PETER THE GREAT. 33 



From 1688 to the death of Queen Anne, the trade of the American plantations had 

 steadily and rapidly increased, till at the latter date it employed 500 vessels, a large proportion 

 of which were engaged in the slave trade from Africa. It started as a monopoly in the 

 hands of the African Company, incorporated at first under Act of Parliament as traders in 

 gold and ivory, but soon developing into traffickers in human flesh. In 1698 an Act of 

 Parliament gave permission to all the king's subjects, whether of England or America, to 

 trade to Africa on payment of a certain percentage to the company on all goods exported 

 or imported, negro slaves being, nevertheless, exempted from this tax. How great this 



PETER THE GEEAT. 



inhuman and nefarious trade had developed may be gathered from the fact that the 

 French, in one year, and to supply one island, that of St. Domingo, transported 20,000 slaves 

 from Africa. 



Passing rapidly over the pages of history, we come to an important epoch in the 

 progress of merchant shippi^^when the trade to Russia was practically thrown open to our 

 merchants by an Act "entrcling any person to admission to the Russia Company upon 

 payment of an entrance fee of five pounds." It was about this time that the Czar abdicated 

 temporarily, and made a voyage to Holland and England, travelling incognito, or as much 

 so as he could. Many popular accounts of Peter the Great's stay in these two countries 

 are so full of errors that the present writer may be permitted to give, moderately in 

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