The French, However, Like All The Other Nations
Of Europe At This Period, Were Ignorant Of The Principles, As Well
As
destitute of the enterprize and capital essential to steady and lucrative
commerce; and amply deserve the character given of
Them by Voltaire, that
in the reign of Francis I., though possessed of harbours both on the ocean
and Mediterranean, they were yet without a navy; and though immersed in
luxury, they had only a few coarse manufactures. 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. Immediately before the
revocation of the edict of Nantes, her commerce was at its greatest
heighth, as the following estimates of that she carried on with England and
Holland will prove. To the former country the exportation of manufactured
silks of all sorts is said to have been to the value of 600,000_l_.; - of
linen, sail-cloth, and canvass, about 700,000_l_.; - in beaver hats,
watches, clocks, and glass, about 220,000_l_.; - in paper, about
90,000_l_.; - in iron ware, the manufacture of Auvergne, chiefly, about
40,000_l_.; - in shalloons, tammies, &c. from Picardy and Champagne, about
150,000_l_.; - in wines, about 200,000_l_.; and brandies, about 80,000_l_.
The exports to Holland, shortly before the revocation of the edict of
Nantes, in silks, velvets, linen, and paper, are estimated at 600,000_l_.;
- in hats, about 200,000_l_.; - in glass, clocks, watches, and household
furniture, about 160,000_l_.; - in small articles, such as fringes, gloves,
&c., about 200,000_l_.; - in linen, canvass, and sail cloth, about
160,000_l_.; and in saffron, dye-wood, woollen yarn, &c., about 300,000_l_.
In the year 1700 a council of commerce was constituted in France,
consisting of the principal ministers of state and finance, and of twelve
of the principal merchants of the kingdom, chosen annually from Paris,
Rouen, Bourdeaux, Lyons, Marseilles, Rochelle, Nantes, St. Maloe, Lisle,
Bayonne, and Dunkirk.
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