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mentioned; they have been greatly surpassed in their effect by



those which England derived from immigrations attracted by her



political; religious; and geographical conditions。



    As far back as the twelfth century political circumstances



induced Flemish woollen weavers to emigrate to Wales。 Not many



centuries later exiled Italians came over to London to carry on



business as money changers and bankers。 That from Flanders and



Brabant entire bodies of manufacturers thronged to England at



various periods; we have shown in Chapter II。 From Spain and



Portugal came persecuted Jews; from the Hanse Towns; and from



Venice in her decline; merchants who brought with them their ships;



their knowledge of business; their capital; and their spirit of



enterprise。 Still more important were the immigrations of capital



and of manufacturers in consequence of the Reformation and the



religious persecutions in Spain; Portugal; France; Belgium;



Germany; and Italy; as also of merchants and manufacturers from



Holland in consequence of the stagnation of trade and industry in



that country occasioned by the Act of Navigation and the Methuen



Treaty。 Every political movement; every war upon the Continent;



brought England vast accessions of fresh capital and talents; so



long as she possessed the privileges of freedom; the right of



asylum; internal tranquillity and peace; the protection of the law;



and general well…being。 So more recently did the French Revolution



and the wars of the Empire; and so did the political commotions;



the revolutionary and reactionary movements and the wars in Spain;



in Mexico; and in South America。 By means of her Patent Laws;



England long monopolised the inventive genius of every nation。 It



is no more than fair that England; now that she has attained the



culminating point of her industrial growth and progress; should



restore again to the nations of Continental Europe a portion of



those productive forces which she originally derived from them。







NOTES:







1。 Hume; vol。 ii; p。 143。







2。 No doubt the decrees prohibiting the export of wool; not to



mention the restrictions placed on the trade in wool in markets



near the coast; were vexations and unfair; yet at the same time the



operated beneficially in the promotion of English industry; and in



the suppression of that of the Flemings。







3。 Hume (in 1603)。 Macpherson; Histoire du Commerce (in 1651)。







4。 See Ustaritz; Th閛rie du Commerce; ch。 xxviii。 Thus we see



George I did not want to export goods and import nothing but specie



in return; which is stated as the fundamental principle of the



so…called 'mercantile system'; and which in any case would be



absurd。 What he desired was to export manufactures and import raw



material。







5。 Hume; vol。 v。 p。 39。







6。 Anderson for the year 1721。







7。 Priestley; Lectures on History and General Policy; Pt。 II; p。



289。







8。 These and the following figures relating to English statistics



are taken from a paper written by McQueen; the celebrated English



statistician; and appearing in the July number of Tait's Edinburgh



Magazine for the year 1839。 Possibly they may be somewhat



exaggerated for the moment。 But even if so; it is more than



probable that the figures as stated will be reached within the



present decade。







9。 Before his lamented death; the gifted author of this remark; in



his Letters on England; read the nobles of his native country a



lesson in this respect which they would do well to lay to heart。







10。 England's national debt would not be so great an evil as it now



appears to us; if England's aristocracy would concede that this



burden should be borne by the class who were benefited by the cost



of wars; namely; by the rich。 McQueen estimates the capitalised



value of property in the three kingdoms at 4;000 million pounds



sterling; and Martin estimates the capital invested in the colonies



at about 2;600 millions sterling。 Hence we see that one…ninth part



of Englishmen's private property would suffice to cover the entire



national debt。 Nothing could be more just than such an



appropriation; or at least than the payment of the interest on the



national debt out of the proceeds of an income tax。 The English



aristocracy; however; deem it more convenient to provide for this



charge by the imposition of taxes upon articles of consumption; by



which the existence of the working classes is embittered beyond the



point of endurance。







11。 See Appendix A。











Chapter 5







The Spaniards and Portuguese







    Whilst the English were busied for centuries in raising the



structure of their national prosperity upon the most solid



foundations; the Spaniards and the Portuguese made a fortune



rapidly by means of their discoveries and attained to great wealth



in a very short space of time。 But it was only the wealth of a



spendthrift who had won the first prize in a lottery; whereas the



wealth of the English may be likened to the fortune accumulated by



the diligent and saving head of a family。 The former may for a time



appear more to be envied than the latter on account of his lavish



expenditure and luxury; but wealth in his case is only a means for



prodigality and momentary enjoyment; whereas the latter will regard



wealth chiefly as a means of laying a foundation for the moral and



material well…being of his latest posterity。



    The Spaniards possessed flocks of well…bred sheep at so early



a period that Henry I of England was moved to prohibit the



importation of Spanish wool in 1172; and that as far back as the



tenth and eleventh centuries Italian woollen manufacturers used to



import the greater portion of their wool supplies from Spain。 Two



hundred years before that time the dwellers on the shores of the



Bay of Biscay had already distinguished themselves in the



manufacture of iron; in navigation; and in fisheries。 They were the



first to carry on the whale fishery; and even in the year 1619 they



still so far excelled the English in that business that they were



asked to send fishermen to England to instruct the English in this



particular branch of the fishing trade。(1*)



    Already in the tenth century; under Abdulrahman III (912 to



950); the Moors had established in the fertile plains around



Valencia extensive plantations of cotton; sugar; and rice; and



carried on silk cultivation。 Cordova; Seville; and Granada



contained at the time of the Moors important cotton and silk



manufactories。(2*) Valencia; Segovia; Toledo; and several other



cities in Castile were celebrated for their woollen manufactures。



Seville alone at an early period of history contained as many as



16;000 looms; while the woollen manufactories of Segovia in the



year 1552 were employing 13;000 operatives。 Other branches of



industry; notably the manufacture of arms and of paper; had become



developed on a similar scale。 In Colbert's day the French were



still in the habit of procuring supplies of cloth from Spain。(3*)



The Spanish seaport towns were the seat of an extensive trade and



of important fisheries; and up to the time of Philip II Spain



possessed a most powerful navy。 In a word; Spain possessed all the



elements of greatness and prosperity; when bigotry; in alliance



with despotism; set to work to stifle the high spirit of the



nation。 The first commencement of this work of darkness was the



expulsion of the Jews; and its crowning act the expulsion of the



Moors; whereby two millions of the most industrious and well…to…do



inhabitants were driven out of Spain with their capital。



    While the Inquisition was thus occupied in driving native



industry into exile; it at the same time effectually prevented



foreign manufacturers from settling down in the country。 The



discovery of America and of the route round the Cape only increased



the wealth of both kingdoms after a specious and ephemeral fashion



 indeed; by these events a death…blow was first given to their



national industry and to their power。 For then; instead of



exchanging the produce of the East and West Indies against home



manufactures; as the Dutch and the English subsequently did; the



Spaniards and Portuguese purchased manufactured goods from foreign



nations with the gold and the silver which they had wrung from



their colonies。(4*) They transformed their useful and industrious



citizens into slave…dealers and colonial tyrants: thus they



promoted the industry; the trade; and the maritime power of the



Dutch and English; in whom they raised up rivals who soon grew



strong enough to destroy their fleets and rob them of the sources



of their wealth。 In vain the kings of Spain enacted laws against



the exportation of specie and the importation of manufactured



goods。 The spirit of enterprise; industry; and commerce can only



strike root in the soil of religious and political liberty; gold



and silver will only abide where industry knows how to attract and



employ them。



    Portugal; however; under the auspices of an enlightened and



powerful minister; did make an attempt to develop her manufacturing



industry; the first results of which strike us with astonishment。



That country like Spain; had possessed from time immemorial fine



flocks of sheep。 Strabo tells us that a fine breed of sheep had



been introduced into Portugal from Asia; the cost of which amounted



to one talent per head。 When the Count of Ereceira became minister



in 1681; he conceived the design of establishing cloth



manufactories; and of thus working up the native raw material in



order to supply the mother country and the colonies with



home…manufactured goods。 With that view cloth workers were invited



from England; and so speedily did the native cloth manufactories



flourish in consequence of the protection secured to them; that



three years later (in 1684) it became practicable to prohibit the



importation of foreign cloths。 From that period Portugal supplied



herself and her colonies with native goods manufactured of



home…grown raw material; and prospered exceedingly in so doing for



a period of nineteen years; as attested by the evidence of English



writers themselves。(5*)



    It is true that even in those days the English gave proof of



that ability which at subsequent times they have managed to 

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