled by a Superior Autho­rity.

Which I do take the liberty the rather to suggest, in that it is too often the misfortune of Princes, to have even those Actions of their Ministers, of which they were not previously in the least conscious, and much less had enjoyned, to be interpreted as if done either in obedience to their positive Command and spe­cial Direction, or in order to humour their Inclina­tions [Page] and to comply with their Sentiments. There being but few Men in the World who render the Justice and pay that Deference to Kings, as to distinguish with that impartiality and exactness which they ought, between what Persons raised to Emenent Posts in the Administration, are to have imputed unto them as Acting in abstraction from their Offices, and as they come to be considered only Personally; and what they are to be held accountable for as behaving them­selves correspondently to the Characters which they bear, and to the Trusts which are repos'd in them; and as they govern and regulate themselves in the se­veral and respective parts of their Administrations, both in conformity to the Laws, and to the Measures of Biensance and Decency, which their Masters out of respect to their own Honour and Glory, as well as from Principles of Wisdom and Justice, are to be always suppos'd to require, as well as to wish, that they may neither trespass against, nor in the least de­viate from. For as Monarchs and Soveraign Prin­ces, notwithstanding the Innocence of their own Pur­poses, and the Righteousness of their Designs towards their Subjects and People, do seldom escape obloquy and blame, when they upon whom the execution and the exercise of their Authority is devolved, are found to offend against the Laws, which stand enacted and established to be the Standards and Boundaries of Governing and Ruling Power; so it is hardly to be avoided, let Kings and Potentates be never so justly Celebrated, by reason of their own Wisdom, and the Mannerliness of their whole Royal Conduct, but that there will be found pevish and ill-natur'd People enough, ready to sully the Fame, and to de­tract from the Glory of their Prudence, in case they who are employ'd in the chiefest Offices of the [Page] State, are observed to over-look and forget the Rules of decency, and to trespass against the Forms of Ci­vility and the Maxims of Discretion.

And that what I have represented, may appear to have been said from a dutiful regard to His Majesty's Honour and Safety, let me be allow'd to set both the Cases in a clearer Light, by the Pro­posal of two Suppositions, whereof there are Proofs within view, to shew that they are not visio­nary and chimerical. For example, let His Ma­jesty be never so Merciful, as well as Just, never­theless it will be impossible, during a season wherein there is no suspension upon any Acts of Parliament, that his Government should escape the censure of being not only Rigorous and Severe, but Arbitrary and Despotical, if a Person trusted with Authority and Power of causing Seize and Apprehend such as are Informed and Sworn against to be Plotters and Conspirators against the Safety of His Majesty's Person, the Tranquility of his Government, or the Peace of his Dominions, should under that Cover and Pretence, so far contemn and trample upon the many and several Laws of England, which have been made for the preservation of the Liberty of English Subjects, as to cause Take up, and by his Warrants to confine under aspersion of High Trea­son whom he pleaseth, without the vouchsafing to men­tion in those Warrants his having received Deposi­tions upon Oath specifying and importing the Crimes for which he Commits them. Which as it doth of­ten prove to be the Ruining them in their Estates and Fortunes, as well as the scandalizing and black­ning them in their Names, Credits and Reputations, thro' the charging them with the guilt of disgrace­ful and capital Offences; so it is no less than the [Page] reducing and bringing the People of England in­to a state and condition of absolute and down right Slavery, by the making the Liberty of every Eng­lish Subject, as well as of some, to depend precu­riously, and at the same time entirely, upon the humour of him who assumeth unto himself the Exercise of such a Jurisdiction. Which makes me astonished, that they who covet to Act after this illimited and unconfined rate, are not more Friend­ly and Kind to Scotland, than they have hither­to chosen to shew themselves in that no more is required there, for the Empowering those in the Administration to throw Men into Prison, with­out their admission to Baile, or the being brought to Tryal, but that they do suspect them to be Seditious Disloyal or Traiterous.

Likewise, let the King behave himself towards the Subjects of all, or of any of his Kingdoms, with never so much Condescension, Goodness, and Compassion, sincerely and joyfully congratulating their Prosperity, and Condoleing and Simpathiz­ing with them under their Calamities; (as the King with great Tenderness hath lately done to­wards the Scots Company, thro' telling them in his Answer to their Address, that he is sorry for the Dammage which they and their Country have sustained in and by the Loss of their Colony) yet none of all these things will be found suffici­ent to preserve him in the hearty Affections awful Esteem, and firm Confidence of those Sub­jects of such of his Dominions, who find their Na­tion made the object of the scorn, ridicule and con­tempt; its welfare the motive of the Envy and hatred; and their misfortune the matter and ground of the pleasure and delight of those, whom [Page] he hath honored with the first places in the Exer­cise of his Authority, and in the Administration of the affairs of State in whatsoever Dominion it be under his Subjection.

However it may not be amiss to observe, that how discontented and clamorous soever the Spaniards have been, because of the Scots endeavouring to have setled at Darien; and how unkind, as well as unassistent unto them, (whether upon imaginary mo­tives of Justice, or real inducements of State, I shall not determine) such have shewed themselves, whose Favour and Protection they expected in the supporting them in that undertaking, and how great and Damageable thereupon their Disappointments and Losses have proved, which while they cause sorrow to them, do administer occasion of Joy to o­thers, whose characters it doth very ill accord with and become; yet that it is some consolation both to their Company, and their whole Kingdom that the Representation a Messrs les primie­res Ministres d' Angleterre, The memorial or manifest given into the Lords Justices by the Spanish Ambassador in September last, was not in the least occasion'd by, nor bottom'd upon any thing relative to their Colony upon the Ameri­can Isthmus. So that whatsoever the Consequen­ces of that Memorial, and of his Britannick Majesty just Resentment of it may be, yet none of them, can either now, or hereafter, be said to have sprung and flowed from any Fact or Enterprize of the Scots.

And tho' I do not pretend to any knowledge of those Consultations, Treaties and Stipulations, (save as they are there expressed to have been. Sur la succession de la couronne d' Espagne, & sa [Page] Division and Repartition, about the Succession to the Crown of Spain, and the Division and Repartition of that Monarcy) wherein His Ma­jesty having been concerned, gave occasion and administred ground for that Memorial, which was so displeasing unto Him, that he thereupon Commanded the Spanish Ambassador, who deli­ver'd it, to depart within Eighteen days out of his Kingdom, and in that time not to go out of his Gate; yet I hope it will neither be accounted Presumption, nor an Intrusion upon Secrets and Mysteries of State to say, that nothing could have contributed so much to the obviating all such misun­derstandings between the two Crowns, as should swell into and terminate in a Rupture, as the hav­ing protected the Scots in their settlement at Da­rien would have done. For as the having a C [...] ­lony Establish'd in the very Heart and Bosome of the Spanish American Dominions, and accomo­dated with a Defenceable Harbour, that is capa­ble of receiving the whole Naval strength of Eng­land, would (unless the Cabinet Resolutions at Madrid, be the Results of Passion and Haughtiness, rather than of sedate thoughts, Political Wisdom, and of Debates where arguments derived from safe­ty and interest cast the scale) effectually check the Spaniards against falling into rash and hasty Councils, and an infallible motive for re­straining the Catholick King from emarquing in a War with His Britannick Majesty, because of the unavoidable mischiefs, that upon our being so Circumstanced and Stated thro' the possession of that place, would attend it in relation to the ma­ny great and opulent Territories of the Spanish Monarchy in the West-Indies, which are both [Page] the sources of all that Wealth and Treasure which inable them to defend their Kingdoms and Pro­vinces in Europe, and do afford them the means and advantages of supporting themselves in that veneration and esteem, which are paid them, and rendred unto that Crown in this part of the World; so it is not to be doubted, should a War Commence upon any inducements and reasons whatso­ever, whether fancied or real, slight or weighty, between the King of Spain and the Monarch of Great Britain, but that thro' our being so Posted in the midst of their American Plantations, they would soon be made sensible of their betaking themselves thereby to a course and method that will unavoid­able issue in their Ruine.

For tho' no Man that pretendeth to good Sense can have the weakness to imagine; nor any who are under the Ties of Allegiance and Fealty, can have the Disloy­alty to suspect; that the coldness and indifference of the Court of England, in reference to the Scots being encouraged and supported at Darien, (to say nothing of the measures that have been taken and pursued, not only to the Disheartening and Obstructing them in their Design, but to the defeating it, thro' rendring as far as could be ef­fected, without open and direct hostility, their continuance in that place impracticable) was either in subserviency to the better concealing and covering those Transactions, which were then carrying on, and are since discovered and divulged, concerning the adjusting and determining the Succession to the Crown of Spain, or in order, at the ex­pence of the Kingdom of Scotland and the Di­shonour as well as the Loss sustained by their African and India Company, to have the more [Page] easily reconciled, what was at that time under Consultation and Treaty towards the being Con­certed and Stipulated, to the Catholick King and his Ministers; yet it may both with Modesty and Safety be affirmed, that among other means which would have both Advanced His Majesty above the threats and menaces of the Spaniards, who endeavour to allarm him, that unless all that he hath projected in the foremention'd Affair, be promptement arreste, viendra un Guerre Fu­neste & universelle dans toute te Europe, speedily renounced, there will arise a de­structive and general War thro' all Eu­rope, but inabled him to justify and to make good by his Power and Force, what he hath by his great Prudence and Wisdom been Adjusting and Contracting with others in reference to the foresaid matter. It would have also been in some degree useful and subservient thereunto, if instead of lending his Name and Authority to those who emitted the Proclamations in the Eng­lish West-India Plantations, See that set forth by the Earl of Bellamont. June 3. 1699. prohibiting the holding any Correspondence with, or the giving any Assistance unto, any Person or Persons, that had been Fitted out in Scot­land with Ships of Force to settle in some part of America, he had vouchsaved unto his Subjects of Scotland, those Testimonies of his Royal Care and Zeal for their Success in the expedition they went upon, and for their pr [...]sper­ing in the design in which they were Embarqu'd, as might have made them out of Gratitude, Ambitious of Sacrificing their Lives in his Ser­vice.

[Page] For as it is a great Satisfaction to a Prince, and that which gives him a Reputation, and at such a juncture and in those circumstances, renders him formidable to those who seem inclined, and do only covet a favourable opportunity of declaring them­selves his Enemies, to be universally known to have a firm Tenure in the Affections and Confidences of all his People, and to be understood to have their Wealth and Power ready to be surrendred with rea­diness and chearfulness unto his Disposal, and their Lives chiefly valued by them on the foot of having them to venture at his Command, and for the ex­alting, as well as for the maintaining his Honour and Glory; so it cannot but both extreamly disquiet him, and also lessen his Credit and Veneration with those Potentates, that Envy the greatness of his Vn­dertakings, and who dread the Wisdom that dis­playeth it self in his Projections, to find the largest Part and Proportion of the whole Body of his Sub­jects in one of his Dominions, highly discontented with, and clamorously complaining, and as they think not without just reason, of the Conduct and Behaviour of those towards them, who being in the highest Places of the Exercise and Administration of the Government, do vouch his Orders and his Authority for those Actions that are so ill Re­sented.

And that these Proceedings of the King's Eng­lish Ministers of State, and of his Subordinate Governors, towards and against the Scots in their West-India Vndertaking, might have been for­born and avoided, without His Majesty's becoming obnoxious to Detraction and Censure, of having con­nived at and countenanced any Fact in them, than can justly be called invasive upon the Dominions [Page] of Spain, and an Infraction of Alliances with that Crown, or that can reasonably be held prejudicial to the Interest of England, either in their Manu­factures and Commerce at home, or with respect to the Flourishing and Traffick of their Plantations a­broad, being the Subject of the ensuing Discourse, I do without craving the lenity and favour, or de­precating the prejudice and severity of any, submit it to the Judgment and Verdict of all such, who understand the Laws of Nature and Nations, have examin'd the Alliances that have been contracted between the Crowns of Great Britain and Spain, and who are able to judge of what is advantagious to the British Kingdoms, whether collectively or dis­junctively consider'd.

And I am sure, that whatsoever hath been al­ledged by the Spaniards in the Memorial presented by the Spanish Ambassador to His Majesty in May last, for the blackning and aspersing the De­sign and Attempt of the Scots, with respect to their Setling a Colony upon the Isthmus of Da­rien, (all which will in the following Sheets be brought under Disquisition, and demonstrated to be Groundless, Frivolous, and Impertinent) yet that it hath no Analogy, nor beareth any Proportion with the undecency, severity and defamatoriness of the Lan­guage, which occurreth in the Memorial exhibited by the same Minister to the Lords Justices in the Month of September. Wherein he upbraids and reproaches a Great and Wise, as well as an Imme­diate Personal Transaction of His Majesty, as if therein he had not only been Emporter a l'am­bition d'usurper & bouleverser les Pais d'au­truii, Hurried into the ambition of usurping a Power over, and of endeavouring to subvert [Page] the Dominions of another Prince; and that if such an Act stand allowed, Il ny auroit ni Sta­tutes ni Loys Municipales, a observer chez les unes ni chez les autres qui ni fuisse Libres de attentates d'autruii, There will neither remain Statute nor Municipal Laws observable between Princes, which will not be liable to be inva­ded, and freely broken in upon; but he farther calls it such an Action towards the Catholick King, that by reason of the influence, which it may have upon his Subjects, Pour tenter la Foy, & exciter leur Esprits a des soulevements, In tempting them from their Allegiance, and by exciting them to Mutinies and Insurrections, is not con­sistent, a la bon Foy qui se doit observer en­tre les Chretiens, & a la plus fort raison en­tre des Allies & Amis, With that sincerity which should be observed among Christians, and much more among those that are Allies and Friends; being withal such a Practise, that if suffered, Il ny aucoune Nation, ni Domination en Europe en surete contre les machinations & tromperies de la plus Fort, ou de la plus malicieux, There will be no Nation or King­dom in Europe in safety against the Contri­vances and Deceits of such, as are either Power­ful or Malicious.

All which I have therefore called over and men­tion'd (and would not otherwise have done it) that they who have appear'd unfriendly unto, and offended at the Scots Vndertaking, thro' the suffering themselves to receive sinistruous impressions of it, upon its being represented in the foremention'd Memorial of May 3. As an Invasion upon the Dominions of His Catholick Majesty, and an Infraction of the Al­liances [Page] between the two Crowns, may from their being made acquainted with the foulness and un­decency of the Terms that are bestowed upon the Stipulation which the King of Great Britain hath been concerting, to the happiness of the very Spa­nsards themselves, as well as for the future tran­quility of all the Soveraignties and Principalities of Europe, be from thence henceforward convinced, that the Credit and Authority of a Spanish Me­morial is too lubricous and sandy a Foundation to build an Opinion upon, of the Illegality and Inju­stice of a Transaction, Enterprize and Fact. And as I hope the having unanswerably prov'd, that the Spaniards were wonderfully mistaken in the Ap­pellations which they gave to the Scots Landing and their beginning to erect a Plantation upon the Isth­mus of America; so I doubt not, but that the Projection, for which His Majesty is so undecently treated, and dishonourably aspersed, will be both vindicated from all the Obloquies cast upon and af­fixed unto him; and also justified to have been the Result and Effect of a Wisdom, that future Ages, as well as the present, will admire and magnify him for. Only care in that case must be taken, that they who shall be honoured with the Trust of being employ'd in such a Noble Work, may not be of those Persons chusing, who selected and pitched up­on the Writers of the Pamphlets, call'd, The Defence of the Scots Abdicating Darien; and the Defence of their Settlement at it Answer'd, these being with respect to Sense, Truth, Reason, and good Manners, the most silly, ridiculous, and ignominious Creatures, that ever the Name of Au­thors was conferr'd upon.

[Page] And that their Performances in their several and respective ways, which are such as proclaim the Intellectuals of both of them mean, and the Morals of one of them very bad, are not arraigned and ex­posed in the ensuing Discourse, is, because of its having been fully written and finished, before the Scurrilities of the one, and the Impertinencies of the other, towards the blackning of the Conduct of the Scots, or the disproving the Legitimacy of their Undertaking, were obtruded upon the World; as likewise previously to the Publication of the Book that is Stil'd, A Defence of the Scots Settlement at Darien, with an Answer to the Spanish Me­morial against it. And as I have not upon the perusal of the last either added unto, or substra­cted from what I had antecedently written, which may serve to vindicate me from being accounted a Plagiary, in case that in our Reasonings upon a Subject that is the same there do here and there appear, not only an affinity of Stile and Language, but a Concidence of Thoughts, whether in the mentioning of Facts, or in the citing of Authori­ties; so I do not think it necessary to Reply any thing to what by some may be held Argumentative in either of the other two formention'd Pamphlets, as reckoning that whatsoever occurreth in them of that Nature and Tendency, to be sufficiently obvia­ted, and in way of Answer fully anticipated, in what is Represented and Argued in the following Sheets; and much less can I prevail upon my self, to wast my own time, and give entertainment to the judicious part of Mankind (whom I do only covet to be the Readers of what I write) in the detecting the Calumnies and Falshoods, and in re­buking the Petulancy of a Mercenary Scribler, that [Page] hath been brib'd with Money to defame a Nation, and to throw that Dirt upon Persons of Integrity and Honour, which a little scandalous Fellow, who had been expell'd some time ago out of His Ma­jesty's Navy for his Crimes and Misdemeanours (and who thereupon spoke as scandalously and re­vilingly then of the English, as he hath lately done of the Scots) had rak'd and gather'd together. The only thing which I shall therefore say, for over­throwing the Faith, Reputation and Credit, of that detractive Miscreant in his many other Fictitious and Romantick Stories, shall be to refer those, who are not willing to be misled in their Belief of Men and Things by Lies and Fables impos'd with im­pudence and audacity upon them, to Mr. Wafer, who can and will assure them, that the Aspersions thrown upon the Scots, in relation to their Treating of him, are as false, as they are defamatory. So that thro' the Fellow's appearing a Liar in one Case, he is to be accounted incapable of having his Te­stimony receiv'd in all other whatsoever. Nor can any, without the renouncing of common Sense, be­lieve that the Gentlemen employ'd by the Company to Confer and Transact with Mr. Wafer, cou'd be guilty of such Weakness and Folly, as to reveal and detect unto him their Design upon Darien, in that the whole Success of that Vndertaking, depen­ded entirely upon its being kept and preserved a Se­cret.

However it may not be amiss to take notice of a certain Passage in that Fabulous Book, which is to be met with Page 16. namely, That just as the Scots Companies Books were open'd at Amsterdam, for the Receiving Subscriptions to their Stock and Capital, the Dutch East and West-India [Page] Companies run open mouth'd to the Lords of that City, shewing what was hatching by the Scots Commissioners in their Town, to Ruine the Trade of the United Provinces. Which I have therefore the rather cited, because it is one of the few that have any Truth in them, and not to administer occasion unto any Men (tho' I fear many will be ready to take it from thence without my leave or allowance) for suspecting, and much less for concluding, that our Councils in England, are too much under the influence of the Hollan­ders, and accommodated to such Measures, as are subservient to a Dutch Interest. For tho' the un­thinking Creature who communicated the Story to the Writer, and the unwary Statesman and indiffe­rent Politician, under whose Countenance as well as Connivance it stands publish'd, might no ways de­sign the begetting and fomenting such an Opinion, yet it is so adapted to justify an apprehension of that Nature, that not only such who are disaffected to the Government, but many that place their hap­piness, and do find their Profit in being under it, will be ready to fall into the Notion, and to imbibe the Sentiment. Especially seeing as well the Pro­ceedings here in discouraging the Scots in their American Design, as what hath been done and practised in the English West-India Plantations by positive Orders and Injunctions from hence, which have proved very Prejudicial, if not Ruinous unto them in their Colony, thro' appearing very little sub­servient to an English Interest, either here, or in America, will thereupon be construed by those bold and critical Men, who do both usurp a Liberty of penetrating into, and a Right of judging and censu­ring Resolutions and Actions of State (which ought [Page] to be look'd upon with Reverence, and acquiesc'd in with Silence) to have flow'd either from a Wisdom in reference to our Concerns, Welfare and Prospe­rity, that is indiscoverable and past finding out; or to have sprung from Reasons relative to the Sa­tisfaction and Advantage of that Outlandish and Foreign Republick, which hath been named.

And as [...] the other Pamphlet, call'd, The Defence of the Scots Abdicating of Darien, An­swer'd Paragraph by Paragraph, whereof the Author hath written with more Modesty, than he did on whom I have been Reflecting, tho' at the same time so weakly and triflingly, that I cannot bring my self to think, that it needs (for I am sure it doth not deserve) so much as one Stricture or Animadversion bestowed upon it, beyond what in the following Discourse will be found applicable there­unto. And indeed that Gentleman's Design seems (as if playing Booty) he had intended the getting a Book to pass un [...]rrested and current under the Vi­zor and Mask of being Answer'd, which thro' its want of that Skreen, Cover and Pasport, there were endeavours used to have stifled and suppressed. Which appears the more evidently to have been the scope of the Answerer, in that he doth not only give us the other Book entirely, so far as he taketh upon him to Reply unto, it which he doth in his manner with reference to the whole that is Ar­gumentative and Discoursive in it; but he annex­eth, without the omission of a word, whatsoever oc­cureth in the Book, against which he would be thought to set up as an Antagonist, a Sheet and a half giv­ing the Description of Darien, without the being at the expence of a Syllable to contradict or disap­prove it. Yea, the main Argument upon which he [Page] endeavoureth to justify the Opposition unto, as well as the Discountenance given by the Government of England to the Scots, in their American Vn­dertaking, being taken from a Visionary and Ro­mantick Topick, and superstructed upon a known and downright Falshood, it doth thereby become manifest to all who are endowed with any mea­sure of discerning, that his main purport in Wri­ting, was to give a Licence for the safe and pub­lick Sale of a Book, which crept about, and was here and there vended abroad, only surreptiously and by stealth before. For whereas he seeks to have it believed, that all the late English Pro­ceedings in disfavour and prejudice of the Scots, were in pursuance of and Address presented by the Parliament to His Majesty, Anno 1695. This is all mere Dream and Imagination, and no bet­ter than a Bantering of Mankind. It being most certain, that the Parliament never entertain'd a thought, of having Obstruction given to the King­dom of Scotland, as to their Setling a Colony either in the East or West-Indies, provided it were not where they were the previous Occupiers, and on condition that it prov'd not in ways, and by means inconsistent with the Amity that is between the two Kingdoms, as they stand link'd together under one Soveraign. Neither could they so far forget the boundaries unto which they do at all times circumscribe and confine themselves in their Parliamentary Actings, as to attempt it in refe­rence to a Nation, over which they claim no Ju­risdiction, but which they do own to be Absolute within it self, and altogether Independent upon them. But the whole which the Parliament ap­plyed [Page] unto the King about at that time, was that he would interpose and exert his Authority for the hindring of his English Subjects from becoming Subscribers to the Stock and Capital, which the Scots were about to make, frame and establish, for the Erection of a West or East-India Plan­tation, and for the beginning and promoting of a Foreign Trade. Which as they had a Righ and an Inherent and Legal Power to do, so they shew'd themselves extreamly Wise and Prudential, in opposing and defeating that part of the Scots Projection. Seeing shou'd such a Liberty have been either allowed or connived at in the Subjects of Eng­land, much of that Treasure which is employ'd in their own Traffick and Commerce, and especially to the Indies, might have been put into the Scots Bank, upon the Prospect and Motive of the Profit that would thereby accrue unto them, thro' the ma­ny Privileges and great Immunities, which were granted unto the Scots Company for and during the Term of 22 Years.

Nor doth he shew himself very prudent, in Re­flecting so severely, as he doth, upon the Behaviour of the Scots towards King Charles I. in that the English themselves were not only as Disloyal as they, but both tempted them unto, and rewarded them for it. Seeing besides their Troops being paid with Eng­lish Money, not a few of their Leading Men better'd their Fortunes, at the expence of this Kingdom, by their being the Fomenters of the first War, as well as for being the Instruments of Scotland's joyning to support the Parliament against the King afterwards. And whensoever it is seasonable, it can be demon­strated from Authentic Memoirs, and such as de­serve [Page] to be Credited, that the Scots had neither Marched into England, Anno 1638, nor in 1643, had they not been universally Courted, and divers Persons of the first Rank bribed thereunto. It be­ing undeniable that the Ship-Money and the long In­termission of Parliaments in England, influenced such as in that Kingdom were stil'd Patriots (which whether they were or not I do not enquire) to tempt and draw in the Scots to that bloody and infamous War, whereas without Encouragements, that I am not willing to Name from them, the Scots would have upon no Resentments of their own have run into it, how Bigotted soever some of their Cler­gy might at that time have been. And as the Rebellious part fell equally to the share of both the Nations, so the Treacherous share both to­wards God and Man doth distinguingly affect Eng­land, in that instead of making that King a Glori­ous Prince, as they both Swore and Stipulated, pro­vided those things were redressed which had been complained of as amiss in the Administration, they not only rejected the Concessions which he made▪ that were more than a wise People would have demanded, but they Murder'd him. Neither was the Number of those in England, who persever'd in their Alle­giance to that King, and suffer'd with him and for him, greater and more numerous, in pro­portion to the People of the one Kingdom and the other; then they were, who asserted his Interest in Scotland to their Ruine. Nor can I imagine for what End, that Author recalls those things (which ought to be for ever forgotten) in such approbrious and aspersive Terms, unless it be to fasten an Ig­nominy and a Reproach upon what hath been since [Page] transacted against another Prince, tho' not carry'd to the height of the Original.

Yea, were not that Author prodigiously silly, and altogether unfit for the Province which he under­took, he would not upbraid him whom he pretends to Answer, for having shew'd both Vanity and want of Judgment, because of his having only said, That Scotland turned the Ballance in the late Revo­lution. Whereas it is as Demonstrable as any Problem in Euclid, that if the Kingdom of Scot­land had Vnanimously Declar'd against the Abdi­cation (considering the many thousands in England, who in the justifying thereof would have been ready to have seconded them) but that both the War in Ireland and that upon the Continent, would have been carry'd on with more difficulty than they were, and probably have terminated more unfortunately, and with less honour, than they did. Nor is it to be thought impossible, but that upon such a Decla­ration, the Scots might have obtained, those Terms with reference to their Laws, Liberties, Privileges and Religion from King James, and those so secu­red from Repeal and Alteration, as that they might have been as happy as either at present they are, or have reason to hope to be hereafter. For however impossible it was, as our Author rightly accounts it, for the Scots to have remain'd Neutral at the time of the Revolution, considering the Party within their Bowels, that was headed by Dun­dee; yet all Men who have not lost their Vnder­standings, must needs acknowledge, that they might at that juncture have taken other Measures than they did.

[Page] Nor can this Writer be any ways thought a Politician, who seeks to represent it as a thing too ridiculous to be imagin'd, That England could be render'd obnoxious to Dangers, thro' the Scots running into a Conjunction with France. For tho' I do esteem him a very ill Man that wisheth it; yet I cannot avoid reckoning him strangely unac­quainted with the State and Ballance of Europe, that doth not foresee, how mischievous the Vnion of these two Nations together might prove to this King­dom, notwithstanding both its own great Opulency and Power, and its having the Dutch for its Al­lies. Of whose wonderful Friendship our East-India Company hath had a late Experiment, thro' the Holanders both supplanting them in effect in their whole East-India Trade, and in the getting them to be disgracefull Insulted by the Ministers and Of­ficers of the Mogul. For whereas that Monarch being provoked by the Hostilities of European Pi­rates, would admit no Europeans to Traffick in his Dominions, without their becoming obliged to cover all his Ships and those of Subjects from those Rob­bers: The Dutch in the vertue of Bribes seasonably bestowed, have procur'd the protection of the vast Ocean Southward of Surat to be devolv'd upon the English, (the performance whereof is altogether impracticable, especially if the Suborners thereunto, should not only Countenance the Piracy of others, but think it convenient in order and subserviency to their Interest to practice it on these Seas themselves) while the whole which the Dutch have thought fit to charge themselves with, is to protect the Commerce to Mocca, in the Vndertaking whereof, they have also a Prospect of acquiring other advantages over [Page] the English. But to return to the Author of whose Performances I have been suggesting my Thoughts. Would either my Temper, or my Prin­ciples, allow me to judge of another's Desires by Consequences deducible from hasty and unwary Ex­pressions, I should be apt to suspect, that the Gentle­man would be glad to see the Experiment of the one and the other that have been mentioned. Whereas I do heartily pray, that neither the Scots may be so Trai­terous as to be guilty of the first; not the English brought into the Circumstances of being expos'd to the trial of the second.

All that I shall further subjoyn for preparing the Reader to the perusal of the following Discourse, is briefly to let him know, that I do reckon what will be there met with, to be no less either Needful or Seasonable, in case the Scots have forsaken Darien, than if they had continued still in the possession thereof; or after their having once Abandon'd it, had again Re-possess'd it. In that my business is to Justify and Vindicate the Legality of their Design and At­tempt to Settle there, abstracting from the considera­tion whether their Vndertaking might be attended with Success or Disappointment. And if what I have represented and offer'd on that Head, be Perti­nent and Effectual for the Proving and Establishing of what it is alledg'd and adduc'd for, it will not on­ly render their Condition the more Compassionable, on the supposal of their having been unfortunate; but it will both make their present Clamours and Resent­ments for their Loss, Calamity and Disgrace, the less Surprizing and the more Pardonable, provided they carry them no farther, than what is consistent with their Fealty and Allegiance; and will shew the [Page] unkindness and neglect of those to have been the greater, whether in the giving them Opposition, or in the refu­sing them Assistance, whose Favour and Aid they might, on many accounts, have reasonably relied upon with respect to the being Countenanced and Sup­ported. Not to add, that some will find themselves extreamly mistaken in their Politicks, and perceive their having been misled into wrong Measures; if the Intelligence should prove true, which divers have receiv'd, of the Spaniards having accepted the Na­val Assistance of the French, for Driving the Scots out of Darien, in case they be still there, and on the supposal of their having left it, for the Co­vering all those Parts of America, over which the Catholick King pretends a Soveraignty, tho' Un­occupied by any of his Subjects, from attempts of that Nature upon them for the future by any of the British Nations, or the Dominions thereunto belong­ing. Seeing that as Spains complying to receive the Aid of the Marine Power of France, must argue such an entireness of Friendship, and firmness of Confidence between them, as can neither be comforta­ble nor safe to several Principalities and States in Europe; so besides the Inconveniencies and Dama­ges which may thereupon befall other of His Maje­sty's Kingdoms, as well as Scotland; it is not im­possible, but that congruously as well as consequentially to this, the Crown of Spain may be willing to ad­mit of the Conjunction, Aid, and Assistance, of the French in the Loan of their Land Forces, for the compassing Ends on the Continent of Europe, which neither We nor the Dutch will find our Interest and Benefit in. However, if what I have said and ar­gued in the ensuing Sheets, be pertinently adapted [Page] unto the Question that is Debated, and demonstra­tive of the Legality and Justice of the Fact, which I have espoused the defending of; the Scots will there­by be not only Vindicated from the Clamours that have been rais'd against them for what they have done; but they will be also cover'd from aspersions for the future of acting invasively upon the Rights, and from being injurious to any, shou'd they on the supposition of having abandon'd that Place, and the renouncing of all thoughts of re-establishing themselves again in it, apply their utmost Efforts and Endea­vours to the obtaining a Settlement in some other American Territory, where nothing else can be ob­jected against their Liberty and Right of Planting, than what having been alledged against their Sitting down on the Isthmus of Darien, will be found to be impartially examin'd, and abundantly refuted, and that with an exact observance of all the Rules of Modesty, Decency, and good Manners, wherein the Author of the Defence of the Scots Settle­ment at Darien is said to have been deficient. Adieu.

The Errata being but few, and such as any Reader may both discern and correct; the Author hath not thought it needful to make a Collection of them.

The Application of the Scots to FOREIGN TRADE, Commended and Incouraged:
And their late Attempt to have Setled at Darien, fully Vindicated from all that hath been Excepted against it.

THE Humane Race being the alone and the only Rank and Species of the whole Sublunary Creation, that is fur­nished and endowed with Intellectual Faculties and Corporeal Organs, by which they stand adapted and qualified for a Mutual Communication of their several and re­spective Conceptions and Thoughts; and thereup­on thro' their very Frame and Constitution ren­dred Sociable with, and under all Deficiencies, Exigencies and Infirmities assistant and re­lieful unto one an other. The great and wise Creator, who hath produc'd them, enrich'd and a­dorned them with those advantages, and who go­verneth them in proportion to their Natural apti­tudes and capacities, hath consequentially there­unto, not only made several Acts, Offices and Per­formances, to be, by his engraven, and by his re­vealed Laws, the indispensible Duties of men towards each other; and that both as they stand considered individually and apart, and as they become assembled, and united into, and do [Page 2] constitute Societies: but he hath also in his ad­mirable Wisdom, so Formed this Terraqueous Globe, and the whole Elementary World, that by means of the variety and difference of Natural, and Artificial productions, in suitableness to the distinction and diversity of Climates and Territo­ries, there should be as well a kind of necessity imposed upon, as an incouragement given unto all Nations, for the cultivating and promoting a Correspondence together.

And tho' the chief and great Ends which the Universal and Sovereign Ruler designeth, thro' and by the means of an Intercourse between and amongst people of all Nations, and which ac­cordingly he makes the pursuing of, to be the principal part of our Duty, be exceedingly Diffe­rent from, and are incomparably more Noble, and Sublime as well as more Subservient, both to his own Glory, and to the mutual Benefits, which should be Prosecuted, and are attainable, by a free and unlimited Correspondence, than those, which the generality of men, do mainly propose, and ul­timately acquiesce in; Yet we are not in our de­sires and endeavours after Communication and Commerce with others, so precluded from Acting under the Prospect and Influence of Secu­lar Advantages, in Subordination to higher aims and Attainments; but that it is both Lawful in it self, and may be Expedient, with respect to the Safety and Prosperity of those Regions, and Dominions, and political Communities, where we are brought forth, do inhabit, and into which we are Incorporated, to seek, and pursue such an acquisition of Opulency and wealth thereby, as may as well advance the re­spective Nations and Societies unto which we [Page 3] belong, above the Contempt, and prove Service­able to the covering them from the Insults of Neighbouring Kingdoms and States, as recom­pence and reward the Labours, hazards and ex­pences of those, who do either personally, or otherwise engage, associate and venture in the beginning, promoting and defending a Corre­spondence and Commerce of this Nature.

For tho' there have been, and still are here and there, a few that being formed ex meliore luto, and who thro' having something distin­guishing and singular in their mechanical Frame, Or thro' the being imbued with more exalted and generous Principles either of Nature or of Grace, then it is the Lot and Portion of many any where to be, have upon Philosophical or up­on Religious motives, become Travellers, and Voyagers into far distant and remote Coun­tries; yet as the ends under the view, and for the compassing whereof, they have heretofore undergone, and do hitherto subject themselves to the toil, cost and dangers, which unavoid­ably attend and accompany such undertakings, are either too speculative, and too much abstract­ed from things and matters, that affect our Senses, and are beneficent, and gratifying to the Animal life; or are of too elevated, spiri­tual and Celestial a Nature and Consideration, to make an impression upon, and to byass and govern any Large Number of those of great Political Bodies, and National Societies; So the Embarking thereinto, upon the forementi­oned single inducements and prospects, by some Individuals, whose either natural Genius, or their improvements in Divine Knowledge, and the being furnished with more Christian zeal, [Page 4] and Supernatural grace, than most have arrived unto, or are under the power of, does neither amount nor bear proportion to the Notion and Idea, which an Vniversal Correspondence between and amongst those of all Regions signifieth and imports. Nor will it answer the Exigencies and Necessities, which the People of every Na­tion are less or more under, of having their Superfluities Exported and of gaining those things to be Imported, which they do either wholly, or to very prejudicial Measures and De­grees, want and stand in need of.

So that it is not more obvious, than it may be easily accounted for, how a Correspondence of this or that State or Kingdom, with other Na­tions and Dominions, especially when far di­stant, and widely disjoyned from each other, comes to be so little minded and practised, save in order unto, conjunction with, and in Subserviency to Traffick and Mercantile Com­merce. Nor do remarkable Numbers of any people much love to Travel, or commonly do, out of their own Native Regions and Terri­tories, tho' but into Neighbouring and adjoyn­ing Provinces, which may be effected with great Safety, and at little expence, unless upon views either of Subsisting better there, than they did at home, or of qualifying themselves thro' an acquisition of Arts and Sciences, or by the pro­curing Treasure, and Wealth, by means where­of, they may afterwards make a better Figure, and live more comfortably and opulently in their own Countries, than they were otherwise likely to have done.

And whosoever alloweth himself liberty, and vouchsafeth to take the pains, of observing the [Page 5] present State and Balance of Europe, with the va­rious and different conditions of the several Territories, Jurisdictions and Dominions thereof, will soon discern and understand, why every People whose Country lies situated, and whose either Soil or Industry may furnish them with Materials for Trade, should account it their In­terest and make it the Scope and Design of their Skill and Labour, to cultivate and pursue Naviga­tion and Foreign Traffick; seeing the great Ad­vantage, whether with respect to Power or to Wealth, which this or that European Country and Nation have above and beyond others, is mostly, if not altogether, owing and ascribable unto the extent and measure of their Naviga­tion and Traffick. For as it is principally this that attracteth and draweth large swarms of Industrious people to Countries and Territories, where the Natives and such as did Inhabit there before, were but few; so in proportion to the encrease of people, and their application to Commerce, there do necessarily ensue Enlarge­ment of Agriculture, Augmentation of Manu­facture, the venting of Natural as well as of Artificial productions, and thereby a growth in Wealth and Treasure, and consequently there­unto, an advancement in the value and price of Lands.

But because the main design, as well as the necessary brevity of this Discourse, will not allow place nor room, for the arguing of this according to the worth, and importance of the Subject, I shall therefore choose at once, both to prove and to illustrate it from and by un­controulable matter of Fact. Nor have we occa­sion to go far for a convincing Instance and [Page 6] Evidence of it: Forasmuch as we need no other demonstration of the many Benefits that Natu­rally result from Trade, than to consider how our Neighbours, the Dutch, are hereby become Populous, Wealthy and Powerful. It being appa­rent, beyond possibility of being rationally de­nied, or contradicted, that notwithstanding the Unhealthfulness of their Air, the Brackish­ness of their Waters, the Badness of their Ports, the Scarcity of their Natural Productions, the Narrowness of their Territories, and the vast Expence, which they are indispensibly obliged unto, for the covering and defending themselves, and their Country from the Inundations of the Sea; yet that upon the motive and encourage­ment of the Profits and Advantages arising by Trade, they have drawn many of the most La­borious and Ingenious people of all Neighbour­ing Countries into their Provinces; so that from a scanty number of Original Natives, and pri­mitive Inhabitants, they are increased into such a Multitude, that no Nation without Traffick, and that is confined to there narrow dimensions of Lands and Territories, maketh an approach unto, and much less equalleth. And all these by accruements from Navigation and Commerce, are not only by reason of their Riches and Wealth, be­come the objects of the envy of such as live about them; but the Heads, Governours and Supreame Rulers of that Republick, are risen from Poor Weak Supplicant and Despised States, to the making of such a Figure in the World, that ful­ly and amply answereth the Lofty Title, which they have assumed unto themselves, of High and Mighty.

[Page 7] Nor is it unworthy of remark, that the English, whose Genius disposeth and inclineth them, and whose Situation, Ports, Natural Pro­ductions, and Manufactures, give them incompara­ble Advantages for Foreign Traffick and Commerce, beyond what the Hollanders, with respect to all and every one of these recited particulars are possessed of, and furnished with, and that the said English have for above a Century of Years apply­ed themselves unto Trade, with Industry, Zeal, and Success, beyond what most of their Euro­pean Neighbours can pretend to have done; yet even They are greatly exceeded by the Dutch (allowing for the dimensions of their Territo­ries) both in Number of People, and in the Opu­lency of Private Dealers, as well as of their States. And this meerly by a more intense, and Vniversal Cultivation of Commerce, and by the Wise conduct of their Government in the ma­king the Export and Import of their Goods, and Commodities Moderate and Easy, under all the Exigencies and Necessities of the State, and a proportionable Imposition upon, and Exaction from the Subject. For whereas the Dutch (as is well observed by that Excellent and Sagacious Author of an Essay upon ways and Means) having in all their Provin­ces only about Eight Millions of Acres, Essay upon the pro­bable methods of ma­king a people [...]ainers in the balance of Trade. p. 37. do entertain, employ, and comfortably Sub­sist near three Millions of People, yet England notwithstanding all the forementioned Advantages, for Traffick beyond and above them, and its having in Land more than Thirty Nine Millions of Acres, is not reckoned to have above Six Millions of People, which upon a balance, and an adjustment of our extent of Ground and [Page 8] theirs, makes them to exceed us more than in a Moyety of Inhabitants.

And as they have in the vertue of, Results from, and natural Consequences upon there ap­plication unto, and Cultivation of Trade, at­tained unto a Naval strength, which makes them Superiour in Marine Power to most Nations, and Rival Competitors with all for the Sovereign­ty of the Seas; so they are grown able thro' the Treasure, which they have acquired by Traffick and Commerce, to procure, raise, and muster, such Numerous Forces, out of distant, as well as out of adjoyning Countries (where the want and poverty not only of Subjects, but of Princes tempteth the Latter upon the baite and bribe of Pensions, to grant and afford them what pro­portion of Troops they do require, and com­pelleth the former upon the hopes of a Pay, that will hardly yield them Food, to be willing, and ready to serve under their Banner) as thereby to be in a Condition to undertake, carry on, and manage both Offensive and De­fensive Wars against the greatest Potentates, and the Powerfullest Nations in Europe. For as it is with great Judgment, and an accurate re­gard to Truth, observed by the most Ingenious Au­thor of an Essay, upon waies and means, that no Sums dug out of Mines, bear any proportion with what may be made to rise, by the Labour and Traf­fick of a Trading and Industrious people: So it is no less Morally and Politically certain, than any Problem in Euclid is Mathematically, that in proportion to the Riches and Treasures which a people is possessed of, they may be powerful (if they please) by Land as well as by Sea. Whereas such Nations, who do either because [Page 9] of their distance from Navigable Waters stand Incapacitated and Disabled for all Maritime Traf­fick, or who by reason of their Carelesness, and Sloth, do not Apply themselves unto it, with that Industry which they should, are notwithstand­ing their larger, as well as their equal extent of Territories, with them whom we have mention'd, not only unable to support and sustain a full complement of People, in proportion to the dimensions of their Land, but tho' possibly through the Largeness of their Ground, they be overstockt with Inhabitants, beyond what some Trading Countries are, nevertheless they are un­capable of Maintaining even a Land War (especi­ally if it be offensive) for so long a time, and with so much Reputation and Honour, as a Kingdom or State addicted unto Traffick and Commerce, are experimentally found to be in a condition to do. Whereof I need not assign In­stances, there being several large Dominions, and considerable Republicks in Europe, which are undeniable and convincing proofs of it, and particularly even Germany, as well as Switzerland: who notwithstanding their great Numbers both of Men and of Disciplined Troops, and their inclination unto, and Bra­vour in War, yet thro' their being straitned and scanted in Money, which is a Natural and una­voidable Consequence of their Want of Traffick, they are neither in a condition to bring such Numerous Armies into the Field, nor for any long time to Maintain them there, as such Nati­ons who are stored with Treasure, as the result effect and produce of Trade, easily may and often do.

[Page 10] But that which in a most especial manner, should awaken and oblige every Nation, that lies Situated, and is provided with Necessaries and conveniencies for Trade, to undertake, cul­tivate and promote it, is seriously to weigh and consider, what our Neighbours who have commodious Ports for Navigation, and Natural and Artificial Productions, to be both the Source Original and Foundation, and the Nerves and Supports of it, have been of late and are still industriously doing. Namely that the acquisi­tion and enlargement of Trade, is the great Stu­dy and endeavours of most Princes and States, the adjacency of whose Territories to the Sea, the growth of their Soil, and the Manufa­ctures of their Subjects do in any measure make it practicable, and give hopes of succeeding and prospering in it. Particularly that Powerful and wise Monarch of France, no less to his own Glory than the Benefit of his Dominions, makes it the chief business of his Royal care and Authority, to encourage advance and protect it. Tho' of all Potentates and people whatso­ever, the French King and his Subjects are in the best condition to subsist comfortably with­out it. And that by reason of their enjoying not only within themselves and at home, all things that are absolutely Necessary and Requisite for the pleasure, as well as for the Sustentation of life, but because of their having so many and such Valuable Superfluities, which others do Ex­port from them, for which they do both furnish them in way of Exchange, with those few con­veniencies, they do want, and do enrich them with Treasure, by paying them in Gold and Silver, for most part of the Goods and Commodi­ties [Page 11] that they purchase of, and import into their own Countries from them.

And indeed what that Prince, hath effected and done within the compass of a few years, and the narrow Circle of his own Reign, in the en­couraging and promoting Manufactures at Home, the extending and enlarging Traffick into all Countries, tho' at never so great a distance Abroad, notwithstanding the Natural aversion, as well as the long contracted indisposition of his people thereunto, thro' Humour, Genius and Custom, and his having raised and furnished himself with a Naval Power, which for Num­ber and Strength of Ships, is not only in a Con­dition to protect his Commerce, and defend his Kingdom against Invasions by Sea; but to dis­pute the very Dominion of the Ocean with those, who have long laid claim unto, and ho­norably maintained it; I say that the great en­couragement which he hath given, and the stu­pendious advancement that he hath made in all these, do cloath and adorn him with greater Honour while he liveth, and will transmit his Name hereafter to Posterity, with a more daz­ling Lustre and Splendour, than either all his Victories and Conquests heretofore, or his late sustaining so long a War, without any con­siderable Mortification and disgrace to himself, or momentons prejudice or damage to his People. And whosoever will give themselves leave to think, and are withal qualified to pene­trate into the Springs, Reasons, and proper causes of Matters and Affairs of this nature, will easily find and perceive, that there is nothing has so much laid the Foundation of his vast Power and Strength of Military Forces at Land, [Page 12] and of his Ability to maintain and support them, without either their Deserting or their Mutiny­ing thro' want of Food, Rayment and Pay; and of all the Successes which he hath attain'd unto by means of their Bravour and Discipline, as his Manufactures at home, and his Commerce abroad have done, from and by which most of that great Wealth and Treasure hath flowed in to him, in the Vertue whereof these things became practicable and have been accom­plished.

For I do reckon there is nothing more de­monstrable, than that the French King is chiefly indebted to the Profits and Emoluments, which have arisen by Manufacture and Trade, for all that during the late War he hath been enabled to do both offensively and defensively. And while others do amuse and triflingly employ themselves, and impertinently and uselessly squander away their time, in loading their Memories with naked and insignificant accounts and Memoirs of the Military Facts of that Mo­narch, and of those Confederated against him, which were transacted here and there, during the late bloody expensive and tedious War: I am not ashamed to declare my self one, who am rather willing to enquire into, represent and to recommend, the Springs, Originals and Foun­dations, upon which that Potentate was in a condition to support and manage so long a War, with so much Reputation to himself, and safety to his Territories and People. And I do presume to affirm, that the main Sources and fundamental means hereof, were his former ac­quisition of Wealth, and a continued accession and accruement of new Treasure by Manufacture [Page 13] and Trade. It being thereby alone, that so large a Quota and Portion of the Gold and Sil­ver dug out of the Spanish Mines of America, and of what of the former is gathered in Africa, hath either by shorter and more expeditious steps, or after longer and wider strides flowed into, France, and thereupon in the Course of Circulation there, hath come at last to be so plentifully lodged in that Princes Exchequer. So that it is into Trade and the product thereof, that we are principally to resolve the French King's having been not only able during the last War, to cover and protect himself from dishonour, and his Kingdom from Ravage and Impoverish­ment, by the irruption of the Troops of the Allies into his Provinces, their destruction of his Cities and Towns, or the pillaging of his Subjects to a measure and degree, that counter­vailed the attempting, and executing any thing of that kind, but his having been victorious in several Battles, successful in the Conquest of di­vers strong Holds and Fortifyed places, that were thought by some to be impregnable; and the rendring himself Master of large and rich Pro­vinces, whose Situation and Remoteness, were thought Sufficient to have covered them, from being insulted, and much more to have made it impossible to have subdued them, and all this a­gainst such a plurality of Confederate Allies, and the greatest, strongest, most numerous and best disciplined united Forces that were ever known in this part of the World, to have ce­mented and Joyned against One Prince and single Kingdom.

Now I have the more particularly mentioned this, not that any should thereby be provoked [Page 14] to complain of, or to blame that Monarch be­cause of his employing his Princely solicitude for, and exercising his Royal Authority over his People, in commanding as well as encouraging their application unto Manufacture and Trade; but that his example may be both a Pattern and a motive unto every Nation to enter upon, and, to pursue the same ways and methods, that is any wise qualified for, and capable of doing it. And especially that they would engage therein with zeal and Industry, unto whom upon the advantages, which will redound and accrue to him, thro' his Subjects improving in Manufa­ctures, and in the enlargement and encrease of their Traffick, he may be reason of his Neigh­bourhood become hereafter a more dreadful E­nemy than ever he yet was. For tho' neither our uneasiness, upon the aforementioned Account for the present, nor our too Just fears of what may overtake and befall us in time to come, can Justify either our being offended with, or our speaking undecently of the French King, but will only betray and discover our Folly, Ill nature and want of Breeding; yet it will both become the Wisdom, and prove the In­terest of the People of England whom He is a­bout Rivalling in Commerce, as well as in Naval strength, to make it more their care and en­deavours to exceed him in each of those. And it is and will be every day more and more the great concern of the Scots, to emulate and imitate him in these particulars, as far and as much as they can. And were He at present in actual Hostility with us, as who knows how soon he may be, yet fas est ab hoste doceri, it is both Lawful and commendable to submit to learn of [Page 15] an Enemy, and to suffer our selves to be taught by him.

Nor can it Justly administer offence to any honest and prudent Englishman, if I take the Liberty hereupon to subjoyn in a few words, that the more the French do cultivate and pro­mote Manufacture and Traffick, for which nei­ther his Majesty nor the Parliament of England can righteously quarrel with them, nor can at­tempt to disturb, or to obstruct them in their Commerce without some previous Infraction on their part of the Treaty of Reswick: The more it should be the Princely care of the King of Great Britain, and the sedulous and prudenti­al Study and endeavour of an English Parliament and People, that the Scots, who being under the same Prince, that they are, and thereupon so Confederated and linked together, as to have the same Friends and Enemies, may both have the Advice, Councel, and Countenance of Eng­land, to encourage them unto, and the Aid and Assistance of their Treasure, and Strength and Power to uphold and protect them in Trade. For seeing Traffick is the Spring and Fountain of Wealth, and that Nations encrease in Riches in proportion to the Kind and Degrees of their Manufacture, and the Quality and Extent of their Commerce; It naturally followeth that it is both the Interest and Duty of these Kingdoms mutually to further, and support one another, who being Subjects under one and the same So­veraign, are knit and united together by a stron­ger Cement, and by more firm and indissoluble Tyes, than Countries under distinct and diffe­rent Princes, are capable of being made by Alli­ances and Leagues, how publickly soever con­tracted [Page 16] and stipulated, and solemnly ratified and confirmed. Nor will it I suppose be denyed, but that according to the Share which England and Scotland shall acquire and obtain of the Trade of the World, the Less will fall to the Portion of the French, and the Less vent they will have, as well every where for their own Natural and Artificial productions, as for what they do Import from Foreign and remote pla­ces.

Nor can it be reasonably contradicted, but that Scotland hath been expos'd and stood liable to many Inconveniences and Prejudices by it's ha­ving so long and greatly neglected Manufacture and Trade, as it hath imprudently and supine­ly done. And had not they of that Nation, given undeniable proofs in divers other ways and Instances of their being a Sagacious and Wise, and a Laborious and Industrious peo­ple; such of some other Kingdoms who assume a great Licentiousness in rallying upon the de­fects and imperfections of those of other Coun­tries, than their own, might as Justly reflect upon the Laziness of the Scots, and their defici­ency in Prudence, and good Sence, as they do with insolence and unmannerliness enough, upbraid them with their Poverty. But as this is a very tender Subject, I shall handle it with such gentleness, that none of the Kingdom of Scotland, shall have cause to be offended: For as much as my only design herein is, to represent the Benefits which will arise to them, by their present undertaking, and to commend their en­gaging, as well as to encourage their perse­vering in it, but not to reflect with any Se­verity upon their omissions heretofore in this matter.

[Page 17] And I suppose it will be readily acknow­leged, by all Men that are capable of thinking accurately, and to useful purposes, that it is not the Largeness of Territory, that makes a Country Strong and Powerful, but the great and plentiful Number of People, and consequently that the neglecting of such means and Methods, as would be effectual motives to prevail upon such as are Born and Bred in a Nation to continue in it, or to go no where but in prospect of, and in Subserviency unto the prosperity of their Na­tive Land, must unavoidably cause a Nation to be Weak, notwithstanding the vast Multi­tudes, that may have been Born, and for some years brought up in it; which I presume will be confessed to have been hitherto the case of the Kingdom of Scotland, in that so large Numbers of people of great Ingenuity of mind, and of bodily strength and agility, equal to those of any Country about them, have through the difficulties they were under of living comforta­bly at home, which proceeded from Neglect and want of Manufacture and Trade, been Necessitated, as well as Tempted, to seek their Fortunes, and to endeavour to gain a livelyhood elsewhere.

Whereunto may be added, That as it is not meerly because of the having a great Number of People, that a Nation is rendred Prosperous and Happy, but thro' the having them usefully em­ployed, which it is impossible they should be, without Manufacture and Traffick, and therefore that where there is none or very little Trade, a Nation is even made Obnoxious, and doth be­come liable to Calamities and Desolations, by the greater Complement and Number it hath of Inhabitants. Seeing in such years as are not [Page 18] Seasonable for Grain, wherein that of the Poet obtains of Spem mentita seges, the Corn doth not answer the hope and expectation of the Husbandman; The greater that the Number of the People is, they must be subject the more to Famine, and Multitudes of them exposed to Starve. Whereof there needs no other proof, than what that Country hath for these two or three last years afforded us. For tho' it is by reason of Trade, being become more diffused and universal in the World, than it Anciently was, by means whereof the Indi­gency of one Country, is supplyed out of the Abundance and Plenty of another, that Famines of late Ages are neither so frequent nor so Fa­tal as of Old they used to be; yet in proporti­on to the Scarcity and Want that there is of Money in any Nation, which must necessarily be answerable to the littleness of their Manufa­ctures, and the meanness of their Commerce, Fa­mines will both fall out the oftner there, and prove the more destructive. Seeing by the same reason, that the Poor in any Country, are in a time of scarcity more Obnoxious to Starving, than such as are Rich: A Nation that is Necessi­tous must be more exposed and subject to Fa­mines and to Devastations by them, than King­domes and Provinces which are Wealthy and Opulent stand liable unto.

Yea where Trade is not encouraged and pro­moted, even Agriculture it self will be much neglected, tho' it be the chief, if not the on­ly means, whereby the Inhabitants do Subsist. Because that as thro' the Scarcity of Money, and the Poverty thereunto annexed, which as I have often intimated, will always both accom­pany, and be proportionable to the want of [Page 19] Manufacture and Commerce, there will never be a sufficient Complement of People to Cultivate all the Ground, that is capable of being Ma­nured, but that much of it must be left Barren: So the price of Grain and of Fatted Cattle, be­ing generally in proportion to the Wealth, and Treasure that a Nation is possessed of, the Rates of those will run too low, for Husbandmen to be encouraged and enabled, to make such im­provements even of their Agriculted Lands, as they might by Expence upon them be brought unto. Which brief hint and suggestion, I do leave and referr unto the consideration of those who do live in Scotland, who must know better than I pretend to do, how little their best Lands are improved to what they are capa­ble of being, and how much Ground doth lie wholly barren, by reason of the want of a sufficient Number of People, and of the defi­ciency in Riches of those the Nation is stockt with, to take it in and cultivate it.

Whereas it is obvious what great enlarge­ments are made in the Agriculture, and Pastu­rage of England beyond what formerly was, and to what high Prizes in comparison of that which they bore before, Corn and Cattle are advanced, since the Application of the English to Trade. Nor is it to be doubted, but that as they extend their Traffick, and become thereby far­ther enriched, there will be a proportionable progress made in the taking in and rendring those Lands fertile which remain hitherto Bar­ren, and in the encrease of the Price of those which are already cultivated. Nor may it be amiss un­der this head further to represent, that it is be­cause of the Scots having neglected Manufa­ctture [Page 20] and Trade, that the general Rental of that Kingdom, and the Value of Lands when Far­med, are even for the Dmiension of Territory and Ground, so much Disproportionable unto, and be­low what they are in England and Holland. Nor can any Mathematical proposition be more evi­dent and certain, upon the indubitable princi­ples of that Science, than it is sure and un­questionable both from Moral Arguments and Experience, that the current Worth of Land to be Let will be always according to the Measure of Manufacture and Trade, and in proportion to the Riches which a Nation by that means be­comes possessed of. In confirmation whereof, it may not be unseasonable to take notice, how that answerably to England's enlarging its Ma­nufacture, and extending its Trade, the value of Lands hath in equality thereunto gradually risen and swelled. So that from Twelve years purchase, which was the highest that Land went at about the middle of Queen Elizabeth's Reign, when this Nation began first to apply it self conside­rably to Commerce, it was risen and advanced some time ago to Twenty Years Purchase, and in several places of the Kingdom to more.Essay upon probable Methods of making a people gainers in the Balance of Trade. p. 77. For as the Admirable Author of an Essay on Ways and Means doth most pertinently observe, and confidently affirm, That there are undeniable reasons to be given, that the gene­ral Rental of England did not in the year 1600 exceed Six Millions per annum, but that thro' the help of that Wealth, which had flowed into the Kingdom by Foreign Trade, it had risen before the commencement of the late War, to Fourteen Millions Yearly; So none will have the Effronte­ry to gainsay, but that the Rental of England, [Page 21] was the year 1600 greatly encreased beyond, what it had been about half a Century before. Which the more it is seriously weighed, and duly pondred by the Nobility and Gentry of Scotland, it will not only both Justifie their Wisdom in procuring an Act of Parliament, for Trading to Africa and the Indies, and in their having joyned so freely, and contributed so Liberally, for the forming a Stock, and rai­sing a Treasure, that may be sufficient as well to Uphold, and Promote as to Begin it, but it may also animate their Zeal, and raise their Courage for the Maintaining and Protecting of it.

But to shut up this particular, it is to be ascribed to the neglect of Trade, and their falling below their Neighbours in Riches and Treasure, which is the Natural effect of that Omission, that Scotland is not only so weak as it is in a Naval Strength, notwithstanding the variety, goodness and conveniency of its Ports, for the Ocean and Mediterranean, as well as for the Narrow Seas, and the Baltick, but that the Nation doth make so mean and inconsiderable a Figure in Europe, and that the Scots Nobility and Gentry, who for their Natural and acqui­red accomplishments do equal most of any Country that are of their Rank and Quality, and who for Bravour are Universally acknow­ledged to Come behind few or none, are never­theless so little Valued and Caressed by Princes, and in Courts, by whom and where persons are chiefly esteemed, according to their weight in the balance of an Exchequer, and in propor­tion to their Rental and Capital.

[Page 22] But the Kingdom of Scotland being at last willing and desirous to redeem it self from the Opprobry and Reproach, unto which it hath so long stood exposed among its Neighbours, for the having either thro' Supineness or Pride, neglected the promoting and pursuing Manu­facture and Trade, and being now Embarked in an Undertaking, that will relieve that Nation against, and rescue it from the Inconveniencies and Damages, which have ensued upon, and accompanied their Omission of Commerce, it may not be here improper to represent in a few words the several advantages that Scotland is possessed of, and doth enjoy in equality with most Countries, and above divers, for its be­ing qualified and enabled to succeed and pro­sper in this Design. For the main and great things that are Antecedently needfull, and pre­required, in order to a peoples engaging in Manufacture at home, and Commerce abroad, being large Numbers of Men and Women, and a Soil producing variety and plenty of use­full Commodities, and convenient Ports for the Exportation of their own Commodities, and the Importation of such goods from Foreign parts, as they shall have either occasion to consume a­mongst themselves, or which by carrying them forth again, they can dispose of and vend else where; there are few Nations in Europe, that are better furnished and accommodated with all those advantages, helps and Succours than Scotland is. Seeing besides its having divers Harbours, and those both safe and convenient­ly Situated, for Sailing to and from the Ea­stern, Southern and Western parts of the World; It hath likewise diverse Natural Pro­ductions, [Page 23] and may have a sufficient plenty of Artifici [...]l, to give an Original unto, and be both a Foundation and Nourishment for Trade: Nor will any deny but that it actually doth, or may at least speedily so abound with Peo­ple, as to yield and afford hands enough for Manufacture and Traffick.

For tho' I do acknowledge, that Gold and Silver with which the Scots, may probably be but indifferently and scantily furnished (whereof ne­vertheless they may in time by this means ac­quire more) be the measure of Trade; yet nothing is more certain, than that the Natural and Artificial Products of a Country are the Spring and Source of it; and that the Nerves and Sinews thereof are a Multiplicity of Hands properly and industriously employed. And with these Scotland doth so abound, that many have not only been, and still are thro' want of bu­siness and labour whereunto to apply them­selves, an useless and a grievous Burthen to their Native Country: but great Numbers have by their Necessities been constrained ei­ther to Transport themselves into the Colonies and Plantations of other Nations, or to serve Foreign Princes and States in the Wars, which they have been carrying on against one ano­ther, in neither of which ways, hath any Bene­fit accrued to the Kingdom of Scotland, nor is it possible that it should, unless now and then casually and by accident. But those Colonies, where they have planted, do carry away and engross the Gains of their Industry: And the Potentates under whose Banners they bear Arms, do reap the Glory of their Bravour, and do become possessed of those acquisitions [Page 24] of Towns and Provinces, which they purchase at the expence of their Blood and Lives,

And may I be permitted, without giving of­fence, to add, That thro' the latter of these Methods, Scotland hath had the Misfortune, to have more Thousands of lusty and valiant Men kill'd and destroy'd in Wars, wherein that King­dom had no National concern, that if they had been employ'd in the gentle and peaceable Arts of Manufacture and Trade, would have been sufficient to have render'd it a powerful and opulent Nation. Yea, such has been the guilt, as well as the unhappiness, of those, who thro' want of Business, to give them a Subsistence and Livelihood at Home, have betaken them­selves to the carrying Arms under Foreign Ru­lers and Potentates; that they have not only been frequently engag'd in the killing of others, and expos'd to be kill'd themselves, when and where the alone cause of the War, hath too often been m [...]erly, either the Covetousness, Pride and Ambition of the Aggressors, or the Fraudulencies, and Injustices of the Aggressed: But, that to the disgrace of the Christian Reli­gion, and the infamy of their Country, they have, many times, in Opposite and Hostile Bri­gades and Battalions, been found Encountring and Slaughtring one another. So that for the obviating, preventing, and avoiding, that Cri­minal and Reproachful Course for the future, if upon no other Prospects and Motives, that Kingdom ought to apply it self more to Manu­facture and Trade than it hath hitherto done.

For which that Nation stands not only ex­ceedingly adapted, by reason both of the Saga­city of their Nobility and Higher Gentry, for the [Page 25] discerning and advising unto Means, Ways, and Methods, for the encouraging, encreasing, and maintaining thereof; and of the Mercan­tile Knowledge, Skill, and Artifice, of those of the Middle Rank, For adjusting, conducting, and managing, as well what is to be Fabricked at Home, as what is to be chiefly Regarded and Cul­tivated abroad: But especially, because of its having, with respect to the Number of its Peo­ple, a vaster Proportion of those that are of the Poorer and Inferiour Sort, than some other Coun­tries are furnish'd with. Nor is any thing more demonstrable, than that a multiplicity of Nobility and Gentry, without a very large Num­ber of Commonalty, and of such as are Necessitous and Indigent to very considerable measures and degrees, is rather an Obstruction unto, than a Furtherance of Manufacture and Commerce. See­ing tho' the former may assist towards the find­ing and supplying the Materials, and can alone afford and advance the Treasure that is necessary to the Managing, Upholding, and the Enlarg­ing of both; yet it is they of the latter kind that do mainly afford the Hands, by whose Toyl, Labour, and Industry, the Production of the Waters is gain'd, the growth of the Land is Fa­brick'd and Manufactur'd; and whatsoever Com­modities Colonies and Plantations are capable of yielding, come to be acquir'd and improv'd. For as it is confess'd by all, who do exercise their Thoughts in and about Speculations of this kind. that Multitudes of People are the most valuable Treasure, as well as the greatest Strength of a Country: So it is infallibly certain, that the Pea­sants and ordinary Sort, and such as are reckon'd for the Mobb and Commonalty, provided they be [Page 26] universally and fully employ'd, and their La­bour and Industry pertinently and usefully ap­ply'd, are as serviceable to the Interest of a Community and Republic, and as contributary to the making a Country Opulent and Weal­thy, as those are of any Rank and Quality what­soever, if not considerably more. And the more any Nation is over-stock'd with Poor, it be­comes the more signally the Interest of that State or Kingdom to cultivate Manufacture and Trade, these being the only means of rendring such steadable to the Common-wealth, who must otherwise be unavoidably Burthensome. And as Scotland hath a large complement and share of very mean and poor People, that may be made serviceble to the Fabricking Good and Commo­dities at Home, the Navigating Ships of Traffick. raising a breed of Seamen for Fleets of Men of War, and for the Planting of Colonies abroad, and the winning, extracting, and improving the productions of those Lands and Countries, whither they are carry'd, and where they are set'led: So the Scots Peasantry are accustom'd to a Frugal and Parsimonious way of Living; to which those of some Neighbouring Nations, are not, without great difficulty, to be brought, nor hardly able to bear; which is a farther and a considerable reason, why Scotland should pro­ceed and persevere in the settling and maintai­ning a Foreign Plantation. Nor are they only dispos'd, as well as capable of living both health­fully and contentedly upon Viands and Allow­ances, that would reduce those of some other Countries, who are as mean as they are, and born as much upon the Flat, to a weak and languish­ing, if not to a starving Condition; but they are [Page 27] by the size and fabrick of their Bodies, the Nimbleness and Agility of their Limbs, and the Natural acuteness of their Understandings, as capable of being Laborious, Industrious and In­genious, in whatsoever they are put upon, and made apply and addict themselves unto, as such of any other Country are.

Finally their great inclination to Marry, be­cause of their Narrow and Frugal way of Li­ving, and their prolificalness, and aptitude for Generation, and thereupon, their accustomed­ness to Encrease and Multiply, thro' the par­simonious manner, of their Subsisting beyond what is usual in most Countries, gives another encouragement, as well as administers a further Inducement; why the Scots should remain stea­dy and unchangable, in their Design and Un­dertaking, of establishing Foreign Colonies: See­ing they will upon that account, and by reason thereof, become the Sooner Peopled, without drawing too many Swarms from the Hive at home. Of this their needs no other Proof, than barely to observe, how the Scots in Ireland, from a very inconsiderable Number, that settled there not long ago, are Multiplied to a very great and large body of People, whereof that King­dom receiveth and enjoyeth all the Benefits both in Power and otherwise; and the whole that falleth to the share of Scotland, is meerly the Satisfaction and Credit, of having so vast a Colony of their Countrymen there. And by this blessing and advantage of being more Pro­lifical and Fertile, in the Procreating of Children, than those of their strait and narrow circum­stances, are any where else; the Plantation of Calidonia in the Isthmus of Darien may in a few [Page 28] Years, become equal in Number of People, to some other Colonies in that part of the World, and Scotland may securely promise to it self, the escaping of that Mischief, which hath be­fallen the Kingdom of Spain, in the being al­most Depopulated, by the Colonies which it hath Planted in the West Indies. Yea, were there not so much in what I have intimated, as I do believe there is, for the rendring them suddenly Populous, in any Plantation, which they shall establish in an entire dependance upon them­selves, and especially Subservient and Condu­cive to their own Benefit; yet they will find enough to Transport and Transplant Yearly, into their Plantations without Draining their Country of its Inhabitants, by meerly Inviting and Prevailing upon such to go thither, whose necessities do either compel them to Travel abroad, in order to be Soldiers and Servants, in Foreign Countries and Plantations, or who stand reduced to pinching Wants, if not to be Beggars at home; which being seconded and accompanied with a thrifty, temperate and regular Conduct in their Colony, and with the giving due encouragement, thro' granting Li­berty of Conscience, as well as Secular Privileges both in Scotland and there, to such strangers as shall come and settle among them, thro' the want whereof, Spain is become Dispeopled at home, and their Plantations in America but slenderly stockt with Inhabitants, they will not only render the Calidonian Colony, suddenly po­pulous and Flourishing, but they will draw more people into Scotland it self, than it now hath, or can at any time hereafter, under all the ad­vantages of Commerce an Traffick, be well able [Page 29] to bear. Whereof England as well as Holland, are evident examples and demonstrative Proofs, being since their respective and several Plan­tations, in the East and West Indies, mightily encreased in the Number of their Inhabitants, notwithstanding the vast Shoals of People, that have from year to year been Transplanted into those Colonies: For as the incomparable Author of an Essay upon Ways and Means, doth assure us that England since the year 1600, is increased in Number of Inhabitants about 900000; Where­of I may venture to say the like of Holland in proportion to the Dimension of their Ter­ritories: So it is undeniable, that within that circle and compass of time, diverse of the English Plantations, came to be erected and established, and that all of them, as well as those of the Dutch, have since that term of Years, been enlarged, improved and become vastly more Peopled than they were before.

So that it appeareth, from the whole which hath been hitherto said, how much the Scots have of late, discovered their Wisdom and Prudence, and how highly their care and zeal are to be Commended, in their having made an Essay, and a Beginning for the encouragement and enlargement of Manufacture at home, and towards the erection and establishment of a Co­lony abroad, and by that Foundation which they have laid, for the settlement and advancement of Trade. And this unquestionably they have a plenary right to do, as they are a Free and Independant Nation, without asking the leave, or demanding the concurrence of any Rulers and Countries whatsoever, provided they be Countenanced and Authorised thereun­to, [Page 30] by their own King; and that they do no­thing therein, which is inconsistent with the Laws of Nations, nor attempt the settling in any Districts or Provinces, from which they stand prohibited and excluded by publick and solemn Stipulations, between him that now is their Sovereign, or those that have been so for­merly, and other States, Princes, and Potentates. For that Scotland dependeth upon, or is a Pro­vince Subordinate to any other Nation, and Subjected to the Ordinances, Constitutions, and Municipal Statutes thereof, I suppose none will betray the Ignorance or have the Effrontery to affirm. It being a Kingdom that holdeth of none Save of God, for their Title unto and Pos­session of their Country, and of their own Swords, under his providential Blessing and Aid, for the Maintaining and Defending of them.

For tho' there be a very near and close Con­junction and Union, between the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, thro' their being under one and the same King, rather than in the virtue, and force of mutual Contracts and Alli­ances▪ which I do heartily wish may always continue, and that all the secret Caballings and Clandestine endeavours of those, may prove a­bortive, unprosperous and miscarry, who ei­ther from Ancient Piques, personal Morose­ness, Envy, and ill Nature, or upon any other Motives, Prospects and Designs whatsoever, shall seek to weaken, interrupt, and especially to dissolve it. Yet England doth not Challenge and lay Claim to the having any Authority over Scotland, nor pretend to an Imposing of their own Laws upon that Nation, or to a Supervising of such Parliamentary Bills as are [Page 31] prepared and formed there in order to the being Enacted into Statutes. But the Scots are absolute within themselves, and vested with a Power underived from any Nation, and in the exercise whereof they are accountable unto none, for the making of Laws, and falling up­on, and pursuing all such Ways, Methods, and Means, which are reconcilable with the Feal­ty and Loyalty, which they owe unto their Prince, that may be subservient and usefull to their own Safety and Interest. And in Testimo­ny and Evidence of their being a Free State, and a Kingdom as entirely Independent upon England, as upon any other Dominion whatsoever; they both can, and do often lay what Customs and Impositions they please, upon English Pro­ductions and Commodities, when carried and Imported thither, to be vended and disposed of there. And by a Power Inherent in themselves, which England cannot reasonably dispute, nor lawfully Controul: they sometimes do, and at all times may, Inhibit and Forbid their own People, the buying, using, and consuming such Goods as were either Manufactured in England, or brought thither by the English, from their Plan­tations and Colonies elsewhere.

And as in the Vertue of this independent Freedom, Liberty, Previlege and Right under the Authority and Power of their Kings, they have at all times made legal Provision for the Government of their People at home, and pursued that little Trade, which they had attained unto with such Nations abroad, as were in Peace and Amity with their Princes, without their being questioned for, or distur­bed in it by any, save by those that were [Page 32] in Hostility with their Sovereigns, and that only in Seasons of actual War; so they have by a fresh Exertion of this innate Freedom, and inherent and independant Right, lately contri­ved and framed a Bill, which they have obtained to be passed into an Act, and a Law, wherein the People and Subjects of that Kingdom,See the Act for a Company Tra­ding to Africa and the Indies, June 26. 1695. are empowered to erect Socie­ties and Companies, for the establishment and carrying on Trade, with whatsoever Nations and Countries, or Places in As [...] ▪, Africa,Printed at Eden­burgh by Andrew Anderson, and re­printed at London, by John Whitlock. or America, which are either not Inhabited, or where they have the consent of the Natives, and Inhabitants thereof, un­der the Limitation and Restriction, that such places are not Previously and Ante­cedently possessed by European Sovereigns, Potentates, Princes and States. And moreover, that they may provide and furnish the said Places, Cities Towns and Forts, with Magazines, Ordinance, Arms, Weapons, Ammunitions and stores of War, and by force of Arms, defend their Trade, Navi­gation, Colonies, Cities, Towns, Forts, and Plantations, and their other Effects. As likewise, that it shall be Lawful for them to make Reprisals, and to seek and take reparation of Damages done unto them by Sea or Land, and to make and conclude Treaties of Peace and Commerce with the Sovereign Princes, Estates, Rulers, Governours, and Propri­etors of the said Lands, Islands, Countries or Places in Africa or America.

In relation to which Act, for authorising the Scots to establish a Foreign Trade, and their being empowered to settle Plantations in the forementioned Parts of the World, in or­der to the better gaining, enlarging, and pro­tecting [Page 33] of it, the few things which I have to offer under this head, shall be briefly these. Namely, That as the Design of Erecting such a Trade, and of Planting Colonies in the Subservien­cy, to the Maintaining, Improving and Exten­ding thereof, was not rashly and unthoughtfully Undertaken by those of that Kingdom; so the Act by which in pursuance of that Projection, they stand warranted to do whatsoever is be­fore reported, was not surreptitiously obtained of his Majesty, nor was he by any undue Artifi­ces misled into the Granting of it. For how much foever that Nation, might be desirous to have a Foreign Settlement, towards the better en­abling them for such a Traffick, and notwith­standing they sufficiently understood it to be their great and indispensible Interest, to em­bark Vigorously both in Manufacture and Com­merce, yet their unsuccessfulness heretofore in some attempts of that Nature, as particu­larly in the Plantation of Carolina, which they held of the Crown of England, antecedently to the English planting there, from which they became expelled by the Spaniards, thro' want of that protection, and of those encouragements which were necessary to the having rendred them safe and Prosperous; made them proceed slowly and with great Calmness and Discretion, in the Forming, Digesting and Maturating what they have at last, after an adjusting of all that was Prerequired thereunto, put in Execution. Nor could the King be Surprized into the giving his Royal Assent to the Bill for the premised esta­blishment; seeing▪ as they who served his Ma­jesty at that time, under the Characters of Com­missioner and Secretary of State, were persons as [Page 34] entirely in his Interest, and zealous for his Honour and Glory, as ever any have been known to be that filled those Posts; so there was an interpo­sition of two Years, whereby the King had all the time, an opportunity desirable, for the consideration of the most Important and Ardu­ous Affair, in which he might have informed and Satisfy'd himself of the Justice and conve­niency of what was laid before him, and hum­bly desired of him, between the passing of the 32 Act of the Parliament, Anno 1693. which invited and encouraged, persons in general to enter into Societies and Companies, for car­rying on a Trade, in any or in all such parts of the World, as were not in Hostility with his Majesty, and the enacting of that Statute, which was the 8 Act of the Parliament Anno 1695, whereby that design was Perfected and Complea­ted, thro' a Companies becoming settled by Law, vested with the Rights and Powers fore­mentioned, and favoured with such immunities, as were necessary to encourage so hazardous and expensive an Undertaking, as that was likely to be, and will infallibly Prove.

And tho' the Grace and Goodness of his Majesty, appear'd very eminently manifested to the Scots therein, in vouchsafing to have gran­ted them the privileges, That none of their Stock and Effects, shall be liable unto any manner of Con­fiscations, Seisures, Forfeitures, Attachments, Ar­rests, or Restraints; that they may Freight Outlan­dish and hired Ships, for the space of ten Years, notwithstanding the Act for encouraging Shipping and Navigation. Anno 1661. And that their Merchan­dice, See the Act. goods and effects, shall be free from all manner of Restraints and Prohibitions, and of all Customs, [Page 35] Taxes, Sesses, Supplies or other Duties imposed, or to be imposed by Act of Parliament, or otherwise, for and during the space of 21 years. As likewise, That no Officer, Civil or Military, or other person whatsoever within that Kingdom, shall Impress, En­tertain, Stop or Detain, any of the Members, Officers or Servants, or others whatsoever, of or belonging to the said Company; And that all these shall be Free, both in their Persons, Estates and Goods, employed in the said Stock and Trade, from all manner of Taxes, Sesses, Supplies, Excises, quartering of Souldiers, transient or local, or levying of Souldiers, or other Imposi­tions whatsoever for and during the space of 21 years. Yet it must withal be acknowledged, that his Majesty's Wisdom and Justice to all the World, as well as to his Allies, and those that are his own Subjects in his other Territories and Dominions, are no less singularly, conspicu­ously and abundantly displayed, thro' the Provi­ding expressly and particularly in the said Act, that no Prince, Country, People, or Colony, shall be In­vaded or Molested in what they are rightfully posses­sed of, nor disseised of their properties, or of what they can lay Claim unto, by the Laws either of Na­ture or Nations. Which shews that what his Majesty did, in passing the Act, that hath been so often mentioned, was the result of great Judgment, and mature Deliberation. And who­soever will but allow himself time to read and consider it, will find himself oblig'd to confess, that in no Projection whatsoever, to­wards a settlement of that Nature, nor in any Statutes or Edicts enacted and emitted, for the authorizing and countenancing of them, was there ever such a regard had, and expressed to the rights of Foreigners, or of Planters else­where, [Page 36] and of the Natives where that Colony should come to settle, as is done in the Scots Act of Parliament.

Whereunto I will only further Subjoyn, that the Scots have not only obtained an Act of Parliament, Empowring them to plant and set­tle Foreign Colonies wheresoever they can, without doing Injustice to the Natives, inva­ding the Territories, and Districts of other Princes, or their being injurious to previous and antecedent Planters; But they have likewise procured a Patent under the great Seal of that Kingdom, whereby all and every thing or things, granted to them in the said Act, stand ratified and confirmed by a Fact and Deed, that is Personally his Majesty's own, in the most distin­guishing manner, and that by which he Spea­keth most Vnretractably as well as Sovereignly to his People. So that his Majesty being a Prince eminent for his Veracity, and his Constancy to his Royal Word, as well as for his Courage Justice and Honour, He hath made it impra­cticable, without Sullying and Disparaging his own Glorious Perfections, which 'tis Impossi­ble he should have the Weakness, Infirmity and Imprudence to do, either to depart from, dis­pense with, or by a subsequent relaxing Inter­pretation, to Retract or Supersede what he hath granted unto his Subjects of Scotland, or to avoid the Maintaining and Protecting them in it. For tho' divers Projects, Proposals and Matters, that are in themselves very Just and Lawful, and which in their effects and consequences would prove exceeding advanta­geous and usefull, may antecedently to their Establishment by Laws, and by Royal Facts and [Page 37] Grants be declined and waved, as well as pro­crastinated and adjourned, upon the meer foot and the single motive of their being Inconveni­ent, either thro' the Offence or Jealousie that may thereby be administred to Allies and Princes in Amity; Yet no publick and Solemn Laws are to be violated or Royal Charters and Patents, to be Over-ruled, Transgressed against and Vacated upon the Inducement, and because some Potentates with whom his Majesty is in Leagues, and un­der Stipulations and Compacts, may shew them­selves Peevish, and become Groundlessly▪ and Causelessly Offended. For as all the Affairs that fall under the Executive part of the Administra­tion, are Regulated either by Law or by Conve­niency: and come to be considered under the Notion and Views, either of what may be done with Profit to our selves, and without injustice to any, tho' possibly not without giving Provo­cation unto divers, and the rendring them Dis­contented; or what according to the tenour and Obligation of Laws, and the Sacredness of a Princes Word declared and pledged in his Char­ters must and ought to be done; So whatsoever latitude is left and allowed in reference to matters and things of the first kind, for acting according to the measures of civil Prudence, and the rules of Politicks: Yet in relation to such matters as are of the latter sort, there is no room or place left to consult and deliberate what is Fit to be done according to Topicks of Convenience, Maxims of State, and politick Theorems; but there ought to be a Conscien­tious observance and a Vigorous pursuance of, as well as a firm and unchangeable adherence unto what is made Legal, and which by con­sequence, [Page 38] when and where the case is impor­tant, and the matter is of that concern and value that the chiefest Interest of a Nation lies in it, can neither be omitted nor dispensed with, without obnoxiousness to guilt, as well as to clamour and blame.

Nor may it in the next place be unworthy of being represented, with what Readiness Vnani­mity and Zeal, the People of Scotland came into this design, of Erecting Trade, and Establishing a Foreign Plantation upon the passing the fore­mentioned Act. For the Subscriptions in order to the raising and constituting a Fund, for the setling a Colony, and thereby for the promo­ting of Traffick, for which they were allowed by the Act of Parliament, from the 16 of June 1695, untill the First of August 1696, were not only Filled, Compleated and Perfected, long before the elapse of the time that was prefixed by the Statute; But whereas it was provided, that it should be held a sufficient Compliance, with the design and Tenour of that Law, if only half the Money that should be Subscri­bed towards the forming a Stock, did Belong unto, and were the Proper Cash of such as were Scots, and did live within that Kingdom; it deser­veth to be observed, that the whole, hath been Subscribed, Advanced, and Paid in by such as are Scots, See the List of the Adventu­rers, &c. Printed at Edinb. 1696. which is not only beyond what could have been expected, but may justly be­get Admiration; considering what in that In­trim, they have been obliged to pay in Taxes for the Maintenance of Troops: and what they have been necessitated to carry abroad in specie, of their Cash for the purchasing grain, to live up­on in these late years of extraordinary Scarcity [Page 39] and Dearth; which, at the modestest Computa­tion, may be reckon'd to have exceeded Two hundred thousand pounds Sterling.

Nor are they meerly Persons of the Middle Rank, or of the Mercantile Order, that have contributed and put in their Money for the framing of a Bank in order to the foremention'd Ends; but they of all Qualities and Degrees have, with great liberality and cheerfulness, answera­ble to their several Titles and Figures, contri­buted their shares to that Capital; and none with greater Alacrity and in larger Proportions than they of the Grand, as well as of the Petite Nobless. For none of the greatest Persons of that Kingdom have had the Folly and Pride to excuse and cover themselves from becoming Assistants to the founding and promoting of Trade, by pretending it a disparagement to their Garters and Coronets, and below the lofty Stiles that they have by Parchments, which give them an ascendency above Gentlemen. These days of Vanity and Phantasticalness are over; and they of the Sublimest Rank do begin to go­vern themselves by principles of Reason and good Sense, and by Maxims of Civil, Social, and Oeconomical Wisdom; and not by the airy, whimsical and pernicious Notions of Haughtiness and Luxury.

Yea, even they of the Military order, have such of them, as were in a condition thro' having ac­quir'd beyond a naked subsistence during the War, readily subscribed and paid in what they could, and would have done it more plentifully, had they receiv'd all their Arrears; and such of that Tribe as were only Subordinate-Officers, or private Centi­nels, who are now reduc'd or disbanded, that could [Page 40] not bring in Gold and Silver to the encreasing of the Fund and the augmenting of the Capital; yet they have with great forwardness offer'd their Bodies and their cold Iron to the Corporation and Company, for the protecting of their Traf­fick, and the defending of their Plantation a­gainst all such as shall become their Enemies and Assailants. And how dangerous soever Men of that Praedicament may be to their Country, when kept in too great Numbers regimented at home; and how altogether useless they are unto it, while they hear Arms under Foreign Princes and States abroad; yet they are as capable as any other whatsoever of being serviceable and profitable thereunto, when employ'd in the Ways and Methods to which many of them have be­gun to betake themselves. Of whom it will be no presumption nor visionary Dream to add, That as they do account their Wages, Salaries, and Pay, to be their Estates; so they reckon their Swords and Musquets to be their Title unto it.

In brief, there are few Persons, Families, or Orders of Men, that are of any Consideration or Esteem, but who are become associated, uni­ted, and confederated, in this Project, Enter­prise, and Design. How much distant or diffe­rent soever Persons are, either in their Religions or their Political Principles, yet herein they do all of them amicably agree and combine: Nei­ther the Bigotry of the Presbyterians, nor the re­sentments of those of the Diocesan Perswasion, for the unkind and ill treatment they have met with, do in this make any variance or discord between them; but herein the Wolf and the Lamb do tamely meet together, and the Leo­pard [Page 41] and Kid do peaceably assemble as in one Field. Nor do those great Animosities, or late Hostilities, which have been between one ano­ther, about Rights and Claims to the Soveraign Authority, and the Royal Jurisdiction, occasion any misunderstanding or opposite Sentiments in this, but both the Jacobites and the Williamites do shew themselves equally and alike concern'd in the promoting of a National Trade, and the setling of a Foreign Colony. And, which is of very material consideration, it deserves to be observ'd, That besides what several Persons have in their private Capacities Subscribed to­wards that Capital, not only most of all the Corporations, but the Royal Burroughs of the Kingdom, have become sharers therein, and contributed liberally thereunto, out of their Public Revenues.

From all which I may, with great safety, as well as with decency and modesty, venture to lay open and infer, how Mortifying, Afflictive and Grievous it will be to that whole Nation, to be discourag'd and frustrated of Protection from the King, of whom pursuant to the Act and Pa­tent which he hath granted them, they expected to be countenanc'd, animated and defended. Nor dare they entertain such disrespectful and undutiful thoughts of His Majesty, as the Pro­clamations emitted by His Governors over the Eng­lish West-India Plantations might seem to give oc­casion and umbrage for. Seeing as they have not, by their setling at Darien, invaded the Territories of any European Prince or State what­soever, nor have been injurious to the Natives, in Planting there without their allowance and con­sent, nor in any one particular or circumstance, [Page 40] [...] [Page 41] [...] [Page 42] have exceeded the Limits and Regulations pre­scrib'd unto them by the Act of Parliament, and the King's Charter, as shall be fully and uncon­troulably demonstrated in what is to follow: So they have a more engraven and firm belief of His Majesty's Mercy and Justice, than to give liberty unto themselves to think, that His Ma­jesty's Subjects in the West-India Plantations, de­pending upon, and subordinate to England, should by an Order, Command, and Authority from the King, be charged and required to hold no Correspondence with the Scots, in their Colony at Darien; nor to give them any assistance with Arms, Ammunitions, Provisions or any thing else whatsoever. For as much as this is not only inconsistent with, and irreconcilable to his Majesty's Goodness, Wisdom and Righteousness; but directly repug­nant to the express Words, Terms and Clauses of the forementioned Statute; by and wherein his Majesty royally and solemnly promiseth, If any of the Ships, Goods, Merchandize, Persons, or other Effects whatsoever, belonging to the Scots Com­pany, trading to Africa and the Indies, shall be stopt, detained, embezled, or taken away, or in any sort prejudiced or damnified; that he will interpose his Authority to have Restitution, Reparation, and Satis­faction made for the damage done, and that upon the publick charge, which his Majesty shall cause, disburse and lay out for that effect. So that thro' what arts, and what means soever, these Proclamations are come to be emitted and published: Yet the Scots neither do, will, nor can entertain any o­ther thoughts of his Majesty, than that he will carefully and powerfully cover and protect them, instead of abandoning them to the rage and power of such as may become their Ene­mies, [Page 43] without the giving them aid, succour and assistance. And in place of giving room to any such sinistrous opinion, as if either his Majesty could be indifferent, or meanly con­cerned, in countenancing of that Nation in an Affair of so great an importance, and that is so eminently subservient to the prosperity and happiness of that Kingdom, or become alienated and disinclined from upholding and defending them in the possession of their Plantation of Darien, they are tempted to give credit to a passage in the Paris Gazette the first of August, 1699. Namely. On avoit avis, qu'on envoye des ordres aux Comandants de toutes les Colonies Angloises de L' Amerique, d' assister l' Escossois d' Arien de tout leur pouvoir, comme estant sujects du mesme mai­stre. That the King hath sent Orders, to the Gover­nours of the English Plantations in America to assist the Scots at Darien, with all their Power, they being no less his Subjects than they are.

Nor can it be unmannerly or unlawful to add, that it is of the last danger to a Prince, to ad­minister cause and occasion to a whole Kingdom, to grow estranged in their affections unto him, and to depart from their zeal for his service. And it may with confidence be affirmed that his Majesty's treating the Scots in this manner, either unkindly, or unsuitably to the hopes wherewith they have fed themselves, is like to have those effects and operations upon the hearts and minds of most of that people. Tis abundantly discovered in Histories how it hath often proved unlucky and of ill consequence to Sovereigns, to have disobliged and displeased the generality of a Nation, tho' but in a trifle, and that it hath been very fatal unto them, to [Page 44] discountenance and thwart their Subjects in that wherein they placed their secular Glory, and their temporal Happiness. Nor have the Ties and Obligations upon the conscience of Subjects, been at all times found sufficiently powerful, to preserve them in discharge of Du­ties of exact Fealty and Loyalty; but these bonds have been easily broken, and dissolved, when ground hath been given, for the thinking and believing, that their worldly Interest hath not only been neglected, but opposed and sacri­ficed. And it is in vain for a Prince to rely upon his Personal merits, or to trust to his own Conscientiousness, of what he hath done in deli­vering a People from former distresses: Seeing these will be found to afford him a very weak and slender security, against the ungrateful and ill natured resentments of a people, that shall account themselves abandoned, or crossed in what their present Genius, Humour and Biass, do universally, sway, carry and determine them unto.

Nor is it credible that his Majesty who is a Prince of great Wisdom and Justice, would have order'd those who Govern under him, and by his Authority, in the West-Indies, to emitt and publish such Proclamations, without his vouchsafing to have it told and represented to the person Constituted by himself, for his Scots Secretary, and who is Resident at his Court un­der that Character; seeing as that would have imported such a Contempt, as well as a Neglect, of his Kingdom of Scotland, that none without rendring themselves Criminal, can conceive his Majesty capable of being misled into it, so it is sufficiently obvious to all thinking men, what [Page 45] the Scots Secretary hath made himself obnoxious unto, if in case of his being made acquainted with it, he did not discharge the duty incum­bent upon him by his Post, both towards his Majesty in endeavouring to divert him from run­ning into such measures and in his informing those of Scotland (to whom he will deservedly find himself accountable,) with it, whose concern it was to have it prevented. Yea it is so incon­sistent with all the rules of Prudence and Ju­stice, as well as of Honour, that nothing in Don Quixot, or Amadis de Gaule can be more Romantick, than that his Majesty should some Months after the Orders must have been trans­mitted to the West-Indies, for enjoyning and and authorizing the forementioned Proclamati­ons, have Commanded the Lord President of the Sessions, and my Lord Advocate to come from Scotland and attend him at his Palace here, in order to satisfy him of the Legality of the Scots proceedure, had he been conscious in him­self, of having Empowred the English Secretary Mr. Vernon, to convey such Instructions to the governing Magistrates in the English Plantati­ons, as the Papers emitted there under the Ti­tle of Proclamations, would perswade us they are warranted by and bottomed upon.

Nor in the case which I have now under consideration, will the Scots reckon that their Loyalty to his Majesty, and their Zeal for his Interest and Service, were either esteemed or re­warded, as they flatter'd themselves they should have been: For their having not only furnished him, with so many and such brave Troops, during the War, and for their preserving (now meerly to please and gratify him) such a Num­ber [Page 46] on Foot and in Pay, and that notwith­standing both the Poverty of the Country, and the great Scarcity that for divers years it hath groaned under, when their Neighbours have not in proportion to their extent of Territories, and of their Opulency, thought fit to continue near the Quota of Forces, which they have done; but especially because of their having, so readi­ly at first Declared him their King, when the bare delaying, and the demurring only unto it for a little time, would have gained them such Conces­sions from the People of England, that would have made their looking after a Plantation of their own Needless, or at the least have brought them into that Conjunction, with the English Nation, as would have engaged the whole strength of that Powerful, and Wealthy Kingdom, for their defence and support in the Colony, which they have begun to settle.

Nor can it be undecent or immodest to add, that the Protecting them in this under­taking, is the rather expected from his Ma­jesty, least otherwise they should have occasion to complain of the Prejudice, they have recei­ved by the Revolution, with respect to their Trade, instead of reaping the advantages which they had thereby promised themselves, in that as well as in other things. It being known to diverse, that a proposal and Plan having by some Scots men been laid before King James, for the obtaining his Authority, as well as his countenance, for their setling a Commerce in Africa and the Indies, how kindly he not only received it, but with what both goodness and readiness, he referred the consideration of it to my Lord Middleton, my Lord Melford, [Page 47] Mr. Penn and Mr. Berkley, that upon their opinion of the Justice and Equity of it, (who were all known to be entire favourers thereof) He might by his Royal Charter and Patent, have empowered the Scots, to have proceeded in the Establishing of it; and which nothing could have obstructed, had not the Accession of his Majesty, who was then Prince of Orange, in [...] England at that time intervened.

But to proceed unto that which doth in the course of Method, next offer it self to be laid open and Discoursed of, namely the Situation, Nature and Conveniency of the Place, where the Scots have pitched their Tents, and are about establishing there Plantations, which is called the Isthmus of Darien, and is a Country very fit and proper for that purpose, as well because of the Richness of the Soil, as by reason of its Situa­tion for Trade. It is the Narrowest part of America, and lieth between the Northern and Southern, or the Atlantick and Pacifick Oceans, and is Justly called an Isthmus, as comprehending where it is broa­dest not above two degrees, (viz.) between eight and ten N. L. and where it is narrowest about but one degree. And it is in all probability stiled the Ishhmus of Darien, from the great River of that name, where with the Northern coast is bounded to the East. For beyond that River on the North side, the land doth so spread to the East and the North-East, and on the South side, to the South and South-East, that it can no farther be called an Isthmus: But as to the narrowest part of this American Isthmus, which as I have said, doth not extend above one degree, upon which the Scots have Setled their Colony, and have appointed that the Coun­try [Page 48] shall hereafter be called Calidonia, and that themselves, Successors and Associates, shall be stiled by the Title of Calidonians: See Wa­fer's new Voyage and description of the Isth­mus of A­merica. p. 46. Wafer doth assign for its Western limits, from the Mouth of the River Chagre, where it falls into the North Sea, to the nearest part of the South Sea Westward of Panama; and for its Eastern boundaries, from point Garachma, or the South part of the Gulph of St. Michael, directly Eastward, to the fore­mentioned River Darien: And all do know, that it is circumscribed, limited and bounded, on the North and South, by the two vast Oceans that are so Denominated. And as to the par­ticular place, where the Scots have pitched their Tents and raised Fortifications, it is upon a Har­bour, called by the Spaniards Acla, and by the Natives Schocana, and is one of the most De­fensible Ports of the World, and is Situated a­bout two Leagues from the Golden Island, called by the Spaniards Guarda, which as it is not fur­ther Distanced from the South Sea, than what any man may Travel in two or three Days, and which the Natives can do in one: So it lieth in a Nearness of Eight or Nine Leagues, both to the River Darien and Conception, upon which Boats may go to the Southern Ocean. And as the weather in the place, and on all hands where the Scots are setled is exceeding temperate, being much the same that is in other places of the Torrid Zone of that Latitude, but inclin­ing rather, as Wafer says, to the wet extreme, the Rains beginning usually in April or May, and continuing more or less to the latter end of August, but with intermixtures even then of fair and dry days for a week together; So that the Country, is healthful beyond what was com­monly [Page 49] believed, or could have been imagined unless experienced. And tho' the Artificial productions of the District and Territory be few by reason of the sloth and unskilfulness of the Natives to cultivate the Land, and to im­prove and fabrick what it yields, yet the ground is unconceivably fertile and rich, and might by being well Manured and Agriculted, afford both as great Variety and as great Plenty, for the comfort and pleasure, as well as for the Ne­cessities of Life, as any Land in whatsoever part of the World doth. However the Natu­ral Productions, and what it spontaneously yields, as materials of, and commodities for Trade, and to enrich such as are, or shall become en­gaged and Interessed in the Traffick, are divers and great, both in the variety of kinds, and in the Plenty and Quality of them. For be­sides its being stored with all sorts of Wood, proper for Building and Wainscotting, and par­ticularly with Cedar, it hath also abundance of white wood, fit for Cabinets, and Interlaying, and which is more than all the other, it is likewise plentifully furnished with Logwood, which the English do now cut upon the Bay of Hunderos, not without being exposed to great hazard and danger; and (if credit may be given to reports,) it is provided of Nicaragua wood, which is a Commodity for Dying of that value, as to be reckoned to approach to the worth of Cochenele; and which is beyond all other pro­ductions whatsoever, It affordeth both Silver and Gold Mines, as well as large quantities of Gold Dust, that is gathered out of the Rivers, after that it hath been washed from the Moun­tains by violent Rains. And then for the Peo­ple, [Page 50] they are open, frank and good natured, and for many Leagues round in an entire Friendship with the Scots, having not only re­ceived them in a most obliging manner, at their first arrival into those American parts, and their Captains, Supreame Leaders, or Caiques, who have neither dependance upon any other Prince or State, nor upon one another, save by Leagues for mutual defence, readily and with great chearfulness, consented and agreed to permit the Scots to settle among them, and to become Inhabitants in their Country; but have by stipulations and contracts since, Joyned in a Con­federacy with them, for the defence of them and their Colony, against all such as shall in time to come be their Enemies.

So that for Situation, as the Councel constitu­ted by the Indian and African Company of Scot­land, for the Government and direction of their Colo­nies and settlements in the Indies, have published in their Declaration bearing date, at new Edinburg in Calidonia December 28. 1698; it is a more con­venient Place than any other in all America, to be the Store-house of the unsearchable Treasures of the spacious South Seas, the door of Commerce to China and Japan, and the Emporium and Sta­ple for the Trade of both the Indies. And as it is there that the Scots have settled a Colony and Plantation, by and with the consent of the Na­tives; no European Prince or State being there­of possessed, or having right of claim there­unto; so they did not offer to enter upon that District and Territory, without the having a particular and strict regard unto, and con­forming exactly with all the Regulations, Pro­viso's, and Limitations laid down and prescribed [Page 51] in the Act of Parliament, and in his Majesty's Patent, and the having seriously Considered and duly Weighed, whatsoever could be pretended or alledged against them, upon their proceed­ing to establish a Colony there. For the exa­mination whereof, they allowed themselves suf­ficient time, in that tho' their Subscriptions were perfected and compleated, about the be­ginning of the year 1696; yet they did not send their Ships from Scotland, untill the Month of July 1698, which arrived not in that place until November following.

And as it is not only hoped, but morally certain, that great advantages of attaining un­to Wealth, Power and Honour, will thereby accrue and be administred to Scotland; so it might easily be Demonstrated, that very consi­derable Benefits, will infallibly Redound from thence unto England, and that both in times of Peace and of War. Seeing as it will be a means, whereby in a short time, a compendious Way and Passage for Trade to China, Japan, as well as to the East-Indies, may be obtained and rendred secure, whereby the English, will be­come qualified and enabled, not only to outdo the French, who begin to Rival them in Traf­fick to the latter, but to equal the Dutch, who do at present far exceed them in it: So by the conveniency of the Scots Caledonian Planta­tion, both a great quantity more of the Manu­factures of that Kingdom, will come to be ven­ted in all the East parts of the World, as well as in the Spanish West-Indian Provinces, and the expence made less, and the returns much Speedier and Surer, to and from the latter, than they are, or ever can be, by the way of [Page 52] Cadiz and Malaga. And as for the English Plantations in America, they will not only have larger and more advantageous occasions, of Trading into the Spanish American Colonies; but the very Scots of the Calidonian Plantation, will will take off and consume abundance of their Commodities and Productions, especially theirs of New York and New England, for which they will pay in Gold and in Silver, and such valuable Goods, as the Mines, Rivers, and Land of Darien do yield and furnish. And should a War at any time come to be between the Kings of Great Britain and of Spain, as who knoweth what may hereafter fall out, Calidonia is and will in that case be found, the best Situate place of any in the World, from whence and by means whereof, to do Hurt and Prejudice to the Spaniards, and to yield service to his Britannick Majesty, and give his Subjects oppor­tunities of enriching themselves. Seeing the Scots Colony there, will prove to be not only Posted, in the middle and bosom of the Spa­nish American Ports for Traffick, having Carthage­na on the East, Porto Bèllo on the West, and Pana­ma on the South; but will be found to stand Si­tuated in the direct way and passage, that their Flotas, Galleons, Armados and Armadilals must go and return to and from Mexico and Peru. Nor on the supposition of such a Hostility a­rising between these two Crowns, as I have mentioned, will the English meerly have a larger, better and more Fortified Harbour for Ships, either of War or Commerce, than any of their own West India Plantations do afford; But they will have one to Receive, Cover and Protect them, that is nearer and more adjacent by a [Page 53] hundred Leagues to Porto Bello and Panama, than Jamaica; and by above three hundred than Bar­badoes, which of all the English American Colo­nies, are the least distanced from them. But seeing I shall have occasion to discourse more fully hereafter, of the benefits and advantages, which will accrue to the Crown and Kingdom of England, by the Scots having settled in Da­rien, and how much upon that account, it is both the Interest of the King, and of the English Nation, that they should be maintained and defended in the possession of their Plantation at Calidonia; I shall therefore insist no more upon it under this Head, but adjourn what is to be further represented, and argued to the foregoing purpose, until it will lie more naturally before me in some other Para­graph.

That which I am then in the next place to advance unto, is to Justifie and Prove beyond all possibility of any reasonable Reply, that the Scots, by their establishing a Colony on the Isthmus of Darien, have made no Invasion, upon the Rights or Dominions, and Territories of the King of Spain, nor have therein Acted contrary ei­ther to the Laws of Nations, or to any Articles of publick Treaties, that have intervened, or have been Conserted, Accorded and Stipulated, be­tween the Kings of Great Britain, and those of Spain? 'Tis true his Spanish Majesty, hath by several Memorials delivered by his Ministers to his Britannick Majesty, or to his Secretaries of State, represented, remonstrated and com­plained, as if the Scots, had thereby made an Infraction of the Peace, between the Crowns, were become guilty of an Insult▪ and Attempt against [Page 54] his Catholick Majesty, and that by settling a Plan­tation in that place, they have posted them­selves, dansles Souverains, & le plus Interieur de ces Demaines de sa Majeste, In the Soveraign and most Inward Territories of and belonging to his Spa­nish Majesty. And as in case that the matter stood as it is represented, and as the complaint doth import, the blame thereof, ought to be wholly and entirely imputed unto the charged upon the Governours and Directors of the Company erected for Trading to Africa and the Indies, and no ways either in the Injury that is done, or in the clamours and accusati­ons which arise by and from it, to affect his Britannick Majesty in his Justice, Veracity and Honour; so it would be both requisite and ne­cessary, on the foot of Righteousness, as well as of Truth, that full reparation should be made to his Catholick Majesty, if the Fact of the Scots, in planting on the Isthmus of Darien, were dis­agreable to Royal and National Treaties, and a forceable seisure, in times of Amity and Peace of the Lands and Demains of that King. Yet I hope, it will not be accounted Rudeness or In­solence, in me to say, that it is both expected and demanded, that none will discover and be­tray themselves, to be persons of so little Pru­dence or Equity, as upon the single credit, and alone evidence of Memorials to submit unto, and to suffer, their being either surprised, or wheedled, or menaced and hecto [...]ed into a belief, that the settling the aforesaid Colony, in the place abov [...]mentioned, is therefore In­jurious and Criminal in the Scots, and to be rec­koned an Invasion upon the Sovereign Rights, and the Lawful Dominions of the King of [Page 55] Spain, meerly because it is alledged and affirmed by his Ministers and in his name to be so.

And I do reckon my self fully warranted, in the requiring and exacting this of every man, who desires to escape the censure and reproach of being Imprudent, Partial, and Iniquous; in that it hath very often, and upon frequent occa­sions, been the custom and practice of States, Prin­ces and Potentates, to remonstrate and complain of the proceedings of other Rulers, Governours and Soveraigns, and of their several and respective Subjects; when all that hath been offered, at­tempted and done by those who have been thus applyed and addressed unto, and complained of, hath been Lawful, Friendly, Honourable and Just, and only accounted inconvenient at the Season, or held to administer ground of Jea­lousie and Fear, that it might in the future, be prejudicial unto such who were the Com­plainants and Remonstrants. And as no Po­tentate or Court in the World, hath oftener and more clamorously, betook themselves unto this Method, than they of Spain have done, in reference unto, and behalf of what they un­reasonably challenge, and would have others be so weak, as to allow them a Right unto the West-Indies; so they have commonly, in the issue and event been made to understand, that they had no Pleadable, Valuable and Justifia­ble reasons, grounds or causes, for their Re­monstrances and Complaints. Whereof as the Histories of all Nations, are full of Examples, and Instances, so our own are not barren and unprovided of them. Unto which as I shall confine my self, on the motive of the Brevity, [Page 56] that this discourse is designed to be of; so I shall only assign a few out of the many that might be enumerated. Whereof, the first shall be, the Behaviour and Answer of Queen Eliza­beth, during the time of Amity with Spain, and before there was any rupture, between her and Philip the Second, upon a complaint against one Captain Parker, made unto her by the Spanish Minister, who resided at her Court, un­der a publick Character; which I do the rather mention, because it relates to something that fell out at Darien, where the Scots having ta­ken the freedom to settle, and to establish a Plantation, is made the ground of the Memo­rials presented lately to his Majesty by the Spanish Ambassador, in the name of the Catholick King: For Captain Parker having in the year 1565, Sailed from England to Darien, and be­gun to manage a profitable Trade with the Natives, the Spaniards, who have been always Jealous of, and offended at any other Europe­ans coming into, and Trafficking in those parts of America, came with Armed Ships against him, and after having threatned, to make prize of him, and those that were with him, unless he would immediately depart, upon his refusal to do so, they attempted it. But Parker being a gallant man, and being likewise assisted by the Natives, he not only beat the Spaniards that assaulted him, and took one of their Ships, but also plundred a place called Castel Dolora, for all which he was both commended and justi­fied by the Queen, notwithstanding the Com­plaints and Remonstrances of the King of Spain, by his Ambassador.

[Page 57] Whereunto may be added, that famous and remarkable transaction, much about the same Season, between Queen Elizabeth and Philip the Second, in relation to Captain Drake, who having in a time of Peace, betwixt the two Crowns, been seised by the Spaniards, for Trading in the Bay of Mexico, and who thereupon, having been allowed by her Majesty, to make himself reparation and satisfaction, for the Wrong and Dishonour done to her, as well as for the Loss and Injury, which he had Sustained, sailed to Boco Fero, where being shewed the South Sea, and also assisted by the Native Indians, who had War with the Spaniards, he took and plun­dred some rich Spanish Vessels, at St. Lazarus de Chagra. Of which Bernardine de Mendoza, who was then Spanish Ambassador at the Court of England, having by a Memorial which he presented to the Queen, complained as a great Act of Depredation, committed by Drake upon the Spaniards in the West Indies, and thereupon demanded reparation of the Loss and Damage, which his Masters Subjects had thereby undergone, he was answered by the Queen almost in the very terms, and directly to the purpose following.See Cam­den's Eli­zabeth lib. 2. p. 255. An. Dom. 1565. Namely, That as the Spaniards had drawn these Inconveniencies and Mischiefs upon themselves, by their severe and un­just dealing with the English in their American Commerce, and their Trade there with the Natives, so she did not understand, why either her Subjects, or those of any other European Princes, should be debarred from Traffick in the Indies. Vnto which as she did not acknowledge the Spaniards to have any title by the donation of the Bishop of Rome; so she knew no right they had to any places there, besides those [Page 58] that they were in actual possession of; Seeing their having touched only here and there upon those coasts, given names to Rivers, or Capes, and possibly built a few Cottages, were such insignificant things, as could no ways entitle them to a Propriety, further than they were actually settled, and continued to inhabit. And therefore, that as all their claim unto other Parts, Places and Countries in the West Indies, was only Imaginary and Chimerical; so it was thereupon Free, for other Princes and States, and their respective Subjects, without the least Breach, or Violation of the Laws of Nations, both to Trade and Transplant Colonies, into all such American Districts and Territories, where the Spaniards did not inhabit. And that as all pretence to a right to any Country there, otherwise than as they were possessed of it, is nothing but a vain and unjust Vsurpation, which makes no foundation, nor gives any right by and according to the laws of Nations, for a limited and restrained claim, in and over those Countries; so it is as lawful for any other Nation, as it is for Spain, to Navigate that vast Ocean, without being inhibited, obstructed, or there­in Disturbed; in that the use of the Sea and Air is common unto all and every people whatsoever, nei­ther Nature nor custom having given or allowed, possession or Propriety thereof, to any one particular Country of the World, Preclusive of others.

But tho' this that I have here reported may very reasonably be counted enough to have been said under this head, as being so full, as well as pertinent, for shewing how little reason and cause there may often be, of Judging hastily, conclusively and prejudically of the proceed­ings and Facts of the Subjects of any State, or Soveraign, meerly because of complaints exhibi­ted [Page 59] in Memorials by the Ambassadours of other Princes, stiling and representing what hath been done by them, under the Characters of being violatious of the Laws of Nations, Inva­sions upon the Territories and Jurisdictions of Potentates, and Infractions of publick Treaties and Alliances; yet I shall not reckon it either superfluous or impertinent, nor will the reader I hope think it tedious, to have one Instance more subjoyned, that was of a parallel nature, and to the same purpose and upon the same occasion: which as it referreth to a Memorial of the same importance and kind, with those that have been presented lately to his Majesty; so it was one delivered into a King of great Britain by an Ambassadour of Spain in the name and in obedi­ence to the Command of his Master. Whereof the Story in brief is this: Namely that in the year 1629. being after a Rupture, and during the time of a War, between the Crown of Great Britain, and of Spain, divers of the Eng­lish Nation, finding the Islands of Cateline and Tortuga unpossessed and empty of Inhabitants, did thereupon seize and begin to plant Colonies, on them, giving to the former the name of the Island of Providence, and to the latter the name of the Island of Association. And which they continuing to inhabit, and occupy after the establishment, of the Peace betwixt his Britan­nick Majesty, and the Catholick King, Anno 1630. the Spaniards became thereat offended, not on­ly because of its being an extending, and an enlargement of English Settlements in America, but by reason of the nearness of those Islands to the Spanish West-India Colonies, particularly to those of Cuba and Hispaniola, and according­ly [Page 60] complained thereof to King Charles the First, by their Ambassador; who tho' he was a Prince both of those Morals and Politicks, that he would not countenance, the least thing that was unjust, and Illegal towards and against any, and much less in relation to Soveraigns and Potentates, with whom he was in Leagues, and Alliances, nevertheless he gave in Answer to the said Complaint, that his Subjects having found those Islands, both unpossessed by the Spa­niards, and uninhabited by any other people whatsoever, had thereupon by the Laws of Na­ture as well as of Nations, a Liberty and Right to sit down and to plant there. And that they ought not to be therein Obstructed or hindred, either because of Jealousies, which the Spaniards might entertain, on the foot of those Islands being so adjacent to their Territories, or by reason of any apprehensions they might have, that English Colonies there, would prove after­wards inconvenient, and prejudicial unto them. In which Answer the Spaniards were so far forced to acquiesce at that time, as not to reckon that Fact of his Britannick Majesty's Subjects to be any Infraction of Alliances, or a Rupture of the Peace. Tho' I must withall add, that upon the arising of misunderstandings between King Charles the First and his People of England, and upon his Subjects of Scotland running into Re­bellion, the Spaniards made those advantages, of our quarrelling here at home among our selves,Vid. Scriptum Cromweli, in qu [...] R [...]ipubl. Angliae causa contra Hispa­nos justa esse de­monstratur: Edit. Lond. 1655. as to assault the English in both the forementioned Islands, and were therein so successful, as first to drive them out of Tortuga, Anno 1634. and afterwards out of Cateline Anno 1640. [Page 61] In the attempt whereof as they acted against all the measures of Law and Justice, and to the highest degrees of cruelty and barbarity in the execution of it, so it is too well known upon whom both the blame and Infamy are to be charged, that those Invasions of the Spaniards upon the Rights, Properties and Possessions of the English, were not Revenged as they deser­ved, and as they undoubtedly would have been, had not King Charles been diverted and hinder'd from it, by the unhappy differences, which sprung up between him and his People.

Having then done, what I hope will be judged sufficient to obviate and prevent all misconstructions and sinistrous thoughts, which might otherwise have risen in the minds of any, by reason of the late Memorial presented to his Majesty, I do reckon, that I have there­by paved my way, towards an examination of the Fact of the Scots Company, in their set­ling at Darien, whether it ought to be ac­counted illegal, and unjust, contrary to the Laws of Nature and of Nations, and to inter­fer with solemn Regal Stipulations? or whe­ther it may be esteemed Lawful, Righteous and Agreeable to all the rules and measures of Wisdom, Amity and Justice? as that I may now apply and address my self directly and closely to it, without finding the forementi­oned Remonstrances, to remain an Impediment and obstruction in my way. And as an In­troduction thereunto, I cannot but both ac­knowledge and commend, the Fair, Honoura­ble and Friendly proceedure of the Catholick King, in that he hath by Memorials, given in to his Britannick Majesty, chosen to assert his [Page 62] pretensions and rights in an Amicable way, and so affords an opportunity, that the whole World may be satisfied, on the Foot and To­picks of Reason, Custom and Law, that neither the Act and Patent, which the King of Great Britain, hath granted to his Subjects in Scotland, are any ways either disagreeable to Treaties with Spain, or dissonant from the received Max­ims of Equity and Justice, by which States and Princes do govern themselves, in their Publick and Political actions towards one and other; Nor that the Scots Company, have either exceeded the limits prescribed unto them, in the Statute and Charter, by which they are au­thorized to Trade to Africa and the Indies, and to establish Colonies and Plantations there, or that they have done any thing prejudicial unto and Invasive upon the Rights of Spain. For hereby instead of putting the decision of this great and important affair, upon the Strength Power and Success of Arms, and the verdict that should result from Hostility and War; it is placed on the amicable foundation of Rea­son, Alliances and Laws, and made adjudge­able in the Cabinets, and at the Councel Boards of Princes, and not immediately referred to a determination, by Fleets and Armies on the Ocean and Continent. And therefore that this matter, may be set and represented in the best and clearest light, for an amicable adjust­ment, and composure of it, between his Brit­tanick Majesty and the King of Spain, I shall in order thereunto, propose and lay down, some things in the way of so many Premises, which which shall carry that intrinsick certainty and evidence in them, as to resemble and be of [Page 63] the Nature of Postulata in Mathematicks, and which shall be found as undeniable principles, in a discourse that is relative unto, and con­cerning right of property in a Country, as the other are acknowledged by all men to be in Geometry.

Whereof the first is this, namely, that the Original, most Ancient, and that which is by all Civilians, confessed to be the ground and foundation, of the uncontrovertible Title and Right of any people, to this or that Country, is their having been the Primitive Occupiers and Possessors of it. Quod enim est Nullius, per occupationem acquiritur ejus Dominium, say all Civilians. For while the greatest, or any part of the World, lay wholly Void and Vninhabited, and for the Occupation whereof, no formal Divi­sion had intervened, and been agreed upon, by those who emitted Colonies for the possessing and planting such and such parts of the Earth, assig­ning to every one of those Colonies, there several and respective partitions and districts; in that case the right of Title unto, and of Property in such a Country, and place became, primi possidentis, Puffend. de Jur. Nat. &. Gent. lib. 4. cap. 7. Grot de. Jur. Bel. & Pac. lib. 2. cap. 2. §. 2. de Offic. 3. his or theirs who were the first occupiers thereof. 'Tis taken for a dictate of Na­ture, and is that which the Universal reason of Mankind conducted them unto, in the first and separated division, which was made of this habitable World, so far as it was void and un­inhabited, Vt quod quisque occupasset, id proprium haberet, That whatsoever any came actually to pos­sess and occupy, thereof they should be acknowledged to have the propriety. And as Cicero long before our late Civilians expressed it, Quod cuique obti­git, id quisque teneat, Wheresoever any mans Lot [Page 64] falls to be the first possessor, that he hath a Legal claim thereunto. Which possession or occupation▪ as they are not accounted to stand acquired by any meer act of the Mind, whether in way of wish or purpose of settlement in such a place, but they are only obtained in and by a Bodily Act, that is quasi positio pedis a placing and fixing there foot upon it; So no bare transient and vagrant passage, thro' an empty and uninhabited Coun­try without setling their abode, and continu­ing to reside in it, was ever held sufficient by any Civilian for the giving unto those Itinerant passengers a claim of Property and Inheritance there. For as Grotius says Desultoria possessio nihil efficit, An occasional touching at a place without settling and continuing to inhabit giveth no right thereunto in Law. And as Puffendorf speaks to the same purpose, Occupasse tum demum rem aliquam dicimur quando possessionem ejus adprehen­dimus: De jure Nat. & Gent. lib. 4. cap. 6. §. 8. ita ut occupatio rerum mobilium fiat mani­bus, soli pedibus; vidisse autem tantum, aut scire ubi quid sit, nondum ad possessionem sufficere judi­catur.

Whereunto may be added in the second place, That the Spaniards did not find those Countries, Kingdoms, Isles and Provinces, whereof they are either possessed, and confessed by all to be so, or those unto which they pretend a right, tho' it be not acknowledg'd by others, void and empty of People, and uninhabited; but that when they came thither and arriv'd there, they found them actually possess'd by a large and numerous People that had no knowledge of, nor dependance upon Spain, nor had deriv'd either their own Original, or their Title to occupy and inherit those spacious and vast American Territories from [Page 65] the Spaniard; so that whatsoever Title or Pro­perty the Spaniards are come to have unto, and over those Dominions, it must be deriv'd either from the Donation of the Pope, or acquir'd by a Conquest of those, who were the previous and ancient Proprietors; or it must be obtain'd by a grant from the Natives, in the vertue whereof the Spaniards have a right transferr'd unto them, and are with and by the consent of the Indians, made the rightful and universal Proprietors of all those Countries.

And as to their Claim by the Pope's Donation, the very mentioning, and much more the plead­ing of it, is a ridiculing, as well as bantring of Mankind; seeing even on the supposal, that the Roman Pontiffs should be acknowledg'd the Suc­cessors of St. Peter, which as no Protestants are forward to believe or confess, so they have never hitherto found, nor do they think they ever shall find the Pontificians able to prove it: Yet this would invest them with no right of disposing the Kingdoms of the World as they please, and unto whom they will. For Peter being cloathed with no such Power himself, nor having ever pretended to exert such a Jurisdi­ctive Authority, as some Popes have had the Va­nity and Pride to do, how could he convey it unto, and entail it upon others, under the qua­lity and character of being his Successors? Yea our Lord JESVS Christ was so far from ex­ercising a Power and Authority of divesting Prin­ces of their Soveraignties, Principalities and Dominions, tho' all of them were then gross Idolaters, that he would not be prevail'd upon to divide an Inheritance between two Brethren, when desir'd by one of them to do it. But as [Page 66] he made it the duty of all those who should believe in him, and embrace the Christian Faith, to be conscientious and exact in yielding Obe­dience to all the Laws and Commands of Ci­vil Rulers and Magistrates, whether they should be Heathen or Christians, provided that those Laws and Injunctions were not inconsistent with, and repugnant to the Laws of God: So he was Himself contented to Pay Tribute to Tibe­rius Caesar, who was both an Idolater and a Tyrant. Nay, so far are the Bishops of Rome from having any Jurisdiction in the quality of St. Peter's Successors, over the Dominions of any Prince and Potentates whatsoever, That all the right which they have to their own Temporal and Secular Possessions, even to that which is vul­garly call'd the Patrimony of St. Peter, is by and from the Concession and Grants of Potentates, Kings, and Civil Rulers (among whom I wou'd not be thought to place Constantine, whose pre­tended Donation is a meer Fiction and Chimera, but some that were later than he) who were more Liberal and Beneficent, than they were Prudent and Wise. Moreover, tho' the Spani­ards have had sometimes, the weakness as well as the vanity to Claim a right to the whole West-Indies, thro' and by vertue of the Donation of Pope Alexander VI. in his Bulls Dated 2d and 3d of May, Anno 1493, yet the very Spanish Historians do assure us, that Ferdinand and Isa­bella who were King and Queen of Castile, See Her­rera's Hist. of the West-In­dies. Dec. Lib. 1. 2. Cap 4. when Columbus made the first discovery of the West-Indies in the year 1492, having consulted with those who were esteemed the most Learned in the Civil and Canon Laws, thought it needless to use any such Formality as to desire a Grant and Dona­tion [Page 67] of those Countries from the Pope; and that the Bulls of Alexander VI. were obtain'd, or rather accepted upon some particular Conside­rations.

Nor have divers Nations, and those Roman Catholicks, as well as Reformed, made the least scruple of sailing unto, and settling in the Re­gions and Countries of America, notwithstand­ing the Pope's Bulls, by which they are said to have been granted to the Kings of Spain. See­ing besides what hath been done by divers Prin­ces and States during this whole present Cen­tury, and a good part of the former, whereof I shall here make little or no mention (it being noto­riously and fully known, not only to every States­man, Scholar, Merchant, Shopkeeper and Artificer, but to those who are the meanest Boors, Peasants, and the ignorantest part of Mankind) there were divers attempts and endeavours made by others Trading to America immediately and soon after the emission of those Bulls, upon which some would found the Spaniard's having a right and claim, and legitimate Title to those Dominions. For no longer than three years af­ter the pretended Donation of all the American Territories to Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen of Castile by Alexander VI. did Henry VII. of England (tho' a zealous Roman Catholick, and one who by reason of his Domestick Trou­bles stood in great need of the Favour of the See of Rome, and who no less courted it) Equip and set forth in the Year 1496, four Ships un­der the Command of Sir John, and Sir Sebastian Cabet of Bristol, to discover, enter upon, and take possession of any place or places of the West-Indies, that were not in the actual possession [Page 68] of the Spaniards, which by his Authority and in his Name they did from 25 to 26 Degrees of the Northern Latitude; and in two Voyages which they made to the West-Indies, they both establish'd a Friendship and Trade with the Na­tives of Florida, Long-Island, and of divers pla­ces of those American Countries. And tho' Henry VIII. who succeeded him (thro' his being employ'd in Wars with France and Scotland, and taken up about important affairs at home) could not extend his Empire in the West-Indies; ne­vertheless there were, even in his Reign, divers private Persons that voluntarily engag'd in the making discoveries and settling Trade in Ame­rica: And among others whom we do find e­quip'd and sent forth upon this Design, were Edward Spurstow, in the 5th and 9th Years of Henry VIII. and Robert Warner in the 12th of the same Reign, who made rich Voyages thither, and were kindly entertain'd by the Natives. And which is of affinity hereunto, and ex­tremely pertinent, for shewing the insignifican­cy of the foremention'd Bulls to the establishing any right in the Spaniards to any other Parts of America than they are actually in possession of; it deserveth to be observ'd, how that Vespusius a Florentine by order of Emanuel King of Portu­gal, did in the Year 1500, discover all Brasile, which makes a large part of the American Con­tinent, and that the Portuguese asserted their right unto it, and preserv'd a liberty of Tra­ding thither, notwithstanding all that was ob­jected to the contrary by Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile. Whereunto should I add what hath been done since, and that not only by the Eng­lish under Queen Elizabeth, and King James, [Page 69] Charles▪ I. and II. but by the French and Dutch, and by divers other Nations and States, which have all traded to and settled several Colonies both upon the Terra firma and the Islands of America, notwithstanding either the Popes Bulls of Donation of those Countries, and Islands to the Spaniards, or their pretensions unto them, by any other Right or Title whatsoever; it would evidently and unanswerably appear, that their Claim to the West-Indies was never further al­lowed and admitted by any European Potentates and Rulers, than in reference to those Places and Territories of which they were become actually possess'd. Yea the Pope's grant of the West-Indies to the Castilians, having been in or­der to the propagation of the Christian Faith among those Infidels, The See of Rome chal­lenging no Power or Authority to dispose of Earthly Dominions, save in relation thereunto, and neither for destroying the Natives or usur­ping their Territories, it naturally follows that the Spaniards having acted so directly contrary to all this,See De las Casas Ac­count of the first Voya­ges, Engl. Edit. 1699 p. 184. both in Massacring above Forty Millions of the Indians, and in the encouraging them in their Heathenish Idolatry, thro' selling their I­dols unto them for Money, after the Indians had thrown them away, rather than in seeking and promoting their Conversion to the Christian Religion, can pretend no claim of right and ti­tle to those Countries and Dominions by the Pope's Bulls, Idem ib. p. 147. prop. 26. but as De las Casas expresseth it, All their Conquests are to be accounted Vnjust, Ty­rannical and Null.

'Tis true that the Spaniards have at all times been displeas'd with, and opposite unto the Set­tlement of any Nations in America besides them­selves; [Page 70] but the many rich Colonies, such as Virginia, Barbadoes, Bermudos, New England, New York, Carolina, Pensilvania, Jamaica, &c. which the English have there, besides what pla­ces are possess'd by others, especially by the French and Dutch in that part of the World, do abundantly shew, that all Nations do ac­count the Claim of the Spaniards to the whole West-Indies to be no better than a weak, vain and chimerical Imagination, and that the Popes Bulls by which it is alledged that they are enti­tuled thereunto, are no otherwise esteemed by Eu­ropean Princes and States, than as a Jest and Banter.

Nor, Finally, have the Spaniards themselves paid that respect to the Bulls of Alexander VI. which they should, and certainly would have done, had they taken their right to the American Islands and Dominions to be deriv'd from them: Seeing whereas the same Pope had in and by these very Bulls, not only confirmed unto the Por­tuguese their title to such places, as they were not only possess'd of in the East-Indies, but to all other whatsoever in that Eastern quarter of the World, for the Occupying and Inheriting whereof they had formerly obtain'd Bulls of other Pope [...], and particularly of Eugenius IV. excluding all others from trading thither, yet notwithstanding of this, they of Castile laid Claim to the Moluccao Islands, to which Ferdi­nand Magelanus had found a passage by the South-West of America, and continu'd to assert and defend their Pretensions to them, until John King of Portugal, by lending the Emperor Charles V. 350000 Ducats, upon condition, that He and his Heirs should forbear trading to the Molucca's till the Money were repaid; they de­clin'd [Page 74] the maintaining their Title to those Islands, and laid aside their trading to them.

Nor is it unworthy of remark, as well for the chicane as the pleasantry, and divertise­ment of it, that the Pope having divided the new World into two Hemispheres, allotting the Western to the Spaniards, and the Eastern to the Portuguese, how that they coming to disagree about their respective Shares, each of them lay­ing claim (as I have said before) to the Mo­lucca Islands, as falling by that division within their Portion, and the decision of the case, seeming to depend upon Mathematical Calcula­tions, about which the men of skill in Geography, being consulted on both sides, the Spaniards and Portuguese did in reference thereunto, dif­fer from one another almost Forty degrees, in their fixing of the Longitude, and so dogma­tical and obstinate were both in their accounts, that orders were given by publick Edicts, for fixing the Degrees and Meridians, in their se­veral Charts and Maps, as they had been diffe­rently determined by the two Nations.

Finally that which still shews a further slight put upon those Bulls, by the very Spaniards themselves is this, namely, that no sooner had Americus Vespusius discover'd the South Sea, and found store of Excellent Timber, for buil­ding of Ships, near to an excellent Port, that was but one league distant from that Sea, and which Vespusius called Ralio, then that ha­ving immediately built two Ships there,See Mariana's hist. of Spain lib 26. cap. 2. and Herrera's hist. of the West Indies dec. 2d. lib. 6. a capite 3. ad cap. 9. he sailed from thence to the Northern parts of the East Indies, and begun in the Reign of Charles the 5th. to settle a Colony there upon one of those Islands, which afterwards [Page 72] upon the perfecting of that Plantation in the time of Philip the 2d. came to be called the Philippine Islands, where to this day they have a Colony, and keep possession of them in scorn and contempt of the Pope's Bulls, by which all the East-Indies were granted to the Portuguese.

The Third and last thing that I would premise upon this occasion, and in order to the clearer determination of the point in dispute, is, that whatsoever right of propriety, and dominion the Spaniards may have, by the Title and upon the foot of Conquest acquired in and over the Empires of Mexico and Peru, and such Countries and Provinces, that were dependent upon, Subject and Tributary unto those two Empires, yet they cannot thereby have obtained and Jurisdiction Title or Claim of possession over, in, and to those regions, districts and places of America which as they have never Subdued, so they of those pla­ces were not nor at any time had been in Vassallage or Subjection to the Monarchs and So­veraign Rulers of either of those Empires. I could very justly have laid down the Postulatum, and proposition more at large, and at the same time been able to justify it both by Reason and Au­thority, and to have proved and made it good, as well by Artificial as Inartificial Arguments: namely that whatsoever Legal right, the Spani­ards may have acquired to those Lands and Territories in America of which they are posses­sed, by the claim and upon the foot of prescri­ption thro' their having Inhabited, occupied and inherited them for above 200 years, without interruption, disseisure, or dispossession; yet they never obtained a Lawful and righteous Title un­to, or a Legal Jurisdiction over them, upon the basis and foundation of having Conquered the [Page 75] Mexican and Peruvian Emperors and Empires in and by a Just War, but that they rather sub­dued, and destroyed those Monarchs, and Posses­sed themselves of their Dominions, by Fraud, Violence and Usurpation. Now Puffendorf tells us, and that agreeably to the opinion of all Civilians, Dissertat academ. Select. p. 293. that per solam vim injustam, non posse alicui Solidum Jus quaeri, & cui exadversum, ob­ligatio conscientiam stringens respondeat, nisi viti­um acquisitionis purgatum fuerit per accidentem post novam causam quae per se jus parere idonea est. No right is acquired, or doth arise or accrue to any, by the alone and single means of unjust Violence and Force; nor do a People become obliged and bound in conscience to pay Fealty, and Al­legiance, and to yield Obedience to such, as have Unrighteously and without Cause, or Provocation, Overpowered and Master'd them, unless and until something else doth interpose and intervene, that may create and give a Ti­tle, and right of Domination, Rule and Autho­rity unto the Former and beget ties of legal Subjection and Obedience in the latter. For as Grotius affirms to the same purpose, That Actus Imperij invasoris quos exercet, De Jure Bell, & pac. lib. 1. cap. 4. nullam vim habere possunt ex ipsius Jure, quod nullum est. That no Invader meerly as such, and under that redu­plication hath a right of exacting Fealty and Obedience of the Subjects of those Princes, whom they have without Justice violently and forcibly assaulted. That Quicquid Jure posside­tur, injuria aufertur; What any rightfully possesseth, he cannot save injuriously be disseised of, is engraven upon the minds of all men, as a part of the Legislation of the Divine Creator, conveyed unto us with our Natures. Nor can it be denied by any, who do believe that there are [Page 74] such things, as Right and Wrong among men, and that they are under Laws which enjoyn,See de las Casas of the Voya­ges, &c. of the Spaniards to the West-Indies. p. 147. English translation, & alibi passim. &c. what is Just, and prohibit what is unjust; but that the Wars which the Spani­ards made upon the Emperors of Mexico and Peru, See also what Mar. Gina­mi hath in his Italian translati­of de las Casas Book, particular­ly in that part called Conqui­sta dell' Indie. and upon such Supreme Rulers and Gover­nours of those other American Territories and Countries where­of they are become possessed, were the most groundless, unrighteous and unjust, as well as the most bloody inhumane and barbarous, that ever were either begun, or carried on in any part of the World: Seeing that tho' those Po­tentates, Rulers, and their People and Subjects were not Christians (and for any thing that we do know, were never provided of means nor furnished with advantages of being such) yet they were as Lawful Kings, Princes, and Go­vernours of their several and respective Domi­nions, Territories, and Districts in America, and as Legal Proprietors of their Demesns and Possessions there, as any European Prince or Peo­ple whatsoever are in reference either unto the Authority and Jurisdiction, which they have and do exercise in this part of the Terrestrial Globe, or to the Lands and Goods where they do here inhabit, and which they do enjoy and possess. For Infidels being rational Creatures, as well as other men are, they are thereupon Sociable, as well as they, and consequently capable of entring into Societies, and agreeing upon Laws for the Government of them; and indeed to have Go­vernours and to be Governed, are equally co­mon to all sorts of men, whether they Wor­ship God or Idols, being things that have [Page 75] their foundation in the light of Nature, and not in Revelation. And therefore, Civil Do­minion and Property, being no ways founded in Grace, or in the Orthodoxy of Faith, but in Principles of Nature which guide men to pro­vide for their own safety, it is as much a viola­tion of the Laws of God, and of Nations, to Invade the Countries of those Soveraigns and to deprive those Potentates of their Domini­ons, without a previous and antecedent just reason and cause, and it is as heinous an of­fence, against the Laws both of Nature and Re­velation to rob and plunder their People of what they had and enjoyed, as it is for any one King and people in this Christian part of the World to do the like against and upon any other in this Hemisphere, and who are of the same belief of the Gospel that they who In­vade them are.

Nor have there hitherto been, nor hereafter can, any reasons be produc'd, for legitimating and justifying the War of the Spaniards, upon and against the natural Princes and the Natives of the West-Indies, but which do with greater evidence proclaim, and more singularly aggra­vate and enhance the guilt of it. For to al­ledge that they were Idolaters, and that there­fore it was lawful, to make War upon, and to destroy and extirpate them, is directly re­pugnant to all the Principles of Humanity, the Maxims of Evangelical Meekness, and the Methods establish'd by our Lord JESUS Christ for the Propagation of the Christian Faith; as well as to all the Laws of Nature, Revela­tion and Nations. And as the time once was, when all the Nations even of Europe, Asia and [Page 76] Africk, save the single and l [...]ttle People of the Jews, were gross and open Idolaters; so I do not believe that any are so far void of good Sense, and of humane Sentiments, as to think that the Jews, had they been powerful enough to have attempted it, stood warranted and au­thorized to have depopulated the Earth, thro' destroying the Inhabitants of it. And consi­dering how the same Character of being Idolaters is by most of those of all Countries that are stiled Reformed fasten'd upon the Spaniards themselves, because of divers Religious Actions in their Pon­tifician Worship, it is not therefore to consult well for their own safety, to invest those who do both believe and call them so, with a right of Slaughtering and Murdering them upon that account.

And whereas it may possibly be pretended, that the Spaniards had just cause administer'd unto them, of making War upon the Indians, even almost to the extripating of them, in that the Potentates and People of America, would not admit them to Trade and reside peaceably among them: It is as irrational and barbarous an Al­legation as the former, and is withal uncon­troulably false with respect to matter of Fact, which the other was not. For abstracting from the question, whether one People may not law­fully exclude and debar another from Traf­ficking with them, and settling in their Coun­try, which why it may not be done in other Cases, besides that of open Hostility, I will not at this time take upon me to decide; but that which I do affirm, is, That the Spaniards had no provocation of that kind given them for their making War upon the Natives. It be­ing [Page 77] declared and recorded by their own Histo­rians and Writers, that the Indians receiv'd them chearfully, and treated them amicably, and entertain'd them according to all the rules of Hospitality and Friendship; yea, both well­com'd and esteem'd them rather as Gods than as Men, until the Spaniards, by their Barbarities perpetrated upon the Natives, provoked them to seek and endeavour, how to preserve and defend themselves from their brutal and hellish Rage. So that, tho' there be not the least shadow of truth in that pretence for the Spa­niards having made War for Forty Years suc­cessively, used all the Arts of Fraud, Treache­ry and Violence, for destroying and extermi­nating them, which they so far effected, as to Murder above Forty Millions of Men, Women, and Children, to the laying waste some of the largest and finest Countries in the World, and the rendring them in a manner destitute of In­habitants; yet the folly and impertinence of those who produce this as a reason, and in ju­stification of the War that was made upon the Indians, are too obvious and remarkable to be overlook'd, and silently omitted: Seeing by the same reason, and upon the same motive, that they seek and endeavour, to have the Spaniards either excused or justified in what they did a­gainst the Natives of America; an European Na­tion that hath Strength and Power enough to fall upon the Spaniards in their West-India Pro­vinces, and is able to drive them thence, be­comes warranted and authorized to do it, in that it is their avowed principle and practice, to permit none to Plant and Trade there besides themselves.

[Page 78] So that it being apparent from the whole, that hath been said under this Head, that the War which the Spaniards made against the Ru­lers and Inhabitants of the West-Indies, who were the Ancient Natives, was, upon all accounts, most unrighteous and unjust, it doth from thence unanswerably follow, That no Title in those Dominions can arise and accrue unto them, from their having been Victors and Conquerors in that War. It being impossible that what is lawful and just, should be the natural, proper and immediate effect of what is in it self, Wic­ked, Abominable and Villainous. And therefore such of the Spanish Nation as have been wise and honest,See de las Casas ac­count of the Voyages and Discoveries of the Spaniards in the West-In­dies, from p. 136 to 161 of the English Transla­tion. they do re­nounce all claim of Right in the Crown of Spain to a Soveraignity and Jurisdiction over those Coun­tries, and the having a legal pro­perty in them, on the Foot and Foundation of Conquest, and are willing to place and settle it on the bottom of their own Occupation and Possession, and quiet acquiescence of the Natives. And indeed when Columbus had first discover'd the West-Indies, and was about to establish Colonies in those Provinces, and be­ing at his second Voyage to Hispaniola, advised by some of his own People, and particularly by one Father Boyle, to sieze upon Guacanagari, that was an Indian King, and stood accused for having Murder'd some Castilians, whom Colum­bus had left there upon his first Voyage thither, he not only refus'd to do it, but declar'd that he came not into those Countries upon a Design of using Force, See Herre­ra dec. 1. li [...]. 2. c. 9. nor in order to make a Conquest, but in a peaceable and gentle way, and to settle with the consent of the Natives.

[Page 79] In brief, tho' neither any crimes against God, wherewith the Indians were chargeable, nor any undue and inhumane carriages towards the Spaniards, at their first Landing in America, whereof some have had both the Impudence and Indiscretion to accuse them, were either just motives according to the Morals of Hea­thens or Christians, or allowable by the Laws of Nations, as Lawful causes for the Spaniards making War upon that People, yet both the occasions of it on the part of the Natives, and the real Inducements unto it on the side of the Spaniards, are too obvious and apparent, to escape the Observation and Notice of any per­son, that is conversant in History. Namely, that the Simplicity, Meekness, Patience and Unacquaintedness with Arms, and Martial Dis­cipline, and their being ill provided of Wea­pons, either Offensive or Defensive, together with their abounding with Wealth, and their Countries being stored with Gold and Silver Mines, were the true occasions of that War, on the side of the Indians, and an insatiable Avarice, a Brutal Insolence, and unquencha­ble thirst after Blood, were the real causes of it, on the part of the Spaniards; who under all their pretences, of converting those Infidels to the Christian Faith and Worship,See De las Casas ubi Supra, thro' the whole Book. intended principally if not only, the destroying and extirpating of them, and converting their Countries and their Treasures to their own use.

Whereunto may be further added under this head, that the Murther of the Emperours of Mexi­co and Peru, and the destroying all such as were of the Royal Lines, of those two great Monarchical [Page 80] Families, which was perpetrated against all the measures and obligations of Gratitude, Truth, Honour, Equity and Justice, and with all the Treachery and Inhumanity imaginable, gave no Legal Jurisdiction to the Spaniards, over such as had been Subjects or Vassals to those Sove­raigns, in that the Spaniards did not set them­selves up, and lay claim to an Authority, in order to Govern the Mexicans and Peruvians, to their Advantage and Benefit, but that they might extirpate and exterminate them. And Governments being at first instituted, for the safety of a People and not for their ruine: Kings being as Aristotle saith, ordained for the good of Kingdoms, and not Kingdoms for the Lust and Pleasure of Kings, to be Tyrannized over as they will, such can never acquire any right to Rule and Govern a Country, whose design work and endeavour were to depopulate it. And if on the supposition, that it were pos­sible for one, that is a Legitimate Soveraign and Monarch, to entertain a purpose of ma­king an Universal destruction of his People, instead of Protecting them (which I do really think and believe no Prince whatsoever is ca­pable of, who is not fitter for Bedlam than a Throne, and who needeth not rather to be Bound in Chains, than to be accounted fit to sway a Scepter, as being more Mad and Di­stracted, than any that are kept at Hogsden) it were Lawful for his very Subjects, without the Violation of their Allegiance, to restrain and resist him; Surely then it ought much more to be esteemed, not only Lawful but an indispensible Duty, to withstand and oppose those, to whom they had never been Subjects, [Page 81] paid Fealty, or yielded Obedience, that should challenge an Authority and Jurisdiction over them, meerly that they might in the exercise thereof, Massacre and Exterminate them, which was directly the case of the People of the West-Indies, in relation to the Spaniards, both at their first Landing among them, and for a long series of Years after. So that this serveth to Vindicate from blame, not on­ly all those few and small Retaliations, which any of the Native Indians were capable of making upon the Spaniards, in Killing them whereso­ever they could conveniently find, and were strong enough to Master them; but it doth a­bundantly justify the withdrawment of all those that could, from a dependence upon the Em­pires of Mexico and Peru, as they are now be­come vested in the Kings of Spain, tho' they had been anciently either Subjects, or Vassals, or Feudatories unto them, and their erecting themselves into Free, Absolute and Independent Governments, that thereby instead of falling under, and being forced to submit to the Spa­nish Jurisdiction, they might be the better a­ble to withstand their power, and to defend themselves against all the pretensions of the Spaniards, in their claim of Authority over them. And if the length of time, wherein the Spaniards have not only been in the quiet possession, but in the exercise of Rule and Government, over such and such West-India Pro­vinces, Countries and Districts, that have, ei­ther actively, or passively, submitted to them, gives them a Title thereunto by Prescription, then certainly by parity of Reason, and on the same foot of account, are they who (upon the [Page 82] Spaniards getting into Possession of Mexico and Peru, and there treating of the Natives in the manner above related) withdrew themselves from any further Dependence on those Empires, and became erected into distinct, free and in­dependent Governments, made likewise entitled to there Possessions, and Jurisdictions, by the same tenor and claim of Prescription. Nor is it to be denied, but that there are several Societies and bodies of Indians within the ancient Pre­cincts and Limits of the foresaid Empires, who to this day, instead of submitting to the Jurisdiction of the Spaniards, are in continual and constant War with them. Whereof though a Multitude of Instances might be assigned, yet for the sake of Brevity, I shall only mention two. Of which one shall be the Collection or Herd of Indians, within the bounds of the Kingdom of Guati­mala, See Gage's Survey edi. 1699. p. 160, 161. and 305. whom the Spaniards have not hitherto Conquered, but would fain subdue, in order both to the setling a Commerce with some parts of Jucatan, from the doing whereof they are hindred by those Natives, and for the o­pening a way, for the conveying their goods over Land to the Havana, which they reckon would be often more for their safety, than the venturing them thither by Sea, from the Gulph. The other which I would menti­on is, that Sept and Tribe of Indians, who re­main imbodied on the Northern part of the Province of New Mexico, who are both Vali­ant, and in implacable Hostility with the Spa­niards, and whom they are more desirous to bring into Subjection, than any other that are unsubdued, because of the rich Gold and Sil­ver Mines, which they know to lie in the Mountains, and within the Districts which those [Page 83] Natives possess, where they have hitherto co­vered and defended themselves, against the pow­er of the Spaniards.

Finally, if the Crown of Spain, cannot right­fully pretend unto any Soveraignty over those, whom I have mention'd, it is then Apodictically evident, that thro' their having master'd Mexi­co and Peru, and got into possession of those Empires, (and by reason of a long and quiet Occupation, are come to be universally ac­knowledg'd to have a Right in them, so far as they are possess'd, and submitted unto by the Natives) they can lay no Claim of Title, Au­thority or Jurisdiction whatsoever, unto and over such Places and People, who, as they never were in any way or manner dependant upon, or Feu­datory to the foremention'd Empires; so they were never subdued by, nor yielded any Fealty or Obedience to the Spaniards; but instead thereof have all along been either in terms of Hostility, or in actual War with the Spaniards, and have defended themselves, and preserved their Territories from being over-run, subdued, occupyed, and inhabited by them. Which is the plain and direct Case of those of that part of the Isthmus of Darien, where the Scots, with consent of the Natives, and of their Rulers, have Landed, and are about setling a Colony.

And this doth both conduct me more near­ly, and let me in more closely to the Matter and Affair, which my design in the writing of this Discourse, is to vindicate and justify; namely, That the Scots in their endeavouring to establish their Colony at Caledonia, at the Port, and upon the Harbour Acla in the Isthmus of Darien; have made no Invasion upon the Do­minions, Territories, or Demesns of His Ca­tholick [Page 84] Majesty, nor have thereby done any thing which may be call'd an Infraction of, Treati [...] and Alliances between the Crowns of Great Bri­tain and of Spain. Now that I may manage this undertaking, both with all the Perspicuity, and with all the Candor imaginable, I shall freely grant unto the Spaniards whatsoever in Justice and Reason should not be deny'd them: That I may the more methodically, the better, and with the less offence to any afterwards de­ny unto them such Pretensions and Claims, as they have no grounds, either in Laws, or in Compacts and Stipulations for the demanding of. I do therefore willingly and with great rea­diness allow them to have a Title unto, and a Propriety in Mexico and Peru, and such other Provinces and Islands in America, where they have Plantations and Colonies, to such dimen­sions, so far, and to that extent of limits and bounds, as they do actually occupy and are in the possession of. For notwithstanding that their en­trance into, and first settlement in those Coun­tries, was mostly in the way of Force, Vio­lence and Usurpation, and accompany'd with the greatest Barbarities, horridest Cruelties, and most execrable Massacres which it was possi­ble for Men to practise, commit and perpe­trate; from, and by which no just and legal Title could result and accrue unto them in and over those Territories, as I have already said, yet thro' their having for so long, and for such an uninterrupted series of Years, peaceaby possessed and inhabited such and such places in the West-Indies, there is from thence, according to the Laws of Nations, a Title risen unto and become vested in them by Prescription over these Pro­vinces, [Page 85] Isles, and Districts, that unless in the case of actual War, none may or can disturb, disseize or expel them, without the doing that which is unlawful, unjust, injurious, and high­ly Criminal. For if Prescription should not be acknowledg'd to create and give unto a Prince or People a Title to a Country, Province, or Territory, so far as he or they may have been possessed of them; and if a peaceable and un­disturb'd Occupation for an hundred or two hun­dred Years be not confessed sufficient time to found Prescription upon, the Right of many Princes, as well as of Common Men, would be very questionable to what they call their Inhe­ritances, and Matter and Cause would thereby be administred, of Bloody Wars as well as of litigious and expensive Sutes in Courts of Law, both between Rulers, and between private Sub­jects, in most places in the World.

But whereas upon this Concession which I have made, it may possibly be said and alledged by some, that thro' the Spaniards having a right of Soveraignity and Dominion in and over Mexico and Peru, they must consequently be own'd to have a legal Title to all the Provinces, Districts, and Places, that had been formerly, and particularly at the Castilians landing in America, were parts of, Feudatory unto, or any ways dependant upon those Empires: It being a Maxim in the English, as well as in all other Laws, That the Possession of a part in a Person or Per­sons that have the Right, gives unto them a just Claim of Possession to the whole. Whereunto the Answers that may be given are obvious from what hath been offer'd and laid down in the foregoing Postulata and Premises; namely, first, [Page 86] That the whole imported in that Maxim, doth only refer unto, and obtain in reference to such, who had been, and were the legal and rightful, Proprietors of such and such Dominions and Territories, or who had thro' a Conquest in a just War, cut out and made a Title to them­selves by their Swords; whereas it signifieth nothing, nor is of any validity to the giving a legal Claim and Title unto, and over any parts of a Country, further than as they are actually occupyed and possessed, to those who neither had ancient Propriety in and over those Dominions, nor had come to acquire any in way of Conquest by a just War. Which be­ing the plain and direct case of the Spaniards, even in relation to the Empires of Mexico and Peru; it may therefore be affirm'd, and that consonantly both to all the Rules of Laws, and the Measures of Equity and Justice, and that from the Castilians having inhumanely, savagely, and treacherously Murder'd the Emperors of Mexico and Peru, and the having destroy'd all those of each of those Imperial Lines as they could byfraud or violence get within the circle of their Power, and their having set themselves to Slaughter, Massacre and Exterminate the Natives, as far as their might and strength, excited and influen­ced by Malice, Rage, Avarice, and insatiable thirst after Blood could extend and reach; I say it may be affirm'd, that from thence and thereupon no Right or Title of Propriety or Dominion did arise unto the Spaniards in and over those Empires, further than they came quietly to inhabit, and were submitted unto; but that rather thereupon the Natives of those two Empires were at liberty to account these [Page 87] two great Monarchies to be entirely dissolv'd, and might reckon that they themselves were in effect reduc'd back again to the State of Nature, and that whatsoever Power and Authority had either by primitive Compacts and Agreements, or by tacit Submissions been vested in those Monarchs, and their Hereditary Successors, was become wholly vacated and annulled, not only as to them and their legal Heirs, but to all such who should pretend to arise and set up in their room, in the vertue of any Claim re­sulting from their having destroy'd and mur­der'd those Monarchs; and that the Power and Jurisdiction of the ancient Emperors of Mexico and Peru being altogether extinguish'd, there was thereby a Right as well as a Freedom restor'd unto and divolv'd upon the Natives, of dispo­sing themselves, how, to whom, and after what manner they pleas'd, so that they might choose what Governors, and erect what Government they would, in order to their being kept in peace and safety among themselves, and be protected and defended from and against all such as should hostilely invade them.

So that whosoever of those Indians, who had formerly been dependant upon and subject unto the Empires of Mexico and Peru, did, for the reasons I have mention'd, withdraw them­selves from being for the future any ways un­der those Empires, or any parts or branches of them, and became united and confederated into distinct, separate and independant Commu­nities, erecting Governments, and choosing Go­vernors of their own; As the Spaniards can law­fully pretend to no legal Claim of Right and Authority over them; so it is not only free [Page 88] for those Indians to admit any European or other Nation to come, and to settle, and to plant among them, but they may upon the motive and guidance of their own Interest, as well in­vite as receive any sort of People to plant and reside among them, that shall shew themselves willing, and who may be able to assist those Natives against the Spaniards who make War up­on and seek to oppress them.

For as Civilians do generally agree, Vid. Puf­fen. de jur. Nat. ad Gent. lib. 8. c. 6. §. 25, 26. Si popu­lus vel propriis viribus vel siociorum jugum hostile excusserit, sine dubio libertatem & statum antiquum recuperat. Whensoever a People, that hath been drove out of their Possessions, do either by their own Power, or by the aid and assistance of their Allies, rescue themselves from the Yoke and Dominion of their Enemies, they immediately thereupon do le­gally recover both their Liberty and Right to what­soever they were disseized of; and this is call'd Jus postliminium quod nascitur ex reditu in limen. To which purpose Grotius says from Pomponius,Vid. Grot. de Jure Bell. & Pac. lib. 3. c. 9. §. 13. Expulsis hostibus ex agris quos ceperant, dominia eorum ad priores dominos redeunt, Vpon the ex­pulsion of Enemies out of such Territories whereof they were by Invasion and Vsurpation become pos­sessed, the Propriety and Dominion of those Lands do return unto such who had been the first Lords and Owners of them. Nor is any length of time allow'd by some of the best Civilians sufficient to give a Title, so much as by Prescription un­to such who by force and violence were got­ten into the Occupation of Countries and Ter­ritories, in case they whom they had subdued gave no signs of their submission to them, nor any ways testify'd their receiving of them for their Rulers and Lords. Nullum tempus, says [Page 89] one, Vid. Grot. ubi supra, l. 2. c. 4. sufficit ad acquirendum sum [...]um imperium, aut partem ejus necessariam, nolente primo possessore, quod significatur etiam silentio quando loqui non au­deat. No length of time wherein an Vsurper possesseth, can vest him in a rightful Jurisdiction and Dominion, while he wants the consent in some manner intimated of those that were the first legal Inheritors, and that their very silence is enough to shew their refusal of becoming Subjects, when their circumstances are such, that they dare not express their disclaiming his Soveragnity over them. For in some cases it is enough that they murmur, tho' they dare not express their hatred; seeing that they do not resist, is not because they would not, but by reason that they cannot; and their being tame and silent under a Force, which they can neither withstand nor throw off, do no more declare and express their sub­mission, than a Man approves of his being robb'd, when without contradiction or quar­relling, he delivers his Purse to a Thief whom he knows to be too strong for him.

Yea, Secondly, it may be farther added in way of answer, That the whole which can be suppos'd to follow upon, and to result from the foremention'd Maxim in Law, is only that the Spaniards may thereupon and from thence pretend to a Title of Right in, and of Dominion over all such Places in America, as had anci­ently been either directly and immediately subject to, or by one way or another depen­dant upon the foremention'd Empires; but it doth in no manner concern or affect the set­tlement of the Scots on the Isthmus of Darien, nor can it be pleaded as a reason for giving disturbance to their Caledonian Colony. Foras­much [Page 90] as the Country of Darien, had never been any part of, nor any ways Feudatory or tribu­tary unto, nor in any manner whatsoever de­pendant upon either of the foresaid Empires, but was always a distinct, free, and indepen­dent Country, and the Natives and Inhabitants thereof, a distinct, free and independent Peo­ple. Nor hath the place of that Isthmus, where the Scots are particularly landed, and have be­gun to erect Forts, and do purpose to establish a Colony for Trade and Commerce, been ever subdued or inhabited by the Spaniards. To which may be further added, That as the Di­strict on that Isthmus where the Scots have be­gun their settlement was never dependant up­on any part or place, where the Spaniards have their Colonies within the Isthmus, so the Ruling Natives of that little circuit where the Scots are, and of whom they have obtain'd liberty to settle and plant, were never subject to any other Indian Sovereign or Government within the Precincts of the Isthmus.

Which leads me to a second Concession, that I am oblig'd to make unto the Spaniards, but whereof that they can have no advantages, for the weakening or rendring controvertible a right and legal Power and Liberty in the Scots to settle on the Isthmus of Darien, I shall give uncontradictable Reasons, and those such as shall be founded both upon Laws and Facts. That which I do then further grant unto them, is this, namely, That besides the many large and numerous Colonies which the Crown of Spain hath in divers other places of America, they have also several of very great importance and profit, within and upon the Isthmus of Darien. [Page 91] [...]eeing the Spaniards are not only the undoub­ted Masters of several places on the Bay of Panama, and of the Coast of the Isthmus upon and towards the South-Sea; but they do like­wise possess Carthagena, which stands on a small Island, and Porto bello which is upon the Con­tinent upon the North-Sea. Yea, I do more­over acknowledge, that besides their having heretofore possessed Nombre de Dios, and their having Planted upon some part of the River Darien it self, which are places nearer and more adjacent to that little District and spot of Land, where the Scots have begun to settle, than those already mention'd, but which they have since relinquish'd, and are wholly withdrawn from: They have likewise at this very time some small Territories in their Occupation which are not remov'd and distanc'd much above ten or twelve Lěagnes from the Caledonian Colony and New Edenburgh, where they are in the possession of Mines, out of which they dig Gold: In re­ference to all which places, as their Title and Right of Propriety is readily confess'd by the Scots, as well as legally asserted by themselves; so neither the Scots nor any other Nation whatsoever, unless in case of open Hostility in a just War, can invade them there, or seek to dispossess them from thence, without incurring the guilt of great Injustice, and becoming vio­lators of the Laws of Nations. Nevertheless nothing of all this, that I have granted, can or ought to be reasonably alledged as a legal plea against, a legitimate obstruction unto, or a lawful hindrance of the Scots establishing a Colony at the Port Acla, or the rendring it in­jurious and criminal in them, and an Infraction [Page 92] of Alliances, to possess, with the consent of the Natives, the Country bordering upon, and neigbouring unto it. Seeing the Equity and Justice of what they have therein done, are easie to be demonstrated from and by all the Topicks of Law, Reason, and Fact, upon which the settlement of Colonies by Aliens, Foreig­ners, or Strangers, in any parts of the World, have been accounted lawful, and do in the esteem of Nations stand justify'd.

In order to the better and fuller clearing whereof, it may not be amiss to observe, That neither antecedently in the discovery of that part of America by the Spaniards, and their be­coming at first possessors of any places there, nor at any time since, was the Soveraignty and Dominion of the whole Isthmus of Darien vested in any one Person whatsoever, as the sole and alone Ruler, Governor and Prince of it. But it anciently was, and has always hi­therto been divided and distributed into seve­ral little Principalities and Jurisdictions, over which they who bear the supreme Sway, and give Laws unto the rest of the Natives in their different and respective Precincts, and both had, and still have, Obedience paid and yielded un­to them, by those that were or are the Indigenae or Natural Inhabitants, deserv'd rather the Name and Stile of Captains than the Title of Prin­ces and Kings. And who, tho' they be accor­dingly call'd by the Natives Caciques, which is a much lower appellation than those of Ingas, and the being the Off-spring of the Sun, by which Emperors of Peru and Mexico were stil'd; yet they have been at all times both ab­solute within their several respective Districts, [Page 93] and altogether independent upon, and unaccoun­table to one another, or to any Potentate else whatsoever; and how contiguous soever their Principalities may be, and tho' never so small, narrow and contracted in their Dimensions and Extents; yet further than as they became con­federated and united together by leagues be­tween one another against their Enemies, and particularly for mutual defence against the Spa­niards, whom they ever did, and still do account their common Enemy, they have at all times had an independent and absolute Power and Authority within each of their own particular Bounds, which they have unaccountably to any other Prince, Sovereign or Monarch whatso­ever, exercised over such as did inhabit in their several distinct Circuits.

Nor is this a thing singular and peculiar to the People on the Isthmus of Darien, but what hath been and still is common upon the Continents and in the Isles of Asia and Africk as well as in many other Countries, Provinces and Islands of America, besides that which I have been speaking of. Nor can any Person that pretends to have been conversant in Geography or Histories be ignorant of this matter, where­of all the Accounts and Narratives which we have of those three parts of the World do so fully and particularly instruct us. Neither ought we to think it strange, that this should be the form, model, and manner of Govern­ment on the foresaid Isthmus, and that the boundaries of supreme Authority and Jurisdi­ction there, should be so narrowly limited, confin'd and circumscrib'd, if we do but allow our selves to observe, how that there is the [Page 94] same Species of Rule and Domination both as to quality and extent, to be every where found and met with, in Brasile, Chili, Paragua, Florida, Caro­lina, Virginia, Malabar, and the Country which is call'd The Land of the Amazons, of which it is particularly remarkable, that there are a­bove Fifty different Indian Nations, or distinct and independant Septs, on the banks of the Ri­ver that is so call'd.

Nor was the like heretofore altogether un­usual and unexemplify'd in the European parts of the World, whereof the several and distinct supreme Principalities of the ancient Britains in England, See Caesar de Bell. Gall. lib. 5. and Camb­den's Brit, in Cant. where in Julius Caesar's time, there were no fewer than four distinct Kings in Kent alone, namely, Cingetorix, Carvilius, Taxima­gulus, and Segonax; or, as Cambden calls them Reguli vel melioris Notae Nobiles; Captains or Persons distinguish'd from the Vulgar by their Power and Figure, and whose Territories could not be much larger, if of that extent, as the Districts of the several Caciques on the Isthmus of Darien are. And the like may be said, on­ly allowing them greater dimensions of Terri­tory, of the Saxons during the Heptarchy after­wards in the same Country, as well as of the Scots and Picts in the ancient Caledonia. Yea, and the distinct and different Soveraignties which were in Spain it self, not only both before and after it was a Roman Province, but even until less than within these two last Centuries, As Le­on, Arragon, Navarre, Castile and Portugal, un­der which the Christians in Spain were divided and those of Cordova, Sivil, Malaga, Granada, and others under the power of the Moors, not to speak of the several independent and absolute [Page 95] Jurisdictions, which are at this day both in Italy and some other places, do abundantly confirm the same. And were not the Bible a Book, that some men are little conversant in, they would not think it a Banter, to have those stiled Independent, Ab­solute and Soveraign Rulers, whose Territories are circumscribed and confined within strait and narrow limits. Seeing besides many Instances of that kind, which are to be met with in divers pla­ces of the Sacred History, they would find that Joshua subdued no fewer than 31 Kings in Canaan when he conquered the Land in order to settle the People of Israel in it,Jos. 12. tho' that Country was not much larger in the whole extent and cir­cumference of it, than some single Counties of England are; not to add that as there were seve­ral Kings more, whom he did neither drive out, nor destroy, so most of the primitive Go­vernments of the World were of that sort, constitution and complexion.

But to what hath been already said and repre­sented under this head, there is further to be ad­ded, that whatsoever Possessions, the Spaniards have obtained in that American Strait whether thro' their having conquered any of the Caciques, that had their Jurisdictions there, or by their ha­ving contracted Alliances, with those Indian Governours, and by Agreements with them and the Natives acquired a Liberty to sit down, plant, and to erect Colonies within the limits and bounds of their little Territories and Prin­cipalities; or how much soever they may have encroached upon any of these Captains whom they have not wholly subdued, and wrested part of their Lands and Jurisdictions from them; yet there are still divers of these Caciques o­ver [Page 96] the Native Indians, who as neither they, their People, nor their Territories, were ever conquer'd by the Spaniards; so they never en­ter'd into Agreements and Contracts with them, nor have at any time granted liberty un­to them, to settle within the Precincts of their Lands, Inheritances, and Demesnes, but have at all times been in terms of Variance and Hostility with them, and for the most part in a state and condition of actual War. So that at least within the Boundaries and Jurisdictions of such Indian Governors, the Spaniards have no just or legal pretence of Property and Domi­nion.

For how weak and mean soever those Na­tives and their Rulers may be esteemed and re­presented, yet that doth no ways alter the case, or any ways enfeeble their right unto, and their authority over their own Principalities; but they do retain an equal Claim and Title unto, and Property in what was anciently and ori­ginally theirs, and what they have defended from the Invasion and Usurpation of the Spa­niards, as if their Dominions were as large, and their Might and Power as great as those of His Britannick Majesty's are. The little Re­public of Geneva hath as good right in Law to a Propriety in what they have immemorially possess'd, as the Great Monarch of France hath un­to the vast and powerful Dominions over which he is Hereditarily King and Soveraign. Yea, they of San Marino in Italy are no less absolute and independent Proprietors and Governors in and over that poor and despicable Hamlet and Dorp, than those who go by the Stile of High and Mighty are over the Dutch Provinces [Page 97] in reference to those Things, Matters and Ends for which they became United and Confedera­ted. Nor is the Duke of Mirandola, whose Territories do not extend themselves to three Italian Miles, less absolute and independent over his own small Principality, than the Em­peror of Germany is with respect of his Austrian and Hereditary Countries. For according to the Laws of Nature and of Nations the point of Right and Property is the same in the Poor that it is in the Rich, and in the Weak that it is in the Strong. And how impotent and contemptible soever those unsubdu'd Caciques on the Isthmus of Darien are, in comparison of His Catholick Majesty; yet it is enough to ju­stifie their Propriety and Authority in and o­ver what they possess, that the Spaniards have not by all their Power and Might been hi­therto able to disseize, subdue, or drive them out; but that all along since the Castilians first descended upon the Isthmus, and occupy'd se­veral places within that Streight of Darien, they have been in a condition, either singly by the forces of some one or other of them alone, or conjunctively by uniting and joyning their se­veral and respective Powers together, to co­ver, protect and defend themselves, their Ter­ritories and Jurisdictions from being so Invaded as to be over-run and subdued.

Nor is the extent and dimensions of the Land and Territory so scanty and small, or the number of those Captains or their People so few, in which, and over whom the Span [...]ards have not hitherto been able to obtain Possession and Authority, as some who do not give themselves leave to think so closely of thi [...] [Page 98] Affair, and to examine it with that accuracy which they ought to do, may be inclined and ready to imagine; seeing, that upon the whole North-side of the Isthmus from the River Da­rien to the Bastimentos, the Spaniards are not in possession of one foot of Ground, nor ever were, save for a little while at first of Nom­bre de Dios, which they soon relinquish'd. And it is against both all the Topicks of Argu­mentation, and all the Measures of Law and Justice, that from the Spaniards having made some Settlements on the South-Sea, and their having, so far as they have obtain'd possession there, restricted and confin'd the Natives to narrow bounds, to infer and conclude from thence, their having a Propriety in, and a Ju­risdiction over all the Northern Coast. And such a pretence is the more unreasonable and absurd, in that the Isthmus of Darien is natu­rally divided by a ridge of Hills that runneth from East to West. Nor can any allegation whatsoever more avowedly offer violence to common Sence, and more notoriously attempt the putting an Affront upon the Understan­dings of Men, than from the Spaniards being possessed of, and having dominion over one part of Isthmus, to deduce and conclude from thence, that therefore they must have a Propriety in, and a Soveraign Jurisdiction over the whole: And from their Title and Right of Prescription upon long Occupation, unto some of the Sou­thern Boundaries of that Streight, to infer and plead their having in the vertue of that, a Ti­tle to the Northern parts thereof, of which as they were never in possession: so the People of the latter are wholly independent upon them [Page 99] of the former, and the Rulers of the one alto­gether Absolute within themselves, without deriving the least Authority from, or paying any kind or degree of Subjection and Obedience unto the other.

And for the Spaniards to pretend, that thro' their possessing Porto Bello on the South of Da­rien, and Carthagena in a small Island on the North-side of it, that therefore, and by conse­quence, they ought to be acknowledg'd to have a right of Propriety in, and of Jurisdiction over all the adjacent Country, which is between two and three hundred English Miles in Dimension and Extent, is not to Argue, but to Banter, and to Ridicule and Lampoon Mankind, instead of endeavouring to instruct, satisfie and convince them. Especially seeing that as all the Settle­ments and Plantations which the Spaniards have upon, or near unto that Isthmus, whether up­on the Southern, or the Northern Oceans, were all obtain'd without the consent of the Natives, so the Indians who live and inhabit in the in­terjacent and intervening Countries, between the Spaniards Plantations, on the South and North-Seas, have still preserved the possession of those Territories, without the having ever be­come subject unto, or the having any ways ac­knowledg'd the Soveraignty and Dominion of the Spaniards over them. And should we submit to that Way and Method of Reaso­ning, what a Claim would the Kings of France have had long ago, to all the Countries, Pro­vinces, and Dominions, which the Catholick King doth possess and bear Soveraignty over in Europe; in that all the Spanish Provinces are situated and do lie between the Countries which [Page 100] the French King possesseth upon the Ocean, and those which he hath right unto, and Soveraigni­ty over on the Mediterranean. Nor can any thing carry more intrinsic and self-evidence a­long with it, than that when a People were not the first Occupiers, and the original In­habitants, their Title unto, and their Tenure and Property in that case in a Country can ex­tend and reach no farther, than as they are got into possession of it, either by the consent of the Natives, or by conquest in a lawful War, or by Prescription, thro' long Occupation, up­on an unjust one. None of all which do in any manner obtain or hold, or can any ways be pleaded by the Spaniards in reference to the Pe­ninsula on the Isthmus of Darien, where the Scots are settling and establishing a Colony.

Moreover, to all that is already said under this Head, let me further subjoin, that no Na­tions being meerly in actual possession of part of a Country that had not been originally their own, hath been accounted sufficient in Equity, Law or Justice, to preclude and debar others from seeking to settle themselves in such pla­ces as those Strangers who had come first to plant there were not in actual possession of; whereof it were easie to assign many Instances, but it being a matter whereof none that are acquainted with Books of Voyages, and Na­vigations, can be ignorant, I shall content my self with the mentioning of a few; but in the mean time shall be careful, that they may be adapted to the case that is under present de­bate. Let it then be observ'd in the first place, That notwithstanding the English had planted upon the Continent, as well as in several Islands [Page 101] of America, and did particularly possess upon the Terra firma from New-England to Carolina, without the interposition of Colonies belonging to any European Princes or States whatsoever, nevertheless the Dutch finding Long-Island, that is since come to be call'd New-York, and which lyeth within the foremention'd Limits unoccupy'd, yet environ'd and surrounded on all hands by English Plantations, they did in a time of full and entire Peace betwixt the Crown of Great Britain and the Belgick-States, sit down and establish a Plantation upon it; which with­out any disturbance from the English, or their quarrelling with them upon that account, they continu'd to possess until the Year 1667, when after a Treaty of Peace between King Charles II. and the States General, for the putting an end to that War, which had commenc'd between those two Ruling Powers, Anno 1665, Long-Island was exchang'd by the Dutch for Suri­nam.

Moreover whereas the Spanish Plate Fleet must of necessity pass between Florida, and the Baha­ma Islands, unto both which the Spaniards do likewise lay claim by challenging a property in and a dominion over them; yet notwithstaning of this, the English possessed themselves of the said Islands, and tho' the Spaniards both com­plained and did highly resent it, and so far as they had strength and power, did as well Bar­barously as Injuriously treat those English, whom they found settled there; nevertheless the Spaniards being no ways able to Justifie their Right and Title to those Islands, the English continued to assert and maintain the Possession, which they had acquired, as long as they [Page 102] themselves found there Intrest in it, and thought it convenient so to do.

Yea notwithstanding that the Spaniards plead a right unto, and a propriety in Jucatan, and if the having over-run a great part of a Coun­try, which is above 300 Leagues in compass, and the having Massacred a prodigious Num­ber of the Native Indians, give them a legal Title unto, and a Dominion over all the Ter­ritories and Districts of it, It must be acknow­ledged that they had them. Nevertheless, the English have not only Sailed frequently thither, and Landed without asking leave of the Spa­niards, but they did appropriate unto them­selves the Logwood in Cape Cato, which belong­eth thereunto, until it was so exhausted, that it could no longer answer the Charge of sen­ding Ships thither. Yea King Charles the Se­cond in time of Peace granted a patent to Dr. Cox to settle in the Bay of Mexico, which the Spaniards never questioned, nor complai­ned of. And that the Doctors project did not succeed, proceeded from the inability or the backwardness of the Undertakers to carry it on, and not from the Illegality or Invalidity of that Princes Patent to have Authorized and Justified it.

Further tho' the Bay of Campechay, which lies in the Gulph of Mexico, must be confessed to be Situate in a Country, over which the Spaniards pretend to have the sole Soveraign­ty and Jurisdiction, yet the English have ac­counted this to be no Obstruction in way of Law and Justice, to their settling at Port Roy­al in the said Bay, and their carrying on there the same Trade, of cutting and providing them­selves [Page 103] of Logwood, which they formerly did at Cape Cato. Whereof as I never heard of any complaint made by the Spaniards; So we may believe that it would not have been regarded if there had, but that the English would have pursued and persevered in the same Course and Method, of settling, removing, and resettling there again, all which they did as they thought convenient, and for their Advantage.

Moreover tho' all men know, that the Spa­niards have not only many great Plantations and Colonies in Hispaniola, but challenge a Pe­culiar right to that Country, as having conquered it, or rather got Treacherously, Violently and Barbarously, into the possession of it, and where­of their Massacring some Millions of the Na­tives, may be admitted as a crying and exe­crable, as well as a sufficient and undeniable Proof; yet the French upon their finding Pettit Guaves, which lieth and is Situated in Hispa­niola, Unoccupied and Unpossessed, they have without paying any respect to the pretensions of the Spaniards, taken the liberty to settle there, and to establish a Colony, and to culti­vate a Trade. And likewise notwithstanding the claim of an Universal Right and Jurisdicti­on, which the Spaniards (as I have often said) do challenge unto, and over the whole Empire of Mexico, yet the French have not only once and again endeavoured to settle upon the River de Spiritu Sancto, which is in the Bay of Mexi­co, and are at this time studying how to settle at the disemboging of the River Messisipi which is in the Gulph of Mexico, but they have actually settled in Guiana, that is Situated upon the Terra firma of the Mexican Con­tinent.

[Page 104] Yea moreover still, namely that tho' the Spaniards have great Possessions and many Plan­tations, on the Isthmus of Darien towards the South-Sea, and do pretend a right of Domini­on and Soveraignty over that whole Country, yet the French have been endeavouring to set­tle on the Sambolas Islands, which lie much nearer to Porto bello, and other Spanish Plantati­ons on that Isthmus, towards the Northern Sea than Port A [...]la doth, where the Scots have be­gun to Fix and Establish a Colony; in order whereunto, they do greatly caress and court a certain Indian Cacique, called Captain Corbe­lo, whose Territories lie from the Sambola's to that River of Conception, as hoping by his Fa­vour and Assistance to succeed and prosper in their design; nor are they wanting in their addresses to Captain Ambrosio, whose Jurisdicti­on extends from the River Pinas to the Sambo­l [...]s, and we may be sure upon the same prospect, if not also on the design of setling within the Isth­mus it self, whose Friendship they have in a great measure acquired, partly by means of his mortal enmity to the Spaniards, and partly by the intercession of a Brother in Law of his called Don Pedro, who having been taken by the Spaniards, and kept for some time by them at Panama as a Slave, doth therefore irrecon­cilably hate them.

Whereunto indeed much more might be ad­ded, and largely insisted upon in reference to such Countries Islands and Districts, which the French are become possessed of in those parts of America where the Spaniards pretend to have a Soveraignity and Jurisdiction exclusive of all other European Nations, but that it is wholly [Page 105] needless, and would be accounted to be done in design to weary the reader, rather than to inform and convince him, and which would also be an encreasing this discourse into a length and bulk beyond what the question in debate doth any wise require, tho' it be both very important in it self, and the desires and expecta­tion of men at this time more than ordinarily excited and raised, for the having it fully cleared and decided. And therefore all that I will add further, concerning the rest of the Planta­tions which the French have in those American Territories and places, where the Spaniards do alledge their obtaining a peculiar property, and right of Dominion▪ shall be barely to men­tion them. Namely that they have not only Colonies in Martinigo, St. Christopher's, Guardu­lupa, and divers of the Charibbes as well as other Islands, to the number at least of twelve or thir­teen, and all these within the Limits and Boun­daries unto, and over which the Spaniards do claim a Right preclusive of all others; but that they also have and do possess several Forts on the Coast of Caribana, that lyeth in the ve­ry Heart and Bosom of Mexico, and which is not many Leagues distant from the Isthmus of Darien, or may be rather said to joyn up­on it.

And upon the some Motive of my designing to be short, and not to load and cloy the Rea­der with more Examples and Instances of the foregoing nature, than are either indispensibly necessary, or which at least may be such, as they who are impartial Inquirers into the legality of the Fact of the Scots Indian and African Company, will not be displeased to be made [Page 106] acquainted with. I say that I shall therefore upon that inducement, only briefly intimate what Colonies the Dutch have settled and esta­blish'd within those American Territories, un­to which (besides the Title that the Spaniards pretend to the whole Continent and all the Islands of America on the Foot of the Pop's Bull which hath been already disprov'd and ma­nifested to be vain and ridiculous) they plead a particular Right, either thro' their having been parts of the Empires, Kingdoms, and Countries, of which they became possessed, or else that they had been some way or another, dependent upon, or tributary unto them. For the Dutch knowing all these Pretensions and Claims of the Spaniards to be groundless, vain, and ridiculous, and accordingly slighting and despising them, are not only settled in Surinam, and have several Forces on the Coasts of Guay­ane, and are Masters of the City Coro, which are all upon the Terra firma, but they have likewise possess'd themselves both of the Island Curasoa, that lies not above seven Leagues from the Main, near unto Cape Roman, and of the Islands Araba and Bonary which are not far distant from that, and had also planted in the Island Tabago until driven thence by the French, Anno 1677; during the time of that War which commenc'd 1672, between France and Holland.

By all which many and various Instances of divers European Nations settling within those Provinces, Islands, and Places of America, which they found unoccupy'd by any other European Princes or States, and whereof several more ex­amples might be assign'd (but that it is need­less and would be superfluous) of other Poten­tates [Page 107] and Republics in Europe that have done the like, notwithstanding any Claim of Property, Right and Title which the Spaniards pretend to have in, and unto them, and which they have with great confidence heretofore asserted, tho' without any foundation either in Reason or Law. I say, that I hope it will indisputably appear by these Instances and Examples, that what the Scots have lately done in the esta­blishing a Colony with the consent of the Na­tives at Acla on the Isthmus of Darien, which was a place never possess'd nor occupy'd by the Spaniards, is, according to the same measures of Equity and Justice, undeniably lawful, and demonstratively justifiable; and that all who are impartial and unprejudic'd will acknowledge it to be so.

And whatsoever hath been said in defence and justification of any European Nation's ha­ving a right to settle in such parts of America as were never occupy'd and possess'd by the Spaniards, it is of equal validity and force to authorize and warrant the sitting down and planting in any place, or places there, that may heretofore have been possessed by the Spaniards, but which they have since voluntarily relin­quish'd; as they are known to have done in the abandoning several places both on the Con­tinent and in the Islands of America, where they had formerly settled and establish'd Colo­nies, as well as in their forsaking Nombre de Dios, and a Plantation which they once had on the River Darien, which they left and with­drew from; after that they became possessed of Porto Bello and Carthagena. For tho' it hath been always acknowledg'd, as being grounded [Page 108] upon the Laws of Nature and Nations, that they who are the original, lawful and uncon­troverted Possessors of a Country or Land, and have been once in the occupation of it by acts of the Body, may and do retain a Right and Title unto it by acts of the Mind, after their having Corporally forsaken and left it; yet it is far otherwise with respect to a People who are come into a Country, not only as Aliens and Strangers, but as Invaders and Vsurpers, which is the case of the Spaniards in relation to those places on the Isthmus of Darien, as well as elsewhere in America where they had at any time heretofore set down and planted, but have since departed and withdrawn. For being neither the primitive Inhabitants, nor having settled there with the leave and con­sent of the Natives, they can stand no other­wise entit'led to any right in, and over those places, than as they have the actual possession, and are Occupiers in Fact. Seeing as their forceable and violent entrance into, and their sitting down in them, by, and in the meer vertue of Power and Strength, neither did, nor could defeat and extinguish the right of those that had been the Indigenae and original Inha­bitants; so immediately upon their withdraw­ing from, and their relinquishing of those pla­ces, the Title of the Natives unto them doth revive and take place, and becomes again as effectual, both for the justifying their own Re­assumption, and Re-occupation of them, and for their granting a liberty, freedom and right, to any other Foreigners to settle in those pla­ces, as shall come among them, and desire it, as if they had never been at any time, either [Page 109] disseized or driven from, or disquieted, in­terrupted and rendred unsafe in their occupa­tion of them.

And how easy were it to multiply Exam­ples and Instances even in Europe, where they of one Nation having by Violence, obtained Possession of some of the Cities, Towns, Lands and Territories of another, so as either direct­ly to expel and drive away those, who had been the Rightful Inhabitants and Proprietors, or to beget that fear in them, as to cause them to chuse of themselves, either to depart and fly from their Possessions, in order to escape the rage of those that had invaded them, than by continuing in their legal inheritances, to be­come exposed to the Lustful Pleasure, and cru­elty of their Enemies; Yet no man ever thought, that the Title of such, who upon the forego­ing Motive, had abandoned, or who in the forementioned manner, had been thrust out and forced away, became thereby Annulled and Extinguished. But all do confess, and the practice hath been every where, and at all times accordingly, that upon the withdraw­ment, and departure of them who had been the Invaders and Usurpers, the other might in the virtue of their Antecedent and Anci­ent Title, reasume the possession of what they had been either driven from, or had aban­doned.

But not to trouble my Readers with Me­moirs of that Nature, relating to Europe, I shall at once evidence and confirm what I have said by two Instances, whereof the First shall be in reference to a Country, upon the conti­nent of America, that was once in the Posses­sion [Page 110] of another European Power, than that of Spain, and the Second shall be concerning a noted Island in the West-Indies, that was here­tofore possessed by the Spaniards, but both which are now in the rightful occupation of the English. The former in brief is this; Name­ly, that the French in the Reign of Charles the Ninth and by his Authority, as well as by his encouragement, having in the Year 1569; Transported 1200 Families together with 300 Soldiers, to the Northern part of Florida, and having there established a Colony, between 32 and 33 degrees N. Lat. which after that Kings name they stiled Carolina, but who upon their treating the Natives injuriously, and thro' their having settled at places so remote and distant from one another, that the dispersed and scattred Planters, could neither give nor re­ceive mutual Relief nor Support, were in the Year 1573, assaulted and all cut off by the In­dians, save one Monsieur Chaplain, and about 35 more, who got timely into a small Ship that lay close by a Fort, and therein escaped to the Island Anticosty, in the mouth of the Ri­ver Canada, yet that notwithstanding of the settlement there of the French, and their ha­ving been once possessed of that place, the English are now gotten into Possession of it, and have erected there a Noble and Flourish­ing Colony, the propriety whereof, was in the Year 1661 granted by Charles the Second, King of England, to several men of Quality and their Associates, and whereof the French have ne­ver complained as of a wrong and Injustice done unto them. And indeed they are a wiser People, than to be guilty of so great an Absurdity, [Page 111] and they do very well know, that such a Complaint would by the English have been counted ridiculous, in that thro' their having been the first Europeans that settled there, but expelled thence by the Natives, on whom they had intruded, there neither doth arise nor re­main unto them any Right of claim unto that Country, nor any exception against the Title of the English thereunto, who are become pos­sest thereof with the liking and consent of the Natives.

The Second is that of Barbados, which the Spani­ards having for some time settled upon, left and forsook, in order to their planting in other places in that Hemisphere, which they hoped would turn to better account, and prove more to their Ad­vantage; as they did upon the like motive abandon many other places, where they had at first Sit down, which Island the English ha­ving found Unoccupied, either by them, or any other Europeans, and nothing left upon it, that could denominate the Spaniards to be Residen­tial, or entitle them to the possession and pro­priety of it, save a few Hogs, that were never by any Laws whatsoever, reckoned proper and valuable Representatives, Substitutes and Deputies, for the keeping possession in the name and behalf of a people; the English thereupon entred into the Island, and made settlements there, which how displeasing and offensive soever it was to the Spaniards at first, and how ready soever they were to have Quar­relled with their Successors upon that head, had their Power been answerable to their Re­sentment; Yet they have by a solemn Treaty since, renounced all pretensions of Claim and [Page 112] Title unto it, and have acknowleged the En­glish to be the Lawful Rightful Proprietors of Barbados. But I will insist no longer, nor add any more on this head, all that hath been al­ready said upon it, having been done ex Abun­danti, in order meerly to render this discourse, as particular and clear as I can; not that it was absolutely and indispensably needful to­wards the Justification, of the Scots Calidonian Colony, seeing that place was never in the possession of the Spaniards; But hath always continued in the possession of the Natives.

The point then that is next to be more narrowly enquired into, and to be discoursed with greater application, than it hath hither­to been, is to search out, assign and shew the strength of the reasons, upon which the Scots sitting down erecting Forts, and planting a Colony, in the place above-mentioned is foun­ded and done. And I shall endeavour to give that detale, and to make such an enumerati­on and deduction of them, as shall convince the unbiassed part of Mankind, that it is both Lawfully and Legally done by them, and with­out wrong, Injury or Injustice to the Spaniards. It is true that I might supersede the giving my self this trouble, in that thro' the Spani­ards charging the Scots, to have therein Inva­ded their Territories and Demesus; and the Scots positively denying it, the proof of the Charge and Accusation should be wholly de­volved upon the Spaniards, for that being the affirmative part of the Controversy and Que­stion, which is that alone in any matter of de­bate, which is accounted capable of admitting probation, it belongs therefore unto them to [Page 113] make it good: Whereas the Scots by insisting and standing altogether upon that which is the Negative part, are both by all the Logical Rules of Argumentation, and by all the Me­thods, Measures and Standards, allowed as well as required in judicial Proceedings, excused from proving of their Right any otherwise, than by answering the Allegations and Exceptions which the Spaniards do advance against it: For the Company denying that ever the Spaniards had any possession of the place where they have planted, or the least legal Right unto, or Property in it; and the Spaniards alledging that they had, it doth in Law and Reason, belong unto the Spaniards to instruct and prove what they pretend unto, and challenge. Nevertheless, for the obviating of all Clamours, and extin­guishing of all Suspicions against, and in refe­rence to the Legality, Equity, and Justice of what the Scots have done, I shall put this Mat­ter into such a shape and mould, as that the probation of it may be devolv'd and made in­cumbent upon the Scots, and the proofs there­of expected from them. That which I do therefore say and affirm, is, That the Scots are become rightful Proprietors of that part of the Isthmus of Darien where they are Settled, and that they have a good legitimate and legal Title to that portion of that American Streight, whereof they have taken possession, and are be­come Occupiers; and that therein they have done no wrong to the Spaniards, but that they are upon a better, and a more just, righteous, and legal Bottom, in reference to their Cale­donian Colony and Plantations, than the Spani­ards themselves are, either in relation to those [Page 114] Settlements, which they have upon that Isth­mus, or with respect to such Colonies which they have in any other parts of America. And that which I have here asserted, and with the highest confidence adhere unto my affirmation of, bears upon these Three following Things, which are all of them uncontestably True, de­monstratively Evident, and as infallibly Certain, according to the receiv'd Maxims of Law, by which Titles, Rights and Properties are defi­ned, decided and determined, as those Princi­ples of Science are confessed to be, of the whole's being greater than a part; and that where two Propositions are directly contradictory, the one of them unto the other, they cannot both of them be true.

The first is, that the Natives were not only originally the rightful Possessors of that place, but that they were actually in the Possession and Occupation of it, when the Scots landed and sat down there. And hereof there are Five un­deniable proofs.

(1.) Their inhabiting in that part of the Isthmus, not only independent upon the Spani­ards, and without their leave, but against their will, and in defiance of their Power: Nor did they only continue to dwell there, without the demanding liberty of the Spaniards so to do; but they had always debarr'd and shut out, nor had ever receiv'd or suffer'd the Spaniards to dwell amongst them. And if any thing be sufficient to declare a People to be the right­ful and actual Possessors of a Country; surely the possessing it both Hereditarily from the pri­mitive Occupiers and Proprietors of it, and [Page 115] preclusively of all others whatsoever, must be held and esteemed enough to do it.

(2.) That the Native Indians were at the time of the Scots landing, and of their begin­ning to settle, the lawful, actual, and sole Pos­sessors of that part of the Isthmus, where the Scots have erected Forts, and built themselves Dwellings, doth uncontrolably appear, from their having receiv'd and welcom'd them, without the having had any Communication with the Spaniards about it, and in order there­unto, or the having ask'd liberty of them for the doing of it: For it is not only dissonant from the Custom and Practice of all People and Nations whatsoever, who are either Subjects or Tributary to others, whom they acknow­ledge for their Rulers and Sovereigns, to ad­mit and receive Aliens and Foreigners calmly and tamely among them, without first sending to their Superiors, and their rightful Gover­nors, to understand their pleasure, and to ob­tain their Instructions and Commands concer­ning, and how to behave themselves in it: But it is likewise Treason by the Laws of all Constitutions and Governments, and a Fact that is capitally punishable to do otherwise. And consequently the Indians on that part of the Isthmus, having done nothing of all this in re­ference to the Spaniards, but on the contrary, having by a Right, Power and Authority in­herently lodg'd in themselves, receiv'd and wel­com'd the Scots into their Country, convers'd with them in a friendly and peaceable manner, given them all the hospitable Entertainment, and kind liberal Supplies, Relief and Succour, which their Condition and Circumstances ena­bled [Page 116] them to render, is a proof beyond the be­ing reasonably control'd, of their being the Pro­prietors as well as the Possessors of those Ter­ritories and Districts in Darien, where the Scots are settled.

(3.) There may be subjoyned hereunto, in further confirmation that the Native Indians, by the confession and acknowledgment even of the Spaniards themselves, were the unquestioned and undoubted Possessors and Occupiers of that part of the Isthmus, where the Scots have esta­blish'd their Plantation and Colony, and of the Country neighbouring upon and adjacent unto it, in that the Spaniards have at several times treated with them, as with a free and indepen­dent People, and by Agreements, Contracts and Stipulations, have, upon certain Conditions and Terms, obtain'd and procur'd liberty of them, to settle Colonies within their Circuits and Precincts, and to employ People to work in such Gold and Silver Mines, as do lie within the Compass of their Jurisdictions. Whereof to omit other examples, I shall assign one known and public Instance, and I shall the rather do it, because it respecteth the nearest possession of Mines which have been wrought in by the Spa­niards to the place where the Scots are planted, of any which they can pretend to have upon the Isthmus. The instance and case then, in brief, is this; namely, That there being with­in 12 or 13 Leagues of the Caledonian Colo­ny, certain Gold and Silver Mines, which are esteem'd as rich as are either in that or any other parts of America, the Spaniards therefore, to get into the Possession, and to reap the Benefit of them, instead of attempting by Power and Force, and in the way of Conquest to do it, [Page 117] they amicably address'd the Cacique, in whose Territories and within whose Jurisdiction they lay, who was call'd Captain Diego, and by a Treaty and Stipulation with him, that he should have a share of what Gold should be obtain'd, procur'd leave upon that condition to enter upon the Occupation of those Mines; which as it is an undeniable evidence, in the Opinion and Judgment of the very Spaniards themselves, that Diego and his People were both the right­ful and legal Possessors and Proprietors of that Territory and District; so the liberty that was granted unto the Spaniards by that Ca­cique, and the People that were under him, did no ways desseize him of, or eject him out of his Right, nor change, and much less extinguish his Property in that Territory where the Mines were. They being rather admitted as Te­nants and Labourers who were to pay him a Rent in allowing him such a proportion of their gains, than as Proprietors that had a le­gal Right and Title in them. And according­ly when the same Captain Diego found that the Spaniards had not only violated the Conditions upon which he had given them permission to work in those Mines, by refusing to grant him his Tribute or Share when it was sent for and demanded, but that they were contriving, plotting and conspiring how to destroy and ex­terminate, or at least to enslave him and his People, he thereupon forcibly fell upon them, and drove them from thence. Which as it was done some little time before the Scots came to settle on the Isthmus, so at their arrival there, they found that place, as well as all other that lay near to the spot where they have establish'd their Colony [Page 118] [...] Europeans and particularly altoge­ther Unpossessed and Unoccupied by the Spa­niards.

(4.) There may yet be annexed, as a further proof of the Native Indians, being the right­ful owners, proprietors and possessors of that part of the Isthmus, that they have successive­ly since the Castilians first discovery of that Country, and their Landing in it, been in terms of Hostility as well as of distance with them, who as they were never subdued, nor brought into that Subjection, as either Formally or Ta­citely, Explicitely, or Implicitely to acknow­ledge the Spaniards, having a Dominion or So­veraignty over them, or to confess their being become Subjects, or Vassals to the Spaniards; So the hostile oppositions, which they have in all times continued to make against them, cannot be said to have been a Rebellious, but Just and Lawful Wars. It being the highest of Nonsence to stile them Rebels, who were never Subjects. Yea it is to ridicule as well as to endeavour to mislead, and impose upon Man­kind, to bestow that Title and Epithete, upon the Martial actions against the Spaniards, of those Darien Indians, of whom I have been speaking; it being a perversion of Words, from their proper and allowed Signification, and the fastning a sence and meaning upon them, which they were never invented, insti­tuted, nor agreed to bear, which is worse than the speaking unto them in a Language that is wholly unknown. In that by the latter we are only left under Ignorance, of what an other intends to say unto us; but in the way of the former, there is a plain design to cozen [Page 119] and cheat us. Nor is it unworthy of remark, that of all the Natives of America, whom the Spaniards have for their enemies, they have none that are more inveterately and mortally so, than the unsubdued Indians on the Isthmus of Darien, as doth not only appear by what they themselves have done, and continue to do a­gainst them; but by the encouragement and assistance, which they have at all times been ready to give,See Hack's collect. of Voyages, and the Hist. of the Bucca­ners Vol. 2. unto the Privateers, Piccaroons and Buccaneers of all Nations, that have within their circle ever come to assault and prey upon them. Witness what they did in the case of Captain Sharp, who having Landed at Golden Island with 330 men, and being Joyned by two Darien Caciques, with a good body of Indians, took Sancta Maria, and made prize of several Spa­nish Ships; It being also upon the Invitation, and with the aid of those Indian Rulers, that Captain Sawking assaulted Panama, the Legality and Justice whereof as founded upon the Au­thority of those Caciques, whose commission he had obtained, he avowed and asserted in a Letter to the Governor of that place.

(5.) There remains one thing yet further to be added, in demonstration that the Indian Natives are not only the True, Rightful and Undoubted proprietors and possessors of those Territories upon the Isthmus of Darien, of which the Spaniards are not become Masters, nor have planted Colonies in them; but that they have been Openly, Solemnly and Avowedly owned and acknowledged to be such, both by the Courts and Civil Judicatures of England. Now the case which I have my eye upon, and do re­fer unto for the support of this assertion, be­ing [Page 120] signally remarkable in it self, as well as wonderfully Pertinent, Suited and Adapted to the matter in hand, I shall therefore both give a brief detale of it, and endeavour to set in the true and best light that I can. The case in short then was this; namely that the same Bar­tholomew Sharp, whom I have just now menti­oned, being an English man, and consequently a Natural Subject of his Majesty of Great Bri­tain, was by a Memorial given in by the Spa­nish Ambassador to King Charles the Second, complained of, for having in the time of Peace between the two Crowns, committed Acts of Hostility and Piracy upon the Spaniards in the West-Indies, and thereby taken great Treasure and Booty from them, of which Restitution and Reparation was demanded. Nor was it deniable but that the said Sharp, having Joyned with the Dariens, who were then in War with the Spaniards, as indeed they always in effect are, did both invade the Spanish Terri­tories, and attack their Ships and Vessels on the Coasts of America, and commit several acts of Force and Hostility upon them, to their very great Damage and Loss. For which being here in Custody, and thereupon Indicted, Arraig­ned and Judicially tried, the whole he had to plead for his Justification, as well as in his Defence, was that he had therein Acted upon, and in the Vertue and by the Authority of a Commission granted unto him, by some of the Caciques of Darien, who were absolute Rulers, and altogether Independant upon the Spaniards. Upon which Plea, after a fair and full Hearing and Tryal, and a due consideration of their intrinsick Power, and independant Jurisdiction [Page 121] and Authority, in whose name and by whose Commission, he had made War, and committed ravage upon the Spaniards, he was acquitted from the criminal charge of that, whereof he had been indicted and Arraigned, and was declared not Guilty of the Pyracy, whereof the Spaniards had accused him, and complained to the King.

And for any to say, that the alledging of Sharp's having been acquitted, upon the ground of his having acted by a Commission from the Dariens, is a meer Jest, as some have been re­ported to have expressed themselves; I shall on­ly in reference to that Term and Phrase mo­destly observe, that as the matter of Fact in his being Acquitted, is certain, and that no o­ther reason was then given, or hath since been assigned of it, save his having acted by a Commission of a People that were absolute with­in such and such Territories, and districts, and altogether independant upon the Spaniards; It is too great a reflection upon the Honour and Justice of the Nation, the Integrity and Uprightness of our Judicial Courts, and upon our sincerity in the observation of Alliances, to stile a Juridical Verdict and Sentence, a Jest, in that which was the sole and the alone legal Foundation of and Motive unto it. And what an Idea would the belief of this give both Heathen and Christian Nations of the World of us, and what an opinion must they of all Countries, where a regard to Truth and Justice is maintained, conceive and entertain of the English, if in le­gal Trials wherein Right is to be done to Princes in Alliance with them, Reparation to be made unto those, who have been unjust­ly [Page 122] and injuriously, as well as egregiously, wron­ged; and wherein Crimes of the highest Na­ture and of most pernicious Consequence to Man­kind ought to meet with their demerit; I say that if in tryals of that kind and importance, a sham, whim or jest, must over-rule Procee­dings, and be the ground of the Juridical De­cision; all which must be acknowledg'd to have obtain'd in Sharp's Acquittal, if he came otherwise to be brought in Not Guilty, and to be Discharged, than by reason of his having Acted upon a Commission receiv'd from the Dariens, as legal, supreme, and independant Rulers over that part of the Isthmus, where they have their Territories, and are in Possession.

So that having dispatch'd the first and the chief Proposition, and the main Particular, upon which the legitimacy of the Settlement of the Scots Company on the Isthmus of Darien is legally founded; I do in the next place proceed to the second Proposition, which I promised to lay down, as a further ground of their having righ­teously become Planters, and begun the esta­blishment of a Colony in the place abovemen­tion'd. And of this I shall give an account with more speed and ease, than I did of the for­mer; namely, That the true Proprietors and lawful Possessors of a Country are vested with a Power inherent in themselves, by which they may rightfully and authoritatively, without being accountable to any other, admit and receive Strangers, Foreigners, Aliens, and others, into their Territories, and within their own proper and peculiar Jurisdictions, and allow them the Freedom Privilege and Right of Settling, In­habiting, and Trading among them. For it is [Page 123] one of the first Principles both of the Laws of Nature and Nations, that they who are the original and primitive Proprietors, Inheri­tors, Possessors, and Occupyers of a Country and Soil, may admit, welcom, and take in others, into the Inhabiting, Planting, Cultivating, and Improving such places and parts of it, as doth neither thrust out and dispossess themselves of what is either necessary or convenient to their living safely after their wonted manner, of Plenty and Pleasure, nor which will incommo­date, hurt, or endanger them in the enjoyment of what they do retain. For tho' no Man can give, dispose and alienate to another, that which he neither has in possession, nor can pretend any legal Claim of Title and Right unto, which the Pope both betray'd his Pride and Folly in doing, when he took upon him the granting of all the West-Indies to the King of Spain, being therein ridiculously liberal of that which did no ways appertain to him: Yet every one hath a right of bestowing upon another, what is in­disputably his own, provided it be Sine damno tertii, without the wronging or the prejudicing a third Person, or a Party, upon whom he ei­ther depends as his Superiour, or of whose convenience he is previously obliged, either by the Laws of Nature or of Nations, or by ante­cedent Agreements, Contracts, and Stipulations, to take care.

Nor is this any personal or private Notion of mine, but the uniform and universal Judg­ment of all Civilians, out of whose Writings it were easie to cite many Testimonies, were it not in a manner wholly superfluous, thro' the intrinsic evidence which shine in the matter [Page 124] and case it self. So that I shall content my self with one or two from Puffendorf, who is one of the most Judicious and Learned, as well as of the latest Authors that have writ­ten of the Right and Laws of Nature and Na­tions, Ea est, says he, vis Dominii, ut de rebus quae tanquam propriae & in solidum ad nos perti­nent, pro Arbitrio nostro disponere possimus: It is a necessary appendent unto Dominion, that he or they unto whom it doth properly and entirely belong, may dispose of all and every thing or things,De Jure Nat. & Gent. l. 4. c. 4. §. 2. & c. 6. §. 14. which do fall within the compass and circle of it, to whom, after what manner, and upon what terms they please: And as he further saith, Vt quis rem suam possit alienare, seu in alterum transferre, id ipsum ex Dominii pleni natura resultat. Cum enim hoc Domino det facultatem de re pro Arbi­trio disponendi, utique vel praecipua ejus facultatis pars videtur, si ita placeat, eam in alterum posse transferre: It belongeth as an essential property un­to Dominion, and followeth from the nature of it, that he or they unto whomsoever it doth appertain, do thereby, from thence, and thereupon stand possess'd of and vested with a Right and Power of disposing, transferring, and of alienating those things they have a Right unto, and Propriety in, to what Person or Per­sons they shall think meet and convenient so to do.De Jure B. & P. l. 2. c. 4. §. 4. To which might be added that of Grotius, who very well saith, That Non venit ex Jure Civili, sed ex Jure Naturali, quo quisque suum potest abdicare: It is from the Laws of Nature, rather than that of Nations, that every Man may dispose of his own as he pleaseth.

Nor do the diversity of Forms and Modes of Government in and over Countries and Socie­ties of People, any ways change and alter the [Page 125] case in this particular. For be the supreme Authority placed in One Person, or in a Plura­lity; and be the exercise and administration of it, either circumscrib'd or confin'd by Laws, or left to the Arbitrary Will and Pleasure of him that governeth, it is the same thing with respect to that which I am discoursing of: Seeing what the latter is enabled to do, by an individual and despotical Right, in the execu­tion whereof he acts always unaccountably, tho' possibly not at all times so wisely; the other may do the same, under the direction of the Laws, and with the consent of the People. And how much soever they who are cloath'd with the supreme ruling Power may be limi­ted and restrain'd, either by the Maxims of Wisdom and Honesty, and by the Natural and Unwritten Laws of Humanity, Gratitude and Justice, or by Political Compacts, and Munici­pal Ordinances and Constitutions, from acting against the good Welfare and Interest of their Countries and People; yet all do acknowledge, that both they of the one Form and Rank, and of the other, have not only a wonderful Lati­tude and Liberty vouchsafed them in whatsoe­ver is for the advantage of themselves, and of those over whom they are set, but that they stand indispensably oblig'd (tho' the omission of it is with impunity) to pursue and fall in with every thing that is for the security and universal Interest of themselves, their Subjects, their Territories and Districts.

All which do obtain and hold in relation to the Caciques and Native Indians on the Isthmus of Darien, who as they have an absolute, in­dependant and plenary Power, to receive, give [Page 126] Freedom unto, and authorize such Strangers and Foreigners, to Settle, Inhabit, and Traf­fick among them, as they shall think meet and judge it convenient to entertain and endue with those privileges; so in no one thing what­soever could they have more consulted their advantage, and have acted more subserviently to their own Interest, than in the receiving the Scots to settle among them, and to erect Forts and establish Colonies. For besides the Benefits which may thereby accrue to them, whereof they probably may be neither thoughtful nor so­licitous, of being render'd a more civiliz'd Peo­ple, and of enjoying means and helps for the arrival at the knowledge of the true God, and of our Lord JESUS Christ, and of all an­nexed thereunto, depending thereupon, and re­sulting from thence, There are many great Secular advantages, which they will thereby become furnished with, and attain unto. For it is evident, how that by this means, the Gold and Silver which lies hid and bury'd in their Mines, and the several sorts of Dying Woods which grow in their Fields, as well as many more Natural Productions, which their Lands do afford, besides such Goods and Commodi­ties, as their Grounds may, by Art and Indu­stry, be brought to yield and bear, will thro' Labour and Cultivation, be gain'd and improv'd both to their own benefit, and that of Euro­pean Nations, and particularly of Great Britain, and the rest of His Majesty's Dominions, which are all at present of little or no use, service of advantage, either to the Natives or to the rest of Mankind; and that partly by reason of the la­ziness, ignorance and unskilfulness of those [Page 127] Indians, and partly because of the want of a sufficient number of fit and proper Hands, to turn all these and more both of like and of o­ther kind of Productions, which that Country either actually doth, or by Manuring may be improv'd to afford, to a beneficialness either un­to themselves or unto others.

Moreover, by the Indians having admitted the Scots to sit down and to establish Colonies within their Territories, they will become strengthened to defend themselves and their possessions, against those who have always been their Enemies; and who have pursued all the ways and means, and have improved all the advantages, which they could arrive at, either by fraud and force, for the encroaching upon their Demesnes, and the wresting them from them, and for the subduing and enslaving their Persons. For tho' the Scots are desirous to live neighbourly, peaceably, and amicably with the Spaniards, and will be far from either commit­ting any acts of Hostility upon them, unless they be first attack'd and assaulted by them (in which case they will be justifiable by the Laws of God and Nations to withstand and oppose force with force) or from the countenancing, encou­raging, and aiding of those Natives who have receiv'd them, and with whom they are en­ter'd into Alliances, in any offensive Wars a­gainst the Spaniards within the Spanish Colonies and Settlements, yet the Scots will account themselves oblig'd in Gratitude and Justice, as well as by Vertue of the Covenants and Sti­pulations, which they have made and contra­cted with the Indians, within whose Jurisdicti­ons, and near unto whose Territories, there [Page 128] Calidonian Colony lies, to cover and protect those Natives against all the violences, which the Spaniards shall causelessly and injuriously offer them. Which as it will be of wonderful Defence and Securi­ty to the Natives, amongst whom they are re­ceived to dwell and to trade, against their Ancient, Constant and Irreconcilable Ene­mies, so it was an Act of great Discretion and Prudence, in those Indians, that they have up­on the said prospect and motive, welcomed the Scots into their Country, and admitted them to Plant, and to erect Forts within their pre­cincts.

Hereunto may be added, that it is upon the Foundation and Basis of the Native Americans, having an Intrinsick and Legal power of re­ceiving Foreigners and Aliens among them, and an indubitable and unquestionable right of al­lowing them a freedom, to settle in their Coun­tries and within their Territories, either upon the Continent, or in Islands, that all the Planta­tions of the Europeans, and particularly of the English in the West-Indies, are rendred Law­ful and Just in the sight of God and of men.

For whereas the English were not the pri­mitive Inhabitants, nor the Original possessors of those American Provinces, nor of several of the Islands, where they have now many and large Colonies and Plantations; they must either be accounted violent Invaders, and unrighteous Usurpers of those Territories where they have settled and Planted, or they must derive their Right and Title to their being there, from some Act of the Natives importing their Consent to re­ceive them; which the Indians cannot be al­lowed [Page 129] to have been capable of giving, without a previous supposed right in them so to do. Yea, the very Spaniards upon their first discove­ry of America, pretended no otherwise to set­tle there, than with the Allowance and Consent of the Natives, as I have intimated before in and from the acknowledgement of Columbus, who was the discoverer of the West-Indies, as it is recorded by [...]errera, the Spanish Historian: Tho' it must withal be confessed, that they did not proceed upon that principle; but that into whatsoever places they were suffered to come, and were received by the Indians, they did there establish themselves by Violence, and thro' unjust Wars, and upon the En­slaving, Massacring and Exterminating of the Natives.

There remains yet one Proposition more, which is the third that I Promised to lay down, in order both to the representing within a nar­row view and compass, the whole legal ground and foundation, upon which the Scots settle­ment is Superstructed and Built, and for the de­monstrating that their Planting in that place of the Isthmus of Darien, is according and agreeable to the Laws of Nations, and consequently Lawful, Just and Blameless, unless vitiated and rendred Illegitimate, and Culpable thro' the Violation of some Articles of Alliances, between the Crowns of Great Britain and of Spain, which I shall afterwards invincibly shew that it is not. The proposition then, (and without which, the two former would be of no signi­ficancy nor service, to the decision of the Que­stion under debate) is, that the Scots have had the Leave and Consent of the Natives [Page 130] for their Setting down and Planting in the place above-mention'd, and that they have neither forcibly Invaded those Indians, nor by Fraud or Power wrested that part of their Territory from them; but that whatsoever they are be­come possess'd of, was by a Grant and Conces­sion of it from those Natives within whose Ju­risdiction it lyeth. For whereas the Scots did not find the place void, but that it was pre­occupy'd by the Natives, who were the true Proprietors of it, as well as of the Country adjacent thereunto, it is impossible that the Scots should have any Right and Title, for Sitting down and erecting Forts there, unless in the way of Conquest, Surrender, or Consent of those who were the antecedent Inhabitants and Ow­ners, these being the all and the only ways met with and known in Laws, whereby the subsequent Comers into a Country already pos­sess'd and occupy'd, can acquire a Right and Title for Sitting down and becoming Residents. And as the Scots do wholly renounce all pretence and claim of Conquest, as the Ground and Foundation of their Settlement there; so they do not challenge a Possession, either of that particular place, where they have erected their Works and made themselves Dwellings, or of any part of the Country that neigh­boureth unto it, by and upon a plenary and full Surrender of it to the Calidonian Company, and exclusive of the Natives retaining any Right in the place, save as the Scots shall ami­cably indulge and gratuitously allow them; but the whole which they plead, is a Grant from, and Consent of those Indians, who were the primitive and rightful Proprietors, for their [Page 131] sitting down in that part of the Country, and for the cultivating and improving it to their own use and benefit, and for the taking in such other places within their Territories as they shall judge meet, and find themselves in a condition to dilate, stretch and extend their Colony unto. And the present Natives of that place, and [...]f the Districts about it, be­ing as free from any subjection unto, or de­pendance upon the Spaniards who do at this time possess and occupy and Colonies upon the Isthmus, as the Ancestors and Predecessors of the former were at any season heretofore from and upon those of the latter, it doth by a ne­cessary consequence follow, and become natu­rally deducible from thence, that the Scots co­ming to settle with the consent of the Caciques, and of the Indian People under them, must there­upon be in the like condition with the Na­tives, and no ways liable to any claim of the Spaniards, more than the Indians were and are, and therefore not to be held concerned in, or made censurable upon any complaints from the Court of Madrid.

And that the Scots have the consent of the Natives, for whatsoever they have done in that part of America, I suppose no Man will be­tray such reproachful Ignorance of the present transactions of the World, or shew so much impudent effrontery, as to deny it: Neverthe­less I shall so far supererrogate, as to give some demonstrative and undeniable proofs of it. For so prudent and discreet, as well as calm and temperate were they, who Comman­ded the Ships that Sail'd thither, and arriv'd on that Coast about the beginning of Novem­ber, [Page 132] 1698; and particularly they who were sent along in them to have authority over such as were to land, and to be directors of the Co­lony that was to be establish'd, in case they were receiv'd and welcom'd, that notwithstanding of Distempers, that were among them, as well as of several other inconveniences, under which they labour'd, as also notwithstanding their having both a good Naval and a Land Force, they would not so much as enter into the Port or Haven, or attempt to set any Body of Men on shore, until they were encourag'd there­unto by the Natives, and having had some of them on board their Ships, were invited by them to do it, and withal told that they were very welcome, and that they had long expe­cted them.

Yea, such was their care, circumspection and tenderness of escaping the very suspicion of Invading that part of the Isthmus, to which they had directed their course, and upon the particular Coast whereof they fell in, that they would not disembark any of their Mili­tary Forces, and Companies of Soldiers, until by some of the Principal among them, who went on shore with the Indians, that had visited them on board their Ships, they had ob­tain'd a Meeting and Congress with the Cacique in whose Territory the Port lay, and had both receiv'd his Consent for their landing within his District, and had concerted the terms for their Settlement within the bounds of his Precincts; which Cacique, being one call'd Captain Andreas, did upon the second Meeting and Congress between the Scots and Him, not only agree to receive them into any part of his Country they [Page 133] would choose to settle in; but took a Com­mission from them, promising that both him­self, and those under his Authority would as­sist and defend them with the hazard and at the expence of their Lives.

To which may be added, how that besides their daily and friendly Coversation and Inter­course together, both at first and all along since testify'd on the part of the Scots, by their presenting the Natives with such things, as might be most acceptable and pleasing unto them, and witnessed on the part of the Indians, by their supplying the Scots with such Provi­sions and Eatables as they either bred or could catch in Hunting, which they could spare out of their bare and daily Livelihood and Subsi­stence; I say that over and above all this, tho' a sufficient indication and proof of the Natives receiving them into their Country, and of their giving their consent to the Scots landing and setling among them; There was a formal Com­pact and Stipulation transacted in the most so­lemn manner, between Captain Andreas and them, and which was ratify'd on the part of the Scots, by their giving unto Captain Andreas a Sword and a pair of Pistols, and confirmed on his part and that of the Indians, by their delivering a piece of Turf and Twigg unto the Scots, in token of the Grant which the Natives had made unto the Scots of a liberty to settle and establish a Colony in their Country.

Moreover in further evidence, that the Scots have Erected Forts, and Planted their Calido­nian Colony with the consent of the Natives, I shall finally observe, how that upon the ap­proach of the Spaniards with some Military [Page 134] Forces, to have either surprized the Scots, or in a fair encounter to have beaten and drove them from thence, the Indians in that district were unanimously ready to have Joyned them against the Spaniards, and actually did so with such a Number of their best men, as the Scots out of a great Multitude that offer'd them­selves, Judged convenient to entertain and re­ceive. Among whom as there was the Ca­cique's own Son; so both he and all the rest of the Indians, that marched in conjunction with the Scots against the Spaniards, behaved themselves with great Fidelity, and with as much Bravour, as the sudden flight of the Spa­niards, would allow them occasion and opportu­nity of Manifesting.

So that upon the whole, I may now ven­ture to conclude, that the settlement of the Scots on the Isthmus of Darien, is not only according to the Laws of Nations Just and Law­ful, and no ways Injurious to the rights of any, and that they have in all the steps which they have therein taken, proceeded according to the Rules and Measures, by which all the European Nations, who have established Plantations in any parts of the World, do both Vindicate themselves from obnoxiousness to blame in what they did, and do Justifie their claim of Right and Title unto them, and for the de­fending and upholding of them: but I may presume with Modesty, as well as with Truth, further to affirm, that there never was a Plan­tation or Colony settled by any Nation what­soever, or in any part of the World what­soever upon Juster principles, or whose esta­blishment hath been transacted, with more [Page 135] Fairness and Candor, and with all due respect to the reasonable pretences of every one that had but a shadow or seemingness of claim, as well as with a tender and full regard to the property and right of the Natives, whose both consent and entreaty they have for authorizing them in what they have done.

Having then fully both declared and de­monstrated the legality of the Scots, having Planted a Colony on the Isthmus of Darien, and given a deduction of the grounds of Law and Justice, upon which that establishment is Founded and Built, and by which it is evi­dently vindicated, from all the exceptions and complaints that are or can be made against it by the Spaniards, or by any others charging it as unlawful, invasive and criminal: It may possibly be said in favour of the Spaniards, that tho' there be no Usurpation made thereby up­on their Rights, yet thro' the Adjacency and Nearness of that Plantation, to the Colonies which the Spaniards are allowed to be right­fully possessed of, upon the Isthmus, the Scots have not acted so Kindly and Amicably, as might have been expected from the subjects of a Prince and Potentate, who is in a firm Alliance, and under all the bonds and measures of Friendship, with his Catholick Majesty. And therefore that tho' that Settlement, be neither against the Laws, nor the Rules of Justice, yet it is a Violation of those terms of Decen­cy, and of Bienseance, which ought to be obser­ved among Monarchs, that are so cordially United in Royal and Brotherly Correspon­dence and Amity, as his Britannick Majesty and the King of Spain are known to be. But in [Page 136] reference to that allegation, there are several things which lie obvious to be offer'd.

Namely, That by this exception, the Scots are only censurable for having trespass'd against the Ceremonies and Punctilio's of what is call'd Genteel and good Breeding: But not for ha­ving offended against the Rules of Justice, or for having violated the Laws of Property. So that tho' they may not have acted so man­nerly as some People would have had them, yet they have done nothing that is unlawful and unrighteous. Nor was it hitherto ever ex­pected, and much less requir'd, that a Nation, rather than to be deficient in a Complement, should both neglect and abandon their Interest. Moreover, whatsoever respect the Subjects of any Soveraign ought to have unto the Rules of complacence, and the ceremonies of Royal Courtships, by and according to which Crown'd Heads do conduct and govern themselves to­wards one another, while Matters regarding the Benefit and Prosperity of a Kingdom do fall within the compass of the personal trans­actions of a few, or do lie under private de­bates, and antecedently to their being digested and concerted into Parliamentary Bills, and before those Bills be ratify'd into Laws, and pass'd into Acts; yet there is no deference of that Nature payable, nor any observance to be had of meer ceremonies of Courtship, after they are dispenc'd with, and superceded by a Statute, and the affair wherein they were to have been practised, is become authorized by a Mu­nicipal Law.

[Page 137] Further it must necessarily also be granted, that the place where the Caldionian Colony is establish'd, is no nearer to the Spanish Planta­tions, by its being in the Hands of the Scots, than it was while in the alone and sole Pos­session of the Natives. Nor is there so much reason or cause, why the Spaniards should fear the meeting with any thing that may be un­civil or hurtful from the Scots, as they had rea­son to apprehend and dread from the Indians, in that the latter are not only a rude and bar­barous People, but their ancient, inveterate, implacable and mortal Enemies; whereas the former, are both a civil, generous, and Christi­an People, trained up in all the measures of Humanity, good Breeding, Morality, and Re­ligion, and governing themselves by the Laws of Revelation, as well as of Nations, and who withal have never been in War, nor are desi­rous to have any Hostility with them.

Yea, the Alliances between the Crowns of Great Britain and of Spain ought to obviate all Jea­lousie in the Spaniards, of their having any thing that is either undecent or injurious of­fer'd unto them by the Scots, who are Subjects under a Monarch that is in affinity with His Catho­lick Majesty. Whereas thro' want of Leagues and Stipulations between the Spaniards and those Indians, into whose Territories the Scots are re­ceiv'd, they had ground of being always and justly suspicious, that such mischiefs would be done them, as the power of those Natives could enable them to attempt and execute.

Further, if the adjacency and nearness of the Scots Plantation unto the Spanish Colonies prove matter of offence unto the latter, and of com­plaint [Page 138] against the former, the fault thereof is wholly to be lodg'd upon the Spaniards, and therefore the blame ought entirely to fall up­on them. Seeing whatsoever the Scots are come into the possession and occupation of, they have a just and legal Right thereunto, from the grant and consent of the Natives, who were the undoubted and true Proprietors there­of; whereas the whole which the Spaniards do there possess, and all the Colonies which they have settled, hath not only been done with­out the leave, but against the will of the an­cient and rightful Owners. So that by reason of the badness of their Title, which flows from Usurpation, and is built upon their ha­ving unjustly invaded what belonged unto o­thers; the whole of a reasonable Accusation, and of a just Complaint, doth lie against them, and their Plantations; whereas the Title of the Scots proving legal and good, thro' their having come to inhabit and settle with the al­lowance, and upon the invitation of the Indi­ans, the nearness of their Colony to those of the Spaniards, doth not make them or it obnoxious to any just and rational Expostulations or Re­monstrances.

Nor is the case of the Spaniards made bet­ter because of their Colonies being establish'd long ago, or the condition of the Scots ren­der'd worse, by reason of their having but lately begun to sit down, and to plant; in that the Title of the one is good from the first mo­ment; whereas no length of time can ever make the claim of the other justifiable: For as all Lawyers do say, and particularly Grotius, That tempus in se nullam habet vim effectricem, [Page 139] that a possession which is acquir'd unjustly at first, can never be render'd just by a continu­ance in the long occupation of it: So a Title unto a Place, and a Right in a Settlement, by the grant and with the consent of the true Proprietors, is equally good, just and va­lid in Law the first day, as it will be after the having been inherited a Thousand Years.

Moreover, there is not that nearness of the Calidonian Colony to the Plantations which the Spaniards have upon the Isthmus of Darien, as some thro' ignorance of Maps and unacquain­tedness with Journals, may, upon a general noise and clamour, be inclin'd to imagine; seeing none of the Settlements, which the Spaniards have, and whereof they are in the actual possession and occupation, are within less distance than fifteen or sixteen Leagues of the Scots Plantation, which is enough not only to silence the report, and to put an end to the pretence of the adjacency between the Colonies of the one and the other, but for the giving large bounds for determining between their Properties and Jurisdiction, and for chalking out limits of division and separation betwixt what can any time resonably arise, and come to be their several and respective Claims. And as they who would extend their pretence of Right and Jurisdiction fifteen or sixteen Leagues beyond what they are actually possess'd of, may as well enlarge it to a thousand; so nei­ther do the Titles of Princes unto their vari­ous and different Dominions and Territories depend upon the nearness unto, or the re­moteness of their Lands from each others, but upon the legal Property which they have, [Page 140] and their being either in the actual possession of them, or of Countries, Cities, Towns, or Places, upon which they do depend, or upon the retaining a claim by vertue of an here­ditary Right which they have not renounced. But they must not only be strangely unac­quainted with Histories as well as with Maps, but stand ignorant of what every Traveller can inform them, who do not know that even in Europe there are Soveraign Jurisdictions and Principalities, surrounded by and inclosed with­in the Dominions of other Princes, whereof a­mong many others, Orange and Avignion are undeniable Instances. Nor is it possible to be avoided, but the Lands and Territories of all Neighbouring Princes whatsoever, who do live upon Continents, must be Contiguous in some one place or another. And tho' the limits of some Princes Countries, may in some places be divided from those of other Potentates by rid­ges of Mountains, or by considerable Rivers; yet for the most part they are no otherwise distinguished and separated, than by a road, a hedge, a brook, or by erected Pillars of wood, or by stones which are set up here and there.

Finally that wherewith the Scots stand char­ged, and whereof they are in this particular accused▪ is no more than what is practised by all European Princes, and States in most parts or the World, where they have settled Co­lonies and Plantations, and that without the Infraction of the bonds of Amity and Alliances between them, or the being thought to tres­pass against the rules of Decency and Respect, which the Rulers of Kingdoms and Repub­licks, [Page 141] are accustomed to render to each other, of which it were easy to assign many undenia­ble instances, but I shall confine my self to a few. 'Tis sufficiently known, that all along on the Coast of Africk, and particularly on the River Gambe, the English, French, and other Europeans, have their settlements intermixed and contiguous, without clamouring against or Impeaching of one an other, on the score of Adjacency. Nor is it to be denied, but that as Ceuta, Tangier and Mamora, do lie in the bosom of the Empire of Morocco; so that they have been possessed by, and have belong­ed to different European Potentates, without their complaining of one another upon that Motive. Neither is it to be in the least con­tradicted, but that the English and French have their several and respective Plantations, on the Island of Newfoundland, where, save in the time of actual War, between these two Crowns, they live in all friendliness together, each of them following, carrying on, and promoting their several Fisheries, in and by which as many Seamen are bred as well as employed, and Na­vigation greatly encreased, and Multitudes of Ships advantageously used; so with a little cost that is disbursed on Nets, and on Diet for Saylers, (which also turns to a National benefit and gain) there is more Wealth flow­eth annually into the Kingdom, or at least might, if that Trade were encouraged, and cultivated as it deserveth and ought to be, than by any one branch of our Manufacture what­soever, to the Fabricking whereof to make it Mercantile, there is so much previous expence required. The same might be instanced with [Page 142] respect of the Island of St. Christopher's, which belongeth half no the English, and half to the French, tho' neither of their shares be well peo­pled or Cultivated.

Whereunto may be also added, that the Dutch and Portuguese have their different and respective Plantations, on the coast of Brasile, without any misunderstanding or quarrel be­tween them on that account, and to which the Spaniards do pretend as much Right, as they do to the Isthmus of Darien. Yea the Island of St. Thomas, which is Possessed by the Danes, is not far distant from Porto Rico, which is in the occupation of the Spaniards; as also very near unto St. Thomas, lyeth the Crab Island, which is pretended unto not only by the Spaniards, and the French, and particularly by the Danes, but likewise by the English, who were once Possessed of it, and which I do wonder they endeavour not to repossess them­selves of, seeing as it is now void, so it is of very great importance in it self, and would be of wonderful usefulness to their Plantations, were it in the English hands, and secured by a good Military force, without which they well be sure to be Murderd in, or soon drove out of it by the Spaniards, that inhabit Porto-Rico.

And to conclude this Paragraph with one instance more, it is observable that whereas the English (as I intimated before upon another occasion) were in actual Possession of all the places adjacent to, and Snrrounding the Mou­hados, which lies betwixt long Island and the Main, and is sometimes reckoned a part of long Island, the Dutch finding it unoccupied [Page 143] either by the English, or by any other Europe­ans, sat down and settled a Colony upon it, in a time of Peace between his Britannick Ma­jesty and the States of Holland, and called their chief Seat and Fortification there, by the name of New Amsterdam, tho' it was wholly en­compassed by, and in some places immediately bordered upon the English Colonies, without so much as the interposure of a River. Whereof the English were so far from complaining, and much more from making it a matter, and cause of Hostility between the English Crown, and the Belgick Republick, that even upon breaking out of the War 1672, when all things were al­ledged, that could administer the least sha­dow for Justifying the commencement of it, on the part of the English who were the Aggres­sors, that of the Dutch having settled on the Mouhados, was not so much as once mentio­ned, nor in the Treaty of Peace in the year 1677, was it ever brought under Debate, in the Congress between the Plenipotentiaries of Eng­land and Holland. But after the re-entrance of those two powers again into terms of Amity, it was by a private capitulation at London in the end of that year, exchanged (as I have al­ready said) for Surinam.

Now the foregoing Exception made by the Spaniards, in relation to the Scots, having acted, if not unjustly, at least very disingenuously, and un­kindly in the settling of a Colony so near unto there Plantations, having been fully considered in the last Paragraph, and the weakness and vanity of it so abundantly laid open and Manifested, that no man will offer to revive and insist upon it for the future, without incurring the forfeiture [Page 144] of his reputation, I shall now proceed to exa­mine the Pretension and Allegation, of its be­ing an Infraction of the Treaties and Alliances between the Crowns of Great Britain and of Spain; for the Scots to have Landed and begun to establish a Colony, upon any part of the Isth­mus of Darien. And I shall the rather bring this to an exact Scrutiny, and under a parti­cular and accurate disquisition, in that it hath been distinguishingly mentioned, and positive­ly asserted in the Memorial that was presen­ted to his Majesty, by the command and in the name of the King of Spain. In which that Fact of the Scots is stiled La rupture de L'alliance qui a este toûjours entre ces deux Couronnes, Laquelle sa Majeste d'Espagne a observée jusques icy, & observe tousjours fort Religieusement, An Infraction of the Alliance which is between the two Crowns, which His Spanish Majesty hath hitherto observ'd, and will Religiously do so. Which Resolution of His Catholick Majesty to keep and withal sacredness to observe the Alliances which he or his Predecessors have made with the Kings of Great Britain, as it is Noble, Princely and Chri­stian (and which I wish the Crown of Spain had better attended, and acted more conso­nantly unto in their proc [...]edings since in rela­tion to this affair, but which hereafter we shall shew that they have not) so it deserveth to be corresponded with, and answer'd in the same manner, and with the like measures of Friendship, Honour, Veracity and Religion. Nor is there any thing more disgraceful and ignominious in the esteem of Men, as well as sinful and criminal in the sight and account of God, than for Monarchs to violate their Roy­al [Page 145] Compacts and Agreements, whether with one another, or with their own Subjects, with­out provocations administred to them, where­by the Confederacies and Covenants do be­come causally and morally dissolv'd. And if it be universally acknowledg'd, that Potentates having made Compacts with their own Subjects are bound in Justice, as well as in Truth and Honour, to perform them; much more must it be confess'd, that they are oblig'd to keep and observe the Agreements which they have made with Princes and States that have no de­pendance upon them, but are upon an equal foot with themselves. Yea, if a King cannot without Iniquity violate an Agreement which he hath made, with Subjects that had been Re­bels, so as afterwards to punish them for that Rebellion, in reference to which the Stipulation was, as being pardon'd by the Tenor, and in the vertue of the Treaty; much less can he break the Articles of an Alliance with Sove­raign. Rulers, who tho' they may have been E­nemies unto him, could never have been Re­bels.

Nor are any Persons whatsoever, so much concern'd to be exact and punctual in keeping their Faith and in performing of their Promises as Princes are, and that upon the Motive of Credit and Reputation, as well as by reason of the obligation of Conscience: For as Padre Paolo says (alluding to a passage of Livy) That a Prince who violates his Word,His Opinion to the Ve­netian In­quisitors of State, p. 24 Eng. Edit. must invent a new Religion to make himself believ'd another time, seeing the Oaths he made in the Religion he pro­fess'd, have not been able to bind him; so there is more in that of Tacitus, than many are a­ware [Page 146] of, namely, Caeteris mortalibus in eo stare concilia,Annal. lib. 4. n. 40. quid conducere sibi putent principum di­versam esse sortem, quibus praecipua rerum ad fa­mam dirigenda: That while all others may adapt their Projections and Conduct to their Interest, it behoveth Princes to calculate their Designs, and to manage all their Transactions and Administrations in subserviency to their Honour and Glory.

And as both a German Emperor, and a King of France are reported to have said, That if Faith and Truth were lost in the World, they ought to be found in the words of Kings; so whatsoever Stipulations have been made with the Crown of Spain, by His Majesty's Prede­cessors, as they were the Governors of these Kingdoms, and the Rectors of the People; they do no less oblige him who sits upon the Throne, than if they had been first stipulated, and immediately contracted by himself. And as all the Leagues which are by Civilians stil'd Real, do not only oblige the Contractors, but those who succeed unto them in the gover­ning Power, unless it be otherwise provided in the Articles of the Alliance, so all such Treaties ought to be even observ'd by them that are their Subjects, and that upon the Mo­tives and Obligations of Conscience, as well as upon the Foundation and Reason of their Civil and Political Obedience, which they are to render unto his Commands in the vertue of his Authority. For such Treaties and Al­liances being transacted in the force of that political Power wherewith Rulers are vested over their Subjects, and being concerted and made, with respect to the benefit and advan­tage of their People, they are, in the constru­ction [Page 147] of the Laws, and in the opinion of Na­tions, the acts of the People themselves, no less than they are the deeds of those who are their Soveraigns. And indeed that is rightful­ly suppos'd to be the Fact of the Community, which is done by the Supreme Ruler in the ver­tue of the Authority that is stated in him by the Laws, and consequentially to that Trust which the Subjects have repos'd in him. So that should the Scots, thro' their Settling at Darien, appear to be guilty of having violated any Ar­ticles of solemn Treaties, and of having acted contrary to any Clauses in public Leagues, they would therein not only have done what was injurious to the Crown of Spain, but that which was both disloyal and dishonourable to their own King. And as the Fact in the criminal­ness of it, doth originally and immediately on­ly affect the Scots, and is no ways imputable unto His Majesty, save as he should, in case it be a trespass against Treaties, support and pro­tect them in it; so they are bound both out of the Duty which they owe to His Ma­jesty as their Soveraign, and in Equity as well as in Deference to the King of Spain, either to return home from Darien, and abandon their Design, or else to vindicate themselves from having done any thing in that matter, whereby Treaties and Alliances are violated. And if they cannot do the latter nor will do the former, His Majesty will not only be highly justifiable in the disclaiming to countenance and defend them, but he will be oblig'd in Truth, Honour and Justice, to exert that Authority and Power which are plac'd in him over his People, for to see right done unto the King [Page 148] of Spain, and reparation made unto the Spa­niards.

But that His Majesty, instead of falling un­der the necessity of doing a thing of that nature, which will both so much injure, disoblige and disgust the Scots Nation, I shall endeavour to make it evidently appear, that he may not on­ly uphold and protect them, without either prejudice to his own Reputation and Glory, or any wrong done to the King of Spain, who is his Allie, but that he is indispensably ob­lig'd as he is their King, as well as in pursu­ance of an Act of Parliament, and of his own Royal Grant, to cover them from all the vio­lences which shall be offer'd unto them. And this I shall do by demonstrating that the Fact of the Scots, in their Landing and Settling at Darien, is no ways inconsistent with, nor done in violation of any Leagues, Treaties and Alli­ances betwixt the Crowns of Great Britain and of Spain. And here I must challenge the tak­ing it for granted, that there are no Treaties between the Kings of England and of Spain, but what are publick, and which all Men are or may be acquainted with. For if Laws themselves, in the judgment of all Mankind, do not bind and oblige, antecedently to their being promulga­ted and publish'd; much less are Subjects con­cern'd in the observation and keeping of Trea­ties, unless they have had due information and notice given of them. And should it be gran­ted, that such Federal Contracts which Civilians stile Personal, and which do only respect the particular benefit of those Princes who do con­tract them, and do terminate in their single and personal Interests, without either affecting [Page 149] their People, or their Heirs or Successors, I say should be it allow'd, that there is no neces­sity why these Stipulations should be promul­gated and made publickly known; yet it is absolutely requisite, that such Agreements and Compacts should be so divulged as that they may be generally understood, wherein the se­veral respective Interests of many and va­rious Kingdoms and Dominions, and of different and distinct Soveraigns are both in­volved and adjusted, and whereby the car­riage and behaviour of their People and Sub­jects stand regulated towards one another in such and such parts of the World; and such are the Leagues and Alliances pretended and re­ferr'd unto in the case before us.

Now the only Treaties between the Kings of Great Britain and those of Spain, by which both their own, and their Peoples respective concerns in America are adjusted and regu­lated, and the carriage of their Britannick Ma­jesty's Subjects towards the Subjects of their Ca­tholick Majestie, and reciprocally of the Sub­jects of the Spanish Manarchy towards them of Great Britain, and of the Dominions there­unto belonging, stand directed and are made governable, are the Treaties of May 13. 1667, and of July 8. 1670. Which as they are the only regulating Treaties between the two formention'd Monarchs in relation to their several Domini­ons, Provinces and Possessions in America, so it is by applying unto and consulting those Two Treaties, that we are to examine and de­cide, whether the Scots in their having lan­ded and begun to establish a Colony upon the Isthmus of Darien, have made themselves guil­ty [Page 150] of the Infraction of Alliances, which I do psitively affirm, and shall demonstratively prove, that by those Facts they have not done, nor ought to be so represented or esteemed. Seeing it will uncontrolably appear unto every one that will afford himself time and leisure to view the Treaties, and to peruse the Articles concerted and agreed in them, that they were meerly declarative of what was confess'd to be in the legitimate and rightful Possession of those two Kings, and regulative of what should be the behaviour of their several and respe­ctive Subjects towards each other in America, as also restrictive with reference to their Claims of any Title or Right to the Provinces, Islands and Territories, which either of them were in the possession and occupation of; but that they were in no ways or manner exceptive of, or preclusive from their settling Plantations in such other Conutries, Districts and Places, as were neither possess'd and occupy'd by them, nor by any other European Princes or States.

And whereas the Treaty of 1670, is that whereby the mutual Interests and Possessions of the Kings of Great Britain and of Spain are provided for and adjusted, it may not be a­miss to intimate, the occasion and reason of those Regulations, which were concerted and made by that Alliance. Namely that the Crown of Spain having antecedently thereunto laid Claim to all America, as of right belonging unto His Catholick Majesty, and having accoun­ted all the Settlements of every one else, and particularly of the English within that vast Con­tinent, as likewise in the American Islands, to [Page 151] have been so many Invasions upon their Right, it was concerted and agreed by that Treaty, that this universal claim and pretence of Title of the Spaniards should be renounc'd and dis­claim'd. And that the possession of the Crown of England in such Territories and Places where the English had planted, should be confess'd and acknowledg'd to be legal, rightful and good. Which was the sole and alone business that was design'd and compass'd in the fore­mention'd Treaty. For whereas by the Treaty of 1667, there was only a general and perpe­tual Peace concluded and established between the Dominions and Territories of Great Bri­tain and those of Spain, without the particu­larizing of any thing that respected their se­veral Plantations in America. And whereas the Kings of Spain had always question'd the Right of the Kings of England to their Ame­rican Plantations; upon the ground of an uni­versal Title, which they claim'd to all the West-Indies, and had particularly controverted the Right of their Britannick Majesties to se­veral Plantations which had been made by the English in the American part of the World, upon pretences and allegations, that the Eng­lish had forceably drove out the Spaniards, and thereupon gotten into possession of seve­ral places that had formerly been enjoy'd and occupy'd by them; therefore it was that upon these considerations, that whole matter came un­der particular Regulation and Adjustment in the Treaty of 1670; in and by which the Right and Dominion of the King of Spain in those Countries, Islands, Provinces and Territories, whereof he was possessed, and so far as they [Page 152] wert in the actual occupation of the Spaniards, being confess'd, and provision made for their quiet and peaceable enjoyment of them: There was likewise a formal and explicite Renuncia­tion of all Claim made by the Spaniards to whatsoever was in the English possession; but not one word or syllable, so much as once mention'd in that whole Treaty, concerning and relative to such parts and places, as were not at that season in the occupation of the one or of the other.

Nor can it, in consistency with good Sence and Reason, be imagin'd, But that if the Right of the King of Spain to all those Territories and Districts in America, which were neither in the actual occupation of the Spaniards, nor of any other European Princes and States, should by that Treaty have been acknowledg'd to appertain and belong to the Crown of Spain, their Title thereunto would have been speci­ally inserted and declared, with an express exclusion of all others, that should afterwards desing to be Planters in those void places of the Continent and Islands of America. Nor is it to be doubted, that if the Right of the Spaniards had been to be confess'd and own'd in that Treaty to all the parts of the Conti­nent and Islands that were not possess'd by Europeans, but that the landing and settling there, in order to plant, without freedom and liberty previously granted by the Crown of Spain, would have been specify'd as an act of Hosti­lity and Infraction of the Alliances. So that there having been no such care taken, nor provision made in the foremention'd Treaty, it is an indispensible evidence, that the whole [Page 153] which was thereby design'd, was only to adjust and settle Matters, in relation to what each of those two Crowns were actually in possession of. And that they were left still under an equal freedom of settling in any new Places that were void and unoccupy'd, and no more in the hands of the one than of the other.

Nor can it fall into the thoughts of any, who have not lost their Understandings, that the English who are a trading People, and who finding their Interest and Profit in their West-India Plantations, design'd to extend and en­large them in whatsoever other parts of A­merica they could, where Settlements might be made, without Invasion upon the Rights of Europeans, should by that Treaty be conclu­ded and stak'd down to plant in no other places of the West-Indies, save in those, where they had Colonies at that time. So that the whole which was decided, adjusted and stipu­lated in and by that Treaty, amounted only to these two things: First, That by the 7th Article, The King of Great Britain and his Heirs and Successors, shall have, hold, and possess, with full Right of Empire, Property, and Possession, all Lands, Regions, Isles, Colonies, and Lordships, si­tuated in the West-Indies, or in any part of A­merica, which His Majesty King Charles II. did then hold, or which His Subjects did then possess; so that no Controversy whatsoever was afterwards to be rais'd or mov'd in reference to that Matter. And, 2dly, That by the 8th Article, The Sub­jects of the said King should abstain from all Commerce and Navigation in the Ports, Ha­vens, and Places, having Forts, Castles, or Sta­ples for Commerce, that is, That the Subjects of Great Britain shall not Trade nor Sail into [Page 154] the Ports and Places which the King of Spain hath in the West-Indies, nor the Subjects of the King of Spain Trade or Sail to the places which the King of Great Britain doth there possess, without Licences mutually and recipro­cally given in the words and terms, which were specify'd and set down in a Schedule annex'd to the Articles of the Treaty.

From both which it doth demonstratively appear, that all stipulated about and agreed un­to in that Treaty, was, and is, that the said Kings and their Subjects, shall not only seve­rally and respectively forbear the Invading of such others Territories, and the injuring of one another, but that they shall not Navigate, nor Trade in the Ports and Staples that do belong unto either, save under such provisions, limi­tations and terms as are agreed upon and expressed. By neither of which are the Kings of Great Britain, or their Subjects shut out, debarred or excluded, from Sayling into such Ports, Havens and places of America, and set­thing Plantations any where there, as either are not inhabited, or where the King of Spain is not in possession and occupation.

But to set this matter yet further in such a clear and distinct light, as that they who are the most Prepossessed and Prejudiced, may see, and be oblig'd to confess, that the Scots have proceeded in the whole affair of their Calidonian Settlement and Plantation, both ac­cording to the measures of Law, Justice and Equity, and with a full deference and respect unto, and an entire compliance with the Ar­ticles of the publick Treaties, and particularly of that of 1670: I shall call over the Heads [Page 155] of some of the Articles of that Treaty, and make those reflection upon them, which they do Naturally suggest and offer.

Whereas then it is Stipulated, agreed and provided by the Second Article, that there shall be a Firm and Vniversal Peace in America, as well as in other parts of the World, between the Kings of Great Britain and Spain, and be­tween the Kingdoms, States, Plantations, Co­lonies, Forts, Cities and Dominions which do belong to either of them, and between the People and Inhabitants under their respective Obedience, it doth from thence undeniably appear, that as both the Kings were set upon an equal foot, and did treat for themselves, and for the people, and Inhabitants that were under their respective Obedience, and no fur­ther nor for any other, so it is from thence no less evident, that all matters and things were left untouched, and undetermined, that did concern and relate unto such places and parts of America, as were either wholly void and not at all Inhabited, or that were inhabited on­ly by the Native Indians, which as that part of the Isthmus of Darien was, where the Scots have Landed, and are now begun to settle; so it doth in the way of necessary consequence from thence undeniably follow, that by the said Article, it remained Free and Lawful, either for them, or for any other of his Britannick Majesty's Subjects, so to do, and therefore that there neither is, nor can thereby any Violation, or Infraction be made of the Allian­ces, between the Crowns of Great Britain and of Spain. For in that the Right, Titles and Claims, of the Kings of Great Britain and [Page 156] Spain, are defined by and circumscribed unto such Regions, Territories, Plantations, Colo­nies, &c. as do severally and respectively, be­long to either of them, it is thereby made un­controlably Manifest, that neither of them, by that Treaty had any Rights and Claims granted, and allowed unto them in reference to any places in America, further than as they were possessed of them, and save as those pla­ces were in and under their actual occupation. And consequently that by the chief purport and design, and by the whole Tenor of the Treaty, it was left free for each, or either of them, to make new acquisitions, and to establish new Plantations in such parts and places of the West-Indies, whether upon the Continent, or in Islands, as were inhabited by the subjects of neither of the two Kings, but were either (as I have said) wholly void, or possessed by the Native Indians.

Moreover whereas it is Covenanted, adju­sted and provided by the Eighth Article, that the subjects of their Britannick Majesties, shall not Sail into, nor Trade in such Ports, Havens, &c. as do belong unto the Catholick King, unless with leave, and upon the terms which are there specified; it doth from thence evi­dently and unquestionably follow, that they are left at liberty to Sail into, and Trade in such other Ports and Places, as are not the King of Spain's. And therefore that the Port into which the Scots Sailed, and where they are establishing a Colony, being neither then, nor having been at any time since, in the possession of the Spaniards, they are in their having so done, altogether unaccusable of the being guilty [Page 157] of any crime or misdemeanor, or of having in the least transgressed against publick and solemn Treaties.

Further whereas it is concerted, and agreed by the same Article, that the Subjects of the King of England should not Sail into any Ports or Havens, that had Fortifications, Ma­gazins, or Warehouses possessed by the King of Spain, it may from thence be Apodictically Inferred and Concluded, that it continued Free and Lawful for them, to Sail into Ports, and to Trade, where there were no Fortifications, Magazins nor Warehouses at all, and much less any appertaining unto, or in the Possession of the King of Spain. Both which being unque­stionable with reference to Acla, and the Creeks, Ports, Harbours and Places adjacent thereunto, it may thereupon be Justly affir­med, and solidly concluded, that neither the Scots, nor any other of his Britannick Majesty's Subjects, were by that Treaty precluded and debarred from Landing, Trading and Settling there, and that the Scots thro' their having sit down, and become Planters in that place, are altogether innocent of the Infraction of any such Alliances.

Moreover, whereas it is agreed and provi­ded by the tenth Article, that in case the Ships that do belong to either of those Kings, or to the Subjects of either of them, shall by stress of Weather, or otherwise be forced into the Rivers, Creeks, Bays, or Ports belonging to the other in America, that thereupon they shall be received kindly, harbour safely, and be trea­ted with all Humanity and Friendship; it may from thence be inferred and deduced, that as [Page 158] both the Kings are thereby stated upon an e­qual bottom and foot, and the rights of both, and of each of them respectively are restri­cted and determined to particular Rivers, Creeks, Bays, &c. so it is also thereby mutu­ally confessed and acknowledged, that there are other and of all those several Kinds, in which neither of them have any Property, Interest or Concernment, and that it might be free for the Ships of either of them to Sail into such, and there to Anchor, and to furnish themselves with what they wanted, and the places affor­ded, and to continue there during their own Pleasure, and to do in such places, whatsoever they should judge to be for their Advantage and Interest, without incurring the imputation of being accounted injurious to one another, or of becoming liable to a charge and com­plaint against them, of having Violated Alli­ances. And by consequence, that the Port Acla being such, the Scots might Sail thither, land and settle there, without either asking leave of the Spaniards, or of becoming there­upon censurable by them, of having therein done any thing, that is either against the Laws of Nations, or an Infraction of Alliances and Treaties between the Crowns of Great Britain and Spain.

Again whereas it is Concerted and Stipula­ted in the Fifteenth Article, that Nothing in the said Treaty shall derogate from any Preheminence Right and Dominion of any of the Confederates in the American Seas, Channels or Waters, but that they shall have and re­tain the same in as full and ample manner, as may of right belong to them, with and [Page 159] under the provision, that Navigation shall not be disturb'd; I desire in reference to that Ar­ticle that it may be observ'd, how tho' the Crown of Spain having made a claim of Privi­lege, Pre-eminence and Jurisdiction in and o­ver the American-Seas, which was no ways granted and yielded unto them by the Crown of England, but the right in and over those Seas left in the same state that it was before; yet neither in that Article, nor in any other of the said Treaty, is there any claim of Ju­risdiction, Soveraignty or Dominion, made by the Spaniards, either over such parts of the Continent or of Islands, whereof neither they themselves were possess'd, nor a right of Pro­perty and Dominion in and over them, had been claimed by and granted to the English, of which omission of the Spaniards, there can be no other reason assign'd, but that they knew no claim of that Nature would have been al­low'd them; and that the very mentioning of it, would have occasion'd a formal, explicite, and stipulated Reduction and Restriction of the pretensions of Title and Right in America to the bounds and limits of what is actually occupy'd by them, which they were not willing to have decided and determin'd by an express Contract and Stipulation to the making and rectifying whereof there was their own con­currence and consent. Tho' in Fact no Na­tion will grant them a right of Property and Jurisdiction in and over more, nor have any European Princes whatsoever hitherto done it. I do the rather make this observation, in that a Claim of Jurisdiction and Soveraignty over Seas and Oceans, is more liable to exceptions, than [Page 160] a claim of Dominion over Lands, either upon Continents or Islands, in that it is universally granted, that Princes are capable of having their several just, supreme and divided Proper­ties in and over Lands, and withal as generally deny'd, that any Potentate whatsoever can right­fully claim a sole Property in and Jurisdiction over Seas, preclusive of the Rights of other Prin­ces to Sail and Navigate upon them.

Finally, there may be this one thing yet ad­ded, as an indisputable evidence, and a full confirmation, that there was no right of Pro­perty and Jurisdiction in and over any Lands, Territories or Districts, in America, granted in the Treaties either of 1667, or of 1670, by the King of Great Britain unto the Crown of Spain, save so far as the Spaniards were in actual Possession, in that the English have since those Treaties sit down upon that part of A­merica which is come to be call'd Pensilvania, and have there establish'd large and flourishing Colonies, and that without the Spaniards ha­ving once offer'd to complain of it as a violation of Treaties and Alliances▪ between the two Crowns.

Having fully vindicated the Scots Settlement at Darien, from the being either against the Laws of Nations, or in opposition to publick Treaties and Alliances, and having withal justi­fy'd them both as to the Fact, and with respect to the Steps and Methods, in which they begun and have promoted it, I know but of one thing, besides what hath been already con­sider'd, that can be reasonably alledg'd, against either the Justice or the Equity of it. Name­ly that the Spaniards have not only been esteem'd [Page 161] the Proprietors of that Isthmus by divers Eu­ropean Nations, but that they have been de­clar'd, as well as accounted, so by the English in two remarkable Instances. Whereof the First is, That several English Merchants, ha­ving agreed upon, and provided a Fund of set­tling a Plantation at Port-Royal in the Bay of Mexico, in order to the cutting of Logwood, were refus'd the support and protection of the Government for carrying it on, and only permitted to manage a Trade there at their own hazard and peril. And as for the Second, which comes closer to the Question which we have been debating, It is said that certain English-men having undertaken to settle in Da­rien, and brought the proposal of it before the Council of Trade of England, by whom it was laid before the Lords Justices in His Majesty's absence, and by them transmitted to the King Himself, how that after a mature considera­tion, it was judg'd and pronounc'd to be a Design and Project, that would be an encroach­ment upon Spain, and therefore let fall and a­bandon'd. And that the case of the Scots be­ing parallel to that it ought to meet with the like censure, and be judg'd invasive upon the Rights of the Spaniards.

All which tho' it hath been sufficiently both obviated and answer'd in what hath been al­ready said, yet in compassion as well as in condescension to the Infirmities and Weaknes­ses of the greatest part of Mankind, who suf­fer themselves to be impos'd upon and misled in their Opinions and Judgments, of Actions and Matters of all kinds, by trifling Reasons and Considerations of very little moment, [Page 162] especially when their Understandings have re­ceiv'd a wrong byass, and are previously too much over-rul'd by prepossessions and prejudi­ces arising from National Pique, or particular Envy; I shall offer several things in way of Reply to what is alledg'd, and bestow several Reflections upon it. Whereof some of them shall be more general respecting both the cases, and the rest particular relative unto each of them singly and apart. And tho' I shall behave my self in the whole with that Mode­sty and Deference towards His Majesty and them that have either had the universal Ad­ministration, or any part of it, as not to give the least occasion for censure or blame; yet I hope I may expect to be so far both indulg'd and justify'd in the Vindication of the legal and righteous Fact of a whole Kindom, as not from too much Pusilanimity on the one hand, or Sycophancy on the other, to suffer that Na­tion to lie under causeless suspicion of Inju­stice.

In the way therefore of a general Reply, I desire it may be observ'd, that as the senti­ments and opinions of no Body of Men what­soever, and much less of a few Individuals, are the Measures and Standards of Moral Right and Wrong, but that the Laws of Na­ture and Nations are; so the Acts and Pro­ceedings of the People of Great Britain are not to be finally decided and determin'd, with re­spect to their legality, or their illegality, and their being judg'd lawful or unlawful, before Civil Tribunals, and at Humane Benches, save by the acknowledg'd Laws of Nations and the respective Municipal Laws of the King­doms. [Page 163] For tho' the projecting or the acting disagreably to the Opinion of this or that Board, may in some cases prejudice the Un­dertakers and Doers; yet that singly, precise­ly, and abstractedly, doth neither render the Design nor the Execution of it, at all times, unwise, and much less at any time unlawful and unjust.

Nor is it moreover unworthy the being ta­ken notice of, That there is a great difference to be made between the discouraging a Pro­jection, while it is only in proposal and in Embryo, and the condemning and rescinding it, after it hath been put in Execution. Seeing by the first the Undertakers are only advis'd and caution'd, whereas by the last, they are not only disoblig'd and disgusted, but really prejudic'd and injur'd.

Further, There is likewise a great discri­mination to be made between what is advise­able at one season, and what is justifiable as well as prudential at another. For the exi­gencies which at one time we may be under, of having the favour and assistance of a neigh­bouring Nation, may render it impolitick to countenance that, which at another time, when we stand rescu'd from attendance to any other Measures, save those of Law, Justice and Truth, it▪ were both to abandon and sacrifice our In­terest to neglect it.

Further, The inhibiting of the Subjects of England, from proceeding in the foremention'd Designs, may have been founded upon such Motives and Reasons, as do no ways affect that, which the Scots have undertaken. Nor can the cases therefore be render'd parallel, [Page 164] unless the circumstances could be made appear to be equal: So that the Kingdom of Scot­land, being altogether ignorant of the Induce­ments upon which the Resolutions were ta­ken in the cases of those English-men, it is not to be expected, that their Cases should have been look'd upon by the Scots as presidents for their conduct, or that they should have go­vern'd themselves by any rules, save those of their own Interest and Profit, in subordination to the Laws of Nations, public Alliances, and the Municipal Statutes of that Kingdom.

Moreover, there is a great difference to be made between checking the Inclinations of a few private Men, who possibly might be rather designing their own personal advantage, than a National good; and the crossing the unani­mous Desires of a whole Kingdom, who as they knew the thing to be lawful in which they were engag'd, so they did believe, that the pursuing it was indispensably needful, in order to their Welfare and Prosperity.

Finally, whatsoever Authority His Majesty stands vested with, or whatsoever liberty his Ministers are allow'd to have in reference to affairs previously to Acts of Parliament con­cerning them, or in relation to Matters that do not directly fall under the Regulation of Laws and Statutes; yet they do become not only uncontrolable by them, but even are not to be superceded by His Majesty, after that they are once establish'd by Laws, and con­firm'd by Charters. For such things as are once made lawful by Acts of Parliament, are put out of the reach both of the King and of his Council, as to their considering afterwards whe­ther [Page 165] they be convenient. But having upon ano­toer occasion mention'd this before, I will not here insist upon it again.

And as for the particular Reflections, which I intend to make upon each of the Cases apart, I shall dispatch them with what expedition I can, and in the order that the Cases are laid down. In reference therefore to the first, which was the Council of England's discoura­ging such English Merchants, as had design'd to have settled at Port-Royal in the bottom of the Bay of Campeachy; I do say that there is no likeness, alliance or affinity, between what was intended to have been done by some Eng­lish there, and what is done by the Scots in the Isthmus of Darien. In that the Bay of Campea­chy, lying in the Province of Nicaragua, within the Diocess of Stiapa; which Dominion and Bishoprick, being part of the ancient Em­pire of Mexico, which the Spaniards conquer'd after their usual way of Killing the Inhabitants, and converting the Land to their own use, and unto which they have been confess'd to have a right by Prescription, can be no parallel unto, nor bear any similitude with that of the Isth­mus of Darien, where the Scots have establish'd their Colony of Calidonia; seeing as the Isthmus was never any part either of the Mexi­can or the Peruvian Empires; so that particu­lar District of the Isthmus, where the Scots have begun to settle a Plantation, was never subdu'd by the Spaniards, nor did the Natives at any time acknowldege their having Jurisdiction o­ver them. So that tho' for the English to have settled in the Bay of Mexico, might be ac­counted an Encroachment upon the Right of the [Page 166] Spaniards, yet it can no ways from thence follow, that for the Scots to settle at Acla, which had never been subdu'd or possess'd by the Spaniards, is to be held an Invasion upon any of the Terri­tories, or an Encroachment upon the Rights of the Spanish Crown.

Moreover, for the Council of England to have given permission to the English Subjects to Sail unto, and to stay and cut Logwood in the Bay of Campeachy, without the leave and consent of the Spaniards, was a greater encroachment upon the Rights of His Catholick Majesty, than it would be to have the Scots authorized and justified in their erecting a Colony on that part of the Isthmus where they landed and are sit down. Seeing it is contrary to all the Measures both of Justice and Amity, for a Government to connive at an Invasion upon the Dominions of a Prince, in whom a Title, Jurisdiction and Property are allow'd to stand vested in and o­ver those Territories; whereas it interferes with no rules of Law, Equity or Friendship, for a Government to authorize and empower its Subjects to plant in a place where that Prince was never acknowledg'd (nor justly could be) to have a Soveraignty or Right.

Further, whatsoever the opinion of the Court and Council of England may have been as to the Spaniards having such a Right to the Bay of Campeachy, as doth debar and preclude all others from coming thither, without obtaining of leave from the Spaniards; yet there are o­ther Courts in the World, who have thought that it was free for them to settle in that Bay, without a Grant and Concession from the Crown of Spain, whereof there needed no other in­stances [Page 167] to be assigned, but that of the French, who have several times been endeavouring to have settled on the River de Spiritu Sancto in that Bay, and who are at this time designing to establish a Colony on the River Mischasipe upon the Mexican Gulph.

Finally whatsoever the Council of England, might have said to those English Merchants, for discouraging their settling at Port Royal in the Bay of Mexico; yet it is unquestiona­bly certain, that the project of the English for settling and cutting Logwood there, ob­tained and took effect, in that they have had for several years, Logwood in that place ap­propriated unto them, which they have cut and brought home for the accommodating of English Dyers.

And as to the Second Case, concerning the Prohibition of those English Merchants and Traders, to settle in Darien, whose Proposals for the establishing a Plantation in that part of America, had been laid before the King, as well as the Lords Justices, I shall in the first place declare, that the circumstances of that being wholly unknown to me, I shall not assume the Confidence, to pronounce any thing posi­tively in reference to the particular grounds and reasons, of the Opinion and Judgment of his Majesty, the Lords Justices, and the Council about it, only it may not only be conjectured, but affirmed with Confidence, that the forbidding all proceedings in that enter­prize, was upon Motives of State, rather than of Justice, and that it was done because of the Inconveniencies, which at that Juncture might have ensued; and not by reason of the [Page 168] illegality of it. For as the Proposal was made at a time, when we were in Confederacy with the Crown of Spain, for the carrying on a War against a Great and Powerful Monarch, and as the Spanish Dominions were the chief seats of the War, and the Ports and Havens of Spain absolutely needful, as well as ex­treamly useful, for the management of our Commerce in the Mediteranean and Levant, so the preserving of Spain firmly in the Alliance, was upon many other accounts, (which I shall not enumerate) indispensably necessary, both for the upholding of the War, and in order to the success of it, in favour of the Allies in general, and particularly of Great Britain. So that upon whatsoever political Inducements, that proposal was discountenanced, and re­jected, yet I may venture to affirm, that it was not upon the foot and motive of the Spa­niards having a right and property in, and a Soveraignty and Jurisdiction over, the whole Isthmus of Darien.

For as that would have been an acting in direct opposition, to the general Foundation and Principle, which both the English and all European Nations proceed upon, in their esta­blishing of Colonies in the West-Indies, and in Justification of the rightful and legal Domi­nion, that they have over the Lands, Territories, Provinces, Islands, which they have acquired there: Namely that no ones right in that part of the World, doth extend beyond possession and occupation; so it were to have debarred and shut out, the English as well as all other Europeans, not only from erecting new Colonies in those places of America, where the Spani­ards [Page 169] are in the possession, and have the Domi­nion; but from settling any New Plantations in such parts of the West-Indies, where the Na­tives are the sole Soveraigns and Occupiers. Which is a thing both so absurd in it self, and so directly opposite to the Interest, Pros­perity and Honour of England, that it were to entertain an opinion inconsistent with good Manners, so much as once to imagine, that either the King, the Lords Justices, or any English Ministers of State, should be so weak and imprudent, and so neglectful of the Welfare and Glory of Great Britain, as ei­ther to fall into such a pernicious measure of themselves, or to be dup'd into it by o­thers.

Moreover to have been influenced to reject the foresaid Proposal, upon the reasons and motives of the Spaniards, having an Univer­sal and a Sole Right in the Isthmus, would have been to have acted in the highest way of In­justice to the Natives, thro' the ejecting them out of their Property and Jurisdiction in and over those Lands and Territories, whereof they are both the legal and rightful owners, and the alone occupiers and possessors, to a great extent of ground upon that Straight, and thro' the vesting the Property and Dominion in the Spaniards, who have no Title or Claim to a great part of those Territories, either by conquest or the consent of the Indians. Nor can any thing more disgraceful and un­righteous, as well as undecent and unman­nerly be conceived of his Majesty, and of those that are in the Administration, than that they should act upon an Inducement, that would [Page 170] import a robbing of the rightful Proprietosr of their Inheritances, and a deposing of here­ditary and legal Governours, from their Lord­ships and Jurisdictions, to place; and settle them in others to whom they do no ways apper­tain.

Finally, should we suppose his Majesty, and the Lords Justices to have Prohibited the fore­said English Merchants and Traders to settle upon the Isthmus of Darien, because it would have been an encroachment upon the rights of the King of Spain; we must be obliged to add, that they therein acted incongruously to the measures of other Princes and civil Ministers, who have been both encouraging and endea­vouring the Planting of Colonies upon or near to that Isthmus, with the consent of the Natives, without the least respect had to the Claim and Title of his Catholick Majesty, whereof having given an instance before, I shall not here repeat it.

So that having represented and finished, what­soever I account needful to be said for Justi­fying the Scots Settling a Colony at Darien to be according to the Laws of Nations, and agreea­ble to all the measures of Justice and Friend­ship, and not to be an Usurpation upon the right of the King of Spain nor to interfer with any Alliances between his Britannick Ma­jesties, and the Catholick King; and having vin­vicated that Fact of theirs, from all the excep­tions which are made either against the lawful­ness, or the friendliness of it; It will now be a piece of prudence, as well as of decency to bespeak the favour and assistance of the Parlia­ment and People of England, for their being sup­ported [Page 171] and protected in that undertaking. Nor shall I so much endeavour to perswade and influ­ence them thereunto upon the Motives of genero­sity and Kindness, as upon the Inducements that they will find the doing it, to be greatly for the advantage of the Crown and Subjects of England. For as much might be expected to be done in behalf of the Scots by that powerful and opulent Nation, upon the reason of their being not only Neighbours to one another upon the same Island, and under the Soveraignty and Go­vernment of one and the same Monarch; but because of the many Offices of Councel and Aid, which they have since the Union of the two Crowns, mutually render'd to one another; and that the Kingdom of Scotland in particular, hath espoused the concerns of England in a way of Singular Amity and with extraordinary fi­delity and zeal, whensoever they have seen them involved under difficulties and dangers; so that which is now desired from the English towards the Scots is not near what the Ancestors of the former have render'd unto those of the latter heretofore, In that besides their having had the Counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, and West­morland several times granted and confirmed un­to them, to be held in Fee of the Crown of Eng­land, in recompence for the Services and assi­stances which they had yielded unto the Eng­lish, in their distresses: We are assured by an English Writer, that it was provided for in a course of Law under the Reign of Edward the Confessor, that the Scots should be held Deni­zons of England and enjoy the same privileges with themselves, because of the Aid which they had render'd to that Kingdom against the [Page 172] Danes and Norwegians. But I shall chuse to wave the laying the recollection and considera­tion of all or of any of these before them, which touch upon the head of gratitude, and shall think it more advisable to address them by other Topicks, namely by those that shall refer to the Benefits of Strength, Riches, and Honour, which will thereby accrue, and redound unto the King­dom of England.

For how mighty and wealthy soever, the Na­tion must in truth stand acknowledged to be, yet it must also be confess'd, that under the great variety and plenty of Natural and Arti­ficial productions, which their own Country and the Dominions thereunto belonging do afford, they have not the advantage of being furnish'd with Gold and Silver Mines, which yield the Metal and Bullion that make the Funds of Trade, raise the Bulworks of safety, admini­ster the Supplies of plenty and pleasure in peace, and enableth to muster Armies, and equip Fleets in times of War. And tho' it is not to be denyed, but that by means of their Manu­factures, and by reason of their Industry and their application unto, and skill in the manage­ment of a large and universal Commerce, they have a great Share of the Treasures of the Spa­nish West-Indies flowing annually unto them; yet it is with great hazard, at much expence, and after having been long out of their princi­pal, that they become possest of it in those me­thods. And it is also demonstrable, that a much greater proportion of Gold and Silver will both come into private Banks, and into the pub­lic Exchequer of England, by the Scots having such Mines within the bounds of their Colony [Page 173] of Darien, than hitherto hath, or ever can, in the ways of meer Commerce with the Spaniards.

Nor ought it here to be omitted, that the Mines in the occupation of the Spaniards in that part of Darien, which lie nearest, to the plan­tation of Caledonia, and in which they work at present, do so abound in the very Oare of Gold, that every Negro whom they employ, is bound to gain daily to his Master,See Dalby Thomas's Historical account of the West-Indie Colo­nies p. 17. and 18. as much as doth a­mount after it is refined to thirty Lewis d'ors: whereas such as are employed in the English American Sugar Plantations, which are reckoned to be the most profitable of any they have, do not after all the expence upon them in their food, cloaths, and other accommodations, earn a­bove one hundred pound Sterling gain a head per annum to their Master, which is not near so much in a whole year, as the other bringeth in per week.

And as the Goods and Commodities sent out of England to Spain, which bring them returns in Gold and Silver, will be transmitted imme­diately to Darien with more speed, and at less expence, as well as hazard, than they go now to the Spanish Colonies in America, by making the Tower of Cadiz, Malaga and Sevil; and the profit thereupon be much the greater to the English Merchants; so a good part of the Treasure which cometh directly into Scotland, upon the alone and single ac­count of the Caledonian Company, will in di­vers ways so circulate, as to come at last to cen­ter in England. Seeing besides what must ne­cessarily flow in thither in payments, both for what of their own productions, and what of Foreign goods that have been first imported [Page 174] to England, will be called for and purchased by the Scots, it is not to be imagined how much will come to be brought in, and spent there in ways of Diversion and Pleasures by all sorts of people of Scotland, and especially by the Nobility and Gentry.

For as it is too well Known, that the ge­nerality of the Scots, whose circumstances do quality them for and allow it, have much in them of the humour and even Vanity of Tra­velling, and are inclinable enough to spend in proportion to the quantity of their Cash; so thro' London's being the Metropolitical Seat of the Government, and the place where the King has his residence, the Court is kept, and all grand Affairs of State, as well as ma­ny of the most important concerns of parti­cular men are transacted, they will be certain to come thither in far greater Numbers than they now do; some out of Courtship, and o­thers in complyance with the exigency of their affairs, and all of them maintain a Port, and live at a Charge answerable to the weight and depth of their pockets. Which will not only be of great profit and advantage to the Northern roads, thro' which they must go and return, and of divers other parts of the King­dom to which their Pleasure, Health or Cu­riosity may tempt them, but especially it will be of great advantage to London, seeing besides what they will spend during their Residence, and in the making a figure, while they are there, they will also furnish themselves in that Metropolis with such accoutrements of State, and provisions of houshold furniture, as they shall esteem to be needful either for their gran­deur, [Page 175] or their conveniency when they go home.

Moreover it is not to be questioned, but that the English, upon very easy and Honoura­ble terms and conditions, may be admitted in­to a Partnership in the Plantation, and into a share of Trade with the Scots. Which as it will draw a considerable part of all that is either Dug out of Mines, or that is otherwise produced within the District of that Colony, as well as of whatsoever shall accrue to the Com­pany, by a Traffick drove at Darien, directly and immediately into England; so it will both greatly enlarge the Trade and Commerce of England, and mightily encrease their Wealth. For as the Scots were so neighbourly and kind upon the enacting of the Law, for the establishment of a Company, for Trading to Africa and the Indies, as to make the first Offer to the English of Joining in the Subscrip­tions to a Stock and Fund, so as to become Partners with them in any Plantation they should settle, and in whatsoever they should acquire; so it may not only be hoped, but confidently affirmed, that they will not now be opposite, nor averse, to the receiving them upon such terms, as may be safe and credita­ble to both Kingdoms. Nor can the Parliament of England, in their approaching Session, fall upon any matter, that will be of more National con­cernment, or from which more benefit will arise to the Government and people of Eng­land, than to consider and advise, how the Kingdoms may become so Incorporated with re­spect to that Colony, as that upon a congress between Commissioners, authorized respective­ly [Page 176] by both Nations to treat and agree about it, the terms upon which the English shall be admitted sharers in it, as well as the degree measure and proportion of Interest in it, which they shall be received into, may be Adjusted, Defined and Stipulated.

Further it is not unworthy to be observed that the French, as well as the Dutch, being grown mighty in Naval Power, and both of them, but especially the latter, the Rivals of England, not only in Traffick and Commerce, but with respect to the prescribing unto others, what shall be the terms of Navigating the Seas, and what Ceremonies of respect, Ships of War, as well as of Trade, shall pay to one another wheresoever they come to en­counter in Sailing; how that thereupon it is become the true Interest of England, to have Scotland advanced into such a state and condi­tion, as that it may be able to provide, Equip and Maintain, good Squadrons of Men of War. Which as it cannot be done with­out their attainment unto a considerable Fo­reign Trade; so they may be enabled speedi­ly to effect it, by means of their Colony at Darien, provided they be supported in it. And as Scotland, upon their being in a condition to send out a Warlike Fleet of their own, will in case of a War against Great Britain, save England the trouble and charge of maintain­ing Men of War on the Coast of Scotland, for covering that Nation from Invasion, as it hath several times both lately, and more Ancient­ly been forced to do; so it may with confi­dence be affirmed, that neither France nor Hol­land will be very forward to quarrel with England, [Page 177] when beside their own great Naval Power, they will have a considerable Marine Strength from Scotland, ready at all times to joyn and assist them. And should it so fall out, that a War is not with Honour and Safety to be a­voided between Great Britain and either of those Nations, which is so far from being im­possible, that it lies within a probable view, Scotland thro' having a potent Naval Power of its own, will upon a conjunction in that case of its Strength with England, give the King of Great Britain such a Superiority over his Ene­mies in Number and Force of Ships, as may in the ordinary course of Providence, render him unquestionably victorious, which will re­dound chiefly to the Profit and Glory of Eng­land.

Nor will they only in such case be in a con­dition both to protect their own Trade, and to assist the English with a Squadron of Stout Men of War towards the encreasing of the Royal Navy; but they will by reason of the Situation of their Country, and the conveni­ency of their Ports, be able to cover and de­fend the trading Ships of England to­wards the East, and to secure their Naviga­tion to Hamburgh, Swedeland, Denmark, Poland, Muscow, Greenland, &c. which is very needful to be kept safe, because of the Pitch, Tarr, Canvass, Timber, as well as of divers other Commodities, which are brought from those Parts, whereof several, if not most of them, are indispensibly necessary for the building, re­pairing, and equipping of Ships of all sorts, and cannot be so well had in other places.

[Page 178] Further, The more Rich and Opulent that the Scots do grow, which they will speedily do, by the Gold and Silver which will be dug out of the Mines of Darien, and by the Profits that will accrue from such other Productions, as that Territory where they are so planted doth afford, they will thereby be in the better State and Condition for granting larger sup­plies to the Crown, than they hitherto could; and thereupon administer ground, as well as occasion, for greatly lessening and moderating the Charge, which England, even in times of Peace, but especially of War, hath heretofore been necessitated unto.

And whereas the Scots have been at all times able, and thereof given abundant proof du­ring the late War, to raise and muster great Numbers of as brave and well-disciplin'd For­ces, as any Nation of the World can afford; yet by reason of their Penury, which is a con­sequence and effect of their want of Foreign Trade, and of Colonies in those parts of the Earth, from which the great Wealth doth arise and flow into European Countries, which their Plantation at Darien will soon cure, remedy and relieve them against, they could not grant Taxes, nor advance Money that would have been sufficient for the Maintaining and Paying of their Troops, but there was a necessity of putting them upon the English Establishment, which was in part an occasion, both of those excessive impositions of all kinds, which Eng­land became indispensibly oblig'd to fall into the projection and enacting of; and of those incredible Debts which it hath contracted, doth lye under, and cannot speedily redeem it self [Page 179] from. For seeing the Kingdom of England, how plentifully soever it be furnish'd with Men, and able to bring into the Field very numerous, as well as admirable Forces, could not have rais'd within it self that vast proportion of Military Troops, which were thought needful to be kept on foot during the late War, which made it to receive and maintain so many thou­sand of Scots Forces; will it not therefore be of great advantage upon any Stress or Exi­gency of the like Nature hereafter, to have the same or a greater proportion of Scots Forces to join them, and to come in to their assistance, without England's becoming oblig'd either to subsist or to pay them? and instead of having them upon Loan, and at a great ex­pence of English Treasure, to obtain them as a Quota, which their Neighbours and Friends will not only at all times be ready to grant and advance, but to maintain at their own charges. And as it may be affirm'd under all the moral certainty imaginable, that the Scots thro' their being upheld and defended in their Calidonian Colony, will, in a few years, be ren­der'd able, and will be found ready and for­ward to come into those Measures of Con­junction and Union of Forces with England, in all such Foreign Wars wherein they shall at any time embark; so it may from thence be inferr'd, that it is the true Interest of the Par­liament and People of England, to have the Scots not only preserved and protected in the en­joyment of their Plantation in Darien, but to give them all the countenance and aid which they can, against such, whosoever they be, [Page 180] that shall attempt either the troubling of them there, or the driving them from thence.

Moreover, it might be represented and shew'd at large, how much it will be to the advantage of England, both with respect to their Plantations in the West-Indies, and their own general growth and encrease in Trade, and the rendring their whole Traffick and Commerce more secure and profitable than it has been, to have the Scots upheld in the possession which they have obtain'd upon the foremention'd American Isthmus, and that they be successful and prosperous in the improvement and fur­ther extension of their Colony. But having said enough in a former Paragraph, for the demon­strating of that beyond the being either de­ny'd or contradicted, and the matter being obvious to all Men, who are capable of think­ing rationally and to any useful purposes, and it being withal a Topick, which every little and common Writer upon this Subject, will not fail (thro' inability to enlarge and em­ploy their Conceptions about other things re­lative hereunto) to make their best and utmost of; I shall therefore decline the re-assuming the consideration of that Head again here, and shall address to the representation of one Me­dium of Argumentation, whereby it will apo­dictically appear to be the Interest of England, to have the Scots preserved and defended in their Settlement at Darien.

Namely, That the conveniency of that place for an European Plantation, being now better understood than it was before, and the won­derful Profits and Advantages that will flow from and accrue by it, being more fully ap­prehended [Page 181] and more clearly discerned, than e­ver they were; it will thereupon follow and ensue, That should the Scots be drove from thence, the Subjects of some other Prince or State, besides the Spaniards will possess them­selves of it. Which whosoever it be, will be of fatal consequence to England, as well as rui­nous to Scotland. Nor dare I entertain so un­worthy and dishonourable an Opinion of the English Nation, nor shew my self so ungrate­ful to a Kingdom, unto which I owe more Thankfulness, Service and Duty, than ever I can be capable of paying, as once to imagine, that they themselves will be so unjust, as well as unkind, either clandestinely and by conni­vance, to be accessary to the wresting of that Plantation out of the possession of the Scots; or so ungentile as well as unfriendly, as sin­gly and alone, or in conjunction and confede­racy with others, to drive and compel them from thence by force. Seeing as endeavours and attempts of those kinds, would not only appear so shamefully scandalous to all the sober, wise and righteous part of Mankind, that the greatest part of the World would reproach them for the Treachery and Wickedness, as well as for the Imprudence and Folly of it, but it would beget that bitter and implaca­ble hatred in the Scots Nation against England, as would excite and kindle those Desires and Flames of Revenge, as no length of time will ever allay, nor the Authority of any Prince entit'led to both the Crowns, be able to ex­tinguish or to prevent the fatal consequen­ces of.

[Page 182] And tho' the Power and Strength of Scot­land may be look'd upon with Derision and Contempt, when compar'd with the Force and Might of England; yet should first Wrath, and then War arise between these two Nations, it may be easily foretold, without pretending to a Spirit of Prophecy, that it will be mis­chievous beyond expression to both, tho' in the issue it may prove more ruinous to the one than to the other. Nor is it possible to be avoided, but that a quarrel rais'd between the King­doms upon that motive and account, will produce the like, if not more dismal effects, than the War in the Reign of Edward I.Vid. Buch. Hist. lib. 8. did, where­of a judicious Historian hath left this wise and memorable Observation, that Angliam vehemen­ter concussit, & Scotorum nomen fere delevit; It wonderfully shook and weaken'd England, and al­most exterminated the very Name of the Scots.

And this is so obvious to be foreseen and discern'd by any Man, that gives himself the freedom of thinking, especially considering the present circumstances of England, with respect to its no less potent than envious Enemies a­bout it, as well as upon other accounts, which I decline the mentioning of, that it will neither be undecent, nor savour of undue boldness, to say that whosoever shall advise the appli­cation of the power of England for driving the Scots out of Darien, can design no less, than either the ruine of the Nations by one another, or the making them when divided and weaken'd a prey unto those who long to subdue and destroy both. But as England is a Nation of more Honour and Justice, than from their own inclination and choice, to come in­to [Page 183] to such a design against the Scots; so they are a more sagacious and wise People, than either to consent unto, or to connive at their being wheedled and drawn into it by o­thers.

So that the Scots having no ground or rea­son for apprehensions and fears, that the Eng­lish will directly or indirectly concur and assist to their being expell'd from thence, nor I hope supinely and tamely look on until it be effe­cted: All the jealousie and dread is, that either the French or the Dutch may co-operate and contribute towards it; or at least that in case the Spaniards alone should be in a condition to accomplish it, thro' the Scots wanting, and being refus'd sufficient and seasonable support, one of these Nations, who are both so potent in Land Forces and Fleets of War; should by way of after game, make it their business to get into possession of it. And under the power of which of these two Nations soever it shall chance to fall, it will be of equal, but of very fatal consequence, even to England.

For suppose that the Dutch, who are a Peo­ple that do extraordinarily well understand their Interest, and who never miss the going into all the Measures and Methods whereby they may promote it; (witness their Conduct and Management not many years ago at Ban­tam, and if we will believe a sort of ill-natur'd Men among our selves, their coming there­upon into the late Revolution here in England, not so much out of kindness either to our Religion or Laws, as to prevent King James's revenging that action upon them,) I say sup­pose that they upon the Scots being ex­pell'd [Page 184] from Darien, should find themselves able, as undoubtedly they are willing, to settle a Colony there, the consequences thereof towards England are at present as obvious, as they will hereafter be infallibly fatal and ruinous.

For besides the advantage that such a Plan­tation will give them, of engrossing and mo­nopolizing in a little time unto themselves the whole Trade of the East-Indies, China, and Japan, as well as most of the American Traffick, especially that which is mainly profitable of it: they will moreover by that addition of Wealth to the Treasure, which they have al­ready, which the Gold and Silver Mines of Da­rien will inconceivably and speedily yeild them, be not only in a condition to give Laws to all Europe, and become the sole Arbiters of Af­fairs in these parts of the World, but they will be able, if they have a mind to it, and it is neither wise, nor will it be safe to lie at their discretion, to rob England both of the the Soveraignty of the Narrow-Seas, and of the freedom of Navigation into any places of the Baltick, the Mediterranean, or else­where, save as they shall be pleas'd to per­mit and licence them. But tho' this be a Subject worthy to be enlarg'd upon, and that deserveth to have an ample detale given of it, and which withal it were not difficult to do in a manner that might awaken England out of its drousie and lethargical Temper, yet for reasons which need not to be told, but may readily be guess'd at, I shall not at this time, nor in this place, prosecute it any fur­ther.

[Page 185] However should the Dutch, upon Motives which may lie before them, and whereof we can have no information, decline interposing in that affair, either as to the encouraging of the Spaniards to drive the Scots out of Darien, or the endeavouring to establish a Colony there themselves, in case they should be expell'd; yet who knoweth but that the French may co-operate towards the first in order to their obtaining and compassing of the latter; which will be as mischievous, if not much more, in the effects and consequences of it to England, than if it should fall under the power, and come into the possession of the Hollanders. And we have the more reason to be appre­hensive, that the French have some such design, if we do but observe how jealous and impor­tunate they have been and still are in their offers of assistance to the Spaniards, for the dislodging of the Scots; which every wise and thinking Man must believe to be done in pro­spect of advantage to accrue unto themselves, rather than of any benefit which they intend shall result thereby to the Spaniards. Nor do I think it needful to give along deduction of the mischiefs that may, and which in all pro­bability will ensue, upon the Settlement of a Colony on the Isthmus of Darien by the French, to the affecting of all Europe, and particular­ly the Kingdom of England, they being so ob­vious that they cannot escape the views of any who have Eyes to see, and will but vouchsafe to open them. Nevertheless in order to the awakening thoughts in such, who do not ex­ercise themselves in Speculations of this kind, I shall very briefly intimate a few things, [Page 186] which carry their own evidence along with them.

Namely, that should the French become pos­sest of any part of Darien, and especially of that where the Scots have erected their Cali­donian Colony, they would thereby be wonder­fully enabled, both to disturb the Trade of England in all their West-India Plantations, and for making encroachments upon them, in their best and most profitable Colonies. And if what the Author of an Essay upon ways and means, See Dis­courses on the publick Revenues p. 116, 117. doth say of the danger and damage that by the French settling at Meschasipi, will arise to England, with respect to their American Traf­fick and Plantations, deserveth serious conside­ration, as undoubtedly it doth; much more is their establishing themselves upon the Isthmus, to be for the same motives and reasons seasonably thought of and prevented.

Moreover it may be very rationally affir­med, that were the French once possessed of such a considerable Port in Darien as Port Acla is, they would not long continue contented with that, but would be endeavouring to en­large their Acquisition and Jurisdiction over the whole Ishhmus, which as it would lay the Foundation of their becoming Powerful o­ver the Northern Ocean, and afford them won­derful means and opportunities of extending their Trade, to the East-Indies, China and Ja­pan, and of getting in a great measure to be Masters of the rich and beneficial Commerce, that is carried on and managed by Europeans in those parts of the World; so it would infallibly put them into a capacity and con­dition, of gaining in a very little time the [Page 187] Soveraignty both of Mexico and Peru. It be­ing both certain and evident beyond all deni­al, that with fewer than ten Thousand well disciplined Troops, they may wrest both those Empires from the Crown of Spain, as also whatsoever they do Possess besides upon the American Continent. Seeing as the apparent weakness of the Spaniards there is such, that they will not be able to withstand the Impres­sion, and attacks of a few Battallions of good Military and Regular Forces;See Gage's new Sur­vey of the West-In­dies of the Edition 1699. p. 20. so it is Morally certain, that they will have the aid and assi­stance of the Criolians (who are such as are born in America of Spanish Parents) as well as of those, who are of the race of the old Native Indians, to rescue those Countries and Provinces from under the Power and Do­minion of the Crown of Spain. Which how fatal it would be to the European Princes and States, as well as ruinous to the Spanish Mo­narchy, I need not be at the pains to represent and prove.

Further should the French become once posses­sed of any part of Darien, and obtain the occupa­tion of the Gold and Silver Mines which are there, it would after that be in vain to contest or withstand their Pretension of succeeding to the Crown of Spain, and of the Dominions thereunto belonging. For as the House of Bourbon, hath a great deal to alledge in Justi­fication of its Right and Title, of Succession to that Monarchy, should his present Catho­lick Majesty die, without Issue, as he is like to do, and as they have already powerful Forces for the seconding and making good their Claim, so it is beyond contradiction that [Page 188] were they once Masters of those Mines, which lie within the District where the Scots have their Calidonian Colony, it would after that be impossible to defeat and prevent them in their pretensions, seeing they would not on­ly thereby be in a condition to possess them­selves with ease of the many and Rich Pro­vinces which the Spanish Crown hath in Ame­rica; but they would be furnished with a Fund of Treasure for the payment of all those numerous Troops without burden to their Subjects, which they shall think needful to keep on foot in Europe, for the asserting of their Right of succession to that Monarchy. And I may Justly as well as boldly say, that the single supporting of the Scots in their set­tlement at Darien, will be more subservient and effectual for the obstructing of the French in that design, than all the Alliances that can be made in Europe against it, will in the Issue and Event signifie, without the preserva­tion of that Colony. And indeed God in his wise Providence, seems to have adjusted the Scots settling there at this Juncture, in order to be a means and expedient of obstructing the French from succeeding in their pretension, if others will have but eyes to see it, and prudence to make use of it.

Finally it is not unworthy the being con­sidered, what Jealousies all Nations in this Eu­ropean part of the World have of late en­tertained, and what a general belief they have imbibed, as if the French were aspiring after an Vniversal Monarchy. And was not the fear of this on the one hand, and the obviating it on the t'other, the pretended reasons of the [Page 189] late Confederacy, and of the War that pro­ved so Bloody and Expensive, which tho' they may be thought to have given some check and interruption unto it, yet they are far from having either made the French deposite the thoughts of it, or from having so weakned and disabled them, as to render the prosecution and compassing thereof Impracticable. Yea I may venture upon all the Topicks of Reason, and Politicks, to pronounce that it is Impossible to hin­der and disappoint it, may they be but connived at, in the obtaining the possession of the Gold and Silver Mines, which lie in the Neighbourhood, and within the District of the Calidonian Colo­ny. Whereas if the Scots be protected and upheld in it, there will those Treasures flow from thence into Britain, as will so enrich his Majesties Exchequer, that he may not only make his own Dominion the happiest and most opulent in the World, and put the ba­lance of the Trade of the whole Universe in­to their hands; but render himself and his Successors, the unquestionable Arbiters of all affairs and transactions, within the limits of the European Dominions, and give him the glo­ry of saving all Europe, from the Deluge and Inundation of a French Conquest.

Whereunto let me in the next place be al­low'd to subjoin, that in case Scotland should be able of it self to defend and maintain their Colony against the machinations and assaults of the Spaniards, without the assistance and support of England, as it is hoped they may, that the English will not only lose the Honour and Thanks of it, with all the Privileges and Ad­vantages which thro' countenancing and aiding [Page 190] of them they might have been partakers of, as well as have been secur'd of the perpetual Friendship of that Nation, and upon all occa­sions experienc'd the happy effects of it; so it can give no just offence to such of the King­dom of England as are endow'd with Wis­dom and Understanding to have it plainly laid before them, that if Scotland find it self too weak to withstand the Forces of the Crown of Spain, and of such as may joyn their Power with that of the Catholick King for dislodg­ing of them, and in the mean time find them­selves abandon'd by England, how that in such a case, it is greatly to be fear'd that they may call in some Neighbouring Monarch or State to their Succour and Support, tho' the doing it will infallibly be reckon'd, and deservedly too, a trespass against their Allegiance, Fealty and Loyalty. And the Scots being naturally a warm People, too much verifying the Pro­verb, that Scotorum ingenia sunt fervida, which vulgarly goes of them, they may the sooner be hurry'd into such an irregular and unlawful course, by reflecting, that since both the Na­tions came under one Soveraign, they are both much less esteemed by the English, and enjoy fewer Privileges in England, than in times of Peace between the Crowns they did before. Whereof the reason is obvious; namely, that England being the powerful and opulent Na­tion, and having the King Resident among them, they do thereby the more easily influ­ence him to be kinder to them than to the Scots. For tho' I hope that they will never be tempted to run into such a Method, and do also heartily wish, that no provocations may [Page 191] force them upon it, yet whosoever will either consider, the Nature and Temper of Mankind, and make reflections upon Late, as well as upon more Ancient Precedents, may find matter of apprehension and jealousie administred unto them, that it is so far from being impossible they should do so, that it rather looks like a moral certainty, that it will come to pass. There being nothing more natural, as well as usual, than for Communities and Nations, as well as for individual and particular Men, when either unkindly treated by their Friends, or di­stressed by their Enemies, to seek for succour and relief wheresoever they can obtain it. And to cite the Testimonies and Examples that do aver and confirm this, would be both to tran­scribe a considerable part of the Histories of all Ages, and to give the Detale and Memoirs of the behaviour of vast numbers of private Persons. Nor doth it in such a case come much under Peoples consideration how far such a procedure will be accounted Criminal, and the Authors of it held impeachable; Interest in such circumstances out balancing Duty, and present inconveniencies stifling Fears, with re­spect to what may be future. Nor is it un­worthy of remark what Mr. Littleton, Brother to this present Speaker, broadly insinuates con­cerning Barbados, See the Groans of the Plan­tations. when he, as well as that whole Plantation, thought themselves severely dealt with by the Government and Kingdom of Eng­land; namely, that it was to be dreaded, least under such discouragements, they should be tempted to run into Merthods, that would be as irreconcilable to their Loyalty, as they would [Page 192] be contrary to their Inclinations, unless they were forc'd upon them.

And as it is firmly to be believ'd, that the Dutch, or any of the Northern Crowns, if ap­ply'd unto by the Scots, and their aid crav'd, would be ready to own and espouse their con­cern; so it is to be apprehended and fear'd in more special manner, least under such me­lancholy menacing and distressful circumstan­ces, they should not make their address unto, and put themselves under the protection of France. Seeing besides the agreeableness in temper and humour, between the Scots and the French, more than between any two Na­tions in Europe, the old Affinity that was be­twixt them, and the benefits which redoun­ded mutually to each of them by it, are not wholly forgotten. For as the Ancient Alli­ance of Scotland with France, and the many brave Troops wherewith upon all occasions they supplyed the French, were the unhappy means of the English losing all those Noble Provin­ces, and vast Territories, whereof they were once rightfully possessed in France, so the Scots are upon every unkind carriage of England to­wards them, but too apt to remember the Honours and opulent Fortunes, which di­vers of them attained unto during their long and faithful league with the French. Nor have they reason much to question, but should they renew their old Confederacy with France, and call for assistance from thence, the whole King­dom of Scotland, would be soon reinstated there in all the ancient Privileges and Immunities, which were enjoyed by them heretofore, and not only such who are chiefly concerned in [Page 193] the business of Darien, become liberally rewar­ded and recompenced for throwing themselves into the arms of the French; but such as are of the chief and first Rank of their Nobility, would be courted to accept General-Commands, Mareschal-Staffs, Ducal-Coronets, and Annual Pensions, answerable to those of Princes of the Blood, which their Ancestors formerly had.

Nor ought it to be over-look'd, how the Scots even since their Vnion with England un­der one and the same King, have without the knowledge of His Britannick Majesty, sought the Protection of France, when they conceiv'd themselves in danger of being Invaded by Eng­land. It being too well known to admit of contradiction, that when King Charles I. was advised and influenc'd to make War upon them, for their withstanding what they call'd Invasion upon Church and State, how they ap­ply'd themselves unto France for assistance; in­scribing their Petition and Memorial to Lewis XIII. Au Roy. For which, tho' they were charg'd both with Treachery and Rebellion by the Court Party, yet that Act of the Scots was not so heinously resented by the English, as to deserve to be taken notice of and upbraided at the Treaty at Rippon. Nor will the Zeal, or ra­ther Biggotry of the present French King be of much signification for diverting them from begging his protection, in case they see them­selves likely to be ruin'd in their present de­sign, thro' their being assaulted by Spain and abandon'd by England. As knowing that the State Wisdom of Lewis XIV. will as much o­ver-rule his warmth for the Faith and Wor­ship [Page 194] of the Romish Church, as it did that of Henry II. of France, when the Protestants in Scotland resisted such as they said would Persecute them in the Reign of Queen Mary his Daugh­ter-in-law. That King being recorded to have said upon that occasion, We must commit the Souls of Scots-men to God, for we have diffi­culty enough to rule the Consciences of such as are French. Neither ought it to be pass'd over without observation, that the application which the Scots under the Reign of Charles I. made to Lewis XIII. was not very long after his ha­ving subdu'd his Subjects at Rochel, and wrested the Cautionary Towns out of the hands of his Reformed Subjects. Which open'd the way to all the Mischief and Ruin that have overtaken them since. Nevertheless this must be said in favour of the Scots, that it was upon the Mo­tive of Religion, and from Indignation against France, because of the late and present Perse­cution of the Protestants there, that they did not carry their Resentments higher for the af­front put upon His Majesty, and the Parlia­ment of Scotland, with respect to their Act for a Company to Trade in India and Africa, and that they did not warmly express their dis­pleasure in relation to the interposure of His Majesty's Envoy at the Courts of Lunenburgh, and his Resident at Hamburgh, who by mena­ces, as well as by gentler Methods, both de­ter'd and discourag'd the Hamburghers from contributing to their Stock and Capital, and from joyning in the establishment and promotion of the Plantation and Trade, which the Scots were about to Settle and Embark in. For as it would not but wonderfully surprize the Scots [Page 195] to find their Undertaking, and particularly their transaction with the Hamburghers for Subscriptions and Aid, not only stil'd The Action of some private Men, who neither had Cre­dentials, nor were any other ways authorized by His Majesty, when they stood warranted in the one and t'other by the King's Charter, as well as by an Act of Parliament, but to have it repre­sented to the Magistrates and Governors of that Free City, That His Majesty would regard all Proceedings with the Scots in that affair, as an affront to his Royal Authority, and that he would not fail to revenge himself of it; so it was mat­ter of the greatest astonishment to the People of Scotland, that the said Envoy and Resident, persevered to oppose them in all their trans­actions at Hamburgh, until they had frustrated and defeated them in what they were about, notwithstanding that Tullibarding and Ogilvis, His Majesty's Two Scotch Secretaries, had declar'd in a Letter to the Council general of the Company, that they stood empower'd by the King to signifie unto them, See their Letter of August 2. 1697. that His Majesty would give order to the said Envoy and Resident, not to make use of His Majesty's Name and Authority for obstructing the Scots Company in the prosecution of their Trade with the Inhabitants of Hamburgh.

Nor ought it to give offence unto any, tho' it may possibly alarm a great number of ju­dicious and thinking People, to have it repre­sented and publish'd, that all the opposition made and given by His Majesty's said Envoy and Resident to the Scots, transacting with the Hamburghers, was previous and antecedent un­to any knowledge they had receiv'd, or could possibly attain unto, of the Place, Territory, [Page 196] or Country, where the Scots had design'd to Land, and to endeavour the establishment of a Colony. For as none of the very Directors of the Company had, until a long time after, come to any fix'd Resolution where they should attempt the beginning and carrying on a Plan­tation; so posteriorly to its having been a­greed upon and concerted by those few of them, to whom the determination thereof was re­ferr'd by the rest, it was so secretly conceal'd and kept faithfully undiscover'd, that neither His Majesty, nor any of his Ministers, were in the least made acquainted with it. And con­sequently that the foresaid Envoy and Resident, being altogether ignorant in what part of the World, the Company intended to seek and pur­sue a Foreign Settlement for Trade and Com­merce; and whether it might not be in some Region or Province, that would be both agree­able to the humour of the Spaniards, and sub­servient to the Interest of England, their in­terposing so zealously and industriously with the Hamburghers against the Scots, could nei­ther be upon motives of Love and Kindness to the English, or of respect and deference to the King of Spain, but out of meer disaf­fection to the Kingdom of Scotland, and from an aversion to the welfare and prosperity of that People. So that it may be worth those Gen­tlemens recollecting, what heretofore befell Archbishop Laud and the Earl of Strafford, for having medled in Scots affairs beyond their Posts, tho' with the Countenance and by the Authority of King Charles I. Who notwith­standing their being Persons of incomparable Talents, as well as of the most elevated Sta­tions [Page 197] and illustrious Characters of any of the Kingdom of England, yet upon the arising of a misunderstanding between that Prince and his English Parliament, and thro' the necessity that the latter stood in of having the favour of the Kingdom of Scotland in the difference that sprung up between them and their Soveraign, were sacrific'd in order to appease and gratifie the Scots, rather than for any treasonable Crimes that they were guilty of.

I do foresee that it will be here objected, that for the English to countenance and up­hold the Scots in what they have done, will be to enter into a Conspiracy against them­selves, and a concurring in what will be high­ly prejudicial, not only to the Traffick of the English American Plantations, but to the Trade and Commerce of England it self. And that not only by reason of the general Share in Trade which the Scots by reason of that Cali­donian Company may speedily grow up unto; but because of the great Immunities in Free­dom from Taxes, Customs, and all manner of Impositions whatsoever, which are granted un­to their Company for 21 Years, while the Eng­lish Traffick is by so many Laws and Statutes clogg'd and over-loaded with them. To which Exception I shall endeavour to give such a full and sufficient Reply in the few following Refle­ctions, that I hope both the frivolousness and indiscretion of it will be made obvious, and render'd apparent to every Man, that hath but judgment and temper enough to weigh things in equal and just Scales.

[Page 198] The first thing therefore which I would of­fer to be consider'd is this, namely, That the hazard of succeeding in the founding and esta­blishing of a New Colony is so great, and the Treasure that must inevitably be expended in order thereunto so large, before any considera­ble reimbursements can be hoped for, that it is extremely difficult by any propos'd Immu­nities and Privileges whatsoever, to gain those that have Money, and who know how to make other improvements of it, to be forward, li­beral, and zealous of entring into and pro­moting such a Design. And if we will but cast our Eye beyond Sea, and look at present into Germany, and observe the encouragements propos'd to the Vaudois, and the French Refugees, in case they will settle in such and such pla­ces, where they are sure to be protected, and at a season, when they neither know how to be harbour'd, nor to subsist, any where else; we shall not wonder that His Majesty, and the Parliament of Scotland, thought the granting of all those Privileges and Immunities needful for the prevailing upon the Subjects of that Kingdom, to engage in a design, the Scene whereof lay so remote, and the Difficulties and Charges would be so great and large towards the bringing it to perfection. Yea, doth not every Inheritor and Landlord in England allow large favours and advantages, both to such as will come and cultivate their waste Lands, and to those who will lay out their Money in the building Houses upon their Grounds where there were no Dwellings before? And ought it then to be complain'd of, that a Nation in order to the extending the Empire and Do­minion [Page 199] of their Soveraign, and the contributing thereby to the enriching, in a little time, of all his Kingdoms and Subjects, as well as his own Exchequer, should have Immunities and Privi­leges granted unto them for a few years, and whereof several were expir'd, before they actu­ally enter'd upon the execution of their De­sign.

Whereunto may be added, that the advan­tage which will both accrue unto the Govern­ment at all times hereafter by an increase of Customs, and an ability acquir'd unto Scotland, of being more liberal in the Taxes, which they shall grant unto His Britannick Majesty, than heretofore their Poverty, notwithstanding their Zeal for His Majesty's Service, would allow them to be; and likewise the many benefits which will arise to England, in the several particulars whereof I have already given the Detale, and which I shall not here repeat, will abundantly compensate for the Immuni­ties and Privileges which are vouchsafed the Scots Company for 21 Years, whereof Four are already elapsed, wherein they have been at great expences, without any return in way of Principal or Interest. And it being the daily practice of the English themselves, and indeed of all Mankind, to venture upon Designs and to run into Disbursements, where the gains are too often only chimerical, and at most times but merely conjectural, and very seldom are morally certain; should the People of Eng­land then, make it a matter of quarrel with the Scots that they are embark'd in a design without the English coming into any part of the charge of it, from which if it do succeed, [Page 200] it is Mathematically demonstrable, that the Eng­lish Nation will obtain great Glory, Power and Wealth.

Moreover it is demonstrable, that the Be­nefits which will redound to the English in the Interim, and within that circle of time, will greatly overbalance any damages, or in­conveniencies that can be supposed to arise un­to them in their Traffick and Commerce, by that short Indulgence granted unto the Scots, of being free from Customs and Impositions in relation to their exports unto, and Imports from their Colony. Seeing besides the Emo­luments that will accrue to England, and to their American Plantations, by the opening unto them a vast Trade unto places where they had none, or very little before, and by that Necessity, as well as occasion, which the Scots cannot avoid, of taking more off from them both of their Natural and Artificial productions, than they could formerly use, or know how to dispose of them; I say besides this, it is provided for, and ordained in the very Act, by which their Company is established, that their Colony shall be a free Port and Market, so that the English may carry thither, whatso­ever they judge vendible either to the Scots, or the Natives, for which they are like to be paid in Gold and Silver, and they may also Traffick there, and bring from thence what­soever is produced within the District, where the Calidonian Colony lies, and in the Territories occupied by the Indians, which are adjoining unto it, all which will greatly Countervail and and Outbalance, the few supposed inconveni­encies, that are discoursed by unthinking men, [Page 201] as likely to arise unto England, and their West-India settlements, by the Immunities granted to the Scots, for the short forementioned term of years.

Further that as all the Commodities importa­ble by the Company which are not of the growth of that Country, are all excepted from being Custom-free, and are made liable to all legal Im­positions; so nothing of the very productions of that place, can be imported by the Scots in­to England, but what they stand bound to pay customs for, and are ready in compliance with the Laws of England so to do. Yea the Navi­gation Acts made in England being still in force, and never like to be repealed, and whereof the conniving at the violation and breach, would be of fatal consequence to the English in their Ship­ing, no goods can be imported from Darien di­rectly into England save in English Vessels, and thither it is that most of the Dying Wood, as well as of Divers other Commodities, which the Directors of the Plantation can procure on the Isthmus, must be immediately carryed and dis­posed of. So that from the whole which I have laid down in way of reply to the forego­ing objection, it appears to be made without any solid ground, and to proceed from people, that neither have, nor can take a full survey of this affair, nor look round it, rather than from persons of any great penetration, or who are conversant either in the Philosophy, or in the praxis and Mechanism of Trade in the full com­pass and extent of it.

The only thing further that I imagine to be al­ledgable against the English giving countenance and encouragement to the Scots in their present [Page 202] undertaking, and to hinder their Joyning in the protection and defence of them, is that it may prove prejudicial to the Church of England, thro' the giving way unto, and concurring to pro­mote the settlement of the Presbyterian Form and Model in that part of the World; the Church of England having found trouble and in­conveniencies enough from that Scheme of Ec­clesiastical Government in the Scots frame and Edition of it, while it hath been confined with­in their own Kingdom.

This looks so much like Bantering instead of Reasoning, that it may be construed for a reproach put upon the Understandings and good Sence of the greater part of mankind to vouchsafe an answer unto it, especially in a Kingdom, as well as an Age, wherein the Jus divinum of this or that Form of Church Government, obtains a very slender room in most mens Belief. And it were well, if all those who are reckoned to have the best natural and acquired parts, could be brought to agree in the Essentials of Christia­nity, tho' they continued to differ in Disciplina­ry points. Yea it is to be feared, that the Dog­maticalness and the Intemperate zeal of some, for things vastly removed from being Funda­mentals in our Religion, have rendred too many persons Sceptical in the Material Articles of it. And if we could better bear with one ano­ther, and agree to differ in Religious Matters of less Importance, we might thereupon possi­bly better accord, and more second each others endeavours in the defence of the Apostolical and Athanasian Creeds.

But how strangely are the Scots circumstan­ced and stated, with respect to their Darien [Page 203] Undertaking, when those of the Romish Com­munion, are alarmed at, and incensed against it, upon the Foot, that it will be an Introdu­cing of the Reformed Religion into those parts of America where it never was; and at the same time, some Protestants are the less favourable unto it, because it may be attended with the Erection of a Form of Ec­clesiastical Government and Discipline there, different from those of the Church of England. Whereas we should be thankful to God, that the Reformed Religion is like to obtain some footing where it never had any. And we ought certainly to acknowledge and reckon, that this will abundantly compensate for the Inconvenience of Presbyteries going along with it.

And how much sorry soever I am, that there should be so much of what is properly Popery spread among, and received by the American Indians, within the Spanish Domini­ons and Provinces in the West-Indies; yet I cannot but declare my Joy, that the Christian Religion, how much soever Sophisticated and Embased as well as Emasculated, with and by Romish Errors and Superstitions, is neverthe­less come to be conveyed unto, and planted among them in any Measure and Degree. See­ing tho' Popery can save no man, yet the Chri­stianity that is in the Papal Religion, (in that the Church of Rome believeth whatsoever we do believe) may be a means of saving every man that is upright and sincere, and whose Mistakes, Errors and Superstitions, are not the Effects either of Wilfulness or of Negli­gence, but of insuperable Ignorance. Which as [Page 204] it doth at the least wonderfully extenuate their Crimes and Guilt before God, and ren­ders them prepared and qualified Subjects for the Divine Compassion, so it should awaken Zeal in such as have love for Souls, and are concerned to have the Kingdom of our Lord JESVS Christ enlarged, both for the rectifying the Judgments of those poor Indians, which have been wofully misled in matters of the Christian Faith and Worship by the Spaniards, and for having the Gospel Preached in the purity and simplicity of it, among those Na­tive Americans who knew Nothing of it. And it is no small disgrace unto Protestant King­doms, States and Churches, that while they of the Romish Church have shewed themselves so forward and industrious, and have been at such vast expences, to send and maintain Mis­sioners in those parts, and in Mahometan Coun­tries, for the publishing of the Christian Re­ligion, tho' wofully corrupted by superadded Doctrines and Superstitions of their own; that none of those stiled Reformed, have concerned themselves therein to any purpose, save where they have Plantations, that will without their Aid, subsist and maintain Preachers, and these also very poorly supplyed and provided with pious and able Ministers.

And indeed one would wonder, that after the Laws in England, for giving Liberty to such there, as are Dissenters from the Diocesan Jurisdiction, and from the Rites, Ceremonies and Modes of Worship of the Episcopal Church, it should raise Jealousie, Envy and Pique of and against the Caledonian Colony, upon the motive that the great body of the Planters, and the Governors [Page 205] and Directors of that settlement, will be of the Presbyterian perswasion in those Extraessen­tials of Christianity. Whereas for my part, were I a Zealot for the English Episcopacy and Liturgy, neither of which in my opinion, ought to give that offence to Wise, Learned and Good men, which some pretending to all those Characters, have conceived against them; yet I should not be sorry, to see some of the bi­gotted Scots Presbyterians to transport themselves thither, where I am sure they will do less harm to the Church of England, and may be to Religion it self, than they have done, and still are like to do nearer at hand. Tho' even what they are in the very Neighbourhood able to do, against the Diocesan Government, and the Liturgical Worship, will not without a stock of men of more Learning and discreeter Con­duct, than those men the Church of Scotland is at present furnished with, signifie much to the disparaging or supplanting of either, fur­ther than as Law and Force do interpose. And against that Vltima Ratio Ecclesiae, as well as Aulae I know no methods that can be law­fully run into, save those of Patience and Hu­mility, under Violence and Severity from them, accompanied with Integrity and Moderation, in the firmly keeping and modestly asserting of Episcopal Principles.

Nor are the Scots at Caledonia like to be so bigotted, narrow and peevish with refer­rence to the extraessentials and circumstanti­als of Religion, as they have been found in Scotland; in that the Directors and Overseers of that Plantation, have emitted a Decla­ration, wherein they grant Liberty of Con­science [Page 206] to all that will come and settle among them. Which as it plainly shews, that the denying of it at home, is not upon the foot of Conscience, seeing on that Foundation they should allow it no where; but that the refu­sing it in Scotland, is upon the motive of Do­mination, and worldly Policie; so who knows, but that this Precedent of theirs in America, may prove a leading case to their being more indulgent that way in Europe, than hitherto they could be prevailed upon to be. And that being no longer restrained by Principles, which guide and over-rule Conscience from granting Liberty to such as Dissent from them in lesser matters of Religion; the Interest of the Kingdom may in time oversway the pee­vishness of their Clergy. For tho' I do rea­dily acknowledge, that no Liberty upon what­soever pretence of Conscience, is to be gran­ted unto any, whose principles do not only Authorize them to the disturbing and over­turning of Civil Governments; but do make the Blaspheming God, and the ridiculing of all revealed Religion venial, and the living brutishly and sensually Lawful; yet in matters that are purely Religious, wherein too much rigour and severity have been commonly exerted, I do take it to be our Duty to bear with, and forbear one another in Love and Peace. For I do really believe it to be one of the first Truths dictated to us by Nature, that where­upon a person is to venture his Eternal State, that therein he should be allowed the liberty and freedom of choosing for him­self

[Page 207] Finally this exception will prove the more vain, as well as surprizing, if it be but ob­served that the Form of Church Government, and the Modes of Christian Worship, even in some of the English American Plantations, are no less dissonant from, and may be of worse conse­quence to the Church of England, than what the Scots are supposed resolved to set up, and to be in the Practice of in their Colony at Da­rien, of which if I mistake not, New England and Pensilvania, are undeniable Instances. In that Independancy, which sufficiently strikes at Episcopacy, and all the Ceremonies of Prelatical worship, obtains as the legal Form of Govern­ment, Discipline and Worship in the first, and Quakerism, which is a collection and system of very dangerous errors, both in Doctrin, Worship and Discipline, is the Christianity that prevails, and is countenanced in the latter.

Having now fully represented the whole, that I Judge either needful, or convenient to be said, not only for the Justification of the Scots, with respect to their present Underta­king, and the Vindicating them therein, from whatsoever with any shadow of reason can be excepted against it; but towards the clearing and demonstrating how subservient their being Countenanced, Protected and As­sisted in it, will be to the Interest of England, and the Dominions thereunto belonging, as well as to Scotland; all that doth further re­main to be added, ere I put an end to this discourse, is to acquit my self of a promise made in one of the foregoing sheets. Name­ly that were I inclinable to recriminate, it [Page 208] were easy to fasten some of the worst of those imputations upon the Spaniards, whereof them­selves have been so hasty to accuse the Scots. And that as the ways of Force, which they have run into, do not correspond with the Alliances between the Crowns of Great Britain and of Spain; So that thro' having betaken themselves to those methods, they have altogether acquit­ed and absolv'd his Majesty, from having that amicable and friendly regard to the Memorial presented unto him, in the name and by the Authority of the King of Spain, that had they persevered in the ways of mildness, might have been expected from him. It being unquestio­nable, that upon their persevering in those mea­sures, his Majesty would have comply'd as far with their desires, as either in Justice he should have found himself obliged, or as his Royal care for the Interest of his Kingdom of Scotland, or the trust reposed in him by that Nation (for the discharge whereof he is sacredly and solemn­ly bound by Oath) would have allowed. Nor can it be a trespass against that profound respect, which is payable to every Crowned head, even by such as are the Subjects of other Princes, to intimate in Terms of Deference and Modesty, that the Spaniards, thro' having betaken them­selves to ways of Force and violence against the Scots, and that not only posteriorly, but antecedent­ly, to the presenting the Memorial, they have transformed that into a Jest, if not an Affront, which might otherwise have been interpreted an Act of esteem and kindness for his Britannick Majesty. For whereas the Memorial was not delivered unto the King, until the 3d. of May, 1699 they had above Seven weeks before that, [Page 209] not only detained such of the Scots Prisoners, who by Storm and stress of weather had been cast upon the Coast where they have their Colo­nies and Fortifications; but they had likewise Invaded and assaulted the Scots, within their own Territory and District, with an armed and military Power.

By which, the Actings of the Spanish Gover­nours in America, are not only wholly incongru­ous and inconsistent; and altogether irreconcil­able with the proceeding of his Catholick Ma­jesty's Ambassadour at London; but the Crown of Spain is become apparently guilty of the Infraction of the Alliances between his Majesty of Great Britain, and that King: For where­as it is provided by the Third Article of the Treaty 1667, and by the Fourteenth Article of the Treaty 1670, That if any Injury shall be done by either of the said Kings, or by the Subjects of either of them, against the Articles of those Alliances, or against common Right, there shall not therefore be given Letters of Reprisal, Marque, or Countermarque, by any of the Confe­derates, untill such time as Justice is followed in the ordinary course of Law, and unless upon a denial or an unreasonable delaying of Justice. Yet not only while the case is depending, and notwithstanding the assurance given by his Bri­tannick Majesty to the Catholick King. That he will cause examine the Justice or Injustice of this Fact of the Scots, and thereupon act towards the Crown of Spain, according to the measures of Law and Equity, and the tenour of his Alliances; but even previously to their representation of that matter unto his Maje­sty, [Page 210] the Spaniards have actually fallen upon the Scots, in the ways above mention'd. And whereas it is Concerted and Stipulated by the Tenth Article of the Treaty 1670, That if the Ships which do belong to either of these Kings, or the Subjects of either of them, shall by stress of weather, or otherwise, be forced into the Ri­vers, Bays, Ports, &c. belonging to the other in America, that they shall be received kindly, and treated with all Humanity and Friendship, Yet nevertheless the Spaniards have in direct Vio­lation of that Article, apprehended and kept such of the Scots Prisoners, as were forced a Shoar at Carthagena by the Violence of a Storm.

By which as they have plainly made them­selves guilty of an Infraction of Alliances be­tween the two Crowns; so they are become the Aggressors in a War, which neither his Majesty nor his Scots Subjects have given any Just cause for, or provocation unto. And as they have thereby rendred it Lawful for the King to oppose Force against Force,Vid. Grot de Jur. Bell. & Pac. lib. 1. cap. 1. & Puf­end. de jur. Nat & Gent. lib. 8. ap. 6. it being received as a Theoreme of what is Just and Right by all Nations, that Iniquitas partis adversae, justa bella ingerit, that the doing of wrong by one Party, gives foundation of a righteous War on their side against whom it is committed; and that of all Wars they are the Justest, quae ulciscantur injurias, which are undertaken for the avenging of Injuries, so the Spaniards have made his Majesty's entring into War against them (in case they persevere in that Method) indispen­sably necessary, unless he should at once both Sacrifice his own Glory and Honour, and aban­don [Page 211] his people for a prey to such as are cause­lessly their Enemies. The great Duty of e­very supreme Ruler being to protect his sub­jects, from receiving of Injuries, or to revenge them when done. And for this end it is, that people becoming united into Societies, chose and elected such and such to be their Sove­raigns, that they might as well defend as govern them; and protect them against wrongs from others, as well as take care for the administring of Justice among themselves.Vbi sup. lib. 2 cap. 25. Yea this every King oweth to his People, as they are a part of himself pars Rectoris, as Grotius expresseth it; He and they making one Poli­tical Body, whereof as he is the Head, so they are the Limbs and Members.

And that the aggressed may at all times en­deavour, not only to defend themselves a­gainst, but that they may also Lawfully attack the Aggressor, while he continueth to pursue his Hostility, seems one of the first dictates of the Law of Nature, being a sentiment wherein all Mankind are agred: Yea it is the only remedy and relief left by God, and a­greed upon by Nations, for the Obviating, Withstanding and Punishing of those, who upon the motives of Ambition, Covetousness, or of any Lust else whatsoever, do seek to Disturb and Injure others. (For as Puffendorf says,Vbi sup. lib. 3. cap. 1. §. 2. Vanum fuisset praecepisse ne alter ladatur, si ub de facto is laesus fuerit, damnum ipsi gratis sit devorandum, & qui laesit, fructu suae injuriae secure, & citra refusionem gaudere queat, It were a vain thing to have prohibited the doing wrong by one to another, if he who suffers the Injury, [Page 212] shall be obliged tamely and remidilesly to bear it, and he who commits it, shall without reprisal made upon, and reparation exacted of him, be allowed in Quietness and Safety to enjoy the fruits of his Violence and Rapine. Nor have the most civili­zed Nations, accounted any provocations what­soever to be a Juster cause, for their making War,Orat. ad Quirites. than their having Injuries done to their people. Majores Nostri, says Cicero, saepe Merca­toribus & Naviculariis injuriosius tractatis bella gesserunt, Our Ancestors denounced and commenced Wars, in case their Merchants, or their Mariners, were wrongfully and abusively dealt with, which he repeats again elsewhere,Orat. 2. cont. Ver. 2. saying, Quot bella Majores nostri susceperunt, quod cives Romani in­juria affecti, Navicularii retenti, Mercatores spo­liati dicerentur; how many Wars have our Fore­fathers undertaken and pursued, because of Ro­man Citizens being Injured, their Subjects made Prisoners, and their Merchants pillaged.

But I hope as well as desire, that the Spa­niards will so far bethink and recollect them­selves, as not to prosecute a War against those, that have neither wronged them, nor are willing to be their Enemies, and that they will not only forbear all further Hostility, but make Satisfaction for any Injury they have done. Towards the effecting whereof, little more will be demanded, than the releasing of those, whom they illegally and unrighte­ously detained as Prisoners, when thrown upon their shoar by the Violence of a Storm; and for the restoring of whom, they may have also such of their own in exchange, who became lawful Prisoners to the Scots; [Page 213] thro' being taken in actual Hostility, and in the Field of Battle. And that the Spaniards may be brought to calm thoughts, and to a cool temper, it may not be amiss to offer to their consideration, that the stakes for which the Scots and they are about to quarrel, are so far from being equal, that what the Spaniards are ready to hazard, and going to put upon the Dice of War, is vastly beyond what the Scots can be exposed to the Risk of. It being plain that the whole which they are capable of losing is a little spot of ground upon the Isthmus, and a few men; whereas the Spaniards, are about to venture no less than all their Colonies there, and some of the Richest Provinces which they have in Ame­rica, together with greater proportions of men, whom they are not so over stocked with, as to chuse to be prodigal in hazarding them. And as the Spaniards ought seriously to ponder, how uncertain the Issue of the War may prove, so they cannot be igno­rant, if success should attend the Scots, what they will rightfully thereupon become entitled unto. It being settled as a rule among all Nations, that in such a case, Omnia bona quae Victus habuit victoris fieri, Vid. Grot. ubi sup. lib. 3. cap. 6. what­soever was his, or theirs, who are conquered, doth in right become theirs who Conquer them. Et quae ex hostibus capiuntur, statim capientium fiunt, And that all that is taken from Enemies, doth by the Laws of Nations, fall under the legal Property, as well as the possession of those that subdued them and took it. But this being a Subject that I have no call [Page 214] to Meddle with, as being neither fra­med for the Cabinet, nor the Tent, I shall both decline it, and put an end to this Discourse.

FINIS.

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