638 young’s TRAVELS IN FRANCE .
Oil and wine from Nice, walnut-oil, cobalt, lead, and copper ore, add fomething.France commonly takes 10,000,000 livresin filk, and England 5,000,000 livres of thefineft fort. The balance of trade is generally fuppofed to be about 500,000 livresagainlt Piedmont; but all luppofitions of this fort are very conjectural; fuch a countrycould not long continue'to pay fuch a balance, and confequently there cannot be anyfuch. By another account, wheat exported is 200,000 facks at 5 eymena ; 5:00 facksof rice, at 3 eymena ; hemp, 5000 quintals; and 10,000 head of oxen.
Turin .—The Englilh woollen manufacturers having fwornat the bar of the Houfe ofLords, that the French camblets made of Englilh wool, rivalled the Englilh camblets inthe Italian markets, and even underfold them, I had previoully determined to make in-quiries into the truth of this affertion. 1 was at Turin introduced to Sig. Vinatier, a con-fiderable Ihopkeeper, who fold both. His account of the French and Englilh cambletswas this; that the Englilh are much better executed, better wrought, and more beauti-ful, but that the French are ilrongeft. I defired to know which were the cheapelt.The Englilh he faid, being much the narrower, it was a matter of calculation, but he fup-pofed the confumers thought the Englilh cheapelt, as where he fold one French , he foldat leaft twenty five Englilh. He {hewed me various pieces of both, and faid, that theabove circumdances were applicable both to fluffs mixed of wool and fnk, and alfo thofeof wool only. 1 alked him then concerning cloths: he faid, the Englilh ordinary clothswere much better than the French, but that the French fine cloths were better than theEnglilh. Thefe inquiries brought me acquainted with an Italian dealer, or merchant, ashe is called, in hardware, v’ho informed me, that he was at Birmingham in 1786 and1789, and that he found a fenfible diminution of price; and that the prices of Englilhhardware have fallen for fome years pad; and that, for thefe lalt three or four years, thetrade in them to Italy has increafed conliderably. He has not only bought, but ex-amined with care, the fine works in fteel at Paris , but they are not equal to theEnglifh;that the French have not the art of hardening their fteel, or, if hardened, of not workingit; for the Englilh goods are much harder and better polilhed, confequently are notequally fubject to rult.
Milanese. —In the fifteenth century, the trade of this country was confiderable. In1423, the territory of Milan paid to the Venetians :
Milan,
- 900,000
Monza,
-
52,000
Como,
m
- 104,000
Aleffandria,
-
• 52,000
-
- 104,000
Pavia,
-
- 104,000
Cremona,
m
- 104,000
*
- 78,000
Parma,
-
- 104,400
-
- 52,000
1,654,400
And