Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	abandon_v	king_n	portugal_n	25	3	9.9870	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

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

Seamen are such as have another Trade besides wherewith to maintain themselves when they are not employed at Sea and the charge of maintaining them though 72000 l. per annum I take to be little or nothing for the reasons above-mentioned and consequently an easie Tax to the people because Leavyed by and paid to themselves As we propounded that Ireland should be Taxed with Flax and England by Linnen and other Manufacture of the same I conceive that Scotland also might be Taxed as much to be paid in Herrings as Ireland in Flax Now the three Taxes viz. of Flax Linnen and Herrings and the maintainance of the triple Militia and of the Auxilliary Seamen above-mentioned do all five of them together amount to one Million of mony the raising whereof is not a Million spent but gain unto the Common-Wealth unless it can be made appear that by reason of all or any of them the Exportation of Woollen Manufactures Lead and Tin are lessened or of such Commodities as our own East and West India Trade do produce forasmuch as I conceive that the Exportation of these last mentioned Commodities is the Touch-stone whereby the Wealth of England is tryed and the Pulse wherby the Health of the Kingdom may be discerned CHAP. III. That France cannot by reason of natural and perpetual Impediments be more powerful at Sea than the English or Hollanders now are or may be POwer at Sea consists chiefly of Men able to fight at Sea and that in such Shipping as is most proper for the Seas wherein they serve and those are in these Northern Seas Ships from between three hundred to one thousand three hundred Tuns and of those such as draw much Water and have a deep Latch in the Sea in order to keep a good Wind and not to fall to Leeward a matter of vast advantage in Sea Service Wherefore it is to be examined 1. Whether the King of France hath Ports in the Northern Seas where he hath most occasion for his Fleets of War in any contests with England able to receive the Vessels above-mentioned in all Weathers both in Winter and Summer Season For if the King of France would bring to Sea an equal number of fighting Men with the English and Hollanders in small floaty Leeward Vessels he would certainly be of the weaker side For a Vessel of one thousand Tuns manned with five hundred Men fighting with five Vessels of two hundred Tuns each manned with one hundred Men apiece shall in common reason have the better offensively and defensively forasmuch as the great Ship can carry such Ordnance as can reach the small ones at a far greater distance than those can reach or at least hurt the other and can batter and sink at a distance when small ones can scarce peirce Moreover it is more difficult for Men out of a small Vessel to enter a tall Ship then for Men from a higher place to leap down into a lower nor is small shot so effectual upon a tall Ship as vice versa And as for Vessels drawing much water and consequently keeping a good Wind they can take or leave Leeward Vessels at pleasure and secure themselves from being boarded by them Moreover the windward Ship has a fairer mark at a Leeward Ship than vice versa and can place her shot upon such parts of the Leeward Vessel as upon the next Tack will be under water Now then the King of France having no Ports able to receive large windward Vessels between Dunkirk and Ushant what other Ships he can bring into those Seas will not be considerable As for the wide Ocean which his Harbours of Brest and Charente do look into it affordeth him no advantage upon an Enemy there being so great a Latitude of engaging or not even when the Parties are in sight of each other Wherefore although the King of France were immensely rich and could build what Ships he pleased both for number and quality yet if he have not Ports to receive and shelter that sort and size of Shipping which is fit for his purpose the said Riches will in this case be fruitless and a mere expence without any return or profit Some will say that other Nations cannot build so good Ships as the English I do indeed hope they cannot but because it seems too possible that they may sooner or later by Practice and Experience I shall not make use of that Argument having bound my self to shew that the impediments of France as to this purpose are natural and perpetual Ships and Guns do not fight of themselves but Men who act and manage them wherefore it is more material to shew That the King of France neither hath nor can have Men sufficient to Man a Fleet of equal strength to that of the King of England viz. The King of Englands Navy consists of about seventy thousand Tuns of Shipping which requires thirty six thousand Men to Man it these Men being supposed to be divided into eight parts I conceive that one eighth part must be persons of great Experience and Reputation in Sea Service another eighth part must be such as have used the Sea seven years and upwards half of them or 4 8 parts more must be such as have used the Sea above a twelve-month viz. two three four five or six years allowing but one quarter of the whole Complements to be such as never were at Sea at all or at most but one Voyage or upon one Expedition so that at a medium I reckon that the whole Fleet must be Men of three or four years growth one with another Fournier a late judicious Writer makeing it his business to persuade the World how considerable the King of France was or might be at Sea in the ninety second and ninety third pages of his Hydrography saith That there was one place in Britany which had furnished the King with one thousand four hundred Seamen and that perhaps the whole Sea-Coast of France might have furnished him with fifteen times as many Now supposing his whole Allegation were true yet the said number amounts but to twenty one thousand all which if the whole Trade of Shipping in France were quite and clean abandoned would not by above a third Man out a Fleet equivalent to that of the King of England And if the Trade were but barely kept alive there would not be one third par● Men enough to Man the said Fleet. But if the Shipping Trade of France be not above a quarter as great as that of England and that one third part of the same namely the Fishing Trade to the Banks of Newfoundland is not peculiar nor fixt to the French then I say that if the King of England having power to Press Men cannot under two or three months time Man his Fleet then the King of France with less than a quarter of the same help can never do it at all for in France as shall elsewhere be shewn there are not above

assistance in Trade I say that a Thousand Acres that can feed 1000 Souls is better than 10000 Acres of no more effect for the following reasons viz. 1. Suppose some great Fabrick were in Building by a Thousand Men shall not much more time be spared if they lived all upon a Thousand Acres then if they were forced to live upon ten times as large a Scope of Land 2. The charge of the cure of their Souls and the Ministry would be far greater in one case than in the other as also of mutual defence in case of Invasion and even of Thieves and Robbers Moreover the charge of the administration of Justice would be much easier where Witnesses and Parties may be easily Summoned Attendance less expensive when Mens Actions would be better known when wrongs and injuries could not be covered as in thin peopled places they are Lastly those who live in Solitary places must be their own Soldiers Divines Physicians and Lawyers and must have their Houses stored with necessary Provisions like a Ship going upon a long Voyage to the great wast and needless expence of such Provisions the value of this first convenience to the Dutch I reckon or estimate to be about 100000 l. per annum 2ly Holland is a Level Country so as in any part thereof a Windmill may be set up and by its being moist and vaporous there is always wind stirring over it by which advantage the labor of many thousand Hands is saved for asmuch as a Mill made by one Man in half a Year will do as much Labor as Four Men for Five Years together This advantage is greater or less where employment or ease of Labour is so but in Holland 't is eminently great and the worth of this conveniency is near an Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds 3ly There is much more to be gained by Manufacture than Husbandry and by Merchandize than Manufacture but Holland and Zealand being seated at the mouths of three long great Rivers and passing through Rich Countries do keep all the Inhabitants upon the sides of those Rivers but as Husbandmen whilst themselves are the Manufactors of their Commodities and so dispence them into all Parts of the world making returns for the same at what prices almost they please themselves and in short they keep the Keys Trade of those Countries through which the said Rivers pass the value this third conveniency I suppose to 200000 l. 4ly In Holland and Zealand there scarce any place of work or business 〈◊〉 Mile distant from a Navigable Water and the charge of Water carriage is generally but 1 ● or 1 20 part of Land carriage Wherefore if there be as much trade there as in France then the Hollanders can out-sell the French 14 15 of all 〈◊〉 expence of all Travelling Postage 〈◊〉 carriage whatsoever which even in England I take to be 300000 l. p. an ●here the very Postage of Letters costs the People perhaps 50000 l. per annum though Farmed at much less and all other Labour of Horses and Porters at 〈◊〉 six times as much The value of this conveniency I estimate to be above Three Hundred Thousand pounds per annum 5. The defensibleness of the Country by reason of its Situation in the Sea upon Islands and in the Marshes Impassible ground Diked and Trenched especially considering how that place i● aimed at for its Wealth I say the charge of defending that Country is easier than if it were a plain Champion at least 200000 l. per annum 6. Holland is so considerable for keeping Ships in Harbour with small expence of Men and ground Tackle that 〈◊〉 saves per annum 200000 l. of what must be spent in France Now if all 〈◊〉 natural advantages do amount to above one Million per annum Profits and 〈◊〉 the Trade of all Europe nay of the whole World with which our Europeans 〈◊〉 Trade is not above 45 Millions p. 〈◊〉 and if 1 50 of the value be ● 7 of the Profit it is plain that the Hollander may Command and Govern the whole Trade 7. Those who have their Situation thus towards the Sea and abound with Fish at home and having also the command of Shipping have by consequence the Fishing Trade whereof that of Herring alone brings more yearly Profit to the Hollanders than the Trade of the West Indies to Spain or of the East to themselves as many have affirmed being as the same say viis modis of above three Millions per annum Profit 8. It is not to be doubted but those who have the Trade of Shipping and Fishing will secure themselves of the Trade of Timber for Ships Boats Masts and Cask of Hemp for Cordage Sails and Nets of Salt of Iron as also of Pitch Tar Rosin Brimstone Oil and Tallow as necessary Appurtenances to Shipping and Fishing 9. Those who predominate in Shipping and Fishing have more occasions than others to frequent all parts of the World and to observe what is wanting or redundant every where and what each People can do and what they desire and consequently to be the Factors and Carriers for the whole World of Trade Upon which ground they bring all Native Commodities to be Manufactured at home and carry the same back even to that Country in which they grew all which we see For do they not work the Sugars of the West-Indies The Timber and Iron of the Baltick The Hemp of Russia The Lead Tin and Wooll of England The Quick-silver and Silk of Italy The Yarns and Dying Stuffs of Turkey c. To be short in all the ancient States and Empires those who had the Shipping had the Wealth and if 2 per Cent. in the price of Commodities be perhaps 20 per Cent. in the gain it is manifest that they who can in forty five Millions undersel others by one Million upon accompt of natural and intrinsick advantages only may easily have the Trade of the World without such Angelical Wits and Judgments as some attribute to the Hollanders Having thus done with their Situation I come now to their Trade It is commonly seen that each Country slourisheth in the Manufacture of its own Native Commodities viz. England for woollen Manufacture France for Paper Luic-land for Iron Ware Portugal for Confectures Italy for Silks upon which Principle it follows that Holland and Zealand must flourish most in the Trade of Shipping and so become Carriers and Factors of the whole World of Trade Now the advantages of the Shipping Trade are as followeth viz. Husbandmen Seamen Soldiers Artizans and Merchants are the very Pillars of any Common-Wealth all the other great Professions do rise out of the infirmities and miscarriages of these now the Seaman is three of these four For every Seaman of industry and ingenuity is not only a Navigator but a Merchant and also a Soldier not because he hath often occasion to fight and handle Arms but because he is familiarized