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 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
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 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030156958 
 
SCARCE AND VALUABLE TRACTS 
 
 COMMERCE. 
 
*4j,* This volume has been printed by Lord Orerstone for 
 distribution among his friends : it has been edited by J. R. 
 McCulloch, Esq. 
 
SELECT COLLECTION 
 
 SCAECB AND VALUABLE TRACTS 
 
 OS 
 
 COMMERCE, 
 
 FEOM THE ORIGINALS OF 
 
 EVELYN, DEFOE, ("RICHARDSON, TUCKER, TEMPLE, 
 AND OTHERS. 
 
 WITH k PREFACE, NOTES, AND INDEX. 
 
 M 
 
 C^ U U^,' i 1-, C^ ■ 
 
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P 11 E F A C E. 
 
 The contents of this volume are alike various and in- 
 teresting. 
 
 1. The first article " Observations touching Trade and 
 Commerce with the Hollandersj &c.," is said to have 
 been presented to James I, by Sir Walter Raleigh, to 
 whom it is usually ascribed. It is doubtful, however, 
 whether he was really its author. Oldys, in his Life of 
 Raleigh, appears disposed to believe, that it was the work 
 of a Mr. John Kymer, who published " Observations on 
 the Dutch Fishery," in, or about, the year 1601. But 
 whatever doubts may exist in regard to its paternity, it 
 certainly dates as far back as the reign of James; and 
 is interesting, from its being one of the earliest, as 
 well as the best known of the Tracts in which the ex- 
 travagant and often repeated statements were put forth 
 in regard to the magnitude of the herring fishery carried 
 on by the Dutch. It tells us, for example, that about 
 20,000 ships and vessels, and 400,000 hands were em- 
 ployed in the fishery on our coasts, of which by far the 
 largest portion belonged to Holland ! And though the 
 extreme exaggeration of this statement be too obvious to 
 require notice, it was long considered as of undoubted 
 authority, and was invariably quoted to conciliate the pub- 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 lie support to the many projects that were formerly pre- 
 valentj for improving the fisheries. But it would not be 
 fair to judge the tract by this single specimen. It contains 
 some judicious observations in regard to the circumstances 
 which had contributed to the growth of the trade and 
 wealth for which Holland was then so famous. 
 
 2. The next tracts written by John Evelyn, S.R.S., 
 author of the Sylva and other publications, appeared in 
 1674. It contains a short sketch of the rise and progress 
 of Navigation and Commerce, followed by a vindication of 
 his Britannic Majesty's claim to the "dominion of the sea." 
 Though brief and superficial, the first is the most valuable 
 portion of the work. The latter, however, is curions, inas- 
 much as it shows the nature and extent of the claims to 
 the exclusive navigation and fishery of the surrounding 
 portions of the ocean that we were accustomed to put for- 
 ward, and the sort of arguments by which it was sought to 
 justify the wars to which they sometimes led. The claims, 
 indeed, were not of a description that could be conceded 
 by any really independent state; and the reasoning in their 
 defence, though supported by a great display of learn- 
 ing, is as flimsy as can be easily imagined.* It is use- 
 less, however, to insist on this point, for Evelyn himself 
 admits, in a letter to Pepys, the secretary to the Admiralty 
 (19th September, 1682), that he had written this portion 
 
 * See especially the Mare Clausum, of the famous John Selden, 
 folio, London, 1635. This work, written in answer to the Mare 
 Liherum of Grotius, was translated into English hy Marchmont 
 Ncdham, and published with Appendixes, in folio, in 1652. 
 
PKEFACK. Vll 
 
 of tis work to recommend himself by bolstering up our 
 pretensions which he proceeds to show were entirely 
 unfounded ! * And, no doubt, he was entitled, after this 
 acknowledgment, to tell Pepys that " wise men" should be 
 very suspicious of all histories, unless it can be demon- 
 strated that their authors had no interest of their own, or 
 their superiors, or public cry, to support. So much for 
 the straightforwardness and honesty of this model courtier 
 of the reign of Charles II. f 
 
 3. This article consists of extracts from a " Plan of 
 the English Commerce," published in 1728, of which 
 Defoe is known to have been the author. Though desul- 
 tory it is well written. In the extracts we have laid before 
 the reader, the influence of trade and industry in promot- 
 ing the well-being of all classes, is forcibly illustrated. 
 It says little for the public taste, that Defoe's work should 
 have been almost entirely neglected J, while the very 
 inferior work of Gee, published nearly at the same time, 
 enjoyed a large share of popularity §. Defoe truly 
 represented the trade of the kingdom as thriving ; whereas, 
 according to Gee, it was in a declining and, in some 
 respects, ruinous condition. But it has been often re- 
 
 * Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Evelyn, Vol. ii, p. 260 
 Ed.- 1818. 
 
 t We have corrected several obvious blunders in the text of this 
 work, and have subjoined a few notes. 
 
 t The second edition is merely the first with a new title page 
 and an Appendix. 
 
 S The work of Gee, " The Trade and Navigation of Great Britain 
 Considered " was first published in 1730. A sixth edition was pub- 
 lished at Glasgow in 1755. 
 
Viu tBEFACE. 
 
 marked that, when conscious of the contrary, people are 
 rather well pleased to be reckoned unprosperous. 
 
 4. We come next to the remarkable " Essay on the 
 Causes of the Decline of Foreign Trade," originally pub- 
 lished in quarto in 1744. It is singular, that notwith- 
 standing its great ability and popularity, we have no 
 certain information in regard to its author. It is one of 
 the few works that have been distinguished by being re- 
 ferred to by Adam Smith, who ascribes it without any 
 hesitation to Sir Matthew Decker, M.P., one of the most 
 eminent merchants of the time. But it is doubtful whether 
 Smith had suflBcient grounds for this conclusion. A pam- 
 phlet entitled " Serious Considerations on the several 
 High Duties which the Nation labours under," published in 
 1743, was directly ascribed to Decker by Massie and others, 
 who replied to it, and by the public generally. And sup- 
 posing, of which indeed there seems to be little doubt, 
 that the pamphlet was justly attributed to Decker, he 
 could hardly be the author of the Essay ; for though pub- 
 lished nearly at the same time, and containing each a 
 novel plan of taxation, these plans are as different as 
 possible ; that of the pamphlet being a proposal to re- 
 place all taxes by a tax on houses, and that of the Essay 
 to replace them by a license duty, to be laid on the 
 consumers of luxuries in proportion to their supposed in- 
 comes. It may also be stated, that Decker died in March 
 1 749, and that the second edition of the Essay, from which 
 this reprint has been made, published in 1750, purports to 
 he revisedby the author. And further, a well-informed con- 
 temporary, Mr. Francis Fauquier, author of a tract on Ways 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 and Means, published in 1757, states distinctly that the 
 Essay now before the reader was written by a Mr. Richard- 
 son; and in this instance we are inclined to prefer his 
 authority to that even of Adam Smith. 
 
 But to whomsoever we may be indebted for this Essay, 
 it is one of no common merit. The hypothesis, indeed, 
 on which it is founded, that trade was then in a declining 
 state, is wholly erroneous. But the measures proposed 
 by the author to obviate this imaginary evil and to extend 
 and improve trade, are at once liberal and judicious. He is 
 an intelligent and uncompromising enemy of all sorts of 
 monopolies, restrictions, and prohibitions. There are, 
 indeed, but few works, in which the injurious influence of 
 the protective system, and the advantages of freedom are 
 so clearly and ably set forth. 
 
 5. There is, luckily, no difficulty in regard to the 
 author of the " Essay on the Advantages and Disad- 
 vantages which respectively attend France and Great 
 Britain in regard to Trade, with Proposals, &c." It is 
 the work of Josiah Tucker, A.M. (afterwards D.D.), 
 Dean of Gloucester, and was published about 1750. It 
 is well written; and is interesting from the valuable 
 information it embodies respecting the condition of 
 the countries to which it especially refers. Though too 
 ready to invoke the aid of the legislature, and too much 
 disposed to place confidence in police regulations, Tucker's 
 ideas are in the main enlightened and liberal. And most 
 part of his proposals, such as that for a legislative union 
 with Ireland, for the adoption of the warehousing system, 
 the abolition of exclusive companies, the introduction of 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 canals, &c., have been adopted. Tucker was among the 
 first to discern the true nature of the war with America ; 
 and he had the boldness to proclaim that it would be 
 good policy to emancipate the colonies. But the Tract 
 now reprinted, though one of the earliest, is probably the 
 best of his numerous publications.* 
 
 We have substituted for the Appendix in Tucker's 
 Tract, which consists of an extract from the " Essay on 
 the Causes of the Decline of Foreign Trade," a letter of 
 Smollett on the state of France in 1765. It is interesting 
 from, its foreshadowing that tremendous Revolution of 
 which that kingdom was at no very distant period des- 
 tined to be the theatre. 
 
 6. This article consists of "Proposals made by His 
 Highness the Prince of Orange to the States General 
 of Holland for Redressing and Amending the Trade of the 
 Republic." 
 
 The commerce and navigation of Holland appear to 
 have attained to a maximum about 1670, after which sera 
 they became first stationary and then gradually declined, 
 the decline becoming more apparent after the Treaty of 
 Utrecht in 1713. From this time down to the middle of 
 the century the state of trade attracted much attention, 
 and several inquiries were made into the causes of its 
 falling off, and the methods by which they might be coun- 
 tervailed. But these having had little or no effect, the 
 
 * The Bishop of Gloucester, Warburton, said of Tucker that 
 trade was his religion, and religion his trade. Had he been inclined 
 to retaliate. Tucker might have said that controversy was the bishop's 
 religion, and religion his trade. 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 suljject was taken up by Government, and the Stadth older, 
 William IV, having obtained the advice and assistance of 
 the most intelligent and eminent merchants, they pre- 
 pared a Dissertation or Statement, in which they set 
 forth what, in their estimation, had been the principal 
 caixses of the extraordinary growth of trade and industry 
 in Holland and of their subsequent decline, and what 
 were the means most likely to restore them to their 
 former flourishing condition. This Dissertation, having 
 been submitted to the States General, was ordered to be 
 printed ; and in the same year, 1751, it was translated 
 into English and published in London, in the form now 
 laid before the reader. 
 
 This paper is one of the most valuable and important 
 of the class to which it belongs. Several of its suggestions 
 were adopted, and had the anticipated efi"ect. But owing 
 to the pressure of the very heavy load of taxes, which 
 had grown out of her long struggle with Spain and her 
 subsequent contests with France and England, and still 
 more, perhaps, to the growth of trade and navigation in 
 the surrounding States, Holland has not been able to 
 recover any portion of her old commercial preponderance. 
 She is still, however, despite the many vicissitudes she 
 has undergone, the wealthiest and most industrious 
 country of Europe. And her present, no less than her 
 former, state affords the most striking example to be 
 met with of the capacity of industry and economy to 
 overcome all sorts of difficulties. 
 
 It is singular that this excellent dissertation does 
 not seem to have attracted any attention in this country. 
 Tt has long been extremely scarce. 
 
Xll PREFACE. 
 
 7. In 1756, a prize, given by Lord Viscount Towns- 
 hend to the University of Cambridge, was adjudged to 
 Mr. William Bell, M.A., for a "Dissertation on the 
 Causes which principally contribute to render Nations 
 Populous, and on the Effects of their Populousness on 
 their Trade." This Dissertation, though the best, pro- 
 bably, of those submitted to the decision of the judges, 
 had but slender claims to the distinction by which it 
 was honoured. It is confused and contradictory; and 
 consists of little more than worn out homilies in praise 
 of virtue, simplicity, agriculture, and so forth, with 
 tirades against luxury and " the elegancies of life," 
 and attempts to show the mischievous and dangerous 
 nature of commerce. It appears to have made little 
 impression. But it was not to be expected that such 
 a publication should emanate from one of the Univer- 
 sities without being noticed ; and it was both speedily 
 and completely answered in the Tract now reprinted, 
 "A Vindication of Commerce and the Arts, &c.," by 
 I. B., M.D., London, 1758. 
 
 The I. B. is pseudonymous, the author being a 
 Mr. William Temple, a clothier, of Trowbridge.* His 
 refutation of BeU leaves nothing to be desired ; and he 
 displays throughout much knowledge and acuteness, and 
 expresses himself clearly and forcibly. 
 
 8. The last of the reprints in this volume, is entitled 
 " New and Old Principles of Trade Compared," London, 
 1788. The new principles referred to are those of Smith, 
 
 • See letter of Dean Tucker to Lord Kames, in Woodhouselee's 
 Life of the latter, HI., 161. 
 
PREFACE. Xlll 
 
 the " Wealth of Nations " having been pubhshed in 1776. 
 The comparison is fairly made, and the superior advan- 
 tageousness of the new principles is shown in a very 
 satisfactory manner. 
 
 It would be useless, even if our space permitted, to 
 add to this collection. The great principles of sound 
 commercial policy were now fully explained and laid 
 before the public, and while they have not since been 
 questioned by any writer of authority, the widest expe- 
 rience has fally confirmed their truth. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 I. Observations touching Trade and Commerce with 
 the Hollander, and other Nations. Presented 
 to King James, by Sir Walter Raleigh, Knt. 
 Wherein is proved, that our Sea and Land 
 Commodities serve to inrich and strengthen 
 other Countries against our own ... 1 
 
 II. Navigation and Commerce, their Original and 
 Progress. Containing a succinct Account of 
 Traffick in General ; its Benefits and Improve- 
 ments : Of Discoveries Wars and Conflicts at 
 Sea, from the Original of Navigation to this 
 Day ; with special Eegard to the English 
 Nation ; Their several Voyages and Expeditions, 
 to the Beginning of our late Differences with 
 Holland ; In which His Majesties Title to the 
 Dominion of the Sea is Asserted, against the 
 Novel and later Pretenders. By J. Evelyn, 
 Esq.; S.E.S " . .29 
 
 III. Extracts from a Plan of the English Commerce, 
 being a Oompleat Prospect of the Trade of this 
 Nation, as well the Home Trade as the Eoreign. 
 Humbly offered to the Consideration of the 
 Bong and Parliament. The Second Edition . 105 
 
 IV. An Essay on the Causes of the Decline of the 
 Foreign Trade, consequently of the Value of the 
 Lands of Britain, and on the Means to Eestore 
 both. The Second Edition, with Additions . 145 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 V. A Brief Essay on the Advantages and Disadvantages 
 which respectively attend Prance and Great 
 Britain, with regard to Trade. With some 
 Proposals for Eemoving the Principal Disadvan- 
 tages of Great Britain. In a New Method. By 
 Josiah Tucker, M.A., Eector of St. Stephens in 
 Bristol, and Chaplain to the Right Reverend 
 the Lord Bishop of Bristol. The Third Edition 
 Corrected, with Additions .... 809 
 
 VI. Proposals made by His late Highness the Prince 
 of Orange, to their High Mightinesses the 
 States-General, and to the States of Holland and 
 West Eriezland, for redressing and amending 
 the Trade of the Republic . . . .427 
 
 VII. A Vindication of Commerce and the Arts ; Proving 
 that they are the Source of the Greatness, 
 Power, Riches, and Populousness of a State ; 
 being an Examination of Mr. Bell's Dissertation 
 upon Populousness, read in the Schools, and 
 honoured with the Lord Viscount Townshend's 
 Prize, by the University of Cambridge. Where- 
 in Mr. Bell's Calumnies on Trade are answered, 
 his Arguments refuted, his System exploded, 
 and the principal causes of Populosity assigned. 
 By I B , M.D 481 
 
 VIII. New and Old Principles of Trade compared ; or a 
 
 Treatise on the Principles of Commerce between 
 Nations ....... 563 
 
 IX. Index 611 
 
OBSERVATIONS 
 
 TOUCHING 
 
 TRADE and COMMERCE 
 
 With the 
 
 Hollander, and other Nations. 
 
 Prefented to King JAMES, 
 
 By Sir Walter RALEIGH, Knt. 
 
 Wherein is proved. 
 
 That our Sea and Land Commodities serve to 
 inrich and strengthen other Countries against 
 our ow^n. 
 
From RALEIGH'S Miscellaneous Works, 
 
 London, 1 7 5 1 . 
 
May it please your most Excellent Majesty, 
 
 ACCORDING- to my duty, I am imboldened to put your 
 Majesty in mind, that about fourteen or fifteen years 
 past, I presented you a book of extraordinary importance 
 for the honour and profit of your Majesty and posterity ; 
 and doubting that it hath been laid aside, and not considered 
 of, I am encouraged {under your Majesty's pardon) to pre- 
 sent unto you one more, consisting of five propositions : 
 Neither are they grounded upon vain or idle grounds, but 
 upon the fruition of those wonderful blessings wherewith 
 God hath endued your Majesty's sea and land ; by which 
 means you may not only inrich and fill your coffers, but also 
 increase such might and strength, fas shall appear, if it may 
 stand with your Majesty's good liking to put the same in 
 execution in the true and right form :J so that there is no 
 doubt but it will make you in short time a Prince of such 
 power, so great, as shall make all the Princes your neigh- 
 bours, as well glad of your friendship, as fearful to offend 
 you. That this is so, I humbly desire that your Majesty 
 will vouchsafe to peruse this advertisement with that care 
 and judgment which God hath given you. 
 
 Most humbly praying your Majesty, that whereas I pre- 
 sented these five propositions together, as in their own na- 
 tures, jointly depending one of another, and so linked to- 
 gether, as the distraction of any one will be an apparent 
 maim and disabling to the rest ; that your Majesty would 
 be pleased that they may not be separated, but all handled 
 together jointly and severally, by Commissioners, with as 
 much speed and secrecy as can be, and made fit to be re- 
 ported to your Majesty, whereby I may be the better able 
 to perform to your Highness that which I have promised, 
 
 3 and 
 
and will perform upon my life, if I be not prevented by 
 some that may seek to hinder the honour and profit of your 
 Majesty for their own private ends. 
 
 The true ground, course and form, herein mentioned, 
 shall appear how other countries make themselves powerful 
 and rich in all kinds, by merchandize, manufactory, and 
 fulness of trade, having no commodities in their own country 
 growing to do it ivithal. 
 
 And herein likewise shall appear, how easy it is to draw 
 the wealth and strength of other countries to your kingdom, 
 and what royal, rich, and plentiful means God hath given 
 this land to do it (which cannot be denied) for support of 
 traffick, and continual employment of your people, for re- 
 plenishing of your Majesty's coffers. 
 
 And if I were not fully assured to improve your native 
 commodities, with other traffick, three millions of pounds 
 more yearly than now they are, and to bring not only to 
 your Majesty's coffers, within the space of two or three 
 years, near two millions of pounds, but to increase your 
 revenues many thousands yearly, and to please and greatly 
 profit your people, I would not have undertaken so great a 
 work : All which will grow by advancement of all kind 
 of merchandizing to the uttermost, thereby to bring manu- 
 factory into the kingdom, and to set on work all sorts of 
 people in the realm, as other nations do, which raise their 
 greatness by the abundance of your native commodities, 
 whilst we are parting and disputing whether it be good for 
 us or not. 
 
 OBSER. 
 
OBSERVATIONS 
 
 TOUCHING 
 TRADE and COMMERCE, &c. 
 
 May it please your most Excellent Majesty, 
 
 I HAVE diligently, in my travels, observed how the 
 countries herein mentioned do grow potent with 
 abundance of all things to serve themselves and other 
 nations, where nothing groweth; and that their never 
 dryed fountains of wealth, by which they raise their estate 
 to such an admirable height, as that they are at this day 
 even a wonder to the world, proceedeth from your Ma- 
 jesty's seas and lands. 
 
 I thus moved, began to dive into the depth of their 
 policies and circumventing practices, whereby they drain, 
 and still covet to exhaust, the wealth and coin of this 
 kingdom, and so with our own commodities to weaken us, 
 and finally beat us quite out of trading in other countries. 
 I found that they more folly obtained these their purposes 
 by their convenient privileges, and settled constitutions, 
 than England with aU the laws, and superabundance of 
 home-bred commodities which God hath vouchsafed your 
 sea and land : And these, and other mentioned in this 
 book, are the urgent causes that provoked me, in my love 
 and bounden duty to your Majesty and my country, to 
 address my former books to your princely hands and 
 consideration. 
 
 By which privileges they draw multitudes of mer- 
 chants to trade with them, and many other nations to 
 inhabit amongst them, which makes them populous, and 
 there they make store-houses of all foreign commodities, 
 
 5 wherewith 
 
6 Observations on 
 
 wherewith, upon every occasion of scarcity and dearth, 
 they are able to furnish foreign countries with plenty of 
 those commodities, which before in time of plenty they 
 engrossed and brought home from the same places ; which 
 doth greatly augment power, treasure to their state, besides 
 the common good in setting their poor and people on 
 work. 
 
 To which privileges they add smallness of custom, and 
 liberty of trade, which maketh them flourish, and their 
 country so plentiful of aU kind of coin and commodities, 
 where little or nothing groweth, and their merchants so 
 flourish, that when a loss cometh they scarce feel it. 
 
 To bring this to pass they have many advantages of 
 us ; the one is, by their fashioned ships called boyers, 
 hoy-barks, hoys, and others that are made to hold great 
 bulk of merchandise, and to sail with a few men for profit. 
 For example, though an English ship of two hundred tons, 
 and a Holland ship, or any other of the petty states of the 
 same burden be at Dantzick, or any other place beyond 
 the seas, or in England, they do serve the merchant better 
 cheap by one hundred pounds in his freight than we can, 
 by reason he hath but nine or ten mariners, and we near 
 thirty ; thus he saveth twenty men^s meat and wages in a 
 voyage ; and so in aU other their ships according to their 
 burden, by which means they are freighted wheresoever 
 they come, to great profit, whilst our ships lie stiU and 
 decay, or go to Newcastle for coals. 
 
 Of this their smaUness of custom inwards and out- 
 wards, we have daily experience ; for if two English ships, 
 or two of any other nations be at Bourdeaux, both laden 
 with wine of three hundred tons apiece, the one bound for 
 Holland, or any other petty states, the other for England, 
 the merchant shall pay about nine hundred pounds custom 
 here, and other duties, when the other in Holland, or any 
 other petty states, shall be cleared for less than fifty 
 pounds, and so in all other wares and merchandizes ac- 
 
 6 cordingly. 
 
Trade and Commerce. 7 
 
 cordingly, which draws all nations to traffick with them ; 
 and although it seems but small duties which they receive, 
 yet the multitudes of all kind of commodities and coin 
 that is brought in by themselves and others, and carried 
 out by themselves and others, is so great, that they re- 
 ceive more custom and duties to the state, by the great- 
 ness of their commerce in one year, than England doth in 
 two years ; for the one hundredth part of commodities are 
 not spent in Holland, but vended into other countries, 
 which maketh all the country merchants to buy and sell, 
 and increase ships and mariners to transport them. 
 
 My travels and meaning is not to diminish (neither 
 hath been) your Majesty's revenues, but exceedingly to 
 increase them, as shall appear, and yet please the people, 
 as in other parts they do. 
 
 Notwithstanding their excises bring them in great 
 revenues, yet whosoever will adventure to Bourdeaux but 
 for six tons of wine, shall be free of excise in his own 
 house all the year long ; and this is done of purpose to 
 animate and increase merchants in their country. 
 
 And if it happen that a trade be stopped by any 
 foreign nation, which they heretofore usually had, or hear 
 of any good trading which they never had, they wiU hinder 
 others, and seek either by favour, money, or force, to open 
 the gap of traflack for advancement of trade amongst 
 themselves, and employment of their people. 
 
 And when there is a new course or trade erected, they 
 give free custom inwards and outwards, for the better 
 maintenance of navigation, and encouragement of the 
 people to that business. 
 
 Thus they and others glean the wealth and strength 
 from us to themselves ; and these reasons following pro- 
 cure them this advantage of us. 
 
 1. The merchant staplers which maketh all things in 
 abundance, by reason of their store-houses continually 
 replenished with all kind of commodities. 
 
 7 2. The 
 
8 Observations on 
 
 2. The liberty of free traflBck for strangers to buy and 
 sell in Holland, and other countries and states, as if they 
 were free-born, maketh great intercourse. 
 
 3. The small duties levied upon merchants, draws all 
 nations to trade with them. 
 
 4. Their fashioned ships continually freighted before 
 ours, by reason of their few mariners and great bulk, 
 serving the merchant cheap. 
 
 5. Their forwardness to further all manner of trading. 
 
 6. Their wonderful employment of their busses for 
 fishing, and the great returns they make. 
 
 7. Their giving free custom inwards and outwards, 
 for any new-erected trade, , by means whereof they have 
 gotten already almost the sole trade into their hands. 
 
 All nations may buy and sell freely in France, and 
 there is free custom outwards twice or thrice in a year, 
 at which time our merchants themselves do make their 
 great sales of English commodities, and do buy and lade 
 their great bulk of French commodities to serve for the 
 whole year ; and in Rochel in France, and in Britain, 
 free custom all the year long, except some small toll, which 
 makes great traffick, and maketh them flourish. 
 
 In Denmark, to incourage and inrich the merchants, 
 and to increase ships and mariners, there is free custom 
 all the year long for their own merchants, except one 
 month between Bartholomew-tide and Michaelmas. 
 
 The Hans-towns have advantage of us, as Holland and 
 other petty states have, and iu most things imitate them, 
 which makes them exceeding rich and plentiful of all 
 kind of commodities and coin, and so strong in ships and 
 mariners, that some of their towns have near one thousand 
 sail of ships. 
 
 The merchandises of France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, 
 Turkey, East and West-Indies, are transported most by 
 the Hollanders, and other petty states, into the east and 
 north-east kingdoms of Pomerland, Spruceland, Poland, 
 
 8 Denmark, 
 
Trade and Commerce. 9 
 
 Denmark, Sweedland, Leifland, and Germany, and the 
 merchandises brought from the last-mentioned kingdoms, 
 being wonderful many, are likewise by the Hollanders 
 and other petty states most transported into the southern 
 and western dominions, and yet the situation of England 
 lieth far better for a store-house to serve the south-east 
 and north-east regions than theirs doth, and hath far 
 better means to do it, if we will bend our course for it. 
 
 No sooner a dearth of fish, wine, or corn here, and 
 other merchandise, but forthwith the Embdeners, Ham- 
 burghers, and Hollanders, out of their store-houses, lade 
 fifty or one hundred ships, or more, dispersing themselves 
 round about this kingdom, and carry away great store of 
 coin and wealth for little commodity, in those times of 
 dearth; by which means they suck our commonwealth of 
 her riches, cut down our merchants, and decay our naviga- 
 tion ; not with their natural commodities, which grow in 
 their own countries, but the merchandises of other coun- 
 tries and kingdoms. 
 
 Therefore it is far more easy to serve ourselves, hold 
 up our merchants, and increase our ships and mariners, 
 and strengthen the kingdom ; and not only keep our 
 money in our own realm, which other nations still rob us 
 of, but bring in theirs who carry ours away, and make the 
 bank of coin and store-house to serve other nations as 
 well, and far better cheap than they. 
 
 Amsterdam is never without seven hundred thousand 
 quarters of corn, besides the plenty they daily vend, and 
 none of this groweth in their own country : A dearth in 
 England, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and other places, 
 is truly observed to inrich Holland seven years after, and 
 likewise the petty states. 
 
 For example, the last dearth, six years past, the Ham- 
 burghers, Embdeners, and Hollanders, out of their store- 
 houses, furnished this kingdom ; and from Southampton, 
 Exeter, and Bristol, in a year and a half, they carried 
 
 9 away 
 
10 Observations on 
 
 away near two hundred thousand pounds from these parts 
 only : Then what great quantity of coin was transported 
 round ahout your kingdom from every port-town^ and 
 from your city of London, and other cities^ cannot be 
 esteemed so Httle as two million^^ to the great decay of 
 your kingdom, and impoverishing your people, discredit 
 to the company of nierchants, and dishonour to the land, 
 that any nation that have no corn in their own country 
 growing, should serve this famous kingdom, which God 
 hath so enabled within itself. 
 
 They have a continual trade into this kingdom with 
 five or six hundred ships yearly, with merchandises of 
 other countries and kingdoms, and store them up in store- 
 houses here until the prices rise to their minds ; and we 
 trade not with fifty ships into their country in a year, and 
 the said number are about this realm every eastern wind, 
 for the most part to lade coals and other merchandise. 
 
 Unless there be a scarcity, or dearth, or high prices, 
 all merchants do forbear that place where great impositions 
 are laid upon the merchandise, and those places slenderly 
 shipped, ill served, and at dear rates, and oftentimes in 
 scarcity, and want employment for the people ; and those 
 petty states finding truly by experience, that small duties 
 imposed upon merchandise draw all trafiick unto them, 
 and free liberty for strangers to buy and sell doth make 
 continual mart ; therefore whatever excises or impositions 
 are laid upon the common people, yet they still ease, up- 
 hold and maintain the merchants by all possible means, 
 of purpose to draw the wealth and strength of Christen- 
 dom to themselves; whereby it appeareth, though the 
 duties be but small, yet the customs for going out and 
 coming in do so abound, that they increase their revenues 
 greatly, and make profit, plenty and employment of all 
 sorts, by sea and land, to serve themselves and other na- 
 tions, as is admirable to behold: And likewise the great 
 commerce, which groweth by the same means, enableth 
 
 10 the 
 
Trade and Commerce. 11 
 
 the common people to bear their burden laid upon them, 
 and yet they grow rich by reason of the great commerce 
 and trade, occasioned by their convenient privileges and 
 commodious constitutions. 
 
 There was an intercourse of traffick in Genoa, and 
 there was the flower of commerce, as appeareth by their 
 antient records, and their sumptuous buildings; for all 
 nations traded with merchandise to them, and there was 
 the store-house of aU Italy, and other places ; but after 
 they had set a great custom of l&per cent, all nations left 
 trading with them, which made them give themselves 
 wholly to usury, and at this day we have not three ships 
 go there in a year : But to the contrary, the Duke of 
 Florence builded Leghorn, and set small custom upon mer- 
 chandise, and gave them great and pleasing privileges, 
 which hath made a rich and strong city, with a flourishing 
 state. 
 
 Furthermore, touching some particulars needful to be 
 considered of the mighty huge fishing that ever could be 
 heard of in the world, is upon the coasts of England, 
 Scotland and Ireland ; but the great fishery is in the Low- 
 Countries, and other petty states, wherewith they serve 
 themselves and aU Christendom, as shall appear. 
 
 In four towns in the east kingdoms within the Sound, 
 Quinsbrough, Elbing, Statten, and Dantzick, there are car- 
 ried and vended in a year, between thirty and forty thou- 
 sand lasts of herrings, sold but at fifteen or sixteen pounds 
 the last, is about six hundred and twenty thousand pounds, 
 and we none. 
 
 Besides, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Leifland, Rie, 
 Nevill, the Narve, and other port-towns within the Sound, 
 there is carried and vended above ten thousand lasts of 
 herrings, sold at fifteen or sixteen pounds the last, is one 
 hundred and seventy thousand pounds more yearly; in 
 such request are our herrings there, that they are often- 
 times sold for twenty, twenty-four, thirty, and thirty-six 
 
 11 pounds 
 
12 Observations on 
 
 pounds the last, and we send not cue barrel into all those 
 east countries. 
 
 The Hollanders sent into Russia near fifteen hundred 
 lasts of herrings, sold about thirty shillings the barrel, 
 amounteth to twenty-seven thousand pounds, and we but 
 about twenty or thirty lasts. 
 
 To Stoade, Hamborough, Bremen and Emden, upon the 
 river of Elve, Weser, and Embs, are carried and vended, 
 of fish and herrings, about six thousand lasts, sold about 
 fifteen or sixteen pounds the last, is one hundred thousand 
 pounds, and we none. 
 
 Cleaveland, Gulickland, np the river of Rhine, to Cul- 
 len, Francfort on the Main, and so over all Germany, is 
 carried and vended, fish and herrings, near twenty-two 
 thousand last, sold at twenty pounds the last, is four 
 hundred and twenty thousand pounds, and we none. 
 
 Up the river of Maiz, Leigh, Maestrich, Venlow, Zut- 
 phen, Deventer, Campen, Swoole, and all over Lukeland, is 
 carried and vended seven thousand lasts of herrings, sold 
 at twenty pounds the last, is one hundred and forty thou- 
 sand pounds, and we none. 
 
 To Guelderland, Artois, Hainault, Brabant, Flanders, 
 up the river of Antwerp, all over the Archduke's countries, 
 are carried and vended between eight or nine thousand 
 lasts, sold at eighteen pounds the last, is one hundred and 
 seventy- one thousand pounds, and we none. 
 
 The Hollanders, and others, carried of all sorts of 
 herrings to Roan only in one year, besides all other parts 
 of France, fifty thousand lasts of herrings, sold at twenty 
 pounds the last, is ten hundred thousand pounds, and we 
 not one hundred lasts thither ; they are sold oftentimes 
 there for twenty, and four and twenty, and thirty pounds 
 the last. 
 
 Between Christmas and Lent, the duties for fish and 
 herrings came to fifteen thousand crowns at Roan only, 
 that year the Queen deceased; Sir Thomas Parry was 
 
 12 agent 
 
Trade and Commerce. 13 
 
 agent there then, and S. Savors his man, knows it to be 
 true, who handled the business for pulling down the im- 
 positions. Then what great sums of money came to all in 
 the port-towns to inrich the French king's coffers, and to 
 all the kings and states throughout Christendom, to inrich 
 their coffers ; besides the great quantity vended to the 
 Streights, and the multitude spent in the Low- Countries, 
 where there is likewise sold for many a hundred thousand 
 pounds more yearly, is 'necessary to be remembered ; and 
 the streain to be turned to the good of this kingdom, to 
 whose sea-eoasts God only hath sent and given these great 
 blessings, and multitude of riches for us to take, how- 
 soever it hath been neglected, to the hurt of this kingdom, 
 that any nation should carry away out of this kingdom 
 yearly great mass of money for fish taken in our seas, and 
 sold again by them to us, which must needs be a great 
 dishonour to our nation, and hindrance to this realm. 
 
 From any port-town of any kingdom within Christen- 
 dom, the bridge-master, or wharf-master, for twenty shil- 
 lings a year, will deliver a true note of the number of 
 lasts of herrings brought to their wharfs, and their prices 
 commonly they are sold at ; but the number brought to 
 Dantzick, Cullen, Rotterdam, and Enchuisen, is so great, 
 as it will cost three, four, or five pounds for a true note. 
 
 The abundance of corn groweth in the east kingdoms, 
 but the great store-houses for grain to serve Christendom, 
 and the heathen countries in the time of dearth, is in the 
 Low- Countries, wherewith, upon every occasion of scarcity 
 and dearth they do inrich themselves seven years after, 
 employ their people, and get great freights for their ships 
 in other countries, and we not one in that course. 
 
 The mighty vineyards and store of salt is in France 
 and Spain ; but the great vintage and staple of salt is in 
 the Low- Countries, and they send near one thousand sail 
 of ships with salt and wine only into the east kingdoms 
 yearly, besides other places, and we not one in that course. 
 
 13 The 
 
14 Observations on 
 
 The exceeding groves of wood are in the east king- 
 doms, but the huge piles of wainscot, clapboard, fir-deal, 
 masts, and timber, is in the Low- Countries, where none 
 grow, wherewith they serve themselves and other parts, 
 and this kingdom with those commodities ; they have five 
 or six hundred great long ships continually using that 
 trade, and we none in that course. 
 
 The wool, cloth, lead, tin, and divers other commodi- 
 ities, are in England ; but by means of our wool and 
 cloth going out rough, undressM, and uudy'd, there is an 
 exceeding manufactory and drapery in the Low- Countries, 
 wherewith they serve themselves and other nations, and 
 advance greatly the employment of their people at home, 
 and trafifick abroad, and put down ours in foreign parts, 
 where our merchants trade unto, with our own commo- 
 dities. 
 
 We send into the east kingdoms, yearly, but one hun- 
 dred ships, and our trade chiefly dependeth upon three 
 towns, Elhing, Kingsborough, and Dantzick, for making 
 our sails, and buying their commodities sent into this 
 realm at dear rates, which this kingdom bears the burden 
 of. 
 
 The Low- Countries send into the east kingdoms yearly, 
 about three thousand ships, trading into every city and 
 port-town, taking the advantage, and vending their com- 
 modities to exceeding profit, and buying and lading their 
 ships with plenty of those commodities, which they have 
 from every of those towns 20 per cent, cheaper than we, 
 by reason of the difference of the coin, and their fish 
 yields ready money, which greatly advanceth their traffick, 
 and decayeth ours. 
 
 They send into France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, from 
 the east kingdoms that passeth through the Sound, and 
 through your narrow seas, yearly, of the east country 
 commodities, about two thousand ships, and we none in 
 that course. 
 
 14 They 
 
Trade and Commerce. 1 5 
 
 They trade into all cities, and port-towns in France, 
 and we chiefly to five or six. 
 
 They traffick into every city and port-town round 
 about this land, with five or six hundred ships yearly, and 
 we chiefly but to three towns in their country, and but 
 with forty ships. 
 
 Notwithstanding the Low- Countries have as many 
 ships and vessels as eleven kingdoms of Christendom have, 
 let England be one, and build every year near one thou- 
 sand ships, and not a timber-tree growing in their own 
 country, and that also all their home-bred commodities 
 that grow in their land in a year, less than one hundred 
 good ships are able to carry them away at one time ; yet 
 they handle the matter so for setting them all on work, 
 that their traffick with the Hans-towns exceeds in shipping 
 all Christendom. 
 
 We have all things of our own in super-abundance to 
 increase traffick, and timber to build ships, and commodi- 
 ties of our own to lade about one thousand ships and 
 vessels at one time (besides the great fishing) and as fast 
 as they have made their voyages might relade again, and 
 so year after year all the year long to continue ; yet our 
 ships and mariners decline, and traffick and merchants 
 daily decay. 
 
 The main bulk and mass of herrings from whence 
 they raise so many millions yearly, that inrich other king- 
 doms, kings and states cofl'ers, and likewise their own 
 people, proceedeth from your seas and lands, and the 
 return of the commodities and coin they bring home in 
 exchange of fish, and other commodities, are so huge, as 
 would require a large discourse apart ; all the amends they 
 make us is, they beat us out of trade in all parts with our 
 own commodities. 
 
 For instance, we had a great trade in Russia seventy 
 years, and about fourteen years past we sent store of 
 goodly ships to trade in those parts, and three years past 
 
 15 we 
 
16 Observations on 
 
 we set out but four, and this last year two or three ; but 
 to the contrary, the Hollanders about twenty years since 
 traded thither with two ships only, yet now they are in- 
 creased to about thirty or forty, and one of their ships is 
 as great as two of ours, and at the same time (in their 
 troubles there) that we decreased, they increased ; and the 
 chief commodities they carry with them thither, is English 
 cloth, herrings taken in our seas, English lead and pewter 
 made of our tin, besides other commodities ; all which we 
 may do better than they. And although it be a cheap 
 country, and the trade very gainful, yet we have almost 
 brought it to nought, by disorderly trading, joint stock, 
 and the merchants banding themselves one against another. 
 
 And so likewise we used to have eight or nine great 
 ships to go continually a fishing to Wardhouse, and this 
 year but one, and so, pro rata, they outgo us in all kind of 
 fishing and merchandizing in all countries, by reason they 
 spare no cost, nor deny no privileges that may encourage 
 advancement of trade and manufactory. 
 
 Now if it please, and with your Majesty's good liking 
 stand, to take notice of these things, which I conceive to 
 be fit for your Majesty's consideration, which in all hum- 
 bleness (as duty bindeth me) I do tender unto your 
 Majesty, for the unfeigned zeal I bear to the advancement 
 of your honour and profit, and the general good of your 
 subjects; it being apparent, that no three kingdoms in 
 Christendom can compare with your Majesty for support 
 of trafifick, and continual employment of your people 
 within themselves, having so many great means, both by 
 sea and land, to inrich your coffers, multiply your navy, 
 inlarge your traffick, make your kingdoms powerful, and 
 your people rich; yet, through idleness, they are poor, 
 wanting employment, many of your land and coast- towns 
 much ruinated, and your kingdom in need of coin, your 
 shipping, traffick, and mariners decayed, whilst your Ma- 
 jesty's neighbour princes, without these means, abound in 
 
 16 wealth. 
 
Trade and Commerce. 17 
 
 wealth, inlarge their towns, increase their shipping, trafSck, 
 and mariners, and find out such employment for their 
 people, that they are all advantageous to their common- 
 wealth, only by ordaining commodious constitutions in 
 merchandizing, and fulness of trade and manufactory. 
 
 God hath blessed your Majesty with incomparable 
 benefits ; as with copper, lead, iron, tin, allum, copperas, 
 safiron, fells, and divers other native commodities, to the 
 number of about one hundred, and other manufactories 
 vendible, to the number of about one thousand, (as shall 
 appear) besides corn, whereof great quantity of beer is 
 made, and most transported by strangers ; as also wool, 
 whereof much is shipped forth unwrought into cloth or 
 stufi's, and cloth transported undress'd and undy'd, which 
 doth employ and maintain near fifty thousand people in 
 foreign parts, your Majesty's people wanting the employ- 
 ment in England, many of them being enforced to live in 
 great want, and seek it beyond the seas. 
 
 Coals, which do employ hundreds of strangers ships 
 yearly to transport them out of this kingdom, whilst we 
 do not employ twenty ships in that course. 
 
 Iron ordnance, which is a jewel of great value, far 
 more than it is accounted, by reason that no other country 
 could ever attain unto it, although they have assayed with 
 great charge. 
 
 Your Majesty hath timber of your own for building of 
 ships, and commodities plenty to lade them, which com- 
 modities other nations want, yet your Majesty's people 
 decline in shipping, traffick, and mariners. 
 
 These inconveniences happen by three causes espe- 
 cially. 
 
 1. The unprofitable course of merchandising. 
 
 2. The want of course of full manufactory of our 
 home-bred commodities. 
 
 3. The undervaluing of our coins, contrary to the 
 rules of other nations. 
 
 17 For 
 
18 Observations on 
 
 For instance. The merchant adventurers by over- 
 trading upon credit^ or with money taken up upon ex- 
 change, whereby they lose usually ten or twelve, and 
 sometimes fifteen or sixteen per cent, are enforced to make 
 sale of their cloths at under rates, or keep their credit, 
 whereby cloth, being the j ewel of the land, is undervalued, 
 and the merchant in short time eaten out. 
 
 The merchants of Ipswich, whose trade for Elbing is 
 chiefly for fine cloths, aU dy'd and dressed within our 
 land, do, for the most part, buy their fine cloths upon 
 time ; and by reason they go so much upon credit, they 
 are enforced (not being able to stand upon their markets) 
 to sell, giving fifteen or eighteen months day of payment 
 for their cloths, and having sold them, they then presently 
 sell their bills so taken for cloth, allowing after the rate of 
 fourteen or fifteen, and sometimes twenty ^er cent, which 
 money they employ forthwith in wares at excessive prices, 
 and lose as much more that way, by that time their wares 
 be sold at home : Thus by over-running themselves upon 
 credit, they disable themselves and others, inhancing the 
 prices of foreign commodities, and pulling down the rates 
 of our own. 
 
 The west-country merchants that trade with cloths 
 into France or Spain, do usually employ their servants 
 (young men of small experience) who by cunning com- 
 bining of the French a,nd Spanish merchants, are so en- 
 trapped, that when all customs and charges be accounted, 
 their masters shaU hardly receive their principal monies. 
 As for returns out of France, their silver and gold is so 
 highly rated, that our merchants cannot bring it home, but 
 to great loss ; therefore the French merchants set higher 
 rates upon their commodities, which we must either buy 
 dear, or let our monies lie dead there a long time, until 
 we can conveniently employ the same. 
 
 The northern merchants of York, Hull, and Newcastle, 
 trade only in white kerseys and coloured dozens ; and 
 
 18 every 
 
Trade and Commerce. 19 
 
 every merchant, be his adventure never so small, doth, 
 for the most part, send over an unexperienced youth, unfit 
 for merchandising, which hringeth to the stranger great 
 advantage, but to his master and commonwealth great 
 hindrance ; for they, before their goods be landed, go to 
 the stranger, and buy such quantities of iron, flax, corn, 
 and other commodities, as they are bound to lade their 
 ships withal, which ships they engage themselves to relade 
 within three weeks, or a month, and do give the price the 
 merchant stranger asketh, because he gives them credit, 
 and lets them ship away their iron, flax, and other com- 
 modities, before they have sold their kerseys, and other 
 commodities, by which means extraordinary dear commo- 
 dities are returned into this realm, and the servant also 
 enforced to sell his cloths under-foot, and oftentimes to 
 loss, to keep his credit, and to make payment for the goods 
 before shipped home, having some twenty days or a 
 month^s respite to sell the cloths, and to give the mer- 
 chant satisfaction for his iron, flax, and other wares ; by 
 which extremities our home-bred commodities are abased . 
 
 Touching Manufactory. 
 
 There have been about fourscore thousand undress'd 
 and imdy'd cloths yearly transported. 
 
 It is therefore evident, that the kingdom hath been 
 yearly deprived of about four hundred thousand pounds 
 within these five and fifty years, which is near twenty 
 millions that would have been gained by the labour of 
 poor workmen in that time, with the merchants gains for 
 bringing in dying stuffs, and return of cloths dressM and 
 dyM, with other benefits to the realm, besides exceeding 
 enlarging of traffick, and increase of ships and mariners. 
 
 There would have been gained in that time about three 
 millions, by increase of custom upon commodities returned 
 for cloths dress'd and dy'd, and for dying stuffs, which 
 
 19 would 
 
20 Observations on 
 
 would have more plentifully been brought in and used for 
 the same. 
 
 There hath been also transported in that time yearly 
 by bays. Northern and Devonshire kerseys, white, about 
 fifty thousand cloths, counting three kerseys to a cloth, 
 whereby hath been lost about five millions by those sorts 
 of cloths in that time, which would have come to poor 
 workmen for their labour, with the customs for dying 
 stufis, and the people's profit for bringing them in, with 
 returns of other commodities, and freights for shipping. 
 
 Bays are transported white into Amsterdam, and there 
 being dress'd and dy'd, are shipped into Spain, Portugal, 
 and other kingdoms, where they are sold in the name of 
 Flemish Bays, setting their own town-seal upon them ; so 
 that we lose the very name of our home-bred commodities, 
 and other countries get the reputation and profit thereof. 
 Lamentable it is, that this land should be deprived of so 
 many above-mentioned millions, and that our native com- 
 modities of cloth, ordained by God for the natural sub- 
 jects, being so royal and rich in itself, should ba driven to 
 so small advantage of reputation and profit to jovon Ma- 
 jesty and people, and so much improved and intercepted 
 by strangers, considering that God hath enabled, and 
 given your Majesty power to advance dressing and dying, 
 and transporting of all your cloths within a year or two ; 
 I speak it knowingly, to show how it may be done laud- 
 ably, lawfully, and approved to be honourable, feasable, 
 and profitable. 
 
 All the companies of your land ^transport their cloths 
 dress'd and dy'd, to the good of your kingdom, except the 
 merchant adventurers, whereby the Eastland and Turkey 
 merchants, with other companies, do increase your Ma- 
 jesty's customs, by bringing in, and spending dying stufps, 
 and setting your people on work, by dressing before they 
 transport them ; and they might increase far more custom 
 to your Majesty, and make much more profit to them- 
 
 20 selves 
 
Trade and Commerce. 21 
 
 selves and this realm, and set many thousands of poor 
 people more on work for dressing and dying, and likewise 
 employ more ships and mariners, for bringing in dying 
 stuffs, were it not for the merchant adventurers, who 
 transport their cloths white, rough, undressed and undyM, 
 into the Low- Countries, where they sell them to the 
 strangers, who afterwards dress, dye, and stretch them to 
 such unreasonable lengths, contrary to our law, that they 
 prevent and forestall our markets, and cross the just pro- 
 hibitions of our state and realm, by their agents and 
 factors lying in divers places with our own cloths, to the 
 great decay of this kingdom in general, and discredit of 
 our cloths in particular. 
 
 If the accompt were truly known, it would be found 
 that they make not clear profit only by cloth transported 
 rough, undress' d, and undy'd, sixty thousand pounds a 
 year : but it is most apparent your Majesty in yoar cus- 
 toms, your merchants in their sales and prices, your 
 subjects in their labours, for lack of not dressing and 
 dying, your ships and mariners, in not bringing in of 
 dying stuffs, and spending of allum, is hindered yearly 
 near a million of pounds ; so that trade is driven to the 
 great hindrance of your Majesty and people by permitting 
 your native commodities to pass rough, undress'd, and 
 undy'd, by the merchant adventurer. 
 
 Touching Fishing. 
 
 The great sea business of fishing doth employ near 
 twenty thousand ships and vessels, and four hundred 
 thousand people are employed yearly upon your coast of 
 England, Scotland, and Ireland, with sixty ships of war, 
 which may prove dangerous. 
 
 The Hollanders only have about three thousand ships 
 to fish withal, and fifty thousand people are employed 
 yearly by them upon your Majesty's coasts of England, 
 Scotland, and Ireland. 
 
 21 These 
 
22 Observations on 
 
 These three thousand fishing ships and vessels of the 
 Hollanders do employ near nine thousand other ships and 
 vessels^ and one hundred and fifty thousand persons more 
 by sea and land to make provision to dress and transport 
 the fish they take, and return commodities, whereby they 
 are enabled, and do build yearly one thousand ships and 
 vessels, having not one timber-tree growing in their own 
 country, nor home-bred commodities to lade one hun- 
 dred ships, and yet they have twenty thousand ships and 
 vessels, and all employed. 
 
 King Henry the Seventh, desirous to make his king- 
 doms powerful and rich, by increase of ships and mariners, 
 and employment of his people, sent unto his sea-coast 
 towns, moving them to set up the great and rich fishing, 
 with promise to give them needful privileges, and to 
 furnish them with loans of money, if need were, to en- 
 courage them ; yet his people were slack. Now since I 
 have traced this business, and made mine endeavours 
 known unto your Majesty, your noblemen, able merchants, 
 and others, (who having set down under their hands for 
 more assurance) promised to disburse large sums of money 
 for the building up of this great and rich large sea-city, 
 which will increase more strength to your land, give more 
 comfort, and do more good to all your cities and towns, 
 than all the companies of your kingdom, having fit and 
 needful privileges, for the upholding and strengthning of 
 so weighty and needful a business. 
 
 For example, twenty busses built and put into a sea- 
 coast town where there is not one ship before, there must 
 be to carry, recarry, transport, and make provision for one 
 buss, three ships ; likewise every ship setting on work thirty 
 several trades and occupations, and four hundred thousand 
 persons by sea and land, insomuch as three hundred per- 
 sons are not able to make one fleet of nets in four months 
 for one buss, which is no small employment. 
 
 Thus by twenty busses are set on work, near eight 
 22 thousand 
 
Trade and Commerce. 23 
 
 thousand persons by sea and land, and an increase of 
 above one thousand mariners, and a fleet of eighty sail of 
 ships to belong to one town, where none were before to 
 take the wealth out of the sea, to inrich and strengthen 
 the land, only by raising of twenty busses. 
 
 Then what good one thousand or two thousand will do, 
 I leave to your Majesty's consideration. 
 
 It is worthy to be noted, how necessai-y fishermen are 
 to the commonwealth, and how needfal to be advanced and 
 cherished, &c. 
 
 1. For taking God's blessing out of the sea to inrich 
 the realm, which otherwise we lose. 
 
 2. For setting the people on work. 
 
 3. For making plenty and cheapness in the realm. 
 
 4: For increasing of shipping, to make the land power- 
 ful. 
 
 5. For a continual nursery for breeding and increasing 
 our mai'iners. 
 
 6. For making employment of all sorts of people, as 
 blind, lame, and others, by sea and land, from ten or 
 twelve years and upwards. 
 
 7. For inriching your Majesty's cofl'ers, by merchan- 
 dises returned from other countries for fish and herrings. 
 
 8. For the increase and enabling of merchants, which 
 now droop and daily decay. 
 
 Touching the Coin. 
 
 For the most part, aU monarchies and free states, both 
 heathen and christian, as Turky, Barbary, France, Poland, 
 and others, do hold for a rule of never-failing profit, to 
 keep their coin at higher rates within their own territories, 
 than it is in other kingdoms. 
 
 The Causes. 
 
 1 . To preserve the coin within their own territories. 
 
 2. To bring unto themselves the coin of foreign 
 
 princes. 
 
 23 3. To 
 
24 Observations on 
 
 3. To enforce merchant strangers to take their com- 
 modities at high ratesj which this kingdom bears the 
 
 burden of. 
 
 For Instance. 
 
 The King of Barbary perceiving the trade of Christian 
 merchants to increase in his kingdom, and that the re- 
 turns out of his kingdoms were most in gold, whereby it 
 was much enhanced, raised his ducat (being then current 
 for three ounces) to four, five, and six ounces ; nevertheless 
 it was no more worth in England, being so raised, than 
 when it went for three ounces. 
 
 This ducat, current for three ounces in Barbary, was 
 then worth in England seven shillings and sixpence ; and 
 no more worthy being raised to six ounces ; since which 
 time (adding to it a small piece of gold) he hath raised it 
 to eight, and lastly, to ten ounces ; yet at this day it is 
 worth but ten shillings and one penny, notwithstanding 
 your Majesty's late raising of your gold. 
 
 Having thus raised his gold, he then devised to have 
 plenty of silver brought into his kingdom, raised the 
 royal of eight, being but two ounces, to three and three 
 pence half-penny, which caused great plenty of silver to 
 be brought in, and to continue in his kingdom. 
 
 PRANCE. 
 
 The English Jacobus goeth for three and twenty shil- 
 lings in merchandising. 
 
 The French crown for seven shillings and sixpence. 
 
 Also the king hath raised his silver four souce in 
 the crown. 
 
 NORTH-HOLLAND. 
 
 The double Jacobus goeth for three and twenty shillings 
 sterling. 
 
 The English shilling is there eleven stivers, which is 
 two shillings over in the pound. 
 
 24 POLAND. 
 
Trade and Commerce. 25 
 
 POLAND. 
 
 The king of Poland raised his Hungary ducat from 
 fifty-six to seventy-seven and an half Polish grosheSj and 
 the rix-doUar from thirty-six to forty-seven and an half 
 groshes ; the rix-doUar, worth in Poland forty-seven and 
 an half groshes, is, by account, valued at six shillings and 
 fourpence sterling, and here in England is worth but four 
 shillings and sevenpence; the Hungary ducat, seventy- 
 seven, is worth, by account, in Poland ten shillings and 
 four pence, and in England is worth but seven shillings 
 and tenpence ; the Jacobus of England, here current for 
 twenty-two shillings, in Poland twenty-four shillings, at 
 the rate of seven shillings and tenpence for the Hungary 
 ducat. 
 
 Now to turn the stream and riches raised by your 
 Majesty's native commodities into the natural channel, 
 from whence it hath been a long time diverted; may 
 it please your Majesty to consider these points follow- 
 ing. 
 
 1. Whether it be not fit that a state-merchant be set- 
 tled within your dominions, which may both dispose more 
 profitably of the riches thereof, and encounter pohcies of 
 merchant strangers, who now go beyond us in all kind of 
 profitable merchandising ? 
 
 3. Whether it be not necessary, that your native com- 
 modities should receive their fuU manufactory by your 
 subjects within your dominions ? 
 
 3. Whether it be not fit the coals should yield your 
 Majesty and subjects a better value, by permitting them 
 to pass out of the land, and that they be in your subjects 
 shipping only transported ? 
 
 4. Whether it be not fit your Majesty presently raise 
 
 your coin to as high rates as it is in the parts beyond 
 
 the seas ? 
 
 35 5, Whether 
 
26 Observations on 
 
 5. Whether it be not necessary that the great sea- 
 business of fishing be forthwith set forward ? 
 
 If it please yonr Majesty to approve of these con- 
 siderationSj and accordingly to put them in a right course 
 of execution^, I assure myself (by God's help) in short 
 time your Majesty's customs^ and the continual comings 
 into your coffers^ will be exceedingly increased, your ships 
 and mariners trebled, your land and waste towns (which 
 are now run out of gates) better replenished, and your 
 people employed, to the great inriching and honour of 
 your kingdom, with the applause, and to the comfort of 
 all your loyal subjects. 
 
 May it please your Majesty, 
 
 I have the rather undergone the pains to look into 
 their policies, because I have heard them profess they 
 hoped to get the whole trade and shipping of Christendom 
 into their own hands, as weU for transportation, as other- 
 wise, for the command and mastery of the seas ; to which 
 end I find that they do daily increase their traffick, 
 augmenting their shipping, multiplying their mariners 
 strength and wealth in all kinds, whereat I have grieved 
 the more, when I consider'd how God hath endued this 
 kingdom, above any three kingdoms in Christendom, with 
 divers varieties of home-bred commodities, which others 
 have not, and cannot want, and endowed us with sundry 
 other means to continue and maintain trade of merchan- 
 dising and fishing beyond them all, whereby we might 
 prevent the deceivers, ingross the commodities of the in- 
 grossers, inrich ourselves, and increase our navigation, 
 shipping, and mariners, so as it would make all nations to 
 vail the bonnet to England, if we would not be still want- 
 ing to ourselves in employment of our people. 
 
 Which people being divided into three parts, two parts 
 of them are mere spenders and consumers of a common- 
 wealth, therefore I aim at these points following. 
 
 26 To 
 
Trade and Commerce. 27 
 
 To allure and encourage the people for their private 
 gain, to be aU workers and erecters of a commonwealth. 
 
 To inrich and fill your Majesty's coffers by a continual 
 coming in, and making your people wealthy, by means of 
 their great and profitable trading and employment. 
 
 To vend our home-bred commodities to far more repu- 
 tation, and much more profit to the king, the merchant, 
 and the kingdom. 
 
 To return the merchandises of other countries at far 
 cheaper rates than now they are, to the great good of the 
 realm in general. 
 
 To make the land powerful by increasing of ships and 
 mariners. 
 
 To make your people's takings in general to be much 
 more every day than now they are, which, by God's help, 
 will grow continually more and more, by the great con- 
 course and commerce that will come by settled constitu- 
 tions and convenient privileges, as in other parts they do 
 by this their great freedom of trade. 
 
 All this, and much more, is done in other countries, 
 where nothing groweth; so that of nothing they make 
 great things. 
 
 Then how much more mighty things might we make, 
 where so great abundance and variety of home-bred com- 
 modities and rich materials grow for your people to work 
 upon, and other plentiful means to do that vrithal, which 
 other nations neither have, nor cannot want, but of neces- 
 sity must be furnished from hence ? And now, whereas 
 our merchandising is wild, utterly confused, and out of 
 frame, as at large appeareth, a state-merchant will roundly 
 and effectually bring aU the premises to pass, fill your 
 havens with ships, those ships with mariners, your king- 
 dom full of merchants, their houses full of outlandish 
 commodities, and your coffers full of coin, as in other 
 places they do, and your people shall have just cause to 
 hold in happy memory, that your Majesty was the begin- 
 
 27 ner 
 
28 Observations on, Sfc. 
 
 ner df so profitable, praise worthy, aad renowned a work, 
 being the true philosopher's stone to make your Majesty 
 a rich and potent king, and your subjects happy people, 
 only by settling of a state-merchant, whereby your people 
 may have fulness of trade and manufactory, and yet hold 
 both honourable and profitable government, without break- 
 ing of companies. 
 
 And for that in the settling of so weighty a business, 
 many things of great consequence must necessarily fall 
 into consideration, I humbly pray, that your Majesty may 
 be pleased (for the bringing of this great service to light) 
 to give me leave to nominate the commissioners, and your 
 Majesty to give them power to call before them such men 
 as they shall think fit to confer with upon oath, or other- 
 wise, as occasion shall offer ; that the said commissioners, 
 with all speed, for the better advancement of this honour- 
 able and profitable work, may prepare and report the 
 same unto your Majesty. 
 
 Your Majesty's most loyal and true-hearted subject, 
 
 W. Raleigh. 
 
NAVIGATION 
 
 AND 
 
 Commerce, 
 
 THEIR 
 
 ORIGINAL 
 
 AND 
 
 PROGRESS. 
 
 Containing 
 
 A fuccinSi Account of TrafEck in General ; its 
 Benefits and Improvements : Of Difcoveries, 
 Wars and Conflifts at Sea, from the Original 
 of Navagation to this Day ; with fpecial 
 Regard to the ENGLISH Nation; Their 
 feveral Voyages and Expeditions, to the Be- 
 ginning of our late Differences with HOLLAND ; 
 In which His Majefties Title to the DOMI- 
 NION of the SEA is Afferted, againji the Novel, 
 and later Pretenders. 
 
 By J. EVELYN, Efq; S.R.S. 
 
 Cicero ad Attic, L. lo. Ep. 8. 
 Slui MARE teneat, eum necejfe RERUM Potiri. 
 
 LONDON, 
 
 Printed by T. R. for Benj. Tooke, at the Sign of the SMp 
 in St. Pauls Churchvard, 1674.. 
 
TO 
 
 The King. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 THAT I take the boldness to inscribe Your Majesties 
 name on the front of this little History, is to pay 
 a tribute, the most due, and the most becoming my rela- 
 tion to your Majesties service of any that I could devise ; 
 since Your Majesty has been pleas' d among so many 
 noble and illustrious persons, to name me of the Councel 
 of Your Commerce, and Plantations : And if it may 
 afford Your Majesty some diversion, to behold, as in a 
 table, the course, and importance of what Your Majesty 
 is the most absolute arbiter of any Potentate on earth, 
 and excite in Your loyal subjects a courage, and an 
 industry becoming the advantages which God and 
 Nature have put into their hands, I shall have reach' d 
 my humble ambition, and Your Majesty will not reprove 
 these expressions of it in 
 
 SIR, 
 
 Your Majestie's Most 
 
 Dutiful, Most Obedient, 
 
 and ever Loyal 
 
 Subject and Servant, 
 
 J. Evelyn. 
 
NAVIGATION 
 
 AND 
 
 COMMERCE, 
 
 THEIR 
 
 Original and Progrefs. 
 
 I.XXTHOSOEVER shall with serious attention 
 y V contemplate the divine fabrick of this 
 inferiour orb, the various, and admirable furniture 
 which fills, and adorns it; the constitution of the 
 elements about it, and, above all, the nature of man 
 (for whom they were created) he must needs acknow- 
 ledge, that there is nothing more agreable to reason, 
 than that they were all of them ordain'd for mutual 
 use and communication. 
 
 2. The earth, and every prospect of her superficies, 
 presents us with a thousand objects of utility and 
 delight, in which consists the perfection of all sub- 
 lunary things : And, though, through her rugged and 
 dissever'd parts, rocks, seas, and remoter islands, she 
 seem at first, to check our addresses ; yet, when we 
 ag'en behold in what ample baies, creeks, trending- 
 shores, inviting harbours and stations, she appears 
 spreading her arms upon the bordures of the ocean ; 
 whiles the rivers, who repay their tributes to it, glide 
 
 5 not 
 
34 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 not in direct, and prsecipitate courses from their con- 
 ceil' dj and distant heads, hut in various flexures and 
 meanders (as well to temper the rapidity of their 
 streams, as to water and refresh the fruitful plains) 
 methinks she seems, from the very beginning, to have 
 been dispos'd for trafick and commerce, and even 
 courts us to visit her most solitary recesses. 
 
 3. This meditation sometimes affecting my thoughts, 
 did exceedingly confirm, and not a little surprize me ; 
 when reflecting on the situation of the Mediterranean 
 Sea (so aptly contrived for intercourse to so vast a part 
 of the world) I concluded; that if the Hollanders 
 themselves (who, of all the inhabitants in it, are the 
 best skiird in making canales and trenches, and to 
 derive waters) had joyn'd in consultation, how the 
 scattered parts of the earth might be rendred most 
 accessible, and easie for commerce ; they could not have 
 contriv'd, where to have made the inlet with so much 
 advantage, as God and nature have done it for us; 
 since by means of this sea, we have admission to no 
 less than three parts of the habitable world, and there 
 seems nothing left (in this regard) to humane industry, 
 which could render it more consummate ; so impious was 
 
 Rhoderijo de the saying of Alphonsus (not worthy the name of 
 ToUdo, lib, I. prince) that had he been of counsel with the Creator 
 
 when he made the universe, he could have framed it 
 
 better. 
 
 4. If we cast our eyes on the plains and the moun- 
 tains; behold them naturally furnished with goodly 
 trees ; of which some there are, which grow as it were 
 spontaneously into vessels and canoes, wanting nothing 
 but the launching, to render them useful ; but, when 
 the art of man, or of God rather (for it was he, who 
 first instructed him to buUd) conspires, and that he but 
 sets his divine genius on work, the same earth furnishes 
 materials, to equip, and perfect the most beautiful, 
 
 6 useful, 
 
their Original and Progress. 35 
 
 useful, and stupendious creature (so let us be permitted 
 to call her) the whole world has to shew : And if the 
 windsj and elements prove auspicious (which was the 
 third instance of our contemplation) this enormous 
 machine (as if inspir'd with life too) is ready for every 
 motion, and to brave all encounters and adventures, 
 undertakes to fathom the world itself ; to visit strange, 
 and distant lands ; to people, cultivate, and civilize 
 uninhabited, and barbarous regions, and to proclaim to 
 the universe, the wonders of the architect, the skill of 
 the pilot, and, above all, the benefits of commerce. 
 
 5. So great, and unspeakable were the blessings 
 which mankind received by his yet infant adventures ; 
 that it is no wonder, to see how every nation con- 
 tended, who should surpass each other in the art of 
 navigation, and apply the means of commerce to pro- 
 mote and derive it to themselves ; Grod Almighty (as we 
 have shew'd) in the constitution of the world, prompt- 
 ing us to awaken our industry for the supply of our 
 necessities : For man only being oblig'd to live poli- 
 tickly, and in society, for mutual assistance, found it 
 would not be accomplish'd without labour and industry ; 
 nature, which ordains all things necessary for other 
 creatures, in the place where she produces them, did 
 not so for man, but ennobling him with a superior 
 faculty, supply'd him with all things his needs 
 could require. Wheresoever therefore men are born 
 (unless wanting to themselves) they have it in their 
 power, to exalt themselves, even in these regards, 
 above the other creatures ; and the liUies which spin not, 
 and are yet so splendidly clad, are not in this respect, 
 so happy as an industrious and prudent man; because 
 they have neither knowledge, or sense of their being 
 and perfections : And, though few things indeed are 
 necessary for the animal life ; yet, has it no prerogative 
 by that alone, above the more rational, which man 
 
 7 on el J 
 
36 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 onely enjoys, and for whom the world was made; seeing 
 the variety of blessings that were ordained to serve liim, 
 proclaims his dominion, and the vastness of his- nature ; 
 nor, had the great Creator himself been so glorified, 
 without an intellectual being, that could contemplate, 
 and make use of them. We are therefore rather to 
 admire that stupendious mixture of plenty and want, 
 which we find disseminated throughout the creation ; 
 what St. Paul affirms of the members of the little 
 world, being so applicable to those of the greater, and 
 no one place, or country able to say, I have no need of 
 another, considered not onely as to consummate perfec- 
 tions, but even divers things, if not absolutely necessary, 
 at least, convenient. 
 
 6. To demonstrate this in a most conspicuous in- 
 stance, we need look no farther than Holland, of which 
 fertile (shall we say) or inchanted spot, ^tis hard to 
 decide, whether its wants, or abundance are really 
 greater, than any other countries under heaven; since, 
 by the quality, and other circumstances of situation 
 (though otherwise productive enough) it aflFords neither 
 grain, wine, oyle, timber, mettal, stone, wool, hemp, pitch, 
 nor, almost, any other commodity of use ; and yet we 
 find, there is hardly a nationui. the world, which enjoyes 
 all these things in greater affiuencei : And all this, from 
 commerce alone, and the effects of industry, to which 
 not onely the neighbouring parts of Evrope contribute, 
 but the Indies, and Antipodes : so as the whole world 
 (as vast as it appears to others)" seems but a farm, 
 scarce another province to them ; and indeed it is that 
 alone, which has built, and peopl'd goodly cities, where 
 nothing but rushes grew ; cultivated an heavy genius 
 with all the politer arts ; enlarged, and secur'd their 
 boundaries, and made them a name in the world, who 
 within less than an age, were hardly considered in it. 
 
 7. What fame and riches the Venetians acquir'd 
 8 whilst 
 
their Original and Progress. 37 
 
 whilst they -were true to their spouse, the Sea (and in 
 acimowledgment whereof, they still repeat and celebrate 
 the nuptials) histories are loud of: but, this, no longer 
 continu'd than whilst they had regard to their fleets, 
 and their trafick, the proper business, and the most 
 genuine to their situation. From hence, they founded 
 a glorious city, fixt upon a few muddy, and scatter'd 
 islands ; and thence, distributed over Europe, the pro- 
 duct of the eastern world, 'till changing this industry 
 into ambition, and applying it to the inlarging of their 
 territories in Italy, they lost their interests, and acquists 
 in the Mediterranean, which were infinitely more con- 
 siderable. Nor in this recension of the advantages of 
 commerce, is her neighbour Genoa to be forgotten, 
 whose narrow dominions (not exceeding some private 
 lordships in England) have grown to a considerable 
 state ; and from a barren rock, to a proud city, emu- 
 lous for wealth and magnificence, with the stateliest 
 emporiums of the world. 
 
 8. The Easterlings, and Anseatick Towns (famous for 
 early trafiick) had perhaps never been heard of, but for 
 courting this mistress ; no more than those vaster tracts 
 of Sweden, Norway, Muscovy, &c. which the late in- 
 dustry of our own people, has rendred considerable. 
 The Danes, 'tis confessed, had long signaliz'd themselves 
 by their importunate descents on this island, and uni- 
 versal piracies ; whilst negligent of our advantages at 
 sea, we often became obnoxious to them ; but, when 
 once we set up our moving fortresses, and grew nume- 
 rous in shippingj we liv'd in profound tranquillity, grew 
 opulent, and formidable to our enemies. 
 
 9. It was Commerce, and Navigation (the daughter 
 of Peace, and good Intelligence) that gave reputation to 
 the most noble of our native staples. Wool, exceedingly 
 improved by forreigners ; especially, since the reigns of 
 Edward the Second, and Third; and has been the 
 
 9 principal 
 
38 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 principal occasion, of instituting, and establishing our 
 merchant-adventurers, and other worthy fraternites ; to 
 mention onely the esteem of our horses, corn, tin, lead, 
 iron, saffron, fullers-earth, hides, wax, fish, and other 
 natural and artificial commodities, most of which are 
 indigene, and domestick, others imported, and brought 
 from forraign countries. Thus, Asia refreshes us with 
 spices, recreates us with perfumes, cures us with drougs, 
 and adorns us with jewels : Africa sends us ivory and 
 gold ; America, silver, sugar and cotton : France, Spain 
 and Italy, give us wine, oyl and silk : Russia, warms us 
 in furrs ; Swethen, supplies us with copper ; Denmark 
 and the northern tracts, with masts, and materials for 
 shipping, without which, all this were nothing. It is 
 commerce, and navigation that breeds, and accomplishes 
 that most honourable and useful race of men (the pillars 
 
 See Mr. Coke, of all magnificence) to skill in the exportation of super- 
 fluities, importation of necessaries; to settle staples, 
 with regard to the publick stock ; what 'tis fit to keep 
 at home, and what to send abroad : to be vigilant over 
 the course of exchange ; to employ hands for regulated 
 salaries : and, by their dexterity, to moderate all this, 
 by a true, and solid interest of state, which, without this 
 mystery, cannot long subsist, as not alwaies admitting 
 permanent, and immutable rules : In a word, the sea 
 (which covers half the patrimony of man, renders the 
 whole world a stranger to it self, and the inhabitants, 
 for whom 'twas made, as rude as canibals) makes them 
 but one family by the miracles of commerce ; and 
 yet we have said nothing of the most illustrious 
 product of it ; that it has taught us religion, instructed 
 us in polity, cultivated our manners, and furnish'd us 
 with all the delicacies of virtuous and happy living. 
 
 10. Whether the first authors of traffick were the 
 Tyrians, Trojans, Lydians ; those of Carthage ; or (as 
 
 Ainxi<l. 1. 1. Josephus will) the mercurial spirits soon after the Flood, 
 
 10 to 
 
their Original and Progress. 39 
 
 to repair^ and supply the ruines of that universal over- 
 throw, we are not solicitous : that it entered with the 
 earliest, and best dales of the restored world, we shall 
 prove hereafter, by the timely applications of industrious 
 men, to inlarge, and improve their condition. The 
 Romans indeed, were not of a good while, favourable to 
 merchandizing ; for, the Patricians, Senators and great 
 men might not be owners in particular, of any consider- 
 able vessel, besides small barks and pleasure-boats, and 
 the most illustrious nations have esteem' d the gain by 
 traffick and commerce incompatible with nobless : not, for 
 being enemies to trade ; but, because they esteem'd it an 
 ignoble way of gain, Quaestus omnis indecorus patribus 
 visus, sales Livy, and were all for conquest and the sword ; Lii. 21 . c. 63. 
 for, otherwise, they so encourag'd this industry, that 
 the Latins (whom for a long time, they held under such Latini muUis 
 servitude, that they might not devise their estates when """^^s ''"'^l' 
 they dyed) if any one of them came to be able to build tatem Roma- 
 an handsome ship, fit for burthen and traffick, he was ^^ > ^\ ^ 
 Libertate donatus, and obtained his freedom, with power caverint duo- 
 to make his testament, and capable of bearing office : »'mto Millium 
 And one would wonder that traffick being so profitable, pacem'^o'^'^ 
 Lycurgus (that great law- giver amongst the Lacedemo- Ulpian./M«<iV. 
 nians) should prohibit it ; some believe it was for its -^ "g "''^"**' 
 being so obnoxious to corruption, and the luxury intro- 
 duced amongst the people by commerce with strangers ; 
 the lying and deceit, purjury and theft, in buying, 
 selling, and making bargains ; for which reason Plato 
 design^ the towns of his common-wealth to be built 
 far distant from the sea; and our Saviour scourged 
 the mony-changers out of the Temple ; so difficult a 
 thing it is for those who deal much, to preserve their 
 hands clean : But, 'tis said, Plato changed his mind ; 
 and we all know, that as the Romans themselves 
 grew wiser, so they dignified it, and took off that ill- 
 understood reproach, as the Orator has himself told us, 
 
 11 when 
 
40 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 * 0^. 1. 1. when (condemning the pedlary, and sordid* vices of 
 si tenuis est retailers) he acknowledges, that where staple, and use- 
 sordida pu- ful commodities can be brought in to supply the needs 
 Nihil enim °^ whole countries, 'tis a commendable service, vide- 
 proficient,nisi turque jure Optimo, posse laudari ; nay, shew'd by their 
 'meruimtu ^"'^ example, that for the greatest men to turn mer- 
 chants, did less taint their blood, than their sloth and 
 effeminacy J and upon this account, the wisest of the 
 heathens (for such were Tholes, Solon, Hippocrates, and 
 even Plato himself) have honour'd merchandize ; and, 
 of later times, many kings and princes ; and then in- 
 deed, does traffick rise to its ascendent, when 'tis dig- 
 nified by their example, and defended by their power .- 
 This, the Dukes of Florence, and other potentates have 
 long since understood; and, now at last, the French 
 King : Witness the repair of his ports, building of ships, 
 cutting new channels, instituting companies, planting of 
 colonies, and universal encouragement of manufactures 
 by cherishing, and ennobling of sedulous and indus- 
 trious persons : But, more yet than all this, or rather all 
 this in more perfection; His Majesty (our glorious 
 monarch) by whose influences alone (after all the com- 
 binations of his late powerful enemies) such a trade has 
 been reviv'd, and carried on, and such a fleet, and 
 strength at sea to protect it, as never this nation had a 
 greater, nor any other of the past ages has approach'd ; 
 witness, you three mighty neighbours, at once, taught 
 to submit to him ! For the blessings of navigation, 
 and visiting distant climes, does not stop at traffick only j 
 but (since 'tis no less perfection to keep, than obtain a 
 good) it enables us likewise with means to defend, what 
 our honest industry has gotten ; and, if necessity, and 
 justice require ; with inlarging our dominions too : 
 vindicating our rights, repelling injuries, protecting the 
 oppress' d, and with all the offices of humanity, and good 
 nature ; in a word, justice, and the right of nations, are 
 
 12 the 
 
their Original and Progress. 41 
 
 the objects of commerce : It maintains society, disposes 
 to action, and communicates the graces, and riches 
 which God has variously imparted : From all which con- 
 siderations, 'tis evident ; that a spirit of commerce, and 
 strength at sea to protect it, are the most certain marks 
 of the greatness of empire, deduced from an undeniable 
 sorites; that whoever commands the ocean, commands 
 the trade of the world, and whoever commands the 
 trade of the world, commands the riches of the world, 
 and whoever is master of that, commands the world it- 
 self ; so as had the Spaniard treble his wealth, he could 
 neither be rich, nor safe with his prodigious sloth ; since, 
 whilst he has been sitting still ; we, and other nations 
 have driven the trade of the East Indies, with his 
 treasure of the TVest, and, uniting, as it were, extreams, 
 made the Poles to kiss : They are not therefore small 
 matters, you see, which men so much contend about, 
 when they strive to improve commerce, and, by degrees, 
 promote the art of navigation, and set their empire in 
 the deep, from whence they have found to flow such 
 notable advantages. * Instances of this we might add 
 in abundance ; and that it is not the vastness of terri- 
 tory, but the convenience of situation ; nor the multi- 
 tude of men, but their address and industry which 
 improve a nation. Cosmo di Medicis would often say ; 
 that the prince who had not the sea to friend, was but 
 hali a. prince ; and, this, Charles the Fifth had well con- 
 sidered, when he gave it for a maxime to his son Philip, 
 that if ever he would sit quiet at home, and advance his 
 affairs abroad, he should be sure to keep up his reputa- 
 tion on the waters. The truth is, this great Emperour 
 had neglected his interest at sea, and it laid the founda- 
 tion of the rebellion of his Low Country Subjects, against 
 his successor : To pretend to universal monarchy without 
 fleets, was long since looked on, as a politick chymmra, 
 and was wittily insinuated to Antigonus by Patroclus, Atheiuem D«- 
 
 13 when '""">P^- 1- 8- 
 
42 
 
 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 In Repuh. 
 Aihen. 
 
 Polihyui. 
 
 llli rohur et 
 CBS triplex 
 circa pec- 
 tus — Hor. 
 digitis d 
 morte remo- 
 tus qua- 
 tuoi — 
 
 when (being a commander under Ptolomy Lagus's son) 
 he sent him a present offish and green figffs, intimating, 
 that unless he had the sea in his power, he had as good 
 sit at home, and trifle : It was but labour in vain : And 
 this was the sense of another as great a captain, when 
 reckoning up the infinite prerogatives which the sea 
 afforded ; Xenophon seems to despise the advantages 
 of the land in comparison : Truly the Romans them- 
 selves, were longer in struggling for a little earth in 
 Italy only, than in subduing the whole world, after once 
 their eagles had taken flight towards the sea, and urg'd 
 their fortune on the deep. When once they had 
 subdu'd Agrigentum, Carthage was no longer impreg- 
 nable ; and after they had pass'd Gades and the Her- 
 culean Streight, nothing was too hard for them, they 
 went whither they would, and cruiz'd as far as Thule. 
 
 11. We shall not adventure to divine, who the hardy 
 person was who first resolv'd to trust himself to a plank 
 within an inch of death, to compel the woods to descend 
 into the waters, and to back the most impetuous, and 
 unconstant element; though probably, and for many 
 reasons, somebody long before the Deluge ; Isti sunt po- 
 tentes : 6. Gen. 4. Grotius on the place wiU have the 
 navigafionis repertores, pirata, such as in succeeding 
 ages were Jupiter Cretensis, Minos, &c. Since it is not 
 imaginahle, the world, that must needs be so populous, 
 and was so curious, should have continu'd so many ages 
 without adventures by sea : But, the first vessel which 
 we read of, was made by divine instinct and direction, 
 and whilst the prototype lasted (which histories tell us 
 was many hundred years) doubtless they built many 
 strong, and goodly ships : But, as aU things are in con- 
 tinual flux, and vicissitude ; so the art in time impaired, 
 and men began anew to contrive for their safety or 
 necessity in rafts, and hollow trees ; nay, paper, reeds, 
 twigs, and leather (for of such were the rude beginnings 
 
 14 of 
 
their Original and Progress. 43 
 
 of the finish'd pieces we now admire) till advancing 
 the art, by making use of more durable materials, they 
 then began to build like shiprwrights, when Pyrrhon 
 the Lydian invented the bending of planks by fire, and 
 made boats of several contignations ; nor contented 
 with the same model, the Platenses, Mysians, Trojans 
 and other nations, contended for the various shapes. 
 Thus to Sesostris is ascribed the long ship fitted for ex- 
 pedition : Hippus the Tyrrian devis'd carrichs and 
 onerary vessels of prodigious bulk, for traflSck or of- 
 fence : Athemeus speaks of some that for their enor- 
 mous structure had been taken for mountains, and 
 floating islands ; such was that of Hiero described by the 
 Deipnosophist, a mooving palace adorn'd with gardens of Oneraria 
 the choicest fruit, and trees for shade : Hippagines is Cerealis Sir- 
 said to have transported the first horses in larger boats ; ' 
 
 others ascribe it to Darius, when he retir'd into Thrace ; 
 though we think them rather of antienter date; for 
 what else means the ferrying over King David's goods 
 and carriages, mention'd in the second of Samuel? 2 Sam. \9. 
 Thus far the keel ; for to the divers parts of vessels, for 
 better speed, and government, several were the pre- 
 tenders. The Thasii added decks ; Pisesus the rostrum 
 or beakhead; Tiphys the rudder; Epalamius compleated 
 the anker, which was at first but of one flook : But, 
 before all these, was the use of oars, which from the 
 bireme, invented by the Erythrm, came at last to no Biremis Pi- 
 
 less than fourty ordines, or banks (for so manv had ^*T^^' Vallata 
 
 . ' . TuTvita (fee 
 
 Ptolomy Philopater' s gaily) which, how to reconcile „, ' . 
 
 with possible (though that famous vessel were built for Bemet. Athe- 
 
 pomp, and ostentation only, and therefore with a double "^^j lib. 0. 9. 
 
 prow) together with those monstrous ships of war set 
 
 forth by Demetrius, which had in them 4000 rowers, 
 
 let the curious consult the most learned Palmerius, in 
 
 his X)ia/n6a upon a fragment of iliejwreow :* And for por- » Pkoc. 717. 
 
 tentous and costly vessels, the late Vendosme built by 
 
 15 Lewis 
 
44 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 Lewis the XIII^A. of France ; the Swedish Magaleza, 
 the Venetian Bucentoro ; not to omit those carricks 
 which the Spaniard emploies yearly to his Indies. But, 
 neither did all these helps suffice, 'till they added wings 
 too : they attribute indeed the invention of masts, and 
 cross yards to those of Greet e j but to Theseus, Icarus, 
 and Dedalus the application of sails, which 'tis said, 
 Proteiis first skill'd to manage, and shift with that dex- 
 terity, as he was fain'd to turn himself into all shapes ; 
 and it was doubtless, no little wonder, to see that a 
 piece of cloth (or, as Pliny, wittily, a despicable seed, 
 for so he calls that of hemp, of which sails were made) 
 should be contriv'd to stir such a bulk, and carry it 
 with that incredible celerity, from one extream of the 
 earth to the other : Of that esteem was this ingenious 
 invention, that, besides Prometheus, and the rest we 
 nam'd, whole countries challenged it, and the Rhodians, 
 lonians, Corinthians, those of Tyriis, ^gypt, jEgineta, 
 Boetia with innumerable other, vaunt themselves mas- 
 ters of the science, nor is there any end of their names. 
 It were a thing impossible, to investigate by whom the 
 several riggings of vessels, and compleat equipment 
 Veqetius Pol- '^^^re brought into use : The skill of pilotage has aids 
 lux,Laz.Baji- from the mathematics and astronomy ; and that of go- 
 y^' Four ' kerning ships in fight is another, and a different talent. 
 &c. These, and many more, were the daughters of Time, 
 
 Necessity, and Accident ; so as even to our dales, there is 
 ever something adding, or still wanting to the comple- 
 ment of this incomparable art. Of the magnet we 
 shall speak hereafter, nor are we to despair in the per- 
 fecting of longitudes. Dies, diem docet, and whilst 
 many pass, Science shall still be improved : We shall 
 onely observe, concerning men of war, fleets, and 
 Armada's for battel, that Minos, was reported to be the 
 author, which shews that manner of desperate combat 
 on the waters, to be neer as antient as men themselves, 
 
 16 since 
 
their Original and Progress. 45 
 
 since the Deluge : indeed, to this prince do some attri- I)iodorus,\.6. 
 
 bute the first knowledge of navigation, and that he Strabo,\. 10. 
 
 disputed the Empire of the seas with Neptune himself, 
 
 who, for his power on the watry element, was esteem'd 
 
 a God: But, however these particulars may be uncertain, 
 
 we are able to make proof, that the first fregats were 
 
 built by the English, and generally, the best, and most 
 
 commodious vessels for all sort of uses in the world ; 
 
 and, as the ships, so those who man them, acknowledg'd 
 
 for the most expert, and couragious in it. But, 
 
 12. From the building of ships, we pass to the most 
 celebrious expeditions that have been made in them. 
 The Gentiles (who doubtless took Saturn for Noah, and 
 his sons, for other of the deities) magnifie sundry of 
 their adventures by sea : And, if from the immediate 
 ofi'spring of that ancient patriarch, Shem and Japhet, the 
 Asiatick lies, and those at remoter distance in the 
 Mediterranean and European seas, were peopled (whilst 
 the continent, and less dissever'd Africk, was left to 
 Cham) we have a certain Epoche, for the earliest expe- 
 ditions, and shall less need to insist on those of the 
 Mythical, and Heroic Age; the exploits of Osiris, 
 Hercules, Cadmus ; the Wandrings of Ulysses, and the 
 leaders that expugn'd Troy. To touch but a few of these ; 
 Bacchus, whose dominion lay about the gulph of Persia, 
 made of the first adventures, when from him (after the 
 rape of Ariadne) the Tyrrian pirates learned the art of 
 navigation, or rather to become more skiUful rovers ; if 
 at least, they were not of the first for antiquity in this 
 art ; since the Phoenicians (whether expell'd by Joshua, 
 or transported by their curiosity) having spread their 
 name in the Mediterranean, were admir'd as Gods for 
 their boldness on the waters, and esteem'd among the 
 first that navigated, according to that of the Poet, 
 
 Prima ratem ventis credere docta Tyrus. Tihullus. 
 
 17 That 
 
46 
 
 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 Procopius. 
 
 * Vide Valer, 
 Flacaim A- 
 goTuxut .1. 8. 
 Herodot.Hesy- 
 chium, Sui- 
 dam,Senecain, 
 Lucianum, 
 Strabonem , 
 Amongst the 
 Voeta.iVirgil, 
 Pers. Statins, 
 &c. 
 
 Sen. Trag; in 
 Hippolyto 
 
 That Cadmus sail'd into Greece, peopl'd those iles in 
 the ^gman, taught them letters, and sciences, as he 
 had learn'd them from the Hebreivs, we have undoubted 
 testimony : Some affirm that the Phoenicians circl'd the 
 world long since, and Herodotus has something to that 
 purpose, where in his Melpomene, he speaks of those 
 whom king Necus caus'd to embark from the Red Sea, 
 and that ten years after return'd home by the Columns 
 of Hercules through the Streights : However, that they 
 penetrated far beyond the Western Ocean, and the 
 shores of Africk, the expedition of Hanno in a Navy 
 of LX. ships makes out by grave writers; so their 
 coming as far as our Britain, the pUlars which they 
 fixt at Gades, and Tingis, to which some report 
 they crept in early dales : And as towards the 
 west, so eastward, taking colonies from Elana and 
 the Persian Gulph. As to what they might be for 
 merchants, illustrious is the proof out of Isaiah, where 
 Tyrus is call'd the Crowning City, whose Merchants 
 are princes, and whose Trafickers the honourable of 
 the earth; when under the pretence of transporting 
 commodities into Greece, they carried away lo, daughter 
 oi Inachus, which the Cretans requited, when shortly 
 after, their amorous God, sail'd away with the fair 
 Europa in the White-Bull ; for so was the vessel call'd, 
 which gave occasion to the fable, and serves to prove, 
 how antient the giving names, and * badges is. Indeed 
 so expert were those of Crete in sea-affairs, and so nu- 
 merous in shipping, as by the suffrage of ancient times, 
 there were none durst contend with them for sovereignty: 
 let us hear the Tragcedian, 
 
 maria vasti Creta dominatrix freti, 
 Cujus per omne littus innumerm rates 
 Tenuere pontum .- quicquid Assyria tenus 
 Tellure Nereus pervium rostris secat. 
 
 18 
 
 13. The 
 
their Original and Progress. 47 
 
 13. The Colchick exploit in the famous Argo (so calPd 
 from her nimble sailing) was perform'd by above 50 
 gallantSj of which nine were chief under Jason, and 
 Glaucus his experieno'd pilot : But, whether they went 
 to those countries about the Euxine shores in hopes of 
 golden mines (shadowM by the Fleece) or in expectation 
 of the Philosophers Stone (said to be in possession of 
 king JEta) we leave to the Romancers: There is in Homer 
 a list of Hero's, and ships under their command, men- 
 tionM to be set out by the Ylavaxa'oi, or States Gene- 
 ral of those provinces, reported to have been no less 
 than a thousand ; 
 
 Non anni domuere decern, non mille Carina. Iliad. 2. 
 
 And that this number is not fictitious ; not onely the 
 wondrous exactness of the poet in describing the com- 
 manders by name, but the number of ships under each 
 flag, as the learned Mr. Stanley shows us beyond 
 exception in his excellent notes upon j^schylus and we 
 propose the instance, because it is so very remarkable 
 for its antiquity. 
 
 14. But, to quit these dark, and less certain memo- 
 rials, and mingle that of commerce with martial under- 
 takings : The first for whom we have divine, and infalli- 
 able record, is of the greatest, and the wisest prince, that 
 ever sway'd a scepter : For, though it appear^ the Phce- 
 nicians had us'd the sea before, and, perhaps, were the 
 * first Merchants in the world since the Deluge ; yet, it * uparoi 8e 
 was Solomon doubtless, who open'd the passages to the fjJ-'^opi-i' ^'^- 
 
 111. T • 1 1 AiSivcro e/i- 
 
 South, when animated by his directions, and now leav- viiaavrov. Bi- 
 ing-off their rafts, and improving their adventures in ""y*- Hfpiijy. 
 ships, and stouter vessels, they essay'd to penetrate the 
 farthest Indies, and visit an unknown Hemisphere : or 
 if haply, they preceded him ; yet, were now glad to 
 joyn with this glorious monarch ; because of those 
 advantagious ports his father had taken from the 
 
 19 Idumeans 
 
48 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 Idumeans, which might otherwise interrupt their expe- 
 ditions. What a mass of gold, and other precious things 
 (the peculiar treasure of princes) this fleet of his 
 2 Chro. 9. 21. brought home, the succeeding story relates ; and there 
 is farther notice of mariners, whose trading was for 
 spices and curiosities ; and the voyage to Tarshish 
 (which by some is intrepreted the Ocean, as indeed it 
 signifies in the Chaldcean language, but doubtless, 
 means Tartessus in Spain) is again repeated. Jeho- 
 shaphat, after Solomon, neglected not these prosperous 
 beginings, though, not with equal success.,- for the 
 ships were broken at Esion-Geber : We shall onely 
 remark, upon the account of commerce, that Solomon 
 had no less than two fleets destinM for trafick, of which. 
 Cant. 5. 11. one went to Ophir (perhaps Sophara, Taproban, or 
 Ban. 10, 5. Ceilon) in the East-Indies, and the other to Tarsis, that 
 is {Tartessus) Cales {Cadiz) which being then, and long 
 after esteem'd for the utmost confine of the world, had 
 its name from the Phoenicians, as well as divers other 
 places, and ports of Europe (even as far as Italy, 
 France, and Britany it self) which both they, and we 
 observe to this day in no obscure footsteps : and that 
 Spain abounded in plenty of gold too (whatever some 
 SeeBockartus superficial searchers think) we learn from Strabo, Dio- 
 
 Phaleg. 1. 3. dorus, Mela, Pliny, and several grave authors, whose 
 
 c. 7. Canaan, ' . ' , „ . , , ^ 
 
 1. 1. c. 34. attestation may be of good weight ; the Tynans, and 
 
 Phoenicians frequently sailing into those parts. But, 
 
 though we had yet no print of this from the Sacred 
 
 Volumes, it is not to be devis'd, how the isles of 
 
 the Gentiles, and other places of inaccessible distance 
 
 could be planted and furnish'd, without those early 
 
 intercourses by sea, Avhich, by degrees (as in part is 
 
 shew'd) acconaplish'd the dominions of warlike men, 
 
 and states, and encourag'd some to stupendious 
 
 attempts. 
 
 15. To proceed to instances of unquestionable credit, 
 
 20 we 
 
their Original and Progress. 49 
 
 we have those of the Persians, and Greeks both before, 
 and since the Peloponnesiack war : And, indeed the 
 Greeks were the first of the heathens that joyn'd learn- 
 ing with arms, that did both do and write what was 
 worthy to be remembred; and that small parcel of 
 groTmd, whose greatness was then onely valu'd by 
 the vertue of the inhabitants, planted Trebezond in 
 the East, and divers other cities in Asia the Less, the 
 protection of whose liberties was the first cause of war 
 between them g,nd the Persians : As to exploits, .the 
 Athenians, and smaller islands of the jEffean, exceed- 
 ingly amplified their bounds with their naval-power ; 
 so as Thucydides enumerates their annual descents 
 upon Peloponnesus, during that quarrel: but the ex- 
 ploits of Alcibiades, both when so ungratefuUy exiPd 
 from his country, and after he was again restored to it, 
 were celebrated in story, as well as those of Conon, JustinA. 
 under whom, we first hear of a Treasurer of the Navy, 
 for the better paying of the seamen, even in those 
 early dales : But, these conflicts did many of them 
 concern the Persian by Tissaphernes under Darius, 
 Artaxerxes, and others : The differences also with the 
 Megarenses, where Pisistratus obtain'd the victory, and 
 the exploits of Themistocles ; but, especially that decre- 
 tory battle in which Xerxes's fleet of 1500 men of 
 wax was vanquish'd by less than 400, which gave the 
 absolute dominion of the sea to one city, and so 
 inrich'd it, that the Lacedemonians (envious at her 
 prosperity) maintained a war against it, to the almost 
 ruine of both, see the efi'ects of avarice ! But this was 
 indeed before the Peloponnesian war, between the 
 LXXX and LXXXIV Olympiad, and first commenc'd 
 against strangers, and then the Lacedemonians, Cor- 
 cyreans, and other their neighbours for the space of 
 seven years continuance, till by the courage, and good 
 conduct of Lysander, a peace was at last concluded, 
 
 21 . with 
 
50 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 with the destruction of Athens, as it usually happens 
 to the first who give the occasion^ and are the agres- 
 sors. She was yet set-up once again, hy that gallant 
 exile whom we nam'dj under the banner of Artaxerxes; 
 but so to the desolation of poor Greece (weakn'd by 
 her many conflicts) that King Philip, and his son 
 Alexander, soon took their advantage, to make them- 
 selves, first masters at sea, and then of the world; for 
 they are infallible consequents. And here we might 
 speak something of Corinth, a city (if ever any) emu- 
 lous of the highest praises for trafiick, and exploits at 
 sea; but we involve her amongst the Grecians, and 
 pass over to the opposite shore ; where, upon division 
 of the Macedonian empire, we find the Carthaginians 
 (a people originally from Tyrus) of the earliest fame for 
 commerce, and so well appointed for the sea, as gave 
 terrour to Rome her self : Nor do we forget the Syra- 
 cusans, renown^'d for their many glorious actions at 
 sea, which continu'd to the very Punick war, the most 
 obstinate that history has recorded. 
 
 16. It was 492 years from the foundation of the city, 
 before they had atchieved any thing considerable on the 
 waters ; when finding the wonted progress of their 
 victories obstructed by those of Carthage (then lords at 
 sea) they fell in earnest to the building of ships of war, 
 and devising engines of offence, which before they 
 hardly thought of. Their first expedition by sea, was 
 under Appius Claudius, against the Sicilians, which made 
 those of Africa look about them, and gave rise to the 
 Punick war under Cajus Duillius, and his colleague, 
 with an hundred rostrated vessels, and 75 gallies : but, 
 the most memorable for number, was, when the two 
 admirals Regulus, and L. Manlius, with above an hun- 
 dred thousand men (in ships that had every one 300 
 at the oar) were encounter'd with a yet more prodigious 
 force, in the battle at Heraclea, unfortunate to the Car- 
 
 22 thaginians : 
 
their Original and Progress. 5 1 
 
 thaginians : But, neither did it so determine : For, 
 when Hannibal (returning out of Spain) invaded Italy ; 
 the Romans found no better expedient to divert him, 
 than by dispatching Scipio, with a fleet into Africa. 
 The third, and last contest (after a little repose) deter- 
 min'd not till the utter ruine, and subversion of that 
 emulous neighbour. These several conflicts with this 
 hostile city (which lasted near twenty years) are admir- 
 ably describ'd by Polybius ; especially that of M. 
 Regulus, who, with that unequal power, fought three 
 battles in one day; and, in another, ^milius (with 
 about the same, number of ships) took, and sunk above 
 an hundred more, and slew near 40000 of the enemy, 
 though by the terrible and unfortunate wrack, which 
 afterwards surpriz'd him, such another victory had 
 undone them. They made war, after this, with the 
 Achaians, B'alearians, Cilicians, Sertorians, and those 
 of Crete; indeed, wheresoever they found resistance, 
 difiident yet at first, of this unaccustomM manner of 
 combate, and which for sometime, caus'd them to lay 
 it by ; but, they quickly resum'd it, and overcoming all 
 difficulties, then onely might be said to speed con- 
 querours of the world, when they had conquer'd the 
 sea, and subdu'd the waters. 
 
 17. The piratick-wav of Pompey we find celebrated 
 by Tully, pro lege Manilia : he invaded the Cyclades ; 
 won Corcyra, got Athens, Pontus, and Bithynia, and Florus, Plu- 
 cleared the seas with that wonderful diligence, that in *^'*™- 
 forty dales time, he left not a rover in all the Mediter- 
 ranean, though grown to that power, and number, as to 
 give terrour to the common-wealth. We forbear to 
 speak of Sextus his unfortunate son, vanquished by the 
 treachery of his lAbertus f Menodorus, and pass to the f Oall'd also 
 great ^M^Ms^MS, who in many sea-conflicts signaliz'd his Menashj Ho- 
 courage; especially, in that decretory battail ^iActium, ^"^^ ^° ' 
 where the contest was de summa rerum, and the world 
 
 23 by 
 
52 
 
 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 * Especially 
 Clem. Ro- 
 manus. See 
 also Glavdius, 
 Servius, Jose- 
 phus, Bio, 
 Eutropius, 
 Scaliger, <feo. 
 
 Sen.in Med. 
 
 SuetonmAug. 
 c. 49. 
 
 by sea, first subdu'd to tbe Empire of a single person. 
 What discoveries this mighty prince made, did as far 
 exceed his prsedecessours, as the frozen North and horrid 
 coasts of Cimbria, the milder clime of our Britain, which 
 was yet in those daies esteem'd another world, and her 
 boundaries, as much tmknown, as those of Virginia to 
 us : 'Twas called Alter Orbis ; and grave authors,* who 
 speak of the unpassableness of the ocean, mention the 
 worlds that lay beyond it : Morinorum gentem ultimam 
 esse mortalium, says Ptolomy • and the prince of poets, 
 
 Extremique hominum Morini. 
 
 For it appears no late fancy, that all was not discover'd 
 long before Columbus ; though those who took the hea- 
 vens for a kind of hollow arch, covering onely what 
 was then detected, little dream'd of Antipodes : 'Tis 
 famous yet what the prophetick tragcedian has offer'd 
 at,* and a thiug beyond dispute, that the antients had 
 the same notions of our country, as we of America : 
 But to leave these enquiries at present (till we come 
 more particularly to speak of our country in the fol- 
 lowing series) we shall onely, as to the Romans, give 
 the curious a tast, what care these wise people had of 
 their naval preparations, when once (as we have shew'd) 
 they found the importance of it, and after how prudent 
 a method they dispos'd it. 
 
 18. Augustus had in his military establishment one 
 squadron of men of war at Ravenna, as a constant 
 guard of the Adriatic ; and another riding at Misenum, 
 to scowr the Tyrrhen-Sea, together with a brigade of 
 
 24 foot 
 
 * Venient annis sascula seris, 
 Quibus Oceanus vincula rerum 
 Laxet, et ingens pateat tellus, 
 Tethysque novos detegat orbes ; 
 Nee sit terris ultima Thule. 
 
 Medea, Act II, lin. 375. 
 
their Original and Progress. 53 
 
 foot souldiers at either port, to clap on board upon any 
 sudden occasion. The Misenian fleet lay conveniently 
 for France, Spain, Morocco, Africk, JSgypt, Sardinia, Vegetim. 
 and Sicily; that at Ravenna, for Epirus, Macedon, Mtitialm- 
 Achaia, Propontis, Pontus ; the Levantine parts^ Creete, P<^^'^- 
 Rhodes, and Cyprus, &c. So as by the number of their 
 vessels, and arms, they made a bridge (as it were) to all 
 their provinces, and vast dominions at what distance 
 soever : And many of these particulars we could far- MIL. CL. P. 
 ther illustrate by medals, and noble inscriptions, to be ciassisPr^o- 
 gather'd out of good records, did we need the ostenta- rim Ravenna- 
 tion of any farther researches. We shall only ob- *1% /B T R 
 serve, that they had their Prcefectus Classis, who MAR. ET. 
 inspected all this. Marine laws and customes they also ^' . . • ^• 
 had : "Whence was it else that the corn-fleet was still vennatis. 
 from Alexandria to make Puteoli, as it were by coquet 
 bound? So the ships of that port: see Acts 28. 11, 
 12, 13. Whence else was it that onely the same corn- 
 fleet, as being of so absolute necessity for the susten- 
 ance of the Imperial city, had the priviledge to come 
 into harbour with top and top-gaUant ; unless the rest 
 did supparum dimere, or strike sail to the ports of the 
 Empire ? So early was the claim to the flag, and the 
 ceremonies of naval honour stated. Yet higher : Their 
 Eostrate-crowns; and that pretty insolence by act of se- See Tully de 
 nate allowM to C. Duillius after having won the Romans 
 their flrst victory at sea, that he should, all his life after, 
 be brought to the publick entertainments in the Town- 
 hall, with a pipe playing before him ; and flambeaux on Oruter's In- 
 each side ; that column, too, whose fragments yet pre- ^"""'P '°°^' 
 servM, exhibit with the memory of that illustrious 
 action, perhaps the aneientest piece of Latin now ex- 
 tant, at least in the originals. All these allegations do 
 abundantly testifie with what transports of joy that 
 aspiring people receivM the accession of power by sea. 
 They also had their Decurice Fabrorum Ravennatium, 
 master ship-wrights of the dock at Ravenna; and, 
 
 25 we 
 
54 
 
 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 * Front. 
 Stratagem, 
 1. 4. 0. 7. 
 
 t Vide Proco- 
 pium, 1. 3. 
 PaulusDiaco ■ 
 iius, 1. 14. 
 
 we find fire-ships mention'd in Frontinus ;* stink-pots, 
 nay snake-pots, and false colours ; for such, we read, 
 were us'd by Cassius, Scipio, Annibal, M. Fortius, 
 Iphicrates, Pisistratus, and others : and, if the Trajan 
 port at Ostia were now extant, we might see such a 
 pattern of a mole,* lantern, magazine for ships, and ac- 
 commodation for merchants goods, as was never before 
 in the world, and would put to shame all modern 
 industry of that nature ; to shew the care they had, 
 and the prodigious expences they made, for this so 
 important, and necessary a work : But these things 
 hapning in her early and best daies, the fervour quickly 
 abated ; for from the death of Augustus, and some few 
 of the succeeding Emperours (as in that f decline, by 
 the conduct of Belizarius, Artabanes, and some of the 
 later captains) the Romans, as powerful by land as they 
 were, performed not much at sea ; those glorious ac- 
 tions were the consequents of a frugal and vigilant 
 people; but, when softness, and prodigality took off 
 their minds from the great, and nobler enterprizes of 
 their ancestors, and the defence of their country was 
 discompos'd by factions among themselves, the Goths, 
 Vandales, Lombards, and Saracens broke in upon them, 
 to the utter ruine, and subversion of that renowned 
 Empire. 
 
 19. But the business of navigation, and commerce 
 (which could not long be eclipsM so soon as a mag- 
 nanimous prince appeared,) was again reviv'd under 
 Charles the Great ; about whose time, it were not 
 hard to find out the original of almost all the naval 
 officers, and Thalassarchia or Admiralty, to this day con- 
 tinuing ; as appears in both the Notitite Imperii Occi- 
 dentalis et Orientalis, wherein there occur divers nota- 
 ble particulars concerning them, even till the loss of 
 
 26 Constantinople, 
 
 * The breakwater at Civita Vecchia is the work of Trajan, 
 and does honour to his illustrious name. 
 
their Original and Progress. 55 
 
 Constantinople, and the Imperial seat itself: But, to 
 trace this great article from its source, and shew the 
 progress it has made in the ages past, we have but to 
 look over the catalogue which Eusebius has given us, in Chron. 
 adjusted to the epoche in which they had successive 
 dominion of the sea ; namely, the Lydians whom (as 
 appearing the most conspicuous) he sets in the van : 
 Then the Pelasgi, Thraces, Rhodians, Phrygians, Phoe- 
 nicians, the ^Egyptians, Milesians, those of Caria, 
 Lesbia, the Phocenses, Naxii, Eretrienses, Mginetm and 
 others too long to recite : Let us look back to the JEgyp- 
 tians, who we read, were so addicted to traffick, as they 
 essayed to joyn the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, 
 and thereby open a passage to the commerce of Arabia, 
 Ethiopia, and the shoars of India .; Which attempt (un- 
 successful as it prov'd) did not yet impeach the Alexan- 
 drian staple, from whence Rome of old, the Genoezes, 
 Venetians, and others of later date, have inricht them- 
 selves : for the Eastern scale being in Casars time at 
 Coptos, and afterwards, remov'd to Alexandria ; when the 
 Arabs and Goths overran the world (and the Indian 
 trade interrupted) was convey'd to Trebezond upon the 
 Euxine, and from thence by caravan to Aleppo, thence 
 again recover'd to the Red-Sea, and Alexandria by the 
 Sultan, who then possessed Cairo, where it was long 
 monopoliz'd by the Venetians, of whom we give a more 
 particular account. What immense treasure the Ro- 
 mans received out of Asia, and Syria ; out of Africa 
 from jEgypt, and by the Nile ; the Persian Gulph, and 
 from India, we are told out of Strabo f. This merchan- t L-U>. 17.. 
 dize was first convey'd over-land from Berenice, by 
 Philadelphus (to avoid the perils of navigating the Red- 
 Sea) to Coptos on the Nilus ; and thence (with the 
 stream) to Alexandria, though many ships adventur'd 
 to pass from Musiris (or the Berenice above-mentioned) 
 even to the very Indies ; by which means there came 
 
 27 yearly 
 
56 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 yearly to Rome, no less than 1000 tuns of goldj* besides 
 other precious commodities. But, when the Empire fell 
 to decay, the Venetians (as we noted) took their advant- 
 age, till then a few scatter'd cotages of poor fisher-men, 
 and others, fugitives from the Gothic inundation, and 
 setling by degi'ees upon a cluster of divers muddy, and 
 almost, inaccessible islands : See what commerce can 
 eifect ! But, these industrious people essay'd another 
 way, namely, from the Ganges through Bactria, and the 
 river Oxus, and so to the Caspian Lake, Astracan and the 
 Volga ; thence to the Euxine by the Tandis, and so to 
 Venice; truly an immense circle, and which soon 
 wearied them out, when even of later times, the negoce 
 of India was supplied from Tripoly, and Alexandretta 
 (cities of Syria) and from Aleppo by caravan, to which 
 scale merchants came from Armenia, Arabia, ^gypt 
 Persia, and generally, from all the Oriental countries. 
 Prom Aleppo again they returned to Bir on the Eu- 
 phrates ; thence all down the stream to Balsara, and the 
 Gulph : To this Balsara is yet brought all sorts of Indian 
 commodities, as far as Ethiopia, and the islands of that 
 ocean ; where being chargM on smaller vessels, they are 
 tow'd up against the Euphrates to Hit and Bir, or 
 against the- Tigris to Bagdat and Mosul; in which 
 passage, being now and then interrupted by the thievish 
 Arabs (especially at the frontiers) intelligence is fami- 
 liarly convey'd by the inter-nunce of pidgeons trained 
 up for the purpose, that is, carried in open cages from 
 the dove-houses, and freed, with their letters of advice 
 
 38 (contriv'd 
 
 * This is an entirely erroneous statement. Neither gold nor 
 silver came in antiquity from the East to Rome. On the con- 
 trary, in those days as at present, the exportation of the precious 
 metals from Europe to the East was carried on to a great extent, 
 and was loudly complained of. Minimaque computatione millies 
 centena millia sestertium annis omnibus, India et Seres, peninsvZaque 
 iUa (Arabia) imperio nostra adimunt. Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xii, 
 cap. 18. 
 
their Original and Progress. 67 
 
 (contriv'd in narrow scrowls about their bodies, and 
 under the wing) which they bring with wonderful expe- 
 dition : as they likewise practice it from Scanderoon to 
 Aleppo upon the coming in of ships, and other occasions. 
 These were the later intercourses from Venice to, and 
 from the Oriental parts, till in the year 1497, that the 1497. 
 famous Vasco de Gama (that fortunate Portugueze, and 
 whom we may truly call the Restorer of Navigation) 
 found out a nearer way, by going farther about : For 
 Henry, the third son of John the First of Portugal, ^'^^*^- 
 hearing that Bethen-Court , a Norman, had detected cer- 
 tain islands in the Atlantick Ocean some years before ; 
 sent two ships in search of the Africa shoars southwards : 
 ten years after this, Gonsalvo 'Zarco and Tristan Vaz 1419 or 1420. 
 made discovery of *Madera, and certain Genoezes had * Detected le- 
 sail'd as far as the Sierra Lione, within eight degrees fi^^ % "^ 
 of the Equator ; after which, there was little advance Englishmau. 
 till the reign of Alphonsus the Second, in whose time, (This is 
 the Portuguezes coasted as far as the promontory of 
 St. Katharine under the second degree of southern 
 latitude : But, John the Second sending men by the old 
 way of Alexandria, and the Midland-Sea. to Goa, Peter 
 Covilham, an active spirit amongst them, hearing of a 
 famous Cape, which extending itself far into the sea, 
 and that being doubled, did open a passage into the 
 East, brought news of it to King Emanuel (then reign- 
 ing) who thereupon, employed the two brothers Vasco 
 (whom we nam'd) and Paulo, with four vessels, and 160 
 men, with that success, as to discover a passage to the 
 Indies by Long-Sea, to the almost utter ruine of Venice ; 
 and, in a short time after, to the total interruption of 
 that tedious circle by land, rivers, and lakes, which 
 we have been describing; nor are we to forget Al- 
 varez, Almeida, and others : And in this manner, for 
 divers years (at least till the reign of John the Third) 
 did the Portugals and Spaniards carry the trade of the 
 world, from the rest of the world, till the Hollanders 
 
 29 (being 
 
58 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 (being prohibited all intercourse witb the ports belong- 
 ing to the catholicic kings) attempted the same discovery, 
 and ia short time, so out-did the former ; that, by the 
 1595. year 1595, they had establish'd a company for the East 
 Indies, and within a while after, another for the West, 
 1624. which has subdu'd the best part of Brazile, and in the 
 1628. year 1628, fought, and took the Spanish plate-fleet, to 
 their immense inrichment : but, in what manner they 
 have setled themselves and factories in those parts, and 
 by what arts maintain'd it, will require a fuller discovery. 
 20. We not long since mention'd the Goths and 
 Vandals, and who almost has taken notice of the an- 
 cient port of Wisbuy, formerly a receptacle of ships, 
 and famous emporium in those parts ? when even the 
 laws, and ordinances of Wisbuy, took place like those 
 of Oleron, from Muscovy, to the Streights of Gibraltar ; 
 and though both Olaus Magnus, Herberstan, and others 
 have exceedingly celebrated this city, and haven; yet 
 we cannot learn, how it came to be deserted, unless by 
 the luxury, and dissentions of the inhabitants ; by none 
 (that we can find) recorded : But, that it was once in so 
 flourishing a state, testifie the yet remaining heaps, the 
 columns of marble, jasper, and porphyrie : the gates of 
 brass and iron, exquisitely wrought, and other foot- 
 steps of august foundations. Albertus the Swedish 
 King, endeavour'd by great privileges, to have it 
 establish'd again, and restOr'd to its ancient splen- 
 dour, but it did not succeed : Nevertheless, the laws 
 we mention'd (written in the old Theutonick lan- 
 guage, and without date) obtained amongst the Germans, 
 Danes, Flemmings, and almost all the Northern people : 
 We mention the instance to shew, that as some places 
 have set up, and thriven by their industry ; so others, 
 have lost what they once possess'd ; and that this vicis- 
 situde is unavoidable, Tyrus, and Carthage, and Corinth, 
 and Syracuse (that in their turns contended with all 
 the world for navigation and commerce) are pregnant 
 
 30 examples. 
 
their Original and Progress. 59 
 
 examples. The famous Brundusiwm (whence the great 
 
 Pompey fled from the fortune of Casar) is now quite 
 
 choak'd up : Joppa is no more, and Tingis, which of 
 
 old deriv'd its name from commerce, and was a renown'd 
 
 emporium near three hundred years before Carthage 
 
 was a city, was lately the desolate Tanger ; though now 
 
 again, by the influence of our glorious monarch, raising 
 
 its aged head with fresh vigour : But, what's become of 
 
 hundreds we might name ; Spina near Ravenna, Luna Straho. 
 
 in Etruria, Lesbus, and even Athens her self?* When Dwnys. Hali- 
 
 nearer home, and at our own doors, Stavernen in Friez- j^aiali c 23 
 
 land, anciently a famous port, now desolate, Antwerp 
 
 (lately the staple for the spice and riches of the East, 
 
 and that sold more in one month, than Venice did in 
 
 four and twenty) lies abandoned: The stately Genoa 
 
 (which once employ'd twice twenty thousand hands in 
 
 the silken manufacture) f is now, with her elder sister 
 
 Venice, ebbing apace ; Venice, I say, the belov'd of the 
 
 sea, seems now forlorne, compar'd to what she was, and 
 
 from how a small a principle she had spread ! 
 
 21. The Bretons and Normans (especially against the 
 Saracens) those of Province, Marselles, Narbon, &c. had 
 long since been famous at sea, we say, long since ; for 
 the ancient Gaules had great commerce with those of 
 Carthage (as appears out of Polybius and U.vy) but the 
 French in general, have of later dales, and since the 
 reign of Charles the Eighth, performed little considera- -f ^*^- C'cm- 
 ble : Francis the First (that magnificent prince, who 
 had made the famous Andrea d' Oria his admiral) J built 
 
 31 indeed 
 
 * For interesting notices of these towns, and especially of 
 Spina, Luna, and those that are least known, see the names in 
 Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. 
 
 + An extreme exaggeration. 
 
 t Doria did not contiaue for any very considerable period to 
 command the fleets of Francis ; by far the greatest portion of 
 his long and glorious career was passed in the service of the 
 great rival of the latter, the Emperor Charles V. 
 
60 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 indeed no less than fifty gallies for the Italick war^ and 
 had some conflicts with our king his neighbour ; but 
 Henry the Fourth, seem'd wholly negligent of sea 
 affairs, as relying upon the generosity of Queen Eliza- 
 beth, in whose dales, neither he, nor any other poten- 
 tate about her, durst pretend to shipping, or such fleets 
 as might give jealousie to their allies ; which, had this 
 incomparable princess, or, rather, her peaceful succes- 
 sor, as well observed with the Hollanders in point of 
 commerce and trade too, the ages to come, as weU as 
 present, had been doubly oblig'd to their memory : But 
 the scene is now chang'd, as well with them as with 
 France; since Cardinal de Richlieu, in the reign of 
 Lewis the Thirteenth, instituting a coUedge, and frater- 
 nity of merchants about thirty years since ; and by 
 opening, enlarging, and improving their ports and ma- 
 gazines, has put the present Monarch into such a condi- 
 tion, as has exceedingly advanc'd his commerce, and 
 given principle to no inconsiderable navy; and if 
 * Be Repuh. *Claudius Sesellius the Bishop of Marselles's prophecies 
 Gallise, 1. 2. succeed (who writ about the time of Lewis the Twelfth) 
 the Northern world is like to have an importunate 
 neighbour within few years to come, from his growing 
 power, even upon the ocean. 
 
 22. The Danes, and more Northern people were for- 
 midable (especially to this island) under the conduct of 
 their brave Canute, Ubbon the Frizian, and other cap- 
 tains ; making frequent descents upon us in mighty 
 fleets, encotinter'd by the Saxons : But, all these living 
 more by brigandize, and piracy, than by traffick, gave 
 place to the Spaniard, and Portugals, whose successful 
 expeditions, and discoveries, have rendered them deser- 
 vedly more worthy for these last six, or seven hundred 
 years, than any we have hitherto mention' d, for their 
 shedding of blood, and invasions. Nor with less glory, 
 and timely application of themselves to sea-affairs, did 
 the formerly-mention'd Genoezes, and others of the 
 
 33 Ligurian 
 
their Original and Progress. 61 
 
 lAgurian coast, signalize their courage, as well as their 
 dexterity in traffick ; especially, against the Saracens ; 
 since which, they did exceedingly flourish j till the 
 Dukes of Tuscany, by better policy, and the direction 
 of Count Dudley (pretended Duke of Northumberland) 
 raising its neighbour Ligorn from a despicable, and 
 neglected place, to a free and weU defended port, did 
 well nigh ruin it ; for, by this means, the greatest mer- 
 chants for repute in the world (namely those of Genoa) 
 are become the greatest, and sordidst usurers in it ; as 
 having otherwise little means to employ the riches, 
 which they formerly got, by a more honest, and natural 
 way of trade : But, as the opening of Marselles may in 
 time endanger that of Ligorn, whilst the French King 
 is courting all the world with naturalization, and other 
 popular immunities ; other princes are instructed how 
 to render themselves considerable, who are blest with 
 any advantagious post upon the bordures of the ocean ; 
 and, of this, Gotenberg (not to mention Villa-Franca, 
 and some other ports) is now a worthy instance, which, 
 till of late, was hardly known beyond its wooden 
 suburbs, though it must be acknowledg'd, that both the 
 Danes and Sweeds had performed notable exploits ; the 
 former from Harold the Third, by the conduct of Ub- 
 bon the Frisian (not to insist on their heavy impositions 
 on this island) and the latter from Gustavus the first, 
 who serv'd himself of g allies even upon the Northern 
 seas, built for him by the Venetians, and set out that 
 enormous ship, we mention' d, which carry ed 1300 men: 
 What conquests the late great Adolphus made, who went 
 into Prusia with an armada of 300 ships, is known to 
 the amazement of Europe. 
 
 23. We have more than once shew'd, from how 
 humble a rise Venice had exalted her head, and spread 
 the fame of her conquests, as well as navigation, over 
 Asia, Mgypt, Syria, Pontus, Greece and other countries, 
 bordering upon the ocean ; she war'd against the Is- 
 
 33 trians, 
 
62 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 trians, vanquish'd the Saracens. In the Holy -land; 
 they won Smyrna, devasted all the Phoenician shears, 
 especially under Dominico Michaele, who with 200 
 vessels, having rais'd the siege of Joppa, took Chius, 
 Samoa, Lesbos ; to omit their successes against thg Ge- 
 noezes emulous of their growth, hut never to forget 
 the former, and of late, strenuous resistance against 
 the Turk ; especially in that signal battle of Lepanto, 
 and what their famous General Capello did at Tunis, 
 and Algiers of later time, and the building, furniture, 
 and oeconomy of their arsenal, and magazines cele- 
 brated throughout the world ; when (before the lucky 
 Portuguezes had doubl'd the cape of Bon-Esperanza) 
 the sweet of the Levantine commerce (transfer'd from 
 this port onely) invited men to build not ships alone, 
 but houses, and palaces in the very bosom of Neptune, 
 with a stupendious expence, and almost miraculous : The 
 government of their maritime- affairs, care of their 
 forrests, victualling, courage and industry of their 
 greatest nohle-men, who are frequently made captains of 
 single gallies, and sometimes arriving to be chief admi- 
 rals, come near a dictatorship; are things worthy of 
 praise; and of the name they have obtain'd. Genoa 
 (whom we mention' d) had signaliz'd.it self against the 
 Saracens, the Republic of Pisa, and even Venice it self, 
 especially under Paganino Doria in the year 1352, near 
 the Bosphorus streight ;* and with the island of Tenidos 
 had been hir'd by the young Andronicus to come into 
 his assistance : From the time of Cosmo di Medicis, 
 and Sylvio Piccolomini their admiral, the Florentines 
 gave proof of their valour in Africa, and of their care 
 for sea affairs, the arsenal at Pisa gives a commendable 
 instance. 
 
 24. The Rhodians (to whom some attribute even the 
 invention of navigation, and whose constitutions were 
 
 34 universally 
 
 * Thracian Bosphorus. 
 
their Original and Progress. 63 
 
 universally receiv'd) obtain'd a mighty repute at sea ; 
 and tlie couragious exploits of the Maltezes, and other 
 military orders against the common enemy, the Turk, 
 are renown'd over the world; witness^ ten thousand 
 which they slew, and half as many that they took in 
 the year 1308, with hundred thousands of those mis- 
 creants destroy 'd by them since their removal to Malta; 
 especially when joyn'd with the gallies of Venice and 
 Genoa, in the years 1601, 1625, 1638, and other 
 slaughters innumerable. We name the Turk, and they 
 give us cause to remember them, by what the Christian 
 Pale has too often felt, when more by their numbers, 
 than their courage, they took from it Cyprus, Rhodes, 
 and the never to be forgotten Candia ; besides, their 
 conquests and incursions, on the rest of Europe and 
 Asia : they are not, 'tis confess'd, of any name for 
 much commerce, but for the disturbance of it, which 
 calls aloud upon the Christian world to put a timely 
 period to their insolence, before it be incorrigible, and 
 to pursue the bold, and brave exploits of our Blakes, 
 Lawsons, and Sprags against the Moores and Barbares, 
 and by example of our heroic prince, to restore 
 that security to trade, which can onely make it re- 
 flourish. 
 
 25. The ^Ethiopians, Persians, Indians, and Chinezes 
 (for those of Tartary, present, or ancient Scyths, come 
 hardly into this account) may be reckoned among the 
 nations of traffic; especially, the last named, as who 
 are by some thought to have had knowledge of the 
 magnet before the Europeans : nay, so addicted were 
 they to sailing, that they invented veliferous chariots, 
 and to sail upon the land : It was long since that they 
 had intercourse with those of Madagascar, and came 
 sometimes as far as the Red-Sea with their wares ; and 
 for vessels, have to this day about Nankin, jonks of such 
 prodigious size, as seem like cities, rather than ships, 
 built full of houses, and replenish'd with whole families: 
 
 35 111 
 
64 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 In short, there is hardly a nation so rude, but, who, 
 in some degree, cultivate navigation, and are charm'd 
 with the advantages of commerce .- But, it would cost 
 an immense volume, to discourse at large of these 
 things in particular, and to mention onely, the brave 
 men, who have in all ages signaliz'd themselves at sea 
 for their arms, or, more peaceful arts ; to count the 
 names of the famous captains, and adventurers of later 
 times, whose expeditions have been war-like, and for 
 invasion, and many for discoveries and commerce. Here, 
 then we contract our sails, and shall direct our course 
 nearer home, from whence we have been so long 
 diverted. 
 
 26. The first, that presents it self to our second con- 
 sideration, are the Spaniards, and Castilians, who (upon 
 the success of their neighbours the Portugals) making 
 use of that fortunate stranger Columbus, prompted by 
 a magnanimous genius, and a little philosophy, dis- 
 cover'd to us a new world : This great man, being 
 furnish' d out by Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile, in 
 
 1492. four voyages, which he made from the year 1492, to 
 
 An. 1502, detected the Antillias, Cuba, Jamaica, S^c. 
 with some of the Terra firma ; though to let pass Zeno 
 (a noble Venetian, reported to have discover'd the north- 
 
 1390. east part of America above an hundred years before) 
 
 there be, who teU us, that a certain obscure mariner 
 [Alphonso Zanches by name, a pilot of Huelva) had the 
 first sight of this goodly prospect, eight years before 
 this glorious Genoeze (for Columbus was of that city) 
 or any the pretenders : This poor sea-man, hurried upon 
 those unknown coasts by tempests (which continu'd for 
 almost a full month) was carried as far as St Domingo 
 in Hispaniola : How he returned is not said ; but, that 
 from the observations of this adventurer, Christopher 
 receiv'd the first notices of what he afterwards im- 
 prov'd, being at that time in the Maderas, where 
 Zanches arriving, died not long after, and bequeath' d 
 
 36 him 
 
theii- Original and Progress. 65 
 
 him all his charts and papers.* There are likewise who 
 afl5rm, that some mean Biscay ers (loosing themselves in 
 pursuit of wAaZe-fishing) had fall'n upon some of the 
 American islands, ahove an hundred years, before either 
 of the former ; but, since of this we have no authentic 
 proofs ; certain it is, that Columbus, taking his conjec- 
 tures from the spirinpj of certain winds from the 
 western points, by strong impulse, concluded, that there 
 must needs be some continent towards those quarters : 
 Upon this confidence, he offers first, his service to John 
 King of Portugal, and then, to our Henry the Seventh 
 of England, by both which princes rejected for a ro- 
 mantic dream, he repairs to the court of Spain, where, 
 partly by his importunity, and much by the favour of 
 Isabella, he was with great difiiculty set-out at last, 
 when to equip him, the Royal Lady was fain to pawn 
 some of "her jewels : But it was well repaid, when for the 
 value of 17000 crowns, he not long after, return'd her 
 almost as many tuns of treasure, and, within eight or 
 nine years, to the Kings sole use, above 1500000 of 
 silver, and 360 tuns of gold: See the reward of faith, hqt, 
 and of things not seen ! These fortunate beginnings were 
 pursu'd by Americus Vesputius (a Florentine, and a 
 stranger too) who being sent by Emanuel of Portugal to 
 the Molucca islands (five years after) hapning to be 
 driven upon the same coast, carried away the name, 
 though not the honour from all the former, though, 
 there be, who upon good proof afiirm, that John Chabot 
 a Venetian, and his son Sebastian (born with us at 
 Bristol) had discover'd Florida, and the shears of Vir- 
 
 37 ginia. 
 
 * There does not appear to be the smallest foundation either 
 for this or the other statements in regard to the discovery of 
 America prior to Columbus. See the Introductory Discourse to 
 the excellent account given by Nayarrete of the four Voyages of 
 Columbus, French Trans, torn, i, pp. 109—124. 
 
66 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 ginia, with, that whole tract as far as New-found-Land, 
 before the bold Genoeze ; nay, that Thorn, and Eliot 
 (both countrymen of ours) detected this New-World 
 before Columbus ever set foot upon it ; for we will say 
 nothing of the famous Owen Gwynedd, whose adventures 
 are of yet greater antiquity, and might serve to give re- 
 putation to that noble enterprize, if we had a mind to 
 be contentioiis for it. But, 
 
 27. That indeed the most shining exploits of this age 
 of discoveries, were chiefly due to the several hero's of 
 this island, we have but to call over the names of 
 Drake, Hawkins, Cavendish, Frobisher, Davis, Hudson, 
 Raleigh, and others of no less merit : For impossible it 
 was, that the English should not share in dangers with 
 the most renowned, in so glorious an enterprize ; our 
 Drake being the first of any mortal, to whom God 
 vouchsafed the stupendious atchieyment of encom- 
 passing, not this New-World alone, but New and Old 
 together : Both of them twice embraced by this demi- 
 god ; for Magellan being slain at the Manillas, was 
 
 1528 interrupted in his intended course, and left the exploit 
 
 to Sebastian del Cano his coUegue. 
 
 28. This voyage of Drake was first to Nombre de 
 Dies ; where coming to a sight of the South- Seas, with 
 tears of joy in his eyes, his mind was never in repose, 
 till he had gotten into it, as in five years after he 
 accomplish'd it, when passing through the Magellan 
 Streight towards the other Indies, and doubling the 
 famous promontory, he circum-navigated the whole 
 earth, and taking from the Spaniard St. Jago, Domingo, 
 Cartagena, and other signal places, crown'd in the 
 name of his mistress the Queen, at Nova Albion, be 
 return'd to his country, and to a crown of immortal 
 honour. This gallant man was leader to Cavendish, 
 another country-man of ours, of no less resolution; 
 for these brave persons scorning any longer to creep 
 
 38 by 
 
their Original and Progress. 67 
 
 by shears, and be oblig'd to uncertain constellations ; 
 plow'd up unfathomable abysses, without ken of earth 
 or heaven, and really accomplish'd actions, beyond all 
 that the poets of old, or any former record (fruitful in 
 wonders) could invent or relate. 
 
 29. And now every nation, stimulated by these 
 adventures, daily added new-things to the accomplish- 
 ment of the art : Things, I say, unknown to former 
 ages : And herein were the Portugals very prosperous, 
 one of whose princes brought first into use the astro- 
 labe and tables of declination, with other arithmetical, 
 and astronomical rules, applicable to navigation ; 
 besides, what several others had from time to time in- 
 vented : But, neither were these to be compar'd to the 
 nautic box, and feats of the magnet ; before which the 
 science was so imperfect, and mariners so terrified 
 at long voyages ; that there were laws to prohibit sail- 
 ing upon the Mediterranean, during the winter season ; 
 and, however great things have been reported of Plato's 
 Atlantic, the discoveries of Hanno, Eudoxius, and 
 others of old time, from the Persian Gulph, as far as 
 Cadiz ; it was still with sneaking by the shoar, in con- 
 tinual sight of land ; or by chance, which indeed has 
 been a fruitful mother in these, and most other dis- 
 coveries; that men might learn humihty, and not 
 sacrifice to their own uncertain reasonings. In that 
 memorable expedition of the French to invade our i305. 
 country, there was hardly a pilot to be found, who 
 durst adventure twenty leagues into the main; and 
 those who had been the most assur'd, did hardly reach 
 within many degrees of the Equinoctial. The Azores 
 were first stumbl'd-upon by a roming pirat, surpriz'd 
 by storm :* all the Asiatic Indian seas, and some of 
 
 39 Africa, 
 
 * The particulars in regard to the discovery of the Azores 
 are not well known. Most probably it took place about the 
 middle of the 1 5th century. 
 
68 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 Africa, lay almost as much in the dark^ as the Hyper' 
 boreans, and horrid North. And though this defect was 
 encounter'd more than two ages past, by that ever to be 
 renown'd Italian Flavio of AmalpM (for we pass what 
 is reported of the ancient Arabs, Paulus Venetus, and 
 others) yet, was it near fourscore years after, ere it 
 came so far north as these countries of ours, to which 
 his needles continually pointed : But, it was now when 
 the fullness of time was come, that by this means, the 
 Western Indies should be no longer a secret, and what 
 have been the incomparable advantages, which this 
 despicable stone has produced (the property whereof is 
 ever to have its poles, converted to the poles of the 
 world, and its axes directed parallel to the axes of 
 the world) is argument of admiration: But, that by 
 vertue of this dull pibble, such a continent of land, such 
 myriads of people, such inexhaustible treasures, and so 
 many wonders should be brought to light, plainly 
 astonishes, and may instruct the proudest of us all, not 
 to contemn small-things ; since so it oftentimes pleases 
 the Almighty to humble the loftiness of men, and to 
 choose the base things of the world, to confound the 
 things that are mightJ^ And less than this we could 
 not say, concerning that inestimable jewel, by whose 
 aid and direction, the commerce, and traffick of the 
 world has received such advantages. 
 
 30. We have now dispatch'd the Portugals and the 
 Spaniards : there remain the English and the Holland- 
 ers, who courting the good graces of the same mistris, 
 the trade of the world, divide the world between them : 
 Deservedly then we celebrate the industry of the Bata- 
 vians : They must really be look'd upon as a wonderful 
 people ; nor do we diminish our selves whilst we 
 magnifie any worthy actions of theirs ; since it cannot 
 but redound to our glory, who have been the occasion 
 of it; and, that as oft as they have forgotten it, we 
 have been able to chastize them for it : It is, I say, a 
 40 miracle, 
 
their Original and Progress. 69 
 
 miracle, that a people (who have no principle of trade 
 among themselves) should in so short a space, become 
 such masters of it : Their growth ('tis confess' d) is admi- 
 rable ; and if it prove as solid, and permanent, as it has 
 been speedy, Rome must her-self submit to the com- 
 parison: Biit, we know, who has calculated her nativity, 
 and that violent things are not alwaies lasting. We Bentivoqlio 
 wiU yet give them their due; they are gyants for stature, hist/i^to«. 
 fierce in beard and countenance, full of goodly towns ; 
 strong in munition, numerous in shipping ; in a word 
 high and mighty -states, and aU this the product of 
 commerce and navigation ; but by what just arts 
 equally, and in all parts improv'd, we may hereafter 
 enquire, as well as to whose kindness they have been the 
 most obliged, and the most ingrateful : We omit to 
 speak here of their discoveries, and plantations, which 
 the curious may find in the journals of Heemskerk, 
 Oliver Vander-Nordt, Spilbergen, Le Maire (whowent six 
 degrees farther south than Magellan himself, and found 
 a shorter passage into those seas) to these we may add 
 L'Ermite, the late compilers of their atlases, and 
 others, which many volumes would hardly comprehend, 
 and because they are generally known ; Tacitus, and 
 other famous authors have celebrated their early ex- 
 ploits at sea, and of later times, Fredric Barbarossa 
 did bravely against the Saracens at Pelusium in ^gypt: 
 The FYizians greatly infested the Danes, and those of 
 Flanders, especially under William the son of John 
 count of Holland, and in the time of Philip the good 
 duke of Burgundy : They were the first that wore the 
 broome, when. Anno 1438, they had clear'd the Levan 
 tine seas, subdu'd the Genoezes, and vanquished the Y.Voni.Hm- 
 French about an hundred years after : How they plagu'd ^^''"* Austr. 
 the Spaniard and Portugals, from the year 1572 to ' 
 almost this day, there is no body ignorant of; and for 
 that of their discoveries. Qua vero ignota littora, quasve Dec. 1. 1. 1. 
 
 41 desinentis 
 
70 
 
 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 desinentis mundi oras scrutata non est Belgarum nau- 
 ticce? was justly due to them from Strada; and the 
 truth is, they have merited of fame for many vertues, 
 and shewM from what small, and despicable rudiments, 
 great things have emerged ; and that traffick alone, 
 which at the first raised, has hitherto supported this 
 grandure against a most puissant Monarch, for almost 
 an age intire : But, their admission of forreigners, in- 
 crease of hands, encouraging manufactures, free, and 
 open ports, low customes, toUeration of religions, na- 
 tural frugality, and indefatigable industry could indeed, 
 portend no less. We conclude then with England, 
 which though last in order, was not the last in our 
 design ; when upon reflection on our late differences 
 with our neighbours of Holland, we thought it not 
 unsuitable to prseface something concerning the progress 
 of that commerce, which has been the subject of so many 
 conflicts between us. 
 
 31. To the little which has been hitherto said of the 
 great things which our nation has performed by sea in 
 the later ages, we might super-add the gallantry, and 
 brave adventures of former ; since from no obscure 
 authors we learn, the Britains to have accompanied the 
 Cimbrians and Gauls, in their memorable expedition 
 into Greece, long before the incarnation of our Lord, 
 and whilst they were yet strangers to the Roman world; 
 not to insist on the Cassiterides, known to the Phceni- 
 Btit. Hist. Bo- cians, and with so much judgment, vindicated by a 
 1 I c 39 <fc ' learned author, in that his excellent and useful Institu- 
 tion : In all events, we resort to the greatest captain, 
 and, without dispute, the purest of ancient writers : The 
 description which Ceesar makes of the supplies this 
 island afforded the Gauls (and, which made him think 
 it worth his while to bring-over his legions hither) will 
 inform us, that the structure of their vessels was not 
 altogether of twigs, and oxes-Mdes ; and the Veneti; 
 
 42 it 
 
 Camdenus. 
 Strabo, 1. 3, 
 
 W. Howel In- 
 
 1. 3. c. 9. 
 
 De BeUo Gall 
 lib. 3. 
 
their Original and Progress. 71 
 
 it seems, had then a navy of no less than 200 sail, built 
 of goodly oak, tall, and so bravely equipped for war^ 
 and to eadure the sea, as that great general acknow- 
 ledged the Romans themselves had nothing approach'd 
 it: which we mention, because divers grave authors 
 believe the British vessels (sent sometime as auxilia- 
 ries) were thought to be hke them : And the slender 
 experience which the Gauls (or, in truth any other 
 neighbour of theirs ) had of the opposite shoars, when 
 the Britains were thus instructed both for defence, 
 and commerce ( and, at that time permitted certain 
 merchants onely to frequent their coasts) is a fair prse- 
 scription, how early she intituled her self to the do- 
 minion of the seas ; which, if at any time interrupted by 
 barbarous surprize, or invasion ( as in the ages follow- 
 ing it seem'd to be ) yet, neither did that continue any 
 longer, than till the prevalent force was estabhshed, 
 which soon asserting the title, as lords, and in right of 
 England, maintain'd her prserogative from time imme- 
 morial : I know not why therefore, a solitary writer, or 
 two, should go about to deprive this nation of more than 
 twelve hundred years at once; because an heroick Prince 
 has had the misfortune to have his mighty actions re- 
 ported by some weak, and less-accurate pens : Yet, such, 
 as the times wherein tbey liv'd, could furnish; especially 
 too, since this has been the fate of as brave men, as any 
 whom history has recorded : But, by this pretence, some 
 there are, who would take from us, the renowned Ar- 
 thur, who is reported to have led his squadrons as far gee 'APXAI- 
 as Ise-Land, and brought the iVor^Aer-w-people under his 9 •'^^^^4' 
 flag, planting the confines of the British-Oce&n, as far as cis Anglorum 
 the Russian tracts; and this (together with all the Nor- Legihus, writ- 
 thern, and Eastern Isles) to be de jure, appendices ^arrf^andpub- 
 unto this kingdom, we may find in the Leges Edwardi lish'd by Mr. 
 confirmed by the Norman Conquerour ; for so it had 
 indeed been left to the famous Edgar ( to mention onely 
 
 ., 43 Egbert, 
 
72 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 Egbert, Alfred, Ethelfred, ^c. princes, all of them, 
 signally meritorious for their care of the sea) who soon 
 finding by experience what benefit, and protection his 
 country receiv'd by the extraordinary vigilancy on the 
 coasts, and the vindicating of his dominions on the 
 waters, cover'd them at once, with no less than four 
 thousand sail ; nor, it seems, without cause ( the time 
 considered) since we lay so expos'd to a barbarous 
 enemy. Alfred (whom we mentioned) found it so in 
 his daies ; a sober, and well- consulted prince ; and 
 therefore provided himself of the same expedient 
 against the troublesome Danes, whom he not seldome 
 humbFd : But, this maxime, as often as Neglected, did 
 as certainly expose the nation to prey, and contempt, 
 j^. . J as not long after it, to the Norman power, and may so 
 extare dom- again to a greater, when through a fatal supineness, we 
 mmteBritan- gijall either remit of our wonted vigilancy and due pro- 
 
 HIES SSScJjO'WA/- 0*1 *■ 
 
 nos,quiessent visions, or suffer our up-start neighbours to incroach 
 
 tMtris. Orot. upon US ; SO true is that saying, By what means any 
 thing is acquired by the same 'tis preserv'd. Did this 
 island wisely consider the happiness of not needing 
 many fronteirs to protect her from hourly alarms, or 
 inland fortresses to check the suddain, and rude incur- 
 sions, to which all continents are obnoxious ; she would 
 not think her bounty to her prince a burthen ; who. by 
 maintaining a glorious, and formidable navy at sea, not 
 onely renders her inhabitants secure at home, without 
 multiplying of governours, and guarnisons ( which are 
 ever jealous to a free, and loyal people ) but, unless 
 wanting to themselves, repairs their layings-out, with 
 immense advantages ; and by sectixing, and improving 
 that trade, and commerce, which onely can render a 
 nation flourishing, and, which has hitherto given us the 
 ascendent over the rest of the world : so true is another 
 
 Cic.adAHc. axiom, Qui mare tenet, eum necesse rerum potiri ; 
 
 1. 10. Bp. 8. ijut, without which, 'tis in vain to talk of sovereignty. 
 
 44 32. By 
 
their Original and Progress. 73 
 
 32. By these politicks King John was enabl'd to pass 
 the seas into Ireland with a fleet of 500 sail ; impe- 
 riously commanding whatever vessels they should meet 
 withal about the eight circumfluent seas, to arrest them, 
 and bring them to understand their duty: But, our 
 third Edward ( to whom the house of Burgundy ow'd 
 so much) equipp'd above a thousand tall ships upon 
 another occasion ; with an handful whereof, he defeated 
 a prodigious navy of the French, and Spaniards, that 
 were gotten together ; and we have seen a perfect, and 
 undoubted list of no fewer than 700 men of war, which 
 this prince brought before Calais, though he made use 
 of but 200 of them, to vanquish a fleet consisting of 
 more than double the number with the loss of thirty 
 thousand French ; which had such an influence on his 
 neighbours, that, whereas, till then, there had been 
 some remisness in the nation, and a declension of sea- 
 affairs; the bravest, and greatest men in the land, 
 began greedily to embrace maritime employments; and 
 the title of * Admiral, introduce in his prsedecessors *Thalasdar- 
 time, was now held in highest esteem. ''^'''- ^,®^,X°,^." 
 
 o o -ixr -nil n -r. , ■■ . ^^^^ "^ VUlW 
 
 66. We mentioned the house of Burgundy, and it Sermonis Lat. 
 
 had reason to remember us, and our wool, which was \ ^;}^'^ ^^' 
 
 nv d irom 
 the fairest flower of that ducal coronet, and as some Emir or A- 
 
 good antiquaries remark, really gave institution to niirPrxfectm 
 f, ■ n i/ T„ TT -J l.^.• ■ ■ in Arab. 
 
 their (jrolaen bleece : However it were, this wise prince, 
 
 representing to the Flemings their miserable posture 
 
 (at that time obnoxious to the French, as of late they 
 
 have likewise been) and, inhibiting the importation of 
 
 forraign cloths : the serene and quiet condition of this 
 
 happy island, invited them over to settle here, erect 
 
 their manufactures amongst us, and joyn their art to 
 
 our nature. 
 
 34. We pass by the exploits, and glorious atchiev- 
 
 ments performed by our kings against the Saracens in 
 
 the Holy- War, which charged the sheilds of the ancient 
 
 45 nobless. 
 
74 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 nobless, andj of which, all Asia resounded : here our 
 1358. Edwards, Henries, and Richards did memorable things; 
 in particular, Richard the Second took of the French, al- 
 most an hundred ships at once, of which some were vessels 
 of great burthen, richly fraite : and an earl of Arundel 
 (bearing this princes name ) beat, took, and destroy'd 
 336 ships deep laden with 13000 tuns of wine, 
 coming from La Rochelle, after an obstinate encoun- 
 ter, and many brave exploits: To these we might add, the 
 gallant preparations of Henry the Fifth, and of several 
 more, had we a design, or any need to accumulate 
 instances of our puissance, and successes at sea, so 
 thick sown in forreign, as well as domestic histories : 
 But, he that would be instructed for a more ample 
 discourse, may take notice of the league made between 
 Charles the Great, and our Mercian Offa ( now more 
 than 700 years since ) as he may find it in an epistle of 
 Albinus, or the learned Alcuin ('tis all one) and con- 
 sult our country-men Walsingham, Malmesbury, and 
 other writers ; where he will see in what high repute 
 this nation has been, both for its numerous shipping, 
 and the flourishing commerce it maintained in most 
 known-parts of the world ; and, which we may farther 
 confirm, by the several authentic statutes, and immu- 
 nities yet extant, not omitting the policy of keeping 
 the sea, facetiously, yet solidly, set forth in the good 
 old prologue, intituled, The Process of the Libel, written 
 more than 300 years past, not unworthy our deepest 
 reflexions : And verily, it were a madness in us to neg- 
 lect the care of those causes, from whence (as by a 
 series of them will yet appear ) the efi^ects of all our 
 temporal blessings spring, and, by vertue whereof, they 
 can only be maintained. 
 
 35. Henry the Seventh, and his magnificent successor, 
 
 were both of them powerful at sea; though the too 
 
 weak-faith of the former, deprived him of the most glo- 
 
 46 rious 
 
their Original and Progress. 75 
 
 rious accessioiij that was ever ofFer'd to mortal-man: 
 This, he endeavour'd to have repair'd, by the famous 
 Cabot, whom he afterwards employ'd to seek adventures ; 
 and, though the success were not equal, it was yet highly 
 laudable, and (as we have shew'd) not altogether without 
 fruit. 
 
 86. Henry the Eight his son, had divers conflicts 
 with the IVench,\ triumphing sometimes in sails of ^Lord Cher- 
 cloth of gold, and cordage of silk : But, that which ^ury Hist. 
 indeed repaired the remisness of the one, and profusion ^^^ ^^^J ^^^ 
 of the other, and gave a demonstration of how absolute »"«»■« piece of 
 concern, traflSc, and strength at sea are to this island, ijein'^g inhu 
 was the care which Queen Elizabeth took, when by her Majesties Gal- 
 address alone, she not onely secured her kingdoms from h^"' ^'^^^^' 
 the formidable power of Spain ; but, reap'd the harvest 
 too, of that opulent monarch, and brought his Indies 
 into her own exchequer ; whilst that mighty prince, 
 had onely the trouble to conquer the New- World, and 
 prepare the treasure for her : And this she did, by her 
 influence on navigation, and by the courage and con- 
 duct of those renowned hero's, who made her reign so 
 famous. 
 
 37. This glorious Princess had 130 sail of fair ships, 
 when she sent over for the island voyages, of which 60 
 were stout men-of-war; and with these (besides many 
 other exploits) she defended Holland, defied Parma, 
 and aVd the whole power of Spain : With an handful 
 of these (comparatively) she defeated the Invincible 
 Armada in LXXXVIII, encounter^, and took gallions, 1588. 
 and other vessels of prodigious strength and bulk; 
 and, what havock was made at Cadiz (in 1596) by yet a 
 smaller number, her enemies to this day feel : Grotius, Anml. 1. 5. 
 speaking of this action, tells us, that the wealth gotten 
 there by the Earl of Essex, was never any where paral- 
 leled with the like naval success ; and, that if these 
 beginnings had been pursu'd (as with ease they might, 
 
 47 had 
 
*7Q Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 had the brave mans counsel been follow'd) it had 
 proved one of the most glorious enterprises that history 
 has recorded : however^ besides the immense spoil, and 
 treasure they took, and the marks they left of their 
 fortitude (to the loss of 1200 great guns of the enemies, 
 irreparable in those dales) the Spaniard was not so re- 
 doubted abroad, as they left him miserably -weakn'd at 
 home : To these, we may number the trophies won by 
 particular adventurers : Sir Francis Drake, having with 
 four ships onely, taken from the Spaniard a million, 
 and 189200 ducats in one expedition; and in a single bot- 
 tom 25000 pezos of the most refined gold ; and after (in 
 1585 and 1586) with a squadron of five and twenty sail, 
 terrifying the whole ocean, he sack'd St. Jago, Domingo, 
 and Cartagena (as before mentioned) and, carried away 
 with him, besides other incredible booty, 240 pieces of 
 artillery, which was a prodigious spoil in those early 
 daies, and, when those instruments of destruction were 
 not in such plenty as now they are. What shall we say 
 of John Oxenham, one of the Argo-nauts with Drake ? 
 who, in a slender bark, near Nombre de Dios (having 
 drawn-up his vessel to land, and cover'd it with a few 
 boughs) marched with his smaU. crue over unknown 
 paths, till arrivM at a certain river, and there building 
 a pinnace, with the timber which they fell'd upon the 
 spot, he boldly launches into the South Sea, and, at the 
 Island of Pearls, took from the Spaniard 60000/. 
 weight of massie-gold, and 200000 in silver ! though 
 lost in his return with it, by the perfidy of his asso- 
 ciates;* such an exploit is hardly to be paralleled in any 
 story. Sir Richard Grenvill, in another voyage to Cadiz, 
 with but 180 souldiers (of which 90 were sick and 
 useless) in the ship Revenge, maintained a conflict for 
 
 48 24 hours 
 
 * He was taken by the Spaniards and executed as a pirate. 
 
their Original and Progress. ^1 
 
 24 hours, against 50 Spanish gallions, and slew above 
 7000 men, sinking four of their best vessels : Than this, 
 
 what have we more ! "What, can be greater ! In 
 
 sum, so universal was the reputation of our country- 
 men in those dales, for their strenuous exploits at sea ; 
 that even those who took all occasions to depress, and 
 extenuate them, are forc'd here to acknowledge, and 
 that from the pen of an author whose word goes far, 
 * That the Greeks and Romans, who of old, made good * Graiorum, 
 all their mighty actions by naval victories, were at this Romanorum- 
 time, equal' d by the fortitude and courage of the EngUsh. ^nsolimmas 
 
 38. 'Twas in her dales, they discover'd far into the »i«ya?«« "per 
 north-east, and north-west, Cathaian, and China pas- ^J^ 'Z^^' 
 sages, by the indefatigable diligence of Willoughby, dubie turn: 
 Burroughs, Chanceler, Button, Baffin, Frobisher, James, f^J^^ 
 Middleton, Gilbert, Cumberland, and others, worthy to Virtusrespon- 
 be consign'd to fame : In her brother's the Sixt Ed- ^nist^x't' 
 wards reign, the formerly mentioned Chabot, had six 
 times attempted the north-west tracks to the Indies ; 
 and, long before these, a bold Prince of ours, essay'd to 
 pass the Moluccas by the same course; entred the 
 streights of Anian, and is, by some, intituled to the 
 first discovery of the Canaries. The /SfMmmer-Islands, 
 and the goodly continent of Virginia, were first de- 
 tected, and then planted by the English ; among whom 
 we may not pass by the industry of Captain John 
 Smith, and other late adventurers, whose great exploits 
 (as romantic as they appear) were the steady effects of 
 their courage and good fortune : We have said yet 
 nothing of Pool, who began the wAafe-fishing, nor of 
 Captain Bennet, who discover'd Cherry-Island : Pet and 
 Jack-man* that passed the Waigatz, Scythian Ices, and 
 
 49 the 
 
 * These were but indiiferent navigators, mostly keeping close 
 to the shore and in shallow water. Barrow's Voyages to the 
 Arctic Regions, p. 99. 
 
78 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 the river Ob, as far as Nova Zembla : Of John Davis, 
 ■who had penetrated to 86 degrees of latitude, and 
 almost set his foot upon the Northern-Pole : Here let 
 us also remember Captain Gillan, to the lasting honour 
 of his Highness, Prince Rupert, and the rest of those 
 illustrious adventurers ; nor forget to celebrate the he- 
 roic inclination of his sacred Majesty, our great Charles, 
 under whose auspices. Sir John Narborough has lately 
 pass'd, and re-pass'd the Magellan Streight ; by which 
 that modest, and industrious man, has not onely per- 
 formed what was never done before j but has also 
 made way for a prospect of immense improvement. 
 Finally, 
 
 39. It was Queen Elizabeth who began, and estab- 
 lish'd the trade of Muscovy, Turky, Barbary, and even 
 that of the East-Indies too, however of late interrupted 
 by ungrateful neighbours : Nor less was she vigilant at 
 land, than at sea ; mustering at once no fewer than one 
 hundred and twenty thousand fighting-men of her own 
 vassals, not by uncertain computation ; but, effectually 
 fit for war : And indeed, but for the extraordinary vertue 
 of this brave virago, not FMgland alone, but even 
 France and Holland had truckl'd under the weight of 
 Spain, whose ambition was then upon its highest 
 pinnacle : In one word, navigation and commerce were 
 in her days in so prosperous a condition, that they seem 
 to have ever since subsisted but upon the reputation of 
 it; and the success of our country-men in their at- 
 tempts at sea was so far superioux to other nations, as 
 by the suffrage of the most learned strangers (and to 
 shew it was universal) they could not but acknowledge, 
 
 Keckerman. Omnibus hodie gentibus navigandi industria, ^ peritia, 
 superiores esse Anglos, 8^ post Anglos, Hollandosj for we 
 do not fear to give even our greatest enemies their dues, 
 when they deserve it. 
 
 40. We now arrive to King James, and Charles the 
 
 50 First 
 
their Original and Progress, 79 
 
 First (princes of immortal memory) And for the for- 
 mar ; there was in his time built (besides many others) 
 those two gallant ships, the Trades Increase, and the 
 Prince ; the one for encouragement of commerce, 
 and the other a man of war ; and, though upon dif- 
 ferent accounts, and at different times, they both un- 
 happily miscarried; yet, they served to testifie, that 
 neither defence, nor trade were neglected ; since, as to 
 that of the first, Sir Walter Raleigh doubts not to 
 affirm ; that the shipping of this nation, with a squadron 
 of the navy royal, was in this princes time, able, in 
 despight of Europe, to command the ocean, much 
 more, to bring the Nether-Lands to due obedience : But, 
 says he, as I shall never think him a lover of his 
 country, or prince, who shall perswade his Majesty 
 from cultivating their amity ; so would I counsel them 
 to remember, and consider it : That seeing their inter- 
 course lies so much through the British seas, that there 
 is no part of France, from Calais to Flushing, capable 
 of succouring them; that, frequently, out-wards by 
 western winds, and ordinarily, home-wards, both from 
 the Indies, Straites, and Spain, all southerly- winds 
 (the breezes of our climat) thrust them of necessity 
 into his Majesties harbours ; how much his Majesties 
 favour does import them : For, if (as themselves confess) 
 they subsist by commerce onely ; the disturbance of that 
 (and, which England alone can disturb) will also disturb 
 their subsistence : I omit the rest : Because I can never 
 doubt either their gratitude, or their prudence. But, this 
 brave man was it seems, no prophet, to fore see how 
 soon they would forget themselves : They began in his 
 days to be hardly warm in comparison, and indeed it 
 is not ( as observes the same person ) much beyond a 
 century, that either the French, Spanish, or Hollander, 
 had any proper fleets belonging to them as kingdoms, or 
 states; the Venetians, Genoezes and Portugals, being then 
 
 51 (as 
 
80 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 (as we have noted) the only competitors both for 
 strength, and traflSck ; the Dutch Httle considerable ; 
 since within these fifty years, the Spanish and Portugals 
 employ'd many more ships at sea than the Hollander 
 ( their fishing-busses expected ) who, 'til furnish'd with 
 our artillery, were very contemptible, as might be made 
 out by undeniable evidence : Insomuch that the for- 
 merly mention'd Raleigh affirms, one lusty ship of his 
 Majesties, would have made forty Hollanders strike 
 sail, and come to an anchor : They did not then (says 
 he) dispute de Mari Libera. But will you know in a 
 word from him, what it was that has exalted them to this 
 monstrous pitch ? It was the employing their own people 
 in the fishery upon our coasts ; by which they infinitely 
 inrich'd themselves; 2. Their entertaining of auxilliaries 
 in their difficult land-services ; by which they preserved 
 their own vassals : 3. The fidelity of the house of 
 Nassaw ; from which they had a wise, and experieuc'd 
 general : 4. The frequent excursions of the Duke of 
 Parma into France, hindring the prosecution of his 
 growing successes: 5. The irabargo of their ships in Spain, 
 and interdicting them free-trade with that nation, which 
 first set them upon their Indian adventures : 6. And, 
 above all, the kindness of Queen Elizabeth : But, the 
 case is (it seems) much alter'd since that worthy 
 knight made his observations and took his leave of the 
 Prince of Orange at Antwerp ; when (after Leicesters 
 return) he pray'd him to say to her Majesty, Sub 
 umbra alarum tuarum protegimur; for that they had 
 wither'd in the bud, without her assistance. 
 
 41. We have yet but only mention'd the inherent 
 right of the crown of England to the dominion of the 
 seas ; because the legality and the reason of it have been 
 asserted by so many able and famous pens, from which 
 we learn, that it doth of justice appertain to the kings 
 Seldenua. of Great Britain, not only as far as protection extends 
 
 53 (though 
 
their Original and Progress. 81 
 
 ( though there were no other argument to favour us ) 
 but, of sacred, and immemorial royalty : But, 'tis pre- 
 tended by those great names, who have of late disputed 
 this subject, and endeavoured to depose our princes of Orotius,Mori- 
 this empire jure naturae ^ gentium : That the sea is «<'*«*«j Cleirac, 
 fluxile elementum, ^ quod nunquam idem, possideri non p'alatiws <fco. 
 posse ; that 'tis always in succession, and, that one can 
 never anchor on the same biUow ; that water is as free 
 as the air ; and that the sea terminates empires which 
 have no bounds; and therefore, that no empire can ter- 
 minate that which acknowledges none ; and, though all 
 this were nothing ; that his Majesties father, had tamely 
 lost it to the late usurpers, which is an insolent scoff of 
 Morisotus's, triumphing ore a fetter'd Lion; whilst for OrlitMarit. 
 all this, to patch up a wretched pretence, he descends 
 to take hold of a certain obsolete, and foeudatarie 
 complement, sometime since passing between the two 
 kings ; as if a ceremonious acknowledgment for a pro- 
 vince or two in France (which is an usual deference 
 among princes upon certain tenures) gave sufficient 
 title, and investiture to all that the kings of England 
 possess in the world besides. But in this sort do the 
 partizans of aspiring monarchs manage their egregious 
 flatteries. Whilst to silence all the world, we can shew 
 its prescription so far beyond the present race of kings, 
 that even the name of their Pharamond was not known, Mela. 
 when our empire on the sea set limits to the coasts of 
 
 Gauls, and said. Hitherto shall ye come Nor, to that 
 
 alone, but even as far as Spain it self: For, what pretence 
 could those princes have to this dominion, whose very 
 monarchy is but of yesterday, in respect to the goodly 
 extent, which now they call France? and especially 
 when the only maritime provinces were shread into so 
 many fragments and cantons, under their petty princes ; 
 for so were Narbon, Bretagne, Aquitaine and even NoT' 
 mandy it self (portions belonging then to our kings) 
 
 53 nor 
 
Missing Page 
 
Missing Page 
 
84 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 Gruter, of a prafect of a British fleet ; and on the 
 
 ornaments^ and ensigns of dominion, found in several 
 
 medals, and antiquities to be met withal in the 
 
 collections of learned men ; vindicating the peculiar we 
 
 contend for, and continu'd from Edward the Third in 
 
 several fair stamps, nor are they to be rejected : It 
 
 suffices us, that whatever the Government were, still 
 
 the dominion of the sea returned with that of the land 
 
 Zodmv^ 1. 60 to the nation ; as when the Britains rejected the Roman 
 
 (n'^°' ■ yoak, which how extended, when it came under the 
 
 Zaud. StUi. power of the English Saxon kings, and Danes, is known 
 
 ^ ^- to all the world, as well as with what mighty navies, 
 
 Edgar, Canutus, and obhers, asserted, and protected it, 
 
 under no lower style, than that of King, Supream Lord 
 
 and Governour of the Ocean, lying round about Britain ; 
 
 for so runs the settlement of certain revenues, given 
 
 by King Edgar, to the cathedral of Worcester, says 
 
 Mr. Selden. 
 
 45. Since the Norman Conquest, the governours 
 the several provinces, or sheriffs, exercised jurisdiction on 
 the sea, as far as their countys extended. Henry the Third 
 constituted Captain Guardians; and our first Edwarddis- 
 tributed this guard to three admirals; so did the second 
 of that name; and the form of our ancient commis- 
 sions to the several admiralties, mention the dominion 
 of our kings upon the sea ; nor did any other nation 
 whatsoever contest it, as having little, or nothing on 
 the opposite shoarsj whilst His evident, the English 
 monarchs possessed their right in its intire latitude, for 
 more than a thousand years, under one intire empire, 
 and an un-interrupted enjoyment of the sea, as an 
 appendant. 
 
 46. To this we might add the pass-ports sued for by 
 forreigners from the reign of Henry the Fourth, and so 
 down to Queen Elizabeth, who during her war with 
 Spaifi, sometimes gave leave to the Swedes, Banes, and 
 
 56 Ansiatic 
 
their Original and Progress. 85 
 
 Ansiatic towns, and sometimes prohibited them, peti- 
 tioning for passes, to sail through her seas ; nay, more, 
 she caus'd to be taken, and brought into her harbours; 
 laden-ships of those nations transgressing her orders , 
 as far as the Streights of Lisbon, which she could never 
 have justify' dj had she not been acknowledged Soveraign 
 of the Seas, through which they were to pass : And 
 though her successour King James, appointed cer- 
 tain limits on the English coast, by imaginary lines 
 drawn from point to point, round the island, in which 
 he sometimes extended them far into the sea ; it was 
 not to circumscribe a jurisdiction (a thing which he 
 most industriously caution'd his Ministers never to g^t. pat. 2. 
 yield, so much as in discourse) beyond which he did •^o'''- ?"""' '^^^■ 
 not pretend ; but in relation only to acts of hostility, 
 between the two great antagonists, the Spaniard and the 
 Hollander, declaring himself both lord, and moderator of 
 the British seas from his royal predecessors. 
 
 47. In several commissions given to sea commanders, Bot. Scot. 10. 
 by Edward the Third, the words are. Our progenitors, ^d.Memhran. 
 the kings of England, have before these times, been lords 
 
 of the British seas on every side ; and in a certain bill, 
 
 prefer'd in parliament to the same prince, 'tis said, Bot. pat. 46. 
 
 that the English were ever in the ages past so renown'd ^' 
 
 for navies, and sea-affairs, that the countries about 
 
 them, usually esteem'd, and call'd them Soveraigns of the 
 
 Sea ; And from the same Parliamentary testimony in the 
 
 reign of Henry the Fifth we learn, that the estates in 
 
 that august assembly, did with one consent affirm it as 
 
 a thing unquestionable, that the Kings of England Bot. pat. 8. 
 
 were Lords of the sea, and that that sea was all 3 *2'^f'e *"*' 
 
 which flow'd between the stream on both sides, and 
 
 made no doubt, but a tribute might be impos'd, by' 
 
 authority of Parliament upon all strangers passing 
 
 through them, as we shall find Richard the Second to 
 
 have done long before. 
 
 48. In t\ie xeisaoi Edward i}xe Second, Robert Earl ■??'• i"*'- ^f; 
 
 e- Ed. %p.%M 
 
 o7 of 26. in dorso. 
 
88 Navigation and Commerce^ 
 
 interpret) did Henry the Eight, add the portcluse to his 
 current mony, as a character of his peculiar title to 
 this dition (dominion), exclusive to all others. 
 
 51. We have spoken of the Danes, and Normans, and 
 their successive claim, and of the Custodes Maritimi, 
 more antient than that of admiral, as now constituted, 
 which indeed began with the Edwards, when the 
 French, at war with Flanders, but pretending to usurp 
 that dignity, were fain to abolish their new office, and 
 acknowledging they had no right, pay the damages of 
 the depredations they made, as appears by that famous 
 record in the Tower, mentioned by Sir John Burroughs* 
 in which the title of our kings is asserted from imme- 
 morial prescription ; nay, when at this time, he had not 
 all the opposite shoar to friend. 
 
 52. The constitution of our Cinque-Ports give ano- 
 ther noble testimony to this claim, and the addition of 
 two more admirals by our Third Edward, guarding as 
 many seas, as there were superiour officers of this deno- 
 mination, not omitting the title of Lords of both Shoars, 
 anciently usM from hence to Henry the Fifth; nay, 
 when Edward renounc'd his claim to Normandy (as at 
 
 1166. the treaty of Chartres) the French themselves acknow- 
 ledg'd this right, and therefore neither here, nor at the 
 • Court of Delegates in France, did they claim any pre- 
 tence to the islands, or interfluent seas. But what 
 need we a more pregnant instance, than that universal 
 deference to the laws of Oleron (an island of Aquitania 
 then belonging to this Crown) published after the 
 Rhodian had been long antiquated, which obtain'd over 
 all the Christian world. And to this we might add the 
 Dane-Gelt (in plain English, a ship-mony tax) impos'd 
 as well on strangers as denisens that practic'd commerce 
 upon our coasts and seas east and north, where the 
 
 60 great 
 
 " See Ms Treatise, " His Majesties Propriety and Dominion 
 of the British Seas asserted." Londoii, 1672. 
 
their Original and Progress. 89 
 
 great inter cursus wasj nor expir**! it here, but con- 
 tinu'd customary, as appears by innumerable records, 
 for enabling the King to protect the seas, and to ob- 
 struct, or open them as he saw convenient, with title to 
 all royal fishes, wracks, and goods found floating in 
 alto-mari, as we can prove by several commissions, and 
 instruments, and confirm by precedents, not of our 
 municipal constitutions alone, but, such as have been 
 binding, and accepted for such, of the nations about 
 us ; witness that famous accord made between our 
 Edward the First, and the French King Phillip the 
 Fair, calling him to account for the piracies we have 
 mentioned. And 
 
 53. To this we might produce the spontaneous sub- 
 mission of the Flemings in open Parliament, in Edward 
 the Seconds reign, and the honour, or rather duty of 
 the flag, which King John with his peers, had many ^200. 
 ages since, challeng'd, upon the custom ordain'd at M.S.Commen. 
 Hastings, decreed to take place universally, not barely ^^^ ^^j ^s, 
 as a civility, but as a right of importance for the 
 making out, and confirmation of our title to the domi- 
 nion we have been vindicating ; and that this has been 
 claim'd and pay'd cum debitd reverentid (to use the 
 express words of those old commissions, which had 
 been long since given by William and Maurice Princes 
 of Orange) to all the sea commanders in those days ; 
 we have for almost this whole later century, seen the 
 matter of fact testified not only by continual claims, 
 orders, commissions and instructions ; but by searching 
 divers authentick journals, which have noted the par- 
 ticulars in a thousand instances : Nor has this been paid 
 to whole fleets only, bearing the royal pavillion; but to 
 single vessels, and those of the smaller craft (as they 
 are stU'd) wearing his Majesties cognizance, to whom 
 this homage has been done, even by the greatest navies, 
 meeting them in any of the British seas in their utmost 
 latitudes. Nor has this been so much as question'd, 
 
 61 till 
 
90 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 0. C. 1672. ti^ that arch rebel for ends of his owiij would once have 
 See his letter betray'd it ; and that the late demagogue De Witt, with 
 to the Am-"*' ^o ^^^^ insolence, would have perverted his countrymen, 
 bass, at Xora- by entring into an injurious disquisition in justifica- 
 ''^' tion of the wrong he would have made us swallow ; 
 
 but his Majesty was not so to be hector'd out of his 
 right as appears by the honourable provision he has 
 made to secure it, in the late treaty with the Dutch and 
 what all the world has paid us, which puts it out of 
 dispute : In the mean time it was necessary, and no 
 way improper to the scope of this treatise, that after 
 what has been so newly pretended, to the prejudice of 
 the title we have asserted, some thing should be said to 
 abate the confidence of impertinent men, and to let the 
 world know, that our princes (to whom God, and na- 
 ture has imparted such prerogatives) will not be baffl'd 
 out of them, by the sentences, and sophisms of lawyers, 
 much less by sycophants, and such as carry not the 
 least shadow of reason : But it would fill many volumes 
 to exemplifie the forms of our ancient commissions from 
 time to time, investing our admirals, with the exercise 
 of this soveraign power ; as well as that of safe conducts, 
 writts of seizure, and arrests ; the copies of grants, and 
 permission to fish (of which in the next period) ob- 
 tain'd of our kings, by petition &c. to be found at large 
 in our books, parliament roUs, and other authentick 
 pieces too long for this tract : But, if any will be con- 
 tentious, because they are some of them of ancient 
 date, we have, and shall yet shew instances sufficient, 
 and ex abundanti for this last age, to which our antago- 
 nists have from time to time submitted, not only in 
 the wide, and ample sea, or at our own coasts, but in 
 the very ports, and harbours of strangers, where they 
 looked for protection ; that all the world may blush at 
 the weak and unreasonable contentions, which would 
 invalidate this claim, if at least there be in the world 
 any such thing as right, prescription, deference, or 
 62 other 
 
their Original and Progress. 91 
 
 other evidence, which amongst sober men, is agreed to 
 be law, for the clearing of a title. To sum up all then, 
 if right of prescription, succession of inheritance, con- 
 tinual claim, matter of fact, consent of history, and 
 confessions even from the mouths, and pens of adver- 
 saries, be of any moment to the gaining of a cause ; 
 we may bespeak our nation, as he did King James upon 
 another occasion, and as justly transfer it to his glorious g^ot. Sylva. 
 successor — Quels dat jura mari &c. ^- 2. 
 
 And with this I should conclude, did not the fishery, 
 which is another irrefragable proof of his Majesties do- 
 minion, require a little survey, before we shut up this 
 discourse. 
 
 54. How far this royal jurisdiction has extended, may 
 best be gathered out of the Reverend Camden, speaking 
 of King James the Sixth of Scotland, and of Queen Eli- i. p • 
 
 zabeth of England who first discovering the Whale- tan.' 
 fishing, had consequently, title to those seas, as far as 
 Green-land northward ; and what it was to the south, 
 the proclamation of our Third Edward (yet extant) 
 abundantly makes appear : This confirm'd by the Fourth 
 of that name, guards, and convoys, were appointed to 
 preserve the rights inviolable ; as was likewise continued 
 by the three succeeding Henrys, Fifth, Sixth, and 
 Seventh, and their descendents, who impost a certain 
 tribute upon all forreiners, in recognition of their indul- > 
 gence to them.* Witness the French, the Dukes of 1489. 
 Bretagne, of Burgundy (especially Philip) and those of 
 Flanders, who never presum'd to cast a net without 
 
 63 permission, 
 
 * This statement appears to be liable to much doubt. In the 
 Jntercurms Magnus, or Commercial Treaty, between Henry VII 
 and Philip, Sovereign of the Netherlands, agreed to in 1496, it is 
 stipulated, Art. 3, that— 
 
 " The fishers, on both sides, may freely fish on the seas without 
 any safe conduct asked ; and when driven into each other's ports 
 by tempest or other necessity, they shall be safe there, and have 
 free liberty to depart, paying the customary dues." 
 
92 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 permission, and a formal instrument first obtained, the 
 originals whereof, are yet to be seen, and may be col- 
 lected out of both the French, and Burgundian stories ; 
 and, as it doth indeed to this day appear by his Majes- 
 ties neighbourly civility, granted to the French king for 
 the provision of his ovrn table, and to the town of 
 Rot. Fran. Z8. Bruges in Flanders, by a late concession; the number 
 
 Ifemh. 9 S ajj^ gj^e of boats, and other circumstances being limited, 
 
 14 Men. 6. o ^ 
 
 upon transgression whereof, the offenders have been 
 
 imprisoned, and otherwise mulcted. 
 
 55. And, as the French, so the Spaniard did always 
 sue to our princes for the like priviledg and kindness : 
 King Phillip the Second (as nearly related as he was to 
 
 Stat. Ril. Ed. Queen Mary his wife) finding a proviso in an act of 
 '^'F"^' ^j"^"' parliament, that no forreiner should fish in those seas 
 6. Mar. ' without permission, paid into the Exchequer no less than 
 an annual rent of one thousand pounds, for leave to fish 
 upon the north of Ireland, for the supply of his domi- 
 nions in Flanders : Now for the Dutch. 
 
 56. That famous record Pro AommifiMS Hollandia {so 
 1295. the title runs) points to us as far as our first Edward, 
 
 not only how obsequious then they were in acknow- 
 ledging the kings dominion on the sea, but his protec- 
 tion, and permission to fish on the environs of it ;* and 
 Eot. pat. 23. ^^^ successor Edward the Third, as he gave leave to the 
 Ud.l.Memh.Q. Counts oi Holland (who always petitioned for it) so he 
 prescribed laws, and orders concerning the burden of 
 Rot. pat. 22. the vessels to be employ'd about it : The like did Henry 
 Ed.^.Mem.%. 64 the 
 
 * This proclamation or letter is printed in Rymer's Foedera 
 (vol. i. part iii. and iv., p. 148, ed. 1745), but it hardly bears out 
 what is said respecting it in the text. It is addressed by the 
 King, Edward I, to the magistrates of Yarmouth, and directs 
 them to intimate to all persons employed in His Majesty's service, 
 that they are not to molest the foreigners fishing on our shores, 
 but that, on the contrary, they are to give them every assistance. 
 Not a word is said in regard to licenses to fish, or payments due, 
 or to be made by the foreigners. 
 
their Original and Progress. 93 
 
 the Sixth to the French, and others j with the season, 
 place, and method to be observ'd, which are all of main 
 importance in the cause : And this was so religiously 
 inspected in former times, that Edward the Fourth, 
 constituted a triumvirat power to guard both the seas, 
 and the fishery against all pretenders whatsoever, as 
 had Richard the Second long before him, who impos'd 
 a tribute on every individual ship that passed through 
 the northern admiralty, for the maintenance of that 
 sea-guard, amounting to six- pence a tun, upon every 
 fishing vessel weekly, as appears by a most authentick 
 record, and the opinion of the most eminent judges, at 
 that early day ; who upon consideration, that none but 
 a soverein power could impose such a payment, gave it in 
 as their opinion, that this right and dominion, was a 
 branch of the royal patrimony, and inseparable : Nay, 
 that wise prince Henry the Seventh, thought it so infi- 
 • nitely considerable, that (upon deeply weighing the 
 great advantages) he was (for) setting up a trade, or staple 
 of fish, in preference ( say some) to that of wool itself, 
 and all other commerce of his dominions ; which being 
 long before ike Low- Countries had a name for merchants, 
 they had still perhaps, neglected, if some renegado's of 
 our own ( Violet, and Stephens by name) had not encou- 
 rag'd the Dutch of Enchuysen (with other mal-contented 
 persons of the craft, deserting their country, and their 
 loyalty) to molest his Majesties streams, upon the 
 accompt of these men ; since which, they, and others, 
 have continued their presumptions even to insolence: 
 57. Neither was less the care of King James to vindi- 
 cate this incomparable prerogative, than any of his 1606. 
 vigilant predecessors, who, having deriv'd that accession 1458. 
 of the Shetland Islands by marriage with a daughter of i609. 
 Denmark, publishM his proclamations immediately after 
 his coming into England: For it must be acknowledged 
 that Queen Elizabeth did not so nicely and warily look 
 
 65 after 
 
/ 
 
 94 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 afterthis jealous article, as had been wish'd J diverted by 
 her extraordinary pitty, and abundant indulgence to the 
 distressed States. But, this Prince roundly asserts his 
 See Copy of a patrimony, upon many prudent reasons of state, and 
 ^6tter in Sir especially, for encouragement of the maritime towns. 
 Library and fallen much to decay, and plainly succumbing under 
 the Credenti- the injurious dealing of such as took the fish from 
 Bii Hen Wot- I'^fore their dores; and renew'd his commands, that 
 ton. none should for the future, presume so much as to 
 
 hover about, much less abide on our coasts, without per- 
 mission first obtain'd under the Great Seal of England, 
 and upon which the Hollanders petitioned for leave, and 
 acknowledged the limits appointed them, as formerly they 
 had done: Let us hear the historian describe it and 
 blush. 
 Camden'mBr. " The Hollanders (says he) taking infinite plenty of 
 " herring upon this coast, and thereby making a most 
 " gainful trade, were first to procure leave (by ancient • 
 '' custom) out of /ScarZiorow-Castle ; for the English 
 " permit them to fish ; reserving indeed the honour to 
 " themselves, but, resigning the benefit to strangers, to 
 " their incredible inriching &c. What could be said 
 more to our purpose, or to our reproach ? This was 
 that which King James endeavour'd to bring into a better 
 method, when taking notice of the daily incroachment 
 1618 °^ ^^^ neighbours he enjoyn'd his ambassador (who was 
 
 then Sir Dudley Carleton) to expostulate with the States, 
 as may be seen in that sharp letter of Mr. Secretarie 
 [Naunton] dated the twenty first of December 1618, 
 in which he tells them, " That unless they sought leave 
 "from his Majesty, and acknowledg his right, as other 
 " princes had done, and did ; it might well come to pass, 
 " that they who would needs bear all the world before 
 " them by their MareLiberum, might soon endanger their 
 " having neither terram, nee solum, nee rempublicam 
 '' liberam : I do only recite the passage as I find it pub- 
 
 66 lish'd 
 
their Original and Progress. 95 
 
 lish'd, and take notice how prophetick it had lately like 
 to have been. 
 
 58. This happy prince taking umbrage at the war 
 between the Hollander and the Spaniard, did fix limits 
 by commission, and survey, nearer than which (though 
 as moderator, he oiFer'd equal protection to both) no 
 
 enemy to another state, might commit any hostile act, Sddenus I. 2, 
 and producing his reasons for it, asserted his right so "• ^2. 
 to do ; not as if those boundaries circumscrib'd his 
 dominions, but, as being suflBcient for the vindication 
 of his due in that great article. And their not observ- 
 ing this, incited King Charles the First of blessed 
 memory, to animadvert upon it, when in the year 1639, 1639. 
 our good friends behaved themselves with so little 
 respect, in that memorable conflict with the Spaniard ; 
 and when approaching too near our shoars, they were 
 check'd for their irreverence in his Majesties Imperial 
 Chambers j indeed, for the first (but seeming) afiront, 
 that this nation did ever receive upon it. 
 
 59. And now it wiU not be amiss, nor inconsistent 
 with our title, to let the world see, the immense advan- 
 tages of the trade which has been driven upon the sole 
 account of the fishery ; by the prodigious emolument 
 which it has (to our cost and reproach) afforded our 
 more industrious neighbours, the foundation of whose 
 greatness has been laid in the bottom of our seas ; 
 which has yielded them more treasure than the mines 
 of Potosi, or both Indies to Spain. 
 
 Who would believe that this people raise yearly by 
 the herring, and other fisheries, a million of pound 
 sterling, and that Holland, and Zealand alone (whose 
 utmost verge doth hardly exceed many English shires) 
 should from a few despicable boats, be able to set forth 
 above twenty thousand vessels of all sorts, fit for the 
 rude seas, and of which more than 7000, are yearly 
 employed upon this occasion ? 'Tis evident, that by 
 
 67 this 
 
96 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 this particular trade, they are able to breed above 
 fourty thousand fisher-meuj and one hundred and six- 
 teen thousand mariners (as the census has been ac- 
 curately calculated) and the gain of it is so universal, 
 that there's hardly a beggar in their country, nor an 
 hand, which doth not earn it's bread. This is literally 
 true, and the consideration of it seem'd so important, 
 that even in the days of Charles the Fifth, that great 
 monarch is reported to have sometimes visited the tomb 
 of Bueckels (where he had been above two hundred 
 years interr'd) in solemn recognition of his merit, for 
 having, as 'tis said, been the inventor of pickling and 
 curing herring : In a word, so immense is the advantage 
 which this article alone brings the state, that a very 
 favourable rent, still in arrear to his Majesties Exche- 
 quer, for permission to fish (as should be prescribed, 
 and appointed them) amounts to more than half a 
 million of pounds, and the custom only at home of what 
 they take, with the tenth fish for waftage, to near five 
 hundred thousand pounds more; but the quantities which 
 they sell abroad, to a sum almost not to be reckon'd: 
 Then let it be computed, the hands employ'd for spin- 
 ning of yarn, weaving of nets, and making other ne- 
 cessaries for the salting, curing, packing, and barelling, 
 building of vessels, and fitting them out to sea : It is 
 certain the shipping (which is more than all Europe 
 can assemble besides) sea-men, commerce, towns, har- 
 bours, power, publick-wealth, and affluence of all other 
 things, is sprung from this source ; and, that in barter 
 for fish (without exportation of coin) they receive from 
 Spain, Italy, Germany, &c. oil, wine, fruit, corn, hony, 
 wax, allum, salt, wool, flax, hemp, pitch, tarr, sope- 
 ashes, iron, copper, steel, claw-boards, timber, masts, 
 dollars, armour, glass, mill-stones, plate, tapestry, muni- 
 tion, and all things that a country (which has no one 
 material of these of proper growth) can need to render 
 
 68 it 
 
their Original and Progress. 97 
 
 it consummately happy. The Indies and farthest 
 regions of the earth, participate of this industry ; and 
 to our shame be it spoken, we blush not to buy our 
 own fish of them, and purchase that of strangers, which 
 God, and nature has made our own, inriching others to 
 our destruction, by a detestable sloath ; whilst to en- 
 courage us, we have timber, victuals, havens, men, 
 and all that at our dores, which these people adventure 
 for in remoter seas, and at excessive charges ; And thus 
 the prize is put into our hands, whilst we have not the 
 hearts to use it ; nor do we produce any reasons, why gee Mr. VUs- 
 we are thus unconcern' d, that ever I could find, were $^«".9'«'« late 
 solid; some objections indeed are presented, but they the Fishery, 
 appeared to me so dilute, and insignificant, that 'tis not 
 possible to compose ones indignation at the hearing of 
 them, and see a kingdom growing every day thinner 
 of people, and fuller of indigence, without some extra- 
 ordinary emotion : To see with what numerous, and 
 insulting fleets, our neighbours have been often pre- 
 pared to dispute our title to these advantages, by the 
 benefit and supply of that which we neglect, and con- 
 demn as unpracticable : If this be not enough to raise 
 in us some worthy resentments : Let the confession of 
 the Dutch- themselves incite us to it; who (in a pro- 
 clamation, published near fifty years since) have stiFd 
 their Fishing Trade, the Golden Mines of their provinces, ^„^. 
 and stimulated an industrious and emulous people with 
 all the topicks of encouragement : Were this alone well 
 consider' d, and briskly pursu'd, there would need no 
 great magick to reduce our bold supplanters to a 
 more neighbourly temper : The subjects of this nation 
 have no more to do, than apply themselves to the 
 fishery, to recover at once their losses, and as infallibly 
 advance the prosperity of the kingdom, as 'tis evident 
 it has enabled our late antagonists to humble Spain, 
 and from little of themselves, to grapple with the most 
 
 69 puissant 
 
98 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 puissant Monarch of Europe, and bring him to the 
 ground : For my part, I do not see how we can be able 
 to answer this prodigious sloath of ours any longer; 
 and especially, since 'tis evident, it will cost us but a 
 laxidable industry; and (in regard of our situation, and 
 very many advantages above them) much less trouble 
 and charge: Or suppose a considerable part of our 
 forrein less-needfull expences were diverted to this 
 work, what were the dis-advantages ? We talk much 
 of France (and perhaps with reason) but are we so safe 
 from our dear friend, upon this composure, as never to 
 apprehend any future unkindness ? For my own part, 
 I wish it with my soul : But of this I am sure, we may 
 prevent, or encounter open defiance ; but whilst we are 
 thus undermin'd, we suffer a continual hostility; since 
 the effects of it ruin our commerce, and by consequence 
 the nation : Nor speak I here of our neighbours the 
 Hollanders only ; but of those of Hamborough, Luhec, 
 Embden, and other interloopers, who grow exceedingly 
 opulent, whilst we sit still, and perish, whose advantages 
 for taking, curing, and vending of herrings, and employ 
 of hands (were the expedients mentioned put in prac- 
 tice, or the ruinous numbers of our men, daily flocking to 
 the American plantations, and from whence so few return, 
 prudently stated, and acts of naturahzation promoted) 
 are so infioitely superiour to theirs ; But, so our cursed 
 negligence, will yet have it, not for want of all royal 
 encouragement, but a fatality, plainly insuperable. 
 
 60. We have said little yet of our American fishery, 
 and the loss we make of a vast treasure on the coasts of 
 Virginia, Green-land, Bermudas, &c. sacrificing infinite 
 wealth both at home, and abroad to the Spaniards, 
 French, those of Portugal, and Biscay. 'Tis well 
 known that Green-land, was first detected by the 
 English, about the latter end of Queen Elizabeths 
 reign, and afterwards the royal standard erected there, 
 
 70 in 
 
their Original and Progress. 99 
 
 in token of dominion^ by the name of King James's 
 New-land, his Majesty asserting his just rights, by 
 many acts of state, as more particularly on the tenth 
 of January 1613, when he signified his pleasure by Sir 
 Noel Carew then in Holland, in vindication of his title 1613. 
 both to the island fishery, and all other emoluments 
 whatsoever jure dominii, as first discoverer, and to pro- 
 hibite strangers interposing, and fishing in his seas 1609. 
 without permission : For this eff'ect, commissioners 
 were establish'd at London to grant licences, yearly 
 renewable, for such as would fish on the English coast 
 and at Edenbrough, on the northern, and by proclama- 
 tion, interdicting all un-licenced practises ; the Duke of 
 Lennox (as Admiral of Scotland) being order'd to assert ^^^^• 
 the right of the assize-herring, which was paid. 
 
 61. The following years, what interruptions hap- 1617. 
 pen'd, upon our neighbours declining to come to an 
 adjustment for the indulgences they had found, is uni- 
 versally known, 'tiU the year 1635, when to prevent 1635. 
 some incroachments, and disorders of those who fished 
 under his protection, the late King Charles of blessed ggg j^j, ggg_ 
 memory issu'd out his proclamations, and gave in- retary Cook's 
 structions to his ministers abroad, signifying that no i g i635 t^ 
 strangers should presume to fish in the British seas his Majestie s 
 without his Majesties licence; and that those who Resident at 
 desired them, might be protected, he thought fit to 
 equip, and set forth such a fieet, as became his care, 
 and vigilancy for the good and safety of his people, and 
 the honour of the nation : This was the year, and the 
 occasion of building several considerable ships, and 
 amongst others, that famous vessel, the Royal Soveraiyn, 
 which to this day, bears our triumphant Edgar for its 
 badge and cognizance, and to mind the world of his 
 undoubted right to the dominion of the seas, which he 
 had by this time asserted and secured beyond danger of 
 dispute, had not a deluded people (as to their own 
 
 71 highest 
 
1635. 
 1636. 
 
 100 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 highest concern, glory, and interest) and the fatality of 
 the times, disturb^ the project of an easie tax as an 
 imaginary invasion of their liberties, which that blessed 
 Prince, design^ only to protect them : It is fresh in 
 memory what were the opinions of Attoumy Noy, many 
 learned civilians, and near a jury of grave judges upon 
 this conjuncture ; and the instances of King Ethelred's 
 having levy'd it many hundred years before, shew'd it 
 to be no such innovation ; nor could there be a more 
 pressing occasion than when all our neighbours around 
 us were (as now) in a state of hostility : but I list not 
 here to interrupt my reader upon this chapter, which 
 has already suffer'd so many sore digladiations and con- 
 tests ; only as to matter of fact, and as concerned the 
 navigation, and improvement of commerce, I touch it 
 briefly, and pass to what foUow'd, which was the setting 
 out no less than sixty tall ships, first under the Earl of 
 Lindsey, and afterwards Northumberland, by the ac- 
 count of whose accurate journal, it appears, how readily 
 our neighbour fisher-men (though under convoy of 
 fleets superiour to ours in number) sued for, and took 
 licences to the value of fifteen hundred pounds, fifteen 
 shillings and two pence, as I have perus'd the particulars : 
 I do only mention the licences, which were also taken, 
 and accepted at land, and they not a few, distributed by 
 Sir William Boswell at the Hague it self, upon which his 
 Majestie's minister then at Bruxelles, advertis'd the 
 Infanta that \he Dunkerkers should take care not to 
 molest such of the Hollanders (though at that time in 
 actual hostility with them) as had his Majestie^s per- 
 mission, and accordingly, the Cardinal did grant them 
 passes, which they took without scruple ; so as we find 
 it was not for nothing, that they came under protection, 
 but receiv'd a real benefit ; Nor was this a novel imposi- 
 tion, but familiar, and customary, as appears by the 
 many precedents which we have recited ; to which we 
 
 71 may 
 
their Original and Progress. 101 
 
 mayaddj that of the Scotch fishery, under King James the 
 first : 1434. Sl.^c^.of the first Pariiawiew^, having already 
 spoken of what concern' d our own princes, especially 
 what Richard the Second impos'd, Henry I.V.VI.VII. 
 Queens Mary, Sec. with that of Edward the First Pro 
 Hominibus Hollandice S^c, which protection is yet ex- 
 tant, and granted frequently by treaties, as a priviledg 
 only during the subsistance of such treaties, and no 
 farther, totally rescinding and abolishing the pretences 
 grounded by some upon the inter cur sus magnus made j^gg 
 with the Dukes of Burgundy : So as to summ up all 
 that has been produc'd to fortifie our domestick evi- 
 dences, we have many Acts of Parliament, we have the 
 several successoiirs of our Princes granting licences to 
 strangers : we have the assiduous instances made by 
 King James, by his ambassadours, and secretaries of 
 state ; We have the acknowledgments actually, and 
 already paid, and accounted for to the exchequer, and 
 have seen the occasion of the late interruptions of it, 
 and the invalidity of mens pretences : And if these be 
 not evidences sufficient to subv.ert the sophisms of a few 
 mercenary pens, and dismount the confidence of unrea- 
 sonable people, it is because there is so little vigour in 
 our resolutions at home, and so little justice in the 
 world abroad: Nor has this been arrogated by the 
 monarchs of this nation, but a right established upon 
 just reason ; namely, that they might be enabl'd to clear 
 the seas of rovers, and pirates, and protect such as 
 foUow'd their lawful affairs : And for this efiect, the 
 Kings of England, did not only take care to defend 
 their own subjects, but to convoy, and secure all stran- 
 gers, sometimes (as we have seen) by proclamation, 
 sometimes by fleets, and men of war, where they fish'd 
 by agreement, upon treaty, or leave obtained, yet re- 
 straining them to certain limits, retaining the dominion 
 of the neighbouring seas, as in the reign of Henry the 
 
 73 Fourth. 
 
102 Navigation and Commerce, 
 
 Rot.Fra.Hen. Fourth, where we fiud an accord made between him and 
 the French King, that the subjects of either nation might 
 fish in one part of the seas, and not in another ; the 
 possession of all privileges of this nature ever accom- 
 panying the royal licence, and strangers having either 
 Edw. 4. special indulgences, or being under protection of special 
 
 Rich. 3. officers, appointed iu former times for the safe guarding 
 
 of the fishery, who were so impower'd by patent, and 
 had certain dues appointed for that attendance, which 
 they levied upon all forreiners, with the express direc- 
 tion (in the reign of Henry the Seventh) that the 
 acknowledgment was to be so levied, notwithstanding 
 any letter of safe-conduct, which stranger fishermen 
 might pretend from any king, prince or government 
 whatsoever : So as by all the arguments of right, claim, 
 and prescription, the title is firm ; all other pretences 
 of right or possession interrupted, arrogated and preca- 
 rious, or else extinguish'd by infractions of treaties, 
 never since revived by any subsequent act: 
 
 63. We might here mention the toU paid the King of 
 Denmark at the Sundt, and the respect which strangers 
 1694. shew to his castle of Cronnenburg, according to a 
 treaty made between him and the Dutch; and to 
 the Swedish king, whom they acknowledg sovereign 
 of the Baltick, and northern tracts to an immense 
 extent, where he receives tribute, as well as those of 
 Denmark, and Poland by impositions at Dantzick and 
 the Pillau, where they only enjoy for it a cold and 
 hungry passage, whilst with us, we give them not only 
 passage, harbours, and protection through a dangerous 
 sea, but an emolument accompanying it, which inriches 
 our neighbours with one of the most inestimable trea- 
 sures, and advantagious commerce under heaven : To 
 this we also might add what has obtain'd the suffrages 
 not only of our own countrymen of the long robe and 
 others, but of almost aU the dis-interested learned per- 
 
 74 sons 
 
their Original and Progress. 103 
 
 sons who have discuss'd this subject; universally 
 agreeingj that as to a peculiar, and restrictive right, 
 fisheries may, and ought to he appropriated, and that 
 as well in the high-seas (as the lawyers term them) as 
 in lakes, and rivers, and narrower confinements, and as 
 the republick of Genoa does at this day, let to farm 
 their fishery for thunnies in their neighhouring seas; 
 and the contract between Queen Elizabeth and Den- 
 mark about the like liberty upon the coast of Norway, 
 and the prohibitions made, and the licences given by 
 that crown at this present, do abundantly evince ; 
 namely that the Dane is, and hath of long time been, 
 in possession upon the coasts we have mention'd, of 
 as much as we asser't to be due to his Majesty in the 
 British seas. 
 
 75 
 
Extracts from 
 
 PLAN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Englijh COMMERCE, 
 
 BEING A 
 
 CoMPLEAT Prospect 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Trade of this Nation, as well the 
 Home Trade as the Foreign. 
 
 Humbly offered to the Confideration of the King and Parliament. 
 
 The second EDITION. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 Printed for Charles Rivington, at the Bil>k and 
 Crown in St. Paul's Church-Tard, 1730. 
 
PLAN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ENGLISH COMMERCE, 
 
 &c. 
 
 * * * Are we a rich, a populous, a powerful nation, 
 and in some respects the greatest in all those particulars 
 in the world, and do we not boast of being so ? ■'Tis 
 evident it was all deriv'd from trade. Our merchants are 
 princes, greater and richer, and more powerful than some 
 sovereign princes ; and in a word, as is said of Tyre, we 
 have made the kings of the earth rich with our merchan- 
 dise, that is, with our trade. 
 
 If usefulness gives an addition to the character, either 
 of men or things, as without doubt it does ; trading-men 
 will have the preference in almost aU the disputes you can 
 bring : There is not a nation in the known world, but 
 have tasted the benefit, and owe their prosperity to the 
 useful improvements of commerce : Even the self- vain 
 gentry, that would decry trade as a universal mechanism, 
 are they not every where depending upon it for their 
 most necessary supplies ? If they do not all sell, they 
 are aU forc'd to buy, and so are a kind of traders them- 
 selves, at least they recognize the usefulness of commerce, 
 as what they are not able to live comfortably without. 
 
 3 Nay, 
 
108 A Plan qfthe 
 
 Nay-j in many parts of Britain, they are really traders, 
 both buyers and sellers ; for example, where the landlords 
 are obliged to take their rents in kind, as the clergy do 
 their tithes ; here they are (in a word) general traders ; 
 they seU their barley to the malt-makers, their wheat to 
 the millers and bakers, their oates to the corn-factors, 
 their sheep and bullocks are sold at the markets to the 
 butchers, or at fairs to the^ graziers; they are sheep- 
 shearers, and sell their wool to the stapler or clothier ; 
 and when they kill a buUock, or a calf, or a sheep, for 
 their family-use, they are beholding to the felmonger, and 
 the tanner, to buy the raw hides and skins ; when they 
 sell their timber, they are oblig'd to turn mechanicks, and 
 sell the bark to the tanners, the timber to the ship-wright 
 and the carpenters, the brushwood and bavins to the 
 baker and the brick-maker. 
 
 In a word, useful trade supports the gentleman ; and 
 without these mechanicks he could not dispose the pro- 
 duce of his estate, or make any rent of his land ; and 
 rather than not dispose of it, such is his necessity, that 
 we see he will stoop to buy and sell for himself, and trade 
 and deal like a meer mechanick. 
 
 But this is not all, if they would look a little nearer, 
 they would see themselves not by practice only dege- 
 nerated into trading men, but even their fortunes, nay, 
 their very blood mingled with the mechanicks, as they 
 call them ; the necessity of their circumstances frequently 
 reconciles the best of the nobility to these mixtures ; and 
 then the same necessity opens their eyes to the absurdity 
 of the distinctions which they had been so wedded to 
 before. 
 
 It is with the utmost disgrace to their understanding, 
 that those people would distinguish themselves in the 
 manner they do, when they may certainly see every day 
 prosperous circumstances advance those mechanicks, as 
 they will have them called, into the arms, and into the 
 
 4 rank 
 
English Commerce. 109 
 
 rank of the gentry j and declining fortunes reduce the 
 best families to a level with the mechanick. 
 
 The rising tradesman swells into the gentry, and the 
 declining gentry sink into trade. A merchant, or perhaps 
 a man of a meaner employ thrives by his honest industry, 
 frugality, and a long series of diligent application to 
 business, and being grown immensely rich, he marries his 
 daughters to gentlemen of the first quality, perhaps a 
 coronet ; then he leaves the bulk of his estate to his heir, 
 and he gets into the rank of the peerage ; . does the next 
 age make any scruple of their blood, being thus mix'd 
 with the antient race ? Do we not just now see two dukes 
 descended by the female side, from the late Sir Josiah 
 Child, and the immediate heir a peer of Ireland ? Many 
 examples of the like kind might be given. 
 
 On the other hand, the declining gentry, in the ebb of 
 their fortunes, frequently push their sons into trade, and 
 they again, by their application, often restore the fortunes 
 of their families : Thus tradesmen become gentlemen, by 
 gentlemen becoming tradesmen. I could give examples 
 of this too, but they are too recent for our naming. 
 
 They that learn thus to despise trading people as such, 
 must either be intirely ignorant of the world, or perfectly 
 uncapable of the just impressions of these things ; they 
 must forget, sure, that the gentry are always willing to 
 submit to the raising their families, by what they call city 
 fortunes ; and how useful trade has always been, and still 
 is in the world on that account ; while others who call 
 themselves gentlemen, by way of distinction, became 
 unworthy by the scandal of their morals, to match with 
 the meanest citizen, if she be a woman of modesty and 
 virtue. 
 
 But to go on in generals, which is proper to the head 
 I am talking of; trade is the universal fund of wealth 
 throughout the world ; the gold of Africa and Brazil, the 
 silver of Mexico and Peru had but for trade remained 
 
 5 undisturbed 
 
110 A Plan of the 
 
 undisturbed in tlie mines, and in the sands of tlie rivers 
 of Guinea and Chili : The diamonds of Golconda, and of 
 Borneo had been glittering in the dirt, and remained un- 
 polish'd to this day, if diligence had not found them out ; 
 if navigation had not assisted the discovery, and if trade 
 had not spread and dispers'd them over the whole globe. 
 
 Even Solomon had wanted gold to adorn the Temple, 
 unless he had been supply'd by miracles ; if he had not 
 turned merchant-adventurer, and sent his fleets to fetch it 
 from the East Indies, that is to say, from Achin, on the 
 Island of Sumatra, which is supposed to be the Ophir 
 which his factors procur'd it at. 
 
 So effectually has trade rais'd the wealth of the world, 
 that 'tis remarkable, and worth the most curious observa- 
 tion, that throughout the known world, nations, and king- 
 doms, and governments are rich or poor, as they have, or 
 have not, a share of the whole commerce of the world, or 
 more or less, some concern in it. 
 
 The Turks, who are enemies to trade, and who dis- 
 courage industry and improvement, 'tis plain they dis- 
 people the world, rather than improve and cultivate it : 
 View their condition ; they are miserably poor ! dis- 
 tressedly poor! they are idle, indolent and starving, their 
 governments have some wealth, because they are tyran- 
 nical, and take what they please from the poor people, 
 throughout a vast extent of dominion ; so that if it be 
 but a little in a place, it amounts to a very great sum in 
 the whole, the people and nations which are tributary to 
 them, being so many ; but those people and nations are 
 poor and wretched to the last degree, and all for want of 
 trade. 
 
 As to trade, excepting what the Europeans and the 
 Jews drive among them, it is so little, that it hardly 
 deserves the name of commerce ; they have neither 
 produce of the land, or labour of the people ; neither 
 merchandise or art, nothing is encouraged among them ; 
 
 6 ignorance 
 
English Commerce. Ill 
 
 ignorance boasts indeed of the rich return we bring from 
 them, such as drugs, hair, silk, S^c. But we know it is 
 not of Turky, or the growth of Turky, but is either the 
 product of Armenia and Georgia, the Provinces of Guilan 
 and Indostan, part of Persia on the shoar of the Caspian 
 Sea, quite out of the Turk's dominions, and even there 
 they are the product of the old Christians labour, the 
 original inhabitants of those provinces : the Mahometans, 
 have little or no hand in it; they abhor business and 
 labour, and despise industry, and they starve accordingly ; 
 or those goods are the produce of the islands in the 
 Levant and the Archipelague, where the cotton-yarn, the 
 grogram or goats-hair yarn, the white or beladine silks, 
 ^c. are the manufacture of the poor Greeks inhabitants of 
 those islands, and who by their labour in cultivation, 
 cause the earth to produce the silk and the wool, and by 
 their labours in manufacturing, spin and make it up into 
 yarn, and into form, as we have it from them. Now, 
 see the consequence ; as the Mahometans I say have little 
 trade, so they have little wealth, the produce of their 
 lands yields little, and that little sells for such a little 
 value, that one would pity so vast a body of people labour- 
 ing, as it were, for nothing : AU the fruitful rich countries 
 of Natalia and the Lesser Asia, from the ^gean to the 
 Euxine Sea, once the most rich, populous, and fertile 
 provinces of the world, with all the Morea, the Achaia, 
 (the Peloponnesus of the antients) and the fruitful plains 
 of Thessaly, Macedonia, and Thrace, from the Ionian Sea, 
 to the banks of the Danube ; what do they now produce ? 
 The great city of Constantinople is supplied with corn 
 indeed, but how ? . (N.B. This is the reason of mention- 
 ing it) when produc'd, sold to the merchant, shipt on 
 board the vessels which carry it by sea, the freight paid, 
 and all charges of loading and unloading; yet their 
 barley has been bought in the market at Constantinople 
 for Zd. per bushel. 
 
 7 If 
 
112 A Plan of the 
 
 If this were some ages ago^ if it were not known to 
 be so very frequently, and if there were not some mer- 
 chants now living in London, who are persons of 
 undoubted credit^ who assure me they have bought it so : 
 I say if it were only, that it had been so some ages ago, 
 it had been nothing extraordinary, for all know it has 
 been thus in England ; but this has been so at Constan- 
 tinople within these ten or twelve years, and I doubt not 
 it might be prov'd is often so still in the same place, when 
 plentiful years of corn happen; what the poor husbandman 
 must have for his plowing, sowing, harvesting, threshing, 
 and carrying it out, is hard to imagine ; or what the land- 
 lord has for the land : But I suppose the Grand- Seignior 
 is general landlord, and has his tax from the whole 
 country, instead of rent. 
 
 Now, whence is all this poverty of a country ? ^tis 
 evident ^tis want of trade, and nothing else : And we 
 go back for an example of it to our own country, when 
 the product of the land, and the labour of the people were 
 as low here, when good wheat was worth about 4<d. per 
 bushel, a fat sheep about 3*. 4cf. and a fat ox about 18 to 
 24s. and when was this ? But when we had no trade, and 
 because we had no trade ; neither is the present difference 
 owing to anything else, but to the increase of commerce, 
 as well here as in other parts of the world; and ^tis 
 evident the rate of provisions, and the value of lands in 
 all parts of the world are high or low, great or small, as 
 the people have or have not trade to support it. 
 
 Trade encourages manufacture, prompts invention, 
 employs people, increases labour, and pays wages : As the 
 people are employ'd, they are paid, and by that pay are 
 fed, cloathed, kept in heart, and kept together ; that is, 
 kept at home, kept from wandering into foreign countries 
 to seek business, for where the employment is, the people 
 will be. 
 
 This keeping the people together, is indeed the sum of 
 
 8 the 
 
English Commerce. 113 
 
 the whole matter, for as they are kept together, they 
 multiply together ; and the numhers, which by the way is 
 the -wealth and strength of the nation, increase. 
 
 As the numbers of people increase, the consumption of 
 provisions increases; as the consumption increases, the rate 
 or value will rise at markeb ; and as the rate of provisions 
 rises, the rents of land rise : So the gentlemen are with the 
 firstto feel the benefit of trade, by the addition to their estates. 
 
 And here it would not have been improper to have 
 made a transition to our English history, and to have 
 enquir'd how punctually the course of things have obey'd 
 the laws of nature in this very particular ; how as trade 
 has increased ; so by equal advances, provisions have been 
 consumM, lands cultivated, rents raised, and the estates of 
 the gentry and nobility been improvM : I mean as to 
 periods of time, as well as to the proportion of value; 
 which enquiry would have been an unanswerable proof of 
 the fact; but I am confined here to generals, and must 
 only lay it down as a proposition. 
 
 As the consumption of provisions increase, more lands 
 are cultivated; waste grounds are inclosed, woods are 
 grubb'd up, forrests and common lands are tiU'd, and im- 
 prov'd ; by this more farmers are brought together, more 
 farm-houses and cottages are built, and more trades are 
 called upon to supply the necessary demands of hus- 
 bandry : In a word, as land is employ' d, the people 
 increase of course, and thus trade sets all the wheels of 
 improvement in motion ; for from the original of business 
 to this day it appears, that the prosperity of a nation rises 
 and falls, just as trade is supported or decay'd. 
 
 As trade prospers, manufactm'es increase ; as the 
 demand is greater or smaller, so also is the quantity 
 made ; and so the wages of the poor, the rate of provi- 
 sions, and the rents and value of the lands rise or fall, as 
 I said before. 
 
 And here the very power and strength of the nation 
 
 9 is 
 
114 A Plan of the 
 
 is Concerii'd also, for as the value of the lands rises or 
 falls, the taxes rise and fall in proportion; all our taxes 
 upon land are a kind of pound rate ; and bring in moie or 
 less, as the stated rents of the land are more or less in 
 value ; and let any one calculate, by the rate of lands in 
 England, as they went in the times of Edward IV. or even 
 in King Henry VII. time, when trade began, as it were, 
 just to live in England; and tell us how much they think 
 a land tax would then have brought in : For example. 
 
 If a tax of four shillings in the pound now brings in 
 above two millions, I suppose it would have been thought 
 very well then, if it had brought in three hundred thou- 
 sand pound, all the rest is an increase occasion'd by trade, 
 and by nothing else ; trade has increas'd the people, and 
 people have increas'd trade; for multitudes of people, if 
 they can be put in a condition to maintain themselves, 
 must increase trade; they must have food, that employs 
 land ; they must have clothes, that employs the manufac- 
 ture ; they must have houses, that employs handicrafts ; 
 they must have household stuff, that employs a long 
 variety of trades : so that in a word trade employs people, 
 and people employ trade. 
 
 I once saw a calculation of trade for the planting a 
 new town in the south parts of England, where, for the 
 encouragement of people to come and settle, the lords of 
 the manors (for the place lay in three manors,) agreed 
 to give a certain quantity of lands to fifty farmers, who 
 would undertake to bring each two hundred pound stock 
 with them, and settle there. 
 
 To every such farmer, they allotted two hundred acres 
 of good land, rent-free for twenty years ; and if the 
 farmer brought three hundred pound stock, he had three 
 hundred acres ; besides the land, the said lords agreed to 
 find timber, and all other materials for the building, to 
 every farmer a house, and out of their own pockets to 
 build to each house a barn and stables ; and thus, with 
 
 10 other 
 
English Commerce. 115 
 
 other encouragements^ fifty families of substantial farmers 
 were brought to live in a kind of circle within themselves, 
 with every one a good farm to manage, and sufficient 
 quantity of land rent-free ; the land was good in it self, 
 tho' never cultivated before, so that being clear'd and 
 inclos'd, and gradually plow'd or improved, it soon 
 returned them a profitable increase. 
 
 The land was so laid out in a large circle, that all 
 the farm-houses being built at the extremities of the 
 respective farms, towards the center, left a handsome 
 large square piece of land which the lords reserved for 
 the building a town ; and as the farm-houses were so 
 regularly plac'd, as to front all inwards, they left ten 
 spaces like streets before their doors, of which five of the 
 farm-houses, with their out-houses, made one side, and 
 the other remained to buUd into a street as occasion 
 should present. 
 
 At the same time they publish' d, that whoever would 
 come and build on that vacant ground, should have a 
 certain proportioned measure of land allow'd him, accord- 
 ing to the size of the house he would build, should have 
 timber given him gratis, out of the woods belonging to 
 the estate, sufficient for his building ; and to every house, 
 land also added for a garden and orchard, no rent to be 
 paid for ten years, and then a moderate rent for twenty 
 years more ; and then a certain rent (not at last immo- 
 derate) for the time to come. 
 
 When the farmers were settled, for there is the sub- 
 stance and reason of the thing, and in this it is exactly to 
 my purpose ; immediately comes a butcher, and he runs 
 up a little shed for the present, tiU he could build a 
 house, and sets up a shop, to kill and sell meat for the 
 farmers. 
 
 N. B. As these farmers had every one two hundred 
 
 pounds stock to begin, so they are supposed to 
 
 be all men of families, that had wives and children, 
 
 11 and 
 
116 A Plan of the 
 
 and every one had at least one or two^ and some 
 ttree servants. 
 
 Nor could one butcher be sufficient to furnish meat to 
 fifty families, but they were obliged to send to neighbour- 
 ing towns for provision, till the first butcher having 
 encouragement, two or three more came afterwards, and 
 set up also. 
 
 After the example of the butcher, in the next place 
 came a baker, and he erects an oven to supply them with 
 bread. 
 
 Fifty families of farmers must necessarily find work 
 for a smith or farrier to shoe their horses, and at least 
 two wheel-wrights to make and repair their carts, 
 waggons, plows, harrows, ^c. and these with the necessary 
 iron-work for so much building, called in a couple of 
 black-smiths, whereof one being a man of substance, 
 made himself a kind of iron-monger, laying in a stock of 
 all sorts of wrought iron and brass for building and 
 furniture, which on such an occasion they could not be 
 without. 
 
 This collection of tradesmen naturally requir'd a shoe- 
 maker or two to set up, who soon found trade enough to 
 supply the growing numbers of people with shoes and 
 boots ; and likewise a good honest country cobler or two 
 could not fail of employment to repair them; and (to add 
 the other trades working in leather), they could not be 
 without a collar-maker or two, for harness, pannels, 
 saddles, and all the necessary things relating to a team. 
 
 Add to these a turner, an earthern-ware seller, a 
 glover, a rope-maker, three or four barbers, (perhaps a 
 midwife) and several such trades as the nature of things 
 required. 
 
 But to go back to the building part, three master car- 
 penters would be the least that could be employ'd in 
 building houses, and these would require at first five or 
 six pair of sawyers at least, with journeymen ; that is to 
 
 12 say, 
 
English Commerce. 117 
 
 say, workmen ; two or three bricklayers, with their ser- 
 vants and labourers, and perhaps hard by a brick and 
 tile-maker. 
 
 To supply these, one of the carpenters, a man of sub- 
 stance, builds himself a wind-mil, and another builds a 
 second, and they both find work enough (as the town 
 encreased) to keep them constantly employed. 
 
 The town going thus forward, and standing in the 
 great post road, comes an honest victualler, and he sets up 
 an ale-house ; and soon after, he is followM by five or six 
 more ; as the first encreasing in stock, sees room for it, 
 he enlarges his building, and makes his little ale-house 
 out into a good inn, and a second follows him, and then 
 a third, and in process of time, the number of public- 
 houses encrease to eleven or twelve in all; whereof as 
 above, three are very handsome inns, and perhaps sell 
 wine as well as strong drink. 
 
 By this time the lords of the manors begin to think it 
 proper to build their new tenants a church, for which they 
 lay out a handsome piece of ground in the center of the 
 town, and a large burying-ground added to it ; and ob- 
 taining licence from the bishop, they consecrate the 
 building; and being joint patrons, present in turn, getting 
 a law to erect it into a parish, and to ascertain the tithe 
 and maintenance of the incumbent, as in like cases. 
 
 Hitherto nature acted it aU, but this part indeed, the 
 piety of the patrons supplies ; our business ^is (in both) to 
 observe the ordinary course of things, the concourse of 
 tradesmen follow the concourse of people, as naturally as 
 warmth attends the approach of the sun ; the settlement 
 of the farmers gives a summons to the tradesmen that 
 supply them with necessaries, and lets them know, that 
 there they may find business and employment : The ne- 
 cessity of meat and drink, brings the butcher, baker and 
 victualler to settle with them, as naturally as sutlers 
 follow an army. 
 
 13 But 
 
118 A Plan of the 
 
 But to proceed ; fame spreads the news of a town 
 newly erected, and a number of families brought together; 
 a grocer goes to see if there is no room for him, and find- 
 ing no supplies of his kind, he takes a piece of ground in 
 one of the principal streets, and marks himself out a place 
 for his house; but first, as before, runs up a booth or 
 shed, stores it with goods, and opens a shop, and two or 
 three chandler shops do the same in remoter parts, buying 
 their goods perhaps of him. 
 
 An apothecary does the like next door to him, and a 
 mercer next to him ; then a haberdasher of hats, a draper 
 and a milliner; and thus the town is inhabited and fur- 
 nish'd by degrees with all sorts of necessary people and 
 things ; till after some time, the lords of the manors, to 
 carry on the improvement, get a patent for a market once 
 a -week, and a fair perhaps twdce a year, or oftner, as 
 there is occasion. 
 
 In these advanc'd circumstances, other trades fall in ; 
 as \st, more ale-houses; 2d, a common brewer; Zd, a 
 cooper for casks of all sorts; a pewterer, two or three 
 lawyers, (or attorneys, rather) for drawing writings, mak- 
 ing bonds, bargains and agreements between man and 
 man, and one of these in time gets himself made a justice 
 of peace, and so there is an immediate magistrate among 
 them. 
 
 In the mean time other trades fill up the streets ; a 
 malt-house, perhaps two or three are erected, that the 
 inhabitants may brew their own beer if they please ; a 
 surgeon in case of disaster, for by this time the town 
 begins to grow populous. 
 
 The good women also being diligent, and good house- 
 wives, they spin, and in consequence of that, there must 
 be a linen weaver, and a woollen-weaver, a flax and hemp- 
 dresser, and in a word, whatever depends upon their thrift. 
 
 Thus far the nature and consequence of things agree 
 with wlial; is advanced above : Thus towns and families, 
 
 14 nav 
 
English Commerce. 119 
 
 nay nations and countries are planted and peopled, and 
 made flourishing and populous by their commerce. 
 
 Let us now cast up the account, and according to 
 antient custom numher the people, the list by the poll 
 will stand thus. 
 
 50 farmers, with their wives and two children 
 each, one with another, which I take to be 
 the least that can be supposed. - - 200 
 
 Two men servants and one maid to each farmer, 
 no farmer with 200 acres of land could be 
 supposed to make shift with less. - - 150 
 The several families of tradesmen necessarily 
 brought together on such an occasion, I 
 cast up at 143 fainilies, at 5 to each 
 house. ------- 715 
 
 Add to these hired servants which would fall in 
 from other countries ; nurses, midwives, 
 hostlers, apprentices, ^e. In all - - 335 
 
 1400 
 
 Here are fifty farmers, who with their servants make 
 up but three hundred and fifty people in all ; but neces- 
 sarily draw one thousand one hundred people more to 
 them. Thus people make trade, trade builds towns 
 and cities, and produces every thing that is good and 
 great in a nation ; and wherever fifty farmers were thus to 
 settle, I insist, that at least one thousand people must of 
 course throng to them, and live about them. 
 
 There are numbers of examples to be given of it, the 
 Venetian Republic began thus; a despicable croud of 
 people flying from the fury of the Barbarians which over- 
 ran the Roman empire, took shelter in a few inaccessible 
 islands of the Adriatic Gulph. 
 
 Here they had safety indeed, and lifej but nothing 
 else. But falling into trade, applying themselves to the 
 sea, to navigation and commerce; how soon did they 
 
 15 raise 
 
120 A Plan of the 
 
 raise themselves in the world, spreading themselves into 
 the Archipelague, and into the Levant ; conquering the 
 great and rich Islands of Candia and Cyprus, Negropont 
 and Scio, possess'd the Morea, Dalmatia and Epirus, and 
 gradually rais'd their dominion to such a degree, as was 
 superior to many kingdoms. 
 
 Their city we see raised to a prodigious splendor and 
 magnificence, and their rich merchants ranked among the 
 antient nobility, and all this by trade : Their fleets of 
 men of war have oftentimes engaged and beaten the 
 Turkish navy, driven them into port, and dar'd them at 
 the mouth of the DardanelU ; and all this power is rais'd 
 by trade, 
 
 I might from this example lead you to the Hans, the 
 great confederacy of commerce, the greatest in the 
 world ; who meerly by the acquir'd greatness of their 
 trade, became so rich, and so powerful, that they were 
 many years the terror of the north ; whoever hired their 
 men of war, were sure to conquer their enemies at sea, 
 and several times they beat whole fleets of the Danes, and 
 at last brought the King of Denmark to make a dis- 
 honourable peace with them ; till the kings of the neigh- 
 bouring countries grew justly jealous of them, and ohlig'd 
 all the cities within their jurisdiction to withdraw from 
 their alliance, and to renounce their confederacy. 
 
 The Dutch, I mean the States-General of the United 
 Provinces, when they broke off from the obedience of 
 Spain, and as it may be rightly said, cast off the Spanish 
 yoke, were a poor, mean, frighted generation, driven to 
 the refuge of the water, by the terrible power of King 
 Philip, and reduc'd to such distress, that, but for the 
 assistance of Queen Elizabeth, they had been ruin'd and 
 destroy'd; yet pushing into trade, and having recourse to 
 the sea, they built themselves upon their marine power ; 
 and the success of their navigation rais'd them to that 
 pitch of naval greatness which we now see them at, in 
 
 16 which 
 
English Commerce. 121 
 
 which they are superior to all the world, Great Britain 
 excepted, of whom I shall speak by themselves. 
 
 As it has been with nations, so it has been with cities 
 and towns ; such has been the case of the cities of Ham- 
 burgh, Dantzick, Ijubec, Frankfort, Nuremberg, Rochelle, 
 Marseilles, Genoa, Leghorn, Geneva, and many other cities 
 that might be naniM, who have been rais'd to a pitch of 
 opulence and wealth, equal to some principalities, by their 
 meer situation for, and success in their commerce : I on 
 the other hand might name several cities, which being 
 depriv'd of their trade, have sunk again in proportion, as 
 their trade has been taken away ; such as the city of 
 Antwerp, the towns of Dunkirk, Southampton, Ipswich, 
 and many more. 
 
 As their trade has been cut off, their merchants have 
 removed, the inhabitants decreased, and the shells of the 
 towns remain without the kernel, the houses without the 
 people, and the people without the wealth. 
 
 When the Dutch cut off the free navigation of th e 
 Scheld from the city of Antwerp, how did it decline ? the 
 English staple remov'd to Hamburgh, the fishing trade to 
 Amsterdam, and the merchants followed ; and what is 
 that city now compar'd to what it formerly was ? 
 
 When the King of France was oblig'd by the late 
 war to demolish the works, and ruin the harbour of 
 Dunkirk, so that the navigation received a blow ; how did 
 the town sensibly decay ? from eighteen thousand families, 
 which once inhabited that place, 'tis said, not two thirds 
 remain ; aU the people depending upon the naval affairs, 
 are gone with the royal arsenal ; all the magazines of 
 naval-stores, either for the king or the merchant, employ'd 
 and carried off ; and the trade that attended that part 
 sunk with it ; few ships now belong to it, few merchants 
 now reside in it, and in a few years more, the empty 
 houses being unrepaired, may publish its decay in a more 
 visible manner, and show the wounds received by the loss 
 
 17 of 
 
122 A Plan of the 
 
 of their trade, as is the case at Southampton, at Ipswich, 
 l^c. in a visible manner. 
 
 I need not travel over the globe, to give you examples 
 in remoter places, where the great emporiums, the 
 greatest trading cities in the world, have sunk into ruin 
 by the stop of their commerce, such as Tripoli, Sinope, 
 and Trapezond in the Euxine or Black Sea, whose trade 
 is cut off, by the Turks stopping the navigation of the 
 Bosphorus, and cutting off the trade they carried on with 
 Europe; or such as Suez, and Alexandria, ports antiently 
 of prodigious concourse, both of ships and merchants ; 
 but emptied of both, by the Europeans finding the way to 
 the East Indies by the Cape of Good-hope ; or such as the 
 famous cities of Tyre and Corinth, who having been the 
 envy of the world for wealth, and that wealth obtain'd by 
 their commerce, were overturned ; the first by the Gre- 
 cians, the last by the Romans, purely for the avaritious 
 part ; and who, their merchants being destroy'd, and their 
 trade overthrown, never recover'd their figure any more 
 than their fortunes in the world. 
 
 In a word, it appears by innumerable examples, that 
 trade is the life of the world's prosperity, and all the 
 wealth that has been extraordinary, whether of nations or 
 cities, has been raised by it. 
 
 The nature of the thing indeed implies it ; as the 
 industry of mankind is set on work, their hopes and views 
 are raised, and their ambition fir'd : The view and prospect 
 of gain inspires the world with the keenest vigor, puts 
 new life into their souls ; and when they see the success 
 and prosperity of trading nations, it rouzes them up to 
 the like application. 
 
 Let us view the differing face of the nations, (and of 
 the people who inhabit them) where they have no trade ; 
 how miserable is the scene of life ? The countries look 
 desolate, the people sad and dejected, poor and disconso- 
 late, heavy and indolent ; not for want of will to labour, 
 
 18 . but 
 
English Commerce. 123 
 
 but for want of something to labour profitably at ; the 
 rich are slothful^ because they are rich and proud, the 
 poor, because they are poor and despair ; for it will ever 
 be true 
 
 That poverty makes sloth, and sloth makes poor. 
 
 We say of some nations, the people are lazy, but we 
 should say only, they are poor ; poverty is the fountain of 
 all manner of idleness ; they have in short nothing to do, 
 no employment in which they can get their bread by their 
 labour ; their work gets no wages for want of trade, and 
 their trade no increase for want of labour ; diligence pro- 
 motes trade, and trade encourages diligence ; labour feeds 
 trade, and trade feeds the labourer. 
 
 There is hardly that country to be nam'd in the world, 
 where there is no room for improvement by industry and 
 application ; nay, we find an industrious people often 
 thriving and wealthy, under the weighty discouragements 
 of a barren soil, an inhospitable climate, a tempestuous 
 sea, a remote situation, having yet something or other for 
 trade to work upon. 
 
 The people of Norway and Russia having nothing but 
 mountains and woods, and the most barren inclement air 
 and soil in the world; yet rather than not trade, and 
 rather than not labour, they cut down their trees, and 
 send them abroad to build cities, and build navies in other 
 countries, and have hardly any of their own. 
 
 If their woods grow remote from the sea or water 
 carriage, industry dictates to them to cut them down and 
 burn them ; and to trade, if it be but with the very sap 
 and juices of the trees : Hence they send us tar, pitch, 
 rozin, turpentine; and we see as it were a whole wood 
 brought away in cask; ten, twenty thousand last of 
 tar brought from Russia at a time, every last being ten to 
 twelve barrels. 
 
 If Greenland and Spitsbergen are unsufferably cold ; 
 19 if 
 
124 A Plan of the 
 
 if nature, not being able to support the violence of it, 
 leaves those places uninhabited ; the diligent trader not 
 being to be discouraged by difficulties, flies directly 
 thither; there among a thousand dangers, surrounded 
 with mountains of ice, terrible, and horrors enough to 
 chill the very soul to describe them, hunts the great 
 Leviathan of the seas, and loads his ships with the fat 
 (blubber) of a thousand whales. 
 
 I might instance in the severities of the torrid, as well 
 as frigid zone, and shew the hardships undergone in places 
 scorch'd with the violence of the heat; and which are' 
 every way as terrible in their kind, as those of excessive 
 cold ; such are the diseases and terrors of the long calms, 
 where the sea stagnates and corrupts for want of motion ; 
 and by the strength of the scorching sun stinks and 
 poisons the distrest mariners, who are rendered unactive, 
 and disabled by scurvies, raging and mad with calentures 
 and fevers, and drop into death in such a manner, that at 
 last the living are lost, for want of the dead, that is, for 
 want of hands to work the ship. 
 
 Yet nothing discourages the diligent seaman, or the 
 adventrous merchant in pursuit of trade, and pushing on 
 discoveries, planting colonies, and settling commerce, even 
 to all parts of the world. 
 
 Now as I said before, that the nations who want trade 
 look dejected and sad, so, on the contrary, let the curious 
 traveller observe, as he passes thro' the world, the trading 
 manufacturing nations have a quite difl'erent aspect; 
 their labour, however hard and heavy, is perform'd 
 chearfully ; a general sprightliness and vigour appears 
 among them ; their countenances are blith, and they are 
 merrier at their labour, than others are at their play ; 
 their hearts are warm, as their hands are quick ; they are 
 all spirit and life, and it may be seen in their faces ; or 
 which is more, it is seen in their labour; as they live 
 better than the poor of the same class in other countries, 
 
 20 so 
 
English Commerce. 125 
 
 so they work harder : And here the same antithesis is ob- 
 servable as before, tho' in its contrary extreme ; for as I 
 said there, that poverty makes sloth, and sloth makes 
 poor : So here, 
 
 Labour makes gain, and gain gives strength to labour. 
 
 As they labour harder, so they get more for their work 
 than other nations, and this gives them spirit for their 
 labour. And this is the immediate effect of trade, for 
 the poor of the trading and manufacturing countries are em- 
 ployM on better terms, and have better wages for their work, 
 than the poor of those countries where there is less trade. 
 
 We are told, that in Russia and Muscovy, when for 
 want of commerce, labour was not assisted by art ; they 
 had no other way to cut out a large plank, but by felling 
 a great tree, and then with a multitude of hands and axes 
 hew away all the sides of the timber, till they reduc'd the 
 middle to one large plank ; and that yet, when it was 
 done, they would sell this plank as cheap, as the Swedes 
 or Prussians did the like, who cut three or four, or more 
 planks of the like size from one tree by the help of saws 
 and saw-mills : The consequence must be, that the 
 miserable Russian labour'd ten times as much as the other 
 did, for the same money. 
 
 We are told frequently, when such and such great 
 works or buildings were finished, men work'd for a penny 
 a day here in England; and perhaps they did so; but as 
 I said before, speaking of the cheapness of provisions, 
 that it was before we had any trade among us ; so it must 
 be as to wages, for as trade raises wages, so wages raise 
 provisions ; and this is the reason, why, as all foreigners 
 grant that our poor in England work harder than they do 
 in any other nation ; so it must be own'd, they eat and 
 drink better in proportion ; and this is, because they have 
 better wages. 
 
 I might examine this article of wages, and carry it 
 21 thro' 
 
126 A Plan of the 
 
 thro' almost every branch of business in England ; and it 
 would appear, that the English poor earn more money 
 than the same class of men or women can do at the same 
 kind of work, in any other nation. 
 
 Nor will it be deny'd, but that they do more work 
 also: So then, if they do more work, and have better 
 wages too, they must needs live better, and fare better ; 
 and it is true also, that they cannot support their labour 
 without it. 
 
 • And here I may grant, that a French man shall do 
 more work than an English man, if they shall be oblig'd 
 to live on the same diet ; that is to say, the foreigner 
 shall starve with the English man for a wager, and will be 
 sare to win : He will live and work, when the English 
 man shall sink and dye ; but let them live both the same 
 way, the English man shall beggar the French man, for 
 tho' the French man were to spend all his wages, the 
 English man will out-work him. 
 
 It is true again, the French man's diligence is the 
 greatest, he shall work more hours than the English man ; 
 but the English man shall do as much business in the 
 fewer hours, as the foreigner who sits longer at it. 
 
 To conclude this head, I would not seem to be partial 
 in favour of our own country ; but it must be added, that 
 their work is better perform'd also; and I appeal for 
 the truth of it, to their several performances, of which 
 I could give examples, and which all the markets in the 
 world are at this time witnesses to ; but this begins to be 
 particular, I shall speak at large to the several examples 
 of it in their proper places. 
 
 It is sufficient to the purpose here to observe as above, 
 that the diligent trading manufacturing world work chear- 
 fully, live comfortably ; they sing at their labour, work by 
 their choice, eat and drink well, and their work goes on 
 pleasantly, and with, success : Whereas the unemploy'd 
 world groan oat their souls in anguish and sorrow, not by 
 
 32 their 
 
English Commerce. 127 
 
 their work, but for want of it ; and sink, as I may justly 
 say, under the weight of their idleness and sloth ; what 
 little work they do, is done with reluctance and grief, 
 because the small wages they have for it, gives them no 
 comfort when it is done. 
 
 Travelling in the north part of Britain, I observed, 
 that, in the time of their harvest, they had always an 
 overseer to keep the reapers to their work, and a bag- 
 pipe to encourage them while they were at work : And 
 one of our company observing that we had no such 
 merry doings at our harvests in England; another an- 
 swer'd him, 'twas true, nor was there any need of it, for 
 that the English worked merrily enough without musick ; 
 adding, our workmen have good victuals and good drink : 
 Let's enquire how these poor people feed, said he; and 
 so we did, when we found that the best of their provi- 
 sion was a cake of oat bread, which they call a bannock, 
 and a draught of water only ; and twice in the day, the 
 farmer or steward gave them every one a dram of Glasgow 
 brandy, as they call'd it ; that is to say, good malt spirits. 
 Upon the whole, it was evident, the poor men had 
 need enough of music to encourage them at their labour ; 
 nor would the music do neither, without the overseer or 
 steward being in the field too, to see that they stood 
 to their work. 
 
 In England we see the farmers in harvest time, pro- 
 viding good beef and mutton, pyes, puddings, and other 
 provisions to a strange profusion, feasting their workmen, 
 rather than feeding them ; and giving them good wages 
 besides : But let any man see the difference of the work, 
 these need no music, the feast is better than the fiddle, 
 and the pudding does more than the bag-pipe ; in short, 
 they work with a vigor and spirit, not to be seen in other 
 
 countries. 
 
 I could give like examples among the manufac- 
 turers ; the spirit and courage of the workmen, is seen in 
 
 23 the 
 
128 A Plan of the 
 
 the goodness and substance of their manufacture ; of 
 whichj this must be said, our manufacture may not be so 
 cheap as the same kinds made in other countries ; but 
 bring them to the scale and try their substance, you will 
 find the English man's work, according to his wages, out- 
 weigh the other ; as his beer is strong, so is his work ; 
 and as he gives more strength of sinews to his strokes in 
 the loom, his work is firmer and faster, and carries a 
 greater substance with it, than the same kinds of goods, 
 and of the same denomination made in foreign parts. 
 
 I remember in our former contests about commerce, 
 great noise was made of the French imitating our 
 woollen manufacture, and making them to such perfection, 
 as to out-do us in foreign markets ; from whence it was 
 inferr'd, that they would in time supplant our trade, and 
 carry away the business from us : The reason that was 
 given, was, that their poor could work so much cheaper 
 than ours, that their goods would be sold cheaper than 
 the English, and consequently they would have the first 
 and best of the market always from us; and had this been 
 fully and fairly made out; had they brought sufficient 
 evidence of the facts suggested, the inference had been 
 good. Now to prove how finely the French perform' d, 
 and how good their cloths were; patterns were shew'd 
 here of their several cloths, as finish'd for the Turky trade, 
 by the great manufactory, as they call it, in Languedoc ; 
 for it was this part that was brought for the support of 
 the argument ; and it is true, that the patterns were ex- 
 traordinary, the cloth well dress' d, the colours well dy'd ; 
 nay, to perfection ; and to a superficial eye, they rather 
 went beyond the English, than come short of them. 
 
 But when they came to be look'd well into by clothiers 
 and workmen who understood it, and whose business it 
 was; the deficiency soon discover'd it self; their cloths 
 appear'd to be slight, thin, without substance and propor- 
 tion, and unfit to do service in wearing ; in a word, they 
 
 24 were 
 
English Commerce. 129 
 
 were no way equal in goodness to the English manufac- 
 ture of the same kind. This was ferther prov'd by the 
 Armenian merchants at Aleppo, at Smyrna, and other 
 places in Turky, where the said goods were usually sold ; 
 where upon bringing the English and French cloths to 
 the scale, there was no comparison between them ; but 
 the English always out weighed them forty to fifty pound 
 per bale, and sometimes much more ; the consequence of 
 which was, 
 
 1. That those Armenian merchants would very seldom 
 buy the French cloths, so long as there were any of the 
 English cloths left at the market. 
 
 2. That when they did buy them, they always had 
 them at a much cheaper rate. 
 
 This is an evident proof of the English manner of per- 
 forming ; and it will hold in many other cases, perhaps 
 in all manufacturing cases : The strong labour of the 
 English workmen in all their manual operations is very 
 remarkable in the works themselves : And I say, it is 
 evident in many other manufactures, besides that of 
 broad-cloths ; in a word, our workmen, by the meer vigour 
 and" strength of their spirits, supported by their strong feed- 
 ing, and by their better wages than in any other nation, 
 are not used to work slight and superficially, but strong 
 and substantial in every thing they do ; and as they have 
 better wages for it than other nations give, and perform 
 their work accordingly, so their goods make it evident, for 
 that they fetch a better price at market, than any goods 
 of the same species, made in any other country. 
 
 It is the same thing in their several manufactures of 
 brass and iron, and other hard-ware works; but especially, 
 in their building of ships, in which it is evident the 
 Dutch and French, Swedes and Danes, build cheaper ; but 
 the English build stronger and firmer ; and an English 
 ship will always endure more severity, load heavier, and 
 reign {as the seamen call it) longer, than any foreign built 
 
 35 ship 
 
130 A Plan of the 
 
 ship whatever ; the examples are seen every year, par- 
 ticularly in the coal trade, the loading of which is very 
 heav}^, and the ships swim deep in the water, by 
 the eagerness of the masters, to carrj'' large burthens ; 
 and yet it is frequently known, that a New-Castle or 
 Ipswich built colier, shall reign, (as I say the seamfen call 
 it) forty to fifty years, and come to a good end at last ; 
 that is, be broken up ; not founder at sea, or break her 
 back upon the sands, as ships weaker built, often, nay 
 generally do. 
 
 The firm building, as well as beautiful moulds of our 
 men of war confirm this also, in which they out-last, as 
 well as out-shine, the strongest and finest built ships of 
 most other nations, if not of all nations in Europe, except 
 only those castle-built clumsy things called galeons, which 
 are built so strong, that is, so thick, that they are scarce 
 fit for any thing. 
 
 The comparison is still to my purpose in every part, 
 [viz.] that trade invigorates the world, gives employment 
 to the people, raises pay for their labour, and encreases 
 that pay as their labour encreases, and as their perform- 
 ance excels ; and it appears that what is said of England 
 is no compliment to our own country, but a real, his- 
 torical truth ; for that 'tis undeniable, that the labour of 
 the poor is no where rated so high as in England : There 
 is no nation in the world where the poor have equal wages 
 for their work as in England, in proportion to the rate of 
 money, and to the rate of provisions. 
 
 By this means the labouring poor are kept in heart, 
 kept strong, and made able for the business they are 
 employ'd in ; and the contrary, is the reason why the 
 Erench, the Italians, and most other nations, rather make 
 their manufacture (of any kind) gay than good, fine than 
 strong. I allow them to be as exquisite in art, nay, I may 
 allow them to be more apt to invent and contrive, and 
 perhaps finish some things with more ornament: But for 
 
 26 strength 
 
English Commerce. 131 
 
 strength of liand in their works, where strength is essen- 
 tial to the value of the work, there our people out-do 
 them all. 
 
 T could carry this on thro' many particulars, and it 
 would lead me into some very useful speculations, but they 
 would be remote from my purpose ; I bring it back there- 
 fore to the single point which I am upon ; namely, the 
 great advantage of commerce to the world, and to par- 
 ticular nations. 
 
 When we had no trade, we had no ships, no populous 
 cities, no numbers of people, no wealth compar'd to what 
 we see now ; provisions bore no price, lands yielded no 
 rent; and why? The reason is plain and short; 'tis sum'd 
 up in a word, labour brought in no wages. 
 
 N.B. Observe by the word, no, or none, is not meant 
 litterally and strictly none at all ; but comparatively 
 none compar'd to what is seen now. 
 
 The people were divided into master and servant ; not 
 landlord and tenant, but the lord and the vassal ; the 
 tenant paid no rent, but held his lands in vassalage ; that 
 is, for services to be performed ; such and such tenants 
 plow'd his land ; such and such fenc'd his park ; such and 
 such lands were let out to furnish the lord's kitchen with 
 poultry, such with eggs, some with one thing, some with 
 another ; and thus the lord liv'd, as the Scots call it, in 
 the middle of his geer. 
 
 The under people to these tenants held by villenage ; 
 that is, the labourers, those we now call husbandmen and 
 cottagers, these did the drudgery, were grooms to look 
 after his horses, drive his teams, fell his woods, fence, 
 hedge, ditch, thresh, and in a word, do all servile labours ; 
 and for this they had their bread ; that is, they had a poor 
 cottage, scarce so good as a tolerable modern hogstye to 
 b've in, they drank at the pump, and eat at the kitchen 
 door, beggar-like : As for the rest, the lord of the manor 
 was their king; nay, if I had said their God, 1 had not 
 
 27 err'd 
 
132 A Plan of the 
 
 err' A, so much as some may think ; for they worship'd 
 him with such a blind subjection, that at his command 
 they would rebel against tlieir king, and take up the bow 
 and arrow against whomsoever he commanded them. 
 
 This was the case, even in this flourishing nation of 
 England, till trade came in to make the difl'erence ; and 
 give me leave to assume so much, I insist upon it, that 
 trade alone made the difference ; and the climax is very 
 "remarkable. 
 
 Before the people fell into trade, what was the case as 
 to wealth ? You see how it stood with the people ; but 
 what was the case of the trade. 
 
 1. We had no manufacture: we had wool indeed, and 
 tin, and lead, those were funds, and brought in some sub- 
 stance ; but who had it ? Truly, the church and the 
 gentry ; the religious houses and the barons had the lands 
 and the sheep, and consequently the wool: And we find 
 that in King Edward Ill's time, the clergy and the reli- 
 gious houses gave the king a fifth part of all their wool 
 for carrying on his wars against France : This wool was 
 sent abroad to the Flemings, and this money was the wealth 
 of the nation. 
 
 3. This money went all abroad again generally speak- 
 ing, for those ruinous wars, which for many ages the 
 Kings of England carried on, sometimes in France, some- 
 times in the Holy Land, sometimes in Flanders, some- 
 times in Brittany, and the like in other places ; so that 
 still the people were impoverished, I mean the gentry and 
 clergy ; for this wealth was theirs, and they paid all the 
 taxes : As for the labouring poor, they scarcely knew 
 what money was. 
 
 3. As to trade, it was carry'd on by the Esterlings ; 
 that is to say, the Hans Towns, and by the Flemings ; and 
 they carry'd away your wool, lead, tin, and whatever else 
 you had, and supply' d you again with cloths, spice, (wine 
 there was none, or but little to be. had) and in a word, 
 
 28 with 
 
English Commerce. 133 
 
 with hemp, flax, pitch, tar, iron, and whatever else was to 
 be had from abroad; and these run away with all the 
 little wealth which the king and the wars left among you ; 
 they brought you ships, they coinM your money, and they 
 in short grew rich by you, and you look'd on and starved. 
 At last, by the prudence of King Henry VII. you fell to 
 trade among yourselves ; and gradually getting ground of 
 the world, you made yourselves masters of your own 
 manufactures, about the middle of Queen Elizabeth's 
 reign ; and what she did to encourage it, I shall shew in 
 its place. And now what folio w'd? The consequences 
 were most gloriously seen in a few years, as follows. 
 
 1. Your people turnM merchants abroad, as well as 
 manufacturers at home : they tasted the sweets of com- 
 merce, and being encourag'd by the gain, soon supplanted 
 their supplanters, built their own ships, sent out their 
 own goods, brought home their own returns, cashier'd the 
 ^sterlings, forbid the wool going abroad, and thereby 
 ruin'd the Flemings ; and thus they set up for themselves. 
 
 2. As to the country, the revolution of trade, brought 
 a revolution in the very nature of things ; the poor began 
 to work, not for cottages and liveries, but for money, and 
 to live, as we say, at their own hands : The women and 
 children learnt to spin and get money for it, a thing en- 
 tirely new to them, and what they had never seen before. 
 The men left the hedge and the ditch, and were set at 
 work by the manufacturers to be wool-combers, weavers, 
 fullers, clothworkers, carriers, and innumerable happy 
 labours they perform'd, which they knew nothing of 
 before; nay the Flemings came over (for money) and 
 taught them how to perform those things at first, / say at 
 first, for the people soon became able to send home their 
 masters, and teach one another ; then the villains and 
 vassals were taken apprentices to the manufacturers, till 
 coming to be masters, the name, nay the very things 
 themselves call'd v&sbalage and villanage grew out of use. 
 
 29 The 
 
134 A Plan of the 
 
 The vassals got money by trade, and the villains by 
 labour; and the lords found the sweets of it too, for they 
 soon buy off the services^ and bring the lords to take 
 money. Thus the cottagers growing rich, bought their 
 little cotts with right of commonage for their lives, renew.' 
 able so and so, as they could agree, and this was called 
 coppy-hold. On the other hand, the vassals and feu- 
 holders, as they are call'd to this day in the north, grow- 
 ing rich, lump'd it with the lords, and for a sum of money 
 bought off their slavish tenures, and got their leases 
 tum'd into free-holds ; and to finish the great fabrick, the 
 farmers of lands were now enabled to take them at a rent 
 certain, and the gentry got a revenue in money, which 
 they understood nothing of before. 
 
 I might enlarge here upon the differing effects of 
 luxury and frugality, which became more than ordinarily 
 visible upon this change of affairs ; namely, that as the 
 frugal manufacturers, . encouraged by their success, 
 doubled their industry and good husbandry, they lay'd up 
 money, and grew rich ; and the luxurious and purse 
 proud gentry, tickl'd with the happy encrease of their 
 revenues, and the rising value of their rents, grew vain, 
 gay, luxurious and expensive : So the first encreas'd 
 daily, and the latter, with all their new encreas'd 
 and advanc'd revenues, yet grew poor and necessitous, 
 till the former began to buy them out ; and have 
 so bought them out, that, whereas in those days, the 
 lands were all in the hands of the barons ; that is to say, 
 the nobility, and even the knights and esquires who had 
 lands, and were call'd the gentry, held them by servile 
 tenures, as above : Now we see the nobility and the 
 ancient gentry have almost every where sold their estates, 
 and the commonalty and tradesmen have bought them ; 
 So that now the gentry are richer than the nobility, and 
 the tradesmen are richer than them all. 
 
 1 have given this sketch of the growing wealth of the 
 30 world 
 
English Commerce. 135 
 
 world by trade, as in England ; that is, I have placed the 
 scene as in England, because being talking to the English 
 nation, it will be understood -with the more ease. But 
 the subject is general, and the thing is not of private 
 interpretation : It will hold in its degree, in all the trad- 
 ing nations of Europe, as well as here ; tho' perhaps in 
 none more eminently, the trade here having made so 
 visible a change in the face of the nation, and in the cir- 
 cumstances of the people, that the like is not to be shewn 
 of any other nation, in so very remarkable a degree ; so 
 that if I had been writing in any other country or lan- 
 guage, I should certainly have singled out England for an 
 example. 
 
 I may, however, refer to other nations for evidence in 
 their proportion, for in all the manufacturing countries in 
 Europe the case is the same in degree ; as trade has en- 
 creas'd, the miseries of the people have abated, the poor 
 being employ'd by manufacture, by navigation, and the 
 ordinary labours which trade furnishes for their hands; 
 they have accordingly liv'd better, their poverty has been 
 less, and they have been able to feed, who before might be 
 said only to starve ; and in those countries •'tis observable, 
 that where trade is most effectually extended, and has the 
 greatest influence, there the poor live best, their wages 
 are highest ; and where wages are highest, the consump- 
 tion of provisions encreases most ; where the consumption 
 of provision is most encreas'd, the rate of provision is 
 highest; and wlier€ provisions are dearest, the rents of 
 lands are advanc'd most. 
 
 Again, for the climax does not end here ; where the 
 rents of lands are advanc'd, the taxes and payments to the 
 governour are the larger ; and where the larger taxes are 
 Ifivy'd, the revenue being encreased, that prince or gover- 
 nour is the richer ; and where nations grow richer, they 
 in proportion grow more powerful. 
 
 Thus trade is the foundation of wealth, and wealth of 
 31 power : 
 
136 A Plan of the 
 
 power : In former days the poverty of the northern 
 nations added to their multitudej made them formidahle ; 
 as the people encreas'd^ the country hot being able to 
 maintaiii them, the old ones drove the young ones out, as 
 bees cast their swarms, to seek place to dwell in, and by 
 the force of their arms, to make room for themselves in 
 warmer climates, and move in a more fruitful soil. Thus 
 the Alanl, the Gauls, the Hunns, invaded Italy ; the Goths 
 overrun Spain; the Vandals, Spain and the northern 
 parts of Africa ; the Thracians, Natalia and Macedonia, 
 and the like. 
 
 But in our times, the case alters universally, the 
 art of war is so well study' d, and so equally known in all 
 places, that 'tis the longest purse that conquers now, not 
 the longest sword. If there is any country whose people 
 are less martial, less enterprising, and less able for the 
 field ; yet, if they have but more money than their 
 neighbours, they shall soon be superior to them in 
 strength, for money is power, and they that have the gelt, 
 (as the Dutch call it) may have armies of the best troops 
 in Europe, and generals of the greatest experience to fight 
 for them at the shortest warning imaginable ; thus upon 
 sudden quarrels, princes and states do not now go home 
 and raise armies, and list men, but they go home and 
 raise money ; and that being done, they look abroad to 
 hire armies and hire men, and even to entertain generals ; 
 so that they need never bring any new raised troops into 
 the field, but old veteran experienc'd soldiers, such as 
 Swiss, Germans, &c. well officer'd, and led on by the 
 greatest generals in the world; so that war is made in a 
 trice, and decisive battles are fought now in shorter time 
 than troops in former times could be brought into the 
 field. 
 
 Thus the Venetians have had their Generals Shuylen- 
 bergh, Co7iingsmark, Baden, 6fc. to lead their troops ; the 
 Spaniards had their Marquis de Lede ; the Muscovites 
 
 32 their 
 
English Commerce. 137 
 
 their Duke of Cro?/, their Generals Gordon, Konningseck, 
 &c. and armies of Danes, Prussians, Limenbergers, Saxons, 
 Hessians, and Bavarians, and other Germans, besides 
 Swiss and Grisons, are to be hired for money, alternately 
 to fight, for now one side, then another ; I say, alternately, 
 as the persons direct them whose money they take ; with- 
 out regard to parties or interests ; either of politicks or 
 religion, tho' whether for or against the party or religion 
 they profess ; to day for Papist, to morrow for Protestant ; 
 be it for God or for Baal, as they're hired, they go 
 
 And always fight according as they're paid. 
 
 Thus money raises armies, and trade raises money ; 
 and so it may be truly said of trade, that it makes princes 
 powerful, nations valiant, and the most effeminate people 
 that can't fight for themselves, if they have but money, 
 and can hire other people to fight for them, they become 
 as formidable as any of their neighbours. 
 
 Seeing trade then is the fund of wealth and power, we 
 cannot wonder that we see the wisest princes and states 
 anxious and concerned for the encrease of the commerce 
 and trade of their subjects, and of the growth of the 
 country ; anxious to propagate the sale of such goods as 
 are the manufacture of their own subjects, and that employs 
 their own people ; especially, of such as keep the money 
 of their dominions at home, and on the contrary, for 
 prohibiting the importation from abroad, of such things 
 as are the product of other countries, and of the labour of 
 other people, as which carry money back in retirrn, and 
 not merchandize in exchange. 
 
 Nor can we wonder that we see such princes and 
 states endeavouring to set up such manufactures in their 
 own countries, which they see are succesfully and profit- 
 ably carried on by their neighbours, and to endeavour to 
 procure the materials proper for setting up those manu- 
 
 33 facturea 
 
138 A Plan of the 
 
 factures by all just aud possible methods from other 
 countries. 
 
 This also confirms what has been said above, namely, 
 that as the trading, middling sort of people in England are 
 rich ; so the labouring, manufacturing people under them 
 are infinitely richer than the same class of people in any 
 other nation in the world. 
 
 As they are richer, so they live better, fare better, wear 
 better, and spend more money, than they do in other 
 countries ; and I make no doubt ^tis the same in some 
 other places in their proportion, as well as here ; at least, 
 in free nations, where the people are not afFraid to own 
 their circumstances, and to appear in good condition when 
 they are in good condition : In short, the tradesmen in 
 England live in better figure than most of the meaner 
 gentry ; and I may add than some of the superior rank in 
 foreign countries ; nay, not to magnifie things here, and 
 lessen them abroad, it is very evident that we have trades- 
 men or shop-keepers, of very ordinary employments in 
 London, such as cheesemongers, grocers, chandlers, bra- 
 siers, upholsterers, and the like, who are able to spend 
 more money in their families, and do actually spend more 
 than most gentlemen of from 300 to 500 pounds a year, 
 and that with this remarkable addition, that the trades- 
 man shall spend it, and grow rich, and encrease under the 
 weight of the expence; whereas the gentleman spends to 
 the extent of his revenue, and lays up nothing. 
 
 How many shop-keepers, ware-house-keepers, and 
 wholesale traders, (to go a step higher) have we seen in 
 London, such as drapers, iron-mongers, salters, haber- 
 dashers, Blackwell-hall, and other factors, ^c. who shall 
 spend 500 pound a year in their housekeeping, and other 
 incidents and lay up 500 pound a year more, while a gen- 
 tleman of a thousand pound a year estate, can hardly 
 
 34 bring 
 
English Commerce. 139 
 
 bring both ends together at the close of the year, and not 
 live in a much better figure than the tradesman, and not 
 at all in better credit ? 
 
 How do our merchants in London, Bristol, Liverpole, 
 Yarmouth, Hull, and other trading sea-ports, appear in 
 their families, with the splendor of the best gentlemen, 
 and even grow rich, tho' with the luxury and expence of 
 a count of the Empire ! so true it is, that an estate is but 
 a pond, but trade is a spri?iff. 
 
 But to look at the meaner people (for among them, 
 generally, the wealth of which I am now speaking is 
 lodg^'d, because their number is so exceeding great) 
 those, it is evident, are in England supported after a 
 different manner from the people of equal rank in trade 
 among other nations ; let any man that has seen how the 
 trading people, and the labouring poor live abroad, make 
 the comparison, it is too evident to be disputed. 
 
 It is upon these two classes of people, the manufac- 
 turers and the shopkeepers, that I build the hypothesis 
 which I have taken upon me to offer to the publick, 'tis 
 upon the gain they make either by their labour, or their 
 industry in trade, and upon their inconceivable numbers, 
 that the home consumption of our own produce, and of 
 the produce of foreign nations imported here, is so ex- 
 ceeding great, and that our trade is raised up to such a 
 prodigy of magnitude, as I shall shew it is. 
 
 I need not describe it at large, a few words will give 
 a sketch of it, and a great volume will not line it out 
 compleatly : They eat well, and they drink well ; for their 
 eating, {viz.) of flesh-meat, such as beef, mutton, bacon, 
 &-C. in proportion to their circumstances, 'tis to a fault, 
 nay, even to profusion; as to their drink, 'tis generally stout 
 strong beer, not to take notice of the quantity, which is 
 sometimes a little too much, or good table beer for their 
 ordinary diet ; for the rest, we see their houses and lodg- 
 ings tolerably furnished, at least stuff'd well with useful 
 
 35 ' and 
 
140 A Plan of the 
 
 and necessary household goods : Even those we call poor 
 people, journey-men, working and pains-taking people do 
 thus; they lye warm, live in plenty, work hard, and (need) 
 know no want. 
 
 These are the people that carry off the gross of your 
 consumption ; 'tis for these your markets are kept open late 
 on Saturday nights; because they usually receive their 
 week's wages late : 'Tis by these the number of alehouses 
 subsist, so many brewers get estates, and such a vast 
 revenue of excise is raised ; by these the vast quantity of 
 meal and malt is consumed : And, in a word, these are 
 the life of our whole commerce, and all by their multi- 
 tude : Their numbers are not hundreds or thousands, or 
 hundreds of thousands, but millions ; 'tis by their multi- 
 tude, I say, that all the wheels of trade are set on foot, 
 the manufacture and produce of the land and sea, finished, 
 cur'd and fitted for the markets abroad ; 'tis by the large- 
 ness of their gettings, that they are supported, and by 
 the largeness of their number the whole country is sup- 
 ported ; by their wages they are able to live plentifully, 
 and it is by their expensive, generous, free way of living, 
 that the home consumption is rais'd to such a bulk, as 
 well of our own, as of foreign production : If their wages 
 were low and despicable, so would be their living ; if they 
 got little, they could spend but little, and trade would 
 presently feel it ; as their gain is more or less, the wealth 
 and strength of the whole kingdom would rise or fall : 
 For as I said above, upon their wages it all depends ; the 
 price of provisions depends on the consumption of the 
 quantity ; upon the rate of provisions the rent of lands, 
 upon the rent of lands the value of taxes, and upon the 
 value of taxes, the strength and power of the whole body : 
 So- that these ate originally the first spring of all the 
 motion. 
 
 In like manner it affects foreign trade ; if the poors 
 wages abate, the consumption of quantity also, as above^ 
 
 36 would 
 
English Commerce. 141 
 
 would abate; if the quantity abates, the foreiga impor- 
 tation would abate, the brandy, the oyl, the fruit, 
 the sugar, the tobacco : For if the poor have not the 
 money, they can't spare it for superfluities, as those 
 foreign articles generally are, but must preserve it for 
 necessity ; upon their necessity depends the consumption 
 of the ordinary food, which is the home produce ; and 
 upon their superfluity depends the consumption of their 
 extraordinaries, which is the foreign importation. 
 
 Even the wine, the spice, the coflfee and the tea, after 
 the gentry have taken the nice and fine species ofl', are 
 beholding to the mean, middling and trading people to 
 carry off the coarser part, and the bulk of the quantity 
 goes ofl' that way too : So that these are the people that 
 are the life of trade. 
 
 The silk manufactures are indeed a branch, the chief 
 part of which the gentry may be said to support, and to 
 help out trade in : As to the linen, they take indeed the 
 finest hollands, cambricks, muslins, S^c. But the middling 
 tradesmen break in upon them, and follow them so at 
 the heels, that 'tis to be questioned, whether, as the 
 humour runs now, the tradesmen by the help of numbers 
 do not out go them, even there also ; not to mention the 
 vast quantity of linens of other kind, which they consume 
 every day, imported from Ireland, France, Russia, Poland 
 and Germany. 
 
 Having thus mention'd the substance of our trade, and 
 the support of it, it remains to examine a little the mag- 
 nitude of these several branches, as well of exportation, 
 as of importation, in order to make this discourse be 
 according to my title, a true Plan of the English Com- 
 merce ; and here it is necessary to make some little pro- 
 visos, against the too forward expectation of the reader, as 
 to numbers and calculations, in which it may be impossible 
 to go the length which may be unreasonably expected. 
 
 There are many things in our commerce, as well 
 37 abroad 
 
142 A Plan of the 
 
 abroad as at home, in which no exact calculation can be 
 made; and yet perhaps our estimates and conjectures may 
 not be so remote as some may imaginCj or so, as that no 
 probable prospect, no rational view of the commerce may 
 be made from them : For example, 
 
 It is not possible to make any calculation of the num- 
 ber of shop-keepers in Gh'eat Britain, or of the number of 
 spinners, or of the quantity of wool, or of the bulk of the 
 woollen manufacture ; and yet, from what has been, and 
 shall be said, I doubt not, we shall form just and rational 
 ideas in our thoughts, of the greatness of our manufac- 
 ture, and of our home trade ; and so of many other things 
 which we cannot otherwise judge of, than by such general 
 estimates. 
 
 The world must be left in the dark, concerning many 
 useful parts of knowledge, if we were to take no measures, 
 and form no ideas of things from the lights that are given ; 
 tho' t should be true, that those lights do not amount 
 to demonstrations ; and especially^ in matters of this kind, 
 where the foundations are subject to various changes, and 
 where the whole is rather matter of observation, than real 
 intelligence of fact. 
 
 We may make an estimate of many branches of trade, 
 without being, able to determine the dimensions of either 
 the subject on which those branches are founded, or of the 
 particular parts themselves : We may make just estimates 
 of the returns of treasure from the Spanish West-Indies, 
 without enquiring into the fund of that treasure, (viz.) 
 how many mines there are discovered, in which the silver 
 is found, or how much every mine that is discover'd pro- 
 duces ; and thus we may entertain a true notion of the 
 magnitude of woollen manufacture, and of the great ad- 
 vantage of it to this nation, without being able to know, 
 to what value the return of it amounts in a year : We 
 may give an account of its being able to consume the 
 whole quantity of the growth of our wool in England, 
 
 38 and 
 
English Commerce. 143 
 
 and of much from Ireland; and we may bring this in 
 evidence of the magnitude of the whole trade, without 
 being able to cast up how much that wool amounts to, 
 and so of the rest. 
 
 We may venture to say in publick, that we are a most 
 powerful nation in shipping, having the greatest number of 
 ships and seamen, of any nation in the world, without 
 being able to give a particular account how many ships 
 we have, or how many seamen we employ. 
 
 Upon the same foundation, 'tis reasonable to say, we 
 may judge of the magnitude of our commerce in general, 
 by the several circumstances of the particular branches ; 
 for example, the encrease of the consumption of such and 
 such goods imported, which are absolutely requisite for 
 such or such a manufacture, is a just measure, by which 
 to conclude the encrease of that manufacture : In other 
 cases we may have plainer rules to judge from, and to 
 make our estimates by ; and yet, even those rules are not 
 such, as that we can ascertain those estimates upon that 
 foot, because of several incidents in trade, which cannot 
 be accounted for, any more than they can be avoided. 
 
 We may judge of the consumption of wines in Eng- 
 land, because they are all imported from abroad, and we 
 can have an exact account of the annual importation 
 from the Custom-house books : but we cannot positively 
 ascertain the consumption from that importation, be- 
 cause, tho' all that are enter'd at the Custom-house, 
 are.Hmpwted ^j^^onsum'd, yet all that are con- 
 sum'd may not be efii'Ar'd at the Custom-house; clan- 
 destine trade, and smuggling has a great stroke in 
 it; and the like of foreign brandy: Of both which 
 hereafter. 
 
 Thus again, we may judge of the consumption of 
 spirits, by the quantity of malt distill' d, and the spirits of 
 the first extraction gaug'd by the excise-man; bat clan- 
 
 39 destine 
 
144 A Plan of the English Commerce. 
 
 destine concealments have so great a share in that trade, 
 that we can never say our calculations are exact. 
 
 Upon the whole, if our calculations and guesses are 
 rational and probable, we hope in these cases it may be 
 allow' d to be sufficient, because it is as far as any man 
 can go. The commerce of England, is an immense and 
 almost incredible thing, and as we must content our selves 
 with being in some cases in a difficulty as to numbers 
 and figures ; but in all such cases, we expect the 
 reader will be content with the utmost possible inquiry, 
 and the utmost possible discovery that we are able to 
 make, and with such reasons as may be drawn from what 
 appears, to judge of what cannot be fully discover'd. * * * 
 
 40 
 
AN 
 
 ESSAY 
 
 On the Caufes of the Decline of the 
 
 FOREIGN TRADE, 
 
 CONSEQUENTLY 
 
 Of the Value of the Lands of Britain^ 
 
 AND 
 
 On the Means to Rejlore both. 
 
 The SECOND EDITION, 
 
 With Additions. 
 
 Trade has always been the beft support of all Nations, 
 and the principal Care of the wijeft. 
 
 Ld. ChefterfieWs Speech, Dublin, Oct. 8, 1745. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for John Brotherton at the Bible 
 in Cornhill. 
 
 MDCCL. 
 
THE 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE mercliaiit, the manufacturer, and the sailor, who 
 at first view appear to have the greatest interest in 
 trade, will, upon examination, be found not to he so 
 deeply concerned in its well or ill being as the land-holder, 
 whose interest seems more remote, and who (with sorrow 
 it must be said) too often by his indifference gives occa- 
 sion to suspect, that he thinks he hath no concern in it 
 at all. 
 
 The former are not fix'd to a country ; their effects are 
 aU moveables, vendible in many parts of the world ; if 
 they are oppress'd in one place, they can soon pack up 
 and fly to another where greater freedoms invite them; 
 they may indeed be bound by leases of lands or houses, 
 but narchment chains seldom prevent despairing fugitives : 
 Therefore the number of people in any country, as well as 
 their well-being, depends intirely on trade. 
 
 The land-holder hath an immoveable property, valuable 
 only to some few of his neighbours or countrymen, the 
 produce of which if trade carries not off, nor brings in 
 people to consume, but on the contrary by its decay drives 
 the consumers away, his tenants must decay, break, fly, 
 his lands be untenanted ; he may indeed sell at one price 
 or another, but when the bulk of his neighbours are in as 
 bad a situation as himself, and all rents declining, the 
 value of untenanted farms and empty houses must be 
 
 very low. 
 
 3 The 
 
148 Preface. 
 
 The traders are indeed the first pinched, but then they 
 have the first warning to avoid the calamity, which coming 
 but by degrees to the ultimate, the land-holders, they are 
 the longer lulled in a deceitful security. 
 
 Who then is the most concerned in point of interest 
 with regard to trade, he whose property is in moveables, 
 who hath the first warning, and the greatest choice of 
 purchasers; or he whose property is immoveable, who 
 feels not the danger until it is far advanced, hath the least 
 choice of purchasers, and those declining ones too, like 
 himself? 
 
 As men naturally pursue their own interest, this indif- 
 ference in our land-holders is monstrous. Is it pride 
 which makes them think the subject beneath them? All 
 foreign Courts are now studying it attentively. Is it the 
 fear that the subject is too intricate? A little attention 
 will make it as easy to them as to foreigners. Is it their 
 places that engross all their time ? What they think they 
 get by these, they may doubly lose in their lands. Is it 
 their pleasures they now make their chief business? 
 Alas! they are paying very dear for them, and deservedly 
 too, if that is the case. These causes may affect some few, 
 but the general one I take to be the craft, bovetousness, 
 or false notions of interest in oiir ancestors, who thought 
 to lay the burden of taxes as remote as possible from their 
 lands by laying them on trade, and to buttress that up by 
 prohibitions ; both which have had quite contrary effects, 
 and their children's feet are catched in the traps their fore- 
 fathers laid for others ; which cynical spirit, it is to be 
 feared, is not yet quite worn out. 
 
 To remove all false prejudices with regard to trade, 
 from our land-holders, to point out to them their true 
 interest, to clear a plain easy subject from the imputation 
 of intricacy, to remove those destructive distinctions with- 
 out any difference of landed and trading interests, or to 
 sum up all, to prove the strong connexion in point of 
 
 4 interest 
 
Preface. 149 
 
 interestj between land and trade, is the occasion of pub- 
 lishing this essay. 
 
 An attempt is here made to shew the symptoms of our 
 decay, the difficulties and discouragements our trade at 
 present labours under, by which only foreigners can rival 
 us, the prodigious artificial value we thereby put upon 
 our goods to the hindrance of their sale abroad ; the ficti- 
 tious value they make in the rents the land-holder now 
 receives, compared with the real, true, intrinsic value, a 
 free-trade would make ; the great natural advantages our 
 country is blessed with superior to any nation in Europe, 
 the means proper to preserve these by unburdening our 
 trade, which will employ our poor, increase the stock of 
 people, and increase our riches ; all which must terminate 
 in increasing the value of lands. 
 
 As of all the methods of raising taxes on the people, the 
 easiest and most equal must naturally raise the most 
 money and the fewest murmurs ; a proposal is here offered 
 to the consideration of the publick, for one tax on the 
 voluntary consumers of luxuries, to supply all our present, 
 positive, and involuntary taxes, without their ill conse- 
 quences, more easy, more equal, speedier raised, produc- 
 tive of more money, which wiU at the same time resttire 
 trade and increase the value of our lands. 
 
 The consideration of our numerous monopolies naturally 
 led to an enquiry into the nature of a free-port trade, as 
 well as the strong prejudices now subsisting against it; 
 and tho' a difference in opinion will herein be found with 
 several great men who have wrote on this subject, yet it is 
 not intended to cast any reflexion on their memories, or 
 lessen that esteem which their past endeavours for their 
 country's good justly intitles them to; but only to set 
 the subject in that general light they seem not to have 
 viewed it in, and put it to the strongest trial it is 
 capable of. 
 
 Perhaps it may seem strange that no bounty should be 
 
 5 proposed 
 
150 Preface. 
 
 proposed as a means to restore trade ; but if a free-port 
 will gain us all those trades we are naturally capable of, it 
 will appear to be itself the greatest bounty^ and in endea- 
 vouring to force nature, the expence is certain, but the 
 success doubtful. 
 
 As an impartial search after truth was the author's sole 
 motive for writing upon this subject, so he desires the 
 reader to be assured that he has not published any thing 
 but what appears to him as such ; and as an earnest of 
 his sincerity he declares, that whatever mistakes are 
 proved to be committed, no person shall be more willing 
 to retract, or more grateful for the favour of better infor- 
 mation, and which he will not fail to own whenever this 
 essay shall be found to deserve another edition. If the 
 several proposals here offered for the restoring of our 
 trade, and therewith the value of our lands, shall appear 
 to be founded on reason and the nature of commerce, he 
 flatters himself that there is virtue and publick spirit 
 enough left in the nation to carry them into execution ; 
 which, whether done or not, signifies no more to him than 
 to any other person whatever, except the desire of a portion 
 of that heart-felt joy which those obtain, whose labours are 
 blessed with their country's good. 
 
 THE bookseller desiring a second edition, the oppor- 
 tunity of correcting the mistakes in the first, was a sufii- 
 cient inducement to comply with his request ; as to such 
 errors which may still have escaped, the former promise of 
 acknowledging is now renewed. 
 
 Considerable alterations have happened in the finances, 
 by the late war ; additional taxes and great deficiencies : 
 What the true general produce will be, a year or two of 
 peace cannot shew, therefore the same calculations are 
 continued, as were in the former impression. 
 
 Our late superiority at sea has so checked the French, 
 that until they get their hands at liberty our trade may 
 
 6 seem 
 
Preface, 151 
 
 seem to flourish for a little time : But increased causes 
 must have increased efiects ; above thirty millions of new 
 debts and above a million of additional taxes must be felt. 
 Time will shew whether such advantages as might have 
 been made by a sea war, can on the present footing be 
 maintained by the peace. 
 
 During a confined knowledge of trade, the clamours of 
 oppressive taxes, overloading debts, a threatening public- 
 bankruptcy, will have weight, and distress every Admini- 
 stration. But if a general-knowledge was obtained of the 
 extensive nature of a free-trade, the increase of the 
 revenue with a liquidation of the national debt, would 
 (I think) appear extreme easy ; and a general prosperity 
 stop the mouths of all gainsayers. 
 
 THE 
 
THE 
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 FOBEIGN Trade, its definition Page 157 
 
 The means of riches . . , . . . . . ib. 
 
 Must be advantageous if free. . . . . . . . . 158 
 
 The exchange the iarometer of it between any two nations ib. 
 
 The mint the iarometer of it in general. . . . . ib 
 
 The symptoms of its decline in Britain. . . . . . . 159 
 
 Our remedies applied to stop effects, not remove causes, there- 
 fore unsuccessful. . . . . . . i . . ib. 160 
 
 PAET I. 
 
 Of the causes of the decline of omv foreign trade. . . 160 
 
 1. Our present taxes. Some of which are unequal, and all of 
 
 The stamp-duty. 
 
 .. ib. 
 
 The window-tax. . . 
 
 .. 161 
 
 The coal-tax. 
 
 ib. 
 
 The land-tax 
 
 .. 162 
 
 The salt-tax. 
 
 .. 163 
 
 The excises. 
 
 .. 164 
 
 Excises and land-taxes not equal methods of raising sup- 
 
 Pl'es 167. 
 
 8 Dutch 
 
Co7itents. 
 
 Dutch poll-tax examined. . . . . . , Page 168 
 
 The customs. . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 
 
 An accompt shewing how excises, customs, and salt-duties in- 
 crease the expences of the people, consequently ruin our 
 
 trade , 180 
 
 G-eneral amount of our taxes and part of their conse- 
 quences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 
 
 II. Monopolies. . . . . . , . . . . . . 186 
 
 Britain against its other dominions. . . . . . . ib. 
 
 India, South-Sea, and Turkey Companies, . . . . 187 
 
 City and corporation charters. . . . . . . . . 190 
 
 Prohibition of cattle, butter, &c., from Ireland. . . 191 
 
 Value of our land at present but nominal, proved. . . 192 
 
 Prohibition of fish imported by foreigners. . . . . 195 
 
 The Navigation- Act. 196 
 
 Prohibition of exporting woollens from Ireland. . . 197 
 
 III. Ill-judged laws. . . . . . . . . . . 198 
 
 That give bounties on exported corn, fish, and flesh. . . ib. 
 Relating to the poor. . . . . . . . . . . 201 
 
 That create high duties and penalties. . . . . . , 202 
 
 That fix the proportion between gold and silver coins. . . 203 
 Artificial value of our goods by taxes, &c. . . . . 204 
 
 This prejudices trade, weakens the Grovernment, and impover- 
 ishes the people. . . . . . . . . . . 207 
 
 IF. Ov/r national debt. . . . . . . . . . . ib. 
 
 Makes us tributaries to foreigners. . . . , . . 208 
 
 That these are the true causes of our decline proved, by demon- 
 strating them to be the causes of the smuggling of wool to 
 M-ance 209 
 
 PAET II. 
 
 Of the reasons why the decline of foreign trade sinks the value ■ 
 
 of land 210 
 
 By sinking the markets at home. . . . . . . ib. 
 
 By increasing the number of poor to burden the land. . . 211 
 By decreasing the stock of people. . . . , . . 212 
 
 By decreasing our riches. . . . . . . . . . . 213 
 
 9 PART 
 
Contents. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 Of the means to restore the foreign trade of Britain, conse- 
 quently the value of its lands. . . . . . . Page 215 
 
 Natural advantages of Britain enumerated. . . . . ib. 
 
 Pive proposals offered. . . . . . . . . . . 217 
 
 I. Proposal. To lay one tax on the consumers of luxuries, take 
 off all our other taxes, excises, and customs, and when that 
 is done, to make all our ports free. . . . . . . ib- 
 
 The plan of a tax on the consumers of luxuries. . . . . 218 
 
 The method of raising. . . . . , . , , . . 219 
 
 Objection, against its being liable to fraud, answered. . . 224 
 Memarhs on the benefits arising by this proposal. . . 226 
 
 "Wants no clause of credit. . . , . . . . . 227 
 
 Is voluntary. . . , . . . . . . . . . ib. 
 
 Has no oppression. . . . . . . . . . . ib. 
 
 WUl reform the people. . . . . . . . . . . ib. 
 
 Has no trade-destroying consequences. . . . . . . 228 
 
 May supply the present taxes. . . . . . . . . 229 
 
 With respect to the land-holder. . . . . . . . . ib. 
 
 With respect to the trader. . . . . . . . . 233 
 
 With respect to the stock-holder. , . . . . . . . 234 
 
 Is productive of more money than the present taxes. . . 235 
 Will lessen the expences of the Grovernnient. . . . . 236 
 
 increase the civil-list. . . . . . . . . ib. 
 
 be a political barometer. . . . . . . . . ib. 
 
 increase the interest of a minister. . . . . . . 237 
 
 increase trade. . . . . . . . . . . 238 
 
 prevent the smuggling of wool. . . . . . . 240 
 
 gain the herring-fishery. . . , . . . . . ib. 
 
 employ the poor. . . . . . . , , . . 241 
 
 increase the stock of people. . . . . . . 246 
 
 increase our riches. . . . . . . . , . . 248 
 
 increase the value of our lands. . . . . . . 250 
 
 Joshua Gee's ohjections against a free-port here, answered. 251 
 
 Objection. That it seems contrary to reason to take off the 
 
 duties or prohibitions on the goods of any nation that will 
 
 not do the same by ours, answered. . . . . . . 261 
 
 10 Objection. 
 
Contents. 
 
 Objection. That the balance against us with France must 
 increase by taking off the duties on French goods, 
 answered. . . . . . . . . . . Page 266 
 
 Objections in the British merchant against a free-trade with 
 France, answered. . . . . . . . . . . 270 
 
 All our taxes and incumbrances removed, our trade to France 
 must be beneficial, proved. . . . . . , . . 275 
 
 That this savours of French designs, obviated. . . . • 278 
 
 Britain can give laws by sea. . . . . , . . . 280 
 
 Render the French trade impracticable. . . . . . . 281 
 
 The expences in a sea-war circulate back again. . . 282 
 
 A compleat easing of our trade can put us above any fear of 
 
 the French. . . . . . . . . . . . . ib. 
 
 Former balances from Germany and Holland, gone. . . 287 
 Conclusion of the remarks on this first article. . . . . 289 
 
 //. Proposal. To abolish all our monopolies, unite Ireland, and 
 
 put all our fellow-subjects on the same footing in trade 289 
 
 Win increase trade. . . . . . . . . . . ib. 
 
 ruin all foreign Fast-India Companies. . . . . 290 
 
 benefit the wooUen trade of Britain. . . . . ib. 
 
 lessen our taxes. ". . . . . . . . . . 292 
 
 employ our poor. . . . . . . . . . . 293 
 
 increase the stock of people. .. .. .. ib. 
 
 increase our riches. . . . . . . . . . . ib. 
 
 increase the value of our lands. . . . . . . ib. 
 
 III. Brpposal. To withdraw the bounties on exported corn, 
 
 end to erect publick magazines of corn in every country. 294 
 
 Method proposed. . . . . . . . . . . . . ib. 
 
 Will increase trade. . . . . . . . . . . 295 
 
 employ our poor. . . . . . . . . . . 296 
 
 increase the stock of people. . . . . . . 297 
 
 increase our riches. . . . . . . . . . . ib. 
 
 increase the value of our lands. . . . . . . ib. 
 
 Prevent the price of wheat from ever sinking so low as to ruin 
 
 the farmer 298 
 
 TF. Proposal. To discourage idleness, by well regulating our 
 poor. . . . . • • • • • • • • • • ib. 
 
 Method proposed. . . . . • • ■ . • • . . ib. 
 
 Will increase trade. . . . . . . . . . . 300 
 
 11 WiU 
 
Contents. 
 
 Will employ our poor. . . . . . . • . Page 300 
 
 increase the stock of people. . . . . . . 301 
 
 increase our riches. . . . . . . • • • • 302 
 
 increase the value of our lands. . . . . . . ib. 
 
 Objection. That the poor being left to subsist on charity only 
 will be starved, answered. . . . . . . . . ib. 
 
 V. Proposal. To pay off our debts by publick bonds, bearing 
 
 interest and liquidating part of our debts yearly. . . 303 
 
 Method proposed. . . . . . . . . . . . . ib. 
 
 Will increase trade. . . . . . . . . . . 304 
 
 employ our poor. . . . . . . . . . . 306 
 
 increase the stock of people. . . . . . . ib, 
 
 increase our riches. . . . . . . . . . . ib. 
 
 increase the value of our lands. . . . . . . ib. 
 
 Conclusion. That the giving trade the utmost freedoms and 
 encouragements is the greatest and most solid improvement 
 of the value of lands. . . . . . . . . . . 307 
 
 12 
 
 AN 
 
AN 
 
 E S S A Y 
 
 On the Caufes and Declt?te of the 
 
 FOREIGN TRADE. 
 
 THE foreign trade of Britain may be defined to be its 
 exports and imports of commodities to and from other 
 countries, with the navigation and intercourse of exchanges 
 thereby caused. 
 
 The general measures of the trade of Europe at present 
 are gold and silver^ whichj tho' they are sometimes com- 
 modities, yet are the ultimate objects of trade ; and the 
 more or less of these metals a nation retains, it is denomi- 
 nated rich or poor. 
 
 Those nations that have no mines of gold and silver, 
 have no means to get them but by foreign trade, and, 
 according to the degree of those metals they retain, the 
 prices of their commodities, the numbers of their people, 
 and therewith the value of their lands rise and fall in 
 proportion. 
 
 Therefore if the exports of Britain exceed its imports, 
 foreigners must pay us the balance in treasure, and the 
 nation grow rich. 
 
 But if the imports of Britain exceed its exports, we 
 must pay foreigners the balance in treasure, and the 
 nation grow poor. 
 
 The imports cannot exceed the exports in any country 
 where the trade is free, especially if the country abounds 
 with home commodities, because these not being raised to 
 
 13 artificial 
 
158 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 artificial prices by taxes, must be so cbeap to the inba- 
 bitantSj that foreign commodities could not answer the 
 charges of transporting for the consumption of such a 
 country, unless the people exported so much of their best 
 commodities as to want, or content themselves with a 
 supply of inferior ones from other nations; so that the 
 chief imports of a free-port trade in a fruitful country, 
 can't be for the consumption of the people, until they 
 make room for them with advantage to themselves, but 
 must be either materials to be manufactured, which vrill 
 afterwards be re-exported in goods improved by the 
 people's labour at least twice, it may be ten times their 
 first cost, increasing thereby a nation's treasure in pro- 
 portion; or else goods to lay up in storehouses, for it 
 being the interest of merchants to buy any commodities 
 that offer in cheap times to sell again when the markets 
 are advanced, part of such imports, tho' they be luxuries, 
 as most of our India goods are, and purchased with trea- 
 sure, do become at some time or other advantageous 
 exports, and besides paying for what is consumed at home, 
 do bring in plenty of treasure, as was the case of our East- 
 India trade formerly : Of which Holland is at present an 
 example, tho' it affords neither corn, naval stores, or 
 materials of manufacture to subsist the eighth part of its 
 people; tho' it consumes great quantities of French wines 
 and brandies, yet because its trade is almost free, its 
 merchants bring the balance in its favour with almost 
 all countries. 
 
 The barometer of trade between any two nations is the 
 course of the exchange, the nation over-balanced having 
 always its money undervalued. 
 
 The barometer of the general trade of a nation is its 
 Mint, if plenty of treasure is brought in, and little carried 
 out, part of it will be continually coining, and much new 
 money will appear, the certain symptom of a flourishing 
 trade. 
 
 14 But 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trside. 159 
 
 But if much treasure be brought in, yet more be carried 
 outj the Mint must lie idle, little new money will appear, 
 the sure sign of a decaying trade. 
 
 That the foreign trade of Britain declines, will appear 
 by the following symptoms. 
 
 The many petitions to Parliament complaining of the 
 decay of the woollen manufacture. 
 
 The starving condition the poor are reduced to in the 
 clothing countries. 
 
 The low price of wool. 
 
 The long credit shop-keepers take. 
 
 The great numbers of bankrupts. 
 
 The exchange being against us this Feb. 3, 1740, to 
 places where formerly it was for us, viz. Hamburgh, 
 Holland, Venice, and Genoa. 
 
 The exchange being more against us with France, than 
 in the times of open trade, tho' its goods are loaded with 
 such high duties as amount almost to a prohibition. 
 
 The exchange being less for us with Portugal than it 
 was during Queen Ann's war, tho' we had troops and sub- 
 sidies to pay there. 
 
 The great exportation of bullion. 
 
 The Mint's lying idle, little or no new coin appearing. 
 
 The present scarcity of money, especially silver. 
 
 The great arrears of rent the tenants are in all over 
 England, which the landlords every where complain of. 
 
 The great numbers of farms thrown upon the landlords 
 hands. 
 
 The vast increase of the poor's rates. 
 
 These symptoms of the decline of our foreign trade 
 being so very plain, the causes are the things to be found 
 out, and then the remedy may be easy. It is a maxim in 
 philosophy. Take away the cause and the effect will cease; 
 but we have troubled our heads so little of late days with 
 this good maxim, that our remedies of high taxes,, prohi- 
 bitions, and penal laws, have been applied to stop effects, 
 
 15 while 
 
160 An Essay on the Causes, &c. 
 
 while the causes have never been thought on, and since 
 they have not had any success, or ever can in our present 
 circumstances, and would appear needless were the causes 
 understood and removed : I shall attempt to show what 
 are, 
 
 I. The causes of the decline of our foreign trade. 
 
 II. The reasons why the decline of foreign trade sinks the 
 value of lands. 
 
 III. Offer some means to restore both. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 THE causes of the decline of our foreign trade will 
 appear to be, 
 
 I. Our present taxes, some of which are unequal, and 
 all of them fraught with oppressive consequences . 
 
 II. Monopolies, whereby the many are oppressed for 
 the gain of a few. 
 
 III. Ill-judged laws. 
 
 IV. Our large national debt. 
 
 I. Our present taxes, consisting of 1st, the Stamp duties; 
 2dly, the Window-tax; 3dly, the Coal-tax; 4thly, the 
 Land-tax ; 5thly, the Salt-duty ; 6thly, the Excises on 
 Sope, Candles, Leather, &c. 7thly, and lastly, the Customs, 
 the oppressive consequences of Which I shall endeavour to 
 shew. * 
 
 First, the Stamp-duty. 
 
 This seems to be a hardship on the oppressed, for if 
 knaves defraud honest people of their property, these last 
 are deterred from endeavouring to recover it by this 
 excessive tax on law, and a poor man suing for 201. pays 
 the same Stamp-duties as a rich man who sues for 20000Z. 
 
 16 which 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 161 
 
 wHich greatly prevents the poor, and oftentimes the rich 
 from recovering their just rights. 
 
 Perhaps the stamps on bonds, deeds, S^c. at a very 
 moderate rate, may be necessary to prevent forgeries; and 
 those on cards and dice tend to discourage gaming : But 
 on law-proceedings the Stamp-duty is certainly a great 
 grievance. 
 
 Secondly, The Window-tax. 
 
 This is an old tax new-modelled, with what equality is 
 to be considered : The rates are according to the num- 
 bers of windows, but these are no just foundations for 
 taxing. Mechanicks work-houses, inns, lodging-houses, 
 ^c. may have as many windows as a nobleman's seat, and 
 the possessors pay equal sums upon very unequal fortunes : 
 Some old houses have many windows, some modern ones 
 in the Italian taste but few ; here the sums are unequal 
 let the fortunes be what they will. Again, the idle may 
 shut out the light, the industrious can't work without, the 
 former favour and the latter tax themselves, for what ? for 
 working. Well may we pray Lighten our darkness. 
 
 Thirdly, The Coal-tax. 
 
 Gee, on Trade, says, that coals brought to London pay 
 about 105. per chaldron duty. 
 
 Ditto, Water-born to other parts of the kingdom, 5*. 
 
 Ditto, Exported to foreigners, Zs. 
 
 This favours foreigners more than our own people, more 
 especially the inhabitants of London and its neighbour- 
 hood, who pay about 7s. more duty per chaldron than 
 foreigners, so that we hereby encourage them to under- 
 work the Londoners more immediately in iron-wares, and 
 something likewise in all manufactures where coals are 
 used, A tax on a commodity of such general use to the 
 poor as well as the rich, must, like our excises, add to the 
 dearness of the poor's living, raise the wages of their 
 labour, and the price of manufactured goods, which like- 
 wise insensibly affects the rich : But who can express the 
 
 17 hardships 
 
Missing Page 
 
Missing Page 
 
164 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 the trade languish, and little is done either for the home 
 or foreign demand : And notwithstanding that this article 
 of cured herrings is so necessary for the support of the 
 working poor, yet are they loaded with so heavy a duty, 
 as makes them too chargeable a morsel for the poor to 
 encourage the fishery. 
 
 The States-General, in their proclamation dated at the 
 Hague, 19 July, 1634, call the great fishing, and catching 
 herrings, the chiefest trade and principal gold-mine of the 
 United Provinces, whereby many thousands of housholds, 
 families, handicrafts, trades and occupations, are set on 
 work, well maintained, and prosper, especially the sailing 
 and navigation, as well within as without these countries, is 
 kept in great estimation. 
 
 Should so beneficial a trade that well maintains handi- 
 crafts, trades, §-c. and keeps in great estimation a naviga- 
 tion, should such a trade as this, I say, be obstructed for 
 the sake of a paltry tax, that produces but about 150,000/. 
 per annum neat to the Government : Have we lost all 
 our senses, and shall we leave the Dutch unrivall'd for 
 ever in a trade, which they declare to be a principal 
 gold mine, and yet is the neglected produce of our own 
 coasts ? 
 
 Sixthly, The Excises. 
 
 Tho' the excises on sope, candles, leather, &c. by their 
 manner of raising are so disagreeable to the nation in 
 general, that any invective against them at this time 
 would be needless, having been so largely treated on 
 already by our greatest political authors : And as the 
 intent of this essay is only to set things in that single 
 point of view which relates to trade, I shall consider them 
 no otherwise than as taxes on commodities, but attempt 
 to shew the augmentative faculty of all such taxes, and 
 the great prejudice they do to trade ; for whatever raises 
 the necessaries of life raises labour, and of course the price 
 of every thing that is produced by labour. And it will be 
 
 20 made 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 165 
 
 made appear hereafter by a calculation of the oppressive 
 consequences of the excises, &c. that they almost treble 
 themselves to the people for what they raise to the 
 Government ; and it is to be feared it would appear much 
 more, if we could go to the bottom of the oppression, for 
 if it be considered that tradesmen in a country, by their 
 mutual dependence on each other, are like wheels in a 
 machine, in which if one is touched the others are affected. 
 Amidst so many trading movers to what degree the 
 oppression is increas'd is impossible to know, nor must we 
 be startled at the largeness of such calcidations as being 
 too great for us to pay, for being circulated chiefly among 
 ourselves, and going out by dribblets we hardly perceive 
 them J but yet are surprised to find wages and necessaries 
 grow dearer and dearer, because few use themselves to 
 consider the immensity of such collected advances in small 
 sums ; but if we compare the difi'erence of the prices of 
 necessaries between England and France, we shall find 
 that difference plainly accounting for the vast amount of 
 the consequences of our taxes ; nor can it be a trifle that 
 makes such a fruitful country as England is, so dear, and 
 its trade decline so fast; for our working people being 
 forced to purchase the necessaries of life dear, must work 
 dear to live, until their willing working hands are quite 
 tied up by foreigners, who live less taxed, and of course 
 work cheaper, so that they must and do undersell us at all 
 markets for manufactured goods where they come in com- 
 petition with us, and in time must stop all such exports. 
 And I appeal to the experience of every honest man con- 
 versant in trade, whether it does not decline year after 
 year, more especially our woollen trade, which has been 
 estimated to be as necessary to us as bread is to the life of 
 man, for our dearer goods must lie unsold or be sold with 
 loss, which must stop or break our merchants ; they our 
 clothiers and weavers ; these last their journeymen, who 
 must either starve, turn beggars, thieves, or fly to our 
 
 31 enemies 
 
Missing Page 
 
Missing Page 
 
168 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 Will any one say in these cases that the excise on 
 leather, and the land-tax, are equal taxations? In the 
 first case, is not the oppression increased twelve articles to 
 one; and in the second, at least four to one? For the 
 landed married-man, with such a family, cannot, should 
 not live more comfortably on his whole estate, than the 
 bachelor can do on the quarter of his ; and how are the 
 landed gentlemen that are married oppress'd, who are now 
 in both cases ? 
 
 And here it may not be improper to examine the in- 
 conveniences of a poll-tax, such as the States of Holland 
 issued an ordonnance on the 28th of March, 1742, for 
 establishing : In the preamble to which it is said, That 
 the safety of the country, and its inhabitants, requiring a 
 greater number of troops to be kept up than ordinary, their 
 noble and high mightinesses have been obliged to search for 
 the most proper means to provide for the expenses of that 
 augmentation, and they have not found any more fitting than 
 the establishment of a poll-tax, proportioned to the abilities 
 of every one. The first class is of those who earn, spend, or 
 possess an income of 
 
 600 florins, out of which they shall pay 6 florins 
 to this tax. 
 
 700 ditto 8 flo7~ins 4000 florins 75 florins 
 
 800 ditto 12 ditto 4500 ditto 90 ditto 
 
 1000 ditto 15 ditto 5000 ditto 120 ditto 
 
 1200 ditto 18 ditto 6000 ditto 140 ditto 
 
 1500 ditto 25 ditto 7000 ditto 160 ditto 
 
 2000 ditto 32- ditto 8000 ditto 180 ditto 
 
 2500 ditto 40 ditto 9000 ditto 200 ditto 
 
 3000 ditto 50 ditto 10000 ditto 250 ditto 
 
 3500 ditto 60 ditto 12000 ditto 300 ditto 
 
 and so on, increasing on the foot of 50 florins for every 
 2000 florins income. 
 
 24 With 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 169 
 
 With due respect to their noble and high mightinesses, 
 I shall beg leave to repeat what I have just before asserted, 
 viz. that any thing positive and involuntary cannot avoid 
 oppression, ^c. and add a few remarks on this poll-tax to 
 support that assertion. 
 
 1st, It is unequal, consequently unjust and oppressive. 
 By this tax a married man of 600 florins income with 
 six, eight or ten children, whose family is so numerous 
 that his income is scarce sufficient to maintain them, and 
 who at the year's end has hardly one florin left, is to pay 
 the same as a bachelor who hath only himself to maintain, 
 and perhaps lays up sixty florins a year : What injustice 
 and oppression is here ? Six florins are exacted from one 
 man, who has not conveniently, cannot have one to spare, 
 and no more from another who can spare sixty ; and yet 
 this is not the worst view this tax is capable of being put 
 in, for, suppose the bachelor's 600 florins income to arise 
 from the interest of his stocks in Holland or England, 
 and the married man's by his labour; here is a farther 
 shocking piece of injustice, whereby industry and idleness 
 are put on the same footing. 
 
 2dly, It injures trade, consequently impoverishes a 
 country. 
 
 By raising the prices of labour and goods ; for a man 
 who earns by his trade 600 florins a year, and whose 
 numerous family consumes the whole, if six florins are 
 exacted from him, he must raise them by advancing the 
 prices of his labour or his goods ; else he cannot live, 
 and the dearer goods grow, the less vendible they are, 
 consequently the less trade this man will have; so that 
 this tax increases his expences, and at the same time 
 lessens his income ; if this is not oppression, I know not 
 what is. 
 
 All taxes on necessaries or trade do the same. 
 3dly, It tends to corrupt the manners of the people, con- 
 sequently to make them tumultuous and less governable. 
 
 25 For 
 
170 A71 Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 For being to pay in proportion to what they earn^ 
 spend, or possess, the just value whereof is impossible 
 to be known but by themselves, and to force them to a 
 declaration, an oath is always imposed, which makes a 
 struggle between interest and conscience, an extreme wise 
 law, whereby an honest man is put on a worse footing 
 than a perjured knave : He that forswears himself pays 
 less than his due and saves his money, but he that is con- 
 scientious pays to the full ; which latter suspecting others 
 to evade, is peaked at paying more than his neighbours, 
 and wonders why a false oath should not sit as easy on 
 him as on so many others ; whereby the most solemn 
 pledge of truth among men becomes frequently violated, 
 is despis'd, diregarded, and interest rides triumphant over 
 conscience, which latter being to men as a dike to keep 
 out the torrent of vice, if once a thorough breach is made, 
 a deluge of iniquity ensues, whereby all good principles 
 are drowned : And the more vicious men grow, the readier 
 they are to oppose authority. 
 
 Seventhly and lastly. The customs. 
 
 Customs are duties collected in sea-port or frontier- 
 towns, by authority of state, on goods coming in or going 
 out of a country. 
 
 All authors agree that low customs are one of the 
 causes of the great trade of Holland. 
 
 If low customs cause great trade, it follows that high 
 customs cause little trade; which is comparatively our 
 case now. 
 
 If the lower the customs the greater the trade, no cus- 
 toms or free-ports must carry trade to its utmost height ; 
 which case might be ours. 
 
 If low customs have such good effects in Holland, 
 which hath the most natural disadvantages of any country; 
 a free-port must have the greatest and best effect in Britain, 
 whose natural advantages are beyond those of any country 
 in Ewope, as will be proved hereafter. 
 
 26 That 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 171 
 
 That the above observations are founded in truth will 
 appear, by shewing how customs, especially high ones, 
 obstruct the trade of these nations. 
 
 First, they prevent our country's being an universal 
 storehouse. 
 
 Because our duties being so great an additional dis- 
 bursement to the first cost of the goods, no merchant will 
 let so much of his capital lie dead for duties here, when 
 he can have it all circulating in commodities in other 
 countries ; nor can such goods be re-exported, because the 
 officers fees iu and out, which always remain, and the in- 
 terest of the money lying dead for duties paid (tho' they be 
 mostly drawn back) are so great a charge (the natural in- 
 terest of money being much higher with us than in Hol- 
 land) that the goods cannot come near so cheap from us to 
 any foreign market, as from a free-port where nothing is 
 paid in or out; therefore they prevent our country^s 
 having the best choice of goods at the cheapest prices, to 
 tempt our customers : The great duties on India goods 
 discourage foreigners buying at our sales, who pay an ex- 
 traordinary charge of commission on that advanced price, 
 and are forced to lie some months out of their money for 
 the draw-back ; besides, the strict rule of declaring goods 
 at the Custom-House, makes publick to every one each 
 transaction of trade, and thereby prevents shipping for 
 foreign ports such goods as are there prohibited, which 
 deprives us of several beneficial branches of trade that 
 are earned on from Holland, or free-ports, to the great 
 advantage of foreigners. 
 
 Secondly, they prevent the increase of our naviga- 
 tion ; 
 
 By enhancing the expences of building and navigating 
 
 our ships. 
 
 Boards, hemp, flax, sail-cloth, and iron, paying duties, 
 those materials must be dear, and several necessaries of life 
 paying some customs (and some excises) the ship-builders 
 
 27 labour 
 
1 72 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 labour must be dear; also the provision and stores put on 
 board the ships. 
 
 The English sailor paying, on his own and family's 
 necessaries, customs, (and excises) . must have, and hath 
 higher wages than most other countries give. 
 
 So that a British vessel built and rigged with dear 
 materials, by dear labour, supplied with dear stores, and 
 navigated by sailors at dear wages, must have dear freights, 
 bring in all foreign necessaries and materials for manufac- 
 ture dear, and carry out all our own products and manu- 
 factures dear to foreign markets, much to the disadvantage 
 of their sale. 
 
 This shews the reason why we could never rival the 
 Dutch, Hamburghers, &c. in the Greenland trade, the navi- 
 gation of the Baltick, or the herring-fishery, which being 
 trades carried on for small profits, our dear navigation ef- 
 fectually excludes us from making any increase those ways. 
 
 By not having an universal storehouse, our ships, like 
 empty houses, lie by idle in our harbours, waiting months 
 for freights, the interest of the money they cost eating out 
 their profits ; or else are obliged to lose their time, and be 
 at great expences in going from one port to another to 
 endeavour to get a cargo. 
 
 Thirdly, they prevent the increase of sailors, the true 
 strength of this nation. 
 
 This is a consequence of the two last remarks ; for no 
 trade breeds so many or so good sailors as the free-port 
 and carrying trades, the employment being the greatest, 
 and the experience the largest, as the voyages are the most 
 various and extensive, for ^tis no less than the trade of the 
 whole world. 
 
 As customs are inconsistent with such a trade, of 
 course they debar us of that increase of sailors which 
 must be necessary to carry it on, and who would protect 
 us from, or carry vengeance to those enemies that durst 
 insult us. 
 
 28 The 
 
Decline, of the Foreign Trade. 1 73 
 
 The customs upon foreign salt, a commodity so neces- 
 sary to our fishery, is likewise a great prevention to the 
 increase of sailors ; the numbers employed in Holland by 
 their fishery are prodigious, I fear ours bear no comparison. 
 The British sailor being forced by customs and excises 
 to live dear, must have dear wages, which excludes him 
 from employment wherever foreigners can be legally had, 
 to the great discouragement of our sailors, and prevents 
 their increase. 
 
 All this is not only destructive to our riches, but also 
 to our security, it being difficult in time of war to man 
 our navy, not improperly called our floating castles, and 
 occasions that hard custom of pressing, which puts a free- 
 born British sailor on the footing of a Turkish slave : The 
 Grand Signior cannot do a more absolute act, than to 
 order a man to be dragged away from his family, and 
 against his wiU run his head before the mouth of a cannon ; 
 and if such acts should be frequent in Turkey upon any 
 one set of useful men, would it not drive them away to 
 other countries, and thin their numbers yearly? and 
 would not the remaining few double or treble their wages ? 
 which is the case of our sailors in time of war, to the great 
 detriment of our trade and manufactures. 
 
 Fourthly, they lessen the capitals of our merchants. 
 By keeping a great part of their stocks by them idle 
 to pay the duties of the goods they import, which is, in 
 effect, making them not only advance their money for the 
 service of the state, but likewise run the risk in the credit 
 they give of ever being reimbursed, and is diverting a 
 stream of riches that should water trade ; for it often hap- 
 pens that when our merchants are short of cash, and they 
 have both customs and manufacturers to pay, so much 
 money goes for the first, that nothing is left for the latter, 
 vvhich causes a circulation of disappointments seldom 
 known in Holland on that account ; and the Dutch mer- 
 chants can carry on the same trade with much less stock 
 
 29 than 
 
1 74 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 than ours, sell cheaper, extend their commerce farther, 
 and of course give better encouragement to their working 
 people, whereby they cause them to be more industrious 
 than ours. 
 
 The following case will shew the difficulties and dis- 
 couragements our merchants labour under more than the 
 Dutch our great rivals in trade. 
 
 Suppose a merchant in Roterdam to ship corn for 
 Bourdeaux, and the neat produce to amount to the value 
 of 2000Z. sterling ; if he orders it to be invested in wines, 
 and ship^'d {or Holland, he will not pay for duties 401. 
 
 Suppose a merchant in London to ship corn for Oporto, 
 and the neat produce to amount to the value of 2000Z. 
 sterling ; if he orders it to be invested in wines, and 
 shipp'd for England, he will pay for duties above 2000/. 
 
 Therefore the Butch merchant's prime cost and duties 
 of his cargo will be, £2040 
 
 The English, ditto, 4000 
 
 1960Z. of the English merchant's disburse more than 
 the Dutch merchant's in the amount of the duties, is im- 
 prisoned until the people he trusts pay him, which may 
 be a year or a year and a half; whereas if the Dutch mer- 
 chant's capital be equal, he has had 1960/. to employ in 
 buying up goods to freight another adventure, may be of 
 woollens, giving quick employment to the navigation and 
 manufactures of his country. 
 
 Suppose the retailers they trust break about the year's 
 end, and make a composition amounting to 25 per cent. 
 on the prime cost and duties of the wines : 
 
 The Dutch merchant's loss will be, £1530 
 
 The English, ditto, 3000 
 
 This also makes our merchants risk in trade greater, 
 and their losses heavier than in Holland. 
 
 Fifthly, they encourage and force the consumption of 
 foreign superfluities. 
 
 The dearer outlandish luxuries are, the more are they 
 30 esteemed 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 1 75 
 
 esteemed by our people of taste; 'tis the expence that 
 makes the elegancy^ therefore duties on them only further 
 their sale^ as Mr. Locke clearly proves in his Considerations, 
 &c. For it being vanity, not use, that makes the expensive 
 fashions of your people, the emulation is, who shall have 
 the finest, that is, the dearest things, not the most conve- 
 nient or useful ? How many things do we value and buy, 
 because they come at dear rates from Japan and China, 
 which, if they were our own manufacture or product to be 
 had common, and for a little money, would be contemned 
 and neglected ? Have not several of our own commodities, 
 offered to sale at reasonable rates, been despised, and the 
 very same eagerly bought and bragged of when sold for 
 French at a double price ? You must not therefore think 
 that the raising their price will lessen the vent of fashion- 
 able foreign commodities amongst you, so long as men have 
 any way to purchase them, but rather increase it. 
 
 But besides encouraging, our customs force the con- 
 sumption here of most foreign superfluities that are im- 
 ported ; for tho' the duties be mostly drawn back on some 
 articles, yet the interest of the money lying dead for duties 
 and fees in and out, hinder in some degree their re- 
 exportation, and in many articles the duties are only in 
 part drawn back, so that what remains is such an addi- 
 tional load as prevents such goods being saleable at any 
 other market, consequently forces us to consume all such 
 superfluities. This makes a people luxurious, who can do 
 nothing with foreign superfluities but riot and indulge ; 
 whereas the Dutch having the object of gain always before 
 their eyes, by the advance of foreign markets for those 
 superfluities they have in their storehouses, are check'd 
 from indulging in what appears to them common, and of 
 no great value for the present, but may be attended with 
 great profit hereafter ; which accounts for the Dutch fru- 
 gality, so justly celebrated by all authors. 
 
 It is the excessive consumption, not the trade of 
 31 foreign 
 
176 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 foreign superfluities that should be discouraged, and which 
 is best done by taxing the consumers, letting the goods as 
 objects of trade go quite free, whereas our high duties on 
 them do just the reverse, for they encourage the con- 
 sumption and destroy the trade, to the immense loss of 
 the nation. 
 
 Sixthly, they encourage smuggling. 
 
 Where the avoiding high customs makes the profit 
 great, no risk, no danger can prevent mens attempting it ; 
 it is throwing out a bait to a greedy fish, he will snap at it 
 tho' ruin ensues ; this prejudices and discourages the fair 
 trader, either tempts, or forces him to turn smuggler, 
 and associate himself with those many examples of de- 
 pravity we have at this time among our people, living in 
 a state of war with the Government, in defiance of laws, 
 whereby an universal corruption of manners and con- 
 tempt of authority must ensue, if not early prevented : 
 Besides, it being chiefly the articles of luxury that are 
 smuggled, as brandy, tea, French wine, laces, silks, &c. 
 it spreads their consumption among the lower class of 
 people, who are tempted to imitate at a less expence the 
 luxuries of their superiors ; and the same smugglers that 
 bring us these superfluities, carry off vast quantities of raw 
 wool, to the great prejudice of our manufactures, and the 
 nation in general. 
 
 Seventhly, they ruin manufactures, more especially the 
 woollen. 
 
 Customs prevent the bartering away our manufactures 
 for foreign goods, not only for our own consumption, but 
 also for exportation, which might enlarge the vent of our 
 goods ten times more than it now is ; for if a merchant now 
 exports woollen goods, and would barter them for wines, the 
 duties on them would amount to more than the cost of his 
 woollen goods ; so that he must have a double capital for 
 such an adventure, or let it quite alone, whereby the sales 
 of great quantities of woollen goods are lost to the nation. 
 
 32 As 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 177 
 
 As customs enhance the expences of our navigation, 
 the freights must be raised accordingly, whereby the prices 
 of the sope, oil, and dye-stuffs used in manufacturing our 
 wool, are advanced to the maker, and the freights on the 
 cloths or stuffs exported being also raised, are additional 
 clogs upon the sales of our woollen goods. 
 
 Customs prevent the carrying and fishing trades, the 
 great nurseries of seamen, whereby our sailors being few, 
 and their expences raised by taxes, they have the highest 
 wages of most people in Europe, which is another addi- 
 tional advance on the freights, to the prejudice of our 
 woollen trade as above. 
 
 Customs taking away so great a part of our merchants 
 stocks, they are thereby deprived of driving that great 
 trade, and purchasing those quantities of woollen goods 
 they would otherwise do ; besides, our merchants risk in 
 trade being greater than in Holland, and their losses 
 heavier by our customs, their bankruptcies must be more 
 frequent ; this sensibly affects our manufacturers, who are 
 generally considerable creditors ; for broken merchants 
 may be well compared to nine-pins, one of which seldom 
 falls without beating down many others. 
 
 Customs recommend foreign manufactures of fine 
 goods, by making them expensive, which vanity on that 
 account soon renders fashionable, whilst our own are 
 despised, tho' superior in goodness, and are a great dis- 
 couragement to our manufactures. 
 
 Customs are the cause of the smuggling of wool, be- 
 cause the gain being great by running tea, brandy, and 
 French goods, on account of the high duties, hath raised 
 the contraband trade to a great height, and the smugglers 
 cannot make their returns in any commodity of so quick 
 and certain a vent, or that gives so good a profit as our 
 wool, for the French being less taxed than we, can work 
 cheaper, and their own wool being coarse, English and 
 Irish wools are so much in demand, that they will give 
 
 33 great 
 
178 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 great prices for them, for whicli reason they receive vast 
 quantities, to the ruin of our manufactures. 
 
 Customs on ashes, hay-salt, cotton, copper, coals, 
 drugs, foreign sope, flax, fruit, furs, hemp, iron, leather, 
 linens, oil, paper, rice, tobacco, tallow, threads, tapes, sUk, 
 and sugar, being necessaries of life, or materials of manu- 
 facture, must necessarily make all our commodities dear, 
 not only to our own people, but to foreigners likewise, (tho' 
 our workmen should have no excises to pay) and such dis- 
 couragements give opportunity to foreigners to send their 
 manufactures cheaper to foreign markets, and smuggle 
 them in defiance of all laws into our own country, to the 
 ruin of our manufacturers ; for all the above customs are 
 as much taxes on our woollen manufacture, as if they 
 were laid on the wool itself, or more ; for the workman 
 must raise the money on the woollen goods he makes, to 
 pay the duties of what he uses of the above articles, with 
 the advances, in all the hands they pass through before 
 they come to him. 'Tis by these, that we ourselves drive 
 away our own manufactures, and prevent our ever getting 
 more; and foreigners could not rival the people of so 
 fruitful a country as Britain, if we did not furnish them 
 with the means by our high taxes and restraints, that are 
 always prejudicial to trade, tho' designed to amend it, and 
 never eifect the thing intended tho^ fortified with the most 
 rigorous penal laws, of which Mr. Locke gives an instance 
 in his Considerations, &c. p. 116, 'Tis death in Spain to 
 export money ; and yet they who furnish all the world with 
 gold and silver-, have least of it among themselves ; trade 
 fetches it away from that lazy xmd indigent people, notwith- 
 standing all their artificial and forced contrivances to keep 
 it there ; it follows trade against the rigour of their laws, 
 and their want of foreign commodities makes it openly be 
 carried out at noon-day. 
 
 This seems to be a parallel of the state we are coming 
 to, and which some foreigner may by and by make. 
 
 34 'Tis 
 
Decline, of the Foreign Trade. 1 79 
 
 'Tis felony in England to export wool, and yet they 
 who furnish all the world with wool, have least of the 
 manufacturing of it among themselves; the smuggling 
 trade fetches it away from that excised and custom-loaded 
 people, notwithstanding all their artificial and forced con- 
 trivances to keep it there : It follows the smuggling trade 
 against the rigour of their laws, and their want of taking 
 off the taxes on their manufacturers, makes it openly be 
 carried out at noon-day. 
 
 By this we see that neither death or banishment can 
 force trade to an unnatural channel, and it may be com- 
 pared in one respect to water which cannot be compressM 
 within its natural dimensions, the more force is exerted 
 the sooner is the vessel broke that contained it, and the 
 water let loose never to return. The great De Wit, in his 
 Memoirs, Ratisbon Edit. p. 77, asserts, that the navigation, 
 the fishery, the trade, and manufactures, which are the Jour 
 pillars of the State, should not be weakened or encumbered 
 by any taxes, for 'tis they that give subsistence to the'tnost 
 part of the inhabitants, and which draw in all sorts of 
 strangers, unless the necessity was so great that the country 
 was threatened with an intire destruction, and these funda- 
 mentals should be attacked upon the hopes that these taxes 
 would not last long ; at least haste should be made as soon 
 as the storm was over, to take them off; again, this distinc- 
 tion should be made that manufactures should not or cannot 
 be taxed at all, because they are not fixed to the country, 
 and we must fetch from foreign countries the stuffs and 
 materials to work them up. 
 
 Eighthly, they send away our specie. 
 
 Britain having no mines of gold or silver, has no other 
 means of getting or preserving its treasure but by foreign 
 trade. As customs confine our trade to mere importation 
 for our own necessaries or vanities, and at the same time 
 ruin our manufactures ; what we want in exports to 
 balance the imports must be paid in specie, making the 
 
 35 balance 
 
Missing Page 
 
Missing Page 
 
182 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 First, Thia dearness of all necessaries whioh raises the 
 first coat of goods, must advance the price of all labour. 
 
 The Spectator, No. 200, computes that the people with- 
 out property, who work for their daily-bread, do consume f 
 of our custtyms and excises, therefore they pay -f of them and 
 their consequences ; as these people live but from hand to 
 mouth, whatever is laid on them they must therefore shift 
 off or they can't live ; and since these various taxes have 
 been projected, they must earn enough when they do work 
 to pay the taxes, the advanced price of taxed goods, and 
 the advanced prices of all other necessaries, viz. meat, bread, 
 clothing, or whatever they can use, not only for the consump- 
 tion of the days they are employed, but for those also that 
 they are not ; therefore they are the cause of raising the 
 wages of the working people f of 7,672,500?. the amount of 
 the advanced price of the goods the above duties are laid on, 
 which makes 5,115,000 
 
 Secondly, Thia dearness of all necessaries forces the 
 master-tradesmen to raise on their customers the taxes and 
 advances on their consumption. 
 
 The above Spectator allows \ consumption of our custoDis 
 and excises to the people with pi'operty, but as these may be 
 divided into two classes, viz. in trade, and out of trade, and 
 the proportion consumed by each, not being ascertained by 
 any author, I shall compute them at half and half. There- 
 fore the master-tradesmen or people, with property in trade 
 viz. merchants, manufacturers, mechanicks, farmers, whole- 
 sale dealers, and retailing shop-keepers, must each lay on the 
 goods they sell, the advanced price of the taxed goods they 
 consume ; whether food, clothing, or utensils :"Their ^ con- 
 sumption of 7,672, 500Z. the amount of the advanced price of 
 the goods the above duties are laid on, makes 1,278,750 
 
 6,393,750 
 Thirdly, Tradesmens paying advanced prices on their 
 goods must have advanced profits, for whether they lay out 
 their stocks of money in goods that bear their natural value 
 only, or goods that bear double that value by taxes, still a 
 living profit must be obtained on the stocks they employ. 
 
 For the wages of the manufacturer, the mechaniok, the 
 labourer, and the expences of the master-tradesmen, being 
 of necessity raised, the first cost of goods must be so too ; 
 and considering the various tradesmens hands that goods 
 pass through from the workman or labourer to the consumer, 
 charged with profit upon profit by each of them, (whioh in 
 the little trades must be very great, otherwise their returns 
 being small they could not live) the advance thereby occa- 
 sioned may, at a moderate rate, be computed at 50 jjer cent. 
 
 38 to 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trside. 183 
 
 Brought over £6,393,750 
 to the consumer on the above two articles, which raise the 
 
 first cost of goods, and makes 3,196,875 
 
 9,590,625 
 
 People with property out of trade, their ^ consumption 
 of 7,672,5002 the amount of the advanced price of the goods 
 the above duties are laid on, makes 1,278,750 
 
 Total advance, £10,869,375 
 
 This is part of the amount of the consequences of rais- 
 ing 4,650,000Z. for the government by our present manner 
 of taxing goods. 
 
 Our other taxes are, the land-tax, the gross produce, at 
 about 4s. in the pound is about 1,960,000 
 
 The stamps, windows, post-office, &c. their computed gross 
 produce about 500,000 
 
 The poofs tax is computed, on a midling rate, to equal 
 the land-lax, but must be much more when trade is reduced, 
 and the price of provisions high, however to reckon it at no 
 more than the land-tax or - 1,960,000 
 
 General amoumt of all owr taxes, and part of their conse- 
 
 quences, before the war. • £15,289,375 
 
 Let us see now the amount of our taxes, with regard to 
 
 our expences : The British Merchant, (I. p. 165) computes 
 our people at seven milhons, and their expences at 11. per 
 head ; but as necessaries are grown dearer since the year 
 1713, when he wrote, and the number of people increas'd, I 
 shall compute the people at eight mUlious, and their expences 
 at 81. per head, which makes our total expence annually £64,000,000 
 
 Of which 64 milhons the people pay for the taxes, and 
 their consequences as above. 15,289,375 
 
 Which being substracted, their expenses, if untaxed, 
 would be only. £48,710,625 
 
 15,289,375/. charged on 48,710,625?. is a tax of above 
 31 per cent, on the expences of the people, which must 
 add a prodigious artificial value to our goods, consequently 
 render them less saleable, and ruin our trade. 
 
 If it is asked, whether foreigners, for what goods they 
 take of us, do not pay on that consumption a great portion 
 of our taxes ? 
 
 The answer is, that it must be admitted they do ; but 
 if that was originally intended and expected to continue 
 
 - 39 the 
 
184 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 the same as at tlie first laying on of our taxes^ it will be 
 the strongest argument against them ; for as our taxes on 
 necessaries are proved to be so burdensom and extensive 
 by raising the prices of our goods^ foreigners take less of 
 them yearly, and when the demand is reduced, the people 
 having less work, find less money to pay, and yet have 
 their taxes proportionably increased on them as they lose 
 their trade; for, as the Government abates neither ex- 
 pences or taxes, and if one method of taxing fails another 
 is tried ; what foreigners cease to pay, we must ; or in 
 other words, the less trade and money, the more taxes; 
 and the more our, taxes are, the less and less trade and 
 money we know we must expect. Is not this like adding 
 to a horse's burden, and diminishing his meat ? and must 
 we wonder if he sinks under his load ? Perhaps figures 
 may explain this still clearer, by stating a similar account 
 thro' 30 years. 
 
 Suppose that in the year 1710 all our taxes, and 
 part of their consequences, were as they are now, viz. 
 15,289,375^. that foreigners paid then i of them, and our 
 own people 1^; that foreigners going to cheaper markets 
 since, have ceased taking goods from us yearly in propor- 
 tion to one^er cent, only on their former J- part of our 
 taxes and their consequences, the account every five years 
 will stand thus : 
 
 Foreigners paid of Our own people 
 
 our taxes, &c. paid. 
 
 Anno 1710 £2,184,196 £13,105,179 
 
 1715 2,074,987 13,214,388 
 
 1720 1,965,778 13,323,597 
 
 1726 1,856,669 13,432,806 
 
 1730 1,747,360 13,642,016 
 
 1735 1,638,151 13,651,224 
 
 1740 1,528,942 13,760,433 
 
 By this it plainly appears, in what manner oui- present 
 taxes drive away our trade, and burden our people, who 
 have by this account 655,254/. more to pay in 1740, than 
 they had in 1710, with -,3^ less trade to pay it with. 
 
 40 To 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 185 
 
 To conclude tliis head. Two of our greatest authors 
 clearly foresaw at the laying on om- numerous excises, 
 customs, 6j-c. that these unhappy consequences must neces- 
 sarily follow, and their arguments are a fuU proof of what 
 has been already advanced. 
 
 Mr. Locke, in his Considerations, &c. says. That for 
 raising three millions on commodities, and bringing so much 
 into the exchequer, there must go a great deal more than 
 three millions out of the subjects pockets ; for a tax of that 
 nature cannot be levied by officers to watch every little 
 rivulet of trade without a great charge, especially at first 
 t)'ial ; but supposing no more charge in raising it than of a 
 land-tax, and that there are only three millions to be paid 
 'tis evident that to do this out of commodities, they must to 
 the consumer be raised j in their price, so that every thing 
 to him that uses it must be a, quarter dearer. Let us see 
 now who, at the long-run, must pay this quarter, and where 
 it will light ; 'tis plain the merchant and broker neither 
 will nor can, for if he pays a quarter more for commodities 
 than he did, he will sell them at a price proportionably 
 raised; the poor labourer and handicraftsman cannot, for 
 he just lives from hand to mouth already, and all his food, 
 clothing, and utensils, costing a quarter more than they did 
 before, either his wages must rise with the price of things to 
 make him live, or else, not being able to maintain himself 
 and family by his labour, he comes to the parish. 
 
 And afterwards he proves, that in the home-consump- 
 tion the whole burden falls on land at last. 
 
 Dr. Davenant, in his Essays on Trade (vol. 3, p. 30), 
 asserts, that as to manufactures, high excises in time of 
 peace are utterly destructive to that principal part of 
 England's wealth; for if malt, coals, salt, leather, and 
 other things bear a great price, the wages of servants, 
 workmen, and artificers, will consequently rise, for the 
 income must bear some proportion to the expence ; and if 
 such as set the poor to work find wages for labour, or 
 
 41 manufactures 
 
186 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 manufactures advance upon them, they must rise in the 
 price of their commodity, or they cannot live ; all which 
 would signify little, if nothing but our own dealings among 
 one another were thereby affected, but it has a consequence 
 far more pernicious in relation to our foreign trade, for 'tis 
 the exportation of our own product that must make Eng- 
 land rich. 
 
 And in page 31. But the consequence of such duties, 
 in times of peace, will fall most heavily upon our woollen 
 manufactures, of which most have more value from the 
 workmanship than the material; and if the price of this 
 workmanship be enhanced, it will in a short course of time 
 put a necessity upon those we deal with of setting up manu- 
 factures of their own, such as they can, or of buying goods 
 of the like kind and use from nations that can afford them 
 cheaper. 
 
 II. Of monopolies, whereby the many are oppressed for 
 the gain of a few. 
 
 Besides tlie misfortunes arising from our taxes, we 
 have some monopolies very destructive to a trading nation, 
 and inconsistent with a free one ; which encourage idle- 
 ness, villany, and extravagant demands for wages or goods, 
 whereby the many are deprived of their rights, without 
 having committed any crime to forfeit them, and for the 
 benefit of a few only ; a country that suffers them cannot 
 send its goods so cheap to a foreign market as its neigh- 
 bours, for never yet was a monopolized trade extended to 
 the degree of a free one ; therefore any country abounding 
 in monopolies must decline in trade. 
 
 To apply this to Britain, which hath more monopolies 
 than are generally thought on. 
 
 First monopoly. Britain against its other dominions. 
 
 The trade of exporting woollens, and some other sorts 
 of goods, with the trade to some particular countries given 
 
 43 to 
 
DeclineoftheForeigaTra.de. 187 
 
 to companies^ we monopolize to ourselves ; and in our 
 abundant wisdom pay all the charges of Government ; our 
 fellow subjects in Scotland pay but a trifle to the general 
 support, in Ireland and the plantations nothing at all ; 
 these trade under the protection of fleets that cost them 
 not a farthing : Our generous wise land-wars, to maintain 
 the balance and liberties of Europe at the risk of our own, 
 cost them not a doit ; all that we endeavour is to starve 
 them without expence, and ourfelves with ; for that is the 
 case, we drive one part of our. people out of trade by mono- 
 polies, and the other by taxes. We bleed ourselves almost 
 to death, and think to recruit our spirits by devouring 
 three millions of starved Irish and Americans, and by 
 excess of cunning make the ruin general. 
 
 Second monopoly. Companies with exclusive charters, 
 viz. East-India, South-Sea, and Turkey Companies. 
 
 These companies prevent the increasing the vent of our 
 manufactures abroad, consequently they starve our poor, 
 as will appear by the following reasons. 
 
 1. By being all of them confined to London, the prices 
 of the woollens they export are enhanced by long land- 
 carriages up to town, with the additional charges of com- 
 mission, warehouse-rent, porterage, ^c. much to the pre- 
 judice of their sale; and what materials of manufacture 
 they import are dispers'd over many parts of the kingdom 
 by the like expensive conveyance, to the great disadvantage 
 of the nation in general. 
 
 3. The Turkey Company, whose trade is almost dwin- 
 dled away, can prevent dispatching their ships for one 
 year, if they please, to raise the price of silk at home for 
 their own advantage, though the nation thereby loses one 
 whole year's vent and consumption of its wooUen goods in 
 Turkey, which it's said hath happened formerly; and if an 
 iniquitous rise is given to silk here, we cannot manufacture 
 it with such advantage as our neighbours. The reader will 
 be pleased to consider the fine situation our poor em- 
 
 43 ployed 
 
188 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 ployed iu the woollen and silk manufactures must be in at 
 such a time. 
 
 3. It is not the interest of the East-India Company to 
 increase the quantities of the woollens they export, but 
 rather to contract them (which I suppose was the reason 
 for obliging them by their charter to export woollens to 
 a certain value) for at all markets where there are any 
 demands for goods, the smallness of the quantities natu- 
 rally enhances the price ; and if the company can gain as 
 much on 5000 cloths as on 10000, is it not their interest 
 to prefer the lesser quantity on account of the less dis- 
 bursement and risk? tho' it^s plain the nation would lose 
 the sale of one half of the manufactures capable of being 
 vended ; whereas private traders pushing against one 
 another, study to increase the vent of their goods by 
 selling at moderate profits, making the quantities answer 
 to themselves and their country. 
 
 4. The large charges the East-India and South-Sea 
 Companies are forced to be at for the salaries of the 
 directors, governors, supercargoes, ^c. besides what may 
 slip thro^ their fingers sometimes, must make these com- 
 panies neglect all trades that will not yield extraordinary 
 profits to defray them, which trades private merchants 
 would be glad of, and turn to good account for themselves 
 and their country, were they not debarred by exclusive 
 charters. 
 
 5. The East-India and South-Sea Companies buying 
 at home by directors, and selling abroad by servants, who 
 may have an eye to their own or friends interest, and the 
 foundation of all being the company's money, they cannot 
 naturally be supposed to be so industrious as those who 
 trade only on their own stocks ; therefore companies can 
 never extenji trade like private dealers, but must decay 
 where interlopers are admitted, of which our African 
 Company is a strong instance. 
 
 6. What confirms the whole is the prohibition of the 
 
 44 East- 
 
-Decline of the FoTeignTra,de. 18.9 
 
 East-India Company against their servants carrying out 
 cloth, which would be needless, did they not know that 
 their servants can undersell them, for the Company wants 
 not money to supply all the cloth that can be vended M'ith 
 the usual profit. In the year 1741, a seizure was made 
 in one of the out-ports of a large quantity of cloth 
 designed for India, belonging to one of the Company's 
 servants, when at the same time, by the decay of our 
 woollen trade, the poor's rates were at Ss. in the pound in 
 some of our clothing towns ; from whence this absurdity 
 arose, that whilst our clothiers were starving, the exporta- 
 tion of cloth was a contraband trade. 
 
 It is impossible to make any inquiry into our Com- 
 panies, Avithout taking notice of their past villanies, which, 
 as they have been made sufficiently publick, few can be 
 ignorant of; therefore the bare mention of them is 
 enough, such as the fatal South-Sea scheme, that ruined 
 thousands of families. What need to mention former 
 directors receiving salaries from Companies, and, tho' con- 
 trary to law, being notwithstanding concerned in the 
 Ostend trade to India, whereby they were cutting the 
 throats of their benefactors ; the selling goods by false 
 samples, and buying them for their private accounts; 
 carrying on private trade contrary to treaty, and bribing 
 officers to wink at them with the Company's money, and 
 charged to account by the genteel name of presents, sub- 
 jecting thereby the Company's effects to seizures, and their 
 country to perpetual jars. The rapaciousness of governors 
 abroad, who by engrossing goods, nay even the necessaries 
 of life, have oppress'd the people by arbitrary prices, and 
 drove away our trade. Supercargoes, cheating by false 
 invoices. Captains, quitting or losing shins, to defraud 
 insurers and bottomree-lenders : Are not these things 
 written in the books of their chronicles ? 
 
 But the greatest mischief of alibis, that the honesty 
 of the people hath been corrupted, by having pre- 
 
 45 sented 
 
190 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 sented to their eyes roguery lightly punished, if not 
 triumphant. 
 
 These Companies prevent the increase of our navi- 
 gation. 
 
 By their exclusive charters, debarring us from a free 
 trade to f parts of the known world. The dominions of 
 the Grand Signior in Europe, Asia, and Africa, are con- 
 fined to the Turkey Company. All South and part of 
 North America, from Vera Cruz to Carthagena, from 
 Buenos Ayres round Cape Horn to California, that vast 
 extent of coast, is the portion of the South-Sea Company. 
 All the coasts of Africa, Asia, from the Cape of Good 
 Hope to Japan, are the lot of the East-India Company. 
 And what a small number of ports do they all trade to, 
 and what a trifling navigation do they all maintain ? 
 There are a greater number of ship-tonnage employed 
 in the trade to the free port of Leghorn only, than 
 ail these three Companies employ in their monopolies 
 to f parts of the world, like the fable of the Dog in 
 the Manger, not eating themselves, but preventing those 
 who would. 
 
 Third monopoly. City and Corporation- Charters. 
 
 Where freemen exclude by charter any of the same 
 trade from settling in their towns, have they not a mono- 
 poly against the rest of the inhabitants? Cannot they 
 impose extravagant prices for their goods on their cus- 
 tomers, and do they not do it ? 
 
 Where no journeymen but freemen can work in towns, 
 have they not a monopoly for wages against their masters ? 
 Do not both these cases advance the first cost of goods, 
 to the prejudice of their sale abroad, and account for 
 foreigners reckoning our country so dear? 
 
 If a journeyman, not being a freeman, gets into work 
 in a city or town-corporate, what an outcry is there not 
 made of a foreigner's, being come among them, to eat the 
 bread out of their mouths ? How ! can a free-born Briton 
 
 46 ■ be 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 191 
 
 be reckoned a foreigner in any part of his own country ? 
 What an absurdity is here ! yet nevertheless true. Can 
 one man eat the bread out of another's mouth without 
 being more industrious than he ? Impossible ! it must 
 therefore be idleness and luxury they contend for, not 
 bread. 
 
 This is one of the reasons why foreigners flock to our 
 plantations, instead of settling here, and by our decay of 
 trade many of our own people go over to live there yearly ; 
 so that many going, and few coming to supply their places, 
 a scarcity of people will hereafter ensue, to the great 
 damage of the mother-country. 
 
 Mr. Stanian in his excellent Account of Switzerland, 
 (p. 140,) observes, that the tradesmen citizens of Berne, 
 are generally esteemed to be proud and lazy ; which quali- 
 ties proceed chiefly from two privileges they enjoy : One is 
 their right of being chosen into the Government by virtue to 
 their burger ship, which makes them proud; and the other 
 is, that of hindering any but a citizen from exercising any 
 trade within the cities, which makes them lazy. From 
 whence two inconveniences naturally flow, one that the 
 inhabitants pay very dear for their goods, and the other 
 that the workmen are bad; for where there is no great 
 choice of artificers one must be contented not only with 
 bad work, but to pay such a price for it as they please to 
 impose. 
 
 Mark the dainty effects of monopolising charters, 
 pride, laziness, dearness of price, and bad work. 
 
 Fourth monopoly. Laws to prevent the importation of 
 cattle, butter, &c. from^ Ireland. 
 
 This gives a monopoly to a few breeding counties to 
 impose upon the rest of the people high prices for cattle, 
 kc. to the ruin of our manufactures, forces the labourer to 
 live dear, and of course to raise his wages ; is greatly pre- 
 iudicial also to our navigation, for whatever enhances the 
 cxpences of a ship, enhances its freight, and gives oppor- 
 
 47 tunitv 
 
192 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 tunity to foreigners to victual cheaper in Ireland than we 
 can do at home. 
 
 But it will be objected to me^ that this is done to raise 
 or keep up the value of our lands ? 
 
 To which I answer : That there is always a great noise 
 made about encouraging the home-consumption, by which 
 is meant making necessaries bear a great price, which can 
 arise only from an improper knowledge of the true nature 
 of trade, for this is so far from being beneficial, that 
 it has just the contrary efPect; certainly the less is con- 
 sumed within, the more will be left to export; the 
 cheaper things are, the more of them will be exported, 
 and it is exportation only that makes a nation rich. This 
 monopoly, with respect to the people, is unjust, and the 
 benefit of it to the land-holders only imaginary ; as for 
 instance, A hath a grazing estate, to raise the value of 
 which, all cattle from Irelhnd are to be prohibited : A 
 having the sole market, raises the prices of his cattle upon 
 the rest of the people, B, C, D, down to Z, twenty-three 
 in number, and their pockets are to be emptied only to fill 
 his, a very equitable project indeed! But tho' these people 
 were as blind as puppies, yet necessity, and the natural 
 course of things, will force them to retaliate upon him ; 
 for as a monopoly raises the price of cattle, their dearness 
 raises the price of labour, dear labour makes dear goods; 
 so that the food, clothing, utensils, labour, every thing A 
 wants, comes dearer to him ; an imaginary value is given 
 to every thing, so that tho' A should have more rent for a 
 time (which yet the decline of foreign trade must bring 
 down afterwards) the money he receives is of less value, 
 not going so far, or being able to purchase so much as 
 when goods bore their natural value only : so that what 
 he thinks he puts in with one hand, is pulled out by the 
 other ; 'tis all a deceptio visits, setting people together by 
 the ears to prey upon one another, letting foreigners in 
 the mean while eat the bread oiit of their mouths ; for a 
 
 48 nation 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 193 
 
 nation that adds an artificial value to its commodities by- 
 monopolies, cannot export them in such quantities to 
 foreign ports, where they are rivalled by those that bear 
 only their natural value; and their home-consumption will 
 likewise sink in price by the nation's having less money 
 brought in by foreign trade ; such a two-edged sword are 
 monopolies to lands. Every home-commodity in a free 
 trade will find its natural value ; for tho' that fluctuates, 
 as of necessity it must, according to the plentifulness or 
 scarcity of seasons, yet for the home-consumption, every 
 home-commodity must have great advantages over the 
 foreign, as being upon the spot, and free from freight, 
 insurance, commission, and charges, which on the produce 
 of lands, being all bulky commodities, must in the general 
 be about 15 per cent, and a greater advantage cannot be 
 given without prejudice; for 15 per cent, makes a great 
 difiference in the price of necessaries, between the nation 
 selliug and the nation buying, and is a great difficulty on 
 the latter, but arising from the natural course of things, 
 cannot be helped ; tho' it's a sufficient security to the 
 land-holders, that foreigners can never import more neces- 
 saries than are absolutely required, and I presume, in such 
 cases, they have more charity than to starve the people 
 merely for an imaginary profit, which yet would prove 
 their ruin in the end ; for it is a fallacy and an absurdity 
 to think to raise or keep up the value of lands by oppres- 
 sions on the people that cramp their trade ; for if trade 
 declines, the common people must either come upon the 
 parish, or fly for business to our neighbours : In the first 
 case, they become a heavy tax upon the rich, and instead 
 of buying the produce of the lands must have it given 
 them : and in the second case, when the consumers are 
 gone, what price will the produce of land bear ? A small 
 consumption makes a small demand, and a small demand 
 makes a small price for any commodity ; so that when in 
 conversation the wisdom of our laws is magnified to pre- 
 
 49 vent 
 
194 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 vent the importation of cattle, ^c, from Ireland, or corn 
 from any nation, unless it first bears an immoderate price 
 here (as keeping up the value of lands) how would a 
 Hollander or Frenchman smile when he reflected, that in 
 his country the poor getting provisions from any place 
 where they can be had the cheapest, are thereby enabled 
 to work at prices the English can't live on, and by 
 working cheaper work more, that is, run away with their 
 trade, their money, and their working-people, and when 
 these are gone, we may as well give them the land into 
 the bargain, for any value it wiU. be of: Besides, the 
 value of our land is at present but nominal; to prove 
 which. 
 
 It won't be suspected to be an under computation to 
 reckon the rental of England at i620,000,000 
 
 The exports and freights at 8,000,000 
 
 In page 183, the expenoes of the people of England are 
 computed at 64,000,000 
 
 The general amount of taxes, and pait of their conse- 
 quences, is 15,289,375 
 
 If our exports and freights make -^ of the expences of the 
 people they must be computed to pay i of the last article, 
 which makes 1,911,171 
 
 Which being deducted, the remainder is what falls on 
 land 13,378,204 
 
 Mr. Locke, in his Considerations, &c., treating of taxes 
 on commodities says, it is in vain, in a country whose great 
 fund is land, to hope to lay the puhlick charge of the govern- 
 ment on any thing else, there at last it will terminate. The 
 merchant (do what you can) will not bear^ it, the labourer 
 cannot, and therefore the land-holder must. If foreign 
 trade will pay but ■!-, land must pay the remaining ■§-, which 
 amounting to 13,378,204, and falling on a rental of 
 20,000,000^. is above 13s. in the pound tax upon all the 
 lands of England ; so that land vrith the present taxes at 
 20s. per acre, or without the present taxes at 7s. per acre, 
 
 50 are 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 195 
 
 are equals and the land is more reduced by our taxes and 
 monopolies, than by any possible free importation ; and 
 this prohibition, by us called a remedy, is only a forward- 
 ing our general decay of trade, and consequently our 
 general decay of rents, which actually happened after pas- 
 sing this prohibitory law, as Roger Coke informs us in his 
 Treatise, That the church and state of England are in equal 
 danger with the ^rac?e, published in 1671 (p. 64). His 
 words are, that the ends designed by the Acts against the 
 importation of Irish cattle, of raising the rents of the lands 
 of England, are so far from being attained, that the con- 
 trary hath ensued. And here I wish a survey were taken 
 how many thousand farms are thrown up since this Act ; 
 how many thousand farms are abated, some above \, others 
 above ^, others above \ ; some I know, which after two years 
 lying waste, are abated one-half. 
 
 Fifth Monopoly. Laws to prevent the importation of 
 most sorts of fish by foreigners. 
 
 This gives a monopoly to our few fishermea and fish- 
 mongers against our own people, and the consequence is, 
 that fish bears five times the price at London that it does 
 at Amsterdam, or more, great quantities of fish being 
 throvm away by our dealers to keep up extravagant prices, 
 to the great grievance of our industrious poor. And it 
 has prevented our gaining the Scotch fishery, by banishing 
 from our coasts the Dutch fishermen, who would in time 
 have settled with us, our own country being better than 
 Holland ; nothiag but taxes and monopolies can keep them 
 away ; for who would pay heavy taxes to live in a bad 
 country, when he could live free and untaxed in a good one ? 
 This obstruction hath enabled the French to commence 
 fishermen on our coasts, who employ already a great num- 
 ber of vessels ; how dangerous this may in time prove, I 
 leave every honest Englishman to judge. And what a 
 melancholy figure do we make, surrounded by fisheries, 
 yet so bound down by taxes, monopolies, &c. that we can- 
 
 51 not 
 
196 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 not imdertake ttem, but sit tamely idle^, and see foreigners 
 swarming upon our coasts^ and carrying away our riches ! 
 
 Sixth monopoly. The Navigation Act. 
 
 Altho' this Act is beneficial to us under our present 
 diseases in trade^ but would be needless were they per- 
 fectly remedied^ yet is it even now not without its iucon- 
 Teniences : For a law that confines, in any degree, our im- 
 ports or exports to particular ships or men, gives a mono- 
 poly to those for whose benefit the restraint is framed, 
 which in this case is either the navigation of the countries 
 whose growths we import, or else our own. And this 
 monopoly is very prejudicial to our manufactures : for 'tis 
 enacting that several necessaries and materials of manu- 
 factures shall not be imported by the cheapest navigation, 
 but by a dear one, and of course that they shall pay dear 
 freights, which must raise their price; and if the manu- 
 facturer buys his materials dear, he must sell his manufac- 
 ture in proportion. Besides it is enacted, that these 
 necessaries, &c. shall not be brought from any country 
 but the place of growth, or most convenient usual port of 
 shipping ; which gives a monopoly to foreigners, and to 
 our merchants, against our own people; for foreigners 
 will always know our necessity for any sort of goods, and 
 if our sole dependence lies upon any one nation, they will 
 not fail to make us pay for it. Besides, this gives oppor- 
 tunity and security to our merchants for engrossing; 
 because, if they import or buy up large quantities of 
 commodities at the usual times of shipping, they are 
 Secured in what extravagant prices they think proper to 
 impose on our people till that time returns, all foreign 
 nations who have laid up stocks being excluded our 
 market, tho' they could afford them ever so cheap. Ac- 
 cordingly, the author of the Britannia Languens, informs 
 us, that the Danes, taking the advantage of this Act, raised 
 their prices and customs upon us for pitch, tar, and timber, 
 near double ; and the Leiflanders the same for hemp and 
 
 52 flax. 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 197 
 
 flax. And in page 68 he says, that the excluding great 
 numbers of foreign ships from our ports, must hinder the 
 vending of great proportions of our beef, pork, corn, beer, 
 clothing, and other necessaries. And again, the Dutch allow 
 free commerce to all foreigners and their ships. Now as this 
 Act makes our navigation dear, it for that reason deprives 
 us of the fishing trade, the great nursery of seamen, which 
 cannot be carried on but by a cheap navigation to vie with 
 the Dutch and French, in which we make no progress 
 worth speaking of: Therefore, in this case, this Act has 
 deprived us of seamen, instead of increasing them ; and 
 the acquisition of foreign seamen, in any degree, being 
 prevented by this Act, gives a monopoly to our own 
 sailors, by which means in war-time, or any spurt of trade, 
 they exact near double the wages that foreign seamen are 
 content with ; which oppresses our merchants, brings our 
 goods dear to all markets, giving foreign manufacturers a 
 great advantage against our own, and our sailors lying hid 
 in order to get greater wages by their monopoly in the 
 merchants service, is one, amongst other reasons, of the 
 difficulties we find in manning the King's ships. Roger 
 Coke, in his Discourse on Trade, published in 1670 (p. 37), 
 says, that two years after the Rump making this law, the 
 building of ships became \ penny dearer, and seamen's 
 wages so excessive, that we have wholly lost the trades to 
 Muscovy and Greenland thereby. 
 
 Seventh monopoly. Laws to prevent the exporting of 
 woollen manufactures from Ireland. 
 
 After the fear that the value of our lands should be 
 lessened by the improvement of Ireland, had produced a 
 destructive prohibition of Irish cattle, as has been proved 
 already : The people of that country being necessitated to 
 find out some other employment for their- lands, turned 
 their thoughts to the breeding of sheep and raising a 
 growth of wool ; no sooner was this effected, but a pro- 
 hibition ensued on our part to export the manufactures 
 
 53 made 
 
198 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 made of that wool. This prohibition on the Irisli hath 
 ruined the woollen-trade of Britain, and raised that of 
 France, for unless the Irish are suffered to export woollen 
 goods, they must sell their raw wool to the best bidder, 
 and that is France ; one pack of Irish wool works up two 
 packs or more of French wool, which is double the damage 
 to Britain, that the opening the exports of woollen goods 
 from Ireland would be : and France by lessening her taxes 
 in times of peace, enabling thereby her people to work 
 cheap, could afford to give large prices for Irish wool, and 
 became the chief market for it, having thereby raised for 
 exportation an immense cheap saleable manufacture, 
 which their own wool was not capable of doing : As this 
 increas'd, that of Britain declined, and tho' they are now 
 increasing and we declining, yet still this fear, or rather 
 infatuation, about the value of our lands, makes us persist 
 in a prohibition that not only hurts the Irish, ruins our- 
 selves, but enriches the French : For as the case now 
 stands, either Ireland or France must have the woollen 
 manufacture ; Britain by reason of its heavy taxes and 
 monopolies that make labour dear, being out of the ques- 
 tion. The Irish export clandestinely some camblets to 
 Lisbon and undersell the French, therefore the Irish can 
 recover the woollen-trade out of their hands : And shall 
 we compliment the French with a trade that we deny our 
 own subjects ? Nay, one third of what Ireland gets centers 
 here at last : And shall we refuse such a sum which the 
 Irish would snatch from our enemies and present to us ? 
 
 III. Of ill-judged Laws. 
 
 The laws which give a bounty on exported corn, fish, and 
 fiicsh, are very prejudicial to our manufactures. 
 
 For wages depending on the high or low price, corn, 
 fish, and flesh bear, the bounties on their exportation serve 
 only to feed foreigners cheaper than our own people to 
 
 54 run 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 199 
 
 run away with our trade : The pretence of encouraging 
 tillage by a bounty on corn can hare no weight now, since 
 our great improvements in husbandry, much less if we 
 erected magazines of corn in every county, against times 
 of scarcity : Foreigners never buy provisions till they want 
 them, and then they must have them whether we give 
 bounties or no. The British Merchant, vol. 2. p. 347, 
 says, if we were to become a province to France, we should 
 be obliged to give a bounty on wool as we do on our corn, 
 that Prance might have it cheaper than our people. And 
 in p. 400, he computes the value of the manufacture in our 
 woollen-goods in general, at three times the value of the 
 wool. Now I appeal to all men of sense, whether it 
 be not much more prejudicial in this case, to feed the 
 workman cheaper, than to sell cheaper the material ; the 
 manufacture being as three to one in our wooUen-trade 
 only, a bounty on exported wool, tho' absurd and destruc- 
 tive, stops there ; but bounties on exported corn, fish, and 
 flesh, serve to feed the French cheaper than our own 
 people, to run away not only with our woollen, but also 
 our silk, linen, and iron manufactures; every thing we 
 can undertake, all trade, all navigation : Is not this con- 
 duct more absurd, more destructive ; could we have acted 
 more servilely had we become a province to France, or 
 rather is not this the way to make us so ? All attempts 
 to confine our wool at home must prove vain until our 
 people are eased of taxes, monopolies, and ill-judged laws, 
 equally with or beyond foreigners ; for while the French 
 can underwork us so much they can afford to give vast 
 prices for our wool, and what effect any prohibition will 
 have against vast profits, the reader may judge. The 
 penalty of death hinders not bullion from being brought 
 away from Spain and Portugal. Sir /. Child remarks 
 upon this subject of our wool, in his Tract on Trade 
 (p. 157), that they that can give the best price for a com- 
 modity shall never fail to have it by one means or other, 
 
 55 notwithstanding 
 
200 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 notwithstanding the opposition of any laws, or interposition 
 of any power by sea or land ; of such force, subtilty, and 
 violence, is the general course of trade. It seems some- 
 thing surprising, that such small countries as the British 
 Islands should be ever supposed to grow sufficient quanti- 
 ties of wool, and that of peculiar sorts too, to glut all the 
 world with its manufactures, or that it should be thought 
 a reasonable answer to the question; how comes our 
 woollen-trade to decay ? to say, the quantities made are 
 too great for the consumption, did we not frequently meet 
 with it in conversation. These islands are not the 350th 
 part of the computed superficies of the whole earth ; to 
 think that one part with only what it can spare from its 
 own consumption, should be able to overstock with a 
 commodity universally necessary 349 other parts, is 
 strange; but the solution of the mystery is this, that we 
 by our taxes and monopolies cannot give the manufac- 
 ture the vent it formerly had, or is now capable of, for the 
 material is so far from being a drug that foreigners give 
 any price for it, and we are forced to attempt the prevent- 
 ing its exportation by severe penal laws : 'Tis therefore 
 the manufacture, that being raised to an extravagant price 
 by taxes and laws, which make provisions dearer to our 
 own people than to foreigners, we cannot give vent to near 
 home, and are deprived doing of it in the remote trades 
 to f parts of the world by our monopolising companies, 
 whereby great quantities of woollen goods being crowded 
 for sale into a few ports, become consequently despis'd 
 and undervalued : whereas, was our trade quite free, we 
 should send but small quantities of woollens to the re- 
 spective numerous ports we then traded to, which would 
 naturally increase their price, for being the best manufac- 
 tured, as they grew scarce they would become esteemed 
 and demanded, insomuch that we might be obliged to 
 import wools ourselves to answer the demand : 'Tis our 
 ill management of our trade, and that only, which enables 
 
 56 foreigners 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 201 
 
 foreigners to deprive us even of our natural advantages, of 
 which our woollen-trade is one. 
 
 Our laws relating to our poor are a vast encouragement 
 to idleness. 
 
 By obliging parishes to maintain their own poor, we 
 intitle them to a certain maintenance whether they deserve 
 it or no, so that when provisions are cheap they won't 
 work above half the week, but sot or idle away half their 
 time, laying nothing up for sickness or old age, because 
 the parish must provide for them then : This is one of the 
 reasons why the wages of our servants and labourers are 
 so excessive high, because our laws providing for the idle, 
 none will work without being extravagantly paid ; whereas 
 had they nothing to depend upon but their industry, or 
 the character of it to recommend them to the charitable 
 in their misfortunes, they would be glad of constant work 
 at moderate prices, to support themselves, be more frugal 
 to make a reserve against times of adversity, and more 
 studious to deserve that relief they might want. 
 
 Besides, these laws are vastly unjust, for the poors 
 rates being very high, are a heavy tax on the industrious 
 to maintain the idle, and as every positive tax must raise 
 the prices of labour and goods, the industrious are thereby 
 still more oppress'd, and the sale of our goods hindered 
 abroad, for our labour is grown so excessively dear, that 
 we lose all trades where foreigners come in competition 
 with us. 
 
 Idleness is still more encouraged by the defects of our 
 laws against vagabonds, a free people are always brave, 
 and the brave always compassionate, which being a dis- 
 tinguishing character of our people, they are easily im- 
 posed on by the least appearance of distress, so that some ' 
 beggars who can counterfeit misery well, get more money 
 in a day than many diligent labourers, to the great dis- 
 couragement of the industrious, who see idleness so well 
 rewarded; whereby our roads and streets swarm with 
 
 57 beggars. 
 
202 J7i Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 beggars, all the disturbance they meet witb, being now 
 and then turned by a beadle out of his parish into the 
 next, which is only shifting the evil from one door to 
 another, but works no reformation. And if an enquiry 
 could be made into the manner that our poor now spend 
 those alms they receive from their parishes, I believe the 
 greatest part thereof would appear to be squanderM away 
 in drams, and that the bulk of them are maintained only 
 to get drunk. 
 
 The suffering people to fine for parish-ofiicers is one 
 of the greatest defects in these laws, for the better sort of 
 housekeepers paying to save themselves the trouble of 
 putting our laws in force, the execution of them is left to the 
 inferior, who have not time to spare from their callings to 
 do it well; who are too often tempted to squander away 
 the money raised for the poor in feasting, or turn it to 
 their profit by furnishing work-houses with necessaries at 
 extravagant prices; whereby the parishioners are high- 
 rated, and the parishes brought into debt. 
 
 It is a common saying, that our laws are good, but ill 
 executed : To which I answer, that a law not executed is 
 "worse than no law at all, therefore cannot be good ; for 
 the weakness of a law appearing by its being evaded, 
 makes the people have a mean opinion of the wisdom of 
 the legislature, and brings a contempt on our laws in 
 general, therefore must be bad. A law that by its 
 rewards or punishments does not enforce obedience to its 
 commands, is in efPect no law at all, and what has no 
 efi'ect does no good. 
 
 Our laws that create high duties and penalties are 
 extremely cruel. 
 
 The humane studiers of the art of government are 
 desired to reflect, how like such laws are to the character 
 the parsons give us of the devil; the high duties make the 
 temptations and the penalties destroy men for falling into 
 them. Besides, the bulk of mankind must live as they 
 
 58 can. 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade, 203 
 
 can^ not as they will; if some means fail, they must try 
 others ; now to make trade criminal, when in the nature 
 of things it is not so, is cutting off the means the people 
 have of living, i. e. starving them. 
 
 Our laws that fix and settle the proportion between our 
 gold and silver coifis, are very prejudicial. 
 
 for as the metals themselves vary here in value weekly 
 as the proportion changes abroad, one or other of our 
 coins must be carried away with loss to the nation, as is 
 often the case with our silver coins ; as for example ; A 
 pound of standard silver is coined into 62*. so that one 
 pound and -^ thereof make 63s. and exchanges for three 
 guineas. By Castaing's paper of February 3, 1740, 
 standard silver was 5*. 7d. J- per ounce, which makes for 
 one pound and -yV 68s. Id. -^ being above 5s. 7d. -^ more 
 than the currency ; almost nine per cent, loss to us, and 
 gain to foreigners who carry away our silver coin : Can we 
 wonder at the scarcity of it when we make it so profitable 
 an article to be carried away ? Mr. Locke observes in his 
 Considerations, &c. (page 167.) If your law set it, i. e. 
 the proportion of gold to silver at 15, when it is at the free 
 market-rate hi the neighbouring countries as 16 to 1, will 
 they not send hither their silver to fetch away your gold at 
 Jg- loss to you ? Or if you will keep its rate to silver as 
 15 to 1, when in Holland, France, and Spain, its market 
 value is but 14, Will they not send hither their gold and 
 fetch away your silver at -Jg- loss to you ? This is unavoid- 
 able if you will make money of both gold and silver at the 
 same time, and set rates upon them by law in respect of one 
 another. 
 
 And here it may not be improper to observe, that our 
 expensive law-suits are destructive to trade, making 
 traders often submit to impositions rather than seek a 
 remedy, that by its expence often proves worse than the 
 disease; or where justice is uncertain to be obtained 
 through the unskilfulness of the courts of law, which 
 
 59 seldom 
 
204 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 seldom fully comprelieiid the intricacy of mercantile dis- 
 putes and accounts. The counsel confess it in open court, 
 and often perplex a cause by their ignorance, which they 
 should clear up by their knowledge ; and many times the 
 judge in summing up the evidence, will say to the jury 
 that the dispute is a matter of trade which I don't under- 
 stand and you do ; and many causes have by cautious 
 judges been recommended to be left to the reference of 
 some of the jury, ending at a great expence what might 
 have been done without any worth mentioning. It would 
 be just as reasonable for lawyers to consult merchants in 
 points of law, as merchants them in points of trade, cases 
 in which they are equally ignorant : Besides, to what a 
 vast expence are not creditors put in taking out commis- 
 sions against bankrupts, which of all cases should be 
 attended with the least, and where losses are already but 
 too bad, is it not barbarous to make them worse by a 
 heavy expence? For the rest, the reader is referred to 
 Sir Josiah Child's Discourse on Trade, where this subject 
 is finely treated on. 
 
 I shall now attempt to shew in some degree, the 
 amount of our monopolies and ill-judged laws. 
 
 Though it be above my capacity to point out exactly 
 the advance in the prices of our goods, occasion'd by each 
 separate monopoly or ill-judged law, that ruins our trade, 
 or to fix the utmost degree that our taxes joined to them 
 carry the artificial value to ; yet an attempt at some 
 amount, sufficient for our purpose, may be made. As our 
 woollen-trade is our greatest concern, the example shall 
 be drawn from that. 
 
 De Wit in his Memoirs, (page 57,) says, that the making 
 a piece of cloth in Holland costs 70 livres, of which the 
 workmen pay 20 for taxes. That work then untaxed 
 would be only 50 livres, and 20 livres charged on 50, is 
 just 40 2'>er cent, tax on labour : The Dutch taxes have 
 been considerably raised since De Wit's time to support 
 
 60 two 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 205 
 
 two French wars, which may amount to as much again for 
 ought I know; but to make the calculation appear the fairer 
 by being moderate, I shall suppose the increase only at 
 10 joer cent, making in aU 50per cent, tax on Butch labour. 
 
 The war in 1672, created so large a debt, that the pro- 
 vince o/ Holland only, paid 80 tuns of gold, which is near 
 800,000^. sterling per annum interest. Vide The View of 
 the Taxes, ^c. during Queen Anne's war, reprinted in 1743. 
 
 English wool smuggled to foreigners, sells at above 
 50 per cent, advance on the English price ; they find it 
 answers as well or better than any other foreign wools 
 they import^ otherwise they would not covet it so much as 
 they do, or we make so many severe laws in vain, to pre- 
 venting their having it. 
 
 In the Observations on British Wool, (p. 5R,) the 
 author supposes the value of a pack of English combing- 
 wool, at 61. The weight of a pack of wool being 240 
 pounds, is just 6d. per pound. In p. 23 he says, Theprice 
 of English and Irish combing-wool at Abbeville was (about 
 the year 1738) at \0d. and IO5 sterling the pound; which 
 last price is lOZ. 10s. a pack, and just 75 per cent, advance 
 on the English price; which wUl not be thought extra- 
 ordinary, when a survey is taken of the penalties the 
 smugglers incur by our laws, if detected, (besides the 
 charges of shipping, &^c.) for 
 
 By the 9th and lOth of William III. wool found 
 carrying towards the sea in Kent and Sussex, unless 
 entered, and security given, is forfeited, with 3s. y^v pound 
 penalty. 
 
 By the 9th and 10th of William III. wool laden on any 
 ship for exportation, unless entered, and security given, is 
 forfeited, with 3s. ^^er pound penalty . 
 
 By the 12th 0/ Charles II. master and mariners know- 
 ing thereof, and assisting, to forfeit all their goods and 
 chattels, and suffer three months imprisonment. 
 
 61 By 
 
206 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 By the 7th and 8th o/ William HI. persons assisting in 
 the exportation, to suffer three months imprisonment, with- 
 out hail or mainprise. 
 
 By ditto, the inhabitants of a place out of, or through 
 ivhich the wool is carried or exported, are to forfeit 201. if 
 the goods be under the value of 101. but if above, treble the 
 value, and treble costs of suit. 
 
 By ditto, to be recovered by action against the owners 
 and their assistants. 
 
 By the ^th of George II. wool seized on board any 
 vessel without cocket, or warrant, the vessel, her guns, tackle 
 and furniture to be forfeited. 
 
 By the 4th of George I. persons not paying the sum 
 recovered in three months, the court may order transporta- 
 tion for seven years, as for felony. 
 
 The Dutch have intirely beat us out of the trade to 
 Portugal in the midling sorts of cloth, between 8 and lis. 
 per yard ; and I appeal to our clothiers if the mixt cloths 
 made for exportation, between those prices, are not 
 reduced to a mere trifle in quantity, to what they were 
 formerly; or rather, if hardly any be made. A Dutch 
 cloth then may be fairly computed to have 50 per cent. 
 advance upon it in the price of its wool and taxes on its 
 labour, and yet comes cheaper to a foreign market than 
 an English one ; the latter must have a fictitious value of 
 above that sum upon it, and as 1 per cent, is sufficient to 
 turn the scale of a trade that is in aquilibrio, I shall com- 
 pute the fictitious value of an English cloth but at 51 
 per cent. 
 
 In page 183 the amount of our taxes on the expenoes of "i 
 our people is above ^U per cent. 
 
 Therefore the monopolies, and ill-judged laws that affect ] „. 
 this cloth may be about / ^^ P'-" ««»«■ 
 
 Together 51 per cent. 
 
 62 A bale 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 207 
 
 A bale of ^«j?Ms7i. olotlia now costing £100 
 
 Has included in that price an artificial value arising from "l 
 taxes, monopolies, and ill-judged laws, with their conae- i- 51 
 
 quences, as ahove J 
 
 Which being substracted, the natural value of this bale of I 
 cloths, if fresd from taxes, &c. would be only J 
 
 £49 
 
 £51 charged by taxes, monopolies^ ill-judged laws, 
 with part of their consequences on 49Z. is above 104j9er 
 cent, and is so far an artificial yalue added to our goods, 
 at a low computation. 
 
 Besides the prejudice done to trade by this artificial 
 value we give our goods, it likewise weakens and distresses 
 the government, which is forced to raise above double the 
 sums necessary on the people for every piece of service, 
 whereby murmurs and discontents arise, the people grow 
 sooner impoverished and unable to raise the supplies ; for 
 above half the value of every thing we want being ficti- 
 tious, loe are forced to raise the same money to maintain 
 112,500 men, as the French do to maintain 300,000, as 
 appears by the British Merchant, vol. 1, page 7, and if the 
 same difference of expence holds in the fleets, that single 
 consideration should, I think, open our eyes to make our 
 security greater, by throwing out aU fictitious value from 
 our labour and goods, to be able to cope with these our 
 only dangerous enemies on more equal terms. 
 
 IV. Our large national debt. 
 
 This is fraught with many inconveniencies. 
 
 First, it has ruined our trade, by serving for a pretence 
 to continue those taxes on commodities, the destructive 
 consequences of which to trade I have before proved. 
 
 Secondly, it destroys private credit : The Annals of 
 Europe for the year 1739, justly remark, that these funds 
 first drew out of private hands most of that money which 
 should, and otherwise would have been lent to our merchants 
 
 63 and 
 
208 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 and tradesmen ; this made it difficult for such to borrow any 
 money upon personal security, and this difficulty soon made 
 it unsafe to lend money upon such security, which of course 
 destroyed all private credit, and greatly injur' d our trade in 
 general. 
 
 Thirdly^ it encourages idleness ; for several people 
 making from 3 to A^ per cent, of their money sleeping, are 
 mere drones in the hivCj improving no land^ nor extending 
 any trade. 
 
 Fourthly, it encourages luxury ; idleness is the mother 
 of vice, and a mere stockholder being the idlest person 
 upon earth, has nothing to study but how to kill time by 
 vanities and luxuries, in which this nation has of late days 
 made a great proficiency. 
 
 Fifthly, it wastes the body-politick ; for a great part of 
 our national debt (computed by some at 20 millions) be- 
 longing to foreigners not residing here, but whose interest 
 is remitted abroad, they are in the same state, with re- 
 spect to the nation as landholders absentees, those cankers 
 to the riches of a country, supposing the interest remitted 
 abroad to foreigners to be only 750,000/. per annum. 
 
 If our trade prove but a little beneficial, so large a sum 
 going out yearly will certainly keep us poor. 
 
 If our trade brings us in neither profit or loss, and the 
 current cash of the nation is 12 millions, the interest paid 
 foreigners in 16 years will run away with it all. 
 
 But if the general balance of our trade comes to be 
 against us, the sending abroad yearly money to pay that 
 balance, joined to the above 750,000Z. joer annum interest, 
 must bring destruction upon us like a whirlwind. So fine 
 a situation have our debts brought us to ! 
 
 Having thus made ourselves tributaries to foreigners, 
 poverty must be our portion, for a foreigner who for fifty 
 years past has received from us for his dividends in our 
 funds lOOOZ. yearly, computing the interest of money at 4 
 per cent, only, has drain'd us of 156,115Z. having his 
 
 64 capital 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 209 
 
 capital still unsatisfied. Nay this plunder, tho' monstrous, 
 is much under-rated, for the interest of money at the 
 beginning of this term of years was much greater than 4 
 per cent, but not being able to learn the exact times 
 of the reductions of interest, the reader must content 
 or discontent himself with a modest though shameful 
 account. 
 
 That these taxes, monopolies, ill-judged laws and na- 
 tional debts are the true causes of the decline of our 
 foreign trade will appear by demonstrating them to be the 
 causes of the smuggling of our wool to France. 
 
 It has been proved under this first head that these 
 taxes, &c. cause dear labour, it only now remains to prove 
 that dearness of labour causes the smuggling. 
 
 The best bidders for wool are the buyers, and that 
 must be those who work the cheapest. The value of the 
 labour in the bale of cloth costing 100/. mentioned in page 
 207, according to the British Merchant, vol. 2. p. 400. is 
 75/. In the Observations on British Wool, p. 21. the 
 author asserts French labour to be ^ cheaper than English, 
 that is 50/. therefore an Englishman can afford to give but 
 25/. for the same wool for which a Frenchman can afford 
 to give 50/. just double the English price : which dispro- 
 portion of price, caused by these taxes, &c. while they 
 continue, will carry away our wool to France, in spite of 
 all the penal laws we can make, hanging, that is losing our 
 people to save our wool. 
 
 And this wool smuggled to the French is by them 
 manufactured and sent to foreign markets, to rival and 
 sink our own manufactures ; so that by the above causes 
 we furnish them with the weapons wherewith they cut our 
 own throats. 
 
 To conclude this first head. 
 
 The foreign trade of every country must decline, that 
 Lays unequal taxes and oppressive excises on its people. 
 65 Cramps 
 
210 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 Cramps its trade, t£e fountain of riches, by high cus- 
 toms and prohibitions. 
 
 Suffers many monopolies. 
 
 Oppresses its people by prohibiting the importation of 
 victuals, under the pretence of raising the value of its 
 lands. 
 
 Gives bounties to feed foreigners cheaper than its own 
 people. 
 
 Encourages idleness by bad laws relating to its poor. 
 
 Tempts foreigners to carry away its coin for less than 
 its intrinsic value. 
 
 Makes the obtaining justice chargeable. 
 
 Suffers a heavy national debt, contracted in time of 
 war, to continue unpaid in time of peace. 
 
 These are the causes of the decline of our foreign 
 trade, which having made appear, they naturally lead us 
 to treat of 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE reasons why the decline of foreign trade sinks the 
 value of land. 
 First, by sinking the markets at home. 
 For the produce of land being rendered excessively 
 dear, by the causes before mentioned, foreigners will not 
 take its superfluities ; and labour being by the same causes 
 rendered excessively dear too, we cannot manufacture or 
 improve that produce, nations that can afford cheaper 
 supplying the markets abroad ; so that the produce of the 
 lands not being carried off as usual, must become a dead 
 stock on the farmers hands, and cause great quantities to 
 be crowded into the markets, where being encouragement 
 but for few buyers, the price naturally falls : as for in- 
 
 66 stance. 
 
Decline of the Foreign Tvude. 211 
 
 stancBj tlie declining demand for our woollen goods abroad, 
 falls the price of wool at home. 
 
 Suppose that in 1699 we exported to Turkey 10,000 cloths, "i 
 the value of raw wool in each being 21 amounts to J ^80,000 
 
 Suppose that in 1738 we exported to Fwkey 8,000 cloths, I 
 the value of raw wool in each being II. 10s. amounts to J 12,000 
 
 The difference of the value of wool exported in those two 1 ' ^ 
 
 years, } ^68,000 
 
 Wools of this value lying yearly on hand, must make 
 a glut ; the farmers push to sell at market, but in vain, 
 unless at under prices ; for the wool-staplers, finding the 
 demand decrease, decrease in number themselves ; some 
 break, some leave off trade, some take to other trades; 
 for many sellers with great stocks on hand, and few 
 buyers, naturally fall the markets, and the landlords press- 
 ing the tenants for rent, and threatning to seize if pay- 
 ments are not made, the wool must be sold at any rate to 
 raise money ; and there being yearly 68,000Z. less money 
 brought into the nation to be laid out in wool than in 
 former times, the price must be still lower on that account ; 
 the lower the produce sells, the less rent the farmer can 
 give for land ; the worse the markets, the greater arrears 
 of rent the farmer runs into ; and taxes, monopolies, &c. 
 making labour and necessaries grow dearer, and the decay 
 of foreign trade making the wool sell cheaper, must break 
 him in the end, and then the farm is thrown on the land- 
 lord's hands, who, unwilling to fall the rent, keeps it in 
 the management of stewards or bailiffs, whose profit and 
 charges seldom make it pay the old rent, but generally 
 ends in mortgaging the land, or selling it ; and as these 
 cases grow more frequent, more estates will be at market, 
 and consequently the less prices they will fetch. 
 
 Secondly, by increasing the number of poor to burden 
 the land. 
 
 The poor, wanting employment, must be supported by 
 the land ; if foreigners give them work, they give them 
 
 67 bread ; 
 
212 An 'Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 bread ; but when trade cannot maintain them, land must. 
 When the poors rates are heavier than the tenant can 
 bear, the landlord must pay them, either by allowance in 
 the rent, or by taking the farm into his own hands ; or 
 else by the breaking of his tenant, who has paid that 
 money to the poors rates his landlord should have re- 
 ceived. 
 
 Suppose in 1699 the labour of tlie above 40,000 cloths "I ,„ „. . , 
 
 , , . , , . J- 40,000 people 
 
 to have given employment to J 
 
 Suppose in 1738 the labour of the above 8,000 cloths to ) „ „.. , 
 
 , . , , , [ 8,000 people 
 
 have given employment to ) 
 
 The difference is 32,000 people 
 
 Suppose these 32,000 people to have earned by their"! 
 labour formerly from foreigners 61. per annum each, it >■ £192,00o 
 amounts to J 
 
 But, wanting employment, they come on the parish at "1 , 24 gno 
 Is. 6rf. per week each, which for one year amounts to J 
 
 The difference to the landholder in one year is £316,800 
 
 For as the land, by the decay of foreign trade, receives 
 not the first sum, and is by the same cause saddled with 
 the latter, it makes an annual difference of the above two 
 sums to the landholders in this single branch of labour ; 
 and is the same in proportion for all other decayed 
 branches of trade. 
 
 Thirdly, by decreasing the stock of people. 
 
 For as employment lessens, the most industrious, 
 rather than starve here, will fly to other countries where 
 trade can maintain them ; so the consumption of these 
 being taken away, the demand at market must grow less, 
 and of course rents must fall ; yet the farmers charges 
 must grow greater ; for the fewer hands, the higher wages 
 are ; this must break him in the end, and produce all the 
 consequences following that misfortune, mentioned in the 
 first remark : Besides, ^tis men that trade, and bring in 
 money, therefore the fewer they are, the less money will 
 
 68 be 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 213 
 
 be brought in ; and the less money, the less rent can be 
 given for land. 
 
 Fourthly, by decreasing our riches. 
 
 This is a consequence of the above three remarks ; for 
 having fewer goods capable of being exported by reason of 
 their dear price, and our manufactures declining must in 
 time be lost, therefore the importation of foreign goods 
 must naturally increase, and more money go out to pay 
 for them. 
 
 I have laid it d©wn as an undoubted truth in page 1, 
 that nations which have no mines of gold and silver, have 
 no means to get them but by foreign trade, and according to 
 the degree of these metals they possess, the prices of their 
 commodities, and therewith the value of their lands, rise and 
 fall in proportion ; which I shall now prove. 
 
 The Britannia Languens says, if there were but 5001. in 
 England, an ox could hardly be worth a penny ; therefore 
 the rent must bear • its proportion to the riches. This 
 appears by Maitland's History of London ; for he says, that 
 in the year 961 land sold at Is. per acre. The reason that 
 land then bore so low a price, was, the low price ^,he pro- 
 duce sold at ; for he says that in the year 1000, an ox sold 
 for 2s. 6d. a cow for 2s. a sheep for Is. and a swine for 8d. 
 This could be only owing to the little foreign trade the 
 nation then had, and consequently to the little quantity 
 of gold and silver trade had then brought in. 
 
 But if it should be asked. What is the reason that at 
 present all things are naturally so much advanced in price, 
 to what they were in those days ? The answer is, that 
 the quantities of gold and silver brought to Europe since 
 the progress made by the Spaniards and Portuguese in 
 America, have made those metals more common and of 
 less value than formerly, so that 30s. will hardly purchase 
 what Is. would before the discovery of the West-Indies. 
 
 The Spaniards and Portuguese don't throw away their 
 gold and silver for us to pick up ; we have no mines of 
 
 69 these 
 
214 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 these metalsj therefore could not get such quantities as 
 we have but by our trade to Spain and Portugal, or to 
 those countries that had an over-balance upon them, and 
 were over-balanced by us. 
 
 So that the present natural price of land, and its pro- 
 duce, is the proportion of gold and silver that foreign 
 trade hath brought into and left in the nation : If the 
 present quantity was to be doubled by foreign trade, the 
 natural price of land, and its produce, must be so too ; 
 for according to the price the farmer can sell his commo- 
 dity at market, he can pay for the rent of land, and no 
 otherwise. If our foreign trade decays until the present 
 money in the nation be half swept away, the produce of 
 land must sell for half the natural price it does now, and 
 land must let at half the rent it naturally bears now ; but 
 if we should go on declining, until we have no more money 
 left in the nation than there was in 961 or 1000, the 
 prices of land, and its produce, can be no more than they 
 bore in those days, taxes, &c. deducted. 
 
 Therefore if the landed gentlemen have a mind to 
 raise or sink the value of their lands, the encouraging 
 or discouraging our foreign trade is the only means 
 to do either, so closely united are land and trade; 
 their true interests are the same ; they must stand or fall 
 together. 
 
 The sum of all is this : That 
 What foreigners take from others instead of ua, 1 
 What the poor have given them instead of buying, I Sinks the value 
 The scarcity of people, [ of lauds. 
 
 The scarcity of money, -' 
 
 Taxes, monopolies, ill-judged laws, and national debts, 
 are the causes of the decline of our foreign trade ; the 
 decline of foreign trade causes the above four calamities ; 
 and they sink the value of lands. The taxes, monopolies, 
 ill-judged laws, and national debts, are the causes of all, 
 therefore they are the causes of the decline of the value 
 of lauds. 
 
 70 PART III. 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 215 
 
 PART III. 
 
 OF the means to restwe the foreign trade of Britain, 
 and consequently the value of its lands. 
 
 It is a manifest instance of the great natural advan- 
 tages in trade this nation enjoys, that it hath not been 
 ruined long ago by the consequences of our own Hi-man- 
 agement ; as I shall have frequently occasion to mention 
 the former, it will be proper here to shew what they are ; 
 andj as the Dutch and French are our great rivals in trade, 
 to compare our natural advantages with theirs. 
 
 First, our situation is the securest of any in Europe, 
 not liable to the incursions of our neighbours, as the Dutch 
 and French are ; we have more good harbours than any 
 nation on the Continent, open all the year ; whereas the 
 French ports for ships of any burden are few, and those 
 far asunder; and the Dutch ports few, dangerous, and 
 froze up in the winter. Our country is healthy and 
 pleasant ; whereas Holland is cold, marshy, and un- 
 wholsom. 
 
 Secondly, our Government is the most mild and excel- 
 lent of any in Europe ; whereas the government in France 
 is arbitrary, and in Holland very severe. 
 
 Thirdly, our plenty of provisions exceeds all Europe ; 
 no nation having that plenty of corn, flesh-meat, and fish, 
 that we abound in ; for Holland is deficient in the two 
 first, and buys of us; and France cannot well victual 
 ships without Irish beef; and its harvests being more pre- 
 carious than ours, the French are forced to make frequent 
 purchases of corn from us. We are surrounded by the 
 greatest fishery in the world, which the French and Dutch 
 are both deficient in, and seek at great hazard and expence 
 on our coasts. 
 
 71 Fourthly, 
 
216 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 Fourthly, our islands abound in excellent wool^ coals, 
 lead, tin, leather, butter, and tallow ; all of which both 
 French and Dutch are deficient in, and forced to buy of 
 us. 
 
 We have oak for ship-building, which both Dutch and 
 French want. In our plantations we build vast numbers 
 of ships, which the French are deficient in, and forced to 
 buy of us. 
 
 As the Dutch are forced to purchase every thing, they 
 are out of the question ; but the French have vast quanti- 
 ties of wines and brandies ; they have silk, oil, hemp, and 
 flax ; in these, at present, we are deficient ; but we have 
 lands in our colonies for a trifle, fit to raise them all 
 cheaper than the French can do ; besides other commodi- 
 ties which they want, such as rice, tobacco, pitch, tar, and 
 masts. 
 
 Fifthly, our sailors are the most expert, and our ships 
 the best-built of any ; so that we could have the preference 
 in the carrying trade ; no merchant but would ship his 
 goods on an English vessel at equal freight preferable to 
 one of any other country ; and the former can be insured 
 at the cheapest premium. 
 
 To all this may be added, that our people are brave, 
 laborious, and strong ; extreme neat workmen, improving 
 to the utmost the inventions of others: And our mer- 
 chants the most generous and honourable in trade, with 
 whom all nations are fond to deal. 
 
 With all these superior natural advantages, we cannot 
 be hurt but by ourselves ; 'tis our own covetous folly only 
 that can undo us. Had our trade been sufi'er'd to take its 
 natural channel, foreigners could not have diverted ' its 
 course, nor ever can, unless these natural advantages are 
 annihilated ; and they may as well attempt to sink our 
 islands in the ocean, as while they remain to deprive us of 
 the benefits resulting from their situation and produce, if 
 we take only a resolution to open our eyes ; so that tho' 
 
 72 our 
 
Z)ec/ine q/" tAe Foreign Trade. 217 
 
 our wounds are deep, and have brought us somewhat low, 
 yet are they not incurable; if they are neglected, the 
 general decay must be compleated in our ruin, but with 
 proper care we may rise to a more flourishing condition 
 thau we ever yet knew. And tho' all the means neces- 
 sary thereto cannot be supposed to fall within the compass 
 of any one man's capacity, yet is it the duty of every man, 
 in time of need, to contribute something, though in part 
 only, and by way of essay. As such, the following pro- 
 posals are offered. 
 
 PROPOSALS. 
 
 I. To lay one tax on the consumers of luxuries, to 
 take off all our other taxes, excises, and customs; and 
 when that is done, to make all our ports free. 
 
 II. To abolish our monopolies, unite Ireland, and put 
 all our fellow subjects on the same footing in trade. 
 
 III. To withdraw the bounties on exported corn, and 
 erect public magazines in every county. 
 
 IV. To discourage idleness, by well-regulating our poor. 
 
 V. To pay off our debts by puhlick bonds, bearing in- 
 terest, negotiable by indorsement, and liquidating part of 
 our debts yearly. 
 
 First PROPOSAL. 
 
 To lay one tax on the consumers of luxuries, to take off 
 all our other taxes, excises, and customs ; and when that is 
 done, to make all our ports free. 
 
 73 The 
 
218 
 
 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 The plan of a tax on the consumers of luxuries. 
 
 It is hereby proposed^ that all persons using^ wearing, 
 or drinking the following articles of luxury as particularly 
 specified^ be obliged to take out a licence yearly, paying 
 each one subsidy for each article of three halfpence in the 
 pound only, on the computed income they should have to 
 support the station of life they voluntarily place them- 
 selves in, by the article of luxury they use, wear or drink, 
 as by the example underneath. 
 
 All Persons Computed InoomeB 
 
 1. Keeping two coaches and six for their use, Z.8000\ 
 
 2. Using dishes or plates of silver at their] innn 
 
 tables, commonly called services of plate, J 
 
 3. Keeping a coach and six for their use, 
 
 4. Keeping a coach and four for their use, 
 
 5. Keeping a coach and pair for their use, 
 Note, chariots, fowr-wheel chaises, &c. are included 
 
 in the ter-in coach. 
 
 6. Wearing jewels for their dress, besides 1 
 
 necklaces, solitaires, rings, or ear-rings, J 
 
 7. Keeping a sedan-chair for their use, 
 
 8. Wearing gold and silver, men on their 1 
 
 coats, and women on their gowns, J 
 
 9. Using silver plate for their sideboards or 1 
 
 tables, not having services, J 
 
 10. Using china services of dishes and plates \ 
 
 at their tables, J 
 
 11. Wearing necklaces or solitaires of jewels "1 
 for their dress, besides rings or ear-rings, J 
 
 12. Keeping a chair or chaise with one horse "I 
 for their use, / 
 
 13. Drinking wine in their house, lodging, or"! 
 
 service, J 
 
 1 4. Wearing gold or silver for their dress, 1 
 
 except on coats, gowns, hats or shoes, / 
 
 15. Wearing jewels in rings or ear-rings, 
 
 16. Using no silver plate but spoons, 
 
 17. Drinking brandy, rum, or any spirits, in "1 
 
 house, lodging, or service, J 
 
 18. Drinking tea, coffee, or chocolate, in house, 1 
 lodging, or service, J 
 
 2000 
 
 1000 
 
 800 
 
 800 
 800 
 500 
 
 500 
 
 500 
 
 250 
 
 250 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 25 
 
 £. s. d. 
 
 / 50 00 
 
 25 00 
 
 12 10 
 06 05 
 05 00 
 
 05 00 
 
 05 00 
 
 03 02 6 
 
 03 02 6 
 
 03 02 6 
 
 01 11 3 
 
 01 11 3 
 
 00 12 6 
 
 00 12 6 
 
 00 12 6 
 00 06 3 
 
 00 06 3 
 
 00 03 U 
 
 All articles of the same degree, or under the article 
 paid for, are included in it. 
 
 Husbands to pay for their wives the j of the article 
 they pay for themselves, to intitle them to use the same. 
 
 Fathers or mothers (if no father) to pay for each child 
 74 under 
 
Decline of the ¥ or eign Trade. 219 
 
 uuder age the -|- of the article they pay for themselves, to 
 intitle them to use the same. 
 
 Bachelors to be double-taxed^ if of 31 years of age. 
 
 No persons keeping publick-houses to have musick, 
 niue-pins, shuffle-boards, cock-pits, card, dice, draught- 
 playing, or any gaming in their houses, out-houses, sheds, 
 yards, gardens or grounds, for money or liquors, except 
 they pay iu the same manner as the persons using article 9. 
 
 These people being the great encouragers of idleness, 
 luxury, and gaming, the great corrupters of the common 
 people, servants, labourers, and manufacturers, out of 
 whose industry they idly live, to the ruin of many poor 
 families, and are a great cause of the vast increase of the 
 poors tax. 
 
 It is not pretended that every article of luxury neces- 
 sary to be taxed is here hit on, with the several rates 
 proper to be laid on each : such things are too presumptuous 
 for any private man, and befit only the wisdom of the 
 Legislature : All that is here attempted is only to give a 
 specimen of one tax on the consumers of luxury only, the 
 method of raising it, with some remarks on the benefits 
 arising thereby to the nation. 
 
 The Method of raising this Tax. 
 
 The receiver-general of every county to keep an open 
 office to receive this tax, during the months of January 
 and February, April and May, July and August, October 
 and November, in the most convenient town in each 
 county ; and to cause attendance to be given on such 
 days in the week as the commissioners shall judge 
 necessary. 
 
 All persons to bring or send their money to the 
 receiver-general's office in their county, with a fair written 
 note, containing the name of the county, town, and parish, 
 
 75 their 
 
220 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 a_ 
 
 their titles or names, places of abode, wivesj^and number 
 of children under age ; with the number, title, and amount 
 of the article they pay for subsidies. 
 
 Every receiver-general to deliver to the persons, paying 
 their subsidies, a licence for that year, in which the above 
 descriptions shall be specified. 
 
 All persons paying their subsidies in the months of 
 January and February, to have 3 per cent, on their licences • 
 allowed them; in the months of April and May, 2 per 
 cent, in the months of July and August, 1 per cent, and 
 no allowance afterwards ; whereby it will be the people's 
 interest to raise the subsidies with the greatest expedition. 
 
 All persons before the end of the year must register 
 their licences with the church-wardens of the parish 
 they live in; persons living in extra-parochial places, to 
 register their licences in the parish nearest to their 
 dwellings. 
 
 Persons having houses of residence in several parishes 
 to register their licences in each parish, lodgers, and ser- 
 vants to register their licences only in one parish. 
 
 One or both church-wardens to attend at the vestry 
 every Wednesday at ten in the morning, to register the 
 licences of the year, during such a number of hours as the 
 vestry shall judge necessary, whereby needless attendance 
 from their private affairs will be avoided. 
 
 Church- wardens not registering licences as before 
 directed, and tendered before witnesses, to pay themselves 
 , the penalty incurred by their neglect. 
 
 Church- wardens to keep a separate account of all those 
 licences which have not the name of their parish, and are 
 brought to be registered on account of parish-rates, by 
 persons having more than one house of residence. 
 
 Church- wardens to deposite in the vestry, on the first 
 day of January, the last year's register of licences in their 
 parish, for the inspection of the parishioners, and to form 
 a judgment of the income of the parish. 
 
 76 After 
 
Decline of the Foieign Trade. 221 
 
 After the first register, as above, is delivered in, the 
 vestry of every parish within fourteen days to compute 
 their rates for the current year, and how much in the 
 pound on the licences computed to be registered in the 
 current year will fully defray them, and order the same to 
 be paid to the church-wardens in the vestry every Wed- 
 nesday by publick notice. 
 
 No person to be liable to pay any parish rates what- 
 ever, by any other rate. 
 
 Church-wardens after the first year not to register any 
 person^s licence, until they have received their parish rates, 
 on the penalty of paying themselves the fines of the 
 delinquents. 
 
 Persons not registering their licences as aforesaid, 
 before the end of the year, for the highest article of 
 luxury they themselves use, their wives, or children under 
 age, to forfeit on conviction three times the sums not paid 
 for subsidies and parish rates, to be divided as follows ; 
 1^ to their parish to ease their rates, and ^ to the receiver- 
 general. 
 
 The receiver-general to pay no money but into the 
 exchequer, on the penalty of 500Z. to the informer. 
 
 The receiver-general, or his deputy, not to sue the 
 county for a robbery, unless the persons carrying the 
 money be three in company. 
 
 The receiver-general to send up his accounts to the 
 exchequer, of every two months receipts as soon as pos- 
 sible, deducting from the sum received, lOOl. for his salary 
 for one year, and ^per cent, for his charges. 
 
 The commissioners of the land-tax to be the commis- 
 sioners of this, for each county. 
 
 No person after the first year, who does not pay for 
 article nine, capable to be a commissioner. 
 
 Vestries may order any in the parishes they suspect of 
 not having registred, or fully paid their last year's sub- 
 sidies, to be apprehended by their constable or beadle, and 
 
 77 carried 
 
222 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 carried before one of the commissioners of tlie county to 
 be examiuedj and such persons not producing their last 
 year's licence, and church-warden's receipt or receipts, 
 and not proving that the said licence was for the highest 
 article they used, or else that they had not any article to 
 pay, not having used any ; the said persons not clearing 
 themselves to the satisfaction of the commissioner, to be 
 by him committed to the house of correction, to appear at 
 the next commissioners sittings, unless they deposite the 
 penalty in the commissioners hands, or give security to 
 appear at the said sittings. 
 
 Persons giving security, or depositing the penalty, to 
 register their names, and the names of their sureties, or 
 the sums deposited, at the receiver-general's office for the 
 county before the first day of the commissioners sittings; 
 otherwise to be proceeded against as guilty. 
 
 Keepers of houses of correction to deliver into the 
 receiver-general's office before the first day of the commis- 
 sioners sittings, a list of the persons names in their cus- 
 tody, committed by the commissioners. 
 
 The receiver-general, or his deputy, to make a register 
 of all persons names committed, depositing, or giving 
 security to be laid before the commissioners at their 
 sittings : to attend there as their clerk, and record ths 
 proceedings. 
 
 Commissioners to sit to hear causes in the town the 
 receiver- general keeps his office in, during the months of 
 March, June, September, and December. 
 
 Every commissioner to take an oath in open court 
 the first day he sits, that he will vote according to 
 justice, without favour or partiality; otherwise to have 
 no vote. 
 
 Commissioners every day they meet to choose their 
 president, who shall collect the votes, and order the 
 receiver-general, or his deputy, to record the proceedings. 
 
 Three or more commissioners to make a court, and 
 78 determine 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 223 
 
 determine causes by majority of votes, if the votes are 
 equal, the defendant to be dismist. 
 
 In all causes determined by a less number than seven 
 commissioners, there may be an appeal to seven or more, 
 whose determination to be final. 
 
 No commissioner to have any vote in his own cause. 
 
 Persons convicted, not paying the penalty, to be sent 
 to the house of correction, and kept to hard labour during 
 the space of six months. 
 
 Persons depositing, or giving security, not appearing, 
 to be proceeded against as guilty, their deposite to 
 be forfeited, and paid as directed, or distress-warrants 
 issued out against them and their securities, to levy the 
 penalty. 
 
 Any two or more commissioners to determine diifer- 
 ences about distress. 
 
 Persons whose causes are delayed by any neglect of 
 the receiver-general, or keeper of a house of correction, to 
 petition the commissioners for satisfaction to be made 
 them by the said persons for what loss they may have sus- 
 tained thereby, which the commissioners may award at 
 their discretion. 
 
 The receiver-general of every county within three 
 months after the end of every year to publish his accounts, 
 shewing the sums received the preceding year from each 
 parish of his county, and how he hath accounted with the 
 exchequer for the same, and to deliver when demanded 
 at the price of 2s. and Qd. one of the said accounts, to 
 every commissioner and church-warden in the county, on 
 the penalty of 50Z. for each refusal : And one to be 
 transmitted to the King's remembrancer's office in the 
 exchequer. 
 
 The receiver-general not accounting with the exche- 
 quer for the whole money he receives, to forfeit on con- 
 viction, to every parish whose sums he hath given in short, 
 three times the sum received in that parish and not 
 
 79 accounted 
 
224 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 accounted for^ to ease their rates. Church-wardens to 
 prefer their complaints against the receiver-general before 
 the commissioners in open court. 
 
 Church- wardens to deposite in the vestry one of the 
 receiver-general's accounts for to examine the regis- 
 ter by. 
 
 Before making any remarks on the benefits arising by 
 this proposal, the general prejudice against the possibility 
 of carrying into executioUj any tax on the consumers of 
 luxuries, arising from the supposed evasion and fraud such 
 a tax is liable to, must be first removed : In order to effect 
 which, I hope to convince the reader by the following 
 considerations, that this tax by its very nature and 
 method of raising, is so far from being liable to the 
 above objection, that it is on the contrary capable of a 
 more exact and equal collection than any tax we have 
 at present. 
 
 First, By its nature : 
 
 For what every person should pay must be publickly 
 known, friends, neighbours, and servants, must see 
 whether we drink wine, tea, brandy, §-c. in our houses, 
 lodgings, services, or no; and as to our fineries, 'tis our 
 intent they should be manifest, so that concealments are 
 almost impossible. 
 
 Secondly, By the method of raising. 
 
 Which obliges all parish rates to be raised at the same 
 time and in the same manner, for 'tis very observable that 
 most people are more prying into the proportion they 
 themselves or their neighbours pay for parish rates, than 
 into any taxes raised for the government ; therefore, as by 
 this method no persons can pay any parish rates at all, 
 until they have paid their subsidies to the government, 
 nor pay less than their due to the parish without making 
 their neighbours pay more than their dues, and proving 
 besides the disproportion paid to the government, which 
 
 80 must 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 225 
 
 must appear by a register open to the inspection of all the 
 parish, whereby every one can, and will keep a particular 
 eye upon his neighbours, to see not only that they pay, 
 but that they pay fair ; and the vestry can and will keep 
 a general watch on all, in order to ease their rates by the 
 fines of delinquents. 
 
 Which allowing no private reward to informers, no 
 scandal can be incurred by any persons moving in the 
 vestry to detect the fraudulent; whereas at present the 
 character of an informer being odious, the taxes grievous, 
 the concern not general, and informations requiring 
 attendance and trouble, there is the greatest remissness 
 possible in bringing to light the frauds in the revenue, no 
 person of credit either out of business, or of a different 
 business, does now inform against any trader for de- 
 frauding the customs or excise ; people do not care to 
 give themselves the trouble of meddling where they think 
 they have no concern. But by this method of taxing, the 
 trouble of attending the vestry on parish affairs serves for 
 this, and every one is concerned in point of interest and 
 honour to detect frauds ; interest with regard to himself, 
 and honour with regard to his neighbours, by taking care 
 that the innocent do not suffer for the guilty. 
 
 Which directs the receiver-general's accounts to be 
 published, whereby every vestry will have a check to 
 examine its register by, and detect frauds ; for if any 
 person does not pay at all to the government, his name 
 will be wanting both in the receiver-general's account and 
 his parish-register ; if he does not pay enough, the defi- 
 ciency will appear against his name in both ; if he pays to 
 the government but not to his parish, his name will appear 
 in the receiver-general's account, but be wanting in his 
 parish register ; if a forged licence is register' d, the per- 
 son's name will be wanting in the receiver-general's 
 account ; if the receiver-general conceals any of the 
 money the parish-register detects it, and he incurring a 
 
 8 1 penalty 
 
226 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 penalty to that parish, it will uot fail to proceed against 
 him. The receiver-generaPs account checks the registers, 
 and they him, both in his receipts and payments. Persons 
 of fortune who will pay the largest sums by having 
 houses of residence in more parishes than one, will have 
 an additional check on them in each parish where their 
 licences must be registered to make them pay fair. 
 
 Which giving i of the fines of delinquents to the 
 receiver-general, makes it become his interest as well as 
 duty, to make his accounts as publick as possible to detect 
 frauds. 
 
 Which laying the onus probandi on the suspected 
 person, will make every one endeavour to appear fair, in 
 order to avoid the trouble and expence that suspicion will 
 make him liable to. 
 
 Which makes it not worth while for the lower class of 
 people to attempt frauds, a penalty of three times the 
 sums unpaid, is too great a risk to avoid paying a trifle, 
 which likewise subjects them to the jealousy of their com- 
 rades, who will look out sharp to prevent others from 
 shifting their burdens to their backs ; where money is 
 scarce, the greater care is taken in paying no more than 
 is due : Besides, these people being often quarrelling, will 
 revenge themselves by detecting each other's frauds ; so 
 that a few being made examples of at first, will shew the 
 rest the improbability of escaping. 
 
 I know of no tax at present having so many checks 
 nor so many persons interested to detect frauds as this, 
 consequently none so capable of an exact and equal col- 
 lection ; for if those who pay fair won't detect the fraudu- 
 lent, they must pay the deficiency ' themselves, whereby 
 they punish themselves for their own neglect : Detect or 
 pay is the case. 
 
 Remarks on the benefits arising by this proposal. 
 1. The government by this method of taxing need 
 82 never 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 227 
 
 never borrow any money, nor have the usual clauses of 
 credit every year, whereby part of the expence of 
 advanced money will be saved, for it being the interest 
 of all to pay as soon as they can, the greatest part 
 would be raised the first four or five months, and by 
 thus giving speedy vigour add weight to our reso- 
 lutions. 
 
 2. All persons tax themselves voluntarily, than which 
 nothing can be easier or more equal, and an easy equal 
 way of raising taxes will always produce the most money 
 and the fewest murmurs. 
 
 3. Those that would abate of their taxes may abate of 
 their luxury, as those that won't pay for a licence to keep 
 a coach and six hofses, may keep only four, or a pair, and 
 pay for no more, or need not keep any, nor drink wine, 
 tea, brandy, ^c. in house, lodging, or service, neither wear 
 on their garments gold or silver, nor wear jewels, nor use 
 plate, and so not pay any thing, consequently no indivi- 
 dual can be oppress' d, an advantage that no people in 
 Europe have at present. 
 
 4. When ^tis proposed to oblige all persons to take out 
 a licence to drink wine, tea, brandy, ^c. in services, as 
 well as houses and lodgings, 'tis done to mend our ser- 
 vants manners, by curing their luxury, or making them 
 pay for it. 
 
 5. Few that can afi'ord to live high will retrench; 
 those that cannot afford it should be obliged to it ; this 
 will be a sumptuary -law to keep all people in their proper 
 stations, and prevent the ruin of several ; it will reform, as 
 well as raise money sufficient. 
 
 6. When it is proposed that all bachelors of twenty- 
 one years of age should be double-taxed, it is done as well 
 to proportion all payments as equally as possible to 
 peoples situations in life or circumstances, as also to en- 
 courage marriages ; for tho' bachelors are double-taxed, 
 yet they will then not pay equal to the married-men, who 
 
 83 pay 
 
228 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 pay their wives taxes as well as their own, and may be 
 some chUdrenSj consequently compared with bachelors, 
 are at least double-taxed ; for these last may, if they 
 please, always live equal to a married-man with half the 
 expence, and have not that anxious necessary care of 
 saving, to provide for the present as well as future well- 
 being of their families ; add to which this political truth, 
 that inhabitants being the riches of a country, and mar- 
 riage a prevention of debauchery, all wise states have 
 made it their care to discourage celibacy : In particular 
 the Switzers wiU not suffer a bachelor to enjoy any 
 balliage, and the superior rank there being almost all 
 married, makes the inferior be so too ; so great is the 
 force of example, and accounts for their country, tho' 
 small, being so very populous. Whereas, one of the reasons 
 why England is not so, is the abandoned loose lives our 
 single people lead, whereby they get a disrelish to the 
 married-state, and are enervated by debauchery, which 
 unless remedied must render us a poor despicable depopu- 
 lated nation ; 'tis therefore the highest policy to make 
 marriage fashionable by the example of the rich, since it 
 tends so much to the publick good, and the grandeur of 
 our country. 
 
 7. But the greatest benefit of all is, that this proposal 
 hath not those extending, pernicious, trade-destroying 
 consequences of our present taxes ; for it will not raise 
 the value of any one commodity, but rather by checking 
 luxury, the bane of virtue and industry, we shall become 
 a rich and flourishing people. In vain would the luxu- 
 rious tradesman lay the expences of his coach, his wine, 
 his plate, or his laces, on the prices of his goods; his 
 frugal neighbour, who indulged not himself in those 
 vanities, would so much undersell him, that he could 
 have no trade ; and while the former declined, the latter 
 would be raising an estate able to afford him all the 
 gaieties of life independent of his business ; and tradesmen 
 
 8i should 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 229 
 
 should wait for vanities until they have raised estates to 
 support them. 
 
 8. The first year or two, perhaps, will not demonstrate 
 the exact produce this tax may give, on account of the 
 receivers not being sufficiently versed in their business ; 
 the evasions that wicked people may make to defraud, 
 which seldom can be entirely guarded against until they 
 appear; or the consideration that the first year's tax being 
 the only one that will be felt, will be the shortest ; for 
 one subsidy being laid on the first year, nothing can be 
 taken off until that produce appears, which will not be 
 until the second year ; but then 6c?. in the pound may be 
 taken off land, and as many of the other taxes on com- 
 modities as that subsidy hath provided for ; so that until 
 all our other taxes are supplied by this, in every year fol- 
 lowing the people will have remitted to them in the 
 taxes on land and necessaries, with their consequences, 
 more than an equivalent for what they paid the fore- 
 going year, whereby they will be enabled yearly to pay 
 more to this tax ; so that every year's subsidy must 
 increase. 
 
 Whatever appears most burdensom should be the first 
 taken off, such as the duties on sope, candles, salt, coals, 
 or foreign materials of manufacture. 
 
 9. This proposal being different from the method of 
 raising taxes now used, and designed to take off our 
 present oppressions, every body will be gainers, the poor 
 manufacturer wUl not pay any thing, nor should he ; but 
 here then will appear a sort of paradox, the rich propor- 
 tionably are to pay all the taxes, yet each of them to have 
 besides a particular gain by it: To solve this, we may 
 fairly divide the rich into three classes, viz. landholders, 
 traders, and stock-holders. 
 
 10. To begin with the landholders : 
 
 Suppose a gentleman to have an estate of 1000^. per 
 annum ; that the land-tax is 4s. in the pound, but he being 
 
 85 in 
 
230 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 ia an easy-rated county pays but 3s. in the pound, which 
 amounts to lOOZ. in lieu of which land-tax, excises, cus- 
 toms, £fc. are allowed eight subsidies, presuming they 
 would raise a sum equal to the amount of our present 
 duties : 
 
 Suppose then this gentleman to pay by this pro- 
 posal. 
 
 For himself, 8 aubaidies for the article i, ia £50 00 00 
 
 For hia wife the i of what he paya 12 10 00 
 
 For four children -J each of what he paya 25 00 00 
 
 87 10 00 
 
 He remains a clear gainer £12 10 00 
 
 By this it appears, that where the land-tax is but half- 
 paid, such a landholder hereby saves 121. 10s. 
 
 But those gentlemen who have borne the unequal 
 burden of the land-tax for many years, paying from 2s. 
 even up to 4s. in the pound, will be hereby greatly re- 
 lieved, enabled to live better, and so add to the amount of 
 this proposal. 
 
 The following great advantages arise likewise to the 
 land-holders. 
 
 The difference in the price of necessaries, when the 
 taxes on them are taken off, must be much superior to the 
 above subsidies ; for the present taxes, and their conse- 
 quences, affect the landholders above 13s. in the pound, 
 vide p. 194. 
 
 The poors rates, so heavy a burden on the land at 
 present, will be hereby reduced to a mere trifle. 
 
 The rents of lands will be better paid when the farmers 
 are eased of their heavy taxes. 
 
 The farmers will be likwise more able to improve the 
 lands they rent. 
 
 Easy equal taxes increase trade, and trade increases 
 rents. 
 
 Well-paid increased rents will augment the capitals of 
 those that have occasion to sell their lands. 
 
 86 Land 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trside. 231 
 
 Land untaxed must yield a considerable better price 
 than when heavily taxed, as at present. 
 
 All which duly considered it may be asserted, that 
 upon this proposal's being passed into a law, every land- 
 holder will actually find the value of his estate at least 
 doubled. 
 
 As the benefits arising to our landholders have not 
 been so fully calculated as they are capable of, the calcu- 
 lation above being only comparative to the land-tax, I 
 shall with pleasure set them forth, by way of answer to 
 the following objection, and to illustrate what has been 
 already advanced on this head. 
 
 Some have thought it a fatal objection against this 
 proposal's ever being practicable, that our nobility will 
 think it contrary to their interest and never come 
 into it. 
 
 This I own wou'd carry great weight, if it was possible 
 for the publick good not to be proportionably the un- 
 doubted good of every individual, or if our nobility were 
 not considerable landholders : Whereas many of them are 
 the most considerable, and as all our misfortunes center 
 on our lands, so must our benefits ; the greater the pro- 
 perty, the greater of either ; therefore as our nobility are 
 the greatest landholders, so by this proposal they should 
 and will receive the greatest benefit ; of which I hope to 
 convince them, if ever this humble essay shou'd have the 
 honour of thei? perusal, by laying before them the state 
 they are now in, and the state they wou'd be in by this 
 proposal, the difference of which they will be pleased to 
 consider. 
 
 Suppose a nobleman to have a nominal estate of 8000^. 
 per annum, out of which by the various reductions in these 
 wretched times he hardly receives in cash 6000/. and I 
 appeal to the whole body of nobility if upon a medium 
 they receive so much. 
 
 The expences of a man of quality generally are and 
 87 should 
 
232 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 shou'd be in the richest and best commodities that can be 
 hadj consequently the dearest ; and as a common English 
 cloth is proved in p. 206 to have a fictitious value superior 
 to a Dutch cloth loaded with 50 per cent, the latter having 
 beat out the former at the Portugal market^ and only 
 1 per cent, allowed to turn the scale ; I may safely affirm, 
 that the expences of a nobleman have a fictitious value 
 included in them of 51 per cent, if not more; there 
 being great difierence between a nobleman's buying and a 
 merchant's : However 51 per cent, fictitious value in- 
 cluded in a nobleman's expences of 6000/. amounts to 
 3060Z. which being deducted leaves only 2940/. and is the 
 only real, true, intrinsic value, that a nobleman receives 
 from a nominal estate of 8000/. per annum in the state 
 he is now. 
 
 What else can be the reason that our nobility can have 
 no taste but they are ruined, if a nobleman has a gout 
 either for building, equipage, or entertainments, we pre- 
 sently hear of mortgages and sales of estates, how few 
 places or pensions come in aid to prevent them ? Whilst 
 a foreign nobleman perhaps does all with half the nominal 
 estate, and yet keeps within bounds. Js it not hereby 
 plain that tho' the rental of the English nobleman's estate 
 is great, yet the taxes and their consequences are so mon- 
 strous, that the intrinsic value is by them reduced to a 
 small pittance ? 
 
 Whereas by this proposal a nobleman, with a nominal 
 estate of 8000/. per annum pays 
 
 For himself 8 subsidies for the first article, is £400 
 
 For his lady ^ of what he pays 100 
 
 For four children, each -J of what he pays 200 
 
 £700 
 
 700/. being deducted from 8000/. leaves 7300/. of a 
 real, true, intrinsic value, which will purchase as much, 
 go as far, consequently be equal to 14,897/. of our present 
 
 88 fictitious 
 
DeclineoftheYoreignHr3i.de. 233 
 
 fictitious value, and if his ordinary expences in the state 
 he is now are but 2940/. of real value, he would have by 
 this proposal 4360Z. of the same real value remaining, for 
 building, equipage, entertainments, ^c. equal to 8897/. of 
 our present fictitious value. 
 
 So that by the state he is now in, he is reduced either 
 to his ordinary expences, or to ruin his estate, if he 
 lanches out in any taste ; whereas by the state he wou'd 
 be in by this proposal, he might live equal to what he did 
 before, and yet have remaining for improvements a sum 
 superior in real value to the present nominal value of his 
 whole estate. 
 
 And whenever our improving trade shall advance the 
 natural value of our commodities, so that the expences of 
 the nobility will be enhanced, they may rest assured that 
 the natural value of their lands will keep pace with them, 
 and their incomes constantly rise in proportion to bear 
 them. The same in proportion to the value of their estates 
 will be the case of all our landholders. 
 
 11. With respect to the trader. 
 
 The difference in the prices of necessaries, when the 
 taxes on them are taken off, must be much superior to 
 the subsidies he should pay for luxuries; I say should, 
 for he need pay no more than he pleases, or can afford, 
 as appears by the third remark ; so he cannot be op- 
 pressed. 
 
 This puts him in a better situation than any of our 
 rivals in commerce, who all pay taxes on necessaries, 
 always attended with some oppressions. 
 
 When those taxes that are burdens upon our trade are 
 removed, then may we send our manufactures to foreign 
 markets as cheap or cheaper than our neighbours, 
 whereby lost markets may be recovered, and new ones 
 found out. 
 
 The demand for our goods must hereby increase at 
 those markets where at present they have some vent. 
 
 89 An 
 
234 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 An increasing demand makes profitable sales and quick 
 returns. 
 
 Quick returns are the soul of commerce, and enable 
 the miercliant to give constant employment to all our 
 ■working hands. 
 
 Commissions for buying will be always sent by 
 foreigners to the cheapest markets, and the cheaper they 
 are the more commissions they may expect. 
 
 A flourishing commerce will enable the trader to live 
 more comfortably for the present, and at the same time 
 lay up a future provision for himself and family. 
 
 Our rival neighbours, some of whom are our natural 
 enemies, and the best but self-interested friends, will find 
 the scene shifted upon them from their rising and our 
 sinking, I mean in trade, the greatest blessing that can 
 happen to a people; for, as a late patriot observed, it 
 brings food and nourishment to a nation, preserves and in- 
 creases its stock, and distributes a convenient portion of 
 maintenance to every part of it. 
 
 12. In regard to the stockholder. 
 
 His gain will appear by considering that this proposal 
 being calculated to raise as large or larger fund, in a more 
 easy and equal manner than all our other taxes. 
 
 He will be more certain than he is now, in any time 
 of war, of his interest being duly paid. 
 
 He will be better secured in the value or reimburse- 
 ment of his capital. 
 
 He will rest assured that the government will never 
 be driven to lay a tax on the funds, which would not only 
 lessen his income, but considerably diminish the price of 
 his capital. 
 
 By this proposal he will gain security ; no small consi- 
 deration. 
 
 Even the difference in the price of necessaries, when 
 the taxes on them are taken ofi", must be more advantage 
 than any mere stockholder will or need pay for luxuries. 
 
 90 13. As 
 
Decline of the ¥ore\gn Trside. 235 
 
 13. As by this proposal the rich will pay all with ad- 
 vantage even to themselves, so the poor will receive great 
 benefit. 
 
 They will be able to work as cheap as foreigners at 
 leastj consequently monopolize the manufacturing of their 
 own wool. 
 
 They will have lesser wages, but of more value, id. per 
 day imtaxed being more than 6^. charged with Bd. for 
 taxes. 
 
 They will have more constant employment by working 
 cheaper, consequently a better maintenance. 
 
 They will have foreigners settling here continually to 
 teach them new branches of trade. 
 
 They will not be drove by necessity to fly their country, 
 to starve, beg, or steal. 
 
 They will find better support in their misfortunes, 
 when their superiors are in a more flourishing way. 
 
 They will have more opportunities of rising to be 
 masters, or seeing their children become such. 
 
 14. If it should be asked, how, by this proposal, a larger 
 fund than our present taxes can be more easily raised ? 
 
 The answers are, that no extensiou of subsidies for 
 any sum of money equal to what the Government now 
 annually raises, can be so grievous to the subjects, as the 
 consequential extending burden of our present taxes on 
 commodities only, exclusive of the land-tax. 
 
 Therefore, if the subjects can save by raising larger 
 sums for the service of the Government, there can be no 
 doubt of their doing it. 
 
 It is remarked, with great humour as well as truth, 
 that a prince who draws his revenues from the vanities of 
 his subjects, will be richer than another who hath mines of 
 gold, because vanity is an inexhaustible mine ; to which I 
 beo- leave to add, that it is work'd much the easiest, and 
 is exactly the afFair now offered to the consideration of the 
 publick. 
 
 91 Tho' 
 
236 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 Tho' all feel, yet as those who are oppress'd more im- 
 mediately by our present taxes, viz. our people in trade, 
 will be hereby reviv'd ; an inereasing trade will bring in 
 such a flow of wealth, as will make our lands still more 
 valuable, and our people rich ; riches will make them gay, 
 and gaiety will make them pay larger, if equal easy taxes ; 
 therefore this proposal must prove a growing fund, and 
 produce every year more and more to support the King 
 and nation in so great a figure, and raise us to such a 
 formidable height of power that we may be the envy or 
 dread of all our rivals, and an overmatch for any one 
 nation in Europe. 
 
 15. Besides, this tax will lessen the expences of the 
 government by untaxing commodities, which of course 
 makes them cheap, therefore every thing will be to be 
 purchased with less money, all provisions, ammunition, 
 naval stores, &c. come cheaper to the Government ; sailors, 
 soldiers, placemen and pensioners, be enabled to live upon 
 less wages yet as well as they now do ; so that this method 
 making the money raised go the further, the fewer sub- 
 sidies will suffice, two or three millions may do as much as 
 four or six millions now ; therefore the Government can 
 never be straitned, or the people oppressed. 
 
 16. This tax will likewise increase the civil list ; for 
 as goods gi'ow cheap, money goes the further ; therefore 
 the present civil list of 800,000^. per annum, when of real 
 true intrinsic value, may go as far and be as valuable as 
 one of 1,633,653/. of the present fictitious value : And 
 the value of the pay of officers and of the salaries of 
 places increase in the same proportion. 
 
 17. This tax will serve for a political barometer to 
 know the strength of the people in any time of war, for 
 as long as the last subsidy adds to the produce of the 
 former, so long may they be increased ; as for instance, 
 suppose eight subsidies to have produced ten millions, 
 which on an average is 1,250,000/. each, tho' on laying on 
 
 92 an 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 237 
 
 au 11th it should produce but half the last sum^ yet a 13th 
 subsidy may without any danger be added^ and so on until 
 the last produces but a trifle ; and that with advantage to 
 the nation : Because many misfortunes happening in time 
 of war^ people should therefore be more frugal in their 
 expences to enable them to bear those the better ; to effect 
 which a tax of this sort naturally tends^ and they may be 
 taxed in this manner as long as they can or will bear, even 
 for their good : Quite contrary to the method of laying 
 taxes on the necessaries of life, or on trade, practised in all 
 countries, which, in proportion as they are increase, con- 
 stantly bring on decay of trade, poverty and misery, not 
 recoverable in many years, if ever. 
 
 18. But it may be objected, that this tax will cause a 
 reduction of the officers of the revenue, diminish the power 
 of a minister, be contrary to his interest, and not being 
 to be carried into execution without his countenance, 
 makes it become impracticable. 
 
 Answ. "What is the interest of a minister, but the 
 favour of his prince and the love of the people to continue 
 himself in power ? neither of these singly will always do, 
 but both united are infallible. 
 
 The increase of the civil list, the increase of the 
 revenue, the freedom from oppressive taxes, the increase of 
 riches, are consequences of this tax proved in the above 
 remarks. By all these the favour of the prince and the 
 love of the people are secured to a minister. What more 
 glorious to a prince than a splendid court, poAverful 
 revenue, free and rich subjects? What more delightful 
 to a people than the splendour and power of their King, 
 their freedom and their riches. It becomes then the in- 
 terest of both prince and people to continue that minister 
 in power, who procures such mutual happiness. And what 
 better foundation for the continuance of power can be 
 desired, than that which has the general interest for 
 
 its support ? 
 
 93 How 
 
238 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 How does the increase of the officers of the revenue 
 give power to a minister ? by influencing elections : But 
 these ofiicers disgust many, who know that they are 
 locusts, consequently they cause and give weight to an 
 opposition. Let the minister gain the love of the people, 
 he influences them himself, with more efl'ect than this 
 partial influence of officers, which then becomes useless, 
 and he likewise destroys the foundation of an opposition. 
 
 Besides, an increasing revenue furnishes means for 
 useful publick employments, whereby more officers may 
 be better provided for than at present ; and with this 
 difference, that a small number of officers detrimentally 
 employed raise clamours, whereas large numbers benefi- 
 cially employed will gain the love of the people. Now he 
 must be but a sorry politician who cannot gain a greater 
 interest by the prosperity than by the ruin of his 
 country. 
 
 If then we have reasoned rightly, and the favour of 
 the prince with the love of the people, are the foundations 
 of a minister's continuance in power, and are the necessary 
 consequences of the carrying of this tax into execution ; 
 it follows, that the doing of it is the true interest of a 
 wise minister, and therefore practicable. 
 
 19. Of the benefits arising by a free-port trade. 
 
 By which I mean, that all sorts of merchandize be 
 imported and exported at all times without paying any 
 customs or fees. 
 
 1 . It will increase trade. 
 
 By increasing the number of merchants; for small 
 stocks serve where there are no customs to pay, and there 
 are ten people of small fortunes in trade to one of a great 
 one ; the more there are, the less liable are they to com- 
 bine together to impose on the people extravagant prices 
 for their goods, to support themselves in luxuries. 
 
 By increasing the capitals of our merchants; for if 
 they pay \ or ^ of their capitals for customs, they can 
 
 94 trade 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade, 239 
 
 trade but for tbe i or | left; but wlien they have no 
 customs to pay, they can carry on a greater trade with the 
 same stock, sell their imports cheaper, have more money 
 to bay up the superfluous produce of our lands, and give 
 better encouragement to our manufacturers. 
 
 By making our country an universal storehouse ; for 
 when our merchants have no customs to advance, they 
 will be importing continually upon speculation for better 
 markets all sorbs of goods that were to be sold cheap in all 
 parts of the world, svhereby such sortible cargoes as were 
 vendible to advantage, being always ready to seize the 
 favourable opportunity, would be as continually exporting, 
 giving employment to a vast number of watermen, car- 
 men, porters, coopers, packers, &c., besides supplying 
 hereby our own manufacturers with all foreign necessaries 
 and materials in the cheapest manner. To which may be 
 added, that where the best assortments of goods are to be 
 had, there will be the greatest trade, one sort helping off 
 another, consequently vast quantities of our own commo- 
 dities wiU be required to assort our imports of foreign 
 goods, and be exported with them. A free port causes the 
 best assortments of goods, consequently a free port causes 
 a great exportation of home-commodities. 
 
 By increasing our navigation ; this is a consequence of 
 the last observation ; for by the vast quantities of goods 
 continually going out and coming in, we must have an 
 immense number of ships constantly employed, and sel- 
 dom send them out in ballast ; and whenever our sailors 
 are eased of their taxes, they will be able to navigate as 
 cheap,, or cheaper than any; and being indisputably the 
 most able, and expert in Europe, must have a great share 
 in the Greenland and herring fishing-trades, and in the 
 navigation of the Baltick, with other nations whose navi- 
 gations are vastly increased by those trades ; all which, 
 joined to our Mediterranean trade, would make us the 
 chief carriers of Europe. 
 
 95 By 
 
240 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 By increasing the vent of our goods abroad ; for all 
 foreign necessaries and materials coming a great deal 
 cheaper to our people^ who having no taxes they need pay 
 at home (if our monopolies were but once abolished) our 
 labour would be so cheap^ that we could send all our goods 
 to foreign markets cheaper than any people^ by reason of 
 our superior natural advantages. It is a just observation 
 of Sir William, Temple, in his account of Holland, there is 
 no sort of goods but what will find a market at one price or 
 another, and they will be masters of it that can afford it 
 cheapest. It should therefore be our chief study to make 
 all our goods bear only their natural value^ which nothing 
 contributes more to than a free-port trade : Add to which^ 
 that our merchants being enabled to barter away our 
 goods for whatever commodities they could find in any 
 country where rhoney was scarce, must increase their sale 
 prodigiously. 
 
 By putting all traders on the same fair footing ; for 
 where no customs are to be paid, smuggling must cease. 
 
 By preventing the smuggling of our wool, without 
 registries, dragoons, or cruizers ; for as our taxes, mono- 
 polies, &c. have been already proved to be the causes of 
 smuggling, so is the removal of them the certain remedy 
 for this evil ; as thus, 
 
 English labour in a bale of cloth of 100/. price, is com- 
 puted in page 209 to be75Z. having, in page 207, an artificial 
 value arising from taxes, &c. of 51 per cent, which being 
 deducted, the natural value of that labour is but 36/. 15«. 
 French labour for the same, in page 209, is estimated at 50/. 
 "I'is plain the Englishman can give 63/. 5s. for the same 
 wool for which a Frenchman can only give 50/. which is 
 26-^ per cent, under the English price ; consequently our 
 people being able to afford the best prices, smuggling of 
 wool must cease, and the whole manufacture of it be 
 secured to ourselves. 
 
 By gaining us the herring-fishery; for the Dutch 
 96 having: 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 241 
 
 having liberty to sell their fish on the coasts of England, 
 ■would snap at such a market, and some of them settle 
 with us of necessity, by trading on the best footing ; for 
 those who would not settle, must make two expensive 
 hazardous voyages, one back to Holland to cure and pack 
 the fish, and the other from thence to the coasts of Britain 
 to sell them, especially the west-coasts, which those settled 
 here would be free from, and the Dutch, by living among 
 our people, must instruct them in the trade. 
 
 By securing to us all growths, fisheries, and manufac- 
 tures the nation is capable of; for what French or Dutch 
 growers, fishers, or manufacturers could pay taxes at home, 
 the charges of package, putting on board, freight, insur- 
 ance, postage of letters, relanding, housing, warehouse- 
 rent, and commission on their goods to sell to our people, 
 being growers, fishers, or manufacturers themselves, un- 
 taxed, free from the above charges, and blessed with 
 superior natural advantages ? ^tis ridiculous to suppose it ; 
 unless that in the beginning of a free-port trade, the 
 demand for our goods should be so great, that we should 
 sell what should be our own supply, and content ourselves 
 with inferior sorts of goods from abroad, as the Dutch do. 
 
 The farther benefit that trade receives by a free port, 
 the reader will find in the answers to the objections raised 
 by some authors against it, which will be considered here- 
 after. 
 
 3. It will employ our poor. 
 
 This is a consequence of the last remark ; for neces- 
 saries and materials being by a free-port trade, and the 
 reduction of taxes rendered cheap, labour must be so too ; 
 and by the same causes the vent of our goods be enlarged, 
 the poor find constant employment on the wool we shall 
 keep at home, on the hemp and flax we shall raise, in all 
 manufactures we are capable of, in the herring and Green- 
 land fisheries, and in the increase of our navigation by the 
 great demand for sailors, so that none can want employ- 
 
 97 ment 
 
242 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 ment that won't be idle. Holland is an example of this, 
 whose customs are so low that their trade is almost free, 
 and there is no country in the world where the poor are 
 so well employed, or in sickness better provided for. 
 
 One flourishing manufacture promotes all others ; for 
 the better employment the people have, the better they 
 live, and the more they spend for a comfortable subsist- 
 ence : A manufacturer who earns by his industry enough 
 to purchase warm clothing and hearty food, is a greater 
 encourager of the industry of others than a beggar 
 covered with rags and starving with hunger ; therefore it 
 need not seem a wonder, that when our woollen trade 
 flourished, all others prospered, and the poors rates were 
 low ; and that the reverse happens by the decline of it. 
 If English wool was intirely kept at home, the manufac- 
 turing of it must employ at least one million of people, 
 who may be supposed to maintain at least another million 
 of helpless infants, women whose labour is in part 
 diverted by the care of their families, sick and aged people ; 
 and the same in proportion for Scotland and Ireland. 
 
 The silk manufacture, at least for our consumption, 
 must, by taking off our taxes and making our trade quite 
 free, be intirely secured to us : And supposing the quan- 
 tities of India, French, and foreign wrought silks smug- 
 gled in upon us by the temptation of high duties, and con- 
 sumed here, to amount only to the value of 200,000^. per 
 annum, the labour whereof to be \ of the value, and the 
 medium earned per head to be 6^. the supplying this con- 
 sumption by our own people would employ about 25,000 
 of them, and they maintain an equal number, as was 
 observed of the woollen trade above. 
 
 The linen majiufacture is of such vast consequence, 
 that the Dublin Society, in the first volume of their Weekly 
 Observations, No. 7, reckon the consumption of linen in 
 England, at the lowest computation, allowing only 10s. per 
 head, to amount to four millions, the greatest part of which, 
 
 98 they 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 243 
 
 tliey sajj is imported every year : But as they take no 
 notice of the vast quantities of linens we import for our 
 plantations, which may over-balance what is made in 
 England, yet I shall only compute, that we pay foreigners 
 for this article three millions, the labour at \ of the value, 
 and the medium earned per head Ql. which a reduction of 
 taxes, and a free-port gaining, will thereby employ about 
 370,000 of our people, and they maintain an equal num- 
 ber, as was observed of the woollen trade above. 
 
 It is impossible to estimate the numbers of people that 
 a free-port trade would give additional employment to, 
 sucb" as watermen, carmen, porters, coopers, packers, &c. 
 or the additional numbers of sailors employed in the car- 
 rying-trade, the amount of all which must be prodigious. 
 
 Sir Walter Raleigh in his Observations on Trade, says, 
 that thirty several trades are set on work by the fishing 
 ships ; and as this herring-fishery is on our own coasts, 
 we can carry on this trade that promotes thirty others, 
 cheaper than the Dutch, and of course beat them out of 
 it ; they must make long voyages out and home for the 
 fishery, and receive their supplies in the same dangerous 
 and expensive manner ; whereas we are at home, and can 
 land our fish and receive supplies without almost any 
 charge : We can victual in Ireland, and some parts of 
 Britain, at half the charge they can do in Holland : In 
 blowing weather the Dutch must lie still, they cannot take 
 in their casks and stores in a rolling sea ; whereas we can 
 run into port, and the unloading, repacking, and dispatch- 
 ing our fish go on in all weathers. All fishing-vessels 
 push to get first to market; so our people, from some 
 parts of our dominions, can be at the markets of Spain, 
 Portugal, or Italy, almost as soon as the Dutch can arrive 
 in Holland, whereby we may always forestal them. The 
 Dutch have heavy taxes on necessaries, we need not have 
 any. All which duly considered, cannot fail securing us 
 this trade, with the navigation belonging to it. The 
 
 99 Scotch 
 
244 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 Scotch Islanders are expert fisliermen, necessity forces 
 them to it for their own supply ; but their poverty pre- 
 vents their giving the trade that extent abroad it is capable 
 of, and the present clogs upon our trade cut off the people 
 of England from any considerable correspondence vrith 
 them, so that they are in a manner lost to each other; 
 whereas was our trade free, the Dutch by settling with us 
 and trading backwards and forwards, would create an in- 
 tercourse between the English and the Islanders, whereby 
 the stocks of the former would aid the industry of the 
 latter, make them outdo all foreigners, and besides expert 
 fishermen render them good sailors, and raise the greatest 
 nursery for seamen in the world. 
 
 The importance of this fishery will appear from the 
 following authors. In the Memoirs of De Wit (p. 34) 
 there is a quotation from Emanuel de Meteren, who says, 
 that in the year 1610 there sailed from Holland in three 
 days time 900 ships and 1500 busses for the herring -fishery : 
 And he quotes Gerard Malines and Sir Walter Raleigh, 
 who agree that the Dutch sell yearly 300,000 tons of her- 
 rings and salted fish, and that there went out yearly above 
 12000 men for the north and whale-fisheries : And De 
 Wit, in p. 25, says, that trade and navigation being in- 
 creased above \ since that time, it is easy to conceive that the 
 sea producers yearly above 300,000 tons of salted fish to the 
 Dutch. And the author of Britannia Languens, informs 
 us, that according to modern calculations the mere fishing- 
 trade for herring and cod, on the coasts of England and 
 Scotland, employs above 8000 Dutch ships or vessels. 
 Besides, this fishery will support our manufactures, as ap- 
 pears from De Wit, whose words are, tho' it appears from 
 history that many manufactures were made in the towns of 
 Holland, at the time that the trade and navigation of 
 Europe were carried on by the Hanse-Towns and the East- 
 Country people, and before the fi,shing and carrying-trades 
 were established in the country ; so that it might be said, 
 
 100 that 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 245 
 
 that the navigation has been produced by the manufactures ; 
 it is nevertheless very certain, that the fishery and naviga- 
 tion give all the motion to manufactures, for 'tis what brings 
 in all raw materials to be work'd up in the country, and to 
 sell afterwards the stuffs when they are made, by the seas 
 and rivers in all foreign countries. 
 
 We see then by these reasons that the Dutcli can make, 
 with the greatest advantage to themselves, sea-salt, manu- 
 factures of silk, linen, wool, hemp for cordage, cables, and 
 nets ; besides the ship-building trade. 
 
 The reasons whereof are plain : 
 
 First, a fishery furnishes a cargo to purchase raw 
 materials with instead of money, and prevents a nation's 
 being impoverished, and its manufactures languishing 
 through a scarcity of money. 
 
 Secondly, these raw materials are thereby rendered 
 cheaper j for the better profit the fish give, the cheaper 
 the returns can and will be afforded, the general profit of 
 the voyage being computed on the first disburse and inci- 
 dental charges. 
 
 Thirdly, it affords a cheap sustenance to the poor, 
 whereby wages and labour are kept low, to the encourage- 
 ment of all trade. 
 
 Fourthly, it creates a multitude of seamen, whereby 
 their wages are kept low, and of course freights, conse- 
 quently a great navigation is maintained, which brings in 
 raw materials cheap, and carries out our manufactures the 
 same, by which means only their vent can be extended 
 abroad; therefore the fishery and the navigation are the 
 causes of manufactures. 
 
 Fifthly, it is the sailor who is the life of trade ; without 
 him the skill of the merchant, the beauty and cheapness of 
 the manufacture, and the quantity of shipping are useless 
 and vain. Glover's Speech. 
 
 It has been already proved that we can outdo the Dutch 
 101 in 
 
246 An Essav 07i the Ccmses cf the 
 
 in the herring-fishery, consequently we can employ therein 
 more of our poor than they ; let us see how many people 
 the fishery employs in Holland. Be Wit in his Memoirs, 
 computes the fishing-trade to give employment to 450,000 
 people in the province of Holland only. The author of 
 Britannia Languens divides the employment of the ahove 
 people thus : 200,000 seamen and fishers, and 250,000 
 people more employed at home about this particular naviga- 
 tion, making of fishing-nets, and the curing, ordering, and 
 preparing of the fish. Zealand is not included in this 
 account, tho' it be a great province for fishers ; nor the 
 Hamburgers, Lubeckers, and Bremers ; nor the French 
 fishing-vessels that swarm round our coasts : So that upon 
 the whole, it may he supposed that double the above 
 number of people are employed in this trade by those 
 several nations that fish upon our coasts, besides the 
 Greenland fishery. So that was our trade eased according 
 to these proposals, this branch only would maintain most 
 of our present poor ; and one trade belonging to the 
 fishery is so easy, viz. the making nets, that the most 
 helpless of our people may work at it^ such as women^ 
 children, cripples, and aged people ; and the employment 
 is so great, that Sir Walter Raleigh, in his Observations 
 on Trade, affirms that 300 persons are not able to make one 
 fleet of nets in four months time for one buss. 
 
 Thirdly, it will increase the stock of people. 
 
 By inviting merchants to settle where business can be 
 transacted with so little trouble. 
 
 By furnishing employment to our own poor they will 
 be kept from deserting their country, preserved from want 
 and diseases, consequently from death ; by their industry 
 they will procure themselves a comfortable maintenance, 
 and thereby be enabled to marry and raise families. 
 
 By securing the manufacture of our own wool we shall 
 reduce the woollen-trade of our neighbours, which joined 
 to the extensive vent our natural advantages enable us to 
 
 102 give 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 247 
 
 give this manufacture, will oblige us either to enlarge our 
 growth of wool, or import foreign, whereby we should 
 have occasion for more hands than we ever yet employed, 
 consequently gain them ; for it's a maxim in trade, that 
 such as your employment is for people, so many will your 
 people be. 
 
 By gaining the silk, linen, and other manufactures we 
 must gain some of the manufacturers, for what Dutchman 
 or Frenchman would pay taxes at home, and the heavy 
 charges mentioned in page 240, on the goods he sent to 
 Britain, when he could remove thither, live untaxed in 
 that plentiful country under an easy government, and add 
 all these savings to his profits ? It would not be in the 
 power of any laws to keep him at home, he would remove, 
 nay some must ; for as our manufactures increase the 
 foreign will of course decrease, the poor want work, and 
 they must either starve or fly, and where would the fugi- 
 tives find an asylum so inviting as that of Britain ? Besides, 
 when we became thorowly versed in the linen and silk 
 trades, our own supply would not confine us, but we should 
 rival other nations at foreign markets. 
 
 By gaining the herring-fishery we shall gain some of 
 the Dutch fishers, who will find it more convenient and 
 cheap to remain here than to go home ; add to which what 
 is observed in page 195, that our own country being better 
 than Holland, nothing but our cramping of trade could 
 keep multitudes of its people from us. 
 
 By drawing in foreign sailors, which is a consequence 
 of the increase of trade and navigation, for our number 
 of sailors is even now too scanty for our confined trade, 
 as appears by the difficulty of manning our ships of war, 
 and the high wages our merchants give, which latter temp- 
 tation is defeated by the high price of all necessaries j but 
 were these to bear only their natural price, our pay in our 
 ships of war would be of so great value that we should 
 have the picking of aU Europe, have no need of that 
 
 103 arbitrary 
 
248 A?i Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 arbitrary expedient of pressing, for a free-port furnishing 
 employment for more sailors than we now have, vast num- 
 bers would flock here to enjoy our plenty, riches, and easy 
 government. 
 
 Fourthly, it will increase our riches. 
 
 By giving a greater vent to our manufactures by their 
 cheapness, foreigners will be the more indebted to us, 
 which must be paid in money or in goods ; if in the latter, 
 and they are laid by for better markets, must resolve at 
 last into more money : By gaining manufacturers from 
 abroad our wants will grow less, consequently less money 
 need go out to supply them ; a penny saved is so much won. 
 Gee in his Discourse on Trade, computes, that lue have one 
 million of people supposed to be out of work. I have 
 already proved that a free-port with a reduction of taxes 
 Can give employment to all our poor, and the labour of 
 individuals makes the riches of the whole ; therefore sup- 
 posing these people to earn at a medium six pound per 
 annum each, it makes six millions, as true as if dug out of 
 a mine in our country, nay better with regard to the peo- 
 ples healths. That this is not all imagination will appear 
 by viewing what a free-port is capable of gaining us in 
 four branches only, viz. the herring fishery, the woollen, 
 linen, and silk manufactures. 
 
 It is proved in page 343, that we can out-do the Dutch 
 in the herring fishery, the value whereof will appear from 
 Mr. Smith, in his book called England's Improvements Re- 
 lived, informs us (p. 349 and 350), that he was sent in 
 1633 to Shetland, to discover the manner and way of trad- 
 ing, &c. and the manner of the Hollanders fishing with 
 busses and other vessels, for ling and cod : And in page 
 270 he says, that during the war between Spain and Hol- 
 land, the fishermen agreed among themselves to pay a dollar 
 on every last of herrings, to maintain ships of war to secure 
 the fishing, that a record was kept, the amount of which 
 VMS 300,000 last of herrings taken in one half year, which 
 
 104 at 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 249 
 
 at a medium of the ordinary prices was worth five millions 
 sterling ; wherewnto if we add the cod, ling, and hake, and 
 the fish taken by the Hollanders and our neighbours on our 
 coasts all the year long, the total will evidently arise to 
 above ten millions yearly. 
 
 Now though we may be proved' capable of gaining the 
 whole of this, I shall compute oui' gain to be only of the half, 
 or £5,000,000 
 
 If 100,000 of the above million of unemployed poor are 
 woollen manufacturers, (though I imagine they must be much 
 more in the present declining condition of that trade) however, 
 that number earning six pound fie)' head, makes 600,000 J, and 
 the value of the material being computed at ^ of that, or 
 200,000?. makes altogether 800,000?. which as a free-port will 
 gain, we may set down as so much additional profit 800,000 
 
 The linen manufacture that we shall gain, and which we 
 now buy of foreigners, is proved in page 243 to amount to 3,000,000 
 
 The silk is computed at 200,00« 
 
 Total value of the four branches of trade gained by a free- 
 
 port £9,000,000 
 
 If f of this sum are paid to the peoples labour^ it 
 makes exactly six millionSj or the employment of one 
 million of people at six pounds per head. 
 
 As to the value of the materials above which are in- 
 cluded in the profit, I must observe that the abatement 
 made in the value of the herring-fishery doubly over- 
 balances their value. 
 
 But it will be said, that this proves only the employ- 
 ment of our own people, but does not prove that we shall 
 draw in foreigners ; or if we do, that what foreigners come 
 over will starve our poor, who will have but just employ- 
 ment to maintain them : To this I answer, that the value 
 of the herring-fishery is computed only at the half, our 
 woollen-trade is computed only to recover what we have 
 lost, our linen and silk manufactures are computed only for 
 our own consumption, but not for what we shall export 
 when the manufactures are well established; therefore 
 double the number computed to be employed in these 
 several branches of trade may be drawn in, there is no 
 computation for the improvement a free-port will give our 
 
 105 navigation 
 
250 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 navigation and other branches of trade, which will all 
 want hands. In short, there is no computing what num- 
 bers a free-port can maintain here, consequently no ascer- 
 taining the extent of the riches it will bring in ; only this 
 I must observe, that trade maintains in Holland seven 
 times more people than the land deprived of it could 
 subsist. 
 
 Besides, 'tis the nature of free-port trades to be hoard- 
 ing up in cheap times all sorts of goods, to sell again when 
 the markets are advanced, whereby they take advantage of 
 the necessities of all the world, and must amass immense 
 over-balances besides supplying their own wants; and if 
 the goods are only for foreign account, when one considers 
 what a vast sum the freights, boat-hire, porterage, cartage, 
 warehouse-rent, merchants commission, and often pack- 
 age and cooperage before the goods are sent out again do 
 amount to, it must be concluded, that the universal 
 store-house of a free-port must bring a vast profit to a 
 country. 
 
 Fifthly, it will increase the value of our lands. 
 
 By increasing trade, which carries off our superfluities, 
 furnishes employment, consequently a livelihood to our 
 poor, and eases the land of the burden of maintaining 
 them ; increases the stock of people, which of course 
 increases the demand for necessaries and materials of 
 manufacture, and the greater the demand, the greater 
 price will the produce of lands bear ; 'tis people that trade 
 and bring in money, and the more people there are in the 
 nation to do it, the more money will be brought in, and 
 the more money the people have, the better price will the 
 produce of lands bear : In all countries the natural price 
 of home commodities is according to their plenty, the 
 demand and the proportion of money that trade circulates, 
 and the more of it is circulating, the better rent can the 
 farmers afford to give for the lands ; add to which, that it 
 is people with plenty of money that improve lands, and 
 
 106 the 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 251 
 
 the more they are improved the better rents they bear, 
 which in purchase increases the value of lands. 
 
 The gradations from the encouragement of trade to 
 the benefit of lands are solid and certain, viz, whatever 
 causes trade employs the poor, employment increases the 
 stock of people, the increase of employed people causes 
 an increase of money, the increase of money causes the 
 value of lands to rise. A free-port is proved to be 
 the cause of trade, which is the cause of all the rest ; 
 therefore a free-port is a great increase of the value of 
 lands. 
 
 Objections against a free-port here having been made 
 by Joshua Gee, an author of good credit, for that reason 
 must notbeleftunanswer'd, in his Tract on Trade (p. 165), 
 he expresses himself thus 
 
 But to think it would be an advantage for a trading 
 nation to admit all manner of foreign commodities to be 
 imported free from all duties, is an unaccountable notion, 
 and still less suitable to the circumstances of our island 
 than to the Continent; for we have no inland countries 
 beyond us (as they have) with whom we may carry on trade 
 by land; but what is of the utmost consequence to us, is, 
 that by laying high duties we are always able to check the 
 vanity of our people in their extreme fondness of wearing 
 exotic manufactures : For were it not for this restraint, as 
 our neighbours giv^ much less wages to their workmen than 
 we do, and consequently can sell cheaper, the Italians, the 
 French and the Dutch, would have continued to pour upon 
 us their silks, paper, hats, druggets, stuffs, ratteens, and 
 even Spanish wool cloths. 
 
 To this the following remarks may serve for answer. 
 
 First, but to think it would be an advantage for any 
 trading nation to admit all manner of foreign commodities 
 to be imported free from all duties, is an unaccountable . 
 notion. I shall prove this notion to be highly beneficial 
 even from this same author, who in page 164, says, the 
 
 107 Dutch 
 
252 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 Dutch duties are small, and the nature of their trade abso- 
 lutely requires it. And again, they know very well, that if 
 they should load their imports with duties, other trading 
 places would undersell them and ruin their traffick that way. 
 The duties on the imports in Holland are a mere trifle, 
 the nature of all trade absolutely requires it, viz. not to 
 be undersold. The Dutch know it, and by practising what 
 they know, prevent the ruin of their trade ; if this is an 
 unaccountable notion the reader will judge from this same 
 author again, who, in page 191, shews the consequence of 
 their knowledge in the following words. As Holland is a 
 magazine or collection of all the products and manufactures 
 of the world, which they disperse all over Europe, the mer- 
 chants and shopkeepers are every where their debtors, and 
 money is brought them from almost all countries. Gee here 
 confesses that by their universal storehouse, the Dutch 
 have every where a balance in their favour; and the pur- 
 port of his whole book is to prove how greatly the balance 
 of trade lies against us : With what consistency then can 
 he argue against our adopting some of those wise methods 
 the Dutch take to procure themselves such advantages ? 
 
 Secondly, and still less suitable to the circumstances of 
 our island than to the Continent ; for we have no inland 
 countries beyond us {as they have) with whom we may carry 
 on trade by land. But we have in our three kingdoms a 
 large populous inland country of our own (which the 
 Dutch have not) to supply with necessaries and materials 
 in the cheapest manner, or else we raise the prices of our 
 manufactures to the prejudice of their sales, besides the 
 supplying our vast possessions in America. But no inland 
 trade can be compared to the free-port trade, any more 
 than an inland country town can be to the sea-ports 
 of London and Amsterdam, or the navigation of the 
 Rhine and Maes to that of the Baltick or Mediterranean; 
 for a free-port must have a finger in all the trade of the 
 world, even in all those inland Continent trades that Gee 
 
 108 so 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 253 
 
 so much prises, viz. by trading to and supplying the sea- 
 ports that are the inlets thereof in all countries, and the 
 cheaper we can come to market, and with the best assort- 
 ments, which a free-port trade only can effect; the more 
 of that inland-Continent trade must we have, the more 
 vent for our manufactures, and the greater navigation. 
 
 Thirdly, but lohat is of the utmost consequence to us, is, 
 that by laying high duties, ive are always able to check the 
 vanity of our people in their extreme fondness of wearing 
 
 exotic manufactures. • Gee says, ive are aliuays able, 
 
 by high duties, to check the vanity of our people, &c. The 
 great De TVit,m his Memoirs, says just the contray, for it 
 is generally found, that these great and too excessive customs 
 fall of themselves; the reason whereof is obvious, the 
 higher the duties, the more profit by smuggling. Extreme 
 fondness checked, naturally breaks out into madness 
 which appears at court every gala day in the number of 
 French brocades and trimmings then worn, when that 
 person is thought the happiest who hath the most and 
 dearest French fopperies. But what will put this affair 
 quite out of question, will be the consideration of the 
 balance of our trade with France, (which shall be hereafter 
 treated on ;) if it is more in our favour than formerly, 
 then Gee's opinion will triumph, and the efficacy of res- 
 traints and high customs appear; but if the reverse 
 appears, we may safely conclude they have none. 
 
 Fourthly, for were it not for this restraint. In the 
 
 Memoirs of De Wit, (p. 3J;,) it is said, that restraint is 
 always hurtful to trade ; the reason whereof is plain, for 
 nature has given various products to various countries, 
 and thereby knit mankind in an intercourse to supply 
 each others wants : To attempt to sell our products, but 
 to buy little or none from foreigners, is attempting an 
 impossibility, acting contrary to the intent of nature, 
 cynically and absurdly ; and, as ours is a populous manu- 
 facturing country, highly prejudicial to our own interests : 
 
 109 For 
 
254 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 For could we raise all necessaries and vanities within our- 
 selveSj this intercourse designed by nature would be 
 destroyed; and then^ how is a navigation^ our only bul- 
 wark, to be maintained ? To sell all, and buy none, is to 
 have no back-carriage, no freights home ; if so, this will 
 raise the freights outwards; a vessel that makes but, one 
 ireight out and home, must make that one pay all the wages, 
 wear and tear, charges, and living-profit, consequently 
 makes our goods come dearer to market, and naturally 
 stops their sales, by which in time freights outwards would 
 be as much wanted as freights home, and our trade must 
 be destroyed. But where freights are to be had out and 
 home, they ease each other, consequently bring goods 
 cheaper to market ; and the encouraging our people by 
 the utmost freedoms in trade, will enable them, by cheap 
 labour to carry all manufactures we are naturally capable 
 of to the utmost height, and in them foreigners could not 
 hurt us, no restraint being so effectual as cheap prices ; 
 and to attempt more is laying our people under difficul- 
 ties by taxes to no purpose ; as suppose, for instance, we 
 should take it into our heads, in spite of all taxes and 
 disadvantages, to make all our own linens, and, in order 
 to restrain the importation of foreign linens, put on them 
 all the same duties we lay on the French ; well now, money 
 is to be saved to be sure ! the poor employed, and fine 
 things done ; but alas ! this restraint won't make our own 
 labour one farthing cheaper, but the dearer ; for our own 
 linen manufactures having a monopoly against the rest of 
 the people, and a vast demand, will certainly raise their 
 prices ; but not being able to supply quantities sufficient, 
 some foreign may pay the high duties, some will be 
 smuggled and sold cheaper than what pays duties, but still 
 dearer than before the laying on this additional duty, 
 which we will suppose to advance the price of linens to 
 the people only 'Is. per head. Is not this laying a duty of 
 Is. per head on our woollen, silk, and iron manufacturers, 
 
 110 on 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 255 
 
 on our sailors, on our labourers of all sorts ? Certainly it 
 IS. Do the same in favour of iron, it will prove a tax on 
 the- rest, and so of any one of them. Do the same by 
 them all, and they all tax one another, all raise each others 
 prices at foreign markets, and stop their sales ; foreigners 
 gain upon us ; we distress our whole trade upon the pre- 
 tence of gaining only a single branch, and this single 
 branch will grow still dearer, because it being a burden on 
 the woollen, silk, and iron manufacturers, sailors and 
 labourers, the linen manufacturers will pay dearer for 
 those goods, pay dearer freights, dearer for all necessaries ; 
 it will be 
 
 Linen dearer to woollen. 
 
 Woollen dearer to linen. 
 Linen, and woollen dearer to silk. 
 
 Silk dearer to woollen and Unen. 
 Linen, woollen, and silk dearer to iron . 
 
 Iron dearer to silk, woollen and linen. 
 Linen, woollen, silk, and iron dearer to sailors. 
 
 Sailors dearer to iron, silk, woollen and linen. 
 Linen, woollen, silk, iron, and sailors, dearer to labour. 
 Labour dearer to sailors, iron, silk, woollen and linen. 
 
 The dearer our linens grow, the more foreigners will 
 smuggle in upon us and stifle our fabrick, all our artifices 
 will prove vain to maintain it, and, after injuring all our 
 other trades, find to our cost, that nothing but freedom 
 can secure trade. 
 
 By the above account may be also seen, how prolifick 
 the mischiefs of our restraints by customs are to trade ; 
 how our many taxes on commodities are oppressive ; how 
 they add an artificial price to goods ; how our country has 
 grown universally dearer, without being richer ; and how 
 foreigners ruin our trade, who soon seeing through oiir 
 mean designs of engrossing every thing, grow angry, and 
 stir up their Governments to distress us in their tiu-n by 
 easing their trade, which we shamefully neglect. Has the 
 
 111 linen 
 
256 An Essay on the (Causes of the 
 
 linen mannfactiire in England increased by the prohibition 
 of French linens and high duties on German, Dutch, and 
 Flemish ? So far from it, that it is decreased by our dear 
 labour, taxes, and disadvantages : Scotland and Ireland 
 attempt it with some success by their cheap labour, and 
 when our people are eased of their oppressions, so may we. 
 
 Besides, the discouraging to a great degree the use of 
 foreign products by the restraint of high customs, is pre- 
 judicial, tho' the contrary is the common received opinion, 
 arising from a mean selfishness that would let none live 
 but itself; as for instance, suppose Portugal to take an- 
 nually to the value of 800,000/. of our woollens, and pay 
 it all in wines, what is the result of this ? Why nothing 
 more but that our rich people drink such an amount of 
 woollens, which they would not consume otherwise ; double 
 the present duty on that wine, thinking that less would be 
 drank, and we should drain Portugal of her gold ; see 
 what would be the consequence, only that the King of 
 Portugal would lower the duties on the French and Dutch 
 woollens, 800,000/. per annum would be uncirculated 
 amongst us, the price of wool m.ust sink, whereby the 
 French and Dutch would get it easier to ruin the rest of 
 our trades ; about 100,000 of our poor would be deprived 
 of a diligent subsistence, and come upon their parishes for 
 an idle maintenance, while perhaps at the same time 
 Portugal wine, by its dearness, would become more 
 fashionable, great quantities would be drank and paid for 
 with our money, and instead of our draining the Portu- 
 guese, be drained by them. 
 
 Fifthly, as our neighbours give much less wages to their 
 workmen than we do, and consequently can sell cheaper, the 
 Italians, the French and the Dutch, would have continued 
 to pour upon us their silks, paper, hats, druggets, stuffs, 
 ratteens, and even Spanish-woo/ cloths. 
 
 Gee would have done well to have pointed out the 
 reasons why our neighbours give less wages, and conse- 
 
 112 quently 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 257 
 
 quently can sell cheaper, and since he has not done it, I 
 shall attempt it. As the Italians are more remote, and 
 pay dearer freights on their goods to England than the 
 French and Dutch our neighbours, I shall confine myself 
 wholly to the latter. 
 
 The reason why the French work cheaper than we, is 
 the care their Government takes of not taxing many 
 necessaries of life, or materials of manufacture, but that 
 the manufacturers shall be supplied with them in the 
 cheapest manner ; whereby necessaries bearing only their 
 natural price, they can afford to work and sell cheaper 
 than we; 'tis the taxes that make the difierence. To 
 prove this I shall quote the author of a pamphlet called. 
 Observations on British Wool, published in 1739, said to 
 be wrote by a person sent abroad by the ministry to inquire 
 into the state of the woollen manufactures among our 
 neighbours, and what wool was smuggled to them ; he 
 informs us (p. 8,) that the French send vast quantities of 
 stuffs, stockings, &c. to Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and 
 undersell us 10 or 12 per cent. And in p. 21, the reason 
 that goods are to be bought cheaper in France than in 
 England is, because the labour is ^ cheaper there. And he 
 accounts for labour's being -i- cheaper there in p. 28 ; at 
 Lisle the magistrates have built a storehouse, in a convenient 
 part of the town, ten stories high ; in the upper rooms of it 
 they lay wheat, rye, barley ; and in the cellars they lay 
 wine, oil, and brandy : Those goods are bought up when they 
 are cheap, and so soon as the markets are short, and goods 
 begin to rise in the price, then the storehouse is opened to the 
 poor, that they may buy what they have occasion for at the 
 old market-price. This storehouse was built since the 
 woollen manufactory hath so increased in this town, in 
 order to support that fabrick, which is a great encourage- 
 ment to the manufacturers, and a means to keep labour low. 
 All other things that are needful to the poor are also cheap 
 in proportion, as candles, oil, sope, &c. 
 
 113 Far 
 
258 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 Far from raising their prices with taxes, as we do, tLeir 
 study is to make necessaries cheap ; and can we wonder 
 that they heat us by 10 or 12 per cent, in the markets of 
 Spain, Portugjal, and Italy? 
 
 Having shewn how the French run away with our 
 trade by reason of our heavy taxes, I shall examine how 
 the Butch, tho' the most taxed in the necessaries of life of 
 any people, beat us out of our trade too, by stating the 
 disadvantages of an English woollen manufacturer, and the 
 advantages of a Dutch one. 
 
 The disadvantages of an English woollen manufacturer 
 are, 1. That he must buy bread made oi English com, tho' 
 dearer than foreign, whereby the farmer has a monopoly 
 against the manufacturer, and all monopolies enhance the 
 prices of goods. 3. He has no drawback on his corn. 
 3. He has no drawback on his malt. 4. He has no draw- 
 back on leather. 5. He pays a duty on his coals of 10s. 
 per chaldron in London, and 5s. in the out-ports. 6. He 
 must buy English beef, pork, mutton, lamb, and butter, 
 tho' he can have Irish cheaper, whereby the grazier has a 
 monopoly against him, to make his meat dear. 7. He 
 must buy fish caught by British (except a few sorts) tho' 
 he can have it cheaper from the Dutch, French, &c. 
 whereby the fisherman has a monopoly against him to 
 make his fish dear. 8. He must not buy foreign hats, 
 cloths, stuffs, stockings, or any coarse woollens for his use 
 that are cheaper now than English, even tho' he could 
 sell his own to greater advantage than wearing them him- 
 self, whereby these several branches have a monopoly 
 against each other and the rest of the nation, to make all 
 sorts of clothing dear. 9. He must not buy i^rewcA linens 
 for his use, tho' ever so cheap, whereby the other linen 
 countries have a monopoly against him to make his linen 
 dear. 10. He must not buy for his use foreign shearmens 
 shears, iron, or tin wares, tho' ever so cheap, whereby 
 those manufacturers have a monopoly against him to make 
 
 114 his 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 259 
 
 his iron or tin wares dear. 11. He may not have several 
 sorts of goods imported for his use bought at the cheapest 
 market, but only at the usual port of shipping ( Vide the 
 Index to the Book of Rates, Goods Inwards, Article 6.) 
 whereby those countries have a monopoly against him to 
 make those goods dear. 12. He may not have those above 
 goods shipp'd at the cheapest freights, but must be shipped 
 on British ships, or ships of the country, and at the usual 
 port of shipping, whereby those ships have a monopoly 
 against him to make those goods still dearer. 13. He has 
 heavy customs to pay on the oil and sope he uses in manu- 
 facturing his goods, which helps to advance their dearness. 
 14. And lastly, he has long expensive land-carriages to pay 
 to London, the chief market for his goods, the navigation 
 of our rivers not being suflSciently improved. 
 
 A Butch woollen manufacturer is in a situation just 
 the reverse of this; his advantages are, 1. That he may 
 buy always the cheapest corn that can be got to make 
 bread, has no corn-monopoly on him. 3. He has 5*. jser 
 quarter drawback on English wheat ; computing freight, 
 and charges, at Is. Gd.per quarter, he is fed by the English 
 cheaper than their own people by 3s. 6d. in every quarter 
 of wheat. 3. He has 2s. 6d. per quarter drawback on 
 English malt, to make his drink come cheaper to him than 
 to our own people. 4. He has Id. per pound drawback on 
 English leather. 5. He has British coals at 3s. per chal- 
 dron duty, which is 2s. cheaper than the out-ports, and 
 7s. cheaper than the Londoners. 6. He may buy beef, &c. 
 in Ireland, or any country where it can be had cheapest, 
 has no monopoly on him in this case. 7. He may buy 
 fish of any that sell cheapest, has no monopoly on him in 
 this case. 8. He may buy and wear the cheapest woollens 
 he can get from any country ; and if he can buy cloth for 
 his use at 4s. per yard, he will, provided he can sell his 
 own of 5s. per yard value with the usual profit, no branch 
 of the trade has a monopoly against the rest of the people. 
 
 115 9. He 
 
260 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 9. He may buy the cheapest linens he can get, no country 
 has a monopoly against him in this case. 10. He may 
 buy the cheapest iron and tin wares he can get, has no 
 monopoly against him in this case. 11. He may have all 
 those goods (specified in the Index to the Book of Rates in 
 Article 6. of Goods Inwards) bought where cheapest, no 
 country having a monopoly against him. 13. He may 
 have all the above goods shipp'd on the cheapest sailing 
 ships, no shipping having a monopoly against him. 13. He 
 has customs so light, that they are a mere trifle, has not 
 the prices of his goods raised by heavy customs on his oil 
 and sope. 14. He has cheap water-carriage almost every 
 where. 
 
 I shall now prove, that was our trade quite free, no 
 nation could hurt our staple, the woollen manufacture, and 
 that if cheapness pours in goods to a country, we should 
 do it on the French and Dutch instead of they on us; 
 consequently that Gee's objection is void. 
 
 By the abovementioned observations on British wool, we find 
 that the French can send to Spain, Portugal, or Italy, 50 stuffs that 
 shall now cost in England 1001. cheaper by 10 or 12 per cent, say 
 12 per cent cheaper, or at £88 
 
 In page 207, I have proved that above half the present value of 
 our woollen goods is fictitious, that our taxes, monopolies, and ill- 
 judged laws advance the natural value of our wooUen goods above 
 104 per cent, and that the true natural value of lOOZ. worth of our 
 woollen goods at present is but i9l. 
 
 So that were our taxes, monopolies, and ill-judged laws re- 
 moved, 50 stuffs that now cost 1001, might be sent to market at 49 
 
 The difference is £39 
 
 39/. charged by French or Dutch taxes and natural 
 disadvantages on 49Z. is an advance of almost 80 per cent. 
 on the English price. 
 
 Therefore the French and Dutch, who now beat us by 
 10 or 12 per cent, might be beat by us excessively ; they 
 could not sell woollens at any foreign market until all ours 
 were sold, much less pour them in here to ruin our manu- 
 
 116 factures. 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 261 
 
 factures, as Gee imagined ; but the rest of their trade 
 must decline greatly wherever we came in competition 
 with them, and where would be the nation in Europe that 
 could hurt us ? 
 
 By this it appears, that it is only our ill regulations of 
 our trade that give these nations any advantages against 
 us. 
 
 Silks and paper are still poured in upon us, and the 
 boasted benefit to the woollen trade by restraints at pre- 
 sent is a farce ; for as our foreign demand declines, our 
 people naturally turn all their stocks to supply the home- 
 consumption, until it is so overglutted that great quantities 
 have been sold for less than they cost making, or at French 
 prices, which must break an over-taxed Englishman. 
 Our people manufacture neater than any in felt and wool, 
 so that foreign hats, cloths, &c. being iU made, suit not 
 the English taste ; for which reason, if it should take ten 
 years time to break the remainder of our clothiers, their 
 stocks would sell so cheap, that the French could do very 
 little during that time ; but afterwards, by getting some 
 of our fugitive manufacturers to improve their own people, 
 and underselling us so vastly, they will run wooUen goods 
 as much as they do teas, 'brandies, and rich goods now, 
 and reduce us to the state we were formerly in with 
 respect to Flanders, viz. they to buy our raw wool, and 
 return it us in manufactures improved three times its first 
 value. 
 
 Two more objections may be made. 
 
 First, that it seems contrary to reason to take ofi" the 
 duties or prohibitions on the goods of any nation that will 
 not do the same by ours. 
 
 Secondly, that the balance against us with France must 
 increase by taking off the duties on French goods. 
 
 To the first objection I answer, that with regard to 
 117 duties, 
 
262 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 duties, it is already proved that they destroy trade, and 
 constant experience shews us that free ports increase it. 
 If other nations will destroy their trade, ours must rise 
 upon their ruins ; and would it not be absurd for us to 
 refuse, by a contrary conduct, to increase ours? If our 
 enemies will commit such follies, why should we ? or 
 rather, could we wish them to do worse ? 
 
 Nothing makes a country's goods so cheap as a free- 
 port, consequently the fewer foreign goods could be con- 
 sumed here ; more might be imported to lay by for better 
 markets, the profits on which must enrich us ; for the 
 cheaper our goods are, the greater vent they will have ; 
 and the higher the duties foreigners lay on them, the more 
 will be smuggled upon them. 
 
 Besides, those nations that are our rivals, in trade, 
 and persist in keeping high customs on our goods, persist 
 also in refusing to make their country an universal store- 
 house, deny their people the advantage of it, and force 
 their customers to buy at other markets those goods they 
 lay high customs on to prevent their coming in. If a 
 mercer, being a weaver, should refuse to admit into his 
 shop damasks, because he did not make them, and think 
 thereby to improve the vent of his other silks, he would 
 soon find his mistake, for his customers that went to other 
 places for damasks, would be importuned and induced, if 
 only to save themselves trouble, to buy other silks they 
 wanted at the same time. The British Merchant, vol. 3. 
 p. 398, remarks, that it is natural for us to buy every thing 
 we want at the shop where we are obliged to buy any thing. 
 And would it not be strange if another mercer, being also 
 a weaver, should be angry with such a man, and refuse to 
 admit into his shop the others satins, because he refused 
 to admit his damasks, and thereby drive away his trade to 
 those general traders that were wise enough to improve 
 upon their errors, by admitting every thing that could be " 
 sold with profit ? The case is the same with nations. 
 
 lis Customs 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 263 
 
 Customs on foreign goods hurt ourselves more than 
 foreigners, tho' our false notions of trade make us think 
 the contrary-j by confining our thoughts to the seller, with- 
 out regarding the buyer, who being our own subject, 
 should be the person most considered : As for example, in 
 the case of Spanish oil; we have laid a duty on it, no 
 doubt to retaliate on the Spaniards the du*:ies they lay on 
 our woollens; but whom does our duty affect? not the 
 Spaniard, it cannot hurt him ; for he being paid for his 
 oil, has parted with his property in it, and has nothing 
 more to do with it : But 'tis the English merchant whose 
 property on payment this oil becomes, and which might 
 be called English oil, for such in reality it then is ; he is 
 cramp'd by this duty, part of his capital in trade is taken 
 away to pay it, the interest of which, and officers fees in 
 and out, make the oil too dear to export, he is not allowed 
 that profit, he must sell at home, and must shift the load 
 from his shoulders on the manufacturer who uses it, and 
 he on the consumer, whereby our goods are rendered 
 dearer, and less capable of exportation. 
 
 Here is a duty on a foreign commodity indeed, but to 
 be paid by our own people ; 'tis their feet are entangled in 
 the net laid for these Spaniard^. 
 
 With regard to a prohibition, this acknowledges the 
 goods it is laid on to be good and cheap, otherwise it were 
 needless ; for what trader wiU buy bad or dear goods if he 
 can get better or cheaper, and they must be necessary, 
 otherwise they would not be demanded, consequently would 
 not be imported ; for who will import goods where there 
 is no demand ? 
 
 A prohibition on the goods of any one nation gives a 
 monopoly to other nations that raise the like growths; 
 thus the prohibition of Spanish oil in the late war gave a 
 monopoly to Galipoly, all monopolies raise the prices of 
 goods ; thus Galipoly oil, that before our Spanish prohibi- 
 tion was sold for 15 to 16 ducats the salm, was thereby 
 
 119 raised 
 
264 An Essay 07i the Causes of the 
 
 raised to 36 and 27 ducats; the same with all other 
 sorts of goods used instead of Spanish, whereby the mer- 
 chants profit on the advanced price^ and that of the 
 several tradesmen whose hands these goods passed thro', 
 did further enhance their prices vastly to the consumer ; 
 which, since my making this remark, hath been verified 
 by a petition of the clothiers of Stroud-Water (and of 
 most of our greatest clothing towns) presented to the 
 House of Commons, Feb. 2, 1743, complaining that since 
 the prohibition the price of oil is advanced from less than 
 261. to 601. a tun. 
 
 But it will be objected that on the declaration of war, 
 Spain prohibited our goods. 
 
 To which I answer, that heavy taxes with many other 
 difficulties are the consequences of war, and in a time of 
 such a general calamity, is it not absurd to distress our 
 trade in making our people buy bad or dear goods of 
 foreigners, by a prohibition Against any one nation, which 
 other nations having the like commodities, take the ad- 
 vantage of and raise their prices upon us ? Is not this 
 adding an unnecessary tax upon our people, whereby they 
 grow sooner impoverished and unable to support a war ? 
 If the Spaniards will com^'nit such blunders, why should 
 we imitate them ? 
 
 Trade cannot, will not be forced, let other nations pro- 
 hibit by what severities they please, interest will prevail ; 
 they may embarrass their own trade, but cannot hurt a 
 nation whose trade is free, so much as themselves. Spain 
 has prohibited our woollens, but had a reduction of our 
 taxes brought them to their natural value only, they would 
 be the cheapest in Europe of their goodness, consequently 
 must be more demanded by the Spaniards, be smuggled 
 into their country in spite of their Government, and sold 
 at better prices; their people would be dearer clothed 
 with duties and prohibitions than without, consequently 
 must sell their oil, wine, and other commodities dearer, 
 
 1 20 whereby 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 265 
 
 wtereby otlier nations raising the like growths would 
 gain ground upon them, and their balance of trade grow 
 less and less : But should we for that reason prohibit 
 their commodities? By no means, for the dearer they 
 grow, no more than what are just necessary will be used ; 
 their prohibition does their own business, some may be 
 necessary, what are so, we should not make dearer to our 
 own people; some may be proper to assort cargoes for 
 other countries, and why should we prohibit our people 
 that advantage ? why hurt ourselves to hurt the Spaniards ? 
 if we would retaliate effectually upon them for their ill- 
 intent, handsome premiums given to our plantations to 
 raise the same growths as Spain, might enable them in 
 time to supply us cheaper than the Spaniards could do, 
 and establish a trade they could never recover. Premiums 
 may gain trade, but prohibitions will destroy it; of which 
 let the following example suffice. 
 
 Portugal being united to Spain in the reign of Philip 
 the lid. during the revolt of the Dutch, Pujfendorf in his 
 introduction to the History of Europe tells us, that Philip 
 being intent upon the reducing of the Netherlands, thought 
 that nothing could do it more effectually than to stop their 
 trade and commerce with Spain and Portugal, for hitherto 
 the Dutch had traded no further, being used to fetch away 
 their commodities from thence, and to convey them into the 
 more northern parts of Europe. Upon this consideration 
 Philip concluded that if this way of getting money were 
 once stopp'd, they would quickly grow poor, and thereby be 
 obliged to submit. But this design had a quite contrary 
 effect, for the Hollanders themselves being excluded trade 
 with Spain and Portugal, tried about the end of the latter 
 age to sail to the East-Indies, and as soon as they had got 
 footing there they greatly impair' d the Portuguese trade, 
 who hitherto had been the sole managers of it, and after- 
 wards took from them one fort after another. And the 
 English, with the assistance of Abbas King of Persia, 
 ' 121 forced 
 
266 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 forced from them the famous city of Ormus : Nor was this 
 all, for the Hollanders took from them a great part of 
 Brazile and several places on the coast of Africa which the 
 HollanderSj in all probability, would have had no reason 
 to attempt, if Portugal had remained a kingdom by itself 
 and had not been annexed to Spain. i. e. If no prohibi- 
 tion had happened. 
 
 Second Objection. That the balance against us with 
 France must increase by taking off the duties on French 
 goods. 
 
 Answer : Here experience can decide by comparing 
 the difference of the balance against us when we had a 
 free-trade formerly^ and later times, when most sorts of 
 French goods are loaded with such high duties as amount 
 to a prohibition. 
 
 No person who has read the British iWercAara^ will say 
 that he is a partial author in favour of the answer to this 
 objection. 
 
 He says, (Vol. III. p. 106,) the stated maxim among 
 merchants to knoiv whether the trade be for or against 
 us, is to have recourse to the course of exchange, it is 
 a nicety many of our merchants are themselves unac- 
 quainted with, yet as the exchange holds the balance of 
 trade, so as that is for us or against us it immediately 
 decides the point. 
 
 Tf the exchange be above the par of the money of the 
 country ive trade with, it is a plain argument that the 
 balance is on their side, for no man will bring silver from a 
 country when the exchange is more favourable than the 
 coin. 
 
 The author of the Political Reflexions on the Commerce 
 and Finances of Prance, elegantly calls the Exchange the 
 Barometer of Commerce. 
 
 In the year 1683, it appears by the British Merchant, 
 that tho' there was a prohibition, yet the Court hindered 
 the execution of it. Dr. Tancred Robinson the physician, 
 
 122 favoured 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 267 
 
 favoured me with the sight of a memorandum he made ia 
 that year, on his setting out for Paris, viz. for 60/. sterling 
 paid in London, he received a bill of Exchange on Paris 
 for 259 crowns 1 livre. 
 
 The British Merchant (III. p. 118,) informs ua, 
 (he 'par of the exchange was 5id. sterling, for the old 
 French erown ; Therefore he should have paid only 
 68i. 7s. for 259 crowns 1 livre, consequently the exchange 
 was in the disfavour of England, not quite 3 per cent. 
 
 In the year 1686, the prohibition being quite taken 
 off, the British, Merchant (I. p. 318,) informs us, the 
 exchange was at 5M. per crown, the par as above being 
 5id. the exchange was in the disfavour of England 
 about 3f per cent. 
 
 In the year 1729, the French goods having been 
 loaded ever since King William the Third's reign, with 
 such high duties on most articles, as amount to a 
 prohibition, by Castaing's paper of March 28, the ex- 
 change was at S2d. ^ per ecu Tournois. 
 
 By Sir Isaac Newton's Table of Assays, Weights, 
 &c. of Foreign Coins, published by WillocTc in 1740, the 
 par is Wd. 149 dec. was in the disfavour of England 
 above 11 per cent. 
 
 In the year 1740, by Castaing's paper of Feb. Z, 
 the exchan.ge was at 32d. f . The par, as above, was in 
 the disfavour of England almost 12 per cent. 
 
 By the custom house books our imports, from 
 France in 1686, exceeded our exports, as by the British 
 Merchant, (I. p. 305). 769,190 16 
 
 He adds for goods clandestinely imported, (p. 306.) 428,139 16 9 
 
 Total over-balance that year £1,197,330 12 9 
 
 The British Merchant says above, that the exchange 
 holds the balance of trade ; so as that is for us or against us, 
 it immediately decides the point. By the so as he must 
 mean proportionably, that is, that the exchange is aifected 
 by the balance of trade, agreeable to the French author 
 above, as the quicksilver in the barometer is by the at- 
 mosphere. As no man, that understands trade, can deny 
 this truth, I shall leave it to the curious to determine, 
 
 123 what 
 
268 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 what proportion an over-balance that affects the exchange 
 almost 12 per cent, must bear to one of 1,197,330/. 12s. 9d. 
 that affected it only about 3 f per cent. 
 
 Prance takes from Britain wool, corn, dye-stuffs, hard- 
 wares, and tobacco in great quantities, some India goods, 
 tin, lead, ships, horses, 4"C. 
 
 But since France is increased in the woollen manufac- 
 ture, in navigation, and in sugar planting, she takes vast 
 quantities of wool and provisions from Ireland, to improve 
 her manufactures, victual her ships, and supply her colonies, 
 which amount to vast sums yearly ; and tho' these articles 
 are vastly increased, yet still the balance of trade cannot 
 be brought in our favour; prohibitions and high duties 
 have made it vastly more disadvantageous to us than in the 
 times of a free-trade, the difference in the exchanges 
 being almost 13 to 3. 
 
 As the general interest of the nation, with respect to 
 our trade, seems to have hitherto been little understood, 
 let us examine this French trade a little farther. 
 
 Our great dealings with this French shop formerly, 
 were occasion'd by its cheapness, {an excellent cause) and 
 its being near us occasion^ cheap carriage, [better and 
 better) and tho' the French had a great balance against us 
 yet other nations had the less ; but party-prejudice run- 
 ning high against the French King's ambitious designs, 
 in King Charles the Second, and King William the Third's 
 time; and this balance being considered abstractedly, 
 without any view to our general trade ; an inconsiderate 
 zeal hurried our ancestors into the vain scheme of dis- 
 tressing the French King by prohibitions and high cus- 
 toms on his goods, not considering the hurt we should 
 thereby do ourselves, and without ever effectually putting 
 in motion those means that were practicable to ease our 
 own trade, so that we only dispers'd, during our last wars, 
 our trade to dearer nations ; we bought dearer German and 
 Dutch linens, dearer Italian and Dutch silks, paper, ^c. as 
 
 134 if 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 269 
 
 if it was better to pay those nations 15 or l^d. for what 
 the French would sell for Is. distressing our people by 
 dear prices and thereby draining us of our money the 
 faster ; for such large quantities of cheap French goods as 
 were consumed here, being prohibited, made the demand 
 greater for the Dutch, German, and Italian dearer goods, 
 giving them at the same time a monopoly against our- 
 selves, which made them raise their prices on us still 
 higher. One would be apt to think that our forefathers 
 had a mind to drive all the money out of the nation. 
 For God's sake ! let us have wit in our anger, and not 
 pay dear prices to pretended friends when enemies will 
 sell us cheaper ; let us befriend ourselves a little, by saving 
 our money, which is the life of trade and the sinews of 
 war ; let us keep this power in our own hands, to com- 
 mand weight and respect from our neighbours, not squan- 
 der it away to them, and be forced to court the assistance 
 of those we give power to, and sometimes even court in 
 vain : So much for times of war. 
 
 But in times of peace the smuggling-trade goes on 
 easier, high duties are temptations that promote it, minis- 
 ters of state may be bribed to brow-beat or discharge 
 officers for doing their duty ; goods that in a free-trade 
 cost but lOOZ. being charged with 50 per cent, duty, a 
 smuggler will sell for 120 or 125Z. for the risk must be 
 paid for, tho' the duties are saved ; so that even the smug- 
 gling-trade costs us more than a free-trade, and may 
 perhaps be one of the reasons that the exchange with 
 France is so much against us : Whereas, had our country 
 been made a free-port in King Charles the Second's time, 
 and all taxes laid on the consumers of luxuries, the French 
 themselves during their last wars with England, would 
 have fled from misery at home, to a country that by its 
 freedom from taxes and ease in trade, seems to invite the 
 establishment of all manufactures, our balance to France 
 could not have arose to that destructive height it has been 
 
 125 at. 
 
270 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 s±, nor tad the French ever made the figure in trade they 
 now do. 
 
 The courses of the exchanges are facts notorious to 
 people conversant in trade ; upon those facts I rest my 
 arguments^ in answer to the above objection : by which it 
 appears plainly^ that a free-port trade would lessen the 
 balance against us, even with France; agreeable to the 
 author of Britannia Languens, who says, now if we look 
 back to the grounds and reasons of the decay of our English 
 trade, we shall find them to be no other than our own ill 
 constitutions in trade, which are not a bit remedied by the 
 French prohibition, and therefore will prevent any advant- 
 age we might, perhaps, otherwise receive from it. And in 
 p. 286, should we suppose that it (i. e. the prohibition) would 
 restore the balance, nay, that it should render the national 
 trade of England somewhat beneficial, yet it must be con- 
 fessed, that a compleat regulation of our trade would render 
 it prodigiously more beneficial, {perhaps more than all the 
 trade of Europe besides) considering how our advantages in 
 trade would reduce the trade of our neighbour nations, as 
 ours does improve. 
 
 Notwithstanding what has been said in favour of a 
 free-port, such strong prejudices against a free trade with 
 France, have been raised by most of our late authors on 
 this subject, that few people have any but frightful ideas of 
 it. The British Merchant, a work in great reputation, has 
 brought heavy objections against a trade with France; the 
 strength of which, it may not be improper to examine. 
 He says ; 
 
 I. 
 
 Goods imported to be re-exported, is certainly a na- 
 tional advantage ; but few or no French goods are ever 
 exported from Great-Britain, except to our plantations, but 
 are all consumed at home, therefore no benefit can be reaped 
 this way by the French trade. 
 
 126 II. 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 271 
 
 II. 
 
 Letting ships to freight cannot but be of some profit to 
 a nation ; but it is very rare if the Frencli ever make use of 
 any other ships than their own; they victual and man 
 cheaper than we, therefore nothing is to be got from them 
 by this article. 
 
 III. 
 
 Things that are of absolute necessity cannot be reckoned 
 prejudicial to a nation ; but France produces nothing that is 
 necessary, or even convenient, but which we had better be 
 without. 
 
 Each of tliese objections is introduced with a general 
 maxim which the French trade is asserted to be inconsis- 
 tent withj and if understood according to the present of 
 then state of our trade, are founded in truth ; so that I 
 would not be thought by the following remarks to reflect 
 on the authors of the British Merchant, for seasonably 
 opposing our engaging in trade with the French on un- 
 equal terms during our present ill regulations. But these 
 objections are founded only on those ill regulations, for 
 they otherwise have no weight, and will fall to the ground 
 when they are removed ; so that they affect not an English, 
 untaxed free-port trade with France, which I shall endea- 
 vour to prove, and shall farther confirm by proving, that 
 had our trade no incumbrance on it, a trade with France 
 must be beneficial. 
 
 To the first objection, I answer, that it can proceed 
 only from our ill regulations of our trade ; for high cus- 
 toms prevent merchants engrossing in cheap times, the 
 duties running away with great part of their capitals, the 
 interest of money lying dead for duties, is such a charge 
 as no trade can bear that is rivalled by people free from 
 such clogs; besides, great part of the duties on French 
 goods are not repaid on exportation, so that it is impossible 
 
 127 to 
 
272 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 to send them to any market but our plantations; our 
 monopolies and ill-judged laws that make navigation dear, 
 prevent our giving that vent to the French goods which 
 the Dutch are capable of doings though they ha"ve not the 
 natural advantages that we have, and they cherish this 
 trade that we condemn as one of their best branches, 
 being a great support of their navigation. According to 
 the Representation of the body of merchants to the French 
 King in 1658, a copy whereof was sent to the States- 
 General by their ambassador Boreel, the exports of France 
 to Holland «««? England (Vide Memoires deDe Wit, p. 311. 
 the British Merchant, IV. p. 232.) amounted to 30 millions 
 of crowns, making — 
 
 The British Merchant^ (I. p. 306,) makes ov/r im- 
 •ports from France in 1686, hy the custom house accounts, 
 amount to Xl,284,419 10 03 
 
 To which he adds of himself, for 
 goods clandestinely imported, 428,139 16 09 
 
 £1,712,559 07 00 
 But to leave no room for cavil, 
 he publishes an account of Mr. Yor- 
 trey's, which made our imports from 
 France amount yearly to 2,600,000 00 00 
 
 £6,750,000 
 
 £4,312,559 07 00 
 
 T/ie medium of which two accounts is 2,156,279 13 06 
 
 Which being deducted, the remainder must be the ■ 
 
 Butch imports, amounting to £4,593,720 06 06 
 
 De Wit, in his Memoirs, says, the greatest part of the 
 French exports are for Holland ; the above account verifies 
 it; and he farther says, that the Dutch consume and sell 
 almost all the wines and salt that go out of France ; and 
 in page 213, he says, it is certain that the French gain 
 every year upon the Dutch above 30 millions of money, 
 besides the goods they send to France ; these I take to be 
 livres, making 10 millions of crowns at 54«?. is 2,250,000/. 
 
 The Butch cannot consume that quantity of French 
 goods, for if they did, they could not have a shilling left 
 in the country with such an immense yearly over-balance 
 
 128 for 
 
Decimeo/" i^e Foreign Trade. 273 
 
 for near a century ; therefore the bulk of these imports 
 must be for re-exportation, which the Objection says is 
 certainly a national advantage ; this the Dutch know, and 
 feel the sweets of, for they were so far from being, like us, 
 frightened at the amount of the imports, or the over- 
 balance above, tho' vastly superior to ours, that neither 
 the French war in dueen Anne's reign, nor the intreaties 
 of their allies, could persuade them to prohibit that trade ; 
 nay, they are grown excessively rich with double the im- 
 portation that we thought would beggar us. Such clear 
 perceptions have the Dutch of trade, and that true founda- 
 tion of it, freedom : Such enemies are they to prohibi- 
 tions, or to give any foreigners monopolies against them, 
 or to pay dearer to friends for what enemies will sell them 
 cheaper. Therefore as the Dutch reap a benefit by this 
 trade, much more may the English, whose natural ad- 
 vantages, if disencumbered, are greater than theirs. 
 
 To the second I answer, it is notorious that foreign 
 ships frequent the French ports and take in ladings, some 
 of which I presume are for French accompt ; but that we 
 can get nothing from them by freight, because they 
 victual and man cheaper than we, can arise only from our 
 ill regulations in trade, for our natural advantages are su- 
 perior to theirs in navigation. 
 
 In the shipping-article the French are deficient, and 
 forced to buy of us to a large amount yearly. 
 
 In the victualling-article the French are deficient, and 
 forced to buy in Ireland to a large amount yearly. 
 
 These articles bring some profit to our own people, and 
 are attended with some charges in their transportation to 
 the French, consequently are enhanced in price to them. 
 
 By our bounties we furnish the French with wheat for 
 biscuit at 35. Qd. per quarter cheaper than our own people. 
 Vide p. 359. 
 
 That the French man cheaper than we, I doubt, though 
 they pay less wages ; for not being so expert as we, they 
 
 129 are 
 
274 Ati Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 are forced to put more hands on board their ships, whereby 
 tlieir expences are enhanced by additional wages and con- 
 sumption of stores ; to which add the advance of insur- 
 ance they are forced to pay, no insurer in general will under- 
 write on French ships for so low premiums as on English. 
 
 Before the prohibition of Irish provisions we victualled 
 cheaper than any people, and sold to both French and 
 Dutch ; and was that monopoly, with our taxes and 
 bounties, taken of, we should be in the same state as 
 before, consequently victual cheaper than either. 
 
 As customs and excises enhance the prices of necessa- 
 ries, they make all victualling and stores come dearer to 
 our owners of ships. 
 
 As customs and excises enhance the prices of neces- 
 saries, they oblige the sailor to demand high wages to 
 support himself and family. 
 
 We have more sailors than the French, as appears by 
 the lists of ships at foreign ports, consequently should 
 navigate cheaper ; for it is a maxim in trade, the greater 
 plenty of hands, the lower the wages. 
 
 But this benefit we defeat by our "Navigation Act, which 
 gives the sailors a monopoly against our merchants, so that 
 on the least spurt of trade they extort excessive wages. 
 
 Let these ill regulations be removed, and will any one 
 say that the people who are buyers of ships, and victuals 
 for them, can navigate cheaper than the sellers ? that the 
 people who put the most hands on board, and pay a high 
 insurance, can navigate cheaper than those that put few 
 hands on board, and can be insured the cheapest of any 
 people ? that a nation that has a less number of sailors 
 can navigate cheaper than another that has a greater? 
 that a people that pay arbitrary taxes can navigate cheaper 
 than those that pay voluntary taxes? It cannot be. 
 
 As no people by their natural advantages can navigate 
 so cheap as we, so no people are enabled to give such a 
 vent to their growths, manufactures and imports as we, 
 
 130 and 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 275 
 
 and those nations that would give theirs the same vent 
 must employ our shipping, or trade to disadvantage ; 
 therefore we can force the French either to give us freights, 
 or ruin their trade, either of which must lessen their navi- 
 gation, riches and power, and increase ours. 
 
 To the third I answer, these very authors reckon, that 
 had the duties on French goods been lowered according to 
 the stipulations in the treaty of commerce made at Utrecht, 
 our annual consumption of French linens would have been 
 600,000?. being the greatest amount of any one article : 
 This objection therefore is a mistake, occasioned by an 
 over zeal; for it appears by the same authors (i, p. 283), 
 that we used to import from France several necessary 
 articles, such as prunes, salt, sope, thread, &c. 
 
 I believe I need not prove linens to be either neces- 
 sary or convenient, since no body can deny it, therefore 
 France produces something that we want, and until we 
 can gain the manufacture of it ourselves (which the 
 removing the clogs on our trade only can effect) highly 
 necessary to be bought where cheapest, which I presume 
 by the quantities imported, and the prohibition, to have 
 been in France, otherwise the prohibition had been need- 
 less ; and if we raise the price of French linens by customs 
 to exceed other foreign that are dearer, I have proved in 
 page 254, that we distress our whole trade; and in p. 243, 
 that by a free-port trade we must gain that manufacture, 
 at least for our own consumption. 
 
 I come now to a bold attempt, and what at first view 
 will startle most people, and that is to prove, that were all 
 our taxes, monopolies, and ill-judged laws removed, or, in 
 other words, if our trade had no incumbrance on it, but 
 was quite free, that then our trade to France must be 
 beneficial. 
 
 The authors of the British Merchant, writing against 
 the treaty of commerce made with France at Utrecht, 
 compute, that had the duties on French goods been lowered 
 
 131 according 
 
276 
 
 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 according to those stipulations, we should have paid to 
 France yearly for 
 
 Wine 
 
 . £450,000 
 
 Brandy 
 
 70,000 
 
 Linen 
 
 600,000 
 
 Papei- 
 
 30,000 
 
 Silks 
 
 500,000 
 
 
 £1,650,000 
 
 Let us examine Low much of this sum we should pay 
 if our trade was quite free. 
 
 As to the wine-article, I agree, that being the most 
 esteemed of any in Europe, our importation might even 
 exceed that sum, hut great part of it would be reduced by 
 our re-exportation; for our natural advantages being 
 greater than the Dutch, we should give those wines a 
 greater vent than they were yet ever able to do, and be 
 the common carriers of them, by which means our profits 
 and freights would make our own consumption come very 
 easy, easier than ever it was to Holland ; but to avoid all 
 objection, I wUl allow for that expence the above sum of 
 450,000Z. 
 
 As to the brandy-article, that could not cost us any 
 thing; for as our rum can be imported cheaper, and is 
 more wholsom, our consumption would be chiefly that, so 
 the brandies imported would be chiefly for re-expor- 
 tation ; for which reason I can't help thinking but the 
 profits and freights must greatly exceed our consumption 
 in value. 
 
 But there is one consideration that will reduce this 
 wine-article, and that is, that as it is not a perishable com- 
 modity, we should hoard up in cheap times vast quantities, 
 and when the markets were advanced by bad seasons, or 
 other accidents, make extraordinary profits by the stocks 
 we had by us, which besides would be a great benefit to 
 our navigation. 
 
 132 As 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 277 
 
 As to tlie linen, paper, and silk- articles, them I strike 
 out entirely, for by the encouragement of our trade we 
 must gain those manufactures, as is proved in p. 242 ; 
 
 Therefore all these mighty oonaumptive importations are reduced 
 only to the wine-artiole above of £450,000 
 
 The authors of the British Merchant compute (i, p. 15), 
 otw yearly exports to France on the peace at only . . 200,000 
 
 Whereas, by a custom-house accompt, they publish 
 (p. 305>, viz., from Mich. 1685 to Mich. 1686, (in which are 
 wanting the Michaelmas quarter for Deal, Dartmouth, Whitby 
 and Milford) our exports amo^iMted to . . . 515,228 
 
 Note, In this account there is no mention either of the 
 wool or ship-articles ; the corn-article amounts but to 
 14285Z. 8«. the hard-ware, under the heads of wrought-iron, 
 clock-work, and nails, amounts but to 1646/. 12s. &d. and the 
 tobacco but to 2793Z. 9s. 2d 
 
 They also quote Mr. Fortrey, who makes our annual 
 exports amount to . . . . . . 1,000,000 
 
 £1,715,228 
 
 " The medium whereof is ... . £571,742 
 
 The Dutch can't be supposed to export less of their 
 French imports than the amount of what De Wit says the 
 over-balance of France is on them otz., 2,250,000/. which is a 
 very moderate computation, for it makes their annual con- 
 sumption far superior to whatever England's was proved to 
 be, and must be a great deal too much for that frugal people; 
 now the freights, charges, and profits paid the Dutch on that 
 re-exportation cannot be less than 10 per cent, amounting to 
 225,000/. clear gaiu to Holland by that trade. 
 
 As the natural advantages of Britain are shown (p. 215) 
 greatly to exceed those of Holland, so by a free-port trade 
 we cannot be supposed to give a less vent to our French 
 imports than the Dutch did, or with less profit, therefore 
 we may safely add to our exports the gain Holland received 
 by re-exporting"'i'VOT(;/i goods amounting annually to . 225,000 
 
 £736,742 
 From that must be deducted the wine-artiole above, 
 amoimting to ...... 450,000 
 
 Therefore the annual benefit to Britain from France 
 by a free-port trade must be at least .... £346,742 
 
 Our goods are so well manufactured that their neat- 
 ness recommends them every where, nothing obstructs 
 
 133 them 
 
278 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 them but their dear price ; but was their fictitious value 
 once taken off, they would come cheaper than ever they 
 yet were, so that our exports to France would naturally 
 increase, and might exceed even Mr. Fortrey's computa- 
 tion of 1 million per annum. 
 
 The letter in defence of the East India Company, 
 printed in 1677, informs us, that there was formerly vended 
 in France, annually, English drapery to the amount of 
 600,000/. As we beat the French out of foreign markets 
 their manufactures must decay, and of course they will 
 want the greater supply from usj if they prohibit them 
 by high duties they put themselves in the case of the 
 Spaniards. 
 
 Here is, I think, demonstration to those that will 
 open their eyes, that Gr-eat-Britain, Jay disencumbring 
 and making its trade quite free, cannot be hurt by France, 
 much less by any otVier power in Europe, but must of 
 necessity hold the first rank in trade. 
 
 But now perhaps it will be said, this savours of French 
 designs, this author is a concealed Frenchman, the French 
 are already too powerful, we must take care. 
 
 To this I answer, that Britain should be always vigilant 
 over the designs of France, but need not be afraid of her 
 power ; her wise regulations in trade should be the objects 
 we should keep our eyes upon, and out-do her if possible, 
 or else as she rises we must sink ; but it is our comfort 
 that our remedy is always in our own hands; nor can 
 there be any solid reason for the nation's paying dearer to 
 other countries for goods we could buy cheaper in France : 
 Would any wise dealer in London buy goods of a Dutch 
 shopkeeper for 15 or 18d. when he could have the same 
 from a French shopkeeper for Is.? Would he not consider 
 that by so doing he should empty his own pockets the 
 sooner, and that in the end he would greatly injure his 
 family by such whims ? And shall this nation commit an 
 absurdity that stares every private man in the face ? Do 
 
 134 our 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade, 279 
 
 our good friends, the Dutch, commit such a blunder in 
 favour of us ? They know their own interest too well, and 
 have too good notions of trade to do it. The present 
 power of France is indeed great, her dominions in Europe 
 are bigger and more populous by at least i than ours ; 
 but as her naval force cannot match the half of what 
 we have, our situation makes us the only one of her 
 neighbours that need not fear her ; besides, her people 
 are not in proportion so rich, her colonies not so populous 
 as ours : but the certain way to be secure is to be more 
 powerful, that is, to extend our trade as far as it is capable 
 of; and as restraints have proved its ruin, to reject them, 
 and depend on freedom for security, bidding defiance to 
 the French or any nation in Europe that took umbrage at 
 our exerting our natural advantages. Before these taxes 
 we were more powerful, why not so again ? 'Tis our own 
 fault if we are not. 
 
 Tlie exports 0/ Prance in 1658, according to De Wit, were £6,750,000 
 
 And «Ac cxporfe 0/ England j« 1699 M)CT-e . . . 6,788,000 
 
 To which we may add the value of the four branches of 
 trade gained by a free-port {vide p. 249), besides the other 
 benefits not enumerated ..... 9,000,000 
 
 £15,788,000 
 
 Suppose the French to have now doubled their trade 
 of 1658, we can not only double the value of ours of 1699, 
 but more, as appears above : Besides, the progress we 
 should make in Europe and in the East-Indies by a free 
 trade, and the vast improvements our colonies in America 
 are capable of, must increase the demand for our manu- 
 factures beyond what was ever known. Let all these be 
 duly considered, with the vast strength of our navy, and 
 the fear of the French power must vanish like a phantom. 
 Imperator maris terrce Dominus, is a proverb applied by 
 De Wit in his Memoir es, to a king of England; let us 
 examine whether this remark on our power will hold good 
 
 135 at 
 
280 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 at this time. If France can give laws by landj Britain 
 can do it by sea; and in a little time the sea will com- 
 mand the land, for our men of war can destroy their ships, 
 ravage their coasts, batter down their forts, and burn their 
 sea-port towns : this must ruin their trade, as trade goes 
 so must their money, and when the money is gone the 
 armies cannot be supported, they must be drawn from the 
 countries they invade, or they will desert rather than 
 perish with hunger for want of pay. Had we push'd on 
 the war in Queen Anne^s reign only by our fleets, we 
 should have given quicker relief to our allies, saved our 
 money, prevented a load of debts, and soon brought the 
 war to a conclusion ; for the strong towns which we took 
 in Flanders with so much expense of blood and treasure, 
 must have been abandoned by the French troops for want 
 of pay, want of ammunition and provision, and have fallen 
 into our allies hands without striking a stroke, or making 
 only such a faint resistance as the Queen of Hungary's 
 unpaid troops and unprovided towns did lately. We have 
 never yet exerted our natural naval force ; had the Fi-ench 
 ever felt the full weight of it they would be more humble, 
 they would not dare so wantonly to invade our allies on 
 the continent, for fear of drawing down our vengance 
 upon them. 
 
 If any Englishman should be so vapourish as to doubt 
 whether trade and navigation can effect this, I desire him 
 only to consider what a few Dutch fishing-towns were 
 enabled thereby to do in their revolt from Spain, whose 
 power was then the dread of Europe; the mighty wars 
 they maintained by sea and land for fifty- seven years 
 against that crown, which at last gave such a shock and 
 reduction to the power of Spain as it hath not been since 
 able to recover. The extending at the same time their 
 trade all over the world, and making vast conquests in 
 both East and West-Indies, until they arose to such a 
 prodigy of riches and power, that they became the envy 
 
 136 an d 
 
Decline of the Foreign Tvskde. 281 
 
 and terror of all their neighbours ; and that from so low a 
 condition, that at the union of Utrecht, Puffendorf, in his 
 Introduction to the History of Europe, says. They coined a 
 medal, wherein their state was represented by a ship without 
 sails or rudder, left to the mercy of the waves, with this 
 inscription, Incertum quo fata ferant. 
 
 And will not trade and navigation have greater effects 
 in these three kingdoms, whose natural advantages exceed 
 any in Europe? and had two years ago a greater naval 
 force in commission than all Europe could oppose against 
 it in a twelvemonth, and would we but exert it, should 
 hardly suffer our enemies to have a fishing-boat at sea, or 
 to gain a penny thereon to pay armies to invade their 
 neighbours : This is the shortest, cheapest, and best way 
 to reduce the exorbitant power of France, which, when 
 distressM on the sea-coasts, like a human body that has 
 one part diseased, will languish throughout, and afford an 
 opportunity to its neighbours to make easy conquests upon 
 it in their turn. 
 
 There are two farther considerations in favour of 
 carrying on a TVench war by sea only, and ruining their 
 trade. 
 
 First, What trade they lose we shall get, for by 
 harassing their coasts, their merchantmen could not, 
 without great risk, get out or in ; the Turkey, East-India, 
 fishing and sugar-trades would be rendered impracticable 
 to them, and the bulk of them fall into our hands again : 
 Every 100^. that we get by supplanting them in trade, or 
 taking their ships, makes them so much weaker to defend 
 themselves, and we so much stronger to attack them, 
 ^ifhich is a double damage to them and a double benefit to 
 us ; now the stronger our attacks are, and the weaker our 
 enemy's defence, the sooner must a war terminate to our 
 honour : And the Spaniards, whom we are uncapable of 
 attacking in any other manner with success, have a pro- 
 verb, Paz con Ingalaterra y con todo el Mundo Guerra, 
 
 137 Peace 
 
282 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 Peace with England and war with all the world; so 
 severely did they formerly feel the effects of our naval 
 force. 
 
 Secondly, Money is the sinews of trade as well as war. 
 The bulk of our expences in a sea war, being laid out at 
 home or with our colonieSj circulates back again among 
 our people, and prevents our trade from languishing by a 
 scarcity of money : Whereas the bulk of our expences in 
 a land war being laid out abroad, circulates among 
 foreigners, to the enriching of them, and the encourage- 
 ment of their trade, but to the impoverishing of us, and 
 the discouragement of our trade. 
 
 A sea war is our natural strength, and can preserve 
 our riches, our trade, and our power. A land war is our 
 unnatural strength, and always has proved and always 
 must prove destructive to us. 
 
 But because the incumbrances on our trade at present 
 have given the French so much the start of us in times of 
 peace, that war seemes absolutely necessary to obstruct 
 their growing power : Might not a compleat easing of our 
 trade, put us in such a situation as to be above fear, con- 
 sequently unconcerned at French quarrels, and make it 
 contrary to our interest to be constantly embarking in 
 them ? 
 
 To this I answer. That such a situation is one of the 
 many happy effects of freedom in trade : For turbulent 
 Ambition defeats itself; to what a low condition has not 
 a set of war-delighting kings reduced the kingdom of 
 Sweden? War is so far from increasing the strength of 
 any country that it really weakens it, by cutting off 
 several channels of trade, by oppressing the people with 
 grievous taxes, by wasting their numbers, by lessening 
 their riches, dragging away the laborious who bring them 
 in, to recruit armies which dissipate them : What person 
 that can fly from such calamities will stay to take part in 
 them? What nation that can avoid them would wantonly 
 
 138 bring 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 283 
 
 bring them on ? Countries are powerful by their numbers 
 of people, not by their extent : Spain tho' larger than 
 France, having f less people is f less powerful; but 
 France by the calamities of war may reduce its people 
 and power to the standard of Spain ; and tho' it should 
 thereby equal the latter in extent, yet would that make it 
 still weaker, for the greater the extent of any country, the 
 fewer the number of people to defend it, the more easy it 
 is to be attacked with success. The United Provinces tho' 
 not much above \ part of the extent of Portugal, yet being 
 4 times as populous are 4 times as powerful. Where 
 trade is most free thither people flock, as may be seen in 
 the United Provinces, therefore freedom in trade may 
 make these kingdoms more populous, consequently more 
 powerful than France, and that sooner and the more 
 so, the oftener the latter embarks in destructive wars, 
 which if sufficiently attended to, or if our own interest only 
 was consulted, would make us sit down quiet and easy, 
 without frightening ourselves at every motion made by 
 French armies on the continent, being assur'd that the 
 more employment they have from their other neighbours, 
 the weaker they grow, consequently have the less inclina- 
 tion and ability to hurt us : 'Tis their cultivating the arts 
 of peace that makes them truly formidable, and which we 
 should dread ; not their losing the substance by catching 
 at the shadow, in attempting to extend their frontiers with 
 the loss of their trade and people ; for then is our time by 
 preserving a strict neutrality, to have the trade and navi- 
 gation of Europe left free and unrivalled to our share, to 
 increase our people, and therewith our power; the hap- 
 piest situation we ever can be in : A situation the Dutch 
 so hugged themselves in lately, that even the repeated 
 most humble entreaties of our ministers cou'd not prevail 
 with them to quit, by declaring war against France. 
 And tho' it is a hellish policy to set other people together 
 by the ears for our own advantage, yet if of themselves 
 
 139 they 
 
284 An Essay oti the Causes of the 
 
 they will commit such follies, it is the height of madness 
 in- us to distress ourselves by entering into destructive land 
 wars to prevent the French from doing, what we should 
 most wish they would do. 
 
 But now methinks I see some politicians who would 
 be thought to understand foreign affairs, shrugging up 
 their shoulders and asking, whether we shall not be the 
 last devoured, when our allies are swallowed up ? 
 
 To such timorous gentlemen I answer, that foreign 
 affairs, in the literal acceptation of the terms, have been 
 shewn above to be affairs quite foreign to us; that when 
 our allies find that we are not so weak as to take their 
 loads on our shoulders, or pay them for doing their own 
 business, they would exert themselves in a different 
 manner to what they have done of late years, that they 
 are not so easily destroyed as is imagined, that the French 
 have no reason to boast of their late campaigns in Ger- 
 many; that supposing they should destroy these dear 
 allies, they must by so doing in some degree destroy 
 themselves, that peace will increase our riches, and the 
 calamities of war on the continent increase our people, 
 and both increase our power : Now I would ask these 
 politicians, these men of foreign affairs, what probability 
 there is of a weakened nation's devouring a strengthened 
 one, how by understanding our own affairs and pursuing 
 them only, viz. in reviving our militia, easing our trade 
 and promoting good officers in our navy, the mercenary 
 slaves of an absolute monarch could devour freemen in 
 arms, superior in numbers, fighting pro Arts ^ Focis, and 
 what instances there are in history to warrant such a 
 prodigy ? 
 
 But to return, our prohibitions and high duties have 
 not ruined the French, who make a greater figure in trade, 
 and empty our pockets more than ever, so that unless we 
 have thereby improved our trades to other countries, we 
 are in a fine condition. 
 
 140 The 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 285 
 
 The authors of the British Merchant (ii, p. 4), -writing 
 against the shameful treaty of commerce made with France 
 at Utrecht, in the year 1713, say, We gain a million every 
 year by the balance of our trade with Portugal and Italy, 
 and near twice as much as that with Flanders, Germany, 
 and Holland, and shall we venture the losing the gain of 
 three millions every year from those countries, not for the 
 sake of gaining, but of losing a fourth million every year to 
 France ? 
 
 Let us see now how these advantageous balances have 
 been secured to us by high customs and prohibitions. 
 
 By Castaing's paper of Fei. S, 1740, 
 
 London gaye to Genoa for the dollar 5id.^ 
 
 „ to Venice for the ducat banco Sld.^ 
 
 „ to Leghorn for the dollar SOrf.f 
 
 By Sir Isaac Newton's tables, 
 
 Oenoa, the par is 54c?. 
 
 Loss to England about 1 per cent. 
 
 Venice, the par is 49d. 492 dec. 
 
 Loss to England, about 3-|- per cent. 
 Leghorn, the par is 51c?. 69 dee. 
 
 Gain to England about 2 per cent. 
 
 To Genoa and Venice the balance is against us, and favourable only a 
 small matter to Leghorn. 
 
 Feb. 3, 1740. 
 
 London gave to Lisbon for the millree 65c?. 
 The par ia 67c?. 166 c?ec. 
 
 Gain to England about 3-1 per cent. 
 
 The British Merchant informs us that in some years, 
 when corn was cheap here and dear in Portugal (he means 
 during Queen Ann's war) our balance was so very great, 
 that notwithstanding we paid subsidies to the King of Por- 
 tugal, and paid fm troops, there were also vast sums for 
 supplies of our armies in Valentia and Catalonia, yet still 
 the over-balance lay so much against them, that the ex- 
 change has been at 5*. 2d. and 5*. a millree. 
 
 141 Portugal 
 
286 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 Porttiffat is a constant market for corn, either from 
 Britain or its American colonies ; the latter, together with 
 Ireland, supply it with vast quantities of provisions, great 
 part of the payments of which centers in London : And 
 tho^ we have no subsidies or armies to pay, as in the last 
 war, yet the Lisbon exchange is so far from falling to 5s. 
 or 5*. and 2d. per millree, that it has not for many years 
 been under 5*. 2)d. which can be only owing to the decline 
 of the Portugal market for our manufactures, particularly 
 the woollen. Foreigners working cheaper steal it away 
 by degrees : Cloths between 8 and 1 Is. per yard the Dutch 
 supply them with; and have beat out ours about that 
 price entirely, as has been observed before. France begins 
 to supply them with some woollens,, but to Italy she sends 
 vast quantities. So that it appears by the exchanges 
 now, that not much of the supposed annual gain of a 
 million from Portugal or Italy can now remain, great 
 part of the Portugal gold brought here, being for Dutch 
 account ; and the moidores circulated for 2d.^ more than 
 they are worth, by which the nation is cheated about 
 ^ per cent. 
 
 Feb. 3, 1740. 
 London gave the pound sterling to Antioe7'p for 35s. lOd 
 The par is 35s. 17 dec. 
 
 Gain to England about 2 2^er cent. 
 London gave the pound-sterling to Amsterdam for 34s. llc^. 
 The par is 36s. 59 dec. 
 
 Loss to England about i^ per cent. 
 London gave the pound sterling to Rambiirghior 33s. lid. 
 The par is 35s. 17 dec. 
 
 Loss to England about Z^per cent. 
 
 London exchanges with Norway, Sweden, and Russia, by 
 the vray of Hamburgh and Amsterdam, Joshua Gee, who was 
 also a writer in the British Merchant, as appears by the 
 preface; in his Treatise on Trade, published several years 
 after, supposes (p. 178), the balance we pay to Norway to be £130,000 
 
 Sweden ....... 240,000 
 
 400,000 
 
 £770,000 
 
 142 He 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 287 
 
 Brought over .... £770,000 
 
 He supposes that we pay a balance to Flanders of 
 250,0002. but as the exchange to Antwerp appears to be 
 advantageous, to avoid all exceptions I shall suppose we gain 
 as much. 
 
 250,000 
 
 The interest paid to foreigners, proprietors in our funds 
 in 1740, being chiefly Dutch. ..... 400 000 
 
 Neat annual balance due to England from Germany and 
 Holland, to make the British Merchant's calculation. . 580,000 
 
 £2,000,000 
 
 Such a formidable sum due to us yearly^ as 580,000/. 
 must make the Hamburgh and Amsterdam exchanges 
 something at least in our favour. But is it so ? Alas ! 
 it appears by the course and par of the exchanges above, 
 that this balance in our favour is not only all gone, but 
 that we have a balance to pay ourselves, to both Ger- 
 many and Holland ; and it cannot be a small one neither, 
 since it makes the exchange to both so much in our 
 disfavour. 
 
 We are going headlong to destruction with carrying 
 on losing trades with our neighbours ; and what has 
 brought us to this low ebb ? certainly our excises, cus- 
 toms, prohibitions, iU-judged laws, monopolies, and 
 national debts ; these are the causes ; the effects are lost 
 trades, and decaying rents ; no quacking with the effects 
 will restore us to a sound constitution, the causes must be 
 removed or it is all lost labour. 
 
 Before unloading our manufacturers of the above- 
 mentioned grievances, it would be an unaccountable 
 notion (agreeable to Gee's opinion) to make our ports free, 
 but after those political fetters are taken ofP, having so 
 many superior advantages, nothing could be feared but 
 by those who envy our success : Our natural advantages 
 are so great that they are the foundation of great part of 
 the riches of our rivals, and that they may make the 
 greater impression on the reader's memory, page 215, 
 
 143 where 
 
288 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 where they are enumerated, should be here turned to : 
 And after that view will any one doubt whether any 
 foreign manufacturers can underwork a people untaxed, 
 free from oppressions, and with such advantages ; 'tis an 
 aifront to the British nation to suppose it. We may 
 rather suppose, that by such blessings, upon every war or 
 calamity on the continent, the declining manufacturers 
 would fly to this asylum with their arts, adding wealth 
 and strength yearly to the nation. We have acted upon 
 narrow principles, as if the trade of the world could 
 be made subservient to our restrictions, which are incon- 
 sistent with its very nature, and always throw it into a 
 new channel. Customs have been compared to a trades- 
 man's setting up a turnpike at his door to raise money on 
 his customers, and would it be a wonder if they contracted 
 their dealings with so wrong-headed a man ? Sir Walter 
 Raleigh's Remark on the Fate of Genoa, fully proves this, 
 which being formerly a free-port, was the storehouse of 
 Italy, but setting a custom of 16 per cent, on goods im- 
 ported, they lost their trade of foreign merchandize to Leg- 
 horn, made a free-port by the Duke of Tuscany, which con- 
 tinuing still free, retains its flourishing condition. If such 
 a duty ruined the trade of Genoa, what wiU become of 
 ours that is loaded on some articles from 50 to \Q0 per 
 cent. ? 
 
 Monsieur Colbert made Lewis the XlVth so sensible 
 of the advantages accruing by easing the trade of France, 
 that after declaring in the introduction to the Tariff of 
 1664, that a large bounty should be given to encourage 
 manufactures and navigation, yet he lays not such a stress 
 upon the bounties as the lessening the duties on the ex- 
 ports and imports, which he calls the most effectual means 
 for the restoring of trade : What effect they have had, the 
 ruin of our sugar, Turkey, woollen, and home-fishing 
 trades declare. 
 
 The French now permit the landing the sugars and 
 144 indico 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 289 
 
 indico of their colonies^ at Havre and Bourdeaux for re- 
 exportation, duty free. 
 
 To conclude the remarks on this first article. What- 
 ever is necessary for life or manufactures, we should study 
 to let our people have in the cheapest manner, that the 
 poor may maintain themselves by their labour without 
 burdening the rich, and raise taxes only on the luxurious ; 
 and, if low prices rather prevent than encourage the con- 
 sumption of foreign vanities, why should we recommend 
 them by raising an esteem for them with high customs ? 
 Let, us politically, like the wise Dutch, tempt foreigners to 
 encourage our manufacturers, pay our ships freights, and 
 to our merchants commission, and warehouse-rent for the 
 goods they lodge here upon speculation; no concern of 
 ours what they are, we must get by them, so shall our 
 poor have full employment, our country become the store- 
 house, and our sailors the carriers of the world. 
 
 Second PROPOSAL. 
 
 To abolish our monopolies, unite Ireland, and put all 
 our fellow-subjects on the same footing in trade. 
 
 By abolishing monopolies, I only mean all exclusive 
 trades, not to prevent any from trading with a large joint 
 stock who choose it, but that every one should trade in 
 the manner he found most beneficial. 
 
 Of the Benefits arising by abolishing Monopolies, &c. 
 
 First, It will increase trade. 
 
 By restoring our people to their natural rights, and 
 145 allowing 
 
290 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 allowing tliem to gain, by their industry, an honest liveli- 
 hood, wherever they can find it. 
 
 By preventing any set of people from combining 
 together to raise extravagant wages for labour, or prices 
 for goods. 
 
 By furnishing us with the cheapest necessaries and at 
 the cheapest freights, the market being open for all. 
 
 By taking away from our goods all their present ficti- 
 tious value, whereby their cheapness must prodigiously 
 increase their vent ; especially the woollens, whereby the 
 price of wool will be raised, and its smuggling pre- 
 vented. 
 
 By lessening the French and Dutch woollen-trades, in 
 depriving their people of our wool to assort their goods. 
 
 By extending our commerce to three-quarter parts of 
 the globe, where it now languishes. 
 
 By ruining all foreign East-India Companies, who 
 could not support themselves against our free-traders. 
 
 By increasing the number of buyers at home for our 
 goodsj consequently raise their value; a company being 
 but one buyer. 
 
 By increasing the number of buyers abroad; private 
 dealers trade at a less expence than companies, and push- 
 ing against one another, must sell for reasonable profits, 
 whereby a greater vent is given to our goods. 
 
 By gaining us the herring-fishery, for the reasons 
 mentioned in page 240. 
 
 By increasing our navigation vastly; for by the fishery, 
 and by opening the East-India and Turkey trades, twenty 
 ships would be employed where one is now. There go 
 above twenty private ships to Africa, to one the company 
 sends. 
 
 By opening the woollen-trade of Ireland, that of 
 Britain will receive benefit (tho' the contrary is the com- 
 mon opinion) which I prove thus : Suppose one pack of 
 Irish wool of 6/. value, to make four cloths, that pack of 
 
 1 4G wool 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 291 
 
 wool being smuggled to France works up two packs of 
 French wool, making altogether twelve cloths. 
 
 A pack of Irish wool smuggled to France, hinders the sale of 
 twelve English cloths, supposing them of 61. value each, prevents 
 the circulating of ...... . £1^ 
 
 A pack of wool manufactured in Ireland, can hinder the sale 
 but of four English cloths at %l. each ; can prevent the circulating 
 but of ........ 24 
 
 The difference is . . . . £48 
 
 It is computed that one third of what Ireland gets centers here 
 at last, which on the four cloths at 61. each, making 24Z. is . 8 
 
 The benefit that England receives by every pack of wool manu- 
 factured in Ireland, instead of being run to France, is . . £56 
 
 The wool of France is too coarse to manufacture for 
 exportation, but being mixt with one third Irish, makes 
 saleable cloth ; every four cloths exported from Ireland as 
 above, stops the exportation of twelve French cloths ; the 
 foreign consumption is stiU the same, let who will supply 
 the market : Ireland can export no more manufactures of 
 our sorts than it grows wool, for were the English un- 
 taxed, and unmonopoHzed, they would manufacture all 
 their own wool ; if twelve cloths are wanted at any market, 
 and Ireland can supply but four, and France for want of 
 Irish wool, not any, Britain must supply the remaining 
 eight. 
 
 Our colonies in America extend as far north, and 
 farther south than the latitudes of Europe, and seem 
 capable of raising all European growths ; they have a more 
 convenient navigation to the Baltick and Mediterranean 
 than they have to each other : They build ships cheap, 
 have land for a trifle, therefore can supply the Baltick 
 with the southern growths, and the Mediterranean with 
 the northern growths, cheaper than they can each other, 
 therefore our ships with plantation cargoes, must swarm 
 in those seas, by low freights beat out other nations, and 
 
 147 be 
 
292 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 be the common carriers of Europe. The British Islands, 
 when free-ports, by their natural advantages must be the 
 center of the trade of Europe, therefore cargoes home will 
 present themselves in abundance; and our manufactures, 
 when reduced to their natural prices, becoming the 
 cheapest in Europe, the supply for the colonies must of 
 course be here : The labour of their white people being at 
 present very dear, our manufactures would come cheaper 
 to them than they could make them, and a free trade 
 causing a prodigious demand for their growths, these 
 would give better profit than manufactures, consequently 
 cause them to be neglected. Besides there must be a 
 large importation of negroes to raise these growths in oui* 
 colonies, which must increase the demand for our manu- 
 factures ; and as the northern colonies supply the French 
 and Spanish plantations with great quantities of provi- 
 sions, our people would have thereby opportunities to intro- 
 duce the cheap manufactures of Britain, to which the 
 saving the high European duties would be vastly con- 
 ducive. 
 
 By this proposal the taxes on Britain will be lessened, 
 suppose our numbers of people as follows. 
 
 In England ... 8 millions 
 
 Scotland ... 2 ditto 
 
 Ireland ... 2 ditto 
 
 America ... 1 ditto 
 
 Total . . 13 millions 
 
 The general amount of our taxes and part of their 
 consequences, in p. 183, is 15,289,375Z. 
 
 If part of the people, the 8 millions, in England, pay 
 this, it amounts to 1/. 18s. 2d. \ per head. 
 
 But suppose the tax on the consumers of luxuries to 
 take place, adding no artificial prices to goods, but dimi- 
 nishing the expences of the government, yet that by 
 
 148 paying 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 293 
 
 paying off our debts and carrying on public works, 8 mil- 
 lions of money are wanted, to which the whole 13 millions 
 of subjects contribute, it amounts but to 12s. Zd.^ per 
 head, not the one third of the above. 
 
 Thus by putting all our fellow-subjects on the same 
 happy footing, no discontents could arise, but a general 
 improvement spread over our whole dominions. 
 
 Secondly, It will employ our poor. 
 
 This is a consequence of the last remark, for the more 
 manufactures, navigation, and fisheries flourish, the greater 
 employment they provide for the poor. 
 
 Thirdly, It will increase the stock of people. 
 
 This is a consequence of the first remark, for wherever 
 trade is most free, thither people flock : If the door be 
 opened to receive, whatever sailors, fishermen, and manu- 
 facturers we want, will be drawn in. 
 
 Fourthly, It will increase our riches. 
 
 This is a consequence of the foregoing remarks, for 
 the abolishing monopolies making our goods cheaper, and 
 at the same time opening the trade of the whole world to 
 vend them in ; foreigners must be more indebted to us, 
 and the people that flock here teaching us new manufac- 
 tures, or improving some of those we already have, our 
 wants must grow less, and the general balance of trade be 
 brought more in our favour. 
 
 By opening the trade of Ireland and the colonies, 
 which countries being too poor to give it the extent it is 
 capable of, must therefore be carried on for years to come 
 by English stocks, consequently a great part of the profit 
 fall into the hands of the English merchants : Add to 
 which, that about one third of what Ireland and the colo- 
 nies get, is sent here for goods, or spent by absentees, 
 therefore the richer they grow, the richer must Britain 
 become. 
 
 Fifthly, It will increase the value of our lands. 
 
 This is a consequence of all the iibove remarks ; for 
 149 whatever 
 
294 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 whatever causes trade, employs our poor, increases the 
 stock of people, and increases our riches, must increase 
 the value of our lands ; for the proofs of which the reader 
 is referred to p. 250. 
 
 The abolishing of monopolies is proved to be the cause 
 of trade, which is the cause of all the other remarks; 
 therefore the abolishing of monopolies is a great increaser 
 of the value of lands. 
 
 Third PROPOSAL. 
 
 To withdraw the bounties on exported corn, and to erect 
 publick magazines of corn in every county. 
 
 Having shewn in p. 192 the prejudice we do our trade 
 in feeding foreigners cheaper by bounties than our own 
 people, and that the pretence of keeping up the value of 
 lands by any method that hurts trade must prove fallacious, 
 I shall now shew how their value may be kept up without 
 any bounties, viz. 
 
 By permitting each county to form a company at 100/. 
 each share, to erect magazines of corn, to be managed by 
 twelve or more directors, one sixth part of whom to go out 
 yearly, uncapable ever to be elected again, their shares to 
 remain one year unsold after they go out, as a security for 
 their past conduct. 
 
 No person capable of being chose a director who is not 
 possess'd of ten shares. 
 
 Every share to have a vote for directors. 
 
 That the stock be not less than one quarter of wheat 
 for each head in the county, after the computation of 
 5 persons to each house. 
 
 150 That 
 
Decline of the Foreign. Trade. 295 
 
 That they never buy but at 20«. per quarter of wheat 
 precisely. 
 
 That they never sell but at 40s. per quarter of wheat 
 precisely. 
 
 Except that to prevent its spoiling, with the consent 
 
 of a general court, they may sell the old corn, and 
 
 replace the same quantity of new. 
 
 That they never sell but to the millers of the county, 
 
 who shall give security to grind the wheat and not export 
 
 the flour. 
 
 That they never sell more per week than the 52nd 
 part of the corn they have in the magazines at the time 
 of opening. 
 
 That their general-courts be impowered to enact by- 
 laws. 
 
 Of the Benefits, arising by erecting publick Magazines 
 of Corn. 
 
 1 . It will increase trade. 
 
 By creating this new branch which we never yet had, 
 and by which the Dutch reap great advantage, and it can- 
 not fail answering the same to us ; for with regard to the 
 proprietors it may be observed, that this is a solid trade, 
 not liable to seizures at the caprice of foreign princes, to 
 captures by privateers, to storms and shipwrecks at sea, or 
 to the frauds of o'Jicers in remote countries ; here the 
 provident, who store up the excess of the bounties of 
 nature against the unavoidable calamities of bad seasons, 
 besides the pleasure of seeing our own people fully sup- 
 plied, whilst our neighbours are complaining, will be 
 benefited in their incomes, not by grinding the faces of 
 the poor, but by preventing their miseries ; and as corn is 
 seldom many years together under 40s. the magazines may 
 pay better interest than any of our present funds. 
 
 By rendering all our other laws relating to the im- 
 porting, engrossing, exporting, &c. of corn, needless; for 
 
 151 when 
 
296 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 when the fictitious value of our goods is taken away, we 
 can raise corn as cheap or cheaper than our neighbours, 
 therefore none can be imported for our own consumption 
 to sink the value of our lands, but only upon speculation 
 for better markets abroad, which a free-port trade giving 
 encouragement to, we should have thereby more corn in 
 more hands in the nation than at present, consequently 
 be less liable to be imposed on by engrossers, who even 
 could afford to sell to our own people 10 or 15 per cent. 
 cheaper than to foreigners by the freight, charges, and 
 risk being saved? and when any foreign demand happens, 
 having not only our own publick magazines for our own 
 supply, but also more private granaries, the exportation of 
 corn, so far from being dangerous, must create a trade 
 vastly beneficial. 
 
 By encouraging manufactures, as being a means to 
 keep labour low ; for as the income must bear its propor- 
 tion to the necessary expence, when corn in bad years is 
 dear with our neighbours, their labour, and consequently 
 their manufactures, must grow dear in proportion ; whilst 
 our own people being supplied cheap from the magazines, 
 are. able by cheap labour to bring their manufactures cheap 
 to market, whereby they make their way against foreigners, 
 and establish a reputation difficult to be removed. 
 
 By encouraging our navigation ; for as freights must 
 bear a proportion to the ship's expence, so by this method 
 our ship-owners in general will be furnished with biscuit 
 cheaper than either French or Dutch, and the cheaper our 
 freights the more of the carrying-trade must we get ; 
 besides, the importation of corn upon speculation for 
 better markets, and its re-exportation when the markets 
 are advanced, must give constant employment to a vast 
 number of ships. 
 
 2. It will employ our poor. 
 
 This is a consequence of the last remark, for the 
 cheaper labour can be performed, the more constant em- 
 
 1.52 ployment 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 297 
 
 ployment will be found ; and this being a means to feed 
 the poor cheaper in times of scarcity than foreignersj can 
 give no pretence of raising their wages above them^ but 
 the miseries the poor now suffer in hard winters be in a 
 great measure prevented, and the granaries and corn- 
 trade will furnish employment to great numbers of sailors, 
 watermen, carmen, §-c. ^c. 
 
 3. It will increase the stock of people. 
 
 This is a consequence of the encouraging trade and 
 employing the poor, as has been before proved ; to which 
 may be added, that all times of scarcity produce distempers 
 which carry off great numbers of people, whereas this will 
 prevent that calamity, consequently preserve many lives ; 
 and the better the means of living are in any country, the 
 more people will be drawn in to partake of them. 
 
 4. It will increase our riches. 
 
 By bringing in vast sums of money in scarce years 
 from foreigners. Sir Walter Raleigh, in his Observations 
 on Trade, presented to King James I. says, that Amster- 
 dam is never without 700,000 quarters of corn ; a dearth 
 in England, France, Italy, or Portugal, is truly observed to 
 enrich Holland for seven years after ; that in a scarcity of 
 corn in his time, the Hamburghers, Embdeners, and Dutch, 
 out of their storehouses furnished this kingdom, and from 
 Southampton, Exeter, and Bristol, in a year and a half 
 carried away near 200,000^. and he computes their supply 
 then for the whole kingdom carried away two millions. 
 Had magazines of corn been erected some years ago, 
 what immense sums might we not have brought into the 
 nation in the year 1740? 
 
 5. It will increase the value of our lands. 
 
 This is a consequence of all the above remarks j for 
 whatever causes trade, employs our poor, increases the 
 stock of people, and increases our riches, must increase the 
 value of our lands, for the proof of which the reader is 
 referred to page 250. 
 
 153 The 
 
298 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 The erecting publick magazines of corn is proved to be 
 the cause of trade, which is the cause of all the other 
 remarks : therefore the erecting of publick magazines of 
 corn is a great increaser of the value of lauds. 
 
 This proposal will prevent the price of wheat from 
 ever sinking so low as to ruin the farmer, but on the con- 
 trary keep up a good price that must even increase the 
 present natural value of our lands ; 20*. of real, true, 
 intrinsick value j9er quarter of wheat, taxes, 8fc. taken off, 
 being as good a price as 40s. 9d. |-f of the present ficti- 
 tious value ; at which last price if wheat could be kept 
 now, the value of our lands would rise considerably, con- 
 sequently must do the same when a price equivalent to it 
 is constantly preserved. 
 
 Fourth PROPOSAL. 
 
 To discourage idleness by well regulating our poor. 
 
 Sir Josiah Child's scheme in his Discourse on Trade, 
 chap. 2, seems very conducive to this, with some few addi- 
 tions. 
 
 That there be a Corporation established in every county 
 for regulating the poor, to consist of fifty persons with per- 
 petual succession, to be stiled Fathers of the Poor. 
 
 That the said number of fifty be constantly filled up 
 by election of the freeholders once a year. 
 
 That all the parish-officers within each county be subor- 
 dinate and accountable to their respective Corporations. 
 
 That the said Corporations have power to assess and 
 compel the payment from every parish in their county of the 
 medium of the poors rates raised in the three years pre- 
 ceding. 
 
 154 That 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 299 
 
 That one tenth part of the said sum be abated yearly, 
 until the whole in ten years time be done away, and the 
 poor maintained by the donations of the charitable only. 
 
 That each Corporation do appoint a treasurer to receive 
 the alms of all charitably disposed persons. 
 
 That the said Corporations have power to erect work- 
 houses, hospitals, working-schools, houses of correction, and 
 to exercise all other powers relating to the poor, that any 
 number of justices of the peace may now do in their quarter - 
 sessions, or otherwise. 
 
 That they receive none but infants, and persons well- 
 recommended for their diligence and sobriety, as proper 
 objects. 
 
 That each of the said fathers of the poor have power 
 to commit any vagrant, or person not having a visible 
 estate or trade, and their own disorderly poor, to the 
 county goal. 
 
 That the said commitments be bailable. 
 
 That at the assizes for the counties the persons names 
 so committed be called over, and those who cannot give a 
 good account of themselves be transported for three years. 
 
 That the said Corporations havepower to admit as mem- 
 bers, having equal power with those elected, every person 
 paying in lOOZ. to the poors use. 
 
 That seven or more fathers of the poor do make a 
 court. 
 
 That every minister and church-warden go together 
 once a year to every house in their parish to collect the 
 alms of charitably disposed persons, entering the same in 
 a book. 
 
 That the whole collection being made, the money be re- 
 mitted to the Corporation the parish belongs to, with the 
 said book signed by the said minister and church-wardens. 
 
 That all money given for the poor be accounted sacred, 
 and that it be felony to misapply, conceal, lend, or convert 
 it to any other use or purpose ivhatsoever. 
 
 155 That 
 
300 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 That every Corporation do publish its accounts yearly. 
 
 That whatever the said Corporations want, be publickly 
 bought of the lowest contractor. 
 
 That whatever the said Corporations dispose of, be 
 advertised to be sold by publick auction to the best bidder. 
 
 That whenever they want money, or whenever a time 
 of general calamity brings on an extraordinary charge, 
 they take care to give publick notice thereof, to stir up the 
 charity of all good people to relieve their distressed and 
 starving brethren. 
 
 Of the Benefits arising by well regulating our Poor. 
 
 1. It will increase trade. 
 
 For our poor seeing that no idle vagrants can live here, 
 but must be transported, and that none but those well 
 recommended for their diligence and sobriety can be main- 
 tained by the fathers of the poor in sickness or old age, 
 they must of necessity become frugal, industrious, and 
 work at such prices as trade will afford ; not spend half of 
 their wages in drink (as the British Merchant, Vol. 1, 
 p. 7, asserts it to be well known that ours do) whereby no 
 nation can out-rival us on account of the plenty of pro- 
 visions of all sorts that our country abounds with, and its 
 natural advantages for trade superior to any nation, the 
 exemption from oppression by taxes, the advantage of a 
 free-port; and other good regulations offered by these pro- 
 posals ; so that our poor, by abating their luxury and 
 idleness, will be able to work as cheap as any people, the 
 consequence of which is a certain increase of trade. 
 
 By taking ofP our burdensome and unjust poors rates 
 on the industrious, who now maintain the idle, our goods 
 will become cheaper, consequently more vendible. 
 
 2. It will employ our poor. 
 
 This is a consequence of the last remark ; for as 'tis 
 certain that they who bring their goods the cheapest to 
 
 156 market 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 301 
 
 market will have the most trade, so those that work the 
 cheapest must have the most employment; for 1. It will 
 be more constant by being cheaper. 2. Though they 
 receive a less number of pence for wages, yet they will be 
 more valuable by the prices of necessaries being freed 
 from taxes with their consequences. 3. The poor being 
 by this proposal inured to labour and restrained from 
 idleness, they will work more and spend less, therefore be 
 enabled to lay up a better provision for their families than 
 they now do. 
 
 3. It will increase the stock of people. 
 
 Though this has been proved before to be a certain 
 consequence of the two former remarks, yet as some peo- 
 ple, out of a false tenderness, may think that the trans- 
 porting of many vagrants may depopulate the nation, I 
 shall endeavour to show the contrary. 
 
 1. Idleness is the root of all evil, and two of the 
 punishments of evil-doers with us are hanging and trans- 
 portation, so that idleness deprives us of many people ; 
 but this proposal tending in its nature to make our people 
 frugal and industrious, will preserve and save many from 
 those two calamities. 
 
 3. Idleness brings on want, diseases, death, and thins 
 a nation ; but frugality and industry cause plenty, health, 
 long-life, and people a country. 
 
 3. Idleness disables men from supporting a family, 
 therefore prevents marriage ; frugality and industry enable 
 men to marry and stock a country with people. 
 
 4. If this proposal drives away the idle so much the 
 better, they are a burden instead of a benefit to the com- 
 munity; it will supply their places by increasing trade 
 with more deserving people from our neighbours, agree- 
 able to this maxim, such as your employment is for people, 
 so many will your people be. 
 
 5. When our people see that idleness is deemed a 
 crime, and punished accordingly, but that frugality and 
 
 157 industry 
 
302 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 industry are virtues^ rewarded with good wages and a 
 comfortable subsistence, a thorough reformation must 
 ensue among them, the idle be few, and this objection 
 vanish. 
 
 4. It will increase our riches. 
 
 This is a consequence of the other remarks, and of the 
 proposal itself, which tends to make our people indus- 
 trious ; the hand of the diligent maketh rich, and the 
 greater number of diligent hands we have, the more riches 
 we shall get. 
 
 5. It will increase the value of our lands. 
 
 This is a consequence of all the above remarks; for 
 whatever causes trade, employs the poor, increases the 
 stock of people, and increases our riches, must increase 
 the value of our lands ; for the proofs of which the reader 
 is referred to p. 350. 
 
 The well regulating our poor is proved to be the cause 
 of trade, which is the cause of all the other remarks, 
 therefore the well regulating our poor is a great increaser 
 of the value of lands. 
 
 Objection. But perhaps it wiU be said, that the poor 
 being left to subsist on charity only, will be starved. 
 
 To this I answer, that the great number of idle beg- 
 gars we now voluntarily maintain proves the contrary; 
 that in all times of general calamities our charity is emi- 
 nent, as Sir Josiah Child says it was after the fire of 
 London, and was again proved in the hard winter in 1739 ; 
 besides, the fathers of the poor hereby proposed being 
 persons of character and fortune, will for their own honour, 
 by their delicate sense of publick good, and their love for 
 true charity, take care to distinguish between the real and 
 pretended objects of want^ by which the numbers of the 
 former will appear to be but few, and they by good man- 
 agement maintained at a small expence, whereby the en- 
 couragement to charity will be vastly increas'd by people's 
 knowing certainly where to give their money to do good, 
 
 158 the 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 303 
 
 the want of which certain knowledge is a great damp to 
 our charity at present. 
 
 Therefore as we now maintain voluntarily more idle 
 people than really want, there can be no doiibt but they 
 will, when reduced to proper objects only, be sufficiently 
 provided for. 
 
 Fifth PROPOSAL. 
 
 To pay off our debts by publick bonds, bearing interest, 
 negotiable by indorsement, and liquidating part of our debts 
 yearly . 
 
 That books be opened at the exchequer for receiving 
 money from any person or persons desiring publick bonds, 
 which money to be applied immediately to pay off our 
 national redeemable debts; those that bear the highest 
 rate of interest and are of the longest standing to be first 
 paid off. 
 
 That the said bonds, for the conveniency of trade, be 
 for any sums not lower than 5/. nor exceeding lOOOZ. 
 
 That they be divided into classes according to their 
 rates of interest. 
 
 That the \st class do not exceed 3 millions sterling, at 3 per cent. 
 
 2 6 at 2-^ per cent. 
 
 3 9 at 2 per cent, 
 i 12 atli per cent. 
 
 5 15 at 1 per cent. 
 
 6 for the remainder of the debt at -i per cent. 
 
 That the bonds of every class be numbered, and the 
 numbers never altered. 
 
 That the interest be payable at an office to be erected 
 159 for 
 
304 An Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 for that purpose^ whenever it be called for^ and a new 
 bond given in the name of the person receiving it, with 
 its original number, and the date the interest is paid to. 
 
 That the bonds be negotiable by indorsement to any 
 creditor, and for any tax to the Government. 
 
 That the bonds for the amount of both principal and 
 interest, be a legal tender for any tax, bill of exchange, 
 note, or any debt whatsoever. 
 
 That a sum equal to the amount of one subsidy be 
 granted yearly by Parliament, to pay off our redeemable 
 debts and publick bonds, those that bear the highest rate 
 of interest, and are of the longest standing to be the first 
 paid off. 
 
 That publick notice be given in the Gazette monthly, 
 by the commissioners of the office, how far they can pay 
 off the bonds, specifying the number of the class, and 
 number of the bond they pay to ; the interest on all the 
 included numbers to cease and determine at the expiration 
 of three months after such notice. 
 
 That accounts be delivered yearly to Parliament by the 
 commissioners. 
 
 That a curious stamp be added to the bonds; for 
 though their being negotiable by indorsement only to 
 creditors, may make forgery difficult, yet too much cau- 
 tion cannot be used to prevent it intirely, and give the 
 bonds the greater credit. 
 
 Of the Benefits arising by paying off our Debts by 
 publick Bonds. 
 
 1. It will increase trade. 
 
 By putting our debts that have almost ruin'd us, on a 
 footing of being speedily paid ofi" with honour. 
 
 By creating a currency more valuable than our coin, 
 money lying by brings in nothing, but all these bonds pay 
 something for keeping, and I presume that no persons 
 
 160 (much 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 305 
 
 (umch less the bank or the bankers) would keep money by 
 them lying dead, when they could have current bonds that 
 bore only a half per cent, interest ; would the bank, who 
 are computed to have always a dead cash of above one 
 million by tbem, refuse making 5000Z. per annum profit of 
 it at a half ^er cent, in bonds ? could the directors answer 
 to the proprietors the neglect of not adding such a sum 
 yearly to their usual profits ? would any person take out a 
 bank-note that bore no interest, when he could have a 
 bond carrying a half per cent, and equally convenient, for 
 any trader would as soon give change for it, as for a bank- 
 note? 
 
 By increasing the currency of the nation ; for as trade 
 always languishes where money is scarce, so the benefit by 
 taking ofl' all monopolies might be defeated, for want of a 
 proper currency to carry on the flow of trade thereby 
 caused : whereas, adding an increase of currency to an 
 increase of trade, must carry it to a greater height than 
 we ever yet knew. 
 
 By reducing tbe interest of money, which is a great 
 encouragement to trade, by forcing people to industry, 
 who would otherwise live idle on the high interest of their 
 money ; whereas the interest of these bonds sinking gently 
 to a degree too low to indulge people in idleness, the pos- 
 sessors of them who have not lands to improve, must 
 either find out new branches of trade, or study to improve 
 tbe old ; enter into partnership with traders of experience, 
 or lend them their money to trade with, whereby private 
 credit wiU be increased, and our traders enabled to buy at 
 home with ready money, and sell at long credit abroad, 
 which will make them steal away the trade of all those 
 nations whose high interest will not enable them to do the 
 same, and the lower the interest the more moderate profits 
 our traders can content themselves vrith, whereby the 
 vent of our goods must be increased ; for was the natural 
 rate of interest at 3 per cent, a trader who borrowed 
 
 161 money 
 
306 Jn Essay on the Causes of the 
 
 money would think 4 per cent, good profit ; whereas he 
 who borrows at 4 per cent, cannot be satisfied with less 
 than 6 or 7, and must negleet all trades that will not give 
 that profit, which the Dutch by their low interest are glad 
 to undertake, and when our case is the same, so shall we. 
 
 By making our people frugal ; for a low rate of in- 
 terest forcing a low profit in trade, people's expences must 
 grow more moderate, and the less we consume the more 
 we shall have to sell, which is the most solid way to make 
 a nation rich. 
 
 By gaining more experience; for low profits raising 
 estates slowly, men cannot quit business so soon for idle 
 country lives as they do now, but must bring up their 
 children to their business, in order to assist them in their 
 old age, which may go on to the fourth or fifth generation, 
 before an estate is raised to turn country esquires upon, 
 whereby a foreign correspondency with the best houses, 
 the knowledge of proper workmen, and the characters of 
 masters of ships, are secured to the son by the father's 
 experience, consequently from such a foundation the ut- 
 most skill in trade must be attained. 
 
 2. It wilt employ our poor. 
 
 3. It will increase the stock of people. 
 
 These having been already proved to be the conse- 
 quences of the increase of trade, the reader is referred 
 back to these heads in the remarks on the foregoing 
 proposals. 
 
 4. It will increase our riches. 
 
 Not only as a consequence of the above remarks, but 
 also by reducing those vast dividends the foreign proprie- 
 tors of stocks have now remitted to them, whereby more 
 money will be kept in the nation. 
 
 5. It will increase the value of our lands. 
 
 This is the consequence of all the above remarks, for 
 whatever causes trade, employs our poor, increases the 
 stock of people, and increases our riches, must increase 
 
 162 the 
 
Decline of the Foreign Trade. 307 
 
 the value of our lands ; for the proofs of which the reader 
 is referred to p. 250. 
 
 The paying off our debts by publick bonds is proved to 
 be the cause of trade^ vfhich is the cause of all the other 
 remarks ; therefore the paying off our debts by publick 
 bonds is a great increaser of the value of lands. 
 
 Besides^ where plenty of currency is to be had, there 
 it will be borrowed by the land-holders, and employed in 
 different manures, cultures, plantations, new products, 
 whereby yearly improvements will be made, and when the 
 corn magazines are compleated, there being no other em- 
 ployment for money but in trade or lands, those who did 
 not understand trade, or care to trust their money to those 
 who did, or who had raised sufficient estates by it, must 
 become purchasers of land, which number by increasing, 
 must increase their value. 
 
 Having thus attempted to shew that our natural 
 advantages in trade are undoubtedly superior to any 
 nation's" whatsoever; that if properly cultivated they 
 would render us more formidable than France; conse- 
 quently than any country in Europe ; that if we had no 
 taxes but on the voluntary consumers of luxuries, and if 
 our trade was quite free, all fictitious value wou'd be taken 
 from our goods, whereby they might be afforded cheaper 
 than any in Europe, and if those vast sums that now lie dead 
 in our funds were circulating in bonds, we should raise 
 an immense trade aU over the world, a vast navigation 
 for our protection, increase the number of our people, give 
 employment to all our poor, accumulate riches yearly, and 
 that all this cannot be done without vastly increasing the 
 value of lands, which in the remarks on the several pro- 
 posals I have endeavoured fully to prove, to the conviction, 
 I hope, of those gentlemen for whose benefit this Essay 
 chiefly was intended, viz. our country-gentlemen the land- 
 holders of these three kingdoms. Before concluding T 
 
 163 must 
 
308 An Essay on the Causes of the, &c. 
 
 must repeat, that my chief intent herein was to remove 
 that destructive prejudice arising from the false distinction 
 of landed and trading interests, by shewing, that there 
 neither is or can be any difference of interest between 
 them; for whatever clogs trade must sink the value of 
 lands, and that any benefit to trade, how remote soever it 
 may seem from land, wiU at last terminate in increasing 
 its value ; therefore I dare boldly affirm, that the giving 
 trade the utmost freedoms and encouragements is the 
 greatest and most solid improvement of the value of lands. 
 It must be evident, says the author of Britannia Languens, 
 that were our trade eased as our neighbour nations, 
 England would have the superiority, since the same 
 causes must produce greater effects in England, being in- 
 vigorated with these our national advantages which no other 
 nation doth or can enjoy. 
 
 Was our trade eased and encouraged by the foregoing 
 proposals beyond that of our neighbours, to what a height 
 of riches and power would not our national advantages 
 carry us ? The consideration of which is hereby submitted 
 to the legislature, which can whenever it pleases make us 
 the most flourishing people in the world. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 Ifi4 
 
BRIEF ESSAY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 Advantages and Disadvantages 
 
 Which respectively attend 
 
 France and Great Britain, 
 
 With regard to 
 
 TRADE. 
 
 WITH SOME 
 
 PROPOSALS 
 
 For Removing the 
 
 Principal Disadvantages of 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN, 
 
 IN A NEW METHOD. 
 By JOSIAH TUCKER, MA. 
 
 Rector of St Stephens in Bristol, and Chaplain to the Right Reverend 
 the Lord Bishop of Bristol. 
 
 The THIRD EDITION Corrected, 
 With Additions. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 Printed for T. Trye, near Grays-Inn Gate, Holborn, 
 MDCCLIII. 
 
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 To the Right Honourable 
 THE 
 
 Earl of Halifax, 
 
 First Lord Commissioner 
 For Trade and Plantations. 
 
 My LORD, 
 
 PEemit me once more to wait upon your Lord _ 
 ship with a new Edition of the ensuing 
 Treatise, now greatly enlarged, and, I hope, in 
 some respects, made less unworthy of your Lord- 
 ship's protection. A Treatise relating to the In- 
 terests and Commerce of Great Britain, naturally 
 seeks to shelter itself under the patronage of an 
 Earl of Hahfax. 
 
 But there is still a more particular motive for 
 this address. His Majesty, ever studious of the 
 
 3 good 
 
Dedication. 
 
 good of his people, in appointing your Lordship 
 First Commissioner of Trade and Plantations, 
 hath shewn the most vigilant regard to the welfare 
 of both, by committing this important superinten- 
 dency to hands universally allowed the most able, 
 and the most inclined to execute so great a trust 
 with increasing success. Your Lordship, in a yery 
 short space of time, has confirmed our warmest 
 hopes. And Great Britain, with its dependent 
 colonies, form to themselves the most pleasing 
 prospects on this occasion. 
 
 Were not your Lordship's candour great as 
 your abilities, this inconsiderable performance 
 would never have appear'd before so skilful a 
 judge, nor the author have presumed to profess 
 himself in so publick a manner, what in great 
 truth he is, with the utmost respect and esteem. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 Your Lordship's most Obedient, 
 
 And most Devoted 
 
 Humble Servant, 
 
 JOSIAH TUCKER. 
 
THE 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ALL commerce is founded upon the wants, natural or 
 artificial, real or imaginary, which the people of 
 different countries, or the different classes of inhabitants 
 of the same country, are desirous, in defect of their own 
 single abilities, to supply by mutual intercourse. If this 
 commerce be carried on between the inhabitants of the 
 same country, with the growth or manufacture of that 
 country only, it is called liome consumption : Which is so 
 far serviceable, as it preserves the several professions and 
 stations of life in their due order, as it promotes arts and 
 sciences, with a rotation of industry, wealth, and mutual 
 good offices between the members of any community. 
 For these reasons, traffick, merely of this kind, is of great 
 importance, though it neither increases nor diminishes the 
 publick stock of gold and silver. 
 
 But Providence having intended that there should be a 
 mutual dependance and connection between mankind in 
 general, we find it almost impossible for any particular 
 people to live, with tolerable comfort, and in a civilized 
 state, independant of aU their neighbours. Besides, it is 
 natural for men to extend their views, and their wishes, 
 
 5 beyond 
 
314 Introduction . 
 
 beyond the limits of a single commuuityj and to be de- 
 sirous of enjoying the produce or manufactures of other 
 countries^ which they must purchase by some exchange. 
 Now this intercourse with other nations is called Foreign 
 Trade. And in the exchange of commodities, if one nation 
 pays the other a quantity of gold or silver over and above 
 its property of other kinds, this is called a Balance against 
 that nation va. favour of the other. And the science of 
 gainful commerce principally consists in the bringing this 
 single point to hear.* Now there can be but one general 
 method for putting it in practice; and that is, since gold 
 and silver are become the common measure for computing 
 the value, and regulating the price of the commodities or 
 manufactures of both countries, to export larger quantities 
 of our own, and import less of theirs, so that what is 
 wanting in the value of their merchandise, compared with 
 ours, may be paid in gold and silver. The consequence of 
 which will be, that these metals will be continually in- 
 creasing with us, as far as relates to that particular trade 
 and nation, and decreasing with them. And in what pro- 
 portion soever their money comes into our country, in 
 that proportion it may truly be affirmed, that our sailors, 
 
 6 freighters, 
 
 * This is spoken with respect to the ultimate balance of trade. 
 For in reference to the intermediate balance, it doth not always hold 
 true. A trade may be leneficial to the nation, where the imports ex- 
 ceed the exports, and consequently the balance paid in specie, if that 
 trade, directly or indirectly, is necessary for the carrying on of another 
 more profitable and advantageom. But then it is to be observed, this 
 trade is not beneficial considered in itself, but only as it is relative and 
 subservient to the carrying on of another. This is the case, with re- 
 spect to the greatest part of our trade to the Baltick, and the East- 
 Indies: They are instrumental in procuring a balance elsewhere, 
 though, properly speaking, disadvantageous in themselves. Which 
 brings the matter to the point from whence we set out ; viz. " That 
 " the science of gainful commerce consists, ultimately, in procuring a 
 " balance of gold or silver to ourselves from other nations." 
 
Introduction. 315 
 
 freighters, merchants, tradesmen, manufacturers, tenants, 
 landlords, duties, taxes, excises, &c. &c. are paid at their 
 expence. 
 
 Or to put the matter in another light ; when two 
 countries are exchanging their produce or manufactures 
 with each other, that nation which has the greatest number 
 employed in this reciprocal trade, is said to receive a 
 balance from the other ; because the price of the overplus 
 labour must be paid in gold and silver. For example ; if 
 there are only ten thousand persons employed in England 
 in making goods or raising some kind of produce for the 
 market of France ; and forty thousand in France for the 
 market of England. — Then we must pay these additional 
 30,000 Frenchmen in gold and silver ; that is, be at the 
 charge of maintaining them. This is the clearest and 
 justest method of determining the balance between nation 
 and nation : For though a difference in the value of the 
 respective commodities may make some difference in the 
 sum actually paid to balance accounts, yet the general 
 principle, that labour (not money) is the riches of a peo- 
 ple, will always prove, that the advantage is on the side of 
 that nation, which has most hands employed in labour. 
 
 The principles of trade therefore being so clear and 
 certain in themselves, and withal so obvious to any man of 
 common capacity and application, it is a very surprizing 
 matter how it comes to pass, that both men of good under- 
 standing are many times totally ignorant of them, and 
 merchants themselves so divided in their sentiments about 
 them. 
 
 As to ihe first case, perhaps it may be accounted for, 
 if we consider what disadvantageous notions men of a 
 liberal and learned education have imbibed of this noble 
 and interesting science ; on which the riches, the strength, 
 the glory, and I may add, the morals and freedom of our 
 country, so essentially depend. Yet it has been repre- 
 sented as a dry unentertaining subject, dark and crabbed, 
 
 7 perplexed 
 
316 Introduction . 
 
 perplexed with endless difficulties, not reducible to any 
 fixed and certain principles ; and therefore fit for none, 
 but the mercantile part of the world, to give themselves 
 any trouble concerning it. But upon a fair examination 
 it will perhaps appear, that this representation is revj false 
 and injurious. 
 
 As to the second, it must be indeed confessed, that mer- 
 chants themselves are very often divided in their sentiments 
 concerning trade. Sir * Josiah Child, Mr Gee, Mr Cary of 
 Bristol, and almost all commercial writers, have long ago 
 taken notice of this difference of opinions. But however 
 strange and unaccountable it may appear to persons not 
 conversant in these matters, there is a very strong and 
 convincing reason, when the affair is searched to the bot- 
 tom, for the disagreeing opinions of different merchants 
 pursuing their respective interests. The leading idea, or 
 the point aimed at by every merchant must be, in the 
 nature of things, and in every country, a balance in favour 
 of himself. But it doth not always follow, that this 
 
 8 balance 
 
 * The words of Sir Josiah Child strongly corroborate what is here 
 alleged. " Merchants, says he, while they are in the busy and eager 
 " prosecution of their particular trades, although they be very wise 
 " and good men, are not always the best judges of trade, as it rdates 
 " to the power and profit of a kingdom. The reason may be, because 
 " their eyes are so continually fixed upon what makes for their pecu- 
 " liar gain or loss, that they have no leisure to expatiate or turn 
 " their thoughts to what is most advantageous to the kingdom in 
 
 " The like may be said of all shop-keepers, artificers, clothiers, and 
 " other manufacturers, until they have left oiF their trades, and being 
 " rich, become by the purchase of lands of the same common interest 
 " with most of their countrymen." 
 
 This justly celebrated writer was himself an instance of the truth 
 of this observation. For, if I am not greatly mistaken, he did not 
 write this very treatise, till he had left off trade, and beinff rich, 
 became by the purchase of lands of the same common interest with the 
 rest of his countrymen. 
 
Introduction. 317 
 
 balance is likewise in favour of the nation ; much less of 
 other merchants, whose interests may be opposite to his 
 own. While therefore each person sees in a favourable 
 light his own branch of commercCj and desires to procure 
 all possible advantages to that traffick, on which the pros- 
 perity of himself and his family, perhaps totally, depends, 
 it is but reasonable to expect their sentiments should 
 clash. 
 
 Hence therefore some have thought, that a person of a 
 liberal and learned education, not concerned in trade, is 
 better qualified to engage in the study of it as a science, 
 than a merchant himself: Because, say they, his mind is 
 freer from the prejudice of self-interest, and therefore more 
 open to conviction in things relating to the general good. 
 They add, that though he may not understand the buying 
 and selling of particular commodities, or the fittest time to 
 bring them to a profitable market, (which is fhe proper 
 province of a merchant) yet he may understand, in what 
 respects the nature of that trade contributes to the loss or 
 gain of the puhlick, with a degree of evidence, which per- 
 haps the merchant never thought of: As being indeed not 
 concerned, merely as a merchant, in such kinds of dis- 
 quisitions. 
 
 But without pretending to determine who are the best 
 qualified to engage in the study of this most useful and 
 extensive science, let us rather humbly recommend it to 
 the attention of them both. For undoubtedly both have 
 their advantages ; and perhaps the application of both 
 together, might be more successful than either of them 
 separately. If the one should happen to be less self- 
 interested, by means of his situation in life, and more 
 open to conviction in cases relating to the general good ; 
 the other, for the very same reason, is more skilful in the 
 practice of trade, and a better judge, whether the project, 
 perhaps so fair in theory, is feasible hi fact. 
 
 As to the private interest of merchants, which is here 
 9 supposed 
 
318 Introduction. 
 
 supposed to be a Mass upon their minds^ this, most cer- 
 tainlyj coincides, for the most part, with the general in- 
 terest of their country : And so far it can he no argument 
 in their disfavour. But nevertheless, truth obliges us to 
 acknowledge, that in certain cases, * "a merchant may 
 " have a distinct interest from that of his country. He 
 " may thrive by a trade which may prove her ruin/^ Nay 
 more, he may be impoverished by a trade that is beneficial 
 to her. But undoubtedly, the moment he perceives he is 
 carrying on a losing trade, he will quit it, and employ his 
 thoughts and his substance in the prosecution of some 
 other. Moreover, as it is a ialance in favour of himself, 
 which is the principal object of his aims and endeavours, it 
 cannot be expected, but of two trades, both advantageous to 
 the community, he will embrace that which is most profit- 
 able to himself, though it should happen to be less gain- 
 ful to the publick. It is a maxim with traders, and a 
 justifiable one, to get all that can be got in a legal and 
 honest way. And if the laws of their country do give 
 them the permission of carrying on any particular gainful 
 trade, it is their business^ as merchants, to engage in the 
 prosecution of it. — As to the great point of national ad- 
 vantage, or disadvantage, this is properly the concern of 
 others, who sit at the helm of Government, and conse- 
 quently whose province it is, to frame the laws and regula- 
 tions relating to trade in such a manner, as may cause the 
 private interests of the merchant to fall in with the general 
 good of his country. 
 
 For these reasons therefore the appointment of the 
 Board of Trade, must certainly appear a very wise and 
 necessary institution. The intent and design being, as I 
 humbly conceive, to answer this very end. And the 
 
 10 honourable 
 
 * British Merchant, vol. II. page 141. fivo. Edition, 1721. See 
 likewise the instances there given to confirm this observation. 
 
Introduction. 319 
 
 honourable members of it may be looked upon in this light, 
 as the guardians of the publick welfare. In presiding 
 over the general commercial interests of the kingdom, 
 they are to inspect the several branches of trafiBck, that 
 are carried on, and to give notice to the legislature, 
 whether the profit of the kingdom, or of the merchant, is 
 Tuo&t promoted ; that the proper rem,edies, or encourage- 
 ments may be applied, according as the case requires, by 
 stopping up the former channels of a disadvantageous 
 trade, opening new ones, which may enrich the publick and 
 the adventurer together; encouraging him to persevere, 
 and to enlarge his dealings in every branch, which is 
 beneficial to the community; and in one word, by enabling 
 the merchant to find his own private advantage in labour- 
 ing for the good of his country. Self and social happiness, 
 in this case, must be made to unite : Otherwise it will 
 happen in this, as in most other affairs, that social happi- 
 ness will not be promoted at all. 
 
 And as the affairs of commerce must for these reasons 
 ultimately come under the cognizance of the legislature, 
 it were greatly to be wished, that men of eminence and 
 distinction, whose birth and fortunes procure them an ad- 
 mission into the British Senate, would employ a little 
 more of their time in the cultivation of a science, so 
 worthy of their greatest regard and attention. The in- 
 terest of their country, and their own, do both concur in 
 requiring such a conduct from them. I beg leave to 
 mention not only the interest of their country, but their 
 own : For it is a, most certain fact, though not sufficiently 
 attended to, that the landed gentleman is more deeply con- 
 cerned in the national effects of an advantageous or disad- 
 vantageous commerce, than the merchant himself. If this 
 assertion should appear a paradox to any one, I hope a 
 few lines will convince him of the truth of it. 
 
 Suppose then some general calamity to befal the trade 
 of the kingdom : — Or, to put a more striking case, sup- 
 
 i 1 pose 
 
320 Introduction. 
 
 pose the mouth of the Thames to be choked up with sands 
 and marshes, (as that fine river in France, the Rhone, 
 really is) so as to afford no port worth mentioning for the 
 purposes of commerce : In such a melancholy case, the 
 merchants, manufacturers, owners of ships, sailors, and all 
 the multitudes of tradesmen dependant upon this commerce, 
 would indeed be the first affected ; but they would not be 
 the greatest losers. For after the first shock, they would 
 easily remove with the best of their effects, and try their 
 fortunes elsewhere. But the landed gentleman, what must 
 he do ? he is bound down to the soil, and cannot remove 
 his estate, though the persons are gone, who used to con- 
 sume the product of it. Thus the evil becomes incurable, 
 and perpetual with regard to him, and every day increasing : 
 Whereas with respect to the merchant, it was only a shock 
 at first, which he has the chance of getting the better of, 
 by removing to a more advantageous situation. 
 
 It is fervently to be wished, that Providence may never 
 visit us with so terrible a judgment, as the choking up the 
 mouth of our principal river leading to the metropolis of 
 the kingdom. But the bare supposal of such a case is 
 sufficient to prove, I humbly presume, with irresistible 
 evidence, that the landed gentlemen in the counties ad- 
 jacent to London, are more deeply interested in the con- 
 sequences of the trade of London, than the merchants 
 themselves : And therefore, that those supposed distinc- 
 tions of landed interest, and trading interest, in the 
 sense they are commonly used, are the most idle and 
 silly, as well as false and injurious, that ever divided 
 mankind. 
 
 But above all, we must beg leave to observe, by M'ay of 
 inducement to the landed gentleman to turn his thoughts 
 to this study, that his very private interest is rather a help, 
 than a detriment to him in the prosecution of it. It puts 
 no wrong biass upon his mind, but directs him to the true 
 point of light, from whence to see, and to judge of these 
 
 12 affairs : 
 
Introduction. 321 
 
 affairs : Which is a circumstance in some respect peculiar 
 to his situation. 
 
 for, if we suppose the scene still to continue in and 
 about London, (though the same would hold true of any 
 other part of the kingdom) as the private interest of the 
 landed gentleman arises from the general commerce of the 
 placCj he can have no partial views in relation to trade, 
 nor can reap any advantage from monopolies, exclusive 
 companies, or such like destructive artifices. The more 
 persons there are employed in every branch of business, 
 the more there will be to consume the produce of his estate : 
 so that he will have no temptations to complain, that the 
 trade is over stocked, or wish the promotion of this trade, 
 in order to the declension of that. In short, his own in- 
 terest is connected with the good of the whole ; so that be 
 cannot but be extremely well qualified to understand, and 
 to promote it, if he will please to make use of the advant- 
 ages he is happily possessed of. 
 
 13 A 
 

 A BRIEF 
 
 ESSAY on TRADE. 
 
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 The principal Advantages of France 
 with refpect to Trade. 
 
 I^MnHE Natural Produce and Commodities of the 
 I Country. — These are chiefly wines, brandies, silk, 
 linen, hemp, and oil. I do not mention corn, for though 
 they raise a great deal, yet, as they are great bread-eaters, 
 they consume a great deal, and have little to spare for 
 exportation. Their harvests also are more precarious than 
 ours, and often fail. 
 
 II. The Subordination of the Common People is an 
 unspeakable Advantage to them in respect to Trade. — By 
 this means, the manufacturers are always kept industrious : 
 Thev dare not run into shocking lewdness and debauchery ; 
 to drunkenness they are not inclined. They * are obliged 
 
 15 to 
 
 * The law of France, obliges all unmarried men to serve as com- 
 rnon soldiers in the militia and the army, unless they have particular 
 exemptions on account of their stations and professions. 
 
324 An Essay on Trade 
 
 to enter into the married state ; whereby they raise up 
 large families to labour, and keep down the price of it : And 
 consequently, by working cheaper, enable the merchant to 
 sell the cheaper. 
 
 III. The rules and regulations they are obliged to ob- 
 serve in manufacturing their goods, and exposing them to 
 sale, is a great advantage to the credit of their manufac- 
 tures, and consequently to trade. All sorts of goods for 
 exportation, must undergo an inspection of the proper 
 officer in the publick hall: There they are compared with 
 the patterns or samples delivered in before. The bad, and 
 such as do not answer to their samples, are confiscated, 
 with a fine levied upon the offender. By these means, 
 the fraudulent designs of private traders, who would get 
 rich at the publick expence, ^x& prevented, and the national 
 manufactury constantly kept up in high credit. 
 
 IV. Their excellent Roads, their navigable Rivers and 
 Canals, are of singular Advantage to their Trade. — Their 
 great roads are always in good order, and always carried on 
 in a straight line, where the nature of the ground will 
 permit ; and made at a most prodigious expence ; each 
 province being obliged to make and repair their own roads. 
 And yet there is no expence for turnpikes from one end of 
 the kingdom to the other. 
 
 Their rivers are indeed, for the most part, the work of 
 Nature : The Seine, the Loire, the Garonne, and the 
 Rhone, with all the rivers which fall into them, help to 
 carry on a communication with most of the great cities of 
 the kingdom. 
 
 But their canals are their own proper praise; and 
 equally deserving admiration on account of their grandeur 
 and contrivance, as for their usefulness to trade, in lowering 
 the price of carriage. Among these, that of Languedoc, 
 and the two canals of Orleans and Briare, are worthy to 
 be particularly mentioned. By means of the former, a 
 communication is opened between Bourdeaux and Mar- 
 
 1 6 seilles, 
 
An Essay on Trade. 325 
 
 seilles, between the ocean and the Mediterranean, without 
 passing through the Straights of Gibraltar, and surround- 
 ing all the coasts of Portugal and Spain : And by virtue 
 of the two latter, an easy intercourse is maintained be- 
 tween all the great towns situated on the Seine and the 
 Loire. Many other canals there are, and more still in- 
 tended to be made, greatly advantageous to their commerce. 
 
 V. The French enjoy a great Advantage in the Good- 
 ness of their Sugar Colonies. — It is not owing to any su- 
 perior skill in them, or wrong conduct in us, nor yet any 
 greater oeconomy in their planters, or profuseness in ours, 
 (for upon the strictest enquiry, both will be found to be 
 very culpable) that they exceed us in the cheapness or 
 goodness of their commodities : but because our leeward 
 islands are worn out, being originally of no depth of soil ; 
 and the ground is more upon a level, consequently more 
 subject to be burnt up ; whereas their islands are still very 
 good. In Martinico particularly the ground is rich, the 
 soil deep, diversified with high hills, affording copious 
 streams of water, and refreshing shades. Another great 
 advantage which the French have over the English in their 
 sugar colonies, is their Agrarian Law, whereby monopo- 
 lists are prevented from engrossing too much laud. So 
 that the number of whites are greatly encreased, the lands 
 improved, more commodities raised, the planters obliged to 
 a more frugal manner of living, and all things rendred 
 cheaper. By these means Martinico can muster 16,000 
 fighting men ; but Jamaica, which is near three times as 
 as large, only 4,000. Add to this, that the inhabitants of 
 old France do not use the tenth part of the sugars for 
 home consumption, which the English do ; and therefore 
 have that commodity to export again to foreign markets, 
 and with it to encrease the national wealth. 
 
 VI. The French Colonies receive all their Luxuries and 
 Refinements of Living from their Mother Country ; which 
 is a very great Advantage to it. — They are not suffered, nor 
 
 17' indeed 
 
326 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 indeed doth it appear, that they are much inclined to go to 
 any other shop or market for these things. Neither have 
 they set up any manufactures of their own, to the prejudice 
 of their mother country. Indeed, as to the necessaries of 
 life, they supply themselves with them where they can; 
 and frequently buy of the English. But this is a case of 
 necessity, which cannot be subject to restraints. As to 
 articles of luxury, parade, and pleasure, we very seldom 
 hear that they buy any of them from us. 
 
 VII. The Manner of Collecting their Duties on several 
 Sorts of Goods imported, is of greater Advantage to Trade, 
 than can easily be imagined. — In the port of Bourdeaux 
 (and I take it for granted so good a regulation obtains in 
 other places) there are publick warehouses, very proper and 
 convenient, adjoining to the custom-house. And all pro- 
 visions and goods necessary for the use of their sugar 
 colonies, are there deposited by the merchant, till the ship 
 sails, duty-free paying only a moderate price for cellerage. 
 When she returns, the sugars, &c. are landed in the King's 
 warehouses, where they remain, tiU the importer has 
 found a purchaser for a proper quantity : Then he pays 
 the duty for that, and has it taken away, letting the rest 
 continue. Or if he intends these goods for exportation, 
 there they lie ready and convenient. By this means he is 
 never driven to streights on account of the King's duty; 
 and is enabled to carry on a very extensive trade with a 
 small stock. The consequence of which is, that many 
 persons are hereby capacitated to enter considerably into 
 commerce, who could not otherwise have done it. For 
 one thousand pounds sterling in France, will go near as 
 far as two thousand pounds in England. — Not to mention, 
 that as there is no money immediately advanced on ac- 
 count^ of the King's duty, the whole gains of the mer- 
 chant will arise only from the money actually in trade : 
 Now as this is less by near one half to what it would have 
 been, had the duty been all paid at once ; consequently he 
 
 18 can 
 
An Essay on Trade. 327 
 
 can afford to sell one AaZ/" less than he must have demanded 
 in the other case. 
 
 VIII. Their Neighbourhood to Spain, and present Con- 
 nection with it, is of so great Advantage, as to he worth 
 all their Trade besides. — For it is certain, they get tnore 
 from the Spaniards than all the trading nations in Europe, 
 Their poor from Perigord, lAmosin, and other places, come 
 yearly into Spain to reap their corn, and gather in their 
 vintage ; and carry back what they have earned to spend 
 in France. The fishermen from Bayonne, and the neigh- 
 bouring places, supply them with great quantities both 
 oi fresh and salt fish to eat on fast-days, and to keep Lent. 
 The pedlars and shop-keepers in Spain are mostly French, 
 who retire into their own country when they have made 
 ^eir fortunes. The towns in Languedoc supply them with 
 cloth, silks, and stockings, Rouen with hats, and coarse 
 linen stuffs; Abbeville with superfine cloths : Amiens and 
 Arras, with worsted and camblet stuffs ; and Lions, with 
 all sorts of rich silks, gold and silver lace, &c. for their 
 consumption both in Europe and America. In short, the 
 greatest part of the produce of the mines of Potosi is 
 brought into France. Hence it is, that their payments 
 are all in silver ; and gold is more scarce in France, in the 
 currency of coin, than silver is in England. A plain 
 proof, that they have the great trade to Spain, as we have 
 to Portugal. 
 
 IX. Their Address in drawing raw Materials from other 
 Countries to work up in their own, serves greatly to en- 
 large and extend their Trade. — France produces some wool 
 and silk ; but not a fourth part of what they manufacture. 
 Wool they import from Barbary, the Levant and Spain. 
 They also bring wool from Switzerland. Some little per 
 haps is run from England; but, I have good reason to 
 believe, not much. The quantity from Ireland is very 
 considerable ; which is owing to our own wrong policy. 
 The best of their raw silk they draw from Piemont, the 
 
 19 Levant, 
 
328 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 Levant, Italy, and Spain. Their cotton is brought from 
 the Levant, and from their sugar colonies. And the 
 ashes for making soap at Marseilles, are chiefly imported 
 from Egypt. 
 
 X. They reap unspealcable Advantage, by the Permission 
 and Encouragement given to Foreign Merchants and Manu- 
 facturers to settle among them. — By this good policy the price 
 of labour is always kept sufficiently low. A competition and 
 emulation are raised, who shall work, and sell the cheapest ; 
 which must turn out greatly to the national &A\s.ntage, 
 though it may not be so favourable to the private interest 
 of individuals. For these reasonSj the Government is 
 particularly gentle and indulgent to foreigners. And the 
 situation of the country is greatly assistant to this dispo- 
 sition of the Government. — France is surrounded with 
 populous, that is, prolifick nations, who have no trade and 
 manufactures of their own to employ their poor. Flanders, 
 all Germany on the side of the Rhine, Suntzerland, Savoy, 
 and some parts of Italy, pour their supernumerary hands 
 every year into France ; where they are caressed, and 
 received into the army, or the manufacture, according to 
 their inclinations. The Rhone is so easy and cheap a 
 conveyance, for the swarms of inhabitants bordering on 
 the lake of Geneva, that so small a sum as one shilling, or 
 eighteen pence each person, will bring them to the chief 
 manufacturing town in the kingdom, viz. Lions. And 
 there are said to be no less than ten thousand Swiss and 
 Germans employed in that city. The numbers also in all 
 the other commercial towns are very great, and daily 
 increasing. 
 
 XI. The English ilibwoj9oZie«, which are so destructive to 
 the Interests of Great Britain, become, for the very same 
 Reason, of the greatest Benefit and Advantage to Prance. — 
 Marseilles is a flagrant, and a melancholy proof of this 
 assertion. For the trade of this place \\ath. flourished and 
 increased ]\)L&i in the same proportion, as that of our Turky 
 
 20 Company 
 
An Essay on Trade. 329 
 
 Company sunk and declined. All the fine streets and new 
 buildings of the city^ date their original from this period. 
 So that we may truly say, they were built, and are now 
 supported, by the exclusive Turlcy Company of England. 
 Moreover, the English Hudson's Bay Company is the only 
 cause, which can make the French settlements in so 
 wretched a country as the northern parts of Canada, to 
 flourish; with so difficult and dangerous a naviga- 
 tion, as that up the Bay of St Lawrence. It is this, 
 and no other, is the cause that enables them to ex- 
 tend their colonies, and to undersell the English in all 
 the articles of furr ; which they apparently do in times 
 of peace. 
 
 XII. The publick Stock of Wealth is greatly encreased, 
 by Foreigners of all Countries travelling among them. — 
 The advantages from hence accruing have not been so 
 much attended to, as, I humbly think, they justly deserve. 
 For while these foreigners reside in the country, they not 
 only pay for their food and board at an high rate, but they 
 also cloath themselves with the manufactures of it, and 
 buy many curiosities. But this is not all : For having 
 contracted a liking to the produce and manufactures of the 
 country they travelled in, they continue to use them when 
 they are returned to their own ; and so introduce them to 
 the knowledge, esteem and approbation of others : This 
 begets a demand; and a demand for them draws on a 
 correspondence, f^-A a settled commerce. These are the 
 advautages which the French enjoy by such numbers of 
 foreigners travelling among them ; whereas they scarce 
 ever travel themselves ; and by that means circulate the 
 money in their own country. 
 
 XIII. France enjoys no small Advantage, as it doth 
 not lose much by the Article of Smuggling, in comparison 
 to what England doth. — This is owing to the strictness of 
 their government, the many spies they have upon every 
 man's actions, and being able to punish the slightest of- 
 
 31 fence 
 
330 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 fence more severely^ and in a more summary way than we 
 can^ or is consistent with a free constitution to do. 
 
 The Principal Disadvantages of France with regard 
 to Trade. 
 
 I.rrMIE first Disadvantage to a free Trade is the Go- 
 M vernment, which is arbitrary and despotick; and 
 therefore such as a merchant would not chuse to live under, 
 if he knows the Sweets of Liberty in another Country, 
 and has no attachment of Family, or Interest, to keep 
 him still in France. — It must be acknowledged, his pro- 
 perty, generally speaking, is secure enough, but his person 
 is not so. To explain this, we must beg leave to observe, 
 that though there are fixed and stated laws in France to 
 decide all cases oi property, and criminal causes, as here in 
 England; so that a man may know the rules he is to be 
 governed by in those respects, and can have an open trial 
 for his life and fortune : Yet there are no laws to ascertain 
 the nature of political offences, or to circumscribe the 
 power of the judge: So that he must be entirely ai the 
 mercy of the Lieutenant de Police, and his deputies ; who 
 can imprison him at will, without assigning any reason, or 
 bringing any evidence to confront him. And therefore 
 his only security consists, in being continually lavish in 
 the praise of the King and the Ministry, and in saying 
 nothing which may afford the least pretence to the spies, 
 who swarm all over the kingdom, to inform against him. 
 
 II. The second Disadvantage to the Freedom of Trade, 
 is the Romish Religion, which has added to its many other 
 Absurdities, a spirit of cruelty and persecution, so repug- 
 nant to the Scope and Tendency of the Gospel. — Therefore 
 a Protestant merchant, if at the same time a conscientious 
 
 22 man. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 331 
 
 man, will find himself very often reduced to great difiicul- 
 ties, in order to avoid on the one hand the sin of hypocrisy, 
 by compliances against his conscience, or on the other, the 
 danger attending the exercise of his religion, and the edu- 
 cating of his children in the Protestant way. This, I say, 
 will often happen, even at present ; though the bigotry of 
 the court of France is not near so great, as it was informer 
 times. 
 
 III. Another great Burden, and consequently a Dis- 
 advantage to the Trade of France, is, the great Number of 
 Religious of both Sexes. — The lowest computation of these 
 amounts to near three hundred thousand persons : A great 
 part of which number might, and would be employed in 
 trade and manufactures ; and the rest might be useful to 
 society in other spheres. But that is not all ; they are 
 a very heavy weight upon the publick. Vast estates are 
 appropriated for the support of some of these religious 
 orders, whose fund is continually accumulating, not only 
 by legacies and donations, but also by whatever fortune 
 each person is possessed of, at the time of taking the vow. 
 And others, who are of the mendicant orders, and are 
 allowed to have no property, become a continual tax upon 
 the industry and charity of the people ; and these mostly 
 of the middling and lower sort. Not to mention the in- 
 creasing riches and dead wealth in all their churches. 
 
 IV. A fourth great Disadvantage to the Trade of 
 France, is their numerous and poor Nobility. — The nature 
 and constitution of that government require the notion of 
 birth and family to be kept up very high, as it will always 
 create an indigent nobility, and consequently dependant 
 upon the court for such preferments as may not deroge ; 
 or bring a stain upon their family. Moreover, the same 
 refined policy induces the court to make the military ser- 
 vice be esteemed the most honourable ; as it must render 
 the whole body of the nobility soldiers to fight their battles ; 
 the richer serving for glory, and the poorer for an honour- 
 
 23 able 
 
332 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 able support. The consequence of all this is, that they 
 heartily despise the Bourgeois*, that isj the merchant and 
 tradesman : and he, when he gets rich, is as desirous of 
 quitting so dishonourable an employ, wherein his riches 
 cannot secure him from insult and contempt. Being there- 
 fore ambitious of raising his own family to be of the no- 
 blesse, he leaves off trade as soon as he can, and breeds up 
 his sons to the military profession, or purchases some 
 office in the law on civil government, which may ennoble 
 them. 
 
 V. The Trade oi France suffers another Inconveniency 
 by the Nature of its Taxes. — Some of these, in certain 
 provinces, are very arbitrary; as the taille, which is 
 levied mostly upon the poor peasants and manufacturers 
 in the country villages. Others are very heavy ; as the 
 duty upon salt, which is shockingly oppressive. Others 
 again, though not quite so oppressive, are yet equally 
 improperly laid ; because they are upon the necessaries of 
 
 24 life, 
 
 " In France, the inhabitants are usually distinguished by three 
 ranks, or orders ; the Nohlesse, the Bourgeois, and the Paisans. 
 Each of these are totally distinct from the other. The posterity of 
 the Noblesse are aU Noblesse, though ever so poor, and though not 
 honoured with the titles of count, marquis, <fec. as noUemen are here 
 in England. The posterity of a bourgeois, though ever so rich, and 
 though the family have left off trade a hundred years ago, are BtUl 
 but bourgeois, until they are ennobled by patent, or have wiped off the 
 disgrace of having been merchants, by some signal military service, 
 or have purchased some honourable employ. Therefore when the 
 noblesse call the merchants bourgeois, burgesses, they mean it as a term 
 of infamy and reproach, answering to that of pitiful low mechanicTc in 
 English. Indeed, by some ordinances, the noblesse are permitted to 
 engage in certain branches of foreign and wholesale trade, without 
 bringing any stain upon their family. But these permissions wiU 
 have very little eflScacy to induce the nobility to turn merchants, as 
 long as the military service is so highly exalted in credit and reputa- 
 tion above merchandize. The very genius of the government, makes 
 it a scandal not to be a soldier : Laws will have little force against 
 this. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 333 
 
 life, which are to feed the tradesman, and to victual the 
 shipping. Thus^ for example, all sorts of provisions, corn, 
 wine, butchers meat, poultry, eggs, fish, garden-stuff, and 
 fruit, pay a duty at the entrance of some of their great cities. 
 There are duties also lately laid upon soap and candles. 
 And in the Pais des Etats, where the most grievous of 
 these imposts are not levied, they lay a provincial duty 
 upon all things going in or out of that province, which 
 mates the merchandise so passing through, become the 
 dearer at a, foreign market. 
 
 VI. The Maitrises, which so generally prevail in 
 France, is a Clog to the Trade of the Country. — These 
 maitrises are much the same as our companies in towns 
 corporate ; only we have this advantage, that in England 
 their pernicious effects can be more easily eluded by having 
 shops, ^c. within glass windows. Besides, our best manu- 
 facturing towns, such as Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, 
 and even four-fifths of London itself, viz. Westminster, 
 Southwark, and all the suburbs, have no companies at all. 
 Whereas in France all tradesmen are obliged to be free of 
 their proper maitrise, before they can set up. The fine 
 for this, in some trades, is very considerable. And there 
 is also in time of war, an annual demand of a certain pro- 
 portion of men out of each maitrise ; which is understood 
 to imply a sum of money by way of equivalent. Thus, the 
 more these maitrises become useful to supply the exigen- 
 cies of the government at a pinch, the more privileges they 
 will acquire ; and the greater the privilege is of any par- 
 ticular company, the less will be the general trade of the 
 country. 
 
 VII. The French sustain some Disadvantage by their 
 Monopolies and exclusive Charters. — They have an East- 
 India Company at Port I' Orient : Marseilles is a free port 
 for the Levant and Barbary trade ; whereas there is a duty 
 of 20 per cent, upon all merchandize of those countries, 
 if imported into any other port of France in the Mediter- 
 
 25 ranean. 
 
334 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 ranean. And even at Marseilles, there is a particular 
 exclusive company for importing corn and wool from 
 Africa. Lions is free for all silk entering, or going out ; 
 whereas there is an heavy duty in the neighbouring towns ; 
 by which means, Lions may be said to have an exclusive 
 charter. And there is good reason to conclude, there is 
 something of the same nature for the Turky cloth at 
 Carcassonne, the silk and worsted stockings at Nismes, the 
 clothing for the soldiery at Lodeve, the superfine cloth at 
 Abbeville, the stuffs at Amiens, the camblets at Arras, the 
 painted linens and cottons at Roilen, &c. 
 
 VIII. The French labour under no small disadvantage 
 on Account of the Ewpence they are at in the Article of 
 Shipping. — They have more men to navigate their ships 
 than the English, because they are not so expert sailors. 
 They must carry some supernumerary landmen, by the 
 King's orders : They must have many officers to govern 
 these men, because the merchant is to be responsible for 
 them when the ship returns. These officers will have a 
 grand table, a cook, and new bread every day. The ship 
 lies long in port, if sent to the West-Indies to dispose of 
 the cargo : Because their Creolians are said to be so dis- 
 honest, that they do not care to trust them with commis- 
 sions. And so the expences of the officers and of the 
 crew run very high. Add to this, that the officer be- 
 longing to the marine in France, will find ways and 
 means to give great trouble to the merchant, both as 
 to the choice of sailors, and of officers, unless he is 
 properly considered : Which is generally done by buying 
 some ship stores of himself, or friends, at an exorbitant 
 price. 
 
 IX. The two National Vices of the French, Gaming 
 and Fine Clothes, is a great Hurt to their Trade. — These 
 expences cannot be supported but by a large profit ; and 
 that wiU always lessen the demand at a foreign market, if 
 their neighbours can afford to sell cheaper. Not to mention 
 
 26 the 
 
An Essay on Trade. 335 
 
 the swift ruin which gaming sometimes brings on, and the 
 loss of time occasioned by it. 
 
 X. The situation of the French portSj are a great 
 disadvantage to them, with respect to the Hamburg and 
 Northern trade : And in regard to the Southern and West- 
 Indies, they are not better situated ; and are not near so 
 many, nor so good as ours, especially if we take Ireland 
 into the account. They have only an advantage with 
 respect to the Mediterranean. 
 
 XI. The Farming of the Revenue is another great 
 Disadvantage to the Commerce of France. For these 
 Farmers have most immoderate Profits, and live in aU the 
 Splendour and Expence of the first Princes of the Blood. 
 And as they act by the King's Authority, they tyrannise 
 over the Subjects with Impunity. — Yet I cannot see how 
 the French Government can be without such a set of 
 people. For when money is wanted, they are ready to 
 lend, while the subject is afraid : Therefore they borrow of 
 the subject, giving their own securities, and then lend to 
 the government at an advanced price, paying themselves, 
 as the duties are collected. 
 
 To these disadvantages, it has been intimated, I ought 
 to have mentioned their many holidays, on which they 
 must not work, and their pompous processions, which draw 
 the people a gazing after them. — The thought did occur to 
 me before, at the time of writing the first edition : But / 
 suppressed it then, and now beg leave to assign the reasons ; 
 viz. In the first place, these things are greatly wearing 
 off in France every day ; so that the loss of time is not so 
 considerable, as one may imagine. Secondly, allowing that 
 some time is idled away during these holidays, and in seeing 
 processions, ^c. stiU, if we cast up the account of the time 
 and money which are spent here in England by all sorts 
 of manufacturers in horse-races, cock-fightings, cricket- 
 matches, bull-baitings, but more especially in mobbing and 
 electioneering, (all which are not in France) I am per- 
 
 27 swaded. 
 
336 An Essay on Tradd 
 
 swaded, we shall find the advantage gained over thenij on 
 the score of their holidays and processions, to be none at 
 all; and that upon comparing both articles together, the 
 amount of the disadvantages will be found to be greater on 
 our side, than on theirs.* 
 
 The principal Advantages of Great Britain with respect 
 to Trade. 
 
 I.r I IHE natural Produce and Commodities of the 
 I Country ; Corn, Wool, Lead, Tin, Copper, Coal^ 
 Butter, Cheese, Tallow, Leather. — All which are not to 
 be found in France, in that plenty and abundance they are 
 in England. 
 
 II. The Number, Goodness, and Situation of our Ports. 
 — Those on the western side of Great Britain (especially if 
 we reckon Ireland a part of ourselves, and include both 
 islands under one general interest, as in reason and policy 
 we ought to do) are almost as well situated for the southern 
 trade, as the French ; They are four times as many in 
 number, and much better for safety, and depth of water. 
 And as to the north and Baitick trade, the French can 
 come into no comparison with ours. 
 
 III. Nature has been very bountiful, in bestowing on us 
 such excellent Fisheries ; particulary the HerrinA) -Fishery, 
 on the Northern coasts of Scotland, and the Cod on the 
 South West of Ireland. — These great advantages are always 
 in our power to cultivate and improve ; and it is our fault, 
 and our reproach, that we do not. 
 
 IV. England enjoys another Advantage by means of 
 its/ree Government. — A merchant can go to law with the 
 Crown, as easily as with z. private subject. The judges are 
 28 for 
 
 * Some statements supplementary to this chapter, are given iu 
 the Appendix. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 337 
 
 for the life of the Prince on the throne, and consequently 
 not under the immediate influence of the court. No man's 
 person can be detainedj but a reason must be given, and 
 the matter brought to an open trial, where his equals are 
 to be h.\s judges, and to decide between him and the Crown, 
 whether he hath committed an offence against the State, or 
 not. 
 
 V. Another inestimable Blessing, and a great Advant- 
 age, considered merely in a Commercial View, is the 
 Liberty of Conscience we enjoy in these Kingdoms. — Every 
 man is permitted to worship God in the way he thinks the 
 right and true, without fear or reserve ; and may educate 
 his children in his own religion. Tlie Roman Catholicks 
 indeed are under some legal discouragements : But it is 
 plain, the legislature considered them rather as a political, 
 than a religious sect, when those laws were enacted. And 
 \he. present government, by its conduct towards them, has 
 given them sufficiently to understand, that they shall not 
 be disturbed in the free exercise of their religion, provided 
 they will give no disturbance to the state in civil affairs, 
 by siding with its enemies. This, surely, is but a reason- 
 able demand : And here the matter seems to rest. 
 
 VI. England has always enjoy'd an Advantage in 
 Trade, as its Manufacturers have ever been in high Repute 
 
 for their Skill and Ingenuity. — Our locks, chains, clock- 
 work, mathematical instruments, and all sorts of cutlery 
 ware, far exceed all others at this day, and are deservedly 
 preferred by foreign nations. And our sailors are con- 
 siderably superior to the French, in their art and dexterity. 
 
 VII. England enjoys a very visible Advantage over 
 France, as the whole Bulk of our People may be concerned 
 in Trade, if they please, without any Disreputation to their 
 Families. — The profession of a merchant is esteemed full 
 as honourable as that of an officer. And no man need 
 leave off trade, when he finds himself rich, in order to be 
 respected as a gentleman. It is likewise wo scandal for 
 
 29 younger 
 
338 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 younger brothers of the most antient families to be bred 
 up to trade and business. 
 
 VIII. We enjoy a singular Advantage by our vast 
 Colonies on the Continent of America. — From Newfound- 
 land to Georgia, is an immense country; where all the 
 inhabitants do use more or less of the growth of their 
 mother country; and England again receives the produce 
 and growth of theirs. This is a mutual benefitj and still 
 improveable. 
 
 IX. The island of Jamaica has some advantages over 
 any of the French islands^ on account of its situation^ to 
 carry on a beneficial trade with the Spanish main ; the 
 sweets of which have been so sufficiently felt during the 
 late war, as to need no further illustration. And this 
 island is capable of great improvements in many other 
 respects. 
 
 X. The very Wants of Great Britain, in one Respect, 
 might be turned into a singular Advantage over the French 
 in another. — It is certain, France cannot carry on a trade 
 to most countries with that advantage to the country it 
 trades with, as the English can. — For example ; the En- 
 glish can trade with the Spaniards to mutual advantage ; 
 If the English export cloth and stuffs to Spain, they can 
 take off fruits, oil and wine, by way of barter. Whereas 
 the French can make no use of these commodities, having 
 so much of their ovm growth both to use, and to spare. — 
 A consideration of this nature, well timed, and strongly 
 urged, might have a good effect upon the Spanish court, to 
 induce them to favour the English commerce, and dis- 
 countenance the French. It is owing to the successful 
 application of Sir Paul Methuen on. this very head, when 
 envoy to the court of Portugal, that the English at this 
 day enjoy the whole trade of Portugal, and that the French, 
 in a manner, are excluded. 
 
 XI. The low interest of m.oney, and the easy and 
 expeditious transfers in the funds, give to Great Britain a 
 
 30 manifest 
 
An Essay on Trade. 339 
 
 manifest advantage in the affairs of commerce. For were 
 the interest as high as in France, the exportation of our 
 manufactures would be much dearer^ as every exporter 
 would expect to get a profit superior to the interest of 
 money ; the sure consequence of which would he, a lessen- 
 ing of the quantity exported. — Besides, the merchants of 
 London, by means of East-India bonds, and the quick 
 transfers of stocks, are enabled to make a profit of their 
 money, when not employed in trade; by which means 
 they can afford to buy and sell for less gains. 
 
 The principal Disadvantages of Great Britain with regard 
 to Trade. 
 
 I.fTlHE first and capital Disadvantage, is the fFant of 
 I Subordination in the lower Class of People. — This 
 is attended with dreadful consequences, both in a com- 
 mercial and a moral view. If they are subject to little or 
 no contrail, they will run into vice : Vice is attended with 
 eocpence, which must be supported either by an high price 
 for their labour, or by methods still more destructive. The 
 end of all is poverty and disease ; and so they become a 
 loathsome burden to the publick. Nothing is more visible, 
 than the great difference between the morals and industry of 
 the manufacturing poor in Prance, and in England. In the 
 former, they are sober, frugal, and laborious : They marry, 
 and have flocks of children, whom they bring up to labour. 
 In the latter, they are given up to drunkenness and debau- 
 chery : The streets swarm with prostitutes, who spread the 
 infection, till they are carried to an hospital, or fheix grave. 
 The men are as bad as can be described ; who become more 
 
 31 vitious, 
 
340 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 vitious, more indigent and idle, in proportion to the ad- 
 vance of wages, and the cheapness of provisions : Great 
 numbers of both sexes never working at all, while they 
 have any thing to spend upon their vices. 
 
 II. The prodigious Expence of Electioneering, is 
 another fatal Stab to Trade and Industry. — It is not only 
 so much money spent, but it is spent mostly upon manu- 
 facturers ; and so it gives them a taste for idleness, and 
 brings on an habit of drunkenness, and extravagance. The 
 want also of subordination, just now complained ofj is 
 mostly to be imputed to the same cause^ as it sets them 
 above controU, frees them from all restraint^ and brings 
 down the rich to pay their court to them, contrary to the 
 just a,nd proper order of society. 
 
 III. Another very great Burden on the English Com- 
 merce, is the vast Numbers of Poor ; and those every Day 
 increasing. — If we trace the matter to ii% fountain-head, 
 we shall find it to be owing principally to the same causes, 
 viz. electioneering, and the want of subordination. And if 
 a calculation was made of the ewpences of electioneering, 
 and the ruinous consequences of it, together with the 
 annual poor tax, I am very sure it would exceed, in the 
 proportion, what France expends in maintaining three 
 hundred thousand religious of both sexes : So that we gain 
 no advantage over France in this respect, through our own 
 dissoluteness and ill management. 
 
 IV. Our Trade is greatly burthened by the Nature of 
 most of our Taxes, and the Manner of Collecting them. — 
 The customs on the goods imported, make those goods 
 come much dearer to the consumer, than they would do, 
 if the consumer himself was to pay the duty : And this 
 becomes a strong temptation to our people to smuggle. The 
 taxes upon the necessaries of life, are in fact so many taxes 
 upon trade and industry : And such must be accounted the 
 duties upon soap, coal, candles, salt and leather. Likewise 
 the duties upon the importation of foreign raw materials, 
 
 32 to 
 
An Essay on Trade. 341 
 
 to be employed in our own manufactures, are so many 
 fetters and chains to prevent the progress of labour, and 
 circulation of wealth. These imposts were first laid on, 
 under a notion of promoting the landed interest; but 
 happy would it have been for these kingdoms, if the landed 
 gentlemen had understood their interest, before they 
 attempted to shcAV their zeal in promoting it. 
 
 Moreover, the expensive manner of collecting all our 
 customs, is still an additional disadvantage ; such as the 
 multiplication and splitting of offices, patent-places, fees, 
 sinecures, pensions, &c. &c. These things indeed create a 
 dependance upon the court, and are said to strengthen the 
 hands of the government ; but if they do so in one respect, 
 they weaken it much more in another. They give too just 
 cause for complaint ; the best friends of the present estab- 
 lishment are grieved to see any measures which they cannot 
 vindicate. Repeated murmurs, where there is a real 
 foundation for them, naturally tend to alienate the affec- 
 tions of the bulk of the people, which above all things 
 should be guarded against; because in times of actual 
 danger, it is the people, and not place-men and pensioners, 
 who can save the government, and oppose themselves 
 against the invasions oi Joreign, or the insurrections of 
 dome.<itick enemies : As was plainly seen in the case of the 
 late rebellion. 
 
 V. The great Number of Smugglers in England, are of 
 infinite Detriment to Trade. — They carry nothing but bul- 
 lion, or wool out of the kingdom, and return mostly with 
 the commodities of France. They are the necessary cause 
 of creating many offices, maintainiag sloops, smacks, 6fc. 
 to guard against them ; and they furnish a pretence for 
 adding many more. Thus they become doubly mischie- 
 vous. They tempt others to do the like, for fear of being 
 ruined in their lawful trades by being undersold. The 
 practice of smuggling debauches the morals of the com- 
 mon people, it leads them into perjury, and tutors them up 
 
 33 in 
 
342 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 in all vice and extravagance. So many ewpences incurred, 
 so many deficiencies in the revenue, must be made up some 
 other vray ; that is, by duties not so liable to be embezzled. 
 And therefore fact it is, that every man in paying taxes 
 for land, &c. pays for the damage done, or caused by smug- 
 gling. And yet till there is a proper subordination intro- 
 duced^ and the qualification for voting something altered 
 from what it is at present, it is easy to see^ there never can 
 be any effectual cure for this growing evil. Smugglers are, 
 for the most part, inhabitants of boroughs and towns cor- 
 porate : They, or their relations, friends, dealers, acquaint- 
 ance, ^c. are voters. And verbum sat sapienti. 
 
 YI. Our Monopolies, publick Companies, and Corporate 
 Charters, are the Bane and Destruction of a free Trade. — 
 By the charter of the East-India Company, at least nine 
 thousand nine hundred and ninety nine British subjects, out 
 of ten thousand, without having committed any fault to 
 deserve such a punishment, are excluded from trading any 
 where beyond the Cape of Good Hope. By the charter of 
 the Turky Company a like, or a greater number, are ex- 
 cluded from having any commerce with the whole Turkish 
 empire. The Hudson's Bay Company engrosses all the 
 furr trade with the Indians, in an extent of country almost 
 as large as half Europe, Thus the interest of nine thou- 
 sand nine hundred and ninety nine fellow-subjects, is 
 sacrificed, in so many respects, for the sake of a single one. 
 The whole nation suffers in its commerce, and is debarred 
 trading to more than three fourths of the globe, to enrich 
 a few rapacious directors. They get wealthy the very same 
 way by which the publick becomes poor, viz. First, by 
 exporting small quantities of our own manufactures, in 
 order to have axx exorbitant profit ; and 2 (/Zy, by importing 
 but a few of the raw materials of foreign countries, that 
 they may have the higher price for what they bring home^ 
 
 A double mischief! equally fatal to the community, 
 
 both by the smallness of their exports and imports. 
 
 34 And 
 
An Essay on Trade. 343 
 
 And as to corporate CharterSj and Companies of Trades, 
 tliey are likewise so many Monopolies in the Places to 
 which they belong, to the great Detriment of National 
 Commerce. — To convince any one of this, let him but 
 suppose a set of town and country butchers frequenting the 
 same market; and that the country butchers were excluded 
 for a market or two ; would not the town butchers raise 
 their price? i. e. put all their fellow citizens under con- 
 tribution, by means of this privilege ? And doth not every 
 other company the same in aU things they sell? And 
 what is the consequence ? — A general dearness among one 
 another, which must light at last upon the foreign trade, 
 and therefore diminish the quantity to be exported. 
 
 VII. Our Imprudence and Narrow-spiritedness in not 
 inviting Foreigners to settle among Us, is another material 
 Disadvantage to the English Trade. — Foreigners can never 
 get rich in a strange country, but by working cheaper or 
 better than the natives. And if they do so, though indi- 
 viduals may suffer, the publick is certainly a gainer ; as 
 there is so much merchandize to be exported upon cheaper 
 terms, or so much saved to the merchant, whereby he may 
 afford to export the cheaper. Not to mention, that by this 
 means the price of labour is continually beat down, com- 
 binations oijourneymen against their masters are prevented, 
 industry is encouraged, and an emulation excited. All 
 which are greatly for the publick good. 
 
 Besides, a foreigner just escaped from slavery and op- 
 pression, when he gets rich in a land of liberty and plenty, 
 is not likely to return home, but will settle among us, and 
 become one of ourselves, with his whole family. And 
 what are all Englishmen but the descendants oi foreigners ? 
 In short, it is the same weak policy to prevent foreigners 
 settling among us, as it is in the poor about London, to 
 oppose the PTelsh and Irish coming up to work in the 
 gardens, and carry in the harvest: not considering, that if 
 the gardener or farmer cannot have his work done cheap, 
 
 35 he 
 
344 An Essay on Trade 
 
 he cannot afford to sell the garden-stuflT, bread, ^c. cheap 
 to them. So that they themselves find their account in 
 the cheapness of the labour of these persons. Indeed the 
 English should give more encouragement, if possible, to 
 strangers than Prance doth ; as for many other reasons, so 
 particularly for this, that the Flemish, Germans, Swiss, 
 Piedmoniise, Italians, &c. can arrive at most of the manu- 
 facturing towns in France at a trifling expence ; whereas 
 the fow^ journey from their own country, and the passage 
 over into England, are a very great discouragement to 
 foreign manufacturers to come to settle here. 
 
 VIII. Our ill judged Policy, and unnatural Jealousy in 
 cramping the Commerce and Manufactures of Ireland, is 
 another very great Bar against extending our Trade. — 
 This is a most unaccountable infatuation, which has not 
 the shadow of a puhlick and national reason to defend it. 
 For if Ireland gets rich, what is the consequence ? Eng- 
 land will be rich too, and France will be the poorer. The 
 wool which is now smuggled from * Ireland into France, 
 and manufactured there, and from thence sent to oppose 
 our own commodities at foreign markets, would be manu- 
 factured in Ireland; the French would lose the benefit of 
 it, the Irish would get it : — The rents of the estates in 
 Ireland would rise ; and then the money would soon find 
 its way into England. Besides, the Irish might be incor- 
 porated into the English parliament, and make one nation 
 with ourselves, bearing an equal share of taxes, and so 
 
 36 easing 
 
 * A clergyman, whose living is in the West of Ireland, assured 
 me, that just after the peace, the wool smugqlers of his parish, got 
 upwards of 50 per cent, by the wool they sold to the French. — As long 
 as this is the case, laws and restrictions will signify nothing. If we 
 have a mind to -prevent the Irish sending their wool to France, we 
 must make it their interest to keep it at home ; which can never be 
 done, but by permitting them to manufacture it themselves, and export 
 it to any market tliey can. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 345 
 
 easing England, at the same time tiat Ireland is enriched. 
 — But more of this hereafter. 
 
 IX. Want of a less expensive Way of Repairing our 
 Roads; Want of more Navigable Rivers and Canals; are 
 a very great Disadvantage to England, in Comparison of 
 France. — Every one must be sensible of the heavy tax, 
 which so many turnpikes lay upon trade, and how bad 
 even the turnpike roads are in many parts of the country, 
 distant from London. We have no canals to open a com- 
 munication between city and city, river and river, though 
 our country is much better adapted for them than 
 France. 
 
 X. We labour under a very great disadvantage, as most 
 of our Leeward Islands are now worn out, and indeed were 
 never so fertile, or of so lasting a soil as the French; 
 therefore they require a greater expence to cultivate them : 
 So that our sugars must come the dearer to Europe. 
 Besides, as we use so much for home consumption, we 
 have the less to spare for foreign markets. But the 
 greatest misfortune is, that the planters in these small 
 islands are suffered to monopolize as much land as they 
 please ; by which means the plantations are engrossed in 
 a few hands, and the number of whites is daily decreasing ; 
 so that the sugar colonies now consume much less of the 
 produce of the mother country ; and yet in time of dan- 
 ger, England is obliged to be at the expence of a greater 
 force to protect them, as they are less able to defend 
 themselves. 
 
 XI. England labours under a peculiar Disadvantage in 
 Comparison to France, as its Colonies are not so much 
 under the Command of their Mother Country, nor so stu- 
 dious of her Welfare. — In many of these colonies several 
 manufactures are set up, and more intended to be erected, 
 which will greately interfere with the trade of England. 
 And we must expect that this evil will not decrease, but 
 increase by time, unless an effectual method can speedily 
 
 ST be 
 
346 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 be put in practice^ to divert the thoughts of our American 
 colonies /row these pursuits, to some others, equally ser- 
 viceable to them, and less detrimental to us. Besides, they 
 not only set up manufactures of their own in opposition to 
 ours, but they purchase those luxuries and refinements of 
 living from foreigners, which we could furnish them with. 
 It is computed, that they are supplied with at least one 
 third of these articles from foreign nations; amongst 
 whom the French come in for the greatest share. 
 
 XII. We also suffer a further Inconvenience in not 
 inviting Foreigners to travel into England, and spend their 
 Money among Us ; and in being too fond of travelling our- 
 selves. — It is certain, England has as many curiosities for 
 a foreigner to observe, as any country in the world : The 
 whole island, and every thing belonging to it, being in 
 many respects different from the Continent, and worthy 
 the attention of a stranger. And even as to fine paintings ; 
 original statues, and antiques, we have prodigious collec- 
 tions of them in private hands, though little known even 
 to our own countrymen, for want of a publick and general 
 catalogue. Moreover, our English travellers in France 
 and Italy, are continually making new collections in order 
 to carry home, and embellish their own country. And 
 yet our gentry are so shy to strangers, the servants expect 
 so much vails, and the common people are so rude and 
 affronting, that very few care to travel in such a country. 
 
 XIII. The high Price of Labour is another insuperable 
 Bar to a large Trade. — The causes of which are such as 
 have been assigned already, viz. electioneering — the corrupt 
 morals of the people — taxes on the necessaries of life — 
 monopolies, publick companies, and corporate charters of 
 trades. 
 
 XIV. We suffer a very great detriment through the 
 wa7it oi publick inspectors, to see that our manufacturers 
 produce every thing good in its kind: that they give good 
 weight and measure, and fold the wot^st side outermost. 
 
 38 And 
 
An Essay on Trade. 347 
 
 And what is still worse, where such have been appointed, 
 they have degenerated, through some unhappy abuse, so 
 far as to increase the evil they were intended to correct, 
 
 XV. Add to all these, the discouragements and opposi- 
 tions which the most generous scheme will too often meet 
 with from self-interested and designing men, who pervert 
 the invaluable blessing of liberty and a free constitution to 
 some of the worst of purposes. In a despotick kingdom, 
 the ministry have none to oppose them in their good 
 designs : But among us, let their plan be ever so well cal- 
 culated for the publick good, yet if it clashes with the 
 private interest of any particular persons, trading com- 
 panies, or boroughs, (as it necessarily must do) then it is 
 opposed, under various pretences, by the united force of 
 false patriots, who inflame the populace with words and 
 names, and blacken and misrepresent the best designs in 
 the most malevolent manner. 
 
 Besides, in an absolute government, there is no possi- 
 bility of gaining preferment by making one's self formid- 
 able to the ministry. Whereas in England, it is the sure 
 road to it. A bold plausible speaker in the House embar- 
 rasses the schemes of the ministry, not because he thinks 
 them wrong, but because he expects to be bought off by a 
 place, or a pension. A news- writer, or a pamphleteer, puts 
 every measure of the Court in the most odious light, in 
 order to make his paper sell the better, or to be thought 
 considerable enough to be retained on their side. 
 
 On the other hand, the ministry are too apt to endea- 
 vour to quash a motion, not because it was a bad one, but 
 because it came from the party in the opposition. A good 
 motion, a publick-spirited and generous proposal, would 
 raise the credit of the authors of them too high with the 
 people, were they carried into execution, to the detriment of 
 the ministry. Therefore salus sui, not salus populi, su- 
 prema lex esto. 
 
 Thus it is on both sides : And an honest well-meaning 
 39 person. 
 
348 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 person, whose views are single, and who is eonscions to 
 himself of no other attachment but the good of his country, 
 cannot but lament these pernicious evils. And the more 
 sOj as he must despair of seeing them effectually removed 
 or cured, without introducing worse evils in their stead, — 
 unless men were much honester, and more upright than 
 they are ; which, it is to be feared, is not likely to be soon 
 the case. 
 
 40 CERTAIN 
 
An Essay on Trade. 
 
 349 
 
 CERTAIN 
 
 PROPOSALS 
 
 For remedying many of the above-men- 
 tioned INCONVENIENCIES ; and en- 
 creasing the Trade and Credit 
 of Great Britain, 
 
 I. PROPOSAL, 
 
 To alter the Qualification of Voting, and to introduce a 
 just Subordination among the People. — When * forty 
 shillings a year was fixed upon as a standard for a voting 
 freeliolder, it was certainly more than an equivalent to 
 
 41 twenty 
 
 * The very recital of the statute, which ascertained the qualifica- 
 tion of voting freeholders, is the best proof of the reasonableness and 
 necessity of what is here proposed. 
 
 " Anno octavo Henrici VI. cap. 7, 
 
 What Sorts of Men shall be Choosers, and who shall be chosen Knights 
 
 of the Parliament. 
 
 ' Whereas the elections of knights of shires, to come to the par- 
 
 ' liament of our Lord the King, in many countries of the realme of 
 
 ' England, have now of late been made by very great outrageous and 
 
350 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 twenty pounds per ann. of modern rent. Suppose, now, 
 that twenty pounds per ann. was the requisite sum for a 
 freeholder and two hundred pounds stock in trade for a 
 tradesman, to qualify them to vote ; the immediate conse- 
 quence would necessarily be, that the manufacturing part 
 of our nation would not be called from their work, to run 
 roving after every electioneering : A proper subordination 
 would be effectually introduced : The laws against idleness 
 
 42 and 
 
 ' excessive number of people, dwelling within the same counties of the 
 ' realme of England, of the which most part was of people of small 
 ' substance, and of no value, whereof every of them pretended a voice 
 ' equivalent as to such elections to be made, with the most worthy 
 ' knights and esquires dwelling within the said counties ; whereby 
 ' manslaughter, riots, batteries, and divisions among the gentlemen and 
 ' other people of the same counties shall very likely rise and be, 
 ' unlesse convenient and due remedy be provided in this behalf : 
 ' Our Lord the King considering the premises, hath provided, or- 
 ' dained and established, by authority of this present parliament, 
 ' that the knights of the shires to be chosen within the same realme 
 ' of England, to come to the parliaments of our Lord the King, 
 ' hereafter to be holdeii, shall be chosen in every county of the 
 ' realme of England, by people dwelling and resident in the same 
 ' counties, whereof every one of them shall have land or tenement, 
 ' to the value of forty shillings by the year at least, above all charges ; 
 ' and that they which shall be so chosen, shall be dwelling and 
 
 ' resident within the same counties Provided al- 
 
 ' ways, that he which cannot expend forty shillings by the year as 
 ' afore is said, shall in no wise be chooser of the knights for the par- 
 ' liament.' 
 
 Here we find the same cause tending to produce the same efiect 
 in former times, as in the present. Only there is this diflference, 
 that the evil could not be near so great then, as now ; because the 
 common people were used to much greater subordination, and the 
 trade of the kingdom was very inconsiderable, consequently could 
 not have suffered by it in any degree to what it doth at present. 
 And yet, if such were the reasons which induced the legislature to 
 pass the above-recited Act at that time, how much more reason have 
 we to follow their example now ? — The present value oi forty shillings, 
 is not a tenth part of what they intended : Therefore, if we would 
 keep up to the s-pirit and meaning of this law, we should at least fix 
 the qualification at twenty pounds per annum. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 351 
 
 and debauchery might be executed; and smuggling in a 
 great measure suppressed : And all this without running 
 the risk of disobliging such voters, and losing their votes. 
 Moreover, when things were put upon such a footing, it 
 would be a matter of honour and reputation to have a 
 vote ; and consequently the voter would pique himself 
 more upon his integrity and uncorruptness, than he now 
 doth. He would be above that bribery and corruption, 
 which appear so openly and avowedly on all sides, at 
 present, throughout the kingdom. Likewise a spirit of 
 emulation and industry ^ovUA. be excited; and the privilege 
 of voting would become a laudable inducement to every 
 artificer, (not to get drunk, or to take a paltry bribe, as at 
 present is the case) but to be frugal and saving, in order to 
 raise himself to the degree of a voter. And many artificers 
 might accomplish this by a few years industry after they 
 are set up. The number also of the poor would conse- 
 quently be lessened; the price of labour reduced; and the 
 persons themselves, who would be debarred of voting by 
 such a supposed Bill, much happier, much richer, and 
 quieter than they now are. Add to this, that a militia for 
 land service, and a register for the sea service, might then 
 be introduced, if it was judged expedient ; whereas at pre- 
 sent it is impracticable ; because such a power wherever 
 lodged, would infallibly be applied to the bad purposes of 
 influencing votes at the time of elections. 
 
 II. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To erect certain courts in all manufactaring places of 
 the kingdom, where the chief dealers themselves shall 
 petition for them, with the title of * guardians of the 
 
 43 morals 
 
 * The complaints against the morals of the manufacturing poor 
 become louder every day, and certainly demand, if any thing doth, 
 the serious attention of the legislature. ComhirMtions of journeymen 
 
352 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 morals of the manufacturing poor . Perhaps something to the 
 foUowing effect, might suggest hints to be improved upon. 
 
 44. ■ The 
 
 to extort exorbitant wages. — This money spent in drunlcenness and 
 debauchery, so that they are the poorer rather than the richer at the 
 week's end, by the advanced price, — their unfaUhfulness to their trust 
 — the badness of their work, whenever their masters have a great 
 demand, and dare not turn them off, — the increasing/ number of the 
 poor ; these, and many other articles of the like nature, are the 
 conxplaints justly made on this head. 
 
 A certain very higenious gentleman, and himself a ^reai manufac- 
 turer in the clothing way, has attended to them with great assiduity; 
 and is engaged in a scheme which he intends to exhibit to the pub- 
 lick, of a very singular nature, for the reformation of these abuses. 
 He has carefully observed, that in exceeding dear years, when corn 
 and provisions are at an extravaqmit price , then the work is best and 
 cheapest done : — but that in cheap years, the manufacturers are idle , 
 wages high, and work ill done. He has carried these observations 
 through many years back ; and confirmed them by the testimony of 
 several great writers upon trade. 
 
 Therefore he infers, that the high duties, taxes, and excises upon 
 the necessaries of life, are so far from being a disadvantage to trade, 
 as things are circumstanced among us, that they are eventually the 
 chief support of it : — and ought to be higher still, in order to oblige 
 the poor either to work or starve. 
 
 Some things may certainly be said in favour of this scheme. But 
 an humane and compassionate man cannot but be sorry, to see the 
 morals of the poor so very corrupt, as to oblige any one to think of 
 such an expedient. In the mean time, as much may be said against it ; 
 and as it would involve the innocent as well as the guilty in the same 
 punishment ; perhaps some other expedients would better answer the 
 good end proposed, and not be liable to the same objections. If the 
 qualification for voting was settled as in i\is first proposal, and court 
 guardians erected, as proposed in this ; and foreign manufacturers 
 naturalized, in order to keep down the price of labour, and prevent 
 any combinations among our own people, (as shall be mentioned in a 
 succeeding proposal) perhaps the morals of our poor would be as 
 unexceptionable, and the price of labour as cheap as in any other 
 trading country. 
 
 But which ever scheme is right, or if neither are, the affair itself 
 deserves the most serious regard of every one, who wishes well both 
 to the soxds and bodies of his fellow creatures, and the good of his 
 country. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 353 
 
 The qualifications of each member of this court to be 
 as follows ; 1st, That he employs not less than twenty 
 manufacturers on his own account, the greater part of the 
 year ? By this regulation, the most eminent, as well as 
 the most concerned, will be the only persons admitted. 
 2dly, That each member subscribes a certain sum, suppose 
 two guineas at least, every year, towards the good pur- 
 poses hereafter to be mentioned ; but that they be admitted 
 to receive the legacies and donations of others. 3dly, 
 That each member be a married man, in order to set the 
 good example here recommended. 
 
 The aim of this court to be to discourage vice, idleness 
 and debauchery, — and to encourage industry, probity and 
 fidelity, in the lower class of people. 
 
 The means to effectuate these good designs, with great 
 submission, perhaps may be as follows ; 
 
 \st, By removing all temptation, as much as possible, 
 out of the way ; to which end, this court guardian shall 
 have the sole power of judging, how many ale-houses, &c. 
 are necessary to be licensed in their respective districts : 
 That is. they shall not have a power to exceed the number 
 allowed by the justices, but to lessen them as much as they 
 please. Neither shall they have the power to nominate 
 the persons" to be licensed ; but after they have delivered 
 in their lists, the justices shall nominate, — unless the jus- 
 tices delay to do it for a month after dehvery : In such 
 case, they shall be impowered to nominate themselves. 
 They shall likewise have the power of levying a certain fine 
 by distress of goods, or in default of that shall inflict 
 corporal punishment, on all persons who keep cock-pits, 
 skittle-allies, and all such places for the resort of the com- 
 mon people, within their district, also those who set up 
 stages for cudgel-playing, &c. or booths for horse-races, or 
 bring liquors, cakes, fruit, or any like temptations, to draw 
 people together. They shall also be impowered to expel 
 out of their district, all such common people as cannot 
 
 45 give 
 
354 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 give a good account of themselves by what means they 
 subsist ; and shall particularly be enabled to remove such 
 women, as are suspected to have a bad character, unless 
 they can clear themselves from the imputation, by the 
 oaths of three, at least, of their neighbours of good sub- 
 stance and repute, that they believe them to be innocent of 
 the charge, and esteem them to be honest, chaste, and sober 
 persons. 
 
 2dli/, These court guardians shall endeavour to encour- 
 age industry, probity, and practical religion, by the fol- 
 lowing methods ; viz. By allowing forty shillings apiece 
 to any young couple going to be married, that can make it 
 appear by the testimony of their masters, that they have 
 saved three pounds and upwards, by working in their ser- 
 vice ; and have behaved well. If each of these can produce 
 such a character, then this forty shillings to be made four 
 pounds. But not to be paid till a year and a day after 
 marriage, during which time they are still to behave well. 
 By allowing also something discretionally to those, who 
 are over-burdened with large families, or are sick, whose 
 characters are known to be good : By presenting also a 
 few good books, to the remarkably diligent and industrious. 
 Suppose these were the Bible, and Gastrel's Christian Insti- 
 tutes ; which are books that no persons of ever' so different 
 religious perswasions can object to. If these were neatly 
 bound, gilt on the back and leaves, with a cloth case, and 
 had stampt on one side in gold letters, 
 
 The Hand of the Dilioent maketh Rich ; 
 
 And on the other, 
 
 To the Peaise of them that do well ; 
 
 they would be kept as family pieces, and trophies ; and 
 might excite the same laudable emulation in their posterity, 
 which it had done in themselves. 
 
 N. B. The district here so often mentioned, is supposed 
 to be ten miles round from the town or place appointed for 
 
 46 keeping 
 
An Essay on Trade. 355 
 
 keeping this court. The court to sit every month, at least, 
 for the dispatch of business, wherein the attendance of 
 three members will be sufficient: And every quarter a 
 general meeting, which must be composed of seven. 
 
 These are only offered, with great submission, to the 
 publick, as hints to be improved upon. The importance of 
 the affair requires that some expedients should be tried 
 without delay. If these are judged improper, the author 
 would exceedingly rejoice to see better in their room ; and 
 those effectually carried into execution. 
 
 III. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To incorporate both the British isles together, and to 
 make one kingdom in all respects, as to parliament, trade 
 and taxes. 
 
 This proposal of incorporation has long been the wish of 
 every generous disinterested patriot of both kingdoms. And 
 indeed, inexpressibly great would be the benefit on both 
 sides. The Irish would share in the advantage of our trade, 
 and we in theirs. By permitting them to get rich at the 
 expence of the French, they would be enabled to ease us of 
 the burden of the worst and heaviest of our taxes : Where- 
 as at present, the French, thro' our own unaccountable 
 infatuation, get rich at their expence. By this mutual 
 benefit, neither kingdom would be looked upon as foreign 
 to the other : But the goods of both would be imported 
 duty-free, or perhaps be considered only as coming coast- 
 wise. The hostile prohibition against wearing, or using 
 the produce of either kingdom, would be repealed; and all 
 that unnatural war between the commerce of the two 
 nations, would be at an end : — which would be attended 
 with these further happy consequences, that many of the 
 necessaries of life would be imported cheaper into England, 
 
 47 than 
 
356 A7i Essay on Trade. 
 
 than they now can be purchased ; a great advantage this 
 to the merchant and manufacturer : — and many more of 
 the luxuries, ornaments, and delicacies of living, would be 
 exported from hence into Ireland. For most certain it is, 
 that in proportion as Ireland grew rich, they would take 
 the lead for the richest of their cloaths, furniture, plate, 
 jewels, equipages, &c. &c. from England. Likewise the 
 inducements of being near the Parliament, the Court, the 
 Publick Funds, &c. would bring many more Irish families 
 to reside, and spend their fortunes here, than now do. In 
 short, whatever wealth Ireland would draw from other 
 countries by its produce, manufactures, and happy situa- 
 tion ; all that would continually center in England. 
 
 But here, methiiiks, I hear self-interest making an 
 outcry, " They would run away with our trade." But 
 pray let me calmly ask, who would run away with it ? or 
 where would they run to ? Why truly our own people, our 
 own countrymen, (who may as justly be called so, as the 
 inhabitants of any neighbouring county ,^and are some of 
 the best, and most faithful subjects the government has) 
 would perhaps carry some part of a manufacture from us 
 to themselves. But what detriment would this be to the 
 publick? The people of Yorkshire have done the very 
 same thing by Glocestershire and Wiltshire. Let us there- 
 fore have a meeting of the clothiers of these two counties 
 to petition the parliament, that the Yorkshire looms and 
 mills maybe all broke and destroyed: For they have run 
 away with our trade. This is so ridiculous and absurd a 
 proposal, that I believe there is no person living, but must 
 see and feel it to be so. And yet let me ask, is not this 
 the very case with respect to the objection against incor- 
 porating with Ireland ? Or if there be a difference between 
 the two cases, I should be glad to know wherein it consists ? 
 Is Ireland to be looked upon as a distinct kingdom ?— • 
 more is the pity : For as the two kingdoms have but one 
 common head, — one common interest both in Church and 
 
 48 Slate, 
 
An Essay on Trade. 357 
 
 State, — the same frieuds,— and tlie same enemies j they 
 ought to have been long since consolidated together. But 
 allowing it to be called a distinct kingdom at present^ till 
 it is united : — so is Yorkshire a distinct county, and was 
 formerly, in the times of the Heptarchy, a kingdom like- 
 wise distinct from the two counties above mentioned. Is 
 Ireland a great way distant from England ? Yorkshire is 
 at a greater distance still from the counties above men- 
 tioned. And the communication between them is not so 
 easy by land, for the purposes of commerce, as the other is 
 by sea. 
 
 " But Ireland is more advantageously situated for the 
 " trade to the West-Indies ; therefore — " Therefore we 
 •must deny our own people the benefit of trading, because 
 they are advantageously situated for carrying it on. This 
 is a weighty argument; Bristol, for instance, is better 
 situated for the Irish trade than London; therefore let 
 us Londoners petition, that the port of Bristol may be 
 locked up. 
 
 It would be an endless, and a tedious piece of work, to 
 wade through such gross and palpable absurdities. One 
 thing is plain and obvious, that self-interest, the bane of 
 all publick good, is driven to hard shifts, in order to cover 
 such views as she dare not openly avow. If England itself 
 was divided into two kingdoms, one comprehending aU 
 the south, the other all the north side of the Thames, and 
 there were hostile prohibitions against importing certain 
 sorts of goods from London to Southwark, and vice versa, 
 and high duties upon all the rest : Many individuals on 
 both sides, would find their own private interest in up- 
 holding the division, and would cry out, upon any proposal 
 being made for an union — these foreigners will run away 
 with our trade — they are better situated than us — our trade 
 is in danger. But would this cry weigh with upright men 
 on both sides, who had the welfare of the community truly 
 at heart ? — If it would not, what shall we think of the 
 
 49 same 
 
358 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 same argument, when urged against Great Britain's incor- 
 porating with Ireland. 
 
 IV. PROPOSAL. 
 
 After such an union of the two kingdoms, as above 
 proposed, to lay by degrees the English taxes upon Ireland ; 
 and to ease the English of the most burdensome of theirs in 
 the same gradual manner. Suppose, therefore, the first 
 year, that the English laws of excise, and the duties upon 
 French wines and brandies, are extended to Ireland; then 
 England might be eased of the salt tax, the same year, or 
 the following one. If in the second year Ireland were 
 charged with the stamp and paper duties, England might 
 be discharged of the tax u])on soap and candles. If in the 
 third, a tax was laid upon the window-lights in Ireland, the 
 coal duties might be taken off from England. If in the 
 fourth, the tax was laid upon coaches, this would enable the 
 parliament to discontinue the duty upon leather. Lastly, 
 If in the fifth year, Ireland was subjected to a land-tax, 
 this would ease the lands and houses of England of at least 
 one third of their burden. 
 
 V. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To set up woollen and silk manufactures in the west of 
 England, and south-west of Ireland, (supposing the former 
 proposals to take place) in order to rival the French. 
 
 The price * of labour is as cheap in those parts, as any 
 50 where 
 
 * The price of labour at the places under mentioned was given 
 me, as follows : 
 
 At Lisle, the wages of journeymen stocking and cainblet weavers, 
 
An Essay on Trade. 359 
 
 where in France. And when a proper subordination is 
 introduced, the temptation of electioneering removedj the 
 most grievous of our taxes abolished, and a trade set open ; 
 it .is probable, that labour might be still much cheaper : By 
 which means, the French might be cut out of a great deal 
 of their Levant, and Spanish trade. 
 
 Moreover, when the woollen manufactures come to be 
 effectually established in those parts, it will be next to im- 
 possible to run the wool to France : For both the wool 
 itself will bear a better price, so as not to make it worth 
 their while ; and each manufacturer will be a kind of cen- 
 iinel, to prevent its being exported unmanufactured. This 
 therefore I humbly conceive, is a much better scheme of 
 prevention, than that of the Reverend Mr Smith, in his 
 
 51 Memoirs 
 
 about 24 sous per day, i. e. about 13 pence English ; a sous being a 
 little more than an halfpenny. 
 
 Abhemlle and Amiens : Journeymen weavers, and cloth-workers, 
 according to the nature of the work, and their dexterity, from 20 to 
 50 sous per day. 
 
 Ditto : To women employ'd in the fnanufacture, not more than 
 12 sous per day. 
 
 Hedgers and ditchers in the country, about 10 so%is per day. 
 
 Nantes : Journeymen ship-carpenters, about 30 sous per day. 
 
 Casteln/zudary : Labourers mending the canal of Languedoc, by 
 the jobb, earn about 12 sous per day. 
 
 Nismes : Journeymen weavers in the silk and stocking trade, 
 from 30 to 35 sous per day. 
 
 Marseilles : Journeymen taylors 30 sous per day. — Ditto carpen- 
 ters, 30. — Ditto eilk- weavers, from 30 to 35 sous per day. 
 
 Toulon : Journeymen carpenters in the King's yards, 30 sou^ per 
 day. 
 
 lions : Journeymen workmen have several prices, according to 
 the silks, velvets, gold stuffs, lace, <Sfc. ^a. from 50 to 100 sous per 
 day. 
 
 Land-carriage of goods from Marseilles to Lions, and vice versor, 
 (230 English miles) which is often done either for speed, or safety ; 
 the Rhone being difficult to mount, and fine goods may take damage 
 in going down, per hundred, (108 lb. English) from 6 to 7 Uvres. 
 N.B. A livre is 10 pence halfpenny English. 
 
360 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 Memoirs of * Wool; for it answers all the ends proposed 
 by him in that scheme, and is subject to none of those 
 inconveniencies which his is generally supposed to be at- 
 tended with. This gentleman, — for his indefatigable la- 
 bours in collecting all that has been ever said upon the 
 subject, and presenting it to the reader in one view, — for 
 his judicious remarks, and the pains he has taken in cor- 
 recting ma,nj popular errors, which had too generally pre- 
 vailed, — most justly deserves the universal thanks and 
 applause of his country. 
 
 But among the several requisites necessary to enable 
 us to rival the French in the Levant and Spanish trade, 
 one, and which ought principally to be regarded, is, to lay 
 the trade open. Wherefore I now proceed to the 
 
 VI. PROPOSAL. 
 
 Viz. To lay open and extend our narrow and restrained 
 companies; beginning with the Turlcy and Hudson'^ Bay 
 Companies, which hurt the trade of Great Britain more 
 essentially with respect to France, than any other company 
 can do. 
 
 53 Here, 
 
 * The scheme of prevention proposed by the reverend and in- 
 genious author of the Memoirs of Wool, is to this effect ; " That the 
 ports be opened for exportation, but that such a duty be laid upon 
 the wool, as shall greatly discourage, or rather absolutely prevent the 
 exportation of it ; unless the markets in England happen to be so 
 low, and those abroad so high, that the difference in the price would 
 countervail the expence of carriage, freight, and the duty paid at 
 exportation." This is his scheme fairly stated : Upon which I shall 
 only make this brief remark, that the quantity of wool run from 
 England is extremely inconsiderable ; the difficulty, danger and ex- 
 pence of smuggling, together with the hush-money, necessary on such 
 occasions, being already almost a sufficient bar : But if his scheme 
 took place, the quantity exported of long combing wool to make 
 stuffs, which the French chiefly want, would sometimes be jnuch 
 greater, and the price at home always dearer than it is at present. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 361 
 
 Here, again, that watchful dragon, self-interest, will be 
 apt to take the alarm ; and I do not expect any thing I can 
 say will have charm enough to lay him asleep. Many 
 specious reasons have been offered in favour of exclusive 
 companies ; which, though they convinced none but those 
 that were interested in them, yet they served to perplex a 
 debate, by drawing off mens attention from the true 
 merits of the cause. 
 
 I shall endeavour therefore, for the sake of such as have 
 honest intentions and a publick spirit, to give an impartial 
 state of the case, with as much clearness and conciseness 
 as I can. 
 
 First then, I will allow, that in certain cases, and at 
 certain junctures, exclusive companies might have been a 
 prudent institution, calculated for the publick good ; as, 
 
 \st. In order to introduce arts, sciences, and manufac- 
 tures among a barbarous and savage people : Which was 
 the case with the late Czar of Muscovy. It was necessary 
 for him, in his circumstances, to give such extensive privi- 
 leges to merchants and tradesmen to come and settle in 
 his country, as would over-balance the temptation of self- 
 interest for residing any where else. 
 
 2dly, In order to induce skilful artificers to come and 
 instruct an ignorant people ; which undoubtedly they will 
 not do, unless upon a valuable consideration. This was 
 the case with our English princes about two hundred years 
 ago, in granting so many privileges and exemptions to the 
 Flemish, and other /orei^w manufacturers. 
 
 Qdly, In order to conquer the deep-rooted habitual 
 laziness of a people, by bringing examples of industry and 
 the good effects of it, before their eyes. This, among other 
 reasons, is much the case with the Spanish Court at present, 
 in being so desirous of introducing foreign manufacturers 
 into Spain. 
 
 4thly, In order to have a large capital, sufficient to 
 embark in any hazardous undertaking, which may call for 
 
 53 great 
 
362 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 great sums to be expended, before the project can be 
 brought to bear, and the trade to answer. And whereas no 
 private persons by themselves, or voluntary associations, 
 can be supposed equal to such an undertaking ; therefore 
 when individuals refuse or decline, it is but reasonable that 
 those who adventure in a joint stock should be incorporated, 
 and have a privilege excluding all others from interfering 
 in this new branch of commerce, * till the adventurers are 
 sufficiently paid for the risks they ran, and the ewpences 
 they were at. 
 
 Now all these are very good and sufficient reasons, 
 where they hold, for the establishing of exclusive companies. 
 For it is better to have the trade of an exclusive company, 
 than no trade at all. And in process of time, according as 
 the reasons for continuing them do cease, the trade should 
 be laid open. 
 
 5thly, There is also another reason in certain govern- 
 ments, whose credit is not esteemed good with the people, 
 for the erecting of such publick bodies. And that is, for 
 the sake of borroiving money at an exigence, when indi- 
 viduals will not trust i^iem. This, I believe, was the case 
 with our own government m. former times. 
 
 But Qthly, There is still a further motive remaining, 
 which, though a very bad and scandalous one, yet it is to 
 be feared, hath had the greatest share in erecting monopolies 
 of all the rest. And that is, in plain, but very expressive 
 English, jobbing. And most of the charters for monopolies, 
 which were so plentifully granted in the time of King 
 Charles the Second, whose pleasures made himself and his 
 
 34 courtiers 
 
 * If private pei'sona will not associate voluntarily to embark in 
 some hazardous undertaking, the better way would be, to allow a 
 sufficient premium or bounty to encourage all adventurers, rather 
 than to grant exclusive privileges to a feio. For both the one and 
 the other are a charge on the publick ; but the monopoly is by much 
 the worse, the dearest, and the most difficult to be broken through. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 363 
 
 courtiers very needy of money, betray the original from 
 whicli they were derived. Particularly that famous one for 
 the Hudson's Bay Company, which is a grant without any 
 bounds or limits of seas, mountains, rivers, degrees of lati- 
 tude or longitude ; and therefore, if valid, might impower 
 the company to challenge all the lands of America, which 
 were not disposed of by prior grants, as well as the coasts 
 ou Hudson's Bay. 
 
 But enough, I hope, hath been said, as to the reasons 
 for the institution of exclusive companies. 
 
 My second attempt therefore, will be to shew, that none 
 of these reasons do hold in our present circumstances. 
 For if any of them do, let me ask which ? Is it the first, 
 second, or third ? I believe the most sanguine advocate 
 for exclusive companies, will not insist upon either of these. 
 Is it then the fourth ? — This, I am aware, wiU be chiefly 
 insisted on. — Not that it can be pretended at this day, 
 that private adventurers are either unable, or unwilling to 
 engage in any trade carried on by a company, were it laid 
 open ; but the pretence is, that a recompence should be 
 made them, before they are dissolved, for the expences they 
 have been at. And doubtless, if the original adventurers, 
 or their representatives, can make it appear, that they have 
 not yet received a reasonable profit for the money advanced 
 by them to make a capital stock, the publick will consider 
 them so far, as to make good the deficiency. They have a 
 plea of right and equity for this. But they have no colour 
 of right for any imaginary value, which they may put 
 upon their stocks. Nor is the publick concerned to regard 
 it : Nay, the very plea defeats itself : For if their stocks 
 have been really sold in the market greatly above par, this 
 is a plain proof, that they have received a reasonable profit 
 already, for the money advanced to make a capital. And 
 therefore ought not to have any farther compensation. 
 
 To proceed : As to the fifth reason for exclusive com- 
 panies, there can be no pretence for it any longer in our 
 
 55 times. 
 
364 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 times. For it is well known, the credit of our government 
 is so good, that individuals rather chuse to lend their money 
 upon publick, t\i2M. private securities. And that they do 
 it even on cheaper terms. 
 
 Wherefore, lastly, if these nusances to a free trade, and 
 the publick good, shall still continue, it is too plain, that 
 they will owe their preservation to the same cause that gave 
 them birth, viz. A job. But that I may express my utter 
 dislike against them, in common with every other disinter- 
 ested man, who wishes well to the good of the whole com- 
 munity, I shall go on. 
 
 Thirdly, To point out a few of the principal evils, and 
 destructive consequences attending them. 
 
 In the \st place. These exclusive companies cannot 
 trade, if they were inclined, upon so easy terms, as private 
 adventurers would do, were the trade laid open. So many 
 directors, supercargoes, storehouse-keepers, factors, agents, 
 clerks ; — and all the pickings of their several dependants : 
 — So many fees, sweetnings, &c. from the manufacturer, or 
 under merchant, that his goods may have the preference to 
 others, — and the expences oi carrying many sorts of goods 
 from distant parts of the country, where they are manufac- 
 tured, up to the metropolis, there to be shipped off, instead 
 of being exported from the next convenient port : — Ex- 
 pences of warehouses, &c. &c. make it impossible for any 
 corporate company to trade upon an equal footing with 
 private adventurers : — And consequently of extending their 
 dealings so far as if the trade was open. 8^ For this 
 reason it has been always found, that if private adven- 
 turers shall be permitted to engage in the same trade, they 
 will infallibly carry it away from the company.* And 
 
 56 upon 
 
 * We have a convincing proof of the truth of both those observa- 
 tions, 1st, in the case of the African Company, and the Bristol and 
 Liverpoole traders : idly, we have another, and a woful one, in that 
 of our English Company trading to Turky, and the French trading 
 
An Essay on Trade. 365 
 
 upon the same principle, if there are two nations, rivals 
 in the same trade, that nation which permits a free and 
 
 57 open 
 
 thither also from Marseilles. Our English Company had formerly 
 all the trade for cloth to the Levant : Which being observed by the 
 French, ever jealous of the English commerce, they set up manufac- 
 tures of their own in imitation of them. These manufactures still 
 bear the name from whence they were derived, viz. Londrins pre- 
 miers— Londrins seconds. — Londrins larges. — But they have so sup- 
 planted the trade of London, because it is in the hands of an exclu- 
 sive company, that the English have little or nothing of a trade^ 
 comparativdy speaking, in those parts. Whereas the French shipped 
 oflF to the Levant, the very day the seas were free, after the peace, 
 July y, 1748, four thousand bales of the above-said cloth : Each 
 bale, one with another, worth about 1200 Uvres. That is about 
 210,000?. sterling in all. 
 
 If it should be said, that the French have gotten this trade from 
 us, vjot so much on the account of the disadvantage we labour under 
 from an exclusive company, as the advantageousness of their situation. 
 I have this further remark to offer ; viz. That if the trade was 
 open, we have many advantages which they have not, to counterbalance 
 the inconvenience of our situation. — They are obliged to import most 
 of their wool from Turky, Spain, or Africa, into Marseilles ; and to 
 carry it chiefly by land-carriage from thence to Carcassone, about 130 
 miles. — Then to carry the cloth back to Marseilles which cannot be 
 done at a small expence. They are also obliged to fetch tin, lead, and 
 shot from England, and spices from Holland, for the Turlcy markets ; 
 in all which we have most certainly the advantage over them. And 
 therefore, if we had woollen manufactures erected in the west of 
 England, and the south-west of Ireland, (according to Proposal V.) 
 where labour is as cheap as in any part of France, where we have 
 wool on the spot, — and when manufactured, might be immediately 
 exported, without being carried up to London \ — where tin, lead, and 
 spices, maybe had upon much easier term^ than they can at Marseilles: 
 I say, with all these advantages, and an open trade, we could more 
 than counterbalance any advantage that the French can draw from 
 the situation of Marseilles: And then we might import the raw 
 materials of silk, camels hair, skins, <fec. much cheaper than at present, 
 to the emolument of thousands of families. But for a more particu- 
 lar detail of the nature of the Turky Company, see a little tract just 
 published, entitled. Reflections on the Expediency of opening the Trade 
 to Turky, printed for T. Trye, Holborne. 
 
366 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 open trade, will always be superior to the other, which 
 confines it to a company : Other circumstances supposed to 
 he equal, or nearly so. 
 
 'idly, As they cannot trade so cheap as private ad- 
 venturers, even were they inclined, ^ They must therefore 
 necessarily omit many lesser branches, as not answering 
 their expense, which in the hands of individvals would 
 turn to good account, and perhaps give bread to thousands 
 of families. These articles are called lesser, not because 
 they are less extensive, for perhaps in that respect they 
 may be the greatest, but because they are less gainful; 
 which therefore a company must leave untouched, unless 
 they will trade to their own loss. 
 
 But, ^dly. It must be observed. That the views of every 
 exclusive company are quite of a different nature from 
 what was supposed above. ^ For they do not, and never 
 did, desire to trade as cheap as others, but as much dearer 
 as they can. The charter itself secures them from any 
 competitors ; and therefore they have no need to seek to 
 get the trade to themselves by selling cheap. But on the 
 contrary, wherever they have the market to themselves, 
 they will both sell and buy at their own price. 
 
 This is the greatest and most intolerable of all the evils 
 of monopolies. It is 9,. prostitution of the trade and wel- 
 fare of the publich, to the merciless ravages of greedy in- 
 dividuals. ^ We may the better judge of the mischie- 
 vous effects of all monopolies, by attentively observing the 
 indefatigable pains, and great expence, which every self- 
 interested person chearfully submits to, in order to acquire 
 it, even in a, free trade. For if he has a large capital, he 
 will sink some part to undersell another adventurer, who 
 has less, in order to break him : And then, when he has 
 done that, he will raise the price of his commodities again, 
 so as to make himself soon whole for the losses he had 
 incurred. Now if a private merchant can find his account 
 in losing so much money, in order to get at a monopoly in 
 
 58 a 
 
An Essay on Trade. 367 
 
 a/ree trade, what exorbitant gains must an exclusive com- 
 pany make, who are fenced in by law, and have none to 
 rival them ? 
 
 fr3° Nay the evil becomes without remedy in this latter 
 case. For whereas in the former, either the engrosser 
 himself, or his family, will retire from business, after they 
 have amassed great riches ; by which means the trade will 
 again be opened. In the latter case, viz. that of a com- 
 pany, one succeeds another upon the same plan of preying 
 upon the publick, without intermission. So that neither the 
 death, nor exorbitant wealth of one set of proprietors, give 
 us any prospect of being delivered from the power and op- 
 pression of the next. 
 
 Bat the affair of a publick company (viz. the Hudson's 
 Bay) was,* last sessions, brought upon the carpet before the 
 British Parliament, — let us see, therefore, what they had 
 to say for themselves, when called upon by their superiors, 
 ■ — and when, doubtless, they said all they could, — and gave 
 every thing the best colouring. 
 
 It appears, therefore, from the papers, which the hon- 
 ourable committee, appointed to examine into the state of 
 their affairs, were pleased to make publick, for the general 
 information of the kingdom, that the following particulars 
 were proved to the satisfaction of the committee, — and 
 even were not contradicted by the agents for the company. 
 
 1st, That the Company always have discouraged the 
 settling a colony in any part of their vast and boundless 
 empire. 
 
 2dly, That they discouraged the Company^s servants 
 from conversing with the Indians, — whereas the French 
 promoted an intercourse with each other as much as 
 possible. 
 
 3dly, That the climate is much warmer, and the soil 
 59 better 
 
 * Viz. In the year 1748. 
 
368 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 better, higher up the country, than towards the sea-side. 
 Yet no settlements attempted. 
 
 4thly, That the French have extended their settlements 
 more and more : And loherever they have come near the 
 English, they have carried most of the trade from the 
 English, — not vice versa. 
 
 'bthly, That the forts * pretended to be erected and 
 60 garrisoned, 
 
 * A great stress is laid by the advocates for exclusive companies, 
 on the necessity of erecting forts in certain distant countries, for 
 securing the trade to ourselves ; — Therefore they infer companies 
 ought to be established in order to support this expence. A strange 
 argument this ! And a stranger inference ! For if forts are neces- 
 sary to be erected ; against whom, are they necessary % Not against 
 the people of the country who are to trade with us. That is too 
 absurd. We are to cultivate t\\W[ friendship, and ought to ingratiate 
 ourselves by all due acts of kindness, into their favour. But if these 
 forts are necessary to be erected, in order to keep the whole trade to 
 ourselves, and prevent other European nations from interfering with 
 us ; how came it then to pass, that we were some years ago so 
 alarmed at the Ostend Company, who had no forts, and no design of 
 attacking ours 1 Yet it is very plain, they could carry on a trade, 
 and even undersell the English East-India Company, notwithstand- 
 ing their forts. And the same fears are again revived with regard 
 to the Embden Company established by the King of Prussia. If the 
 trade was now to be laid open, subject only to the single restriction, 
 that the private traders should not come into the same ports or 
 harbours, where the companies have forts : What would be the con- 
 sequence ? Plainly this ; that the companies would be ruined : 
 And the private adventurers, though destitute of forts, would get 
 all the trade from them. — If it is said, that these forts are neces- 
 sary to guard and defend their magazines against thieves and roh- 
 hers ; How then comes it to pass, that the East-India Company 
 themselves have none on the coast of China, were the people are 
 said to be as thievish and dishonest as in any place in the world ? 
 — And how did the Bristol Siui Idverpoole traders maintain their 
 ground along the coast of Guinea, without forts, where the natives 
 are much more warlike than in any part of India. Besides, the 
 affair of Madrass has sufficiently opened our eyes, as to the use and 
 importan/:e of these pretended forts, — and the natioivd advantage 
 arising from them. And as to the forts in Hudson's Bay, Father 
 
An Essay on Trade. 369 
 
 garrisoned, are of no strength, were they attacked by an 
 European enemy; and only serve to subject the Indians to 
 the command of the Company. 
 
 Qthly, That many other branches, besides the staple 
 trade of the Company, might be attempted, were the trade 
 open, with the greatest probability of success. Particularly 
 the several branches of the fisheries : Whereas the Com- 
 pany, who know when they are well, as one of their wit- 
 nesses expressed himself, or in words to that effect, give 
 themselves no concern about the matter. 
 
 7thly, That the Indians do actually take a great many 
 more beaver, than they carry to the factories. Not finding 
 it worth their while to bring more to trade with. 
 
 %thly, That the Indians cannot carry large quantities, 
 not any thing so large as they take in hunting, were they 
 desirous, — because their canoes, deeply louden, are not able 
 to withstand the waves and storms they may meet with 
 upon the lakes ; — because they are forced to unload very 
 often, and carry the skins upon their backs, on account of 
 the falls and currents ; which create much fatigue and 
 labour, and loss of time : Because also they are obliged to 
 hunt as they travel, for their daily sustenance ; which 
 article alone causes a delay of a fortnight, and longer, in 
 going the space which might be gone in three days. 
 
 But, 9thly, all these inconveniencies might be easily 
 61 remedied, — 
 
 CJiarlevoix observes in his history of Canada, that when a French 
 vessel with about fifty hands, appeared before the best of these forts, 
 the brave English governor surrendered without firing a gun ! Thus 
 it is, that forts, in the hands of exohisive companies, have defended 
 the honour, and preserved the commerce of Great Britain ! 
 
 But even allowing, that they are necessary and advantageous to 
 the general trade of the nation ; what need then of a company ? Is 
 it not a natiotuil concern % If so, why should they not be erected 
 and supported at a national expence ? Take the argument therefore 
 either way, what reason is there for an exchmve company 1 
 
370 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 remedied, — by erecting a fort about sixty leagues above 
 York Fort upon Nelson River, upon a fork, where the 
 river divides, — by making a settlement about eighty or 
 ninty leagues above that, upon the lake of Pachegoia, — 
 and by introducing our European conveniencies of maga- 
 zines and carriages. By these means, all the beaver would 
 be bought, which the Indians now make use of otherways, 
 as not answering to bring it to the forts, — the time might 
 be saved, — and the French driven to relinquish all that 
 trade. In short, both our exports, and our imports would 
 be prodigiously increased; and many tribes of Indians 
 would, in that large tract of country, be brought to trade 
 with the English, who have yet scarcely heard of the 
 English name. 
 
 So many important particulars alleged, — proved, — and 
 even not contradicted, one would think, would have been 
 sufficient to have carried any national cause, against the 
 private interest of a few individuals. 
 
 But — Let us in the next place see, what they and their 
 friends had to offer in justification of their conduct, — 
 pretending, that they carried on a trade equally beneficial 
 to the nation, as if the trade was open. 
 
 The \st thing alleged, was, that they buy all the beaver 
 which is brought them ; — and if more was offered, more 
 they would buy. 
 
 This may be very true ; and yet no ways inconsistent 
 with the charge summed up in the above-recited particu- 
 lars, against them. The Indians, as savage as they are, 
 have the natural logick of feeling when they are well or 
 ill used, as well as other people : And if they find better 
 treatment in one place than another, will go to the best, 
 and have as little dealings with the worst, as they can. 
 Nothing but absolute necessity will oblige them (or any 
 people) to bring their goods to a market, where they expect 
 beforehand to be ill used. And for that reason, they will 
 bring as little as they can. But when they have brought 
 
 62 them 
 
An Essay on Trade. 371 
 
 ttenij necessity obliges them to sell for what the purchasers 
 will give. It may therefore be very true, that the Com- 
 pany buy all the furs that are offered them. — If they did 
 not give half as much in barter as they do, they would buy 
 all ; because it would not be worth the Indians while to 
 carry them back j and because they greatly wanted Euro- 
 pean goods. But these Indians would seek another market 
 against the next time, if they could ; and would bring no 
 more goods to the Company, than absolute necessity obliged 
 them. 
 
 But, 2dly, It was alleged, that if more goods were given 
 to the Indians in exchange, they would not bring more 
 beavers ; because they are an idle, lazy race of people ; 
 and, having no artificial wants to gratify, have no ambition 
 to spur them on to take more pains. It is true, they have 
 not such artificial wants as we have ; they do not want 
 sumptuous houses and gardens, rich furniture, or coaches 
 and chairs: But they want beads, bells, little looking- 
 glasses, rings, and such trinkets ; (besides many articles of 
 their cloathing, bedding, hunting, fishing, and fowling) 
 and are as impatient to be gratified in these respects, as 
 we can be in ours. In these things, therefore, they are as 
 covetous and ambitious as the rest of mankind, — take as 
 much pains to acquire them, — and repine and murmur at 
 the factories, when they have not as much for their com- 
 modities as they think they deserve. Besides, it should be 
 remembered, that hunting is rather a diversion with them, 
 than a toil ; and that, in fact, they do take a great deal 
 more than they bring down to the forts. What they con- 
 sider as a toil, is not the hunting part, but the being 
 obliged to be the ^or^er* of what they have taken in hunt- 
 ing, down to the factories ; and yet be paid so little for 
 their trouble. 
 
 But, Sdly, As to the charge against them, of exporting 
 so little of our own manufactures ; it was said by their 
 advocates, that if five thousand pounds worth of goods 
 
 63 bought 
 
372 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 bought all the furrs the Indians had to sell, that * sum was 
 as good as ten thousand pouaAs : Nay^ it was better ; because 
 thereby five thousand pounds were saved to the nation. 
 
 This is a reason, which is specious enough at first view, 
 but will not bear the examining. First, therefore, we deny 
 the fact; and iasist upon it, that the Indians had more 
 furrs to sell, if the Company would have given a sufficient 
 price to the Indians, to have made it worth their while to 
 have brought them down ; or rather, if the Company had 
 built settlements and magazines higher up, so as to have 
 superseded the necessity of the Indians coming down. 
 
 But 2d, We wOl allow the fact, and argue with them 
 Upon their own state of the case. Now if five thousand 
 pounds worth of manufactures, in this respect, is as good, 
 nay better than ten thousand pounds worth ; for the same 
 
 64 reason 
 
 * There was an egregious fallacy used in this argument. If the 
 barter or exchange with the Indians had been in bullion, the argu- 
 ment would have held good ; and so much moTiey would have 
 been saved to the nation. But as it was all in our own manufactures, 
 i. e. the labour of our own people, the diminishing of such exports, 
 is in fact the diminishing of our own manufactures, and defrauding 
 the nation of so much labour, whereby the hands employed in those 
 manufactures must become a rent-charge upon the publick, — or steal, 
 — or starve, or fi,y their country. ^^ The only limitation which ought 
 to be put upon the quantity of our own manufactures, to be exported, 
 is what the nature of the thing will of itself put upon them ; mz. 
 To export no mare than is consistent with the reasonable gains and 
 profit of the exporter. If he can afford to export ten thousand pounds 
 worth of English manufactures, where an exclusive company would 
 export \>utfive thousand ; it is for the geiieral good of -the country, 
 that he should do it. And all trade ought to be laid, free and open, 
 iu order to induce the exporters to rival each other ; that the publick 
 may obtain this general good by their competitorship. But if they 
 cannot afford to export so much, there is no need to restrain them by 
 laws and penalties, from doing tliat which their own private interest 
 vi'ill suggest to them soon enough. And it is really astonishing, that 
 such a fallacy, so gross in itself, so destructive in its consequences, 
 could have escaped the notice of a British Senate, and could have 
 passed not only without censure, .but with some degree of applause. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 373 
 
 reason, one thousand pounds worth is better still, because 
 more would be saved to the nation. Suppose therefore, 
 that the Company, and every other exporter in the kingdom, 
 (for every other has the same right of arguing in this 
 manner) suppose, I say, that all exporters could lessen 
 the exportations of our own manufactures by nine tenths, 
 and yet could get as much money, or effects in return, as 
 they had before ; what would be the consequence ? Why, 
 only this, that these exporters, would become princes ; and 
 the rest of the kingdom beggars. They would be like a 
 Spanish Don in Mexico, or Peru, who has a prodigious rich 
 mine, which required but few hands to work it. And 
 therefore he indeed would be a great lord ; but all his 
 wealth would not enrich the neighbourhood, so much as a 
 single manufacture here in England, which being branched 
 out into various hands, gives a comfortable subsistence to 
 many families, causing a general circulation of labour. 
 
 It is not therefore gold and silver, considered merely 
 in themselves, that can make a \\a.gA.am. flourish, but ihe par- 
 celing them out into proper shares, by means of the divi- 
 sions and subdivisions of different trades. Without this 
 the more riches in a few hands, — the greater would be the 
 poverty of the rest, and the more abject and dependent 
 their state would be. And if all merchants were no better 
 commonwealths men than these, the interior of a kingdom 
 would be very little profited by foreign merchandize, — -nay, 
 in some respects would be much the worse. 
 
 In short, such an argument as this, viz. to decrease our 
 exports, and increase their price abroad, beyond what is 
 necessary for the comfortable subsistence of the merchant 
 and manufacturer, is only worthy of such a cause. Were 
 it put in practice, it would get all the wealth of the nation 
 into a few hands, — it would turn nine tenths of our manu- 
 facturers a begging, — and reduce them to the necessity of 
 becoming lacqueys and footmen to such exporters, — or 
 starving, — or flying the country. It would sink the value 
 
 65 of 
 
374 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 of our lands, and bring swift destruction on the marm- 
 facturer, farmer, gentleman, and all stations^ — except the 
 exporter. He indeed would be greatj — and he alone. One 
 may therefore the better judge of the goodness of such a 
 cause, which required such kind of arguments to support it. 
 And so much for exclusive Companies. 
 
 VII. PEOPOSAL. 
 
 To encourage foreign merchants and tradesmen to settle 
 among us, by a general naturalization Act for all Protestants. 
 And if it be judged improper to admit them into offices of 
 trust or power, it is easy to add a clause, that these privi- 
 leges shall still be confined to the natural-horn subjects. 
 
 Here again the baleful spirit of self-interest exerts all 
 its powers to oppose so publick and general a benefit, — 
 " What ! must foreigners, and we know not who, come and 
 take the bread out of our mouths ? An honest Cambro- 
 Briton would have called all Englishmen foreigners^ and 
 he knows not who. But waving that, — let me calmly ask, 
 what bread do they eat ? — and out of whose mouths ? It 
 must be English bread : The corn grew here, — was manu- 
 factured, was sold here. And the foreigners, who eat it, 
 earn it by their labour, and pay for it. So far then, we 
 hope, there is no offence. The more inhabitants there are 
 to consume the produce of our lands, the better can the 
 farmer and the gentleman pay their shopkeepers and trades- 
 men, and the more manufactures will they consume in every 
 respect. Let us see therefore, in the next place, out of 
 whose mouths do they take this bread ? If they introduce 
 new manufactures, or carry those already established to 
 greater perfection, in that case the publick is greatly bene- 
 fited, and no individual can be injured. If they employ 
 themselves only in such as are already settled and perfected, 
 they will not defraud the mouths of sober, frugal, and 
 
 66 industrious 
 
An Essay on Trade. 373 
 
 industrious persons^ who may work as cheap, aud can work 
 as well as foreigners. And therefore should be obliged to 
 do both. It can be, therefore, none but the abandoned, 
 debauched, and dissolute, who would chuse to be idle three 
 ox four days in the week, and want to have their wages so 
 high as to support this extravagance, that can make such a 
 complaint ? And shall they be heard ? Shall we continue 
 the exclusion of all sober and industrious foreigners, so 
 much to the national disadvantage, merely to gratify the 
 extravagant and unreasonable humours of such wretches 
 as these ? Surely, it is to be hoped, we shall pursue more 
 prudent measures, both for our sakes, and th^ir own. 
 
 But we are told farther, " That English tradesmen, of 
 " every denomination, are used to live better than foreigners ; 
 " and therefore cannot afford to work or sell so cheap as 
 "they." Be it so: Carry then this argument to a /om^re 
 market, and see whether it wiU. perswade the inhabitants 
 of that country to trade with you. A French, and an 
 English merchant, are competitors with, and rivals to each 
 other in the markets of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Turky, 
 and in short all over the world. The French man offers 
 his goods at 20, 15, 10, or 5 per cent, cheaper than the 
 English. Our countryman is demanded, why he will not 
 sell his goods as cheap as others ? His answer is, " that 
 " the manufacturers and merchants live better in England 
 " than foreigners do, and therefore he cannot afford it." 
 This is a most perswasive argument. Undoubtedly he will 
 sell much cloth by alledging it. He is asked again, why 
 they will not in his country admit foreigners, who work 
 cheaper, to settle among them, that so they may be able 
 to trade upon an equal footing with their neighbours ? 
 To this he replies, " that foreigners, and he knows not 
 " who, ought not to come and take the bread out of the 
 " mouths of the natives." Such kind of reasoning must 
 give them an high idea of the sense and discernment of 
 our countryman. Let us therefore apply the case to our- 
 
 67 selves. 
 
376 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 selves, and not argue in that absurd and ridiculous manner 
 at home, wliicli he is represented as doing abroad. 
 
 The admission then of foreigners to settle in our 
 country, is so far from taking the bread out of the mouths 
 of the natives, that it is putting bread into the mouths of 
 those, who, otherwise, in a short time must have none. 
 For the English must trade, at least, upon an equal footing 
 with other nations, or not trade at all. And then, when 
 the not trading at all is the consequence, we shall indeed 
 have no foreigners to complain of, but we shall have a 
 much sorer evil : — and then, perhaps when it is too late, 
 the most self-interested among us will be sorry, that we 
 had not admitted the frugal and industrious from all parts 
 of the world, to share the gains of trade with them, rather 
 than to have none at all. 
 
 But let us try all this reasoning by plain matters of 
 fact. The town of Birmingham, for example, admits all 
 persons to come and settle among them ; whom, though 
 they are Englishmen, the original natives of the place may 
 as justly tevia fo7-eigners with regard to them, as we stile 
 other nations by that name. " Foreigners, therefore, and 
 " / know not who, came from all parts, and settled at Bir- 
 " mingham; and — took the bread out of the mouths of the 
 " original natives." What then was the consequence of 
 this great wickedness ? Why, within these few years, the 
 trade and buildings of the town have been prodigiously 
 increased, and all the estates for a great many miles round, 
 have felt the benefit of this great accession of trade and 
 inhabitants. Birmingham, from being a place of little 
 consequence, is now become one of the most flourishing and 
 considerable in the kingdom. And there is no town, with 
 its exclusive charters, that can boast of so many skilful 
 artists, as this which admits all comers. 
 
 Moreover, there are fewer beggars in this town, Man- 
 chester and Leeds, where all are free, than in any which 
 has companies of trades, and exclusive charters. S:f" So 
 
 68 true 
 
An Essay on Trade. 377 
 
 true and certain it is, that these rights and privileges, as 
 they are called, do multiply the numbers of the^oo?*j in- 
 stead of diminishing them ; because they damp the spirit 
 of industry, frugality, and emulation. A manufacturer^ 
 who knows, that no foreigner dares come in to he a com- 
 petitor against him, thinks himself privileged to be idle. 
 And all such privileges are just so many combinations to 
 sink the value of lands, and prevent the extension of 
 commerce. 
 
 The other instance I shall mention, is the case of the 
 French Hugonots, who fled from the persecution of Lewis 
 XIV, and took refuge in England. But great was the 
 outcry against them, at their first coming. " Poor Eng- 
 " land would be ruined ! Foreigners encouraged ! And 
 " our own people starving !" This was the popular cry 
 of those times. But the looms in Spittle-Fields, and the 
 shops on Ludgate-Hill, have at last sufficiently taught us 
 another lesson. And now, it is hoped, we may say with- 
 out offence, these Hugonots have been so far from being of 
 disservice to the nation, that they have partly got, and 
 partly saved, in the space of fifty years, a balance in our 
 favour of, at least, fifty millions sterling. 
 
 In short, self-interest apart, what good reason can be 
 assigned, why we should not admit foreigners among us ? 
 Our country is but thinly inhabited, in comparison to 
 what it might be : And many hundred thousands of acres 
 of ^oo«? land, in England and Wales, not to mention Scotland 
 and Ireland, lie either entirely waste, or are not suffi- 
 ciently cultivated, for want of hands, and persons to con- 
 sume the product. Our vast commons, all over the 
 kingdom, and many of the forests and chaces, might be 
 parcelled out in lots, to such of the foreigners as chuse a 
 country life ; and the rest might find employment, in some 
 shape or other, in the different manufactures. The natives 
 of England likewise do not increase so fast, as those of 
 other countries; our«common people being much more 
 
 69 abandoned 
 
378 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 abandoned and debauched. The marriage state also is not 
 sufficiently encouraged among us : And ten thousand 
 common whores are not so fruitful (setting aside the sin of 
 the parents, the diseases of the few children that are born, 
 and their want of a proper and virtuous education) I say^ 
 10,000 eommon whores are not so fruitful as fifty healthy 
 young married women, that are honest and virtuous : By 
 which means, the State is defrauded of the increase of 
 upwards of 199 subjects out of 200, every year. Add to 
 all this, that it has been long observed by men of thought 
 and speculation, that more young children die in England 
 from the birth to two years old, than in any other country. 
 The sea likewise, and our extensive plantations, are a con- 
 tinual drain upon us. And the manufacturing poor at 
 home are killing themselves, and, if I may be allowed the 
 expression, their posterity likewise, as fast as they can, by 
 those sure instruments of death, gin and spirituous liquors. 
 For all these reasons, therefore, as well as on account of 
 lowering the price of labour, and preventing the combina- 
 tions of journeymen, so loudly complained of, and severely 
 felt throughout the kingdom, it is humbly hoped, that 
 those persons who have hitherto opposed the Naturalization 
 BiU, will see cause to change their sentiments ; and will 
 look upon it as highly useful and expedient, and produc- 
 tive of the greatest national advantages. There are many 
 thousands of manufacturers, both in silk and wooUen, in 
 the south of France, all zealous Protestants, who would 
 gladly come over, if they could learn that they should 
 meet with a kind reception. As to the difficulty of making 
 their escape out of the French King's dominions, they 
 would find ways and means to deceive even the vigilance 
 of their governors, by retiring, as it were one by one, and 
 removing under various pretences, towards the manufac- 
 turing towns in Picardy and French-Flanders, (from 
 whence they could so easily pass over to us) were they 
 sure of finding protection and reasonable encouragement. 
 
 70 And 
 
An Essay on Trade. 379 
 
 And as England and France are rivals to each other, and 
 competitors in almost all branches of commerce, every 
 single manufacturer so coming over, would be our gain, 
 and a double loss to France. 
 
 Upon a review of this proposal, as it stood in the 
 second edition, the author cannot see any cause for that 
 fury and resentment, so liberally bestowed upon him, for 
 oflPering his thoughts, he hopes in no improper manner, to 
 publick consideration. If his arguments were inconclusive, 
 why were they not answered ? If absurd, they ought to 
 have been despised : But since they were thought worthy 
 of so much tfotice, why doth not some person undertake 
 to confute a late treatise, viz. Reflections on the Expediency 
 of naturalizing foreign Protestants, wrote expressly to 
 vindicate this proposal ? Such a method would have been 
 fair and ingenuous, deserving the regard of the publick, 
 and the thanks of the writer of this treatise, who would 
 have thought it no disgrace to have acknowledged his error 
 in the most open manner. But it ever was the hard fate 
 of those who have laboured to promote the true interests 
 of their country, and to establish a general system for 
 the propagation of national virtue and good morals, to be 
 vilified and insulted, while living, and never to have real 
 justice done to their characters, till they are dead. A 
 man may write pieces of entertainment, and be applauded : 
 Or he may dip his pen in gall for the use of a party, and 
 be adored; But he must not bend his studies for the 
 general good, with a dependence on any other reward, 
 than that which arises in his own breast for having done 
 his duty. 
 
 VIII. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To encourage a trade with our own plantations, in all 
 suck articles as shall make for the mutual ■ benefit of the 
 mother country, and her colonies. 
 
 71 The 
 
380 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 Tlie reasons for this proposal are very obvious and 
 convincing : And yet, as self-interested persons will be 
 apt to start objections, and raise difficulties, it may be 
 proper to expatiate upon these reasons a little. 
 
 ' \st, Therefore, it is necessary that we should encour- 
 age a trade to our own plantations for all sorts of naval 
 stores, in order that we may not be too dependent upon 
 the will and pleasure oi foreign courts, with regard to 
 these necessary things. Manj'^, if not most of the imple- 
 ments for navigation, and consequently for a sea war, are 
 purchased from the several nations bordering upon the 
 Baltick. Suppose then that Sweden, Russia, or Denmark, 
 should, for certain reasons of State, or by the intrigues of 
 the French, lay an embargo on these commodities, at a 
 crisis when we greatly wanted them ; — or should refuse 
 them to us, and sell them to our enemies ; to what a dis- 
 tressed situation would this reduce us ? and who can tell 
 what might be the consequences of it ? And as the poli- 
 ticks of princes are ever fluctuating and changing, why 
 should we put it in the power of any potentate to have 
 such a command over us ? 
 
 ^dly. As the balance in regard to all these countries is 
 considerably against us, common prudence will suggest, 
 that we ought to turn it in our favour, if we can. Now 
 this we shall be able to do (or at the worst, bring it to an 
 equilibrium, which in itself is no disadvantageous kind of 
 commerce) if we can purchase the same commodities in 
 our own plantations, which we used to import from these 
 countries. Besides, the balance is not only against us 
 with regard to Sweden, but also the very money which is 
 drawn from us by means of this losing trade, is converted 
 to support a French interest, in opposition to ours. But 
 
 Zdly, Were the case indifferent, where we traded, 
 (which it is not) the natural affection, which the mother 
 country should have for her colonies, where we have so 
 many friends, relations, and acquaintance, should deter- 
 
 72 mine 
 
An Essay on Trade. 381 
 
 mine us to give them the preference. But indeed our own 
 interest is nearly and essentially concerned in this affair : 
 For, 
 
 4:thly, Unless we promote a trade with them, and take 
 off the growth and commodities of their plantations, they 
 will be reduced to the necessity of offering them to sale at 
 other markets, or permitting other nations to come and 
 trade with them ; The consequence of which will be, that 
 they will take the product and manufactures of these 
 nations in return. And indeed this is too much the case 
 at present : For one third, at least, of the luxuries and 
 elegancies of life, brought into our colonies (as was ob- 
 served * before) is the growth and manufacture of other 
 countries, and principally of France. And as our trade, 
 particularly to some of the northern colonies, is growing 
 less and less, this evil must daily increase in the same pro- 
 portion. Moreover, 
 
 5thly, Unless we can supply our colonies with such 
 commodities and manufactures as they want, by way of 
 barter for some of theirs which they can spare, — they will 
 be obliged to raise those things themselves. And seeing 
 that many of the new settlements on the continent of 
 America, are several hundred miles up the country, be- 
 tween, and beyond the mountains ; this distance of situa- 
 tion will increase the necessity they are already under of 
 manufacturing for themselves, — unless we can divert their 
 thoughts to some other projects. Nay more, when once a 
 manufacture is set up in those distant regions, it will ex- 
 tend itself downwards ; and the inhabitants on the sea- 
 coast will be supplied by their neighbours in the up-lands, 
 upon cheaper and easier terms than we can supply them. 
 It is a just complaint, that many of the provinces have set 
 up several species of manufactures, which greatly interfere 
 
 73 with 
 
 * See the Xlth disadvantage of Great Britain. Page 345. 
 
382 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 with the trade and prosperity of their mother country. 
 Yet how shall we prevent them ? There is but one way to 
 do it, that is either just, or practicable : And that is, by 
 ah exchange of commodities to mutual benefit. A mutual 
 benefit is a mutual dependence. And this principle alone 
 will contribute more to the preserving of the dependency 
 of our colonies upon their mother country, than any other 
 refinement or invention. For if we are afraid, that one 
 day or other they will revolt, and set up for themselves, 
 as some seem to apprehend ; let us not drive them to a 
 necessity to feel themselves independent of us : As they 
 will do, the moment they perceive, that they can be sup- 
 plied with all things from within themselves, and do not 
 need our assistance. If we would keep them stiU depen- 
 dent upon their mother country, and in some respects 
 subservient to her ' views, and welfare ; — ^let us make it 
 their interest always so to be. 
 
 For these reasons therefore, it is humbly apprehended, 
 that the trade to our colonies and plantations, must appear 
 to be of the utmost consequence to the power, strength, 
 and prosperity of Great Britain. But to effectuate this 
 good end, an important question comes next to be decided ; 
 viz. " What produce should our colonies be most encour- 
 " aged to raise and cultivate ? And what sort of manu- 
 " factures shall they be allowed to barter in return for 
 " ours ?" It is easy to see, that they cannot make large 
 payments in gold and silver ; and it is also equally plain 
 and certain, that we will not, cannot, indeed allow them 
 to introduce such things among us, as will prevent the 
 consumption of our own commodities, to such a degree, as 
 to be upon the whole, of national disadvantage. 
 
 Wherefore, with great submission, I will beg leave to 
 offer some few plain observations, which perhaps might not 
 be altogether unserviceable as to the regulation of such a 
 trade. 
 
 First then, it seems chiefly requisite, that due encour- 
 74 agement 
 
An Essay on Trade. 383 
 
 agement should be given to our colonies, to apply their 
 thoughts towards the raising of such commoditieSj as do 
 not interfere with those of the mother country. 
 
 Secondly, They should also not only be allowed, but be 
 particularly incouraged to import all such raw materials as 
 are to be manufactured here in England ; — even though 
 we raise the same sort ourselves : Because the more we 
 have of these, the better ; since the cheaper they are pur- 
 chased, the more of them can be worked up, and the more 
 there are worked up, the greater number of hands are 
 employed; and consequently, the more labour, or employ- 
 ment is procured to the nation. Moreover, this argument 
 becomes so much the stronger, if the raw materials we 
 have of our own, are by no means sufficient for the demand 
 of the manufacture, either as to quantity, or goodness ; 
 which is the case with the bar-iron here made in England ; 
 so that we are obliged to have recourse to foreign countries 
 for a supply ; as in the case of bar-iron we do to Sweden, 
 to the amount of near 200,000Z. sterling a year. 
 
 Thirdly, we ought to permit our colonies to supply us 
 upon easy terms with all such articles of luxury as we are 
 wedded to, and will have either from them, or others. 
 Consequently, in reason and good policy, they ought to 
 have the preference, by being indulged to import these 
 articles under the advantage of an easy and reasonable 
 duty; whilst the commodities of foreign nations are 
 charged with higher imposts and customs. In such a case, 
 the mutual exchange of commodities between us and the 
 colonies would become a mutual advantage : But that is 
 not all ; for as the duties would be moderate, the tempta- 
 tions to smuggling would be small ; the consumption of 
 the commodities of our own colonies greater, and that of 
 other nations less: By which means, the revenue itself 
 would rise much higher than it doth, when there are large 
 and heavy duties : For these will ever be attended with 
 one or other of the following effects, either the preventing 
 
 75 the 
 
384 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 the importation of the commodity, or its entrance at the 
 custom-house. 
 
 Fourthly, In the regulation of a trade with our colo- 
 nies, some regard should be had to those distant parts of 
 the country, which lie remotest from the sea; that even 
 the farthest inhabitants may likewise find employment in 
 the raising of such commodities as are fittest for their 
 situation, and are light of carriage. And if their thoughts 
 are properly taken up in the cultivation of these things, 
 they will have neither time, nor inclination to pursue 
 other projects, which might prove detrimental to the 
 mother country. 
 
 From these principles therefore it seems clearly to 
 follow, that the culture of coffee, cocoa nut, cochineal, 
 indico, and pimento, ought especially to be encouraged in 
 the mountainous, inland part oi Jamaica. And that oi bar- 
 iron, hemp, flax, indico, and raw silk, in the countries be- 
 tween, and beyond the mountains, on the back of Carolina, 
 Virginia, Pensylvania, &c. 
 
 Some of these indeed are heavy goods ; and therefore 
 seem not so proper to be raised in a country so far dis- 
 tant from any sea-port .- But on the other hand, when it 
 is considered how particularly rich the soil in those parts 
 is, and how weU adapted the country for the raising such 
 articles, and how conveniently the inhabitants could load 
 the cattle they bring down every market day, with these 
 commodities, the difficulty, I hope, in great part vanishes, 
 and the propriety of assigning these tracts of land for the 
 culture of them, evidently appears. 
 
 Enough therefore has been said, to evince beyond all 
 contradiction, that it is the interest of the kingdom, that 
 such a trade as here described, should be carried on ; But 
 whether it is the interest of the merchant to embark in it, 
 is another question : And yet, till he can find his own 
 private account in the affair, it is too clear a point, that 
 whatever has been said as to the publick and national ad- 
 
 76 -vantage. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 385 
 
 vantage, will pass for nothing. A merchant will not en- 
 gage in a losing trade, and ruin himself to benefit his 
 country. Indeed it is unreasonable to expect he should. 
 And the great complaint against the trade to some of our 
 northern colonies long has been, that there is nothing to 
 be got by it ; that is, that the merchant can get nothing, 
 or next to nothing, if compared to his gains to and from 
 other places. The trade to Denmark, Sweden, or Russia, 
 is more advantageous to him, though very detrimental to 
 his country ; and therefore, if we would expect the mer- 
 chant to turn his thoughts wholly to the plantation-trade, 
 we must cause him to find his chief interest in the pursuit 
 of it. 
 
 Now there are four ways or methods for turning a trade 
 into a new channel, and stopping up the old one. 
 
 The first is, by laying additional duties upon the com- 
 modities of one country, but not on those of another. By 
 this means, if the commodities are in any degree equal to 
 each other in goodness and value, the former will be pre- 
 vented from being imported, on account of their dearness 
 to the consumer ; and the latter will have the preference, 
 by reason of their cheapness. But this method, however 
 expedient at particular junctures, is to be used with great 
 wariness and caution. For every such additional duty put 
 upon the commodities of a foreign country, will be looked 
 upon by that country, as an act of hostility committed 
 upon its trade and commerce ; which they will be sure to 
 revenge upon the commodities and manufactures of the 
 country that was the aggressor. Besides, high additional 
 duties are too violent and precipitate a method of turning 
 a trade into a new channel, — especially where the manu- 
 facture is yet in its infancy, and cannot answer the demand 
 for it. It is therefore much more safe and prudent, to 
 incline the scale gently and gradually on the side you 
 would favour; that so the inhabitants of that country 
 may have time to raise the proper quantity of the commo- 
 
 7 7 dities 
 
386 All Essay on Trade. 
 
 dities that are wanted, and may increase and perfect their 
 manufactures, by due application and experience. And 
 also, that we ourselves may not be distressed on account of 
 the scarceness, or the badness of the commodity ; or be 
 forced to pay an exorbitant price, by means of the mono- 
 poly which the inhabitants of the favoured country will 
 have against us. 
 
 Wherefore, secondly, another more commodious, and 
 less exceptionable way, is, to grant certain privileges and 
 exemptions ; — which shall continue till the trade is sufR- 
 ciently established, and needs no support ; that is, till the 
 merchant can find it worth his while to engage in it, 
 without being paid at the publick expence. Suppose there- 
 fore, that at the beginning of such a trade, certain com- 
 raodities were permitted to be imported upon easy terms ; 
 — or rather duty free, which is better still: Then our 
 colonies would turn their thoughts to the raising them ; 
 and the merchant would find his own private account in 
 importing them. But if any thing obstructed, so that 
 this did not prove sufficient to engage them m the pro- 
 secution of such designs ; or that the demand still ran in 
 favour of the goods of another nation ; then,' 
 
 Thirdly, The scale must be turned by the addition of 
 a bounty upon importation : Aud to quicken their dili- 
 gence, and excite a spirit of emulation, to these encourage- 
 ments may stUl be added. 
 
 Fourthly, A personal premium to such merchants, as 
 shall import the most of these commodities, and the best 
 in their kind. Prizes of this nature, are observed to do 
 wonderful things in the raising anA perfecting of a manu- 
 facture. We have seen their good effects in Ireland; and 
 it were greatly to be wished we had the same laudable 
 institution here in England. If certain sums were vested 
 in the Board of Trade for this purpose, we might not 
 despair of seeing the mother country in a few years sup- 
 
 78 plied 
 
An Essay on Trade. 387 
 
 plied with pot-ashes, bar-iron* flax, hemp, indico, cochineal, 
 coffee, cocoa nut, pitch and taA, all sorts of naval stores, 
 and raw silk, chiefly from her own colonies. The fact is 
 undeniable^ that all these things can be raised in our plan- 
 tations either on the Continent, or in the islands. And 
 though some difficulties would attead the enterprize at 
 first setting out^ yet industry and application^ together 
 with the inducements of bounties and personal premiums, 
 would surmount them all. If prises were fixed, viz. So 
 much to the fla-st, the second, and the third importer of 
 the most in quantity, and best in kind ; and notice given 
 thereof in the Gazette by publick authority ; what an 
 emulation would it excite amongst all the merchants of the 
 kingdom ? How gladly would our colonies embrace such 
 proposals, and quit the pursuit of the manufactures they are 
 now engaged in? It is certain, these manufactures, tho' 
 highly detrimental to us, are not so advantageous to them, 
 as the raising the above mentioned commodities would be 
 because they could employ their negroes in such work ; 
 whereas the negroes are found to be not so proper to en- 
 gage in a manufacture, which has a long course and dif- 
 ferent parts before it is compleated; and the labour of 
 .the white people is dear and expensive. 
 
 As to the article of raw silk, the importance of it, I 
 79 hope, 
 
 * The great clamour lately raised against the introduction of bar- 
 iron is an astonishing instance of the ignorance and infatuation of 
 the EnffUsh in regard to their own interest. For let us ask even an 
 iron-master, if the Americans shall not be permitted to import iron 
 duty free, what course will they, nay must they take, but to manufac- 
 ture it themselves ? For how shall they be able to pay for English 
 goods, unless they can make proper returns 1 And if you will not 
 admit their bar-iron, you drive them to the >icc«ss4fy of manufacturing 
 it : Nay more, you give them a bounty : For aa the bar-iron will be 
 cheaper in America, if there is no English market ; this difference im 
 the price is in fact a bounty given by yourselves for the encourage- 
 ment of iron-manufactures in America. 
 
388 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 hope, will justify the recommending of the culture of it 
 in a very joar^icM^ar manner. The excessive price it now 
 bears, and the great difficulties to which the manufacturers 
 are driven, in order to get it at any rate, require that 
 something should be attempted without delay. Every 
 nation now begins to perceive, that it is imprudent and 
 impolitick to suffer such precious materials to be exported 
 unmanufactured out of their country. They have therefore 
 prohibited the doing it under the severest penalties : And 
 we cannot blame them. But for that very reason we 
 ought to endeavour to raise the commodity ourselves. 
 And, with humble submission, no time ever seemed so 
 favourable for the doing it, as the present. For as the 
 price is high, this is not only an inducement to set about 
 it : But also as we have now a different sort of inhabitants 
 in our colonies to engage in it, than we had before, we 
 have therefore the greater prospect of success. The com- 
 plaint formerly was, that the cultivation of it would not 
 answer on account of the dearness of labour. The in- 
 habitants towards the sea-coasts could employ their time 
 to greater advantage in the culture of tobacco, rice, &c. 
 therefore the scheme for raw silk must fail. But at pre- 
 sent we have several thousands of Palatines and Moravians, 
 settled in the vallies between the mountains, in a country 
 much like Piemont, where the best silk grows : Now as 
 they cannot cultivate rice or tobacco for exportation ; and 
 as they are far removed from the center of trade, and are 
 also a parsimonious, abstemious people, they will certainly 
 work much cheaper than the English heretofore towards 
 the sea-side, who were ever noted for the contrary quali- 
 ties. So that upon the whole, the time and the occasion 
 in\'ite ; the necessities of the manufacture', and the in- 
 terest of our country, require that some attempt should 
 be speedily made for the raising of raw silk in our 
 colonies. 
 
 80 IX. PROPOSAL. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 389 
 
 IX. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To establish a police for the prevention of smuggling. 
 
 * " It may indeed be too difficult for a private person 
 " to find out a remedy equal to a disease so universal, and 
 " of so long a continuance : But yet as every well-meant 
 " endeavour for the pubHck service is candidly accepted, 
 " when offered with modesty and submission, it is to be 
 " hoped the following thoughts, which proceed no farther 
 " than by way of query, will be favourably received. 
 
 " Query I. If the privileges and exemptions of the 
 " islands of Guernsey and Jersey, &c. were abolished, and 
 " those remains of the dukedom of Normandy perfectly 
 " united to the British Crown, could the same frauds be 
 " then practised, as to the running of goods which have 
 " a drawback granted them, smuggling of French wines, 
 " brandies, teas, coffee, chocolate, silk, lace, and all other 
 " commodities, as are at present ? Could the French wines 
 " be mixt with port, and then entered as if they were all 
 " the growth of Portugal, to the great detriment of the 
 " revenue, the manifest injury of the Portugal trade, the 
 " certain irreparable loss to the nation, and the open 
 " avowed encouragement to perjury ? Could. the smacks 
 " and cruisers, which were designed to guard the coast, 
 " have the same pretence to enter the ports of France, 
 " which they have now to step into Guernsey and Jersey, 
 " viz. to see what vessels were lading ; and sometimes take 
 " in a lading for themselves ? — Et quis custodes custodial 
 
 " Query II. If the jurisdiction of the Isle of Man 
 " was annexed to the Crown, in the same manner as the 
 " hereditable jurisdictions in Scotland lately were, could 
 
 81 France 
 
 * This quotation is taken out of my Inquiry concerning the Use of 
 low priced Spirituous Liquors ; printed for T. Trye, Holborn. 
 
390 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 " France, Holland, Denmark, &c. find any place in our own 
 " seaSj as a storehouse or magazine for depositing their 
 " several contraband goods, in order to run them on the 
 " coasts of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland ? If 
 " the collectors of the customs of the present noble pro- 
 " prietor of this island, were obliged to lay before the 
 '• parliament their books of entries for the last seven 
 " years, and such entries compared with the accounts that 
 " might be transmitted from France, Holland, Denmark, 
 " &c. would it not appear, that the respective India com- 
 " panics of those countries had imported vast quantities of 
 " teas, and other India goods, principally with a view to 
 " smuggle them into Great Britain and Ireland? And 
 " ought not that circumstance alone be an alarming con- 
 " sideration to the English East-India Company, to the 
 " Government, and the whole British nation? — Do the 
 " French, Dutch, Danes, &c. permit the English to use any 
 " port of their dominions for the like purposes? And 
 " would it not be more advantageous to the British nation, 
 " as to the mere article of profit and loss, to pay subsidies 
 " to these countries of 200,000/. per annum, than to let 
 " matters continue on the present footing ? Lastly, with 
 " regard to our own subjects, if this island were annexed 
 " to the Crown, could the corrupt part of the commanders 
 " of the smacks and cruisers receive any emolument for 
 " conniving at the evils here complained of? Or the 
 " honest part be insulted, and even imprisoned by the 
 " deputy governors or their agents, for discharging faith- 
 '• fully their duty ? And would the necessary expences 
 " for the prevention of smuggling be a fourth part the 
 " sum, to which they now amount ? 
 
 Query III. Whether the present methods of collecting 
 " the duties on French brandies, and other foreign goods, 
 " are not found to be eventually productive of great temp- 
 " tations to smuggle them ? Whether such temptations 
 " could possibly be so strong, if there was a permission 
 
 82 "" somewhat 
 
Jn Essay on Trade. 391 
 
 " somewhat of a like nature granted to the importers of 
 " these commodities, as there is now granted to the im- 
 " porters of rum, viz. To put them in the King's warehouse, 
 "paying the duties only for the quantities they take out, 
 " when they meet with apurchaser, and leaving the rest to 
 " continue ? Whether a smuggler with one hundred 
 " pounds stock, would run the risque of his life and for- 
 " tune, which the present laws subject him to, if he could 
 " commence a fair trader, to sufficient advantage, with so 
 " small a capital ? And whether, in case of such a per- 
 " mission, a man would not carry on a more extensive 
 " trade with one hundred pounds, in certain sorts of 
 " goods, than he can do now with six times the sum ? 
 
 " (fd" Whether the great frauds, lately complained of 
 " in the tobacco trade, to the prodigious detriment of the 
 " revenue, and the national interest, cannot likewise be 
 " accounted for, upon the principle here suggested ? And 
 " if the importers of tobacco were allowed to lodge their 
 " cargoes in the King's warehouse (or in their own, under 
 " the lock and key of the custom-house officer) and from 
 " thence to take it away in small quantities, viz. a hogs- 
 " head or two at a time, suitable to their convenience, 
 " would not this circumstance alone cause the Virginia 
 " trade to flourish, prevent smugghng, and supersede the 
 " necessity of all other devices ? 
 
 " Query IV. If all seizures were absolutely prohibited 
 " to be sold for home consumption, could they then cover 
 " the vending any considerable parcels of un- customed 
 " goods, which are now vended in large quantities by this 
 " means ? And if the seizures were not to be used at 
 " home, would the purchasers give an higher price for such 
 " goods, than they do for others of like intrinsick value? 
 " And is not the advanced price now given, a plain indica- 
 " tion of the uses to which they are applied ? 
 
 " Query V. If the commanders and officers of the 
 " smacks and cruisers were to be paid only one half of 
 
 83 " their 
 
392 A7i Essay on Trade. 
 
 " their salaries of course, and the other half hy way of 
 " gratuity, when it appeared that they had been vigilant 
 " and active to an high degree, would not this quicken 
 " their motions, and add new life and vigour to their 
 " endeavours ? If those who could give no proof of an 
 " extraordinary vigilance were to lose such gratuities, and 
 " others to receive them, as an additional rewavd, who had 
 " distinguished themselves the most eminently, would not 
 " this be a means of raising a spirit of emulation among 
 " them, and mating the active principles of interest, 
 " shame, fear, honour, disgrace, all unite and operate for 
 " the publick good. 
 
 " Query VI. If a few independent companies of light 
 " horse were raised, in the nature of hussars, would not 
 " such kind of cavalry, (viz. English hunters) be much 
 "' more proper to scour the coast, and pursue smugglers, 
 " tha,n heavy horse and dragoons, and regular forces ? 
 " And if their officers were paid in the same manner, as 
 " is proposed for the officers of smacks and cruisers, would 
 " it not be an additional security for their integrity, and 
 " an incentive to their vigUance? 
 
 Query VII. If the whole seizures were given to the 
 " captors, would it not be a greater encouragement than 
 " giving them a part ? And if the fees and expences of 
 " the Court of Exchequer for condemnation did not rise 
 " so high, would not this enhance the value of the prize, 
 " and consequently make the captors more active and vigi- 
 " lant ? Whether there have not been instances of cus- 
 " tom-house officers compounding with the delinquents for 
 "petty seizures, rather than be at the expence of con- 
 " demning them in the Exchequer, as that would swallow 
 " up the profit ? 
 
 " These queries the author would humbly offer to 
 " publick consideration ; not doubting but many other 
 " methods might be found out, greatly conducive to the 
 " same good end. As to the difficulties against putting 
 
 84 "this 
 
An Essay on Trade. 393 
 
 " this scheme in immediate executiouj he is not aware of 
 " auvj but is far from presuming to determine that there 
 " are none." 
 
 X. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To invite foreigners of distinction to travel among us,- 
 that so we may have something in return for the vast 
 sums which we yearly send abroad. To this end there is 
 wanting a concise treatise in French and English, setting 
 forth the advantages which persons of different tastes and 
 inclinations may enjoy by such a tour : The man of plea- 
 sure and diversion — the virtuoso — the scholar and man of 
 letters — the lawyer — physician — divine — merchant^ ^c. 
 with directions how to perform a regular tour — a shorter 
 or a longer — what things are most remarkable to be seen : 
 — Churches — seats — gardens — pictures — manufactures — 
 ports, ^c. — what books or treatises are necessary to be 
 consulted — ^how to learn the language — with the proper 
 stages marked out — and a calculation of the expence in 
 the moderate way of travelling. 
 
 It has been observed before, under the Xllth Advan- 
 tage of France, page 329, that travelling into a country is 
 of greater consequence to the trade and manufactures of 
 that country, than is usually apprehended. And as Eng- 
 land is as deserving the notice of curious and inquisitive 
 foreigners, as any country on the globe, it is a great pity, 
 that some ingenious hand hath not yet lent them his 
 friendly assistance, by an express treatise on the subject. 
 It would be a great pleasure to the author to contribute 
 what he can, only as an inferior workman, in the accomp- 
 lishing such a design. And therefore if he could fungi 
 vice cotis, as Horace expresses it, and be considered only 
 as a whetstone to give an edge to the inclinations of 
 
 85 others. 
 
394 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 others^ who have abilities to execute such a scheme^ he 
 would gladly offer his assistance. 
 
 With these sentiments therefore he begs leave to pro- 
 pose the following rough sketch, only as general hints to 
 be improved upon, viz. 
 
 Suppose a modest treatise was wrote^ without puffing, 
 or too much extolling ourselves^ or our country, containing 
 a plan for a foreigner to travel in England a year, or 
 longer, with pleasure and advantage : 
 
 Chap. I. Setting forth the situation of the country, 
 the air and climate, nature of the soil, and its general 
 productions. 
 
 Chap. II. The present inhabitants, principles of their 
 government, their virtues and vices, humours, diversions, 
 the manner of conversing agreeably with them, and ac- 
 commodating one^s self to the general taste and genius of 
 the country, method of learning the language — and pro- 
 nounciation — method and expence of travelling — manner 
 of obtaining recommendations from abroad to London, and 
 from London to the other parts of the kingdom. 
 
 Chap. III. Containing the plan for a foreigner to make 
 the tour of England in eight stages, within the compass of 
 a year, each stage illustrated by a Map, containing les 
 environs, or the district of ten miles round the place of 
 residence : in which district the principal seats — towns — 
 manufactures — curiosities, §-c. should be briefly described : 
 viz. Supposing the stranger landed the beginning of April; 
 then the 
 
 Is^ stage, London and les environs, in the month of 
 April. 
 
 N. B. It might be improper a foreigner should stay 
 longer in the capital, upon first coming over, than to settle 
 his correspondences, and get recommendations to other 
 places; lest, whilst he is a stranger to the language, he 
 should associate too much with his own countrymen, and 
 be little benefited by his travelling. 
 
 86 2d stage, 
 
An Essay on Trade. 395 
 
 2d stage^ Cambridge and les environs, in May. Here 
 he should begin in earnest to learn the language by the 
 help of some good grammar, and to learn the pronouncia- 
 tion by coming to church with his French and English 
 Common Prayer, and listening to the clergyman's slow and 
 deliberate reading. If this method was duly practised, 
 foreigners would not find that difficulty in learning the 
 pronounciation of our language, as they are apt to imagine. 
 And this is an advantage of teaching it, in some respect 
 peculiar to us. 
 
 Zd stage, Oxford and les environs, in June. Note, in 
 laying out the route between place and place, it would be 
 proper to contrive it so, as the traveller might see as many 
 things worthy of notice in his passage, as he could. 
 
 4<A stage, Birmingham and les environs, in July. 
 
 5th stage, Bristol and les environs, in August. 
 
 Qth stage, a tour from Bristol to Portsmouth, through 
 Wilton, Salisbury, &c. and then return to Bath at the end 
 of September. 
 
 7th stage, Bath and les environs, during October and 
 November. 
 
 8th stage, London, during the months of December, 
 January, February and March, which complete the 
 year. 
 
 If after this the foreigner chooses to reside longer in 
 England, and to see other parts of the kingdom, then he 
 might take a tour of six months in the following manner ; 
 viz. 
 
 1. York and les environs, in the month of April. 
 
 2. Leeds and Manchester, in May. 
 
 3. Liverpoole and Chester, in June. 
 
 4. Chatsworth and Derby, in July, 
 
 5. Nottingham and Northampton, in August. 
 
 6. From thence through London to the place of em- 
 barkation, in September; visiting the principal seats, 
 
 87 towns. 
 
396 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 towns, ^c. of Kent or Essex, iu the way to Dover or 
 Harwich. 
 
 Chap. IV. Containing observations on the literature 
 and learning of the English ; and the advantages which 
 persons of different tastes may reap from being acquainted 
 with them. — Concluding with a small catalogue of the 
 choicest authors in polite literature, and the several 
 sciences ; — with a list of our best plays, as to morals, Ian- 
 guage, and design ; that so a foreigner may know, when it 
 shall be worth his while to go to our theatres. 
 
 XI. PEOPOSAL. 
 
 To cut some canals between our great toiuns of trade, 
 for the conveniency and cheapness of carriage. — Canals are 
 much preferable to the making rivers navigable, even 
 where both might be done. For in the first place, the 
 expence is not greater, except perhaps the purchase of the 
 ground. In the next place, they are kept and repaired at 
 a much easier rate. They are not subject to inundations, 
 or the shifting of the sand and gravel, and are generally 
 much shorter and streighter. But what is above every 
 other consideration, a boat laden with merchandize in a 
 canal, may be drawn by a single horse, on a full trot, as in 
 Holland, up or down the stream, whether there be a flood 
 or not; and requires but two men to guide it. 
 
 If a canal was dug between Reading and Bath, then 
 there would be an easy and cheap communication between 
 the two principal cities of the kingdom, London and Bris- 
 tol : Goods and passengers might be carried at one quarter 
 of the present expence ; And surely 75?. per cent, saved in 
 freight, deserves consideration. The River Kennet from 
 Reading to Silbury-Hill, is a plain illustration how practi- 
 cable so far such a scheme might be. And from thence 
 
 88 to 
 
An Essay on Trade. 397 
 
 to the descent towards Cain, on tlie Bath side^ is the only 
 difficulty. But such who have seen the great canal of 
 Languedoc, are very well assured it might easily be per- 
 formed, and at a fortieth part of the expenee which the 
 other was. Nay, on the flat grounds near Yatesbury 
 Church, water is so plenty in the winter time, that it lies 
 upon the surface for weeks together. And as there are 
 risiug grounds on both sides, reservoirs might be made to 
 receive the land-floods, and supply the canal with water, 
 during the dry season. But if the canal itself was only 
 sunk ten or twelve feet deeper than ordinary, for two or 
 three furlongs, it is very probable, that natural springs 
 would be met with between those hills. For the wells at 
 Yatesbury, as I remember, are not twenty feet deep. 
 What a pity is it therefore, that so many advantages are 
 neglected? If the like situation had been in France, a 
 canal had been made long ago. Indeed something might 
 have been alleged in our excuse, had we the same difficul- 
 ties to encounter with, which the French surmounted in 
 making the canal of Languedoc, and are again to sur- 
 mount in making the new canal, from the Durance to 
 Marseilles. But there are no obstructions of rivers and 
 rivulets in our way; no need of making arches, and 
 troughs of stone to carry the canal over them ; — no steep 
 hills to ascend, or mountains to pierce through : And yet 
 the thing is not so much as attempted, though the com- 
 mon interest, and the situation of the country, so strongly 
 invite us to perform it. 
 
 A canal also ought to be dug between Glascow and the 
 shoar opposite to Alloway ; which would open a communi- 
 cation between Glascow, and Leith the port of Edinburgh. 
 The situation in these parts is extremely inviting, even more 
 so than the former; as the passage is much shorter. And our 
 soldiers in times of peace might be employed in the publick 
 works, alternately with performing their exercise, receiving 
 a suitable addition to their pay, when they are at work. 
 
 89 XII. PROPOSAL. 
 
398 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 XII. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To raise a fishery on the northern coast of Scotland, by 
 giving a double premium for some years, till the trade is 
 sufiBciently established, for all herrings caught and cured 
 by persons residing within certain districts, and exported 
 to foreign markets. 
 
 Several other schemes have been lately offered to the 
 publick in relation to this matter ; and all of them, un- 
 doubtedly, good in some respects. Every thing of this 
 nature hath its respective convenience and inconvenience. 
 And if the scheme for carrying on the fisheries by means 
 of a joint stock, and a company, impower'd to make by- 
 laws, and prescribe rules and regulations, can stand clear 
 of the imminent hazard of degenerating into a jobb^ 
 through the corrupt influence and sinister views of the 
 managers and directors of such a Company ; — I say, if 
 the scheme is freed from all reasonable suspicion of tend- 
 ing to such a point, I should much rather prefer it to that 
 which is here, with great submission, offered in its stead. 
 It is certain, that a joint stock is a quicker and more 
 expeditious way ; — but the encouragement of a double 
 bounty appears to me more sure, and less liable to be cor- 
 rupted. For in this latter case, there are no sums ad- 
 vanced till the work is done, and the herrings publickly 
 examined, whether they are marketable or not : There is 
 no fingering of the money in the mean time by managers 
 and directors ; nor can there be any items of expences and 
 disbursements, fees and salaries, brought to account : 
 Things which are the bane of all publick societies, and the 
 great cause of their corruption, and degenerating from 
 their original institution. 
 
 Besides, if a double bounty, or perhaps five shillings per 
 barrel, were given for all herrings so cured and exported, 
 it seems to me, that the Dutch themselves would be 
 
 90 tempted 
 
An Essay on Trade. 399 
 
 tempted by the lucre of such a bounty, to settle on the 
 northern coasts of Scotland, and make one people with 
 the inhabitants of the country ; — which would be the 
 greatest advantage that part of the kingdom could possibly 
 receive. 
 
 XIII. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To establish Civil Governments at Gibraltar and Port- 
 MahonOj and make them free ports. — The situation of 
 Gibraltar is extremely commodious for vending several 
 sorts of commodities in Spain and Barbary : And the 
 island of Minorca is not less happily situated for carrying 
 on an advantageous commerce with some parts of France 
 and Italy, and, by means of the neighbouring island of 
 Majorca, with Spain also. Several sorta of coarse woollen 
 stuffs, and Manchester goods, would be acceptable in Bar- 
 bary, provided they could be had reasonably cheap : Which 
 can never be till there is a free port. Several sorts of the 
 manufactures of Manchester and Spittle-Fields, would be 
 very agreeable to the taste of the Spaniards, French, and 
 Italians. But above all, our Birmingham ware, our cut- 
 lery, razors and scissars, watches and chains, locks, metal 
 buttons, snuff boxes, toys, and all the sorts of Bijoux 
 d'Angleterre, as the French call them, which they are 
 inexpressibly fond of, would find a prodigious vent in all 
 these countries. The least amount of the whole trade, 
 that might be carried on by means of these two ports, were 
 they made/ree, would be 100,000/. a year. And surely 
 such a sum is worth the getting ; — especially by a nation 
 80,000,000/. in debt. 
 
 If a scheme of this kind was to take place in the island 
 of Minorca, it would then also stand a fair chance of being 
 peopled by English families^ or by such as are well-affected 
 
 91 to 
 
400 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 to the English Government. Whereas at present there 
 are scarce any, except the garrison^ but bigoted Spaniards, 
 who at the first taking of the place, would have been glad 
 to have parted with their possessions for a trifle, and to 
 have retired into Spain. But now they are got immensely 
 rich; their lands are said to be more than^fe times their 
 former value ; and yet their bigotry and aversion continue 
 as strong as ever. 
 
 XIV. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To have publick inspectors into all our manufactures ; 
 and to oblige all exporters to deliver in samples of the 
 commodities they intend to export, in order that they may 
 be compared together, before the goods are suffered to be 
 put on ship-board. This, if faithfully and honestly ex- 
 ecuted, would always keep up the credit of our manufac- 
 tures at home and abroad, on which the spirit and life of 
 trade principally depends. All possible means should be 
 taken to prevent private frauds in packing — deficiencies 
 in weight and measure — undue stretching of cloths upon 
 the rack, which alone hath occasioned irreparable loss to 
 this nation. The fraudulent and deceitful should be pre- 
 vented, as much as it is possible, from getting rich at the 
 expence of their honest neighbours, and the welfare of 
 their country, which is too often sacrificed to their 
 knavery. 
 
 In short, in all kinds of manufactures, the worst part 
 of it should be put outermost for a sample, not the best ; 
 that so the buyer, in seeing the mark and sealoi the office, 
 may confide in that, and be assured, that he is not deceived 
 by what is out of sight. 
 
 93 XV. PROPOSAL. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 401 
 
 XV. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To alter the method of collecting our duties upon parti- 
 cular sorts of goods imported, viz.* By lodging them in 
 warehouses erected at the publick expence, till the im- 
 porter fetches them away^ according as he wants them, and 
 pays the duty, or causes it to be paid by the person who 
 purchases of him. This scheme, I am sensible, would raise 
 a great clamourj if enforced by any compulsive law ; but 
 if left to each person^s free choice, there is the highest 
 probabiHty, that it would universally obtain. Suppose 
 therefore, that the laws relating to the customs in general 
 should continue as they are ; but that permission should 
 be granted to such persons as are desirous of using it, to 
 land their goods in the publick magazines, there to remain 
 at the usual moderate rent for ceUerage, till such time as 
 they find it their interest to remove them, and then to 
 pay the duty. If such a permission was granted to the 
 importers of sugars, rum, wines, brandies, tobacco, raisins, 
 prunes, and currants, it is easy to foresee, that almost 
 every one concerned would embrace it. For, in the first 
 place, the t expence of warehouse-room would be just the 
 same ; but the difference between paying the duty all at 
 once upon importation, and paying it by degrees, would be 
 very great, and much to the advantage both of the im- 
 porter, and the publick. The importer would be a gainer, 
 
 93 as 
 
 * Something hath been already said on this subject, page 389. 
 Where a police was proposed to prevent smuggling : But as truth 
 is uniform throughout, and is attended with all possible advantages, 
 the proposal is now considered under another view. 
 
 f If no pubhck magazines were erected, the merchant might put 
 the goods in his own warehouse, having one key himself, and the 
 King's officer another. 
 
402 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 as lie would not be streightened for money to pay the 
 duties every time his ship arrives ; and might keep his 
 goods till he saw a promising market, or might export 
 them to some foreign country, if they bore there a better 
 price. And this itself would be a great advantage to the 
 publick, as it would render our country a kind of common 
 magazine for others, and as we should get by it all the 
 profits of freight and commission : And persons of intelli- 
 gence and speculation would then engage in the speculative 
 part of trade; that is, they would buy up all commodities 
 that were cheap in foreign countries, lodge them in their 
 own, or the King's warehouses, and then re-export thena 
 to those countries where the demand ran highest. But 
 this cannot be done upon the present system of paying 
 duties. Moreover, the publick would be more especially 
 betiefited, as the trade would be increased^ and the goods 
 afforded much the cheaper. When a trade can be carried 
 on with a small stock, the more persons are capable of 
 embarking in it : And when the duties are not paid all at 
 once, but by degrees, as the goods can be sold, the home- 
 consumer wiU buy so much the cheaper. For he will only 
 pay the king's simple duty, — the expences of the adven- 
 turCj — and the merchant's single gains upon that adven- 
 ture : Whereas, according to the present way of collecting 
 the revenue, every consumer pays another considerable 
 article, viz. the gains of the merchant on the sums advanced 
 to pay the King's duty. And if the goods have passed 
 from the merchant importer to the last retailer, through 
 two or three hands, before they come to the consumer, 
 then he pays two or three advances the more.* So that in 
 fact, he not only pays the first duty to the King, but 
 perhaps twice as much again to others, by means of these 
 
 94 advances 
 
 * See this affair set in a true and strong light in a Treatise en- 
 titled, An Essay on the Causes of the Decline of the Foreign Trade^ 
 London, 1744. Printed for J. Brotherton, 
 
An Essay on Trade. 403 
 
 advances upon advances. The consequence of all which 
 is, that trade becomes monopolized by a few rich persons, 
 because there is a greater stock required to carry it on : 
 And smugglers will be the more numerous, and the more 
 audacious, because the temptations to, and the gains of 
 smuggling, become so much the greater. Whereas by the 
 method now proposed, both these mischiefs would be pre- 
 vented to a great degree. ^3r Observe, \st, the proposal 
 here made, compels no persons to submit to these regula- 
 tions, but only permits them to make use of them, if they 
 are disposed to do it. ^ Observe, 2dly, that this 
 scheme requires no new officers, even at the commence- 
 ment of it : And when it has been thoroughly tried and 
 known, it would certainly greatly lessen the number of them. 
 A set of publick magazines (which, by the by, might be 
 so contrived, as to be ornamental as well as useful) built 
 uniformly, and in a quadrangular figure, might easily be 
 taken care of and inspected by a very few officers, who 
 might well be spared from the numbers now employed as 
 land-waiters, tide-waiters, searchers, deputies, extraor- 
 dinary men, &c. &c. i^ Observe Zdly, that with respect 
 to any embezzlement, which these magazine-keepers might 
 be suspected of, this might be prevented, as much as any 
 thing of such a nature can possibly be (not only by 
 weighing the goods, gauging them, and taking samples 
 before they are delivered into the officers care) but also by 
 making it necessary, that these officers should be engaged 
 with two sufficient bondsmen in two sorts of securities, 
 one to the King, to enforce their fidelity to him, and another 
 to the mayor or chief magistrate of the town, and his suc- 
 cessors, where the magazine is kept, in trust for the mer- 
 chants, to ensure their honesty to them : And that when 
 any of these officers are suspected of embezzling the mer- 
 chants property, the party aggrieved may be at liberty to 
 bring an action in the name of the mayor, or chief magis- 
 trate for the time being, and recover treble damages, with 
 
 95 costs 
 
404 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 costs of suitj on proof of such embezzlemeut. Now in all 
 these respects the present Tprapossl differs entirely from the 
 late famous excise scheme; and every objection made 
 against that, is obviated here. 
 
 As this last proposal, and one or two more, would be 
 attended with some expence, were they carried into execu- 
 tion; — and as the nation, in its present circumstances, 
 might be supposed incapable of bearing a farther load ; I 
 shall therefore endeavour to point out a method how cer- 
 tain taxes might be raised, without burdening any of the 
 necessaries of life,— and yet sufficient to answer all these 
 expences, — and be moreover highly conducive to the re- 
 formation of the morals of the people, and the general 
 welfare of the kingdom, viz. 
 
 XVI. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To lay certain taxes on the following articles of luxury, 
 vice, or extravagance ; which taxes shall be applied to the 
 general improvement of commerce ; by maintaining con- 
 suls, and erecting forts, according to Proposal VI. Build- 
 ing of magazines and warehouses, as specified in Proposal 
 XV. Giving bounties and personal premiums to the 
 greatest exporters of our own manufactures, — the like to 
 the greatest importers of raw materials from foreign 
 countries, — especially from our own plantations, according 
 to Proposal VIII. And in short, by pursuing all such 
 ways and means, as serve to excite the merchant and 
 manufacturer to promote the interest of their country, and 
 their own together. Wherefore, the 
 
 \st tax proposed is, that upon batchelors and widowers, 
 of a certain age, without children. 
 
 The manifold ill consequences that flow from the 
 96 modish 
 
An Essay on Trade. 405 
 
 modish practice of mens living batchelors, are too glaring 
 and evident. For we may venture to pronounce, without 
 any degree of uncliaritableness, that it is one great cause 
 of all the lewdness and debauchery of this age. Some 
 few indeed undoubtedly there are, who no ways contribute 
 to these immoralties by their single life. But they are too 
 inconsiderable in number to deserve to have particular 
 exemptions, even were it possible to distinguish them from 
 others, which it is not possible to do in a legal way. In 
 all things calculated for the general good, some individuals 
 must suffer ; and it cannot be avoided. Now (to consider 
 this matter merely in a commercial light) as there are at 
 least ninety-nine in an hundred, who gratify their desires, 
 but so as to add no proper increase to the pubHck stock of 
 inhabitants, in which the riches and strength of a nation 
 do consist, one may easily judge of the evil of such a 
 practice, by its bad consequences. And in London parti- 
 cularly, where this vice of living batchelors mostly prevails, 
 there it is observable, by the bills of * mortality, that 
 
 97 more 
 
 * To this paragraph it has been objected, that the yearly bills of 
 mortality, which make the burials more than the births, are not to be 
 relied upon, as to this point : " Because there are no births registered, 
 " but the births of those who are baptized according to the form of 
 " the Established Church ; whereas Dissenters of most denominations 
 " are buried in the Church, and consequently registered there." 
 
 Now as it is a very material article to know, with some degree of 
 certainty, whether more persons die in London, than are born ; — and 
 consequently, whether the whole city would not be depopulated in a 
 century or two, if the inhabitants followed the same courses they now 
 do were it not for the influx of straiyjers, to supply these deficiencies; 
 I shall therefore beg leave to offer the following considerations, in 
 reply to the above objection. 
 
 I. Some children are begot in the country, yet born in London; 
 such for instance, whose mothers come up to town for the conve- 
 nience of skilful attendance : And as this is the case With many 
 families of distinction, consequently, the number of iirtlis is so much 
 increased, 
 
 II. Many persons contract their death-sichiess in London, yet are 
 
406 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 more persons die than are born, every year. So that were 
 it not for the continual supplies from the country, where 
 the marriage state is not yet quite so unfashionable, that 
 great metropolis would be depopulated in a course of years. 
 And yet there is no place, in which there are so great 
 numbers of the female sex, in the proportion, as in London. 
 Can it be credited, though perhaps it is too true, that in 
 this city alone there are upwards of fen thousand loose 
 women, from sixteen years old to forty, who have not fijiy 
 children in a year ? And the few they have, are born with 
 all sorts of disorders, and educated, if they chance to live, 
 in all ki7ids of vice and wickedness ? In short, it has been 
 often remarked, that the greatest rakes, that all Europe 
 
 98 can 
 
 carried out of it for the benefit of the air, and die in the country ; 
 there they are buried, and no notice taken of them in the registers 
 within the bills of mortality. 
 
 III. Just the same is the case of those, who die in Loiidon, yet 
 are carried to their burial-places in the country ; The number of these 
 is considerable in the year ; whereas there are few instances of per- 
 sons being carried out of the country, to be interred in London. 
 
 IV. Many Dissenters of different denominations have burial- 
 places of tlmir own ; and consequently, the numbers of their dead do 
 not swell the registers of the Established Church so much as might be 
 imagined. 
 
 But allowing, that the numbers of Dissenters buried in the Estab- 
 lished Church, may make some difference in the account, still this 
 difference cannot amount to any thing near the sum which is found 
 to be the difference between births and burials in the compass of a 
 year ; vii. about seven thousand souls. The numbers of births, 
 generally speaking, amount to 14, or 16000 in a year ; and the burials 
 from 21, to 24,000 in the same time : A difference of three to two. 
 How soon would this depopulate any country, were it not for foreign 
 suppHes ? And how terrible do the effects of vice, lewdness and 
 debauchery, appear to the general interests of a kingdom, when seen 
 from this point of view ? What an absurdity, therefore, was it in 
 the author of The Fable of the Bees, to say, that private vices are 
 publich benefits ! It is virtue alone, which can make a nation ^owraA. 
 And vice of every kind is, either immediately, or in its consequences, 
 injurious to commerce. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 40V 
 
 tan produce, when they axrive in England, and come to 
 London, are quite shocked and scandalized at the unparal- 
 leled lewdness and debauchery reigning among us, so far 
 beyond any thing they could have imagined. Now if 
 these 10,000 loose women had not been debauched and 
 corrupted, and were married to persons of their own rank 
 and condition, they might have had at least one thousand 
 healthy children every year ; and these in a fair way to be 
 bred to honest trades and callings. Besides, upon the 
 present footing, the injustice done to the married trades- 
 man, and landed gentleman, is most grievous and intoler- 
 able. * For they pay the excise, and several other duties, 
 in proportion to the consumption of their families ; but 
 the batchelor pays only for his single %e\i; i. e. Those who 
 are most beneficial to the publick, are doubly, trebly or 
 quadruply taxed, in proportion as they are beneficial; and 
 others who are a nusance to it, are therefore exempted. 
 Is there any justice or equity in this ? I add, men may 
 Understand these things as patriots and politicians, who 
 would turn a deaf ear to lectures in morality and divinity. 
 Nay more, such abounding of lewdness, and surfeiting of 
 prostitution, doth in fact tend to increase the more un- 
 natural vices, instead of preventing them, as it is vulgarly, 
 though erroneously, supposed. And the history of all 
 nations, from the former times down to the present, con- 
 firms this assertion. Antient Greece and Rome, and 
 modern England, to mention no more, have furnished too 
 many examples in proof of this point. And reason itself 
 should tell us, that it is with this, as with all other de- 
 praved appetites, where surfeiting and satiety are induce- 
 ments to seek out less natural ways of gratification. 
 
 Wherefore the proposalh&re is, that all batchelor s, after 
 they have attained to the age of twenty-five years, shall pay 
 treble King's tax, — poor tax, — window tax, — and the taxes 
 
 99 upon 
 
 * Causes of the Decline, <fec. 
 
408 A7i Essay on Trade. 
 
 upon coaches, till ttey marry : And that all widowers, 
 between thirty and fifty, if they have no children, shall pay 
 double. Thus the greatest, i. e. the wealthiest offenders, 
 are properly mulcted. For undoubtedly they have it in 
 their power to settle in the world, if they will. They are 
 the people who set bad examples ; and by their station, 
 riches, intrigues, and address, debauch those young women 
 at first, who afterwards become the common prostitutes of 
 the town. But as this only reaches the wealthiest of them j 
 and as there are vast numbers of single men, whom this 
 scheme would not affect, therefore there should be added 
 to it a general capitation tax for all batchelors, of whatso- 
 ever degree, above twenty five years of age. And if this 
 was fixed at twenty shillings a head per ann. for all above 
 the condition of day-labourers, and at ten shillings for 
 them (with an exemption only for common soldiers and 
 sailors) it would be a very just and equitable law, and 
 would certainly be attended with many good consequences, 
 both as to the morals and the commerce of the nation. 
 The 
 
 2d tax proposed, is, that upon menial men-servants, 
 i. e. such who are not employed either for the purposes of 
 husbandry or commerce, but for state and grandeur. 
 
 It was the great principle, which run through the 
 whole plan of The Essay on the Causes of the Decline of 
 Foreign Trade, before quoted, that each person should tax 
 himself according to the figure and station of life he chose 
 to appear in ; — but that all the necessaries of life should 
 be duty free. Now in the case before us, livery servants, 
 footmen, valets, men cooks, 6fc. Sfc. certainly cannot be 
 ranked among the necessaries of life, and therefore are the 
 proper subjects for such a tax. If any one chooses to have 
 them, he himself chooses to appear in an elevated condi- 
 tion, and therefore is the fittest to pay towards improving 
 the commerce, and extending the general interest of the 
 
 kingdom. 
 
 100 But 
 
Ail Essay 071 Trade. 409 
 
 But that is not all : For these men-servants, generally- 
 speaking, are by nature fitter for other employments, had 
 they not taken up with this idle one ; and might have been 
 useful to their country, by sea or land, either in the several 
 parts of husbandry, or in laborious trades; whereas by 
 their present way of living they render themselves useless 
 in all respects ; and not only so, but keep thousands of 
 the other sex out of an honest employment, which by 
 nature they are fittest for ; and very often are tempted for 
 the want of it to take to vicious courses. I believe it will 
 hardly be denied, but that women servants might perform 
 all the functions, which men servants do, in respect to 
 waiting at table, tending the tea-kettle, &c. and equally as 
 well. They might walk behind their ladies, and carry 
 their books to church, as well as any footman, and why 
 they are not permitted to do it, is matter of some astonish- 
 meV't to a thinking mind. In short, the poorer and the 
 middling part of the female sex, are deprived of those 
 employments which properly belong to them, very often to 
 their own utter ruin, and the detriment of society. If a 
 young woman has a genteelish education, and a small for- 
 tune, she stands upon the brink of destruction ; and even 
 if she is desirous, she scarcely knows, what trade to put 
 herself to, in order to be out of the way of temptation. 
 For, excepting two or three trades, which women still 
 retain, all the rest are engrossed by men. We have men- 
 mantua-makers, men-milliners, men-stay makers, men-shoe- 
 makei's for womens shoes, men-hair-cutters for womens 
 hair, &c. and very likely in time we shall have sempstresses, 
 laundresses, and clear-star chers, of the same sex. 
 
 Such perversions as these, of the order of society, are 
 not of small ill consequence, either to the welfare of indi- 
 viduals, or the good of the State. And therefore to dis- 
 courage such prac^-ices as much as may be, in the affair of 
 men-servants, the proposal is, that each of them shall be 
 taxed two-shillings and sixpence in the pound, according 
 
 101 to 
 
410 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 to their wages, to be paid by their masters and mistresses, 
 and to be collected by the officers of the window tax. If 
 a scheme of this nature were effectually put in practice, 
 the consequence would be, either, that women-servants 
 would be employed, rather than men, which would answer 
 a good end in that respect; — or else, that these men- 
 servants tho' idle and useless in themselves, would con- 
 tribute to the promoting of commerce and extending our 
 trade, by means of the tax they pay for this end ; — though 
 sorely against their will. 
 
 The 3«? tax proposed, is, that upon saddle-horses. 
 
 The tax upon coaches, as far as it went, was an excel- 
 lent and publick-spirited Act of the Legislature. It was 
 laying the burden, where it ought always to be laid, viz, 
 upon the luxuries, the ornaments and refinements of li^dng. 
 But undoubtedly it was defective as to its extent : Many 
 gentlemen of fortune, especially if they are single, do not 
 choose to keep coaches ; and others may live in such parts 
 of the country, where the situation is not convenient for 
 their so doing. Yet they all keep saddle horses in abun- 
 dance, — hunters, — and perhaps racers, — without paying 
 any tax : though these things are articles of mere luxury, 
 parade and pleasure, as much as coaches. Is there now 
 any equity or justice in this? And are not such persons 
 the properest subjects to pay towards the support of 
 our manufactures, and extending our commerce? Un- 
 doubtedly they are : And therefore the proposal is this, 
 that all owners of saddle horses, young horses under five 
 years old excepted, be taxed at the rate of five shillings 
 per horse every year ; — saving only one horse, which shall 
 be admitted to be kept free of all tax by each owner, on 
 the supposition, that riding may be necessary for his health, 
 or on account of business. If greater allowances than this 
 were made, it would be opening a door for fraud and col- 
 lusion : And if less, it might bear hard upon the real wants 
 and necessities of many people. Perhaps even this in- 
 
 102 dulgence 
 
An Essay on Trade. 411 
 
 dulgence of one horse, tax-free, to each proprietor, might 
 seem too rigorous a restraint ; and might actually be so 
 in certain circumstances ; but in all cases of publick con- 
 cern, it is impossible to adjust things in such a manner, as 
 that every person cau be pleased, — or even that the interest 
 of every individual may be so particularly taken care of, 
 according to the nature of his peculiar circumstances, as 
 that he can have no just reason to complain. To proceed 
 therefore, the 
 
 4th tax proposed to be levied is on dogs of every sort 
 and kind, except shepherds dogs, and house dogs. For every 
 thing beyond this, is most undoubtedly an article of luxury, 
 and diversion ; and as such, justly liable to be taxed. 
 
 Wherefore the proposal is, that the owners of all dogs 
 shall pay one shilling for each dog every year. And as 
 there are such prodigious numbers of hounds, greyhounds, 
 pointers, setters, spaniels, beagles, lap-dogs, and turnspits 
 all over the kingdom, this would bring in a very consider- 
 able revenue, which might be employed to the greatest 
 national advantage, in supporting and extending our trade 
 and commerce. If this tax should cause a diminution of 
 the species, there would be no harm in that ; nay, it would 
 be attended with a great deal of good; as for many other 
 reasons, so particularly for this, that the dreadful and 
 shocking calamities attending the bite of mad dogs, would 
 be less frequent than they now are. If any one should 
 object, that turn-spits ought to be considered as necessary 
 implements for dressing of victuals, and therefore ought to 
 be excepted out of this regulation. The answer is obvious 
 and easy; viz. That jacks, and smoke-jacks are preferable 
 to turn-spits in every respect : They are cheaper, all things 
 considered ; and a species of manufacture, which ought 
 to be encouraged. But above all, there is no danger from 
 them of those shocking consequences aforementioned, 
 which every year have occasioned the deaths of many 
 people, in the most dreadful manner. 
 
 103 Add 
 
412 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 Add to this, that no other method, than what is here 
 proposed, can be effectual for the preservation of the game. 
 For as long as poachers of all kinds are allowed to keep 
 dogs, free of any tax, it will be impossible for penal laws, 
 in such a constitution as England is under, to prevent 
 their using them to the destruction of the game. But the 
 laying a tax upon dogs strikes at the principal root of the 
 evil complained of. 
 
 The 5th tax proposed, is a double turnpike tax on all 
 persons who travel on Sundays. A modish and reigning 
 vice this ! which ought to receive some check and discoun- 
 tenance from the Legislature. Not once in a thousand 
 times can there be a just and reasonable excuse for this 
 practice ; and therefore it becomes a proper and fit subject 
 for a tax, according to the principles before laid down. 
 
 In short, we submit it with great deference to the 
 judgment of the intelligent reader, whether there is not 
 ample provision made in this proposal, for all the expences 
 which might be incurred by the execution of any of the 
 rest; — and that without burdening any one article of the 
 /•£«/ necessaries of life. Were the taxes to be laid, as here 
 recommended, they would indeed very probably cause a 
 considerable diminution of the articles which were to pay 
 these taxes : But even that circumstance would prove, in 
 many respects, a very great national advantage. And 
 were the monies raised by these taxes, properly, judi- 
 ciously, and faithfully applied to the good uses and pur- 
 poses before mentioned, perhaps there would not be a 
 nation in the world, which could vie with us in number of 
 inhabitants, extent of commerce, and the flourishing state 
 of our colonies and factories in both the Indies. 
 
 Taxes, in their own nature, if they are properly and 
 judiciously laid on, are so far from causing commerce to 
 stagnate, that they quicken and enliven it : And therefore 
 may be compared to the pruning of a tree by a skilful 
 hand, by which means the tree is preserved in health, and 
 
 104 lasts 
 
An Essay on Trade. 413 
 
 lasts the longer. The fruit (upon the whole) is more in 
 quantity and better in quality, and a vigorous circulation, 
 and equal nourishment are maintained throughout. 
 Whereas, on the other hand, one single tax, though small 
 in its amount, if injudiciously laid on, so as to stop the 
 progress or circulation of labour, is in fact the heaviest and 
 most insupportable of all others. This is a doctrine little 
 understood, especially by the landed interest, who of all 
 persons ought to study it the most, as it never can be their 
 interest to act upon a contrary principle. 
 
 105 CON- 
 
414 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 AND thus have I ventured to give my sentiments^ with 
 that freedom and unreservedness, which is natural 
 to men who mean well, and whose sole aim is the good 
 and prosperity of their country. As I have no private 
 ends of my own to serve, either the one way or the other, 
 I have had no biass of self-interest upon my mind. 
 
 It is true, I confess, that many of the proposals here 
 made, are subjects very unpopular in the present times : 
 Neither would I willingly have advanced any thing harsh 
 or disagreeable, even to prejudiced minds, were it possible 
 to have made truth and popularity, in this case, consist 
 together. But since that cannot be, what must be done ? 
 Must we still go on, increasing in our disorders, and be- 
 holding our rivals taking their advantage of these mis- 
 fortunes, merely because some people do not choose to be 
 told where the core of the evil lies, and how it may be 
 taken out ? If the alterations here proposed, are necessary 
 or advantageous to the publick, that alone should be suffi- 
 cient to recommend them to the esteem of all persons of 
 worth and character ; but if they are not, I put in no plea 
 or apology for them : — Only I will add, on behalf of the 
 author, that his intentions were good, though he was 
 mistaken. 
 
 I am also well aware, that there is a customary prepos- 
 session entertained against projects of all kinds ; and that 
 projectors are looked upon as a race of beings who have 
 something very singular and whimsical in their composi- 
 tion. And yet I think it must be allowed, that, notwith- 
 standing all the prejudice which some chimerical gentlemen 
 of this stamp have drawn upon themselves, there must 
 be both projects and projectors, when things are bad, and 
 
 106 want 
 
An Essay on Trade. 415 
 
 want mending ; otherwise they never could be better, nor 
 the faults corrected. 
 
 With respect to the case before us, there are two 
 general objections, as far as I am able to perceive, which 
 may be made against what has been advanced. 
 
 The first is, that many of the proposals, though they 
 may be right in theory, are impracticable in fact. 
 
 The second is, that the schemes here laid down, are 
 attended with their inconveniences as well as others. 
 
 To the first of these I reply ; that no one can be cer- 
 tain of this, till an attempt has been made to put them in 
 practice : And we may be very sure, every one of them 
 might be easily put in execution, were persons as really 
 animated with the love of their country, and as truly con- 
 cerned for its welfare and prosperity, as t\iej pretend to be; 
 and had some among us, in their opposition to every mea- 
 sure of the government, no dark, latent scheme at heart, 
 which they cover over with specious names. 
 
 Besides, none of these schemes, no, not all of them 
 together, are so difficult in themselves to be carried into 
 execution, as that single one which has been so happily 
 perfected in our own days, the union with Scotland. In 
 that case, inveterate national prejudices, — national pride, 
 — family -vaiexest, — self -interest, — jacobitical interest, — ■ 
 pretences of conscience, — fears of religion, and the respec- 
 tive Churches oi 5o<A kingdoms : All these conspired to 
 heap up difficulties in the way. And yet all were sur- 
 mounted by the firmness and address of those true patriots 
 of both kingdoms, to their immortal honour, who had the 
 management of that affair. Whereas in the present case, 
 there can be no pretences of conscience, no fears of the 
 Church's being in danger, to encounter with : There are 
 no national animosities, or national pride, or the interest of 
 great families, to obstruct us; and very little o? party 
 spirit can mingle in any of these affairs : Self-interest is 
 the chief obstacle to be surmounted. This is indeed a 
 
 107 great 
 
416 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 great one, which will draw every thing that it can to its 
 assistance. But it is not insuperable, if withstood by 
 men who have a true love for their country, and prudence 
 and discretion to time their endeavours, and guide them 
 aright. 
 
 Moreover : Supposing none of these proposals are such 
 as will go down at present, while men are full of their 
 prejudices, and fond of their own opinions : Yet, even in 
 that ease, it may not be amiss to lay before them the 
 things that are right ; which they may consider of at their 
 leisure. When men come to reason and reflect, their pre- 
 judices will begin to soften ; and time will reconcile them 
 to those expedients, which they had inveighed bitterly . 
 against before ; perhaps for want of understanding and 
 knowing them better. Thus it often happens, that pro- 
 posals deemed impracticable at one season, on account of 
 the popular outcry against them, may be called for at 
 another, with equal vehemence and impatience. And 
 therefore, with humble submission, it may not be amiss to 
 leave these proposals upon record for future examination, 
 though none of them should be judged feasible at the 
 present. 
 
 But besides the former objection, a second is, that this 
 scheme itself is attended with inconveniencies, as well as 
 others. 
 
 I grant it is : And surely no man in his senses could 
 ever suppose, that there could be any scheme calculated 
 for the general good, which would not bear hard upon the 
 interests of some particular people, — the true way of 
 estimating any proposal is, to consider, whether it doth 
 remedy more old inconveniencies than it introduces new 
 ones ; and whether, upon the whole, it is beneficial or not, 
 and its benefits of such importance as deserve to be re- 
 garded ? Lastly, whether likewise some of these very 
 inconveniencies which are supposed to attend it, may not 
 be prevented or amended by further experience and obser- 
 
 108 vation. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 417 
 
 vation. This is the true way for estimating any proposal : 
 And by this rule I would choose that my own should be 
 tried ; and then let them stand or fall. 
 
 We are always complaining of the bad morals of our 
 people; of a general corruption; and the being out- 
 rivalled in trade. Nevertheless, it is very certain, that 
 the present system of things greatly contributes to the 
 increase of each of these evils. My meaning is, that it 
 lays powerful temptations in peoples way. And then, 
 what can be expected ? Some few perhaps will prove 
 their virtue to be superior ; but the great majority will 
 certainly be corrupted. For evident it is, that the inno- 
 cence of the bulk of mankind, is best preserved by their 
 being kept ignorant of the temptation, or at a great dis- 
 tance from it. Now what is the natural tendency of 
 customhouse oaths, election oaths, freedom oaths, &c, &c. 
 but to entice and encourage mankind to be guilty of the 
 foul sin of wilful and deliberate perjury? What are the 
 heavy taxes upon the married state, and exemptions for 
 batchelors, but the like inducements to men to remain 
 single, and to gratify their desires in an unlawful way ? 
 What are all the exclusive Companies, aU the heavy duties 
 upon importation, and the many statutes for cramping the 
 trade of Ireland, but so many continued attempts to drive 
 away the trade from ourselves to the French, who are not 
 only our rivals, but the most dangerous ones we can 
 have? And truly we have greatly succeeded in all 
 these : Yet who can we blame but ourselves : It 
 may be pleaded indeed in excuse for these laws and 
 establishments, that they were not originally intended to 
 produce those bad effects. I allow they were not ; nor 
 are they charged with any such design. But the question 
 here is, not what was the view of the makers of these 
 laws, or what was the end proposed by such establishments, 
 but what is the tendency oi them, as verified hy experience, 
 and how they do operate in fact ? And if it is made to 
 
 109 appear. 
 
418 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 appear that they are so destructive in their consequences, 
 and subversive of our morals, liberties, and commerce, it 
 is but of little consolation to know, that they were estab- 
 lished with a better view ; as we are now considering the 
 things themselves, with their natural consequences, not the 
 characters or design of their authors and projectors. 
 
 I will only add one reflection more to what has been 
 said ; viz. that if we would still keep on our trade at a 
 foreign market, we must, at least, be upon an equal footing 
 with other nations, as to the goodness and cheapness of 
 what we have to sell; otherwise we cannot expect, that 
 foreigners should give us the preference to their own loss. 
 This then being the state of the case, it necessarily fol- 
 lows, that we must always have an eye upon the practices 
 and proceedings of our rivals, and take our measures ac- 
 cordingly, as far as regards this mutual emulation. If 
 they contrive ways and means to render their manufac- 
 tures cheaper or better than they did before, so as to out- 
 vie us, we must strive to outvie them in cheapness and 
 goodness, or be deprived of that part of commerce by 
 them : If they invite foreigners to settle among them, in 
 order to have the more hands, and to keep down the price 
 of labour ; we must do the same, or take the consequence 
 to ourselves : If they allow of no exclusive companies in 
 a branch of trade which interferes with our trade; we 
 must put down our companies, or lose that trade : If their 
 manufacturers are sober and industrious, and work for low 
 wages, and seldom become a burden upon their parishes ; 
 we must endeavour to put ours upon the same footing, or 
 be content with the poverty which will be brought upon 
 us : If their government requires little or no duties upon 
 importation, in order to encourage the greater numbers to 
 engage in trade, and that all merchandize may come the 
 cheaper to the consumer; we must imitate them in that 
 respect, and change our customs into in-land duties ; or 
 administer continual temptation to the needy and fraudu- 
 
 110 lent 
 
An Essay on Trade. 419 
 
 lent to turn smugglers, and suffer ourselves to sink under 
 these evilsj together with the burden and weight of our 
 customs. These are the alternatives which are set before 
 us ; and one would think, that if mankind were not 
 greatly blinded with their prejudices, and biassed by pri- 
 vate interests and sinister views, they need not be long in 
 deliberating which to choose. Not to mention, that as 
 every country in Europe now begins to understand the 
 maxims of trade, and apply themselves to commerce, and 
 are actually raising all sorts of manufactures of their own, 
 and have laid new duties upon ours ; — for these reasons, 
 we ought to be more intent than ever to contrive all ways 
 and means possible to lower the price of every thing we 
 export, in order to overbalance these additional duties by 
 dint of cheapness of labour, and to outvie these new rivals 
 by the goodness of our manufactures. 
 
 Ill APPENDIX. 
 
420 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 THE author has annexed an Appendix to his Tract, 
 containing some extracts from the " Essay on the 
 " Causes of the Decline of Foreign Trade^" with com- 
 ments thereon. But as this Essay, has already been, 
 laid before the reader, and the comments are of little 
 value, we have not thought it worth while to re-print 
 them. We believe, however, we shall do an acceptable 
 service to the reader by substituting in their stead an 
 extract from the travels of the celebrated Dr. Smollett, 
 which embodies some striking statements with respect to 
 the condition of France in 1765. They may be regarded 
 as supplementary to those of Tucker {ante pp. 830-336) ■ 
 and they are especially interesting from their fore-shadow- 
 ing that tremendous convulsion which, at no very distant 
 period, overwhelmed the government, the church, the 
 aristocracy, and all that was established in France. 
 
 " You ask whether I think the French people are more 
 taxed than the English ; but I apprehend, the question 
 would be more apropos if you asked whether the French 
 taxes are more insupportable than the English : for, in 
 comparing burthens, we ought always to consider the 
 strength of the shoulders that bear them.. I know na 
 better way of estimating the strength, than by examining 
 the face of the country, and observing the appearance of 
 the common people, who constitute the bulk of every 
 nation. When I, therefore, see the country of England 
 smiling with cultivation ; the grounds exhibiting all the 
 perfection of agriculture, parcelled out into beautiful in- 
 
 112 closures. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 421 
 
 closures^ cornfieldsj hay and pasture, woodland and com- 
 mon ; when I see her meadows well stocked with black 
 cattle ; her downs covered with sheep ; when I view her 
 teams of horses and oxen, large and strong, fat and sleek ; 
 when I see her farm-houses the habitations of plenty, 
 cleanliness, and convenience ; and her peasants well fed, 
 well lodged, well clothed, tall and stout, and hale and 
 jolly ; I cannot help concluding that the people are well 
 able to bear those impositions which the public necessities 
 have rendered necessary. On the other hand, when I 
 perceive such signs of poverty, misery, and dirt, among 
 the commonality of France, their unfenced fields dug up 
 in despair, without the intervention of meadow or fallow 
 ground, without cattle to furnish manure, without horses 
 to execute the plans of agriculture j their farm-houses 
 mean, their furniture wretched, their apparel beggarly; 
 themselves and their beasts the images of famine ; I can- 
 not help thinking they groan under oppression, either from 
 their landlords, or their government; probably from 
 both. 
 
 " The principal impositions of the French government 
 are these: First, the taille, payed by all the commons, 
 except those that are privileged : Secondly, the capitation, 
 from which no persons, (not even the nobles) are excepted : 
 Thirdly, the tenths and twentieths, called dixiemes and 
 vingtiemes, which every body pays. This tax was origi- 
 nally levied as an occasional aid in times of war, and 
 other emergencies ; but by degrees is become a standing 
 revenue even in time of peace. All the money arising 
 from these impositions goes directly to the king's treasury ; 
 and must undoubtedly amount to a very great sum. Be- 
 sides these, he has the revenue of the farms, consisting of 
 the droits d'aydes, or excise on wine, brandy, &c. of the 
 custom-house duties ; of the gabelle, comprehending that 
 most oppressive obligation on individuals to take a certain 
 quantity of salt at the price which the farmers shall please 
 
 113 to 
 
422 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 to fix ; of the exclusive privilege to sell tobacco ; of the 
 droits de controlle, insinuation^ centieme denier, fran- 
 chiefs, aubeine, echange et centre echange arising from 
 the acts of voluntary jurisdiction, as well as certain law- 
 suits. These farms are said to bring into the king's coffers 
 above one hundred and twenty millions of livres yearly, 
 amounting to near five millions sterling : But the poor 
 people are said to pay about a third more than this sum, 
 which the farmers retain to enrich themselves, and bribe 
 the great for their protection; which protection of the 
 great is the true reason why this most iniquitous, oppres- 
 sive, and absurd method of levying money is not laid aside. 
 Over and above those articles I have mentioned, the 
 French king draws considerable sums from his clergy, 
 under the denomination of dons gratuits, or free-gifts ; as 
 well as from the subsidies given by the pays d'etats, 
 such as Provence, Languedoc, and Bretagne, which are 
 exempted from the taille. The whole revenue of the 
 French king amounts to between twelve and thirteen mil- 
 lions sterling. These are great resources for the king : But 
 they will always keep the people miserable, and effectually 
 prevent them from making such improvements as might 
 turn their lands to the best advantage. But besides being 
 eased in the article of taxes, there is something else re- 
 quired to make them exert themselves for the benefit of 
 their country. They must be free in their persons, secure 
 in their property, indulged with reasonable leases, and 
 effectually protected by law from the insolence and oppres- 
 sion of their superiors. 
 
 " Great as the French king's resources may appear, they 
 are hardly sufficient to defray the enormous expence of his 
 government. About two millions sterling per annum of 
 his revenue are said to be anticipated for paying the in- 
 terest of the public debts : and the rest is found inadequate 
 to the charge of a prodigious standing army, a double 
 frontier of fortified towns, and the extravagant appoint- 
 
 114 ment 
 
An Essay on Trade. 423 
 
 ments of ambassadors, generals, governors, inteudants, 
 commandants, and other officers of the crown, all of whom 
 affect a pomp, which is equally ridiculous and prodigal. 
 A French general in the field is always attended by thirty 
 or forty cooks ; and thinks it is incumbent upon him, for 
 the glory of France, to give a hundred dishes every day 
 at his table. When don Philip, and the marechal duke de 
 Belleisle, had their quarters at Nice, there were fifty scul- 
 lions constantly employed in the great square in plucking 
 poultry. This absurd luxury infects their whole army. 
 Even the commissaries keep open table ; and nothing is 
 seen but prodigality and profusion. The king of Sardinia 
 proceeds upon another plan. His troops are better 
 cloathed, better payed, and better fed than those of France. 
 The commandant of Nice has about four hundred a year 
 of appointments, which enable him to live decently, and 
 even to entertain strangers. On the other hand, the com- 
 mandant of Antibes, which is in all respects more incon- 
 siderable than Nice, has from the French king above five 
 times the sum to support the glory of his monarch, which 
 all the sensible part of mankind treat with ridicule and 
 contempt. But the finances of France are so ill managed, 
 that many of their commandants, and other officers, have 
 not been able to draw their appointments these two years. 
 In vain they complain and remonstrate. When they grow 
 troublesome they are removed. How then must they sup- 
 port the glory of France? how, but by oppressing the 
 poor people. The treasurer makes use of their money for 
 his own benefit. The king knows it ; he knows his offi- 
 cers thus defrauded, fleece and oppress his people : But he 
 thinks proper to wink at these abuses. That government 
 may be said to be weak and tottering which finds itself 
 obliged to connive at such proceedings. The king of 
 France, in order to give strength and stability to his ad- 
 ministration, ought to have sense to adopt a sage plan of 
 ceconomy, and vigour of mind sufficient to execute it in all 
 
 115 its 
 
424 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 its parts, with the most rigorous exactness. He ought to 
 have courage enough to find fault, and even to punish the 
 delinquents, of what quality soever they may be : And the 
 first act of reformation ought to be a total abolition of all 
 the farms. There are, undoubtedly, many marks of re- 
 laxation in the reins of the French government, and, in all 
 probability, the subjects of Prance will be the first to take 
 the advantage of it. There is at present a violent fermen- 
 tation of difierent principles among them, which under the 
 reign of a very weak prince, or during a long minority, 
 may produce a great change in the constitution. In pro- 
 portion to the progress of reason and philosophy, which 
 have made great advances in this kingdom, superstition 
 loses ground; antient prejudices give way; a spirit of 
 freedom takes the ascendant. All the learned laity of 
 Prance detest the hierarchy as a plan of despotism, 
 founded on imposture and usurpation. The protestants, 
 who are very numerous in the southern parts, abhor it 
 with all the rancour of religious fanaticism. Many of the 
 commons, enriched by commerce and manufacture, grow 
 impatient of those odious distinctions, which exclude them 
 from the honours and privileges due to their importance 
 in the commonwealth ; and all the parliaments^ or tribu- 
 nals of justice in the kingdom, seem bent upon asserting 
 their rights and independence in the face of the king^s 
 prerogative, and even at the expence of his power and 
 authority. Should any prince therefore be seduced by 
 evil coun sellers, or misled by his own bigotry, to take some 
 arbitrary step, that may be extremely disagreeable to all 
 those communities, without having spirit to exert the vio- 
 lence of his power for the support of his measures, he will 
 become equally detested and despised ; and the influence 
 of the commons wiU insensibly encroach upon the pre- 
 tensions of the crown. But if in the time of a minority, 
 the power of the government should be divided among 
 difi'erent competitors for the regency, the parliaments and 
 
 116 people 
 
An Essay on Trade. 425 
 
 people will find it still more easy to acquire and ascer- 
 tain the liberty at which they aspire, because they will 
 have the balance of power in their hands, and be able to 
 make either scale preponderate. I could say a great deal 
 more upon this subject; and I have some remarks to 
 make relating to the methods which might be taken in 
 case of a fresh rupture with France, for making a vigo- 
 rous impression on that kingdom. But these I must defer 
 till another occasion, having neither room nor leisure at 
 present to add any thing." — Travels through France and 
 Italy, vol. ii, p. 196, 2nd Ed. 
 
 117 
 
PROPOSALS 
 
 Made by His late Highness the 
 
 PRINCE of ORANGE, 
 
 To their High Mightinesses the 
 
 STATES-GENERAL, 
 
 AND TO THE 
 
 STATES of HOLLAND 
 
 AND 
 
 West Friezland, 
 
 For redressing and amending the Trade of 
 the Republick. 
 
 Translated out of Low Dutch, from the Original, 
 printed at the Hague, by Authority. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed and sold by H. Kent, at the Printing-Office in Finch-lane, 
 
 near the Royal Exchange ; and by the Booksellers, and 
 
 Pamphlet Shops of London and IVeftminfter, 
 
 MDCCU. 
 
EXTRACT 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 Register of Resolutions of their High Mightinesses 
 the States-General of the United Nether- 
 lands. 
 
 Friday, 27 August 175 1. 
 
 HIS Highness having represented to the Assembly, 
 that ever since his accession to the stadtholdership 
 of these countries, he has had nothing more at heart, than 
 (under the blessing of Almighty God) to assist, in restor- 
 ing to the republick, its former flourishing condition ; 
 delivered it as his opinion, that the most effectual means 
 hereto, was to put trade, which is one of the principal 
 supports thereof, upon a better footing. 
 
 That, as nothing had given his Highness more anxiety,, 
 on the one hand, than to hear the daily complaints of a 
 decay of trade in these countries, and the considerable 
 progress and advance which others make therein ; so, oa 
 the other, he desired nothing more than to contribute 
 something, that might tend to retrieve the commerce of 
 the republick. 
 
 That his Highness had already, to that end, for a con- 
 siderable time past, left no stone unturn'd, in his inqui- 
 
 3 ries- 
 
430 Trade of United Netherlands. 
 
 ries after the most skilful and experienced merchants; 
 who might properly inform him, as well, in what conditionj 
 trade is at presentj as suggest to him the best means, for 
 re-establishing the same. 
 
 That he had happily succeeded in this attempt, and 
 those gentlemen had, with great assiduity, applied them- 
 selves to the management of this momentous trust : But 
 that the difficulties arising from a due discharge of so 
 arduous and extensive a province, had prevented its being 
 so soon executed as the importance of the affair re- 
 quired. 
 
 That his Highness now had the satisfaction, to deliver 
 to their High Mightiness, the annexed dissertation, on 
 the trade of the republick of the United Netherlands, 
 which had been previously put into his hands : wherein 
 he found such reflections and ideas, as well on the present 
 situation of the trade of this State, as on the means that 
 ought especially to be made use of to redress the same, 
 that his Highness thought proper to present it to their 
 High Mightinesses. 
 
 That his Highness, in the said dissertation, had met 
 with a proposal for a free port, in regard to such goods and 
 merchandizes, as are the source of trade in general ; and 
 also for a considerable diminution of the duties on every 
 branch of commerce, which his Highness considered, as 
 the only means to revive trade in these countries, and put 
 the merchants in a condition to deal with others, at least, 
 on an equal footing, and draw the same into these parts. 
 
 That the same appearing to his Highness, to be no less 
 desirable and advantageous for the trade of the republick, 
 than useful and necessary for the support of the State , 
 and having found the said plan or dissertation so well cal- 
 culated and adapted to the present crisis of affairs, he 
 could no longer defer the recommendiag it to their joint 
 deliberations, in the most pressing and pathetick terms ; 
 and at the same time earnestly desire them with a spirit of 
 
 4 unanimity, 
 
Trade of United Netherlands. 431 
 
 unanimity, and all possible dispatch, to give such a due 
 attention to, and draw such salntary reflections from the 
 whole, as the importance of the subject, and a necessity 
 for redressing and amending so general a decay of trade, 
 calls for and requires. 
 
 That in confidence of the confederate States being fully 
 persuaded of the same, his Highness doubts not but they 
 will speedily conform thereto ; and, by setting aside all 
 sinister and private views, from a sole regard to the publick 
 interest, take such wholesome resolutions, as may give his 
 Highness the desired proofs, that his zeal and application 
 herein, tending to the good of the whole community, has 
 not been disagreeable to their High Mightinesses. 
 
 That his Highness wishing these deliberations may 
 be brought to a happy issue, from considering this 
 affair to be of such weighty consequence, that the safety 
 knd well-being of the State, under God, depends on 
 the preservation and recovery of trade, has the greatest 
 reason to expect and hope, that, agreeably to his request, 
 not only all prejudices should be removed, and all incon- 
 veniences and difiiculties still subsisting, set aside ; but 
 also, that some speedy resolution should be entered into, 
 for the good of the republick, in order to put in execution 
 the new concerted measures, in the commencement of 
 the succeeding year. 
 
 On which, having deliberated, their High Mightinesses 
 return his Highness their sincere and hearty thanks, for 
 his care and particular attention, to the welfare of this 
 state, and the trading inhabitants thereof; and his un- 
 wearied zeal and application, in tracing the causes of 
 the decay, and proposing the means of a redress, and 
 recovering the trade thereof. 
 
 And further, it is ordered, that copies of the above- 
 mentioned proposal, and of the dissertation thereto an- 
 nexed, be sent to the respective colleges of the admiralty ; 
 and it be signified to them in writing, at the same time, 
 
 5 that 
 
432 Trade of United Netherlands. 
 
 that under tlie direction of his Highness, as admiral- 
 general of these countries, they do narrowly examine the 
 said dissertation, and maturely weigh the articles therein 
 proposed, for a redress and amendment of trade, carefully 
 collating each article ; in order to frame from thence, such 
 drafts of placarts, rules and lists, as they shall judge will 
 be most conducive to the aforesaid salutary design of his 
 Highness ; and, in an after conference, with the deputies of 
 their High Mightinesses, acquaint them with the result of 
 their consultations ; that on report being made thereof, 
 their High Mightinesses may make such orders relating 
 thereto, as shall be found most for the service of the 
 country, and the benefit of the trading inhabitants of the 
 same. 
 
 That, previous to the result of the said consultations 
 so expected, the said proposal of his Highness, and the 
 dissertation thereto annexed, shall be printed ; and some 
 copies thereof sent to the States of the respective pro- 
 vinces ; earnestly recommending such attention to be 
 given, and such reflections to be made by them on the 
 same, as the importance of the subject, and the necessity 
 of the said amendment, and redress of trade, brought to 
 so low an ebb, require ; to the end, that when the deli- 
 berations thereon, are brought to maturity, a speedy re- 
 solution may be taken on the same, with that mutual 
 harmony and condecension, as shall evidence them to be 
 divested of all prejudices and partial prepossessions arising 
 from personal concerns and self-interested views. 
 
 The said proposal was likewise made the same day, by 
 his Highness, in the assembly of their High Mightinesses, 
 the States of Holland and West Friezland, and a like re- 
 solution taken thereupon. 
 
 DISSER- 
 
DISSERTATION 
 
 ON THE 
 
 Trade of the United Netherlands. 
 
 HIS Highness having nothing more at heart, than 
 the preservation and welfare of the trade of this 
 republick, hath thought proper to order, that some emi- 
 nent and experienced merchants should be consulted on 
 this aifair ; in order to enable His Highness, as far as in 
 him lay, to contribute towards this fountain of the pros- 
 perity and riches of the United Netherlands, whose con- 
 siderations and advice should chiefly turn on the following 
 questions. 
 
 1. What is the actual state of the trade? and if the 
 same should be found to be diminished and fallen to 
 decay; then, 
 
 2. To inquire by what methods the same may be sup- 
 ported and advanced; or, if possible, be restored to it's 
 former lustre, repute and dignity ? 
 
 In obedience to these respectable orders of His High- 
 ness, some merchants have been accordingly consulted ; 
 and tho' in some particular instances, they have not been 
 of the same joint opinion, and have sometimes disagreed 
 in their respective difinitions, yet an entire concurrence 
 has been found in the general, as to their sentiments and 
 argumentations upon the first question. 
 
 7 1. What 
 
434 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 1. What is the state of our trade ? 
 
 That for the term of twenty-five years and upwards^ 
 the same is remarkably diminished^ and in many branches 
 lost. As to the second question, 
 
 2. By what methods the same may be supported and 
 promoted ? 
 
 That the same, in the present circumstances, could only 
 be effected with any tolerable hopes of success, by a dimi- 
 nution of the duties on goods imported and exported, 
 particularly the latter, and the impost on them ; which 
 renders the transporting of foreign goods and merchandize 
 through this country difficult and expensive ; whereby 
 such merchandizes being conveyed through another chan- 
 nel, must consequently put our neighbours in a condition 
 to undersell our merchants at foreign markets. 
 
 It is acknowledged, that the bare allegation of the 
 merchants consisting in this, that the trade of the republick 
 is diminished^ is no sufficient proof of the argument, tho' 
 bacVd with an appeal to their own experience. 
 
 But when we examine this affair to the bottom, and 
 attentively reflect on all the circumstances, which in 
 former times had, and stUl have relation to trade ; and 
 endeavour, more particularly, to discover the means, 
 whereby the trade and commerce of the republick was 
 then established, and afterwards became flourishing ; as 
 also, how remarkably the whole system of trade in Europe 
 has been since altered ; we are well assured, that this re- 
 presentation will not only add a great weight to the said 
 allegation of the merchants, but will be judged equivalent 
 to an ample demonstration. 
 
 In order, therefore, methodically to discuss the state of 
 the flrst question, we shall begin with inquiring into, and 
 pointing out the causes, whereby trade was settled and 
 established in the republick. 
 
 Which, it is thought, may be reduced to these three 
 points. 
 
 8 I. To 
 
of the United Netherlands. 435 
 
 I. To natural and physical 
 
 II. To moral ^ Causes, 
 
 III. To adventitious and external 
 
 I. The natural and physical causes, are the advanta- 
 geous situation of the country, on the sea, and at the 
 mouth of considerable rivers. 
 
 Its situation between the northern and southern parts, 
 which, being in a manner the center of all Europe, made 
 the republick become the general market, where the mer- 
 chants, on both sides, used to bring their superfluous com- 
 modities, in order to barter and exchange the same for 
 other goods they wanted. 
 
 Nor have the barrenness of the country, and the ne- 
 cessities of the natives, arising from that cause, less con- 
 tributed, to set them upon exerting all their application, 
 industry, and utmost stretch of genius, to fetch from 
 foreign countries what they stand in need of in their own, 
 and to support themselves by trade. 
 
 The abundance of fish in the neighbouring seas, put 
 them in a condition, not only to supply their own occa- 
 sions, but with the overplus, to carry on a trade with 
 foreigners ; and out of the produce of the fishery, to find 
 an equivalent for what they so wanted, through the sterility 
 and narrow boundaries and extent of their own country. 
 
 II. Amongst the moral and political causes, are to be 
 placed : The unalterable maxim and fundamental law, 
 relating to the free exercise of different religions; and 
 always to consider this toleration and connivance, as the 
 most effectual means to draw foreigners from adjacent 
 countries to settle and reside here, and so become instru- 
 mental to the peopling of these provinces. 
 
 The constant policy of the republick, to make this 
 country a perpetual, safe, and secure asylum, for all per- 
 secuted and oppressed strangers ; no alliance, no treaty, 
 
 9 no 
 
436 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 no regard for, or solicitation from any potentate whatever 
 has at any time been able to weaken or destroy; or make 
 the State recede from protecting those who have fled to it 
 for their own security and self-preservation. 
 
 Throughout the whole course of all the persecutions 
 and oppressions, that have occurr'd in other countries, the 
 steady adherence of the republick to this fundamental 
 law, has been the cause, that many people have not only 
 fled hither for refuge, with their whole stock in ready 
 cash, and their most valuable effects, but have also settled 
 and established many trades, fabricks, manufactures, arts 
 and sciences in this country ; notwithstanding the first 
 materials for the said fabricks and manufactures were 
 almost wholly wanting in it, and not to be procured but at 
 a great expence from foreign parts. 
 
 The constitution of our form of government, and the 
 liberty from thence accruing to the citizens, are further 
 reasons, to which the growth of trade, and its establish- 
 ment in the republick, may fairly be attributed : And all 
 her policy and laws are put on such an equitable footing, 
 that neither life, estates, or dignities depend on the ca- 
 price, or arbitrary power of any single individual ; nor 
 is there room for any person, who by care, frugality, and 
 diligence, has once acquired an affluent fortune, or estate, 
 to fear a deprivation of them, by any act of violence, op- 
 pression, or injustice. 
 
 The administration of justice in this coimtry, has in 
 like manner always been clear and impartial, and without 
 distinction of superior or inferior rank ; whether the par- 
 ties have been rich or poor, or even this a foreigner, and 
 that a native : And it were greatly to be wished, we could 
 at this day boast of such impartial quickness and dispatch 
 in all our legal processes, considering how great an in- 
 fluence it hath on trade. 
 
 To sum up all, amongst the moral and political causes 
 of the former flourishing state of trade, may be likewise 
 
 10 placed : 
 
of the United Netherlands. 4 3 7 
 
 placed : The wisdom and prudence of tlie administration ; 
 the intrepid firmness of the councils; the faithfulness 
 witli which treaties and engagements were wont to be ful- 
 filled and ratified ; and particularly the care and caution 
 practised to preserve tranquility and peace, and to decline, 
 instead of entering on a scene of war, merely to gratify 
 the ambitious views of gaining fruitless or imaginary 
 conquests. 
 
 By these moral and political maxims, was the glory and 
 reputation of the republick so far spread ; and foreigners 
 animated to place so great a confidence on the steady 
 determinations of a State so wisely and so prudently con- 
 ducted; that a concourse of them stock'd this country 
 with an augmentation of inhabitants, and useful hands ; 
 whereby its trade and opulence were constantly from time 
 to time increased. 
 
 Amongst the adventitious and external causes of the 
 rise and flourishing state of our trade, may be reckoned : 
 
 That at the time, when the best and wisest maxims 
 were adopted in the republick, to be the means of making 
 trade to flourish, they were neglected in almost all other 
 countries : and any one, on reading the history of those 
 times, may easily discover, that the persecutions on ac- 
 count of religion, throughout Spain, Brabant, Flanders, 
 and many other states and kingdoms, have given rise to 
 the establishment of trade in the republick. 
 
 To this happy event, and the settling of manufactures 
 in our country ; the long continuance of the civil wars in 
 France, which were afterwards carried on in Germany and 
 England, and divers other parts, have also very much con- 
 tributed. 
 
 It must be added, in the last place, that, during our 
 most burthensome and heavy wars with Spain and Portu- 
 gal (however ruinous that period was for commerce other- 
 ways) these powers had both neglected their navy ; whilst 
 the republick, by a conduct, directly the reverse, was at the 
 
 11 same 
 
438 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 same time formidable^ and in a capacity^ not only to pro- 
 tect the trade of their own subjects, but to annoy and 
 crush that of their enemies in all quarters. 
 
 Having recited the principal causes of the rise, and 
 flourishing state of the republick ; it will be proper, ante- 
 cedent to the treating of the first question : What the 
 actual state of commerce is ? To examine which of these 
 causes, relating to the settlement of trade in the republick^ 
 do still subsist, and which do not, in order to draw a con- 
 clusion on the question proposed : By what means, under 
 the present circumstances, the trade, in all its branches, 
 may be promoted ? 
 
 I. As to the natural and physical causes, which chiefly 
 consist in the happy situation of our country, no detrimen- 
 tal change or revolution can be supposed to have happened 
 since the establishment of the republick ; and no other, 
 but these, can be supposed to have occurred, viz. That the 
 entrance of our rivers being choaked up, renders the sail- 
 ing in and out of vessels more difficult and hazardous ; 
 and that the seas, which we alone formerly navigated and 
 fished in, are still in the same situation : But we have at 
 present only a share in the fisheries, from whence the 
 decay of our herring, cod, and whale fisheries, must neces- 
 sarily proceed. 
 
 But as, in this dissertation, our design is to confine 
 ourselves to trade only, we shall drop the fishery, with this 
 short digression, and only mention, in regard 
 
 II. To the moral causes of the rise and flourishing 
 state of our trade, that they are still subsisting in an equal 
 force and vigour. But as to 
 
 III. The adventitious and external causes of the former 
 prosperity of our trade, we must, with a very sensible con- 
 cern, acknowledge, that they have, from time, undergone 
 
 12 very 
 
of the United Netherlands. 439 
 
 yery remarkable and detrimental changes and revolutions, 
 partly owing to the persecutions of the times, the remiss- 
 ness and neglect, and partly, to the despicable opinions, 
 that people in foreign countries then had, both of trade 
 and merchants ; which prejudices have not only been cor- 
 rected and abated since, but the policy of the republick, 
 in promoting trade, substituted and adopted : And it has 
 ever since become the standing rule, with all foreign 
 princes and States ; to begin, with endeavouring to cause 
 trade to be settled and flourish in their countries, to en- 
 courage manufactures, and to animate their subjects to 
 apply themselves to the fisheries; by all which methods, 
 the prosperity of our trade and commerce must have been 
 affected. 
 
 The English were the first, in whom we raised an 
 emulation : And it is now a full century from the time of 
 their beginning to make new laws and regulations, tending 
 to the drawing off the trade of the republick to them- 
 selves ; in opposition to a contrary policy, practised not 
 half a century before, in suffering the wool to be exported 
 raw into this country, but since prohibited under the 
 severest penalties. We might here add the latter examples 
 of almost all other countries, whose general views, with 
 regard to trade and commerce, and all the dependencies 
 thereof, have tended to the very same practice. 
 
 And if the question, whether the trade of the repub- 
 lick is diminished or not ? must remain undecided, for 
 want of sufficient proof; it is, however, certainly noto- 
 rious, that all these circumstances ; such as, the adopting 
 of our political maxims in trade by foreign powers, and 
 the pains they all take, to draw the same to themselves, 
 ought to stir us up likewise, on our parts, to put in execu- 
 tion, all suitable methods for that purpose : unless we 
 have a mind t-o see the trade of the republick entirely 
 sink and run to ruin. 
 
 Having thus briefly pointed out, what were the causes 
 13 and 
 
440 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 and the means of establishing the trade in this republick ; 
 of promoting and raising it heretofore to so high a pitch 
 of grandeur; and having also shewn which of these 
 causes have since ceased, and brought about the dimi- 
 nution and falling off of our trade; we shall, in order 
 to come nearer the point, proceed to examine its present 
 state : And the conclusion that may be drawn from thence, 
 is ; that the promoting the same, can only be effected by a 
 lowering of the duties, on a well-concerted plan, supported 
 by reason and experience. 
 
 In order to come at the extent of the present state of 
 our commerce, with some degree of certainty, we ought, 
 principally, to examine each branch in particular, as it 
 now stands, and compare it with the condition, in which 
 the same branch has continued from the time of its greatest 
 prosperity, to its present diminution and decay. 
 
 A great insight into these matters might be had, from 
 the registers of the admiralties, in case proper entries had 
 been made, of what goods were entered, and what part 
 thereof was again exported, from and to all places, and of 
 all species. 
 
 By such registers, might be discovered, the decrease of 
 trade in the general, and of each branch in particular : 
 And these would shew its falling off, as well in its begin- 
 ning as in its progress ; but for want of such direct proof, 
 which our neighbours have, and we have not, we are 
 obliged to make use of indirect ones. As these are nu- 
 merous, we shall, for the sake of brevity, be satisfied with 
 producing a few ; tho' the concession made by the several 
 colleges of admiralty, by their letters to their High Mighti- 
 nesses, of the 1st of June, 1745, ought to determine the 
 question, without any further contest in favour of the 
 merchants complaints; since their Noble Mightinesses 
 themselves admit, that they have, for several years past, 
 perceived a diminution in the trade and commerce of this 
 country, and have spoke of it, as a thing generally known : 
 
 14 Herein 
 
of the United Netherlands. 441 
 
 Herein also, do all merchants and brokers, and even every 
 person, whose dependance is on trade, agree. 
 
 This decay is visible in the chief trading cities of the 
 republick, from the considerable number of shops, that are 
 empty and untenanted : To be convinced hereof, we need 
 but appeal to those who knew Amsterdam five and twenty 
 years ago ; and the decrease and scarcity of sea-faring 
 people, is another indisputable testimony of the same. 
 
 Our merchants set forth in their complaints, that they 
 formerly furnished the northern and eastern parts with 
 the products of France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and 
 these last again -with those of the former; but that now 
 they pass by this country, in order to save our duties on 
 imports and exports, together with other charges. 
 
 It is but a few years since, that the city of Amsterdam 
 was the magazine or storehouse, amongst other goods, of 
 indico and other materials used in dying ; but, at present, 
 scarce any traces of the same are to be found. 
 
 Germany has begun, for some years, to order the goods 
 directly from France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and re- 
 ceive them by way of Altena and Hamburgh. 
 
 By the last register of the exports of sugar, coffee, and 
 indico from Bourdeaux, from the 1st of June, 1750, to 
 the last of May, 1751, and on comparing the same com- 
 modities from Nantz to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Ham- 
 burgh, from the 1st of October, 1750, to the Istof ^m^m*^, 
 1751 ; it appears, that no more than one fourth part 
 thereof was shipt for this country, and three fourths for 
 Hamburgh ; a disproportion, which but a little while be- 
 fore was exactly the reverse. 
 
 Where does one now see the hemp, flax, and other 
 eastern commodities shipt off from hence to Spain, Portu- 
 gal, and France, as formerly ? One need only consult the 
 Sound list, to see that all these nations carry them directly 
 forward, and beside this country, 
 
 There are no Dutch houses any longer now in Spain ; 
 
 15 and 
 
442 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 and the small share the republick has at present in the 
 galleonsj is a matter of surprize ; and no less so, is the 
 prodigious decrease of the Dutch trade to the Levant, 
 
 The great number of callico-printerSj sugar-houses, and 
 other fabricks, that within a few years have been erected 
 and set up in Hamburgh, and Bremen, and not long since, 
 in Brabant, and Flanders, are likewise all proofs of our 
 decaying trade : And to what can this decline be attri- 
 buted, but to the exhorbitant and heavy duties. 
 
 Notwithstanding all that hais been said of the decrease 
 of our commerce, there are still those who insist, that our 
 trade is on the same footing now as heretofore : And the 
 grounds, on which they build this opinion, are 
 
 1. That the imposts on goods imported and exported, 
 the weigh-money, and duties on shipping, and on the con- 
 sumption, £fc. are not diminished. 
 
 3. That the complaints of the merchants prove no- 
 thing, since the profits on trade are still much the same, 
 but divided amongst a greater number of persons. 
 
 3. That the present grand way of living, leads the 
 merchants into greater expences than our forefathers, and 
 gives reason for these complaints. 
 
 However, without entering minutely into all that is 
 here advanced, or shifting it off by saying, that none of 
 these allegations are proved; we shall content ourselves 
 with replying to the substance of them : And as to the 
 first allegation of those, who argue as above, from the 
 several imposts on goods imported aSid exported ; and pre- 
 tend to evince, that because these are not diminished, the 
 commerce of the repubhck is therefore not decreased ; we 
 cannot but remark, that they must have very imperfect 
 ideas of trade itself, or they would have entirely waved 
 speaking of the duties on the imports, as having nothing 
 to do in the case. For that the duties on imports are 
 no proofs of a flourishing trade, will appear from con- 
 sidering ; 
 
 16 What 
 
of the, United Netherlands. 443 
 
 What causes are frequently introductive of an increase 
 of the duties on goods imported ? 
 
 What does the present elegant way of living produce, 
 but the bringing in more high-rated foreign commodities, 
 and consequently an increase of the duties on importa- 
 tion? 
 
 What other causes were to be assign'd for the increase 
 of the revenues of the State, after the fatal winter in 
 1740? but that in proportion, as the produce in this 
 country of most of the necessaries of life was almost en- 
 tirely ruin'd by the hard frost ; that want was to be 
 remedied no other way, than by importations from abroad, 
 to supply our own consumptions ? Yet the republick 
 would be scarce able to sustain many such flourishing 
 years. 
 
 Lastly, what, besides the calamitous sickness amongst 
 the cattle, has increas'd the revenues of the country, on 
 the importation of foreign butter, cheese, and cattle? 
 But whoever should impute this to an increasing trade, 
 would grossly deceive himself. 
 
 And who sees not, that if the trade of the republick 
 once came to consist only in the importation of foreign 
 goods ; instead of being advantageous, how destructive it 
 would be, and more and more consume the substance of 
 the State. Thus by not examining the affair to the bot- 
 tom, one might imagine, we had a flourishing trade ; whilst 
 we were, at the same time, running on to ruin. We ap- 
 prehend therefore, as a refutation of the first argument, 
 that our trade is not diminished, because the duties on 
 goods imported are not decreas'd, that it cannot be apply'd 
 here with any propriety, as it is nothing to the purpose, 
 and rather proves trade to be in a ruinous than in an ad- 
 vantageous situation. And one need only read the Act of 
 Navigation in England, and their policy by means of the 
 drawbacks, to find, that for above a hundred years past, 
 they have considered the exportation and sale of goods 
 
 17 and 
 
444 Dissertation on the' Trade 
 
 and merchandizes abroad, as the only profitable and ad- 
 vantageous trade of that kingdom ; and, on the contrary, 
 left it very doubtful, whether the importation of goods be 
 prejudicial or beneficial. 
 
 Eut the consideration of the sundry duties on goods 
 exported, is widely different : And we make no scruple to 
 determine, in regard to these, that in case it can be made 
 appear they are not diminished, we will, in consequence 
 thereof, agree, that the trade of the republick is still on 
 the same footing. But in examining these registers of the 
 duties on exportation, regard must be had to such years, 
 as were subject to circumstances arising accidentally from 
 foreign causes : As for example, we must except the years 
 of the last war, declared by England, with Spain, in the 
 year 1739; and by France, with England, in the year 
 1743 ; for as these three nations could not have any direct 
 dealings with each other at that time, it being prohibited 
 on all sides, their trade was carried on through this re- 
 publick ; which not only occasioned an increase in the 
 export duties, but also such a diffusive spread of com- 
 merce, as had a happy influence on every branch of trade, 
 and produced a general welfare and advantage to the Pro- 
 vinces : Such years must therefore be excepted, as they 
 prove nothing, and have no relation to the question in 
 debate. 
 
 It may not be amiss, however, to remark, how much 
 the welfare and prosperity of the republick is advanced ; 
 and to what a flourishing and happy crisis the means for 
 the support of her inhabitants are brought, from an en- 
 couragement given to the transporting of foreign goods 
 and merchandize through these Provinces, as was the case 
 during those wars. And in short, if one would define the 
 trade, which is advantageous to the republick, so far as 
 relates to navigation, he might, with strict justice, aflSrm, 
 that the same consists alone in the buying, and afterwards 
 exporting, of imported foreign goods and merchandize. 
 
 18 It 
 
of the United Netherlands. 445 
 
 It is this trade, therefore, which must he always had in 
 view; countenanced, facilitated, and promoted, by all 
 methods of relief, favour, and encouragement. 
 
 For what advantage occurs to the republick, from a 
 merchant, who lets his goods directly pass from one 
 foreign country to another, without coming through their 
 provinces ? 
 
 What profit arises to this country, when a merchant 
 sends the products of the north and east seas, directly 
 from thence to French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian 
 ports ; and from thence back again to the same places ? 
 Hardly any : Nay, none at all, if he embarks them in a 
 foreign ship, which depends upon a circumstance merely 
 casual. And when one further considers, that, to carry on 
 such a trade, there is no necessity for his living at Amster- 
 dam, or Rotterdam, where the taxes are heaviest, or even 
 in these provinces ; and that this trade and navigation, 
 beside our country, is promoted by nothing more than the 
 duties laid on transportation j it is beyond all dispute, that 
 the transporting of goods through this country, which is 
 so visibly disused, is not to be revived otherwise, than by 
 a lowering and reduction of the duties on the same. 
 
 Such reasonings might, perhaps, give room for a sup- 
 posal, that what we hint at, is a general free passage, 
 which would have the desired effect, in making trade to 
 flourish ; but as some further speculations and fresh diffi- 
 culties may be started, and arise on this point ; at least, a 
 narrow inquiry into its influence on all branches of trade, 
 our fabricks and manufactures ; which, of itself alone, 
 would require an extensive dissertation ; and as such a 
 digression would lead us too far from the point in hand, we 
 shall refer the treating hereof, to a place in the sequel, 
 where it will be more suitable. 
 
 It has been further alleged, that so far as the produce 
 of the tax, entitled Last-Money, is not diminished, the 
 same is an additional proof, that the trade of the repub- 
 
 19 lick 
 
446 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 lick stands upon an equal footing : Yet, not only as the 
 exception already madCj touching the years of the last 
 wars between France, Spain, and England, may be applied 
 to this circumstance; but over and above, as these three 
 nations could in those times navigate with our ships at less 
 risque and expence than with their own ; besides making 
 use of our ships to transport their products, they were 
 even obliged to sell theirs to the Dutch; whereby 
 it was easily perceived, that our shipping increased in 
 those years, at least one third : and has again decreased 
 in near the same proportion, since the conclusion of the 
 peace. 
 
 The shipping has undoubtedly a great connection with 
 trade ; but in order to form proper ideas of the same, it 
 will be necessary to consider it in aU its branches, in this 
 republick : However, as this is not the proper place to 
 treat of the same, we shall observe thus far by the bye, 
 as some have endeavoured, from the last-money tax, to shew, 
 that the trade is not decreased, that a country may have, or 
 be concerned in a good deal of shipping, without .having 
 any trade ; when it is considered, that many of the ships 
 made use of for transporting of goods and merchandizes 
 from one foreign place to another, and beside our country, 
 are not Dutch. 
 
 There is no province of our country, where more 
 owners of smacks, sloops, galleots, and other such like 
 vessels reside, than in that of Friezland, without having 
 any trade : And therefere, it is reasonably to be concluded, 
 that this objection against a decrease of trade in the re- 
 publick, may be rejected, and esteemed of as little weight, 
 as the duties on the consumptions, which only affect the 
 manufactures, fabricks, ^c. and for that reason is here 
 entirely out of the question. 
 
 Having thus shewn what is the state of our trade, 
 drawn a conclusion from thence, that the same is dimi- 
 nished, and also refuted the grounds, on which a contrary 
 
 20 opinion 
 
of the United Netherlands. 447 
 
 opinion was founded, namely, that the trade continues 
 much on the same footing ; we may next proceed to ex- 
 amine the causes of its decay; as one may best judge 
 from the source of the whole, what remedies should be 
 applied in order to stop its progress. 
 
 We have already taken notice of, and placed at the 
 head of all the causes, that have co-operated to the preju- 
 dice and discouragement of trade, the oppressive taxes, 
 which have, under divers denominations, been imposed on 
 trade ; such as those called convoy and licent, additional 
 last and sale money, the premium, duties, weighing-money, 
 ^c. and it may justly be said, that it can be only attributed 
 to these taxes, that the trade of this country has been 
 diverted out of its channel, and transferred to our neigh- 
 bours, and must daily be still more and more alienated 
 and shut out from us, unless the progress thereof be stopt 
 by some q\xick and effectual remedy : Nor is it difficult to 
 see, from these contemplations on the state of our trade, 
 that the same can be effected by no other means than a 
 diminution of all duties. 
 
 In former times, this was reckoned the only trading 
 republick in Europe ; and foreigners were content to pay 
 the taxes, as well on the goods they brought thither, as on 
 those they came there to buy ; without examining, whether 
 they could evade or save them, by fetching the goods from 
 the places where they were produced, and carrying others 
 to the places were they were consumed : In short, they 
 paid the Dutch their taxes with pleasure, without any 
 further inquiry. 
 
 But since the last century, the system of trade is 
 altered all oyexjlurope : Foreign nations seeing the won- 
 derful effect of our trade, and to what an eminence the 
 Dutch had rose, only by means thereof; they did likewise 
 apply themselves to it; and to save our duties, sent their 
 superfluous products beside our country, to the places 
 where they are most consumed ; and in return for the 
 
 21 same. 
 
448 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 same, furnished themselves^ from the first hand, with what 
 they wanted. 
 
 The question then at last turns upon this : By what 
 methods, and by what regulations, we may best contri- 
 bute to, facilitate, and advance these desired encourage- 
 ments and benefits of trade, which the present circum- 
 stances of afi'airs seem to require. 
 
 If but one point was herein to be considered, namely, 
 what are the most proper methods to re-establish trade in 
 general, without having regard, at the same time, to other 
 concerns ; the remedy would be soon found, by only in- 
 troducing a general free port, and reducing as many taxes 
 as possible, whereby this affair would be effectually com- 
 pleated. 
 
 But there seems to be a condition, over and above, not 
 to be gainsayed or withstood ; which is, that the usual 
 revenue to the colleges of the admiralty, whereof they 
 stand so much in need to defray their charges, must be 
 preserved at aU events. And, on the other hand, it is 
 incumbent on us to prevent the lowering of the duties on 
 the importation of goods, from becoming any prejudice to 
 the products, manufactures, and fabricks of the country, 
 our East and West India colonies, fisheries, ^c. 
 
 Although it is an opinion deeply rooted, that all these 
 matters can never be reconciled, and that it is impossible 
 to promote trade in general, without prejudicing the in- 
 terests above specified : Yet we trust, that upon an impar- 
 tial and minute examination, it will not be found so 
 difficult and impracticable a thing, as is usually imagined, 
 to unite all these jarring interests ; nay, we even flatter 
 ourselves, that when the difficulties of finding an equiva- 
 lent fund of revenues for the admiralties, preventing the 
 frauds, and bringing the publick taxes to be raised on an 
 equal footing, throughout all the provinces, were once sur- 
 mounted : the obstacle thrown in the way by these repug- 
 nant and clashing interests, would shortly be removed. 
 
 22 There 
 
of the United Netherlands. 449 
 
 There will certainly some circumstances intervene, that 
 may give room for a disagreement in opinion : But even in 
 such caseSj which we hope, however, will not occur so 
 often as is apprehended ; reason dictates, that, in these 
 particular instances, we should set it down as an invariable 
 and standing rule, of two evils to chuse the least : That the 
 concerns of the whole republick must be preferred to 
 those of one province, as well as those of one province to 
 those of a city : And in such case, but not otherwise, the 
 small damages that any single province, city, corporation, 
 or private person might sustain, must be overlook^. 
 
 This must, however, be understood, with this restric- 
 tion, that it is not hereby intended to set up a new 
 republick, or to make any alteration in the interior con- 
 stitution of our country ; far from it, for it is certainly 
 best, and most advantageous for the country, that the 
 reformations in trade should be made, as far as possible, 
 according to the actual situation and state of its affairs ; 
 nor could any thing be conceived more dangerous, than to 
 attempt innovations of this nature. 
 
 From what has been premised on the subject of our 
 general trade, we take it for granted, that we may lay it 
 down as an indisputable truth, that the duties and imposts 
 must be lowered and abated. 
 
 From whence the two following questions wiU naturally 
 arise. 
 
 1. What goods ought principally to have the benefit of 
 such a diminution ; and what rules, in relation thereto, 
 will be proper to be observed. 
 
 3. Wherein it must consist, and in what proportion it 
 must be settled. 
 
 As to the first question, on what goods, the lowering 
 and abatement of publick duties should principally fall ; 
 it has been observed, that principally, all foreign goods, 
 which are not only brought and consumed in our country, 
 but also taken off our hands by foreigners, should enjoy 
 
 23 this 
 
450 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 this benefit : For^ to put our merchants in a condition^ to 
 trade on an equal footing with their neighbours, at foreign 
 markets ; the carrying of goods through, and trafficking in, 
 this country, should be made as cheap and easy, as can 
 possibly be contrived. 
 
 Of these goods, a preference should be given to all the 
 prime materials, that are serviceable in our fabricks,, 
 manufactures, handicrafts, ^c. as also the ingredients ne- 
 cessary in the said handicrafts, manufactures, and fabricks. 
 By such measures, our fabricks, manufactures, and handi- 
 crafts, would be encouraged on the same footing as our 
 general trade, and no cause of dispute given between those 
 • pretended jarring interests. 
 
 All foreign goods and merchandizes, that come here 
 to be sifted and assorted, and afterwards again exported, 
 ought likewise to enjoy the benefit of this diminution and 
 abatement ; for these are an inducement to the industrious 
 trader to exercise his talents, in setting them to work : 
 And were it reqtiisite to enumerate in this article, all the 
 advantages that trade reaps from those assortments, even 
 under the present heavy taxes ; we should find, that the 
 falling off of our trade, has thereby, in some measure, been 
 stopt. But when people in foreign parts set about the 
 same, as it is already perceivM they do, it will be then too 
 late to guard against, or to prevent it. 
 
 Neither can such goods, as are not work'd, manufac- 
 tured, or sorted here ; but re-exported in the same condi- 
 tion, as they were imported, be excluded from this advant- 
 age, vnthout prejudice to trade in general ; for these goods, 
 when there is a superfluity of them, furnish the merchants 
 with an opportunity to make magazines of them in this 
 country. 
 
 The advantages arising from hence, and which have 
 only relation to trade, are these. 
 
 That whenever afterwards a scarcity happens, foreign- 
 ers can buy these goods of us, at a lower price, than at the 
 
 24 places 
 
of the United Netherlands. 451 
 
 places where they are produced ; not to mention many 
 other advantages accruing therefrom to this country ; and 
 considering^ that the plenty of money to be found here 
 above other places, and the low interest it bears in com- 
 parison to other countries, contribute to this sort of trade, 
 one may promise one's self great success from the dimi- 
 nution so desired. 
 
 Finally, we should reflect on such foreign goods, 
 which being admitted not prejudicial to our fabricks, yet, 
 as they are principally consumed in the country, should 
 on importation pay some duties, in order to make the loss 
 of the admiralties, as small as possible. 
 
 As to the second question, how far the same ought to 
 take place on such goods, a few words will suffice to shew ; 
 and we need only remark, the more these are relieved, the 
 greater will be the success of the diminution. 
 
 Having thus established some principles concerning 
 what goods should enjoy the benefit of a free port coming 
 in and going out ; we may now proceed to such, as, by 
 their importation, are prejudicial to our said fabricks, 
 manufactures, and handicrafts ; and to the products of our 
 country, colonies, and fisheries. 
 
 As to all these last mentioned goods, it is agreed, that 
 they ought, on importation, not only to remain taxed ; but 
 so far as they tend to luxury, to superfluities, and to use, 
 are thereby prejudicial to our said fabricks, manufactures, 
 ^c. therefore should, be as heavily charged as possible; 
 with proper regard, however, to our treaties ; as also, that 
 by too heavy imposts, we do not involve ourselves in those 
 difficulties, of which the list of the year 1735 produces 
 many instances, which have had this efi^ect, that the col- 
 leges of the admiralties would have raised and received 
 more, had they asked less ; a consideration, which ought 
 to be well remembered, when we set about a reformation 
 of their revenues. 
 
 Being now come to the means of redress, that are pro- 
 25 posed 
 
452 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 posed as most proper to restore the trade of the republick 
 to its former lustre, dignity, and credit, if possible ; three 
 different plans shall be mentioned, each of which, separ- 
 ately considered, will remedy several of the causes of decay 
 above specified. 
 
 These have been the occasion, that most of the mer- 
 chants proper to be consulted, and whose advices might be 
 relied on, after many discussions and debates, have ap- 
 proved of a fourth plan of redress, composed out of the 
 three former ; selecting out of each, that which was found 
 to be of the greatest use, and most applicable to the actual 
 situation of affairs ; and which, it is thought, will be liable 
 to the fewest difficulties in the execution. 
 
 The three first plans we shall here briefly specify. 
 
 The first plan consists in a/ree passage for all foreign 
 goods and merchandize appertaining to trade in general ; 
 subject, notwithstanding, to this precaution, that the goods, 
 upon their first landing, shall be immediately sealed, and 
 remain inclosed in the same chests, packs, and bales, until 
 they are again sent out of the republick. 
 
 The second proposes a considerable alteration and di- 
 minution in the placart and list of 1 725 : This diminution 
 t o take place on most articles, but especially on such goods 
 as have most influence on the general trade and naviga- 
 tion. 
 
 According to the third plan, a general free port would 
 answer the end ; in which case, it would be proper for the 
 duty on lastage or tonnage, to be so far increased, that the 
 deflciency to the colleges of the admiralty might be 
 thereby supplied. 
 
 Were we to give these three plans their fuU scope and 
 due extent, by describing them with all their limitations 
 and restrictions, as they were delivered by those who 
 patronized them ; and to annex the advantages that might 
 be expected from, and the inconveiiiences and difficulties 
 that would attend each in the execution of them, it would 
 
 26 lay 
 
of the United Netherlands. 453 
 
 lay us under a necessity, to enter upon a long detail of 
 particulars, and very much swell this dissertation ; which 
 we think more proper to decline, especially, as we have 
 been obliged to expatiate on some articles, whereby this 
 treatise is already become longer than was at first 
 proposed. 
 
 The fourth method therefore here proposed, as an 
 expedient plan, not only to preserve the trade of the re- 
 publick from a further decrease, but also to revive and 
 render it still more extensive, is a limited free port. 
 
 It consists in dividing the goods and merchandizes 
 into certain lists or classes ; according to which, some 
 goods shall enjoy the benefit of a free port, others to be 
 excepted, and to pay certain duties on importation ; but, 
 when some of these last are designed to be again exported 
 out of the country, they to have a drawback, or iiT lieu 
 thereof a free passage. 
 
 Upon a close examination of this plan, it will be found 
 best adapted to the present state of the republick, the 
 actual constitution of our trade, the nature and property 
 of our commerce, the real situation and traffick all over 
 Europe, and those general grounds and principles above 
 set forth ; over and above all this, some special considera- 
 tions have been had on some particular species of goods. 
 
 According to this plan, it is proposed, in the first 
 place, that all the goods mentioned in the list marked A, 
 shall enjoy the benefit of a free port, and be exempted 
 from all duties on importation ; of what denomination, or 
 how inconsiderable soever, the same may be. 
 
 With this restriction, notwithstanding, that all the 
 goods, when imported, shall be subject to the visitation of 
 the commissaries, and others appointed for that purpose, 
 and be liable to a seizure and confiscation ; in case, under 
 this colour and pretext, an attempt should be made to 
 enter other goods that are not free, thereby fraudulently 
 to diminish the revenues of the country : On a discovery 
 
 37 whereof, 
 
454 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 whereof^ the goods, both free and not free, shallbe for- 
 feited. 
 
 Whoever shall be pleased, attentively, to examine this 
 first list, will find, that regard has commonly been had, 
 in making the same, to the grounds herein before laid 
 down : But to prove this of every particular, to point out 
 the application of each single article to the said principles, 
 and to add all the reasons pro and con, would spin out 
 this treatise to a tiresome length, which we think ought 
 to be avoided, in a proposal of this nature. 
 
 In the second place, all the goods specified in the list 
 marked B, are brought under a second class, and the 
 same should be obliged to pay certain duties on their im- 
 portation into the republick. 
 
 On this second list, a large commentary might be re- 
 quired, to set forth, for what reasons and causes the 
 difi'erent goods therein mentioned, are neither rated higher 
 or lower : But, not to swell this dissertation beyond its 
 proper bounds, we shall in general observe, without dwel- 
 ling on a subject so copious and extensive, that in dra wing- 
 up this list, besides the interest of the admiralties, we have 
 kept this in view, that by the importation of some goods, 
 our manufactures, handicrafts, and products of our own 
 country might not sustain any damage, whose interest 
 herein would be opposite to what the general trade 
 requires. 
 
 We were, therefore, of opinion, that all those goods, 
 on their importation into the republick, ought to stand 
 charged, in such a manner, as not to cause any prejudice 
 to the sale of our own, within the limits of the republick. 
 
 All these duties to be collected in the same way and 
 manner, and by the same persons, as they have been 
 received by heretofore, with this only difference, that they 
 shall be hereafter raised on an equal footing, and that all 
 fraudulent receivers be proceeded against with the utmost 
 severity. 
 
 28 But 
 
of the United Netherlands. -455 
 
 But here arises a difficulty, that merits the utmost 
 attention, and must, one way or other, necessarily be 
 removed. 
 
 The goods, which, for the reasons aforesaid, ought not 
 to be brought into the republick, without paying certain 
 duties, will therefore not be imported in larger quantities, 
 than what may be required for the use and consumption 
 of the inhabitants of the republick ; and consequently, 
 the general market and magazine for those goods will not 
 fix itself here, according to these proposals ; nor will they 
 be sent through this country ; which is, however, so very 
 desirable, that it ought to be our principle and chief 
 aim. 
 
 For a removal of this difficulty, to the utmost of our 
 power, two difTerent methods have been thought on, which 
 we shall set forth as briefly as possible. 
 
 The first method should consist in a drawback on some 
 of the goods, enumerated in the list marked B, which are 
 the cause of this objection. 
 
 This method must be understood as follows. 
 
 The importer of these goods by sea, on paying the 
 duties at the entry, to have a receipt ; by which receipt, 
 the possessor thereof shall be entitled to be reimbursed, 
 the duty paid at such entry, on making it appear, by cer- 
 tificates from the commissaries, that the said goods, or 
 other inland goods of the same sort, in lieu thereof, were 
 exported. 
 
 The consequence whereof would be, that on one side, 
 the importation of those foreign goods might be free and 
 open, the merchant be always master of his goods, have a 
 right to open the chests, packs, and cases, and might put 
 in practice his skill and industry in sorting the same, 
 without thereby prejudicing the inland sale of our own 
 goods ; that, on the other hand, our own goods, merchan- 
 dize, and manufactures would, whenever they should be 
 
 29 sent 
 
456 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 sent out of the republick, reap the benefit and indulgence 
 of the said receipts, and of the duties paid thereon j and 
 that the foreign goods which had laid here some time, 
 might, by means of the said receipts, be exported again 
 free, and without any duty charged on them ; since by 
 this way of drawback, the duties they had paid would be 
 fully reimbursed. 
 
 This proposal, how ingenious and plausible soever it 
 may seem, is subject to a variety of difficulties ; to pre- 
 vent which, without taking notice of them here, we should 
 find ourselves very much embarrassed ; and a door might, 
 perhaps, be thereby opened to a great number of frauds, 
 extremely pernicious to our manufactures, handicrafts, 
 colonies, &fc. at least, it is certain, that nothing is more 
 apt to make us apprehensive of this, than to consider the 
 immense sums expended in England, to prevent frauds, in 
 regard to such goods as are entitled to a drawback, and 
 which would be still more difficult in a country so con- 
 stituted as this republick. 
 
 This, however, is no reason why the same deserves not 
 to be more amply considered. 
 
 The second proposal is, to grant a free passage foy such 
 goods, the transportation whereof, through this country, 
 ought to be encouraged, without thereby prejudicing our 
 own goods and manufactures ; which free passage should 
 take place under such precautions, as are prescribed by 
 former ordinances and placarts, and such amendments 
 as shall be found necessary, according to the state of 
 things. 
 
 By these precautions it is presumed, that the frauds 
 might be prevented ; and that such goods might be im- 
 ported without paying any duties inwards, and pass 
 through our country without suspicion of any frauds, or 
 becoming any way a prejudice to our fabricks, handicrafts, 
 colonies, companies, fisheries, ^c. 
 
 30 Be 
 
of the United Netherlands. 457 
 
 Be this as it ■will^ it were highly to be wishedj that one 
 of the two proposals aforegoing could be rendred prac- 
 ticable, to preserve the passage of the goods, already 
 referred to. 
 
 According to this plan of redress, it must absolutely 
 be determined, that all the goods, which by former ordi- 
 nances and placarts, were prohibited to be either imported 
 or exported, still continue to be prohibited in the same 
 manner ; for as the causes, that gave room for the issuing 
 out such prohibitions, still subsist, there cannot be a cause 
 assigned for any change or alteration to be made therein. 
 
 Thus, in as concise a method as possible, you may see 
 the whole plan of redress ; which, it is thought, might be 
 brought to a successful issue, and happily effected ; and 
 whereby, it is believed, the whole trade of the republick 
 might not only be preserved from a total ruin, but also be 
 retrieved, re-animated, and invigorated with new life and 
 spirits, in case it was supported by other particular amend- 
 ments, which we shall not insist on here ; as the proper 
 occasion for it, will be only, when a limited free port shall 
 be approved of, as the general means^i a redress. 
 
 In the contriving of this plan, it has been more than 
 once discovered, as has been already several times re- 
 marked before, that in this affair, a variety of jarring 
 interests did frequently occur. 
 
 And hence has sprung the cause, why the goods and 
 merchandize could not be reduced under some certain 
 general rules, and that obliged us to consider and weigh 
 almost every article apart ; and after examining what 
 could be alledged for and against each article, we have 
 determined on that which appeared liable to the least 
 difiBculties. 
 
 Not that we look on the lists, as they are drawn out, 
 as absolutely perfect and compleat, nor do we flatter our- 
 selves that they are not capable of amendment. This was 
 neither intended, nor indeed possible, for although the 
 
 31 most 
 
458 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 most eminent and experienced merchants were consulted, 
 yet their extensive knowledge, in regard to trade in 
 general, would not enable them to attain to an equal 
 penetration and insight into all the various particulars, 
 and different species of goods, with their several uses in 
 our fabricks and manufactures. However, it has been 
 thought proper to put the goods and merchandize to that 
 list to which they reported them to belong, according to 
 the best of their judgment and experience : Which was 
 done with this view, that whenever the plan, in general, 
 shall be properly examined by those in the republick, who 
 are always consulted about mercantile affairs, and the lists 
 likewise shall be examined, with such reflections made on 
 each article, abstracted from the rest, as they shall think 
 fitting ; then those merchants, who trade in each species 
 of goods, may be heard against it ; whereby one will be 
 enabled, on comparing the reasons and arguments on both 
 sides, to chuse that which shall be found to be most for 
 the advantage of the trade. 
 
 From what has been hitherto said, with regard to the 
 duties that must remain, according to this proposal, on 
 some goods and merchandize ; it evidently appears, that 
 all methods, means, and regulations which can be made 
 use of on the head of trade, will be invalid and to no 
 purpose ; as long as no effectual remedies are taken against 
 the unequal levying of the duties by water, and the frauds 
 and malpractices crept in : The importance of this affair 
 requires, that it be canvassed and examined to the 
 bottom. 
 
 To treat of this subject in a regular order, it may 
 possibly be required of us, to shew, that various frauds, 
 in different shapes, have been committed since the list or 
 regulation in the year 1725, and that the precautions then 
 taken, are insufficient. 
 
 To attempt the proving this by particular Instances and 
 circumstantial cases, would appear extremely ridiculous : 
 
 32 The 
 
of the United Netherlands. 459 
 
 The affair is too notorious to need our spending any longer 
 time about it. 
 
 It is as undeniable, that in case the running of goods 
 is tolerated morej or less severely punished in one province 
 or city only than in another, it will be absolutely imprac- 
 ticable, in the other provinces or cities, to prevent the 
 same. 
 
 Every one who shall consider this evil impartially, and 
 without prejudice,- must be self-convinced of the necessity 
 there is immediately to remedy the same, in the most 
 effectual manner, and by such means, that all the pro- 
 vinces and cities may be thoroughly satisfied, that there is 
 no connivance more allowed of in one place, than in 
 another. 
 
 But the necessity of such redress, will more evidently 
 appear, when we consider the effect which this remissness, 
 in receiving the duties, produces in those cities and pro- 
 vinces which are otherwise inclinable enough to levy the 
 taxes, according to the placarts and ordinances ; but on 
 account of what is practised in other provinces and cities, 
 either cannot, or dare not, use greater severity ; from 
 whence it is, that every one connives at daily smuggling, 
 to keep the trade amongst themselves. 
 
 These precautions against all frauds become now the 
 more requisite, by the proposed diminution of the re- 
 venues from a free port. 
 
 In regard to which, however, the redress is not more 
 necessary than it is difficult : Let us but consider, what 
 precautions, pains, and expences, are to this end bestowed 
 in France, in England, and in other places, and all inces- 
 santly without effect ; how much more difficult it must be 
 in such a country as ours, where the constitution of the 
 land, the different interests and jurisdictions of the pro- 
 vinces and cities, render our care and precautions exceed- 
 ingly more irksome. 
 
 The tricks and inventions from time to time made use 
 33 of 
 
460 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 of to carry on this practice^ are so manifold, so private, 
 and so artfully contrived ; that, were a person to devise 
 new methods that should be valid and sufficient to prevent 
 all smuggling, he would at once throw up his project in 
 despair ; especially, as such means must be fit to be re- 
 duced to practice, not clogg'd with too many obstacles, and 
 at the same time effective of producing the end aimed at. 
 
 These difficulties are not here started with an intent to 
 give up all hopes, to look upon it as an impracticable 
 scheme, or to deter us from pursuing the same ; but only 
 to shew, that it is of such a nature, that it requires the 
 use of such means, as in the ordinary course of things 
 ought not to be made use of; since allowance must be 
 sometimes made for the common frailty and depravity of 
 the multitude : But, as the preservation and prosperity of 
 the country and its inhabitants depend on this particular, 
 the means ought not to be rejected, because they seem to 
 be attended with an unusual hardship and severity. 
 
 How strongly were it to be lavished, that the respective 
 provinces and cities might be so thoroughly convinced, by 
 what has been advanced on this subject ; that for the 
 welfare and the preservation of the State, they would lay 
 aside at once all views and pretexts, as might seem to be 
 repugnant to it. 
 
 And now proceeding to the methods, which we pre- 
 sume, might be successfully made use of, to prevent these 
 frauds, we shall lay it down as the basis and foundation of 
 the whole fabrick. 
 
 That the fines, penalties, and punishments must be 
 enlarged; and sometimes, if the nature of the case shall 
 so require, extended to infamy and banishment, or even 
 death itself; and that these laws be strictly put in execu- 
 tion without the least connivance. Were this but done, 
 what honest man would run the risque of being infamous, 
 or accounted a plunderer or robber of his country, or of 
 being liable to suffer banishment or death. 
 
 3i That 
 
of the United Netherlands. 461 
 
 That the searching after goods must be raore exten- 
 sive^ especially, when there is any suspicion or proof of 
 fraud. 
 
 That new regulations be made concerning watermen, 
 porters, carmen, and all others that are employed in 
 unloading of goods. 
 
 The informations and proof of smuggling, ought to 
 be left free and open to every individual ; even to the 
 accomplices, under promise of indemnity; allowing to 
 the informer the whole or the greatest part of the fines 
 and penalties. 
 
 That the pass-ports of the goods, which come down by 
 the rivers, do for the future remain along with them, the 
 searching such goods again chiefly depending thereon ; 
 and which, at different times, has been earnestly requested 
 by the colleges of the admiralty residing in Holland. 
 
 To consider, for the future, the duties upon all goods 
 imported, as revenues belonging to the State in general, 
 and not to any one province in particular. 
 
 Consequently, the management and direction of these 
 pubKck revenues of the country, ought to be taken away 
 from particular provinces and cities, and such power and 
 authority invested in the generality, to put the laws in 
 execution, relating to levying the duties on goods im- 
 ported by sea, in all the provinces and cities, as the nature 
 of the case may require ; it being notorious, that the best 
 laws are mere cyphers, if not duly executed : For it is 
 otherwise very much to be feared, that all regulations will 
 be of no effect, be they ever so useful and necessary, or 
 ever so well calculated for the common benefit. 
 
 In order to effect this, the jurisdiction and authority of 
 the colleges of admiralty ought to be maintained and 
 strengthened against all those that are guilty of any 
 frauds ; and all oflFences against the said jurisdiction and 
 authority, ought to be speedily and effectually decided and 
 prevented. 
 
 35 The 
 
462 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 The magistrates and civil officers ought to bind them- 
 selves by oathj to promise and agree^ that they wiU assist 
 the collectors of the customs and licences, in all things 
 relating to their duty, nor hinder, oppose, or resist, 
 directly or indirectly, the colleges of the admiralty, in the 
 execution of their commission ; nor their officers in things 
 relating to the collecting of the publick revenues, and 
 executing the placarts, nor suffer the same to be done, as 
 far as in them lies. 
 
 Consequently, the cases of such who are guilty of any 
 frauds, must for the future, not be removable from the 
 jurisdiction of the colleges, to the sheriffs courts of the 
 cities. 
 
 Above all, the respective colleges of admiralty ought 
 solemnly to oblige themselves to collect the duties every 
 where alike, and on the same footing, without respect to 
 persons or places, and strictly to execute this trust with- 
 out the least connivance : For as soon as it is but sur- 
 mised, that any thing is wrong managed, in regard to the 
 collection of the duties, in any one place ; that bad ex- 
 ample, whether the supposition be well or iU-grounded, 
 will be immediately espoused and practised, as it were, by 
 way of retortion, in other places : And therefore such 
 proceedings should be the more cautiously avoided. 
 
 For the strictest laws, without an universal obedience 
 to them, are only ties on the most scrupulous, and con- 
 sequently the best part of mankind ; when at the same 
 time, they are sensibly hurt, by having their trade and 
 navigation withdrawn from them. 
 
 For this purpose, it might be also requisite, that some 
 new orders and regulations be made concerning the 
 officers employed by the colleges of admiralty, in the 
 collecting and receiving the duties on goods coming 
 by water. 
 
 It may be necessary here to take some notice of the 
 duties, which, according to this proposal, the colleges of 
 
 36 the 
 
of the United Netherlands. 463 
 
 the admiralty will be entitled to ; and iu what manner, it is 
 judged^ that the deficiency which will be occasioned in the 
 ordinary revenues, by these regulations, may be supplied. 
 
 The admiralties will continue to receive all the duties, 
 which the goods mentioned in the abovesaid list marked 
 B, remain charged with, and to collect, as usual, the last- 
 money, pass-ports and stamps. 
 
 And as this new plan lays it down for a fundamental 
 maxim, that it must go hand in hand with the most strict 
 and effectual precautions, against all frauds and male- 
 practices, particularly, against any partial or unequal 
 collection of the duties ; we therefore doubt not, but that 
 the general produce of the duties, on those goods which 
 remain liable to part thereof, will be considerably in- 
 creased : For we think we may with reason assert, that 
 above half the goods now imported into this republick, pay 
 little or no duties ; for the truth whereof, we appeal to the 
 experience of the admiralty colleges themselves ; whereto 
 other proofs might be added, did not the thing speak for 
 itself. 
 
 We shall now briefly examine the consequential ad- 
 vantages of this proposed project of redress; which, it is 
 not doubted, wiU be found of that nature and importance, 
 as not to suffer a few difliculties that may be foreseen to 
 attend the execution of it, to intimidate or deter us from 
 putting it in practice, but rather put us upon using our 
 utmost endeavours to conquer and remove them. 
 
 The effect of this plan wiU be, that by thus disbur- 
 thening trade in general, and some branches of it in par- 
 ticular ; the commerce of the republick will be preserved 
 from a further decay, and give room to hope for its 
 increase daily ; whereby, probably, this republick may in 
 time become once again, as it was heretofore, the general 
 mart of Europe; at least, there is a great likelihood 
 thereof, in regard to some particular goods and commo- 
 dities. 
 
 37 This 
 
464 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 This first advantage will be attended with a second^ 
 namely, a proportional augmentation of shipping and 
 navigation. 
 
 Again, the increase of trade has a great influence upon 
 navigation, that of navigation alternately the same on 
 trade ; and they reciprocally enlarge each other. 
 
 The bringing in and carrying out again of such goods 
 as enjoy the benefit of a free port, will occasion the con- 
 tinual flux and reflux of ships and goods coming in and 
 going out ; which, tho' they pay not any duties to the 
 State, leave always more or less benefit and advantage 
 behind them in the country. 
 
 This plan is further look'd on as the means for getting 
 again possession of the trade from the North to Portugal, 
 Spain, Italy, &c. and back again in the same manner ; the 
 advantages whereof are vastly great, and very much con- 
 tribute to the increase of navigation. 
 
 By these general amendments, we shall put ourselves 
 in a condition to reduce the trade of Hamburgh, Bremen, 
 Lubeck, Denmark, and other places; at least, to prevent 
 their doing us a further prejudice. At the same time, it 
 will be an eflflcacious remedy, to smother in its infancy the 
 trade, which is endeavoured to be settled and established 
 in some other parts. 
 
 This proposal would have as favourable an effect on the 
 inland trade of the country : But without mentioning the 
 concourse of all sorts of people that would again resort 
 hither, especially of merchants flocking in to such a 
 general mart, and the consumption of necessaries arising 
 from the same motive, we shall only take notice of the 
 great vent which will thereby likewise be occasioned, of 
 such goods, merchandizes, and manufactures, and among 
 handicrafts, as might be had cheaper elsewhere-; and yet 
 the merchant will chuse rather to buy them in this 
 country ; because he finds his advantage in sending them 
 again, forward from hence with more ease, expedition, and 
 
 38 less 
 
of the United Netherlands. 465 
 
 less expence, and along witli other goods, which he may 
 have bought at other places : Besides, it is well known, 
 that the sale of one article often introduces the disposing 
 of another. 
 
 There are several particular advantages besides of a 
 different kind : The merchant gains, at least, something 
 by forwarding of goods, which business will, in all pro- 
 bability, increase greatly : If he advance money on these 
 goods ; he has interest for his money : Insurances will 
 also be considerably augmented : Exchanging and remit- 
 ting of money will be again drawn into this country ; and 
 by that means the circulation of it, with foreign nations ; 
 which always brings more or less advantage to a country, 
 and must "necessarily tend to an increase of the inland 
 circulation. 
 
 The augmenting the circulation of money in trade, 
 will prevent our inhabitants from placing out their money 
 in the funds abroad, because they can employ it to ad- 
 vantage at home. If this plan could have such a salutary 
 effect as to fix the general magazine of goods and mer- 
 chandizes here, we should then run no risque of ever 
 having a scarcity or dearth of such goods in this country. 
 
 As the navigation increases, so must the seamen like- 
 wise, and consequently the number of sailors to mann our 
 fleet in time of war: During the late troubles, the re- 
 publick too well knew the want of seafaring people. 
 
 We shall conclude with this remark, that we are verily 
 persuaded, the plan, as here laid down, is the most proper 
 of any thing that can be proposed for that purpose, being 
 free from a multiplicity of laws, cautions, and restrictions, 
 which generally create so much trouble and perplexity in 
 trade. This plan of redress also has the nearest aflSnity 
 to the actual situation and constitution of our commerce 
 and has finally this advantage, that the practice of running 
 goods, will thereby be very much diminished. 
 
 We shall pass by in silence here, what further advan- 
 39 tageous 
 
466 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 tageous consequences may be expected from these propo- 
 sals : What has already been advanced, will be abundantly 
 sufficient to make us sensible, that nothing ought to be 
 neglected or omitted for the surmounting and removing 
 every obstacle, which may be possibly thrown in by way 
 of opposition to the plan before us ; and not to spare our 
 pains and application to cultivate, improve, and bring the 
 same to that perfection, as will reduce it into practice. 
 
 There will possibly be several objections started against 
 this proposal : And it is not to be dissembled, that in a 
 matter of so copious an extent, and of such weighty con- 
 sequence, there must some difficulties still subsist ; which 
 cannot well be otherwise, in a country, where the abuses 
 have insinuated themselves^ and crept in by slow degrees, 
 and therefore must, of course, make it the interest of many 
 persons now, that every thing should rest upon its ancient 
 footing. Hence it is our opinion, that in an affair of this 
 nature, where it is morally impossible fully to satisfy each 
 individual, and, at the same time, to secure the publick 
 interest, the best way is, amongst a number of difficulties, 
 to obviate those that are the most essential : To this end, 
 we have throughout this whole design, and all the circum- 
 stances attending it, always kept close to the concerns and 
 advantages of the admiralties, the colonies, fabricks, and 
 handicrafts, as well as of the fisheries and products of the 
 country ; at least, so far as they were reconcilable with 
 the general commerce, which has been the principal aim 
 we had in view ; and therefore flatter ourselves, that no 
 material scruples will arise from these colleges and cor- 
 porations. Besides, having at present only regard to 
 commerce in general ; the inquiry in what manner best to 
 favour the different branches of our trade by particular 
 regulations and dispositions, will more properly fall in 
 hereafter. 
 
 As the plan now stands, that every branch of our trade 
 will receive a benefit by it, infinitely greater, than by the 
 
 40 present 
 
of the United Netherlands. 467 
 
 present actual stato of commerce^ will not admit of the 
 least doubt : We shall therefore, for the present, setting 
 aside all particular objections, content ourselves with a 
 few of those general ones which regard the whole plan. 
 
 In Wie first place, it may be objected, that the means 
 herein proposed for a redress, will not prove so advanta- 
 geous to trade, as is pretended, inasmuch as the frauds, 
 which have been hitherto practised, have as much disbur- 
 thened trade, as is attempted to be done by these new 
 regulations. 
 
 Secondly, an appeal may be made to what happened at 
 the alteration of the list in the year 1725, made with a 
 view, at that time, to increase the revenues on imports by 
 sea, by lessening the duties, by levying the same in a more 
 impartial manner, and under a pretext, that the diminu- 
 tion thence arising, could only be overbalanced, and again 
 made good by the more frequent entries of goods, which 
 were all expected from it : But the event has made it 
 appear, how much those who depended on an increase of 
 the revenues of the colleges, by a strict and punctual 
 execution of the aforesaid list and placart, were out in 
 their calculation. 
 
 To which may be added, thirdly, to give it still more 
 weight, that the bad state of our treasury, together with 
 the precarious and uncertain issue of this proposal, might 
 prove of the most ruinous consequence to the republick, 
 that at all events, it would be a work of time to bring these 
 alterations to operate with effect, and therefore best to 
 leave things on their old footing; that even admitting, 
 some abuses had crept in, they were of an ancient stand- 
 ing, the circumstances of the republick had been accom- 
 modated and conformed thereto, and it might prove dan- 
 gerous to attempt a redressing of the same at one stroke, 
 and in an instant, which might introduce a scene of con- 
 fusion ; and, in a word, we should run a greater hazard ia 
 applying the remedy, than in enduring the evil. 
 
 41 As 
 
468 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 As to the first, we stall remark, that it may appear a 
 very plausible objection, to such as have never once con- 
 sidered the intrinsic nature of the thing; : For, upon a 
 supposition, that the burthen remains the same on com- 
 merce in general, yet the manner in which that burthen 
 is divided among the several branches of trade, makes a 
 wide difference; since it must needs become extremely 
 pernicious, when the highest duties are levied on such 
 goods, as are the objects of trade in general ; and, on the 
 contrary, those which only serve for a home consumption, 
 and administer to luxury and pride, are lowest rated. 
 
 It is equally detrimental to our trade, when the same 
 sorts of goods pay more duties in one part of the republick 
 than in another ; as when some merchants continue to 
 pay them, whilst others, by frauds aud male-practices, 
 screen themselves, and elude the payment of them : To 
 which may be added, that those, who by smuggling, evade 
 the duties, are generally obliged to be at great expences 
 to compass or effect it : All which reflections might have 
 been more enlarged upon, and set in a clearer light, had 
 it been judged necessary. We shall therefore conclude 
 with remarking on this head, that the load, which by these 
 proposals is still left on the trade of the republick, is too 
 heavy to be supported, and it were highly to be wished, a 
 further ease could be administered; but, as this is not 
 practicable, there remains no other remedy, than to impose 
 and divide this burthen, in such a manner, on and amongst 
 the sundry branches of commerce, goods and merchandize, 
 a,s may be least hurtful to, and least sensibly felt in 
 trade. 
 
 2. In regard to the second objection, that the expecta- 
 tions from the placart and lists of the year 1725, were the 
 same, as are now conceived from this plan ; an answer 
 here above has been already given, that the reduction was, 
 at that time, not sufficient ; that the duties which re- 
 mained, were very unequally divided ; and that there is 
 
 43 reason 
 
of the United Netherlands. 469 
 
 reason to doubt^ whether the chief aim, in the transactions 
 of that year, was to increase the revenues of the colleges 
 of admiralty, or to favour trade and make it flourish. 
 
 Frauds are rather more numerous, than at all lessened 
 since that period, and the partiahty used in collecting the 
 duties, has contributed not a little, towards frustrating the 
 effect of those alterations. 
 
 3. What is advanced, thirdly, on the uncertainty of 
 its success, and the danger which might result to the 
 republick, were this proposal to miscarry ; is an allegation, 
 which has no probability, no foundation to support it. 
 
 The nature of the thing implies, that the large advan- 
 tages granted by this plan, to particular goods and mer- 
 chandize, must necessarily have a powerful effect, on the 
 trade of those commodities ; which leads us to entertain a 
 contrary opinion, that the appearance of the success ■ is so 
 clear and evident, that nothing but absolute certainty, 
 could be more so ; and that without some such redress, the 
 trade of the republick, and consequently the republick 
 itself, must entirely sink. 
 
 The conclusion endeavoured to be drawn from thence, 
 rather to leave every thing on the old footing, through fear 
 of introducing a confusion and disturbance ; has as little 
 foundation, and by proving too much, proves nothing, the 
 consequence of this argument would be ; that nothing 
 ought to be redressed in any state or large ceconomy, 
 because every such redress is liable to the same objection. 
 
 Who would venture to assert of a private oeconomy, 
 that the whole family would run into confusion, upon an 
 attempt to discountenance and prevent pilfering, waste, 
 sluttishness, neglects, extravagance in house-keeping, with 
 other indiscretions and bad management ? From whence 
 we woidd infer, that the business ought not to be under- 
 taken without mature consideration, well weighing the 
 consequences to be expected from it, preventing as much 
 as possible, whatever difficulties can be foreseen ; and 
 
 43 then 
 
470 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 then resting assured, that no assistance can he given to our 
 trade, without some very effectual remedy, which ought to 
 have a very speedy operation : And as for any private 
 inconveniences which might arise from it, they would 
 amply he compensated, by the benefit, the publick would 
 reap from it. 
 
 A second sort of objections may be deduced from the 
 effect, which these dispositions in our commerce will have 
 among our neighbours : It will be alledged, that they will 
 all look with an evil eye upon a limited free port ; that 
 such sudden alterations will awaken the jealousy, and 
 excite the envy of all trading nations, and instigate them, 
 by all possible means, to thwart our trade; either by 
 granting the same priviledges and emoluments, as we are 
 about doing to our merchants ; or to follow the example of 
 the English, and other nations, by prohibiting the importa- 
 tion of any goods or merchandize, except in such ships 
 only, as belong to those nations and places, where the 
 goods are produced or made, ^c. 
 
 To which we answer ; 
 
 First, that as to the jealousy of our neighbours, we 
 need be under no apprehensions about it, whilst the re- 
 pubhck tenaciously adheres to this fixed maxim, not to 
 give any well-grounded cause of offence, by those disposi- 
 tions and measures which are proposed to be made in our 
 trade : On the contrary, most of the neighbouring nations 
 will be more or less concerned, in the conservation of our 
 trade, as their commerce chiefly consists in the vending of 
 their own products : and will therefore rather protect than 
 obstruct ours, which has such a connection with their own, 
 that it may not improperly be called a part : It is easily 
 perceived, that we would be understood here to speak only 
 of those nations which employ our merchants and ship- 
 ping to dispose of and transport their goods : As to others, 
 they have, at all times, endeavoured to thwart our trade, 
 continue to do so daily, and are not likely to recede for 
 
 44 the 
 
of the United Netherlands. 471 
 
 the future, from such a practice : These will, doubtless, be 
 chagrined, on seeing the regulations we may make for the 
 benefit of our commerce : However, as their endeavours 
 are not wanting, to do us all the prejudice they can, even 
 now, whilst our trade is on the decline, we shall be able to 
 frustrate their attempts with more success, when the same 
 shall be put under better regulations. And in regard to 
 this objection, the following reflection occurs, that when 
 this republick was formerly iu possession of an universal 
 commerce, it was at the same time in a condition also to 
 defend and protect that commerce against any, that en- 
 deavoured to disturb it. 
 
 Secondly, if we once come to a resolution, to ease and 
 promote our foreign trade as much as possible, then our 
 neighbours will never be in a condition, to put themselves 
 in all respect, on an equal footing with the Dutch. The 
 republick possesses within herself such advantages as are 
 not to be found any where besides, in the like quantity, or 
 to the same degree, which sets her in a point of eminence, 
 above all other nations of Europe ; in reference whereto, 
 we need only remember what has been mentioned above, 
 concerning the increase and growth of our trade. 
 
 The whole republick seems to be formed and designed 
 for carrying on of trade : And as the goods may be trans- 
 ported from one place to another, in such an easy, cheap, 
 and expeditious manner, by means of our canals and 
 inland roads, it may be looked upon as one compact city. 
 
 The situation, in regard to all Europe, is extremely 
 advantageous. 
 
 No nation in Europe, is so happily situated for pro- 
 moting of fisheries. 
 
 No nation has a greater or more extensive knowledge of 
 trade and navigation. 
 
 AH the capacity and qualifications essential to, or re- 
 quisite in trade, are found among the Dutch, to a greater 
 degree than any where besides. 
 
 45 Their 
 
472 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 Their frugality and saving disposition exceeds that of 
 all other seafaring people^ since they can mann a ship with 
 eighteen or twenty men, where other nations require near 
 a third number of additional hands. 
 
 Whereunto may be added, their management in pro- 
 viding for the crews, in building their ships, and in know- 
 ing how to make a much longer use of them than others- 
 All which taken together, are a reason, why no other 
 nation cau carry goods by sea, on the same terms as the 
 Dutch. 
 
 A great plenty of money is another advantage which 
 the Dutch have above their neighbours; the benefit 
 whereof in trade, as well by buying goods cheap, as accu- 
 mulating magazines in proper time, is largely and curiously 
 discussed and set forth, throughout the 3d Chapter of 
 Law's Treatise, entituled. Considerations sur le Commerce, 
 £(• sur I' Argent. 
 
 No other nation is satisfied with such a small profit as 
 ours, or waits for favourable opportunities with an equal 
 degree of patience ; insomuch that with us, it is become 
 a common proverb ; light gains make heavy purses. 
 
 In Holland, there is no impressing into military ser- 
 vice, but the inhabitants enjoy full liberty ; and being for 
 the most part Protestants, have but few holy-days of course : 
 Nor is there any country that is a more commodious 
 nursery for sailors or seamen, when the proper means are 
 used for that purpose. 
 
 The vending of our East and West India commodities, 
 especially of the former, is another peculiar advantage we 
 enjoy, and which gives our trade a preference to that of 
 other nations. 
 
 The spices, in particular, in some places do, in many 
 instances, stand us in stead of, and are equivalent to, ready 
 cash. 
 
 Other reflections might here be added, of a like nature ; 
 but what has been already said, may be sufficient for us 
 
 46 safely 
 
of the United Netherlands. 473 
 
 safely to conclude, that no neighbours or foreigners, hy 
 any domestick regulations they may make within them- 
 selves, or by any accessions of advantage, how great soever 
 to their trade, will ever be in a capacity, to prejudice the 
 commerce of this republick, at least they never will be 
 able to prevent its more diffusive spread; provided always, 
 that the State knows how to take the proper advantages, 
 and shall, above all things, resolve to lessen the imposts 
 and duties, or at least to divide such as shall remain, with 
 deliberation and precaution, upon and amongst those 
 goods, which can best bear the burthen. 
 
 Thirdly, it is not to be denied, that nothing could be 
 thought of more dangerous, or even fatal to our commerce, 
 than for our neighbours to prohibit the importation of all 
 goods and merchandize, except in such ships only which 
 belong to the place where the goods are fabricated, or are 
 the produce of that country ; but then, such a prohibition 
 is, on the other hand, very little to be apprehended by this 
 republick, since the circumstances of most countries will 
 not admit thereof, as it would necessarily prove a very 
 great detriment to those nations, which have a superfluity 
 of their own products and fabricks. Besides all this, such 
 a prohibition would be equally dangerous to the republick, 
 even upon a supposition, that things were to be left on the 
 old footing. 
 
 We have, lastly, reserved to this place, an objection, 
 which is the usual refuge of those, who find their account 
 in the old abuses, and has several times been made use of 
 with success, in these countries, against all reformations, 
 namely, that a limited free port is a novelty. 
 
 It must indeed be owned, that this remedy of redress 
 is new, and that there never was a limited free port in this 
 republick ; but it is as expressly denied, that the grounds 
 and principles are new, on which the same is founded, or 
 that they recede from those fundamental maxims, which 
 the republick has at all times pursued. Yet, as these 
 
 47 fundamental 
 
474 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 fundamental principles may be susceptible of different ap- 
 pellations, according to the different circumstances of the 
 republick and its trade, whether internal or external; 
 alterations or novelties must some time or other take place 
 in the regulations of trade, whenever there is a revolution 
 in our own country, or in the trading nations about us, 
 agreeably to the proverb, when rivers alter their course, 
 the beacons needs must be removed. 
 
 To illustrate this with an example ; it has always been 
 an universal maxim in this republick, to charge trade only 
 in a certain proportion with other nations, and by those 
 means to influence foreign merchants to come to us, rather 
 than go to them. 
 
 If therefore the outward circumstances of trade are so 
 altered, that neighbouring countries lay less impositions on 
 trade, and grant it more immunities, encouragement, and 
 favour; or, in a word, if foreign merchants finds it turn 
 out more to their advantage, to go to those adjacent 
 nations ; then the old principles and maxims of our State 
 require, that we should also mutually combine, to ease our 
 trade, by granting it some fresh accessions of advantage, 
 in order for it to remain much in the same proportion 
 with other trading nations. 
 
 In that sense therefore, and no other, the present 
 scheme of redress may be called a novelty; and to show 
 this yet farther, let us only reflect, what alterations have 
 been made, and in what different shapes trade has, in 
 general, appeared throughout all Europe. 
 
 In earlier times, the Butch were the sole possessors of 
 commerce, and the only people who visited all quarters of 
 the globe, to fetch commodities from such countries, where 
 there was any superfluity, in order to furnish others with 
 them ; while other nations were content to supply them- 
 selves with what they wanted, in this republick, without 
 going for them to the places where they had been made : 
 Now there is not a nation, but what, more or less, apply 
 
 48 themselves 
 
of the United Netherlands. 475 
 
 themselves to trade, and use their utmost endeavours to 
 draw it into, and promote it in their native soil ; nor is 
 there one, hut has in a greater or a less degree herein suc- 
 ceededj to the manifest disadvantage of this republick. 
 
 Thisj therefore, obliges us to alter our measures, con- 
 formably to the state and circumstanoes, in which we find 
 ourselves; for nothing requires a more close attention 
 than trade, it being subject to continual fluxes and varia- 
 tions ; and in consequence hereof, to frequent, if not daily, 
 alterations and amendments. 
 
 Let us but attentively reflect on the history of the 
 trade in England and France, since the establishment of 
 this republick; what measures, both these nations have 
 concerted to make trade flourish amongst them; what 
 progress they have made therein; and of what prejudice, 
 the same have been to our commerce, more especially in 
 England, which has given us the deepest and most fatal 
 wound ; we shall then be obliged to confess, that were we 
 only to sit still, and neglect the making some regulations 
 for the benefit of our trade, we should be in great danger 
 of perishing. 
 
 To which we shall add, the measures lately taken in 
 the Netherlands, to draw the trade thither ; and the 
 almost incredible expences they are at, only with a view 
 to make commerce flourish amongst them ; and consider- 
 ing the number of ships which daily arrive at, and go out 
 from Ostend, to and from all parts of Europe, it will be 
 astonishing to observe the sudden progress trade has made 
 there since the peace. 
 
 These are novelties, which tend to the manifest detri- 
 ment of the republick, and therefore require new regula- 
 tions. Whoever reflects on these consequences, must be 
 obliged to confess, that there ought to be no hindrance or 
 obstacle in the way, but what should be endeavoured, to 
 be removed and overcome, with an united strength and 
 vigour. 
 
 49 The 
 
476 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 The same remarks hold good of Dunkirk, Hamburgh, 
 Bremen, Lubeck, Altona, all Denmark, and several other 
 cities, as well as countries, contiguous to the Eastern Sea, 
 which all apply themselves with great success to trade, and 
 omit nothing to allure it to them, by granting, to that 
 end, all possible advantages thereto ; that a foreign mer- 
 chant may find a greater profit, by fetching the commodi- 
 ties he wants from thence, than from Holland, where there 
 are generally such heavy duties payable thereon. 
 
 Particularly remarkable has been the progress of the 
 trade of the city of Hamburgh ; nor less observable, that 
 of the kingdom of Denmark, for some years' past. 
 
 It is computed, that the ships which sailed for Cadiz 
 in the last year 1750, were thirty -six and upwards; and 
 that whereas in former times, very few ships came to 
 Copenhagen, no less than six hundred trading vessels ar- 
 rived there, in the course of that year ; which, in its 
 consequences, needs must be extremely dangerous to us 
 and exceedingly alarm us : For should the Danes go on in 
 such a manner, they will make themselves entire masters 
 of the East Sea trade. 
 
 These again are novelties that challenge our most 
 serious attention, and ought to render us regardless of 
 encountering those lesser difficulties, which will be the 
 spring of mischief infinitely greater to us, if they should 
 prevent the proposed redress from taking place. 
 
 When trade has once absolutely altered its course, it 
 would be fruitless labour to endeavour the bringing it to 
 flow in the same current back again upon us : The fate of 
 the Hanse Towns, and other trading nations, may convince 
 us of the impossibihty to recover trade, being established 
 in some other place. 
 
 The dismal consequences which would attend a further 
 decline of trade, are the more to be apprehended in a 
 country, constituted like ours; where the decay of it 
 must needs occasion a sudden and immediate wreck of the 
 
 50 whole 
 
of the United Netherlands. 477 
 
 whole structure tumbling into ruins : For, if we consider, 
 that the major part, and principal inhabitants of this re- 
 publick, consist of merchants, artizans, mechanicks, fisher- 
 men, owners of shipping, and of such whose whole de- 
 pendance doth arise from thence; it inevitably follows, 
 that when the general ruin of a country happens, these 
 men can easily remove their 'goods, ships, arts, and handi- 
 crafts, to other places, and there occupy the same profes- 
 sions. The principal, at least, if not the only knot, that 
 binds and fastens these inhabitants to this country and 
 republick, is interest, ard the means to get a good sub- 
 sistance, and an affluent fortune, which here they have in 
 more abundance, than any where besides : These ties once 
 loosened or dissolved, there will no remedy be left, for the 
 retaining them in this republick, but they will be forced 
 to quit it, and to settle themselves in other countries ; 
 where, over and above, they would not fail of meeting 
 with all suitable encouragement from neighbouring princes. 
 But in this respect, it is quite otherwise circumstanced 
 in those countries, where the chief riches of the inhabi- 
 tants consist in landed and immovable estates : When any 
 miisfortune befalls such a country, the carrying oif their 
 effects is a thing impracticable ; and therefore xhey are not 
 so easily reduced to the extremity of leaving the country, 
 especially, as they would find no way to subsist, on their 
 arrival in strange places. The heart of a true Dutchman 
 must be pierced with horrour, perplexity, and anguish, and 
 he must shudder at the prospect, when he seriously 
 considers and reflects on those impending dangers that 
 threaten 'the republick ; if no considerable and effectual 
 relief be given (and that too, with the utmost expedition 
 and dispatch) to our trade, which is the main support of 
 the greatest part of our inhabitants : For when the evil 
 once is epidemical, and so far spread, that the merchants 
 gradually retire into foreign countries, the putting then a 
 stop to it will be entirely ineffectual. In short, trade is 
 
 51 to 
 
478 Dissertation on the Trade 
 
 to tlie republickj what the first link is to a chain ; which 
 breaking, the whole chain, with all its appendages, must 
 fall to the ground at once. 
 
 Nothing remains then to be done, for the preserving 
 this republick, but to make use of some new means that 
 shall be clear, explicit, speedy, and effectual, for the re- 
 dressing of trade ; and a Umited free port alone is such a 
 remedy. 
 
 We are now drove to the last extremity, and the waters 
 risen to such a heighth, as to touch our very lips : And 
 whatever obstacles and difiiculties may possibly occur, in 
 the plan proposed, surely they would not prove of such a 
 dangerous consequence in the execution, as would be equal 
 to the sad dilemma and distress, in which the whole re- 
 publick must be plunged, if it continues any longer in a 
 state of inactivity. 
 
 From whence we would conclude, that, readily admit- 
 ting the proposals to be in some degree perplexed and 
 intricate; yet, as the question turns not upon this conces- 
 sion, but whether they are requisite for the redress of 
 trade ; if they shall be found necessary to that end, then 
 to prefer what is most eligible, either by making use of 
 our utmost efforts, to carry a diificult scheme into execu- 
 tion ; or to leave the situation of our trade unremedied, to 
 fall without redress, into a more visible decay ; the con- 
 sequences whereof, to expatiate upon further, is entirely 
 needless. 
 
 Our intention in this dissertation was, only to point 
 out the means by which our trade in general might be 
 relieved and restored to its former flourishing condition ; 
 without entering, at present, into a discussion of every 
 branch thereof, in particular, such as the commerce with 
 France, England, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the Levant ; 
 including, over and above, the trade in the North, Sweden, 
 Muscovy, Denmark, Norway, the East Sea, and Germany, 
 to the East and West-Indies, and on the coast of Africa. 
 
 52 All 
 
of the United Netherlands. 479 
 
 All these different brandies ought to be separately treated 
 ofj and inquired into, in what condition they formerly 
 stood, how situated now, and what is to be done, to sup- 
 port and recover such of them, as are any ways already 
 fallen to decay ; and to prevent the others, which remain 
 in a thriving state, from suffering any prejudice. 
 
 Our fabricks likewise wiU require a more narrow scru- 
 tiny and close inspections; in order, as attentively as 
 possible, to trace the sources from whence the general 
 decay, in the several branches thereof, arises. 
 
 The surest way to come at the most proper means of 
 redress, for amending, increasing, recovering, and extend- 
 ing the former flourishing state of our manufactures, will 
 be, to enquire severally into them, with a minute nicety 
 and exactness, and to examine those who are therein 
 employed ; in order to put our merchants into a condition 
 to make their appearance again, at all the marts of Europe, 
 and to dispute their ground with every other nation. 
 
 We have, in this proposal, insisted only, in general, 
 on an indulgence towards navigation, and those concerned 
 in shipping, without entering here into the particulars, 
 how the same should be effected. 
 
 All these matters will make the subject of a separate 
 essay, abstracted from the present Dissertation, which only 
 considers trade, with all its different branches, summarily, 
 and under one general head. When once this plan shall 
 be approved, the further dispositions may be attempted 
 in their course, and will then meet with no obstruction. 
 
 Then too will be the time for a considering in what 
 manner to increase and to extend our general commerce 
 throughout all the parts of Europe, by an application to 
 foreign courts out of the republick, and to chuse those 
 remedies, that are most likely to succeed. 
 
 We have omitted likewise, to enlarge on some griev- 
 ances which were mentioned in the beginning of this 
 Dissertation, as the cause of our declining trade ; not that 
 
 53 we 
 
480 Dissertation on the Trade, &c. 
 
 we esteem them of small importance^ but as they are no 
 proper subjects of deliberation, until the most essential 
 parts of this plan shall have been approved. 
 
 We have also declined the mentioning a better protec- 
 tion of our trade, since such protection cannot be expected, 
 till the affairs of the admiralty are put on a better footing ; 
 an.d this it would be fruitless to attempt, till proper 
 regulations shall be made, tending to redress its present 
 situation. 
 
 In short, these proposals are only to be looked upon as 
 the iirst and most perplexing step, in order to advance 
 some further steps hereafter, and at last attain to the main 
 point in view, of rendering this country again rich, happy, 
 flourishing, and powerful, as heretofore it has been seen. 
 
 54 
 
A VINDICATION 
 
 OF 
 
 COMMERCE 
 
 AND THE 
 
 ARTS; 
 
 Proving that they are the Source of the Greatness, 
 Power, Riches and Populousness of a State. 
 
 BEING 
 
 An Examination of Mr. Bell's Dijsertatton upon 
 Populousness, read in the Schools, and honoured 
 with the Lord Viscount Townshend's Prize, by the 
 University of Cambridge. 
 
 Wherein Mr. Bell's Calumnies on Trade are an- 
 swered, his Arguments refuted, his System explo- 
 ded, and the principal causes of Populosity as- 
 signed. 
 
 By I B , M. D. 
 
 Mqm fauperibus prodest^locufletibus aque. HoR. Ep. 
 LONDON : 
 
 Printed for J. NouRSE at the Lamb opposite Katherine-Street 
 in the Strand. MDCCLVIII. 
 
483 
 
 TO THE 
 
 RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 THE 
 
 Lord Viscount Townjhend. 
 
 My LORD 
 
 YOUR extensive knowledge of commerce^ your 
 generous attempts to introduce the study of it into 
 one of our universities, and your glorious efforts in the 
 senate to estahlish laws for its enlargement, not only 
 render you the object of the esteem of every wise and 
 good man ; but also seem to constitute you the patron of 
 all commercial essays, which shall be written with the 
 same public-spirited views by which you are actuated. 
 You are well-apprized that numbers of people are the 
 strength of a State, and you have bravely dared to en- 
 counter common prejudices, by standing up as au advocate 
 for a general naturalization of all foreign Protestants ; and 
 by attempting to abolish aU corporation-exclusions in 
 trade. 
 
 It appears likewise, from your assignment of prizes for 
 the purpose, you are aesirous, that one of our universities 
 should instruct the people in the advantages resulting 
 from commerce and populosity. How far your expecta- 
 tions have been answered, I shall not pretend to deter- 
 mine ; but I flatter myself, that the following essay is as 
 worthy of your patronage, as the Dissertation, which oc- 
 
 3 casioned 
 
484 
 
 casioned it, was of your money ; and this vanity has 
 emboldened me to inscribe it to your Lordship. 
 
 Though your Lordship's generous endeavours have 
 been opposed by ignorance, maligned by self-interest, ex- 
 claimed against by malice, traduced by faction, and de- 
 feated by a combination of all these foes to virtue ; yet 
 your noble struggles for the public welfare must render 
 you for ever the object of the esteem and approbation of 
 every good patriot, and your memory dear to posterity. 
 It is true, the opposition to your scheme, from the enemies 
 of our happiness, has robbed you of the glory of doing a 
 signal piece of service to your country, but they cannot 
 deprive you of the satisfaction of having designed nobly, 
 nor of the honour all wise and good men will pay to your 
 virtues and merit. The attempt was glorious, though it 
 failed. 
 
 I doubt not but some judicious historian in futurity 
 will record in our annals a paragraph to this purpose. 
 " The English had, from time immemorial, laboured under 
 " a ridiculous prejudice against foreigners, according to 
 " the observation of Horace, Britannos hospitibus feros, 
 " and carried it so far as even to refuse to receive their 
 " persecuted protestant brethren : But this year* a noble- 
 " man of eminent parts, and of distinguished zeal for the 
 " public welfare ; a statesman profoundly skilled in the 
 " interests of commerce, and the most refined politics, 
 " animated with a patriotal fervour and zeal for the glory 
 " of his country, and to advance its riches, power, and 
 " splendour, as well as out of humanity and compassion to 
 " the persecuted and oppressed for the sake of their 
 " religion ; by name Lord Townshend, appeared an ad- 
 " vocate for a general naturalization of all foreign pro- 
 " testants, and forwarded a bill in the house of lords to 
 " abolish all corporation-exclusions, 3fC. which he sup- 
 
 4 " ported 
 
 * 1762 
 
485 
 
 " ported with a masterly eloquence, that worked conviction 
 " and conversion in that house ; but which, notwithstand- 
 " ing, had the misfortune to be rejected afterwards in the 
 " h— se of c-mm-ns by a faction which laboured to raise 
 " a clamour without doors against it ; by appealing to the 
 " passions of the rabble, and deceiving them with specious 
 " arguments calculated to affect them in point of private 
 " interest, through which that noble design was rendered 
 " abortive !" Thus I augur the Lord Viscount Townshend 
 will stand characterized to future ages. 
 
 When I reflect on your generous endeavours to serve 
 your country, I find myself brimfull of admiration, grati- 
 tude, esteem, and reverence. I have no other way of 
 making it known publicly, but by offering to your lordship 
 this small present, which I consider as a tribute I owe to 
 your merits. If my talents were equal to your virtues, 
 the offering should be more worthy of the shrine; but 
 such as it is, I trust your candor will accept it. 
 
 The French use every art to rob us of our trade in 
 order to rob us of our liberty. Their great men encourage 
 its study as a science, and its practice as an honour ; but 
 who, saving your lordship, has prompted to its study, or 
 given it any public marks of favour among us. 
 
 In regard to myself, I am conscious of the purity of 
 my intentions, and the uprightness of my views ; and as 
 to what ignorance, faction, or malice, may say of the sheets 
 which I inscribe to your Lordship, I value not, provided 
 they meet with your approbation ; for I shall receive more 
 satisfaction from thence, than from the loud huzzas of the 
 rabble, or from the eulogiums of the great vulgar and the 
 small combined. 
 
 I am, my Lord, 
 Your Lordship's most humble servant 
 
 The Author. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE religion and liberty of this nation have such an 
 intimate connection with the flourishing state of its 
 trade and navigation, that every true lover of his country 
 cannot help considering an Essay artfully calculated to de- 
 preciate commerce and the arts, as a premeditated design 
 and attempt to undermine and destroy those most invaluable 
 blessings which we enjoy. Whoever considers the present 
 state of Europe^ the manners and customs which prevail, 
 and the state of this island, will clearly perceive that agri- 
 culture is not so necessary for the nourishment of our bodies, 
 as commerce and navigation is to the protection of our 
 liberties, the defence of our properties, and the security and 
 preservation of our religious institutions. 
 
 The author we have examined in the subsequent pages, 
 represents agriculture and a beastly rusticity, as the most 
 effectual means of rendering a State free, independent, popu- 
 lous, virtuous and happy ; while he reviles the cultivation of 
 commerce and the arts, as having an immediate tendency to 
 depopulate a nation, and as the inlets to all manner of vice 
 and debauchery, which will terminate in its destruction. To 
 avoid those evils, he proposes an equal division of lands, 
 and a retirement into the country. The purport of his doc- 
 trine seems to be contained in the following speech. 
 
 Gentlemen and Countrymen, 
 
 The only way to become free, virtuous and happy, is to 
 
 renounce commerce and the arts, and to stick only to tillage 
 
 and husbandry. I would advise you therefore to leave your 
 
 smoaky cities, your trades and manufactures, and to build 
 
 7 
 
488 Preface. 
 
 you huts in the country, and apply to the plough and the 
 spade. To be sober and temperate, you must leave off the 
 consumption of exoticks ; and in order to have a proper 
 support for yourselves, you must restrain and prohibit the 
 exportation of all native commodities. It will be proper 
 therefore, to burn all your ships, that you may be under no 
 temptations to the use of foreign luxury, or to the practice 
 of navigation, an employment destructive of health, and the 
 populousness of a State. By the practice of this advice, 
 your numbers will so increase, that at last your lands will 
 be unable to furnish nourishment sufficient for them. When 
 you have brought this to pass I would advise you to adopt 
 commerce and the arts, in order to lessen your numbers ; 
 which they will effectually do, and at last bring you to cer- 
 tain destruction*. A very pretty scheme truly ! which one 
 should have rather expected from Pere Hardouin and St. 
 Omers, than from a protestant university. 
 
 But our Author in order to induce us to follow his in- 
 structions, tells us that the Jews became a very populous 
 State, by neglecting commerce and the arts, and addicting 
 themselves to husbandry. This example seems a little un- 
 fortunate, for we find by this conduct, that they were almost 
 in perpetual servitude to one or other of the neighbouring 
 states ; one while to the king of Mesopotamia^ then under 
 the MoabiteSj Canaanites^ MidianiteSj Ammonites and Phil- 
 istines, to this last , for forty years together. But at length 
 emerging from barbarity and this rustick life, they chose a 
 king, under Solomon adopted commerce and the arts, as- 
 serted their liberty, and figured as high as the neighbouring 
 states. Here one might ask, what is there in this account 
 that can induce a wise people to renounce the arts, and apply 
 solely to husbandry and tillage according to the advice of 
 this politician ? 
 8 If 
 
 * His system amounts to this, thougli in the beginning he says 
 otherwise, and contradicts himself at last. 
 
Preface. 489 
 
 If this scheme were to be put in practise we should soon 
 become tributary slaves to France ; and make a very pretty 
 exchange of liberty for the phantom of populosity. But 
 we hope, that we have fully proved, in the following pages, 
 that however favourable a rustick life may be to fecundity 
 (.nd health, yet that it cannot be reckoned among the prin- 
 cipal causes which contribute to render a nation populous. 
 
 We are informed in the title page, that the Dissertation 
 examined, was read in the publick schools in the university 
 of Cambridge, on Friday July 26, 1756, and that my Lord 
 Townshend's prize was adjudged to it. 
 
 As a thorough knowledge of the interests of commerce is 
 necessary to a profound skill in politicks ; and as our noble- 
 men and gentlemen receive the first rudiments and principles 
 of the political science in the schools; what politicians are 
 they like to turn out when the first university in Europe can 
 give the stamp of approbation to such a crude and superficial 
 performance ? 
 
 But this gentleman is not the only one of his university, 
 who has been liberal of his invectives against trade and 
 commerce ; for his predecessor Mr. Baker, in his reflections 
 upon learning, after shewing the insignificancy of it, the 
 imperfection of human knowledge, and the vanity of the 
 sciences; and after labouring obliquely to introduce uni- 
 versal scepticism, could not quit his subject without speaking 
 of commerce with contempt, though it is a matter of the 
 greatest consequence to the state, and of the highest im- 
 portance to his country. But by his treatise, he has re- 
 corded his knowledge of trifles, and his ignorance of the 
 most useful politicks. The sciences are of no manner of 
 service, but so far as they aid and assist commerce and the 
 arts, which contribute to the increase of general happiness, 
 and to the relief of the miseries to which human nature is 
 incident. The settling the text of an author, and whether 
 an ac or an et be the right reading ; whether an Etruscan 
 letter was ever written this way or that ; what is the true 
 
 9 reading 
 
490 Preface. 
 
 reading of an inscription upon an antient coin; how the 
 Romans made their fibula^ and what was the usual form of 
 it ; what sort of pans they used in their close-stools, &c. are 
 matters of no manner of consequence to society : and yet 
 what volumes have been written upon these subjects, and 
 with what importance and solemnity have they been treated ? 
 Are the poor creatures in the hospitals in Moorfields who 
 assume airs of dignity when straw crown'd monarchs in 
 mock majesty, so ridiculous as multitudes of those who are 
 called learned, that spend their whole lives in unravelling 
 trifles, clearing up frivolous mysteries, and in discovering 
 things which if they had continued profound secrets to all 
 eternity, would have been no injury to mankind ? The noble 
 architecture of card-houses and dirt-pies among children is 
 of a piece with such learning. 
 
 In Spain a Jesuit has lately recommended commerce to 
 his countrymen in order to pull down heresy. In France it 
 was the study of the great Huetius; and a canon of 
 St. Maur wrote its panegyric in Savary's dictionary. In 
 England Lord Castlemain, a papist, a hundred years ago, 
 traduced it. He tells us foreigners carried on our traffick 
 formerly, yet then we conquered France. We know his 
 lordship's design, but our university' s Mr. Bell's and 
 Mr. Brown''* we can only guess at. 
 
 But let this be as it will; 'tis commerce and the arts 
 alone which humanize mankind, make the difference between 
 the Moors on the Niger, and Britons on the banks of the 
 Thames ; and which lift brute nature to contemplations of 
 Deity. 
 
 10 INTRO- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 As the strength of a nation^ all other things being 
 the same^ is in proportion to the number of its in- 
 habitantSj it behoves every prince, practical statesman, 
 senator, and legislator to be thoroughly acquainted with 
 the causes, which principally contribute to render a nation 
 populous. It is likewise the duty of the rulers of every 
 commercial state, carefully to consider what effect the 
 populousness of a nation may have on its trade. The 
 noble lord who proposed this subject, and allotted a prize 
 or prizes to the authors of the best dissertations on it, is a 
 senator, legislator, statesman and patriot ; no doubt, but 
 his zeal for the public welfare prompted him to instigate 
 by rewards one of the great luminaries of this nation, to 
 throw its light upon it, and to thoroughly canvass an 
 affair of so great importance, so highly interesting. I 
 presume his lordship and the public have received as little 
 satisfaction and instruction from the dissertation which has 
 been published as myself. 
 
 But if the increasing the populousness of a state by 
 certain measures would render it more powerful in one 
 respect, and yet reduce its strength, and make it more 
 feeble in proportion in another, the populosity of the state 
 ought to be sacrificed to its political strength and general 
 
 1 1 safety > 
 
492 A Vindication of 
 
 safety : For people alone are not the strength of a state, 
 or, it does not consist only in its numbers. If this king- 
 dom were a nation of husbandmen without navigation and 
 commerce, without arts and manufactures, whose wealth 
 consisted only in corn and cattle, there is little reason to 
 believe it would preserve its independence Jong ; but on 
 the contrary would soon become a prey to a neighbouring 
 ambitious state. It is therefore weak to recommend a 
 system of police, which is not in the least adapted to the 
 present state of things, or manners and customs, which 
 now prevail in Europe : And to enlarge on speculations 
 which are not adapted to practice, and omit those that are, 
 is no more at best than ingenious trifling. 
 
 The learned author of the Dissertation seems to have 
 set out in a most unfortunate manner by mistaking the 
 question, or wilfully deviating from it. And therefore the 
 bestowing the prize upon him was a misapplication of his 
 lordship's generosity, and an abuse of his bounty, which 
 demands correction or reparation. Instead of expatiating 
 upon the causes which principally contribute to render a 
 nation populous, the learned writer has rather given us a 
 dissertation on this question, viz. What causes principally 
 contribute to promote propagation, and render a nation 
 prolifick ? And in, what respects does commerce tend to 
 render a people less prolific, and diminish their numbers? 
 But as he has treated the subject, his Dissertation is a 
 satire upon commerce, and a panegyric upon agriculture 
 and a rustic life ; but explains none of the principal causes 
 which render a nation populous ; nor clearly traces the 
 effects, which the populousness of a nation has on its 
 trade. 
 
 In order that we may not fall into the same mistakes, 
 we shall endeavour to explain the question, and to learn 
 the noble lord's intention in proposing it. 
 
 In the first place it is necessary to enquire, what is 
 meant by the populousness of a nation ? 
 
 12 2dly, 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 493 
 
 2dly, What are the principal causes which contribute 
 to render a nation populous in the sense of the definition. 
 The word populous is in itself vague and equivocal. 
 Without defining it, and shewing what is meant by it, all 
 that is said may be either true or false, as people shall 
 please to accept the word. We must therefore suggest 
 what idea the noble lord had of the word populous, when 
 he proposed the question ; and this we conceive to be 
 what is commonly formed and entertained, when people 
 talk of the populousness of a country. 
 
 First then, we understand by the word populousness, 
 an abundance of people crowded into a small territory or 
 compass of land; so that the towns and villages stand 
 thick and near together, and are full of inhabitants. 
 When a country is thus inhabited, we say the country is 
 populous. 
 
 But on the other hand, where there are large tracts of 
 land with few towns and villages scattered here and there 
 with few people residing in - them, we say such a country 
 is not at all populous ; or that it is thinly inhabited, and 
 has but few people. 
 
 Having acquired some clear idea of the word populous, 
 it will be necessary to have an adequate idea of what is 
 meant in the question by the principal causes which con- 
 tribute to render a nation populous ? 
 
 There is reason to believe that the noble lord who pro- 
 pounded the question perceived that there were a few 
 principal causes which contributed to render a state popu- 
 lous; and that there were a multitude of subordinate 
 causes; to specify and treat of all which, would be tedious 
 and irksome ; and therefore that he designed the declaim- 
 ers on the thesis should omit the minor causes, and 
 confine themselves to the principal. Our learned author 
 seems so little to have regarded the instruction and limi- 
 tation in the question, that he has left untouched the 
 principal causes of the populousness of a nation, and has 
 
 13 expatiated 
 
494 A Vindication of 
 
 expatiated largely on some of the lesser causes which 
 promote propagation, and tend to render a people prolific ; 
 and assigned them as the principal causes of the populous- 
 ness of a state ; not considering that the politician who 
 takes no other method to people a state thinly inhabited, 
 besides what arises from enforcing the practice of tem- 
 perance, and the affording all possible encouragement to 
 propagation, is a bungler in his profession; since other 
 methods may be pursued a thousand times more certain 
 and expeditious. 
 
 In a country without an extensive commerce, two or 
 three bad harvests would go near to depopulate it by 
 starving the people, and causing migrations. But in a 
 country, where great stocks of money and commodities 
 are heaped up by the industry produced by commerce, 
 there in such case, a state may subsist, and keep its people 
 together, partly by the credit it has among neighbouring 
 states, and partly by the money and superfluities it has 
 accumulated, by practising the arts and encouraging com- 
 merce among its people. 
 
 The causes of the populousness of a state may be 
 divided into natural, political, commercial, religious and 
 moral. The most expeditious means of making a country 
 populous is conquest. If a prince possess a large tract of 
 country thinly inhabited, the quickest means of peopling 
 such a country is by transplanting and bringing conquered 
 multitudes from other countries, and assigning them lands 
 in his own. 
 
 2dly, Another principal means of rendering a nation 
 populous, is the establishing the best laws, forming the 
 most just and equitable government, and the rendering 
 the person and property of every individual safe and 
 secure. This will tempt and invite people into such a 
 state. 
 
 3dly, Another principal means of rendering a nation 
 populous, is an universal toleration of all religions ; so 
 
 14 that 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 495 
 
 that no one be disturbed in the exercise of his own par- 
 ticular ceremonies, which are innocent in themselves ; and 
 that every one be indulged in the profession of his own 
 particular principles or opinionSj provided he is guilty of 
 no breach of the peace of the state, but demeans himself 
 soberly and quietly in the community. 
 
 4thly, The fourth principal cause of the populousness 
 of a state, is the encouragement given to foreign com- 
 merce ; the honouring industry, the enforcing labour ; the 
 preventing idleness by good laws ; and the taking due care 
 to administer all manner of necessaries to the poor, who 
 cannot provide such for themselves. 
 
 5thly, After establishing a good police at home, such 
 as is recommended above, the principal and most expedi- 
 tious means of rendering a state populous is a general 
 naturalization act, inviting all foreigners to reside in it ; 
 and as to England, to tempt all protestants to come and 
 settle amongst us, affording to them all the privileges of 
 citizens as to person, property, and trade. 
 
 6thly, Another cause of the populousness of a state, is 
 the healthiness of the climate ; and the people's not being 
 afflicted with wars. 
 
 7thly, Another cause of the populousness of a state, 
 is the hiring mercenary troops from other nations to fight 
 its battles, and encouraging some few persons to serve in 
 foreign wars, to learn the art and to officer its own people, 
 and discipline them at home when necessity requires. 
 
 8thly, And finally, another means of increasing the 
 numbers of the people, is the keeping as small a standing 
 army as is consistent with the peace and safety of a state, 
 and permitting soldiers to labour and marry. 
 
 These are the principal ways of rendering a state 
 populous in an expeditious manner : not one of which the 
 learned writer has taken notice of: Or if he have, it is 
 with such limitations and restrictions, as destroys in some 
 measure, the force and efficacy of the means he proposes. 
 
 15 From 
 
496 A Vindication of 
 
 rrom whence it follows, that his Dissertation is foreign to 
 the question proposedj and the adjudging the prize to him, 
 is an abuse and misapplication of the public spirit and 
 generosity of the uoble lord, who bestowed the reward 
 for a discourse on the subject. 
 
 But the learned author's mistaking the question, or 
 deviating from it, by treating of the minute concurring 
 causes of populousness, instead of the principal, is not 
 the only fault and defect in his treatise ; for he has also 
 been guilty of many gross errors, false representations, 
 and injudicious remarks ; and has advanced many incon- 
 sistencies, puerilities and absurdities, in his animadver- 
 sions upon, the causes of depopulation and the effects of 
 arts, the refinements of civil life, and the commerce at 
 present carried on among mankind. 
 
 To say that agriculture, or that ploughing and sowing 
 wheat is a principal cause of the populousness of a nation, 
 is as dry and as little to the purpose, as if any one were 
 to assert that 
 
 Eating was a principal cause of the populousness of a 
 nation. 
 
 It is true that iii most countries, agriculture is neces- 
 sary to the sustenance of a people. But as a nation may, 
 by sundry other causes, be rendered so populous that the 
 produce of its lands will not feed half its inhabitants, it is 
 manifest, that agriculture cannot be one of the principal 
 causes of the populousness of a nation. The internal 
 police, or political institutions of such a state, if any such 
 there be, or ever were, must of course furnish us with 
 some of the causes which principally contribute to render 
 a nation populous. 
 
 But were there no such state, reason itself dictates the 
 causes which we have enumerated above. 
 
 Though by agriculture wholesome food be produced, 
 yet poisons may be raised by the same industry ; or whole- 
 some foods and grain be converted into poison by the 
 
 16 intemperance. 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 497 
 
 intemperance, wickedness and luxury of mankind. And 
 thus our learned author proposes to cultivate the earth, 
 and establish such a police, as will tend to destroy all 
 order, iudustry, and sobriety, and to depopulate a state, 
 though he weakly pretends and imagines, that the practice 
 of his rules will render a nation populous. 
 
 Agriculture is a healthy exercise, but it does not 
 furnish out employment for one fourth of the people of a 
 state ; and therefore if the arts were wanting, the people 
 would be idle, debauched, and luxurious in a low mean way, 
 or starve. If a whole people could be employed in agri- 
 culture, and kept from debauchery, to be sure {cceteris 
 paribus) such a life would be most favourable to propaga- 
 tion. But this cannot be ; and therefore the arts must be 
 introduced to prevent the evils of sloth and debauchery. 
 But if a country life and husbandry be most favourable 
 to propagation, this does not argue, that it is therefore 
 one of the causes which contribute principally to render a 
 nation populous, because other causes may be assigned 
 which will contribute more expeditiously to the peopling a 
 state, as will be shewn in the sequel. 
 
 In the introduction to his discourse, he complains that 
 there are but few inhabitants upon the earth in proportion 
 to what it can nourish : And attributes this thinness of 
 people to the badness of the political institutions among 
 mankind. 
 
 But it may be replied, that wars, famines, pestilence, 
 and contagious distempers, make great havock among man- 
 kind. What political institutions can guard against these 
 calamities ? The more populous the world is, the more 
 those two great destroyers of mankind, z«;ar and /amirae, 
 are likely to prevail. Great crowds of people bordering 
 on each other under different princes, frequently occasion 
 wars and famines : A mutual interest arising from com- 
 merce, is most likely to prevent and relieve the pernicious 
 effects of both. To say, that if all the world conformed 
 
 17 to 
 
498 A Vindication of 
 
 to the rules of virtue, and lived according to the precepts 
 of religion, the earth would be more populous, is a mighty- 
 important discovery truly ! To remark to us, that tem- 
 perance and sobriety, and following the dictates of nature, 
 conduce to the peopling a state, is a trite observation for 
 which no one owes the learned author any thanks. 
 
 S E C T. I. 
 
 One of the great obstacles to the natural increase of 
 mankind ; our author says, * is the great difficulty men 
 experience in procuring support for themselves and their 
 families ; and 2dly, from hence that people avoid marriage. 
 
 1. Of what use is this observation to us, where all the 
 necessaries of life are attainable by common industry ; 
 and its common calamities to be guarded against by a 
 little foresight and osconomy ? Seven parts in eight of 
 the people are labourers, and are guided in their pursuits 
 by hunger and lust. The consideration of the cares of a 
 family does not prevent one in a thousand from marrying. 
 "When does the fear of hunger extinguish the incitements 
 and allurements of lust ? It is no easy matter to find a 
 young couple in high health, who having an affection for 
 each other, are kept from marrying through the fear of 
 the cares of a family, and the dread of hunger. The man 
 who imagines that this is ever the case, knows little of 
 human nature, and has attended very little to the manners 
 of men. If among the rich now and then a monster of 
 this kind is seen, it is very seldom. 
 
 We find that the Hebrews lived under a hard slavery 
 in Egypt, and were rewarded for all their toil with only 
 
 18 onions 
 
 Page 3. 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 499 
 
 onions and garlick. And yet those hardships did not 
 destroy their fecundity or prevent marriages, for they 
 grew and multiplied exceedingly, and became so formid- 
 able to the Egyptians, that Pharaoh commanded all the 
 Hebrew midwives to strangle every male child at his birth. 
 And though they lived under the dread of this cruel law, 
 this did not prevent either marriages, or prompt to the 
 using any arts to prevent fecundity or propagation. They 
 continued to marry and beget children, though they were 
 conscious that half their innocent babes would be strangled 
 as soon as they saw the light. This is a strong proof of the 
 weakness and inconclusiveness of our author's argument, 
 " that the difficulty of acquiring sustenance for a family 
 " in nations which cultivate the ornaments of civil life, 
 " prevents propagation." This shews too, that the strong 
 inclination and propensity to a union between the sexes, 
 is not to be extinguished by the most severe hardships and 
 distressed circumstances. The same may be said with 
 regard to the Helotes among the cruel Spartans, and to 
 the multitude of slaves among the Athenians who were 
 twenty times as many as the citizens : As likewise of the 
 vast numbers among the Romans, who increased to such a 
 degree, as to wage war with their masters with great 
 success. But if a simplicity of manners tend to render a 
 country populous, why are not the vast tracts of fertile 
 lands from the Apulacian hills to the South Seas, and 
 from the lakes of Canada to the gulph of Mexico, the 
 most populous countries in the world? If we examine 
 the various scenes of the globe we shall find those coun- 
 tries the most populous, where the arts, commerce, and 
 the ornaments and refinements of civil life prevail : That 
 is all other things being equal. It is true, if a particular 
 country through its natural poverty and barrenness and 
 advantageous situation, has been so happy for a long 
 course of years, as to avert war from its territories ; and 
 through its good police to prevent famines, such a country 
 
 19 probably 
 
500 A Vindication of 
 
 probably may grow more populous than its neighbours^ 
 who have been plagued with wars and domestic feuds. 
 We learn from the first book of Thucydides, that the 
 poverty and barrenness of Attica secured it from wars and 
 invasions, and rendered it a sort of asylum to those who 
 loved ease and a quiet life, which made it populous. 
 
 2. Our learned author says, * whatever serves to create 
 or improve labonr and industry in a state, tends to promote 
 the speedy and great increase of a people. 
 
 The industry recommended here, appears repugnant to 
 the ease of acquiring the support of a family represented 
 before as necessary to render a nation populous. In a 
 country where all the arts, ornaments and refinements of 
 civil life take place, or are introduced and prevail, as in 
 England ; it is computed that near seven eights of the 
 people labour for their bread. Here a labourer may ac- 
 quire all the necessaries of a family by his constant work. 
 His ambition never rises above coarse food and rayment 
 and the means of a low debauch. If the lower class of 
 people can acquire these necessaries by labouring three 
 days in a week, they will not work four. Necessity must 
 therefore be created before industry can be introduced 
 and excited. 
 
 3. A plenty of provisions and a general industry are 
 incompatible. In order that this may appear more clearly, 
 it may be necessary to observe what is generally under- 
 stood by a plenty of provisions. If we have not clear and 
 distinct ideas of the terms we use, our reasonings may be 
 both true and false, according as the terms we make use 
 of, shall be accepted and defined. 
 
 By a plenty of provisions, we mean such a small price 
 for them, that a common family may acquire all the neces- 
 saries and luxuries that the poor usually consume by the 
 
 20 family's 
 
 • Page 6. 
 
Commerce and ike Arts. 501 
 
 family's labouring three or four days in a week/ or only 
 a part of the time usually allotted to labour. When this 
 is the case we say that the price of provisions is low, and 
 that they are in plenty. 
 
 Again, on the other hand, when the price of provisions 
 is so high, that though a man and, his family labour six 
 days in a week, the usual time each day, yet such family 
 cannot purchase the necessaries and superfluities it used 
 to consume in common, then we say, there is a scarcity. 
 
 To suppose then provisions to be at a low price and 
 plentiful, that is, the support of a family to be obtained 
 by working three or four days in a week, and at the same 
 time to suppose, that a general industry may be practised, 
 and that the mass or bulk of labourers will work full six 
 days in a week, is to suppose a moral impossibility, what 
 is contrary to common experience, what never was, nor 
 ever will be, and shews a great ignorance of human 
 nature, and little attention to the manners of the populace, 
 as well as little acquaintance with the observations of the 
 judicious. 
 
 On the contrary, Sir William Tempk observes, that 
 the poverty and laziness of the Irish, are owing to their 
 great plenty of provisions ; and their being able to pro- 
 cure all the necessaries they want with labouring two or 
 three days in a week. Sir William Petty makes the same 
 observation, and says, they can subsist by working only 
 two or three hours in a day from their great plenty, and 
 to this ascribes their great poverty and laziness. To sup- 
 pose then a great plenty and great industry to exist to- 
 gether, is absurd and repugnant to the very nature of 
 things. In truth they are moral contradictions. The 
 great plenty of provisions in Ireland and the cheapness of 
 land, seem to place the country in the state of an infant 
 colony, and yet we do not find that mankind multiply in 
 that nation, faster than in England ; nor have they half the 
 industry. The people live in a mean, nasty, lazy manner, 
 
 31 and 
 
502 A Vindication oj 
 
 and content themselves with coarse necessaries which may 
 be easily acquired. 
 
 Land is cheap and provisions plentiful enough in 
 Wales; but the people do not multiply faster than in 
 England, neither are they so industrious. 
 
 4. Our learned author from page the 1st to page the 
 8th/ seems under a pannic, lest people should neglect to 
 marry ; which in page the 8th, rises to a sort of enthu- 
 siasm, and occasions him to talk of the prevalence of a cor- 
 rupted taste, which may put a stop to marriage among the 
 bulk of the people. 
 
 The desire of union between the sexes, is so strongly 
 implanted in mankind by the wise Author of nature, that 
 a man may with as much reason expect to see the laws of 
 vegetation suspended, as marriages to stop among the bulk 
 of the people. If through a dissoluteness of manners, 
 some few in high life shun the marriage state, such con- 
 duct cannot, nay has not, much influence among their 
 own class ; this daily experience testifies. The rich are 
 not one in a thousand, and not one in a hundred of them 
 lives unmarried : And of those who do, perhaps not one 
 in a hundred but has offspring. But that sobriety and 
 temperance should render a people prolific, is such a com- 
 mon, trite, and puerile observation, that we presume the 
 noble lord who propounded the question at the head of 
 our remarks, never dreamt that he should see the prize 
 adjudged to a writer, who could rank temperance and 
 sobriety among the principal causes which contribute to 
 render a nation populous. 
 
 SECT. .11. 
 
 1. Page 8, our learned author recapitulates, and gives 
 us a summary of the principal causes which contribute 
 to render a nation populous. And says, 
 
 23 These 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 503 
 
 These therefore appear to be certain and effectual 
 methods of rendering a nation populous. 
 
 '' 1. The procuring a great plenty of eyery thing 
 " necessary to their support. 
 
 " 2. The diminishing the number of their imaginary 
 " wants. 
 
 "3. The - universal encouragement and increase of 
 " industry. 
 
 " 4. And the restraining debauchery^ Sfc." 
 But surely though it should be allowed that these may 
 conduce to increase mankind, yet they are not the prin- 
 cipal causes, which contribute to render a nation populous. 
 This learned author must think mankind very weak and 
 ignorant, if he conceived he could palm such trifling re- 
 marks on them for the principal causes, which contribute 
 to render a nation populous. 
 
 The three first of these observations are repugnant 
 among themselves, and militate with each other ; and the 
 last with the first and third. 
 
 2. If the diminishing the number of the imaginary 
 wants of mankind tend to render the support of a family 
 more easy, to promote marriage and increase the nimibers 
 of a people ; certainly it must tend still more to promote 
 the same great and beneficial ends, if all the imaginary 
 wants of mankind were cut off and extirpated from society ; 
 and the greatest simplicity and frugality of manners were 
 restored. If such frugality and simplicity were revived or 
 established, and nothing but what was absolutely necessary 
 to hfe, was manufactured and cultivated, there could not 
 possibly be any room for exerting general industry. If 
 mankind confined themselves to the use of the bare neces- 
 saries of life, labouring one hour in a day in each family 
 would procure them all* Where then, and how could 
 universal industry be exerted? It is manifest that a 
 simplicity of living and universal industry are incompatible 
 
 23 and 
 
504 A Vindication of 
 
 and repugnant to each other ; and what the learned author 
 has advanced^ is very crude and superficial. 
 
 Further, if men were to labour no more than what is 
 sufficient to procure them bare simple necessaries, this 
 would be so little, that they would soon contract a habit 
 of sloth, and from an idle life and a habit of sloth sink into 
 barbarism. Nothing can preserve a disposition for labour, 
 but the daily and constant practice of it. The more a man 
 labours, the less irksome it becomes ; the less he works, the 
 more burdensome the task. Sir William Temple thinks the 
 change from constant labour to constant ease, as difficult 
 and disagreeable as from constant ease to constant labour ; 
 of such force and prevalency are use and habit. 
 
 3. Nay he observes farther, that in Holland, labour by 
 practice, becomes not only necessary to the health of the 
 people, but to their entertainment. And though such 
 bread as our poor eat in England, is commonly at three- 
 pence ^er pound, flesh at nine-pence, and wages only one 
 shilling and two-pence per day, I could never find, that it 
 was any obstruction to their marrying. It is certain it 
 does not hinder them from being populous, nor from re- 
 ceiving a constant accretion of strangers. And all this 
 must be ascribed to their good police, their toleration in 
 religion, and their attention to commerce. From whence 
 it follows, that a cheapness of provisions and a want of the 
 ornaments and refinements of civil life, are not any of the 
 principal causes, which contribute to render a country 
 populous. And consequently that what our author has 
 said on these topics, is not to the purpose, but quite beside 
 the question. 
 
 4. It would be difficult to account for the barbarism of 
 the Africans upon any other principles. The tropical 
 fruits which are the spontaneou^production of nature, are 
 delicious,cooling and nourishing. Little or no raiment is 
 there wanting, and houses are almost unnecessary, the 
 
 24 climate 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 505 
 
 climate is so warm. Prom hence the inhabitants are 
 under little necessity of labouring, or of any regular police 
 for their support. This first produced idleness, which de- 
 generated into sloth and terminated in barbarism and a 
 savage life. But should two or three great geniuses. arise 
 among their princes, succeed each other, and incline to 
 refine the people, and bring them under a good police, it 
 would be absolutely necessary to introduce a great num- 
 ber of imaginary wants among them, in order to establish 
 the arts, and bring them under a regular government. If 
 you would introduce any innocent gratifications and plea- 
 sures above what brutes enjoy, you must first create and 
 introduce iniaginary wants. 
 
 5. If you find in a country, treatises upon metaphysics, 
 geometry, astronomy, policy and rational discourses, upon 
 the being and attributes of a God, you will certainly in 
 such a country, find the ornaments and refinements of life 
 and a thousand imaginary wants, which in general are of 
 great use to society, by keeping mankind employed. It is 
 a general observation among moralists, that the next step 
 to having nothing to do, is to do ill. The arts and sciences 
 likewise yield innocent amusement, pleasure, and enter- 
 tainment to those who labour in them ; as well as to those 
 who possess the works of great masters, and have culti- 
 vated a taste. 
 
 6. We learn from history, that Phoenicia was happy in 
 a fruitful soil, but commerce drew vast multitudes of 
 people into the country, encouraged the arts, ornaments 
 and refinements of civil life ; and at last filled the country 
 so full of inhabitants, that they were in want of corn, as 
 appears from the letter of Hiram king of Tyre to be seen 
 in Josephus. They carried navigation, traffic, manufac- 
 ture, dying, architecture, and all the elegancy of hfe, to 
 the highest pitch of perfection. At the same time philo- 
 sophy was cultivated among them, as appears from the 
 doctrine of Moschus the famous writer, who was a Phceni- 
 
 25 cian, 
 
506 A Vindication of 
 
 cian, and the founder of the atomical philosophy*. But 
 it was not agriculture that made the country populous, 
 hut commerce and the arts, which filled the country so 
 full of people, that a rich soil and the powers of agricul- 
 ture were insufficient to support them. 
 
 7. Imaginary wants are therefore so far from being 
 injurious to mankind, that they are highly useful for the 
 reasons just assigned. If there were no other advantages 
 and pleasures innocent and rational, which arose from the 
 arts and refinements of civil hfe, but that they employed 
 the attention of mankind, and kept them out of idleness 
 and mischief, this alone would render them highly 
 eligible. 
 
 8. To want nothing is the existence of a post, or a 
 God. One wants nothing because it perceives nothing. 
 The other because it perceives, and commands all things. 
 To want what may be innocently acquired is no crime. 
 To be in pursuit of what is innocent, to strongly desire 
 it, and to have a moral certainty of attaining it, is one of 
 the highest degrees of human felicity. It is no hurt to 
 have wants and desires, but to indulge and gratify irregu- 
 lar and vicious ones, at the expence of our own real hap- 
 piness, and that of others. 
 
 9. The Chinese have carried the ornaments and refine- 
 ments of civil life to the highest degree, are the most 
 luxurious people upon the face of the earth; provisions 
 are often very scarce there, and yet they are the most 
 populous nation in the world. We do not find these 
 circumstances obstruct marriage, though it is said they 
 are often obliged to expose their children because they 
 cannot provide for them. If they planted colonies and 
 carried on a large foreign commerce, they would be under 
 no necessity of practising such inhumanities. But though 
 
 36 they 
 
 * See Cudioorth's Intellectual System, 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 507 
 
 tliey labour under such disadvantages, it does not prevent 
 maxriages and propagation. From lience it is manifestj 
 that our author needs not entertain any chimerical no- 
 tions, that fear of want is an obstacle to marriage and 
 propagation in England. From what has been offered, it 
 appears to every unprejudiced reasoner, that banishing 
 imaginary wants from society, would be an injury to it, 
 and is more likely to depopulate a nation than fill it with 
 people. 
 
 II. That the diminishing the imaginary wants of man- 
 kind, creating a great plenty of provisions, and at the 
 same time enforcing a general industry are morally im- 
 possible; are incongruous, repugnant and militate with 
 each other. 
 
 1. After our author has contended for the banishing 
 all imaginary wants, and stinted us to the use of bare 
 necessaries, he proceeds to treat of agriculture and the 
 arts necessary to life. We cannot help observing here, 
 that this term necessarie.i is of very equivocal, vague and 
 uncertain signification. If we apply to a prince of the 
 Hottentots, a chief of the Laplanders, a king of the Ne- 
 groes, or a Sachem of the CanadSse Indians for a catalogue 
 of their necessaries, we shall find it very short. On the 
 other hand, if to a citizen of London, or even a porter, we 
 should have a long list of particulars that the others vrould 
 laugh at as ridiculous superfluities. As this gentleman 
 deals only in generals, we cannot therefore divine what he 
 means, by such a plenty of the necessaries of life as is 
 requisite to promote marriage and increase mankind, so as 
 to render a nation populous, or be a cause which princi- 
 pally contributes to it. 
 
 2. Agriculture is justly in esteem among all civilized 
 nations in the world, and in every place where the spon- 
 taneous productions of nature are not sufficient for the 
 nourishment of the people, it is considered as a neces- 
 sary means of their support and preservation, not as a 
 
 27 cause 
 
508 A Vindication of 
 
 cause which principally contributes to make a country 
 populous. 
 
 3. But in order to render the necessaries of life cheap^ 
 and thereby promote marriage and increase mankind with 
 greater expedition, this learned author proposes to banish 
 imaginary wants and commerce. But if commerce and 
 the ornaments and refinements of civil life render the 
 necessaries of families dear and difficult to be come at, 
 how comes it about, that people fly from countries where 
 there is little commerce, little refinement, few arts, and a 
 simple way of living prevails, to settle in a country where 
 commerce and arts are practised ? It is clear this could 
 not be, if people did not find it easier to support them- 
 selves in such countries, than in states where there is little 
 commerce, few arts, few refinements, and where husbandry 
 is the principal employment. People migrate to mend 
 their condition. It is not therefore at all likely, that 
 mankind find themselves so much at ease where husbandry 
 prevails, and there is little commerce, as where the arts, 
 ornaments and refinements of civil life are in esteem, and 
 commerce is cultivated and honoured. 
 
 4. Besides where commerce prevails most, and is in 
 highest esteem, the lands are always well cultivated, and 
 their produce becomes an object of commerce. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 Our learned author says, page the 10th, that the state 
 of agriculture in a nation, prescribes limits to its popu- 
 
 1. It may be observed too, that the consumption of a 
 people, where there is no commerce, prescribes limits to 
 its agriculture. Don Jeronymo Ustaritz informs us, that 
 a plentiful year in Spain reduces the price of corn so low, 
 
 28 that 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 509 
 
 that it ruins the farmer^ and produces the succeeding year 
 a famine. Prom whence it is plain, that there must be a 
 certain proportion between the quantity grown and the 
 consumption, otherwise a plenty destroys itself, if we 
 banish commerce. There is nothing but great riches or 
 great exportation can prevent this evil. Thus a plenty 
 destroys itself, and produces a scarcity: And thus the 
 cheapness our author dreams of in page 11, appears a 
 chimera ; and when a crop fails a dreadful famine ensues, 
 which starves the people and depopulates a state. Our 
 histories shew this to have been our case formerly, once in 
 about twenty years ; and sometimes it continued for two 
 or three years together, and made great havock among 
 the people*. 
 
 2. Page 10. Our learned author remarks, that a gene- 
 ral application to agriculture, &c. that is a general industry, 
 must evidently produce a vast plenty of all the necessaries 
 of life, so that every single person will be able fuUy to 
 supply his wants with the utmost ease, 
 
 1. The author of these remarks apprehends that the 
 learned writer of the Dissertation had no clear, deter- 
 minate, precise, and distinct ideas of a general application, 
 or industry. If he had, we must confess ourselves so dull 
 as not to be able to perceive it; and so ignorant and 
 stupid as not to be able to understand or comprehend his 
 meaning. If he mean by a general industry, that aU in a 
 society shall work, it will be necessary immediately, that 
 all the lands and property of the kingdom should be 
 equally divided. This would be a pretty scheme truly, 
 but is as impracticable as Plato's republick. 
 
 2. Besides there is a manifest repugnancy and con- 
 tradiction in what our author proposes. By a general 
 industry, is commonly understood, every man's labouring 
 
 29 in 
 
 * See Stow, and Bishop Fleetwood. 
 
510 A Vindication of 
 
 in his particular craft as much time as his health, spirits 
 and strength will permit. And yet he proposes and de- 
 clares, that by this industry every man shall be able fully 
 to supply his wants with the utmost ease. This is a pal- 
 pable contradiction in terms. 
 
 3. If he had said, " in case every one in the com- 
 " munity laboured equally, and all imaginary wants were 
 " abolished, then each individual might procure all the 
 " simple and coarse necessaries of life in plenty, by 
 " labouring a small part of his time," there would have 
 been some sense in it ; but to talk of the practice of 
 general industry in a country, and yet at the same time 
 propose the acquisition of all the necessaries of life with 
 the utmost ease, is rank nonsense. It is likewise absurd 
 and nonsense, to talk of banishing all imaginary wants out 
 of a community, and yet at the same time propose the 
 universal practice of industry. When all these wants are 
 expelled from society, what are the people to be employed 
 about? It is proposed to prohibit the practice of com- 
 merce, so no foreign consumption could engage and em- 
 ploy their industry. Truly when this fine scheme and 
 these political Lycurgic institutions are reduced to prac- 
 tice, you will have little or nothing to do, but to follow the 
 example of the disciples of the Spartan legislator, that is, 
 to sing, dance, fiddle, wrestle, run, eat black broth, live in 
 huts, and wear sheep-skins, and in the issue, be extin- 
 guished or made slaves of by your invading neighbours. 
 But there can be no place for the practice of general 
 industry. 
 
 4. The institutions of Lycurgus were far from being 
 favourable to populosity, though he enjoined an equal 
 division of the lands. In the time of Agis king of Sparta, 
 we find there were but seven hundred Spartan families 
 left out of thirty nine thousand, among whom their great 
 founder or legislator had divided the lands, and not above 
 a hundred of these possessed estates. So little favourable 
 
 30 was 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 511 
 
 was his system to populosity. War destroyed tlie original 
 Spartans, they were too proud and vain to admit of natu- 
 ralizations, disdained strangers, puffed up with a conceit 
 of themselves ; and thus in the issue, spilled their blood to 
 defend a state for the posterity of their slaves to inherit*. 
 
 5. But if property be equally divided, how is each in- 
 dividual to be made perform his share of the general fund 
 of labour necessary to support the community in the 
 simple way proposed ? Where one man is idle or impotent, 
 and another is industrious and vigorous, and the first has 
 an inclination to alienate his property, and the other to 
 purchase it ; what is to be done in this case ? How is this 
 to be prevented ? Here is an end of your political insti- 
 tutions at once. 
 
 6. If general industry and oeconomy, if prudence and 
 frugality, could be enforced among our labourers, they 
 might all, as things stand at present, be furnished not only 
 with all manner of necessaries, but also with superfluities, 
 and the means of gratifying their fantastical and ima- 
 ginary wants. But if this conduct cannot be enforced as 
 things stand at present ; what reason have we to expect it 
 when property has been put on a level ? In short, our 
 author' s scheme tends to destroy all industry and to lessen 
 labour instead of increasing it. 
 
 7. The best spur to industry is necessity. The mass 
 of labourers work only to relieve the present want, and 
 are such votaries to indolence, ease and voluptuousness, 
 that they sacrifice all considerations to the pleasures of 
 the present moment, regardless of sickness and old age. 
 Nay some declare it a crime to provide for either and rely 
 on the parish. Mr. Locke observes, that they live only 
 from hand to mouth. To this purpose Sir William Temple 
 remarks^ all men prefer ease to labour, and will not take 
 
 31 pains 
 
 * Vide Pint, in vita Agis. 
 
512 A Vindication of 
 
 pains if they can be idle : That is, unless by practice and 
 habit their disposition be altered. The author of the causes 
 of the decline of our foreign trade, Sir Josiah Child and 
 others observe, " that in cheap times of provision our 
 " poor do not work half their time ; that they are paid 
 " extravagant wages at all times," ^c. If this be the case, 
 as most certainly it is, what other i-eason but the want of 
 industry and ceconomy can be assigned, why all the la- 
 bourers in the kingdom have not a full supply of all their 
 wants ? And that too at all times ; in both good and bad 
 seasons ? But our author's scheme is impracticable, as 
 well as absurd and contradictory. 
 
 . 8. Nothing but necessity can enforce industry. We 
 must take human nature as it is : But what is necessary 
 to make one family industrious would starve another. 
 And what wages would be sufficient to supply a family 
 with all the necessaries of life after a common harvest, 
 and with many of the luxuries after a plentiful, would not 
 afford him a living support after a bad one. There is no 
 making provision for numerous families, sickness, old age, 
 frosts, floods, rains, wars, want of employment, fires^ 
 dearths and other distressing accidents, but by ceconomy. 
 But not one in a thousand is possessed of this ceconomy, 
 but live as Mr. Locke observes in diem, from hand to mouth. 
 9. It has been observed that those nations have ex- 
 celled most in industry and commerce, which have la- 
 boured under the greatest disadvantages from soil and 
 scantiness of territory ; and that their necessities from 
 those inconveniences have whetted their invention and 
 spurred their industry. As for example, Phoenicia, Athens, 
 Tyre, Carthage, Venice, Marseilles, and Holland. Why 
 may not then wants created by the arts of the politician, 
 if judiciously introduced, produce the same effects as those 
 arising from nature ? But it requires great dexterity and 
 finesse in governours to conduct such matters so as to 
 attain the end desired ; and whenever it is carried into 
 
 32 execution. 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 513 
 
 execution, its progress must be gentle, and its approaches 
 almost imperceptible, and especially in a popular state. 
 It is as unnatural to expect men should labour, when they 
 have no real nor imaginary wants, as it would be to expect 
 matter to act contrary to the laws of gravitation and at- 
 traction. The greater the weight to be moved, the less 
 the velocity in mechanicks, when the moving power is 
 feeble. It is the same in morals and politicks as in 
 physicks. 
 
 10. As this is the general disposition of human nature, 
 no wages, not if the present were trebled, would keep the 
 bulk of labourers, or at least a great part of them from 
 want : because they never provide against the times of 
 calamity specified above, which they might aU do, if they 
 were as industrious as our author proposes they should be, 
 and banished the imaginary wants he explodes. For this 
 reason his chimerical scheme would be of no use, if it 
 could be reduced to practice, so far as to level all the pro- 
 perty of the kingdom ; alienations would soon be made, 
 and the old system of things restored or revived. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 1. But as our maxim is, that nothing but necessity 
 produces industry ; and nothing but an oeconomy which 
 the mass of mankiad, wiU never practice, can prevent 
 poverty, want, and distress : We will propose by a poli- 
 tical institution to obtain all the good consequences of 
 oeconomy among the people without the actual or direct 
 practice of it. This institution is much more practicable, 
 than the visionary scheme of our author ; and with a little 
 management and address, such as beginning to put it in 
 practice in a dearth might be easily established. 
 
 1. The institution we mean is to lay a tax on the first 
 33 . necessaries 
 
514 A Vindication of 
 
 necessaries of life when cheap, as well as on the objects of 
 imaginary wants, form a fund of its produce, and pay a 
 certain sum per head out of it in a time of sickness, 
 dearth, want of work, or in any other distress. This 
 would prevent the labourers from being lazy in times of 
 high wages and great plenty ; and from suffering want in 
 times of scarcity and adversity. A proper workhouse 
 added to this institution, would prevent vagrancy, idleness 
 and beggary. 
 
 2. Upon the footing of this scheme, the more a man 
 spent the more he would pay, and the more children he 
 got the more he would receive back again in times of 
 calamity. The poor practice this among themselves in 
 some places, but there are only a few so prudent. The 
 pleasures of the present moment, and the gratification of 
 the present appetite are what govern ninety-nine out of 
 a hundred. Next to hunger and lust, the love of ease is 
 the predominent passion ; and in some this governs, and 
 they become beggars. This scheme would certainly and 
 assuredly supply every family's wants, and relieve every 
 ones necessities and distresses, and is practicable ; whereas 
 what our author suggests is not. But though this scheme 
 be favourable to propagation by preserving the lives of 
 poor persons, who would sacrifice them to sloth, indolence, 
 and voluptuousness : and though it would tend more to 
 promote those good purposes than our author's unnatural, 
 visionary, and enthusiastical scheme, yet we are far from 
 thinking that it would be a cause which would principally 
 contribute to render a nation populous. 
 
 3. But the inconsistency there is between banishing 
 imaginary wants, and the means of general industry, and 
 between a great plenty or cheapness of provisions, and the 
 practice of general industry, are not the only absurdities 
 and contradictions in this learned author's theory : There 
 is also another manifest repugnancy, viz. between a plenty 
 of provisions, a cheapness of necessaries, or high wages 
 
 34 (which 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 515 
 
 (which are all one and the same thing) and a temperate 
 and sober life^ which he so highly reoommends as abso- 
 lutely necessary to render a nation populous. To suppose 
 a general sobriety and temperance to prevail either in 
 town or country^ where high wages, or great plenty, are 
 found is absurd. If a labourer can procure by his high 
 wages or plenty, all the necessaries of life; and have 
 afterwards a residuum, he would expend the same, either 
 in gin, rum, brandy or strong beer; luxurize on great 
 heaps of fat beef or bacon, and eat perhaps till he spewed ; 
 and having gorged and gotten dead drunk, lie down like a 
 pig, and snore till he was fresh. This is the common 
 consequence of high wages and plenty. Prom whence it 
 follows, that our author's scheme would manifestly en- 
 courage idleness and debauchery, and furnish the means 
 of practising of both those vices. 
 
 4. We do not say these are the necessary consequences 
 of a plentiful supply of provisions or high wages, but we 
 assert that where a populace have the means of sloth and 
 debauchery, th-at there it is morally impossible that they 
 should be industrious, sober and temperate. Our author 
 is for banishing commerce, which he argues furnishes the 
 means of luxury ; and where they are, it will be practised. 
 But our author should distinguish, there is a vicious 
 luxury, and an innocent luxury : Such authors are apt to 
 confound a vicious luxury with a great expence. A porter 
 may be viciously luxurious on fat bacon, tobacco, red her- 
 rings, gin, malt-spirits, and with a nasty hunter, or stink- 
 ing dirty fish drab ; whilst a nobleman may be innocently 
 luxurious on ortelans, pine-apples, Tokay and the richest 
 wines, and foods accompanied with a fine lady flaunting in 
 jewels and brocade, and " fragant as Chloe issuing to an 
 "■ evening mask." 
 
 5. To suppose that by industry the people have the 
 means of acquiring, and that they enjoy the liberty of 
 spending, and at the same time to suggest, that they shall 
 
 35 not 
 
516 A Vindication of 
 
 not use what they acquire, but irt a temperate manner as 
 becomes philosophers, is ridiculous, and only worthy of a 
 monk who lives in a cell. The only way to keep a popu- 
 lace temperate, is to deprive them of the means of de- 
 bauchery by paying them low wages ; and to increase their 
 numbers by propagation, to administer all necessaries to 
 them in their distresses, from want of employment, dearth 
 of provisions, numerous families, or accidental sickness, 
 impotence, ^c. But where the lands are fertile, it would 
 be worth while to buy people from foreign states, to plant 
 on them if they are not cultivated. 
 
 Thus we have proved that the cutting off all imaginary 
 wants, such as the ornaments and refinements of civil life 
 and the use of exoticks would 
 
 1. Deprive the people of the means of practising 
 industry. 
 
 2. That a plenty of provisions, or a capacity of pro- 
 curing them with little labour, would take away the obli- 
 gation and motives to industry. 
 
 3. That a plenty of provisions would introduce among 
 the common people voluptuousness and a pernicious de- 
 bauchery. 
 
 4. That the way to render a people sober, temperate 
 and industrious, is to render provisions so dear, as to 
 deprive them of an opportunity to be either idle or 
 debauched. 
 
 5. And lastly, to secure them from distress, the best 
 way is to raise a fund by a tax on necessaries in a time of 
 plenty, to bestow on them in a time of dearth and scarcity. 
 But perhaps our author will say, he intends no strong beer 
 shall be brewed, no spirits distilled, no exoticks, such as 
 silk, tobacco, sugar, rum, &c. shall be imported ; and that 
 by this means luxury shall be banished, and that 
 we shall become Mahometans as to fermented liquors. 
 But if this be the case, how will he prevent gluttony, 
 unless he makes the people all Pythagoreans too, and 
 
 36 renders 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 517 
 
 renders flesh odious and abominable ? Or if he prohibits 
 the use of spirits and fermented hquors, S^c. from being 
 manufactured at home, how without navigation, commerce 
 and a great naval force, will he prevent these from being 
 smuggled in upon us, and the country from being de- 
 bauched and robbed of its money and the medium of its 
 domestic trade ? These reflections shew the ridiculous- 
 ness of his system. 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 In page the 10th, our author proposes to keep our money, 
 and banish commerce, or to prohibit the practice of foreign 
 trade. He then observes the price of all necessaries must 
 principally depend upon the proportion which the quantity of 
 current money in a nation bears to the quantity of necessa- 
 ries produced in it. If money increases fastest, these will 
 become proportionably dearer ; but cheaper, if it does not. 
 
 1 . This is a maxim adopted by some political and 
 commercial writers; and it is commonly said that the 
 increase of money is the sole cause of the increase of the 
 price of commodities in general ; and that where money 
 increases, the price of commodities rises in proportion. 
 We shall offer a few reasons to prove this doctrine false. 
 
 When queen Mary died, there is reason to believe, 
 there were above four millions of money in the nation. 
 Though queen Elizabeth recoined all the old money in. 
 1561, yet we find that there were not above six millions 
 coined during her reign. And there is reason to believe 
 all the gold she coined was transported, so that all the 
 current money at her death seems not to have much ex- 
 ceeded what Henry VII. left in the nation at his death. 
 And yet provisions were near eight times as dear, or at 
 least wheat, at the end of Elizabeth's reign, as the begin- 
 ning of the reign of Henry VIII. or at any time of his 
 
 37 reign, 
 
518 A Vindication of 
 
 reign, or of his successors to 1601. At the end of the 
 reign of James I. there was not above 5,500,000?. of cash 
 in the kingdom, yet wheat was in general at eight shillings 
 or ten shillings a bushel, labour as dear as at present, and 
 other commodities for the mouth very dear. Here pro- 
 visions, ^c. were advanced to six or eight times their for- 
 mer price, and yet money not increased above a third. 
 
 3. On the other hand, the coin and paper money of 
 this kingdom is increased to above forty millions, or eight 
 times as much ; and yet the average price of wheat is not 
 above half so much, many commodities and manufactures 
 thirty per cent, cheaper, and labour no higher if so high 
 as in those days. 
 
 4. Again in the year 1715. Dutot says, there were 
 about 44,700,000Z. sterling in France. Since 1727, 
 Debonaire says, about 52,500,000/. have been coined, all 
 which money is in the kingdom, as might be shewn by 
 irrefragable reasons, and yet Dutot says the price of corn, 
 provisions, labour, salaries and commodities, are not risen ; 
 and this might be made appear from the writings of their 
 authors, but the detail is too long to insert here. 
 
 5. Here we have proofs on both sides of the question, 
 to demonstrate the falsehood of the maxim, viz. of a vast 
 rise of commodities without an increase of money ; and 
 of a vast increase of money without a rise of commodities. 
 We may add farther, that Spain had imported 700 mil- 
 lions sterling of money into Europe before there was any 
 material rise on commodities in England. We might 
 here shew the true causes of the rise of commodities, but 
 it is foreign to our present design. 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 Page the 11th, our author advances another false 
 maxim, viz. Necessaries can no sooner grow cheap, but 
 labour will be so likewise. 
 
 38 1. Here 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 519 
 
 1. Here it will be necessary to make a few observations 
 on the relative terms dear and cheap. When a man can 
 purchase all his necessaries with a little labour, we say 
 they are cheap. When it requires a great deal of labour 
 to purchase or provide them, we say they are dear. Now 
 if we look back to our histories of antient times, when 
 wheat was in common at about two shillings a quarter, we 
 find labour so high, that two days work would purchase a 
 bushel of wheat in common. When wheat is at ten shil- 
 lings a bushel, labour is no dearer in England than when 
 it is at two shillings and six-pence. Nay when it is so 
 cheap labour generally rises ; the poor not being necessi- 
 tated to work so much as when dear. Sir Josiah Child, 
 Sir William Petty, Sir William Temple and many others 
 remark this. Such bread as our people eat in England, is 
 in Holland commonly at three-pence a pound, flesh at 
 nine-pence ; but a day's labour is not above one shilling 
 and two-pence sterling. Wheat sometimes pays a tax 
 there, of near a crown a bushel to the state, and flesh is 
 high taxed likewise. From whence it is manifest the 
 maxim is false. 
 
 2. If labourers could purchase the common necessaries 
 of life for half the money they usually do, they would work 
 but half the time they do now. Sir Josiah Child * observes 
 in such times they play and get drunk half their time. 
 Sir Matthew Decker t observes that wages are so high, 
 they spend half their time, and spend their money in 
 luxury. Cheap necessaries must then raise the price of 
 labour, till it destroys itself. Therefore our author's 
 scheme is impracticable, and absurd. 
 
 39 SECT. 
 
 * See his Discourse on Trade, 
 t See tlie Causes of tlie Decline of Foreign Trade. 
 
520 A Vindication of 
 
 SECT. VII. 
 
 In pages the 11th and 12th, our author advances some 
 absurd reasonings concerning the reduction of the price of 
 provisions, without reducing the price of labour in a pro- 
 portion equivalent. He concludes his absurd account 
 ■with this remark. 
 
 " The advantage gained by the great cheapness of all 
 necessaries is equivalent to the decrease of the price of all 
 put together ; while the inconvenience resulting from the 
 low price of labour is equal only to the reduction of that 
 one in which each man is employed." 
 
 1. This seems a most strange account of the formation 
 of the price of commodities. If the value of each man's 
 labour be abated one eighth, and the value of labour in all 
 commodities be four eighths ; all commodities through the 
 abatement of labour will fall only one sixteenth. In this 
 case the labourer will receive the abatement only of one 
 eighth of labour on four shillings worth of labour, which 
 is six-pence ; and consequently will not be able to purchase 
 so many commodities with his labour, as he did before the 
 abatement by one sixteenth or the value of six-pence. 
 
 2. But if the value of the land which produced the raw 
 materials of those commodities, and the value of the art, 
 labour and industry, which provide them and bring them 
 to market, be the other half or four eighths of the value 
 of the necessaries the labour consumes ; in this case if the 
 value of land and the brokerage of those necessaries be 
 abated one eighth as well as labour, then the labourer will 
 purchase his commodities two sixteenths cheaper than he 
 did before ; and consequently will provide as many neces- 
 saries by his labour as he could before the abatement. In 
 both these cases the labourer has no advantage from the 
 abatement of labour. 
 
 40 There 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 521 
 
 There remains a third case, viz. If the value of the 
 land and brokerage of commodities fall four eighths or one 
 half, and the price of labour remains the same ; this will 
 sink the price of the labourer's necessaries only two 
 eighths or one fourth, which is 25 per cent. And from 
 hence a labourer who earns at present eight shillings per 
 week, on such a fall of the value of lands and brokerage, 
 will be able to purchase as many commodities with six 
 shillings, as he could before with eight shillings, and con- 
 sequently will be capable to furnish himself with more 
 necessaries by the same quantity of labour. But that 
 man who imagines he would in such case work so much as 
 he did before, knows nothing of the manners of a labour- 
 ing populace, nor is any more qualified to reason on 
 the subject, than a blind man is to write a treatise on 
 colours. All our histories prove that the lower the 
 price of provisions has been, the higher the price of labour : 
 And that when land was let at a low rate, labour was at a 
 high price, and so high, that two days labour would pur- 
 chase the annual rent of an acre of land, and a bushel of 
 wheat : And yet this high price of labour did not prevent 
 poverty and distress among the poor, nor the low price of 
 land avert the evils of famine. 
 
 4. The common conduct of the labouring populace in 
 times of plenty proves, that the easier the means of 
 acquiring necessaries, the less work is generally done : 
 And the dSarer necessaries are, the more they labour, if 
 full employment can be procured. Therefore the best 
 charity is that which provides them work, by which they 
 may be capable of relieving their distresses by their own 
 honest industry. If wheat be eight shillings a bushel in- 
 stead of four shillings, provide the poor with employment 
 to the value of two shillings per week more, and they will 
 live as well as they did before. Repairing roads, grubbing 
 commons, draining fens, cutting canals, and making rivers 
 navigable at such times, would be of great use to the com- 
 
 41 munity. 
 
522 A Vindication of 
 
 munity. The labouring hours of the fathers of families, 
 might then be increased, and all the young sent to those 
 public works. At such times, the working hours of single 
 men, and fathers of small families should be lessened by 
 law ; and those of the heads of numerous families be in- 
 creased. But we shall leave this digression, and return to 
 our author. 
 
 SECT. VIII. 
 
 1. It seems from our author's reasoning in page 11, and 
 12. that he fancies, if the price of a man's labour be re- 
 duced one eighth, or we will say a shilling a week, and he 
 consumes part of the labour of a hundred persons, that he 
 shall save a hundred shillings in his expences by it. This 
 is absurd ; but if this be not his meaning, I confess myself 
 so dull as to be unable to fathom it. But as I cannot 
 with all my attention apprehend his reasoning, or fix any 
 clear ideas to his words, I am inclined to conceive he had 
 no distinct ideas of what he has said, and of the arguments 
 he has advanced in those pages. 
 
 2. I can most clearly perceive that the value of all 
 commodities or the price, is a compound of the value of 
 the land necessary to raise them, the value of the labour 
 exerted in producing and manufacturing them, and of the 
 value of the brokerage which provides and circulates 
 them. 
 
 3. Now vary or alter these a thousand ways, the la- 
 bourer can receive no advantage, unless it be at the ex- 
 pence of one or both the other two. That is, it must be 
 taken out of the value of the land, or the value of the 
 brokerage. But if the broker's gains do not please him, 
 he will withhold his sales. The farmer will not sow, the 
 manufacturers will leave off their trades, if their employ- 
 
 42 ments 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 523 
 
 ments and occupations produce a loss instead of a profit. 
 When a glut of commodities has produced by their cheap- 
 ness a stop of tradCj how are labourers to procure neces- 
 saries ? This shews, that a student in a college is not a 
 very proper person to settle the political oeconomy of a 
 state. 
 
 4. Let us suppose the value of the lands of the king- 
 dom fifteen millions, houses five millions, brokerage twelve 
 millions, labour thirty-two millions, and consequently the 
 whole consumption sixty-four millions. Now supposing 
 all the arable, pasture and other lands of the kingdom 
 were to be sunk half in price, or let at half their present 
 annual value, this amounts to but seven million and a half, 
 and if this sum were abated in the price of all commodi- 
 ties, it would diminish that price, but in the proportion of 
 seven and a half to sixty-four, or less than one eighth of 
 the value of a poor man's consumption. 
 
 5. But our learned author premises, that all people of 
 property, will go on raising and producing commodities 
 with a view to lose by the sale of them, and from this 
 continued and constant loss, that they shall become cheap ; 
 a presumption unnatural and absurd ; for which reason no 
 consequences can be considered as arising from it. 
 
 SECT IX. 
 
 1. From page the 12th, to page ISih, he talks of 
 obstacles to marriage arising from the refinements of civil 
 life ; which exist no where but in the author's fancy ; or 
 at least the obstructions which arise from the refinements 
 are a small dust, that weighs little in the balance ; the 
 rich whom it afi'ects being very few ; in proportion to the 
 multitude, and few of them under the pernicious influence 
 
 he represents. 
 
 43 2. It 
 
524 A Vindication of 
 
 2. It is false that poverty and want are the concomi- 
 tants of arts, and the ornaments and refinements of civil 
 life. Poverty and want generally prevail where they are 
 not adopted. And where they are, if poverty and want 
 ever appear, they are the consequences of sloth, impru- 
 dence, extravagance and folly; not of the arts, for these 
 provide the means of a comfortable support, excite emula- 
 tion, furnish employment and provoke industry. It is the 
 abuse of these advantages, arising from the refinements of 
 life, which causes poverty. Baron Montesquieu observes 
 " a man is not poor because he has nothing, but because he 
 " does not work : And he that has an employment, is in a 
 " better condition than he that has ten acres of land 
 " without one*." But if all the lands in the kingdom 
 were to be divided among the people, they would not 
 amount to four acres a-piece. A man is not poor because 
 the refinements of the arts, policy and manners have left 
 him without lands, or rather the folly, luxury and sloth of 
 his predecessors ; but he is poor because he spends what he 
 acquires from the arts of refinement in a foolish manner ; 
 or neglects from sloth to make so proper and prudent 
 advantage of those arts as he might. If the arts were 
 banished, and the lands let for one tenth of their present 
 annual rent, such persons would be more miserable than at 
 present, and much poorer. Every one who has closely 
 attended to human nature, knows this to be true. This is 
 so just a remark, that there are few politicians who have 
 reflected on this subject, but what have joined in the 
 sentiment. The arts and the ornaments of civil life furnish 
 labour, that is food. It is notoriously false to say, where 
 the arts of refinement prevail, that there succeeds a 
 scarcity of all things, necessary to the sustenance of the 
 people. The reverse is true ; and this makes people crowd 
 
 44 in 
 
 * See L'Esprit des Loix. 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 525 
 
 in flocks to those countries. It is the greater certainty 
 and ease of procuring sustenance which make people leave 
 the mountains of Scotland and Switzerland, the woods of 
 Germany and the barren rocks of Auvergne, to settle at 
 London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Hamborough. 
 
 SECT. X. 
 
 In page the 14th, our learned author observes, that the 
 populousness of Egypt, Palestine, the Grcecian states, and 
 Roman republick w«* owing to the plenty of things requisite 
 for their sustenance. 
 
 1. We would remark here, that Diodorus Siculus in- 
 forms us, that when Egypt was in its most flourishing 
 condition, it had but seven millions of people, and in the 
 reign of Ptolemy Lagus, but three millions; so that it 
 appears, it was never half so populous as England is at 
 this present time. And yet in this nation all the arts, 
 ornaments, refinements of civil life, commerce, the con- 
 sumption of exoticks, and the imaginary wants of man- 
 kind prevail : the pernicious luxury our author complains 
 of, and contends ought to be banished out of the state. 
 But in truth, as plenty or agriculture did not render it 
 more populous than England, neither did commerce or 
 the arts depopulate it. Nor is there any conclusion to be 
 drawn from the history of that state, which tends to sup- 
 port our author's system or our own. AU we can remark 
 from the accounts we have of Egpyt is, that the arguments 
 our author has drawn from its history, are not founded on 
 facts, and that it was not such a country as he represents 
 it to be. Besides, if Egypt had been crowded with people 
 so full as Holland has been by commerce, it would have 
 been no wonder, when we consider the conquests of its 
 
 45 monarchs. 
 
526 A Vindication of 
 
 monarchs, the transplantation of captives, the purchases of 
 slaves that were made there, and that the country was the 
 center of commerce between the East Indies and Europe. 
 
 2. It is recorded of Sesostris, that to leave eternal 
 monuments of his memory, he erected a temple in every 
 city in Egypt, and other expensive and admirable works, all 
 which were built by the prisoners he took in war, for 
 which reason he caused the following inscription to be 
 made upon aU the temples. None of the natives laboured 
 here. 
 
 3. It is said that Cephres, &c. erected one of the 
 pyramids, and fed the people who laboured at it with 
 herbs, onions, garlick, and that others did the same, §-c. 
 that the labour was so hard, and the pay so little, (that is, 
 only a support from the above herbs,) that the people 
 being highly incensed by reason of their cruel labour and 
 toil, threatened to pull them out of their graves, tear them 
 to pieces, and cast their carcasses to dogs; upon which 
 account they directed their servants to bury them pri- 
 vately, and not in the sepulchres they had built. And 
 Diodorus informs us, that the people in Egypt generally 
 subsisted on herbs, the lotos, papyrus, kidney beans, &c. 
 He says, they bring up their children with very little cost 
 and are sparing upon that account to admiration. For they 
 provide for them broth made of any mean poor stuff that 
 may be easily had; and feed those who are of strength 
 able to eat it, with the pith of bulrushes roasted in the 
 embers, and with roots and herbs got in the fens ; some- 
 times raw, and sometimes boiled, and at other times fried 
 and boiled. 
 
 4. Notwithstanding the labour and toils of the Egyp. 
 tians were so great, and their sustenance so poor and mean 
 and their condition so wretched, we have our learned dis- 
 sertator's word for it, that the country was extremely 
 populous, and that this miserable supply of food did not 
 prove any obstruction to marriages and propagation. 
 
 46 2. Our 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 527 
 
 2. Our learned author is equally unfortunate in what 
 he says of Greece and Rome. Attica was a barren country. 
 Thucydides observes, that the sterility of its soil screened 
 it from foreign wars, and intestine broils ; that it was an 
 asylum for the exiles of other states, and a refuge to those 
 who loved repose. That the Athenians allowed of a sort 
 of general naturalization, and gave the freedom of the 
 city to all refugees, which at last rendered it so populous, 
 that it was obliged to ease itself by sending colonies into 
 Ionia. We find afterwards, by its conquests, its traffick, 
 and the purchase of slaves, it became exceeding powerful, 
 vastly rich and extremely populous. 
 
 3. As to the other Gracian states, he informs us, that 
 their fertility was their ruin ; for it either rendered them 
 obnoxious to conquests from abroad, or seditions at home : 
 And that they had no incitements to the acquisition of 
 riches, being exposed to the depredations of every invader ; 
 and therefore cultivated no more ground than what was 
 barely necessary for their support for the present, confiding 
 that they should find in all places sustenance sufiicient to 
 serve them from day to day. Thus we find for want of 
 great walled cities to secure them, commerce and tlie arts 
 to enrich them, the people of those states wandered from 
 one place to another, neglecting agriculture, poor, impo- 
 tent, in a word, exposed to the insolence of every one who 
 should think it proper to assail them, either from caprice 
 or avarice. 
 
 4. Some of the first paragraphs of the first book of 
 Thucydides seem to be a full confutation of our author's 
 account of the Grcecian states ; and in every respect a 
 perfect and compleat contradiction of his whole system. 
 
 As to Palestine it never contained so many fighting 
 men as Great Britain : After David had added large ter- 
 ritories to his dominions by conquest, upon Joab's num- 
 bering the people, he found but one million of fighting 
 men; which perhaps is not half what is in England. 
 
 47 And 
 
fi28 A Vindication of 
 
 And we learn from holy writ, that the arts and luxury- 
 were carried to a very high pitch among the Jews. But 
 they owed the acme of their power, riches, and influence 
 to the commerce under their great and wise prince, king 
 Solomon. 
 
 Rome was at first a sanctuary afterwards increased by 
 the conquest and incorporation of the Albans, &c. At 
 last to increase their numbers, they granted the freedom 
 of the city and a general naturalization to all the world. 
 My lord Bacon says, that all states which are liberal of 
 naturalization are fit for empire, and that the Romans 
 granted it to whole cities and nations ; so that it was not 
 the Romans spread upon the whole world ; but the whole 
 world upon the Romans*. 
 
 Upon the whole it appears, that the Egyptians, Jews, 
 Grcecians and Romans, did not owe their populosity, power 
 and riches to agriculture, but to strong cities, good laws, 
 navigation, commerce, conquest and transplanting and 
 purchasing people from other states, to increase the in- 
 habitants of their own. So far are the examples brought 
 from history, from corroborating our author's hypothesis. 
 It is no wonder Swisserland should grow populous, since 
 it has been so long free from wars, and is secured by its 
 barren rocks and poverty from the invasions of its neigh- 
 bours, and is also an asylum for the distressed. But is it 
 either so populous as England or Holland, which have 
 been both drained by large colonies and long wars by sea 
 and land ? 
 
 SECT. XL 
 
 In page the 14th, our learned author says, the second 
 foundation of populousness is the diminution of imaginary 
 
 48 wants. 
 
 * See Parag. the 5th of the Xlth Section. 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 529 
 
 wards. That they require the labour of great multitudes 
 and procure them great wages. 
 
 1. Here is a manifest absurdity, that great multitudes 
 acquire great wages by tbe exercise of the arts, and yet 
 that they introduce a scarcity and penury. Great wages 
 is the same thing virtually as a great plenty of provisions ; 
 for great wages, which will not purchase a great quantity 
 of provisions, cease to be great wages ; such wages are in 
 fact small wages. This every one must see, who does not 
 confound a low value of money with great wages. But 
 did the miserable sustenance arising from radishes, onions, 
 garlick and other herbs, prevent the kingdom of Egypt 
 from growing populous, or destroy the fecundity of the 
 Hebrews, though both natives and slaves were condemned 
 to cruel labours and toils under such wretched support* ? 
 Which are most populous, England, France, and Holland, 
 where the arts, the ornaments and refinements of civil 
 life prevail, and where large and populous cities and towns 
 are frequent : or the states of the Gaffers, Hottentots, and 
 the republicks in North America, where there are no large 
 stinking cities, and where a simplicity of manners obtains, 
 and the objects of curiosity and expence, art and elegance 
 are unknown? 
 
 2. But there may be nasty luxury even among these, 
 as we find from Dr. Douglas's account of North America : 
 for he says, that after success in hunting, they gorge and 
 gluttonnize like dogs, fall a-sleep and wake to repeat the 
 debauch, and seek no farther till hunger excites them 
 again to the chace. And Wafer informs us, that on the 
 isthmus of Darien, the Indians set their old women to 
 chew mace, which they throw into a tub of water to 
 ferment ; and that this slovenly brewing produces a heady 
 spirituous liquor, with which they get as drunk as David's. 
 
 49 sow. 
 
 * According to our author it did not. 
 
530 A Vindication of 
 
 sow. From hence we see it is not abolishing the orna- 
 ments and refinements of civil life, that will preserve 
 temperance and sobriety, since there may be a beastly 
 luxury in poverty, or at least where none of the elegancies 
 of life prevail, which may be more abominable, and more 
 destructive of health, than the more refined luxury among 
 polite nations. 
 
 3. A clean shirt and a laced hat are not inconsistent 
 with piety and virtue, nor ortolans and Burgundy with 
 temperance, nor a feather-bed with fortitude, nor a pinch 
 of snuff with sobriety, nor a handsome woman with 
 chastity. A man may enjoy them all, and yet act up to 
 the dignity of his nature, and conformably to the precepts 
 of religion and morality. 
 
 Neither on the other hand, does a man's confining 
 himself to the use of fat bacon, Lacedemonian broth, 
 muddy beer, coarse woollens, a leather doublet, a canvass 
 shirt and a thatched hovel upon a common, render him 
 the more pious, temperate, sober, chaster, religious and 
 virtuous ; for he may confine himself to the use of all 
 these, and yet be a most sloveidy sinner and beastly pro- 
 fligate. And it seems, that the refined debauchee is the 
 most eligible character of the two. 
 
 Drunkenness was a very fashionable vice among the 
 Scythians ; nay the Persians gave them from that vice, 
 the name of Sacce, or Sakai, which in Persick signified a 
 glutton and a drunkard. And yet these people lived a 
 very simple life, subsisting mostly on horse-flesh, mare's 
 milk, roots, Sj-c. without towns or even houses. See 
 Universal History, Vol. XX. page 15. 
 
 4. Our author in page 16. inveighs bitterly against 
 great cities as being injurious to health. This is true ; but 
 great cities are not necessary to commerce and the prac- 
 tice of the arts. All the ornaments, elegancies and re- 
 finements of civil life may be obtained without such large 
 congregations of people. Neither is debauchery and in- 
 
 50 temperance 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 531 
 
 temperance a necessary effect or consequence of commerce 
 alone. If a country or nation had not two houses stand- 
 ing together ; and there were no more than a hundred 
 houses in every town, the people might he luxurious and 
 debauched. And if we had no commerce^ spirituous 
 liquors, gin and strong beer might do as much mischief to 
 health as Burgundy, Arrack, rum, citron-waters and French 
 brandy. The refinements^ elegancies and ornaments of 
 civil life, do not make intemperance and debauchery ne- 
 cessary ; neither will the exclusion of them make a people 
 abstemious, chaste, virtuous and sober. A people may be 
 all that is bad without commerce and the refinements of 
 civil life, and all that is good with them. A simple life 
 does not extinguish the force of the selfish and cruel 
 passions ; but on the contrary, they appear in more hor- 
 rible shapes among the North Americans, than among the 
 nations which practise refined luxury and cultivate the arts 
 and ornaments of civil life ; which certainly restrain in a 
 great measure their ferocity. 
 
 5. But it appears from the history of the Romans and 
 Italians, that they had many large cities, and that arts, 
 trades and manufactures were practised at Rome, as well 
 as in the great city of London, in the infancy of the state. 
 Numa divided all the inhabitants into distinct societies, 
 according to their several trades and occupations, appoint- 
 ing to each their respective courts and privileges ; such as 
 the goldsmiths, carpenters, curriers, dyers, taylors, &-c. 
 Tarquinius Priscus built the co7nmon sewers at Rome, 
 which were the wonder of the world. The stately and 
 magnificent temples they built, the ornaments they wore, 
 and the trades they employed, shew that they were no 
 more strangers to the refinements of civil life than the 
 Londoners are now. These transactions seem to imply, 
 that husbandry was no more in esteem at Rome, and in 
 the Roman states than it is now in England. The same 
 may be said as to the Greecian states and the Hebrew com- 
 
 51 monwealth 
 
532 A Vindication of 
 
 monwealth. And yet our author absurdly speaks of them 
 as if they were a nation of husbandmen. But if Rome in 
 her infancy had cultivated commerce she would not have 
 been so often reduced to straits by famine. 
 
 6. But as a plenty of provisions and simple necessaries 
 is but another name /or ffreat or high wages, it seems that 
 our author's scheme tends more to debauch and corrupt 
 the lower class of peoplej than to render them sober and 
 temperate ; and from hence to introduce all the evils he 
 exclaims against and pretends to redress. And we think 
 it would rather depopulate the state, than increase and 
 promote propagation. In short if people will be de- 
 bauched, there is no preventing of it, but by cutting off 
 the means. One of the best and surest steps towards it, 
 is to enforce industry by necessity, so as deprive the lower 
 class of both time and wages which may admit of luxury, 
 intemperance, and debauchery. But this is the very 
 reverse of what our author propose^. 
 
 7. Wages in Holland are low in proportion to the price 
 of necessaries, every thing being excessively taxed; the 
 people from hence are exceedingly industrious. And 
 whether from want of the means of debauchery and being 
 constantly obliged to labour, they are more virtuous and 
 sober ; or whether their laws are better, or the people more 
 religious, or whatever be the cause, there are not above 
 four malefactors capitally convicted in a year in the 
 great city of Amsterdam. This seems to argue that their 
 police is much better than ours at London. 
 
 8. Here we would ask this author, whether if his 
 scheme is to be put in practice, we must not set London 
 and all our other great towns and cities on fire ? Whether 
 strong beer, malt, brandy and gin, together with eating 
 animal flesh must not be prohibited ? And how he pro- 
 poses to keep luxury from being run in upon us fromour 
 neighbours ? And if we can do all this, how we are to 
 prevent invasions and a conquest from abroad ? Alas 
 
 52 what 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 533 
 
 what is it this gentleman means by the publication of such 
 a whimsical scheme ? 
 
 SECT. XII. 
 
 In page the 16th and 17th, our learned author talks 
 of the virtues of the Greecian and Roman commonwealths, 
 and their sumptuary laws. But had not the Romans in 
 the early times of the commonwealth, their Appius Clau- 
 dius's, C. Marcius's, Coriolanus's, A. Virginius's, ^c. and a 
 proud, avaricious, and tyrannical senate, that were always 
 struggling to enslave the Plebeians, and aiming to abolish 
 their liberties and privileges ? And in regard to the com- 
 mon people, they were much the same as they are now in 
 England, as we find from their riots, insurrections and 
 secessions. Here this author is fallen into the fashion of 
 applauding the past times we know little of, and of con- 
 demning the present unmercifully, because we see all its 
 vices and imperfections : though it is certain human na- 
 ture has at all times been pretty uniform ; and especially 
 among the common people who have enjoyed liberty. 
 
 We may learn also from Plutarch, &c. that in the time 
 of Numa they had all manner of trades practised among 
 them, that contribute to ornament, magnificence, sump- 
 tuosity and luxury*. 
 
 As to the GrcBcian states, the Athenians, Corinthians, 
 &.C. they cultivated arts, practised commerce, and carried 
 all the ornaments and refinements of civil life to the 
 greatest perfection and excess ; and yet they sent out colo- 
 nies to Ionia, to all the islands of the JEgean sea, to Sicily. 
 Italy, &c. and dispersed themselves all over the world. 
 This does not seem to imply, that commerce and the arts 
 
 53 depopulated 
 
 * See above. 
 
534 A Vindication of 
 
 depopulated the countryj or prevented fecundity and pro- 
 pagation. The Phoenicians did the same, and planted 
 Carthage, and many other colonies. The people grew too 
 numerous by commerce for their countries to contain them, 
 which necessitated them to lessen the burden and reduce 
 the overstocked hive by planting colonies in other 
 countries. So far are these states, their manners, customs 
 and occurrences from supporting our author's visionary 
 and chimerical system. Commerce drew multitudes to 
 them ; colonies eased them of their burthens. In short, 
 our author's discourse serves every where to shew his great 
 ignorance of antiquity, and little knowledge of mankind 
 at present. 
 
 3. Page 17th our author says, that a third cause of 
 populousness is industry ; and that no greater encourage- 
 ment can be given to universal industry than every one's 
 having a certain prospect of obtaining by it a comfortable 
 subsistence for himself and his family : That a moderate 
 proportion of their time and pains may furnish an ample 
 provision for all their demands. 
 
 This is the state of our poor at present, and therefore 
 we cannot conceive why such useless instruction is given 
 here. But our poor cannot only acquire a eomfortable 
 support by working only a small part of their time, but 
 also the means of debauchery ; and this is the reason why 
 our common people both in town and country are so 
 wicked, debauched and profligate. The only way to make 
 them temperate and industrious, is to lay them under a 
 necessity of labouring all the time they can spare from 
 meals and sleep, in order to procure the common neces- 
 saries of life. That is, to reduce them to a state the very 
 reverse of what this author proposes ; as his system tends 
 to nothing but the promotion of luxury, insolence, pro- 
 fligacy and debauchery, by furnishing the poor with the 
 means and temptations to these, viz. high wages, a plenty 
 of every thing, and spare time. Besides, how is this con- 
 
 54 sistent 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 535 
 
 sistent with the populousness of Egypt, which our author 
 speaks of, and which we have shewn was the consequence 
 of being obliged to subsist on radishes, onions and 
 garlick ? 
 
 3. The reason why the populace in cities are so pro- 
 fligatCj is the high wages they receive; the chief reason of 
 the greater sobriety among husbandmen is their low wages. 
 For in the country where manufactures are carried on, 
 and wages are high, the people are as profligate and de- 
 bauched as in towns and cities. When provisions are dear, 
 so that virtually wages are less, industry and sobriety 
 assume their seat among the manufacturers ; and if they 
 have employment they live better than in times of plenty. 
 All our author's reasoning on those matters arises from his 
 unacquaintance with mankind : And what he advances in 
 the contrast, he has drawn between the city and country, 
 he ascribes to wrong causes. Great wages and certainty 
 of employment render the inhabitants of cities insolent 
 and debauched. Low wages and uncertainty of employ- 
 ment near at hand, if discharged, make the husbandman 
 temperate and humble. Yet this gentleman proposes by 
 cheapness of provisions and spare time, to make this inso- 
 lence and debauchery general. And if his principle that 
 temperance increases propagation be true, the cheapness 
 of provisions he proposes, tends to depopulate a state. 
 
 From what has been offered it appears clearly, that 
 there is a manifest absurdity in all our author's principles, 
 and that they are repugnant to each other. 
 
 1. A plenty or cheapness of provisions is manifestly 
 incompatible with general industry. 
 
 2. That the diminishing, or abolishing imaginary 
 wants and the consumption of exoticks, takes away the 
 very object and means of industry. 
 
 3. A great plenty or cheapness of provisions, and the 
 abolishing the consumption of exoticks, and diminishing 
 or excluding imaginary wants, would introduce an univer- 
 
 55 sal 
 
536 A Vindication of 
 
 sal sloth and insolence among the mass of the people^ 
 ■which might end in barbarism. 
 
 4. That a great plenty of provisions, or high wages, 
 ■with a diminution of the consumption of exoticks and 
 imaginary-wants would make way for universal luxury and 
 debauchery, and furnish the mass of the people with the 
 means of it, and temptations to it ; viz: high wages and 
 spare time, by which profligacy, intemperance, insolence, 
 contempt of order, and all manner of debauchery, like a 
 flood, would overspread the state, and end in depopu- 
 lation. 
 
 SECT. XIII. 
 
 In page the 19th and 20th, our author has advanced 
 the same false principle but inverted, which he had in page 
 11. and 12; viz. that as commerce increases money, it in- 
 creases the price of commodities to the disadvantage of the 
 labourer : Because it augments the price of his necessaries 
 in a greater proportion than it increases the price of 
 labour. 
 
 Our author says page the 20th, when by an increase of 
 money things grow dearer, it is obvious the whole increase 
 of the price of any one's labour can be no greater, than 
 the advance upon that particular commodity in which every 
 man is employed. But the additional expence of living 
 incurred unavoidably by the same means, must be equivalent 
 to the whole advance upon the price of all the necessaries of 
 life put together. 
 
 1. We have proved above, that the increase of money 
 in a state does not necessarily augment the price of com- 
 modities, to which we refer the reader. And we shall 
 here endeavour to demonstrate, that if it does, it will not 
 augment the price of living in a greater proportion, than 
 
 5G it 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 537 
 
 it augments the price of labour, in the manner which our 
 author contends for. 
 
 2. Let us suppose that by the increase of money, the 
 price of any one man's labour is increased fifty per cent : 
 That he used to earu twenty pounds a year, and that half 
 of his earnings was paid to land and brokerage of com- 
 modities, and the other half to labour bestowed on them, 
 that is ten pounds to labour and ten pounds to the other 
 two. If then labour be raised fifty per cent, he will 
 receive thirty pounds for his year's labour, instead of 
 twenty younds : If likewise a hundred persons labour to 
 provide his necessaries, their labour will amount on fifty 
 per cent, advance, to fifteen pounds, which cost before but 
 ten pounds. And if the value of the land and brokerage 
 which produces and circulates them, remains as before : 
 in this case the labourer will be able to purchase as many 
 necessaries as he did before the advance, for twenty-five 
 pounds ; by which he will be a gainer of five pounds. 
 But if land and brokerage advance fifty per cent, likewise, 
 then he must give thirty pounds for the same necessaries 
 he purchased before for twenty pounds ; and in this case 
 he will be no loser. If he spent eight shillings a week in 
 the first case, he paid no more than four shillings to 
 labour, though a thousand trades received a part of it. If 
 he spend twelve shillings in the second case, he pays but 
 six shillings a week to labour, though a thousand trades 
 more divide it among them. Nay often, if he spend 
 exoticks, he purchases them cheaper, than he can native 
 commodities of the same kind, viz. linen cloth, grain, ^c. 
 It is from hence demonstratively plain, that all our author 
 has said on this head is absolutely false. 
 
 3. Besides since our commerce has been increased to 
 eight times what it was, and our treasure in the same pro- 
 portion, the price of all our native commodities on the 
 average is sunk not less than thirty ^er cent. An increase 
 of money lowers interest, and falls the price of brokerage 
 
 57 in 
 
538 A Vindication of 
 
 in proportion. If money were as scarce as in queen 
 Elizabeth's reign when it yielded ten per cent, the price of 
 brokerage would be now three times as high as it is. 
 Suppose the interest of money was ten per cent, and a 
 commodity passes through three hands, and that at the 
 same time the amount of brokerage is double the value of 
 the annual interest of money. In this case the amount 
 of commodities to the value of a hundred pounds in the 
 first hand, wUl be raised in the third hand from the maker 
 or importer, to a hundred and seventy-four pounds : 
 Whereas if the interest of money be but five per cent, the 
 amount of such commodities would be but a hundred and 
 thirty-three pounds, which makes a difference of forty- 
 one pounds on a hundred pounds laid out by the merchant. 
 But if we may believe many accounts given of the profits 
 of trade when money was ten and twelve per cent, there is 
 reason to believe that the price of foreign commodities 
 and home manufactures were advanced three hundred per 
 cent, higher than at present. Likewise when the interest 
 of money is high from its scarcity, people can make a 
 greater advantage of it by putting it into trade, or out on 
 securities, than by employing it in agriculture, from 
 whence the lands are neglected and in a greater degree. 
 Hence it follows, that where there is a great plenty of 
 money brought in by commerce, and more than the trade 
 of a state can employ, there the lands will soon be im- 
 proved to the highest degree possible considering the 
 quantity of people. This is the case in Holland where 
 their lands have been raised to fifteen pounds per ann. per 
 acre. Where the improvement of lands takes place, pro- 
 vision must grow cheap. It is then more likely, that the 
 increase of money should introduce intemperance and 
 sloth among the bulk of the people, than obstruct mar- 
 riage and propagation, by rendering the necessaries of life 
 dear and its common supports difficult to be acquired. 
 The great exportations of grain shew that this is the case 
 
 58 in 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 539 
 
 in England, and that the lands produce more than we can 
 consume^ though we eat great quantities of flesh, butter 
 and cheese, and though the poor consume such vast sums 
 in gin, which require immense heaps of grain for its 
 manufacture. 
 
 4. But this author says page 21, that when money 
 becomes plentiful, necessaries will be more scarce ; for the 
 numbers which would otherwise be employed in their pro- 
 duction, must be unavoidably diminished by as many as are 
 engaged in commerce and the arts of ornament alone. 
 
 To this it may be answered, that if mankind employed 
 themselves in nothing but the productions absolutely 
 necessary to life, seven in eight must be idle, or all be idle 
 seven eighths of their time. And yet they might indulge 
 intemperance, and sink in the beastly vices of slovenly 
 gluttony and drunkenness. And this we find to be ac- 
 tually the case among the Hottentots, North Americans 
 and the Mosquetoes on the Isthmus of Darien. 
 
 5. If arts, commerce and elegancies were to be 
 banished out of this nation, sloth, intemperance and 
 gluttony, would become universal : that is if commerce 
 be prohibited and all the lands as well cultivated as at 
 present, which our author proposes. But we think the 
 consequence at first would be great poverty and distress 
 among the poor for want of employment, and therefore 
 this argument must be considered only ad hominem ; or 
 what would arise from our author's own principles, sup- 
 posing the plenty he contends for would ensue from the 
 practice of his own system : For we do not think such 
 consequences would actually arise, as the price of lands 
 and labour are settled at present. Provisions are so low 
 and wages so high at present, that is in plentiful seasons, 
 or on the average, that these vices have spread themselves 
 through all the lower ranks of people. The excise books 
 will convince any reasonable man, that a dearness of pro- 
 visions and little employment, are the best curbs to those 
 
 59 vices. 
 
540 A Vindication of 
 
 vices. Whilst through a cheapness of necessariesj high 
 wages and a plenitude of employment, the instruments of 
 excess, intemperance and debauchery are to be procured, 
 the lower class of people will gratify their appetites. To 
 extirpate vice is impossible ; all the rtder can do is to 
 cramp it by obliging the lower class of people to labour 
 constantly to acquire necessaries, which cuts off the 
 sources of intemperance and debauchery. But so little 
 acquainted is our author with mankind, that he proposes 
 to open the sluices of excess, and depopulation, viz. high 
 wages and a plenty of provisions, in order to render a 
 people prolifick and sober. 
 
 6. When we had but little commerce we had but few 
 people. The lands were in an over proportion to the 
 number of inhabitants, and so of little value. From 
 hence the price of labour and brokerage was high, and 
 the price of provisions low; so low, that a man might 
 purchase a bushel of wheat by two days labour. In 
 Edward Ill's time, wheat was cheap and not above one 
 eighth of the relative value as at present. This made the 
 people very idle and debauched as we find from the 
 statutes of the 33d and 25th of his reign. In his reign 
 for want of commerce there was a most grievous famine, 
 so that the price of wheat was thirteen times as high as in 
 common, through poverty and a want of foreign trade. 
 And though the exportation of wheat was prohibited once 
 in about twenty years, thousands generally perished of 
 famine. 
 
 It must be observed, that we premise in case the arts 
 and refinements of civil life were banished out of society, 
 that letting the lands at a high price would be of no use 
 to their possessors : And therefore that they would be 
 reduced to one eighth of their present value. For if the 
 lands were to be let at the price they fetch now ; and the 
 arts were to be banished out of society, three fourths of 
 the people would be starved for want of employment. 
 
 60 7. Our 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 541 
 
 7. Our author complains that the farmers cultivate 
 their lands only in such a manner, that the staple commo- 
 dities of life may not fail of a high price and quick 
 demand. 
 
 But if we banish commerce upon a had crop from 
 unseasonable weather^ the farmers will have a monopoly 
 against the people, and may make what price they please 
 of their grain. Nay they will have this monopoly against 
 the people at all times. Nothing contributes more to the 
 increase of mankind than the relief commerce affords in 
 times of a dearth of wheat. High wages and a plenty of 
 provisions which admit debauchery, are as fatal to the 
 increase of mankind^ as bad harvests and a want of com- 
 merce to supply the defect. When we had no commerce 
 and this nation was thinly peopled^ one scanty crop de- 
 stroyed more people in one year, than the practice of all 
 the virtues recruited in a hundred. 
 
 Upon the whole, this author proposes to banish com- 
 merce in order to procure a plenty of provisions, and with 
 a plenty of provisions to preserve ebriety and industry ; 
 things the most repugnant to each other in nature. No 
 political dreamer ever stumbled upon a more inconsistent 
 project. 
 
 On the contrary we have fully proved, that by abolish- 
 ing commerce, by excluding all imaginary wants, by 
 banishing the arts, ornaments, refinements and elegancies 
 of civil life, and as a consequence by rendering all neces- 
 saries extreamly cheap. 
 
 1. All industry will be destroyed, and sloth be intro- 
 duced, which are likely to end in barbarism. 
 
 2. Debauchery, slovenly luxury, and coarse intempe- 
 rance and insolence will prevail ; and sometimes desolating 
 famines ensue ; all which are destructive of the increase 
 of mankind, and tend to depopulate a nation. 
 
 61 SECT. 
 
542 A Vindication of 
 
 SECT. XIV. 
 
 In page 22. our author says, when commerce has thrown 
 wealth into the hands of many, expensive enjoyments will 
 extend to each inferior order, and introduce an extravagant 
 manner of living in all. 
 
 A few pages back, this author represents commerce as 
 rendering all the necessaries of life scarce, but here he 
 says, it will introduce an extravagant manner of living in 
 each inferior order and among all. But how is this pos- 
 sible ? There is nothing but high wages and a plenty of 
 provisions can support an extravagant way of living. As 
 necessity is the parent of industry, so it obliges to oeco- 
 nomy and frugality. But our author is so unfortnnate as 
 to be always joining repugnancies in friendly concert, and 
 uniting contradictions and inconsistencies. 
 
 2. As to celibacy occasioned by employing servants, in 
 the more simple times, as our author calls them, it may be 
 replied, the retainers and servants in great men's families 
 in those times were much more numerous than at present. 
 But the celibacy of the priesthood, which in France de- 
 prives the state of three or four hundred thousand souls 
 per annum, and depopulates Europe more than all its wars, 
 and the luxury practised in it, this gentleman has slipped 
 over unnoticed. The removal of this cause of depopula- 
 tion would prove one of the principal causes of rendering 
 many nations populous. Why he has left this ridiculous 
 superstition unattacked we cannot ■ divine, but he best 
 knows himself. 
 
 3. In page 22. he likewise at last confesses, that the 
 commercial arts promote industry and allure foreigners 
 into a country : And that they may make it flourish for a 
 long period of time, but at last will destroy it. 
 
 4. Here he has given up his whole system. As to the 
 
 63 destruction 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 543 
 
 destruction it produces, lie may be asked how comes the 
 republick of Venice to have subsisted for one thousand 
 three hundred years, which was the greatest commercial 
 state in Europe for many ages ? The diminution of its 
 glory has been owing to the diminution of its commerce, 
 which by various accidents has been diverted to other 
 states. Holland has maintained its power and influence 
 for near two hundred years, and is now the richest and 
 most populous state in Europe, and the center of all its 
 exchanges. It is true, its prodigious struggles for freedom 
 and the wars it has carried on to vindicate its liberty and 
 establish its independency, have involved it in debt, and 
 loaded it heavily with taxes : But yet the people are very 
 rich, very frugal, and their country a magazine of all the 
 commodities of the universe. 
 
 5. But how does the ruin he speaks of agree with 
 what he has laid down in page the 35th, viz. That when a 
 country is grown so populous, that its products will 
 scarcely maintain them, its end being to procure the very 
 requisites of life, trade will ever be accompanied with a 
 general industry and a national frugality. In one place 
 he says the arts and commerce will destroy themselves, 
 and in the other, that they will produce universal industry 
 and national frugality. Here he avers two opposite effects 
 will spring from the same cause, a manifest contradiction. 
 But it is no strange thing to see an author whose system 
 is not founded in truth, to oppose in one place the argu- 
 ments he has offered in another. 
 
 6. The populousness of Holland was owing to its free- 
 dom, its good government, and its commerce. This popu- 
 lousness has rendered its lands unable to support their 
 inhabitants, and has been a capital cause of the extension 
 of its commerce still farther, by making the superfluities 
 of other nations necessary to their own subsistence. Thus 
 other nations give them their superfluous provisions in 
 exchange for the necessary manufactures of Holland. If 
 
 63 the 
 
544 A Vindication of 
 
 the Dutch could not take off their raw materials and pro- 
 visions, those nations could not purchase Dutch fish, 
 spices and manufactures. 
 
 7. The reason why commerce seldom flourishes in a 
 fertile country thinly peopled, is because land being there 
 of small value from the scarcity of inhabitants, provisions 
 are cheap and plentiful, and labour dear. Edward III. 
 tried to remedy this evil in order to extend commerce, as 
 we find by the statutes of the 23d and 35th of his reign ; 
 but his remedy was unequal to the evil, he could not sink 
 the price of labour so low as he intended, and as was 
 necessary to establish a foreign trade; so that for many 
 years after, the Flemings bought our wool, paid high 
 custom out, manufactured it and paid custom in, and yet 
 sold cheaper than the natives. 
 
 8. But if a state thinly peopled, by a good internal • 
 police can keep down the price of labour, and thereby 
 establish a large foreign commerce ; if its political institu- 
 tions do not prove obstacles, it will soon be full of people, 
 and have all its lands fully improved. These arguments 
 prove the very reverse of what our author advances to be 
 true ; for here a plenty appears an impediment to an in- 
 crease of people. Our author always presumes, that a 
 nation can never increase in people, but by rendering the 
 inhabitants prolifick. This assumption and error tacitly 
 run almost through all his discourse. But it is evident to 
 any man of common sense, that a police which will allure 
 and induce foreigners to reside in a country, may render it 
 more populous in a year's time, than the practice of all 
 our author's maxims would in a thousand years. Therefore 
 agriculture is not 'C&& "principal cause of the populousness of 
 nations, as our author suggests : nay, nor would be, though 
 it was combined with the practice of all the virtues and 
 political institutions he recommends. 
 
 The frugality in Holland is the consequence of their 
 great taxes ; md the deafness of provisions arise from the 
 
 64 same 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 545 
 
 same source ; to which may be added^ that the product of 
 their lauds must he necessarily dear from the great ex- 
 pence they are at in keeping up their dikes and draining 
 off the waters with which they are flooded. This in some 
 places amounts to near seven eighths of their value^ in 
 others to three fourths : And their taxes on grain at the 
 mills to the value of the wheat ground. This of course 
 makes the people laborious and frugal. 
 
 9. But according to our author's reasonings in page 
 the 23d, commerce and the arts ought to have introduced 
 luxury, and to have brought on their ruin instead of 
 having introduced universal industry and national frugality, 
 which he declares to be the consequence of a people's 
 growing by commerce too numerous for its lands to sup- 
 port. 
 
 But those who have closely attended to human nature 
 and to the progress of human affairs, know that commerce 
 naturally leads to justice, temperance, industry and fru- 
 gality ; and if it does not encourage a profuse generosity, 
 at least it cultivates an amiable benevolence and humanity. 
 On the other hand, war and conquest naturally lead to 
 injustice, murder and rapine. Ambition excited by pride 
 and vain glory, avarice prompted by luxury and profusion, 
 insolence swelled by dominion and authority, create a 
 passion for slaughter and plunder. And when men have 
 been used to the exercise of those diabolical arts among 
 their neighbours, it is no wonder if they turn to the prac- 
 tice of the same among themselves. This was the case 
 among the Romans, who were a nation of soldiers, not a 
 republick of merchants, as Venice and Holland are. The 
 empire of the Romans founded and established by con- 
 quest, did not last much above half the time which the 
 republick of Venice has subsisted by commerce. 
 
 History does not furnish accounts of any state ren- 
 dered so populous by agriculture, as Holland has been by 
 commerce. Besides the populousness of Holland did not 
 
 65 take 
 
546 A Vindication of 
 
 take its rise from agriculture, but its improvements in 
 agriculture were the effect of its commerce and populosity. 
 No states were ever rendered so populous by agriculture 
 as Tyre, Carthage, Venice and Holland have been by com- 
 merce. The lands have never been so well cultivated in 
 any states, as in those where commerce and the arts have 
 beea cherished and have flourished. Commerce allures 
 people, people must be fed, necessity of food prompts in- 
 vention, and carries the arts of agriculture to the highest 
 pitch of perfection. 
 
 To say that agriculture must first fill a state with 
 people, before commerce should be cherished and encour- 
 aged, seems ridiculous. What reason can be assigned why 
 the lands should not be cultivated, if the inhabitants are 
 constantly increased by an influx of people from abroad, 
 as well as if there were no such accretion ? Nay, is it not 
 a glaring absurdity to suppose a superfluity of lands should 
 be as soon and as well cultivated by the natural increase 
 of mankind, as by the rapid multiplication and increase 
 produced by the allurements of commerce? And yet this 
 absurdity is the very essence of this gentleman's system. 
 
 SECT. XV. 
 
 In Sect. TV. p. 23. our author inveighs against great 
 cities as prejudicial to health and morals. 
 
 1. Why should this be a disparagement to commerce, 
 since great cities are neither necessary to commerce nor 
 j)eculiar to a commercial state? There is a district in 
 England, where the houses stand a furlong apart, and yet 
 the people are as debauched as in the city of London. 
 But this is owing to high wages, or a plentiful supply of 
 provisions, which our author contends ought to be the lot 
 
 66 of 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 547 
 
 of every labourer. When a dearth of grain happens, these 
 labourers are as sober, humble and temperate, as auy 
 thresher in England, whose acquaintance is confined to 
 the ploughman and his helper. 
 
 Page 24. our author says, dissolute and debauched 
 habits owe their influence to luxury and idleness. And 
 yet he contends for a plenty of provisions. Where wages 
 are Igw, there it is impossible luxury and idleness should 
 exist. But where they are high, labourers will indulge 
 themselves in both. But when did we ever find celibacy 
 in fashion among the common people, who are the mass of 
 mankind ? The bulk of the people want no incitement to 
 the union of the marriage state, Providence has taken great 
 care of that matter. Every wise state will promote marriage 
 and punish bachelors, but no state can prevent monsters. 
 The laws for promoting marriages were original laws 
 among the Greeks and Romans, and not institutions con- 
 sequent to luxury and commerce, and so they prove nothing 
 to our author's purpose. They were made to influence 
 the conduct of the rich and great men, not the poor. 
 For they were suffered to expose their infants in order to 
 limit populosity, and restrain the natural increase of 
 mankind. 
 
 3. It is acknowledged, that commerce is in some de- 
 gree prejudicial to health, and that navigation destroys 
 many sailors. But the relief it brings to a country in case 
 of failure of crops from unseasonable weather, there is 
 reason to believe, saves a thousand times more lives than 
 it destroys. The histories of the dreadful famines in this 
 kingdom formerly as well as in other inland states prove 
 this most clearly. 
 
 The Longobardi left their country by lot, compelled by 
 famine. The migrations from the north were generally 
 occasioned by famines ; but as in our days, commerce 
 alleviates or redresses those evils, there is no reason for 
 such fatal expeditions, which generally produced the de- 
 
 67 struction 
 
548 A Vindication of 
 
 struction either of the emigrants, oi' the invaded; and 
 must have been extremely mortal to both the assailants 
 and the assailed. 
 
 4. But whether this be true or false is not to the 
 purpose, for the question is, what causes principally con- 
 tribute to render a nation populous ; not whether or no 
 navigation destroys many of the species. This may be 
 the case, and yet commerce and the arts for every one that 
 is lost, may allure twenty more in its room from other 
 states, which do not favour them. And this is actually 
 the case. Cherishing commerce and a peculiar regard to 
 the arts, is therefore one of the causes which principally 
 contribute to render a nation populous, and not a peculiar 
 regard and attention to agriculture ; which is diametrically 
 opposite to what our author has advanced. 
 
 SECT. XVI. 
 
 Page 26. This gentleman says, that commerce and the 
 arts assuredly ieget licentious and vitiated inclinations, and 
 a contempt for institutions the most sacred and necessary to 
 society. 
 
 It has been observed that commerce and travelling 
 soften mens manners, and rub off the rudeness and 
 brutality natural to a rustick life : And that it is a means 
 of banishing bigotry and superstition; and calming the 
 animosity, which people who do not converse with man- 
 kind, often entertain against those who differ from them 
 in sentiments of religion and other customs and usages. 
 But that commerce, the arts and ornaments of hfe tend 
 to beget a contempt for the most sacred institutions, is 
 certainly a falsehood and a calumny that cannot be sup- 
 ported by facts or experience. 
 
 68 But 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 549 
 
 But though this gentleman entertains such a great 
 opinion of the temperancej sobriety and purity of manners, 
 which prevail in the country, we fancy if he were to 
 attend to the manners, behaviour and conversation of a 
 crowd of hay-makers, reapers, 6fc. but one summer, he 
 would be thoroughly convinced that luxury, voluptuous- 
 ness, sensuality, debauchery, prophaneness, filthy dis- 
 course, §-c. are no strangers to the country : And that the 
 sobriety and simplicity of manners he talks of, are no 
 where to be found but in the kingdom of Utopia. 
 
 2. History informs us, that wars, animosities, the 
 passions of pride, lust, avarice, revenge, cruelty, 8fc. ap- 
 pear as strongly in North-America and among the Negroes 
 of Africa, as among the Europeans, where the ornaments 
 of civil life are cultivated. Nay we may aver, that they 
 appear in more horrible and dreadful shapes. If we lived 
 the simple lives of horses, cocks and bulls, we might still 
 suffer all the evils arising from the violence of the pas- 
 sions and selfish affections. 
 
 3. In page 26. our author says, that a nation which is 
 not fully peopled, will certainly become at length more popu- 
 lous by agriculture, than by commerce. 
 
 We can only say to this, that we believe, that this 
 sentiment never entered into the heart of any other man 
 besides our author, and that this has been sufficiently 
 demonstrated in the preceding pages. 
 
 4. But before we leave this subject, we would take 
 the freedom to ask this learned gentleman, whether he 
 thinks, that if the Dutch from the year 1567, to the 
 present time had renounced the arts of commerce and 
 addicted themselves to agriculture only, their country 
 would have been so populous, and so fertile as it is at pre- 
 sent? It is certain its commerce drew people, and its 
 people increased its commerce, and improved its lands. 
 It is the best cultivated of any country in the world, and 
 the most populous : But its agriculture was not the cause 
 
 69 ' of 
 
550 A Vindication of 
 
 of its populosity, but its populosity the cause of its agri- 
 culture, and the arts and comnierce the cause of both. 
 De Wit and Sir William Temple both agree, that the lands 
 of Holland were in themselves poor and sterile, and that 
 the present fertility of the soil, is not owing to its natural 
 richness, but to the industry of its inhabitants, and their 
 attention to agriculture. From whence it appears that it 
 is the populousness of a country enriches the lands, and 
 not the richness of the lands renders a country populous. 
 England has increased more in people the last hundred 
 years, than ever it did in any two hundred years before, 
 though we have been drained by long wars, have excluded 
 foreigners by severe laws, and have been very frugal of 
 naturalizations ; a conduct full of absurdity, whilst we 
 have so many large tracts of land that lie waste. 
 
 5. The antients pursued a different policy often, Dio- 
 dorus Siculus informs us, that the Trachineans, having 
 lost great numbers of their people, applied to Sparta for a 
 new stock of inhabitants. The Spartans sent them ten 
 thousand men, among whom they divided the lands of 
 those who perished. 
 
 6. Timoleon finding Syracuse, &c. depopulated by war, 
 tyranny and faction, invited new inhabitants from Greece 
 to people the cities. Plutarch says, sixty thousand men 
 immediately offered themselves, among whom he dis- 
 tributed as many lots of lands to the great satisfaction of 
 the antient inhabitants. 
 
 7. Our political maxims are the very reverse : There 
 are people would bring wealth, arts and industry among 
 us, instead of desiring lands as a reward or allurement to 
 reside with us, and yet we most impolitickly refuse to 
 admit them. Is not this madness ? 
 
 8. In page 26. our learned author says, that commerce 
 and the arts should not be admitted, till a people are become 
 so exceeding numerous, that the whole produce of the 
 country will feed no more. 
 
 70 We 
 
Commerce and. the Arts. 551 
 
 We believe, that -witliout the aid and succour of com- 
 merce and the arts, that there never was such a country 
 in the world, nor ever will be. If the absence or want of 
 commerce and the arts is so favourable to propagation and 
 populosity, how comes it about, that Russia, Tartary, 
 Arabia, Africa and North- America are not the most popu- 
 lous countries upon the face of the globe? If the arts, 
 ornaments, refinements of civil life, and the most elegant 
 luxury tend to curb the increase of mankind, how comes 
 it that the Chinese are the most populous nation in the 
 world ? All agree, that they are as luxurious as populous ; 
 and that provisions are very dear throughout the country, 
 for the whole subsistence of the lower class of people is 
 only a little rice. 
 
 9. A country without commerce and the arts will very 
 difficultly subsist. Famines must often happen in such a 
 state : We fi.nd this was the case of the inhabitants of 
 Palestine. It seems from holy writ by the charity to the 
 poor so often recommended, that the state was very poor 
 and wretched, till Solomon introduced and improved com- 
 merce and the arts. Without commerce and the arts, it 
 will be difficult likewise to support their liberty ; thus the 
 Jews were often carried away captives and made slaves to 
 other nations. The reason now subsists much stronger, as 
 the art of war is much altered. 
 
 10. In a state where there is great luxury and refine- 
 ments, there must be great labour and riches among indi- 
 viduals. This luxury and these refinements furnish the 
 labourers with the means of their support. The rents of 
 the lands must furnish the rich with the means of this 
 luxury ; without which it cannot subsist : The lands must 
 then be well cultivated. An extensive luxury then implies 
 a large production of all the necessaries of life, and great 
 employment of the people. So that where such luxury 
 reigns among the rich, a full supply of necessaries must 
 attend it among the poor, because it creates great employ- 
 
 71 mentj 
 
552 A Vindication of 
 
 ment. Yet it is true the support a man may receive from 
 his labour, depends on the compound relation between the 
 price of land, labour and money, in a state, which often 
 arises from accident. 
 
 11. If so great a number of people be employed in the 
 arts, that the price of labour is raised in husbandry, and 
 necessaries thereby become dearer ; this high price of 
 labour in husbandry will draw the manufacturers from 
 arts to husbandry, and occasion more labour in husbandry, 
 by which the equilibrium will be restored, and the price of 
 provisions reduced to their former state. This is easily 
 done, because bare labour in husbandry requires little 
 dexterity, genius and skill. It is not so in the arts; 
 from whence there is no reason to suspect, there will ever 
 be a want of hands in husbandry ; or that the price of 
 labour in it will ever advance high. If provisions in 
 general rise much in price whilst there are waste lands, 
 more will be converted to tillage, and what are in use will 
 be farther improved, so that all these inequalities tend to 
 correct themselves. 
 
 This will more especially obtain in a country where 
 money is plenty, because there its interest and brokerage 
 being low, a man will not be able to turn it to any use, so 
 profitable and advantageous as to the culture of lands, if 
 provisions bear but a tolerable price. Thus it appears that 
 the very reverse to what our author suggests, will be the 
 consequence of a great plenty of money, namely a low 
 price for provisions instead of a high one : This theory is 
 confirmed by experience, and by the present price of pro- 
 visions on the average, compared with what it was a hun- 
 dred years ago ; notwithstanding we sometimes export 
 grain to the value of three millions in one year. 
 
 Therefore a great home consumption or luxury in 
 native commodities cannot render them dear. The poor 
 can spend no more than they earn, or is given them by 
 the rich ; the farmers and traders save, and the rich can- 
 
 73 not 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 553 
 
 not spend more than their incomes without becoming 
 pooTj upon which the trader and farmer will divide his 
 estate amongst them. The stock of commodities in the 
 nation, which is still increasing, the great national debt, 
 and the increase of plate and jewels, shews that if the 
 publick spend, individuals in the state save. From these 
 reasonings it is manifest, that a great home consumption 
 does not tend to produce a scarcity of commodities. That 
 is where the lands are not cultivated to the highest degree 
 of perfection. It is only foreign luxury which ruins a 
 state, that is, such a consumption of exoticks as drains us 
 of our cash, turns the poor out of employment, and robs 
 the lands of consumptioners of their product. 
 
 12. There are two circumstances in which there may 
 be a scarcity ; these are when bad crops of grain happen 
 from unseasonable weather, and when the farmers from 
 their great riches are enabled to withhold a supply from 
 the market, and advance its price. There is nothing but 
 granaries or commerce which can produce a cure for these 
 evils. But in a country where a failure of the crops 
 seldom happens, it would be difiQcult to manage granaries 
 to any great advantage, for the stock of grain in them 
 would be liable to corrupt and must be sold often. We 
 will not say such an expedient for preventing scarcities is 
 impracticable, but there is reason to think so many difiB- 
 culties attend it, that such a scheme will never be carried 
 into execution. 
 
 The admission of the exportation of grain and the 
 rendering it an object of commerce, is the best method 
 which can be pursued to prevent scarcities from bad crops. 
 If one third of the lands employed in tillage be cultivated 
 for the use of foreigners, and at the same time one third 
 of the crop should fail ; by a prohibition of the exporta- 
 tion of grain, the price would be kept down, and there 
 would be enough left for our own use and consumption. 
 In case there should not be enough to suffice the inhabi- 
 
 73 tants. 
 
554 A Vindication of 
 
 tants^ a supply might be brought from our American 
 colonies. These two circumstances shew the great use of 
 commerce^ and how much it conduces to the preventing 
 depopulation in a state ; and at the same time they prove 
 the weakness of our author^s principles and the absurdity 
 of his system. 
 
 SECT. XVII. 
 
 In page 27, Our author says, an equal division of the 
 lands is necesssry to carry his system into execution, and 
 raise it to perfection. We will cite the passage at large 
 which runs as follows. 
 
 1. " Of all political institutions, none seems more imme- 
 diately requisite (to promote agriculture) than an equal divi- 
 sion of lands. For as soon as the wants of each are satisfied, 
 which in times of simplicity a very small possession will be 
 sufficient for, there can be no farther inducement to cul- 
 tivate more land. In this case therefore, if the property 
 of numbers is much larger than their wants require, great 
 quantities of land must remain uncultivated, and a country 
 be deprived of a proportionable number of inhabitants." 
 Then he says ; " whenever this inequality obtains, the 
 introduction of commerce and elegance is the only remedy 
 for its pernicious effects. These (that is commerce and 
 elegance) by multiplying the desires of men, will induce 
 such as have large possessions to cultivate them for the 
 purchase of superfluities, and thus create employment and 
 subsistence for greater numbers than before. But from 
 what has already been proved at large, they can never 
 increase by these means, as where property is equally 
 divided, and the necessary arts priccipally attended to. 
 There every one will possess and cultivate enough to 
 satisfy his demands, and the same provision will remain 
 
 74 for 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 555 
 
 for the increase of each succeeding generation, till the 
 country is stocked with as many inhabitants as its produce 
 can support." 
 
 2. This is a strange jumble of reasoning, the first part 
 damns his whole system ; the last clause recalls and re- 
 vokes the sentence again. We will examine it in a par- 
 ticular manner. 
 
 Our author in the first place, proposes an Agrarian, 
 but in consequence allows, that great quantities of land 
 must remaiu uncultivated, and a country be deprived of a 
 proportionable number of inhabitants. 
 
 3. Then he proposes the introduction of commerce, 
 and all that he had exploded before, in order to remedy 
 its pernicious effects. That is, depopulation or want of 
 people, and the lands lying without cultivation. And yet 
 he retracts immediately, and denies that this will remedy 
 the pernicious effects he had acknowledged just before 
 would flow from an Agrarian ; and in contradiction to the 
 remedy proposed to the pernicious effects, he declares that 
 he has proved at large, that a people can never increase by 
 commerce and elegance, so much as they may where the 
 necessary arts are principally attended to. 
 
 4. Or thus the argument stands. An Agrarian re- 
 strains the increase of people and the cultivation of the 
 lands. 2. The only remedy for these pernicious effects is 
 the introduction of commerce and elegance. 3. But 
 though the introduction of commerce and elegance be the 
 only remedy to the pernicious effects flowing from the 
 Agrarian, yet, 4. it has been proved at large, there is a 
 better remedy than the only remedy, viz. a principal at- 
 tention to the necessary arts ; though he has declared, 
 that an inattention to the necessary arts will be the con- 
 sequence of an Agrarian. 
 
 Good Gods ! what a heap of absurdity, contradiction 
 
 and nonsense ! Eeason what art thou ! Where art 
 thou! 
 
 75 5. An 
 
556 A Vindication of 
 
 5. An Agrarian, or equal division of the lands, is not 
 adapted to the genius of mankind. Neither among the 
 Jews or Romans did it produce any advantageous effectSj 
 nor was the continuance of it practicable. Licinius Stolo 
 established an Agrarian at Rome, that no person should 
 possess above five hundred acres of land for himself, and 
 half as much for every child; and yet broke through it 
 himself, and suffered the penalty. And though at first the 
 citizens had two acres a-piece, they soon transferred their 
 property to the industrious and frugal. This Agrarian 
 neither remained long, produced universal industry, nor 
 prevented poverty, either in Jewry, Greece, or Rome, as 
 most flagrantly appears from their histories. No wise 
 people upon these accounts ought to adopt any such ridi- 
 culous institutions. Nay our Janus faced author saj's, 
 page 28. " that where it prevails, great quantities of 
 " land must remain uncultivated, and a country be de- 
 " prived of a proportionable number of its inhabitants." 
 And yet proposes it immediately in the next paragraph as 
 a cause which principally contributes to render a nation 
 populous ; amazing ! 
 
 In page 30. our learned author observes, that the very 
 being of republicks is founded upon a general equality of 
 possessions. 
 
 6. But we would ask whether there was ever any 
 republick or state in the world where there was such an 
 equality prevailed ? There was no such equality either at 
 Rome, in the Grecian commonwealths, or in Jewry. The 
 history of our country shews, that the power of alienation 
 of lands and the cultivation of commerce and the arts, is 
 the best way to diffuse possessions, and distribute property 
 in the most equable manner ; as well as to promote in- 
 dustry and frugality among the mass of the people. The 
 laws of Moses and the institutions of Lycurgus were far 
 from answering this valuable end. Moses's prohibition of 
 usury was by no means favourable to industry, or to a 
 
 76 large 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 557 
 
 large consumption^ and a terrible hardship upon orphans 
 aad widows. 
 
 7. In page 30. paragraph the second; our learned 
 author says, the cultivation of agriculture and the necessary 
 arts alone, founded on an equal division of property, &c. is 
 the only means capable of increasing a small people to the 
 
 full extent of those numbers which their country can con- 
 veniently support. 
 
 8. And yet in the last paragraph of page 27, ^c. he 
 tells us, " that if the lands be divided in this manner, 
 " great quantities must remain uncultivated, and the 
 " country be deprived of a proportionable number of in- 
 " habitants." Strange ! how do those things agree ? 
 
 9. Holland is the most populous state in the world* ; 
 but Holland did not owe its populosity to an equal division 
 sf the lands, nor to the cultivation of them : But it owed 
 its people to its commerce, and its agriculture to its ful- 
 ness of people. The badness of its air would soon depo- 
 pulate Holland, if it were not for a constant influx of 
 strangers. But its government which secures liberty and 
 property equally to every man, its strict justice and 
 equality in taxations, its toleration in matters of religion, 
 its free naturalization, and its great ctimmerce constantly 
 allure people from all parts, to settle in the country, 
 though wages are low and provisions exceeding high. It 
 was these arts raised a few fishermen seated among un- 
 healthy morasses in small villages, to be the high and 
 mighty states of Holland. This drew crovpds of people to 
 them from all parts, and raised insignificant hamlets into 
 great cities. By this they took pastures out of the sea, 
 and fattened the dry land. Neptune stood amazed, beheld 
 the daring robbery, but connived^ at the theft, struck with 
 the wonderful industry of the people. 
 
 '^7 SECT. 
 
558 A Vindication of 
 
 SECT. XVllI. 
 
 In page 31. our author comes to consider the principal 
 effects of the populousness of a nation on its trade. He 
 seems as unfortunate in his reflections upon this part of his 
 question as he was upon the first. 
 
 His first remark is, that while the numbers of a people 
 are small in comparison to the extent of country they are 
 possessed of, it has always been found that their employ- 
 ments and inventions continue limited to the satisfying a 
 few natural wants and the acquiring such conveniencies 
 only as are common among themselves. 
 
 This is not true; Spain, Portugal, and Italy are but 
 thinly inhabited, and especially the dominions of the 
 church in the last ; and yet they consume a vast quantity 
 of exoticks. 
 
 Page 34. our author says, the productions of art have 
 been discoveries of the finest geniuses, and such as do 
 honour to human nature. And again, the contrivances 
 which increase their real usefulness and value, ^c. 
 
 This writer deals excessively in contradictions. The 
 arts which a few pages back obliterated virtue, ruined 
 society, and destroyed mankind, consequently most per- 
 nicious inventions, and one should think begotten in hell, 
 and dictated by Satan, now are represented as doing 
 honour to human nature. The refinements and ornaments 
 of civil life, that were but just now so ruinous and de- 
 structive to mankind, are become useful and valuable. 
 Strange inconsistency ! 
 
 And though our author has throughout his essay sug- 
 gested and declared, that commerce and the arts tend to 
 depopulate a state, and in the issue will ruin it, yet in 
 page 35. he presumes, that there are means where trade 
 exists, though the country be not full of people, to render 
 it so populous, that the lands may not be capable of main- 
 
 78 taining 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 559 
 
 taining them. This is again a contradiction to the tenor 
 of his whole discourse. Like a Proteus or Camelion he is 
 always changing shape and colour, and shifting his princi- 
 ples just as the last train of ideas influences, without ever 
 considering whether what he lays down is consistent with 
 his first principles, and what he advanced in the beginning 
 of his discourse. 
 
 If after a nation be full of people, and commodities 
 are become so scarce and dear, as to enforce general in- 
 dustry and national frugality ; in case a plenty be neces- 
 sary to render a state populous, how comes it to pass, that 
 a nation uuder the disadvantages of a scarcity can in- 
 crease farther ? If this be possible, as our author confesses 
 it is, there must be some strong attractive cause to pro- 
 duce this effect ; an effect so contrary to his premises, viz. 
 that a plenty is necessary to populosity. This cause is the 
 attractions of commerce, which draw a people into a na- 
 tion under all his pretended oppositions to multiplication 
 arising from scarcity ; and which increase a people vastly 
 more expeditiously, than they can in the natural way, tho' 
 they pursued every means, that art, nature, and virtue 
 combined can suggest. Though our author is silent as to 
 the causes, yet he himself allows the effects. 
 
 But if this attraction operate in this manner where 
 commerce is, though the country be full of people, and 
 they labour under a scarcity of every thing necessary to 
 life ; why may it not operate still stronger where com- 
 merce is in a country not fully peopled, and where every 
 thing is in great plenty ? It certainly must, upon our 
 author's own principles. If after Holland were full, and 
 provisions scarce, people continued still to flock thither, 
 what was it drew them ? Not plenty according to this 
 author. It must then be commerce. If so, how much 
 more readily will commerce draw them into a plentiful 
 nation ? From hence it is manifest, that our author admits 
 of other causes of populosity which act more powerfully 
 
 79 than 
 
560 A Vindication of 
 
 than plenty, temperance, sobriety, banishing imaginary 
 wants, agriculture and a country life, all put together. 
 
 The principal of those causes is commerce, supported 
 by an equitable government, an equal taxation, a general 
 toleration in religion, and a full security of person and 
 property. These allure people, and naturalization with 
 open arms receives them. When he presents these bless- 
 ings, the industrious, the indigent, the distressed, the 
 persecuted fly to her for relief. They do not ask whether 
 laughing Ceres pours her bounties over the fertile plains, 
 or Flora decks the enamelled meads, but whether they 
 can be assured of the enjoyment of the civil advantages 
 specified above. If so, thither people will flock, and soon 
 convert the standing pool and lake into fat meadows, cover 
 the barren rock with verdure, and make the desert smile 
 with flowers. Such O liberty ! O commerce ! are thy 
 blessings. 
 
 The arts and sciences, O commerce ! follow in thy 
 train, attended by politeness and humanity ; whilst super- 
 stition, bigotry, and fiery zeal, fallen from their throne, lie 
 under thy feet chained and gnashing their teeth. 
 
 Upon the whole, it is clear from experience, as well as 
 from our author's concessions, that nothing tends to ren- 
 der a nation populous, and to fill it so soon with a multi- 
 tude of people as commerce supported as above. 
 
 Page 35. He falls into a common mistake, that popu- 
 lousness produces cheapness of labour and commodities. 
 In the first place people create employment for each other : 
 But cheapness depends chiefly on the high value of money. 
 This is the case in France. 
 
 Page 36. Our author says, that a concurrence of cir- 
 cumstances flocked Holland with a people too numerous 
 for the country to maintain ; that their trade sprung from 
 necessity and indigence, not choice, and was nursed in 
 want. 
 
 If this gentleman had vouchsafed to have specified to 
 80 us, 
 
Commerce and the Arts. 561 
 
 us, what the concurreuce of circumstances was, ■which 
 stocked iZb^^awc? with people, and to have entered into a 
 particular detail, he would have given us a just account of 
 the causes which principally contribute to render a nation 
 populous. Their commerce and naturalization of stran- 
 gers, and the open arms with which they receive all 
 comers, were not only the first sources of their populosity, 
 but De Wit informs us is still the cause of the populous- 
 ness of the country, which he says, from the badness of 
 its air, would soon be but thinly peopled, were it not for 
 the constant influx of strangers. 
 
 As our author began and went on in paradox and 
 contradiction, so he continues to deal in this sort of 
 traffick to the last, and finds out a perfect harmony in 
 destroying commerce to support it, and to advance it to 
 the highest pitch of greatness. 
 
 We presume we have fully proved that the means our 
 author proposes to render a nation populous are not at all 
 adapted to promote such an end ; and that the banishing 
 commerce and refinement, instead of tending to render a 
 state populous, would depopulate and ruin it : As there 
 are sundry principal causes, which in a state not half 
 peopled, may concur to render it very populous in a small 
 space of time ; and as from the common multiplication of 
 mankind, it must require a great length of years to fill 
 such a state with people ; it is a little surprizing that our 
 author should never animadvert upon one of those prin- 
 cipal causes, but should confine his reasonings only to 
 what is relative to the promotion of propagation, and 
 rendering a people prolifick. 
 
 After we have so clearly demonstrated the repugnan- 
 cies in our author's discourse, it is merry to sec him go 
 ofP triumphing in the harmony of the several parts of his 
 system. Though in truth it is a chaos, and 
 
 Nan bene junctarum discordia semina rerum; 
 a Tohu and Bohu of jarring elements, and warring matter. 
 
 81 
 
NEW AND OLD 
 
 PRINCIPLES of TRADE 
 
 COMPARED; 
 
 OR A 
 
 TREATISE 
 
 ON THE PRINCIPLES 
 
 OF 
 
 Commerce between Nations. 
 
 Et penitus toto di'vifos orbe Britanms. 
 
 Virg. Eel. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for J. JOHNSON, No. 72, St. Paul's Churchyard, 
 and J. DEBRETT, Picadilly. 
 
 M DCCLXXXVIII. 
 
THE 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IT is proper to notice a few detached circumstances by 
 way of preface. 
 
 The following treatise was written not so much to 
 prove, as to defend opinions. I therefore consulted in it 
 the works of the opponents, rather than of the friends of 
 the free system of trade. The notes since added will not 
 diminish the pleasure to arise from a complete perusal of 
 the performances from which they are borrowed. 
 
 With respect to the writers on these subjects, I know 
 of none who have treated of commercial liberty in ex- 
 press detail and with a view to remove objections, before 
 the French. I do not refer to particular passages in 
 Fenelon* and others ; but to the works of the ceconomistes, 
 who first reduced the free system to elements, and gave to 
 it its modern precision and extent. The French writings 
 (and since we owe them the praise, let us chearfuUy give 
 
 3 it) 
 
 * Much is said of the beauties of Fenelon's Telemachus and 
 little of its precepts, which contain the seeds of all the sentiments, 
 if not of all the doctrines of modern political ceconomy. The temple 
 of Gnidus of Montesquieu, seems to rival Telemachus in points of 
 taste and description, but Montesquieu in his writings on the subject 
 of political prosperity, has scarcely made nearer approaches to the 
 truth, than Fenelon ; and he certainly fell short of him in courage in 
 declaring it. 
 
566 Preface. 
 
 it) have long abounded in eloquent lessons of philanthropy, 
 which have sensibly affected the way of thinking of Eu- 
 ropean authors, and consequently must sooner or later 
 influence the manners of the western world, and thence 
 of all the earth. With the exception of a few enlightened 
 persons, especially in Scotland, the free system of com- 
 merce has been little patronized by the writers of our own 
 island ; and indeed unless in Flanders, which is deeply 
 interested in a transit trade, we have seen it favoured in 
 its full extent by few European traders in modern times. 
 
 The pages here presented to the public are silent as to 
 mercantile companies; for the public has objects more 
 important even than its commerce. The question respect- 
 ing the British East India Company in particular, stands 
 involved in deep considerations of domestic and foreign 
 politics ; and there are many monopolies which must sub- 
 sist, till indemnity shall be given to the holders. Happy 
 would it be for Europe and for India, could India become 
 self-governed, under the auspices of her ancient freedom 
 of trade and her sober system of morals; from which 
 principally her arts and wealth seem to have arisen. Our 
 Chinese trade is embarrassed neither with wars, forts, nor 
 expensive establishments, compared with the burthen of 
 which, the commercial impositions we suffer in China, 
 deserve no mention ; which is solely owing to China being 
 an independent power. It is not indeed meant to com- 
 mend a trade which consists of an exchange of useful 
 articles on our side, for agreeable articles on theirs ; but 
 our East India trade in this respect can claim no pre- 
 ference over that to China. 
 
 I have no where employed the terms of active and 
 passive commerce. If by active commerce is meant, dili- 
 gence in the production of commodities, I accede to the 
 distinction ; but by no means so, if it is merely in ques- 
 
 4 tion. 
 
Preface. 567 
 
 tion, whether commodities shall be exchanged at home or 
 abroad. It may be convenient to some nations to be ac- 
 tive abroad in search of foreign markets ; but others may 
 find no detriment in waiting for the appearance of foreign 
 traders at home. For example, I have just shewn the 
 possibility of navigating many thousand miles to pursue a 
 losing eastern commerce, in a case too where the advan- 
 tage falls to the less civilized over the more civilized 
 people. 
 
 The new governments of North-America may offer 
 another instructive instance in this particular. If these 
 governments pursue their advantages for agriculture ; if 
 they admit the manufactures of Europe, rendered cheap by 
 bounties and by the real advantages attending the arts in 
 rich and populous countries, without regard to their own 
 manufactures, (which will always be established with ease, 
 when their estabhshment is beneficial ;) and if they avoid 
 politics ; they may outwit, by a natural conduct, a multi- 
 tude of nations who think themselves wise because their 
 plans are intricate. It cannot be useful for America to be 
 noticed at present in Europe, otherwise than by her good 
 sense : she should grow to greatness, like the trees of her 
 wildernesses, in the midst of silence and retreat. Nothing 
 can check her population depending upon a facility of 
 subsistence ; or oppress her strength springing from num- 
 bers, situation, and knowledge. If Europe does not treat 
 America with wisdom, America would do ill to copy the 
 weak example of those whom the discipline of experience 
 has not yet been able to instruct. She has the peculiar 
 happiness of being able to shape her course free from the 
 influence of her own errors and those of others ; begin- 
 ning where all nations may be happy to end. 
 
 The protest which I shall be found to have entered, 
 against rash changes in the regulations of commerce, can- 
 
 5 not 
 
568 Preface. 
 
 not be renewed too often. In a work dedicated to the 
 pursuit of principleSj a detail of the necessary exceptions, 
 which must be different in different countries, cannot be 
 expected ; especially as those they interest, will not be 
 wanting in suggesting them. I shall rather make the 
 following observation. — In tracing original principles, we 
 must contemplate the natural circumstances of man ; but 
 in applying these principles to practice, we must consider 
 his actual situation. In modem commerce, we have to 
 allow not only for the pardonable errors of traders them- 
 selves, but for the faulty establishments they have made 
 under the sanction of laws or long continued systems of 
 administration. If we attempt violent and sudden altera- 
 tions, we may be disappointed even in our pursuit of 
 wealth, and we shall certainly injure the more weighty 
 concern of j ustice. To attain therefore the knowledge of 
 sound principles, is but a part of our object; we must 
 know when and how to introduce them into action. 
 Almost every ScyUa in politics has a Charybdis in its 
 neighbourhood ; and we must remember that in vitium 
 ducit culpce fuga, si caret arte. 
 
 This caution is not designed to counteract the original 
 view, with which this treatise was written. The public 
 must steadily pursue its interest; but not per fas 6f nefas. 
 It must sometimes purchase a liberty to use its original 
 powers, by making compensations for the result of its own 
 intervening laws ; it must avoid adding new errors to old 
 ones ; it must reform its national foreign politics ; it must 
 pave the way for happier times ; and it must execute 
 some of those many measures, which are for the benefit 
 of all and injurious to none. Though I have intimated in 
 what follows, that there is a speculative limit to prosperity 
 in politics, a statesman must adopt for his constant motto 
 that of Charles V, plus outre. 
 
Preface. 569 
 
 I shall be ready to acknowledge any mistakes into 
 which I may find I have fallen, but I shall unwillingly 
 mix in disputes which time alone shall seem likely to 
 dissipate. 
 
 Conceiving peace to be the best friend both of com- 
 merce and of mankindj I think it proper to intimate, that 
 I meditate the publication of another short treatise under 
 the title of Pacific Principles. 
 
 TABLE 
 
TABLE 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER. I. 
 
 Statement of the Question. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Statement of the true Theory of Commerce between Nations, 
 with Remarks. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Various Objections noticed. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Farther Remarks. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 

OF THE 
 
 P R INC IP L E S 
 
 O F 
 
 Commerce between Nations. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INDIVIDUALS, who depend upon themselves for their 
 support, naturally apply their labour to such objects 
 as they can best accomplish, and purchase from their 
 neighbours such articles of use or consumption as it would 
 be difficult for themselves to produce. Are the interests of 
 political societies, in this respect, different from those of 
 individuals? Two systems have been maintained, upon 
 this subject, in modem times by European writers, of 
 which, unfortunately, only the worst has of late been 
 reduced to practice. 
 
 It has been the general object of one of these systems 
 to seek a great variety in the species of its productions : 
 to procure sundry preferences for its favorites, either in 
 buying or selling ; and to employ bribes and penal laws 
 (in some cases supported by expensive treaties) to remove 
 the competition of foreigners. This system, it is to be 
 observed, has been particularly adhered to in the home- 
 
 11 market 
 
574 Of the Princi-ples of 
 
 market in the case of subject against subject, (the legisla- 
 ture^ upon the principle that its duty is to subdue difficulties, 
 usually taking part here with the few subjects against the 
 many.) This system may be called the system of mono- 
 poly ; and it has lately been common to all European 
 nations. The system of free trade, on the other hand, 
 preferring abundance to ostentation, would force nothing 
 but a disposition to industry ; concluding, that if one 
 nation raises flax with most success, and another wool, the 
 sum of these commodities must be augmented in the 
 world, when each nation devotes itself to its separate 
 talent ; and that, upon exchanging the two commodities^ 
 each nation will have a greater share of the two conjunc- 
 tively, than if each had attempted to raise them both at 
 home. But, besides thus multiplying the mass, and cir- 
 culating the exchange of products throughout the universe, 
 it is affirmed, by the favorers of this system, that the 
 animosity and bloodshed, supposed to be generated by the 
 other system*, would be abated, together with its pro- 
 digality, favoritism, and necessary mistakes. 
 
 13 Though 
 
 * Though I do not state it as the declared, or necessary, yet it has 
 certainly been the actual, property of the narrow system, to be de- 
 voted to wars of conquest and offence : while one of the chief 
 professed objects of the free-trade system (as stated above) is to ex- 
 tinguish such wars, and to encourage such principles in our neigh- 
 bours and in mankind generally, as shall lessen the frequency of the 
 occasions even for wars of self-defence. There is scarcely one 
 writer on free-trade, at the present day, who does not make this 
 pacific turn more of a primary, than of a secondary, consideration. 
 On the other hand, there has been scarcely one of our latter ruptures 
 with Prance, or other nations, which has not, directly or indirectly, 
 originated from systems of trade or colonization founded in monopoly. 
 In short, estrangement and jealousy, violence and revenge, by what- 
 ever cause they are set in motion, tend to war ; while liberal inter- 
 course and exchanges seem to make the corner-stones of peace and 
 concord. 
 
Commerce hetiveen Nations. 575 
 
 Thougli the controversy respecting these systems is of 
 recent date, yet a just decision in it is doubtless as import- 
 ant an object in politics, as any that can engage us. 
 Voluminous works have indeed lately appeared on this 
 subject; but, since many, whose only object is truth, still 
 seem either to adhere to the false, or to want a practical 
 persuasion of the true, doctrine ; I conclude, notwithstand- 
 ing the ability of the authors of these works, that nature 
 and common sense have not been enough trusted to in 
 the dispute. I shall, therefore, simply state what to me 
 appears the only just opinion ; and, after drawing a few 
 inferences out of it, principally employ myself in removing 
 the difficulties of different natures to which it may seem 
 liable. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 By commerce, I presume, is meant, that mode of 
 acquiring the property of our neighbours, which 
 depends upon a voluntary interchange with them of sup- 
 posed equivalents. Pursuant to this definition, the true 
 theory of this interchange, I think, may be comprised in 
 the following sentence : Climates, soils, and circum- 
 stances, being differently distributed, and each contributing 
 to man's accommodation, if every nation cultivates what is 
 to itself easy or peculiar, all products will not only thus be 
 most abundant, but, likewise, most various and most per- 
 fect ; and, in order completely to diffuse them among in- 
 dustrious nations, nothing more seems requisite than the 
 
 13 qaicksighted 
 
576 Of the Frinci'ples of 
 
 quiclcsighted interest of the trader, favored by facility of 
 transport, by peace, and by commercial freedom. 
 
 I shall, for a moment, consider this as a self-evident 
 proposition, in order to draw certain clear and natural 
 corollaries from it, which seem to confirm its truth. 
 The first of these corollaries is, that nations should seek 
 to augment the total mass and value of their commodities, 
 rather than attempt to rival each other in any particular 
 articles ; or, in other words, should consult more to im- 
 prove their own circumstances than how to oppose their 
 neighbours. A second inference, from this theory is, 
 that statesmen should principally befriend commerce by 
 cherishing the means of production ; and endeavour to 
 fertilize the soil of commerce, instead of regulating the 
 species and the form of what it produces. A free trade, 
 sooner or later, will unerringly direct the faculties of a 
 country ; and knowledge, joined to wise manners and 
 customs, good morals, and public spirit, (if favored by 
 easy communications, under the safeguard of fixed justice 
 aud religious liberty,) wiU, in general, sufficiently stimu- 
 late it to enterprise ; particularly where the state provides 
 for it those aids, which, though of general use, are not 
 likely to be established by mere individuals. A third con- 
 clusion is, that the position, that nations flourish in pro- 
 portion as their exports are many and their imports are 
 few, is inconsistent with the institution of commerce ; 
 commerce not only being meant to procure us enjoy- 
 ments, but naturally consisting in that complete inter- 
 change of commodities which is thus objected to.* A 
 fourth deduction from the above fundamental principle 
 is, that if commerce implies exchange, an attempt to 
 
 14 open 
 
 * This alludes to the mistaken conclusions generally made on 
 the topic of the balance of trade. 
 
Commerce between Nations. 577 
 
 open or to seize fugitive channels for commerce by the aid 
 of expensive wars, before industry is ripe on both sides with 
 articles to be exchanged through the medium in question, 
 is a measure that is premature and improvident; and 
 that must often be the parent of useless strife*. In the 
 fifth place, though industry is best employed upon home 
 objects, yet it seems wisdom of a partial nature to force 
 one set of subjects in a state to give much of their pro- 
 perty to another set, in return for Httle, by allowing them 
 to buy and to sell only between each other ; particularly 
 as the export of what is superabundant in one country, in 
 order to be exchanged for what is superabundant in 
 another, must produce a double gain to the public, (to wit, 
 in the sale and in the purchase.) Sixthly, the dismay of 
 certain patriot minds, lest other countries should prosper 
 besides their own, is a proof that the competition of 
 passions, in trade, is far more fatal than the competition 
 of commodities ; facts discovering that productions both 
 of nature and of art always vary sufficiently in every 
 nation to promise advantageous exchanges ; and, whenever 
 the mart for these exchanges widens, the accommodation 
 to follow from it to each nation ought to increase in pro- 
 portion. A seventh and concluding hint is, that, distorted 
 as is the actual state of our commerce in consequence of 
 impolitic laws, domestic and foreign, it is never too late 
 for us to attempt a gradual and prudent return to common 
 
 15 sense; 
 
 * Hence the present maritime aims of Austria and Russia, who 
 may each rely on visitants spontaneously frequenting their ports for 
 such trade as they have yet prepared, seem impolitic ; and the more 
 so, exactly in proportion as their situation renders maritime defence 
 superfluous. Not less impolitic was our own bigotry at the peace of 
 1782, respecting the distant American waste forest-lands ; as these 
 lands cannot, for ages, become serviceable to any, and least of all to 
 ourselves, provided it should continue our system either to bribe or 
 to force obedience from their growing, but remote, dispersed, and 
 naturally self-willed, inhabitants. 
 
578 Of the Principles of 
 
 sense; fot, notwithstanding individual traders may profit 
 by a continuance m the present errors, yet a persistance 
 in monopoly-systems must necessarily injure the class of 
 traders themselves at large, since nothing can be more 
 clear, as a general maxim, than that traders must flourish 
 with trade. 
 
 Such seems to be the theory of commerce, viewed in a 
 general light, and abstracted from the interference of any 
 particular set of circumstances ; and such seem to be the 
 inferences fairly arising out of this theory. I shall not 
 attempt any positive proof of this theory. I think it 
 best to leave it to the test of past experience, of common 
 sense, and just sentiments. Much less shall I defend it 
 as founded on right, notwithstanding it respects, in its 
 consequences, all the inhabitants of the globe. I cannot 
 indeed avoid secretly giving ear to the generous theorists, 
 who assert that governments have no title to control 
 mankind in the conduct of their private property; yet 
 the cause of liberality, in the present moment, seems 
 likely to be most solidly advanced by referring for support 
 here to the topics of expediency and of good politics, 
 instead of founding it upon a positive claim. 
 
 As to authority and example (which have often been 
 appealed to on the present occasion) they appear to be less 
 in favor of the modern monopoly-system, than is perhaps 
 suspected. Among the elder (herein including the Eastern) 
 nations of the world, no distinguishing traces appear of 
 a general deliberate system of trading prohibitions and 
 permanent bounties, established for a nation's internal 
 benefit. Whether this has arisen from a practical sense, 
 that societies increase in wealth by vending dear and pur- 
 chasing cheap ; or whether it has arisen from a system 
 of tribute (rather than of trade) being connected with 
 the ancient system of conquest; or from a preference 
 to the pursuit of agriculture; or from other causes pre- 
 
 16 vailing 
 
Commerce between Nations. 579 
 
 vailing among these nations ; the fact itself appears in- 
 controvertiblej that favorable precedents in this quarter 
 are deficient to the monopolist. And if we are forbid to 
 cite the general example of ruder nations to the same 
 effect, it is fair to exclude, on the other hand, such cases 
 of constrained trade, as appear to have originated from 
 motives of jealousy, from domestic or from foreign tyranny, 
 from sumptuary laws, or ' from other causes that were 
 merely local or occasional*. Though monopolies in 
 favour of particular individuals, and high taxes upon 
 foreign articles, often had place in early feudal times f; 
 yet the true sera, when a general systematic restraint was 
 imposed upon European commerce, seems to have been 
 when petty states (as well as individuals) in Italy and 
 the Low Countries, as likewise in other parts, rose into 
 wealth and importance by the apparent medium of a 
 trade of mannfacture and of agency. Neighbouring sove- 
 reigns, who were of themselves too prone to jealousy 
 and avidity, to impatience and the use of force j when 
 they became urged by particular traders and interested 
 grandees, seem to have thought of no other mode of 
 rivalship in this situation, but such as was founded on 
 violent laws for regulating trade; which laws being re- 
 taliated from abroad and growing habitual at home, 
 gradually and unfortunately became, with few exceptions, 
 universal in the western empires of the world. I must 
 not allow myself to wonder at an error, which it was then 
 natural to adopt and perhaps somewhat difficult to combat ; 
 but the several pleas for it may, it is to be hoped, by the 
 aid of subsequent experience, be at present readily con- 
 
 17 futed 
 
 * See Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws, Book 21, oh. ii. for examples 
 of this. 
 
 + This arose rather from political motives, or motives of revenue, 
 than from mercantile theories. 
 
580 Of the Principles of 
 
 futed. I shall now, therefore, proceed to consider the 
 various arguments adduced either in favour of the narrow, 
 or in opposition to the liberal, system. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 IN the following chapter I have undertaken to discuss 
 the principal of the various motives which have ope- 
 rated in regulating the commerce, and consequently the 
 colonization, and in a great measure the manners and 
 politics of Europe, during several centuries, down to the 
 present moment. Were the object of my task less interest- 
 ing from its different connections and aspects, it would at 
 least remain curious in point of speculation. I trust there- 
 fore that proper allowance will be made for the variety of 
 considerations, which it has been necessary to assemble 
 here in a small space. 
 
 1st. To employ, and thereby to enrich, subjects, pre- 
 ferably to strangers, was, doubtless, one prevailing motive 
 for the monopoly system. The motive was proper, but it 
 was palpably misapplied ; for the capital and the skill of an 
 unimproved country, not being equal to the sudden sup- 
 ply of all its wants, those occupations ought to have been 
 first selected of which the pursuit would have been most 
 profitable, and the omission most detrimental. Trade then 
 was neither the sole nor yet the first object, corresponding 
 to this description. When it is considered that the earth, 
 in all populous and civilized countries is a subject of m,ono- 
 poly, it will soon aj)pear that a preference is necessarily 
 
 18 due 
 
Commerce between Nations. 581 
 
 due in the first instance to agriculture, and to those arts 
 which give the largest vent for agricultural products ; for 
 if other advantages in agriculture are supposed to be 
 counterbalanced by equivalent advantages existing in 
 trade, nevertheless, so much of the landlord's rent as is 
 founded upon his mere ownership of the soil is a gain in 
 agriculture, which has no real parallel* in trade. Other 
 things therefore being equal, the more pure and simple 
 are the earth's productions from being rude or little manu- 
 factured, the nearer must the purchase or the sale of them 
 in foreign trade, approach to the difference of paying or 
 of receiving the value of this immense monopoly . And 
 if such is the superiority of agriculture, the supply of all 
 the wants t of those who labour in it on the one hand, as 
 well as the vent of all their commodities on the other, 
 should be facilitated as anxiously as possible, as the means 
 of laying foreigners under the heaviest contributions ; or 
 in other words, a free trade should at all times second 
 agriculture. Every other advantageous employment in a 
 state should be treated on similar principles with agricul- 
 ture, and the parties concerned in it be aided in their 
 purchases and in their sales, by means of freedom given 
 to trade ; and for similar reasons. By thus assisting each 
 leading occupation in the state, there would gradually 
 
 19 supervene 
 
 * The land of the farmer and the raw materials of the artist, 
 each call for labour to make them useful ; and each require the as- 
 sistance of various persons for bringing to market what is produced 
 from each. So far the two agree. They differ in the particular 
 named in the text. As to fair and natural monopolies derived from 
 peculiar inventions, _ or from peculiar public or private good regula- 
 tions of any kind ; they are not confined solely to products of the 
 arts ; but occur also in the case of landed products, (where the total 
 amount of their effect will be found to compensate for any supposed 
 want of variety in the instances.) 
 
 t Viz. of food, clothing, tools, materiais for habitations, &c. 
 
582 Of the Princifles of 
 
 supervene capital and population ; and with these wonld 
 succeed the several finer arts, whose appearance can never 
 be precipitated, but with an immense expence that is too 
 often abortive. 
 
 3. To prevent the export of the precious metals in ex- 
 change for foreign products, was formerly considered as a 
 second political duty, almost superior to the preceding. 
 But modern discussions have at last taught us that pro- 
 perty may assume various useful shapes ; and that, after 
 having collected a proper stock of the precious metals for 
 preventing the inconveniences usually attending the neces- 
 sity of barter and for other direct uses, it is an extrava- 
 gant folly to let any lie dead at home in hoards and 
 treasures*. Besides, if England obtains silver from Por- 
 tugal by means of goods, and then buys goods from China 
 with silver, this is ultimately a trade of goods for goods, 
 the silver only intervening : in which case, if the silver 
 were more wanted here than the China goods, it is reason- 
 able to think it would be detained here. 
 
 3. Another pretence for the narrow system was, that 
 foreign articles afforded laudable objects far taxation : — But 
 if taxing was thus in view, it should at the same time have 
 been recollected, that, whatever collateral effects m.ay 
 attend a tax laid on a foreign article, the amount paid 
 under it commonly falls upon the country imposing the 
 tax, when consuming the article. We may add, that if 
 revenue is here the only object, taxes that are moderate 
 are confessedly the most productive. Taxes also being 
 easily retaliated, it will soon be found that the tendency 
 
 20 of 
 
 * It has become almost a trite remark, that the coin of a nation 
 is dead stock, and ought to be dispensed with, if its uses to the 
 general circulation of commodities could be safely supplied by 
 cheaper means. These uses however are too considerable to be 
 foregone ; and consequently every society acts wisely that makes 
 coin a part of its capital. 
 
Commerce between Nations. 583 
 
 of these taxes is to produce animosity rather than income ; 
 and animosity again is found to produce mutual injuries 
 in trade, and a mutual propensity to war (which is the 
 certain devourer of revenue and the natural enemy to 
 civil prosperity.) 
 
 4. Some, in defence of the contracted system, have 
 held the ingenious persuasion, that provided trade can be 
 kept at home, it matters not whether subjects obtain for their 
 money, good or bad, many or few articles ; the loss of one 
 subject constituting the gain of another. But this doc- 
 trine (which comes with an ill grace from any who descant 
 on the blessings of commerce) proceeds with the most 
 evident contradiction from all who advise cruel and ruin- 
 ous wars for obtaining trivial trading benefits and com- 
 modities. It forms also a reverse to the taxing system 
 just noticed, as the difference in every extra-payment or 
 under-purchase, made in the home-market, might have 
 been saved by means of an open trade, and have been 
 applied by law as a substitute to taxes vexing the poor. 
 But the position teems with other errors : For example, 
 many of the foreign articles which it is proposed to ex- 
 clude in favour of a few subjects, are not luxuries, but 
 necessaries of the first order, and useful to every subject. 
 And, with respect to luxuries, if our only objection to 
 these is, that they are foreign, is it not evident that 
 foreigners will refuse the purchase of our exported luxuries 
 as being foreign to them ? In the last place, if we de- 
 termined to be content with scanty, high-priced, and 
 inferior, productions at home, (the certain result of the 
 policy in question,) it will naturally tend to introduce such 
 neglects into the whole system of our trading operations 
 (the arts being all related,) that we can have little prospect 
 of surpassing foreigners, who shall proceed on diflFerent 
 principles, in a general trade abroad. 
 
 5. The confinement at home of useful articles for the 
 benefit of subjects was another specious allegation used in 
 
 21 favour 
 
584' Of the Principles of 
 
 favour of the bigotted system ; the miserly eye of mono- 
 poly not being able to discern, that when men have 
 enough of a necessary, the surplus is no longer to be 
 called a necessary ; and that, without a vent for it is re- 
 gularly allowed, the very surplus in question would never 
 be produced. By the same sort of timid avarice, exports 
 of commodities seem at certain moments to have been 
 viewed as absolute gifts to foreigners, instead of exchanges 
 with them. But time has at length taught, that every 
 nation has various wants ; and that it is fortunate to be 
 possessed of a necessary as a staple, to use in barter for 
 the supply of these wants : Not only as a necessary is an 
 article of steady sale ; but as foreign demand, by multi- 
 plying the production of it, insures a supply at home in 
 ease of accidents ; " Enough" (according to the adage) 
 " being enough and a little to spare." But in foreign com- 
 merce, not only are many of the foreign articles that are 
 imported, real necessaries, but many of our own that are 
 exported are real frivolities ; and, to prevent distinctions 
 on either side in a scheme of exchange, the good and the 
 bad of the system must be taken together. Besides, as 
 most necessaries spring from the earth, those who would 
 forcibly lessen the export of such products, would injure 
 agriculture the most profitable employment, for the sake of 
 manufactures the least profitable ; to say nothing of the 
 superior qualities of farmers over manufacturers, as sub- 
 jects. It is another material consideration, that (as price 
 will always direct the course and supply of every article) 
 whenever so much of any article is exported as to make it 
 rise to a certain value at home, the exportation of it will 
 thence naturally diminish, or totally cease. We may add, 
 that the various circumstances and charges which tend to 
 embarrass exportation and importation, of themselves 
 operate as a considerable bounty here in favour of the 
 home consumer. Lastly it is almost superfluous to repeat, 
 that, when the beneficial export of a native article to 
 
 22 foreign 
 
Commerce, between Nations. 585 
 
 foreign markets is impeded, the producer of it suffers 
 materially in his profits*. 
 
 6. That the monopoly system renders a nation invul- 
 nerable, and independent of its neighbours, by creating sup- 
 plies and markets for it within its own bosom, is another 
 plausible argument in favour of the monopoly system ; 
 but an argument contrary to truth and examples. Small 
 territories are incapable of furnishing the proposed variety 
 of productionsf ; and the same incapacity may be affirmed 
 of the vents which small territories afford for those articles 
 in which they really excel. And with respect to the 
 English monopolist in particular^ we may remark that 
 home commerce so little corresponds to his wants and his 
 capacious views, that two of his daily repasts^ and certain 
 approved ingredients, or accompaniments of the rest, are 
 brought from across the ocean; nay his very iron and 
 timber, his flax and his hemp, and a thousand of the 
 
 23 necessaries 
 
 * Happily the rage for encouraging exports prevents the pre- 
 judice, alluded to in the text, from being carried into practice in 
 any great number of instances, though some of the instances it must 
 be confessed are very important. 
 
 + France (that large and most happily situated territory) has as 
 many staple commodities as any European kingdom whatever : viz. 
 corn, wine, brandy, oil, and silk. That other commodities however 
 are still acceptable to them, is plain from an examination of the 
 objects of their import trade. They can even in foreign parts find 
 varieties of their own articles, (pulse, wine, oil, and silk) worth 
 making an exchange for. 
 
 The same thing may be said of talents, even of the same species : 
 Thus, for example, the weavers of one country might advantageously 
 supply and be supplied in many instances by the weavers of another ; 
 so much does the single manufacture of weaving differ every where 
 in its materials, texture, patterns, or dyes. In a scene of open traffic, 
 superior talents need not fear a competition at home ; and inferior 
 talents evidently require the aid of examples to excite domestic 
 emulation and improve practice, in those cases where success is 
 possible. 
 
586 Of the Pnnciples of 
 
 necessaries which he requireSj or of the luxuries which he 
 covets, are principally imported from strangers ; and it is 
 his usual prayer, that his exports to foreign parts may 
 yet exceed these imports. It is not then for one who sells 
 his blood for subjects, for colonies, and for connections in 
 distant seas, and who supports with bribes a foreign trade 
 which is every where liable to derangement and attack ; it 
 is not I say for him to boast, that monopolies, prohibitions, 
 and bounties render his country safe, and place its in- 
 dustry under a domestic shelter. A defender of free 
 trade, it must be observed at the same time, is not less 
 disposed to allow of a beneficial intercourse with foreign 
 countries than is the monopolist ; he differs only in the 
 single desire that the species of goods circulating between 
 them should be left to nature and not to laws. Exterior 
 trade under such an easy system one may hope, would 
 not only become more extended and leave room for fewer 
 wars; but good sense might at last induce European 
 states reciprocally to allow a mutual freedom to commerce 
 during the very period of hostility. And let it be added, 
 that it is a mistake to think that retaliation, of one kind 
 or other*, is not a resource open to the free trader against 
 any act of commercial injustice, as well as to the mono- 
 polist. 
 
 7. Another supposed advantage of the narrow system 
 has been that of depressing rival nations, by excluding such 
 from commercial advantages, wherever practicable. The 
 
 24 obviousness 
 
 * Those who do not possess the means of retaliation in the first 
 instance might apply to some of those poUtical allies, (who are 
 usually sought after for more unworthy purposes,) to retort their 
 commercial wrongs for them at second hand. Our own country 
 however, according to the opinion of its wisest statesmen, has always 
 this power residing in itself ; and may still do, what Montesquieu 
 says it has formerly done, " sacrifice its politics to its commerce, 
 " while other nations must sacrifice their commerce to their politics." 
 
Comjnerce between Nations. 587 
 
 obviousness of retaliation, I may observe, and the pro- 
 bability consequently of wars accompanying such unsocial 
 principles, seem strong objections to them. But, besides 
 this, we may ask, if foreigners are thus to be made poor, 
 to whom shall the monopolist sell ? And if foreigners are 
 to be rendered universally destitute, where shall many 
 foreign articles, requisite for the use or accommodation of 
 the monopolist, be obtained, and sometimes too in mo- 
 ments of urgent want ? But many are the cases in which 
 a state of advancement in our neighbours may be conceived 
 of positive benefit. For instance : the foreign trade and 
 the internal circumstances of various commercial nations 
 have been improved, in different ways, by the inventions 
 and discoveries of foreigners, (which the contracted policy 
 in question would necessarily have prevented.) The stimu- 
 lus of rivalsbip has frequently afforded another capital 
 advantage ; this stimulus often becoming the means of 
 raising a nation not only above others, but above itself. 
 A familiarity with the arts also increases the disposition 
 of a foreign nation to admit and to consume various arti- 
 cles from other nations. And if commercial ideas of a 
 proper kind could by any means be introduced among tur- 
 bulent and martial neighbours, they would clearly contri- 
 bute to soften and dispose them to tranquillity. Without 
 looking however for farther arguments, it seems sufiBcient 
 to say, that all the trading distresses which nations in 
 general have it in their power to impose upon their neigh- 
 bours, without proceeding to dangerous or expensive ex- 
 tremities, are comparatively so trivial, that the project of 
 imposing them ought without hesitation to be abandoned 
 on account of its mischiefs, both direct and indirect. It 
 is thus then that a manly policy may reconcile the trader 
 to the prospect of happiness existing out of the pale of his 
 own petty native nation; and lead him to view in the 
 civilization and in the industry of his surrounding neigh- 
 bours, ready, cheap, and ample supplies for his own 
 
 25 wants ; 
 
588 Of the Principles of 
 
 wants ; and extensive and liberal vents for his own pro- 
 ductions. 
 
 8. As to the fear of other commercial nations depress- 
 ing us, unless we employ forced exertions to counteract 
 them, (which is only another branch of the foregoing con- 
 sideration ;) — ^mutual fears of superiority we may remark 
 are frequent in commerce, but cannot easily be founded on 
 both sides. While the gifts of nature are local and human 
 talents various, no nation refined by commerce, will find 
 its own resources sufficient for gratifying all its own de- 
 mands; and large exports cannot long exist without oc- 
 casioning large returns. Other replies to this apprehen- 
 sion occur in the preceding paragraph and in the general 
 theory we have given of commerce ; and it would be 
 easy to enumerate better modes of exertion than 
 any of those which monopolists have proposed. But 
 above all let me add, that there is one peculiar means of 
 self-defence belonging to an unimproved nation, which is; 
 that of its importing skilful cultivators, artists, merchants, 
 and other useful citizens, from countries that are more 
 advanced than itself; for, where a community is fit for a 
 stranger's residence, thither strangers will eagerly fiock*. 
 
 9. It is proper here to treat the expence of carriage as 
 an objection to the liberal system of commerce, in order 
 to shew more and more the merits of that system. And 
 for this end in the first place we may state, not only that 
 this expence of carriage belongs to every system of trade ; 
 but that wherever this expence exists, it is plain from its 
 
 26 existing. 
 
 * No nation indeed can be said to do itself justice till the adop- 
 tion of strangers is permitted, and till every unnecessary corporate 
 right that fetters the free exercise of labor and of talent, and the 
 free circulation of capital, is removed. If strangers avoid any 
 country, there needs little proof that the government of that country 
 is such, as requires alterations, before trade of any kind can origi- 
 nate or subsist to advantage even among the natives. 
 
Commerce between Nations. 589 
 
 existing, that the difference saved in the price or quality 
 of the commodity, is deemed to compensate for the 
 amount of this expence. Secondly, carriage is peculiarly 
 favorable to navigation, which is the fashionable object of 
 modern European nations. Lastly, transit charges, what- 
 ever may be their amount, are exceeded (not only by the 
 increased prices of goods whenever the transit is forbid- 
 den, as above mentioned, but also) by the losses sustained 
 by the smuggler on the one side in supporting contraband, 
 and by government on the other side in endeavouring to 
 suppress it. 
 
 10. The injuries or neglects which agriculture has 
 experienced from modern legislators, when standing in 
 competition with manufactares, have not prevented the 
 favorers of the monopoly system from considering the 
 promotion of agriculture, as one of the merits of that 
 system. And certain it is that agriculture has a tendency 
 to prosper in the neighbourhood of commerce and of all 
 the arts ; as well on account of the market which mer- 
 chants and traders afford for its products, &c. as of the 
 capital and information usually introduced by them where- 
 ever they reside. But to render this concession of any 
 weight in favour of the monopoly system, two very mate- 
 rial assumptions under the head we are considering must 
 be made good : First, that trade is the most eligible 
 means of forwarding agriculture ; and next, that monopoly 
 is the most eligible means of forwarding trade. Now, as 
 to the preferable means of encouraging agriculture, I pre- 
 sume none can doubt that the direct, are better than the 
 circuitous means ; and that if the same attention had been 
 given to agriculture, that has been bestowed upon ma- 
 nufactures or upon commerce, agriculture would have 
 boasted a far earlier and far greater perfection, than it has 
 yet attained in any European country. Next, as to what 
 are the preferable means of encouraging trade ; to investi- 
 gate these being the object of the present treatise, I 
 
 27 might 
 
590 Of the Principles of 
 
 might rest on the whole of this treatise for my answer ; 
 but I shall rather select three remarks, viz. I. That it 
 is an assertion equally allowable (as such) with the con- 
 trary one, that free principles form the best basis of trade ; 
 and whoever shall doubt this must yet allow that a free- 
 trade cannot be supposed to mean no trade at all ; since 
 every country that pursues its own talent (of which ma- 
 nufactures will soon make a part) and at the same time 
 avails itself of the excellencies of other countries by means 
 of interchanges, must necessarily secure to itself a trade 
 that is comparatively respectable. 2. I may next observe, 
 that agriculture has higher pretensions to be considered 
 as productive of trade, than trade has to reverse that pre- 
 tension : and consequently that trade and agriculture will 
 be made to exist together with most certainty if we com- 
 mence with agriculture; agriculture not only implying 
 the existence of many arts, but exciting an attention to 
 many other arts : as well by the easy subsistence it offers 
 to artisans, as by the raw materials it provides. And it 
 would certainly be singular to suppose that any citizens in 
 a state are to refrain from the exercise of trading ocr 
 cupations, when those of agriculture shall prove insuf- 
 ficient to employ them*. 3. and lastly. Since pacific 
 principles are of the utmost importance to every pacific 
 occupation, they necessarily give to free-trade (to which 
 they seem congenial) a decisive preference with respect to 
 agriculture, the monopoly system being the perpetual pa- 
 rent of wars and taxes. Thus it seems clear that free 
 principles of trade contribute as much, and we may ven- 
 ture to say more, to the promotion of agriculture than 
 those of monopoly ; though no trade we may repeat, can 
 
 38 be 
 
 * We may add too, that the very pretext we are contending ■ 
 against supposes trade and agriculture to be blessings that are fully 
 consistent one with the other. 
 
Commerce between Nations. 591 
 
 be at all depended upon for advancing agriculture, equally 
 with that direct encouragement^ which it is the duty of 
 every territorial state to afford to its pursuit. It is an 
 unanswerable proof in favour of this, that many of the 
 antients as well as the Chinese, though each so little noted 
 for foreign trade, (the great favourite of the monopolist,) 
 have particularly excelled in agriculture, though unpro- 
 vided with many of our modern European helps for 
 pursuing agriculture to advantage. 
 
 11. A.n equal prejudice with the preceding has pre- 
 vailed as to the supposed tendency of monopolies to 
 tavowc population. The arts however, I must observe, are 
 much oftener the result than the cause of population; 
 and in many cases where they seem to promote popu- 
 lation, a great part of their effect is to assemble in one 
 spot, and not to create a people. Population also, 1 must 
 add, is the consequence of enjoying means of procuring 
 subsistence, as marriages in such situations naturally 
 become more general, and are contracted at an earlier 
 period of life ; and the children also that are born, as well 
 as the adult persons among the lower ranks, are in such 
 case better provided for than is elsewhere usually their 
 lot. And in this view, every agricultural country has 
 a pecuUar advantage in its- very nature; not only as 
 being saved the expensive carriage of its subsistence : but 
 as possessing the remnants* (or offals) attending its prin- 
 cipal products, which remnants, though they will not bear 
 exporting, yet lessen the expences of its natives. And 
 indeed as the healthfulness of agricultural pursuits renders 
 the inhabitants of such countries more capable of vigorous 
 and continued exertions, than where manufactures pre- 
 vail which are so often the causes of sickness, this of 
 
 39 itself 
 
 * Straw and other articles are the offals of corn ; milk and 
 manure of eattle ; meat of wool and leather ; or vice versa, &c. <fcc. 
 
592 Of the Principles of 
 
 itself is to be considered as equivalent to an increase of 
 people^ since it implies an increase of labour at the same 
 expence of subsistence^ (aids of machinery and inventions 
 being open to both situations.) Should it be urged that 
 it is important not only to population, but also to 
 ceconomy, where a trader shall have his residence ; that 
 is, whether he shall stay at home and pay his taxes and 
 rent, and render his personal services there ; or whether 
 he shall do this abroad, (perhaps for an hostile govern- 
 ment) and moreover impose upon his customers the 
 additional expences of carrying his subsistence outwards, 
 and his manufactures, &c. back again; should this advan- 
 tage of residence be urged, I say, it is easy to remark, 
 that the position however true, ends in nothing favorable 
 to the system of monopoly. We may reply, for instance, 
 as in the preceding paragraph, that to prove the usefulness 
 of some sort of trade to population, does not prove any 
 superiority in a trade founded in monopoly in particular ; 
 and much less does it prove -any inferiority of landed 
 occupations respecting population. And with respect to 
 pacific principles, as they are more naturally allied to 
 agriculture than to monopoly, they naturally increase the 
 favour due to agriculture; since war (which is the usual 
 associate of monopoly) has not only a direct tendency to 
 lessen numbers, but (which is if possible still more impor- 
 tant), interrupts the progress of that subsistence, which 
 makes the basis of numbers both with men and with 
 animals. 
 
 12. There is another prejudice respecting the narrow 
 system, namely, that commerce must be aided, as deep rooted 
 and in certain respects not less erroneous than the fore- 
 going. That permanent prohibitions and bounties indeed 
 used internally, and that the force of arms acting externally 
 should often aggrandize particular traders, is little wonder- 
 ful ; but when the traders in question attempt to betray 
 their country into any general system of trading laws, by 
 
 30 the 
 
Commerce between Nations. 593 
 
 the display of their pampered commodityj it should be re- 
 membered that other commodities and the public revenue 
 have each languished to feed its growth, and that to this 
 principally are to be attributed our frequent wars and enor- 
 mous debts. The particularly depressed state of Ireland 
 proves in a more comprehensive sense, that monopolies have 
 only partial advantages ; and even England itself after ab- 
 sorbing so much of the nutriment of its connected king- 
 doms cannot be compared, (its territory considered) either 
 in wealth or in numbers of people, with a certain neighbour- 
 ing republican province. It is therefore to the real pro- 
 lific principles of liberty, and to certain internal advantages, 
 joined to the bad conduct of our neighbours and to other 
 incidental causes, that England may attribute its chief 
 successes, whether in war or in trade ; and not to selfish or 
 to peevish trade-laws. Every legislative favour to trade, 
 that isparticular and at the same time permanent, (whether 
 positive or negative,) proves either the branch receiving it 
 to be unnatural, or the favour granted to it to be a job : 
 it is in short a larger kind of letters patent, of which the 
 mischief is aggravated as well by the duration, as by the 
 extent of the grant. Even feeble beginnings in trade 
 should be protected by bounties only ; and those also be 
 temporary; and if possible, consisting rather of coun- 
 tenance and of honours, than of money or even im- 
 munities. 
 
 13. But permanent bounties it may aext be pretended 
 are free from those irritations towards foreigners, com- 
 plained of in prohibitions : and it may also be added 
 that wherever there are branches of trade composed of 
 various operations, the artificitd aid given to a few of these 
 operations may be the cause of a spontaneous movement 
 as to the rest of them. But it may be urged, in reply to 
 this, that as bounties are provided by means of taxes, 
 bounties amount to a premium given to one subject out 
 
 31 of 
 
594 Of th& Principles of 
 
 of the property of another. We may even go farther, and 
 affirm that the state contributes on these occasions to the 
 trader, much more than its ostensible gift ; not only 
 because the yielding of every tax is burthened with 
 charges of management ; but because almost every tax in 
 it itself forges a new fetter for commerce, the very controul 
 arising from which will frequently prove the balance of 
 the public benefit proposed by the bounty. Bounties also 
 are generally bestowed with little discernment ; as for 
 instance, to forward at home what is singular to our- 
 selves, instead of what is singular to foreigners ; to excite 
 arduous, instead of easy attempts ; or what is precarious, 
 instead of what is certain. And with respect to the 
 influence of such conduct upon foreigners, as no state can 
 boast of a monopoly of its foUy, the examples of such 
 folly migrate abroad and stimulate kindred folly there ; and 
 bounties abroad contending with bounties at home, scarcely 
 any other eflect arises from them, than that of their mutual 
 burthen or perversion. These arguments alone are suffi- 
 cient to overbalance any pretended benefit from the per- 
 manency of bounties (their permanency it is to be ob- 
 served, being the single point against which we are in this 
 place contending.) But we may add, that allowing such 
 bounties when joined to permanent prohibitions, to effect 
 the end of keeping up none but useful articles, this would 
 only be rendering one useful article tributary to another ; 
 or making weighty objects depend for their support upon 
 each other, without giving them the benefit of a solid 
 general base. 
 
 14. While the free trader conceives ' that the welfare 
 ' of the state at large results from the particular welfare 
 ' attending its several parts ;' the monopolist affirms that 
 individuals, if released from controul, may frequently pur- 
 sue their private interest in modes detrimental to the public. 
 If the monopoly system, we might first reply to this were 
 
 32 itself 
 
Commerce between Nations. 595 
 
 itself free from all the jobs and the folly with which it 
 notoriously abounds under legislative sanction, there might 
 be some colour for this insinuation. But (not to be con- 
 tent with a mere answer of recrimination) we may obviate 
 the present difiSculty in another way, by allowing at once 
 the propriety of the public interposition, whenever, after 
 duly weighing circumstances, the public interposition shall 
 be found requisite. Without however referring here to the 
 danger of foreign retaliation, of wars and of expence, 
 where government pretends to restrain commerce ; and 
 without adverting to the frequent failure of the most plau- 
 sible measures of government on these occasions (which 
 are considerations that appear to meet us every where ;) 
 there remains a new topic which militates against any use 
 of discretionary powers in the case in question, which is as 
 follows. Where a restraint is imposed to favour the class 
 oi producers, its direct operation is to injure the class of 
 consumers, whereas these two classes ought to flourish con-, 
 junctively* ; and what makes this case still more unfor- 
 tunate and unequal is, that the class of consumers in each 
 instance is usually the most numerous, and that the loss 
 sustained by the consumers generally /ar exceeds the gain 
 secured to the producers. We may even go farther with 
 respect to the class of consumers, and say that this class 
 
 33 is 
 
 • " Modern states appear eeldom to think of more than one class 
 " of their subjects at a time, and generally of the wrong class ; for 
 " in prohibiting an export, they think only of the buyers at home, 
 " whereas they ought then to think of the sellers there ; and in pro- 
 " hibiting an import, they think only of the sellers at home, and 
 " forget the buyers : the very reverse of whichj ought to happen, 
 " because when the private sagacity of the subject has taught him 
 " that he can make a gain in any sale, or a saving in any purchase, 
 " the state ought in general to facilitate his operations ; which in 
 " large concerns would produce an immense balance to the country." 
 Anonym. 
 
596 Of the Principles of 
 
 is rarely found patronized by the state since the restraints 
 on importation are not only far more frequent than those 
 on exportation; but even where restraints on exportation 
 have been admitted, it has usually been with the idea of 
 providing an abundance of raw materials to certain 
 secondary producers, (without attention either to the 
 interests of those who originally produce these materials, 
 or of those who are to consume the ultimate compound 
 production). This neglect of the consumers is more 
 remarkable, as consumers are often at once both consumers 
 and producers. Let us conclude then, that none will 
 carry into execution the commercial rule of selling for 
 much and buying for little, better than individuals ; and 
 that a free trade, sooner or later, will naturally produce 
 such an arrangement of markets and of productive employ- 
 ments, as that each individual, while he is thus pursuing 
 his own interest, shall in so doing be found to bene- 
 fit the whole without producing permanent injury to 
 any. 
 
 15. There is another plea which it may here be useful 
 to discuss, merely to give an instance of the universality 
 of the liberal principles oi trade : It is that a poor country 
 will find it requisite to resort to bounties and to restrictions 
 in absolute self-defence on account of the competition of 
 other superior countries. But where poverty is fundamen- 
 tal, the preferable object to such a system certainly is, to 
 improve the manners and talents of the natives ; not only 
 that the natives may push such powers as the country has 
 to their greatest extent, but that they may obtain the lu- 
 crative confidence and employ of their less enterprising 
 neighbours. Those articles also here, as well as in a 
 richer country, seem naturally to ask for attention, which 
 (cseteris paribus) are in most demand and are of easiest 
 production : and whenever the motives to exchange any 
 of these articles with foreigners shall exceed the expence 
 attending such exchange, the poorer country would aug- 
 
 34 ment 
 
Commerce between Nations. 597 
 
 ment by such exchange the value of what it had to con- 
 sume*. These seem natural and obvious principles. If 
 a jealousy should however arise in the poorer country on 
 account of a balance of necessaries] being exported, 
 the intercourse should not be checked here upon trading, 
 but upon ceconomical principles : that is, not by means of 
 mercantile, but of sumptuary laws ; trade in every other 
 respect being left entirely free. This last concession 
 however is made rather for the purpose of distinction in 
 theory, than with a view to practice; as less danger seems 
 likely to follow from the absence of all restraints, than 
 from a power of imposing them at discretion residing 
 in legislatures notoriously subject to passion and delusion. 
 If after all, a poor country under the liberal system should 
 still be said to be poor, compared with its more fortunate 
 neighbours, it shoTild be remembered that this mode of 
 comparison is a false one ; and that the only just compa- 
 rison is, when such a country is compared with itself while 
 it was governed under the narrow system. I may add that 
 no objection can arise to a system of exchanges, from a 
 supposition that a country may be so utterly destitute, as 
 to have nothing to offer in the way of exchange with fo- 
 
 35 reigners ; 
 
 * " Bach merchant is a gainer, if his returns, after paying all the 
 " expences of the voyage, are worth more at home (or will purchase 
 " a greater quantity of goods) than he had exported : This overplus is 
 " the merchant's profit, without which he would no longer trade." 
 Harrises Essay on Money and Coins. Part I. chap. 2. §. 16. note. — 
 " A nation's situation becomes bounded as soon as its powers are 
 " confined at home ; and it is only by interchanging with foreigners 
 " and by foreign connections, that its prosperity can be increased." 
 Anonym. 
 
 t An objection to a wrong balance of necessaries, is much better 
 founded than the ideas respecting a wrong balance of trade : It pre- 
 vails with a sensible nation, the Chinese, very strongly. Yet even 
 this objection may be carried much too far. 
 
598 Of the Principles of 
 
 reigners ; since I believe there is no country that does not 
 naturally produce more of some things than it wants, and 
 less of others, (which is precisely the situation in which 
 our system may be useful :) and it is needless to apprehend 
 danger from exchanges in a country where no exchanges 
 are supposed capable of taking place. 
 
 16. Notwithstanding all that has been said above, it 
 may be conceived that when a nation under the free system 
 has attained its apparent ne plus ultra of prosperity, the 
 application of bounties and restraints becomes indispensible 
 for exciting extraordinary domestic exertions. But this 
 seems a position admitting of easy confatation. For, 
 first, we find no reason why those modes of encourage- 
 ment that appear improper in an early stage of a society, 
 should be thought eligible in a more advanced state of 
 it ; there being if possible more cause than ever in an 
 advanced state of society to trust to general (rather than 
 to particular) sources of improvement, as improvements 
 are theu accomplished with most facility. Secondly, 
 it appears undoubted, that there is not only an apparent 
 but a real ne plus ultra in the affairs of nations, which it 
 is in vain to think of exceeding; every nation either 
 internally or externally, having natural limits occurring 
 to its progress. The wealth of a state therefore consisting 
 only of its given sum of commodities added to its 
 faculties ; and the pacific improvements of either with 
 respect to neighbours depending upon their mutual 
 exchange or intermixture; when this is perfected (which 
 has never been seen perfected) a state stands at its summit 
 as to commerce ; and has nothing to do but to be happy, 
 to oeconomize, and to avoid decline. It can never be 
 richer without more rudiments from riches, (wealth, like 
 population, having perpetual relation to its sources ;) and 
 the application of the monopoly system to its situation, 
 would apparently only be weaving the web of Penelope ; 
 or iu other words be found a mode of enriching the pro- 
 
 36 ducer 
 
Comme/rce between Nations. 699 
 
 ducer by depressing the consumer^ or vice versa ; that is, 
 of losing with one hand what it gained with the other, 
 established at a known cost, and with a certainty sooner 
 or later of foreign opposition. 
 
 17. There is yet another (which may be considered 
 as the last) plea of the monopolist ; for he may contend 
 that notwithstanding a free-trade is proper for the world 
 generally, yet, that single states may find their advantage 
 in monopolies, and be justified in pursuing them. As I pro- 
 fess not to touch here upon topics of justice, and much 
 less upon those of benevolence, I will not observe upon 
 the liberality of such a position ; especially as it is to be 
 attacked in other modes. But I shall notice here (once 
 for all) the oversight of those monopolists who pronounce 
 monopoly to be the plainest of all policies and yet think 
 that it will escape the vigilance of their neighbours, after 
 the practice has been suggested by their own example and 
 rendered contagious by revenge or the study of redress. 
 So slight has been the attention paid either to events or 
 to principles upon this occasion, that after foreigners have 
 actually been seen imitating our national partialities on 
 the one hand and resenting the injuries received from us 
 on the other, the error in qixestion has still survived. 
 When nations have proved too wary to be pilfered by art, 
 they have next been thought likely to be tamely submissive 
 to force : And numerous parties are yet to be found, even 
 in this improving age and country, who would commence 
 or continue wa7's for promoting trade; although experience 
 has shewn that enemies however ignorant are at least 
 jealous, and that wars are often as fruitless to the particular 
 traders for whom they are undertaken, as they are certainly 
 onerous and devastating to other traders, and to the public 
 that has to support them. Let me add in the next place, 
 that when an exception from general rules is left in 
 the power of each individual state, the peculiar benefits 
 to be expected from such exception by any particular 
 
 37 nation 
 
600 Of the principles of 
 
 nation must naturally diminish; not only as exceptions 
 assumed on one side, would then be balanced by the ex- 
 ceptions to be assumed on another ; but as all would lose 
 the advantages arising from liberal systems being pursued 
 by all* ; and the present unhappy system of selfishness 
 and of hostility, would in consequence soon be revived. 
 And when commercial wars either exist or are appre- 
 hended, the tranquillity of neighbouring countries is sel- 
 dom to be deemed secure. In short, since states (like 
 individuals) are too improvident, too intemperate, and too 
 ambitious, to be freed from the rule of equal laws; and 
 since monopolizing systems are injurious, as well on ac- 
 count of their odiousness and their bad example to other 
 countries, as of their domestic evil consequences ; it is 
 wise for all countries to submit in commerce to an univer- 
 sal system, which is not only incapable of perversion either 
 by friends or enemies ; but whenever it is once established, 
 requires so little effort and intelligence to carry it on, that 
 it may be said to be self-moving and self-conducted. 
 
 38 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 * See the statement of the general theory of commerce Chap. II. 
 of this treatise and passim. There is indeed no European nation that 
 has any pretensions to form the exception to general rules here 
 alluded, if we are to judge from their past conduct ; since they have 
 not only each frequently yielded to evident misinformation on com- 
 mercial subjects, but have each plunged themselves, in supporting 
 monopolies, into expensive projects or cruel wars. 
 
 If it were here made a general question whether it would be for 
 the happiness of the human race that aU should seek to live upon 
 their neighbours, or all should depend upon themselves and live fairly 
 by their own endeavours ; whether aU should attempt to over-reach, 
 or all endeavour to be equitable ? The answer would be easy. Nor 
 is it less easy to decide whether a system of commercial exceptions 
 made in favour of all or a few, would not quickly terminate in a total 
 abolition of commercial system, and introduce a lawless state ? 
 
Commerce hetveen Nations. 60 1 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 IN the preceding chapter we have seen what are the 
 pretences of a general nature in favor of restrictions 
 in trade, which it has occurred to notice ; and we have 
 seen the replies. Our immediate fore-fathers therefore 
 have been unhappily self-deluded respecting trade as well 
 as respecting other particulars : and state-counsels (usually 
 alas without system !) in this case going upon wrong 
 systems, were obstinate and vindictive in the usual pro- 
 portions. But to apply a fine expression here, " We 
 " have lived upon the credit of those times too long." 
 Our predecessors by their immense exertions have wrought 
 indeed some benefit for their posterity, though compara- 
 tively but little, and that little inferior in kind and alloyed 
 with serious evU. Right in attributing riches to industry, 
 they were nevertheless wrong in fostering industry by 
 force. Properly awake to their own interests, they were 
 to blame to expect that other nations would be provoked, 
 and yet remain asleep to theirs. Instead of attempting 
 what was serviceable and within their reach, they sought 
 chiefly what was novel and artificial. And their policy, 
 which was in itself adverse to internal prosperity, became 
 still more ruinous by the intervention of rivals ; for when 
 their administration was at any time supine, contraband 
 undermined their unnatural system ; and if over-active, 
 this system generated foreign contests. Thus their love 
 of commerce stifled commerce, as their love of lucre always 
 betrayed them into profuse expences : and had it not 
 been tor vigorous principles of a totally different com- 
 plexioji*, conspiring to arrest or repair these mischiefs, 
 
 39 it 
 
 * Such as civilization, long and extensive experience, philosophi- 
 cal and chemical knowledge, the invention of printing, liberty in the 
 middling and lower orders of people, the countenance of government, 
 
602 Of the Principles of 
 
 it is difficult to say to what excesses they would not have 
 extended. In short, to interdict beneficial purchases and 
 sales to subjects ; to excite similar interdictions on the parts 
 of foreigners ; to keep up a chargeable apparatus for en- 
 forcing these purposes ; and to go to war for these prepos- 
 terous objects; bespeaks defects in our system of such a 
 magnitude, that we may demonstrate the error of the prin- 
 ciple from the nature of these results. If other proof 
 were wanting, we have only to inspect those kingdoms 
 where monopoly has most raged, and we shall find agri- 
 culture every where still imperfect in them : though it is 
 the pursuit of all others that is the least injured by arbi- 
 trary power, and that would have flourished with half 
 the encouragement lavished on the frippery of trade. 
 In some of these ill-fated kingdoms, their arts are infinitely 
 more wretched than their agriculture ; and even in 
 
 40 England 
 
 the decline of monopoly-grants and also of corporation and feudal 
 privileges, trading occupations being less reproachful than formerly, 
 increasing religious toleration, commercial and maritime law, accu- 
 mulated capitals of money and lowered interest, astonishing ma- 
 chinery, more perfect arts and in many cases better raw materials, 
 various important advantages respecting fuel, buildings and other 
 useful establishments provided at the cost of former ages, improved 
 agriculture, known and extended markets, increased motives and 
 opportunities of intercourse, regulated posts, established connections, 
 bills and courses of exchange, bankers and banks, policies of insu- 
 rance, with quays, known harbors, canals, superior roads, sea-charts, 
 the mariner's compass and quadrant, and various astronomical in- 
 ventions, (fee. (fee. all of which are articles that in their nature are 
 independent of the monopoly-system of commerce. When a mono- 
 pohst therefore attributes to himself alone the modern improvement 
 of European commerce, he becomes the boastful fly upon the chariot- 
 wheel ; or rather, when he sets aside or disparages the influence of 
 such benign causes as the above, and wishes us to trust to artifice and 
 empiricism, he resembles the conceited cultivator, who should dream 
 that by waterings, by hot-beds, and nostrums, he could be enabled to 
 reject and supersede the light, the warmth, the air, the rains, and 
 the dews of heaven. 
 
Commerce between Nations. 603 
 
 England (in defiance of invigorating liberty, of favoring 
 nature, successful wars, imperial rights, and dominions 
 that are sufficiently expansive to embrace a variety of 
 products*) many arts are still infant, many lands are still 
 waste, more are ill-husbanded, and the interest of money 
 attending our debts contracted in pursuit of monopolies, 
 amounts to near two thirds of the annual value of our 
 favourite exports (and certainly infinitely exceeds the 
 profits upon those exports ;) and if the constant public and 
 individual loss sustained internally under the system of 
 bounties and prohibitions, does not equal the other third 
 of this amount, we seem to have enmities, jealousies, and 
 projects enough still on foot, sooner or later to complete 
 the aflSicting total, unless we reform our system. 
 
 I shall only add, that if commercial freedom is advan- 
 tageous for a nation's own concerns, it is if possible still 
 more proper for qualifying it to conduct the concerns of 
 other nations. Not only can those serve others on the 
 cheapest terms, who have placed their own affairs to the 
 best advantage ; but a free trade must necessarily lend 
 help to a trade of agency, by the supply it offers of wide 
 correspondencies, ready markets, extensive assortments of 
 goods, freights, experience, and various other facilities ; as 
 also by relieving it from the curb of every odious trade-law, 
 not called for by retaliation. So that (military means out 
 of the question) the only methods in which a nation can 
 gain adventitious wealth, being first, by pushing its natural 
 articles to the utmost, and then exchanging them with 
 other nations who have done the like with theirs ; or else 
 secondly, by becoming an agent for other nations, (as their 
 
 41 artificer. 
 
 * " England has had so many connections in the four quarters of 
 " the earth, as in effect to have enjoyed a, free trade in a little world 
 " of its own." Anonym. 
 
604 Of the Principles of 
 
 artificer, carrier, factor, or accomptant ;) it follows that 
 the only two civil means of adding to the native stock of 
 national wealth, require a free trade as their assistant. 
 And with respect to peace (that still greater source of 
 national osconomy and wealth) the preference of a free 
 trade may be proved from history to be indispensible both 
 to its real, as well as to its assured duration. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Conclusion. 
 
 SUCH seems the general theory* of what is eligible 
 and what is injurious for trade. The application 
 of this theory to old mis-shapen practice, fortified by pre- 
 judices, and in part deemed necessary for retaliation, is 
 certainly an attempt at once delicate and arduous. Yet 
 the rule of Montesquieu" is still irrefragably true, " That 
 " one nation should never exclude another from trading 
 " with it, except for very great reasons." And there can 
 be no harm in proposing it as a problem to a minister, 
 that he should endeavour to promote trade, without call- 
 ing to his aid either restrictions, permanent bounties, or 
 wars. If a virtuous glow should grandly seize his mind 
 for amending the manners of his nation, not only the 
 production and the exchange of commodities (which after 
 all are the two only constituents of trade) would instantly 
 increase, but other secret blessings would attend this re- 
 form to console his cares. But if, like other minions of 
 fortune, he should slumber over the nobler duties of his 
 situation, his country would still benefit by its being left 
 
 43 alone 
 
Commerce between Nations. 605 
 
 alone to nature and itself; free from the chimeras of a 
 court, the plausibilities of traders*, and the aversion to 
 reforming errors so inveterate and notorious in persons in 
 office. It can be no objection to a free trade, that it 
 leaves room for inaction and for want of instruction in 
 ministers ; and ministers themselves will probably scarcely 
 object to it on this account. Infinite however must be 
 the discretion requisite in the interim, for changing that 
 system externally and internally which now oppresses us ; 
 and those only ought to be intrusted with direction in it, 
 who have been used to study the parts and the movements 
 of a great society ; a revolution in which, being little short 
 of a new formation of it, as much requires a master's 
 hand to lead it to a safe conclusion. Justice, I will only 
 say, must form an indelible part of the plan, and justice 
 includes not only authentic and timely warning, (whenever 
 needful) of every change j but also public relieff, where 
 no warning can remedy the positive ills which former laws 
 
 43 shall 
 
 * It is remarkable that England and Holland, though each the 
 seat of so much trade, have produced few eminent writers on com- 
 mercial subjects, except for particular branches, (such as fisheries, 
 low interest of money, banks, commercial law, &c.) The ori- 
 ginal writers on trade of most esteem from having gone upon general 
 principles, have chiefly been found in France and Scotland, where 
 trade has formerly flourished but Httle, notwithstanding the laws 
 always favored monopolies. The known influence of traders in com- 
 mercial countries and the application often made of that influence, 
 suflSoiently elucidate the caution given in the text ; for though Hol- 
 land for example, ha,s been more liberal in her home-market than 
 England, yet even Holland has been equally bigotted with ourselves 
 in her external systems. 
 
 t " Men in their innovations should follow the example of time 
 " which innovateth but quietly, and by degrees scarce to be 
 " perceived ; for otherwise what is new and unlocked for, ever mends 
 " some and improves others : and he that is holpen takes it for a 
 " fortune and thanks the time, and he that is hurt for a wrong 
 " and imputeth it to the author." Lord Bacon's Essay. 
 
606 Of the Principles of 
 
 shall have imposed or invited. The subjects, trade, or 
 commodities, that shall specially benefit by the meditated 
 change, oJBfer the first resource for supplying the indem- 
 nity in question; but if this resource fails, and if the 
 public at large also refuses the burthen, the change pro- 
 posed should itself be foregone ; since a few persons should 
 never be made to sustain that loss, which is thus held too 
 grievous for the many. Happily there is nothing requisite, 
 for which a willing administration and a confiding people 
 cannot easily provide ; and half the expence of one of those 
 many commercial campaigns, which must otherwise be 
 certainly repeated, would furnish a fund (with due time 
 and management) adequate to relieve us from our com- 
 plicated errors, if accompanied with patient address, and 
 with that sort of contriving ceconomy which is a most im- 
 portant state-accomplishment. I do not make myself too 
 full of hopes on this subject, but 1 do not abandon myself 
 to despair. Knowledge is increasing and truth daily 
 approving itself : and as there are many vibrations in 
 public concerns, in one of these we shall perhaps see the 
 accomplishment of the wish here alluded to, distinctly 
 pointed out, and happily effected. In the mean time, if 
 truth is frequently obliged to give way to prejudices and 
 to necessity, it will not be without its receiving manifold 
 confirmations of its existence, as well as of the degree of 
 its salutary tendency. 
 
 With respect to particular countries, there is scarcely 
 any one in the universe which appears more fitted to 
 profit by the systemof free-trade than Great Britain; espe- 
 cially as a system of interchanges must favor her naviga- 
 tion. Blessed with a happy climate, surrounded by seas 
 from which she is in no part distant, placed between the 
 old and new world, between northern and southern 
 regions, possessing connections in various quarters of the 
 globe; and boasting considerable liberality in her civil 
 and religious government, considerable activity, consider- 
 
 ^i able 
 
Commerce between Nations. 607 
 
 able character, correspondencies, skill, capital, and ship- 
 ping ; she has the strongest grounds for confiding that 
 the same causes that have produced her present commercial 
 superiority, in defiance of her narrow politics, will attend 
 her more and more where favoured by liberal systems, the 
 folly of our neighbours especially considered. As fashions 
 prevail among courts and nations, as well as among 
 individuals, her new example would probably soon be 
 pursued spontaneously abroad, and more products in 
 consequence be brought into circulation through the 
 earth ; and those nations in such case, who were most 
 active, most wise, and most rich, would derive most 
 profit from the revolution. To accelerate this happy 
 moment, she would naturally in many particulars, make 
 the extinction of her own prejudices a condition with 
 other nations, for the extinction of theirs ; and if other 
 nations neglected to adopt her instructive lesson and 
 example, her benefit from her new line of conduct would 
 at least be peculiar and unrivalled. Should Great Britain 
 however from indolence or timidity decline to reform her 
 old established errors at present*, she may to a certainty 
 avoid all preposterous adherence to them in critical cases, 
 as well as all unnecessary violation of the true system in 
 
 45 new 
 
 * Many who would act wisely iu new affairs, feel terrified at the 
 correction of antient errors. They are patients who would shun the 
 operation that is to restore their health, and as such, are treated 
 with some asperity by the moraUst : 
 
 • " Unhappy race ! who never yet could tell 
 « How near their good and happiness they dwell : 
 " Petter'd in faults, they seek not to be free, 
 " But stupid, to theu: own sad fate agree ; 
 " Like pond'rouB rolling-stones, oppress'd with ill, 
 " The weight that loads them makes them roll on still." 
 
 Rowe's Translation of the Golden 
 Pythagorean Verses. 
 
608 Of the Principle's of 
 
 new and future occurrences ; and time will gradually, it 
 is to be hopedj render easier tlie accomplishment of the 
 rest. 
 
 Every improvement that takes place, however slender 
 and retarded, is still a blessing; and let me here be 
 allowed to add, that it is the more to be prayed for on ac- 
 count of the benefit that may result to humanity at large, 
 were free-trade and pacific systems more generally pre- 
 vailing. Nations might then no longer view each other 
 as strangers and as rivals ; and individuals, learning more 
 and more their real public interests, might consider them- 
 selves not merely as the members of separate nations (a 
 sentiment whichhas hitherto seldom been the companion of 
 general liberality * or general justice,) but likewise as mem- 
 
 46 bers 
 
 • Dr. Price has the following remarkable passage respecting the 
 love of one's country. " Foreign trade has in some respects the most 
 " useful tendency. By creating an intercourse between distant king- 
 " doms, it extends benevolence, removes local prejudices, leads every 
 " man to consider himself more as a citizen of the world than of any 
 " particular state, and consequently checks the excesses of that Love 
 " oj our Gowntry which has been applauded as one of the noblest, 
 " but which really is one of the most destructive principles in human 
 " nature." He then adds the following observations in a note. "The 
 " love of our country is then only a noble passion, when it engages 
 " us to promote the internal happiness of our country and to defend 
 " its rights and liberties against domestic and foreign invasion, main- 
 " taining at the same time an equal regard to the rights and liberties 
 " of other countries. But this has not been its most common effect : 
 " On the contrary, it has been nothing but a spirit of rivalship 
 " between different communities, producing contention and a thirst 
 " for conquest and dominion. What is his country to a Russian, a 
 " Turk, a Spaniard, &c. but a spot where he enjoys no right, and is 
 " disposed of by owners as if he was a beast % And what is his love 
 " to his country, but an attachment to degradation and slavery ? 
 " What was the love of their country among the Jews, but a wretched 
 " partiality for themselves and a proud contempt for other nations ? 
 " Among the Romans also what was it, however great in many of 
 " its exertions, but a principle holding together a baud of robbers 
 
Commerce between Nations. 609 
 
 bers of the universe, and as the common children of a 
 common father. That common Father cannot be pleased 
 that the pretended interests of artificial cominodities 
 should be made a motive for disturbing either the good 
 order which is said to be the basis of their own institution, 
 or the peace of the general community 'of nature ; nor 
 can it be acceptable that his partial gifts, which (as having 
 a local distribution accompanied with a general use) 
 appear given in shares to each nation in trust for every 
 other, should wantonly or maliciously be frustrated in their 
 circulation, and even be made the cause of mutual de- 
 vastation and bloodshed over the globe. Mr. Hume 
 who considerably favors the liberal system, and considers 
 the other as founded in "narrow and malignant politics," 
 concludes his short Essay on the Jealousy of Trade with 
 a declaration, which I shall not be afraid of making the 
 conclusion of the present : — " I shall therefore venture to 
 " acknowledge that not only as a man, but as a British 
 " subject, I pray for the flourishing commerce of Ger- 
 " many, Spain, Italy, and even France itself * * *." 
 
 47 
 
 " in their attempts to crush all liberty but their own % Christianity 
 " has wisely omitted to recommend this principle. Had it done 
 " this, it would have countenanced a vice among mankind. It has 
 " done what is infinitely better. It has recommended Universal 
 " Benevolence." See p. 74-5 of that edition of his Observations on 
 the Importance of the American Revolution, <fec. to which is annexed 
 a translation of the Will of M. Fortune Ricard, 1785. 
 
 If this very amiable and respectable author when speaking of 
 trade, had limited his praises to a free-trade, they would have been 
 better merited. But how unfortunate is it that his sentiments re- 
 specting patriotism, as it is commonly called, should appear singular, 
 when they contain nothing but the language of sense and nature 
 confirmed by every page in the history of nations. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Accounts, account showing the inju- 
 rious effect of excise and customs' 
 duties in trade, 180-3 ; amount 
 and incidence of our taxes 1710- 
 1740, 184; computation of rental 
 of land in England, and trade, 
 taxation and expenses of the people, 
 194 ; effects of ill-judged laws, 
 206-7 ; schedule for proposed tax 
 on luxuries, 218 ; table of exchange, 
 267 ; of imports and exports, 272, 
 276, 277, 279 
 
 Admiral, origin of the title, 88 
 
 Adriatic, claim of Venice to the sove- 
 reignty of, 87 
 
 Africa, her contributions to commerce, 
 38 
 
 Agrarian — (See Land) 
 
 Agriculture, low system of, in feudal 
 times, 131 ; improvement in agri- 
 culture the effect of commerce, 546, 
 589; alleged superiority of far- 
 mers to manufacturers as subjects, 
 ■^84 ; monopoly system disadvan- 
 tageous to, 590, 602 
 
 Alehouses, proposed mode of licensing 
 them in the manufacturing dis- 
 tricts, 363-4 
 
 Alexander the Great first made himself 
 master of the sea and then of the 
 world, 50 
 
 Alfred, eulogy on this King, 72 
 
 America, her contributions to commerce, 
 38 ; discovery of, 64, 66 ; American 
 fisheries, 98 ; prospects of North 
 America, 567 
 
 Amsterdam never without 700,000 quar- 
 ters of corn, 9, 297; its rise, 121 
 
 Anchor, invention of, 43 
 
 Antwerp, decline of, 59, 121 
 
 Armada, destruction of, by Elizabeth, 75 
 
 Arts, "A vindication of Commerce and 
 the Arts, Sfc, by I— B—, M.D.," 
 481-561 
 
 Asia, her contributions to commerce, 38 
 
 Asia Minor, its neglected and unproduc- 
 tive state, ] 1 1 
 
 Athenaus cited, 41, 43 
 
 Athenians, their naval power, 49, 512; 
 their wars with the Persians, 49 ; 
 fall of Athens, 59 ; a sort of general 
 naturalization allowed by them, 527 
 
 Augustus, his naval force, 52 
 
 Azores, discovery of, 67 
 
 B. 
 
 Bacon, Lord, quoted in favour of gra- 
 dual innovation, 605 
 
 Balance of Trade — (See Commerce) 
 
 Bankrupts, defects of English laws as 
 to, 204 
 
 Barhary, practice of the King of Bar- 
 bary as to raising the denomination 
 of his coins, 24 ; her trade with 
 England, 78 
 
 Bell, Mr., "Examination of his Disserta- 
 tion on Populousness," 483-561 
 
 Bentivoglio cited, 69 
 
 Berne, evil effects of monopolies on 
 character of the inhabitants of, 191 
 
 Bible cited, 42-3, 47-8, 59 
 
 BilU of Mortality, allegation that they 
 cannot be relied on, answered, 405- 
 6, note 
 
 Birmingham, rise of, attributed to ab- 
 sence of exclusive charters and 
 companies of trades, 376 
 
 Board of Trade, a wise and necessary 
 institution, 318 ; its objects, 316, 
 320 
 
 Bounties, argument against the policy of 
 149, 150, 198, 294, 593, 594; when 
 they are excusable, 386-7, 593 
 
 "Brief Essay on Trade," by Josiah 
 Tucker, 309-425 
 
 Britain, natural advantages of, enume- 
 rated, 215, 336-9, 606 — (See 
 England and Scotland) 
 
 Britannia Languens cited, 213, 270 
 
 British Merchant cited, 183, 267, 300 ; 
 quoted, 199, 266, 285, 318, note ; 
 quoted and answered, 270 
 
612 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 CiBsar, his account of the ancient Britons 
 
 referred to, 70, 83 
 Camden cited, 70 ; as to English rights 
 of fishing, 91 ; quoted as to per- 
 mission to fish granted to the Dutch 
 and others, 94 
 
 Canals, their usefulness to trade, 324, 
 34.) ; the fornaation of various canals 
 in England and Scotland suggested, 
 396-7 
 
 Cape of Good Hope, discovery of pas- 
 sage in that way, 57 
 
 Carthage, early famous for commercej 
 50 
 
 Castaing's Paper cited, 267, 285 
 
 Chabot Sebastian, emplovment of, by 
 Henry VII, 14, 65, 75 
 
 Channel Islands, privileges of, as to 
 customs should be abolished, 389 
 
 Charity, English eminent for, 302 
 
 Charlemagne, revival of navigation and 
 commerce under him, 54 
 
 Charles I, His prohibition of strangers 
 to fish in the. British seas without 
 his licence, 99 
 
 Charles II, dedication of Evelyn's work 
 on Navigation and Commerce to 
 him, 31 
 
 Charles V, the importance in his eyes of 
 naval power, 41 
 
 Chesterfield, Lord, quoted as to the 
 importance of trade, 14 5 
 
 Child, Sir JosiaJi, quoted, 199, 298, 
 302, 316, note; 512, 519 
 
 Chinese, tlie magnet earlier known to the 
 Chinese than to Europeans, 63; 
 size of their junks, ib. ; a luxurious 
 people, 506 
 
 Cicero, his condemnation of retailers and 
 commendation of wliolesale mer- 
 chants, quoted, 40, 72 ; cited, 51, 
 53 
 
 Cinque Ports, the constitution of, cited 
 as evidence of our sovereignty of the 
 sea, 88 
 
 Clergy, their wealth during the middle 
 ages, 132 
 
 Cloths, export of English undressed and 
 undyed, complained of, 19—21 
 
 Coals, abundance of, in England, 17; 
 suggestion for improvement of the 
 trade in, 25 ; objectionable nature 
 of coal tax, 161-2 
 
 Coin, practices of different nations with 
 regard to their coin, 23, 25 ; alleged 
 advantage of raising the denomina- 
 tions of coins, 23-5; alleged im- 
 policy of laws fixing proportion 
 
 between gold and silver, 203 — (See 
 also Gold and Silver, and Mint) 
 Colbert, M., his enlightened commercial 
 
 policy, 288 
 Colonies of ancient Greece, 49, 550 ; of 
 France, 325 ; of England, 338, 
 345 ; suggestions for improvement 
 of, 379 ; importance of colonial 
 trade, 382 
 Columbus, his genius and discoveries, 
 
 64-5 
 Combinations — (See Wages') 
 Comines, Philip de, cited, 59 I 
 Commerce, " Observations touching 
 Trade and Commerce," by Sir 
 Walter Raleigh, 1-28; encourage- 
 ment given to commerce by Hol- 
 land, 5-8, 429 ; by France, 8, 324 ; 
 Denmark and the Hanse Towns, 8 ; 
 carrying trade of the Dutch, 8-9, 
 444-5 ; and of the Hamburgers 
 and Embdeners, 9 ; arguments in 
 favour of free trade, 10, 149, 151, 
 158, 160, 179, 186, 197, 251, 289, 
 294, 307, 360, 399, 445, 452, 463, 
 478, 574, 578, 580, 596-7, 603, 
 604, 608 ; alleged causes of the 
 decay of English commerce, 17, 
 28, 145, 160-209; English system 
 of overtrading on credit, 18 ; sug- 
 gestions for the improvement of 
 Englifh trade, 25-8, 215-307 ; 
 " Navigation and Commerce, their 
 original and progress, by John 
 Evelyn," 29-103; aptness of the 
 Mediterranean for promoting com- 
 merce, 34 ; wonderful influence of 
 commei-ce on Holland, 36, 95-8, 
 120-1, 429, 439, 440, 543 ; on 
 Venice, 36, 56, 61, 119, 121, 543; 
 on Genoa, 37 ; on the Hanseatic 
 towns, 37, 120, 132; contributions 
 of different quarters of the globe to 
 commerce, 38 ; patincian contempt 
 for trade, 39, 107, 109, 148, 489; 
 reason assigned for the prejudice 
 of Lycurgus against commerce, 39 ; 
 similar prejudice of Plato ii. 
 Cicero quoted in condemnation of 
 retailers and commendation of 
 wholesale merchants, 40 ; marine 
 laws of the Romans, 53 ; revival of 
 commerce under Charlemagne, 54 ; 
 of the Egyptians, 55 ; rise of the 
 Venetians, 56 ; commercial enter- 
 prise^ and discoveries of the Portu- 
 guese, 57-8, 60 ; of the Dutch, 57- 
 8 ; commercial decline of various 
 great cities, 58-9, 121-2, 288, 441 ; 
 commerce of the ancient Gauls, 59; 
 
INDEX. 
 
 613 
 
 Commerce : 
 
 of the French, ib., 60 ; of the 
 Spaniards, 60 j of the Rhodians, 62 j 
 of the Chinese, 63 ; of other Asiatic 
 nations, ib. ; discoveries of Columbus 
 and others, 64-8; trade with Mus- 
 covy, Turkey, Barbary, and the East 
 Indies established by Ehzabeth, 78 ; 
 extracts from Defoe's "Plan of the 
 English Commerce," 105-144 ; 
 greatness of England derived from 
 trade, 108 j decay of the Turks in 
 consequence of their neglect of it, 
 110; its advantages enumerated, 
 108, 112, 122, 137, 139, 147-8, 
 157, 430, 433, 439, 448, 545; 
 sketch of the growth of a commu- 
 nity and of trade, 114, 120, 140; 
 rise of English trade, 133 ; Eng- 
 lish commerce an immense and 
 almost incredible thing, 144 ; 
 ' ' Essay on the causes of the decline 
 of the foreign trade," 145-308 ; in- 
 clination of landholders to tax trade, 
 148 ; bounties objected to, 149, 
 150, 198, 201. 294, 593 ; definition 
 of foreign trade, 157 ; the exchange 
 the barometer of trade between 
 any two nations, 158, 266 ; the 
 mint the barometer of trade in 
 general, 158 ; symptoms of the de- 
 cline of trade in Britain, 159; ac- 
 count showing the injurious effects of 
 excise and customs duties on trade, 
 180-3; ruinous effects ofmonopolies, 
 186, 198,328, 333, 342,366, 374, 
 417, 574, 578; injurious influence of 
 Navigation Act, 196 ; evil effects 
 of ill-judged laws on, 198, 207, 595; 
 and of a national debt, 207, 209 ; 
 decline in the value of land conse- 
 quent on the decline of foreign 
 trade, 210-3 j means to restore 
 foreign trade, 215, 307, 349, 447 ; 
 foundation of all commerce, 313 ; 
 home and foreign commerce distin- 
 guished, 313-4; the science of 
 gainful commerce consists ulti- 
 mately in procuring a balance of 
 gold or silver to ourselves from 
 other nations, 314, note ; prevalent 
 ignorance of the principles of trade, 
 315-6; balance of trade defined, 
 315; conflicting opinions of mer- 
 chants concerning trade, 316-S ; 
 uses of a Board of Trade, 318, 320 ; 
 supposed distinctions of " landed '' 
 and " trading " interests idle and in- 
 jurious, 320-1 J principal advantage 
 of France with respect to trade, 323- 
 330 ; her principal disadvantages. 
 
 Commerce : 
 
 330-336 ; principal advantages 
 of Great Britain, 215, 336-9, 606; 
 her principal disadvantages, .339- 
 348 ; proposals fur increasing trade 
 and credit, 349, 419 ; promotion 
 of colonial trade urged, 379; four 
 modes of turning trade into a new 
 channel, 385 ; judicious taxation 
 quickens commerce, 412 ; disserta- 
 tion on the trade of the United 
 Netherlands, 433-480; causes of 
 the decay of her trade, 441-4 ; 
 remedies, 447, 452, 466, 480-7 ! 
 amount of duties on imports no 
 pi'oof of a flourishing trade, 442-3 ; 
 a multiplicity of laws perplex trade, 
 465; "A vindication of commerce 
 and the arts," SiC, 481-561; eulogy 
 on commerce, 560, 587, 608 ; ob- 
 servations on the terms active and 
 passive commerce, 566-7 ; defini- 
 tion of commerce, 575 ; true theory 
 of commerce, 575-8 ; England and 
 Holland have produced few eminent 
 wr^ers on commercial subjects, 605 , 
 note 
 
 Commons, division of, suggested, 377 
 
 Compass, the magnet known to the 
 Chinese sooner than to Europeans, 
 63 ; immense importance of the 
 discovery of, 67-8 
 
 Corn, great store of, kept in Holland, 
 9-13 ; impolicy of bounties on 
 exports of, 149, 150, 198, 294 ; 
 proposal to erect public magazines 
 of, 294, 553 
 
 Corporation, objections to monopolies 
 caused by city and corporation 
 charters, 190, 333, 360, 374,483-4, 
 588 
 
 Court of Morals — (See Morals) 
 
 Credit, English system of over! riding 
 on credit, 1 8 
 
 Customs, low rates of, in Holland, and 
 high rates in England contrasted, 
 6, 170, 440; low rates far moro 
 productive of revenue, 7, 10-11, 
 441, 445, 451, 463, 592 ; objections 
 stated to those taxes, 170, 440-2, 
 447-9 ; high rates of, encourage 
 smuggling, 176, 202-3, 451 ; ex- 
 clude specie, 179; account shewing 
 their evil effects, 180-3 ; suggestions 
 to prevent smuggling, 389, 403, 
 458, 463 ; abolition of privileges and 
 exemption of the Channel Islands 
 and Man recommended, 389, 390 ; 
 and extension of warehousing sys- 
 tem, 390, 401-4 ; the amount 
 of duties on imports no proof 
 
614 TISDEX. 
 
 Customs : 
 
 of a flourishing trade, 442-3 ; 
 suggestion as to lowering customs' 
 duties on certain goods, 449-451, 
 452, and raising tliem on others, 
 452; drawbacks on re-exportation, 
 455 ; difficulties in arranging a 
 tariff, 457-8 ; its occasional revi- 
 sion necessary, 474 
 
 D. 
 
 Dane Gelt — (See Sldpmoney) 
 
 Davenant, Dr., quoted as to evil effects 
 of high excises on manufactures, 
 185-6 
 
 Debts — (See National Debt and Bank- 
 rupts) 
 
 Dec/cer, Sir M., cited, 519 ; the author- 
 ship of the "Essay on the causes of 
 the decline of foreign trade " erro- 
 neously ascribed to him. Preface, 
 viii 
 
 DecTcs, when first added to vessels, 43 
 
 Dedication to King Charles II. of 
 Evelyn's tract on Navigation and 
 Commerce, 31 j to Earl of Halifax, 
 of Josiah Tucker's Brief Essay on 
 Trade, 311 ; to Viscount Towns- 
 hend, of A Vindication of Com- 
 merce and Arts, 483 
 
 Defoe, JOo:aitjl^ extracts from *' Apian of 
 the English commerce," &c., 105- 
 144 
 
 Deluge, origin of navigation previous to 
 the, 42 
 
 Denmarlc, encouragement given to her 
 merchants, 8, 476; naval power of 
 the Danes formidable in former 
 times, 50 ; sound dues payable to 
 the King of Denmark, 102—3 
 
 De WittciteA, 90, 204, 244, 253, 272, 
 279; quoted as to the impolicy of 
 taxes on navigation, fishing trade, 
 and manufactures, 179 
 
 Diodorus cited, 45, 48 
 
 Dionysius Halicarnassns cited, 59 
 
 Dogs, tax on, suggested, 411 
 
 Drake, Sir F., his voyages of discovery 
 and conquest, 66, 76 
 
 Drunkenness, prevalence of, 351-3, 378, 
 5:-!9 
 
 Drawbacks on re-exportation suggested 
 for the Dutch, 455-6 
 
 Dublin Society, " weekly observations," 
 of, cited, 242 
 
 Dunkirk, its decline, 121 
 
 Dutch — See {Holland) 
 
 E. 
 
 East India Company, their monopoly 
 objerted to, 187, 190, 368; Its 
 extent, 190 ; mode of extinguish- 
 ing foreign East India Companies, 
 290 ; East India Company of 
 France, 333 
 
 Edgar styled King, Supreme Lord, and 
 Governor of the Ocean lying round 
 abont Britain, 84 
 
 Edward II, styled Lord of the Sea by 
 the Earl of Flanders and others, 
 86 
 
 Edward III, styled Lord of the British 
 Seas, 85 ; price of wheat in his 
 time, 540 
 
 Egyptians, their addiction to traffic, 55, 
 525 ; their endeavours to connect 
 the Mediterranean and the Red 
 Sea, 55; number of the people at 
 different times, 525 
 
 Elections, great expense of, 340 ; pro- 
 posal to alter qualification for 
 voting, 349-351; prevalence of 
 bribery and corruption, 351 
 
 Elizabeth, her naval power and suc- 
 cesses at sea, 60, 75-8, 84; naval 
 heroes of her reign, 75-S 
 
 Embdeners,\}at\r great trade, 9, 98 ; how 
 enriched by dearth elsewhere, 9 
 
 England, means of enriching her, 3, 4, 
 11, 96; other nations enriched at 
 her expense, 5, 11, 15 ; her extra- 
 vagant mode of manning her mer- 
 chant ships, 6 ; her neglect of the 
 fisheries on her coasts, 11, 15, 97, 
 21 ; her great natural advantages 
 for commerce, 16, 26, 73, 107, 215, 
 336-339, 365, 602, 603,note, 606-7; 
 products of, 17, 37, 38 ; English sys- 
 tem of overtrading on credit, 1 8 ; 
 suggestions for the improvement of 
 her trade, 25-6 ; frigates first 
 built by the English, 45 ; great 
 naval power of Elizabeth, 60, 75- 
 8 ; naval heroes and exploits of 
 England, 66, 73-9 ; aptitude of 
 ancient Britons for adventure by 
 sea, 70 ; England's dominion of the 
 sea, 71, 80, 94 ; necessity for the 
 maintenance of her naval power, 
 72-3; favoui'able position of Eng- 
 land, 73, 107, 215, 336, 606, 607 ; 
 jurisdiction over the sea since the 
 Norman Conquest, 84 ; passport 
 system for foreign vessels, 84 ; 
 licenses granted to foreigners to 
 fish, 91-2, 99 ; England's greatness 
 derived from trade, 107 ; her mer- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 615 
 
 England : 
 
 chcints are princes, ib. ; superiority 
 of her manufactures, 128-9, of lier 
 labourei's, 126, 138, and of her 
 shipbuilding, 129, 130 ; rise of her 
 trade, 133 ; comfortable condition of 
 English tradesmen, 138-9 ; Eng- 
 land most powerful in shipping, 
 1 43-4 ; English eminent for charity, 
 302 ; principal advantages of Great 
 Britain with regard to trade, 336- 
 339, 365, 602, 603, note, 606-7 ; 
 her principal disadvantages, 339, 
 348 ; she has produced few eminent 
 writers on commercial subjects, 605, 
 note 
 
 " Essay on the Causes of the Decline 
 of Foreign Trade," 145-308; cited, 
 402, 407, 408; the authorship of 
 this essay erroneously ascribed to 
 SirM. Decker, Mr. Richardsonbeing 
 the real author, preface, viii-ix 
 
 Euseiius cited, 55 
 
 Eutropius cited, 52 
 
 Evelyn, John, "Navigation and Com- 
 merce, their Original and Pro- 
 gress," 29-103 
 
 Esechange, the barometer of trade be- 
 tween any two nations, 158, 266 ; 
 state of the exchanges with England 
 at different times, 267 
 
 Excise, temporary exemptions from 
 excise duties granted by the Dutch 
 for the encouragement of mercan- 
 cantile adventure, 7 ; objections to 
 these taxes, 164-8, 180-3, 202-3 
 
 Expedition,s, famous expeditions by 
 sea, 45 
 
 Exports, estimate of our exports, 194; 
 tables relative thereto, 277, 279 
 
 '' Extracts from a plan of the English 
 Commerce," &c., by Daniel Defoe, 
 105-144 
 
 Famine, in other countries, how fa- 
 vourable to Holland, 9, 13 ; famine 
 and war great destroyers of man- 
 kind, 497 
 
 Farming — (See Agriculture and Re- 
 venue) 
 
 Fenelon, eulogy on, 565 (note) 
 
 Ferdinand and Isabella of Castille, 
 their encouragement of Columbus, 
 64 
 
 Ferry, speculation as to mode of fer- 
 rying King David's goods and 
 carriages, 43 
 
 Fish, impolicy of laws prohibiting im- 
 ports of, by foreigners, 195 
 
 Fisheries, great fisheries on English 
 coastf 11, 15, 91 ; neglected by 
 England and cultivated by the Low 
 Countries, 11, 15, 21, 92-97; 
 encouraged by Henry VII, 22, 93 ; 
 shipping employed in, 21, 23; ad- 
 vantages of, enumerated, 23, 96-8 , 
 243 ; a contiuual nursery for breed- 
 ingmariners, 23,96, 163, 177,197; 
 Dutch trade with Russia, 45, 16 ; 
 permission to fish granted by 
 the English to foreigners, 91-2, 
 99 ; tribute paid by fishing vessels, 
 92 ; their fishing trade styled by 
 the Dutch their Golden Mines, 97; 
 American fisheries, 98 ; whale fish- 
 eries, 124 ; encouragement to 
 Scotch fisheries suggested, 398 
 
 Flag salutes exacted by the Romans, 
 53 ; salutes or duty of the flag 
 accorded to England, 89 
 
 Flanders, great \rade of the Low 
 Countries, 11, 13 
 
 Florence, Dukes of, their esteem for 
 commerce, 11, 40, 62 ; Leghorn 
 raised to importance through their 
 influence, 11, 61; the arsenal at 
 Pisa, 62 
 
 Florus cited, 51 
 
 Foreign Trade, definition of, 157 — (See 
 also Com^nerce) 
 
 Foreigners should be encouraged to 
 settle in this country, 374, 378, 
 435-6, 483, 495 5S8, note ; and to 
 travel in it, 393 
 
 Forests should be disafforested, 377 
 
 Fortrey, Mr., cited, 277-8 
 
 France, privileges granted for the en- 
 couragement of her trade, 8, 257; 
 her trade with the Low Countries, 
 12-15 ; her practice as to coins, 24 ; 
 her contributions to our commerce, 
 38 ; commerce of the ancient Gauls, 
 59 ; naval force of Francis I, 
 59 ; college and fraternity of 
 merchants instituted by Cardinal 
 Richelieu, 60 ; rise of Marseilles, 
 61, 512 i permission granted to the 
 French to fish on English coasts, 
 91 ; principal advantages of France 
 with respect to trade, 323-330 ; her 
 principal disadvantages, 330—336, 
 365, note, 421-5 ; prices of different 
 kinds of labour in different parts of, 
 358-9 notes ; objections to French 
 system of taxation, 332-5, 421-2, 
 Smollett's remarks on the miserable 
 condition of her people, 421 , 
 
616 INDEX. 
 
 France ; 
 
 French Revolution predicted by 
 him, 424-5 ; great extravagance 
 and luxuiy of the Frencli Court in 
 his time, 422-3 
 Francis I, his naval force, 59 
 Free Trade, liberty of trade in Holland, 
 6, 10; in France and Denmark, 
 8 ; arguments in favour of free 
 trade, 10, 149, 151, 158, 160-179, 
 186-197, 251-289, 294, 307, 3d0, 
 399, 445, 448, 452, 453-473, 478, 
 483-4, 574, 580-600, 603, 604, 
 606, 608 
 Frigates first built by the English, 45 
 Prontimis cited as to the use of fire 
 ships, 54 
 
 G. 
 
 Gee, Joshua, his arguments against a free 
 port quoted and answered, 251, 
 261 ; cited, 286-7 
 
 Genoa, her rise through commerce, 11, 
 37,55; her decline, 11, 59, 288; 
 her conquests, 60 ; Columbus 
 a Geuoeze, 64 
 
 Gihralter, suggested that it be made a 
 free port, 399 
 
 Gold and Silver, specie excluded by 
 customs' duties, 179; alleged im- 
 policy cf laws fixing proportion 
 between gold and silver coins, 203 ; 
 the science of gainful commerce 
 consists, ultimately, in procuring a 
 balance of gold or silver to our- 
 selves from other nations, 314, 
 note — (See also Coin and Mint) 
 
 Golden Fleece, origin of the order, 73 
 
 Government, arbitrary and oppressive 
 governn'.eut of France, 330, 421-5 ; 
 free Government of England, 336-7, 
 347-8, eOrt ; and of Holland, 435- 
 7, 472, 543; remarks on the Go- 
 vernments of North America, 567 ; 
 question whether Governments 
 have any right to control mankind 
 in the conduct of their private pro- 
 perty, 578 
 
 Greece, introduction of letters into 
 Greece through navigation, 46 ; her 
 colonies, 49, 550 
 
 Grotius cited, 42, 72, 75; quoted, 77 
 
 Griiter's inscriptions cited, 53 
 
 H. 
 
 Halifax, Earl of, dedication to him of 
 
 Josiah Tucker's Brief Essay on 
 Trade, 311 
 
 Hamburgh, her great trade, 9, 98, 121, 
 441—2, 476; how enriched by fa- 
 mine or dearth elsewhere, 9-10 — ■ 
 (See also Hanse Towns) 
 
 Hanse Towns, influence of oommei-ce 
 in raising them, 8, 37, 120, 132-3, 
 476 — (See also Hamburgh) 
 
 Harris's Essay on Money and Coins 
 quoted, 597, note 
 
 Hebrews, their early connection with 
 trade by sea, 48 ; on Joab's census 
 David had but one million of fight- 
 ing men, 527; commerce and the 
 arts introduced by Solomon, 551 ; 
 Moses' prohibition of usury unfa- 
 vourable to industry, 556 
 
 Henry VII, his encouragement of 
 fisheries and trade, 22, 93, 133 ; 
 proposals of Columbus rejected by 
 him, 65, 74 ; his employment of 
 Cliabot, 75 
 
 Henry VIII, his power at sea, 75 
 
 Herbert, of Cherbury, Lord, his History 
 of Henry VIII referred to, 75 
 
 Herrings, great trade in, 11—13 ; carried 
 on by the Dutch, ib,, 95—8; 
 accounts of the imports made up by 
 the wharfmasters in all ports in 
 Christendom, 13 
 
 Holland, '' Observations touching Trade 
 and Commerce with the Hollander, 
 &c.," by Sir Walter Raleigh, 1 ; 
 privileges granted by her for the 
 encouragement of trade, 5, 70, 80, 
 259 ; smallness of her customs, 
 liberty of trade, exemptions from 
 excise, 6-8 ; her economical mode 
 of manning vessels, 6, 8, 472 ; her 
 riches through commerce despite 
 her limited and unproductive soil, 
 6, 13, 36, 120-1, 550; early com- 
 mercial enterprise and discoveries 
 of the Dutch, 7, 58, 57, 69; 
 reasons of their superiority to the 
 English stated in detail, 7-8, 80 ; 
 carrying trade of Holland, 8-9, 444- 
 5 ; famine in other countries how 
 favourable to her, 9, 83, 297 ; her 
 cultivation of the fisheries, 8, 11, 
 13, 15, 21, 22, 94-8, 435; her 
 great staples, 13, 14 ; great manu- 
 factory of cloth in the Low Coun- 
 tries, 14, 206; her extensive ship- 
 ping, 10, 15 ; trade with Russia, 
 15, 16; her practice as to coins, 
 24 ; the Dutch a wonderful people 
 and their growth admirable, 69, 
 120-3, 512 ; the Dutch were the 
 
INDEX. 
 
 617 
 
 Holland : 
 
 first who wore the broom, 69 ; ob- 
 jections of De Witt to English 
 claim of sovereignty on the seas, 
 90 ; permission to fish on English 
 coasts granted to the Dutch, 92-3, 
 99, 102 ; they have styled their 
 fishing trade their Golden Mines, 
 97 ; Dutch poll tax examined, 168 j 
 amount of taxation in, 204-5, 
 442-4, 533 ; Proposals by the 
 Prince of Orange to the States 
 General, for redressing and amend- 
 ing the trade of the Republic, 427- 
 480 ; decay of her trade, 434, 441 ; 
 natural advantages of Holland, 435, 
 471 ; moral and political, 435, 472, 
 543 J adventitious and externalcauses 
 of the rise of her trade, 437, 472; 
 causes of decay of her trade, 441-7 ; 
 proposed remedies, 447, 452-7, 
 463-6, 468-471, 478, 480; low 
 rate of interest in Holland, 451 ; 
 difficulties in arranging a tariff for 
 her, 468 ; she has produced few 
 eminent writers on commercial 
 subjects, 605, note 
 
 Homer cited, 47 
 
 Horace cited, 42, 51 
 
 Horses, tax on saddle horses suggested, 
 410 
 
 Hudson's Bay Company, objections to its 
 monopoly, 360-3, 367, 374; its 
 extent, 363 
 
 I. 
 
 Imports^ impolicy of prohibitory laws, 
 195; tables relative to, 272, 276, 
 277 
 
 Industry, great plenty and great industry 
 cannot co-exist, 501 ; nothing but 
 necessity can enforce industry, 512, 
 542 
 
 Inspectors of Manufactures — (See Ma- 
 nufactures) 
 
 Interest, low rate of, in Holland, 451 
 
 Inventions, fair and natural monopolies 
 derived from them, 581, note 
 
 Ipswich, decline of her trade, 121 
 
 Ireland, great fisheries on the coasts of, 
 11; how neglected, ib.; impolicy 
 of laws against import of her cattle, 
 butter, &c., into England, 191, 
 344, 355-8, 417, 593; and of 
 law against export of woollens 
 from Ireland, 197, 344, 355-8, 
 417, 593 ; union with Ireland 
 proposed, 289, 355; proposed ex- 
 tension of taxation to Ireland, 358 
 
 Iron, abundance of, in England, 17 ; 
 
 manufacture of ordnance, ib. 
 Italy, her contributions to our commerce, 
 
 38 
 
 James I, address of Sir W. Raleigh to 
 
 him, prefixed to " Observations 
 touching Trade," S(c., 3 ; his asser- 
 tion of his right to fisheries on the 
 coast, and insisting on the Dutch 
 acknowledging the same, 94 
 
 John of Portugal, the offer of Columbus 
 rejected by him, 65 
 
 Josephus cited, 38, 52, 505 
 
 Justin cited, 49 
 
 K. 
 
 Kings, King Edgar styled King, Supreme 
 Lord and Governor of the ocean 
 lying roundabout Britain, 84 ; kings 
 of England lords of the sea, 85 ; 
 Edward II, so styled by Robert 
 Earl of Flanders and others, 86 
 
 Kymer, John — (See Raleigh) 
 
 L. 
 
 Labour, estimated value of labour in 
 England, 523 — (See also Wages) 
 
 Labourers, comparative vigour of French, 
 English, and Scotch labourers, 
 126-7 ; state of, under the feudal 
 system, 131 ; their gradual eman- 
 cipation through trade, 134; com- 
 fortable condition of English 
 labourers, 138, 139; their impro- 
 vident nature, 501, 512, 514-6 
 
 Land, " an estate is but a pond, but trade 
 is a spring," 139; value of, but 
 nominal under a system of mono- 
 polies, 192, 194; computation of 
 rental of land in England, 194; 
 decline in the value of land conse- 
 quent on the decline of foreign 
 trade, 210-3; means to restore 
 value of, 215, 250; supposed dis- 
 tinctions of landed and trading 
 interests idle and injurious, 
 320-1; inclosiire of waste lands 
 suggested, 377; computation of 
 of the value of lands in England, 
 
618 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Land : 
 
 523 ; effect of the equal division of 
 lands, 524j 554 ; where money is 
 plentiful, through commerce, land 
 will soon be improved to the 
 highest degree, 538 
 
 Landlords, importance of commerce to 
 landlords, 107-8,113, 147-8, 163; 
 useful trade supports the gentleman, 
 108-9 ; their rents increased by in- 
 creased trade and population, 113, 
 134, 147, 538 ; their power under 
 the feudal system, 131-2; their 
 inclination to screen land from taxa- 
 tion by taxing trade, 148, 162 
 
 Land Ta*, objections to, 162, 167-8; 
 amount of, 183 
 
 Law, M., Considerations sur le com- 
 merce, Sfc, cited, 472 
 
 Law Suits, expense of, injarious to 
 trade, 203 
 
 Laws, evil effects of ill-judged laws on 
 trade, 198, 207, 595, note ; a mul- 
 tiplicity of laws perplex trade, 465 
 
 Leghorn, raised to eminence as a com- 
 mercial city by small customs and 
 great privileges, 11, 61 
 
 V Estrange, Mr., his Discourse of Fish- 
 ery cited, 97 
 
 Licenses — (See Alehouses) 
 
 Linen, estimated consumption of, in 
 England, 242-3 
 
 Livy cited, as to patrician contempt 
 for commerce, 39 ; referred to, 59 
 
 Locke, Mr., quoted, 163, 185, 194, 203 ; 
 cited, 511, 512 
 
 Low Countries — (See Holland and 
 Flanders) 
 
 Lubech, her great trade, 98 
 
 Z/v^:c«We5, general consumption of, 141; 
 advantages of a tax on luxuries, 
 149, 217, 258, 404-413, 451; 
 luxury of the French Court in 
 Smollett's time, 422-3 ; expensive 
 way of living among the Dutch 
 merchants, 442-3 ■ 
 
 Lycurgus, reason assigned for his pre- 
 judice against commerce, 39 
 
 M. 
 
 Madeira, discovery of, 57 
 
 Magnet, an inestimable jewel, 67 — (See 
 
 Compass) 
 Mahometans, abhor business and labour, 
 
 and despise industry. 111 
 Mait land's History of London cited, 
 
 213 
 
 Malta, exploits of the Maltese against 
 the Turks, 63 
 
 Man, Isle of, privileges as to customs 
 should be abolished, 389 
 
 Manufactures, of English undressed and 
 undyed cloth in the Low Countries, 
 15 ; manufacture of iron ordnance 
 in England, 17 ; suggestion for 
 encouragement of English woollen 
 manufactures, 19, 21, 25, 27; set- 
 tlement of the Flemings in this 
 country, 73; manufactures, of the 
 Greek Islanders, 111; manufactures 
 encouraged by commerce, 112, 113; 
 superiority of English woollens, 
 128-9 ; causes of the preference 
 ■given to English manufactures, 129, 
 131 ; the French and Italians more 
 inventive and tasteful in ornament, 
 130-1 ; heavy customs and excises 
 ruinous to, 176, 185; impolicy of 
 laws prohibiting exports of woollen, 
 from Ireland, 197 ; estimated con- 
 sumption of linen in England, 
 242-3 ; disadvantages under which 
 the English manufactures laboured, 
 258 ; low state of morals among 
 manufacturing poor, 351 ; proposed 
 erection of a court of morals, 
 351-5 ; alleged evils of combina- 
 tions, 351-2, notes ; Inspectors of 
 manufactures suggested to prevent 
 frauds, 400 — (See also Labour) 
 
 Marriage — (See Pojmlation) 
 
 Marseilles, rise of, 60-1, 512 
 
 Masts, invention of, 44 
 
 Medicis, Cosmo de, quoted, as to the 
 importance to a prince, of power at 
 sea, 41 
 
 Mediterranean, aptness of this sea for 
 promoting commerce, 34 ; efforts 
 of the Egyptians to join the Medi- 
 terranean and Red Seas, 55 
 
 Men of War, superiority of English 
 built ships, 130 
 
 Mercenary troops may be hired by any 
 rich nation, 137 
 
 Merchants, the Phoenicians the first 
 merchants after the deluge, 47; 
 British merchants are princes, 107, 
 139 ; their promotion to the highest 
 ranks of society through success, 
 109, 134; King Solomon a mer- 
 chant adventurer, 110 ; conflicting 
 opinions of merchants concerning 
 trade, 315-6; liability of their 
 views to be contracted and biassed, 
 316-8,600 
 
 Mint, the barometer of trade in general, 
 158 ; quantity of money in Queen 
 
INDEX. 
 
 619 
 
 Mint : 
 
 Mai-y's time, and in that of Eliza- 
 beth and James I, 517-3; money 
 in France, 1715 and 1727, 518 
 
 Monopolies, disadvantages of, 149, 150, 
 
 186, 198, 328, 333, 342, 366, 374, 
 417, 574, 578-9, 593, 600, 604; 
 companies with exclusive charters, 
 
 187, 360, 374; city and corpora- 
 tion charters, 190, 333, 483-4, 
 588 ; prohibition of imports from 
 Ireland, 191, 593; efieots of ex- 
 clusive privileges en the citizens of 
 Berne, 191 ; prohibition of the im- 
 port of fish, by foreigners, 195; 
 the Navigation Act, 196; prohibi- 
 tion of the exports of woollens from 
 Ireland, ] 97 ; entire abolition of 
 monopoly urged, 289, 364, 483 ; 
 588, note ; monopolies ** Nuisances 
 to a free Trade," 364 ; a monopoly, 
 " the prostitution of the trade and 
 welfare of the public to the merciless 
 ravages of greedy individuals," 366 ; 
 when exclusive privileges are excu- 
 sable, 386 ; arguments in favour of 
 monopoly answered, 580, 600; fair 
 and natural monopolies of inven- 
 tions, 581, note 
 
 Montesquieu, Baron, quoted, 524, 586, 
 note, 604; cited, 579 
 
 Morals, proposed erection of courts of 
 guardians of the morals of the 
 manufacturing poor, 351—5 ; evil 
 influence of ill-judged laws on, 
 417-8 
 
 N. 
 
 National Debt, evil effects of, on trade, 
 207, 209 ; proposals to pay off our 
 debts by public bonds, and liqui- 
 dating a portion yearly, 303-6 ; our 
 debt contracted in pursuit of mo- 
 nopolies, 603 
 
 Naturalization, advantages of natural- 
 izing foreign Protestants, 374, 378, 
 435-6, 483, 495 ; general natural- 
 ization permitted by the Athenians, 
 527 ; and by the Romans, 528 ; 
 general adoption of strangers re- 
 commended, 588, note 
 
 Navigation Aet, evil effects of, on trade, 
 196 
 
 " Navigation and Commerce, their 
 original and Progress," by John 
 Evelyn, 29, 103 — (See Commerce) 
 
 Navy, importance of naval power, 41 ; 
 rapid rise of Rome through her 
 navy, 42 ; naval heroes of England, 
 66 ; ignorance of early navigators, 
 07; necessity for the maintenance 
 of our naval power, 72-3 ; naval 
 exploits of the English recounted, 
 73-9 ; naval force of Holland, 439 
 
 Newton, Sir Isaac, his table of assays, 
 &c., of foreign coins, cited, 267, 
 285 
 
 Nobility, a numerous and poor nobilitj', 
 how injurious to a country, 331-2 
 
 Norway, her trade despite her disad- 
 vantages of climate, 123, 125 
 
 O. 
 
 Oaths, prevalence of, an encouragement 
 
 to perjury, 417 
 *' Ohservalions touching Trade and Covi- 
 
 merce," by Sir Walter Raleigh, 
 
 1-23 
 ** Observations on British Wool," cited, 
 
 257 
 Orange, Prince of, proposals made by, 
 
 to the States General, &c., for 
 
 redressing and amending the trade 
 
 or the Republic, 427-430 
 
 P. 
 
 Passports granted by the English to 
 foreign vessels from temjj. Henry 
 IV to temp. Elizabeth, 84 
 
 Peace, blessings of, 497, 583, 608 
 
 Petty, Sir Wm., cited, 501, 519 
 
 PhceniciaTis , their early knowledge and 
 use of navigation, 45-6, 505, 512; 
 the first merchants after the deluge, 
 47 
 
 Plato, his objections to commerce, 39 
 
 Plitii/ cited, 44, 48 
 
 Plutarch cited, 43, 51, 511 
 
 Poaching, tax on dogs suggested as a 
 remedy for, 412 
 
 Poland, her practice as to coins, 25 
 
 Polyiius cited, 42, 51, 59 
 
 Poor, causes of the increase of poor, 
 211 ; plan for employment of,. 
 241, 293, 296, 300, 306; alleged 
 immorality of manufacturing poor, 
 351-2, note; proposed erection of 
 courts of morals for the manufac- 
 turing poor, 351-5; small number 
 of, in Manchester and Leeds, 376 
 
620 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Poor Laws, amount of poor tax, 183 ; 
 alleged impolicy of, 201-2, 340 ; 
 proposed improvements of, 298, 
 514-6 
 
 Population, extent of the manufacturing 
 population, 140 ; causes of decline 
 of population, 212, 497, 541, 542; 
 plan for increase of, 246, 293, 297, 
 301, 306, 378, 404, 494-5; pro- 
 posed tax on bachelors and 
 widowers, 404-8, 547 ; people 
 alone are not the strength of a 
 state, 492 ; definition of populous- 
 ness, 493 ; principal causes of po- 
 pulousness, 493, 494-561 ; war and 
 famine great destroyers of mankind, 
 497; alleged effect of monopolies 
 on population, 591 
 
 Portugal, discoveries of Portuguese 
 navigators, 57, &7 
 
 Poverty, " Poverty makes sloth and sloth 
 makes Poor," 123; number of idle 
 beggars supported in England 
 by voluntary contributions, 302 ; 
 causes of poverty, 524 
 
 Precious Metals — (See Gold and Silver, 
 and Specie) 
 
 Price, Dr., quoted, 608, note 
 
 Prices, observations on the prices of 
 commodities, 520; definition of 
 price, 522; the price of commo- 
 dities not necessarily increased by 
 the increase of money in a state, 
 536 
 
 Procopius cited, 46 
 
 and population on the price of, 
 113 ; influence of the quantity and 
 quality of, on the productiveness of 
 the labourer, 126-9, 139-140 
 
 *• Proposals made by the Prince of 
 Orange to the States General, S[C., 
 for artiending the trade of the Re- 
 public," 427-480 
 
 Prostitution, prevalence and evils of, 
 377-8, 407 
 
 Provisions, influence of increasing trade 
 
 Puffendorf c\\e&, 265 
 
 R. 
 
 Raleigh, Sir Walter, " Observations 
 ■ touching Trade and Commerce 
 tvith the Hollander," 1-28; naval 
 power of the English in his time, 
 79-80 ; cited, 243, 288, 297 ; the 
 authorship of the Observations 
 ascribed to Mr. John Kymer, 
 Preface, v 
 
 Reform, usual objections to, 356, 357, 
 374, 414-7, 469, 473, 605; Lord 
 Bacon quoted on the propriety of 
 quiet and gradual innovation, 605 , 
 note 
 
 Religion, freedom of an encouragement 
 to trade, 330, 337, 495, 602, note; 
 naturalization of foreign Protestants 
 suggested as an encouragement to 
 trade, 374 ; shelter given in Eng- 
 land to refugees from persecution, 
 377, and in Holland, 436 ; freedom 
 of religion an encouragement to 
 population, 495 
 
 Rent, computation of rental of land in 
 England, 194 
 
 Revenue — (See also Taxation) ; low 
 rates of customs and their produc- 
 tiveness contrasted with the oppo- 
 site effect of heavy duties, 7, 582 ; 
 farming of, objectionable, 335, 421— 
 2; proposed police' to prevent smug- 
 gling, 389 ; judicious taxation ad- 
 vantageous, 412-582; the amount 
 of duties on imports no proof of a 
 flourishing trade, 443-3 ; war, the 
 certain devourer of revenue, 583. 
 
 Rhoderigo de Toledo cited, 34 
 
 Rhodes, great repute of the Rhodians at 
 sea, 62 
 
 Richardson, Mr., the author of " Essay 
 on the decline of Foreign Trade," 
 Preface, ix 
 
 Rome, rapid rise of Rome after she 
 became a naval power, 42 ; naval 
 force of Augustus, 52; marine 
 laws of the Romans, 53 ; Romish 
 religion opposed to freedom of 
 trade, 330-1 
 
 Rotterdam, import of herrings into, 13 
 
 Rowe's Translation of the Golden 
 Pythagorean Verses quoted, 607, 
 note 
 
 Russia, Dutch exports of herrings to, 
 12 ; decay of English and rise of 
 Dutch trade with Russia, 15, 16; 
 her trade and enterprise under diffi- 
 culties, 123 
 
 Salt, great trade of the Dutch in, 13 ; 
 objectionable and oppressive nature 
 of duties on, 163; account show- 
 ing their evil effects upon trade, 
 180-3 
 
 Sardinia, eulogy by Smollett on the 
 troops of. 423 
 
INDEX. 
 
 621 
 
 Saxons, claim of Anglo-Saxon Kings to 
 the dominion of the sea, 84 
 
 Scotland, great fisheries on the coasts of, 
 neglected, 11 ; assize herring paid 
 to the Admiral of Scotland for 
 license to fish, 99 ; formation of 
 canals in, suggested, 397 ; encou- 
 ragement to her fisheries urged, 
 398 ; difficulties opposed to scheme 
 of union with England, 415 — (See 
 also Britain) 
 
 Sea, celebrated expeditions by sea, 64 ; 
 English dominion of, 71, 80, 81, 
 280 ; arguments for and against its 
 maintenance, 80,-94, 282 ; anti- 
 quity and extent of the right, 83-5 ; 
 King Edgar's title, 84 ; jurisdic- 
 tion continued since the Norman 
 conquest, 84 ; Kings of England 
 lords of the sea, 85, 279 ; claim 
 of Venice to the sovereignty of the 
 Adriatic, 87 ; devices on coins il- 
 lustrative of our right, 87-8 ; ciis- 
 todes maritimi, 88 ; the Cinque 
 Ports, ib. ; salutes or duty of the 
 flag accorded to England, 89 
 
 Seamen, the fisheries a continual nur- 
 sery for breeding mariners, 23, 95— 
 6, 163, 177, 197; diseases and 
 hardships to which they are liable, 
 124; how affected by customs' 
 duties, 172, 465 
 
 Selden cited, 80, 93 
 
 Seneca quoted, 46, 52 
 
 Servants, proposed tax on men ser- 
 vants, 408 
 
 Ship Money, "Dane Gelt" imposed on 
 strangers trading on our coasts, 
 88 ; tribute exacted from fishing 
 vessels, 92 
 
 Ships, economical mode of manning 
 Dutch ships as compared with 
 English, 6 ; great shipping of the 
 Low Countries, 15 ; shipping em- 
 ployed in the fisheries, 21, 23, 95- 
 6 ; wonderful construction and ca- 
 pacity of a ship, 34-5 ; origin of 
 shipbuilding, 42 ; its early and gra- 
 dual progress traced, id., 43 ; early 
 use of names or badges for vessels, 
 46; Chinese junks, 63; superiority 
 of English shipbuilding, 129, 130; 
 England the most powerful in 
 shipping and seamen, 143; evil 
 effects of the Navigation Act on 
 trade, 196 
 
 Shopkeepers, comfortable condition of 
 English, 138-140 
 
 Silvet — (See Gold, and Silver, and 
 Specie) 
 
 Smith, Rev. Mr., " Memoirs of Wool" 
 cited 360-1 and note 
 
 Smith's " England's Improvement Re- 
 vived" cited, 248 
 
 Smollett, Dr., extract from his Travels 
 bearing on condition of France in 
 1765, 420-5 ; his prediction of the 
 French Revolution, 424-5 
 
 Smuggling, prevalence and evils of, 
 143, 329, 341, 468-9; encouraged 
 by high rates of customs' duties, 
 176, 202-3, and by ill-judged laws, 
 205-6, 359, 451, 601 ; proposed 
 police to prevent smuggling, 389, 
 453-4,458, 463 
 
 Solomon, hi-i trade by sea, 47-8 
 
 Sound Dues, payable to the King of 
 Denmark, 102 
 
 Southampton, decline of its commerce, 
 121-2 
 
 South Sea Company/, objections to mo- 
 nopoly of, 187 ; its extent, 190 
 
 Spain, her efforts to promote commerce 
 and navigation in Elizabeth's time, 
 78 
 
 Specie, alleged effect of customs* duties 
 to banish specie, 179 
 
 Stamp Duties, oppressive nature of, 160 
 
 Stanian, Mr., quoted as to effect of 
 monopolies on inhabitants of Berne, 
 191 
 
 State-merchant, establishment of, sug- 
 gested, 25 
 
 Strabo cited, 45-7, 59, 70 
 
 Suetonius cited, 52 
 
 Sunday, double turnpike tax suggested 
 to discourage Sunday travelling, 
 412 
 
 Sweden, naval exploits of her Kings, 
 61 
 
 Tables — (See Accounts) 
 
 Tacitus cited, 83 
 
 Tariff — (See Customs) 
 
 Taxation, increased productiveness of, 
 in a prosperous country, 114, 140; 
 inclination of landlords to tax trade, 
 148, 162 ; advantages of a tax 
 on luxuries, 149, 217, 250, 404, 
 413 ; inequality and oppressive na- 
 ture of English, 160, 340 ; stamps, 
 100; window tax, 161; coal tax, 
 ib.; land tax, 162; salt tax, 163; 
 excises, 164; inequality of excises 
 and land taxes, 167 ; Dutch poll 
 
622 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Taxation : 
 
 . tax examined, 168 ; objections to 
 customs, 170, 440; high rate of, 
 encourages smuggling, 176, 202-3; 
 account showing the evil effects of 
 excise customs and salt duties, 
 180-3; account showing the amount 
 and incidence of our taxes 1710- 
 1740, 184; tax on consumers of 
 luxuries proposed as a substitute 
 for all others, 217 ; proposed mode 
 of assessment and collection, 218- 
 227; objections to French system 
 of, 332, 335, 421-2; proposed 
 extension of taxation to Ireland, 
 358 ; suggestions to prevent smug- 
 gling, 389, 390; extension of ware- 
 housing system recommended, 390, 
 401-4; tax on bachelors and 
 widowers, 404—8 ; judicious taxation 
 quickens commerce^ 412—3; mo- 
 derate taxes confessedly the most 
 productive, 582 
 
 Temple, Sir Wm., cited, 501, 504, 511, 
 519 
 
 Temple, Mr. Wm., author of " A Vin- 
 dication of Commerce and the 
 Arts," Preface, xui 
 
 Thucydides cited, 500 
 
 Tibullus quoted, 45 
 
 Tourists, a plan of guide book for 
 foreign tourists in England, 394-6 
 
 Townshend, Viscount, dedication to him 
 of "A Vindication of Commerce 
 and Trade," 483 
 
 Trade — fSee Commerce) 
 
 Tradesmen, comfortable condition of 
 English tradesmen, 138, 140 
 
 Travelling, double turnpike tax sug- 
 gested to discourage Sunday tra- 
 velling," 412 
 
 Treaties, treaty of Utrecht objected to, 
 285 
 
 Tuclcer, Josiah, "Brief Essay on the 
 advantages and disadvantages which 
 respectively attend Frnce and Bri- 
 tain with regard to Trade," 309- 
 425 ; his " Enquiry concerning 
 the use of low-priced spirituous 
 liquors" quoted, 389 
 
 Turhey, her neglect of trade and con- 
 sequent decay, 110, 111; "Re- 
 flections on the expediency of 
 opening the Trade to Turkey" 
 cited, 365, note 
 
 Turkey Company, objections to mono- 
 poly of, 187, 190, 360, 364; its 
 extent, 190 
 
 Tyre, the early knowledge and use of 
 navigation by the people of, 45, 
 4fi;^her fall, 58 
 
 U. 
 
 Union — (See Ireland and Scotland) 
 Usury, argument in favour of, 556-7 
 Utrecht, treaty of, objected to, 285 
 
 V. 
 
 Vegetius cited, 44-53 
 
 Venice, her fame and riches acquired 
 through commerce, 36-7, 55, 61, 
 119, 512; her decline, 59, 543; 
 her conquests, 61, 120; her claim 
 to sovereignty over the Adriatic, 87 
 
 " Vindication of Commerce and the 
 Arts, S(c.," by I. B.. M.D., 481- 
 561 ; Mr. Wm. Temple, of Trow- 
 bridge, the author of this Tract, 
 Preface, xii 
 
 Virgil quoted, 563 
 
 W. 
 
 Wages, influence of commerce on, 113 ; 
 observations on combinations of 
 workmen, 351-2, note; price of 
 labour in diff'erent parts of France, 
 358-9, notes 
 
 War, antiquity of sea fights, 44 ; mode 
 of Roman naval warfare, 54 ; fire- 
 ships and stink pots, ib, ; the 
 longest purse conquers now, 136 ; 
 mercenaries regardless of the side 
 they take, 137 . alleged that the 
 expense of a sea war circulates 
 back again, 282 ; war and famine 
 great destroyers of mankind, 497 ; 
 war the certain devourer of revenue 
 and the natural enemy to civil pros- 
 perity, 583 
 
 Warehousing System — (See Customs) 
 
 Wealth, trade is the foundation of wealth, 
 and wealth of power, 135; wherein 
 public wealth consists, 598 
 
 Wheat, price of, temp. Edward Til., 
 540 
 
 Window Tax, inequality of its inci- 
 dence, 161 
 
 Wine, great trade in, carried on by 
 Holland, 13 
 
INDEX. 
 
 623 
 
 Wood, great trade in, carried on by 
 Holland, 14 
 
 Wool, importance of this trade to Eng- 
 land, 14, 37 ; great manufactory 
 of, in the Low Countries, in conse- 
 quence of English wool and cloth 
 going oat undressed and undyed, 
 14 ; origin of the Golden Fleece, 
 73 ; the produce of, supported the 
 ruinous wars carried on by England 
 in the Holy Land, France, &c., 
 132; impolicy of prohibiting ex- 
 
 ports of woollens from Ireland, 
 197 ; effects of ill-judged laws on 
 the woollen trade, 204-7 
 
 Ji^enophorit paramount importance of 
 naval power in his eyes, 42 
 
 THE END. 
 
 PBINTKD BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN S LANE, W.C.