principle of foreign commerce. At this day, Britain manufactures for the whole world, and gives its manufactures in exchange for their raw materials; and in some cases for their manufactured produce, which is consumed at home, or re-exported.

207. The Phoenicians or Philistines were the first people on record who employed ships to carry the produce and manufactures of one nation to another,

They were followed by the Carthaginians; and these, by the Venetians, Genoese, and Hanse - Towns.

During the two last centuries, the Portuguese and Dutch divided the trade of the world with the English.

Thon, gracious Commerce, from his cheerless enve,
In horrid rocks, and solitary woods,

The helpless wand'rer, man, forlorn and wild,
Didet charm to sweet society; didst cast
The deep foundations, where the future pride
Of mightiest cities rose, and o'er the main
Before the woud'ring Nereids didst present
The surge-dividing keel, and stately must,
Whose canvas wings, distending with the gale,
The bold Phoenician, thro' Alcides' strajta
To northern Albion's fin-embowell'd Gelds,
And oft beneath the sea-observing brow
Of cloud-envelop'd Teneriff convey'd

GLOVER.

208. Within the last twenty years, preceding 1815, the British monopolized the trade of the whole world. They were not only the greatest manufacturers, but also the greatest carriers of desirable produce; and they have had three

times as many merchant-vessels on the seas, as all other nations put together.

209. Besides trading with the remotest nations, the British have established considerable settlements or colonies in Asia, Africa, and America; by which means they enjoy the profits of cultivation, in addition to those of monopoly.

210. In Asia, the British colonies are Bengal, all the countries on the Ganges, the coasts of Coromandel and Malabar, and the large islands of Ceylon and Sumatra.

From these and neighbouring countries, they bring to Europe spices, silk, rice, tea, muslins, coffee, drugs, perfumes, and precious

stones.

211. In Africa, the colonies of Britain are the Cape of Good Hope, Goree, Sierra Leone, and parts on the coast of Guinea.

From these, they bring to Europe gold dust, ivory, gums, and drugs.

212. In America, the British provinces of Upper and Lower Canada and Nova Scotia, produce furs, corn, and fish. In the West-Indies, Great Britain occupies Jamaica, Barbadoes, and a dozen other islands, besides Demerara, &c.; all which supply sugar, rum, cotton, coffee, spices, drugs, mahogany, sweetmeats, &c.

213. These luxuries serve at once to gratify ourselves, and become desirable mediums of exchange for the produce and manufactures of all other countries.

We send them to Russia, in exchange for hemp, tar, and tallow:

To Sweden, for copper:

To Norway, for timber:

To Germany, for linen rags and smalts for paper:

To France, for wine and brandy:

To Portugal, for wine:

To Spain, for gold and silver, and fruit:
To Italy, for silk, rags, oil, and fruit:

And to Turkey, for silk, drugs, oil, and coffee.

214. This amazing intercourse, in time of peace, was carried on in about 24,000 vessels of all sizes, carrying three millions of tons burthen, and employing 200,000 seamen.

The trade and manufactures employ, besides, from four to five millions of the people of Great Britain and Ireland; and serve, also, to enrich all its inhabitants.

215. Several branches of the foreign trade of England are carried on by subscription companies; who divide the profits in half-yearly or yearly dividends.

These are the East-India Company; which enjoys a monopoly of the trade to Asia:

The Bank of England; for bullion and pre

cious stones:

And the Hudson's Bay Company; which monopolizes the trade in furs from those countries. There are also the nearly extinct Turkey, Russia, African, and South-Sea Companies.

216. The inland or domestic trade of GreatBritain and Ireland, is carried on by means of many thousand waggons and stage-coaches; by canals and rivers, which intersect every part of the two islands; and by many hundred coasting-vessels, which carry the produce and manu factures of one place to another.

217. The chief ports are London (equal in trade to all the others), Liverpool, Bristol, Glasgow, Greenock, Hull, Falmouth, Dartmouth, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Yarmouth, Lynn, Shields, Leith, Aberdeen, Whitehaven, Swansea, Dublin, Cork, and Waterford,

218. The chief manufacturing towns are Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and Sheffield, for cutlery and metallic wares.

Manchester, Stockport, Bolton, Glasgow, and Paisley, for calicoes and muslins. Leeds and Norwich, for woollen cloths. Nottingham and Leicester, for hosiery. Belfast and Londonderry, for linens. Wilton and Kidderminster, for carpets. Newcastle and Worcester, for china, porcelain, and glass.

219. The United States of America, under the advantages of a long peace, the possession of raw materials of every kind, numerous fine ports, and a free government, are rapidly advancing in the manufacturing system; and with numerous ships at sea, the Americans are carrying on an extensive trade with all parts of the world.

220. The trade of most other nations has been ruined by unwise governments, or by political revolutions. That of China, by its im mense canals, is the greatest and most advantageous that is carried on in any country in Asia ; but, the Chinese have no general foreign trade, except with Japan.

221. The exports and imports of Great Britain have been nearly fifty millions each per annum. The worth of the various merchandize and manufactures in hand, is estimated at 60 millions; and the value of the shipping employed, at about 25 millions.

222. The employments to which so vast a trade gives rise, are, as far as regards the ship, those of the ship-owner, the ship-builder, the copper-smith, the rope-maker, the biscuitbaker, the provision-merchant, the ship-carpenter, the anchor-smith, the mathematical instrument-maker, and the slop-seller.

223. In regard to the cargo of ships, there are the merchant, the ship-broker, the factor, the manufacturer, the packer, and the lighter

man.

Among merchants, there are Spanish merchants, Turkey merchants, Italian merchants, Russia merchants, Hamburgh merchants, WestIndia merchants, American merchants, Brazil merchants, and African merchants.