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Those too large to be entirely included in one expoaura are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, aa many frames aa required. The following diagrama illuatrata the method: Lea cartea, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmte A dee taux da r6duction diff^rants. Lorsqua le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul cliche, II est film* A partir de Tangle supArleur gauche, de gauche * droite, et de haut en baa, en prenant le nombre d'Imeges ndcessaira. Lea diagrammea sulvants liluatrant la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 h By A Pr SHORT STATE OF THE PROGRESS O F T H E French TRADE AND NAVIGATION: Wherein is shewn, The great Foundation that France has laid, by dint of Commerce, to increafe her marilime Strength to a Pitch equal, if not fuperior, to that of Great-Britain, unlefs fome how checked by the Wifdom of His Majesty's Councils. HUMBLY INSCRIBED To His Royal Highnefs TFilliam Duke of Cumberland. 5jMALACHY POSTLETHWAYT,^/^. Authorofthe Universal Dictionary oFTradb and Commerce. LONDON: Printed for J. Kn a ptqn , in Ludg ate-ftreet. 1756. •CS'**:^ '4% \ m ^ u- u ] vX -'S Acj i-lf J n tl t] n V tl P b n P £ V a e a PREFACE. 1:1 APerfon of Diftindlion, who does me the honour to pe- rufe my Diftionary of Com- merce, obferving to me; that as he thought I had fet in a true light the trade of France, their fyftem of com- mercial policy, and the height to which they muft, in confequence thereof, neceffarily arrive in maritime power, if not foon effedlually checked by Great-Britain; (o he judged, it might be of public fervice, at this junfture, to throw out a fliort pam- phlet, giving a fummary of what I had faid upon thefe points in the great work. I urged the infufficiency of any fuch fliort paper to anfwer the end propofed, but was over-ruled ; and muft refer thofe to the Didionary who i 4. PREFACE. tvho would be more fatisfadlorily in- formed upon this important fubjeft. Giving a general account of the trade of France, is to little purpofe; we muft defcend to fomething of a detail, it being impoffible to form any idea thereof by general declamation ; or to make any judgment of the ^reat foun- dation that nation has .really laid for the increafe of her maritime force. This,' I hope, will obviate any diftafte againft being fo particular in the foU lowing papers, which are fuhmitted^ not to raife falfe alarms, but to put the nation on it's guard, let cither peace or war take place. A SHORT [ I] ^ S H. O R T STATE O F T H £ PROGRESS Of the French Trade and Navigation, &c. MA N Y, I fear, entertaining too nnean and contemptible an opinion of the commerce and navigation of France ; and in confc- quence thereof too defpicable an idea of their mer- cantile (hipping, the number of their feamen, and therefore of the ftrength of their royal navies, and of thofe other fliips of war, which they may be able to fit out in cafe of an open rupture ; I have judged it feafonable to undeceive thofe who may think fo, left our being lulled alleep with the weaknefs of the enemy, and our own omnipotency, when compared to their power, might be attended with confequences not eafily retrievable. This I fhall do with what brevity the matter will admit of, referring for a more ample ftate of the cafe to my Univerfai Dic- tionary, as difperfed throughout the fame. The produdions of Fratice, as they are the fub-" jefts of trade, are, I. Wines of Champaigne, Burgundy, Bour- dcaux, Rochelle, Nants, and other places on the Loire. B II. The '•I I* J Mil r 1 1 ''I I Hi [2 J II. The produce of the wines, brandy of Botir- dcaux, Nants, and Rochelle, vinegar, Ices ot wine, &c. III. Fruit, fuch as prunes and prunelloes, dried grapes, pears and apples in Normandy, orangei and olives in Languedoc and Provence. IV. Corn, fait, i. e. bavfalt, hemp, flSi, filk, rofin, oil, cork. V. Kid-fkins in abundance, perfumes, extracted oils, drugs, and chemical preparations, which are a produce rather than a manufacture, the growth being of their own. VI. They have alfo minerals and metals of di- vers kinds, and are daily difcovering others ; and they are become great artifts in the fmelting and refining them, and perform thofe operations to as great perfection as any other country. The manufadlures of France are, I. Silks, as iuftrings, alamodes, farcenet^, broad flowered and brocaded filks, and velvets. II. Woollen manufaflures, in imitation of thofe of England, which are chiefly carried on in Nor- mandy, Poiftou, Languedoc, Provence, Guicnne, &c. III. Linnen, fuch as Normandy canvas, fail- cloth, at Vitry and other places ; doulaffes at Morlaix, and fine linnens and lace in the inland provinces. IV. Paper of all forts. V. Tapeftry, which they make very rich and fine in Picardy and near Paris. VI. Soap, which they chiefly make in Pro- vence, and which is fo confiderable an article, that, when their crop of oils fail, they fetch a prodigious quantity from the Levant, to fupply the foap- makers. France being extenfive in territory in Europe, and exceeding populous, they muft necefTarily drive #, . [3] drive a very great inland trade among themfelvcsJ and, as they have many large navigable rivers* their home trade is carried on with great eafc, and much lefs cxpence than is done in England. The home trade of France is their coafting trade by fea, in order to bring the produft of the fouth parts of France to thofe of the north, for the fupply of the great city of Paris, and of all the northern provinces: and this, indeed, is a ve- ry confiderable, as well as material part of their trade •, and, next to the coal trade of England, is, perhaps, the greatcft article of it's kind in Europe; and employs more fhips and more people. This breeds fea men. France being exceeding populous, as well as a far extended country, and the people univerfally eating much bread with all their food, the quanti- ty of corn produced in France, in a plentiful year, muft be extremely great, and they occafionally fupply Germany, Switzerland, Geneva, and fe- veral other parts with corn, The numerous trading cities on the Seine, the Marne, the Aifne, the Loire, theOyfe, theYonne, the canals of Briarie and Orleans, have an imme- diate communication by water with the city of Paris, and many of them with the fea. The inland navigation of France, thus centering at Paris, for fo great a part of France, neceflarily caufes a conflux, as well of people as of trade, in the capital city. And what by fea, and what by thefe rivers, the remoteft part of France has a conveyance for their produft to the capital city, upon eafy terms : and there is fcarcc any fuch thing as fettled weekly or daily carriers for mer- chandizes by land, as is the cafe in England, at a prodigious cxpence. The French coaft on the Mediterranean begins oppofite to Perpignan, which is the firft city, on B 2 that ".hi ,n L vi If' m m t ■ •■■? l4] that fide, under the French covcrnmcnt •, and the ^rft port in France, on this fide, is port Vendrc, Perpignan is a frontier of Roufnilon by land, and of importance, in cafe of a war againft Spain : on which account the French have made it very llrong. The fea on the coaft of RoufTillon to Montpel- lier is called the gulph of Narbonne. The city of Nar BONNE is famous for the finifhing that great work of a navigation between the two fcas, in joining the Cantabrian and the Mediterranean feas together, by a royal canal, which is of unfpeaka- bie benefit to their commerce. Between the river Aude and the mouth of the Rhofne, there lies a lake 30 miks long, and from 3 to 5 broad. In the middle of this lake there is an opening into the fea, which makes a very good port, cal- led Cette. Here fliips of burden may come in : and, the royal canal being carried on from Nar- bonne to Agde, the merchandize, which is brought from Italy to be fent by the canal tc Bourdeaux, is gcineraiiy landed at Cette -, and thence carried, by the faid lake, to Agde, and put on board the barges for the canal. Between Cette and Marfeilles, the great river Rhofne empties itfelf into the fea. The fame of Marfeilles for commerce is well known all over the world. It is the only trading city of note in the South of France: the harbour is fpacious and good, andi receives the largefl fhips, though iometimes the biggeft are obliged to lighten their Joading a little before they come in. The whole Italian and Turkey trade of France is carried on here. They have alfo a confiderable trade to Ve- nice, to Genoa, to Leghorn, to Naples, and Sici- ly ; and they have confuls at almoA all the iflands and f 5] and jibrts in the Mediterranean [Sec the article Consuls in the Diftionary]. Toulon, fituatc on a bay of 'he Mediterranean fca, 25 miles S. E. of Marfcillcs. It has the moll fecure and capacious harbour of any port in France, here the largcft (hips of the royal navy of France arc built and ftationed, and here vaft magazines of all manner of naval (lores and timber for (hip- ping are repofited. Here likewife arc the fineft docks and yards, for the fitting out and furnifhing (hips of war, in the whole world perhaps. In Toulon there are academies for the marine guards, where they are taught navigation ; and there is a royal foundery for cannon and mortars, with all manner of utenfils for cannoneers and bombardccrs. They had in the harbour of Toulon, when the confederates laid fiege to it, in 1707, 16 firlt rate men of war, 8 fccond rates, 24 third rates, and 6 fourth rates. The iOes of Hieres lie off the coaft, under the weft part of which there is a good road for the largeft (hips; and where the £ngh(h fleet lay many months, anno i744> and blocked up the French and Spanifh fleets in the harbour of Tou- lon -, and, on their quitting that harbour, the combined fleets were engaged by Admiral Mat- thews, before whom they fled to the coaft of Spain, and would have been deftroyed, if he had not been deferted by one of the Englifh admirals, and feveral of his captains. The river Rhosne begins ta be navigable, for fmall vefTels and barges, a little below Sion, and, 20 miles farther, enters the great lake near Chil- lon : it is the greateft inland fea, or lake, in this part of Europe. Geneva is the firft city of note upon it. There is a great inland commerce here ; for, as it lies in the middle, between the cantons and the country of T1( i '. I (I m i^ '11 *W '.^.^i'^y--'- [ 6 ] of trade between all of Piedmont, it is tlie center thofe countries and France. Many livers fall into the Rhofne, but the only navigable ftream is the Dain. Lyons Hands at the confluence of the Soui and the Rhofne. The SoAN, in it's courfe, pafies through fonne of the moft coafiderable cities of the eaft parts of France, as oarticularly, . Pont fur'Soan, Gray, Auflbne, St Jean de Li- ofne, where it receives the Ouche from Dijon in Burgundy ; Verdun, where it takes in the Doux from Dole and Benenfon ♦, Challons, Mefcon, Baile Ville, Ville Franche, Lyons. At Lyons, there are three large (lone bridges over the Soan, and one ftately bridge over the Rhofne, after the other is joined. This city s3 cfteemed the fecond in France, it has innumera- ble advantages, by it*s fituation, for people and commerce. I. As it is on the great pafs, or high road from France into Switzerland, into Lombardy, and into Italy. 2. As, by fo many navigable rivers, it brings, as to a center, all the commerce of Bur- gundy. French Comte, Geneva- and the Swifs cantons. 3. As, by the river Rhofne, it main- tains a communication with the fea, by" which it receives it's fupply of filk, and exports again it's proper manufadures to all parts of the world. 4. As it has a very populous country round it, and, at Jeaft, 200,000 people in it. 5. As, by this means, it carries on one of the greatelt manufadures in France ; and is the center of the like manufac- ture, in all the adjacent country, viz. Dauphine, Languedoc, Rovergne, Breffe, Lyonnois, and Savoy. In the city of Lyons, there are fome things pe- culiar to ir's commerce, and bv which it is not a little [r] Iktle aided, and which no other city in France poffefles equal to this. As, i. A bank. 2. A coufe of exchange. 3. A court- merchant. The courfe c^ exchange, eftablifhed here, is as ' univerfal as that of Amfterdam, and affords ex- traordinary cafe and convenience, with regard to the negociation of money, by bills, throughout Europe ; which is of the laft confequence to the general commerce of this nation. See the article Exchange in the Didtionary, and thofe others to which I from thence refer. With regard to the Court-Merchant, itftill remains, and is an eftabliftiment extremely wanted in many other parts of the world, to decide, fum- marily, all controverfics among traders in refped to their traffic. From Lyons, the Rhofne paffcs to Vicnne, the capital of Provence, part of Dauphine. It ftands at the influx of the fmall river Gere. Here arc large manufa<5tures of paper, iron and fteel. Valence is the next city on the Rhofne, which, has no trade of fignificancy. From hence the Rhofne paffes on to Avignon, which is a very populous city, and enjoys a confiderable trade, by the manufafture of filk, wherein the people are very profitably employed. Belr- this" city, the Rhofne is augmented by the rl Duuance, which brings with it all the waters of Dauphine, and the north part of Pro- vence. In paflfing towards the Rhofne, the Durance al- moft lees Aix, the capital of Provence, which, as it has no great commerce, I pafs on to the Rhofne, that haftens to the fea, palTing by between two oppofite fmall cities, called Terrefcon and Beaucaire. At Beaucaire, on the Languedoc fide, there IS an pyrr...irdinai*v mart held everv vear, being the PE is a fine town, 'tis the bell for trade next to Dunkirk on this part of the French coait : they have in particular a confiderable trade to Newfoundland, and to the French fettlements in North America. Their Ihips often unlade at Havre in the Seine, for the convenience ot lending their cargoes up the river to Rouen and Pans. However, when they are unladen, they come with rvjo.- ^^fp into the haven of Dieppe to lay up. ^11 [ 10 ] where they have water enough when they are in, and are laid fafe. The feamen of Dieppe are ac- counted the beft failors in France. Troyes is a large and populous city. All this part of the country is remarkable for the beft wines in France, namely, Champaigne and Burgundy, &c. The city of Troyes is alfo particularly in- riched by the Linnen Manufacture. The navigation of the Seine is joined with that of the Loire, by two large canals made by art at a great expence, the one called the canal of the Or- leans, the other that of Briare ; by which a com- munication is made with all the chief cities upon the Loire, and with the metropolis, Paris, to the great benefit of the commerce of Paris in particu- lar, as well as that of the whole country in gene- ral. By this navigation the wines of Bretagne and Burgundy, the brandies of Anjou and Poidlou, the imports of Nantes and Rochelle, with all the manufadlures of Saumur, Angers, Tours, Blois, Orleans, and other great towns and provinces on that fide the country, are conveyed to Paris by water-carriages at an easy Expence. Befides the city of Paris, to which the naviga- tion is eafy, by reafon of the tide running i'o great a part of the way, the famous city of Rouen, lies on the northern bank of this river. Rouen, being the fea-port to Paris, becomes of courfe a great, rich, and flourilhing city. The trade of Rouen is extraordinary, as it lies midway between Paris and the fea. It*s trade confifts of divers branches, in refpeft both to it's foreign as well as home parts, efpecially in the linnen and woollen manufactures, and in the latter more emi- nently ; which are here carried on with great indu- ftry and fpirit, in imitation of the English, and by the means of English Wool, as before ob- 4 ja*»nrAM Havre I 4 [ •! 1 Havre de Grace (lands at the mouth of the Seine ; it is the port to the city of Rouen, as Rouen is to the city of Paris, the merchants here laying up their fliips, which are too large to go up fo far in the river. There are a number of confiderable merchants here, and efpecially for the Newfoundland trade-, and there is a conftant commutiicatio:,! and connexion of commercial in- terefts between Rouen and Paris. Havre has alfo the moft confiderable (hare in the Fishing Trade, of any port in France; principally to the North feas, and for the Her- ring Fishery, not only in the channel, but on the back of the fands off Yarmouth ; and, fince the French king laid high duties on the Yarmouth li(h, they have wonderfully improved in curing them, in the Yarmouth way, to our no little de- triment. Caen is the firft port beyond the mouth of the Seine wefl: : it is a fmall port, but a pretty large city, and, having a communication with the F4> glifli channel, does not want commerce, though not to the advantage of England. St Malo is a city of commerce, and inferior to none that France has in the ocean. The road for (hipping, and the harbour, is fafe and conve- nient, which, with the commodious fituation, open to the Britilh channel, make it a place of the bed trade to France on this whole coaft. The merchants here were, particularly in the wars of Queen Anne, fome of the richeft in all France, they being deeply embarked in the South Sea Trade at that time.— They had then fomte fhips that returned with fuch prodigious cargoes of bullion, that the like has not been known be- longing to private merchants.-- At this point of time, it has been faid, that fome merchants there, were not worth lefs then a million fterling. — They C 2 made m 1 '•J m l':ki m '■ •-, 1-"* »■ ".1- , I [ »2 ] made abundance of prizes in the lad war with England, which drew on our refentment to httle purpofe ; and this place will always prove a great grievance to us, on thefe unhappy occafions. — It is at prefent a flouriHiing place of trade, efpe- cially for the Newfoundland Fishery, alfo to Martini CO, to Q^'ebec, and, indeed, to moft of the French colonies in America. There are abundance of mercantile people here, who are the grand fpring of trade. There are fcveral confiderable manufadures here, which en- rich the placf, efpecially thofe of linnen and paper. Of the firfl dowlas and buckram are made in great quantities, as alfo canvas and fail- cloth, and they are largely exported. The beft printing pa- per in France is faid to be made here, efpecially the demy and crown •, as alfo writing poft-paper, fine as the Gtnoa, yet not fo thin, and finer than the Dutch, though not fo thick.— This is no con- temptible article in the French commerce to other nations. In fine, the increafe of commerce here has greatly increafed the wealth, the fplendor, and happinefs of the place, which are ever the invaria- ble efFeds of it. Nothing remarkable to our purpofe appears on this coaft, from Morlaix 'till we come to Bred", except St Paul de Leon, a fmall city on the coaft, between Treguier and Breft ; it has a good port, and fome home trade. Brest is a place of confequence upon this coaft, being che largeft and moft capacious road and harbour that France is poffefied of on the ocean. — When Ihips are here, it is the beft defended, and fafeft harbour in France. Here the French fleets are oftentimes laid up, though the greateft of their men of war generally go to Toulon. — Here are warehoufes and magazines to lay up naval ftores for loa fail of Ihips of war of the line, and fome [ '3 ] fome of 80 and 90 guns have been built hert. France, in the year 1690, had here a royalnavy, equal, if not fuperior, to all the naval power ot England and Holland united, and which offered battle to them all, but they declined it : and may not France fee thofe days again ? The next place of confequence on this coaft is the mouth of the river Loire, the greateft in France for the length of it's courfe, the number of great cities it vifits by the way, and for the ex- tent of it's commerce and navigation, as we have before briefly fhewn. The Loire is navigable from the Lyonnois, and that fide of Burgundy, to Nevers, and down to Briare, by large flat- bottom barges.— By this canal the glafs-ware, tin- ware, and fine earthen- ware, for which manufac- tures the city of Nevers, and all the country about it, being fo famous, are carried down to Paris, to the great advantage of the country.— By this ca- nal the merchandizes of foreign countries imported at Nantes are alfo carried to Paris by water, to the great encouragement of the foreign trade, and inriching of the merchants at Nantes. — Alfo the wines and brandies of the country below Orleans, on the banks of the Loire, are carried to Paris the fame way -, and, indeed, the principal fupply of that great city, as to wines and provifions, comes from thofe rich and fertile provinces on the banks of the Loire. Towns of note on or near the Loire, below the canal of Orleans, and before it comes to Nantes, are Orleans, Blois, Amboife, Tours, Saumur, and Angers, all of them large cities : no country, ex- cept the Netherlands, can fhew feven fuch cities,- on the bank of one river, under one fovereign, and in fo fmall a compafs of territory.— All this country produces what we call French white- wines, and the ^ft of the kind j- and, indeed, l-hft m Mil ^ ifj, % i X '\ 'i'l • P • 'Iff •i ■I 1; tl yi i i [ H ] the beft wines of all the weft parts of France are in the country about Angers. RocHELLE is the next city of confequence in France, upon the coaft of the ocean, a confiderable port of trade, though unfortified, for reafoDS too well known.— This city was once the ftrongeft in the whole kingdom, and, on account of it's opu- lence and fplendor, for years the bulwark of the Huguenots. It is at prefent a place of confiderable trade, full of wealthy merchants, whofe commerce extends to moft parts of the world, but efpecially to the Weft-Indies, Martinico, St Domingo, andQiiebec: from hence alfo is a very great part of the New- foundland Trade carried on, and like wife that of their Mifliflippi.— The French Eaft-India com- pany too make ufe of Rochelle as a port, though not always, for the return of their ftiips from India, and for difpofing of their cargoes. Port-Lewis is a harbour deferving our notice, and, if it had ftood on the north part of France, in Normandy or Picardy, would have been worth a kingdom itfelf ; but, as it ftands on the coaft of Bretagne, to the fouth of Cape Uftiant, where France has many good harbours and fafe roads for fhipping, as well for war as commerce -, fuch as the harbours of Breft, Rochelle, Nantes, Bour- deaux, &c. and the roads of Conqueft, Bellifle, St Martin, and others-, this makes Port-Lewis the Jefs regarded : it is, however, populous and rich, and has many wealthy merchants, efpecially fuch who trade pretty largely to the Weft-Indies.— This, being a good harbour, is likewife a ftation for part of the royal navy, and for the ftiips of the French Eaft-India company. Nantes, lying on the river Loire, requires mention. It ftands 30 miles within the land, upon the north bank of the Loire, which is here a very lOUJ [>5] fpacious and noble river, has a deep and fafe channel, and makes a fine harbour : it has a flou- rifhing trade, both domeftic and foreign, few towns in France outdoing it.-— The trade of this city has greatly increafed within thefe 30 years, as well from their manufaftures as from the flux of all forts of merchandizes from the remoteft in- land provinces of France, by means of the ex- traordinary induftry of the inhabitants, and the navigation of the river Loire. — The great benefit of water-carriage between Nantes and Paris alfo, by means of the canal of Orleans joining the Loire and the Seine, as before intimated, is very fenfi- bly experienced here -, and all kinds of foreign merchandize imported are carried at an ealy expence to Paris, where the chief confumption of the kingdom lies, to the unfpeakable profit of the merchants of this place. But the great exportation of wines and brandies from hence are the capital conftant articles upon which Nantes chiefly depends. — It is fcarce credi- ble to conceive how confiderable this trade is, both of brandies and wines together ; infomuch that it has been ordinary to fee 2 or 300 fail of fliips in the Loire at a time, taking in wines and brandies. Another branch of trade here is in prunes, which they export in great quantities. — They have a confiderable traffic here to the Wefl:-lndies, as particularly to the French fugar-colonies in Ame- rica, and they have many fugar-bakers here to refine them, which has brought them a great trade for refined fugars, both at home and abroad. But they have (till a much greater trade than all this, the wine and brandy excepted : this confifts in goods brought from the Mediterranean Sea, by the royal canal from Narbonne to Thouloufe, and from thence down the Garonne in barges to Bour- dcaux •. bv which, as the v/aters of the royal canal join ,1;! m i 'i-k i^M rr til,' tt'S' i il I Ml [ i6 J ioin the two feas, the ocean and the Mediterranean, To the commerce ot both feas is carried on here, which makes Bourdeaux not only rich but popu^ lous, and all the country round it. The key is noble and fpacious, and Ihips of ordinary burden may cqme clofe to it, the tide flowmg a great height, up to the very wharfs. , Bayonne is the laft confiderable town in the French dominions. It is a fpacious, opulent, and populous city, has a great trade both m France and with Spain, and with many other parts ok Europe. It has a very fine harbour in the mouth of the river Adour: the harbour reaches into the very heart of the city, and is fo deep and fafe, that the largeft (hips come up to the very merchants doors ; and the entrance into it is fecured by a ftrong caftle, regularly fortified, Bayonne being a frontier both by land and fea •, for it is within J 5 miles of the frontiers of Spain. There is a large trade driven here, and abundance of wealthy merchants refide in this place. A great quantity of wine is exported from hence, and they have a trade as well into the. whole province as into Navarre. France, by fituation, has the advantage for commerce of all the nations on this fide the globe, Britain excepted. The great extent of their coaft, we have feen, qualifies them for it •, they are ex- tended upon the ocean from Bayonne, in the bot- tom of the bay of Bifcay, to Dunkirk, a port that, leaving the Britilh Channel behind it, looks into the German Ocean, and claims acquaintance with the Northern commerce, as well as with the Wefer and the Elbe, the chief rivers of trade in the German Sea, and to the Baltic and the coaft of Norway on one fide, and North Britain on the Other-, and, laftly, to the Herring Fishery in the Caledonian Ocean, and the Whale Fishery in the leas ox opiubcr^cii uuu v?iv.viJi«itw. -•-- coaft [>7l . coaft of France is above 400 miles in length, and there are in it, as we have feen, fome as good harbours as any in Europe. Add to this the Mediterranean Sea, lying full 60 leagues in length upon the (bores of Rouffillon, l.anguedoc, and f rovence, which open to France the commerce of Barbary, Italy, and the Levant. No lefs is France advantageoufly fituated to- wards the land for an inland navigation and com- merce with her neighbours of Swiflerland, Upper and Lower Germany, Holland, and Flanders. The Rhine opens a trade for her on the fide of Alface, into Suabia and Franconia, and into the heart of the Empire, by the additional navigation of the Neckar and the Maine, two rivers which convey her merchandize within a few miles of Ulm upon the Danube. By the laft they trade into Bavaria, the Upper Palatinate, and even to Vienna •, on the other hand, the Rhofne on the right, and the Upper Rhine on the left, give a communication of trade from Languedoc and the French Comte, into every part of Swiflerland, as has been Ihewn. On the north fide of France, and through the country of Lorrain, France has the two great ri- vers of the Mofelle and the Maes, which give them a free commerce tc the Lower Rhine, and into the United Provinces ; as likewife the Sam- bre, the Scarpe, and the Schelde do into the Au- ftrian Netherlands.— Add, to all thefe, the extent of the kingdom of France, that it is the largeft and the moil populous of any country in the known world, except China. To the prodigious number of their people muft be joined the temper and genius of the nation : they are vigorous, adtive, induftrious, and, in trade as well as war, an enterprizing people. ill I M '•+ D So til' m I i ( 18 ] So greatly have they incrcafcd their trade finfic the treaty of Utrecht, that they now carry their wines and their brandies into the Baltic, whtre for- merly the Dutch fcnt them in Holland bottoms i and the French bring their naval (lores from Li- vonia, Prunid, and Pctcrfburg, in French Ihips, whlire, before that treaty, no French fliips had fcarce ever been feen. The Hanfc-Towns have little or no Ihare now in furnifliing France with iron and copper, with timber, with pitch, or tar. The French alfo now trade with Sweden, as other nations do, and to Dantzic, and have great- ly increafed their commerce in Mulcovy, as well as their neighbours. With all thefe advantages of fituation, extent of land, and numbers of people, France has la- boured, from the beginning of it's commerce, under two difficulties, which rendered it next to impofllble to produce any confiderable ftaple ma- nufaftures, unlefs thefe difficulties could be fur- mounted.— Thefe were the want of a competency of wool, and of filk, the fundamental articles in the general manufactures of Europe, and fuch which the French, from the induftry of their people, were well difpofed to fall into •, but, wanting thefe productions in ample quantities, fuffered the difcouragement many years, with no little affiiaion: they .fell, however, into the filk manufacture to a very great degree, encouraged by the Italians, when the French were matters of the Milancfe, in the reign of Francis I. aiu though they bought their filk in Italy and Turkey, as they do ftill in fome quantities; yet all the Ibuthern parts of France, efpecially the Upper Languedoc, the Lycnnois, and part of Dauphine, were employe . il the manufacture of filk, and greatly improved in it, fpreading it into Cham- paigne. I '■ i. [ '9] paignr, and even to Paris itfdf. This was from about the year 1520. At length the French conqueretl this difficulty. By the means of Ibtne Pitdmontefc, in the reign of Lewis XIII, they firft bfgan to plant the white mulberries in Languedor, and part of Provence : and, nourilhing the filk-worms with unfpeakable induftry, and greatly encouraged by the couit in the reign of the late Lewis XIV, they, after many years fpent in the firll experiments, at lalt brought the fane to ppifedion, and it is now become a natural produce of France, as it was btiore ol I'iedmont, and other parts of Italy, who originally borrowed it from the Afiatics ot Arme- nia and Georgia. But it hath not proved the ;ame in France with regard to the produce of wool. The French, being deficient in this article, have obtained fhcep from England and Ireland, as they have wool, in order to try the pofTibility of raifing wool, by the means of our Hieep, as good in quality, and as large in quantity in general, as our wool is •, but hitherto they have been diiap- • pointed, though it is faid that there is, at prcfent, another grai.d attempt to accomplifh this defign ; and, if it is polTible in nature, the French are determined to have as good wool, and as much of their own production, as ever England or Ireland have had : and no one can fay what art and in- duftry, fupported by the royal purfe, cannot effea. Yet this difadvantage by nature hath not dlf- couraged our politic neighbours from attempting the woollen manufaftures in every branch; for, fince they have not wool fo good in general as ours, they have been long determined to have our En- glilh and Irifh wool •, which, being properly mixed with their own, or properly worked by itfelf, they have had art enough to impofe their woollen ma- D 2 nufaduresj ■4 ii I y if' m M: : 1} jriu I (i ! n W S [ 20 ] mifaaures upon fevcral other parts of Europe, even for Englifn fabrication, as we ft all fee pre- fentlv — SuDT.lying France with Englifh and Irifh wool was firft brought about by the protound policy of their great minifter Colbert. After that great man had found out the means of fup- plviil France with Britilh woo!, he was not lon2 before he eftablilhed woollen manufadones of divers kinds in France, fafon d'^ngleterre or of theEnglilh method of fabrication. - He hrlt fct the poor to work all over France, in combing, fpinning, weaving, dyeing of wool, and woollen ooods. And what was foon the cpnfequence of diis ? The French king faw all his fubj.as cloathed, however indifferently, with the manufadures ot their own country, who, but a few years before, bought their cloths from England or, which was worfe, at fecond-hand from Flanders and the Dutch This was carried on with fuch a prodigy of fuccefs, that it would take up move room than we can fpare to duly reprefent it.-Th's com- mercial minifter decoyed, by rewards and encou- ragements, EnghOi artifts into every part of France, where it was moft eligible to eftablifli thefe manufaaures, and they taught the people fo well all the feveral parts of the manutadure, and the French were fo apt to learn, and lo dex- terous and chearful in teaching each other, that, in a few years, they could do without Enghfti in- ftrudors, even in the fafon d'Angleterre. ^ • The French being thus able to turnifli their own people, they not only ei^cluded the Englilh Woollen manufaaures from their country by a law, but began to turn their eyes on rivalling the iin- gUfli in all the foreign markets of Europe, as in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, alfo in Afia and Africa, but efpeciaUy in Turkey and Barbary. To effeduate which, " _ CoiDcrt [21 1 Colbert took thefe meafures : he firft informed himfelf of the feveral forts of the Britilh manu- fadures fold in every foreign market, whereot he had patterns brought him ; and he ereded par- ticular works for the making thofe very goods: he aifo wifely encouraged the merchants to export them, by caufing credit to be given them out ot the public ftock -, that is, by the king, even till the Return for these Goods came home. This was particularly done with the Turkey mer- chants at Marfeilles, who had credit out of the Royal Treasury till the return of their fhips from Smyrna and Scanderoon : by which pohtic encouragement the Marfeillians firft fupplanted the Englilli in the Levant trade, wherein, we are too fenfible, they have furpnzmgly increafed ever fince. , f. The fame was iikewifc done at the famous ma- nufadory near Nifmes in Languedoc, where the cloths, by means of the inftruaions of our Ln- elidi woollen manufacturers, and our Englifh wool, are made fo admirably well, that fome have thouo-ht they have equalled, if not outdone the FnaUih.— Certain it is, they make very good clo?hs there, and dye and drefs them to per^ fedtion ; but many fay that they fail of the lub- ftance, the firmnefs, and weight of the Lngluh ; yet, as they are cheaper, they have made their way in foreign markets. ^ Before, as well as fince the French king begun thofe fabrics in his dominions, we fent large quan- tities of woollen goods to France -, but, -fince the clandeftine exportation of our wool, the French king has prohibited the importation of all forts ot ©ur woollen manufactures.— This they have ac complifhed within about 80 years •, and, if they continue to have our wool, and other foreign wools, fo cheap as they have, in exchange tor their tl lit' iji [22 ] their brandies and wines, &c. and to go on with the like rapidity in thofe manufadbures, the fate of this, the moft lucrative branch of commerce be- longing to the crown of Great-Britain, muft cer- tainly be deplorable. At Abbeville, a large town in Picardy, about 90 miles north of Paris, and 15 eaft of the Bri- tilh Channel, is a manuladbure ot fine broad cloths, ■which Lewis XIV. firft eliablifhed \ and which he did by advancing 40,000 livrcs to Mynheer Van Robais, a Dutchman. — Tht^ king alfo eredled him a fpacious and coirimodious place wiierein to carry on this manufadory, and a fine houfe to live in, and granted him a patent tor the fole making of fuperfine broad cloths in that part of France. As Mynheer was a Proteftant, the French king grantt d him a further patent, renewable every 20 years, for the tree exercife of the Proteftant reli- gion, for himfeif and family, and to all the people that did then, or fhould hereafter, work in any branch of the woollen fabrics at this town, &c. — Alfo, that if any woman, who was a Roman Ca- tholic, Ihould marry a Proteftant that belonged to this manufadory, ftie ftiould have it in her option to turn rroteftant or not. — And, in order at once efFcftually to eftablifli this manufactory, the king himfeif wore fome of the firft cloth that was made, and ordered all his court to do the fame. — All thefe privileges are maintained to this day in- violably, and the fadory is now carried on by three partners, that are nephews to old Van Robais, who firft eftablilhed it, and are of the fame name. There are 108 broad looms, and about 600 men, women, and children, employed upon the fpot, in picking of wool, winding, warping, weaving, ftiearing, rowing, dyeing, burling, fcrib- bling, fine-drawing, preffing, packing, &c. — All employed are governed with extreme decorum and regularity. ■IfM [ 23 ] regularity. They all come to work, and leave it, at the beat of a drum. One Cole, that went from London, was the firft man that taught them to dye proper colours, to make mixtures of wool, as we do in England, to make into cloth. — This manufadture hath fo inriched the Van Robais*s family, that, upon pub- lic days, they appear in their coach and fix horfes, with half a dozen fplendid valets to attend them, as grandly as any of the peers m France. There are not lefs than looo looms going in this lown on paragons, befide a great many more that are employed in the making of druggets, ferge, cloth-ferge, &c.— Thofe goods are chiefly fent to Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and most of THEM ARE ABSOLUTELY SOLD FOR EnGLISH Woollen Manufactures, they being fa^on d'Angleterre. ' I have been told (fays an * eminent Englifh woollen manufadturer, who ' took a tour to France to fee the progrefs of the « woollen fabric in that kingdom) by a Manu- « facturer of the Town of ABBEVILLE, * THAT HE hath KNOWN AN ENGLISH ShIP * LIE IN St VALERY Road (the port before- * mentioned) while they have sent a Boat « UP TO ABBEVILLE, which is near four ' Leagues, to fetch down Bales of Wool- * len Manufactories, and have shipped * them on board the ENGLISH VESSEL, * and carried them to foreign Markets * for ENGLISH GOODS, the Bales being * marked and numbered, as if they were * marked in ENGLAND, and are sold « amongst our ENGLISH Goods*.* And - r » ■ I'M ',41 ■;?i m i' * See Obfervr.tions on the Britifh Wool, and the manufaftu- ring it in this kingdom ; with remarks on the wool and wool- n manufacioxica or rraiitc, x-iuuuciSi ana itvuai.-, — Printed I '^1^ ""51 ; if it ,:;'.'. I [ 24 ] And it is very much , to be feared, that this is too common a cafe, and has been an artifice of many years Handing, to impofe thefe French wooilen manutadurcs, made fa^on d^Angle- TERRE, upon foreign nations for Englilh : and thofe too which have not been fo good in equa- lity may have been complained of by foreigners, and highly prejudiced the reputation of our manu- faftures in that refped alfo.— Nor could a more fuperlative trick be contrived than this, let it be taken in any light whatever, for the abfolute ruin of our woollen manufadlures, and the eftablifh- ment of the French -, and fuch Engliflimen, or Britons, who are either merchants or mafters of (hips, that will be thus concerned in a confpiracy of fuch deftrudive confequence to the whole wool- len manufadory of this kingdom, deferve the gallows more meritoriouQy than any criminal, perhaps, that was ever exalted to it. Of the manufadures of the generality of Cham- PAiGNE and SoissoNS. The pafturage is admirable, maintaining 16 or 17,000 Iheep, which afford three or four millions of pounds of wool. It is almoft incredible, how much of the wool- len manufadure there is in thefe two provinces. At Rheims, they make cloth after the fafhion of Berry, etamincs, razes, cordeliers, ferges, &c. At Rhetal, the fame as at Rheims, befides efta- ments and crapes. At Chateau-Portien, at Mezieres, Donchery, Mouzon, Fifmes, Sainte Manehould, Sommepy, Vilie on Tartanois, Soiflbns, Chateau-Thierry, Charly, Pnnted bv H. Kent, and fold by Simon Virtue in Swithin's- Alley, near the Royal- Exchange, 1738. By a manufaaurer «f Northamptonfhire. w t 2J] Charly, Orbaye, S. Martin Dublois, Bar fur Aube, Ferre en Tartanois, Neuilly, and S Fond, they make only ferges, etamines, and defeverfins. Ac Sedan, they make a quantity of cloth, very fine and very good, alfo a great number of cloth ferges, and ferges after the fafhion of Londoi;. Ac Bouts, Pertes, and Joinville, villages near Rheims, they make only white etamines^ which they fell to Rheims. At Montcornet, ratines, reveches, cloth ferge, and eftametes. At Vervins, Fontaine, Plu- miere, the like, alfo fome common cloth. Ac Montmirel, Langres, St Juft, Anglure, Sezanne, La Ferte Gouchier, and La Ferte Sous-Joiiars, cloth ell wide, and above, to five quarters, all of Spanilli wool only. In Ihort, at Brienne, Chalons, Vitry, Joinville, Chaumont, Dionville, they make ferge razes, ferge after the fafhion of London, cloth ferge, ellametes, everfins, etamines after the falhion of Rheims, and druggets -, befides, they make cloth at Chaumont. The wool, employed in thefe feveral manufa<5tories, is partly foreign, partly French. The foreign is common Spanifli wool, as de Caftile, and les Segovianes, and the like. The French wool is de l*Auxois, de Berry, de Champaigne, du Soiflbnnois, and de Picardy. They reckon 1400 looms. At Rethel, they ufe the wool of Champaigne, Picardy, and Soilfonnois. The mixture, which the workmen make of common wool with fine, lowers confiderably the price and quality of them. The cloths made at Sedan, are fome after the fafhion of Holland, fome after the fafhion of Eng- land, and others after the fafliion of Spain. The wool they make ufe of in the one and the other^ are wool de Segovie, Segovianes, Albarazines, des Soris, and other of the better forts. The fabric of ferges is alfo very confiderable aC Sedan. The wool they ufe is that of Berry, Ar- E dennes, I 11 m , 111: I '■■!f 1.'. m 'h M '! ••K^ V I;p ii» cloth tremiers, white and grey, white frifons and eftamincs. Ac Charite and Pcnthieres, cloth ferges, and thofe called felins. At Pongoin, Chaudan, Razoches, and Illiers, only fcrge of two eftains. At An- thoin, different forts of grey and white etamincs, of wool of the country, etamines of Spanilh wool, called langrcs ; etamines, mufc colour, ot wool of the country •, and other etamines, where- of the warp is of the wool of Maine ; whence they have it ready fpun, and the woof of Spanilh wool, or fine wool of Berry. Romorantin is the moft confiderable manufadory of the whole generality ; they make above 5500 pieces every year, viz. white cloths five quarters wide, other cloths iefs wide, of the fame colour, white ferge, white grey, and grey, and ferge croiir^'e, partly of the wool of Berry, partly ot the country. They have alio fettled there a fabric of white cloths, half of Spanilh wool, halt oi fine wool of Berry, which cloths are fit to be dyed fcarlet. The manufadurers of Romorantin hav- ing been ui'cd to employ the wool of Navarre and Barbary, they are forbid to do it, by an arret of council, April 1706, and again by the intendant of the generality, July 1716. They confume in this generality 200 milliers of wool, for the moft part of the country. They make 25,000 pieces of cloth, &c. Foreign pieces, to H< [32] to the amount of 14,000, arc brought from neigh- bouring places and marked there. Of the commerce of Touraine, Anjou, Maine, and Perche. The commerce at Amboife for etamines and druggets made there, is much eftecmed, and a good many hands are there employed in them. In Touraine, they make little elfe but etamines, ferges, razes, and druggets. The principal places where they are made, are Chinon, Richlieu, I^ou- dun, Loches, Beauclieu, St Chriftophle, St Pater, and Laval, for etamines and ferges. At Beau- mont, La Roue, and Roziers, befides thefe two forts of (tuffs, they make alfo razes and ferge tre- mierts ; and at Montrefor, Villeloin, and Orbigny, only ferge half ell, of wool of the country. The druggets and tiretaines of Amboife, are partly wool of Touraine, partly wool of Berry. At Beugnay, they ufe wool of BeaulTe, inftead of that of Berry. At Chateau, Renault, Neuville, Pontpierre, Maray, Neufay, and Loifant, the razes, ferge tremieres, etamines, and druggets, are made of the fame wool as at Beugnay. In the fabrics of Montrichard, which confifts only of druggets and white ferge, they employ but wool of the country. At Angers, they make etamines of different prices, and ferge tremieres, both of the wool of the counti-y. At Chateau Gontiers, etamines, and druggets after the faihion of Lude, ferge croiffees. At La Fleche, etamines, ferges, druggets, of the wool of the country. At Montreuil Bellay, the fame. At Beaufort and Durtal, ferges, etamines, druggets, all of wool of the country. They make etamines and ferge tremieres at Mayette, Chateau de Loir, Ferte, Bernard, Beau- mont le Vicomte, Mayennc, and Laval. At [33 ] At Le Mans, are made double etaminei and camblcts, which arc commonly dyed black, three parts of wool of the country, the reft of Poidlou. At Manjctte, ftrong fcrgc tremieres. Chateau de Loir, fcrge tremieres, all of wool of the country. Ferte Bernard, all of wool, others of wool and filk, and druggets, thread and wool of the coun- try. At Bonneftable, the fabric is confiderable ; they make etamines like thofe of Mans, except that they are all of the wool of the country, and that in the others a third is wool of Poi^tou. At Beaumont le Vicomte, they make much the fame as at Bonneftable. At Mayenne, ferges trcmieres, and druggets with thread. At La Valle, eta- mines, lerge tremiercs, and druggets of thread and wool of the country. In the whole generality of Tours, viz. the pro- vinces of Touraine, Anjou, and Maine, are made about 18,000 pieces of ftufF, and above 1 1,000 foreign pieces are marked there. The wool they employ in thofe fabrics, are almoft all of the wool of the country, which is commonly fold for 60 to y^ livres the quintal. At Nogent are made etamines. Of the commerce of the generality of Berry. Sheep and wool are the chief commodities of this diftridl. The wool is good enough, but they employ only the worft themfelves, the beft and fineft being bought up by the merchants of Ro^n ; which is the reafon why the manufadurers of Ber- ry make only coarfe cloth, called cloth of Berry ; they are excellent in their kind, but only fit for foldiers, fervants, and common people. The other fluffs of wool of Berry, are coarfe fcrge, druggets, tiretaines, and pinchinats. f Bourgesj 1^ i il^'- 'f r ■ I [ 34 J Bourges, Tflbuden, Chateroux, Vierfon, Selles Aubigny, and Romorantin, are the places where the beft manufadories are fettled, among which that of Romorantin is moft eftcemed. The other places of manufadure of wool of Berry, are Le Blanc, S. Amant, La Chaftres, Chaftillon, Mehun, Aubigny, Dun le Roi, S. Benoift du Sauk, Buzancois, Leuroux, St Savin, Sancerre, Linieres, Leret, La Chapelle Danguil- lon, Aifne le Chateau, St Gautier, Ivry le Pre, Argenton, Newvy St Sepulchre, Argent, Valen- cay, Cinconet, Baugy, Sancergues, Les Aix, Blan- cafort, and Enrichemont. Befides what has been faid above, of the quan- tity of fine wool which the province of Berry fur- nifhes for Roan, for the fabric of cloth in Nor- mandy, the merchants of that city (Roan) buy up others of the common wools of Berry for their manufadlure of tapeftry. What remains, is ufed for making caps of all forts, made in the province, efpecially at Bourges. In this generality, of 34 places where cloth and other woollen fluffs are made, there are feven, viz. Bourges, Iflbudan, Chateau Roux, Romorantin, Verfon, Selles, and Aubigny, wheie they com- monly make from 3 to 4000 pieces each ; fix, viz. Le Blanc, Sancerre, Chateauneuf, Liniere, Ivoy le Prey, Concoins, where they make from 2 to 3000 pieces ; and 2. i others, where they do not make above 8 or 900 pieces each. The fluffs at Moulins and thereabout, are ferges, etamines, and crapes. At Montlucon, HerifTon, Decize, the fame. Cercy la Toure, partly ferges and partly etamines. Moulins Engilbert, cloths, and fome other fluffs. The tapeflry made in this generality amounts to 80,000 livres yearly. • ' In Auvergne, the manufadlure of etamines, worfled [3J] worfted camblets, burats, cadife, burailJes, and other woollen manufafture, is very good. Of the commerce of Normandy, as divided into three generalities, Rouen, Alen^on, and Caen. The principal commerce of the generality of Rouen confifts of cloth, ferges, tapeftry, wherein are employed 1200 looms. In the good manu- fadlory, they ufe but Spanilh wool, or the beft of France ; thofe of Normandy, are for fluffs of aa inferior kind. They import to Roan, communi- bus annis, 9000 bales, of which 5000 are Spanifli, the refl of the kingdom. The principal fabric of the city of Roan, and which employed the greatefl number of hands, was the cloth of UfTeau, ell wide, but now thofe after the fafhion of Elbeuf have taken their place. This lafl is good, and improving daily, neverthe- lefs it is not yet come up to the true cloths of El- beuf. As to the cloths of UfTeau, they keep them up yet, but make lefs of them fince thofe after the fafhion of Elbeuf have prevailed. The third fort of cloth made at Rouen, is according to the fafhion of England ; but of this lafl, not fo much as of the two former. Other woollens made there are, white druggets, commonly called efpagniolettes ; other druggets, of all colours, half-ell wide, and white ratines, five-quarters wide. They make alfo barracans of thread and wool, wide, very coarfe, and berlucha's, or druggets, of a better fort. Thefe two lafl fabrics employ about 60 looms, and the others near 200. At Darnetal, the woollen manufactory is very ancient : their firft flatutes are in the reign of Henry III. (1587.) The different cloths there made are, after the fafliion of England and Hol- A.ii.fMD j ciutna auci iiic laiHion oi jlioceur, uiieau. ■i;li *: ,;!■ if F 2 druggetSj lU [ 36 ] druggets, or pinchinats. Their manufadlure of blankets is the fccond branch of the trade of that town and it's valley. At St Aubin la Riviere, the manufadory com- menced in 1 69 1, in virtue of letters patents of 1672, under the title of a Royal Manufactory. They make cloths after the fafhion of England and Holland, with fuccefs enough. The manufadory of cloth at Elboeuf is an an- cient cftablifhment, and has always been in good credit for the forts of cloth undertaken there at different times. Before the great regulation of 1669, they made there only white coarfe cloths ; but, all the manufadories of the kingdom having received encouragement from Lewis XIV, at the inftance of Monfieur Colbert, thofe of Elbceuf •were the firft that reaped the '"-uits thereof, by- two confiderable eftablifhments for fine cloths, af- ter the fafhion of England and Holland, and by means of the perfedion to which they are arri- ved in other cloths. At Orival they make only cloths after the fafhion of Elboeuf. At Louviers, there are two forts of cloth made ; the one after the fafhion of England and Holland, the other after the fafhion of Elboeuf. At Pont de TArche, the cloth manufadory is in great re- putation •, it was eftablifhed in 1690: the drapery is after the fafhion of England and Holland. At Gournay the manufadure is ferge only, after the fafliion of London, well inade. Bolbec is one of the moft confiderable places in the country of Caux for manufaduring a fort of ilufF called frocs, which are tfleemed the beft of the kind made in Normandy. They are of two forts i the one 4 wide, the other half-ell ^Tf They are both of pure wool of the country. Gruchet. the fame as at Bolbec, At [37] At Fefcamp the manufadure is diftinguilhed into old and new ; the old are very ftrong ferges, ell-wide, and frees, the fame as at Bolbec; the new are, fine cloths, after the fafhion of England and Holland -, the firft all of wool of the country, the other partly of foreign wool, partly of the belt wool of the kingdom. This manufactory met with difficulties in the beginning, by the fault of thofe intrufted with it by the undertaker. But the dexterity of three foreigners, who had after- wards the management of it, hath carried it to fuch perfe6tion, that cloth hath been produced there as fine, and in all refpeds as good, as that of Eno- tAND. There are a great quantity of frocs and belinges made in feveral villages of the bailiwic of Caux, cfpecially between Fefcamp and Dieppe, but of an inferior fort to thofe of Bolbec, either for the mak- ing or the goodnefs of the wool. Cloth, and other woollen fluffs, made at Caen, are cloths after the fafhion of England and Hol- land, ratines, ferges called lingettes, frocs and reveches. The cloths and ratines of one manufac- tory, eftablifhed by Sieur MafTieu, about the end of the feventeenth century, are only of Spanifh wool. The other woollen fluffs made here employ near 700 looms. St Lo is in reputation for the manufafture of ftrong ferge, to which it has given it's name. They make alfo there finettes and razes, very much efleemed. Thefe different fabrics employ about 2000 workmen, 90 looms, &c. Thefe ftuffs are excellent, efpecially if they employ only the wool ofCoutantin. At Vire are made common cloths, yard wide, alfo ferges linguettes •, alfo in many villages there- abouts, efpecially at Conde, Caligni, Monfegre, Cartemont, Cerify, and Frenes. Thefe manufac- tures !■«> :\:i T ■f " [38 ] tures employ above 300 looms ; they make com- monly 12,000 pieces a year. At Valogneis made ftrong cloth, of wool of the country. At Cher- borough, the fame, but in greater quantity. Coutance, is very fit for a wool manufaftory, having all proper accommodations for that pur- pofe. The wools grown there are excellent ; the water good for dyeing, efpecially in fcarlet. There are abundance of teazles. They were once famous -, but, the war of the League having difperfed the chief manufadturers into other parts, they make only at prefent fome pretty druggets, called be- linges, and other flight fluffs, partly of thread, and partly of the wool of the country. The reft of the wool is fold to other fabrics of the province, efpecially at St Lo, where the ancient manufacture of ierge of Coutance remains. At Bayeux is made cloth, ferges, and ratines : they are good of their kind. At Frefne and St Pierre d*Antremont they make partly ferge, like that of Caen, partly flight fl:ufFs of thread and wool, all of wool of the country. There is a great quantity of wool grown in the generality of Caen, but of different qualities, ac- cording to the place ; thofe that grow about the city of Caen are worfl: ; thofe that grow from Bayeux as far as Cherborough, and all along the coaft, are the beft : thefe laft are employed at St Lo, Vire, Valogne, and Cherborough. The generality of Alen^on is very confiderable for the manufafture of cloth, and other drapery. They make there 50 or 52,000 pieces, and mark befidcs 16,000. Befides the wool of the country, they are fupplied from neighbouring provinces. At Alenfon they make ftrong ferge, -} wide, etamines, 4 ell, crapes the fame. At Leez, fome flight drapery, viz. ferges, etamines. Argentan the fame. Falai«s- fnr the mnfl- nnrf. (erae fur — " — 5 -"- — ,^-- ^ — , -— o- — eftain. [ 39 ] eftain, ell wide; ferge tremieres, ^, &c. Lificux, a quantity of woollen fluffs, called frocs. Verne- vil, ferge croiffee, all of wool ; druggets, thread and wool. Dreux, cloth, flrong ferges, ferges after the falhion of London, eftamates, and demi- cftamates ; thefe laftare called linings, becaufc they are employed to line cloth. Aumale gives it*s name to a manufafture of ferge much efteemed i they reckon near 1200 looms at work there, and round about. They reckon the commerce there amounts to 2,000,000, when wool is at a reafonable price. Nogent le Retrou is a town of the province of Perche, but of the department * of the manufafto- ries of Alenfon. The fluffs there made are of three forts, etamines, of wool, others of wool and filk ; druggets, thread and wool ; above 400 looms are employed there. The yarn made ufe of in etamines comes for the mod part from Mor^ tagne, to the value of 200,000 livres per annum. At Souence are made etamines, fome all of wool, others of wool and filk. At Ecouchay, ftronge ferge, ell-wide, and ferge tremieres, 4. At Laigle, partly ferges, partly etamines, »nd the like flight fluffs. At Vitre, ferges are made of thread and coarfc wool of the country, from 12 to 20 fols the ell : there are alfo etamines, from 15 to 30 fols per ell. In Bretagne are employed 800 looms, in making flight fluffs of wool, viz. etamines, druggets, ferges, moletons, crapes, and narrow cloths, of 1 .:, M W^ 'I.- i' * The kingdom of France, where is any woollen manufac- ture, is cantoned into feveral departments, or diftrids, called generalities, with an infpedlor to each, and fuperintendant-ge- neral of the whole : and thus we come by this more particular ■— xvuUi or «.nv nuuiicii iTiaiiuiiitiurc la rraocQ ihask or anjf other kingdom befides. I ,iii"*^ 4'iTi :Ji [ 40 ] the wool of the country. The principal places ar© Nantes, Rennes, Bourg, Dinan, St Brieux, Lam- balle. Chateau- Briant, Nozay, Redon, JoflTeiin, Lc Guay de Pletant, St Croix, Auvray, Vanncs, Maleftroit, Rochctort, Chateauneuf, Lengonna, and Raviliac. Ofthe commerce of BouRGOGNE, and the gene- rality. As treat numbers of (heep are depaftured in Burgundy, fo wool is a very confiderable commo- dity there : one part whereof is employed by the manufadurers of the province, who are numerous; the other part, which is not fit for their ufe, is bought up by the merchants of the neighbouring ^ In the room of which, fome is alfo bought from Rheims and Troie, more proper for certain ma- nufadures, viz. for ferge after the fafhion of Lon- don and Seignelay, where they mix the wool ot Troie and Rheims with thofe of Auxerrois, which are the beft in Burgundy. Their principal manu- faftures are, cloths of Beaune, Vitaux, Semur, Saulies, Montbart, Rovray, Avalon, Auxerrois, Nuitz, Pont le Vaux, Autun, Joigny, Sens, Villeneuve, TArcheveque, Bigny, and Ancy la The manufadures of ferges of all forts, efpecially cloth-ferges, and ferges after the fafhion of London, are not Icfs confidcrable ; they make them at Di- jon, Marcy, Auxerre, in the hofpital, as well as in that of Beaune, at Seignelay, Amay le Due, Auxonne, Chatillon upon Seine, and Chafihelles. Pruggets, tiretaines, tolanches, are made at Sa- mur, Montbart, Auxerre, Nuitz, Beaune, Lou- hans, Clungy, Macon, and Montluet -, alfo in fome of thofe cities, and efpecially at Autun, crapes [41 ] crapes called frater and freilles, three quarters and half wide. The bufinefs of ftockings, after the faOiion of Havre and England, is carried on at Dijon. Of the flate of the woollen manufadure of Dau- pHiNY and Provence. Grenoble is the chief place of the fabrics round about, where they make cloth: at Virin, and five other pariflies, are made druggets and coarfe cloths : at Turin, and nine parilhes, cloth only : St Mar- cellin, and four parilhes, cloth only : at Roybon, and feven parilhes, cloth, ratines, and ferge. At Scrre, and eight pariHies, cloths only : at Beaure- paire, cloths, as alfo in three parilhes belonging to it. At St Jean en Royans, and fix parilhes, ftufFs, and above looo pieces of cloth. This place is very commodious for a manufactory, by reafon of it's water. At Romans, and in 12 pa- rilhes, the mod confiderable of the whole province (except Dienletit) are made four forts of drapery, viz. cordelats 2000 pieces, ratines 1000, eftameux 1 4 or 1 500, cloths 1 5 or 1 600. At Pont en Roy- ans, and 17 parilhes, are made cloths only, at Creft, and 13 places, ratines and cordelats. At MonteJimat is the grcateft manufaftory; they reckon up 25 places where ratines and fer- gettes are made: Tolliman, and nine parilhes, make fergettes : Dien de Fit, and 20 places, make fergettes only : Buis, and three places, fergettes and cordelats: Valence, cloth and ratines : Vienne, and 17 places, make druggets. The wool of Provence is employed in different manutadures of fluffs and hats. Their woollen manufadure is, cloth made all of Spanifh wool, and caps of the wool of the country. G At ii I. i Nl J 1 'i m w !^^' ''*• [ 42 ] At Toulon are made two forts of pinchinets ; one all of Spanilh wool, the other only of the wool of the country. The cadis and cordelats are made of the wool of Provence, viz. in Aix, Gor- des, Apt, Ayquires, Auriol, Signe, Colmars, Digne, La Roque, Mauve, Soleres, Cuers, Pe- quant, Camoulles, L.ue, Draguman, Lorgnes. They make alfo in Colmart and Digne, and there- abouts, cloths three quarters and a half wide, which are fold partly in the kingdom, and partly in Savoy. In many places of the principality of Orange they make ferge ; wide. At Aries, narrow raze; at Grignan fergettes ; all of wool of the country. Of the commerce of Languedoc. The manufadtures of wool eilablifhed in the two generalities of Languedoc are, cloth, cadis, burats, ferges, ratines, cordelats, bays, crapes, razes, tiretaines, druggets ; the greateft part for the Levant, as the matrons and Londrins j the others for the Swifs and Germans, &c. The places where thefe are made arc, Rieux, Granges des Pres, Lodeve, Carcaflbne, Limoux, Caftres, Alby, Alet, St Colombe, Lauclanet, Leiffac, La Grace, Saptes, Chelabre, Mezanet, Ferriers, Caune, Bedarrieux, St Sivran, Quiflac, St Hypolyte, Bauzely, Vigan, Ganges, Saumen- nas, Anduze, Alais, St Gervais, Sommieres, Gardonnanque, Salle, Beziere, Aniane, and Beau- caire. The wools employed in thefe manufa6lures are partly of the country, but the greateft part is brought from Marfeilles, by the merchants of Montpelier, who buy them unwafhed, and, after they have drelTed them, fell them, at the fairs ot Pezanes and Montagnac, to the manufadlurers. At [43 ] At Alby in High Languedoc are but two forts of manufadures cordelats and bayettes, the for- mer of the wool of the country. At CarcafTone the cloihs are made of wool of Bezier, Narbonne," and Spain. At Saptes the manufafture of cloth is very confiderablc, the wool Spanifli, from the merchants of Toulon, Bayonne, and Marfeillcs. Limoux and Alet, the cloths there made are of the wool of the country, and of Rouilillon. SaifTac, a manufadory of com- mon cloth. I. a Grape, cloths-, Montagne de CarcafTone, cloths of different colours and breadths •, Caffres, bayettes, burets, and coronines •, Meiz- ant, and it's dependencies, cordelats, white and mufc i BoifTafon, cordelats ; Varres, ferge ; Fer- rieres, ferge •, Caune, coarfe cloths ; Bedarieux, two forts of manufadure, one of druggets, the other of cloths ; St Fonts la Bafhdc, white cloths -, St Chiman, white cloths, from 3 livres 10 fols, to 4 livres 10 fols per ell. The manufafture of cloth at Lodeve is very confiderable, and in great efleem j they make 4 -,000 pieces, white and grey. x\t Montpelier, ftulFs, blankets, hats, fuftians ; the blanket manufactory is very confiderable. At Qiiiffac is a confiderable manufafture of cadis -, Sauve the fame ; St Hypolyte cadis, ^r^ looms •, Bauzely ditto, 60 looms \ Vigan cloths and cadis, a very confiderable manufacture \ Ganges, fome cadis •, Alais, ferge, cadis, ratines, 90 looms ; Ufez, ferge, 60 or 70 looms ; St Gignaix, cadis, 40 looms ; Sommieres, cloth-ferge, ratines, and cadis i St Jean de Gardonnengue, cadis -, La Salle, cadis, 30 looms; Nifmes, a confiderable manu- fadture of cloth and (lockings ; Narbonne, knit llockings. At Bezieres are different manufaftures of wool, cfpecially of fine cloth and druggets, like thofe G 2 of 1.4 ft At w %. >\\i I'' la' life [ 44 ] oF Bedarienx, fold shiefly to Germany. The royal iTianufadlory of fine cloths, cftabhfhed at Clermont, is very confiderable : there are alfo private manu- fadurcs there. The manufadure ot" hats is alfo the moft confiderable in Langucdoc. Aniane has a manufadure of cadis -, Beaucaire, of cadis and {lockings, and hats •, St Andre de Val Borgne, cadis and hats ; Marvaix, cadis and hats. The Sieur de Varcnncs, having brought work- men from Holland, undertook to make cloths for the lievant trade. Saptes, near Carcaflbne, was the place where he firft efliabliflicd it •, and we may confider it as the model of all the others in the province of Languedoc. That of Clermont and Lodeve followed foon after, viz. in 1678. The ftates of Languedoc lent them 130,000 'ivres for many years, without intereft, and gave tRem befides, by way of bounty, a pillole for every piece of fine cloth made there. The third manufactory is that of Carcafibnne, eftablilhed and maintained by the Sieur Cailcnier, which has not fucceeded lefs than that of Saptes, and Clermont Lodeve. The province gave him the' fame advantages as to the two other royal manufadlories. The eftates of Languedoc have fince added two others, with the fame encourage- ments, one at Rieux, under the condud of the Sieur Gurfe, a Dutchman -, the other in the Caftle de la Grange des Pres, near Penzenas, under the diredion of the French manufadlurcrs. The laft royal manufaClory of Languedoc is that of Monf. Chamberlin, eftabhlhed alfo under the authority of the ftates. It does not make for the Levant trade, but only woollen fluffs after the falhipn of England, for the Spanifh trade. Th? [ 45 ] , The annual product and manufafture of Lancue- Doc in the following articles is, livres. Sheep - - - - - Fuftians and bafins Blankets - . - - Bergamcs and tapeftry Woollen ftufFs, fine and courfe Cloths, fine and others Woollen ftockings Hats 1,000,000 90,000 230,000 20,000 4,100,000 8,450,000 40,000 400,000 ■ t; 'M Total 14,330,000 They import wool of Spain, Conftantinople, Salle, Algier, and other parts of Barbary, 40,000 quintals. Of the commerce of Low Navarre and Bearn, Flanders, the Austrian Low Countries, Lorraine and Bar. The wool of Navarre is good, and pafles for Spanilh wool -, the fineft fores are brought by French traders of different provinces ; of the others, they make fome coarfe ftuffs for cloathing the common people. The produdt of Flanders is corn, cattle, wool, &c. Their manufacture, cloth, ferges, ratines, and other woollen goods, and ftuflfs mixed with filk and thread; camlets, damafks, tapeftry, ftock- ings and breeches, and other works of Bonneterie, knit and wove -, burats, crapes, blankets, and the like ; all thefc at Lifle. At Roubais and Turcoing there are many looms for ftufFs of woolj or fiik and wool, made chiefly for 1 11 m: [ 46 ] For the Spanifh trade, and other foreign countries ; feme are brought to France, and even to Paris* At Menin they make hats of wool -, at Tournay (lockings of wool, moquettes (a kind of plulh) the (lockings are for Spain and the Weft- Indies. There arc alfo a number of different manufadlo- ries ; thofe of fine cloths, that were once fo flou- rifhing throughout this province (where it was faid were 4000 looms) are now only at Yprcs, Baiteul, and Foperingue. Their dyeing in fcarlct is very fine in the Hrll of thofe three cities -, and they make alfo there, as well as at Hanfcotte and fomc other places, ferge, which is greatly efteemed. At Bruges is the great magazine of Spanifli and Englifh wooll, &c. that ferves to fupply the manuf^idories of that important city. The ftuffs made there, among others, are anacoftes, lampa- rillcs, and ferges, fit for Spain and the Spanilh Indies ; alio bays and camlets. The woollen manufactures of Lorraine and Bar are only at St Nicholas and St Mary, and Aux Mines j the cloths are coarfe. Of the commerce of the three bifhoprios, Metz, TouL, and Verdun, of Alsace, Roussillon. The beft manufaftories of wool in the three bi- (hoprics, arc at Metz, and thereabouts -, they are not very antient, efpecially fome of them, but have arrived to fuch perfedion, and the trade is fo great, that the Council Royal of the Com- merce OF France thought it nececcfTary, in the beginning of the XVIlIth century, to eftablifh an Inspector of them. They make ratines ot all forts, different kinds of light ferge for womens wear, cloth like pinchinats for the country people, and fomc druggets. Toul [ 47.] Toul and Verdun are Ids confiderable in their manufrudtures, they knit woollen Itockings in all their cities and round about j thole ot Mctz are mod cfteemed. At Strafbourg, the capital of Alfacc, the wool- len manufaciture is tapcftry, narrow cloths, blan- kets, fuftians. The wool of RoufTillon is fine, almoft of the fame quality with Spanifli wool ; therefore the manufafturers of France buy there every year, for confiderable fums -, and, though RoufliUon has no confiderable manufactory, yet they make blankets, and fome kind of bures or coarfe cloths. Of other branches of the trade of France. I II.' The principal produce of France is their wine and their brandy, and their vinegar. Befides the quantity they confume among themfelves, they fend abroad to foreign countries, according to a moderate computation that has been made, above 40,000 ton of wine annually from Bourdeaux, Rochelie, and Nantes, anu the leflTcr ports therea- bouts, and 25,000 ton of brandy and vinegar at leafl:. This extraordinary exportation of itfelf is enough to enrich a country. Next to thefe are the expor- tation of linnen from France, which has many years proved, and ftill continues fo to do, a very capital article of the commerce of that kingdom, by the exportation thereof to foreign countries : and the flax being of their own growth, as well as the workmanlhip the labour of their own peoplei, this enhances the eftimation of this great manufac- ture. Since the admirable improvement in the filk manufactures of this kingdom at Spitalfields, near the city of London, the importation of this manu- facture r »■ f" [ 48 ] faaure from France into England has greatly declined. Yet the wrought filks of France are Itill ex- tremely profitable to that nation, and are ufed for cloathing the ladies in moft of the courts and countries of Europe. They have a vaft trade for them in Germany, to which their frontiers jom a great way up the Rhine, and from whence they fend great quantities of manufactures quite through Swabia, Franconia, Bavaria, and even into Au- ftria, Hungary, and Poland. Nor is their commerce lefs in proportion into the Lower Germany, particularly upon tiie Meufe and the Mofelle, to the countries of Lorrame, Cologne, MunfVer, and throughout all the circles of the Lower Saxony, the Upper Saxony, Mentz, Triers, and Weftphalia. The Normandy window-glafs of France is the fame fc- kind, of which {o great a quantity is now made in England, and which we call crown- glafs. England formerly had it only from France, and imported annually large quantities of it; whereas they now make fo much in England, that they not only fupply themfelves, but fend it to other countries. The like is to be faid of all forts of plate-glafs, for coaches, looking-glaffes, &c. all which the Englifh were formerly fupplied with from France. However, the French have a very great trade for this glafs ftill, as well for their own ufe, as to fend to Germany, Swiflerland, and even into Italy itfelf. Their fabric of glafs, at St Gobin, is efteemed one of the fined in Europe. They are faid to run plate-glafs to great perfeftion, and of larger extent than in any part of Europe. In confirmation of which, it may not be improper to mention an inftance of mv own knowledge, which happened a few years" ago. An eminent merchant, of St Peterlburg in ^ Ruflia, f 49] Ruflia, fent over a commiflion to England for the purchafe of a quantity of plate-glafs, to be fixed in the manner of our wainfcot pannels, in fome public room in the emprefs's royal pal- lace ; the exadt dimenfions of which I do not re< colled:, but the commiflion would not have a- mounted to much lefs than 2000 1. Accordingly I went to the glafs-houfe at Vauxhall, belonging to MefT. Bowles and Dawfon ; and, talking with Mr Dawfon upon the occafion, he told me, that they had not conveniencies ready built for the run* ning of glafs of fuch large dimenfions ; and that to eredl proper conveniencies for that purpofe would be fo expenfive, that it would not anfwer j orders of that nature being fo very uncommon, and, perhaps, they might never have another of the like kind, and therefore it could not be exe- cuted in England. — But this commiflion, being fent to France, was there executed. They have alfo no inconfiderable fhare in the fiflieries of various kinds, which has greatly pro- moted their brood of feamen, and increafed their maritime power. Their fcarcity of black cattle makes them fcarce of leather ; wherefore they drive a great trade to St Domingo for hides, and buy abundance alfo in Spain and Portugal ; the Spaniards bringing them from Buenos Ayres, and the Portuguefe from the Brafils ; notwithftanding which, they have a pretty large quantity from England and Ireland, fuch as calve's leather and neat's leather. Their fait is partly a monopoly in the hands of the government, and is Ibid out to the fubjefts in an arbitrary manner, and at an exceflive price. What they fend abroad, is bought of the officers of the crown, and at a more tolerable price : this is what v/e call bay-falt principally, becaufe it is made at feveral places in the bay of Bifcay. H The ■ 1 ! •4k Eli . I' m C 50 J The colonies and plantations of France, like thofe of other European nations, are chiefly in America •, and, next to thofe of the Spaniards, are the greateft according to French pretenfioris in that part of the world, as to their extent on the conti- nent, and the number of the iQands. The French colony of Canada, is a Very Valua- ble and important fettkment upon the river of Ca- nada, and the great bay or gulph of St Lawrence, in which the French have extended themfclves fo far, as from within ten leagues of the Englifh fadory at Hudfon's-Bay to within about two leagues of Hudfon's river, which runs into the fea at New York, being from latitude 41 ', to latitude 51 I. The grand product of this colony is corn and furrs. This country chiefly fupplies Cape Breton, and all the filhing veflfels that refort thither, which are very numerous, with grain in ge- neral, the ifland of Gafpe not yielding any quantity of corn fufRcient for them. — Canada alfo fupplies the French ifland colonies with corn. The other exportations are peltry, viz. furrs and fkins, of which the principal produce is the beaver. They have a great variety of flcins of other wild creatures, which thefe countries pro- duce in common with the refl: of North America: but the beaver is the chief, both as it is the moft profitable and mofl: numerous. So great is the multitude of beavers here, that the French in Canada are faid to fend over to France feveral hundred thoufands of their Ikins every year ; and yet they do not find the plenty of beavers to abate, but they are rather ready to over-run the whole country. Befides beaver- flvins, they take an immenfe quantity of other forts of creatures, whofe furrs are valuable in Europe, and make a very large branch [ 51 ] branch of commerce, confidered as wrought up into divers general manufadtures. — Such as the /kins of otters, deer, bear, elk, buffaloe, mink, wild horfe, wild cat, mufquafli, raccoon, fifher, martin, fox, white, ditto black, very valuable, bullock, &c. At the mouth of the great river St Lawrence, the French carry on the great fifhery, commonly- known by the name of the white filhing, or cod- lifhing of Newfoundland. For, though the idand of Newfoundland is now wholly a colony of Greats Britain, yet the French employ more Ihips in this fifhing than the Englifh, and catch a much greater quantity -, the reafon whereof is, that the French carry the fifh not into Spain and Italy only, but alfo to their own country, to Marfeilles and Toulon, and to the ports of France in the ocean; the French themfelves eating much fifh, efpecially in Lent; whereas the Englifh bring little or none from thence, but what they fell to the Spaniards and the Portuguefe, or Italians. Befides, the whole coaft of Britain fupplies fo great a quantity of the fame fort of fifh, as well ias of divers others, that they catch more by far at their own doors, than their home confumption calls for. The French ihips, employed in this trade, ex- port all their goods cuftom-free, neither are they .liable to any duties in Canada, except for Brafii tobacco, upon which there is about 20 s. fterling per hundred weight. The cargo of thefe vefTels is much the fame with what is fent to the French illands. Tobacco, fugar, and^ fome other Weft- Indian commodities, make a part of thofe cargoes, the foil and climate of Canada not affording the like ; and, for the fame reafon, there is a differ- ence in the woollen goods exported thither, coarfe cloths being fent to Canada, and thin and lisht H 2 ilutts 'I fl [ 52 ] ftuffs to the French idand colonies in America. The profits upon thefe goods are feldom left than 50 per cent, and thofe that go oflF beft are of lea(t ufe, fuch as ribbands, laces, fnufF-boxes, watches, rings, necklaces, &c. It feldom happens that thefe fhips return lull laden into France, the colony not producing roo- my goods-, and, therefore, that their voyages may turn to the better account, they generally run down to Cape Breton, and there take in a large quantity of coal for the French lugar iflands. At Cape Breton, or the Ifle Royal, as the French have chriftened it.— This produces horfes, horn- ed cattle, hogs, Iheep, goats, and poultry. What is got by hunting, fhooting, and fifhmg, is able to maintain the inhabitants a good part of the year. This ifland abounds in coal-pits. There is no part of the world where more cod- fifh are caught, nor where there is fo good con- veniency ior drying it. The filhery alfo of fea- pike, porpuifes, &c. is in great abundance here, and earned on with great eafe. ^ The harbour of Louifbourg, is not above a league from the bay of Gaborie, and is, perhaps, on? of the fineft in America. The cod-fifhing here is very abundant ; they fi(h there from the beginning of April to the end of December, which employs many hundred fail of French fhipping, and is a grand nurfery for their feamen. Of the French Islands in America. To begin with Granada.— This IQe has feveral good bays and harbours, fome of which are forti- fied. It is efteemed a fruitful foil, and well water- ed i producing fugar, and fuch other plants as are found in the reft of the Caribbec-Iflands -, there are abundance of very rrnaU iflands that he at she [ 53 ] the north end of Granada, which are called the Granadillas. Martinico has fevcral commodious bays and harbours on the coall. Tome of them fo well fortified, that the y bid c^iefiance to the Eng- lifh, when they mad. a dv.^lcent there with feveral thoufand men in the lalV war. The produce of this ifland is the lame with the Englifh ifland of Barbadoes, and has been tiic great inllrument, in conjundion with Guardaloupe, of enabling the French to rival us in the fugar trade at foreign markets. Mafigolante, abounds with tobacco. The ifland is covered with trees, among which is the cinnamon- tree, that is always verdant, and it's other products are the fame with the reft of the Caribbees. Guardaloupe is one of the Caribbee Iflands, Like Martinico, a large Caribbee, it abounds in fugar, cotton, indigo, ginger, &c. and is in a very flourifhing condition, and, according to the confequence it is of to the Frenc!i, Jiey have taken care to fortify it with feveral regular forts and re* doubts. This ifland makes more fugar now than any of the Britifli iflands, except Jamaica. St Domingo belongs partly to the Spaniards and partly to the French, It is the moft fruitful, and by much the pleafanteft in the Weft-Indies •, having vaft forefts of palms, elms, oaks, pines, the juni* per, caramite, acajou, &c. — In the meadows, there are innumerable herds of black cattle ; horfes enough in the weftern part, which belongs to the French, to fupply all their neighbouring colonie?. There is fcarce a country in the world better watered by navigable rivers full of fifti, as the coaft alfo is of crocodiles and tortoifes. It has many mines of gold, filver, and copper, which, though wrought formerly to great profit, the Spaniards at prefent find themfelves too weak to :ll !!! [54] to carry them on for their own advantage, and take care to conceal them from the French. — The chief commodities of this ifland are hides, fugar, indigo, cotton, cocoa, coffee, ginger, tobacco, fait, wax, honey, ambergreafe, and various kinds of drugs and dyer's wood. — The French here are faid to out-number the Spaniards, though both together are Ihort of what the extent and fertihty of the ifland is capable of maintaining. Some think their fugar is the bed that is made in the Weft-Indies, and generally it yields 3 or 4s. per hundred more than that of any of their other iflands. It was computed in 1726, that there were then 200 fugar works in this ifland ; that, one year with another, they made 400 hogflieads of fugar, each of 500 weight, and that it brought in 200,000 1, fterling per ann. to the French, and the indigo is reckoned to produce half as much. This French colony is allowed to be the moft confiderable and important that they have in thefe parts, and would be much more fo, could they get a cefllon of the other part from the Spaniards, which they have extremely at heart, but 'tis hoped will never ob- tain, they being already pofleflTed of fo many no- ble harbours and forts, as give them too great an opportunity of difturbing and ruining the com- merce of any nations which they happen to be at war with. They alfo cultivate cacao to great advantage, and draw confiderable profit from the ginger, caflla, and piemento, or what we call Jamaica pepper, or all-fpice, of which they export confide- rable quantir.ies.— They hkewife manufadure ro- cou, for the ufe of the dyers, and fend home va- riety of medicinal gums, and wet fweet-meats of divers kinds. — Thefe iflands produce two feveral forts of valuable woads, which are ufed for dyeing, Jnlaying, and cabinet-work ; fuch as rofe-wood, which, ! r,v [ 55 } which, when wrought and poliflicd, has a Very beautiful appearance, as well as a fine fmell. - The Indian wood is alfo of the fame nature, and the iron wood, lo called from it's excefTive hardnefs, is efteemed preferable either to cedar or cyprefs ; Brafil wood they have in great quantities, and brazilletco, yellow wood, or fuftic, and green ebony, which is ufed both by the cabinet-makers and dyers. We may add, to thefe commodities, raw hides and tortoife-fhell, and then the reader will have a tolerable comprehenfion of the riches of the French in the Weft-Indies ; which added to their fiflieries at Newfoundland and Cape Bre^ ton, their peltry trade in Canada, and all their commerce with the Indian nations in their immenfe territory of Louifiana, muft give us an extraordi- nary idea of the ftate of their commercial intcreils in America. Though thefe iflands produce fo many rich and eftimable commodities, yet they ftand in need of very large fupplies of various kinds of neceifaries, without which they cold not fubfift j fuch as horfes, and cattle of all kinds ; corn, roots, dry fifh, and all forts of lumber, of which they receive confide- rable quantities, from Canada, and the reft from our northern colonies, in exchange for fugar, to- bacco, indigo, and other goods, which are fent to Canada, and for melaffes to our colonies, where it is diftilled into rum. The inhabitants of thefe iQands ftand always in want of negroes, with which they were formerly fupplied by their own African and Senegal com- panies, which have been long ago united to the French Eaft- India company, by whom this flave- trade is now carried on with great regularity, and extraordinary advantage. — The negroes are fent to Martinico, where they are purchafed by the plan- ters of the other illands, at a fettled price of fo many I r If ' t If f 56 ] many hogfheads of fugar a head, as in the Spanifh ports they are bought for fo many pieces of eight. The quantities of fugar, together with their other produ6lions, that are raifed in the French fugar iflands in America, employ in this trade near 700 fhips, from the burden of 100 to 30Q tons. The velTels from Rochelle and Bourdeaux are, generally fpeaking, laden with fait beef and pork, flour, brandy, all forts of wine of the growth of that part of France, and alfo Madeira, which they take in that ifland ; dried cod, pickled herrings, oil, cheefe, butter, tallow, iron, linnen, and molt forts of mercery goods. The fhips from Roan feldom carry provifions, but are freighted with woollen and linnen goods, filk, ribbons, Ihoes, ftockings of all forts, hats, tin, copper, and brafs ware, fmall arms, and fword- blades, pewter, pins, needles, paper, pens, cards, and an infinite num- ber of other things of the fame kind. The Ihips from Marfeilies and Toulon are freighted with oil, dried fruit, wines, and fevcral kinds of light fluffs, that are manufa6tured in Provence. Thus we fee what prodigious advantages thefe fettle- ments bring to France, by encouraging induftry, employing a large number of fhips, and, confe- quently, raifing and maintaining great numbers of feamen. It is no wonder, therefore, that the French government pay fo much attention to this import int branch of their traffic, and are fo care-, ful in taking every pofTible method to encourage thefe colonies, and to proted their trade ; which, fuffered confiderably in the wars of king William and queen Anne, and flill more confiderably at the beginning of the late war. And this ought to convince us, that the commerce of the fugar- colonies of France is far greater than we ever imagined. Before [ 57] _ Before we quit this fubjedl, It is necelTary to ob- ftrve, that, on the fouth ficlc of the French part of St Domingo, there lies a little ifland, called Avache, at the diflance of about 12 leagues from the continent ; which is about nine leagues in com- pafs, the foil very good, and there are two or three tolerable ports, one of which is capable of receiv- ing (hips of 300 tons. This ifland lies very con- venient for carrying on a trade with the Spanifli colonies on the continent of America ; and, fooner or later, the French will, in that refpedt, make it turn to good account. — It is alfo very commo- dious for maintaining an intercourfe with the only fettlement they have on the coaft of South Amc- rica, the ifland of Cayenne. The colony is partly fubfifted by provifions brought from France in merchant fhips, by way of trade, which commonly are wine, brandy, meal, and powdered or falt-meat, for beef is very fcarce there -, bcfides that, they are not al- lowed to kill any, nor calves neither, without leave of the governor, that cattle may multiply in the ifland. All forts of linnen cloathing, fluffs, filks, flioes, and other wearing apparel, are alfo carried thither from France, for the ufe of men, women, and children -, and all forts of tools and fmall wares, either for the fervice of the colony, or for the Amazons and Indian trade, are bartered for fugar, rocou, indigo, tortoife-fliell, tyger- Ikins, and other confiderable curiofitics of the country, which turn to no inconfiderable profit to the traders there. The chief trade carried on here is an under- hand trade with the Dutch and the Portugueze, and chiefly by the Jews who refide here -, and what quantity of gold and filver they have is in theL hands. It If I", ■■*:;; I t r i [58] It was under tlie reign of Henry IV. of France that this nation firll attempted to fliare in the commerce of the Indies, which met with but bad luccefs, 'till Monf. Colbert undertook the bufineis. This intc'lHgent minider conceived the defign of reviving the French Fad-India company, not- withrtanding all the mistortunes that company had met with, and which had difappointed the fkill and care of all his predecefT()rs. For the Progrefs of this company, lee the Didionary. The firft feat of government of this company in the Indies was at Madagafcar-, but, after the firft Dutch war, ihey removed to Surat, and, after that, to Pondicherry. - -This place was im- mediately well fortified, by order of the court ; fo that, in the year 1710, this place was become one of the moft confiderable in the Indies. There cannot be a place better feated for trade than this, being in the midft of the European let- tlements on the coaft of Coromandel, and having all the bay of Bengal open before them ; fo tliat here the company's magazines are full of all the commodities and manutadures, not only of the coaft of Coromandel, but of other parts of the Indies, fuch as Bengal, Surat, and the coaft of Malabar, as alio of fuch as are imported from Perfia, and the coaft of the Red Sea. — Here like- wife are their wartlioufes for all forts of European commodities, which are conveniently tranfported from thence, as occafion requires, to all the mar- kets in the Indies. *TilI the year 1737, the affairs of tnis company had been in a very precarious fituation for 14 years. But by the management of that able minifter Monf. Orry, then at the head of the finances of France, we find the public fale in the year 1742, produced near a million fterling : befides which, they referved in thdr magazines, goods, to the value r I-' [59] value of 4,000,000 ot livrcs more; and the firft fliips that anivcil in J 74;^, broiigfit home Hill a richer, aiul mure vulujblc cargo.— This cxtraor- d'nary change in the company's alTairs aharmeci all Europe, but more crpccially the maritime powers, who law, with unfpcakablc concern, a company, that but a tew years before was looked upon as annihilated, with refptit to it's commerce, now nfing into as high credit as any in Europe ; which has fince animated the northern powers to profccure Icher.ies of faliir.g into the Kail-India trad;.' Jikewife. — But what was flil. more extraordinary than all the reft, upon the lirft breaking out of rh * laft war, the company did not Teem to be aftcdted fo much as might have been expected, their dividends be- ing regularly paid -, which kept up their credit to fuch a degree, that at Chriftmas, 1744, their ac- tions were at 2000. Certain it is, from the hi (lory given at large in my Didlionary, that the French havefpared no expence, nor left untried any point of policy, to uphold their company of the Indies ; and, notwithftanding what it fiiiTered in the late war, we find tliey are ftill in a Houri'hing condition. Nor can it be olherwife; for this company is cdablinied on fo broad a bot- tom, that, if one branch ot trade proves tem- porarily bad, their other branches generally make them compenfation ; and as the intercil of this corporation is fo intimately interwoven with that of the ftate, we find, upon all critical emergen- cies, it ftands in need of no aids which the Hate can aiTord it. One of the greatefl advantages that the French Eaft-India company has received, feems to be the encouragement which has been given, by means thereof, to the French fugar-iflands and colonies in America; for the French Senegal company, (which was the African company of that nation) I 2 T DeuiS 4.t [ 60 ] being united to this India company ; and this company having granted them luch bounties, exemptions, privileges, and encouragements, as amount to above 40,000!. fterling per ann. in or- der to enable them to carry on their African com- merce to the greater advantage of the company, as well as of their fugar- colonics ; *tis not to be admired, that the French fliould make fo rapid a progrcfs in the trade of America, as we experi- enced they had done in tlie late war. But what gives the French ftill a greater weight of intercft in Africa than the benefit of thefe en- couragements, is the company's fole privilege of this trade, exclufive of all the other fubjcdls of France. For, by virtue of thcfe powers and im- munities, the Frtnch have fupplied their colonies with 10,000 of the choiccft and mod: robuft ne- groes from Anamaboe on the coaft of Africa, to 1000 that have been carried by all the Britifli traders to our own plantations. They have alfo incroachi(i on our trade at Whydah, from whence they have many years carried confiderable numbers of negroes no way inferior to thofe brought from Anamaboe ; nay, thv y have abfolutcly excluded us from the whole trade of the Gum Coaft, which extends between 4 and 500 miles, from Cape Blanco to the north of the river Gambia. Before the French got polieffion of the forts in the river Senegal, and on the iflands of Arguin and Goree on the north coaft, the Englifti traded freely and openly to all places on that coaft, with- out any moleftation whatever: fince the French have been in pofreflion of thcfe forts, they have aflumed the right and authority to exclude the Britifh nation from thefe ports, and have adually taken and confifcated fuch Britifli ftiips and veffels as ventured to go thither.— Nay, by the authority ot two forts, the one in tlie river Senegal, and the other iif is; [6f ] other in tlie ifland oF Goree, they not only claim the cxclufive right of trade, as before obferved, but carry on a confidcrable commerce in the river Gambia, within fight of the Britifh fort there and alloto Anamaboe, within fight of C.peCoaftCaftle, the principal Britifli fort on the Gold Coaft. How beneficial this iincontroulablc right to the whole African trade, as it were, which the French have many years ufurpcd, has really proved to the Prcnch lugar-colonies in America, will appear un- der the article French America, where I have defcended to particulars. And, if they gain their point, with regard to the iflands of St Lucia, Dominico, St Vincent, and Tabago, the fate of the 13ritilli lugar-colonies muft be deplorable. From the plain narrative which we have given of the trade of France (and which we have here crowded into as few fluets as poffible) the follow- ing obfervations will naturally occur. That for many years before, as well as finccthe treaty of Utrecht, the fteady fyftem of the French court, under all adminiftrations, has been the ad- vancement of their commerce and navigation in general. -This is indubitably true, from the feries oi fadts we have laid before the reader, and more efpecially with regard to the great point of the Woollen Manufactories of this nation: which, as they have met with fuch unparalleled encouragement from the ftate in their firft cfta- blilhment ; fo their progrefs has been equally ad- mirable, and the great perfeftion to which they have arofe in their fabrics, is no lefs extraordinary. We have feen likewife, that the kingdom of I' ranee in Europe is very happily fituated for commerce and navigation i and, in order to leffen the price of carriage of all merchandizes through- out their dominions, they have fpared no expence to add artificial to their natural navigable rivers. In 8*' lit' [ 62 ] In order alfo to keep down the price ot labour among their manufadurers, to the end that their merchandize may be afforded cheaper to foreign countries than thofe of other nations, they buy up plenty of grain, when cheap, to fell to the poor, when dear, at the ordinary prices. From variety of inftances throughout my la- bours, it further appears, that they have grudged no expence, nor left unpradifed any meafures, to obtain the moft ingenious workmen and manu- fafturers from all countries, whence they could allure them, in order effedually to eftablifh the credit and reputation of their own manufadories. — They have, in particular, highly encouraged the imitation of the woollen fabrics of every kind in this nation, and have alfo invented no little variety of their own ; which they have wifely adapted to the tafle and climate of other nations, to encourage their exportation.— By the former, and the ufe of the counterfeit arts of pradifing the manner and cuftoms of the Englifh manufiic- turers ; by thefe and other artifices before intimat- ed, they, at firft deluded foreign nations into the purchafe of their fabrics ; and, by the quality and cheapnefs of them fince, have fupplanred this kingdom at foreign markets far more, I am afraid, than we are yet thoroughly fenfible of. *Tis obfervable, throughout the regulations of the commerce of France, that the meaned trade, to the higheft, is under fome proper and rational rules for it's good government, even from the Bird-Catcher to the fupreme manufadurer and artift : this is evident from manifold inliances throughout our undertaking: and thefe regula- tions are fo calculated, as to put thefe ariifts and manufadurers under the neceffity of excelling in their refpedive employments ; the Hate well knowing, that thtir ingenuity is the foul of all their « ( ( c ( c ( c < c [ 63 ] their commerce and navigation j for that nation, which can beat all others in the quahty, as well as the price of their commodities, will carry away the trade from the reft. Lewis Morreri, in his Hiflorical Didionary, of the impreffion 171 8, fays in regard to the progrefs of the French trade, that ' Under the government of the firfl: line of French kings, who reigned from the year 418 down to 751, it is not kn° wn what the ftate of trade was, becaufe thofe princes, regarding only conquefts, were more attentive to the profcffion of arms, than to enrich the kingdom by traffic and commerce with for- reigntrs. Charles the Great, the fecond prince of the fecond line, defirous of having commerce flourilli, created an office of king of the mer- char.ts, with an infpe6lion and fuperintendency * over all perfons of that denomination, whofe * jurifdidion was exercifed by deputies in every ' province and city of note. ' The great chamberlain, an officer of the ' crown, and who had already the jurifdidlion of ' arts and manufactories, was appointed in lieu of ' king of thq merchants by Francis I. in 1544. ' This father of arts and letters was the firft of • our kings, that projeaed the introduftion of • trade into France by diftant voyages into the ■ remote parts of the world. ' By the orders he gave to admiral Chabot, Cape Breton was difcovered, as far as Florida and Vn-ginia, as alfo the Marannan, and Canada in America. ' Me refolved to fit out fliips for the Eaft- Indies, but his wars with the emperor Charles V. prevented it. ' In 1545, J^he employment of grand cham- berlain of France was vacant by the death of Charles duke of Orleniic. anH h\c f,rh>^r hinr^ . ' ' Francis ■lii, \'< m U- §A t'M' [ 64] * Francis I. annihilated the office, and revived ' that of king of the merchants, which continued ' till Henry the Great put an end to it, in 1587, ' and took upon himfelf the charge of commerce, ' and was very zealous in it, fetting up a fabric * of tapeftry at the Gobelines, in the fuburbs of * St Marcel at Paris, and another of gilt leather- ' hangings in the fuburbs of St Honore and * Jacques •, the mills of Eftampe to fplit and cut * iron i a manufadure of gold and filver fluffs in * the royal palace -, thofe of gawfe, &c. in Mante ♦, * of glafs at Paris and at Nevers, in imitation of * thofe at Venice, and feveral other ufeful manu- * fadures. * He formed alio a council of commerce made * up of minifters out of feveral tribunals, in which * was debated and decided every thing relating to * trade. « In 1607, he appointed a new ofHcer of mafler- « vifitor and reformer-general, to infpedl all the * manufadlories, which made up the principal * branches of commerce. « Lewis XIV, has added, to his conquefls, * plenty and riches in the kingdom, making the * commerce of the French flourifh in all the four * quarters of the world. The vigilance of Monf. * Colbert contributed very much to this grand ' point.' Of fome of the meafures taken in France for the promotion of Commerce, extra(5ted from the royal edi6ts of 1 664. * But finding that the abatements [of taxes] * made at this time would only lefTcn the prefent * mifcries, and give our people the opportunity * to live with more eafe, but did not tend to * briiior in wealth from abroad* and that trade ' alone [65] alone is capable of bringing this to pafs : for this purpofc we have, therefore, from the begin- ning applied to the proper means to fupport, encourage, and incrcafe the fame, and to give all poffible eafe to our fubjeds therein : and"^ in order thereunto, have caufed a general inquifi- tion to be made into all the tolls which are raifed upon all the rivers in our kingdom, which any- way hinder the commerce, or the tranfporting goods and merchandizes from place to place ; and, having inquired into all the pretences every-wherc made for the raifing and levying the faid tolls, we have iuppreflcd fo many of them, that the navigation of our rivers is there- by made extraordinary eafy, ' .^^.^^^. ^^'^^ ^^"^^ '^^ have eftabliflied com- miflaries in all our provinces, to examine the dues of all our communities or corporations ; upon which we have made fuch regulations as would reduce the fame for the prefent, and afterwards intirely difcharge them : and, in the mean time, we have given a general liberty of trade to all people, which they have been de- prived of by the violences aforefaid.— After this, we have endeavoured to caufe all our bridges, caufeways, moles, banks, piers, and other public buildings, to be repaired ; the bad condition whereof have been a great hindrance to trade, and to the carrying of merchandize from place to place. Alfo we have powerfully eftablifhed the fafety and liberty of the highways, appoint- ing feveral punifhments to highwaymen, and obliging the provofts of our coufins, the mar- flials of France, to a careful difcharge of their office. * And, after having thus done every thing that was in our power to rclfore trade within the kingdom, wc have applied the greatel't of K * our i !( J t:r- c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c ( c c c c c c c c c c c [ 66 ] our care for the encouraging of navigation and connmerce alfo without, as the only means to inrich our fubjefts. To this end, having found by experience that foreigners had made them- felves mafters of all the trade by fea, nay even of the coafting trade from port to port, of our kingdom ; and yet the fmall number of fhips which remained in the pofTefTion of our fubjedts, were every day taken juft at our own doors, as well in the Levant Seas as in the Wefteni Ocean -, we have eftabliflied the im.pofition of 50 fols per ton on the freight of all foreign fliips, at the fame time difchargirg thofe of our fubjeds i encouraging them thereby to build and fit out fufficient numbers of fliips for their coufting-trade. At the fame time we have put to fea fo confiderable a fleet both of fhips and gallies, as fhould oblige the coafters of Barbary to keep their ports and places of retreat. And, the better to fupprefs all manner of piracy, we have refolved to attack them in their own coun- try ; to tiie end that, having fortified fume con- fiderab! 2 ports, we might be able to keep the fame in pofiefTion. « At the fame time, we have fecured the navi- gation of our fubjeds againfb all other pirates, by allowing them convoys of our men of war. We have fortified and augmented the French colonies fettled in Canada, and the iflands of America *, by having fent our fhips thither, making them -rknowledge our authority, by- fettling of courts of j Lidice among them. Alfo we have laid the foundation for the fettlemenl of our Eaft-India and Weft- India companies, which are now fet up in our kingdom, to our intire fatisfadion. * This was the firft efFedlual cftablifhnient of the French colonies in AmeriGa= « But, i^t [67] < But, although all thcfe great things are very much to our fatisfadion, ytt the laid love which we have for our people, as it is every day Itir- ring us up to forget what is palTcd, and to look forward to what may be further done, to the in- creafe of their happinefs, we have relblved to erect a Council of Trade, to meet in our prefence, and to employ to that end one of the councils of the finances, which, for that pur- pofe, we ihall difiblve : in which council of trade fhall be confidercd all the means porfible for the increafe and encouragement of trade, both within and without our kingdom, and alio of manufactures •, which having been happily performed in the firft day of their meeting, we have made known to all our companies, as well fovereign as inferior, to all governors of pro- vinces, and their intendants, how tender a re- gard we have to the profperity of the faid com- merce, with orders to them to employ all that authority which we have committed to them, for the protedtion of the merchants, and to do juftice to them, even with preference to others, that they may not be injured or cheated, or any way difcouraged in their bufinefs. And we have, by circular letters, invited the merchants to addrefs themfelvcs dire6tly' to us, upon all occafions -, and to depute fome of their body near our perfon, to prcfent to us their memo- rials and petitions ; and, in cafe of difficulty, we have appointed a perfon to receive all their petitions, and follicit for them at our expence. And we have ordained there fhall always be a houfe appointed for that purpofe. We have al- fo refolved to employ a million of livres yearly for the fettling of manufactures, and the increafe of navigation. But, as the moft effectual means for the reftoring of trade, is the lefTening and K 2 I i: *> regulating t •■■frP I 68 ] * regulating the duties upon goods and merchan-^ * dize coming in and going out of the kingdom, « we have appointed our trufty and well-beloved « the Sieur Colbert, counfellor in our royal coun- * cil, and intendant in our finances, &c.' To encourage the woollen manufactures of Lan- guedoc, and facilitate their vent in the eaft, his mod Chrillian majclty, by an arret of Oftobcr 3, 1 71 2, granted the manufacturers and merchants of that province an exemption from the duty upon cocheneal imported, as tar as 210 quintals amiual- Jy, under certain reftridions. Senfible of the bad quality of the fiik brour^ht to France from the Eaft-Jndies and China, Sid that the commodities made of it were very defec- tive, and brought under difreputation fuch as were made in the kingdom of good French, Spanifli or Italian filk, the importation of filk from China or the Indies, as well as the filks from thofe parts was prohibited by an arret of March 13, 1714. ' His moft Chriftian majefty, defirous that the province of Languedoc be well fupplied with wool for their manufadories, by an arret of April 7, 1714, prohibited the buying up the wool in the laid province, to faul abroad, under pain of con- fifcation, and a fine of 250 1. fterling. His majefty, in confideration there was great quantity of grain in Languedoc the laft harveft, and a favourable profped of fine crops the next feafon, by an arret of Auguft 1703, permitted them to export grain to foreign countries free of all duty. _ By an arret of September 9, 171 3, his moft e.hriitian majeRy granted an exemption from the duties of imports, for 10 years, upon bacalao, and oils that fliould proceed from the fifhery of hi«? own fubjeds, in L'Ifle Royal, before called Cap« BretOAjt [ h ] Breton, in order to encourage the trade and HHierv but under certain reibidions. ^^ And, by another arret of December 20 lyio his molt Chndian majcliy permitted fuch o[ his own lubjeds as were engaged in the fifhery of bacalao, to export, tree or duty, the ftores, aims aiTimunition, utenfils, wine and provifions that Ihould be Ihipped on board the velTels employed in the laid fiihery, as alfo the fait necelTary to cure their fifh. ^ ' Lewis XIV obferving that the indulgences al- * lowed to the people on pretence of fairs, to fa- « cihtate buying and iellirg, or the barter of the « fruits and commodities of ri^;a own country ' were abufed and converte(] to the advantacre of ' foreigiuTS, and a great injury to the trade of his own fubjeds, he reformed alfo this difoidcr, by feveral regulations and wife provifions. ' In every province he appointed commilTioners, ' to examine into the .ebts and chancres upon ; every trading company , the condition, manage- • mcnt, and difpofal of their revenues, and what ■ charges and expences might be remitted. 7hus ' by a thorough acquaintance with the fituation' he formed general and particular rules, to pre- vent diforders, eafe their charge and expence pay off their debts, and Atrle regular payments for the future, appointing officers of zeal and abilities to do it annually ; by which provifions and relief, the people found themfelves in a con- dition to improve their commerce. ' He ordered the repair of bridges, caufeways, pavements, and other public works, that were in fo wretched a condition as to render travelline: difficult, and the carriage of merchandize expen- ' He ordered his ports to be repaired, enlarged, and proteded in both feas, and new ones to"" be *• made. ■I - =|l .-i 1 70 ] made, and executed his fchemes with all the fuc- cefs and perfection the event manifefts. ' He inftituted feveral academies, under the diredion of able engineers, to inftrud youth in cofmography, the art of navigation, fortification, and the otlier branches of mathematics which have a reference to war, either by fea or land, not omitting the architecture, or buildings of fliips. ' He caufed to be drawn up vtry precifc and well-adjufted ordinances, for the fervice, difci- pline, polity, pay and fitting out of his fleet, the building of his fhips, the government and prefervation of the ports, and for the eitablifh- ment and diredtion of the arfenals, docks, and magazines. ' He gave alfo flated rules for the navigation, freights, contrafts, polity, fitting out, and other concerns of merchant-men, and the form ot traffic in them, and deciding all their caufes and difputes in thefe and any other points, by a Ihort procefs. ' He made fomc rivers navigable, and opened feveral canals, with the defign of conveying, at the leaft expence, both outwards and inwards, the merchandize and fruits of his feveral pro- vinces, that they might mutually fupply each other, without the heavy charge in tranfporting them from place to place by horfes and carria- ges; and, laftly, proved the greatnefs of his foul, as well as power, in uniting the two feas . by means of long and expenfive canals. * He invited and encouraged the nobles, either fingle or in partnerfhip, to embark in trade as merchants, by fea and land, declaring that it fhould never be any imputation upon their honour. * He [ 71 ] « He ordered thefe provifions and maxims, fui- table to his royal pleafure, to be communicated to the tribunals, both in the capital and out of it, as alfo to the governors-general of the pro- vinces, to the intendants, and trading compa- nies of thefe principal cities and towns, fhewing them the particular attention his majelty gave to this great affair, and ftridlly enjoining them to exert the authority he had invefted in them, for the encouragement and proteftion of all tra- ders and merchants, by adminiftring juftice to them in a brief manner, in preference to all others, that they might not be drawn away from their bufinefs by the chicanery and tricks of the Jaw. * He banifhed idlenefs, by employing the poor and vagabonds to advantage, and made feveral other ordinances and provifions, that rendered his reign happy and glorious ; but thefe I have not thought proper to mention here, as I confine myfelf to fuch as relate to the point in hand. ' But, what gave life and fpirit to all thefe pro- vifions, was the reputation of the government, and the good faith he eftabliflied and maintained by a certain and pundlual execution of his pro- pofals and refolutions, and a facred obfervance of all contrafts and agreements made with the trading companies, men of bufinefs, and others. And it was alfo a great encouragement, that his majeffy's whole life was a continued and vigilant protection of commerce and navigation, and imi- tated by the minifters he had chofen for this im- portant diredion, and whom he alfo encouraged not only with repeated favours, but alfo fup- ported againft the ftruggles of envy and emula- tion; and, without fuch a powerful f^pport, all his eftablifhments, though folid, prudent, and ' interefling. I' il'i [72 J * intcrefting, as the happy clfcdls manifefted, < would have been defeated.* 1 (hall not dwell longer upon rcprcfenting all the meafures that this kins^v'o-TJ has uniformly and uninterruptedly taken lor above this century pad, in order to raife their trade and navigation to the height it is at prefent arrived • thefe few (heets will not admit of it. I ihall only obferve, ^ I. That from the extent of che French domi- nions in Europe, Afia, Africa, and America, and their having above double the number of people that belong to our Britifli territories in thefe parts of the world ; it is apparent that they cannot want people, to carry their commerce to a pitch equal, if not fuperior to that of Great Britain. 2. That from the extent of their produce and manufadtures, and the cheapnefs of their labour, they have laid fo folid a foundation for the increafe of their trade, that they cannot fail raifing the fame to a degree equal, if not fuperior to that of Great Britain. 3. That nothing can be better adapted than the fyftem of commercial policy, they have adopted for the encouragement of every branch of trade, that will increafe their wealth, and their mercantile fhipping, and confequently their royal maritime power, to an equality with thofe of Great Britain. 4. That, in confequence of their commercial fyflem, it is certain that they have increafed their trade and navigation in all parts of the world, fince the peace of Utrecht, to a much greater de- gree than Great Britain has done her's. 5. That their own coafting trade, and river na- vigation in Europe, which is far greater than that of England, breeds as great a number of people to the water fervice, as the coafting, and river naf- vigation of England does -, and that their ree:ifter ^for [ 73 1 for ieamch proves, that they cannot be in want of a number of hands, who have been bred to the water fcrvice, and are eafily made good feamen, and who have been in their merchants fervice, and occafionally exercifed in their fifheries, and their royal navies, of good and able feamen to man a fleet, no way inferior to that of Great Britain. 6. That it is well known, the French in general fail in the ir merchants fervice with one third more hands than the Englifh do -, and, confequently, if their foreign trade was even one third lefs than ours (which I am confident is far from being the cafe, for it is near equal to ours), yet they could not want a number of good and able feamen to man a fleet equal to that of England. 7. It appears from an authentic account taken of the feafaring people in France, according to a review made of them by the French commifTa- ries appointed for that purpofe, in the month of January 1713, that they amounted then to 92,450 men, viz. Seaoffi- '^Captains, mafters - - For working the fliip - For the (tcerage - - For the gunnery - - For the carpentry - - For the caulking - - For the uils - - - At 15 livres per month At 13 livres 10 fols - Sailors. -^ At 12 livres - - - At 11 livres - - - At 10 livres - - - 5585I 3225 33^9 721 7^56 7^j:7 5861 12,764 16,6 10 4i>278 The unexperienced feamen in all the 7 ^^ I Ship-boys, Ship-boys, ditto Invalids, ditto [74] 10,920 12,366 Total of all the feafaring people in all the j" diftridts of the kingdom* • - J 92,45" The major officers, fiich as lieutenants-general of naval armies, commodores, lieutenants, en- figns, &c. of fliips, are not included in the above account : thus France had at this time more tha.i 100,000 feamen, without reckoning the common marines, and the gardes marines, wjio are (ren- tlemen diftributed through the leveral fca-ports, to be in(lru6ted, at the king's cxpence, in the knowiege of navigation, and whatever belongs to it, and who ferve as voluntiers. Out of this body fea-ofFicers are generally chofen. 8. That, as the foreign trade, and coafling* trade, and river navigation of France is allowed on all hands to have very greatly increafed fincc the treaty of Utrecht, their number of ieafaring people muft necefTarily have increafed in the like proportion. 9. The navy of France in the year 1681, when the foreign trade of France was not to be com- pared with it's extent at prefcnt, confifted as follows, viz. Rate of thj fhips. No. Guns I ft Rat". Jd Rate 4th Rate 5th Raie Totals Small frigates Fire fliips Sana Icngis Finks Oallies 12 1 : 36 z6 20 1 15 »4 10 22 179 SO i;.5( ic8S hoS 400 74 43 7-20 vfarine oftir-M e ic8 12(2 i!^9 2f I 19 17(9 23 .0 1 167 8.-3 7i4i/ 16 446 80 20 90 44 190 Sailors. SiMiurs The whole Crrws. 447^ f)i4a 3713 1427 2480 2661 3008 682 7S .C R8 1 (500 54^0 2790 937 160 190 447 10407 497 36440 18S0 240 280 637 10904 3010 39477 ^010 419*^7 10. That [ 75 ] 10. That if the whole naval power o( France is not at prefent ablbliitcly able to \\\cc that of Grf at Britain i yet if they go on advancing tht ir foreign commerce, to the degree they have done fince the Peace of Utrecht, with(iut any remarkable ol)ftru6tion, they cannot fail loon to become equal in maritime ftren.D" . [ 76 ] maritime and military ftrength, which they are able to exert, with thofe of England, in order to reduce France within due bounds, than it is in the power of France to induce them to acquiefce in a neutrality, or to aft any other part, which may prove detrimental to thefe kingdoms ' That the grand fyftem of policy in France, has been for a long time to increafe her commerce, and raife her maritime power, even beyond thoP^ of England and Holland, appears from the concurring fentiments of all their ablefl: Fnnch writers, upon thefe topics.— Volume upon volume micrht be cited on this occafion. J have room to take no- tice of a few fcraps of one only, who has lately had the greateft weighr.-^l mean Monfieur DeQandes, who fays, in his addrefs to his late t.xcel!ency the count de Maur.pas, fecretary of ftate and of the marine in France, ^ J cannot he.p telling you, Sir, that maritime power is \ n,P n f ' ^^^ ^'^PP""'^ ^^^^'^ ^^f^ ' ^"^^ that when It Ihall be numerous, and under a proper re^u- « lation. It will be able to give law to all the mari- « time powers in Europe, and the ftate itfelf will ' be fecure, and have nothing to fear.'-^-T^nd, in another place, he fays, ' All the nations of anti- quity, that were defirous of raifing an univerfal « reputation, and to diffinguifh themfelves above ' others, have cultivated ?. maritime force; and « the more they have cultivated ir, the great-r ' power and authority they acquired. Amonrrfl: the Greeks, Themiftocles, and Pcmpey amongft the Romans, faid loudly, that whoever would • command on the Continent, muft begin by Rain- • mg the command on the Sea.' And agafn he oblerves, in another place, ' That, from the beginning of this monarchy, • we have always underftood, in France, the uti , iity ot a maritime power, not only under the • ' more has [ 77 J I more polmc reigns, but even in the midft of hofe revolutions, with which it has been fome- IZ'a mI'"' ""'_?"'■ S''^''^ kings have fought to eftabhih It, and that the moft judicious of our mimfters have Ukewift bent nil their ftudy, ' hav. "f '"^"?^y '^'' *^y ■' b« d.v.rs obftacS have, from tirne to time, rifen and prevented the,r councils takmg effeft. The honour of eftablifting a maritime power feems to have been due to Cardinal Richlieu, as the perfeftin^ of ,t was to Lewis XIV. feconded by the greal • Co bert. Whom fciences, arts, genius and ma ' .uifaftures acknowkge for their Cor' ' To keep up the fpint of commerce and mari- time pow-er, this author tgrther urges ' Tha ' °whit"t: '7'°"^ °^.^'"-P^' f'-« i^ tha't which has the greateft refources, and pofleffes more advantages than any other, for rendering a maritime power flourilhing ; and that it i1 hkewifc that kingdom, whic"h, of all the eft ftanas mod ,n need of fuch a force, on acco „ ot the large extent ot it's coafts, and it's manv ports and havens.' ' It is one of n,v old .Tie f lays tne great Cardinal d'Offat, and'one of th^ moft notorious and fliameful failings in the firft ""'^Sd"™ of Chriftendom, flanked °by two fea and feated, by nature, in the faireft and moft It^y"' r' "'' ^"™P^' f"^ ^-^^"ting • therh„°V°'' '™!,"'"g^"g'-^«^'nterprizes, ei- ther by fea or land ; ,t is, I fay, one of m^old 'The laft of this gentleman's propoHtions is, that maritime power, fupported by the roya ; authority, Aould ferve to pWft coLmerc^ w tions, and that commerce fliould ferve to intro- duce abundance, and. by fpreading riches through ' the •I [ 78 J _ the whole kingdom, render it as powerful as it is polTible it fnould be.' < As to the advantages, fays this author elfe- where, which regard the marine, and which France may find in her own proper bofom, they may be reduced to four ; of which, the firft, without contradi6lion, is her fituation, the mod commodious, and the moft advantageous, that can be in the world, as well for attacking as de- fending, for difturbing the commerce of others, as for cultivating her own, fending to all places, and receiving trading vclfels from all parts of the ea'-th. Hence it was faid to the Lite Czar, Peter I. whofe head was always full of vafl: proje6ls, and to the king of Sweden, Charles Xli. that, if any kingdom could afpire to be the miftrefs of all her neighbours, it mufl: be France. In effedt, fhe is placed in the middle of Euiope, nothing can impede, nothing can prove an obftacle to her. She commands, on one fide, over the ocean, and it fccmSj by the vafb extent of her coafls, by their turnings and windings, that the icas of Spain, Germany, and Flanders, druggie to pay her homage* •, on the other, fhe is bounded by the IVIedirerranean, looking full upon Barbary, having, on her right hand, Spain; at her left, Nice, Genoa, the do-^ minions of the Grand Duke, and all the red of Italy. What a fituation is this, if we knew but how to make ufe of it, and of opening our eyes to our intered, we no longer languidi in foft efi^eminate idlenefs ? ' The Englifh and the Dutch arc forced to drike out far, for whatever is neceffary to them, and are condrained to put out to fea, in order to re- connoitre and attack their enemies j whereas * Hear Britons! are not thcfe alarming fentiments ? France [ 79 ] ' France is able to attack them, as it were, hand in hand to combat with advantage, and to retire with eale, wh.ch are advantages of no fmall ; confequence at Tea, where dangers are fo fre- foreign veffels, that return from long voyages worn and beaten by the winds, and by the^fm- pefts, foul m themldves, and weakly manned, pafs, as It were, under our eyes, before, in the « d'm-..' I r'' '^' "''7^.''^' ^'''^"^^' '' Cardinal m,df T' '"^' '" ^P^^^ ^f themfelves, muit approach our coaits. One may eafii^ judge what a acihty this gives, of carrying rT^' n'' '' ^''^^' ^ifturbing their navigation! which mua turn, fays the fame cardinal, to tl^ profit and commodity, to the fafety, grandeur ' and reputation of the crown. ^ ' ' A wife prince, continues he, and one who has regard to his intereft, ought to watch attentively over every thing that may contribute to the fer- vice, or prejudice of his crown. He ought with the fame vigilance, to weigh daily the prefent fituation of his own king'dom, and of the other kingdoms that furround him. While the ballance continues even, an eafy and pleafint ^ union will certainly reign -, but, as foon as this tails, quarrels, animofities, and dilTcntions will anle, and will increale. France is too clear- ^ fignted ever to be ignorant of the extent of her power, and nothing can enrage her more fen- fibly than to fufpedt her being ignorant of it. ilM^ iecond advantage, in which we ought to ^ thiri^. ourf^lvcs happy, is the fecurity of our coalts which, in a manner, defend themfelves, and which have nitherto defeated all the defcents c Ihnf T ^^^^ ^"^JPP^e^ on them. Witnefs thole that admiral Tromp would have made in ^i., -}., 119. vui;f «i. uic iiioucns or tiie J^oire, and ' of m [ !?°] « of the Groyne, but along the coafts of Bretagric, « Poitou, Saintongue, and Guienne. He found * that all was fo well guarded, and that every- * where fo good orders were given, that he durft * attempt nothing confiderable. Witnefs, again, ^ the defcent attempted by lord Berkeley, in * 1694, at Camaret, in which the Eng)ifh loft ' upwards of 1200 men, with General Talmafh, ' who commanded the troops that were debarked. * The French, however, oppofed him, with no ' more than two independent companies of ma- ' fines, and the militia appointed for the defence * of the coaft. Piqued at this unfortunate expe- ' dition, lord Berkeley attempted feveral other de- * fcents on Normandy and Flanders, none of ' which, however, were attended with any better * fuccefs.* — So much for the felf-fecurity of the French. Thefe writers feem to think, that they have nought to do with the defenfive ; their po- licy is only to a£t offenfivcly, and to bring other nations under their fubjeftion ! Thefe are the fen- timents of thofe able French writers, within thefe few years ; the one even fince the late war, the other a few years only before it. A man of genius, and one well acquainted with the intrigues of Lewis XIII, affures us, that the cardinal minifter received, with the beft grace in the world, whatever propofitions were made him on the fubje6t of commerce ; that he excited the principal merchants in the kingdom to travel into foreign countries, in order to examine, there, the moft curious manufactures, and to penetrate the fccrets of particular traders j that, befides this, he brought, at his own expence, feveral rich tra- ders into France, fuch as Nicholas Witte, of Alcmaer in Holland ; Francis Billoty, of BruflTels ; John de Meurier, lord of St Remi de Redon, in Rrft'jnrnp . tiinfh V'ho"^ hf w/^c HJonf •''^ rf^t'trp ',inn to [81 ] to fpend feveral hours together in a free converfa- tion.— There he weighed all the forces of the king- dom, entered into the moft perplexed calculations, and the moft laborious enquiries ; the principal defign of which was, to bring over foreign manu- tadurers, and naturalize them in France.— Thefe are the meafures, by which France has arofe to that greatnefs of commerce and maritime power> we now fee, with aftonifhment, it pofleflbs. The Englifh and Dutch are moft frequently called the maritime powers ; but I think it a jeft, now, to appropriate the name of maritime power to thefe ftates, exclufive of France, when we con- fider what a figure that nation made at fea before the battle of La Hogue, in 1692, and what a figure they muft, in very few ^ears, be able to make, fro.n the increafe of their trade fince the peace of Utrecht. To re-capitulate the whole in few words. The particular branches of trade wherein France has rivalled us fince that period, are (i.) In the filheries. They are now become fo much our competitors in this trade, and are increafed there- m to fuch a prodigious degree, that they do not employ herein, yearly, fo few as 600 fail of fhip- ping from St Malo, Granville, Rochtlle, St Mar- tins, Ifle of Rhea, Bayonne, St Jean de Luze, Sibour, &c. to carry on their fif]:ieries on the banks of Newfoundland, and on the coaft of that ifiand, and at Cape Breton, in their wet and dry fifli : nor do they now only furoly themfelves with the fifti they formerly had f -o.-i^ us, but furnifh many parts of Spain and Itc.'y therewith, to our very great lofs, and their gain. -They are fo fenfible of the prodigious advantage of this fifhery, and fo very intent upon purfuing it, that, from their firft attempts to make themfelves confiderable at , „..^j .,,-iTv »iH\^ it p^:y^uUAllj iU View. iU UlC. T\/r M lierring- i m [ 82 ] herring- fidiery alfo, they havri greatly rivalled us. — When the French king was, in queen Anne*s wars, moved to admit the Dutch and Englifh fifhing vefffls into Dieppe, Dunkirk, St Vallory, and other ports with their herrings, the king an- fwtred, no) by no means; if my people will have herrings, why do they not catch them, as the Englifh and Dutch do? Upon which the merchant;? of thofe parts immediately fitted out vefTcls, and took herrings fufficient for all the country, from this time the French have had many hundreds of their bufies upon our own coaft, filliing for herrings in the feafon.— They have like wife increaftid in their whale- fifhery con- fiderably. The French filhermen of St John de Luze, Bayonne, and ocher ports in that part of the bay of Bifcay, are becooic the rr.o^ expert har- pooners in the world, without excepting the Dutch and the Hamburghers.— Since this increafe in their fifheries, the French have grown more for- midable at fea ; rheii royal navy having necefla- rily augmented m power, in proportion to the num- ber of Ihips employed in their filheries. (2.) In the year 1 701, the French, according to the account laid before the royal council, by their de- puties of commerce, had not above 100 fail of Ihipping employed in the trade of their fugar iflands : but they have at prefent employed therein more than 700 fail. (3.) Before the French fugar colonies flourifhed, as they have done fince the peace of Utrecht, England fupplied France with a confiderable part of the fugars for their home confumption. — From 1 71 3, the French have not only fupplied them- felves with fugars, but have greatly fupplanted the Englifh, in the fale thereof, at moft foreign markets. The trade of the French fugar colonies is, in all it*s confequcnces, grown very extenfive, fince the peace [ 83 ] peace of Utrecht, in the following particulars. ( i .) The trade carried on fronn Old France to Africa, by means of the French Eaft-India company. (2) From Africa to the Weft Indies, to fupply their fugar iQes with negroes, (3.} From the Weft- Indies to Old France, f d fupply their home con- fumption for fugars. (4.) From the French fu- gar-iflands, to and from their colonies on the con- tinent of ArnvHca. (5.) From the French fugar- iflands, to and from divers parts of Europe, which they, in a great meafure, fupply with fugars. From thefe various dependent branches of trade, the French have increafed their mercancile lliip- ping, and their feamen, beyond imagination: and the produce and trade of their fugar-iflands, daily increafing in other produdlions befides fugars ; fuch as indico, cocoa, cotton, and other eftimable produdlions, muft daily ftrengthen the maritime power of this kingdom. (4.) The African trade of France has greatly con- tributed to promote their Weft- India trade ; and this branch they have extraordinarily increafed likewife. Before the French were poftclTed of their forts in the river Senegal, and thofc on the illand of Arguin and Goree, the Englilh traded uninterruptedly to all places on the fnid coaft: fince the French have pofTcfTed the before- men- tioned forts, they have not only, in times of pro- found tranquillity, taken upon them to exclude the Britifli nation from thofc parts, and taken and conBfcated fuch Britifh fhips as have ventured thither, but they have come without moleftation, to traffic within the Britifli rights and privileges, and have daringly traded under the npfe of the BritilTi forts and caftles in Africa. That part of the coaft from whence the French have ^bfolutely excluded the Britifh nation from M 2 trading. [ 84 ] trading, is called the Gum Coafl-, which extends from Cape Blanco to the river Gambia, which is above 500 miles. -So beneficial is the gum trade of this coaft, that I could give a recent inilance of above 8000 i. fterling being made of a cargo not amounting to fo much as 1000 1.— The cruin which the French have thus monopolized on^'this coafl-, is a moft ufeful material in divers of the capital manufaftures of France; fuch as their filk and hat fabrics, and others that require a glofly beauty and luftre to recommend them to foreion nations. ^ Other places on the African coafl:. from whence the French have, 'till very lately, encroached on the Britifli rights of trade, are at Anamaboe, fltuate on the Gold Coafl:, within fight of Cape Coafl: Cafliie. From hence they have carried prodigious numbers of the choicefl: negroes to improve their fugar-colonies.— They havealfo encroacJad on our rights of trade at vVhydah, to their great emolu- ment and our lofs. In the river Sierraleon, the French have lately pretended to a right of trade, where they have no fort, and we have Bence Ifland. To fuch a de- gree have they carried their encroachments here, that they have fired upon our Britifli fliips that have the fole right of trade here, and have en- deavoured to exclude this nation as much from the commerce of this river, as they have done from that of the Gum Coaft. The French have lately attempted to fettle themfelves in the river Sherbro*, on the coafl: of Africa, where they have no right, and the Englifli have, even fince the days of queen Elizabeth. The motive to fettle themfelves in this river is, by r-afon thaf flaves, gold, ivory, bees- wax, and di- vers excellent woods for dyeing, are here to be had cheaply and plentifully. Here is alfo a good river. nvcr, a fccure harbour for fliipping, and plenty of good provifions. lb Ikiirc this river ciioau- ally, the French have latdy atteqipted to Itttle at the Bannanas IHands, near tlu. mouth of the river, which being a vvholfome fituation, is well judged to anfwcr their purpofe. Nor do the pruji-aied encroachments of the French, in this part of the wor|d, end here. They have JareJy attempted even to fettle them- felves at the Cape Verd IHands, though beiong- ing to the Portugueze: and the Portugueze, juft before the unhappy cataltrophe at Lifbon, fent a Ihip of force to diHodge them, but I do not k;now they have. An attempt of this kind now, is hardly to give umbrage to the Portugueze ; it is done with a view to have it more in their power to annoy the Englifh, their men of war and India- fhips conftantly touching at thefe iHands for water, &c. By virtue of James Fort, in the river Gambia, the Enghfh iiave Jong pofleffed the fole and un- interrupted right to the trade thereof: within thcfe few years the French have fo intruded on our rights of trade here, that by means of their fort Albreda, ereded towards the north fide of the river, they fhare a great part of the trade of this river with us. And, as a branch of the Se- negal river comes into the Gambia, the French, by means of this communication, and their fort Jofeph, have cut off all the Englifh trade from up the river Gambia, and thereby rendered the Enghfh fettJement of James Fort proportionably From what has been obferved, we fee it is not only in America that the French have many years been making unjuftifiable attempts to raile their trade and navigation, in that part of the world, upon the ruins of ours, but in Africa likewife : on [ 86] on the prefcrvation of which branch of com- merce, the profpcrity, and very being of our fugar-colonies, and our whole Weft-India trade abfolutely depends ; which is not of lefs confe- quence lo Great-Britain, than the trade and navi- gation of North America. Can we doubt, there- fore, a moment, but thofe encroachments upon our African rights and privileges of trade, are calculated, fo to increafe their American trade, and deftroy ours, that their mercantile fhipping may one day gain the afcendant over that of Great- Britain ? And when this comes to be the cafe, can we fuppofe that their whole royal m-^.ri- time ftrcngth, will not be equal to ours ? We well know the attempts they have made to ruin our trade in Afia, as well as in Europe ; and if they gain a fuperiority in trade, what can prevent the like in maritime power ? The limits to which I am reftrained, in thfic few Iheets, will not admit me to exhauft this im- Fortant fubjeft, though I have ufed all brevity, muft, therefore, refer the reader to my Dictionary of Commerce for the reft : and al- though that work contains much matter, in rela- tion to the great foundation which the French have laid for the univerfal increafe of their trade and navigation -, yet it is far (hort of what might be reprefented upon this topic. — Judging, how- ever, what little has been here faid, may be of fome public ufe, even whether there fliould be peace or war, it is humbly fubmitted. FINIS. CA^ACiANA :«»,j.-t of com- ig of our idia trade Icfs confc- and navi- jbt, therc- icnts upon trade, are can trade, e fhipping !r that of to be the oyal nr-.r!- ? We well > ruin our id if they revent the , in thf'ic ft this im- II brevity. • to my and al- r, in rela- lie French :heir trade 'hat might ing, how- may be of Ihould be