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earth_n	great_a	part_n	water_n	5,914	5	6.2806	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A31596	The present state of England. Part III. and Part IV. containing I. an account of the riches, strength, magnificence, natural production, manufactures of this island, with an exact catalogue of the nobility, and their seats, &c., II. the trade and commerce within it self, and with all countries traded to by the English, as at this day established, and all other matters relating to inland and marine affairs : supplying what is omitted in the two former parts ...; Angliae notitia Part 3-4	Chamberlayne, Edward, 1616-1703.; Petty, William, Sir, 1623-1687. England's guide to industry.; J. S.	1683 (1683)	Wing C1844_pt3-4; Wing P1922_PARTIAL; Wing P1925_pt4; ESTC R13138	271,672	772

Heptarchy into a Perfect Monarchy though it was tending toward it sometime before even to this day and from him the Aera of our English Monarchies by Historians and Chronologers are reputed to commence So that from the said Egbert his present Majesty that now Happily Reigns is reckon'd the fourty sixth sole Monarch of England But scarce was this Government well setled when the expected Tranquility thereof was disturbed by a new Generation of Invaders more Barbarous and Mischievous than ever any either before or since Committers of far greater Outrages and Cruelties Yet so often either driven out or totally extirpated so often bravely Conquered in the Field by the high Valour and Conduct of several of our English Saxon Monarchs whose Fame stands great in History to this day for their Vertue and Gallantry both in Peace and War that it may well be wondred how any one Country could spare such Multitudes of People as continually pour'd in upon us for several Ages together and how such numerous Forces could make such frequent Landings with so little Opposition But then it must be considered that we had no Summer Guards Abroad no Squadrons of First Second and Third Rate Frigats to Cruise about and Guard the English Coasts what kind of Ships there were in those either for War or Trade cannot be collected from any Account or Description we find recorded or publish'd but thus much may well be concluded that the best Man of War of those times was far Inferior to the meanest Merchant-Man now adays For the space of about 174 years viz. from 833 to 1017. was this poor Kingdom harrass'd by the continual Invasions of these Northern Pirates yet could they not in all this space catch hold of the Crown of England till the said year 1017. and then they held it no longer than during the Reign of three Kings after which it reverted again to the Saxon Line The Fourth and last Invasion was that of the Normans if he can properly be call'd an Invader who seems to have come in with the Consent at least if not Invitation of several of the Nobility and Prelacy for else doubtless his claim could not have been so easily decided by the dint of one Battle and he so readily have had the Crown put on his Head by Aldred Archbishop of York who with several other Bishops and Noblemen met him upon the way and pay'd him their Allegiance and from this Norman Conqueror the Monarchy of England hath been kept up in a continued though not Lineal Succession to this day Among the Prae-eminences which this Kingdom hath above all the other Kingdoms of Europe the chiefest and which most redounds to its Glory is that it was first Enlightned with the Knowledge of True Religion so that whatsoever place it may claim in Europe it deserves at least to be esteemed the first Kingdom of Christendom And admit that Joseph of Arimathea were not the first that Preached the Gospel here though there are not wanting Testimonies to make it out not altogether contemptible However it is most certain that the Christian Religion here is of a much elder date than the coming over of Austin the Monk that is even in the very Apostles time by the Testimony of Gildas and as it appears by the mention of a Noble British Lady Claudia Rufina in one of St. Paul's Epistles and it was not much above 100 years after e're it was own'd by publick Authority For the first Christian King mention'd in History is our British King Lucius who was Contemporary with the Emperor Commodus also the first Christian Emperor at least the first that publickly Profess'd Protected and Maintain'd the Christian Faith for before him Philippus Arabs is said to have been a a Christian and Baptiz'd was Constantine Surnamed the Great a Britain Born the Son of Constantius Chlorus who also was a Favourer of the Christians and died at York by the Daughter of King Coilus Helena a Princess most renowned for her Christian Piety and for being the Inventress of the Cross And as this Nation boasts Antiquity equal with Rome it self for the Dawning of the Gospel's Light among us so it claims a Prerogative of Lighting the first Lamp of Reformation to the Christian World and highly glories in this that there is no where to be found so excellent and moderate an Establishment of Church-Government among all the Reformed Churches The Riches of the English Nation And first of the Arable Pasture and Fruitage THe Riches of any Nation I mean the Native and Inland Riches for by Imported Commodities the Barrenest Nation in the World may be Rich consist chiefly in the Arable the Pasturage the Fruits and other Plants of peculiar Use and Advantage The Rich Veins of Earth for Mettals and other sorts of Minerals and the Plenty of Fish and Fowl all which things are both profitable in themselves and for the Manufactures they produce and though common to this Nation with the greatest part of the Earth in general yet it will not be from the purpose to discover how far the English Nation excels in each of them and what parts of the Nation are most peculiarly fam'd and commended for this or that Production As to the Arable it would be in vain to particularize any one part of England more than another since so great Plenty of all sorts of Corn and Grain is produced in all parts of this Nation Nevertheless it is worth the observing how some Counties are more peculiarly celebrated for this or that Grain I have heard it affirm'd that the very best Wheat in England is from a Vale near Hessen in Middlesex lying Southward of Harrow on the Hill however among the four W's of Herefordshire Wheat is one the other three being Wool Wood and Water Moreover for Oates if there be any where one sort better than another the best Oats are said to be in Lancashire and in greater abundance than any other County and for Barly and Malt Bedfordshire hath among some a particular mention Moreover for what is said in general of some places above others It is sufficiently considerable which is reported of the Town of Godmanchester in Huntingtonshire in reference to the great Name that Town hath for Tillage and its Prae-eminence above all the Towns of England besides for number of Stout and Able Husbandmen namely that the Inhabitans of this Place us'd in former times to meet the Kings of England as they pass'd this way in their Progress in a kind of Rural Pomp and Pageantry of show with no fewer than 180 Ploughs and in this manner King James at his first coming to the Crown of England was received in his Journey from Scotland with 70 Team of Horses fitted with all their Furniture to as many New Ploughs the King expressing much Delight and Satisfaction at so Brave and Happy a Sight and highly applauded the Industry and well deserved Prosperity of the people of that Place Remarkable also is

the Vale of Evesham in Worcestershire so called of one Eoves a Swinheard to Egwin Bishop of Worcester so Renowned for its Fertility and excellent kind of Corn it yields that it is called the Granary of those parts The Vale of Alisbury in Buckinghamshire is also particularly taken notice of for its Pleasant Meadows and Rich Pastures Nor are the Sheep-Pastures near Knetworth in Hartfordshire which is called the Garden of England to be forgotten Portholm Meadow also in Huntingtonshire is reckon'd among the Notabilia of that County The like may be said in a great measure of the Pasturage However there are some places so peculiarly remark'd either for the Largeness or Richness of their Pastures that the mention of them cannot well be omitted The Isle of Shepey in Kent being about 21 Miles in compass is without question so denominated from the numerous Flocks of Sheep which it feedeth No less celebrated is Rumny-Marsh heretofore a part of the Sea under the Name of Romanum Mare which by common Speech is easily corrupted into Rumnense Marshium Of this Marsh Twine in his Commentary De rebus Anglicis making a particular mention thus concludes Denique unde tot pingues peeudes c. Lastly saith he Whence so many Fat Cattle come to the Shambles that not only all Kent is largely supplied from this place but even the City of London also in some measure fares the better In the Marsh-Country of Norfolk commonly called Marsh-Land the Soyl is so very Mellow and Fruitful that in a certain large Mead called Tilneysmeth there are said generally to feed no less than 30000 Sheep at a time Wormleighton in Warwickshire breeds Sheep of so large a size that there are scarce the like to be seen elsewhere Lemster upon the River Lug in Herefordshire feeds a Breed of Sheep which yields so Fine and Delicate a Wool that our Noble Poet Draiton in his Polyolbion compares it to the Wool of Apulia and Tarentum which hath been always accounted the Finest Wool of Europe The Bread also of Lemster is no less noted by reason of the Fineness of its Flower insomuch that Lemster Bread and Weably Ale are united into a Proverb as Leigh observes in his Description of England Likewise the Sheep of Cotswold i. e. a place of Sheep-Cotes or Folds upon a Hill in Glocestershire yield so Fine a Wool that nothing but the Spanish Wool can outvy it and this advantage it owes to a Present that was made by King _____ to _____ King of Spain very much to the prejudice of England as it hath since proved Somerton once the chief Town as some say of Somersetshire and gave the denomination to the Shire consists almost wholly with the Country thereabout of Grasiers and Breeders of Cattle After the Wool of Lemster and Cotswold that of the Isle of Wight comes next in estimation Besides those places above-mentioned there is one more which for its largeness and Fruitfulness alike is worthy to be mentioned viz. The Vale of the Whitehorse which is partly in Wiltshire and partly in Barkshire For Fruit there is scarce any County in England that is not tolerably well stor'd in one sort or other but above all for Cherries and now of late for Pippins Kent bears the Name and particularly Tenham which is commonly styl'd the Parent of Fruit Gardens But the first Pippins brought over that is about 100 years since were Planted in that part of Lincolnshire called Holland and about Kirton in the same Shire Nor are our Cherries of much longer date being first brought over from Flanders in the Reign of King Henry the Eight and Planted in Kent with that Success that one only Orchard of but 32 Acnes is said to have produced in one year as much as yielded 1000 l. For all sorts of Apples and Pears and for great quantity of excellent Syder which furnish London and many other parts Worcestershire Glocestershire and Herefordshire are the principal Counties Vines we have very frequent among us of several sorts producing for the most part a very Sweet and Pleasant Grape and good quantities of Wine I have heard say have been formerly made At this day there are two places principally Eminent for making of Wine viz. Claverton in Somersetshire a Seat of Sir William Bassets where there are said to have been made some years no less than 40 Hogsheads of a very pleasant and palatable Wine and in Kent belonging to Collonel Blunt At Hatfield-House in Hertfordshire belonging to the Earl of Salisbury there is a parcel ground called the Vineyard no doubt from the Plenty and goodness of the Vines there Planted And in Glocestershire there are several places called Vineyards out of which in former times they yearly payed Rent-Wines from the Plenty of Vines no doubt here growing Moreover it is found in Ancient Records that several Towns of this Shire payed Rent-Wines as Dr. Fuller in his Worthys particularly observes Of other Productions BEsides those Beasts and Cattel which are of advantage for Food and Cloathing and which no Country of Europe perhaps of the World bring forth more fair and large than England There are some Beasts of service which being common to England with other parts of Europe are generally commended to be of a more excellent Kind than any especially that which is the most serviceable of all others viz. the Horse with all manner of respects considered is doubtless the most noble and useful of all four-footed Beasts for though the Elephant Camel and Dromedary with which most places of Asia and many of Africa abound are more remarkable for vast bulk of body especially the Elephant and consequently more capable of carriage and bearing of great burthens yet the same greatness of bulk renders them on the other side more unfit for expedition and for the Ass and Mule which indeed are fairer larger and more numerous in Spain and other Countries of Europe than in this Kingdom they are not certainly to be compar'd either for shape service or expedition with the forementioned Animal nor was ever any Grandee of Spain journying on his Mule with the Grand Pa and Spanish gravity so comely a sight as a well accoutred Cavalier on horseback and of all parts of England Montgomeryshire is commended for excellent Horses The Truth is the Spanish Jenet that of Barbary Race commonly therefore called the Barbary The Count of Oldenburgh's Breed in Germany have the Name before all others for Swiftness delicacy of Shape and Neatness of Mark or Colour but for Courage Ability of Body either for Travel Draught or Carriage sufficient Swiftness and Agility Tractableness for the Great Saddle and Management in War the Horses of English Breed are reputed hardly matchable by those of any other Country And our Dogs much less by the Testimony of divers Eminent Authors Ortelius in his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum affirms that there is no part of the Earth where there are better and larger Dogs to be seen especially Hounds he might

great lump or mass like that of Newcastle but as it is laid on in great pieces burning sheer away into Ashes each piece like Wood. Up and down in several parts of Darbyshire and Staffordshire there is a sort of Pit-Coal which is commonly called Cannel-Coal perhaps as it were Candle-Coal because it burns clear like a Candle this Coal is of a bright shining gloss and withal of so tough and solid a substance that they frequently make thereof Standishes Salt-Sellers Candlesticks and other such like Utensils which appear as it were of a courser sort of Jett In Staffordshire Pensneth-Chace is particularly made mention of for plenty of Pit-Coal In Leicestershire Coal-Overton in the Hundred of West-Goscot and other parts of the North of this County where there is store of Pit-Coal of a Bituminous nature very hard and fast In Warwickshire Bedworth In Somersetshire Mendip-hill and several places on the shore of the River Frome In Richmondshire the tops of certain Hills In the Isle of Anglesey there is said to be great store of an Aluminous Matter out of which it is thought might be made very good Alum and Copperass but nothing of this nature hath been brought to that perfection as the Alum-works in Yorkshire through the great Industry of Sir John Bourchier who in the Reign of King James made away with a considerable Estate for the carrying on of this great work in lieu whereof he obtain'd the grant of a Patent from the King whereby he was Invested with the whole benefit of the said Alumwork which was valued at a Thousand Pound a year but however matters were carried his Grandchild Mr. Richard Bourchier is now reduc'd to utmost necessity receiving no relief by vertue of the Patent for the loss of the Paternal Estate But Gesborough in this Shire is most particularly noted for an Alum-Mine which some say was first found out by Sir Thomas Chaloner Tutor to Prince Henry As for the Stone-Quarries of England they must indeed be confess'd inferior to those of Italy Greece and other parts for all Curious kinds of Marble Alabaster and Porphyrie of Marble the Parian was Anciently accounted the best However we have many Structures both publick and private to shew which being built of our own native Free-stone want not their State and Elegance The principal Magazine of this Commodity is the Isle of Portland in Dorcetshire which hath supplied many of the grand Buildings of England Likewise the Isle of Purbeck in the same Shire hath Veins of Marble which though not continued but scatteringly here and there as Cambden observes yet run a great way under ground At Edgcomb House near Plimouth in Cornwall there is digg'd good quantity of a Stone which is of great use and Ornament in Building also on the Moors of the said County there is found a sort of Stone which is thence called the Moor-stone of which there are frequently made Chimney-Pieces and Ornaments of Windows and Doors besides another sort of the colour of Marble In Nottinghamshire there is digg'd a soft Stone at least much softer than Alabaster with which being burnt and made into a Plaster they generally floor their Upper-Rooms this Plaster being well laid as soon as it comes to be dry proves harder than any Plaster of Paris and is wonderful durable In Herefordshire hard by Snodhill-Castle is a Quarry from whence they say there is digg'd forth very good Marble At a place called Peter's post in Yorkshire is a famous Quarry of Stone also near Shirburn in the same Shire Nor is that near Manchester in Laneashire inconsiderable besides a Quarry of a fine Reddish-stone on the Banks of the River Irwell in the same Shire Moreover what we want in Alabaster Porphyrie Marble c. is more than compensated to us by Stones of a greater value particularly in Cornwall there are found in great quantities Stones of a natural Smoothness formed into Angles and considerably large some of the bigness of a Walnut or thereabout and of such a lustre that many scruple not to call them Diamonds and probably they might pass for such did not the cunning Lapidary know how to distinguish the true Orient Diamond from others by its Adamantine hardness and solidity Likewise St. Vincents Rock at Bristol affords plenty of these English Diamonds commonly called Bristol Stones At Shugbury in Warwickshire is a sort of precious Stone at least by some so accounted called Astroites from a mark it hath upon it resembling a Star And on the Rocks of Guarnsey there is a hard Stone called an Emeril Nor are we wholly destitute of Marble and Alabaster though doubtless short for Beauty and Fineness to those of Italy and Greece in some parts of Staffordshire there is digg'd a sort of Alabaster thought to be the best in England Fullers-Earth Potters-Earth Marl Lime Slate Tobacco-Pipe-Clay c. There are large Veins in several parts particularly Woburn in Bedfordshire abounds in Fullers-Earth as also Rigate in Surry In some parts of Wiltshire the store of Marl that is found there gives Appellation to one of the chief Towns of that Shire viz. Marlborough and in divers parts of Lancashire is found a Marl which very much enriches the Land Near Nonsuch in Surry is a large Vein of Potters-Earth Near Walsal in Sussex are store of Lime-Pits And not many Miles from Pomfret in Yorkshire it being averr'd by some that no less than 2000 l. a year usually made of the Lime thereabouts In some parts of Cornwall there is Slate of three sorts and colours viz. The Blew the Grey and the Sage-colour particularly at a place called Walling-slate in Cornwall is digg'd up great store of Slate As also at Collyweston in Northamptonshire at Pool in Dorcetshire and in the Isle of Wight the best Tobacco-Pipe-Clay And to the Mill-stones of the Peak before mentioned we may add those digg'd up at Mowcup in Cheshire There is a sort of Earth called Talcum us'd by Painters and Colourers of which store is dig'd up in several parts of Sussex And the best of Saltpeter is said to be found in Northamptonshire Out of the Salt-pits of England is extracted so white and fine a sort of Salt that the most refined Sugar looks not more white and fine it is also commonly made up into Masses in the form of Sugar-Loaves Most of these Wiches the most noted are in Cheshire all denominated accordingly viz. Nantwich Middlewich and Northwich Nantwich besides the consideration of its Salt-pit which is generally called the Whitewich is next to the City of Chester it self the most Eminent Town of all Cheshire Middlewich hath two Pits between which there runs a small Brook and parts them The Pit in Northwich is called the Black-wich I suppose because the Salt drawn hence is Blacker and Courser than any of the rest In Worcestershire there is also a place of principal note for these Wiches or Salt-pits viz. Droit-Wich or Dirt-Wich where there are three Wells whose water from

three Miles of London And within the City several but the most noted that at the Postern-gate by Tower-hill and that called Crowders-Well hard by Cripple-gate Aleyceston in Huntingtonshire where there are two small Springs one whereof being fresh is accounted good for the Eyes the other a little Brackish for Scabs and Leprosy Buxton in Derbyshire where within the compass of 24 Foot there arise out of a Rock from under a Square Structure of Free-stone 9 Springs whereof one only is cold all the rest very warm But among all these it would be an unpardonable oversight to pass by unmention'd that famous Well of St. Winifrid commonly called the Holy-Well in Flintshire formerly much frequented partly by way of Pilgrimage partly for the great Virtue it was reputed to have in the Cure of many Maladies through the easie Faith no doubt and fond Credulity of the deluded Vulgar who are always apt to pay high Adoration and ascribe miraculous Cures to the Bodies ●elicks or any Memorials of persons recommended to them for Saints for here the Tradition goes that the Virgin Saint Vinifrid being here Beheaded a Fountain immediatly sprung up as if the Earth bewailing her Martyrdom burst forth into a ●ood of Tears and the Pebble-stones at the bottom of the said Fountain being observed to be of a Reddish colour we are to suppose that they retain to this day the tincture of the Virgins Blood Those Springs and Waters that are on the top of high Hills must be allowed to have something of Rarity in them in regard to those that are not sufficiently vers'd in the knowledge of natural Causes and Productions it may seem wonderful that the Water should rise so high above the common Surface of the Earth Particularly on the high Hills of Carnarvanshire are two Meers Also a Spring on the top of MoilenlyHills in Denbyshire Likewise among the Wonders or Rarities of England may be reckoned those Ditches which stand yet as Monuments of the Art and Industry of our Forefathers First That on Newmarket-heath which is commonly called the Devils-Ditch Secondly Wansdike in Wiltshire a work of many Miles extent cast up in memory of a Battle between the Mercians and West-Saxons Thirdly Clough d'Offa or Offa's ditch a work not inferior to the former mention'd and much upon the same occasion made Of the Populacy of the English Nation THe Populacy of a Nation is best estimated from the number of its Towns and Cities The Kingdom of England proportionably to its circumference is scarce inferior to any Kingdom or Country of Europe which is also accounted the the most Populous of all the four parts of the World except France and the Low-Countries which last being accounted no bigger in compass than York-shire is judged to contain as many Towns and Inhabited places as ten times the Circuit thereof in most other Countries and to some much superior particularly Spain late esteem'd the most considerable Monarchy of Christendom and that it continues not so to this day we may in a great measure im●●te to the paucity of people in that kingdom for doubtless there is nothing that conduceth more to the Strength Grandure Prosperity and Riches of a Nation than the Populousness thereof especially where Industry is in the least incourag'd and Idleness discountenanc'd Wherefore that Nation that will ever hope to flourish ought to use all means and endeavours possible for the increasing of its People and to avoid as much as may be all occasions of Depopulation The principal causes of the Dispeopleing of Spain which according to the Testimony of several Creditable Authors hath been Anciently much better Peopled than at present have been first the multitude of Monasteries and Religious Prisons those Receptacles of forc'd Chastity and as they are ordered Impediments of the Worlds Lawful Increase Next the Violent Expulsion of the Moors out of Spain after that by a long establish'd settlement and being habituated to the same Customs Manners and Religion they were become as it were one Body with the rest of the People Lastly Those vast Colonies sent out of Spain to maintain and possess the ample Conquests or rather Ambitious and Bloody Invasions and Depopulations made by the the Spaniards there The Cities and Market-Towns of England are in number 607. to which the rest of the Burrough Towns that is such as send Burgesses to Parliament and all the Inhabited Villages whereof some are conderable being added make above 10 times the number so that all the Parishes of England and Wales are reckon'd 9285. and doubtless within the said circumference which is generally computed to be about 1352 Miles might be very well comprehended five times as many Towns or Places of Habitation if all the Forrests Chaces and unimproved vast Heaths and Commons were taken in and improved to the best advantage It is not to be wondred at that next to being born under a Happy Climate the living under a Happy Government the greatest advantage and Strength of a People is to be numerous proportionably to the extent of Territory they possess Since in the first place it is apparent enough that in a well Inhabited City the People must needs be so much the better able to defend themselves from any Force or Opposition Next if it be a place of any Trade take any particular number of what Trade soever and it is not to be imagin'd that they should be e're a whit the poorer but rather the richer than if the Inhabitants had been fewer For admit them of the same Trade or Imployment a profitable and corresponsible Trade is the more lively and vigorously carried on by many hands and suppose them of several Occupations the circulation of Money from the one to other helps all in general Though 't is true that in a straggling Town or City whose parts lye disjoyn'd and far asunder the people however considerable in number cannot be so assistant to each other in mutual Aid Society or Commerce as in a regular and well compacted City So likewise in a Kingdom that Prince who hath never so large an Empire yet if thinly Peopled or divided into several parts remotely distant and interrupted from mutual intercourse by long Voyages of Land and Sea cannot be look'd upon as so powerful a Prince as he that hath the like number of People in one intire and united Dominion Certainly no Monarch of the World much less of Christendom whoever he be that hath added most to his Empire by never so many new made Conquests can pretend to so large a share or portion of the Earth as the King of Spain who nevertheless as the transactions of a few late past years have made appear hath born but his fourth part with other Princes and States in opposition to a Prince far inferior to him in Jurisdiction and what should be the reason of this but that his Dominions lye so remote from each other and his Kingdom of Spain which his Residence there chiefly enables

Wretch or Ill-natur'd Churl will deny Relief to a person that through real and remediless want makes application to him So likewise among Nations that People that refuseth the Accomodation of their Country to their supplicant Neighbours who unjustly Banished their own Native Land or driven out by Persecution and Tyranny fly to them for Refuge must needs be the Inhabitants of a Beggarly and Unhospitable Soyl or be themselves a sort of Inhumane and Savage-Bores Our Kingdom God be thanked is sufficiently Fertile our Natives not accounted Ill-natured and for Room we have not only to spare but within the whole Circuit of England enough as we have said before to contain a far greater power of People twice if not thrice the number So that an accession of peaceable Strangers can be no injury may be a considerable benefit to us so that in being Charitable to others we shall be no losers our selves and never was there so important and seasonable an occasion offered as now for the receiving of Foraigners among us since never did any persecuted people so want our Entertainmen and Succour as at this time these our Protestant Neighbours who in their own Native Country and among the Professors of Christianity are denyed that Protection which living peaceably they could not doubt of among the severest of Turks or Ethnicks and all this for no other reason then denying to fall down before the obtruded Idol as the Israelites were dealt with in the days of the Tyrant Nebuchadnezzar But by Divine Providence it falls out happily to be at a time that England is govern'd by the most Just and Benevolent of Princes who out of his Concernment for the Protestant Religion and that innate Generosity and Clemency wherewith he delights to oblige all mankind hath by an Order of Councel of the _____ of September this present year 1681. promised all those that shall come over such ample Priviledges and Immunities as will much soften and allay their present Afflictions and in a great measure compensate for their being forc'd to abandon their Native habitations The last cannot be reasonably judg'd unfeasible and is certainly the most absolutely necessary since those many thousands of Unimployed persons burthens of the earth who presume they were only born to Eat and Drink are no better than so many Ciphers being perfectly lost to their Country Nay which is worse they may justly be reckoned as so many Vermine and Noxious Animals for Idleness it self cannot always subsist in its own station but oftentimes is forc'd upon Action but 't is the worst part of Action Mischief As admit a Nation never so thinly Inhabited and yet a Million of those Inhabitants prove utterly useless and unprofitable that Nation may well be said to be too Populous by that Million Insomuch as Cut-purse Pick-pocket House-breaker Highway-man and whatever besides can be imagin'd mischievous are but the several Metamorphoses of an Idle Liver and thus Idleness tends to a more fatal kind of Depopulation The unworking person indeed who in some sence may be said to be no person but dead to the service of his Country yet is capable of being quickned and inspir'd with the life of Action but the worker of Iniquity who is commonly the result of the unworking Person takes courses which tend to an irrevivable Destruction The first is but that Malefactor in Posse which the Thief and Robber is in Esse and doubtless were the Potential Maleficence which is Idleness severely inquired into and regulated by the Discipline of Law and Government so many of the Kings Subjects would not yearly at every Session and Assize as Essential Malefactors be made sad Examples of Justice and cut off from the Land of the Living to which in this World there is no return But what hath been said all this while of the unworking Person whom to compel to work that he may be kept from Starving and restrain from Stealing that he may be restrained from the Gallows is no Injurious but Charitable part of a Magistrate it is to be understood only of those narrow Soul'd Loiterers who being not worth a Groat in the World choose rather to go squandring up and down Beg Filch and be Lowsy than Honestly to get their Bread by cleanly Industry and wholesome Labour Whereas for him that hath enough to Live on who shall hinder him if he please and have the Conscience to be Idle and good for nothing at his own Charges As for those who are great in Money Lands or High Offices great also are their Priviledges for the World hath generally a very great favour and respect for such as flourish and are prosperous in it as well as contempt for the Poor and Unfortunate and except they shall unfortunately happen to become Envy'd-Favourites will be apt to have a favourable excuse for whatsoever is either omitted or committed by them However there is a real merit that cannot be denyed them which is that they have wherewithal to be serviceable to their King and Country A Rich man meerly as a Rich man must needs be acknowledged a useful person in his Generation especially if his Heart be answerable to his Purse or however where something is to be had there is a possibility of obtaining On the other side though it be just and rational to give Law to those who will not give Law to themselves to compel men to their own as well as the publick good to work that they may not Starve to do well that they may not suffer for doing ill It is not yet so consonant to reason that any one should be forc'd to performance though of things never so just above Ability or to make satisfactions out of nothing That the Idle and Industrious alike to satisfie the rigorous Justice of a Self-loving Creditor should for being Idle or Unfortunate be condemned to perpetual Idleness and Misfortune and for no other cause than not working Impossibilities be constrain'd to lie starving and stinking to death in a loathsom Gaol is a piece of Judiciality I do not understand and I verily believe that it is no less unjust for any one to be Cruel and Rigorous in the exacting of his Own from him that Hath not than for him that Hath to forbear the payment of what he Owes who also if not willing of himself may and ought to be made so by force and rigour Which may be inflicted otherwise than by Confinement for a Prison is least a punishment to those that most deserve it To conclude a too rigorous procedure either to Death or Imprisonment seems an over-acting in Justice and as it were tending much alike towards a kind of Depopulation there being no great difference between not to be at all and not to be at Liberty the first totally the second after a manner depriving the World of those whose Lives and Liberties might happily have been usefully enough spar'd for the Commonwealth Of the Manufactures of England MAnufacture is to the Body

Traded to Spain were Incorporated by Queen Elizabeth 6. The East-India Merchants were Incorporated by Queen Elizabeth Anno 1600. from which time they have continually inproved their Trade in those remote parts of the World being now one of the Wealthiest Corporations in Europe their first rise was by imploying a Joynt-stock to build Ships of which now they have Store and so themselves in imitation of the Porteguese and other industrious People Traded to the Indies and soon found the advantage by bringing home the same Commodities which we before were beholden to Strangers for at second Hand and dear Rates 7. In the latter end of Queen Elizabeths Reign and in the beginning of King James's the Eastland Greenland and French Merchants were setled in companies and Traded with great Success Building many Ships and continually imploying some thousands of Persons in the Management of their Affairs Exporting Commodities of our growth and bring in those of the growth of other Countries 8. There are likewise a Company of Virginia or West-India Merchants whose Industry has much improved our Colonies in America and advance the King's Revenues in his Customs twenty thousand pound per Annum which Trade into those parts has and dayly will increase and turn to the Advantage of our Nation and be a means of making further Discoveries in those vast Seas in which lie hid past doubt many fair Islands if not Continents as Rich as those which yield the Spaniard yearly so many Millions of Ducates in Gold Ore and Bars of Silver These and other Traders in remote parts make England Flourish and stand the envy of her Neighbour Nations There is likewise the Guinnie and Barbary Companies both Rich in Shipping and Merchandise having since their Incorporation gotten great Esteem and much improved Navigation And now having given an account of the Constitution and settlement of those in general that drive on the Trade and Commerce both by Land and Sea before I Lanch into the Ocean to take a view of other Countries or to describe their Trade and Traffick I shall expose to Publick view the Commodities of my Native Country with all the Islands and Dominions that surround it viz. such ●s are subject to the Brittish Scepter as ●lso in due place and order As also of ●he Currant Coyns the Weights Mea●ures and such other Matters relating to Commerce as are available to the Compiling of this Treatise and first of Eng●and and Wales CHAP. IV. Of England and the Trade thereof in General and Particular with a Survey of all the Measures Weights Currant Coynes Inland Commerce and what tends to Navigation A Description of the most material Counties and of the Trade of Wales in general ENgland the Head of the Brittish Empire is in every Place so admirable abounding with plenty that to describe her in every part of her Trade and Beautiful Situation would exact a large Volum Therefore I shall only in brief expose to view what is most material as to my purpose And first I shall begin with Cornwell as being the remotest of the English Counties or Provinces tho it be in it self in many places to appearance a Barren and Mountainous Country yet does it produce Rich Mines of Tinn which brought to perfection is of great esteem in all Countries With it there is also digged Gold and Silver tho hardly worth refining the Earth not having heat enough to bring it to perfection there is found likewise a Stone Transparent naturally formed in Angles and Points like a Diamond which was it not so common might merit high esteem On that Coast Herrings and Pilchards are taken in great number which not only sustain the Inhabitants but being dryed prove good Merchandise in Spain France Flanders and Italy The Sea Coast is adorned with many Towns of which Falmouth is chief being capable of receiving many Vessels nor is St. Ives of less note yielding great store of Fish not reckoned less yearly then four or five thousand Hogsheads of Pilchards and five hundred Barrels of Herrings besides some Tuns of Congerdoust great store of Ray-Fish which imploys some hundreds of the Inhabitants and inables them to provide plentifully for their Families and reserve as the old saying is a Penny against a rainy day These Commodities viz. Pilchards are vended by the Hogshead four of them making a Tun as likewise by the thousand they allowing twelve hundred small Tale to the thousand and a Barrel of Herrings commonly thirty Gallons is sold to the Merchants for eighteen Shillings twenty Shillings or according as the fishing Season is propitious Congerdoust is sold by the Kintale viz. one hundred and twelve pound to the Kintale Ray-fish are for the most part sold fresh and that by the Dozen at two Shillings four Pence two Shillings six Pence and sometimes three Shillings per Dozen but their Dozens are extraordinary large they allowing sometimes sixty to the Dozen but sometimes less according to the Custom of the Place their Weight is one hundred and twelve pound according to the Stander their Yard and Ell equal to those of London Their Bushel for Grain and Salt imported contains twenty eight Gallons Water Measure and so proportionable the greater or the lesser Measures but their Bushel used in Publick Markets for Corns is but twenty Gallons their Gallon agreeing with the Winchester Gallon The Bakers in those parts are but few and the most thing they stand in need of is Salt Ten thousand Bushel being yearly spent in Curing their Fish The manner of taking Pilchards and Herrings is with Nets but the Ray-Fish with Hooks the first being Fished for from the first of July till the first of January the second from Michalemass till Christmass and the third and last only in the Prime of Summer sixty Boats and about four hundred men being imployed therein Devonshire is no less Rich in Veins of Tin adorned it is with many Towns and good Havens as Exon Dartmouth and Plimouth the latter famous for producing the worthy Sr. Francis Drake The Sea-Ports as the former most Subsist by Fishery Dorsetshire abounds in Cattle Fertile Pastures and Linnen Manufacture it 's chief Towns being Dorchester and Waymouth Somersetshire is famous for the many Trading Places contained in it's Circuit but especially in Bristol the second City of England for Naval Commerce as being stored with Merchants Trading into most parts of the known World it abounds in Riches and the County no less in Corn Cattle Wool Woollen Cloth Serges and other valuable Commodities which they Trade withal to other adjacent Counties Darbyshire the Head of which is the Town of Derby abounds in plenty of Corn Leaden Mines and other Minerals Wiltshire is an Inland County but the people Frugal and industrious their chief Commodity is Woollen-Cloth which is dispersed all over England and brings them a good return maintaining at least three thousand Persons in Carding Spining Weaving Shearing Dressing and the like the Head of this County is Salisbury