Sir Walter Raleigh gives a graphic account[160] of the state of things then existing, and of the condition of the English mercantile marine shortly before the union of the crowns of England and Scotland. In this remarkable paper, which contains many commercial principles far in advance of the age in which the author lived, Sir Walter states that the merchant ships of England were not to be compared with those of the Dutch, and that while an English ship of one hundred tons required a crew of thirty men, the Dutch would sail such a vessel with one third that number. Illustrative of the wise and progressive policy of the Dutch, he enumerates various instances where that country had an immense advantage over England, and where, following the example of ancient Tyre and of more modern Venice, Holland became the depôt of numerous articles “not one hundredth part of which were consumed” by the Dutch, while she gave “free custom inwards and outwards for the better maintenance of navigation and encouragement of the people to that business.” Directing attention to the liberal policy of some other of the nations of his time, Sir Walter mentions the fact that France offered to the vessels of all nations free custom twice and sometimes three times each year, when she laid in her annual stock of provisions, and also in such raw materials as were not possessed by herself in equal abundance, adding that La Rochelle was an entirely free port, a small toll levied for the repair of the harbour alone excepted. Denmark also granted free custom throughout the year, with the exception of one month between Bartholomew-tide and Michaelmas. The merchandise of France, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Italy, and England were then transported chiefly by the Dutch into the east and north-east kingdoms of Pomerania, as well as into Poland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, and Russia, and some other countries of the south. Sir Walter, with great force, adds, “and yet the situation of England lieth far better for a store-house to serve the south-east and the north-east kingdoms than theirs do, and we have far the better means to do it if we apply ourselves to do it.”