COMMERCE. 
Commerce of Great Britain. The un- 
Bianutkctured commodities exported by 
Eiiffland for maoy centuries before the 
woollen manufacture had made any pro- 
gress, were sufficient to procure the tew 
foreign articles then in request, and also to 
bring a yearly balance of cash, by which 
some other branches of foreign trade wei’e 
carried on to a small extent, and a begin- 
ning v/as made to the acquirement of com- 
mercial capital. The foreign trade of this 
country was however, in its infancy, almost 
wholly in the hands of foreigners, who 
settled in London, and a few other ports, 
for the purpose of carrying on commerce 
with their respective countries ; many of 
these merchants were jews, whose profits 
must ffiave been very considerable to in- 
duce them to submit’ to the impositions to 
which they were frequently exposed. By 
degrees some of the inhabitants of London, 
and of the ports lying opposite to France 
and Flandeiis, began to build ships of tiieir 
own, and to enter into competition with the 
alien merchants. 
In the reign of Edward III. the exports 
of England consisted chiefiy ot wool, skins, 
hides," leather, butter, tin, and lead, of 
which w'ool was by far the most consider- 
able, the quantity amounting to about 
30,000 sacks of 26 stone each in a year. 
From a record in the Exchequer it appears, 
that in 1354 the exports of England 
amounted to 294,184/. 17s. Sd. the imports 
to 38,970/. os. 6d. money of that time. 
This is a great balance, considering that it 
arose almost wholly from the exportation of 
wool and other raw materials, but it is not 
very probable that the excess of the ex- 
ports was usually so great as in this parti- 
cular year. It was not till the middle of 
this century that the English began to ex- 
tend their commercial voyages to the 
Baltic ; nor till the middle of the subse- 
quent century that they sailed to the Medi- 
terranean. 
The improvement of the woollen manu- 
facture greatly increased the value of the 
exports, as France had not then engaged in 
this manufacture, and Holland had not car- 
ried it to any considerable extent ; so that 
England enjoyed almost a monopoly of that 
manufacture, for the supply of the north 
and west parts of Europe, before the year 
1640 ; .Spain and Portugal being then almost 
entirely supplied from this country with 
light draperies, as well for tiieir home con- 
sumption, as for that of their extensive co- 
lonies, from whence, in return, we then re- 
ceived sugar, tobacco, drugs, and other 
commodities with which we are now' sup- 
plied by our own colonies. In 1672 the 
Parliament repealed the duties payable by 
aliens on the exportation of the native com- 
modities and manufactures of England, put- 
ting them in this respect on a level with 
English subjects. This salutary principle 
was further extended in 1700, by removing 
the duties on every kind of woollen goods, 
and on all kinds of corn, grain, and meal 
exported. Many subsequent events, as the 
establishment of the credit of the Bank, 
the union with Scotland, the consolidation 
of the two East India Companies, and the 
rapid improvement of tlie North American 
colonies, contributed materially to the ad- 
vancement of the commerce of Great Bri- 
tain ; and Mr.Erasmus Phillips, in his “ State 
of the Nation in respect to her Commerce, 
&c.” makes “ the balance of England’s trade, 
one year’ with another, to have been in our 
favour, on an average or medium, 2,881 ,357/. 
from 1702 to 1712.” This appears to have 
been somewhat beyond the truth, but it is 
certain that foreign trade was then gra- 
dually increasing, and it was greatly pro- 
moted by an act passed in 1722, for extend- 
ing the principle which had been adopted 
with respect to woollen goods, by permit- 
ting the exportation, duty free, of all mer- 
chandize, the produce of Great Britain, (ex- 
cept a few, particular articles) and the im- 
portation, duty free, of the materials for 
dyeing, essential to several manufactures. 
From this period, the encouragement 
given to the fisheries in different parts, the 
increased cultivation of the West India 
islemds, and the immense acquisitions of 
territory in the East Indies, have combined 
with the increasing wealth and population . 
of Great Britain, to extend its commercial 
transactions in all directions, and greatly to 
augment their former magnitude. The great 
increase of tlie national expenditure has 
caused most articles of foreign produce to 
be burthened with u variety of heavy du- 
ties, and subjected commerce to numerous 
restrictions and impediments, yet under 
these disadvantages, it has of late years in- 
creased in an unparalleled degree, and in 
the year ending 3th January, 1807, pro- 
duced a net revenue to government from 
the duties of customs amounting to 
7,774,049/. 4s. 9c/. This large contribution 
from foreign trade evinces its present mag- 
nitude ; but its total amount, as well as that 
of its several branches, will be more parti- 
cularly shewn from the Custom-house ac- 
