The advantages of peace and commerce: with some remarks on the East-India trade.

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THE ADVANTAGES OF Peace and Commerce.

PEACE and Trade have so far got the Start of War and the Sword, that the Trading Nations of the World are now become infinitely superior in Wealth and Power, to those who might properly be call'd the Fighting Nations, and whose Grandure depended upon the Extent of their Dominions, and Number of conquer'd Countries.

Nor is this Superiority obtain'd by the Policy of their Government, the Prudence of their Counsels, or the Valour of their Troops, so much as by the Increase of their Commerce: This has enlarg'd their Wealth and Power, attracted Multitudes to dwell in the most narrow and prescribed Bounds, and found Subsistence for them, where the Country it self could not maintain the tenth Part of them: By this they have raised a Naval Strength, which has made them terrible at Sea, as well as formidable on Shore: By this they have been able, on all Occasions, to carry the War home to their Enemies Coasts, however distant, and even in the remotest Parts of the Globe: By this they look into every Port, knock at every Door, command Peace or War; and, in a word, awe the World.

All the formidable Fleets of England, Holland, France, Spain, and the Baltick, what would they signify, if the respective Countries to which they belong, could not find able Seamen to man and manage them? 'Tis as they are or not able to do this, that even those Maritime Powers are more or less potent at Sea; and this is all in proportion to their Trade. Their Seamen are the Strength of their Fleet; and those Seamen are nourish'd, increas'd, and in Time of Peace employ'd, and thereby kept up to their Number, only by Trade; nothing else can do it.

Abundance of useful Inferences might be drawn from these Observations; but I wave them for the present, to bring all down to the Point I have now more immediately in view, which is this: That whoever would learn to know the World, and would go the best and readiest Way to obtain a just Idea of its present State, as well as of the Situation of the several Countries in it, has nothing to do but to study Trade.

Learn to understand the Commerce of the World, and of course you are led into its Geography, or the Description of its Situation: By this means you will be insensibly drawn into a Knowledge of the Distances of one Country from another, of their Position on the Globe, and how they stand with respect to one another: By inquiring which way their Commerce is carried on, you necessarily come to know, whether they are inland Countries, or bordering on the Sea; whether Islands, or contiguous to one another and to the Continent; whether to be travell'd to and traded with by Land or by Water, or perhaps by both.

Nor is the Situation of Nations only known by the Study of Trade; but by this Means also their several Interests are judg'd of, as also their Ability to support one another and themselves, which way their Strength lies, and how it exerts it self, whether by Land or Sea: And all their navigable Rivers and trading Ports are known by the Navigation which is employ'd between them, and the Trade which is carried on in them.

The Number of the People, the Wealth, and consequently the Strength of Nations, are all learnt by the same Study. By this you see the Richness of their Product, the Bulk of their Exportations, and Number of Ships employ'd in their Trade. Even the Diligence and Application of their People is judg'd of by the Quantity and Goodness of their Manufactures, and the Produce of their Country appearing in Trade.

To know Trade then is to know the World: And I may farther observe, That if any one Nation could govern Trade, that Nation would govern the World; could it give Laws to the Commerce, it would give Laws to the People, and the whole World would be its Dependents and Subjects.

Not so much the Histories of past Times, as the many Examples of the present, confirm this. The Trading Nations are certainly the most formidable at this time; and that they are so in consequence of their Superiority in Trade, may appear, in that all those Nations, which were formerly great in Trade, but since declin'd, are in proportion declin'd in their Strength as their Trade has fallen off. The City of Antwerp is a noted Instance of this, as are almost all the Hans Towns in Germany; also Novogr•d in Russia, and several others, whose History we may find, as it respects their former Greatness, and particularly their present Decay, with the Causes of it, in the Atlas Maritimus, lately publish'd, which in almost every Part of it confirms this Maxim by Examples in the most considerable Cities and States in the World.

The late French King, Lewis XIV. (more justly on that account call'd Great, than for the Glory of his Arms) saw plainly that the Way to make the French Nation the Terror of the World, was not so much by the Success of his Arms, and his Conquests upon his Neighbours, as by encouraging the Commerce of his own Country, and employing the vast Numbers of People, which his Dominions were every where full of, and which he found out of Business and starving, in the several Branches of Trade, as Arts, Manufactures, Navigation, Fishing, &c. by which means the Poor were every where set to work, if not made to work, and of Consequence fed and cloth'd; almost every Province being put in a Capacity to feed and employ their own Hands: and the Effects of this are, to this Day, very visible and plain in the following Instances.

- 1. His Tallie (which is a Tax upon all the Families of the Plebeii, or meaner trading People only) is visibly increas'd, and raises now some Millions more than it usually did.

- 2. His Subjects, especially in the manufacturing and trading Towns, grew rich; and had he not been oblig'd by the Distress of the War to oppress them afterwards with heavy and almost insupportable Taxes, by which the publick Credit sunk, and grew precarious, and the Bank of Lyons in particular was ruin'd and fail'd, and the Coin debas'd almost to nothing, so that their Crown was not worth the antient Livre in exchange: I say, had not these things follow'd by the Distresses of the War, the common trading People of France had been rich; and 'tis evident that they grow rich apace since the War, by the meer Increase of their Manufactures at home.

- 3. In a farther Pursuit of the same Maxims, the King turn'd his Eye to the Sea, and took proper Measures for the Increase of Shipping, the Encouragement of Seamen, the setting up Companies, Fisheries, and the like, that his Subjects might be employ'd as well by Water as by Land, and that he might be able to man and fit out his Ships of War with able Seamen of his own; which the French have since done, but were never able to do before.

The Encouragement this gave to his People, and their Opulence by Sea, evidently appear'd, even to the Terror of Europe, in the mighty Fleets which he fitted out in a few Years after he began those Regulations; Fleets superior even to the united Naval Powers of England and Holland: Nor had this Naval Power of France been broken, had it not been for the meer Arrogance of the King himself, who in a mistaken Confidence of his own Power, positively order'd Mons. Tourville, his Admiral, to fight the Confederate Fleet, (not thinking they were join'd, and) whether they were join'd or no; by which means he was overthrown, and some of the finest Ships in the World set on fire in their own Ports, and some even by their own Hands; a Loss they never recover'd: But this by the way. The fitting out such a Fleet as the French had in the Action at Beachy, in the Year 1690, is fully to the Point in Hand, where they had 90 Men of War of the Line, from 55 Guns and upwards, among which were no less than 17 three-Deck Ships, and as I have been told, above 50000 Men, whereof 32000 were able Seamen of their own. All these Advances in the French King's Dominions, by means of Trade, are at large describ'd in the foremention'd Book, to which I refer the Curious.

These are the Effects of Trade, where the Increase and Cultivation of it are made the Care of the Publick. The States of Holland are another Instance hereof, whose formidable Power has increas'd with their Trade, and by the Assistance of that only; as on the other hand, the Decay of the Spanish Power (which in the Time of Philip II. was a Terror to the whole World, and was rais'd on the meer Increase of their Trade) has apparently been occasion'd by the Decay of their Trade, out of which they were every where driven by the Dutch.

The whole World, as well Pagan as Christian, is full of Examples of this kind: But to give one for all the rest; a Comparison between the Eastern Provinces of Asia (such as we call the East-Indies and China) and the whole Country of Africa, will confirm this Observation beyond all Contradiction.

We see the whole Quarter of the World call'd Africa, large to an Extreme, suited by its Climate and Situation for all manner of Improvements, as well by Cultivation as Commerce; populous (at least on the Sea Coasts) equally almost to any other Part, and in some Places more populous than most other Parts of the World.

Their Ports, Harbours, Rivers and Bays, were they frequented, and the safe Roads fully described, are more in number than in most other Countries; and their prodigious Length of Coast cannot but render this Part of the World admirably situated for the Advantages of Commerce: For the whole Country call'd Africa is an Island, except the small Isthmus or Neck of Land from Suez on the Red Sea to Alexandria, which is not above 60 Miles. Nay, so well fitted for Trade is Africa, that a late Author tells, us, there are more and greater Rivers in it, and more adapted to Commerce, and to Inland Navigation, than in all the Country of America; those of Virginia and Carolina only excepted.

But in the midst of all these Advantages, thro' the Indolence and Ignorance of the Natives on one hand, and the barbarous Tyranny of the Moors and Turks on the other, (the European Nations having planted but few Colonies on her Continent) we see this whole Country in a manner left desolate, no Improvement, no settled Government; but vast Extents of Land neglected, whole Provinces left wild, and like a Terra deserta, remaining in a meer State of Nature: And all for want of Trade.

The Soil is in many Places very rich, and the Product of Nature exceeds all the rest of the known World. The North Coast, for almost 2000 Miles, commonly call'd the Coast of Barbary, produces the finest Copper, and in great Quantities: All the Fruits that the South Coast of Spain is so famous for, are produced here in the greatest Plenty and perfection; such as Raisins, Pomegranates, Lemons, Oranges, Almonds; and to sum up all, such a prodigious Quantity of the best Wheat[*], that were it not inhabited by the worst of Diones, and govern'd by the worst of Tyrants, the Turks and Moors, it would be the Granary of Europe: Whereas now it is poor, naked, and much of it barren, and almost starves its indolent, unimproving Inhabitants.

The West Coast produces Honey, Wax, Guinea Grains, Furrs, Civet, Drugs and Gums, of very rich kinds; and besides all these, Gold and Elephants Teeth in abundance. The East Coast produces Gold and Teeth also, and Black Cattle without Number; and going North from the Coast of Zanguebar up to the Red Sea, it furnishes Arabia with the finest and best Breed of Horses. And besides all this, were not the West Shore of the Red Sea possess'd by the Turks, who will suffer no free Trade with Aethiopia, it is not to be express'd what a Scene of Wealth and Commerce would open it self there.

And Africa is not only thus rich in its actual Produce, but the Soil is of such a Nature as to be capable of vast Improvements, were it duly cultivated and manag'd. The Author of the Atlas assures us, that the Sugars of Barbadoes and Jamaica, as also Cotton, Ginger, Indico and Cocoa, have all been try'd there, and thrive to a Wonder: And other Authors, as well English as Dutch, concur with him, and tell us that Experiments have been made of the Coffee of Mocha, the Tea of China and Japan, &c. and we are told there are Plants of both now in the Africa Company's Garden at Cape-Coast Castle: And indeed why should those valuable Productions fail in Africa, when planted in the very same Climate in which they grow to such Perfection in Arabia and China? But for a farther Account, and indeed a very particular one, of the probable 'Improvements that might be made in this Part of the World, I must refer to the Book before mention'd; it not being possible to treat particularly of these things in the Compass of so short a Piece as this is.

What we have now to observe, and which is to our present Purpose, is; That with all this Wealth in Nature, and all the Improvements which might be added by the help of Industry and Art, there is no Commerce worth naming in Africa. The Northern People despising Trade, live by Rapine, being almost all Corsairs and Pirates; such as the Algerines, Tuniseens and Tripolins, together with the Moors of Sallee and Alfarache on the North-west Shore. The other Western Coasts have so little Employment for the many Millions that inhabit it, (I mean from the Rio Grande or Niger, North, to the Congo, South) that for want of Produce they sell one another, and the People are carried away by Thousands, Men, Women and Children, to the Number, as some think, of 300000 in a Year, to labour and work for the more diligent Europeans in America. Here is a flagrant Example of the Weakness and Deficiency of a Country for want of Trade, in spite of all the Bounty of Nature, and of the most evident Capacity for the best Trade in the World.

I might enlarge here upon the Situation of Africa for Improvement and Commerce, as, its lying between all the Trading Quarters of the World, and its Nearness to Europe, which is the Market for all its Productions; also how it might be encourag'd to build, and employ Ships, and might raise a sufficient Fund of Goods for the Employment of Shipping, as well as Gold to pay them. But all this is fully done in the Atlas, which gives a distinct Account of the Commerce, both as it now is, and as it is capable of being increas'd; and shews how much superior Africa would be to America, or even to India it self, if it was encourag'd by settled Colonies, as the former, or inhabited by a trading manufacturing People, as the latter. I cannot therefore leave this Particular, without recommending it to the Age to study the enlarging of Commerce, the encouraging of Industry, the planting of desolate Countries, and the employing those indolent Nations, who tho they may be said to be idle, yet 'tis not so much for want of Will to work, as for want of some to employ them, and instruct them what to do.

I have now done with one Branch of the Comparison, viz. the State of Africa, with respect to Trade: Let us next look into an Extreme the other Way, I mean in the Indies, that is to say, the Countries of Malabar, India Proper, Ceylon, Coromandel, Bengal, Siam, Pegu, Cochin-China, with China it self, and Japan.

It cannot be said but that the Natives of some if not most of these Countries, are (or were originally) as ignorant and stupid as the Negroes of Africa; excepting always the People of China, and even in Africa the People of Aethiopia.

But the Indians are enur'd to Trade, and have a natural Genius to Industry and Application; and so they fall upon Labour, whilst the Africans are indolent; and spread their Manufactures, the Work of their People, over the whole World, whereas the other sell not the Work of the People but the People themselves.

And what is the Consequence of all this, but that these Nations of India are rich, populous and powerful? Nay, the Mogul, who is call'd the most powerful Emperor of India, and the Grand Tartar, who is the like in China, are made so rich and strong, meerly by the immense Wealth arising from their Trade.

The Chinese have not any Sea Coast, except along the Eastern Shore of their Country; and yet they spread the Sea with their Ships, and have such an infinite Number, that one who describes that Country, said he believed they had Ships enough to make a Bridge from thence into France. It is supposed he would not be taken literally; but we may venture to conclude from thence, that he found there an infinite Number of Vessels of all kinds.

The Power and Riches of China are well worth a large Description; as also the Multitude of Cities, of which some are so great as to contain, by Report, 5 or 6,000000 of People; and the Provinces, which however remote from the Sea, or from the capital City, are full of considerable Towns, large Villages, scattered Hamlets and Dwellings, and all surprizingly full of People.

If we inquire into the Reason of this, we shall find it all owing to Trade, and the mighty Commerce they carry on as well by Land as by Sea. We see the Produce of their Land is coveted by all the Europeans, and by us in particular; witness, especially, their Tea, their China Ware, and several of their Drugs and other Growth of their Soil: And as for their Manufactures, they were not only brought hither in vast Quantities, but they became, as it were, the Terror of Europe in Trade, and of Great Britain in particular; so that we were oblig'd to make Laws to keep them out, and to prohibit the Use and Wearing of them; otherwise they would ruin and destroy our own Manufacture.

How these populous Countries pursue their Commerce, and especially their Manufactures, with an indefatigable Application, appears from the immense Quantity of Goods they would import upon us, if they were not prohibited; and the Author of the Atlas has prov'd, that the People of India and China are able to clothe the whole World with their Manufactures; and that they trade with Europe infinitely to its Loss, and to their own Gain, for that in effect all the ready Money of the other three Parts of the World, all the Gold and Silver of Africa and America, would be hardly able to serve for Returns: all which he makes out very clearly, even to the meanest Capacity.

Hence we see the Justice of the Prohibitions in England, and also in France; I mean the prohibiting the Use and Wearing of these foreign Manufactures: For if Commerce be the Life and Soul of a Nation's Prosperity, if we are more or less rich and powerful as our Trade is more or less flourishing; it must be understood of such Trade only as we gain by, not of pernicious Trading, and which we cannot carry on but to our Loss. And this may occasion some unusual Speculations concerning the great Strife we find among the European Powers, about who shall or shall not carry on this Trade to India: For if it be true, that Europe in general loses by it, and that it exhausts the Treasure of all our Trading Countries, returning nothing but its own Produce and its own Manufactures, and receiving little from us but our Bullion and Coin, which is the Essence of our Produce (I mean by Ʋs here the Europeans;) I say, if this be true, it would be the undoubted Interest of all Europe to prohibit that Commerce, except what is absolutely necessary for the supply of Europe's Wants, that is to say, things that we cannot be without; such as Salt-petre, Pepper, Spices, needful Drugs and Dye-stuffs, and the like; all which are the natural Product or Growth of the Country; and not to meddle with any of their Manufactures, which indeed are the things that injure the Commerce of Europe, and impoverish the People.

As to the Coffee and Tea, which are the two great Articles so much in Demand, 'tis sufficient to observe, that we might transplant those Vegetables, and many more, from Arabia, India and China, into Africa; and with a very little Application might raise them all, and in sufficient Quantities, in our own Factories on the Coast of Guinea. This the Dutch have begun with success in relation to the Coffee, which they have raised already in so great a Quantity at Ba•avia, that they setch very little now from Mocha: And we are told also, that they have made another Attempt for planting Coffee at Surinam on the Coast of Nova Audalusia in America, where it also thrives very well. But this is a Digression from the present Purpose; and for a farther Inquiry into these things, I refer the Reader to the foremention'd Atlas, where he will see them explain'd and treated on at large.

However, I cannot quit this Discourse of the India Trade, without hinting as I go, that I think, while this Part of Europe is so busily engag'd, even almost to a War, for preventing Encroachments upon this Trade, it is very strange they should entirely neglect a Back-Door by which all the most hurtful Part of the East-India Trade is like (and very quickly too) to break in upon them like a Flood, and that with a Force which they will not find it easy to resist; I mean by the Way of Russia, and that as well by Caravans over Land from China, as by Water, that is to say, by a River Navigation from the Great Mogul's Dominions, which is more properly and particularly call'd East-India: Which I shall have occasion to mention again by and by.

Let me now speak a little of the Benefit and Advantage of Peace, in relation to Trade; as I join'd them together at first.

Peace is certainly the Right Hand of Trade; it is its Support and Defence: It is by Peace alone that the flourishing and prosperous State of Trade is preserv'd, if not procur'd. The History of our Trade in England would abundantly confirm this. The first Introduction of our Woollen Manufacture was under the peaceable Reign of Henry VII. During those twenty Years, it took its first and deepest Root. The next Reign was not so quiet: The Suppression of Monasteries at home, the Perplexities about the Queens, and the Wars in France and Flanders, embarass'd the Court and the Clergy; but the common People were generally kept out of the Quarrel, and their Trade still took root at home.

Persecution indeed in the latter End of King Henvy VIII's Reign, and thro' the whole Reign of his Daughter Queen Mary; nay even during the Reformation in Edward VI's Reign, take them all together, harass'd the People, and extremely interrupted Commerce. In one Reign one sort of People were uneasy, in the next another, in the third another: Alternately, one Side and the other fled from their Dwellings, secur'd their Effects, and hid themselves for their Lives. In one Reign one Side rebell'd, and in another Reign another: In king Edward VI's Reign the Norfolk and the Devonshire People rebelled for the Mass; in Queen Mary's Time Sir Thomas Wyatt and the Kentish Men rebelled for the Reformation: And by all these things Trade was interrupted.

When Queen Elizabeth came to the Crown, Trade flourish'd in such a manner as surpriz'd the World; because the Glory of her Arms gave her an Advantage to spread it abroad, as we may say, to all Nations; and the Root it had taken in the Times of Peace, under the two Henrys, had given the Merchants a Strength of Stock to extend it into the remotest Parts of the World.

The Queen, whatever Part she bore in the Wars abroad, always kept her Subjects in Peace at home; the Intervals occasion'd by the Insurrection of the Earl of Westmorland and others, were not worth naming. This Peace at home, and the Support and Assistance the Queen gave to her Merchants abroad, laid the Foundation of the most flourishing Branches of our Trade, viz. our Turkey, Hamborough, and Muscovy Companies; and especially the planting Colonies abroad, particularly in America.

Whoever consults the above-mention'd Author, will find, that the Discovery and peopling of all our most considerable Colonies in America, were perform'd in her Reign; and will see from what small Beginnings those flourishing Plantations have been raised to their present Greatness, the peaceable Possession being preserv'd by the powerful Influence of England.

If War at any time interrupted them, as the Wars they had with the Natives often did, their Trade was greatly lessen'd, the Plantations spoil'd, and the whole very much endanger'd; as has been the Case of Virginia and New England more than once.

In the same Queen's Reign the first Voyages were made to the Gold Coast of Africa, which we now call Guinea; and all was supported by the Purses of her Merchants and trading People, grown rich by the success of Trade in the peaceable Reigns of her Predecessors: So that in her Reign it might be said to arrive to its first Glory, and even to its Meridian Height, counting one Hundred Years from its Beginning.

It may be true, that the great Success of Queen Elizabeth in her Maritime Affairs, and the Terror of her Name, gave a vast Addition to the Glory of her Reign: But it was her prodigious Extending and Encouraging the Commerce of her Subjects, that gave Stability of Greatness and Power to the whole Kingdom; and it was upon the foot of the Greatness of her Trade, that the Nation became formidable over the whole World.

Witness for this, the Regard shewn to her Embassies (which, by the way, consisted of Merchants) chiefly at the Courts of Constantinople, Ispahan in Persia, and Moscow; in all which her Merchants were admitted, and her Letters in their behalf receiv'd with the greatest Respect, tho no English Minister of State or Envoy had ever been seen, or perhaps heard of, in any of those Courts before.

From hence to this very Day, the Commerce of Great Britain has been the Glory of our Country, as it is the Fund of our Power. Kings and Princes may declare War, and lead Armies, and Victory sometimes attend the fortunate Inferior: But generally speaking, the longest Purse, not the longest Sword, gets the Day in the End; and as nothing can furnish Money like Commerce, so the Trading Countries have manifestly the Advantage in a War.

This indeed is a good Reason why England, of all other Nations, should be the least afraid of a War: And yet at the same time let me hint to our Countrymen who are so forward for Fighting, That we are likely always to suffer the greatest Disadvantages in case of a War; and the Reason is plain, because of our infinite Number of Ships, and Merchants, and Merchants Effects, which are abroad in every Corner of the World: No Nation has so much to lose, and no Nation can suffer so great Loss in case of a War.

Therefore I cannot but pay a great Deference to the Endeavours of those Ministers, who, notwithstanding the Murmurs of the People, apply themselves to the preserving the Peace of Europe, and preventing a War. War to a Trading Nation is a Degree of Death; it is a strong Paralytick, it stagnates the Blood; and, in a word, is fatal, if not to the Trade it self in general, yet to the Prosperity and Health of it. And tho our Trade, being the greatest without Dispute in the World, is therefore best able to support us in a War; yet our Trade too would suffer most by a War, even for this very Reason, because it is the greatest.

But to look a little abroad again: Other Nations are visibly increas'd in Power by the Help of their Commerce, as well as England; and the Dutch are the next Example.

The Author of the Atlas gives a distinct View of the prodigious Trade they carry on. He touches upon their small Beginnings, and shews how they were elevated, meerly by their Commerce, from the Poor and Distressed States, the Style in which they addressed Queen Elizabeth for Aid against the Spaniards, to that of the High and Mighty Lords the States General, the Style in which they now treat both with their Allies and Enemies.

He describes their foreign Trade, their Fisheries, and their Greenland Trade in an especial manner, of which there is indeed a surprizing Account: He gives the History of their first Adventures to the East-Indies, and their Progress and Conquest there over the Portuguese Settlements: He shews the Glory and Grandeur of their City of Batavia; and indeed that very Place is a convincing Proof of what I have advanced, the formidable Power of that City, and of all the Dutch Settlements in the Indies, being entirely raised by Commerce, without the least Assistance from the Government or the publick Stock in Holland.

He gives an Account likewise of all their Inland Trade, the greatest perhaps of its kind in the World; a Trade wholly carry'd on by River Navigation, by the Help of Boats, Hoys, Bylanders, and such Vessels, upon the great Rivers of the Scheld, the Maes, the Rhine, the Ems and the Weser; and from those Rivers again by the Lys, the Scarp and Sambre, the Moselle, the Saar, the Maine, the Neckar, and abundance of other navigable Streams, into the very Heart of Germany, France, and the Austrian Netherlands, and quite up into Switzerland.

'Tis to be observ'd here likewise, that nothing but Peace could raise such a Commerce to a People distress'd, as they were before, by all the Extremities of War, to such a Degree, that we have been told, they were once upon the Point of resolving to ship themselves all off, Poor and Rich, to quit their Country to the Spaniards, and go away to the East-Indies. But the War ending, first in a Truce of twelve Years, and after that in a perpetual Peace, how soon did the Case alter with them! Peace raised Trade, their Trade raised their Wealth, and their Wealth raised their Power; in which their Fleets are so formidable that, England only excepted, they are able to fight all the other Maritime Powers of Europe, I had almost said if they were join'd together. Here is indeed an undoubted Testimony to my first Assertion, viz. That the Trading Nations are the most powerful Nations.

I might run thro' the particular Cases of all the Nations in Europe, but I shall only add the Muscovites or Russians.

How feeble this vastly extended Empire was about thirty Years ago, I need not say. They had not one Port in all the Trading Seas of the World, by which they could correspond with any Part of Europe, Archangel on the frozen Northern Coast only excepted.

For want of this, of what Consideration were they in the Account of Europe's Strength? How little did they weigh in the Balance of Power? And they were regarded in the several Courts of Europe accordingly; so that the Turks told them upon some Occasion, that they neither understood how to make War or Peace. Thus contemptible were they, tho at the same time the Czar had a Country under his Dominion as big as all the rest of Europe. And the Reason of all this low Figure they made, was evidently this, and nothing else, viz. That they had no Trade, no Commerce or Correspondence with the rest of the World.

Observe now the Difference: When the late Czar Peter came to the Government, and by his Prudence and Politicks ally'd himself with the Trading Countries of Europe, beginning to teach his People the Arts of Navigation and Commerce; as soon as he did this, he got Money, rais'd Troops, shew'd the World that his Men might be taught to fight as well as other Nations, and soon brought them to do so. As soon as the Prosperity of Trade made them feel something of the Advantages accruing by it, we find him pushing himself upon the Swedes, gaining from them the Maritime Provinces they possess'd in the Baltick; and as he open'd the Seas for his People to trade, they soon enabled him to spread those Seas with his Men of War, so that he became an Over-match either for the Dane or the Swede; and had he lived a few Years longer, he would have begun to appear formidable in the Ocean as well as he had done in the Baltick Sea.

We have seen the Successors of this Prince, however unactive in other Matters, extremely diligent in this of Trade. The present Czar is now establishing the Commerce of his Subjects to all Parts of the World, and his Eastern Commerce in particular in a surprizing manner, as well with China as India, Persia, and Turkey. This he does partly by a Communication of Rivers, and partly by the Caspian Sea, and also by Land. And this brings me back to what I mention'd before, viz. That the Trade with the East-Indies was likely to break in upon Europe this Way, in a Manner too powerful to be resisted, and in a Way more fatal than either the Emperor's late Company erected at Ostend, or any other Rivals whatsoever.

It is but a few Days ago, that Letters from Petersburg brought an Account of the Return of Mons. Winderowitz, the Russian Embassador to the Emperor of China, and of the Success of his Embassy at that Court: How he had settled the Limits of the two Empires, which had in vain been attempted for above sixty Years before; and withal had made a particular Treaty of Commerce, by which a free Trade is establish'd between the two Empires, and all the Hindrances, Scruples, and troublesom Ceremonies, which obstructed it, and in particular the Tolls, Presents, and other Demands made by the Chinese Officers at the passing the great Wall of China, are taken off; and all other Tolls and Payments, Presents or Fees taken at the Entrance into any City or Province, which were before uncertain and arbitrary, are all remov'd, and turn'd into one general Duty or Custom of Import and Export, as in other Countries; and this Duty or Custom to be unalterable, except on due Notice given on both Sides.

Besides this, they have settled the placing of Guards in proper Places, and the building of Caravanseras or fortify'd Inns upon the Road, for the Reception of Merchants and their Goods; and the Governours of every Province are to be made answerable for any Robberies committed by the Tartars or any other Rovers within their Bounds; due Notice being always given of the Approach of such Merchants or their Caravans.

By this means they assure us, that the Trade between China and Russia will be as safe and easy as it is or can be in Europe between one Province and another; and that the Caravans shall go and come with such Freedom, that there shall arrive in Russia at least one great Caravan, consisting of four, five, or six Hundred Camels, a Month; and sometimes three or four such in a Month.

It would be worth while to describe here the Manner of the March of these Caravans, how they are furnish'd with Provisions in such great Desarts as they are oblig'd to pass over; what Hazards they run from the Robbers and Tartars upon the way, and the like: As also to describe the Way it self, and what vast Circuits they take for the Convenience of coming to inhabited Countries and navigable Rivers, especially the great Rivers Janizea and Oby, the River Irtisk, and at last the Dwina; by which they are brought up to Wo•…gda, from whence they have but a short Passage to the Lakes Onega and Ladoga, by which they come to Petersburg. But as this would be too tedious for the narrow Compass of this Work, so it is not so directly to my present Purpose.

To return therefore to the Point which is more immediately before me: We are told, that these Measures being enter'd into by the Government of Russia, the Trade is to be carry'd on by a Company to be incorporated, and to be furnish'd with all needful royal Privileges, and Assurances of Protection, and of a constant Care of their Interests at the Emperor of China's Court by the Russian Emperor: And we are also told, that the Merchants of Lubec are, or are to be, very far interested in the said Company.

The Goods to be imported this Way from China, are (to be sure) all the finest and most portable; such as wrought and raw Silks, the former in the known Variety in which we usually imported them from thence; also Gold in Specie, Drugs of various kinds, and Tea. Whether any of the Goods usually brought from the Bay of Bengal, and other Parts of India, may find their Way by this Rout, we cannot determine. But if this Trade should now be open'd as above, and all these Goods be brought upon such easy Terms of Carriage as they assure us shall be done, and we should see them publickly put up in open sale at Petersburg, and perhaps at Lubec; it naturally leads me to ask, to what Purpose is all this Stress laid upon the erecting an Ostend Company? Certainly the opening a Trade to India in general is the main thing to be consider'd; not whether it shall be done by one Nation or another, one Prince or another: For a Sale of East-India and China Goods at Lubec or at Ostend, at Petersburg in the Gulph of Finland, or at Trieste in the Gulph of Venice, is much the same thing to the Commerce of Europe. Unless therefore some Check can be put to the erecting such a Company as this, (and that I do not see is any way practicable) the suppressing that at Ostend does not, in my Opinion, seem to promise much to the Commerce. But to go on with the Muscovite Company:

Besides this Back-Door Trade (for so it may be justly call'd) to China, the late Czar had laid a Scheme for another; and I must acknowledge it seems very practicable, according to the Situation of the Country, and the Sources and Courses of the Rivers Indus, Ganges, and Oxus; as they are laid down in the said Atlas Maritimus.

This Trade, according to the Czar's Design, was thus, viz. That by a short Passage over Land from the Ganges and the Indus, the one running into the Bay of Bengal by the Factories of Hugeley and Calcuta, and the other running into the Indian Ocean not far from Suratte, and between that and the Gulph of Persia: I say, the Czar's Design was, that Caravans should be appointed from both those great Rivers to the River Oxus, (the Distance from either of them being not above 120 to 140 Miles) and all the rich Goods of either Coast of India, viz. of the Coast of India and Malabar, by the Indus, and of the Coast of Coromandel and Golconda, by the Ganges, should be brought into the Caspian Sea; from thence by Ship to Astracan on the Wolga; and from Astracan, by the Wolga, and by the new Canal which the Czar begun, into the Lake Ladoga, and then by the Neva to Petersburg. So that all this Trade would be carry'd on by Water from the remotest Parts of India, except about 120 to 140 Miles, as above.

I need not enumerate all the several sorts of Goods which would come into Europe by this Passage; it is enough to say, that they would leave us under no Necessity to bring any thing about by long Sea, except the heavy and bulky Goods. As for Spices, we see them even already sold at Moscow cheaper than we can buy them here; and the like of the raw Silk of Georgia and Guylan, which has been brought, if I am not misinform'd, to Petersburg, and thence to Lubec and to Hamburgh, cheaper than by the Turkey Trade to London.

If the Carriage by these Rivers and Caravans does not add too much to the Value of these Goods, as we are told it does not, (the Labour of the People or Cattle amounting to but very little in those Countries) I do not see that the immoderate Length of the Passage bears any Weight in the Account. Besides, here is one Advantage which the Passage by Sea wants, viz. here is no hazard of Loss, no Premium to be given for Insurance, no Fear of Enemies or Pirates, or of long and chargeable Embargoes, no Averages to allow upon damag'd Goods, or Abatement for Goods touch'd with salt Water.

The Navigation of the Rivers is without Risk, the Passage over the Caspian Sea is a Trifle; if the Vessels are well built, they very rarely miscarry: Whereas we find the Ships, which go on with our Trade, often subjected to Loss and Miscarriage, sometimes foundring at Sea, blown up by Accident with Powder, taken by Pirates and Corsairs, as one of the Ostend Ships was lately by the Turks of Barbary: And it is but a few Years since no less than fourteen Sail of the best Ships, English as well as Dutch, very richly laden, were cast away at the Cape of Good Hope, as they rode there at Anchor; and all the Goods and People lost. If these Losses are discounted out of the Profits of the Company they belong to, I am of Opinion they would more than balance the Difference of Freight in seven Years Commerce. But let the Freight or Carriage be what it will, if they sell their Goods as cheap at Market as our Companies do or can do, I think the Question is answer'd; and it appears that these Back-Doors will in a very little time rob Europe of as much Money in their East-India Commerce, as not the Ostend Company only, but as all the other Companies put together.

Nor is it possible, at least I do not see it possible, for all the Powers of Europe to prevent it. As for us, and the other Maritime Powers, our Naval Strength does not signify one Farthing to it; for not a Ship, if we had twenty times as many, can come near to act in any Capacity in the whole Trade from India to Petersburg: Fleets and Navies are all out of the Question; the Carriage is all by Rivers, except one great Pond (for the Mare Caspium is no more;) and these Rivers, take the Czar and the Great Mogul together, are all within their own Territories, and out of every Body's Reach.

All I see possible to be done, is to prohibit Trade with Petersburg and the other Russian Ports; or, if you will go a shorter Way, to commence a War, and beat the Muscovites out of Livonia and Ingria, and so give them no Ingress to the Baltick Sea; tho this is not so easy to be done as some may imagine: And yet if it were done, they would still find some Vent or other for their Trade; and if they had the Goods, we should find some Way or other to come at them: For the Prospect of Gain is always such a Spur to the Merchant, that nothing can restrain him: ‘—Extremos currit mercator ad Indos.’

That this Way of Trade from India to Muscovy is not impracticable, may appear from hence, That it was always one of the Gates by which the Indian Goods found a Passage into Europe, before the Passage by Sea about the Cape of Good Hope was found out. For those Goods were brought from the Ganges and the Indus to the Oxus; thence, touching at the great City Persepolis destroy'd by Alexander the Great, down the same River into the Caspian Sea, and so into Muscovy by the Wolga. This Channel of Trade the Muscovites always kept open; only they did not then find a Way to carry on the Traffick into the rest of Europe, they having little or no Correspondence with the Princes or Nations of any part of the World.

It were greatly to be wish'd indeed, that the Trade to China and India were in it self a profitable Trade to the rest of Europe; then the opening these Back-Doors or By-Channels might be of some Use to us: but as it is, I must confess it seems to be nothing but opening a new Passage to let in more Thieves upon us, to carry away our ready Money; and that neither this any more than the Ostend Company should be allow'd, if it could be help'd, nor our own be allow'd to bring any Goods but such as are absolutely necessary for our Use; and that as to wrought Silks, Callicoes printed or plain, they should be all entirely expell'd, as things utterly inconsistent with the Prosperity of the Linen, Woollen, and Silk Manufactures, not of England only, but of all the Nations of Christendom. But to return.

By all these great Improvements in Trade we see now the Opulence and Growth of Power in the Empire of Russia: 'Twas indeed the Czar's Conquests upon the unfortunate King of Sweden which gave him the Opportunity of launching thus out into Trade; and being a Prince of a penetrating Genius, he began himself, that he might shew his People the Advantages of Commerce: Thus he took Tar, and some of his richest Furrs, and several other Goods, all into his own Hands, and traded with them infinitely to his own Advantage.

Then he erected a Silk Manufacture, and having the Silk imported by his own Merchants from Guilan, caused Manufactures, and Men skill'd in working and weaving Broad Silks, to be brought from France: By which he presently found Means to set up the Silk Manufacture, and bred his own Subjects to that and other mechanical Employments.

Above all he apply'd himself to the Study of the Mathematicks, and more particularly of Navigation, building and fitting out Ships of War, till we saw him his own Admiral at the Head of a Royal Navy; whereas he had not one Ship, no not a Yacht to set his Foot in, when he first came into England; nor a Port for them to enter, if he had had any, Archangel in the White Sea excepted.

Now we see his Subjects trading into Spain, as well as into other Countries, with Ships of good Burden; and carrying Naval Stores, the Product of their own Country, into France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, as well as to Lubec, and Hamburg, and other Ports nearer home.

Since the Conclusion of the Treaty with Sweden, call'd the Peace of Abo, how infinitely are the Russians increas'd in Knowledge, in Shipping, and indeed in Wealth as well as Power! and all by Trade, and that Trade made flourishing by Peace: And if their young Emperor pursues the wise Measures of his Grandfather, and encourages the two inseparable Friends, PEACE and TRADE, he may in time bring the Muscovites to be the most powerful Nation in all the Northern World.

I might here enlarge upon what I hinted before. viz. That several Nations having lost their Trade, by which they were made so formidable and considerable, they have also in proportion sunk in their Strength, and lost the Weight they bore in the Scale of Power in Europe.

The Portuguese are an eminent Example of this, and the Genoese, both of them in former times very powerful and rich, but now much sunk thro' want or neglect of Trade. As the Genoese lost their Trade first, and their Possessions in the Euxine Sea afterwards, by the Aggression of the Turks; so likewise they abated in Power; and whereas before they could bring a strong Fleet into the Levant Sea, and disputed even with the Venetians themselves; now they have not above five or six Gallies and not one Man of War in their keeping: so naturally did their Power decline with their Commerce.

The same thing may in proportion be observ'd of the Flemings in general, and the City of Antwerp in particular; and as I said above, of the Hans Towns, who were once so powerful that they beat and burnt the Danish Fleet in plain Fight at Sea; and when any War happen'd in that Part of the World, whoever had the Hans Fleet on their side, were sure to conquer: But as their Trade supported and indeed form'd all that Power, so their Trade declining, they are no more a Body, their Power is gone, and the little Name of a Hans or Union of Merchants, which once they had and made such a Figure with, is sunk into scarce a Memorial of it in the City of Lubec.

The Inference from all this might be very profitably turn'd upon our selves in the present Conjuncture; namely, That if we would still enjoy our Wealth and Power, our Fame and Glory, we must preserve our Trade, and to that End, as far as we can, should preserve the publick Peace also; seeing Peace and Trade are Handmaids to one another.

FINIS.

Notes

*
Vide Capt, Braithwaite's late History of the Revolutions in Morocco.
↵

THE ADVANTAGES OF THE East-India Trade TO ENGLAND, CONSIDER'D.

(Price 1s. 6d.)

THE ADVANTAGES OF PEACE AND COMMERCE; WITH Some REMARKS on the East-India Trade.

LONDON: Printed for J. BROTHERTON and THO. COX in Cornhill, and sold by A. DODD without Temple-Bar. 1729.

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The advantages of peace and commerce: with some remarks on the East-India trade.

Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731.

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http://ota.ox.ac.uk/id/4314

ID [isbn10]

1106013131

ID [isbn13]

9781106013132

ID [TCP]

K050262.000

ID [BIBNO]

CW3304348765

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0040200800

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— The advantages of peace and commerce: with some remarks on the East-India trade., Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731.. [2],40p. ; 8⁰. London :: printed for J. Brotherton and Tho. Cox, and sold by A. Dodd,. 1729.. [Anonymous. By Daniel Defoe.] [Half-title: 'The advantages of the East-India trade to England, consider'd.'.] [Reproduction of original from the British Library.] [Moore, 510] [Goldsmiths', 6654] [English Short Title Catalog, ESTCT56856.] [Electronic data. Farmington Hills, Mich. : Thomson Gale, 2003. Page image (PNG). Digitized image of the microfilm version produced in Woodbridge, CT by Research Publications, 1982-2002 (later known as Primary Source Microfilm, an imprint of the Gale Group).]

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