The Jews, Genoese,
Venetians, Portuguese, Flemings, Dutch, And English, Traded Successively
For Them.
At the very close of this century we have a very summary account
of the commerce of France by Giovani Bolero.
France, says he, possesses
four magnets, which attract the wealth of other countries; - corn, which is
exported to Spain and Portugal; - wine, which is sent to Flanders, England,
and the Baltic; - salt, made by the heat of the sun on the Mediterranean
coast, and also on that of the ocean, as far north as Saintoigne; and hemp
and cloth, of which and of cordage great quantities are exported to Lisbon
and Seville: - the exportation of the articles of this fourth class, he
adds, is incredibly great.
In the middle of the seventeenth century, the finer manufactures of woollen
and silken goods having been carried to great perfection in France, her
exports in these articles were greatly increased. In the political
testament of Richelieu, we are informed that a considerable and lucrative
trade in these articles was carried on with Turkey, Spain, Italy, &c., and
that France had driven, in a great measure, out of those markets the serges
of Milan, the velvets of Genoa, and the cloth of gold of Italy.
Early in the reign of Louis XIV., Colbert directed his attention to the
improvement of manufactures and commerce; and though many of his plans were
frustrated from the operation of causes over which he had no control, and
principally because he went before the age in which he lived, yet there can
be no doubt that to him France was indebted for the consolidation,
extension, and firm footing of her commerce.
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