Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A51451
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The most equal and easie method of raising a sufficient fund to carry on a vigorous war against France
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1691
(1691)
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Wing M2874; ESTC R7114
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8,194
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16
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Gold will overcome Brass-Money Since the Session of this Parliament there has been Published a Treatise designedly writ against Excises by an excellent Pen and a Judicious Head who fears that by Excises our Liberties will come to be in danger and our Constitution so excellent that whatsoever is said for its Preservation deserves the highest Esteem our very Constitution will run the Hazard of being thereby subverted But upon the whole it may be consider'd that very great and wise Men are sometimes led by Prejudices as well as others that in all Ages of the World great Errors and Neglects have been committed and great Misfortunes have happened to the Publick through fond and often groundless Jealousies of that most excellent Blessing Liberty that there was never a Juncture of time wherein any danger of our precious Liberty might be less justly suspected And especially considering that the Settlement even of the Revenue of the Crown is but for a short term only four years more no Man can doubt but it will be the Interest and Prudence of the Crown not to aspire at any thing which may give just Jealousie to the Parliament and at the expiration of that term it will be in the power of the then Parliament to take what Precautions they shall judge necessary if these shall be then found needful for the Preservation of our Constitution And as to what that worthy Gentleman so exceedingly prejudiced against Excises does Object that the Liberty of Elections of Members to serve in Parliament will be in no small danger through the great influence of Excise-Men in that particular it is easie to make such Provisoes to any Bill of Excise as shall prevent all Excise-Men from any Ways intermeddling in the point of Elections and to render such persons liable both to forfeit their places upon any good Evidence of it and to make them for ever uncapable of any such Office for the future If ever Jealousies can be safely laid aside this is the time for it when we and almost all Europe are together fighting for Liberty against the Common Oppressor and indeed little is like to be done against him unless we also engage with all our might A happy Issue of this War with France will serve to deter Ambitious Princes from oppressing their Free-born Subjects There is another Objection against an Excise which if true were of moment but I believe those who make it are wiser than really to fear what they pretend by it And it is that hereby there may be danger of Discontents and Murmurings from the Common People if their Provisions or their Cloathing should come to be Excised as well as their Drink To which I answer that such Taxes can never possibly be more seasonable nor less Grievous than at present when Food in general bears so low and overcheap a price But if it were much dearer than now it is there can be no just apprehension of any such dangers to the Publick upon that Account For whatever Scruples some Persons of Rank among us may have had in relation to the present Oaths or Settlement now by Law established yet for the Common People and the lower Rank of Men whose General Voice is said to be the Voice of God and often in common things in the plain and natural Interest of their Countrey is more Infallible than a General Council in things Speculative Metaphysical and such as are above the reach of Human Knowledge or not plainly Revealed I dare boldly averr that there never yet happened a Juncture of Time wherein there was less danger of Disturbances from Them than there is at present The People of England in general were never embark'd in a Cause they more heartily espoused than they now do this of the Present Government To say nothing of the late universal Expressions of Joy in London that were never known among us before the late Custom of Illuminations in almost every Corner and Alley as well as the great Streets upon his Majesty's Return among us and on his Birth-Day tho perhaps it be a greater and more evident Argument for the Peoples Loyalty than can easily be thought on yet I shall wave it and rather take notice that a War with France the true Interest of the Nation has been eagerly and for many years past Long'd for and in vain till now both by the Parliament and People and the Universal Readiness of the whole Kingdom to oppose the French the last year is a a strong and sufficient Argument of the Peoples Disposition and Inclination under any Burthen to support this Government And it was at a time when by the unfortunate Conduct of our Fleet the French hovered some Weeks on our Coasts and had the pleasure a little to feed their Vain-glory and even threatened us with the Fears of an Invasion they did not dare to make but had withal the Mortification to find that the few Friends they had among us and whom they had ridiculously magnified into mighty numbers had neither the Courage nor the Strength to give us the least manner of Disturbance at the only Critical Time they are like to have this Age. It is objected also that the Multiplication of Excises will likewise multiply Officers who are apt to domineer where they come even sometimes to the raising of Tumults and that by this Encrease of Officers Gentlemen will be in danger of being continually disturbed by them in their own Houses To which I Answer that there may be timely Care taken by good Provisoes to keep the Officers within the due Bounds of their Duty that whatsoever unavoidable Inconvenience does happen is like to be but for a year or two in which short time if we effectually raise Good Summs we may reasonably hope through God's Blessing on a Good Cause and his Majesty's admirable Conduct to see Frante well humbled and brought to reason If we neglect to raise sufficient Summs the War must necessarily be prolonged or which is worse France left in a condition to give Laws to us all and perhaps the present fair opportunity of humbling France may never again be retrieved If Excise-Men as well as Collectors of other Taxes have been found to transgress their Duty to make Seizures very oppressive or such as may cause loud Clamours in the Neighbourhood even to the raising Tumults or Riots this is no Argument against the Tax it self but against the Indiscretion and Folly or Barbarity of some Cockscomb who has thus abused his Trust and who deserves to be severely punish'd for his Misdemeanor If a Judge should happen to be corrupted with Bribery must we exclaim against the Law it self or if a Minister should happen to be guilty of Symony shall we presently cry down the Order of Priesthood By the same Rule nothing in the World tho never so excellently instituted will be able to avoid our Censure and Dislike And as to the Molestation of Gentlemen in their Houses by Excise-Men it is well known
The most EQUAL and EASIE METHOD OF RAISING A SUFFICIENT FUND To Carry on A Vigorous War AGAINST FRANCE LONDON Printed for Randal Taylor near Stationers-Hall M DC XC I. WHen we consider the Wars on every side in which Europe is now engaged the Streams of Blood that are daily spilt the utter Ruin of Multitudes of Families the Devastation of whole Provinces by Fire and Sword and the base Treacheries that are now practised to reveal Secrets of State to betray Cities blow up Magazines and to act all manner of Hellish Exploits and all this only to glut the insatiate Ambition of the French King it ought not only to fill us with Horror and Indignation against the Cause of all these Miseries but should provoke all good Men to draw their Purses willingly and wise Men to employ their utmost Care that the Cause of all these Evils may be removed as soon as may be The English Nation has all along formerly made so considerable a Figure in the Affairs of Europe holding the Balance and turning the Scale as it pleased in doubtful Times especially under Active Princes that we have no reason to doubt of Success at this time if we do but assist his Majesty generously and sufficiently who has already Delivered these Three Kingdoms from the Danger of French Bondage and who is universally expected by all the Confederates to become likewise shortly their Glorious Deliverer Now in order to this end I humbly offer to the Consideration of this Parliament whether a small Excise upon some few Commodities for there is no need of a General Excise be not the most expedite and easie the most effectual and surest way of raising such Summs as are now most convenient to carry on with Success a vigorous War against France It is the most easie because the least sensible Way of raising Monies The paying great Summs at once will make many a Man to stagger as not being always provided with a Store sufficient but the small and inconsiderable Payments that are made by Excises can be no great Grievance to any Man for if his Dealings be small so are his Payments if great so are his Profits too Every thing here falls in a just proportion to Mens own Capacities or Abilities and after all the Trials of the Wit of Man Excises have been fixed upon by all our Neighbours as the Best and the Easiest Way of raising Great Summs And as it is not now and then a Gawdy Day of Getting that commonly makes Men Rich but rather a constant Course of daily Increase by small Gains so it may be said of the Publick Treasury that from small beginnings and contemptible but general Collections it uses to grow unto prodigious Summs like the Rain that falls which does by abundance of small Drops use to rise into a mighty Stream And that an Excise is the most likely and effectual means to raise great and extraordinary Summs or such as are now necessary to enable us to cope with France let it be consider'd what Funds London alone is capable of raising when Amsterdam with its Precinct which bears but a small Proportion to London either as to Riches or Extent or Number of Inhabitants does hereby especially raise for the use of the States-General at least sixteen hundred thousand pounds per annum But it is become an Objection of no small Weight with some that an Excise ought above all things to be avoided because it is so easie and so tolerable to the Subject We shall say they never get quit of Excises because they are felt so little Nay farther that the Excises which have been once laid have been always continued by Parliament Indeed in a late Reign when the Crown and the Kingdom were thought to have different Interests when there was reason for State-Jealousies and the Parliament might fear lest the Weapons they should provide for the Defence of the Nation might be turned against themselves there was good reason for such Objections But now that we have a Prince of Heroick Virtue Magnanimity and Honor who can have no separate Interest from his People who has received the greatest Provocations from France who has been so lately our Deliverer under God from the most dismal prospect of National Calamities who has already upon great Trials resisted with scorn all Temptations to Arbitrary Power and whose Wisdom and Prudence and continual Thoughtfulness can never be guilty of such an Error in Politicks as by any just Cause to create Jealousies in his People at a time when all his Designs do aim at no less than the Liberty of Europe At such a time as this and under such a Prince Surmises of this kind are both vain and ungenerous most unworthy and ungrateful It hath every where been the Policy and the Practice of the wisest Nations to contrive the Easiest and least Burdensom Ways of raising Taxes And shall we when not only our own Fate is still in some suspence but the Dominion of Europe is so strenuously contended for by the most dangerous and ambitious Prince that ever sate upon a Christian Throne shall we at this time entertain our selves with Preposterous and Chymerical Notions of I know not what that may happen God knows when and neglect foolishly our only means of Safety Was there ever an Excise yet laid that did not actually expire with the Period set to it by Parliament If Excises that have been once established have had the Fortune to be continued it is much to their Credit and to the Honor of those that did first establish them For if there had been any Inconveniences to the Publick found in the use of them they would of course have been set aside to make way for less Grievous Taxes But their continuance for some more years upon repeated Experience of their convenience to the Publick does loudly speak in Praise of them above strained or imaginary Notions to the contrary The same necessity at present lies upon us as well as our Neighbours to raise greater Summs than ordinary for our common Defence and to humble France in its highest Pride Money must be raised or the Nation perish But of all the Nations in Europe there is not one more Rich in its proportion or more plentiful in all things and yet none so free as we from Excises in general and consequently none more capable of bearing them with Ease When once we dare venture to try the Experiment I shall from that Minute conclude the Fall of France as good as done and we shall soon see their humblest Addresses for Peace when once they see us thus in good earnest engaged against them Did not an Excise laid upon a few Commodities by the then Parliament contribute more than any thing else to the Overthrow of King Charles the First And did not Holland by this means above all others preserve it self against the Power of Spain As long as the World lasts a Shilling will beat Sixpence and Silver and