St. John was permanently settled by the Danes in 1716. The French, Knights of Malta, and “miscellaneous rovers” occupied the island of St. Croix, thirty-five miles south of St. Thomas until, in 1733, France sold it to Denmark. King Frederick V, in 1755, purchased the Danish West India Company’s land, forts, buildings, slaves, merchandise and ships for $1,500,000, and made St. Thomas a closed port. However, within a decade the former policy as to world commerce was resumed by order of the king, and during the pre-Napoleonic wars St. Thomas was the meeting-place of vessels flying the pennants of all the warring nations. “Things were lively in those days,” writes Mr. Luther Zabriskie. “Money flowed like water into the coffers of the merchants. Population increased, the town limits were extended, stores and dwellings were rapidly built, and thousands of refugees and adventurers sought these shores for the purpose of traffic.” But St. Thomas was not to remain a neutral port for long. In 1801, England blockaded the island and held it for ten months. The British flag again flew over the islands between the years 1807 and 1815, as a precaution against seizure by Napoleon. In the readjustment of nations following the events of the latter year, the group was restored to Denmark. Once more, St. Thomas became the queen port of the West Indies, and exacted tribute from the hundreds of ships that plied this golden lane of commerce between the Atlantic and the Pacific. On the birth date of American Independence, July 4, 1848, the black bondmen of the Danish West Indies were freed by decree of the Crown, and forthwith they forsook their agricultural occupations. The prosperity of the Danish islands was affected when profits decreased in the production of cane sugar. The abolition of slavery and the development of the beet sugar industry both had a share in bringing about this condition. Formerly, St. Thomas had been the sole port of call for steamers carrying cargoes of goods that were in demand on neighboring islands, including Porto Rico. Now other lines of transportation were organized, and direct communication was established between Porto Rico and the north. By the year 1866, planters and officials of the Government were ready to consider the proposals of Secretary Seward that the islands should become the property of the United States. PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR. VOL. 6. No. 13. SERIAL No. 161 COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC. [Illustration: PHOTOGRAPH BY E. M. NEWMAN CHARLOTTE AMALIE. VIRGIN ISLANDS. DANISH GOVERNMENT BUILDING NOW U. S. MARINE HEADQUARTERS] _THE VIRGIN ISLANDS_ _History of the Transfer_ TWO