The Darien Scheme was a celebrated, but disastrous, financial project, conceived and set afloat by William Paterson, a Scotsman, towards the close of the 17th century. William Paterson was a man of bold and original conceptions, and possessed of a wide knowledge of commerce and finance. He was the first projector of the Bank of England, but was disappointed of his just recompense. His next scheme was one of magnificent proportions. He proposed to form an emporium on each side of the Isthmus of Darien or Panama for the trade of the opposite continents. The settlement thus formed would become the entrepot for an immense exchange between the manufactures of Europe and the produce of South America and Asia.
William Paterson had designed to limit the benefits of the scheme to Scotland mainly, but had to seek help in London, where the subscriptions soon ran up to 300,000 pounds. Alarm was soon excited amongst the English merchants, especially those connected with the Indies, at the gigantic Scotch scheme, and the English subscriptions were withdrawn. Scotland, indignant at this treatment, subscribed at once and with great enthusiasm 400,000 pounds, a full half of all the cash in the kingdom. Little more than the half, however, was paid up.
In 1698 five large vessels laden with stores, etc, and with 1200 intending colonists, sailed for the Isthmus of Darien. The settlement was formed in a suitable position, and the colonists fortified a secure and capacious harbour; but nothing else had been rightly calculated. Many of the colonists were city gentlemen, totally unacquainted with any of the arts necessary in a new colony; the provisions were either improper for the climate or soon exhausted; the merchandise they had brought was not adapted for the West Indian market. To add to their difficulties the colonists were attacked by the Spaniards and all commerce forbidden with them. For eight months the colony bore up, but at the end of that time the survivors were compelled by disease and famine to abandon their settlement and return to Europe. Two of the ships were lost on the way home, and only about thirty, including Paterson, reached Scotland. Research Darien Scheme
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Darien Scheme
