THE WEALTH OF NATIONS.

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carried coast-ways is to be landed at the particular port forwhich it is entered outwards; and if any part of it is landedwithout the presence of an officer, not only the forfeiture ofthe wool is incurred as in other goods, but the usual addi-tional penalty of three shillings for every pound weight islikewise incurred.

Our woollen manufacturers, in order to justify their demandof such extraordinary restrictions and regulations, confidentlyasserted, that English wool was of a peculiar quality, superiorto that of any other country; that the wool of other countriescould not, without some mixture of it, be wrought up into anytolerable manufacture; that fine cloth could not be madewithout it; that England, therefore, if the exportation of itcould be totally prevented, could monopolize to herself almostthe whole woollen trade of the world; and thus, having norivals, could sell at what price she pleased, and in a shorttime acquire the most incredible degree of wealth by the mostadvantageous balance of trade. This doctrine, like most otherdctctrines which are confidently asserted by any considerablenumber of people, was, and still continues to be, most impli-citly believed by a much greater number; by almost all thosewho are cither unacquainted with the woollen trade, or whohave not made particular inquiries. It is, however, so per-fectly false, that English wool is in any respect necessary forthe making of fine cloth, that it is altogether unfit for it. Finecloth is made altogether of Spanish wool. English woolcannot be even so mixed with Spanish wool as to enter intothe composition without spoiling and degrading, in somedegree, the fabric of the cloth.

It has been shewn in the foregoing part of this work, thatthe effect of these regulations has been to depress the priceof English wool, not only below what it naturally would bein the present times, but very much below what it actuallywns in the time of Edward III . The price of Scots wool,when in consequence of the union it became subject to thes«me regulations, is said to have fallen about one half. It isobserved by the very accurate and intelligent author of theMemoirs of Wool, the Rev. Mr. John Smith , that the priceof the best English wool in England is generally below whatwool of a very inferior quality commonly sells for in the marketof Amsterdam . To depress the price of this commodity be-low what, may be called its natural and proper price, was theAvowed purpose of those regulations; and there seems to be