Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/267

 EUROPEAN NATIONS. 251 imperative in all. A trade conducted by a joint- stock company, with civilized and powerful nations, is only liable to the objection which arises from the slovenly and expensive manage- ment which is inseparable from its nature, but one conducted by such a body, with half civilized, timid, and strange nations, is liable to a more seri- ous one. The individual adventurer is compelled by necessity to accommodate his conduct to the habits and institutions of the people with whom he trades. If the trade be worth conducting on their terms, he perseveres in it. Armed with no power, and appearing among them for purposes purely commercial, he excites no jealousy, and in the end his intercourse being discovered to be both safe, profitable, and agreeable, it is not only tolerated, but courted. Particular acts of violence or aggres- sion may occasionally be committed by individual traders in the earlier periods of such an intercourse ; but acts of aggression are neither in the nature, nor compatible with the interests of the peaceful pur- suits of commerce, and the misconduct of an indi- vidual would soon be explained and compensated for, without danger of implicating the national character, by the prudence and discretion of the greater number. It is almost needless to insist that the trading companies must, from their very nature, act on different principles. They are armed with political and arbitrary power, appear.