An Historical Account of the Settlements of Scotch Highlanders in America. J. P. Maclean
by the English Navigation Act of 1660, which provided that all trade with the English colonies should be conducted in English ships alone. Any scheme plausibly presented was likely to catch those anxious to regain their commercial interests, as well as those who would be actuated to increase their own interests. The Massacre of Glencoe had no little share in the matter. This massacre, which occurred February 13, 1692, is the foulest blot in the annals of crime. It was deliberately planned by Sir John Dalrymple and others, ordered by king William, and executed by Captain Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, in the most treacherous, brutal, atrocious, and bloodthirsty manner imaginable, and perpetrated without the shadow of a reasonable excuse—infancy and old age, male and female alike perished. The bare recital of it is awful; and the barbarity of the American savage pales before it. In every quarter, even at court, the account of the massacre was received with horror and indignation. The odium of the nation rose to a great pitch, and demanded that an inquiry be made into this atrocious affair. The appointment of a commission was not wrung from the unwilling king until April 29, 1695. The commission, as a whole, acted with great fairness, although they put the best possible construction on the king's order, and threw the whole blame on Secretary Dalrymple. The king was too intimately connected with the crime to make an example of any one, although through public sentiment he was forced to dismiss Secretary Dalrymple. Not one of those actually engaged in the perpetration of the crime were dismissed from the army, or punished for the butchery, otherwise than by the general hatred of the age in which they lived, and the universal execration of posterity. The tide of feeling set in against king William, and before it had time to ebb the Darien Scheme was projected. The friends of William seized the opportunity to persuade him that some freedom and facilities of trade should be granted the Scotch, and that would divert public attention from the Glencoe massacre. Secretary Dalrymple also was not slow to give it the support of his eloquence and interest, in hopes to regain thereby a part of his lost popularity.
The originator of the Darien Scheme was William Paterson, founder of the Bank of England, a man of comprehensive views and great sagacity, born in Scotland, a missionary in the Indies, and a buccaneer among the West India islands. During his roving course of life he had visited the isthmus of Panama—then called Darien—and brought away only pleasant recollections of that narrow strip of land that unites North and South America. On his 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 the vast riches that would be poured into Scotland a toll should be paid which would add to her capital; and a fabulous prosperity would be shared by every Scotchman from the peer to the cadie. Along the desolate shores of the Forth Clyde villas and pleasure grounds would spring up; and Edinburgh would vie with London and Paris. These glowing prospects at first were only partially disclosed to the public, and the name of Darien was unpronounced save only to a few of Paterson's most confidential friends. A mystery pervaded the enterprise, and only enough was given out to excite boundless hopes and desires. He succeeded admirably in working up a sentiment and desire on the part of the people to become stockholders in the organization. The hour for action had arrived; so on June 26, 1695, the Scottish parliament granted a statute from the Crown, for creating a corporate body or stock company, by name of the Company of Scotland trading to Africa and the Indies, with power to plant colonies and build forts in places not possessed by other European nations, the consent of the inhabitants of the places they settled being obtained. The amount of capital was not fixed by charter, but it was stipulated that at least one-half the stock must be held by Scotchmen resident in Scotland, and that no stock originally so held should ever be transferred to any but Scotchmen resident in Scotland. An entire monopoly of the trade with Asia, Africa, and America was granted for a term of thirty-one years, and all goods imported by the company during twenty-one years, should be admitted duty free, except sugar and tobacco, unless grown on the company's plantations. Every member and servant of the company were privileged against arrest and imprisonment, and if placed in durance, the company was authorized to invoke both the civil and military power. The Great Seal was affixed to the Act; the books were opened; the shares were fixed at £100 sterling each; and every man from the Pentland Firth to the Galway Firth who could command the amount was impatient to put down his name. The whole kingdom apparently had gone mad. The number of shareholders were about fourteen hundred. The books were opened February 26, 1696, and the very first subscriber was Anne, dutchess of Hamilton. On that day there was subscribed £50,400. By the end of March the greater part of the amount had been subscribed. On March 5th, a separate book was opened in Glasgow and on it was entered £56,325. The books were closed August 3rd of the same year, and on the last day of subscriptions there was entered £14,125, reaching the total of £400,000, the amount apportioned to Scotland. The cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, in their corporate capacity, each took £3,000 and Perth £2,000. Of the subscriptions there were eight of £3,000 each; eight of £2,000 each; two of £1,500, and one each of £1,200 and £1,125; ninety-seven of £1,000 each; but the great majority consisted of £100 or £200 each. The whole amount actually paid up was £220,000. This may not seem to be a large amount for such a country as Scotland, but as already noted, the country had been ruined by the English Act of 1660. There were five or six shires which did not altogether contain as many guineas and crowns as were tossed about every day by the shovels of a single goldsmith in Lombard street. Even the nobles had but very little money, for a large part of their rents was taken in kind; and the pecuniary remuneration of the clergy was such as to move the pity of the most needy, of the present; yet some of these had invested their all in hopes that their children might be benefited when the golden harvest should come. Deputies in England received subscriptions to the amount of £300,000; and the Dutch and Hamburgers subscribed £200,000.
Those Highland chiefs who had been considered as turbulent, and are so conspicuous in the history of the day have no place in this record of a species of enterprise quite distinct from theirs. The houses of Argyle, Athol, and Montrose appear in the list, as families who, besides their Highland chiefships, had other stakes and interests in the country; but almost the only person with a Highland patronymic was John MacPharlane of that ilk, a retired scholar who followed antiquarian pursuits in the libraries beneath the Parliament House. The Keltic prefix of "Mac" is most frequently attached to merchants in Inverness, who subscribed their hundred.
It is probable that a list of Highlanders who subscribed stock may be of interest in this connection. Only such names as are purely Highland are here subjoined with amounts given, and also in the order as they