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CIHM/ICMH
Collection de
microfiches.
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AT THE ENCJENIA IN KINO'S COLLEGE, NEW BRUNSWICK,
June 27, 1844.
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Hoc illud est preecipue in cognitione rerum salubre ac frugiferum,
omnis te exempli documenta in illnstri posita monimento intueri :
inde tibi tuaeque reipublicee, quod imitere, capias ; inde foedum in-
ceptu, foedum exitu, quod vites. — Livii Prof.
The History of the World presents to the inquiring
mind hardly any subject more interesting, or which gives
rise to more research and reflection, than that of Colo-
nization. From the day when the fathers of the new
world descended from mount Ararat in search of a new
home, mankind have been a wandering and an emigrating
race. And what in fact but the narrative of the rise and
progress of Colonies constitutes the history of the nations
of the earth ?
Of the might and grandeur, however, of those states
which were anciently most distinguished for Colonization,
scarcely a trace is now remaining. From the shores of
wealthy Carthage the galley is no longer seen bearing
away its turbulent citizens to a foreign coast ; the narrow
limits cf Phcenicia no longer send forth to distant lands
its trading population ; the lament of emigrants leav-
ing their loved land forever no longer resounds along
the coasts of Greece ; far otherwise are the powers
of Italy now occupied, than parcelling out a conquered
province among its clamorous citizens. The scene is
now changed ; the theatre of action is now removed to
lands, of which the polished Greek or haughty Roman
scarcely knew the name. Since their day the discovery
of a new world, of which those sages never dreamt, has
opened a field for Colonization with which nothing in
olden times affords comparison. Nor ever, in any age,
has the tide of emigration risen higher than during the
a2
present century ; not only to this continent, but to other
lands, yet more distant from the ancient world, multitudes
are seen continually to hasten ; and the germ of future
nations is budding and bursting fo; th with life and vigour.
Might it not then be profitable, as well as interesting,
to inquire into the manner in which Colonies were
founded in ancient times? Might it not become us
to discover the courses then pursued, and how far they
resemble those adopted in modem days? Does not
prudence direct our attention to the rocks and quicksands
on which many of our predecessors suffered shipwreck P
And does not, the subsequent fate of all, whether the
Colonizer or the Colony be regarded, demand the most
serious ittention of the legislator and the patriot P
A large portion of Asia, Egypt, and the Eastern parts
of Europe, was peopled at a very early age by emigration
from countries bordering ontthe river Euphrates. The
world being then all before them, and finding land in
abundance wherever they chose to wander, little con-
nection existed between the Colonists and those they
left behind, and little system was adopted beyond the
will of the heads of the families or tribes which formed
the expedition.
The emigration of Cecrops and his followers from
Egypt, and the settlement of Danaus and his adherents
in the Peloponnesus ; as well as many other migrations
about the same time to the shores of Phoenicia and the
islands of the Mediterranean, were probably all connected
with revolutions in the government of that country, the
policy of which appears to have been rather to employ
its surplus population in immense public works and in-
ternal improvements, than to send out Colonies ; so that
whatever was the origin of those early migrations from
Egypt, the emigrants appear to have chosen their own
place of settlement, and taking possession of as much of
the country as their strength and numbers would permit,
to have formed themselves into communities perfectly in-
dependent of the country from which they came.
The Colonies of Phoenicia, the parent of navigation
and commerce, next demand our attention. That the
Phoenicians were remarkable at a very early age for
their Arts and Manufactures is well known to the reader
of history, sacred or profane. Possessed of a narrow
slip of territory between Mount Libanus and the Me-
diterrasj^n, that active and intelligent people naturally
had recourse to Colonization for the purpose of extending
their commerce, and providing for a redundant popu-
lation. Along the northern coast of Africa, as far as the
Pillars of Hercules, and on the opposite coast of Spain,
in Greece, Sardinia, Sicily, and the Balearic Isles, were
planted Colonies from Phoenicia ; in fact there was
scarcely a sea or coast known to the ancients in which
these " Merchant Princes" did not establish a settlement.
So few particulars, however, are known of the history
of this enterprising people, that it is difficult to discover
the system they adopted, or the nature of the connection
between the Colony and the Parent State. A bond of
union in some cases existed, as we find the Phoenicians
refused to aid the Persian King against Carthage ; and
the latter city, after it had risen to great wealth and
power, continued to send > early to Tyre a ship laden
with presents as a dutiful acknowledgment to their an-
cient country.*
The Carthaginians even surpassed the Phoenicians in
the number and extent of their Colonies. When from
a Colony of Merchants, Carthage had become a warlike
and powerful Republic, the Government seem to have
•Herodotus Lib. Hi. 17—19.
resorted to emigration as well to relieve it from a surpiu&
and turbulent population, as to extend its dominion and
its commerce. When Hanno was sent by the Senate
to explore the western coast of Africa, he is said to have
been attended by a convoy containing 30,000 persons to
Colonize the countries he might discover. But whether
those distant settlements flourished, or how far they
were protected by the Mother Country, we are not in-
formed by the historian.
It certainly appears quite evident, that the greater
part of the Colonies to which we have referred, after
they had left their native shores, were so far independent
as to choose their own mode of Government uncon-
trolled by the Parent State. If the Colony flourished,
and a connection was likely to conduce to their mutual
benefit, no doubt a feeling of good will would continue
to exist between them. But under other circumstances,
would the Governments of Phoenicia or Carthage, per-
petually engaged as they were in projects of wealth or
ambition, be likely to interpose and ward off the blow of
the oppressor? Was the Colony really considered as
a portion of the Empire, and equally entitled to pro-
tection with those who remained at home P Or does
not the very fact of their being generally left to choose
their own mode of Government, rather lead us to the
conclusion that Colonies in those da3»s were looked upon
as offsets separated from the parent stock, left to take
root without any regular plantation, and having little
protection to expect if they did not contribute to the
wealth and dominion of the colonizing State P
In turning our attention to Greece, we are at once
struck with the frequent migrations to and from that
illustrious country. In very early ages, the historian in-
forms us of the Phoenician trader and Egyptian exile
taking advantage of its excellent harbours and salubrious
WKSHSfrttMaj^imMI*
ave
to
ner
ley
climate, and Greece swarmed with multitudes from
almost every part of the known World. So soon as the
administration of the Laws had attained any consistency,
and the Arts had begun to be cultivated, we read of in-
vasions and revolutions, and civilization and refinement
flying with the ancient inhabitants to flourish on a foreign
soil. And while the heart is pained by the frequent
accounts of exterminating wars, driving whole commu-
nities into exile, we find the Governments also, during
intervals of peace, resorting to emigration to relieve
them from the dangers of a discontented populace, and
in some cases forming distant settlements for purposes
of commerce.
Colonies, founded like those of Asia Minor and Italy,
by persons whom the violence and fury of contending
factions forced into exile, formed themselves into com-
munities totally independent of the Parent State ; neither
do those appear to have been subject to its jurisdiction,
who went out in more peaceable times, under the direc-
tion of their leaders to seek an easier subsistence in a
foreign land. We are informed that a Colony sent out
by Corinth, a state superior to any in Greece in naval
power, able both to afford protection and command
obedience, was considered as bound to respect the
mother country so long only as she treated it with kind-
ness ;* and was ready when occasion might offer to act in
opposition to its views. Hence we must conclude that
the greater part of the Grecian Colonies became from the
time of their formation, independent states, and although
they regarded the land of their forefathers with filial
respect, and yielded to its citizens the first place at
public games and religious solemnities, when called upon
to assist in time of war they did so not as subjects but
as allies.
Proceed we now to search the records of a people
•Thucydides Lib. 1,34.
difiTering widely from any we have hitherto considered.
From the time when Rome had become a powerful state,
and " was beginning to root up or cast down all that
kept her from the eyes and admiration of the world/'*
almost every page of her history presents some account
of her Colonies. The conqueror had not fully completed
the subjection of a country, until its towns were filled
with trustworthy Roman citizens, or with veteran
soldiers too aged for the hardships of the camp. The
primary object of the government undoubtedly was to
secure the allegiance of its conquered Provinces; but
we find the Senate also providing for emigration, in
order to reward their veteran soldiers ; and in times of
want, to prevent sedition, and allay the discontent of
their people.
Knowing too well the importance of every citizen of
Rome in adding tj her power, to allow any interest to be
created separate from that of the commonwealth, we
find the political connection between the Colony and
the Parent State in all cases complete. The Romans
were not led to establish their citizens on foreign coasts
merely for purposes of traffic ; their subjects were not
allowed to go when and where they chose and do as they
thought proper, but in whatever country, on whatever
coast, a Roman Colony was founded, there the authority
of Rome was established to fade away only with the
downfall of the Empire itself.
If the liberties of the Roman Colonies were circum-
scribed, and their advancement somewhat retarded by
being compelled to contribute to the support of the home
government, it may be a question for the politician to
decide, whether these evils were not counterbalanced by
the just administration of Roman laws, and the protec-
tion to which, in those turbulent times, i they were
entitled.
*Sir W. Raleigh's His. of the World, B. v. c. vi.
\
ered.
statp,
that
While we reflect on the Colonies thus founded by
Rome, as well calculated to support her authority and
extend her empire the beneficial effects they produced
are clearly manifest. With their Colonies in Spain,
Gaul, on the banks of the Rhine, and in Britain, the
Romans implanted civilization and a knowledge of their
language and their laws ; and it requires little sagacity
still to discover the imprint of their empire on many of
the existing nations of Europe.
in thus endeavouring lo investigate the ancient system
of Colonization, we have glanced at events which might
afford matter of lively interest to the reflecting mind.
The man, who, not entirely engrossed with objects im-
mediately around him, sometimes allows his thoughts to
stray backward to the transactions of the past, discovers
in every age results, the most important to mankind,
arising from Colonization. At first, he contemplates the
little band of Emigrants slowly proceeding from the East
towards the plains of Shinaar, in search of new homes
and a more easy mode of subsistence. Ages have pas-
sed away, and he again beholds the descendants of
those Emigrants scattered far over the face of the earth,
founding Kingdoms and Empires, and making rapid
progress in a knowledge of the arts esteemed essential
to the well being of man. Being at length formed into
communities, and governed by settled Laws, does the
interested inquirer find man a stationary being, or rather
is he not ever found ready for change ? He sees from
the crowded cities of wealthy and refined states, troops
of Emigrants bidding their native shores farewell, pre-
pared to carry to distant, barbarous lands, a knowledge
of the improvements they have acquired. While he
observes many indeed forced by dire necessity thus to
wander from their homes, others are seen, fond of change,
and encouraged by hope, exclaiming with the Poet —
a
10
Nos nianet ooeaiius circumvagus : arva beata
Petamus arva, divites eb insulas.*
In other cases, rulers of nations urged by motives of
policy, encourage this spirit, and the tide rolls forth
controlled by the power of the state.
Colonies founded by exiles from their country, as well
as by those, who voluntarily leave their homes, are ob-
served to be bound by no ties to their father land. Free
in their institutions, and highly superior in the arts of
civilized life to the inhabitants of the countries in which
they are settled, such Colonies often rise in a short time
to a high pitch of wealth and importance, but depending
solely on their own resources both to control internal
commotion and to ward off attacks from without, few are
found prepared to withstand the storms with which they
are assailed, and are only called to our remembrance
through the pages of the historian. A better fortune
will generally be found to have attended those Colonies
founded under the direction of the parent state and con-
sidered as still subject to its laws ; where authority was
retained to afford protection and support, and this power
exercised with justice and wisdom.
These, therefore, appearing to be some of the leading
facts connected with ancient Colonization, let us now
proceed to that of modern times, and discover what re-
semblance exists between them.
The discoveries made by the Portugese in the com-
mencement of the fifteenth century along the coast of
Africa, led to the formation of Colonies in those fertile
regions. Taking possession of some islands and points
of land on the coast, they sent outColonies under Military
Governors, to protect the trade with the natives and to
keep the latter in subjection.
'Horace Epis. 16. 41, 43.
I of
ill
11
iiut wniie r'ortugal was thus increasing her revenues,
and exciting the jealousy of less fortunate States, all
Europe was aroused by the astounding news — that a
new World was discovered in the West. This event,
so startling, as to absorb all else hitherto considered
wonderful, quickly awoke the attention of mankind to
objects of enterprise and ambition ; and excited by fond-
ness for change, and the love of gold, the restless and
daring were ready to exert all their energies in this new
direction. Could the veil which guards the unseen
future have then been removed, what a change in the
destinies of that world by Coloiiies from Europe,^^ would
a glance into futurity have discovered !
The Colonies of Spain, under whose patronage America
was discovered, seem first to demand our attention.
Extensive conquests had been made by the Spaniards,
guided by individual enterprise, and many Colonies had
been planted, while the Government at home was so
engrossed with schemes of ambition, as to afford Httle
attention to objects so remote. But after that '^ gam-
bling spirit" which actuated the first settlers in America
had in part subsided ; and the Colonies, enlarged by
frequent emigrations from home, began to turn their
attention to those commercial and agricultural pursuits,
for which their country afforded so many advantages,
the home Government began to perceive the necessity
of its interference both to restrain the cruel oppressioh
of the Colonists, and to secure the mother Country all
the advantages of their commerce.
The prerogatives of the Sovereigns of Spain] being
at that time widely extended, and all the lands in Ame-
rica having been granted to them by the Pope, every
thing relating either to the government or general in-
terests of the Colonists necessarily emanated from the
crown. And, if we consider the manner in which this
12
power waf exerciied, the severe restrictions imposed
on the trade of the Colonies, the destructive duties and
enormouf taxes they were compelled to pay, the com-
plete despotism of the administration in which the
Colonist! were allowed no share, the vicious character
of their svstem will be clearly apparent, and also the
causes, wtiich in the end, lost to Spain her extensive
possessions in America.
It is true, that from the time when the Sovereigns
of Spain assumed the right, which they were so well
prepared to maintain, of holding the Colonies in com-
plete subjection to their will, in this respect their sys-
tem somewhat resembled that of the Romans. And
as the Roman Colonies conveyed to the countries in
which they were planted the superior advantages of
their civili^iation and their laws, so the Spaniards, to-
gether with their civil principles and habits, carried
with them to America the profession of the Christian
faith ; and however we may deplore the errors of their
religion, as well as of their polity, and the superstition
they mingled with the purity of the Gospel, we cannot
but admire that part of their system, by which the esta-
blishment of that profession was strictly enjoined, and
the Colonial Government were bound to maintain it.
And as, whatever may have been the defects of the
Roman system, the Colonies willingly submitted to the
parent 8Uite ; so Spain, for a long course of years held
rule over a country exceeding Europe in extent: although
now at length, from the vices inherent in the whole body,
of all that vast Empire, only two Islands remain her own.
The system adopted by Portugal towards her Colonists
in Brassil, seems so much to resemble that of Spain, and
produced results so similar, that it were unnecessary
to dwell on the subject. Equally unprofitable would it be
to consider at length the system of the different Euro-
13
pean States, which when the authority of Spain was no
longer able to prevent it, sent out Colonies in all direc-
tions to America. It may be sufficient to observe that
the Dutch, the Danes and the French, severally formed
their Colonies under the management of exclusive com-
panies, a system differing materially from any pursued
in ancient times.
Let us now proceed to investigate the system adopted
by that country, which for many ages was known to the
world, only as a far distant Island whose dangerous coast
was to be sought merely for the mines contained be-
neath its soil. The lofty position England now occupies
in the world, the mighty and salutary influence, which,
by her wise laws, her free institutions, and the active
benevolence of her people, she exercises over man-
kind, might well claim our attention, apart from other
more special considerations, which render her course of
Colonization a matter of peculiar interest.
Although British Colonization had its origin in projects
of traffic, and was for many years like that of other Eu-
ropean states, under the control of chartered companies,
the government at length assumed the administration,
and the inhabitants of those distant settlements were
admitted, as far as their circumstances were considered
to allow, to all the privileges of British subjects, as much
entitled to protection as if the widely extended ocean
did not separate them from their father land. By their
charters, the Sovereigns of England were from the first
careful to provide for the liberties of the emigrants ; and
when those charters were withdrawn, the Colonies were
declared to constitute a portion of the empire, subject to
its jurisdiction, having their governors and councils ap-
pointed by the crown, their houses of assembly chosen
by the colonists, and statutes were enacted by the
Colonial Assemblies, in a manner analogous to the prac-
tice of the British Parliament.
#*
14
Not entering with soine of her poHticians into nice
calculations, .to prove that she expends more in their
defence than she gains by the commerce of her Colonies,
England has ever appeared satisfied, that while she thus
affords employment, and secures a home to the millions
who leave her shores, she at the same time provides, in
many a distant land, for many a flourishing settlement,
the blessings of that constitution which the wisest of her
sons have prized as their dearest heritage.
In again reverting to the history of Colonies in ancient
times, we perceive exiles leaving the fertile land of Egypt,
and the populace of Phoenicia and Carthage sent forth
to form Colonies in distant lands ; but where do we find
among these, aught to compare with what we are now
considering ? Violence and oppression compelled en-
lightened Greeks to seek for peaceful homes on foreigo
coasts, and sometimes the powerful arm of the state was
exerted to send out its needy people to a more plentiful
country, but where do we find legislators providing for
these settlements wise laws and free institutions? Where
are the people at home found ready to supply fleets and
armies for their defence ; in time of peace, encouraging
and promoting industry, and at the sound of war, ready
to save from impending ruin ? Mighty Rome, to carry
forward her projects of ambition, and assist in subduing
the world to her yoke, established her citizens in distant
provinces ; protected indeed they were by the power of
the state, and participating of some of its privileges and
benefits, yet loaded with taxes for the support of its estab-
lishment, and liable to be summoned at any moment to fill
up the ranks of its legions. But whatever gave rise to emi-
gration from England, whether the emigrants went forth as
private adventurers, traders, or exiles, whether composed
of puritans or papists, the blessings of British laws and
the protection of British arms are gratuitously extended
to all alike. As free in their institutions as the Colonies
15
of Greece, as sure of protection as those of Rome, not
left like the former exposed to every assault, nor com-
pelled like the latter at every call to leave their peaceful
occupations for the toils of war, the Colonies of England
afford us a different picture ; — a mother country providing
at her own expense for their defence, and maintaining
in their internal government the administration of her
superior laws. The devoted loyalists, who disdained to
submit to the will of those who h \ revolted against
their king, and fled for refuge to the truul^ )s wilderness,
are protected by her powerful arm ; and eing aided in
their destitution by her bounty, they teach tneir children to
love and reverence the name of England. Does the
crowded state of her own land restrain the energies of
her enterprising sons ? In the Colonies they find in-
dustry encouraged and the laws of their country justly
administered. While they remain true to themselves,
and loyal to their sovereign, no revolutionist durst assail
the institutions under which their fathers lived, no foreign
foe durst invade their rights.
In ancient times the inhabitants of the country, in
which a Colony was settled, were often either reduced to
slavery, or driven from their homes by the more power-
ful intruders ; but in common with the emigrants from
England's shores are the rude savages in the wilds
around them taken under her protection. Look at her
vast empire in the East ; sf>? there millions subject to
her rule, the arm of the oppressor restrained, and the
cruelty of the despot forbidden, wherever her authority
extends. Mark the system she has pursued in her West
Indian possessions ; at the cost of millions, for which no
return was sought, see the shackles forever loosened
from the slave, and the decree proclaimed to an admi-
ring world, that where Britain's power is felt, there man
is free. Confine the view to more ni»rrow limits, and
you see the Canadian Frenchman and the untutored
16
Indian appeal to the same power, and justice adminis-
tered alike to all.
The Colonies from Ef;ypt, that mighty mother of
superstition, carried with them to other countries a more
refined system of idolatry, and u knowledge of many
useful arts ; Cadmus brough 4. with his Colony into
Greece the use of letters, and polished Greeks in after
times carried with them to other lands a knowledge of
their superior attainments. While modern Colonization
thus spreads abroad the civilization and refinement of
the old world, England discovers her especial solicitude
that the paths of literature may be opened to her most
distant subjects. She founds by her Royal Chexters
seats of learning in her Colonies, and secures a provi-
sion for their support ; she sends forth teachers trained
in her venerable schools, under whose guidance the
sons of the Colonists may acquire that learning, which
she feels to have most essentially contributed to her own
internal welfare and elevation amidst the nations of
mankind.
But while such disinterestedness and generosity fill
the mind with gratitude and admiration, might it not be
well to inquire whether the system adopted by the
government in the formation of its Colonies, may not
have been in some points defective ?
In ancient times it mattered little perhaps whether the
Colony adhered to the idolatry of their father land or
inclined to the superstitions of their adopted country.
But when " the Star appeared in the East,'' and the
benign light of truth shone forth on a darkened world,
the man who had received the peculiar blessing was
required to communicate it to the unenlightened. The
more exacted his station, and the greater the influence
at his command, the more imperatively is he called
17
upon thus to ameliorate the condition, and secure the
lasting happiness of his fellow beings. In sending out
Colonies, therefore, one would naturally suppose, that the
first care of the Christian ruler and legislator would be,
to provide that "the lamp" of the blessed Gospel
should not "go out" when the emigrants had left their,
homes, but that the faith of their fathers should be ex-
tended and maintained in the most distant portions of
the empire.
Search around the world, and in no other land, under
the rule of no other monarch, will you find a people so
cherished, so privileged, so free, as the subjects of
England's sovereign in her widely extended Colonies.
Yet amid all these blessings it were useless to deny,
that evils exist, deeply to be deplored, in matters most
closely effecting their permanent well being.
Could the government of Great Britain, wherever her
Colonies were originally planted, have duly established
and provided for the support of that Church, for whose
accordance with the primitive truth of Christianity, so
many a martyr suffered, and which while asserting its
own rights allows (in these days at least) liberty of
conscience to all : or had the opportunity been taken,
when the subsequent state of a Colony became more
favourable to such an establishment, much of that ani-
mosity, much of that factious spirit, generated by our
unhappy divisions, might have been averted. '
But while the present aspect of many of the British
Colonies call forth these reflections, we should not fail
to notice that the people of England have never forgotten
the wants of their Colonial brethren. The trees of the
forest having given way to the labour of the hardy Emi-
grant; many a House of Prayer is reared, and many a
pious Missionary sent forth, to point out to the settlers
B
18
the path to Heaven. Many an Emigrant kneeling at
the humble altar thus erected, and listening to those
words of piety and peace to which he was accustomed
in his ancient home, feels, that although exposed to
hardships, and in a distant land, his best interests are
regarded by those who have thus remembered the wants
of the Soul.
But however pleasing it might be to dilate on these
effects of Christian benevolence, the limits of the present
Essay warn us to hasten its conclusion.
It has been the object of our inquiry to point out the
most important facts relating to ancient Colonization ;
proceeding then with the inquiry into the formation of
Colonies in modern times, we have endeavoured to
compare the systems adopted in those important trans-
actions, in different ages of the World.
We have seen, that while for the most part ancient
Colonization originated from circumstances connected
with the Government of States, modern Colonies were
generally sent out, in the first place at least, for purposes
of Commerce, to inciease the trade and revenues of
the Mother Country : that while, in days of antiquity,
important Colonies were oftentimes founded by persons
compelled to leave their native land. Governments are
also seen to resort to Emigration, but leaving the Colo-
nies entirely to themselves, and regarding them rather
as their allies than subjects. In ages less remote, man-
kind are found as ready for change as in older time ;
and while the crowded cities of the Old World are con-
tinually sending forth their needy multitudes, in no
instance are they observed to form communities uncon-
nected with the Parent State. The greater part of the
ancient Colonies, those of Rome excepted, were con-
sidered as separated from the parent stock, the Mother
19
Country paying little regard to their destiny ; in modern
times, the movement of the Emigrants appears rather
to excite than diminish feelings of good will, and some
bond of union generally connects the Colony with its
father land.
Had the Greeks pursued a different policy towards
their Colonies, had their interests been more closely
united, had those fond feelings which every Emigrant
must entertain towards his ancient home been carefully
cherished, might we not reasonably have looked for a
different fate to both State and Colony ? Had Rome,
instead of loading her Colonies with taxes to support
her fading grandeur, more closely studied the happiness
of her people, would she not have been better able to
have resisted that "torrent from the North," which,
spreading like a dark cloud over her Empire, swept
away State and Colony alike P In later times Spain
and Portugal adopted a system a little different ; but
equally eager to secure their own objects at the sacrifice
of the best interests of the Colonies, finally lost that as-
sistance and support which they were so well calculated
to afford.
Nearly three centuries have now passed away, since
the father of English Colonization # attempted to form a
settlement across the broad Atlantic ; and although since
that time an independent republic has been formed from
many of her Colonies — long cherished and protected,
England's prosperity is apparently undiminished ; she
is still found able to defend her most distant subjects ;
and while increasing her empire and extending her in-
fluence by her Colonies, she still contributes to maintain
the peace of the world.
Reminded ,however, by the reflection, that all these
•Sir W. Raleigh.
20
•
things are controlled by that Almighty Power which
** in the beginning laid the foundatioYis of the earth/' we
are led to take a chastened view of those vast transac-
tions in which man has acted so prominent a part, and
to regard him as the mere agent effecting the rise and
fall of Kingdoms and Empires.
The proud nations of antiquity and their numerous
Colonies, were but fulfilling the purposes of a Being
whose attributes they little understood. This accom-
•pKshed, His fiat went forth, that those bounds ^were
reached beyond which they should not pass, and U^e
sepulchres of their heroes became the chief witness to
posterity of their once boasted grandeur.
The reflecting mind of the observer of past events can
readily discover ample cause, why " the perfect judge of
all the earth" should thus have "visited the nations,"
and made many a prosperous state, many a flourishing
Colony, a gloomy desert. Cruelty, opression and wrong
are " abominations in His sight," and that nation will
eventually suffer by which such transgressions of His
eternal law are committed.
But may He who holds in His hand the destinies of
Empires, so guide the counsels of our Rulers, that the
increase of His Kingdom may be the first subject of their
deliberations ! Then will the State still flourish, and the
Colony be happy. '