THE WEALTH OE NATIONS.

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had before been employed in them, as well as withholdingfrom them a great deal more which would otherwise havegone to them. Since the establishment of the act of naviga-tion, accordingly, the colony trade has been continually in-creasing, while many other branches of foreign trade, parti-cularly of that to other parts of Europe , have been continu-ally decaying. Our manufactures for foreign sale, instead ofbeing suited, as before the act of navigation, to the neigh-bouring market of Europe , or to the more distant one of thecountries which lie round the Mediterranean sea, have, thegreater part of them, been accommodated to the still moredistant one of the colonies, to the market in which they havethe monopoly, rather than to that in which they have manycompetitors. The causes of decay in other branches of fo-reign trade, which, by Sir Matthew Decker and other writers,have been sought for in the excess and improper mode oftaxation, in the high price of labour, in the increase of luxury,&c. may all be found in the over-growth of the colony trade.The mercantile capital of Great Britain, though very great,yet not being infinite; and though greatly increased sincethe act of navigation, yet not being increased in the sameproportion as the colony trade, that trade could not possiblybe carried on without withdrawing some part of that capitalfrom other branches of trade, nor consequently without somedecay of those other branches.

England, it must be observed, was a great trading coun-try, her mercantile capital was very great and likely to be-come still greater and greater every day, not only before theact ol navigation had established the monopoly of the colonytrade, but belore that trade was very considerable. In theDutch way, during the government of Cromwell, her navywas superior to that of Holland ; and in that which brokeout in the beginning of the reign of Charles 11. it was atleast equal, perhaps superior, to the united navies of France and Holland . Its superiority, perhaps, would scarce appeargi eater in the present times ; at least if the Dutch navy wasto bear the same proportion to the Dutch commerce nowwhich it did then. But this great naval power could not, ineither ol those wars, be owing to the act of navigationD u ring the first ol them the plan of that act had been but.i u st formed, and though before the breaking out of the se-co »d it had been fully enacted by legal authority; yet nofart of it could have had time lo produce any considerable