to her own power. Not that the mischief was so great as is generally conceived or represented; for to the attentive it will appear, that the wealth of this nation was at that period considerably increased, though that of the crown was less. Our reputation for war was impaired; but commerce seems to have been carried on with great industry and vigour, and nothing was wanting but a generous spirit of resentment, or rather self-defence. The inclination to plant colonies in America still continued; and this being the only project in which men of adventure and enterprise could exert their qualities in a pacific reign, multitudes who were discontented with their condition in their native country-and such multitudes there will always be-sought relief, or at least change, in the regions of America, where they settled on the northern part of the continent, at a distance from the Spaniards-at that time almost the only nation that had power or will to obstruct us.

Such was the condition of this country at the accession of Charles I. During a reign so turbulent, it was not to be expected that commerce could flourish; wherefore, while the English were, during these unhappy times, embroiled among themselves, the power of France and Holland was every day encreasing. The Dutch had overcome the difficulties of their infant commonwealth, and, as they still retained their vigour and industry, every day encreased in riches and power-the attendant of well regulated opulence. They extended their traffic, and had not yet admitted luxury; so that they had the means and the will to accumulate wealth, without any incitement to spend it. The French, who wanted nothing to make them powerful but a prudent regulation of their revenues and a proper use of their natural advantages, by the successive care of skilful ministers, became every day stronger and more conscious of

their strength. They turned their thoughts to trife and navigation, and seemed, like other nations, sensible of the advantages of an American colony.

All the fruitful and valuable parts of the western world were already either occupied or claimed, and nothing remained for France but what other navigators had thought unworthy of their notice: she was contented, therefore, to fix upon Canada, a desolate northern country, as yet claimed by no other power; for she was not yet arrived at that pitch of influence as to seize what the neighbouring powers had already appropriated.

When the parliament of England had at length prevailed over the King, the interest of the two commonwealths of England and Holland appeared to be opposite, and the new government declared war against the Dutch. In this contest was exerted the utmost power of the two nations, and the Dutch were finally defeated, yet not with such evidence of superiority as left us much reason to boast of our victory; they were obliged, however, to solicit peace, which was granted them on easy conditions, and Cromwell, who was now possessed of the supreme power, was left at leisure to pursue other designs. The European powers had not yet ceased to look with envy on the Spanish acquisitions in America, and therefore Cromwell thought that if he gained any part of those celebrated regions, he should exalt his own reputation and enrich the country. He therefore quarrelled with the Spaniards upon such pretences as were only the result of an inclination for war, and sent Penn and Venables into the western seas. They first landed in Hispaniola, whence they were driven off with no great reputation to themselves; and that they might not return without having done something, they afterwards invaded Jamaica, where they found less resistance, and

obtained that Island, which was afterwards consigned to us, being probably of little value to the Spaniards, but which to us is the source of great wealth, and a retreat for the discontented at home.

The endeavour to distress Spain was at this time an error in the politics of Cromwell. They had, for more than half a century, fallen from their pristine greatness, while France seemed as if rising upon their ruins. To distress them, therefore, was the only way to encrease the power of France: but our own troubles gave us little time to look upon the continent, nor did we consider that, of two monarchs, neither of which could be long our friend, it was our interest to have the weaker near us; or, that if a war should happen, Spain, however wealthy or strong in herself, was, by the dispersion of her territories, more obnoxious to the attacks of a naval power, and consequently, had more to fear, and less power to injure.

During this time, however, our colonies, which were less disturbed by our commotions than the mother country, naturally encreased: it is probable that many who were unhappy at home took shelter in those remote regions, where, for the sake of inviting greater numbers, every one was permitted to live and think in their own way. The French settlement, in the mean time, went slowly forward; too inconsiderable to raise any jealousy, and too weak to attempt any encroach

ments..

During the reign of Charles II. the power of France was every day encreasing; and as he never disturbed himself with remote consequences, he saw the progress of her arms and the extension of her dominions with very little uneasiness. He was, indeed, sometimes driven by the prevailing faction into confederacies against her; but, as he probably had a secret prepossession in her favour, he never persevered

long in acting against her, nor ever acted with much vigour; so that by his feeble resistance, he rather raised her confidence than obstructed her designs.

But that we may not condemn other countries as wanting perseverance or wisdom, who took no such large strides to establish commerce and navigation as France, it must be considered, that their ministers had a power of acting, which freer governments do not allow. They could enforce all their orders by the power of an absolute monarch, and compel individuals to sacrifice their private profit for the public good; they could make one understanding preside over many hands, and remove difficulties by quick and violent expedients. Where no man thinks himself under any obligation to submit to another, and, instead of co-operating in one great scheme, every one hastens through by paths of private profit, no great change can suddenly be made; nor is superior knowledge of much effect, where every man resolves to use his own eyes and his own judgment, and every one applauds himself only in proportion as he becomes richer than his neighbour.

Colonies are always the effects and the causes also of navigation. They who visit many countries will be always inclined to settle in some; and these settlements once made must keep a perpetual correspondence with the original country to which they are subject, and on which they depend for protection when in danger, and for supplies when in necessity. So that a country once discovered must always find employment for shipping, more certainly than any foreign commerce which, depending on casualties, it is in the power of the nations so traded to, to suppress. A trade to colonies can never be much impaired, being in reality only an intercourse between distant provinces of the same empire, from which intruders are easily excluded; likewise

the interest and affection of the corresponding parties, however distant, is still the same.

Such is the fate of England and France, that the colonies of each country are not less contiguous than the mother countries are to each other; so that the least disagreement even in the most distant region-and such disagreements there must always be-must more or less effect the countries of Europe, and they will be most powerful who are capable of giving those distant dependants the most speedy relief.

We live in a country where at length our interests and our liberties seem to be understood by the people, and not infringed upon by the great; the advantages of our colonies, therefore, must be considered to be the same with our own. It is different with our enemies; they are not permitted to see their own interests, or if they do, they are obliged to act in conformity with the will of others. The time is now come, in which every Englishman expects to be informed of the national affairs, because he himself is immediately concerned in their carrying on. That is a part of his liberty; it ensures his certainty of that liberty, and he has a right to be gratified in his expectation. Whatever may be urged by ministers or their dependants concerning unbounded confidence in our governors, and of the presumption of prying with profane eyes into the recesses of policy, yet surely it will be always proper to disentangle corruption and illustrate obscurity; to shew by what causes every event was produced, and in what effects it is likely to terminate; to shew whence happiness or calamity is derived, and from whence it may be expected; and honestly to lay before the people what enquiry can gather of the past, and conjecture can estimate of the future.

Productions of this nature, which promise to instruct