was not introduced till the consolidation in 1825. The trade of the Isle of Man was put on the footing of a coasting trade in 1844.
Such is an abridged history of the law of Navigation during the intermediate period between 1660 and 1847, comprising the four great divisions of the trade and navigation of the United Kingdom.
No one can rise from a study of these laws without a feeling of amazement at the trouble our ancestors gave themselves "to beggar their neighbours," under the erroneous impression which too long prevailed, that, by their ruin, our own prosperity could be most effectively achieved. It is, therefore, not surprising that, under such legislative measures, maritime commerce was for centuries slow in growth, and that British merchants and shipowners frequently suffered quite as much through the instrumentality of laws meant for their protection as their foreign competitors, against whom these regulations were levelled.
Summary of the Navigation Laws. For the convenience of reference it may be useful to give before closing this chapter a condensed recapitulation of the principles of these extraordinary laws, as they stood in 1847, so that my readers may more clearly understand the discussions in the Lords and Commons preceding their repeal:—
1st. Certain enumerated articles of European produce could only be imported into the United Kingdom, for consumption, in British ships, or in ships of the country of which the goods were the produce, or in ships of the country from which they were usually imported.
2ndly. No produce of Asia, Africa, or America could be imported for consumption into the United
