Seas without government both Sea and Sea-ports would become Receptacles of Thieves Sea-robbers and Pyrats which would destroy Sea-traffick if they be not mastered and destroyed which cannot be without government Which being granted as a thing necessary to be at Seas as at Land not one over all Seas for that is too vast a government to be under the rule of one if it could be without injury or wrong to others Who then should Even those to whom the government most properly belongeth And who are those Even those Principalities or Common-wealths who have the best Sea-harbors by site of nature and near those Seas are fittest for the government of those Seas adjacent and withall the eldest prescrition of the possession of the government of those Seas Of which both Harbors and possession of Government of the Seas Great Britany hath had the tuition and government unless it were in the times when the Inlands of Great Britany were in Civil wars and so the government of the Seas became neglected And to manifest this begin we with 1. Our several Conflicts with and Victory over the Dutch 2. The times of Queen Elizabeth whose actions are fresh in memory and her famous Conflict with the Spanish Navy by Gods special favour obtained and never to be forgotten 3. The famous Navies and Victories of Edward the Third whereof the best and brief memory is his golden Coin yet to be seen called the Rose-Noble or Spur Royal by his Image pictured thereon as the Stears-man of the ship and Governor of the British seas Whose title of the British seas descended to him from Richard the First who in his way to the Holy wars so called then ordained new Laws and confirmed the old in the Isle of Oloron ever since called the Laws of Oloron well known to Sea-men He held the prescription of the soveraignty of the Seas from Henry the first And had the Seas been guarded in the times of Harold the Usurper which was neglected in the times of Edward the Confessor William the first had not so easily entred England So King Edgar had the soveraignty of the Seas when he had eight Under-kings or Vice-roys to row the Barge and he himself the Stears-man and so entred Westchester Whoever had the mastery of the Scas Saxon or Dane gained the Land Even so it was in Julius Caesar's time at his entry testifying the excellencie of the British ships which he after imitated in his future wars leaving also a Memorial of the British government of the Seas and Sea-ports The Britains were masters of the Seas and sole Merchants the Gauls being ignorant of the Inland of Britany and so kept by the Britains from the knowledge of Britany the Britains being masters of the seas What Nation can say so much as Great Britany And therefore it behoveth us to regard our Seas and Sea Ports and whom we plant in them lest neglecting them we become a prey and booty unto Strangers Your Suppliant as a weak Remembrancer having according to my poor skill and ability passed over the Cinque-ports of the Profits of our Land I hope my boldness herein may be excused proceeding from the ardent desire I bear to the welfare of our Country and Commonwealth Etiam in magnis voluisse sat est FINIS ERRATA Pag. 5. l. 21. for then read this p. 15. l. 9. for manufactritures r. manufactures p. 28. l. 13. for ten r. twenty years p. 28. l. 28. for a light r. or light p. 29. l. 33. for Watchman r. Watchmen
GREAT BRITAINS Remembrancer Looking In and Out Tending to the Increase of the MONIES OF THE COMMONWEALTH Presented to his Highness the LORD PROTECTOR And to the High Court of PARLIAMENT Now Assembled By the Author RALPHE MADDISON Kt. LONDON Printed by Tho. Newcomb and are to be sold by Humphrey Moseley at the Prince's Arms in St. Pauls Church-yard 1655. TO His Highness the Lord Protector of England Scotland and Ireland And to the High Court of Parliament now assembled MAy it please your Highness and this Honorable Parliament Two potent passions do extremely assault me at once Grief and Desire Grief to see the walls of our City so much wasted and the sinews of our Commonwealth so much enfeebled by the exporting our monies of late years coyned the quantity whereof will truly appear if you please to be certified from the Records of the Mint it is given out many Millions almost all exported but our worne and clipt silver and most of our Gold The Mint at a late stand which one thing were sufficient to overthrow our Commonwealth and to bring us under the command of strangers And the stand of the Mint had continued if the Prizes taken from the Dutch by our Sea-sword had not set it a-work and will stand again if remedy be not had both in providing work for the Mint and keeping our monies from unlawful exportation when we have it I humbly conceive the Remedy is feasable for the like hath been done heretofore when it was evil with us It was cured by the hand and rule of a Woman whose fame and name will never dye To speak briefly she banished base monies out of England she set the Low-Countries at liberty by sending an Army of men and monies to relieve them and lent more then a Million to the Vnited Low-Country men The like she did to the Assistants of Henry of Bourbon after sirnamed Henry le grand for whom I my self did lift up my right hand who after the stroke of seventeen Battles in his own person obtained the Crown of France Besides she had long wars in Ireland and fourteen years Sea-Wars with Spain to some whereof I was an eye-witness She dyed rich in good debts owing her rich in love of her Subjects her purse was not empty and her Land at her death full of Coin and Silver-Plate which was coined lately the Mint-Records can tell when This I recount with grief to have seen our Mint standing and likely to stand again The want of obtaining and retention of this good Food of arts and labour the sinews of war and fomenter of peace will make a publique heart to sorrow and grieve Nevertheless my Desire mixt with hope doth abate the grief What is past cannot be recalled but errors past may be amended For the which I humbly present to your Highness and this Honorable Assembly some crude or indigested Proposals by your wisdoms to be altered fortified and amended as your Highness and this Honorable Assembly shall think fit and commodious for these times And whereas heretofore two things were propounded under the Kingly government viz. The Merchants Exchange and the Ballance of Trade and now three things more under a Commonwealth viz. A Bank a Councel of Mint-affairs Free Ports A short reason may be given which I humbly refer to your Highness judgment VVhen Governments do change Reasons do change likewise The differences between a Monarchy and a Commonwealth are many and great which I refer to Hugo Grotius to expatiate So praying to God to prosper your labours in all happiness I remain Your humble and devoted Suppliant Ralphe Maddison Kt. BEfore I enter into the particular Discourse of Mynt-affairs I do humbly conceive in the first place it behoveth to shew the composing of Weights of Silver and Gold without the knowledge of which no Discourse of Mynt-causes can be understood CAP. I. Composing of Weights SIlver weight is thus composed A pound Troy containeth 12 Ounces an Ounce containeth twenty Penny weight a Penny weight containeth 24 grains of Wheat taken out of the midst of the Wheat-ear and è converse 24 Grains taken out of the midst of the Wheat-ear doe make a Penny-weight Twenty-penny weight do make an Ounce and 12 Ounces doe make a Pound Troy Where note that a Pound Tale is but 4 Ounces which before King Henry the 6. his time was all one with a pound Troy He then raised it by Prerogative to 30 Pence the Ounce which caused the price of an Ounce of Silver to pass at that price in currant payment between man and man and a pound weight Troy to pass at 30 Pence which before was but 20 Pence Thus by dividing the Ounce Troy into so many more prices he lost so much in his Revenues Customs and other Duties belonging to him as he had multiplyed his Pence in number and this is called raising of the Coin in Denomination And in success of time between Henry the 6. and Edward the 6. his time the Ounce was raised to 60 pence and so it remaineth ever since constant notwithstanding the raising of it in Foraign parts For it was found by experience of our former raisings A temporary remedy is but a fallacie that raising of the Ounce Troy was but a Temporary remedy to keep the Mony at home and stood in stead or continued no longer then they raised again beyond-Seas This may suffice for the weight of Silver consisting of 60 pence the Ounce Troy 12 Ounces to the pound Troy The Gold pound being the same in weight with the Silver is otherwise composed in other terms as thus The Gold casteth away the name of Penny-weight thus A pound weight of Troy of pure Gold is said to contain or consist of 24 Carrats and every Carrat containeth 4 Grains 2 Carrats and an Ounce are one weight A Grain and half a quarter of an Ounce are one weight Next followeth in order to know the composition of the mixture or fineness of Gold and Silver and first of Silver because it is the common Market-man both at home and abroad Here is to be noted That no Monies be made of pure Silver in no Mynts the reason is because in its purity the Silver is as flexible as Lead almost and therefore not so usefull in its purity as when it is something hardned with Copper even so it is with Gold There is no pure Gold minted in any place I know of but hath some allay or Copper And if it hath been so heretofore it is so ancient that no memory thereof remaineth to us And if it were at any time done so the alteration began with some Prince that meant and did deceive others by so doing For it is a powerfull means to fetch his neighbours Coin from them to be mynted in his Mynt which being perceived his Neighbours did mix their Coines also thinking thereby to fetch theirs home again by the same means it went away But as it is before said of
are greater and where little money is there the prizes of all things are less and grow low Hence it was wil be said this Proverb Regina pecunia donat for money will bear rule in price in despight of all men that say no. But I doe conjecture as some have said to my self some in this Assembly will say How is it possible that all Goods or Merchandizes going out of this Commonwealth and coming in should be accounted This is a thing that to some Wise men doth seem impossible To this I answer it is no new thing the Valuation or rate or price of all Goods going out and into this Realm hath been put in Books duly kept in every port of this Realm and once a year brought into the Kings Remembrancers office in the Exchequer and there to be collected and made up into one gross Summ of all out-bound and another Sum of all in-bound Goods Whereby the King might as in a Mirror see the face of his Commonwealth whether it grew fat or lean and this under favourable correction be it spoken was one amongst other causes wherefore Custome of old was due to the King by common Reason or law for the maintenance of the Officers that attend this care in every Port and is so ancient That in Henry the third his time it was called the Old Custome before all memory of Record This may suffice in brevity for the words Ballance of Trade Secondly Merchant-Exchange the word Exchange all know what it is to make a change Merchandizing Exchange is known only to Merchants and to those who in Forraign Travail have used it And few of either sort doe know the par or equall Exchange of Coins between Forainers and us Exchange of Merchants was first invented for the saving of Portage and keeping of Moneys at home in every Government or Commonwealth besides the hazard that might befall in carrying of Treasure as luggage from place to place which otherwise upon every severall Contract made to be paid forraignly would be exported and every Travailer beyond the Sea should carry his expending Money with him But now if by equall or disadvantageous Exchange a man deliver an hundred pounds here to be paid so much like quantity of Gold or Silver there again beyond Seas this both keepeth the Money at home as aforesaid and saveth the hazard in carriage But if by unequal exchange a gain may be had by over-valuing of our Monies beyond Sea as now they be overvalued especially in France not only a Merchant making contract as aforesaid or a Travailer not knowing the mysterie shall lose Ten or more in the hundred and the Merchant-observer of the mysterie for the gain had thereby export the Money in specie but more specially Gold when visibly without change of the species he may retain ten of those Pieces or more in the Hundred and there with 90 Pieces pay the Hundred pieces received here and this is the overt or open fallacy now too frequent in France practised upon or by the Denomination of that Coin But there is another more secret which is practised by Exchangers to be considered from the fineness of the Coin Wherein is to be noted that all Princes Coins are not alike for some have more Allay or Copper mixt with the Gold or Silver which were a long Discourse to enter into and upon agitation of this business of Exchange will be opened sufficiently There being only two chief wayes of deceit Denomination or open deceit the second intrinsick or inward value consisting in the mixture of Copper more or less put into the Gold or Silver Also take this with you for a Principle That Moneys can neither be advanced in Denomination nor a pound Troy or an Ounce be made into more pieces of silver nor debased by putting more Copper or Allay without generall detriment to the Republique a perillous thing to deal withall without doubt and most specially in Land Commonweals And wherefore more in Land Commonweals then in Maritime and Merchandizing Commonweals You must be told or you will not believe Merchants can immediatly change with the changer without detriment The Merchant can immediately set price of his Merchandize according to the worth of the Money and the Artificer and Labourer set a price according to his labour or hire which cannot be done in a Land-state more especially in our Commonwealth which I forbear for the present till I shew the inconveniences or mischiefs that would follow the alteration of our Mynt and will be most pernicious to undertake any such thing Moreover because our Gold might not be seen too visibly and make too great a shew in France or elswhere there is order to bring in the Foraign Gold so fast as may be to be re-Mynted again in their Mynts In France they doe Mynt double and treble and quatreble Pieces calling them Lowyzens and mynt them after the proportion of Fifteen to One of silver We holding in our proportion Thirteen to One or a little more which very Mynt is able by that means to draw all our Gold away even that which is left so fast as can be gleaned if Remedy be not provided therein Now this Observation following offereth it self to give us to understand That if this proportion between Gold and Silver be not observed aright Gold may buy out Silver and Silver may buy out Gold out of the Realm and so the Common-wealth be deprived of both The raising of Gold here did cause more Gold then Silver to come to the Mynt and by the same means it is called from us into France which plainly sheweth that the raising of Gold or Silver or disproportioning one by another is but temporary and proveth no better in the end then a fallacy as enhancing and debasing and so they all be And the truth is no State stands sure that stands not on the grounds and rules of right Here is to be noted that Silver prizes Gold and Gold prizes not Silver the reason is because Silver is of more common use though Gold be more esteemed of Rich men according to the common Adage Bonum quo communius eo melius It is also better for the Commonwealth that more Silver then Gold be mynted for Silver is not so hastily nor easily exported as Gold will be And there will be alwayes some Canker-worms or Money-Brokers to export Silver or Gold so long as Trade is For remedy of which there must be some allowance made in the Balance of Trade notwithstanding all diligent watch that may be and great Reward to be given to the discoverers CHAP III. BUt somtehing else cometh to mind which is the inconveniences that befall our state when our Monies are raised or made little the moving of our Mintmust either be in embasing the Gold or Sylver or advancing it in denomination or diminishing it by the sheares But back it cannot be brought when once it is raised and hath obtained currency It is a