Custom was put upon all wooll that was exported by Strangers and that at least by this Means they may come to pay double the Price of what our Clothiers do and not only so but by this Means also His Majesty may receive an advantage by the Customs that is Imposed upon it 5ly That our Fore-Fathers did never Prohibit the Transportation of Wooll unles upon some great Occasion and for a certain Season till of late Years for making good of which a Summary of several Statutes are brought from the Time of Edward the 3d. downwards to our Times 6th That the decay of our Clothing doth not lie in the Exportation of our wooll but on the contrary viz. because our wooll is not more freely Exported than it is that in as much as the decay and fell of our Manufacture comes properly from the Prohibition of our wooll the stopping or hindring of it is but the applying to our distemper a wrong Remedy To all which Objections I make the Reply following which I desire may be Impartially considered and if therein there be any thing of Reason Truth or Argument I question not but that Persons of Honour and Reputation will not oppose their own Judgment especially when their Intrest is truly and so nearly therein concerned A REPLY To a Paper INTITULED REASONS For a Limited EXPORTATION OF WOOLL I Must need say that I had not thought of appearing in Publick any more and could not easily have been moved thereunto had not my Zeal to the Commerce of the Nation which is at present solely maintained by the Woollen Manufacture of it Raised my fears so far as to believe a great Prejudice is coming upon Us and so far as to doubt also that we may be hastning of it by those very means we would endeavour to prevent it And therefore I cannot but like the dumb Child speak when he saw a Knife at his Fathers Throat I mean when I consider the extremity we are like to be in from the French Kings Vigilancy and the great Endeavours that he hath of late used to acquire the making of the Woollen Manufacture in his own Kingdome and what Artifice and vast Expence he doth use to effect his said design both in France and by his Agents here in England And to encourage the Manufacture thereof in his own Kingdom he hath even very lately issued forth his Edict for the erecting Hospitals in many Towns in France both for the setting all sorts of Persons at work that are able in the Woollen Manufacture and for the Maintenance of all Indigent Persons and not to suffer a Begger there And if the French King how fair soever he pretends a Friendship to us by Defining by all wayes and means to Undermine our Commerce and by it to prejudice us in our Trade and Strength by Sea I may I hope be pardoned if I am more that indifferently concerned or more than ordinary warm to think that we our selves should endeavour to perfect His Design by delivering up our Wooll the Foundation of so Rich a Manufacture into His hands for that which is moved is moved principally if not solely for the French Kings advantage and that which is desired if granted tends to our own Inevitable ruine Nor can we hereafter thinke of so Vain and Idle a Thing as to recover our Woollen Manufacture once lost or to preserve the Kings Customs or the Strength and Shipping of this Great Kingdom without it Upon all which considerations I cannot but humbly entreat the Nobility and Gentry and more especially such as have the Honour to serve their Country in Parliament seriously to reflect upon the wisdom of that Great Prince King Edward the 3d. and upon the Method which he in his Reign used now so long since to gain the Woollen Manufacture out of Flanders into this Countrey and withal Impartially compare that with the present designe of the French King viz. to Improve His Intrest hear to gain the Trade from us And then to Consider whether we have not Reason to do the utmost we may to Prevent his Design or whether we have Reason to do all that we can nay more than he himself doth ask or expect from us by a Law to promote and Incourage his Design We must be very short-sighted if we understand not that after he hath supplyed his own Country he will not only endeavour but will soon be able to supply Flanders Portugal Spain and the Streights to gain an Advantage to his own Subjects for if we may break the Laws of Commerce and lay what Impositions he pleaseth upon our Cloth and all other our Native Commodities even while we are at Peace with him why may he not also lay an Imposition upon all our Ships that pass the Streights or that shall dare to Trade or bring the same Commodities that he doth in any Port of Italy or Turkey where the Subjects of his Greatnes comes And when our Commerce is lost and our Manufacture gon and our Ships imposed upon that shall pass the Seas what shall be left to defend our selves in case we will not also receive his Codex or whatsoever he shall for the greatness of his name thinke fit to require of us All which things whether they be convenient not only to be wished but to be Contributed to by a Law I humbly leave to my Opponents themselves to judg For when the Trade that not only brings such a Revenue to his Majesty but is the Riches and Strength of this Kingdom shall be lost as is now attempted what Way or Means may we as Rational Persons think on to prevent any of those Mischefs before mentioned This General being permised I shall now enter upon the Discourse it self the main Aim or Scope of my Antagonist divides it selfe into two Parts the one to prove that there ought to be a Limited Transportation of Wooll the othe that by a Limited Transportation of Wooll the Price of it may be Raised and by the Raising of this the Rents of Lands may and will be encreased and his Majesties Customes greatly Advanced and if these things were Really Practicable I should not only be so Just to my Self and to my Opponents but so Just to the Nation as not to put Pen to Paper to trouble the Reader and much less to expose my self to a Stage of Contention as I am now like to do but for as much as the quite contrary will if I mistake not apear I shall therefore Examine and Weigh those Reasons and Grounds which my Opponent hath brought for those Assertions Whereas my Opponent doth endavour to Alarm the Nation that for want of the vending our superfluous Wooll abroad that the Farmer and Landlord are so much damnified that the one cannot pay his Rent nor the other sustain his Taxes and that this is the chiefest if not the sole Reason of sinking our Rents and throwing up Farmers and the Misery of the whole Country This Consiquence is
Edward the Third upon a visitation made by himselfe to the Duke of Bungundy during his residence there he imployed such able Agents amongst the Flemish Clothiers representing to them the Danger they were in by the bordering Warrs with France and the peaceable Condition of England and Freedom of the People that are Subjects there which are great Motives propounds an Invitation for them to come over hither wherein he â—romises them the same Priviledges and Immunities with his own Subjects by which promises he prevailed with a great number of them to come into England soon after him where He most Royally performed those promises and also replanted many of his own Subjects who had been long setled in Flaâ—ders And as a suitable improvement of so great a mercy did wisely project and also accomplish the Manufacture of Wooll within the bowels of this Kingdom to the great enriching of his own People and also to the peopleing of his new-Conquered Dominions the Memory of whose Wisdom and Care for his People is worthy to be had in remembrance by English men unto the Worlds end The said King having thus setled the Manufacture of Wooll within the Kingdom of England confined it by a penal Statute which at first reached not only to Goods Chattels and Lands but also to Members and Lâ—fe it self but in a short time repealed the two latter thereof continuing the other in its full force to remain to future Generations which exceeding greate advantage to the propriety of the English Trade hath now coutinued three Hundred Years by the vigilency of the government and the Protection of its Laws in the careful execution thereof upon offenders with more than a little diligence to provide against the thâ—â—sting desires oâ— Forreigners to wrest this Nations priviledg out of English hands which by the Providence of God through the care of our Ancestors has been for many Ages enjoyed by the Nation as it is indeed its proper right But so it is for some years past the diligence of Forreigners to enrich themselves upon us hath so far exceeded our care to preserve our selves that it s come to if not beyond a question who hath the greatest benefit of the Manufacture of English Wooll they who have no right unto it or they to whome of right it doth belong That this is so will appear by considering that not only Holland and Flanders have long suckt the sweetness of our Trade but France is likewise learning to be too hard for us as is manifest by the great quantity of Wooll that of late years have been imported there how injurious it must be to us is also unquestionable if we consider the necessary consequences thereof For every Pack of Wooll sent to France doth prevent us not only of the benefit of the Manufacturing thereof but of much more by reason of the advantage that they make of their own course Wooll and fine spun Linnen in their Drugets and Stuffs Besides our Damage in putting that value on the French Fancies by giving them double the worth for the same Manufacture which we our selvs make of our English Wooll so much have we been deceived in this Matter that whereas in the time of the late War with the Dutch and French that French Druggets and other Stuffs not coming so freely from France some English broad Cloaths striped at 10s per Yard were rent in three parts viz. Breadths and put in the form of French Druggets and each part sold at 8s per yard which makes that one yard comes to 24s which as English â—loth was sold for 10s and the like Fancy many have for Dutch Black Cloth if it have the Name of Dutch tho' our own Make this is real Matter of Fact. Now if we consider what damage we sustain by exporting one paâ—k of Wooll unmanufactured by which we may judge of the rest that a pack of Wooll worth ten pound if it be Manufactured here and so exported would be improved to be worâ—h one Hundred Pounds That it is so doth most evidently appear by worsted-hose that one pound of Kembed Wooll worth twenty pence will make two pair of Hose worth five Shillings the pair or three pair worth three Shillings four pence which reckoned either way sâ—ten shillings for one pound of Wooll though some is less some more there being twelvescore pound of Wooll in a pack is so many ten shillings makes a Hundred and Twenty Pound For when it shall be observed as I have now demonstrated that a Pack of Kembed Wooll worth 20l. does when Manufactured at home yeild 120 l. here in the English Market out of which deduct 20 l. for the Wooll there remains 100 l. Starling gains by the Labour of Spining and Knitting besides the Dying Leging Packing and fitting it for the Sea when the additional advance thereon by home and forreign Customs Freight Land-Carriage and other incident expence together with the Profit on sâ—le in Foreign Parts shall be considered it is reasonable to conclude that this single Pack so Manufactured and Exported by the English Merchant will Purchase Forreign Commodities to neare the value of 20â— l. by that time the Customes of Importation are answered for the same And indeed the thing is naturally so obvious and the loss to England in 〈◊〉 Years so apparent that tâ— may justly â—lence the greatest opposâ—r and convince any thinking Person tho himsâ—lâ— never so indifferent or unconcerned in point of intrest And if it be so that the single Exportation of one Pack oâ— English Wooll unwrought be so great a â—amage to the Nation it is an amazing thing oâ—â—alculate what the loss has been and does daily prove to the King â—nâ— Kâ—â—gdom while so many Thousand Packs have been and still are Yearly Transported the mischeife haâ— not perhaps been 〈◊〉 to every one but is very easily discovered by such who give themselves the leastle sure to consider To return it 's aver'd that the Exportâ—tion of English and Irish Wooll is of a Dangerous anâ— Destructive Consequeâ—â—â— to the very Being of our Trade and to the riches and strength of this Kingdom and to his Mâ—jestiâ—s Customs notwithstanding the Objections produced against it with respect of the Graziers Advantage thereby supposing 40 s. upon a Pack of Wooll was advanced for a year or two by Exportation yet other things would be lessoned by it it being not to be denyed at the same time that the poore and laborious People can be employed as to have money to buy them Bread Beet much less Mutton the want of which must of necessity full the price of all manner of Vâ—ctuals and if we name only Mutton which is relative to our subject 2 s. in the â—arkass which comes to 10 l. for 〈◊〉 Sheep they producing a Pacâ—oâ— Wooll at that rate â—s the value of the saâ—d Pack modestly computed But then for Beef and Corn 〈◊〉 that â—e lâ—sned proportionable it must be oâ— course greater damage to the Farmer
the Dressing and Dying it here â—o much loss came to this Kingdom thereby what must the loss be when it 's 〈◊〉 Manufactured here at all but the Materials Exported raw without any manner of gain to any Artificier at home For if we first consider his Majestie 's loss and next that of the Merchants and Clothiers after which must follow the Detriment to all other Persons depending on Tâ—ade there being such a connexion of Trades one to another that the dâ—mage of one harmes the rest and the profit of one advances others while the whole is enlarged by the abounding of working and laborious People who supply the Farmer and Grazier with money with which he payes his Rent to the Nobility and Gentry and they again disperse it amongest Tradesmen by which circulation all de-degrees of Men are either employed or enriched or both and hence naturally comes content harmony and pleasure that one condition of Men take in the other the poor by being employed are delivered from the fear of want the Merchants and Artificers encouraged by certain markets and ready Sale the Nobility and Gentry secured in their Rents by thriving and able Tenants And thus it is plain that emâ—loyment rationally is the strength of any People but Idleness brings Poverty Shame and Ruine which unavoidably followes the want of Trade But to return in short there is such Connextion and Dependancy one upon another in England that if one faile all the rest more or Less either near or more remotely are concerned All Trades and Degrees of men as Merchants Artificers Farmers Seamen Fisher-men being the People which by their study and labour do principaly if not only bring in or give accasion to the bringing in of Wâ—lth to the Nation and the Nobility Gentry Lawyers Physitions Schollars of all sorts Shop-keepers are they that receive from these and distribute it again and all are consequently concerned in this rich Treasure of Wooll because this being a Manufacture at home sets more hands at work than half the Nation May I not with modesty and within Compass say three parts of Laborious and Industrious People Considering that most of the Shipping is imployed in this Affair and also so many Trades that depend immediatly upon this of Clothing that most of other 〈◊〉 are but for Provision either in Food or Conveniencies for 〈◊〉 and so from his Majesty to the meanest all are more or 〈◊〉 concerned The King mostly not only in that his People are by thâ—â— most imployed and proviâ—ed for nor in that such a Staple Trade the liâ—e whereunto the Wooll hath not maintained with so good Advantage but because so greâ—t a Revenue comes directly into him upâ—â— the Trade occasioned thereby Thus as the King gains or suffers 〈◊〉 so the Persons that have the greatest Estates or Trades and so 〈◊〉 proportionable to the Beggar And also concerning that an accustoâ—â—ry thing begets such an habit that is hard to reduce as in our rough and undâ—est Cloth to Holland so it will be with all our Manufactures in France I am the more large in the Demonstration of this affair not only because this hath cost me many years labour and study to consult all sorts of concerned Persons besides mine own experience about it â—oâ— because it is so hard to convince people of the meâ—nâ—st capacity but some of the wiser sort how to cure this dismal malady which some dispairing of have rather thoughts of setting up sâ—mâ— other Manufacture in Lieu of endeavours to prevent the exportation of Wooll and Manufacturing of that at home looking thereon as a thing not to be overcome as that of Linnens in some capable parts of England and a better in provement in the product of Forreign Plantation which may also be set upon together herewith as an Addition so as several sorts of Persons may be set better on worke not capable of this employment and yet no prejudice to this of Clothing For all other Countries have the Advantage of England or aâ—e equal to us in other Manufactures proper to their Countries but not in this of 〈◊〉 hiâ—g and it will be found that all Trades in England wholly distinct from this of Clothing brings not the tythe of the Advantage that this doth Having given an Account in General of the 〈◊〉 to England bâ— the Woollen Manufacture I did intend to have decended to Particulars how all Persons are Concerned But my time will not permit now Leaving that for another season Notwithstanding what I have before said I find by Discourse with several Gentlemen of great Honour and Worth that there are some Mistakes yet remaining in their minds who Impute the Cause of the low Price of Wooll the fall of Rents and value of Lands because Wooll is no more freely exported to rectifie which mistake I have been labouring many years because the consequences of such mistaken Notions is dangerous to this Kingdom but if there was nothing more in it at this conjuncture this were sufficient to oppose it that it contributes to the Greatness of the French King into whose Dominions our Wooll is imported and who hath given so great an encouragement thereunto that to the Town of Caellis alone there hath been at least within two years brought in 40 Thousand Packs of Wooll from the Coast of Kent and Sussex besides what is imported in other places of France from Ireland and the western Parts of England for Rumneyâ—marsh-Men who so much complain are not content only with the Exportation of their own Grouth but buy Wooll 10 or 20 Miles up in the Country and bring it down to the Sea side and Ship it off besides much Wooll is carried from London to make a Trade of Exporting of it un-manufactured Kent is the place out of which more Wooll is exported than out of all other parts of the Kingdom besides so the Woollen-manufacture in that Countrey which before Wooll was so much exported was considerable is now almost lost tho' some seems to be well pleased that they have by that Means rid themselves of their Poor in that County I would desire such to consider what they would do with their Sheep Bullocks and Corn if all other Countryes that now are employed in the woollen-manufacture which is brought to London and there sold to maintaine Trade was as Barren of the Poor as Kent is tho' with it they have lost the benefit of so great and good Trade Give me leave to compare the Profit with the Loss and suppose Kent was wholy Independant and that it did produce Six Thousand Packs of Wooll yearly and put the Rate of Ten Pounds upon a Pack which in the whole amounts to Threescore Thousand Pounds and so exported And then to consider what it would be worth â—f made into Stockings and worsted Stuffs that wooll being most of it fit for it And supposing that a Pack and half of rough wooll made one Pack of Kembed wooll and as such worth Twenty Pound which
and Gâ—azier it being reckoned three times the value of Wooll throughout the Nation one with another And supposing there should bâ— grown yearly in Enâ—land Two Hundred Thousand packs of Wooll one year wâ—th another And supposing that once in â—our years the sheep were aâ—l kill'd Viz. 25 yearly of â—00 which 2â— Sheep valued so low as 10 l. which is the value of the Wooll yearly shorn from the 100 Sheep It may therefore prevaile upon us to beleive that Beef and all sorts of Corn must be of a far greater value than Mutton and consequently of Wooll because the greatest number of People by far are the poor and laborious People which consume Beef Bread and Bear and few of such do often buy Mutton or at least any quantity proportionable to other provision and therefore whatever some others think that a Country can be inriched without the poor laborious People I am of another opinion For it 's matter of Fact that in England it self in those part where the inhabitance are thin and the Countres not full of People that the Land in those pâ—â—ts wiâ— not yeild much above half the value as Land of the same goodness will yeild near Townes well Inhabited or Countries where Trade is good and if thus in England it 's much less in Ireland which I think is a good Demonstration Tâ—ese things considered on the other hand it will manifestly appear that the Exportation of Wooll unmanufactured will not only be destructive to the Merchants and Clothiers Trade and the exposing the poor to distress â—o want of employment but consequently the Farmer and Gâ—asieâ— will not be able to pay his Rent For if it be so that whilst we have some little Tâ—aâ—e left there are such general complaints what may be expected if our Foreign Trade should be wholly taken away which is now in more danger by the French than it hath been this three Hundred Years past and we seem to sleep and take no notice of it And then we â—aâ— considâ—r what price Wooll will bear when we some of us bâ— our remissâ—esâ— and oâ—her wâ—â—fulneâ—â— have lost our Trade by the circumventâ—ng practises of Forreiners and we our selves helping forward for fear they should not be able to do it alone and all this for a meere fancied and supposed profit for there was not more Art and Sâ—ill used by our Aâ—cestors to bring home the workers at first to the Wooll and Prohibiting â—he Exportation thereof and setling the Manufacturing of it in England than is now us'd to Export the materials unmanufactured to Forreign Artificers and if by the means of that which is Exported already Wooll is now made so cheap as it is a greater Exportation would make it yet cheaper supposing ten thousand Paâ—ks shipped into France which by thâ—ir sort of working it and mixing it with Lining and their own course Wooll and thinnâ—â—s of their work goes as far there and makes as many yards in the whole as twenty thousand Packs if Manufactured here into more firm and substantial Cloth and Stuffs which Ten Thousand Packs if they were not Exported into France it would unavoydably follow that France would have of us the quantity of Twenty Thousand Packs in our Manufacture Bâ— all which it 's obvious that in time to come the Wooll in England will be much more cheaper than now it is because by the aforesaid meanes more Wooll will be Exported and less will of course be used in England and that little which will be Manufactured here can beare little or no price Forreigners making that themselves which we should furnish them with which if it be true as it 's generally asserted that Wooll is as cheap in France as in some parts of England at this time it 's but rational to conclude it will be much cheapter hereafter when our Wooll dos encrease on our hands and our Manufacture decrease both in quantity and value For the better clearing of this point give me leave to insert one instance or two as matter of Fact That when Wooll was wholly Manufactured in England and very little if any at all Exported raw the price thereof for several yeares togeather continued betwixt 12 d. and 18 d. per l. weight and I verily beleive as much if not more Wooll was grown in England at that time Viz. betwixt 20 and 30 yeares agoe then is now at this time the reason is plain from the great quantity of our Woollen Manufacture vended beyond Sea which was so considerable that it kept up the price of Wooll at home On the other hand in Ed. 3's time when all the Wooll was Exported Un manufactured it was sold for 6 d. per pound as is before asserted by which it's manifest that the advancement of the price of Wooll consist in the consumption and vent of our Manufacture freely beyond the Seas and not in the Exportation of our wooll un manufactured As the Price of Wooll to be Set at a constâ—nt Rate without varying it is very Improbable if not Imposible for that which Rules the Market's in this Affair is the Sale of the Woollen Manufacture beyond the Seas For Example Suppose the Pack of Stockings before mentioned stands the Merchant at home at first buying 120 l. besides other growing Charges now if this Pack be sole abroad by the Merchants for 100 l. only the Merchant at his next buying cannot pay 120 l. but the maker must withal abâ—te proportonable first in the Wooll he shall next buy and then in the Wages his Work folks in proportion being reâ—uced in their payments So on the other hand if this Pack of Stockings valued at 120 l. here be Sold for 200 l. Clear of all Chaâ—ges this advance puts the Merchants upon a Speedy buying by which the Price is Advanced by the Merchants and consequently the price of Wooll and Workmens Wages Now to answer an Objection that we do not so much depend upon the Export as upon the were and Consumption within the Kingdome the mistake is so visible that all which gives themselves the least trouble to look into Trade knows that not above the 5th part of the Woollen-Manufacture made in England is wore here at home and that at least 4 parts of 5 of what is made here is Exported and further quantities wiill be demanded when the Exportation of Wooll unwrought is effectually prevented Before I conclude give me leave to add here what Sr. Walter Rawleigh in his time presented to King James the first viz. that by meanes only of the Exportation of Cloth 〈◊〉 and undressed was lost to the Kingdom above Foure Hundred Thousand 〈◊〉 yearly to the workmanship which the Dressers and Dâ—ers and other Artificers would have gained thereby besides the damage to the King in discourageing the Importation of Dying Stuffs which pay a considerable Customs besides the hindring Navigation Now if it was thus with England when the Wooll was â—â—de up into Cloth and that only for want of
if made up into Stockings would Yeild one Hundred and Twenty Pounds as before demonstrated which would amount to Seven Hundred and Twenty Thousand Pounds so that if the said Wooll was Manufactured in that County the profit by the Manufacturing thereof would be six hundred and sixty Thousand Pounds which instead of this Profit the Kentish Gentlemen are willing to content themselves with fourty shillings per. Pack advance upon their Wooll exported which amounts to but Twelve Thousand Pounds tho' it be only to the enriching and strengthening the French King who alone has the Benefit of most of the Wooll exported and tho' this in reason should be satisfactory to any yet I shall Answer that question how we can work up the Wooll if not exported Matter of Fact is not often disputed that it is matter of Fact that before there was such great quantities of Wooll Exported to France all the Wooll grown in England and what was imported from Ireland was all made up into one sort of Manufacture or other and a great part of it exported to France which now having our Wooll Prohibits ouâ— Manufacture so that were the wooll wholy stopt we should quickly work it up and then no complaint of wooll upon hand For I have known for several years together when little wooll has been exported that at Sheering-Time there hath been but a very small quantity of wooll left on hand Give me leave further to add that by the said Exporiation of Wooll to France Exeter alone hath lost the sale of Three Hundred Thousand Pounds worth of the woollen-manufacture P. An. next is the loss of a great part of the Cottens and Bays made â—n Dorcetshire as also Cloth-Rashes in Hampshire from the Town of Hampton and Rumsy two thirds of the Trade is lost in 20 Years time next may be considered Welch Cottens Manchester Bayes and Yorkshire Kâ—â—sâ—s worsted stuffs and stockings formerly a great Trade to France And last of all fine broad mixt Cloth from London which Trade is now lost for one Merchant in London that had the buying of Fifty Thousand Pounds worth of Cloth Pr. An. Sterling now have nothing which is the effect of Exportation of wooll to France who as they have tasâ—ed the sweetness and have sound the Sinues of our Trade so they have not spared any Cost to gain it from us by getting our wooll either by Craft or Force from us for there was not more Art and Skill used by K. Edw. 3d. in bringing home the Manufacturers at the first to the wooll than is now used to Export our wooll the consequence of which is not only Iâ—jurious to us in the manufacturing of it in France but in another Advantage to them by the Improving every Pack of Raw wooll as before hinted by their sine-spun Linning and Course wooll otherwise only fit for Ruggs or Seamens Garments that it makes as much manufacture as three Packs if used in England which together by the Cheapness of wages under sels us and without our wooll the French can make no middle sort of Cloth nor Stuffs or Stockings there being none in the Known parts of the world to my best Information fit for those manufactures which is the greatest Trade in Europe for confermation give me leave to add the words of an English Merchant living in France in a Letter to a Friend of mine here dated the 16 of March 1669 viz. we Englishmen have our Throats Cut with our own Weapous wondering at the Stupidity of the English that they should so long omit to possess the King's Majesty with their Deplorable and dangerous Case in respect of the present and future Inconveniency thereof in having such great quantities of Wooll that is stolen into France by which the French Make Cloth called Serge-de-Berry in which they Cloath their Soldiers and all made of English wooll by which Means the English Men have the Reputation of betraying their Father for two pence than no Marvel if they betray their Country And in another Letter from the same Person to my self dated the 5th of March 1671 Respecting Stockings thus viz. I have much reason to believe unless some are made Examples there will be a continual Abuse of the Comodiâ—y both English and Irish raw and kembed abound much in these Countries that they make abundance of Fabricks and without our wooll they cannot make it There is a City called â—ourney that makes all sorts of woollen Sâ—ockings it 's but few Years ago that they betook themselves to it a Trade which in my Minority was considerable from London into these Countrys but it 's now lost it is not above three Years ago that there was a Scarcity of kembed Wooll in that quarter of the Country and could have contemedly given double the Price for the said Wooll I tould them care was then taking in England to prevent it I Remembred at that time viz the beginning of the Year 166â— upon my Address to K. Char. 2d by the Importunity of some Merchants in Exon for some Friggats at Sea and a Party of Horse at Land and strict Orders then given as at large else-where doth appear a great stop was then put to that mischeif but I being discouraged and also falling Sick in 1671 that Wooll was then Exported in great plenty that the same Gentleman saith That Wooll abounded both English and Irish that it fell in few Months one third part of its Price and there he concludes thus viz. you may easily see how Englands Hearts-Blood is drawn from them in a word France rejects our Fabricks at this day presuming they shall never want our wooll to make their own Fabricks which are so variable as puts a greâ—t stop to the Current demand that used to be of our Sollid Fabricks for which they will pretend to give the Mode to all the world and so by this Means in time all the world will be disgust with our Fabricks when they shall receive the Mode from the French consider this I pray that so there may be some speedy Remedy What hath been done in pursuance of this Letter I have else where wrote at large I shall here only incert the main Objections made against what I have here Asserted viz. 1st That for want of vending our superfluous wooll abroad that the Tenant and Landlord are so much damnified that the one cannot pay his Rent nor the other sustain his Taxes and this is the chiefest if not the sole Reason of sinking our Rents and throwing up of Farms and the Misery of the whole Country 2d That it is much more the Concern of the Nation to preserve the Nobility and Gentry rather than regard a few Artifficers who are employed in the working up the wooll or the Merchant who gains by the Exportation of our Manufacture 3d. That it will be more for the Advantage of our woollen Trade and less for that beyond the Sea than the hindring of it hath been 4th That if a large
account like Merchants by Proffit and loss all the proffit that can be made and that very small by this Act returns to such Counties which are proper for breeding and that small proffit is lâ—st to them if not much more by their Corn for want of Trade by it and the whole Nation hath hereby lost in great measure the vent of its home and Forreign Commodities to Irland and the increasing product to England in general by Irish Cattle in Specia But as to the Political Point you did herein as much as in you then lay to cut off all that stronge as more Natural dependance of Ireland upon England and to govern it rather by the force of Authority than by the Influencial benignity of Intrest Ireland being thus exposed their Corn not fit for Transportation put them upon increasing their Flocks of Sheep which produced great quantities of Wooll by which means the price in England consequently decreased through the whole Kingdome though the Irish Wooll with the duty in Ireland fraughts and Facturing the Charges wear 2d Per Pound for that in the judgment of some as the Irish Cattle was grown to a Nusance so the increase of Wooll occasioned by the Prohibiting Act comes to the same Fate That as among our English Gentry whose Rents depend upon the product of Wooll doe find their Estates by the late cheapness of it much reduced yet there are other reasons than Irish Wooll But than first of the Manufacture in Ireland about 20 years some Westren Clothiers reduced to extream poverey moved themselves and their Families over into Ireland invited by the cheapness of Wooll and Victuals there which Errected then a Manufacture at Dublin which hath since increased About the same time 60 Families from Holland come to Lymrick which by the occasion of the succeeding Warr decayed but after this more of the English Clothiers went over and fixed about Cork and Kingsale where they continue and are grown not inconsiderable some French have since resorted to Waterford to make Druggets there and other Commodities of their fashion and about a year or two agoe some Merchants of London raised another Manufacture at Clonmell managing it by Agents But a more evident and certain reason of yours and our consuming for want of vent or consumption is the wares with which formerly and of late years Europ has generally been infested so that in most parts thereof which were supplyed from you the People have been much Impoverished and thereby necessitated to be their own Clothier first and from thence Enabled industry increasing some of them to furnish their Neighbours And to this several of your own Subjects have concurred who either not finding themselves well and easie at home or intised over by greater profit have instructed Foreigners in the whole Mystery of Clothing till they now have made it a staple Commodity thus by the reciprocation of humane Affairs that Trade which the Warrs upon the foreigners reffuge with you first introduced is upon occasion of the Wars recovered back again and the Drapery restored to them in great measure even by the means of your own Subjects furnishing them with Wooll But the grand Spring of this whole Matter lies in Frame that King is a most vigilent and Potent Prince c. for he hath made Warr with all Europe with his Sword against his Enemies but against his Frinds by Trafique which is indeed as the more just so the most effectual way of destroying them But among all none hath on this later account more suffered than England for besides the Wine which we purchas at most Excessive Rates and for the most part with pure Money and besides these Trinkets of which we are so fond and to the making of which the French Genius was formerly Adapted he hath now for many years applyed his People to the more solid Trades of Cloth and Stuffs indeed of all things valiable embracing in effect or in projection the universel Monarchy of Commerce never did any Prince except ours addict himself so wholly to the encouragement of Trade and Navigation c. To this he hath either wholly Prohibited or which is Tantâ—â—neunt laid so excestive Impositions upon all English Manufacture c that they are in a manner totally excluded and you have no Commodity to exchange with but whatever you have of his must be Bought with a Peny insomuch that I have seen hear a particular drawn up as t is said in your Parliament wherein they computed besides the Lucrum Cessaerum that your Nation sustains a clear loss of Eleven Hundred Thousand Pounds Yearly by the French Trade hereby the French that were before at best but the Milliners of Europe are now become or pretend to be the Cape Merchants and their King gives not only the Mode but the Garment to all Christendoâ—e and the World puts it self into his Livery at their own Expences well may you complain of the Death rather than the Deadness of your Manufacture when from this Cause it receives such an obstruction even to Suffâ—cation when you are not only deprived of that general and gainful vâ—nt that you had formerly in France it self but in all other Places where you Traffique you meete the French now at every turn and the Forreign Post brings news from all Parts that they are before you and have undersold you in the same Commodities And to this Disease so Mortal and which is beyond any privat Man to remedy your selves do more particularly contribute by those vast quantities of Wooll which they tell us here are daily and now more than ever Transported for France a thing that you always prohibited but it seems at least some of you always Tolerate so that in effect Calice is still no less your Staple than while it was formerly under the English Dominion I will not excuse Ireland from the same Crime altho' in less Proportion but you have I hear a Milicia that in Defiance of all Authority Convey their Wooll to the Shallop with such Strength that your Officers dare not offend them While whatsoever we do of that kind is more Modest and wheresoever it looses its way afterwards at Sea it is first entred for England and pays both the King's Duty and that to the Lord Lievtenant for Licence so that as we cannot Trade so neither can we Steal with you on equal Terms by this time I hope you are satisfyed and convinced that Ireland deserves not your Complaint but your Pity and that those things which some have ascribed to us are but the common Calamity of both Nations occasioned by the Flux of Humane Affairs and Accidents of the present Conjuncture thorow Europe and therefore that you will not only consult how to redress our common Grievance but that you will also remedy those more particular Pressures that we suffer by or under you Whether you will think fit to reverse your Act against our Cattle I know not nor can I answer for the Effect that it would produce but I have often observed how gladly Waters that have been diverted return and fall into their former Channel Though I am no Politician dare say in General that it concerns you to use us kindly and to Indulge us in all things that tend to Civilize Cultivate and People this Nation FINIS
ENGLANDS INTREST IN SECURING THE Woollen-Manufacture OF THIS REALM Against the Artiffices and designs of FRANCE asserted and made Evident to all true Lovers of their Country To which is added a REPLY to some Objections Formerâ—â— made to the same Subject LONDON Printed by Joseph Streater for the Author Anno. Dom. MDCLXXXIX TO THE READER IF I should value the Discouragements I have met withal not only by appearing Publickly in this Matter but also in my endeavouring to prevent the Mischiefs that accrues to this Nation by the Exportation of Wooll I must have been both silent and un-active but having conceived it to be the greatest Concern not only to the Merchant and Clothier but also to the whol Kingdom in general I have exposed my self because the greatest Strength of the Nation which consists in the Multitude of People the greatest Riches the greatest Power upon the Sea in Shipping and the greatest Revenues of the Crown in most of its Branches do all principally depend upon the Woollen-Manufacture as more at large appeareth in the following Discourse And considering that these great Advantages are not only endeavoured to be gained from us by Forreigners but more especially by a Powerful Neighbour viz. the French King while some at home are not only Reasoning but appearing in Print for it to such I will adventure to say and doubt not to make appear that they are Enemies to Englands Prosperity what ever Pretence they may make to the contrary I am much convinced that by this Means and by the Cunning Artifices and secret Contrivances of French Agents that not only the Clothing Trade but the very Intrest of the Nation in General is at Stake and in Hazard to be utterly lost This I have for some Years fore-seen and publickly declared tho' little regarded that it will appear in time that what I then mentioned was upon very Good Grounds and from my fore-sight of that Ruine in our Trade which will certainly come upon us if not Timely and Industriously prevented And tho' I have Wrote of this Subject 20 Years ago and re-printed the same in 71 and abstracted that Discourse and added a few Lines as an Advertizement to the Merchants and Clothiers and published that Discourse in the Year 72 to all which was Objections made and printed in the Year 77 to which I also then made a Reply as I thought sufficient And it did answer my End therein viz. in preventing the French Agents in their Designe But finding in my Attendance on a late Committee of the Honourable House of Commons appointed to consider a Bill depending before them for the Explanation and better Execution of two Acts of Parliament made in King Charles the 2ds Reign Prohibiting the Exportation of Wooll that Answer was urged by some against me supposing no Reply was made to it I have for that and other Reasons now re-printed an Abstract both of my first Discourse my Opponents Answer and my Reply thereunto wherein I have endeavoured to remove that Gross Mistake as if the hindring the Exportation of Wooll was the Cause of the low Price thereof the Cause of the fall of Rents and value of Lands the contrary whereof I do Assert and shall plainly Demonstrate the true Cause thereof Evincing that the hindring the Exportation of Wooll will Cause the recovery of our Trade the raising the Price of Wooll and consequently of Lands which is the Principal Drift and Designe of the Following Discourse That tho the Subject I am upon is mearly matter of Fact and therefore less subject to Controversy yet that it may be free from all Objections I have added the Testimony of two Witnesses one a Gentleman of Kent viz. Thomas Manley Esq against whome there is little room to cavel the other is Mr. Andrew Marvel who tho' Dead yet his Name still Lives 〈◊〉 Member of the last Long Parliament and very well known to many of this who endeavoured to oppose that unfortunate Act for so I must in all humility call it that prohibited Irish Cattle He Wrote that discourse under the notion of a Letter from a Younger Brother in Ireland to an Elder in England because he was unwilling to be known to be the Author being loath to disoblidg his Friends in Yorkshier who were for Passing that Act. Since the following Papers was printed I am informed that by â—eans of the stop at present to Irish Wooll the Clothiers in the West want Wooll which makes good what I supposed Page the â—â—th therefore it may be considered how necesary it is to have a â—tock of Wooll before hand to keep the Poor at Work when there â—ay be a scarcity of Wooll upon other occasions An Abstract of a Discourse formerly Printed Entituled Englands Intrest by our Woollen-Manufacture wherein is demonstrated that the whole Nation is concerned in the Improvement thereof and the evil Consequences of the Transportation of our Wooll Vn-Manufactured FEw Princes have such means to support their splendour and Greatness as His Majesty of Great Britain nor have many Countries such a variety of staple Commodities within themselves and in such abundance as thâ—se Kingdoms So that if these Advantages were duly improved this Kingdom might be a general Mâ—rt for these parts of the World. But That those Adventages are not improved is obvious to all that look into it by the soâ—â— complaints that are frequently made of the great Poverty and decay thereof and indeed which is worst of all by that general dâ—speration of Spirit which will not put orth a hand to help support or prevent the total desolation foâ—r Country upâ—n a prepossest opinion that all enâ—eavâ—uâ—s will be rendred â—ruitless and abortive The consideration whereoâ— hath greatly prompted me who must confess my self the meanest of Thousâ—nâ—s to use the utmost of my little skill to try what might be done towards the management of some Methods that may prevent the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and if possible that some good part of what is lost may be recovered I shall confine my self to those things only whereof I have had not only credible information but a considerable though a sad experimental knowledg and in a more particular and especial manner that of the Manufacture of Wooll in England which amongst â—any is the richest Treasure in his Majesties Dominions the Flower Strength and Sinew of this Nation and therefore of full Merrit to be had in parpetual remembrance defence and encouragement for the most advantagious improvement thereof The Dukes of Burgundy who had as â— am informed the greatest if not the whole Manufacturing of our Wooll well understood and long enjoyed before King Edward the Third the benefits accruing to that People by English Wooll which they received at six Pence per pound by their industrous Manufacturing thereof returned again to us in Cloath at ten shillings per yard to the enriching of that People and advancing the Revenue of their Soveraign which being perceived by the vigilent and industrous Prince King