 Case, such Corporations greatly conduce to the Peace and good Order of Cities and large Towns, and to the general Power and Prosperity of the Nation.
A Nation that is a Merchant has no need of an Extent of Lands, as it can derive to itself Subsistance from all Parts of the Globe.
Tyre
was situated in a small Island on the Coast of
Phaenicia,
and yet that single City contained the most flourishing, opulent, and powerful Nation in the Universe; a Nation that long withstood the united Forces of the three first Monarchies, brought against her by
Nebuchadnezar
and
Alexander
the Great.
The seven united Provinces do not contain Lands sufficient for the Subsistance of one Third of their Inhabitants; but they are a Nation of Merchants; the World furnishes them with an Abundance of all good Things; by Commerce they have arrived at Empire; they have assumed to themselves the Principality of the Ocean; and, by being Lords of the Ocean, are in a Measure become the Proprietors of all Lands.
Should
England
ever open her Eyes to her own Interests, she will follow the same prosperous and ennobling Profession; she will conform to the Consequences of her Situation. She will see that, without a Naval Pre-eminence, she cannot be safe; and, without Trade, that her Naval Power cannot be supported. Her Glory will also flow from this sure Source of her Interests, and a Sail-yard will become the highest Scepter of her Dignity. She will then find that a single Triumph of her Flag will be more available, for her Prosperity, than the Conquest of the four Continents; that her Pre-eminence, by Sea, will carry and diffuse her Influence over all Lands; and, that universal Influence is universal Dominion.
Avarice, my Lord, may pile; Robbery may plunder; new Mines may be opened; hidden Treasures may be discovered; Gamesters may win Cash; Conquerors may win Kingdoms; but all such Means of acquiring Riches are transient and determinable. While Industry and Commerce are the natural, the living, the never failing Fountains, from whence the Wealth of this World can alone be taught to flow.
And can you, cried I, have the Effrontery, to insinuate a Preference, of yourself and your fellow Cits, to our
British
Nobles and Princes, who derive their Powers and Dignities from the stedfast Extent of their landed Possessions? Was it by Barter and Bargain that our
Edwards
and
Henrys
atchiev'd their Conquests on the Continent? or was it by Pedlars and Mechanics, think you, that the Fields of
Cressi,
of
Poictiers,
and
Agincourt
are
