By* A fuccinci Account of the Adventures 
come to fomewhat, is what I cannot help thinking very 
probable; at leafl; it is apparent, that if fome Attempt of 
this kind be not made, we can never hope for any thing ; 
and to defpair in a Matter of Trade, is incompatible with 
the true Spirit of a trading Nation, and with ours more 
efpecially. For after all, what is there in this more extraor- 
dinary than what was actually performed by Mr. Adams l 
He came to Japon helplefs, and without Friends ; his own 
Merit recommended him, and made him Friends, fuch 
Friends as enabled him to do the great Things that he 
did. Things to the full as great or greater than thofe we 
expeCt from the Perfons that Ihould be now lent; and 
therefore, whoever will have this Method fet afide, for 
want of Probability, is bound to offer a Method more pro- 
bable, and in that Cafe I Ihall moft readily fubmit. 
But if, while we confider all Attempts of this fort as 
chimerical or impracticable, any other Nation Ihould ftep 
in, and either expel the Dutch , or fhare with them in that 
Commerce, it will be a very high Reflection upon us, who 
may pretend to it with at leafl; as great, if not greater Hopes 
than any other. That this Conjecture of fome other Na- 
tion’s making an Attempt of this Nature is not abfolutely 
wild or groundlefs, may appear from the Endeavours of 
the Ruffians , who have actually reached in their Difcoveries 
fome Iflands, the Inhabitants of which make ufe of Money 
ftamped with Japonefe Characters ; from whence it is with 
great Probability conjedtured, that they are Vaffals at leafl:, 
if not Subjedts, to that Empire. There are other Nations 
too, as will appear by the fucceeding Sections, which have 
found their Way to the Eafi-Indies , and the Coafts of 
China , though it was thought they laboured under infupa- 
rable Difficulties, and why they Ihould not be able to extend 
their Commerce farther, and even reach Japon , is what 
no good Reafon can be affigned to prove, any more than I 
apprehend any folid Caufe can be ffiewn why we Ihould 
not endeavour to be before-hand with them in a Point of 
fuch Confequence. 
But, perhaps, fome Critick may demand, how do you 
know it is of fuch Confequence ? How can you take upon 
you to affert fo confidently things relating to a Place and 
People at fuch a Diftance ? How can you tell that all thefe 
Points have not been long ago confidered by better Judges 
than yourfelf, and fuch Projects as you propofe upon fub- 
ftantial Motives rejected ? or what Reafon is there that you 
Ihould expedt the Schemes you form in your Clofet Ihould 
ferve for Rules to fuch as are better acquainted with thefe 
Matters than yourfelf? I am very fenfible, that there are 
a Race of ill-natured People in the World very capable of 
throwing out fuch Reflections as thefe, and I know too, 
that many of them do it againft the Conviction of their 
own Minds, and merely from a Spirit of Envy. But, 
however, as fuch Queftions may have a bad Effedt on the 
Minds of a better fort of People, by which I mean Perfons 
of honefter Difpofitions, and who really with well to the 
Publick, and yet are led away by fuch trite Animadver- 
fions, for want of a due Meafure of Attention, I think it 
may not be amifs, for their fakes, to examine fuch Notions 
once for all, and to fhew, that however fpecious they may 
appear at firfl: Sight, they have in reality no Foundation. 
In the firfl: Place I mull obferve, that the Theory of 
Trade may be as well acquired from Books and Enquiries, 
as from being actually concerned in it, and that Experience 
fhews us the moft extenflve Projects ; and fuch as have been 
attended with the greatefl: Succefs have been formed by 
ipeculative Men, who, by reafoning upon FaCts, have been 
able to form much better Judgments, with refpeCt to Com- 
merce, than thofe from whom they received the Fads upon 
which they argued. But, to come clofer to the Point, and 
by anfwering thefe Queftions, fo far as they regard this Sub- 
ject, to put an End to this Difpute, fince the fame Anfwers 
will ferve with equal Truth and Certainty on any other 
Qccafion. If we know the Situation and Extent of a Coun- 
try, its Climate, Soil, ProduCt, and Manufactures, we can 
very eafily, and with the utmoft Certainty determine, whe- 
ther it be a Country worth vifiting, and what kind of 
Commodities are like to have vent there. In this there is 
nothing ftrange or wonderful, nothing that requires a very 
extraordinary Degree of Penetration or Sagacity. For, in 
whatever Climate Men live, they muft have Food andRai- 
3 
Book I. 
ment, and in proportion,: as they are civilised, they will 
not only defire the Neceffaries, but afpire alfo to the Con- 
veniencies of Life, and what we call the Inftruments of 
Luxury, which may alfo be fuited to their Humours, if we 
have a tolerable Account of the Manners and Guftoms of 
the People. 
We know very well what Commodities and Manufactures 
of ours are taken off in Spain , Portugal , and Part of 
France ; and therefore, when we know that the belt Part 
of the Empire of Japon lies in pretty near the fame Situa- 
tion, we cannot be much at a Lofs for the Goods the In- 
habitants of that Country are like to take off our Hands 
in cafe we had an open Trade with them ; but, to be more 
certain in this Cafe, we have it in our Power to learn what 
the Dutch carry thither ; and upon Enquiry, we Ihall find, 
that they are chiefly Scarlet, and other fine Cloths, Camb- 
lets. Serges, and our own Kerfeys, together with fome Silk 
Manufactures, fuch as rich Damalks, Brocades, fine Night- 
Gowns, and in general, a great Variety of Linnen, Wool- 
len, and Cotton Cloths, together with Glafs and Stone- 
Wares, Cofal, and many other things. We may therefore 
with great Confidence pronounce, that if the Way were 
once opened to us, we might be able to vend a vaft Quan- 
tity of the natural Commodities and Manufactures of our 
Country there. 
Befides, fince the Difcoveries made by the Ruffians , it 
is very certain, that the Countries to the North of Japon % 
particularly the great Peninfula of Kamtfchatka , which 
perhaps is the Continent of Te'dzo , is very throughly peo- 
pled by Inhabitants that are' much inclined to Trade, and 
who, from the Coldnefs of their Climate, muft neceffarily 
Hand in need of our coarfer Cloths, and other Manufac- 
tures of the like kind. 
If the vaft Diftance between us and them be objected, 
let us confider how the Dutch carry on this Trade, who 
are not at all nearer them than we ; for if they can ma- 
nage it with Eafe, the fame Method furely will render it 
practicable for us. They fit out their Ships from their 
Settlements in the Indies , viz. Batavia and Malacca ; 
and as we have Settlements in the Indies too, our Ships 
may be fitted out from thence ; and if even thefe Settle- 
ments are at too great a Diftance, this is no invincible Ob- 
jection, fince there feerns to be no Caufe why we Ihould 
not attempt at leafl: to open this Trade from the Coaft of 
China , where we had formerly a FaCtory in the Ifland of 
Chufan , of which I have given fome Account, and there 
is no doubt, but that we might either obtain that, or ano- 
ther more convenient again, if we apply for it. 
As to the Sentiments of People who have vifited the 
Eafi-Indies , and refided a confiderable Time in them, 
there is no Reafon, fuppofe their Notions contrary to 
mine (which however is not the FaCt) to yield implicitly 
to them. They may have other Motives for their Opi- 
nions, than thofe which they think fit todifcover; and if 
after all, there Ihould be ever fo good Reafons advanced 
why the Eafi-India Company Ihould not endeavour to ac- 
quire this Trade ; yet I cannot apprehend, that what I 
have offered, ought to be at all affeCted thereby, fince it is 
certain, that if the Commodities and Manufactures of this 
Country are exported, that Exportation muft turn to the 
general Benefit of the Nation. This was the Sentiment of 
the great DeWit, with refpeCt to the Eaft~ India Compa- 
ny in Holland. He made no Difficulty in declaring, that 
how ufeful foever that Company might be to the Repub- 
lick in its Infancy, there might neverthelefs come a Time, 
when the Interefts of the Company might clafh with thofe 
of the State ; and if this might be the Cafe in Holland , it 
may be fo elfewhere. 
It is very eafy to conceive there may be good Reafons 
to induce even the greatefl: Companies to limit their Com- 
merce, becaufe this will put it in their Power to manage 
it the better, and to render it more advantageous, but 
there never can be any Reafon affigned for reftraining the 
Commerce of any Nation. The more of her Commodi- 
ties and Manufactures a Nation can fend Abroad, the 
more People Ihe muft neceffarily employ at Home, and 
the more her Shipping muft increafe; neither is there any 
Fear that this Ihould exftauft their People ; for while her 
Trade flouriffies, it will never fail to invite Strangers, and 
therefore 
