still shews the ruins of a strong and stately Castle built upon a hill Stony-Stratford was a Station of the Romans and by them call'd Lactorodum Here the said King Edward the Elder gave a stop to the violent incursions of the Danes upon those parts and this is one of those places where the first of that name since the Conquest rais'd a stately monumental Cross in memory of Queen Eleanor At Chilton in this Shire was born that learned Writer in the Law Sir George Crook Amersham so call'd qu. Agmondsham is not only eminent by the name of the great Agmond from whom it takes denomination but by the birth of several learned Writers especially John sirnamed from the place of his Nativity Amersham and John Gregory of the present Age whose posthume works are worthily reckon'd among the principal of English Writings At Windover was born Roger thence sirnamed de Windover Historian to King Henry the third At Houton Roger Goad a man of good repute for learning In Barkshire are several places of note Reading boasts the Interment of King Henry the first in a Collegiate Church of an Abby founded by himself together with his Queen and his Daughter Maud the Empress He also built here a strong Castle which was rased to the ground by King Henry the second But this Town is yet more remark'd by the birth of William Laud who of a poor Clothiers Son of Reading was advanc'd to the highest Ecclesiastical Office and Dignity of the Nation viz. the Archiepiscopal See of Canterbury nor is it to be forgotten how manfully this Town was held out in the time of the late Civil War by Sir Jacob Aston against the whole power of the Earl of Essex General of the Parliaments forces for a whole twelve month's time but at length it was taken by the said Earl And from this place in the Reign of King Henry the second a learned Writer viz. Hugh of Reading took both Birth and Sirname At Inglefield the Danes received a great defeat from King Ethelwolf Wallingford the Gallena of Ptolomy was an ancient Station of the Romans and the chief City of the Atrebates From this place Richard of Wallingford took his birth and consequently his Sirname Abington besides that it was a place of much action in the time of the Civil Wars in his late Majesties Reign gave birth to Sir John Mason Privy Counsellor to King Henry the eighth King Edward the sixth Q. Mary and Qu. Elizabeth as also to Sir John Smith Latin Secretary and Master of Requests to King James Windsor is renowned as having been built by King Edward the third and as the place where was first instituted that most illustrous Order of the Knights of the Garter by that most victorious Prince and of which the greatest Kings and Princes of Europe have been fellows from the first Institution to this day and likewise for the Interment of King Henry the sixth King Edward the fourth King Henry the eighth and King Charles the first whose Body hath been since remov'd to Westminster and interr'd in King Henry the seventh's Chappel Moreover this place gave birth to a person of great fame for his learned Writings viz. Roger hence sirnamed of Windsor Eaton nearly adjoyning and almost contiguous to Windsor is a place besides the fame of being built by King Henry the sixth trebly renown'd for learning first as a Nursery for the bringing up of Youth being one of the chiefest Free-schools in England secondly as a place of maintenance and encouragement for the studious and well advanc'd in learning thirdly as the Birth-place of several learned men particularly Samuel Collins William Oughtred the great Mathematician and Matthew Stokes At Ratcot Bridge Robert Vere Duke of Ireland was put to flight by the Duke of Glocester the Earls of Arundel Warwick and Derby with the slaughter of Sir Thomas Molineux Constable of Chester This Radcot is by some reckon'd in Oxfordshire Sunning is sufficiently signal in history as having bin an Episcopal See for the residence of eight Bishops which See was translated to Shirbourn and afterwards to Salisbury where it still remains Wantage is enobled by the Birth of that great mirrour of a Prince for Virtue Learning and Valour King Alfred sirnamed the Scourge of the Danes Waltham in the East of this County was an ancient Station of the Romans so likewise Sinodum in the North. Newbury a Town of sufficient note in this Shire is yet more noted by the birth of Thomas Hide a learned Writer and also by two great Fights fought in the time of the late Civil Wars between the Forces of his late Majesty and the Parliament Army under the Earl of Essex Spene and Pesemere two places of no other note than by the birth of two eminent Writers the first of William Twisse the other of William Lyford In Hantshire Winchester the ancient Venta Belgarum of the Romans is said to have been built by that famous Rudhudibras great in the Catalogue of the old British Kings It was the Seat Royal of the West Saxons and chief Epicopal See and still remains the Episcopal See of a great part of that which was the West Saxon Kingdom It was honour'd with the Coronations of King Egbert and King Alfred and the Birth of King Henry the third Here in the Cathedral built by King Kenwolf King of the West Saxons were interred King Egbert King Ethelwolf King Alfred with his Queen Elswith the first Edmund King Edred and King Edwy Queen Emma and her Husband the Danish King Canutus as also his Son Hardy-Canutus and after the Conquest King William Rufus and his Brother Richard Here King Athelstan kept his Mint At St. Peters in the Suburbs of this City was born John Russel created Bishop of Lincoln by King Edward the fourth and Lord Chancellour of England by King Richard the third This City also brought forth two persons of illustious memory for learning viz. Lampridius sirnamed of Winchester a Benedictine Monk who flourisht An. 980. and Wolstan of Winchester a Benedictine likewise accounted in those times an eminent Poet who flourisht An. 1000. Southampton built out of the ruines of the ancient Clausentium and after many devastations reedified in King Richard the second 's time is a most pleasant and well fortified Town with a goodly Castle proudly advanced on a Hill In a Maison dieu or Hospital here lies interr'd the body of Richard Earl of Cambridge who was executed for Treason in the Reign of King Henry the fifth In the Parish of St. Michael in Southampton was born Arthur Lake Bishop of Bath and Wells who died An. 1602. as also Sir Thomas Lake Secretary of State to King James At Basingstoke John sirnamed of Basingstoke the first English Author of a Greek Grammar who died An. 1252. William Paulett Baron of Basing and Marquess of Winchester 〈…〉 to King Henry the seventh and Lord Treasurer to King Henry the eighth Edward the sixth Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth
Wheathamstead chiefly noted for the birth of John of Wethamstead a profound Philosopher Other places Hertfordshire noted for famous men Ware for Richard de Ware Treasurer of England under Edward the first and William de Ware who was Scotus his Teacher and flourisht under King Henry the third Baldock for Ralph Baldock created Bishop of London by King Edward the first Rudburn for Thomas Rudburn Bishop of St Davids who flourisht An. 1419. Helmstedbury for Sir Edward Waterhouse Chancellour of the Exchequer in Ireland under Queen Elizabeth Gatesden for John de Gatesden who flourisht An. 1420. Hamstead for Daniel Dike Cottered for Edward Symonds Gorham-berry for Sir Nicholas Bacon Nor may we here omit other eminent men of this Shire viz. Sir Henry Cary a great Souldier in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth by whom he was created Baron of Hunsden and Lord Chamberlain John Boucher Baron Berners And of learned men Alexander Nequam who died An. 1227. Nicholas Gorham who flourisht An. 1400. Roger Hutchinson Thomas Cartwright and Hugh Legat. In Norfolk the chief City and Episcopal See Norwich seems to have sprung out of the ancient Venta of the Romans and is chiefly Famous for its sufferings having been sackt and burnt by the Danes in the year 1004. And in the Conquerours time reduc't to utmost exigence for siding with Earl Radulph against the said King William The Cathedral was Founded by Herbert who translating the Bishoprick ftom Thetford to Norwich was the first Bishop of Norwich Thetford the ancient Sitomagus of the Romans is a place of much remark for antiquity It was the Royal Seat of the Kings of the East-Angles and the unfortunate place where King Edmund the Martyr was overthrown by the Danes The Bishoprick which is now of Norwich was translated from Elmham to Thetford in the Reign of King William the Conquerour Lyn a Sea Port Town was made Liber Burgus and honoured with the gift of a rich Cup by King John and had their Charter inlarg'd by King Henry the third for their good Service against the Outlawed Barons and in King Henry the eighth's time other priviledges were added and the name changed from Lyn Episcopi to Lyn Regis Yarmouth boasts the antiquity of its foundation from the time of the Danes Elmham is considerable for having been a Bishops See for several Ages first divided with Dunwich in Suffolk next sole till it was translated to Thetford thence to Norwich In Sussex the City Chichester boasts the Foundation of Cissa the second King of the South-Saxons and had the Bishoprick translated thither in King William the Conquerours time from Selsey which till then had been the Episcopal See Lewis a Town little if ought inferiour to Chichester is sufficiently of name in History as having been one of the places appointed by King Athelstan for the Coinage of his Mony and for the strong Castle built by Earl William de Warren Here also was a bloody battel fought between King Henry the third and his Barons in which the King receiv'd a cruel Overthrow Pensey a little Sea Town but great in Story as the Landing place of King William the Conquerour when by one Victorious battle he gain'd the Crown of England with the slaughter of King Harold and his two Brothers Leofwin and Goroh and about 67000 men Hastings being the Town near which this successful held was fought hath gotten so much the greater name and the very place of fight retains to this day the name of Battle-field Buckstead a place in some respect of as great note as any hath been nam'd For here in the thirty fifth year of King Henry the eight the first Great Iron Guns that ever were cast in England were cast by Peter Baude and Ralph Hage In Cambridge-Shire the Town of Cambride is of too high a renown for its many Halls and Colledges the habitations of the Muses richly indow'd for the advancement and incouragement of Learning to be here pass't by and too well taken notice of and describ'd by others to be longer insisted on Eli the Bishops Seat and denominating City of the Diocess is said to have been built by one Audry who was first wife of one Tombret Prince of these parts and afterwards of Egbert King of Northumberland from whom departing She here betook her self to a devout life and built a most stately Monastery of which She her self became the first Abbess This place is also recordable for the Birth of several Learned men viz. Andrew Willet who died An. 1621. Sir Thomas Ridly Dr. of the Laws who died An. 1629. Richard Parker who died here An. 1624. Everton in this Shire gave Birth to John Tiptoft Son of John Lord Tiptoft Earl of Worcester and Lord High Constable of England Triplow is memorable by the Birth of Elias Rubens a Writer of grand repute who flourisht An. 1266. Everden gave both Birth and Sirname to John Eversden another learned Writer Of this County were also Matthew Paris and Sir John Cheek Tutor to King Edward the sixth and Richard Wethershet who flourisht in the year 1350. At Caxton was born William thence Sirnamed Caxton the first Printer in England Wisbich brought forth Richard Hocloet a man eminent for Learning An. 1552. Linton is only note-worthy for the Birth of Richard Richardson one of the Translatours of the Bible who deceas't An. 1621. Milton as 't is generally believ'd gave birth to Thomas Goad a Writer of good note Mildred brought forth Andrew Mervail Minister of Hull a Learned Father of a Learned and Witty Son for so was that Andrew who died but a few years since he was a Member in the late long Parliament for the Town of Hull a man of very acute parts had he not fail'd in his affection to the Government as several of his Writings testifie Of this County were Michael Dalton a Learned Writer and also Edward Norgate In Huntington-Shire St Neots so call'd from Neotus a Holy and Learned man is memorable for the defeat given to the Earl of Holland by the Parliament Forces in the late Civil Wars An. 1648. as also for being the Birth-place of two eminent men viz. Francis White Bishop of Ely and Hugh thence Sirnamed of St Neots who deceas't Anno 1340. Godmanchester qu. Gormoncester from Gormon the Dane is concluded to have been the Old Durisiponte of the Romans and some think from the nearness of the name the same with Gunicester where Macutus had his Bishoprick At this Godmanchester was born a man who made too much noise in the world to be forgotten Stephen Marshal one of the chief of those Zealous Trumpetters of the late times who from the Pulpit stirr'd up to War and Bloodshed in the Name of the Lord. At St Ives was born Roger thence Sirnam'd of St Ives who flourisht An. 1420. At Cunnington the Learned Antiquary Sir Robert Cotton Moreover from Huntington the Capital place of this Shire sprung two very famous men Gregory of Huntington who died An. 1610. and Henry
his Queen Ethelwith At Melburn John D. of Bourbon taken at Agin Court was kept prisoner Little Chester an ancient Colony of the Romans as appears by what Coins have been digg'd up thereabout In Nottinghamshire the County Town Nottingham hath not wanted its share in the grand rencounters that have been in this Nation the Castle hereof was kept by the Danes against the Mercian King Burthred and also against the English Saxon Monarchs Elthelred and Alfred At Newark in this County King John who was poyson'd at Swinsted Abby is said to have drawn his last breath At Stoke near Symnel's party was utterly defeated and his upholders John de la Pool Earl of Lincoln Thomas Garadine Chancellour of Ireland Fr. Lord Lovel and others were slain with 4000 of their men and he himself taken prisoner June 16th An. 1487. At Mansfield was born the first Earl of Mansfield in Germany one of the Knights of King Arthurs Round Table In Warwickshire the Town of Warwick is sufficiently fam'd in story over and above what is related of Guy of Warwick and his great adventures and above all things the antiquity of the foundation is remarkable if as the tradition goes it were built by Gurguntus 375 years before the Nativity of our Saviour however the Castle looks great and savours much of Antiquity Coventry being joyntly one Bishoprick with Leichfield is memorable besides the beauty of the brave action of Countess Godiva the wife of Leofrick the first Lord thereof well known in History One of the Gates of this City is call'd Gofford Gate which is the more notable by the Shield-bone of some very large beast some say a wild Bore slain by Guy of Warwick some say an Elephant with the snout whereof a pit was turn'd up which is now Swanes Mear At Backlow-hill in this County Pierce Gavestoâ— was taken and beheaded by a party of the Nobles At Wolny An. 1469. King Edward the fourth his Forces were discomfited by his brother George Duke of Clarence and Richard Earl of Warwick and the King himself taken prisoner In Northamptonshire the County Town Northampton hath been the Subject of many warlike bronts An. 1106. it suffered much by the contests of the Conquerours three Sons Robert William and Henry An. 1263. being held by the Barons against King Henry the third it was taken by surprize and the Walls thrown down An. 1459. King Henry the sixth was here taken prisoner by the Earl of Warwick and March with the slaughter of Humphry Stafford Duke of Buckingham John Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury the Lords Egremont and Beaumont but the greatest misfortune that e're befel this Town was in this our Age viz. An. 1675. when by an accidental Fire it was almost all burnt down to the ground yet lay it not long buried in ruin for it was immediately rebuilt and now appears in far greater splendour then ever Here Earl Rivers Father to Edward the fourth's Queen taken at Grafton was beheaded by Robin of Risdal together with his son John Higham Ferrers in this County hath been honour'd with the birth of a very great Prelate of this Nation viz. Henry Chichly Cardinal and Arch-bishop of Canterbury in the Reign of King Henry the sixth This Chichly was the founder of All-Souls Colledge in Oxford Edgecot is signalis'd by a bloody battle fought near it on Danes More July the 26th An. 1469. by Robin of Risdal and Sir John Coniers against William Herbert Earl of Pembroke who together with his Brother Richard the Lord Rivers the Queens Brother and Richard Woodvil were taken prisoners carried to Banbury and beheaded At Fotheringhay Castle Mary Queen of Scots was kept a long time prisoner and was at last beheaded In Leicestershire Leicester the County Town is principally famous by the tradition of its having been built by King Leir great in the Catalogue of ancient British Kings qu. Leir-cester Lutterworth in this County ows its chief credit to the famous John Wickleff who was Parson of this place in the reign of King Henry the 4th Bosworth a Town of no great note but for the memory of a most signal battle fought near it on Redemore August 22d 1485. which put an end to all Controversies between the two houses of York and Lancaster and in which fell that most Tyrannical of English Kings Richard the third with four thousand of his men and some say though we are not bound to believe it with the loss but of ten men on the Earl of Richmonds side Cleycester of which there are now scarce any ruins remaining was once a famous City in the West part of this Shire and by the Romans call'd Bennone In Rutlandshire some mention as close adjoyning though generally affirm'd to be situate rather in Lincolnshire the Town of Stamford for the reputation of an ancient University and said to have been founded by that Ancient British King Bladud who found out the vertue of the Bath-Waters In Lincolnshire Lincoln the chief Town and only City of this Shire is not only eminent for its antiquity and for that it was once acounted one of the chiefest and the best traded Cities of England and made by King Edward the third the chief Mart for Lead Wool and Leather But also for a great battle fought by Randolph Earl of Chester and Robert Earl of Glocester against King Stephen who was here taken prisoner as also for the success of King Henry the third who won it from the Barons it is said to have had once fifty Parish Churches Wainfleet had been doubtless a place of little note but for the birth of William Wainfleet Bishop of Winchester who living in the reign of King Henry the sixth with whom he was great in favour built here a Free-School and founded Magdalen Colledge in Oxford Grimsby likewise though an ancient Market Town hath its chiefest repute from its being the Birth-place of Dr. Whitgift Archbishop of Canterbury in the reign of King James Bullingbrook is enobled by the memory of the Birth of King Edward the first and King Henry the fourth Swinesstead Abby the place where King John received from the hands of Simon a Monk thereof that baleful potion that gave him his end at Lincoln Harstill laments the death of that mirâ—our of that Conjugal love Queen Eleanor the wife of King Edward the first In the North-Riding of Yorkshire York the chief of this Shire and second City of England was a Colony of the Romans and a place of great account among them and ever since to this day a splendid and flourishing City several Emperours here kept their Court and particularly Severus had a Palace here in which he breathed his last Here also Constantius Chlorus the Father of Constantine the Great is said to have departed this life nor does the death of these two Emperours more ennoble this Place than the Birth of the Learned Alcuin who was Tutour to the Emperour Charles the Great Some write that it was first made an Episcopal See by
the Emperour Constantius but this is more certain that it was made an Archbishoprick in the year of our Lord 625. At Leeds in the West-Riding Oswye King of Northumberland encountred the united Forces of Ethelbald Son of Oswald King of Northumberland Ethelbert King of the East-Angles and Penda King of the Mercians to all whom he gave a mighty defeat slew Penda and Ethelbert and put Ethelbald to flight Selby a Town of good trade and resort but most memorable for the birth of King Henry the first this is by some accounted in Lincolnshire Wakefield is a Town not more considerable for its Cloathing than for the memory of a great battle fought between the Houses of York and Lancaster besides a defeat given in the late Civil Wars to the Earl of Newcastles Forces by Sir Thomas Fairfax Pomfret Castle was built by Hildebert de Lacy a Norman Hallyfax qu. Holy Hair anciently Horton the birth-place of Joannes de Sacrobosco Rotheram chiefly boasts in the birth of Thomas of Rotheram Archbishop of York In the East-Riding Stanford Bridge from the battle there fought commonly called Battle-Bridge Drifield is remembred by the Tomb of Alfred King of Northumberland here buried Beverly though a Town of flourishing trade is yet more fame-worthy as the last retirement and place of decease of the Learned John Archbishop of York in the Reign of Oswick An. 721. who was thence sirnamed John de Beverly Newborough Abby gives fame to it self by giving name to that Old English Historian William of Newborough Kingston upon Hull besides the repute of its Trade and Merchandise is honour'd with the fame of being built by King Edward the first nor are there wanting who will add the reputation of Andrew Mervail a Burgess of this place of whom elsewhere Exeter in Devonshire is both of sufficient antiquity for the Castle call'd Rugemont was once the Palace of the West Saxon Kings and afterwards of the Earls of Cornwal and the Walls and Cathedral were built by King Athelstan and also memorable for several transactions here was born that most renowned Latin Poet of England Josephus hence sirnamed Iscanus or Joseph of Exeter At Plimouth that great Honour of England for Sea affairs Sir Francis Drake took Shipping for the Circum-navigation of the World An. 1577. Teignmouth is noted for the place of the Danes first arrival in England Hubbleston the Burial place of Hubba the Dane Crediton the ancient Episcopal See of this County till it was removed to Exeter Camelford in Cornwal is guess'd by those pieces of Armour that have been digged up thereabout to have been the place of Battel where Mordred was slain and where King Arthur received his mortal wound Tintagel Castle gave birth to this great Miracle of British Valour King Arthur At Castle Denis the Ruins of those Trenches are yet to be seen where the Danes encamped at their first Invasion of this Land At Caradoc was born John Trevisa a learned Writer who died Anno 1400. St. Germains a place chiefly fame-worthy for having been an ancient Episcopal See At Truroe was born John Arundel a renowned Sea-man in the Reign of King Henry the Eighth Bodmin the next place to which the Bishop's Chair was removed from whence it was translated by King Edward the Confessor to Exeter where it hath remained ever since This County hath brought forth several learned men viz. Hucarius sirnamed the Levite who flourished Anno 1040. Simon Thurway who flourished Anno 1201. John Sir-named of Cornwal who flourished Anno 1170. Michael Blawnpain who flourished Anno 1350. Godfrey Sir-named of Cornwall In NORTHVMBERLAND at a place called Otterburn a great Field was fought between the English and Scots Alnwick is of note for the mighty Victory which the English here gained over the Scots and for that the Earls of Northumberland in ancient times here kept their Court. Emildon brought forth that great Contradiction of his own name for Niceties of Wit and Subtilties in School-Philosophy Duns Sir-named Scotus In the Western parts of Northumberland are yet to be seen some parts of the Picts Wall In WESTMORLAND The Aballaba of Antoninus is thought to have been a place of very great note in the time of the Romans by the antique Roman Coins that have been there found in digging and the station of the Aurelian Maures and it is still so considerable that the Castle thereof is the place where the Assizes for the County are kept Burgh or Burgh under Stainmore is undoubtedly the Ruins of an eminent Town which was called Verterae and where a Roman Commander in the declining time of the Empire is said to have kept his station with a Band of Directores Ambleside Amboglana not far from Winander Meer is judged the Ruins of some famous City of Roman foundation or improvement both by the paved ways that lead to it and the Coins of Roman Stamp oft digged up there In CVMBERLAND Carlisle Luguvallum or Leucophibia of Ptolomie if not illustrious in its Original for it is delivered to have been built by that Leil who is great in the Catalogue of British Kings was at least a flourishing City under the Romans and being demolished by the Picts and utterly ruined by the Danes was restored by King William Rufus who also built there a Castle and by King Henry the First made a Bishop's See The Bishoprick of DVRHAM gained that Title and Privilege by the great fame and renown of St. Cuthbert for the interment of whom the Cathedral of Durham was first built by Bishop Aldwin and afterwards pulled down and rebuilt by Bishop Careleph The Tomb of this adored Saint was visited with great devotion by King Egfred Alfred Danish Guthrun Edward and Athelstan This City was by King William the Conqueror raised to a County Palatine There is a place called Gallile in the West end of the Church where is to be seen the Tomb of Venerable Beda Binchester Benovium by the Coins there digged up seems to have been a place of great account among the Romans So likewise Chester in the Street Condercum At Nevil's Cross near Durham the Scots were defeated by Queen Philippa Wife to King Edward the First by the Conduct of the Lords Piercy Moubray and Nevil In LANCASHIRE Lancaster the County-Town gives Title of Family from John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster to four Henries Kings of England viz. Henry the Fourth Fifth Sixth and Seventh Manchester Mancunium an ancient Fort and Station of the Romans Rible-Chester from Rhibel a little Brook near Clithero a Town of Antiquity and Station of the Romans as appears by the pieces of Coin and Statues there found But that which renders it most of memory is that it hath been reported the richest Town of Christendom Near Duglas a small Brook not far from the Town of Wiggin King Arthur is said by Ninius to have put the Saxons to flight At Billangho Anno 789. Duke Wade was put to flight by Ardulph King of Northumberland In CHESHIRE Chester is famous
Shelford His Seats Bretby Derby Shelford Nottingham Bockton Malherb Kent Richard Tufton Earl of Thanet and Baron Tufton His Seats Thanet House in Aldersgate-Street Middlesex Hoathfeild and Sylom Kent Scipton Castle York Appleby Castle Brough Castle Brougham Castle and Pendragon Castle Westmerland Part of Bolbrook Sussex * William Wentworth Earl of Stafford Viscount Wentworth and Baron of New Marsh Oversley and Raby His Seats Wentworth Wood-House Fryar House Tankersly Tinsly and Hooton Robert York Stowel Gloucester Robert Spencer Earl of Sunderland and Baron of Wormleighton His Seats Althrop Northampton Wormleighton Warwick Robert Leake Earl of Scarsdale His Seat Sutton Derby * Henry Jermin Earl of St. Albans and Baron of Almondsbury His Seats St. Alban's House in St. James's Square Middlesex Rushbrooke Hall Suffolk Byflet Surrey Thafts Norfolk Edward Montague Earl of Sandwich Viscount Hinchingbrook and Baron of St. Neots His Seat Hinchingbrook Huntington Henry Hyde Earl of Clarendon Viscount Cornbury and Baron of Hindon His Seats Cornbury Oxford Swallowfield Berks. Arthur Capel Earl of Essex Viscount Maldon and Baron of Hindon His Seats Cashiobury and Hadham Hall Hertford Essex House in St. James's Square Middlesex Robert Brudenell Earl of Cardigan and Baron of Stanton His Seats Dean Northampton Cardigan House in Lincolns-Inn Fields Middlesex Stanton Brudenel Leicester Arthur Annesly Earl of Anglesey and Baron of Newmarket Pagnel in England Viscount Valencia and Baron of Mount Norris in Ireland His Seats Anglesey House in Drury-Lane Middlesex Blechington Oxford Park-Hall Essex Farnborough Place Southampton Totteridge Hertford John Greenvill Earl of Bath Viscount Lansdown and Baron of Kilhampton and Bideford His Seats Stow Wolston Stanbury Clifton and Lanow Cornwall Bideford Devon Charles Howard Earl of Carlisle Viscount Morpeth and Baron d'Acres of Gilesland His Seats Naywort alias Noward Castle Cumberland Hilderskelfe Castle and Grimthorp York Morpeth Castle Northumberland William Craven Earl of Craven Viscount Craven of Vffington and Baron of Hamsted Marshal His Seats Craven House in Drury-Lane Middlesex Hamsted Marshal and Ashton Park Berks. Combe Warwick Winwick Northampton Caversham Oxford Lenwich VVorcester Stoke Castle Salop. Robert Bruce Earl of Ailesbury and Elgin Baron of Wharton and Kinloss His Seats Ailesbury House in St John's Middlesex Ampthil and Clophil Bedford Wharlton Castle and Jervaux Abby York Richard Boyle Earl of Burlington and Corke in Ireland and Baron Clifford of Lawnsborough His Seats Burlington House Middlesex Lawnsborough Bolton and Barden Tower York * Henry Bennet Earl and Baron of Arlington Viscount Thetford and Lord Chamberlain of the King's House His Seats Ewston Suffolk Arlington House in St. James's Park Middlesex Anthony Ashley Cooper Earl of Shaftsbury Baron Ashley of Wimborn St Giles and Cooper of Paulet His Seats Wimborn St. Giles Dorset Kockborn House Southampton William Herbert Earl and Baron of Powis His Seats Powis Castle and Buttington Montgomery Powis House in Lincolns-Inn Fields Middlesex Edward Henry Lee Earl of Lichfield Viscount Quarrendon and Baron of Spelsbury His Seats Dichley and Lees Rest Oxford Quarrendon Buckingham * Thomas Osborn Earl of Danby Viscount Latimer and Baron of Kiveton His Seats Kiveton Thorp Hall Wales Hall Harthil Hall and Wimbledon York Thomas Lennard Earl of Sussex and Baron d' Acre His Seats Herst Monceux Sussex Kirk Oswald and d'Acre Castle Cumberland Chevening Kent Lewis Duras Earl of Feversham and Baron of Holdenby His Seat Holdenby Northampton Charles Beauclair Earl of Burford and Baron of Heddington His Seats Burford House in Windsor Berks. Bestwood Nottingham Charles Gerrard Earl of Macclesfield and Lord Gerrard of Brandon His Seats Thornhill York Gawsworth and Aldford Chester Halsal Lancaster Macclesfield House in Westminster Middlesex John Roberts Earl of Radnor Viscount Bodmin and Baron of Truro and Lord President of the Privy Council His Seats Lauhydroek and Truro Cornwall William Paston Earl and Viscount Yarmouth and Baron of Paston His Seats Oxnead Hall and Paston Hall Norfolk George Berkeley Earl of Berkeley Viscount Durseley and Baron of Berkeley Castle His Seats Berkeley Castle Gloucester Berkeley House near St. John's Cranford Middlesex Durdence Surrey Edward Conway Earl of Conway Viscount Conway and Killultagh and Baron of Ragley His Seats Ragley and Luddington VVarwick Conway House in Queen-Street Middlesex Eliz. Lady d'Acre Countess of Shippey Heneage Finch Earl of Nottingham and Baron of Daventry His Seat A fair House near Kensington Middlesex Lawrence Hide Earl of Rochester Viscount Hide James Bertie Earl of Abbington and Lord Norris His Seats Ricot and Chesterton Oxford Wytham Berks. Lindsey House in Westminster Middlesex Thomas Windsor Earl of Plimouth and Baron of Windsor His Seats Hewel Grange VVarwick Flanchford Surrey Edward Wriothesley Noell Earl of Ganesborough Viscount Campden and Baron of Ridlington and Limington His Seats Campden House in Kingsington Middlesex Campden House in Campden Gloucester Exton Brooke and North-Luffenham Rutland Coniers Darcy Earl of Holderness in the parts of Eastriding and Lord Coniers and Meynell His Seats Hornby Castle Patrick Brompton Hackforth Auderly le Miers York VISCOUNTS LEicester Devereux Viscount Hereford His Seats Christchurch in Ipswich Sudburn Hall Soham Lodge Suffolk Francis Brown Viscount Mountague His Seats Battel-Abby Poynings Sussex William Fiennes Viscount and Baron Say and Seal His Seats Broughton Shutford and North-Newton Oxford Over-Norton Gloucester Thomas Bellasyse Viscount Faulconberg of Henknowle and Lord Faulconberg His Seats Newbrough Abby Coxwold Hall Oulston Hall Aldwark Murton York Henknowle Durham Faulconberg House near Pall-mall and Sutton Court Middlesex Charles Viscount Mordant of Avelon and Baron of Rygate His Seats Mordant House in Parsons Green Middlesex Rygate Surrey Francis Viscount Newport of Bradford and Baron of High-ercall His Seats Highercall and Eyton Salop. Sarah Viscountess Corbet of Linchalde Horatio Viscount Townsend of Raynham Baron of Lynn-Regis His Seats Raynham Hall and Stifkey Hall Norfolk Denham Hall Suffolk Christopher Viscount Hatton of Gretton Baron of Kerby His Seat Kerby Northampton BARONS HEnry Howard Lord Moubray eldest Son of the Duke of Norfolk and bearing the Title of Earl of Arundel His Seat Castle-Rising Norfolk Elizabeth Baroness Percy sole Daughter and Heiress of Jocelin late Earl of Northumberland first married to Henry Earl of Ogle only Son of Henry Cavendish Duke of New-castle now to the Duke of Somerset Her Seats Northumberland House in the Strand and Sion House Middlesex Petworth Place Sussex Alnewick Castle Warkworth Castle and Prudhoe Castle Northumberland Cockermouth Castle Cumberland Wressel Castle York George Nevil Lord Abergevenny Under Age. His Seats Eridge Sussex Abergevenny Castle Monmouth James Touchet Lord Audley Earl of Castlehaven in Ireland Charles West Lord la Warr. His Seat Whorwell Southampton Thomas Parker Lord Morley and Mounteagle His Seat Hornby Castle Lancaster Robert Sherley Lord Ferrers Baron of Chartley. His Seats Chartley Castle Stafford Staunton Harrold and Ragdale Leicester Ettington Warwick Astwell Northampton Shirley Derby Charles Mildmay Lord Fitz-Walter under age His Seats Moulsham Hall Moulsham Friery and Bishops Hall Essex Henry Yelverton Lord de
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
and Wat Tiler in East-Smithfield where in an overture of treaty Wat Tiler behaving himself with extraordinary insolence was in presence of the King stabb'd by Sir William Wallworth Lord Mayor of London with a Dagger in memory whereof the City of London hath to this day a Dagger for its Coat of Arms. This City hath had the honour to entertain several great Kings Princes and Nobles but the grandest transaction that London can boast of was that most stately Cavalcade which his present Majesty made through it the 29th of May An. 1660. when he returned from a long Exile to the Government of these Kingdoms But the year 1666. was fatal to it by reason of that most dreadful fire that consum'd all before it from Grace-Church Street to the Inner Temple destroying to the number as is generally computed of 13000 dwelling-houses and this preceded but the year before by the fiercest Pestilence that ever raged within the cognisance of the Weekly Bills In this City King Stephen kept his Court at Crosby-house in Bishopsgate-street King Edward the third in Cornhil where now the Pope-head Tavern stands King Henry the eighth at Black-friers and sometimes at Bridewell once a Regal Palace where also the Emperour Charles the fifth was lodg'd when he came over into England The Palace of St. James's which is in the Pomaeria of London and which was first built for a Spittle for Maiden Lepers hath been the Birth-place of his present Majesty K. Charles the 2d his Highness James Duke of York Henry late Duke of Glocester the Lady Elizabeth the Lady Mary late Princess of Orange and all the Children of his present Highness by his late Dutchess Edgar Duke of Kendal James Duke of Cambridg deceast the Lady Henrietta and the Lady Lady Katherine deceast Mary now Princess of Orange the Lady Anne yet unmarried as also of two Daughters both soon hasten'd to a better World by his present Dutchess Other persons of eminent note and immortal memory were born at London viz. Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury in the Reign of K. Henry the 2d by four of whese Courtiers he was murther'd in Canterbury Church Anno 1170. after a long contest with the King Sir Jeoffry Chaucer the most famous of ancient English Poets who flourisht in the Reigns of K. Henry the 4th Henry the 5th and part of K. Henry the 6th Edmund Spencer styl'd also the Prince of English Poets who flourisht in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth John Leland Sir Thomas More Bishop Andrews The Tower of London is very eminent for the Confinement Murther and Execution of Illustrious persons to mention all especially those who have been meerly Prisoners would be almost endless but the most memorable Imprisonment was that of two Kings at one time in the Reign of King Edward the third viz. of David King of Scots and of John King of France the first a Prisoner 11 years the other four Here the unfortunate King Henry the sixth after Edward the fourth had got the Crown from him by Conquest was basely murther'd by King Edward's Brother Richard Duke of Glocester afterward King of England Here George Duke of Clarence another Brother was by the practice of the said Duke of Glocester drown'd in a Butt of Malmsey but the most fatal Tragedy of all was the murther of King Edward the fourth's two Sons poor harmless children viz. Edward commonly entitled King Edward the fifth and his Brother Richard Duke of York and all by the order and contrivement of their Dear Uncle of Glocester who as most great persons have their peculiar Sports and Recreations was principally taken with that of killing men especially those of nearest kin for such he chiefly markt out for death out of meer kindness to himself that he might the sooner obtain the possession of that Crown he had long since aspir'd to and indeed he got it sooner and kept it longer so easie it is for one witty man to delude a Multitude than a curious descanter upon the worlds affairs would have allow'd a person so getting it however what he got by the death of others he lost by his own only more handsomely not by treachery but fairly in the field In Christ-church in London three great Queens had their Sepulture viz. Margaret the Daughter of King Philip of France sirnamed the Hardy and second Wife of King Edward the second of England Isabel the Daughter of the French King Philip the Fair and Wife to King Edward the second of England Joan the Daughter of the said Edward and Isabel and married to David King of Scots Westminster hath been the most constant residence of the Kings of England since the Conquest till Whitehall was built by Cardinal Wolsey It will be needless to mention all the Kings that have been crown'd and buried here in regard since the Conquest there are not very many who have not been buried and fewer that have not been crown'd in Westminster Abby At Isleworth now Thistleworth a Village pleasantly situate upon the River Thames Richard King of the Romans and Earl of Cornwall had a stately Palace which was burnt to the ground in a tumultuous sally that was made upon it by certain Malecontents of the London Mobile In Surry are places of as eminent note as in most Counties of England In the first place Lambeth is chiefly renowned for being the principal Palace and most usual residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury from the time of Archbishop Baldwin who first founded it and made it his Seat in the year 596 and from whom it hath continued so to this day the most reverend and learned Prelate Dr. Sancroft late Dean of Pauls being worthily advanc'd to this high Dignity and having here his present residence Here Canutus sirnamed the Hardy the third and last of our short-liv'd Dynasty of Danish Kings ended his days of a surfeit as most Writers affirm by eating and drinking over freely at a Wedding Feast Croydon is another Seat belonging to the Archbishops of Canterbury and where the Reverend Dr. Gilbert Sheldon late Archbishop lies buried having a most statety Monument newly elected to his memory the Artful Contrivance and skilful Workmanship of Mr Jasper Latham the present City Mason At Ockly in this County Ethelwolph Son of Egbert won a great Battel over the Danes Oatlands is not more famous for being a Royal Palace than for the Neighbourhood of Coweystakes where Julius Caesar pass'd the Thames into the Borders of Cassibesaunus Putney is chiefly considerable in story as being the Birth-place of one of the most advanced Statesmen and Favourites for he was but the Son of a Black-smith that our Nation hath produced viz. Thomas Cromwell chief Minister of State for the time to King Henry the eighth and by him created Earl of Essex who nevertheless had the ill fate falling under his Princes displeasure to be beheaded on Tower-Hill Wimbleton where the Earl of Bristol hath a pleasant seat still retains the memory of a
he died An. 1572. and lastly Richard White who studying at Doway began to grow famous for Learning An. 1611. At Andover was born Robert Thomson a man of Military fame who made an Expedition to Spain An. 1553. At Warblington Henry Bishop of Salisbury in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth He died An. 1615. At Hide John stil'd the Monk of Hide an Historian who flourish'd An. 1284. Odiam hath its chief repute from the birth of William Lilly the first Master of Pauls School He died of the Plague and was buried in the Porch of St. Pauls Anno 1522. Ilchester seems by its ruins to have been a very eminent City of the Romans and the principal of these parts in antient times At Wickham in this Shire was born the famous William thence sirnamed of Wickam Bishop of Winchester who died An. 5 H. 4. At Okeley William Warham Bishop first of London afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury in the Reign of King Henry the 7th In the Isle of Wight Thomas James the chief if not only Ornament of that Island for eminence of Learning Other famous men this Shire hath brought forth Beavise of Southampton whose acts of Chivalrie had perhaps stood greater in real History had they not been so much falsified by Romantick stories Sir John Wallop whose valour and conduct in Sea-affairs have kept his memory alive Richard Rich Baron of Lees Abby in Essex and Lord Treasurer of England in the Reign of King Edward the sixth and Ancestor to the present Earls of Warwick And for Learning R. Sherburn Bishop first of St. Davids then of Chichester under King Henry the seventh John White Bishop first of Lincoln then of Winchester and accounted in his time not the meanest of Poets who died about 1560. Thomas Bilson Bishop of Winchester who died about An. 1618. Michael Reneger William Alton a Dominican who flourisht An. 1330. David Whitehead who died An. 1571. Nicholas Fuller who died An. 1626. Charles Butler who died An. 1640. Thomas Sternhold Groom of the Bed-chamber first to King Henry the eighth then to King Edward the sixth who owes his fame in Poetry not so much to the Elegancy of Rhimes as to the fortune of his having been one of the first Translators of Davids Psalms into English Metre which by reason they hapned to be generally sung in Churches have been ever since preferred to several better Translations In Bedfordshire Bedford the County Town hath to its cost been the Scence of much action in the Civil Wars between King Stephen and the Empress Maud it suffer'd much havock and devastation and afterwards fell into the hands of the Barons in their Wars against King John And lastly was ras'd to the ground by King Henry the third but being rebuilt again hath flourished ever since in much tranquility and splendour In a Chappel not far from this Town the Body of the great Mercian King Offa is said to have been interr'd concerning which there goes a pretty odd story which it were pity to forget viz. that the Chappel being overwhelm'd by an Inundation of the River Ouse upon whose banks it stood the Leaden incloser of King Offa's body hath been often seen of those that declin'd the sight but never could be seen of those that sought to see it Dean in this Shire is eminent for the birth of Francis Dillingham a person of good note for Learning as likewise Laiton Buzzard for the birth of William Sclator Sandy was an ancient Roman Station by the name of Selenae and Dunstable another by the name of Magintum however some vainly have deliver'd that it was built by King Henry the first to repress the insults of a notable sturdy Thief call'd Dun and thereupon call'd Dunstable This Town is moreover signalliz'd by the learned Author John sirnamed hence of Dunstable In Suffolk Ipsich qu. Gipswich from Gipsa is said to be the Founder thereof besides its flourishing Estate in shipping-trade goodly buildings populacy of inhabitants though much harrass't in ancient times by the Danes is particularly noted for the birth of that great Pageantry of Fortune Cardinal Woolsy whose father was a Butcher of this Town St. Edmundbury a Town which seems to commence its Fame from the barbarous Murther of that Royal St Edmund King of the East-angles by the Danes For the Expiation whereof Canutus erected here that Stately Monastery which was once accounted the most Rich and Magnificent of Europe This place is also memorable for a Parliament here held in the Reign of King Henry the sixth Exning the Birth-place of St Audri sister to King Ina. Renlisham the place where Redwald the first Christian King of the East-angles kept his Court. Lidgat a place chiefly memorable for the Birth of John thence Sirnamed Lidgate one of the chief of our ancient Enlish Poets In Hertfordshire St Albans rais'd out of the ruins of Old Verulamium an ancient Roman station is extoll'd not only for the memory of that great British Protomartyr Albanus and that most stately Monastery erected by the Mercian King Offa but also for two great battels here fought the first on the 23d of May Anno 1455 between Richard Duke of York and King Henry the 6th in which the King was defeated with the slaughter of the Duke of Somerset the Earl of Northumberland and the Lord Clifford and 5000 common Souldiers the 2 d. on the 17 th of February Anno 1460. where King Henry and his Queen Margaret had the better against the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk and the Earls of Arundel and Warwick Nor is it to be omitted that Sir John Mandevil famous for his Travels had here his birth Barnet is not more fam'd for its rich Market and the great concourse to its Wells than for the memory of that grand Victory gain'd by King Edward the fourth on an Easter-day being the 14 th of April An. 1471. against the Earls of Warwick and Oxford in which Field the great Earl of Warwick was slain But had there been nothing else to give Fame to this Town it must have been mentioned for the Birth of John Barnet Bishop first of Worcester then of Bath and Wells lastly of Ely and Lord Treasurer of England in the Reign of King Edward the 3 d. Langly commonly call'd Kings Langly is of repute in History for the Birth of Prince Edmund thence sirnamed of Langly fifth Son to King Edward the third and the first interment of King Richard the second whose body was afterwards removed to Westminster Nor much less Abbots Langly so is another Langly term'd that lyes Easterly for the birth of Nicholas Break-spear advanc't to the See of Rome by the name of Pope Adrian the fourth a man of true English mettal and that would not bate an Ace of his Pontifical greatness for he made the Emperour Frederick hold his Stirrup the better to help him into the Saddle Oister near St Albans is supposed by Cambden to have been the Camp of the Roman Lieutenant Ostorius Weathamstead qu.
their Legions who took with them the Flower of the Brittish-Youth and left her open to the Picts and wild-Irish who spoiled and wasted all her pleasant Places with Fire and Sword and after them the Saxons who were called in to expell them far worse so that of a Flourishing Island it became for many Years a place of Ruin and desolation all her Nobility Slain and the residue of her Natives forced to betake themselves to the Fastnesses of Mountains so that Strangers having grasped the Scepter which then Multiplyed into seven from thence called the Heptarchy of the Saxons Trade again ceased all the Ships either Sunk or Burnt in the Ports but no sooner was the Bloody Tempest over but the wounded Island again began to lift up her Head Forraign Nations again came in with the growths of their distant Soil and so she again became a Store-House of Wealth but especially when the sole Monarchy was reduced under Egbert the nineteenth King of the West-Saxons under whom things Flourished in a peaceful manner But soon after as if Fate had envied her happyness the Danes no less Bloody then the Saxons had been made an Invasion tempted by the glittering Wealth of this fair Isle and never left off till they had grasped the Scepter and reduced it to the obedience of Canute under whom again she Flourished more then ever and so continued to do Trade increasing and Arts duly improved till the Conquest by the Norman-Duke who for a while put a stop to her aspiring yet soon after gave incouragements to Industry by Grants Charters and large immunities and from him through the Reigns of several Peaceful Kings the current of her Prosperity continued Maritim affairs being prosecuted with such Success that our Sailers began to Plough till then unknown Seas and so Succesfully that they brought home great store of Riches opening a way to those that succeeded to bring to perfection what at this day renders us happy in all temporal Blessings Having thus far proceeded in general to shew what Brittain has been in her infancy I shall now proceed to give the Reader an account of such matters as have more immediately conduced to the prosperous and Flourishing Estate wherein she has for many Years past remained and does at present remain which chiefly next Heaven we must attribute to her store of Shipping and Expertness in Navigation so long incouraged by her indulgent Kings who in Peace and War have maintained the Soveraignty of the Seas with Navies almost incredible so that no Neighbour-Nation durst disturb our Traffick Not to insist upon King Arthure who found out the Russian Tracts and passed on conquering almost to the utmost Orient attended by a Squadron of three hundred Ships nor Edgard his Successor who Ploughed the Bosom of the deep with four hundred Sail asserting his Soveraignty on the Main to the admiration of the Neighbour-Nations Nor was Canute the Puissant Danish King then Reigning in Brittain less formidable on his watery Empire being proud to have annexed to his Style Lord of the Ocean Nor Edward the Confessor less Potent in Naval forces as appears by the many Ships of War he set forth to give Battle to his Brother in Law Godwin Earl of Kent who kept the Seas with a great number of Ships that spoiled and wasted the Coasts of Brittain as appears in the Reign of that King tho indeed Heaven at that time prevented the Shedding of English-Blood by sending just as they were about to ingage a thick Fogg to cover the Face of the Deep so that none could see a Ships length By this means Seamen were brought up and fitted for Navigation in such sort that in the Nonage of the Norman-Conquest as is before said Traffick abroad began to Flourish nor was Manufacture that Sinew of a Nation less regarded People being incouraged thereto not only by the Princes themselves with large Indulgencies but by such Wealthy Peers and others as more sought the good of the Publick-Weal than their own Private interest which ever redounds in the end to their profit For tho the Poor be never so industrious yet wanting what to Trade with their Industry will faint but if they have imployment to improve themselves Lands and all things else will be improved and advanced to a higher Estimate and the growth of England be made of value equal if not exceeding any European Commodity whatsoever So that this spot of an Island may nay is rightly termed the Store-House of the World who can subsist of her self but without whose Commodities few Nations can maintain their Grandure But to the purpose The Kings after the Conquest intending to make this their constant Seat and making little esteem of their Ancient Inheritance the Dutchy of Normandy did not let to increase the Grandure of this Kingdom by granting large Priviledges and immunities to those that were Industrious but especially to the City of London the chief residence of Royalty named by many Kings their Royal Chamber Nor was any thing thought too dear that might conduce to her Felicity as appears by the Charter granted by King William the first commonly called the Conqueror which was in these words William King greeteth William Bishop and Godfry Porters and all the Burgesses within London French and English and I grant you that I will that you maintain and injoy all your Laws that you did in the days of King Edward meaning the Confessor 's and I will that each Child be his Fathers Heir and further I will that no man wrong you and so God keep you This free concession gave scope to Trade being much augmented by succeeding Kings so that Tradsemen growing numerous they so prevailed upon the Benign Bounty of the Reigning Princes that they after long Fraternities obtained at several times to be incorporate in distinct Bodies or Companies to Implead or be Impleaded as one man The account of which as it happened in divers Kings Reigns shall in the following Chapters be set down beginning at the first of the twelve and so to proceed in order CHAP. II. The Original of the Companies of the City of London viz. the Principal twelve of the time of their being incorporated and by what Kings and Queens As likewise the names of all the other Companies as at this day they stand confirmed 1. THe Mercers tho then Trading for the most part in Stuffs of the Native growth were inabled to be a Company and Permitted to Purchase twenty pounds per Annum Lands in the seventeenth Year of King Richard the second 's Reign Anno Domini 1393. 2. The Grocers tho at that time not brought to half the Perfection that now it is called Pepperers before were Incorporated by the name aforesaid in the twentieth Year of King Edward the third Anno Dom. 1345. 3. The Drapers for the most part Woollen were Incorporated in the seventeenth of King Henry the sixth Anno 1430. having been a Fraternity from the time that King Edward the
Length 3000 Miles and when it over-flows not it portenteth some fatal disaster to the King or Kingdom and by this means the Land is Fertilized for as for Rain there is none The chief Places of Traffick are Alexandria a famous Sea-Port founded by Alexander the great and Cairo commonly called Grand Cairo and in these Center the Trade of the whole Country Therefore omitting Places of lesser note I shall only take a View of these two Cities and their Commerce with such as Trade in those parts and first of Alexandria Alexandria first founded by Alexander the Great in Expedition to Conquer the World is the chief Maritim City of Egypt and from all parts of the Kingdom are thither brought Flax Hemp Hony Wax Rice Balsoms Dates Drugs and Spices and the Country in general produceth abundance of Palm Trees besides hither are brought the Plenty of Arabia India and Persia as Spices Drugs Silks c. so that the Custom-House is accountable yearly for great Summs of Gold The nature of the Palm Trees that grow in that Country is this they always grow in Cupples twisted or twined viz. Male and Female the Female Palm only bears Fruit and that not without the Male for if the Male Palm be cut away the Female will not bear the Fruit is Cods with Seed and pleasant Juice the Pith of these Trees is excellent in tast and very nourishing of the Leaves they make Fans Mats and Baskets of the outward Husks of the Cod Cordage and of the inward Brushes the Fruit they bear is like a Fig which serves the Inhabitants for Meat green and dryed for Bread The Weights used here are four sorts first the Quintar of Zera second the Quintar of Forfor third the Quintar of Zaidin the fourth the Quintar of Mina the first is found to be English 112 pounds the second 93 pounds English the third 134 pounds English the fourth the 167 pounds English Averdupois Weight The Measures are two-fold viz. the Pico Barbaresco which is used for the Measuring of Cloath both Linnen and Woollen and is in Length 25 â…ž English Inches and the Pico Turchesco with which is Measured Silks fine Stuffs Cloath of Gold c. and is found to be 22 ¼ English Inches as for wet and dry Measures they are of little use the Customs being to sell by Weight for the most part CHAP. XXVII A View of Cairo and the Trade Weights Measures and Customs thereof CAiro is a famous City Situate in the vast Plain beneath the Mountains of Mucatun and not above 2 Miles from the Bank of Nilus adorned with many stately Buildings as Pallaces Colledges Temples and the like and has in it a large Burse or Exchange of 3 Story high the first of which consists of Ware-Houses for Gross Goods in the second is laid up Musk Amber Silks Spices and the like and in the third the Merchants who have Ware-Houses there lodg with their Retinues which Merchants are of 6 sorts first the Native Egyptians secondly the Arabians or Moors thirdly the Merchants of Europe Christians fourthly the Turks fifthly the Jews and sixthly the Christians of Affrica as Greeks Armenians c. The Lord of this City and Country is the grand Signeour who governs by his Bashaw or Vice-King The Commodities Traded for by the Europian Merchants are Flax Rice Balsoms Puls Fruits Cottons Sugars Hemp and the like which according to the overflowing of Nilus the Soil yields in plenty or Scarcity so that when they have a plentiful Year they make a Feast to Nilus or the River God as they Term him and exceedingly Rejoyce thereto The yearly Revenue of this Kingdom accrueing by Customs and other ways amount to 3 Millions of Sheraffes each valued at 8 Shillings Sterling one Million of which is sent to the grand Signeur one for maintaining the forces of the Kingdom and the other to enable the Bashaw to keep his Court. The Customs are either payed in Species or compounded for at 10 per cent only Money entred pays but one and a half per cent but outward all Commodities pay 11 per cent which is accounted the Soldan's Custom The Customs of Alexandria are farmed by the Jews at 20000 Medins per diem which according to computation amounts to 55000 pounds per Annum Sterling Their Weights and Measures are the same with those of Alexandria The Currant Coyns in Egypt are Spanish Royals of 8 which they call Piastre and Dollers the Meden the Asper the Soltana Xeriffe and Cheqeen the value of each as before recited Their Accounts are variously kept some in one sort of Coyn and some in another The chief Trade driven here by the European Christians is by the French and Venetians the English having of late declined it as having the growth of the Country or the same Commodities at cheaper Rates in India and Aleppo And thus much for the Continent of Egypt CHAP. XXVIII A View of the Isles of the Sea appertaining to Africa with their Commodities Trade Weight Measures c. THe Isles are these viz. Madagascar Zocotara St. Thomas the Canary Islands the Islands of Assores or Tarceras The first abounds in Ginger Cloves and Silver Mines and was discovered by the Portugals Anno 1506. The money in use amongst the Natives are Glass Beads of Cambaia which passes currant amongst them their Weights and Measures are few and those uncertain The second lyeth in the Mouth of the Red Sea 10 Degrees Northward from the Equator and yieldeth Cattle and Corn but the chief thing Traded for is Aloes which are sold by the Quintar which Averdupois English is 93 pound The third lies under the Equinoctial in which is a Colony of Portugals the chief Commodity it yieldeth is Sugar of which so much is made as ladeth yearly 50 Vessels of good Burthen their Weights and Measures being the same with those used at Lisbone as indeed wherever the Portugals Plant themselves they impose their own Weights and Measures on the Inhabitants Fourthly the Canary Islands which are 7 in number under the Protection of the King of Spain are very Fruitful abounding in Sugar-Canes and those Birds we call Caâ—â—ry Birds and in Canary Wine which takes it's name from the Islands of which 4 or 500 Tuns are yearly exported and dispersed over Europe There is likewise Wood of Excellent use for Dyers Hither the English trade and for the growth of the Island Exchange Says Serge Bays Linnen c. Their Weights Measures and Coyns are the same with those of Sevil of which in order I shall speak Fifthly the Islands of Assores or Tarceras directly under the Meridian were first discovered by the Flemings and abound in Cattle Corn Wood and the like but are of little use some for Harbouring and re-victualling of Ships in their Voyage to the East-Indies as are many other small Islands lying in that vast Ocean And thus much shall suffice for Africa and the Trade thereof CHAP. XXIX A View of Asia and of the Trade
given their Attendance by way of Prevention not out of Duty or Right and are not accounted lawful places to Land or Lade any Goods without Licence or sufference from the Port or Members under which any such Creek or Creeks is placed all which as they be at present accounted at the Custom-House are as aforesaid being respectively in the Body of the Counties and consequently out of the Jurisdiction of the Admiralty in case any thing more then ordinary is done or sustained in any of them And now I shall only inform the Reader that Commodities of English Growth and Manufacture may be exported when sold in England at certain rates according to the Statute made in the 12 of Car. 2. and so put an end to this Work Gunpowder when it exceedeth not the price of five pound per Barrel may be exported Wheat Rye Pease Beans Barly Malt Oats Pork Beef Bacon Butter Cheese and Candles when they do not exceed the Prizes following at the Ports where they are Laded at the time of their Lading viz. Wheat the quarter forty Shillings Rye Beans and Pease the quarter twenty four Shillings Barly and Malt the quarter twenty Shillings Oats the quarter sixteen Shillings Bief the Barrel fifty pound Pork the Barrel six pound ten Shillings Bacon the pound six Pence Butter the Barrel four pound ten Shillings Cheese the pound thirty Shillings Candles the dozen pounds five Shillings paying the respective rates according as they are set down in the Book of rates always provided that his Majesty may when he sees occasion prohibit the Exportation of Gunpowder and other Ammunition And thus Reader have I with much Labour Sailing through many Tempestuous Seas once again cast Anchor in safe Harbour hoping this Work may be advantageous unto many and useful unto all who are any ways concerned in Trade or Commerce whether by Navigation or otherwise the which if it does I have obtained the end of my Design FINIS ENGLAND'S GUIDE TO INDUSTRY OR Improvement of Trade for the good of all People in general LONDON Printed by R. Holt for T. Passinger at the three Bibles on London-Bridge and B. Took at the Ship in St. Pauls-Church-Yard 1683. THE PREFACE FOrasmuch as men who are in a decaying condition or who have but an ill opinion of their own concernments instead of being as some think the more industrious to resist the evil they apprehended do contrarywise become the more Languid and ineffectual to all in all their endeavoures neither caring to attempt or prosecute even the probable means of their relief I as a member of the Common-Wealth next to the knowing the precise truth in what Condition the common interest stands would all in doubtful cases thinkthe best and consequently not dispair without strong and manifest Reasons carefully examining what ever tends to lessen my hopes of the Publick Wellfair I have therefore thought fit to examine the following perswasions which I find too currant in the World and too much to have affected the minds of some to the prejudice of all viz. That the Rents of Lands are Generally fallen that therefore and for many other Reasons the whole Kingdom growes poorer and poorer that formerly it abounded with Gold but now there is a great Scarcity both of Gold and Silver That there is no Trade nor imployment for the people and yet that the Land is underpeopled that Taxes have been many and great That Ireland and the Plantations in America and other additions to the Crown are a Burthen to England that Scotland is of no advantage that Trade in General doth lamentably decay that the Hollanders are at our Heels in the Race of Naval power the French grow too fatt upon both and appear so Rich and Potent that it is but their Clemency that they do not devour their Neighbours and finally that the Church and State of England are in the same danger with the Trade of England with many other dismal Suggestions which I do rather Stifle then repeat 'T is true the Expence of Forraign Commodities have of late been too great Much of our Plate had it remained money would have better served Trade too many matters have been regulated by Laws with natures long Custom and general consent ought only to have Govern'd the Slaughter and Destruction of men by the late Civil Wars and Plague have been great the Fire of London and disaster at Chattham have begotten opinions in the Vulgar of the World to our prejudice the Nonconformists increase the people of Ireland think long of their settlement The English there apprehend themselves to be Aliens and are forced to seek a Trade with Forraigners which they might maintain with their own Relations in England but notwithstanding all this the like whereof was always in all places the Buildings in London grow great and Glorious the American Plantations employ 400 Sail of Ships Auctions in the East-India Company are above double the principal money Those who can give good Security may have money under the Statute interest materials for Building oven Oaken Timber are little the dearer some cheaper for the rebuilding of London the Exchange seems as full of Merchants as formerly no more Beggers in the Streets nor executed for thieves as heretofore the number of Coaches and Splendor of Equipage exceeding former times the publick Theatres very magnificent the King has a greater Navy and stronger Guards then before our Calamities the Clergy rich the Cathedrâ—ls in repair much Land have been improved and the price of Food Reasonable and in Brief no man needs to want that will take moderate pains that some are poorer then others ever was and will be and that many are Querulous and Envious is an Evil as old as the World These general Observations and that men Eat and Drink and Laugh as they use to do have incouraged me to try if I could comfort others being satisfied my self that the Interest and Affairs in England are in no deplorable condition the Method I take to do this is not yet very usual for instead of using only Comparative and Superlative words and Intellectual Arguments I have taken the course as a Specimen of the Political Arithmetick I have long aimed at to express my self in Number Weight and Measure A Discourse of Trade Being a Comparison between England and other parts of Europe wherein the Incouragement of Industry is promoted in these Islands of Great Britain and Ireland CHAP. I. That a small Country and few People by Situation Trade and Policy may be equivalent in Wealth and Strength to a far greater People and Territories and particularly that conveniencies for Shipping and Water-Carriage do most eminently and fundamentally conduce thereto THe first principal Conclusion by reason of it's Length I consider in three parts whereof the first that a small Country and few People may be equivalent in Wealth and Strength to a far greater People and Territories This part of the first principal Conclusion needs little proof forasmuch
as one Acre of Land may bear as much Corn and feed as many Cattle as twenty by the difference of the Soyl some Parcels of Ground are naturally so defensible as that 100 men being possest thereof can resist the Invasion of 500. Bad Land may be improved and made good Bog may by dreining be made Meadow Heath Land may as in Flanders be made to bear Flax and Clover-grass so as to advance in value from 1. to 100. the same Land being built upon may centriple the Rent which it yieldeth as pasture one man is nimbler and stronger and more patient of Labour than another one man by Art may do as much work as many viz. one man with a Mill can grind as much Corn as 20. can pound in a Mortar one Printer can make as many Copies as an hundred can write by hand one horse can carry as much upon Wheels as five men upon their backs and in a Boat or upon Ice as 20 so that I say again the first point of this general position needs little or no proof But the second and more material part of this Conclusion is that this difference in Land and People arises principally from their Situation Trade and Policy To clear this I shall compare Holland and Zealand with the Kingdom of France Holland and Zealand do not contain above 1. Million of English Acres whereas the Kingdom of France contains above 80. Now the original and primitive difference holds proportion as Lands to Land for it is hard to say that when these places were 1st planted whether an Acre of Land in Holland was better then the like quantity in France and Zealand Now is there any reason to suppose but that therefore upon the first Plantation the number of Planters was in proportion to the quantity of Land wherefore if the People are not in proportion as the Land the same must be attributed to the Situation of the Land and to the Trade and Policy of the People The next thing to be shewn is that Holland and Zealand at this day is not only 80th as rich and strong as France but that it hath advanced to the 3d. or thereabouts which I think will appear upon the ballance of the following Particulars viz. As for the Wealth of France a certain Map of that Kingdom set forth An. 1647. represents it to be 15 Millions whereof six did belong to the Church the Author thereof as I suppose meaning the Rents of the Land only And the Author of a most judicious Discourse of Husbandry supposed to be Sir Richard Weston doth from reason and experience shew that Lands in the Netherlands by bearing Flax Turnips Clover-grass Madder c. will easily yield 10 pound per Acre so as the Territories of Holland and Zealand should by this account yield at least 10 Millions per Annum yet I do not believe the same to be so much nor France so little as aforesaid but rather that one bears to the other as about 7 or 8 to one The People of Amsterdam are one 3d part of those in Paris or London which two Cities differ not in People a 20th part from each other as hath appeared by the Bills of Burials and Christenings from each but the value of the Buildings in Amsterdam may well be half that of Paris by reason of the Foundations Grafts and Bridges which in Amsterdam are more numerous and chargeable than Paris Moreover the Habitations of the poorest People in Holland and Zealand are twice or thrice as good as those of France but the People of the one to the People of the other being but as 13 to 1. the value of the Housing must be as about 5 to 1. The Shipping of Europe being about 2 Millions of tuns I suppose the English have about 5000000 the Dutch 900 thousand the French 100 thousand the Hamburgers and the Subjects of Denmark Sweden and the Town of Dantzick 250 thousand and Spain Portugal Italy c. 250 thousand so as the Shipping in our case of France to that of Holland and Zealand is about 1 to 9 which reckoned great and small one with another at 8 pound per Tun makes the worth to be 800 thousand pounds to 7 Millions 2000000 pounds the Hollanders Capital in the East-India Company is worth about 3 Millions where the French has little or nothing The value of the Goods exported out of France into all parts are supposed quadruple to what is sent to England alone consequently in all about 5 Millions but what is exported out of Holland into England is worth 3 Millions and what is exported thence into all the World besides is sextuple to that Summ. The Moneys yearly raised by the French King as the same appears by the Book intituled the State of France dedicated to the King printed An. Dom. 1669. and set forth several times by Authority is 82 Millions of French Livers which is about ½ Millions of pounds Sterling of which Summ the Author sayes that one 5th part was abated for Nonvaluers or Insolvencies So as I suppose not above 5 Millions were effectually raised but whereas some say the King of France raised 11 Millions as the ⅕ of the Effects of France I humbly affirm that the Land and Sea forces all the Buildings and Interleguments which we have heard by common Fame to have been set forth and made in any of these last 7 years needed not to have cost 6 Millions Sterling wherefore I suppose he hath not raised more especially since there were ⅕ insolvencies when the Tax was at that pitch But Holland and Zealand paying 67 of 100 pay'd by all the United Provinces and the City of Amsterdam paying 27 of the said 67 it follows that if Amsterdam hath pay'd 4000 pound Flemmish per diem or about 146000 per Annum or about 80 thousand pound Sterling that all Holland and Zealand have paid above 2 Millions per Annum now the Reasons why they pay so much I think are these viz 1. the Author of the State of the Netherlands saith so 2dly Excise of Victuals at Amsterdam seems above half the Original value of the same viz ground Corn pays 20 Stivers the Bushel or 63 Gilders the Last Beer 113 Stivers the Barrel housing ⅙ of Rent fruit ⅛ of what it cost other Commodities 1 7 ⅛ 1 9 1 12 Salt ad libitum all weighed Goods pay besides the premises a vast sum now if the expence of the People of Amsterdam at a Medium and without Excise were 8 pound per Annum whereas in England 't is 7 pound then if all the several Imposts above named raise it 5 pound more there being 160 thousand Souls in Amsterdam the Sum of 800 thousand pound Sterling per Annum will thereby be raised 3dly Though the Expence of each Head should be 13 pound per Annum 't is well known that there be few in Amsterdam who do not earn much more than the said Expence 4thly If Holland and Zealand pay
Monarch may be double as Rich as the other viz. If one take the Tenth part of the Peoples Substance to his own dispose and the other Twentyeth nay the Monarch of a poor people may appear more splendid and glorious then that of a Richer which perhaps may be somewhat the case of France as hereafter shall be examined As an Instance and Application of what has been said I conceive that in Ireland wherein is above one hundred thousand people near three hundred thousand Smoaks or Hearths it were more tolerable for the people and more profitable for the King that each head paid two Shillngs-worth of Flax then that each Smoke should pay two Shillings in Silver and yet for these following Reasons 1. Ireland being under-Peopled and Cattle and Land very cheap store of Fish and Fowl the Ground yielding every where excellent Roots and particularly that bread like Root-Potatoes and withal they being able to perform their Husbandry with such Harness and Tackling as each man can make living in such Houses as almost every man can Build and every Houswife being a Spinner and Dyer of Wool and Yarn they can live and Subject after their present Fashions without the use of Gold and Silver money and can supply themselves with necessaries above named without Labouring two Hours per diem Now it has been found by reason of insolvencies arising rather from the uselesness then want of Money amongst these poor People that from 300000 Hearths which should have yielded 30 thousand pounds not much above 15000 thousand pounds of money could be levied whereas it is easily imagined that 4 or 5 People dwelling in that Cottage which has but one Smoke could easily have Planted a ground-Plat of 40 Foot Square with Flax or the 50th part of an Acre for so much ground will bear eighth or Ten Shillings-worth of that Commodity and the rent of so much ground in few places amounts to a Penny nor is there any skill requisite to this Practice wherewith the Country is not already Familiar Now as for a Merchant for the said Flax there is imported into Holland it self over and above what the Country produces as much Flax as is there sold for between eighth Score and 200000 pound And into England and Ireland is imported as much Linnen Cloth made of Flax and there Spent as is worth above half a Million of money as hereafter shall be shewn Wherefore having shewn that Silver money is useless to the poor People of Ireland that half the Hearth-money could scarce be raised by Reason thereof that the People are ⅕ part imployed that the People and Land of Ireland are competently qualifyed for Flax that one Penny-worth of Land will produce Ten Shillings-worth of the same and that there is Market enow and enow for above 100000 pounds-worth I conceive my Proposition sufficiently proved at least to set forward and promote a practice especially since if all the Flax so produced should yield nothing yet there is nothing lost the same time having been worse spent before upon the same Ground the like Tax of two Shillings per head may be raised with the like advantage from the People of England which would amount to Six hundred thousand pounds per Annum to be paid in Flax manufactured into all sorts of Linens Threds Tapes and Laces which we now receive from France Flanders Holland and Germany the value whereof does far exceed the sum last mentioned as has appeared by the examination of Particulars It is observed by Clothiers and others who imploy great numbers of poor people that when Corn is extreamly plentiful the Labour of the Poor is Proportionably dear and Scarce to be had at all So licentious are they who Labour only to Eat or rather to Drink wherefore when so many Acres of Corn as do usually produce sufficient store for the Nation shall produce perhaps double to what is exported or necessary it seems not unreasonable that this common Blessing of God should be imployed to the common good of the People represented by their Sovereign much less that the same should be abused by the vile and brutish part of Mankind to the prejudice of the Common-Wealth and consequently that such Surplusage of Corn should be sent to Publick Store-Houses from thence to be disposed of to the best advantage of the Publick Now if the Corn spent in England at five Shilings per Bushel Wheat and two Shillings six Pence Barley be worth 10,000,000 It follows that in Years in great Plenty when the said Grains are ⅓ part cheaper that a vast advantage might accrue to the Common-Wealth which now is spent in once feeding the People in quantity or quality and so in disposing them to their usual Labour The like may be said of Sugar Tobacco and Pepper which Customs has now made necessary to all sorts of People and with overplanting them has made unreasonably cheap I say it is not absurd that the Publick should be advantaged by this Extraordinary Plenty That an Excise should be laid upon Corn also is not unreasonable not only for this but for other Reasons The way of the present Militia or train-Bands in a Gentle Tax upon the Country because it is only a few Days Labour in the Year of a few in respect of the whole using their own Goods that is their own Armes Now if there be 300,0000 of Males in England there be above 200,000 of them who are between the Age of sixteen and thirty unmarryed Persons and who live by their Labour and Service for of so many the present Militia consists and if 150,000 of these were Armed and trained as Foot and 50000 as Horse the said Force at Land together with 30,000 men at Sea would by Gods ordinary Blessing defend the Nation being an Island against any force in view but the charge of Arming disciplining and rendevouzing all their men twice or thrice a Year would be a very Gentle Tax levied by the People themselves and paid to themselves Moreover if out of the said number ⅓ part were selected of such as are more then ordinary fit for War and exercised and rendevouzed fourteen or fifteen times per Annum the charge thereof being but a fortnights pay in the Year would be also a very Gentle Tax Lastly if out of this last mentioned number ¼ again should be selected making 16,000 Foot and 6000 Horse to be Exercised and rendevouzed forty Days in the Year I say that the charge of all these three Militia's allowing the latter six Weaks pay per Annum would not cost per Annum above 120,000 pounds which I take to be so easie a burthen for so great a Benefit Forasmuch as the present Navy of England requires 36,000 men to man it and for that the English Trade of Shipping requires about 48,000 men to manage it it follows that there ought to be about 48,000 competently qualifyed for these Services for want whereof we see it is a long while before a
Reader not thinking his Arguments of any Weight at all in the present case nor indeed does he make his comparison with English or Hollanders but with the Spaniards who nor the Grand Senior the latter of whom has greater advantages to be Powerful at Sea then the French King could never attain to any illustrious greatness in Naval Power having after attempted but never succeeded in the same nor is it easie to believe that the King of England should for so many Years have continued in his Title to the Soveraignty of the narrow Seas against his Neighbours ambitious enough to have gotten it from him had not their impediments been natural and perpetual and such as we say do obstruct the most Christian King CHAP. IV. That the People and Territories of the King of England are naturaly as considerable for Wealth and Strength as those of France THe Author of the State of England among the many useful truths and observations he has sets down the proportion between the Territories of England and France to be as thirty to eighty two the which if it be true then England Scotland and Ireland with the Islands unto them belonging will altogether be near as big as France tho I ought to take all advantages for proving the Paradox in hand I had rather grant that England Scotland and Ireland with the Islands before mentioned together with planted parts of new Found-Land new England new Netherland Virginy Mary-Land Caulin Jamaica Barmuda's Barbado's and all the rest of the Carib Islands do not contain more Territory then France and what planted Land the French King has also in America a. And if any man will be Heterodox in behalf of the French Interest I could be contented against my Judgment to allow the French King's Territories to be a seventh sixth or fifth part greater then those of the King of England believing that both Princes have more Land then they do imploy to its utmost use And here I beg leave among the several matters I intend for serious to interpose a jocular and perhaps a Ridiculous digression and which I indeed desire men to look upon rather as a Dream then a rational Proposition Which is if that all the moveables and People of Ireland and the High-lands of Scotland were transported into the Kingdom of Great Brittain that then the King and his Subjects would thereby become more Rich and Strong both offensively and defensively then now they are It s true I have heard many wise men say when they were bewailing the vast Losses of the English in preventing and suppressing Rebellions in Ireland and considering how little profit has returned either to the King or Subjects of England for these five hundred Years doing and suffering in that Countrey I say I have heard Wise men in such their Melancholies wish that the People of Ireland being saved that that Island were sunk under Water Now it troubles me that the Distempers of my Mind in this point carry me to Dream that the Benefits of these Wishes may Practically be obtained without sinking that vast Mountainous Island under Water which I take to be somewhat difficult for altho Dutch Engineers may drein its Bogs yet I know no Artists that could sink its Mountains If ingenious and Learned men amongst whom I reckon Sr. Thomas Moore and Des Cartes have disputed that we who think our selves awake are or may be really in a Dream And if the greatest absurdity of Dreams is but a Preposterous and Tumultuary Contexture of Reallities I will crave the umbrage of these great Men to say something too of this wild Conception with Submission to the better Judgments of all those that can prove themselves awake If there were but one man Living in England then the benefit of the whole Territories could be but the third Lively-hood of that one Man But if another man were added the Rent or Benefit of the same would be double if three triple and so forewards until so many were Planted in it as the whole Territory could afford Food unto for if a man would know what any piece of Land is worth the true natural question must be how many Men will it feed and how many Men are there to be fed But to speak more Practically Land of the same quantity and quality in England is generally worth three or four times as much as in Ireland And but one quarter and a third of what it is in Holland because England is four times so well Peopled as Ireland and be a quarter so well as Holland And moreover where the Rent of Land is advanced by reason of the multitude of People there the number of years purchase for which the Inheritance may be sold is also advanced tho perhaps not in the very same Proportion for twenty Shillings per Annum in Ireland may be worth but eight pound and in England where Tithes are very sure about twenty pound in Holland about thirty pound I suppose that in Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland there may be above 1800,000 People or about ⅕ part of what is in all the three Kingdoms Wherefore the first question will be whether England Wales or the Lowland of Scotland can't afford Food that is to say Corn Flesh Fish and Fowl to a ⅕ more People then are at present planted upon it with the same Labour that the said ⅕ part does now take where they are for if so then what is propounded is naturally possible Secondly it is to be inquired into what the moveables which upon such removable must be left behind are worth for if they are worth less than the advancement of the price of Land in England will amount unto then the Proposal is to be considered 3. If the relict Land and the immovables left behind upon them may be sold for money or if no other Nation shall dare to meddle with them without paying well for them and if the Nation who shall be admitted shall be less able to prejudice and annoy the Transplanters into England then before then I conceive the whole proposal will be a pleasant Dream indeed As to the first part whether England and the Lowlands of Scotland will mantain one fifth more then they now do that is to say nine Millions of Souls in all I say first that the said Territories of England c. contain about thirty six Millions of Acres that is four Acres for every Head Man Woman and Child but the united Provinces do not allow ½ Acre and England it self rescinding Wales has but three Acres to ever Head according to the present State of Tillage and Husbandry Now if so considered that England having but three Acres to a Head do so abound in Victuals as that it makes Laws against the importation of Cattle Flesh and Fish from abroad and that the Dreining of the Fens improving of Forrests inclosing of Commons Sowing of cinque-Foyl and Clover-Grass be grumbled against by Landlords are the way to depress the
Subjects of England are as effective as to the gaining of Wealth and Riches as those of France and if Ten men can defend themselves as well in Islands as twelve men upon the Continent then the said Ten being not concerned to increase their Territory by the invasion of others are as effectual as the twelve in point of Strength also wherefore that there are more Superlucrators in the English then in the French Dominions we say as followeth There be in England Scotland and Ireland about sixty Millions Seamen in France about a quarter so many but one Seaman earns as much as three common Husbandmen wherefore this difference of Seamen added to the account of the King of Englands Subjects the equivalent of 90,500,000 Husbandmen There are in England Scotland and Ireland six thousand Tuns of Shipping worth about 4500,000 4 ½ and the actual charge of maintaining the Shipping aforesaid by new building and reparation is about ⅓ of the said Summ which is the wages of 150. Husbandmen but it is not the wages of above ⅓ so many Artisans as are imployed upon Shipping of all sorts viz. Shipwrights Calkers Joyners Carvers Painters Blockmakers Rope-makers Mastmakers Smiths of several sorts Flagmakers Compassmakers Brewers Bakers and all sorts of Victuallers all sorts of Trades-men relating to Guns and Gunners-Stores wherefore there being four times more of these Artisans in England then in France they further add to the account of the King of Englands Subjects the equivalent 80 m. Husbandmen more The Sea line of England Scotland and Ireland and the adjacent Islands is about 3,800 Miles according to which length and the whole content of Acres the said Land would be an oblong or Parallelogram Figure of 3,800 long and twenty five Miles broad and consequently every part of England Scotland and Ireland is one with another but about twelve Miles from the Sea whereas France containing but about one thousand Miles of Sea line is like the computation above sixty five Miles from the Sea-side and considering the paucity of Ports in comparison to what are in the King of Englands Dominions as good as seventy Miles distance from a Port upon which grounds it is clear that England can be supplyed with all Gross and Bulky Commodities of Forreign growth and manufacture at far cheaper rates then France can be viz. above four Shillings per Annum Rent cheaper the Land carriage for the difference betwen England and France of the distance from a Port being so much or near thereabouts now to what advantage this convenience amounts upon the importation and exportation of Bulky Commodities can't be less the Labour of one thousand of People meaning by Bulky Commodities all sort of Timber Blank and Staves for Cask and all Iron Lead Stones Brick and Tiles for building all Corn Sart and Drink all Flesh and Fish and indeed all other Commodities wherein the gain and loss of four Shillings per cent is considerable Where note the like Wines are sold in the inward parts of France for four or five pounds a Tun which near the Ports yield seven pound Moreover upon this principal the decay of Timber in England is no very formidable thing as the rebuilding of London and of the Ships wasted by the Dutch-War do clearly manifest nor can there be any want of Corn or other necessary provision in England unless the Weather has been universally unseasonable for growth of the same which seldom or never happens for the same cause which makes dearth in one place does after cause plenty in another wet-weather being propitious to Highlands which drowneth the low It is observed that the poor of France have generally less wages then in England and yet their Victuals are generally dearer there which being so there may be more Superlucration in England then in France Lastly I offer it to the consideration of all those who have travelled through England and France whether the Plebeian of England for they constitute the Bulks of any Nation do not spend one sixth more then the Plebeian of France and if so it is necessary they must first get it and consequently that Ten Millions of the King of Englands Subjects are equivalent to twelve of the French Kings and upon the whole matter to the thirteen ½ Millions at which the French Nation was estimated It will be here objected that the Splendor and Magnificences of the French King appearing greater then those of the Kings of England that the Wealth of France must be proportionably greater then that of England but that does not follow forasmuch as the apparent greatness of the King does depend upon the quarter parts of the peoples Wealth which he levieth from them for supposing the People are equally Rich if one of the Sovereigns levy fifth part and the other fifteenth the one seems actually thrice as Rich as the other whereas potentially they are both equal Having now dicoursed of the Territory People Superlucration and defensibleness of both Dominions and in some measure of the Trade so far as we had occasion to mention Ships Shipping and nearness to Ports we come next to enlarge a little further upon the Trade of each some have estimated that there are not above three hundred Millions of people in the whole World whether that be so or no is not very material to be known but I have fairer Ground to conjecture and would be glad to have it more certainly that there are not above eighty thousand with whom the English and Dutch have commerce no Europeans I know of Trading directly or indirectly where they do not so as the whole commercial World or World of Trade consists of eighty thousand of Souls as aforesaid And I further estimate that the value of all the Commodities yearly exchanged among them does not exceed fourty five thousand now the Wealth of every Nation consisting chiefly in the share which they have in forreign Trade with the whole commercial World rather then in the Domestick Trade of ordinary Meat Drink Cloth c. And which brings in little Gold Silver Pearls and other universal Wealth we are to consider the Subjects of the King of England Head for Head have not a greater share hereof then those of France To which purpose it has been considered that the manufactures of Wool yearly exported out of England into sevesal parts of the World viz. all sorts of Cloth Serg Stuff Cotton Bayes Frize or also Stockens Caps Rugs c. exported out of England Scotland and Ireland do amount unto five hundred thousand pound per Annum The value of Lead Tin and Coals to five hundred thousand pound The value of all Cloths Houshold-Stuf◠c. carried into America two hundred thousand pound per Annum Silver and Gold taken from the Spaniards sixty thousand pound The value of Sugar Indico Tobacco Cottham and Catao from the Southward part of America six hundred thousand pound The value of Wool Butter Hides Beef Herrings Pilchers Salmon exported out of Ireland
as it were disfranchised and loose that interest in the Legislative Power which they had in England and pay Customes as forraingers for all they spend in Ireland whither they were sent for the Honour and Benefit of England The third impediment is that Ireland being a conquered Country and containing not the Tenth part of as many Irish Mastives as there are English in both Kingdoms that natural and firm Union is not made between the two Peoples by Transplantation and proportionable Mixture so as there may be a Tenth part of Irish in Ireland and the same Proportion in England whereby the necessity of maintaining an Army in England at the expence of the quarter of all the Rents of that Kingdom may be taken away The fourth impediment is that the Taxes in England are not levied upon the expences but the whole Estate not upon Lands Stock and Labour but chiefly upon Land alone and that not by any equal and indifferent Standard but the casual Predominacy of Parties and Factions and moreover that these Taxes are not levied with the least trouble and charge but let out to Farmers who also let them from one to another without explicit knowledge of what they do but so are to conclude the poor people pay twice as much as the King receives Now the fifth impediment is the inequality of Shires Diocesses Parishes Church-livings and other Precincts as also of the Representations of the people in Parliament all which do hinder the operations of Authority in the same manner as a Wheel irregularly made and excentrically hung neither moves so easily nor performs it's work so timely as if the same were duly framed and poised 6. Whether it be an impediment that the Power of making War and raising money be not in the same hand much may be said but that I leave to those who may more properly meddle with Fundamental Laws None of these impediments are natural but did arise as the irregularities of Buildings do by being built part at one time and part at another and by the changing of the State of things from what they were at the respective times when the Practice we complained of were first admitted and perhaps are but the warpings from the rectitude of the first institution As these Impediments are contingent so they are also removable for may not the Land of Superfluous Territories be sold and the people with their moveables be brought away may not the English in the American Plantations who Plant Tobacco Sugar c. compute what Land will serve their turns and then contract their Habitations to that proportion for quantity and quality As for the people of New England I can but wish they were Transplanted into old England or Ireland according to Proposals of their own made within this twenty Years altho they were allowed more liberty of Conscience then they allow one another May not the three Kingdoms be united into one and equally represented in Parliament might not the several Species of the Kings Subjects be equally mixt in their habitations might not Parishes and other Precincts be better equaliz'd might not jurisdictions and Pretences of Powers be determined and ascertained might not Taxes be equally aplotted and directly applyed to their ultimate use might not dissenters in Religion be indulged they paying a competent force to keep the Publick-Peace I humbly venture to say all these things may be done if it be thought fit by the Soveraign Power because the like has often and Succesfully been done already at Several Places and Times CHAP. VI. That the Power and Wealth of England has increased these last forty Years IT is not much to be doubted but that the Territories under the Kings Dominions have increased for as much as New-England Virginy Barbados and Jamaica Tangier and Bombay have since that time been either added to his Majesties Territories or improved from a desert condition to abound with the People Building Shipping and the Production of many useful commodities And as for the Land of England Scotland and Ireland as it is not less in quantity then it was forty Years since so it is manifest that by Reason of dreining of Fens Watering of dry Grounds improving of Forrests and Commons making of Heaths and barren Grounds to bear Cinquefole and Clovergrass meliorating and multiplying several sorts of Fruits and Garden-stuff making some Rivers Navigable c. I say it is manifest that the Land in it's present condition is able to bear more provision and commodities then it was forty Years ago 2. Altho the People of England Scotland and Ireland which have Extraordinarily Perished by the Plague and Sword within this last forty Years do amount to about three hundred thousand above what have dyed in the ordinary way yet the ordinary increase by Generation of Ten Millions which doubles in two hundred Years as has been shewn by the observations upon the Bills of Mortality may in forty Years which is a fifth part of the said Time have increased near a fifth part of the whole number or two Millions Where note by the way that the accession of Negroes to the American Plantations being all men of great Labour and little Expence is not considerable Besides it is hoped that New-England where few or no Women are Barren and must have many Children and where people live long and Healthfully has produced an increase of as many people as were destroyed in the late tumults in Ireland As for Housing these Streets of London it self speaks it I conceive it double in value in that City to what it was forty Years since and for Housing in the Country they have increased at Bristol New-Castle Yarmouth Norwich Exeter Portsmouth Cowes Dublin Kingsale Londondary Coolervin in Ireland far beyond the Proportion of what I can learn has been dilapidated in other places for in Ireland where the ruine was greatest the Housing taken altogether is now more valuable then forty Years ago nor is this to be doubted since Housing is now more splendid then in those days and the number of Dwellers is increased by near a fifth part as in the last Paragraph is set forth As for Shipping his Majesties Navy is now triple or quadruple to what it was forty Years since and before the Soveraign was Built the Shipping-Trading to New-Castle which are now about eighty thousand Tuns could not then be above a quarter of that quantity first because the City of London is doubled secondly because the use of Coal is also at least doubled because they were heretofore seldom used in Chambers as now they are nor were there so many Bricks Burned with them as of late nor did the Country on both sides the Thames make use of them as now besides there are imployed in the Guinny and American Trades above forty thousand Tun of Shipping which Trade in those days was inconsiderable the quantity of Wines imported was not near so much as now and to be short the Customs upon imported and exported