gal, the most advantageous of any traffic which they now carried
on; for it consumed a great quantity of their manufactures, and
returned a yearly sum of six hundred thousand pounds in gold. Mr.
Nathaniel Gould, formerly governor of the bank, affirmed, that as France
had since the revolution encouraged woollen manufactures, and prepared
at home several commodities which formerly they drew from England; so
the English had learned to make silk stuffs, paper, and all manner of
toys, formerly imported from France; by which means an infinite number
of artificers were employed, and a vast sum annually saved to the
nation; but these people would now be reduced to beggary, and that money
lost again to the kingdom, should French commodities of the same kind
be imported under ordinary duties, because labour was much cheaper in
France than in England, consequently the British manufactures would be
undersold and ruined. He urged, that the ruin of the silk manufacture
would be attended with another disadvantage. Great quantities of woollen
cloths were vended in Italy and Turkey, in consequence of the raw silk
which the English merchants bought up in those countries; and, should
the silk manufacture at home be lost, those markets for British
commodities would fail of course. Others alleged, that if the articles
of commerce had been settled before the English troops separated from
those of the confederates, the French king would not have presumed to
insist upon such terms, but have been glad to comply with more moderate
conditions. Sir William Wyndham reflected on the late ministry, for
having neglected to make an advantageous peace when it was in their
power. He said that Portugal would always have occasion for the woollen
manufactures and the corn of England, and be obliged to buy them at all
events. After a violent debate, the house resolved, by a great majority,
that a bill should be brought in to make good the eighth and ninth
articles of the treaty of commerce with France. Against these articles,
however, the Portuguese minister presented a memorial, declaring, that
should the duties on French wines be lowered to the same level with
those that were laid on the wines of Portugal, his master would renew
the prohibition of the woollen manufactures and other products of Great
Britain. Indeed, all the trading part of the nation exclaimed against
the treaty of commerce, which seems to have been concluded in a hurry,
before the ministers