Most conspicuous was the advantage accruing to the Englishmanufacturing interest during the Continental wars， when Englandmaintained army corps on the Continent or paid subsidies.The wholeexpenditure on these was sent， in the shape of Englishmanufactures， to the seat of war， where these imports thenmaterially contributed to crush the already sorely sufferingforeign manufacturers， and permanently to acquire the market of theforeign country for English manufacturing industry.It operatedprecisely like an export bounty instituted for the benefit ofBritish and for the injury of foreign manufacturers.(11*)In this way， the industry of the Continental nations has eversuffered more from the English as allies， than from the English asenemies.In support of this statement we need refer only to theSeven Years' War， and to the wars against the French Republic andEmpire.
Great， however， as have been the advantages heretoforementioned， they have been greatly surpassed in their effect bythose which England derived from immigrations attracted by herpolitical， religious， and geographical conditions.
As far back as the twelfth century political circumstancesinduced Flemish woollen weavers to emigrate to Wales.Not manycenturies later exiled Italians came over to London to carry onbusiness as money changers and bankers.That from Flanders andBrabant entire bodies of manufacturers thronged to England atvarious periods， we have shown in Chapter II.From Spain andPortugal came persecuted Jews； from the Hanse Towns， and fromVenice in her decline， merchants who brought with them their ships，their knowledge of business， their capital， and their spirit ofenterprise.Still more important were the immigrations of capitaland of manufacturers in consequence of the Reformation and thereligious persecutions in Spain， Portugal， France， Belgium，Germany， and Italy； as also of merchants and manufacturers fromHolland in consequence of the stagnation of trade and industry inthat country occasioned by the Act of Navigation and the MethuenTreaty.Every political movement， every war upon the Continent，brought England vast accessions of fresh capital and talents， solong as she possessed the privileges of *******， the right ofasylum， internal tranquillity and peace， the protection of the law，and general well-being.So more recently did the French Revolutionand the wars of the Empire； and so did the political commotions，the revolutionary and reactionary movements and the wars in Spain，in Mexico， and in South America.By means of her Patent Laws，England long monopolised the inventive genius of every nation.Itis no more than fair that England， now that she has attained theculminating point of her industrial growth and progress， shouldrestore again to the nations of Continental Europe a portion ofthose productive forces which she originally derived from them.
NOTES：
1.Hume， vol.ii， p.143.
2.No doubt the decrees prohibiting the export of wool， not tomention the restrictions placed on the trade in wool in marketsnear the coast， were vexations and unfair； yet at the same time theoperated beneficially in the promotion of English industry， and inthe suppression of that of the Flemings.
3.Hume (in 1603).Macpherson， Histoire du Commerce (in 1651).
4.See Ustaritz， Th閛rie du Commerce， ch.xxviii.Thus we seeGeorge I did not want to export goods and import nothing but speciein return， which is stated as the fundamental principle of theso-called 'mercantile system'， and which in any case would beabsurd.What he desired was to export manufactures and import rawmaterial.
5.Hume， vol.v.p.39.
6.Anderson for the year 1721.
7.Priestley， Lectures on History and General Policy， Pt.II， p.
289.
8.These and the following figures relating to English statisticsare taken from a paper written by McQueen， the celebrated Englishstatistician， and appearing in the July number of Tait's EdinburghMagazine for the year 1839.Possibly they may be somewhatexaggerated for the moment.But even if so， it is more thanprobable that the figures as stated will be reached within thepresent decade.
9.Before his lamented death， the gifted author of this remark， inhis Letters on England， read the nobles of his native country alesson in this respect which they would do well to lay to heart.
10.England's national debt would not be so great an evil as it nowappears to us， if England's aristocracy would concede that thisburden should be borne by the class who were benefited by the costof wars， namely， by the rich.McQueen estimates the capitalisedvalue of property in the three kingdoms at 4，000 million poundssterling， and Martin estimates the capital invested in the coloniesat about 2，600 millions sterling.Hence we see that one-ninth partof Englishmen's private property would suffice to cover the entirenational debt.Nothing could be more just than such anappropriation， or at least than the payment of the interest on thenational debt out of the proceeds of an income tax.The Englisharistocracy， however， deem it more convenient to provide for thischarge by the imposition of taxes upon articles of consumption， bywhich the existence of the working classes is embittered beyond thepoint of endurance.
11.See Appendix A.
