9 g 4 CO N C If 
... . / i • • 
make Commerce die Intere'ft of all Nations, has provided 
effectually agarnft this fuppofed Evil of trading till we 
have nothing left to trade with. 
But, b elides this, we owe many ether great Advanta- 
ges to this Commerce in the Eaft." For, in the firft Place, 
it is the great Support of the Maritime Power of Europe •, 
it makes us Mailers of all other Parts of the Globe, who, 
if k had not been for uiis Maritime Power, might, long 
ago,- have been Mailers of us. Let any Man confider the 
wide Difference, in Point of Dominion, Number of Sub- 
jects,- and whatever elfe contributes to Grandeur, between 
the little Republick of Holland and the great Empires of 
Turfy, Perfia and India ; and remember that this Com- 
merce has rendered a Company in that little Republick,. for- 
midable to all thofe great and mighty Empires, and capable 
of maintaining herfelf, and protecting her Concerns againil 
them all And then let me afk him, does not this plainly drew 
the Importance of this Commerce, and that it was a very 
wife and right Thing to promote and encourage it : Can 
there be a clearer and ilronger Deuionilration than this, 
from Reafon or from Experience ? Or might we not fafely 
reft die Point here, without running into any farther Confi- 
derations ? I dare fay, every rational and intelligent Rea- 
der, will confefs, we might ; and yet, for the better ex- 
plaining the Matter, I am content to goftill a little farther. 
The only Anfwer that can be given to this, or, in other 
Words, the only Means left for iiipporting this Objection, 
is, to fuppofe, that inftead of two or three, all, or the 
greateft Part of the Nations in Europe , fhould fall into 
this Commerce, by which Means the Exportation of Sil- 
ver would be extravagantly encreafed, and, confequently, 
the Indies be vaftly enriched at the Expence of Europe. 
At firft Sight this feems to be very clear and plain, but 
clofely confidered, the Suppofition is very fallacious ; for, 
if the Powers at prefent interefted in this Commerce, bring 
home as much of the Indian Goods and Manufactures as 
ferve all Europe , then there is already as great an Exporta- 
tion of Silver as could happen, if this Suppofition took 
Place, and the only real Confequence that could happen 
from the Extenfion of this Commerce would be this, 
that the prefent PoffefTors of the India Trade would be 
The END of the F 
U S I O N. 
r i 
deprived of their Profits, and every Nation would- import 
as much as fufficed itfelf, and no more. This, I fay, will 
be the only Confequence, with refpeCl to the Evil appre- 
hended ; but other Confequences there might, and would 
be many, but particularly thefe. The rifing of fuch a 
Spirit, or Trade would neceffarily produce new Difcove- 
ries, inafmuch as . it would beget new Maritime Powers 
The Southern-Indies would be then explored, as well as 
the Eajl , and thofe Countries that are now hid from us, 
would become as well known as the Coafts of Malabar and 
Corromandel. Various Nations would, in this Cafe, either 
find or force a Trade to Japon , and the Countries beyond 
it. The Dutch Eaji-India Company would be obliged to 
open her fecret Refourfes, and indemnify herfelf by a 
Trade to New-Guinea , for the Loffes fuftained by ‘Other 
Nations interfering in her Trade to the Indie*. And thus, 
inftead of weakening, or impoverifhing Europe , this very 
Thing will prove the Means of making her infinitely rich- 
er, greater, and more powerful than fhe now is, and 
might take away the Temptations which miflead her Mo- 
narchs into quarrelling and deftroying each others Sub- 
jects about Provinces, fcarce worthy of being compared 
to the mighty Empires, that by the Help of Commerce 
and Maritime Power, they might fhare among themfelves. 
It is one Thing to confider the Trade of a particular 
Nation, to argue in Favour of it, and to point out the 
Means of protecting or improving it, and quite another 
to launch out into fuch wide Enquiries as thefe. The for- 
mer may, indeed muft, be conducted by the narrow and 
confined Notions of human Policy ; for the Advantages 
of particular Societies muft refult from the Contrivances 
of particular Men. But when we quit thefe, and confider 
Things only in general, the Scene changes, the ProfpeCt 
enlarges, and we find ourfelves loft in the View of thofe 
prodigious Benefits, which the Wifdom and Goodnefs of 
an infinite Being has placed within the Reach and Capacities 
of human Kind. Thefe, though we difcern, it is impofiible 
we ftiould comprehend, and therefore we ought always to 
fufpeCt fuch mean and narrow Principles as would perfuade 
us, that right Meafures may be purfued too far, or that 
the eameft Profecution of Good fhould run us upon Evil. 
IRST VOLUME. 
