Chap. VIII.] A SCOTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY. 371
king that might secure them against the threatenings and other insinuations ad. ico-
contained in the memorial"
It was now the first business of the Scottish company to endeavour to subsequent
liroceeiUiigB.
obtain the declaration for which their subscribers in Hamburg had stipulated ; and accordingly, on the 28th June, 1697, their council-general presented an address to the king, in which, after enumerating their legsd rights, and the pre- judice which they had sustained by the interference of individuals acting in his majesty's name, they applied for the protection to which they were entitled by " natural right and the privilege of all merchants whatsoever, even though they had wanted the sanction of so solemn laws, and more especially for such declaration as in your royal wisdom you shall think fit to render the senate and inhabitants of the said city of Hamburg, and all others that are or may be concerned, from the threatenings or other suggestions" which the memorial con- tained. As the king had evidently been brought into a false position, and could not have justified the proceedings of the memorialists without tlirowing all Scotland into a flame, the Scotch secretaries, after the lapse of more than a month, answered as follows: — " We are empowered by the king to signify unto you that as soon as his majesty shall return to England he will take into con- sideration what you have represented imto him, and that in the meantime his majesty will give order to his envoy at the courts of Liineburg and his resident at Hamburg not to make use of his majesty's name or authority for obstructing your company in the prosecution of yom- trade with the inhabitants of that city.
This answer, though little better than an evasion, promised more than was ultimate actually performed ; and new remonstrances by the company proved unavailing, (,ftiieScotcu till the general dissatisfaction which had begun to prevail, obliged the king to ""'i*""^- reply that the promise of his secretaries had been fulfilled, and his residents abroad distinctly prohibited from fm-ther interference. Matters, however, ap- peared to be drawing to a crisis, when the proceedings of the Scotch company freed the king from his embarrassments, and paved the way for their own ulti- mate extinction. They were expressly prohibited from attempting to settle on any territory belonging to a power in amity with Britain. The site of the Isthmus of Darien, situated between the Atlantic and the Pacific, seemed so advan- tageous that all other considerations were lost sight of, and the first expedition fitted out by the company attempted to settle upon it. Spain, which claimed the territory, immediately remonstrated, and King William appears to have been only too glad to second their remonstrance. The consequence was, that the Scots, instead of being permitted to establish a trade, found themselves suddenly engaged single-handed in a war with the Spanish monarchy. For a time they fought the battle manfully, but disaster followed disaster. Of the 3000 men
Lwhom Scotland had sent out to the isthmus, only a small remnant returned ; r"'"^"'~" ' "■"
