Fletcher was a rich man, and the disaster at Darien did not mean ruin to him, as it did to so many of his countrymen. But the sight of their sufferings, the callous indifference of the English Government, and the knowledge that there was not one London merchant in a hundred who did not, in his heart, rejoice in the ruin which had befallen the Scottish traders, made him, as it made most Scotsmen, distrust England, and devote himself, heart and soul, for the rest of his life, to the cause of Scottish independence. CHAPTER IV Fletcher’s Political Writings--‘A Discourse on Militias’--The Affairs of Scotland--Supports Slavery as a cure for Mendicancy--Attacks the Partition Treaty. It was in 1698, while the fate of the Darien expedition was still uncertain, that Fletcher first appeared as an author. In their original form his writings may be described as short, anonymous pamphlets, of duodecimo or small octavo size, and printed in italics. They were republished, some years after Fletcher’s death, in one volume, in 1732, under the title of _The Political Works of Andrew Fletcher, Esq._, and since then there have been other editions. These earlier works consisted of--(1) _A Discourse of Government with relation to Militias_: Edin., 1698; (2) _Two Discourses concerning the Affairs of Scotland, written in the year 1698_; (3) a work in Italian, called _Discorso delle cose di Spagna, scritto nel mese di Luglio 1698_: Napoli, 1698; (4) _A Speech upon the State of the Nation_, 1701. After the Peace of Ryswick there was a war of pamphlets on the question of standing armies. William III. desired to maintain a force sufficient to cope with France; but, as Burnet says, ‘the word “standing army” had an odious sound in English ears’; and most Englishmen thought that a thoroughly trained militia and a strong navy would afford the best means for repelling an invasion from abroad, and securing order at home.