of many Advantages. But they had foon to do with their Brethren in another way; for the Normans, Men of the fame Race, but better eftablished in another Country, difpoffeffed them here, and partly under colour of Right, partly by Force, erected that Monarchy, which not without various Alterations and Changes, fubfifts even to our Times, and to the Subfiftence of which, with the Help of thofe Changes and Alterations, we owe that happy Constitution under which we live ; that univerfal Improvement which adorns the Face of our Country; that Domeftic Trade which nourishes fo numerous a People, by plentifully rewarding their Induftry; and that extenfive Commerce which is at once the Source of our Wealth, and the Support of our Liberty.

It cannot be expected that in a Piece like this, we should attempt to trace the Progrefs of Trade through every Reign, fhew how it was encouraged and protected, or discountenanced and checked; what Occafions were luckily feized, or what Opportunities unfortunately loft; for thefe would require a large Volume: the Subject, it is true, is important, interefting, and entertaining; but at the fame time, much too curious to be handled haftily, much too copious to be crouded in a narrow Space; befides, our Defign no way requires it. It is fufficient for us, after what has been already faid, to obferve, that the Opinion commonly entertained, of our having little or no Trade before the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, is very far from being well founded; and yet to affert the contrary of this, would be to run into another Extreme equally vicious; for the middle Way in this, as in moft other Cafes, is the beft; and therefore as this Work is calculated for the Benefit of young People, it is of the laft Confequence to give them right Notions of Things, and to prevent their being led away by false and ill-grounded Opinions ; fince Ignorance, or rather the want of Knowledge, though a Calamity great enough, is ftill lefs a Calamity than falfe Knowledge; for we had better conceive nothing than conceive amifs of Things; becaufe fuch Errors when early imbibed, are not eafily amended. We will therefore briefly and clearly unfold the Reafons which induce us to believe, that this Nation really enjoyed a confiderable Trade before that aufpicious Reign, from which it is not at all in our Inclination to detract; we will next fhew what thofe Difficulties were, under which our Commerce laboured under the Reigns preceding that; and laftly, we will give a fhort Account how thefe Benefits and Advantages arofe, of which we have been fince poffeffed.

It

It is no difficult thing to make it evident from Facts, that the English Nation had a very confiderable Share of Trade in all Times; and what we have already faid upon the Subject, is fufficient to prove it in those before the Norman' Conqueft From that Time, let us have leave to remember, that there was no want of Wealth in this Kingdom; that the Conqueror himself and his two Sons, raifed immenfe Sums of Money, confidering the Times in which they lived; and though thefe Sums at firft fight appear inconfiderable to us, yet that is only for want of due Confideration; for as every Shilling contained then above three times as much Silver as it does now, it is plain, that every Sum they levied was three times as much as it appears to be. In the Reign of Henry II. Luxury was at a prodigious Height, as our authentic Hiftories inform us; and this implies, that all Foreign Commodities were then plenty in England. Now it is impoffible, that thofe Impofitions could be raised, or this Abundance of Foreign Commodities be produced, any other way, than by the Exportation of our own; for Gold and Silver were not of our own Growth then, any more than they are now. In the twenty-eighth of Edward III. that is, in the Year 1354, we have a Record in the Exchequer, fhewing the Exports and Imports, by which it appears, that the Balance of our Trade produced 255,214% 13 s. 8 d. which confidering the Difference of Money then and now, is about 737,021/. 16 s. 11 d. as we reckon it at prefent; and yet there is no notice taken in this Account, either of Tin or Lead, or of other Staple Commodities, which were certainly exported; and yet all things confidered, this muft appear a most amazing Proof of the early Profits of our Commerce. We may add to this, the great Wealth of the City of London, which appeared by the Loans made to several of our Frinces, and the frequent Exactions for confirming, reftoring, or augmenting their Privileges, which could arife from nothing but Trade; and the fame Reafoning may be applied with a proportionable Degree of Weight to all the other Corporations in the Kingdom. The ordinary Revenue is another Proof which arofe from Cuftoms upon Merchandize, granted from time to time by Parliament, according to the Neceffities of the State; and not to multiply Arguments in fo clear a Cafe, let us add the feveral Statutes relating to Trade, Charters to Corporations, Grants to Bodies Politic, and to particular Perfons, all which are inconteftable Evidences that we had Trade,

and

and that in fuch a Degree as rendered it an Object worthy of our public Councils.

But that after all, our Trade then was very unlike what it is now, is a thing readily agreed upon; and among the many Reasons that may be affigned for this, we will endeavour to ftate a few of the moft confiderable. Most of our Princes had Foreign Dominions, and these entailed upon us a very heavy Expence, even in Time of Peace, befides involving us often in dangerous, deftructive, and expenfive Wars. The Dutchy of Normandy was fo expenfive, that King John was glad to part with it for a very trifling Confideration. In the fift Ten Years of King Henry VI. though we were in quiet Poffeffion, yet it coft the Nation near Eleven Thoufand Pounds a Year; and Five Years after, the Charge was grown up to upwards of Thirty-four Thoufand Pounds a Year. In the Reign of Edward III. the Places we held in France coft Forty-two Thousand Pounds per Annum; and much more upon this Head may be seen in Sir Robert Cotton's Difcourfe on this Subject. The preferving therefore, and augmenting their Foreign Territories, being the great Object of the Adminiftration of thefe Norman Princes, they were the lefs able to attend our Trade, which it is certain will not flourish, unless it be attended to: Another Mischief flowing from the fame Caufe, was the Want of a Naval Force; and though it must appear ftrange, and almoft incredible, yet it is nevertheless true, that when we had moft occafion for Fleets and Transports, we were least careful about Shipping; what we had, indeed, was employed for these Services, and this was a great Hardfhip upon Trade; but we were forced to fubmit to a still greater, which was that of hiring from time to time great Numbers of Veffels from our Neighbours; and this not only from the Flemings who lay near us, and from the German Hanfe Towns which were at no great Diftance, but from the Venetians, the Genoefe, and, in fhort, from all Places where they could be had, and where the People would be fo kind as to take our Money. Another, and the greateft Grievance of all was, that for feveral Centuries the Bulk of our Trade was carried on by Foreigners; and by a very ftrange Infatuation, not only Grants and Charters, but Statutes and Acts of Parliament were made for encouraging and fupporting this Grievance. The Shipping of the Hanfe Towns brought us all the Commodities of the North; the Flemings poured in their Goods of all forts; all Italian and Eaft-India Goods were brought us by the Venetians; on the other hand, the Staple

of

of our Wool was fixed fometimes at one great Town in the Law-Countries, fometimes at another, and laftly at Calais, but almoft always out of the Kingdom, which was a much greater Hardship, than the Exportation of Raw Wool, and even this was encouraged longer than it need have been. The Merchants of the Hanfe, or of the Steel-yard, exported the greatest Part of our Commodities, or Manufactures, from hence, down to the Reign of King Edward VI. and Queen Mary; and as for the Exchange of Money, that was intirely in the Hands of the Lombards; and even fo low as Queen Elizabeth's Time, many of these Mischiefs remained unremedied; for as Sir William Monfon tells, the last Venetian Carrack that came hither was loft in her Reign, entering the Port of Southampton.

By degrees, all thefe Inconveniencies were discovered, the great Importance of Commerce difcerned, the proper Remedies fought for and applied, the neceffary Rewards of Induftry bestowed, and the chief Defects in our Conftitution removed. It is the common Opinion, that we ftand indebted for all thefe Benefits to the Reign of Queen Elizabeth; and it is indeed true, that many of them were brought about in that Reign, and others perfected, yet fomething ought to be referred to former Reigns, and not a little was left to be compleated by the Succeffor of that great Princess. The Truth of the Matter is, that the Politics of Henry VII. were of very great ufe to his Subjects; that wife Prince loved his own Country and People, or which had as good an Effect, he laboured to eftablish his own Power by promotIng their Interefts. It was this, that engaged him to humble the Pride, and to fap the Power of the Nobility, to encourage Traders, to protect the common People, and to emancipate all Degrees, at leaft in a great meafure, from that fort of conftitutional Slavery they were under. He was a Monarch that had no foreign Views, but was content to render himfelf formidable, by fixing his Power firmly in this Ifland, the firft of our Kings from the Conqueft that kept clear of Wars upon the Continent, and received Money from Abroad for keeping his own Money and his Troops at Home. By thefe Methods, and fome others that were not quite fo honourable, this Prince amaffed a vast Treasure, and left a Million and a half behind him in the Coffers of the Crown; a Thing that as it was without Precedent, fo it ftands above the Reach of Imi

- tation.

His Son Henry VIII. relapfed into the old Errors of making a Figure, Fighting and Negotiating upon the Continent,

by

by which he fquandered away his Father's Wealth; and tho to be fure, he was very magnificent, and carried the Glory of the English Nation to a great Height, yet he impoverished his Subjects, debafed our Coin, and if it had not been for his Quarrels with the Pope, would have facrificed our Interefts to his own Vanity throughout his Reign. The only good Thing he did, was to encourage that Spirit of Difcovery which fprung up in his Father's Time, and to open a Way for the Reformation, which was, in many Refpects, favourable to our Civil Interefts, and to our Trade in particular. In the fhort Reign of King Edward, fome of his principal Minifters, fuch as Sir William Cecil and Sir Thomas Smith, had very true Notions of Commerce, and laboured very fincerely for the Good of their Country. But all the Good they did, was in a manner overturned in the fucceeding Reign of Queen Mary, which however did us very fingular Service in this Refpect, that it for ever demolished all Notion of connecting our Interefts with thofe of the Continent, farther than was requifite for our own Defence, and to keep the Scene of War at a Diftance. Thus the Miferies of a Country frequently in one Age, become the Caufes of its Felicity in another.

The Reign of Queen Elizabeth was Great and Glorious, in whatever Light we confider it, but it has always appeared most so to me in this, that it became Great and Glorious by the Bleffing of God upon the Wisdom and Prudence of the Queen and her Ministers. This Nation never was in fo defperate a Condition as at her Acceffion. The Crown was in Debt, the Treafury empty, the Nation involved in a foreign War directly against her own Interefts, her Coafts naked; in a word, without Credit abroad, and without Concord at home, no fettled Religion, the great Men fplit into Factions, and the common People diftracted, and dejected. Sad Circumstances these ! and yet from hence arose the Grandeur of that Reign, and the Establishment of our Commerce. The Queen found herfelf obliged to act with great Caution. to derive Affistance from every Quarter, to employ it faithfully, and to promote to the utmost of her Power, the Welfare of her Subjects, whom nothing but the Public-fpiritedness of her Government, could enable to grow Rich enough to fupport the neceflary Expences of the Crown. It was this gave a popular Turn to her Councils, and taught her to be the Mother, that he might be the Mistress of her People. She encouraged them to arm against the Spaniards, that they might be accuftomed to the Sea, and acVOL. II.

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