COMMERCE. 
and having for a long time many colonial 
possessions, had not occasion to receive 
much merchandize from this country. The 
frequent hostilities between the two coun- 
tries has likewise prevented the formation 
of permanent commercial connections, but 
some intercourse of this kind always sub- 
sisted even in time of war, particularly with 
the ports of Calais, Bourdeaux, Havre, and 
Rouen, till the reign of Buonaparte, who 
resorted to a new mode of warfare, by pro- 
hibiting all intercourse whatever witli Great 
Britain, even through the intervention of 
neutml vessels. 
The commerce with Spain and Portugal 
has not of late years been of great extent ; 
the export to the latter country however, 
consisting almost wholly of British produce 
and manufactures, has generally been con- 
sidered a valuable branch of foreign trade, 
and measures have been frequently adopted 
for its preservation. In 1801, when Portu- 
gal was threatened with invasion, the wines 
of that country were allowed to be import- 
ed and warehoused, on bond being given for 
payment of the duty when taken out for 
consumption. The removal of the govern- 
ment to the Brazils, and subjugation of the 
country by the French, must cause a great 
revolution in this branch of trade. 
The Mediterranean trade suffered great 
interruption from the war which began in 
1793; and in the war of 1803, it was re- 
duced to little more than the supply of the 
islands of Sicily and Malta. 
The exports to the coast of Afi’ica must 
experience a considerable diminution, from 
the abolition of the slave trade, till a more 
reputable species of traffic is cultivated 
with the inhabitants of that extensive con- 
tinent, who will be induced to furnish a 
greater quantity of their native commodi- 
ties, in order to procure the cheap manu- 
factures and luxuries to which they have 
been accustomed. 
The East India trade has always been 
deemed very lucrative, but from the risks 
of such a distant voyage, the necessity of a 
large capital, and other circumstances, most 
of the states of Europe have deemed it ex- 
pedient to vest this trade in the hands of 
an exclusive company. From about the 
year 1750 the mercantile concerns of the 
English East India Company have become 
blended with the revenues derived from 
the territorial possessions which they have 
acquired in India, and which have been 
augmented to an immense extent, as the 
nett amount of these revenues, as well as 
the fortunes acquired by their officers and 
servants, are invested in merchandise, in 
order to be remitted to Great Britain. The 
imports of the Company have therefore in- 
creased very considerably, and in the year 
1797, Mr. Irving, the inspector general of 
imports and exports, gave his opinion, that, 
including the private trade of individuals, 
carried on through the medium of the Com- 
pany, and the proceeds of the territorial 
revenues. Great Britain derived an actual 
profit from the East India trade of about 
2,300,0001. per annum. The principal arti- 
cles imported from the East Indies are, 
fi’om China, teas, nankeen cloths, and raw 
silk ; from Bengal, piece goods of vai-ious 
kinds, raw silk, pepper, saltpetre, spices, 
drugs, sugar, coffee, &c. The total value 
of all the goods sold at the Company’s sales, 
in the year ending 1st March, 1806, was 
8,781,4421. 
The West India trade, in the year 1787, 
employed about 130,000 tons of shipping ; 
and in the year 1804, above 180,000 tons, 
navigated by 14,000 seamen. In 14 years, 
ending 1804, the value of the imports had 
increased nine millions sterling, and the re- 
venue derived from them had increased 
about three and a half millions, including 
the conquered colonies ; but exclusive of 
these, the imports from the West Indies 
were about a fourth of the whole imports of 
Great Britain. This branch of trade is how- 
ever subject to great fluctuations, of which 
a remarkable instance has occurred since 
the year 1792. The destruction of St. Do- 
mingo, the most productive sugar colony in 
the world, gave a new aspect to British 
West Indian affairs. A yearly quantity of 
above 110,000 hogsheads being thus sud- 
denly taken out of the market, the prices 
rose to an unusual height. The confusion 
which took place in Guadaloupe soon after, 
and the operations of the war in the West 
Indies, diminished the supply, and raised 
the price of produce still further. This of 
course became a great inducement to in- 
crease the cultivation of the British islands, 
and of those recently conquered, while 
about the same time, the introduction of 
the Bourbon cane enabled even the bad 
lands of the old islands to produce plentiful 
crops of sugar. From these causes the 
quantity of sugar has been constantly and 
rapidly increasing since 1792; the blank 
occasioned in that year has been filled up, 
and a great surplus has been added to the 
ordinary produce of former periods. The 
produce of the Spanish islands during the 
