ABSTRACT
The experience of trading with east and west showed the Englishman that it was possible for any individuals to obtain riches by engaging in trade and for the Government to strengthen its power by fostering trade and by taking toll from merchandise. This realization of the power of trade had been extending ever since the days of the Edwards, and was no longer a novelty; the new feature was the prominence to which it attained and the overwhelming influence it came to exert over conduct. It fastened men's attention both in their private business and in their theory of prosperity upon securing
an excessive advantage, either a balance of trade as against a foreign nation, or an unequal bargain between individuals (compare p. 32).
