return to Europe his first plan was the national
establishment of the Bank of England. For a brief period he was admitted
as a director in that institution, but it befell to Paterson that others
possessed of wealth and influence, interposed and took advantage of his
ideas, and then excluded him from the concern. Paterson next turned his
thoughts to the plan of settling a colony in America, and handling the
trade of the Indies and the South Seas. The trade of Europe with the
remote parts of Asia had been carried on by rounding the Cape of Good
Hope. Paterson believed that the shorter, cheaper, and more expeditious
route was by the isthmus of Panama, and, as he believed, that section of
the country had not been occupied by any of the nations of Europe; and
as it was specially adapted for his enterprise it should be colonized.
He averred that the havens were capacious and secure; the sea swarmed
with turtle; the country so mountainous, that though within nine degrees
of the equator, the climate was temperate; and yet roads could be easily
constructed along which a string of mules, or a wheeled carriage might
in the course of a single day pass from sea to sea. Fruits and a
profusion of valuable herbs grew spontaneously, on account of the rich
black soil, which had a depth of seven feet; and the exuberant fertility
of the soil had not tainted the purity of the atmosphere. As a place of
residence alone, the isthmus was a paradise; and a colony there could
not fail to prosper even if its wealth depended entirely on agriculture.
This, however, would be only a secondary matter, for within a few years
the entire trade between India and Europe would be drawn to that spot.
The merchant was no longer to expose his goods to the capricious gales
of the Antarctic Seas, for the easier, safer, cheaper route must be
navigated, which was shortly destined to double the amount of trade.
Whoever possessed that door which opened both to the Atlantic and
Pacific, as the shortest and least expensive route would give law to
both hemispheres, and by peaceful arts would establish an empire as
splendid as that of Cyrus or Alexander. If Scotland would occupy Darien
she would become the one great free port, the one great warehouse for
the wealth that the soil of Darien would produce, and the greater wealth
which would be poured through Darien, India, China, Siam, Ceylon, and
the Moluccas; besides taking her place in the front rank among nations.
On all