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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54621	Political arithmetick, or, A discourse concerning the extent and value of lands, people, buildings ... as the same relates to every country in general, but more particularly to the territories of His Majesty of Great Britain, and his neighbours of Holland, Zealand, and France / by Sir William Petty ...	Petty, William, Sir, 1623-1687.	1690 (1690)	Wing P1932; ESTC R17628	42,032	122

Millions will do it supposing that Roots Fruits Fowl and Fish and the ordinary profit of Lead Tin Iron-Mines and Woods would piece up any defect that may be feared As to the second I say that the Land and Housing in Ireland and the High-Lands of Scotland at the present Market rates are not worth Thirteen Millions of Money nor would the actual charge of making the Transplantation proposed amount to four Millions more So then the Question will be whether the benefit expected from this transplantation will exceed Seventeen Millions To which I say that the advantage will probably be near four times the last mentioned summ or about Sixty nine Millions Three Hundred thousand Pounds For if the Rent of all England and Wales and the Low-Lands of Scotland be about Nine Millions per annum and if the fifth part of the People be superadded unto the present Inhabitants of those Countries then the Rent will amount unto Ten Millions 8000 l. and the number of Years purchase will rise from seventeen and ½ to a Fifth part more which is twenty one So as the Land which is now worth but Nine Millions per annum at seventeen ½ Years purchase making 157 Millions and ½ will then be worth Ten Millions Eight Hundred thousand Pounds at Twenty one Years purchase viz. Two Hundred Twenty Six Millions and Eight Hundred thousand Pounds that is Sixty nine Millions and Three Hundred thousand Pounds more than it was before And if any Prince willing to inlarge his Territories will give any thing more than Six ½ Millions or half the present value for the said relinquished Land which are estimated to be worth Thirteen Millions then the whole profit will be above Seventy Five Millions and Eight Hundred 600 l. Above four times the loss as the same was above computed But if any Man shall object that it will be dangerous unto England that Ireland should be in the Hands of any other Nation I answer in short that that Nation whoever shall purchase it being divided by means of the said purchase shall not be more able to annoy England than now in its united condition Nor is Ireland nearer England than France and Flanders Now if any Man shall desire a more clear explanation how and by what means the Rents of Lands shall rise by this closer cohabitation of People above described I answer that the advantage will arise in transplanting about Eighteen Hundred thousand People from the poor and miserable Trade of Husbandry to more beneficial Handicrafts For when the superaddition is made a very little addition of Husbandry to the same Lands will produce a fifth part more of Food and consequently the additional hands earning but 40 s. per annum as they may very well do nay to 8 l. per annum at some other Trade the Superlucration will be above Three Millions and Six Hundred thousand Pounds per annum which at Twenty Years purchase is Seventy Millions Moreover as the Inhabitants of Cities and Towns spend more Commodities and make greater consumptions than those who live in wild thin peopled Countries So when England shall be thicker peopled in the manner before described the very same People shall then spend more than when they lived more sordidly and inurbanely and further asunder and more out of the sight observation and emulation of each other every Man desiring to put on better Apparel when he appears in Company than when he has no occasion to be seen I further add that the charge of the Government Civil Military and Ecclesiastical would be more cheap safe and effectual in this condition of closer co-habitation than otherwise as not only reason but the example of the United Provinces doth demonstrate But to let this whole digression pass for a mere Dream I suppose 't will serve to prove that in case the King of Englands Territories should be a little less than those of the King of France that forasmuch as neither of them are over-peopled that the difference is not material to the Question in hand wherefore supposing the King of France's advantages to be little or nothing in this point of Territory we come next to examine and compare the number of Subjects which each of these Monarchs doth govern The Book called the State of France maketh that Kingdom to consist of Twenty Seven thousand Parishes and another Book written by a substantial Author who professedly inquires into the State of the Church and Church-men of France sets it down as an extraordinary case that a Parish in France should have Six Hundred Souls wherefore I suppose that the said Author who hath so well examined the matter is not of opinion that every Parish one with another hath above Five Hundred by which reckoning the whole People of France are about Thirteen Millions and a half Now the People of England Scotland and Ireland with the Islands adjoyning by computation from the numbers of Parishes which commonly have more People in Protestant Churches than in Popish Countries as also from the Hearth-money Pole-money and Excise do amount to about Nine Millions and ½ There are in New England about 16000 Men mustered in Arms about 24000 able to bear Arms and consequently about 150000 in all And I see no reason why in all this and the other Plantations of Asia Africa and America there should not be half a Million in all But this last I leave to every Mans conjecture and conse quently I suppose that the King of England hath about Ten Millions of Subjects ubivis Terrarum Orbis and the King of France about Thirteen and a ½ as aforesaid Although it be very material to know the number of Subjects belonging to each Prince yet when the Question is concerning their Wealth and Strength It is also material to examin how many of them do get more than they spend and how many less In order whereunto it is to be considered that in the King of Englands Dominions there are not Twenty thousand Church-men But in France as the aforementioned Author of theirs doth aver who sets down the particular number of each Religious Order there are about Two Hundred and Seventy thousand viz. Two Hundred and Fifty thousand more than we thinkare necessary that is to say Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand withdrawn out of the World Now the said number of adult and able bodied Persons are equivalent to about double the same number of the promiscuous Mass of Mankind And the same Author says that the same Religious Persons do spend one with another about 18 d. per diem which is triple even to what a labouring Man requires Wherefore the said Two Hundred and Fifty thousand Church-men living as they do makes the King of France's Thirteen Millions and a half to be less than Thirteen Now if Ten Men can defend themselves as well in Islands as Thirteen can upon the Continent then the said Ten being not concerned to increase their Territory by the Invasion of

differ not in People a twentieth part from each other as hath appeared by the Bills of Burials and Christnings for each But the value of the Buildings in Amsterdam may well be half that of Paris by reason of the Foundations Grafts and Bridges which in Amsterdam are more numerous and chargeable than at Paris Moreover the Habitations of the poorest People in Holland and Zealand are twice or thrice as good as those of France but the People of the one to the People of the other being but as thirteen to one the value of the housing must be as about five to one The value of the Shipping of Europe being about two Millions of Tuns I suppose the English have Five Hundred Thousand the Dutch Nine Hundred Thousand the French an Hundred Thousand the Hamburgers and the Subjects of Denmark Sweden and the Town of Dansick two Hundred and Fifty Thousand and Spain Portugal Italy c. two Hundred and Fifty Thousand so as the Shipping in our case of France to that of Holland and Zealand is about one to nine which reckoned as great and small new and old one with another at 8 l. per Tun makes the worth to be as Eight Hundred Thousand Pounds to Seven Millions and two Hundred Thousand Pounds The Hollanders Capital in the East India Company is worth above Three Millions where the French as yet have little or nothing The value of the Goods exported out of France into all Parts are supposed Quadruple to what is sent to England alone and consequently in all about Five Millions but what is exported out of Holland into England is worth Three Millions and what is exported thence into all the World besides is sextuple to the same The Monies Yearly raised by the King of France as the same appears by the Book intituled The State of France Dedicated to the King Printed Anno 1669. and set forth several times by Authority is 82000000 of French Livers which is about 6½ Millions of Pounds Sterling of which summ the Author says that one fifth part was abated for non-valuers or Insolvencies so as I suppose not above Five Millions were effectually raised But whereas some say that the King of France raised Eleven Millions as the ⅕ of the effects of France I humbly affirm that all the Land and Sea Forces all the Buildings and Entertainments which we have heard by common Fame to have been set forth and made in any of these seven last Years needed not to have cost Six Millions Sterling wherefore I suppose he hath not raised more especially since there were one fifth Insolvencies when the Tax was at that pitch But Holland and Zealand paying 67 of the 100 paid by all the United Provinces and the City of Amsterdam paying 27 of the said 67 It follows that if Amsterdam hath paid 4000 l. Flemish per diem or about 1400000 l. per annum or 800000 l. Sterling that all Holland and Zealand have paid 2100000 l. per annum Now the reasons why I think they pay so much are these viz. 1. The Author of the State of the Netherlands saith so 2. Excise of Victual at Amsterdam seems above half the Original value of the same viz. Ground Corn pays 20 Stivers the Bushel or 63 Gilders the Last Beer 113 Stivers the Barrel Housing ⅙ of Rent Fruit ⅛ of what it cost other Commodities 1 7 ⅛ 1 9 1 12 Salt ad libitum all weighed Goods pay besides the Premisses a vast summ now if the expence of the People of Amsterdam at a medium and without Excise were 8 l. per annum whereas in England 't is 7 l. then if all the several Imposts above named raise it Five Pound more there being 160000 Souls in Amsterdam the summ of 800000 l. Sterling per annum will thereby be raised 3. Though the expence of each head should be 13 l. per annum 't is well known that there be few in Amsterdam who do not earn much more than the said expence 4. If Holland and Zealand pay p. an 2100000 l. then all the Provinces together must pay about 3000000 l. less than which summ per annum perhaps is not sufficient to have maintained the Naval War with England 72000 Land Forces besides all other the ordinary Charges of their Government whereof the Church is there apart To conclude it seems from the Premisses that all France doth not raise above thrice as much from the publick charge as Holland and Zealand alone do 5. Interest of Money in France is 7 l. per cent but in Holland scarce half so much 6. The Countries of Holland and Zealand consisting as it were of Islands guarded with the Sea Shipping and Marshes is defensible at one fourth of the charge that a plain open Country is and where the seat of War may be both Winter and Summer whereas in the others little can be done but in the Summer only 7. But above all the particulars hitherto considered that of superlucration ought chiefly to be taken in for if a Prince have never so many Subjects and his Country be never so good yet if either through sloth or extravagant expences or Oppression and Injustice whatever is gained shall be spent as fast as gotten that State must be accounted poor wherefore let it be considered how much or how many times rather Holland and Zealand are now above what they were 100 years ago which we must also do of France Now if France hath scarce doubled its Wealth and Power and that the other have decupled theirs I shall give the preference to the latter even although the 9 10 increased by the one should not exceed the one half gained by the other because one has a store for Nine Years the other but for one To conclude upon the whole it seems that though France be in People to Holland and Zealand as 13 to 1 and in quantity of good Land as 80 to one yet is not 13 times richer and stronger much less 80 times nor much above thrice which was to be proved Having thus dispatched the two first Branches of the first Principal conclusion it follows to shew that this difference of Improvement in Wealth and Strength arises from the Situation Trade and Policy of the places respectively and in particular from Conveniencies for Shipping and Water Carriage Many Writing on this Subject do so magnifie the Hollanders as if they were more and all other Nations less than Men as to the matters of Trade and Policy making them Angels and others Fools Brutes and Sots as to those particulars whereas I take the Foundation of their atchievements to lie originally in the Situation of the Country whereby they do things inimitable by others and have advantages whereof others are incapable First The Soil of Holland and Zealand is low Land Rich and Fertile whereby it is able to feed many Men and so as that Men may live near each other for their mutual

LET this Book called Political Arithmetick which was long since Writ by Sir William Petty deceased be Printed Given at the Court at Whitehall the 7th day of Novemb. 1690. Nottingham Political Arithmetick OR A DISCOURSE Concerning The Extent and Value of Lands People Buildings Husbandry Manufacture Commerce Fishery Artizans Seamen Soldiers Publick Revenues Interest Taxes Superlucration Registries Banks Valuation of Men Increasing of Seamen of Militia's Harbours Situation Shipping Power at Sea c. As the same relates to every Country in general but more particularly to the Territories of His Majesty of Great Britain and his Neighbours of Holland Zealand and France By Sir WILLIAM PETTY Late Fellow of the Royal Society London Printed for Robert Clavel at the Peacock and Hen. Mortlock at the Phoenix in St. Paul's Church-yard 1690. TO THE KINGS Most Excellent MAJESTY SIR WHilest every one meditates some fit Offering for Your Majesty such as may best agree with your happy Exaltation to this Throne I presume to offer what my Father long since writ to shew the weight and importance of the English Crown It was by him stiled Political Arithmetick in as much as things of Government and of no less concern and extent than the Glory of the Prince and the happiness and greatness of the People are by the Ordinary Rules of Arithmetick brought into a sort of Demonstration He was allowed by all to be the Inventor of this Method of Instruction where the perplexed and intricate ways of the World are explain'd by a very mean peice of Science and had not the Doctrins of this Essay offended France they had long since seen the light and had sound Followers as well as improvements before this time to the advantage perhaps of Mankind But this has been reserved to the felicity of Your Majesty's Reign and to the expectation which the Learned have therein and if while in this I do some honor to the Memory of a good Father I can also pay Service and some Testimony of my Zeal and Reverence to so great a King it will be the utmost Ambition of SIR Your Majesty's Most Dutiful and Most Obedient Subject Shelborne PREFACE FOrasmuch as Men who are in a decaying condition or who have but an ill opinion of their own Concernments instead of being as some think the more industrious to resist the Evils they apprehend do contrariwise become the more languid and ineffectual in all their Endeavours neither caring to attempt or prosecute even the probable means of their relief Upon this Consideration as a Member of the Common-Wealth next to knowing the precise Truth in what condition the common Interest stands I would in all doubtful Cases think the best and consequently not despair without strong and manifest Reasons carefully examining whatever tends to lessen my hopes of the publick Welfare I have therefore thought fit to examin the following Perswasions which I find too currant in the World and too much to have affected the Minds of some to the prejudice of all viz. That the Rents of Lands are generally fall'n that therefore and for many other Reasons the whole Kingdom grows every day poorer and poorer that formerly it abounded with Gold but now there is a great scarcity both of Gold and Silver that there is no Trade nor Employment for the People and yet that the Land is under-peopled that Taxes have been many and great that Ireland and the Plantations in America and other Additions to the Crown are a Burthen to England that Scotland is of no Advantage that Trade in general doth lamentably decay that the Hollanders are at our heels in the race of Naval Power the French grow too fast upon both and appear so rich and potent that it is but their Clemency that they do not devour their Neighbors and finally that the Church and State of England are in the same danger with the Trade of England with many other dismal Suggestions which I had rather stifle than repeat 'T is true the Expence of foreign Commodities hath of late been too great much of our Plate had it remain'd Money would have better served Trade too many Matters have been regulated by Laws which Nature long Custom and general Consent ought only to have governed the Slaughter and Destruction of Men by the late Civil Wars and Plague have been great the Fire at London and Disaster at Chatham have begotten Opinions in the Vulgus of the World to our Prejudice the Nonconformists increase the People of Ireland think long of their Settlement the English there apprehend themselves to be Aliens and are forced to seek a Trade with Foreigners which they might as well maintain with their own Relations in England But notwithstanding all this the like whereof was always in all Places the Buildings of London grow great and glorious the American Plantations employ four Hundred Sail of Ships Actions in the East-India Company are near double the principal Money those who can give good Security may have Money under the Statute-Interest Materials for building even Oaken-Timber are little the dearer some cheaper for the rebuilding of London the Exchange seems as full of Merchants as formerly no more Beggars in the Streets nor executed for Thieves than heretofore the Number of Coaches and Splendor of Equipage exceeding former Times the publique Theatres very magnificent the King has a greater Navy and stronger Guards than before our Calamities the Clergy rich and the Cathedrals in repair much Land has been improved and the Price of Food so reasonable as that Men refuse to have it cheaper by admitting of Irish Cattle And in brief no Man needs to want that will take moderate pains That some are poorer than others ever was and ever will be And that many are naturally querulous and envious is an Evil as old as the World These general Observations and that Men eat and drink and laugh as they use to do have encouraged me to try if I could also comfort others being satisfied my self that the Interest and Affairs of England are in no deplorable Condition The Method I take to do this is not yet very usual for instead of using only comparative and superlative Words and intellectual Arguments I have taken the course as a Specimen of the Political Arithmetick I have long aimed at to express my self in Terms of Number Weight or Measure to use only Arguments of Sense and to consider only such Causes as have visible Foundations in Nature leaving those that depend upon the mutable Minds Opinions Appetites and Passions of particular Men to the Consideration of others Really professing my self as unable to speak satisfactorily upon those Grounds if they may be call'd Grounds as to foretel the cast of a Dye to play well at Tennis Billiards or Bowles without long practice by virtue of the most elaborate Conceptions that ever have been written De Projectilibus Missilibus or of the Angles of Incidence and Reflection Now the Observations