C O N C L 
Glory and Wonder of the Eaft. He made great Ac- 
“ quifitions withoL7t making Wars-, and his Succeffors, 
“ by making Wars, loft thofe Acquifitions. It was his 
“ Policy to keep all his People employed, and by em- 
“ ploying them, he provided equally ior the Exrention 
“ of their Happinefs and his own Power but the fol- 
lowing Kings purfued other Meafures, and other Con- 
fequences attended them. The Trade of funk 
“ almoft as fuddenly as it rofe, and in Procefs of Time 
“ they loft thofe Ports on the Red Sea, upon which 
“ their Indian Commerce depended.” 
After this, there is nothing dark or intricate in that 
Part of the Hiftory of the Commerce of the Ancients, 
of which we have undertaken to treat. It appears very 
clearly, that from the earlieft Times, even the remoteft 
Countries of the Eaft have been the Sources of all the 
Advantages derived from Trade, and the Poflefllon of 
this particular Branch of TrafRck has conftantly given 
the Afcendant to the Nation in whofe Hands it was. 
In tracing this Hiftory we have made it apparent, that 
the moft confiderable Points in the Syftem of Commerce, 
confidered as a Kind of Science, were both very well 
known, and very fteadily praCfifed in ancient Times, 
and produced exadtly the fame Confequences then that 
they do now ; or, in other Words, enabled People to 
heap up immenfe Riches, induced them to encourage 
Arts and Sciences, by rewarding plentifully fuch as ex- 
celled in them, propagating Magnificence and Lux- 
ury, from whence, in Procefs of Time, arofe Indolence, 
Effeminacy, and a total Depravation of Manners, which 
made Way either for foreign Conquefts, or fuch a De- 
clenfion of Morals at home as produced Ruin and Po- 
verty, and from which hardly any of the ancient States 
ever recovered. 
We have fhewn the true Source of that incredible 
Wealth, for which, in the earlieft Times of which, 
Hiftory affords any Record, the Egyptians were re- 
nowned j and we have fhewn alfo how all this was trans- 
ferred to the Perfians, in Confequence of their becom- 
ing Mafters of Egygt, and of the Means by which its 
Inhabitants amaffed fuch prodigious Wealth. This 
leads us to confider the Conquefts and the Views of 
Alexander the Great, in a Light very different from that 
in which they have been hitherto feen, and from which 
it is unqueftionably evident, that he was a much greater 
and wifer Prince than he has been reprefented, not by 
Hifto'rians only, but by Panegyrifts, that his Views 
were of quite another Nature than are commonly ima- 
gined ; and that his Notions were incomparably more 
juft and more extenfive than that of any other Conque- 
ror, either ancient or miodern, fince he did not barely 
aim at eftablifhing an univerfal Monarchy, but was alio 
defirous of making this turn to the univerfal Benefit of 
Mankind, by fettling a conftant and regular Intercourfe 
amongft all the Nations he fubdued, and rendring them 
thereby ufeful to each other *, to facilitate which, he 
formed Projedls impra6ficable indeed with Regard to 
their ultimate Intention, but which, notwithftanding, 
were defigned with wonderful Sagacity, and from their 
Confequences in fuch Parts as could be executed, fully 
anfwered all that he expedfed from them. 
It was by making ufe ot the Lights afforded him 
by this great Monarch and his indulgent Mafter, that 
Ptolemy eredled a Greek Empire in Egypt, which in 
point of Strength and Duration, as well as Magnifi- 
cence, fo much exceeded all the reft that were formed 
out of his Conquefts, We have had many large and 
well-written Hiftories of that Empire, confidered in a 
political Light, but there was ftill wanting a Commer- 
cial Hiftory of Egypt, which we have endeavoured to 
fupply, and from the attentive Perufal of which the 
Reader will fee, that nothing can contribute fo much to 
the Power and Splendor of Sovereigns, and at the fame 
Time to the Welfare, Happinefs and Tranquility of a 
People, as commercial Maxims well applied. All the 
other Succeffors of Alexander lived as it were upon the 
main Stock, and only wafted in fruitlefs Projeds, and 
wild and extravagant Expeditions, the Riches which 
they extorted from their Subjedls, and which they con- 
tinued to extort, till by totally exhaufting them, they 
wer^nolopger able to maintain that Power which was 
U S I 0 N. 1045 
requifite to fupport their Tyranny. Whereas Ptolemy 
and his immediate Succeffors, by following in their Do- 
minions the judicious Maxims of Alexanders Policy, 
kept their Countries full of People, and by providing 
for the Happinefs of thofe People, were able to keep up 
larger Armies, to maintain greater Fleets, and to live 
with infinitely more Magnificence than thofe Monarchs, 
whofe Dominions were much larger, and who, till they 
ruined them by their Exceffes, might have been more 
powerful and confiderable, and might have made their 
Empire as permanent as his. 
It is true, that at length the Government of Egypt ■ 
funk and fell into Confufion from its falling under the 
Dominion of weak Princes, and from the prevailing 
Corruption of Manners, againft which Accidents human 
Policy affords no Defence. Yet it appeared great even 
in Decay, and its Magnificence was apparent in its 
Ruin, The when they became poffeffed of it, were 
very foon made fenfible of its Importance, and of the 
Wifdom of thofe Maxims by which its Monarchs ruled 
in better Times. They therefore adopted thofe Max- 
ims, and not only purfued but improved the Methods 
formerly employed to make this Country the Center of 
Commerce, and the great Magazine of the civilized 
part of the World. All thefe Points we have at laro'e 
explained, by which it appears, that the Splendor and 
Glory of the Roman Empire was chiefly built upon this 
important Conqueft, and the Confequences that atten- 
ded It. That in Proportion as the Roman Affairs were 
wifely and prudently, or weakly and indifereetiy mana- 
ged, the Concerns of Egypt were attended to or neg- 
ledfed and that the great Blow given to the real Power 
and internal Force of the Roman Empire, was trans- 
ferring this Province to the Princes that reigned in the 
Eaftern parts of that Empire, and fixed tl^ir Seat at 
Confiantinople. 
^Ve have delcribed, tho very concifely, what were 
the Effects of this Change, and how the Imperial Refi- 
dence laft mentioned became fo large, fo beautiful, and 
fo immenfely rich as it was, by drawing thither, ’in a 
great Meafure, the Trade of the whole World. The 
gradual Ruin of the Eaftern Empire, and the Growth 
of the Arab or Saracen Power, did not make a ^^^reater 
or more univerfal Change in the political Affairs of Eu- 
rope, than in the commercial ; for Egypt falling early 
under the Power of thofe Barbarians, fince however 
learned they became afterwards, they certainly deferv’d 
that Title, when they fubdued Egypt, all Thoughts of 
Commerce were laid afide. At that Time War was 
their Trade, and they knew no other Way of makino- 
Acquifitions than by the Sword. The Countries of 
which they became Mafter, were exceedingly rich and 
populous, and they had no Views beyond feizing the 
former by Force, and impofing Slavery upon Ihofe 
whom they had deprived of their Property. But by 
Degrees, Experience, which is the proper Miftrefs of 
fuch Sort of People, taught them, that Force and Vio- 
lence were not the fureft Means of maintaining Em- 
pire, and therefore they had Recourfe to Learning and 
Arts ; and though they did not apply themfelv'es to 
Trade, yet they encouraged and promoted that of their 
Subjeds, and allowed Strangers to deal with them, but 
upon fuch Terms as were highly advantageous to thefe 
Conquerors, who were never at a Lofs how to fqueeze 
the Money out of the Purfes of their Subjeds, provided 
they had any to be fqueezed out. 
IV. This regular Series of Hiftory is extreamJy ufeful 
in a great Variety of Cafes, and is at the fame Time 
exceedingly entertaining j it at once raifes and fatisfies 
our Curiofity, it informs us of what is to be found in 
the moft diftant Countries, and the Ufes that have been 
in all Ages made of this Propenfity to vific other Coun- 
tries, and to bring back their Produce to our own. 
But above all, it ferves to deftroy thofe weak and vulgar 
Prejudices, by which Men are inclined to fancyt tha?in 
former Ages Mankind were abfolutely deficient in 
Learning, Politenefs, and above all, in underftanding 
the Nature, and confequently acquiring the Advantage! 
deducible from Commerce, But upon examining this 
Hiftory, we fee precifely in what the Ancients exQielled, 
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