THE defects of England may be thus reduced: one thing is very prejudicial to their trade, viz. that they eat a great quantity of meat, and are naturally too much addicted to ease; so that they are obliged to put on board their ships as many more men and provisions as the Dutch. Though the English are very fond of money, and consequently easy to be bribed, yet they despise a moderate gain; whereas the Dutch, being content with a reasonable advantage, get more goods to be transported from one place to another, than the English.*
There is perhaps no country where rheums and coughs are more predominant, especially in winter, which are often attended with ill consequences, if not timely prevented: agues and rheumatisms are also very rife, especially near the sea. Lastly, lawsuits are here a very common distemper, which by the great number of lawyers are often spun to a great length, to the prejudice of good neighbourhood, if not to the utter ruin of families.
Gonzales argues that the English harm their trade by trying to squeeze too much profit out of every transaction, instead of lowering their prices and consequently selling more of their goods. This was a hundred years before the Repeal of the Corn Laws turned Britain towards free markets, and (as Gonzales notes) the self-defeating greed reached into protectionist Westminster itself.