England, as mentioned in The Royal Exchange, is the center of the world for commerce. The Royal Exchange was published in 1711 at a time in which the British Empire was the world's superpower. One of the many traits of the world's largest empire is that it became the center for trade and commerce amongst all other nations. Addison makes note of a dispute between a Japanese man and a man from London, to prove that people from across the globe would travel to England to trade. The Royal Exchange was not only used for commerce. Addison states that "they negotiate affairs, conclude treaties, and maintain a good correspondence between those wealthy societies of men that are divided from one another by seas and oceans" to prove that not only were goods being exchanged, diplomacy between nations were taking place as well.