[The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.II. by Tobias Smollett]@TWC D-Link book
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.II.

CHAPTER XI
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It was agreed that no other duties should be imposed on the productions of France imported into England than those that were laid on the same commodities from other countries; and that commissaries should meet at London to adjust all matters relating to commerce; as for the tariff with Spain, it was not yet finished.

It was stipulated, that the emperor should possess the kingdom of Naples, the duchy of Milan, and the Spanish Netherlands; that the duke of Savoy should enjoy Sicily, with the title of king; that the same title, with the island of Sardinia, should be allotted to the elector of Bavaria, as an indemnification for his losses; that the states-general should restore Lisle and its dependencies; that Namur, Charleroy, Luxembourg, Ypres, and Newport, should be added to the other places they already possessed in Flanders; and that the king of Prussia should have Upper Gueldre, in lieu of Orange and the other states belonging to that family in Franche Compte.
The king of Portugal was satisfied; and the first day of June was fixed as the period of time granted to the emperor for consideration.
A day being appointed by the commons to deliberate upon the treaty of commerce, very just and weighty objections were made to the eighth and ninth articles, importing, that Great Britain and France should mutually enjoy all the privileges in trading with each other that either granted to the most favoured nation; and that no higher customs should be exacted from the commodities of France, than those that were drawn from the same productions of any other people.

The balance of trade having long inclined to the side of France, severe duties had been laid on all the productions and manufactures of that kingdom, so as almost to amount to a total prohibition.

Some members observed, that by the treaty between England and Portugal, the duties charged upon the wines of that country were lower than those laid upon the wines of France; that should they now be reduced to an equality, the difference of freight was so great, that the French wines would be found much cheaper than those of Portugal; and, as they were more agreeable to the taste of the nation in general, there would be no market for the Portuguese wines in England; that should this be the case, the English would lose their trade with Portugal, 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.


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