this branch of the public revenue from the 24th of July, 1660, to the 29th of September, 1661, was only 421,582l., or, for the twelve months, only about 361,356l.; that the annual average of the next four years, ending with Michaelmas Day, 1665, was about 509,774l.; of the next five, ending with 1670, about 475,018l. (here we may perceive the effect of the great plague and the fire of London, the returns being, for 1666 only 303,766l., for 1667 only 408,324l., but rising in 1668 to 626,998l.); of the next five years ending with 1675, 581,429l.; of the next five, ending with 1680, 640,231l. ; of the next five, ending with 1685, 722,933l.; and of the three remaining years, ending with Michaelmas, 1688, and all comprehended within the reign of James, about 815,874l., or fully double the receipts for the first year or two after the Restoration. The amount for the year ending 29th September, 1662, was 414,946l.; that for the year ending Michaelmas, 1687, was 884,955l. For the next year, the last of the present period, it was 781,987l.
The few notices that have been preserved of our general exports and imports during this period go to confirm the evidence of the progressive extension of the commerce of the country afforded by the foregoing account. We have seen that the entire value of the exports and imports in 1613 wis 4,628,586l., and in 1622, 4,939,751l. It is stated that in the year ending Michaelmas, 1663, the imports amounted to 4,016,019l., the exports to 2,022,812l.; and that in the year ending Michaelmas 1669, the imports were 4,196,139l., the exports 2,063,274l. The value of the exports and imports together, therefore, for the first of these years was 6,038,831l., and for the second 6,259,413l. The figures indicate a steady progress of mercantile activity and of national wealth, whether we fake the sums of the exports and imports at the four successive dates, as has just been done, or confine our view to the imports alone, as best marking the national power of expenditure or purchase. They were 2,141,283l. in 1614; 2,619,315l. in 1622; 4,016,019l. in 1663; and 4,196,139l. in 1669.[1]
- ↑ The authority for the statement of exports and imports
