An historical and chronological deduction of the Origin of Commerce, from the earliest accounts to the present time, &c. In two volumes, folio, London.

A the rife

Full and judicious hiftory of the rife and progrefs of commerce has been long defired, and indeed much wanted. Every thing, which has hitherto appeared upon that fubject, has been either very imperfect, or very erroneous, or both: yet nothing can afford a more rational object of ftudy and attention, for the ufes either of fpeculative or active life. Trade is fo much in

fluenced by the manners of mankind, as well as fo intimately connected with their policy and government, that it cannot fail of furnishing no lefs valuable lights for the hiftory of the human mind in different ages and countries, than for advancing the riches and profperity of nations. Mr. Anderfon has undertaken a very great work, and what might have feemed too much for the labours of a fin. gle hand. The books and records compared by him are almoft innumerable: the objects it comprehends are in a manner infinite. Every thing which concerns commerce in all its branches, and manufacture in all its articles, even to the minutest details in both; every thing which could be collect

ed concerning corporations, concerning trading and banking focieties; every thing which relates to public and private credit; to funds and ftocks; whatever tends to illustrate the value of money and of provifions, and the price of labour; the comparative popu lation at different periods; the origin of all improvements in arts of ufe or ornament, form the extenfive materials of this curious and interefting work. It must be obferved, however, that, though he runs over the whole history of commerce, ancient and modern, yet he labours chiefly that of the commerce of Europe; and in Europe principally attaches himself to the affairs of Great Britain. The author has arranged these materials, vaft as they are, in a clear and fatisfactory chronological order; and has interfperfed them with many fenfible reasonings and judicious reflections.

With regard to the style of this work, it is, as might be expected in a work of this kind, negligent. It has this defect; but it is the fmallest fuch a work can have. Some few errors too, in dates and facts, of which the author was himself confcious, may be observed, but ought to be overlooked as unavoidable in fuch a performance. He has finifhed the whole with an ample chronological index, which is at the fame time a table of re

ference,

ference, and an abridgment of the work. This part will prove particularly fatisfactory to the reader.

Extracts can give but an imperfect idea of works of this extent. We shall, however, infert two; the firft, his account of the genius and manners of the 14th century; the fecond, an account of the application of the magnet to navigation.

"Character of the fourteenth Cen

tury.

The character of this fourteenth century, is of much greater importance to mankind than any, or perhaps than all, the preceding ones, confidered in a purely mercantile fenfe, Great improvements are effected in naval commerce throughout the greatest part of Europe, and in the dimenfions of fhipping, more especially in Italy, Spain, the Hanfe-towns, and the Netherlands, whereby gradual approaches were making towards conftituting the remarkable difference which has fince fo eminently appeared between nations, in proportion to their greater or leffer cultivation of foreign commerce, and of manufactures, fisheries, mines, and other commercial improvements. Yet Mr. Rymer, in the dedication to the late queen Anne, of his IIId Tome of the Fœdera, tells her very truly, "that these were times of "great ftruggle and diforder all "Europe over, and the darkeft แ period of times." And the fuppofed royal author of the memoirs of the houfe of Brandenburg fpeaks much to the fame effect, viz, that ignorance was at its highest pitch in this and the

"next fucceeding century." The lands of England, it is true, still continued to be extremely cheap, of which fome very memorable inftances are exhibited, chiefly owing to there being as yet but very few purchafers: yet the rate of living, and the prices of moft of the neceffaries of life, were confiderably rifen fince the beginning of the preceding century. The great king Edward III. of England, attentively obferving the waft benefits accruing to the Netherlands from their extenfive woollen manufacture, the main material whereof they owed chiefly, if nct folely, to his own kingdom; viewing alfo the beauty, populoufnefs, opulence, and ftrength of their cities, the neatnefs and wealth even of their villages, whilft thofe of his kingdom were mostly poor, ill-built, fmall, and thin of people; and that the province of Flanders in particular was thereby become fo opulent and potent, as to be a dangerous neighbour to England, more efpecially when fiding with France; fuch confiderations were more than fufficient to determine him to attempt the removal of every obftacle for attaining the like benefits to himself and his people.

Had this prince folely confined himself to the purfuit of the wool. len manufacture, that great point would have been fooner and more effectually accomplished; but his earneft purfuit of the conqueft of France occafioned no fmall fufpenfion of the other point, by its depriving his kingdom of much wealth and people. Yet although that towering project proved abor tive, and that, in the end, he lived long enough to see all his

large

large conquefts in France ravifhed from him the fingle town of Calais, only excepted [and a truly happy fight it was, or ought to have been, for the English nation, had they then as clearly perceived, as we at prefent do, the infinite mifchief which would have been the inevitable confequence of his faid fuccefs]; he, however, alfo lived long enough to fee his faid more falutary fcheme of the woollen manufacture generally eftablished throughout England, though fince gradually much improved. He alfo enacted more and better laws for the advancement of commerce than all his predeceffors had done. The filver coins of the two filter-nations of England and Scotland having been the fame in weight, value, figure, and denomination, from time immemorial, down to the middle of this century, thereby they mutually and freely circulated in both kingdoms to that period; but the Scots beginning now firft to leffen the intrinfic value of theirs, ftill preferving the old denominations, about that period England was at length obliged totally to prohi. bit their paffing in payment. The livre, or pound of France, which originally weighed twelve ounces of filver, or a pound of troy, was, in this century, funk to the fixth part of that weight, or to the fixth part of a pound fterling. Al

though gold coins had been early in ufe among the ancient Afiatics, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, yet from the overthrow of the western Roman Empire, until near the clofe of the laft, or the beginning of this XIV th century, we do not find any gold coins in ufe, even in the free ftates of Italy,

who, doubtlefs, had them the ft of any part of Europe weft of the Greek Empire.-In England, the firft gold coins were not ftruck till the year 1344.-In the fame country, foreign merchants were still hardly and impoliticly treated by means of the exclufive charters granted to London and other cities and towns.-The ports of the eaftern coaft of England had, by this time, fallen into a confiderable trade to and with the Hanfe-towns of Germany, and alfo to thofe of Pruffia and Livonia, then the fartheft voyages made by Englishmen, even long before England reforted to the countries within the Mediterranean fea. -Next after London, the city of Briftol made the greateft figure of any in England in commerce and fhipping in all this century, and probably long before, as well as it has done ever fince, as partly appears from their making the highest loans of money to the crown of any place, London excepted. This century, moreover, furnishes us with the moft diftinct account of the full quota of the Cinque-ports maritime fervice to the crown in time of war.-Many improvements are made in Europe; and particularly in England, clocks are first brought thither; law-pleadings first ordained to be in the English language, &c. The islands of the Madeira, and of the Canaries, are fully discovered and fettled, both which are foon after planted with vines and fugar-canes; and the faid iflands have been extremely affifting to the commerce of the feveral trading nations of Europe, both by their product and their commodious fituation." So that did we think ourselves obliged to

afcertain