Numb. 30.
[133]
THe conclusion of the last, referr’d us to examine what a Condition our Colonies and Plantations would have been in, according to common Conjecture, in Case the French had been what we pretend to be, viz. Masters of the Sea.
’Tis hard to say all that would have happened; but these few Consequences will, I presume, be granted us.
1. A General Interruption of Commerce, with all its Circumstances and Concomitants – God knows, ’tis but so so, that our Trade is maintain’d as it is; Ships are detain’d, Convoys backward, abundance run the risque without Convoy, and fall into the Enemies hands; the dearness of our Sugars, and all the several Commodities which are the Growth of our Colonies, are a Demonstration of the Interruption of our Commerce; and if the French were Masters at Sea, ’tis easier to guess how it would be with us, than ’twould be to support the Charge of it: If we lose abundance of our Ships now, we should have none come safe then; if we pay a great price for our Sugars now, we should have none then for our Money, unless we bought them of our Enemies. In short, if the French were Masters at Sea, as we should have no Trade to the Plantations, so we should have no Plantations to Trade to, in a few Years; for they would not be such ill Husbands of the Advantage as we are.
2. The Interruption of Commerce in our West Indies, would infallibly starve our Plantations. The Terra Firma would be ruin’d for want of Trade, and the Islands for want of Food; one would be starv’d for want of a Market for their Corn, and the other for want of Corn for their Market. Continue reading Saturday, June 17. 1704.