Originally published in 1959, this book presents a study of the English conception of 'the common weal' in relation to the trade of English merchants with Baltic ports and Scandinavia during the seventeenth century. The text provides a detailed account regarding the role of the Eastland Company in this period and its eventual loss of power 'whilst that of the state increased and made company organization unnecessary'. Documents relating to the Eastland Company, lists of members, two government-inspired pamphlets on trade policy and figures of trade at the Sound are reproduced in the appendices. Detailed notes are incorporated throughout. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in economic history and the development of European trade in the seventeenth century.