^tatg OfollBge nf JVgrituIture At CfnrneU MniucrBttg Strata, W. B, Sibrarg HF 353.M5<'-«"""'-™«v'-"'«ry Commercial history.An introductory treat 3 1924 013 923 002 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013923002 PITMAN'S COMM.ERCIAL SERIES. Commercial History. An Introductory Treatise for the use of advanced classes in schools. BY J4 R. V. MARCHANT, MA., formerly Scholar of Wadham College^ Oxford ; K.xaminer in Commercial History to the London Chamber of Commerce. LONDON : Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd., i Amen Corner, B.C. And at Bath and New York. CONTENTS. PART I. Introduction CHAPTER I.— THE FIRST STAGE. RIVERS AS MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. Assyria and Babylonia . CHAPTER II.- The Phoenicians PAGE. .-■ 5-13 I Egypt -THE SECOND STAGE. NAVIGAlION OF THE NARROW SEAS. The Greeks ... Greek Colonies ,, Navigation Rome The Roman Empire.. CHAPTER III.— THE GREEKS. 30 I Greek Money 31 Commercial Relations between ... 38 I different States ... CHAPTER IV.— ROME. 43 I Slavery 44 I Coinage 49 50 CHAPTER v.— THE MIDDLE AGES. The Fall o£ the Roman Empire 51 I Northern and Central Europe : ■ Italian Cities : Pisa, Genoa, Venice, The Hanse, Flemish and German Florence, Milan ... ... 56-60 j Towns ... ... ,., 6d-6o Norman Conquest Growth of Towns CHAPTER VI.— ENGLISH COMMERCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. ... 67 I Craft Gilds ... 73 I Chief Articles of Trade CHAPTER VII.— ENGLISH MANUFACTURES, Etc. Manufacture of Cloth ... ... 78 Agriculture ... •-. ■-. 80 Reclaiming Land : Romney Marsh, Thames Estuary, The Fens ... 82-83 Means of Communication Shipping : The Cinque Ports Commercial Treaties Consuls appointed CHAPTER VIII. Legislation to fix prices, etc. Foreign Merchants ... The Staples ... Imports : The Wine Trade ... Aliens -COMMERCIAL LEGISLATION. ... 98 99 100 Navigation Act Clbth Manufacture Mineral Wealth Coinage Summary 74 79 ^-89 go 95 97 104 Z06 107 107 108 PAI^T II. CHAPTER I. THIRD STAGE. OCEANIC NAVIGATION. DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. New Discoveries Colonial Enterprise Voyages of Discovery — Discovery of Cape of Good Hope route The New World. Spain. The Dis- covery of America English Discoveries in America ... Attempts to colonise America The French in America ... The Old World. English Explora- tion. Russian Trade ... THE TUDORS- 113 The East 114 Africa ... East Indies 114 The English and Dutch Trading Companies ... 117 Shipping 121 Agriculture ... 125 Industry 120 Industrial Legislation Poor Law ... 12? Bankruptcy ... PAGE . 13° . 13° ■ 131 132 . 136 • 137 . 140 . 140 .. 142 ■' >43 . 144 CONTENTS, PART II. (continued). CHAPTER II. THE STUARTS. FOUNDATION OF COLONIES. American Colonies ... India The Navigation Acts The Navy Voyages of Discovery Industry Coal, Iron, Cotton, Wool PAGE 146 . 149 . ISO . 153 . 155 . 159 . lOO Agriculture ... Bankruptcy and Insolvent Debtors Insurance Banking Means of Internal Communication Books. Newspapers. Treatises Economics PAGE . i66 . 168 . 169 . 171 . 172 CHAPTER III. THE STRUGGLE WITH FRANCE AND THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. French Wars ... ... ... 177 Trading Companies .. ... ... 179 Speculation ... ... ... ... 182 Scotland ... ... ... ... 183 Ireland ... ... „. ... 184 Colonies. West Indies. Slavery 186 Voyages o£ Discovery ... ... 187 Industry ... ... ... ... i8g Scientific Discoveries. Inventions ... igo CHAPTER IV. THE TRADE OF Railway System ... ... ... 225 Steam Navigation ... ... ... 230 The Transatlantic Trade ... .,. 231 Trade with the East .. . . ... 235 Suez Canal ... ... ... ... 2.'i6 Trade with Africa Home and European Trade-... Screw Steamers. Iron and Steel Ships Improvements in Ship-building Iron and Steel Coal-mininp- Gas. Paraffin. Matches. Machinery Textile Fabrics 237 238 240 241 242 243 244 246 Iron... .. ... ... ... 193 Coal. Coal Gas ... ... ... 196 Cotton ... ... ... ... 198 Woollen Manufactures ... ... 207 Other Industries ... ... ... 208 Means of Internal Communication ... 209 Shipping and International Commerce 21b Insurance ... ... ... ... 220 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Scientific Discoveries — Electricity. Electro-plating ... ... 247 Electric Telegraph. Lighting ... 248 Electric Traction. Photography ... 249 Population. Food Supplies from Abroad ... ... 250 English Colonies ... ... 251 Free Trade ... ... 257 Progress, Speculation and Commercial Crises ... ... ... 250 Currency. National Debt ... ... 263 Industrial Legislation ... ... 264 Trade of the United Kingdom in igoi 265 MAPS. Nile Delta ... ... ... ... 14 Egypt 18 Syria, Phoenicia, Assyria, etc. ... 22 The World as known to tlie Ancients 28 ^he Roman Empire 41 -Ibte Invaders of Britain ... ... 53 German Empire in the 15th Century ... 63 The Netherlands ... ... ... 65 Britannia in Roman Times . ... 85 The World on Mercator's Projection ... 115 Drake's Voyage Round the World ... 123 The Fens ... ... opposite 216 The Eastern United States ,, 217 The Potteries and the Black Country ... ... betzueen 224 a.nd 225 Scottish Railways ... ... opposite 233 Routes to Canada and the United States 233 The Suez Canal ... ... ... 237 Railways of Ireland ... ... opposite 240 The North Sea ... ... ,, 241 Commercial Map of the Mediterranean opposite 248 The British West Indies betzLeen 256 and 2S7 China ... ... ... opposite 357 COLOURED MAPS. Western Mediterranean at out- break of ist Punic war ... facing 33 Roman, Lydian, Phoenician and Greek Coins between 40 and 41 Eastern Mediterranean ... facing 48 Europe in the first half of the iSth Century, showing the Chief Hanse Towns between 60 and 61 Britain after the Settlement of the Danes and Northmen ... facing 68 Dominions of the English at time of Henry 11. ... ... facing 'j'j The World. 1775 ... ... opposite 20S The Railways of London ... ., 209 Chief Railways of Europe between 216 and zi'j Trans-Continental Railways of North America ... ... ... ... 224 Chief Railways of England and Wales between 234 and 225 The United States ... ,, 224 and 225 Dominion of Canada ,, 232 and 233 Australasia ... ... ,, 240 and 241 Africa in 1837 ... „ 248 and 249 ,. Present Day ... ,, 248 and 249 The Indian Empire ... ,, 256 and 257 The World showing the British Empire ... ... between 256 and 257 Table or Dates 267 Index 268 ERRATA. Part I. Page 75- Line i— for " 1821" read'' 1281." 95. Line3froin top— for"plan" read"^\a.c%." 97- Line 1 3 from top— for "was" read'^wtre:' ro2. Line 5 from bottom— for "carriers" read " carters." Part II. Page 141. Line 11 from hottom—de/ete "or woven." 177- Line 3 from bottom— for "Miquelton" read " Miquelon " 188. Line 17 from top— for "Murry" read " Murray." COMMERCIAL HISTORY. PART 1. INTRODUCTION. What Commercial History is. Commerce means the exchange of commodities, especially on a large scale between different countries and districts. Commerce promotes the intercourse of nations, who thus learn from and influence one another; the competition of commerce stimulates intellectual activity, fosters enterprise promotes exploration and colonising, produces wealth, and thus adds to the resources of a nation, and supplies the fund from which the revenue is replenished, and literature, art, and science are supported. Commerce is thus a most important factor in civilisation. The progress of civihsation is a topic with which history deals, and therefore commerce as one of the factors of civilisation plays an important part in history. The part of history which treats of commerce is called commercial history, from the study of which we learn what changes have taken place in the methods of trade and industry, and how at different times commerce has grown or decayed, and different nations have been distinguished for commercial success, how certain kinds of merchandise have at all times been • in request, while other kinds have been produced or sold in one age and not in another, how the streams of traffic have changed according to the extent of geographical knowledge or the influence of 2 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. political events. We can thus trace the stages in the process by which nations become mutually dependent upon one another for the supply of the necessaries and refinements of life. From commercial history we learn what are the points of resemblance, and what are the points of difference, between the commerce of to-day and the commerce of Europe in the Middle Ages, or of Rome under the Empire, or of Athens in the days of her prime. The most important part of commercial history to us is that which deals with English commerce. To under- stand this properly we must also study the commercial progress of other European nations of modern and mediaeval times, and of those nations of antiquity, such as the Greeks and the Romans, who were commercially important and connected with the development of European commerce. Then again, in order to understand the develop- ment of commerce among the Greeks and the Romans we must go farther back and study the history of the nations who in some respects were their teachers, viz. the Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Cartha- ginians. Besides the nations mentioned, there were others in antiquity and later times who reached a high degree of civilisation, such as the inhabitants of Hindostan, China. Mexico, and Peru, but these countries produced little or no direct effect on European commerce, and play an unimportant part in commercial history. How far back does Commercial History go? In commercial, as in other history, the only facts that we can be sure of are those which are established by contemporary or nearly contemporary evidence. Such evidence is not available until one or other of the arts of writing, painting engraving or carving has reached such a stage that permanent records of events can be made. It is difficult to give a time when commercial history begins, for in Babylonia, Assyria. MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. 3 and Egypt, a high stage of commercial and industrial activity had been reached at the time when the earliest contemporary records of those countries were made. While it may be doubted whether we can be sure of any date in European history which is earlier than the 8th century B.C., yet contemporary records of isolated facts in Babylonian, Assyrian and Egyptian history exist, which carry us as far back as 4000 B.C. Division of the Subject. Means of Communication. Commerce cannot be carried on between different countries unless means of communication exist. Means of communica- tion are of two kinds: — (i.) natural, (ii.) artificial, (i.) Natural means of communication are : — (a) waterways, such as rivers, lakes, the narrow seas, the ocean, (b) land routes, such as level plains and mountain passes which are available without improvement by the hand of man. (ii.) Artificial means of communication are : — {a) by water, e.g. canals, {b) by land^ e.g. roads and railways. The highest and latest stage in commercial development is reached when oceanic voyages are undertaken ; the preceding stage is that of coasting voyages and voyages in the narrow seas, and the lowest stage of all is when trade is only carried on by the use of rivers and natural land routes. To the lowest stage belong the beginnings of civilisation in Assyria, Babylonia and Egypt ; to the second belongs the commerce of the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Romans and the European nations of the Middle Ages ; the highest stage was not entered upon till the i6th century A.D., when oceanic voyages were undertaken by most of the nations of Western Europe. It will be found through all these stages that certain features in commercial history are permanent, while others change. The traffic from India and the East to the West in gold and precious stones, spices, silks, etc., is a permanent feature, and was carried on when history begins 4 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. and is carried on now. The course that the traffic took varies ; up to the 15th century A.D. it went along the Mediterranean Sea; after the isth century it went round the Cape of Good Hope, and in the 19th century it resumed its old route along the Mediterranean. So wool and woollen goods I ave been at all times in the history of the world articles of trade, while ■cotton goods, though used from remote antiquity in the East, were used but little in the West till the 18th century A.D. Slaves were an article of traffic throughout antiquity up to the fall of the Roman Empire. The traffic in slaves ceased, however, in Christian Europe about the end of the 12th century; but negro slaves from Africa became an article of trade from the isth to the 19th century. Certain articles of food and drink, such as corn, wine, salt, fish, and meat, have been articles of traffic from very early times ; on the ■other hand, some of the commonest articles of food are ■of late introduction. Thus the potato was not known to Europe before the i6th century. Sugar was scarcely known in antiquity at all beyond the East, and did not come into •common use in Western Europe before the i8th century, when tea and coffee, articles which again were unknown to Europe before the 17th century, came into fashion. The precious metals, gold and silver, have, from the beginnings of civilised life, been always in request as a medium of exchange as well as for ornament. Of the other metals, copper and tin were, in very early European history, most in demand for the making of bronze, the place of which is taken in a later period by iron. The application of steam to manufacture, and the successful smelting of iron by coal were the inventions of the 1 8th century, when coal, which was unknown in antiquity and had formerly been chiefly used in England for domestic purposes, began to be the chief source of the wealth of this country. Steam locomotion by land and by sea, communica- tion by electric telegraphs and telephones, and lighting by gas and electricity were inventions of the 19th century. RIVERS AS MEANS OF COMMUNICATION Chapter I. First Stage. Rivers as Means of Communication. Assyria— Babylonia— Egypt. A long river forms the easiest means of communication between different districts ; thus, we find the beginnings of industry and commerce, on a large scale, in the communities which grew up in the valleys of rivers, viz. :^Assyria and Babylonia in the valleys of the Euphrates and the Tigris, and Egypt in the valley of the Nile. So in modern times we see the commerce of a country like China centring round its great rivers, such as the Yang-tse-lciang, which furnish easy means of access into the interior ; while Africa has been opened up by means of its great waterways, the Nile, the Niger, the Congo and the Zambesi ; and the settlement of North America followed in part the course of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi. The Euphrates, on which stood Babylon, the chief city of Babylonia, is a navigable river of great length flowing into the Persian Gulf, and so affording means of communication at its mouth with India and Arabia, and towards its source with ^^^ \ \- ^ r^^^^:^^- ^^M r=^:= ^='= — ^ ^^ ^^^^= _Igld^^^^^^^^^ ^^0, X-^^S -y Creek!. iDuii rlhifif riti 'I /nn ?no J<"> /'"» jni> J — Corn. Hist. 34 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Carthaginians, who succeeded to the possessions of the Phoenicians in Spain, jealously guarded the secrets of the seas west of the Straits of Gibraltar. Like the Spaniards in America in the i6th century, A.D., and the Dutch in the Spice Islands in the 17th, the Carthaginians tried to keep the Atlantic coasts, and the sources of their supply of tin as a preserve of their own. The captain of a Carthaginian ship of Gades, on his way to the tin islands, who was tracked by a Roman merchantman, led his enemy on to a shoal on which he ran and lost his own ship. The captain was saved on the floating wreck, and was rewarded by the Senate of Carthage with the price of the sacrificed cargo (Elton, Origins of English History, p. 13). It is stated that the Carthaginians threw into the sea every foreign mariner sailing towards Gades who fell into their hands. The merchants of Massalia, in the middle of the 4th century before Christ, made an attempt to solve the mystpry hanging over the Atlantic coasts. Two articles of commerce, then much prized, were known to come from the north, tin and amber, the last of which for ages had come by a " sacred road " to the head of the Adriatic Sea, probably from the coasts of the Baltic, up the German rivers, and across the Alps. A committee of merchants of Massalia sent out two expeditions to pass through the Straits of Gibraltar. One went southward, and reached a river (probably the Niger) where crocodiles and hippopotami were seen in great abundance. The other expedition, under the command of Pytheas, an eminent mathematician, is said to have gone from Gades round Spain and Brittany, to Britain, to the Rhine, round Jutland, up the Norwegian coast, across the North Sea to the north of Scotland, and so back to Brittany and the mouth of the Garonne, where he found a route leading to Marseilles (Elton, p. 15). The travels of Pytheas are said to have had the result of opening the trade in tin and amber to the Greek merchants of Marseilles. The trade in these articles illustrates the commercial importance GREEK COLONIES. 35 of the river system of a country. Tin from Britain was brought across the English Channel to the coast of Gaul to the mouth of the Seine, or the Garonne, the Loire and the Rhone, furnished an easy means of communication with Massalia. In the eastern Mediterranean Greek colonies abounded on the northern coast of the ^Egean, to which they were attracted by the mineral wealth of Thrace, particularly in the neighbourhood of the river Strymon ; the Greeks also settled on the Thracian Chersonese on the shores of the Propontis (Sea of Marmora) and of the Bosphorus. In the foundation of Byzantium (Constantinople) in B.C. 657 from Megara, the Greeks showed that genius in discerning sites favourable for commerce which also appeared in the foundation of Massalia and Syracuse. Byzantium, situated on the strait which separates Europe from Asia, has been at all times a city of great commercial importance. In Greek times its importance depended on its tunny-fishery, on its unequalled opportunities for maritime traffic, and on its command of the straits, which enabled it to levy toll on the corn ships which passed from the Euxine to the .iEgean Sea. The countries bordering on the Euxine (Black Sea), in Greek times, as now, were great corn-growing countries ; Athens depended almost entirely for its corn on the supply from Euxine. This corn-trade was tapped by the numerous Greek colonies that fringed the coast of the Euxine and the Crimean peninsula. Most of the Euxine colonies were from Miletus, the most important being Istria, Odessus (Odessa) founded about 600 or 560 B.C., Panticapaeum (Kertsch), Tanais at the mouth of the Don, Olbia at the confluence of the Bug and the Dnieper ; these towns exported corn, slaves, and wool in exchange for Greek wines and cloth, Miletus, the mother-city of most of the Euxine colonies, being famous for its sheep, and the manu- facture of fine cloths and carpets. On the south and east of the Euxine the Greeks had settlements at Sinope, Trebizond (Trapezus), Phasis (Poti), ^6 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Dioskurias (Iskurieh), some of which places are even at the present day important commercial centres. In this quarter the Greeks probably tapped the commerce which came to the Euxine by caravan routes from the interior of Asia and the Persian Gulf. In the south of Asia Minor the Greeks encroached upon the Phoenicians by their settlements, which reached as far east as Tarsus in Cilicia, and by their colonies in Cyprus. With Egypt, as before mentioned, they carried on a considerable trade after that country had been opened to them by Psammetichus. To the west of Egypt on the African coast settlers from the island of Thera, in the iEgean Sea, founded the flourishing colonies of Cyrene (about 630 B.C.), Barca and Hesperides, in a fertile well- watered country, producing oil and wine, and having abundant pastures suited for cattle breeding. One of the products peculiar to this district was the plant silphium, which was exported to Greece and Italy, and much prized there as a medicine and an article of food. Cyrene also traded with the African interior and exported wool, sheep, horses, corn, oil, dates, and precious stones. The Greek colonies, it will be seen, stretched from Spain on the west to the Euxine on the east, and were dotted over the chief countries of the Mediterranean. The colonies so founded were independent states, and owed to their mother- city certain customary marks of respect, but in all other respects were entirely free. In Greece proper the two most important commei-cial states were Athens and Corinth. Athens was famous for its works of art, its pottery and vessels of bronze and its statues of marble and metal ; these formed its chief articles of export. The silver mines of Laureion formed a source of considerable profit, and the Athenians were also engaged in mining adventures on the coast of Thrace. Athens imported carpets and woollen cloth from Miletus, wine from the Greek islands, corn, iron, brass and slaves, timber for ship-building. GREEK COLONIES. 37 salt-fish, honey, wax, tar, ship's rigging, leather and goat- skins from Thrace and the Euxine coasts. Corinth owed its commercial importance to its position. Situated at the southern end of the isthmus which joins the Peloponnesus (Morea) to the east of Greece, it had access to two seas, on the east to the vEgean, and on the west to the Corinthian Gulf and the western Mediterranean. To save the dangerous passage round the south of Greece, cargoes were often unloaded on one side of the isthmus and re-shipped on the other side, or light ships could be taken across the isthmus by a kind of tramway which led from one sea to the other. Corinth was famous for its ship-building, the invention of the trireme, or ships with three banks of oars, being ascribed to the Corinthian Ameinocles (700 B.C.) ; it was also famous for its earthenware and for its manufacture of brass. Corinth fell short of Athens in the higher qualities of civilisation, but equalled it in wealth and prosperity. The Greeks were the first people to check the advance of the aggressive Persian power which rose on the ruins of the Babylonian and Assyrian empires. It was their maritime skill which enabled them to defeat at the battle of Salamis the great naval expedition of Xerxes (480 B.C.) in which the Phoenicians, anxious to wreak their vengeance on their commercial rivals, the Greeks, played the part of willing tributaries of the Persians. The result of the Persian defeat was the expulsion of the Persians from the JEgean Sea and its coasts. The leading part in the struggle that ended with the defeat of the Greeks was taken by Athens, who founded a great maritime confederacy (the confederacy of Delos) which embraced many of the leading commercial Greek states who in time became tributaries of Athens. The attempts to include in this confederacy Corcyra and Potidaea, the colonies of Corinth, and the expansion of the influence of Athens aroused the jealousy of its commercial rival, Corinth, and 38 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. the Peloponnesian war followed (431-404 B.C.), in which Athens after a fruitless attempt to add the Sicilian colonies to its empire, and so gain a corn supply which should be completely under its own control, lost the com-mand of the sea, and its power was destroyed. The weakness of Athens lay in the fact that it was entirely dependent for its corn supply on the countries of the Euxine, and the loss of the command of the sea meant starvation. The development of Greek maritime enterprise met with a fatal check on the fall of the Athenian power. The supremacy passed to the hands of Sparta, which despised and discouraged trade, and after the successive rise and fall of other states struggling for the supremacy, the Greek states lost their independence and became subject to the Macedonian power. The overthrow of the Persian empire by the Mace- donian king, Alexander the Great (331 B.C.), and his conquests reaching as far as India, opened up the whole of western Asia to Greek influence, and thus Greek commerce, language and civilisation spread over the whole of western Asia. But Greece itself suffered, as, under Alexander and his successors, new cities were formed, such as Seleucia and Antioch in Asia, and Alexandria in Egypt, which drew away much of the Greek trade. Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt flourished in conse- quence, while the cities of the mainland of Greece decayed. Greek Navigation. The Greeks improved on the Phoenician bireme by the invention of the trireme, or ship with three banks of oars, which has been ascribed to the Corinthians (700 B.C.). The trireme was chiefly used as a ship of war. Merchant vessels were much bulkier, had round bottoms, and, while using rowers, were chiefly propelled by sails. Ships with four banks of oars (quadriremes) were invented by the Carthaginians, and these were followed by ships with five and six banks ; ships with twelve, thirty, and even forty banks of >> w ►J yj < o i w Z ffi < (- S o w H 33 ^-^ H -i o o except chariots and carts for the use of persons of position • goods were chiefly carried on the backs of packhorses. BRIDGE BUILDING. 89 As the roads of the Middle Ages were few and defective, it became necessary for purposes of traffic to make as much use of river communication as possible, and most of the chief towns in England in the Middle Ages were built on rivers or on natural canals, such as those which connected Norwich, Doncaster and Cambridge with the sea. With the exception of the Fen drains, some of which, like Morton's Learn, were used for navigation, it dees not seem that any successful FIG. 30. SHIP OF THE TIME OF RICHARD 90 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. attempt was made in England to make artificial canals for purposes of communication before the iSth century, and little was done till then to improve river communication. Shipping. The maritime trade of England made but little progress for some time. English ships entered the Mediterranean in the reign of Richard I., but the foreign trade was for long in the hands of the Italian and Hanse merchants. The English ships of the nth, 12th and 13th centuries were little more than large boats, only partially decked and rigged with one mast and one square sail. The Cinque Ports, which were bound to furnish 57 ships for the defence of the nation to serve for 15 days, kept afloat a regular fleet, composed of merchant and fishing vessels, which were turned into men-of- war by the erection of "castles," or square open boxes at the bow and stern to hold fighting men, armed with cross-bows, long-bows, swords, axes and spears. At first these boats were steered by oars, but in the 13th century the use of the rudder became common. In the 14th century large ships called " cogs " were introduced, and anotlier mast and a bowsprit were added. The king's ships, which were at first lang rowing galleys, were few in number, and the " Royal Navy of the Cinque Ports " was the chief source relied upon for the defence of the nation. The Cinque Ports, " the guardians of the sea," bore the brunt of the wars between England and France. They were the chief strength of the fleet which defeated the French under Eustace, the Monk, in the Straits of Dover in 12 16, and they were constantly carrying on wars on their own account against the French marauders that infested the English Channel. Their ships were a part of the fleet that defeated the French ^t Sluys in 1340; of the 710 ships and 14,151 men that formed the expedition for the siege of Calais, the Ports provided 105 Ships and 2,140 men. The Ports suffered from frequent SHIPPING. 91 attacks from the French, who plundered their coasts and burnt their towns ; while the silting up of their harbours, and changes in the coast-line destroyed their commercial import- ance, and from the 15th century they began to decline. The development of the shipping industry was much hampered by the insecurity of the seas. The whole of the English Channel was infested with pirates, whose chief haunts were Calais, St. Malo and the mouth of the Rhine ; ihe English sailors themselves often indulged in piracy. In a picture of English society, drawn by the poet Chaucer in the Prologue to the Canterbury Talcs (about 1386), a "ship- man " of Dartmouth is described as indulging in very ques- tionable practices. " Full many a draught of wine had he y-drawe {i.e. drawn) From Bordeaux-ward, while that the chapman sleep (i.e. slept). Of nice conscience took he no keep. If that he fought and had the higher hand, By water he sent hem (i.e. them) home to every land." The same description shows .the limited extent of English maritime trade in the 14th century, the shipman's knowledge of the seas being limited to the western coasts of Europe, from Sweden to Spain and the Mediterranean, " There was none such from Hull to Cartage." " He know well all the havens, as they were, From Gothland to the Cape of Finisterre, And every creek in Britagne (i.e. Brittany; and in Spain." The Ro3'al Navy, it has ali'cady been pointed out, consisted of but a few ships, and was totally unable to guard the seas. When the king was appealed to for protection, he granted letters of reprisal, which allowed persons who had been robbed to seize the goods of the countrymen of the robber. This led to a state of things injurious to commercial enter- prise, for a licensed private warfare was carried on between English merchants and the people of Norway, Prussia, 92 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Flanders, Scotland, Spain and Genoa (Cunningham, 280). The dangers of the seas were a common cause of complaint. Chaucer, in his description of the Merchant in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, writes : " He would the sea were kept for anything. Betwixt Middleburgh and Orwell." Edward III. asserted a claim to the sovereignty of the narrow seas, and, by his naval victories and his capture of Calais, did something to make the Channel safer ; but no permanent provision was attempted till three centuries later for the establishment of a strong navy, the only cure for the insecurity of the seas, and all sorts of make-shifts were resorted to. The plan was tried of ordering all vessels sailing for Europe to make the voyage together^ under the charge of royal officers. The men of Scarborough complained, in 1383, that their town was, day after day, assailed by Scots, French- men, and Flemings in their ships; and, although they had provided a " barge and a balinger " for their own protection, they were unable to maintain an effective defence without aid in manning them. Henry IV. committed the duty of keeping the seas to the merchants themselves, and empowered them to levy taxes for their expenses. They were to nominate two admirals, one for the south and the other for the north, to be appointed by the king, and to have full jurisdiction in maritime affairs and power of organizing a naval force. This and similar attempts to " keep the seas " ended in failure. Henry V. made a more successful attempt to remedy the evil by making permanent additions to the Royal Navy. He built, in imitation of the Genoese, three large ships called the Trinity, the Grace de Dieu, and the Holy Ghost; and, in his expeditions to France in 1415, the royal vessels numbered six large ships, eight barges, and ten balingers. These efforts were not sustained, and the collapse of the English power that followed the loss of the English possessions in France, resulted SHIPPING. 93 in a deplorable Increase of the insecurity of the seas and coasts. In the time of Henry VI., organised bands of outlaws, called the " Rovers of the Sea," pillaged the English coasts. FIG. 31. SHIP OF ISTH CENTURY, 94 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Persons living on the sea-coast were kidnapped by pirates, towns like London and Sandwich were burned, and London and Norwich had to defend themselves with booms and chains. The French wars of Edward 111. and Henry V. were dis- astrous in their results, as exhausting the national resources in a futile entcrpr!s2, and the evil consecjucnces are to be seen in the anarchy of the Wars of tjie Roses, which were caused by the weakness of the royal government. With the revival of the royal power under the Tudors, the nation began to recover itself, and effectual attempts were made to increase the navy, but no powerful, permanent fleet was formed till the time of Charles L It is an axiom of statesmanship that, a powerful navy cannot exist in a country, unless the country has a plentiful supply of merchant ships, to serve as a " nursery " for the navy. The weakness of the English merchant shipping industry in the Middle Ages, especially after the decline of the Cinque Ports, is seen in the frequent complaints of the decay of shipping. The first Navigation Act of 1381, which prohibited the importing of any merchandise into England except in English ships, could not be enforced because of the weakness of the merchant navy, and an explanatory Act was passed in 1382 providing that English ships, when "able and sufficient," were to be preferred before all others. English ship-building industry does not seem to have been in a prosperous condition in the 15th century, as it was stated as a grievance in 1442 that Englishmen were prevented from buying or building ships in Prussia and the Hanse towns. No record exists of the building of harbours till a much later date the purposes of harbours being served by the tidal rivers. The chief ports were built on such rivers, namely, London on the Thames, Bristol on the Avon, Kingston on the River Hull Gloucester on the Severn, Boston on the Witham, Chester on the Dee, and Newcastle on the Tyne. Ships floated up these rivers at high tide, and lay on the mud when the tide receded. SHIPPING. 95 Rough beacons, composed at first of stacks of wood, and afterwards, in the reign of Edward III., of high standards with pitch-pots, supphcd tlie place of hghthouses. Still improvements in ship-building went on slowly. John Taverner, a merchant of Hull, built a great " carrack " (1449), and William Canynges, one of the merchant princes of Bristol, in the reign of Edward III. owned 2,853 tons of shipping, including one vessel which is said to have been of 900 tons burden. Large ships, capable of holding 200 passen- gers, sailed on regular voyages in the summer with pilgrims to the shrine of St. James at Compostella, in Spain (1445). The growth of English commerce, in the 14th and 15th centuries, is also seen in the concluding of a number of commercial treaties, such as those with Brittany and with Burgundy, friendship with which, as the power that owned Flanders, was of especial importance to English trade. Agreements were made with Castile (1403) and with Portugal to secure freedom for English merchants, and for the merchants of those countries to go and stay and return with their goods in safety both on land and sea. English merchants were now beginning to compete with the Hanse merchants, and to trade directly with Prussia and the Hanse towns. The Baltic trade was of especial importance to England as supplying it with timber, hemp, tar, and other materials useful for ship-building. In 1404 Henry IV. empowered the English merchants trading to Prussia and the Hanse towns (afterwards known as the Eastland or Prussian Company) to meet together and elect governors, with authority to decide quarrels among themselves, and to arrange disputes between English and foreign merchants, and to secure redress for injuries. Similar power to form organisations for mutual protection was granted to the Enghsh merchants of Holland, Brabant, Zealand, Flanders, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The Merchant Adventurers, a London company with branches in Exeter, g6 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Newca'Stle, York, Hull, Norwich, and Ipswich were the rivals of the Hanse merchants, and had factories at Bruges and Antwerp. They were chiefly engaged in cloth exporting, which was restricted by a stint, or limit, assigned to each member, defining what amount he might export in each year. The rulers of Norway, and of Sweden and Denmark encouraged the trading of English merchants for the sake of freeing themselves from the monopoly of the Hanse merchants. The extension of English trade, and the practice of reprisals for injuries, led to constant disputes between English and foreign merchants. English merchants carried on a clandestine and contraband trade with Iceland, and in 1476 English sailors ravaged the island and slew the royal bailiff In con- sequence of this outrage the English merchants were expelled from Bergen. This dispute was settled by a commercial treaty with Denmark, concluded in 1490, which allowed the English to trade with Iceland direct. In 1403 ambassadors were sent from England to settle disputes with the Hanse towns. Livonian merchants complained that the English had unjustly robbed and rifled three of their ships, and had caused 250 men "very barbarously to be drowned." Enghsh merchants complained that citizens of Wismar and Rostock had robbed English ships, and had attacked and burnt the town of Bergen, containing a mercantile settlement of the people of Lynn, consisting of 20 houses, and that the English had lost their houses and goods, and had to ransom their persons. These disputes were eventually settled by the pay- ment of a sum of money by the English king to the forein-n merchants. Subsequent quarrels between the English and the Hanse merchants were settled-for a time by the Treaty of Utrecht, in 1474, providing that all past injuries on both sides should be forgiven, that a payment of ;£i 0,000 should be made to the Hanse merchants, in the form of a remission of custom duties ; that two Judges should be appointed in England to do justice between suitors in all cases in which SHIPPING. 97 Hanse merchants were concerned ; and' that their three factoi^ies in England, the steelyards in London, Boston and Lynn, should be conveyed to them as their absolute property. The Hanse merchants were granted, among other privileges, the right of selling Rhenish wine by retail in England. Edward IV. was obliged by his indebtedness to the Hansard merchants to grant them these favourable terms, but their commercial power was broken, and within a century after the Treaty of Utrecht all their privileges in England were abrogated. Commercial relations between England and the Netherlands, which had been interrupted in consequence of the support given to Perkin Warbeck, were re-established by the Treaty called the Magnus Intercursus, of 1496, which was received with general rejoicing in both countries. Signs of the extension of English trade to Italy are to be seen in the appointment in 1485 of a Florentine, Lorenzo Strozzi, to be English Consul at Pisa for the protection of English merchants who were intending to trade there. A commercial treaty, concluded with Florence in 1490, regulated the export of English wool to Italy. Of the wool exported from England to Italy, 600 sacks were to go to Venice, and the rest to be shipped to Pisa in English ships. Englishmen were to have liberty to form a Company at Pisa, and to elect officers to have jurisdiction over their affairs. 7 — CoTn. /{.'si. g& COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Chapter VIII. Commercial Legislation. Commerce plays a considerable part in English legislation from the time of the Plantagenet kings. Even in early times attempts were frequently made to regulate wages, and to prescribe the price and quality of commodities. The Assize of Measures (1226) prescribed a uniform scale of weights and measures throughout the realm. The Assize of Bread, in the reign of Henry II., regulated the price of bread by a sliding scale that varied with the price of corn. The Assize of Ale fixed the price of ale ; the Assize of Wine, the price of the different kinds of wine (1310). An Assize of Wool ( 1 343) fixed the minimum price at which wool could be sold. The Assizes of Cloth (1197 and 1328) pre- scribed the length, breadth and quality of cloth. A royal officer called the aulnager, by the statute of 1328, was empowered to fix the standard of length of cloth that was sold, and visited the fairs to see that the ordinance was observed. A statute of Richard III. defines the size of the ordinary cloths, broadcloths, " straights and kerseys." The legislation of Edward I. is of great importance as laying " the foundation of a system of national regulation of industry and commerce.'' He consolidated the customs regulations, and embodied in a statute the tariffs, which had been previously recognised by custom. The duties so fixed were the "gi"eat and ancient custom " on exports of half a mark (6s. 8d.) on every sack of wool and every 300 woolfells, and 13s. 4d. on every last of hides, and the " right prise " on imported wine of one cask in 10 up to 20 casks, and two casks for a cargo of 20 casks and upwards. Additional duties were paid by foreign merchants, viz. : the new or small customs, on exports, of 3s. 4d., for every sack of wool and for every 300 woolfells, and 6s. 8d. for every last of hides ; butlerage on wines to the amount of 2s. a tun, FOREIGN MERCHANTS. 99 and a duty of 3d. per pound on all other commodities exported or imported. An exaction in excess of these duties was resented as a maltolte (oppressive toll). In addition to these fixed rates, Parliament, when the king wanted money, voted additional subsidies, and also tonnage and poundage on imports. Edward I. organised a body of customs officials to collect the tolls and the revenue, and to put down smuggling. Certain towns were fixed as places from which wool might be exported, viz. : Berwick, Newcastle, Hull, Boston, Lynn, Yarmouth, Ipswich, Dunwich, London, Sandwich, Chichester, Southampton, Bristol, Exeter, Cardigan, and Chester. The first statute of Westminster (i273)legalised the old custom that when a ship was stranded it should not be accounted a wreck if. a man, cat or dog escaped from it. The cargo was to be kept by the royal bailiff, and the owners might have it restored if they claimed it within a year and a day. The Statute of Merchants (1285) provided better facilities to foreign merchants to recover their debts. Measures were taken by Edward I. to prevent the depreciation of the currency (1299) and to regulate the craft of goldsmiths (1300) ; the wardens of the craft in each town were to go from shop to shop among the merchants, and assay the gold with which they were working. Silver was to be marked with the leopard's head, and no articles were to be sold that had not passed the scrutiny of the wardens. Foreign Merchants. The trading of foreigners in England was favoured by many English sovereigns, in spite of the jealousy and opposition of native English merchants. The citizens of London com- plained (1290) that those who bore the common burdens of the town were impoverished by the competition of foreigners, whose stay was unlimited, and who carried on business that was formerly done by the natives. Edward III., in a charter granted to London (1327), ordered "all merchant strangers loo COMMERCIAL HISTORY. coming to England to sell their wares within 40 days after their coming hither." A statute of 1335 had a different tendency, and gave liberty to all merchant strangers, without interruption, freely to sell victuals or wares to whom they would, as well foreigners as Englishmen, in despite of any local charter to the contrary. The London citizens again com- plained, and the king by a fresh charter excepted the ancient privileges of the city from this statute, and in a subsequent charter ordered that no -stranger should sell any wares, or be a broker in the city or the suburbs ; but an exception was made in favour of the Hanse merchants. Edward III.'s legislation and policy were directed to the encouragement of foreign trade. He fixed the fare, which might be charged between Dover and Calais, at 6d. for a man on foot and 2s. for a man with a horse. (These sums must be multiplied by at least 15 to give the equivalent price accord- ing to the present value of money.) The measures which he took to encourage the settlement of Flemish weavers, and to provide for the safety of merchant shipping, have already been referred to. To encourage the new cloth-making industry he prohibited the export of English wool, forbade the importation of foreign cloth, and ordered that all English- men should wear native cloth. These protective measures do not seem to have been enforced in fact, or if at all, only for a short time. The Staples. Edward III., by his Ordinance of the Staple, continued and carried forward the policy of Edward I., by which- the export of wool was confined to particular ports. The " Merchants of the Staple " were a trading corporation, who exported the staple commodities (i.e. wool, woolfells and hides) to Flanders. A patent of 13 13 enjoined the " mayor and commonalty of merchants of the realm " to fix on one certain staple {i.e. mart or town) in the Low Countries, to which all wool should be taken. The IMPORTS. Staple was generally fixed at Bruges, but the plan does not seem to have answered, and Edward III. enacted (1328) that "all staples beyond the sea and on this side ordained by kings in times past should cease." By the Ordinance of the Staple, Newcastle, York, Lincoln, Norwich, Westminster, Canterbury, Chichester, Winchester, Exeter and Bristol were fixed as staple towns for England. All the transactions at these staples were to be settled by the Mayor of the Staple accord- ing to the law merchant. Other inducements were held out to foreign merchants to frequent these marts ; rents were to be reasonable, aliens might sell by retail if they wished, no man was to be impeached for another's debt, the oaths of foreign merchants were to be accepted, as to the value of their wares, when any question arose as to the levying of duties. The plan of having a number of staples in England does not seem to have answered, and the old plan was resorted to of having one staple abroad. This was generally fixed at Calais. The object of most of these regulations as to the staple was to keep up the price of wool, and to make foreigners pay dearly for it. If this object was attained, the English cloth manufacturers probably suffered most. Imports. The Wine Trade. The regulations of Edward III., for the importation of wine from Gascony, tended to favour the foreign merchant at the expense of the Englishman. English merchants were not to " forestall " wine in Gascony, or to buy it up before the vintage and the time of the common passage {i.e., when ships sailed together in a convoy), and were not to charge too high prices. English merchants could only ship to two special ports, but the Gascon trader could ship to any port (1355). Tuns and pipes were to be gauged so that the purchaser might be sure to obtain full quantity. In 1363 the gauging of the wine was directed in Bordeaux as well as in England. COMMERCIAL HISTORY. A number of mediaeval statutes were framed with the use- less effort to keep down or regulate prices. " Forestalling " or " engrossing " goods was thought to be an evil, and was prohibited by various Acts directed against the " middleman " and the speculator. Thus a statute, passed in 1397, relating to the great herring fair at Yarmouth, fixed the price of herrings at 40s. the last, above which no one should buy for the purpose of curing fish. The rate of profit on re-selling was defined, and the market was only to be held in broad daylight. This statute failed to fulfil its purpose of benefiting . the consumer, as the fishermen were often unable to attend the market while it was open. A statute of 136 1 gave the fishers the right to sell freely whenever they came to port, and prohibited anyone interfering with another buyer while he was bargaining. The agricultural crisis, caused by the Black Death (see p. 80), led to a curious but ineffective legislative attempt to lower the rate of wages and to compel labourers to work. A royal proclamation in 1349, confirmed by the subsequent Statutes of Labourers (1351, 1357, and 1360) directed that every man or woman, bond or free, able in body and within the age of three score years, not having his own whereof he might live, nor land of his own by which he might occupy himself, and not serving any other, should be bound to serve the employer who should require him to do so at the wages which were accustomed to be given in the year before the Black Death, and that anyone who neglected to serve when required should be committed to gaol. The statutes extended to town as well as country, and included not only mowers, reapers, and threshers, but also carpenters, masons, plasterers, tilers, carters, shoemakers, saddlers, skinners, tailors, and smiths. The price of corn and other victuals was, at the same time, fixed. The severity of the punishments inflicted by the statute of 1360 is probably a sign that the other statutes failed to accomplish their object. By this statute those who broke BEGINNING OF THE MERCANTILE SYSTEM. I03 this agreement, and went into another country, were to be outlawed, pursued, and branded, and towns that harboured runaways were to be fined ;^io. Beginning of the Mercantile System. The poUcy of Edward III., which tended to favour foreign trade and to make commodities cheap, was reversed in the reign of Richard II., when the influence of the great London merchants began to make itself felt in Parliament. In his reign we see the beginning of what is known as the mercan- tile or protectionist system, which, down to the iSth century, was the principle that dominated English commercial policy. The chief objects of the mercantile system were to encourage natives, to discourage foreigners, to encourage tillage, to develop shipping, and to amass treasures. The leading idea of the system was to maintain and increase the national strength, and to subordinate the interests of the consumer to the attainment of this end. Aliens, The London merchants at last succeeded, in 1392, in excluding aliens from the retail and internal trade of the country. A statute of that year provided that no merchant stranger alien should sell or buy merchandise, within the realms, with another strange merchant alien to sell again, or should sell to retail within the realm, or put to sale any manner of wares or merchandise, except "livings and victuals," that aliens should sell wines by whole vessels and "spicery" by whole vessels and bales, and in no other manner ; and that no manner of " spicery " after that it was brought within the realm should be carried out of the same realm by alien or denizen upon pains of forfeiture of the same, I04 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Navigation Act. The wish to discourage the alien and to encourage English shipping prompted the first Navigation Act of 1381, the object of which was to increase the navy of England, which was "greatly minished." The statute provides that none of the king's liege people should ship any merchandise in going out or coming within the realm of England in any port, but only in ships of the king's allegiance. It has been already pointed out that the number of English ships was so few that the Act had to be amended in the next year by providing that English ships when "able and sufficient" should be "preferred before all other ships." Amassing- of Treasure. One of the complaints of the time of Richard II. was that the land was without money owing to the exportation of English gold and silver. The cause of complaint seems to have arisen from the fact that the exports were less than the imports. The payments made to the Pope of Rome were in particular resented as a drain on the resources of the country, for which no return was received. To remedy the evil, a statute of 1381 prohibited the exportation of gold or silver, except for the wages of Calais and other fortresses beyond the sea, while the statute of Praemunire (1393), prohibited the procuring of papal bulls. Encouragement of Tillage. The scarcity of agricultural labour still remained a difficulty which Parliament attempted to cope with. A statute of 1388 after reciting that servants and labourers would not serve "without outrageous and excessive hire," fixed the wages for different labourers and ordained penalties for those who gave more than the regulation wage, and provided that "artificers, their servants and apprentices, should be compelled to serve in harvest to cut, gather and bring in ENCOURAGEMENT OF TILLAGE. I05 its corn." The migration of the agricultural labourer from the country to the town was a matter of complaint in the 14th, as it is in the 20th century. Those who had served in agriculture till twelve years of age were prohibited from being apprenticed to a trade in a town. For the further encouragement of agriculture, the exportation of corn was encouraged, so that the farmer might have a good market for his corn, and its importation was restricted. Richard II. "granted licence to all his liege people of this realm of England to ship and carry corn out of the said realm to what parts that please them except to his enemies.'' The reign of Richard II. saw the beginning of the Corn Laws, passed for the purpose of keeping up the price of corn ; later on the Parliament of 1463 prohibited the importation of foreign-grown corn, when the price of wheat at the port to which it was brought did not exceed 6s. 8d. the quarter. The object of this prohibition, as of the subsequent Corn Laws, was to encourage farming by raising the price of corn. The encouragement of English industry, and the dis- couragement of the foreigner, were the object of various statutes passed in the reigns of the Lancastrian and Yorkist sovereigns. To protect the English workers in silk, the importation of manufactured silken goods was forbidden by statutes of 1454, 1463 and 1483. The statute of 1483 pro- hibited the importation of from sixty to seventy finished articles of different kinds, from dripping-pans and scissors to ribbons and playing-cards. By a s.tatute of Richard III. (1484), aliens were restricted from exercising handicrafts, and were compelled to sell their goods in gross and within eight months from landing. They were only to take the king's subjects for their servants ; signs of the beginning of a trade in printed books are to be seen in an exception made in favour of "any artificer or merchant stranger bringing into the realnj or selling by retail any manner of books written or Io6 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. printed or of any writer, lympner (painter), binder or printer of such books as he hath or shall have to sell by way of merchandise." By a statute of Henry IV. (1403), aliens who brought goods into England were required to spend the whole of their moneys, save the necessary expenses, in the com- modities of the realm. A statute of 1453 required aliens to give sureties that they would not export gold. Edward IV. made the exportation of bullion felony in order to avert " the impoverishment of the realm and final destruction of treasure of the same realm " ; statutes of this kind were probably little more than a dead letter. There seems to have been a great scarcity of the precious metals during the Middle Ages, and in the 15th century, when commerce was flourishing and wealth increasing, gold and silver were extravagantly used in dress and ornament. More gold and silver were constantly being required, and yet no fresh source of supply was as yet available. The result was a kind of famine of gold and silver which did not abate till the discovery of America added enor- mous quantities to the supply. Cloth Manufacture. A great number of statutes were passed to regulate and foster the cloth trade. One of the most important is the statute of 1465, which defined the size of cloths, provided for the sealing of good cloths, imperfect cloths and half cloths, and the regulation of the trade by a number of royal officers. From this statute it appears that the clothiers delivered the wool to the spinners, carders and other labourers by weight and paid them for the wool when it was finished. As com- plaints were made that the clothiers forced the labourers to take part of their wages in pins, girdles and "other unprofit- able wares," the statute directed that payment should be made in true and lawful money. This statute is the earliest of the "Truck Acts" (Cunningham, 391), i.e., acts intended to prevent the payment of wages in any other way than in MINERAL WEALTH. I07 current coin. Edward IV. re-arranged the regulations for the staple, with the intent that "sufficient plenty of wool m'ght continually abide and remain in the realm and might serve for the occupation of cloth-making" (1463). He prohibited any bargains for the clip of wool before the sheep were shorn in the counties where the clothing trade was chiefly carried on (1464). To keep the whole of the process of manufacture in the country, the exportation of " thrums " and " woollen yarns" was prohibited (1429). Mineral Wealth. During the Middle Ages tin and lead were the most valu- able mineral products of the English, and were articles of export; from the lead ores silver was obtained. Iron was worked from times of remote antiquity in Flintshire, and in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, and in later times in Sussex and Hampshire ; it was smelted by charcoal. Pit- coal, or sea-coal, as it was called to distinguish it from char- coal, to which the name of coal is often given, was worked in Northumberland and in the Forest of Dean, and used there as fuel ; it seems to have been used as fuel outside the districts where it was mined, but not for manufacturing purposes. Salt was worked in Worcestershire at Droitwich, and in ' Cheshire, and was a most important article of trade. Coinage. The coins which were first issued in England were the silver penny (-^^ of the silver pound of 5,400 grains), halfpenny and farthing (p. 71). Edward I. coined the silver groat (4d., p. 73). Edward III. was the first English king to institute a regular gold currency. He issued gold nobles (6s. 8d.), half-nobles and quarter-nobles ; (see gold noble of Richard II., p. 76) ; angels (6s. 8d., p. 79), and half-angels of gold and rose nobles or rials (los.) were coined in 1465. Shillings and sovereigns (see p. 80), did not appear till Henry I08 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. VII. 's reign. The " mark," which is often mentioned in the Middle Ages, was not a coin but a money of account, i.e., a name for | of a pound, i.e., 13s. 4d. Summary. The accession of Henry VII. (1485) may be conveniently regarded as the close of the mediaeval period in England. If we contrast England at the accession of Henry VII. with England at the time of the Domesday Survey four centuries before, we shall find that the commercial progress of the nation had been considerable. From being purely an agricul- tural and wool exporting country, England had become a cloth manufacturing and cloth exporting country. It was engaged in a considerable maritime trade, and was beginning to compete with foreign merchants on their own ground. The two Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the Inns of Court for the education of barristers, and two of the greatest public schools, Eton and Winchester, had been founded. Villenage was rapidly becoming extinct ; parliamentary insti- tutions had grown, and the common law, a system of native origin, had been developed by the English lawyers, who were proud to contrast the liberty of the English people with the des- potic government of their neighbours, especially of the French. The other nations of the British Isles had in the same period made but little advance. Wales, which had been conquered and annexed by Edward I., for a long time remained turbulent and disorderly. Ireland had relapsed into a state of anarchy. The English sovereigns, who from 1172 onwards were "lords of Ireland," had little actual control over the country beyond the Pale, or English dominions round Dublin. The Wars of the Roses, by engaging the English in a struggle at home, increased the confusion in Ireland, the only hope for which lay in a strong Government, which, as yet, the English had not been able to establish there. The chief products of Ireland in the isth century were hides, fish, woollen and linen SUMMARY. 109 cloth, and furs and skins of the otter, squirrel, hare, fox, etc. Scotland, which had been conquered by Edward I., recovered its independence in the reign of Edward II. ; it had made some progress in comparison with Ireland, but for long re- mained in a backward condition. The Scotch trade in the iSth century was chiefly with Flanders; the Scots exported woolfells, hides and wool, and imported haberdashers' ware and even such articles as cartwheels and wheelbarrows. The Scotch kings, like the French, whom they tried to imitate, had powers which were in theory very large, but they exercised little effective control over the nobles, who carried on private war with one another, and often tyrannised over the monarch himself. In England, on the other hand, the power of the sovereign was restrained by the constitution, but his effective authority was considerable. The nation was united, and the anarchy of the nobles kept in check, except during such periods as the Wars of the Roses, when the royal power was in hands too weak to rule. The progress of England in the four centuries between the Normans and the Tudors, considerable as it was, was but slight compared with the progress of England in the four centuries that followed the accession of Henry VII. It v/as during the four centuries, from the i6th to the 19th, that the English came to the front in commerce and colonising. Before they had made but little conspicuous advance in commerce or exploration. The spirit of enter- prise and adventure and of invention, for which the English have since been remarkable, lay dormant all through the mediaeval period, and until the conditions of commerce had changed and oceanic navigation took the place of navigation in the narrow seas. All through the Middle Ages, and until America and the Cape of Good Hope route were discovered, England was situated, as it were, on one of the side-streams of commerce; the change of commercial routes in the i6th century placed her on the main stream (Cunningham, 419). no COMMERCIAL HISTORY. The English, before the close of the isth century, bore little part in discovery or exploration. Pilgrimages and crusading expeditions took Englishmen to the Holy Land, Egypt, Syria and Asia Minor, as well as to Barbary and Prussia, where the Teutonic Knights settled and fought against and converted the heathen Prussians and Lithuanians. To the class of mixed pilgrimage and crusade belong the travels of Henry, Earl of Derby (afterwards Henry IV.), who in 1390-1 sailed from Boston to Prussia, and in 1392-3 travelled overland from Dantzig by Frankfort-on-Oder, Prague, Vienna, Klagenfurt and Friuli to Venice, where he took ship and sailed by Zara, Lissa, Corfu and Rhodes to Jaffa, whence he went to Jerusalem and returned by way of Cyprus, Ragusa and Venice, through Lombardy across the Alps, through France to Calais, and then across to Dover. Travels into the interior of Asia, and voyages in the unknown seas, were chiefly confined to the Italians and Portuguese. Marco Polo, a Venetian, left Venice about 1 217, and went overland by way of Jerusalem, through Armenia, to the borders of China, and visited the court of the Mongol Emperor. In 1245 the Pope sent Friar John on an embassy to the Mongols, whose incursions into Europe were at this time causing considerable alarm; Friar John set out from Lyons and travelled through Germany and Bohemia to Kiew, on the Dnieper, journeyed through Russia, crossed the Volga, entered Asia and reached the Sir-Darya river, near which he had an audience with the Mongol Emperor and re- turned to Lyons in 1247. Similar embassies were sent by the Pope in 1247, and by St. Louis of France in 1249, and in 1253 a Franciscan Friar, William de Rubruquis, travelled under the patronage of St. Louis from Constantinople across the Black Sea to the Crimea, passed through Russia and penetrated into the heart of central Asia to Karakorum (South of Lake Baikal), had an audience with the Mongol Emperor there, and returned back through Asia Minor to Tripoli in Syria. His account of his travels is still extant. In 1291, SUMMARY. 1 1 1 two Genoese, Tedisio Doria and Ugolino Vivaldo, set out on a voyage by sea westward through the Straits of Gibraltar, to go by sea to India, but never returned. Friar Odoric of Pordenone, left Europe in 131 6, travelled to Trebizond and thence to the Persian Gulf, from whence he sailed to India, and afterwards visited Sumatra, Java, Cochin China, Canton, Pekin, and returned to Europe by land. About 1390, Nicole Zeno, a Venetian, visited the F.aroe Islands, and in the service of Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney and Caithness, explored Greenland ; an account of his voyages was written by his brother Antonio, and was published in 1558. The travels in which an Englishman, who calls himself Sir John Mande- ville, describes a journey, which he says he undertook to the East in 1322, are a mere compilation of the tales of travellers such as Friar Odoric, and of stories and legends which can be traced back to the Greek historian and traveller, Herodotus ; even the name of the author is thought to be an invention. The best authorities consider that no such person ever existed, and that no such journey was undertaken (see Dictionary of National Biography sub nom. Mandeville). The story which ascribes the discovery of Madeira in 1344 to an Englishman called Machin, or Macham, is probably just as legendary as the travels of Mandeville. Throughout Europe, indeed, but little progress had been made in geographical knowledge during the Middle Ages. Except that the northern and western parts of Europe were better known, and that European travellers had reached as far as China, the world, as known to the Europe of , the first half of the isth century, was but little larger than the world as known to the Europe of the Roman Empire. The Norse- men of the loth century had reached Greenland and the coast of North America, but their voyages had not been followed up, and the existence of a continent to the west of the Atlantic remained a vague tradition. It was, however, gener- ally believed that Cathay (China) could be reached by sailing 112 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. to the west; a map of the Florentine Toscanelli in the 15th century, and a globe made in 1492 by Martin Behaim, of Nuremberg, who had lived at the Azores, represented Cathay and India as situated to the west of the Azores (Cunningham, 420). In 1480, two ships set out from Bristol in quest of land to the west, but returned in two months without effecting any discovery. In the early part of the 1 5th century, the Portu- guese began to creep cautiously down the coast of Africa, and before the close of the century had discovered the route to India round the Cape of Good Hope, while Columbus, in the service of Spain, and the Cabots, in the service of England, had crossed the Atlantic and reached America. With these discoveries the Middle Ages come to an end, and modern commercial history begins. THE WOOLSACK. COMMERCIAL HISTORY. PART II. Chapter I. Third Stage. Oceanic Navigation. The Tudors — Discovery and Exploration. New Discoveries. The third stage in commercial history, when oceanic voyages are commonly undertaken, was not reached by the European nations till the i6th century, after the discovery of America and of the Cape of Good Hope route to India, discoveries which produced momentous results, including the decay of the Italian and of many of the German cities, the transference of commercial supremacy to the nations of the Atlantic coasts, and the foundation of colonies. The Renaissance. Contemporaneous with the discovery of America was the great intellectual movement in Europe known as the Renaissance {i.e., new birth), the most important feature of which was the revival of the study of classical Latin and Greek. The development of the art of printing at the close of the isth and in the i6th centuries, by making possible the more rapid production of books and the multiplication of maps and charts, assisted the diffusion of knowledge and of new ideas. The Reformation. Connected with the Renaissance was the Reformation, or revolt of many of the western states of Europe from the authority of the Pope of Rome. Those Western European nations which had either not formed part of or had been little 8 Com, Hist. 114 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. influenced by the Roman Empire, namely, England, Scotland, Holland, the Scandinavian nations, the northern states of Germany, and part of Switzerland, renounced their connection with the Papacy, "the ghost of the Roman Empire," and established national Protestant churches. Colonial Enterprise. Portugal and Spain were the first two states of modern Europe to found colonial empires, Portugal founding colonies in the East Indies, and Spain founding colonies in the West Indies and Central and Southern America ; the colonial empire of the Portuguese in the East Indies rapidly rose and was in less than a century destroyed by the Dutch, who took their place and acquired the command of the trade of the East and the carrying trade of Europe ; the Spanish colonial empire in America lasted till the 19th century. The English in the latter part of the i6th century began to encroach on and attack the Spanish colonics ; in the beginning of the 1 7th century they began to make settlements in North America and in India. The Dutch, who founded settlements in the East and West Indies, North and South America, and South Africa, and the French, who colonised Canada and settled in India, became the most formidable rivals of the English in colonial enterprise. Voyages of Discovery — The Portuguese. Portugal at first took the lead in exploration for which its position on the Atlantic sea-coast gave it peculiar facilities, especially in regard to Africa. During the 15th century the Portuguese in their ships gradually crept down the African coast until they discovered the Cape of Good Hope route to India. The great promoter of geographical discoveries in Portugal was Prince Henry, called the Navigator (1394-1460), who set on foot a series of voyages of exploration of the African sea-board from 141 8 onwards. The Portuguese ex- plored the African coast as far as Sierra Leone before 1461, Il6 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. and reached the Equator by 1475. In 1479, a treaty between Portugal and Castile reserved the right of traffic and dis- covery on the African coast to the Portuguese. In i486, Bartholomew Diaz discovered the Cape of Good Hope and landed at Table Bay, but returned without going any further. Pedro de Covilhao was sent out to India by way of Egypt in 1487, visited the Malabar coast, and on his return gave a de- scription of the East African sea-board as far as Madagascar. The voyage by sea from Europe to India was first accom- plished by Vasco da Gama, who left Lisbon on the 8th July, 1497, and landed at Calicut, on the Malabar coast of India, on the 20th May, 1498. In the next year, Alvarez Cabral sailed by the same route and established a Portuguese " factory " or trading settlement on the Malabar coast. In 1503, pepper, one of the most highly prized commodities of the East, was brought to England in Portuguese ships, and the Venetian monopoly of the Eastern trade was thus destroyed. The Portuguese extended and consolidated their Indian posses- sions under the two great viceroys, Almeida and Albuquerque, the latter of whom, in 1510 acquired Goa, which became the capital of the Portuguese Indies, and is now almost the only relic in India of the Portuguese rule. Before the middle of the 1 6th century, Portugal had gained the monopoly of the coast trade from the Persian gulf to Japan, as well as con- siderable possessions on the Malabar coast, Malacca in the modern Straits Settlements, Ormuz on the Persian Gulf, and settlements on both the East arid West coasts of Africa. In 1500 Brazil in South America was discovered by Alvarez Cabral and added to the Portuguese dominions. The Indian trade was in the hands of the royal Portuguese fleets, sailing every year between Goa and Lisbon, which became the chief mart for the Eastern trade in Europe, and rapidly grew in importance and wealth ; the distribution of the commodities of the East fell into the hands of English, Dutch and German merchants, who resorted to Lisbon for that purpose. The THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. I17 Portuguese supremacy in the East rapidly declined, especially after 1580, when Portugal became a part of the dominions of the King of Spain, and the Portuguese possessions in the East were thus exposed to the attaclcs of the enemies of Spain; eventually the Portuguese were supplanted by their more pushing rivals, the Dutch and the English. Spain. The Discovery of America. Spain, which was united under one rule on the union of Castile and Aragon, in the persons of Ferdinand and Isabella, in 1479, was, like Portugal, favourably situated for purposes of exploration, but was unable to make much progress until it had cleared the country of the Moorish kingdoms, the last of which was overthrown in 1492. In that year Christopher Columbus, a Genoese mariner and cartographer of great practical experience, who had visited most of the countries which were within the range of European ships of the time, and had satisfied himself that there was land to the west of the then unexplored Atlantic Ocean, persuaded Queen Isabella to lend her support to his scheme for a voyage of discovery across the Atlantic. He had previously, without success, attempted to enlist the support of John II. of Portu- gal, and Henry VII. of England. On the 3rd August, 1492, Columbus set sail for his voyage across the Atlantic, fr6m the harbour of Palos, with 120 persons in three ships, only one of which, the Santa Maria, on which he hoisted his flag, was decked (see figure 32) ; the other two were caravels, or light undecked vessels. He sighted land at the Bahamas on the 12th October, 1492 ; in this voyage he discovered Hispaniola (Hayti or San Domingo) and Cuba ; the places so discovered became known as the West Indies and the people Indians, from the mistaken belief that the western coast of India had been reached. Columbus returned to Spain in 1493, in which year the Pope, Alexander VI., fixed the boundary between the newly acquired Portuguese and Spanish discoveries by a line, ii8 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. which was afterwards extended by the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) between Spain and Portugal to 370 leagues west of Cape de Verde Islands (Prescott, Ferdinand and Isabella, II., 165). Columbus set sail for his second Atlantic voyage on the 2Sth September, 1 593, with 17 ships and 1,500 men ; he took with him most of the common European do- mestic animals and fruits for naturalisation in the newly dis- covered lands ; in the course of this voyage he discovered the islands of Guad- eloupe and Jamaica. Re- turning from the voyage in 1496, he set sail on the 30th May, 1498, for a third voyage, FIG. 12. SHIP OF COLUMBUS. . , J S, ' in the course of which he discovered the isle of Trinidad and for the first time reached the mainland of the American continent, namely, the coast of South America, or Terra Firma, as he called it, near the mouth of the Orinoco. His fourth and last voyage was in 1502, when he reached the coast of Central America. About the year 1507, the new continent received the name THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 119 of America, derived from Amerkus Vespuccius (Amerigo Vespucci), a Florentine merchant who served in a subordinate position in a Spanish expedition in 1499 to Central America, which Vespucci described in a letter entitled Mundus Novus (the New World), published in 1 504. For a time the Spaniards contented themselves with the occupation of Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Jamaica, and with a few settlements on the mainland, but in 15 12, Vasco Nunez crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean, and Ponce de Leon discovered Florida, which was permanently settled in 1565. In 15 17^ Francisco Fernandez explored Yucatan and the Bay of Campeachy; in 1.15 19, Hernando Cortez set out on an expedition, which ended in 'the conquest of Mexico in 1521 ; between 15 19 and 1542, different Spanish explorers crossed North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and visited and explored the Mississippi, South Carolina, the Hudson, the Colorado, the Rio Grande del Norte, Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Arkansas, the Red River, and the Bay of the Chesapeake. In South America, Peru was conquered by Francisco Pizarro in 1525, and Chili by Almagro in I 541 ; Buenos Ayres, on the River Plate, was planted in 1535, abandoned and re-planted in 1580. The cir- cumnavigation of the world was first accom- plished by an expedition under the command -piG. 33. Magellan's ship victoria t-hat of Ferdinand sailed round the world. I20 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Magellan, a Portuguese in the service of Spain, who set out with five ships, including the Victoria (figure ^:i), on the loth August, 1519, sailed round the south coast of America, dis- covered the straits that bear his name, entered the Pacific Ocean and sailed across to the Ladrones Islands ; he discovered the Philippine Islands and was killed in a fight with the natives, but the Victoria continued its course to Borneo, the Moluccas, Timor and Sumatra, and returning round the Cape of Good Hope, reached Spain on the 7th September, 1522. This expedition led to the addition of the Philippine Islands to the Spanish dominions, an arrangement being entered into between Spain and Portugal by which Spain obtained the Philippines, and her claim to the Moluccas was bought off by Portugal. These discoveries and conquests added enormously to the wealth of Spain, which became the leading state in Europe during the i6th century; it drew gold from Veragua and New Granada, and enormous supplies of silver from the mines of Mexico and Peru. Commercially, the new acquisitions were in the end of little advantage to Spain, owing to her foolish colonial policy. The trade with the Philippines was confined to Mexico. A great galleon, bearing the produce of the East, sailed every year from Manilla, in the Philippines, to Acapulco, in Mexico ; to Acapulco and to Panama came also the treasure ships from Peru. The trade between Europe and the Spanish posses- sions in America was chiefly carried on through Vera Cruz, on the Gulf of Mexico, whither came an annual fleet from Cadiz, bearing European products. Most of the profits of this trade fell into the hands of foreigners, such as the English and Dutch, who brought to Cadiz the European merchandise needed by America ; Spain exported little except wine and fruit. The limitation of the direct trade between Europe and the Spanish colonies led to a great smuggling trade with America, carried on by the English, Dutch and French, and raised the prices in America of ENGLISH DISCOVERIES IN AMERICA. 12 1 European products ; the profits of the irregular direct trade were very great, and this trade was encouraged by the inhabitants of the Spanish possessions, who were thus able to purchase more cheaply the commodities which they desired. FIG. 34. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY THE CABOTS. English Discoveries in America. The merchants of Bristol, the second port in England during the Middle Ages after London, had opened up a direct trade with Iceland, and made, in the last part of the I Sth century, some attempts to cross the Atlantic. In 1496 John Cabot, a Venetian citizen resident at Bristol, set out from Bristol with five ships, and, crossing the Atlantic, dis- covered the coast of Labrador in 1497 ; this is the first dis- 123 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. covery of the mainland of America after the voyages of the Norsemen in the loth and nth centuries, and precedes by a year Columbus's discovery of the mainland of South America ; but Cabot's discovery did not immediately lead to any per- manent settlement by the English. In or about 1498 either John or his son, Sebastian, discovered Newfoundland, but no settlement was made for some time afterwards. In 1501, 1527, and 1536, English ships again visited Newfoundland, the fisheries of which were, after 1527, much frequented by English, Norman, Breton, and Biscayan fishermen. The last half of the i6th century was a time of remarkable maritime activity in England, and witnessed the rise of a number of skilful sailors and explorers. Many of them combined exploration with smuggling and buccaneering, and forced their way on to the forbidden ground of the Spanish and Portuguese colonies. Before 1526 one Thomas Tison found his way to the West Indies, and resided there for some time as a " secret factor for English merchants." In 1530 and 1532, William Hawkins, the father of the celebrated Sir John, made a voyage to Brazil, which was again visited by an English ship in 1540. Sir John Hawkins, who, when, a boy, had gone on voyages to the Canaries, and had learnt and taken to heart the lesson that " negroes were very good merchandise in Hispaniola and might easily be had on the coast of Guinea," sailed in 1562 to Sierra Leone, and began the Atlantic slave trade by taking on board 300 slaves and carrying them to Hispaniola, where he sold them in spite of all prohibitions; a second voyage in 1564 was equally successful; but in a third, in 1567, most of his ships were destroyed by the Spanish fleet in the harbour of San Juan de Ulloa. This led to reprisals on the part of the English. Sir Francis Drake, who had taken part in the expedition of 1567, and had shared in the loss, in 1572 sailed to Central America with two small ships, captured two Spanish towns and many Spanish ships, marched across the 124 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. isthmus of Panama, and was the first Englishman to look upon the Pacific Ocean, at the sight of which, it is said, he " besought Almighty God of His goodness to give him life and leave to sail once in an English ship on that sea." On his return he sacked another Spanish town, intercepted three caravans, and returned to Plymouth by the 9th August, 1573. John Oxenham, following in Drake's steps, sailed to Central America in 1575, crossed the isthmus of Panama, cut wood and made a pinnace with which he sailed on the Pacific, being the first Englishman to navigate that ocean ; he took two Spanish prizes, but on his return was captured by the Spaniards and executed. In 1576, Andrew Barker sailed with ten ships from England to Honduras, where the English buccaneers subsequently founded a settlement for the cutting of logwood. In the next year Sir Francis Drake sailed on his great voyage in which he, first of all Englishmen, circum- navigated the world. Setting out on the 13th December, 1577, in the Pelican, or the Golden Hind, of 100 tons, the Elizabeth, of 80 tons, and three small vessels, he sailed down the coast of South America, through the Straits of Magellan into the Pacific Ocean ; then up the coast of South America, where he plundered several Spanish ships and caravans, and after passing along the coast of Mexico, to California, in search of a passage home by the north of America, and sailing north for some time, he turned south, crossed the Pacific, reached the Molucca Isles, and after touching at Ternate and Java, passed round the Cape of Good Hope and arrived, loaded with treasure, in England in October, 1580. The second English circumnavigator of the world was Thomas Cavendish, who left Plymouth in a fleet of three ships on the 2ist July, 1586, passed through the Straits of Magellan, coasted along the American coast of the Pacific as far as California, captured a treasure ship from the Philippines, then crossed the Pacific himself and arrived at the Ladrones Islands, 3rd January, 1588. He stopped at the Phihppines ENGLISH ATTEMPTS TO COLONISE AMERICA. 1 25 for nine days, was 'well received there, and carried on an active trade with the inhabitants, made astronomical obser- vations, studied the wind, weather and tides, and, retui^ning by the Cape of Good Hope, arrived in England in September, 1588. In a letter to Lord Hunsdon, Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth, written on the day of his arrival. Cavendish says : " I navigated to the islands of Philippines, hard upon the coast of China, of which country I have brought such intelligence as hath not been heard of in these parts, a country the stateliness and riches of which I fear to make a report lest I should not be credited. I sailed along the islands of Molucca where, among some of the heathen people, I was well entreated, and where our countrymen may have trade as freely as the Portugals, if they themselves will." Cavendish's advice and example were not followed by the English with any great promptness, and the result was that the Dutch anticipated the English in the East Indies. English Attepipts to Colonise America. In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert attempted to colonise Newfoundland. He sailed with five ships to St. John's, and annexed the country to the English dominions, but on his loss at sea on his return home, the colony was abandoned. Several other unsuccessful attempts to plant colonies in America were made by the English in the reign of Elizabeth. In 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh, Gilbert's step-brother, sent out an expe- dition under Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlow, who took possession of Roanoke island and the adjacent mainland, to which, as well as to all the sea-board from Newfoundland to Florida, the Queen gave the name of Virginia. In 1585, another expedition was sent out by Raleigh, under the com- mand of his cousin. Sir Richard Grenville, to found a colony in Virginia, but the attempt failed, and in 1586 the colonists were brought home. Other expeditions were'sent out in 1587 and 1589, but all attempts to found a permanent colony failed. 126 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. and the continuous settlement of Virginia does not begin till 1607. The chief immediate result of Raleigh's enterprise was the introduction of tobacco into England, and of the cultiva- tion of the potato into Ireland, but Raleigh pointed out the way to the formation of " a greater England beyond the seas," and he may be regarded as one of the founders of the English Colonial Empire. The North-West Passage. The vain hope of finding a practicable passage for ships to India by the north-west, prompted a number of English seamen in the reign of Elizabeth to explore the extreme north of America. In 1527, John Rut attempted to discover this passage, reached as far as latitude 53° north, and returned by way of Newfoundland, Cape Breton and Maine. Martin Frobisher made three Arctic voyages, in the first of which (1576) he explored Greenland, and in the third (1598) Hud- son's Bay. John Davis, the " father of Arctic discovery," in 1585 sailed to Greenland, and in 1586 and 1587 explored the straits called by his name. The French in America. During the i6tli century, the French made several un- successful attempts to settle in North America. The mariners of Brittany and Normandy frequented the Newfoundland fisheries from the early part of the i6th century. In 1534, Jacques Carder, of St. Malo, sailed to Newfoundland and ascended the St. Lawrence; in 1535, he again ascended it and gave the name of Mont-Real to the site where the city of Montreal was afterwards built ; other attempts to found a French Colony on the St. Lawrence were made in 154°, in 1598, and in 1603, but no permanent settle- ment was made till 1609, when Quebec was founded by Champlain, and the colony of New France, or Canada as it is now called, was established. The French laid claims to parts ENGLISH EXPLORATION, TRAVEL, AND COMMERCE. I27 of Newfoundland, and their claims were a constant source of dispute between England and France and prevented the settlement of a permanent colony in that island. English Exploration, Travel and Commerce in the Old World in the 15th Century. — Russian Trade. Attempts were made to find a passage to India by the north- east as well as by the north-west, and were more fruitful of commercial results than the voyages to the north-west. In 1 553) 3.n expedition organized by Sebastian Cabot, set sail from England for the purpose of reaching Cathay (China) by the north-east, under the command of Sir Hugh Willoughby, with Richard Chancellor as pilot-general. Sir Hugh Willoughby was driven out of his course, and perished in Lapland. Chancellor made his way to the White Sea and landed at the mouth of the River Dwina, near the site of the town of Archangel. Here he was well received, and Chancellor with ten companions went to Moscow and visited the court of the Russian Czar, Ivan the Terrible, who granted freedom and facilities of trade to English ships. Russia at this time had no possessions on the Baltic coast or on the Black Sea, and her only outlet for maritime trade was by the White Sea. Chancellor returned to England in 1554, and as a result of his voyage, the Muscovy Company was incorporated in 1555. to trade with Russia. The northern coast of Russia was still further explored by Stephen Borough, who first observed and named the North Cape, and in 1556 sailed past the North Cape, Lapland, Nova Zembla, and the land of the Samoyedes- and turned back within 15 leagues of the River Petchora near to the extreme north-east point of Europe. Another English explorer, Jackman, reached the River Obi, but his ship was wrecked and he and his companions murdered by the Samoyedes (1581). The formation of the Muscovy Company led to the first journey undertaken by an Englishman into Central Asia. 128 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Anthony Jenkinson was in 1557 appointed by the Muscovy Company captain-general of their fleet, then saihng for Russia. Leaving Gravesend on the 12th May, 1557, he arrived at the mouth of the Dwina on the 12th July, proceeded to Khol- mogori, where the Company had established a factory, and thence partly by boat and partly by sledge to Moscow, where he arrived on the 6th December ; he was received by the Czar and stayed there till 23rd April, 1558, when he travelled by water to Nijni Novgorod and journeyed in the train of a Russian governor to Astrakhan at the mouth of the Volga (14th July) ; he was the first Englishman to cross the Caspian Sea (6th August), from the shores of which he journeyed by way of Khiva to Bokhara (23rd December), where he stayed two months ; he then returned to Moscow and England. In the next year he started on another journey for the purpose of opening communication with Persia ; he went as before by way of Kholmogori, Moscow, and Astrakhan, and thence by way of the Caspian to Shabran and Sheipakha ; his negotia- tions with the Shah completely failed owing to the war that was raging between Persia and Turkey ; and he returned to England in 1564. How hazardous journeys of this kind were may be seen from the fate of Thomas Alcock, another of the agents of the Muscovy Company who followed in Jenkinson's steps, crossed the Caspian and entered Persia, where he was murdered. Jenkinson made a third journey to the Czar's court in 1566, and obtained a grant for the Muscovy Company of a monopoly of the White Sea trade. The Czar having recalled his grant, Jenkinson was again sent to Russia in 1571, and with great difficulty obtained the restoration of the company's privileges (Diet, of National Biography, sub nom. Jenkinson). The articles exported from England to Russia in the i6ih century consisted of cloths, sugar, lead, tin, pewter alum, copper, gunpowder, and military stores ; the articles imported were furs, hides, hemp, flax, train-oil, tallow, pitch tar, caviar, and masts. LEVANT TRADE. 1 29 Levant Trade. By the beginning of the i6th century English merchants had begun to trade directlj' with the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean. Between 151 1 and 1534 " divers tall ships of London," with other ships of Southampton and Bristol, had " an ordinary and usual trade " to Sicily, Candia, and Scio, while some went on to Cyprus, and even Tripoli and Beyrout in Syria. The commodities which these merchants exported from England were "kerseys" and other woollen goods and calf-skins, which had a good sale in Sicily ; the commodities imported in return were silks, camlets, rhubarb ; " malmsey, muscadel," and other wines ; currants, sweet oil, cotton, Turkey carpets ; galls, pepper, cinnamon, and other spices. As the merchants engaged in this trade employed not only English but also Candiot, Ragusan, Sicilian, Genoese, Venetian, Span- ish, and Portuguese ships (Hakluyt II., 96), it would seem that the volume of English shipping was not then sufScient for the English trade of the time. In 1513 Baptista Justiniano, a Genoese, was appointed consul for English merchants in Scio and the Archipelago ; in 1530 Dionysius Harris, an English- man, was appointed consul in Candia. Several Englishmen settled in the Levant for the purpose of trading ; William Eymes, a factor for several London merchants, resided at Scio from 1533 to 1544. The traveller Jenkinson was sent to the Levant in 1544 to be trained for a mercantile career. An Englishman, Caspar Campion, lived in Scio for over twenty years, and in 1559 wrote a description of the trade there. In 1581 the Levant Company of London merchants was incorpora- ted, and in 1582 the Susan, of London, sailed to Constantinople, having on board the first English ambassador to the Turkish court, William Harborne, who resided at Constantinople for six years, and returned overland in 1588. Until the beginning of the 19th century the English ambassador at Constantinople was always paid by the Levant Company, amf one of his chief duties was the protection of the Company's trade. g — Com. Hist. 130 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Travels in the East. The travels of a number of adventurous Englishmen in the 1 6th century made the countries of the East better known in England. In 1583, Ralph Fitch, John Newbery, and John Eldred, left England for Aleppo. Eldred went overland across Syria down the Euphrates, and thence across the desert to Bussora, whence he returned to Aleppo. Newbery and Fitch went from Aleppo to Bussora, and thence to Ormuz on the Persian Gulf, where they were imprisoned by the Portuguese and sent to Goa; they escaped from Goa, and Newbery returned to Syria, while Fitch visited Golconda, Agra, the Court of the Great Mogul, Bengal, Pegu and Malacca ; re- turning by way of Ceylon he visited the Malabar Coast, went overland from Ormuz to Aleppo, and returned to England in 1591, after an absence of eight years. Thomas Stevens sailed from Lisbon to Goa, and in a letter written in 1579 and sent to England, described the voyage to India by sea. In 1600, John Mildenhall travelled from Constantinople through Armenia to Candahar and thence to India, where he visited Lahore and Agra and had an audience of the Great Mogul. English Voyages to Africa. As early as 1526 English merchants began to trade with the Canaries, the products of which, sugar, dye-wood, and kid skins, were regularly shipped to England. In 1547, a de- scription of the Canaries was written by Thomas Nicholls, who had lived there for seven years. In 1551, Thomas Wyndham, "with a tall ship called the Lion of London," undertook the first English voyage for traffic to Morocco " in Barbary " ; in 1552, he again sailed to Morocco and thence to Santa Cruz and Teneriffe. In 1553, he reached the Gold Coast and was the first Englishman to round Cape Verde. In 1585, a company of London merchants trading with Bar- bary was formed, and in 1588 a similar company of merchants trading with the Guinea coast. THE EAST INDIES. 131 The East Indies. Cavendish, the circumnavigator, on his return home in 1588, had pointed out the opportunities for trade between England and the East Indies ; three years after his return, the first English voyage to the East Indies round the Cape of Good Hope was undertalcen by James Lancaster, in the Edward Bonaventure and two other sliips. He left Plymouth on the loth April, 1591, anchored in Table Bay on the ist August, doubled Cape Comorin in May, 1592, captured three Portuguese ships, and anchored at Point de Galle, where the crew mutinied and insisted on going home ; he doubled the , Cape of Good Hope on the 31st March, 1593, touched at St. Helena, crossed the Atlantic to Trinidad, and returned on the 24th May, 1594. This expedition was the first attempt made by a European nation to destroy the Portuguese monopoly in the East Indies. Unfortunately, Lancaster's first voyage was not followed up speedily enough, and the result of the delay was that the Dutch gained a footing in the East Indies before the English. In 1594, three ships were fitted out and put under Lancaster's command, but were sent not to the East Indies but on a buccaneering expedition to America. A fleet of three ships under Benjamin Wood, intended to visit China and the remotest parts of the East for trading purposes, set out in 1596, but ended disastrously, and all the persons on board perished. The East India Company was founded in 1600, with exclusive privileges of trading with the East Indies, and Lancaster was appointed to command its first fleet. Saihng on the 20th April, 1601, from Torbay, in com- mand of the Red Dragon, of 600 tons, with three other ships, he reached Table Bay on the 9th September, and on the 5th June, 1602, arrived at Acheen (Sumatra), where he found ships " of almost all the nations of India that came thither to trade," and also of the Dutch who, in the interval between his first and second voyages, had succeeded in forestalling the English and gaining a footing in the East Indies. At Acheen, 132 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Lancaster was well received by the king of the country, who had heard of the victories of the English over Spain ; he cruised in the Straits of Malacca in quest of Portuguese ships, and captured one of 950 tons loaded with "packs of calicoes, pintadoes (i.e., chintzes), and a great deal of other merchandise besides rice " ; going on to Bantam, in Java, where he established a factory and left a number of men, he sent a pinnace to the Moluccas to open up trade there, and returning with his ships loaded with pepper, reached the Downs on the nth September, 1603, and was knighted for his service. Henceforth he settled down in England and played a leading part in the development of the East India Company of which he was a director. The English and Dutch. The Dutch were behind the English in entering on the work of exploration, but succeeded in forestalling them in trade with the East Indies. Holland formed, with the rest of the Netherlands, a part of the dominions of the Papist, Philip II. of Spain, who goaded the Protestant Dutch into revolt by his interference with their civil and religious liberties. The revolt led to a long war, from 1588 to i6ogj at the end of which the Dutch acquired complete independence ; one of the incidents of the war was the destruction of Antwerp (1585), the trade of which passed partly to Amsterdam, partly to London, and partly to Hamburg. The Dutch, who were skilful sailors, had profited by the Spanish and Portuguese discoveries, and sending their ships to Lisbon and Cadiz, dis- tributed the products of the East and America over Europe, and took to Lisbon and Cadiz the products of Europe, which were carried in Spanish ships to America, and in Portuguese ships to the East Indies. Amsterdam grew in consequence to be one of the richest cities in Europe. The war between Holland and Spain did not stop this trade ; the Dutch, who have always had a keen eye to commercial interests, had no THE ENGLISH AND DUTCH. 1 33 scruples about trading with their enemies, but after a time Philip II. put. a stop to the trade and imprisoned the Dutch merchants in his dominions. This act of Philip did him considerable mischief, as it drove the Dutch to undertake a direct trade with the East Indies and to attack the Portuguese possessions there, which for a time formed a part of the dominions of Spain. A detailed account of the voyage to the Indies, and of the isles and coasts of the Indian Ocean, had been published in Holland in 1591 by Linschooten, a Dutch- man, who had lived in India for thirteen years. The Dutch undertook their first voyage to the East Indies at the instance of Cornelius Houtman, who has been called the founder of the direct Dutch trade with India. Having visited Lisbon and gained information as to the commerce of India and the voyage there, he promoted a company in Amsterdam to discover distant lands, and four ships were sent to the East Indies on the 2nd April, 1595, with Houtman on board one as supercargo. In June, 1596, they arrived at Bantam, in the island of Java, and established a factory there. On 15th March, 1598, ten Dutch ships, under the command of Houtman, with the English Arctic explorer. Captain John Davis, as pilot, sailed from Flushing, and in January, 1599, arrived at Acheen. Davis had an interview with the King of Acheen, who had heard of the victories of the English over the Spaniards; "the greater part of his {i.e., the king's) dis- course was about England and our Queen, whom he greatly admired for her war with the King of Spain." Another Dutch fleet, consisting of eight ships and 560 men, set sail in May, 1598, and arrived at Bantam ; four of the ships returned home at once loaded with pepper, while the other ships visited Amboyna, Banda and the Moluccas, where they established a factory, and whence they rettirned in 1600 loaded with spices. Dutch voyages to the East now followed in rapid succession. On the 2 1 St August, 1598, another Dutch fleet of five ships, • with another Englishman, William Adams, on board as pilot- 134 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. general, left the Texel, sailed through the Straits of Magellan and crossed the Pacific from Chili to Japan, where they arrived on the 19th April, 1600. Adams, who was the first Englishman that visited Japan, had an audience with the Emperor, for whom he built a ship, and who was so pleased with his skill that he kept him in Japan and would not let him return. On the 13th September, 1598, Oliver Noort, with an English pilot (Melis) who had been round the world with Cavendish, sailed from Holland through the Straits of Magellan and across the Pacific to the Ladrones Islands, Manilla and Borneo, returning to Amsterdam in 1601. In 1599, seven Dutch ships sailed to the East Indies, eight sailed in 1600, and thirteen in 1601. It will thus be seen that while the English visited the Indies before the Dutch, the latter had begun a brisk trade there before the arrival of Lancaster at Acheen in 1602. A bitter commercial rivalry arose between the English and the Dutch, who had hitherto been good friends, the English having helped the Dutch in their struggles for independence. At first the Dutch were much more enter- prising and successful ; the capital of the Dutch East India Company, which was founded in 1602, and united all the earlier companies, was more than half a million, while that of the English East India Company was at first only ^^72,000. The East Indian fleets of the Dutch often consisted of twelve, thirteen, and fourteen ships, while the English fleets did not number more than three or four. The Dutch were consequently able to spread their operations over a wider area; of the fourteen Dutch ships that sailed to India in 1602, some went to Acheen, some to Ceylon, some to the Moluccas and Bantam, and others to China; in 1604, the Dutch visited the Malabar Coast and made war on the Portuguese, whom they drove out of Amboyna and the Moluccas. Edmund Scot, one of the English whom Lancaster left behind at the factory in Bantam, in 1603, wrote a description of Java; in this description he complains of the " undermining practices of the THE ENGLISH AND DUTCH. 135 Hollanders against us," of the " sly and crafty proceedings of the Hollanders"; the Dutch usurped the name of Englishmen and caused the English and Dutch " to be confounded to- gether," so that the English often suffered for the misdeeds of the Dutch, who, "by their uncivil carriage did procure for themselves far more trouble and enmity than they needed to have done, and made the Christian name very odious among these heathen " ; the Dutch were " of so rude a behaviour and so apt to affront and abuse the country people," that the English settlers found it necessary to distinguish themselves from the Dutch by celebrating Queen Elizabeth's coronation day, and after the natives had learnt to make the distinction, " the children would run after us in the street shouting, ' The English are good and the Hollanders stark naught.' " The Dutch ships came in and out of Bantam so often that, " let the wind blow out of what quarter it would it brought some ship or other of theirs for pepper." When the second fleet of the English East India Company arrived at Bantam in December, 1604, they found a Dutch fleet in the roads, and in July of the next year the quarrels between the rival traders had become so acute that they came to blows and the Dutch were beaten. Of this English fleet, part went to Banda, and on its return found war going on between the Dutch and the Portuguese at Amboyna, the result of which was that the Dutch became "lords of Amboyna," and no trade could be done by the English there ; the ships that went to the Moluccas found war raging there between the King of Ternate and the King of Tydore, the Portuguese supporting the latter and the Dutch the former ; although the English rescued the King of Ternate from the Tydore galleys, the Dutch who had given the English a bad character and magnified their own country, prevented the King of Ternate from trading with the English and letting them have a factory in his island. The Dutch succeeded in getting possession of the Moluccas, Amboyna, the Banda Isles, and Ceylon. As 136 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. nutmegs at that time only grew in the Banda Isles, cloves only in the Moluccas and the islands round Amboyna, and cinnamon only in Ceylon, the Dutch thus obtained a complete monopoly of the spice trade. Bickerings between the Dutch and the English v/ent on continually. By a treaty in 1619, the right of the English to a share in the spice trade was admitted, but constant quarrels broke out nevertheless and culminated in the Massacre of Amboyna in 1623, when the Dutch arrested the English merchants in the factory at Amboyna on a false charge of plotting against them, and after submitting them to the most horrible tortures, put most of them to death. The practical monopoly of the spice trade enjoyed by the Dutch drove the East India Company to direct their chief attention to India. After numerous unsuccessful attempts they succeeded in establishing a factory at Surat in 1612 ; in 1620, they estab- lished a factory at Hoogly, near Calcutta, and another at Madras in 1642. From 1612 onwards, the Company became a joint-stock company, having one joint-stock for all its ventures. Trading Companies. In the time of Elizabeth the combination of moneyed men in commercial enterprise on a large scale commenced in England. New companies were formed, viz. : the East India, Muscovy, Levant, Barbary and Africa companies, while the older companies such as the Eastland Company and the Merchant Adventurers extended their trade. The old company of Merchants of the Staple lost all their commercial importance on the capture of Calais, their trading centre, by the French in 1558. The Eastland Company of Merchants trading to Prussia exported cloths, lead, tin, pewter, hats and stockings; and imported deals, masts, timber, flax, hemp, linen, cordage, pitch, tallow, potash, wheat, iron, furs, beeswax and fish. The Merchant Adventurers, who obtained from Henry VIL, Henry VIII., and Elizabeth, fresh privileges which secured to them the exclusive right of trading with the coasts 137 FIG. 35. THREE FARTH- INGS OF ELIZABETH. of Europe opposite to England from the Somme to Denmark, and who in 1550 employed 20,000 persons in Antwerp alone, exported cloths, lead, tin, oils, stockings, silks, fruits and Spanish wines, and imported linen, cambric, hollands, lawn, diaper, Rhenish wines, tapestries, hops, soap, wire, copper plates, brass, steel, iron, quicksilver, arms, gunpowder, hemp, alum, wax and salt. The development of capitalist enterprise was assisted by the rise in prices in the last half of the 1 6th century, caused by the enor- mous increase in the supply of silver that followed on the opening up of the mines of Potosi by the Spaniards (Cunningham, II. 14). On the advice of Sir Thomas Gresham, who formulated what is known as Gresham's Law, viz., that bad coin in circulation drives out the good, the coinage which had been greatly debased was purified under Eliza- beth. The Royal Exchange for London merchants was foun- FIG. 36. MILLED SIXPENCE OF ELIZABETH. ^^^ (1568). The London Goldsmiths began to carry on the business of banking by lending money to individuals and to the Government. Shipping. The Mercantile System (see Part I., page 103) was the guiding principle of English policy from the days of Elizabeth to the i8th century. One of the chief features of this system was the encouragement of English shipping. Henry VIII. had done much in this direction by the incorporation of the Trinity House for supervising the lighting of the English coasts, and the control of pilots by the establishing of a dock- 138 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. yard at Deptford, by the building of larger vessels for the Navy, and by making a harbour of refuge at Dover. The Navigation Acts were more strictly enforced under Elizabeth, with the object of excluding foreigners from English trade and promoting the building of English ships. The privileges FIG. 37. MAN OF WAR, TIME OF HENRY VIII. of the Hanse merchants in England were abrogated in 1578, and after 1587 Venetian galleys ceased to visit English shores. The encouragement of the fishing trade was promoted by legislation, which imposed, a tax on imported fish and made compulsory the eating of fish and abstinence from meat on SHIPPING. 139 three days of the week. The home fisheries were still in the hands of strangers, especially of the French, the Flemings, and the Dutch, and it was long before the English obtained the control over the fisheries on their own coasts. The Navy was still but feeble. Most of the ships of the fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada of 1588 belonged to FIG. 38. OLD ROYAL EXCHANGE. private persons; only thirty-eight vessels carried the Queen's flag, and of these only thirteen were over 400 tons burden. In 1597, a ship of 800 tons was the largest vessel built in England. Still the reign of Elizabeth saw the beginning of the maritime greatness of England ; the victories over Spain made her dreaded on the seas; in the engagements with the Armada the English smaller ships outmanoeuvred and outsailed the huge Spanish galleons. Hawkins introduced improvements into the build of the ships of the Navy by lowering the huge castles at the bow and the stern, by increasing their length, giving them finer lines, and so making them faster, and a merchant I40 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. navy fitted for the most distant voyages was being formed. Marine insurance in London takes its rise in the i6th century, and is mentioned as early as 1512, and in 1601 a statute was passed for the appointing of commissioners to "determine causes on policies of insurance.'' Agriculture. Another feature of the Mercantile System was the en- couragement of agriculture for the sake of increasing the population and power of the country. The increase of enclosures was a matter of general com- plaint, and was one of the causes of Ket's rebellion in 1549. Two processes were included under the term of enclosing, one for the sake of sheep farming at the expense of tillage, the other for the improvement of tillage. The latter process marks the change from the open field or champion system, to the several field system, and was accomplished by enclosing fields with hedges, which were of use as providing shelter; this process marks the introduction of convertible husbandry, by which instead of the same land being always arable or always pasture, it could be changed from pasture to arable and arable to pasture. Before the end of the i6th century the depression of agri- culture that had lasted since the 14th century had ceased, and the 17 th and i8th centuries were times of great prosperity for English farmers. Tillage was encouraged by Ehzabethan legislation empowering the justices in each locality to settle how far the export of corn might be permitted at any time, and considerable quantities seem to have been exported in good seasons. Hops were introduced, and were cultivated with suc- cess. The cultivation ofhemp was promoted by legislation. In " Queen Elizabeth's days, good husbandry began to take place." Industry. New centres of industry and new trades come into existence under the Tudors. Henry VII. " set the manufacture of INDUSTRY. 141 wool on foot " in several parts of the country, particularly at Wakefield, Leeds, and Halifax, in the West Riding of York- shire. Manchester is spoken of in 1542 as a flourishing centre of trade in linen and woollen manufactures, especially of Manchester cottons (which at that time meant a kind of woollen goods) and Manchester friezes ; the forges and iron- works of Birmingham are spoken of in the reign of Elizabeth, under whom the Cutlers' Company at Sheffield was formed. To compete with the ''russets, satins and fustians" of Naples, the Mayor and other merchants of Norwich brought strangers from abroad, made looms and introduced the art of making " russets and fustians " cheaper than those of Naples (Cunningham, Middle Ages, 467). The craft gilds received their death-blow in the reign of Edward VI., who confiscated their property on the ground that it was devoted to superstitious uses ; the London companies survived and a few isolated gilds in one or two towns, but all the other gilds were dissolved ; artisans were allowed to work where they pleased, whether they were free of a town or not (Cunningham, L, 469). A number of new processes and industries were introduced; in 1565 a patent was granted for the making of brimstone, and a company was formed for making improvements in wire- drawing and other manufactures in the Forest of Dean. In the reign of Elizabeth knitted or woven stockings began to take the place of cloth stockings. In 1589 William Lee invented frames for the knitting of stockings. Starch was introduced from abroad in the end of the i6th century, and a patent was granted for its manufacture ; another patent was granted for a new process of manufacturing salt. A paper mill was set up in 1588 at Dartford by a German, Spielmann, and attempts were made to manufacture glass and sail-cloth. Owing to the great increase in the population, the use of sea-coal became much commoner; the Newcastle trade in coal with London began to prosper, and the price of coal rose 142 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. rapidly from 2s. 6d. a chaldron {i.e., 52^^ to 53 cwt.) at Newcastle in 1536 to los. in 1581. Foreign Artisans. Religious persecutions abroad drove over to England a number of foreign artisans whose skill was of great service in the development of English manufactures. In 1561 Sandwich received twenty-five master workmen from Flanders with their families and servants, who exercised the industries of fishing and of making "saes bay or other cloth." In 1565 thirty Dutch and Walloon householders settled in Norwich and improved the trade of the district ; they made the finer kinds of cloth which came to be known as the " new drapery," and practised linen- weaving and the making of gallipots. Other artisans settled in Maidstone and introduced the making of thread. The Flem- ings, who settled in Kent, introduced great improvements in gardening in that county. In 1570 another settlement of Flemings in Colchester introduced the making of needles and parchment, and the weaving of sackcloth and fine cloths called bays. Other settlements were at Stanford, Halstead, Yar- mouth, Lynn, Dover, and London. A considerable number of French Huguenots came over in 1582 and practised the craft of silk-weaving in London, Coventry, and Canterbury. Industrial Legislation. The making of cloth and other English manufactures was still further encouraged by Elizabethan legislation. The importation of various finished goods from abroad, chiefly cutlery and small hardware goods, and the exportation of wool and undressed cloths were prohibited by Acts of Parlia- ment. A curious piece of protectionist legislation is an Act of 1571 for the encouragement of the cappers' industry; by this Act, on every Sunday and holy day, every person of six years and upwards with certain exceptions, was to wear " one cap of wool fully wrought in England." Patents were granted to individuals for the regulation of industry, such as the POOR LAW. 143 patent that was granted to Sir Edward Darcy in 1592 for the sealing and searching of leather throughout the whole of England, for which he exacted sometimes as much as one- third of the value of each skin. The granting of monopolies {i.e., the sole right of selling certain commodities) was a great abuse in the reign of Elizabeth, and the subject of protests on the part of Parliament. The most important industrial measure of Elizabeth's reign was the Statute of Apprentices of 1563, which was passed on the same lines as the Statute of Labourers. By this statute all persons who had not lands of the annual value of 40s., or ^10 worth of personal property, or were not retained in the household of any noble or gentleman, or were not tenants of a farm holding, and were unmarried and of less than thirty years of age, were obliged to serve if called upon in the trade in which they had been brought up ; all other persons of the labouring classes between the ages of twelve and sixty were to be compelled to serve " by the year with any person that keepeth husbandry, and will require any such person so to serve.'' Artisans in the chief employments (which included weaving and cloth-making) were to be hired for the year; the hours of labour of artificers and labourers were fixed, and the rates of wages were to be settled each year by the Justices ; penalties were enacted against those who gave more wages than the rate settled. Seven years' apprentice- ship was required before any person could "set up, occupy, use or exercise any craft, mystery, or occupation " then used or occupied. New crafts that sprang up afterwards were not within the provisions of the statute. Poor Law. The reign of Elizabeth also saw the first Poor Law (1601), which provided for the compulsory levying of rates for the relief of the destitute poor, and is still in force and is the basis of our system of poor relief 144 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Bankruptcy. The beginning of bankruptcy legislation dates from the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth. An Act of 1 57 1 provided that anyone who exercised his trade by way of bargaining, etc., and who fled the country or took sanctuary should be reputed bankrupt, and that his estate should be administered for the benefit of his creditors by commissioners appointed by the Lord Chancellor. FIG. 39. ANCIENT CAUSEWAY NEAR WHITBY, YORKS. Roads and Bridges. Several statutes were passed in the Tudor reigns relating to the repairs of roads and bridges. By the Statute of Bridges (22 Henry VIII. c. 5), each county was declared bound to repair the bridges of public utility within its limits. By an Act of the reign of Philip and Mary, provision was RELIGIOUS CHANGES. 1 45 made for parishes electing surveyors to see to the main- tenance and repair of the highways leading to market towns by compulsory labour. Little real progress, however, seems to have been made and the English roads long remained in a disgraceful condition, the cause of which seems to have been that each parish had to repair its own roads, and there was no provision for raising money for making new roads. Religious Changes. By the end of the i6th century, the majority of the people of England and Scotland had got rid of all connection with the Papacy, and had abandoned the doctrines which thenceforth became known as Roman Catholic. As Spain was the head of the Roman Catholic nations of Europe, England under Elizabeth, after her victories over Spain, was looked up to as the chief of the Protestant nations, and to her shores fled Protestant refugees from other countries such as Flanders and France. The hostility between England and Spain, based chiefly on colonial and commercial questions, became more embittered by religious differences. English sailors whom the Spaniards caught in the West Indies were thrown as heretics into the dungeons of the Inquisition, and stories of the tortures inflicted on their fellow countrymen inflamed the English to greater daring in their struggles against Spain. The emancipation of England from spiritual dependence on the Pope, which had always been resented by patriotic Englishmen as a slur on the national independence, not only stopped the flow of gold to Rome, but was con- nected with an extraordinary development of activity in literature, exploration and commerce. As the Reformation brought greater liberty of thought in religious matters, the English people became less disposed to submit to enn-oach- ments on political liberty, and with the growth of t'x moneyed class, the House of Commons began to take ? buider tone, and the 17th century saw the complete sub'c^uon of the English crown to constitutional restrictions. 10 — Cont. Ilisi, 146 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Chapter II. The Stuarts. Foundation of Colonies. The Stuart period (1603-1 7 14) is the period of colonising and of lieen rivalry, first with the Dutch and then with the French. American Colonies. Virginia. The first English colony, excluding Newfoundland, where there were scattered English settlers, but no system of Government, was Virginia, the permanent settlement of which dates from the foundation of Jamestown in 1607. On December 19, 1606, three small ships under Captain Newport, with Captain John Smith on board, left the Thames, and in the next year arrived at the mouth of the Chesapeake and founded Jamestown. The earlier colonists suffered great privations, and were often on the point of abandoning the colony, but chiefly owing to the efforts of Captain Smith the difficulties were overcome, and a permanent settlement was made. In 161 6 the cultivation of tobacco was introduced into the colony and became the basis of its subsequent prosperity. To encourage the cultivation of tobacco in Virginia its growth in England was forbidden. In 1619a representative assembly was established in Virginia to manage the affairs of the colony, which acquired practical independence, a prominent feature of the English colonies in America. New England. North of Virginia were planted the New England colonies which derived a distinctly religious character from their Puritan founders, who had either been driven from England, or had left it from disapproval of the prevailing church settle- ment which, in their opinion, had not gone far enough in the direction of Protestantism. Of these the first was Plymouth, founded in 1620 by the Pilgrim Fathers, who sailed NEW ENGLAND. 147 in the Mayflower (figure 40), while Massachusetts, the most powerful of all the New England colonies, was founded in 1628, Connecticut in 1635, New Haven in 1638, Rhode Island about 1640. Maine was founded in 1638, but was afterwards joined to Massachusetts. New Hampshire became a separate colony in 1677 and included part of the territories claimed by Massachusetts. The New England colonies were exposed to dangers from the Indians in whose country they had settled, from the French who established themselves in Canada in 1609, in Nova Scotia (then called Acadia) in 1605, and in Louisiana in 1684, and from the Dutch who established a colony called the New Netherlands (now New York). To protect themselves from their enemies, the New England colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven formed a con- federation in 1643. The disturbances in England under Charles I. increased their inde- pendence, and the attempts made under Charles II. and James II. to bring them under the authority of the crown were abandoned at the Revolution, and the colonies obtained practical independence, the chief sign of their dependence after the Revolution being the appointment of governors from England. Meanwhile, the English dominions in America had been increased by the settlement of Maryland by Roman Catholics under Lord Baltimore in 1629, the con- quest of the New Netherlands from the Dutch in 1664, and its cession to the English in 1674, the settlement of New Jersey FIG. 40. THE MAYFLOWER. 148 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. in 1665, and of Pennsylvania, a Quaker colony, by William Penn in 1682. Delaware was originally founded by Swedish settlers, and afterwards was conquered by the Dutch and became a part of New York along with which it passed into the hands of the English ; it finally became a separate colony in 1 701. The country south of Virginia became the seat of three colonies. North Carolina founded about 1669, South. Carolina founded about 1670, and Georgia founded in 1732 as an outpost against the Spaniards who occupied Florida. On the settlement of Georgia the whole of the west sea-board of America, from the river Kennebec to the border of Florida became English. The colonies mentioned, namely, Virginia, Massachusetts (to which Plymouth had been joined in 1692), Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New York, New 'Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia were the thirteen colonies which seceded from England in 1776, and formed the original United States of America. The commodities of the northern colonies were agricultural produce, corn, meat, cheese and timber, with which they supplied the West Indies. Rice was introduced before the close of the 17th century into South Carolina, the climate and soil of which were especially well suited for its growth. Thus agriculture was the basis of the prosperity of the United States as it was of that of the home country. The American plantations were of considerable importance to England, as affording a supply of timber and ship-building materials. Other possessions of England in the New World acquired during the 17th century, were the Bermudas, a cluster of 300 islands, most of which are barren rocks, taken possession of by Sir George Somers, who was shipwrecked there on his way to Virginia in 1609 ; Barbadoes, colonised in 1614, which became a flourishing settlement, and a seat of the manufacture of sugar; and Jamaica, which was captured from the Spaniards by an expedition despatched by Cromwell in 1655 for the con- INDIA. 149 quest of Cuba, and became another seat of the sugar industry. In the West Indies the EngHsh had to contend against the rivalry of the French and the Dutch. French buccaneers settled in the western part of the Island of St. Domingo, which in 1665 was taken under the protection of the French Government. St. Christopher's, Martinique, and Guadaloupe were settled by a French privateer, D'Esnambuc in 1625, and an English settlement was made in St. Christopher's about the same time. A French West India Company was formed in 1664, and for a time took over the administration of the French Islands. A Dutch West India Company was formed in 1621, and had a remarkable success for a while, as it conquered and governed a part of the Portuguese possession of Brazil, but in 1651 the Dutch were driven from the country. The other possessions of the Dutch in the West Indies consisted of Surinam, Curacoa and St. Eustatia, where they cultivated sugar and tobacco. For the regular supply of labourers the Spaniards, Portuguese, French and English, were all dependent on negro slaves who were imported from Africa. The slave trade in African negroes had been carried on during the Middle Ages by the Moors, in whose steps the Portuguese followed and transported negroes first to Europe and afterwards to their settlements in Brazil. The Dutch and the English followed the example of the Portuguese, and in process of time the slave-trade fell chiefly into the hands of the English, who in 17 13 obtained from the French and the Spaniards the benefit of the Assiento or contract for the sole supply of negro slaves to the Spanish colonies. The trade was chiefly in the hands of the Royal African or Guinea Company. India. The trade and operations of the East India Company were considerably extended in the 17th century. Bombay was granted to the company in 1668 by Charles II., their power 150 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. began to spread in Hindustan, and they traded with Persia, ■China, Slam and Japan. In 1667-8 they began to import tea from China to England. In 1673 the island of St. Helena was granted to them by the Crown. A French East India Com- pany was formed in 1664, and the rivalries of the Europeans in India with one another led to the English East India Company taking sides in the quarrels of native princes. In this way the East India Company became a great political power as well as a commercial company. It built fleets, raised armies, made war, and acquired territory. Rivalry with the Dutch. At the beginning of the 17th century the Dutch were far ahead of the English in commerce and shipping. They had succeeded to the position of the Italian and Han- seatic merchants, and had a monopoly of the carrying trade of Europe. They even had control of most of the fisheries off the English coasts, the herring fishery being chiefly in their hands. The 17th century sees the efforts of the English first to imitate and learn of the Dutch, and then to outdistance them. The Navigation Acts. The most notable instrument used by the English to oust the Dutch from the carrying trade was the Navigation Act of 1660, which was a more stringent re-enactment of a similar measure of Cromwell's in 1651, and was subsequently several times amended. The effect of the Navigation Acts as they were in force in 1849 when they were repealed, was as follows : (i) Certain enumerated articles of European produce could only be imported for consumption into England in Enghsh ships or in ships of the country of which the goods were the pro- duce, or of the country from which they were usually imported; (2) No produce of Asia, Africa, or America could be imported for consumption into England from Europe in any ships ; such produce could only be imported from any other place in THE NAVIGATION ACTS. 151 English ships or in ships of the country of which the goods were the produce and from which they were usually imported ; (3) No goods could be carried coastwise from one part of England to another except in English ships ; (4) No goods could be exported from England to any of the English pos- sessions in Asia, Africa, or America (with some exceptions witli regard to India) in any but English ships ; (5) No goods could be carried from any one of the English possessions in Asia, Africa, or America to another, nor from any part of such possessions to another in any but English ships ; (6) No goods could be imported into any English possessions in Asia, Africa, or America in any but Enghsh ships or ships of the country of which the goods were the produce, provided also that such ships brought the goods from that country; (7) No foreign ships were allowed to trade with any of the English possessions unless specially authorised by an Order in Council. The restrictions respecting the trade of Europe only applied to imports ; foreign ships might export any goods from England anywhere, except to English possessions in Asia, Africa, or America (Lindsay's History of Merchant Shipping, I. 107). The Navigation Acts were protectionist measures, and were in some respects prejudicial to English commerce ; they increased the cost of ship-building and restricted the trade of the plantations and of Ireland, and raised prices to English consumers. But they probably succeeded in accomplishing the objects with which they were passed, namely, of in- creasing English shipping and of injuring the Dutch. The mercantile marine of England was doubled between 1666 and 1688. The Acts roused strong feeling in Holland, and com- mercial rivalry, aggravated by the Navigation Acts, led to the Dutch wars under the Commonwealth and Charles II. The English got their own trade into their own hands, deprived the Dutch of much of their carrying trade and made England the emporium for the trade of the world (Cunningham, 152 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. II., 112). By the end of the 17th century the Dutch mari- time power had begun to decline. Ireland. The Tudor sovereigns had made various intermittent attempts to conquer and settle Ireland ; under Elizabeth, in particular, several efforts were made to plant the country with English settlers, and to introduce good order and a firm govern- ment. The most successful settlement in Ireland was the plan- tation of Ulster, carried out in the reign of James I., by which the six counties of Ulster, which had become forfeited by the rebellion of the O'Neills, were divided into parishes of from i ,000 to 2,000 acres, with a church and glebe land assigned to each. The British settlers were to reside for five years and build substantial dwellings, market towns were to be erected and corporations founded for the settling of tradesmen and artificers, and free schools were to be 'feet up in each county. The success of the plantation is to be seen in the fact that Ulster is at this day almost the only flourishing part of Ireland, and almost the only part where the majority of the people are loyal to the connection with England. The Earl of Strafford, while viceroy of Ireland, did much to develop the resources of th© country. He developed the linen manufacture, which is the great industry of Ulster, and had been carried on in Ireland during the Middle Ages. With the fall of Strafford and the disturbances that followed the Irish rebellion of 164 1, industrial development was checked. The industry for which Ireland is most suited in respect of climate and soil, namely pasture farming, was seriously injured by the prohibition in 1665 and 1680 of the importation into England of Irish cattle, sheep, swine, beef, pork, bacon, mutton, butter and cheese. The Irish graziers, being thus shut out from the English market, then turned their attention to the growing of wool, which they exported to the continent. The cheapness of wool, and of living in Ireland, led to an immigration of clothiers from THE NAVY. 153 England and elsewhere (about 1665), and to a development of the manufacture of cloth. This roused English commercial jealousy, and in 1699 an Act was passed which ruined the Irish woollen manufacture, by prohibiting the export of any Irish woollen manufactured goods to any country except England, and imposing a duty on Irish woollens exported to England. Works for the smelting of iron by charcoal, a plentiful supply of which could be obtained from the forests which once abounded in Ireland, were started in different parts of the country ; most of these iron works were destroyed in the rebellion of 1641, but some of them were afterwards re- started, and in 1672 there were 1,000 tons of iron made in Ireland ; the destruction of the Irish forests led to the decay of this industry, Ireland having no adequate supply of coal to take the place of timber. The Navy. From the time of Elizabeth onwards greater attention was devoted to the navy, and larger ships were built. James I. increased the number of the royal ships from thirteen to twenty-four In 1610 the Prince Royal, the work of Phineas Pett, the king's master ship-builder, was launched ; she was the largest ship that had been up to that time built in England, was of 1,400 tons burden and 114 feet long. In 1637 the Sovereign of the Seas, also the work of Phineas Pett, of 1,600 tons, was launched. The funds obtained by Charles I. through the unlawful exaction of ship-money were partly spent in building more ships, the necessity for which was urgent owing to the depredations of the Barbary pirates, who made the Mediterranean and even English coasts unsafe. The navy under Cromwell's administration made England feared and respected on the seas. Considerable attention was devoted to the navy after the Restoration by the Duke of York (afterwards James II.), but the corruption which was the 154 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. characteristic feature of the Stuart administratien hindered its growth, and it was not till towards the close of the 17th century that the navy became really effective. Merchant Shipping. It is said that at the accession of James I. there were not above four merchant ships in England of 400 tons burden. The East India Company began to build larger ships. In 1609 they had built the Traders Increase, of 1,100 tons, the largest merchant ship that had ever been built in Eng- land. By the end of tlie century the merchant shipping interest had begun to prosper; in 1688 the clearances out- wards from Great Britain amounted to 190,533 tons of English shipping and , 95,267 tons of foreign '■= shipping, and the gross value of the exports was ;£4,486,o87. In 1699 the value of the exports had risen to ;^6,788,i66. In 1660 the Commercial wet dock on the Surrey side of the Thames was opened to shipping; no other docks were built in England till 1709, when the construction of a wet dock at Liverpool was author- ised. Some attempts were made to improve the haven of Yarmouth, which in the 17th century, next to London, was FIG. 41. WINSTANLEy's EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE. VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. 1 55 the most important maritime town on the east coast of England, and the only haven for ships between Whitby and London. The first lighthouse erected at sea on the English coasts was the one erected on the Eddystone rock by a London merchant, named Winstanley, at the expense of the corporation of the Trinity House, in 1696; this lighthouse (see figure 41) was of wood, and with all the persons in it, including Winstanley, was destroyed by a storm in 1703. John Rudyard, a London mercer, put up the second Eddystone lighthouse, also of wood, which was finished in 1709 and stood till 1755, when it was destroyed by fire, A Government department for the supervision of trade was formed by Cromwell, and became the germ of the present Board of Trade. Voyages of Discovery. Henry Hudson in 1607 sailed to Greenland and Spitzbergen in the hope of discovering a north-west passage to the Indies. In 1608 he attempted to discover a north-east passage, but got no farther than Waigatz Strait. In 1609 he entered the service of the Dutch East India Company, and explored the river and bay which bear his name, but neither •of which was discovered by him. In 16 10, having left the Dutch service, he engaged in another attempt to discover the north-west passage. After wintering in the Arctic regions his crew mutinied, and he was cut adrift in a small boat and never heard of again. Sir Thomas Button commanded an expe- dition sent out in 161 2 to search for the north-west passage, fully explored the coasts of Hudson's Bay, and found that there was no passage to the west in that direction. William Baffin in 16 1 2 made a voyage of discovery to Greenland, and in 1613-14 was engaged under the Muscovy Company in the -whale-fishery near Spitzbergen. In 1615 he took service ■with a company formed for the discovery of the north-west passage and explored Hudson's Strait, passed up Davis Strait, IS6 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. discovered and named Smith's Sound, found that there was no passage at the end of Davis Strait but that it was a bay, to which the name of Baffin's Bay was given. Baffin was the first to attempt to determine the longitude by lunar obser- vation. Discovery of Australia. The existence of the Australis Terra (southern land) was known to the Portuguese in the i6th century. It is described in a book published in 1598 as separated from New Guinea by a narrow strait, and as seldom visited unless when sailors are driven there by storms. Queiros, a Portuguese sailor in the service of the Spanish Government of Peru, discovered a number of the islands of the Pacific, including the New Hebrides, in 1606. Torres, who served under him, parted company with him, and sailed through the strait which bears his name (1606). In the same year a Dutch vessel from Bantam touched at Cape York, at the extreme north of Australia. In 1616 Dirk Hartog sailed along the west coast of Australia (which the Dutch called New Holland) from lat. 26° 30° to 23° south, and left near Shark's Bay a record of his visit engraved on a tin plate, which was found there in i8oi. In 1618 Dutch vessels from Amboyna explored the gulf of Carpentaria, so-called from Peter Carpenter, the then governor of the Dutch East India Company, and gave the name of Arnhem land to the peninsula opposite to Cape York. In 1627 another Dutch ship sailed along the south coast from Cape Leeuwin. Abel Janssen Tasman (1600-1645), a Dutch navigator, left Bantam in 1642 on a voyage of dis- covery in the south seas; and on 24th November, 1642, discovered Van Diemen's Land, which he so named after his protector, Van Diemen, the Governor of the Dutch Indies though it is now generally called Tasmania, after its dis- coverer ; Tasman did not ascertain whether Van Diemen's Land was an island or a part of New Holland. He also CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLES. I 57 visited the Fiji Islands and New Zealand. No settlements were made in Australia till the English settled there towards the end of the i8th century. William Dampier (1652-1715) passed part of his Ufa in buccaneering and piracy in the West Indies, the Pacific, and the South Seas ; he was the first Englishman who visited Australia, on the north-west coast of which he spent five weeks ashore in 1688. In 1698-9 he was sent by the English Government on an exploring voyage in the South Seas; he sighted Australia on the 26th July, 1699, and anchored in Shark's Bay (West Australia) and searched the coast, but found no convenient harbour or river; he then crossed over to Timor and discovered that New Britain, which he named, was an island. Dampier was celebrated for his surveys and charts, and his treatise on Winds was for a long time the best text-book on the subject. Constitutional Struggles. The disputes between the Parliament and the Stuart kings had their origin to some extent in economic causes. Owing to the rise of prices caused by the increase in the supply of the precious metals in the i6th century, the revenue of the Crown had become insufficient for its growing needs. The increase of trade and new industries afforded a temptation to stretch the royal prerogative, the taxing power of which had been clearly limited under the Plantagenet kings as regards the commodities which were then the objects of commerce, but was not so clearly defined in the case of new commodities. James I., soon after his accession, without parliamentary sanction, exacted an " imposition " of 5s. 6d. per cwt. on imported currants, and when the lawfulness of the imposition was questioned by John Bate, a member of the Levant Com- pany, the Court of Exchequer decided in favour of the Crown. Another extra-parliamentary tax of 6s. 8d. per lb. was imposed by James on imported tobacco. These exactions Missing Page Missing Page t6o COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Myddelton, a new supply was derived from springs in Hertfordshire, near Amwell, and the first of the great water companies (the New River Company) was formed. The PIG. 42. CONDUIT AT LEADENHALL. ^growing need for a better supply of fuel led to a great increase in the worliing of collieries, particularly in the neighbourhood of Newcastle-on-Tyne, and to a brisk trade in ■ coals between Newcastle and London, so that by the begin- INDUSTRY. l6l ning of the i8th century the colliery trade brought up "a greater number of seamen than all our navigation elsewhere." In 1615 there were 400 sail of ships employed in the trade of Newcastle ; half of the number supplied London, the other half the rest of England ; French, German, and Dutch ships at the same time came to Newcastle for coal. In 1699 1,400 ships were employed at Newcastle in the coal trade. " Rare engines" were invented in the 17th century to -try the deepness and thickness of coal in the mines and to draw water out of the pits. The first steam engine which was used for industrial purposes was theinvention of Captain Thomas Savery, who, in 1698, took out a patent for an engine for the raising of water. Thomas Newcomen, in 1 71 1, invented his at- mospheric engine for the pumping of water (figure 43); this engine superseded Savery's NEWCOMEn's ENGINE.l FIG. 43 invention, and remained in general use till it was superseded by Watt's improvement of the steam engine. There were other contrivances for facilitating the working of collieries, such as waggon-ways between the pits and the river Tyne, and staiths I a is the boiler, b the pjston, c the cylinder, d apipe from the top of the boiler inserted into the bottom of the cylinder having: a cock, e, to mterrupt the flow of steam at pleasure. f cold-water cistern from which the cold water is conveyed by the injection^ pipe gr and thrown in a jet- into the cylinder on turning; the injection cock, A ; the snifting-valve, u enables tlie air to escape from the cylinder while the siphon-pipe,y, enables the condensed steam to flow from the same cavity in the form of » ater ; ^, the main lever beam, I the counterpoise or weight hung on the balance-beam or on m, the pump-rod which works the . pump». // Com. Hist. 1 62 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. for the loading of ships on the river (figure 44)- '^ he waggon- ways were the predecessors of tramroads and railroads ; they consisted in 1676 of "rails of timber laid exactly straight and parallel," carts were made fitting these rails "whereby the carriage is so easy that one horse will draw four or five chal- drons (over ten tons), and is an immense benefit to the coal merchant" (" North's Lives of the Norths"). FIG. 44. COAL-STAITH ON THE TYNE. Iron. During the i6th and 17th centuries iron was smelted by charcoal in Gloucestershire (Forest of Dean), Monmouthshire, Sussex, Somerset (near Mendip), Sussex, Hampshire, Cum- berland, Yorkshire and Staffordshire. The iron industry in Sussex was in a thriving condition during the i6th and the first part of the 1 7th century. In the reign of James I. one- half of the whole quantity of iron produced in England was made in Sussex. Considerable quantities of iron ordnance were made in Sussex and exported. The iron railings which surround St. Paul's Cathedral were made of Sussex iron. But the destruction of forests caused by the demand for char- IRON. 165 coal for the smelting of iron led to various Acts of Parliament which restricted the ironworks in Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, and several of the Sussex ironmasters removed to Glamorgan- shire, where timber was more plentiful, and set up works at Aberdare, Merthyr Tydvil, and other places. The great injury caused to the forests of the country by the use of charcoal for smelting iron led to attempts being made to use pit-coal for that purpose. Various patents were obtained in the early part of the 17th century for the use of sea-coal or pit-coal for smelting, but with little practical result, until Dud Dudley (i 599-1684), a natural son of Edward Sutton, 5th Baron Dudley, succeeded in smelting iron with pit-coal. Having; been placed at the head of his father's ironworks at Pensnett, near Dudley, in 1619, he found these works consisted of one furnace and two forges, in which charcoal was used. " Wood and charcoal growing there scant, and pit-coal in great quanti- ties abounding near the furnaces," led him to " attempt by a. new invention the making of iron with pit-coal." In 16 19 he obtained a patent and began to make good iron with pit-coali at Pensnett and Cradley at the rate of about three tons a week. In 1620 his furnaces were destroyed by a flood. He started fresh furnaces and produced a large quantity of pig-iron and good merchantable bar-iron, which he sold at ^12 a ton, the price of charcoal-iron being then from ;^iS to ;!^i8 a ton, but his opponents, the rival charcoal ironmasters, succeeded in depriving him of his works and of the profit of his invention. He started some more furnaces at Himley, but not having a. forge he was obliged to sell his iron to charcoal ironmasters, who disparaged it and eventually compelled him to abandon the furnaces. He then constructed larger furnaces near Sedgley, and by using larger bellows was able to produce about seven tons of pig-iron weekly. The molestations of his rivals continued ; his bellows were cut in pieces, and he was imprisoned for debt. He began to build a new furnace at Bristol in 1651, but he was involved in litigation, and having i64 COMMERCIAL HISTOKY. failed to obtain a renewal of his patent was unable to proceed further. In the description of his invention published in 1665 under the title of Metallum Martis, he says there were four forges in Staffordshire which " barred all or most part of their iron with pit-coal" since his invention in 1618. Abraham Darby (1677-1717), the first of a family of ironmasters, used coke for smelting iron at his furnaces in Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, but it was not till the middle of the i8th century that pit-coal came into regular use in blast furnaces (Smiles, Industrial Biography, Chapters III. and V.). In the middle of the i8th century the total output of English bar-iron was 18,000 tons a year, while 20,000 tons were im- ported from Sweden and Russia, and a small quantity from Spain. The iron manufacture was nevertheless in a thriving condition. Thomas Foley (1617-1677), who had ironworks near Stourbridge, acquired a large fortune, about ;^S,ooo a year from this trade. An attempt was made by Andrew Yarranton, a Worcester- shire ironmaster, to introduce into England the manufacture of tin-plates, for the supply of which England was then entirely dependent on Saxony. Yarranton paid a visit to Saxony, inspected the works there, brought back a number of skilled workmen, and began to manufacture tin-plates in England, but he was opposed by the grantees of a patent for the making of tin-plates, and his operations were stopped ; no tin-plates were made in England till about 1740, when Capel Hanbury established a tin-plate manufacture at Ponty- pool, in Monmouthshire, where the industry has been continu- ously carried on up to the present time. Glass. Glass-making, which had been introduced into England from Venice in the i6th century, was much improved during the 17th century, in the course of which flint glass, a purely English invention, was first made. In i6ti Sir William SALT. 165 Slingsby obtained a patent for making glass with sea-coal, and glass was so made with success. In 1673 the diarist, Evelyn, visited a glass-house in Greenwich, and there saw glass made as good as that of Venice ; the traveller Pocock says the English glass was better in quality than the Bohemian, the reputation of which stood very high. In 1677 at the Duke of Buckingham's glass works at Lambeth, huge vases of glass as clear, ponderous and thick as crystal were made, as well as " looking-glasses, far larger and better than any that come from Venice." Salt. In spite of the plentiful supply of salt in England, foreign salt was still imported. Attempts were made to develop the production of native salt, especially at Shields, where salt pans were set up for the making of salt from sea-water. The industry suffered considerably from Scotch competition ; the development of the salt industry in Worcestershire and Cheshire was hampered by defective means of communication. Cotton. The manufacture of cotton was introduced from the East to Europe in the Middle Ages. Cotton was manufactured in Spain, Italy, the Low Countries, Bavaria, Saxony and Prussia, before the manufacture was brought over to England. It is thought that the art was imported from Flanders to England by the Protestant artisans and workmen, who fled from Antwerp on its capture by Parma in 1585. Lancashire became the chief seat of the industry. The raw material was at first brought from the Levant and was one of the chief commodities of the trade of the Turkey company. Lewis Roberts (the author of a book called "The Treasure of TrafBc"), writing in 1641, says that Manchester merchants " buy cotton-wool in London that comes first from Cyprus and Smyrna, and at home work the same into fustians, vermillions and dimities, and other such stuffs, and then return it to London where the same is sold and not seldcm sent into 1 66 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. foreign parts." At first linen yarn was used for the warp, and it was not till some time afterwards that cotton could be made strong enough to serve as a warp. The making of goods of cotton only was also prohibited by legislation in order to check the importation of calicoes from India. Calico printing was carried on by French refugees in 1690 at Richmond, in Surrey. Wool. The policy of encouraging the woollen manufacture was still continued. The exportation of wool, woolfells, wool- flocks, fuller's earth and any kind of scouring earth was for- bidden (1660), and in 1666 was passed the curious protectionist measure which made "burying in woollen" compulsory. Immigration of Foreigners. On the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which had allowed liberty of worship to the French Huguenots, a considerable number of French Protestants emigrated to England at the close of the 17th century. These refugees settled in Spital- fields, Clerkenwell, Long Acre, Soho and Wandsworth, and in Canterbury, Sandwich, Norwich, Southampton, Glaston- bury, Dover and Edinburgh. Many of them were persons of substance and experienced in manufactures, and they intro- duced improvements into the manufacture of silk, linen, paper, clocks, glass, locks, and surgical instruments. Flemish work- men introduced the manufacture of clasp knives, scythes, and sickles into the neighbourhood of Sheffield. Huguenot settlers in Ulster introduced considerable improvements into the linen trade. The Jews were permitted by Cromwell to return to, and settle in England. The policy of allowing them to return was much criticised, and the effect of their settlement in England was perhaps of little benefit to anybody except themselves. Agriculture. Agriculture was on the whole in a thriving condition in the 17th century. Enclosures for the sake of extending and AGRICULTURE. 1 67 improving tillage were increasing and were advocated by writers on agriculture. Root crops had been introduced from the Low Countries, and the use of manures was better under- stood. Sir Richard Weston introduced into Surrey a new system of rotation of crops, viz., clover, flax, and turnips. Clover seed was introduced into Worcestershire by Andrew Yarranton with beneficial results, and was soon adopted throughout the country. A gradual increase in rents during the 1 6th century bears witness to the prosperity of agriculture. In consequence of the increase of rents attempts were made to carry out extensive drainage and reclamation works, and thus increase the area of land under cultivation. Several im- portant attempts to drain the Fen country were made under the Stuarts. In 1607 Chief Justice Popham and a company of Londoners undertook to reclaim part of the Fens, and made drains, which are still known as Popham's Eau and the Londoners' Lode, but nothing was done to improve the sluggishness of the outfalls of the rivers, which was one of the chief causes of the inundation of the Fen district. The first person who made a systematic attempt to cope with the difficulty was a Dutch engineer, Cornelius Vermuyden, who was invited over to England to stop a breach in the embank- ment of the river Thames near Dagenham. Vermuyden came from Zealand where the constant struggle with the sea had led to the art of embankment being studied and improved. Having succeeded at Dagenham he was employed in other work, namely in the draining of Hatfield Chase in Yorkshire (1626), Malvern Chase (1632), and Sedgemoor, and was called in by Francis Earl of Bedford to assist in the drainage of the Great Bedford Level. Vermuyden made a number of cuts and sluices, and when in 1634 the reclamation of the level was undertaken by the Crown, he was again employed and began considerable works, but was prevented by political troubles from further prosecuting his undertaking. A crowd of rioters destroyed the new works and let in the water. In 1649. I 68 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. William, Earl of Bedford (son of Francis), was allowed to proceed again with the draining of the level and employed Vermuyden. Fresh outfalls were founded for the rivers, and in March, 1652, the work was completed; 40,000 acres in the North and Middle Levels were sown with cole seed, wheat and grasses, and great numbers of sheep and cattle grazed, and farm-houses, villages, and towns were built on the reclaimed land. The Fens were still liable to inundation, and engineers at different times of the i8th and 19th centuries were called in to devise schemes for the final removal of the mischief. Relief of the Poor. After the Restoration the injurious effect of the Civil Wars on industry was felt, and pauperism seems to have been on the increase. The Poor Relief Act, 1662, enacted that if there was danger of a new comer being chargeable to the parish, he might be removed by the overseer within forty days to the parish where he had last been legally settled. The effect of this statute, which defined the ways in which a settlement could be obtained in a parish for the purpose of poor relief, was injurious to the working classes, as it pre- vented them from moving from one place to another for the purpose of obtaining employment, and in places where no work was to be had increased the number of the destitute poor by preventing them leaving and seeking work elsewhere. Bankruptcy and Insolvent Debtors. The Acts of Parhament of the reign of Elizabeth and James I. were found to be too stringent towards bankrupts, and it was found necessary to pass measures for the relief of debtors who were imprisoned for non-payment of debts. The injurious effects of the Civil Wars on trade and of the Great Plague of 1665, and the Fire of 1666, seemed to have increased the number of bankruptcies and insolvencies. Statutes of Charles II. (1662 and 1678) provided for the release from prison of insolvent debtors on their taking an oath that they had no FIRE INSURANCE. I 6c> possessions worth more than ;£io or sufficient to pay the debt in respect of which they were imprisoned. Fire Insurance. Tlie business of fire insurance took its rise in London after the Great Fire of 1666. In 1681 the first regular office for OLD FIRE ENGINE. insuring against loss by fire was opened at the bacic of the Royal Exchange and was soon followed by another. The Hand in Hand, the oldest of the existing fire insurance offices, was founded in 1696. Life Insurance. In the 1 6th century the practice began of undertaking risks upon lives for short periods to cover contingencies of a temporary character. Towards the end of the 17th century several annuity schemes were set on foot for the benefit of widows and orphans of subscribers. The first practical embodiment of this scheme was the Amicable Society founded 170 COMMERCIAL HISIORV in 1706. Life Insurance offices proper were not founded till the middle of the i8th century. Marine Insurance. This business was carried on by brokers and underwriters, who resorted to a coffee-house in the City of London, kept by a Mr. Edward Lloyd, who in i6g6 started a shipping and commercial chronicle, the predecessor of Lloyds List (1726), which is still published, and is, next to the London Gazette^ the oldest paper in existence in England. The persons — brokers and underwriters — who resorted to Lloyd's coffee- house in the i8th century founded the Society which is now known as Lloyd's. No companies for Marine Insurance were established before the 18th century. Banking. A statute of the reign of Henry VIII., which first legalised the charging of interest, fixed the rate of interest at ten per ■cent. ; this was lowered, in the reign of James I., to eight per cent, in the reign of Charles II. to six per cent., and in the reign of Anne to five per cent., which remained the legal rate of interest until, in the reign of Queen Victoria, the Usury laws were repealed (17 and 18 Vic. c. 90). The successive reductions of the rate of interest from the reign of Henry VIII. to that of Anne, show the extent to which capital was increasing in England. Down to the reign of Elizabeth, English monarchs had been in the habit of borrowing money from foreign merchants. From the time of Elizabeth, borrow- ing beyond the sea became less frequent. A regular system of borrowing from the London goldsmiths in process of time grew up. The goldsmiths received from their customers deposits of money on which they paid interest and which was lent out to merchants and others who desired temporary advances. Sir Francis Child (1642 — 1713) was the first banker who gave up the goldsmith's business ; he has been called the father of the business of banking, and the bank RE-COINAGE. I 7 1 founded by him is still in existence. The English sovereigns regularly borrowed temporarily from the goldsmiths or bank- ers on the security of the taxes. Charles II. caused a panic in the city in 1672 by stopping the repayments of the loans which had been advanced to him, amounting to ;^i, 328,526. Interest was afterwards paid on this sum and ultimately it became a part of the National Debt — which became funded at the end of the 17th century. Out of the subsequent neces- sities of the Crown arose the Bank of England, which was founded in 1694, and which originally consisted of the sub- scribers to a loan of _;^i, 200,000 to the Government at 8 per ■cent. ; the Act which established the Bank (s & 6 Will, and Mary, c. 20) allowed the subscribers to form themselves into a corporation by the name of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, and to carry on the business of banking, i.e., to receive money on deposit and lend it at interest. The notes of the Bank of England came soon to be treated as money, and were subsequently (3 & 4 Will. IV., c. 98, s. 6) made legal tender. Throughout the 18th and the first part of the 19th centuries the Bank of England was the only joint- ■stock company in England that was allowed to carry on the business of banking ; and no firm containing more than six partners was allowed to " borrow, owe, or take up any sum of money on their bill or note payable on demand, or at any 3ess time than six months from the borrowing thereof." The Bank of Scotland was established in 1695, and the Bank of Ireland in 1783. Re-Coinage. The silver coinage which had been rectified under Elizabeth had again fallen into an unsatisfactory state ; the current coins -were so worn or clipped that the country suffered a severe loss in the reign of William III., in remitting money to the Low Countries for war expenses. In 1696 the old silver coins were withdrawn and new coins were issued. The value of 172 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. silver as compared with gold had fallen since the i6th century. The gold sovereign of Henry VII., of the value of 20s., was followed by the laurel of James I., the current value of which was also 20s. ; Charles II. at the Restoration adopted the laurel, to which the name of guinea (from the Guinea Coast in Africa, whence the gold was obtained) was afterwards given. The value of the guinea rose to 30s. in the reign of Queen Anne, and its value was fixed at 2 is. in 1 7 1 7. The weight of the pound sterling was fixed in 1717 at ii3'ooi grains Troy weight, and has remained at that weight ever since. FIG. 46. THE PACK-HORSE CONVOY. Means of Internal Communication, Roads, Bridges etc. But little improvement was made in England in regard to the means of internal communication between different parts, of England till towards the close of the i8th century. The roads in the 17th century are represented as execrable,, and MEANS OF INTERNAL COMMUNICATION, ETC. 173 few attempts were made to improve them. In 1663 an Act was passed authorising the erection of toll-gates or turnpikes, and the levying of tolls for the maintenance of the part of the Great North Road between London and York, which lay in Hertfordshire, Cambridge and Huntingdon. Goods were chiefly carried by means of pack-horses who could travel along bridle-paths which in many parts of the country weie FIG. 47. THE OLD STAGE WAGGON. the only roads ; the horses travelled in lines with bales or panniers strapped across their back (see figure 46). Coaches had been introduced into England in the i6th century and one was made for Queen Elizabeth ; at first they were used for pro- cessions, and few roads outside the metropolis were practicable for wheeled vehicles. The use by carriers of long covered wag- gons for the conveyance of goods and passengers is mentioned 174 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. in the time of James I. (figure 47). About the middle of the 17th century stage-coaches for public accommodation were intro- duced. A Coventry coach is mentioned as being on the road in 1659, coaches ran between London and Dover in the reign of Charles II., and are mentioned in Lancashire in 1663 and in Yorkshire in 1679, ^^^ ™^t with considerable opposition. Travellers mostly journeyed on horseback, and in company for the sake of safety, as the roads long remained infested with highwaymen, and no sufficient police force was estab- lished till the 19th century. Few bridges of any importance were made, the most notable being Inigo Jones's bridge at Llanrwst over the Conway, built in 1634, and a bridge of fifteen arches across the Tweed at Berwick, in the reign of James I. and Charles I. London remained with only one bridge till Westminster bridge was built in 1738-50. Schemes were set on foot for the improvement of river navigation and the making of canals by Andrew Yarranton (1616-1684). An Act for making the Stour and the Salwarpe in Worcestershire navigable was passed in 1661, and, through Yarran ton's efforts, the Stour was made navigable from Stourbridge to Kidderminster, and several hundred tons of coal were thus carried down. Yarranton also opened up the navigation of the Warwickshire Avon so that barges could pass from Tewkesbury to Stratford; on his recommendation part of the Hampshire Avon was made navigable. He also proposed schemes for connecting the Stour with the Trent, the Thames with the Severn, the Severn with the Dee, and for building docks in London, but these latter schemes were not carried out. Sir Richard Weston (1591-1651) introduced into Surrey the system prevalent in Holland of making rivers and canals navigable by means of locks ; he promoted a scheme for making the Wey navigable from Guildford to Weybridge, and contributed half the capital and completed ten out of the fourteen miles of the undertaking; after his death the work was completed by his son. BOOKS. I 7 5 Books. From the time of the introduction of printing the number of books published in England had been steadily increasing, and various attempts were made by the Crown to control publications by prohibiting the appearance of any that were unlicensed. The Licensing Act expired in 1694, and after that date publication of printed matter was free. The first statute securing copyright to an author was an Act passed in 1709 (8 Anne, c. 19). Newspapers. In 1622 was published "The Weekly News from Italy, Germany, etc.," the oldest weekly periodical, of which any copy is in existence. A number of newspapers then followed, and under the Commonwealth newspapers with an official character viz., Mercurius Politicus and the Public Intelligencer appear ; these two newspapers were the foundation of the London Gazette, which was issued in 1665, first under the title of the Oxford Gazette, the twenty-fourth number of which became the London Gazette, which is the oldest existing news- paper. Lloyd's List, published in 1726, is the second in age of the existing newspapers. A very great number of papers were started during the i8th century, but the daily papers now existing are the Morning Post which dates from 1772, and the Times which first appeared under that name in 1788,. while of weekly papers the Observer dates from 1792. Treatises on Economics. The increasing development of English trade and industry during the 17th century led to the appearance of a great number of important works on trade and finance. Andrew Yarranton, who has been called the founder of English political economy, in a treatise called " England's Improve- ment by Sea and Land," the first part of which appeared in 1677 and the second in 1681, put forward a number of valuable suggestions for the making of harbours, the improvement of 176 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. internal navigation, the extension of the iron and woollen trades and of the linen manufacture, the cultivation of the home fisheries, the establishment of a public bank, and of a register of real property. Charles Davenant, who wrote ■"An Essay on the East India Trade " (1696), and "An Essay upon Ways and Means of Supplying the War" (1695), criticised the policy of the Acts which made burying in woollen compulsory, advocated an excise, and made sug- gestions for improved methods of raising money for the public service by taxing the moneyed classes, and charging luxuries at a high and necessaries at a low rate. Captain John Graunt, in his " Natural and Political Observations '' ^1676), suggested the study of statistics, or political arithmetic, as it was then called ; this stud}' was further pursued by Gregory King, who in 1696 calculated the population of England at 5J^ millions, and by Sir William Petty, the greatest economical writer of the time, who published, among other works, " Several Assays in Pohtical Arithmetic" (1699) and "A Treatise of Taxes and Contributions" (1667); he exposed the folly of lotteries and of the laws against usury, and discussed the nature of exchanges, the division of labour, and the multiplication of wealth arising from the increase of population. Sir T. Culpepper and his son also attacked the usury laws, and through their efforts the legal rate of interest was lowered. Sir Josiah Child (1630-1699), director and <;hairman of the East India Company, who published " A New Discourse of Trade" (1694) and "Brief Observations con- cerning Trade and Interest of Money" (1668), advocated the reduction of the legal rate of interest to three per cent, and supported the policy of the Navigation Acts on national grounds. Nicholas Barbon, in his "Discourse of Trade" (1690) attempted to analyse the nature of wealth and the relation of value to price (Cunningham II., 228J. Sir Richard Weston -wrote an account of " Husbandry as used in Brabant and Flanders," a copy of which was published by Hartlib in 1650. FRENCH WARS. 177 Chapter III. The Struggle with France and the Industrial Revolution. French Wars. Commercial and colonial rivalry led to wars between France and England which lasted with intervals of peace from 1689 to 1815. English interests in India and America were en- dangered by the growth of the French possessions there, and a struggle for supremacy ensued which ended in the expulsion of the French from America, the failure of their schemes in India, the increase of the English colonial power, and the supremacy of England on the seas. By the Treaty of Utrecht (17 13), France ceded or restored to England Hudson's Bay and Straits, St. Kitt's, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland with the adjacent islands, but kept the right to catch and dry fish on a considerable part of the coast of Newfoundland. Spain ceded Gibraltar to England, and assigned to her the Assiento contract for the exclusive supply of negroes to the Spanish colonies. In 1752 the governors of the French colonies in America began to connect Canada and Louisiana by a line of forts, which would have shut in the English colonies and prevented any further extension to the west ; war followed between England and France and ended by the conquest of Canada by England and the destruction of the French power in America. By the Peace of Paris (1763) which ended the war, Canada, Cape Breton and the islands and coasts of the St. Lawrence, and all Louisiana east of the Mississippi became English ; France thus lost all her North American possessions, but she retained the right of fishery on the coast of New- foundland and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and retained the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelton as shelter for her fisher- men; in the West Indies England obtained Granada, St. Vincent, Dominique and Tobago, while in India France 12 — COTW. Hist, 178 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. engaged not to build forts nor keep troops in Bengal, and to renounce all acquisitions made in Coromandel and Orissa since 1749. The destruction of the power of France in America had for one of its indirect results the separation of the English colonies in North America from England and the formation of the independent United States. So long as the French remained in America, the colonies required and leant on the protection of England; as soon as the French were expelled, the only reason that the English colonies had for desiring the continuance of the connection with England was gone. Therefore when the English Parliament passed measures for the enforcement of the Navigation Acts in America, and for taxing the colonies by the Stamp Act (1765), and a tax on tea (1767), war followed in 1775 with the Mother Country and ended in 1783 with the recognition of the independence of the United States of America. In this war France, Spain and Holland took part against England. By the Treaty of Versailles which ended the war, England re- affirmed the French right of fishing near Newfoundland, restored St. Lucia and ceded Tobago in the West Indies and recovered Granada, St. Vincent, St. Dominique, St. Kitt's, Nevis and Montserrat. Spain restored to England Provi- dence Island and the Bahamas. In the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars with France (1792-1815) the naval power of England rose to its greatest height. The French fleet was driven from the seas and the fleets of Holland and Spain which had become her allies were annihilated. The French and Dutch colonies were conquered and occupied by the English. By this war England obtained Trinidad, Ceylon, Malta, the Mauritius, Tobago and St. Lucia, the Cape of Good Hope, Demerara, Essequibo and Berbice. The Spanish colonial empire was almost entirely destroyed by the loss of the Spanish American colonies, which began to revolt in 1810, and the whole of which, except Cuba and Puerto Rico established their independence. INCREASE OF TRADE. 179 Increase of Trade. The 1 8th century, in spite of the many wars in which the country was engaged, was a period of increasing wealth and prosperity for England. The Methuen Treaty. The Methuen Treaty with Portugal in 1703 led to a considerable increase in the trade between England and Portugal. By this treaty Portugal, which had previously prohibited the importation of English cloth, agreed to admit English woollen manufactured goods on condition that Portu- guese wines were admitted into England at two-thirds of the duty paid on French wines. The effect was to extend the cultivation of the vine in Portugal. Port took the place of burgundy and claret as a drink in England, and a large amount of Brazilian bullion was imported into England to pay for the consumption of English cloth in Portugal. As the exports from England exceeded the imports from Portugal, the policy of the Methuen Treaty was a popular one in England, and the feeling in its favour was so strong that the English Government was unable to carry into effect the commercial clauses of the Treaty of Utrecht, by which French goods were to be received in England on the same terms as those of the most favoured nation. Trading Companies. The East India Company. The operations of the East India Company were consider- ably extended during the i8th century. At times its trade suffered considerably from " interlopers " or unauthorised traders. In 1698 the interlopers were allowed by Act of Parliament to float a new or general company for trade with the East Indies. The position created by the rivalry of the two companies was found intolerable, and eventually the companies were amalgamated in 1708, and the "United Com- pany of Merchants in England trading to the East Indies," was formed, and received exclusive right of trade for a time. l8o COMMERCIAL HISTORY. The growth of the political power of the Company was one of the most remarkable features of the i8th century. On the break-up of the Mogul Empire on the death of Aurungzebe in 1707 many of the dependants and officials of the Mogul ruler acquired a practical independence. The troubles that followed gave opportunities of intrigue to the French, who had founded an East India Company in 1664, had settled at Surat in 1668, obtained possession of Chan- dernagore and of Pondicherry, the seat of their Indian Empire, and gained from the Mogul Empire the right of coining money and the cession of territory which placed in their hands the trade of the Carnatic. In 1720 the French had taken possession of the Mauritius, which the Dutch had abandoned, and under Labourdonnais it became a thriving colony. Labourdonnais along with Dupleix, the governor of Chandernagore, and afterwards of Pondicherry, formed schemes for the foundation of a great French Empire in the East. The victories of Clive at Arcot and at Plassy (1757) laid the foundations of English political power in India, and frustrated the schemes of the French. The English obtained complete control over the province of Bengal, and from that time forward the possessions of the East India Company increased till almost the whole of India became dependent upon them. Although the East India Company became a pohtical power, it still remained a trading company with a monopoly of the trade between the Indies and China and Europe. Its largest imports were fine muslins and silks and tea. The supervision of the administration of the affairs of the East India Company by the English Government was estab- lished by the Acts of 1784 and 1788, which erected a Board of Control, nominated by the king. In 1793 the Company's Charter was renewed for twenty years, but their commercial monopoly was no longer complete, as they were required to allow their ships to be used for private trade to the extent of AFRICAN COMPANY. l8l 3,000 tons annually. When the Charter was again renewed in 1813, the trade to India was thrown open altogether ; the monopoly as regards the China trade was preserved till 1833, but as regards India after 18 t 3 the Company became a purely political institution, and ceased to be commercial (Cunningham, II., 537). African Company. The trade of the Guinea or African Company was regarded in England as beneficial, because it opened a market for the sale of English cloths, brought to England gold (out of which guineas were coined), and supplied negro labour for the development of the English sugar plantations in the West Indies. It consequently received Government support, but it was always in difficulties. Out of its possessions grew the English colonies on the west coast of Africa. Hudson's Bay Company. The Hudson's Bay Company was formed in 1670 to trade for furs to Hudson's Bay. The trade of this Company was favoured because it enabled England to obtain furs without being dependent on Russia, and to pay for the furs by English cloth. The trade does not seem to have been on a very large scale until the territory within its territories became a resort for emigrants in the 19th century. Other Companies. The Merchant Adventurers lost their exclusive privileges and all theii importance after 17 19. The Turkey Company carried on a trade which was regarded as beneficial, because they sold English cloth and imported raw silk and cotton. But the era of exclusive companies was coming to a close. The tendency of Parliament was to encourage not a regulated, but " an open and expanding trade." Not in order to regulate trade, but to foster a trade that was believed to be beneficial, the Government supported such companies as the Company of the Royal Fishery of England, the object of which was to l82 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. oust the Dutch from the herring fishery, and the joint stock company formed in 1692 to carry on the Greenland whale fishery. In spite of, or because of Government support, neither of these companies flourished. The English were very slow in developing the fishing industry on which the Dutch still prospered, for it was not till 1787 that the men of Yarmouth began to engage in the deep sea herring fishery. Speculation. The development of banking and the credit system at the close of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries, led to a great increase in commercial speculation and to gambling in stocks and shares. A large number cif new companies were formed and wild projects floated. Of these, two of the most notorious were the Darien Company and the South Sea Company. The Darien Company (properly " The Company of Scotland trading to Africa and the Indies "), was a com- pany formed in Scotland for the foundation of colonies and for trading with Asia, Africa and America. The inadequate sum of about ;£'22o,ooo was all that was actually subscribed for the enterprise ; the company was authorised by the Scotch Parliament (1695) to found colonies, make fortifi- cations, fit out vessels of war, and contract alliances. The scheme was opposed by the English and frowned upon by the government ; the miserable failure of an expedition of three ships which sailed in 1698 and attempted to found a settle- ment in the Gulf of Darien led to much unreasonable ill-feeling on the part of Scotland towards England. The South Sea Company was partly a trading and partly a financial company — its promoters had secured the Assiento Cop tract and were engaged in the whale fishery; the directors proposed to take over the whole of the National Debt ; the possibilities of its earning profit were vastly over-rated, and the shares rose with enormous rapidity from ^^120 in April, 1720, to ;^i,020 in July; meanwhile its capital had SCOTLAND. 183 been sunk in piocuring concessions and lending money to the government, and it had not sufficient means for carrying on its trade; the shares then sank rapidly, and those who had bought them at a high premium suffered a terri- ble loss; a com- mercial crisis and panic ensued, and was with difficulty allevia- ted by the dex- terous policy of Sir Robert Walpole ^^^- 4^- ^^^' ^"^ ^^^ Quixote of finance. In the same year (1720) a similar scheme in France formed at the instance of the Scotch gambler and financier, John Law (167 1- 1 729), for the colonising of the valley of the Mississippi and for the issue of a paper currency passed through the same course of sudden rise and sudden fall, and led to widespread misery and disaster. Scotland. As the failure of the Darien scheme caused a great deal of soreness on the part of the Scotch, English statesmen began to see that Scotland might inflict considerable damage on English commerce and that an independent Scotch Parliament was a source of danger. The result was that a complete legislative and fiscal union was concluded between England and Scot- 184 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. land (1707). The results of the union were in the end of great advantage to Scotland ; the immediate effects on some Scotch manufac- tures which suffered from competition with English were probably injurious, but the commercial bene- fit to Scotland from the opening of English and colonial markets, which had been to a great ex- tent closed to her by the Navigation Acts was enormous. It was not till after the Union that Scotland began to pros- per. The advantages of the Union to England were that English com- riG. 49. LAW, AS ATLAS. mgrce was freed from the danger of hostile measures passed by a Scotch Parliament. Ireland. The effects of the prohibition in 1699 of the export of Irish cloth to any other country but England, and the imposition of a duty on its importation to England were disastrous to Ireland. The Irish were deprived of a market for their wool, and exported it in a raw or half-manufactured state to France ; the workers in the wool manufacture were no longer able to earn a living in Ireland, and emigrated to foreign countries, where they started industries, which became formidable rivals to English manufactures (Cunningham, II., 299). England suffered too, as no more English capital found its way to Dublin for the promotion of weaving. The Irish linen trade IRELAND. 185 was encouraged because it did not interfere with English industry, the manufacture of linen not having been prosecuted with much success in England ; Ulster was the chief seat of this industry, which prospered during the early part of the 18th century, but suffered from the competition of Scotland after the Union. Tillage in Ireland suffered from the levying on cultivated land of tithes, from which pasture land was free ; as the native Irish lived chiefly on potatoes, little corn was grown ; the soil was left to cattle-farmers and cottiers or small tenants, the competition between whom for land was so keen that the most extravagant rents were offered and agreed upon, but not paid. The result of the misery of the Irish population was a constant stream of emigration to foreign countries ; some served in foreign armies or went as artisans to the Continent, others went to the American plantations. The Irish Parliament, which for a short time obtained complete independence of the English Parliament by the repeal of Poyning's Law in 1 782, made some attempts to foster Irish agriculture and industry by granting bounties on the exportation of wheat, the fishing industry, and the manufacture of cotton. Irish trade benefited from the increased facilities given for trade with France by Pitt's commercial treaty of 1786, but suffered from the outbreak of the war with France in 1793 and the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Demands were made in Ireland for the prohibition of English manufactures, and the Irish Parliament showed signs of a tendency to attempt commercial legislation on the lines of the mercantile system, which England had begun to abandon. A complete legislative union between England and Ireland had therefore become advisable, and was accomplished in 1801 by the Act of Union, which established one Parliament for Great Britain and Ireland, and made the adoption of a separate economic policy for Ireland impossible. The Union threw open the trade with the colonies to Ireland, and removed other restrictions from Irish trade ; but as she had little or no 1 86 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. shipping, she profited but little ; she gained some advantages from the Napoleonic wars, which stimulated the trades which supplied victuals and sail-cloth to ships. On the other hand, the Napoleonic Decrees did considerable mischief to her silk manufactures. The Colonies. The West Indies. The basis of the prosperity of the West Indian Islands was the sugar-cane industry, the chief seats of which were Barba- does, Jamaica, Antigua, Nevis, and Montserrat. The sugar- cane produced three valuable products : sugar, rum, and molasses, which were imported to the American colonies and England. The amount of the sugar used in England increased from 10,000 tons in 1700 to 150,000 tons in 1800. The West Indian trade was regarded with particular favour as furnishing products which could not otherwise be procured except from foreigners. The Slave Trade. The West Indies, it has already been pointed out, were dependent on the African slave trade for their supply of labour; in the northern English colonies negroes were not needed, as the climate was such that white labourers could be employed, but Spanish and Portuguese America, Virginia^ and the West Indies were dependent upon slaves, who were shipped from Africa to the West Indian Islands and thence distributed. Thfe annual average of slaves exported in English vessels from Africa from 1680 to 1786 was 20,000; the largest export in a year was about 50,000; 190 English ships were engaged in this trade in 1771, 107 from Liver- pool, 58 from London, 23 from Bristol, and 4 from Lancaster. Towards the close of the i8th century the evils of the slave trade caused a revulsion of feeling in England, and it was abolished, as far as England was concerned, in 1807. The immediate result to the West Indies was loss from the cessation of a trade for which they had served as a dep6t. VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. I87 Voyages of Discovery. Considerable attention was devoted in the i8th century to tlie worlc of exploration. Admiral Anson (1697-1762) made a voyage round the world, in which he was engaged from iSth September, 1740, to 15th June, 1744. In 1764 Captain John Byron was sent in the Dolphin (the first ship in the navy which was copper-sheathed) on a voyage of discovery in the South Seas. He made only a few discoveries, but his lieutenant, Philip Carteret, who was despatched in command of the Swallow in 1766, discovered Pitcairn's Island (1767), the Sandwich Islands, and a great number of other islands in the South Pacific. Australia. In 1768 Captain James Cook was despatched to the Pacific to conduct observations on the transit of the planet Venus, which he observed from Otaheite in 1769 ; on his return liome he surveyed New Zealand and the eastern coast of New Holland (Australia) ; in this voyage he made greater discoveries than any navigator since Columbus (E. J. Payne, European Colonies, 122). In 1772 he was despatched on another expedition to discover the Terra Australis {i.e., southern land), or the continent which was believed to exist around the south pole. In the course of this voyage he found that the coasts of New Holland had been mistaken for this continent ; he accurately surveyed parts of this vast island, and pointed out its advantages for colonisation. In his third voyage he visited Tasmania and New Zealand, and explored the unknown western coast of America, north of California, to a length of 3,500 miles. Captain George Van- couver, who had served under Cook, was sent, in 1791, to survey the coast of West America from Lat. 30° N. ; he went round the Cape of Good Hope, surveyed the south-west coast of Australia, visited and explored New Zealand, and sailed across the Pacific to North America, and circumnavigated the 1 88 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. island which bears his name; he spent two years in examining, and for the first time, accuratelj' delineating the coast from San Francisco northwards. Settlement of Australia. The first settlement in Australia was made in 1 788, when Captain Arthur Philip, in command of several vessels with 850 convicts on board, reached Botany Bay and founded the colony of New South Wales, and the city of Sydney on the harbour of Port Jackson, In 1 796 George Bass discovered the straits that bear his name, and established the fact that Tasmania, which he and Lieutenant Flinders circumnavigated in 1798, was an island. In 1800 Captain Grant explored the shores of what is now Victoria. In 1801 Flinders made a survey of the southern, eastern, and part of the northern coasts of Australia, from King George's Sound to Arnhem Bay to the west of the Gulf of Carpentaria. In 1802 Lieutenant Murry further explored the coasts of Victoria and the recesses of the land-locked bay of Port Philip. Australia for long remained the place to which England sent out every year criminals who were sentenced to transportation, and who, after serving their time, became in many instances settlers and owners of land. The colony did not begin to prosper until the rearing of sheep was introduced. At first sheep were introduced from Bengal, but their wool was of a poor quality. Captain Waterhouse, in 1797, and Captain Mac- arthur, in 1803, introduced some Spanish merino sheep and thus improved the qualitj' of Australian wool. Under the ad- ministration and by the direction of Colonel Lachlan Macquarie, who became governor of New South Wales in 1810, the vast and fertile pastures of Bathurst were discovered. Emigrants came over from England and Scotland, the population was quadrupled, and the area of the colony increased twenty-fold. The prosperity of Australia, like that of England, was based on wool, a ready market for which was obtained in England CANADA. 189 where the price had risen considerably during the last part of the 1 8th century in consequence of the great development of woollen manufactures. Canada. On the revolt of the United States, the English retained Canada, where a French population predominated. Canada made steady progress under English rule ; its two chief pro- ducts in the 18th century were lumber (i.e., timber), for the transport of which the River St. Lawrence afforded great facilities, and furs which were obtained from the Indians of the north. Newfoundland, Newfoundland, which was secured to England by the Treaty of Utrecht and again by the Treaty of Versailles, had the best fisheries in the world, but their very excellence was a hin- drance to its development. The fishermen resorted there in great numbers in the summer from England and elsewhere, and wished to have the coasts free so that they might have places for landing and curing their fish, which they took away when they left on the approach of winter. It was therefore to the interest of the fishermen that the country near the sea-shore should not be settled. Moreover, the undefined rights of fishing and of using a certain part of the shore reserved to the French by the treaties, were a constant source of dispute, and prevented the districts which the French claimed the right to use, from being developed. Industry. There was a continuous progress in manufactures from the Revolution of 1688, but a most remarkable development took place towards the end of the i8th century, when the applica- tion of the steam-engine to manufactures and the invention of new machines revolutionised the whole character of English industry, and brought about the substitution of the factory 190 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. for the domestic system. The name of the Industrial Revolu- tion has been given to this change, which had far-reaching commercial and political results. Scientific Discoveries. The great inventions of the second half of the i8th century were preceded or accompanied by, and closely connected with great advances in the study of natural science. The Royal Society (or more fully the "Royal Society of London for im- proving Natural Knowledge") was formed in 1660 by a num- ber of distinguished men interested in the advance of mathe- matical and physical science, and is still the foremost scientific society in England; the Linnaean Society for encouraging the study of botany was founded in 1788, the Geological in 1807, and the Royal Astronomical in 1820, and a large number of other scientific societies subsequently. In 1753 was founded the Society of Arts (in full, "Society for the encouragement of Art, Manufactures and Commerce "). In 1799 the Royal Institution of Great Britain was formed foj- diffusing the knowledge and facilitating the general intro- duction of useful mechanical inventions and improvements and for teaching by courses of philosophical lectures and experiments the application of science to the common purposes of Hfe. One great feature of the i8th and 19th centuries has been the application of scientific discoveries to commercial purposes. The Steam-engine. Various improvements had from time to time been made in Newcomen's engine. But the system of the Newcomen ■engine was radically wrong, and no steam engine was made to work satisfactorily till the time of Watt. James Watt (1736- 18 1 9) was at first an instrument-maker in Glasgow, and while thus engaged, having been called upon to repair a model of the Newcomen engine, he directed his thoughts to the study of the question how to avoid the waste of steam THE STEAM-ENGINE. I91 which was the great defect of the existing engines. To the solution of this problem Watt applied not only great en- gineering and mechanical skill, but also the principles of physical science, which was then making great strides in the United Kingdom. Watt conceived the idea of condensing the steam in a separate cylinder, and of forcing down the piston by the action of steam instead of the action of the atmosphere. He patented his engine in 1769, and became the partner first of Dr. Roebuck, who was engaged in sinking for coal on a large scale near Boroughstoness, and afterwards of Matthew Boulton, who had established at Soho, near Birmingham in 1762 the largest hardware manufactory in the world. Watt's engine was sent to Birmingham, and Watt himself went there in 1774 ; the engine was put together at Soho works, and there for the first time worked satisfactorily. New buildings were put up at Soho for the manufacture of engines, the fame of Watt's invention was spread abroad, and orders came in for engines, especially from Cornwall, for pumping water from the mines. The first engine was made in 1776 for John Wilkinson, a great ironfounder. The next order was from Cornwall in the end of 1776. In the making and setting up of these engines Watt was assisted by William Murdock, an engineer of great skill, who was in the employ of Boulton and Watt, and their most trusted adviser and co-worker. By 1780, the firm of Boulton and Watt had made forty engines, twenty-one of which were for Cornwall, and meanwhile Watt was engaged in further inventions for the improvement of his invention. Hitherto, his engines had been mainly used for pumping water, but he now applied himself to the invention of a rotary-working engine which could be used in mills. Patents for different rotary engines were taken out by Boulton . and Watt in 1781 and 1 782. The first rotary engine (figure 50) was made in 1782 for a corn-mill. Watt continued improving his engine by the invention of the parallel motion, the 192 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. FIG. 50. watt's first rotary ENGINE.l governor for which, as well as for other improvements, he took out patents in 1784. The first rotary engines with a parallel motion were those which were put up at the Albion Mill in London in 1786; the engines were made almost entirely of iron. Orders for engines came in from this date at a very rapid rate, and the firm made large profits (Smiles, Lives of Boulton and Watt). z Aj steam cylinder ; B, steam pipe ; c. throttle valve ; D, steam valve ; E, eduction valve ; - ■ ■ • • ■ ■ ■' L, (Sot fly IRON. 1 93 Iron. By the middle of the i8th century iron had become the second in importance of English manufactures, the woollen manufacture being still the first. In the beginning of the 1 8th century the importation of pig-iron from America to England was encouraged for the sake of preventing the destruction of English forests. English iron ore was also sent over to Ireland and smelted there, and the importation of bar-iron, duty free, was allowed from Ireland into England. Meanwhile the attempts to smelt iron with coal in England had been going on. Mr. Richard Ford, who managed the Coalbrookdale Works in 1747, succeeded in making iron ore to run with pit-coal, and in the time of Richard Reynolds, who succeeded his father-in-law, Abraham Uarby the second, in the management of the Coalbrookdale Works in 1763, pit- coal came into regular use in the blasting furnaces, and during his management, by the use of the reverberatory furnace, in which the iron did not mix with the coal but was heated solely by the flame, coal could be employed in the " puddling " of iron, of which a greater quantity could be then produced at a lower price. This invention, which was patented in 1767, was the work of two of the foremen at Coalbrookdale, Thomas and George Cranege, and the patent was taken out in their names. In 1767 Reynolds substituted iron for wooden rails in the tramroads which were used for conveying iron from one part of the works to another, and to the loading places along the River Severn. In 1760 Roebuck introduced the manu- facture of iron into Scotland by establishing in Stirlingshire, in 1760, the Carron blast furnaces, where Carronades were cast for use in men-of-war in 1779. In 1762 Roebuck took out a patent for melting the cast or pig-iron with pit-coal and f working it till it was "reduced to nature or metallised," and '."V^tfs^then exposed to the action of a hollow pit-coal fire urged by a ttast,^'!aW reduced to a loop and drawn out into bar- iron undei* ' a - forge hammer. The blast furnaces were at /J Com, l{ist. 194 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. first worked by water-power, but in 1790 steam-engines were introduced. The quantity of pig-iron made in England increased from 68,300 tons in 1788 to 125,079 tons in 1796. Important inventions in tlie working of pig- iron were made by Peter Onious, of Merthyr Tydvil, in 1783, and by Henry Cort, of Gosport, who in 1783 obtained a patent for converting pig-iron into malleable iron with coal by puddling, and in 1784 another patent for making malleable iron into bars by means of rollers. The greater part of the iron of the country was thenceforth worked with coal and by furnaces in which steam was used ; and this, among other results, produced a change in the centres of the iron manufacture. While charcoal and water-power were used, the iron manufactures were carried on in places where wood was abundant and water available. The application of steam made the ironmasters independent of water-power, and the iron manufactures were most economically carried on in places where coal and ironstone were found near together. Some places, such as Gloucestershire and Staffordshire, where charcoal smelting had been carried on, had supplies of coal as well as timber, and retained their iron manufactures. In other places like Sussex, where there was no coal, the iron works ceased to be of any importance, while new centres of activity sprang up in parts of Scotland, the North of England, and South Wales. In South Wales, which is now one of the chief seats of the iron trade, the manufacture is of comparatively modern growth. In 1755 Anthony Bacon obtained near Merthyr Tydvil, which was then a small village, a lease for 99 years of the minerals under a district of 40 square miles at the rent of ;^2oo a year; there he erected coal and iron works, and supplied the govern- ment with cannon which was carried to the port of Cardiff, and thence shipped to Plymouth and Portsmouth. Having acquired a large fortune, he divided his property in 1783 into four parts, and leased the Cyfartha works to Richard Crawshay, M IRON. 195 the Penydarran to Samuel Homfray, the Dowlais to Messrs. Lewis and Tate, and the Plymouth to Mr. Hill. Crawshay and Homfray were among the first to introduce Cort's inven- tions, and planned and constructed a canal from Merthyr Tydvil to Cardiff, which was opened in 179S) and gave an immense impetus to the iron trade in the neighbourhood. In Scotland the iron manufacture founded by Roebuck rapidly grew ; besides the Carron; works, other works were FIG. 51. THE FIRST IRON BRIDGE, COALBROOKDALE. established at Clyde Clough, Muirkirk and Devon. An extra- ordinary expansion of the Scotch iron trade followed on the discovery by David Mushet of the Black Band ironstone, near the River Calder, in 1801, a discovery which "elevated Scot- land to a considerable rank among the iron-making nations of Europe." Iron began to be used for a number of articles for which wood or stone had been used before. The first iron bridge was erected at Coalbrookdale in 1777 by Abraham Darby the 196 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. third (see figure 51); the first iron vessel was built by the brothers John and William Wilkinson, and traded upon the Severn before 1790. Benjamin Huntsman, of Sheffield, in- vented a process in 1740 for the manufacture of cast steel, by breaking into small pieces bars of blistered steel {i.e., steel produced by exposing iron bars placed in contact with roughly granulated charcoal to an intense heat), and fusing them in covered fire-clay crucibles placed in a furnace heated by a coke fire. Huntsman's cast steel became famous throughout the civilised world, and commanded a higher price than any other steel ; the process, the invention of which added enormously to the prosperity of Sheffield, is still carried on, as invented by him, without much change, and is used in the manufacture of the finest quality of steel. In 1800 David Mushet took out a patent for the making of steel from bar- iron by a direct process combining the iron with carbon. Coal. The extended use of coal in the manufacture of iron, and in the working of steam-engines, led to a considerable increase in the coal-mining industry. The improvements in the steam- engine benefited this industry by providing more efficient means for clearing the mines of water and for raising coal. The output from the old coalfields was increased, and coal- fields were opened or developed in Lancashire, the Midlands, South Wales, and Cumberland. The output of coal increased from 2,612,000 tons in 1700 to 4,773,828 tons in 1750, and 10,080,300 tons in 1795. Coal Gas. The use of gas derived from coal, for the purpose of lighting, was first made practicable by the invention of William Mur- dock, an engineer in the employ of Messrs. Boulton and Watt. The inflammable qualities of the gas obtained from coal had long been known to chemists and experimenters, but Murdock first applied these qualities to practical use. The subject COAL GAS. 197 began to engage his attention in 1792, and in 1798 he con- trived an apparatus for the making, purifying and storing of gas, and several of the offices at Soho were lighted with it. On the celebration of the Peace of Amiens, in 1802, the front of the Soho works was illuminated with gas, and from 1803 the whole of the works was lit with it; several large firms FIG. 52. THE SPINNING WHEEL. followed the example, and gas manufacturing apparatus became a part of the Soho business. In 1805 the mills of Phillips and Lee, of Manchester, were fitted up with gas- lighting apparatus, and, in 1808, Murdock communicated a paper on the subject of lighting by ga= to the Royal Society. In 1810 the London and Westminster Chartered Gas Light and Coke Company obtained the first Act granting parlia- mentary powers for the supply of gas for lighting, but the company was on the point of failing when Clegg, a pupil of Murdock's, undertook the management and introduced new ig& COMMERCIAL HISTORY. apparatus. In 1810 Clegg lighted a shop in the Strand with gas, and it was then regarded as a great novelty in London ; in 18 1 2 Westminster Bridge was first lit with gas; in 181 7 Glasgow, and in 1818 Liverpool and Dublin adopted the new illuminant, which soon came into general use (Smiles's Inven- tion and Industry, Life of Wm. Murdock, page 136). Cotton. Up to the middle of the i8th century the two chief processes in the manufacture of cotton as well as of other textile goods, viz., spinning, or the ma- king of threads from the raw material, and weaving, or the makingof the threads into cloth by the intertwin- ing of warp and wool, were performed chiefly by hand ; thread was spun by the spinning wheel (figure 52), and cloth was woven by the hand-loom (figure 53). The last half of the 18th century saw a number of remark- able inventions which revolutionised the textile industries of the country. Spinning. In 1738, John Wyatt, of Birmingham, invented a process for spinning by rollers, and a patent for the new invention was taken out by Lewis Paul, who also patented in 1748 a machine for the carding of wool and cotton, and in 1758 another spinning machine. These machines were set up at Birmingham and at Northampton, but were not commercially successful. Richard (afterwards Sir Richard) Arkwright of Preston, invented his spinning roller, for which he took out a FIG. 53. THE LOOM, SIXTEENTH CENTURY. SPINNING. 199 patent in 1769. Arkwright set up a mill for the working of his machine at Nottingham, and another at Cromford, in Derbyshire ; the latter mill was worked by water, and hence Arkwright's invention became known as the water-frame (see figure 54). James Hargreaves, a weaver of Hand-hill, near Blackburn, in 1774, invented a machine called the Spinning Jenny (figure 55), which spun eleven threads instead of one, which was all that the hand spinning-wheel could spin. He took out a patent in 1770 for his invention, which he so improved that it could spin first 16, then 20, and at last 120 threads. His machines were destroyed by a mob, and he went to Notting- ham, where he set up a small mill, in which he carried on busi- ness with mod- erate success till his death in 1778. The spin- ning jenny soon came into general use in spite of riots in which the machines were destroyed. The inventions of Arkwright and Hargreaves removed the obstacles which had hitherto hindered the advance of the cotton manufacture. Yarn was now produced in greater quantities and of better quality. The water frame spun a hard and firm thread which could be used for a warp ; up to Arkwright's time the warp for cotton goods had been made in England of linen ; by means of the spinning jenny, the manufacture of fine and FIG. 54. SIR RICHARD ARKWRIGHT S SPINNING MACHINE. SPINNING. 201 delicate fabrics, especially calicoes, which, up to this time, had been the monopoly of the East, was made possible in England. Other improvements quickly followed. Ark- wright invented a machine for an improved process of card- ing, which was patented in 1775, and other machines for "drawing" and "roving.'' The introduction of these machines led to the establishment of the factory system. The new machines required more space than could be found in the :mcr 'S^':'-t^-M -••'-.-■.Sis i^llE teij^^s^ifcfc /■^^WB H|^HjBfi^5^fcLi;_f" ^^3^1 ^^^^& 4^ ^Pl |l^llri«*«^2S^*»l^ ^ P^^'T^^\rfBw8ifcJaaKjHli!f!!ia7T!?^^awW^^B^B m^b^S^sA ■ ..-«!SEST FIG. 56. MULE SPINNING. cottage-rooms, where the process of spinning had hitherto been carried on ; the weight of the machines made it necessary to place them in strongly built mills where water-power could be used. The Mule Jenny combined the principles of Ark- wright's water frame with those of Hargreaves' spinning jenny, and was invented by Samuel Crompton, a weaver, of Hall-in-the-Wood, near Bolton, in 1779 (see figure 56). By this invention much finer quality of yarn could be produced ; 202 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. the Mule Jenny superseded Hargreaves' spinning jenny, and to a considerable extent Arkwright's water-frame. His inven- tion was further improved upon by the invention of self-acting mules by William Street (1790), Kelly of Lanark (1792)1 and Roberts of Manchester (1829). Arkwright's water-frame was also improved by the invention of the Throstle, which was used for the coarser kind of goods, while the Mule Jenny was better adapted for finer quahties. By means of this last invention, in a single room several thousands of spindles could be worked, revolving with great rapidity, needing no hand to guide them, and winding as many thousands of threads. By means of the improvements of Crompton and his successors, yarn could be spun fine enough for the manu- facture of muslin. Before the invention of spinning machinery, only the stronger and coarser fabrics had been made in England, such as fustians, cotton velvets, velveteens and corduroys. After the invention of the spinning machines, English manufacturers began to imitate the light fabrics of India. Calicoes were made by Arkwright in 1772 and 1773, and soon afterwards in Blackburn, which became the chief seat of the manufacture, which also extended into the country round Blackburn and into the parts of Yorkshire near Burnley. After 1785 muslins were made in Bolton, Glasgow and Paisley, and cotton goods came into general use in place of fabrics of flax and silk. The steam-engine was applied to the spinning of cotton in 1785, when an engine was made by Messrs. Boulton and Watt for a cotton mill at Papplewick in Nottinghamshire. Weaving. With the exception of John Kay's invention of the flying- shuttle (1738), adapted to cotton weaving in 1760, and Robert Kay's invention of the drop-box (1760), the appli- cation of improved mechanical appliances to weaving was of later introduction than was the case with spinning. The BLEACHING. 20J power-loom was invented by the Rev. Edmund Cartwright and patented in 1787. For this invention Cartwright obtained a grant of ^^10,000 in 1812. A dressing machine to dress the warp before it was placed in the loom, was produced by Messrs. Radcliffe and Ross, cotton manufacturers, of Stock- port ; patents for this invention were taken out by them in 1803 and 1804 in the name of Thomas Johnson, a weaver in their employ, to whom the invention was partly owing. By means of this invention the power-loom became available for general use. Patents for another power-loom were taken out by Horrocks, a cotton manufacturer of Stockport, in 1803, 1805, and 1815, and his loom, which was constructed entirely of iron, came into general use. The power-loom and the dressing machine came slowly into favour, in spite of riots and machine-breaking, which in the i8th and early part of the 19th centuries marked the introduction of almost every labour- saving invention. The number of power-looms in England and Scotland increased from 14,150 in 1820, to 55,500 in 1825, and 100,000 in 1833. Other inventions were the scutching machine, invented by Snodgrass of Glasgow, in 1797, the spreading or lapping machine, and the willow for the first process of cotton manufacture. Two other processes in the manufacture of cotton, viz., bleaching and printing, were also much improved by the introduction of inventions. Bleaching:. In 1774 the properties of chlorine (or oxymuriatic acid, as it was first called) as a destroyer of vegetable colours, were discovered by Scheele, a Swede. Berthollet, a French chemist, conceived the idea of applying it to the bleaching of cloth made of vegetable fibres. He communicated his ideas to James Watt, who, at the end of 1786, introduced it, with improvements of his own, into Scotland. Thomas Henry of Manchester made' experiments on the use of oxymuriatic acid 204 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. in 1788, and suggested the use of lime to take away the noxious smell of the acid. Mr. Ridgway, of Horwich near Bolton, introduced many improvements. So great was the change brought about by the use of chlorine, that the time required for the process of bleaching was reduced from months to days, and afterwards hours. Tennant of Glasgow in 1799 took out a patent for impregnating slaked lime in a dry state with chlorine, and established a large manufacture of the articles so patented and brought them into general use. Printing. Printed or stained cottons were made first in India ; cotton printing was not practised in England till the 17 th century, when it was introduced from France. Calico printing was at first carried on in the neighbourhood of London, but from about the middle of the i8th century it began to decline there owing to the distance from the chief seats of cotton manufac- ture in the north, to high wages, dear fuel, and the superior activity and skill of the calico printers of Lancashire. Messrs. Clayton, of Bamber Bridge near Preston, introduced calico printing into Lancashire ; they began business on a small scale in 1764, and were followed by Mr. Robert Peel, the grandfather of the celebrated Sir Robert Peel, who carried on business in the neighbourhood of Blackburn. At first the calicoes were printed by means of blocks, but a great step in advance was made on the invention of printing by copper cylinders. The invention is ascribed to a Scotchman named Bell, and it was first successfully applied in Lancashire about 1785. The process was still further improved by an invention by which the process of engraving was performed by a me- chanical process, which transferred the pattern from a very small steel cylinder to the copper cylinder ; this system was perfected by Joseph Lockett about 1808. Another process was invented for etching instead of engraving the copper cylinders. Other improvements were made in the process of SOURCES OF THE SUPPLY OF RAW COTTON. 205 printing, sucli as raising the pattern on the surface of the block, by pieces of flat copper or brass wire of various thick- nesses anfi forms instead of cutting it in relief on the wood ; the use of cylindrical blocks, or engraved wooden rollers ; and the union or mule machine, the invention of James Burton in 1805, an engineer to Messrs. Peel and Co., by which a wooden cyhnder in relief could be used at the same time as an engraved copper cylinder. Sources of the Supply of Raw Cotton. Raw cotton, which is a vegetable down, the produce of the cotton plant (figure 57), was obtained at first from the Levant, then from the British West Indies, and afterwards chiefly from the United States, especially from South Carolina and Georgia, which supply the best variety, known as sea- island cotton. The invention in 1793 by Eli Whitney of Massachusetts of the saw-gin for detaching cotton from the seeds which it envelops, gave an impetus to the American cotton industry. In 1784 the first consignment of American cotton, consisting of eight bags, arrived at Liverpool. In 1791 the United States exported to England 189,316 lbs. of cotton,, in 1794 1,604,700 lbs., in 1800 17,789,803 lbs. The great increase in the cultivation of cotton in America was the result of the English inventions in spinning and weaving^ which increased enormously the demand for raw cotton. The total amount of the imports of cotton into Great Britain from all sources rose from 1,985,868 lbs. at the beginning of the 18th century to 56,010,732 lbs. at its close. Other sources of supply besides the United States were the Isle of Bourbon, Demerara, and Brazil, Egypt (after 1823), and India. Manufacture of Cotton Stockings and Lace. Crompton's mule, which spun yarn fine enough for lace, led to a considerable growth in the bobbin-net or lace manufac- ture, the chief centre of which was at Nottingham. The 2o6 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. upplication of the stocking-frame to the making of lace was first tried in 1768 by Hammond, a frame knitter of Nottingham. Mr. John Heathcoat improved and altered the stocking-frame, and took out a patent for his improvements in 1809. By this and other improvements cheap net was produced, and the FIG. 57. THE COTTON PLANT. Tnanufacture of pillow lace by hand almost destroyed. The stocking-frame was improved in the i8th century, and adapted by Jedediah Strutt to the making of ribbed stockings. The improvements in spinning machinery gave a great impetus to the manufacture of cotton stockings. WOpLLEN MANUFACTURES. 207 The manufacture of sewing-thread also grew out of the improvements in spinning machinery ; it was made in Man- chester and in Scotland, and large quantities were exported. The quantities of cotton goods exported from Great Britain increased enormously. The value of the exports rose from ;^S,9iS in 1697 to ^^200,354 in 1764, ;^i, 101,457 in 1787, and ;^2o,o33,i32 in 18 14. The price of cotton yarn sank with the development in machinery, and in 1832 was one-thirteenth of its price in 1 786. The result of the development of the cotton manufacture was the increase of the population in Lancashire from 166,200 in 1700, to 1,336,854 in 1831, and to a similar increase in the population of Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire (E. Baines, History of the Cotton Manufacture in Great Britain). Woollen Manufactures. Most of the machines that had been introduced into the cotton manufacture were also adapted to the woollen, while other machines were invented specially for the making of woollen cloth. Lewis Paul's carding machine was used in the woollen manufacture at Northampton, Leominster and Wigan ; mention is also made of a " slubbing engine " for scribbling, carding, and slubbing wool, and machines for grinding wool, " by means of which the manufacturer had as much done for i|d. as used to be performed for 4|d." An extraordinary saving was caused by the invention of wool-combing machinery by Cartwright in 1790-2, which was followed by other similar inventions by Toplis, Wright, and Hawkesley, in 1793. The high price of wool, caused partly by the increase in the quantity of cloth manufactured, partly by the interruption of the wool supply from Germany and Spain owing to the French wars, led to a depression in this industry. The creation of a new source of the supply of wool in Australia did a good deal to lower the price. The weaving industry began to migrate from the southern and 208 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. eastern counties to the West Riding of Yorkshire. This migration, which had been going on from the early part of the 1 8th century, was quickened by the increased use of machinery ; the woollen, like other industries, tended to centre in particular districts, especially those where supplies of cheap coal could be had ; the introduction of machinery made the erection of large factories necessary. Spinning had been in many homes the mainstay of the household, or had been used to supplement the wages of agricultural labourers or the earnings of small farmers ; when this source of support was withdrawn, widespread misery resulted, and numbers of the labouring class became dependent on parish relief. More- over, the increased employment of children, which the introduction of machinery made possible, threw many of the adult labourers out of work. The French wars raised the price of provisions and produced disturbances in industry. The distress so caused led to the Luddite riots, in which many of the new machines were destroyed, and it was some time before the disturbances caused by the industrial revolu- tion were alleviated and the working classes were reconciled to the new system, the immediate results of which were to cause distress in some districts, but the ultimate results were to increase the wages fund, and improve the condition of the working classes. The hindrances to the movement of labourers from one district to another were to some extent removed by an Act passed in 1795 modifying the Poor Relief Act, 1662 (page 168), and protecting new-comers from inter- ference from the overseers until they actually became charge- able on the parish. Other Industries. New processes were invented in other industries such as the silk manufactures ; a machine for silk throwing worked by water power had been set up at Derby in tyip by Sir Thomas Lombe. In the earthenware industry new methods of salt- ROADS. 209 glazing had been introduced from Holland by two brothers named Elers, and the improvements of Wedgwood led to the production of pottery of great artistic beauty, and to the increased use of earthenware for common household articles which had previously been made of iron. Means of Internal Communication. Roads. Improvements were made in the methods of travelling during the 1 8th century by the introduction of fast stage-coaches FIG. 58. THE BASKET COACH. (figure 58), but most of the roads throughout England remained in a deplorable condition. After the suppression in 1746 of the Jacobite rebellion, roads were made in the north of Scot- land for military and civil purposes, and the main routes between the north and the south were considerably improved. The improvement of the highways in England was chiefly the J 4 Com, Hist. 2IO COMMERCIAL HISTORY. work of the turnpike trusts, which were empowered to erect toll-houses and turnpike bars or gates, and to charge tolls for the maintenance of roads. Between 1760 and 1774, there were passed 452 Acts of Parliament dealing with the making and repairing of highways (Smiles, Lives of the Engineers, I., 206). Even in spite of the turnpike system the roads long remained in an unsatisfactory condition. The art of road-making was but little understood. Many of the roads in Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cheshire and Derbyshire were made by John Metcalf, or " Blind Jack of Knaresborough " (i 717-1810), who was bred to no trade and at first earned his living as a fiddler ; he made in all about 180 miles of roads, the construction of which involved the building of many bridges, retaining-walls and culverts. One of the greatest of English road-makers was the cele- brated engineer, Thomas Telford (1757-1834), who was employed by the Government to report on the roads and means of communication in the Highlands of Scotland, and in consequence of whose report 920 additional miles of roads and 1,200 bridges were constructed. He also made sixty-nine miles of a new line of road between Carlisle and Glasgow, and the great coach-road from Shrewsbury to Holyhead (181 5- 1819), so laid out that no gradient was more than i in 20. The chief points at which Telford aimed in the construction of his roads were " to lay them out as nearly as possible upon a level, and to make the working or middle portion of the road as firm as possible by a metal bed of two layers of hard stones, the top course consisting of broken stones, none exceeding 6 oz. in weight and each able to pass through a ring 2 J inches in diameter ; a heading of gravel about an inch in thickness was placed on the top, and a drain crossed under the bed of the bottom layer to the outside ditch in every hundred yards." A similar method of road-making was introduced by Macadam, who, in 1815, was appointed surveyor-general of the Bristol roads, and from whom the word " macadamised " is derived. BRIDGES. 2 1 1 Bridges. Considerable attention was directed to the building of bridges in the last half of the i8th century. A number of bridges in Monmouthshire and Wales was built by William Edwards (1719-1789), who from a farm-labourer, first became a mason, and then a bridge builder of some repute. In 1738-50, the first Westminster Bridge was built by Labelye, a Swiss engineer. A bridge was built at Blackfriars in 1760-9 by Robert Mylne, who in its construction introduced for the first time in England the flat elliptical arch, the effect of which was to lessen the steepness of the gradient of the roadway. FIG. 59. MENAI BRIDGE. Smeaton built new bridges at Perth, Coldstream and Banff, but the most celebrated bridge-builders were Thomas Telford and John Rennie (1761-1821). Telford directed his atten- tion to the building of iron bridges. While surveyor to the county of Salop, he built forty-two bridges, four of which were of iron; as engineer to the EUesmere Canal, he used iron troughs for his aqueducts ; in 1796 he built an iron bridge at Bristol ; his greatest achievement in bridge-building was the Menai Suspension Bridge on the Chester and Holyhead 212 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. road (figure 59). Rennie built a cast-iron bridge over the Witham at Boston and South wark Bridge over the Thames (1819) with three cast-iron arches; he also built Waterloo Bridge of stone, one of the most beautiful bridges in England, and designed the new London Bridge, which, after his death, was built according to his plans by his son. Sir John. Canals. The first canal-maker in England was James Brindley (1716-1772), who from a millwright rose to be the greatest of canal engineers. He was first engaged in the construction of a canal by the Duke of Bridgewater, who obtained Parlia- mentary powers for the making of a canal to convey coals from his colliery at Worsley to Manchester (figure 60); this canal was completed in 1761, and was the first canal made in England. The result of the construction of the canal was that the price of coals in Manchester was reduced from 7d. to 3^d. the cwt. The next work was the exten- sion of the Duke's Canal from Manchester to Runcorn on the Mersey, connecting Manchester and Liverpool ; this extension was finished and opened for traffic in 1767. The result of the construction of the canal was to lower the cost of water- carriage by one-half, and to lay the foundation of the prosperity of Manchester, Liverpool, and the surrounding districts. Before the days of canals, Manchester woollens and cottons intended for exportation had been carried on horses' backs to Bewdley and Bridgnorth on the Severn, down which they were floated to Bristol, then the chief seaport on the western coast. After the opening of the canal the pack-horses were taken off and the export trade was centred in Liverpool. New harbours and docks were built, and Liverpool out-distanced Bristol and became the chief seaport on the west coast. Brindley's next canal was the Grand Trunk Canal, which connected Liverpool, Bristol, and Hull, and opened up the salt-district of Cheshire and the pottery district of Stafford- CANALS. 213 shire. The growth of the earthenware manufacture had been hampered by defective means of communication. Of the materials used in the manufacture of pottery, flints were brought from the south-eastern ports to Hull, and then up the Trent in boats to Willington, while the clay was brought from Devonshire and Cornwall either to Liverpool, and then ■SB- » FIG. 60. WORSLEY BASIN. up the Weaver to Winsford, or to Bristol and then up the Severn to Bridgnorth and Bewdley. From the points where water-carriage ceased, the flints and clay were conveyed mostly on the backs of horses to the Potteries. The manu- factured articles were returned for export by the same route. 2 14 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. The cost of carriage was enormous, and consequently the expansion of the earthenware manufacture was checked. The same difficulties hampered the carriage of salt from Cheshire, and of corn, coal, lime and iron-stone. The Grand Trunk Canal started from the Duke's Canal near Runcorn, passed through the salt district of Cheshire and the Potteries to Haywood, where another canal called the Wolverhampton Canal, joining the Severn near Bewdley, con- nected the Grand Trunk Canal with Bristol ; from Haywood the Grand Trunk Canal followed the valley of the Trent, which it joined at Wilden Ferry. By means of the Trent the Grand Trunk Canal was connected with Nottingham, Newark, Gainsborough, and Hull. The first sod of the canal was cut on the 26th July, 1766, by Josiah Wedgwood, who purchased a considerable estate in Shelton, close to the projected line of the canal, and there erected his manufactory at Etruria. The effect of its construction was to reduce the cost of carriage of all articles to one-fourth of the previous rate. Cheshire salt could now be readily transported and sold at moderate prices in the Midlands. The population of the Potteries was trebled in twenty-five years, and the whole face of the country was changed. Houses, villages, towns sprang up, and the country was not more improved than the people. In connection with the Grand Trunk Canal other canals were carried out under Brindley's superintendence, the Stafford- shire and Worcestershire, which connected Wolverhampton and Kidderminster with Liverpool, Hull, and Bristol ; the Coventry Canal at Oxford which connected the Grand Trunk Canal at Lichfield with London and the Thames ; the Droit- wich Canal which connected Droitwich with the Severn at Worcester, and did a large trade in the conveying of coal and salt; the Birmingham Canal which connected Birming- ham with the Grand Trunk system ; the Chesterfield Canal, between Chesterfield and the Trunk, which opened up the rich mineral districts of Derbyshire. The length of the DOCKS AND HARBOURS. 2IS canals laid out and principally executed by Brindley was over 360 miles (Smiles, Life of Brindley). Docks and Harbours. John Smeaton (i 724-1 792) was the first English engineer who attained distinction in the construction of docks and harbours. He improved or constructed harbours at St. Ives, FIG. 61. PLYMOUTH BREAKWATER. Ramsgate, Aberdeen, Portpatrick, and Eyemouth. William Jessop, Smeaton's pupil, erected the first docks of any size in London, namely, the West India Docks (1800-2). Rennie, one of the greatest of harbour and dock engineers, constructed the London Docks (1802-5) ^^d East India Docks (1803-6), and improved or constructed harbours at Grimsby, Holyhead, Howth, Kingston, Hull, and Ramsgate ; he improved the Sheerness Docks, and made a new dockyard and dry dock at 2l6 , COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Pembroke. Perhaps the greatest of all his works was the build- ing of Plymouth Breakwater (figure 6i) to protect the Sound from the southern gales; the breakwater, which was 5,100 feet long, was begun in 18 11 and finished in 1848; when com- pleted it consisted of 3,670,444 tons of rubble and 22,149 cubic yards of masonry, " an amount of material at least equal to that contained in the Great Pyramid " ; the whole cost was about i}^ millions. Telford was also employed as a dock and harbour engineer in improving the harbours of Wick, Peterhead, Banff, Aberdeen, and Dundee, and in building St. Katherine's Dock ( 1 824-8). One consequence of the construc- tion of the West India and London Dock warehouses and of similar receptacles for merchandise in other ports besides ' London, was that Great Britain became the emporium of the trade of Spain and Portugal, of Brazil, the Spanish settle- ments in South America and the West Indian islands, and enormous quantities of goods were brought into this country for re-exportation. Lighthouses. In 1 717 a light was put up on the Skerries, near Holyhead. The first stone lighthouse in England was constructed by Smeaton on the Eddystone reef of rocks, near Plymouth, begun in 1756 and finished in 1759 (figure 62); the column of this lighthouse was 70 feet high and the top was 120 feet above the sea. Smeaton also greeted two lighthouses on Spurn Point (1766). Rennie designed and acted as chief engineer in the building of the Bell Rock lighthouse. The navigation of the Dee to Chester was improved by lights and buoys (1776). Shipping and International Commerce. The improvement in English manufactures which began to have a world-wide reputation, gave a stimulus to the English export trade which had long been on the increase, and our dependency on foreign countries for our supplies of food developed the import trade. Pitt's commercial treaty with MAP OF THE FENS AS DRAINED IN 1830. SHIPPING AND INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE. 2 17 France in 1786, by which both countries consented to a reduction of tariffs against each other's trade led to a con- siderable expansion of trade. After the recognition of the independence of the United States, English trade with America increased owing to the increased cultivation of cotton in Georsjia and Carolina. In the war with France FIG. 62. EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE (smEATON's). which followed the outbreak of the Revolution, England, owing to her supremacy on the seas, was able to retain her maritime trade ; Holland, which was forced to side with France, was injured by the loss of her carrying trade and of her colonial possessions. The short interval of peace that followed the conclusion of the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, saw 2l8 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. a remarkable development of English trade ; the value of English exports increased from ^£39, 700,000 to ^£45, 100,000 (Cunningham, II., 514). On the outbreak of war in 1803, England pushed her trade in every direction, prevented the transport of other European goods, and did the greater part of the carrying trade of the world, though the United States and other neutral states began to compete with her, and profited considerably by the war through carrying the goods of the enemies of England (Cunningham, II., 518). As the neutral traders had no need of convoys and had not to pay war rates of insurance, like the English ships, the sugar of the French colonies could be imported on cheaper terms than sugar from the English colonies. It was this neutral trade that led to the Orders in Council and to the Berlin and Milan Decrees. In May 1806 the English government, with a view to striking at neutral trading, declared that the whole of the European coast from Brest to the Elbe was blockaded. Napoleon retorted by the Berlin Decree of November, 1806, declaring the British Isles in a state of blockade, that all commerce and correspondence with Britain should cease, and that all British manufactures or merchandise should be lawful prize. By Orders in Council of January and November, 1807, the English government declared that neutral vessels were not to trade from port to port on the coasts of France, or her allies, and that neutrals should only trade with a hostile port after touching at a British port and paying customs. Napoleon replied with the Milan Decree declaring that any vessels which submitted to the British regulations should lose their nationality. The Orders in Council led to difficulties with the United States, and along with the English claims to search American ships and impress British seamen found on board, led to a rupture of intercourse and eventually to war. As the United States took large quantities of our manufactures and supplied us with corn and raw cotton, these troubles led to a serious disturbance of Eng- IMPROVEMEiNTS IN NAVIGATION, ETC. 2I9 lish trade and to a commercial crisis in 1810. Napoleon's attempts to close European ports to English manufac- tures failed completely ; he was forced to grant licences for the importation of English goods, and it is even said that his army which invaded Russia was to a great extent dressed in English cloth. The English silk trade, on the other hand, suffered considerably from the Orders in Council and Napoleon's Decrees, which produced almost a famine of raw silk in England. One result of the war, which ultimately proved permanently injurious to England and her West Indian colonies, was the stimulus given by the high price of sugar in Europe to the manufacture of sugar from beet-root. In 1801 a factory was established in Silesia, and the production was stimulated by the Orders in Council and Napoleon's Decrees. The development of English shipping may be seen from the fact that the tonnage of English ships cleared " outwards " from English ports increased from 144,264 tons in 1697, to 1,318,508 in 1809, while the tonnage of foreign ships cleared "outwards" only rose from 100,524 tons in 1697, to 674,680 in 1809. The value of the exports increased from ;^6,9io,899 in 1720, to ^^58,624,550 in 1815, and the value of the imports from ;£6,'j 03,^^8 in 1720, to ^^32, 987, 396 in 1815. The number of British ships registered in the earliest extant copy of Lloyd's Register (for the year 1744-6) was 4,500 ; in 1800 there were 8,271 ships registered. The ships were still mostly small compared with those of the present day. In 1764-6 most of the ships were of about 200 or 300 tons, only one ship was of 900 tons, even as late as 1830 a ship of 500 tons was considered large; of the 19,110 British ships registered in that year, only forty-three were of 1,200 tons and upwards. Improvements in Navigation, etc. Considerable improvements in navigation were made in the course of the i8th century. The English astronomer Halley 2ZO COMMERCIAL HISTORY. ■constructed in 1700 a chart showing the variation of the compass in all parts of the globe. In 1741 a statute was passed for a more complete survey of the west and north-west coasts of Britain and Ireland, the charts of which were very imperfect. A reward of _^2o,ooo was offered by the English Government in the reign of Queen Anne for the discovery of a method for determining the longitude at sea, and was earned in the early part of the reign of George III. by John Harrison, who invented a chronometer by which longitude could be determined; this chronometer is perhaps "the greatest in- vention in navigation since the mariner's compass " (Payne, European Colonies, 121). Insurance. Marine. The earliest companies for effecting insurances on ships were the London Assurance Corporation and the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation (1720), both of which are still in existence. The underwriters not belonging to these two companies were in the habit of frequenting Lloyd's coffee-house ; they secured the property in Lloyd's List or Register of Shipping, and obtained in 1774 new quarters in the Royal Exchange, where the new Lloyd's coffee-house wts established. In 1779 the committee of management of Lloyd's drew up a general form of policy, which is still adhered to, and which has been taken as the model for marine insurance business all over the world (Cunningham, IL, 291). The increase in risk which British shipping ran during the wars of the i8th century caused a great expansion of the business of marine insurance. The work of arranging ships in classes according to their age and character, and of surveying ships for this purpose was undertaken by the committee of man- agement of Lloyd's. Fire. The business of fire insurance was still further developed by the various insurance companies founded in the 18th INSURANCE. 221 century. The Sun Fire Office was founded in 1710, the Union in 17 14, the Westminster in 1717 ; the London Assur- ance Corporation and the Royal Exchange Corporation did the business of fire as well as marine insurance. The Salop office was formed in 1780, the Phoenix in 1782, the Norwich Union in 1797. Life. The business of Life Insurance was developed more slowly. The Amicable Society, for a perpetual assurance office — a kind of tontine society — was founded in 1706; the London Assurance and the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation did a little business in the way of life insurance, but no regular life assurance office was started till 1762, when the Equitable Society was founded. This was followed by four others, of which the Pelican, founded in 1797, is still in existence. There were eight offices doing life insurance business at the end of the 18th century. Stock Exchange. Up to 1773 the London stockbrokers did their business in and about the Royal Exchange. In 1773 they formed them- selves into an association under the name of the Stock Exchange, and removed to Capel Court. Walpole. A system of depositing imported goods for re-exportation in warehouses appointed by the Commissioners of Customs had been commenced in 1700 in the case of East Indian silks, muslins, and painted calicoes to prevent their being thrown on the home market and competing with English manufactures. This system, which was the origin of bonded warehouses, was developed by Sir Robert Wal- pole ; customs duties were only paid when the goods were taken out of the warehouses on sale in the country, or were not levied if they were exported directly ; by this means goods could be imported into England and re-imported with- 222 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. •out the payment of duty ; Walpole applied the system to tea, and was thus able to reduce the duty on importation and to •check smuggling. He attempted to apply the same system to wine and tobacco, but was met with the strongest opposition. Walpole, by improving the system of collection of customs ■duties, was able to diminish smuggling ; he reconstructed the tariff, and encouraged manufacture by removing import duties on raw materials and export duties on all British ■manufactured goods with a few exceptions. Pitt and Adam Smith. By the wars of the i8th century the National Debt was enormously increased, and in 1815 had reached the sum of _;£86o,ooo,ooo. The enormous loans raised for the purpose of carrying on the wars with France at the end of the i8th century made money scarce, and in 1797 the Bank of England was allowed to suspend cash payments and pay in notes. The issue of notes for ;^s and smaller amounts by the Bank was sanctioned, and cash payments were not resumed till 181 9. Improved methods of taxation to meet the constantly increasing charge •of the National Debt were devised by Lord North and Pitt who were both influenced by the teaching of Adam Smith, the founder of modern political economy, who published his " Wealth of Nations," his chief treatise, in 1776 ; while the full •effect of his teaching was not felt till the 19th century, some of his ideas were carried into effect before the end of the i8th. At the time of the publication of the "Wealth of Nations" the principles of the Mercantile System had ceased to be applicable to English industry ; the Mercantile System had in effect done its work by fostering national power and promoting the ^owth of the mercantile navy which was the basis of the greatness of England. But by the middle of the i8th century the conditions of industry had been so changed, that the regu- Jation of industry by government was neither desirable nor PITT AND ADAM SMITH. 223 practicable. The policy of the Navigation Acts had accom- plished its purpose, but the Acts were rendered antiquated by the rebellion of the American colonies. The times were ripe therefore for Adam Smith's work, which dealt with the laws relating to the production and distribution of wealth apart from the question of national power, and which attacked the Mercantile System as it was declining, and preached the doctrines of free trade by showing that government regula- tions of industry were purely mischievous. He attacked the policy of the Navigation Acts, the Statute of Apprentices of Elizabeth, the Settlement Acts, the Corn Laws, and of other attempts to foster industries, and maintained the proposition that trade developed best when let alone by government. The " Wealth of Nations " was the first complete treatise on the subject of Political Economy. Several works on economical subjects had been published, first in Italy, and afterwards in England and France ; in the latter country the theories of the Physiocrates (writers of the school of Quesnay, whose chief works appeared about 1758) attracted considerable attention ; according to their theories, agriculture was the only source of wealth. The English writers on economical subjects before the time of A. Smith were chiefly either Bullionists or Mer- cantilists. According to the Bullionist theory the wealth of a nation depended on the store of precious metal which it con- tained ; according to the Mercantilists, who developed the theory of the balance of trade, wealth depended not so much on stores of gold and silver as on the profitable exchange of native for foreign products, and on the ability of a nation to sell goods for more than they cost and obtain a monetary advantage in the transaction. A. Smith was the first writer to deal in a really scientific manner with the problems relating to the production and distribution of wealth. The principles of free trade, which were advocated by A. Smith, did not gain complete acceptance till the 19th century, but tendencies in that direction, such for instance as are to be seen in Pitt's 2 24 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. commercial treaty with France of 1784, may be traced in the 18th century. Expedients for taxation which were employed in Holland, and which Adam Smith discussed, were adopted by Lord North, such as a tax on servants (1777), another on auctions and on property passing on death. Pitt, who became Prime Minister in 1783, borrowed from the "Wealth of Nations" the principles on which he revised the whole scheme of taxation. He reduced the duty on tea, for instance, from 119 to 12^ per cent., levied additional duties on windows and houses, and grouped together the taxes on carriages, servants, horses, etc., which were known as the Assessed Taxes and replaced the complicated customs duties by a single tax on each article ; the methods of collection were improved, and the proceeds of the whole were lumped together in the Consoli- dated Fund instead of being kept under separate accounts. To provide for the reduction of the National Debt, a sinking fund was established by taking certain sums out of the Con- solidated Fund, when there was a considerable surplus, and vested annually in the hands of commissioners, who were to invest it and apply the proceeds to the reduction of the debt. In 1792 he repealed the taxes on carts and waggons, the window tax on small houses, and a portion of the tax on candles. He used the expedient which Adam Smith had recommended, and Lord North attempted, of taxing property that passed on death ; Lord North's tax had been evaded, and Pitt substituted for it a Legacy duty on property in the hands of the executors before it was distributed. In 1798 Pitt imposed an income tax of 10 per cent, on incomes of ;£2oo and upwards, and a smaller graduated tax on incomes between £fio and £,ioo. MAP OF THE POTTERIES AND THE BLACK COUNTRY. THE TRADE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 2 2$ Chapter IV. The Trade of the Nineteenth Century. The chief features of this period are : — the growth of the railway system and of steam navigation, the increase of the mercantile marine, the expansion of the manufactures of textile fabrics, iron and steel goods, the further development of coal-mining, the extended use of machinery, the application of discoveries in electricity and other branches of science to commercial purposes, an enormous increase of the population of Great Britain and increased dependence on foreign supplies of food, and the development of the colonial empire of Great Britain ; in financial and commercial legislation the period is marked by the abolition of the last relics of the mercantile system and the complete triumph of free trade, by the estab- lishment of the system of limited liability companies, by the removal of the restrictions on the combination of workmen and the legislative protection of factory workers. The Railway System. The " Father of Railways " was George Stephenson (1781- 1848), the inventor of the first locomotive engine that was commercially successful. Various attempts had been made before and after Watt's invention of his steam-engine to produce a locomotive engine. Murdock in 1784 had made a model which travelled on a road. Trevithick, Murdock's pupil, after taking out a patent in 1802 for a steam-coach, and constructing one which travelled on the roads, applied himself to the construction of an engine to work on the tramroads or railroads which had been constructed in a great number of collieries. Trevithick constructed for the railroad at the Pen-y-darran Colliery a locomotive engine which dragged several loaded waggons, but it broke the trarn-plates and ran off the road. Matthew Murray constructed for Blenkinsop of Leeds in 1812 an engine which drew coal-waggons on the IS Com. HisL 226 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. railroad from the Middleton Collieries to Leeds, and worked for many years, and was the first locomotive engine regularly employed for commercial purposes. Blackett, the owner of Wylam Colliery, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, had engines made which combined Trevithick's and Blenkinsop's inven- tions. Stephenson constructed a locomotive engine which in 1 8 14 was placed on the railroad at the Killingworth Colliery, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, apd continued regularly at work for some time, but the use of which effected no saving, either in time or in money, as compared with the use of horse- power, while the noise of the steam issuing from the cylinder was a great hindrance and nuisance. Stephenson remedied this last defect by the invention of the steam-blast, by which the steam was conveyed into the chimney of the engine, and so increased the draft and the intensity of the combustion of the furnace, and doubled the power of the engine. In 1815 he patented his invention, and constructed a locomotive which is the type of the present railway engine ; it was tried at Killingworth in 1816, and continued in work there till 1879. In 1819 he built several locomotives and laid down a railroad for the Hetton Coal Company, from their Hetton Colliery to the banks of the Wear. He then started an engine factory at Newcastle, and made several other engines. The first railway for general traffic on which locomotive engines were used was the Stockton and Darlington line, which was opened in 1825. Stephenson suggested the use of locomotive engines for this line, and became engineer to the promoters. The line was at first worked partly by horses and partly by engines ; it proved a great commercial success, and a great demand sprang up for the conveyance of passengers, for whom a railway coach, the " Experiment" (see figure 63), drawn by horses, was first used. Afterwards a mixed train for passengers and goods was introduced on the line. Stephen- son's No. I engine (see figure opposite page 225), which was used on this line, continued working till 1846. THE RAILWAY SYSTEM. 227 The next railway to be opened was the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (1830), for which Stephenson built his engine called the Rocket, and which was connected by other lines subsequently built with Bolton, Wigan, Warrington and Birmingham (1836). The first railway in the neighbourhood of London was the one from London to Greenwich (1836). The London and Birmingham Railway (now part of the London and North Western Railway) was laid out by George FIG. 63. THE FIRST RAILWAY COACH, THE "EXPERIMENT."' Stephensdn and his son Robert, and was finished in 1838. Within a few years afterwards most of the other great trunk railway lines were commenced, viz., the Great Western, the Eastern Counties (now the Great Eastern), the Midland, the Great Northern, the London, Brighton and South Coast, and the London and Southampton (now the London and South Western). As soon as railways began to be successful, the prices of railway shares rose, and a considerable amount of speculation and gambling followed. The years 1845 and 1846 saw a "railway mania "; the inflation of railway shares, COMMERCIAL HISTORY. caused by excessive speculation, led to a reaction and a fall in prices of shares and to many collapses. The example set by England in the building of railways was followed by foreign countries, and Stephenson was called FIG. 64. THE BRITANNIA BRIDGE. in to advise on the extension of railways in Belgium France and Spain. George Stephenson began to retire from active business in 1840, but his place was taken by his son Robert while other railway engineers came to the front, the most famous of whom was I. K. Brunei, the engineer of the Great RESULTS OF THE RAILWAY SYSTEM. 229 Western line and the inventor of the broad gauge. One of the greatest works of Robert Stephenson was the completion of the Chester and Holyhead line, for which he designed and constructed the Britannia Tubular Bridge (see figure 64) near to Telford's suspension bridge over the Menai Straits. From the days of Stephenson to the present time the rail- way system has been expanded and developed in all the civilised countries of the world. The length of lines opened for traffic in the United Kingdom increased from 6,621 miles in 1851 to 21,700 in 1899. Results of the Railway System. The connection of the different parts of the United Kingdom with one another by railways promoted the growth of towns and the extension of the residential area around towns, cheapened the prices of goods, secured a more regular and economical supply of food and coal, developed the mineral resources of the country, and raised the value of land in districts accessible by railways. London and the large towns are now fed from day to day by the railways which bring in supplies of meat, fish, vegetables, milk, butter, eggs and other perishable articles of food. The extension of railways made communication between different parts of the country easy and rapid. In 1781 it took thirteen days for a person living in Birmingham to send a letter to, and receive an answer from a correspondent in Cornwall; now a letter can be sent to, and an answer received from any part of Eng- land in one, two or three days at the most. Correspon- dence by means of the railways could be carried on more cheaply as well as more rapidly. Before the introduction in 1841 of the penny post, which was made practicable by the railway system, the postage of a letter from London to Edinburgh cost 13d., and the general average charge outside London was between 7d. and 7|d. ; the introduction of the penny post, which was due to the efforts of Sir Rowland Hill 230 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. led to an enormous increase in commercial and other corres- pondence. The facilities of communication afforded by the railways also increased the supplies of labour by enabling labourers to move more easily to places where there was a demand for them, and one of the causes of pauperism, the stagnation of numbers of the working classes in places where there was no sufficient employment for them, was thus removed. Steam Navigation. Various attempts had been made, from the 17th century onwards, to propel boats by the use of steam ; the earliest steam-boat of any practical value was one constructed fo, Patrick Miller, and fitted with engines designed by William Symington, and tried in 1788 on Dalswinton Loch, on which it travelled at the rate of about five miles an hour. In 1801 Symington was employed by Lord Dundas to build a steam- boat for use on the Forth and Clyde Canal ; and, availing himself of Watt's invention, he fitted a new engine in a boat called the Charlotte Dundas, which carried twenty passengers and towed two barges of seventy tons burden, at the rate of 2,% miles an hour, in the teeth of a strong gale, but was afterwards laid aside, as injury to the banks of the canal was apprehended from its use. Meanwhile, experiments of a similar kind had been made in America, and Robert Fulton, an American, saw Symington's boat in 1802, made notes and sketches of it, had a boat called the Clermont (figure 65) built and fitted with one of Boulton and Watt's engines, and launched on the Hudson River in 1807. This boat, which was a copy of the Charlotte Dundas, continued to ply on the Hudson for several years, and was the first steam-boat in the world that was regularly used for traffic (Lindsay, History of Merchant Shipping, III., 55). In 1809 another steam-boat was built and launched on the St. Lawrence. The first steam-boat that plied regularly for traffic on British waters was the Comet THE TRANSATLANTIC TRADE. 231 (figure 66), which was designed by Henry Bell, of Helens- burgh, and began to run between Glasgow and Greenock in 1812. In the following year a number of steam-boats was built for river traffic on the Humber, the Thames, the Mersey, and other rivers. The first sea-going steamer was the Rob Roy, of ninety tons burden, trading between Glasgow and Belfast from 181 8 onwards. Soon afterwards regular lines FIG. 65. THE " CLERMONT." of Steamers were started for the Holyhead and Dublin mail- service, for trade between Liverpool, Greenock, and Glasgow, and between Leith and London. In 1824 the General Steam Navigation Company was formed, and established lines of steamers between London and the chief towns and continental ports. The Transatlantic Trade. The first steam-ship that crossed the Atlantic for trade was the Savannah, an American sailing vessel with auxiliary steam-power, which arrived in Liverpool from Savannah (Georgia) in 1819, after a voyage of twenty-six days. In 232 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. 1833 the steam-ship Royal William made the voyage from Quebec to Gravesend in forty days. Regular voyages across the Atlantic began in 1838 with the Sirius (from Queenstown to New York) and the Great Western (from Bristol to New York). In 1838 the Cunard Company was founded for the conveyance of the mails to North America by a line of steamers. The Britannia, the first of the Cunard ships, sailed FIG. 66. THE " COMET." from Liverpool in 1840 and attained an average speed of about eight and a half knots an hour. Other boats were soon added to the Cunard Company's fleet, and a vigorous competition ensued with American and other English companies; an American line of steamers, called the Collins line, began running in 1850 and continued till 1858, when it was discon- tinued as a losing concern ; since that time the Transatlantic passenger trade has been chiefly in English hands. Of the other lines started for the Transatlantic trade with the United States and Canada, the chief are:— The Inman, now called the American (1850), the Allan (1854), the Anchor (1856), the DOMINION CANADA, nc. Scale: 4'/o miUi to t, M ~-'~i 75 , GO 2 34 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. National (1863), the Guion (1866), White Star (1871) and Dominion (1872), the American (1873), the Great Western (1874), Wilson (1875), Beaver (1875), Leyland (1876), John- ston (1880), Furness, Atlantic Transport (1886), Donaldson {1877) and Manchester; of continental lines the most important are the Hamburg American (1856), the North German Lloyd's (1856), the Belgian-American or Red Star (1873), the Dutch Holland-America (1872), the French Compagnie G^nerale Transatlantique (1862), and the Italian Navigazione Generale Italiana (see the Atlantic Ferry, by Arthur J. Maginnis). West Indian, South American and Pacific Trade. For the West Indian trade the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was formed in 1841 to convey the mails between England and the West Indies, and afterwards to the Isthmus of Panama, Brazil and the River Plate. Quite recently the Imperial Direct West India Mail Service has been formed by Elder, Dempster and Company for direct trade between Bristol and Kingston, Jamaica. The Pacific Steam Navi- gation Company was formed in 1840 for the rapidly growing trade with New Granada, Bolivia, Peru and Chili, and afterwards extended its operations to the west coast of South America and the River Plate. The construction of a railway across the Isthmus of Panama and the opening up of the Pacific territories of the United States, in consequence of the discovery of gold in California in 1847, made increased means of communication between England and America necessary. In 1855 Mr. Alfred Holt began to despatch steamers to trade between Liverpool and Colon, the Atlantic terminus of the Panama Railway, and in 1863 the West India and Pacific Steam Navigation Company was formed to supply steamers for the trade between Liverpool and Mexico, Hon- duras, Venezuela and the Windward Islands. Other lines for the West Indian and South American trade are the Demerara, Berbice and Direct Steamship Company (London THE OVERLAND ROUTE. 235 and Demerara), Larranaga (Liverpool and Havana), Houston (Liverpool and Buenos Ayres), Houlder (London and Buenos Ayres), Kosmos (London and Monte Video, Valparaiso and Callao), Lamport and Holt (London, Liverpool and Callao), Liverpool and Maranham (Brazil), Mclver (Liverpool and Buenos Ayres), and Red Cross and Booth (London and Brazil). Trade with the East. The Overland Route. The old route to the East by way of the Mediterranean, which had been abandoned since the i6th century, was re- FIG. 67. THE "enterprise." opened in the 1 9th century. The first steam-ship to double the Cape of Good Hope and reach India from England was the Enterprise (fig. 67), which reached Calcutta in 1825 in 113 days. Attention meanwhile had been directed to the shorter overland route by way of the Isthmus of Suez and the Mediterranean. The pioneer of this route was Lieutenant Thomas Waghorn, who in 1829-30 carried despatches for the East India Company from London via Trieste, Alexandria, 236 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Suez and the Red Sea to Bombay. From 1835 onwards the service of the Admiralty mail packets was extended from Malta to Alexandria, and the Hugh Lindsay was sent at regular intervals to meet the mails which were conveyed overland from Alexandria to Suez. The arrangements for the passage overland were organised and improved by Waghorn. The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (generally known as the P. and O.), which grew out of a small company called the Peninsular Company, formed to carry the mails between England and the Peninsula of Spain and Portugal, in 1839 established a line of steamers for the conveyance of mails running direct from England to Alexandria, and touching only at Gibraltar and Malta; in 1842 the P. and O. Company established a line of steamers trading between Suez and Calcutta, Madras and Ceylon, and subsequently extended their service to Penang, Singapore and Hong Kong; in 1854 it took over the conveyance of the mails between Suez and Bombay; from 1853 onwards it carried the mails between Singapore and Sydney, and subsequently established a line of steamers between Point de Galle and Sydney, and brought the Australian colonies into direct communication with England, India and China. Suez Canal. The re-establishment of the overland route led to the construction of the Suez Canal, commenced in 1857, and opened for traffic on 17th November, 1869. The advantages conferred by the Suez Canal on English trade have been very great; the cost of transhipping goods at Alexandria and Suez has been saved, and the duration of voyages to the East shortened. Of the ships that pass through the canal (3,607 in 1899), the great majority (2,310 in 1899) are English. The trade with India and the East is carried on by steamers TRADE WITH AFRICA. 2J7 of the P. and O. Company and other companies and lines, such as the British India Steamship Company, the Anchor, Bibby, Ben, City, Glen, Shire, Wilson, Henderson and Anglo- Arabian and Persian lines ; the foreign steam-ships engaged in this trade are those of the Compania Transatlantica, Imperial German Mail Line (North-German Lloyd's and Hamburg- American), the Koninklyke Packetvaart Maatschappy, the Messageries Maritimes, the Navigazione Generale Italiana, the Nederland Steamship Company, and the Japan Steamship Company; the trade with Austrailia and New Zealand and the South Pacific is carried on by ships of the P. and O. Company, the Shaw, Savill and Albion Company, the New Zealand Shipping Company, the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand, the White Star, Orient, Aberdeen and Lund's Lines, the British India Steamship Company, North-German Lloyd's and Messageries Maritimes. Trade with Africa. The growth of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope and the extension of English possessions in South Africa led to an increased trade with England, the chief companies engaged in which are the Union-Castle, the British and Colonial and Natal Lines. The West African trade gave birth to the British and African Steam Navigation Company, the Compagnie Beige Maritime du Congo, the Interinsular Services of the Canary Islands, the Forwood and the Woermann Lines, while the East-African trade is carried on by the British India Steam- ship Company, the Messageries Maritimes, the Natal and the ' German East-Africa Lines. 238 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Pacific Trade. The steamers for the trans-Pacific trade are those of the following lines : — Canadian- Australian (Vancouver to . Syd- ney), Canadian Pacific Railway (Vancouver and Hong Kong), American and Australian (San Francisco to Honololu, Tahiti and Sydney), Pacific Mail Steamship Company (San Francisco to Hong Kong), Nippon Yusen Kaisha (Hong Kong to Seattle), and Toyo Kisen Kaisha (Hong Kong to San Francisco) ; for the Pacific coast trade of North and Central America the steamers of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company ply between San Francisco and Panama, and those of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, and the Compania Sud-Americana de Vapores between Panama and the ports of South America. Home and European Trade. Besides the many steamers engaged in the coast trade between different ports of England, Scotland and Ireland, large numbers of steam-ships are constantly engaged in the Channel and North Sea trade ; of these, those that work in connection with English and continental railways are the ships of the Great Eastern Railway Company (Harwich to the Hook of Holland, Rotterdam and Antwerp), Great Central Railway (Grimsby to Hamburg, Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Esbjerg), Zeeland Steamship Company (Queenborough to Flushing), Great Western Railway Company (Weymouth to Guernsey and Jersey), London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (Newhaven to Dieppe and Caen), the South Eastern and London Chatham and Dover Railway (Dover to Calais, Folkestone to Boulogne), Belgian State Railway (Dover to Ostend), South Western Railway (Southampton to the Channel Islands, Havre, St. Malo and Cherbourg) ; other lines trading with Europe are the Moss (Liverpool to Bordeaux), New Palace Steamers (London to Boulogne and Ostend), Screw Steam Shipping Company (London to Dunkirk), HOME AND EUROPEAN TRADE. 239 Bennett (London and Goole to Boulogne), Holland Steamship Company (London to Amsterdam), General Steam Navigation Company (London to Bordeaux, Oporto, Ostend, Hamburg, Harwich to Hamburg), Hall's (London to Lisbon, Gibraltar,. Malaga and Cadiz), Argo (London and Hull to Bremen), Bailey and Leetham (Hull to Hamburg, Antwerp, Libau, Copenhagen, Reval, St. Petersburg), Finland (Hull to. Hel- singfors), Hamburg-American (Plymouth to Hamburg), Leith, Hull and Hamburg Steam Packet Company (Leith to Ham- burg and Copenhagen), Netherlands Steamboats Company (London to Rotterdam), North German Lloyd (Southampton to Bremerhaven), Thule Steamship Company (London to Gothenburg, Granton to Gothenburg), United Steamship Company of Copenhagen (Harwich to Esbjerg, Newcastle to Copenhagen and thence to Iceland), West Hartlepool Steam Navigation Company (West Hartlepool to Hamburg), Wilson (Hull to Bergen, Drontheim, Christiania, Gothenburg, Stock- holm, St. Petersburg, Riga, Reval, Copenhagen, Stettin, Danzig, Hamburg, Dunkirk, Ghent, Antwerp and Rouen ; London to Christiania, Stockholm and Riga ; Grimsby to Gothenburg and Malmo). For the Mediterranean trade, besides the ships already mentioned which trade with India, the East, and Australia are steamers belonging to the following- lines : — Anchor (Gibraltar, Genoa, and other Italian ports), Austrian Lloyd (Trieste to Constantinople, Alexandria and the Eastern Mediterranean), Bland's (Gibraltar to Tangier), Compagnie Generale Transatlantique (Marseilles to Algiers), Compania Transatlantica (Cadiz to Tangier and Mogador), General Steam Navigation Company (London to Genoa and other Italian ports), Navigazione Generale Italiana (between Italian and Sicilian ports, and Tunis, Alexandria, Constanti- nople, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea), Papayanni Steamship Company (Liverpool to Tangier, Algiers,, Malta, Alexandria, Constantinople and the Levant), Prince (Manchester or London to Gibraltar, Tunis, Malta, Alex- 240 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. andria and the Levant), Russian Steam Navigation Company (between tlie Black Sea ports and Constantinople, Egypt, Syria, and Macedonia), and Wilson (Hull to Palermo, Messina and Venice).* Screw Steamers. The early steamers were paddle-boats, but about 1836 the screw-propeller was first put to practical use owing to the efforts of John Ericson, Francis Pettit Smith, and Bennet Woodcroft. The first screw steamer used for commercial purposes was the Robert F. Stockton (afterwards called the New Jersey), built of iron by Messrs. Laird, and launched in 1838 — she crossed the Atlantic in 1839, and was used as a river steam-tug in America. The first screw-steamer in the Royal Navy was the Rattler, built in 1843. The first screw- steamer for the Atlantic trade was the Great Britain, which in 1845 sailed on her first voyage from Liverpool to New York. Most of the largest and fastest steamers are now fitted with Iron and Steel Ships. Copper-sheathed ships and iron river and canal barges had been introduced in the i8th century, but for the framework of ships to the beginning of the 19th century wood was the chief material used. The first iron steam-ship was the Aaron Manby built in 1821. About 1824 Mr. William Laird estab- lished his celebrated iron-works at Birkenhead, and Mr. (afterwai-ds Sir William) Fairbairn in 1835 began making iron vessels at Millwall, and iron ship-building on the Thames, the Mersey, the Clyde, the Wear, and the Tyne increased with great rapidity. The largest iron vessel ever built till recent times was the Great Eastern, constructed on the design of L K. Brunei to carry 4,000 passengers. She was first floated in 1858, and made several voyages across the Atlantic, but proved a commercial failure, and was used afterwards chiefly for "■ See Rhodes's Steamship Guide, 1901-2. p-TpW?^ / THE NORTH SEA. Sca/c: I fo iiiiiis A' th,- 1 nc'n IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIP-BUILDING. 241 laying submarine telegraph cables. In about i860 began tlie construction of ships of steel, for which Barrow and Belfast have bec9me celebrated. The largest ship built in the United Kingdom in recent years is the Celtic, belonging to the White Star Line, and. built by Harland and Wolff, of Belfast, in 1901 ; her length is 700 feet, breadth 75, depth 49, and she is able to carry 347 first-class, 160 second-class, and 2,352 third-class passengers (see Rhodes's Steamship Guide, 1901-2, 228). The fastest English merchant steam-ship yet built is the Cunarder Campania, which has reached a speed of twenty- two knots {i.e. 25 miles) an hour; the fastest merchant steam-ship built is the Hamburg-American Com- pany's Deutschland, which has attained a speed of twenty- three knots an hour. FIG. 68. THE " GREAT EASTERN." Improvements in Ship-building. Sailing Ships. Before the time when steam-ships had been so far improved as to compete successfully with sailing ships, great improve- ments had been made in England and America in the build of sailing ships. Fast and beautiful clippers for the Transat- lantic, China and Australian trades (see figure opposite page 256) were for some time preferred to steamers. On the com- pletion of the Suez Canal the shorter route gave- steam-ships such an advantage for the trade with India, China and 16 Com. Hist. 242 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Australia, that the Hnes of sailing ships have gradually given way to lines of steamers. In 1899 out- of .20,196 registered British ships 9,029 were steam-ships, and 11,167 sailing vessels. Iron and Steel. Important improvements in the manufacture of iron were made during the 19th century, such as the application of machinery to the puddling process, Neilson's invention (1828) of the hot blast instead of the cold blast in smelting, Mushet's application of the hot blast to anthracite coal, and Aubertot's utilising of waste gases from the blast furnaces in raising steam and superheating the blast (1842). Various inventions for the making of steel were introduced in the 19th century. In 1856 Bessemer invented a process, called the Bessemer or pneumatic process, for making steel from the crude metal directly as it comes from the blast furnace ; this process was further improved by an invention of R. F. Mushet for hardening the metal by the introduction of ferro-manganese or spiegeleisen. Bessemer steel is chiefly used for the making of rails and of girders for bridges. It is only adapted for working iron which is tolerably free from phosphorus and sulphur. By the " basic," or Thomas- Gilchrist process, iron having a considerable amount of phos- phorus can be treated, and a fair quantity of steel produced, the phosphorus passing into the slag which is available for manure. Other processes invented for the conversion of iron into steel are the Heath process, by which the carburet of man- ganese is employed ; the Whitworth process for the casting of steel under great pressure ; the Siemens method, in which pig- iron is treated in an " open hearth regenerative furnace '' with certain iron ores; by the Martin method the pig is melted along with scrap-iron, and by the Siemens-Martin method both scrap-iron and ore are used with pig-iron (Smiles In- dustrial Biography, Encyclopaedia Britannica, sub nom. Iron). COAL-MINING. 243 The enormous growth of the British iron and steel in- dustries may be seen in the fact that the value of the exports of iron and steel (wrought and unwrought) has increased from ;£2,5i5,9i8 in 1840 to ;£3i,992,675 in 1900; the value of the machinery exported has risen from ^^592, 793 in 1840 to ;£i9, 619,944 in 1900; the United Kingdom also exported in 1900 ships of iron and steel and machinery to the value of _;^8,S40,902, implements and tools to the value of j^i,49i,377, and hardware and cutlery to the value of ;!^2, 139,738. Coal-mining. The importance of the coal industry in the United Kingdom has been enormously increased by the extension of the use of machinery and steam-ships, and of gas for lighting purposes. The invention of the safety lamp by George Stephenson and Sir Humphrey Davy, working independently of one another in 1815, enabled the workers in collieries to get coal with less danger from explosion of gas, and the use of the steam engine for raising coal enormously increased the output. The amount of the coal raised in the United Kingdom increased from 163,737,000 tons in 1883 to 220,085,000 tons in 1899. The amount of coal exported has also risen ; the value of the coal exports, which only reached ^£572, 848 in 1840, had in 1900 risen to ^^36,409,614. Products of Coal Gas. The residual products of coal gas manufacture, namely, coke, ammoniacal liquor and gas-tar, have all been utilised for commercial purposes, and have a considerable value. In 1856 W. H. Perkins discovered the industrial value of aniline, one of these residuals, and prepared, among other dyes, those known as mauve and magenta. Tar liquor yields by distilla- tion a number of other products of great and increasing industrial value. 244 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Paraffin. Among the other scientific inventions of the 19th century of commercial importance should be mentioned the discovery of an invention for the manufacture of paraffin oil from bitu- minous coal, a discovery which- was made by Mr. James Young, a Glasgow chemist, who took out a patent in 1850. The invention led to the utilisation of the bituminous shales of Scotland for the manufacture of paraffin, and to the use of paraffin instead of colza oil. Matches. Up to 1827 the chief means used for obtaining a light con- sisted of the tinder box containing charred linen or cotton rags, flint and steel and a piece of wood dipped in sulphur, which was ignited by striking the flint and the steel together : the lucifer match was introduced in 1827, and was followed by the Congreve match and the safety match, introduced in 1855 (Hodder, The Life of a Century, 34). Machinery. In almost every industry which is conducted on a large scale mechanical appliances are now used, and machine-made goods have in most cases driven hand-made goods out of the market. Many of these mechanical appliances are worked by steam power, but inventions have been introduced and are largely in use for the driving of engines by the explosion of gas (gas-engines), or by the explosion of oil, or by electricity. One of the most important instances of the application of steam-power to industry was the steam printing machine, invented by Frederick Koenig, a Saxon, and set to work in London in 181 1. Koenig applied his invention to the printing of newspapers, and his invention was taken up by John Walter, the proprietor of the Times, and was first used for the printing of that paper in 1814. The Koenig machine was improved upon by the machines of Cowper, Applegarth, and Richard Hoe, and bj' inventions in type-founding and electro- MACHINERY. 245 typing, the final outcome of which was the Walter Press (1868-9), by which 17,000 copies of a newspaper printed on both sides can be run off in an hour. Considerable improvements have also been made by the invention of tools and appliances for use in the manu- facture of machinery. Joseph Bramah, famous for his improvements in the making of locks and water-closets, in 179s invented his Hydraulic Press, for the raising of heavy ' weights. Henr}' Maudslay, who worked under Bramah, invented the slide-rest for use in the lathe, and machinery for punching boiler plates and cutting screws. Joseph Clement, who like Maudslay was trained under Bramah, improved the slide-lathe, invented a planing- machine, and a machine for the cutting of screws. Joseph (afterwards Sir Joseph) Whitworth, who was trained in the workshops of Maudslay and Clement, invented " the duplex lathe and planing, drilling, slotting, shaping and other machines," a measuring machine, and a system of standard measures and gauges, and introduced a uniform system of screw threads, which came into general use. Whitworth became famous also for the manufacture of rifles and rifled guns, and for the making of heavy ordnance from ductile or Whitworth steel, which he produced (about 1870) by applying extreme pressure to the fluid metal (Diet, of Nat. Biog., sub nom. Whitworth). James Nasmyth, also trained under Maudslay, invented the steam-hammer in 1837 and the pile-driver in 1843. Among •other great mechanicians of the igth century are James Fox, of Derby, who also invented a planing and screw- cutting machine and became celebrated for his lace machinery; Matthew Murray, of Leeds, who improved on Trevithick's locomotive, and invented a machine for heckling and spinning flax ; Richard Roberts, of Manchester, who invented an improved screw-lathe, an " oscillating and rotating gas-metfer," a planing-machine, a machine for the T246 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. punching of iron plates, and the self-acting mule for the spinning of cotton; Sir William Fairbairn, who improved the machinery used in cotton mills by substituting hght for heavy gearing, and introduced a machine for riveting boiler- plates by steam - power (Smiles, Industrial Biography). William George, Lord Armstrong (1810-1900), the founder of the celebrated Elswick works, became famous as a maker of heavy ordnance and a builder of iron ships, and invented a hydraulic crane, breech-loading cannon, and a new method of forging heavy ordnance. The advance made in the 19th century in mechanical skil may be seen by comparing George Stephenson's No. i engine (opposite page 225) with a modern locomotive built for the railway company which now owns the Stockton and Darling- ton line (opposite page 232), or by comparing the Comet (see page 232) with the Celtic. Among the great engineering achievements of the 19th century may be mentioned the Thames Tunnel, the first tunnel under the Thames, constructed (1825-1842) by Marc Isambard Brunei, the Mersey Tunnel (1885), the Severn Tunnel (1887), the Forth Bridge (1890), the Manchester Ship Canal (1887) ; great advance has been made in drainage works, the best specimen of which perhaps is the system by which the whole of the drainage of London is carried down to Barking and Cross Ness, and in the construction of reser- voirs, the most remarkable instance of which is Vyrnwy reservoir for the supply of water to Liverpool. Textile Fabrics. The woollen manufacture, which for long was the staple industry of England, has been far out-distanced by the cotton manufacture. Cotton goods head the list of exports from the United Kingdom ; the value of cotton goods (excluding yarn) exported has risen from ^17,577,162 in 1840 to ;^62,oo9,i5o in 1900. The exports of woollen goods show signs of decline SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES. 247 in recent years, for while the value rose from ^£5,326,203 in 1840 to ^2i,324,8ci8 in 1889, in 1900 the value was only ;^iS,682,iS4. The trade in linen goods is at present stationary or declining, the value of exports being ^£^3, 265, 998 in 1840, ;£S.777,465 in 1889, and ^£5,224,594 in 1900. The exports in silk show a decline in recent years ; though they rose in value from _;^792,648 in 1840 to ;ir2, 604,000 in 1870; in 1900 the total value (including yarn) was only ;^2,o63,s62. Scientific Discoveries. The study of natural science made the most rapid strides during the 19th century, and led to many discoveries which have been practically applied to commercial and industrial purposes. Quite a new industry sprang up on the Tyne and in South Lancashire in the manufacture of chemicals, such as carbonate of sodium, sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, bleaching powder and alkali. Electricity. Electricity, the study of which made the most wonderful advances during the 19th century, has been practically applied to the plating and gilding of metals, to the conveyance of messages by telegraph and telephones, and to lighting and traction. Electro-plating. The discovery of various processes of electro-metallurgy, by which a deposit of one metal may be made upon another by means of electricity, led to the introduction of the industry of electro-plating and electro-gilding by George Richard Elkington and Henry Richard Elkington, and John Wright. Up to 1840 plated silver goods had been made only by rolling or soldering thin sheets of silver upon copper. The two Elkingtons took out a patent in 1838 for the application of an electric current to electro-plating, and in 1840 Wright discovered the best liquid for electro-plating, namely solutions 248 CSMMERCIAL HISTORY. of the cyanides of gold and silver in cyanide of potassium, which the El'.ingtons patented and used in their works in Birmingham for the making of electro-plated and electro- gilded goods. Electric Telegraph. Experiments had been made for conveying signals or messages by means of an electric current from 1729 onwards. Practical success was not obtained till 1837, when Morse in America, and Wheatstone and Cooke in England invented a fine needle telegraph for the transmission of messages, and the invention was put to practical use by the construction of a telegraph line for use on the Blackwall Railway! In 1841 Bain invented an electric telegraph with a printing apparatus for recording the results; and in 1843 Cooke introduced the plan of suspending the wire on posts. In 1846 the Electric Telegraph Company was formed, and after 1868 the Post Office acquired all the telegraphs in the United Kingdom and the legal monopoly of conveying telegraphic messages for hire. Submarine telegraph cables were laid from Gosport to Ports- mouth, then from Dublin to Holyhead, and in 1851 from Dover to Calais. The first Atlantic telegraph cable was laid in 1865-6, and now most of the countries of the world are in telegraphic communication with one another. In 1898 the Marconi process was introduced, by which telegraphic com- munication at sea can be maintained without the use of wires. About the year 1877 the telephone was invented, and has since been considerably improved, and has come into general use for business purposes. By this means a conversation can be carried on between a person in one place and another person at a distance of several hundreds of miles. Electric Lighting. Sir Humphrey Davy, in 1813, obtained a dazzling light by transmitting a powerful electric current between two sticks of carbon ; Greener and Staite took out a patent in 1846 for a o \ P 1e' Vu ■'. ELECTRIC TRACTION. 249 process by which small lumps of carbon, inclosed in air- tight vessels, were rendered luminous by electric currents. In 1846 the electric light was used on the operatic stage in Paris, in 1858 at the South Foreland lighthouse, and in 1862 at Dungeness; and from the time of the International Exhibition of Electrical Appliances at Paris, in 1881, it began to come into general use, and the inventors of the Brush, Crompton, Lewis, Jablochkoflf, Jamin and Werdermann arc- lights, and of the Swan, Edison, Maxim and Lane-Fox incandescent lamps introduced such improvements that it has now (1901) become generally used for the lighting of houses, shops, and large public buildings (by the incandescent system), and of railway stations, docks, streets, etc., by the arc-system. Electric Traction. Electricity as a motive-power has been applied in quite recent times to the drawing of tram-cars, railway trains and other vehicles. Photography. Another result of the great advances in science is to be seen in the progress of the art of photography, which took its rise about the beginning of the 19th century ; Wedgwood in 1802 published, with the assistance of Sir Humphrey Davy, an account of a method of making profiles by the agency of light upon nitrate of silver ; the photographic process was probably invented by a Frenchman, Nicdphore de Niepce, about 1814-1827 ; he communicated the process to Daguerre, who invented the Daguerrotype picture in 1839 ; in the same year in England the Fox-Talbot or calotype process was invented ; great improvements have been made by the invention of the collodion process (1850), of dry plates, the collodion emulsion process (1864), and the gelatin emulsion process (i88i) ; by means of these and similar improvements the period of exposure necessary to produce a picture has been lessened from half-an-hour to a fraction of a second. 250 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Population. The population of England and Scotland increased at a rapid rate during the 19th century, while the population of Ireland rapidly declined. The population has risen in England and Wales from a little under nine millions in 1801 to 32^ millions in 1 90 1, and in Scotland from a little over i^ millions in 1801 to nearly 4I millions in 1901, while in Ireland the population declined from a little over eight millions in 1841 to a little under 4^ millions in 1901. The tendency in England has been for the population to crowd into the towns and manufacturing districts, especially in the north of England, where towns such as Barrow and Middlesbrough have sprung up, which are the growth of the 19th century ; in many of the purely rural districts of England and Wales the population has considerably declined. Food supplies from abroad. With the vast increase in the population Britain has become more and more dependent on supplies of food obtained from abroad. The values of food-stuffs imported into the United Kingdom in 1900 were as follows : of corn, grain, meal and flour nearly 59 millions, of meat nearly 36 millions, of butter nearly 20 millions, of fruit over 13I millions, of living animals (excluding horses) over lo-^ millions, of cheese over 6| millions, of eggs nearly 5^ millions, of vegetables nearly 4I millions, of lard over 3^ millions, of milk nearly i| millions. The importation of vast amounts of fresh meat from distant countries was made possible by the introduction of refrigerating machinery, which was first employed on the steam-ship Strathleven, trading with Australia in 1878, and has since been considerably improved. One of the results of the enormous increase in the impor- tation of articles of food grown abroad has been a great fall in the price of agricultural produce and considerable ENGLISH COLONIES. — CANADA. 251 depression in agriculture in England, in spite of many improvements in agricultural implements and the application of chemical discoveries to the cultivation of the soil and the introduction of improved manures. Of all English industries agriculture is at the present day one of the least prosperous. The great increase of population in Great Britain also led to a considerable increase in emigration, and to the rapid growth of many of the English colonies. English Colonies. Canada. The 19th century has seen a great increase in the pros- perity and an extension in the boundaries of "Canada. The navigation of the St. Lawrence has been improved, so that ocean steamers can reach Montreal ; railways, telegraphs, and ship canals have been built ; regular lines of steam-ships have been established with Europe, and a system established for the encouragement and organising of immigration. In 1867 all the British provinces in North America except Newfoundland were united, and formed the Dominion of Canada, to which have since been added the wheat-growing province of Manitoba in 1870, Vancouver's Island and British Columbia in 1871, and the territories which formerly belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company. The Dominion now extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and its whole length is traversed by the Canadian Pacific Railway, in connection with which a line of steamers runs between Vancouver's Island and Japan and China. Products of Canada. The chief product of Canada is its yellow pine, the wood of which is cut, floated down the river to the lakes, and thence conveyed to Montreal and Quebec, and thence distributed all over the world. Canada also exports great quantities of corn, flour, beef, pork, cheese and tinned salmon. It has enormous suppHes of mineral oil. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have abundance of coal. Gold is found in British Columbia, 252 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. and the rich gold-field of Klondyke has lately been opened up on the border of Alaska. Canada is rich in other metals, iron, copper and lead. The vast prairies to the west and north- west grow enormous crops of wheat or feed vast herds of cattle. British Columbia affords an almost inexhaustible supply of timber and fish. With all these advantages Canada has become one of the leading mercantile countries in the world, and with its enormous territories, which only need settlers to open them up, has almost boundless capacities for commercial development. The value of the exports from Canada has increased from over seventeen million pounds in 1879 to over forty-seven millions in 1900, and of the imports from over twenty millions in 1879 to over forty-seven millions in 1900. The bulk of her trade is with Great Britain and the United States. The West Indies. The commercial decline of the West Indies was accelerated by the abolition of slavery in 1834, the opening of English markets to the competition of foreign sugar by the abolition of the protective duties on foreign sugar in 1846, and the competition of beet-root sugar made on the European con- tinent and fostered by bounties. Of the sugar now con- sumed in England more than one-half is sugar made from beetroot; in 1899-1900 5,607,944 tons of beet sugar were produced, chiefly in Germany and Austria, and only 2,839,500 tons of cane sugar. Jamaica, in particular, has declined in prosperity, and has also suffered from troubles with the emancipated negroes, but in recent years an attempt has been made to revive its prosperity by opening up direct trade in bananas and other fruits with Bristol. Trinidad and British Guiana on the other hand have increased in prosperity. The exports and imports from Trinidad in 1899 were over 2^ millions each, while the imports and exports from Jamaica were a little over i| millions each. AUSTRALIA. 253 Australia. The growth of Australia is still more marvellous than that of Canada. The first settlement in Australia was only made in 1787, and before the end of the 19th century the greater part of the habitable portion was colonised from England, and became rich and prosperous. The prosperity of the oldest colony, New South Wales (founded 1787), was based on wool, the successful exportation of which to England led to an increase in the settled area of the colony, and to a great flow of immigrants from England. In 1822 the Swan River Colony, now called Western Australia, was founded, in 1836 South Australia, in 1851 Victoria, and in 1859 Queensland. In 1851 the discovery of gold near Bathurst, in New South Wales, and of the enormously rich gold- field of Ballarat in Victoria, led to a vast influx of settlers from Europe. Representative government was established in New South Wales in 1836 and subsequently in all the other colonies, and in 1 900 all the Australian colonies were united under one Federal Government on a plan similar to that of the Dominion of Canada. Trade of Australia. The value of the exports from New South Wales, the most prosperous of Australian colonies, amounted in 1899 to over _;^27, 000,000, and of the imports to over ,^^24,000,000 ; of these the exports to the United Kingdom were of the value of over ;^ro,ooo,ooo, the chief being wool of the value of over ;£'2, 000,000, copper, lead, leather, tallow, butter and meat ; the imports from the United Kingdom were of the value of over ;^6,ooo,ooo, the chief import being cotton goods to the value of over ;^9oo,ooo. The value of the exports of Victoria, the next colony in importance, in the same year amounted to over ;^i8,ooo,ooo, and the imports to over ;^i 7,000,000 ; the exports to the United Kingdom were of the value of ;^6,ooo,ooo, the chief being wool and gold of the value of 2 54 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. over _;^2, 000,000 each, copper, leather, skins, tallow, butter and meat ; the value of the imports from the United Kingdom was over ^4,000,000, the chief being cotton goods. Queens- land exported in 1899 goods of the value of over ^11,000,000, of which goods of the value of over ;^3,ooo,ooo, the chief of which were wool, tallow, shells, and meat, were exported to the United Kingdom ; the imports were of the value of over ^6,000,000, of which goods of the value of over ^^2, 000,000 were imported from the United Kingdom, the chief import being iron goods. The value of the exports from South Australia in 1899 was over _;^8,ooo,ooo, and of the imports over ;£'6, 000,000 ; the value of the exports to the United Kingdom being over _;^2, 000,000, and of the imports from the United Kingdom being nearly ^£2, 000,000 ; the chief exports from South Australia are wool, cattle, horses and lead. In West Australia, till lately the most backward of all the colonies, large deposits of gold have been discovered in the neighbourhood of Coolgardie, and its total exports of gold in 1899 were of the value of nearly ^1,500,000. Tasmania exports tin, silver, copper and gold ; the value of its exports in 1899 was over ,^^2,000,000, and of its imports over _;^i, 000,000. New Zealand. The islands that form New Zealand were first settled in 1814, but were not regularly colonised till 1839. At first New Zealand formed a part of New South Wales, but became a separate colony in 1841. It has had greater difficulties to contend against than the colonies of Australia, the Maories or natives of New Zealand being a much braver and stronger race than the aborigines of Australia. Constitutional govern- ment was established in 1852. The value of the exports from New Zealand in 1899 was over ;^ii,ooo,ooo, and of the imports over _;^8,ooo,ooo ; the value of the exports to the United Kingdom was over ^^9,000,000, wool of the value of SOUTH AFRICA. 255 over ;^4,ooo,ooo being the chief, and frozen mutton of the value of over _;^2, 000,000 being the second ; the value of the imports from the United Kingdom in 1899 was over ^^4,500,000, the chief imports being iron and steel, and cotton goods. South Africa. The history of Cape Colony, which was settled by the Dutch in the middle of the 17th century, and ceded to England in 1815, has been a troubled one, owing to difficulties with the intractable Dutch population, and to wars with the Kaffirs, a warlike and powerful race of natives. The area of the colony has been from time to time considerably enlarged by new settlements, and in 1874 constitutional government was established. The abolition of slavery in 1834 and the pro- tection afforded by the English Government to the native population led to difficulties with the Dutch settlers, many of whom " trekked " to the north and settled in the Orange River State (1836), Natal (1835-7), and the Transvaal (1840). Natal was declared British territory in 1843, and became a separate colony in 1856. The Orange River State, after being declared British territory in 1 848, was allowed to become independent in 1854 , the independence of the Transvaal was recognised in ^852, it was annexed to England in 1877, revolted in 1880, and was recognised as independent in 1881 ; war having broken out in 1899 between Great Britain and the Transvaal and the Orange River State, the last two states were annexed to Great Britain in 1 900. To the north of the Transvaal the vast territory of Rhodesia, of about 750,000 square miles, has been added to the British Empire by the operation of the British South African Company, which was chartered in 1889. South Africa is enormously rich in minerals; diamonds were found in 1867 in the district round the modern town of Kimberley, which became British territory in 187 1 ; gold is found in the Transvaal, Rhodesia 256 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. and Cape Colony, and copper in Cape Colony, which is also a great wool-producing country. The value of the exports from Cape Colony in 1889 amounted to over _;^23,ooo,ooo, and of the imports into the colony to over _;^i 5,000,000 ; of the exports to the United Kingdom (over _;^9,ooo,ooo in value) the most valuable are diamonds of the value of over ^^4,000,000, and wool of the value of over ;^2, 000,000 ; of the imports from the United Kingdom (over ;^8,ooo,ooo in value) the most valu- able are iron and steel, machinery and cotton goods. India. After the suppression of the Indian Mutiny the government of India was transferred in 1858 from the East India Company to the Crown, and the Company ceased to exist. Under the direct government of the Crown India has increased in prosperity and wealth, a system of railways has been estab- lished, works of irrigation have been improved, and docks and harbours built ; the total sea-borne trade in the years 1899-1900 was of the value of over ^142,000,000. The chief exports are rice, hides and skins, seeds, raw cotton, tea, cotton yarn and cloth, opium, jute, wheat and indigo ; the chief imports are cotton goods, metals, sugar, railway plant, machinery and woollen goods. Of the sea-borne trade of India more than one-half is carried on with the United Kingdom. The other British possessions in and near Asia now include Ceylon (ceded in 1815), the Straits Settlements, i.e. Singa- pore (occupied in 1819 and ceded in 1824), Penang (ceded in 1786), the Wellesley Province (ceded in 1798), and the dependent Federated Malay States ; Hong Kong (ceded by China in 1842), Wei-Hai-Wei, Labuan, British North Borneo, Sarawak and Aden. Ceylon and the Straits Settle- ments are the most prosperous of these possessions, the Straits Settlements in particular being the centre of a thriving trade. -^# MA)| THE M SHOsi THE BRITJi Steaiirer j^. Chief Tele^i^ British Fosses.^ I60 J80 160 140 120 lOO 20 40 ao 100 I20 140 ^ OF ORLD INO H EMPTRB, w coloured red ^ o ^^^ 20 Meridifti. O of Greeu, 20 80 100 120 140 W a,/ /J A>'^w Sf'^ 7>tf CENhTB*Lj ^ >,BERARVPfflOV.I(^j;i =.p^ A I DA R A B Vo%ll "• -■-''■'■■'•■■y^~~fi^iesiniirievRoS3£i3 aidarabad\ ' -^N"^ .MAI5U., =1- -H-."-. -Man 1021-^ b'YALLA'QiLLAS'l LOflg. EflSt 88 FREE TRADE. 2 57 Free Trade. Sine; the time of Adam Smith the science of political economy has been still further developed by many dis- tinguished writers, the most celebrated of whom in England are Malthus (author of 'An Essay on the Principles of Population, 1798), Ricardo (author of Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, 1817), James Mill, McCulloch, John Stuart Mill (author of Principles of Political Economy, 1848), J. E. Cairnes, Bagehot, Chffe Leslie, and Jevons. The general trend of the writers on political economy has been towards free tiade and the tendency of the political and commercial world since 1820 in England has been in the same direction. Huskisson, who became President of the Board of Trade in 1823, passed a series of measures having a free trade tendency. The Navigation Acts were modified in 1824 and 1829 so that the shipping of any foreign state in the ports of the United Kingdom could be placed on a footing of equality with English shipping provided such state afforded reciprocal privileges in its ports to British ships. A number of reciprocity treaties followed with different states between 1824 and 1842. The duties on imported cotton, woollen, linen, silk, leather, earthenware, iron manufactured goods, olive oil, sugar, copper, tin, lead, wool and other raw materials, and on salt, manufactured glass, British spirits, hides and skins, and French wines were reduced. Poulett Thomson (Lord Sydenham), who was Vice-president of the Board of Trade in 1830, carried out many improvements in the customs duties and did much for the advancement of free trade and financial reform. By Lord Althorpe's budget of 1833 the taxes on coal, tallow candles, printed calico, glass and tobacco were reduced, the duties on a large amount of articles which produced but a trifling revenue were abolished, and by the equalising of the duties on French wines with |hose on Portuguese wines, the policy of the Methuen treaty (page 179) was definitely abandoned. 77 Com. Hist. 258 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Repeal of the Corn Laws and Navigation Acts. The fall of the price in wheat, which followed on the opening of the continental ports after the peace of 181 5, led to an outcry on the part of the farmers, to meet which an Act was passed in the teeth of some opposition to prohibit the importation of wheat when the price was over 80s. a quarter. In 1822 this Act was amended by allowing the importation ofj foreign wheat when the price was 70s., with a sliding scale! of duty which was lowered as the price of wheat rose, i Further changes were introduced in 1828 and 1842. In j 1838 an agitation in favour of the repeal of the Corn '1 Laws was begun by the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League. In 1846 Sir Robert Peel carried a measure for the total repeal of all the corn duties except a is. duty, which was abolished later on in 1869 In 1848 the differential sugar duties, which had been introduced for the purpose of favouring the sugar trade of the British West Indies, and had from time to time been successively reduced, were abolished altogether. In 1842 Sir Robert Peel carried a measure for the revision of the customs tariff, by which he reduced con- siderably all duties on the raw materials of manufacture, all duties on goods wholly or partially manufactured, and all export duties ; he re-introduced the income tax, which had been discontinued since 1812. In 1843 he abolished the pro- hibition in the exportation of machinery, and in 1844 the duty on wool ; he also reduced the duties on currants, coffee, and marine insurance. In 1845 he abolished the duty on cotton wool and on glass, and on 430 articles which produced but a slight revenue, and still further reduced the timber duties ; in 1846 he reduced the duties on linen, woollen and cotton manu- factured goods, on silk, stained paper, metal, and leather manufactured goods, earthenware, carriages, butter, cheese, and hops. In 1849 the last relic of the mercantile system in our legislation disappeared with the repeal of the Navigation Acts, at the instance of Mr. Henry Labouchere (afterwards PROGRESS, SPECULATION, AND COMMERCIAL CRISES. 259 Lord Taunton), the restriction of the coasting trade to British vessels being retained till 1853, when it was abolished. The usury laws, prohibiting the charging of interest above five per cent., were repealed in 1854. Mr. W. E. Gladstone, as Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1853, abolished the excise duty on soap, reduced the duty on tea and on many articles of food and on receipts, put an end to all differential duties, and freed from duty altogether 123 articles which only produced a small amount of revenue ; he re-imposed the income tax which had been discontinued in 1852, and imposed a succession duty. In 1855 the newspaper duty, in 1861 the paper duty, and in 1880 the malt tax, were repealed. Export duties have now (1901) been entirely abolished except the small export duty on coal imposed in 1901 ; the only articles on which import duties are levied are : — playing-cards, cocoa, coffee, chicory, dried fruits, tea, tobacco, wine and beer, spirits, liqueurs, cordials and other articles manufactured of or containing spirits. Progress, Speculation, and Commercial Crises. The years immediately following the peace of 181 5 were a time of depression of trade and considerable distress among the labouring classes. The revival of trade in 1820-2, led to an increase in speculation. The independence of the Central and South American States that revolted from Spain was recognised in 1823 by England, and exaggerated expecta- tions were formed in consequence of the accounts of the rich- ness of their mines. English capital was largely invested in these countries, and the rise of the shares of the Mexican and South American mining companies to an extraordinary value led to a considerable amount of gambling on the Stock Exchange. Foreign loans also became "the rage," and large sums were invested in Portuguese, Greek, Mexican, Brazilian, Peruvian and Buenos Ayres securities. The remitting of large sums for foreign loans (;^48,ooo,ooo between 182 1 and 1825) and foreign mining led to a commercial crisis, and a 26o COMMERCIAL HISTORY. number of failures of companies and commercial houses in 1825. In 1835 and 1836 there was a fresh outburst of specu- lation, especially in the shares of the new joint-stock banking companies which were formed after 1827, when an Act was passed permitting the formation of joint-stock banking com- panies outside London ; a clause in the Bank Charter Act of 1833 having opened the door for the establishment of such companies in London, the London and Westminster Bank began business in 1834 and opened a number of branches in different parts of London ; the London Joint-Stock Bank followed in 1836, and others shortly after. In 1837 a great crash among the American banks produced another com- mercial crisis, and a great number of failures in England. In 1844 Sir Robert Peel passed the Bank Charter Act, which regulates the issue of notes of the Bank of England. By this Act the Bank was forbidden to issue upon securities notes to a larger amount than ^£'14,000,000; above that sum notes must correspond to the amount of bullion held by the Bank. In 1847 another commercial crisis followed, caused to a great extent by over-speculation in railway shares and in the iron trade, by a shortness in the American cotton crop, and by the failure in 1846 of the Irish potato crop ; the Government authorised the Bank of England to extend the issue of notes beyond the prescribed limit, and the crisis soon came to an end. The outbreak in 1854 of the Crimean War between England and Russia produced for a time in England a sudden rise in the prices of Russian products such as grain, tallow, hemp, flax, wool, and timber, but the rise was only temporary, as Russian produce came into this country through Prussia and Holland, and large supplies of grain came from America and of hemp from India. The increase of commercial intercourse with China and with Japan and the industrial progress of India led to a vast expansion of English trade with the East ; the excess of exports from India and the East over the imports, and the PROGRESS, SPECULATiON, AND COMMERCIAL CRISES. 261 employment of English capital in railways and other industrial undertakings in India, made it necessary to export large quantities of silver to the East ; this export, along with the necessity for remitting large sums of money to the Crimea for the support of the war there, produced a scarcity of bullion in England, and the bank rate of discount, which is an indication of the available amount of money in the country, rose from 2^ per cent, in 1849 ^° 9 P^r cent, in 1857. In 1857 a com- mercial crisis in America was followed by a panic in England, and the stoppage of a number of banks in Liverpool, Glasgow and London, a great fall in prices, especially of Chinese and Indian goods, and much financial embarrassment ; the crisis was alleviated as before by the Government allowing the Bank of England to extend their issue of notes beyond the prescribed limit. Commercial relations between France and England were improved by the Treaty of Commerce concluded between the two countries in i860 ; by this treaty, which was to last for ten years, France agreed to remove all prohibitions from her tariff and to reduce the duties on a number of articles of British produce and manufacture, and England agreed to abolish the duty on a number of articles of the production or manufacture of France, and to reduce the duties on wines and spirits ; English trade with France increased from _;^26,432,ooo in 1859 to ^59,590,000 in 1870. Similar treaties were con- cluded by England with Belgium (1862), Italy (1863), the Zollverein or fiscal union of German states (1865), and Austria (1865). The Civil War between the Federal and Confederate States of America (1861-65) produced serious disturbance in English trade. The Southern States of America were the chief source of the English cotton supply; in i860 England im- ported 1,391,000,000 pounds of cotton, of which 1,115,890,000 pounds came from the United States. The blockade of the ports of the Southern States interrupted this supply, and in 262 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. 1862 the imports of cotton from the United States sank to 6,394,000 pounds. The price of cotton in consequence rose enormously and in 1864 was more than four times what it was in i860. The imports of caitton from India increased enor- mously, but not sufficiently to meet the demand, and there was a cotton famine in Lancashire causing widespread dis- tress, which was not relieved till the American Civil War ended. The transmission of silver to India to pay for the increased importation of cotton, and a great increase in specu- lation caused by the formation of a large number of joint- stock companies, produced another financial crisis. The growth of joint-stock companies had been fostered by the Companies Act of 1862, which permitted any seven or more persons associated for any lawful commercial purpose by subscribing a memorandum of association to constitute themselves a company, with limited or unlimited liability ; the Act facilitated the formation of companies, the liability of a shareholder in which is limited to the amount of the shares which he takes. From 1856 to 1868 there were formed in England 7,056 companies, of which 6,960 were limited liability companies. Many of these were companies of a highly speculative character ; excessive speculation and the drain of treasure to the East produced the crisis of 1866, when the great banking and financial company of Overend, Gurney and Company failed and there followed a large number of failures, a sudden panic, and a great fall in the value of the shares of banking and other public companies ; the bank rate of discount was raised to 10 per cent., and for the third time the Bank of England was allowed to transgress the limits of the Bank Charter Act. Since 1866, although there have been periods of commercial depression, and although the number of joint- stock companies has been constantly increasing and there has been much gambling and speculation in trade, there has been no great panic in London similar to that which is con- nected with the failure of Overend, Gurney and Company. CURRENCY. 263 Currency. The currency was established on a satisfactory basis by an Act of 181 6, which declared that thenceforth gold alone should be the standard value, and that silver, which pre- viously had been legal tender to any amount, should be legal tender to the extent of 40s. only. In 1833 Bank of England notes were made legal tender in all transactions except at the Bank itself. The enormous increase in the gold supplies caused by the discovery of gold in California in 1847 and in Australia in 1851 induced some continental countries to demonetise some of their gold coins, and silver as compared with gold for a short time increased in value, but England made no change, and the wisdom of the policy of its statesmen was seen in the fact that the plethora of gold soon disappeared with an enormous expansion of trade all over the world, and gold soon recovered its ancient supremacy. In recent years the value of silver has been steadily declining ; it sank in London from 3s. iifd. peroz. in 1890 to 2s. 3^^d. in 1899. National Debt. Considerable progress has been made since the peace of 1815 in paying-ofF part of the. National Debt, which in 1900 stood at ;£639,i65,26s as compared with _;^86i, 039,049 in 1815 ; the annual charges have also been lightened by the conversion of stock bearing a high rate of interest into stock issued at a lower rate. The interest which was 8 per cent, when the debt was funded in 1694 had been lowered to 5 per cent, in 1822, in which year the 5 per cent, stock was reduced to 4 per cent. ; in 1824 and 1830 the 4 per cent, stock was reduced to 3^, and subsequently the 3^ was reduced first to 3 and afterwards to 2|, and at the present time (1901) the Government are able to borrow at the rate of 2^ per cent. These successive reductions in the rate of interest are indi- cative of the enormous increase in capital during the 19th century. 264 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. Industrial Legislation. Tradies Unions. Up to 1824 severe laws had been in force prohibiting the combination of workmen for the purpose of obtaining an advance of wages or for similar purposes. In 1824 and 1825 these laws were repealed, and in 1871 an Act was passed by which trades unions were legalised. Trades Unions have grown considerably in power and wealth in modern times, and the consequence has been the increase of strikes and lock-outs. In 1824 the legislative restrictions on the free movement of workmen (see ante page 168) were repealed. Considerable improvement in the administration of the poor law was introduced by the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, which established a central body (now the Local Government Board), to supervise the administration of the law and to group parishes into unions ; the duty of relieving the poor was transferred from the overseers to Boards of Guardians created for each union. The Statute of Apprentices (see page 143) was repealed partly in 1814 and wholly in 1875. Truck Acts. The various Acts that had been passed from 1464 onwards prohibiting the payment of wages in goods had proved in- effective, and more stringent measures were passed in the Truck Acts of 1831, 1887 and 1896, prohibiting the payment of wages of artificers except in cash, and restricting the exaction of fines and deductions from wages. Factory Acts. The evils resulting from the collection of large numbers of workers in factories led to the passing of a niimber of Acts to limit the hours of labour in factories, and to provide means to protect the health of the factory workers. The earliest of these Acts were the two passed at the instance of Sir Robert Peel (the father of the statesman) in 1802 and 1819 with reference to cotton, woollen, worsted and flax mills. More comprehensive Acts were afterwards passed in 1832 1867 TRADE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM IN I90I. 265 1878, 1883, 1891, 189s and 1901 to limit the employment of children and women, to provide for holidays and for sanitary regulations, and for the appointment of factory inspectors to ensure the carrying out of the provisions of the Acts. Acts of a similar character have been passed relating to workers in mines. The Merchant Shipping Act of 1894 contains a number of provisions for securing the safety, comfort and well-being of sailors engaged in British merchant ships. Other Acts passed in the interests of the working classes are the Employers' Liability Act, 1880, providing for the com- pensation of workmen injured in the course of their employ- ment in certain cases, and the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1897, which extends still further the obligation of the master to make compensation for injuries caused by accidents in certain industries. Trade of the United Kingdom .n 1901. The enormous development of the foreign trade of the United Kingdom is seen in the progressive increase of the exports and imports; in 1900 the total value of the imports was ^523.°7S,i63 and of the exports ^^354,373)754- The value of the imports in 1900 has increased more than eighteen-fold since 1800 and the value of the exports more than ten-fold. The enormous excess of imports over exports is a feature of recent years ; up to 1850 and afterwards the exports exceeded the imports, but in 1900 the value of the imports exceeded that of the exports by _;;^i68,7oi,4o9. This excess of imports over exports is generally explained by the facts that large amounts of English capital are invested in foreign government securities and industrial enterprises, and that English shipping carries a large proportion of the trade of the world ; the United Kingdom is not carrying on a losing trade, but interest on capital invested abroad and charges for carrying merchandise are paid for by an excess of imports. 266 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. The list of imported articles is headed by grain and flour, next to which come raw cotton, wool, sheep and lambs, sugar, butter, wood and timber, siljc and silk goods, flax with hemp and jute, tea, woollen manufactures and yarn. The list of exported articles is headed by cotton manufactures, next to which come coal, iron and steel, woollen and worsted manufactured goods, machinery, chemicals, ships, linen manufactured goods, apparel and haberdashery. In inter- national commerce the United Kingdom has many keen competitors, the most formidable of which are the United States and Germany, which are pressing hard upon our heels in the manufacture of machinery, hardware and textile goods, for which England at one time was unrivalled. English trade also suffers severely from the hostile tariffs imposed upon our goods in many of the countries of the world, England almost alone of all the countries of the world has adopted and steadily adhered to the policy of free trade, while other countries not only impose protective duties for the benefit of their manufactures but encourage their own industries by the granting of bounties. Protective duties and bounties injure some English industries, but benefit the English consumer by cheapening commodities. In fact English economical policy has to some extent returned to the ideal of Edward III., and prefers plenty to power. English shipping also benefits considerably from protection in other countries, and its volume is very considerable. In 1899 the number of registered British vessels was 20,196 and the net tonnage 9,164,342. Of the ships that entered the ports of the United Kingdom in 1899 the tonnage of British ships was 65,649,000 tons, and of foreign ships 32,134,000 tons. In spite of competition and difficulties, the United Kingdom by reason of the volume of its shipping and foreign trade retains the commercial and industrial supremacy which it gained in the course of the 19th century. TABLE OF DATES. 267 476 ... io66 ... 1086 1095-1270 ... 1171 1-3IS B.C. Gades founded about 1950 Carthage „ ... 850 Rome „ 753 Earliest Greek colony in Italy ... before 735 Trireme invented about 700 Byzantium founded ... 657 Massalta ,, ... 597 Lydians coin gold about 568 Greeks defeat Persians at Salamis ... 4S0 Peloponnesian War 431-404 Conquests of Alexander the Great 331 Augustus, Emperor of Rome 30 A.D. Fall of the Empire of the West Norman Conquest Domesday Survey The Crusades Bank of Venice founded Magna Charta ... Travels of Marco Polo 1217 Beginning of the Han- seatic League about 1239 Merchant Adventurers at Antwerp 1296 Ordinanceof the Staple 1328 Black Death ... 1348-9 Statutes of Labourers i35». 1357. 1360 Ordinances against usury 1363, 1390 Peasant Revolt 1381 First Navigation Act... 1389 Portuguese begin to explore Africa ... 1418 First book printed in England 1474 Diaz reaches Cape of Good Hope 14S6 Columbus crosses the Atlantic 1492 Cabot discovers Labra- dor '497 Discovery of Newfound- land about 1498 Vasco da Gama sails round Africa 1498 Magellan's expedition Chancellor's voyage to Russia 1553 Jenkinson'stravels 1557-1571 Sir John Hawkins begins the Atlantic slave-trade 1562 Statute of Apprentices 1563 Royal Exchange founded 1568 TABLE OF DATES, Drake sails round the a.d. world 1577-80 Privileges of Hanse Merchants in Eng- land abrogated ... 1578 Cavendish sails round the world ... 1586-8 Guinea (African) Com- pany formed 1588 William Lee invents the stocking frame . 1589 Lancaster's voyage to the East Indies 1591-2 East India Company formed 1600 Poor Law 1601 Dutch East India Com- pany formed 1602 Permanent settlement of Virginia 1607 Permanent settlement of Canada 1609 Earliest specifications of patents 1617 Dud Dudley smelts iron with pit coal 1619 Foundation of Plymouth (America) 1620 Exciseduties introduced 1643 Navigation Acts 1651, 1660 English capture Jamaica 1655 Commercial Dock opened 1660 French East India Company formed ... 1664 Hudson's Bay Com- pany formed ... 1670 First regular fire insu- rance office 1681 Dampier visits Aus- tralia 1688 Bank of England founded 1694 Savery's steam-engine 1698 Methuen Treaty ... 1703* Union of England and Scotland 1707 Construction of wet dock at Liverpool ... 1709 Newcomen's atmos- pheric engine 17H Treaty of Utrecht ... 1713 South Sea Bubble ... 1720 Lloyd's List started ... 1726 Victory of Clive at Plassy 1757 Brindley's first canal ... 1761 Peace of Paris 1763 Stamp Act 17S5 Captain Cook's voyages 1768-1772 Watt patents his steam- engine 1769 Arkwright patents his a.d. spinning-roller ... 1769 Stock Exchange formed 1773 Hargreaves invents the Spinning Jenny ... 1774 Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" fjlS First iron bridge (Coal- brookdale) ... . 1777 Crompton invents the Mule Jenny ... 1779 Independence of United States recognised ... 1783 Inventions of Onions and Cort ... 1783-4 American cotton sent to Liverpool 1784 Cartwright invents the power loom 1787 First English settle- ment in Australia ... 1788 First iron vessel ... 1790 Union of England and Ireland ... ., iSoi Orders in Council 1806-7 Abolition of the slave trade '. 1807 First Gas Company formed ... ... 1810 Koenig invents the steam printing machine 1811 The Comet ... 1812 Gold made the sole standard 1816 First steamship crosses the Atlantic ... ,. 1819 Huskisson's free trade measures ... 1823 Stockton and Darling- ton railway opened... 1825 First steamship from England to India ... 1825 Abolition of slavery by England ... 1834 Electric telegraph in- vented 1837 Cunard Company founded 1838 Penny post established 1841 Bank Charter Act ... 1844 Repeal of the Corn Laws ... 1846 Repeal of the Naviga- tion Acts 1849 Government of India transferred to the Crown 1S58 Suez Canal opened ... 1859 Atlantic Cable laid 1865-6 Dominion of Canada formed 1867 Commonwealth of Aus- tralia formed 1900 2 68 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. PAGE Adriatic Sea ... 31, 34 JEgeau Sea 30 Africa 19, 23, 25, 116, 136, 181, 237 Agriculture iS»43»45»7o»8o, 140, 166, 250 Alexandria ... 20, 236 Althorpe Lord 257 Alum 128 Amber 34 Amboyna 133, 136 America ... iii, 113, 146 Amsterdam 132 Antwerp 64, 132, 165 Apprentices, Statute of 143, 264 Arabs 18, 51, 60 Ariminum 44 Arithmetic ... 27, 51 Arkvvright, Sir Richard 198 Armenia 6 Armour 58, 59 Armstrong, Lord ... 246 Artisans, foreign 6g, 78, 142 Asia 8, 48, 256 Assiento, the 149 Assyria 10 Astronomy ... 13, 27, 51 Athens ... ... 30 Atlantic Ocean 24. 34. "4. 231 „ Cable ... 248 Atmospheric engine 161', 190 Australia 156, 187, 188, 253 Babylon , 13 Bacon, Anthony... 194 Baffin, William... ■55 Bagdad 51 Bahamas 117 Baltic trade 61, 77 QS, 239 Bank of St. George (Genoa) 57 ,, Barcelona ... 59 „ Venice 58 „ England 171, 222 260 „ Charter Act 260 Banking 46, 57, 58 . 59 73, 137. 170. l82. 260 Bankruptcy 144. 168 Bantam 132 Barbadoes 14a Barbary ■30 ,, pirates Barcelona 153 59 Basle 64 Bass, George ... l88 Bedford Level ... .67 Beer ■59 Beetroot sugar ... 219 Bell Henry 204, 231 Bengal 180 Bergen' 61 ,96 Berlin Decree ... 218 Bermudas 148 INDEX. PAGE Berthollet 203 Bessemer process ... 242 Bewdley 212 Bills of Exchange 60, 73 Birmingham 141, igi, 214 Black band ironstone 195 ,, Death ... 8a, 102 ., Sea 35, 49, 57, 64, 239 Blackburn 202, 204 Bleaching . 203 Board of Control ... 180 „ ,, Trade 155 Boats, early form of 5, 6, 7 Bolton 202 Bombay 149, 236 Bonded warehouses ... 221 Book-keeping ... 46, 60 Books... 60, 80, 105, 175 Borneo 120 Borough, Stephen ... 127 Boston 62, 72, 94 Boulton, Matthew ... 191 Bourbon, Isle of 205 Bramah, Joseph 245 Brazil... 116, 122, 149, 205 Bread, Absize or... ... qH Bremen 61 Bridges 46, 87, 144, 174, 195, 21 J Bridgnorth 212 Bridgewater, Duke of ... 212 ,, Canal ... 21. Brindley, James 212 Bristol 72, 94, 121, mg, 186, 212, 252 Britain 24, 32, 55 British South African Co. 252 Brittany ... * 92 Broadcloth .... ... 78 Brokers 170, 221 Bronze 13, 24 Bruges 62, 64, 72 Brunei, I. K 228 „ M. 1 24G Buenos Ayres iig BuUionists 223 Burgundy 95, 179 Burnley 202 Byron, Captain John ... 1S7 Byzantium (see Con- stantinople). Cabot, John 121 ,, Sebastian 122, 127 Cadiz ... 23, 120, 132 Calais 92, 238 Calico 165, 201, 202, 204, 205 California 124, 187 Caliphs, the 51 Canada ... 126, 189, 251 Canals 8, 12, 18, 64, 174, 212 Canaries, the 130 Candia 58, 129 Cannon .. 193, 194, 245 Cape Breton 126 PAGE Cape of Good Hope ,58, 116, 235, 237, 253 Capital 45, 136, 170, 182, 259 Caravans 8, 18, 21 Cardiff I94i '95 Carolina, North and South 148 Carpets i3» 35. 129 Carron works 193 Carrying trade 21, 58, 61, 150, 218 Carteret, Philip 187 Carthage 25, 34 Cartier, Jacques 12D Cartwright, Edmund ... 203 Caspian Sea ' ... >.. 128 Castile ... 95» 116, 117 Catalonia 59 Cathay m Cattle 72,266 Caxton 80 Cavendish, Thomas ... 124 Ceylon ... 134, 256 Champlain 126 Chancellor, Richard ... 127 Charcoal .. ... 79, i6*-3 Charles the Great 53, 67 ,, „ First 153, 158 „ ,, Second 149, 159 Chemicals 247 Chemistry 51, igo, 203, S43, 244, 249 C) eshi:e 165, 212 Chester 72 Child, Sir Francis ... 170 „ Sir Joseph ... 176 Chili 119 China 48, III, 125, 150, 181, 260 Chios (see Scioj 30 Chlorine 203 Chronometer 220 Cinque Ports .. 72, 90 Cities (see Towns). Circumnavigation of Africa ... 19, 116 ,, the world 119, 124, 125 Civil Wars in England 94i 158, 168 Clay 213 Clayton, Messrs. ... 204 Clement, Joseph ;., 245 Clive ' 180 Clockmaking ... 79, 106 Cloth, 62, 67, 78, 98, 106, 128, 142, 159, 307, 246 Coaches 173, 209 Coal 79, 107, 141, 160, 196, 243 ». gas 196, 243 CoalbrookdaleWorks 193, 195 Coffee ... 159 Coins and coinage 29, 31, 40, 50, 107, 137, 171, 263 Collieries .. 161, 225, 243 Cologne ... 61, 64, 72, 77 PACE Colonies 23i 3i» 43. ii6, 119, 146, 251 Columbus, Christopher 57. "7 Commercial crises ... 259 II history ... i, 2 It legislation p8, 142, Z58 „ treaties 95. 9'^. 97. 216. 223, 237, 261 Commtinication, means of 3, 84, 172, 209, 212, 225 Companies 45. 75. 76. 128, 131, 136, 262 Compass, mariner's ... 60 Confederacy of Delos ... 37 Connecticut 147 Consolato del Mare ... 59 Constantinople 35,51.57,64,129 Consuls ... 97, 129 Cook, Captain James ... 187 Copper ... 4, 23, so, 62, 128 Corcyra 32 Cordova . 51 Cordwainers 75 Corinth ... ... 30 Corn 13, 15, 19, 35, 45 72, 148 » laws 105, 258 Cornwall ... ... 191, 213 Corsica 31 Cort, Henry 194 Cotton 60, 129, 165, 19S, 240, 261 Craft gilds ... 74, 141 Cranege, George and Thomas .., ... 193 Crawshay, Richard ... 194 Crompton, Samuel ... 201 Cromwellj Oliver 148. 150, 153, 155 Crusades .. 55 Cuba 117 Culpepper, Sir T. ... 176 Cuneiform writing ... 10 Currants 129, 157 Currency (see Coins]. Customs 98, 1S9, 221,257,239 Cutler's Company 75, 141 Cyfartha works 194 Cyprus 23 Cyrene as, 36 Dampier, William ... 157 Dantzig 61 Danube 64 Darby Abraham 164, 195 Darien Company ... 182 Davenant, Charles ... 176 Davis, Captain John 126, 133 Davy, Sir Humphrey 243, 248 Dean, Forest of ... 141, 161 Delaware 148 Delta .Nile) 15 Demerara 205 Denmark 96 Derbyshire 214 INDEX. PAGE Devonshire 213 Diaz, Bartiiolomew 116 Discoverie*s 19, 21, 23, 31, no, 114 187 Doclcs and liarbours 137, 134 215 Domesday survey 69 Domestic system 79 1B9 Dover 7:! 238 Drainage 12,46,82, 167 246 Dral^e, Sir Francis 122 Droitwich 214 Drugs 77 Dudley 103 „ Dud 163 Dupleix 180 Dutch 120, 131, 147, 149, 150. 1S2, 2.7, 214 253 Dyes 23 , :7. 243 269 Earthenware 209 East, traffic with the 21, 48, 55, 129, 23.S „ Indies 130 „ India Co. (Dutch) 134 ), I. .. (English) 131, 149, 179, 256 „ India Co. (French; 150 Eastland Company 93, 136 Economics, works on 175. 2S7 Eddystone lighthouse 153, 216 Edward 1 85, 99. lo? „ III 92, 99, 107 „ IV 97, 107 Edwards, William ... 211 Egypt .. 8, 14, 48, 205, 236 Elbe, the 64 Electric light 248 ,, telegraph ... 248 ,, traction 249 Electricity . ... 247 Electro-plating 247 Elizabeth, Queen 136, 144 Elkingtons, the ... 247 Embanking ... 82, 167 Emigration . 188, 251 Enclosing 81, 140, 166 England, trade of, at the Norman Conquest 67 „ trade of, in the Middle Ages 78, 98 „ trade of, under the Tudors 127 „ trade of, under the Stuarts ... .. 146 „ trade of, in the tSth century ... .. 179 ,, trade of, in the 19th century 225 Ephesus 30, 49 Engineering 190, 225, 244 Ericson, John 240 Euphrates 5 Europe 14. 21, 30, 60, 238 Euxine (see Black Sea). Exchange, Bills of 60, 73 Excise 159 PAGE Exploration (see Dis- coveries). Exports and imports 13. 18, 27,36, 48, 62, 72, 77' *o'' 129. 137. 243, 252, 265 Factories 62, 116, 132, 136, 189 Factory Acts ... ■■■ 264 Fairbairn, Sir \Vm. 240, 246 Fairs 66,71 Fens, the 83, 167 Ferdinand and Isabella n? Feudalism 54 Fire of London ... 168, 109 Fish 32, 57.62, 71, 7-. 77. 138, 150, 181 Flanders ... 62, 142, 163 Flax 128 Flemish towns ; 62 „ weavers ... 69, 149 Flinders, L-eutenant ... 188 Florence ... 55. 58. 12, 97 Florida 119, 148 Food, supplies of ... 25° Ford, Richard 193 Foreign artisans 6g, 78, 142, 165 „ investments ... 259 „ loans 259 „ merchants in Eng- land 67, 69, 73, 91, 103 Forth and Clyde Canal 230 „ bridge 246 Fox, James 245 France 48, 180, 183, 223, 261 Franks 52 Free trade ... 222,257 French,the 60,69, 90, ^^^> '-^^> 147, 149, 161, 166, 180, 189 „ wines 77, loi, 257 Frobisher, Martin ... 126 Fulton, Robert 230 Furs ... 77, laS, i8t Galicia 64 Gas 196, 243 Gascony 72, 101 Gaul 24,48 Guadeloupe ... 118, 149 Gazette, London ... 173 Genoa 55, 56, 77 Georgia 148, 205 Germany 58, 61, 64, 72, 114, 366 Ghent 62 Gibraltar 23, 34, 177 Gilbert, Sir Humphrey 125 Gilds 74.79. 141 Gladstone, W. E. ... 259 Glasgow 202 Glass 12, 18, 27, 141, 164, 163 Gloucestershire ... 107, 194 Goa 116 Gold 4, ig, 24, 40, 48, 50, 106, 107, IM, 172, 213 Goldsmiths 5S, 137, 170 Grand Trunk Canal ,. 214 270 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. PAGI Graunt, Capt. John ... 176 Greeks ... 18, 30, 48* 5i Greenland 111,182 Greenwich ... 165. 22? Gresham, Sir Thomas ... 137 Guinea Coast ... 122, 130 „ Company 130, 149, i8£ Guineas 172, 181 Gunpowder 128 Halifax 141 Halley 219 Hamburg... 61, 132, 234 Hanse towns 61, 77. 95. 138 Harbours (see Docks). Hargreaves, James ... 199 Harrison, John 220 Hatshepset, Queen ... 19 Hawkins, Sir John ... 122 Hemp 128 Hayti "7 Hearth money i59 Heath process 242 Heathcoat, John 206 Henry IV. ...92, 9S» no V. ... - 92, 94 „ VI 93 „ VII. 108, 117. 137 „ VIII 137 „ the Navigator (Prince) ... 114 „ of Huntingdon ... 72 ,, Thomas 203 Herodotus ... 6, 23, 30 Herrings ... 66, 77, 102, 150 Hides 62, 128 Hill, Sir Rowland ... 229 Hindustan (see India). Hispaniola xi? Holland (see Dutch). Home trade 238 Hops 140 Horrocks 203 Hotels 5» Houtman i33 Hudson, Henry i55 Hudson's Bay isS» 181, 251 Huguenots 142, 165, 106 Hull ... 94. 95. 212, 239 Huntsman, Benjamin ... 190 Huskisson =57 Imports (see Exports). Impositions, the i57 Income tax ... 224,258 India 9, 13, 49, 114, 149, 205, . Industriallegislation 142,264 ,, revolution ... 190 Insurance, fire ... i6g, 220 ,, life ... 169, 221 „ marine 59, 140, 170, 220 Interest 73, 170 Ionian Islands 57 Ireland ... 108, 151, 184 PAGE Iron 4, 62, 71, 79, 107, 141, 162, 193, 242 Irrigation works... 8, 18 Italy ... 3»»SS» ''3. '39 Ivory 27 Jamaica ... 118, 14S, 252 James I i53 „ II 153 Jamestown 14O Japan ... 134, 150, 260 Java 132, 133 Jenkinson, Anthony ... 128 Jessop, William ziS Jet 48,72 Jewellery ... 13, 18, 27, $8 Jews SI, 69, 166 Joint-stock companies 136, 262 Joppa 21 Kay, John ,, Robert Kidderminster ... King, Gregory ... Koenig, Frederick ... ai4 ... 176 ... 244 Labelye 211 Labouchere, Henry (Lord Taunton) 258 Laboiirdonnais 180 Labourers 80, 143, 16S, 264 „ Statute of So, 102, 143 Labrador 121 Lace ... Z05 Ladrones Islands ... 120 Laird, William 340 Lambeth 165 Lanarkshire 207 Lancashire 165, 207, 262 Lancaster, James .. 131 Land measuring ... 19 „ reclaiming... 82, 167 Law, Roman or civil ... 52 „ international ... 60 „ John 1S3 Lead ... 72, 77, 107, 128 Leather 62, 75, 77 Lee, William 141 Leeds 141 Leipzig 66 Lesbos ... 30 Levant, the 55, 57, 76, 129, 205 „ Company 129 Licensing Act (for books) 17s Lighthouses ... 155, 216 Limited Liabitlty Com- panies 262 Linen 18, 27, 60, 141, 152, 166, 247 Lines of steamers ... 232 Linschooten ... ... 133 Lisbon 116, 132 Liverpool 154, zS6, 205, 212, 327» 331, 234, 246 PAGE Livery Companies ... 75 Lloyd's 170,220 ,, Register... 219, 220 Lockett, Joseph 204 Lombard cities 59 ,, merchants 60, 73 Lombe, Sir Thomas ... ztx London 62, 71, 74, 85, 87, 94, 129, 159, 169, 173, 174, 186, 215, 226 Longitude ... ... 220 Louisiana... ... 147. 177 Low Countries (see Netherlands;. LUbeck 61 Lucca 72 Luddite riots 208 Lydia 3^ Lyna 62, 72 Macadam .. 210 Macarthur, Captain ... 188 Machinery 79, 161, sgi, 244 Macquarie, Colonel Lachlan 188 Madras 136 Magellan Z19 Magna Charta 73 ,, GrKcia 32 Magnus Intercwsus ... 9-; Mainz 66 Malacca 116 Malaga 33 Malta ... 23, 178, 236 Manchester 141, 165, 212,227 „ Ship Canal ... 246 Manilla 120 Manors ... .. 54, 69, 80 Manufactures 13, 18, 27, 78, 164, 189, 242 Marconi 248 Marine insurance (see Insurance). Mariner's compass 60, 220 Marseilles (Massalia, Massiliai 25, 31, 32, 59 Martin process 242 Martinique 149 Maryland 147 Massacre of Amboyna... 136 Massachusetts . . . 147 Matches 244 Maudslay, Henry ... 245 Mauritius... 180 Measures, Assize of ... 98 Meat ... 72, 148, 250 Mediterranean Sea 4,23,44, 55, 236, 239 Megara 30 Mercantile system 103. 137, 185, 222, 258 Mercantilists 223 Mercers' Company ... ^6 Merchant Adventurers c- ■ 7^95.136,181 „ Shipping Act, 1894 265 „ ships 38, 94, 154. 230 INDEX. 271 FAGS Merchants, foreign, in England 67 „ of the Staple 77, 100, 1 99 Mersey Tunnel 246 Merthyr Tydvil 194. Metal, workingin 27,66, £44. Met-calf, John aio Methuen Treaty... 179, 2^^ Mexico 119 Middle Ages 51 Milan 55, 50 ,, Decree 218 Miletus 30 Miller, Patrick 230 Mills 71, 79, igi Mining 23, 27, 79, 161, 243 Mississippi, the ... 183 Mogul Empire 180 Mohammedans 51 Moluccas, the ... 120, 13a Monasteries ... 59,82,85 Money 40, 50, 107, 137, 171, 263 Money-lending 46, 59' 73. 137. 170 Monopolies ... 143, 158 Montreal ia6 Moors 52, 117 Morocco 130 Murdock, William ^191, 196* »5 Murray, Matthew 225, 245 Muscovy Company ... 127 Mushet, David ... 195, 24a R. F 24a Muslin ... 18, 19, 180, 202 Myddelton, Sir Hugh ... 159 Mylne, Robert ... zn Nantes, Revocation of Edict of 166 Napoleon 1 218 Nasmyth, ]ames 245 Natal ^55 National Debt 171, 222, 224 263 Navigation 5>7. 'S.^L^T ,60, 94, 104, 114, 138, 2ig, 222 „ ActsQ4, 104, 138, ISO, 184, 223. 257 258 Navy, Royal 72, 90, 138, 153 Netherlands, the 62, 78, 132 Neutral trade 218 New England 146 „ France 126 „ Holland .87 „ Netherlands 147 ,, River Company ... 160 „ South Wales 188, 253 „ York '47 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 79. 141. 160 Newcomen, Thomas 161 Newfoundland 122, 125 J8q Newspapers ... 170 174 Nijni Novgorod 66 PAGE Nile, the 15 Nineveh 6, 10, la Norman Conquest ... 67 North, Lord ... ... 222 North-west Passage ... ia6 Norway 62, 96, 239 Norwich 141, 142 Nottingham ... 205, 214 Nova Scotia 147 Niirnberg 64, 66 Oil ... ia8, 344. Onions, Peter 194 Ophir ... ai Orange River State ... 255 Orders in Council ... aiS Overland Route to India 235 Oxenham, John 124 Pacific Ocean 119, 124, 187, 234 Packhorses 84, 173, 213 Paisley 202 Palestine g, 55 Panama, Isthmus of 119, 124, 234 Papacy, the ... 55, 145 Paper 16, 18, 60, So, 141, 166 ,, currency 183, 222, 263 Paraffin 244 Pafffiiament 76, 145, 158 Patents 142, 158 Paul, Lewis ... 19S, 207 Peasant Revolt 81 Peel, Robert ... ... 204 ,, Sir ,, ... 258, 264 Penny Post 229 Pennsylvania ... ... 148 Penydarran Works 195, 226 Pepper ... 116, 129, 132 Perkins, W. H 243 Persia ... 13, 37, ia8, 150 Persian Gulf ... 5, 13, 49 Peru ... 119 ; Petty, Sir William ... 176 Pewter 128 Photography 249 Pett, Phimeas 153 Philip, Captain Arthur 188 Philippine Islands ... 120 Phcenicians ... 8, 13, 21 Phocjeans 31 Physiocrates, the ... 223 Pilgrim Fathers ... 146 Pilgrimages ... 54, 95, no Piracy ... 30, 61, 91, 153 Pisa .^ ... 55,97 Pitch taS Pitt, William 216, 22a, 223 Plassy 180 Plymouth ... 146, 216 Poland 62 Political economy 175, aaa, 257 Poor Laws 143, 168, 264 Pope, the 53, 104, 113, 117, 14s PAG-E Population 207 250 Port (wine) ■79 Portugal 48, 95, Post Office 114, 131. 179 248 159' Potato" ... 126, 260 Potteries, the 213 Pottery ... '9 . 36. 209 Precious stones 13. ' 8,21 ,48, 'SS Printing 60, 66 ,80, 204 244 Protection . 103, lOS' 142, 'S' 257 Prussia 95 Queensland 253 Quesnay ... 223 Radcliffe and Ross, Messrs. 203 Railways 235 Raleigh, Sir Walter ... 135 Red Sea 18,236 Reformation, the 113, 145 Regensburg 64 Religion, changes in ... 145 Renaissance, the ... 113 Renfrewsliire 207 Rennie, John ... 211, 215 ,, Sir John ,,. 213 Reservoirs ... ... 346 Reynolds, Richard ... 193 Rhine, the ,,. ... 64 Rhode Island ... 147 Rhodes 30 Rhodesia 255 Rice i4« Richard II. ... 103 Ridgway ... 204 Rivers ... 5, 15, 34, 64, 212 Roads 8, 43. 84, 144, 172, 209 Roberts, Richard ... 245 Roebuck, Dr. ... 191, 193 Rome ... 25, 43. 5^> S3 „ Pope of ... 53, 73. Romney Marsh ... ... 8a Royal Exchange ... 137 i. Institution ... 190 ,, Society ... ... 190 Runcorn 212 Russia ... 62, 64, 127, 260' Safety lamp 343 Sailcloth ... ... ..: 141 Sailing Ships 15, 26, 38, 241 St. Christopher's ... 149 „ Helena 150 Salt 57, 62, 71, 107, 141, 165 San Domingo ... 117, 149 „ Francisco ... 188, 238 Sandwich 72,14a Sardinia 23, 55 Savery, Thomas 161 Scheale 203 Science ... ... 190, 247 Scio .. 129 Scotland ... 109, 182, 195 Screw steamers 240 Sea navigation 21, 26,60, 114. 272 COMMERCIAL HISTORY. F\.GB Serfs 70, 81 Severn River ... 193, 212 ,, Tunnel 246 Sewing-thread 207 Sheep-farming 81, no, 1S8 Sheffield ... 75, 141, 196 Ship-building 26> 38, 94, 153, 230, 241 ,, „ materials 62, 77, 128, 148 M money 158 Ships 17, ig, 26, 38, 58, go, 137, 216, 2ig, 241 Slam ... ... ... 150 Sicily ... 23, 60, 129, 239 Siemens process ... 242 Sierra Leone ... 24, 122 Silk and Silk-weaving ^3' 27, 58, 79. 129. 142, 166, iSji 208, 218, 249 Silver 19, 24, 40, 4"J, 50, 72, 99, 106, 107, 137, 172, 263 Singapore 236, 256 Slaves 4, 40, I2C, 149, ib6, 252 Smeaton, John 211, 215, 216 Smith, Adam 222 ,, Captain John ... 146 „ Francis Pettit ... 240 Smuggling ... 120, 222 Smyrna 30 Society of Arts 190 South Africa ... ... 255 „ America ... 118, 234 „ Australia ... ... 253 Southampton 72, 129, 2_j8 Spain ^3. 5i» S9» 6a, I14, 117, 145 Spanish Armada ... 139 „ merino sheep ... i8a Speculation ... 182, 2^9 Spices iSj 77, 103, 129, 136 Spinning 198, 208 Staffordshire 194, 212, 214 Stagecoaches 174 „ waggons 173 Staple articles 77 „ Merchants of the 77, 100, 136 „ Ordinance of the 100 Starch 141 Statute of Apprentices 143, 264 „ „ Labourers 80, 102 „ ,, Merchants ... 99 „ „ Praemunire 104 „ „ Westminster 99 ,, „ Winchester... 85 Steam enjiine ... 161, 190 „ navigation ... 230 Steel ... 196, 240, 242 Steelyard, the 62 Stephenson, George 225,243 „ Robert ... 228 Stock and land lease ... 8x Stocks and shares 182, 259 Stockton and Darlington Railway 226 FAGB Stockings 141, 205 Straits Settlements ... 256 Strutt, Jedediah 206 Suez Canal 236 Sugar 58, 12S, 14S, 149, siS, 252 Sumatra 120, 131 Sun-dial ... ... ... 13 Surat 136, iSo Sussex 162, 194 Sweden 96, 164 Sydney 188 Symington, William ... 230 Syria 9, 21, ss, '=9 Tallow . 62, laS Tar... 128, 243 Tartessus . 23. 31 Tasmania. 156, 187, 254 Taxation .. 157, 224 i«7 Tea . 150. i59j 180, 224 246 Telegraph, electric ... 2(8 Telford, Thomas... 210, 216 Tenant farmers 81 Tennant 204 Thames, bridges over 87, 174, 211 „ estuary ,, Tunnel Thomas-Gilchrist pro- cess Thomson, Poulett Tigris Tillage 104, Timber 6, 21, 62, 77, 148, 189, Times, the Timor Tin 4, 13, 24, 34, 72, 77, 107, 123, 164 Tobacco ' 126, 146, 149, 157 Tonnage and poundage 99 Tordesillas, Treaty of ... 118 Towns 54» S5» 61. 62, 64, 73, 76, 250 Trade routes St 2 ', 34' 48, 58, 62, 64, 113, 231 Trades Unions 264 Transatlantic trade ,,. 231 Transvaal 2^ Travel (see DiscoTeries). Trent River ... ^ii Trevithick ... '■ g^^ Trinidad ... Trinity House ... Trireme ... Truck Acts Turkey ... 76, „ Company Turnpikes Tyre Ulster Underwriters United States of America 14S, 205 2t8, 261, 266 Usury 73 259 25a ■37 37 106, 264 129, ■65 129, 181 ■73. 210 21 ■52 170 PAGB Utrecht, Treaty of 97. i77» »79» 189 Vancouver, Captain George 187 ,, Island ... 188, 251 Vasco da Gama... ... 116 Venice 55, 57, 77, 97. 138 Vermuyden, Cornelius... 167 Versailles, Treaty of ... 189 Vespucci, Amerigo ... 119 Victoria 253 Vienna ... 6f Villages ... 51, 70, 250 Villeins ... ... 70, 80 Virginia 125, 146 Voyages of discovery 19, 21, 23,31, no, 114, 121, 187 Waggons 173 Waggon-vtays ... i5i, 225 Waghorn, Thomas ... 235 Wakefield 87, 141 Wales 108 ,. South 194 Walpole, Sir Robert, 183, 221 Walter, John ... 244, 245 Water mills ... 79, 194 „ supply of 160, 246 Waterhouse, Captain ... 188 Watt, James ... igo, 203 Weaving 69 78, ig8, 202 Wedgwood, Joaiah 209, 214 Weights .., ... 13, 29 West Australia 253 ,, Indies 117, 148, 149, 186, 205, 234, 25a Weston, Sir Richard 174, 176 Whale Fishery 182 Wheeled traffic ... 8, 88 White Sea 127 Whitney, Eli 205 Whitworth, Sir Joseph 242, 245 Wilkinson, John 191, 196 William 1 69 Willoughby, Sir Hugh 127 Winchester 71 Wine 7, 19, 72, 77, 97, 98, loi, [29, 159, 257 Winstanley 155 Wolverhampton... ... 214 Woodcroft, Bennet ,.. 240 Wool ...58,62 67 72,77, 98 152, 165, iSIB, 207 Woollen goods 13, 27. 58, 141, 207, 246 Worcestershire ... 164, 214 Worsley ai2 Worsted 79 Wright, John 347 Writing ... g, 10, 19, 20, 29 Wyatt John igg Yarmouth ... 66. 72, 154. 182 Yarranton, Andrew 174, 175 Yorkshire i^j, ^^S Young, James ^^ PITMAN'S Commercial Series AN ABRIDGED LIST OF BOOKS SUITABLE FOR USE IN COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS AND CLASSES. CONTENTS. Paf^e Arithmetic ... . 2 BoOK-KEEriNG 2 Business Handwhiting 6 BnsiijEss Training ... 8 Commercial Copy Books . 8 Correspondence 10 Geography . 12 ,, Law . 23 „ Readers , 24 French . 13 German . 15 History . 22 Law ... . 23 Note-Books ... . 29 Periodicals ... . 29 Pitman's Business Man's Handbooks... . 31 Precis Writing . 10 Shorthand ... . 17 yPANISH . 16 Spelling and Composition .. . 28 Typewriting . 27 SIR ISAAC PITMAN &. SONS, LTD. I AMEN CORNER, LONDON, E.C. AND AT BATH AND NEW YORK. Aug., 1904, 4369 ARITHMETIC. Business Apithmetie, Part I. 120 pp., quarter cloth. Price Is. Contents. — Simple and Compound Rules, Reduction of Weights and Measures, Vulgar and Decimal Fractions, Proportion and Square Root — Short methods in Multiplication and Division of Decimals to a small number of places, together with a knowledge of the degree of approximation possible — Short methods in Multi- plication, Division, Prices of Articles, Practice Interest and Discount. Percentages and Averages, Commission and Brokerage, Areas and Quantities — The Metric System and Coinage of France. AnsAveps to Business Apithmetie, Papt I. Whole cloth. Price Is. Business Apithmetie and Key, Papt I. Crown 8vo. Quarter cloth. Price Is. 6d. Business Apithmetie, Papt II. 144 pp. Quarter cloth. Price Is. 6d. Contents. — Stocks and Shares — Profit and Loss — Bills Receiv- able and Bills Payable, Interest, True Discount and Bankers' Discount, The Use of Logarithms more particularly for Problerns on Compound Interest, Insurance, and Annuities — The more im- portant European Weights and Measures other than the Metric — The Coinage of Germany and the United States — and the Weights, Measures and Coinage of India. Answers to Business Apithmetie, Papt II. Whole cloth. Price Is. Pitman's Complete Commepcial Apithmetie 264 pages, cloth. Price 2s. 6d. This Book contains the subjects treated in the two parts of Busi- ness Arithmetic. Answeps to Complete Commepeial Apith- metie Price Is. 6d. BOOK-KEEPING. Pitman's Ppimep of Book-keeping- Crown 8vo, 144 pp. Price, quarter cloth, Is. In this work the principles of Book-keeping are set forth in the clearest and simplest manner, and nothing essential to a proper understanding of the subject has been omitted. The student who carefully works through the exercises will be prepared to enter upon the study of " Book- keeping Simplified," and of the more elaborate treatises. Principal Contents. — The entering up and posting of the Cash, Purchases, and Sales Books — Ledger — Making the Trial Balance s^nd preparing the Balance Sheet — Explanation of Bills of Ex- change and their Uses — The Treatment of Bad Debts, Dishonoured Bills, Consignments Outwards and Inwards, Partnership Accounts, etc. — Many fully worked Examples, carefully graduated additional Exercises, Facsimiles of Commercial Documents and Definitions of Business Terms. — The rulings and Balances are shown in red ink. Key to Ppimep of Book-keeping- Crown 8vo. Price, cloth, Is. The Ideal Manuscript Books for Book- keeping" Specially ruled and adapted for working the exercises contained in the Primer of Book-keeping. The set consists of : — Cash Book and Journal ; Purchases Book ; Sales Book ; Ledger. Price, 2d. each. Easy Exercises for Primep of Book-keeping' Crown 8vo, 48 pp., in wrapper. Price 6d. This work provides useful additional exercises for stu- dents of the Primer of Book-keeping, and may be used either with or without that text-book. The answers to the exercises are given at the end of the book. Book-keeping Simplified Crown 8vo, 240 pp. Price, cloth, 2s. 6d. A text-book covering all business requirements and affording a thorough preparation for certificate and professional examinations. Special features of the book are the large number of examples worked in full, and the printing of rulings and balances in red ink. Principal Contents. — The Ledger — The Trial Balance — Per- sonal, Real and Nominal Accounts — Explanations of Profit and I-oss Account — Closing Entries shown and explained — Various Forms of Cash and Petty Cash Books — The Treatment of Dis- counts, Wages, Trade Expenses, Depreciation, etc. — Bills Receiv- able and Payable, their Use, varied Transactions — Consignments Outwards, Inwards, Purchase or Sale on Commission — Joint Accounts Transactions and Specimen Entries — ^Partnerships, Special Accounts Required, Incoming Partners, with or without Premiums — Inaccurate Trial Balance, where and how to search for Errors, how corrected — The Special Accounts for Contracts, showing the Closing of Completed and Uncompleted Accounts — The Examinations of the Society of Arts and of the Civil Service, with fully worked Papers — Specimens of various Business Forms, Examination Papers of the different Examining Bodies — Business Abbreviations and Explanations of Business Terms. Answers to the above Crown 8vo. Price, cloth, Is. Pitman's Advaneed Book-keeping- Price, cloth, gilt lettered, 2s. 6d. In all the examples the rulings and balances appear in Red Ink. In addition a number of facsimiles of the documents referred to and described in the text, are inserted, such as Ruled Form Register of Members and Share Ledger, Share Certificate, Debenture Bond, Share Transfer, etc. Principal Contents. — Auditing — The Preparation ol Profit and Loss Accounts and Balance Sheets — Bankruptcy, Insolvency Accounts and Statements of Affairs — Joint Stock Companies' Accounts, .the Register of Members and Share Ledger, and the Register of Transfers, etc. — The Trading Accounts of Joint Stock Companies, and the Profit and Loss Account and the Balance Sheets. — Liquidation — The Tabular System in General — The System as applied to Non-trading Companies, e.g.. Elementary Schools, Charitable Institutions, etc. — " Dissecting," as practised where the Departments are numerous. — The Tabular System, as used in Hotels. Answers to Advanced Book-keeping" Crown 8vo. Price, cloth, Is. Pitman's Complete Book-keeping Crown 8vo, 400 pp., cloth gilt. Price 5s. An entirely new and thoroughly comprehensive text- book, dealing with all departments of the subject, from the simplest elements to the most advanced accounts, and embracing almost every kind of account found in business or professional life. The book is divided into three parts. The first part gives full explanation of single entrj' — ^method of converting books from single to the double entry — ^complete instruction in the preparation of balance sheet — how to deal with receipts and payments by cheques and bills — principal laws governing use of paper money — returns and allowances — bad debts — dishonoured bills, etc. The whole of the explanation is very fully and carefully illustrated by means of worked transac- tions, facsimile documents, etc., and there are also exercises and questions to be worked and answered by the student. The second part deals with agency accounts — productive wages account — brewery and colliery accounts — accounts for pro- fessional services — hotel book-keeping — accounts to be kept in hospitals and other charitable institutions — theoretical and practi- cal use of the Journal — joint-stock company book-keeping — insolvency and bankruptcy accounts — executors' and trustees' accounts — the double account system employed in railways, public works, etc. Various forms of tabulated cash books, invoice books, etc., are shown and explained, and the student is furnislied mth an ample supph- of exercises, worked and unworlced. The third part gives thorough explanations of various kinds of sliipping accounts, and the terms, books, and forms connected tlierewith. Inward and outward consignments — accounts current book — bankers' account current — how to draw bills against ship- ment — the compilation of shipping invoices and account sales — letters of hypothecation and letters of lien, with specimens of these important documents — orders by telegraph code — calcula- tions of C.I.F. invoices — offers and invoices in currency and in sterling — foreign exchange, etc. The concluding chapters are devoted to the e.^planation of bankers' accounts, and the con- sideration of knotty problems in book-keeping, the satisfactory solution of whiclt usually gives the student a good deal of trouble and anxiety. Carefully prepared exercises and questions are added for the purpose of revision and examination. The whole of the instruction is given jn a clear, concise, yet sufficiently full manner, so that anyone of ordinary ability can follow and understand it without reference to other b5oks. About 20 facsimiles of Company forms and commercial documents appear in the book. The " Avon " Exepeise Books in Book-keeping^ for working the exercises in " Book-keeping Simplified " or " Advanced Book-keeping." Ruled, fcap. folio, Journal, 3d.; Cash Book, 3d.; Ledger, 6dv Additional Exepcises in Book-keepings Nos. 1 and 2. Crown 8vo, 48 pp. Price 6d. each. Containing papers recently set by the leading Examining Bodies ; College of Preceptors ; National Union of Teachers, Elementary, Junior, and Senior . Civil Service ; London Chamber of Commerce ; Society of Accountants and Auditors ; Institute of Chartered Accountants; Institute of Bankers; Union of Lancashire and Cheshire, etc., etc. Answers to the above Nos. 1 and 2. Price Gd. each. Pitman's Business Book-keeping- Tpansae- tions. No. 1 Price Is. Including 52 forms for Invoices, Cheques, etc., and 8 blank Exercise Books enclosed in envelope. This work is planned to teach the principles of Book- keeping and at the same time furnish an insight into actual business methods. This is accomplished by the employment of a text-book giving particulars (with copious explanatory notes) of the transactions of a trader, accompanied by facsimiles of all documents which would be received, and of blank forms such as invoices, cheques, bank paying-in-slip book, account books, etc., by which the trader would make and record his transactions. Pitman's Book-keeping' Test Cards A series of carefully graded tests in book-keeping by which the student's progress can be satisfactorily gauged'. There are three sets, Elementary, Intermediate, and Advanced, and each set contains 20 cards with a varying number of questions on each card selected from those actually set by the different examining bodies. Each set is graded in difficulty, printed on stout cards and put up in a strong cloth case with two sets of answers arranged in book form. The Answers are full and explicit, detailed workings being given and explanations where required. Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced. Price per set Is. 6d. BUSINESS HANDWRITING Pitman's Commereial Handwriting and Coppespondenee Fcap. quarto, quarter cloth. Price Is. Gd. A complete and reliable guide for the student of any kind of handwriting, designed either for use in class or for self- tuition. Contains carefully graduated Exercises, together with Plain and Practical Instructions for the Rapid Acquirement of a Facile and Legible Business Style of Handwriting — Furnishes also Explicit Directions for the Formation of the Recognised Civil Service Style — Text Hand — Legal Style — Engrossing Style — Block Lettering, as Required for Business Purposes — Valuable Hints on Business Composition — Specimens of Written Business Letters and Various Commercial documents, such as Account Sales, Accounts Current, Bills of Exchange, Promissory Notes, I.O.U's., Invoices, Statements, Receipts, etc. — Lists of Business Abbreviations, and Particulars of the Examination Requirements of the Society of Arts, Union of Lancashire and Cheshire Institutes. Midland Union of Institutes, and other Examining Authorities, The whole of the numerous exercises, copies and illustra- tions, are facsimile reproductions of the author's actual handwriting. Business Handwriting Crown 8vo, 84 pp. Quarter cloth. Price Is. The object of this work is to enable students to acquire the habit of writing with ease and rapidity, in such a manner that the meaning of even careless writing may be at once evident to the reader. The many illustrations and exercises form a special feature of the work, and these are photographic reproductions of the actual writing of the author and his professional friends. Pitman's Commepeial Copy and Exepeise Books Each fcap. folio, 32 pp. Price 6d. These Copy Books contain carefully graded sets of exer- cises in business work. The copies are engraved in a clear style of writing, for the purpose of guiding the student to a rapid and legible commercial hand. No. 1.— Documents and Exercises pelating to the Home Trade Principal Contents. — Commercial Terms and Abbreviations — Copying and Docketing Letters — Copying and Arrangement of Addresses — Subscriptions and Signatures of Letters — Letter Writing — Composing Telegrams — Home Invoices, Cheques, and Receipts. No. 2.— Documents and Exercises relating" to the Import and Export Trade Principal Contents. — Shipping Invoices of various kinds — Account Sales — Statements of Account — Credit Notes — Inland Bill and Promissory Note — Accounts Current — Balance Sheets — Bills of Exchange — Bank Deposit Slips — Bills of Lading — Advice Notes — Customs Declaration Forms, and Despatch Notes for Parcels Post — Brokers' Notes — Market Reports — Price Lists — Letters of Advice — Insurance Accounts, etc., with blank forms to be filled up by the student, and also a list of Commercial Terms and Abbreviations with their meanings. Exepeise Book of Facsimile Commepcial Fopms 32 pages large post 4to, printed in red and black, in wrapper. Price 6d. Designed for the dual purpose of a copy-book of com- mercial handwriting and to enable the student to familiar- ize himself with the filling up of business documents, etc. Among the forms given are : — Accounts Current, Account Sales, Invoices, Bill of Lading, Bills of Exchange, Cheques, Consignment Notes, etc. Pitman's Office Routine Copy Book, No, 1 Large post Ho, 2-1 pp. Price ad. Contains ; — Specimen Addresses — Clerical, Commercial, Express Delivery, French, German, Italian, Miscellaneous, Official, Private, Railway, Registered, and Spanish, with Forms for Transmitting money or Goods by post or Rail. Pitman's Office Routine Copy Book, No. 2 24 pp., large post 4to. Price 3d. Contains : — Inland Invoices — Statements of Accounts — Receipts —Telephone Message and Reply— A Credit Note— Export Mer- chant's Invoice — Telegrams — Cheques — Letters Advising and Acknowledging Payment. Pitman's Office Routine Copy Book, No. 3 24 pp., large post 4to. Price .3d. Contains : — Letters Ordering Goods — Letters Advising Traveller's Call — House Agent's Letters — Reply to an Inquiry — Letter en- closing Copy of Advertisement — Application for Shares — Letter Advising Despatch of Catalogue — Letter Advising Delivery of a Cycle — Letter Requesting a Special Favour — Letter of Recom- mendation — Dunning Letters — A Promissory Note — Order for Advertisement and Reply — Banker's Receipt for Share Deposit. BUSinESS TRAINING. Office Routine for Boys and Girls, 1st Stage 64 pp., crown 8vo. Price 6d. Deals with the treatment of outgoing and incoming letters, Postal arrangements, means of remitting money and forwarding goods. Office Routine for Boys and Gipis, 2nd Stage 64 pp., crown 8vo. Price 6d. Principal Contents. — Business Forms, such as Invoices, Credit Notes, etc — Telegrams — The Telephone — Banks and Banking, Joint Stock and Private Banks, Post Office Savings Bank, etc. Office Routine for Boys and Gipls, Srd Stage 64 pp., crown 8vo. Price 6d. Deals with Explanation of Terms — Promissory Notes and Discount — Terms used in Payment of Accounts, etc. — Bills of Exchange — Stocks, Dividends, etc. — Government Securities — Business Correspondence. Counting-House Routine. 1st year's course Crown 8vo, 144 pp. Price, quarter cloth, Is. Principal Contents. — Answering Advertisements — Postal Regu- lations — Incoming Letters — Telegrams — The Telephone — For- warding Goods — Remitting Money^Receipts of various kinds — The Essentials of a Cod Business Letter — The Difference between Private Letters, Official Letters, and Commercial Letters — The 8 Setting Out of a Letter — The Signing of Letters — The Letter" Reference — Numbering Letters — Abbreviations usually made use of in Correspondence — The Writing of Letters relating to Business Transactions of all kinds — Precis-Writing. Counting'-House Routine. 2nd year's course Crown 8vo, 144 pp., quarter cloth. Price Is. 6d. Principal Contents. — Preparation of Inland and Foreign In- voices — More Advanced Instruction in Railway Rates and Cable Systems — Bank Deposit and Current Accounts — Bills of Exchange — The Markets — The Shipment of Merchandise — Business Corre- spondence of a more advanced Character — How to Correct Prirtters' Proofs, and the Routine of getting Matter Printed — The Routine of obtaining payment througli the Medium of the County Court. Pitman's Manual of Business Trainings Crown 8vo, 236 pp. Price, cloth, 2s. 6d. Gilt lettered, with fifty-seven maps and illustrations, many of which are reduced facsimiles of actual Com. mercial documents. Fifth edition. Principal Contents. — Conditions of Commerce — Inward Cor- respondence — Outward — Postal Information — The Telegraph and Telephone — Business Letter Writing, etc. — Office Books and Business Forms — Market Reports — Railways and Canals — For- warding Goods by Rail — Channels of Commerce — Custom and Excise Duties — Importing — Exporting — Insurance — Private Firms and Public Companies — The World's Currencies — Banks and Banking — Bills of Exchange — Bankruptcy and the County Court — Two hundred Questions on the Chapters — Board of Edu- cation Syllabus of Commercial Correspondence and Office Routine. Pitman's Business Terms and Phr-ases with equivalents in French, German, and Spanish, and a number of Facsimile Documents. Price, cloth, 2s. 6d. This work gives in alphabetical form a complete list of all the business terms, phrases, and abbreviations met with in commercial correspondence and business tran- sactions. The following are a few of the facsimiles : — Form of Power of Attorney — Foreign Bill of Exchange — Inland Bill of Exchange — Inland Bill of Exchange, with Endorsement — Brokers' Contract (Bought Note) — Consignment Note — Contract Note (Sold Note) — Contract Note (Stock Broker's) — -Demand Draft — Despatch Note^ — Dock Warrant — Principal Monetary Units of Foreign Countries — Piece of Script — Share Certificate — Account Current— Account Sales (Broker's) — Account Sales (Merchant's) — BiU of Lading — Entry for Home Use — Shipping Bill. The definitions and explanations of the Terms are particularly 9 full and accurate, and tlie work forms the most complete publica- tion for the Student, the Cleric, or the Business Man, yet issued. Indexing and Ppeeis-"Wpiting^ Hi pages, crown 8vo, quarter cloth. Price Is. 6d. A text-book specially adapted to the present require- ments of Candidates' for Examinations. By A. J . Lawf ord- Jones of H.M. Civil Service, Medallist and First Prizeman, Society of Arts, 1900. Contents. — Indexing — Instructions and Hints — Some Common Errors — Precis- Writing — Instructions — Modern Methods — Direc- tions issued by various Examining Bodies — Model Solution to Paper set at 1900 Examination of Society of Arts — Numerous Exam. Papers in Indexing and Precis-Writing. — Specimen Notes, etc. Civil Sepviee and Commepeial Long" and Cross Tots. A collection of Tots arranged on a novel plan affording abundant exercises in addition for Civil Service Candi. dates, etc., with answers. Crown 8vo., 48 pp. Price 6d. Ruled Fopms fop Civil Sepviee Copying- Statements. Specially ruled on good paper. In two parts, each 40 pp., fcap. folio. Price, per part, 8d. CQlVliVIERCIAL CORRESPONDENCE Pitman's Commercial Coppespondence and Commereial Eng-lish Crown 8vo, 272 pp. Piice, cloth, 2s 6d. A new and practical Manual of Commercial Correspond- ence in two divisions, first, Commercial Correspondence, including about 340 letters ; and, second, Commercial English. The most complete, most reliable and up-to- date book of model business letters that has ever been published. All the letters are counced for shorthand speed practice, and editions are published (see below) in Short- hand, French, and German, corresponding page for page. Contents First Division. — i. General- Communications and Circulars — ii. Proffered Services — iii. Information Required — iv. Information Supplied — v. References — vi. Letters of Introduc- tion — vii. Letters of Credit — vii. Enquiries — ix. Replies to En- quiries — X. Commissions and Consignments — xi. Agencies — xii. Orders. — xiii. Execution of Orders — xiv. Receipt of Goods and Remittances — xv. Complaints and Claims. — xvi. Shipping Ac- 10 counts — xvii. CoUeclion of Accounts — xviii. Bills of Exchanpo, Remittances, and Payments — xix. Bankruptcies and Arrangn- ments — xx. Insurance of Goods — xxi. Miscellaneous T.etlers and Documents. — xxii. Facsimile Letters and Forms. The second division on Commerciaf, F.ngitsh cnntain.s concise articles on the following subjects : — i. The Parts of a Com- mercial Letter — ii. Punctuation of Commercial Correspondence — lii. The Use of Capital Letters in Commercial Correspondence — iv. The Sentence — v. The Paragraph — vi. The Parts of a Letter — vii. Principles Underlying the Writing of Business Letters of various kinds — viii. Mode of Writing Telegrams — ix. Precis- Writing as applied to Commercial Correspondence. Pitman's Commepeial Coppespondenee in Shorthand (Reporting Style) Crown 8vo., 240 pp. Price, cloth, 2s. 6d. This work gives in beautifully engraved Shorthand all the letters of Commercial Correspondence described on the preceding page, with a chapter on the Shorthand Clerk and his Duties. Every care is taken to secure a style of writing which shall be a model. Pitman's Commepeial Coprespondenee in Fpeneh Crown Svo, 240 pp. Price, cloth, 2s. 6d. This work gives all the letters of Commercial Corre- spondence mentioned on the preceding page, in French, and also contains a List of French Commercial Abbrevia- tions, French coinage, weights, measures, and other matter of importance to the student of Commercial French, together with a number of reduced facsimiles of actual French business forms and documents. Notes are added to each letter. Pitman's Commepeial Coppespondenee in Gepman Crown Svo, 240 pp. Price, cloth, 2s. 6d. The German edition of " Pitman's Commercial Corre- spondence " gives all the letters of Commercial Corre- spondence mentioned , on the preceding page translated into German, with useful notes at the foot of each letter. It also contains a list of German Business Abbre- viations, German coinage, weights, measures, etc., and reduced facsimiles of a number of German documents and business forms. 11 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY. The World and its Commepee : a Primep of Commepeial Geography Crown 8vo, 128 pages, with thirty-four additional maps. Price, quarter cloth, Is. Contains simply-written chapters on the general geo- graphy of the world, the seven great industries, the com- mercial geography of the British Empire at home and abroad, and of foreign, countries. The information con- veyed is quite up-to-date. Principal Contents. — Part I. — The World Generally. — The Surface of the Earth — Zones and Heat Belts — Distribution of Life — Agriculture — Herding and Ranching — FisMng — Lumbering — Mining — Manufacturing — Commerce. Part II. — The British Empire. — The United Kingdom — The British Empire Abroad. Part III. — Foreign Countries. A thorough description is given of the commercial posi- tion, the mineral, agricultural and manufactured pro- ductions, and chief commercial towns of each country. Pitman's Commepeial Geography of the United Kingdom Crown 8vo, 128 pp.,- with 30 coloured maps and plates. Price, quarter cloth. Is. Principal Contents. — Introduction. — Kinds of Commerce — Exchange and Exchanges — Imports and Exports — The Metric System — Manufactures — The World generally. Commercial Products. — Common Metals and Minerals — Commercial Products of Animal Origin — Common Plants and their Commercial Products. The United Kingdom. — Position, Configuration and Coast Line — Manufactures — Imports and Exports — Means of Transport — Commercial Towns — Trade Routes. England and Wales. — Scotland. — Ireland. — Mountains — Metals and Minerals — Pro- ductions — Animals — Geographical Structure — Climate — Bogs — Lakes — Fisheries. Pitman's Commepeial Geography of Bpitish Colonies and Foreign Countries Crown 8vo, 144 pp., with 35 maps. Price, quarter cloth. Is. 6d. Principal Contents. — The British Empire Abroad. — Naval and Military Stations — Canada and Newfoundland — Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand — the British Empire in Asia and Africa — the British West Indies, etc. Foreign Countries. — Europe generally, France, Germany, Holland, Russia, Belgium, 12 Spain, Denmark, Sweden-Norway, Italy, Switzerland, Austria- Hungary, Portugal, Turkey, and Greece^Minor European Coun- tries — Asia generally — North America generally, the United States — Mexico and the Republics of Central America — South America generally, and the States of South America. Pitman's Commepeial Geoffpaphy , of the World Crown 8vo, 272 pp., with 72 maps and plates, Price, cloth, gilt, 2s. 6d. For Principal Contents see Books I. and II. imme- diately above. " It is difficult to discover what it has left untold on the subject. Its maps of all orders, its coloured plates, its trade routes are all excellent, and add much to the interest and permanent worth of the work. It is all embracive, and yet it is detailed. At every step the needs of business men are studied, and hence the treatise is as valuable as it is popular, and as rich as it is interesting. Men of business ought at once to secure a copy of this priceless geography." — Press Review. FRENCH. Pitman's French Course, Part I. Crown 8vo. Price, paper, 6d. ; limp cloth, 8d. Grammar, with exercises, carefully selected conversational phrases and sentences, correspondence, short stories from French authors, and judiciously chosen vocabulary with imitated pronunciation. Pitman's French Course, Part II. Cr. Svo, Price, paper, 8d. ; limp cloth, lOd. Key to Pitman's French Course, Part I. Crown 8vo. Price Is. 6d. Key to Pitman's French Course, Part II. Crown Svo. Price Is. 6d. Pitman's Practical French Grammar And Conversation for Self-Tuition, with copious Voca- bulary and Imitated Pronunciation. Crown 8vo, 120 pp. Price; paper. Is. ; cloth. Is. 6d. A Child's First Steps in French Crown Svo, limp cloth. Price 9d. By A. Vizetelly. An elementary French reader with vocabulary. Illustrated. 13 French Business Letters Crown ito, in wrapper, 6d. A Practical Handbook of Commercial Correspondence in the French Language, with copious notes in English. Commercial Correspondence in French Crown 8vo, 240 pp. Price, cloth, 2s. 6d. For full particulars see page 11. French Commercial Reader Crown 8vo, 208 pp. Price, cloth, 2s. 6d. For full particulars see page 25. French Commercial Phrases And Abbreviations with Translation. Crown 8vo. Price, in wrapper, 6d. French Business Interview's Crown 8vo. 80 pages. Price Is. ; cloth, Is. 6d. With Correspondence, Invoices, etc., each forming a complete Commercial Transaction, including Technical Terms and Idiomatic Expressions, accompanied by a copious vocabulary and notes in English. This work can be commended to all who desire to acquaint themselves with commercial French. Easy French Conversational Sentences Crown 8vo. Price, in wrapper, Gd. With literal interlinear translation and imitated pro- nunciation. Advanced French Conversational Exercises Crown 8vo. Price, in wrapper, 6d. Consisting of every-day phrases, dialogues, proverbs, and idioms, with translation, for the use of schools and private students. Examinations in French, and How to Pass Them Crown 8vo, price 6d. Examination Papers recently set at some of the Chief Pubhc Examinations. Fully solved. French Tourist's Vade Mecum Price, cloth. Is. .\ caiL'Tul selection of every-day Phrases in constant use, with Vocabularies, Tables, and the Exact Pronunciation of every word. 14 An Easy Method o[ acquiring a knowledge of French sufficient for all purposes of Tourists or Business Men. Special attention has been devoted to the section on Cycling and Photography. GERMAN. Pitman's Gepman Course. Part I. Crown 8vo. Price Gd. ; limp cloth, 8d. Grammar, with exercises, carefully selected conversational Phrases and Sentences, Correspondence, short stories from German authors, and vocabulary with imitated pro- nunciation. Key to Pitman's German Course. Part I. Crown 8vo. Price Is. 6d. Pitman's Ppactical German Grammar And Conversation for Self-Tuition, with copious Voca- bulary and imitated pronunciation. Crown 8vo, price Is. ; cloth. Is. 6d. German Business Interview's, Nos. 1 and 2 Crown 8vo. Price Is. each ; cloth. Is. 6d. With Correspondence, Invoices, etc., each forming a Complete Commercial Transaction, including Technical Terms, Dialogues for Travellers, and Idiomatic Expres- sions used in Shipping and Mercantile Offices, accom- panied by a copious marginal Vocabulary and Notes in English. Commercial Correspondence in German Crown 8vo. 240 pages. Price, cloth, 2s. Cd. For full particulars see page 11. German Commercial Reader Crown 8vo. 208 pp. Price, cloth, 2s. 6d. For full particulars see page 26. German Business Letters Crown 8vo', in wrapper, 6d. With copious marginal vocabulary and notes in English, and some letters in German script characters. German Commercial Phrases And Abbreviations with Translation. Crown 8vo. in wrapper, 6d, IT} Examinations in Gepman And How to Pass Them, being Examination Papers recently set at the Chief Public Examinations, fully solved. Crown 8vo, in wrapper, 6d. Easy German Convepsational Sentences Crown 8vo. Price, in wrapper, 6d. With literal interlinear translation and imitated pro- nunciation. German Tourist's Vade Mecum Crown 8vo. Price, cloth. Is. With Vocabularies, Tables, etc., and the Exact Pronun- ciation of every word, being a careful selection of Phrases in constant use. Dep Neffe als Onkel Crown 8vo. Price 6d. ; cloth. Is. Schiller's Comedy, fully annotated. English-Gepman Dietionapy of Business Wopds and Tepms Size 2-^ X 6i in., rounded corners. Price, roan, 2s. 6d. A new pocket English-German Dictionary, with a list of Abbreviations in general use, by Fritz Hundel, Principal German master of Pitman's Metropolitan School. Im- portant features : Contains a great many terms used in Commercial Correspondence that are not to be found in other works ; Compound Phrases, Idiomatic Expressions, etc., and the genders of all substantives are clearly indi- cated ; a complete list of Irregular Verbs, with the prin- cipal Irregular Forms, is given ; the Modern German Orthographic Spelling throughout, as introduced by the Prussian Minister of Education in the year 1880. SPANISH. Spanish Business Letteps Crown 8vo. Price 6d. Being a practical hand-book of commercial correspondence in the Spanish language, with copious notes. Spanish Business Intepvie'ws Crown 8vo. Price Is. ; cloth, Is. 6d. With Correspondence, Invoices, etc., each forming a complete commercial transaction. Easy Spanish Conversational Sentences Crown 8vo. Price 6d. With Literal Interlinear Translation and Imitated Pro- nunciation. Advanced Spanish Conversational Exercises Consisting of every-day phrases, dialogues, proverbs, and idioms, with translation. Crown 8vo. Price 6d. Pitman's Practical Spanish Grammar And conversation for Self-Tuition, with copious Voca- bulary and Imitated Pronunciation. Crown 8vo. Price Is. ; cloth, Is. 6d. Spanish Tourist's Vade Mecum Of Spanish Colloquial Conversation, with vocabularies, tables, etc., and the exact pronunciation of every word, being a careful selection of j^hrases in constant use. Cloth, price Is. SHORTHANDINSTRUCTION BOOKS Pitman's Shorthand Instructor (T-wentieth Century Edition) Stout cloth, coloured edges. Price 3s. 6d. A new and complete Exposition of Sir Isaac Pitman's System of Phonography. This work embodies a large number of improvements and additions of great value to the student and practitioner. Designed for Class or Self- Instruction. Containing instruction in both the Corre- sponding and Reporting Styles, with over one hundred Reading and Writing Exercises and Examination Papers. This new issue of Pitman's well-known Instructor may be accepted as the standard and complete exposition of the system of phonetic shorthand invented by Sir Isaac Pitman. In this latest issue the various portions of the system are arranged in a new and greatly improved order. The rules have been re-written, so that the greatest accuracy and clearness of statement is secured. We are glad to see that the work is no longer encumbered with foot-notes. — Schoolmaster. Key to the " Instructor " (Twentieth Cen- tury Edition) Price Is. ; cloth. Is. 6d. Containing a Key to all the Exercises and Answers to the Review Questions. 17 Pitman's Shorthand Manual (Twentieth Century Edition) Price Is. Gd. ; cloth, 2s. Containing instruction in the Corresponding Style, with numerous Shorthand Examples and Reading and Writing Exercises. Entirely new editions of two of Sir Isaac Pitman's best known shorthand works have just been published, namely, the " Manual " and the " Reporter." These are issued in the same style and prices as in previous years, although there is a substantial increase in the number of pages, including greatly improved rules, etc., with a larger amount of new engraved shorthand. — Softool World. Key to the Exercises in "Pitman's Short- hand Manual" Price 6d. Pitman's Shorthand Gradus Price 2d. A series of progressive writing exercises for the " Manual," with Consonant Outlines. Twentieth Century Edition. Pitman's Shorthand Reporter (Twentieth Century Edition) Price 2s. ; cloth, 2s. 6d. An adaptation of Phonography to Verbatim Reporting. Key to " Pitman's Shorthand Reporter " Price 6d. Reporting- Exercises Price 6d. Intended as a Companion to " Pitman's Shorthand Reporter " ; containing Exercises on all the Rules and Contracted Words. In ordinary print, counted for dic- tation. Twentieth Century Edition. Key to the " Reporting" Exercises " Price Is. ; cloth, Is. 6d. In which all the Exercises are presented in Shorthand, in Reporting Style. The Phonog-raphic Teacher (Twentieth Cen- tury Edition) Or First Book in Shorthand, a Guide to a Practical Ac- quaintance with the Art of Phonography or Phonetic Shorthand, containing a Series of Progressive Les.sons. Price (Jd {All leap. Hi'o.) Pitman's Shorthand Ppimer For use in Elementary Day Schools and Evening Classes. In three books ; arranged in a series of lessons. Twen- tieth Century Edition. Books I., II., and III., 6d. each. These primers are admirably adapted to the purpose for which they are intended, and are arranged so as to give the pupil the greatest help possible while at the same time bringing him on rapidly. — Printer and Stationer. Key to Pitman's Shorthand Ppimers Price 6d. each. Containing a Key to all the Exercises in Books I., II., and III. Twentieth Century Edition. Pitman's Shorthand Class-Book Price 6d. An elementary work arranged on a new plan, for use either instead of other text-books, or as a supplementary work, giving additional exercises. Pitman's Shorthand Reading* Lessons Price 6d. No. 1, for use with either the " Primer," Book I., the " Teacher," or the " Manual," and furnishing the learner with reading practice and word-building. Pitman's Shorthand Reading" Lessons Price 9d. No. 2, for use with either the " Primer," Book II., or the " Manual," and furnishing the learner v/ith reading practice and word-building. Key to " Pitman's Shorthand Reading Lessons " Price 2d. each. Nos. 1 and 2 in ordinary print. Pitman's " Fono " Head-Line Shorthand Copy Books Price 2d. each. Book A ] For " The ,, B - Phonographic No. 1 1 For " Pitman's ,,2 - Shorthand C j Teacher." ,, '■'> ] Primer," Book I. The use of these books will insure, that every illustrative word shall be neatly written twice. Fcap. 4to. {All f cap. 8vo, unless otherwise slated.) 19 The Phonographie Phrase Book Price Is. ; cloth, Is. Gd. Containing above two thousand useful phrases in Phono- graphy, and an Exercise on all the Phrases. Graduated Dictation Books Price 4d. each. For acquiring speed in Shorthand. In ordinary print. The reading matter is divided for speeds of 40, 50, GO, 80, 100, and IGO words per minute. Crown 8vo. No. 1. — Political Speeches. No. 2. — Sermons. No. 3.— Commepcial Key to Graduated Dictation Book in Short- hand, No. 1 Crown 8vo. Price 6d. In Reporting Style. Key to Graduated Dictation Book in Short- hand, No. 2 Crown 8vo. Price 6d. In Reporting Style. Pitman's Interlined Speed Practice Books Price IJd. each. Containing ordinary print counted for testing speed with alternate ruled lines for writing the Shorthand. No. 1. Speeches. No. 2.— Sermons. No. 3.— Commercial Keys to Interlined Speed Practice Books Price 2d. each. In Engraved Shorthand. Reporting Style. Nos. I, 2, and 3. The Shorthand Commercial Letter Writer Price Is. ; cloth. Is. 6d. In Shorthand, Reporting Style. A Guide to Professional and Business Correspondence. Key to the Shorthand Commercial Letter Writer Price Gd., ; cloth, Is. Containing all the letters of " The Shorthand Commer- cial Letter Writer " in ordinary print. {A II fcap. 8vo, unless otherwise stated.) 20 The Shorthand Commereial Letter Writer and Key Cloth, 2s. Both Shorthand and Longhand, in 1 vol. Office Work in Shorthand Being specimens of Legal and other Professional work commonly dictated to Shorthand Clerks. In the Re- porting Style. Price Is. ; cloth, Is. 6d. It is intended for those who have mastered this famous system of shorthand and desire to turn it to account in office worlc. The book serves a double purpose. It familiarizes the student with the forms, terms, phrases, etc., used in legal, commercial, and other offices, and it puts the phonographer in possession of the best phonographic forms of writing the accustomed turns of speech. — School Board Chronicle. Key to Office Work in Shorthand Price 6d. ; cloth. Is. Containing all the Letters, etc., of " Office Work in Shorthand," in ordinary print. Office Work in Shorthand and Key Cloth, 2s. Both Shorthand and Longhand in 1 vol. Business Correspondence in Shorthand Price Is. ; cloth. Is. 6d. In the Reporting Style. Containing Letters dealing with a variety of Trades. Key to Business Correspondence in Short- hand Price 6d. ; cloth. Is. In ordinary print, with the Letters counted for dictation. Business Correspondence and Key Qoth, 2s. Both Shorthand and Longhand in I vol. Pitman's Shorthand Dictionary Crown 8vo, handsome cloth binding, price is. ; " Library Edition," roan gilt, coloured edges, 5s. Contains the Shorthand forms for over 61,000 Words, including Proper Names and comprising complete Lists of the Grammalogues and Contracted Words in the system. Eighth Twentieth Century Edition. 21 Not only will the work be of value to shorthand students, but as a pronouncing dictionary of botfi common and proper names will be found, to those who know the Corresponding Style of Phono- graphy in which the words are given, a good practical work for reference. — Northern Daily Telegraph. Pitman's Abpidg^ed Shorthand Dictionary Royal 32mo, roan, gilt edges. Twentieth Century Edition. Price 2s. 6d. With List of Grammalogues and Contractions This very useful pocket edition of phonographic forms for the more common words of the English language gives complete lists of the grammalogues and contractions, alphabetically arranged at the end of the book. This appendix is a happy idea. — Liter- ary World. Shorthand in the Office Price Is. 6d. ; cloth 2s. A Complete Shorthand Clerk's Guide, with chapters on Special Preparation, Aids and Hindrances, etc. By A. Kingston. Seventh edition. Contents. — Introduction — Failures, their Causes and Remedies — Shorthand as a Means of Obtaining a Situation — General Quali- fications — Applying for a Situation — On Entering a Situation — — The Shorthand Clerk at Work — Transcribing — The Shorthand- Typist — Other Duties and Opportunities — The Shorthand Clerk as Private Secretary — Sliorthand and Business Terms and Phrases — The Use of Figures — Aids and Hindrances to Shorthand Speed — Sources of Error — Business Routine — Writing Materials and Books — General Hints — Appendix — Abbreviations used in Busi- ness Correspondence — Abbreviations for Names and Titles, etc. — Modes of Addressing Persons of Rank and Dignity. A special application of Pitman's Shorthand to commercial pur- poses — something quite as distinctive as the style adapted for the newspaper reporter. The author, Mr. Alfred Kingston, has given an admirable account of the ideals at which the enterprising clerk should aim, and his book should be a healthy stimulus as well as a helpful counsellor. — Glasgow Herald. COMiERCIAL HISTORY. Commercial History An introductory Treatise for the use of advanced classes in schools. By J. R. V. Marchant, M.A., formerly Scholar of Wadham College, Oxford, Examiner in Commercial History to the London Chamber of Commerce. Part I. — The History of Commerce down to the end of the Middle Ages — Coloured Maps, Plates, Maps in black and white, fully {All fcap. 8vo, unless otherwise stated.) 22 illustrated from ancient tapestries, sculptures, etc., etc. 112 pp., Crown 8vo, i cloth, Is. 6d. Part II. — The History of Commerce from the Middle Ages to the Present Time. — Maps, Plates, etc. Kil) pp., Crown 8vo, ,[ cloth, 2s. Part I. and II., bound together in cloth, gilt lettered. 272 pp. 3s. Part I. covers Stages I. and II. of the Evening School Code, and Part II. covers Stage III. OOMiViERCIAL LAW. The Commercial Law of England Second Edition. Crown 8vo, 227 pp. Cloth, price 2s. 6d. A Hand-book for Business Men and Advanced Classes in Schools. By J. A. Slater, B.A., LL.B. (Lond.), of the Middle Temple and North-Eastern Circuit, Barrister-at- Law. Author of " Law " in " The Evolutionary History of England," " Pitman's Business Man's Guide," and Lecturer under the School Board for London. The aim of tliis work is to provide a guide to the main principles of the Commercial Law of England. While the treatment of the subject must necessarily be general in its character, it is a well known fact that much of the litigation which arises out of com- mercial transactions is the result of ignorance of the simplest rules of law. These rules are not difficult to learn and understand, and, with business giowing more and more complex and exacting, it has become an absolute necessity that a knowledge of Com- mercial Law in its main outline should form a prominent subject of study in the education of those who are preparing for a business career. Tt is intended for the service of advanced students in schools, but it has been designed in an equally important degree as a constant desk companion to the modern man of business, and if it enables him in the heat and turmoil of city life to quickly and satisfactorily deal With some of the perplexities of Commercial Law that are bound to arise from time to time, the purpose of the author will be largely met. No matters of every-day importance have been passed over, and it is believed that the method of treatment, with its numerous chapter headings and complete index, will render the work a useful text- book for the v.ariojrs examina,tions in Commercial Law, of which the- author's practical experience. has proved the need. With five facsimiles. Bills of Exchange (at 3 mos.), do. (at sight), Bill of Lading, Charter Party, Cheque crossings. Elfementapy Law^ for Shorthand Clerks and Typists Crown 8vo, cloth gilt. Price 2s. 6d. A work of great usefulness to all engaged in English legal offices. The plan followed in this work is that of giving 23 such an account of various branches of English law as shall serve to bring out the precise significance of the chief terms customarily used by lawyers, and often used by laymen. The book will be found of the greatest service to those entering solicitors' offices, from the fact that, in addition to the explanatory matter, a large number of specimens of actual legal forms with which the young typist will have to deal in actual office work, are inclueied in the book. The following is a synopsis of the Contents. — Introduction — Property — Property in Land — Deeds — Conveyancing with Practical Forms — How Property Passes on Death — Miscellaneous Forms — Partners and Partnerships — ■ Corporations — Joint Stock Companies — Societies and Associations ; Building Societies ; Friendly Societies ; Trade Unions — Insol- vency and Bankruptcy — Superior Courts and Legal Proceedings — Arbitration — Criminal Proceedings. Leg>al Terms, Phrases, and Abbreviations Crown 8vo, 200 pages. Cloth gilt. Price 2s. 6d. For Typists and Shorthand and other Junior Clerks. This work is supplementary to " Elementary Law," and its chief and primary object is that of enabling junior clerks in English legal offices to gain an intelligible grasp of the meaning of the terms that they are called upon to employ every day in the correspondence and other matter dictated to thern. The plan adopted is substantially the same as that pursued in " Elementary Law." The term is explained, and its use in actual practice is illustrated, specimen forms being introduced wherever necessary. The work consists of the following sections : — 1. Terms used in Conveyancing. 2. Terms used in Probate and Allied Matters. 3. Terms used in Litigation. 4. Miscel- laneous Terms. 5. Latin and Norman Phrases in Common Use. 6. Some Legal Maxims explained. 7. Legal Abbre- viations. (Ready in May.) QOMMERCIAL READERS. Pitman's Commercial Reader (Senior Book) Crown 8vo, cloth, 272 pp. Price 2s. An Introduction to Modern Commerce. The most important and valuable Reading Book yet published for use in the Upper Classes in Day Schools and in Evening Continuation Schools. 24 Contains over 160 black and white illustrations, wluch include reproductions of ^famous picture;; by Lord Leightou, P.R.A., Vicat Cole, R.A., Sidney Cooper, R.A., and Marcus Stone, R.A., together with portraits (reproduced from photographs) of Lord Rothschild, Lord Armstrong, Lord Masham. Su" Alfred Jones, Sir C.eorge Wdliams, Guglielmo Marconi, etc , etc., etc. ; six black and white maps, and a coloured quarto Map of the World, showing the British Empire, the chief Telegraph Cables and Steamer Routes, etc. ; Glossary. Pitman's Commercial Reader has been written to a plan ; a plan that has been thought over. Every chapter has its purpose, fn its entirety it ranges over tlie wliolc wor'd of commerce, and presents a bird's-eye view of its multifarious operations which the mind will easily grasp and permanently retain. It is not too much to say that it will be gratefully remembered liy the scholar long after the ordinary scliool reader has faded from his mind. To be appreciated it must be seen. To see it is to adopt it. Absolutely unique in conception, and written throughout in a simple and entertaining style by authors of knowledge and ability, for the purpose of giving our boys just before the completion of their school life a sound grasp of the fundamental principles and prac- tices of the machinery of Trade and Commerce. A 24 pp. prospectus, with detailed plan of the work, giving specimen pages of letterpress and illustrations, can be had on application. Pitman's Commercial Reader, Junior and Intermediate Books, in preparation. Pitman's French Commepeial Reader Crown 8vo, 208 pp., cloth gilt. Price 2s. 6d. Deals in an interesting manner with the leading commer- cial and National Institutions of France. The reading matter is most carefully selected, and while the student of French is improving his mastery of the language, he is at the same time getting a good insight into French com- mercial methods. Thus, while reading about invoices, the actual document is brought under his notice. Addi- tional value is given to the book by the inclusion of questions and exercises. Maps, illustrations and fac- similes of French commercial documents illustrate the text, and in addition the book contains a selection of commercial letters, a full list of commercial abbreviations in current use, and an exhaustive vocabulary of all different words used in the text. Accuracy is assured as the Reader has been prepared under the supervision of well-known masters in modern languages. 25 Contents. — French Commercial History and Geography — Commerce considered in Relation to Manufactures — The Necessity lor Business Training — The Organization of a French Business House — Description of a Large French Store, its Consti- tution and Method of Business — The Origin of the Bank of France, with an Account of its Work — A Visit to the Bank of France Described — The Bourse, its Situation and Establishment— A Visit to the Bourse Described — Taxation in France — Life Assur- ance — French Industries and Manufactures — The Corn Laws — The Manufacture of Beet Sugar — An Account of the History and Manufacturing Industry of Limoges — The Port of Marseilles — French Maritime Commerce — French Weights and Measures — The French Mo^etary System — Market and Stock Exchange Reports — French Commercial Letters, etc. — Questions and Exer- cises in Composition provided at the end of each Chapter, and full List of French Commercial Abbreviations, with exhaustive Voca- bulary at the end of the book. Illustrations. — The Bourse — Map of the World showing French Colonies — Map of France showing the chief Agricultural and Mineral Products of each Dis- trict — Facsimile Invoice, Promissory Note, Bill of Exchange, Charter Party, and Bill of Lading — Plate of Current Coins — Shippers' Advice Note, etc. Pitman's Gepman Commepeial Reader is prepared on similar lines to the French Commercial Reader above. It furnishes a practical introduction to German commercial institutions and transactions, with questions and exercises which render it well suited for use in schools. Students are afforded the fullest help possible from plates, illustrations, maps, and facsimiles of German commercial documents. The text has had the benefit of revision by modern language masters in' well-known schools. Crown 8vo, 208 pp., cloth gilt. Price 2s. 6d. Contents.' — German Commercial Geography and History — The German Imperial Bank — The Stock Exchange — German Publisliing Enterprise, illustrated by a description of two Great Pubhshing Houses — Baron von Renter and his Work — Simon, the Inventor of the Rolling Mill — Office Organization and Management of a Leipzig Firm — The Decimal System — German Taxation — German Money — Stock Exchange and Market Reports — German Commercial Letters — List of Abbreviations and FuU Vocabulary. Illustrations. — Berlin Bourse — Map of Germany, showing the Chief Agricultural and Mineral Pro- ducts of each District — Map of World, showing German Colonies — Plate of Current Coins — Customs Declaration — Facsimile Cheque — Telegraph Form — Brokers' Contract Note — Bill of Exchange — Warehouse Note — Share Price List, Circular Letter, etc. 26 TYPEWRITING. Pitman's Typewriter Manual Large post dto, cloth. Price 3s. The work is divided into two parts. The first inckiaes a discussion and statement of the various laults notice- able in bad work, and furnishes rules for their cure. The seconddivision contains a number of rules and ex- amples applying to certain special kinds of work which the operatormay, from time to time, be called upon to do, Such kinds of work are those required in the copying office, m commercial correspondence, in the preparation of legal drafts, literary MS., etc. Illustrated with numerous facsimile plates. Listsof abbreviations. Fully explains the Touch Typewriting method. Fourth Edition. Pitman's Typewriting- Examples Fcap. folio. Price 2s. 6d. Forty-eight facsimile examples, embracing a variety of typewriting work — commercial, legal, tabular and ge- neral, on 24 cards, in stout envelopes. Of great service to the learner as models of style and setting out. Can be used with any typewriter. Ditto. Printed in oblong note-book for standing by the side of the machine. Piice 2s. Ditto. Note-book form, in covers. Price Is. 6d. Remington Typew^riter Manual Illustrated. Large post 4to. Price Is. ; cloth. Is. 6d. Principal Contents. — How the Machine Works — The Kej'board and its Manipulation — Line and Marginal Spacing — Practical Hints — Manifolding and the Different Methods of Multiplying Copies — ^Modes of Addressing Personages of Rank — Abbreviations commonly met with in Commercial, Legal, Scientific, and Literary Manuscripts, with their respective Significations — Full size Fac- similes and Exercises of Various Classes of Work. A Praetieal Course in Touch Typew^riting". A Scientific Method of Mastering the Keyboard by the sense of Touch. By C. E. Smith. Single and Double Keyboard Editions Eoch, price Is, 6d 27 SPELLmG & COMPOSITION. Pitman's Commereial Spellep Royal 32 mo. (3 in. x 5 in.), 84 pagfes, limp cloth, round corners, coloured edges. Price Is. An entirely new book of a size convenient for the pocket, arranged on practical lines, and furnishing an accurate and ready Guide to the spelling of about Eight Thousand words which frequently occasion doubt and trouble m the minds of commercial correspondents, business men, and writers generally. Only those words which expe- rience shows are likely to, be misspelled are included in the new book, which contains, also, precise directions with regard to the Use of Stops, Capital Letters, Abbre- viations, etc. ; lists of Terms and Phrases in common use from the Latin, French, and other languages ; Com- mercial Information in brief about Bills of Exchange, LO.U's., Foreign Money, etc., etc. Admirably adapted for the use of students desirous of, extending their voca- bulary and perfecting their knowledge of spelling. A Guide to English Composition Fcap. 8vo, 112 pages. Price Is. ; cloth. Is. Gd. with Progressive Exercises. By the Rev. J. H. Bacon, Rector of Great Gonerby, author of " A Complete Guide to the Improvement of the Memory," etc. The author's object has been to produce a practical manual of English Composition, adapted to the purposes of school instruction, and to the requirements of young students generally. The " Guide " will be found extremelj' useful to place in the hands of all students who possess a fair acquaintance with English grammar and its thorough study cannot fail to impart a. knowledge of a, correct and luminous style. The Avon English Gpammar Primep Crown 8vo, 219 pp. Price, cloth gilt, Is. This book has been compiled to serve as a Primer, or beginner's book in the study "of our own language. Special attention has been given to the synthesis of sentences, as well as to their analysis. 28 PERIODICALS. Pitman's Phonetic Journal (Estab. 1842), 32 pp., weekly Id., by post l^d. Obtain- able at any bookstall or newsagent's on Friday morning. The Phonetic Journal, which publishes six pages of . shorthand in the learner's, corresponding and reporting styles, with key, is invaluable to the reporter, shorthand clerk, typist, and everyone interested in commercial education. Subscription, which may begin at any time, 6s. 6d. per annum post-free. Pitmaii's Shorthand Weekly (Vol. xxii. now appearing,) 12 pp., Illustrated. Published on Thursdays Id. Gives every week eight pages of bright and entertaining matter printed entirely in shorthand. Every page is illustrated, and stories of incident, and wit and humour, are a leading feature. Annual subscription, 6s. 6d. ; half year, 3s. 3d. ; quarter. Is. 8d. Hugo's Fpeneh Journal for English-speaking students and all interested in the study of languages. Established 1896. Every Saturday. Crown 4to, price Id., post-free, IJd. NOTEBOOKS. In ordering through a bookseller state either " FONO " or "COMMERCIAL" series and the register mimher which is ■printed on each copy, and he careful to accept no other. Imitations are often sold which are vastly inferior in quality of paper and strength of binding. Fono Reporter's Note-Books No. 1. — Id. 80 pp., red lines, suitable for pen or pencil ; with the Grammalogues, alphabetically arranged, printed inside the cover. Price Id., post-free, IJd. ; six copies, post-free, 9d. ; twelve copies, post-free, Is. 3d. Xo. 2. — 2d. 160 pp., red lines, suitable for pen or pencil ; with the Grammalogues inside the cover. Price 2d., post-free, 3d. ; six copies, post-free. Is. 3d. ; twelve copies, post-free, 2s. 4d. 29 No. 3. — 3d. 200 pages, with the Contracted Words inside the cover. Price 3d., post-free, 4d. , No. 4. — 4d. 160 pages, superior paper, elastic binding ; with List of Longhand Press Contractions and Press Telegraph Regulations printed inside the cover. Price 4d., post- free, 5d. Cloth cases for holding this, and also No. 3 Note-book, can be had from 6d. to 3s. No. 5. — 6d. 200 pages, 8 by 5, elastic binding to open flat, price 6d., post-free, 7d., Single or Double Lines. Cloth Cases for holding this Note-book can be had at Is. each. No. 20. — 8d. 200 pages, 8J by 5J, elastic binding, single lines, stiff boards, marginal red line. Price 8d., post- free 9d. No. 6. — Unruled, 240 pages, elastic binding, to open at the side. Price 6d., post-free, 7d. Elastic-Bound Note-Books made of the very best paper, to open flat on the desk, strongly bound. As supplied to His Majesty's Govern- ment. Nos. 12 and 15 are made of slightly thinner paper. No. 7. — 150 pages 1x5 single lines, half-cloth Is. Od. 8.— 200 „ 8 X 5 „ (red) „ Is. 6d. 9.— 180 „ 9x5^ ,, „ Is. 6d. 10.— 250 „ 9 X 5J „ cloth 2s. Od. 11.— 250 ,, 9 X 5i double lines „ 2s. Od. 12. — 400 ,, 8x5, single lines, stiH boards Is. Od. 15.-250 „ 8x5. single ,, „ „ (stitched) Is.- 6d. Pocket Note-Books elastic binding, made of the very best paper. No. 17. — 120 pages 7| x 4^ single lines, half-cloth 9d., post-free lOd. , 18.-120 „ 7|x4i double,, „ 9d., ,, lOd. Pitman's Note-Book Cover and Tpanscpibing" Slope 9 in. by 5 in. This cover folds back, and being kept at the required angle by a. piece of elastic, remains in a convenient position for transcribing. Price, including Note-book, 2s. Od. No. 19. — Refills for above. 140 pages, 9 in. by 5 in. Red, marginal ruling. Price 6d. A liberal reduction is allowed on a quantity. Note-books of any description made to order in quantities of 3 dozen and upwards. Sample leaves of Note-books post-free. 30 Commepeial Note-Books No. 1. — Fcap. 8vo., 100 pp., ruled faint, paper covers. Price Id. „ 2.— Small post 8vo., 180 pp., ruled faint ,, „ 2d. ,, 3.— „ ,, 200 ,, „ .stiff boards ,, 4d. „ 4.— Post 8vo., 298 pp., ruled faint „ „ 6d. „ 5. — Large post Svo., 440 pp., ruled faint ,, ,, Is. N.B. — The " Commercial " series. of Note-books is designed to meet the wants of the numerous class of buyers who require a large Note-book of the ordinary Commercial character. They are inferior to the " Fono Series " except in size, but offer much better value than the cheap Note-books issued by ot npr TT13 kpts BUSINESS MAN'S HANDBOOKS. Pitman's Business Man's Guide Second Large Edition. Crown Svo, in Cloth Cover of special design, 476 pages. Price 3s. 6d. net. Edited by J. A. Slater, B.A., LL.B., of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law, and Author of " Commercial Law of England." A volume of handy size, of permanent usefulness in the office of the Merchant, the Banker, the Broker, and the Trader, and to all members of the staff from the Manager, Secretary, or Cashier, to Clerks of all kinds. The information is of such a character as will assist a business man in an emergency, and will clear up doubts and difficulties of every-day occurrence. The work includes over 2,000 articles. In the " Business Man's Guide " every commercial article kiiown to modern trade is recorded — what it is, how it is made or how it is grown, where it is produced, how it is dealt with coninercially, and to what extent or vahie. The productions of the world are set out, the monetary systems and equivalent vahies, the tenancy of an office, the conditions of a lease, the engagement of a manager, or traveller, or agent, or representative on commission, the princi- ples of banking, and the methods of exchange, etc., etc. everything in plain language, clearly described, accurately stated. The scope of the " Business Man's Guide " may be more clearly explained by the mention of some of the headings taken by chance from the opening pages. Beginning with the letter " A " we have all the signs in which that letter is used as an initial — %, @, a/d, a/s, a/o, etc. Then we have articles on " Abandonment " (of a ship), " Acceptance " (of a Bill of Exchange), " Accident " (insurance), " Action " (at law), " Actuary" (duties of), " Articles of Association," " Arbitration," " Attorney" (power of), " Auc- tioneer" (duties and responsibilities), "Auditor," " Averai;e Adjustment," " Award," etc. A detailed Frosfectus will he sent post-free on application. 31 Insurance. By T. E. Young, B.A., F.R.A.S., ex-President of the Institute- of Actuaries ; ex-Chairman of the Life Offices' Association, etc., etc. Demy 8vo, .340 pp., cloth gilt, 7s. 6d. A complete and practical exposition for the student and the Business Man of the principles and practice of Insu- rance presented in a simple and lucid style, and illustrated by the author's actual experience as a Manager and Actuary of long standing. This bcok has been written expressly for (1) The Actuarial student. (2) The student of Fire, Marine and Insurance generally. (3) The Insurance Clerk. (4) The Business Man. It treats in an elementary and intelligible manner of the principles, processes and conduct of Insurance business as a key to the interpretation of the accou.nts and practice of offices and as a comprehensive foundation for maturer study. The uniform object steadily retained in view has been the presentation and explanation of those principles as a basis of practice ; and th.nt. too, in a concise form, with the constant aid of illustrative examples actually occurring in insurance work, whereby the principles may "readily be understood. The result is a work of living interest to which everyone engaged in Insurance work may confidently turn for practical guidance. The general results of the author's wide professional and commercial experience and reflections have been liberally made use of in the preparation of the book. A full and detailed Prospectus will be sent free on application- Insurance Office Organization, Manage- ment and Accounts by T. E. Young, B.A., F.R.A.S., and Richard Masters. Demy 8vo, 150 pp., price 3s. 6d. net (in preparation). There are many books on Insurance written from a w theoretical point of view, one of the best of which is Mr. Young's own book but, so far as the publishers are aware there is not one satisfactory work dealing with Insurance in its Commercial aspect. The authors possess to an eminent degree the necessary qualifications to fill the gap. Mr. Young, who has held with marked distinction some of the highest positions in the Insurance world, enjoys an international reputation as an expert in the subject while, Mr. Masters from his long practical experience as an Insurance Accountant is familiar with every detail of the book-keeping requisite to a well conducted office. The title of the book is sufficiently explanatory to preclude the necessity for further elaboration of its contents. 32