14. In order to facilitate the establishment of this most beneficial company, the royal protection of our sovereign is absolutely necessary, and with it must be banished the contemptuous notion that the Spaniards form of the commercial career; for that notion usually leads them to keep their chests full of silver, for which they sell the products of their family estates. As a rule, the Spaniards spend with great economy what is necessary for their maintenance, especially those in the little hamlets throughout the kingdom; and, as they enjoy no commerce, they deprive themselves of the benefits arising from commercial activities, with detriment to their families and to the public welfare. On the other hand, they imagine that there is too great a risk in the remittance of their silver by sea, because they are so little (or not at all) acquainted with nautical science and mercantile affairs; and, as timidity prevails in their minds over ambition, they consider themselves fortunate to keep their riches under their own eyes, without thinking of investing them. But they would take hazards on their money, if they were touched by that eager desire for gain which is inseparable from all commerce, and which is stimulated by the lure of profits. 15. There are, of course, many persons whose ability enables them to understand thoroughly the benefits of commerce; but they live remote from the marine ports, they have not trustworthy acquaintances to whom they can confide the management of their capital, and they sorrowfully deprive themselves of the benefits which they would derive from its employment, the result of which is that they lead idle lives, or sometimes yield to an extravagance which is excessive and impairs their fortunes. Even more melancholy than all that I have related is the sight of the Spanish nobility, without any occupation, and, as a rule, reared in extreme ignorance and idleness. This is the source of many excesses, the beginning of ruin to the most robust constitutions, a hindrance to the generation of children, and a cause of the lessening of population which is continually growing more worthy of consideration.