[6] In 1731 and 1733 Sevilla and Cadiz "both imagined (and it is rather surprising that this had not been sooner evident) that it would be an advantage to Spain to take part directly in the commerce of Asia, and that the possessions which it had in that part of the world would be the center of the operations which it would conduct there. In vain was the objection made against them that, as India furnished silk and cotton fabrics that were superior to those of Europe in their finish, in their colors, and (above all) in their cheapness, the national manufacturers could not support competition with those goods, and would infallibly be ruined. This objection, which might have some weight among certain peoples, seemed to them utterly frivolous, in the position in which their country stood. As a fact, the Spaniards use for both their clothing and their furniture foreign stuffs and cloths; and these continual needs necessarily increase the industry, the wealth, the population, and the strength of their neighbors--who misuse these advantages, in order to keep in dependence the very nation which obtains these for them. Would not Spain behave with more wisdom and dignity if she would adopt the manufactures of the Indias? Resides the economy and satisfaction which she would find therein, she would succeed in diminishing a preponderance [of other nations] of which she will be, sooner or later, the victim." (Raynal, Établissemens et commerce des Européens, i, p. 606.) [7] "The settlements, commerce, and conquests of the English in the East Indies" are related by Raynal in his Établissemens et commerce des Europeens, i, pp. 261-398. The English East India Company was founded in 1600, and made a promising beginning in the Oriental trade; but the opposition of the Dutch and Portuguese, already intrenched therein, was so great and persistent that the English company--which was compelled to encounter also, in turn, competition from other English traders, hindrances arising from the duplicity and avarice of Charles II of England, losses arising from the civil war in that country, hostilities (originating from the greed and treachery of one of the company's own directors) with the Mogul emperor Aurungzebe, and the capture of many English trading vessels by French privateers--was several times almost ruined, and all English commercial prestige in the East was greatly injured. Finally, in 1702, the two rival East India companies in England united their funds and enterprises, and thereafter the affairs of the new organization prospered, in the main; and in 1763 the French were driven out of Asia, leaving the English masters of both political and commercial interests in India. In 1774 the latter drove out the Mahrattas from Salsette Island, and founded Bombay, which, although at first an insalubrious locality, on account of its fine harbor soon became the emporium of English commerce and center of that nation's power.