Page:Cambridge Modern History Volume 7.djvu/110

78 The Company of the Isles of America. [1627-64 unusually strong, and the evils which generally accompany the move- ments of alien settlers, whose civilisation is in advance of their environ- ment, were conspicuously absent. In what has been called the second period of French colonisation, 1627-64, the close parallel which marked the nascent stages of the French and the English settlements in the tropical islands ceases; for the English colony in Barbados developed with astonishing rapidity and completely eclipsed the French islands. The isolated situation of Barbados far to the windward, the work done by the Dutch, and the character of the English immigration, made it possible early to exploit the fertility of this small island, which is only about the size of the Isle of Wight ; and in their turn the other islands would be exploited. Very wild figures have been given as to the population of Barbados in 1650 ; they serve mainly as an indication that immense prosperity was believed to exist there. In 1650 half an estate of 500 acres, of which 200 were under cane, sold for ^7000. In 1636 there were about 6000 English in the island; in 1656, 25,000 Christians; in 1643, 6400 negroes; in 1666, 50,000. But the first twenty-five years of rapid development were followed by a gradual decay. The destruction of the woods deprived Barbados of rain; and the white proprietors began to migrate. In 1676 it was however still inhabited by 21,000 whites, and by over 32,000 negroes. In the same way Jamaica developed after the English conquest, but not with such startling rapidity. Neither Martinique nor Guadaloupe witnessed anything like an equal progress in population. At first the Company of the Isles of America, or of St Christopher as it was also called, had been powerless to exclude foreign trade; and for this reason the islands began to flourish, and the Company then began to crave the returns which it believed to be due to its expenditure. When a royal order had been issued closing the trade to foreigners the Company was reconstituted with larger capital and privileges (1635). It now aspired to settle all the islands unoccupied, or where joint occupation could be effected, as at St Kitt's. Its sovereignty was conditional on the despatch of 4000 French Catholics within twenty years, with due ecclesiastical provision. The condition, which in Canada was not fulfilled, was in this case quickly satisfied. Nevertheless, the failure of the Company became far more rapidly obvious in the islands than in Canada; for the openings for contraband trade were here almost unlimited, and could be checked only by a large and ubiquitous fleet. The Company overcharged the colonists for European goods, and fixed low prices on the tobacco and other goods which they offered for sale. Consequently, a flourishing Dutch trade soon carried off all the shareholders' profits, and the Company decided to make the best bargain possible by selling the islands to would-be proprietors. In 1661 Colbert succeeded Mazarin as Controller of Finance ; and