SAILING CRAFT 69 



of the wars with the French Empire and the 

 American Republic in 1815. 



The first laws only put into words what every 

 sea-power had long been practising or trying to 

 practise : namely, the confining of all sea 

 trading to its own ships and subjects. They 

 were first aimed at the Dutch, who fought 

 for their carrying trade but were crushed. 

 They operated, however, against all foreigners. 

 They forbade all coastwise trade in the British 

 Isles except in British vessels, all trade from 

 abroad except in British ships or in ships 

 belonging to the country whence the imported 

 merchandise came, all trade between English 

 colonies by outsiders, and all trade between 

 the colonies and foreign countries, except in 

 the case of a few enumerated articles. The 

 manning clauses were of the same kind. 

 Most of the crew and all the officers were to 

 be British subjects — an important point when 

 British seamen were liable to be 'pressed' 

 into men-of-war in time of national danger. 



The change of rule in 1763 meant that 

 Canada left an empire that could not enforce 

 its navigation laws and joined an empire 

 that could. Whatever the value of the laws, 

 Canadian shipping and sea trade continued to 

 grow under them. In the eighteenth century 



