English commercial traffic in the Mediterranean with special regard to Malta, 1650-1700

Abstract

It is upon the navy that the wealth, prosperity and peace of England mainly depended in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The English navy always played' a great role in the development as in the protection of Britain's commerce, besides being instrumental in the discovery of some colonies and in the acquisition of many others. It stood, especially from the mid-sixteenth century onwards, as a responsible guardian for the maintenance of secure communication in trade between the various portions of the Mediterranean. Most ships, after all, exist to carry on trade; the principal function of the navy has been to protect traders, and people who kept the complex of trade in motion were anxious to see certainty and routine rather than speculation and excitement in the operation of their ships.