Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 2).djvu/261



When peace was restored, the loss of the North American colonies, instead of diminishing the commercial shipping of England, tended rather to augment it, while the value of her exports and imports resumed that position of steady increase which characterised the earlier part of the reign of George III., at the same time making a considerable stride in advance when the war had completely ceased. Preliminaries of peace were adjusted with the now separated colonies at Paris on the 30th of November, 1782, although the definitive treaty was not signed till the 3rd of September, 1783, and ratified by Congress the 4th of January, 1784. With France and Spain similar treaties were signed about the same period, the Dutch alone keeping aloof from a final peace till the 24th of May, 1784. In India peace had been secured in March of that year by a treaty concluded with Tippoo Sahib, who, by the peace in Europe, found himself deprived of his French auxiliaries. By keeping these dates in view, and glancing at the table at the foot of the page, originally taken from Chalmers' tables, and now from McCulloch's commercial dictionary, the reader will be enabled to form a clear*