and Scions from the great Trunk of the Republick had all of 'em the Face of Formal Governments they had Magistracies and Councils Power of Life and Death and to raise Mony for their Common Safety and to make Laws for their better Rule but this is no Argument that they had all the Parts of Sovereign Empire 'T is true the Inhabitants of Ireland from ancient Concessions have a Priviviledge perhaps above the Roman Colonies namely to Tax themselves by their own Suffrages within their own Limits but this is no more than what is claim'd by several Provinces of France which nevertheless account themselves subordinate to the Sovereign Power of the whole State There is a part of Empire not communicable and which must reside Sovereignly somewhere for there would be such a perpetual clashing of Power and Jurisdictions as were inconsistant with the very Being of Communities unless this last Resort were somewhere lodg'd Now this Incommunicable Power we take to be the Supream Judgment of what is best and most expedient for the whole and in all Reason of Government this ought to be there trusted and lodged from whence Protection is expected That Ireland should judge of what is best for it self is just and fair but in Determinations that are to reach the whole as namely what is most expedient for England and Ireland both there without all doubt the Supream Judgment ought to rest in the King Lords and Commons of England by whose Arms and Treasure Ireland ever was and must always be defended Nor is this any claiming the same Empire over Scotland as Mr. Molyneux would suggest for there is no Parity of Reason in the Cases Scotland to England as Aragon to Spain is a distinct State governing it self by different Laws tho' under the same Prince and is truly but a Kingdom Confederated with the Realm of England tho' subject to our King The Land thereof was not acquir'd to the present Inhabitants by the Arms of England protect them we do as the Strongest Allies always are to defend the Weaker but this puts 'em not in the Degree of Subordination we are treating of They are not our Discendants and they are but Politically our Brethren whereas the English-Irish who are now chief Lords of that Soil are naturally our Offspring Their Inferior Rule and Jurisdictions are not disputed but that Super-eminent Dominion and supream and uncontrollable Regiment over themselves which they pretend to is neither safe for England to grant nor for them to ask Such a Power would be dangerous because by some Accident it may come to be so exercis'd as to be their and our Ruin We have had bad Kings and those Kings have had evil Counsellors Suppose us then in some future Age under such Circumstances as to have a Prince and his Council so angry with the People as to desire their Destruction which was our Case once with King John who would have sold us to the Moors to wreak his own Discontents And suppose this Prince willing to set up Ireland in opposition to this Kingdom may not a Prince so dispos'd give the Royal Assent to Laws in Ireland that would utterly destroy England And what Remedy would Poining's Act be in such a Juncture In a Case like this what way have the People of England to preserve themselves but to represent their Grievance to the Prince Who when he sees the Error of his Council may be induc'd to join in some Supream Exercise of the Legislature here coercive and such as may keep Ireland in the degree of Subordination that seems requisite to the well-being of both Nations Suppose a Prince bent to hurt England should give his Assent to a Law there That the Irish may transport all their Wool to Foreign Countries would not this as they say cut the Turf from under our Feet and at one blow in a manner ruin all our Woollen Manufactures There are many other Instances in which if they were indulg'd the greatest part of our Traffick would be carry'd to their Ports In Matters of Trade even the best of Kings may be surpris'd of which we have a late Example and the ill Consequences the Scotch Act will probably have ought to make us very watchful over what our Neighbours do especially where they depend upon us That the greatest part of the present Inhabitants of Ireland chiefly those who claim the Land-Property are a Colony from England has been here peradventure sufficiently made out and we take it to be their best Hold to be always so accompted because it gives them a lasting Title to be protected and defended by us And if they are a Colony it would be a strange Defect in our Constitution if we wanted any of the Powers requisite to pursue the Ends of Government of which the Principal is to take care that no one part of the People be permitted to hurt the other but if the Legislature of England cannot in Important Matters restrain that of Ireland Ireland is at least in a Capacity to ruin England which would make our Form of Government at one and the same time Ridiculous and Dangerous But to be thus out of our Jurisdiction would in the Conclusion be as fatal to them as to us for tho' they should grow Rich at our Expence and tho' a large part of our Trade were diverted thither they would not yet be able to subsist alone and by themselves And if we by Loss of our Trade become weaken'd how can we give them that Assistance which from time to time they have always wanted So that this division of Strength would be destructive to both Countries It must therefore be their Interest as well as Ours That the Supream Power and the chief Wealth should be ever preserv'd to Center here in the Seat of Empire Upon the whole Matter it seems the Right of England and as well for the Benefit of Ireland its best and noblest Colony that the Legislative Authority here should upon all Emergencies make such Regulations and Restrictions relating to Trade especially as shall be thought for the Weal-Publick of both Countries And having premis'd these Things we shall proceed to handle more closely the Subject of our Question namely Whither it is necessary to Prohibit by Law the Exportation of Woollen Manufacture from Ireland to Foreign Parts To put an early Stop to their turning their Stock and Industry this way appears requisite for many Reasons First Ireland contains near a half as much Territory as England and the Soil being of the same Nature may be brought to produce near a half as much Wool as England yields and this Material being the Basis upon which our Trade is built they who can come near us in it will come just so near us in our Trade abroad Secondly Countries thinly Peopled can sooner improve in the Breed of Cattle than any other way because 't is a Work which a few Hands may manage Thirdly Where there is Plenty of a
which Taxes might be laid more equally and by consequence more lightly upon the People And when the Peace was concluded he believ'd he might do his Country Service to treat of the Publick Revenues and of the Trade of England the quiet Times which the King's Valour and Wisdom had newly procur'd seeming most seasonable to propose some kind of Remedy for those Disorders in the Administration which a War of such length had undoubtedly occasion'd In the Tracts therefore which he publish'd last Year he handled Credit The King's Revenues The Publick Debts and Engagements and in the second Volume several Points relating to Trade thereby to give some View what Improvements this Nation was capable of under a careful and steady Management And having deeply imprinted in his Mind the Notion that all our Thoughts Endeavours and Designments should tend to the Good and Welfare of our Country and being convinc'd that even where Abilities are wanting the very Intentions are commendable and virtuous he is resolv'd to continue his Studies upon the same Subject and to look yet farther into the Condition and Posture of this Kingdom He is now indeed call'd up to a Station wherein he has the opportunity of delivering his Thoughts concerning the Business of England another way than by his Pen but 't is many Years since he had the Honour to sit in Parliament and he doubts very much whether he shall be able to arrive at any degree of expressing himself readily and well without which the best and most usefull Matter loses all its Energy and Effect before a great Assembly Writing and Speaking are Talents very different a tolerable Stile may be attain'd to by great Application and Diligence but Elocution is a Gift and if employ'd to honest Uses one of the greatest Bounties Nature can bestow upon a Man He who has not the Seeds of it within him shall never come at it by Art or Labour and which perhaps is not vulgarly observ'd Writing much extinguishes the Faculty of Talking well off hand in some Persons who would otherwise have a competent Share thereof for if the Writer be of any Form he accustoms himself to a Correctness and a Choice of Words And this Nicety and Care beget a diffidency in him which is altogether inconsistent with the Happiness of Speaking well in Publick Such therefore as fear they cannot deliver their Thoughts well and clearly another way must commit them to Writing in order to make whatever Qualities they have of Service to their Country The Matters we have hitherto handled have been in a manner intirely new and such wherein very little Help could be had from Books and it being the Interest of some Persons of no small Power in the Management of Affairs that many Truths important for England to be known should rather be conceal'd if possible in the Center of the Earth than laid open the Aids and Lights which might be gather'd from the publick Accompts and Offices have been industriously with-held from all who are not servile Applauders of their wild and distructive Conduct however he will proceed on with his Work notwithstanding the potent Malice of such Men utterly indifferent how much his Inquiries offend them provided they yield any Benefit to the King and Kingdom His Aim always has been and ever shall be to shew how the Wealth and Strength of England is to be secur'd and improv'd to set the Matters thereunto conducing in a true Light to instill into the Minds of young Gentlemen a desire of looking into the Revenues and Trade of the Nation that having therein an insight themselves they may not be in some future Reign insnar'd by the wicked Arts of false and rapacious Ministers who will be ever craving for large Supplies but careless how they wast the publick Treasure who will be always coveting new Fonds which they will lay by as so much Lumber of the State when they have borrow'd all they can upon 'em not minding how any new Branch is manag'd who will be for shearing the Sheep as many times as they can every Year without any care of the Flock or how the Fleece shall grow again and who will be for pulling down the Common-wealth so they may build up their own Fortunes It shall not be here argu'd whither the Skill of Phisick be now brought to Perfection or whether it is yet capable of further Improvements but this may be safely pronounc'd That the Knowledge of the Sinews Muscles Arteries and Veins with the late discovery of the Circulation of the Blood and all the Parts of Anatomy conduce very much to render this dark Science more plain and certain In the same manner such as would understand the Body-Politick its true Constitution its State of Health its Growth or Decay its Strength or Weakness and how to apply Remedies to the various Distempers to which it is incident must study and look narrowly into all the distinct parts of the Common-wealth its Trade the Current Mony which is its flowing Blood the Arts Labour and Manufactures and the number of its People with many other things which altogether are the Members of which the great Body is compos'd From these Topicks to reason upon Matters of Government has been the Method we have hitherto taken and which we shall persue in the following Tract and the way we go of arguing and concluding upon things by Figures being in a manner new and made use of but by two or three before us and that too but very superficially 't is hop'd Grains of Allowance will be made and that we shall be look'd npon as Beginners of an Art not yet Polish'd and which Time may bring to more Perfection In all Arts and Sciences the first Inventions have been rude and unskilfull Very antiently the Aegyptains knew something of Geometry and the Assyrians of Astronomy but as well these as all other parts of Knowledge were but a shapeless Body till brought into some Form by the artfull Hands of Pherecides Thales Anaximander and Pythagoras and yet Philosophy had neither Strength nor Beauty till it was further improv'd in the three successive Schools of Socrates Plato and Aristotle What has been here said of sublimer Things holds as well in Speculations of an inferiour Nature and in Arts meerly Mechanical whose first Principles and Rudiments must be imperfect But if this our manner of Inquiring into Matters that relate to Polity and Government be found any ways Instructive and Beneficial to the Publick we hope hereafter to be follow'd by abler Hands who shall finish what we are but beginning We have formerly said That to find out the true Ballance of Trade in order to adapt thereunto our Laws and Form of Living would bring as much Wealth to this Country as is requisite to render a Nation safe and happy That an exact Ballance between Vs and every distinct Place perhaps cannot by any humane Skill be attain'd to and that it is not certain whether a Scrutiny so
those are render'd uneasie these must share in the Calamity but even of this inferiour Sort no small Proportion contribute largely to Excises as Labourers and Out-Servants which likewise affect the Common Seamen who must thereupon raise their Wages or they will not have wherewithal to keep their Families left at Home and the high Wages of Seamen is another Burthen upon our Foreign Traffick As to the Cottagers who are above a fifth Part of the whole People some Duties reach even them as those upon Malt Leather and Salt but not much because of their slender Consumption but if the Gentry upon whose Woods and Gleanings they live and who employ 'em in Day Labour and if the Manufacturers for whom they Card and Spin are over-burthen'd with Duties they cannot afford to give them so much for their Labour and Handy-work nor to yield them those other Reliefs which are their principal Subsistence for want of which these miserable Wretches must perish with Cold and Hunger Thus we see Excises either directly or indirectly fall upon the whole Body of the People but we do not take notice of these Matters as receeding from our former Opinion On the contrary we still think them the most easie and equal way of Taxing a Nation and perhaps it is demonstrable that if we had fallen into this Method at the beginning of the War of raising the Year's Expence within the Year by Excises England had not been now indebted so many Millions but what was adviseable under such a Necessity and Danger is not to be persued in times of Peace especially in a Country depending so much upon Trade and Manufactures Our Study now ought to be how those Debts may be speedily clear'd off for which these new Revenues are the Fonds that Trade may again move freely as it did heretofore without such a heavy Clogg but this Point we shall more amply handle when we come to speak of our Payments to the Publick Mr. King divides the whole Body of the People into two Principal Classes viz. Increasing the Wealth of the Kingdom 2,675,520 Heads Decreasing the Wealth of the Kingdom 2,825,000 Heads By which he means That the First Class of the People from Land Arts and Industry maintain themselves and add every Year something to the Nation 's General Stock and besides this out of their Superfluity contribute every Year so much to the maintainance of Others That of the Second Class some partly maintain themselves by Labour as the Heads of the Cottage Families but that the rest as most of the Wives and Children of these sick and impotent People idle Beggars and Vagrants are nourish'd at the Cost of Others and are a Yearly Burthen to the Publick consuming Annully so much as would be otherwise added to the Nation 's general Stock The Bodies of Men are without doubt the most valuable Treasure of a Country and in their Sphere the ordinary People are as serviceable to the Common-wealth as the rich if they are employ'd in honest Labour and useful Arts And such being more in Number do more contribute to increase the Nation 's Wealth than the higher Rank But a Country may be Populous and yet Poor as were the ancient Gauls and Scythians so that Numbers unless they are well employ'd make the Body Politick big but unweildy strong but unactive as to any Uses of good Government Their's is a wrong Opinion who think all Mouths profit a Country that consume its Product And it may be more truly affirm'd That he who does not some way serve the Common-wealth either by being employ'd or by employing Others is not only a useless but a hurtful Member to it As it is Charity and what we indeed owe to Humane Kind to make Provision for the Aged the Lame the Sick Blind and Impotent So 't is a Justice we owe to the Common-wealth not to suffer such as have Health and who might maintain themselves to be Drones and live upon the Labour of Others The Bulk of such as are a Burthen to the Publick consists in the Cottagers and Paupers Beggars in great Cities and Towns and Vagrants Upon a Survey of the Hearth Books made in Michaelmas 1685. it was found that of the 1,300,000 Houses in the whole Kingdom those of one Chimney amounted to 554,631 but some of these having Land about them in all our Calculations we have computed the Cottagers but at 500,000 Families But of these a large Number may get their own Livelihood and are no Charge to the Parish for which Reason Mr. King very judiciously computes his Cottagers and Paupers decreasing the Wealth of the Nation but at 400,000 Families in which Accompt he includes the poor Houses in Cities Towns and Villages besides which he reckons 30,000 Vagrants and all these together to make up 1,330,000 Heads This is a very great Proportion of the People to be a Burthen upon the other Part and is a Weight upon the Land-Interest of which the Landed Gentlemen must certainly be very sensible If this vast Body of Men instead of being Expensive could be render'd Beneficial to the Common-wealth it were a Work no doubt highly to be promoted by all who love their Country It seems evident to such as have consider'd these Matters and who have observ'd how they are order'd in Nations under a good Polity that the Number of such who through Age or Impotence stand in real need of Relief is but small and might be maintain'd for very little and that the Poor Rates are swell'd to the extravigant degree we now see 'em at by two sorts of People One of which by Reason of our slack Administration is suffer'd to remain in Sloth and the Other through a Defect in our Constitution continue in wretched Poverty for want of Emplyment tho' willing enough to undertake it All this seems capable of a Remedy the Laws may be arm'd against voluntary Idleness so as to prevent it and a way may probably be found out to set those to Work who are desirous to support themselves by their own Labour And if this could be brought about it would not only put a stop to the Course of that Vice which is the Consequence of an idle Life but it would greatly tend to inrich the Common-wealth for if the Industry of not half the People maintains in some degree the other part and besides in times of Peace did add every Year near two Millions and a half to the general Stock of England to what pitch of Wealth and Greatness might we not be brought if one Limb were not suffer'd to draw away the Nourishment of the other and if all the Members of the Body Politick were render'd useful to it Nature in her Contrivances has made every part of a living Creature either for Ornament or Use the same should be in a Politick Institution rightly Govern'd It may be laid down for an undeniable Truth That where all work no body will want and to promote this would be a
That Diversion gave our Neighbour Kingdom opportunity to take Breath and time to recover from the Fright and Amazement which so potent a League had brought upon them The Troops who perish'd so miserably at Dundalk and elsewhere would have been a great Addition to the Confederate Force The Vigor that actuates the Minds of men in their first Proceedings should have been carry'd against France and not have been let to consume itself and slacken within our own Dominions If by good Conduct the Affairs of Ireland had been betimes appeas'd the Power of these three Nations had been united and we might have enter'd the Lists with our Strength intire and a Treasure unwasted which probably would have wrought such Effects and begot such a Terror as might have produc'd long ago as sound and honourable a Peace as we enjoy at present after the Expence of so much Blood and Money This War stood England in 4,128,672 l. 5 s. 3 d. ¼ and both Nations in 4,515,693 l. 0 s. 8 d. ¾ but if we come to reckon the Burnings Waste and Depredation and the irreparable Loss of Men English and Irish by Sickness and in Battel and the Irish damage redounding to us at last it may be safely affirm'd that we are the worse for that War by at least 7 Millions However that fatal Neglect did divert from the War against France above four Millions and did engage in Civil Broils those Arms which were so needful in the beginning to make a strong Impression upon our Enemies abroad But a certain Party of Men were too busy themselves at home for to mind the Nations Foreign Concerns They were dividing the spoil here They were hunting after Places and sharing among one another the Dignities and Offices of the State which took up all their time and employ'd all their Care Besides such an early Coalition and Union of the whole strength of the three Kingdoms might have terrified France too soon and taken away their Hopes of a succeeding War which is the Crop and Harvest of designing Ministers the Field in which they fatten and a Spend-thrift to whom they are Stewards without Accompt If not minding the Affairs of Ireland did hinder the Peace so long then we owe to that fatal Council the Beginning of the Debt which now presses so hard upon us for without the Colour of such a War those immense Summs could not have been consum'd which for these last five Years have been levy'd in this Kingdom When King James went away we were reduc'd to what Mr Hobbes calls the State of Nature the Original Contract being dissolv'd and the Ligaments broken which held us before together The Nation was then a Blank apt to receive any Impression The old Building was pull'd down and the Faults in it before might have been corrected if the Architects had been skilful and such Lovers of their Country as they pretended to be Never men had such an Opportunity of doing Good as they who had the chiefest hand in making the Revolution They had a Prince willing to consent to whatever might set us upon a right Foot if they had met his design of Landing here with equal Virtues The Gentry and People were at that time newly awaken'd from the Lethargy in which they had been for many Years They saw how narrowly Religion and their Liberties had escap'd Their Fears had made 'em Wise and Sober Their Eyes were universally open'd And they were wrought up to a Temper which seldom happens in a whole Nation of being capable to receive good and honest Councils It was in their Power for ever to have banish'd Flattery and Corruption from the Court and from another Place where those Vices are yet more hurtful and when they had chang'd Persons if they had taken Care at the same Instant to mend Things they had wrought a general Reformation in our Manners It was in their Hands to have given us a Sound Constitution They had before 'em the Errors of preceeding Reigns by which they might have corrected their Model They should have enter'd upon a strict OEconomy neither plundering for themselves nor suffering Others to grow Rich at the Public Cost They should have been as careful in the State as their Master was active in the Field they should have begg'd less and done more They should have avoided Bribery than which nothing could be more unseemly in Reformers of a State and which was certain to keep out the best and let the worst Men into all their Business They ought to have known that a new Settlement was to be maintain'd by severer Rules and Methods than perhaps are necessary in a Court where the Prince is born in Purple And lastly They should have made this Reflection That more than ordinary Virtue of all kinds was needful to answer the Peoples Expectations and that more than common Wisdom was requisite to maintain and justifie so great a Change The worst and most unhappy Kings that ever were would have rul'd better had it not been for the wrong Suggestion and wicked Incitements of the Flatterers about 'em But those Pests and Poisons of a Court are yet more to blame when things suceeed not well with Wise and Virtuous Princes That Declaration which the King sent to England before he came over was the Pole Star by which our State Pilots were to steer their Course 'T was well known that to keep the same Parliament sitting so many Years was what had chiefly debauch'd the Gentry of this Kingdom it was therefore expected that in the Act for declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject some Provision should have been made against thta Evil for the future Several Ministers who betray'd their King and Country have gone on to the last with Impunity by keeping Parliaments quite off but more have found a Shelter for their Crimes in Houses which they have long held together and of which they have had the handling for many a Sessions Could Men pretend to be Patriots and not take Care of securing that Post Could our Freedoms be any way certainly lost but by laying aside the use of Parliaments as was design'd in the Reign of King Charles the First or by keeping them so long sitting till a Majority of Members should be under Engagements with the Court as had almost happen'd in the Reign of King Charles the Second Were we not both times upon the very brink of ruin and in hazard of being no more a free People Did it not therefore import that Party which had heretofore made such high Professions for Liberty to provide that England might be no more threatned with the same danger Should not this have been a main Article in our Contract with their Majesties upon their Accession to the Throne who readily consented to all things that might make us safe and happy The King having promis'd in his Declaration To do all things which the two Houses of Parliament should find necessary for the Peace Honour and
they who heretofore thought the best way to preserve their Civil Rights was to keep the Purse and to have always something to give should be for settling such an immense Revenue on the Crown as may make Parliaments unnecessary If they who were so careful in King Charles's Reign not to burthen the Nation with Taxes should give away the Peoples Wealth as if England were a Mine of Treasure never to be exhausted If they who have ever asserted that all Rents and Payments to the Crown were the Kingdoms Revenues and not Alienable but by Authority of Parliament should in a short space of Time come to Alienate all the Crown Land and to leave the King hardly a Turf of Ground either in England or Ireland If they who formerly thought it sufficient Matter of Impeachment for a Lord Treasurer or any Other intrusted by the King to pass large Grants from the Crown to Themselves should give to their Creatures and share among one another in a few years of Crown Lands near to the Value of two Millions If the very Men who have Asserted and Claim'd it to be their true antient and indubitable Right and that it ought to be esteem'd allow'd adjudg'd and deemed That the Raising or keeping a Standing Army within the Kingdom in time of Peace unless it be with the Consent of Parliament is against Law If they who once believ'd this Eagle in the Air frighted all Motions towards Liberty If they who heretofore thought Armies in time of Peace and our Freedoms inconsistent If the same Men should throw off a Whig Principle so fundamental If they should become the open Advocates for standing Forces and even submit to Troops compos'd of Fâ—reigners If in this manner the Old Whigs whose Foresight and Courage has hitherto preserv'd England should quite change their Minds and go thus retrograde from all their former Speeches Actions and Councils If they should thus come to cloath themselves with the Foul Ridiculous and Detested Garments of the Tories and give into the worst of their Measures And if all that has been here discours'd should happen then would the Constitution of this Country be utterly subverted For Men finding themselves thus forsaken by the Antient Friends to Liberty would believe they were bought and sold They would imagine that there was no such thing as Virtue and Honesty remaining in the Kingdom They would think all Pretensions to the Public Good to be nothing but Designs of Ambitious Persons to lift themselves up to high Honours upon the Shoulders of the People And when Nations have before their Eyes an Arm'd Power to Fear and none in whom they can put any Trust they seldom fail of submitting to the Yoak Free States yield to Slavery when the Men best esteem'd and most in Vogue are generally thought to be corrupted This was the Condition of Rome under Augustus as Tacitus finely describes it Vbi Militem donis Populum Annona Cunctos dulcedine otii pellexit insurgere paullatim Munia Senatus Magistratuum legum in se trahere nullo adversante cum ferocissimi per acies aut proscriptione cecidissent Ceteri Nobilium quanto quis servitio promptior opibus ac Honoribus extollerentur ac novis ex rebus aucti tuta praesentia quam vetera ac periculosa mallent neque Provinciae illum Statum rerum abnuebant suspecto Senatus populique imperio ob certamina potentium avaritiam magistratuum invalido legum auxilio quae vi ambitu postremo pecunia turbabantur When the best and noblest Spirits were all extinct and when 't was seen that the Remainder were contented with Wealth Titles and Preferments the Price of their Submission the Romansthought it their safest Course to commit all to the Care and Wisdom of a Single Person In the same manner If in times to come it should happen that our Nobility and Gentry should be more sollicitous to get a small Employment than to keep a great Estate If the Persons of Note and Figure shou'd be sway'd by their private Interest without any Regard to the Public Good If it should be visible to the Counties and Burroughs that Men covet to be chosen not for their Country's Service but in order to serve themselves If it should grow apparent that neither Side is at bottom better principled than the Other that Court and Country Party Whigs and Church-men are nothing but the Factions of Those who Have and Those who desire Preferment If in this manner the whole Mass of Blood in the Body Politick should be corrupted the Nation will throw off that Reverence to Parliaments which has hitherto preserv'd our Liberties and like the Neighbouring Countries either terrify'd or allur'd they will by degrees submit to unlimited Monarchy And so we shall lose one of the best Constitutions that was ever set afoot for the well Governing a People Handling as we do the Methods whereby a Nation may Increase in Wealth and Power we thought it necessary to describe those Parties and Factions which probably hereafter may come to influence in its Councils And this has been done in order to incite Good Men to watch over their Growth and Progress and such Good Men chiefly as design to engage on neither Side but to bend all their Care that no Side may be able to hurt the Commonwealth And if it should be ask'd Why the Care of Liberty and preserving our Civil Rights should be so much recommended in a Paper relating to Trade We answer that herein we follow Machiavel who says That when a Free State degenerates into a Tyranny the least Mischief that it can expect is to make no farther Advancement in its Empire and no farther Increase either in Riches or Power but for the most part it goes backward and declines This deep Statesman has a saying in another Place well worthy of eternal Remembrance That the Prince who aims at Glory and Reputation in the World should desire a Government where the Manners of his Subjects are corrupted and depraved not to Subvert and destroy it like Caesar but to rectifie and restore it like Romulus than which the Heavens cannot confer nor Man propose to himself greater Honor. It may be objected that in France where all Thoughts of Liberty are extinguish'd Trade and Riches have of late Years very much increas'd But this admits of an easy Answer An absolute Prince with great Abilities and Virtues by Care and Wisdom may make his Country flourish for a time However if his Successors are weak or wicked all shall be soon unravell'd and go backward and Poverty shall soon invade the same People which before began to thrive for to make a Nation very Rich and Powerful there must be a long Succession of good Princes which seldom happens or a long Succession of good Laws and good Government which may be always had in Countreys that preserve their Freedom And without doubt 't is on this Accompt that Machiavel has asserted That no
Cities have augmented their Revenues or enlarged their Territories but whilst they were free and at Liberty And if in future times the Nobility and Gentry of England which God forbid should traffick the Peoples Rights for Titles Bribes or Places vilia Servitii pretia and if they should be induc'd fearfully or which is worse corruptly to give up this Constitution Poverty will creep insensibly upon us We shall as Machiavel says go backwards and decline Land will yield a great deal less than now Rents will be ill paid And we shall not have a Foreign Traffick large and extended enough to produce such a Naval strength as may make us Safe at home and Terrible abroad 'T is therefore upon the Authority of this great Man that we have laid down That a Country cannot Increase in Wealth and Power but by Private Men doing their Duty to the Public and but by a Steady Course of Honesty and Wisdom in such as are trusted with the Administration However if Things should hereafter proceed amiss 'T is hop'd the strong Constitution of this Government will in time throw off those Diseases which may affect it for a Season and that the united Wisdom of the Nation can recover us from that Decay of Health to which we may be reduc'd by a few Empiricks of State Their Giddy Management for a while may be supported and born out by the great Riches which peradventure may have been collected here by the Industry and Prudence of former Ages but if what has been gathering seven Centuries they should squander away in a few Years the Cries of that People whom they so impoverish will at last awaken the Parliament to enquire into and animadvert upon their Wild Proceedings If the Wealth and Power of a Country depend upon the Good Government and Stability of its Affairs it must certainly import all the different Ranks of Men to contribute their utmost that Things may be well administer'd And in mix'd Constitutions almost every Man is able in some Degree to help towards this for if the People are honest and careful in the Choice of their Representatives and if those Representatives perform their Duty Arbitrary Power can never be settled here and no Male Administration that may hereafter happen can long continue That we are in no Danger at present and that Matters proceed well now is allow'd but for the security of future times it may not be amiss frequently to repeat this Caution that our Whole depends upon keeping one Post well defended The Publick Virtue which must preserve a State is A Constant and perpetual Will to do our Country Good And where this Principle governs tho in the Minds of but a Few yet if they persevere with undaunted Courage the small Number may prevail at last to defeat the Malice of the Corrupt Part especially when the Endeavours of the Few are assisted by a Prince dispos'd by Interest and Inclination to promote the Common Welfare If Good Men were but as Active and Vigilant as their Opposites 't would not be so easie a Matter to change the Constitution of a Country When those who are concern'd in Honour and Interest to have things well administer'd do resolutely and firmly joyn together to oppose such as find their Profit by a Corrupt and loose Administration a Stand may at least be made and some Stop put to the further Progress of the Evil. But tho Pompey Caesar and Crassus compos'd a fatal Triumvirate and united in a strict League to Subvert the Liberties of Rome we do not read that there was the same Union and good Understanding between Lucullus Cato Cicero and the rest who endeavour'd to save the Common-wealth for the Luxury and Lazyness of some the froward Temper or Secret Ambition of Others made 'em either neglect or obstruct the Business of the Publick which might be the Reason that Caesar at last prevail'd In the same manner if hereafter a Cabal of Men in order to their own Greatness should design To change this Constitution To introduce a Government by the Sword and To give away all the Nations Wealth And if to these Ends they should form Assemblies and there propose what they intend to consent to in another Place They will succeed and their Attempts can never be withstood unless such as mean England well joyn in as firm ad League for its Preservation as They shall enter into for its Destruction If therefore in future times it shall be visible that some Men to build their own Fortunes are Pushing at their Countries Ruin good Patriots must then exert all their Virtue they must re-assume the Courage of their Ancestors they must lay aside their Pleasures but chiefly they must Sacrifice to the Publick all their antient Animosities They must mutually forgive one another It must be no more remember'd of what Party the Man was it being sufficient to enquire whither or no he always acted upon the Principles of Honesty and Honour At such a time the best Men of both Sides if the Name of Parties shall still remain must shake hands together with a Resolution to withstand the unanimous subtle and diligent Enemies of the King and Kingdom In such a Juncture both sides must contend not which shall flatter highest but which shall best contribute to the defence of their Princes Person and to the maintenance of the established Government If bad Men shall have Meetings to consult how they may destroy our Civil Rights Good Patriots ought to meet calmly to Communicate Councils which way those Rights are to be preserv'd for Machiavel says There is not a better or more secure Way to Suppress the Insolence or Cross-bite the Designs of an Ambitious Citizen than to take the same way to prevent which he takes to advance them In such a Juncture not only the best of all Parties must be taken in but we must be angry with no sort of Men that are willing to unite against the Enemies of England for in a Nation which for a long time was as all allow upon a dishonest Interest 't will be difficult to find Persons whose Characters shall be intirely without a Blemish Nor indeed was there ever any Man perfect At such a Season therefore Men must place their Hopes in such as have most Abilities and fewest Faults especially when they live in the Dreggs of Romulus and not in the Republick of Plato's Institution If the Nobility and Gentry retain their wonted Courage and preserve their former Wisdom They will always rescue us out of weak and polluted Hands And will never endure that so Noble a Prince as we have now upon the Throne esteem'd by the whole World and Head of the Protestant Interest should at any time be distress'd at home or interrupted abroad in the Measures His high Valour purposes for the Good of Europe by the ill Conduct of any Minister Particular Men do often miscarry in the World notwithstanding that in their whole Transactions they
Publick Spoils will stir up the Legislative Authority to Interpose in looking after our future Safety And at such a season perhaps it will be thought the Sublimest Wisdom of all not to be angry with Persons but to mend Things and that it will not Import much tho the Criminal scape unpunish'd so the Fault can be Corrected The remorse and shame of having may be in a few Years ruin'd a Rich and Flourishing People for so the Case may happen will be Punishment enough to those who have left in 'em any seeds of Honour Such therefore as mean their Country well in an unhappy Juncture of this Nature when they go to give Affairs a better Complexion should in all likelihood begin their Work by Determining and Pronouncing What Councils have been directly against the Law what Advices have Tended to Impoverish the Crown and Kingdom and what Practices have wasted the Nations Trâ—asure And when in this Solemn Manner they have Condemn'd the Offences if they think fit the Offenders may be reach'd with Ease If we should ever have a Set of States-Men whose Offences will compel the Nation to Accuse them they will endeavour to cover their own Faults by recriminating upon the Proceedings of former times If they are Charg'd with wasting the Publick Treasure with giving away the Crown-Lands with aiming at Arbitrary Power and to Govern by the Sword they will be so Audacious to think they stand justify'd by answering The same things were heretofore done But they ought to make this Reflection that King Charles was in danger to loose his Crown and that King James actually lost it because his Ministers persu'd Measures distructive to the Kingdom And now in a few Words to Re-capitulate the whole Matter of this long Section If such as represent the People are Uncorrupt Unbyass'd and Disinterested If they diligently attend the Nation 's Service if they carefully watch Encroachments upon the Constitution If they make Provision against future Evils If they look Narrowly into the Debts and Expences of the Nation If they hold a strong Hand over the Men of Business And if in this Manner Private Persons perform their Duty to the Publick we shall not fail in all succeeding Times to see a steddy Course of Honesty and Wisdom in such as are trusted with the Administration of Affairs For it may be laid down for a certain Maxim That States-Men will hardly be Negligent Corrupt or Arbitrary when they are over-look'd with careful Eyes by so Considerable a Part of the Constitution And where Things are well Administer'd That Country will always increase in Wealth and Power Have we not before our Eyes the Example of Spain labouring under Publick and Private Wants occasion'd by nothing but a long Series of Misgovernment What has preserv'd the Venetians for thirteen Centuries against such Potent Leagues as have been frequently form'd against 'em but that the goodness of their Constitution has enabl'd them to do great things with a very little Would People under a Tiranny or indeed under a better Form of Government ill manag'd have defended themselves with such Courage as Venice and Holland have done Did ever Countries fight so Bravely for their Oppressors as Nations that have contended in the Defence of their own Liberties Where Matters are in a tottering Condition do not the People grow sullen and loath to venture their Stocks out of their sight Is it not seen that at such a time Men hoard their Mony up which should Circulate in Trade When the Subjects are under Apprehensions that ill Conduct at home will at last produce Wars Dangers and Invasions from abroad have they not in all Ages at such a Season intermitted their Foreign Traffick Manufactures and other Business What begets general Industry but hopes to have Property preserv'd Is it not evident that tho here and there a Private Man accumulates great Riches under an Absolute Monarchy yet that the whole Body of the People is always poor and miserable in Countries so Govern'd What encourages Men with infinite Care Labour and Hazzard to gather private Wealth which enriches the Publick at last but the hopes that stability of Affairs prudent Conduct and just Administration may produce Peace Security and lasting Empire Where Men have a Prospect of all this Strangers resort thither with their Wealth and Stocks whereas Merchants and other Cautious Persons abandon Countries whose Follies and Corruptions subject 'em to continual Changes and frequent Revolutions so that peradventure upon solid Reasons and very just Grounds we may lay down That nothing more Contributes to make a Nation Gainers in the general Ballance of Trade than good Laws well observ'd and a constant Course of Honest and steddy Government As Trade and Riches have their Principal Foundation in the Liberty and Laws of a Country so when those great Springs go right they set in Motion the Engine of a Common-Wealth tho some other Wheels may happen to be out of Order To have the Course of Law and Courts of Judicature proceed uncorruptly is such a Remainder of Strength and Health as may in time help to recover the other sickly Parts of a Constitution So that a Nation is not deprav'd beyond all hope of Cure which has in the Chief Seats of Judgment Men of deep Learning Probity Moderation and Integrity We shall Conclude this last Section with some Advices which Richlieu directs to Lewis the 13 th Unless Princes use their utmost Endeavours to regulate the divers Orders of their State If they are Negligent in the Choice of a good Council If they dispise their wholesom Advice unless they take a particular Care to become such that their Example may prove a speaking Voice If they are Negligent in Establishing the Reign of God that of Reason and that of Justice together If they fail to protect Innocence to recompence Signal Services to the Publick and to punish Disobedience and the Crimes which trouble the Order the Discipline and Safety of States unless they apply themselves to foresee and prevent the Evils that may happen and to divert by careful Negotiations the Storms which Clouds drive before them from a greater Distance than is thought If Favour hinders them from making a good choice of those they Honour with great Employments and with the Principal Offices of the Kingdom If on all Occasions they do not prefer Publick Interest to Private Advantages tho otherwise never so good Livers they will be found more guilty than those who actually transgress the Commands and Laws of God it being certain that to omit what we are oblig'd to do and to commit what we ought not to do is the same thing FINIS * Discourses on the Publick Revenues and Trade part 2 d p. 331. * Discourses on the Publick Revenues and on Trade Part 2 d p. 15. Machiavel ' s Discourses on Livy Polybius Lib. 1. See Scheme A. See Scheme D. See Scheme D. See Scheme D. * Vid. Sir Walter Raleigh ' s Remains p. 173. * England's Interest and Improvement p. 15. * Mine Adventure and Expedient p. 7. Vide Essay on the Value of the Mines c. Vide Discourses on the Publick Revenues and Trade Part II. p. 135. Part II. p. 414. * Edmund Spencer's View of the State of Ireland p. 222. Sigonii Commentaria Case of Ireland p. 84. Mat. Paris * Political Anatomy of Ireland p. 76. * Interest of England with Relation to the Trade of Ireland Testament Politique part 2. §. 7. Ibid. Testament Politique Par. 1. c. 4. §. 1. Prince c. 16. Part I. p. 196 197 198. P. 195. Part I. pag. 119. Testament Politique Part 2. C. 9. Sect. 7. Hobbb's Leviathâ—n p. 10. * Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject pa. 197. p. 192. Lib. 1. Ann. * Machiavel's Discourses on Livy lib. 2. c. 2. Lib. 1. c. 10. Lib. 2. c. 2. Tacit. lib. 2. Ann. Discourses on Livy C. 52. Tacit l. 3. Ann. Tacit L. 4. Hist Tacit lib. 6. Ann. Declaration and Remonstrance of Lords and Commons May 19. 1642. Tacit L. 2. Hist Prince Ch. 12. Ch. 13. Prince c. 3. Testament Politique du Cardinal Richlieu P. 2. Cap. 4. Discourses on Livy lib. 1. C. 26. Prince c. 22. Ibid. c. 22. Testament Politique du Cardinal Richlieu p. 2. c. 3. Testament Politique p. 2. c. 4. Discourses on Livy lib. 2. C. 1. Testament Politique Part. 2. Chap. 10.