Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 1).djvu/509

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in the same year, which had for its object the encouragement of home manufactures, prohibited foreigners from buying or shipping wool from either England or Wales; and ordained, adopting the permissive principles of a former Act, that no English merchant should ship any goods, outward or homeward, in foreign vessels unless sufficient space could not be found in English shipping. In the following year the importation of corn, except the produce of Wales, Ireland, or of the islands belonging to England, was prohibited whenever wheat did not exceed 6s. 8d., rye, 4s., and barley 3s. per quarter.

Nor did these prohibitory and protective laws end here. Another law enacts, on the faith of "representations made by the male and female artificers of London, and of other cities, towns, and villages of England and Wales," that as certain foreign articles were of inferior quality, their importation be limited for a time by the king's pleasure; while the sale of woollen caps or cloths, ribands, fringes of silk or thread, saddles, stirrups, harness, spurs, fire-tongs, dripping-pans, dice, tennis-balls, purses, gloves, and innumerable other articles, were entirely prohibited. It soon, however, became apparent that the articles of foreign manufacture, which had been thus prohibited, were far superior in quality to similar articles produced in England; so that the change of the law, while greatly increasing their cost, to the benefit, it is true, of the manufacturer, entailed a corresponding loss upon those who were his customers.

The Scottish Parliament, following the example of