Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 2).djvu/72

 earth," he says, "being the common mother of all mankind, what can be more pleasant and more humane than to communicate a portion of all her productions to all her children by commerce?" This opinion, though at variance with the laws prohibiting the importation of French wines except in English ships, was practically carried into effect with the maritime states of Italy. His chief object in doing so may have been to obtain reciprocal advantages in their ports, and such was no doubt the case, for it is well known that Henry VII. materially reduced his import duties on the goods of Venice and of other Italian cities, and that he afterwards entered into a liberal commercial treaty with France.

On the 1st July, 1486, Henry likewise concluded a treaty with James III. of Scotland, by which a cessation of hostilities by sea and land was stipulated and mutual good will exchanged; while he also procured privileges for English fishermen in Norway and Sweden with the view of giving greater scope to the enterprise of English ship-owners. These liberal measures produced the desired effect. We now read of "tall ships" belonging to London, Southampton, and Bristol making their annual voyages to the Levant; their principal trading places at first being Sicily, Crete, Chios, and sometimes Cyprus, Tripoli, and Beyrout in Syria. Their outward cargoes consisted chiefly of fine kerseys of divers colours, coarse kerseys, and other kinds of cloths, in return for which they obtained silks, camlets, rhubarb, malm-*