In the middle of the sixteenth century, England was not a competitor with Spain and France for the sovereignty of the world; her political ambition was far humbler; the dangers that threatened her were so imminent, and her means of defence so insufficient, that it was only by devoting great care to the development of her resources that she could hope to retain political independence. William Cecil found him* self called upon to guide the destinies of the realm, at a time when the $| country was destitute of munitions of war. Elizabeth’s Protestantism seriously interfered with the opportunities of procuring military stores 5 the chief supply of saltpetre and sulphur, which were required for gunpowder, as well as of the metals which were necessary for the making of ordnance, came from ports controlled by the great lioman Catholic Powers. The native mining industries we’re. quite undeveloped, and England could easily have been prevented from purchasing copper and iron from abroad. Woollen cloth was the chief export from the country; but alum, which was used in the processes of dyeing and finishing, was obtained from Ischia, an island which belonged to the Pope. . A hoard of bullion, laid up against possible emergencies, was a political luxury which Cecil could not afford; all the resources that the Crown could dispose of, either as personal possessions, or by influence exercised on loyal subjects, were devoted to the planting of industries which directly subserved the strength of the realm and rendered it less hopelessly unprepared for the struggle that could not be indefinitely postponed. When the storm burst at last, and England had to get ready for meeting the Spanish Armada, it was found that the leeway had been entirely made up, and that English guns and gunners were as good as those of Spain, and better too.
It would in any case have been useless for Cecil to imitate the Spanish policy and amass bullion to serve for the payment of mercenaries. England had no access to silver mines, and she was forced to rely on her own sons to man her fleets and to serve in her armies. It was essential to adhere to the policy which was even then traditional in England, and to take pains that there should be a well-diffused and healthy population. With this end in view, the government was specially anxious to maintain tillage, as an avocation which gave employment to vigorous labourers; and agriculture came to be encouraged, not merely on economic but on military grounds. In a similar way, much attention was paid to securing favourable conditions for the maintenance of a large sea-faring population. The fishing trades were important as a source of wealth, but even more so as a school of seamanship and a ready way of training men who should be capable of serving in naval warfare; this employment was artificially stimulated, and people were compelled by law to eat fish on three days in the week. The special exigencies of the situation forced Cecil to devote the greatest possible care to developing native resources of every kind in such a fashion that they should, as much as possible, contribute directly to the national strength. The government was of course aware that the general increase of industrial skill and of commercial activity was likewise of importance; in the actual circumstances of England these were the only means of procuring treasure at all; but, since the supply could only be secured indirectly, it was not treated as an immediate, far less as an exclusive object, as it had been with the Spaniards.
The method which Cecil adopted for carrying out these aims presents another interesting contrast with the course of affairs in Spain. He had, indeed, to obtain assistance from the group of Augsburg capitalists who had taken such a leading part in European finance; but he relied on them rather for their technical skill and enterprise in organising undertakings, than for the capital with which new schemes were carried out. The usual plan was to grant a concession to a company, the capital being subscribed in England, though the management was controlled by the Hochstetters and other German adventurers. By these means, the arts of brass-founding and wire-drawing were planted, and mining for the useful metals was largely carried on. Most important of all was the skill of German engineers; their methods of pumping water were introduced, and rendered mining possible where it had never been practised before. Not only the hardware trades, but whatever other industry was subsidiary to any of the forms of national strength, came under Cecil’s special care; among these may be instanced the manufacture of sailcloth, which he was at personal pains to promote.
The government looked with a favourable eye on the introduction of useful industries of any kind; but especially welcomed those which consisted in the working up of native products, and which would save the necessity of importing finished goods from abroad. The favourite mode of encouragement was one which cost the Crown nothing, while yet it encouraged alien adventurers to do their best. Exclusive privileges for the exercise of the trade were granted, and in this way the manufacture of glass, paper, starch, soap, and other commodities of common consumption were successfully established. Circumstances were specially favourable to such attempts at this particular time. England served as a haven of refuge for many of the artisans who were dispersed by the wars in the Netherlands, and skilled workmen emigrated hither even from such distant countries as Greece, Italy, and Spain. Some of them appear to have possessed capital, and many of them were highly skilled in departments of industry which had been practically unrepresented in England.
The dislike felt by Englishmen for foreigners was almost as strong as that of the Spaniards, and there was some little difficulty in disarming the local hostility to these settlers. The new industries were on the whole developed on capitalist lines; the old craft-gilds had ceased to be effective forces, and there was little serious opposition from them. In so fftf as native industrial organisation was reinvigorated in England towards the close of this reign, it took the form of capitalist associations, and these appear to have been for a time the strongholds of opposition to the alien invasion. The central government, however, was firm in its attitude of encouraging the immigrants, while it also desired so far as possible to merge them with the existing population, and to use them as means for the technical education of Englishmen. In this Cecil, who personally revised the regulations for settling the aliens, was singularly successful; though the Dutch and Walloon colonies were separately organised for social and religious purposes, they soon came to be highly appreciated by their neighbours as an important factor in the economic welfare of the country. Spain had suffered seriously by imposing disabilities on-aliens, and England gained immensely by encouraging their immigration and absorbing them as an integral part of the nation.
The improvement of industry had a very favourable reaction on the progress of agriculture. At the beginning of Elizabeth’s reign the condition of rural life was eminently unsatisfactory; an increasing area was being diverted from tillage to pasture-farming; the wool which was produced in such large quantities, and the cloth into which it was manufactured, fetched very high prices; this export-trade was undoubtedly the channel through which a portion of the treasure from the New World began to flow into England. Beneficial as this development was in many ways, it yet entailed serious grievances in rural districts. The price of corn was relatively low, and there seemed to be a danger that the food-supply would fall short. Measures were devised for giving the farmer the best opportunity for selling his corn in any part of the country, and not unfrequently for exporting it on easy terms. Great pains were also taken to ensure that he should have an adequate supply of labour, and to encourage those particular forms of industry which were subsidiary to agricultural operations. In no other country of Europe were the interests of agriculture put so prominently forward. English statesmen realised that it was necessary to render tillage profitable if it was to be properly maintained, and progress in the industrial arts was treated as a subordinate consideration. As the demands of the industrial population for food increased, and as the improving marine of England gave access to markets abroad, those who were pursuing agriculture as a trade found that they could work at a profit. The revival of agriculture, moreover, was possible without a serious diminution of the area which was devoted to sheep. The conflict between the two rural interests in England was not so keen as in Spain. By the introduction of convertible husbandry, a better return could be obtained from the same acreage. The old common fields were broken up; land was occupied in severalty; and each farmer was free to pursue his avocation to the