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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A69897	An essay upon the probable methods of making a people gainers in the ballance of trade ... by the author of The essay on ways and means.	Davenant, Charles, 1656-1714.	1699 (1699)	Wing D309; ESTC R5221	132,769	338

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

AN ESSAY UPON THE PROBABLE METHODS Of making a People Gainers IN THE Ballance of Trade Treating of these Heads viz. Of the People of England Of the Land of England and its Product Of our Payments to the Publick and in what manner the Ballance of Trade may be thereby affected That a Country cannot increase in Wealth and Power but by private Men doing their Duty to the Publick and but by a steady Course of Honesty and Wisdom in such as are trusted with the Administration of Affairs By the Author of The Essay on Ways and Means Inter quae L. Piso ambitum fori corrupta judicia saevitiam oratorum accusationes minitantium increpans abire se cedere urbe victurum in aliquo abdito longinquo rure testabatur Simul Curiam relinquebat Tacit. lib. 2. Annal. LONDON Printed for James Knapton at the Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard 1699. INDEX SECT I. The probable Methods of Making a People Gainers in the Balance of Trade THE Author's Reasons for Writing upon this Subject with his Reply to the Pamphlets against his late Discourses on the Revenues and Trade of England Page 1 to p. 4. The difference between Writing and Speaking p. 5. The Author's Design in Writing p. 6. What should be the Study of those who would understand the Body-Politick of a Nation p. 8. The Author's Hypothesis upon the Ballance of Trade p. 9. We have been heretofore large Gainers by Trade p. 10. The Scope of this Essay p. 11. How the ill Effects and Consequences of the late War are yet to be remedied and prevented p. 12. The Natural or Artificial Product of a Country is the Spring and Original of Trade Ib. To find out the Result of the Peoples Labour and Industry we must consider the Number and Quality of the People according to their several Ranks or Classes together with the Quantity Quality and Product of the Land p. 13 14. SECT II. Of the People of England MR. King's Method in forming his Schemes about the Numbers of the People Page 15. Of the Original and Increase of the People of England from time to time with a Scheme thereof p. 16 to 18. The difference at this time between the Neat Annual Increase of the People and the general Increase by Procreation p. 19. The general Increase by Procreation proportion'd between the Country the great Towns and London p. 20. London takes up one half of the Kingdoms Neat Increase Ib. The Proportions of Marriages Births and Burials between the Country the Towns and London with a Scheme thereof p. 20 21. The Prolifickness of London compared with the Country p. 21. Reasons why the Marriages in London produce fewer Children then the Country Marriages Ib. The Proportions of the People in relation to Males and Females and other Distinctions with a Scheme thereof p. 22. Of the number of Communicants Fighting Men Batchelors and Maidens Ib. The Ages of the People according to their several Distinctions with a Scheme thereof p. 23. A general Scheme of the Income and Expence of the several Families of England Anno. 1688 Ib. The Number of the People is not pretended to be laid down but by way of Hypothesis p. 24. The Increase and Decrease of the People should be carefully observed Ib. Countries are more or less Populous as Liberty and Property are well or ill secured p. 25. Of the Increase of the People of Rome Ib. Considerations upon an Act of general Naturalization p. 27. Reflections upon the Number of Foreigners in London p. 28. The Danger of Foreign Troops with an Instance of it in Carthage p. 29 30. Large Armies Dispeople a Country p. 31. Of Encouraging Marriages p. 32. The Duties on Marrages and Births hinder Propagation p. 33. The Annual Marriages of the Kingdom are too few in proportion to the gross Number of the People p. 34. A large Proportion of adult Females remain unmarried p. 35. The near proportion between Males and Females is an Argument against Polygamy ib. The easie Composition for Bastard-Children hinders Marriages ib. England may be rendred one of the Strongest Nations in Europe p. 36 What it is that makes a Country powerful ib. Comparison between England and Holland p. 37 We may best check the immoderate growth of any Neighbouring Nation by making our selves powerful at Home p. 38 c. Reflections on the War between the Carthaginians and Romans Ib. Some Observations upon Mr. King's general Scheme of the Ranks Degrees Qualifications and Employments of the People p. 41 In Taxes the Nobility and Gentry bear but a small Proportion to the whole Body of the People Ib. All Duties upon the Consumption of a large Produce fall most upon the common sort p. 42 Excises upon our Home Consumption are not proper in times of Peace ib. High Customs and High Excises together are incompatible p. 43 The Proportion between the People and Families which subsist of themselves and such as have principally their Subsistance from others p. 43. 44 50 Duties upon the Home Consumption fall heaviest upon the lower rank consequentially tho' not directly p. 44. 45 48 High Excises in times of Peace are destructive to our Wealth unless the Dutch Parsimony could be introduced amongst Us and will fall most heavily upon our Woollen Manufactures p. 45. 46 Of the Bulk of our Woollen Exports p. 47 The Bodies of Men are the most valuable Treasure of a Country p. 50 A Country may be Populous but Poor if their Numbers be not well Employed p. 51 Who they be that are a Burthen to the Publick ib. Of Cottagers and Paupers p. 52 Of the Releif of the Poor and who they are that swell the Poors Rates with the Advantages of Employing the Poor p. 53. 54. Of the Laws relating to the Poor p. 55 A Scheme for setting the Poor to Work and providing for impotent Poor by a general Incorporation of Snbscribers to a stock of 300,000 l. for 21 Years p. 57 Charities to the Poor in the Streets and at Doors computed at 300,000 l. per ann over and above the Poors Rates p. 65 Of Relieving and Releasing Prisoners for Debt p. 69 SECT III. Of the Land of England and its Product MR. King's Scheme of the several sorts of Land in England with the Quantities and Value Page 70 His Scheme of the Produce of the Arable Land p. 71 The neat Value of the Produce of the Arable Land p. 72 The Value and Produce of the rest of the Land p. 73 74 His Estimate of the live stock of the Nation p. 75 76 Observations upon the preceding Schemes p. 76. The general Rental of England is increased since the Year 1600. from 6 Million to 14 Millions p. 77 England has now 7 ¼ Acres per Head but is capable of maintaining double its present Number p. 78 It may be dangerous for some Countries to be very Populous but not for England p. 79 Countries not overstockt may suffer greatly for want of Corn

no such a Measure would be right for England is humbly submitted to better Judgments Mr. King computes the Value of the Horses yearly bred to be about 250,000 l. This Estimate seems not to be out of the way and from it we shall observe that by good Laws and a due Care in their Execution and by Encouragement from the great Ones above it might peradventure be brought about to double our yearly Breed and if this could be compass'd and if great Numbers of them should be sold in Foreign Markets provided it be deem'd safe for the State 't would be a new Addition to our National Stock and be just so much put into the Scale yet more to incline of our side the general Ballance Our Mines are another Product of the Earth and undoubtedly capable of great Improvements we ought to respect them as the Parents of all our Trade and which made us known to the first Merchants of the World the Phoenicians We have Tin Lead Copper Calamy Iron Coal Culm Allom Copperas with other sort of Minerals and what is in this manner dug out of the Earth cannot be a less Article than about 7 or 800,000 l. per Annum in the whole Rental of the Kingdom They who work these Mines and deal in these Materials know best what Laws and Constitutions they want to make their Business more easie at Home and to give their Commodities a freer Vent Abroad but if they need any Help from the Legislative Power most certainly they ought to have it since their Stock and Labour turn so much to the Common Good for whatever their Product yields in Foreign Markets is clear National Profit There are lately publish'd some extraordinary Accompts of the Mines in Cardiganshire where 't is said there are Eight large Veins of Silver Lead and Copper Oar lying near together in one Mountain nigh a Navigable River and a good Port. 'T is alledg'd That these Mines with a large Stock in a few Years may be advanc'd to a clear Profit of 170,000 l. per Annum This Computation does not seem at all extravagant to those who have look'd into the Accompts of what Mines produce in other Countries provided the Oar be good the Vein like to last and large ones seldom fail and provided there be no invincible Impediment from Nature to their Working they have stood still several Years for want of a good Agreement among the Adventurers 'T is said Sir H. M. has put 'em in a way of being wrought but if his Expedient should not succeed and if new Differences should arise the Legislative Authority may very well and justly interpose even to compel the Partners to some Agreement whereby the Work may be carry'd on for 't is a Justice due to the Publick at no time to suffer a few Stock-Jobbing Citizens to stand in the way of any National Advantage the Fraud and Corruption of which sort of Men have hurt England in more than one Particular If these Mines come but any thing near the Value Mr. William Waller has put upon them and with Reasons very probable they are a fit Object of the States Care and upon Inspection into their true Worth if private Purses cannot raise a Stock sufficient to set 'em going it were better done upon some publick Fond to be repaid out of the Profits than to lose what is represented as so immense a Treasure But should it prove less 't is not to be neglected for Nations like private Men who will thrive must look into small Things as well as great and for this we have the Examples of France and Holland whose Ministers examine into the minutest Matters where the Publick may possibly Reap any Advantage and 't is a very commendable piece of Wisdom were it but for this single Reason That to do so constantly begets a Habit of Care and Diligence in things of higher Importance The Fishery should be here treated of as being the Product of the Peoples Labour but this Point we have elsewhere handled However it falls naturally into our present Subject to observe That to recover the Fishery and to bring us to the Height and Perfection our Coast and Situation are capable of would increase the Numbers of our People for Men always multiply where they have Conveniences of Living It would find Employment for the Poor It would raise Rents and give a higher Value to all that Land produces It would set us right in several Nations where we are believ'd to deal at Loss and particularly in those Places where our Exportations bear no Proportion at least in Bulk with our Importations which might be supply'd by Fish We cannot therefore but earnestly recommend the serious Thoughts of this Matter and by what Methods it may be retriev'd to all such as love their Country and who wish to see us every Year more and more Gainers in the Ballance of Trade Having touch'd upon these Heads we shall proceed to say something of Wooll which is a main Article in the Produce of Land Mr. King computes the Value of the Wooll shorn to be about 2,000,000 l. per Annum And in the Discourses upon the Revenue and Trade we compute by a General Medium That the Material is improv'd one with another four-fold in the Workmanship so that the Value of the Woollen Manufacture made here may amount to 8,000,000 l. per Annum Perhaps neither of us are much out of the way in these two Calculations but suppose us a little under or over the Mark all People will agree with us That this Branch of our Product is very large and of the highest Importance The Writer of these Papers has an Accompt from a Person upon whose Judgment and Experience in these Matters there is great Reason to rely That our Exports of all kinds in the Woollen Manufacture amount to above two Millions per Annum which is so large a Part of our General Exportation that it must maim the whole Body of our Trade to receive any Hurt in so principal a Member Whatever Goods we make up of Foreign Materials and sell in the Markets abroad all above the Cost of the Materials is clear Gain to England in the same manner all our clear Returns from the Plantations which we Export are Neat Profit But where the Materials and Manufactures too are both our own as in this instance of the Woollen Goods two Millions carry'd out when the general Ballance of Trade is consider'd must be esteem'd as two Millions gain'd to the Kingdom for the Return of this Exportation supplies our Consumption of Foreign Goods which would otherwise be bought with Mony with some Overplus which Overplus is what must incline the Scale to turn of our side Some People have been apt to fear that we sink in the Woollen Manufacture because the Accompts of the fine Draparies exported have been heretofore larger than of late Years but such do not contemplate that tho' the Old may have

such parts as are found useful and to add such other Restrictions Penalties and Provisions as may effectualy attain the End of this great Work The Laws hereunto relating are numerous but the Judgment and Opinions given upon them are so various and contradictory and differ so in sundry places as to be inconsistent with any one general Scheme of Management Tenthly That proper Persons be appointed in every County to determine all Matters and Differences which may arise between the Corporation and the respective Parishes To prevent any ill Usage Neglect or Cruelty it will be necessary to make Provision that the Poor may tender their Complaints to Officers of the Parish and that those Officers having examin'd the same and not finding Redress may apply to Persons to be appointed in each County and each City for that purpose who may be call'd Supervisors of the Poor and may have Allowance made them for their Trouble and their Business may be to examine the Truth of such Complaints and in case either the Parish or Corporation judge themselves agriev'd by the Determination of the said Supervisors Provision may be made that an Appeal lie to the Quarter Sessions Eleventhly That the Corporation be oblig'd to provide for all publick Beggars and to put the Laws in Execution against publick Beggars and idle vagrant Persons Such of the publick Beggars as can work must be employ'd the rest to be maintain'd as impotent Poor but the Laws to be severely put in Execution against those who shall ask any publick Alms. THis Proposal which in most parts of it seems to be very maturely weigh'd may be a Foundation for those to build upon who have a publick Spirit large enough to embrace such a noble Undertaking But the common Obstruction to any thing of this Nature is a malignant Temper in some who will not let a publick Work go on if private Persons are to be Gainers by it When they are to get themselves they abandon all Sense of Virtue but are cloath'd in her whitest Robe when they smell Profit coming to another masking themselves with a false Zeal to the Common-wealth where their own Turn is not to be serv'd It were better indeed that Men would serve their Country for the Praise and Honour that follow good Actions but this is not to be expected in a Nation at least leaning towards Corruption and in such an Age 't is as much as we can hope for if the Prospect of some honest Gain invites People to do the Publick faithful Service For which Reason in any Undertaking where it can be made apparent that a great Benefit will accrue to the Common-wealth in general we ought not to have an evil Eye upon what fair Advantages particular Men may thereby expect to Reap still taking care to keep their Appetite of getting within moderate Bounds laying all just and reasonable Restraints upon it and making due Provision that they may not wrong or oppress their Fellow Subjects 'T is not to be deny'd but that if fewer Hands were suffer'd to remain idle and if the Poor had full Employment it would greatly tend to the Common Welfare and contribute much towards adding every Year to the general Stock of England Among the Methods that we have here propos'd of Employing the Poor and making the whole Body of the People useful to the Publick We think it our Duty to mind those who consider the Common Welfare of looking with a compassionate Eye into the Prisons of this Kingdom where many Thousands consume their Time in Vice and Idleness wasting the Remainder of their Fortunes or lavishing the Substance of their Creditors eating Bread and doing no Work which is contrary to good Order and pernicious to the Common-wealth We cannot therefore but recommend the Thoughts of some good Bill that may effectually put an end to this Mischief so scandalous in a Trading Country which should let no Hands remain useless 'T is not all difficult to contrive such a Bill as may Relieve and Release the Debtor and yet preserve to his Creditors all their fair just and honest Rights and Interest And having in this Matter endeavour'd to show that to preserve and increase the People and to make their Numbers useful are Methods conducing to make us Gainers in the Ballance of Trade we shall proceed to handle the second Head SECT III. Of the Land of England and its Product IN treating of this Matter we shall again produce one of Mr. King's Schemes which are all of them so accurately done that we may venture to say they are not to be contraverted in any Point so material as to destroy the Foundation of those Reasonings which the Writer of these Papers or any other Person shall form upon them He computes that England and Wales contain 39 Millions of Acres according to the following Scheme Vide Scheme E. Scheme E.   Acres Value per Acre Rent     l. s. d. l. Arable Land 9,000,000 0 5 6 2,480,000 Pasture and Meadow 12,000,000 0 8 8 5,200,000 Woods and Coppices 3,000,000 0 5 0 750,000 Forests Parks and Commons 3,000,000 0 3 8 570,000 Heaths Moors Mountains and barren Land 10,000,000 0 1 0 500,000 Houses and Homesteads Gardens and Orchards Churches and Church-yards 1,000,000 The Land 450,000 The Buildings 2,000,000 Rivers Lakes Meers and Ponds 500,000 0 2 0 50,000 Roads Ways and wast Land 500,000 0 0 0   In all 39,000,000 about 6 2 12,000,000   True Yearly Value Value as rated to the 4s Tax Produce of the 4s Tax   l. l. l. So the yearly Rents or Value of the Land is 10,000,000 6,500,000 1,300,000 The Houses and Buildings 2,000,000 1,500,000 300,000 All other Hereditaments 1,000,000 500,000 100,000 Personal Estates such as have been reach'd in the 4 s. Aids 1,000,000 550,000 100,000 In all 14,000,000 9,050,000 1,800,000 So that whereas the Tax of 4 s. per Pound one Aid with another has produc'd but 1,800,000 It should produce if duly Assess'd 2,800,000 Place this Scheme p. 70. SCHEME F. The Produce of the Arable Land he thus Estimates in a Year of moderate Plenty   Bushels per Bushel Value     s. d.   Wheat 14,000,000 at 3 6 2,450,000 Rye 10,000,000 at 2 6 1,250,000 Barly 27,000,000 at 2 0 2,700,000 Oats 16,000,000 at 1 6 1,200,000 Pease 7,000,000 at 2 6 857,000 Beans 4,000,000 at 2 6 500,000 Vetches 1,000,000 at 2 0 100,000 In all 79,000,000 at 2 3 4 7 5 9 9,075,000 This is only the Neat Produce exclusive of the Seed Corn which in some sorts of Grain being near 1 5 of the Produce and in others 1 8 may in general be reckon'd about 11 Millions of Bushels more which makes the whole Produce to be 90 Millions of Bushels which at 2 s. 3 4 7 5 9 d. per Bushel in Common is about 10,338,600 l. Note That this Value is what the same is worth upon the Spot where the Corn grew but this Value is increas'd by the Carriage to the

of the Nation 's general Income which was our Condition before the War And unless this can be compass'd it will be found That in no long Course of Time we shall languish and decay every Year by Steps easy enough to be perceived by such as consider of these Matters Our Gold and Silver will be carried off by degrees Rents will fall the Purchase of Land will decrease Wooll will sink in its Price our Stock of Shipping will be diminished Farm-houses will go to ruin Industry will decay and we shall have upon us all the visible Marks of a declining People It may indeed be objected That France for about forty and Holland for above a hundred Years have thriven by Trade notwithstanding that all the while they have lain under the Burthen of heavy Taxes To which may be answered That where as in France the Administration in other Things is exact and right the Subjects though poor may enlarge their Traffick for general good Order makes amends for a great deal of Oppression but they would yet have had more Trade if their Prince had left 'em richer Besides Arbitrary Power has compell'd 'em to that Domestick Thrift which of it self goes very far to make a People succeed in Foreign Commerce tho' their Payments to the Publick are excessive And as to the Dutch they have been so long inur'd to this Parsimony that the more they are to pay the State the more they save at home and they always take care not to clog their Importations and from this Polity it comes that high Taxes are not hurtful to their Trade But in Countries where the Administration of Affairs is loose partly through the mildness of the Laws and partly through the bad Execution of 'em where the People have been in a long Possession of Ease and Plenty and where they think it an Essential part of Freedom to be as Expensive and Luxurious as they please and where no Man retrenches upon any publick Accompt whatsoever Among such a People high Taxes Duties and Impositions must inevitably occasion a decay of Trade and tho' their Dealings seem large and not to be interrupted they shall carry on such a sort of Traffick as will bring along with it at last their certain Ruin A variety of new Impositions and remote Fonds do not only hurt us in the Ballance of Trade as we have shown but they are dangerous to Liberty without which Trade can never truly flourish and without which it is indeed of no Importance for to what end should Men acquire Wealth which they cannot call their own And accordingly under Despotick Governments except in some places where the Administration of the Tyranny is very wisely carried on but few trouble themselves with the Thoughts of Foreign Traffick Whoever considers the vast number of new Duties now a-foot will find that 't is not impossible to make 'em the Engines wherewith bad Men some time or other may endeavour to undermine our Civil Rights 'T is true in this Reign we have no reason to entertain such a Fear but a Country that will preserve its Constitution must provide against remote Dangers At present we pay to the Government besides the Three Shillings Aid and Poll-Mony so many Duties Old and New as amount to about Three Millions and a half per Annum Some of 'em 't is true expire shortly But suppose Necessity or bad Management and there is nothing which ill Husbandry cannot devour should compel us to continue what is now expiring for a longer time and admit that for present Subsistance and to pay old Debts these Fonds of Three Millions and a half per Annum should be settled as a Security to Lenders for some certain time to come Suppose then a Government in the Possession of such a large Revenue at first legally granted put into a Method of Collection and to the Payment of which the People shall be accustomed And suppose in some future Reign the Ministers should be either weary or afraid of Parliaments and desirous to Govern by the Sword and without Law That this may happen is not impossible because we have heretofore seen Statesmen so dispos'd 'T is to be hoped this is a Danger very remote indeed but when a Ministry shall be so madly inclin'd the Symptoms of their approaching Frenzy will be evident enough for at such a Season we shall see 'em choose rather to be supply'd by distant Fonds than with what will produce ready Mony And they will take care that Revenues granted may not be well managed nor improved to the Height with this Design That the People may be kept in the dark both as to what they give and as to what each Branch is like to yield Suppose then an Ambitious and Desperate Set of Men with all these Thoughts about 'em and resolved to make their Master Absolute may they not with the Help of such an ample Revenue quite overthrow our Constitution Arbitrary Ministers have heretofore stopp'd the Exchequer and if we should ever see Men of the same Stamp upon the Stage of Business 't is not impossible but that they may run into the same wicked Measures especially if they should be back'd with the Support of a Standing Army The Liberties of a People are but in a very precarious Condition when they can be subverted by one pernicious Counsel It should therefore be the Care of such as love their Country to render this fatal Advice as dangerous and impracticable as Laws can make it At a time when there is such an Immense Revenue collected every Year it seems a Fault in our Constitution that sufficient Provision is not made against diverting and misapplying the Publick Treasure and against breaking into Appropriated Fonds And to speak in plain Words There is reason to fear that the Laws have not made it Criminal enough to stop Payments in the Exchequer When a Town that apprehends a Siege finds it self weak by Nature in one place the first Care of the Defenders is to fortifie that Post as well as ever they can In the same manner a Constitution that is attackable one way should strengthen that Part with severe Laws The Exchequer therefore should be fenced about with all possible Skill that it may never be invaded by bold and designing Ministers A Stop there would at once pull down all our Civil Rights Nay to stop the Principal only tho' the Payments of the Interest should be continued would be fatal to our Constitution for there would yet remain an Income large enough to make Parliaments useless And if wicked Men should thus set up for themselves they would still have Revenue sufficient to bear their Expences and to keep up an Army to awe such as their Conduct shall displease Some indeed will argue That a corrupted Ministry will as soon make new Levies of Mony as venture thus to divert what has been already granted and appropriated But this Objection has no weight in it The People more willingly

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 F●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

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 Tr●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-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 Leviath●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.