not the â—ffect of Riches in Holland they might take as much Vse-Money as they could get there being no Law against it I answer There were formerly Laws in Holland that reduced Interest to 8 and 6 and afterwards to 5 per Cent Anno 1640. and since in the Year 1655. to 4 per Cent the Placart for which I have seen and have been told and do believe they have since reduced it by Placart to 3 per Cent as to their Cantors and all publick Receipts which in Holland is as much in effect as if they had made a general Law for it because the most of their Receipts and Payments are made in and out of the aforesaid publick Offices or else into and out of their Banks for which no Use-Money is allowed which several gradual and succesful Abatements of Interest did occasion their Riches at first and brought their People to that consistency of Wealth that they have since wrought themselves into such an abundance that there are more Lenders now than Borrowers and so I doubt not but it will be with us in a few Years after the next Abatement of Interest is made by Law which I have good reason to conclude not only from the visible operations of nature in all other things and places but from Fact and Experience in this very case being certain that the Gold-Smiths in London could have what Money they would upon their Servants Notes only at 4 l. and 4 l. 10 s. per Cent before the late Emergencies of State which I could demonstrate have very much obstructed the natural fall of Interest with us something more I have said in answer to this in the addition to my former Treatise and this may serve likewise for an answer to his third Reason Fourthly he saith That which I must prove to make good my â—ssertion is that any Country in the World from a poor and low condition while Interest was at 6 per Cent was made rich by bringing it to 4 per Cent or 3 per Cent by a Law I answer If the instance of Holland and Italy were not sufficient to satisfie him in this point yet that having proved which he cannot denâ— that our own Kingdom hath been enriched consequently constantly and proportionably to and after our several Abatements of Interest by Law from an unlimitted rate to 10 from 10 to 3 and from 8 to 6 per Cent I think it may rationally be concluded that another Abatement of Interest in England would cause a further encrease of Riches aâ— it hath done in Holland From Italy I have endeavoured to gain a certain accompt of their legal Intâ—rest but am advised that no taking of Use-Money is allowed by their Pontificial Laws the Interest now taken there which is generally 4 per Cent is done only by dispensation of Pope â—aul the fifth and that notwithâ—â—â—nding no man can recover Interest of Money there if the party who should pay it can prove he hath no gained the value of the Interest demanded Now let the Reader judge whether that practise of Holland and this of Italy where the Romish Church-men have so great power who are to take Cognizance and may by their Auricular Confessors of all Offences of this kind the Laws concerning the use of Money in those Countries being Fontificial do not amount in effect to a low stated Interest by Law in England But to deal more ingenuously with my Opposer then he hath done with me I will grant him that much Riches will occasion in any Kingdom a low rate of Interest and yet tâ—at doth not hinder but a low stated Interest by Law may be a cause of Riches For if Trade be that which enricheth any Kingdom and loweâ—ing of Interest advanceth Trade which I think is sufficiently pâ—oved then the Abatement of Interest or more prâ—perly restraining of Usury which the antient Romans and all other wise and rich People in the world did always drive at is doubtless a primary and principal cause of the Riches of any Naâ—ion it being not improper to say nor absurd to conceive that The same thing may be both a Cause and an Effect Peace begets Plenty and Plenty may be a means to preserve Peace Fear begets Hatred and Hatred Fear The diligent Hand makes rich and Riches makes men diligent so true is the Proverb Creseit amor Nummi quantum ipsa pecunia erescit Love we say begets Love the fertility of a Country may cause the encrease of People and the encrease of People may cause the further and greater fertility of a Country Liberty and Property conduce to the encrease of Trade and Emprovement of any Country and the encrease of Trade and Emprovements conduce to the procuring as well as securing of Liberty and Property Strength and Health conduce to a good digestion and a good digestion is necessary to the preservation of Health and encrease of Strength and as a Person of very great honour pertinently instanced at a late debate upon this Question An Egg is the cause of a Hen and a Hen the cause of an Egg The incomparable Lord Bacon in his History of Henry the 7th saith pag. 245 of that Prince as well as other men That his Fortune worked upon his Nature his Nature upon his Fortune the like may be said of Nations The â—batement of Interest causeth an encrease of Wealth and the encrease of Wealth may cause a further Abatement of Interest But that is best done by the Midwifery of good Laws which is what I plead for the corrupt Nature of man being more apt to decline to Vice then incline to Vertue Folio 15. he affirms Lands are not risen in Purchase nor Rents improved since the Abatement of Interest That I shall say no more to it is matter of Fact and Gentlemen who are the Owners of Land are the best Iudges of this case only I would entreat them not to depend upon their Memories alone but to command particular accompts to be given them what sum or sums of Money were given 40 or 50 Years past for any intire Farms or Mannors they now know and I doubt â—ot but they will find that most of them will yield double the said sums of Money now notwithstanding the present great pressures that Land lies under which ought maturely to be considered of when this judgment is made I rather desire the enquiry to be made upon the gross sum of Money paid then the Years purchase as being less fallible because many Farms have been of late Years so rackt up in Rents that it may be they will not yield more Years purchase now according to the present Rents then they would many years past and yet may yield double the Money they were then bought or sold for because the Rents were much less then Fol. 15. he impertinently quarrels at my instance of Ireland saying I quote it sometimes to prove the benefit of a low Interest pag. 8. And sometimes the mischief of high Interest
have engaged me into this unpleasing Controversie wherein I have given unwilling offence to all my nearest Relations and knew at first that I must needs do so most of them being such as Age and Wisdom hath instructed rather to be Box-keepers then Gamesters I have before-mentioned the Judgment of the French King and Court but intended not to recite the Edict being it is at large in Sr Thomas Culpeppers senior his last Treatise yet on second thoughts considering all Men perhaps may not come to a sight of that and finding the said Edict so comprehensive of the whole matter of this Controversie I have here recited it The King by these Edicts had nothing relieved the necessities of the Nobility if he had not provided for Vsuries which have ruined many good and antient Houses filled Towns with unprofitable Servants and the Countries with Miseries and Inhumanities he found the Rents viz. Vsuries constiâ—uted after 10 or 8 in the hundred did ruin many good Families hindred the Traffick and Commerce of Merchandize's and made Tillage and Handicrafts to be neglected many desiring through the easiness of a deceitful Gain to live Idlely in good Towns of their Rents rather then to give themselves with any pains to liberal Arts or to till or husband their Inheritances For this reason meaning to invite his subjects to enrich themselves with more just Gain to content themselves with more moderate profit and to give the Nobility means to pay their Debts he did forbid all Vsury or Constitution of Rents at an higher rate then six Pounds five Shillings in the hundred The Edict was verified in the Court of Parliament which considered that it was always prejudicial to the Commonwealth to give Money to Vsury for it is a Serpent whose biteing is not apparent and yet it is so sensible that it peirceth the very Hearts of the best Families The whole of this Controversie lies narrowly in these two short Questions viz. Will abatement of Interest improve Trade Secondly Will it advance the price of Land The collective united Bodies of the Government of our own and other Kingdoms expresly say it will do both and Experience cries aloud that so it will do and hath done in all Ages and in all Places and I never yet met with any private person how much soever concerned in Interest that had the ignorance or confidence to deny both For discourse with a Country Vsurer he will affirm and perhaps be ready to swear to it that this abatement of Interest is a Knavish design of the Citizens to advance themselves who are too proud already and that if it go forward it will undo all the Country Gentlemen in England And if one speak with the City Vsurers they will be as ready to affirm that this is a plot carried on only by Noblemen and Gentlemen whose Estates are all in Land for their own advantage and that it will spoil all the Trade of the Kingdom being a project at one instant to take off just one third of all Mens Estates that are personal and add the same proportion to all such whose Estates are real which in effect is to Impoverish all the Younger and Enrich all Elder Brothers in England So that out of the Mouthes of the greatest and wisest Adversaries to this principle it may be justly concluded that though singlely they deny the truth of it yet joyntly they confess it To conclude there is nothing that I have said or that I think any other can say upon this occasion but was said in substance before by old Sr Thomas Culpepper thoâ—gh unknown to me who had an ampel and clear sight into the whole nature of this Principle and the true effects and consequences of it Truth being always the same though Illustrations may vary nor can any thing now be objected against the making a Law for a further abatement of Interest but the same that was objected in those times wherein the former Statutes past so that why my Opposer should cavil at the doing of that by a Law in England now which he seems to â—ike well if it could be done I know no real cause except it be that in truth he is wise enough to know that a Law in England will certainly do the Work as it hath done formerly and in consequence his own private Gain will be retrenched Before I concluded I think it necessary for caution to my Country-men to let them know what effects these discourses have had on others when I wrote my first Treatise Interest was in the Island of Barbadoes at 15 per centum where it is since by an Act of the Country brought down to 10 per cent a great fall at once and our weekly Gazets did some Months past inform us that the Sweeds by a Law had brought down their Interest to 6 per cent neither of which can have any good effects upon us but certainly the contrary except by way of emulation they quicken us to provide in time for our own Good and Prosperity I have now done with this Controversie and therein discharge my Duty to my native Country and though Ignorance Malice or private Interest may yet for some time oppose it I am confident the Wisdom of my Country-men will at length find their true and general Interest in the Establishment of such a Law which as to my own particular concernments signifies not two Farthings whether they do or not CHAP. II. Concerning the Relief and Employment of the Poor THis is a calm Subject and thwarts no common or private Interest amongst us except that of the common Enemy of Mankind the Devil so I hope that what shall be offered towards the effecting of so universally acceptable a Work as this and the removal of the innumerable Inconveniences that do now and have in all Ages attended this Kingdom through defect of such provision for the Poor will not be ill taken although the Plaister at first essay do not exactly fit the Sore In the Discourse of this subject I shall first assert some particulars which I think are agreed by common Consent and from thence take occasion to proceed to what is more doubtful 1. That our Poor in England have always been in a most sad and wretched condition some Famished for want of Bread others starved with Cold and Nakedness and many whole Families in all the out Parts of Cities and great Towns commonly remain in a languishing nasty and useless Condition Uncomfortable to themselves and Unprofitable to the Kingdom this is confessed and lamented by all Men. 2. That the Children of our Poor bred up in Bâ—ggery and Laziness do by that means become not only of unhealthy Bodies and more then ordinarily subject to many loathsome Diseases whereof very many die in their tender Age and if any of them do arrive to years and strength they are by their idle habits contracted in their Youth rendered for ever after indisposed to Labour and serve only to stock the
That all Persons c. may Transfer the said Bills under their Hands to any other by a short Assignation on the back side 3. That every such Assignee may re-assign toties quoties 4. After such Assignment it shall not be in the power of any Assignor to make void release or discharge the Debt 5. No Debts after Assignment to be liable to any Attachments Execution Statute or Commission of Bankrupt or other Demand as the Estate of hiâ— or them that Assigned the same 6. That each Assignment shall absolutely vest the Property into the Assignee to all intents and purposes 7. That such Assignments being received and Receipts or Discharges given for the same shall be deemed good Payment 8. That all Goods sold above the value of 10 l. after the day of for which no such Bill or Writing obligatory shall be given or tendred as aforesaid to the seller or sellers thereof or to his or their Vse shall be deemed and construed to all Intents and Purposes in the Law as if the same had been contracted for to be paid in ready Money any Concession or verbal Agreement between the said Parties to the contrary notwithstanding This Clause I hope may be effectual to initiate us to a practice and observance of such a Law 6. That the first Assignment of any such Bill or Bills of Debt be to this or tho like ffect I A. B. do engage and attest that the Debt within mentioned is a true Debt and no part of it paid to me or to my use or discharged by me and I do hereby Assign over the same to C. D. for his own Account 10. And that the second and all other after Assignations upon any such Bills shall be to this or the like effect viz. I A. B. do attest that no part of the within-mentioned Debt is paid to me or my use or discharged by me and I do hereby Transfer the same to C. D. The Objections I have met with to the making such a Law are viz. Object 1. This would be repugnant to our common Law and some Statutes viz. Maintenance Champarty Bankrupt c. 1. I answer not so repugnant as at first view it seems to be for though by our Laws at present Bonds and Bills cannot be Assigned Mortgages which are but another kind of Security for Money lent may be Assigned 2. If any Laws at present are repugnant to the common good of the Nation and if the making of such a new Law will effectually encrease the useful Stock of the Nation at least one third part and greatly ease the course of Trade as I humbly conceive this will do I hope none will deny but it may consist with the Wisdom of Parliament to create new Laws 3. Most of our Statutes were made in times before we understood Trade in England and the same Policy and Laws that were good then and may yet be good for a Country destitute of Commerce may not be so â—it for us now nor for any Nation so abounding with Trade as England doth at present Object 2. May not this occasion many Cheats and Law Suites Answ. 1. I answer no Experience manifests the contrary not only in other Kingdoms and Countries abroad where Transferrance of Bills of Debt is in use but even in our own where we have for many Ages had the Experience of Indorsment on Bills of Exchange and in this present Age of the passing of Gold-Smiths Notes from one Man to another which two practices are very like to the designed way of Transferring Bills of Debt and yet no considerable Cheats or Inconveniencies have arisen thereby Answ. 2. No Man can be Cheated except it be with his own consent and we commonly say caveat emptor no Man is to be forced to accept anothers Bill that himself doth not approve of and no Man will accept of another Mans Bill except he know him or until he hath used means to satisfie himself concerning him no more then he will sell his Goods to a Stranger unless he hath some reason to believe he is able to pay him Object 3. Will not such a Law as this be very troublâ—som especially in Fairs and Markets and also to Gentlemen and Ladies when they shall be forced for all Goods they buy above the value of 10 l. to give Bills under their Hand and Seals I answer this Law will not at all Incomode Gentlemen as to what they Buy in Shops c. neither those that converse in Fairs and Markets for that which Gentlemen Buy in Shops c. and others in Fairs c. they either pay or promise ready Money or else say nothing of the time or payment which the Law understands to be the same with a promise of present pay so that if they give no Bills there is no penalty attends the neglect or refusal but only that the contract between the Buyer and Seller shall be presumed in the Law to be as if it were made for ready Money CHAP. VI. Concerning a Court Merchant I Have conceived great hope from the late most Prudent and Charitable Institution of that Iudicature for determination of Differences touching Houses Burned by the late Fire in London that this Kingdom will at length be blessed with a happy method for the speedy easie and cheap deciding of Differences between Merchants Masters of Ships and Seamen c. by some Court or Courts of Merchants like those which are established in most of the great Cities and Towns in France Holland and other places the want whereof in England is and hath ever been a great bar to the Progress and Grandure of the Trade of this Kingdom as for instance if Merchants happen to have differences with Masters and Owners of Ships upon Charter-parties or Accounts beyond â—ea c. The Suite is commonly first commenced in the Admiralty Court where after tedious Attendance and vast Expences probably just before the Cause should come to Determination it is either removed into the Deligates where it may hang in suspence until the Plantiff and Defendant have empty purses and grey Heads or else because most Contracts for Martain Affairs are made upon the Land and most Accidents happen in some Rivers or Harbours here or beyond Sea are not in alto mari The Defendant brings his Writ of Prohibition and removes the Cause into his Majesties Court of King's-Bench where after great Expences of Time and Money it is well if we can make our own Council being common Lawyers understand one half of our Case we being amongst them as in a Foreign Country our Language strange to them and theirs as strange to us after all no Attestations of Foreign Notaries nor other publick Instruments from beyond Sea being Evidences at Law and the Accounts depending consisting perhaps of an hundred or more several Articles which are as so many Issues at Law the Cause must come into the Chancery where after many Years tedious Travels to Westminster with black Boxes and green
thence hither so long until the City for want of receipt and encouragement regurgitates and sends them back 1. What he hath proved concerning London I say of England in general and the same may be said of any Kingdom or Country in the World Such as our employment is for People so many will our People be and if we should imagin we have in England employment but for one hundred People and we have born and bred amongst us one hundred and fifty People I say the fifty must away from us or starve or be hanged to prevent it whether we had any foreign Plantations or not 2. If by reason of the accommodation of living in our foreign Plantations we have evacuated more of our People then we should have done if we had no such Plantations I say with the aforesaid Author in the case of London and if that Evacuation be grown to an excess which I believe it never did barely on the account of the Plantations that decrease would procure its own Remedy for much want of People would procure greater Wages and greater Wages if our Laws gave encouragement would procure us a supply of People without the charge of breeding them as the Dutch are and always have been supplied in their greatest Extremities Object But it may be said Is not the Facility of being transported into the Plantations together with the enticing Methods customarily used to perswade People to go thither and the encouragement of living there with a People that speak our own Language strong Motives to draw our People from us and do they not draw more from us then otherwise would leave us to go into foreign Countries where they understand not the Language I Answer 1 st It is not much more difficult to get a passage to Holland than it is to our Plantations 2 dly Many of those that go to our Plantations if they could not go thither would and must go into foreign Countries though it were ten times more difficult to get thither then it is or else which is worse as hath been said would adventure to be hanged to prevent begging or starving as too many have done 3. I do acknowledge that the facility of getting to the Plantaâ—ions may cause some more to leave us than would do if they had none but foreign Countries for refuge But then if it be considered that our Plantations spending mostly our English Manufactures and those of all sorts almost imaginable in egregious quantities and employing near two thirds of all our English Shiping do therein give a constant Sustenance to it may be two hundred thousand Persons here at home then I must needs conclude upon the whole matter that we have not the fewer but the more People in England by reason of our English Plantations in America Object 2. But it may be said Is not this inferring and arguing against Sence and Experience Doth not all the World see that the many noble Kingdoms of Spain in Europe are almost depopulated and ruinated by reason of their Peoples flocking over to the West-Indies And do not all other Nations diminish in people after they become possessed of foreign Plantations Ans. 1. I answer With submission to better Judgments that in my opinion contending for Vniformity in Religion hath contributed ten times more to the depopulating of Spain then all the American Plantations What was it but that which caused the expulsion of so many thousand Moores who had built and inhabited most of the chief Cities and Towns in Andaluzia Granada Aragon and oother parts What was it but that and the Inquisition that hath and doth daily expel such vast numbers of rich Iews with their Families and Estates into Germany Italy Turkey Holland and England What was it but that which caused those vast and long Wars between that King and the low Countries and the effusion of so much Spanish Blood and Treasure and the final loss of the seven Provinces which we now see so prodigious rich and full of People while Spain is empty and poor and Flanders thin and weak in continual fear of being made a prey to their Neighbours 2. I answer We must warily distinguish between Country Country for though Plantations may have drained Spain of People it does not follow that they have or will drain England or Holland because where Liberty and Property are not so well preserved and where Interest of Money is permitted to go at 12 per Cent there can be no considerable Manufacturing and no more of Tillage and Grazing than as we Proverbially say will keep Life and Soul together and where there is little Manufacturing and as little Husbandry of Lands the profit of Plantations viz. the greatest part thereof will not redound to the Mother-Kingdom but to other Countries wherein there are more Manufactures and more Productions from the Earth from hence it follows Plantations thus managed prove drains of the People from their mother-Mother-Kingdom whereas Plantations belonging to Mother-Kingdoms or Countries where Liberty and Property is better preserved and Interest of Money restrained to a low rate the consequence is that every person sent abroad with the Negroes and Utensils he is constrained to employ or that are employed with him it being customary in most of our Islands in America upon every Plantation to employ eight or ten Blacks for one White Servant I say in this case we may reckon that for Provisions Clothes and Houshold-Goods Sea-men and all others employed about Materials for building fitting and victualling of Ships Every English man in Barbadoes or Jamaica creates employment for four men at home 3 dly I answer That Holland now sends as many and more people yearly to reside in their Plantations Fortresses and Ships in the East-Indies besides many into the West-Indies than Spain and yet is so far from declining in the Number of their people at home that it is evident they do monstruously encrease and so I hope under the next Head to prove that England hath constantly encreased in People at home since our settlement upon Plantations in America although not in so great a proportion as the Dutch V. I am of Opinion that we had immediately before the late Plague more People in England than we had before the inhabiting of New-England Virginia Barbadoes c The proof of this at best I know can but be conjectural but in confirmation of my Opinion I have I think of my mind the most industrious English Calculator this Age hath produced in publick viz. Captain Graunt in the forementioned Treatise pag. 88. his words are Vpon the whole matter we may therefore conclude that the people of the whole Nation do encrease and consequently the decrease of Winchester Lincoln and other like places must be attributed to other Reasons then that of refurnishing London only 2. It is manifest by the afore-said worthy Author's Calculations that the Inhabitants of London and parts ajacent have encreased to almost double within this sixty Years and
before ther were Boat-keepers or Planters at New-found-land Fish was sold cheaper than now it is by about 40 per Cent and consequently more vented the reason whereof I take to be this The Boat-keepers and Planters being generally at first able Fisher-men and being upon the place can doubtless afford their Fish cheaper then the Fishing Ships from Old England so doubtless they did at first as well at New-England as at New-found-land until they had beat the English Ships out of the Trade after which being freed from that competition they became Lazy as to that laborious employment having means otherwise to live and employ themselves and thereupon enhaunced the price of their Fish to such an excess as in effect proves the giving away of that Trade to the French who by our aforesaid impolitick management of that Trade have of late Years been able to under-sell us at all Markets abroad and most certain it is that those that can sell cheapest will have the Trade 5. This Kingdom being an Island it is our Interest as well for our preservation as our profit not only to have many Sea-men but to have them as much as may be within call in a time of danger Now the Fishing Ships going out in March and returning home for England in the Month of September yearly and there being employed in that Trade two hundred and fifty Ships which might carry about ten thousand Sea-men Fisher-men and Shore men as they usually call the younger Persons which were never before at Sea I appeal to the Reader whether such a yearly return of Sea-men abiding at home with us all the Winter and spending their Money here which they got in their Summer-Fishery were not a great access of Wealth and Power to this Kingdom and a ready supply for his Majesty's Navy upon all Emergencies 6. The Fishing Ships yet are and always have been the breeders of Sea-men the Planters and Boat-keepers are generally such as were bred and became expert at the cost of the Owners of Fishing Ships which Planters and Boat-keepers enter very few new or green men 7. By the building fitting victualling and repairing of Fishing-Ships multitudes of English Trades-men and Artificers besides the Owners and Sea-men gain their subsistance whereas by the Boats which the Planters and Boat-keepers build or use at New-found-Land England gets nothing Object But against all that I have said those that contend for a Governour at New-found-Land object 1. That without a Governour and Government there that Country will be alwayes exposed to the surprizal of the French or any Foreigners that shall please to attacque it 2. That the disorders of the Planters which I complain of and some others which for brevities sake I have not mentioned cannot be remedied without a Governour To which I answer first That when we cannot preserve our Colonies by our Shiping or so awe our Neighbours by our Fleets and Ships of War that they dare not attempt them our case will be sad and our Propriety will be lost or in eminent danger not only abroad but at home likewise 2 dly All the Fish that is killed at New-found-Land in a Summer is not sufficient to maintain strength enough on Shore to defend two Fishing Harbours against ten men of War whereas that Country hath more Harbours to defend than are to be found in Old England 3 dly If a Governour be established the next consequence will be a Tax upon the Fishing and the least Tax will encrease the price of Fish and that unavoidably will give the Trade away wholly into the French Hands 4 thly A Government there is already of antient Custom among the Masters of the Fishing-Ships to which the Fishermen are inured and that free from Oppression and adapted to the Trade insomuch that although a better might be wished I never hope to see it XI That New-England is the most prejudical Plantation to this Kingdom I am now to write of a People whose Frugality Industry and Temperance and the happiness of whose Laws and Institution do promise to themselves long Life with a wonderful encrease of People Riches and Power And although no men ought to envy that Vertue and Wisdom in others which themselves either can or will not practice but rather to commend and admire it yet I think it is the duty of every good man primarily to respect the well-fare of his Native Country and therefore though I may offend some whom I would not willingly displease I cannot omit in the progress of this discourse to take notice of some particulars wherein Old England suffers dimunition by the growth of those Colonies settled in new-New-England and how that Plantation differs from those more Southerly with respect to the gain or loss of this Kingdom viz. 1. All our American Plantations except that of new-New-England produce Commodities of different Natures from those of this Kingdom as Sugar Tobacco Cocoa Wool Ginger sundry sorts of dying Woods c. Whereas New-England produces generally the same we have here viz. Corn and Cattle some quantity of Fish they do likewise kill but that is taken saved altogether by their own Inhabitants which prejudiceth our New-found-land Trade where as hath been said very few are or ought according to Prudence to be employed in those Fisheries but the Inhabitants of Old England The other Commodities we have from them are some few great Masts Furs and Train-Oyl whereof the Yearly value amounts to very little the much greater value of returns from thence being made in Sugar Cotten Wool Tobacco and such like Commodities which they first receive from some other of his Majesty's Plantations in Barter for dry Cod-Fish salt Mackerel Beef Pork Bread Beer Flower Pease c. which they supply Barbadoes Iamaica c. with to the diminution of the vent of those Commodities from this Kingdom the great Experience whereof in our own West-India Plantations would soon be found in the advantage of the value of our Lands in England were it not for the vast and almost incredible supplies those Colonies have from New-England 2. The People of New-England by vertue of their Primitive Charters being not so strictly tied to the observation of the Laws of this Kingdom do sometimes assume a liberty of Trading contrary to the Act of Navigation by reason whereof many of our American Commodities especially Tobacco and Sugar are transported in New-English Shiping directly into Spain and other foreign Countries without being Landed in England or paying any Duty to his Majesty which is not only loss to the King and a prejudice to the Navigation of Old England but also a total exclusion of the old English Merchant from the vent of those Commodities in those Ports where the New-English Vessels trade because there being no Custom paid on those Commodities in New-England and a great Custom paid upon them in Old England it must necessarily follow that the New-English Merchant will be able to afford his Commodity much cheaper at the
English Dutch Italians Iews and other Foreigners bring to them who are to them in effect but as Leeches who suck their Blood and vital Spirits from them I might urge many other Instâ—nces of this nature not only out of Christendom but from under the Turks Dominions East-Indâ—a and America But every man by his Eperience in Foreign Countries may easâ—y inform himself whether this Rule do universally hold true or not For my own part to satisfie my own curiosity I have for some Years as occasion offered diligently enquired of all my acquaintance that had knowledge of foreign Countries and I can truly say that I never found it to fail in any particular Instance Now if upon what hath been said it be granted that defacto this Kingdom be richer at least four-fold I might say eight-fold then it was before any Law for Interest was made and that all Countries are at this day richer or poorer in an exact proportion to what they pay and have usually paid for the Iâ—terest of Moâ—ey it remains that we enquire carefully whether the abatement of Interest be in truth the Cause of the Riches of any Country or only the Concomitant or Effect of the Riches of a Country in which seems to lie the Intricacy of this Question To satisfie my self wherein I have taken all opportunities to discourse this point with the most ingenious men I had the Honour to be known to and have searcht for and read all the Books that I could ever hear were printed against the Abatement of Interest and seriously considered all the Arguments and Objections used by them against it All which have tended to confirm me in this opinion which I bumbly offer to the consideration of wiser Heads viz. That the Abatement of Interest is the Cause of the Prosperity Riches of any Nation and that the bringing down of Inteâ—est in this Kingdom from six to four or three per Cent will necessarily in less then twenty Years time double the Capital Stock of the Nation The most material Objections I have met with against it are as follows Object 1. To abate Interest will cause the Dutch and other People that have Money put out at Interest in England by their Friends and Factors to câ—ll home their Estates and consequently will occasion a great scarcity and want of Money amongst us To this I answer That iâ— Interest be brought but to four peâ— Cent no Dutchman will call in his Money that is out upon good Security in England because he cannot make above three per Ceâ—t of it upon Interest at home But if they should call home all the Money they have with us at Interest it would be better for us than if they did it not for the Borrower is alwayes a slave to the Lender and shall be sure to be always kept poor while the other is fat and full HE THAT USETH A STOCK THAT IS NONE OF HIS OWN BEING FORCED FOR THE UPHOLDING HIS REPUTATION TO LIVE TO THE FULL IF NOT ABOVE THE PROPORTION OF WHAT HE DOTH SO USE WHILE THE LENDER POSSESING MUCH AND USING LITTLE OR NONE LIVE ONLY AT THE CHARGE OF WHAT HE USETH AND NOT OF WHAT HE HATH Besides if with this Law for abatement of Interest a Law for Transferring Bills of Debt should pass we should not miss the Dutch Money were it ten times as much as it is amongst us for that such a Law will certainly supply the the defect of at least one half of all the ready Money we have in use in the Nation Object 2. If Interest be abated Land musâ—â—ise in purchase and consequeâ—tly 〈…〉 if Rents then the Fruits of the Land and so all things will be dear and how shaâ—â— the Poor live c. Answ. To this I say If it follow that the Fruits of our Land in consequenâ—e of such a Law for abatement of Interest grow generally dear â—t is an evident demonstration that our People grow richer for generally where-ever Provisions are for continuance of Years dear in any Country the People are rich and where they are most cheap throughout the World for the most part the People are very poor And for our own Poor in England it is observed That they live better in the dearest Countries for Provisions than in the cheapest and better in a dear year than in a cheap especially in relation to the publick good for that in a cheap Year they will not work above two dayes in a Week their humour being such that they will not provide for a hard time but just work so much and no more as may maintain them in that mean condition to which they have been accustomed Object 3 If Interest be abated Vsurers will call in their Money so what shall Gentlemen do whose Estates are Mortgaged c. Answ. I answer That when they know they can make no more of their Money by taking out of one and putting it in another hand they will not be so forward as they thâ—eaten to alter that Security they know is good for another that may be bad Or if they should do it our Laws are not so severe but that Gentlemen may take time to dispose of part of their Land which immediately after such a Law will yield them thirty years purchase at least and much better it is for them so to do than to abide longer under that consuming Plague of Usury which hath insensibly destroyed very many of the best Families in England as well of our Nobility as Gentry Object 4. As Interest is now at six per cent the Kings Majesty upon any emergency can hardly be supplied and if it should be reduced to four per cent how shall the King find a considerable sum of Money to be lent him by his People Answ. I answer The abatement of Interest to the People is the abatement of Interest to the King when he hath occasion to take up Money For what is borrowed of the City of London or other Bodies Politick nothing can be demanded but the legal Interest and if the King have occasion to take up Money of private Persons being his Majesty according to good right is above the common course of Law the King must and always hath given more then the legal Rate As for instance The legal Rate is now six per cent but his Majesty or such as have disposed of his Majesties Exchequer-Tallies have been said to give ten and twelve in some cases and if the legal Rate were ten his Majesty might probably give thirteen or fourteen So if Interest be brought to four per cent his Majesty in such cases as he now gives ten must give six or seven by which his Majesty would have a clear advantage Object 5. If Interest be abated it will be a great prejudice to Widows and Orphans who have not Knowledge and Abilities to improve their Estates otherwise Answ. I answer That by our Law now Heirs and Orphans can recover no Interest from their Parents
and Masters of Ships c. And by that time he hath traded ten Years longer if he succeed well it is six to one but he leaves Trade and turns Country Gentleman or Vsurer and so that profitable Engine the Wheels whereof by Correspondency move one another in many parts of the World which he hath been so long a framing within a few Years after it is brought to work well is broken to pieces and the benefit thereof to the Kingdom which is ten times more then to him that made it is lost whereas in Holland and Italy where Money is at 3 and 4. per Cent and consequently Merchants forc'd to keep and trust to their Trades only their Businesses are and must be so ordered and carried on from the beginning that when a Man dies the Trade is no more disturbed then when the Wife dies in England I am ashamed of the odious Prolixity and Repetition I am contrary to my Nature forced to use but my Opposer doth so often and I think disingenuously upbraid me with begging the Question that I am compelled to it The fourth thing I am to prove is that It multiplies Domestick Artificers If the former be true that it encreases foreign Trade I suppose no man will have the confidence to deny this to be a necessary and infallible consequence of that For we see throughout the World where-ever there is the greatest Trade there are the most Artificers and that since our own Trade encreaseâ— in England our Artificers of all sorts are proportionably encreased The building of London hath made multitudes of Bricklayers and Carpenters much use of Shiping will make Ships dear and the dearness of Shiping will make many Shipwrights much foreign Trade will encrease the vent of our Native Manufactures and much vent will make many work-men and if we cannot get and breed them fast enough our selves we shall draw them from foreign parts as the Dutch draw away ours it being a wise and true observation of as I remember Sr Walter Rawleigh That no Nation can want People that hath good Laws The fifth thing to be proved is that It enclines a Nation to thriftiness this is likewise consequent to the former and by experience made good in England for since our Trade encreased though the generality of our Nation are grown richer as I have shewed and consequently more splended in lothes Plate Jewels Houshold-stuff and all other outward signs of Riches yet are we not half so much given to Hospitality and good House-keeping as it is called as in former dayes when our greatest Expence was upon our Bellies the most destructive Consumption that can happen to a Nation and tending only to nourish Idleness Luxury and Beggary whereas that other kind of Expence which follows Trade encourageth Labour Arts and Invention To which give â—â—e leave to add that The abatement of Interest conjoynt with Excises upon our home consumption if the later could be hit upon without disturbance to Trade or danger of continuation are two of the most comprehensive and effectual Sumptuary Laws that ever were established in any Nation and most necessitaâ—ing and engaging any People to thriftiness the high Road to Riches as well for Nations as private Families The frugal Italians of Old and the provident Dutch of latter times I think have given the World a sufficient proof of this Theorim and if any shall tell me it is the nature of those People to be thrifty I answer all men by nature are alike it is only Laws Custom and Education that differ men their Nature and Disposition and the disposition of all Peoplâ— in the World proceed from their Laws the French Peasantry are a slavish cowardly People because the Laws of their Country have made them Slaves the French Gentry a noble valiant People because free by Law Birth and Education In England we are all free Subjects by our Laws and therefore our People prove generally couragious the Dutch and Italians are both frugal Nations though their Climates and Governments differ as much as any because the Laws of both Nations encline them to Thriftiness other Nations I could name are generally vain prodigal not by Nature nor for want of a good Country but because their Laws c. dispose them so to be The sixth proof of the Proposition is that It employes the Poor which is a ne-necessary Consequence likewise of the encrease of Trade in Cities and Emprovement of Land in the Country which is well and truly demonstrated from Experience by the Elder and Younger Sr Thomas Culpepper to whom to avoid Prolixity I must refer the Reader Seventhly It encreaseth the People of a Nation this also necessarily followeth the encrease of Trade and Emprovement of Lands not that it causeth married men to get more Children But 1 st a trading Country affording comfortable Subsistances to more Families then a Country destitute of Trade is the reason that many do marry who otherwise must be forc'd to live sinâ—le which may be one reason why fewer People of either Sex are to be seen unmarried in Holland at 25 years of age then may be found in England at 40 years old 2 dly Where there is much Employment and good Pay if we want Hands of our own we shall draw them from others as hath been said 3 dly We shall keep our own People at home which otherwise for want of Employment would be forcd to leave us and serve other Nations as too many of our Sea-men Ship-wrights and others have done 4 thly Our Lands and Trade being improved will render us capable not only of employing but feeding a far greater number of People as is manifest in that instance of the Land of Palestine And if these will be the effects of abating Interest then I think it is out of doubt that the Abatement of Interest is the cause of the encrease of the Riches of any Kingdom for quicquid efficit tale est magis tale Now to answer his four recited Reasons viz. First he saith If a low stated Interest by Law be the cause of Riches no Country would be poor all desiring Riches rather then Poverty and all having it in their power to state their Interest as low as they please by Law I answer first Whatever Nation doth it gradually for so it must be done as it hath been hitherto in England 2 per Cent being enough to abate at one time will find those effects I have mentioned but it is a work of Ages and cannot be done at once For Nec natura aut lex operantur per saltum Secondly It is great Imprudence to imagine that any Country understanding their true Interest so well as by degrees to abate Use-Money will not likewise by the same Wisdom be led to the instituting of many other good Laws for the encouragement of Trade as our Parliaments have still proceeded to do as Interest hath been abated His second Reason is That if the lowness of Interest were
as the King and Parliament shall devise besides the green Staff which is now used in London to such like purpose but upon extraordinary dayes only to denote their Authority and Office at all times and in all places after the manner of the Habits in Spain or rather as have all the Familiars of the Inquisition in most Romish Countries with admirable effect though to a wicked purpose the consequence whereof will be that the said Fathers of the Poor being numerous and dispeâ—st bâ— their Habitations and Business into most parts of their Province will readily see any neglects of Officers and as easily redress them the Meddal which they wear about them being a sufficient Warrant to command Obedience from all Parish Officers where-ever they come although their Persons be not known there 13. That the said Fathers of the Poor may have liberty to admit into their Society and all Powers and Priviledges equal with them any Persons that are willing to serve God their King and Country in this pious and publick Work the Persons desiring to be so admitted paying at their admission 100 l. or more into the Poors Treasuâ—y as a demonstration of the Sincerity of their Intentions to labour in and cultivate this most Religious Vineyard This I only offer because the number of the said Fathers of the Poor hereafter mentioned may be thought rather too few then too many 14. That the said Fathers of the Poor besides the Authority now exercised by Iustices of the Peace may have some less limitted Powers given them in relation to the punishment of their own and Parish Officers by pecuniary mulcts for the Poors benefit in case of neglect and otherwise as his Majesty and the Parliament shall think fit 15. That the said Fathers of the Poor may have freedom to set the Poor on work about whatsoever Manufacture they think fit with a Non obstante to all Patents that have been or shall be granted to any private Person or Persons for the sole Manufacture of any Commodity the want of which priviledge I have been told was a prejudice to the Work-house at Clerkenwell in their late design of setting their poor Children about making of Hangings 16. That all Vacancies by reason of death of any of the said Fathers of the Poor be perpetually supplied by election of the Survivors Quest. 4. The fourth Question is who shall be the Persons entrusted with so great a Work and such excess of Power This is a Question likewise of some difficulty and the more in regard of our present Differences in Religion but I shall answer it as well as I can In general I say They must be such as the People must have ample satisfaction in or else the whole Design will be lost For if the universality of the People be not satisfied with the Persons they will never part with their Money but if they be well satisfied therein they will be miraculously charitable Quest. 5. This begets a fifth Question viz. What sort of men the people will be most satisfied in I answer I think in none so well as such only as a common Hall of the Livery-men of London shall make choice of it being evident by the experience of many Ages that the several Corporations in London are the best Administrators of what is left to charitable Vses that have ever been in this Kingdom which is manifest in the regular just and prudent management of the Hospitals of London and was wisely observed by Doctor Collet Dean of St Paul's that prudent Ecclesiastick when he left the Government of that School and other great Revenues assigned by him for charitable Uses unto the disposition of the Mercers Company Object But here it may be objected That Country-Gentlemen who have power in places of their Residences and pay out of their large Estates considerable sums towards the Maintenance of their Poor within the afore-limited Precincts may be juâ—â—ly offended if they likewise have not a share in the distribution of what shall be raised to that purpose Answ. I answer the force of this objection may be much taken off if the City be obliged to choose but a certain number out of the City as suppose seventy for London ten out of Southwark for that Burrough twenty for Westminster this would best satisfie the People I think do the work But if it be thought too much for the City to have the choice of any more then theiâ— own seventy the Iustices of Peace in their Quarter-Sessions may nominate and appoint their own number of Persons to assist for their respective Jurisdictions and so to supply the vacancy in case of Death c. But all must be conjunctive but one Body politick or the work will never be done Quest. 6. The sixth Question is What will be the advantage to the Kingdom in general and to the Poor in particular that will accrue by such a Society of men more than is enjoyed by the Laws at present I answer Innumerable and unspeakable are the Benefits to this Kingdom that will arise from the Consultations and Debates of such a wise and honest Council who being men so elected as aforesaid will certainly conscionably study and labour to discharge their trust in this service of God their King and Country 1st The Poor of what quality soever as soon as they are mâ—t with will be immediately relieved or set on work where they are found without hurrying them from place to place and torturing their Bodies to no purpose 2. Charitable-minded-men will know certainly where to dispose of their Charity so as it may be employed to right purposes 3. House-keepers will be freed from the intoleâ—able incumbrance of Bâ—ggars at their Doors 4. The Plantations will be regularly supplied with Servants and those that are senâ— thither well provided for 5. The said Assembly will doubtless appoint some of their own Members to visit and relieve such as are sick as often as there shall be occasion together with poor labouring Families both in City and Suburbs 6. Poor Children will be instructed in Learning and Arts and thereby rendred serviceable to their Country and many other worthy Acts done for publick good by the joynt delibaration of so many prudent and pious men assisted with such a Power and Purse more then can be fore-seen or expressed by a private Person Quest 7. The seventh Question may be What shall all the â—oor of these Cities and Countries being very numerous be â—mployed about This question will be answer'd beâ—t by the said Assembly themselves when they have met and consulted together who cannot be presumed defficient of Invention to set all the Poor on work especially since they may easily have admirable Presidents from the practice of Holland in this particular and have already very good ones of their own in the orders of their Hospitals of Christ-Church and Bridewell in London the Girles may he employed in mending the Clothes of of the Aged in Spinning Carding and
made against this Constitution is that It thwarts that most excellent order of our English Iuries Answ. 1. I answer That I hope there is no English man more in love with Iuries then my self but it is evident that the common way of Tryals doth not well reach the variety and strangeness of Merchants cases especially in relation to foreign Affairs Answ. 2. What better Jury can a Merchant hope for than twelve able and honest Merchants chose by the collective Body of the whole City and such as shall all of them stand upon their Good Behaviour to be turned out with Ignominy the next Year if they do not equal right to all men Object 2. The admitting of no Appeals from a Couâ—t-Merchant seems too arbitrary I answer While we choose our Iudges our selves for Merchants cases and may remove them our selves in my opinion they can be no more too arbitrary than too much power can be given to Referees when both parties desire an end of their Differences besides if their Power be not great the many designs of cheap speedy and short issues will be lost But if it shall please the Parliament there may be in the Act an appeal reserved to the House of Lords the Money condemned to be first paid or deposited before the Appeal be allowed CHAP. VII Concerning Naturalization THat an Act of Naturalization of Strangers would tend to the advancement of Trade and encrease of the value of the Lands of this Kingdom is now so generally owned and assented to by all degrees of men amongst us that I doubt not but a short time will produce some Act or Acts of Parliament to that purpose I have therefore thought it not impertinent to note some few Particulars which if not warily prevented may deprive us of the greatest part of the Fruit hoped for by so good a design viz. 1st The Priviledges of encorporated Cities and Towns 2dly More especially the Societies of Artificers and Trades-men belonging to some Cities and Towns Corporate such as Weavers Coopers and many others who by vertue of their Charters pretend to Priviledge and Iurisdiction not only to the utmost extent of the Liberties of their respective Cities and Towns but to the distance of ten Miles about them 3. That branch of the Statute of 5 th of Elizabeth which enacts That none shall use any manual Occupation that hath not served an Apprenticeship thereunto upon which Statute it hath been usual to indict Strangers work-men that have exercised their Callings in the out-parts of London Upon this point of Naturalization many men make a great doubt whether it be for publick good to permit the Iews to be Naturalized in common with other Strangers Those that are against their admission who for the most part are Merchants urge these Reasons 1. They say the Iews are a subtil People prying into all kind of Trades and thereby depriving the English Merchant of that Profit he would otherwise gain 2 They are a penurious People living miserably and therefore can and do afford to trade for less profit then the English to the prejudice of the English Merchant 3. They bring no Estates with them but set up with their Pens and Ink only and if after some few Years they thrive and grow rich they carry away their Riches with them to some other Country being a People that cannot mix with us which Riches being carried away is a publick loss to this Kingdom Those that are for the admission of the Iews say in answer to the aforesaid Reasons viz. 1 st The subtiller the Iews are and the more Trades they pry into while they live here the more they are like to encrease Trade and the more they do that the better it is for the Kingdom in general though the worse for the English Merchant who comparitively to the rest of the People of England is not one of a thousand 2 dly The thriftier they live the better Example to our people there being nothing in the World more conducing to enrich a Kingdom then thriftiness 3 dly It is denyed that they bring over nothing with them for many have brought hither very good Estates and hundreds more would do the like and settle here for their Lives and their Posterities after them if they had the same Freedom and Security here as they have in Holland and Italy where the grand Duke of Tuscaney and other Princes allow them not only perfect Liberty and Security but give them the priviledge of making Laws among themselves and that they would reside with us is proved from the known Principles of Nature viz. Principle 1. All men by Nature are alike as I have before demonstrated and Mr Hobbs hath truly asserted how Erroneous soever he may be in other things Princip 2. Fear is the cause of Hatred and hatred of separation from as well as evil Deeds to the Parties or Government hated when opportunity is offered This by the way shews the difference between a bare connivence at Dissenters in matters of Religion and a toleration by Law the former keeps them continually in Fear and consequently apt to Sedition and Rebellion when any probable occasion of success presents The latter disarms cunning ambitious minded men who wanting a popular discontented Party to work upon can effect little or nothing to the prejudice of the Government And this methinks discovers clearly the Cause why the Lutherans in Germany Protestants in France Greeks in Turkey and Sectaries in Holland are such quiet peaceable-minded-men while our Non-Conformists in England are said to be enclinable to Strife War and Bloodshed Take away the Cause and the Effect will cease While the Laws are in Force against men they think the Sword hangs over their Heads and are always in fear though the Execution be suspended not knowing how soon Councils or Counsellors Times or Persons may change it is only Perfect Love that casts out Fear and all men are in love with Liberty and Security It cannot be denyed that the industrious Bees have Stings though Drones have not yet Bees sting not except those that hurt them or disturb their Hives It is said the Iews cannot Intermarry with us and therefore it cannot be supposed they will reside long amongst us although they were treated never so kindly why not reside here as well as in Italy Poland or Holland they have now no Country of their own to go to and therefore that is their Country and must needs be so esteemed by them where they are best used and have the greatest Security CHAP. VIII Concerning Wool and Woollen Manufactures THat Wool is eminently the Foundation of the English Riches I have not heard denyed by any and that therefore all possible means ought to be used to keep it within our own Kingdom is generally confessed and to this purpose most of our modern Parliaments have strenuously endeavoured the contriving of severe Laws to prevent its Exportation and the last Act made it Felony to Ship out Wool
of the Mâ—orâ— many of their Towns and brave Country Houses are fallen into Rubbish and their whole Country into miserable Poverty though their Lands naturally are prodigiously Fertil A Hundred other Instances of Fact might be given to the like purpose II. Whatever tends to the populating of a Kingdom tends to the emprovement of it The former Proposition being granted I suppose this will not be denyed and of the means viz. good Laws whereby any Kingdom may be populated and consequently enriched is in effect the substance and design of all my foregoing Discourse to which for avoiding repitition I must pray the Reader 's retrospection III. That most Nations in the civilized parts of the World are more or less Rich or Poor propoâ—tionable to the paucity or plenty of their People This third is a consequent of the two former Propositions and the whole World is a witness to the Truth of it The seven united Provinces are certainly the most populous tract of Land in Christendom and for their bigness undoubtedly the richest England for its bigness except our Forrests Wastes and Commons which by our own Laws and Customs are bared from Improvement I hope is yet a more populous Country than France and consequently richer I say in proportion to its bigness Italy in like proportion more populous than France and richer and France more populous and rich than Spain c. IV. I do not agree that our People in England are in any considerable measure abated by reason of our foreign Plantations but propose to prove the contrary This I know is a controverted Point do believe that where there is one man of my mind there may be a thousand of the contrary but I hope when the following Grounds of my Opinion have been throughly examined there will not be so many Dissenters That very many People now go and have gone from this Kingdom almost every Year for these sixty Years past and have and do settle in our foreign Plantations is most certain But the first Question will be Whether if England had no foreign Plantations for those People to be transported unto they could or would have stayed and lived at home with us I am of Opinion they neither would nor could To resolve this Question we must consider what kind of People they were and are that have and do transport themselves to our foreign Plantations New-England as every one knows was originally inhabitated and hath since successively been replenisht by a sort of People called Puritans which could not conform to the Ecclesiastical Laws of England but being wearied with Church Censures and Persecutions were forced to quit their Fathers Land to find out new Habitations as many of them did in Germany and Holland as well as at New-England and had there not been a New-England found for some of them Germany and Holland probably had received the rest But Old England to be sure had lost them all Virginia and Barbadoes were first peopled by a sort of loose vagrant People vicious and destitute of means to live at home being either unfit for labour or such as could find none to employ themselves about or had so mis-behaved themselves by Whoreing Thieving or other Debauchery that none would set them on work which Merchants and Masters of Ships by their Agents or Spirits as they were called gathered up about the Streets of London and other places cloathed and transported to be employed upon Plantations and these I say were such as had there been no English foreign Plantation in the World could probably never have lived at home to do Service for their Country but must have come to be hanged or starved or dyed untimely of some of those miserable Diseases that proceed from want and Vice or else have sold themselves for Soldiers to be knockt on the Head or starved in the Quarrels of our Neighbours as many thousands of brave English men were in the low Countries as also in the Wars of Germany France and Sweeden c. or else if they could by begging or otherwise arrive to the Stock of 2 s. 6 d. to waft them over to Holland become Servants to the Dutch who refuse none But the principal growth and encrease of the afore-said Plantations of Virginia and Barbadoes happened in or immediately after our late Civil Wars when the worsted party by the fate of War being deprived of their Estates and having some of them never been bred to labour and other made unfit for it by the lazy habit of a Soldiers life there wanting Means to maintain them all abroad with his Majesty many of them betook themselves to the afore-said Plantations and great numbers of Scotch Soldiers of his Majesty's Army after Worcester Fight were by the then prevailing Powers voluntarily sent in thither Another great swarm or accession of new Inhabitants to the afore-said Plantations as also to New-England Iamaica and all other his Majesties Plantations in the West-Indies ensued upon his Majesties Restauration when the former prevailing party being by a divine Hand of Providence brought under the Army disbanded many Officers dis-placed and all the new purcharsers of publick Titles dispossest of their pretended Lands Estates c. many became impoverished destitute of employment and therefore such as could find no way of living at home and some which feared the re-establishment of the Ecclesiastical Laws under which they could not live were forced to transport themselves or sell themselves for a few Years to be transported by others to the foreign English Plantations The constant supply that the said Plantations have since had hath by such vagrant loose People as I before-mentioned picked up especially about the Streets and Suburbs of London and Westminster and by Malefactors condemned for Crimes for which by the Law they deserved to dye and some of those People called Quakers banished for Meeting on pretence of Religious Worship Now if from the Premises it be duly considered what kind of Persons those have been by which our Plantations have at all times been replenished I suppose it will appear that such they have been and under such Circumstances that if his Majesty had had no foreign Plantations to which they might have resorted England however must have lost them To illustrate the truth whereof a little further let us consider what Captain Graunt the ingenious Author of the Observations upon the Bills of Mortality saith pag. 76. and in other places of his Book concerning the City of London and it is not only said but undeniably proved viz. That the City of London let the Mortality be what it will by Plague or otherwise repairs its Inhabitants once in two Years And pag. 101. again If there be encouragement for a hundred Persons in London that is a way how a hundred may live better then in the Country the evacuating of a fourth or third part of that number must soon be supplied out of the Country who in a short time remove themselves from
a procurâ—ng cause of Riches 2. Whatever doth Improve the Rent of Farms must be a procurâ—ng cause of Riches 3. Whatever doth Encrease the bulk of Foreign Trade must be a procurâ—ng cause of Riches 4. Whatever doth Multiply domestick Artificers must be a procurâ—ng cause of Riches 5. Whatever doth Encline the Nation to Thriftiness must be a procurâ—ng cause of Riches 6. Whatever doth Employ the Poor must be a procurâ—ng cause of Riches 7. Whatever doth Encrease the Stock of People must be a procurâ—ng cause of Riches Now that the abatement of Interest will advance the value of Land I prove first by Experience for certainly Anno 1621. the currant price of our Lands in England was twelve Years purchase and so I have been assured by many antient Men whom I have queried particularly as to this Matter and I find it so by purchases made about that time by my own Relations and Acquaintance and I presume that any Nobleman or Gentleman of England by only commanding the Stewards of their Mannors to give them Lists out of the Records of any Mannors or Farms that their Grand-Fathers or Fathers bought or sold fifty Years past will find that the same Farms to be now sold would yield one with another at least treble the Mony and in some cases six times the Mony they were then bought and sold for which I submit still to the single and joynt Judgments of the honourable Members of both Houses of Parliament who being the greatest Owners of our Territory are in their private as well as in their politick Capacities the most proper and experimental Judges of â—his Case if the Antient of them will please to recollect their Memories and the Younger will please to be informed by their Elder Servants and if this be so it cannot be denied but the abatement of Interest by a Law hath greatly advanced Lands in purchase as well as improved Rents by meliorating the Lands themselves those improvements by marling limeing draining c. having been made since Money was at 8 and 6 per cent which 10 per cent could not bear And to prove that Lands were then at twelve Years purchase I have the written Testimony of that incomparable worthy Person Sr Thomas Culpepper Senior who page 11. of his first Treatise expresly affirms That Land was then at twelve Yeaâ—s Purchase who being himself a grave and antient Parliament Man and dedicating his Book to the then Parliament whereof he was then a Member cannot without horrible uncharitableness be presumed to impose upon his Country And now that our Interest is at 6 per cent as the same worthy Author did wisely fore-see I appeal to the Judgment and Experience of my Country Men whether the genuine price of our Lands in England now would not be 20 Years Purchase were it not for accidental Pressures under which it labours at present such as these 1. Our late great Land Taxes 2. And principally the late great Improvement of Ireland mentioned in my former Treatise the consequence whereof is that that Country now supplieth Foreign Markets as well as our own Plantations in America with Beef Pork Hides Tallow Bread Beer Wool and Corn at cheaper Rates then we can afford to the beating us out of those Trades whereas formerly viz. presently after the late Irish War many Men got good Estates by Transporting English Cattle thither And that the Improvement of Ireland is the principal cause why our Lands in purchase rise not as naturally they should with the fall of our Interest appears evidently from the effect the fall of Interest hath had upon Houses in London where the growth of Ireland could have no such destructive influence which hath been so considerable that whosoever will please to inform themselves by old Scriveners or antient Deeds shall find that a House in London about fifty Years past that would sell but for 300 l. at most would readily sell within a short time after Interest was brought to 8 per cent at 5 or 600 l. and the same Houses to be sold sometime after Interest was brought to 6 per cent viz. before and after the late Dutch War would have yielded without scruple 1000 or 1200 l. The abatement of Interest having had a double effect upon Houses by encreasing Trade and consequently raising Rents as well as encreasing the number of Years purchase 3. A third reason why Land doth not at present bear an exact proportion to 6 per cent which should naturally be twenty Years is the late Plague which did much depopulate this Kingdom 4. The late Fire in London which hath engaged Men in Building in the City who otherwise would have been purchasing in the Country 5. The unusal plenty of Corn which hath been for these three or four Years past in most parts of Christendom the like whereof hath been seldom known it happening most commonly that when one Country hath had great plenty others have had great scarcity 6. The racking up of Rents in the Years 1651. and 1652. which was presently after the last abatement of Interest A seventh accidental Reason why Land doth not sell at present at the rate it naturally should in proportion to the legal Interest is that innovated practice of Bankers in London which hath more effects attending it then most I converse with have yet observed but I shall here take notice of that only which is to my present purpose viz. The Gentlemen that are Bankers having a large Interest from his Majesty for what they advance upon his Majesties Revenue can afford to give the full legal Interest to all Persons that put Money into their hands though for never so short or long a time which makes the trade of Usury so easie and hitherto safe that few after having found the sweetness of this lasie way of emprovement being by continuance and success grown to fancy themselves secure in it can be lead there being neither ease nor profit to invite them to lay out their Money in Land though at 15 Years purchase whereas before this way of private Bankering came up men that had Money were forced oft-times to let it lie dead by them until they could meet with Securities to their minds and if the like necessity were now of Money lying dead the loss of use for the dead time being deducted from the profit of 6 l. per Cent communibus annis would in effect take off 1 l. per Cent per Annum of the profit of Usury and consequently incline men more to purchase Lands in regard the difference between Usury and Purchasing would not in point of profit be so great as now it is this new invention of Casheâ—ing having in my opinion clearly bettered the Vsurers trade 1 or 2 per Cent per Annum And that this way of leaving Money with Gold-Smiths hath had the aforesaid effect seems evident to me from the scarcity it makes of Money in the Country for the Trade of Bankers being only in London
doth very much drain the ready Money from all other parts of the Kingdom The second point I am to prove is That it will advance the Rent of Farms To prove that it did so in fact depends on memory and for my own part I and most others I converse with do perfectly remember that Rents did generally rise after the late abatement of Interest viz. in the year 1651. and 1652. The reason why they did so was from the encouragement which that abatement of Interest gave to Landlords and Tenants to improve by Draining Marling Limeing c. excellently made out by the aforesaid two worthy Authors so that I do I think with good Reason conclude that the present fall of Rents is not natural but accidental and to be ascribed principally to the fore-going Reasons given for the present abatement of Land in purchase and especially to the late Improvement of Ireland The third thing I am to prove is That the abatement of Interest will encrease the bulk of foreign Trade which I do thus By evidence of fact it hath been so in England the encrease of our Trade hath always followed the abatement of our Interest by Law I say not preceded but followed it and the Cause doth always go before the Effect which I think I have evidently demonstrated in my former Treatise If any doubt of this and will be at the pains to examin the Custom-house Books they may soon be resolved 2. By Authority not only of that antient Gentleman Sr Thomas Culpepper in his second Treatise and therein of the judgment of the French King and Court in an Edict there recited but likewise of a Parliament of England King Lords Commons in the Act for reducing it to 6 per Cent in the Preamble whereof are these Words viz. Forasmuch as the Abatement of Interest from 10 in the Hundred in former times hath been found by notaâ—le Experiâ—nce beneficial to the Advancement of Trade and Improvement of Lands by good Husbandry with many other considâ—raâ—le Advantages to this Nation especially the reducing of it to a nearer proportion with foreign States with whom we traffick And whereas in fresh memory the like fall from 8 to 6 in the Hundred by a late constant Practice hath found the like success to the general contentment of this Nation as is visible by several Improvements c. 3. By necessary consequence when Interest is abated they who call in their Money must either buy Land or trade with it If they buy Land the many Buyers will raise the price of Land If they trade they encrease the number of Traders and consequently the bulk of Trade and let their Money lie dead by them I think I have fully proved they cannot in an addition published to my first Observations 4. By reason for first whilst Interest is at 6 per Cent no man will run an adventure to Sea for the gain of 8 or 9 per Cent which the Dutch having Money at 4 or 3 per Cent at Interest are contented with and therefore can and do follow a vast trade in Salt from St Vuall Rochel and other parts to the Baltique Seas and also their fishing Trade for Herrings and Whale-fishing which we neglect as being not worth our trouble and hazard while we can make 6 per Cent of our Money sleeping For the measure of Money employed in Trade in any Nation bears an exact proportion to thâ— Interest paid for Money As for instance when Money was at 10 per Cent in England no man in his wits would follow any Trade whereby he did not promise himself 14 or 12 per Cent gain at least when Interest was at 8 the hopes of 12 or 10 at least was necessary as 8 or 9 per Cent is now Interest goes at 6 per Cent the Infallible Consequence whereof is that the Trades before recited as well as those of Muscovy and Greenland and so much at least of all others that will not afford us a clear profit of 8 or 9 per Cent we carelesly give away to the Dutch and must do so forever unless we bring our Interest nearer to a Par with theirs and hence in my poor Opinion it follows very clearly that if our Interest were abated one third part it would occasion the employment of one third part more of Men Shpping and Stock in foreign and domestick Trades This discovers the vanity of all our Attempts for gaining of the White-Herring Fishing-Trade of which the Dutch as every body observes make wonderful great advantage though the Fish be taken upon our own Coasts I wish as many did take notice of the reason of it which therefâ—re I shall say something of now though I have touched it in my former Treatise The plain case is this A Dutch-man will be content to employ a Stock of 5 or 10000 l. in Burses materials for Fishing Victuals c. for the carrying on of this Trade and if at the winding up of his Accounts he finds he hath got clear communibus annis for his Stock and Adventure 5 per Cent per Annum he thanks God and tells his Neighbours he hath had a thriving Trade Now while every sloathful ignorant man with us that hath but wit enough to tell out his Money to a Gold Smith can get 6 per Cent without pains or care Is it not monstrous absurd to imagine that ever the English will do any good upon this Trade till they begin at the right end which must be to reduce the Interest of Money Secondly The depraved nature of man affecting ease and pleasure while use of Money runs at 6 per Cent hath always at hand an easie expedient to indulge that humor and reconcile it to another as considerable viz. his Covetousness by putting his Money to use and if a Merchant through his youthful care and industry arrive to an Estate of 20000 l. in twenty Years trading whilst Money is so high and Land so low he can easily turn Country Gentleman or Usurer which were Interest of Money at 4 pâ—r Cent he could not do and consequently must not only follow his Trade himself but make his Children Traders also for to leave them Money without skill to use it would advantage little and purchasing of Lands less when the fall of Interest shall raise them to twenty or thiâ—ty Years purchase which I hope yet to live to see Thirdly From this necessity of Merchants keeping to their Trade and Childrens succeeding their Fathers therein would ensue to Merchants greater skill in Trade more exact and certain correspondency surer more trusty Factors abroad those better acquainted concatinated together by the experimental links of each others Humors Stile Estate and Business And whereas it is as much as a prudent man can do in ten Years time after his settling in London to be exactly well fitted with Factors in all parts and those by Correspondency brought into a mutual Acquaintance of each other and honest Work-men