TRADE, &c.

Trade in general.THE general Notions of a National Trade whereby it may be Discovered whither a Kingdom Gets or Looses by its Managment are things well worth our Consideration. It being possible for a Nation to grow Poor in the Main whilst private Persons encrease their Fortunes: For as in the Body Natural, if you draw out Blood faster then the Sangufying parts can suply, it must necessarily wast and decay. So where the Exports of a Nation in Product and Manufactures are outballanced by Imports fit only to be consumed at home, though one Man may get by the Luxury of another; the Wealth of that Nation must decay, all one as a private Person whose Expences exceeds his Incomes, though he may for some time live on the Main, yet in the end he must fall to ruin.

The Profits of England arise Originally from its Product and Manufactures at home, and from the grouths of those several Plantations it hath setled Abroad, and from the Fish taken on the Coasts, all which being Raised by the Industry of its Inhabitants are both its true Riches, and likewise the Tools whereon it Trades to other Nations, the Products coming from the Earth, and the Manufacturing them being an Addition to their value by the Labour of the People. Now where we Barter these Abroad only for things to be Eat and Drank, or wasted among our selves, this doth not Increase our Wealth, but it is otherwise where we change them for Bulloin, or Commodities fit to be Mannufactured again.

Its Original.The first Original of Trade both Domestick and Forreign was Barter; when one private Person having an Overplus of what his Neighbour wanted, furnished him for its Value in such Commodities the other had, and he stood in need of. The same when one Nation abounding in those Products another wanted supply'd it therewith, and received thence things equally necessary in their Roomes, and by how much those Products exceeded the Expence, so much both the one and the other grew Richer, the remainder being sold for Bulloin, or some Staple Commodities allowed by all to have the same Intrinsick Value. And as People increased so did Commerce, this caused many to go off from Husbandry to Manufactures and other ways of living, for Convenience whereof they began Communities, this was the Original of Towns, which being found necessary for Trade, their Inhabitants were increased by expectation of Profit; this introduced Forreign Trade, or Traffick with Neighbouring Nations; this Navigation, and this a desire to settle rather on some Navigable Rivers, then in remote Inland Places, whereby they might be more easily supply'd with Commodities from the Country, and disperse those they Imported from abroad.

The Trade of England.I shall now take the Trade of England as 'tis divided into Domestick and Forreign, and consider each, and how they are Advantagious to the Nation, and may be made more so.

Inland Trade.The Inland Trade of England consists either in Husbandry, Manufactures, or Buying and Selling Buying & Selling., the last of which is of least Advantage to the Nation, and rather to be allowed for Conveniency then encouraged, whereby one Man lives on the Profits he makes by another without any Improvement to the Publick, Peoples Occasions requiring Commodities to be Retailed to them by such small parcels as would fit their Necessities, they were willing to give a profit to him who bought them in greater. And as this way of Trade came more in use, so the first Buyer not only sold his Commodities to the Consumer at home, but also dispersed them amongst those who were seated in the Country at a distance in order to supply the Inhabitants there, who allowed them a profit on what they bought; this begat the Ingrosing of Commodities, and thence came in skill and cunning to foresee their Rise and Falls according to their Consumption and prospect of supply; hence came the vitiating our Manufactures, every one endeavouring to under buy that he might under sell his Neighbour; which way of living being found in time to have less of Labour and more of Profit than Husbandry and Manufactures, was the occasion so many fell into it. From these Bargains Differences arising encreased another sort of People which were thought useful, whose business was either by their Wisdoms to persuade, or by their Knowledge in the Laws to force the unjust Person to do right to his fellow Trader, an Honourable imployment at first, and is still so in those who keep to the strict Rules of its Institution, which Differencies being to be Decided in the Courts of Justice (at first setled in Westminster-Hall, and afterwards for the Subjects ease carried into the Country by Itinerent Judges) these Orators were desired by the Complainants to present their Suites to the King in those Courts, to be heard and determined by his Judges, and to set forth the Case of the Plantiff, and Produce Evidence to prove the Truth thereof against the Defendant, who also appeared by another to make his Defence. But as Suites increased, it was thought necessary to confine all to one Method of Proceeding, which was called The Practice of the Court, therefore another sort of People called Attorneys were appointed to observe that Mechanical part of the Law, and see that all was Regularly and Formally managed; hence arose Sollicitors, who were to attend both, as well to represent the Matter rightly to the Orator or Council, as to see the Attorney fit things for a hearing, and also to Reward them for their pains, so that this Produced another way of living seperate from Husbandry and Manufactures: And as Trade increased so Courts of Justice were Appointed in several great Towns and Cities, which being of different Natures, Multitudes of People gave Attendance, expecting to get livelihoods by them.

Trade brought Riches, and Riches Luxury, Luxury Sickness, Sickness wanted Physick, and Physick required some to seperate themselves to Study the Natures of Plants and Simples, as also those several Diseases which bring Men to their ends, who in requital for their Advise and Medicines received Gratuities from their Patients: These brought in Apothecaries and Chirurgeons as necessary Attendants to their Imployments, all which were maintained by preserving People in their Healths; many also of ripe Parts were fitted for the Service of the Church, others of the State; great numbers were Imployed in providing Necessaries of Meat Drink and Apparel both for themselves and other People, such as Butchers, Bakers, Brewers, Taylors, &c. Others to fit things for their Pleasures and Delights, and by this means leaving Husbandry and Manufactures flockt off daily to Livelihoods which may seem to come under the third Head, who though useful and convenient in their respective Stations, yet these Men cannot be said to Augment the Riches of the Nation, only live by getting from one another, those two being the profitable Imployments out of whose Product and Improvement it gathers its Wealth.

Husbandry.The next part of the Inland Trade of this Kingdom is Husbandry, which Anteceded Buying and Selling in point of time, though the other hath the Precedence in this Discourse, and this consists either in Feeding or Tillage, by both which we raise great Store of Cattle, Corn, and Fruits, fit for the Food, Service, and Trade of the Inhabitants.

Feeding.To begin with Feeding; and here it would be endless to enumerate the various sorts of Cattle raised and bred by the care of the Husbandman, but those of most Note as they have relation to our Trade, are

I. The Beef; which as it Transcends the whole World in the goodness of its Flesh, so it affords many Necessaries for our use and Trade, besides its Service in Tillage, with this we both nourish our Inhabitants at home, Victual our Ships for Forreign Voyages, and load them with the several Manufactures wherewith it doth supply us, from the Milk we make Butter and Cheese, from the Flesh Beef, from the Skin Leather, from the Fat Tallow, and of the Horns several usefull Necessaries, of all which the overplus above our home Consumption we Transport and sell in Forreign Markets.

II. The Sheep; whose Golden Fleece being the Primum of our Wollen Manufactures does thereby Imploy Multitudes of our People, which being of different lengths and finenesses, makes them of different sorts, whereof they afford us a yearly Crop whilst living, and at their Deaths Bequeath us their Flesh and Skins, the first serves for our Food, and the latter we make fit to be used at home, and Traded with Abroad.

III. Horses; whose Labour is so necessary that we could neither carry on our Husbandry or Trade without them, besides their fitness for War, being the boldest in the World, and for all these uses are Transported abroad, for the former to our Plantations in the West Indies, for the latter to some of our Neighbouring Nations; but their Flesh is of no use, their Skins of little, the Leather made thereof is very ordinary, only the longest of their Hair is used in Weaving.

There are many other sorts of Beasts, some whereof require no care in raising, others little, others are more tender, such are the Stag, the Dear, the Rabbit, the Hare, the Fox, the Badger, the Goat, whose Skins are necessary for our Trade, and assist in our Manufactures.

Tillage.Agriculture is that whereby we raise our Corn by turning up the Earth, the several sorts whereof are Wheat, Rye, Barly, Pease, Beans, Fetches, Oats, which not only afford nourishment to our selves and the Beasts we use in labour, but serve for Trade, as they give Imployment to our People at home, and are Transported abroad more or less according to the overplus of onr expence, and the want of our Neighbours, besides the great Quantities used in our Navigation.

These Products of both sorts are clear profit to the Nation as they are raised from Earth and Labour, whose Advantages arise chiefly from their being Exported either in their own kind or when Manufactered, the Remainder spent at Home tending only to supplying the use, not advancing the Wealth of the Nation; now these Exports being according to the Rates and Prizes they bear in other Countries, and those Rates arising from the Proportion their Lands hold with ours in their Yearly Rents, are not so great in specie as when workt up, Butter is the greatest, wherewith we supply many Forreign Markets, and did formerly more, till by making it bad and using Tricks to increase its weight, we have much lost that Trade, and are now almost beat out of it by Ireland, which every day makes better as we make worse, besides they undersell us in the Price, as they do also in Beef, occasioned by the low Rents of their Lands, and more especially by the Act of Prohibition, which put that Nation on finding out a Trade in Forreign Markets for what they were denyed to bring hither, which being Exported thence direct yeilds them greater profit, the sweetness whereof hath encouraged them to take more care, and this hath raised them from a Sloathful to be an Industrious People. As for Corn, Forreign Markets are supplyed therewith both from thence and other places in the Sound, also from the Western Islands, cheaper then the price of our Lands will admit. But our Plantations have still some Dependance on us for our Product, and would more if that Act was removed, and Ireland made a Colony on the same Terms with them.

The other Fruits of the Earth, as Apples, Pears, Cherries, Plumbs, together with the Herbs and Plants, also the Fowls and Fish taken in this Land, serve rather for our Delight and Food than Trade. Some Cider we do Export, also Spirits raised by the Distiller both from some of these, and also from many other things.

Fish.On the Sea Coasts we catch great Quantities of Herrings and Pilchards, which we save, and sell in Forreign Markets.

Minerals.Nor is this all the Product of our Earth, whose Womb being big with Treasure longs to be Delivered, and after many Throws brings forth Lead, Tin, Copper, Calamy, Coal, Culm, Iron, Allom, Copperas, and sundry other Minerals, which return us great Treasure from Forreign Markets whither they are Exported; besides the several Shrubs and Trees that adorn our Fields, among which the Oak, the Ash, and the Elm, are the chiefest, these not only serve in Building our Sips, but do also furnish us with Materials wherewith our Arificers make many things fit for Forregn Commerce, and it were much to be wisht better care were taken for preserving Timber, lest out Posterities want what we so Prodigally squander away.

Manufactures.The next thing is our Manufactures, whereby we Improve the value of our Products by the Labour of our Inhabitants, and make them useful in sundry manners both for our selves and others, fitting them for such Services as of their own Natures without the help of Art they would not have been proper, and those to suit the Necessities and Humours both of our own and Foreign Countries to which we Export them, where they yield a price not only according to the true value of the Materials and Labour, but an overplus likewise suitable to the Necessity and Fancy of the Buyer, and this adds to the profit of the Nation, and increases its Wealth.

These Manufactures as they Imploy Multitudes of People in their making, so also in Transporting them, and fetching several Forreign Materials used with our own, such as Oyl, Dye-stuffe, Silk, Wool, Cotten, Barrilia, and many others, which are either Manufactured here of themselves, or wrought up with our Product.

Sheeps Wool.And first to begin with Sheeps Wool, whereof either by it self or mixt with Silk or Linnen we make various sorts of pretty things fit for all Climates, and proper for the wearing of both Sexes, wherein the Invention and Imitation of our Workmen is so great that they have no Idea represented or Pattern set before them that is not soon out done; from a strong heavy Cloath fit to keep out cold in Winter they turn their Hands to a fine thin sort which will scarse keep warm in Summer, Ladies may now wear Gowns thereof so light that they can hardly know they have them on; from hence they fell on Perpets, Serges, Crapes, Stuffs, Says, Rattoons, Gauzes, Anthrines, and many other sorts fit both for outward Garments and inward Linings, of various Colors Stripes and Flowers, some of them so fine and pleasant scarse to be known from Silk; besides those multitudes of courser Clothes for the Poor, also Rugs, Blankets, and all Furniture for Houses, and such a Progress have they made in this sort of Manufactures, that a Man may have his Picture wrought in Tapestry with the same exactness both for Life and Colors as if drawn with a curious Pencil; for this I refer the Reader to those Hangings at the Custom-House in London, where he may see the several Officers so lively represented in their Stations, that want of Motion seems to be the only thing which differs them from their Originals; One Workman endeavouring to exceed another they make things to answer all the ends of Silks, Calicoes, and Linnen, of bare Sheeps Wool, which if they were by Fashion brought into wearing would then be thought as handsom; fine Flannel for Shirts; white Crape for Neckclothes, Cuffs, and Head-Dresses; besides the pretty Laces, whereof we see various sorts used about the Dead; and Caduce of several Colours in imitation of Ribbons; also Hats, Stockings, and many such things are made of Wool and other Mixtures, both worn at home and Exported abroad.

Cotton Wool.The next Material for our Manufactures is Cotton-Wool, which is now become a great Imployment for the Poor, and so adds to the Wealth of the Nation; this being curiously pickt and spun makes Dimities, Tapes, Stockings, Gloves, besides several things wove fit for use, as Petticoats, wastcoats, and Drawers, of different Fancies and Stripes, and I doubt not our Workmen would exceed the East Indies for Calicoes had they Incouragment; with all which we supply Forreign Markets besides the Consumption at home.

Hemp and Flax.Hemp and Flax are the Grounds for another Manufacture, for though Weaving of Linnen is not so much used here as of Woollen, yet several Counties are maintained thereby, who not only supply themselves, but furnish those Bordering on them with such Cloth as answers the ends of French Linnens, besides which great Quantities of Ticking of all finenesses, Incle, Tapes, Sacking, Girtwhip, are daily made thereof, also Cordage, Twine, Nets, with multitudes of other Manufactures which Imploy the Poor, and bring by their Exports Profit to the Nation.

Glass.Glass is a Manufacture, lately fallen on here, and in a short time brought to a great Perfection, which keeps many at work, the Materials whereof its made being generally our own and in themselves of small value costs the Nation little in Comparison of what it formerly did when fetcht from Venice; those noble Plate Glases of all sizes both for Coaches and Houses are things of great Ornament, and much used, which also shew forth the Genius of the English People; and for common uses what various sorts of Utensils are made of Flint fit for all the occasions of a Family, which look as well as Silver, and 'twould be better for the Nation they were more used in its stead; besides the ordinary Glass for Windows, and also Glass Bottles; all which find a greater expence both at home and abroad by their cheapness.

Earthen Wares.And as for Earthen Ware, though the Progress we have made therein is not suitable to the other, yet it hath been such as may give us cause to hope that time and Industry will bring it to a perfection equal if not to exceed the Dutch.

Silk.Silk is another Material for a great Manufacture, which being brought from abroad Raw we here twist, dye, and weave into different goodness, both plain, stript, and flowered, either by it self, or mix'd with Gold and Silver, so richly brocadoed that we exceed those from whom at first we had the Art; besides great Quantities of Ribbons, Silk Stockings, and other things daily made not only to serve our selves but also to Export.

Distilling.Distilling is an Art so exceedingly Improved in a few Years that had it not met with Discouraging Laws 'twould by this time have attained to a great height; this brings great profit to the Nation, for next to that of making something out of nothing is the making somthing of what is worth nothing, therefore this Art ought to have been Handled very chearily, to have been trained up with a great deal of gentleness, and not loaden with Taxes in its Infancy, like the Hen in the Fable, we had not Patience to expect its Treasure as Time and Nature could produce it, but by our Avarice were like to discourage it in the beginning, however it hath still bore up under all the weight laid upon it. 'Twas a great mistake to appoint Measures by Act of Parliament to the Distillers in their workings, Mens knowledge increases by Observation, and this is the reason why one Age exceeds another in any sort of Mistery, because they improve the Notions of their Predecessors, therefore confining Distilling only to Corn was an Error, 'tis true other things were allowed to be used, but on such Terms and Restrictions as were next to a Prohibition, had the makers of that Law then Prohibited Coffee and Tea to be drank in Publick Houses it might more probably have answered their ends in advancing the price of Barly by a greater consumption of Ale, and by degrees the Distillers would have fallen on that Commodity themselves, using it with other mixtures, and thereby drawing from it a cleaner Spirit then it doth afford of it self, which they might in time have Rectified to such a fineness as to have increased very much its use. No Nation can give more incouragement to the Mistery of Distilling then England, whose Plantations being many and well Peopled where those Spirits are so necessary and useful for the Inhabitants, and these depending wholly on us for all things, might have been supplied with them hence only, besides the great Quantities used in our Navigation, therefore a total Prohibition of their Importation from other Nations (who make them generally of such things which are else of little value) would be very convenient: We have many Materials of our own Product to work on, such as are Melasses, Cyder, Perry, Barly, &c. all which in time they would have used, for as the Distillers found their sales increased they would have made new Essays: It was a great discouragement both to them, and also to the Sugar Bakers and Brewers, to hinder Distilling on Mellasses, Scum, Tilts, and Wash, a fault the Dutch nor no Trading Nation besides our selves would have been guilty of, and proceeded from ill Advice given that Parliament by those who under pretence of advancing Corn designed to discourage Distilling, only took it by that handle they thought would be best received in the House, which being generally made up of Gentlemen unskilful in Trade lookt no deeper into it than as it answered that plausible pretence; whereas were Trading Cities and Towns more careful in chusing Men well Verst in Trade in 'twould be much better for the Nation: I cannot omit what a worthy Member of the House once told me in private Discourse, says he, I have always observed that when we have meddled with Trade we have left it worse than we found it, which proceeds from want of more Traders in the House, the places we depend on for them sending such Members as are able to give us but little Information, and so partial that we can take no true measures of them; The truth is great Cities are to blame in this, who ought to think none so fit to represent them in Parliament as those who have their Heads fill'd with good Notions of Trade, such who can speak well to it, and be heard when they speak; Trade and Land go Hand in Hand as to their Interest, if one flourish, so will the other, encourage Distilling, and it will spend Hundreds of things now thrown away.

Sugar-baking.Refining of Sugars hath given Employment to our People, and added to their value in Foreign Parts, where we found great Sales, till the Dutch and French beat us out, and this was much to be attributed to the Duty of Two Shillings and Four Pence per Cent lately laid on Muscovado Sugars, whereby they were wrought up abroad above Twelve per Cent cheaper than at home, and though that Law is now expired, yet 'tis harder to regain a Trade when lost, than keep it when we have it.

Tobacco.Tobacco also hath employed our Poor by Cutting and Rowling it, both for a home Consumption, and also for Exportation, the latter we decay in every Year, but Methods may be offered in Parliament to render those two Manufactures of Sugar and Tobacco more advantageous to the Nation than ever hitherto they have been.

Tanning.Tanning of Leather is an Employment which ought to be encouraged, as it furnishes us with a Commodity fit to be manufactured at home, and also to be transported into Foreign Countrys; I know the Exportation of Leather hath been much opposed by the Shooe-makers and others who cut it at home, and represented as attended with ill Consequences, one whereof is the making it dear here, but would it not be of much worse to confine and limit that Employment to an Inland Expence, on the other side would it not naturally follow that when Leather rises to a great Price the Exportation must cease because Ireland would under-sell us, and would it not seem an unreasonable Discouragement to Trade if Tobacco, Sugar, and Woollen Manufactures were debarred from Exportation only because they should be sold cheaper here; for suppose the occasions of the Nation could not consume all the Leather that is made, to what a low price must Hides be reduced, for no other reason but that the Shooemakers may get more by their Shooes? 'Tis true, if they could make out that those Countrys must then have their Shooes from us who now have their Leather, I should be of their Minds, but it must needs have a quite contrary effect, especially whilst Ireland is able to supply them: This proceeds from a very narrow Spirit, and such as ought not to be encouraged in a Trading Nation; Ireland hath already made great Progress in this Mistery, occasioned by our Imprudence, and should we give Encouragement to other Countrys we might too late repent it. A good Export for Leather would cause a great Import of Raw Hides, which would be more Advantage to the Nation than if they were tann'd in Ireland, and sent abroad thence.

Iron.Nor can I omit Iron, which is the great foundation of sundry Manufactures, not only used at home, but wherewith we supply our Plantations and other Places abroad, as Howes, Bills, Axes, Cases, Locks, Nailes, and a thousand such Necessaries, the Workmanship whereof adds much to their Value.

Clockwork.There are many other things which may be and are daily improved amongst us; as Clockwork, wherein we sell nothing but Art and Labour, the Materials thereof being of small value; I have seen Watches and Clocks of great Prizes made for the Courts of Foreign Princes.

Paper-Mills.Paper-Mills are a Benefit to the Nation, as they make that Commodity from things of themselves worth little; so are are Powder-MillsPowder-Mills.; also ArtificersArtificers., who bring advantage to the Nation by supplying it with things which must otherwise be had from abroad for its own use, as also with others proper to be sent thither for Sales, and when Exported are more or less profitable as the labour of the Subject adds to their value; In like manner things are cheaper to us when we pay only for the first Materials whereof they are made, the rest being work done at home is divided amongst our selves, so that on the whole it appears to be the great Interest of England to advance its Manufactures,Methods to improve our Manufactures. and this I humbly conceive may be done these several ways.

By imploying the Poor.1. By providing Work-houses for the Poor, and making good Laws both to force and encourage them to work; but designing to speak larger to this before I close this Tract shall referr the Reader to it.

By freeing the Manufactures from Customs.2. By discharging all Customs payable on them at their Exportation, and also on the Materials used in making them at their Importation; for as the one would encourage the Merchant to send more abroad, so the other would enable the Manufacturers to afford them cheaper at home, and 'tis strange that a Nation whose Wealth depends on Manufactures, and whose Interest it is to outdo all others (especially in the Woollen) by underselling them in Foreign Markets, should load either with Taxes.

Logwood.Here I cannot but mention that of Logwood, a Commodity much used in Dying, which pays Five Pounds per Tun Custom in, and draws back Three Pounds Fifteen Shillings when shipt out, by which means the Dyers in Holland use it so much cheaper than ours;Dying and dressing our Woollen Manufactures at home. now if it was Imported Custom Free, and paid Twenty five Shillings per Tun at its Export, the Dyers there would use it so much dearer than ours here, and I think it would be well worth Inquiry, whither a Prohibition either total or in part of Shipping out our Manufactures thither and to the Northern Kingdoms undyed or undrest might not be made, I am sure it would be of great Advantage to this Kingdom if it might be done without running into greater Inconveniencies, which for my part I do not foresee, the Dutch discourage their being brought in dyed or drest, that they may thereby give Employments to their own People, and increase their Navigation by the consumption of great quantities of Dye-stuff, and the same reasons should prevail with us to dye and dress them here, But this deserves the consideration of a Committee of Parliament to hear what may be said both for and against it.

By not importing things manufactur'd.3. By discouraging the Importation of Commodities already manufactured either from our own Plantations or other Places, such as clay'd and refined Sugars, wrought Silks, Calicoes, Brandy, Glass, Earthen Ware, Irish Frizes, Tann'd Leather, Gloves, Lace, &c. and instead thereof we should encourage bringing in the Materials whereof they are made, to be wrought up here; this may be done by Laws, and also by being in love with our Home Manufactures, and bringing their Wearing into Fashion.

By freeing the Manufactures from Excises.4. By freeing the Manufactures from burthensome Excises, which do much discourage small Stocks, who are not able to carry on their Trades and make Provision for such great Payments; the Distillers have long groaned under them, and I fear the Glass-makers now will, especially those in and about London, who have another load by the Duty of Coals, besides the Swarms of Officers to which we lay open the Houses of those Men who deserve all the Encouragement we can give them, and ought to have things made as easie to them as may be; had the like Methods been used to our Wollen and Leather (as was intended) we might have repented it at Leisure; Taxes when laid on our Manufactures ought to be raised by such easie Methods as shall give least trouble to the Makers: Trade ought to be handled gently, and he that considers the Expences of this Nation at Five Pounds per Head comes to Forty Millions, and the Lands of England but to Twelve, will imagine easie Methods may be found out to raise a greater Tax annually then we pay, without loading either Land or Trade as now we do, a Scheme whereof may be easily drawn up.

By not exporting Materials till Manufactured.5. By prohibiting as much as may be the Exportation of things to the Plantations fit to be manufactured there till they are first done here, thus 'tvvas better Shooes vvere Transported to the Plantations than Leather, so things made of Iron, than Iron it self, this vvould employ our People, and add to the value of vvhat vve ship out.

By securing the Foreign Trade.6. By defending the Merchants in their Trades who export the Manufactures, and making it as easie to them as may be; To this end good Conveys should be allowed, and good Cruisers maintain'd to preserve their Ships, it being certain that what-ever is diminish'd out of the Merchants Stock doth so far disable him in Trade, and then consequently lessen his Exports and Imports; Courts of Merchants should be also erected for the speedy deciding all differences relating to Sea Affairs,Counrts of Merchants. which are better ended by those who understand them, than they are in Westminster-Hall, where all things are tried by the Nice Rules of Law, to whom after much Attendance and Expence they are often referred by the Judges, by this means they would see short ends to their differences, and not be detained at home to attend long Issues; but there can be no general Rules given for these Courts, which must be settled according as they best suit the convenience of every Trading City.

I am of opinion that the Trade of this Kingdom might be secured with no greater Expence to the Government than now 'tis at, but then better Methods must be taken, and Men employed whose Interests it is to see them put in Execution: When we first began this War the Nation had many Difficulties to cope with, the French seemed to vye with us at Sea, whilst their Armies outnumber'd ours at Land, but now blessed be God the Scale is turned, we force their Garrisons and storm their Castles whilst they look on unable to relieve, and at the same time our Navy-Royal blocks up theirs, whilst our smaller Fleets Bombard their Sea-Port Towns, we not only ride Admirals in the British Seas but also in the Mediterranean, and yet do now suffer more Loss in our Navigation than formerly we did; The French are come to a new way of fighting, they set out no Fleet, but their Privateers swarm and cover the Sea like Locusts, they hang on our Trade like Horse-Leeches, and draw from it more Blood than it is well able to spare, whilst we still go on as we did, without new Methods to countermine them; The French King breeds up a Nursery of Seamen at our Charge, whilst his Subjects are made Rich by our Losses; the Act for Cruisers was well design'd had it been as well put in Execution, the Parliament thereby shewed what might secure our Trade, but left things so discretionary to the Managers, that the Merchant knows not when he receives the Benefit thereof, or how to complain if he doth not, and by this means is in a worse Condition than he was before the making that Law, adventuring larger because he thinks he Trades securer; I confess for my own part I value nothing that cannot be reduced to a certainty in its practice, things seem difficult to those who do not understand them, if we are to Besiege a Town we make use of Soldiers, if to storm a Castle, Engineers, if to build a Ship, Carpenters, and so in lesser things, and yet Gentlemen are thought fit to sit at Helm, and steer the Ship wherein is Embarqu'd the Treasure of our Trade, who are altogether unskill'd therein, on whose good Conduct the Nation's Weale or Woe depends; Thus things do fall into Confusion, whilst Men undertake what they do not understand and set the Nation in a flame, whilst they injudiciously guide the Chariot of the Sun; This makes Foreign Commodities dear, and advances the Prizes of Materials used in our Manufactures, so that as Trade grows worse Expences grow greater, and at the same time no Body is a Gainer, The Merchant pays such high Fraights and Insurances, that he gets little by Trade tho' he sells his Imports for great Prizes; and yet the Insurers complain they lose by underwriting, and therefore advance their Premios, which is a new advance on Trade; and the Owners of Ships get nothing by their Fraights, because they pay great Wages to the Saylors, and meet with such Delays both at home and abroad that the length of time eats up all their Profits, so that Fraights must rather rise than fall; nor do the Saylors get, who generally brought home more Money to their Families in the time of Peace at three Years end when they served for Twenty-four Shillings per Month than they now do at Fifty, one lost Voyage bringing them more behind-hand than two good ones put them forward; Now if Heads well verst in Trade were set at work, Methods might be thought on to secure all with little Charge to the Government, and hereby the Kingdom might flourish, and be supplyed by the Merchant with Commodities cheaper, whilst the Insurers underwrote for less Premio, Fraights let on lower terms, the Wages of Mariners fallen, and All got more than now they do; our Numbers of Seamen might then be increased, and every Ship that goes abroad be a Nursery for the Fleet at home; Privateering, which is now become a Trade amongst the French, must then necessarily sink all concerned therein, its own Weight and Charge would crush it did we prevent their taking Prizes; and no doubt the Merchants of England would not oppose such Regulations in their Trades as they saw were to their Advantage, or refuse to be at some Charge when they saw those Payments saved Money in their Pockets, and that the management of things was put into the Hands of Persons engaged in the common Interest of Trade with themselves: This seems to me of great Importance in our Manufactures, when the foreign Materials shall be furnished cheaper to the Maker; besides if Trade were well secured the War would scarce be felt, Losses by Sea discourage the City, and the ill Consequences thereof reach the Country, whereby both suffer more than by all the Taxes they pay towards carrying it on.

By lowering the Interest of Money.7. By falling the Interest of Money; this would very much quicken Trade, and indeed is the true Measure of it, the Merchant would be better able to cope with Competitors abroad in the Manufactures when his Interest did not eat so deep as now it doth, and the Maker would be enabled to sell them cheaper at Home; if Interest were fallen 'twould make all Trades flourish, for whilst we stand not on the same Terms with our Neighbours herein we must expect to be undersold every where by them; the Dutch pay but Three per Cent, and are thereby enabled to Trade so much lower than we can; the truth is 'tis a shame Money should yield more by being put to Interest than 'twould do if laid out either in Land or Trade; the first doth not clear Four per Cent, the latter will not bring the Borrower Five for all his Pains and Industry when the Userer is paid, whilst the other runs little Risque, and is a Drone in the Common-Wealth; as for Orphans and Widdows, (which is the main Objection against it) let their Expences be lessened suitable to its Fall, and for all other People, let them employ their Money in Trade if they think 'twill yield more; And here I judge it not amiss to mention Banks and Lumbards,Banks & Lombards. which I take to be so many Shops to let out Money, for which they receive such Security, and for such time, as stands most for the conveniency of Trade, and therefore the more the better, because every one will endeavour to underdo another.

By rectifying the Currant Coin.8. By rectifying the Currant Coin of this Kingdom, which is now so debased that Men rather truck than sell for Money, not knowing whither the next Man they deal with will take what they just before received for their Goods; this makes Payments precarious, and Trade uneasie, mony rising and falling on Men's Hands daily, so that now nothing is more uncertain than that which should be the Rule of certainty in the value of all other things.

I do not think it convenient to advance our Coyn, but let Bullion be of the same value when coined as it was before, else we have not the true worth of the Commodity we sell for it, but are deceived by the Stamp, which may be counterfeited by the Dutch and other Nations for the profit of the Overplus, besides it will seem ridiculous for a Man to give Twenty Shillings worth of Silver for Eighteen Shillings of the same specie, only because it is medall'd; this will necessarily be followed by the advance of Silver suitable, the consequence whereof will be the selling our Manufactures abroad cheaper, as we receive less Bullion for them, and the whole Profit redound to the King of Spain, whose Indies by the advance of his Bullion will be worth more than they were before; nor will this hinder its being carry'd abroad, perhaps it may keep our Coin at home, but not our Silver, which will be still carried out in Specie; not that I am of their Opinions who think the advance of Money would raise the price of Foreign Commodities among us, our own Experience shews it will not, we buy and sell as much for Twenty Shillings in Farthings as for so much Silver Coin; nor will their comparison with the Portugal Trade hold here, for when that King advanced the value both of Peeces of Eights, and also of his own Coin, the Importer was obliged to advance the Price of his Goods, because Silver was the Specie wherein he was to make Returns, which he received not as it was worth in Coin but in value by the Ounce, whereas had he laid it out in Commodities the Case had been otherwise, I make a great difference between Money as it is the Medium of Trade, and as it is the Commodity we make returns in; there are better Reasons than this why Coin should be kept up to its true value.

And for the more easie calling it in when the Parliament shall see fit, I think 'twere best to cry down all clipt Money at once, only to be received for six Months by the King in his Taxes, who may send it into the Mint, and if the Computation be allowed that we have about six Millions of Coined Silver Money in the Kingdom, suppose four of it to be clipt, the Taxes of Customs, Excise, Aids, &c. which we pay in six Months will require near that Summ; and if there remain Two Millions unclipt, it will serve the ordinary Expence till so much new Money can come abroad, at the end of which time let all the rest be called in by the same Method; This will bring forth the Broad Money, which is now hoarded up, and during this Scarcity both the King's occasions and those of Trade will be very much answer'd by Gold and Bank Notes; and for better preserving our new-coined Money, let none for the future exceed Shillings, or at most Half Crowns, and those be made broad and thin, with the Ring on the Extent of the Circumference, which will prevent both Clipping and Drilling, and if the Stamp be not deep 'twill prevent casting.

As for the Iron and Counterfeit-Money, (which is supposed to be about a Million) it must be lost to those who have it; and I suppose a Tax of about Fifteen Hundred Thousand Pounds will make good the other.

By discouraging Stockjobbing.9. By discouraging Stockjobbing; This hath been the Bane of many good Manufacturies, which began well, and might have been carry'd on to Advantage if the Promoters had not fallen off to selling Parts, and slighted the first Design, winding themselves out at Advantage, and leaving the Management to those they decoyed in, who understood nothing of the thing, whereby all fell to the Ground; This may be prevented (I mean so far as concerns Corporations) by Laws framed for that end, or by Clauses in their Charters.

By taking away Priviledged Places.10. By taking away all Priviledged Places, and making it easier for Creditors to recover of their Debtors; Men now betake themselves to Sanctuary, and spend what they have at defiance with those to whom they owe it; on the other side if Laws were made for the more equal Distribution of the Estates of those who fall to decay, with a Reserve of some part thereof to themselves on a fair Discovery, and a force on the minor part of the Credits to agree with what Composition should be made by the major, so many People would not then be necessitated to such Methods, or be ruined by lying in Goals, as now there are, but be enabled to put themselves again into ways for a future Maintenance; Misfortunes may and often do befal industrious Men, whose Trades have been very beneficial to the Nation, and to such a due Regard ought to be had; but for those who design under the shelter of a Protection or Priviledge to spend all they have, and thereby cheat their Creditors, no Law can be too severe.

By preventing Exportation of Wool.11. By strengthening the Laws against Exportation of Wool by such practicable Methods as may prevent its being done; and such may be thought on; for when a Nation's Interest doth so much depend thereon, no Care can be too great, or Methods laid too deep; Laws concerning Trade whose sole Strength are Penalties (and especially such as end in Death) rarely reach the thing aimed at; but practicable Methods, whereby one thing answers another, and all conspire to carry on the same Design, hanging like so many Links in a Chain, that you cannot reach the one without stepping over the other, these are more likely to prevent Mischiefs; Its one thing to punish People when a Fact is done, and another to prevent the doing it by putting them as it were under an impossibility; now where the Welfare of the Kingdom lies so much at Stake, certainly it cannot be thought grievous to compel a submission to good Methods, though they may seem troublesom at first.

Thus there have been severe Laws made against carrying the Plantation Commodities directly thence to Foreign Markets, and stealing the Customs when brought home, and what effect these have had we all know, thousands of Hogsheads of Tobacco being yearly Ship'd to Spain, Scotland, and Ireland, both from New-England, and other Places; whereas Sound and Practicable Methods may and are ready to be laid down to prevent both, with few Officers, and fewer Penalties.

The ill consequences of sending our Wool.And that we may better see the Mischiefs which attend the carrying abroad our Wool unwrought to other Nations, let us consider the Consequences thereof in what is Shipp'd to France, whose Wool being very course of its self, and fit only for Ruggs and ordinary Cloth, is by mixture with ours and Irish used in the making of many sorts of pretty Stuffs and Druggats, whereby the Sales of our Woollen Manufactures are lessened both there and in other places whither we export them, and by this means every Pack of Wool sent thither works up two besides it self, being chiefly combed and combing Wool, which makes Woofe for the French Wool, and the Pinions thereof serve with their Linnen to make course Druggats like our Linsey-Woolsey, but the Linnen being spun fine and coloured is not easily discerned, also the finest short English Wool being mix'd with the lowest Spanish makes a middling sort of Broad Cloth, and being woven on Worsted Chains makes their best Druggats, neither of which could be done with the French Wool only, unless in Conjunction with ours or Irish, Spanish Wool is too fine and too short for Worsted Stuffs, and unfit for Combing, so that without one of those two sorts there cannot be a piece of fine Worsted Stuff or middle Broad Cloth made, no other Wool but English or Irish will mix well with Spanish for Cloth, being originally of the same kind, raised from a Stock of English Sheep, the difference in fineness coming from the nature of the Land whereon they feed; of this we have Examples in our own Nation, where we find that Lemster Wool is the finest, next, part of Shropshire and Staffordshire, part of Glocester-shire, Wilts, Dorset, and Hampshire, part of Sussex, and part of Kent, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, these are most proper for Cloth, some small part for Worsted; Sussex, Surry, Middlesex, Hartfordshire, and some other Counties produce Wool much courser and cheaper; But then Barkshire, Buckingham, Warwick, Oxon, Leicester, Nottingham, Northampton, Lincoln, and part of Kent called Rumny-Marsh, the Wool in most of these Connties is so proper for Worsted, that all the World except Ireland cannot compare with it, therefore requires our greater Care to prevent its Exportation, and more especially from Ireland, whence it is often Exported to our Neighbouring Nations, and sold as cheap as in England.

By making Bonds and Bills Assignable.12. By making Bonds and Bills assignable, and being Assigned and Transferred from one to another, the Assignee to be capable in his own Name to Prosecute the Debtor whose Bond or Bill it is, without using the Name of the Assignor, or any Letter of Attorney from him to require or recover the same; by this means young Men of small Stocks and Credits may on sale of their Goods and taking Bills for Payment return to Market again, and purchase with those Bills such Commodities as they want to carry on their Trades; this also will produce a great Punctuality amongst Traders, for all Men to keep up the Reputation of their Bills will endeavour to be exact in their Payments, that so they may be currant, and freely accepted in Commerce, every One's Credit will then be esteemed according as he is punctual in the payment of his Bills; Besides, this Punctuality will produce another good effect, those Bills will be bought up by mony'd Men for the Advantage of their discount, and it will by degrees lessen the Extortion of Usurers.

By confining to a method in Trade.13. By prohibiting Persons from following several Trades at once, viz. The Merchant from being a Shopkeeper or Retailer, and the Shopkeeper from being a Merchant or Adventurer at the same time; hereby each Trade would be better managed, and with more Advantage to both, for whilst the Merchant employs his Stock abroad in Exporting the Commodities of the Kingdom, and supplying it with others, the Retailer would keep his at home, ready to buy up those Imports, and disperse them into the Country, and both would go on unanimously in their Trades, because neither would interfere in the others Business.

My managing Treaties of Peace to the Advantage of Trade.14. By taking Care that in all Treaties of Peace and other Negotiations with Foreign Princes a due Regard be had to our Trade and Manufactures; that our Merchants be respected, and not affronted by the Governments among whom they reside; that all things be made easie to them, and both their Liberties and Properties secured; that our Manufactures be not prohibited, or burthened with unreasonable Taxes, which is the same in effect; that speedy Justice be done in recovering Debts contracted amongst the Natives, and punishing Abuses put on our Factories by them; These are pressures our Trade hath long groaned under, whereby the Merchants abroad and Manufacturers at home have been much discouraged, and the English Nation hath been forced to truckle under the French in Foreign Parts (especially in Portugal, and the Islands belonging to it) only because that King sooner resented Injuries done to his Traders, and took more Care to demand Reparation, than our last Reigns have done; but blessed be God we have now both Power and Opportunity to do the same, and there is no cause to doubt His Majesty's Royal Inclinations to make use of both for the Good of his Merchants when things are duely represented to him.

Liberty of Conscience.I should in the last place have added Liberty of Conscience, but that being already settled by Law I need not mention it, only this, that it were to be wisht some way might be found out to make Methods of Trade more easie to the Quakers than now they are;The Quakers in respect to Oaths. I am apt to think that he who appears in the Face of a Court to give Evidence on his word if he be a Man of Couscience looks on himself equally obliged to speak the Truth as if he was sworn, and nothing will deter a dishonest Man like she fear of punishment.

The Importation of Materials to be manufactured will encourage Trade.Nor will the prohibiting things already manufactured be any way a hindrance to Foreign Trade, but rather an Incouragement; more Ships will be fraighted, and more Saylors imployed by the Importation of Materials, besides the great Advantage to the Nation in the ballance of its Trade, which must then be returned in Bullion by so much more as they cost less abroad than the others; and this will enable us to afford a greater Consumption of Foreign Commodities spent on our Palates, such as Wines, Fruit, and the like, all which fill our Ships, and are fit Subjects for Trade when the Profits of a Nation enable it to bear their Expence.

Navigation.And thus I have run through the several Parts of our Inland Trade, the Profit whereof depends on our Product and Manufactures; Before I proceed to our Outland or Foreign Trade I shall speak something of Navigation, which is the Medium between both; This is carried on by Ships and Saylors, the former are the Sea Waggons, whereby we transport and carry Commodities from one Market to another, and the latter are the Waggoners which drive or manage them; these are a sort of merry unthinking People, who make all Men rich save themselves, have often more Money than is their own, but seldom so much as they know how to spend, generally brave in their Undertakings, they go through any kind of Labour in their own way with a great deal of chearfulness, are undaunted by Storms and Tempests, the Sea being as it were their Element, and are allowed by all to be the best Navigators in the World; they are our Wealth in Peace, and our Defence in War, and ought to be more encouraged than they are in both, but especially in the latter, which might be done if better Methods were used to engage them in that Service, and better Treatment when there; Now I should think if a List were taken of all the Saylers in England,Manning our Ships of War. and a Law made for every Person who enters himself on that Imploy at the Age of Years to have his Name registred, with the place of his Abode, and be obliged to appear on Summons left at his House, and no Man to be forced into the King's Service till he had been at Sea three Years, nor to stay therein above three Years without his free consent, and then to be permitted to take a Merchant's Imploy for so much longer, and during his being in the King's Service good Provision to be made for his Family at home, and a Maintenance for them in case of his death or being disabled, This would encourage them to come willingly into the Service, which they look on now to be a Slavery whereto they are bound for their Lives, whilst their Families starve at home;Pressing Saylors. This and the manner of pressing them discourages many, and hinders very much the making of Saylors, People not caring to put their Hands to an Oar lest the next day they should be halled away to the Fleet, though they understand nothing of the Sea; I do not think too much Care can be taken for the well manning our Men of War, but I would have it also done with able Seamen, and not with such who will only stand in the way, and are useless when most wanted, and this must not be done by pressing, but by practicable Methods which shall draw every Man to take his turn at Helm; I take Embargoes to be no helps towards it,Embargoes. for many Saylors do then lie hid, who would appear to serve in Merchant's Ships, and might be easily met with at return of their Voyages; by this means in a short time there would be a double set of Mariners, enough both for the Service of the Fleet and Trade, the latter would every year breed more; let the Commanders of Merchants Ships on Arrival give in Lists of the Saylors they have brought home, for whose appearance their Wages should be Bail, and then those whose turn it is to serve in the Fleet should after due time allowed for finishing their Voyages be sent thither, and a penalty on every Master of a Ship who carry'd a Saylor to Sea after his three Years Prodict was expired; such Laws and Time would bring things into regular Methods.

Inconvenience of pressing Saylors from Ships on their Voyages.This would also prevent great Mischiefs and Inconveniencies which arise from pressing Saylors our of Merchants Ships whilst on their Voyages, many of them being thereby lost at Sea, and others detained in the West-Indies, to the great Discouragement of Trade; whereas better ways might be found out of supply the Men of War abroad, all Merchants Ships bound to the places where they are might have a proportionable Number of Sailors deliver'd them by the Admiralty to be carried out Gratis for their Use and Service; and this would prevent another Mischief too often practised abroad, where Captains of Men of War press Saylors from one Merchants Ship only that they may make profit by selling them to another.

Short Voyages breed Saylors.It's supposed that no Trade raises more Seamen than that of Coals from Newcastle, which imploys many Hundreds of Ships to supply the City of London and other Ports of England, and being a home Trade doth thereby breed and encourage Saylors more than long Voyages would do.

Oytland Trade.To come now to the Trade which England drives with Foreign Countrys; here 'tis necessary to enquire how each doth encourage our Product and Manufactures, how our Navigation, what Commodities we receive in Returns, and how the Ballance of Trade stands in either; among which I esteem none to be so profitable to to us as that we manage to Africa and our own Plantations in America, and none so detrimental as that to the East-Indies.

East-Indies.To begin therefore with the East-India Trade, which for many Reasons I take to be mischievous to the Kingdom.

To clear this we are to consider how a Trade may be advantageous or detrimental to a Nation, and then to draw Inferences thence applicable to the above Proposition; I shall therefore lay down such general Notions as may without dispute be allowed by all unbyassed Persons, which are these:

1. That that Trade is advantageous to the Kingdom of England which Exports our Product and Manufactures.

2. Which Imports to us such Commodities as may be manufactured here, or be used in making our Manufactures.

3. Which supplies us with such things, without which we cannot carry on our Foreign Trade.

4. Which encourages our Navigation, and increases our Seamen.

And consequently that Trade which exports little or none of our Product or Manufactures, nor supplies us with things necessary to promote Manufactures at home, or carry on our Trade abroad, nor encourages Navigation, cannot be supposed to be advantageous to this Kingdom; especially when its Imports hinder the consumption of our own Manufactures, and more especially when those Imports are chiefly the purchase of our Bullion or Treasure.

And because I would be rightly understood in my third Proposition, I mean those Commodities without which we are not able to fit out our Ships for a Foreign Trade, such as are Pitch, Tar, Hemp, Sail-Cloth, Masts, Timber, and such like; These are so absolutely necessary, that we must have them though purchased for Bullion, as being the chief Hinges whereon Trade turns, and the Tools by which we Mechannically navigate our Ships, those Bulky Mediums of Foreign Trade; but for those things which are Imported only in order to be Exported again as Commodities to trade on, these cannot be so advantageous to this Kingdom as they may be to the Dutch, who having little Land are maintained rather by Buying and Selling than Manufacturing, whereas England being a large spot of Ground, and having a great Product of its own, (besides what comes from our Plantations) capable to be wrought up or manufactured here, gets by the Imployment of its People, therefore it would be the great Wisdom of our Government to regulate all Foreign Trades by such Methods as may best make then useful in the promoting our Manufactures.

How England may be said to be enrich't by Trade.Here it will not be amiss to consider again how and in what manner a Nation may be said to be enrich'd by Trade; for there must be a difference made between a Nations growing rich and particular Mens doing so by it, and I humbly propose that it may be possible for private Men to be vastly improved in their Estates, and yet at the Years end the Wealth of the Nation not to be a whit greater than at the beginning, and this both in an Inland and an Outland Trade; for whilst the thrifty Shopkeeper buys at one Price, and sells at another to the prodigal Beaux, and the industrious Artificer vents his Labour to the idle Drone, and the politick Contriver outwits the unthinking Bully, one raises his Fortunes on the other's decay; the same for our Outland Trade, if we Export the true Riches of the Nation for that which we consume on our Luxury, tho' private Men may get by each other, yet the Wealth of the Nation is not any way encreased: For suppose by one Hundred Butts of Wines the Importer gets Five Hundred Pounds, yet when drank among our selves, the Nation is not thereby Richer but Poorer, and so much poorer as those Wines cost at first; for if Imported by English Men in English Ships we loose but the first Purchase, the rest being Freights, Customs, and Profits, are divided amongst our selves, but if they are brought in by Foreigners, the Nation loses all but the Customs; I take the true Profits of this Kingdom to consist in that which is produced from Earth, Sea, and Labour, and such are all our Growth and Manufactures.

To apply this now to the East-India Trade, we will first consider what are its Exports and Imports, and then inquire Cui Bono? whither the Contest for this Trade doth proceed from a design to serve the Nation, or from Principles of Self-Interest? or whither the Members of that Company who strive so much about it, would if in other Circumstances still be of the same Mind? for Principles that are in themselves true are always so, we may change our Opinions, but they do not change their Certainty; I confess as the state of a Nation alters so must our measures in Trade, but then it must appear that the State of the Nation and not our private Interests makes us to alter them; Now when I find that it is not the true Interest of this Nation to advance the Product and Manufactures thereof I shall change my Opinion.

First then to begin with their Exports; and here I need not say much, it's generally allowed by the Traders themselves that our Product and Manufactures are the least part thereof, consisting chiefly in Gold and Silver.

But it's alledged that in Returns they Import such Goods which being again Exported do bring from Foreign parts much more Treasure in specie; which leads me secondly to consider what those Imports are, and what becomes of them; They chiefly are, Saltpeter, Pepper, Callicoes, Druggs, Indigo, and Silks both wrought and raw, many of which Commodities are very necessary as well for our Home Expence as to export again, others vastly prejudicial to us, as they hinder the consumption of our own Manufactures both Abroad and at Home, and this latter outweighs the former; Calicoes and wrought Silks are the things I chiefly aim at, and hope to make it plainly appear that those two Commodities do us more prejudice in our Manufactures than all the Advantage they bring either to private Purses or to the Nation in general, and it were to be wisht the Wisdom of our Parliament would prohibit their being worn in England, else like the ill-favoured lean Kine they will destroy the use of our Manufactures, which might be fitted to answer all the ends they serve for; Nor is the lessening the wearing our own Manufactures at home all the Mischief Callicoes have done us, their Importation having thrown out the wearing of Silesia, and other German Linnens hath been attended with as bad a Consequence from thence, where those Looms which were formerly imployed on weaving them were thereon turned to the Woollen Manufactures, wherewith they not only furnish themselves but Poland, which hath made those Countrys very careful to increase and improve their breed of Sheep, whose Wool was generally brought hither before, and used in making Hatts, but is now much of it wrought up there; for when we slighted their Manufactures they fell on ours, whereas if we had encouraged the Wearing their Linnen they would have still depended on us for Woollen; This hath been a means to abate the Exportation of many thousand Peeces of Cloth, which would have brought more Advantage to the Nation than all the Trade we have driven to the East-Indies, and will never be retrieved till we return again to the use of their Linnens.

He that considers how wonderfully Fashions prevail on this Nation may soon satisfie himself how things of little value come to be prized, and to justle out those of greater worth; Fashion is Fancy, which as it hath of late Years brought in a disuse of our native Commodities by Imitation, so if our Nobility and Gentry would turn their Fancies to them again I doubt not it would have the same effect, and if our Workmen could receive Encouragement, no question the Genius of this Kingdom would soon reach to such a pitch as to answer all the Uses of both those Commodities, even with a Thread spun out of Sheeps Wool; It was scarce thought about twenty Years since that we should ever see Calicoes the Ornaments of our greatest Gallants (for such they are, whither we call them Muslins, Shades, or any thing else) when they were then rarely used save in Shrouds for the Dead, and that chiefly among the Poor, who could not go to the Price of finer Linnen, and yet were willing to imitate the Rich, but now few think themselves well drest till they are made up in Callicoes, both Men and Women, Callicoe Shirts, Neckcloths, Cuffs, Pocket-Hankerchiefs, for the former, Head-Dresses, Night-royls, Hoods, Sleeves, Aprons, Gowns, Petticoats, and what not, for the latter, besides India-Stockings for both Sexes; and indeed it will be a hard matter to put them out of this Fancy, nothing but an Act of Parliament or humour of the Court can do it, the latter is the most natural means, and would easier make way to introduce the former, for besides that 'twould bring with it the Prayers of the Poor for those who have cut them out new Imployments, it would likewise wonderfully tend to advance the Gentlemen's Estates, first by expending their Wool, and next by keeping the Poor at work, who would consume more Wheat and Barly, Beef and Mutton in their Houses, and yet they need not fear having Labourers enough in their Harvests, though perhaps at a little higher Rates, which would be abundantly made up by an Advance on the Product of their Lands, besides what would be saved in the Poor's Rates, and it hath been a constant Observation grounded on reason that this Nation never thrives more than when the Labour of the Poor is at such Prises as they may live comfortably by it.

We will next consider:

1. How far the Manufactures of this Kingdom have been already made to answer the uses of Indian Silks and Callicoes, and what did encourage it.

2. What farther Improvement may be made thereon, and the means to bring it about.

3. Why the People of England are so much against their Native Manufactures as to be more in love with Calicoes and Indian Silks.

1. As to the first, I will go no farther than the Act for Burrying in Woollen; how averse were the People of England to it at first? as if the Dead could not rest easie in their Graves if wrapt in our Native Commodities, or that it would trouble them inter Hades that they had occasionally given Imployment to their poor surviving Country-men; no, the fault was not there, Experience hath taught us that it's all one to them, and Time hath more reconciled us to that Statute when we saw the good effects it produced by putting our People on making so many pretty sorts of Woollen Vestments, as Ornamental to the Dead as the others formerly were thought to be, and of such different Finenesses and Prizes, that Qualities are as easily distinguished by them; and since our dead Friends were to be drest in our native Wool, we thought it most seemly to imitate them by wearing the same at their Funerals, hence it came to pass that our Mourning Attire was made of White Crape, a Garb not only Decent and Profitable, but Honourable to the Nation, as it both shew'd our Esteem for our Woollen Manufactres, and also how soon those imployed therein could turn their Hands to any sort of Work.

2. Let us consider what farther Improvements may be made on the Manufactures of this Kingdom to answer the ends of Indian Silks and Calicoes, and the means to bring them about; Here let us see what Progresses have already been made step after step by our Manufactures to imitate, and in many things to exceed all they have seen from abroad; witness those noble rich Silks, wherein they have attained to so great a height; Our brave noble Arras or Tapestry of all Prises, not to be out-done by those very Nations from whom we at first learned the Art; And this is allow'd by all, that the English Workmen in great things outdo their Patterns, and no doubt they may soon turn their Hands to a slight Manufacture, which People do now chiefly desire, and I take to be as profitable to the Nation; How are we come from a strong and stubborn to a slight thin Broad Cloth, from thence to Stuffs, Perpets, Sayes, Rashes, Shalloones, Gauzes, and lately to Antherines, which last look as handsome as Indian Silks, and serve as well in Linings for our Cloaths, also Crapes of such different sorts both of Silk and Wool, that not only Cloaths for Men and Women are made thereof, but also Hatbands, Cuffs, Neckcloths, Hoods, Head Dresses, &c. Now was there a Law to encourage, or would the Nobility and Gentry of this Kingdom by their Examples promote the wearing our own Manufactures, no doubt they might be soon brought to answer all the ends of Indian Silks and Calicoes, and I cannot see what reason may be given against a total Prohibition of their being worn in England, which will be the quickest way to have them disused.

3. The third is to enquire why the People of England are so much against their Native Manufactures as to be more in love with Calicoes and Indian Silks? The chief reason is Fashion and Imitation of One another, though many others are alledged, as the Ruffness and Ill Colour of Woollen, which keeps it from answering the ends of Calicoes, Its weight and thickness, which renders it improper for the ends of slight Silks in Linings; These are not substantial but pretended Reasons, and would as well serve against Calicoes and Indian Silks were we more used to our Native Manufactures, and they now to be introduced; for as to the Ruffness of Woollen, may not that be helpt by its fineness? and are not course Calicoes altogether as Ruff? A fine Flannen-Shirt feels soft and pleasant to him that hath been used to wear it, so strange Impressions do Custom and Fashion make on us; and as for Colour, it is only Fancy, when Yellow is in Fashion it looks as decent as White, and as much Art is needful to strike it well as there is Curiosity about the other, witness when Women wore Yellow Hoods, both Men and Women Yellow Vestments, besides, no doubt ways might be found out to add to the Native Whiteness of our Woollen Manufactures, which do not therein fall shorter of Calicoes than they do of Hollands and Cambricks and as to the ends of Silks, Thinness and Lightness, I think our Workmen have given very great Instances in their Crapes, Gauzes and Antherines what they could do had they Encouragement.

But if a Manufacture of Wool will not please, why may not one of Cotton, the Primum of which Calicoes are made, whereof we have great quantities imported every Year from our own Plantations in America, and no doubt we might in a short time attain to an excellency therein, not only to supply our selves, but also Foreign Markets; He that considers how far we have gone in this already will have no cause to doubt a Progress, and if Encouragements were proposed to that Person who should spin the finest Thread either in Cotton or Wool, to be adjudged and paid in each County, 'twould excite Industry and Ingenuity, and no doubt we might in time make Calicoes equal in their sorts with those Imported from India, and afford them as cheap as that Company now sells them, enough not only for our home Expenee, but also for Exportation.

We will next see what Employment this Trade gives to Ships as it's now managed in a Company, and how far it promotes Navigation by making Saylors; The Number of the first is but small, and I think far from making Seamen, long Voyages being usually their Bane, those Ships seldom bringing home so many Saylors as they carry'd forth, whereas shorter Voyages do more, made out of Land-Men, both the Imployers and the Imployed being desirous to make their first Tryals on such Voyages; besides, longer require better Saylors to provide for the Casualties which attend them, and may be said rather to use Seamen than to make them; and this is one great Reason why the Dutch raise them so easily, most of their Imployments being a home Trade.

If then it appears this Trade is no more profitable to the Nation in general we will next see how it is to that Company in parricular; I do not say to the particular Members thereof, who by ill Practices have raised their private Fortunes, many of which have been lately laid open, but to the Company as such; and here we find that a former failed; the last is thought to have gotten little, considering the long time they have been a Monopoly; and what Advantage the new Fund will make Time must shew, the Tricks used to engage Men therein causes me to doubt whither 'twill answer the Expectations of the Subscribers.

On the whole let us consider what Arguments can be offered to the Wisdom of the Nation to limit this Trade to an exclusive Company as was desired, or (as in truth it is) to turn it into a Monopoly by Law, a thing very contrary to the Genius of the People of England, and seems to barr the Freedom and Liberty of the Subject.

Were Monopolies to be allowed it must certainly be in One of these three Respects.

1. That we might put off our own Commodities to other Nations in Barter for those we received from them.

2. That we might keep down the Prices of their Commodities, whilst we advanced our own.

3. That as the Consequence of these two we might encourage our Manufacturers at home, and furnish Foreign Commodities cheap.

But when a Monopoly shall cause quite different Effects it's not to be allow'd on any Terms.

As for the first; the East-India Company takes off little of our Manufactures, nor do I think the Trade will admit it, for I cannot see how that Nation can be supplied with Manufactures hence fit for their Wearing answerable in Price to their own, except they were a Luxurious People who cared not what they gave to please their Fancies, which I do not take them to be, but generally very Provident; for if we consider that when the East-India Company hath brought their Calicoes and Silks hither with great Charges, and sold them at an extraordinary advance, they find vent by their cheapness, how can we believe that any of our Manufactures can afford them a profit in India, where they must be sold suitable in price to the others first cost; and therefore 'twould not be amiss if the Government were put on making a narrow Inquiry whither the Company do boná fide export so much of the Product and Manufactures of rhis Kingdom and land them in India as they are obliged to do by their Charter, elfe many ways may be found out to evade it, and the Nation be deprived of the only Advantage expected from that Monopoly.

The Dutch and we deal not thither on the same Terms, their Manufactures are small, and so no Matter what they Trade on, besides their Settlements in the East-Indies are so great, that what they bring thence may almost be called their own Product, whereof by monopolizing that Trade they make greater Prices in Europe, which being chiefly spent either in Foreign Markets or by Temporary Residents brings them more Profit; They have also great Advantages above us in their East-India Trade, being possest of the whole Traffick to Japan, whither they carry Cloth, Lead, and other Commodities from Holland, Calicoes, Spices, &c. from India, which they sell for Gold and Silver, increasing thereby their Bullion as we diminish ours; Besides their East-India Company is not settled on such a narrow Foundation as ours, which being limited to one City exclusive of all others sells their Commodities for greater Advance than any other Traders, whither we consider their Risque, or the time they are out of their Money, which should be the standing Rules in Trade; Nor can it be otherwise whilst they remain a Company, the Charges both abroad and at home being much more than when manag'd by private Stocks, besides the affected Grandeur in all which must be paid by the Nation, whereon I take that Monopoly to be a Tax so far as it might be supply'd with them on cheaper Terms if the Trade were laid more open by a Regulation; I know there is much talk'd by the Company about Forts Castles and Soldiers to defend their Interests in India, but I cannot see the use of them, for either they are thereby defended against the Natives, or the Dutch their Competitors; the former have no reason to quarrel with them, for bringing them a Trade so highly their Advantage as the purchasing their Product and Manufactures with Money, especially if they pay for what they buy; And as for their Competitors the Dutch, if they were not better defended against them by our Fleets at home, and the Protection of the Princes they trade with, than by all the Force they have there, the Trade had been but ill-secured, and must have sunk long ago; Only those great Words serve to hold us amused, whilst their Guineas in the two last Reigns were the Support of their Charter.

One thing which I aim at in this Discourse is to perswade the Gentry of England to be more in Love with our own Manufactures, and to encourage the wearing them by their Examples, and not of Choice to give Imployment to the Poor of another Nation whilst ours starve at home.

West-Indies.We will next proceed to the West-India and African Trades; which I esteem the most profitable of any we drive, and do joyn them together because of their dependance on each other.

But before we enter farther I will consider of one Objection, it having been a great question among many thoughtful Men whither our Foreign Plantations have been an advantage to this Nation; the reasons they give against them are, that they have drained us of Multitudes of our People who might have been serviceable at home, and advanced Improvements in Husbandry and Manufactures; That the Kingdom of England is worse Peopled by so much as they are increased; and that Inhabitants being the Wealth of a Nation, by how much they are lessened, by so much we are poorer than when we first began to settle our Foreign Colonies; Though I allow the last Proposition to be true, that People are or may be made the Wealth of a Nation, yet it must be where you find Imployment for them, else they are a Burthen to it, as the Idle Drone is maintained by the Industry of the labourious Bee, so are all those who live by their Dependance on others, as Players, Ale-Houses-keepers, Common-Fidlers, and such like, but more particularly Beggars, who never set themselves to work; Its my Opinion that our Plantations are an Advantage to this Kingdom, and I doubt not but 'twill appear to be so by the consequence of this Discourse, though not all alike, but every one more or less, as they take off our Product and Manufactures, supply us with Commodities which may be either wrought up here, or Exported again, or prevent fetching things of the same Nature from other Princes for our home Consumption, imploy our Poor, and encourage our Navigation; for I take England and all its Plantations to be one great Body, those being so many Limbs or Counties belonging to it, therefore when we consume their Growth we do as it were spend the Fruits of our own Land, and what thereof we sell to our Neighbours for Bullion, or such Commodities as we must pay for therein, brings a second Profit to the Nation.

These Plantations are either the great Continent from Hudson's Bay Northward to Florida Southward, containing Newfound-land, New-England, Virginia, Mary-land, New-York, Pensilvania, Carolina, &c. and also our several Islands, the chief whereof are Barbadoes, Antigua, Nevis, St. Christophers, Montserat, and Jamaica; the Commodities they afford us are more especially Sugars, Indigo, Ginger, Cotten, Tobacco, Piamento, and Fustick, of their own growth, also Logwood, which we bring from Jamaica, (though first brought thither from the Bay of Campeacha on the Continent of Mexico belonging to the Spaniard, but cut by a loose sort of People, Subjects to this Kingdom, Men of desperate Fortunes, but of wonderful Courage, who by force have made small Settlements there and defend themselves by the same Means) besides great quantities of Fish taken the Coasts of Newfound-land and New-England; These being the Product of Earth Sea and Labour are clear Profit to the Kingdom, and give a double Imployment to the People of England, first to those who raise them there, next to those who prepare Manufactures here wherewith they are supplied, besides the Advantage to Navigation, for the Commodities Exported and Imported being generally bulky do thereby imploy more Ships, and consequently more Saylors, which leaves more room for other labouring People to be kept at work in Husbandry and Manufactures, whilst they consume the Product of the one and the Effects of the other in an Imployment of a distinct Nature from either.

This was the first Design of settling Plantations abroad, that the People of England might better maintain a Commerce and Trade among themselves, the chief Profit whereof was to redound to the Center; and therefore Laws were made to prevent the carrying their Product to other places, or their being supply'd with Necessaries save from hence, and both to be done in our own Ships, navigated by English Saylors, except in some cases permitted by the Acts of Navigation, and so much as the Reins of those Laws are let lose, so much less profitable are the Plantations to us; The Interest therefore of this Kingdom being to prevent any practices contrary to the first Design, it would be the great Wisdom of the Parliament to frame such Laws as may more effectually do it than any yet made; I do not mean Laws whose chief Strength shall be their Penalties, but such whose plain Methods being capable to be reduced to Practice may do it without Oppression of Officers, for I esteem them so far weak as they need the Support of either the one or the other; and it were to be wisht that both our Customs and all other Taxes might be raised with less Charge and Burthen than now they are, for which ways might be sound out if it were well considered of, and then Multitudes of useless People might be sent into the Vineyards of Husbandry and Manufactures.

Among these Plantations I look on that of New-England to bring least Advantage to this Kingdom, for being setled by an industrious People, and affording few Commodities proper to be transported hither, the Inhabitants imploy themselves by trading to the rest of the Plantations, whom they supply with Provisions and other their Products, and from thence fetch their respective Growths, which they after send to Foreign Markets, and thereby injure the Trade of England; Now as to the first part, it's neither convenient for them nor the Plantations that they should be debarr'd it, what they carry thither being for the most part Fish, Deal-Boards, Pipe-staves, Horfes, and such like, which the others cannot be well supplyed with hence, also Bread, Flower, and Pease; but then they should be obliged to make their Imports hither, I mean to bring all the Good; they load at those Plantations to this Market, and from hence let them be supply'd again with what thereof shall be necessary for their Home Expence, as they are with all European Commodites; by which means England would become the Centre of Trade, and standing like the Sun in the midst of its Plantations would not only refresh them, but also draw Profits from them; and indeed it's a matter of exact Justice it should be so, for from hence it is Fleets of Ships and Regiments of Soldiers are frequently sent for their Defence, at the Charge of the Inhabitants of this Kingdom, besides the equal Benefit the Inhabitants there receive with us from the Advantages expected by the Issue of this War, the Security of Religion, Liberty, and Property, towards the Charge whereof they contribute little, though a way may and ought to be found out to make them pay more, by such insensible Methods as are both rational and practicable.

Methods to render the Plantations more profitable to England.Now the means to render these Plantations more profitable to this Kingdom are by making Laws.

1. To prevent (as much as conveniently may be) the Product of either to be transported from the place of its Growth to any other place save England.

2. To prevent its being Imported hither after manufactured there.

3. To prevent (as much as may be with Conveniency) the Exporting hence any simple thing in order to be manufactured there, such as Iron, Leather, &c. which 'twere better for this Kingdom were first wrought up here.

4. In Lieu of all to lay open the African Trade, that the Inhabitants may be supply'd with Negroes on easie Terms.

These are general Rules, but not without some Exceptions; for when I say the Commodities of one Plantation should not be carried to another, I mean those only which are fit for Trade, and may be brought hither, and be hence disperst again, as Sugars, Cotton, Indigoe, Tobacco, Ginger, and such like; but for Provisions, Timber, Horses, and things of like natures, they may and ought to be permitted, because this Nation cannot so conveniently supply them hence; and therefore the Act of Trade gave leave to transport the former from Ireland, which hath laid open a Gapp to that Peoyle, who carry the first Beef to those Markets, wherein they anticipate us, and get the best Prises, besides the Charges we are at in sending our Ships thither to load, which they save; Nor is this all, for going to the Plantations without giving Bonds to discharge in England what they take in there as the Law doth require, they frequently unload either all or part of their Loadings elsewhere, in opposition to the the Act of Navigation, therefore if a new Law was made that all Ships Trading to the Plantations from Europe should first give Bonds in England, and for default thereof be seized on their Arrival there, it would be a great Step towards preventing this abuse, and then plain and easie ways may be offered to hinder Landing any part of their Cargoes elsewhere; And when things are brought to this State, that the Product of our Plantations shall necessarily be center'd here, we may put almost what Rates we will on them to our Neighbours; it's true 'tis the Interest of England that what is consumed among our selves should be sold at reasonable Prises, but the higher they yield abroad the more Treasure they bring to the Nation, provided we strain not the Staple so as to be undersold from other Markets; But there must be a Regard had to our Fisheries, that the Liberty of carrying that Commodity direct to Foreign Parts be not restrained.

Next by their being brought home unmanufactured they would give great Imployments here; Cotten Wool by being spun up and made into several sorts of pretty things; Tobacco by Cutting and Rowling; and Sugar by refining; for I would have no Tobacco brought home save in Leaf, nor Sugar above Muscovado; the last would imploy abundance of Sugar-Houses in England to clay and refine it, not only for a home Expence, but to be transported to Foreign Markets; a Trade we have been lately beat out of by the Industry of the Dutch helpt on by our own Imprudence, for no wise Nation would have given such an advantage to a Rival Trader as by Law to put their Refiners on terms of working Sugars Three Shillings per Cent cheaper than our own, therefore when the thing comes to be well weighed, I believe 'twill be found the Interest of this Nation to suffer all those Commodities to be Imported Custom Free, and to lay a Duty on what is Exported again unwrought, (I mean all West-India Commodities) and to raise an Excise on what is spent at Home, for which easie and practicable Methods may be proposed; and this would salve all those Disputes about running Tobacco, or drawing back Debentures after relanded; which Duty might be collected with few Officers, and little Charge, and the King might have an Account of every particular Parcel how it was transferred from Man to Man till 'twas paid.

Africa.But if the Planter should complain at his being denied to Import wrought Sugars, it would be abundantly made up to him by opening the African Trade, that so he might be supplied with Negroes both in greater Numbers and at cheaper Rates than now he is; a Trade of the most Advantage to this Kingdom of any we drive, and as it were all Profit, the first Cost being little more than small Matters of our own Manufactures, for which we have in Return, Gold, Teeth, Wax, and Negroes, the last whereof is much better than the first, being indeed the best Trassick the Kingdom hath, as it doth occasionally give so vast an Imployment to our People both by Sea and Land; These are the Hands whereby our Plantations are improved, and 'tis by their Labours such great Quantities of Sugar, Tobacco, Cotten, Ginger, and Indigo, are raised, which being bulky Commodities imploy great Numbers of our Ships for their transporting hither, and the greater number of Ships imploys the greater number of Handecraft Trades at home, spends more of our Product and Manufactures, and makes more Saylors, who are maintained by a separate Imploy; for if every One raised the Provisions he eat, or made the Manufactures he wore, Trade would cease, Traffique being a variety of Imployments Men have set themselves on adapted to their particular Genius's, whereby one is serviceable to another without invading each others Province; thus the Husbandman raises Corn, the Millard grinds it, the Baker makes it into Bread, and the Citizen eats it; Thus the Grazier fats Cattle, and the Butcher kills them for the Market; Thus the Shepherd shears his Wool, the Spinster makes it into Yarn, the Weavet into Cloth, and the Merchant exports it, and every one lives by each other: Thus the Country supplies the City with Provisions, and that the Country with Manufactures; Now to advise a Government to monopolize, and consequently to lessen this Trade, by confining it to a limited Stock, is the same as to advise the People of Egypt to raise high Banks to confine the River Nilus from overflowing, lest it should thereby fertilize their Lands, or the King of Spain to shut up his Mines, lest he should fill his Kingdom too full of Silver; This Trade indeed is our Silver Mines, for by the Overplus of Negroes above what will serve our Plantations we draw great Quantities thereof from the Spaniard; a Trade we are lately fallen into by a Compact of the two Natious, for which a Factory or Assiento is settled by them at Jamaica, where what their Agent buys is paid for in Pieces of Eight, besides oftentimes Thirty per Cent Cambio for running the risque to the Continent, all discharged in the same specie with great Punctuality.

Nor is this all the advantage the Nation reaps thereby, it hath introduced another sort of Commerce, and given us Opportunities of selling our Manufactures to that People, with whom we now grow into some sort of Familiarity, and may be a means in time to make way for a larger Acquaintance, whereby we may reap the best part of the Treasure of those Mines, Jamaica being now become a Magazine of Trade to New-Spain and the Terra Firma, from whence we have yearly vast Quantities of Bullion imported to this Kingdom both for the Negroes and Manufactures we send them, which as it was opened for the sake of their having the former, so when that supply ceases, it will be removed to some other place, and our industrious Neighbours are ready to receive it, who would perhaps take more care to encourage it than we have done; for by the slow steps of the African Company, and the Hardships they have put on the Interlopers or private Traders, the number of Negroes imported thither hath been so small, and so much below our promises and the Spaniards Expectations, that this profitable Assiento or Factory hath for some time stood on Tiptoe, ready to waft it self to another Island, as it certainly had done long since if the Interlopers had not given a better Supply than the Company.

We will now inquire what Reasons should perswade any Government to monopolize or limit this Trade, and what have been the Consequences thereof?