Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/268

 252 COMMERCE WITH. in short, at once in the character of traders and sovereigns, and attempt, of course, under those cir- cumstances, to impose their own terms upon the nations with whom they hold intercourse, instead of submitting to the authority of the laws of the country. They identify their own conduct, and the success of the particular schemes on which they are bent, with the honour and interests of the nation to which they belong, while the native states na- turally conclude, that the misconduct of these par- ticular bodies is that of the whole nation. It would be strange, indeed, reasoning a priori, if one had not a thousand examples to bring in proof, if a combination so unnatural did not excite the distrust of the nations, and end in the expulsion of the monopolists, or the restriction of their trade, wherever they have not been able to maintain themselves by the power of the sword. Of the utter failure of the monopoly projects we have too many examples. Of the success of free trade we have one great one in the Ipdian commerce of the Americans. The first appearance of an Anglo- American trader in the ports of India in the year 1784( is the true era of the commencement of fair and legitimate commerce between India and the civilized nations of the west. The period of near? ly three centuries which preceded that event may truly be described as a period of delusion, in which the nations of Europe, to their own loss and dis-