Page:Craik History of British Commerce Vol 2.djvu/49

Rh to which Mr. Roberts now descends from these extensive general views.

In a letter written to King James, in support of the complaints of the Merchant Adventurers against the patent or charter granted, as mentioned in a former page, to Alderman Cockayne, the great Bacon says, "I confess I did ever think that trading in companies is most agreeable to the English nature, which wanteth that same general view of a republic which runneth in the Dutch, and serves them instead of a company." And this appears to have been the common notion of the times; whatever trade was carried on by private individuals was as yet considered to be of very secondary importance. In this feeling our author begins his enumeration with the East India Company, who, he says, trading to Persia, India, and Arabia, export to these countries our English commodities, and bring back thence "pepper, cloves, maces, nutmegs, cottons, rice, calicoes of sundry sorts, bezoar stones, aloes, borax, calamus, cassia, mirabolans, myrrh, opium, rhubarb, cinnamon, sanders, spikenard, musk, civet, tamarinds, precious stones of all sorts, as diamonds, pearls, carbuncles, emeralds, jacynths, sapphires, spinals, turques, topazes, indigo, and silks, raw and wrought into sundry fabrics, benjamin, camphire, sandal-wood, and infinite other commodities." "And, though in India and these parts," he adds, " their trade equalizeth not neither the Portugals nor the Dutch, yet in candid, fair, and merchant-like dealing, these Pagans, Mahometans, and gentiles hold them in esteem far before them, and [they] deservedly have here the epithet of far more current and square dealers. And, although for the present this trade and company do suffer under some adverse clouds, and groan under some unkind losses by the falsehood of the Netherlanders, and sad accidents at sea, yet their adventures and acts are praiseworthy, and their fair endeavours for England's honour in point of trade meriteth due commendations and just applause." The affairs of the company, in truth, had been all this reign in a very depressed state. In May, 1628, their stock had fallen to 80 per cent., or to less than