many difficulties more or less formidable to be surmounted. A record of the arguments by which such victories have been gained, and of the work done by those noble champions of progress to whose labour, skill, and wisdom the nation is indebted, must prove for ever valuable. Though dealing directly with British commerce, occasional glances are taken of the state of commerce in foreign countries, especially at the commencement and end of the period embraced by our history. Economic laws are not limited in their operation to time or place, nor are the conquests of science the exclusive property of any single state. We can advantageously, therefore, study the lessons of experience of this and other nations; and should the following pages ever meet the eye of foreign statesmen or finance ministers, they will see in them that Britain has attained her present elevated position, not by restricting and entangling trade and industry, not by thwarting the laws of nature, but by removing every barrier, and by opening every avenue to the legitimate exercise of personal energies. Nay more, they will see that, for the last fifty years, the principal efforts of the British Legislature have been directed to giving the greatest possible freedom to commerce, and to ensuring the greatest possible safety in mercantile transactions. Ample are the materials at hand for a history of British commerce. The reports of parliamentary committees and royal commissions, always full and exhaustive; Hansard's 'Debates,' re-echoing the state of public opinion, at the commencement and end of every agitation; the works already quoted, and many more of a sectional character, yet of wide reach and solid value; the Economist,' rich in economic facts, and the reports of Secretaries of embassies and of British consuls in foreign parts-these and many other important works, to which I am greatly indebted, have furnished the threads which I have attempted to weave together. A history of British commerce in so limited a compass can offer little more than the main outlines of a vast subject. The monograph of special trades could only be given here and there. The revolution which has taken place in the value of many commodities has been simply hinted at, and but little room was left for any pictorial representation of the wonders of British commerce among civilised and uncivilised states. Every effort has, however, been made to attain accuracy in data and soundness in the conclusions drawn. In most cases the authorities quoted are given, and these are generally the highest and most trustworthy extant. As an account of one of the most important interests in the empire, as a repertory of facts for the financier and economist, as a manual for the British trader all the world over, and as a class book for students of political and commercial economics, I trust the "History of British Commerce' may prove of practical utility. LEONE LEVI. FARRAR'S BUILDING, TEMPLE: CONTENTS. |