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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A44890	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 of 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.; Grand trésor historique et politique du florissant commerce des Hollandois dans tous les Etats et empires du monde. English	Huet, Pierre-Daniel, 1630-1721.	1700 (1700)	Wing H3300A; ESTC T145652	106,369	252

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

Towns in the Low Countries But his Hopes were frustrated for being engaged in almost continual Wars with his Neighbours and not taking due Care to free the Seas from Rovers and Enemies it so fell out that the Towns of Flanders which used to follow the Fishery and Sea Trade lost both so far were they from getting amongst them any Share of the Trade of Antwerp This made the whole Fishery remove to Holland and the Manufactures of Flanders into other Countries One third Part of the Workmen and Merchants who wrought or dealt in Silks Damasks Taffeties and Stockings c. went to settle in England because none in that Country knew at that time to work in those Manufactures A great many went to Leyden and most of them that dealt in Linnen went to settle in Harlem not to mention those who went to Amsterdam It is astonishing to think that the Merchants of Antwerp in leaving a Place the most convenient in the World for Trade should make choice of one seeming the most improper in all Europe One would have rather thought that the Neighbourhood of England whose Situation and Harbours are so admirably fitted for Trade might have invited them thither Those Merchants who were of the reformed Religion would have had a greater Inclination to settle there than in any other Place whatsoever in hopes not only to live more at quiet but also on Account of the Situation which is very advantageous for trading with all Europe But they wanted to be in a Country where Foreigners were not obliged to pay such Customs and other Taxes which the native English are free from for in England it seems at the time Foreigners and all their Posterity payed double what the Natives did besides Foreigners were excluded all Companies or Societies of Trade so that none were allowed to work either as Partners or Masters unless at such Trades as the Natives were unacquainted with so that none went thither but such as wrought in Serges Damasks Stockings c. Most of these and the like Inconveniencies they were also sure to meet with in the Hanse Towns which partly was the Cause that almost the whole Trade of Antwerp came to be established in the Towns of Holland which were free from all those Obstacles The Situation of these neighbouring Towns and several other Considerations contributed very much to draw thither especially to Amsterdam all this vast and profitable Trade After the Union of the seven Provinces and the World saw this new Republick defend it self with Success against Spain under the Conduct of the Prince of Orange all those who hated the Spanish Government retired thither as to an Asylum from its Rigour and Severity The Persecutions which Spain renewed with too great Severity in several Places against those who had embraced the new Opinions peopled the United Provinces with a World of excellent Artisans who set up there several new Manufactures and brought those they had already to great Perfection The Civil Wars that lasted so long in France then in Germany and last of all in England augmented considerably the Inhabitants of the United Provinces and the Wars which broke out in the Year 1634 in the Low Countries between France and Spain made likewise great Numbers of Merchants and Workmen come into Holland for the richest Villages of Flanders Brabant and the Country beyond the Maese being ruined by Winter Quarters the Inhabitants themselves left them because the most trading Towns had lost all their Commerce and the Carriage of Goods was liable to such imminent Dangers All this caused not only the Towns of Holland to grow extraordinarily populous but doubly encreased their Trade as having a prodigious Vent for almost all Sorts of their Manufactures and other Commodities during the Continuance of that War But after all nothing has encreased the Inhabitants of Holland and their Manufactures so much as the French Protestants who were almost all of them Merchants or Artisans and came thither about twenty or thirty Years since To conclude it must be acknowledge for incontestable Truth that whenever Trade is clogg'd or constrain'd in any Government it will retire to others where it may have greater Safety and be more favourably used which Happiness at that time it could no where find so well as in Holland Having here clearly explained and observed the principal Motives which induced so many Merchants and Artisans to go in Millions to the United Provinces let us now consider what their Commerce is how they carry it on and a Country producing nothing necessary to Trade and Navigation is become the Centre of both For Holland produces nothing at all necessary except Butter Cheese and Clay to make Delft Ware or other Eastern Ware and this is well worth the Observation of the Reader that is any ways versed in Politicks CHAP. II. Of the Origin and Causes of the vast Trade of Holland IT is certain that some Manufactures were set up in several Places of Holland even while the Hanse Towns commanded all the Trade and Navigation of Europe The Art of Pickling Herrings having been found out as I before observed about 250 Years ago and the Ruine of the Trade of Bruges encreasing that of Holland tho' it was but then inconsiderable in Comparison to what it was afterwards by the Destruction of that of Antwerp the prodigious Numbers of People that left the Low Countries together with the vast Riches they brought thither not to mention those who came thither from other Countries where Liberty of Conscience was not permitted were of Necessity obliged to trade by Sea to procure for themselves Necessaries for Life the new Country they were come to inhabit being but of small Extent and not producing near what they had an absolute Occasion for This Barrenness of Holland was one of the principal Causes of the great Trade we see carried on there at this time for the great and incredible Numbers of People who fled thither for Security had no other Way to subsist and to pay those heavy Taxes so often laid upon them in Defence of their Liberty against the Spaniards These two powerful Motives the Preservation of Life and Liberty caused the Inhabitants of the United Provinces to carry their Goods to all Parts of the World where they had any Prospect of Gain About the Year 1625 they traded to the Kingdoms of the North to Germany Poland Muscovy England to the Spanish Low Countries and to Portugal under Spanish Colours or of any other Nation in Alliance with Philip II. But the Spaniards afterwards having by their Severities and Vexations deterred the Dutch from so much as attempting to trade with either of these two Nations found to their no small Loss the fatal Consequences of their mistaken Politicks for the Seamen and Traders who had by the Interruption of Trade with Spain and Portugal lost all Manner of Employment were resolved not to sit still but hazard all rather than live without Trading With this Resolution

are only Dyed with one Colour as Red or Black of which as well as the White there is a great Consumption on the Coast of Melinda and in the Emperor of the Abyssin's Country the Philippine Islands of Borneo Sumatra and Java c. Next to the Spices the Callicoes and other Cotton Stuffs make one of the most considerable Articles in the Dutch East-India Trade for besides those surprising Quantities they bring into Europe which may be seen by the Catalogues or Lists os their Cargoes the Company sells no less in the several Countries of Asia where they Trade to I take no Notice of Cotton Thread brought into Europe Cloth made of the Bark of Trees Persian Wooll and the fine Woollen Carpets made at Agra Tho' the People of Europe who trade to the Indies bring back neither Gold nor Silver but on the contrary carry both into these Countries I shall in few Words give an Account of the Places where these valuable Mettals are to be had and which are so very necessary for the Dutch Company to make their Trade flourish in the Indies There is a great Quantity of Gold in many Places of Asia especially in China and Japan in the Kingdoms of Pegu Siam Azem Tripara and Camboya and in the Islands of Sumatra and Macassar But China is the Country of all Asia where it most abounds not but that they have very rich Mines of Gold in Japan but there is none ever suffered to come out the Emperor having prohibited it under severe Penalties and his Commands are rigourously observed As the Chinese are very fond of Silver and have very little of it they make no Difficulty to give their Gold for Silver and there is vast Profit to be made by those who know how to manage this Exchange They omit no Pains to get the Piastres or Pieces of Eight of Mexico and they get good Quantities by the People of the Philippine Islands who Trade to Mexico Silver Mines are nothing near so numerous in Asia as those of Gold and indeed there seems to be but very little Silver there since there is scarce any Prince from the Great Mogul's Country to Japan that coins any Money In Truth the riches of the Mines in the Mogul's Country are so great that they pay for all Goods brought thither in Gold as they do in China and as the Dutch are the only Nation in Europe that Trade to Japan and their Trade to that Country is very considerable so they bring thence a great deal of Silver which generally is in Pieces of the Value of our Crowns they carry almost all that Money into the Great Mogul's Country where Commissioners of Money give them 3 per Cent more than they will for our Crowns The Dutch bring from Japan a sort of Red Copper which is excellent and much better than most of what is in Europe being softer and more malleable and pliant which makes it 25 per Cent dearer The Company carry much of it to the Coasts of Coromandel and Bengal and dispose of it to great Advantage that which they bring into Europe is sent to Aix la Chappel to be workt up there in small and large Vessels Copper Furnaces c. and good Quantities of it is employed in the Foundery for Cannons c. their Indian Fleet in the Year 1694 brought 27650 Pound Weight and those that have come since have brought Six Times as much Tin and Lead abound very much in the Kingdom of Siam and towards Malacca the Dutch have the Privilege to buy those Commodities at Ligor The Tin Trade is very profitable to the Dutch and they buy it with Bengal Carpets and Coromandel Linnen which they purchase very cheap Tin sells very well in other Sea Ports in the Mogul's Country and in Persia and Arabia The Dutch have often brought into Europe very great Quantities of Tin their Fleet in the Year 1694 brought about 28845 Pound Weight and what they have brought since is Five or Six Times as much which they sell with vast Profit though it is very fine and they sell it cheap What remains now is that I speak a few Words about Pearls and precious Stones Porcelain or China Ware The Diamond is no where to be found but in Four Countries of Asia The First Place is the Kingdom of Visapore the Second Golconda the Third the Kingdom of Bengal subject to the Great Molgul and the Fourth is the Isle of Borneo It is believed that the Mine of Bengal is the oldest in the World That of Visapore was only known about 200 Years ago The Mine of Golconda which is Seven Days Journey from the Capital of that Name has been known no more than 120 Years yet I have been inform'd that it is the richest and most frequented of any it employing constantly above 60000 People The Portugueze are supposed to bring into Europe the most Diamonds of any People perhaps on Account of their Trade which to this Day is still carried on in Goa the chief City of the Indies for Traffick especially for Oriental Pearls The other precious Stones of several fine Colours come likewise out of Asia but are only found in the Kingdom of Hava which is in subjection to the King of Pegu and in the Isle of Ceylan The Mine of the Kingdom of Hava is in the Mountain of Capelan about Two Days Journey from Ciren the Residence of the King of Pegu this Mine produces great Quantities of Rubies Sapphires Blue and White Topazes Hyacynths and Amethysts of which the King keeps always the most beautiful They find likewise Rubies Saphires and Topazes much finer and more beautiful than those of Pegu in a River which falls down the Mountains that are in the middle of the Isle of Ceylan Turquoize Stones come from Persia the Mine is in the Mountain of Pirouskoua three or Four Days Journey from the City of Mescheda The old Rock is now kept for the Royal Family only the Turquoize Stones of the new Rock being nothing near so good having not so fine and lively Colour as the old Rock The Mine of the fine Oriental Agates is in the Province of Camboya Pearls are fished for in the Persian Gulph round the Island of Barhem belonging to the King of Persia they fish for them also over against the Coast of Arabia-Felix near the Town of Catiff which belongs to an Arabian Prince The Pearls of these Two Places have a Yellowish cast the greatest Part of these Pearls they sell in the Indies the other in the Provinces of Asia and Muscovy where they are not so difficult as in Europe about the Shape and Water of Pearls There is also a Fishery for Pearls in the Streight of the Isle of Ceylan near the little Isle of Manar now in Possession of the Dutch Company they will have it that these are the finest in all the East for roundness and Colour but very few of them Weigh above Three or Four Carats There are Pearls to

Malacca according to Custom We knew that all those Vessels had made God be thanked a very happy Voyage and that the Company had got a good Price for all the Cargoes which notwithstanding would not produce any considerable Gain as long as that Limitation should subsist CHINA Where our Ambassador lately arrived and set out for the Imperial Court of Pekin to desire that great Emperour's Leave to trade thither few People doubting of Success there having been a Report spread abroad that the Emperour seeing himself at that time Lord of all China and in quiet Possession of those vast Territories had a Design to make Trade flourish in his Dominions and to accomplish it had permitted not only his Subjects to trade out of their own Country but all foreign Merchants to come and establish themselves in his maritime Towns the Truth of which Time only will discover It is very certain that the English drive a very considerable Trade with China or rather with the Islands of Macar and had the Company this Liberty they would have a great many Competitors of all Nations in Trade which would very much lessen their Profit and Gain Our People have also made Voyages several Years ago to the Islands of Macar where they traded in private with the Chinese but it never came to much while the English and Portugueze find means to make considerable Returns for which Reason we made no Voyages this last Season to those Islands but sent our Shipping directly to Chockzien These Vessels were only four in Number but were laden with Commodities of a considerable Value to trade with under Colour of going to bring back our Ambassador who at his Arrival in those Parts knew how to put off the Goods he brought with him much better than the Merchants could do at the Isle of Macar It is certain that the Portugueze who bought Pepper at Batavia to trade with in China paid much dearer than our People could sell it for in the very Islands One may see by that and by many other Sales that the Company is very ill served in those Parts TONQUIN Is a Place where the Company has some Footing but of very little Consequence for since as their Ministers were some Years ago recalled Trade has but indifferent Success in that Country and not sufficient to answer Charges so that all they send thither is but one Vessel only at present which brings them a certain Quantity of Musk for which they pay ready Money This same Vessel goes likewise to MALACA Which is a Town belonging to the Company and was taken from the Portugueze This Place is very considerable and much frequented for Traffick and is the Magazine of the Eastern Trade where all Nations who have frequented the Seas met heretofore At present its Trade is not near so considerable not sufficient to answer the Charge which Inconveniency might be remedied by sending thither a good Director for it is certain that there is a good Vent in that Town for great Quantities of Linnen Cloth of all sorts as well as in many other Towns its Dependencies or which lye round about it as Andragieri and other Towns and such Places as lye along the Rivers of Sierra Perra c. where for the most Part the Payments are made in Gold and Tin which is a Return very rich necessary and profitable for the Good and Support of the Trade of the Company Malaca is the Rendezvous of all the Vessels that return from Japan every Year with their Cargoes and which they there sort and distribute in order to their being sent to the other Store-houses on the Coast of India Coromandel Bengal c. The last Advices from Malaca tell us that they lived there in Peace and had a good Understanding with the neighbouring Kings and Princes They have made Governour of that Place Monsieur Flechier who in the Month of October 1619 went thither with strict Commission to take an exact Account of all Misdemeanours committed by any Ministers Officers and Commissioners of the Company and punish them according to the Severity and Rigour of the Law Over against this Island lyes the Island of SUMATRA In which Place are the Store-houses of Palinbourg and Jambi the former of which furnishes every Year a considerable Quantity of Pepper which they trade with on Account of the Company according to the Contract made with the King of the Country The Payment for Pepper is made in Linnens which has powerfully engaged the Company to preserve this Trade as very advantageous to them and obliged them to assist that Prince against his Enemies as some Years ago they did with very good Success which gained them such Respect with the neighbouring Powers that tho' that Kingdom has been often threatned by seral Princes round about yet no one dar'd to invade it which makes the Company enjoy a very quiet and advantageous Trade But as for Jambi there is scarce any thing to do there A small Number of Commissaries and Servants live there whose Business chiefly is to hinder the ill Designs of the King of Jambi and the Pyracies and Robberies which are often committed on the West of the Island of Sumatra where the Company is in Possession of a vast Tract of Land and the Places of their Habitation are comprehended under and known by the Name of Wescoust where there are also several Storehouses the Capital City is PADANGUE Here is a very great Trade and a good vent for Salt and several sorts of Linnen and the Returns consist in Gold Ore Pepper Camphire Benzoin and other valuable Commodities which are very proper for the Trade of the Company and of which they dispose vast Quantities in the Indies 'Tis a great Prejudice to the Company to be so ill served as they have been some Years since in this Place insomuch that the Company was forced in a very little time to send from Batavia three Superintendents or Directors one after another and recall'd them to justify their Conduct It is certain if Matters were but rightly manag'd as the Interest of the Company requires those Places would become more profitable and considerable than they are and I may say that if the Conduct and OEconomy of those who have the Direction of Affairs were more regular the exorbitant Charges and frequent Frauds would not swallow up the great Profits that may be made of the Gold Ore that is given in Payment I agree that some Years since our People were very much troubled and molested by the Natives of the Country on Account of the English who struggled to make themselves Masters of the Pepper Trade had it been possible having to that End stirred up several in Alliance with the Company who therefore found themselves oblig'd to take up Arms and punish the Indians for breaking their Alliance which they accordingly did and with very good Success so that Attempt of the English came to very little or nothing tho' it was very expensive and chargeable