or Comment, in matters of literature, an illustration of the difficult or obscure passages of an author.

or Commentaries, likewise denotes a kind of history, or memoirs of certain transactions, wherein the author had a considerable hand: such are the Commentaries of Caesar.

COMMERCE

Is an operation by which the wealth, or work, either of individuals or of societies, may be exchanged by a set of men called merchants, for an equivalent, proper for supplying every want, without any interruption to industry, or any check upon consumption.

CHAP. I. History of Commerce.

§ 1. General History.

It is a point as yet undecided by the learned, to what nation the invention and first use of commerce belonged; some attribute it to one people, some to another, for reasons that are too long to be discussed here. But it seems most probable that the inhabitants of Arabia were those that first made long voyages. It must be allowed, that no country was so happily situated for this purpose as that which they inhabited, being a peninsula washed on three sides by three famous seas, the Arabian, Indian, and Persian. It is also certain, that it was very early inhabited; and the first notice we have of any considerable trade refers it to the Ishmaelites, who were settled in the hither part of Arabia. To them Joseph was sold by his brethren, when they were going down with their camels to Egypt with spicery, balm, and myrrh. It may seem strange to infer from hence, that commerce was already practised by this nation, since mention is here made of camels, or a caravan, which certainly implies an inland trade; and it must be likewise allowed, that balm and myrrh were the commodities of their country. But whence had they the spicery? Or how came Arabia to be so famous in ancient times for spices? Or whence proceeded that mistake of many great authors of antiquity, that spices actually grew there? Most certainly, because these people dealt in them; and that they dealt in them the first of any nation that we know of, appears from this very instance. Strabo and many other good authors assure us, that in succeeding times they were very great traders; they tell us particularly what ports they had; what prodigious magazines they kept of the richest kinds of goods, what wonderful wealth they obtained; in what prodigious magnificence they lived, and into what excesses they fell in respect to their expenses for carving, building, and statues. All this shows that they were very great traders; and it also shows, that they traded to the East Indies; for from thence only they could have their spices, their rich gums, their sweet-scented woods, and their ivory, all which it is expressly expressly said that they had in the greatest abundance. This therefore proves, that they had an extensive and flourishing commerce; and that they had it earlier than any other nation, seems evident from their dealing at that time in spices. Besides, there is much less difficulty in supposing that they first discovered the route to the Indies, than if we ascribe that discovery to any other nation: for in the first place they lay nearest, and in the next they lay most conveniently; to which we may add, thirdly, that as the situation of their country naturally inclined them to navigation, so by the help of the monsoons they might make regular voyages to and from the Indies with great facility; nor is it at all unlikely that this discovery might be at first owing to chance, and to some of their vessels being blown by a strong gale to the opposite coast, from whence they might take the courage to return, by observing the regularity of the winds at certain seasons. All these reasons taken together seem to favour this opinion, that commerce flourished first among them; and as to its consequences in making them rich and happy, there is no dispute about them.

We find in the records of antiquity no nation celebrated more early for carrying all arts to perfection than the inhabitants of Egypt; and it is certain also, that no art was there cultivated more early, with more fidelity, or with greater success, than trade. It appears from the foregoing instance, that the richest commodities were carried there by land; and it is not least certain, that the most valuable manufactures were invented and brought to perfection there many ages before they were thought of in other countries: for, as the learned Dr Warburton very justly observes, at the time that Joseph came into Egypt, the people were not only possessed of all the conveniences of life, but were remarkable also for their magnificence, their politeness, and even for their luxury; which argues, that traffic had been of long standing amongst them. To say the truth, the great advantages derived from their country's lying along the Red Sea, and the many benefits that accrued to them from the Nile, which they very emphatically called The River, or The River of Egypt, and of which they knew how to make all the uses that can be imagined, gave them an opportunity of carrying their inland trade not only to a greater height than in any country at that time, but even higher than it has been carried anywhere, China only excepted; and some people have thought it no trivial argument to prove the descent of the Chinese from the Egyptians, that they have exactly the same sort of genius, and with wonderful industry and care have drawn so many cuts and canals, that their country is almost in every part of it navigable. It was by such methods, by a wise and well-regulated government, and by promoting a spirit of industry amongst the people, that the ancient Egyptians became so numerous, so rich, so powerful; and that their country, for large cities, magnificent structures, and perpetual abundance, became the glory and wonder of the old world.

The Phoenicians, though they possessed only a narrow strip of the coast of Asia, and were surrounded by nations so powerful and so warlike that they were never able to extend themselves on that side, became famous, by erecting the first naval power that makes any figure in history, and for the raising of which they took the most prudent and effectual measures. In order to this, they not only availed themselves of all the creeks, harbours, and ports, which nature had bestowed very liberally on their narrow territory, but improved them in such a manner, that they were no less remarkable for their strength than considerable for their conveniency; and so attentive they were to whatever might contribute to the increase of their power, that they were not more admired for the vast advantages they derived from their commerce, than they were formidable by their fleets and armies. They were likewise celebrated by antiquity as the inventors of arithmetic and astronomy; and in the last mentioned science they must have been very considerable proficient, since they had the courage to undertake long voyages at a time when no other nation (the Arabians and Egyptians excepted) durst venture farther than their own coasts. By these arts Tyre and Sidon became the most famous mart in the universe, and were resorted to by all their neighbours, and even by people at a considerable distance, as the great storerooms of the world. We learn from the Scriptures how advantageous their friendship and alliance became to the two great kings of Israel, David and Solomon; and we see, by the application of the latter for architects and artists to Hiram king of Tyre, to what a prodigious height they had carried manufactures of every kind.

It is very certain that Solomon made use of their assistance in equipping his fleets at Elath and Eziongeber; and it is very probable that they put him upon acquiring those ports, and gave him the first hints of the amazing advantages that might be derived from the possession of them, and from the commerce he might from thence be able to carry on. These ports were most commodiously situated on the Arabian gulph; and from thence his vessels, manned chiefly by Phoenicians, sailed to Ophir and Tarshish, wherever those places were. Some writers will needs have them to be Mexico and Peru, which is certainly a wild and extravagant supposition; others believe that we are to look for Ophir on the coast of Africa, and Tarshish in Spain; but the most probable opinion is, that they were both seated in the East Indies. By this adventurous navigation he brought into his country curiosities not only unseen, but unheard of before, and riches in such abundance, that, as the Scripture finely expresses it, "He made silver grow in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar-trees as fycamores that grow in the plains." The metaphor is very bold and emphatical; but when we consider that it is recorded in this History, that the return of one voyage only to Ophir produced 450 talents of gold, which makes 51,328 pounds of our Troy weight, we cannot doubt of the immense profit that accrued from this commerce. It is also observable that the queen of Sheba, or Saba, which lies in that part of Arabia before mentioned, surprized at the reports that were spread of the magnificence of this prince, made a journey to his court on purpose to satisfy herself, whether fame had not exaggerated the fact; and from the presents she made him of 120 talents of gold, of spices in great abundance, and precious stones, we may discern the true reason of her curiosity, which proceeded from an opinion