523.)] [Footnote 98: "1651 .-- The Parliament of England passed the famous Act of Navigation.

It had been observed with concern, that the English merchants for several years past had usually freighted the Hollanders' shipping for bringing home their own merchandise, because their freight was at a lower rate than that of the English ships.

For the same reason the Dutch ships were made use of even for importing American products from the English colonies into England.

The English ships meanwhile lay rotting in the harbours, and the English mariners, for want of employment, went into the service of the Hollanders.

The Commonwealth now turned its attention towards the most effectual mode of retaining the colonies in dependence on the parent State, and of securing to it the benefits of their increasing commerce.