This is a piece of old-fashioned economic history, in the sense that it is concerned with Government policy rather than with the affairs of regions, groups or individuals, or with statistical analysis. The policy in question, moreover, is British alone. I have not tried in any instance to follow the story in detail from the other end—an exercise which, it seems to me, would have little point unless it could be related to the attitudes and actions of other Governments over the same extensive field. We still need to know a good deal about the exact nature of some economic policies in Europe over this period, and the relations between them all. This study may be regarded as a contribution, within its limits, to a wider theme.

The limits will be evident in due course. They need, perhaps, a word of explanation. This work arose from a succession of unexpected findings while I was examining the financial and economic measures of the younger Pitt. It was conceived as a long article. It grew into a paper. And while it is now honoured by an appearance within hard covers, I have thought it appropriate to keep the earlier form, and would stress that the result is offered as a report on a particular subject, not as an attempt to survey the whole of British commercial policy over a period. If it is found useful as a complement to recent work, above all Professor Harlow's, on colonial economic policy, and for the light it throws on other related themes—on foreign affairs, on methods of administration, perhaps on the relations between economic policy and theory in the age of Adam Smith—it will have been worth while.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge help received. Professor J. S. Bromley, the late Professor Vincent T. Harlow, and Mr D. M. Joslin have made detailed comments on the text. The criticisms have been of great value, and I hope the authors will notice some improvements as a result; but I cannot of course thereby claim their approval for the final version in every instance.