c Schomberg, Alexander Crowcher 3 
 
 Historical and political remarks 
 upon the tariff of the commercial 
 treaty
 
 The 
 
 Robert E. Gross 
 Collection 
 
 A Memorial to the Founder 
 of the 
 
 (Dojc/iottahi ji 
 
 4= Business Administration Library 
 
 (IniverM/u *>/ vauiornia 
 
 Los Angeles
 
 HISTORICAL and POLITICAL 
 REMARKS 
 
 UPON THE 
 
 TARIFF 
 
 OP THE 
 
 COMM tlAL TREATY: 
 
 WITH 
 
 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 pi 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for T. CADELL, in the Strand, 
 
 
 
 (I 
 
 f.IDCC LXXXVIl,
 
 
 The 
 
 Robert E. Gross 
 Collection 
 
 A Memorial to the Founder 
 of the 
 
 Business Administration Library 
 Los Angeles
 
 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 IT is propofed in the following pages to 
 offer Tome general obfervations upon the 
 conftrudtion of Treaties, and the qualifications 
 of a Commercial Negotiator ; to point out that 
 revolution in the trading fyftem of Europe, 
 which was effected by an acknowledgment of 
 the independent fovereignty of the United 
 States of Hollarv^at the Treaty of Munfter, 
 and to confider, principal variations and im- 
 provements fince >cnat period, in a deduction of 
 fome remarkaKe fads from the hiftories of 
 France and England. Such an Inquiry, impar- 
 tially conducted, may not be thought unfeafon- 
 able, at a time when the public attention is fixed 
 on an important object fo intimately connected 
 with it. The particular reafons for what has been 
 attempted towards changing the form of our 
 pj j it Commercial Treaty, will hereafter be ex- 
 plained : in the mean while it will aplpear fuffi- 
 cient j uflification to alledge, that by varying the 
 fituation of a picture, there is fometimes a chance 
 of bringing it into fuch a light as fhall produce a 
 Jfibre ftriking effect, and difcover beauties and 
 clions which had before efcaped the eye of 
 "t ' B the
 
 C 2 ] 
 
 the obferver. It is hoped, moreover, that this 
 Inquiry will not upon the whole be found lefs 
 interefting or fatisfactory, if, preferring the in- 
 vefligation of truth to the gratification of party, 
 it prefent itfelf, at firft, under a form feldom 
 adopted in popular treatifes. 
 
 MAN may be confidered as acting both in a 
 natural and in a focial capacity. There are cer- 
 tain rights and obligations peculiar to each, of 
 a quality immutable and f'T^enfable. The 
 proper confideration of thef(^ marks out the 
 diftinclion between the Law oi • Nature and the 
 Law of Nations; and, at the fame time 
 teaches us, why, though different in their ap- 
 plication, they mufl in their origin be the fame. 
 That which in one cafe is faid to be the law oi 
 nature, regulating the conduct of individual 
 men, is in the other, only the fame law applied 
 to the dire&ion of individual communities. 
 States, thus contemplated, aflume the perfonai 
 properties of men, and may acquire rights, 
 and contract obligations, by exprefs engage- 
 ments. Hence arifes what has been termed, 
 the Conventional Law of nations; which, though 
 capable of being variously modified, and adap 
 i
 
 L 3 .1 
 
 to the exigences and characters of particular 
 ftates, yet fpringing, as we have feen, from the 
 fame pure fource, the law of nature muft be 
 admitted, like that primary law itfelf, to bind 
 the faith of focieties in public treaties and ne- 
 
 gotiations. 
 
 Since, then, all thofe rights, which dates 
 derive from the neceffary or natural law of 
 nations, become, when thus qualified, the 
 objects of poiitive convention, the conflruction 
 of fi Lich folemn contracts muft furely be a work 
 of great difficulty-- id importance ; requiring, 
 in the negotiator, a lingular combination of 
 fpeculative and experimental fagacity, and, 
 in the contracting parties, a decided love of 
 natural equity, and an inviolable attachment to 
 national faith. Public Treaties, and the perfons 
 of Ambaffadors, have accordingly been held 
 facred in all ages and nations ; though, as com- 
 munities are ever actuated by the fame paffions, 
 and governed by the fame principles, as die 
 individuals which compofe them, we mould not 
 wonder to find them often expofed to corrup- 
 tions and abufes. Many writers have em- 
 
 * Puffendorf. Law of Nature and Nations, B. 
 II. chap. iii. § 23. 
 
 Vattei,, Pref, to The Lazv of Nations. 
 
 B 2 ployed
 
 C 4 ] 
 
 ployed themfclves in tracing thefe corrup- 
 tions to their fource, in pointing out their fatal 
 confequences, in urging arguments for the 
 neceffity of national honour, and in illuftrating 
 the duties of fecial magiftracy. But, in their 
 reafonings on this fubject, they feem to have 
 overlooked a point of no fmall importance : 
 for, perhaps, it is the remote caufe of all thofe 
 corruptions which we lament. We know, that 
 in private contracts, precifion and perfpicuity 
 are indifpenfable ; yet, what is the cafe with 
 refpect to national convemvryv, which, as they 
 involve the interefts and happinefs of kingdoms, 
 cannot, either in their arrangement, or their 
 language, be too clear and unequivocal ? We 
 are told of an Italian Politician, who ufed to 
 boaft, that he never fpoke on critical conjunc- 
 tures, but in lb equivocal a manner, that his 
 words would bear a double conftruction : this 
 pernicious fophiftry, ofren unintentionally per- 
 haps, has been fuffered too much to prevail in. 
 rhe fcience of negotiation, and has rendered 
 the ftyle of fome public treaties lb embarrafTed 
 and obfcure, and their form fo perplexed, and 
 void of defign, that it is very difficult to dif- 
 cover their meaning. It has been made an ob- 
 jection to fuch inflruments, that they abound
 
 C 5 ] 
 
 in ncedlefs repetitions, and circuitous phrafes; 
 but, in the inftance before us, let us confider 
 the folemnity of the compact, and the fatal 
 confequences of its infringement, and we fhall 
 allow, that no precaution, which can give new 
 force to the condition, or flint up an avenue 
 to fubterfuge, ought to be deemed fuperfluous. 
 The fault in fad feems to be, that their lan- 
 guage is in general too defultory, carrying the 
 affectation of order without its distinctions, and 
 abounding in terms vague and indecilive. The 
 reafon is clearly tb ; fJ Inftead of confulting the 
 fpirit of the age in which they live, or the cha- 
 racter and habits of the ftates with whom they 
 treat, many negotiators have been content to 
 copy the forms and phrafes of their predecef- 
 fors ; which, however apt in their original ap- 
 plication, muft now neceffarily be often ufed 
 without either meaning or effect*. It is no 
 great recommendation of thefe forms, that they 
 
 * Of this we have ftriking proofs, whenever any ex- 
 traordinary occafiton has rendered it abfolutely neceflary 
 for negotiators to leave the beaten track. Compare, 
 with a view to ftyle, the treaties between England and the 
 Cherokee nations ; or the kingdoms of Morocco, Tunis, 
 and Algiers, and thofe with France, and other civilized 
 ftates. Jenkinson'j Colkftion of Treaties, Vol. I. p. 228. 
 Vol. II. p. 302. 315. V. III. p. 15. 18. 
 
 B 3 originated,
 
 C 6 ] 
 
 originated, for the mod part, in the Italian 
 fchool of politics. 
 
 The diftrefs to which the power of France 
 and Spain often reduced the ftates of Italy, 
 during the 16 th century, and their frequent 
 civil wars, gave rife among them to numberlefs 
 evafions, in their public negotiations; which, 
 had they been fuffered to pafs away, with the 
 occafions that prompted them, might now have 
 almoft been looked upon as excufable ; but by 
 the pernicious fedulity of fome learned men, 
 they have been fo careft^ collected and ar- 
 ranged as to form, in a manner, a fyflematic 
 code of political chicane ; abounding in princi^ 
 pies which are as difgraceful to national wifdom, 
 as inimical to natural juftice. Hence it hap- 
 pens, that the adjuftment of thefe folemn corn- 
 pads has fometimes been treated as little more 
 than a trial of dexterity in the art of over- 
 reaching ; where it is the intereft of each party 
 to circumvent the other by finefTe, to perplex 
 hufinefs by fuhtleti.es, and. to introduce every 
 propofal in dark and ambiguous language. * 
 When we recollect with what fcrupulous order 
 the ceremonial of a congrefs for fettling thefe 
 
 national 
 
 * One of their principles feems to have been, that trea- 
 ties with infidels need not be confidered as binding. But 
 (to reaibn from Vattel) the law of nature, and not re?
 
 C 7 1 
 
 national compads, is conduded, and refled on 
 the ftudies and habits of thofe perfons who com- 
 pofe it, we are naturally led to exped fome ap- 
 pearance of arrangement in the refult of their 
 deliberations. But this is not always the cafe. 
 How many treaties are there, the materials of 
 which feem thrown together, without any de- 
 fign, or even an attempt at arrangement, info- 
 much that it is almoft impoffible to form a clear 
 idea of what may be their objed or effeft, till 
 viewed under a new difpofition ; fince it is not 
 uncommon, befide the want of order in particu- 
 lar articles, to ^nd 'an interefting ftipulation 
 abruptly fufpended by the intervention of a 
 new fubjed, and as unexpededly refumed in 
 
 fome other part of the treaty. * 
 
 Y Thefe 
 
 ligion, regulates the treaties of nations, who negotiate 
 with each other in the quality of Men, not of Chriftians, 
 Mufiulmans, &c. A religion which fhould teach the con- 
 trary, and allow of infidelity in fuch contrads, could ne- 
 ver proceed from the Author of Nature, who is always con- 
 stant and faithful, [L*w of Nations, B. II. ch. xii. § 162.) 
 Let it be remembered, that Mahomet urged to his followers, 
 the neceffity of an inviolable obfervance of treaties. Ock- 
 LEY's Hi ft. of the Saracens, V. I. p. 76. 
 
 * This want of order in arrangement is feelingly re- 
 gretted by a great Political Arithmetician, in the cafe of 
 public papers, laid before the Houfe of Commons ; 
 (Young'j Annals of Agriculture, No. xxix. p. 396.) and 
 
 B4 ic
 
 [ 3 ] 
 
 Thefe objections will receive flrong confirma- 
 tion in the inftance of marine treaties, in which 
 the negotiator has certainly better opportunities 
 of preferving fimplicity of language and ar- 
 rangement, than in the more multifarious bufi- 
 nefs of a general pacification. In no branch 
 of diplomatics, however, have thofe principles 
 of natural equity, which conflitute the law of 
 nations, been more accurately defined, or more 
 happily adopted into common practice, than in 
 the regulations of commercial inter courfe. We 
 nwft not therefore be furprifed, if, in the mi- 
 nuter departments of fuch f^gotiations, fome 
 deficiencies mould occur; for they require an 
 infight into remote confequences, which nothing 
 but long and practical experience in mercan- 
 tile affairs can furnifh, and which, therefore, 
 feldom falls within the reach of a ftatefman. 
 The eftablifhment of a Committee, for the pur- 
 pofe of preparing bufinefs of this kind for 
 public debate, compofed of men qualified, by 
 their education and profeflion, to form accurate 
 opinions on fubjects of trade, and who, by an 
 cxteniive correspondence, are accuftomed to 
 inveftigate the caules, and forefee the effects, 
 
 it mull be obvious to every perfon, who has had occalion 
 to confult a collection of treaties, or any other documents, 
 with a view to accurate information. 
 
 of
 
 [ '9 ] 
 of every variation in the commercial balance, 
 it can never be doubted would remove all de- 
 fects of this kind, and is recommended by the 
 example of the greater!: trading republic of 
 modern times. A committee of the Privy 
 Council can never be adequate to fuch an 
 undertaking in its full extent, for the fame 
 reafons which difable many negotiators ; and 
 the judgments of individual merchants is ob- 
 jectionable ; becaufe, however qualified in 
 other refpects to give advice, they muft of ne- 
 ceffity clafh in their interefts and prejudices, fo 
 as to make it difficult to draw as clear a deci- 
 fion from among them, as would be the refult of 
 an experienced committee. Without fome fuch 
 plan as this, it is furely unreafonable to expect 
 that perfection in marine treaties, which their 
 importance requires ; becaufe, however brilliant 
 in the higher branches of his office, a negoti- 
 ator is very rarely qualified for the profeffional 
 labour of detail and calculation.* This appears 
 
 on 
 
 * Though I entirely agree with Mr. Young in his 
 idea of the mifchievous effects of the monopolizing fpirit, I 
 cannot fubfcribc to his opinion that this evil can be in- 
 ereafed by fuch an eftablifhment as a Chamber of Commerce. 
 *< Annals of Agriculture," Vol. III. p. 452. On the con- 
 trary I am at prefent perfuaded it mufr, among other ad- 
 vantages, contribute much to counteract it. In this I am 
 poffibly miftuken, and fincercly wifhthat he would take an
 
 [ ™ ] 
 
 on the flighteft view of the department ; but, 
 were we to conlidcr it more fcrupuloufly, it 
 would be found to demand fucli a variety and 
 extent of talents, as few minds are capable of 
 difplaying. Befide a general knowledge of the 
 trade, and reciprocal interefts, of the contracting 
 powers, he ought to be precifely acquainted with 
 their feveral kinds of induftry and fkill ; to dis- 
 cover their wants, to calculate their refources, 
 and to weigh with nicety the ftate of their fi- 
 nances, and the proportionate intereft of their 
 money ; nay, further, he mould be able to afcer- 
 tain the comparative population and ftrength of 
 each country, together with the price and qua- 
 lity, both of firft materials, and alfo of the 
 labour beftowed upon them ; for this purpofe he 
 fhould inquire into the operations of every 
 clafs of merchants and manufacturers con- 
 cerned in the treaty, fhould confult their ex- 
 pectations on each of its feveral branches, and 
 collect their hopes and fears on the effect of fuch 
 a commercial revolution, on the competition of 
 rival nations. A good treaty of commerce, in- 
 dependent of the art of negotiation, is pro- 
 early occafion to enter more fully into this important fub- 
 jecl, for which, by his long experience and acute genius 
 uft fuch matters, he is fo eminently qualified. 
 
 nounced
 
 C " 3 
 
 nounced by one, who well knew the extent and 
 difficulty of the fubjedt, to be " a mafterpiece 
 of (kill." * 
 
 The Abbe de Mably is of opinion, that 
 particular regulations in commercial treaties are 
 contrary to the true intereft of ftates. Were 
 this doctrine once eftablifhed, the bufinefs might 
 be comprifed in a very narrow compafs, and all 
 this detail of qualifications rendered uneffential 
 in the character of a plenipotentiary. After 
 certain general rules for the freedom of com- 
 merce and navigation are adjufted, he thinks it 
 would be more prudent for each party to trull 
 for the reft, to their internal policy, and to 
 enact, among themfelves, fuch laws as may be 
 calculated to promote domeftic induftry, and to 
 enable their own fubjects to furpafs their neigh- 
 bours in all the great articles of traffic : " For," 
 he adds, " every advantage granted to foreign 
 trade is, in fome degree, a check upon your 
 own. It creates a competition ; and, what was 
 at firft a particular privilege, becomes a general 
 right : in the mean time, that branch of your 
 domeftic trade, whatever it be, inflead of re- 
 ceiving an extenfive circulation from the unre- 
 ftrained induftry of the people, is thus confined 
 
 * Po s t r. E T H w a y T E *s Commercial Interefl of Great Bri- 
 tain, V. II, p. 42;, 
 
 bv
 
 [ 12 J 
 
 by foreign competition, and, in the end, en- 
 tirely ftagnates."* But fuch a fcheme as this 
 feems objectionable on many accounts. It is at 
 prefent only necenary to obferve, that its adop- 
 tion would defeat the leading idea of marine 
 compacts, which are intended, not merely to 
 lay down general rules for the freedom of com- 
 merce and navigation. Thefe are now fuffici- 
 ently understood, and practifed by every civi- 
 lized power, being founded on certain immu- 
 table principles, which have one only criterion 
 of juftice ; but rather to reconcile the interefts 
 of the contracting parties, in many particular 
 branches of trade ; which, depending, in a great 
 degree, on the variable tafte, manners, and 
 ingenuity of mankind, muft for ever (land in 
 need of periodical revifions. That fuch are the 
 leading objects in modern conventions, will ap- 
 pear more fully from the following reflections. 
 
 The Treaty of Munster, among other 
 vifible effects on the law of nations, produced 
 a confiderable revolution in the commercial 
 policy of Europe. When, by this Treaty, 
 the United States of Holland obtained the 
 acknowledgment of their fovereignty, they vh 
 goroufly applied themfelves to thofe arts, by 
 which alone they had been enabled to maintain 
 
 * Droit Publique ds V Europe, Tom II. p. 561. 
 
 the
 
 [ i3 ] 
 
 the conteft, and to fecure, at lafl, their free- 
 dom and independence. Ambition, not ava- 
 rice, is ufually the characteriftic vice of nations ; 
 but, whatever tranfient influence ambition may 
 have had on the oppofers of Spaniili tyranny, 
 during the ftruggle, it was a paffion by no 
 means calculated to take root and thrive in the 
 conflitution of a Dutch republic. What had 
 coil them fo much unabated labour to obtain, 
 they refolved to preferve by a uniform fyftem of 
 fhrewd, . fclf-interefted policy.* That com- 
 merce, which had been gradually increafing for 
 more than half a century, it was now their firft 
 care to extend and confirm by cautious nego- 
 tiations. 
 
 The inactivity ofthofe maritime flates, which 
 had always confidered traffic as an object of too 
 little dignity to be made the foundation of na- 
 tional grandeur, afforded them the opportunity ; 
 accordingly in lefs than fifteen years from the 
 Treaty of Munfter, there was fcarcely a power 
 of any confequence with whom they had not 
 formed an advantageous alliance, merely with 
 a view to commercial privileges. The perfection 
 to which they carried the trade of freightage, 
 
 * See c lbc Political Maxims oi John de Witt, a woik 
 which proves its author to have been equally calculated to 
 fliine in the Compting-houfe and the Cabinet. 
 
 was
 
 t H ] 
 
 was a ilroke of policy peculiar to themfelves ; 
 and to this they were firft led as much, proba- 
 bly, by their fituation as their avarice. Among 
 many other new regulations for its fupport, 
 they appear to have introduced thofe laws 
 for adj ufting neutral traffic with belligerent 
 ftates, which now make fo marked an article in 
 all treaties of navigation and commerce ;* the 
 laws alio of contraband were greatly improved 
 by them, and the various fpecies of mercantile 
 property more accurately defined and fecured.-j~ 
 
 The 
 
 * The Hanfe Tozvns were the predecefibrsof the Dutch in 
 the Carrying-Trade, but never enjoyed it fo exclunvely, or 
 in a manner fo effectually fecured to them. It feems as if the 
 article, alluded to above, was firfl admitted by France, 
 in a treaty of defenfive alliance between her and Holland, 
 in 1662 ; and, being renewed in the Marine Treaty of 
 1678, has been fince continued, and repeatedly confirmed. 
 As this Treaty of 1662 was taken as the D*afis of that com- 
 mercial compact, which followed the Triple Alliance in 
 2668, it was admitted alfo at that time by the Englifli, and 
 repeated in the treaty of 1674, which now regulates, for 
 the moftpart, ourtrade with Holland. Jenkinson's Dif- 
 courfe on the ConduSl of Great Britahi to Neutral Nations* 
 p. 30. — Collection of Treaties, V". I. p. icp, 202. 2 1 1. 
 
 \ The regulations of contraband are founded on very 
 rational principles, long in ufe among maritime ftates. 
 In the " Confolato del Mare," a code of high antiquity, 
 \ve read:-— " in hoitium eft partibus qui ad bellum necefla- 
 ria hoili adminiftrat." tit, 276. But there are many diftin>
 
 [ '5 ] 
 
 The fcience of negotiation became thus enriched 
 with clearer maxims of maritime jurifprudence, 
 and almoft a new title added to the code of the 
 law of nations. 
 
 There are marine treaties between many 
 European ftates, to be found in the hiftory of 
 very early ages ; though they chiefly confifl of 
 combinations for mutual defence againft pirates,, 
 whofe depredations in the Mediterranean and 
 Baltic obftrufted the commercial intercourfe of 
 thofe times, and rendered alliances of this fort 
 very neceflary ; yet this was not, as fome have 
 afTerted, their only object. The utmoft extent 
 of their views, however, feems to have com- 
 prehended little more than provifions for cer- 
 tain tolls and duties, and general engagements 
 for the protection of the perfons and property of 
 
 tions neceflary to modify this rule. See Molloy De Jure 
 Maritime et Navali, B. I. c. i. § 12. et feq. The fourth 
 article in the treaty of 1674, already mentioned, was fug« 
 gefted by Queen Elizabeth's remarkable capture of the 
 Hanfeatic fhips, bound to Lifbon, with corn, for the fup- 
 ply of the Spaniards. It has been uniformly held, that 
 goods calculated merely for luxury or pleafurc, can never 
 be ranked as contraband. Upon this principle, in the 
 year 1676, when the French and Dutch were at war, the 
 Englim permitted the French to build a pleafure yacht for 
 their King at Portsmouth, and it was not confidered as a 
 breach of the neutrality. Molloy, ut fupra, §. 24. 
 
 merchants
 
 [ 16 ] 
 
 merchants trading to, or refident in, their rt- 
 ipective dominions.* Even in ages much nearer 
 our own, we have frequent inftances of the 
 contracted fcale of their negotiations. There 
 is indeed, a Treaty between England and 
 France, in the year 15 14, which comprifes 
 fome articles of reciprocal advantage in many 
 ufeful branches. But this is, I believe, almoft 
 the only exception.^ Even the Society of the 
 Hanfe Towns, a confederacy, both in its object 
 and importance, unrivalled in ancient or modern 
 hiftory, though known to have made conlidera- 
 ble progrefs in commercial policy, as far as 
 regards municipal inftitutions, yet, if we except 
 fome cautious ftipulations, for privileges and pro- 
 tection in the ports of England and Denmark, 
 never appears to have engaged very deeply, or 
 to have adopted any fyflem in its negotiations 
 with foreign powers. § Whoever fhall compare 
 the maritime conventions of earlier ages with 
 <c the particular article concerning navigation 
 " and commerce," inferted in the Treaty of 
 
 * Rymer's Feeder^ Tom. V. p. 740. 763. 
 
 f Ibid. Tom. XIII. p. 412. 
 
 § We rdenhagen, T>e Rebus publicis Ha?ifeatkis, Tom. 
 I. p. 73, and the Convention at Lubec, in 161 3, Tom. II. 
 p. 140. 
 
 Munfter
 
 I '7 ] 
 
 Munfter, the fubfequent Treaty between Hol- 
 land and England, or England's Treaty with 
 Portugal in 1654, by which (he acquired a free 
 trade to the Portuguefe Colonies in Eaft India, 
 will be convinced that the Treaty of Munfter 
 is the a?ra whence we ought to date our prefent 
 fyftem of naval and mercantile policy.* Till 
 that period, the outline was faint and contract- 
 ed ; it has lince gradually acquired boldnefs 
 and extent. In fhort, it was referved for the 
 fuperior fagacity of modern nations, founded 
 on the experience of pail ages, and for thofe 
 more humane virtues, which now characterize 
 and adorn fociety ; to introduce an enlarged 
 fpirit of hofpitality into our marine conventions, 
 which has given an expanfion and {lability to 
 trade beyond all former examples ; which has 
 opened an unreferved communication between 
 almoft every region of the habitable earth, and 
 nearly fwept away all ancient prejudices, arifing 
 from diftin&ion of language, manners, or 
 government. This fpirit has lately diffufed its 
 influence over the rude inhabitants of the Baltic 
 coafts,| and feems at laft about to complete 
 
 its 
 
 * Jenkinson's Collection of Treaties, V. I. p. 42, 45, 72. 
 
 % Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Great Bri- 
 tain and RuJJia y in 1766. Jenkinson'j Treaties* V, III. p. 
 
 C 224,
 
 [ 18 ] 
 
 its work, by marking out the ground for a ire- 
 conciliation between two great kingdoms, whofe 
 hereditary enmity has too often difturbed the 
 tranquillity of Europe.* From, thefe neceffary 
 reflections, we are now naturally led to the 
 immediate fubject of our prefent inquiry, and 
 to fome other matters, connected with it. 
 
 224.— Treaty of Commerce between RuJJia and Denmark, in 
 1782, V. III. p. 268. — Between RuJJia and Portugal, in 
 J 7^3» V. III. p. 314; and, in the fame year, An Edicl of the 
 Emprefs for a Free-Trade) V. III. p. 331. 
 
 * " Commerce," fays the Author of The Spirit of Laws, 
 c< is a cure for the moil definitive prejudices ; and to this 
 " it is we are in a great meafure indebted for the prefent 
 " polifh of European manners 5 becaufe, having diffufed a 
 " general knowledge of the manners of all nations, there 
 \ " naturally arifes a comparifon between them, and hence 
 
 " refults the advantage." Efprit de Loix, Liv. XX. ch. i. 
 Treaties are the Statute Laws of a ftatefman. Confider- 
 ing their importance, it is furprifing that we have no col- 
 lection of them fufhciently complete. Rymer brings them 
 down to the year 1642; from that period, Thurloe's 
 State Papers may be ufe fully confulted. A General Collec- 
 tion of Treaties, in 4 vols. 8vo. publifhed in 1732, and 
 JinkLNSOn's Collection of Treaties, in 3 vols. Svo. concludes 
 them at the late Peace in 1783. A well arranged code of 
 public treaties, with fuch hiftorical and political remarks 
 as (hould not only illuftrate every material article in them, 
 but alfo mould compare and connect their partial and ge- 
 neral effects, would furely be a valuable acquifition to the 
 diplomatic fciep.ee. 
 
 The
 
 [ *9 ] 
 
 The Treaty of Navigation and Com- 
 merce between France and Great Britain, 
 iigned at Verfailles the 26th of September 
 1786, confifts of 47 articles. Having premifed, 
 according to ufual form, that there mall fubfift 
 a reciprocal and perfect liberty of navigation 
 and commerce, between the fubjects of the two 
 contracting parties, for all kinds of goods in 
 their refpecrive dominions in Europe,* it pro- 
 ceeds, in the firft place, to extend certain pri- 
 vileges and protections to the perfons and pro- 
 perty of merchants refident in either country, 
 and permits them, even in cafe of a rupture 
 between the two crowns, to remain, and con- 
 tinue their trades, without any interruption ; 
 but in cafe their conduct iliall render them fuf- 
 pected, ' the term of twelve months is allowed 
 them to remove, with their families, property, 
 and effects. -j~ Befides free permiffion to vifit, 
 dwell in, and pafs through each other's domi- 
 nions without paffports, the fubjects of both 
 kingdoms have licence reciprocally to import 
 in their own (hips all merchandizes and goods, 
 not prohibited by law, into the dominions of 
 either party, to re fide therein, and to buy and 
 fell lawful merchandizes there, in any manner 
 whatever ; nor are they, on this account, to be 
 
 * Art, 1, f Art, 2. 
 
 C 2 liable
 
 liable to any duty or impofition, except fuch as 
 lhall be afterwards fpecified, or to which the 
 inhabitants of the country are liable ;• it is 
 therefore thought reafonable to abolifh the 
 Capitation Tax, and the Argent du Chef, and 
 to prohibit the future introduction of any fuch 
 arbitrary impoft.j Freight duty, like wife, on 
 fhips belonging to his Britannic Majefry, is 
 removed, and, in return, the duty of five 
 millings is taken off French fhips. -j~ Difputes 
 in the ports of either kingdom, between the 
 commander of a fliip and his feamen, are to be 
 fettled, for the prefent, by the magiftrate of 
 the place ; requiring the perfon accufed to give 
 the accufer a written declaration, witnefled by 
 
 * Art. 4, c. The laws of England have ever been fa- 
 vourable to merchants. By Magna Charta the effects of 
 foreign merchants are protected againft feizure or confifca- 
 tion, in cafe of war. Cap. xxx. Upon which Montesquieu 
 obferves, how high an idea one muft entertain of the fpirit 
 of a nation, where fuch a claufe is made an article of its li- 
 berty! Efprit desLoix, Liv. XX. eh. xiii. 
 
 X Art. 12. In countries where the eafe, comfort, and 
 fecurity of the inferior ranks of people are little attended 
 to, Capitation Taxes are very common ,• becaufe, being 
 levied at little expence, and rigoroufly exacted, they af- 
 ford a very fure revenue to the ftate. Smith's Wealth 
 of Nations, B. V. chap. ii. V. Ill, p. 330, Edit. 1786. 
 
 f Art. 15. 
 
 the
 
 [ « ] 
 
 the magiftrate, whereby he (hall be bound to 
 anfwer that matter in his own country, and after 
 this it fhall not be lawful for the feamen to de- 
 fert or detain the triip. For the ftill further 
 encouragement of foreign merchants in both 
 countries, among other fmaller privileges, they 
 are permitted to keep their accompts, and to 
 hold correfpondence, in what language they 
 pleafe, nor, unlefs in cafe of bankruptcy, are 
 their books, or other inftruments of trade, liable 
 to be feized or infpe&ed.* They are moreover 
 left entirely free to tranfact their own affairs, or 
 to employ whom ever they (hall think fit ; as alfo 
 to load and unload their (hips, without interrup- 
 tion or interference of any Port-Officer whatever. || 
 To complete the catalogue of thefe immunities, 
 they are permitted the free exercife of religion, 
 and the rights of fepulture in the dominions of 
 either fovereign.j Thefe articles, thus fele&ed 
 and clafled, feem properly to fall under one 
 head, and may form the firft divifion of the 
 Treaty. 
 
 * Art. 17. |1 Art. 18. 
 
 t Art. 5, latter part. Moft of thefe immunities have 
 been partially introduced into all commercial Treaties, 
 even as far back as the middle of the laft century. See 
 Treaty of Commerce between England and Portugal in 1654.- 
 Art. XIV. and between England and France^ in 1655. Art. 
 XII. 
 
 C 3 The
 
 L ** ] 
 
 The tariff declaring the duties apportioned 
 to feveral forts of goods and merchandizes by 
 this compact, the mode of levying them, and 
 fome Cuftom-Houfe regulations, may be fo 
 connected as to form a fecond divifion , though 
 ftrictly confidered, the fixth article alone con- 
 tains the tariff of the treaty. Of this article, 
 therefore, it is unneceflary here to fpeak, for 
 an obvious reafon. I (hall proceed to the other 
 parts of this fecond divifion. After fpecifying 
 the rates on the moft efTential objects of com- 
 merce, and agreeing not to alter them, but by 
 mutual confent, it is flipulated, that all other 
 merchandizes whatever, belonging to the fub- 
 jects of the two fovercigns, fhall be admitted 
 into their refpective dominions on the footing of 
 the moft favoured European nation, and that 
 fuch fubjects themfelves mail be included in all 
 additional advantages, which may hereafter be 
 on either fide extended to navigation and com- 
 merce. * So likewife, in cafe either of the 
 contracting parties fhall eftablifh prohibitions, 
 or fhall augment the duties upon any part of the 
 growth or manufacture of the other's country, 
 not fpecined in the tariff, thefe fhall be ex- 
 tended generally to the fame goods and mer-i 
 
 * Art. 7. 
 
 chandizes
 
 [ *3 ] 
 chandizes of the mofl favoured European na- 
 tion ; and, if it fliall revoke prohibitions, or 
 diminifh duties, on the growth and manufac- 
 tures of any other European nation, the fame 
 advantages lhall be granted to the other con- 
 tracting party, on condition of reciprocity. * 
 In all this, however, there is a refervation 4- to 
 France in favour of Spain, agreeable to the 
 24th Article of the Family Compact of 1761, 
 and to England, in confequence of her Con- 
 vention with Portugal in 1703. No pretence 
 of any fraud or defect whatever, ihall hereafter 
 impower any perfon to infpect or confifcate the 
 exportations of either country, but the buyer 
 and feller are perfectly free to adjuft their own 
 price and bargain. % Neither fliall fhips or car- 
 goes be fubject to conhfcation, on account of 
 any manifeftly unintentional miflake or error in 
 their entry or declaration ; nor merchants, or 
 matters of mips, be liable to any penalties on 
 this fcore, if the goods omitted fliall not have 
 been landed prior to the declaration. § And 
 
 * Art. 11. 
 
 f Art. 7. and 11. For the particulars of thefe referva- 
 tions fee The Family Compatt in Jenkinson's Treaties, 
 Vol. III. p. 70; and T7je Treaty of Commerce between Eng- 
 land and Portugal^ Vol. I. p. 353. 
 
 % Art 8. § Art. 10. 
 
 C 4 further.
 
 [ *4 ] 
 
 further, to prevent impofitions and frauds, 
 fach merchandizes as are contained in cafks, 
 chefts, and other cafes, fhall henceforth only 
 pay duty for their real weight *. 
 
 The third head, under which the Treaty 
 may be diflributed, is, by much, the mod: ex- 
 tenfive, comprising many very material points 
 of maritime jurifprudence. In the firft place, 
 in order to regulate the doctrine of contraband 
 in time of war, by clear and exact principles, 
 we have, in feparate articles, two large cata- 
 logues of fuch goods as do or do not fall un- 
 der that defcription ; <f the refult of which is, 
 that all arms, military implements, and fol- 
 diers on their voyage to employment in a mili- 
 tary capacity, in either the fleets or armies of 
 an enemy, fhall be deemed contraband ; as 
 alfo money and provifions which are in the 
 act of conveyance to any place of an enemy, 
 befieged, blocked-up, or inverted, and as fuch 
 they may be feized and confifcated; in all 
 other cafes, the mips and merchants of either 
 contracting party have full liberty to fail to the 
 ports belonging to the enemies of the other 
 party ; and to pafs, not only between fuch ports 
 and neutral places, but alfo from one port of 
 
 * Art. 9. f Art. 22, 2}, 
 
 the
 
 [ *5 ] 
 the enemy to another, and therein to traffic, 
 without oppofition or difturbance ; and the like 
 immunities are extended to the perfons and pro- 
 perty of enemies found on board the fliips of 
 either of the two contracting parties. But, on the 
 other hand, the perfons or property of either of 
 the contracting parties, found on board enemies 
 fhips, though not falling under the title of con- 
 traband, are not to enjoy the fame privilege, 
 it being a fettled maxim, that free (hips make 
 free cargoes, and the contrary.* For the effec- 
 tual prevention of difputes and mifunder- 
 flandings, m thefe matters, it is farther agreed, 
 that in cafe either party (hall be engaged in war, 
 the mips of the other party fhall be furnifhed 
 with pafTports, drawn up according to a form 
 annexed to the treaty ; and alfo with certificates, 
 lpecifying the feveral particulars of the cargo, 
 the place v/hence the (hip failed, and whither 
 flie is bound ; and fuch (hip, falling in with 
 the men of war or privateers of the other party, 
 having exhibited her paflport and certificate 
 
 * Art. 20, 29. Much ufeful information and found 
 reafoning on this fubjeft may be found in Jenkinson's 
 Difcourfe on the conduB of Great Britain 'with refpett to neu- 
 tral nations, prefixed to his Collection of Treaties • and in 
 Molloy, De Jure Maritimo ei Navali, B. I. ch. iii. §. 9. 
 and the following. 
 
 (to
 
 C 26 ] 
 
 (to which the mailer is compellable), iliall 
 have liberty to proceed on her voyage without 
 fearch, chafe, or any moleftation whatever.* 
 But if a merchant fhip be not provided with 
 fuch pafTports and certificates, yet, upon ex- 
 amination before a proper judge, and upon fuf- 
 ficient proof of her belonging to the fubjects 
 of either party, fhe be found to contain no con- 
 traband goods, fhe may be releafed, together 
 with her cargo, in order to proceed on her 
 voyage, jf It is alfo provided, that even in cafe 
 of a difcovery of contraband goods, it fhall 
 not be lawful to proceed to any act whatever of 
 breaking open, or removing the fame, till the 
 lading fhall be brought on fhore, in the prefence 
 of proper officers, and an inventory made by 
 them of the faid goods. Neither fhall it be 
 lawful to make any ufe or advantage of them till 
 after fentence of confutation, pronounced upon 
 them, in due and lawful procefs, before the 
 Judges of the Admiralty ; the (hip itfelf, and 
 the other goods therein, being entirely free from 
 confifcation or detention on account of the pro- 
 hibited goods, agreeable to a llipulation in a 
 former article. % 
 
 Art. 24. 26, 27. f Art. 33. 
 
 To 
 
 % Art. 20.
 
 [ *7 ] 
 
 To thefe provifions for the free and honour- 
 able maintenance, of commerce, in times when 
 either of the parties mall be engaged in hoftili- 
 ties, and for the prevention of fraud and fubter- 
 fuge, which are the never failing fources of 
 difcontent and animofity, it is further agreed, 
 that no acts of hoftility or violence fhall be 
 exercifed by the fubjects, &c. of either of the 
 two crowns againfl the fubjects of the other on 
 any pretence whatever ; neither mall they receive 
 for fuch purpofe a commiffion or patent of any 
 kind, from any prince or (late, at enmity with 
 either party, to act or arm as privateers or let- 
 ters of reprifal, againfl: them, under the fevereft 
 punifhment, befide being liable to make full 
 reftitution and fatisfaclion to thofe whom they 
 have injured. Nor in all either of the contract- 
 ing parties grant letters of reprifal againfl the 
 other, unlefs in the cafe of an injury, after pro- 
 per application made to the minifler reiident in 
 the injured country, no redrefs can be obtained, 
 and juflice is obftinately denied or delayed. -}- 
 
 Nor 
 
 f Rcprijah) by the laws of England, are of two forts, 
 ordinary y and extraordinary. The ordinary are either 
 within the realm or without. Thofe within the realm are 
 granted by the Lerd Chancellor, by Writ of Chancery, 
 
 with
 
 I] *s ] 
 
 Nor fliall any privateers, bearing commit 
 fions of a Hate at enmity with either party, 
 be iuffered to arm in the ports of the other 
 party, to carry on any traffic there, or 
 even to purchafe more provifions than may 
 enable them to reach the neareft port of that 
 inimical ftate : moreover, no fhelter or refuge 
 fliall be given to fuch as have made prize of 
 any fhip or vefTel belonging to either party ; 
 nor fliall the fliips or goods of one party be fuf- 
 fered to be taken within cannon-lfiot of the 
 coaft, or in the ports, &c. of the other * On 
 
 the 
 
 with the approbation of the King or Council, to arreft the 
 merchant ftranger's goods here in England, of that nation 
 which hath committed the injury. Thofe granted in the 
 ordinary way, to repair injuries out of the realm, are always 
 under the Great Seal, and are confidered as irrevocable, 
 and as creating and veiling, as it were, a national debt in 
 the grantee, to be fatisfied, as is directed in the patent, out 
 of the goods of that nation whence the injury proceeds. 
 Extraordinary Reprifah are called Letters of Marque, and 
 are granted by the Secretaries of State, with the approba- 
 tion of King and Council. They are during the King's 
 pleafure ; and, being intended only to harafs or weaken 
 the enemy in war, are always revocable. Molloy, B. I. 
 ch. ii. Fitzherbert, Nat. Brev. fol. 114. Stat. 4. 
 Hen. V. c. vii. xiv.-Ed. IV. c, iv. et 4 Inft. 124, 125. 137. 
 * Art. 3. 16. 40. latter part 41. It has been deemed a 
 violation of the law of nations to aflault an enemy in the 
 
 port,
 
 C *9 3 
 
 the contrary, their majcfties' ihips of war, or 
 the privateers belonging to their fubjects, may 
 carry the fhips and goods, taken from their ene- 
 mies, whither they pleafe ; neither fliall any 
 prize of this kind, brought by them into their 
 refpective ports, be liable to inquiry, fearch, 
 detainer, or feizure. * Ships of either of the 
 two nations, retaken by the men of war or pri- 
 vateers of the other, if they have not been in 
 the power of the enemy twenty -four hours, 
 fliall be reftored to the owners, upon their pay- 
 ing a flated fum, fpecified in the article, for 
 their redemption, -f* And in all difputes re- 
 flecting the legality of prizes, the judge fliall 
 direct an inventory and an appraifement to 
 be made of the effects, and fliall require fecu- 
 rities from the captor, for paying the coils, 
 and from the claimant, for paying die value of 
 
 port, or under the protection, whether of friend, ally, or 
 neuter. See a very remarkable cafe of Sir Kenelm Dig- 
 by, with the French, Venetians, and the Grand Seignor. 
 Molloy, B. I. ch. iii. §. 7. 
 
 * Art. 40, firft part. 
 
 ■j- Article 34. Hale's Hljiory of Pleas of the Crown, 
 p, 163. Confulatu Maris, cap. 283. 287 : but in general this 
 law of Reflitutlon is extended, in all poflible cafes, in 
 favour of the owner. Molloy, De Jure Maritimo et Na- 
 <vali, B. I. ch, ii. §. 2i» 
 
 the
 
 [ 3° ] 
 the prize on either iffue of the (hit ; and in fuch 
 cafe of proper fecurities given, the execution 
 of the Judge's fentence fhail not be fuf- 
 pended by reafon of any appeal. * Ships or 
 merchants of either kingdom, differing any 
 injury or outrage frotn the men of war or pri- 
 vateers of the other, ihall have ample repara- 
 tion ; to which intent the perfons and effects of 
 the offending party (hall Hand bound ; but in 
 the caie of any kind of torture ufed by a captor 
 upon the mailer, crew, or paffengers, not only 
 the captured (hip itfelf, together with the per- 
 fons, merchandizes, and goods, iliall be forth- 
 with releafed, but alfo fuch as (hall be con- 
 victed of the crime, together with their accom- 
 plices, ihall fuffer the mod fevere puniihment. 
 With this view, all commanders of privateers, 
 before they receive their commidion^ &c. iliall be 
 obliged to give fufEcient fecurity, by good bail, 
 as fpecified in the article, that they will make 
 complete fatisfaction for all injuries or damages 
 which may, during the cruize, be committed by 
 themfelves, their officers, or others in their 
 feryicc. *f- The fhips of either party driven by 
 
 florm 
 * Art. 36. 
 
 •f Art. 30. 42. 31. Thefe articles, originally inferted 
 in the Treaty between France and England in 1677, are, 
 fays Molloy, for their excellency, fit to be a ftandard to 
 
 all
 
 [ 3i J 
 
 ilorm into any port of the other, fhall not be 
 compelled to unlade, or pay any duty ; and 
 in cafe, having firft obtained lawful permifiion, 
 they unlade, and fell a part of their cargo, for 
 the purpofe of victualling or refitting, they 
 fhall only pay duty for that part. And when 
 entered into port, in any manner whatever, they 
 are unwilling to land their cargoes, or break 
 bulk, they fhall not be obliged to give an ac- 
 count of their lading, unlefs fufpe&ed, on fure 
 evidence, of carrying prohibited goods to the 
 enemies of either of the two contracting powers. 
 In cafes of fhipwreck, all that fhall he faved 
 muft be reflored upon claim made, to the pro- 
 prietors or their factors, paying only the ex- 
 pences of the prefer vation, according to the 
 eftablifhed rates of falvage. * 
 
 After all thefe mutual agreements, with re- 
 flect to their conduct towards each other, the 
 contracting parties think it for the (till greater 
 fecurity of trade and navigation, to combine 
 againfl the common enemy of commercial in- 
 tercourfe ; it is accordingly determined not to 
 admit, harbour, protect, or affift in any port, 
 city, town, or dwelling whatever, any Pirates, 
 
 all the nations of Europe. De Jure Maritimo et Naval!, 
 B. I. ch.iii. §. 8, 9. 
 
 * Art. 19. 25. 37. 
 
 4 or
 
 C 3* ] 
 or Sea-Rovers, and that perfons convicted in fo 
 doing fhall fuffer condign punifhment; more- 
 over, that all the mips and cargoes, taken by pi- 
 rates, and brought into the ports of either king- 
 dom, ihall be feized, and the property, being 
 iufficiently proved in the Court of Admiralty, 
 mall be delivered to the owners or their factors, 
 even though it has parTed into other hands by 
 fale, if it be proved that the buyers knew, or 
 might have known, that they had been pirati- 
 cally taken. And iimilar cautions ill all be ufed 
 with all ihips and merchandizes taken on the 
 high feas, and brought into the ports of either 
 nation. * Such is the fum of the various mate- 
 rials 
 
 * Art. 39. This Law of Rcfiiiution to the owner of his 
 property, piratically taken, is founded on Stat. 27 Ed. III. 
 c. xiii. and is in the true fpirit of the famous Atinian 
 Law, De Ufucapione, which provided, that prefcription 
 fhould not avail againft goods fraudulently taken. "Quod 
 furreptum eft, ejus rei aeterna aucloritas efto." But com- 
 mon law bars the claim of the owner, if his goods have been 
 fold in market overt. Aulus Gelli us, Lib. XVII. c. vii, 
 Rolle's Abridg. 530. Yelvertox, 135. I. SlDERFIN r , 
 320. 367. By 28 Hon. VIII. c. xv.-n and 12 W. III. 
 c. vii. — 4 Geo. I. ch. xi. §. 7, all pirates fhall be tried 
 as felons, and -(hall be excluded their clergy. Moreover, 
 piracy and robbery on the feas is excepted out of the 
 general pardon of felonies, both at common and ftatute 
 law, for it is a fpecial offence, and therefore fhould be 
 
 efpecially
 
 [ 33 j 
 
 rials felected out of the Treaty, which appear 
 more immediately intended to promote the free- 
 dom and fecurity of commerce and navigation ; 
 and to them may properly be fubjoined the fol- 
 lowing articles, without which the wifeft and 
 moil equal code would want its full effect and 
 fanction. 
 
 In as much as it is propofed, by the prefent 
 Treaty, in all the aforementioned refpe&s, the 
 Protection of individuals, — Their Perfonal Li- 
 berty, — The Safety of Merchandize, Goods, and 
 Effects, — The Succeflion to Perfonal Eftates, — ■ 
 all matters relative to the Lading and Unlading 
 their mips, and other privileges and immunities, 
 that the fubjects of the two Crowns {hall, in their 
 refpective dominions, be on the foot of the 
 moil favoured nation ; and that there fhall be an 
 impartial adminiftration of juftice ; care is to be 
 taken that all judgments and decrees, upon 
 marine cafes, in the Court of Admiralty fhall 
 
 efpecialry mentioned. Coke, 3 Inft. tit. Admir.--.20 Geo. II, 
 c. Hi. § 13. Molloy, B. I. ch. iv. " Formerly it was 
 " only cognizable by the Admiralty Courts, which proceed 
 41 by the rules of the civil law, but Stat. 28Hen.VIII. c. xV. 
 " eftablifhed a new jurifdi&ion for this purpofe, and fince 
 " that time marine felonies are tried by commiffions of oyer 
 " and terminer, under the King's Great Seal," Black- 
 " stone's Comment, & IV. ch. xix. § $. 
 
 D be
 
 C 34 ] 
 be given in conformity to the rules of equity, 
 and to the (lipulations of this Treaty, by Judges 
 who are above all fufpicion, and who have no 
 manner of intereft in the difputed caufe.* And 
 upon proper complaint of injuftice, their Majef- 
 vies mall refpcftively caufe any fcntence to be 
 revifed and re-examined in their councils, and 
 mall provide that juftice be done to every com- 
 plainant within the fpace of three months. 
 Further, in matters of difpute, the fubje&s ot 
 each party may employ fuch advocates, nota- 
 ries, ibllicitors, and factors, as they think fit. J 
 And, laftly, for their mutual advantage, their 
 Majefties ihall refpeclively appoint national Con- 
 fuls, in the dominions of each other, to fuperin- 
 tend the in,terefh, and to guard the privileges of 
 
 their trade, -j- 
 
 This 
 
 * Art. 44. 32. The original Court, to which queftions 
 of this fort are permitted in England, is, the Court of Ad- 
 miralty ; and the Court of Appeal is, in effect, the King's 
 Privy Council, the members of which are, in confequencc 
 of Treaties, commiffioned under the Great Seal for this 
 purpofe. 22 Geo. II. c. iii. Blackst. Cmmtnt, B. III. ch. v, 
 Clerke's Praxis Curiae Admir. 
 
 % Art. 35. 38. 
 
 f Art 43. The term of this Treaty is by Art. 46, fixed 
 ^t twelve years, at the expiration of which, a twelvemonth 
 is to be allotted for its neceffary revifion. It is always 
 
 prudent.
 
 [ 35 1 
 This clofes the third and lad general diviiion 
 of the Treaty. Should there be any truth in what 
 was before infifted upon, namely, that as dif- 
 order is a radical defect in every work of human 
 fkill, it is particularly objectionable in matters 
 of fo extenfive and important a nature as na- 
 tional compacts, then this new diftribution may 
 not it is hoped be without its advantage ; fince 
 even the prefent treaty with ail its excellencies 
 will not perhaps be found altogether free from 
 this common defect. If, therefore, by thus pre- 
 fuming, not only to comprefs and arrange its 
 materials, but, in fome instances, to vary its 
 language, I (hall be thought to have given it 
 a more interefting and intelligible form, this 
 merit muft at leaf!: be allowed me to claim, that 
 I could not have felected from the whole diplo- 
 matic code a more honourable teftimony to the 
 juftice of my affertion. 
 
 Among other hafty obfervations on this Trea- 
 ty, it has been difcovered to be derived, through 
 the Treaty of Utrecht, from one ratified between 
 France and England in the year 1677. But, 
 inftead of refting our inquiries upon a period 
 
 prudent, fays Vattel, to limit the term of a commercial 
 treaty; becaufe, from the nature of its object, conjunctures 
 may arife to make it, in many points oppreflive to one of 
 the contracting parties. I<avj of Nations, B. II. ch. ii. § 29. 
 
 D 2 which
 
 [ 36 ] 
 
 which To necefTarily excites unfavourable ideas of 
 the motives for fuch a negotiation with France, 
 it would be more candid to carry them back to 
 a remoter age, efpecially, if in that age we can 
 trace it to a lefs corrupted fource. The Treaty 
 of 1677 has fmall claims to originality. With 
 regard to its principal ftipulations, they are to 
 be found in the commercial part of the Treaty 
 of Munfter, the acknowledged parent of the 
 mofl eiTential branches of all our fubfequent ne- 
 gotiations;* and, more particularly, (becaufe 
 there applied to the fame object) of a treaty 
 between France and England in the year 1655. 
 Which though, like the reft, it was chiefly em- 
 ployed on the then new and favourite topic of 
 neutralities, and on general points of maritime 
 jurifdiclion ; yet, obviouily having for its object 
 the eftablifhment of a reciprocal trade between 
 the two countries, may, in this refpecl:, be con- 
 sidered as the genuine archetype. -j~ Hence, 
 therefore, our inquiries will mod properly begin. 
 By this Treaty it was agreed, that the fubjects 
 of England, Ireland, and Scotland might freely 
 
 * Treaty of Commerce between England and Holland 
 in 1654. Cotteft. of 'Treaties, V. I. p. 42.— With Sweden- 
 Portugal— Denmark p. 69. 71. 75. With Holland again 
 in 166S, p. 190, and again in 1674. 
 
 f Collect, of Treaties, V. I, p. 8.2. 
 
 import
 
 C 37 ] 
 import into France the growth and manufactures 
 of their country, and, in return, iliould receive 
 as freely, the wines, woollen and filk goods of 
 France.* This article gave great offence to 
 Spain. It appears, from a memorial prefented 
 to Cromwell by the Spanifh AmbaiTador, 
 that (he was the only power of any maritime 
 confequence, whom he had omitted in his com- 
 mercial alliances. And (lie urges her fuperior 
 claim to the Protector's favour, on the ground 
 of being the firfl State to acknowledge, the 
 Englifh Republic ; while, on • the contrary, 
 France had ever been the fecret fomentor of in- 
 furrections there. % When the treaty was rati- 
 fied, Spain feized upon the fliips and effects of 
 Englifh merchants, in all her ports, to a very 
 confiderable amount; the confequence of which 
 was the declaration of a war, fo ruinous to Spain, 
 that fhe never afterwards was regarded by 
 France as her commercial rival. Befide the 
 removal of fuch an obftacle, the fame effect 
 was frill further promoted by this Treaty ; for 
 France, by her connection with England, 
 was enabled to claim a mare in the carrying- 
 trade, till then monopolized by the Dutch, and 
 
 * Art. $. 
 
 J See the Memorial in Jenkinson's Treaties^ V. J. p. 80. 
 D3 to
 
 C 33 ] 
 
 to efmblifh companies and factories of her own.* 
 At this period therefore, I think, we may, with 
 fome propriety, place the rife of her commercial 
 grandeur. 
 
 Commerce, fays Voltaire, was born in 
 France as early as the reign of Francis I. but 
 {he died with that King, and did not revive till 
 a century after. -f* Many fteps had been taken 
 during the adminiitrations both of Sully and 
 Richlieu, to regulate and improve the trade 
 of that country ; their good effects, however, 
 did not become vifible till the age of Louis XIV. 
 towards the middle of whofe reign, the cele- 
 brated Colbert undertook his general reform. 
 This minifter began with eftabliihing manufac- 
 tories of various kinds, and holding out encou- 
 ragements to induftry and oeconomy. The 
 fchemes of his predecefTors, he faw, had been 
 rendered abortive for want of that free circula- 
 tion, which in every country is fo effential to 
 trade ; for the different provinces, bejng each 
 
 * It appears, from the conclufion of this bufinefs, that 
 Cromwell and Mazarine perfectly underftood each 
 other. The price of the Treaty was the tradition of the 
 Royal Family, and their neareft friends, and their banifh- 
 pient from France. ColIcHlon of Treaties, V. I. p. 85. 
 
 f Sieple dc Louis XIV. Tom. II. p, 123. 
 
 under
 
 C 39 3 
 
 under its own particular government, laid fuch 
 heavy and irregular duties upon the induftry of 
 their neighbours, as greatly retarded, and, in 
 fome inftances, effectually ihut out all commu- 
 nication among them. With a view to get rid 
 of thefe obstructions, Colbert removed all ex- 
 port duties to the frontiers, and caufed a general 
 book of rates to be made, by which all the pro- 
 vinces were in future to be equally regulated. 
 Had he acted thus prudently in other points, his 
 fyftem would have been unexceptionable ; but, 
 by proceeding (from a falfe idea of encouraging 
 domeftic manufactures) to lay heavy duties 
 and prohibitions upon the importation of all 
 fuch foreign goods as would compete with their 
 own, he threw fuch a reftraint upon every 
 department of trade, as prevented the full 
 effect of many of his beneficial intentions. u He 
 " endeavoured," fays the excellent Author of the 
 Inquiry into the Nature and Caufes of the Wealth 
 cf Nations, " to regulate the induftry and com- 
 " merce of a great country, upon the fame model 
 ic as the departments of a public office ; and, 
 *' inilead of allowing every man to purfue his 
 u own intereft, his own way, upon the liberal plan 
 " of equality, liberty, and juftice, he bellowed 
 iC upon certain branches of induftry, extraor- 
 D 4 " dinary
 
 C 40 J 
 <i dinary privileges, while he laid others under 
 " as extraordinary restraints. In this, and in 
 " many other inftances, he fuffered himfelf, 
 ** notwithftanding his great abilities, to be im- 
 " pofed upon by the fophiftry of merchants 
 u and manufacturers."* In the year 1662, a 
 Council of Commerce was created, at which the 
 King himfelf very frequently prefided, who pro- 
 moted, by noble premiums, the new eftablifh- 
 ments in various parts of his dominions. -j~ 
 Among thefe the mod remarkable were the 
 woollen, (ilk, and gobelin manufactories. The 
 woollen manufactory, in the province of Lan- 
 guedoc,j by its neighbourhood to the port of 
 Marfeilles and to Spain, not only was able to 
 procure the fmefr. materials at a cheaper rate 
 than any other country, but was furnifhed alfo 
 with commodious inland conveyance, by means 
 of the great canal, and with an eafy tranfport to 
 
 * Book IV. ch. ii. and again B. IV. ch. ix. For a fine 
 delineation of a commercial fyftcm, fee the Political Tejla- 
 -mcnt of Cardinal Richlieu, upon which it is thought 
 Colbert firit founded his idea of reform. Part II. ch. 
 viii. and ix. 
 
 -j- Anderson'* Hijlory of Convncrcc, V. II. p. 327. 
 
 % A manufactory of fine broad cloths was efrablifTied 
 alfo at Abbeville, which to this day maintains a great de- 
 rvee of reputation. 
 
 Italy
 
 C 41 ] 
 Italy and the Levant, where, by underselling 
 the Englifh, it aflailed the market in a double 
 capacity ; receiving in return for its imported 
 induilry, raw materials for the filk manufactories, 
 on the fame eafy terms. This feemed to threaten 
 fatal confequences to our Turkey Company, who 
 might be confidered as almofl in their infancy,* 
 and, through them, to our woollen trade -, but 
 encouragements from the Crown, and timely 
 affiftances from Parliament, co-operating with 
 the impolitic conduct of the French minifters, 
 enabled them to withftand die competition. 
 Indeed, we are told, in a petition prefented to 
 Parliament by the Weaver's Company, on occa- 
 fion of the Utrecht Treaty, that between the 
 years 1664 and 171 3, our trade with thofe 
 countries had increafed twenty times. The 
 caufes which contributed to the embarrafTment 
 and decline of French commerce, were oppref- 
 five and ill-regulated Curtains, unjuft Monopo- 
 lies, the Military Ambition of Louis XIV. and, 
 (till more fatal than all thefe combined, Religious 
 Perfecution, the molt effectual check upon the 
 
 * This Company was erected at the beginning of the 
 century, by King James I. and its traffic was, about fifty 
 years after, computed to bring id an annual revenue of 
 320,000. Anderson'* Hift, Com. V. II. p. 373. 
 
 4 commercial
 
 [ 4> 1 
 
 commercial fpirit of a country. To one remark- 
 able event of this kind muft be attributed that 
 total revolution in trade, which has taken place, 
 during this century, in Europe, I mean the 
 Revocation of the Ediff of Nantes, in the year 16S5. 
 In confequence of this ftep, on a moderate com- 
 putation, about five hundred thoufand perfons 
 tranfported their fkill, their induftry, and their 
 flock, into England, Holland, Brandenburgh 
 and Switzerland, to the great depopulation of 
 their native country, and neceffarily to the im- 
 poverifhment of the State. To the immenfe 
 number of thefe refugees, who fettled in England, 
 we are indebted for many ufeful improvements, 
 and curious inventions, in our manufactories of 
 woollen fluffs, filk, linen, paper, glafs, hats, 
 watches, cutlery, hardware, and iron. But the 
 amazing wealth which her extenfive commerce 
 had accumulated, prevented France from im- 
 mediately feeling the effects of this ruinous emi- 
 gration, which perhaps fhe might ftill have 
 recovered, but for another ftep, which excited 
 the jealoufy of her neighbouring rival. Too 
 eager to monopolize the trade of Europe, it had 
 long been the policy of France, as already hinted, 
 <o aim at ruining that of England by fuch heavy 
 duties upon many commodities as amounted to 
 a total prohibition, though it would have been 
 
 much
 
 [ 43 ] 
 
 much more for her intereft to liave encouraged 
 that predile&ion for her growth and manufactures 
 which then prevailed. In fac% while we had been 
 giving every poflible encouragement to their 
 manufactories, and the produce of their foil, they 
 had been gradually incrcafing the duties upon all 
 Englim goods.-- The eyes of the country were 
 at laft opened, and in i6y8,very contrary to the 
 inclination of the King, an act was palled " to 
 " prohibit the importation of French goods, ex 
 " highly detrimental to this kingdom." The 
 excellent effects of this law were foon felt ; for, 
 in lefs than twenty years, at the Treaty of 
 Ryfwick, the amount of our annual exports was 
 more than doubled :-f- and this notwithftanding 
 a very material interruption, as the prohibition 
 
 * Report of a Committee, &c. in the Hijtory and De- 
 fence of the late Parliament, in 17 13, p. 227 and 228. Our 
 cloths, which in 1644 paid only a duty of 9 livres per 
 piece, or 25 ells J Englifh, paid in 1664, 40 iivres, and 
 in 1667 this duty was doubled. In 1699, in confe- 
 quenee of the peace of Ryfwick, it was reduced to 5$ 
 livres, which was adopted in the propofed tariff at Utrecht. 
 See a piper called " Confequences of a law for reducing 
 the duties on French wines, brandy, filks and linen, to 
 thofe cf ether nations, with remarks on Mercator" No. III. 
 A minifterial work, at that time publiflied by Dan. De 
 Foe. 
 
 -j- AlfDERSQN'i Hift.Cw* V. II. p. 180. 
 
 was
 
 C 44 ] 
 
 was only laid for three years ; and during 
 
 the remainder of Charles the Second's reign, no 
 parliament had affembled ; the firft act of his 
 fucceffor was to get it repealed ; fo that, from 
 1685, to the Revolution, this country, fays 
 Anderson, had nearly been beggared by an 
 inundation of French commodities.* In 1689 
 there was a convention between England and 
 the United Provinces, for the purpofe of more 
 effectually checking the French trade ; and in 
 the fame year another act was paffed to prohibit 
 their importations, j If to thefe natural effects 
 of national jealoufy , we add the new fources o£ 
 commerce which England had now opened, 
 v/ho, no longer dependent on her neighbours, 
 began to fupply herfelf with wines from Italy, 
 Spain, and Portugal ; with linen from Holland 
 and Silefia; with paper, fluffs and filks, by means 
 of the new manufactories eftablifhed at home ; 
 and confider alfo, that the duties had now begun 
 to be appropriated by Parliament to particular 
 ufes and exigencies of State, and could not there- 
 fore be readily removed, we fliall not be furprifed 
 that fuch difficulties mould have arifen at 
 
 * Anderson's H : fi. Com. V. II. p. 182. Brltijh 
 Merchant, p. 319. 
 
 t Stat, i W. and M. c. xxxiv. Collision of Treaties, 
 
 V. I. p. 2(j2. 
 
 Ryfwick,
 
 [ 45 ] 
 Ryfwick, as to have rendered it impoffible for 
 the plenipotentiaries to fettle any tariff between 
 the two nations, or that fince that time mutual 
 fufpicions and prejudices mould have increafed 
 thofe obftacles to a commercial communication, 
 which it is the object of the prefent treaty to 
 remove.* 
 
 While the minifter of Louis XIV. was aiming 
 to excite a fpirit of induftry among his coun- 
 trymen, and to extend their foreign trade by 
 reilriclions and monopolies, an event took 
 place in England which laid the foundation of 
 our future maritime glory. This was the paf- 
 fing of the famous Navigation Act, upon 
 which, and its falutary confequences, I fhall 
 proceed to offer a few obfervations : The firft 
 outline of this Great Maritime Charter, as Sir 
 Jo si ah Child calls it, -f was fketched in the 
 Long Parliament, but it was not till nine years 
 after that it received its legal confirmation. J 
 
 As 
 
 * Negotiations at Ryfwick, V. II. Mem. xxiv. p. 464, 
 and the following. 
 
 f Preface to his Difcourfe of Trade, in 1698. 
 
 J The original idea of this act may be found in flat. 14 
 TRic. II. c. vi. repeated in 4 Hen. VII. c. x. and again, in 
 the article of wine, in 5 Eliz. c. v. § 11. Since its pro- 
 mulgation in 1660, ic has been conftantly receiving addi- 
 tions
 
 C 46 3 
 
 As the ftrength and glory of this nation avow- 
 edly depend upon its marine, and as this can 
 only be rcfpectable in proportion to the number 
 of its tailors and (hipping, nothing could have 
 been more prudently devifed than an eftablim- 
 ment for a monopoly of the trade of their own 
 country, for the faiiors and (hipping of Great 
 Britain, which is the leading object in this juflly 
 celebrated Act. Till that time the Dutch had 
 been the factors of Europe ; and, while they 
 employed an immenie quantity of men and 
 fhips in carrying the produce of our foreign 
 trade, our own marine was laid by neglected, 
 and our feamen (except when particular cafes 
 called for an exertion) were totally unoccupied. 
 The Navigation- Act (truck at the root of this 
 evil. It excluded the Dutch from being any 
 longer the carriers to Great Britain, or from 
 importing to us the goods of any other Euro- 
 pean country, and, at the fame time, encou- 
 raged a feminary for a national marine. " It is 
 •• : not impollible, (fays Dr. Smith) confider- 
 
 tions and revifals. By 14 Car. II. c. xi. three frefli claufes 
 were added; and again, by 15 Car. II. c. vii. it was 
 confirmed by proclamation. In 1685 it laid five (hillings 
 per ton on all foreign fhips employed in our coal trade, 
 and other regulations were added by 1 Jac. II. c, xviii. — ■ 
 9 W. and M. c. xxii. and later ftatutes. 
 
 i u ing
 
 C 47 ] 
 " ing upon what inimical terms we then were 
 " with Holland, that Tome of its regulations 
 " may have proceeded from national animoiity, 
 " though they are as wife as if they had all 
 " been di&ated by the mod deliberate wif- 
 " dom." * Its wifdom however has been un- 
 accountably called in queftion, by fome of 
 thofe reftlefs fpirits, whofe glory it is, in all 
 ages, to cavil at the moft prudent acts of Go- 
 vernment. Their objections are founded on 
 the example of France, whofe policy it has 
 ever been to conned herfelf as much as pomble 
 with neutral nations. This ftep, it is faid, 
 may at firft feem impolitic, becaufe (he employs 
 fuch nations as the carriers and factors of her 
 trade ; but hence arifes the advantage. In 
 time of hoftilities ihe is enabled to convert her 
 merchant (hips into private mips of war ; and, 
 by leaving her trade in the hands of neutral 
 powers, whatever flie lofes in Freight is thus 
 made up by the faving of Infurance. But this 
 reafoning fhould never convince us that it can 
 be for the real intereft of any commercial coun- 
 try to encourage a fyftem of maritime neutra- 
 lities, by entrufting the conveyance of her 
 trade to foreigners ; for, in proportion as that 
 
 * Wtaltb of NatwHs, Vol. II. 3, IV. c. ii, 
 
 trade
 
 I 48 J 
 
 trade increafes, the positive and relative ftrength 
 of a ftatc muft be diminifhed in favour of her 
 rivals. To this may be added, another radical 
 evil in fuch a meafure : It renders the manu- 
 factures of a country in fo great a degree fub- 
 fervient to the humour of ftrangers, that the 
 revenue and reiburces of the Itate that fells will 
 be, in fome of their moft productive branches, 
 totally in the power of the ftate that navigates. 
 A nation, in fhort, which is dependent upon 
 another for the exportation of its fuperiiuities, 
 not only gives up the regulation of its own 
 markets, but relies on others, both for the 
 quantity and price of foreign commodities, 
 Herein confifts the difference between what has 
 been called an attive and a fajfive trade ; the 
 former of which diftiiiguiihes the mercantile 
 fyftem of Holland, from that of all other 
 ilates, whether ancient or modern ; and it is 
 chiefly with a view to the iuperior advantages 
 of fuch a trade, that the bed writers on poli- 
 tical and commercial matters, fince the publi- 
 cation of this Act of Navigation, have agreed 
 in their opinions of its merit. Sir Josiah 
 Child afferts, that " without it we 'had not 
 been owners of one half the (hipping nor trade, 
 nor employed one half the feamen which we did 
 in his tinie/- not more than thirty years from 
 
 its
 
 [ 49 ] 
 
 its pafiing. * What opinion the Dutch enter- 
 tained of it may be gathered, not only from 
 the earneftnefs with which their plenipotenti- 
 aries at Breda contended for its repeal, -j* but 
 from a confefhon of one of the ableft politi- 
 cians in their Republic, who fays, " by the 
 " politic act parTed in England, in the year 
 " 1660, it is much to be feared that the Eng- 
 " lifh merchants will in time carry away a 
 " great part of the Dutch trade." J And after- 
 wards, fpeaking of the comparative ftate of the 
 two countries — " Since the prohibition of im- 
 porting any goods in foreign mips into Eng- 
 land, except fuch as are of the growth and ma- 
 nufacture of the country to which thofe (hips 
 belong, all our navigation to that kingdom is 
 at a (land," § Davenant afTerts, that in the 
 year 1688, the tonnage of our mercantile (hip- 
 ping was almoft double its quantity in the year 
 1666, owing to the falutary operation of the 
 Navigation- Act ; f| and fo dazzled was the na- 
 
 * Difcourfe of Trade, ch. iv. concerning the AH of Navi- 
 gation, p. 1, which feems to contain a complete anfwer to 
 mod of the objections, then and fince raifed againft it. 
 
 •j- Collection of Treaties, V. I. p. 196. 
 
 X De Witt'j Inter ejl of Holland, Part I. ch. xxii. 
 
 § De Witt, Part II. ch. viii, 
 
 )| Political Works, B. II. p. 29. 
 
 E tion
 
 [ 50 ] 
 tion by this rapid afcenfion and inCreafing 
 fplendour of trade, that the writers of 
 that time conceived the commercial profpe- 
 rky of England to be in its zenith. * A 
 particular revolution, effected by the Act in 
 queilion, is very well remarked by the Author 
 of the Wealth of Nations. He obferves, that 
 " fince its eftablifhment the Colony trade has 
 " been continually increasing, while many 
 " other branches of foreign trade, efpecially 
 u of that to other parts of Europe, have been 
 " continually decaying. Our manufactures for 
 " foreign fale, inftead of being fuited, as be- 
 " fore the Act, to the neighbouring market of 
 " Europe, or to the more diftant one of the 
 " countries which lie round the Mediterranean 
 " fea, have, the greater part of them, been 
 " accommodated to the ftill more diftant one of 
 " the colonies, to the market in which they have 
 " the monopoly, rather than to that in which 
 " they have many competitors." -j- Upon this 
 ground, alfo, objections have been raifed, to 
 the expediency of continuing a law, which has 
 not only thus diverted a copious ftream out of 
 its proper channel, but has drawn it from a fure 
 
 * Anderson, Hijl. Com. V. II. p. 187, 
 t V. II. B. IV. ch. viii.
 
 [ i) ] 
 
 and regular courfe, to one which is now become 
 at bed very precarious. * To fay nothing of 
 the weaknefs of the latter part of this aifer- 
 tion, which our increafing trade with America 
 now fufficiently demonftrates, it may be urged 
 againfl thefe obje&ors, that in political quef- 
 tions it is not always to be confidered only what 
 will increafe the wealth, but what will contribute 
 to the flrength and grandeur of a nation. Let 
 the Navigation -Act, then, be placed in this, its 
 proper light, and there are few, I believe, who 
 will be perverfe enough to deny that the naval 
 fpirit, fo peculiar to our country, is the off- 
 fpring of that ftatute ; " a ftatute (to ufe the 
 words of an excellent judge of its effects) 
 " which alone hath fortunately outweighed all 
 
 * Suggefted by thefe, and other principles of the fame 
 nature, a bill was lately depending in Parliament, for 
 laying open the trade between America and our Weft-India 
 Iflands. The object fought was the exclufive trade of 
 America ; the effect to be produced, among many other 
 evils, would probably have been, the eftablifhment of their 
 marine upon the ruins of our own. On this fubject con- 
 fult Lord Sheffield'* Ohf creations on the Commerce of the 
 American States, efpecially p. 158 et feq. et 295 et feq. 
 It is a work which cannot be too flrongly recommended to 
 the ferious attention of every well-wifher to the manufac- 
 tures, trade, and maritime power of Great Britain. 
 
 E 2 " our
 
 [ 5* ] 
 
 " our other follies and extravagancies. Though 
 " condemned by fome hiflorians, and unnoticed 
 Ci by others, it hath proved the fertile fource of all 
 " our naval power, hath operated infenfibly to 
 " our prefervation, and been the fpring from 
 " whence hath flowed the wealth and greatnefs 
 " of England." * Of this, therefore, as of the 
 allowed confequence of that fpirit, which be- 
 came generally diffufed among the people, by 
 the Act of Navigation, I mail now take a fum- 
 mary view. 
 
 Were we to attempt to form our opinions of 
 the (late of England's manufactures and com- 
 merce, from the Revolution to the opening of 
 the prefent century, upon the fole authorities 
 of political writers at thofe times, it would 
 be a tafk of great difficulty. Few periods can 
 furnim more linking contrails of political fenti- 
 ment. On one fide we are prefented with warm 
 and encouraging proofs of national profperity, 
 on the other, with difmal calculations of de- 
 creafing wealth, and forebodings of general 
 infolvency. We are now, by the molt au- 
 thentic documents, convinced that the flatter- 
 ing fide of the picture was drawn by the cor- 
 
 * Jenkikson'j Dlfcourfi', &c. prefixed to his Treaties, 
 p. xxix. 
 
 4. reel
 
 [ Si ] 
 
 reel hand of experience, while the oppofite was 
 nothing more than the hafiy reiult of defpond- 
 ing theory. * The war which terminated in 
 the Peace of Ryfwick, was certainly very oppref- 
 five to the foreign trade of this country, and, 
 as Mr. Chalmers has ftated from the firft 
 authority, had depreffed it in the year 1694 to 
 a very low pitch, -f- but from that time to the 
 conclufion of the war, it feems gradually to 
 have revived. During thefe convulfions, how- 
 ever, domeftic traffic, and the interefts of ge- 
 neral commerce, were daily gathering that 
 ftrength and elafhicity which foon enabled them 
 to throw off their incumbent weight, and to 
 rife to a point unknown to any former period. 
 Many new manufactories were eftablifhed, and 
 many old ones revived ; in mofl of which, the 
 fltill of the French refugees, united with our 
 native induflry, now feemed to promife the 
 highefl perfection. The opening of a national 
 bank greatly promoted the circulations of capi- 
 tals, and foreign fifheries afforded a new femi- 
 
 * Polexfen'j Difcourfc on Trade, Coin, and Paper Cre- 
 dits" Davenant'j Difcourfe on Trade in 1698. 
 
 f An Eftimate of the comparative Jtrcngtb of Great Bri- 
 tain, &c. p. 62. 
 
 E 3 nary
 
 C 54 ] 
 nary for our marine. * During the fhort fpace 
 of four years, from the Peace of Ryfwick to 
 the acceflion. of Queen Anne, the rapid im- 
 provement of our national revenue is remark- 
 ably flriking. In lefs than four days two mil- 
 lion fterling was fubfcribed, and there were per- 
 fons ready to fubfcribe as much more. " Till 
 " that time," fays Anderson, " there had ne- 
 " ver been fo illuflrious an inftance of England's 
 " opulence. And after fo expenfive a war, 
 iC what an riigh idea mud fuch a circumftance 
 " have given foreigners ot the wealth and gran- 
 " deur of this country !" -f; Yet, notwithiland- 
 jng this affertion, founded on documents the 
 moil incontrovertible, namely, the Papers of 
 various Public Offices, and the Cuftom-Houfe 
 Books, together with many collateral confir- 
 mations, there were not wanting malignant and 
 
 * Jos. Gee's Trade and Navigation of Great Britain, edit. 
 1755, p. 5. At the Revolution the value of our annual 
 exports was 4,086,0871, In the year 1694, in confequence 
 of the war, it funk below the amount at the Reitoration, 
 which was 2,043,0431. and, though at the peace of Ryft 
 wick in 1697, it had greatly recovered, yet it did not equal 
 the amount at the beginning of the war. 
 
 ■f Hifiory of Commerce, V. II. p. 223. At the peace of 
 Ryfwick, the value of our exports was 37525,9071. in 
 1701, 6,045,432!. 
 
 wrong-
 
 [ 55- ] 
 
 wrong-headed men, who, as in the former 
 reign, reprefented the trade of the nation to be 
 in a precarious and expiring ftate. * " Such 
 " proceedings," fays the elegant Eftimator of 
 the Strength of Great Britain, a caft ajuft cenfure 
 " on the furious party contefls, during the laft 
 Si years of Queen Anne, in refpect to the con- 
 " dition of our commerce ; as if the profpe- 
 fc rity or the ruin of manufactories and trade, 
 (i were influenced by the continuance of ftatef- 
 " men in the pofTefiion or in the expectation of 
 " emoluments and power." -f The contefls here 
 principally alluded to, are thofe which broke 
 out in confequence of the Propofals made in the 
 Negotiations at Utrecht for a Commercial treaty 
 with France. This event has been lately fo 
 often alluded to by party writers, on each fide 
 of the queftion, and is fo clofeiy connected 
 with our prefent fubjecl:, that I fhall make no 
 apology for introducing fome particulars of it. 
 And to this I am the more willingly led, be- 
 caufe, among all their mafs of materials, I 
 have not been able to collect any account of 
 the tranfa&ion fufficiently difpaflionate to be 
 
 * W. Wood'j Survey of Trade. See particularly the vilt 
 Dedication to King George I. p. 9. 
 
 f Chalmers's E/ii mate, &c. p. 84, 
 
 E 4 either
 
 [ 56 ] 
 
 either faithful or confident. Upon the recollec- 
 tion of fome circumflances which have been 
 ftated about the refpective fituations of France 
 and England, at the latter end of the laft cen- 
 tury, their flouriihing trade, flill in the remem- 
 brance of our people, the infant ftate of many of 
 our mod valuable manufactures, together with 
 thofe illiberal prejudices, and impolitic jealoulles, 
 which fettered commerce with heavy duties and 
 prohibitions, it will not feem furprifing that any 
 negotiation between the two countries on the 
 foot of reciprocal advantage, fhould, in the 
 year. 17 13, have been an alarming and unpopu- 
 lar meafure. 
 
 For the origin of the tranfaction we muft go 
 back to the year 1709, when the Earl of 
 Sunderland directed the Commiflioners of 
 Trade and Plantations to confider on a Treaty of 
 Commerce with France ; and a correfpondence 
 was accordingly opened between fome of the firfl 
 merchants, in each nation. Mr. St. John, after- 
 wards Lord Bolingbroke, was very affiduous 
 in this bufinefs ; and, upon the reprefenta- 
 tions of thefe merchants, and the written refult 
 of this correfpondence, he drew up a rough 
 draught of a marine treaty, and laid it before 
 the Houfe of Commons in 171 1. It was by 
 
 them
 
 [ 57 ] 
 them tranfmitted to a committee of merchants, 
 and upon their opinion and revifion it was made 
 the bafis of the Utrecht negotiation.* Many 
 claufes are faid to have been copied from the in- 
 effectual propofitions made at Ryfwick, and were 
 for the mod part of a general nature ; tending 
 to adjufl the forms and conditions of commerce 
 and navigation, agreeable to thofe rules of 
 univerfal equity, which the maritime States of 
 Europe had for fome time agreed in adopting, 
 for their mutual convenience. Had the Treaty 
 contained nothing more than this, it would have 
 palled without a murmur ; but there were, un- 
 fortunately, two Articles, which feemed to 
 ftrike at the root of our national wealth and com- 
 merce. The former of which in general terms 
 'placed France and Great Britain in a commercial 
 relation to each other, on the foot of the mofl 
 favoured nations ; the latter more particularly 
 fpecified the nature and extent of thofe terms ; 
 flipulating, among other things, that no more 
 cuftoms or duties be paid for goods and merchandizes 
 brought from France to Great Britain, than what 
 are payable for goods and merchandizes of the like 
 nature imported into Great Britain, from any other 
 country in Europe. 'That all laws made in Great 
 
 * Journals of the Houfe of Commons, Vol. XVII. p. 347. 
 
 Britain
 
 [ 58 ] 
 Britain fine e the year 1664, for prohibiting the 
 
 importation of any goods and merchandizes, coming 
 from France, which are not prohibited before that 
 time, be repealed \ and that the general tariff made 
 in France in the year 1 664, take place there again, 
 and the duties payable in France by the fubjecJs of 
 Great Britain, for goods imported and exported, 
 be paid according to the tenor of the tariff above- 
 mentioned, with an exception however to certain 
 merchandizes, thai is to fay, manufaclures of wool 9 
 fugar,falted fiflj, and the producl of whales,* The 
 Treaty containing thefe articles was figned at 
 Utrecht on the lad day of March, was ratified 
 by the Queen, and publifhed by Royal Autho- 
 rity in the month of April 1713. On the 14th 
 of May it was moved in the Houfe of Commons 
 for leave to bring in "A Bill to make effectual 
 "the 8th and 9th Articles of the Treaty," 
 which was carried by a majority of 252 votes, 
 againft 130, and it was accordingly ordered for 
 the 30th of the fame month, j An order was at 
 the fame time made for an exact ftatement of 
 the whole amount of imports and exports of the 
 woollen manufacture with France, and with 
 
 * Art. 8 and 9. Jen kin son's CoUcfiion of Treaties, Vol. 
 II. p. 45. 
 
 % Journals of the Houfe of Commons, Vol. XVII. p. 352, 
 and the following. 
 
 Portugal,
 
 [ 59 ] 
 Portugal, from 1668 to 1669, and alfo of the 
 wines of France and Portugal, imported into 
 London and the Out-ports during 16 years, 
 namely, from 1696 to 1712, to be delivered 
 into the Houfe.* No fooner was the bill made 
 public, than a univerfal clamour was raifed 
 againfl it by the merchants and manufacturers. 
 Petitions, Memorials, and Remonftrances were 
 fent from all quarters of the kingdom. The 
 Turkey Company, the Companies of Hudfon's 
 Bay, and of Eaft and Weft India;']; the cloth, 
 filk, and woollen manufacturers took the alarm, 
 and it at laft became lb general, that not only 
 the principal towns and trading companies in 
 Great Britain, but even our Factories at Ham- 
 burgh and Portugal fent their Remonftrances 
 to Parliament.-}- National jealoufy had been 
 
 * Commons Journals, Vol. XVII. p. 365, and the follow* 
 
 ing, wherein may be feen the various ftatements. 
 
 I Commons Journals, Vol. XVII. paflim from p. 350, 
 
 f The alarm of the Eaft-India Company arofe from that 
 part of the 9th Article which ftipulated in favour of goods 
 and merchandizes of Great Britain to be imported into France. 
 They confidered themfelves as excluded the benefit of this 
 claufe, unlefs the favour were extended to the produce of 
 other countries, to be imported into France, in Englifh mips. 
 Their fears, however, were appeafed by a promifethat fuch 
 an amendment mould be propofed. 
 
 2 awakened,
 
 [ 6o ] 
 .wakened, and the minds of the people prepared 
 to reject any overtures for mutual advantages of" 
 trade with France, by a Bill which was brought 
 into Parliament at the opening of that Seflion, 
 for fuf pending for two months the duty of 25L 
 per ton on French Wines imported, and which 
 had produced a very fpirited Memorial from the 
 Portuguefe Envoy, declaring, in the name of his 
 royal mailer, that " in cafe the fubject of the 9th 
 " article of the Treaty mould be confirmed by 
 " Parliament, and the Wines of France be 
 " brought down to a level with thofe of Por- 
 " tugal, he would immediately lay a prohibition 
 " on all Englifh goods imported to his coun- 
 " try."* Though of courfe eachfeparate petition, 
 &c. drew its argument of complaint from the 
 probable injury which that clafs of men, by 
 whom it was prefented, were likely to fufFer ; 
 there was little variety in the general fub- 
 fxance and tendency of the objections. It was 
 urged, that Parliament, by pamng the Bill, 
 ■70 iSTd nor only take the regulation of the 
 balance of trade out of their own hands, but 
 alio would grant, advantages to France, without 
 an equal return ; that, by her connection with 
 
 * A Hiftory and Dcfmce of the late ParUame?it^ publifhed 
 in 1713, p. 233. 
 
 Spain,
 
 C 61 ] 
 
 Spain, and the fuperior convenience of her ports, 
 (lie could procure fome of the mod valuable 
 articles on much more eafy terms than En glim 
 traders could, and the price of labour being two 
 thirds lower than in England, they could work 
 up their materials cheaper, and confequently 
 could underfell them in every market. Thus, 
 in the firft inftance, they mull lofe the trade of 
 Spain, Italy, and Turkey, in which their Woollens 
 alone had brought in, for many years pad, an 
 annual revenue of 326,000k* That, befides 
 this lofs, the trade to Portugal, to the amount of 
 6oo,oool. per ann. muft fall, for it was clear that 
 country would never confent to admit it on 
 terms lefs advantageous to her than the Treaty 
 of 1703,'i: which would be groflly violated by 
 reducing the duties on French wines, to the fame 
 
 * In The Flying Pofi, a newfpaper at the beginning of 
 this century, a writer, who figns himfelf — " A Dealer in 
 " Woollens and Linens," fays, " In King William's war I 
 " fold much Englilh woollen and linen, made in imitation 
 M of French ; but in the late interval of peace, finding the 
 " fale flacken, I imported French, paying the prefent high 
 M duties for every piece, and fold it to fo good profit, that 
 " I totally quitted the Englifh." No. 3402, July 18, 1713. 
 
 J King, in his Dedication of The Englljh Merchant to 
 Paul Methuen, aflerts, that the exports to Portugal, in 
 confequence of this Treaty, were in his time from 500,0001, 
 to 1,500,0001, per ann. 
 
 rate
 
 [ 62 J 
 rate with thofe of Portugal.* That from thefe 
 confiderations, and fome others which were 
 ftated, the manufactories of woollen and filks, 
 juft growing into ftrength, would be particularly 
 checked and diminifhed, by which an immenfe 
 dumber of hands would be thrown out of em- 
 ployment, and thus the landed interefl receive a 
 fevere blow by thefudden increafe of the poor.;}; 
 Beiide thefe complaints from the mercantile 
 parts of the kingdom, fcarce a day parTed with- 
 out fome Pamphlet, either in opposition to, or 
 in defence of, the Articles ; the principal of 
 thefe were Mercator and the Examiner in fupport 
 of the Bill, which were anfwered by the other 
 party in a paper called The Britijh Merchant y or 
 Commerce preserved, -f* 
 
 On the 30th of May, the Bill was read for 
 the firft time, and the 4th of- June was named 
 for the fecond reading ; it was then referred to 
 a Committee of the whole Houfe for amend- 
 ment and revifion. Many days were employed 
 in infpecting the accounts given in, purfuant to 
 
 * Art. 2. Colle&lon of 'Treaties, Vol. I. p. 353. 
 
 J See the different Petitions, &c. in the Commons Journals, 
 Vol. XVII. 
 
 f This laft Paper has iince been collected and publifhcd 
 in 3 vols. 8vo. 
 
 order,
 
 [ 6 3 ] 
 
 order, from the Cuflom-Houfe books, and in 
 examining merchants and manufacturers; at 
 laft, on the 18th, the queftion being put, Whe- 
 ther the Bill, as amended by the Committee, 
 Ihould be engrofTed, " A debate arofe (fays 
 *' a political writer of that time) perhaps of the 
 <c greater! importance to this kingdom, of any 
 Ce that has happened in Parliament fince that of 
 " the Abdication"* Among the principal 
 fpeakers againft it v$N General Stanhope, 
 who, after much ftrone and pointed reafoning, 
 entered into a fort or comment on the prohi- 
 bitory Act of ChafjH II. already mentioned. -f 
 He was feconded : ;v Sir Peter King, Mr. 
 Gould, Mr. Hampden, and, above all, by 
 Sir T. Hanmer, whofe conduct in this bufi- 
 nefs reflects fuch high honour on his integrity, 
 that it deferves to be particularly remembered. 
 Before he had heard the fentiments of the peo- 
 ple, mod interefted in its fate, he gave his vote 
 in favour of the Bill ; but his apprehenfions for 
 the trade, the manufactures, and the landed in- 
 tereft of his country being now alarmed, by the 
 numerous and prefling remonftrances againfl it, 
 
 ■ Hijlory and Defence of the late Parliament, in the year 
 I7J3, p. 243. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 4.3. See alfo Grey's Delates, Vol. V* p. 34. 
 
 he
 
 [ 6+ ] 
 
 he was not afhamed of correcting his opinion. 
 After a long and very elaborate diicuflion of 
 the fubject, and a review of all the grand argu- 
 ments, both within doors and without, which 
 had been urged on each fide, he concluded : — 
 " While I have the honour to fit in this Houfe, 
 " I will never be blindly led by any miniftry, 
 " nor be biaffed by what might weigh with 
 " others — the fear of loling their elections. 
 " The principles on which I act are, the in- 
 " tereft of my country, and the conviction of 
 " my judgment, and on thefe two confidera-. 
 " tions alone I am againft the Bill." * Mr. 
 Arthur Moore, who was laid to have been 
 chiefly employed in conducting the Treaty, 
 was the leading fpeaker for the Bill. After 
 very warm debates, which lafted from three 
 o'clock in the afternoon, till eleven at night, it 
 
 * Sir T. Hanmer was, in the following year, elected 
 Speaker of the Houfe ; and, on his introduction, was com- 
 plimented by Sir Richard Steele, in a fpeech, which 
 ended with thefe words. — " It is a demonftration, that the 
 41 Bill of Commerce was a moft pernicious Bill, and no man 
 " can have fo great merit to this nation, at this time as he, 
 u by whofe weight and authority that pernicious Bill was 
 " thrown out. I rife up to do him honour, and, in fome 
 " meafure, to diftinguifh myfelf by giving my vote for 
 " that, his ineftimable fcrvice to his country." Grey's 
 Debates, Vol. V. p. 40. 
 
 was
 
 C H 1 
 
 thrown out by a majority of 194 to 185, 
 tc Thus by nine votes/' fays the Hiftorian of 
 that Parliament, " did the trade of Great Bri~ 
 " tain, and all its manufactures, efcape the 
 " mGft fatal blow that ever w r as aimed at it."* 
 It may not be unamulmg to know what effect 
 this ejectment of a Bill, which had created fuch 
 a ferment> produced on the commercial and 
 manufacturing part of the kingdom. Informa- 
 tion of this fort cannot be had with greater 
 marks of certainty than from the newfpapers of 
 thofe times j for, till the fpirit of party wasfuf- 
 fered to creep in and debafe their authority, 
 newfpapers might be confidered as faithful chro- 
 nicles of popular opinion, and national manners; 
 " The laft pod from Somerfetfhire/' fays one 
 of them, " brings advice, that, as foon as the 
 ' c great cloathing town of Froome had the news 
 " that the Bill was thrown out of the Houfe, 
 " the clothiers, and others, concerned in the 
 u woollen manufactory, made extraordinary re- 
 iC joicings, with ringing bells^ bonfires, illumi- 
 t( nations, and drinking loyal healths to the 
 u Queen's Majefty, and the fuccertion of the 
 " illuftrious Houfe of Hanover." -f In the 
 
 * Hijiory and Defence of the late Parliament, p. 247, 
 f Flying Pof, No. 3392, June 25, 1713. 
 
 F next
 
 [ 66 ] 
 
 next number is a letter from Canterbury, which 
 fays — " with joy we hear, that on Thurfday laft/ 
 " the 18th, of June, 194 Patriots did by their 
 94 refolution fave many thoufands of poor fami- 
 " lies, amongft the woollen, linen, and filk 
 " manufactures, from utter ruin." * Such are 
 the accounts from the weft and eaft, which agree 
 exactly with what was heard on the occalion 
 from the central and northern parts of the king- 
 dom. A letter from Coventry calls the eject- 
 ment of the Bill, The glorious Negative ; and, 
 after much more in the fame ftrain, this poft- 
 fcript is added. " Great inquiries are making 
 66 how our two members voted on this grand 
 " queftion ;" **}- a hint which fufficiently explains 
 Sir T. Hanmer's allufion, and, which, at the 
 enfuing canvafs for the new Parliament, was 
 very generally taken. Among other inftances 
 of this, at the end of an advertifement for the 
 election of members for the county of SufTex, 
 
 * Flying Poft, No. 3393, June 27. 
 
 •j- No. 3394» June 30. As a fpecimen of popular wag- 
 gery at that time, we are told, that " a long pole, with 
 * two forks, bearing a fleece of wool and a bottle, was 
 44 carried about with thcfe infcriptions — No Englijh wool 
 u fat- French wines—Hemp for all thofe who want to foak 
 f* their Jieeces in claret— No change of fiaple for fpirits" 
 
 2 W§
 
 [ 67 ] 
 
 we are directed, in large capitals, to remark, 
 that Hen. Champion, Efq. who oppofes the 
 two worthy Gentlemen, nominated herein, voted 
 for the Bill of Commerce with Fravce.' * The 
 anxiety previous to the iflue of this event, and 
 the joy on its declaration, were not confined to 
 this Ifland ; our factories, both in the Levant 
 and in Portugal, while the Bill was pending, 
 had feconded their petitions, by procuring leave 
 for fome of the principal members of their re- 
 fpe&ive companies, to be admitted into the 
 mercantile committees, and afterwards to fpeak 
 in their behalf at the bar of the Houfe. -f- Their 
 joy on receiving the news of its ejectment was 
 extravagant, and many days were pafTed in 
 feftivity and congratulations, j 
 
 Thefe particulars, relative to a part of hiftory 
 to which many imperfect allufions have lately 
 
 * No. 342 t, Sept. 1. 
 
 f See the Examination of Torriano, an Italian Mer» 
 chant. Journals, Vol. XVII. 
 
 I A Letter from Lifbon, which mentions their rejoicings, 
 fubjoins a curious fact. " Their zeal here for the eject- 
 ** ment of the Bill is very extraordinary, for the balance 
 t; of trade with your country is certainly much againft 
 ** Portugal, who has entailed beggary on her pofterity by 
 *' the Metbuen-Treaty ; at the making of which, in one blow, 
 " 100 looms were ruined in one Province." Flying Pofi > 
 No. 3415. July 17, 1713. 
 
 F a £>eert
 
 [ 68 ] 
 been made, I have ftated from the bed autho- 
 rities, and in the plained manner I was able. 
 Such reflections as have been fuggefted bv 
 them, fall more properly into the other part of 
 this work ; but even there it is fubmitted to 
 better judgments to decide how far this event 
 is applicable or not to the bufinefs now before 
 the nation.* I now proceed with the review 
 of England's commerce. 
 
 Though 
 
 * It may be remarked, that thefe very articles in the 
 Utrecht Treaty, which raifed fuch a ferment in the nation, 
 and caufed fo much joy when thrown out of Parliament, 
 were looked upon, by the Negotiators, in the light of a 
 great conceflion Of France, in confidcration of the Englifh 
 Minifter having given up to her the right of Fifliery at 
 Newfoundland : But perhaps hiftory cannot fhew ftronger 
 inftances of chicanery and fineiTe, than were exhibited by 
 France through the whole of this memorable negotiation; 
 or, on the other hand, more linking proofs of the ill effects 
 of bringing party prejudices into public bufinefs. This, 
 among many others in the fame collection, is fhewn by the 
 following letter from Lord Bolingbroke to Mr. Prior, 
 " Let France depart — the fhameful expedient by which fhe 
 "thought to bubble us, and all is well ; otherwife, by G-d 7 
 " both they and we are undone. So my Comps. to M. De. 
 " Torcy, and let him know, that if they do not agree with 
 "the Queen, I may be a refugee. Do pray make the 
 " French afhamed of their fneaking chicane. By heaven ! 
 " they treat like pedlars, or, which is worfe, like Attornies/' 
 
 Ses
 
 t 6 9 5 
 
 Though the reign of George I. be not re- 
 markable for the profperity either of our foreign 
 or domeftic trade, yet fome fuccefsful exertions 
 were then made, the good effects of which be- 
 came vifible in the fucceeding reign. The Treaty 
 cf Aix la Chap elle in 1668, had eftablilhed a good 
 underflanding between England and Spain, 
 which, in its confequences, proved highly fervice- 
 able to our commerce. Upon this foundation 
 was raifed a very advantageous Treaty, in the 
 year 17 15, which, notwithstanding the war that 
 broke out three years after, laid open fome chan- 
 nels of foreign trade which have never lince been 
 entirely clofed.* The great relief of duties on 
 the exportation of Britifli manufactures, J the 
 improvements in the iron, brafs, copper, and 
 filk works, and the liberal bounties for the 
 encouragement of our Fiiheries, are events 
 which more than compenfate for thofe mad and 
 fatal delufions, which deform this asra of our 
 
 Sec a Report of the Committee of Secrecy to the Hottfe of Com* 
 mons, June 9th, 1 7 1 5, p. 38, 39, and in the Appendix to the 
 Report, No. XXII. XXIII. efpecially Lord Bolingbroke's 
 Letter to De Torcy. 
 
 . • Treaties of Peace, Vol.1, p. 195.— Vol. II, p. 173. 
 
 + 8 Geo. I. c. ir. 
 
 commer- 
 F'3
 
 [ ?o ] 
 
 commercial hiftory.* Too much caution can-. 
 not be ufed in reading the political writings in 
 the reign which followed, when tc not to be 
 corrupted was the fhame." In this reign 
 the meaner! artifices of itatecraft and faction 
 were oppofed to each other ; and, in queflions 
 of the hlgheft moment, were furfered to ufurp 
 the place of honefl arguments, and rational 
 deductions. We cannot have a more convincing 
 proof of this., than by com oaring a very popular 
 work at that day, On the Caufes cf the Decline 
 cf foreign 'Trade, written by Sir Matthew 
 Decker, with the refuk cf an accurate com- 
 putation m Anderson's J lift cry of Commerce \ 
 difpafllonately drawn from the moil authentic 
 fource. By Decker we are told, that c( under 
 '" the preffure of public debts and taxes, with 
 €i languishing manufactories, and land every 
 " day finking in its value, it is not pohible for 
 " this country long to hold the competition with 
 V her neighbours. 'M; By Anderson it appears, 
 that, juft before the war of 1739, there was every 
 fymptom of public profperity— Lands at a high 
 
 * The annual amount cf our exports at the peae'e of 
 Utrecht was '6,868,4801. At "the death of George I. in 
 2727, it was 7,591,7391. 
 
 I Quarto Edit. p. 37, 46, ^, 
 
 price,
 
 C 71 3 
 
 iprice, and improving — Much induftry and em* 
 ployment — A regular intereft upon money at 
 
 three per cent, Public credit high, and the 
 
 tonnage on the commercial (hipping, which, in 
 the beginning of the century, was reckoned at 
 273,693 tons, and had increafed at the acceffion 
 of Geo. L to 444,843 tons, but at the clofe of 
 his reign, had funk to 432,832 tons, flood in 
 the year 1738, at 476,941 tons.* In the year 
 1728 and 1729, Great Britain had formed 
 Treaties which proved very beneficial to feveral 
 branches of her commerce, by procuring a vent for 
 thofe capitals which had fortunately efcaped the 
 general wreck of project in the preceding reign, 
 and which otherwife might have overcharged 
 fome of the old channels of foreign trade. % The 
 war which broke out in 1739, and continued for 
 upwards of nine years, at the fame time that k 
 
 s 
 * Hifi. of Commerce, Vol. II. p. 321, 322. See alfo, in the 
 
 flxain of Complaint, Conf derations on the prefent State of 
 
 Affairs, by Lord Lyttleton, publifhed in 1738. 
 
 % Collection of Treaties, V. II. p. 30, and the following. 
 During the three firft years of the reign of Geo. II. the 
 amount of exports was in round numbers, 789,7391. on 
 the annual average; whereas from 1736 to 1739, the period 
 of impending ruin, it rofe to 9,993,2321. a ^difference of more 
 than two millions in favour of this unfortunate aera, 
 
 F 4 gave
 
 t r- 3 
 
 gave a check to commerce, afforded am pi? 
 proof, in the national exertions which it excited, 
 how much our naval and commercial ftrength, 
 as well as internal refqurces, had been mifrepre? 
 fented ; and, in the fhort interval of peace which 
 fucceeded, trade not only recovered its former 
 level, but role to a point of ftill higher eleva- 
 tion.* Thefe are now undifputed teftimonies 
 of increafmg opulence ; yet there were then, as 
 in preceding times, able writers, who in bold 
 and pointed terms, pronounced the nation to be 
 on the verge of bankruptcy. + Among the many 
 
 alarms, 
 
 * During the war of 1739, the exports had funk to 
 8,870,499!. At the breaking out of the war of 1755, after 
 fcarcely a feven year's peace, they had rilen to 12,599,1 12I. 
 Mr. Chalmers obferves, that "on looking over a table of 
 •' trade, it appears, that the year of profound peace which 
 li immediately fucceeds a war, always furniihes a great 
 *' exportation, becaufe every merchant makes hafte to be 
 *l rich." He inflances the years 1698, 1 7 1 4, 1749, 1764^ 
 J 784, as epochs of great relative commerce. FJiimate y 
 &c. p. 2 f 4, and his Chronological Talk of Commerce, oppofjte 
 p. 207. 
 
 t Lord Bolingbrokc's Confederations on the State of the 
 Nation. But this " all-accomplifhed fhtefman" had been 
 then too long withdrawn from public life, to form accurate 
 notions on fuch matters, and his peculiar fuuation naturally 
 fuggefted fplenetic ones. See alfo Doddington's Diary, 
 March 1749, S°> and in the following years, 
 
 It
 
 C 73 1 
 
 alarms, which it was the fafhion of the times to 
 excite on commercial topics, may be reckoned 
 the revival of manufactures and trade in Spain, 
 which a few years before had given rife to de- 
 fpondency and political invective. There was, 
 indeed, fome ground for the original report. 
 When the romantic Duke deRipperda fuc- 
 ceededthecautiousALBERONiasminifterinSpain, 
 he found, itisfaid, among that ftatefman's papers, 
 loofe memorandums of ichemes for the increafe of 
 population, and the promotion of national in- 
 duftry. Struck with the general idea, he employ- 
 ed himfelf, with the afliftance of fome principal 
 merchants, in digefting a regular plan for that 
 purpofe. A Committee was formed to confider 
 on the beft means to recover the trade anc}. 
 manufactures of the country. Workmen and 
 artificers were invited from all parts of Europe. 
 Many clothiers and lhip-carpenters were allured 
 over from England ; and France loft fome of 
 her beft artifts from Lyons. At Segovia and 
 Gaudalaxara, great woollen manufactories were 
 eftablifhed, and the filk-looms of Valencia, 
 
 It is worth remarking, that in the year 1754, by the 
 ' fpirit and liberality of Lord Folkstone, Lord Rom net 
 and Dr. Steph. Hales, the London Society ', for the e?icou~ 
 rag€7iicnt of Arts, Manufactures^ and Commerce in Great' 
 Britain^ was firft eftablifhed, 
 
 Murcia,
 
 t 74 ] 
 
 Murcia, and Catalonia, already threatened to 
 rival thole in the neighbouring provinces of 
 France. In fhort, were we to judge from a report 
 delivered in by a Spanifh Writer at that time, the 
 whole trade of Europe bad fair, in the courfe of 
 the prefent century, to fall into the hands of his 
 countrymen.* One fad however is certain, that 
 before the manufactory at Segovia had been 
 three years eftablifhed, the Duke clothed the 
 Spanifh troops from its looms, j But, in order 
 to bring thefe fchemes to maturity, the concur- 
 rence of the Sovereign was necefTary; for all 
 commercial concerns are, in Spain, under the 
 direction of the court ; and the principal part of 
 the royal revenue arifes from oppremve duties, 
 and exorbitant demands, both on the raw ma- 
 terials and the manufactures of the country. Till 
 thefe were removed, nothing effectual could 
 be done. This therefore proved an infur- 
 mountable obftacle ; for, as might be expected, 
 the Court abfolutely refufed to part with any 
 
 * Don Jeronimo de Uztariz, cited by Postle- 
 thwayte in his Commercial hit er eft of Great Britain, who 
 always diftinguifhes him by the name of the Patriot- 
 Spaniard, V. II. p. 464. 
 
 t Memoirs of the Duke de Ripperda, p. ico> and the 
 following pa^-es. 
 
 of
 
 [ 75 1 
 
 of its ancient claims ; on the contrary, it 
 began, in the true fpirit of Spanilh policy, to 
 exact heavy fubfidies from the newly-elecled 
 manufactories. The moft fanguine promoters 
 of the commercial reform were difcouraged, and, 
 in their difguft, having unguardedly indulged 
 themfelves in a liberty of fpeech little fuited to 
 an arbitrary government, they drew down the 
 difpleafure of the court, both on themfelves 
 and their projects. This, among other caufes 
 of difcontent, ended in Ripperda's difgrace 
 and baniihment, and totally extinguifhed all 
 hopes, that Spain would again become a weal- 
 thy and induftrious country.* 
 
 The war which broke out in the year 
 1755, neceflarily threw obftruclions in the 
 way of our foreign commerce, and for a time 
 damped the ardour of enterprize; yet, even 
 during this war, after the firft difficulties were 
 furmounted, trade feems to have recovered its 
 former tone; for in the year 1760 the value of 
 exported cargoes was considerably higher than 
 it had been in the laft year of the peace. The 
 Treaty which terminated the war in 1763, 
 
 * Memoirs, &c. p. 115. His manner of life, and his re- 
 flections on the reverfes of his fortune, in his banifhment at 
 Segovia, are worth confuitlng. 
 
 though
 
 C 76 3 
 
 though perhaps it did not hold forth fuch advarw 
 tages as from our fituation we might reafonably 
 have expected, yet gave fufficient freedom and 
 fcope to commercial enterprize. * Chalmers 
 here gives a very pleafing picture of our opu- 
 lence, and of the magnificent liberality of our 
 merchants, who, as he very juflly obferves, 
 Ci literally faved Europe from bankruptcy by 
 u the fuperiority of their wealth, and by 
 ' ' the dilintereflednefs of their fpirit.** -f- For 
 when all mercantile credit and confidence feem- 
 ed loft by the great failures at Hamburgh, Ber- 
 lin, and Holland, the Britifh merchants not 
 only gave as extenfive credit as ever to the un- 
 fortunate Houfes, but even fufpended the pay- 
 ment of their own acceptances, in order to re- 
 mit immenfe fums to relieve the diftrels of thofe 
 commercial cities, and the Bank of England, 
 when every bill of exchange was doubtful, 
 ftill continued to difcount them, j When 
 
 * In the laft year of the Peace, as we have already feen, 
 our export! were at 12,599,1121. In 1760 they amount- 
 ed to 14,693,2701. by one account, and by another to 
 14,694,9701. In 1763, at the Peace of Paris they role to 
 14,925,950, 
 
 f Efilmate^ &c. p. 117. 
 
 % Chalmers quotes a letter from the Bankers of Ham- 
 burgh to the Bankers of Amfterdam, in the Gentleman's 
 Magazine for the year 1765, p. 422. Eftimate % &c. p. 117. 
 
 this
 
 C 77 ] 
 
 this voluntary preiTure, fo honourable for a 
 nation to have fuftained, was removed, our 
 foreign and domeftic commerce expanded be- 
 yond the example of any former age or coun- 
 try. From the Peace of Paris to the com- 
 mencement of the late war, nothing was wanted 
 to animate and affift the genius of an active peo- 
 ple. Trade, manufactures, agriculture, and 
 every fubordinate department of induftry, were 
 promoted by the wife and patriotic regulations 
 of the Legiflature. Roads and canals were 
 forced over places before deemed impafTable. 
 Wades were enclofed, marines drained, cities 
 adorned, and various other means adopted to 
 facilitate and extend domeftic traffic. On the 
 other hand, by a prudent diftribution of im- 
 ports and bounties, many branches of manu- 
 factures were relieved, and carried to a point 
 of taite and refinement, which, notwithilanding 
 their fuperior price, has fecured to them fure 
 and extenfive markets. In ihort, were a period 
 demanded in which the balance of England's 
 trade was moil uniformly in its favour, this un- 
 doubtedly muft be named from i 764 to 1 774 ; 
 for in thefe ten years, the two trades of Spain 
 and Portugal only, netted to her a balance of 
 8,370,131!. Even during the late war, com- 
 merce
 
 c ?s 3 
 
 merce did not fufTer fo alarming a depreflion as 
 might have been expected from fuch an invete- 
 rate combination againft us. It appears (fays 
 Chalmers) that, through the whole courfe 
 of hoftilities, our traffic never loft its elaftic prin- 
 ciple. It had an evident tendency to rife in 
 1779, till the Spanifh war impofed an additional 
 burthen; there was a fimilar tendency in 1780, 
 when the Dutch war added in 178 1 no inconfi- 
 derable weight ; this year, therefore, marks the 
 loweil degree of its depreffion ; but in the fol- 
 lowing its vigour fprang up, and revived, and 
 at the clofe of the war exhibited happy fymp- 
 toms of that energy which is now every day 
 more vifibly and extensively exerted. * The 
 foregoing review of our commercial ftate at 
 different periods has no great claim to origina- 
 lity. Its chief merit in many parts is, that of 
 
 * EftimatC) &c. p. 143. In the four years which immedi- 
 ately precede the Colonial war, our exports were at the 
 average of 15,000,0001. and the net balance in favour of 
 Britim commerce was 3,884,844!. In 1781, our exports 
 had funk to 10,569,1871. In 1784 they were at 
 14,171,3751. It is a fact worth remarking, that in the war: 
 before laft our commerce was fo far from being embarrafled, 
 that merchants found it more for their intereft to employ 
 their capitals in foreign trade than in the Government 
 loans, to which the Dutch were the principal fubferibers, 
 but in the late war the cafe was very different. 
 
 being
 
 C 79 ] 
 
 being a Sketch after an admired work of an able 
 mailer. * 
 
 To correcl the pernicious influence of prin- 
 ciples which Difcontent fuggefts, and Faction 
 diffeminates, and to awaken a great, but too 
 eafily deluded people to a true fenfe of their 
 political confequence (efpecially in a nation 
 which has ever been remarked for an unac- 
 countable propenfity to look upon the gloomy 
 fide of events), is furely a laudable and patriotic 
 undertaking. Such is the object propofed by 
 the author, to whom I have fo often referred 
 in this latter part of my obfervations. Befide 
 the fatisfaction which the fcholar and politician 
 muft receive from works thus uniting authenti- 
 city of facts with elegance of language, " The 
 " Eltimateofthe comparative Strength of Great 
 
 * An EJlimate of the comparative Strength of Great Britain, 
 during tb° prefent and four preceding Reigns* Edit. 1786. By 
 George Chalmers* From the chronological Table of 
 Commerce infer ted in this work, I have, for the raoft part, 
 copied the grofs amount of our exports at different periods. 
 As it is vouched by him to be a faithful tranfcript from the 
 Ledger of the Inspector General, to which I had no 
 opportunities of referring, I apprehend it needs no corro- 
 borative proof of its fidelity. Eftimate, p. 218. N. B. I 
 have omitted the exports of Scotland throughout. They 
 appear, upon an average of years, to add about one milliorx 
 to the revenue, 
 
 Britain,
 
 C€ Britain, &c. M has this to recommend it at the 
 prefent hour, that the delineation it contains 
 of our commercial hiftory is as exhilarating ^ 
 it is faithful. To the name of Chalmers we 
 ought with gratitude to add thofe of Lord 
 Sheffield and Arthur Young, whofe talents, 
 are fuccefsfully exerted in fimilar works of 
 genuine patriotifm. * After giving an ac- 
 curate ftatement of our commercial fituation,- 
 Young breaks out in the following man- 
 ner — " An empire has. been rent afunder; 
 " a whole continent, {o peopled as to clafs at 
 •* prefent amongft the potentates of the world, 
 tc has been .detached from Great Britain ; and 
 <c that event, which was purchafed by the 
 " French, Spaniards, and Dutch, at an expence 
 u of probably more than a hundred and forty 
 " million flerling, as the fureft means of pul- 
 u ling down this country, has been fo far from 
 " having any fuch effect, that we are proved, 
 on the mod authentic records, to be more 
 flourifhing, and confequently more formi- 
 dable, than at any former period fince the 
 " foundation of the monarchy." -f- To what 
 we mud afcribe this vital ftrength, which nei~ 
 
 * Sec Lord Sheffield'* Olfervatiom on the Commence of 
 
 the American States, 6th Edit. 1784, with an Appendix. 
 
 f Annah of Agriculture No. 29, p. 423. 
 
 ther
 
 [ 8i ] 
 ther war or faction, or the fpirit of luxury, has 
 been able to fubdue, will be obvious on a little 
 reflection. That the fupport was never trcmjat- 
 lantky as fome have idly imagined, our preient 
 commercial fituation fufficiently demonstrates. 
 May we not rather, with an acute Politician of the 
 prefent day, attribute this phenomenon of an 
 almoft uniform fuperiority of our commerce to 
 fomething like the following principles ? The 
 fuppreflion of various monopolies and companies 
 of trade at home, and the undermining of their 
 exclufive privileges, or, what is the fame thing, 
 the eluding of their bad effects by means of legal 
 decifions in our courts of law : The nurfing up 
 of new trades, and new branches of commerce, 
 by means of bounties and national premiums : 
 The giving of drawbacks on the exportation of 
 fuch goods as were to have paid a duty if con- 
 fumed at home : The repeal of taxes on raw 
 materials, and on exported manufactures of our 
 country : The improvement of engines, and new 
 difcoveries for the abridgment of labour : The 
 rapid communication by means of roads, canals 
 and polls : The happy difcoveries in agriculture, 
 and the mechanic arts, the fruits of that patriotic 
 liberality which has been of late fo eminently 
 
 • Tucker'^ Four Trafts, p. 213. 
 
 G exerted
 
 [ 82 ] 
 
 exerted among us in public inftitutions, and 
 focieties for the encouragement of induftry and 
 ufeful fkill; and the natural refult of all this 
 national fpirit, the employment of larger capi- 
 tals in hufbandry and manufactures, and in the 
 importation and exportation of goods ; all thefe 
 circumftances co-operating, would render any 
 country rich and flourifhing, whether it had 
 colonies or not. 
 
 No wonder then that the Sceptre of com- 
 merce continues firm in the hands of a nation 
 where Perfonal Rights are facred, and where 
 every fpecies of Property finds protection and 
 fecurity in the freedom of Civil Government 
 and the equal adminiftration of Law. 
 
 THE
 
 • •••till MM (••••• II iiiinii Il!ll»i IMII imiiii 
 
 THE 
 
 TARIFF. 
 
 ■ M uiiitlHHnillM'HIllllfMltlillin/li 'l IHIH.'MM
 
 [ 84 ] 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 THOUGH the kind communication of 
 fome intelligent manufacturers has put 
 me in pofleffion of materials fufticiently valu- 
 able and authentic, I have not, according to 
 my original defign, entered into fuch details 
 as this information would enable me to do ; 
 being unwilling to fwell a pamphlet into a vo- 
 lume, with matters known to be officially in 
 other hands, much better qualified to lay them 
 before the public. The following Remarks 
 however may not be lefs ufeful, or amufing, 
 though they convey little information that is 
 new to a Statefman or a Politician, 
 
 G 2 THE
 
 H 
 
 R 
 
 i. ''T^HEtwo High Contracting Parties have 
 JL thought proper to fettle the duties on 
 certain goods and merchandizes, in order to fix 
 invariably the footing on which the trade there- 
 in (hall be eftablifhed between the two Nations. 
 In confequence of which they have agreed upon 
 the following Tariff, viz. 
 
 The Wines of France, imported directly 
 from France into Great Britain, fhall, in no 
 cafe, pay any higher duties than thofe which 
 the wines of Portugal now pay. 
 
 G 3 The
 
 C 86 ] 
 
 The Wines of France, imported directly 
 from France into Ireland, (hall pay no higher 
 duties than thofe which they now pay. 
 
 2. The Vinegars of France, inftead of fixty- 
 feven pounds five (hillings and three-pence, 
 and twelve twentieths of a pound fterling per 
 ton, which they now pay, (hall not, for the 
 future, pay, in Great Britain any higher du- 
 ties than thirty-two pounds, eighteen (hillings, 
 and ten-pence, and fixteen twentieths of a 
 penny fterling, per ton. * 
 
 3. The Brandies of France, inftead of nine 
 (hillings and iixpence and twelve twentieths of 
 a penny fterling, fhall for the future pay, in 
 Great Britain, only feven (hillings fterling per 
 gallon, making four quarts, Engliih meafure. 
 
 4. Oil of Olives, coming directly from 
 
 * The prefent duties on Fincgars are .for every ton im- 
 ported 13I. if by flrangers, 14I. 10s. by 18 Geo. II. c. ix. 
 By 3 Geo. III. c. xii. an additional duty of 1 61. are laid on 
 all French Vinegars, to which 81. 8s. a ton more are laid by 
 18 Geo. III. c. xxvii. and another 81. in addition to, this by 
 iq Geo. III. c. xxx. On home Vinegar, there is for every 
 barrel containing 34 gallons, a duty of 8s. gd. by 10 and 
 1 1 W. III. c. xxi. and by 19 Geo. III. c. xxv. an. additi- 
 onal duty of 3 five per cents, which, is further regu- 
 lated by 21 Geo. III. c. xvii. and 22 Geo. IX C. c. lxvi. — 
 Every maker of Vinegar for fale is required by 24 Geo. III. 
 c. xli. to take out an annual licence of 101. 
 
 France,
 
 [ 8 7 ] 
 France, fliall for the future, pay no higher du- 
 ties than, are now paid for the fame from the 
 moft favoured nations. * 
 
 5. Beer mail pay reciprocally a duty of thirty 
 per cent, ad valorem, \ 
 
 6. The 
 
 * The Oil of Olives is that which is moft generally ufed in 
 Medicine, Food, and Manufacture. It appears to have been 
 brought to great perfection by the ancients. Molt of their 
 georgical writers have dwelt upon the method of cultiva- 
 ting this fruit, and of preparing it for oeconomical ufes. 
 See Columella, p. 73, and Varro, p. 105, in Script ores 
 de Re Rufticd, edit. 1734. The Olive delights in a dry foil, 
 and thrives in the moft barren fpots, -as on the mountains 
 of Pifa, and-the coaft of Genoa, where the eye can difcover 
 nothing but vaft rocks of ftbne ';' but it grows beft on gen- 
 tle hills, defended from North winds and expofed to the 
 fea air ; though the people of Lucca and Tufcany, by their 
 extreme induftry, make it fucceed even in low grounds. 
 Dr. Symonds, f>n the Soil of Italy, in Young'.? Annals of 
 Agriculture, V. IT. p. 211. ' Much of the oil ufed in our 
 woollen manufactories is from Gallipoli imported hither 
 immediately from Naples. We take great quantities alfo 
 from the South of France and 'from Candia. All Olive Oils 
 imported in foreign fhips, though by Britifh fubjecfts, are 
 liable to Aliens duty, 12 Car. II. c. xviii. § 9. Baldwin" 
 on the Britifj Cufloms, p. 45. 
 
 f When goods are to pay ad valorem, that value muft be 
 afcertained by the tvoo Books of Rates fet forth by Parlia- 
 mentary Authority, 12 Car. II. c. iv. and 11 Geo. I. c. vii. 
 
 G 4 or
 
 C 88 ] 
 
 6, The duties on Hardware, Cutlery, Cabinet 
 Ware, and "Turnery, and alfo all works both 
 heavy and light, of Iron, Steel, Copper, and 
 Brafs, fhall be clafled ; and the higheft duty 
 fhall not exceed ten per cent, ad valorem. 
 
 7. All 
 
 or if not rated, by the oath of the importer, or by the 
 price at a public fale. 
 
 It is known that the French make Beer, not only with 
 barley, but with wheat, oats, and rye ; a fort made with oats 
 and birch water is flrongly recommended in Nephritic cafes. 
 Ebiltf. rr^.No.XCVII.p.6135. The chief trade of France 
 in this article is domeftic, namely with Paris, Picardy, and 
 French Flanders. Their duties are regulated by the Tariff 
 of 1664, and are upon exportation, at the rate of 26 fols 
 the ton, and upon importation 12 fols the barrel, with an 
 additional rate far England. 
 
 By 1 Geo. III. c. vii. Itrong beer or ale may be exported 
 with an allowance of 8s. the barrel to the brewer by 
 way of drawback. Hops are under a variety of reftric- 
 tions in our laws. 9 Ann. c. xii. among other things 
 annexes a penalty of 50I. to the removal of hops before 
 they have been bagged and weighed, and a like penalty on 
 not entering the places of curing and keeping them, with 
 20I. for concealing hops, as alfo on any brewer who fhall 
 fubilitute any other bitter ingredient. By 10 Geo. III. 
 c. xliv. a penalty of iool. is inflicted for ufing falfe 
 (tales and weights. By 14 Geo. III. c. 68. the Officer 
 fhall forfeit 5I. if he neglect to weigh the bags or pockets, 
 and to mark on them the time, weight or tare, the planter's 
 name and place of abode, and the date of the year in 
 
 whicij
 
 C 8 9 ] 
 
 7. All forts of Cottons, * manufactured in the 
 dominions of the two Sovereigns in Europe, 
 and alfo Woollens, whether knit or wove, in- 
 cluding Hofiery, mall pay 1 in both countries, 
 an import duty of twelve per cent, ad valorem ; 
 all manufactures of Cotton or Wool, mixed 
 with Silk, excepted, which (hall remain pro- 
 hibited on both fides. 
 
 8. Cambrics and Lawns -f- mail pay, in 
 both countries, an import duty of five millings 
 
 or 
 
 Which fuch hops were grown. The altering, forging, or 
 obliterating of fuch mark incurs a penalty of iol. By a 
 late act, five per cent, is added to the other duties on hops; 
 
 * We have an account of the induftry of the town of 
 Manchefter as early as the year 1641. "The town of 
 Manchefter buys linen yarn of the Irifh in great quantities, 
 and weaving it, returns the fame again in linen ; neither 
 doth her induftry reft here, for fhe buys cotton-wool in 
 London, that comes from Cyprus and Smyrna, and works 
 it into fuftians, vermillions, dimmities, &c." Lewis 
 Roeerts, Treafure of Traffic, There is a great cotton 
 manufactory at Rouen in Normandy. It was with 
 concern, that in the year 1784, I heard of Several Englifh- 
 men employed there, two of whom had worked for 13 
 years at Manchefter. Cotton works have, within thefe 
 few years, been eitabliQied, with fuccefs, both in Ireland 
 and Scotland. 
 
 f By 32 Geo. II. no Camhrics or French Ltnvns fhall 
 
 be
 
 [ 9° ] 
 or fix livres Tournois, per demi piece of feven 
 yards and three quarters, Englifh meafure ; and 
 linens made of flax or hemp, manufactured in 
 the dominions of the two Sovereigns in Europe, 
 fhall pay no higher duties, either in Great Bri- 
 tain or France, than linens manufactured in 
 Holland or Fianders, imported into Great Bri- 
 tain, now pay. 
 
 And Linens made of flax or hemp manufac- 
 
 be imported, unlefs they be packed in bales, cafes, or 
 boxes, covered with fackcloth or canvafs, containing 
 each ioo whole pieces. Thefe fhall be imported only for ex- 
 portation, to be lodged in the'King's warehoufes, and not to 
 be delivered out but under the like fecurity and reflrictions 
 as prohibited Eaft-India goods : and no cuftoms or duties 
 whatever mall be paid or fecured thereon, other than half 
 the old Tubfidy, which is to remain by law after the goods 
 arc exported. ' Other reftrictions on the importation, the 
 wearing and the felling of foreign Carnhrids and Lawns are 
 to be found in 18 Geo. II. c, xxxvi. — 21 Geo. II. c. xxvii. 
 —4 Geo. III. c. xxxvii. — and 7 Geo. III. c. xliii. We are 
 at prefent fupplied from the manufactories of Ireland and 
 Scotland. It may be queftioncd, whether thofe countries will 
 long find it their intereft to promote fuch fabrics as Cambric^ 
 j£rfW», or Gauze, to the check of their linen works, for it 
 feems like preferring a precarious article of manufacture to 
 one which is fecure. It is faid, that there are in 6-lafgow 
 alone more than 1000 Muflin looms. St. Queritin and 
 Cambray are as principal manufactories for all thefe articles 
 as any in France. 
 
 tured
 
 C 91 ] 
 
 turcd in Ireland or France, fhall reciprocally 
 pay no higher duties than linens manufactured 
 in Holland, imported into Ireland, now pay. 
 
 9. Sadlery mall reciprocally pay an impofl 
 duty of fifteen per cent, ad valorem. 
 
 10. Gauzes of all forts (hall reciprocally pay 
 ten per cent, ad valorem. 
 
 11. Millinery made up of Muflin, Lawn, 
 Cambric, or Gauze of every kind, or of any 
 other article admitted under the prefent Tariff, 
 mail pay reciprocally a duty of twelve' per cent, 
 ad valorem ; and if any articles fhall be ufed 
 therein, which are not fpecified in the Tariff, 
 they fhall pay no higher duties than thofe paid 
 for the fame articles by the moft favoured Na- 
 tions. 
 
 12. Porcelain, Earthen-ware and Pottery, 
 fhall pay reciprocally twelve per cent, ad valo- 
 rem. 
 
 13. Plate-glafs, and Glafs-ware in general, 
 mail 'be admitted on each fide, paying a duty of 
 twelve per cent, ad valorem.* 
 
 CUSTOMS. 
 
 * Moft of the duties on Glafs granted by 19 Geo. II. c. 
 xii. were repealed by an act paffed in 1777, and the 
 following duties im^ofed ; for all plate enamel, ftained and 
 pafte glafc, and on all window glafs, and every other kind 
 of white glafs, the fum of one fhilling and four pence the 
 
 pound
 
 L 9* ] 
 
 CUSTOMS, 
 
 A fuccind and generalaccount of the Cus- 
 toms neceffarily claims a place in a work of this 
 nature. 
 
 Though the firft formal Eftablifhment of 
 Customs and duties on the imports and ex- 
 ports of this kingdom occur in the reign of 
 Edward I. yet by that very act we are informed 
 of their prior exiftence. At the opening of the 
 fourteenth century, this King, upon confideration 
 of the many immunities and privileges granted 
 by him to foreign merchants, refiding in and 
 
 pound weight; and for all green glafs in bottles, four 
 {hillings for every dozen of quarts ; and for materials ufed 
 in the manufacture of plate and phial glafs, eighteen milling* 
 and eight pence the cwt. for making of broad. window glafs, 
 feven fhillings cwt. for making of crown glafs, fourteen 
 {hillings cwt. and for common bottles, &c. three {hillings 
 and fix-pence cwt. 
 
 Few manufactures require a larger capital or greater 
 profits to fupport it, than this ; for a fingle furnefs cofts 
 ^3^00, and is five or fix years in building; belide fuch 
 accidents as in many other branches are immaterial, are in 
 this of the highcft confequence, for merely the burfling of 
 a pot of glafs in the fire, will often incur a lofs of £250. 
 
 France has nine principal Glafs Works, five of which are 
 in the foreft of Lyons, the other four in the diftrict of Eu, 
 at Beaumont, near Rouen, and in Rue St. Antoine, at 
 Paris. Our principal Plate Glafs manufa&ure is near 
 Prefcot in Lancafliire. 
 
 4 trading
 
 C 93 ] 
 trading with this iiland, by the advice and ccnfent 
 of his Parliament, publiihed a declaration of thefe 
 privileges, annexing as the price of his protec- 
 tion certain Cuftoms and Duties to be paid by 
 them on merchandizes either imported or ex- 
 ported.* 
 
 Gilbert conceives thefe privileges to have 
 confifted chiefly in having the full ufe of the 
 King's warehoufes, weights, meafures, &c.J 
 This royal declaration is called Chart a Mer- 
 catoria,§ and may be confidered as containing 
 the ^mple elements of that very intricate fyftem 
 of impofts, which has been gradually accumu- 
 lating ever fince, to the great hindrance and 
 confufion of commerce. 
 
 It is unnecefTary here to enumerate the feveral 
 fpecies which arofe between that sera and the 
 great Statute of 12 Carol. II. c. iv. which 
 eftablifhed the fubfidy of tonnage and poundage, 
 or as it is more technically called, the Old 
 Sublidy, which is the foundation of our prefent 
 Cuftoms ; neither is it the prefent purpofe to dwell 
 
 * Rymer's Fcedera, Tom. III. fol. 269. See the anfwer 
 given by Edward II. to Philip the Fair, upon his requefting 
 to have French Merchants releafed from a certain duty, 
 
 % Hiftory of the Exchequer, p. 214. 
 § Fcedera, Tom. IV. foj. 361, 
 
 Qn
 
 [ 94 ] 
 on the difpute whether or not the Cudoms be part 
 of the revenue of the Crown by Common haw : 
 a point which, above all others, contributed to 
 thofe violent druggies between prerogative and 
 privilege at the beginning of the lad century.* 
 
 I fhall only obferve that it appears from 
 Magna Chart a that certain cudoms, as on Wool, 
 Woolfells, and Leather, were paid to the 
 Crown, previoufly to any act of parliament. 
 Still the right has condantly been difputed, 
 and the rolls of parliament fvvarm with indances 
 of protedations againd it. Black stone thinks 
 that Sir Edward Coke has plainly fhewn that 
 the King's fird claim to Cudoms was by Grant 
 cf Parliament, 3 Edward L-f- which probably 
 alludes to that very event already mentioned, as 
 the fird formal edablilhment of our Cudoms ; 
 and Hale fays, even of Prifage (a duty 
 peculiarly belonging to the Crown) " That is a 
 " cudom fettled in the Crown by Common Law, 
 
 * See a fketch of thefe ftruggles prefixed to the celebrat- 
 ed Cafe of Impofitiom in State Trials, Vol. XI. It may here 
 be remarked, that the a£t. which granted the duties of 
 tonnage and poundage after the Reftoration, has thefe cau- 
 tious words: " No rates can be impofed on merchandizes 
 " imported or exported by fubjecls or aliens, but, by Confetti 
 41 of Parliament" 1 2 Carol. II. c. iv. fee. 6, 
 
 •j- Commentaries, B. I. 'c. viri. 
 
 " yet
 
 C 95 3 
 <c yet not fo infeparable from the Crown, nor fo 
 " perfonal to the King, but it may be difcharged 
 " or transferred."-)** 
 
 The following are the principal branches of 
 our prefent Cuftoms. 
 
 i. The Old Subsidy, which confifts of a 
 tonnage duty on Wines imported, and a pound- 
 age duty on other goods imported. 
 
 2. Petty Customs or Aliens Duty, 
 payable by Merchant- Strangers on all goods 
 imported, which are liable to the fubfidy of 
 poundage. 
 
 3. Additional Duty on tonnage and 
 poundage added to the former. 
 
 4. One per Cent, inwards, payable upon 
 all Imports to Great Britain, from any place of the 
 Mediterranean Sea, beyond the port of Malaga, 
 in any veffel that hath not two decks, fixteen 
 guns, and the proportion of two men to each 
 
 gun. 
 
 5. Composition on petty Seizures. 
 The moiety paid to the Crown by the Com- 
 mimoners of the Cuftoms for feizures under the 
 
 f See a Treatife lately publifhed in Har grave's Law 
 TraBs, from a MS. of Lord Chief Juftice Hale, in three 
 parts, the laft of which treats with great legal erudition on 
 "The Cuftoms of Goods imported and exported," 
 
 value
 
 [ 96 ] 
 
 value of forty {hillings, for which they are 
 allowed to compound. 
 
 Thefe five only, in the ftricl: {cr{q of the 
 revenue laws, are properly called the Customs. 
 There are however various others by the names 
 of Imports on Wines, Vinegar, Tobacco, Coin- 
 age, Duties, Excife, &c. whence the Crown 
 revenue arifes ; though moft of the diftin&ions 
 are now dropped, except by the officers imme- 
 diately concerned, their produce being all 
 blended together under the one denomination 
 of the Customs.* We may obferve that 
 originally thefe duties were levied both on im- 
 portation and exportation, but for many years, 
 with few exceptions, the new Cuftoms have 
 been raifed on importations only. 
 
 The ftatute of 12 Carol. II. c. iv. eftablifhes 
 two very plain fyftems. By the one a fpecific 
 fum is charged on a certain quantity, a ton 
 of wine, for example ; by the other, rates or 
 imaginary values are annexed to all other goods 
 of common importation, and a proportional 
 duty is levied on each article. Had the fim- 
 plicity of this plan been ftricHy followed in all 
 fubfequent imports, that confufion and inequa- 
 
 * Cunningham's Hiftory of Taxes, p. 88, and the 
 following. Blackstone's Comment, B. I. c. viii. 
 
 lity
 
 L 97 J 
 lity which prevails in our Cuftoms would have 
 been avoided ; but this is fo far from being the 
 cafe, that even in lefs than twelve years from the 
 publication of this act, the legiflature began to 
 deviate from its principles, and, regardlefs of the 
 original rates therein annexed, charged feveral 
 articles according to their meafure and weight.* 
 Since that time almofl every ftatute which has 
 added a frefli duty, has unavoidably increafed 
 the perplexity. " It were to be wifhed (fays the 
 " lad compiler of our cuftoms) that the whole 
 " of our im polls had been framed upon a more 
 " uniform plan, and that both the convenience 
 " and beauty of fyftem had been preferved. But 
 iC the defect cannot now be ealily removed." £ 
 The great extent of the Books of Rates, § and 
 the want of perfpicuity in the arrangement, calls 
 
 aloud 
 
 * 22 Carol. II. c. iv. 2$ Carol. II. c. vii. 
 
 i Baldwin - in the preface to his Survey of Britifo 
 Cuftoms, &c. p. 4. 
 
 § The Cuftoms are chiefly contained in two books of 
 Rates, fet forth by Parliamentary authority,- one by 12 
 Carol. II. cv iv. the other by 1 1 Geo. I. c. vii. It was.tothe 
 liberality, no lefs than to the perfeverance of the Houfe of 
 Peers, that the public were at laft indebted in 1696, for 
 the eftablifhment of the Infpeftor General of the imports and 
 exports, and for the Cufto?n-houfe Ledger, which contains 
 the particulars and value of both, and which forms there- 
 H fore
 
 [ 98 1 
 
 aloud for an attempt at reformation* The 
 perfon who (hall engage in fuch a taik, I would 
 wifh to remind of what the great Financier ot 
 France has obferved on the fame perplexed 
 flate in which he found the nTcal legiilation of 
 his country. " This ftrange arrangement of our 
 " cuftoms," fays he, "has abfolutely f upported 
 <e itfelf by its own defects ; the multiplicity of 
 " particular cafes, the accumulation of rules, the 
 f\ confufion of principles ; in fhort, all that 
 " antique contexture woven into fo many knots, 
 " has conftantly prefented the idea of an im- 
 " menfe enterprife, whenever attempts have 
 " been made to proceed to a reform, by ftudying 
 " details : But when I took a contrary method, 
 " by making myfelf matter of the whole collec- 
 <c lively by reflection, and by taking pains to 
 " difcern the principle divifions, and the ele- 
 " ments, as well as the rejults of each, the whole 
 " affair became fimplifted."* As. great a fource 
 of confufion and inequality as any, is, the great 
 
 fore the moll ufeful record, with regard to trade, that any 
 country pofleiTes. Chalmers's EJiimate of the Com* 
 par-ati-ve Strength^ &c. pref. p. 7. 
 
 * Necker's Adminif ration of the Finances, V. II. p. 167, 
 of Mortimer's Tranflation. This miniiler's plan is a 
 beautiful example of Analyfis, for the imitation of a 
 ilatefman in any department. 
 
 difference
 
 [ 99 3 
 
 difference which often fubfifts between the real 
 and the nominal value of duties on foreign ani- 
 cles. When the rates were affixed in the reign 
 of Charles II. they were then equal to the real 
 values, but fince that time, the decline of the 
 value of money, with other caufes, has contri- 
 buted to raife the prices above the rates, info- 
 much that often when the duties are 25 or 26 
 per cent, on the rates, this will not be more than 
 7 or 8 per cent, on the real value. In the 
 article of linens this is obvioufly the cafe, and it 
 caufed no fmall contradictions in the reports and 
 opinions on that manufacture, when it was taken 
 into conlideration by parliament fome few years 
 ago. 
 
 The bulk as well as the form of our Cuftoms 
 has been alfo a fubjed of complaint to fome 
 writers on commercial politics. The duties on all 
 exports of Britifh Manufacture, except on fome 
 few articles which were regarded as materials, were 
 removed in the year 1722, but no relief was 
 given to imports ; on the contrary, they have, 
 in moft inftances, been gradually burthened with 
 new duties. Thefe high and numerous imports, 
 it has been thought, are attended with many 
 evils in fuch a country as England. Among 
 the principal perhaps may be reckoned a check 
 Hz on
 
 [ I0 ° ] 
 
 on the increafe of capitals, and the poflible im- 
 provements of manufactories; an encouragement 
 to fmuggling, and above all, by enhancing the 
 price of articles necefTary in the conftruction and 
 fitting out of (hips, as hemp, flax, iron, &c. the 
 confequent difcouragement to navigation and 
 commerce. I have chofen thefe inftances, 
 becaufe it is by a fuperiority in them that our 
 mercantile fyftem is characterized ; and were 
 fuch falutary reliefs permitted to co-operate with 
 this national fpirit, it is not eafy to conceive what 
 might in time be the extent and perfection of 
 our foreign trade and domeftic induftry. Mr. 
 Locke was ever cf opinion that high duties 
 encouraged rather than deprefled the confump- 
 tion of foreign commodities. " The emulation," 
 fays he, " ever is, who fhall have the fined, 
 " that is, the deareil things, not the moft con- 
 *f venient or ufefuL How many things do we 
 f< value and buy becaufe they come at dear rates 
 " from Japan and China, which, if they were 
 " our own manufacture or produce, would be 
 tc contemned or neglected ? Have not feveral of 
 " our commodities offered to fale been defpifed, 
 ** and the very fame eagerly bought for 
 " French at a double price ? You muft not 
 " think therefore that the raifing their price will 
 
 " leffen
 
 t 101 3 
 
 m lefTen the vend of fafhionable foreign com. 
 ** modities among us, but rather increafe it :"* 
 and De Witt in his Memoirs purfues precifely 
 the fame train of argument;! which feems 
 confirmed by an obfervation of Gee, on the 
 fafhion of preferring French Wines, after the 
 duties were laid on at the latter end of the lad 
 century : for, fays he "though they were raifed 
 " tOj£8o per ton, or more, fome particular im- 
 <c porters chofe rather to keep up thofe high 
 £C prices than to have them cheaper ; and being 
 " afked why they thus chofe to keep up the 
 cc prices, they anfwered, that gentlemen would 
 " not think it good unlefs it coil 5 or 6 millings 
 cc a flafk."-^ It is true indeed, that impofls may 
 be carried fo far as to become prohibitions, and 
 in that cafe alfp they might be as prejudicial as in 
 the other; for as fays Swift humoroufly, "in the 
 " Arithmetic of the Cuftoms, two and two do 
 4C not always make four, but often only One." 
 
 It is not on foreign Articles alone that many 
 Writers on finance have argued for the relief 
 
 * Locke's Confederations on Trade, &c. p. 93, and again 
 p. 116. 
 
 X Edit. Ratifbon, p. 77. Dr. Smith computes that 
 .taking together all the reflraints upon French goods at the 
 commencement of the late war, they muij have amounted to 
 75 per cent. 
 
 *J- Trade conjidered, &c. p. 141. 
 
 H 3 of
 
 C Io2 ] 
 
 of Cuftoms. The exportation ofdomeftic eorrir 
 modities, notwithstanding much beneficial re- 
 form, has been opprefled by them. It will be 
 faid, perhaps, that in moil cafes Drawbacks 
 have been applied to counteract the effects of 
 thefe duties ; but, befide the injudicious mode 
 often of applying them, the policy of the mea- 
 fure itfelf (except in the cafe of foreign goods 
 imported for re-exportation) may be queftioned. 
 The various frauds practifed in this line frequently 
 brings a certain lofs on the revenue, without 
 either altering or extending the ftate of the 
 Trade; for it is a known fact, that this mode of 
 encouraging commerce and manufactures alone 
 amounts to near a million a year. * It was ever 
 confidered as the moft prudent plan in fifcal 
 police, and as fuch was, as we have feen, in a 
 great meafure adopted in this country, to dis- 
 charge all Cuftoms payable on domeftic manu- 
 factures at their exportation, and alfo on the 
 raw materials ufed in them at their importation. 
 By the firft, the merchant will be encouraged 
 to fend more goods on better terms abroad; 
 and by the laft, the manufacturer will be enabled 
 to fell cheaper at home. 
 
 WINES. 
 
 Before the Revolution, the ^Era of thofe mer- 
 
 Young's Annals of Agriculture^ &c. No. I. p. 44. 
 
 cantile
 
 [ «*3 ] 
 
 cantile jealoufies between France and England, 
 which gave rife to the monopolizing fyftem of 
 rcftridtions and prohibitions, the Wines of Bour- 
 deaux and Languedoc were fold in London at 
 eighteen and twenty pounds a Ton, and more 
 than two-thirds of the confumption through the 
 whole Kingdom was imported in Englifh bot- 
 toms. * But in the year 1 7 1 3 , in confequence 
 of heavy duties, their price had rifen to nine 
 millings the gallon, which, according to a re- 
 gulation of 5 Anne, ch. xxvii. fixing the Wine 
 Ton at 252 gallons, amounts to 1 13 1. 8s. the 
 Ton. f- 
 
 From general obfervation it appears, that 
 the mod thriving, and the richeft-flavoured 
 Vineyards, are thofe fituated between the 40th 
 and 50th degrees. In thefe latitudes, we find 
 Portugal, Spajn, France, Switzerland, Italy, 
 Hungary, part of Greece, and the Southern 
 Circles of Germany, countries which undoubt- 
 edly produce excellent Wines. For general 
 ufe, thofe of France have ever been preferred ; 
 and among them, the Wines of Burgundy, 
 Champagne, and the neighbourhood of Vienne, 
 are efteemed the beft. I fhall readily be ex- 
 
 * Dayenant's Political Works, V. III. p. 146, Edit. 
 
 f A weekly Paper of that day, called the Brijrol Pofi- 
 JBoy, Np. 625. 
 
 H 4 cufed
 
 [ io 4 ] 
 cuied reciting the long catalogue of names by 
 which they are diftinguifhed, when it is known, 
 that the province of Burgundy alone produces 
 eighteen or twenty different forts : they ufually 
 receive their titles either from the fpot of culti- 
 vation, or the various modes of preparing the 
 liquor. The Wines of the fouthern provinces 
 are of a ftronger body than thofe made in other 
 parts of the kingdom; Languedoc, in particu- 
 lar, produces a fort which has all the fulnefs of 
 the Portugal grape, with a very fuperior flavour, 
 and is purchafed in the country for about 
 12I. the Ton. Bourdeaux, Rochelle, Nantes, 
 Rouen, Marfeilles, Toulon, are the principal 
 places where the Wines of France are fhipped 
 for exportation, and it is calculated that near 
 6000 Tons are fent annually to England from 
 Bourdeaux alone. According to the ftatement 
 of Mr. Necker, France exports yearly, in 
 Wines and Brandies, to the value of 1 ,640,625!. * 
 yet it is well underftood that this branch of 
 trade, under proper regulations, might frill be 
 confiderably increafed. At prefent, befide the 
 original expences of the land, and the necefTary 
 cofts of preparing its produce, the proprietor of 
 a -Vineyard is chargeable with heavy duties at 
 every flep he takes towards exportation ; the 
 
 * Jdminif ration of Finance, &c. V. II. p. 117. 
 
 conveyance
 
 C i«5 ] 
 
 conveyance of the Wine to Bourdeaux, a Com* 
 miffion to the boat-mafter upon its receipt and 
 delivery, Fees to the officers for affixing the town 
 mark, and certain port duties before the goods 
 can be difcharged, or the bill of freight delivered. 
 Notwithstanding thefe difadvantages, there 
 are circumftances which render this fpecies 
 of property in France more eligible than moft 
 others. It was not, as fome imagined, becaufe 
 the land was unfit for any other purpofe, that 
 the proportion of Vineyards had fo much in- 
 creafed fome years ago as to require an edict to 
 reftore fuch eilates as had been purchafed and 
 planted, to their original cultivation; for it was 
 found that much land, which had produced ex- 
 cellent crops of corn, was at that time converted 
 into Vineyards. It is very natural to prefer a 
 fpecies of property which is free and fecure, to 
 one which is cafual and reftricted. Property in 
 Wine, by reafon of the perfon who holds it being 
 at liberty either to (tore it up, or to carry it to a 
 home or a foreign market, has, in France, thefe 
 advantages over property in Com, Belide, with 
 very few exceptions, the Wine-trade is not like 
 that of Corn, entangled with monopolies, fo 
 that the expences and rifk of cultivation, at 
 leaf!:, are anfwered by the competition of pur- 
 chafers. Contrary alfo to the cuftom on eftates 
 in Corn lands, the proprietor of a Vineyard 
 
 ufually
 
 [ jo6 ] 
 
 ufually keeps it in his own hands, and as fuch 
 a flock as would be necefiary in the manage- 
 ment of a farm is never required in a Vineyard, 
 he thence derives an obvious advantage; for, 
 as it has been obferved, while thofe who are 
 employed in its cultivation fometimes want even 
 the necefTaries of life, the landlord makes from 
 three to five pounds an acre. 
 
 It mould appear that the cultivation of Vine- 
 yards has proved in France very favourable to 
 population; for it has been aflerted, that the 
 fame fpace which, in a Corn country, employs 
 1400 perfons, requires more than 2600 when 
 planted with Vines. * If this be really the cafe, 
 would it not fhew more wifdom in the French 
 Government, if inftead of i filling Edi£h for 
 difvineyarding large tracls of country, it would 
 turn its attention towards a removal of the un- 
 merciful refcrictions, both upon the tranfporta- 
 tion and exportation of Corn ? «j- This, by lay- 
 ing open a larger market for the vend of the 
 commodity, would induce many to fet their 
 hands heartily to the plough, and by lowering 
 the price of grain, would enable the peafantry 
 to live lefs wretchedly than they do at prefent. 
 
 * Beausobre, Etude de la Politique^ &c. Tom. I. p. 51. 
 •j- This was in fome meafure done in 1768, but not in a 
 manner fufficiently liberal to produce its full effecl. 
 
 4 By
 
 L 107 1 
 
 By fuch a meafure, the increafe of farms would, 
 IX is highly probable, be fo far from diminifhing 
 the number or extent of Vineyards, that it would 
 rather encourage and improve them ; with this 
 difference, perhaps, that many fertile fpots, now 
 rnifapplied to the culture of the vine, would be 
 feen bearing plentiful harvefts of grain, while 
 the barren heaths of Guienne, the mountains 
 of Auvergne, and other unprofitable parts of 
 the country, would be glowing with luxuriant 
 vintages. This reciprocal benefit is actually feen 
 to take place, in fome inftances, even under the 
 prefent regulations ; for it is remarked, that 
 Corn is no where better cultivated in France, 
 than in the richefl Wine provinces. 
 
 Befide the advantage that France will derive 
 from England, fhould the prefent Treaty take 
 effect, a large market is now open to her Wines in 
 America, which hitherto was fupplied chiefly from 
 Madeira, Lifbon, and Fayal, unlefs indeed this 
 extenfive country mould fucceed in cultivating 
 the vine in fome of her fouthward provinces. 
 This is far from being improbable, when we 
 recollect the refult of an experiment once made 
 there. " Between thirty and forty years ago, a 
 " provincial act paffed in South Carolina, by 
 « which a bounty of 60 1. proclamation-money 
 " was to be given to any perfon that mould ' 
 " produce a pipe of found merchantable Wine, 
 
 " made
 
 C 108 ] 
 
 •* made from vines of the growth of the colony. 
 " A man of the name of Thorpe did receive 
 *< the bounty for three pipes; his Vineyard was 
 " within thirty miles of Charles-Town, and was 
 " under the care of a certain Portuguefe pro- 
 " cured for the purpofe, but at his death the 
 " land was converted to other ufes." * Lord 
 Sheffield is of opinion notwithstanding, that 
 America is never likely to be a good Wine 
 country; but mould this really prove to be the 
 cafe, it will be owing to other caufes than de- 
 feds either of foil or climate, principally per- 
 haps to that preference which is at prefent given 
 to the cultivation of rice and tobacco. But 
 how, it may be afked, is England likely to be 
 affected by fuch a revolution in the state of 
 French agriculture, and fo wide an extenfion 
 of the Wine trade ? Without adverting to the 
 common, but very just argument on the fupe- 
 rior advantage which every commercial country 
 ought to obtain from rich and induflrious com- 
 petitors over one whofe customers are poor and 
 indolent, let it be remembered, that fair com- 
 petition muftj in every point of view, be a fpur 
 to industry ; in any (ingle branch of trade its 
 
 • Lord Sheffield'j Ohfervations on the Commerce of tht 
 American States, p. 56, a Note. 
 
 good
 
 [ 109 ] 
 good effects are foon vilible among that parti- 
 cular clafs of merchants or manufacturers ; but 
 when it is encouraged between different depart- 
 ments of trade, it then becomes manifeft in the 
 general induftry and opulence of a nation. The 
 fame reafoning may be applied to the cafe of 
 two neighbouring kingdoms, where a competi- 
 tion, efpecially of the latter fort, muft naturally 
 tend to increafe the demand and improve the 
 quality of thpfe articles in which they refpec- 
 tively excel. There is not much caufe, there- 
 fore, for England's jealoufy at any increafe of 
 demand on the vintages of France. What lofs 
 does the woollen-draper fuftain by the improv- 
 ing trade of his neighbour the wine-merchant ? 
 Has he not rather caufe to rejoice in an event 
 which, by furnifhing the whole neighbourhood 
 with a richer cuftomer, muft necefTarily bring 
 into his hands fome fhare of his fuccefs ? In the 
 fame manner both reafon and experience mould 
 teach us, that from this dreaded extenfion of 
 the Wine-trade of France, our own ftaple com- 
 modities will necefTarily derive many future 
 benefits in the woollen, iron, and hard-ware 
 manufactories. But, it is urged, this is not the 
 only objection — Portugal is a Letter cuftomer 
 than France, and therefore we ought in return 
 to deal with her in preference. Suppofe, for a 
 
 moment,
 
 [ no j 
 
 moment, that this were a fact, ' c Are' the frieafc* 
 *' ing arts of underling tradefmen to be thus 
 c < erected into political maxims for the conduct 
 f* of a great empire?" * A liberal trader pur- 
 chafes at the cheaper! and beft market, with no 
 regard to fuch little interefts as this. It ap- 
 pears, however, from undeniable proofs, that 
 our favourite trade with Portugal has long been 
 on the decline^ and gradually turning more and 
 more againit us for almoft thefe laft thirty years. 
 At prefent our exports to that country fcarcely 
 amount; upon an average of ten years, (except 
 during the ftiort fpace of our late Spanifh hofti- 
 lities, which naturally caufed them to increafe) 
 to one half of what they did in the year 1760. -J* 
 The fact is, the interchange of the two coun- 
 tries was never fettled upon a fair and equal 
 foot of reciprocity, and the Portuguefe thus 
 taking advantage of an original defect in the 
 Methuen-Freaty , have allowed the woollen ma- 
 nufactures of other countries to compete with 
 ours in their markets. In the article of linens 
 
 * Smith's Wealth of Nations, B. IV. ch. iii. 
 
 f Where the imports are materials for manufacture, a 
 trade may be coniiderably againit a country, and yet be, 
 upon the whole, a beneficial one. This was the cafe with 
 our Ruffia trade; but it does not hold good in the prefent 
 inftance of our intercourfe with Portugal, 
 
 they
 
 [ "I ] 
 
 they have decidedly given the preference to 
 France; and as to our cottons, they have put 
 them under an abfolute prohibition. The 
 clamours that have conftantly been raifed on 
 every attempt in this country to reduce the 
 enormous duties on French Wines, and the 
 threats of Portugal to withdraw from a Treaty 
 fhe has fo palpably violated, ought furely to 
 give us no alarm; the prefent effects of that 
 Treaty will not juftify it. But what would be 
 the confequence fuppofing thefe threats to be 
 actually executed, and the prohibitions on both 
 fides eftablifhed ? Why, clearly this ; that Por- 
 tugal has effectually loft a market for near 
 1 2,000 tons annually of fuch Wines as no other 
 country will purchafe of her ; while the fuperior 
 quality and cheapnefs of our woollens muft fecure 
 them a market any where, and " probably 
 cc under another name, and by another channel, 
 " even in Portugal itfelf." * 
 
 BR AN- 
 
 * Lord Sheffield, to whofe excellent writings I am 
 indebted for the above remark, has in a clear manner 
 fhewn, that in Ireland the confumption of Portugal Wine 
 has greatly increafed within thef: laft twenty years, and 
 that French Wines have proportionably diminifhed. {Obfer- 
 valtons, Amenc. Comm. in the Appendix, p. 291) Ireland 
 exports to Portugal cambletsand butter; her woollens were 
 not included in the Treaty of 1703. The preference fhe 
 
 has
 
 C i* J 
 
 BRANDIES. 
 
 The Wine Brandy of France is in the highefl 
 eftimation, and by a decree of Parliament in 
 the year 1699, this is the only fort permitted to 
 be fold in Paris, under a heavy penalty. 
 
 The provinces of Poictou, Anjou, Tou- 
 raine, Orleans, and the diflrict of Nantes pro- 
 duce the beft that is applied to home-confump- 
 tion ; the different kinds for exportation are 
 made in Bourdeaux, Cogniac, Charente, Bur- 
 gundy, and Champagne ; though the aforenamed 
 provinces of Poiftou, &x. fupply a great deal 
 alfo for this purpofe. Brandies, indeed, are made 
 in almofl all the wine countries, though it is ob- 
 ferved, that the fuperior wines make the word ; 
 accordingly in many places they only apply 
 them to this fervice when they are pricked, or 
 other wife injured. The rich- flavoured vintages 
 of Greece, and of the fouthward parts of Italy, 
 afford very little Brandy, and of an inferior 
 quality : the yearly export of this article 
 
 has lately given to the Portuguefe Wines, is with a view 
 of being put on a foot, in this reipecl, with great Britain; 
 and there is reafon to think, that flie is able to reap con- 
 fiderable benefit from fuch an admiffion. Her exports to 
 Portugal in 1783, were 174,4931. her imports, 92000I. and 
 it is faid thefc were paid for by her exported Butter alone. 
 
 from
 
 [ »3 ] 
 
 from France is computed at more than half 
 a million fterling ; * at the latter end of the 
 laft century, when the duty was no more than 
 9I. a ton, this country imported annually up- 
 wards of 6000 tons ; -}* in confequence of the 
 high duties at prefent iub lifting, the confump- 
 tion has long been diminiihed, and upon an 
 average of late years the quantity imported has 
 funk three fifths. The merchants of Rochelle 
 and Nantes feldom freight a {hip either for Ame- 
 rica, Africa, or the North Seas, without making 
 Brandy a part of the cargo. We receive a con- 
 fiderable quantity of our coniumption through the 
 hands of the Dutch, who carry on an extenfive 
 trade with France in this article. It has been 
 a received opinion, that although neither Eng- 
 lifli malt or molalfes fpirit have ever been 
 brought to the perfection of Wine-Brandy, 
 yet the fault is not lb much in the grain or fruit 
 whence the extract is made, as in the manner 
 of preparation, Both grapes and grain have 
 the fame principles of oil, lak, phlegm and 
 earth, and differ only in the quantity and con- 
 nection of thofe principle::. A patent, not many 
 years ago, was obtained - for making Brandy 
 
 * Necker'j* Admiaiflration of Finance^ Vol. II. p. 207. 
 ■\- 'Conjugations qn Trade, &c. in the year 1724. 
 
 I from
 
 [ iH 3 
 
 from carrots and parfnips ; the latter, it was 
 found, after a variety of curious experiments, 
 made a liquor very nearly refembling the Wine- 
 Brandy. 
 
 If the motives for complaint be exactly 
 Rated, it is not without reafon, that our Weil- 
 India merchants have taken alarm at the reduc- 
 tion of duties on this article, imported from 
 France, as propofed in the Tariff. From the 
 memorial prefented by them to the Minifter, 
 the refult of their meetings, and the opinion 
 of intelligent individuals on the fubject, the 
 following appears to be the fum of their ap- 
 prehenfions and their wifhes. 
 
 They requeft that the Rum of the Britifh 
 Weft-India Iflands fhould be put upon the 
 fame foot with regard to the Brandies of 
 France, that the wines of Portugal are to the 
 wines of France ; for, unlefs fuch a proporti- 
 onate adjuftment of duties take place, the fale 
 of a foreign produce will be encouraged to the 
 detriment, and perhaps the ruin, of what may 
 be termed a domeftic one. It is well known 
 that Rum muft pay more freight from the place 
 of production than Brandy, and that it fuffers 
 more by leakage and evaporation, requires 
 larger capital, and from the nature of the 
 trade renders the merchant liable to greater lofs 
 
 of
 
 [ "5 ] 
 
 of intereft upon it. This, among other in- 
 fiances, might be exemplified in feveral late ob- 
 structions of the intercourfe between the Iilands 
 and North America, which, to the great dis- 
 advantage of the trader, mud necelTarily always 
 turn the fuperfluous Rum into the Britifh mar- 
 ket. It appears moreover, that while thefe ob- 
 structions have rifen in this ftaple of Weft- 
 India trade, the French have been induftrioufiy 
 facilitating the vend of their brandies by a 
 variety of regulations. That the interefts of 
 the fugar-trade are fo naturally connected with 
 thofe of Rum, that whatever impedes the one 
 muft injure the other. * That this trade is of 
 no fmall atTiitance to the marine fkill and fpirit 
 of Great Britain, by reafon of the length of 
 the voyage and the number of Britifh fliips and 
 feamen employed in it, whereas the Brandy- 
 trade will be carried on in fhort trips between 
 England and France, with a large proportion 
 of French vefTels and crews. That on this 
 account, added to the consideration that prime 
 colli, freight and infurance are all higher, the 
 quantity of Rum fmuggled from the Weft- 
 Indies is very fmall, compared with that of 
 
 * It is faid the Rum infures to the planter the expences 
 
 and cafualties of thefugar; and they reckon, that each 
 
 hogihead of fugar produces from 40 to 60 gallons of Rum. 
 
 I 2 Brandies
 
 [ n6 ] 
 
 Brandies from France ; the duties therefore on 
 the former are more faithfully collected. That 
 as the prime cod of Brandy in France is upon 
 the average is. 2fd. a gallon, and that of Rum 
 2s. 4d. in order to preferve a juft proportion 
 in the reduction of the duties on each, if 
 thofe on Brandies, as propofed in the Tariff, 
 be lowered two (hillings and fixpence the 
 gallon, thofe on Rum mould be lowered one 
 (hilling and nine pence. * 
 
 Such appear to be the principal grounds of 
 complaint from this refpectable body of mer- 
 chants, whofe remonflrance, there is little 
 doubt, will have its due weight in the delibera- 
 tions of Parliament, efpecially when it is con- 
 iidered alfo what an injury our home-diftilleries 
 may receive by precipitately expofing them to 
 an unequal competition. Will it not, more- 
 over, admit of a doubt, whether the propofed 
 rate of reduction of the duties on French Bran- 
 dies befufficient to prevent fmuggling, for even 
 the duty of 7s. the gallon, is almoft 500 per 
 cent, on the prime coft, and whether by fuch 
 an ineffectual reduction of the duties, the reve- 
 v % ill not fuftain a considerable lofs with- 
 
 * See " the Memorial of the General Meeting of the 
 \Veft-Iodia Merchant* and Planters," prefented to the 
 Lords Commiflioiiers of the Treafury. 
 
 out
 
 [ »7 ] 
 
 out any adequate compenfation or advantage to 
 the public. * 
 
 IRON, STEEL, and COPPER. 
 
 There is fcarcely any branch of manufacture 
 in which labour and ingenuity are feen to add 
 more to the original value of materials than in 
 that of Iron and Steel ; of this the beautiful fa- 
 brics of Birmingham and Sheffield afford nume- 
 rous examples, and it is equally as evident in 
 the flupendous foundries at Carron and Cole- 
 broke Dale, as in the minuteft operation of the 
 
 * The principal laws which regulate the duties on the 
 importation of Brandies, are 7 and 8 W. III. c. xx. lay- 
 ing a duty of 30I. the ton on iingle, and 60I. the ton on 
 double proof, repealed by 6 Geo. II. c. xvii. § 2; which, 
 inftead of it, levies an excife of is. for every gallon of 
 Iingle proof, to be paid by the importer before landing, 
 over and above all other duties, and of 2s. on double proof. 
 See, alio 2 W. and M. c. ix. § 12. 12 W. III. c. xi. 
 § 8. 3 Ann. c. iv. v. 5 Ann. c. >:ix. made perpetual by 
 1 Geo. I. c. xii. 6 Geo. I, c. xxi, § 12. 8 Geo. I. c. xviji. 
 §11.6 Geo. III. c. xlvii. The ad patted 1 W. and M. 
 c. xxxiv. which entirely prohibits the importation of French 
 goods, appears by the preamble to have been intended prin- 
 cipally for the encouragement of the home diflilleries ; 
 this is the more probable, becauie in the following year a 
 
 heavy duty was laid on the exportation of corn. 2 W. and 
 
 M. c. ix. 
 
 I 3 workmops
 
 [ us ] 
 
 workfhops at Salifbury and Woodftock. In 
 reflecting on the various applications of theie 
 metals to agricultural, naval, military, mecha- 
 nical, and economical purpofes, we are imme- 
 diately ftruck with their extenfive utility and 
 importance, and are abfolutely loft in amaze- 
 ment, when we attempt to trace them through 
 all their gradations and forms, from the cannon 
 or the anchor to the lancet or the watch-fpring. 
 Though iron ore is known to be very plentiful 
 in this kingdom, it is not poffible to afcertain, 
 with any accuracy, what proportion of the pro- 
 duct is worked up, becaufe it is not only in- 
 termixed with* foreign iron, but is very com- 
 monly concealed under a foreign name. In 
 the year 17 19, when a bill " for extending the 
 laws concerning tl\e importation of naval ftores 
 from the Britifli American Colonies," was agi- 
 tated, it was computed that two thirds of what 
 was confumed in this kingdom, was imported 
 from Sweden and Ruflia. * It appears, that on 
 an average of ten years, our trade in this arti- 
 cle with the Baltic may be reckoned at 27,500 
 tons, value 314,0001. 
 
 In the year 1 749 another bill was propofed 
 for encouraging the importation of bar-iron 
 
 * Gee, Trade con/tiered, p. 16. 
 
 from
 
 [ " 9 ] 
 
 from America, in the courfe of which the fpint 
 of monopoly defcended to very fhameful expe- 
 dients, to prevent its taking effecT:. Among 
 other things it was boldly afTerted, that Ameri- 
 can Iron was of a quality very inferior to Swe- 
 difh, though by the Officer's Reports, then pre- 
 fented to the Houfe, it was (hewn that various 
 experiments made a few years before, in the 
 King's dock-yards, had proved it in all refpects 
 of equal goodnefs. It was alfo urged, that if 
 we withdrew from the iron trade of the Baltic, 
 we mufh forego the advantages of importing 
 their hemp and flax ; but the event, as far as 
 it was tried, did not juftify fuch apprehenfions. * 
 The fact was, their fears were of a more felfifh 
 nature. The proprietors of our iron-foundries 
 knew it was not for their intereft that an event 
 ihould take place, which would lower the price 
 of the metal, and thus by a narrow-minded policy 
 they attempted to facrifice a public benefit to 
 their own advantage. The bill, however, paf- 
 fed, but more, as it feems, from a diflatisfac- 
 tion then prevailing between our court and SweT 
 den, than from any patriotic motive. By the 
 permimon granted to import boih pig and bar 
 
 * Postlethw ayte's Commercial Difi. Art. Naval 
 Stores. 
 
 1 4 iron
 
 C *v> 3 
 
 iioii fjom America in Brkifli veiTels duty free, 
 no incontklerable advantages have been given 
 to our foundries over thofe of other nations, * 
 which added to the fuperior dexterity of our 
 workmen, and the large capitals employed, have 
 fecured us the market, even in countries whence 
 we import the materials for this manufacture ; 
 it mould ever be remembered, that if a duty 
 upon raw materials be allowed in moil cafes to 
 be prejudicial to the manufacture, it muft on 
 iron perhaps be more fo than on any other com- 
 modity ; for being a principal article in naval 
 {lores, it is of the highefl importance in fuch a 
 country as this ; betide, as it may ferve in almofl 
 all inftanccs for ballad, Sec. and is therefore of 
 cafy tranfportation, even the freight on fuch a 
 merchandife ought to be very moderate. 
 
 While the aforementioned Bills were depend- 
 ing in Parliament, a general alarm was fpread 
 through the country, by reports of great wafte 
 and deilruction of the woods in all thofe parts 
 where Iron works were erected. Postle- 
 tiiwayte, writing in the year 1759, lays, that 
 " Where Cord-wood had before been fold at 5 
 
 * The American iron mines have an advantage over 
 thofe of Ruflia in their proximity to the coafl ; for fome 
 of the molt productive mines in Siberia arc above 3000 
 miles from Petcrfburgh. 
 
 « and
 
 [ 121 ] 
 
 " and 6 (hillings the Cord, it then fold ^t 
 " upwards of 12 or 14, and in fome places was 
 " all confamed ; it is neceflary therefore," he 
 adds, u to preferve our timber from thefe con- 
 ft fuming furnaces, left they at laft lay hold o£ 
 <( our Oaks.''* This is reported to have been 
 the cafe in Ireland alfo, where they have often 
 been obliged to procure even building timber 
 from Norway, j It is well known that the iron 
 works in Mendip-hills had long fince cleared 
 away all the oaks in that foreft, and that not- 
 withstanding the fuccefsful adoption of Pit-coal 
 in fome of our moil extenfive works, woods are 
 Hill preferved in many places for the fupply of 
 the foundries. *f- 
 
 The ufe of wood in the iron works of France 
 is very general, owing to the great fcarcity of 
 coal in that country, and yet it is a remarkable 
 fad, that the provinces, where thofe manufac- 
 
 * Commercial Inter eft of Great Britain, V. I. p. i$i. 
 
 \ The clamours of that day were increafed by the fclf- 
 intereir of Wood, who made hlmfelf afterwards fo well 
 known in the Copper Coinage of Ireland. This man had 
 a leafe of all the mines on the Crown Lands of thirty-nine 
 counties, whole furnaces were fupplied with pit-coal ; befide 
 iron work in various parts of the kingdom. Anderson's 
 Hift. of Commerce, V. II. p. 303. 
 f Campbell's pp/U 9 Survey of Great Britain, V.II. p. 43, 
 
 tories
 
 [ I22 ] 
 
 rbries are eftablifhed, and efpecially Burgundy, 
 fupply the Metropolis with more than two thirds 
 of its fuel, j 
 
 Great improvements have of late years been 
 made in the procefs of every branch in this 
 valuable manufacture. The life of coak in 
 England inftead of charcoal, though fome are 
 of opinion that it debafes the quality of the iron, 
 has been found to anfwer for many of the larger 
 works, and the application of fleam to fome 
 of the moll laborious operations, inch as the 
 draining of coal, the fupplying blafts to the 
 furnaces, the railing the forge hammer, promifes 
 ftill further advantages. 
 
 The iron works in Colebroke Dale, are fup- 
 
 t Necker's Admin'iflrat. of Finance, &c. V. I. p. 25$, 
 At la Chaufade in the generality of Moulins, is an iron 
 foundry, which during the late war furnifhed moft of the 
 extra anchors ufed in the Royal Navy of France. With 
 half the labour there employed, the combined navy of 
 France and Spain might have been iupplied from fuch 
 foundries as thofe of Colebroke Dale or Carron. At Moulin s 
 they excel in cutlery and in (mail works, but in general 
 Englifh goods of this fort have the preference even 
 in the French markets ; for it is a known fact, that Englifh 
 jewels and various toys and trinkets, Bijouterie d'Anglcterre y 
 are fold openly and avoivedfy as fuch at the Palais Royal at 
 Verfailles % Fontainbkau, and even within the hearing of his 
 Majcfty. Tucker's Third Letter to Mr. Necker, p. 45. 
 
 i pofed
 
 [ **s ] 
 
 pofcd to be the moft extenlive in England, 
 employing upwards of one thoufand hands. 
 " The founders there earn from eight (hillings 
 " to ten millings and lix-pence a week, and 
 " boys of fourteen years old, feven millings, at 
 " drawing coal bafoetsin the pits."* Forpitcoal 
 is here principally ufed in making the bar iron. 
 The neighbouring hills fupply both in 
 fufficient quantities, and every ftep in the 
 procefs is performed on the fpot, from digging 
 the iron ore to the lad finifti of the manufacture. 
 Nothing can convey to a ftranger greater ideas 
 both of the flock of raw materials, and the 
 ingenuity of the workman in this lingular fpot, 
 than the Bridge of cafl iron, which now opens a 
 communication between two populous fides of 
 the Severn, and the waggon -ways paved with the 
 fame metal. The following pichirefque remark 
 will give a fketch of the fcenery, and relieve the 
 necefiary drynefs of the fubjecl:. " Colebroke 
 " Dale is a winding glen between two.immenfe 
 " hills, which break into various forms, being all 
 " thickly covered and forming moft beautiful 
 " meets of hanging woods. Indeed too beautiful 
 "to be much in unifon with that variety of 
 
 * Young's Aunals of Agric. &c. V. IV. p. 167. 
 
 cc horror 4
 
 C in 3 
 
 <£ horrors which art has fpread at the bottom. 
 " The noife of the forges, mills, &c. with all 
 £C their vafl machinery, the flames burfting 
 " from the furnaces, with the burning of the 
 " coal and the fmoak of the lime kilns, are 
 " altogether horribly fublime, and would unite 
 " well with craggy and bare rocks like St. 
 " Vincents at Briftol." * The principal works 
 belong to Mr. Derby, Mr. Wilkinfon, Mr. 
 Reynolds, and MefTrs. Bancks and Onions ; 
 the lad of thefe are the proprietors of a 
 machine for boring cannon from the folic! 
 caft; another of which is erected at Willey, by 
 Mr. Wilkinfon. 
 
 It has been obferved, that for many years 
 no cannon has been caft in that part called the 
 Dale Works, in which Quakers are employed; 
 " it being inconfiftent with the principles of that 
 " peaceable feci:, to make engines for the de- 
 " ftrudtion of their fellow creatures." J 
 
 The 
 
 * Young's Annals, &c. V. IV. p. 168. See alfo a more 
 particular account in the fame volume, p. 343, &c. by 
 E. J. Harries, Efq. of Hen wood. 
 
 X Ut fup. p. 348. The only articles in which our 
 iron manufactories feem to have fuffered during the Lite 
 war, were Nails and Axes, but it is faid the Am' 
 demand for thefe articles is now returning. Ut fup. p. 
 
 > 5 s. 
 
 Iron
 
 [ «a i 
 
 The great irregularities and doubts in out 
 Mine Laws contributed very much to retard the 
 progrefs of improvement, in the preparation and 
 working up of Copper, though it was known to 
 abound in many parts of the kingdom, till the 
 prefent century. Since that time it has been 
 brought to great perfection, and applied to 
 almoft as great a variety of ufes as iron, efpe- 
 cially in domeftic utenfils, for which it is 
 peculiarly calculated by reafon of its malleabi- 
 lity, flexibility, elafticity, and ductility.* The 
 principal copper mines in Europe are thofe near 
 the Hartz and at Mifnia in Germany, in the 
 Archbifhopric of Saltzburg, in Bavaria, Wir- 
 temburg, and Treves. In France, at Amiens, 
 Abbeville, Rheims, Troyes, and Beauvais in 
 many parts of Norway and Sweden, in the 
 Dutchies of Parma and Placentia, near Brefcia, 
 and in Sicily.']; Our own country produces 
 
 Iron imported according to the navigation-act, pays 
 £2, 8. 6. a ton, and has a drawback on exportation of 
 £2. C. 2; in 1778, an additional 7s. 7d. If not imported 
 according to the act, there is a duty of £2. 17. 10. a ton, 
 and the drawback is £2, 14. 6. Iron wares manufactured 
 not otherwife rated, or not prohibited, pay on importation 
 123. 4d. and draw back on exportation us. 5d. The du- 
 ty on iron wares manufactured in Ireland, is 14s. 3d. V;. a 
 cwt. on importation. 
 
 * Campbell's Politic. Survey, Sec. V. II. p. 45. 
 
 t Beavsosre, Etude de la Politiq. Tom. I. p. 152. 
 
 great
 
 C t%» ] 
 
 great plenty of this metal, particularly in Corn- 
 wall, Staffordfhire, Somerfeifhire, and Cumber- 
 land. The mines of Cornwall, which produce 
 about a fifth part of the ore ufed in England, are 
 computed to afford to the value of £200,000* 
 annually ; and in Anglefey, there is a mountain 
 which has abed of this ore more than forty feet 
 in thick nefs, which fupplies annually between 
 fix and feven thoufand tons, and employs above 
 forty furnaces in fmelting it. Befide the pure 
 native Copper, there is a fpecies produced 
 by precipitation in vitriolic fprings in different 
 parts of Europe. Thofe of Wicklow in Ireland, 
 are very productive. It is faid that one ton of 
 iron bars laid on thefe fprings, produces a ton 
 and nineteen cwt. of Copper mud, and that 
 each ton of the mud when fmelted yields 
 iixteen cwt. of the purefl Copper, which fells 
 for £10 a ton more than the Copper which is 
 fluxed from the ore.*|* The Copper mills at 
 
 Namur 
 
 * Phllofophical Tranfamons, V. XLVfl. p. $02, V. 
 LXVIII. p. 94, and 101 ; Watson'j Chemical EJfays, V. I, 
 ch. 6. 
 
 X Boslase, Nat. Hijlory ofCornvjall, p/207. Thcfub- 
 crdinate manufactories of brafs, verdigris, vitriol and pins 
 have fprung from the improvements made in the copper 
 branch. In the laft it is truly afltonhliing to confider the 
 
 many
 
 [ *»7 ] 
 
 Namur are perhaps the mod extenfive in Eu- 
 rope, and it was there that the water engine now in 
 common ufe, was firfl applied in the year 1695, 
 to put the ponderous machinery of thefe works 
 in motion.* If we may rely on the reprefen- 
 tations given, the ancients far exceeded us in 
 their manner of tempering and refining this 
 metal ; at prefent the advantages of dexterity in 
 this branch, are not confined fo particularly to 
 one country as to make it an object of commer- 
 cial jealoufy. It is probable therefore that the 
 interchange between France and fingland for 
 commodities of Copper or Brafs, will be compa- 
 ratively fmall, and that they will continue to draw 
 their fupplies chiefly from their own materials 
 and induftry.J 
 
 many fubdi virions of labour which are required to make 
 an article, fo proverbially infignirlcant. The engravers 
 and bell-founders alfo employ great quantities of this 
 metal. 
 
 * Beau sob re, Etudi delaPollt, T. II. p. 154. 
 
 } We are laid to export annually 2000 tons of vitriol. 
 Thefc works have lately much declined, by reafon of the 
 home confumption being fupplied with the acid, as pro- 
 cured from the burning of fulphur. Watson's Chem. 
 V , I. r>. 226, 
 
 HEMP,
 
 [ 123 ] 
 
 HEMP, FLAX, LINEN. 
 
 Hemp and FlAx, confidered as the mate- 
 rials of various kinds of fabrics, are of the 
 highefl confequence, and it may be obferved 
 of them, that they place the connection between 
 agriculture and manufacture in a ftronger light 
 than any other produce of the foil. * There 
 are few countries in Europe which do not grow 
 them ; thofe round the Baltic, particularly Ruffia, 
 produce fuch great quantities, that they may be 
 truly ftyled their ftaple commodities. -}- The 
 Flax cultivated in Germany is intirely worked 
 up at home, for the exportation of the raw ma- 
 terials is ftrictly prohibited ; in confequence of 
 this, the looms of that country fupply France 
 with a great proportion of her linen goods, 
 though of late years much attention has been 
 paid to the cultivation of Flax in the provinces 
 
 * We read of two officers in the Roman empire, called 
 Procurators Linificii % who fuperintended the two great 
 ftorehoufes at Ravenna and Vienne. From this circum- 
 
 itance much learned debate has been ftarted concerning 
 the Hate of the cultivation and manufactories of Hemp 
 and Flax amono- the ancients. 
 
 o 
 
 f It is calculated that Ruffia alone imports into England 
 Hemp to the amount of 400,000!. annually. 
 
 of
 
 [ I2 9 ] 
 
 of Picardy, Brittany, Maine, Dauphine, and 
 Alface. Flax alfo is plentifully produced in 
 Flanders, especially between Ghent and Cour- 
 tray, where perhaps it is an object of more de- 
 licate hufbandry than in any other part of Eu- 
 rope. The conduct of the Flemiih. on this ar- 
 ticle affords a good leffon to monopolifers o* 
 every clais; for though linen and lace be the 
 great manufactures of their country, they permit 
 the free exportation of Flax on this principle, that 
 it encourages production and improves cultiva- 
 tion, and in the end renders the commodity both 
 cheaper and better. The Flax in the province 
 of Zealand is in high efteem, and is ufed by 
 the Dutch in the fabric of their finer linens, 
 though it may be remarked, that weaving and 
 whitening are in general the only parts of the 
 whole procefs performed to any great extent in 
 Holland, and that moil of the thread is fpun -in 
 Germany and Pruflia. The city of Bologna 
 iupplies Venice with both Hemp and Flax; 
 and in Spain the provinces of Valencia, Grenada, 
 and Murcia, furnifh the great manufactories of 
 fail-cloth and cordage eftablifhed at Port Real, 
 and the linen fabrics in fome of the neighbouring 
 diftricts. In this iiland, particularly in Scot- 
 land, great attention has been paid to this 
 branch of culture, though much difpute has 
 K arifen
 
 [ *3° ] 
 arifen on the expediency of parrying fuch a 
 meafure to any length in South Britain.* It 
 has been urged, that Hemp and Flax fo much 
 exhauft and impoverifh the land, that it re- 
 quires conftantly to be manured, and to lie fal- 
 low every third year at leaft; that the plants 
 are exotics and degenerate in this country, fo 
 that it is found neceliary to recruit them very 
 frequently : to this it has been added, that to 
 encourage their culture would be againft the 
 inter eft of fuch a country as England, becaufe 
 it would moil probably operate to the dif- 
 couragement of the growth of Wool ; moreover, 
 that the fame effect would be produced here as 
 is in France by the fubftitution of vineyards for 
 farms; for as it is reckoned, that one acre of 
 Flax will fet as many hands to work as twenty 
 acres of Wool, it would in all probability too 
 much reduce the price of land. The decreafe 
 of the importation of Irifh Wool and Woollen 
 Yarn into England about fifty years ago, it is 
 afTerted, was not owing, as generally furmifed, 
 to its being run to France and other countries, 
 but to the great increafe of the linen manufactures, 
 
 * Sec various Reports delivered to the Houfe in 1773, 
 when Parliament was petitioned for a further aid to the 
 linea manufactures. 
 
 4 efpecially
 
 [ i3i ] 
 
 cfpecially in Uliler, which, for their fupply, 
 had planted fuch quantities of Flax, that they 
 had not fheep fufhcient for their own markets, 
 whereas not many years before they fupplied 
 themfelves and the neighbouring provinces. * 
 
 Many of thefe objections, however, are dif- 
 proved by experiment and obfervation. It has 
 been found that there is much land in the north 
 of England and in Scotland, which produces 
 both Hemp and Flax as high and as ftrong as 
 any imported from Riga ; and that in fome other 
 parts, they are cultivated in as fine a ftate as in 
 the fouthern climates, infomuch, that Englifh. 
 Hemp has been known to fetch from 34 to 40s. 
 the cwt. when what was brought from the Baltic 
 flood at 28 to 35 s. and this cultivation is carried 
 on in rich and deep foils without any fymptoms 
 of impoverifhment or degeneration; on the 
 contrary, we are told of a prodigious large field 
 in the ifle of Axholm in Lincolnfliire, which 
 though fowed with Hemp, has not been fal- 
 lowed for many years, and always produces 
 
 * A Letter to a Member of Parliament in 1732, cited 
 by Anderson, Hifi. Comm. Vol. I. p. 340. It is faid 
 that Flax, infufed in water, communicates a poifonous 
 quality to it, which gave rife to Stat. 33 Hen. VIII. 
 c. xvii, forbidding its be. ng watered in any running flream 
 or common pond. 
 
 K 2 excellent
 
 excellent crops ; * this is 'alfo, in a great mea- 
 fure, the cafe at Spalding Moor in the Eaft 
 Riding of Yorkfhire. \ But be the fact as it 
 may, furely there is room enough for very fair 
 and extenfive experiments of it, on fome of the 
 numerous moors and barren heaths of fand 
 which disfigure this ifland. 
 
 The mod reafonable objection feems to be 
 the danger of diminifliing the growth of Wool* 
 by occupying much pafture land for thefe pur- 
 pofes, and confequently of facrificing the in- 
 tereft of an anoient and valuable manufactory, to 
 one which is by no means fo productive or fo 
 natural to the people. Experience has now 
 clearly proved, that the manufacture of Linen is 
 very profitably eflablimed and carried on in 
 countries where land and labour are cheap ; on 
 this account it has ever been the care of our 
 Legiflature to encourage it in Scotland and 
 Ireland. By an Act pafTed in 1728, great ad- 
 . vantages were granted to fuch as mould intro- 
 duce the Linen fabric into the Highlands, and 
 lince that time it has received occafional 
 lupport by various premiums and bounties. 
 
 * Gee on the Growth of Hemp and Flax. 
 
 f Campbell'j \ Politic. Survey, &c. Vol. II. p. 89. 
 
 Their
 
 [ m ] 
 
 Their good effects are fufficiently fhewn by the 
 following flatements : 
 
 The value of the Linen damped for fale in 
 
 Scotland, was 
 
 From 1728 to 1733 - - £. 662,938 
 
 From 1747 to 1752 - - 1,344,814 
 
 In 1754 alone - - - 506,816 
 
 In 1760 - - - - 522,153 
 
 In 1773 ----- 462,751 
 
 In 1774 49 2 >°55 
 
 In 1775 5 6l ;5 2 7 
 
 In 1777 7 IO > 6 33 
 
 In 1779 55 I > I 4-8 
 
 In 1780 622,187 
 
 In 1782 ----- 775,098 
 
 In 1783 366,983 
 
 Andini784 932,617 
 
 Thus it appears, that though there was a fudden 
 defed in 1 7 7 3 , it recovered and has almoft doubled 
 itfelf within the fhort fpace of thefe laft ten 
 years! The ftatutes made in the years 1696 
 and 1697,* " For encouraging the Linen manu- 
 " fadories of Ireland, and for admitting the 
 " free importation of Flax and Hemp from that 
 " kingdom into England," were the means of 
 * 7 ^nd 8 W. III. 
 
 K 3 carrying
 
 [ 134 ] 
 
 carrying over many French refugees, and laid 
 the foundation of her fabrics in Linen and 
 Cambric; and two other Ads in 1703 and 
 1 704, which extended this permiffion in favour 
 of Ireland to the Engliili plantations in Ame- 
 rica *, (till further promoted their increafe. 
 Thefe privileges were not bellowed inconii- 
 derately; they were the refult of mature and 
 folid reafoning on the natural and political 
 fituation of that ifland, and have fully anfwered 
 their propofed . end. Some years previous to 
 the paffing the firfl of thefe Acts, Sir William 
 Temple, among other reflections on the fub- 
 ject, obferves, that " of all women, the Irifh 
 " were the apt eft and bed calculated to fpin 
 " linen thread well; who, labouring little in 
 " any kind with their haods, have their fingers 
 *' more fupple. and foil tban others of as poor 
 " condition amongfl us. This," he adds, 
 <c may certainly be improved into a great ma- 
 * nufacture of Linen, fo as to beat down the 
 ,c trade of France and Holland, without crofling 
 iC any ihtereft of trade in England. Beficie 
 " this, the foil and climate are peculiarly fit 
 ic for the growth of Flax and the whitening of 
 *' Linens. "~|~ This has been amply verified 
 
 * 3 and 4 Ann. c. viii. 
 
 |. Mifctllanies, p. 15. Ed, 1681, 
 
 in
 
 [ >35 ] 
 in the progrefs which the manufacture has made 
 during the prefent century. The particulars of 
 this matter have been fo frequently brought be- 
 fore the public of late years, that it would be 
 needlefs to enlarge upon them here. * The 
 following facts will be fufficient to (hew. how 
 profitably fuch a branch of trade may be adopt- 
 ed, when circumftances like thofe in Ireland 
 or Scotland, concur to favour the cultivation of 
 its materials. It is calculated that an acre of 
 land will bear from 3 to 6 cwt. of flax, which 
 is worth 40s. a cwt. at the average therefore of 
 4 cwt. this will fet the produce of each acre at 81. 
 The number of acres thus cultivated in Ireland 
 is computed at 13,000. So that the amount of 
 the whole produce is 104,0001. This produce 
 is raifed in its value eight times when in its 
 manufactured date, which brings it to 832,0001. 
 but it is faid, that a quantity equal to one 
 fifth of the raw materials grown in the country 
 is imported annually, this by adding 1 70,0001. 
 more, makes the whole annual amount of the 
 linen manufacture upwards of one million fler- 
 ling. A ton of flax is fuppoled to employ 
 
 * Lord Sheffield onthelriJJ) Trade. Arrangements with 
 Ireland conjidered ; with the Reports of the Linen Committees^ 
 in 1773} and Vol. IX, Parliamentary Regifter. 
 
 K 4 annually
 
 C 136 ] 
 
 annually 40 perfons, and from the foregoing com- 
 putation it appears, that the quantity uled is 
 about 3125 tons, fo that this manufactory em- 
 ploys upon the whole 125,000 hands. .In 
 Scotland about 1540 tons are annually worked 
 up, which gives employment to 61,200 hands; 
 thus the linen manufactures in both countries, 
 may together be reckoned to employ 186,200 
 hands. From the fuperiority of wages it has 
 lately been feared, that the newly erected cot- 
 ton works in many parts of Ireland may materi- 
 ally injure the linen branch ; for a workman will 
 there earn from 13s. to 15s. a week, a lad of 
 13 years old 8s. or 9s. and at the fpinning-jenny 
 as much as 15s. — whereas at linen weaving the 
 worker of fine goods can earn no more than 8 s. 6 d. 
 and of coarfe goods no more than 6s. 3d. a week. 
 Girls alfo, who at flax fpinning get only 2s. or 
 3s. a week, will earn in the cotton works from 
 9s. to us. But the properties of flax appear 
 in a more finking point of view, when it is 
 conlidered as the material of the lace, manufac- 
 ture. In Flanders where it has been, in this 
 branch, carried to its higheft perfection, they 
 reckon that one pound only, which is worth 
 from 4d.to $d. will, when worked up, be raifed 
 to the value of 7000 florins, upwards of 600I. 
 
 which
 
 [ *37 ] 
 which probably is as ftrong an inftance of the 
 lucrative effects of human ingenuity as can be 
 produced in the cafe of any other raw material 
 whatever. * And it has therefore been calcu- 
 lated, that if France were to exchange on equal 
 terms, her wines for the lace of BrufTels, (he 
 would give the produce of many thoufand acres 
 of wines for every (ingle acre of flax ~j~ 
 
 By 17 Geo. IT. ch. xxx. the affixing coun- 
 terfeit (lamps to foreign linens imported, in 
 imitation of the (lamps on I rim and Scotch 
 linens, and expoiing them to fale, as alfo the 
 affixing counterfeit (lamps to any linen manu- 
 factured in Great Britain or Ireland, and ex- 
 
 * A table exhibiting at one view the comparative price 
 of firft materials with their proportionately improved value, 
 in every branch of manufacture and art, would be a cu- 
 rious and ufeful work. 
 
 f There is an excellent book on the fubjectof this chap- 
 ter, by Mr. Marcandiee, of which there is an Englifli 
 tranflation in 1764. I quote the tranfiationfrom an opinion, 
 that even adepts in the French language will read works like 
 this, and all others which treat of agriculture, manufactures, 
 or finance, to the beft advantage in good Englifli tranllatioas, 
 becaufe they mult contain many terms of art and revenue, 
 and 'a variety of political idioms which it is difficult to com- 
 prehend ; for the fame reafon in matters of fcienee alfo it 
 is, in general, better to give extracts from foreign books in 
 *>ur own language. 
 
 pofing
 
 C 138 3 
 
 pofing the fame to fale, will incur the forfeiture 
 of the goods and a penalty of 5I. for each piece. 
 The different duties on the importation of this 
 article are principally regulated by 10 Ann. c. 
 xix. 12 Ann. c. ix. and 7 Geo. III. c. Iviii. 
 and Ixxii. 
 
 W O O L. 
 
 During the 12th and 13th centuries the cloth 
 manufactories of the Netherlands were the moil 
 flourifhing in Europe, but being ill fupplied 
 with materials at home, they carried on an ex- 
 tenfive trade with this Ifland. To fupply this 
 great demand, a fociety of merchants, called 
 afterwards the IVaol Staplers, combined for the 
 purpofe of collecting the Wool in various parts 
 of the country to convey it to the fea ports for 
 exportation, and it appears that this branch of 
 foreign traffic was for many years, not only 
 permitted, but encouraged ; indeed, it mould 
 feem that, ftrictly fpeaking, the firfl legal prohi- 
 bition occurs as late as the year 1660, by which 
 forfeiture of the goods and fhip, and a penalty 
 of 20s. for every irieep, and 3s. for every pound 
 of wool exported, is incurred. * I am, neverthe- 
 
 * 12 Car, II, c. xxxii. § 3. 
 
 lefs,
 
 C *39 ] 
 lefs, aware that as far back as the reign of Ed- 
 ward III. temporary reftraints had been laid, and 
 that both James and Charles iffaed proclama- 
 tions, and after them, the Long Parliament in- 
 terpofed its authority with this view ; * it 
 mould alfo be remembered, that though a fub- 
 fidy on the raw material was very common in 
 earlier times, yet the firft regular grant on the 
 manufacture occurs in 21 Edward III. " This/' 
 fays Hale, " was founded on reafon and equi- 
 ty, for as the King-had a cuftom of inheritance 
 fettled in him of Wools exported, and much of 
 our Wool now began to be draped into cloth 
 and thus exported, it was thought fit, that he 
 mould have his proportionate benefit of this 
 commodity exported in manufatture as well as in 
 Jpecie" -f- It was in this king's reign alfo, that the 
 woollen manufactory firft gained a rooted efta- 
 blifhment in this country. Rymer has preferved 
 a letter of protection, fent by Edward in the 
 year 133 1 , to a manufacturer in Flanders, to 
 invite him and his family to fettle in England ; % 
 
 and 
 
 * Rymer'j Feeders Tom. IV. fol. 744- Tom, XIX. 
 fol. 155. 
 
 f Hargrave'j l>u> Trafis, cap. xxvi. and cap. ix. of 
 the third part of Hale's MS. 
 
 j Fxdera, Tom. IV. fol. 496. For various regulations 
 of Ed. Ill, in this article, fee alfo Tom, IV, fol. 702-
 
 [ i 4 o ] 
 and many other families we are informed fol- 
 lowed their example. De Witt, fpeaking of 
 this event, obferves, that before the removal 
 of the weaving trade to England, the Engliiri 
 were little better than fhepherds ; but this flep 
 was the foundation of her commercial glory, 
 and the ruin of the Netherlands. " * 
 
 It was then that our anceflors began to feel 
 their real interefl, and difcovered that whilft 
 men, women, and children were bufied in work- 
 ing up the fleece, they were alfo fed with the 
 mutton. Then our people multiplied, they ac- 
 quired wealth and power, and left the Nobles 
 of the land mould forget the fleece, they were 
 feated upon woolsacks in the Senate Houfe. -f* 
 Notwithftanding the increafed demand for home 
 confumption, which muft necefTarily have fol- 
 lowed this event, we find that the duties from 
 the foreign fale of raw wool amounted, even 
 then, to 250,000!. annually. ;j; This ftrongly 
 
 720. 723. 736. 744. 751. 757. Very coarfe cloths were ma4e 
 in England before this time, and it was not till the reign of 
 Elizabeth that the manufactory of the very fine fort was 
 eftabliflied, 
 
 * Interefl of Ho Hand, p. 27. 
 - -j- Moorl'j Conjiderations on the exorbitant Price ofProvi- 
 Jions, p. 42. 
 
 X Memoirs of Wool, V. I. p 8:» 
 
 illuflratcs
 
 [ HI ] 
 
 illuftrates an obfervation, that the market for 
 this article in the rude beginnings of improve- 
 ment is very feldom confined to the country 
 which produces it ; becaufe being eafily tranf- 
 ported without any preparation, and affording 
 materials for many manufactures, the induftry 
 of other countries may occafion a demand much 
 beyond that of its native country. * The un- 
 juftifiable feverity of our ftatutes againft the 
 exporters of Wool has been compared to the 
 fpirit of Draco's laws. The 8th Eliz. c. iii. is a 
 difgrace to any penal code ; it is however virtu- 
 ally repealed by the ftatute of Charles above-men- 
 tioned, which is itfelf alfo, with refpect to the 
 penalty, expreflly repealed. But cruel and 
 impolitic as fuch prohibitions may now appear, 
 they might at that time have been neceflary ; 
 for before fuch manufactories have arrived at a 
 tolerable degree of perfection, fifcal law re- 
 quires to be fanctioned with heavy penalties, in 
 order to prevent the unprofitable exchange of 
 fabrics, in return for raw materials. 
 
 At the clofe of the lafl century the practice 
 of owling 9 as it was termed, that is fmug- 
 gling the Wools of England and Ireland 
 into France, was a fubject of heavy complaint, -j- 
 
 * Wealth of Nations, B. I. c. ii. 
 
 f Anderson'* Hijtory of Commerce, Vol. II. p. 126. 
 
 The
 
 [ I 4 2 ] 
 
 The unlimited extent of our market rendered 
 the conduct of our own ftaplers inexcufable in 
 this refpect, and a very fit object of parliamen- 
 tary control : but, after the reftrictive claufes 
 in 7 and 8 W. Ill, c. 2S, it might naturally be 
 expected, that iuch a ftep would be taken by 
 the filler kingdom. An attempt to monopolize 
 a branch of trade, by pairing laws to limit its 
 price in the market, is in effect little elfe than 
 to bedew bounties upon fmuggling. Statutes 
 may pafs and penalties may be inflicted, but it 
 will never prevent materials of general demand 
 from finding their way clandeftinely to the mod 
 advantageous purchafer. * This the Venetians 
 experienced in the 16th century, when they 
 aimed at a monopoly of the raw filks of Cyprus 
 at a ftated price, and actually appointed officers 
 to watch and regifter the exportations of that 
 ifland, yet with all their care, the inhabitants 
 contrived to fmuggle immenfe quantities of this 
 article to Marfeilles, and various other French 
 and Italian ports in the Mediterranean. -Jr In the 
 fame manner and for the fame reafons the Irifli 
 
 * 12 and 22 Geo. II. in a great meafure remedied this evil, 
 and it was further relieved in 1778, and again in 1780 and 
 X781. 
 
 f Mauroceni ? Hijloria Fenctix, p. 543, Edit. Argen- 
 tor. 1692. 
 
 woollen
 
 C 143 ] 
 
 woollen trade found its way into France. It 
 was carried to fuch an alarming length about 
 thirty years ago, that it became a matter of very 
 ferious conii deration. The advantages which 
 France muft derive by fuch a contraband trade 
 are obvious, when it is underftood that for many 
 purpofes, her own wool is too coarfe and iliort 
 in the ftaple, but being mixed in the proportion 
 of two packs to one of Irifh or EnglilTi wool, it 
 can be worked up very profitably into what is 
 termed the beft fecond cloths, which are thofe in 
 moil general ufe. It was then and has fince been 
 the received opinion, that no other mode of pre- 
 venting this grievance, could be more benefici- 
 ally adopted, than that of permitting the Irilh to 
 fend their manufactured woollens to England, 
 under a duty at importation, to be drawn back on 
 exportation to foreign countries. * A propofed 
 Bill " for preventing the fmuggling of Wool," 
 &c. has lately been the caufe of general meetings 
 in fome of our coaft counties, the refults of 
 
 » The effect of the woollen trade of France on our mar- 
 ket, at the beginning of this century, is exemplified by the 
 following fact : When the plague raged at Marfeilles, the 
 demand of foreign countries for woollen goods werefo large, 
 that wools of both England and Ireland were infufficient to 
 fupply them. Jos. Gee, Trade and Navigation, &c. p. 67. 
 Postlethwayts'j Commercial Inter ej} y &c. V. L p. 363. 
 
 which
 
 [ |44 ] 
 
 which are already before the public. The fpirited 
 reiblutions of the meeting held in the county 
 of SufTex, called forth a letter from Mr. 
 John Anstie, who maintains that the prefent 
 laws are lb defective as to want a thorough revi- 
 fion, and, that, although it is difficult in this 
 branch lb to regulate them, that they (hall not 
 impofe redactions on particular peribns, yet 
 he trulls, that fuch confiderations will have no 
 weight in decifions of Parliament * 
 
 I fhall now proceed to flate a lew particulars 
 refpcCting this valuable material and its manu- 
 facture. In point of quality the Wool of Spain 
 claims the firfl rank, and of this what is called 
 the Efcurial Fleece is the fineft and the deareft. 
 It fells fometimes on the fpot for 6 livres, about 
 5s. a pound, which is more by two livres than 
 the average price of Spanifh wool in France. 
 The wools of Caftille and Arragon, and the 
 black wool of SaragofTa, are alfo in high eflima- 
 tion. When next to Spain, England is allowed 
 
 • See A Letter to the Land Owners, Wool Growers, CSV. 
 in the County of Sujfex, dated Devifes, Nov. 21, in the 
 " Morning Chronicle," It was upon the refult of an ex- 
 amination of Mr. Anstie and Mr. Affleck before a 
 Committee of the Houfe of Commons, and in confe- 
 rence of their report, that leave was given to bring in 
 the Bill. 
 
 to
 
 [ HS ] 
 
 ti? produce this article in the greateft perfec- 
 tion, it muft not be underftood in too general 
 a fenfe ; for there is fcarcely any thing more 
 variable in its price and quality than Engiifh 
 wool. The fleeces in the neighbourhood of 
 Rofs, in Herefordfhire, are extremely fine, 
 and have been known to fell as high as 
 2s. ,4d. the pound, though at other times they 
 fetch as low a price as is. — they were lately 
 at i6d. the pound. The South Downs pro- 
 duce wool from 9d. to is. iod. the pound; this 
 is alfo the average price of fome of the fine 
 foreft wools, which when mixed with the Spa-* 
 nifh, ferve to make the fecond priced fine 
 cloths. The wool near Bridgnorth and about 
 the Wrekin in Shropshire, is in general bought 
 at is. 6d. the pound, and this is ufually the 
 price of Lemfter wool. In many parts of Lin- 
 colnshire it is at 6d. in the Weil Country at 
 4?d. and on Romney Marfh, it has been 
 known to fell at 3d the pound. In fhort, it 
 would appear, upon a more particular investiga- 
 tion, that between the extremes of Hereford- 
 shire and Kent, there are all the various prices 
 from 2s. 6d. to 3d. in the pound. A univer- 
 fal average through the kingdom therefore, as 
 it is in many other cafes, muft be in this in- 
 ftance deceitful and unfatisfactory, and it has 
 L accordingly
 
 [ i 4 6 ;i 
 
 accordingly been feted to be from Sd. to is. 
 the pound. One obfervation, however, may 
 arife from fuch a ftatement, namely, that the 
 average price, fince the reign of Ed. III. 
 has fallen, for wool was then fold at about 
 2I. 16s. a pack, or 2-fdU a pound: this has 
 happened becaufe our prohibitions on exporta^ 
 tion, our grants of importation, duty free, from 
 Spain, and our monopoly of the exportation 
 from Ireland, all conipired to enlarge the 
 market (lock, notwithstanding the great in- 
 creafe of demand from the improved (late of 
 fociety, and the extention of our manufaclo- 
 ries. * As the quality of an article, in a great 
 meafure, regulates its price, this alfo is found 
 to be proportionally various in different parts of 
 the kingdom, •f It is unneceffary to enter 
 largely into this matter. I (hall only obferve, 
 that the wool of Herefordshire and Shropshire, 
 
 * Smith'j Me?noirs of Wool) V. I. p. 6. 17. 44. V. II. 
 p. 9. 54. 176, 182. Prohibited exportation has, in Por- 
 tugal, a fimilar influence on the price of its gold and 
 filver. N. B. The price of wool in very early times is 
 eaiily afcertained, becaufe it was common to pay the King's 
 fubfidy in this article. The average price in Ireland has 
 lately been from gd. to 143. 
 
 f Wool in quantity alfo is remarkably uncertain, for it 
 has been known, that 20 fleeces of fine wool havefcarcely 
 weighed more than one of a larger fort. 
 
 and
 
 £ HI 3 
 
 and fome of the heath wools are preferred to 
 mix with the Spanifh, for the beft fuperfine 
 cloth, and that it is principally from the wool of 
 Lincolnshire, Nottingham, Northamptonfhire, 
 and parts of Kent, that our worded goods are 
 manufactured. That of Lincolnfhire, though 
 coarfer dian the Kentifh wool, being longer 
 in the flaple, is in great requeft for the Norwich 
 manufactories, and it has been thought that 
 both of them might be fuccefsmlly fubftituted 
 in the room of Spanifh wool for making the 
 chain of the finer cloths ; a matter which furely 
 deferves fome attention, when it is remembered 
 how much the quantity of fine wool is dimi- 
 nifhed lately in Shropfhire and many other parts 
 of England, from the introduction of a large 
 breed of fheep, by means of inclofures and 
 artificial graffes. The Scotch wool, it is ima- 
 gined, if it were not greafed and tarred to 
 preferve the animal, would, in many parts, 
 equal the finenefs of our Herefordfhire fleeces. 
 Spanifh wool is purchafed in England from 
 2s. 3d. to 3s. od» a pound, though the late 
 average has been from 3s. yd* to 4s. It is faid 
 that -Sg. of what is ufed is of the quality from 
 3s. 2d. to 3s. 9d. a pound, and that a. yard of 
 broad cloth requires two pounds and a half of 
 L % this
 
 [ i4» ] 
 
 this wool. France has never excelled in th£ 
 growth of this article, but has always de- 
 pended upon foreigners, for the materials of her 
 beft woollen manufactures. By the Family 
 Compact, fhe imports the wool of Spain, free 
 of all duty for ever, and it is to be feared that 
 (he is indebted to the flocks of Lincolnfhire and 
 Kent for many of thofe long combing fleeces, 
 which are worked up at Amiens, Abbeville, 
 and the various manufactories of Normandy, 
 and Bretagne, * which fhe receives principally 
 through the Low Countries. 
 
 The province of Berry, famous for a peculiar 
 kind of Cloth which goes by its name, is faid to be 
 fupplied with wool from fheep of its own growth, 
 and we are lately told that M. D'Aubenton, near 
 Montbard, in Burgundy, has a breed of fheep 
 whofe wool is fo fine as to be fold at five livres 
 the pound. This gentleman is one of the princi- 
 pal promoters of a fpirit which is now gone forth 
 in France, for encouraging and improving the 
 
 * Amiens and Abbeville, in Picardy; Darnetal, Fef- 
 champ, Caen, St. Lo, Alenc^on, Renncs, Bourg, and St. 
 Brieux, in Bretagne, are the chief woollen manufactories, 
 though there are many others of note in thofe provinces : 
 they are, for the moil part, employed on ratteens, ferges, 
 and fine cloths, fome of which they profefs to make entirely 
 •f Spanifh wool. 
 
 growth
 
 [ 149 ] 
 
 growth of Wool : He is the author of a work 
 called Inftruftion pour les Bergers et pour les Pro- 
 prietor es de Froupeaux, which, though not fa 
 extenfive as M. Carlier's Traite des Betes a- 
 Laine, from its form and the fimplicity of its 
 ftyle, is better calculated to have its intended 
 effect. Thefe are mentioned, as good antidotes 
 to any defpondencies which may arife upon 
 hearing of fuch national exertions among our 
 neighbours, for they prove that their country- 
 men are at prefent fo very far behind us in the 
 cultivation of fheep, and labour againft fuch a 
 variety of natural and political obftructions, that 
 there can be little room for jealoufy on our part. 
 Much has been faid of the lownefs of wages 
 and the cheapnefs of materials in this branch of 
 French manufacture, yet it is very demonflrable, 
 that both their very fine cloths and their coarfe 
 woollens are as dear as in England. The belt 
 cloths of Sedan, Louviers, and Abbeville, fell 
 at twenty millings the EnglifTi yard, and they 
 are generally thought to be of a (lighter texture 
 and lefs durable than our fuperfines. At 
 Auxerre, Samur Macon, Grenoble, Vienne, 
 Aries, and many towns in the province of 
 Orleans, coarfe woollen Serges are for their 
 ouality, found to be higher priced than the fame 
 L 3 article^
 
 r 150 i 
 
 articles are with us : Their fecond cloths alfo, 
 which do not excel ours of twelve fhillings the 
 yard, either in the texture or the drefling, are 
 fold at Vervins, Fontaine, Chalons, and other 
 parts of Champagne, and about Poi&iers, from 
 fifteen to lixteen livres four fols the y£rd : At 
 Romantin indeed, in the generality of Orleans, 
 there is a manufactory of white cloths, made 
 with equal proportions of Spanifh and Berry 
 wool, which is in high eflimation, and from 
 certain local advantages, fends out its goods 
 better fmifhed, and at a more reafonable price.. 
 Of the preference given to our woollens before 
 thofe of France, Lord Sheffield has related 
 a curious inftance. " In the late war, when 
 " France granted a fum of money to Congrefs, 
 f£ for cloathing the American troops, Mr. 
 " Laurens, jun. was employed to provide it; 
 <e but inftead of laying out the money in France, 
 !{ he went to Holland, and bought Englifh 
 ¥ cloths, and fent them to America. The 
 " French Minifler complained, but Mr. L. 
 " juftined himfelf by faying it was his duty to 
 u do the beft he could with the money, and that 
 ic the Englifh cloths of equal price with the 
 " French, were much better."* 
 
 * Q\feryqtians on the Commerce of the American State*, p. 1 1« 
 
 In
 
 C «*« ] 
 
 In the preparation of our woollen cloths, and 
 the manner of offering them to the market, the 
 procefs in the north of England and in the weft, 
 is remarkably different. It may readily be con- 
 ceived by a little reflection, how, not only the 
 price of the commodity and its propofed quality, 
 but the induftry alfo, and even the morals of 
 the workmen may be affected by this circum- 
 ftance. Let us compare with fuch a view the 
 (late of the two manufactories ; though it muft 
 be confeffed, that by the general afTimilation of 
 manners and cufloms, which has fpread of late, 
 years into the remoteft provinces, and among all 
 ranks of life, the lines of contraft are gradually 
 growing fainter. 
 
 In many parts of Yorkfhire, the woollen 
 manufactory is carried on by fmall farmers and 
 freeholders, who both buy and grow wool, and 
 whofe wives, daughters, and fervants fpin it in 
 the long winter evenings, and at fuch times as 
 they are not employed in their farms and dairies ; 
 the mailer of the family either fells this produce 
 in the yarn market, or has it wove up himfelf. 
 It is then milled, cleanfed, and brought to 
 market, but when fold there, he can be paid for 
 no greater number of yards than the cloth will 
 meafure after having been well foaked in water. 
 Thus all frauds in flretching, tendering, &c. are 
 L4 effectually
 
 [ *5* ] 
 effectually prevented. The perfons who buy 
 this cloth, generally ad upon commiflion, at a 
 very low rate ; and afterwards get the cloth 
 dyed, dreffed, and fmiihed. The whole in this 
 manner paries through various Lands indepen- 
 dent of each other, and being thus independent, 
 they are all rivals, and are animated with the 
 fame defire of bringing their goods to market 
 upon the cheapen: terms, and of excelling each 
 other. Their journeymen likewile are little 
 removed from the degree and condition of their 
 .mafters, and know that the induftry and frugality 
 of a few years will enable them to fet up for 
 -themfelves. Thus they are generally moral, 
 ibber, and diligent, the goods are well made 
 and cheap, and a riot or a mob fcarcely known 
 amongft them. In the Weft, this whole bufinefs 
 is carried on by a very different procefs, and the 
 effects are accordingly oppofite. Here one 
 perfon with a great ftock and large credit, buys 
 the wool, is mailer of the whole manufactory 
 from the firft ftage to the laft, and employs 
 perhaps a thoufand perfons under him ; thefe, 
 many of them, work together in the fame (hop, 
 confequently have opportunities to corrupt each 
 other, and to cabal againft their mafters. They 
 have little hope of advancing themfelves by 
 their induftry, and therefore think it no crime to 
 
 get
 
 [ «53 ] 
 
 get as much wages as poflible, and too often 
 reconcile their confciences to frauds on their 
 matter's property. It is needlefs to point out 
 the other ill effects of fuch management ; they 
 have frequently made themfelves fufficiently 
 notorious in riots and infurreclions.* I fhall not 
 enter into any particulars on either of thefe 
 manufactories, but cannot forbear adding one 
 remark more before I quit the fubject. 
 
 In a Letter ligned A Woollen Draper, we 
 are told of above five hundred clothing towns in 
 France, upon the authority of a Lift, publifhed 
 about fix and twenty years ago.j Now ad- 
 mitting this to bear as ftrongly on the point as 
 poflible, if the writer really be that Woollen 
 Draper which he would wifh to/eem, he cannot 
 be ignorant of the infufficiency of fuch a ftate- 
 ment alone, to eftablifh any eftimate. But I 
 can take upon me to afTert on my own obferva- 
 tion and inquiries, that from fome of the towns 
 enumerated in his lift, the fcanty trade carried 
 on in the year 1760, has totally vaniihed, that in 
 
 * As I never remember to have met with a clearer ac- 
 count of this well-known diftinclion between our northern 
 and weftern Clothiers, I did not fcruple to adopt it almofr. 
 in the very words of a Pamphlet now become fcarce, called 
 Jnjlru&ions for Travellers ^ by Dr. Tucker. 
 
 j P. 14, and the Lilt annexed to the Letter* 
 
 fome
 
 [ »*4 ] 
 
 fome others, particularly in Champagne and 
 SoifTbns, the buiineis is conducted on a very 
 contracted fcale, for the mod part in a few 
 private houfes, and that in many places which 
 formerly were famous for their fine cloths, the 
 looms are now principally employed in the 
 working of Serges, Etamines, and light Druggets, 
 It muft at the fame time be confeffed that new 
 manufactories both of fine and coarfe Woollens 
 have been erected in that kingdom, and that 
 fome old ones have been extended ; but num- 
 bers aloue are an inadequate teft in this matter ; 
 it may admit of a doubt, if we except Langue- 
 doc, whether the broad looms of Gloucefterfhirc 
 and Wiltfhire do not annually fend to market, 
 almofl as large a quantity of the very beft cloths, 
 as all the provinces of France. How long this 
 may continue to be the cafe, is another queftion. 
 On this fcore, the Woollen Draper merits 
 every commendation for the zealous and fenfible 
 manner in which he (lands forth to call the atten- 
 tion of his countrymen and fellow traders to a 
 point fo clofely connected with their future com- 
 mercial welfare. To a perfon whofe inquiries 
 have never been directed to the fubject, it is not 
 tafy to explain how wide an influence the ftate 
 of our Woollen trade has on national profperity. 
 Falling on many ot&er branches of manufacture, 
 
 an
 
 C *S5 3 
 
 an injury may be comparatively partial, and 
 though perhaps feverely felt for a time, by 
 that clafs of artificers whofe flock and fkill are 
 engaged, will not occafion much diftrefs, beyond 
 a certain neighbourhood and a particular rank 
 of men : But the Manufacture of the Fleece is 
 accompanied by fuch a train of connections and 
 dependencies through which it both commu- 
 nicates and receives fupport, difperfes 'employ- 
 ment and wealth among fuch a variety of 
 departments, and is fo undiftinguifhably united 
 with our Landed Property, that it neceffarily 
 involves in its fate, the interefts of the whole 
 community, from the Yeomanry to the Throne. 
 On the difcuffion therefore of an article fo ex- 
 tenfive and important in its confequences, we 
 have no reafon to doubt that the wifdom of the 
 Legiilature will be difpaflionately exerted : 
 That on one hand they will not fufTer the 
 prejudices of falfe patriotifm or the low jealoufies 
 of trade to obftruct the meafure, if it appear to 
 be expedient, merely becaufe it may confer 
 equal and reciprocal advantages ; nor on the 
 other, be prevailed upon by fpecious arguments 
 and interefled declamation, to run any rifk of 
 facrificing the produce perhaps of more than 
 Jialf the looms in the Weft of England, to the 
 
 unnecefiary
 
 [ *S& ] 
 
 unneceffary Porcelains of Worcefter, or the 
 ornamental Toys of Sheffield, Salifbury, and 
 Birmingham. 
 
 GENERAL REFLECTIONS. 
 
 There is fcarcely any point in Political 
 CEconomy which has been fo varioufly dif- 
 cuffed, as the effecl of the price of lab cur on Com- 
 mercial Competition.* It mould be obferved, that 
 the queflion of high and low wages is not to be 
 determined merely by the pay of the workmen, 
 but by the proportion which fuch wages bear to 
 the prices of all other articles, either native or 
 foreign, and by comparing the manufactured 
 product alfo of different countries, with a view 
 to difcover at what average price the fame goods 
 can be equally well made in each. By fuch a 
 mode of inquiry it will in general be found, that 
 labour in a country of low wages is compara- 
 tively dearer, than where wages are high, and 
 that confequently in mofl cafes the rich country- 
 will be able to underfell the poor one, becaufe 
 its goods will more than compenfate by their 
 quality for any excefs of price. It cannot be 
 
 * Tucker's Four Trafis, Tra&. I.— -Smith's Wealth qf 
 Rations, B.I. c. viii. Edit. 1786. 
 
 doubted,
 
 [ ttf 3 
 
 doubted, that as " the liberal reward of labour 
 €t is the neceffary effect, fo is it the natural 
 tc fymptom of increafing wealth ;" for when the 
 productive powers of labour and ingenuity are 
 thus excited, induflry muft in all its departments 
 become more refined, as well as more dextrous 
 and active in its exertions. In a manufactory 
 where the different proceffes are distributed to 
 different workmen, each will in his distinct 
 branch be more expert than if he were under the 
 necessity of undertaking many different branches 
 at once in order to gain fubfiftence. Such 
 dexterity begets competition, and this necefla- 
 rily reduces the price; " whereas in the country 
 ** of low wages, it is in the power of one wealthy 
 " man, to monopolize the trade, and to fee 
 " what price he chufes on his goods."* That 
 the low price of labour will not command a 
 market, may be fhewn by the following in- 
 stances : When the iron of Sweden arrives in 
 England, it has paid duties of export, import, 
 and the expence of freight ; to this muft be 
 added the costs of carriage to and from the 
 places of manufacture, the price of the labour 
 there bestowed upon it, and the duty to which 
 it is liable on its return home under this new 
 
 * Four Traflsj p. 34. 
 
 form ;
 
 r '53 ] 
 
 form ; yet with all this accumulated charge upon 
 it, we are able to undersell the Swedes them- 
 felves in their own market ; and every attempt 
 on their part at competition has proved hitherto 
 ineffectual. It is exactly the fame cafe with the 
 Bay Yarn of Ireland, which, notwithftand- 
 ing all the charges of importation, conveyance 
 and manufacture, is worked up here and 
 returned cheaper to the Irifh market, than 
 if it had been manufactured at home. It is not, 
 as fome have lately afferted, the higher price of 
 our labour which has given the French an ad- 
 vantage over us in the Levant and Portugal 
 trades, but rather the indifference of our manu- 
 factures, and their unwillingnefs to accommodate 
 their fabrics to the tafte of thofe markets, in 
 which, by reafon of the climate, cheap cloths of 
 a flight texture will ever be preferred to fuch as 
 are more durable. After all, it may be doubted 
 whether it would be worth while for our 
 clothiers to attempt the recovery of this trade, 
 at the rifk of facrificing a better ; for every 
 loom employed in the weaving of Druggets, 
 mult occupy materials and labour which might 
 be more profitably applied in the working of 
 broad cloths ; add to this, that the fame com- 
 petition which would be ferviceable in higher 
 branches, by rendering the goods cheap, mufl 
 
 here
 
 [ 159 ] 
 
 here be prejudicial, becaufe the original low 
 price of the commodity, would fink the neceffary 
 reduction of profits beneath the merchant's con- 
 iideration. An effort made at Penryn, in Corn- 
 wall, about 30 years ago, proved unfuccefsfui 
 for want of proper encouragement, and almoft 
 ruined the patriotic projector.* Ireland indeed 
 by being admitted to the advantages of the 
 Methuen-Treaty, might in time, perhaps, be 
 enabled to fupplant France in the Drugget 
 trade. But the circumftance of being undersold 
 is not the only ground of apprehenfion for the 
 fafety of trade, with thofe who draw their argu- 
 ments from a comparifon between the value of 
 labour in different countries. The danger of 
 emigration has been largely infifted upon, and 
 fears have been fuggefted that manufactories 
 will be transferred from a dear country, to one 
 where the means of fubfiftence are cheap. It 
 would be lofs of time to fliew the fallacy of fuch 
 a fuppofition, and the abfurdity of conceiving 
 
 * I will not fuppofe fo little virtue to be in that part of 
 'England, as the Author of Propojitions for improving the 
 Manufactories, &c. of Great Britain, in 1763, would infi- 
 nuate, when he fays, "this gentleman was almoft, ruined, 
 iC becaufe he thought it his duty to vote againft the prefent 
 •«* reprefentatives of the borough of Penryn, at the laft 
 *' general election." p. 32. 
 
 a that
 
 [ 160 ] 
 that artificers of any clafs would voluntarily 
 exchange high wages for low, or, in other words, 
 would quit good provifions and comfortable 
 habitations, for meagre fare and wretched hovels. 
 In fad, the high price even of the neceflaries of 
 life, has feldom been injurious to the progrefs 
 of induftry, nay in ibme inftances it has been 
 the means of calling forth new and fuccefsful 
 exertions of labour and ikill, and has led to 
 very important difcoveries in Arts and Manufac- 
 tories. It was when the Piedmontefe were oppref- 
 fed by the taxes and exactions of the Sforzas, 
 who for fome years perfifted in heavy affefTments 
 of their harvefts, and their markets, that they 
 firft carried their fabrics of filk to a degree of 
 refinement and expedition, by the introduction 
 of mechanifm into fome parts of the procefs, 
 that no European country was able to enter into 
 competition with them.* It is not difficult in 
 
 fhort 
 
 • Muratori, Diflert. VII. Tom. III. It Is through 
 them we are indebted to this circumftance, perhaps, for 
 Lombe's flupendous Machine, on the river Derwent, near 
 Derby. He procured a model of it in Piedmont, by work- 
 ing under the difguife of a common Weaver. — By 5 Geo. 
 II. c. viii. Sir. T. Lombe obtained 14,0001. as a reward 
 for this fervice to the Silk Manufactory. The Machine 
 contains 26,586 wheels, and 97,746 movements, which 
 
 work
 
 [ i6i ] 
 
 ihort to conceive, that, in a ftate where the 
 balance between the prices of labour and of 
 wages is left to regulate itfelf, and is never made 
 the object of civil policy, the rate of common 
 fubfiftence and of the conveniences of life may 
 be fo low as to prevent any improvement in 
 manufactures, if not entirely to exclude them. 
 In opulent countries fuperior fk.il! may often 
 countervail the effect of high wages. This is 
 obvious in all thofe articles where labour and 
 materials are the leaft part of the value, and may 
 be exemplified in molt of the articles in the 
 warehoufes of Manchefter and Birmingham, 
 A want of tafte and variety in their fabrics was 
 formerly the general complaint againft our 
 Englifh manufacturers, and they were on that 
 account frequently fupplanted by their neigh- 
 bouring rivals, the French, whofe accommo- 
 dating invention was continually devifing new 
 forms and patterns of goods, and ftudying 
 textures fuited to the tafte and climate of their 
 various cuftomers ; but of late years a total 
 revolution has been effe&ed in our manufac- 
 
 work 73,726 yards of organzine filk thread every time the 
 water wheel goes round, which it does thrice in a minute. 
 Its erection in this country was confidered as fuch an injury 
 to Piedmont, that an Italian artilt, it is faid, was fent over 
 to England to aflaflinate the proprietor* 
 
 M cures ;
 
 [ ,62 j 
 
 tures; for while in feme of them, men of fcien- 
 tific and liberal minds have, by a feries of well- 
 conducted experiments, produced new forms 
 and combinations of materials, others have 
 beftowed upon them fuch variety, ftrength, and 
 beauty of workmanfhip, that they are diftin- 
 guifhed by a decided preference in almofl every 
 market. This is the cafe in Switzerland, with 
 refpect to our cottons, woollens, and various 
 articles of houfehold furniture, our finer works 
 in iron and fteel, the claflical productions of 
 our Engliflj Etruria, and the long catalogue of 
 toys and trinkets, notwithftanding the vicinity 
 of France, and the boafted cheapnefs of her 
 labour.* It is frill more pointedly the cafe in 
 America, for when that country had contracted 
 a debt of four million flerling, to the merchants 
 of this ifland, for accumulated flores of Britifli 
 manufacture, they attempted to feek fupplies in 
 their own induftry, and in the trade of France 
 and Holland ; but what has been the con- 
 fequence ? after many fruitlefs attempts to fuper- 
 fede the ufe of our manufactures, they have 
 at lafl chofen to become our cuftomers again, 
 becaufe, as their merchants confefs, our fabrics 
 are better and cheaper than thofe of other coun- 
 
 * Tucker's llrird Letter to Necker, p, 39, 41. 
 
 4 tries,
 
 [ <«3 3 
 
 tries, and this they think it for their advantage 
 to do j though (as it hath been obferved) " at 
 " an expence 6f 40 per cent, at lead dearer than 
 " they might have done had they continued 
 " their allegiance;" it appears alio that even 
 in the late war, fuch was the preference given to 
 our cotton manufactures, that the Manchefter 
 traders could have found employment for many 
 thoufand additional hands.* 
 
 Examples might eafily be multiplied, if it 
 were necefTary, to fhew the fallacy of conclu- 
 fions, in favour of the manufacturing intereft, 
 drawn from the low price of provifions and 
 labour. Our filler kingdom would furnifh 
 many ; for there, notwithstanding the patriotic 
 bounties of the Dublin Society, and a great 
 variety of parliamentary aids, Britifh manufac- 
 tures of almoft every fort, under the difad- 
 vantages of Freight, Duties, Land Carriage, 
 and Commimon, are able fuccefsfully to com- 
 pete with Irilh goods in their own market. 
 The more labour and ingenuity is exerted in 
 any manufacture, the ftronger will thefe prin- 
 ciples be found to operate on the competition in 
 favour of the rich country. Timber and metals 
 
 ♦Lord Sheffield's Commerce of the American States^ 
 p. 28. 
 
 M 2, may
 
 [ l6 4 ] 
 
 may be procured more readily, and purchafed 
 cheaper in the forefts of Norway, and at the 
 mines of Siberia; but trace thefe materials 
 through the whole progrefs of their fabrication 
 in different countries, the mod advantageous 
 market will be found among people who are 
 i ich and flouriming, whofe artificers more than 
 compenfate by their dexterity and expedition 
 for the advanced price of their wages. The 
 tedious and aukward procefs of undivided 
 labour, a neceflary effect of flender capitals, 
 mud fhrink from fuch a competition, nor pre- 
 fume to oppofe any negative or partial benefits 
 to be derived from poverty, to that fpirit of 
 enterprize, that habitual induflry and fkill, 
 which are in opulent kingdoms excited, che- 
 rifhed and improved, by the animating influ- 
 ence of large Demand, the fecurity of Stock, 
 the unimpeded circulation of Capital, high 
 Credit, and extenfive Correfpondence. 
 
 It is in fuch countries, that the happy effects of 
 liberal reward are exemplified in a variety of in- 
 ventions, conducive to the real comforts of life, 
 and in works of ingenuity and tafle, which inno- 
 cently add to the elegancies of fociety : even exotic 
 manufactures, under fuch circumftances, will be 
 tranfplanted and carried to maturity, with corn pa- 
 2 ratiyely
 
 [ 1 65 ] 
 
 ratively lefs care and expence than foreign vegeta- 
 bles : another country may indeed, in fome arti- 
 cles, enjoy certain local and natural advantages, 
 againfl which competition would be impolitic, 
 and in fuch a cafe there is no doubt, greater 
 benefit would arife by becoming her cuftomer, 
 than by wafting capitals in extravagant projects, 
 which might be very productively employed in 
 native manufactories. " It would be an unrea- 
 fonable law to prohibit the importation of all 
 foreign wines, merely to encourage the making 
 of Claret and Burgundy in Britain," * and in 
 this inftance it might be for the intereft of a 
 country to be underfold by foreigners in her 
 own market ; but I cannot agree to make fo ge- 
 neral an application of this rule as fome writers 
 have done, or to fubfcribe to that unqualified 
 pofition, that whenever a manufactory cannot 
 (land the ted of competition, the fooner it is 
 abolifhed the better : great allowances fhould 
 be made for the periodical derangements to 
 which all artificial fy Items are liable, nor are 
 our fabricks of filk and cotton to be immedi] 
 ately abolifhed, though they may not enjoy 
 that uninterrupted train of fuccefs, which ufu- 
 ally attends a manufacture fupplied with native 
 
 ; IFealtb of Nations, B. IV. ch. ii. 
 
 M 3 materials.
 
 [ 166 ] 
 
 materials. Had fuch policy been puriued, the 
 wealth of Coventry had never been added to 
 the general flock, * nor Pai/ley have fupplanted 
 the iilks of Spit alfi elds, or fupplied (as is 
 known to be the cafe with that manufacture) 
 moft countries in Europe with its gauzes. The 
 materials of the cotton manufactory are entirely 
 of foreign growth, but being eftimated, as 
 every manufactory ought to be, in proportion 
 to its power of improving fuch materials, and 
 according to its demand of ikill and labour, 
 there are few which can claim a preference. 
 It may be doubted, whether, in any branch of 
 bufinefs, larger capitals are at prefent embark- 
 ed than in this ; yet it is not many years fince 
 doubts were entertained, how far it might be 
 expedient to encourage a manufacture which 
 feemed fo likely to intrench upon the interefts 
 of our woollen trade ; ^ and the fame bad policy 
 
 * The average annual amount of ribbands manufactured 
 at that place is about 500,0001. Klysler in his Travels, 
 in the year 1750, having fpoken of the difficulties with 
 which the lilk manufacture of this country long ftruggled, 
 adds, " but now in Italy itfelf the lilks of England are 
 moft efteemed, and bear a greater price than thole of Italy ; 
 {o that at Naples when a tradefman would highly recom- 
 mend his goods, he protefts they are right Englifh." CV- 
 1c Hi on of Travels, V. II. p. 276. 
 
 f An Examination of the Commercial Principles of the 
 tiat ion, 8vo. p. 137. 1762. 
 
 which
 
 [ i6 7 ] 
 
 which has oppreffed many other branches, was 
 foon after exerted upon this, by fubjecting its 
 materials to a duty on importation. Nothing 
 but that fupenority of ikill and capital, which 
 characterizes the trade of England, and ena- 
 bles it to maintain the market under many dif- 
 advantages, could have fupported the fabricks 
 of Manchefler thus taxed, againft the fpirited 
 exertions of the Rouen manufactory, conducted 
 by an Englifh. artift, * and aflifted in its capital 
 by large periodical Supplies from Government. 
 That the cotton manufactory has, in fome 
 meafure, been injurious to the woollen branch 
 cannot be difputed, but whether this ought to 
 be confidered as a univerfal injury, may admit 
 of doubt; fuch an inference cannot furely be 
 drawn from any influence it has had in the 
 . neighbourhood of its fettlement, eidier in Eng- 
 land or Ireland, nor from its general effects on 
 our national wealth and population, -f- But as a 
 
 proof 
 
 :V: Mr Holker. Two of Arkwright's Mills are now 
 erected in the neighbourhood of Rouen. The judicious 
 bounty of our Kixg, to the newly erected Cotton- 
 works, at Eton, is worthy of grateful remembrance. 
 
 -j- It is computed, that in Lancafhire, Chefhire, Derby- 
 ftiire, Nottinghamfhire, and Leicefterfhire, above 500,000 
 
 M 4 perfons,
 
 [ i68 ] 
 
 proof to how great a length the contracted 
 jealoufies of trade may be carried, we have 
 heard even the Linen manufactory exclaimed 
 againft, as an exotic. About fifteen years ago, 
 when a bill was propofed for its encouragement, 
 the zealous advocates for the woollen trade 
 were not content to oppofe the Bill on what 
 might have been admitted as tenable ground, 
 but attempted to convert a political objetlion to 
 the expediency of the meafure into a phyfical 
 impediment to the production of the materials 
 neceliary in this fabric. If it be allowed to 
 argue from our home confumption, we may quef- 
 tion whether under proper regulations our Linen 
 manufactory might not be rendered as produc- 
 tive as our Cotton ; for it has been computed, 
 that we afford at prefent a market to Ireland in 
 this article, to the amount of one million fterling 
 annually, and that although four fifths of this 
 
 perfons, including women and children, are employed in 
 the cotton branch. In Ireland, befide the eftablifhments 
 near Dublin, there are now large Cottonworks in the 
 county of Kildare. Their rapid progrefs may be infer- 
 red from this circumflance, that a folitary cottage on the 
 Bog of Allen, in the year 1780, is now converted into a. 
 flourifhing town. Sheffield's State of Ireland, p. 197. 
 
 importation
 
 [ i69 3 
 
 importation be for home confumption, we ftill 
 find employment for our own manufactories to 
 an equal if not a greater amount.* Men who 
 fuffer themfelves to be thus governed by the 
 felfifli and illiberal principle of monopoly, will 
 find perpetual occafion for jealoufy and alarm, 
 fince every benefit conferred upon another 
 branch of trade, mult feem to operate as an in- 
 jury to their own. Each clafs has fome partial 
 view to gratify for its profeflional advantage ; 
 that which will fuit the Manchefter trader may 
 prejudice the merchant of Leeds, and the gratifi- 
 cation of both thefe will raife an outcry in Bir- 
 mingham, and Staffordfhire. But it is not the 
 flourifhing or the declining ftate of any particular 
 manufacture, that neceffarily implies general 
 ruin, or that ought to impede a meafure falutary 
 to the reft. Minds truly patriotic are fwayed in 
 their operations by nobler motives, and aim at 
 objects more extenfive and important than the 
 gratification of private intereft. 
 
 It fhould be the object of a commercial 
 country to obferve a fcrupulous impartiality 
 in the extenfion of its care to every ufeful branch 
 
 * A report of the late board of trade, relative to the 
 linen manufa&ure in July, 1780. Sheffield's State of 
 Jreland* 
 
 of
 
 [ *7° ] 
 
 of trade, and to diftribute its bounties and pro- 
 tections in fuch an equal manner among all 
 clafTes of manufactures, that they may have no 
 private or detached intereft, but growing up 
 together in due fubordination, may form one 
 compact fyftem of national induftry. 
 
 FINIS, 
 
 I