An Inquiry Into the Colonial Policy of the European Powers (Volume 2) (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: SECTION II. OF THE INTEREsTs OF THE EUROPEAN COLONIES, As CONNECTED WITH THE RE-EsTABLIsHMENT OF THE FRENCH POWER IN THE WEsT INDIEs. I have explained, in the laft Seftion, the reafons why a colonial eftablifhment is always, other things being equal, a more harmlefs neighbour than a primary ftate; and why the fepara- tion of any one important member of the colonial fyftem, from its relations of dependence upon the mother country, would be moft probably followed by a univerfal reparation of the colonies. I now proceed to examine, Jlrst, The peculiar circumftances whidh render the application of this conclufion to the ftate of the Weft Indian fettlements particularly ftriking; and next, the peculiar circumftances in the fituation of the French fettlements, which render the conclufion moft particularly applicable to them. The refult of this inquiry will enable us to determine the probable confequences of a total re-eftablifhment of the French colonial fyftem, and to compare the effefts of this event, with thofe of a total feparation of the French colonies, nies, to the other powers who have dominions s E c T- in thofe parts of the world. ." I. The Weft Indian colonies differ from colonial eftablifhments in general, chiefly in the following particulars? i. They are not peopled by feparate nations, like the countries of Europe, cr the larger colonies upon the two continents of A- merica. The fate of war has frequently transferred the dominion of almofl all the iflands from one power to another. Sometimes the permanent fovereignty of the conquered iflands has been transferred by treaty; fometimes a cefllon of territory has taken place by purchafe or ex- change. In the Seven-years war, Britain was in poffeffion of all the French Windward iflands. In the American wa...