Nor Did The Enterprising Spirit Of The Dutch Confine Itself To
The Obtaining Of These Sources Of Wealth:
They became, as we have already
seen, the carriers for nearly the whole of Europe; by their means the
Productions of the East were distributed among the European nations, and
the bulky and mostly raw produce of the shores of the Baltic was exchanged
for the productions and manufactures of France, England, Germany, and the
Italian states.
From the middle of the eighteenth century, the commerce of the Dutch began
to decline; partly in consequence of political disputes among themselves,
but principally because other nations of Europe now put forth their
industry with effect and perseverance. The English and the French,
especially, became their great rivals; first, by conducting themselves each
their own trade, which had been previously carried on by the Dutch, and,
subsequently, by the possessions they acquired in the East. The American
war, and soon afterwards the possession of Holland by the French during the
revolutionary war, gave a fatal blow to the remnant of their commerce, from
which it has not recovered, nor is likely at any time to recover, at least
nearly to its former flourishing state. For, as we have remarked, the Dutch
were flourishing and rich, principally because other nations were ignorant,
enslaved, and destitute of industry, skill, and capital.
England took the place of the Dutch in the scale of commercial enterprise
and success: the contest between them was long and arduous; but at length
England attained a decided and permanent superiority. She gradually
extended her possessions in the East; and after expelling the French from
this part of the world, became in reality the only European sovereign power
there.
The manufactures of England, those real and abundant causes and sources of
her immense commerce, did not begin to assume that importance and extent to
which they have at present reached, till the middle, or rather the latter
part of the eighteenth century; then her potteries, her hardware, her
woollens, and above all her cotton goods, began to improve. Certainly the
steam engine is the grand cause to which England's wealth and commerce may
be attributed in a great degree; but the perfection to which it has been
brought, the multifarious uses to which it is applied, both presuppose
skill, capital, and industry, without which the mere possession of such an
engine would have been of little avail.
At the termination of the American war, England seemed completely
exhausted: she had come out of a long and expensive contest, deprived of
what many regarded as her most valuable possessions, and having contracted
an enormous debt. Yet in a very few years, she not only revived, but
flourished more than ever; it is in vain to attribute this to any other
causes but those alone which can produce either individual or national
wealth, viz. industry, enterprize, knowledge, and economy, and capital
acquired by means of them. But what has rendered Britain more industrious,
intelligent, and skilful than other nations?
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