COLONY

(Yunanca köken — orijinale bakınız.) Colonies are establishments formed in foreign countries by bodies of men who voluntarily emigrate from, or are forcibly sent abroad by, their mother country. Various motives have, at different periods, led to the formation of colonies. Sometimes, as in the case of most of the Greek colonies of antiquity, they were formed by citizens driven from their native country by the violence of political factions; sometimes, as in the case of the Roman colonies, they were formed for the purpose of bridling subjugated provinces: the latter, indeed, were a species of camps or military stations, forming, as it were, the advanced posts of that mighty army which had its head-quarters at Rome: and sometimes, again, as in the case of the Phoenician colonies, and of most of those established in modern times, they have been formed for commercial purposes, or in the view of enriching the mother country, by openiftg new markets from which she might, if she chose, exclude foreigners. The nature of the connection that has existed between colonies and their mother countries has been exceedingly various. Most of the Greek colonies being founded by private adventurers, who received no a istance from the government of the parent state, were really independent; the duty which they owed to their metropolis being such only as is due to kinsmen and friends, and not that due by subjects to their rulers. The Roman colonies, on the other hand, being founded by the state for an important political purpose, always maintained an intimate connection with, and dependence upon, Rome. They formed the great bulwarks of the empire; nor was the conquest of any province ever supposed to be completed till colonies had been established in it, and roads had rendered it acce ible to the legions. The colonies established for commercial purposes have generally been subjected to such regulations as were deemed most for the advantage of the parent state. Their growth has thus in many instances been retarded; and they have been rendered le serviceable to their founders than they would have been had they been treated with greater liberality. The very narrow limits within which this article must be compre ed make it nece ary that we should limit our statements to a few remarks, having more particular reference to those questions of colonial policy most interesting to the English reader. The advantages supposed to result fVom that monopoly of the colony trade which all modern count i'ics po e ed of colonies have endeavoured to enforce, seem to be al.together imaginary. The ties of kindred, and the identity of language, customs, and manners, give the merchants of the mother country great advantages, and enable them, provided their goods be about as cheap as those of R 4 [s. 260]