A fuccinB Hifiory of the Rife , Progrefs , and 
Book I, 
Ufe to the Publicly and of prodigious Benefit and Ad- 
vantage to private Perfons in the fame Way, 
But then, if we confider it in a larger and more extenfive 
View 5 and as it hath a Reference to the Commonwealth 
of Holland , and the Dutch Nation, we fhall find that this 
Eafi- India Commerce has been fo far from exhaufting and 
drawing out the Wealth of thefe Provinces, that, on the 
contrary, it has brought in a much greater Proportion of 
Wealth than could have been obtained any other Way. 
In order to be fatisfied of this, we need only confider the 
Original Capital of this Eajl-India Company, which con- 
lifts of not quite fix Millions and an half of Florins, that is, to 
take it in round Numbers, about fix hundred and fifty thou- 
fand Pounds Sterling-, and yet upon this, in the Year 1728, 
they had divided Eighteen Millions of our Money. 
It may, indeed, be objeded, that before we can draw 
any Confequence from this, v/e ought to know the Quan- 
tities of Silver that have, within that Space of Time been 
exported from Holland ; becaufe, till thefe Sums are 
known, and deduded from the Eighteen Millions, divided 
amongft the Proprietors, it cannot, with any Certainty, be 
known how great Profits have accrued to the Dutch Na- 
tion from this Trade. But, in anfwer to this Objection, 
which is the only one that can be made I fay, fir ft of all, 
that the Dividends made by the Diredors of the Compa- 
ny, arife from the Sales by which the Goods brought from 
the Indies on the Company’s Account, are thrown into the 
Hands of private Merchants, by whom the greateft Part 
of them have been exported into other Countries of Eu- 
rope. , and a vaft Profit accquired thereby, which Profit is 
not at all taken Notice of in the Account before ftated. I 
fay, in the next Place, that the home C'onfumption of In- 
dia Goods in Holland , bears fo little Proportion to the 
Quantities of thofe Goods vended by the Company in their 
publick Sales, that it is impoffible to conceive they can 
conduce to any confiderable Impoverifhment of the People ; 
and that there is the higheft Reafon to believe the Whole 
Eighteen Millions before- mentioned has been drawn from 
foreign Countries into Holland , by the Sale of thofe Com- 
modities and confequently this Sum at leaft has been 
gained, not only by the Company, but by the Nation, 
I fay, in the third Place, that this is the more credible, 
becaufe this is fo far from being the whole of the Profits 
which the Company has gained by its Commerce, that 
there is good Reafon to believe it is not much above one 
half of them for we muft confider that the Company has, 
at feveral Times paid for the renewing its Charters and 
Privileges more than its original Capital ; that it has like- 
wife expended, from the Time of its firft Eftablifhment, 
an immenfe Sum every Year for the building, repairing, 
and equipping the Ships employed in its Service, and in 
dill' barging the Wages due to all who are in its Service, 
which, with many other Articles, that I need not enume- 
rate, muft have arifen from the Gain produced by their 
Trade. I fay, in the fourth Place, that as the Company 
has very wifely avoided very high Dividends, and has al- 
ways retained a vaft Stock, and an immenfe Treafure for 
its Support in cafe of any extraordinary Emergency, fo all 
this, let its Amount be what it will, is excluded from the 
before-mentioned Sum of Eighteen Millions, and belongs 
to a feparate Account. 
I fay, farther, that all the Property of which the Com- 
pany is pofiefted in the Eajl-Indies , and which is capable 
of being transferred from thence into Europe , ought to be 
eonfidered as the entire Produce of this Trade, as it never 
could have accrued to, or have been by any Means in the 
Power or Pofteflion of the Subjects of the States of Holland^ 
but by the Eftablifhment and Management of this Com- 
pany : So that if we take in all thefe various Branches, 
which make no Part of thefe Eighteen Millions, l believe, 
there is no reafonable Man, at leaft no competent Judge 
of Matters of this Nature, who will not readily allow that 
they muft vaftly over-balance whateverQuantities of Silver 
have been exported by the Company, ftnce its Eftablifh- 
ment, for the carrying on of the India Trade. So that on 
the whole, I think, I may very fairly, and with the 
greateft Juftice conclude, that if this Article of the Trade 
of Holland could be balanced with the utmoft Nicety, it 
would appear, that, at leaft, this Sum of Eighteen Milli- 
ons has been gained by the Dutch Nation, as well. as by 
the Proprietors of their Eajl-India Company. 
But if it fhould be faid, that the Wealth of the Dutch 
Provinces does by no Means correfpond with this Calcu- 
lation, and that therefore it is very improbable ; my An- 
fwer to this is, that in the firft Place, this ought to be 
proved, and in the next, that fuppofing it could be prov- 
ed, it is no reafonable Objection to the Truth of what I 
fay, ftnce it is Very pofilble, and indeed highly probable, 
that a great Part of the Wealth brought into Holland by 
this Commerce, and by the numberlefs Branches of Trade 
which depend upon it, may have been in Part diffipated 
and difperfed by the great Wars maintained by the Re- 
publick, and by various other Exigencies of State ; fo that 
allowing there were not eighteen Millions in the Hands of 
all the Subjeds of this Republick, yet this does not prove, 
that they may not have gained fo much by this Commerce, 
becaufe, as I have faid before, they may have fpent it. 
I may add to all this, that there is no great Difficulty in 
fetting this Argument in fuch a Light, as that it may 
operate ftrongly in my Favour; for, if we confider the 
prodigious Sums the Dutch Government have levied upon 
their Subjects, the many and long Wars in which they 
have engaged, and the great Difficulties and Diftreftes to 
which they have been driven, it is as difficult to imagine, 
how they fhould have been able to find Money for their 
Expences, and yet leave their Subjects fo rich as they are 
at prefent known to be, without admitting fuch a Profit 
upon this Trade as it is to believe, that the beft Part of 
thefe prodigious Expences was taken out of that Wealth 
which this Company brought in. 
That a great deal of Time has been fpent in examining 
and tracing the Hiftory of the Dutch Commerce in the 
Indies for fuch a Number of Years, that I have been ve- 
ry large in my Defcriptlon of its Eftablifhment Abroad, ' 
and have beftowed no Jefs Labour in fetting forth the Oe- 
conomy of this Eajl-India Company at Home, is what I 
cannot deny ; but at the fame l ime, I muft profefs, that 
they bringing fuch a Multitude of Things into the Compafs 
of this Sedion, and thereby exhibiting in one View, what 
it would coft the Reader much Time and Trouble, and I 
might add, Expence likewife, to pick up, from a Multi- 
tude of different Writers, was my foie Motive thereto ; 
and therefore I hope this will be thought a juft Excufe 
for any Inconveniencies that may have attended it ; the 
rather, becaufe in the Courfe of my Enquiries, I have 
met with fuch Helps, as I did not, and indeed could have 
no Reafon to exped, which has enabled me to render the 
Account I have given, much more perfed than at firft I 
had any Hopes of making it. There is no Polfibility of 
judging, on the firft laying of a Plan of this Nature, how- 
all the Materials are to be colleded, what Space they will 
fill, or what Acceflions may be made to them, while the 
Structure is ereding ; but it is always clear, that an Au- 
thor, who has a due Regard for his own Reputation, and 
a juft Corcern for the Performance of what he has pro- 
mifed to the Publick, will be always attentive to the main 
Objed, and will let Circumftances of fmaller Confidera- 
tion give Way thereto, for which, when all Things have 
been fufficiently weighed, his Readers will not think that 
he ought to be blamed. 
But if we have dwelt fo long upon a Subjed fo fruitful 
of Matter as this has apparently been, it will prevent our 
employing fo much Time as we fhould otherwife have 
done in accounting for the Endeavours of feveral other 
Nations in Europe , to fhare in this Trade, by ereding 
new Companies for carrying it on, of which it will now 
be neceffary to fay no more than what is requifite, to fhew* 
how, when, and by whom they were ereded, and what 
their Situation and Expedations are at prefent, which will 
conclude all that we have to add concerning the Eajl-In - 
dies 3! as it will alfo do this our firft Volume, 
SECT- 
