French Kings Revenue and keep a considerable part of our Money from being carried into France it ought to be the more acceptable to us In the forementioned Ballance of our Trade with France drawn up by the French they do compute That Linnens Canvas Diapers c. which we yearly import from France do amount to 400000 l. But by the Ballance drawn out of our Custom-house-books in 1675. we find the imported Linnen from France in one year did amount to 528248 l. 16 s. whereof the Particulars are as followeth viz. Â l. s. d. 60000 pieces of Lockrams and Dowlas at 6 l. per piece 360000 00 0 17000 hundred Ells of Vitry Noyals Canvas at 6 l. per C. 102000 00 0 8000 hundred Ells of Normandy Canvas at 7 l. per Cent. 56000 00 0 2500 pieces of Quintin at 10 l. per piece 1250 00 0 1500 pieces of dyed Linnen at 20 s. per piece 1500 00 0 7600 yards of Diaper Tabling at 2 s. per yard 764 00 0 33896 yards of Diaper Napkening at 12 d. per yard 1694 16 0 1376 pieces of Buckrams at 50 s. per piece 3440 00 0 2800 pair of old Sheets at 5 s. per pair 700 00 0 1200 bolts of Boldavis at 15 s. 900 00 0 Â 528248 16 0 Now were these Linnens raised in Ireland as they easily may be although the whole value of them should be transmitted thither in Cash instead of sending it to France it would yet be of greater advantage to his Majesty and to England First to his Majesty By augmenting his Revenue not only by the Duty on Exportation of them out of Ireland which in that case might be the same which the French King lately received out of them in France but also in the encrease of the Inland Excise in Ireland by enabling a greater Consumptioh of Liquors Tobacco c. the Irish being a People that spend freely when they have wherewithal Secondly To England In begetting a greater intercourse of Trade between the two Kingdoms The Irish are naturally prodigal and love Gaities and were they enabled they would soon be induced to take off more of our Manufactures and natural Products so that there would be no need of parting with our Money in Specie to Ireland as now we do to France And whatever advance it would occasion of the Revenue above the charge of that Kingdom it would be transmitted hither to lessen the Taxes in England and yearly add to the Capital Stock of the Kingdom Thirdly It would be advantagious both to the King and Kingdom in lessening the Revenue of the French King and impoverishing his Subjects As the Manufactures of England have enriched it and yielded a great Revenue to the Crown to enable the keeping a powerful Navy at Sea so the vast quantities of Manufactures which is yearly exported out of France into many parts of the World and especially to England do as well by the Duty paid out of them enable that King to keep up several formidable Armies c. as imploy and inrich his Subjects and enable them to pay other Taxes Now so far as we divest France of its Manufactures and lessen the Exportations so far do we abate its Power and disable the keeping up of such powerful Armies c. The Events and difficulties of War are great and uncertain but this is a sure way to weaken any Prince and to bring any Country into a languishing Condition If to what hath been here proposed any shall say That it will be more the advantage of England to have this Linnen Manufacture set up here than in Ireland I answer That the other Manufactures before mentioned with which we are supplyed from France will much more profitably and agreeably imploy our People than the spinning of Linnen which in this case must be done at a very cheap rate or it will not prevent the bringing of them from France And Ireland in the forementioned respects seems much more proper for that purpose than England And if we would prevent their growing into the Wollen Manufacture it is but just they should be encouraged in some other which may imploy and maintain them for they can no more than our People live only on Air though they are content to work cheaper and fare harder To avoid Prolixity I forbear to set down the proper way in which the Linnen Manufacture may be set up and the Improvements which may be made of the distinct Branches of their Majesties present Revenue in Ireland Thus Sir I have in answer to your Queries set down as the Ancient Charge of Ireland and Forces sent from England thither from our first footing there until the compleat Conquest thereof So likewise the considerable returns of both that have been made thence Some of the Advantages we receive by Ireland and the usefulness of that Kingdom to England The State of its Trade and Revenue and shewed that the Improvement of Ireland for thirty five years past hath been none of the Causes of the abatement of Rents in England but the contrary with the true Causes of the advancement and abatement of Rent and Trade in England with the best Expedients for their Improvements The Methods by which our Advantages by Ireland may be secured and augmented to the greater benefit of England Encrease of his Majesties Revenue in Ireland and to the retrenching of the Power of France In doing whereof I have with my accustomed bluntness freely imparted my thoughts yet without designed Prejudice against any Person or Party I doubt not but you will excuse the harshness of the Stile and the other Defects of these Papers seeing that although they were hastily written your impatience for them did not admit them to be reviewed and that I have elected rather to expose my own weakness than to deny you this Testimony of my being unreservedly SIR Your very Humble Servant FINIS ERRATA PAge 22. line 14. after 38000 and 1000 instead of l. read Hundred Page 29. line 27. after live add in There have several other Errours happened in the Press which the Reader is requested to excuse a See Nash and Murphy's Informations concerning the Popish Plot.
do in any of these Cases transgress they are sure to be ruined by the Commanders of the Ships of England that watch that Trade as many have been They are by England prohibited to Plant Tobacco to employ their Lands at Home that is laid waste All which say they renders Ireland and the Merchants thereof fit Objects of his Majesty and the Parliaments Compassion which they hope will in due time be extended to them the hard Circumstances in which they we being once understood by their Brethren of England It is some Relief to those that imagine themselves under pressures to be permitted to utter their Complaints Thus I have out of their own Mouths given you part of the anxious reasonings of the Merchants of Ireland about the Cloggs laid on the Trade of that Kingdom by England Whereunto I shall add one more which by reason of the weight and importance of it to England I am not willing to omit and it is this That if these Restraints be intended to compel them to take off more Commodities from England or that they should Trade only with England They are ill designed For that according to the State into which England hath brought the Trade of that Kingdom as is before set forth it is impossible for the people of Ireland to enlarge their Trade with England For should they buy more of England than they do and have done for five years past they are by these Prohibitions rendred uncapable to pay for it Bat on the contrary England hath by these Restraints laid an absolute necessity on Ireland to take off less of the Product and Manufacturies of England than they have formerly taken off For when they enjoyed liberty to carry their Manufactures as well as Provisions to the Plantations they usually brought the Product of them into England which they Trucked for English Commodities or therewith paid their Debts here or if they paid Duty and Exported them to Holland c. they returned the proceed of them into England and applyed it to the uses before-mentioned But seeing England hath not only shut but fast lockt this Door also against them they must now though with much regret to the prejudice of England necessarily seek new Trade and supply themselves for future from Places where they can vend their Native Products and Manufactures Whatever there is in their former reasonings I am of Opinion that this last deserves due consideration as being of importance to the Trade of England But here I 'll put an end to the exercise of your patience as to that particular As to the Cloggs laid on their Trade by their own Parliament they have fallen in and been mentioned with those laid on them by England the most considerable being that Clause in the Act of Customs which imposeth one third more Subsidy on all Commodities Imported into Ireland except those Imported from England or the Plantations This they say was added to the Bill in England However it was passed by their own Parliament and is in effect or was intended by those which added it as a Prohibition of their Trade with any part of the World but England Another discouragement which they alledge is the exorbitant Fines in the Act for Excise in Ireland as loss of Franchises Imprisonment and the Barbarous Corporal Punishments to be inflicted thereby c. which are such That Merchant and Slave in Ireland are convertible terms and had indeed been fitter to have been imposed on Slaves at Algier than on Free-born English Men. If the view I have given you of the Trade and Condition of Ireland hath not satisfied you that it is not the Improvement of that Kingdom that hath lessened the Rents of Lands in England I presume the answer to the second part of the Inquiry we are upon will fully do it The second part of the Query is What have been the Causes that have occasioned the Rents of Lands to have abated or fallen one fifth part or considerably since the year 1662 This Query supposeth That Lands generally throughout England did in 1662. or thereabout yield considerably more Rent than now they do I was desirous to inform my self as to the certainty of it lest this unhappiness should have been only particular to your self and some few about you I had the curiosity to inquire in Survey fifteen Miles from London whether like Abatements had hapned there as in your parts of the Countrey and I had many Instances given me where several parcels of Land which in 1662. and 1663. yielded 50 l. per annum are now set upon the Rack-rent at 22 l. per annum and so proportionably for greater and less quantities of Land So that being confirmed in the Truth of the matter of Fact I have therefore the more studiously enquired into the causes thereof To resolve this Query to satisfaction it is necessary that we retrospect the Condition of England unto the time when Lands were at a very low and mean value as to the Rents of them and if we can find what it was that raised them to those high Rents they yielded about 1662. it is probable that that will direct or help us to find the true causes of their Abatement To go no further back than the Reign of Edward III. we shall find That England had no Manufactures few Ships little or no Exportation but a little Leather besides Wool and Wool-fells of which sometimes 30000 at other times 10000 Sacks was Annually Exported for Custom of which that King received 25000 l. per annum England neither had nor affected Trade further than in our own Seas and to the Netherlands or not to any purpose but lived wholly or mostly by Tillage and Pasturage of Cattel So that being destitute of Manufacture and Trade Lands yielded less Rent in England at that time than they did in Ireland thirty four years ago which was soon after that Kingdom had been depopulated by the Rebellion of 1641. when good Land was set at 12 d. per Acre This is evident by the low Rate of Provisions in London in this Reign where a fat Ox was sold for 6 s. 8 d. a fat Sheep 6 d. five Pidgeons 1 d. a Quarter of Wheat 2 s. a fat Goose 2 d. The products of the Fields being so cheap the Rents of Lands must needs be very low Stow tells us that in this Kings Reign a Tax of 5 l. 16 s. 8 d. being laid on each Parish in England That 112 l. was abated to Suffolk and the like Summ to Devonshire because of-the extream Poverty of those Counties But since they have become the Seat of several Manufactures the Case is much mended with them This Wise and Warlike King being as Masculine in his Councels as Valiant in Arms projected at once the enlarging of his Dominions and the enriching of them He observed that his English Wools were Transported to the Netherlands wrought up there and part of them returned in Draperies c. with vast advantage
King would have been so much more As suppose for the Year 1685. The Revenue had surmounted the charge by 40000 l. more or less and that in 1686. it had amounted to 150000 l. more than it did the preceding Year In that Case there had been 190000 l. transmitted thence to England for that Year c. In this respect you see it is the Interest both of the King and this Kingdom to put Ireland into a condition of continual improvement Our Trade with France being the greatest out-let of our Money and France being the only Kingdom of the World capable of Annoying us We ought long since to have stopt that yearly Drain But it hath been our infelicity that during the two last Reigns our Councils being Influenced by France we ran Counter to our Interest in Trade as well as Politicks For instead of regulating our Forreign Trade in preserving and gaining more Markets for our Natural Products and Manufactures the hindring and abating the Importation of unnecessary Commodities and encouraging our Manufacturers which are the industrious Bees of the Nation we have been put upon driving the latter from us and restraining the Intercourse and Commerce between us and Ireland and the Plantations and Ireland to the advantage of a few but great detriment to the Publick not to say oppression of our own People abroad while we have given France the opportunity of drawing away our Money and to run away with a considerable part of our Trade and have thereby paid his Pensioners amongst us at our own cost But his Present Majesty being come to deliver us from such Malevolent Councellors it is to be hoped he will not by imploying the Instruments of our past Calamities furnish them with fresh opportunities to Betray the Kingdom or Ruin himself It is the endeavour of almost all the Princes of Europe to Retrench the Power of the French King and 't is no less the concern of England And if I mistake not the present conjuncture of Affairs doth furnish us with some special advantages above the rest to that end It is certain that in times of open Trade France did yearly Gain one or two Millions Sterling by Trade with England which was so much clear loss to this Kingdom Neither was that all but we did thereby yearly strengthen and inrich our mortal Enemies To give some evidence to this I find by a Ballance of one Years Trade between England and France said to be drawn out of our Custom-House Books for the House of Commons about October 1675. That by the certain Ballance thereof we Imported from France 969105 l. 2 s. 8 d. Sterling more in Commodities than we Exported thither but by the supposed or probable Ballance 2105255 l. 6 s. 8 d. I find likewise that about 1676 or 77. That King having some thoughts to Prohibit all our English Manufactures from being carried into France the Ballance of Trade between both Kingdoms being laid before him it did thereby appear that the yearly Exportations of France to England was 2640000 l. Sterling and that the Importations from England to France did not exceed one Million So that by their own shewing France Gained 1640 Thousand Pounds Sterling by England which being the over-Ballance of Trade went out in Cash Amongst the particulars in this last Ballance of Trade said to be Imported into England the Tissues Velvets Sattins Armozines Tabbies Ribons wrought Silks Stuffs Laces Serges Hatts Fans Cabinets Pins Combs c. which we bring yearly from France are valued to amount to 1140000 l. Sterling All which may be Supplied by the Labour of our own People and the French Protestants that are and would come amongst us were due Liberty and Encouragement given and care taken to put things into the right way c. For the doing things of this Nature I am perswaded it would be of singular use if His Majesty would by Order of the Council c. constitute a standing Council of Trade consisting of a great number of the most knowing experienced Merchants of London who or a Quorum of them might meet weekly in some one of their Halls having a Secretary Door-keeper and Messenger allowed them where they might consult how to remove all obstructions of Trade how to regulate it what Manufactures may be set up to the best advantage of the Kingdom and how others may be improved c. Which as they shall have matured may be represented to His Majesty and Council or to both Houses of Parliament as occasion shall require Now as the Idle hands of the Kingdom together with the French Refugees may profitably and agreeably be imployed in the forementioned Fabricks of Silk and other Manufactures which we were wont to bring from France so may the People of Ireland even the very Natives be aptly employed in the Linnen Manufacture for which that Kingdom is in several respects much more proper than England 1. For that Land is Cheaper in Ireland and where good Seed is had the Country yields excellent Flax. 2. The Female Natives who are averse to any Robust Labour are much inclined to the Spinning of Flax which they can do with their Rocks or Distaves as they sit at their Doors or under a Hedge tending their Cattle 3. They are a People that live on a courser and cheaper Dyet nearer the manner of France than the English do or can and therefore can afford their Work cheaper which is a particular of great weight in an Affair of this Nature For except the Commodity be made at least as cheap as we have it from France it will be brought thence in spight of all Prohibitions 4. This is a Labour to which they have been greatly accustomed for before the Commencement of the Present Rebellion there was a considerable quantity of Course Linnen Diapers and Damasks made in Ireland much stronger than those which we usually have had from France 5. There is an Act of the last Irish Parliament still in Force for the raising of Money to set up a Bleaching Yard in each Province of the Kingdom for the Encouragement of the Linnen Manufacture If we consider the concurrence of these things viz. the cheapness of Land and Labour the aptness of the Soil Inclination of the People c. There seems no place so proper for this Manufacture as Ireland Many thinking men of good Sence have been jealous that Ireland by reason of the plenty and cheapness of Wool would in time fall into the improvement of it into Manufactures to the prejudice of England And though their fears at least as to this present Age are groundless yet 't is Wisdom to provide against even remote possibilities of detriment c. This may be done effectually in this Case by setting up and encouraging the Linnen Manufacture and such others in Ireland as may fully and profitably imploy that People and yet not interfere with the Manufactures of England Now if this can be done in a way which will lessen the
REMARKS ON THE Affairs and Trade OF England and Ireland Wherein is set down 1. The Antient Charge of Ireland and all the Forces sent thither from 1170 until the Compleat Conquest thereof in 1602 with the Returns of Forces and Treasure which have been made thence to England towards the Conquests of France Scotland and Wales 2. The peculiar Advantages which accrue to England by Ireland As also those made in the Course of Trade 3. The State of the Trade Revenue Rents Manufactures c. of Ireland with the Causes of its Poverty And the State of the Trade and Rents of Lands in England from the Reign of Ed. III. unto this time with the Causes of their increase and Abatement 4. The only sure Expedients for their Advancement with the Necessity and Utility of the Repeal as well as Suspension of the Laws against Dissenters and the Test 5. How the Reduction and Settlement of Ireland may be improved to the Advantage of England and Increase of their Majesties Revenue 1500000 l. may be raised by Ireland to the ease of England expediting of their Majesties Affairs And how Ireland may be rendred Useful towards the retrenching the Power of France By a hearty Well-wisher to the Protestant Religion and the Prosperity of these Kingdoms With Allowance LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers Chapel 1691. To His Grace James Duke of Ormond The Right Honourable Richard Earl of Burlington and Cork Lord High Treasurer of Ireland William Earl of Portland Sir John Lowther Baronet Vice-Chamberlain to Her Majesty Lords of Their Majesties Treasury Richard Hambden Esquire Chancellor of the Exchequer Lords of Their Majesties Treasury Sir Stephen Fox Knight Lords of Their Majesties Treasury Thomas Pelham Esquire Lords of Their Majesties Treasury Sir Henry Ashurst Baronet And Sir Thomas Clergis Knight My Lords and Honoured Gentlemen THese Papers which were writ with a more private design yet chiefly intended for the Service of Their Majesties and the Publique are now addressed to your Lordships to render them the more useful to those Ends the several Eminent Stations in which all of you are gives you the opportunity of improving whatever is herein proposed to that purpose The unhappy management of the Affairs of Ireland on every Rebellion hath made the Charge of their Reduction to England ten times more than needed Cambden observed that by long usage it was grown a mischievous Custom in Ireland that Rebels might with part of the Plunder they took from the English procure Pardon Whereby and the Lenity of England Rebellions were nourished there This is most certain that the Papists have always had such Influence on the Councils of England as on the conclusion of every Rebellion they have been left in a condition to renew them at pleasure to the great Charge of England and Ruin of the English Planters in Ireland and of their Improvements And now they the French K. and the late K. J. have their Instruments at work to that end But five Rebellions having been raised there betwixt 1567 and 1642. and now a Sixth of which two formidable and chargeable ones having happened within the memory of many yet living will if we be not doomed to Infatuation instruct us in the necessity of breaking their power and utterly disabling them for future Rebellions There are a Party of Men who while the late K. J. was in Ireland magnified both it and the Force of the Irish but upon the Tydings of the happy progress of His Majesties Arm to detract from the Glory of His Acquisitions they represent that Kingdom as chargeable and useless nay as disadvantagious to England It hath however to their Mortification already yielded Laurels to incircle His Royal Brows and will do Treasure to His Coffers with a rich Return to this Kingdom of the Charge laid out for its Reduction if the Settlement thereof be duly attended It is enough for His Majesty to Conquer it ought to be the Care of His Ministers to settle and secure There is indeed a great measure of Wisdom required to improve Victories as well as Courage and Conduct to Atchieve them It hath been observed to be the Fate of the English to lose that by Treaty which they gain by Conquest Five Hundred Years Experience hath verified it in great measure as to Ireland The Affairs and Trade of that Kingdom its Vtility and Importance to England and the Influence it hath on the Trade and Rents thereof seems to have escaped the observation of most of our Statesmen and Merchants I have in these Papers attempted to rescue them from that obscurity and to lay them before Your Honours Now that the Affairs of that Kingdom are before You in Parliament Councils and Committees For which presumption nothing can Apologize but the Zeal for the Publick with which they were written I am in all humility My Lords and Gentlemen Your most Humble Servant W. H. SIR The Substance of the First of the Inquiries you Propose concerns Ireland which I take to be this First Whether England hath been Loser or Gainer by the Conquest of Ireland the Charge considered that hath been Expended thereon YOU are pleased to require my Answer to this and the other Queries which you propose presuming that my Acquaintance with that Kingdom c. doth Capacitate me to satisfie you therein I confess I have made Observations that would at least have Contributed thereunto But my Absence from Papers that would have inabled a more distinct and satisfactory Account of those matters might have excused my Disobedience at least for the present But being you admit not thereof but use the Power you have over me in commanding a speedy Compliance I will in Obedience briefly set down what occurs to me on that Subject tho' my Sentiments in this matter being different from many others I foresee the hardiness of undertaking to contradict Common-Fame or to rectifie a vulgar Error I have heard several and among them some of the Famed States-Men of the Age wish there were no such place as Ireland and fault its nearness to England as detrimental or unprofitable As if had they been consulted they could have rectified the Creation by leaving it out or placing it better elsewhere The Error lies in not apprehending its usefulness to England Others gravely tell us both in Discourse and Print that the gaining and keeping Ireland hath cost England more than the purchase of all that Kingdom is worth But these are like him who pay'd Ten-Shillings for an Ewe kept her Five Years pay'd Twelve Pence per Annum for her keeping tho' he Yearly received her Lambs and Fleece yet believed he was Fifteen Shillings the worse by having her I confess I was once half of the mind that the Expence of England in Blood and Treasure about that Kingdom had been vast My Curiosity led me to examine whether it were so or no and I will here faithfully impart what I have
Gain 75000 l. yearly from Ireland by our Shipping and it 's evident that whatever Trade constantly employs them tends to their encrease and the encrease of our Seamen II. That Trade that Annually takes off a good proportion of our natural Products Manufactures and of the Forreign Commodities that we Import for which we can have no Sale or Vend elsewhere is necessary for keeping up the Rents of our Lands enriching our Husbandmen employing our Manufacturers at home and our Shipping and Seamen abroad I have in the former instance shewed you that Ireland takes off above 100000 Tuns of our Coals yearly And if our Custom-House Books be examined it will be found that that Kingdom hath taken off yearly 240000 Bushels of our Salt 3541 l. of our Hops 120 Tuns of Cider 30 Ships Loading of our Apples 3000 Tuns of Iron-Oare and considerable quantities of Tin Lead Saffron c. These are part of those I call our natural Products which are yearly spent in Ireland which enable the payment and keeping up of our Rents That kingdom likewise takes off yearly a good proportion of our Manufactures as Fustians Ticking Haberdashery Sadlers ware Pinns Needles Knives Gloves Fanns Cutlers ware Belts Laces Stockings Fine-Cloath Stuffs Iron-ware Brass Pewter Glass Earthen and Wooden-ware Books Castors Hereby our Manufacturers are kept in work and our Trades-Men that sell these to the Irish Merchants enriched Besides all which Ireland yearly takes from us considerable quantities of the Goods which we Import from other Countries As Oyls Grocery Druggistery Raw-Silk Cotton-Wool and Yarn Dying Stuffs Paper Whalebone Train-Oyl Hollands Ozenbrigs and Hamburg-Linnen Callicoes Spices By this Trade our Ships and Seamen for so much are employed and our Merchants enriched In these respects Ireland is not only useful but necessary to England for were there no such place as some foolishly wish we could have no Employment for the Ships lately used in that Trade For our Merchants and Mariners being Numerous Wealthy Knowing and Studious of their own profit do supply all known Markets with as much of our natural Products Manufactures and Imported Commodities as they will take off at any reasonable profit for we want not hands nor stock in Trace but Trade to apply them to with any moderate advantage Every days experience or a walk in Blackwell-Hall Exeter Norwich Leeds Wakefield c. Markets would make it good beyond contradiction that the hands at present employed in our Natural Products and Manufactures do as Trade now stands more than sufficiently supply our home Consumption and Forreign Trade and that if more of these were raised in quantity it would by glutting all Markets rather prejudice than enlarge our Trade and were there no such place as Ireland or were it cut off from its dependance on England and supplied from elsewhere we could no where Vend the Commodities that Kingdom yearly takes off And a little Voyage from London-Bridge to Graves-End even in times of open Trade may satisfie the doubtful if not convince the incredulous that we have more Ships than all our share of the Trade of the World does constantly employ and a view of the Ships formerly employed in the Irish-Trade which now lie by the Walls at the Ports before named since the Trade between us and Ireland hath been shut up and which may be had at Fraight at little more than half Fraight do shew that neither our Merchants nor Seamen know how otherwise to employ them III. That Trade that supplies us with Materials for our Manufactures and thereby employment for our People especially such as we cannot have or not so Cheap from other Parts is necessary to our well-being In the former instance I shewed you that Ireland takes off a good proportion of our superfluities In this you 'll see that in Lieu of part of them it supplies us with useful and necessary Materials for our Manufactures and that Cheaper than we can have them from elsewhere We do some Years receive 6000 l. Weight of Linnen-Yarn for Warps for our Fustians to make into Course-Linnen Thred-Buttons Tapes Inckles c. 137300 Cony-Skins for Hatts 1200 Dozen of Calf-Skins 40000 Raw and Dressed Hides 373600 Goat Sheep and Lamb-Skins and Pelts for Glovers and many other uses Tallow 38000 l. Weight c. All which serve for many uses both Domestick and Forreign Some Years we received from Ireland 210000 some Years 254000 great Stones of Wool at 18 Pound to the Stone which as was made out to the last Parliament by a West Country Member of the House of Commons employs 180000 of our Wool-Dressers Combers Carders Spinners Weavers Dyers Fullers Dressers Shears-men Tuckers Knitters Calenders Pressers And whereas it may be thought that the Wools of England would yield a better Rate were none Imported from Ireland 't is certain that the Pasture Ground in England could not supply the quantity brought in from Ireland And were the quantity less than now is work would be wanting for the Poor or were Wool dearer the Price of our Manufactures would be raised and we should thereby be in danger of loseing our Forreign Markets for them IV. That Trade that furnishes as with Commodities for Forreign Markets which we cannot have elsewhere is in some sort necessary for us both for employing our Stock our Ships and our Sea-men The chief way whereby the Dutch greatly enlarge their Trade and augment their Wealth is by buying up the Commodities of other Countries and carrying them in their own Ships to proper Markets Ireland furnisheth us with several Advantages of this kind for our Merchants have had shipped off thence for their own Account in one year 800 Tuns of Salmon 700 Tuns of Pilchards 12000 Barrels of Herrings 120 Tuns of Eels 900000 Hake-fish 1040000 of Barrel Hogs-head and Pipe-staves 3600 quarters of Rape-seed 300000 yards of course narrow-bandle Wollen-cloth 38000 l. weight of Butter 1000 l. weight of Cheese 43000 raw Hides 800 douzen of Calf-Skins 25000 Barrels of Beef 1000 Barrels of Pork besides Leather Caddows Bacon Corn and several other Commodities few of which if any could be supplyed them from any other part of the World or at least not so cheap or so conveniently as from Ireland for our Ships in their way to forreign Markets frequently touch or call in Ireland for some of these Commodities to compleat the Cargoes of other Goods they carry hence which is of much greater advantage to our Trade than is apprehended at first view V. We are gainers by Ireland in that they take our Money and pay us Interest for it Suppose we have but 40000 l. in Money at Interest in Ireland Interest there being 10 per Cent. it yields us 4000 l. per Annum continued there ten years we have drawn thence 40000 l. for Interest and at last we receive our entire Principal also But considering that Ireland takes off more of our Commodities yearly than we do of theirs they are obliged to send us Money and we
to support our Charge and Enrich us For whatsoever the Revenue of Ireland amounts to yearly above the Charge of that Kingdom hath been and will be transmitted into England and is so much clear profit to the King and this Kingdom They are yearly liable to us for more than we receive in Commodity thence and therefore much of what their Merchants send to France Spain c. on their own proper Accounts is returned by Exchange or brought in Forreign Coyns into England so that they seem to subsist by Miracle However they were in a thriving condition when King James II. Ascended the Throne Nor is the advantage small to England nor to our Nobility and Gentry that whilst the elder Brothers Gentlemen of Estates here justle and scuffle for Offices and Preferments and think all too little for them That their younger Brothers have Ireland to repair unto in Shoals on every change of Government there which usually happens every three or four years where they meet with Offices Employments and Preferments both of Honour and Profit Ecclesiastical Civil and Military and frequently arrive at considerable Estates or a way of Livelihood whereby they live as plentifully and contentedly though perhaps not so splendidly as their Elder Brothers here Nor is this advantage limited to the Nobility and Gentry only For England breeds more Mechanicks than it can maintain The Surcharge of these that by their stay here would but impoverish the rest find Work and Livelihood in Ireland As do many decayed Families that repair thither yearly for Bread and are received there with great Humanity and Kindness It is Ignorance Envy French Gold or Wicked and Treacherous Designs that put Men upon Quarrelling with the Trade Situation or Improvement of Ireland as prejudicial or inconvenient to England for the fair spacious and safe Harbours on the South and South-West Coast of Ireland furnish our Merchant Ships in their Voyages to Asia Africa and return from America and most part of Europe not only with commodious shelter and refreshments in Storms Tempests and other Extremities at Sea but also retreat refuge and security from Pyrates and Enemies in times of War And Ireland by its Situation lyes conveniently not only for Security and Advice for our Merchant Fleets in time of War but also to intercept and interrupt the Trade of our Enemies And how lightly soever these advantages may be past over by those that possibly for French-gold would cut untwist or weaken our Threefold Cord yet they are obvious enough to all considering unbyassed States-men Merchants and Navigators For let it be considered That the great currant of Trade runs between England and France and that were the Ports of Ireland and France in one hand or both in War with us That either much more both would shut up and damage if not ruine our Trade in that in the latter case it might be done meerly by Privateers without the Expence of a great and chargeable Fleet as our Merchants already find in part to their great cost and loss Thus you see that Ireland is beneficial to England by employing above 300 Sail of Ships constantly together with the Hands and Trades that depend on them That it takes off considerable quantities of our natural Products of our Manufactures and of our Imported Commodities which yields Employment to our People contributes to keep up the Rents of our Lands and Enrich our Merchants That almost all the Commodities we receive thence are not only useful but necessary to us to enable our Manufacturers and employ multitudes of our People That our Forreign Trade is encreased by the Commodities our Merchants Ship off from Ireland which they can have no where else and lyes there conveniently for our Ships to take in in their way to their proper Markets That we receive thence yearly above 240000 l. besides many other advantages That many younger Brothers and supernumerary Artizans and Families that fall to decay and that cannot subsist here are received and entertained with kindness in Ireland where they grow Rich or at least Subsist That the Situation of that Kingdom is so far from being prejudicial to England That it is commodious for the shelter security and enlargement of our Trade That were there no such place we should want Employment for at least 300000 of our People and Sale for a good part of our Products and Manufactures That should Ireland continue in the hands of our Enemies many of our People would be beggared most of our Forreign Trade be greatly indangered and obstructed if not ruined So that without further consideration of this matter I do conclude That as Ireland is the antientest so it is the most noble and profitable Acquisition that ever England made though it is but little more than twenty years since the standing Revenue of that Kingdom did considerably surmount the Charge of it yet our Kings ever since King John's time have drawn large Supplies not only of Men but also of Money from Ireland K. James and K. Charles the First received several Summs of Money thence which with the advantages by Trade and most of the fore-mentioned particulars have rendred Ireland considerable to England for near 500 years past You take notice that our Nobility Clergy and Gentry have imbibed a Notion that the abatement of the Rents of Lands in England for twenty six years past have been occasioned by the Improvements of Ireland in that time And thence you raise your Third Query Whether the Improvement of Ireland was not the cause of the Abatement of Rents of Lands in England Or whence else hath it come that Rents of Lands have fallen one Fifth part since the Year 1662. TO set you right in this matter it 's expedient that I lay before you the true state of that Kingdom and its Trade whereby you will be able to see the folly of our suspicions and the difficulty if not impossibility of receiving prejudice by the Improvement of Ireland at least in this or the next Age unless we enforce it by bearing too hard on them as we did in the business of Cattel and compel them to better Husbandry at home and to more Forreign Trade than they are any way disposed to or prepar'd for And then I will shew you whence it is that our Lands have fallen so much in their Rents Ireland is indeed an Island that for extent of Acres richness of Soyl salubrity of Air numerousness of good Rivers and Havens variety of Fishings native Products and materials fit to be improved into Manufactures Scituation for Trade c. comes behind few Islands in the World Yet it hath hitherto advanced but very little in Trade Riches or Improvement Although it hath for 518 years owned Subjection to England and been in great measure Inhabited by Brittains to that degree That three fourths of the present Papists there are of Brittish Extraction who yet by the influence of that pernicious Religion are as much disposed to Mischief and
both hinders their being Manufactured and advances the price of them when Manufactured that they cannot be afforded so Cheap at Forreign Markets as the like Manufactures raised where interest of Mony is low If here it be Objected that the Cheapness of Wool as to the Woollen Manufacture will countervail the disadvantage of high interest It 's answered that it will not for 12 Pound of Wool which costs but two Shillings dearer in England than there will make a piece of Serge that may stand some in 3 l. some in 4 l. or two pieces of Stuff that may together stand in as much the price of the Wool being so small a part of the Disburse will not countervail the high interest on the rest But besides this there being but little Manufacture there and not full work for Tuckers Dyers Dressers Calenders Hot-Pressers c. there as there is here the rate of these there is double to what it is here and so is their Oyl Dying Stuffs and Forreign Materials most of which they carry from England for which at a high value they pay 10 per cent for Customs and Excise on their Importation It is the least skilful of our Workmen that go thither and even the skilful there meet with a great inaptitude in the People to Manufacture tho' they ought to be content with them for their own use yet they cannot perfect them so as to be able to Sell them as to any Tolerable price in the same Market with ours A pregnant Instance whereof we had a few Years since Some of our Merchants thought to make considerable advantage by Buying Bayes like those of Colchester in Ireland and gave Commission for large quantities which were bought up whereupon there was a great spurt of Trade for that Commodity for a little time But notwithstanding Colchester Bayes is the easiest part of the Woollen Manufacture to be made imitated and perfected yet when those made in Ireland came to be compared with the true Colchester Bayes in Spain they differed so much for the worse that on a sudden the Irish Weavers lost their Trade and some of them were Ruined by those that were left on their hands not being able to find a Market for them Here you also see one reason why they Export most part of their Commodities Raw and Unmanufactured 6. A sixth Cause of Irelands Poverty is the Cheapness of Lands in that Kingdom and easiness to subsist with the difficulties that attend Trade there which makes their Merchants turn Purchasers as soon as they have gotten as much as will maintain their Families whereby the stock in Trade there is small For it 's observed that tho' many there gain a Livelihood by Trade yet very few of the Merchants of that Kingdom have acquired considerable or competent Estates for the reasons before mentioned and because of the many Cloggs that lie on this Trade which will herein after be observed 7. Add to these their improvidence the prodigality and excess of the English there in the Consumption of Forreign wares mostly superfluities which they might well be without As fine Cloath Stuffs Silks-Laces Haberdashery and the rest that I have before enumerated which they derive wholly from England As also some that they have from other Countries Above 3000 Tuns of Wine and Brandy have been Imported and Consumed in that Kingdom in one Year Some Vices and some Vertues seem to adhere to the Soil of most Countries however the Inhabitants are changed Thus Luxury and Hospitality to most plentiful Countries and so to Ireland especially in Housekeeping wherein they exceed us as far as we do the Frugal Dutch and so are no Savers by the great Plenty of the Country 8. The uninteressed and frequent change of the chief Governors who are mostly sent them from England who transmit all that they get above their necessary Expence into England 9. The frequency of Rebellions in that Kingdom which discourages and destroys all Improvements occasioned by the folly and negligence of England and the influence the Papists have always had on our Councils so that on their reduction they have constantly found such Favour as to be left in Condition to renew their Rebellions at Pleasure 10. Cause of Irelands Poverty is the Clogs and Restraints on their Trade partly by England partly by their own Parliament who by a perpetual Law have incapacitated the growth or increase of their Trade especially so as that it cannot interfere with the Trade of England The Truth is both Parliaments have been imposed on partly by some Commissioners of the Customs here who to fix themselves the better in their Seats and at once to ingratiate themselves at Court and with the English Merchants that deal to the Plantations pretended they could greatly encrease that branch of the Revenue by imposing hard things on Ireland Partly by two sets of Men who designed the farming of the Customs and Excise in both Kingdoms and actually did Farm part of them here These by their Creatures in that Parliament wherein were some Pensionaries under pretence of advancing Trade and the Rents of Lands in England c. gained several Acts to be passed very disadvantagious to Ireland and the Plantations and of little or no advantage to England Particularly those that bar the People of Ireland from carrying any Asian African or European Commodities to any of the Plantations but Provision Servants and Horses except they be brought into entred and pay Custom in England and be bound to return hither with the proceed likewise As the Plantations heavily complain of these Acts so do the People of Ireland I have seen certain Reasons drawn up in Ireland against those Acts too many and too long to be here inserted Yet being they fall in with the present Subject I will mention some of them viz. That as Ireland is the Antientest and noblest so is it the most beneficial Acquisition of England Not only by taking off annually great Proportions of the natural and artificial Commodities thereof But also of Asian and African Commodities two thirds of the Importations of Ireland being from England by employing considerable numbers of English Ships by the yearly Rents of the Estates of such as live in England and of Absentees transmitted hither by the Charge of Students at the Universities and Inns of Court Income of the Post-Office Summs carried away by chief Governours the surplussage of the Revenue c. much of all which is carried into England in Cash That the Commodities exported from Ireland to England are all necessary or useful to England But that the Commodities imported thither from England are superfluous and such as Ireland may or must be without to the prejudice of England except there be a relaxation of the present Severities put on that Kingdom That Ireland being planted with English or those of English Extraction under the same Sovereign under almost all the same Laws with England in some respect under the same Legislative Power for
Laws made in England wherein Ireland is named bind Ireland c. Ireland is by these and several other ways in a manner Incorporated and become one Body with England In those Acts they note two things the ends of them and the reasons of them The ends of them are to keep the Plantations in a firm Dependance on England to appropriate the Trade to and from them to England And that England may be a staple for the Plantation Commodities They say all these Ends save in one little particular of small moment to England but of great Importance to Ireland are infallibly secured to England without these Acts of Restraint c. As to the first they say That the Merchants of Ireland are generally English or of English Extraction and having many Plantations in these Islands are part Proprietors that it cannot be imagined that their Trade and yearly sending many of his Majesties Subjects thither can weaken but rather firm their Dependance on England which confessedly in those Acts cannot be supplyed from or not without great Prejudice to England And which else must be supplyed with more Negroes to the Hazard if not Ruin and loss of those Plantations As to another End which is That England may supply those Plantations with all Asian African and European Commodities They say that Ireland hath not been accustomed to send any of these except those of the Growth or Manufacture of Ireland to the Plantations nor can they send any other if they had full Liberty For by the Act of Customs in Ireland all Wines Tobacco wrought Silks all Haberdashery Wares and all sorts of Grocery Wares imported into Ireland pay a great Custom and draw back no part of that Duty on Exportation The Law there denying the Merchant that Priviledge By which Clause England is secured that the Merchants of Ireland cannot supply the Plantations with any Wines Silks Haberdashery or Grocery And by another Clause in that Act the Merchants of Ireland are rendred uncapable to supply the Plantations or any other part of the World with any Commodities whatsoever which is once Imported into that Kingdom The Clause is this That all Forreign Commodities except Wines and Tobacco and those of the English Plantations imported into Ireland by a Denizon from any the Parts or Places beyond the Seas other than England or Wales shall for ever pay one third more in Subsidy over and above the Subsidy payable for the same according to the Book of Rates and every Stranger double c. It is to be noted That most Commodities but what Ireland constantly derives or are supplyed with from England are valued in the Irish book of Rates at a higher value than the same Commodities are valued in the book of Rates in England So that according to the intrinsick value of the Commodities all Forreign Goods pay almost 10 per Cent. Custom on Importation into Ireland except what they have from England Therefore say they he that reads the Acts for Customs and Excise in Ireland will imagine that the Parliament of Ireland was in the Conspiracy to ruin the Trade of that Kingdom For though it is known that these and other severe Clauses in those Acts were added in England when the Bills were sent into England for Approbation yet they were allowed and passed into Acts by the Parliament of Ireland So that upon the whole they conceive it clear as the light at Noon-day That England can furnish the Plantations and all the World with Asian African and European Commodities 6 if not 8 per Cent. cheaper than 't is possible for the Merchants of Ireland to do it which is a full security of that Trade to England As to the third End of those Acts in England that barr their Trade to the Plantations which is That England may be a Staple to all the World for the Plantation Commodities The Merchants of Ireland say this also is infallibly assured to England though Liberty should be allowed them to trade to the Plantations As to all the World Ireland only excepted Not only for some of the reasons given under the former head which take Place likewise here but also because although Plantation Commodities since the additional Duties were added pay a higher duty on Importation into England than they pay on Importation into Ireland Yet on Exportation out of Ireland they leave much more of the Duty behind than they do on Exportation from England To instance only in two of them Ginger on Importation into Ireland pays 12 d. per hundred weight Custom and on Exportation draws back no part of that duty Ginger exported out of England leaves behind Tobacco which is the most considerable of all the Plantation Commodities Imported into Ireland and again exported thence leaves in the Kings hands one penny per pound behind but exported out of Engand it leaves but a half penny behind which is the eighth or tenth part of the value of that Commodity So that England will certainly remain a Staple for these Commodities to all the World except Ireland notwithstanding full Liberty of Trade to the Plantations should be allowed the Merchants of Ireland For that the English Merchants can sell Tobacco 10 or 12 per Cent. at least and Ginger 〈…〉 per Cent. cheaper than the Merchants of Ireland and so likewise all other Plantation Commodities The second thing they note in those Acts that prohibite the Merchants of Ireland to trade to the Plantations but through England c. is the reason of them which forms the Equity of them viz. That the Plantations are Peopled with his Majesties Subjects of England and that England hath and doth daily suffer great Prejudice by transporting great numbers to those Plantations for the Peopling of them To this the Merchants of Ireland say That in Fact it is most certain that a full Moiety or near it of all the working Whites and many of the Proprietors in all the Caribbe Islands and at least three fourths of the Whites on Montserat are of the People of Ireland And that if those Plantations had not for many years been supplyed with People cherished and furnished with Victuals at low Rates from Ireland they had perished or not come to what they are For had they been necessitated to have paid English Rates for Food they could not have subsisted So that say they If Ireland hath not only in a great measure sustained them but also are part Proprietors and have in a great measure Peopled them and are daily sending People thither where they are needed then Ireland is within the Reason of those Acts and as they conceive ought not to be debarred Commerce with them at least for their own Products and Manufacture which is all that they desire Liberty for They say it seems to be a great Severity being they are of the People of England that they should be treated as Forreigners And were the Tables turned and their Brethren of England in Ireland the Legislators would
think the Laws at least unkind That it seems hard that an English man because he goes to inhabit in Ireland or is sent thither to help to secure that Conquest to England should therefore lose a great part of the Priviledge of an English man and be treated as a Forreigner That these Restraints tend towards untwisting or weakning our threefold Cord by alienating if it were possible the Hearts of the People from England and seem rather to be designed by France than to flow from the generous temper of an English Parliament That the same Parliament that Enacted those Laws were so sensible of the Advantages England reaps by Ireland and that it is the Interest of this Kingdom to cherish That that they comprehended Ireland in the Act of Navigation and allowed the People and Ships thereof the same Priviledges as to the People and Ships of England As an acknowledgment whereof the Parliament of Ireland by their Act of Navigation granted all the like Privileges to the People and Ships of England as to their own That as to the Virginia Trade which brings greatest Advantage to his Majesty the Merchants of Ireland are in a manner wholly cut off from that Trade except they will drive it to the utter Ruin of the Kingdom which they resolve not to do For neither Provision nor Horses will go off at Virginia nor are Servants to be had to such numbers as to enable that Trade And the Export of their Manufacture is prohibited So that if they will drive that Trade they must do it with Cash and turn all the little Money they have into Smoak or be at the excessive charge double hazard and expence of time to come unto and return through England with that as all other Plantation Commodities which hath occasioned frequent loss of Seasons and of Ships and Cargo's to the loss of the Duty to his Majesty and Ruin of many Merchants as they made appear in very many deplorable Instances too long to be here inserted They say That whereas by an Act of the 25. Car. 2. For better securing the Plantation Trade It is Enacted That if any Ship or Vessel which by Law may Trade in any of the Plantations shall come to take on board any Plantation Commodities and that Bond shall not be first given with sufficient Surety to bring them to England Wales or Barwick That there shall be paid there on white Sugars 5 s. per Cent. on Muscovados 8 d. per Cent. on Tobacco 1 d. per Pound c. which afforded some ease to the distressed Merchants of Ireland in returning without being necessitated to come to England to enter Yet that door also hath been shut against Ireland by the Artifice of the Arbitrary Commissioners of the Customs in England For contrary to the plain Import of that Law There was a Ship of England which paid that Duty in the Plantations seized and condemned under pretence that that Act was only intended for the Trade between Plantation and Plantation although there is nothing in the Act that gives Countenance to that Construction That tho' the Manufactures of Ireland are few and that the most considerable of them is Linnen which interferes not with the Manufacture of England and that the quantity exported in times of Free Trade to the Plantations was but small yet the Sustenance of a good number of the most necessitous of their People depended wholly on that little and that they cannot subsist barely by Air more than the People of England That by reason of the easiness to subsist in Ireland the Restraints on Trade the difficulty if not impossibility now to grow rich by ' Trade and the cheapness of Land Merchants are inclined to purchase rather than Trade That from hence and the mean way of living of the Natives paucity of Inhabitants little demand of the Native Commodities in Forreign Markets the want of any peculiar Commodity as Tinn is to England c. It appears there is little reason why the Gentry and Merchants of England should be so jealous as they are of the Improvement of Ireland or the growth of its Trade and less why they should bear so hard on it That albeit Liberty is granted to the Merchants of Ireland to send Provisions Servants and Horses to the Plantations yet Provisions and Horses being of great stowage and small value It requires two Cargoes of them to lade one Ship home And it is not to be expected that the whole proceed should in the same Voyage be turned into Commodity for return Hence it becomes absolutely necessary for them to carry some small parcels of the Manufacture of Ireland with Provisions Servants and Horses to enable a Cargo for the Ships return or to return half or one third empty which doubles the Charge of Fraight and Charge on the Commodities returned Or if they will not do this they must carry Money to England to buy and take in some Manufacture there which doubles the hazard and charge and by loss of time and contrary Winds occasion loss of Seasons and often of Ships and Goods And if any of the Woollen Manufacture of Ireland be brought to enter here in order to send them to the Plantations the half duty on them in England is in some the whole in others the half of their first Cost Which how hard soever yet they must not as the case stands upon any easier terms trade to those parts tho' part of the Dominions of their natural Prince and in a great measure peopled and supported by themselves That since the Prohibition of Cattle to England and as an effect thereof the Merchants of Ireland have in return for Beef Tallow Hides c. supplyed that Kingdom with many Commodities from Forreign Parts which before that Prohibition were brought only from England And that if the restraint be continued on their Manufactures to the Plantations They will be necessitated to truck their Manufactures in Spain Portugal c. for Plantation and other Commodities which they used to have from the Plantations and from England Where if once their Manufactures be brought into demand the prejudice to England will be a thousand times greater than can arise from their carrying small quantities of them to the Plantations That the Condition of Ireland in the forementioned respects is very deplorable For notwithstanding the English there are liable annually to England for those vast Summs before mentioned yet they are prohibited to send their Sheep Cattle Beef Pork or Butter the product of their Land hither Nor can they send their Manufacture the only Employment of their People hither nor to any of the Plantations no not so much as Cloaths for their Servants If they send Servants they must not send Cloaths with them for one year nor so much as handsomly to recommend them to a Market nor Brandy sufficient for their Voyage lest any should be left at their Arrival If they send Horses they must not send a new Bridle If they
fourth step towards the enriching of the Kingdom accompanied or immediately followed our breaking off from that Mother of Abominations the Church of Rome and was sent us as a Blessing from Heaven for that Separation was the Serge Say and Stuff Trade with all our new Draperies which have vastly contributed to the Wealth of the Kingdom and raising the Rents of our Lands Antwerp had for a long time been and now was the greatest Seat of Trade in the whole World and the Netherlands of Manufacture Thence we were supplied with all sorts of new Draperies and Fabrick of Silks c. Although Trade be the best humoured Lady in the World yet she is so great a lover of quiet and repose and so sensible that she carries her welcome with her where-ever she goes that she expects to be Courted and Accommodated with Peace Liberty and Security where either of the two latter are denied or taken from her she frequently removes and carries Plenty Wealth and Honour along with her Ignorance is the professed Mother of the Devotion of the Church of Rome Slavery and Poverty her two Daughters Covetousness Cruelty and Ambition inseparable from that Hierarchy The Lords Inquisitors and Bishops of Spain observed that Merchants and Manufacturers were not only a Richer but also a more sober thinking knowing sort of people than others more curious about what they entertain in matters of Religion than the Debauched part of the Gentry and common people nor so much Priest-ridden nor so easily cheated out of their Souls and Money They longed to be fingering their Wealth But the distance of the Netherlands from Spain did not permit them singly to strip this sort of People Therefore these Hamans resolve the Destruction of all that dissented from their Ceremonies and Canons in those Provinces And rather than fail of their extirpation the moderate men though of their own perswasion must go to Pot. Having gained the Sole Direction of Philip the Second of Spain they had as it were both Swords put into their Hands and the World hath seen how they used them They put those Provinces into such Convulsions as enfeebled the Monarchy of Spain which from that time may date its Declension These Right Reverend Fathers appointed Duke D' Alva Governour General of the Netherlands a Man of a fierce cruel bloody inflexible Temper a fit Servant for such Masters yet they thought it too great an Honour for him being a Lay-man solely to engross so great a Stock of Merit as was to be acquired by the Ruin and Murder of such Multitudes as were then to be Sacrificed to the Roman Cruelty To Sanctifie the Villany the Clergy must share in it They therefore appointed fifteen new Bishops to be set up in the Netherlands who should be free from all Secular Power and Jurisdiction even in case of Treason That all Commerce Negotiations Liberties and Priviledges should be overthrown That all in the Netherlands should be reduced to extream Poverty that thereby that Countrey should be assured to them and to Spain That no Man of all those Countreys except of their Faction should be held worthy to live And finally all to be rooted out and all Possessions Arts and Trades and all Orders to be taken away until there should be a new Realm and Nation That none Suspected be Employed tho' of the Blood-Royal but to be removed and dispatched That no Contracts Rights Promises Oaths Priviledges and solemn Grants made to the Netherlands shall be of any Force for the Inhabitants as being guilty of High Treason These things will cause the Subjects to Revolt and move Sedition Thieves and Spoilers of Churches and Images should be hired and sent among them whose Offences should be imputed to the Rebels These were part of the Instructions given by the Holy Fathers to Duke D' Alva and the new Bishops who acted their parts to purpose in this Tragedy for on D' Alva's return into Spain he boasted that he having done the best he could to root out all Herefie he caused 18000 persons to be put to death in Six years by the ordinary Ministers of Justice besides numbers that had been cut off by the Souldiers It had been happy for these Kingdoms if these Instructions had been confined to those Provinces and had not in part been copied and followed here as well as in the Netherlands I will not intermeddle with the direful effects of these Ecclesiastical Politiques further than as to the influence they had on the Netherlands which were the greatest Seat of Trade and Manufacture in the whole World As soon as the peaceable Merchants and Manufacturers began to be tost and teased between the Ecclesiastical and Civil Courts when once the ingenuous industrious Artizans and Traders could no longer quietly enjoy the fruits of their Labours nor as much as by connivance be permitted to serve God according to his own Command and Will nor yet though they continued Idolaters be safe except they would be active and instrumental in plucking up the Foundations of Liberty and Property to set up a Tyrannical and Exorbitant power in Church and State they thought it high time to remove and this Persecution in the Netherlands happening about Anno 1566. and contemporizing with the Establishment of the Protestant Religion in England and the Liberty given in the beginning of Q. Elizabeth 's Reign very many Manufactures were thereby allured over into England and settled in several parts of the Kingdom as London Canterbury Norwich Colchester c. where both French Walloons and Dutch had several Priviledges granted them were allowed Churches with Liberty to serve God in their own way according to the Primitive Simplicity A great part of them removed into Holland and the other United Provinces when once they undertook the defence of their just Liberties and Priviledges and allowed Men to serve God without the imposing of Ceremonies c. Others that were of the Popish Religion removed some into Italy but most into France and laid the Foundation of the Wealth and Greatness of that Monarchy For from that time that Kingdom has mightily encreased in Manufacturies but England much more because we had store of good Wool and Matter for them to work up of which France was in a manner destitute From this time forward all the Cities and Towns in England where these new Manufacturers seated themselves began to be enlarged and regulated in their Buildings and Rents of Houses and Lands advanced The Prosperity of this sort of People and the Liberty and Immunities that were granted them allured many more of them over to us and as their Servants and Apprentices grow up to be Masters the new Manufactures spread into several parts of the Kingdom and where-ever they seated themselves they furnished multitudes of the poorer sort with Work and comfortable Subsistence they grew rich themselves and enriched their Neighbours greatly lessened the Importations and augmented the Exportations of the Kingdom and added to its Wealth
be advanced HAD we duly improved the advantages we had of Trade and Manufacture about 1662. and carefully kept our Manufacturers Skill and People to our selves it is difficult to say what advancement might have been made of Rents by this time But now that by our own Folly the Netherlands some parts of Germany and even France it self are become sharers with us in our most profitable Manufactures not only for their own Supply which they were wont to derive from us but also to that degree that they Vie with us in many Forreign Markets it is high time seriously to consider what is the true interest of the Nation both in respect of Trade Rents and Manufactures In Order hereunto let it be considered that the Strength and Security of England next under God consists in its Navy Its Welfare and Prosperity depends on its Trade Natural Products and Manufactures The Strength of its Navy depends on Forreign Trade and the profitable part of Trade to the Kingdom results solely from our Exportations It is therefore the true Interest of the Kingdom by all due Methods carefully to preserve incourage and augment all these Those who get their Livelihood by Trade and Manufactures are many more than those who live by Cattle Pasturage Corn and Fruits Our Natural Products which we Export are not computed to be above one Fifteenth part of our Exportations and tho' they that live by these must not be neglected but encouraged yet our main care ought to be laid out for our Manufacturers as those that have raised the Kingdom to its present Wealth and Greatness which supports it and makes up the Bulk of our Expectations Now the Trade of England being mostly carried on by its Manufactures should the Rents of Land here advance suppose one fourth part above what they were in 1662. and Lands in Germany and France c. do not rise proportionably I suppose it would be very prejudicial to the Kingdom in general For I am not here speaking of what would for a time gratifie the humour of our Nobility Gentry or Landed Men but what would be their and the Kingdoms true Interest If Rent of Land should advance one fourth part or more above what they were in 1662. The Fruits and Products of the Land ought to rise in their price proportionably one fourth above what they then were or the Farmers would not be able to pay their Rents And were the Natural Products thus advanced for a continuance Provisions being so much Dearer it would be but reasonable that the Labour of the Working People should advance also And were this so our Manufactures would be Dearer which in the present State of things as hath been observed would be pernicious to the Kingdom For by such advance of Rents and the Price of our Natural Products and Manufactures we should First Lose all our Forreign Markets for that part of the Natural Products of our Lands which we Annually Export to other Countries which could in that Case under-sell us Secondly We should for the same Reason lose all Forreign Markets for our Manufacture and thereby the means of imployment for our People at home and of our Ships and Seamen abroad which would yet be more mischievous to us The Kingdom affords no Commodity that I call to mind peculiar to us but Tin nor are we sole Masters of that neither tho' we have more and better of that Commodity than any Country in Europe Therefore all things considered it is the Interest of the Kingdom that we raise both our Natural Product and Artificial Commodities and Manufactures so Cheap as that we may be able to furnish all Forreign Markets with them their quality considered some small matter Cheaper than any other Country can For thereby only can we secure Forreign Markets for our Surplusage of both and imployment for our People The Dutch and Venetians c. do in some sort Vie with us at Forreign Markets as to Fine Cloth and some costly Fabricks of Manufactures but they are not able so to do in Course Cloths and Course Manufactures because of the much higher Prices of Food and Labour among them than us which with the different Price of Wool there and here enables us to make great quantities of these Courser Manufactures much Cheaper than it is possible for them to do But if now that we have cast out so considerable a part of our Manufacturers into other Countries and that by raising our Rents Provisions Wool Labour and Manufactures should be advanced much in their Price we should be in danger of losing a much greater part of our Trade to other Countries than what we have already lost So great and ticklish is the difficulty of Regaining any part of Trade or bringing it into it's former Channel when once lost or turned out of it If against what hath been said it be objected that experience tells us that our Manufactures are raised Cheapest in Years of Dearth and Scarcity I answer that extraordinary accidents do not constitute a standing Rule That 't is true in such years the Poor are constrained to Work Harder and Cheaper than at other times Yet in those years they are constrained to run in Debt and often Sell even the very Clothes which they Earned in times of Plenty c. and did Provisions advance for a continuance Labour must do so too or many of the Poor would perish and the rest be reduced to live on Herbs wear Wooden Clogs or Shooes and like the Peasants of France look like walking Ghosts which I hope will never happen in England It is the undoubted Interest of the Kingdom to recal and allure as many of our Manufacturers home as possibly we can to set up and encourage new Manufactures for the imploying of our People for the augmenting of our Exportations and the encrease of the Revenue to improve the opportunity put into our hands by cherishing the French that are already amongst us and inviting in as many more as we can get They live more hardily and therefore can work much cheaper than ordinarily our People can Their labour may be applyed and directed to some new Manufactures or new Fabricks which we have not yet which we were wont to bring from France and which may not interfere with those we have or with the present labour of our own People A prudent management of these things would conduce more than a little to the regaining and enlarging of our Trade to the enriching of the Kingdom and advancing Rents by encreasing the home Consumption the lessening our Importations and augmenting our Exportations There are several things that may by accident and for a spurt advance the Rents of Lands But it is only the lessening our Importations and the augmenting our Exportations that can keep them up In order to these great Ends we should remove all those Bars and Discouragements which lye in the way It 's true the King and Parliament have in their Wisdom by an Act
Navigation which were also Acts of that Parliament were concurrent causes of the encrease of the Wealth of the Kingdom The first took off those Restraints that were on Trade The second enabled the greater Emprovements of our Land and making our Manufactures cheaper than before And the last encouraged and encreased our Shipping and Sea-men and saved great Sums of Money to the Kingdom which the Hollanders were accustomed annually to carry from England for their Ships let us to freight Yet the chief cause hereof was the Liberty given to People to serve God according to his own Word For this Liberty invited multitudes to return with their Families and Stocks from New-England Germany Holland c. but especially many of our Manufacturers who had been driven away by Arch-Bishop Laud 's Persecution c. tho too many of them by Purchases and Marriages that they had made in those places were detained to the unspeakable damage of the Kingdom However the return of the rest greatly encreased the Home-consumption of Provisions our Manufactures and Trade and employed our Poor which together advanced Lands in Purchase and Rent to that great height they were at about 1660 and 1662. Thus I have faithfully set down the means and steps by which England arrived at that high pitch of Wealth and Strength which rendred her the Terrour and Envy of all Europe And having done that it will be easie to answer the Query to assign the true Causes of its Declension and the abatements of Rents c. since 1662. The most material I conceive to be these that follow viz. The principal Cause thereof was that violent Storm of Persecution raised against the Non-compliers with Ceremonies Liturgies c. pressing the Act of Vniformity whereby ten thousand persons since 1662. perished in Gaols and by hard and cruel usage and very many thousand Families mostly sober useful industrious People have been ruined and exposed to beggary or compelled to seek that Liberty in Forreign Countries which was denied them in their own How the Dissenters have been used the World hath seen but if the doubtful curious or inquisitive desire to be acquainted with some of the particular methods by which so great a number were ruined they may find a Specimen of them given by a good Samaritan in the fourth part of the Conformists Plea for the Nonconformist beginning at page 29. It hath been one of the great infelicities of the Kingdom during the three last Reigns that a sort of Men few of whom have had Title to one foot of Land of Inheritance have assumed to themselves a power to dispose Liberty and Property our Lives and Fortunes at pleasure They have indeed been very liberal of them to those Kings in whom they Vested the whole in hopes they would bountifully reward so good Benefactors either with high Preferments or large Portions out of that great Stock But as ill-gotten Goods seldom continue long with the Possessors neither did these with those to whom they were given for as the great Lord Falkland observed to Charles I. That never did Prince lose more by this Pulpit-Law than he Yet all this exorbitant Power which that sort of Men cloth Princes withal is only that it may be employed for their use and that they themselves may have such shares as may enable them to domineer to fleece and flay all that dissent from them I have as I presume clearly demonstrated That it was our Manufacturers chiefly that raised the Kingdom to its late opulence and greatness and that our Manufacturers were at first attracted hither by Liberties Immunities and Priviledges Things being best increased nourished and preserved by the means by which they are gotten obtained or gained we ought to have continued all those unto that sort of People But that part of the Imposing Men I have been speaking of have been no less pernicious to the Kingdom than to those Kings whom they seemed to Idolize by their flattery For they have by falling on our Manufacturers damnified the Kingdom to a greater degree than I am capable of estimating After-Ages may possibly be better able to do it Yet to give you a little light into this matter consider that one pound of Wooll sold for fourteen pence and one pound of Iron sold at first hand for two pence If they be thus Exported the Kingdom gains little by them But if the former be wrought up as it may be into three pair of fine Womens Hose worth 18 shillings and the latter into fine Scissars Locks c. they may yield three or four shillings according to the Workmanship and that they be Exported the Kingdom gains fifteen times the first value in the first and twenty four times the value in the latter besides the much greater Duty to the King Employment of our People our Ships and Sea-men c. By what hath been said you may see the usefulness of this sort of People to the Kingdom Now if by a modest computation we reckon that only 40000 of the fore-mentioned number that were driven out of this Kingdom were Manufacturers it requires greater skill in Manufactures and knowledge in Arithmetick than I am Master of accurately to assign the vast damage the Kingdom hath annually sustained thereby However the Effects are visible in the Abatements of Trade and Rents The losing of our Trade to other Countries who have thereby gained upon us in those Manufactures whereon we mostly value our selves and which were in a manner until these Persecutions began peculiar unto us And all this only to support and please a Party and keep up the use of two or three unnecessary Ceremonies The lesser concurrent Causes of the Abatement of Rents since 1662. were the two Dutch Wars which were fomented by the Papists Abetted and carried on by the Tantivy Party and the Destruction made by the Burning of London which Ruined many Merchants Tradesmen and Manufacturers Yet had not the same Party by Stifling the Discovery thereof discouraged and by Persecution driven great numbers of them out of the Kingdom we had easily by our Manufactures and Trade retrieved those disadvantages For the Woollen Manufactures being then in a manner peculiar to Us Forreign Countries must have been Supply'd from hence had not our Merchants Tradesmen and Manufacturers been deny'd the Liberty and incouragements at home which they were Courted to and did receive abroad Hereby we laid the Foundation of the decay of Trade and Abatement of Rents by making other Countries sharers with us in our most profitable Trades Thus I have set down as the means whereby Rents were advanced to what they were about 1662. So likewise the unhappy Causes of their Abatement since which concludes my Answer to the third Query The Fourth Query is Whether the State of Trade through Europe considered as it stood before the present War it be the true Interest of England that Rents should generally advance above what they were about 1662. and by what Methods may they