THE CIRCLE OF COMMERCE OR THE BALLANCE OF Trade in defence of free Trade Opposed To Malynes Little Fish and his Great Whale and poized against them in the Scale Wherein also Exchanges in generall are considered and therein the whole Trade of this Kingdome with forraine Countries is digested into a Ballance of Trade for the benefite of the Publique Necessary for the present and future times By E. M. Merchant Prov. Cap. 26. Vers 4. and 5. Answer not a foole according to his folly least perhaps thou make thy selfe also like to him Answer a foole according to his folly least peraduenture hee be wise in his owne eyes LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Nicholas Bourne and are to be sold at the Royall Exchange 1623. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE THE EARLE OF MIDLESEX LORD HIGH TREASVRER OF ENGLAND c. A Great Grande of Italy Right Honourable delighted much in the delightfull skill of Picture sent a Courtier in post haste to all the principall Cities thereof to take a touch of the rarest and best Masters in that Science for his choyce of some rare and exquisite Piece The Messenger posting from place to place and getting of every one something at last found out Giotto a very famous man and second to none of his time in that skill as Angelus Politianus thus saye's in his praise Per quem pictura revixit In Epitaphium Iotti Peachams Compl. Gent. Cap. 12. Cui quà m recta manus tà m fuit facilis Of him I say this Messenger desired as hee had done of the rest some Master Piece to present vnto his Lord and Master Giotto willing to shew the dexterity of his Art and wit and the facility of his hand call'd for a sheet of paper and in the turning of an hand drew a Circle so perfect and exact that it was impossible for any man living to circinat or circulat with the helpe of a Compasse a more absolute Orb. The Courtier not being an Artist ask't if that were all yes said Giotto and it may bee more then all And so indeed it proov'd For when the Messenger had presented to his Lord and Master all the Pieces Giotto's Circle was preferr'd to all the rest and hee honoured aboue the rest and thence it went into a Proverb in Italy Piu tondo ch'il Circolo di Giotto more round then Giotto's Circle Others My Lord may present vnto Your Lordship Little Fishes Great Whales Par's of Exchange Pieces of greater price I haue nothing but a Circle not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Circle of learning but the Circle of Commerce yet such a Circle as comprehends within the Periphery or circumference thereof the Ballance of Trade There 's my draught or rather My Lord it 's Yours For although the Ballance of Trade is an ancient Piece which in elder times hath beene in great vse in this Kingdome as I shall shew in this Circle in it's owne Angle yet it was almost worne out and defaç't but renew'd and refresh't by none but by Your Lordship onely When the Eye of Heaven in the Eye of the King had look't vpon You and pickt You out and plaç't You in an higher Orb You were first seene in this Circle of the Ballance of Trade Other faire Pieces You had but this was Your Master Piece because all the rest had reference vnto this For all your services done to The King and in The King The Kingdome of what Longitude or Latitude soever those Pieces were you tryed them all by this Scale You discerned the Right from the Oblique by this Circle by this Parallel The Oracles of Apollo being ask't when the warres of Greece should haue a Period Replyed when they could Double the Cubique Altar in Delphos which Plato expounded to them to be an answer in reproof of their ignorance in Geometry For the Doubling of the Cube in Solids P. Ramus Geom. lib. 4. and the Quadrature of the Circle in Plaine is a Mathematicall probleme not to bee knowne without the knowledge of that Art And surely if any man aske when we shall haue an end of this decay of Trade it may be answered when Your Lordship will Double this Cube and Quadrat this Circle of Commerce in the Ballance of Trade Which prooue's a Hercules labour vnto Others but will be easie vnto You because You see with Your Owne They with others eyes And hence it is that wee here below haue had so much stirre about Malyne's Par the Parity and Disparity whereof amongst ignorant men is made a Mystery in Exchange and to haue in it a great deale of Causality of the Decay of Trade But we are happy in Your Lordship which can easily discerne this Flemish from our Sterling Standard No glosse no false face can deceiue Your Lordships sight For as You were Of vs and now You are farre Aboue vs so can You iudge as farre Beyond vs as You are Distant from vs. I shall therefore bee a Suitor to Your Lordship that if there be any place or vse in the whole Circle of Commerce for Malyne's Par of Exchange that Your Lordship will let him bee the Master of that office when it is Created if not that Malynes may know the price of these paines to teach vs a new doctrine which we never learnt of Your Lordship and with such counterfeit stuffe to abuse The State which happely doth enioy Your Lordship and in You the knowledge of Commerce Your Ballance of Trade my Lord will soone discover the lightnes of this vanitie That not This was Your 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let it bee Your 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also That was the Foundation let it bee the Consummation of Your Noble building Let none build vpon Your Lordships foundation finish it perfect it Your Selfe Your Selfe shall haue all the honour Goe on therefore Noble Lord Spartam quam nactus es constanter tueri You are the Mirrour of Merchants the Luster of London the Renowne of your name the Beautie of Your Familie the Glorie of Your Countrie an Honour to Nobilitie and the Choice of the Choicest King Honour His choice in the choicest service You can doe to So Good to So Great a King Adorne the Nobilitie doe good to Your Countrie Embellize Your Familie make Your Name more and more Noble loue London and make much of Merchants And I pray God with encrease of Honour giue you encrease also of the gifts and graces of Gods Spirit without which You can doe none of these and with which You may doe So and So and More also The Lord of Lords giue You fauour with God and Man and conserue Your Lordship long Regi Gregi mihi to The King The Kingdome And last of all to him that 's least of all But Affected most of all to doe your Lordship seruice EDW. MISSELDEN TO THE GENTLE AND Iudicious Readers GEntlemen I had hop't in a cause of such consequence as is the Restauration of Trade wherein all of vs by Sympathie
ever did vouchsafed his Royall grace and favour to These Merchants This trade Because the Cloth-trade is the Dowry of the Kingdome the great Revenue of the King It is the Axis of the Common-wealth whereon all the other trades of the Kingdome doe seeme to turne and haue their revolution And therefore it hath ever beene the policy of State to entrust this trade to such men as are Probatae fidei of approoved credit and trust wisely to manage the same and not to Novices and new-made Merchants by whose inexperience the trade might bee subiect to bee betrayed into the hands of forraine Nations And certainely the Common-wealth would lose more by the losse of one expert Merchant discouraged and driven out then it could hope to gaine by twenty Novices let in into a trade which they doe not vnderstand So that this restraint is the cause of this enuy which is in nature an innate and inbred thing Eleg. 3.4 according to that of the Poet Nittimur invetitum semper cupimusque negata Men are commonly most fond of that which they are most forbid Otherwise I am as confident as I am conscious of it that there is no trade of this Kingdom giveth so little allurement to those that are without or so small encouragement to those that are within as doth the Merchants-Adventurers trade at this day Which notwithstanding I hope his Royall Maiestie shall ever finde in them that loyall resolution which heretofore they haue shewne to cast downe themselues and their trades in all humility at his Maiesties feet to be disposed of according to the good pleasure of his Maiesties high wisdome and grace And yet I would haue no man thinke that I would seeme hereby to take vpon mee to personate them or meddle in their matters further then you see Malynes hath led me into the same Wherein I must vse this iust defence for them and me that I haue neither had commission from them nor consulted with them or any of theirs about this thing or any thing contained herein But with an even hand and heart haue without partiality Crassâ Minervâ according to the plainenes and simplicity of mine owne poore Genius pursued Malynes from point to point Neither doe the Merchants-Adventurers of all others stand in need of my helpe For they are happy in enioying him who for his learning and integrity deserveth praise of whom if I say that hee is not second to any of his qualitie in this Kingdome I shall neither flatter him nor iniure any as all that know him doe know and will acknowledge To him therefore I shall commend this theame as most proper to his person and office who for his parts is more able and for his place is more fit then my selfe to take vpon him this defence if there bee cause It is true I am a brother though vnworthy of that worthie Society and so I am of other Companies also and so also am I a member though one of the least of the great Common-wealth of this Kingdom wherein I haue learnt to preferre that publique to all these particular obligations Amicus Plato Amicus Socrates sed magis Amica veritas Those Companies and that course of trade shall be my discourse of Free trade which shall be best approved of the State and wherein the honour of The King and the welfare of the The Kingdome are most involved BY this time Malynes is come to Monopolies the discourse whereof §. 37. if you will take his word P. 60. Is without Ryme or Reason because his pure Par of Exchange is not appendix't to it And indeed there is some reason that such a Par as hee parret's of should haue had some place assigned it amongst Monopolies For I 'le vndertake that there is not any worse Monopoly in the Kingdome then hee would make of this If hee might haue his will For other Monopolists would be sole sellers and buyers in merchandize hee in the Exchange But if you doubt of his iudgement in this proiect hee will produce his Monsieur Bodin to approue it by this French proverbe I l entend le par P. 61. which was never yet knowne for any good phrase in the French much lesse for a proverbe and is as ill a proofe as a proverbe to approue his experience For Celuy qui est d'experience entend le par Malynes n'entend pas le par Ergo Malynes n'est point d'experience The proposition is prooved by his owne Proverbe the Assumption by his Proiect as the event will manifest But now you talke of a Sillâ—gisme will you heare Malynes make a Paralogisme Thus Nothing causeth Merchants to export more money out of the Realme then they bring in P. 61. but onely the bringing in of more Commodities into the Realme then they carryed out The vnder-valuation of our monies causeth no more Commodities to bee brought into the Realme then is carryed out Ergo the vnder-valuation of our monies causeth not more money to bee carryed out of the Realme then is brought in NEvè negativis rectè concludere scibis §. 38. Seton There is no good conclusion can bee drawne from Negatiues And therefore the Philosophers say Ex nihilo nihilfit You cannot make something of nothing Neither hath it the shape of a Syllogisme for all the Propositions in it are Negatiue which cannot come vnder any Mood or Figure of Aristotle Or if it had the forme of a Syllogisme yet it makes nothing against any thing I haue said For I do not say any where that the vnder-valuation of our mony causeth more mony to be caried out of the Realme then is brought in but that it causeth money to be caryed out of the Realme when it is brought in against which this Paralogisme if it had beene a Syllogisme could haue concluded nothing For mony must be first brought into the Realme before it bee carryed out Againe although it should be granted that the vnder-valuation of our money doth not cause more money to bee carryed out of the Realme then is brought in yet for all that it may cause a great part of that which is brought in to bee carryed out Thus you see this Sophister how he chops Logicke And great care forsooth hee takes that it breed not a Dilemma which hee vnderstands as well as he doth a Syllogisme For a Dilemma is that which convinceth both wayes which his Paralogisme doth no way or rather convinceth him of folly For his argument may easily be retorted vpon hinselfe thus If nothing causeth Merchants to export more mony out of the Realme then they bring in but onely the bringing in of more Commodities into the Realme then they carryed out then it is not for want of a Par of Exchange But the the first is true by his owne argument and therefore the second Or will you heare of a hound that hath a better sent of a Syllogisme then Malynes The hound having lost the sent coasts the
onely for the most part lost but it make's the Citty swarme with poore with idle poore who as long as they can liue by begging will neuer fall to working nor liue by labour I speake not against any mans charity but wish from my heart that he that is charitable were more charitable so the same were not abused or at least were better vsed for the publique good For there is not onely the losse of so great a summe but of the exceeding great benefit also which the employment thereof in our Natiue and Forraine Manufactures would purchase to the publique if the same were orderly collected and prudently ordered for the Employment of the poore Wherein I know not how to wish a greater glory to the City of London then to haue the honour to bee the Founder of so worthy a worke to raise a Stocke out of the free will offrings of the Citizens and wisely to dispose thereof for the poore's employment whereby all their owne poore might be set on worke an excellent patterne of piety and pitty giuen to all the other Cities of the kingdom to pursue so noble an enterprize by their good example And it need not be thought to be a new charge to the City for we see the thing is done already onely it is not so well done wherein my selfe the vnworthiest of all her Citizens had rather if I were worthy be the first then the last to further so happy hopefull a worke For it will bring to God glory to the King honour to the Kingdome treasure to the Subiects trade to the poore employment and proue by Gods blessing a most excellent meanes to encrease our Exportations and to recouer our Ballance of Trade Without the Land §. 42. Or Without the Land the Persia trade will not let me passe nor the Fishing neither without a word of either Both these doe promise much supply vnto our Exportation Both of them are of very high and important consideration for the honour and wel-fare of this Kingdome The one is a worke for The King the other for all The Kingdome The one if wee will is our owne the other vnlesse wee will not may bee made our owne For the Trade of Persia In the Persia trade it needeth the glory of the Sunne to dispell some clouds that doe obscure and hide from vs the excellency of this Trade Which if it will please His Maiesty to vouchsafe I am persuaded it would proue a very happy Commerce vnto this Kingdome not inferiour vnto any forraine Trade It promiseth to vent our Clothes and other our Natiue Commodities in great abundance to yeeld returnes of these Clothes that will employ multitudes of our poore to spare vs the treasure that now wee export to the Indies through the necessity of that trade to employ many great Ships good men with much more fafety then in those other trads to furnish the other parts of the Indies by the meanes of that trade without other supply from hence to purchase the rich trade of the Red Sea the benefit of trading there from Port to Port in the Indian commodities which in it selfe will be another East Indian Trade to turne the Current of the Trade of Persia from Turky to the weakning of the Turks tyranny ouer the Christian world Lastly to draw the employment of many Millions of mony into this Kingdome for the Persian silck which the Venetians Marcellians and other Cities and Common-wealthes of the Italians French and Dutch doe now employ into Turky in that one Commodity onely which by Gods blessing we may be able to deliuer them as cheape from hence as now they fetch it thence with more contentment also to them and more glory and gaine to vs in the atchieuement of so high and noble an enterprize And these are but two or three clusters for a taste of the fruit of the Land This Canaan cannot be knowne vntill you haue past ore Iordan the perfection of it consit's in the fruition thereof And this is also another meanes no lesse excellent to enlarge our exportation and therin also to helpe the cast of our Scale in the Ballance of Trade Last of all §. 43. Or the Fishing Trade for the Fishing Trade Res ipsa loquitur I shall need to say no more of that if what is said were done It is a worke that hath in it vtility to inuite and capacity to receiue all the Kingdome Wherein the Ports which are the walles and gates of the Kingdome might bee supported and trade imported to those Parts and places which now are destitute thereof Yea all the Citties or if you will the Counties may find roome enough to employ their meanes in this trade And surely if profit will not moue men Auri sacra fames is false and nothing will moue them There is no fiishing to the Sea nor Sea-fare for the Kingdomes well-fare to the fishing trade wherein for the encouragement of the Aduenturers it is fit if so it may be thought fit in his Maiesties high wisdome and grace that euery County yea euery City if it will may haue the mannaging and disposing of their owne aduentures without any General or promiscuous confusion with others and with such Immunities priuiledges and encouragements conferr'd vpon them from the fountaine of his Maiesties grace as may at last bring that to action and execution which wee haue so long had in discourse and contemplation A braue desseigne it is as Royall as Reall as honourable as profitable It promiseth Renowne to the King Reuenue to the Crowne treasure to the Kingdome a purchase for the land a prize for the sea ships for Nauigation Nauigation for ships Maririners for both entertainment of the rich employment for the poore aduantage for the aduenturers and encrease of Trade to all the Subiects A Mine of Gold it is the Mine is deepe the veines are great the Ore is rare the Gold is pure the extent vnlimited the wealth vnknowne the worth inualuable And this is also another meanes not inferiour vnto any for the recouery of our Exportations in the Ballance of Trade THE CONCLVSION THese meanes well pursued and the Remedies of our former Discourse applied such other meanes added as in the wisdome of the State may be more seriously thought vpon doubtlesse will restore our ancien Ballance of Trade and in it the former florishing Commerce which heretofore this Kingdome happily did enioy This is that Prouinciall and indeed Potentiall Exchange betweene vs and forraine Countries that must be the publique measure of all our Merchandize This is that true Par of Exchange that will not change that hath no imposture froth nor fallacy to abuse vs with This is the practice of forraine Princes and their Pollicy in point of Commerce to haue a continuall eie to this Par pro Pari the Ballance of Trade whereby they enrich their Countries and winne ground of others that neglect the same An instance is set
the Sunne and Shutteth when the Sunne-setteth It is subiect as all great Actions are to Fraction abroad to Faction at home Both and either are evill Engines to subvert Companyes yea Kingdomes also But when the Sunne ariseth in his glory all these foggs and mists will vanish away His Maiestie vouchsafed to descend from his throne of Maiestie into that late Colloquy with the Dutch And with the indefessiue paines of his owne Royall Person and the continuall labour of the Lords hath at last reconciled all the differences with the Dutch much more will He not suffer any discord amongst His owne All which Warres and Iarres being husht and over-blowne and the trade pursued with the Grace and Favour of his Maiesty Good order and government in the Company and Vnfeigned amitie and vnitie one with another there cannot but be great hope by Gods blessing of a Glorious harvest from so Gracious a Seed-time and I hope that those that haue Sowen in teares shall in due time Reape in Ioy. Sr D. Diggs in his Defence of the East India Trade Ther 's a Noble Gentleman of this Kingdome did once put the Dutch in minde of their owne Embleame Si Collidimur frangimur If the Potts knock they will quickly cracke It was then taken for another Meridian but it may serue for London and Amsterdam and the East Indies also But Malynes taketh notice of Master Mun's Discourse of the East India Trade P. 27. whereby he is forced to confesse that the employment of the East India Company is very profitable and necessary That the gaine of the Trade is very good That thereby the encrease of the stocke of the Kingdome is very great That the same is a meanes to bring in much Treasure and yet like himselfe kick's downe all this at once with his foote concluding with this abhominable vntruth That the vnder-valuation of our monyes in Exchange P. 28. diverteth the same and that the losse thereof is greater to this Kingdome then all the monies employed to the East Indies commeth vnto So that this man you see can Simul sorbere flare he can be with them and against them and all with a breath The fifth cause of the want of money P. 30. in Malynes Arithmetique is the Warres of Christendome Touching the exportation of monyes by the Warres of Christians P. 31. where he declareth an vrgent instance that the Riecks Daller is raised from two markes Lubish to twentie markes Lubish in many places of Germany whereby abundance of money is drawne vnto the Mints of other Countries from all the Mynes and parts of Christendome herein he is much mistaken for when monyes are inhansed they are never carryed to the Mints to be converted into other Coine OR rather Malynes hath need of an Interpreter §. 22. to helpe him vnderstand what I haue said in plaine words For I haue not so much as inferred that which he here concludeth that the Riecks Daller being inhansed to twentie marks Lubish is carried to the Mint to be converted into other Coyne But rather that the Riecks Daller and other monyes of Germany running there so high hath drawne over abundance of our money which hath there beene converted into their Coine And this nor he nor any man can deny And that the Riecks Daller then went at twentie marks Lubish in Silesia Austria and Moravia and the parts adjacent both the Souldiers that haue received them so in pay and the Merchants both English and Dutch that trade in the Linnens of those parts will abundantly satisfie any man that doubteth in this matter In so much as it hath there beene observed for a great indiscretion in the Boores or Countrey people of those parts to take the Riecks Daller at so excessiue an high rate in payment for their Linnens and not to raise the price thereof answerable therevnto Which hath beene the cause that the Linnens of Germany haue these two or three yeares last come thence so cheape notwithstanding the Warres which naturally are wont to make things deare because they haue beene bought with money given out of so high a rate and the Commoditie not raised Which quite overthroweth another of Malynes fallacies that wheresoever the monyes are inhansed There the Commodities are also raised according to the money inhansed P. 12. And as well is he over-seene in Aristotles termes of Action and Passion thus No marvell therefore that he doth invert things P. 38. and runneth into a Labyrinth without distinction betweene the thing Actiue and Passiue by approving money to be the rule and square whereby things receiue estimation and price And yet commending the commutation before money was devised to be coyned Aristotle saith that Action and Passion are meerely Relatiues and that they differ no more then the way from Thebes to Athens and from Athens to Thebes We will therefore leaue this Merchant to walke betweene both vntill he can discerne the one from the other BY Malynes sentence when I speake of money and merchandize §. 23. and doe not misapply therevnto his improper and ignorant termes of Action and Passion I runne into a Labyrinth Which termes he hath every where worne so thred-bare that they looke like himselfe Neither is it possible for any man liuing to vnderstand what he meanes by them or to imagine that himselfe knowes what he would say of them And I pray you what indiscretion is it to approue of money to be the rule and square whereby things receiue their estimation and price and yet commend the Commutation of wares for wares before money was devised As for his Quotation of Aristotle he vseth him as others whom he abuseth and vnderstandeth Action and Passion as well as he did Matter Forme and Privation Alas poore man how should he vnderstand Aristotle that hath neither wit nor art For if it should bee granted that Action and Passion are Relatiues Yet money is the thing Actiue commodities become the thing Passiue Litle fish p. 15. The exchange of monies is in effect like the instrumēt that striketh the clock being therein the thing Actiue commodities and monies are therin become things passiue ibid. page 6. doe's that prooue money to bee Actiue and commodities Passiue as hee here inferreth and elsewhere affirmeth page 15 And why then doth he in another place say that the Exchange is Actiue and Commodities Money are Passiue page 6. But that in truth the man knowes not what hee sayes Or if either or neither of them were Actiue and Passiue what is that to the thing here by him brought in question whether Cōmercium be Cōmutatio merciū or not A change of wares for wares or money for wares As if forsooth hee would haue no difference made betweene Money and Commodities in that his distinction ignorantly supposing in the one that Aristotle takes Action and Passion and the way betweene Thebes and Athens to be one and the same thing and
vntill he produce his proofes for so vniust an accusation Another Digression hee makes for the defence of his grosse error committed in his Canker of of Englands Common-wealth In his Canker p. 46. where he wisht That other Nations might take vpon them to make our Clothes which might saith hee be easily remedied by selling our wolles the dearer whereof they must make them Can there bee any defence for such a defeisance You shall heare the best he hath In the latter time of Queene Elizabeth of blessed memory P. 47. and vntill the second yeare of our most gracious Lord King Iames wolles were permitted to be transported by the Staplers and others And the makers of cloth beyond the Seas must needs haue them to cover their wolles in the Indraping which is now prohibited and the case altered HEre you see the defence is as lame as the Defendant §. 29. Because there was then permitted a tolleration for the transportation of wolles was it therefore necessary or reasonable or to bee wisht of any good Subiect that there should haue been a transportation of our Clothing also Or would hee haue had the Staplers carry away all our wolles that his Countrymen might haue made all the cloth God forbid Malynes Sic tu be as amicos Wilt thou play the Ape in the Apologue kill vs with kindnes But the tree cannot be better knowne then by the fruit nor Malynes then by this marke This is he that would seeme so good a Subiect to our King and Kingdome to dyet vs with the Fleece and to feed his owne Country and Nation with the Flesh and Fat to confine vs to the Wolles and convey our Clothing to them then which there is not a more Royall manufacture in all the world There could not haue beene devised no not by an enemy so mischievous a proiect as to bereaue so many thousand families of this Kingdome that depend on the making of cloath of such an excellent living and liuely-hood The other part of his defence is as false as the former is faigned For to affirme That the Makers of cloth beyond the Seas cannot make their cloth without our English woll is as true as that wherewith the State hath beene so much abused That the Dutch could not subsist without our English cloth That the latter is false our owne ill experience can tell vs That the former is foolish all Malynes Countrymen and those that know the State of Dutch-land will witnes against him But because hee cannot Excuse hee will Accuse First Envy P. 48. For looking asquint vpon him whereby he saith he hath lost one Eye in his reputation with his owne Countrymen and now must loose the other Eye with our Nation like Belisarius mentioned in my discourse Indeed in blindnes hee may resemble Belisarius but in nothing else more like hee is to blinde Bartelmeus who the more he was forbid the lesse hee held his peace And next hee accuseth his ill luck P. ibid. For his invention of farthing tokens for which he saith He is accused to bring the vse of copper monies into the Kingdome But he mistakes the accusation which was rather that if not himselfe some fowle of his feather might be vehemently suspected to haue brought in counterfait copper tokens into the Kingdome Which whether it bee right or wrong I cannot tell but it is probable that the tenth part of the copper tokens at this day in the Kingdome were never coyned in the Kingdome At last hee is return'd from these long digressions to the thing proposed which is the Cloth trade but with a change of his note and his coate too For now hee begin's to personate others Now you may heare a song of foure parts but set by a very ill Musition one that knowes not his Gammuth nor can proue a note not keepe tune or time You may heare the very voyce of the Strangers of the Staplers of the Interlopers and of the Ports all in one Noyse the poor Merchants Adventurers are made the burden of the song I am sory for them all For These that they are so vniustly accused For Those that their complaint is so much abused For thus Malynes canteth and chaunteth That the Merchants Adventurers having ingrossed into their hands P. 50. by colour of their last Letters Patents the sole power of exporting all white Clothes coloured Clothes Kersies Bayes Sayes Serges Perpetuanaes and all other new Draperies into Holland Zealand Brabant and other parts of the low and higher Germany hath abated the trade For all Merchants-Strangers might and did heretofore export white Clothes out of the Kingdome paying double Custome which now they may not THe Divines say Consuetudo peccandi tollit sensum peccati The custome of sinning §. 30. taketh away the sense of sinne This man hath vsed himselfe to such liberty of speech that now he dare's say any thing For the Merchants Adventurers vpon whom it hath pleased his Maiestie out of His singular Grace and Favour to conferre many excellent Priviledges and Immunities in their last Letters Patents yet in poynt of exportation of White and coloured Clothes Kersies Bayes Sayes and other new Draperies of the Kingdom there is no more power given them in these latter then his Maistie and his Royall Predecessors haue honoured them with in other former Letters Patents from time to time In the eight yeare of Hen. 4. the trade of White and coloured Clothes Kersies Bayes Sayes and other the Natiue Commodities of the Kingdome into Holland Zealand Brabant and Flanders was entrusted vnto them by the Kings Letters patents to bee managed vnder government In the first yeare of Hen. 5. the sayd Letters Patents were approoved and confirmed In the eight yeare of Hen. 6. the former Charters with the consent of the Lords Spirituall and Temporall in Parliament assembled were accepted and allowed In the second yeare of Edw. 4. the sayd Letters Patents and every part of them were ratified and confirmed In the first yeare of Ric. 3. the sayd Letters Patents were approued and confirmed In the twentith yeare of Hen. 7. the sayd Merchants were honoured with the title of Merchants Adventurers had power to keepe their Courts and hold their Marts in the Towne of Calais In the fourth yeare of Hen. 8. the sayd Letters Patents in all poynts were ratified and confirmed In the first yeare of Edw. 6. all the former Patents were recited and approued In the first yeare of Philip and Mary the sayd Letters Patents were examined allowed and confirmed In the second yeare of Q. Elizabeth of ever-living memory the former Patents were recited approved and enlarged In the sixt yeare of her raigne their former Charters were reviewed and they were inscribed by the name of Merchants Adventurers of England and authorized To exercise their government in any part of the Kingdome to haue a Common Seale to be a perpetuall Succession to purchase lands in the name