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
hath released all the Impositions that he hath of late Years put upon it then I must needs confess the Case is altered and that the said Laws ought Justly to be Repealed or 2. If my Opponent hath received Information from sure and good Hands that the Hollanders make use of no other Wooll than that of their own Grouth though they breed few or no Sheep and that he hath also received Information from good and sure Hands that the French make use only of their own Wooll in all their Manufacture or 3. If my Opponent can make it appear that the setting on Work the Inhabitants of this Realm is not now a thing so conveniant or fit as it was when the said Acts were made or 4. If the Improving the Native Commodities of this Country to its best and utmost Use be found by Experience to be no good Policy but to bring many Inconveniences with it or 5. If it be much more adviseable that Forreiners should go away with the Gain of our Manufacture and with the sweet of our Trade rather than that his Majestie 's Subjects should have it in all these Cases I must confess it must Inevitably be for the Intrest of the Nation to Repeal the said Acts and lay them aside But on the other hand if none of all these Five Cases can possibly be put and that those very Reasons and Grounds do still remain and are the same now which they were when the said Acts were made Then my Opponent's motion to Repeal the said Laws must be against the Intrest of the Nation or Intrest doth not alwayes speast True which was the Paradox intended to be Argued by my Opponent As it is clear then that by both these Arguments my Opponent hath wholly mistaken himself in the Cause of our Manufactures decay to evidence yet farther the manifestness and palpableness of this mistake we affirm that it is Matter of Fact that our Woollen-Manufacture did greatly encrease after the said Prohibition of Wooll and not only encreased but bore a good Price and that I may not be found like some others who regard not the Credit of what they affirm and particularly like him who hath contracted the Arguments of my Opponent and hath published them together in one Sheet of Paper I will to justifie what I say appeal for the Truth of it not only to the Custome-house Books and to the quantity of Woollen-Manufacture there entred but to the Gentry themselves And to the Price that the Land bore and Victuals for many Years together after the said Prohibition Yea as our Manufacture did encrease for many Years together after the said Prohibition of the Exortation of Wooll so it had to this day still encreased had not those accidents happened that laid so effectual a Foundation for the ruine of it as it was neither in the Power of the Clothier nor in the Power of the Crown to prevent I mean those new and immoderate Taxes which were laid upon our Manufacture by the French King on purpose to encourage his own workmen to gain the said Manufacture from us and on purpose to prevent our Cloth and Stuffs from being brought into his Country the Fruits of Exportation of Wooll although we Yearly take of his Commodities to the value of above a Million of Pounds Sterling and I meane in the second place the making that unfortunate Act against the Importation of Irish Cattle which hath not only tended to the ruine of the Grower but to the ruine of the Clothier and to the ruine of the very Trade of England it self and which if it should continue to stand un-repealed must necessarily and inevitably ruine more and more Both the Gentry Merchant and Clothier every day And therefore as a further Proof of what I say I shall give one instanca insteed of many and leave the Truth of it to be strictly examined and judged accordingly which is that since the said accedents have befallen us I mean of the French Kings Arbitrary Impossitions upon us and that Act against the Importation of Irish Cattle Exeter alone hath lost of what it did formerly Vend near if not above three Hundred Thousand Pound Sterling every Year And if we shall reckon Proportionably for all other Countries and Cities we shall then easily see there is a Just Ground for the Decay of our Woollen-Manufacture and for the fall of the Price of our Wooll by it and for the fall and ruin of our Rents not as my Opponent Alleageth by reason of the Prohibition of Transporting our Wooll but truly and really by reason of the Multiplycation and Increase of our Wooll to that degree that the Exportation of it hath almost been Necessary in the Judgment of some The serious consideration of which true and real cause of the decay of our Manufacture I shall humbly leave to the Wisdom of the Parliament And shall likewise leave it to their Wisdom to be considered whether in this Conjuncture of Affairs and according to the Circumstances which now attend Us while our Neighbours do not only Emulate us but are become actual Rivals with us not only for our Clothing but for our Trade it self and for our Strength and Dominion at Sea we shall or ought so far to contribute towards the Design and towards the Certainty and Effectualness of our own Ruine to permit at any rate our Wooll to be Exported and by this means make our Neighbours scorn the Commerce and Trade they formerly had with us and thanked us for But if any Caveller should say that after all I cannot deny but there is a surplus of Wooll which cannot be wrought up by Clothiers at home and that I offer not one word how it should for the future be disposed of I answer 1. That it appeareth not by any thing which my Opponent hath hitherto said at least not by any thing that he hath hitherto proved that the Clothier either cannot or doth not work up the Wooll of the proper grouth of England to the full of it but if a far greater quantity of Wooll be brought into England from Ireland then ever until of late Years as the Clothier cannot be Responsible for his not Buying up all the Wooll which is sent into England so neither can he or ought he to be Responsible for the Glut proceeding from the Importation of it or for the cheapness of the said Wooll by reason of the said Glut. Non. withstanding which Glut I may presume to say or at least to suppose that if an account was taken both in Ireland and England before the time of shearing there will not be found one quarters Grouth or at the most 6 Months Un-Manufactured in the greatest Year of plenty of Wooll and dulness of Trade which duly considered doth require more care for a stock beforehand in England and not to suffer it to be Engrossed and Stored up in France and Holland as now it is Which is the true cause of keeping
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
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
with us and probably ever will there is small reason to expect better Rates for Ours for who will give us six pence for that pound of Wooll which in Ireland may be had for four pence unless it may be granted that ours is better than that of Ireland which few of the Adjutators will for certain Reasons be willing to confess 2. If the Irish Wooll enables the Forreigner to carry on that Manufacture to a degree hurtful to us we have small reason to assist them further therein by affording them ours seeing they enjoy advantages too many already least we immitate those good Men who break the pot because their Wives break the pitcher ruine our selves because Ireland hurts us To the last Reason that the prohibition of Wooll is a new practice unknown to us till within this twenty years and yet before that time both Wooll and Drapery yielded the best Rates for above 60 years last past I Answer 1. That 't is very true but it does not follow that the prohibition was therefore necessary or that the same brought a prejudice upon either but that other reasons already given must be assigned for the fall and meanness of the Rates of those Commodities it being no wayes questionable but that the Exportation of our Drapery had long since expired had not the prohibition of Wooll interposed 2. Statutes are provided to answer the present emergence and reason of Affaires and adapted to the occasion and Interest of the Age wherein they are made so that what was judged unnecessary in former Ages may be of superlative use in this and if the reason thereof again cease may be as insignificant in the next 3. We had no need of such restraining Laws long before they were enacted for till the peace of Munster England alone enjoyed almost the whole Manufacture of Europe But France who then also received Woollen-Drapery from us agitated since that peace by a most sagacious Counsel who understands the advantages of Manufactures and Navigation and fild with an active nnd enterprising People ' has unhappily added that Manufacture to the many other advantages they enjoy for commerce above most other Nations and hath all things propitious for the managing thereof except fine Wooll such as ours is to mix with their own Must our Ancestours proceedings then who were governed by reasons far different from ours be presidents to us or is it not rather high time to employ our utmost skill to retain so necessary a Commodity at home I have lately met with one Merchant of no small pretences to the intrigues of Trade who although he will not allow that the Rates of Wooll may encrease upon the repeal of our Laws which is the prime reason alleadged for repeal of the prohibition yet affirms that if the prohibition were removed and due Imposts charged upon Wooll it might thereby better than the prohibition be either retained at home or rendred so chargeable to our Neighbours that we might have sufficient advantages over them in that Manufacture To which I Answer 1. That he which affirms all this must maintain that either His Majesties Officers of His Customs will be more industrious to Collect the Duties and Imposts so to be charged on this Commodity than they were to make Seizures of it by vertue of the prohibition tho' they had a Moyety of the Seizure or that the Exporters will be more consciencious in paying His Majesties Impostes than they were in obeying His Laws which prohibited the Exportation tho' they ventured their Necks into the bargain or that the Forreigner may be less desirous of it after the repeal than before 2. The Imposts must be either much or little if much it may be worth venturing to save the payment as is so frequently practised in payments of the like nature but if they be little the payment of them will be easily ballanced by the advantages our Neighbours have over us in cheap dyet labour c. as has been already shewed If to what has been said it be replyed that it is better Export Wooll than neither Wooll nor Drapery I Rejoyn 1. That it is so were it true that we Exported no Drapery and remained without hopes of ever sharing again in Forreign Markets but thanks be to God Matters are not yet arrived to so ill terms and probably never will unless some aspiring Neighbour who may design to engross all Traffick beat us out of the Mediterranean Sea or that we let out our Wooll by a Law. 2. If we do yet more effectually provide to keep our Wooll at home 't is a thousand to one but our Drapery will off but if once we Export our Wooll by a Law charge it with what Impost and confine it to what Ports and seasons you please as some vainly or slily propose we may bid an Eternal adieu to the Exportation of our Woollen-Manufacture Who will buy our Wooll seeing we slight it our selves will the French to what end to employ their People and carry on a Manufacture as universal as their other designs have they not of late charged our drapery with heavy impositions meerly to discourage its coming among them the better to employ their own people and must we then return the civility with such advantage to them 4. And lastly to Export our Wooll because at present we want vent for our Drapery is for ever to confirme in that want and is a choyce like pulling down my house for fear it may be burnt or like hanging my self least any other kill me Thus far Mr. Manley but before I Conclude give me leave to ad one Testimony more Written by an unknown Author under the name of a Letter from a Younger Brother in Ireland to an Elder Brother in England Occasioned by the Act against Irish Cattle Printed the same Year 77. the sum of which followeth viz. THe â—all of Rents cheapness of Wooll and decay of Manufacture in England being Sugjested to be principally occasioned by Ireland the Irish Cattle were thereupon Prohibited by an Act of Parliament and declared to be a publick Nusance Admitting that some off those Counties might be prejudiced by the Importation of Irish Cattle yet whatsoever proffit accured to others by it did upon the mutual necessities of all settle into the common Stock of the Nation And it seems but reasonable that whatsoever private obligation a Parliament-Man hath to the place where he is Elected yet when once he comes to sit his Trust and his mind is enlarged and he does no more consider himself as the Polititian of a Shere or the Patron of a Borrough but as a Representor of the universality whereas otherwise if any County one or more chance to be more Fertile than other in Members of Parliament and they Act by such narrow Measures the decision would be by multitude not by Reason And notwithstanding if we were to tell Counties those that are not advantaged and are realy agrieved make the greatest plea for if we
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
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
not allowed that being assigned for a General Cause which is but one amongst many and that a very small one the true Cause of the abateing the Price of Land and lessening the Rents shall be given in the Answer to the next pretence in this Head Viz. That it is much more the Concern of the Nation to preserve the Nobility Gentry and those that the Land of this Country belongs unto rather than regard a few Artifficers who are employed in the working up of the Wooll of this Nation or to regard the Merchant who gains by the Exportation of our Manufacture I Humbly crave leave to say that the said Argument doth wholy depend upon a Supposition which is no way fit to be Granted Viz. as if the Intrests of the Merchant Mariner and Artisicer were not only Opposite to but wholy Inconsistent with the Nobility Gentry and Farmers whereas there is nothing more evident than the contrary so that the whole Argument it Self falls for want of a Foundation For the clearing of which let us consider that in as much as it is Imposible that we should defend our selves as an Island otherwise than by the strength of our Shipping and seeing this is much less posible to be done now at such a Juncture of Time when our nearest Neighbours do partly out of Fear and partly out of Emulation multyply Shipping upon us and use all endeavors that are possible to gain the Dominion of the Sea from us it is hence clear that we must either say that the Intrest of the Nobility Gentry and Farmer is not the same with the Intrest of the Nation or if it be the same with the Intrest of the Nation it must be their Intrest then to uphold the Trade and Shipping of this Country and Consequently to uphold the Merchants But for as much as all that understand Trade do well know that all the Commerce of this Nation doth for the value and bulk of it Intirely depends upon the Woollen-Manufacture Consequently it must be the Intrest of the Nobility Gentry and Farmer to uphold the Woollen-Manufacture as much as 't is to uphold Trade or to uphold the Strength of our Shipping by Sea. For what will the Lands of the Nobility and Gentry profit them or what will become of the Priviledges and Rights of English Men if through the Loss of our Woollen-Manufacture we Loose our Trade and by the Loss of this we want Shipping to Defend our Selves To this Argument let us also add that if there be no opposition between the Intrest of the Nobility and Gentry and the Intrest of the Farmer as no Man doth pretend there is than there can be no Oposition between the Intrest of the Nobility and Gentry and the Intrest of the Artifficer who Works up the Wooll of all the Country For besides the Profit that doth arise to the Nobility and Gentry by the Houses which are taken and by the Lands that are Rented by the Clothiers and by the Workmen under them it 's well known that the said Clothiers and Workmen are Serviseable to the Farmer not only for the buying up of his Wooll but for the buying up all manner of Victuals also by the which not only one but all the parts of the Farmers Rents come to be discharged one Clothier Imploying not only one or two Hundred Persons but sometimes one or two Thousand and Consequently if we shall admit that there are in England not above five Thousand Clothiers and that each of these one with another do maintain but two Hundred and Fifty Workmen the whole will amount to upward of one Million whereof if we allow for each of these People but four pound Per. An. one with another the whole will amount to between four and five Millions of Pounds Sterling Per. An. which Yearly Sum the Farmer doth Immediatly recieve and Consequently the Nobility and Gentry from the Poor and Contemptible Artificer over and above what is further Contributed by them to the Shoomakers Taylors and other Trades that could not live and be Maintained without them nor the Farmer himels if all these Trades should Fail And this leads us also to take notice of another mistake in my Opponent and such as is no small one which is that in as much as it is Matter of Fact and such as may be clearly demonstrated that there is at least if not much more than a Milion of Persons employed in the Clothing-Trade and hath their dependance wholly upon the said Manufacture It 's hence evedent how much my Opponent hath mistaken himself in supposing that though our Clothing-Trade should be lost yet all the Persons that are now employed in it might find work from the Farmers foreseeing it's Matter of fact that the Farmer is able to supply himself with as many Labourers and more than he hath occasion for without so much as medling with that of the Clothing-Trade It must unavoydably follow that if our Manufacture should be totally lost as there will be above a Million of People that must either Starve or Beg or be put to the Charge of several Parishes or be forced to Steal or Rob or leave the Kingdom so it 's as evident that the Farmer after all this will not only be less able to employ Labourers than he was before but less able to pay his Landlord by four or five Millions every Year And when such an Abatement as this shall be made of the Farmers Income I shall leave it then to any wise Man to Consider what will become of the Price of Lands or Value of Rents and how much this will advantage the Grower or Breeder of Wooll and to make good this Computation and free it from all Suspision of Slightness we will further offer to Consideration that whatsoever is the true Vallue of all the Woollen Mannfacture of England the Nobility Gentry and Commonalty do receive among them near if not more than Nine Parts of Ten. For inasmuch as all who are well acquainted with the Clothing-Trade do know that it is not a Tenth Part of the Profit nor sometimes the Twentieth that is gained by the Clothier or first Employer who frequently looseth of the very Intrest of his Mony consequently it must of necessity follow that Nine of the Ten Parts if not Nineteen of Twenty Parts of the whole Value of the said Manufacture must be distributed to the Nation so that admitting the whole Woollen-Manufacture of this Nation comprehending Cloth Stuffs Bays Stokings and all other of the said Manufacture do amount to Four Milions of Pounds Sterling Per. An. more or less there will not come of that Great Sum to the Clothier or first Employer much above Two Hundred Thousand Pound if so much so that Three Millions and Eight Hundred Thousand Pounds Per. An. must of necessity be distributed to the Nation by Virtue of the said Clothing-Trade whereof we cannot but suppose the Farmers and therefore the Nobility and Gentry must receive the greatest
Part. It is well known also that it is solely by our Trade that not only this Great City of London it Self but several other Large Cities of this Nation do wholly Depend and which if our Trade were removed they would soon be deserted by their respective Inhabitants And then we cannot but offer to Consideration where the Nobility Gentry or Farmer would find a Market for their Commodities or find a Price answerable to them All which Particulars I have been the larger in to remove that Mistake which is almost as Distructive to the Nation as the Pestilence it Self which is that mentioned by my Opponent Viz. that the Intrest of the Merchant or the Intrest of the Clothier and Artifficer is not Consistant with the Intrest of the Nobility and Gentry the contrary being made sufficiently to appear Another thing Alleged by my Opponent is that a Limited Exportation of Wooll will be more for the Advantage of our Woollen Trade and less for that beyond the Sea than the hindring of it hath been Which Ascertion if my Opponent had Really Sufficiently and Effectually made good he might justly have Merited the Name for being the greatest Master of Reason in England And indeed seeing a Paradox more strange and more hard to be Conceived could not easily be stated I could not but expect that some Arguments more Remarkable than ordinary would Immediatly have followed it but finding contrary to my Expectation nothing beyond a bare Affirmation that if Strangers had a Liberty to Buy what Wooll soever they please they would Pay Dearer for it then they do and that our Clothiers would therefore have it the Cheaper and by this Advantage would be able to under-sel the Strangers in their Manufacture I say finding little or no thing more to be brought either by way of Reason or Argument to maintain this Parradox I was soon convinced that it remained as uncapable to be proved as it was before and a little to evidence the Improbability of the said Consequence we shall here offer some few Reasons to the Contrary And First I crave leave to say that it 's no way likely that the Grower in any part of England should not be willing to get the utmost Price for his Wooll that he can and therefore not likely that any Grower whatsoever will sell his Wooll to the Natives of this Countrey for less Price than he presumes he may have of Strangers And therefore not at all likely that our own Manufacturers should Buy it Cheaper than others Secondly Admiting that it should be made Unlawful for any Strangers to Buy up Wooll till such a time or season of the Year to the end that our Clothiers might first Provide themselves of what they need yet it would no way follow but Strangers may have their Agents and Factors here that may Purchase it at the same ease with the same conveniancy and at the same Rates that our Clothiers are like to do nor can I perceive any thing propounded by my Opponent that would be able in the least either to Prevent or Obviate it Thirdly And this great Omition in my Opponent I could not but take the more notice of because if no Expedient can be found out by him which I doubt there will not to prevent Strangers from giving what Commissions they please to Buy up what Quantities of Wooll soever they think fit here in this Country as I see not how or by what meanes the Exportation of our Wooll should be any way possible to be Limmited so neither do I see how the Clothier here should be sufficiently certainly Furnished or how the Manufacture it self should be Capable of being any way preserved and if these Mischeifs and Inconveniencies cannot but follow and cannot but be a Necessary Consequences of such a Law as is propounded by my Opponent and that nothing to Obviate or prevent these Inconveniences hath been either Regarded or so much as attempted by him I cannot but take it to be a very great Blot to his Judgment barely and boldly to Offer at such a thing which is attended with so much Hazard Fourthly Because my Opponant seems to put his chiefest Stress in this Viz. that a large Custome may be put upon all Wooll that is Exported by Strangers and that at least by this meanes 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 Custome that is Imposed upon it To try the weight or strength of this Expedient or rather to shew the Vanity of it Let us suppose that 3d. or 4d Per Pound should by a Law be Imposed upon all Wooll that shall be Shipt out by Strangers or others as it will not follow that the said Custome should be Paid to his Majesty for one half of the Wooll that shall be Paid to his Majesty for one half of the Wooll that shall be so Shipt out Seeing under the Colour of one Hundred Packs many Hundred may be Exported So this will much the less follow from the very Observation which my Opponent himself hath made of the nature of the Stealers or Transporters of Wooll for if as he Confesseth they will be content with 12d a day profit so they may play the Merchants and if they are content to run the hazard of their Necks and to be tryed as Fellons for so small a matter as this amounts to which cannot be above 8 or 10s upon a Pack how much more then will they be encouraged to steal the Custom of it when their excuse shall be fairer and their advantage much greater and the hazard less a hundred times then now it is but in the fifth and last place let us admit for Arguments sake that if 4l was imposed upon every Pack of Wooll that was Transported and let us admit that all this Custome was duely Paid yet I see not the least Ground for my Opponents Confidence that we shall for this Cause be able to underfell the French in the Woollen-Manufacture For beside that the Nature of their Manufacture being but flight and such as takes up much less Wooll than ours doth and a great part of their warps being made of their fine spun Linnin and their own course Wooll I say besides this the Impositions that have been of late Arbitrarily put upon all our Woollen-Manufacture in France and considering also there is no Custome at all put upon Wooll there when Imported both these will utterly prevent our selling the said Manufacture there Cheaper than the French can make it though they shall not only give double but treble the Price that we our Selves do give for Wooll The next thing Alledged by my Opponant is that our Fore-Fathers did never Prohibit the Transportation of Wooll unless upon some great Occasion and for a certain Season till of late Years for makeing good of which a Summary of several Statutes are brought from the Time of
our Markets low for our Manufacture and consequently that of Wooll also which when our Trade shall be revived and brought into the right Channel will be Incouraged by a full Employment we might finde a want of Wooll before the next shearing notwithstanding our great complaint of a Surplus of Wooll as it hath frequently accurd in Corn very lately and more formerly as in Sr. Walter Rawly's Remains 2. If the proper and only way for removing all evil effects be to remove their respective causes and that this is and must be acknowledged by all rational Persons then considering what we have said before and not only said but proved and made it appear Viz. that the cause of the said Surplus of Wooll with the Cheapness of it at present among us is partly from the Irish Act that Prohibiteth the bringing in of live Cattle and puts the Kingdom upon the Breeding of Wooll whether they will or no and partly by the Decay of our Manufacture through the supply that we our selves do make to our Neighbours of our own Wooll for the Promoting of their Manufacture to the Ruine of our Selves The proper Remedy then for the removeing the Cheapness of our Wooll on the one hand and Employing our Poor and Recovering of our Trade on the other hand must necessarily be the Restraining the Export of it from Ireland and from hence And here I must take the Boldness to say that where a Nation is not Rich in Mines of Gold and Silver it is not capable of being Enriched any other way than by its Manufacture And consequently if it be from our Manufactures alone that the Riches of this Nation comes and if it be from our Manufacture chiefly that our Shipping is Imployed and our Marriners bread if it be from our Trading alone and from the Riches which our Trading brings in that his Majesties Customs are Raised and that our Fleet have been hitherto Built and Maintained and the Dominion of the Seas hath been Preserved than it is and must be from our Manufacture only that our Bullion hath been brought in and that the Rents of our Nobility and Gentry doth Depend and are Sustained And therefore it must be granted me that there is no higher Intrest in the Nation than that which preserves his Majesties Customes and that which Sustains the Nobillity and Gentries Rents and that which Supports our Navy and Shipping Then in regard our Manufacture alone doth all this our Manufâ—â—ture alone and the Encouragement of it must necessarily be the greater Intrest of the Nation it self And I must crave leave to say that whoever placeth it in any thing elce as the circumstances of this Nation stands at present must either mistake the Intrest of this Nation or can be no Friend to England Wherefore it must needs be plain to every person that not only the breeding of Wooll but the disposing of it and the disposing of it to most Advantage is mow become the Intrest of the Nobility Gentry Yeomandry and of all others whatsoever that have a concern for the good of England and Ireland and it ought to be Indulged to none besides our Selves whose whole proper and intire Intrest it is to be Sole Manufacturers or Workers of it This Satisfaction also I had to encourage me to reprint my Sentiments and Observations viz. that by one Gentleman a true lover of his Country's Good whome I take liberty to name for his Honour which is Thomas Manly Esq of Kent who in 1677. published a Discourse shewing how far Exportation of Wooll is Distructive to this Kingdom whose own words do best shew his well grounded Judgment and faithful regard to Englands welfare I Transcribe them as they stand as an answer to the slender Reasons meanly alleadged in favour of Transportation of Wooll which are as followeth Viz. 1. Our store of Wooll say they is so great that we have sufficient both for our selves and Neighbours 2. It s free and unrestrained Exportation will occasion a greater encrease in its price which will sustain our drooping Rents and draw considerable sums of Mony from abroad for so desirable a Commodity 3. That tho we use all care imaginable to prevent its Exportation yet our Neighbours by means of our own People draw great quantities from us 4. 'T is to small purpose to keep our wooll at home for that Ireland supplies our Neighbours therewith to a great degree 5. This Prohibition of wooll is a new practice unknown to us till within these twenty years and yet before that time both wooll and Drapery yielded the best Rates for above 60 years last past To the First I Answer 1. That I conceive our Yearly encrease of Wooll is now no greater than when the Rates were double nay treble to what they now are and if so the fall and meanness of the price proceeds purely from the loss of Forreign Markets for our Drapery and from our own forsaking the wear of it and not from the quantity above what we had 30 or 40 years ago 2. 'T is very manifest how the Rates of Wooll these last 15 or 16 years have graduly faln from bad to worse and how as by degrees we have encreased in the wearing of Silk Camlets and frowsie French Drugets and as our Neighbours especially the French have enlarg'd their Woollen-Manufacture by means of our Wooll which they mix with theirs just so have the Rates of this Commodity with us sunk almost beyond belief 3. That seeing we have a multitude of People who for want of employment want bread and that the price of Wooll here is so low as to tempt us to let out that commodity which the wisdom of this Trading Age hath hitherto secured under Publick Prohibition as being the prime fund of our Trade and Navigation and which is so necessary to our active Neighbours that no Laws how Penal soever have yet totally debar'd them from it what do we else by such a design but declare that henceforth being not able to manage that Manufacture we abandon all thoughts of an advantagious commerce necessitate our people to live on us or dye at our doors and surrender to our Neighbours that Manufacture for which we were so notorious is not this at once to cast the Childrens bread to strangers and to remain for ever without hopes to maintain after such a dereliction any Manufacture which our Neighbours may have a mind to snatch from us 4. If our Neighbours could have Wooll as good to all intents and purposes and as plentiful and cheap from other Countries it might peradventure be advisable how far we ought to keep ours at home but the case being otherwaies and they our Rivals being not able to carry on that Manufacture effectually without it it seems a great mistake and dangerous to spare it on any terms To the second Reason That it will occasion the Rates of Wooll to rise and thereby sustain our drooping Rents c. I Answer 1. The were and