differ not in People a twentieth part from each other as hath appeared by the Bills of Burials and Christnings for each But the value of the Buildings in Amsterdam may well be half that of Paris by reason of the Foundations Grafts and Bridges which in Amsterdam are more numerous and chargeable than at Paris Moreover the Habitations of the poorest People in Holland and Zealand are twice or thrice as good as those of France but the People of the one to the People of the other being but as thirteen to one the value of the housing must be as about five to one The value of the Shipping of Europe being about two Millions of Tuns I suppose the English have Five Hundred Thousand the Dutch Nine Hundred Thousand the French an Hundred Thousand the Hamburgers and the Subjects of Denmark Sweden and the Town of Dansick two Hundred and Fifty Thousand and Spain Portugal Italy c. two Hundred and Fifty Thousand so as the Shipping in our case of France to that of Holland and Zealand is about one to nine which reckoned as great and small new and old one with another at 8 l. per Tun makes the worth to be as Eight Hundred Thousand Pounds to Seven Millions and two Hundred Thousand Pounds The Hollanders Capital in the East India Company is worth above Three Millions where the French as yet have little or nothing The value of the Goods exported out of France into all Parts are supposed Quadruple to what is sent to England alone and consequently in all about Five Millions but what is exported out of Holland into England is worth Three Millions and what is exported thence into all the World besides is sextuple to the same The Monies Yearly raised by the King of France as the same appears by the Book intituled The State of France Dedicated to the King Printed Anno 1669. and set forth several times by Authority is 82000000 of French Livers which is about 6½ Millions of Pounds Sterling of which summ the Author says that one fifth part was abated for non-valuers or Insolvencies so as I suppose not above Five Millions were effectually raised But whereas some say that the King of France raised Eleven Millions as the ⅕ of the effects of France I humbly affirm that all the Land and Sea Forces all the Buildings and Entertainments which we have heard by common Fame to have been set forth and made in any of these seven last Years needed not to have cost Six Millions Sterling wherefore I suppose he hath not raised more especially since there were one fifth Insolvencies when the Tax was at that pitch But Holland and Zealand paying 67 of the 100 paid by all the United Provinces and the City of Amsterdam paying 27 of the said 67 It follows that if Amsterdam hath paid 4000 l. Flemish per diem or about 1400000 l. per annum or 800000 l. Sterling that all Holland and Zealand have paid 2100000 l. per annum Now the reasons why I think they pay so much are these viz. 1. The Author of the State of the Netherlands saith so 2. Excise of Victual at Amsterdam seems above half the Original value of the same viz. Ground Corn pays 20 Stivers the Bushel or 63 Gilders the Last Beer 113 Stivers the Barrel Housing ⅙ of Rent Fruit ⅛ of what it cost other Commodities 1 7 ⅛ 1 9 1 12 Salt ad libitum all weighed Goods pay besides the Premisses a vast summ now if the expence of the People of Amsterdam at a medium and without Excise were 8 l. per annum whereas in England 't is 7 l. then if all the several Imposts above named raise it Five Pound more there being 160000 Souls in Amsterdam the summ of 800000 l. Sterling per annum will thereby be raised 3. Though the expence of each head should be 13 l. per annum 't is well known that there be few in Amsterdam who do not earn much more than the said expence 4. If Holland and Zealand pay p. an 2100000 l. then all the Provinces together must pay about 3000000 l. less than which summ per annum perhaps is not sufficient to have maintained the Naval War with England 72000 Land Forces besides all other the ordinary Charges of their Government whereof the Church is there apart To conclude it seems from the Premisses that all France doth not raise above thrice as much from the publick charge as Holland and Zealand alone do 5. Interest of Money in France is 7 l. per cent but in Holland scarce half so much 6. The Countries of Holland and Zealand consisting as it were of Islands guarded with the Sea Shipping and Marshes is defensible at one fourth of the charge that a plain open Country is and where the seat of War may be both Winter and Summer whereas in the others little can be done but in the Summer only 7. But above all the particulars hitherto considered that of superlucration ought chiefly to be taken in for if a Prince have never so many Subjects and his Country be never so good yet if either through sloth or extravagant expences or Oppression and Injustice whatever is gained shall be spent as fast as gotten that State must be accounted poor wherefore let it be considered how much or how many times rather Holland and Zealand are now above what they were 100 years ago which we must also do of France Now if France hath scarce doubled its Wealth and Power and that the other have decupled theirs I shall give the preference to the latter even although the 9 10 increased by the one should not exceed the one half gained by the other because one has a store for Nine Years the other but for one To conclude upon the whole it seems that though France be in People to Holland and Zealand as 13 to 1 and in quantity of good Land as 80 to one yet is not 13 times richer and stronger much less 80 times nor much above thrice which was to be proved Having thus dispatched the two first Branches of the first Principal conclusion it follows to shew that this difference of Improvement in Wealth and Strength arises from the Situation Trade and Policy of the places respectively and in particular from Conveniencies for Shipping and Water Carriage Many Writing on this Subject do so magnifie the Hollanders as if they were more and all other Nations less than Men as to the matters of Trade and Policy making them Angels and others Fools Brutes and Sots as to those particulars whereas I take the Foundation of their atchievements to lie originally in the Situation of the Country whereby they do things inimitable by others and have advantages whereof others are incapable First The Soil of Holland and Zealand is low Land Rich and Fertile whereby it is able to feed many Men and so as that Men may live near each other for their mutual
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
IV. That the People and Territories of the King of England are naturally near as considerable for Wealth and Strength as those of France THE Author of the State of England among the many useful truths and observations he hath set down delivers the Proportion between the Territories of England and France to be as Thirty to Eighty two the which if it be true then England Scotland and Ireland with the Islands unto them belonging will taken alltogether be near as big as France Tho I ought to take all advantages for proving the Paradox in hand yet I had rather grant that England Scotland and Ireland with the Islands before mentioned together with the Planted parts of Newfoundland new-New-England New-Netherland Virginia Mary-Land Carolina Iamaica Burmoudas Barbadoes and all the rest of the Carribby Islands with what the King hath in Asia and Africa do not contain so much Territory as France and what planted Land the King of France hath also in America And if any Man will be Heterodox in behalf of the French Interest I would be contented against my knowledge and judgment to allow the King of France's Territories to be a seventh sixth or even a fifth greater than those of the King of England believing that both Princes have more Land than they do employ to its utmost use And here I beg leave among the several matters which I intend for serious to interpose a jocular and perhaps ridiculous digression and which I indeed desire Men to look upon rather as a Dream or Resvery than a rational Proposition the which is that if all the moveables and People of Ireland and of the Highlands of Scotland were transported into the rest of Great Brittain that then the King and his Subjects would thereby become more Rich and Strong both offensively and defensively than now they are 'T is true I have heard many Wise Men say when they were bewailing the vast losses of the English in preventing and suppressing Rebellions in Ireland and considering how little profit hath returned either to the King or Subjects of England for their Five Hundred Years doing and suffering in that Country I say I have heard Wise Men in such their Melancholies wish that the People of Ireland being saved Island were sunk under Water Now it troubles me that the Distemper of my own mind in this point carries me to dream that the benefit of those wishes may practically be obtained without sinking that vast Mountainous Island under Water which I take to be somewhat difficult For although Dutch Engineers may drain its Bogs yet I know no Artists that could sink its Mountains If Ingenious and Learned Men among whom I reckon Sir Tho. More and Des Cartes have disputed That we who think our selves awake are or may be really in a Dream and since the greatest absurdities of Dreams are but a Preposterous and Tumultuary contexture of realities I will crave the umbrage of these great Men last named to say something for this wild conception with submission to the better judgment of all those that can prove themselves awake If there were but one Man living in England then the benefit of the whole Territory could be but the livelyhood of that one Man But if another Man were added the rent or benefit of the same would be double if two triple and so forward until so many Men were Planted in it as the whole Territory could afford Food unto For if a Man would know what any Land is worth the true and natural Question must be How many Men will it feed How many Men are there to be fed But to speak more practically Land of the same quantity and quality in England is generally worth four or five times as much as in Ireland and but one quarter or third of what it is worth in Holland because England is four or five times better Peopled than Ireland and but a quarter so well as Holland And moreover where the Rent of Land is advanced by reason of Multitude of People there the number of Years purchase for which the Inheritance may be sold is also advanced though perhaps not in the very same Proportion for 20 s. per annum in Ireland may be worth but 8 l. and in England where Titles are very sure above 20 l. in Holland above 30 l. I suppose that in Ireland and the High-Lands in Scotland there may be about one Million and Eight hundred thousand People or about a fifth part of what is in all the three Kingdoms Wherefore the first Question will be whether England Wales and the Low-Lands of Scotland cannot afford Food that is to say Corn Fish Flesh and Fowl to a fifth part more People than are at the present planted upon it with the same Labour that the said fifth part do now take where they are For if so then what is propounded is naturally possible 2. It is to be enquired What the value of the immovables which upon such removal must be left behind are worth For if they be worth less than the advancement of the price of Land in England will amount unto then the Proposal is to be considered 3. If the Relict Lands and the immovables left behind upon them may be sold for Money or if no other Nation shall dare meddle with them without paying well for them and if the Nation who shall be admitted shall be less able to prejudice and annoy the Transplantees into England then before then I conceive that the whole proposal will be a pleasant and a profitable Dream indeed As to the first point whether England and the Low-Lands of Scotland can maintain a fifth part more People than they now do that is to say Nine Millions of Souls in all For answer thereunto I first say that the said Territories of England and the Low-Land of Scotland contain about Thirty Six Millions of Acres that is four Acres for every Head Man Woman and Child but the United Provinces do not allow above one Acre and ½ and England it self rescinding Wales hath but three Acres to every Head according to the present State of Tillage and Husbandry Now if we consider that England having but three Acres to a Head as aforesaid doth so abound in Victuals as that it maketh Laws against the Importation of Cattle Flesh and Fish from abroad and that the draining of Fens improving of Forrests inclosing of Commons Sowing of St. Foyne and Clovergrass be grumbled against by Landlords as the way to depress the price of Victuals then it plainly follows that less than three Acres improved as it may be will serve the turn and consequently that four will suffice abundantly I could here set down the very number of Acres that would bear Bread and Drink Corn together with Flesh Butter and Cheese sufficient to victual Nine Millions of Persons as they are Victualled in Ships and regular Families but shall only say in general that Twelve Millions of Acres viz. ⅓ of 36
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
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
or Positions expressed by Number Weight and Measure upon which I bottom the ensuing Discourses are either true or not apparently false and which if they are not already true certain and evident yet may be made so by the Sovereign Power Nam id certum est quod certum reddi potest and if they are false not so false as to destroy the Argument they are brought for but at worst are sufficient as Suppositions to shew the way to that Knowledge I aim at And I have withal for the present confined my self to the Ten principal Conclusions hereafter particularly handled which if they shall be judged material and worthy of a better Discussion I hope all ingenious and candid Persons will rectifie the Errors Defects and Imperfections which probably may be found in any of the Positions upon which these Ratiocinations were grounded Nor would it misbecome Authority it self to clear the Truth of those Matters which private Endeavours cannot reach to THE Principal Conclusions OF THIS TREATISE ARE CHAP. I. That a small Country and few People may by their Situation Trade and Policy be equivalent in Wealth and Strength to a far greater People and Territory And particularly How conveniencies for Shipping and Water Carriage do most Eminently and Fundamentally conduce thereunto Pag. 1 Chap. II. That some kind of Taxes and Publick Levies may rather increase than diminish the Common-Wealth pag. 35 Chap. III. That France cannot by reason of Natural and Perpetual Impediments be more powerful at Sea than the English or Hollanders 51 Chap. IV. That the People and Territories of the King of England are Naturally near as considerable for Wealth and Strength as those of France pag. 64 Chap. V. That the Impediments of Englands Greatness are but contingent and removeable pag. 87 Chap. VI. That the Power and Wealth of England hath increased above this forty years pag. 96 Chap. VII That one tenth part of the whole Expence of the King of England's Subjects is sufficient to maintain one hundred thousand Foot thirty thousand Horse and forty thousand Men at Sea and to defray all other Charges of the Government both Ordinary and Extraordinary if the same were regularly Taxed and Raised pag. 101 Chap. VIII That there are spare Hands enough among the King of England's Subjects to earn two Millions per annum more than they now do and there are Employments ready proper and sufficient for that purpose pag. 104 Chap. IX That there is Mony sufficient to drive the Trade of the Nation pag. 110 Chap. X. That the King of England's Subjects have Stock competent and convenient to drive the Trade of the whole Commercial World pag. 112 ERRATA PAge 7. line 25. read the Rent p. 8. l. 21. r. a part p. 20. l. 3. r. for cheap p. 21. l. 14. r. cold moist p. 26. l. 7. r. that Church p. 32. l. 7. r. yearly profit l. 18. r. to be the value p. 47. l. 4. r. fifty thousand l. 28. r. sixteen thousand p. 49. l. 13 r. the said half together p. 52. l. 6. r. should bring p. 59. l. 24. r. they coast p. 72. l. 8. r. or above p. 91. l. 9. r. Exoticâ— p. 95. l. 13. r. paying for CHAP. I. That a small Country and few People by its Situation Trade and Policy may be equivalent in Wealth and Strength to a far greater People and Territory And particularly that conveniencies for Shipping and Water-Carriage do most Eminently and Fundamentally conduce thereunto THis first principal Conclusion by reason of its length I consider in three Parts whereof the first is That a small Country and few People may be equivalent in Wealth and Strength to a far greater People and Territory This part of the first principal Conclusion needs little proof forasmuch as one Acre of Land may bear as much Corn and feed as many Cattle as twenty by the difference of the Soil some parcel of Ground is naturally so defensible as that an Hundred Men being possessed thereof can resist the Invasion of Five Hundred and bad Land may be improved and made good Bog may by draining be made Meadow Heath-land may as in Flanders be made to bear Flax and Clover grass so as to advance in value from one to an Hundred The same Land being built upon may centuple the Rent which it yielded as Pasture one Man is more nimble or strong and more patient of labor than another one Man by Art may do as much work as many without it viz. one Man with a Mill can grind as much Corn as twenty can pound in a Mortar one Printer can make as many Copies as an Hundred Men can write by hand one Horse can carry upon Wheels as much as Five upon their Backs and in a Boat or upon Ice as Twenty So that I say again this first point of this general Position needs little or no proof But the second and more material part of this Conclusion is that this difference in Land and People arises principally from their Situation Trade and Policy To clear this I shall compare Holland and Zealand with the Kingdom of France viz. Holland and Zealand do not contain above one Million of English Acres whereas the Kingdom of France contains above 80. Now the Original and Primitive difference holds proportion as Land to Land for it is hard to say that when these places were first planted whether an Acre in France was better than the like quantity in Holland and Zealand nor is there any reason to suppose but that therefore upon the first Plantation the number of Planters was in proportion to the quantity of Land wherefore if the People are not in the same proportion as the Land the same must be attributed to the Scituation of the Land and to the Trade and Policy of the People superstructed thereupon The next thing to be shewn is that Holland and Zealand at this day is not only an eightieth part as rich and strong as France but that it hath advanced to one third or thereabouts which I think will appear upon the Ballance of the following particulars viz. As to the Wealth of France a certain Map of that Kingdom set forth Anno 1647. represents it to be fifteen Millions whereof six did belong to the Church the Author thereof as I suppose meaning the Rents of the Lands only And the Author of a most Judicious discourse of Husbandry supposed to be Sir Richard Weston doth from reason and experience shew that Lands in the Netherlands by bearing Flax Turneps Clover-grass Madder c. will easily yield 10 l. per Acre so as the Territories of Holland and Zealand should by his account yield at least Ten Millions per annum yet I do not believe the same to be so much nor France so little as abovesaid but rather that one bears to the other as about 7 or 8 to 1. The People of Amsterdam are one third of those in Paris or London which two Cities
assistance in Trade I say that a Thousand Acres that can feed 1000 Souls is better than 10000 Acres of no more effect for the following reasons viz. 1. Suppose some great Fabrick were in Building by a Thousand Men shall not much more time be spared if they lived all upon a Thousand Acres then if they were forced to live upon ten times as large a Scope of Land 2. The charge of the cure of their Souls and the Ministry would be far greater in one case than in the other as also of mutual defence in case of Invasion and even of Thieves and Robbers Moreover the charge of the administration of Justice would be much easier where Witnesses and Parties may be easily Summoned Attendance less expensive when Mens Actions would be better known when wrongs and injuries could not be covered as in thin peopled places they are Lastly those who live in Solitary places must be their own Soldiers Divines Physicians and Lawyers and must have their Houses stored with necessary Provisions like a Ship going upon a long Voyage to the great wast and needless expence of such Provisions the value of this first convenience to the Dutch I reckon or estimate to be about 100000 l. per annum 2ly Holland is a Level Country so as in any part thereof a Windmill may be set up and by its being moist and vaporous there is always wind stirring over it by which advantage the labor of many thousand Hands is saved for asmuch as a Mill made by one Man in half a Year will do as much Labor as Four Men for Five Years together This advantage is greater or less where employment or ease of Labour is so but in Holland 't is eminently great and the worth of this conveniency is near an Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds 3ly There is much more to be gained by Manufacture than Husbandry and by Merchandize than Manufacture but Holland and Zealand being seated at the mouths of three long great Rivers and passing through Rich Countries do keep all the Inhabitants upon the sides of those Rivers but as Husbandmen whilst themselves are the Manufactors of their Commodities and so dispence them into all Parts of the world making returns for the same at what prices almost they please themselves and in short they keep the Keys Trade of those Countries through which the said Rivers pass the value this third conveniency I suppose to 200000 l. 4ly In Holland and Zealand there scarce any place of work or business 〈◊〉 Mile distant from a Navigable Water and the charge of Water carriage is generally but 1 â— or 1 20 part of Land carriage Wherefore if there be as much trade there as in France then the Hollanders can out-sell the French 14 15 of all 〈◊〉 expence of all Travelling Postage 〈◊〉 carriage whatsoever which even in England I take to be 300000 l. p. an â—here the very Postage of Letters costs the People perhaps 50000 l. per annum though Farmed at much less and all other Labour of Horses and Porters at 〈◊〉 six times as much The value of this conveniency I estimate to be above Three Hundred Thousand pounds per annum 5. The defensibleness of the Country by reason of its Situation in the Sea upon Islands and in the Marshes Impassible ground Diked and Trenched especially considering how that place iâ— aimed at for its Wealth I say the charge of defending that Country is easier than if it were a plain Champion at least 200000 l. per annum 6. Holland is so considerable for keeping Ships in Harbour with small expence of Men and ground Tackle that 〈◊〉 saves per annum 200000 l. of what must be spent in France Now if all 〈◊〉 natural advantages do amount to above one Million per annum Profits and 〈◊〉 the Trade of all Europe nay of the whole World with which our Europeans 〈◊〉 Trade is not above 45 Millions p. 〈◊〉 and if 1 50 of the value be â— 7 of the Profit it is plain that the Hollander may Command and Govern the whole Trade 7. Those who have their Situation thus towards the Sea and abound with Fish at home and having also the command of Shipping have by consequence the Fishing Trade whereof that of Herring alone brings more yearly Profit to the Hollanders than the Trade of the West Indies to Spain or of the East to themselves as many have affirmed being as the same say viis modis of above three Millions per annum Profit 8. It is not to be doubted but those who have the Trade of Shipping and Fishing will secure themselves of the Trade of Timber for Ships Boats Masts and Cask of Hemp for Cordage Sails and Nets of Salt of Iron as also of Pitch Tar Rosin Brimstone Oil and Tallow as necessary Appurtenances to Shipping and Fishing 9. Those who predominate in Shipping and Fishing have more occasions than others to frequent all parts of the World and to observe what is wanting or redundant every where and what each People can do and what they desire and consequently to be the Factors and Carriers for the whole World of Trade Upon which ground they bring all Native Commodities to be Manufactured at home and carry the same back even to that Country in which they grew all which we see For do they not work the Sugars of the West-Indies The Timber and Iron of the Baltick The Hemp of Russia The Lead Tin and Wooll of England The Quick-silver and Silk of Italy The Yarns and Dying Stuffs of Turkey c. To be short in all the ancient States and Empires those who had the Shipping had the Wealth and if 2 per Cent. in the price of Commodities be perhaps 20 per Cent. in the gain it is manifest that they who can in forty five Millions undersel others by one Million upon accompt of natural and intrinsick advantages only may easily have the Trade of the World without such Angelical Wits and Judgments as some attribute to the Hollanders Having thus done with their Situation I come now to their Trade It is commonly seen that each Country slourisheth in the Manufacture of its own Native Commodities viz. England for woollen Manufacture France for Paper Luic-land for Iron Ware Portugal for Confectures Italy for Silks upon which Principle it follows that Holland and Zealand must flourish most in the Trade of Shipping and so become Carriers and Factors of the whole World of Trade Now the advantages of the Shipping Trade are as followeth viz. Husbandmen Seamen Soldiers Artizans and Merchants are the very Pillars of any Common-Wealth all the other great Professions do rise out of the infirmities and miscarriages of these now the Seaman is three of these four For every Seaman of industry and ingenuity is not only a Navigator but a Merchant and also a Soldier not because he hath often occasion to fight and handle Arms but because he is familiarized
one hundred and fifty thousand Tun of Trading Vessels and consequently not above fifteen thousand Seamen reckoning a Man to every ten Tun. As it has been shewn that the King of France cannot at present Man such a Fleet as is above described we come next to shew that he never can being under natural and perpetual Impediments viz. 1. If there be but fifteen thousand Seamen in all France to manage its Trade it is not to be supposed that the said Trade should be extinguished nor that it should spare above five of the said fifteen thousand towards manning the Fleet which requires thirty five thousand Now the deficient thirty thousand must be supplied one of these four ways either first by taking in Land men of which sort there must not be above ten thousand since the Seamen will never be contented without being the major part nor do they heartily wish well to Landmen at all or rejoyce even at those Successes of which the Landmen can claim any share thinking it hard that themselves who are bred to miserable painful and dangerous Employments and yet profitable to the Commonwealth should at a time when booty and purchase is to be gotten be clogged or hindered by any conjunction with Landmen or forced to admit those to an equal share with themselves 2. The Seamen which we suppose twenty thousand must be had that is hired from other Nations which cannot be without tempting them with so much Wages as exceeds what is given by Merchants and withal to counterpoise the danger of being hanged by their own Prince and allowed no Quarter if they are taken the trouble of conveying themselves away when Restraints and Prohibitions are upon them and also the infamy of having been Apostates to their own Country and Cause I say their Wages must be more than double to what their own Prince gives them and their assurance must be very great that they shall not be at long run abused or slighted by those who employed them as hating the Traitor although they love the Treason I say moreover that those who will be thus tempted away must be of the basest and lewdest sort of Seamen and such as have not enough of Honour and Conscience to qualifie them for any Trust or gallant Performance 3. Another way to increase Seamen is to put great numbers of Landmen upon Ships of War in order to their being Seamen but this course cannot be effectual not only for the above mentioned Antipathy between Landmen and Seamen but also because it is seen that Men at Sea do not apply themselves to Labour and Practice without more necessity than happens in over-manned Shipping For where there are fifty Men in a Vessel that ten can sufficiently Navigate the supernumerary forty will improve little But where there shall be of ten but one or two supernumeraries there necessity will often call upon every Man to set his hand to the Work which must be well done at the peril of their own lives Moreover Seamen shifting Vessels almost every six or twelve months do sometimes Sail in small Barks sometimes in midling Ships and sometimes in great Vessels of Defence sometimes in Lighters sometimes in Hoighs sometimes in Ketches sometimes in three Masted Ships sometimes they go to the Southward sometimes to the Northward sometimes the Coast sometimes they cross the Ocean by all which variety of Service they do in time compleat themselves in every Part and Circumstance of their Faculty Whereas those who go out for a Summer in a Man of War have not that variety of Practice nor a direct necessity of doing any thing at all Besides it is three or four years at a medium wherein a Seaman must be made neither can there be less than three Seamen to make a fourth of a Landman Consequently the fifteen thousand Seamen of France can increase but five thousand Seamen in three or four years and unless their Trade should increase with their Seamen in proportion the King must be forced to bear the charge of this improvement out of the Publick Stock which is intolerable So as the Question which now remains is whether the Shipping Trade of France is like to increase Upon which accompt it is to be considered 1. That France is sufficiently stored with all kind of Necessaries within it self as with Corn Cattle Wine Salt Linnen Cloth Paper Silk Fruits c. So as they need little Shipping to Import more Commodities of Weight or Bulk neither is there any thing of Bulk Exported out of France but Wines and Salt the weight whereof is under one hundred thousand Tun per annum yielding not employment to above twenty five thousand Tun of Shipping and these are for the most part Dutch and English who are not only already in Possession of the said Trade but also are better fitted to maintain it than the French are or perhaps ever can be And that for the following Reasons viz. 1. Because the French cannot Victual so cheap as the English and Dutch nor Sail with so few Hands 2. The French for want of good Coasts and Harbours cannot keep their Ships in Port under double the Charge that the English and Hollanders can 3. by reason of Paucity and distance of their Ports one from another their Seamen and Tradesmen relating to Shipping cannot Correspond with and Assist one another so easily cheaply and advantageously as in other places Wherefore if their Shipping Trade is not likely to increase within themselves and much less to increase by their beating out the English and Hollanders from being the Carriers of the World it follows that their Seamen will not be increased by the increase of their said Trade Wherefore and for that they are not like to be increased by any of the several ways above specified and for that their Ports are not fit to receive Ships of Burthen and Quality fit for their purpose and that by reason of the less fitness of their Ports than that of their Neighbours I conceive that what was propounded hath been competently proved The afore-named Fournier in the ninety second and ninety third pages of his Hydrography hath laboured to prove the contrary of all this unto which I refer the Reader Not thinking his Arguments of any weight at all in the present case Nor indeed doth he make his Comparisons with the English or Hollanders but with the Spaniards who nor the Grand Seignior the latter of whom hath greatadvantages to be powerful at Sea than the King of France could ever attain to any illustrious greatness in Naval Power Having often attempted but never succeeded in the same Nor is it easie to believe that the King of England should for so many years have continued his Title to the Sovereignty of the Narrow Seas against his Neighbours ambitious enough to have gotten it from him had not their Impediments been Natural and Perpetual and such as we say do obstruct the King of France CHAP.
Millions will do it supposing that Roots Fruits Fowl and Fish and the ordinary profit of Lead Tin Iron-Mines and Woods would piece up any defect that may be feared As to the second I say that the Land and Housing in Ireland and the High-Lands of Scotland at the present Market rates are not worth Thirteen Millions of Money nor would the actual charge of making the Transplantation proposed amount to four Millions more So then the Question will be whether the benefit expected from this transplantation will exceed Seventeen Millions To which I say that the advantage will probably be near four times the last mentioned summ or about Sixty nine Millions Three Hundred thousand Pounds For if the Rent of all England and Wales and the Low-Lands of Scotland be about Nine Millions per annum and if the fifth part of the People be superadded unto the present Inhabitants of those Countries then the Rent will amount unto Ten Millions 8000 l. and the number of Years purchase will rise from seventeen and ½ to a Fifth part more which is twenty one So as the Land which is now worth but Nine Millions per annum at seventeen ½ Years purchase making 157 Millions and ½ will then be worth Ten Millions Eight Hundred thousand Pounds at Twenty one Years purchase viz. Two Hundred Twenty Six Millions and Eight Hundred thousand Pounds that is Sixty nine Millions and Three Hundred thousand Pounds more than it was before And if any Prince willing to inlarge his Territories will give any thing more than Six ½ Millions or half the present value for the said relinquished Land which are estimated to be worth Thirteen Millions then the whole profit will be above Seventy Five Millions and Eight Hundred 600 l. Above four times the loss as the same was above computed But if any Man shall object that it will be dangerous unto England that Ireland should be in the Hands of any other Nation I answer in short that that Nation whoever shall purchase it being divided by means of the said purchase shall not be more able to annoy England than now in its united condition Nor is Ireland nearer England than France and Flanders Now if any Man shall desire a more clear explanation how and by what means the Rents of Lands shall rise by this closer cohabitation of People above described I answer that the advantage will arise in transplanting about Eighteen Hundred thousand People from the poor and miserable Trade of Husbandry to more beneficial Handicrafts For when the superaddition is made a very little addition of Husbandry to the same Lands will produce a fifth part more of Food and consequently the additional hands earning but 40 s. per annum as they may very well do nay to 8 l. per annum at some other Trade the Superlucration will be above Three Millions and Six Hundred thousand Pounds per annum which at Twenty Years purchase is Seventy Millions Moreover as the Inhabitants of Cities and Towns spend more Commodities and make greater consumptions than those who live in wild thin peopled Countries So when England shall be thicker peopled in the manner before described the very same People shall then spend more than when they lived more sordidly and inurbanely and further asunder and more out of the sight observation and emulation of each other every Man desiring to put on better Apparel when he appears in Company than when he has no occasion to be seen I further add that the charge of the Government Civil Military and Ecclesiastical would be more cheap safe and effectual in this condition of closer co-habitation than otherwise as not only reason but the example of the United Provinces doth demonstrate But to let this whole digression pass for a mere Dream I suppose 't will serve to prove that in case the King of Englands Territories should be a little less than those of the King of France that forasmuch as neither of them are over-peopled that the difference is not material to the Question in hand wherefore supposing the King of France's advantages to be little or nothing in this point of Territory we come next to examine and compare the number of Subjects which each of these Monarchs doth govern The Book called the State of France maketh that Kingdom to consist of Twenty Seven thousand Parishes and another Book written by a substantial Author who professedly inquires into the State of the Church and Church-men of France sets it down as an extraordinary case that a Parish in France should have Six Hundred Souls wherefore I suppose that the said Author who hath so well examined the matter is not of opinion that every Parish one with another hath above Five Hundred by which reckoning the whole People of France are about Thirteen Millions and a half Now the People of England Scotland and Ireland with the Islands adjoyning by computation from the numbers of Parishes which commonly have more People in Protestant Churches than in Popish Countries as also from the Hearth-money Pole-money and Excise do amount to about Nine Millions and ½ There are in New England about 16000 Men mustered in Arms about 24000 able to bear Arms and consequently about 150000 in all And I see no reason why in all this and the other Plantations of Asia Africa and America there should not be half a Million in all But this last I leave to every Mans conjecture and conse quently I suppose that the King of England hath about Ten Millions of Subjects ubivis Terrarum Orbis and the King of France about Thirteen and a ½ as aforesaid Although it be very material to know the number of Subjects belonging to each Prince yet when the Question is concerning their Wealth and Strength It is also material to examin how many of them do get more than they spend and how many less In order whereunto it is to be considered that in the King of Englands Dominions there are not Twenty thousand Church-men But in France as the aforementioned Author of theirs doth aver who sets down the particular number of each Religious Order there are about Two Hundred and Seventy thousand viz. Two Hundred and Fifty thousand more than we thinkare necessary that is to say Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand withdrawn out of the World Now the said number of adult and able bodied Persons are equivalent to about double the same number of the promiscuous Mass of Mankind And the same Author says that the same Religious Persons do spend one with another about 18 d. per diem which is triple even to what a labouring Man requires Wherefore the said Two Hundred and Fifty thousand Church-men living as they do makes the King of France's Thirteen Millions and a half to be less than Thirteen Now if Ten Men can defend themselves as well in Islands as Thirteen can upon the Continent then the said Ten being not concerned to increase their Territory by the Invasion of
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
4. They cannot but know That no Man can believe what himself pleases and to force Men to say they believe what they do not is vain absurd and without Honor to God 5. The Hollanders knowing themselves not to be an Infallible Church and that others had the same Scripture for Guides as themselves and withal the same Interest to save their Souls did not think sit to make this matter their business not more than to take Bonds of the Seamen they employ not to cast away their own Ships and Lives 6. The Hollanders observe that in France and Spain especially the latter the Churchmen are about one hundred for one to what they use or need the principal care of whom is to preserve Uniformity and this they take to be a superfluous charge 7. They observe where most indeavours have been used to keep Uniformity there Heterodoxy hath most abounded 8. They believe that if ¼ of the People were Heterodox and that if that whole quarter should by Miracle be removed that within a small time ¼ of the People were Heterodox and that if of the remainder would again become Heterodox some way or other it being natural for Men to differ in Opinion in matters above Sense and Reason and for those who have less Wealth to think they have the more Wit and Understanding especially of the things of God which they think chiefly belong to the Poor 9. They think the case of the Primitive Christians as it is represented in the Acts of the Apostles looks like that of the present Dissenters I mean externally Moreover it is to be observed that Trade doth not as some think best flourish under Popular Governments but rather that Trade is most vigorously carried on in every State and Government by the Heterodox part of the same and such as profess Opinions different from what are publickly established that is to say in India where the Mahometan Religion is Authorized there the Banians are the most considerable Merchants In the Turkish Empire the Iews and Christians At Venice Naples Legorn Genoua and Lisbone Iews and Non-Papist Merchant-Strangers but to be short in that part of Europe where the Roman Catholick Religion now hath or lately hath had Establishment there three quarters of the whole Trade is in the hands of such as have separated from the Church that is to say the Inhabitants of England Scotland and Ireland as also those of the United Provinces with Denmark Sueden and Norway together with the Subjects of the German Protestant Princes and the Hans Towns do at this day possess three quarters of the Trade of the World and even in France it self the Hugonots are proportionably far the greatest Traders Nor is it to be denied but that in Ireland where the said Roman Religion is not Authorized there the Professors thereof have a great part of the Trade From whence it follows that Trade is not fixt to any Species of Religion as such but rather as before hath been said to the Hetrodox part of the whole the truth whereof appears also in all the particular Towns of greatest Trade in England nor do I find reason to believe that the Roman Catholick Seamen in the whole World are sufficient to Man effectually a Fleet equal to what the King of England how hath but the Non-papist Seamen can do above thrice as much Wherefore he whom this latter Party doth affectionately own to be their Head cannot probably be wronged in his Sea-concernments by the other from whence itt follows that for the advancement of Trade if that be a sufficient reason Indulgence must be granted in matters of Opinion though licentious actings as even in Holland be restrained by force The second Policy or help to Trade used by the Hollanders is securing the Titles to Lands and Houses for although Lands and Houses may be called Terra Firma res immobilis yet the Title unto them is no more certain than it pleases the Lawyers and Authority to make them wherefore the Hollanders do by Registries and other ways of Assurance make the Title as immovable as the Lands for there can be no incouragement to Industry where there is no assurance of what shall be gotten by it and where by fraud and corruption one Man may take away with ease and by a trick and in a moment what another has gotten by many Years extreme labour and pains There hath been much discourse about introducing of Registries into England the Lawyers for the most part object against it alledging that Titles of Land in England are sufficiently secure already wherefore omitting the considerations of small and oblique reasons pro contra it were good that enquiry were made from the Officers of several Courts to what summ or value Purchasers have been damnified for this last ten Years by such fraudulent conveyances as Registries would have prevented the tenth part whereof at a Medium is the annual loss which the People sustain for want of them and then computation is to be made of the annual charge of Registring such extraordinary Conveyances as would secure the Title of Lands now by comparing these two summs the Question so much agitated may be determined though some think that though few are actually damnified yet that all are hindered by fear and deterred from Dealing Their third Policy is their Bank the use whereof is to encrease Mony or rather to make a small summ equivalent in Trade to a greater for the effecting whereof these things are to be considered 1. How much Money will drive the Trade of the Nation 2. How much current Money there is actually in the Nation 3. How much Money will serve to make all payments of under 50 l. or any other more convenient summ throughout the Year 4. For what summ the keepers of the Bank are unquestionable Security If all these four particulars be well known then it may also be known how much of the ready Money above mentioned may safely and profitably be lodged in the Bank and to how much ready current Money the said deposited Money is equivalent As for example suppose a Hund. thous Pounds will drive the Trade of the Nation suppose there be but Sixty thousand Pounds of ready Money in the same suppose also that Twenty thous Pounds will drive on and answer all Payments made of under 50 l. In this case Forty of the Sixty being put into the Bank will be equivalent to Eighty which eighty and twenty kept out of the Bank do make up an Hundred that is to say enough to drive the Trade as was proposed where note that the Bank keepers must be responsible for double the summ intrusted with them and must have power to levy upon the general what they happen to loose unto particular Men. Upon which grounds the Bank may freely make use of the received Forty thousand Pounds whereby the said summ with the like summ in Credit makes Eighty thousand Pounds and with
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
and when they have no occasion to depend upon the Wind Weather and all the Accidents of the Sea A second Impediment to the greatness of England is the different Understanding of several Material Points viz. Of the Kings Prerogative Privileges of Parliament the obscure differences between Law and Equity as also between Civil and Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions Doubts whether the Kingdom of England hath power over the Kingdom of Ireland besides the wonderful Paradox that Englishmen Lawfully sent to suppress Rebellions in Ireland should after having effected the same be as it were Disfranchised and lose that Interest in the Legislative Power which they had in England and pay Customs as Foreigners for all they spend in Ireland whither they were sent for the Honor and Benefit of England The third Impediment is That Ireland being a Conquered Country and containing not the tenth part as many Irish Natives as there are English in both Kingdoms That natural and firm Union is not made between the two Peoples by Transplantations and proportionable mixture so as there may be but a tenth part of the Irish in Ireland and the same proportion in England whereby the necessity of maintaining an Army in Ireland at the expence of a quatter of all the Rents of that Kingdom may be taken away The fourth Impediment is That Taxes in England are not Levied upon the expence but upon the whole Estate not upon Lands Stock and Labour but chiefly upon Land alone and that not by any equal and indifferent Standard but the casual predomihancy of Parties and Factions and moreover that these Taxes are not Levied with the least trouble and charge but let out to Farmers who also let them from one to another without explicit knowledge of what they do but so as in conclusion the poor People pay twice as much as the King receives The fifth Impediment is the inequality of Shires Diocesses Parishes Church-Livings and other Precincts as also the Representation of the People in Parliament all which do hinder the Operations of Authority in the same manner as a Wheel irregulary made and excentrically hung neither moves so easily nor performs its Work so truely as if the same were duely framed and poised Sixthly Whether it be an Impediment that the power of making War and raising Mony be not in the same Hand much may be said but I leave it to those who may more properly meddle with Fundamental Laws None of these Impediments are Natural but did arise as the irregularity of Buildings do by being built part at one time and part at another and by the changing of the state of things from what they were at the respective times when the Practices we complain of were first admitted and perhaps are but the warpings of time from the rectitude of the first Institution As these Impediments are contingent so they are also removeable for may not the Land of superfluous Territories be sold and the People with their moveables brought away May not the English in the America Plantations who Plant Tobacco Sugar c. compute what Land will serve their turn and then contract their Habitations to that proportion both for quantity and quality as for the People of New-England I can but wish they were Transplanted into Old England or Ireland according to Proposals of their own made within this twenty years although they were allowed more liberty of Conscience than they allow one another May not the three Kingdoms be United into one and equally represented in Parliament Might not the several Species of the Kings Subjects be equally mixt in their Habitations Might not the Parishes and other Precincts be better equalized Might not Jurisdictions and pretences of Power be determined and ascertained Might not the Taxes be equally applotted and directly applied to their ultimate use Might not Dissenters in Religion be indulged they paying a competent Force to keep the Publick Peace I Humbly venture to say all these things may be done if it be so thought fit by the Sovereign Power because the like hath often been done already at several Places and Times CHAP. VI. That the Power and Wealth of England hath increased this last forty years IT is not much to be doubted but that the Territories under the Kings Dominions have increased Forasmuch as New-England Virginia Barbadoes and Iamaica Tangier and Bumbay have since that time been either added to his Majesties Territories or improved from a Desart condition to abound with People Buildings Shipping and the Production of many useful Commodities And as for the Land of England Scotland and Ireland as it is not less in quantity than it was forty years since so it is manifest that by reason of the Dreyning of Fens watering of dry Grounds improving of Forrests and Commons making of Heathy and Barren Grounds to bear Saint-foyne and Clovergrass meliorating and multiplying several sorts of Fruits and Garden-Stuffe making some Rivers Navigable c. I say it is manifest that the Land in its present Condition is able to bear more Provision and Commodities than it was forty years ago Secondly Although the People in England Scotland and Ireland which have extraordinarily perished by the Plague and Sword within this last forty years do amount to about three hundred thousand above what have dyed in the ordinary way yet the ordinary increase by Generation of ten Millions which doubles in two hundred years as hath been shewn by the Observators upon the Bills of Mortality may in forty years which is a fifth part of the same time have increased 1 â— part of the whole number or two Millions Where note by the way that the accession of Negroes to the American Plantations being all Men of great Labour and little Expence is not inconsiderable besides it is hoped that New-England where few or no Women are Barren and most have many Children and where People live long and healthfully hath produced an increase of as many People as were destroyed in the late Tumults in Ireland As for Housing the Streets of London it self speaks it I conceive it is double in value in that City to what it was forty years since and for Housing in the Country they have increased at Newcastle Yarmouth Norwich Exeter Portsmouth Cowes Dublin Kingsaile Londonderry and Coleraine in Ireland far beyond the proportion of what I can learn have been dilapidated in other places For in Ireland where the ruin was greatest the Housing taking all together is now more valuable than forty years ago nor is this to be doubted since Housing is now more splendid than in those days and the number of Dwellers is increased by near â— â— part as in the last Paragraph is set for t As for Shipping his Majesties Navy is now triple or quadruple to what it was forty years since and before the Sovereign was Built the Shipping Trading to Newcastle which are now about eighty thousand Tuns could not be then above a quarter of