by the Restoration of King Charles II. and above all or generous and frank Concurrence with them in the late happy Revolution and Advancement of King William III. We did verily think that all these things deserv'd a better Treatment And to evince that they did we shall beg leave to insist a little upon the first and last The English have no cause to think that we were ignorant of the Reason why their Politick Henry VII chose rather to Match his Eldâ—st Daughter with the King of Scots than with the King of France because he foresaw that if the King of Scots should by that means come to the Crown of England he would remove the Seat of his Government thither which would add to the Grandure and Riches of England Whereas if the King of France did by that means fall Heir to the English Crown he would certainly draw the Court of England to Paris This the Scots were so far from being ignorant of that many of the Nobility and Gentry did express their dislike of the Union of the Crowns as well knowing that it would reduce our Kingdom into a Subjection and Dependance upon England and drain us of what Substance we had and therefore some of them express'd themselves on that occasion That Scotland was never Conquer'd till then Yet such was our Zeal for the Common Welfare of the Island the Interest of the Protestant Religion and of Europe in general which were then almost in as much danger by Spain as they have been since by France that we quietly and freely parted with our King and suffer'd him to accept the English Crown rather than that Nation should be involv'd in War and Confusion and the Protestant Religion endanger'd by another Successor as it must necessarily have been had the Infanta of Spain whose Title was then promoted by the Popish Interest succeeded And all the Reward we had for this Condescension and Kindness was a Contemptuous and Disdainful Refusal on the part of England of an Union of the Nations when proposed tho' the same would visibly have tended to the Benefit of the whole Island the general Advantage of Europe and the Security and Increase of the Protestant Interest And our King was so little thankful on his part that tho' he promis'd solemnly in the Great Church of Edinburgh before his Departure that he would visit his Ancient Kingdom once in three Years he never saw it after but once and that not till Fourteen Years after And by the influence of that same Faction in England who are still our Enemies he made Innovations both in Church and State These were the first Advantages we had by the Union of the Crowns His Son King Charles I. had scarce ascended the Throne when we had new Proofs of the Disadvantages we labour'd under by that Union for he by the Advice of some Enemies to our Nation did in an Imperious and Arbitrary manner send for our Crown tho' the only Monument almost left us of our Independency and Freedom but was generously answer'd by him that had it in keeping That if he would come and be Crown'd in Scotland he should have all the Honour done him that ever was to his Ancestors but if he did not think it worth his while they might perhaps be inclin'd to make choice of another Soveraign or to that effect as recorded in the Continuation of Sir Richard Baker's History Another Disadvantage we had by that Union of the Crown was this That that Unfortunate Prince being inspir'd with an Aversion to the Constitution of our Country by his Education made War upon us to bring us to a Conformity with England in Church-Matters We shall not here offer to debate which of the Churches was best Constituted or most agreeable to the Scripture-Pattern It suffices for our Argument That we were Injur'd in having a Foreign Model offer'd to be obtruded upon us which was the Consequence of the Union of the Crowns and of having our King Educated in another Nation but that was not all another mischievous Effect of the Union was this That whatever King Charles had deserv'd at our Hands yet out of Natural Affection Conscience and Honour we were oblig'd to do what we could to prevent his Illegal Trial and Death and to defend his Son's Title which threw us into Convulsions at Home occasion'd us the loss of several Armies and expos'd our Nation afterwards to Ruine and Devastation by our implacable Enemy the Usurper which together with the Ungrateful Retributions made us by the Government after the Restoration were enough to have wearied any Nation under Heav'n but our selves of the Union of the Crowns ANSWER Our Caledonian as I believe being somewhat mistrustful of the strength of the Scotâ— Title as well as of his Arguments to perswade the English that it is for their Interest to maintain the Scots in their New Settlement thinks it best to take other Measures now and to try whether he can hector them into a Compliance with the Scots he sets the best Countenance upon the Matter and labours very hard to give the World to understand that the English are highly indebted to the Scots for suffering as he terms it their Crown to be United with that of England I will not enter into a Dispute with him about the design of Henry VII in Marrying his Daughter to the King of Scots I will allow him to have acted in this Point as much for the Interest of England as our Author would have him but what is all this to their suffering the two Crowns to be United under one Head I hope he will grant me that both the English and Scots Crowns were Hereditary and being such how was it in the Power of the Scots to alter the Succession upon that Score I will further allow him that whenever two Kingdoms or States are United under one Head the less Potent will in some measure be independent on the other But I would also have him grant me this Position That if at that Juncture the Infanta of Spain had succeeded in England the Protestant Interest both in England and Scotland must have been brought into no small Jeopardy and our Author would have had no great occasion at this time to brag of the Soveraignty and Independency of the Scots He makes a large Rehearsal of the Miscarriages in the Reign of King James I. and King Charles I. especially of their Innovations in Church Matters in Scotland but our Author might have remembred if they introduced Episcopacy among them they were not behind hand in furnishing England with Presbytery What he alledges concerning their Sufferings in the Civil Wars for the Defence of K. Charles I. and his Sons Title ought not to be put upon the English Score I wonder how he can be so forgetful as not to remember That the Scots Covenanters were of that Gang that begun the Dance and all the reason in the World they should help to pay the Fidler And
Emergency we should be forc'd to break off the Union of the Crowns and enter again into a French Alliance It 's in vain for them to Object that in such a case we should betray our Religion for we see the persecuted Hungarians were protected in that by the Turks tho' sworn Enemies to it Nor is it impossible but there may be a change as to that matter in France L. XIV is not immortal And even Julian the Apostate himself found it his Interest for some time to protect the Orthodox Christians whom he mortally hated But supposing as indeed there 's no great likelihood of it that no such Alliance as this should ever happen yet however if these two Nations be not more closely united it may be of ill Consequence to England if any of their Kings at any time should be so far disgusted as to betake themselves to us What a Field of Blood and Slaughter must England have become had we carried off K. Charles I. when he came to our Army or iâ— we had join'd him against the Parliament of England What great Efforts did a Party of our Nation make to inthrone K. Charles II. when England was against him And how did our Concurrence afterwards with General Monk effect it How soon did our Espousing the Duke of York's Interest turn the Tables upon those that opposed him in England And if our Nation had likewise Espous'd his Cause before the Revolution the Viscount of Dundee gave a sufficient proof what we could have done for him This makes it evident That it is not the Interest of England to slight an Union with us so much as they have done For so long as we remain divided any King that is so minded may make use of us and any envious Neighbour whose Interest it is to keep this Island low will be sure to blow the Coals If they 'd but turn the Tables and make our Case their own they would quickly be satisfied of the Truth of what we advance Supposing that the Government of Scotland should traverse the Actings of the Government of England in relation to their Trade c. as they have done ours and supposing that a Parliament of Scotland when the King were there should question him for the Navigation Act and that for the Incouragement of Trade in England by King Charles II. which lays us under such hard Circumstances and Restrictions the English would certainly very much resent it and speedily tell us we meddled with what did not belong to us Then why should they deny us the like liberty in reference to their Proceedings against us seeing we are a free Nation as well as they Nor can any thing less than joining with us and protecting that Settlement against all opposition in case of Attacks by the French or others sufficiently atone for what is already done or heal the Wound those Proclamations have giv'n to the common Interest of the Island ANSWER These several Pages are no more than a Repetition of what he has urged before with this difference only that he intermixes them with some bitter and unseemly Expressions which are altogether insufferable in a private Person and a Subject He as good as denounces War against England in case the Scots should miscarry and sounds alarm without any publick Authority I cannot forbear to take notice of one Passage when he says That if the Scots had carried off K. Charles I. when he came to their Army what a Field of Slaughter and Blood must England have become whereas before to excuse the Scots for their surrendring the said King he had told us with a great deal of Confidence that they were necessitated so to do What he says concerning their Endeavours to Inthrone King Charles II. is not altogether to be denied but he might also have remembred upon what Terms they did it which is I think a sufficient warning to any King not to relie upon their Gencrosity and he might have very well saved himself the trouble of offering the Assistance of the Scots to the English Court there being no great likelihood thanks be to God at this time that they will have any occasion for them or if they should they would scarce think fit to accept of them Their Concurrence with General Monk has been spoken off before as most of all the other Points which he treats of here so that we think it needless to make a Repetition of them here And so will take a short View of his Description of Darien WE come in the next place to give a Description of the Isthmus of Darien It lies betwixt the 8th and 10th Degrees of Northern Latitude and in the narrowest place is betwixt 60 and 80 Italian Miles over We shall not trouble our selves with the Description of any more of it than is in the possession of the Natives which is in length from E. to W. on the N. side from the mouth of the River Darien to Port Scrivan above 140 Italian Miles from Caret Bay to the River of Cheapo on the Southside it is about 160 in length It is supposed to take its Name from the great River of Darien that bounds its Northern Coast to the Eastward It is bounded on the North and South with the vast Oceans that carry the names of the North and South Seas It s Situation is very pleasant and agreeable and very commodious for a speedy and short Communication of Trade betwixt the North and South Seas and preventing that vast Compass that must otherwise be fetch'd round either of the Extremes of North and South America By this means also it lies convenient for a speedier Communication of Trade betwixt Europe and the East Indies than any that hath hitherto been found out Mr. Dampier says That from Cheapo or Santa Maria River a Man may pass from Sea to Sea in three days and that the Indians do it in a day and a half There are abundance of valuable Islands on both sides the Isthmus which prevent the breaking in of the Ocean upon it at once and besides the Conveniences of Wood Fish Fowl and Water afford good and safe Riding in all Weathers to any number of Ships especially those call'd the Sambaloes that lie along the Northern Coast The Continent is agreeably intermix'd with â—â—ills and Valleys of great variety for height depth and extent The Vallies are water'd with Rivers Brooks and Springs which take their rise from a great ridge of Hills that run along the Isthmus but nearest to the Northern Shore from which it is seldom above 15 Miles distant and from whence the Sambaloes Islands and the various Makings of the Shore and the continued Forest all along the Country gratifie the Eye with a very fine prospect The Rivers on the Northern Coast are generally small because their Course from the above-mentioned ridge of Hills is but short yet the River of Darien is very large but the depth of its entrance not answerable to its width yet
THE DEFENCE OF THE SCOTS Settlement AT DARIEN ANSWER'D Paragraph by Paragraph By Philo-Britan LONDON Printed and Sold by the Booksellers of London and Westminster 1699. THE DEFENCE OF THE SCOTS Settlement AT DARIEN ANSWER'D WHEN this Pamphlet came first to my Hands these bold and unaccountable Insinuations with which I found it stuff'd up from the very beginning to the end invited me to make some Reflections upon it for my own Diversion and the Use of some few of those whom I knew to be both my Friends and constant Adherers to the present Government in England not questioning but that some more able Pen than mine would take this Task in Hand and convince the World of the unreasonableness of such an Undertaking by a private Hand which amounts to no less than charging both His Majesty and the present English Government with Injustice and a mistake of their own Interest as will more evidently appear out of the following Sheets The Dedication which if rightly considered is nothing else but an Introduction to the rest is to make the World believe that the English stand much indebted to the Scots for suffering themselves to be united with them under one Head and cannot discharge this Obligation unless they maintain them in their present Settlement of Darien which if they don't do they must expect to be treated as an Ungrateful and Unjust People by the Scots who if we will take this Gentleman's Word for it are powerful enough either by themselves or with the Assistance of their Allies to reduce us to a more pliable Temper That this is the main design of the Dedication as well as the whole Treatise will sufficiently appear to any one who will take the Pains carefully to peruse them for tho' he is pleased to tell His Majesty at the beginning of the Dedication that his Design is to vindicate the Settlement of the Scots in Darien against the Aspersions of the Spanish Memorial yet when not long after he says That those cannot be look'd upon as Friends to His Majesty's Dignity as King of Scots who call in question what he enacts in the Parliament of Scotland I say these Words are an undeniable Proof that the whole is more levell'd against England than Spain I will not pretend to make particular Reflections upon each Passage here because I shall have occasion to do it hereafter but I cannot forbear to take notice of that unaccountable Arrogance which has emboldened some of our Modern Writers to foster the Inventions of their own Brains and their speculative Politicks upon the World under the Cloak of the Royal Authority Will not Posterity stand amazed when they see a Person whose Faith has not only been call'd in question but also condemn'd by a legal Sentence to cover his Zeal Self-Interest and private Passion under the Veil of His Sacred Majesty's Name But we will proceed to the Book it self which begins thus DEFENCE The Heads propos'd to be insisted upon in the following Sheets are The Legality of the Scots Establishment The Advantage or Disadvantage that may redound from it to England Whether the Scots without the Assistance of the English may be able to maintain their footing in America and what may probably be the Consequences if the Scots should be oppos'd therein by the English and miscarry in the Vndertaking ANSWER These sâ—veral Heads give us sufficiently to understand what I mentioned just now to wit That the chief aim of this Author was against the English and that what is said in relation to the Spaniards is only a Preparative to the rest as will more plainly appear out of the following Sheets Upon the first Head he says further thus DEFENCE The chief Objections against the Legality of their Establishment arise from the Memorial delivered in against it to the King by the Ambassador Extraordinary of Spain May 3 1699. O. S. as follows ANSWER As these Animadversions were intended at first only for a private use so I had not the opportunity of informing my self whether the following Spanish Memorial be Authentick in all its Parts or not which therefore I insert here barely upon our Author's Credit as it is extant in his Defence c. THE Vnder-Subscriber Ambassador Extraordinary from His Catholick Majesty finds himself oblig'd by express Orders to represent to Your Majesty that the King his Master having receiv'd Information from different places and last of all from the Governour of Havana of the Insult and Attempt of some Scots Ships equipp'd with Men and other things requisite who design to settle themselves in His Majesty's Soveraign Demains in America and particularly the Province of Darien His Majesty receiv'd those Advices with very much Discontent and looks upon the same as a Rupture of the Alliance betwixt the Two Crowns which His Majesty hath observed hitherto and always observes very Religiously and from which so many Advantages and Profits have resulted both to Your Majesty and Your Subjects as a Consequence of which good Correspondence His Majesty did not expect such sudden Insults and Attempts by Your Majesty's Subjects and that too in a time of Peace without pretext or any cause in the very Heart of his Demains All that the King desires is That this may be represented to Your Majesty and that Your Majesty may be acquainted that he is very sensible of such Hostilities and unjust Procedures against which His Majesty will take such Measures as he thinks convenient Given at London May 13 3. 1699. It were easie says the Author of the Defence of the Scot's Settlement to make proper Remarks upon the Weakness Insolence and Ingratitude of this Memorial but it is not worth while all the World knows what the Crown of Spain owes to His Majesty of Great Britain and therefore a more civil Application might reasonably have been expected to a Prince who had not only sav'd the Netherlands but prevented his Catholick Majesty from being insulted on his Throne at Madrid But these things we pass over and come to the chief Point in the Memorial which is That the Scots have posted themselves in the King of Spain 's Demains in America contrary to the Alliance betwixt the two Crowns If this be prov'd to be false then the Cause of the great Complaint ceases and His Majesty of Great Britain hath reason to demand Satisfaction for the Affront offered thereby to his Justice and Sovereignty To prove the Falshood of the Allegation That the Province of Darien is part of the King of Spain's Demains It is positively denied by the Scots who challenge the Spaniards to prove their Right to the said Province either by Inheritance Marriage Donation Purchase Reversion Surrender Possession or Conquest which being the only Titles by which they or any other People can Claim a Right to those or any other Dominions if the Spaniards cannot make out their Right by these or any of these their Claim must of consequence be null and void ANSWER It is a most
House live Ambrosio and his Son-in-Law Don Pedro with both their Families consisting of about 40 Persons We saw Ambrosio's Grandmother there who is 120 years old and yet was very active in getting things ready for an Entertainment She has six Generations descended from her now in the House with her The People live here to 150 and 160 years of Age but those that converse much with Europeans and drink strong Drink don't live so long From the Samballoes to the River of Conception the Country is commanded by one Corbet who is altogether in the French Interest he having contracted a Friendship with their Priveteers 7 years ago and done them many good Offices They promised to reward him if he would go to Petit Guaves and in his way thither he was taken by an English Privateer and carried to Jamaica whence the Governor of Petit Guaves got him releas'd He was with Ponti at the taking of Carthagena and has a Commission from the French to be General of all the French and Indian Forces on that Coast and to take sink and destroy Spaniards or any other Enemies Yet the French themselves and the sensible part of the Indians don't put any confidence in him and Ambrosio who is the bravest of all those Indian Captains keeps him in Awe and within Bounds Next to Corbet there 's another of their Captains call'd Nicola who is said to be a wise brave and good natur'd Prince insomuch that the Indians had a mind to have set him up instead of Ambrosio who is of a rugged military Temper But Ambrosio's Authority and Power is so great that they did not find it practicable Nicola is a mortal Enemy to the Spaniards and can never entertain a good thought of them since the Governor of Porto-Bello robb'd him of a curious Fusee that had been presented him by some of the Buccaneers and being out of order he sent it thither to be mended upon which the Governour taking a liking to it kept it to himself and sent Nicola another sorry piece instead of it Since we came hither there have been an English a Dutch and a French Ship in our Bay The English Ship was Captain Long in the Rupert Prize He had been in the Gulf of Oâ—ba but he himself and his Men own'd that they had not then been ashore there He hath some way or other disoblig'd the Captains Ambrosio and Diego Tho' we treated him with all possible Civility yet we are since inform'd that he hath been a days Journey into the Gulf and endeavour'd to incense the Indians against us telling them that we were Privateers and that the King of England would not protect us He left some Men in the Bay who had since kill'd some Spaniards and came to us for Arms and Ammunition but we told them we could not grant them any and that they had done what they could not justifie We gave them however what was necessary for sitting up a Boat and as a Reward they intic'd away the Carpenter and Mate of one of our Ships call'd the Vnicorn The Dutch Ship that came hither was afraid of the Spanish Barlâ—vento Fleet and put in here for Protection that Fleet having made Prize of another Dutch Ship of 32 Guns and of two English Sloops for Trading on those Coasts The French Ship that put in here was that which was order'd to carry back the Church Plate c. to Carthagena did afterwards bulge on a Rock and was cast away in our Harbour We sav'd all their lives and Captain Pincarton our Commodore endanger'd his own life to save that of the French Captain He inform'd us That the French had four Men of War of 50 Guns each who thinking we had a Design on the River Mississipi were gone to the Gulf of Mexico in quest of us The French have been very industrious in cultivating their Interest both with the Natives and Spaniards in this part of America and doubt not of having a good share in those Countries after the King of Spain's Death They have got a great Interest with Captain Ambrosio by means of his Son-in-Law Don Pedro whom they caress extreamly and design'd to have carried him to Petit Guavus and from thence into France to acquaint the French King with the favourable Sentiments the Indians have entertain'd of the French and of their design to surrender themselves to his Majesty This has been projected by the French a long time but the King of Spain's Indisposition and their Pretensions to that Crown made them refer it and there 's no doubt but our Settlement will quicken those Resolutions Captain Andreas Captain Pedro his Brother Captain Diego and Captain Pousigo our Neighbours have no manner of Correspondence with the French The latter hath acquainted us that there are several Gold Mines within two Miles of our Settlement which he hath promis'd to shew us and he hath actually let us see several Samples of fine Gold This being the Substance of several Journals that were sent from our Colony in Darien upon their first Settlement there we hope it 's sufficient of it self to satisfie our Neighbours in England of the Justice of our Cause of the Equity of our Proceedings of the true Reason why the French are so much our Enemies in this matter of the greatness of the Providence that has put us in possession of that Post and that it is England's Interest to joyn with and protect us by which the Designs of the French against Europe in general and Great Britain in particular may be defeated and the English West-India Trade secur'd But since by the Proclamations before menâ—â—on'd our Ships may be in danger of being attack'd by other Nations as Pirates and our Colony discountenanc'd and oppos'd on that Account by the Natives there 's no reason that our Neighbours should think strange if we complain of that unkind usage and endeavour to lay before them what may probably be the Consequences of such Proceedings without being construed either to threaten or to wish that any such things should happen â—t being evident that by offering to admit the English as Joint-sharers in our Trade we entertain no Sentiments but what are friendly towards that Nation being satisfied that all those who wish well to the Protestant Religion and true Liberty are Enemies to any thing that may occasion a Breach of the Union and good Understanding betwixt us Yet it must be own'd that we have but too great reason to complain of the Hardships we suffer which it is in the power of England to remedy by complying with the gracious Proposals of Uniting the Nations repeated in Parliament by His Majesty who like a true Father of His Country has expos'd himself to the greatest of Dangers to procure the Welfare and Peace of His Subjects by which He has made an absolute Conquest of the Hearts of all good Men who are unanimous to join in the like Prayer for him that the Israelites of old put up for their Kings viz. That he may live for ever FINIS