thing and it may be truly said that without their Assistance they would never have been able to put so glorious an End to the War as they did We see by this what Advantage Commerce is to a State when it is regulated with Prudence and by able Merchants who have all Protection and no Constraint But what need we go out of France for Examples to show how important Commerce is to a Nation We need only consider the great Things that have been done under the glorious Reign of our Great Monarch and the almost infinite Sums which have been disbursed as well to support the War against all the Powers of Europe for above 30 Years as during the Peace Could one ever have imagined this could have been done without that prodigious Quantity of Money which Trade especially that with Spain brought into France For we have no Mines to supply us What then would have been the Consequence had Commerce been protected and encouraged in France as it ought to have been I doubt not but in such Case we might have said of France what the Holy Scripture said of Jerusalem that in the Days of Solomon Gold and Silver were as common as Stones If England by means of the Woollen Manufactures and by the vent of her Tin Lead and Sea-Coal has amassed such Riches what might one not have believed France would have gained which besides her Manufactures of Wool Silk Linnen Hats Paper and many other Things which are eagerly sought after by all the World supplies other Countries with Wines Brandies Wheat Salt Oil and Fruits of all sorts for immense Sums This Abundance and great Plenty of our Merchandize so necessary and useful to our Neighbours made my Lord Bellasis say That if God should one Day make the Turks know what they could do at Sea and the French how far they might extend their Commerce all Europe would soon fall a Conquest to those Powers I shall only give one Instance more to shew how nothing but Commerce can enrich a Kingdom let us therefore turn our Eyes to Spain and it is certain that there is no Nation in the World has so little Gold and Silver as the Spaniards tho' those two Metals grow in such prodigious Quantities in their Dominions other Nations notwithstanding are better provided therewith on account of the great Vent their Commodities have in Spain and the dependent Kingdoms which have Occasion for them and in short that great Monarchy has fallen to Decay purely for having neglected Commerce and establishing several Manufactures in Dominions of so vast and large extent It was this Negligence which was one of the principal Springs of the Riches of France and while France traded with Spain she never wanted Gold or Silver not even during those long and difficult Wars Let us only look back and consider what Condition France was in by the Pyrenean Treaty notwithstanding a long War of above twenty five Years and all those she has since sustained even to our Days It is much to be wished we would open our Eyes soon enough and take Notice of a Matter of so much Importance and so necessary as Commerce and endeavour to know how to take such Measures as may bring to a good Issue that on which in some manner depends the Happiness of all his Majesty's Subjects and the Grandeur of the Nation We Frenchmen have been reproached and perhaps not without some reason that the Genius of our Nation was not proper for a foreign Commerce being quickly weary of all Undertakings that require a solid and continued Application But without deciding this Matter I shall content my self to say that there have been and yet are in France Persons of very good Abilities and Experience necessary for carrying on a vast Trade Out of several I shall only mention Jaques Couer Superintendent of the Finances or in the Language of those Times Moneyer to King Charles the Seventh This Man who was born at Bourges being entirely addicted to Foreign Trade in a time when scarce any one meddled with it in France got prodigious Wealth which he employ'd to the best Advantage in the Service of the King his Master and the Support of the State Matthew Coucy an Historian his Contemporary speaks of him after this manner The King says he had in his Kingdom a Man of mean Extraction whose Name was Jaques Couer who by his Sense Vigilance and good Conduct so ordered it as to undertake trading in Commodities of the hightest Value which he still continued to do notwithstanding his being made Moneyer to King Charles in which Office he continued a long while in great Power and Prosperity He had under him many Clerks and Factors who had the Care of these Commodities to distribute them thro' all Christian States and Kingdoms He had at Sea a great many large Vessels maintained at his own Expence and Charge which traded to the Levant Egypt and Barbary to freight themselves with all sorts of rich and fine Commodities and Merchandize by Leave of the Sultan and Turks paying them some little Duty as an Acknowledgment He caused to be brought from those Countries Gold and Silver Stuffs Silks of all Sorts and Colours Furs for Men and Women of several Kinds as Martins and Sables c. and other excellent Curiosities which Goods he sold by his Commissaries and Factors at the Hotel Royalle in all the principal Cities of the Kingdom and in foreign Courts where the People surprized with Admiration soon bought them up at a good Price He had at least three or four Hundred Commissaries or Factors at his Command and gained himself more in one Year than all the Merchants of the Kingdom He was in Possession of the Office of Superintendant of the Finances when King Charles undertook the Conquest of Normandy in the Year 1449 of which Conquest this famous Merchant was the chief Cause for he was the first that encouraged the King to that great Undertaking and furnished him with an Army by offering him several Milions which was executed after the Manners as the King best liked and for which he was highly applauded and complimented by all the Princes and Lords of the Court and yet for all that Expence his Wealth was almost invaluable Heaven could once have given us and yet might have given us another Jaquez Couer and then we should have entertained greater Hopes than ever to bring the Trade of France to its highest Pitch and make our Nation the most flourishng in the World The Merchants of France to accomplish this want only an experienced Leader a Person of much Knowledge one that has a great Foresight an enterprizing Genius and continual Application and Perseverance a Person of great Credit and Power that he may protect those who traffick under him and are his Commissioners in whatever Place of the World It was by such Means as these that the Dutch have carried Commerce to the highest Degree as may be seen in the following
altogether impracticable To put this Project in Execution the first thing they did was to set up an East India Company as also others for the Levant and Northern Trade in order to furnish themselves with such Merchandize of those Countries as they should have Occasion of and in Return with what might be necessary for their Use without having recourse to Strangers To quit themselves entirely of Foreign Assistance they began to set up in France the Manufacturies of other Countries imagining at the same time those other Countries could not be without French Goods and Provisions and that they would take off the same Quantities as usual and by consequence would be oblig'd to pay ready Money when they saw the French take no more of theirs in Return 'Twas on this View that in the Year 1667 the French laid new Duties on Foreign Goods especially Manufactures which consequently made them much dearer than their own and was done with intent to make the People prefer their own to Foreign Manufactures The Dutch seeing themselves attackt in the most sensible Part so well travers'd this new Establishment of the French Companies that at last they fell of themselves They forgot nothing that might ruine the Manufactures of France they set up for making themselves those very Goods they used to have from France and sold them much cheaper than the Franch could do Reasons of State joined to those of Trade and the Enmity of both Parties to each other broke out at last into an open War which was properly speaking a Trade War The Conduct of the Dutch during the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle the Triple Alliance made afterwards with England and Sweden for the Preservation of the rest of the Spanish Low Countries and their Gasconading Language made the King resolve they should feel his Resentment To humble this Republick it was thought nothing would go so far as the ruining their Trade by laying still new Duties on such Merchandize as should be brought into France or else entirely to prohibit it The States-General try'd all ways to engage the French to regulate their Duties upon Entries by the Tariff made in the Year 1664. and to execute the Treaty of Commerce of the Year 1662 but finding they could do nothing they began to fight the French with their own Weapons that is they prohibited all French Wines and Brandies entring their Ports and laid new Duties upon all Goods of the French Manufactury and the Provisions and other Merchandize that a long time before they us'd continually to have from France they then bought and dealt for from other Parts the French soon perceived a very great Diminution of their Commerce The War coming on between France and Holland in the Year 1672 Trade on both sides was entirely prohibited However Monsieur Colbert happily foreseeing that 'twould be a very difficult Matter for France to continue long a War wherein probably all Europe might be engag'd against her if no Body took off her Goods and Merchandizes gave Passports to every one that would come and trade thither and to this wise and sage Conduct may be justly attributed good part of the happy Success which afterwards attended that Kingdom That War ending by the Treaty of Nimeguen which was concluded the 10th of August 1678. the very same Day a new Treaty of Commerce was struck up in which it was agreed that the French and Dutch should enjoy reciprocally the same Liberty in respect of Commerce and Navigation in each other's Dominions as they did before the beginning of that War In Consequence of this Treaty the Tariff of 1667 was entirely abolish'd in favour of the Dutch and that of 1664 was set up in its stead generally for all sorts of Goods whatsoever that they should bring into that Kingdom or export thence One would have thought that this would have establish'd a lasting Commerce between the two Nations However in the beginning of the Year 1680 the French Provisions and other Goods especially Silks bore no Price at Amsterdam and those that traded thither were very sensible that oftentimes they rather lost than gain'd as I have elsewhere observ'd So true is it that Commerce once destroy'd never again recovers it self Those Gentlemen who had the Mangement of Affairs after the Death of Monsieur Colbert without having any manner of regard to this last Treaty set up the Tariff of 1667 and considerably augmented the Duties in hopes to augment the Sale of their own Manufactures The Dutch seeing their Commerce continually attack'd in such open manner and that they had no hopes of re-establishing Matters on the ancient Footing apply'd themselves more than ever with all Care and Diligence to put themselves in that Condition as never more to have occasion of the French Manufactures and they succeeded so well in this last Article that they set up amongst themselves those very Manufacturies as the making Silks Gold and Silver Brocades Hats Paper Ribands and Laces c. And the French since that time have found to their no small Detriment a prodigious Decrease of their Trade in these several Articles I believe it may very truly be said that these Trade-Quarrels were partly the Cause of the Wars breaking out again between France and the United Provinces in the Year 1690. The Declaration of this War was followed by the most severe and longest Prohibition of Commerce that ever was known and has hitherto continu'd and 'tis to be fear'd will only make the Dutch know they can very easily let the French Provisions alone Time will make it appear whether after the Peace the Dutch will resort to the Ports of France with such Numbers of Merchants-Ships as before and we shall see whether they will take off such vast Quantities of Provisions and Goods of the French Manufacture as in times past 'tis much to be wish'd they would as well for the Benefit of Commerce as the Good of the State CHAP. X. Of the Trade with Spain NOtwithstanding the Revolt of the Dutch from Spain Philip the Second pretended he knew nothing of their Trading in his Dominions under the Colours of his Allies and tho' he saw very well that such Trading must inevitably furnish them wherewith to maintain their Revolt yet he did not think it worth his while to deprive them of it It was the general Opinion that that Prince acted after that manner because he had occasion for the Merchandize of the North to equip his Fleets and which he could have no other way but by means of the Dutch it was believ'd he was likewise afraid that if he should shut them out of the Spanish Ports they would being very powerful at Sea open themselves a Way into the New World However notwithstanding this Connivance of that Monarch the Spaniards in time treated the Dutch Merchants that traded to Spain with such Cruelty and laid on them such heavy Duties that they were fore'd to leave off trading thither as well as to Portugal which then was
MEMOIRS OF THE DUTCH Trade In all the STATES KINGDOMS and EMPIRES in the World SHEWING Its First Rise and prodigious Progress After what Manner the Dutch manage and carry on their Trade their Dominions and Government in the Indies By what Means they have made themselves Masters of all the Trade of Europe What Goods and Merchandise are proper for Maritime Traffick whence they are to be had and what Gain and Profit they produce A WORK very necessary for all Merchants and others concerned in Trade Done from the French now Printed at Amsterdam LONDON Printed for J. Sackfield in Lincolns-Inn-Square G. Davis under Sergeants-Inn in Chancery-Lane and Sold by T. Warner in Pater-Noster-Rore THE AUTHOR's PREFACE SOME Persons of Honour and Distinction whom I ought by no means to disoblige having engaged me to write something upon Trade which might give them a general Idea of it as it regards Politicks I believed nothing would better answer that End than to give them a true Notion of the Trade of the Dutch which has diffused it self over all Parts of the habitable World and to shew that it is on Account of Trade that their Republick has such a considerable Rank amongst the States of Europe This was what moved me to undertake this small Treatise and indeed I write the more willingly on this Subject of Commerce because there is nothing in my Judgment seems to be so little understood in France especially by Persons in publick Employments and high Posts either in the Courts of Judicature the Cabinet or the Treasury However it is certain Commerce is of so great Importance that I make no Difficulty to aver that according to the present Conduct of the several States of Europe there are very few things in Government which deserve more our Attention than this Article of Commerce To be convinced of this Truth we have nothing else to do but consider the Difference there is between those Countries where Trade flourishes and those Countries who have none If we will only remember that England and Holland which by Reason of their Situation make so great a Figure in the Affairs of Europe regulate their principal Interest always with an Eye to their Commerce and this was the principal Motive which caused the last Wars that is the Security of their Trade we shall be entirely satisfied that Commerce ought to have no mean Place in modern Politicks Besides these Considerations which are particular ones in relation to the present State of Europe there are yet others more general which ought no less to excite all Princes and their Ministers and all those who have any Share in Government to know thoroughly the Nature of Commerce and the Maxims which are necessary to its being well carried on and managed since as Bocalin very well observes Agriculture and Commerce are the Breasts which suckle and nourish the State Truths which ought to be engraven in Letters of Gold in all the Apartments of Kings Princes and Statesmen to induce them to consider Tradesmen and Merchants according to their Merits To these I shall add that a great State cannot flourish or indeed be at Peace if it has not a great Trade for 'tis only by means of Trade it can draw to its self Riches and Plenty without which it can undertake nothing advantageous either to aid and assist its Allies or extend its Limits The great Gustavus Adolphus was so well convinc'd of this Truth that tho' War was his predominant Passion yet he very seriously apply'd himself to make Trade flourish in his Dominions and was used to say That to put his Soldiers Valour to the Proof he was often obliged to have recourse to his Merchants My Lord Bacon who was one of the greatest Politicians of his time look'd upon Merchants to be so necessary that he compared them in the State to the Blood in a Man's Body Which if it did not flourish says he a Man may possibly have some of his Limbs very strong but he would be sure to have empty Veins and a lean Habit of Body Qui nisi flouruerit potest quidem aliquos-Artus habere Robustos sed Venas vacuas Habitum Corporis macrum It may be proved from Examples almost as old as the World that States flourish in Proportion to Commerce as we may gather from what the Holy Scriptures teach us in relation to the Tyrians and Sidonians But we need not run so far back into Antiquity for Examples we need only consider the surprizing Changes which Trade has caused in our Days if I may so say amongst our Neighbours The Power of England was once so inconsiderable before the Reign of Queen Elizabeth according to Cambden's Observation that her Predecessors nay even her own Father when they had a mind to put a Fleet to Sea were obliged to hire Ships from Hamburgh Lubeck Dantzick Genoa and Venice But after the English by the Care of that able Princess apply'd themselves to Traffick and by reason of the great Protection she gave to Merchants it flourished in Muscovy in all the Dominions of the Grand Seignior upon the Coasts of Africa the East or rather the West Indies and in almost all other Parts of the World that Queen soon became capable of maintaining her self a great Naval Force which at last became the Terror of the Ocean and the Narrow Seas which made that Nation go and attack more than once the Power of Philip the Second not only in the New World but even on the very Coasts of Spain In short that powerful Queen followed so well those Maxims of securing and encreasing the Commerce of all her Subjects and their Traffick on the footing of her Naval Force that she laid those solid Foundations for the encrease of Commerce and Maritime Power of England two things to which that Nation owes to this Day all its Strength and Grandeur But nothing can come up to what the Dutch have done by Commerce and it will ever be a Subject of Astonishment and Wonder that a handful of Merchants that fled into a little Country which produced scarce enough to subsist its new Inhabitants should beat down the exorbitant Power of the Spanish Monarchy and make that King sue for Peace that they should lay the Foundation of so mighty a Republick which we see at present in some manner to hold the Balance between all the other Powers of Europe but what is most wonderful and what ought most to surprize us is that the Wars never interrupted their Trade and that it was in the very heat of War that they laid the Foundations of that of the East-Indies and the Coasts of Africa and that they should trade with their Enemies the Spaniards in spite of all the Precautions they took to the contrary which very much contributed to the Support of the War The States General of the United Provinces seeing the Industry of these Merchants was of so great Service to the Republick protected and favoured them in every
of the World These Busses sail generally from Dort Rotterdam Delft Schiedam Vlaerdinguen the Brill Maeslandshies Enchuisen and some other Places of less Note This Art of Pickling and Barrelling Herring as I said before was found out by a Heming of Bierulem whose Name was William Buerem He died in the Year 1347 and was buried at Bierulem Charles the Fifth coming to that Town caused a Tomb to be erected to honour the Memory of that Man who had procured so great an Advantage to his Country To the Fishery in general may be added that of the Whale the Oil and Fins of which serve for several Uses They fish for the Whales on the Coasts of Greenland and Spitsburg which is but seven or eight Days Voyage with a South Wind a thing very frequent in Holland Whale Fishing is only once a Year There sails from Amsterdam and the neighbouring Towns from the Maose and Winde above 200 Ships from 200 to 250 Tuns Burthen having each 35 or 40 Men aboard to be employed in the Fishery The largest Whales yield about 7 or 8 Tun of Oil This Oil thickens like Hogs-Lard and they use great Quantities of it in the United Provinces especially the poor and labouring People to burn in Lamps and in making green Soap a thing only in Use in the Low Countries Artois and Picardy Those that make Shammy Leather of Bucks Goats Sheeps and Elks Skins consume great Quantities of this Oil which is the most proper for this Son of Dressing Leather of any Oil whatsoever and therefore they cannot well be without it The Manufactures in the United Provinces employ as many People as the Fishery It is incredible how many get their Livelihood by both I have before observed that some Manufactures were established before the Fishery but those Manufactures were then very inconsiderable to what they were afterwards The Herring Fishery in particular was so advantageous to the Dutch that the Sale of their Fish brought into their Country from the Places where they used to dispose of them several unwrought Goods which they got finished at Home by those vast Numbers of Workmen of all Sorts who had fled hither from Flanders Brabant France Germany and several other Countries on the Account of Persecution I do not pretend to give an exact Particular of all the Manufactures of the United Provinces it would be too prolix for the Brevity of this Treatise I shall only say that it is certain that in no Kingdom State or Country in the World they are so numerous and flourishing as in Holland I shall take Notice only of some of the most considerable and such as sell best in other Countries Tho' there are Manufactures in several Places of the United Provinces yet they flourish most in the Towns of Amsterdam Leyden and Harlem but Amsterdam for Number far exceeds the other two In this last Town they make Cloths Camlets and all Sorts of Woollen and Hair Stuffs as also all Sorts of Silks Gold and Silver Stuffs and Ribbons and are the best made in this Town of any in all the Provinces Besides gilt Leather they work here all other Sorts as Morocco Shammy and many other Sorts and it may likewise be said that Dying which is settled in several other Towns and Places of these Provinces is one of the most considerable Manufactures of this Republick There are also at Amsterdam several Houses for Refining Sugar Borax Camphire Cinnaber and Sulphur several for whitening yellow Wax a great many Saw-Mills for all Sorts of Woods Powder-Mills Snuff-Mills Mills to polish Marble and Mills to draw Oil from several Sorts of Seeds In short one may say of Amsterdam what Vopiscus said of Alexandria who after he had given an Account of its Manufactures added That all its Inhabitants followed some Trade that the lame and the gouty were employed and even those that had the Gout in their Hands did not sit idle The Town of Leyden without Dispute is preferable to all others for all Sorts of Woollen Manufactures especially the finest Sort as Serges Camlets and the like They tell you that these Manufactures after the Year 1400 began to grow in some Esteem and the Workmen of Ipres that fled from their own Country settled themselves there But be that as it will every Body agrees they had not then that Esteem till after the Persecutions for Religion began which effectually drove great Numbers of Workmen from the Provinces of Flanders Hainault and Artois c. They make also good Woollen Stuffs at Harlem but they are much inferior to those of Leyden which latter may undoubtedly pass for the best of Europe in their Kind The Dutch have their Wooll from Spain and England Germany Poland and the Levant that Sort of Wooll called Vigogue from Peru and that of Coramania from Persia The best Silks are made at Harlem and this Manufacture in its Kind is not inferior to the Cloth Manuufacture of Leyden They make in this Place coarse flowered Velvets Linnens Silks Gauzes and in general all Sorts of slight Silks of which there is a great Consumption in Germany and all over the North Portugal and other Places where they prefer these Silks and the Gold and Silver Brocades made here to those of France Besides they are 15 or 20 per Cent cheaper These Manufactures in Reality are not so beautiful nor so good as those of Lyons and Tours but the Difference in the Piece makes amends for that and makes them go off better And tho' their Workmen want a Genius for Design and Invention yet they no sooner come from France but they imitate them to Perfection They know how to work and finish them with all possible Dexterity and Neatness This added to their Cheapness makes other Countries rather make use of them Besides the Dutch import Silks from Italy the Levant Persia Bengal Tonquin and China The Town of Delft is a Place famous for fine earthen Ware in Imitation of China Horne is for dealing in Cheese which is made in the North of Holland as also for large Earthen or Stone Ware In Dort and some other Places there are Houses for refining Salt and if I mistake not Places for Spinning and Bleaching Thread Sardam not far from Amsterdam is certainly the only Place in the World where all Sorts of Ships are built for the Use of Merchants not only of the United Provinces but of other Countries which causes a prodigious Consumption of Wood Cordage Masts Sails and other Necessaries for Shipping of which great Numbers are daily sold to Strangers ready built and fit for Launching The Dutch have their Timber from Muscovy Norway the Lower Germany Pomerania and the Provinces bordering on the Baltick Most of this Timber is brought to Sardam which is a Village somewhat more than two Leagues long whose Inhabitants are all Carpenters and they are so skilful in their Business that as it is credibly reported if they have three Months Notice before-hand they can every Day
Tallow Bulls and Cows Hides Freezes and other Woollen Stuffs The absolute Necessity that the Dutch have of the English Ports on the Channel is one of the principal Reasons that makes them suffer that great Inequality in the respective Liberty of the Trade between the two Nations and to suit themselves to the Laws the English have made in relation thereto CHAP. IX Of the Trade with France THE Trade the Dutch have with France since the Establishment of their Republick has been very considerable in respect of the Number Quantity and Quality of the Merchandize they bring thither and carry thence every Year That which France furnishes them with are equally necessary to them for their own Subsistence and their keeping up their Trade with other Nations The Principal Things they have from France are Corn of all kinds when the Years are good Wines of all sorts particularly those of Grave Champagne and Burgundy Honey Saffron large and small Chesnuts Hazel Nuts Turpentine Rozin Crayons Verdugrease Soap Wax Cork Carduus to these may be added Silks Taffaties Gold and Silver Tissues Stuffs of Amiens Chalons and Rheims Paper Parchment Hats Small Wares and Iron Ware both small and great and a world of other Goods which are as they call them the Merchandize of Paris as Belts Girdles Combs Looking-glasses Trinkets Toys Gloves and Head-dresses All these different sorts of Commodities are sent by the Dutch into all the Provinces of the North Germany the Low Countries Spain and Portugal Italy the Levant the Coasts of Africa and even the Indies In short to all the Climates of the World where these famous Merchants have carried and extended their Traffick They furnish the French in Return with all sorts of Spices Cloth Drugs as well for Medicines as Painting all sorts of Woods for Dying all sorts of Linnen Cloth c. They bring from the North Copper Steel Brass Wire tin'd Plates or white Iron Cannons Muskets and other Arms Gunpowder Sulphur Matches Russia Leather Furrs Flax Hemp Pitch and Tar Masts Planks and other Timber for building Ships or Houses to these may be added Herrings and other Salt Fish Butter Cheese Tallow and a great Quantity of other Merchandize to specify which would be very difficult and tedious The Advantage and Benefit France has found by that Trade and the Reasons of State which united her to his Republick against the House of Austria have made her favour such Commerce in several Treaties with the States and granted them many Privileges this together with the Neighbourhood of the two Nations made the French Trade very easy to the Dutch besides the French being unskill'd in the Art of Navigation the Dutch only were employ'd in making trading Voyages to all Parts this filled the French Ports continually with Dutch Vessels which ever were taking off their Superfluities and the Vent of their Commodities especially Stuffs and other home Manufactures was very great and encreased in proportion as the Dutch had Liberty to come into their Ports and Harbous this made the French Trade flourish very much and gave a Value to their Manufactures The good understanding between the two Nations began to lessen when the Treaty of Munster was on Foot and as the French at that time thought they had reason to be displeased with the Dutch they refused to renew the ancient Treaties of Commerce They let their Pirates disturb their Mediteranian Trade which made People believe a War would have ensued at that time between the two Nations and the French made them believe they would prohibit all Dutch Merchandize at least lay new Duties on what should come into their Ports Monsieur Boreel who was then their Ambassador in France represented boldly to that Court that other People would be oblig'd in like manner to lay new Duties on all French Goods which would infallibly very much diminish their Consumption and consequently be of Prejudice to that Kingdom The French pretended to be ignorant or perhaps were really so of the vast Quantities of their Merchandize that went out of their Country to Foreign Parts and told him roundly that the thing was not so considerable as e represented it to them and that it was only the Interest of his Country made him talk after that manner To undeceive them that Gentleman made it appear to the Court that their Republick expended every Year above thirty five Millions of Livres in French Commodies This is the Account taken out of the Registers of their Custom-House in the Year 1659. and which that Ambassador gave in to the French Court. Â Livres IN Cloths Velvets Sattins Gold and Silver Tissues Taffaties of Lyons Tons and Paris above six Millions 6000000 Silk Ribbons Silk and Thread Laces Buttons tag Laces made at Paris and Roan and the Towns thereabouts 2000000 Castors Vigones Caudebeos or Hats of Paris and Roan 1500000 Paris Pendulums and Watches and such like Goods two Millions 2000000 Gloves from Paris Roan and Vendome above 1500000 Worsted Spun in Picardy above 1500000 Paper of all sorts viz. Auvergne Limosin Poitou Champagne and Normandy 2000000 Pins and Needles made at Paris and in Normandy Ebony Box and Ivory Combs 5000000 Small Iron and Steel Ware from Auvorgue 5000000 Linnen from Normandy and Britany 5000000 Chamber Furniture as Beds Quilts Canopies Blankets Silk Fringes 5000000 Wines of Bourdeaux Gascony Xaintonge Orleans Anjou Nantz c. 5000000 Brandies and Vinegars 1500000 Saffron Soap Honey Almonds Olives Capers Prunes c. 2000000 Monsieur Boreel added that besides this 5 or 600 Vessels every Year came laden from Rochelle Marans Brouage the Isles of Ree and Oloron which he did not reckon no more than vast Quantity of Wheat and other Corn and Hemp which they transported to Holland in plentiful Years and often amounted to six Millions 6000000 This Representation and other Politick Reasons which is not my Business to meddle with made the French change their Stile and there was no more Talk of new Duties and Imposts In short after long Disputes upon the new Duty of Freight of 50 Sols per Tun the French in the Year 1662 signed a Treaty of Commerce with the States General and which was to be a lasting one This Treaty made both the Dutch and French Merchants hope that a Commerce so very useful and advantagious to the two Nations would be considerably augmented but their Hopes were frustrated and they saw with Sorrow it sensibly lessened in the Year 1667 when the French encreased the Duties on Foreign Merchandize without having any manner of Regard to the Treaty of 1662. They had for some Years it seems entertain'd a Notion that they could carry on a Trade after a new unheard of Method They pretended to sell their Goods to their Neighbours and buy none of theirs It must be allow'd a finer Project never could be invented to fill France with Gold and Silver I call it a fine not pernicious Project but it has been found by unhappy Experience it was
subject to Philip. The Merchants and Seamen that were employ'd in that Trade after it thus expired took a Resolution to look out for those Goods in Asia Africa and America which they used to have from Seville and Lisbon and this was one of the principal Causes of the Rise of that Republick and the Decay of the Spanish Monarchy Philip the Third having succeeded his Father Philip the Second in the Month of September 1598. seeing plainly that all Endeavours that were used to bring the Dutch to a Peace proved ineffectual resolved to forbid them all manner of Trade whatsoever with his Subjects hoping that by taking away that which supported them to that time in their War they would have no mind to continue it when they should see themselves depriv'd of such Support It was visible that all the Riches of Holland were the Effects of their Navigation and Trade and that their greatest Traffick was with Spain whither they not only carried the Merchandize of their own State but Corn from Poland and other Northern Countries that they might in Exchange carry home vast Quantities of Gold and Silver Philip the Third executed his Edict with a great deal of Severity a very exact Search was made all over Spain for Dutch Merchants and Sailors som of which were condemn'd to perpetual Imprisonment and the Gallies others were cruelly put to Death by several kinds of Tortures This Interdiction of Commerce was likewise pulished in the Low Countries in the Name of the Princess Isabella who was at that time their Sovereign The States General on the other hand were not contented with barely prohibiting all Commerce with Spain they likewise forbid all other Nations bringing into their Country any Provisions or other Commodities whatsoever from Spain declaring that all that did so should be esteemed Spanish Partisans and be treated as Enemies A Copy of this Declaration of the States-General was sent to all Princes that they might not pretend Ignorance France came into the Dutch Scheme and declared that if after 6 Months any of her Subjects should trade with Spain they would in so doing expose themselves to such Inconveniencies as the Crown would not concern it self to remedy and the other Powers likewise acquiesced to this bold Declaration Notwithstanding these severe Prohibitions of the Spaniards the Dutch as before traded to all the Spanish Countries by means of Passports the Spaniards themselves gave them for Money which they often wanted to carry on their Affairs In short the Truce of twelve Years was concluded between Spain and the United Provinces in the Year 1609 and by it the Freedom of Trade was re-establish'd between the two Nation and amongst other things it was agreed That the Traders of each Nation should pay no greater Duties than the Inhabitants or Allies of such Nations who paid the lowest Customs and that the Dutch might be secured from apprehending any thing from the Inquisition it was agreed that they should enjoy the same Liberty as was stipulated to the English some time before in the Articles of the Treaty of Velasco which the Constable of Castile had made with the Crowns of Spain and England The War that was revived in the Year 1621 after the Expiration of that Truce interrupted the Trade of both Nations till the Year 1648 when they concluded a perpetual Peace at Munster and from that time the Trade the Dutch drove with Spain became much more considerable than ever by reason of those Privileges that Crown yielded to them in that Treaty Those great Advantages they offered the United Provinces was one of the principal Means they made use of to draw the States from the French Interest and to make a Separate Peace with them and which in Effect was the saving of that Monarchy The Dutch Trade with Spain continued from that time till now that is till the breaking out of this present War which began in the Year 1702 on Account of the Partition Treaty which was designed to exclude Philip V. the present King from succeeding Charles II. whose lawful Heir and Successor he was It is worth while to observe how Reasons of State have united these two Nations the most averse to each other in the World and whose hatred especially that of the Spaniards seemed irreconciliable The Spaniards favour'd the Dutch in their Trade as much as they possibly could particularly since the Year 1667 in hopes to have ruined that of the French and they were not unsuccessful in that respect but the Dutch Trade never flourish'd so much in Spain as since the War between France and Holland begun in the Year 1672 to the beginning of this present War for they not only furnish the Spaniards with such Goods as they used to have from France but furnish themselves likewise from Spain with what France used to supply them with before the several Wars of 1672 and 1690. The Dutch traded very much to all those Places that were subject to Spain as Flanders and Brabant c. before this present War and which she has now lost as well as those which the French lost some time after that is to say during the three last Campaigns But their chief Trade of all was that of Cadiz and in the Mediterranean 'Tis in that famous Port of Spain where the Galleons are equipt out for Peru and the Flotilla for Mexico and New Spain and which return thither with their rich lading from those Empires and bring almost all the Gold and Silver we see in Europe however tho' the Spaniards are the Masters of those Countries where Gold and Silver grow in such abundance yet it is very true that they have less of either than those Nations that Trade with them which shews that Mines of Gold and Silver contribute much less to the enriching of a Country than Trade and Commerce What follows is a true Account of the Goods and Merchandize the Dutch used to carry into Spain and bring thence before the last Rupture That which they imported consisted chiefly of Linnen of all sorts Woollen Stuffs a great Number of Silks Gold and Silver Stuffs Drugs Spices small Iron Wares Masts and Timber The Linnen brought into Spain by Foreigners ever was look'd on as the most considerable Article of that Trade by reason of its vast Consumption both in Spain and America the French furnish'd the Spaniards a long time with this Commodity I believe I should not exceed the Truth by affirming that this only Article of the French Commerce amounted every Year to about eight Millions of Livres The Linnens that the Dutch bring into Spain are generally of the finest sort that are made in Overissel and about Douay and Valenciennes they sell them in Spain by the Name of Lawns and Cambricks they vend likewise a certain kind of Linnen call'd Perseilles and Brabant it is very broad and coarse and serves the poorer sort of People to wrap up Goods in Besides this they sell a World of fine and coarse