Selected quad for the lemma: england_n
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A45661
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The defence of the Scots settlement at Darien answer'd paragraph by paragraph / by Philo-Britan.
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Harris, Walter, 17th/18th cent.; Fletcher, Andrew, 1655-1716.; Foyer, Archibald.
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1699
(1699)
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Wing H881; ESTC R9419
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58,491
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93
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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
Revenge themselves upon their Conquerors For if they had been in a Condition to make War against them without a foreign Assistance What need had there been for them to call in the Buccaneers and to allow them so large a share in the Booty Our Calidonian Gentleman further tells us That the Spaniards have no other Plea for Possession but what was granted them by one of the Darien Princes to Work as Labourers in some Golden Mines I must confess this is somewhat difficult to be contradicted at so vast a distance and I would have pass'd by this Point in silence if Pag. 78. he had not himself furnish'd me with an Argument against his Assertion where he says That they had been informed by a Frenchman who married one of the Natives there That the Spaniards have Gold and Silver Mines on the Isthmus which they might make themselves Masters of with a 100 Mâ—n This I say and the Hostilities committed already by the Spaniards against the Scots in their New Settlement does I think carry with it a great probability that to this day they are not excluded from the Province of Darien but remain in actual Possession of so much of that Province as they think consistent with their own Interest What he alledges of Captain Sharp's being acquitted in England by reason of his Commission from one of the Darien Princes can in no wise affect the Spanish Title for supposing the Court of England was at that time not sufficiently inform'd concerning their Pretensions What detriment could that be to their real Pretensions If our Author could have given us an instance of a Person who had been acquitted upon the same Account in Spain his Argument would have been of unquestionable Validity which bears not the least weight now at least not in reference to Spain But let us hear the rest of his Arguments against the Spanish Title DEFENCE It remains then that the Spaniards can lay no other Claim to Darien but what they plead from the Pope's general Grant of America its being bounded by their Dominions and the Treaties with England which shall be consider'd in their Order To urge the Pope's Grant amongst Protestants is ridiculous and amongst Papists themselves but precarious But admitting it were sufficient to justifie their Title it is easie to prove that the Spaniards have forfeited all the Right they can Claim by virtue of that Grant The Church of Rome will not publickly own her Power to grant a Right of Conquest but in order to propagate the Faith and not that neither except the Infidel Prince or People be guilty of a Breach of Treaty So that the Pope's Grant with those Restrictions is so far from establishing the Title of the Spaniards that it plainly overthrows it That the Indians were committed to the Spaniards by Pope Alexander VI. on condition that they should teach them the Christian Religion is prov'd by Don Bartholomew de las Casas Bishop of Chiapa in his Account of the first Voyages and Discoveries made by the Spaniards in America and the Relation of their unparallell'd Cruelties Pag. 195. and there he likewise owns That by their acquitting themselves so ill of that Commission they ought to make Restitution of all they have taken from them under this pretext And Pag. 200. he charges them with breach of the Terms prescrib'd by the Apostolical Brief tho' Queen Isabella to whom it was granted earnestly intreated them in her last Will to keep exactly to it Pag. 218. he says That the Title of the King of Spain to the Indians is founded only on the Obligation he had taken upon himself to instruct them in the true Faith as appears by the Apostolick Brief Which they were so far from performing that instead of converting their Souls they destroyed their Bodies having in those early days viz. in the time of the Emperor Charles V. murâ—her'd above 40 Millions of them and took so little care to instruct them in the Christian Religion that they perfectly obstructed their Conversion and sold those very Idols that some of the poor People had thâ—own away with Abhorrence to others of the Indians Ib. P. 194. which together with their other horrid Impieties created an Aversion in those poor Infidels for Heaven it self according to the known Story of Hathwey an Indian Prince Ibid. Pag. 21. Who being fasten'd to a Stake by the Spaniards in order to be burnt for no other Crime but indeavouring to defend himself and his Subjects against their Cruelties ask'd a Friar that was discoursing to him of Heaven promising him eternal Happiness there if he would believe and threatning him with Hell if he did not whether Heaven was open to the Spaniards and being answer'd that it was to such of them as were good replied immediately that he would not go thither for fear of meeting such cruel and wicked Company as they were but would much rather chuse to go to Hell where he might he deliver'd from the troublesome sight of such kind of People So that their forfeiture of all Right or Title to Darien by the Pope's Grant if it were of any validity is plainly demonstrated ANSWER Our Author takes a great deal of Pains to demonstrate that supposing the Pope's Grant of America to be valid in its self they have forfeited the same I believe there will scarce be any body so void of Humanity who is acquainted with the most barbarous Cruelties committed by the Spaniards against the poor Natives of that Country as to take upon himself the Defence of them in this Point But how far this affects their Title is the matter in Question at present Not to enter upon the Topick here How far the Miscarriages of Governours and other Officers who transgress the Bounds of their Commission affects the Titles of their Sovereigns I will only insist upon this Head which I believe will scarce admit of a Contradiction by any body who has a true insight into the matter That supposing some of those Cruelties to have been committed by publick Authority there is no body who can be acknowledg'd a competent Judge of the Forfeiture of the Spanish Title but the Pope himself who admitted he has a Power to Grant it must of necessity be the only Person who can Recal it and till any such thing be done their Title will stand unshaken upon that bottom at least on the Spaniards side whatever our Author may alledge against it out of the Bishop of Chiapa whose Authority is in sufficient to maintain his Assertion in this Point as being only a Bishop under the Jurisdiction of Spain and as being a Church-man he might as well make use of a Dragoon for a Pilot as make those of his Profession competent Judges of the Titles of Princes But let us see further DEFENCE Their next Plea is That Darien is bounded or inclosed by their Dominions viz. By Porto-Bello and Carthagena with their Territories on the North and Panama and Sancta Maria on the