Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	great_a	land_n	lord_n	2,551	5	3.2299	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78476	Trades destruction is Englands ruine, or Excise decryed. Wherein is manifested the irregularity and inequality of raising money by way of excise to defray the charge of the nation. By W.C. a lover of his country.	W. C.	1659 (1659)	Wing C171; Thomason E984_6; ESTC R207799	3,540	8

Trades Destruction IS Englands Ruine OR Excise Decryed Wherein is manifested the Irregularity and Inequality of raising money by way of Excise to defray the Charge of the Nation By W. C. A Lover of his Country May 28 LONDON Printed in the Year MDCLIX To the Reader Courteous Reader I Must ingeniously confess I am so much an Honourer and Lover of the Government of a Free State I mean such a Government wherein all men may taste of Subjection as well as Rule that I was almost unwilling in this juncture of time the Common-wealth being involved in a Laborinth of publique debts contracted by the late General of the Army to maintain a proud Court and to subjugate the Common-wealth to the wills and interest of his family to publish the ensuing discourse But finding a great inclination in some in power to continue this unequal burthen of Excise and make it a standing Law and a condescending in others for want of information of the evil thereof I did and do account my self obliged in Love to my Country and true affection to the poor distressed Trades-men of this Common-wealth to proceed therein being confidently assured that though it may displease some self-seeking persons yet those that are true Patriots of their Country upon serious consideration will not have just cause to be offended thereat THat the Major part of the people of England have their best and chiefest dependance and subsistance by Forraign and Domestique Trade surely I think no rational unbyassed person can or will deny and as the dependance of the greater part relyes on Trade so also it is undeniable that the greatest security of the Nation doth and will rest and reside in the strength and number of shipping and Seamen which cannot be increased but by using all prudent ways and means for the inlarging the Trade by easing the burthens and vexations which are upon it Hath not England the Dutch a neer Neighbour so powerful and ambitious that if our State do not providently prevent their designs this Common-wealth will always be in danger if any advantage can be taken by them And surely there is no better course than to encrease Shipping and Seamen Whilst the Romans were unprovided of Shipping and so not able to match the Carthaginians in Naval Battles they were not capable either to invade or subdue the Carthaginians but when their Naval power was great they soon brought their Neighbour-Common-wealth to their terms and at last to a perfect Conquest It is true that England is large and hath many Lords and Gentlemen of Estates dwelling in it and their Lands require numbers of men to manure them but see and impartially consider and you shall find that those men that have nothing but their labour to subsist on either by plowing threshing hedging and such like Country imployments are little better then slaves let them be never so laborious their wages is so little that they are never in all their lives able to lay up any thing for the subsistance of their Families after their death and therefore it generally comes to pass that if Country-Labourers dye whilest their children are young and unable to work for themselves they must unavoidably be relieved by the Alms of the Parish which as the Laws are executed is a sad lively-hood But when Trade hath been good heretofore and if God shall please to afford England that blessing that it may be so hereafter then did and so may do again all Handi-crafts that are careful and Labourers five comfortably and leave a maintenance to their Children This being proved surely I cannot see any reason but that this Honorable Parliament should and indeed ought to reduce this Nation to its pristine Condition of freedom for Trade I shall grant that when the Excise was first settled they had reason and policy so to do For the late King having the Command of the Inlands and the Parliament of most of the Sea-Ports they had no better way then to put Excise on Goods whereby their Enemies making use of the said goods paid the Excise and so the Parliaments Army But now when no Enemy hinders the improvement of Land but that the price is far higher then in ancient times when our Noble Ancestors neither could nor would raise moneys any otherwise then by Subsidies Tenths and Fifteenths besides a small low Custome Yea when they were never so much beset with danger by Sea and Land by French Scots and Spaniards That our present Rulers should continue such a great Excise is a thing hardly to be imagined Besides doth not the fourth part of Excise run out in Charges for collecting the same and all this cometh out of the peoples purses Now surely if a Common-wealth be rightly constituted and uprightly governed all things either in Law payments c. which are inconsistent either with the case and safety of the same ought to be taken away else how can it be called a Common-wealth or in plain English a Common good it 's not the name of a Free-State but the substance and power of a Free-State that either will please or make the people happy Now as to the inequallity of the burthen of Excise laid on the Merchant observe what follows The Excise on Spanish Wine is 9 l. per Tunn on French Wine 6 l. per Tunn some of which costeth no more in France on Salt 1 d. ob per Gallon which costeth the first penny in France c. but ob per Gallon on Tobacco 1 d. per Pound which at Virginia and other English Plantations may be bought for 2 d. per Pound Nay the cruel Laws made by the late Single Person are such that if Wines are never so much decayed they must pay 4 l. per Tunn Spanish and 2 l. 10 s. per Tunn French Excise although they will not yeild hardly the same Now the charge on Goods being so great those that Trade in Wines Tobacco Salt and other such Goods must have double the Stock that otherwise their Trade would require It 's truth the Law that was for indeed I cannot say is there being none at present for Excise saith that the first buyer must pay Excise and this on some things in London is practised yet herein cometh an evil to the Importer For he that buyeth payeth down ready money for Excise which should be paid to the Merchant and would discharge Fraight and Custome but in the Country Ports no buyer there ever taketh notice thereof so that the Excise of Wine Salt Tobacco and all Goods are paid by the Importer who often trusteth both his Stock disoursed for buying the Goods in Forraign Parts and the Customes and Excise on them and looseth all both principal and cost by the failing or inability of his Creditor So that it is not to be denied but that many both Merchants and Shop-keepers by this means that have but 400 l. or 500 l. Stock to trade with pay more to the publique maintainance then Gentlemen of 400 l. or 500 l. nay I may say 1000 l. per annum Lands Now whether this be an equal way to raise moneys let all unbiassed men judge And not only this but there requires so much attendance so much waiting for Tickets so much Obligation in Bonds that none that hath any full Trade but must keep a Servant more then ordinary to mannage his business whose food and raiment must cost something Besides this is that which doth ruine Trade the extraordinary charges on goods not only hindereth the expence of greater quantities in regard of the great prizes but also often enforceth the Merchants to sell cheaper considering the charges on them then otherwise they might do and not only so but those that make little conscience of Oaths or lying that have little Estates to lose and that are subtile and politick find ways to save the Custome and Excise which is high and so sell cheaper then those that are able and plain in dealing can do when the said charges are paid which much spoileth the current of Trade How many Brewers in the Nation and how many Merchants in the Country have paid great sums for Excise when their Debitors have not paid the Principle Let the good old way and practise of our Ancestors be put in use in raising moneys no Merchant no Shop-keeper nor Trades-man that hath an Estate but will be willing to pay to the height of their Estates equal to all Landed men let it be doubled trebled quadrupled when the urgent affairs of the Nation for defence of the same requireth it And why Landed men whose Estates are certain should not be ready to agree to this I know no reason especially if they consider that by freedom of Trade they shall buy all Forraign Goods cheaper and sell their Wooll and other Goods dearer and also by a good trade will their poor be so kept that they will not be burthensome to them for want of food and raiment to support them To conclude Take notice into what a desperate poverty the late Ruler and his Confederates have brought the Nation by imposing burthens on Trade Inquire in all Ports Cities Towns and Countries and you shall find there was never such a calamity brought on the poor generally throughout the Land in the midst of the late Warrs as is at present Oh! that those who now God hath once again brought to steere the Ship of the Common-wealth that is almost shattered to peices by Storms and Tempests of a desperate self-seeking Generation may so lay it to heart and be so indued with Courage and Counsel that they may at last bring her into a safe Harbour which is the hearty desire of all honest men Post-script TO the Objection that some make viz. That our neighbour State the Hollanders raise most of the Charge of their Country on Excise is Answered That the Customes of Goods Imported and Transported from England raise in a proportionable way far more then all the Excise of the Nether-landState or if you will No-land State For indeed that Common-wealth hath little Land belonging to it and therefore its impossible that the Charge on Land there alone could defend the said People FINIS