ENGLAND's Improvements In Two PARTS In the Former is Discoursed How the Kingdom of ENGLAND May be Improved In STRENGTH EMPLOYMENT WEALTH TRADE By Encreasing The Value of Lands The Revenues of the Crown and Church Peace and Amity with Forein Nations Without any Charge to the Subject In the Latter is Discoursed How the Navigation of ENGLAND May be Increased And the Soveraignty of the British Seas more Secured to the Crown of England TREATISE III. By ROGER COKE LONDON Printed by J. C. for Henry Brome at the Gun at the West-end of St. Pauls 1675. To his Highness The most Illustrious Heroick Highborn PRINCE RVPERT Count Palatine of the RHINE AND Duke of BAVARIA and CUMBERLAND c. THe Common Law of England most eminent Prince makes great difference between the Inheritance of the Crown of England and the Estates of Subjects for the next Heir though of half Bloud shall inherit the Crown Thus did Queen Mary inherit the Crown from Edward though but of half Bloud to him So did Queen Elizabeth from Queen Mary yet was but of half Bloud to her But no Subject of half Bloud shall inherit any Estate but for want of an Heir of the whole Bloud it shall Escheat to the King or the Lord upon whom the Estate was held And as the Common Law makes this difference in Bloud so does it in the Inheritance of the Crown and men born out of the Allegeance of the King For no person born out of the Allegeance of the King shall Inherit any Estate from any English Subject but the Heir of the Crown shall Inherit wheresoever he be born Thus did King James your Highness Grandfather and the happy Vniter of the British Monarchy Inherit the Crown of England yet was not born in the Allegeance of it The King of England though born a Forreigner may purchase and hold an Estate in England but no other Forreigner though born of Subjects to the Crown of England shall take an Estate by Purchase but the King shall have it The Reason of these differences I do not understand For as the Law secures the Inheritance of the Crown so doth it make a bar between this Nation and all others who desire to become Subject to it But if there were anciently any reason for this Law it is now ceased since the peopling the American Plantations the repeopling Ireland the Wars and late Great Plague have lost and consumed so many people out of England As the Common Law debars the Nation of any future supply for all these Losses so some Acts of Parliament have put the Nation into a Hostile condition with the World There was a Law made in the 5 of Rich. 2. c. 3. which forbid the English to carry forth or bring in Merchandize but in Ships of the King's Allegeance and the Marriners or more part Subjects but this Law was so intolerable that the next year viz. 6 Rich. 2. c. 8. the English had liberty to Trade in Forrein Vessels where others could not be had But this Law thus qualified by the Authority of the 1 Eliz. cap. 13. caused great displeasure between Forrein Princes and the Kings of this Realm and the Merchants were sore grieved and damaged thereby Therefore for the encrease and Continuation of Amity both the Laws made by Rich. 2. were Repealed and the English had liberty given them to carry out and bring in Merchandize in any Vessels paying Strangers Duties but if there were War or any restraint of English Ships then to pay but ordinary Duties But the English had liberty given them at all times to import Masts Raff Pitch and Tar in any Vessels paying ordinary Duties the former being for the preservation of the Timber of England the latter for the benefit of the Navy But the Rump-Parliament designing a War against the Dutch without any consideration of this Law or of the Statute of 14 Rich. 2. c. 6. whereby the Merchants of England in any Realm might freight forrein Ships to that Realm if the Ships of that Realm would not take reasonable Gains or of the 35 Eliz. 11. for the preservation of the Timber of England or of the 17 Car. 1. for Importation of Gunpowder which themselves had made all which yet stand in force and are unrepealed made a Thing Intituled An Act for encouragement and encrease of Shipping and Navigation commonly called The Act of Navigation whereby the English are forbid to import any forrein Goods unless in English-built Ships whether they can get them or not and Sailed by ¾ English upon penalty of confiscation of Goods Guns Tackle Apparel and Ammunition A War they designed and a War they had with the Dutch which lasted longer than their Government and so they left the Nation engaged in a War abroad and the Laws at War at home But though the Nation be freed from the Tyranny of the Rump yet it still labours under the miserable effects of this Law for with some few alterations it twice received the Royal Stamp viz. 12 Car. 2. 18. and 13 Car. 2. 14. As the terrour of this Law has put this Nation into a Hostile condition with the World so hath it suspended all those good Laws made by Queen Elizabeth and King Charles the first for preservation of the Timber of England and the maintenance and support of the Navy Royal whereby the Nation may be best secured from the danger of a forrein War Your Highness at your leisure may read how many other ways the Trade and Navigation of England have suffered under this Law as well in the former Treatises as these which now implore your Highness Protection In this condition then was the Nation involved in a War with the Dutch under the Glory and Conduct of your Highness who though descended from the Royal Extraction of the first Monarch of Great Britain yet is your Highness a Forreigner born and so not regarded by these Laws and therefore had little reason to expose your self to such imminent danger in defence of them if your innate affection for the Honour and Happiness of the English Nation did not otherways transcend all obstacles against it The Nation as well as his Majesty by a universal suffrage was satisfied with the necessity of your Conduct for the preservation of it I wish it were as well understood that these Laws and some other Grants and Vsages have made the Dutch so powerful to oppose it and the Nation in no better condition to prescribe Laws to them But Sir the vertue of your Noble minde is not circumscribed within the Pale of Military Discipline but extends to an Integrity and Judgement in Counsel equal to your Valour and Conduct in War And the Nation stands not in less need of your Counsel at home than it did of your Conduct abroad for as the Case stands though God should have Crowned your Conduct with such desired success as to have obtained an entire Victory against the Dutch yet could not this
Sweden Poland Muscovy Spain Italy and Turky with and which the French supply Spain Italy and Turky with and with which the French and Dutch cloy our Markets here in England we might then so far as the Woolls of England and Ireland would permit not onely cheaper supply all those places which the French and Dutch do but also so much better as our Woolls and Fullers-Earth is better in England than in France or the Vnited Netherlands And also conserve all that Treasure in the Nation which is expended in buying the Dutch Blacks French Druggets and other Woollen Manufactures of those Countries An ingenious Gentleman not long since said that the Dutch supplied Sweden with course Woollen Clothes for the Souldiery and poor people of Sweden and that by order of the Councel of Trade there I wish such a thing might ever be heard of in England many people attempted without Success and much loss to make these Clothes in Sweden But about four years since the Lord Landscroone of a Merchant made one of the Nobility of Sweden and a Member of the Council of Trade propounded the working these Manufactures in Sweden in case the Council would represent it to the King when he came to his Majority as an acceptable service and that for some time the Council would take of the Manufactures at the same terms the Dutch supplied them The Council assented to both and a piece of those Clothes was divided and the Arms of Sweden and of the Lord Landscroone stamped upon both that the Goodness of the future Cloath to be made in Sweden might be compar'd with the Dutch Hereupon Landscroone at his own charges hires Artificers from England and Holland who so well plied their business that last year Sweden was supplied with these Clothes by the work of the Natives and upon the same terms the Dutch supplied them And for the future the Lord Landscroone expects to be a considerable gainer as he well deserves I am sure the Kingdom of Sweden will be much more Prop. 7. Theorem 6. Forreigners may more securely encrease Woollen or any other Manufacture in England than in France or the Vnited Netherlands 5 Ax. 3. For things may be more securely done where the Agents are more safe in doing them 6 Prop. 3. But Forreigners may encrease Woollen Manufactures in England 16 Pet. 3. And Forreigners are more safe in working them in England than France or the Vnited Netherlands Therefore they may more securely encrease them in England Annot. After mens Interest they consult their Security and herein as Forreigners may encrease Woollen Manufactures cheaper and better in England than France or the Vnited Netherlands so are they more secure in working them than in either or any other place upon the Continent by reason they are more secure from the Invasion of Forreign Princes and States It is true indeed that one great reason of the encrease of the Strength and Trade of the Vnited Netherlands was the security men apprehended there as well as Freedom For the great Power of the Dutch by Sea was such as was not to be controuled by any or all other Princes except the King of England and the weakness of the bordering Princes by Land was such as the States gave Laws to them at pleasure But the terrour of the French Invasion in 1672 has much abated the opinion the World had of their Security in the Vnited Netherlands And now the Marquiss of Brandenburg the most powerful of all the Princes in Germany has recovered the Dominion of Wesel Rees Emrick and Orsoy which Commands the Rhine and is possessed of Skinkersconce which Commands the Rhine and Wael the opinion of this Security is not only much abated but the Dutch Trade to Germany and other places up and down the Rhine must be precarious as the Marquiss pleases Nor will the Dutch easily free themselves from the Neighbourhood of the French in Maestricht Maseike and other places Prop. 8. Theorem 7. The free Admission of Forreigners to work Woollen or other Manufactures in England will so much encrease Trade in England as the Forreigners are more 2 Ax. 1. For in every thing the effects will be as the causes are 4 Pet. 1. But greater numbers of People encrease Trade 18 Pet. 3. And the free Admission of Forreigners to work Woollen and other Manufactures in England will cause so many more People in England as the Forreigners are more Therefore it will so much encrease Trade in England Annot. This is evident as hath been said in that every one of these must wear Hats Shooes Clothes and many other necessaries whereby Trade and Employment of other people would be so much more as these Forreigners by this free Admission shall be more Prop. 9. Theorem 8. The free Admission of Forreigners to instruct the Nation of England in Woollen and other Manufactures may so much encrease Trade in England as the Natives Instructed in those Manufactures are more 7 Ax. 3. For things may be so much encreased as the Means are more 19 Pet. 3. But Employment of People is a mean to encrease Trade 20 Pet. 3. And the free Admission of Forreigners to Instruct the Natives of England in Woollen and other Manufactures may so much employ the Natives as the Natives instructed are more Therefore it may so much encrease Trade in England Annot. So that this Admission of Forreigners to work and instruct the Natives of England in Woollen and other Manufactures doubly encreases Trade in England viz. In the persons of the Forreigners but much more by instructing the Natives whereby they may be enabled better to maintain themselves and Families with all sorts of Conveniencies than if they were worse employed or not employed which is worst of all for then they become a Charge and Burden to the Nation The numbers of the Walloons which Edw. the 3d and Queen Eliz. invited and permitted in England and who first instructed the English in Woollen Manufactures were very inconsiderable to the numbers of the Natives of England who are now employed in them and by that means only are enabled to provide for themselves and Families to the encrease of Trade to those people from whom they are supplied So that that saying That there is but such a Trade in the world is only true by accident not necessarily for many thousands of people might encrease Trade in the world if they had means which being denied they cannot do Corollary By the same reason the free admission of the Natives of England to work Woollen and other Manufactures in Corporations in England may so much encrease Trade in England as the Natives so Admitted are more 19 Pet. 3. For Employment of People is a mean to encrease Trade 21 Pet. 3. And the free admission of the Natives of England to work Woollen and other Manufactures in the Corporations of England may so much more employ the Natives as the admission is more free Annot. If five pounds given with
Sails almost sufficient to supply the Navigation and Fishing upon the Eastern parts of England and the returns of these by the Dutch were chiefly for Clothes and other Manufactures and growths of England But the Act of Navigation not permitting the Dutch to import these and the English having so lost their Trade into the Sound and the Inhabitants of Riga Revel and other places of the Sound from whence the best Hemp and Flax comes little Trading with us into England and the Act of Navigation permitting the Dutch to import the Manufactures of Cordage Nets and Sails Consequences It came to pass that as the Natives lost a great exchange of their Woollen and other Manufactures for Hemp and Flax so did many thousands of poor people their Employment in making Cordage Nets and Sails Even the Town of Yarmouth in Norfolk before the Act of Navigation made yearly 2800 Tun of Cordage now not ten And the fitting up of Ships with Cordage and Sails became so dear that in the year 1650 several persons of good knowledge and experience in building Ships and any self built a Vessel of 100 Tun and fitted her out to Sea for 505 l. Four years after the same Builder built another both for the Newcastle-Trade of 110 Tum and this Ship fitted out to Sea cost above 800 l. And the reason of this dearness the Builder ascribed to the excessive prices of Pitch Tar Cordage and Sails Corollary 3. By the same reason the Act of Navigation endangers a Forrein Trade of our Woollen and other Manufactures 31 Pet. 3. For returns of Forreign Commodities exchanged for our Woollen and other Manufactures is a mean to conserve a Forreign Trade of our Woollen and other Manufactures 32 Pet. 3. And the Act of Navigation restrains the returns of Forreign Goods exchanged for our Woollen and other Manufactures to English-built Ships and sailed by ¾ English Annot. And what are these English-built Ships but neer double as dear built and sailed with neer double the charge of the Dutch and other Nations so as this charge added to the restriction by the Act of Navigation Consequences It comes to pass that it will be impossible to enlarge either the Forreign Trade of our Woollen and other Manufactures or the returns of them beyond this Navigation and the Merchant computing the charges he is hereby obliged to findes so much less vent for our Woollen and other Manufactures as the Returns become so chargeable that no profit arises to the Merchant thereby But besides this inestimable loss which the Nation hereby sustains in the Forreign vent of our Manufactures these two mischiefs necessarily attend this restriction and charge of this Navigation One that we impose a necessity of consuming the Forrein Goods returned in Barter of our own Manufactures which is generally in Luxury and Pride or if any of the returns be employed in our Manufactures the dearness of these returns imposes a further dearness upon our own Manufactures both in the Forein and Domestick Trade of them But it is time to proceed to the Expedients by which the Forrein Trade of our Manufactures may be enlarged Prop. 14. Theorem 13. The Repealing the Acts made the 18 and 20 Car. 2. c. 1. against Importation of Irish Cattle may encrease the Trades of our Woollen Manufactures and for Beer Hops all sorts of Dying-Stuffs Hides Fruits Sugars Tobacco's all sorts of Silk as well wrought as unwrought Ribbons Gold Silver and Silk-Lace with the Kingdom of Ireland and the Trade of Victualling ships by the Natives of England and Forreigners in the Ports of England 13 Ax. 3. For every business may be so much encreased as the means are more 40 Pet. 3. But the importation of Irish Cattle is a mean whereby the Kingdom of Ireland may hold a Trade with us for our Woollen Manufactures and Hops Beer c. 41 Pet. 3. And the Repealing the Acts of the 18 and 20 Car. 2. cap. 1. may make the importation of Irish Cattle more Therefore it may encrease the Trades of our Woollen Manufactures and of Beer Hops c. with Ireland and of Victualling Ships in the Ports of England Annot. If the Repealing these Acts would encrease the Trades of our Woollen and others Manufactures and growths to 210000 l. per Annum besides Victualling ships as they were before these Acts and are now fallen to less than 20000 l. per Annum as Mr. John Du Boise a worthy Citizen has calculated This would be more beneficial to the Nation than if 170000 l. per Annum were given to the Nation allowing 40000 l. per Annum for Principles than to continue it in the same condition it is in now these Laws stand in force But though the Nation might hope for some relief by the Repealing or Expiration of these Laws it can hope for none by repealing the Act of the 15 Car. 2. cap. 7. Intituled Trade encouraged for all sorts of Wire Hats Ribbons Buttons Gloves Bandstrings Hangings Stools Chairs Knives Sythes Sickles Cizars Sheaths for Knives Stockens Caps course Shifts and Frocks with the Kingdom of Scotland for the Scottish Nation offended by this Law imposed 90 l. per Cent. upon all Goods imported into Scotland from England and making use of opportunities have established these Trades and Manufactures among themselves to our Loss as appears more largely in the Annot. upon the 15th Prop. of the Equal Danger of the Church State and Trade of England Prop. 15. Theorem 14. The repealing the Acts of the 18 and 20 Car. 2. cap. 1. may encrease the value of the Lands of England 2 Ax. 1. For in every thing the effects will be as the causes are 6 Pet. 1. But Lands are valuable as the Trade of the place is 14 Prop. 3. And the repealing the Acts of the 18 and 20 Car. 2. cap. 1. may encrease the valuable Trades of England with Ireland Therefore it may encrease the value of the Lands of England Annot. Suppose 15000 people before these Acts were employed in those Commodities wherewith this Nation supplied Ireland this Employment enabled them to pay for the Provisions they bought of the Country-Farmor But the Trade of England with Ireland being interrupted by these Laws the employment of these people became proportionally lesned and by consequence the means by which they were enabled to pay for the Provisions they formerly bought of the Farmour and so the Lands of England so much less valuable By the Rule of Contraries then the repealing these Acts will so much encrease the value of the Lands of England as the Trades of England with Ireland are encreased whereby poor people may be employed and so enabled to give the Farmor better prices for Provisions than otherwise they could Corollary 1. By the same reason the repealing the Acts of the 18 and 20 Car. 2. cap. 1. may encrease the value of the Revenues of the Church 7 Pet. 1. For the Revenues of the Church of England are valuable as the
Lands of England are valuable 16 Prop. 3. And the repealing the Acts of the 18 and 20 Car. 2. cap. 1. may encrease the value of the Lands of England Annot. And so the repealing these Laws may encrease the value of the Revenues of the Crown not onely in the value of the Crown-Lands but in repairing the Customs which the King received for the Cattle imported out of Ireland into England which did amount to 30000 l. per Annum for which these Laws make no compensation to the King Prop. 16. Theorem 15. The Repealing the Acts of the 18 and 20 Car. 2. cap. 1. may so much better conserve Peace and Amity between England and Ireland as the Trade between them shall be more 13 Ax. 3. For every business may be so much conserved as the means are more 8 Pet. 1. But Trade is a mean to conserve Peace and Amity 15 Prop. 3. And the repealing the Acts of the 18 and 20 Car. 2. cap. 1. may encrease Trade between England and Ireland Therefore it may so much more conserve Peace and Amity between them Annot. As the Crown of Ireland is a Crown subject to the Crown of England so the mutual Trade and Correspondence between them will strengthen the Obligations so much more as their mutual Interests are hereby united These and many other benefits attend both Kingdoms by Repealing these Laws The Mischiefs and Inconveniencies which have ensued by making them in some measure appear by the Annot. upon the 18 19 and 20 Prop. of the Danger of the Church State and Trade of England Prop. 17. Theorem 16. The free Admission of Forreigners to buy the Woollen and other Manufactures of England will so much encrease the Treasure of England as the Money expended in it is more 1 Ax. 3. For every thing will be so much encreased as is added to it 1 Pet. 3. But Money is Treasure 33 Pet. 3. And the free Admission of Forreigners to buy the Woollen and other Manufactures of England will add so much more Money to the Money of England as the Money expended therein is more Therefore it will so much encrease the Treasure of England Annot. By free Admission here I do not mean the Freedom which English men enjoy viz. to buy them at the second hand of the Free-men of Corporations and after they have been charged with Land-carriage to London but at the next Ports or places where they are made Prop. 18. Theorem 17. The free Admission of Forreigners to exchange Timber Pitch Tar Rough Hemp and Flax all sorts of Dying-Stuffs and many other Forrein Goods for the Woollen and other Manufactures of England may so much enrich the Nation as the Goods exchanged may be made more valuable in the Manufactures by employment of our own people 11 Ax. 3. For any place will be so much enriched as things are more valuable than the charge 34 Pet. 3. But Timber Pitch Tar Salt rough Hemp and Flax all sorts of Dying-Stuffs many other Forrein Goods by employment of our People may be made so much more valuable than the Manufactures exchanged for them in our building of Ships and Houses in the Manufactures of Ropes Nets and Sails and in Dying our Woollen and other Manufactures of England as they are more and cheaper 35 Pet. 3. And the free Admission of Forreigners to exchange these for our Woollen and other Manufactures of England may make Timber Pitch Tar c. more and cheaper in England Therefore it may so much enrich the Nation Annot. As the free buying our Woollen and other Manufactures of England will encrease the Trade of our Woollen and other Manufactures whereby the Inhabitants will be so much more employed in them so by Exchanging Goods for our Manufactures we to our own enriching add another employment to our People and this so much more valuable than the Money wherewith the Goods are bought as the Goods become more valuable in other Manufactures than the Money And therefore it is an errour in the Act of Navigation to permit all Nations to import Money into the Nation and to restrain the importation of Goods to the English and Natives for if we did too much abound in Money this would be a burthen to the Nation and of ill consequence to the King and Subject For if a man as the case stands may buy that for 100 l. which if Money were five-fold encreased he shall pay 500 l. for it he hath five times the trouble in it And all Commodities being valued according to the plenty of Money the Revenues of the Crown and Leases granted by the Nobility Gentry and Church would be but one fifth of the value if the Money were five times more for they must pay five times more for the Commodities renewed upon their Farms and yet receive but the Rent at first reserved when the Commodities bore but â…• of the Money And therefore it was a prudent Institution of Cardinal Poole who being chosen Chancellor of the University of Cambridge when from the Spanish Indies the Money became so plentiful in England that the Members of the University could scarce buy Bread upon the Rents reserved on their Leases to have one third to be paid in Corn or so much as the prices of Corn should amount to in Cambridge market the Market-day before our Lady day and Michaelmas And therefore if our Treasure were more than our Neighbouring Nations I did not care whether we had one fifth part of the Treasure we now have I have often said in Coffee-houses and I am sorry I could not finde a more convenient place in England to speak it in at the beginning of the War between the French and Dutch That the French Nation would be exceedingly impoverished thereby and to the undoing of many thousands of the French For the French Trade for Wines Salt Paper Linnen and other the Manufactures of France was above all other Nations carried on in Forrein Trade by the Dutch Navigation whereby the Natives were employed and the Kingdom and Natives exceedingly enriched but the Dutch Navigation being removed by reason of the War all these Commodities of France which were Transported by the Dutch Navigation in Forrein Trade finde not like vent and by consequence the Nation loses much of the wealth it gained thereby and the Inhabitants their Employment Nor is it in the power of France to redress this without restoring the Dutch Navigation for admit the French King should take measures by our Act of Navigation as they say he does and endeavour to establish a Forrein Trade of the Commodities of France by his own Subjects and could make ships of Oyster-shells and Shingle and in an instant create Factories and make all the returns the Dutch do of the Commodities of France and without Experience or Instruction make Navigators and Marriners at his will of his Subjects yet so many of his Subjects as he makes Sea-men so many sewet he will leave to plant Vineyards make Paper
any forrein Government becomes subject to the Government of it not to the Religion of it and though God often punished the Jews for not observing the Religion and Ceremonies he prescribed them yet for conservation of Society and Commerce does he often pronounce great Judgments to them if they oppressed the Stranger in the Land though perhaps in less than paying Strangers duties Nor did I ever read of any forrein people who in any Country where they enjoyed a Religion they were bred in did make any disturbance upon the account of it But suppose which I do not grant that liberty of Religion to the Natives of a place be necessary for inlarging Trade and Commerce yet is this more tolerable in a Monarchy than a Commonwealth For Monarchy is one and Indivisible and therefore diversities or Factions in Religion can make no Confusions in it whereas Popular Governments being compounded of many are easily obnoxious to both Nor is it necessary that Trade and Commerce should only flourish in Popular Governments but within such places where it is more free and men are more secure their Interests may be better advanced This is evident in that the State of Genoua imposing 16 per Cent. upon goods imported made the Trade uneasie and the Duke of Florence who is as absolute a Prince as any with whom the Pope has to do taking the advantage of this Imposition by the States of Genoua did make Legorne a free Port whereby it is now under a Prince become the most flourishing place of Trade within the Streights And I have it from a good hand that when the French King about seven years since made Marseilles a free Port the Jews in Legorne considering that Marseilles was a better Harbour and France a nobler Country for Trade than Italy resolved to leave Legorn and establish themselves at Marseilles The Duke of Florence hereupon made an Edict That in case any Christian bought a Jews house it should be forfeit and this kept the Jews constant to Legorne where as in England if a Jew buys a house it is forfeit to the King I now desire my Reader to consider me in manifold respects and to bear with the Imperfections which I or it may be any other man may be subject to in a work of much less moment than one of this kinde For the Introduction of any business is more difficult than the progress And I do not know of any which has made an attempt upon this Subject in the differing parts of it before me I am also assured these Treatises will encounter many difficulties and discouragements Difficulties in being opposed by the Ignorant and Interessed for many particular persons may be interessed to the publick Detriment and these are known and many whereas in contending for the Publique I know not one who will be my Second Besides no man can so establish any Humane Action or Learning but he must submit the ends he designes to Gods Blessing which in a Luxurious and Effeminate Age cannot reasonably be expected yet I am assured no man can justly accuse me of any private designe of mine or reward I propound to my self other than if it pleases God now or hereafter to bless me so that these Treatises or any part of them may be useful to my Country or any one in it I may thank God I have not spent all my life in vain PETITIONS 1. MOney is Treasure 2. The Admission of forreigners to purchase Lands in England will add so much money to that of England as is expended therein 3. The admission of Forreigners to purchase Lands in England will cause so much greater numbers of people in England as the Purchasers are more 4. The admission of Forreigners to purchase Lands in England will cause so many less numbers of those in other places who may be Enemies of England as the Purchasers are more 5. Vnwrought Wools are Principles in Woollen Manufactures 6. The unwrought Wools of England and Ireland are more than are wrought in Woollen Manufactures in England 7. Tin and Iron are Principles in the Manufactures of Tin-plates 8. Lead and Potters Earth are Principles in many sorts of Earthen Manufactures 9. The Tin and Iron of England are more than is used in the Manufactures of Tin Plates 10. The Lead and Potters Earth of England are more than are used in Manufactures in England 11. The French and Dutch may have the Wools of Ireland Lincoln-shire Kent Sussex and Hampshire cheaper than the Wools of Ireland Derby-shire Nottingham-shire and other Midland Countries of England can be had at Colchester and Norwich 12. The free admission of Forreigners to work Woollen Manufactures in England will add so many more Agents therein as the Forreigners are more 13. The free admission of Foreigners to work Tin Plates in England will add so many more Agents in them as the Forreigners are more 14. The free admission of Forreigners to worke Earthen Ware in England will add so many Agents therein as the Forreigners are more 15. Forreigners may work Woollen and other Manufactures in England with less charge than in France or the United Netherlands viz. by the height of the Kings Duties upon Salt and Wine c. and the height of the Excise upon all sorts of Commodities consumed in the United Netherlands 16. Forreigners are more safe in working Woollen Manufactures in England than in France or the United Netherlands 18. The free admission of Forreigners to work Woollen and other Manufactures in England will cause so many more people in England as the Forreigners are more 19. Employment of people is a mean to encrease Trade 20. The free admission of Forreigners to instruct the Natives of England in Woollen and other Manufactures may more instruct the Natives of England 21. The free permission of the Natives of England to work Woollen and other Manufactures in the Corporations of England may so much more Employ the Natives of England as the Permission is more free 22. Corporations are the most convenient places in England to increase Trade 23. The free admission of Forreigners to work Woollen and other Manufactures in England will cause so much greater numbers of people in England as the Forreigners are more 24. The Crown Church State Laws Trade and Liberties of England are protected by the strength of England 25. The buying the Woollen and other Manufactures of England is a mean to vend them in forreign Trade 26. The Pre-emption of Freemen of Corporations restrains the buying our Woollen and other Manufactures to the Free-men of Corporations 27. Freedom in Trade is a mean to vend our Woollen and other Manufactures in forrein Trade 28. Trading in Companies exclusive to other men restrains the freedom of Trade of our Woollen and other Manufactures to such Companies 29. Exchanging forrein Goods for our Woollen and other Manufactures is a mean to have a Domestick Trade of our Woollen and other Manufactures 30. The Act of Navigation restrains the Importation
Dutch in so much worse a condition to have made War against either Prop. 3. Theorem 3. Woollen Manufactures may be so much encreased in England as the unwrought Wools of England and Ireland are more Subject Woollen Manufactures Question Whether they may be encreased in England c. I say they may 1 Ax. 3. For things may be so much encreased as the Principles are more than are used 5 Pet. 3. But unwrought Wools are Principles in Woollen Manufactures 6 Pet. 3. And the unwrought Wools of England and Ireland are more than are used in Woollen-Manufactures in England Therefore Woollen-Manufactures may be encreased in England Annot. If we encrease our Woollen-Manufactures in England these Benefits will accrue to the Nation First If one pound of Wooll worth one shilling made into one piece of Cloath or Stuff becomes worth ten shillings then is the Manufacture nine times more valuable to the Nation than the Land on which it is renewed and ten times more people are employed therein than the Shepherds and Clippers of the Wooll are And this Employment not only at one time of the year as the Shearing of Sheep is but always Secondly This would be a great comfort and encouragement to the Country Farmer to pay his Rent and maintain his Family whereas now the Wools of England not being wrought at home and so the Farmer not finding a Market at home becomes undone and not able to pay his Rent and if he seeks a Market abroad with it to sustain his Family and pay his Rent he commits Felony by the Law made 14 Car. 2. 18. Thirdly The working the Wools of Ireland in England would be ninefold more beneficial to England than the Wools to Ireland whereas by Transporting our Wools other places get so much benefit to our loss Corollary 1. By the same Reason the Manufactures of Tin-Plates may be encreased in England 7 Pet. 3. For Tin and Iron are Principles in the Manufactures of Tin-Plates 9 Pet. 3. And the Tin and Iron of England are more than is used in the Manufactures of Tin-Plates Annot. If we wrought the Manufactures of Tin in England the Nation would not only gain so much as the Manufacture becomes more worth than the Principles in Forreign Trade but we might employ many thousands of poor people who are and will be a Burthen to the Nation and also preserve all that Treasure which is expended by buying them of the Dutch and Hamburger Coroll 2. By the same Reason many sorts of Earthen Manufactures may be encreased in England 8 Pet. 3. For Lead and Potters Earth are Principles in many sorts of Earthen Manufactures 10 Pet. 3. And the Lead and Potters Earth of England are more than are used in Manufactures Annot. It is almost incredible what sums of Money are yearly sent into Holland for Earthen-ware though it be evident they have their Lead and Potters Earth from England whereby we do as much inrich them as impoverish our selves by not working them in England But our Manufactures both in Tin and Earthen-ware are so inconsiderable in England that Lead and Tin is Transported paying the King some Duties but by reason of the benefits which accrue to the Nation by Woollen-Manufactures Wooll is totally prohibited to be Transported whereas if the Manufactures of Lead and Tin were established in England the Reason against Exportation of them would be the same as of Wooll Prop. 4. Problem 1. How the Dutch and French may and do work Woollen-Manufactures made of the Wools of Ireland and the Eastern and Southern parts of England cheaper than the English at Colchester and Norwich Agents Are the Dutch French and English Question How the Dutch and French may and do work Woollen Manufactures c. cheaper Construction By the 11 Pet. 3. the Dutch and French may have Wools from Ireland the Coast of Lincoln-shire Kent Sussex and Hampshire cheaper than the Woolls of Ireland Derby-shire Nottingham-shire Lincoln-shire c. can be had at Norwich or Colchester by Water and Land-carriage I say the Dutch and French may work the Manufactures cheaper 2 Ax. 3. For things may be so much cheaper done as the Principles may be cheaper had 5 Pet. 3. But Wools are Principles in Woollen Manufactures 11 Pet. 3. And the French and Dutch may have the Wools of Ireland and Lincoln-shire c. cheaper by Water than they can be had at Norwich and Colchester by Land and Water-carriage Therefore the Dutch and French may work the Manufactures cheaper Annot. Though the smalness of the difference of the Prices of Land and Water-carriage from Ireland and the Midland-parts of England to Norwich and Colchester more than the Water-carriage from Ireland Lincoln-shire c. to the Ports of France or the Vnited Netherlands seem inconsiderable yet in the prospect of the consequences of it in reference to the Forrein Trade of them it is very considerable For if it be better as it is for any Nation to earn one thousand pound more or less by the employment of People as in the Vnited Netherlands than to have one thousand pound gotten to a Nation and the People not employed in it as in Spain And if two in the hundred charge in any place more than in another not subject to it may gain the whole hundred pound where otherwise they Trade upon equal terms then the whole hundred pound as it will be lost to that place will be gain'd to this It is true indeed if we had a Monopoly of Vending our Manufactures in Forrein Trade small charges were inconsiderable but now the Swede Silesians the Elector Palatine and other Princes of Germany have established Woollen Manufactures in their Countries and the French Dutch and Venetians have enlarged their Forrein Trades of Woollen Manufactures we are only secure of a Forrein Trade of our Woollen Manufactures so long as we can supply the World cheaper and better than they can Having so often given instances in the former and this Treatise of the Subject Agent Act and Question of every Prop. for the future we shall omit repeating them Coroll By the same Reason the English may work Woollen Manufactures made of Irish wooll in the Western parts of England and Wales and also Woollen Manufactures made of the Wools of the Midland Eastern and Southern parts of England cheaper than the French or Dutch 5 Pet. 3. For Wools are Principles in Woollen Manufactures 12 Pet. 3. And the English in the Western parts of England and Wales may have the Woolls of Ireland cheaper than the French or Dutch 13 Pet. 3. So the English may have the Wools of the Midland Eastern and Southern parts of England cheaper Annot. And as they have the Wools cheaper so may the Wools of Ireland be wrought in the Port-Towns of the West of England and Wales And the Wools of the Midland Southern and Eastern parts of England may be wrought in Port-Towns or places where the Manufactures without much Land-carriage of the Wools and
into Prop. 11. Theorem 10. The free Admission of Forreigners to work Woollen and other Manufactures in England may encrease the value of the Land of England 2 Ax. 1. For in every thing the Effects will be as the Causes are 6 Pet. 1. But Lands are valuable as the Trade of the place is 6 Prop. 3. And the free Admission of Forreigners to work Woollen and other Manufactures in England may encrease Trade in England Therefore it may encrease the value of the Lands of England Coroll 1. By the same reason the free Admission of the Natives of England to work Woollen and other Manufactures in England may encrease the value of the Lands of England 6 Pet. 1. For Lands are valuable as the Trade of the place is Coroll 3. Prop. 10. And the free Admission of the Natives of England to work Wollen and other Manufactures in England may encrease Trade in England Annot. upon this Prop. and Coroll So that though the Benefits which the Nation will reap by the free Admission of Forreigners and the Natives of England to work Woollen and other Manufactures would begin at Corporations yet would they not end there For Lands are onely valuable as the Crop or feeding Cattle on them finde a Market and therefore no man will Plow Sow or seed Cattle when he cannot hope for a Market and by consequence Lands are of little or no value where the people are few or none or if the people be poor they are of a poor value But both ways the free Admission of Forreigners and the Natives of England to work Woollen and other Manufactures will not only encrease the Markets with more people but also enable them to give the Farmor so much better prices for his Commodities as their Employments are better and therefore the Interest of the King Nobility Gentry and others who are owners of Lands are so much concerned herein as the value of their Lands would be hereby improved Coroll 2. By the same reason the free Admission of Forreigners to work Woollen and other Manufactures in England may encrease the value of the Revenues of the Church 7 Pet. 1. For the Revenues of the Church of England are valuable as the Lands of England are valuable Prop. And the free Admission of Forreigners to work Woollen and other Manufactures in England may encrease the value of the Lands of England Coroll 3. By the same reason the free Admission of the Natives of England to work Woollen and other Manufactures in England may encrease the value of the Revenue of the Church of England 7 Pet. 1. For the Revenues of the Church of England are valuable as the Lands of England are valuable Coroll 1. And the free Admission of the Natives of England to work Woollen and other Manufactures in England may encrease the value of the Lands of England Annot. upon the 2d 3d Corollaries As this free admission would encrease the value of the Revenues of the Church of England in reference to the Glebe-Lands and the Tythes of the Crops renewed upon the Lands in Villages so would it encrease the value of the Revenues of the Church in Corporations by how much the places would be better and more built and inhabited by a richer and better sort of Inhabitants And as this Admission may encrease the value of the Revenues of the Church so it may the Revenues of the Crown not only in the value of the Lands of the Crown but in the consumption of Beer Ale and all other Exciseable Commodities in England which will be so much more as the Forreigners by this Admission are more and may be so much more as the Natives by this mean may be better enabled to eat and drink more and better Coroll 4. By the same reason the free Admission of Forreigners to work Woollen and other Manufactures in England may encrease the strength of England 4 Pet. 1. For greater numbers of People encrease strength 23 Pet. 3. And the free admission of Forreigners to work Woollen and other Manufactures in England will cause so much greater numbers of People in England as the Forreigners are more Annot. Though Tradesmen and Artificers make not so good and hardy Souldiers as those who live in the Country and are of more robust lives yet I am sure they are better than none and the late King found by woful experience that the Companies made up of the Apprentices and Tradesmen of London were very good Souldiers and by good experience found that both were very serviceable to him Prop. 12. Theorem 11. The free Admission of Forreigners to work Woollen and other Manufactures in England may more secure the Crown Church State Laws and Liberties of England 9 Ax. 3. For things will be more secure as the means of Protecting them be encreased 24 Pet. 3. But the Crown Church State Laws Trade and Liberties of England are protected by the strength of England Coroll And the free admission of Forreigners to work Wollen and other Manufactures in England may encrease the Strength of England Therefore it may more secure the Crown Church State Laws Trade and Liberties of England Annot. Though I could not give particular instances hereof in England yet I am as well assured of the reason in this Proposition as if I could Sure I am it was the errour of Christian Princes especially of Spain by first imposing upon their Subjects in their Religion and neglecting to take care of preserving them in their native Countries which hath so encreased the Dutch strength by Sea and Land that they are not only able to protect their own Trade Church State Laws and Liberties but to give Laws to very many of the Princes in Christendom and to most of the Mahumetan Princes in the East-Indies Besides this free admission of Forreigners to work Woollen Manufactures as it will encrease the strength of England so much more as the Forreigners are more and so much more secure the Crown Church State Laws Trade and Liberties of England so it will so much weaken those places from whence the Forreigners come as the residue will be less able to endanger the Crown Church c. of England But all these benefits as they receive their birth by the free admission of Forreigners and the Natives of England to work Woollen and other Manufactures in England so will they necessarily be strangled in their future growth if with equal freedom they finde not vent in Forrein Trade whereby the Nation may be as well supplied with Forrein Commodities whereof it stands in need as also other parts of the World enabled to hold Traffique and Commerce with us by mutual Exchange for our Manufactures whereof they stand in need But before we proceed herein it is requisite to introduce this Proposition and Corollaries which though more proper for the Treatise of The Danger of the Church State and Trade of England yet not being said there it is convenient they be inserted here Prop. 13.
Linnen Salt and other Commodities of France and so much lessen the Manufactures of France as he encreases his Navigation But the Dutch War is but an accident of the time and it is probable when the French King pleases he may make Peace with the Dutch and so restore the Dutch Navigation again to the trade of France But alas who can ever untwist the Treefold Cord of the Law against Naturalization the Act of Navigation and the Freedom of Corporations here in England Each of these is more mischievous to us here in England than the Dutch-War is to France for France as it is a Kingdom above threefold greater than England so in that proportion it is doubly more peopled and therefore may much better endure the Sequestration of the Dutch Navigation and establish it upon the account of the French than we can our Coast being almost desolate and so poor that they can scarce maintain their poor and so have neither Men nor Means to conserve the little Trades they have much less to encrease them and the Country scarce half Inhabited and so the Lands of England not half improved and at this day I believe the Nobility and Gentry have above twenty thousand Farms in their hands and to take these from Husbandry to people our Coast and encrease our Navigation will leave so many fewer in the Country yet to Eternity for ought is known we must continue in this Condition Coroll 1. By the same reason the free permission of Forreigners to sell Timber Pitch Tar Rough Hemp and Flax and many other sorts of Forrein Commodities in England may so much enrich the Nation as they may be made more valuable by the employment of our people 36 Pet. 3. For Timber Pitch Tar c. may be made more valuable by employing our people in building and their Manufactures as they are more and cheaper 37 Pet. 3. And the free permission of Forreigners to sell these in England may make them more and cheaper Annot. Though Trade where the Commodities are consumed to loss becomes so much more prejudicial and impoverishes any place so much as such consumption is And therefore as all beneficial Trades ought to be made free and by all means encouraged so it may seem reasonable that destructive Trades where things are vainly consumed and the employment of our people hindred thereby as are our Trades to France and Spain for Wines and to France for fine Linnen Lace Points and the importation of Dutch Black Clothes and French Hats and Druggets whereby the employment of our people is hindred and so much of the Treasure of the Nation exhausted as is spent in our consumption of them ought totally to be prohibited yet neerly looking into it such prohibition will prove dangerous to our Trade at home and abroad and also to the Peace of the Nation For first as every man stands in need of being supplied by another so does every place and therefore if we should prohibit the Importation of the Commodities of France though it be evident the Nation consumes them all to loss except Salt and Sails yet we cannot then but expect the French will likewise prohibit the Importation of our Welch Frizes and Exeter Carseys Leather Gloves Ribbons and several other Commodities whereby the employment of all our Artificers in them being taken away they become miserable and the Lands on which the Wools and the Cattle were renewed become less valuable The reason is the same if we prohibit the Importation of Dutch Black Clothes who take off many of our White Clothes and other Manufactures of England Secondly If we prohibit the French Hats Druggets and Dutch Black Clothes we put our selves and the World upon the Monopoly of having only such as the English make who will soon know the prerogative they enjoy hereby and make the English pay more for worse work than they did before and make them so dear and bad that we shall establish the Forrein Trade of such things to the French and Dutch whereas the Importation of these will be an Awe upon the English to make ours so good and cheap as to supply us and the world better or they will lose their employment And Lastly Such Prohibition causes Haâ—red and Heart-burning between Princes whereby oftentimes Wars ensue though under other pretences Therefore if my opinion were worthy to be admitted no Goods of any sort should be Prohibited but if any be imported which are Luxuriously consumed with little or no employment of the people as the Wines imported are they should pay the King the full value in their consumption but little or nothing if they could be again Transported for the importation is beneficial to the Nation by improving the Rents of Houses the employment of People in Lading and Ualading and in vending our Corn and Provision to the Importer But if an employment may happen to the People of the Nation if things were not imported as in fine Linnen Lace Points Blacks and Druggets encouragement should be given to all people to instruct ours in those Manufactures and such duties for some time imposed on the Importation that better hopes might be expected here than otherwise in working them Prop. 19. Theorem 18. The free permission of Forreigners to Import Timber rough Hemp and Flax all sorts of Dying-Stuffs and all sorts of Forrein Goods will so much conserve the Treasure of the Nation as they are cheaper sold 12 Ax. 3. For things will be so much conserved as they are less expended 38 Pet. 3. But less Treasure will be expended in Norway-Timber Pitch Tar Forrein Hemp and Flax and all sorts of Dying-Stuffs and all other Forrein Commodities if they be cheaper vended 39 Pet. 3. And the free permission of Forreigners to import Forrein Commodities will make them cheaper vended Therefore it will so much conserve the Treasure of the Nation Annot. Mr. Mun observes in his 4th chap. of England's Improvements by Forrein Trade that as Legorne is the most flourishing part in the Mediterranean in Trade so the Inhabitants have little Trade but for Goods imported by the Dutch and English which they buy for ready Money and that the Great Duke lent him 40000 Crowns for a year gatis though he knew it would be presently sent out of Italy into Turky to buy Commodities the Great Duke well understanding the returns would be profitable to him and his Subjects yet not by Manufactures which is the most profitable by employing people but by vending them and that by Land-carriage to Milan Piedmont and other places in Italy But if by reason of the Freedom of Legorne wrought Goods imported by Forreigners and bought with ready Mony be so profitable to the Duke of Florence and his Subjects I am sure the free Importation of unwrought Goods into England by Forreigners might be much more profitable to the King and his Subjects by employment of the English in their Manufactures And if that Permission which Oliver dispensed to the
encrease the Navigation of England Therefore it will so much secure the Soveraignty of the British Seas to the Crown of England Annot. I say the Repealing of these Laws may encrease or rather restore the Navigation of England which it formerly enjoyed before them And in truth I am content this Trade and Navigation should so far as it can be carried on only by English yet in such Vessels as the English can manage it to their best benefit whereby only this Nation might be the Store-house of supplying the Irish with all sorts of Commodities they want and that the Nation might have the home-benefit of working their Wools and the forrein benefits of vending their Hides Tallow and Yarn c. for it is as much our Interest the English should enjoy these Trades and Navigation depending thereon as that only the English should have the benefit of the Trade and Navigation to our Plantations or the Dutch Interest alone to have the Spice-Trade and the Navigation which depends thereon But since Navigation is a mean of preserving the Sovereignty of the British Seas to the Crown of England the loss of it is as much dangerous to it It is not the number and greatness of the French Navy Royal which makes the French King neer so formidable at Sea as either the English or Dutch but their want of such Trades as might encrease their Navigation and Mariners Prop. 3. Theorem 3. The free admission of Forreigners to inhabit in England and in any Vessels to Fish and Trade into forrein parts with Fish caught upon the Coasts of England and Scotland may encrease the Navigation of England 1 Ax. 4. For business may be so much encreased as the Principles are encreased 5 Pet. 4. But Trade to and from the Ports of England is a principle of the Navigation of England 6 Pet. 4. And the free admission of Forreigners to inhabit in England and in any Vessels to fish and trade into forrein parts with Fish c. may encrease the Trade of England Therefore it may so much encrease the Navigation of England Annot. After the Navigation which may arise from the Trade of our Manufactures and the free Intercourse between England and Ireland I desire Navigation in England may be encreased by the Fishing Trade especially of the Fish caught upon the Coasts of England and Scotland not only as the Fish may be more conveniently caught by such as fish from the Ports of England if the King pleases to deny others to dry their Nets or take in Fresh Water in any of his Dominions but also the Freighting of Vessels with Beer and Provisions may be cheaper in the Fishery and forrein vent of Fish from the Ports of England besides the employment of many thousands of our poor people would be of infinite benefit to the Lands of England as the Fishery and forrein Trade of them should be encreased and the Towns upon the Eastern Coast of England which are now even desolate would become rich and populous Moreover it is a Scandal and dishonour to the Crown of England which contains the Sovereignty of the British Seas that the benefits which arise from these Seas should be lost to this Nation and established in others to their enriching and encrease of Navigation I say this free admission of Forreigners to inhabit in England and in any Vessels to fish and Trade into forrein parts with Fish caught upon the Coasts of England and Scotland may encrease the Navigation of England for thereby their Interest being planted in the Nation it would enjoy the fruits of their Trade and Navigation Nor do I understand how otherwise at least at present this Nation can hope to enjoy the Fishery upon the Coasts of England and Scotland or the forrein Trade of it or any part of it For the Inhabitants upon the Eastern Coast of England are so thin that the Towns upon it except Great Yarmouth are even desolate and so poor that they have no means to build or buy Vessels for this Trade nor have Factors or Agents in forrein parts whereby to entertain Trade and Commerce And also the Timber of England is so destroyed by the niggardly Trades we now enjoy whereby we can do little more than consume in England the Returns of our Manufactures and the Product of our Plantations that it is not long possible by it to maintain these Trades therefore less possible by it to establish the Fishing Trade which it may be will require more Shipping than we now employ in all the Trades we drive in the World Or in case we had quantities of Timber sufficient for carrying on the Fishing Trade yet would it be of no benefit to us in this Trade for the Fish cost nothing but the catching and the Hull of a Vessel for the Fishing Trade or Fishery may be built for ⅔ of what one of equal dimensions can be built in England and those built of English Timber are so heavy that they require ½ more Sails and Cordage to fit them up and so more Hands to manage them whereby it becomes impossible to the English to Fish and Trade so cheap as the Dutch and Hamburger Nor is this Mischief as the case stands possible to be remedied by Vessels built of forrein Timber in England for by reason of the high Duties upon it and the Advantages the Norwegians have by imposing their own Terms upon us the English at this day pay 30 l. per Cent. more for Timber imported than the Dutch or Hamburgers do Prop. 4. Theorem 4. The free Admission of Forreigners to Inhabit in England and in any Vessels to Fish upon the Coasts of England and Scotland and to Trade into forrein parts will so much encrease the Riches of England as the Vessels they Fish and Trade in are valuable 1 Ax. 3. For things will be so much encreased as is added to them 7 Pet. 4. But Fishing and Trading Vessels are Riches 8 Pet. 4. And the free admission of Forreigners to inhabit in England and in any Vessels to fish c. and Trade c. will add so many Vessels to those of England as they Fish and Trade in Therefore it will so much encrease the Riches of England Annot. This Admission of Forreigners to inhabit in England c. as it will so much enrich the Nation as the Vessels they Fish and Trade in are in value in case they bring Vessels into England so will it so much enrich the Nation in case they bought the Vessels here in England and employed them from the Ports of it For then the Nation retains the Vessels still and so much as is expended therein will be added to the Treasure of the Nation Since therefore the Nation will be so much enriched as the Vessels wherein Forreigners Fish and Trade from our Ports are in value I say that in case a Revenue for some time were established to pay every Forreigner who would inhabit in England and Fish upon the Coasts
the Herring from Scotland to Yarmouth whilest the wretched people upon our Coast stand starving and looking on and cannot employ one Vessel or Mariner in it Even in the Herring-fishing before Yarmouth we fish little above one fortnight and in that fishing the Dutch employ above threefold the Vessels we do and above twofold the Mariners Consequences From whence the Dutch are able without Pressing to Man their Men of War against us and at the same time to drive incredible Trades abroad when we by Pressing and Land-Souldiers to boot though we drive no Trade if we had not advantage by the goodness of our Men of War finde it difficult enough to oppose them whereas in case this Fishery and the Trades and Navigation depending thereon were driven by these Dutch-men or any numbers of them from the Ports of England the Dutch would have so much less means to oppose the English and dispute the Sovereignty of the British Seas and the English would have so much more means to defend themselves and bring the Dutch to Reason Prop. 8. Theorem 8. The free permission of the English to buy forrein Ships in all other Trades but the Newcastle East-Indie and Turkie Trades will so much more preserve the Timber of England as the Ships so bought are more 11 Ax. 3. For things will be so much preserved as less of them is expended 12 Pet. 4. But so much less English Timber will be expended in building English Ships for all other Trades but the Newcastle East-Indie and Turkie Trades by so many forrein Ships as the English buy in other Trades 13 Pet. 4. And the free permission of the English to buy forrein Ships in all other Trades but the Newcastle East-Indie and Turkie Trades may cause so many more forrein Ships to be bought as the permission is more free Therefore it may so much preserve the Timber of England Annot. And if it may preserve the Timber of England I am sure it is more than time the English were permitted to buy Ships in all other Trades but the Newcastle East-Indie and Turkie Trades for by reason the Act of Navigation confines the English to Trade and make Returns into the Ports of England only in English-built Ships the English have not only not been able to build one ship for the Norway-trade for Timber or the forrein Trade of white Herring or Cod caught upon the Coasts of England and Scotland since the Rump-Parliament contrived the Act of Navigation but to maintain the niggardly Trades we now drive wherein upon the matter we consume all the Returns of our Manufactures and the Product of our Plantations The Timber of England is so wasted that in any convenient distances for building Ships there is not ¼ of Timber left standing as was when the Rump-Parliament invented this Law See more hereof in the Annot. upon the 10 11 12 and 13 Propositions of The equal Danger of the Church State and Trade of England I have with as much Zeal endeavoured yet without success to represent this to the Parliament and the dire Consequences of it so far as I understood the Timber of England to be wasted upon the Coasts of Norfolk Suffolk and Essex And being last Easter-Eve was twelvemonth at Bristol some Gentleman and I went to see the Oxford Frigat then ready to be Lanched and built by Captain Baily a very Civil person and I believe an excellent Builder After some discourse I asked him if English Timber were plentiful in the West of England and he told me he with great difficulty got Timber to build this Frigat and that in building the Edgar-frigat he bought the Timber twelve miles beyond Worcester which is 50 miles from Bristol I then asked him what he thought of the State of the Nation as it now stands in reference to the Navigation of it in English-built Ships whenas the Ring with such difficulty built one Man of War he told me it was impossible to be continued and that he had more reason than another to know it for besides his long being accqstiomed to build Ships he had order from the King to survey his Western and Southern Forests and to return an Account of it to the King himself I thanked him and told him I was equally sorry with him for the condition of the Nation yet was glad a man of his Knowledge and Experience had the same apprehensions as I had though with all the Sollicitations I could use I was so far from getting relief to the Nation herein as that I could not get the Apprehensions he had herein to be received by the Parliament Prop. 9. Theorem 9. The free permission of the English to buy Ships in all other Trades but the Newcastle East-Indie and Turkie Trades will more secure them and also the Sovereignty of the British Seas to the Crown of England 2 Ax. 4. For things will be so much more secured as the means of preserving them are more 14 Pet. 4. But the Turkie East-Indie Newcastle-Trades and the Sovereignty of the British Seas to the Crown of England are more secured by means of ships built of English Timber 8 Prop. 4. And the free permission of the English to buy Ships in all other Trades but the Newcastle East-Indie and Turkie Trades will more preserve the Timber of England Therefore it will so much more secure the Newcastle East-Indie and Turkie Trade and the Sovereignty of the British Seas to the Crown of England Annot. If we consider how much the Newcastle-trade increases as does the East-Indie-trade and how much greater the Dutch War-fleet is than the King 's of England And that as the case stands the Newcastle-trade is necessary and the East-Indie-trade very beneficial to the Nation it may be a question if the growth of these Trades and the necessities of increasing the Navy Royal will not require greater quantities of Timber than for the future can be found in convenient distances in England however to preserve these it is very reasonable the English be permitted to buy Ships in all their other Trades Prop. 10. Theorem 10. The free permission of the English to buy Ships in all their other Trades but the Turkie East-Indie and Newcastle-Trades may increase the Navigation of England 3 Ax. 4. For things may be so much increased as the means are increased 22 Pet. 1. But Ships are means in Navigation 15 Pet. 4. And the free permission of the English to buy Ships in all other Trades but the Newcastle-trade c. may increase the ships of England Therefore it may increase the Navigation of England Annot. So that this permission as it will more secure the Sovereignty of the British Seas the Newcastle East-Indie and Turkie Trades so it may increase the Navigation of England in our Trades to and from our forrein Plantations the Trades to Hamburg into the Sound Muscovy France and Spain but especially to Norway for Timber Pitch and Tar in which Trade as we never built one ship
Lands To this I answer First That the Dutch do not onely hereby supply themselves plentifully so as the prices of Corn are constant and reasonable and so as whatever happens in other places they never fear a Famine but also upon all occasions supply other places with Corn so as a Famine or scarcity of Corn becomes their enriching whereas we are never at any certainty in the prices of our Corn but if a plentiful year happens whereby Nature has disburthened her self of more than she can renew the future year the Tenants are necessitated to vend it abroad at low prices to pay their Rent and when the dear year succeeds it may be we pay double for the same Corn again And I say also it is Plenty in all things which makes Cheapness and therefore wherever Corn is plentiful in proportion to the people or Market it will be cheaper But in case our Towns in the Mediterrane parts of England were replenished with all sorts of Artificers and the Ports of England abounded with the Dutch Navigation the prices of Corn would bear a proportion to the number of Artificers and Mariners and the means which by their Crafts and Traffick they should be enabled to buy Corn withal We then should not need to fear the Importation of Corn or Irish Cattle And I believe it would be a happiness equal to any Temporal both to the Land-lord and Tenant to have the prices of Corn constant and reasonable and that such stores were preserved in all great and Navigable places so as to prevent a Famine in England and to supply other places which labour under it Queen Elizabeth in the first Parliament of her Reign permitted the English in any Vessels to import Corn paying ordinary and but reasonable Duties which Law stands yet in force Corollary 2. By the same reason the free permission of the English in English-built Ships to export Newcastle-Coals and make Returns into the Ports of England may increase the Navigation of England 22 Pet. 4. For the forrein Trade of Newcastle-Coal by the English is a principle to the Navigation of England 23 Pet. 4. And the free permission of the English in English-built Ships to export Newcastle-Coals and make returns into the Ports of England may increase the forrein Trade of it Annot. By free permission here I intend such Duties only as that Newcastle Coal may with regard to the goodness of it be cheaper vended in forrein parts than Scotch-Coal from the Ports of Scotland for whilst the Duties of exporting Newcastle-Coal continue so high Forreigners paying above 16 s. per Chauldron and the English above 8 s. all Nations unless it be in working Iron Manufactures generally take in lading of Coals from Scotland We glory much that the Newcastle-Trade in our home-vent of Coals above all other Trades employs our Shipping and Mariners yet as has been said this Employment is to the loss of the Nation by how much Pitch Tar Cordage and Sails are consumed in it whereas the forrein Trade of it if free to the English for ought I know might employ more Shipping and Mariners and both the outward vent and the Returns may be profitable to the Nation I am sure the Coals under ground are no benefit to the Nation nor need we fear in case the collieries were drained ever to want Coals to supply our selves or Forreigners It is true Forreigners in France Flanders Holland and other places by this permission might work Iron Manufactures cheaper by how much cheaper the English should import Newcastle-Coal But to this I say that all Nations except the English in consuming Wines imported designe some benefit by Goods bought and sold and therefore in Traffick men compare the benefits in buying and selling and it is great Wisdome in any Nation so to establish Trade and Commerce that the Nations Traffick be improved and therefore in case the vending our Coals in forrein Trade and making Returns besides the employment of our Shipping and Mariners be more beneficial to this Nation than cheaper working Iron Manufactures be prejudicial to it this Exportation is to be prefer'd Another Objection against this permission is The King's Revenue will be hereby lessened by how much the Duties are less To this I answer First That the King's Revenue upon Trade is a Consequence to Trade and therefore if the King's Revenue upon Trade be higher than it can bear the Trade will be lost and then necessarily will be the King's Revenue and that it is the height of the Duties upon Coals exported which establishes so great a Trade of Coals in Scotland and makes our forrein vent so inconsiderable Secondly This Revenue upon Newcastle-Coals in the forrein vent of it is Farmed so that though the Duties be very high yet it may be the King's Revenue is not considerable Whereas Thirdly in case the forrein Duties were reasonable the greatness of the Trade might much more increase the King's Revenue than as it stands whenas the greatness of the Duties causes so small a Trade To sum up this Discourse and leave the Progress of so excellent a designe to others whose insight and abilities are better able to improve the Trade and Navigation of the Nation I say that in case we should reserve the East Indie the Turkie Trades and the Trades to our Plantations as also the home-vent and forrein Trade of Newcastle-coals to the Natives of England and again establish the Trade and Navigation to Ireland as it was before the Act against Importation of Irish Cattle and permit all Nations to inhabit and Fish from the Ports of England and import and export freely French Wines Brandies and Salt from France and Timber Pitch and Tar from Norway and Ruff Hemp and Flax from the Ports within the Sound I know not of any Trades or Navigation we should be in danger to lose so as not to employ our Shipping and Mariners but those to France Muscovy and into the Sound For the Trade and Navigation to Muscovy and into the Sound by English ships and Mariners only we have examined it in the Annot. upon the 13th Prop. the Coroll and 14th Prop. of this Treatise and finde it not only prejudicial to the Trade and Navigation of the Nation but dangerous to the conserving the Sovereignty of the British Seas to the Crown of England In the French Trade for Wines and Brandies I observe that this Trade above all others impoverishes the Nation not only as we debauch and impoverish our selves in drinking all the Wines good or bad imported but also in the Ware and Tare of the Vessels wherein we import them and the outward freight is with little else than Ballast and the Returns as well as outward Voyage in the most perillous seasons of Navigation of all others wherein we lose more Shipping and Mariners than in all our other Trades Navigation besides Whereas in case we should increase a forrein Trade of Newcastle-coals and restore the Trade we had to Ireland
the profit of them by forrein Trade And yet we have little else but the forrein Trade of our Woollen Manufactures so Taxed so Restrained and so Endangered as hath been in all the Three precedent Treatises demonstrated to sustain the Loss the Nation receives by the Newcastle-trade the Trade to our Plantations and the Trades to Norway France the Canaries and for Linnen I desire as much as any man that Navigation and Mariners may be encreased by the Natives of England and English Ships so far as the Natives of England in such Shipping can maintain Navigation yet both must be done in time and by such means as God and Nature have ordained viz. by encreasing Trade in England and if both Trade and Navigation cannot be carried on by the Natives alone I see no reason why at least at present Trade which is more excellent than Navigation should not be encreased though upon the account of forrein Navigation And I say it is impossible as the case stands that the forrein vent of our English Manufactures and the Fish caught upon the Coasts of England and Scotland can be encreased by English Mariners in English-built Ships For the Towns upon the Coast of England generally are become so decayed that they are not neer half Inhabited and so poor that they have no Means to build Ships or to buy our Woollen or other Manufactures or the Fish caught upon our Coast nor have Factories or Correspondence in forrein parts to establish Trade and Commerce yet if they had it is impossible long to continue the Navigation we now possess in English-built Ships therefore less possible to encrease it It 's believed the French Nation before their War with the Dutch gained above 6000000 l. yearly by the English and Dutch trading into their Ports for Wine Salt Brandy Linnen Paper and other Commodities of France Suppose the French King upon the account of encreasing the Navigation and Mariners of France should have excluded the English and Dutch trading into his Ports and by Edict have Commanded that all the Commodities of France vended in forrein Trade should first be brought to Paris there none to buy them but Free-men and Companies if they have any and they only to vend them in French-built Ships and Sailed by ¾ French whether they have Ships or Mariners or not and that the Returns of them should pay the King twenty times the Duties they should in case they were imported into Holland or Hamburg whether the employment of the Shipping and Mariners of France would have countervailed the loss France would have sustained thereby Or Reader consider chainging the places if this be not the Condition of England in reference to the forrein Trade of the Manufactures and the Fish caught upon the Coast of it Coroll 1. By the same reason the free Permission of Forreigners to make Returns of our Woollen and other Manufactures into the Ports of England and to export them may encrease Navigation to and from the Ports of England 1 Pet. 4. For Trade to and from the Ports of England is a principle of Navigation to and from the Ports of England 2. Pet. 4. And the free admission of Forreigners to make Returns of our Woollen and other Manufactures into the Ports of England and export them may encrease Trade to and from the Ports of England Annot. As the free permission of Forreigners to work Manufactures in England and export them would encrease Navigation to and from the Ports of England so would the free permission of Forreigners to make Returns of them into our Ports and export them and so would the Returns of these and the exporting them again and so infinitely whereby Navigation to and from our Ports may be infinitely encreased The Dutch and Hamburger we see have no principles of Trade or Navigation of their own yet from the principles of the Fishery upon the Coasts of England and Scotland and the Groenland Fishery and the Trades and Navigation depending thereon and the principles they acquire from other places by reason of their free Importation and Exportation employ more Shipping and Mariners than all the Christian Princes and States in all the world besides The seeming Objection against this Permission we hope to avoid in the Annot. upon the Coroll of the 16 Proposition of this Treatise Corollary 2. By the same reason the Repealing the Acts of the 18 and 20 Car. 2. cap. 1. against Importation of Irish Cattle may encrease the Navigation of England 3 Pet. 4. For Trade is a principle of the English Navigation between England and Ireland 13 Prop. 3. And the Repealing the Acts of the 18 and 20 Car. 2. cap. 1. against Importation of Irish Cattle may encrease the Trade between England and Ireland Annot. After the Navigation which may arise by the forrein vent of our Woollen and other Manufactures I desire the Navigation of England may be encreased from the Trade between England and Ireland not only as the Crown of Ireland is depending upon the Crown of England but also because the benefits and Security of the English Nation are more interwoven between them than can be expected from any other Country The Navigation which the Trade between England and Ireland before these Acts did maintain was First about one hundred Sail and a proportionable number of Mariners were employed in bringing over Cattle Secondly A considerable number of English Ships and Mariners Mr. John De Boyse can better inform the Reader the number than I were employed in the Trade of the Returns for their Lean Cattle in Beer Hops Hats Stockens Cloath and Stuffs of all sorts all sorts of Dying-stuffs Hides Fruit Sugars Tobaccoes and many other Commodities to Ireland Thirdly The Returns of these in Hides Tallow Wools Yarn c. from Ireland in forrein Trade was generally in English Ships and sailed by English Mariners But all this Navigation depending upon the first Intercourse between England and Ireland for their Lean Cattle the Cause of Importing Cattle ceasing the Navigation which depended upon it ceased and the Trade as well as the Navigation the Nation formerly enjoyed is not only lost to it but established in forrein Nations to the Endangering as well as Impoverishing this and of which you may more largely read in the Annot. upon the 18 19 and 20 Propositions of the Treatise of The Equal Danger of the Church State and Trade of England Prop. 2. Theorem 2. The Repealing the Acts of the 18 and 20. Car. 2. cap. 1. against Importation of Irish Cattle will so much more secure the Soveraignty of the British Seas to the Crown of England as Navigation shall be thereby encreased 2 Ax. 4. For things will be so much secured as the means of preserving them are encreased 4 Pet. 3. But the Navigation of England is a mean of preserving the Soveraignty of the British Seas to the Crown of England Coroll 2. Prop. 1. And the Repealing the Acts against Importation of Irish Cattle may