The house

of Medicis.

In effect, very soon, armies were raised and maintained solely at the expence of this disinterested minister: he advised the conquest of Normandy, and he alone was at almost all the charge. When he went in embassy to Rome, a fleet of twelve ships, which accompanied him, belonged to him entirely, and it was he that was at all the expence of fitting them out. In a word, after Charles had, as it were, associated James Coeur in the government of the state, there was nothing in France that was great and considerable, which was not supported by the credit of this sage and rich merchant, and wherein he did not employ the better part of the great effects that arose to him from his trade. Mr. Astruc says, his very disgrace, which it appears he never merited, seemed to have rendered him illustrious.

It is true that the people, accustomed to fancy a mystery and prodigy in things that surprized them, and were above their comprehension, reported, that James Coeur owed his fortune to the secret of making gold; but the truth is, that all the philosopher's stone of this fortunate and able merchant only consisted in his great commercial connections; and that he knew no chymistry more proper to operate the transmutation of metals, than the immense traffick that furnished him with those rich merchandizes, of which his storehouses were always full, and which he exchanged with so much profit against gold and silver, that an ignorant and credulous populace attributed it to the perfection of the grand work, which it imagined he had the good luck to find out.

Another example of fortune and glory, to which private men have attained, by the means only of commerce, is not less remarkable, though more illustrious.

The family of Medicis has been always praise-worthy and commendable, both for the antiquity and nobleness of its origin, and the greatness of its credit and riches.

From the eleventh century it has had great men, and there is found in history, an honourable succession of the race of Medicis, who, in this first rise of their house, were equally distinguished by the lustre of ecclesiastical dignities, by the honour they acquired in the profession of arms, by that which they obtained in the government of states, and in the chief magistracies of cities.

It was not, however, till the beginning of the fifteenth century, that this family, reserved to so great a fate, ought properly to count the epocha, or æra of its elevation; and it is to Cosmo de Medicis, that famous citizen of Florence, who so justly merited the name of great, father of the people, and deliverer of his country, that it is indebted for the first, or at least the most solid foundations of a grandeur, which would be hardly credible, did we not see, so lately as the year 1722, their fortunate and illustrious posterity, governing with so much sagacity the descendants of those people, who formerly owed their liberty to the courage and prudence of this first citizen of their republick.*

In effect, after this great man had set in motion the wheel of fortune, which was to raise his house so high, there were but very few dignities, honours, titles, or alliances, by which this family was not illustrated; and, in less than a century, it gave four sovereign pontiffs to the church, two queens to France, and to the sacred college more celebrated subjects than any other house, even sovereign ones, had given to it till then.

It was nevertheless commerce only that was the source of so much renown; the ancestors of Cosmo, following the custom of the nobility of Italy, had not neglected this resource, to support them in the honours either of the camp or cabinet; but he, more

*This illustrious house became extinct by the death of Gaston, the last Grand Duke of Florence, to whom the late Emperor of Germany, then Duke of Lorrain, succeeded.

fortunate, or more intelligent, had made so large a fortune, that he became even comparable to sovereigns for his riches, and he was always courted and regarded, on account of the great influence which he preserved all his life, in the affairs of Italy.

Lawrence, his brother, who, to the name of Great, which he merited as well as Cosmo, added that of Father of Letters, was so well known at the Porte, on account of the factors which he maintained in all parts of the Levant, and of the great number of ships which he sent, that Bajazet, the fierce Ottoman emperor, not only always regarded him as one of his allies, but even honoured him with the name of his friend.

All the other Medici, who came after these two great men, and were elevated to the chief honours of their republic, had the wise policy to imitate them, and in no manner to deprive themselves, by a false delicacy, of the utility of commerce; and when, in fine, the great qualities and merit of another Cosmo had raised this house to the sovereignty of Florence, neither he, nor his successors, thought it unworthy of them, to continue to seek, in an honourable mercantile line, the means to support, with great credit, the splendour of a rank, which, in some sort, was owing to it; and, to this very day, the palaces of the Grand Duke are never shut either to tradesmen or merchants.

Gresham.

Mr. Mortimer, in the fifth edition of this work, mentions Sir Thomas Gresham, as a Sir Thomas third example of the advantages of commerce to individuals.

Sir Thomas Gresham an Englishman, who, though he did not attain to the very high honours of James Coeur or Cosmo de Medicis, does not yield to either in the services he performed for his country, or the riches and credit he acquired by merchandize. The general incidents of the life of this illustrious citizen of London are so well known, and are so amply related in all our histories of England, and lives of our eminent men, that I shall only recite such particulars as may serve to place him in many respects upon a level with the Frenchman and the Italian.

ment.

Mr. Thomas Gresham was the youngest son of Sir Richard Gresham, an eminent citizen of London in the reign of Edward VI. He succeeded his father in the office of agent to the king for the negociation of his loans and the sale of his wool at Antwerp; and in that city he laid the foundation of his fortune. It was, at that time, the custom for the kings of England to borrow money of the Flemings for any exigencies of the state, and, by mismanagement, the crown was become considerably indebted to the principal merchants at Antwerp: upon which occasion the Flemings demanded most exorbitant interest, and sometimes the royal jewels were pledged for the payBy his prudent management he not only cleared the king by discharging all his debts, but in the reign of Queen Elizabeth he put an end to the disgraceful and extravagant method of borrowing from foreigners, by delivering a plan to the queen for negociating loans for the public service at home, a plan which pleased her own subjects, and occasioned a great saving to the nation. For this service her Majesty conferred on him the honour of knighthood. He established the credit of English merchants with the Hanseatick Towns, and he was highly instrumental in bringing over a great number of the persecuted Flemings who fled from the tyranny of the Duke D'Alva, the Spanish governor of the Netherlands, under Philip II. At his own expence, he built the Royal Exchange in London, and founded a college, known by the name of Gresham College, endowing it with an income for the support of a professor of each of the liberal sciences, who continue to this day, and read public lectures in divinity, law, physic, astronomy, geometry, music, and rhetoric. He also bequeathed a great many donations of annual sums to public charitable insti

VOL. I.

D

Commerce of the French,

tutions; yet this did not prevent his making ample provision for his widow, and he died very rich in the year 1579.

Mr. Savary supposes it a matter of surprise, that among so many examples of the advantages that commerce produces in the states where it flourishes, France had not, at the time of his writing, furnished any one; it is owned, he says, with regret, that, in regard to commerce, the French at present are less in a condition to serve as a model, than they are in need of being animated by the example of others.

And then proceeds with making the following queries, and giving the succeeding account of the aptitude and qualifications of the French for trade; and, though he seems a little partial in favour of his countrymen, I think he exaggerates nothing in his description of the kingdom.

"Will this generous nation," says he, "so capable of the greatest enterprizes, be in"ferior to others in this thing only, whilst she greatly surpasses them in every thing "else? No surely: and excepting her haughtiness, which often made her regard "trade as little worthy of her; or her impatience, which almost always discouraged her on the first difficulties, there is certainly no one that could carry on commerce with "more advantage, or to whom, I may affirm, it is more proper, when she will apply "herself to it in earnest.

"What is there in effect wanting to France of all that is necessary to carry on a "considerable trade?

"She has an infinite number of inhabitants, hardy, enterprizing, laborious, and, at "the same time, full of genius, address, and industry.

"Her lands, which are as fertile as any in the world, deny her hardly any sort of "fruits, provisions, drugs, or other merchandize.

"Her different provinces, according to the diversity of their soil, produce in "abundance, corn, wine, salt, and every necessary to the support of life.

"There is found silk, flax, and hemp, for all sorts of stuffs and linens, or other "works which are made of these materials.

"Its pastures feed an almost incredible quantity of large and small cattle, which "serve for nourishment, and to furnish excellent hides and fine wools, and its mines "produce the most necessary metals and minerals for arts and trades, and for the "fabric of manufactures.

"If its merchants inclined to commerce, the two seas, which wash its coasts, open "to them excellent ports, and offer them the conveniency for carrying it on to the "four quarters of the world.

"If they will content themselves with a home trade, the French manufactures, or "those that are imitated from strangers, are arrived to the last degree of perfection, "by the wise regulations and by the attention of the magistrates of the police, and "the inspectors appointed to take care of their performance.

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"In a word, it may be said, and I shall say it without exaggeration, that France "reunites at home all the advantages of commerce, which are found divided among "the other people of Europe, and, that, being sufficient to itself, it can absolutely pass without other nations, and content itself with its own abundance, whilst they, "on their parts, will find it difficult to subsist without our succours, and that great "commerce, of which some, and with a great deal of reason, are so proud, would soon be seen to fall, if they ceased to receive from us that infinite number of " merchandizes which are necessary to them, and which it is with difficulty they can "find elsewhere.

"It is this truth ill understood, and urged too far, that has given room to that paradox so dangerous, which they of this way of thinking would establish in these

"latter times; that France ought to carry on no commerce with strangers, and that "she would always be sufficiently happy and flourishing, if she did not want labourers " and soldiers.

"The necessity of the one and the other is indisputable; without soldiers our fron"tiers would remain open to our enemies, and the kingdom without defence; and "without labourers to cultivate our lands, they would be no longer sufficient for our support. But upon what shall the pay and maintenance of our troops be established, "if commerce, which is the most fruitful source of the riches which enter our king's "exchequer, be taken from us? And what will the farmers do with their crops, "though never so abundant, if they have no longer an opening to get rid of their superfluity; and, by want of trade, see those provisions miserably perish on their "hands, which would have enriched them, if they had passed into those of their "neighbours.

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"The merchants then are a third order of persons, of which France has need, and "who are not less necessary to her than her soldiers and labourers; and commerce is a "profession, without which all would languish in the kingdom, and the inhabitants "would sink under their own abundance, as they could consume neither the whole "at home, nor have the liberty to carry a part abroad.

"It is sufficiently comprehended, that by commerce, supposed so necessary to "France, and for which it is known, that the French are at least as fit as the other "nations of Europe, is not to be understood that trade which is carried on in our "provinces, by the communication which they have with one another, of the natural "productions, or the works of art, that they have each at home, for this would be "always flourishing enough, if there was a care at the same time to carry on that abroad; "but it is the commerce which may be maintained with foreigners that is principally " in view, whether they come to our ports to carry away those merchandizes of which "they have need, or whether we send our ships to load with those which they have " and we want.

"It is true, that, for long voyages, France has already at home a company of commerce, of which the first success seems to promise, that it will not one day be any thing inferior to the more celebrated ones established among our neighbours; "so that, without encroaching upon the vast grant of a company so profitably formed "and so wisely conducted, I shall content myself to animate the French merchants to "such other objects of commerce as they may share with the other nations of Europe, " or even that they may carry on with a greater facility and profit than they.

"These hopes, with which I dare flatter our merchants, are not false nor even "dubious. Whoever surveys the parts of Europe where the English and Dutch carry "on their most considerable commerce, Spain, for example, or the towns of the North "and the Baltick Sea, will see what nation is most likely to succeed.

"Almost all the necessary merchandizes for those important branches of commerce "are found in France; on the contrary, England and Holland have hardly any. "We have for Spain, stuffs of gold, silver, and silk, clothes, woollens, linens, paper, hats, all sorts of stockings, cards, laces of silk and thread, mercery, iron wares, and many others. The North cannot do without our wines, brandies, "vinegars, salts, prunes, chesnuts, and walnuts, so that it will presently be decided, to which nation the loading of ships for the North, or Spain, is most easy; whether "to the French, who, without borrowing any thing from others, have, within them"selves wherewith to make up an entire cargo; or to the English and Dutch, who come to seek in France what they want, and who, destitute of this succour, would "be obliged to send their ships half laden, and without the proper assortments for "those two countries.

i

66

"It is also the same in proportion with all other trades, by which the French may "enter into competition with their neighbours.

"In regard to profit, it is as clear, and shorter. Whoever sells at second-hand can "make but one gain, whilst he that sells at the first acquires two; the English and "Dutch are in the first case, the French in the second; so that those can only benefit "themselves on the price which the merchandize they sell in Spain and the North "costs them in France, and these add yet to the said profit, that which was made on "the first sales of such merchandize.

"This is not enough; the advantage of returns is yet all entirely on the part of "France, since the French ships, by bringing back the Northern and Spanish com“modities, take away from strangers those immense profits, which they used to make on us, when they brought the same merchandizes into our ports.

"One cannot on this subject help expressing some concern at not seeing established "in France, that wise policy of the English, who, by their Act of Navigation in the year 1660, ordained, that none of the merchandizes and products of Europe be brought into England, nor the states that depend on it, but in ships appertaining to "English subjects, or from the places of their manufacture and growth; and that "none of the merchandizes of the growth of any of the English colonies, or that may "hereafter become so, of Asia, Africa, and America, shall any longer be brought in "but in English ships, or those appertaining to the English.

cr

"A policy certainly both prudent and equitable, and, if it had place among us, "would open our ports to strangers, who should bring the merchandizes of their country and wisely shut them against those who, having nothing of their owngrowth, come to sell us those at a dear rate which they have collected from all "parts of the world; and who, flattered by our indolence, or, it may be, by our "vanity, have insensibly accustomed us to receive only from their hands, at an excessive "price, what it would be easy for us to get on much better terms, if we would only "take the pains to send for them.

"It may probably be alleged, that, as the French marine is not in any degree "comparable, but much inferior, to that of their neighbours, with whom they "are invited to become competitors, there is but little appearance that they should "ever find the facility or advantages with which they in vain were flattered in carrying

"it on.

"And it must be confessed, that, in maritime states, commerce and navigation "ought to go hand in hand, for there is so strict and intimate a tye between the one"and the other, that commerce is without strength, whilst the marine is languishing, " and the weakness of the one necessarily draws on the fall of the other..

"But besides, that our ports are not so unprovided with ships of war, as to leave "the French merchants at any time destitute of convoy and guards, to favour and "protect their trade; what doubt is there that, even on this part, France, when she pleases, need not yield to any other power whatever.

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"Our neighbours are obliged to fetch from abroad the greatest part of their naval stores; wood, iron, cordage, sails; all these come to them from foreigners; instead> "of which, our provinces easily furnish us with the best part of that we have need of "for the building and fitting out our navy.

"Some of them have wood proper for the bodies of ships; and there are found in "the mountains, others fit for making the rest of their materials; there are, in "many, mines of copper and iron sufficient to supply our yards and docks; and all, "in general, are so abundant in flax and hemp, for making sails and cordage, that it is 66 even from us that other nations receive the greatest part of those they consume in"their rope-walks, or that their weavers make into cloth proper to sail their vessels.