transferring to it the emporium of Bautain, they conceived the idea of making it the sole and only depot of the commerce of the Archipelago. Had this object been combined with a liberal policy, and had the local circumstances of Batavia not obstructed it, the effect might have been different, and, instead of the ruin and desolation which ensued throughout a large portion of these islands, they might have advanced in civilization, while they contributed to raise the prosperity, and support the ascendancy of the Dutch metropolis. But when we advert to the greedy policy which swallowed up the resources of this extensive Archipelago in a narrow and rigid monopoly; and that, instead of leaving trade to accumulate, as it had previously done at the natural emporia, it was forced, by means of arbitrary and restrictive regulations, into one which, independent of other disadvantages, soon proved the grave of the majority of those who were obliged to resort to it, we shall find the cause which made it as ruinous to the Dutch as to the people. By attempting too much, they lost what, under other circumstances, might have been
