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my. The real power and opulence of a nation consist in the number of its inhabitants well supplied with the necessaries of life ;-subsistence is the proper measure of population, and the earth is the source of subsistAll other means of wealth and dominion, such as commerce, abundance of the precious metals, and extent of colonies, promote the true prosperity of a state, only in proportion as they encourage AGRICULTURE, which is the most valuable of the arts, as well as the most solid and most durable basis of Plenty and Power.

CHAPTER III.

COMMERCE.

IS well described to be " an operation, by which the wealth or work either of individuals or of societies may be exchanged by merchants for an equivalent, proper for supplying every want without interruption to industry, or check to consumption."* This subject will be considered with an immediate reference to the particular state and circumstances of our own country.

The natural advantages enjoyed by an ISLAND are superior to those which belong to any country, which forms a part of a continent. The soil of the former is

* See Encyclop. Britann. vol. ii, p. 195. Priestley's Lectures on History, p. 386. For the rise and progress of commerce and navigation, and an excellent account of Columbus and his discoveries, see history of Modern Europe, vol. ii, p. 224, &c.

commonly more rich, fertile, and various, than that of the latter. The sea affords the inhabitants security against the invasion of enemies, and furnishes them with inexhaustible supplies of provision. The fisheries on their coasts dispose islanders to navigation, and hence they are led to establish an extensive intercourse with the most distant places. From their general propensity to maritime affairs, they acquire a spirit of enterprize, and distinguish themselves by their courage in the maintenance of their own customs and forms of government; and frequently gain a permanent ascendency over neighbouring and even remote states.

To these general advantages, which were possessed in ancient times by Crete, and at a less distant period by Rhodes, Great Britain adds some, which are peculiar to herself. Her line of sea-coast is very extensive in proportion to the size of the whole island, and abounds with deep bays and capacious harbours. Her ports are convenient, and good for anchorage. Those on the western side of the island are nearly as well situated for the southern trade, as the French; and they are far superior in number, safety, and depth of water. With respect to the northern and the Baltic trades, the situation of France before the late war, when it had not the command of the coasts of Holland, admitted of no comparison. Rivers and numerous canals afford the convenience of water carriage to all the inland counties of England, and not only connect them with each other by the internal circulation of trade, but afford an easy and cheap conveyance to the ocean.

These various advantages have for successive ages been carefully improved, as the great works of public. utility, completed in our sea-port towns, sufficiently attest. Harbours have been deepened, piers and moles

have been erected to break the force of the waves, and form a safe asylum for ships. Wet and dry docks have been constructed for the building and reparation of ships, and commodious quays to unload their freights. In every place where necessity requires such aid, light-houses have been raised upon the lofty cliffs, to guide the mariner in the darkest nights along the dangerous coasts. These expensive and laborious works are carried on with ardour, to promote navigation in every direction, as London, Whitby, Liverpool, Yarmouth, Bristol, Ramsgate, and Falmouth, fully prove; so that British vessels can sail by every wind that blows: and the ships of foreign nations are invited, by such conveniences, to bring their numerous articles of commerce to every part of our shores. Such various monuments of utility prove the incessant energy of industry; and that in every instance, where the influence of government is propitious to the spirit of enterprize, those difficulties of nature and situation may be conquered, which past ages regarded as insurmountable.

The ardent and indefatigable diligence, which raises Great Britain above the rest of Europe, is visible in every place, distinguished by manufactories, mines, fisheries, and agriculture. In Manchester, Glasgow, and Norwich, the fabrication of cotton, wool, and flax, into cloth, linens, and stuffs, supplies multitudes of all ages with the means of subsistence. In Birmingham and Sheffield iron and other metals are worked for' every purpose of use and ornament. The hardy inhabitants of the North and West labour in the productive mines of coals and metals; while the mariners either explore their own, or venture to the icy seas of Greenland, and the distant recesses of the Southern Ocean, for

various kinds of fish. The farmers cultivate the surface of the earth, and grain grows on extensive plains, which a century or two past exhibited, in pathless woods or barren heaths, the rudest state of nature.

This survey of the active industry of our countrymen, so much diversified, and operating in such various directions for the benefit of themselves and the community at large, must naturally awaken our curiosity to inquire, I. into the advantages; II. the prin ciples; and, III. the comparative state of that commerce, which their labours enable the British merchant to extend to every part of the globe.

In

I. The great spring of commerce is mutual want of the necessary articles of life, or the supposition of want, with respect to luxuries and superfluities. This principle has the same operation, whether the farmer immediately sell his corn to the manufacturer, or whe ther the disposal of manufactures be more circuitous. The farmer, for instance, may not be in want of cloth and therefore will not give corn to the weaver. such a case the weaver sends his cloth to a foreign market, where it is exchanged for the wine of Portugal or the tea of China, which, when imported, the farmer readily purchases. The machine of commerce may appear vast and complicated, its movements may be many, and its operations circuitous; but the main spring necessity, either real or imaginary, is invariably the same.

Commerce is the source of wealth to the merchant; but its advantages are far from being confined to himself. It supplies the wants of one country by importing the articles of another, and gives a value to superfluities, which they could not otherwise possess. It increases the revenue of the state, and thus contributes

to its general opulence and grandeur; and it preserves the independence of the British empire, by the strong support and large supplies afforded to our maritime strength. Hence we acquire a decided superiority over every other nation, and give the inhabitants of remote as well as neighbouring countries the most convincing proofs of our riches, prosperity, and power. No commercial country is long exposed to the evils of its own barrenness or necessities; and the riches of one place are soon made the common stock of all others. Commerce is the bond of general society, which unites the most distant nations by a reciprocal intercourse of good offices. By extending the sphere of activity through various parts of the earth, by satisfying the real and multiplying the imaginary wants of mankind, and by quickening their thirst for enjoyments, it becomes the most lively and most general principle, which actuates the world. Under its attractive and beneficient influence, the whole world becomes one city, and all nations one family.

The influence likewise, which it produces upon the manners of mankind, renders it a more interesting subject of investigation. A regular intercourse subsisting between different nations contributes to cure the mind of many absurd and hurtful prejudices. Trade carried on between persons of different sects and religions has a tendency to lessen the opposition of opinion, which was formerly the cause of hatred and hostility. It promotes benevolence of disposition, inasmuch as it extends the connexions and intercourse of society, and increases the love of peace and order, without which its operations cannot be carried, on. The merchant engaged in honourable traffic is the friend of mankind, and is occupied in a constant ex