144 TRADE AND MARKETS. 



for more than a century after his time, that of establishing de- 

 pendencies by settlement or conquest, to which the principles 

 of what Smith calls the mercantile theory could be applied. His 

 object was to get possession of some island or islands in the 

 Antilles, Cuba or S. Domingo by preference, from which he 

 could attack Spanish America, and secure the interests of 

 British commerce in those regions. The result of the ex- 

 pedition, to Cromwell's disappointment, was the capture of 

 Jamaica. In 1658 Cromwell got possession of Dunkirk, a con- 

 quest which gave great satisfaction in England. 



The principles of commerce were now discussed. The pub- 

 lications of Mun, Malynes, Misselden, Roberts, Child, North, 

 and Davenant illustrate the trade of the time, and the neces- 

 sary modification of these principles of political or economical 

 action which had previously been thought to be unassailable. 

 It is true that people in high places still believed that the 

 great object of commerce was to secure a supply of the precious 

 metals, that to sell more than one bought was to make a profit, 

 that the excess of exports over imports was evidence of pro- 

 gress, and the reverse the proof of commercial decline, and that 

 the highest policy of a government was to secure a monopoly 

 for English manufacturers and traders. The growth of trade 

 was generally ascribed to the reduction of the rate of interest 

 by law, the cause being confounded with the effect. 



Towards the latter end of the Protectorate, Cromwell, who 

 had declared the trade to the East Indies open, reconstituted 

 the Company with a capital ten times as great as that which 

 it had at its first foundation. During the interval of free 

 trade with India, occurred the incident of Skinner's losses, 

 his plea against the Company, his application to the Lords, 

 and the quarrel over the jurisdiction of the Lords, between that 

 House and the Commons. The topic was one of great consti- 

 tutional importance, and led, as those who are versed in con- 

 stitutional antiquities know, to the settlement of certain im- 

 portant constitutional principles. But the commercial question 

 which was involved in this celebrated case had its final solution 



