that quantity First Because the City of London is doubled 2. Because the use of Coals is also at least doubled because they were heretofore seldom used in Chambers as now they are nor were there so many Bricks burned with them as of late nor did the Country on both sides the Thames make use of them as now Besides there are employed in the Guinny and American Trade above forty thousand Tun of Shipping per annum which Trade in those days was inconsiderable The quantity of Wines Imported was not near so much as now and to be short the Customs upon Imported and Exported Commodities did not then yield a third part of the present value which shews that not only Shipping but Trade it self hath increased somewhat near that proportion As to Mony the Interest thereof was within this fifty years at 10 l. per Cent. forty years ago at 8 l. and now at 6 l. no thanks to any Laws which have been made to that purpose forasmuch as those who can give good security may now have it at less But the natural fall of Interest is the effect of the increase of Mony The fears of many concerning the Welfare of England The real Prejudices of England The Improvements of England The Author's Method and Manner of Arguing The Nature of his Positions and Suppositions How one Man by art and one Acre of Land by improvement may be equivalent to many A Comparison of Holland and Zealand with France That the Lands of France are to the Lands of Holland and Zealand as 8 to 1 in value The Buildings of Amsterdam are about half in value to those at Paris The Housing in France above five times the value of those in Holland and Zealand The Shipping of Holland 9 times that of France The Comparison of Holl. and France in the India's The exportations of France and Holl. and is as 21 to 5. The Revenues of France The Taxes paid by Holl. and Zealand The Difference of interest between Hol. France The superlucration between France and Holl. The causes of the difference between France and Holl. The reasons why rich Land is better than course Land tho of the same Rent and consequently why Holl. is better than Fran. The advantages from the level and windmills of Holl. The advantages from Holl. of Manufacture Commerce The Situation of Holl. Zeal upon the Mouths of three great Rivers Nearness to navigable Waters The defensibleness of Holland Harbouring of Shipping at small expence Advantages from Fishing Advantages by Naval Provisions Fitness for Universal Trade Artificial advantages of Trade Husbandmen Seamen Soldiers Artizans and Merchants are the very Pillars of a Common-Wealth and a Seaman is three of them A Seaman equivalent to three Husbandmen Silver Gold and Jewels are Universal Wealth Reasons why the Hollanders Sail for less Freight The Policy of Holland Undermasting of Ships Liberty of Conscience and the Reasons thereof in Holland The Trade of any Country is chiefly managed by the Heterodox party All the Papists Seamen of Europe are scarce sufficient to Man the King of Englands Fleet. Firm Titles to Lands and Houses Of the introducing Registries into England The Banks of Holland The Hollanders are seldom Husbandmen or Foot Soldiers The Method of computing the value of Men and People Reasons why Rents do fall What shift ing of Money from hand is profitable or not Taxing of new works a benefit to the Common-wealth The taxing of Idlers A judgment of what taxes are advangeous It is probable that Holland and England are grown richer under taxes The difference of Princes Revenues That Ireland may be more advantageously taxed by a Pole in Flax. Duties put upon redundant Commodities may be a harmless Tax Of a Tax by a grand Militia and by two other sorts of Armies For supplying the Navy and Merchants with Seamen A Herring Tax upon Scotland The qualities of Ships fit for the defence of England The qualifications of Seamen for defence The Number of Seamen in France The ways whereby the French must increase Seamen Why Seamen dislike Land-men The danger of English Seamen their serving the French How Men learn to be good Seamen Whether the Shipping Trade of France is like to increase Reasons why it cannot Of comparison between the Territories of England and France A Proposition for quitting Ireland the Highlands of Scotland That England and the Low-lands of Scotland will feed all the People of England Scotland Ireland That the value of all the quitted Lands and immovable goods and charge of transplantation are not worth above 17 Millions That those who purchase Ireland shall weaken themselves That the difference between England's France's Territory is not material 〈…〉 The multitude of Clergy's do lessen the K. of France's People the multitude of Sea Naval Men doincrease the K. of England's Subjects The K. of England's Territories are in effect but 12 Miles from Navigable Water the King of France's 65. The decay of timber in Englan is no very formidable matter The K. of England's Subjects spend near as much as the K. of France's The greater spendor of the King of France no certain argument of the greater Wealth of his People Comparison of the foreign Trade of England and France The disunion of the Territories of England is an impediment of its greatness The different Legislatures another impediment The colonies belonging to England a diminution to the Empire The different Understanding of Prerogative and Privileges of Parliament Law and Equity Civil and Ecclesiastical the Supream Legislature of Ireland c. Want of Natural Union for want of mixture and transplantation The unequal inconvenient method of taxing Inequality of Shires Diocesses Parishes Members of Parliament c. Many Territories have been added to England within about forty years and many improvements made The Housing of London doubled in value The Shipping very much increased with the Reasons thereof Interest of Mony abated near half
LET this Book called Political Arithmetick which was long since Writ by Sir William Petty deceased be Printed Given at the Court at Whitehall the 7th day of Novemb. 1690. Nottingham Political Arithmetick OR A DISCOURSE Concerning The Extent and Value of Lands People Buildings Husbandry Manufacture Commerce Fishery Artizans Seamen Soldiers Publick Revenues Interest Taxes Superlucration Registries Banks Valuation of Men Increasing of Seamen of Militia's Harbours Situation Shipping Power at Sea c. As the same relates to every Country in general but more particularly to the Territories of His Majesty of Great Britain and his Neighbours of Holland Zealand and France By Sir WILLIAM PETTY Late Fellow of the Royal Society London Printed for Robert Clavel at the Peacock and Hen. Mortlock at the Phoenix in St. Paul's Church-yard 1690. TO THE KINGS Most Excellent MAJESTY SIR WHilest every one meditates some fit Offering for Your Majesty such as may best agree with your happy Exaltation to this Throne I presume to offer what my Father long since writ to shew the weight and importance of the English Crown It was by him stiled Political Arithmetick in as much as things of Government and of no less concern and extent than the Glory of the Prince and the happiness and greatness of the People are by the Ordinary Rules of Arithmetick brought into a sort of Demonstration He was allowed by all to be the Inventor of this Method of Instruction where the perplexed and intricate ways of the World are explain'd by a very mean peice of Science and had not the Doctrins of this Essay offended France they had long since seen the light and had sound Followers as well as improvements before this time to the advantage perhaps of Mankind But this has been reserved to the felicity of Your Majesty's Reign and to the expectation which the Learned have therein and if while in this I do some honor to the Memory of a good Father I can also pay Service and some Testimony of my Zeal and Reverence to so great a King it will be the utmost Ambition of SIR Your Majesty's Most Dutiful and Most Obedient Subject Shelborne PREFACE FOrasmuch as Men who are in a decaying condition or who have but an ill opinion of their own Concernments instead of being as some think the more industrious to resist the Evils they apprehend do contrariwise become the more languid and ineffectual in all their Endeavours neither caring to attempt or prosecute even the probable means of their relief Upon this Consideration as a Member of the Common-Wealth next to knowing the precise Truth in what condition the common Interest stands I would in all doubtful Cases think the best and consequently not despair without strong and manifest Reasons carefully examining whatever tends to lessen my hopes of the publick Welfare I have therefore thought fit to examin the following Perswasions which I find too currant in the World and too much to have affected the Minds of some to the prejudice of all viz. That the Rents of Lands are generally fall'n that therefore and for many other Reasons the whole Kingdom grows every day poorer and poorer that formerly it abounded with Gold but now there is a great scarcity both of Gold and Silver that there is no Trade nor Employment for the People and yet that the Land is under-peopled that Taxes have been many and great that Ireland and the Plantations in America and other Additions to the Crown are a Burthen to England that Scotland is of no Advantage that Trade in general doth lamentably decay that the Hollanders are at our heels in the race of Naval Power the French grow too fast upon both and appear so rich and potent that it is but their Clemency that they do not devour their Neighbors and finally that the Church and State of England are in the same danger with the Trade of England with many other dismal Suggestions which I had rather stifle than repeat 'T is true the Expence of foreign Commodities hath of late been too great much of our Plate had it remain'd Money would have better served Trade too many Matters have been regulated by Laws which Nature long Custom and general Consent ought only to have governed the Slaughter and Destruction of Men by the late Civil Wars and Plague have been great the Fire at London and Disaster at Chatham have begotten Opinions in the Vulgus of the World to our Prejudice the Nonconformists increase the People of Ireland think long of their Settlement the English there apprehend themselves to be Aliens and are forced to seek a Trade with Foreigners which they might as well maintain with their own Relations in England But notwithstanding all this the like whereof was always in all Places the Buildings of London grow great and glorious the American Plantations employ four Hundred Sail of Ships Actions in the East-India Company are near double the principal Money those who can give good Security may have Money under the Statute-Interest Materials for building even Oaken-Timber are little the dearer some cheaper for the rebuilding of London the Exchange seems as full of Merchants as formerly no more Beggars in the Streets nor executed for Thieves than heretofore the Number of Coaches and Splendor of Equipage exceeding former Times the publique Theatres very magnificent the King has a greater Navy and stronger Guards than before our Calamities the Clergy rich and the Cathedrals in repair much Land has been improved and the Price of Food so reasonable as that Men refuse to have it cheaper by admitting of Irish Cattle And in brief no Man needs to want that will take moderate pains That some are poorer than others ever was and ever will be And that many are naturally querulous and envious is an Evil as old as the World These general Observations and that Men eat and drink and laugh as they use to do have encouraged me to try if I could also comfort others being satisfied my self that the Interest and Affairs of England are in no deplorable Condition The Method I take to do this is not yet very usual for instead of using only comparative and superlative Words and intellectual Arguments I have taken the course as a Specimen of the Political Arithmetick I have long aimed at to express my self in Terms of Number Weight or Measure to use only Arguments of Sense and to consider only such Causes as have visible Foundations in Nature leaving those that depend upon the mutable Minds Opinions Appetites and Passions of particular Men to the Consideration of others Really professing my self as unable to speak satisfactorily upon those Grounds if they may be call'd Grounds as to foretel the cast of a Dye to play well at Tennis Billiards or Bowles without long practice by virtue of the most elaborate Conceptions that ever have been written De Projectilibus Missilibus or of the Angles of Incidence and Reflection Now the Observations
the Twenty reserved an Hundred I might here add many more particulars but being the same as have already been noted by others I shall conclude only with adding one observation which I take to be of consequence viz. That the Hollanders do rid their hands of two Trades which are of greatest turmoil and danger and yet of least profit the first whereof is that of a common and private Soldier for such they can hire from England Scotland and Germany to venture their lives for Six pence a day whilst themselves safely and quietly follow such Trades whereby the meanest of them gain six times as much and withal by this entertaining of Strangers for Soldiers their Country becomes more and more peopled forasmuch as the Children of such Strangers are Hollanders and take to Trades whilst new Strangers are admitted ad infinitum besides these Soldiers at convenient intervals do at least as much work as is equivalent to what they spend and consequently by this way of employing of Strangers for Soldiers they People the Country and save their own Persons from danger and misery without any real expence effecting by this method what others have in vain attempted by Laws for Naturalizing of Strangers as if Men could be charmed to transplant themselves from their own Native into a Foreign Country merely by words and for the bare leave of being called by a new Name In Ireland Laws of Naturalization have had little effect to bring in Aliens and 't is no wonder since English Men will not go thither without they may have the pay of Soldiers or some other advantage amounting to maintenance Having intimated the way by which the Hollanders do increase their People I shall here digress to set down the way of computing the value of every Head one with another and that by the instance of People in England viz. Suppose the People of England be Six Millions in number that their expence at 7 l. per Head be forty two Millions suppose also that the Rent of the Lands be eight Millions and the profit of all the Personal Estate be Eight Millions more it must needs follow that the Labour of the People must have supplyed the remaining Twenty Six Millions the which multiplied by Twenty the Mass of Mankind being worth Twenty Years purchase as well as Land makes Five Hundred and Twenty Millions as the value of the whole People which number divided by Six Millions makes above 80 l. Sterling to be valued of each Head of Man Woman and Child and of adult Persons twice as much from whence we may learn to compute the loss we have sustained by the Plague by the Slaughter of Men in War and by the sending them abroad into the Service of Foreign Princes The other Trade of which the Hollanders have rid their Hands is the old Patriarchal Trade of being Cow-keepers and in a great Measure of that which concerns Ploughing and Sowing of Corn having put that Employment upon the Danes and Polanders from whom they have their Young Cattle and Corn. Now here we may take notice that as Trades and curious Arts increase so the Trade of Husbandry will decrease or else the Wages of Husbandmen must rise and consequently the Rents of Lands must fall For proof whereof I dare affirm that if all the Husbandmen of England who now earn but 8 d. a day or thereabouts could become Tradesmen and earn 16 d. a day which is no great Wages 2 s. and 2 s. 6 d. being usually given that then it would be the advantage of England to throw up their Husbandry and to make no use of their Lands but for Grass Horses Milch Cows Gardens and Orchards c. which if it be so and if Trade and Manufacture have increased in England that is to say if a greater part of the People apply themselves to those faculties than there did heretofore and if the price of Corn be no greater now than when Husbandmen were more numerous and Tradesmen fewer It follows from that single reason though others may be added that the Rents of Land must fall As for example suppose the price of Wheat be 5 s. or 60 pence the Bushel now if the Rent of the Land whereon it grows be the third Sheaf then of the 60d 20d is for the Land and 40 d. for the Husbandman But if the Husbandmans Wages should rise one eighth part or from 8 d. to 9 d. per Diem then the Husbandmans share in the Bushel of Wheat rises from 40 d. to 45 d. And consequently the Rent of the Land must fall from 20 d. to 15 d. for we suppose the price of the Wheat still remains the same Especially since we cannot raise it for if we did attempt it Cornwould be brought in to us as into Holland from Foreign Parts where the State of Husbandry was not changed And thus I have done with the first principal Conclusion that A small Territory and even a few People may by Situation Trade and Policy be made equivalent to a greater and that convenience for Shipping and Water-carriage do most eminently and fundamentally conduce thereunto CHAP. II. That some kind of Taxes and Publick Levies may rather increase than diminish the Wealth of the Kingdom IF the Money or other Effects levyed from the People by way of Tax were destroyed and annihilated then 't is clear that such Levies would diminish the Commonwealth Or if the same were exported out of the Kingdom without any return at all then the case would be also the same or worse But if what is levyed as aforesaid be only transferred from one hand to another then we are only to consider whether the said Money or Commodities are taken from an improving hand and given to an ill Husband or vice versa As for example suppose that Money by way of Tax be taken from one who spendeth the same in superfluous eating and drinking and delivered to another who employeth the same in improving of Land in Fishing in working of Mines in Manufacture c. It is manifest that such Tax is an advantage to the State whereof the said different Persons are Members Nay if Money be taken from him who spendeth the same as aforesaid upon eating and drinking or any other perishing Commodity and the same transferr'd to one that bestoweth it on Cloaths I say that even in this case the Commonwealth hath some little advantage because Cloaths do not altogether perish so soon as Meats and Drinks But if the same be spent in Furniture of Houses the advantage is yet a little more if in Building of Houses yet more if in improving of Lands working of Mines Fishing c. yet more but most of all in bringing Gold and Silver into the Country Because those things are not only not perishable but are esteemed for Wealth at all times and every where Whereas other Commodities which are perishable or whose value depends upon the Fashion or which are contingently scarce
and plentiful are wealth but pro hic nunc as shall be elsewhere said In the next place if the People of any Country who have not already a full employment should be enjoyned or Taxed to work upon such Commodities as are Imported from abroad I say that such a Tax also doth improve the Commonwealth Moreover if Persons who live by begging cheating stealing gaming borrowing without intention of restoring who by those ways do get from the credulous and careless more than is sufficient for the subsistence of such Persons I say that although the State should have no present employment for such Persons and consequently should be forced to bear the whole charge of their livelyhood yet it were more for the publick profit to give all such Persons a regular and competent allowance by Publick Tax than to suffer them to spend extravagantly at the only charge of careless credulous and good natured People And to expose the Commonwealth to the loss of so many able Men whose lives are taken away for the crimes which ill Discipline doth occasion On the contrary If the Stocks of laborious and ingenious Men who are not only beautifying the Country where they live by elegant Dyet Apparrel Furniture Housing pleasant Gardens Orchards and Publick Edifices c. But are also increasing the Gold Silver and Iewels of the Country by Trade and Arms I say if the Stock of these Men should be diminished by a Tax and transferred to such as do nothing at all but eat and drink sing play and dance nay to such as study the Metaphysicks or other needless Speculation or else employ themselves in any other way which produce no material thing or things of real use and value in the Commonwealth In this case the Wealth of the Publick will be diminished Otherwise than as such exercises are recreations and refreshments of the mind and which being moderately used do qualifie and dispose Men to what in it self is more considerable Wherefore upon the whole matter to know whether a Tax will do good or harm The State of the People and their employments must be well known that is to say what part of the People are unfit for Labour by their Infancy or Impotency and also what part are exempt from the same by reason of their Wealth Function or Dignities or by reason of their charge and employments otherwise than in governing directing and preserving those who are appointed to Labour and Arts. 2. In the next place computation must be made what part of those who are fit for Labour and Arts as aforesaid are able to perform the work of the Nation in its present State and Measure 3. It is to be considered whether the remainder can make all or any part of those Commodities which are Imported from abroad which of them and how much in particular The remainder of which sort of People if any be may safely and without possible prejudice to the Commonwealth be employed in Arts and Exercises of pleasure and ornament the greatest whereof is the Improvement of natural knowledge Having thus in general illustrated this point which I think needs no other proof but illustration I come next to intimate that no part of Europe hath paid so much by way of Tax and publick contribution as Holland and Zealand for this last 100 Years and yet no Country hath in the same time increased their Wealth comparably to them And it is manifest they have followed the general considerations above-mentioned for they Tax Meats and Drinks most heavily of all to restrain the excessive expence of those things which 24 hours doth as to the use of Man wholly annihilate and they are more favourable to Commodities of greater duration Nor do they Tax according to what Men gain but in extraordinary cases but always according to what Men spend And most of all according to what they spend needlesly and without prospect of return Upon which grounds their Customs upon Goods Imported and Exported are generally low as if they intended by them only to keep an account of their Foreign Trade and to retaliate upon their Neighbour States the prejudices done them by their Prohibitions and Impositions It is further to be observed that since the Year 1636 the Taxes and Publick Levies made in England Scotland and Ireland have been prodigiously greater than at any time heretofore and yet the said Kingdoms have increased in their Wealth and Strength for these last Forty Years as shall hereafter be shewn It is said that the King of France at present doth Levy the Fifth Part of his Peoples Wealth and yet great Ostentation is made of the Present Riches and Strength of that Kingdom Now great care must be had in distinguishing between the Wealth of the People and that of an absolute Monarch who taketh from the People where when and in what proportion he pleaseth Moreover the Subjects of two Monarchs may be equally Rich and yet one Monarch may be double as Rich as the other viz. If one take the tenth part of the Peoples Substance to his own dispose and the other but the 20th nay the Monarch of a poorer People may appear more splendid and glorious than that of a Richer which perhaps may be somewhat the case of France as hereafter shall be examined As an instance and application of what hath been said I conceive that in Ireland wherein are about 1200 Thousand People and near 300 Thousand Smokes or Hearths It were more tolerable for the People and more profitable for the King that each Head paid 2 s. worth of Flax than that each smoke should pay 2 s. in Silver And that for the following reasons 1. Ireland being under peopled and Land and Cattle being very cheap there being every where store of Fish and Fowl the ground yielding excellent Roots and particularly that bread-like root Potatoes and withal they being able to perform their Husbandry with such harness and tackling as each Man can make with his own hands and living in such Houses as almost every Man can build and every House-wife being a Spinner and Dyer of Wool and Yarn they can live and subsist after their present fashion without the use of Gold or Silver Money and can supply themselves with the necessaries above named without labouring 2 Hours per diem Now it hath been found that by reason of Insolvencies arising rather from the uselessness than want of Money among these poor People that from 300 Thousand Hearths which should have yielded 30 Thousand Pound per annum not 15 Thousand Pound of Money could be Levyed Whereas it is easily imagined that four or five People dwelling in that Cottage which hath but one smoke could easily have planted a ground-plot of about 40 foot square with Flax or the 50 part of an Acre for so much ground will bear eight or ten Shillings worth of that Commodity and the Rent of so much ground in few places amounts to a
penny per annum Nor is there any skill requisite to this practice wherewith the Country is not already familiar Now as for a Market for the Flax there is Imported into Holland it self over and above what that Country produces as much Flax as is there sold for between Eightscore and Two Hundred Thousand Pound and into England and Ireland is Imported as much Linnen Cloth made of Flax and there spent as is worth above ½ a Million of Money As shall hereafter be shewn Wherefore having shewn that Silver Money is useless to the poor People of Ireland that half the Hearth Money could not be raised by reason thereof that the People are not a fifth part employed that the People and Land of Ireland are competently qualified for Flax That one Penny-worth of Land will produce Ten Shillings worth of the same and that there is Market enough and enough for above an Hundred Thousand Pounds worth I conceive my Proposition sufficiently proved at least to set forwards and promote a practice which both the present Law and Interest of the Country doth require Especially since if all the Flax so produced should yield nothing yet there is nothing lost the same time having been worse spent before Upon the same grounds the like Tax of 2 s. per Head may be raised with the like advantage upon the People of England which will amount to Six Hundred Thousand Pound per annum to be paid in Flax Manufactured into all the sorts of Linnens Threds Tapes and Laces which we now receive from France Flanders Holland and Germany the value whereof doth far exceed the summ last mentioned as hath appeared by the examination of particulars It is observed by Clothiers and others who employ great numbers of poor people that when Corn is extremely plentiful that the Labour of the poor is proportionably dear And scarce to be had at all so licentious are they who labour only to eat or rather to drink Wherefore when so many Acres sown with Corn as do usually produce a sufficient store for the Nation shall produce perhaps double to what is expected or necessary it seems not unreasonable that this common blessing of God should be applied to the common good of all people represented by their Sovereign much rather than the same should be abused by the vile and brutish part of mankind to the prejudice of the Common-Wealth And consequently that such surplusage of Corn should be sent to publick Store-houses from thence to be disposed of to the best advantage of the Publick Now if the Corn spent in England at five shillings per Bushel Wheat and two shillings six pence Barley be worth ten Millions Communibus annis it follows that in years of great plenty when the said Grains are one third part cheaper that a vast advantage might accrue to the Common-Wealth which now is spent in over-feeding of the People in quantity or quality and so indisposing them to their usual Labour The like may be said of Sugar Tobacco and Pepper which custom hath now made necessary to all sorts of people and which the over-planting of them hath made unreasonably cheap I say it is not absurd that the Publick should be advantaged by this extraordinary plenty That an Excise should be laid upon Corrants also is not unreasonable not only for this but for other reasons also The way of the present Militia or Trained-Bands is a gentle Tax upon the Country because it is only a few days Labour in the year of a few Men in respect of the whole using their own goods that is their own Arms. Now if there be three Millions of Males in England there be above two hundred thousand of them who are between the age of sixteen and thirty unmarried persons and who live by their Labour and Service for of so many or thereabouts the present Militia consists Now if an hundred and five thousand of these were Armed and Trayned as Foot and fifty thousand as Horse Horse being of special advantage in Islands the said Forces at Land with thirty thousand Men at Sea would by Gods ordinary blessing defend this Nation being an Island against any Force in view But the charge of Arming Disciplining and Rendezvousing all these Men twice or thrice a year would be a very gentle Tax Levyed by the people themselves and paid to themselves Moreover if out of the said number â…“ part were selected of such as are more than ordinarily fit and disposed for War and to be Exercised and Rendezvoused fourteen or fifteen times per annum the charge thereof being but a fortnights Pay in the year would be also a very gentle Tax Lastly If out of this last mentioned number â…“ again should be selected making about twelve thousand Foot and near six thousand Horse to be Exercised and Rendezvoused forty days in the year I say that the charge of all these three Militias allowing the latter six weeks Pay per annum would not cost above one hundred and twenty thousand pound per annum which I take to be an easie burthen for so great a benefit Forasmuch as the present Navy of England requires thirty six thousand Men to Man it and for that the English Trade of Shipping requires about forty eight thousand Men to manage it also it follows that to perform both well there ought to be about seventy two thousand Men and not eighty four thousand competently qualified for these Services For want whereof we see that it is a long while before a Royal Navy can be manned which till it be is of no effectual use but lies at charge And we see likewise upon these occasions that Merchants are put to great straights and inconveniences and do pay excessive rates for the carrying on their Trade Now if twenty four thousand able bodyed Tradesmen were by six thousand of them per annum brought up and fitted for Sea-Service and for their incouragement allowed 20 s. per annum for every year they had been at Sea even when they stay at home not exceeding 6 l. for those who have served six years or upward it follows that about 72000 l. at the medium of 3 l. per Man would Salariate the whole number of twenty four thousand and so forasmuch as half the Seamen which mannage the Merchants Trade are supposed to be always in Harbour and are about twenty four thousand Men together with the said half of the Auxilliaries last mentioned would upon all emergencies Man out the whole Royal Navy with thirty six thousand and leaving to the Merchants twelve thousand of the abler Auxilliaries to perform their business in Harbour till others come home from Sea and thus thirty six thousand twenty four thousand and twelve thousand make the seventy two thousand above mentioned I say that more than this sum of 7â—000 l. is fruitlesly spent and over paid by the Merchants whensoever a great Fleet is to be fitted out Now these whom I call Auxilliary
Seamen are such as have another Trade besides wherewith to maintain themselves when they are not employed at Sea and the charge of maintaining them though 72000 l. per annum I take to be little or nothing for the reasons above-mentioned and consequently an easie Tax to the people because Leavyed by and paid to themselves As we propounded that Ireland should be Taxed with Flax and England by Linnen and other Manufacture of the same I conceive that Scotland also might be Taxed as much to be paid in Herrings as Ireland in Flax Now the three Taxes viz. of Flax Linnen and Herrings and the maintainance of the triple Militia and of the Auxilliary Seamen above-mentioned do all five of them together amount to one Million of mony the raising whereof is not a Million spent but gain unto the Common-Wealth unless it can be made appear that by reason of all or any of them the Exportation of Woollen Manufactures Lead and Tin are lessened or of such Commodities as our own East and West India Trade do produce forasmuch as I conceive that the Exportation of these last mentioned Commodities is the Touch-stone whereby the Wealth of England is tryed and the Pulse wherby the Health of the Kingdom may be discerned CHAP. III. That France cannot by reason of natural and perpetual Impediments be more powerful at Sea than the English or Hollanders now are or may be POwer at Sea consists chiefly of Men able to fight at Sea and that in such Shipping as is most proper for the Seas wherein they serve and those are in these Northern Seas Ships from between three hundred to one thousand three hundred Tuns and of those such as draw much Water and have a deep Latch in the Sea in order to keep a good Wind and not to fall to Leeward a matter of vast advantage in Sea Service Wherefore it is to be examined 1. Whether the King of France hath Ports in the Northern Seas where he hath most occasion for his Fleets of War in any contests with England able to receive the Vessels above-mentioned in all Weathers both in Winter and Summer Season For if the King of France would bring to Sea an equal number of fighting Men with the English and Hollanders in small floaty Leeward Vessels he would certainly be of the weaker side For a Vessel of one thousand Tuns manned with five hundred Men fighting with five Vessels of two hundred Tuns each manned with one hundred Men apiece shall in common reason have the better offensively and defensively forasmuch as the great Ship can carry such Ordnance as can reach the small ones at a far greater distance than those can reach or at least hurt the other and can batter and sink at a distance when small ones can scarce peirce Moreover it is more difficult for Men out of a small Vessel to enter a tall Ship then for Men from a higher place to leap down into a lower nor is small shot so effectual upon a tall Ship as vice versa And as for Vessels drawing much water and consequently keeping a good Wind they can take or leave Leeward Vessels at pleasure and secure themselves from being boarded by them Moreover the windward Ship has a fairer mark at a Leeward Ship than vice versa and can place her shot upon such parts of the Leeward Vessel as upon the next Tack will be under water Now then the King of France having no Ports able to receive large windward Vessels between Dunkirk and Ushant what other Ships he can bring into those Seas will not be considerable As for the wide Ocean which his Harbours of Brest and Charente do look into it affordeth him no advantage upon an Enemy there being so great a Latitude of engaging or not even when the Parties are in sight of each other Wherefore although the King of France were immensely rich and could build what Ships he pleased both for number and quality yet if he have not Ports to receive and shelter that sort and size of Shipping which is fit for his purpose the said Riches will in this case be fruitless and a mere expence without any return or profit Some will say that other Nations cannot build so good Ships as the English I do indeed hope they cannot but because it seems too possible that they may sooner or later by Practice and Experience I shall not make use of that Argument having bound my self to shew that the impediments of France as to this purpose are natural and perpetual Ships and Guns do not fight of themselves but Men who act and manage them wherefore it is more material to shew That the King of France neither hath nor can have Men sufficient to Man a Fleet of equal strength to that of the King of England viz. The King of Englands Navy consists of about seventy thousand Tuns of Shipping which requires thirty six thousand Men to Man it these Men being supposed to be divided into eight parts I conceive that one eighth part must be persons of great Experience and Reputation in Sea Service another eighth part must be such as have used the Sea seven years and upwards half of them or 4 8 parts more must be such as have used the Sea above a twelve-month viz. two three four five or six years allowing but one quarter of the whole Complements to be such as never were at Sea at all or at most but one Voyage or upon one Expedition so that at a medium I reckon that the whole Fleet must be Men of three or four years growth one with another Fournier a late judicious Writer makeing it his business to persuade the World how considerable the King of France was or might be at Sea in the ninety second and ninety third pages of his Hydrography saith That there was one place in Britany which had furnished the King with one thousand four hundred Seamen and that perhaps the whole Sea-Coast of France might have furnished him with fifteen times as many Now supposing his whole Allegation were true yet the said number amounts but to twenty one thousand all which if the whole Trade of Shipping in France were quite and clean abandoned would not by above a third Man out a Fleet equivalent to that of the King of England And if the Trade were but barely kept alive there would not be one third parâ— Men enough to Man the said Fleet. But if the Shipping Trade of France be not above a quarter as great as that of England and that one third part of the same namely the Fishing Trade to the Banks of Newfoundland is not peculiar nor fixt to the French then I say that if the King of England having power to Press Men cannot under two or three months time Man his Fleet then the King of France with less than a quarter of the same help can never do it at all for in France as shall elsewhere be shewn there are not above
others are as effectual as the Thirteen in point of Strength also wherefore that there are more Superlucrators in the English than the French Dominions we say as followeth There be in England Scotland Ireland and the Kings other Territories above Forty Thousand Seamen in France not above a quarter so many but one Seaman earneth as much as three common Husbandmen wherefore this difference in Seamen addeth to the account of the King of England's Subjects is an advantage equivalent to Sixty Thousand Husbandmen There are in England Scotland and Ireland and all other the King of England's Territories Six Hundred thousand Tun of Shipping worth about four Millions and a ½ of Money and the annual charge of maintaining the Shipping of England by new Buildings and Reparations is about ½ part of the same summ which is the Wages of one Hundred and Fifty thousand Husbandmen but is not the Wages of above â…“ part of so many Artisans as are employed upon Shipping of all sorts viz. Shiprights Calkers Ioyners Carvers Painters Block-makers Rope-makers Mast-makers Smiths of several sorts Flag-makers Compass-makers Brewers Bakers and all other sort of Victuallers all sorts of Tradesmen relating to Guns and Gunners stores Wherefore there being four times more of these Artisans in England c. than in France they further add to the account of the King of England's Subjects the equivalent of Eighty Thousand Husbandmen more The Sea-line of England Scotland and Ireland and the adjacent Islands is about Three thousand Eight hundred Miles according to which length and the whole content of Acres the said Land would be an Oblong or Parallelogram Figure of Three thousand Eight hundred Miles long and about Twenty four Miles broad and consequently every part of England Scotland and Ireland is one with another but Twelve Miles from the Sea Whereas France containing but about one Thousand Miles of Sea line is by the like method or computation about Sixty Five Miles from the Sea side and considering the paucity of Ports in comparison of what are in the King of England's Dominions as good as Seventy Miles distant from a Port Upon which grounds it is clear that England can be supplied with all gross and bulkey commodities of Foreign growth and Manufacture at far cheaper rates than France can be viz. at about 4 s. per cent cheaper the Land carriage for the difference of the distance between England and France from a Port being so much or near thereabouts Now to what advantage this conveniency amounteth upon the Importation and Exportation of Bulkey Commodities cannot be less than the Labour of one Million of People c. meaning by bulkey Commodities all sorts of Timber Plank and Staves for Cask all Iron Lead Stones Bricks and Tyles for building all Corn Salt and Drinks all Flesh and Fish and indeed all other Commodities wherein the gain and loss of 4 s. per Cent. is considerable where note that the like Wines are sold in the inner parts of France for four or Five Pound a Tun which near the Ports yield 7 l. Moreover upon this Principal the decay of Timber in England is no very formidable thing as the Rebuilding of London and of the Ships wasted by the Dutch War do clearly manifest Nor can there be any want of Corn or other necessary Provisions in England unless the Weather hath been universally unseasonable for the growth of the same which seldom or never happens for the same causes which make Dearth in one place do often cause plenty in another wet Weather being propitious to Highlands which drowneth the Low It is observed that the poor of France have generally less Wages than in England and yet their Victuals are generally dearer there which being so there may be more superlucration in England than in France Lastly I offer it to the consideration of all those who have travelled through England and France Whether the Plebeians of England for they constitute the Bulk of any Nation do not spend a sixth part more than the Plebeians of France And if so it is necessary that they must first get it and consequently that Ten Millions of the King of England's Subjects are equivalent to Twelve of the King of France and upon the whole matter to the Thirteen Millions at which the French Nation was estimated It will here be objected that the splendor and magnificencies of the King of France appearing greater than those of England that the Wealth of France must be proportionably greater than that of England but that doth not follow forasmuch as the apparent greatness of the King doth depend upon the Quota pars of the Peoples Wealth which he levyeth from them for supposing of the People to be equally Rich if one of the Sovereigns levy a fifth part and another a fifteenth the one seems actually thrice as Rich as the other whereas potentially they are but equal Having thus discoursed of the Territory People Superlucration and Defencibleness of both Dominions and in some measure of their Trade so far as we had occasion to mention Ships Shipping and nearness to Ports we come next to inlarge a little further upon the Trade of each Some have estimated that there are not above Three hundred Millions of People in the whole World Whether that be so or no is not very material to be known but I have fair grounds to conjecture and would be glad to know it more certainly that there are not above Eighty Millions with whom the English and Dutch have Commerce no Europeans that I know of Trading directly nor indirectly where they do not so as the whole Commercial World or World of Trade consisteth of about Eighty Millions of Souls as aforesaid And I further estimate that the value of all Commodities yearly exchanged amongst them doth not exceed the value of Forty Five Millions Now the Wealth of every Nation consisting chiefly in the share which they have in the Foreign Trade with the whole Commercial World rather than in the Domestick Trade of ordinary Meat Drink and Cloaths c. which bringing in little Gold Silver Iewels and other Universal Wealth we are to consider whether the Subjects of the King of England Head for Head have not a greater share than those of France To which purpose it hath been considered that the Manufactures of Wool yearly exported out of England into several parts of the World viz. All sorts of Cloth Serges Stuffs Cottons Bayes Sayes Frize perpetuanâ—s as also Stockings Caps Rugs c. Exported out of England Scotland and Ireland do amount unto Five Millions per annum The value of Lead Tynn and Coals to be Five hundred thousand pounds The value of all Cloaths Houshold-stuff c. carried into America Two hundred thousand pounds The value of Silver and Gold taken from the Spaniards Sixty thousand pounds The value of Sugar Indico Tobacco Cotton and Caccao brought from the Southward parts of America Six hundred thousand pounds The
value of the Fish Pipe-staves Masts Bever c. brought from New-England and the Northern parts of America Two Hundred Thousand pounds The value of the Wool Butter Hides Tallow Beef Herring Pilchers and Salmon exported out of Ireland Eight hundred thousand pounds The value of the Coals Salt Linnen Yarn Herrings Pilchers Salmon Linnen-Cloth and Yarn brought out of Scotland and Ireland 500000 l. The value of Salt peter Pepper Callicoes Diamonds Drugs and Silks brought out of the East-Indies above what was spent in England Eight hundred thousand pounds The value of the Slaves brought out of Africa to serve in our American Plantations Twenty thousand pounds which with the Freight of English Shipping Trading into Foreign parts being above a Million and a ½ makes in all Ten Millions one Hundred and Eighty thousand pounds Which computation is sufficiently justified by the Customs of the Three Kingdoms whose intrinsick value are thought to be near a Million per annum viz. Six hundred thousand pounds payable to the King 100 thousand Pounds for the charges of Collecting c. Two hundred thousand pounds smuckled by the Merchants and one Hundred thousand pounds gained by the Farmers according to common Opinion and Mens Sayings And this agrees also with that proportion or part of the whole Trade of the World which I have estimated the Subjects of the King of England to be possessed of viz. of about Ten of Forty Five Millions But the value of the French Commodities brought into England notwithstanding some currant estimates are not above one Million Two hundred thousand pounds per annum and the value of all they export into all the World besides not above Three or Four times as much which computation also agreeth well enough with the account we have of the Customs of France so as France not exporting above ½ the value of what England doth and for that all the Commodities of France except Wines Brandy Paper and the first patterns and fashions for Cloaths and Furniture of which France is the Mint are imitable by the English and having withal more People than England it follows that the People of England c. have Head for Head thrice as much Foreign Trade as the People of France and about Two parts of Nine of the Trade of the whole Commercial World and about Two parts in Seven of all the Shipping Notwithstanding all which it is not to be denied that the King and some great Men of France appear more Rich and Splendid than those of the like Quality in England all which arises rather from the nature of their Government than from the Intrinsick and Natural causes of Wealth and Power CHAP. V. That the Impediments of Englands greatness are but contingent and removable THE first Impediment of Englands greatness is that the Territo ries thereunto belonging are too far asunder and divided by the Sea into many several Islands and Countries and I may say into so many Kingdoms and several Governments viz. there be Three distinct Legislative Powers in England Scotland and Ireland the which instead of uniting together do often cross one anothers Interest putting Bars and Impediments upon one anothers Trades not only as if they were Foreigners to each other but sometimes as Enemies 2. The Islands of Iersey and Gernsey and the Isle of Man are under Jurisdictions different from those either of England Scotland or Ireland 3. The Government of New-England both Civil and Ecclesiastical doth so differ from that of His Majesties other Dominions that 't is hard to say what may be the consequence of it And the Government of the other Plantations doth also differ very much from any of the rest although there be not naturally substantial reasons from the Situation Trade and Condition of the People why there should be such differences From all which it comes to pass that small divided remote Governments being seldom able to defend themselves the Burthen of protecting of them all must lye upon the chief Kingdom England and so all the smaller Kingdoms and Dominions instead of being Additions are really Dimunitions but the same is remedied by making Two such Grand Councils as may equally represent the whole Empire one to be chosen by the King the other by the People The Wealth of a King is Threefold one is the Wealth of his Subjects the second is the Quota pars of his Subjects Wealth given him for the publick Defence Honour and Ornament of the People and to manage such undertaking for the Common Good as no one or a few private Men are sufficient for The third sort are the Quota of the last mention Quota pars which the King may dispose of as his own personal inclination and discretion shall direct him without account Now it is most manifest that the afore-mentioned distances and differencies of Kingdoms and Jurisdictions are great impediments to all the said several sorts of Wealth as may be seen in the following particulars First in case of War with Foreign Nations England commonly beareth the whole burthen and charge whereby many in England are utterly undone Secondly England sometimes Prohibiting the Commodities of Ireland and Scotland as of late it did the Cattle Flesh and Fish of Ireland did not only make Food and consequently Labour dearer in England but also hath forced the People of Ireland to fetch those Commodities from France Holland and other places which before was sold them from England to the great prejudice of both Nations Thirdly It occasions an unnecessary trouble and charge in Collecting of Customs upon Commodities passing between the several Nations Fourthly It is a damage to our Barbadoes and other American Trades that the Goods which might pass thence immediately to several parts of the World and to be sold at moderate Rates must first come into England and there pay Duties and afterwards if at all pass into those Countries whither they might have gone immediatly Fifthly The Islands of Iersey and Gernsey are protected at the charge of England nevertheless the Labour and Industry of that People which is very great redounds most to the profit of the French Sixthly In New-England there are vast numbers of able bodyed Englishmen employed chiefly in Husbandry and in the meanest part of it which is breeding of Cattle whereas Ireland would have contained all those persons and at worst would have afforded them Lands on better terms than they have them in America if not some other better Trade withal than now they can have Seventhly The Inhabitants of the other Plantations although they do indeed Plant Commodities which will not grow so well in England yet grasping at more Land than will suffice to produce the said Exotiics in a sufficient quantity to serve the whole World they do therein but distract and confound the effect of their own Indeavours Eighthly There is no doubt that the same People far and wide dispersed must spend more upon their Government and Protection than the same living compactly