much Incouragement as a Lottery but to the contrary should be suppressed And I know a great Minister who once disputed on that with warmth against a care for Wooll and that it was a burthen to the Nation It may not be Foreign to this Discourse to give the heads of the Dispute which I the rather do that so it may shew the need there is for the Great Council of the Nation to take it under their Consideration The Discourse rose on a Proposition that was brought to him for stopping a vast Quantity of Wooll that was then going to France it was brought him in Writing and demonstrated That that very Wooll was enough to work up all the Coarse Wooll of France for Seven Years and that the consequence would be the loss of great part of our Manufactories to Spain and Portugal The Minister made little return to that but brought his Discourse to the great Loss it was to Men of Estates that there was not a way for Selling twice the Wooll that now they did That there was three Years Wooll then in England and what should Men do upon this Topick of the want of a Consumption for the Wooll of England the Gentleman laid down these Positions First That the War was one Reason of the Decay of the Woollen Manufactories Secondly That the extraordinary Escapes of Wooll to Foreign Parts put them upon making more Woollen Manufactories than ever they did before and that abated our Trade abroad Thirdly That our Wooll going to Foreign Parts made it so cheap at home This I remember put the Minister into a â—aughter and laying the two first aside he desir'd him to make out the last Position That the Escapes of Wooll to Foreign Parts made the Wooll fall in Price That the sending so great Quantities of Wooll out of the Kingdom should fall the Price of that which was left was a Mistery he could not understand but seem'd to him the only way to make it rise But the Gentleman undertook to make out his Assertion that every Pound of English Wooll worked up Three Pound of Foreign Wooll and that as much as they Manufactur'd so much was Abated in our Exports for that they made such Manufactoryes with our Wooll as they could not make without it and consequently by that means one pound of our Wooll with theirs made four times as much Cloaths and Stuffs as we could have made with it if we had kept it at home From which he Inferred That if one fourth of the Wooll of England went to Foreign Parts there would be as much Manufactoryes made Abroad for Foreign Markets as we could make if we had wrought all our own Wooll and so much being made Abroad we could not have use for half our own Wooll that was left This he affirmed was the reason that there lay so much Wooll unwrought in England and he being brought for Proof of what he said That which was Matter of Fact I thought undeniable though it would not be allowed so by the Minister The thing was this The Year after the Restauration there was a Gentleman that got a Grant from the King with a Non obstante to any Statute for Liberty to Export a certain Quantity of Wooll to Foreign Parts from Ireland upon which some Merchants in London buying the Grant sent over to Ireland and bought most of the Wooll and sent it to Foreign Parts this at first rais'd the Price of Wooll both there and in England but in so short a time as Five Moneths it fell Fifty per Cent. And though not one fourth of what formerly came from Ireland into England came then to England yet there was no Vent for the Wooll of England and in Ireland it fell from Seven Shillings to Three Shillings and Six Pence their Stone of Sixteen pounds all the time they shipped it for Foreign Parts This he affirm'd he could prove by the Merchants Books that were concern d to be litterally true and that the Year after the Shipping for Foreign Parts was over that Wooll rise to its former Price both here and in Ireland And he farther added that the great Quantities which by stealth go from England and Ireland makes Wooll in both Kingdoms fall in Price according to the Quantities that are sent out This part of the Dispute being over the next Question was Whither the Wooll of Ireland did not Abate the Price of the Wooll in England and hinder Sheep Masters from Inlarging their Flocks and consequently keep down the Rents of Land This was answered in the Negative to all the three that it did not Abate the Price of English Wooll nor hinder the Increase of Sheep or Abate the Rents of Land That the Irish Wooll coming into England helped the working up of some Wooll that could not be made the most of without it That the Wooll of Ireland was a larger Staple than that of England and most proper for Bayes and Serges That it was not the Wooll of Ireland that came to England that made the Price fall but it was that which went to Foreign Parts that did the Mischief and for the reasons before given he concluded that if there went no Wooll from England or Ireland to Foreign Parts all the Wooll of both Kingdoms would not be half enough to supply the Manufactories that England would have Markets for Abroad for that there is now made twice as much Manufactories with the help of our Wooll Abroad as is made in England so that if there were an effectual stop upon the Wooll of both Kingdoms the Flocks of both might be trebled and yet not be sufficient for the Manufactories England might vent This in few words was the best account I ever heard of the Nature and Improvement of the Wooll of these Kingdoms and is such demonstration of the Mischief the Exports of Wooll doth to the Nation that I cannot but think him a worse Enemy to his Country than a Common Pyrate for that he robs but a small Number but he that sends out Wooll destroys Thousands weakens the Strength of the Nation both at Land and Sea and if we believe the Lord Coke's Assertion That Nine parts of the Trade of England comes from the Sheeps Back there cannot be enough done to secure it but it hath ever been the misfortune of our Nation neither to punish or reward Impunity in the first makes us abound in Criminals and the neglect in the latter makes us barren of great Actions for our Countrey I mean in that which makes a Nation Rich and Wise Our Ancestours shewed more of their good will to it in the Dark of Trade and Navigation than we do at Noon-day I have often thought that it was possible for a Monarch of these Kingdoms to make all Europe Tributaries to him in Trade by a true Management of the Natureal and Artificial Product and Navigation of these Kingdoms without being oblig'd to any help but what ariseth from his own Dominions of which
Expence of Manufactories and Product of England for that they have from England or would if the Laws of that Kingdom in Relation to the Customs were duely executed most of the fine Draperies Silk Iron Manufactory Haberdashers-Wares Hats Sadlers Wares Tapes Pins and other small Manufactories Also from England they have all the hopes white Salt Coals Brass Commodities Tobacco Sugars and Groceryes They also Imploy or should so if due care was taken in the Act of Navigation the Ships of England all which would be considerably advanced if that Kingdom were improved by Foreigners 2. Foreigners would Inlarge the Linnen Manufactory in Ireland to which no part of Europe is most proper And there is already a beginning and aptness in the Irish to that Manufactory and however it is not the Interest of England that Ireland should grow in the Woollen Manufactory yet it is that that they should in the Linnen and Cordage But of this I shall in the Second Part when I come to Discourse at large of the Trade of Ireland say more 3. The bringing Foreign Protestants into Ireland will Inlarge the Fishings there Great part of which will be to the Advantage of England as would the General Improvement of Ireland be if it were dispos'd to such Trade and Navigation as might be subservient and helpful to ours But to make Laws with design to keep them Poor is not unlike him that set his own House on Fire that his Neighbours might be burnt keeping Ireland Poor and discouraging the Protestant Interest there puts that Kingdom in the hands of the Irish and that renders it not only unprofitable to England but dangerous the management of Ireland Since the first Conquest will not be Credited in future Ages and although we must own of a Nation that hath the best Constitution in Government we have alwayes been unhappy in the Administration yet I think in nothing so much as in the Neglect of Trade and in that of Ireland which any Nation but we would make a Treasure of and we Imploy all our skill to make it an Aceldama It hath been so to this poor Kingdom and if relation be true is in a ready way to be so again They in whose Province it is will consider the Politick part my business is Trade and in that I will venture to say Ireland might be made more profitable to England than all the Foreign Plantations have ever yet been I confess New-England and Newfound-Land may be made more than altogether but that which makes Ireland of more Consideration to England than all the rest is because without keeping that we can enjoy none of the rest It is every days Refuge for our Merchant-Men and not to be forgotten how soon after this Reduction it saved our Smirna and Levant Fleet. Of the Manufactory and Dispose of Sheeps-Wooll THIS is the great Staple of the Kingdom and in truth of the World which by Divine Providence is so put into our hands as that without a turn in Nature we cannot totally loose it yet all that is possible for an unthinking People as we are call'd abroad we have done to the prejudice of those Commodities by which means we have transferr'd great part of our Woollen Manufactoryes to other Countreys to Germany and Venice our Coarse Draperies to Holland and France our fine and New Draperies and that which is remarkable is that we laid the foundation for loosing them the same way by which we first got them that is by persecuting Men for their Religion Abel's acceptable Sacrifice seems still to follow the Fleece No Society of Men in the Kingdom are so generally affected with the strictest Injunctions of our Religion as our People bred up in the Woollen Manufactories and these Men first fell under the Rod after the Restauration an excellent Reform to drive Men out of the Kingdom for having too much Religion but not question such as had none at all This driving our Clothiers into Germany and Holland put them and their Friends upon Inventions to send our Wooll after them and in that their Friends that stay'd behind were and still are assisting them though to the prejudice of the Trades they are in themselves there being nothing that draws compassion more from one Man to another than seeing Men of honest and unblameable Conversation us'd worse than Thieves and Robbers for serving God according to their Conscience This severity banish'd many thousands out of England soon after the Restauration of Charles the Second One Tilham carried in the Year 1665 Three Thousand into the Prince Palatine of the Rhyne and divers others did the same into other parts insomuch that Account was taken of Twenty Thousand Sacks of Wooll carried into one Port of France in less than Two Years from England and more went from Ireland and besides the Quantities that went for Holland is Incredible All this is evidently fallen upon the Nation by the fury of those that would make a Trade of Religion and banish those that had Religion with their Trades But blessed be God we have now a King of a more comprehensive Perswasion and our Church better supply'd with Men of Learning and Charity which the Infallible Authour tells us is above all the Arts Sciences and Acts of Devotion whatsoever Such Numbers of Men being gone out of the Kingdom for want of that Liberty they may now injoy it is a wonder they do not return and a greater that they are not sent for and Invited back We do not consider what the loss of a Man is in a Kingdom not half Peopled We want nothing so much as Bodies of Men and it is said we have above Thirty Thousand in Foreign Countreys and they are not of the raff but sober Industrious People such as these should not be lost But from the hands to Work Wooll I come to the Wooll it self how useful and in some cases of such absolute use in their Manufactories that they can make none of their best without our Wooll This is no Secret nor the Severe Laws that are made to prevent Escapes of Wooll but none have proved effectual some of them being too easie and others severe to loss of Life to them all I have seen a Proposal of a Gentleman that hath been a great Dealer in that Commodity to Foreign Parts which he affirms would be Infallible to prevent Exports of Wooll to Foreign Parts From England it seems probable enough but he is positive and reserves part of the Secret which he saith when told will make every one that hears it as positive as himself I would have perswaded him to offer it to the House but he expects a great Gratification and that he thinks at this time will not be given though I am of another mind and believe he deserves more than he can either ask or expect if his Project takes It is indeed to be lamented that solid Proposals for the Trade and Manufactory of the Nation should not meet with so
which I think not to be sufficiently consider'd or understood were it so but in this one triffle it deserves no better a Name if relation be had to the use of it There is plain demonstration that what with the turn of our hands to a Commodity as we now Purchase with Money from abroad and with the preventing the Imports of Lace the whole would add more than Six Hundred Thousand Pounds per Annum so the Treasure of the Nation and this might in my humble Opinion be easier done than regulating the East-India-Company I will not make comparisons as to the Gain but wish I knew any one Trade though that of the Foreign Plantations were one that brings in Six Hundred Thousand Pounds Sterling clear Gain to the Nation as this might do if the Old Proverb be allowed that a Penny sav'd is a Penny got But that I might not lye under a Vulgar censure in this matter though I take it to be as much an Error that Extravagancies in Cloaths is an Advantage to the Artizans Manufactoryes and Poor of the Nation what is here propos'd doth not bar the Gayety and Expence of such as delight in fine Cloaths for that there may be other Inventions found out for Ornament as Costly as Lace I remember when Band-strings were come to such Curiosity in Work that they were wore from Five Shillings to Five Pound a Pair and made in England and have my self when I could not write Man had Ribbons to one Suit to more than Fifteen Pounds Value If these Extravagancies must be used were it not better to have them of our own Fabrick than from them that eat not our Bread nor wear our Wooll though they work too much of it I have done on this head when I say That as the Wisdom of the Nation makes Laws of Prohibition I wish there was effectual means to have them observ'd Of Sumptuary Lawes I Think Laws to Restrain Excess in Apparel and Food may properly be brought into a Treatise of Trade and that Sumptuary Lawes are or should be a Guide in it That before I Engage in this Matter there is a Receiv'd Opinion to be removed and that is that Expence of the Labour and Product of a Countrey is the support of the Artizans and beings Riches to Men of Real Estates If this was in Truth so then there is not only an end of Sumptuary Lawes but some other Statutes and Customs that yet hinder Abuses which perchance might otherwise grow amongst us as Artizans and Tradesmen wearing Swords that would Increase that Manufactory yet in well-Governed Places the Justices and Magistrates of Towns would bind to the good behaviour such as did if Servants and Apprentices were allowed playing at Cards and Dice it would occasion the Consumption of great Quantities and so Inlarge those Manufactories yet the Laws and Custom of the Nation Prohibits it and it is a Covenant in the Indentures of Apprentices to this day that they Forfeit their Indentures if they do use them in Play If then there be reason for these smaller Expences there seems reason for Care in greater How the Old Sumptuary Laws of the Nation comes to be out of use I could never understand nor can I think that it is that because they were found Injurious to our Tradesmen and Manufactoryes but rather the Vanity and Levity of the Nation in following the Modes of France which taking first in our Courts descended to Lower Ranks of People and Merchants and Tradesmen making a Gain by Curiosities in Apparel that soon begat a Party to support them until the Livelyhood of Numbers depended on the Manufactoryes of them And that brings me to Inquire into the Opinion that it is a benefit of the Nation to be Expensive in Diet and Apparel The Reason that is given for it is because it Imploys the Poor and supports the Farmer to pay greater Rents To this I Answer First That whatever Artizans and Farmers get by Consumption in the Kingdom is no profit to the Nation No Private Gentleman is accounted Rich if he spends all his Rents in Cloaths and House-keeping though it be all layd out among his own Tenants but he is accounted Rich in that he saves over above his Expence And it holds so in a Kingdom the Riches of a Countrey is accounâ—ed and made out of nothing but their Exports that is common to every Understanding and needs no Explanation and being allowed what a Miserable People should we be if we supported the Common People by our home Consumption It would terminate in paying Rents as they do in Scotland in kind that is as they call it Victual Corn c. For if we spend all in the Countrey we shall have no Exports and consequently no Money 2. What is spent in the Kingdom lessens the Gain of the Artizan and Country-Man for that Exports would raise the Price of our Native Commodities by Increasing Chapmen and bringing Strangers and Trade into the Kingdom We need not go farther than the Isle of Man for Demonstration Perchance those People Eat and Drink better Wear as Warm and Decent Cloths as our Yeomen in Kent and yet One Thousand of them make not so great a Purse as One of our Yeomen before-mentioned and the reason is because they live upon their own Product If what is here said be sufficient to prove that the Nation is no Gainer by what is spent if we then come to that of Sumptuary Laws how the observance of them would Increase the Trade and Treasure of the Nation I begin with that of Apparel and that I must crave leave to differ with a Fam'd Author Montaigne who gave his Opinion on this Subject that it would be for the Profit of the Kingdom and take off all from Wearing Rich Cloaths if the King and Court did not wear such though no doubt it would have that effect of taking off the People from Sumptuous Cloaths if the Court wore plain and so far do good as it reached the Common People yet it would have an ill consequence where it effected the Court and Nobility for that their Expence is a Gain to the Nation and Incouragement to Industry Not that I think it imploys the Poor more than they would be if they worked for Exportation but that I conceive in this matter is that Frugality in the Court and Nobility would bring all the Money of the Nation into their Coffers for they seldom Trade and so there would want Running Cash to drive the Trade of the Nation and then there would need no Laws to restrain the middle People in their Cloths for they would soon come to Raggs I think it therefore distructive to the Nation for Men of great Estates to be Parcimonious as I do for others to be Extravagant Montaigne writ his Opinion as a Lord and I as a Commoner If Lords lived as Commoners Commoners would never be Lords And perhaps if there was no room for Ambition there might not