trade as in everything else, and the commercial intercourse between them was extremely insignificant. Although Roberts here speaks of the French Company, it does not appear that the English merchants trading to France were really incorporated. The merchants trading to Spain, he proceeds to inform us, carried to that country bays, says, serges, perpetuanos, lead, tin, herrings, pilchards, salmon, Newland (Newfoundland) fish, calf-skins, with many other commodities; and brought back wines of Xeres, Malaga, Bastard, Candado, and Alicant, rosins (or resins), olives, oils, sugars, soaps, anise-seeds, licorice, soda barillia, pate (?), and sundry West India commodities. This account embraces also the trade with Portugal, for the present united under the same sovereignty with Spain; although in 1640, two years after the publication of Roberts's book, the great revolution which placed the Duke of Braganza on the Portuguese throne again separated the two countries for ever,—an event, which, by depriving Spain of the Portuguese possessions in the East Indies, compelled her to depend upon the English and Dutch for her supplies of the produce of that part of the world, and thereby opened a new and valuable field to the trade of both these nations. "The merchants of England trading into Naples, Sicilia, Genoa, Leghorn, and Venice, &c., which I term Italy, are not," says our author, "observed to have any joint society or company:" but, trading separately, they export to Italy, he tells us, "bays, says, serges, perpetuanos, kerseys, lead, tin, cloth, and many other native commodities, besides pepper, indigo, cloves, and other Indian commodities in great abundance: and for returns thence have cloths of gold and silver, satins, velvets, taffetas, plushes, tabins (?), damasks, alum, oils, glass, anise-seeds, rice, Venice gold and silver, great quantity of raw silks of sundry sorts, and divers other commodities." "And here likewise," he adds, repeating nearly the same formula with which he has wound up every preceding paragraph, "all other foreign nations give willingly place to the English, as the prime and principal merchants that either abide amongst them, or negociate
