The Second Edition.

Whereunto is Added,

An ESSAY Towards

Paying off the Publick Debts.

By John Cary, Esq;

LONDON:

Printed by S. COLLINS in the Old-Baily, and Publish’d by SAM. MABBAT in Holbourn-Courtin Grays-Inn. MDCCXIX.

ERRATA.

Pag. 22. line 28. between the Words (Stuffs) and the word (which) add the Word (Imported.) p. 31. i. l. 31. for the Word (If) r. (In)p. 90. l. 24. instead of (a made) r. (made a)p. 115. in the Marginal Note, instead of (Wives)r. (Widdows.) p. 131. l. 33. instead of (Engaged)r. (Enacted.) p. 160. l. 30. instead of(what is) r. (is what).

TO

The Right Honourable

Spencer Compton, Esq;

SPEAKER,

And to the Honourable the Knights, Citizens,and Burgesses, of thisPresent Parliament ofGreat-Britain, Assembled.

May it Please your Honours,

THE First Edition of this little Tract, Relating toTrade, the Poor, was Humbly Dedicatedto his Royal Highness the Princeof Wales, when Governor of theSouth-Sea Company, which I thenthought, as I still do, might be ofService to the Nation, by alluring theHeir to the Crown, into an EarlyLiking of Trade, and Setting beforehim the Advantages that Accruefrom it, with the Methods wherebyit may be Improved; and therefore IContracted it into a Narrow Compass, to Encourage his Reading it.

THIS Second Edition, whereto I have added some Sure and Practicable Methods, for Discharging thePublick Debts of the Nation, withmost Ease to the People, I humblyPresent to this Honourable House; Ifit may be Usefull in your Debates, Ishall think my self very Happy.

’TIS the Ballance of our Trade, that Supplies us with Bullion; ifThat be in our Favour, it brings it tous, if Otherwise, it must be Carriedaway.

THIS Ballance is Supported by our Manufactures, which keep ourPeople at Work, and Enable them toMaintain themselves by their ownLabour, who must else Stand still, andbecome a Charge on our Lands; andtherefore I humbly Conceive it to beour Interest, First, to Encourage theirbeing worn at Home, and then togive a Preference to such things, asare Purchased for them Abroad, Rather than to those, which are Boughtfor Bullion; And if our Trade waswell Regulated, we should soon becomethe Richest, and consequently theGreatest, People in Europe.

I have made some Essay at such Methods, as I doubt not, being Improved by your Wisdoms, and Strengthened by your Authority, may Tend verymuch to the Effecting this great Work;And I humbly Offer the Six Propositions following, as so many Fundamentals, Necessary, for the better Ordering of our Trade, the Discharging ofour Publick Debts, and Supporting theCredit of the Kingdom, whereby HisMajesty will be Rendred more Glorious, both at Home and Abroad.

THE First is, a Committee of Trade, Made up of such Men as arewell Verst in the true Principleswhereon it is Founded, and therebyEnabled to make right Representationsof such things, as shall be Referred tothem by the Parliament; who, Holding their Places, according as they arethought Capable of Performing them,will be Carefull to Execute those Trustswith Judgment, Honour and Honesty.

THE Second is, a Due Inspection into the Affairs of the Poor, andputting an End to that PerniciousTrade of Begging, which I can Assurethis Honourable House, from the Experience we have had in their Regulation at Bristol, may be done, and thatthe Poor may be Trained up to an EarlyDelight in Labour; The Means andMethods whereby That wasAccomplished, though at first thoughtImpracticable, I have set forth in theAppendix. pag. 143.

THE Third is, the Keeping of our own Wooll at Home, and Preventing the Wooll of Ireland from beingTransported any where else, save tothis Kingdom only; which I am Persuaded can never be done, by any otherMethod, but by a Register, and thatThat will effectually do it; towardswhich I have made an Essay in thefollowing Treatise.

THE Fourth is, the Encouraging the Linnen-Manufacture in Ireland;’Tis not Easy to Comprehend the Advantages that will thence arise to bothKingdoms, when Each of them shallbe fully Employed, on a Distinct Manufacture; The Hands that are nowkept at Work there, on the Spinningof Wooll, might be then Turned to Linnen, and a great Part of their Landswould be taken up, in Raising Flax andHemp, for which they are very Proper; and then a Stop might be put tothe Importation of those Great Quantities of Worsted and Woollen Yarnthence, so Pernicious to the Poor of thisKingdom, the Spinning whereof, ifImported in Wooll, would amount tomany Thousand Pounds per Annum, to be Divided amongst them; And it is Certain, that Spinning is the most Profitable Part of the Woollen-Manufacture, because it is done by Women andChildren, who can no otherwise beEmployed.

IN the Year 1704, I was Desired by the Ministry, to give my Thoughtsof such an Undertaking, which I thendid, and Printed some ConsiderationsRelating thereto, Adapted for thattime, which I have added in theAppendix, pag. 187.

NOR can This be any Prejudice to the Linnens of North-Britain, beingof quite different Sorts; which shouldalso for many Reasons be Encouraged,by such Means and Methods, as on dueConsideration may be thought proper.

THE Fifth is, the Carrying on the Fishery, which Deserves all the Encouragement the Legislature can giveit; and I think the Readiest way to doit, is, by Incorporating such Societies,as are willing to set upon it with JointStocks, but not Exclusive to any others,which will Promote Industry, and Shutout Stock-Jobbing, the Bane of somany Good Undertakings.

THE Sixth, and indeed the Foundation of all the Rest, is, the Establishing a Substantial Credit, Large enoughto Answer all the Occasions of the Nation, both Publick and Private, which isthe Wheel whereon all the Rest mustTurn, and whereby, not only the Tradeof the Kingdom, but also the Occasionsof the Government, may be Supplied,and the Publick Debts gradually Sunk,by a Good Management; and This, IHumbly Conceive, cannot be Setled anyother way, but on a ParliamentaryFoundation, any thing less, will betoo Narrow.

IN the Year 1696, I made some Essay towards such a Credit, which Ithen Presented to both Houses of Parliament, and have now Incerted it inthe Appendix, Pag. 165. But the Bankof England, having about that timeFurnished his Majesty with a ConsiderableSum of Money, then very muchwanted, for the present Payment of theArmy, which the Ministry could nototherwise have Raised, though they Approved of the Projection, were Unwilling to Disoblige at that Juncture, bySetting up any thing like theirs, and sothat Matter Slept then, as it hadever done, if I had not Observed, thatthe Famous Mr. Laws had drawn aScheme from it, for the Service ofFrance, as near as the Constitution ofthat Kingdom will admit; Not that Ithink it can be Lasting, the Foundationbeing laid on Sand; Yet it hath Servedthe Present Occasion, to Pay off theDebts of that Nation, by an IncredibleStock-Job, which must in all Probability,End in Confusion and Discontent.

NOTHING can Support a National Credit, but a Steady Government, where the Arbitrary Will of a Prince,cannot withdraw, or Lessen the Securityat his Pleasure; and had sucha One been then Established here, in allProbability, we bad been severall Millions less in Debt, and not felt thatHeavy Load of Taxes, which hath Opprestour Lands, and Injured our Trade;Nor do I think those Debts can beDischarged by any other way, PrivateMen now carrying off those Profits,which should Sink them by Degrees.

THE Advantages of a National Bank, and the Good Effects it willhave, in this Free Government, towards the Lessening our National Incumbrances, will plainly Appear, whenit is Considered, that One HundredPounds Borrowed, will Circulate Two,besides it self, and thereby Reduce theInterest, to One Third Part of what ispaid to the Lender, but if it CirculatesThree, then to a Quarter, and it maybe, to much Less, according as a Bankhath Credit, and is found Usefull.

BY this Rule, if the Publick Pays Four per Cent. for Interest, it may byCirculation be Reduced to One, andthere is no Doubt, but that a Well-ConstitutedBank, will be soon Fill’d withMoney at that Rate; the great Groundof Buying and Selling Stocks being, theVast Sums of Money which lye Deadon Mens Hands, who hope thereby tomake some Profit, but would be Gladto Dispose of it, on a Substantial Security, at a Moderate Interest; Besidesthe Advantage it will be to Widdowsand Orphans, whose Money would beSafely Lodged, and bring them in aCertain Income, for their Maintenance; And here will be no Room leftfor Stock-Jobbing, which hath now gottensuch a Footing, even into our PublickAffairs, that the Parliament doth notgive a Land-Tax or a Lottery, wherethe Subscriptions to it are not Ingrost,by those who have not Money, in Order to make an Advantage, by Sellingthem to such as have, besides the VastCharge in the Management of Lotteries.

AND as to Trade, the Bank of England hath been very Serviceableto this Great Metropolis, by making aLittle Money serve the Uses of a GreatDeal, but the Benefit thereof hath Extended no farther; And why otherCities, and indeed the whole Kingdom, should not have the same Advantage, (which it will, if aNational Bank be Established, and Chambers Setled where Desired,) I cannotConceive.

AND here I must Refer to the Appendix, for the better Illustratingthe Benefit thereof, and the Manner ofits Institution, as then Intended, whichmust now admit of several Alterations.

IF such a Bank were Setled, the Charge of Managing it would be verylittle, and the Kingdom might growRicher some Millions every Year, andthe Government have an Addition toits Security, by drawing the Cash ofother Nations hither, whose Interestwould thereby become Interwoven withOurs; and Our Manufactures wouldbe Encouraged, by a Flux of Money,which is the Life of Trade; and This,with the Easiness of our Government,would bring the Monied Men of Europe to Settle here, which would be anAddition to our Wealth; The Tradermight hence be Supplied, with suchSums of Money, as he shall want, andfor so long time only, as he shall haveOccasion to use it; whereby the Fishery,and other Good Undertakings, maybe Encouraged, and our Wooll be certainly kept at Home; and the Gentlemen of England may be henceFurnished with Money at the Common Interest, and be Permitted, to make theirPayments by such Parts, as they canbest spare it; the Want of which isnow such a Clog upon their Estates, thatit destroys many Good Families; who,when they are once gotten into the UsurersBooks, can find no way to get out,till they have Paid the whole Debt atonce, so that their Estates are devoured, by Procuration and Continuation.

NOR is it hereby Intended to put a Force upon any Man; ’twill be theInterest of the Lender to put his Money into this Bank, where he hath socertain a Security, and of the Bankto take it in; and on the other Side, itwill be the Interest of the Bank toFurnish Money on the Terms here Mentioned, and of the Borrower to Receiveit; and this Single thing, will in timebring so great a Profit to the Publick,as will very much Sink the Debts ofthe Nation, whilst a Common Advantage is Interwoven with it.

NEITHER will this break in on the Priviledges Granted to the Bankof England, by Act of Parliament;for though they are allowed to LendMoney to the Government, on theTerms therein Mentioned, yet theGovernment hath not bound up it self,from Borrowing of any Others, and making their Payments in such aManner, as shall be thought mostAdvantagious to the Nation.

IF any Objections (not grounded on Private Interest) shall be made towhat I have here Offered, I believe aSatisfactory Answer may be given tothem, if this Honourable House shallthink what I have Written, Worththeir Consideration.

ALL I shall further add is, that it can scarce be Matter of Doubt, butthat most Men will Part with theirSecurities on Private Funds, and Relyon the General Credit of the Nation,though at a Lower Interest, wherebythose Funds will by Degrees, becomea part of the General Security, which,with what New Taxes shall be given,will be so Helpfull in Circulation, thatit will be next to Impossible, for themost Malicious Projectors, to Lessen the Credit of such a Bank, or to make a Run upon it; and those Taxes thatare Heaviest on the Poor, and most Injurious to our Manufactures, may betaken off: And there will be thisfarther Advantage, that the severalOffices, who are Entrusted to Buy forthe Use of the Publick, according tosuch Sums of Money, as shall fromtime to time be Appropriated by theParliament, will be Enabled to Purchase all things on the Lowest Terms,when their Bills on this Bank, shall beas Punctually Discharged, at the timewhen they become Due, as if they wereBills of Exchange, and in the meantime pass from Man to Man in Payment, which will be an Addition tothe Cash of the Nation, whereby agreat deal will be Saved in what theyLay out; and Men of Industry, but ofSmall Stocks, will be Enabled to deal with the Government, which now they cannot do; and will Endeavourwho shall Supply it on the Best Terms,when by such Payments, they shallbe Furnished, to go to Market again;And the Debts of the Nation will beso Incorporated therewith, that itwill be every Man’s Interest toSupport its Credit; and the Eye of a Parliament, which hath Power to makeExamples of Offenders, who throughFraud or Malice, shall Offer Violencethereto, will be sufficient to Deter, from such Evil Practices.

I am,

With all Dutiful Respect,

Your Honours

Most Obedient

Servant,

John Cary.

AN

ESSAY

TOWARDS

Regulating the TRADE,

AND

Employing the POOR

OF THIS

KINGDOM.

Of Trade in General.IN Order to discover, whether a Nation gets or loses by itsTrade, ’tis necessary first to enquire into the Principles whereon it is built; for Trade hath its Principles, as other Sciences have, and asdifficult to be understood: But when they are,’tis easy to discover whether a Nation gets orloses by its Management, and without this,we are not capable of making any true Judgment, it being possible for the Publick to growPoor, whilst private Persons encrease theirFortunes.

The Design of this little Treatise is to dissect and lay open the Trade of this Kingdom, as it is now driven, that so those Branches that shall appear to be Profitable may beEncourag’d, and those that are Otherwise maybe Amended.

The Profits of this Kingdom arise from its Product and Manufactures at Home, andfrom the Growths of those several Plantationsit hath settled Abroad, and from the Fishtaken on the Coasts, all which being raisedby the Industry of the People, are both itstrue Riches, and the Tools whereby it Tradesto other Nations, the Products coming fromthe Earth, and the Manufacturing of thembeing an Addition to their Value by the Labour of the People; now where we Barterthese things abroad for such as are only fitto be Eat and Drank, or are wasted amongourselves, tho’ one Man may get by the Luxury of another, yet the Wealth of the Kingdom doth not encrease: But it is otherwisewhere we change them for Bullion, or forCommodities fit to be manufactur’d again.

Its Original.The first Original of Trade both Domestic and Foreign was Barter, when one private Person, having an Overplus of suchThings as his Neighbour wanted, furnish’dhim therewith for their Value in such whereofthe Other had Plenty, but he stood in needof; the same, when one Nation aboundingin those Products which another wanted, supply’dit therewith, and received for themThings equally necessary in their stead: Andby how much the Products of any Nationexceeded its Wants, by so much it grew richer,the Remainder being sold for Bullion, orsome Staple Commodity, allow’d by all tohave an intrinsick Value.

And as People encreased, so did Commerce, which caused many to go off from Husbandry to Manufactures and other Waysof Living, for Convenience whereof theybegan Communities; This was the Originalof Towns, which being found necessary forTrade, their Inhabitants encreased by Expectation of Profit; This introduced ForeignTrade, or Traffick with neighbouring Nations;and this a Desire to settle rather on some Navigable Rivers, than in remote Inland Places,whereby they might be more easily supply’dfrom the Country with Commodities fit toexport, and disperse thither those they hadimported from abroad.

The Trade of this Kingdom.I shall now take the Trade of this Kingdom, as it is divided into Domestick and Foreign, and consider each, and how they are advantagious to the Nation, and may be mademore so.

Inland Trade.The Domestick or Inland Trade consists either in Husbandry, Manufactures, or Buying and Selling; Buying & Selling.the last of which, whereby oneMan lives by the Profit he makes by another,brings no Advantage to the Publick; PeoplesOccasions requiring Commodities to be retail’dto them in such small Quantities as would fittheir Necessities, they were willing to allow aProfit to him who bought them in greater;and as this sort of Traffick came more in use,so the first Buyers, not only sold their Commodities to the Consumers in the Places wherethey dwelt, but also to others, who beingseated in the Country at a Distance, made anAdvantage by supplying the Inhabitants there:This begat the Ingrossing Commodities, andthence arose Skill and Cunning to foresee theirRise and Falls, according to their Consumptionand Prospect of Supply. Hence camethe Viciating our Manufactures, every oneendeavouring to underbuy, that he mightundersell his Neighbour; Which way ofLiving being found in time to have less Labour and more Profit than Husbandry andManufactures, was the Reason so many fellinto it.

From these Bargains Differencies arising, encouraged another Sort of People, whoseBusiness it was, either by their Wisdoms topersuade, or by their Knowledge in the Lawsto compel, the unjust Persons to do Right totheir Fellow-Traders (an Honourable Employment at the first, and is still so in those whokeep to the strict Rules of its Institution).Hence arose Attorneys, Sollicitors, and otherOfficers, which were found necessary to attend on those Suits, and other Services of theLaw.

Trade brought Riches, and Riches Luxury; Luxury brought Sickness, and Sickness wanted Physick; which required some to separatethemselves to study the Nature of Plantsand Simples, as also of those several Diseaseswhich bring Men to their Ends, who for theirAdvice received Gratuities from their Patients:These brought in Apothecaries and Surgeons,as necessary Attendants to their Employments;all which were maintained by keeping Peoplein their Healths. Many also of ripe Partswere fitted for the Service of the Church,others of the State; great Numbers were employ’d in providing Necessaries of Meat,Drink, and Apparel, others in fitting thingsfor Delights and Pleasures, and by this means,leaving Husbandry and Manufactures, flocktoff daily to Livelihoods, which tho’ usefuland convenient in their respective Stations,yet cannot be said to encrease the Riches of thisNation, but to live by getting from one another; Husbandry and Manufactures being theprofitable Employments, out of which it gathers its Wealth.

Husbandry.The next Part of the Inland Trade of this Kingdom is Husbandry, which antecededBuying and Selling in point of time, tho'the other is treated of first in this Discourse;and this consists either in Feeding or Tillage,by both which we raise great Store of Cattle,Corn and Fruits, fit for the Food, Service,and Trade of the Inhabitants.

Feeding.To begin with Feeding: And here I might enumerate the various sorts of Cattle raised andbred by the Care of the Husbandman, butthose of most Note with respect to our Tradeare,

1. The Beef; which besides the Excellency of its Flesh for Food, affords manyNecessaries for our Trade, and is very serviceable in Tillage; with this we both nourishour Inhabitants at home, victual our Ships forforeign Voyages, and load them with theseveral Manufactures wherewith it doth supplyus; from the Milk we make Butter andCheese, from the Flesh Beef, from the SkinLeather, from the Fat Tallow, and of theHorns several useful Necessaries; the Overplus whereof above our ownConsumption we export, and sell in foreign Markets.

2. The Sheep; whose Golden Fleece being the Primum of our Woollen-Manufactures, does thereby employ Multitudes of our People; which being of different Lengths andFineness, makes them of various sorts;whereof they afford us a yearly Crop whilstliving, and at their Deaths we have theirFlesh and Skins; the first serves for ourFood, and of the last we make Things, fitto be used at Home, and Traded withAbroad.

3. Horses; whose Labour is so necessary, that we can neither carry on our Husbandryor Trade without them; besides their Fitness for War, being accounted the boldestin the World; and for all these Uses aretransported Abroad; for the first, to our Plantations in America, and for the last, to someof our Neighbouring Nations: But theirFlesh is of no Use, their Skins of little, theLeather made of them being very ordinary,only the longest of their Hair is used inWeaving.

There are sundry other sorts of Beasts, some whereof require no Care in Raising, otherslittle, such as the Stag, the Deer, theRabbet, the Hare, the Badger, the Goat,and many others, whose Skins are necessaryfor our Trade, and useful in our Manufactures.

Tillage.Tillage is that whereby we raise our Corn by turning up the Earth; the severalsorts whereof are Wheat, Rye, Barley, Pease,Beans, Vetches, Oats, &c. which not onlyafford Nourishment to ourselves, and theBeasts we use in Labour, but serve also forTrade; as they give Employment to ourPeople at home, and are transported Abroad,more or less, according to the Overplus ofour Expence, and the Want of our Neighbours, besides the great Quantities us’d in ourNavigation.

These Products are all clear Profit to the Nation, being raised from Earth and Labour; but their chief Advantages arise fromtheir being Exported, either in their ownkinds, or when wrought up, the Remainder,which is spent at Home, tending rather tosupply our Wants, than to advance ourWealth: Which Exports being more or lessaccording to the Price they bear in otherCountries, and those arising from the Proportion their Lands hold with ours in theiryearly Rents, are not so great in Specie, aswhen wrought up. Butter is the chiefest,wherewith we supply several Foreign Markets, and did formerly more, till by makingit bad, and using Tricks to encrease itsWeight, we lost much of that Trade, andare now almost beaten out of it by Ireland,which every year makes theirs better;besides, they undersell us in the Price, as theydo also in Beef, occasioned by the low Rentsof their Lands.

’Twas the Act of Prohibition made formerly in England, that first usher’d them into a Foreign Trade, their sole Dependancebefore that time being on our Markets, andfrom hence they were supplied with what theywanted; but being thereby prohibited from bringing hither their Cattle and otherProvisions, they endeavoured to find a Vent forthem in other Markets, which they did withgood Success, and to more Advantage; thesweetness whereof gave a spring to theirIndustry, and put them on theWoollen-Manufactures, which they also vended wherethey exported their Provisions, till in time itbecame so great and flourishing, as to give usApprehensions it would endanger ours.

Corn.As for Corn; Foreign Markets are supplied therewith, both from thence, and from theIslands of the Azores, cheaper than the Rentsof our Lands will admit; but our Plantationshave still some Dependance on us for our Product, and as the Lands of Ireland rise in theiryearly Value, they will have more. Wealso raise considerable Quantities of Hemp andFlax, both which are useful in our Trade.

Fruits.The other Fruits of the Earth, such as Apples, Pears, Cherries, Plumbs, togetherwith the Herbs and Plants, serve rather forFood and Delight than for Trade: someCider we do export; also Spirits raised by theDistillers, both from some of these, and fromBarly.

Fish.On the Sea-Coast both of this Kingdom, and also of Newfoundland and New-England, are caught great Store of Cod-Fish, Herrings,and Pilchards, which are saved, and sold inForeign Markets.

Minerals.Nor is this all the Product of our Earth, whose Womb being big with Treasure, bringsforth Lead, Tin, Copper, Calamy, Coal,Culm, Iron, Allom, Coppetas, and sundryother Minerals, which are sold in ForeignMarkets, whither we send them: Besides agreat Expectation we have from a much richerand more valuable Discovery, lately made inthat Part of Great-Britain called Scotland.

Trees.Among the several Trees that adorn our Fields, the Oak, the Elm, and the Ash, arethe chiefest; these not only serve in Buildingour Ships and Houses, but also furnish uswith Materials, wherewith our Artificers makemany Things fit for Commerce: And it weremuch to be wish’d, that better Care was takento preserve our Timber, for the Benefit ofPosterity.

Manufactures.The third Part of our Inland Trade is our Manufactures, whereby our Products areimprov’d in their Values, and made useful insundry manners, both for our selves andothers, by the Labour of our People; and fittedfor such Services, as of their own Natures,without the help of Art, they could not havebeen proper; and those to suit the Necessitiesand Fancies, both of our own, and also ofForeign Countries to which we Export them;where they yield a Price, not only according to the true Value of the Materials andLabour, but an Overplus according to theNecessity and Humour of the Buyers: And thisadds to the Profit, and encreases the Wealthof the Kingdom.

These Manufactures, as they employ Multitudes of our People in their Making,so also in Exporting them, and Importing Foreign Materials to be used with our own, suchas Oyl, Dye-stuff, Silk, Wooll, Cotton, Barilliaand many others, which are either Manufactured here by themselves, or workt up withour own Product.

Sheep’s-Wooll.And first to begin with Sheep’s-Wooll, whereof either by it self, or mixt with Silkor Linnen, we make Varieties of pretty Things,fit for all Climates, and proper for the Wearing of both Sexes; wherein the Invention andImitation of our Workmen have been so great,that they have out-done all that went beforethem. From a strong Cloth, fit to keep outCold in Winter, they have turn’d their handsto a fine thin sort, which will scarce keepwarm in Summer; from hence they fell onPerpets, Serges, Crapes, Stuffs, Sayes, Ratoons, Antherines, and many other Things,fit both for outward Garments, and inwardLinings; of various Colours, Stripes, andFlowers, some of them so fine and pleasant,as scarce to be known from Silk: Besidesthose Multitudes of coarser Cloths for the Poor;also Rugs, Blankets, and all sorts of Furniture for Houses. And such a Progress havethey made in these Manufactures, that a Manmay have his Picture wrought at the Loom,with the same Exactness as if drawn with aPencil; one Work-man vying to excell another, they make Things to answer allOccasions. And as for Arras and Tapestry, Ibelieve it will be allowed, that they do notfall short of those from whom they first hadthe Art: Add to these, Hats, Stockings, andmany other things, which are both worn athome, and Exported abroad.

Cotton-Wooll.The next material for the Manufactures is Cotton Wooll, which is now become a greatImployment for the Poor, and so adds to theWealth of the Kingdom; This being curiouslypickt and spun, makes Dimities, Tapes,Stockings, Gloves, besides several thingsWove fit for use, as Wastcoats, Pettycoats,and Drawers, of different Stripes and Finesses; and I doubt not the Workmen wouldequal the East Indies for Callicoes, had theyEncouragement; with all which we supplyour Plantations and other Foreign Markets,besides what serves for our Consumption atHome.

Hemp and Flax.Hemp and Flax are the Grounds for another Manufacture; for tho’ Weaving of Linnen is not so much used in South Britain,as of Woollen, yet in North Britain it is, andmay be farther improved, not so much byLaws to direct the Workmen in their makingit, as by apt Methods to Encourage them;and even in South Britain several Countiesare imployed thereon, who not only supplythemselves, but furnish those bordering onthem, with such Cloth as answers the ends ofFrench Linnens: Besides which, great Quantities of Ticking, of all Finesses, Incle, Tapes,Sacking, Girtwhip, and many other thingsare made thereof; also Cordage, Twine, Netts,with Multitudes of other Manufactures, whichImploy the Poor, and bring by their ExportsProfit to the Nation; and I can not hereomit Sail-cloth, wherein we have made a wonderful Progress in a little time, at the Chargeand Expence of private Stocks, who deserveto be Encouraged.

Glass.Glass is a Manufacture brought to so great a Perfection, that it keeps many of ourPeople at Work; and the Materials whereofit is made being generally our own, and inthemselves of small Value, costs the Nationlittle, in comparison of what it formerly did,when we fetcht it from Venice; the NoblePlate Glasses which we now make of all sorts,both for Houses and Coaches, do greatly setforth the Genius of our Workmen; besidesthe various sorts of Utensils made for common use, fit for all the Occasions of a Family, which look almost as well as Silver,and it would be better for the Nation thatthey were more used in its stead; also theGlass for Windows, of different Beauties;and Glass Bottles; all which find a greaterVent both at Home and Abroad by theirCheapness.

Earthen-Ware.And as for Earthen Ware, the Progress we have made therein is such, as may giveus Hopes, that Time will bring it to such aPerfection, as to equal if not exceed theDutch.

Silk.Silk is another Material for a great Manufacture; which being brought from AbroadRaw, we here Twist, Dye, and Weave intodifferent Goodnesses, both Plain, Striped, andFlowered, either by it self, or mixt with Goldand Silver; so Richly Brocaded, that we exceed those from whom we first had the Art;Besides great Quantities of Ribbons, SilkStockings, and other things, not only to serveour selves, but also to Export.

Distilling.Distilling is an Art so exceedingly improved, that had it not met with discouraging Laws, ’twould by this Time have attainedto a very great Heigth, and brings greatProfit to the Nation; for next to makingsomething out of nothing, is the makingsomething that is Valuable out of what wouldotherwise be worth nothing; therefore thisArt ought to have been handled Charily, tohave been Trained up with a great deal ofGentleness, and not loaded with Taxes inits Infancy, by which means we were like todiscourage it in the Begining; However ithath still bore up under all the Weight laidupon it; ’Twas a great mistake to appointMeasures by Act of Parliament to the Distillersin their Workings; Mens Knowledgeencreases by Observation, and this is theReason why one Age exceeds another in anysort of Mistery, because they Improve theNotions of those who went before them;Therefore confining the Distillers to Cornonly, was an Error, (’Tis true, other Thingswere allowed to be used, but on such Termsand Restrictions, as were next to a Prohibition) who by degrees would have madeExperiments on that themselves, using it withother Mixtures, and thereby drawing fromit a cleaner Spirit than it doth of it self afford,which they might in Time have rectified tosuch a Fineness, as to have encreased verymuch its Use; No Kingdom can give moreEncouragement to Distilling than this, whosePlantations being many, and well Peopled,where those Spirits are so necessary, and usefulfor the Inhabitants, and these dependingwholly on us for all things, would have causeda Consumption of very great Quantities, besides what is used in our Navigation; We havemany Materials of our own to Work on, suchas are, Molosses, Cyder, Perry, Barley, andothers, all which in time they would haveUsed; for as they found their Sales increased,they would have made New Essays; It was avery wrong Step, to discourage Distilling fromMolosses, Scum, Tilts and Wash; an Errorthe Dutch, nor no Trading Nation, wouldhave been guilty of, and proceeded from IllAdvice given the Parliament, by those, whounder pretence of advancing Corn, designedto discourage Distilling, only offered it bythat handle they thought it would be bestreceived in the House; Trade and Lands gohand in hand as to their Interest, if oneFlourishes so will the other; Incourage Distilling, and it will spend Hundreds of thingsnow Thrown away.

Sugar-Baking.Refining of Sugars have given Imployment to our People, and added to their Valuein Foreign Markets, where we found greatand profitable Sales, till the Dutch and Frenchbeat us out, occasioned by the Duty of 2 s.4 d. per Cent. laid on Muscovado Sugars,1 Jac. 2d. to be drawn back at Exportation,whereby they were wrought up abroad cheaperthen they could be at home; but that Lawbeing now Expired, and the Parliament havesince granted a draw back on Refined Sugarswhen Shipt out, hath very much helpt thatManufacture.

Tobacco.Tobacco also hath imployed our Poor by Cutting and Rowling it, both for a homeConsumption, and also for Exportation; butthe latter is lessen’d, as the Places, to whichwe used to export it, work it up themselves.

Tanning.Tanning of Leather is an Employment which deserves to be encourag’d, because itfurnishes us with a Commodity, fit to be farther Manufactur’d at home, and also to betransported abroad; I know the Exportationof Leather hath been much opposed by theShoemakers, and others who cut it at home,and represented as attended with illConsequences, one whereof is the making it dear;but, Would it not be of much worse to confine and limit that Employment to an Inland Expence? On the other side, would itnot naturally follow, that when Leather risesto a great Price, the Exportation must cease,because Ireland will undersell us? And wouldit not seem an unreasonable discouragement toTrade, if Tobacco, Sugar, and the WoollenManufactures, were debarred from being Exported, only because they should be soldcheaper at home? For suppose the Occasionsof the Nation could not consume all the Leather that is made, to what a Low Price mustHides be reduced, for no other Reason, butthat the Shoemakers may get more by theirShoes; ’Tis true, if they could make out,that those Countries must then have theirShoes from us, where we now Sell our Leather, I should be of their Minds; But it mustneeds be otherwise, seeing Ireland is able tosupply them; This proceeds from a very narrow Spirit, and such as ought not to be Encouraged in a Trading Nation; a good Export for Leather, will cause a great Importof Raw-Hides, which will be more Advantage to the Nation, then if they wereTann’d in Ireland, and sent abroad thence.

Minerals.Nor can I omit the several Manufactures made of the sundry Minerals we dig, and render malleable, which would be endless toenumerate, viz. of Tin, Lead, Iron and Copper, wherewith we not only furnish enoughfor our own use, but supply our Plantations,and other Places Abroad, the Workmanshipwhereof adds much to their Value; and fromthe last of these we have of late made Brassand Battery; an Undertaking begun by PrivateStocks, and carryed on without the help of aPattent for Fourteen Years, and I am of Opinion, it would be much better for the Nation,if good Projections were Rewarded some otherway, and left open, to be Improved by allwho were willing to make Experiments at theirown Charge; this in all Probability would bea more likely way to bring them to perfection,and in less time, then to tye Men down likethe Motions of a Clock, to be directed onlyby one Leaden Weight; of this we have alate instance in the Project of Beech Oyl, for if but one half of the Profit can be madethereby, that is set forth by the IngeniousPattentee, in his Book written on that Subject,against which I see no Objection, if the Computations are rightly Stated, I make no manner of doubt, but that private Stocks wouldbefore this time have made a greater progresstherein, than hath been done by thepresent Undertakers, on the Joint Stock; andtherefore I think it would be very proper,where such Pattents are Granted, after somereasonable time, to enquire into the Proceedings of the Pattentees, least the Nationbe deprived of the Advantages it expected toreceive, by the granting those Pattents.

Clockwork.There are many other Things which may be, and daily are improved amongstus; as Clock-work, wherein we sell little butArt and Labour, the Materials whereof theyare made being but of small Value; Watchesand Clocks of great Prices being sold for theCourts of Foreign Princes.

Paper-Mills.Paper-Mills are a Benefit to the Nation, as they make that Commodity from things ofthemselves worth little; so are Powder-Mills; Powder-Mills.also Handicrafts, Artificers.who supply us with thingsfor our own use, which must otherwise behad from abroad, and also with others, whichwhen Exported, are more or less Profitable,as the Labour of our People adds to theirValue, Things being cheaper to us when wepay only for the first Materials whereof theyare made, the rest being Work done at Home,is divided amongst our selves; so that on thewhole it appears to be the great Interest ofthis Kingdom to advance its Manufactures; Methods to improve our Manufactures.and this I humbly conceive may be donethese several Ways.

By imploying the Poor.1. By providing Work-Houses for the Poor, and making good Laws, both to Forceand Incourage them to Work; But designingto speak larger to this in the Close of thisTract, I shall refer the Reader thereto.

By freeing our Manufactures from Customs.2. By discharging all Customs payable on our Manufactures at their Exportation, andalso in the Materials used in making themat their Importation; for as one would Encourage the Merchants to send more abroad,so the other would enable the Manufacturersto afford them cheaper at home; and ’tisstrange that a Nation, whose Wealth depends so much on its Manufactures, and whoseInterest it is to out do all others, by underselling them in Foreign Markets, should loadeither with Taxes; but there having beensomething done in this since my offering itto the consideration of the Parliament in aformer Discourse, both as to the WoollenManufactures Exported, and also to Dye StuffsImported, which hath evidently appeared tobe an Advantage to our Trade, it may bereasonably hoped, that That Great Council of theNation will make a farther Progress therein,when it shall come regularly before them;because the Exportation of all our Manufacturers ought to be Encouraged, and not receive a check by any Modus of Raising Money,that so they may be rendred abroad on suchTerms, as no other Nation may undersell us;This whole Kingdom being as one greatWork-house, wherein if we keep our Poorimployed, they will advance the Value of ourLands, but if we do not, they will becomea Load upon them.

Logwood.And here I cannot but mention that of Logwood, a Commodity much used in Dying, which pays Five Pounds per TunCustom when Imported, and draws back ThreePounds Fifteen Shillings when Shipt out again,by which means the Dyers in Holland use itso much cheaper then ours do here; Now ifit was Imported Custom Free, and paidTwenty Five Shillings per Tun at its Exportation, the Dyers there would use it so muchdearer than ours; and I think it would bewell worth Inquiry, whether a Prohibition,either Total or in Part, of Shipping out ourManufactures thither, and to the NorthernKingdoms, undy’d and undrest, might not bemade, I am sure it would be a great Advantage to this Kingdom if it could be donewithout running into greater Inconveniencies;the Dutch discourage their being brought inDyed or Drest, that they may thereby giveImployment to their own People, andencrease their Navigation by the Consumptionof Dye-Stuff; the same Reason should prevail with us to Dye and Dress them at home;But this requires the due Consideration of aCommittee of Trade, to hear what may besaid both for and against it, before it be offered to the Parliament.

By not importing things manufactur’d.3. By discouraging the Importation of Commodities already Manufactured (unlesspurchased by our own, or by our Product) suchas wrought Silks, Callicoes, Brandy, Glass, &c.,and encouraging the bringing in the Materialswhereof they are made, to be wrought up here;by which means more Ships will be Freighted,and more Sailors imployed, besides the greatAdvantage to the Nation in the Ballance of itsTrade, which must be returned in Bullion, asthose Cost less abroad than the other; And thiswill enable us to afford a greater Consumptionof Foreign Commodities to please our Palates,such as Wine, Fruit, and the like, all whichfill our Ships, and are fit Subjects for Trade,when they are purchased by our Product andManufactures, and that the Profit of ourTrade will enable the Nation to bear the Expence.

By freeing our Manufactures from Excices.4. By freeing the Manufactures from burthensom Excises, which do much discouragesmall Stocks, who are not able to carry ontheir Trades, and make Provision for suchgreat Payments, besides the swarms of Officers, to whom we lay open the Houses of thoseMen, who deserve all the Encouragement wecan give them, and ought to have things madeas easy to them as may be; had they been laidon our Woollen Manufactures, as was oncehastily proposed, we might have repented itat Leisure; Trade ought to be handled gently, we may tax the Trader, without medlingwith his Trade; and he that considers the expence of this Nation at Five Pounds perHead (accounting only Eight Millions of People) comes to Forty Millions per Annum, andthe Lands only to Twelve or Thirteen, whichis more than they can be computed at by theAct of Four Shillings in the Pound, may seehow much we are beholding to Trade.

By rendring our Foreign Trade safe and easy.5. By securing the Merchants in theirTrades, who export our Product andManufactures, and making their Business, in relation to the Payment of their Customs, as easyto them as may be: To this end good Convoys should be provided in time of War, andgood Crusers maintained to preserve theirShips, it being certain, that whatever isdiminished out of the Merchants Stocks, doth sofar disable them in their Trades, and consequentlylessen their Exports; great care shouldbe taken that the fair Merchants should have the Modus of their entries at theCustom-House Customs.made as easy to them as mightbe, and a due attendance given at the Loadingand discharging their Goods when the Customsare paid, so that they may be dispatcht without Delay, and no unnecessary Remoras put intheir way, the loss of one Tide being manytimes the overthrow of a Voyage;Courts of Merchants. Courts of Merchants should be erected for the speedydeciding all differences relating to Sea-Affairs,which are better ended by those who understandthem, than they are in Westminster-Hall,where all things are tried by the nice Rules ofLaw, and therefore after much Attendance andExpence, are often referred by the Judges tosuch as are conversant in Trade; by thismeans the Merchants would see short endsto their differences; but no general Rulescan be given for these Courts, which must besettled, as they suit the Conveniencies ofTrading Cities.

By making the Bank more useful.6. By rendering the Bank of England more applicable to the Incouragement of our Tradethan now it is, which I cannot believe theMembers of that Corporation will oppose,when it shall manifestly appear, not only tobe the Interest of the Nation in General, butalso their own. And I humbly conceive thatit may be so directed, that every Subject inhis particular Station, may receive a Benefitby it.

Ease, Profit, and Security, will keep a Bank always full of Money, the first of whichwas formerly answered by the private Bankers,who received and paid out Money in the sameManner that the Bank now does, and theirNotes generally were as current: But beingfounded on their own Credits, great Lossesoften hapned, which gave Shocks toTrade; ’tis true, this Mischief is now guardedagainst, by the Fund which the Bank of England hath in the hands of the Government, yet Widdows, Orphans,Widows and Orphans. and others out of Trade,are not provided for; which might be done,if the Bank did take in what Money mightbe tendred to them, for such People who arenot able to manage it themselves, and to allowan Interest of ### per Cent per Annum,whilst it continued in their Hands; which tho’it may be below the common Rate, yet byreason of the security, and readiness of Payment, ’twould be preferable to a greater, attended with Hazard and Uncertainties; Bythis means none of the Money of this Nation would lye deadand useless; And on the other Hand, the Bankmight have liberty to lend any Sums at thelegal Interest, on this condition, that theBorrower may repay it by such Parts as he canspare it, and be discharged of the Interest ofwhat he so pays in, from the time of its Payment, and from thence forward be chargeablewith no more, than doth arise from the Money that remains unpaid.

Remittances.Nor is there such a safe and settled Course of Remittances from place to place as Tradeand the other Occasions of the Nation do require; Men often times paying their Moneyfor Bills which are not punctually discharged,and sometimes never, though they give a PrÆmio to the Drawer, which obliges the Travelling with so much Money, and gives Encouragement to Robbers: But this also might be prevented, if the Bank of England (that isnow settled in London) did appoint Chambersin other Places of the Kingdom, at suchDistances, as might best suit the Occasions of theCountry, and that their Notes given out forMoney, either at London, or in any one ofthose Chambers should be demandable in anyother; or by drawing Bills at one Chamberpayable in another, the Receiver allowing forsuch Returns after the Rate of ### per Cent. in the Chamber where he receives his Money.

If the Bank was thus regulated, the Nation would soon see its good Effects; Trusteesmight place out Orphan’s Money with goodSecurity, and Widows and others, whoseMaintenance depends on their Interest, wouldhave it duly paid to answer their Occasions;the whole Cash of the Kingdom would be ina continual Circulation, and not lye dead, astoo much of it now does; the Gentry andTraders, who are obliged on many Occasionsto take up great Sums at Interest, wouldhave it made easy to them, when they mightpay in by such Parts, as they could convenientlyspare it; and on the other hand, itwould be no Inconvenience to the Bank to receive it, which will by this means never wantBorrowers, and their Notes passing in Payment, will circulate instead of Money.

These Methods will prevent many Cheats and Losses, which are often occasion’d by fraudulent and insufficient Drawers, and abate theexcessive PrÆmio’s which are demanded byRemitters, when they can take Advantages ofMen’s Necessities; and the Taxes receiv’d inthe Country might be quicker and safer paidinto the Treasury. And if the Bank waslikewise extended to Ireland, it would be anAdvantage to both Kingdoms, which I shallspeak farther to, when I come to discourse ofthe Trade we drive to that Kingdom.

By increasing the Silver Coin.7. By increasing the Silver Coin of this Kingdom, which are the Tools wherewith theTrader works: It may at first seem strange,that our Silver Coin should grow scarcer, at aTime when we are at Peace with all Nations,our Trade open, and vast Quantities of Bullion yearly imported; but he that considershow much thereof is carry’d away to theEast Indies, and how little Encouragement the Importer hath to send it to the Mint, when hecan sell it for more to export, than ’twillcome to when Coined, will cease to wonder;and except some Care be taken in this matter, we shall soon be reduced to such Streights,that the Manufacturers must stand still: Forthough Gold may serve for large Payments, yetit can’t answer the Occasions of the Manufacturers, who are to make their Paymentsamong the Poor.

Now if these or such like Methods were made use of, they might very much encreaseour Silver Coin; as

1. Let the East-India Company be limited in the quantity of Bullion they shall Ship out Yearly, whether the Number of Shipsthey send be few or many; and let them beobliged to carry to the Mint such a suitableProportion according to what they send away,as to the Wisdom of the Parliament shallseem meet.

2. Let Incouragement be given to all Persons, who shall Voluntarily bring Plate orBullion to be Coined.

3. Let the Plate of Orphans be brought into the Mint, which will tend to their Advantage as well as to the Nations; whereasnow great Quantities lye dead, and grow outof Fashion before they come to use it, whichwill by this means, be turned into ready Money, and being put into the Bank, the Interest thereof may be Imployed for their betterMaintenance, and the Trade of the Nationwill also receive a Benefit thereby: If it beobjected, that ’tis now Sold to Goldsmiths, Ithink this makes the Argument for sending itto the Mint much stronger, because it is muchbetter that it were turned into the Coin of theKingdom, then disposed of in any otherway.

As for Gold, there is no need to give Encouragement to bring it to the Mint, ’tis only a Commodity, and not the Standard, as Silver is; besides, ’tis generally worth morehere than in any other Country; and ’tis apparent from the great Quantity thereof whichis Coined yearly more than of Silver, thatit is every ones Interest to send it thither.

By Discouraging Stock-jobbing.8. By discouraging Stock-jobbing; This hath been the Bane of many good Designs,which began well, and might have beencarry’d on to Advantage, if the Promoters hadnot fallen off by selling their Parts, and slighted the first Design, winding themselves outwith Advantage, and leaving the Management to those they had decoy’d in, whounderstood nothing of the Business, whereby allfell to the Ground; which may be prevented(I mean, so far as concerns IncorporatedStocks) by Laws framed for that end, orby Clauses in their Charters.

By preventing the Exportation of Wool.9. By strengthening the Laws against the Exportation of Wool, by such PracticableMethods as may prevent its being done: Forseeing the Nations Interest doth so much depend thereon, no Care can be too great, norMethods laid too deep: Laws concerningTrade, whose sole Strength are Penalties,rarely reach the thing aimed at; but Practicable Methods, whereby one thing mayanswer another, and all conspire to carry onthe same Design, hanging like so manyLinks in a Chain, that you cannot reachthe one, without stepping over the other,these are more likely to prevent Mischiefs:’Tis one thing to punish People when a Factis committed, and another to prevent theirdoing it, by putting them as it were underan Inability; Now where the Welfare of theKingdom lies so much at Stake, certainly itcannot be thought grievous to compelsubmission to good Methods, tho’ they mayseem troublesome at first.

The ill Consequences of shipping out our Wool.And that we may the better perceive the Mischiefs that attend the carrying abroad ofWool unwrought to other Nations, let usconsider the consequences thereof in what isShipt to France; whose Wool being verycoarse, and fit only for Rugs and Blankets,and such ordinary Cloath, is by mixture withours and Irish, used in the making of manysorts of Stuffs and Druggets, whereby theSales of our Woollen Manufactures arelessened, both there, and in other places whitherwe Export them; and by this means, everyPack of Wool sent thither, works up twobesides it self, being chiefly Combed, andcombing Wool, which makes Wool for theFrench Wool, and the Pinions thereof servewith their Linnen to make coarse Druggets,like our Linsey-Woolsey, but the Linnen being Spun Fine, and Coloured, is not easilydiscerned; also our Finest Short Wool, beingmixt with the lowest Spanish, makes a middling sort of Broad-Cloth, and being Wovenon Worsted Chains, makes their best Druggets, neither of which could be done with theFrench Wool only, unless in conjunction withours or Irish, Spanish Wool being too fine andtoo Short for Worsted Stuffs, and unfit forCombing, so that without one of those twoSorts, there cannot be a Piece of WorstedStuff or middle Broad-Cloth made; noother Wool but English or Irish will mix wellwith Spanish for Cloth, being originally Raisedfrom a Stock of English Sheep, the difference,arising from the Nature of the Land whereonthey are Fed; of this we have experience inour own Nation, where we find, that LemsterWool is the finest, next, part of Shropshireand Staffordshire, part of Gloucestershire, Wilts,Dorset and Hampshire, part of Sussex, Kent,Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, these are proper chiefly for Cloth, some part for Worsted;Sussex, Surry, Middlesex, Hertfordshire, andsome other Counties, produce Wool muchcoarser and cheaper: But then Berkshire, Buckingham, Warwick, Oxon, Leicester, Nottingham,Northampton, Lincoln, and part of Kent calledRumney Marsh, the Wool in most of theseCounties is so proper for Worsted, that allthe World (except Ireland) cannot comparewith it, therefore requires our greater care toprevent its Exportation; and more particularly from Ireland, whence it is exportedto our Neighbouring Nations, and soldcheap.

As for the Wool of North-Britain, I am not sufficiently verst therein, to give a trueAccount of the Nature of it.

Methods to prevent the Exportation of Wooll.I know many Methods have been thought of to prevent this pernicious Mischief, but allthe Laws I have yet seen, seem to reach buthalf way, they depend too much on Forceand Penalties, and too little on Method; wemust begin deeper, and secure the Wool fromthe time of its Growing, till ’tis wrought upinto Manufactures, and I think nothing lessthan a Register, to be kept in every County,will do it.

Nor will This be attended with so much Trouble and Charge to the Nation in General,or to private Persons in particular, as may atfirst be Thought: The time of Sheering being but once a Year, those who keep Sheep, maygive notice to the Officer appointed for thatDistrict, of the Number of Sheep they haveto Sheer, and the day whereon they intend todo it, that so he may be present to see theFleeces Weighed, and to charge them therewith; which charge must remain upon themtill they sell their Wool, and give noticethereof to the Office, when the next Buyermust be charged, and so toties quoties, till itcomes into the hands of him that works itup; And all this may be done by the Officersof the Excise, in such a manner, as may costthe Nation little.

And to prevent Frauds, let no parcel of Wool above such a Weight as the Parliament shall think fit, be carried from placeto place, but in the Day time, nor withouta Letpass, or Cocket, setting forth from whenceit came, and whither it is going; and the sameMethod must also be extended to Ireland, tillit is either used there, or Shipt thither; Andif the Wool of both Kingdoms by these orany other Methods could be secured from beingcarried abroad, our Manufactures would finda surer Vent in Foreign Markets, and yieldbetter Prices: And the Wool of France wouldlye on their Hands, and become almostuseless; the Credit of the Nation would be raised,and our Factories abroad courted as much asformerly they have been, because the Manufactures we Ship out are such, as no Nationcan be without, nor can they then be wellsupplied elsewhere; they are not things onlyfor Pleasure, but for Use, and both the Richand the Poor stand in need of them; whilstthe Profit of this pernicious Practice of Shipping out the Wool, is sunk in the Pockets ofprivate Men, who former Laws accountedFelons, and cannot be thought to deserve anyfavour from the Nation.

Besides, ’tis well known, that the Exporting our Wool hath by the ill Consequences thereof abated its Price at Home; This hathbeen observed by Calculations made byconsiderate Men; and the Reason is, becausethose Countreys whither it is Shipt, beingthereby enabled to Work up much largerQuantities of their own, the Sale of our Manufactures are grown slack abroad, and wehave been forced to Sell them cheaper, whichbeat down the Prices both of Wool and Labour; whereas, if we had kept our Wool atHome, this had been prevented; And it mustbe allowed, that it was not our Interest to fallour Manufactures, if we had been the onlySellers; for according as they yield in Price,so is the Wealth of the Nation advanced,which our Forefathers well knew, when theymade Laws to prohibit the Exportation ofWool, which cannot be too much strengthned,or strongly put in Execution.

By managing Treaties of Peace to the Advantage of Trade.10. By taking Care, that in all Treaties ofPeace, and other Negotiations with ForeignPrinces, due Regard be had to our Tradeand Manufactures; That our Merchants bewell treated by the Governments where theyreside; That all things be made easy to them,and both their Liberties and Propertiessecured; That our Manufactures be not Prohibited, or Burthened with unreasonable Taxes,which is the same in Effect; That speedy Justicebe done in recovering Debts contractedamongst the Natives, and punishing Abusesput on our Factories by them; These arepressures our Trade hath formerly groanedunder, whereby the Merchants abroad, andManufacturers at home, have been muchdiscouraged, and the English Nation hath beenforced to truckle under the French in someForeign Parts, only because that King soonerresented Injuries done to his Trading Subjects,and took more care to demand Reparation,than some former Reigns have done; ButThanks be to God, we have both Power andOpportunity to do the same; and there isno cause to doubt His Majesties Royal Inclinations, to make use of Both for the Goodof his Merchants, when things are duly represented to Him.

Navigation.And thus I have run through the several Parts of our Inland Trade, and shewed, that the Profit thereof arises chiefly from our Product and Manufactures; Before I proceed toour Foreign Trade, I shall speak somethingof Navigation, which is the Medium between both: This is carried on by Ships andSailors, the former are the Sea-Waggons,whereby we Transport and carry Commoditiesfrom one Market to another, and the latterare the Waggoners who drive and managethem; These are a sort of Jolly Fellows, whoare generally Bold in their Undertakings, andgo through any Kind of Labour in their ownway, with a great deal of Cheerfulness, areundaunted by Storms and Tempests, the Seabeing as it were their Element, and are allow’d by all to be the best Navigators in theWorld; they are our Wealth in Peace, andour Defence in War, and ought to be moreencouraged than they are in both, but especiallyin the latter, which might be done, ifbetter Methods were used to engage them inthe Service, and better Treatment when theyare there; Now I should think, if no Manwas forced into the Kings Ships till he hadbeen Three Years at Sea,Manning our Ships of War. nor to stay thereabove that time without his free Consent,and then to be permitted to take a Merchants Imployment so much longer, and sototies quoties, ’twould Encourage them tocome willingly into the Service, which theylook upon now to be a Slavery, wheretothey are bound for their Lives; This, andthe manner of Pressing them, hinders verymuch the making of Sailors, Landmen notcaring to put their hands to the Oar, lestthe next Day they should be halled away tothe Fleet, tho’ they understand nothing ofthe Sea; By this Means our Men of Warwould be Man’d with able Seamen, and notwith such who only stand in the way, andare useless, when they are most wanted; Nordo I take Embargoes to be any helps towards it, for many Sailors do then lye hid,who would appear to serve in Merchant Ships,and might be easily met with at the returnof their Voyages; By these means in a shorttime there would be a double set of Mariners, enough both for the Service of the Fleetand of Trade, the last of which would everyYear breed more.

This would also prevent great Mischiefs, which arise from pressing Sailors out of Merchants Ships whilst on their Voyages, manyof them being thereby lost at Sea, and othershave been detained in the West-Indies, to thediscouragement of Trade; And it would alsoprevent an other Mischief, too much Practicedabroad, where Captains of Men of War press Sailors from one Merchant Ship, only to make Advantage by Selling them to another.

Outland Trade.I come now to our Outland Trade, or the Trade we drive with Foreign Countries.

How this Kingdom may be said to be enrich’d by our Outland Trade.Here ’tis necessary to enquire, how each doth encourage our Product and Manufactures,how our Navigation, what Commodities wereceive in Returns, and how the Ballance ofour Trade stands with either, that so we maybe the better able to know, which of them weought to encourage, and which to discourage;I shall therefore lay down such general Rules,as I presume will be allowed by all UnbiassedPersons; as,

1. That Trade is an Advantage to this Kingdom, which takes off our Product andManufactures.

2. Which supplies us with such Commodities as we use in making our Manufactures, and encreases our Bullion.

3. Which Incourages Navigation, and breeds up Sailors.

And consequently, any Trade which Exports little or none of our Product or Manufactures, nor supplies us with things necessary for the latter, nor Incourages Navigation, cannot be supposed to be profitable to the Kingdomin General, tho’ perhaps it may beso to particular Persons; especially if it carriesaway our Bullion.

East-Indies.I shall begin with the East-India Trade, which I take to be very prejudical to us, as’tis now driven; because it exports our Bullion,spends little of our Product or Manufactures,and brings in Commodities perfectly Manufactured, which hinder the Consumption ofour own, and discourage the Wearing such asare purchased with them; the chief Profitthereof arising from Underselling the Labourof our Poor, because ’tis bought there cheaper, than by reason of the Value of our Lands,and the Prices of Provisions, they are able towork here. But having spoken fully of thisin a former Discourse, and the Parliament having since been pleased, by an Act made inthe 10th and 11th Years of his late MajestyKing William, to prohibit the Wearing ofwrought Silks, Bengals, Stuffs mixt with Silkor Herba, of the Manufacture of Persia,China, and India, and all Callicoes Painted,Dy’d, Printed or Stained there. The Reasonof which is in the said Act set forth to be,The great Detriment the Nation received asthe Trade was then manag’d, by exhaustingthe Treasure thereof, and taking away theLabour of the People, whereby very manyof the Manufacturers were become excessivelyburthensome and chargeable to their respectiveParishes, and others compell’d to seek forEmployment in Foreign Parts, I shall not nowrepeat what I then wrote, but will considerhow far the Remedy they then provided hathanswer’d the End.

The making this Law gave a new Life to our Manufactures, and would have givenmore, if the true Intent of the Parliamenthad been answered: But we have since foundthat it has not; for it neither keeps ourTreasure at home, nor prevents those Commoditiesfrom being worn here, which they design’dit should; and I very much question, whetherany thing less than a total Prohibition of theirImportation will do it; for though they aredirected to be Exported again, yet there isgreat Reason to believe, that they are privatelybrought back, both from Ireland, our Plantations, and other Places to which they aresent, to the Loss of his Majesty’s Customs,and the Prejudice of the Stainers and Painters here, besides the Injury to our Manufactures:Otherwise, how come such great Quantities tobe worn and used here, when the Stock onhand hath been so long since spent?

There are other Commodities, which the Company may trade in, and the Tract ofLand within their Charter is large enough toafford an advantagious Commerce there, theProfits whereof might be returned hither, inthings no way injurious to our Manufactures,such as Raw-Silk, Indigo, Pepper, Salt-Peter,Spices, Drugs, China-Wares, Coffee, Tea,and many other things, if they were industrious to make Discoveries, as private Merchants would do, if the Trade lay open; andI believe it will not be disputed, that greaterQuantities of Raw-Silk, have been broughtthence since the Making of that Law, thanwere used to be done before.

I know it hath been alleadg’d, That by the Exportation of those Manufactures again,more Bullion in specie is brought into thisKingdom, than is carry’d out for the buyingthem in India; but this was never yet madeout, and it would be much to the Satisfactionof the People, who daily see their Bullion carried away, and also for the Honour of theCompany, that it was done; which if it bereally so, might be set forth in this, or anyother Method that the Parliament shall thinkfit.

1. Let them give an Account what Quantities of Bullion they export on every Ship they send abroad, and on what Commodities’tis laid out.

2. Let them set forth, how and in what manner, these prohibited Manufactures do, ontheir being Exported again, bring in as muchBullion in specie, as was carry’d out to pay forthem in the Indies.

And I think it a proper Work for a Committee of Trade, to receive these Accounts from time to time, and after a just Examination, to lay them before the Parliament atevery Meeting, with their Opinions thereon.

But if they only mean, that the Exportation of those Manufactures is a help to us in the Ballance of our Trade, which must otherwisebe paid in Bullion, I answer, That ourown Product and Manufactures always have,and are still sufficent to support the Ballanceof our Trade.

As for White Callicoes and Muslins, they have beat out the Wearing of Lawns, Cambricks,and other thin Germany and Silesia Linnens,which hath been the Occasion of turningmany of those Looms to the Woollen Manufactures there, that were formerly employ’din the weaving them, and hath abated theExportation of great Quantities of Cloth;Besides the Hinderance Callicoes give to theConsumption of Scots-Linnens, which beingthin and soft, are as proper for dying, printing, and staining, as they are, and may bemade as white.

The East Indies is a bottomless Pit for our Bullion, which can never circulate hither again;whereas, if it was sent to any Part of Europe,there might be some hopes, by the Ballanceof our Trade, to bring it back again; andwhen our Bullion fails, that Trade must ceaseof course, which it will soon do, if the Company continue to carry out yearly as much asour other Trades bring us in.

I wish the Nobility and Gentry of this Kingdom would be in Love with our ownManufactures, and those which are purchasedwith them, and that they would by their Examples encourage the using them, whichwould be attended with the Prayers of thePoor, besides the Advantage it would bringto their Estates.

And as to Navigation, I think it will not be disputed, that long Voyages rather useSaylors than make them, both the Employers,and the Employed, chusing rather to maketheir first Experiments on short ones.

West-India and Africa.I will next proceed to the West-India and African Trades, which I esteem the most profitable we drive, and joyn them together, becauseof their dependance on each other.

Whether Settling of Plantations hath been an Advantage.But before I enter farther thereon, I will consider of one Objection, it having been agreat Question among many thoughtful Men,whether the settling our Plantations Abroadhas been an Advantage to the Nation; TheReasons they give against them are, Thatthey have drained us of Multitudes of ourPeople, who might have been serviceable atHome, and advanced Improvements in Husbandry and Manufactures; That this Kingdomis worse Peopled, by so much as they areincreased; And that Inhabitants being theWealth of a Nation, by how much they arelessened, by so much we are Poorer, thanwhen we first began to settle those Colonies.

To all which I answer; That tho’ I allow the last Proposition to be true, thatPeople are the Wealth of a Nation, yet itcan only be so, where we find Imploymentfor them, otherwise they must be a Burthento it: ’Tis my Opinion that our Plantationsare an Advantage to this Kingdom, tho'not all alike, but every one more or less, asthey take off our Product and Manufactures, supply us with Commodities, which may beeither wrought up here, or exported again, orprevent fetching things of the same Naturefrom other Places for our Home Consumption,employ our Poor, and encourage our Navigation; For I take this Kingdom, and all itsPlantations, to be one Great Body, those beingas so many Limbs or Counties belonging toit; therefore when we consume their Growth,we do as it were spend the Fruits of ourown Land; and what thereof we Sell to ourNeighbours, brings a second Profit to theNation.

These Plantations are either the great Continent from Hudsons-Bay Northward toFlorida Southward, containing Nova Scotia,New-England, New-Jersy, New-York,Pensilvania, Virginia, Mary-Land, Carolina; andalso our Islands, the Chief whereof are, Newfoundland, Barbadoes, Antegoa, Nevis, St.Christophers, Montserat, and Jamaica; theCommodities they afford us are more especially,Sugars, Cotton, Tobacco, Piamento andFustick, of their own Growth; also Logwood, which we bring from Jamaica (butfirst brought thither from the Bay ofCampechia on the Continent of Mexico, belonging to the Spaniards, but cut by the Subjectsof this Kingdom, who have made small settlementsthere) besides great Quantities of Fishtaken on the Coasts, both of Newfoundland andNew-England; These being the Product ofEarth, Sea and Labour, are clear Profit tothe Kingdom, and give a double Employment to our People, first to those who raisethem there, next to those who prepare Manufactures here, wherewith they are supplied,besides the Advantage they afford to ourNavigation; for the Commodities Exported thither, and those Imported thence hither, beinggenerally bulky, do thereby Imploy moreShips, and consequently more Sailors, whichleaves more Room for other Labouring Peopleto be kept at Work in our Husbandry andManufactures, whilst they consume the Product of the one, and the Effects of the other,in an Imployment of a distinct Nature fromeither.

This was the first Design of settling Plantations Abroad, that we might better maintain a Commerce and Trade among our selves, the Profit whereof might redound to the Center: And therefore Laws were made to prevent the carrying their Product to other Places, and their being supply’d with Necessariessave from hence only, and both to be donein our own Ships, Navigated by our ownSailors, except in some Cases permitted by theAct of Navigation; and so much as the Reinsof those Laws are let loose, so much less Profitable are the Plantations to us.

Among these Plantations, I look upon New-England to bring the least Advantage tothis Kingdom; for the Inhabitants thereof,Employing themselves rather by Trading to theothers, than raising a Product proper to beTransported hither, and supplying them (especiallythe Islands) with Fish (which theycatch on their Coast) Deal-Boards, Pipe-Staves,Horses, and such like things of theirown Growth, which they cannot be so wellFurnished with hence, also with Bread, Flower, Pease, and other Grain; and from thencefetching the respective Products of thoseIslands, and sometimes Tobacco from Virginia and Mary-Land, have carried them toForeign Markets, to the great Prejudice ofthis Kingdom; But to prevent this, theyhave been by sundry Laws obliged to bringthem all hither, except what is consumedamong themselves; By which means thisKingdom is become the Center of Trade,and standing like the Sun in the midst ofits Plantations, doth not only refresh them, but also draws Profit from them; And indeed it is a matter of exact Justice that itshould be so, for from hence it is that Fleetsof Ships, and Regiments of Soldiers arefrequently sent for their Defence, at the chargeof the Inhabitants, towards which they contribute but little.

Besides the forementioned Commodities, we have from Carolina, Excellent Rice, andthere has been Cocheneel taken, which as yetis but a Discovery, and perhaps may notmeet with any considerable Improvement, tillThat Colony is better Peopled; what I haveseen thereof in the hands of a Gentleman whobrought it thence, seems by its Figure, to bemuch like what we call a Lady-Cow, or Lady-Bird,but is very small, and I take it to be theFoetus of an Insect, which laying its Eggs ona Shrub called the Prickle-Pear, or somethingvery like it, leaves them there, till timebrings them to Maturity, in the same manner as the Caterpillar does with us in the Cabbage or Collard Leaves, Wise Nature thus directing, that the Foetus may find its Food, sosoon as it wants its Sustenance; It gives avery curious Colour when Bruised, but beingextraordinary small, does require long timeto gather in any Quantity, and Labour beingvery dear there, ’twill not yet answer theCharge; but by Cultivating and Improvingthe Plant, which now grows Wild, and bybeing better acquainted with the proper Seasonto collect them, when they are at a moreMature Growth, greater Quantities may probably hereafter be procured, and at lessCharge; and I think it would be a good steptowards it, if an Incouragement was givenon its Importation hither, in such a manner,as to the Wisdom of the Parliament shallseem fit and proper.

Africa.Now, That which makes these Plantations more Profitable to this Kingdom, is the Tradeto Africa, whereby the Planters are suppliedwith Negroes for their Use and Service; aTrade of the most Advantage of any wedrive, and as it were all Profit, the first Costbeing some things of our own Manufactures,and others generally purchased with them, forwhich we have in Return, Gold, Teeth, Wax,and Negroes, the last whereof is indeed thebest Traffick the Kingdom hath, as it occasionallygives so vast an Imployment to ourPeople both by Sea and Land; These arethe Hands whereby our Plantations are improved, and ’tis by their Labours such greatQuantities of Sugar, Tobacco, Cotton, Ginger, Fustick and Indigo, are raised, whichImploy great Numbers of Ships for transportingthem hither; and the greater Number of Ships, Imploys the greater Number ofHandicrafts Trades at home, spends more ofour Product and Manufactures, and makesmore Sailors, who are maintained by aseparate Imployment; for if every one raised theProvisions he Eat, or made the Manufactureshe Wore, Traffick would cease, which is a variety of Imployments Men have set themselves on, whereby one is serviceable to another, adapted to their particular Genius’s,without invading each others Provinces;Thus the Husbandman raises Corn, the Miller grinds it, the Baker makes it into Bread,and the Citizen Eats it; Thus the Grasier FatsCattle, and the Butcher Kills them for theMarket; Thus the Shepherd Sheers his Sheep,the Spinster turns the Wool into Yarn, theWeaver makes it into Cloth, and the Merchant exports it, and every one lives by eachother; Thus the Country supplies the Citywith Provisions, and That the Country withNecessaries; Now the advising a former Reignto monopolize this Trade, and confine it toan exclusive Company, was the same, as toadvise the People of Ægypt, to raise highBanks to keep the River Nilus from overflowing, lest it should fertilize their Lands,or the King of Spain to shut up his Mines,least he should fill his Kingdom too full ofSilver; This Trade indeed is our Silver Mine,for by the Overplus of Negroes above whatwill serve our Plantations, we draw greatQuantities thereof from the Spaniards whoare settled on the Continent of America, bothfor the Negroes we furnish from Jamaica, andalso by the Assiento, lately settled by a compact of both Nations; ’Twas these which firstintroduced our Commerce with that People,and gave us Opportunities of Selling our Manufactures to them.

But tho’ this Trade be now laid open, yet it will not be amiss to enquire whatReasons should perswade That Government to Monopolize it, and what has been the Consequencesthereof, in order to obviate any future Attempts that may be made to get itdone again.

As for the First; The necessity of having Forts, Castles, and Soldiers to defend theTrade which could not be carried on withoutthem, had then Force enough to prevail.

But let us consider what these Forts, Castles, and Soldiers were, their Use, andwhither the Trade is not as well secured nowit lies open.

The greatest Number of Soldiers, offer’d as I remember at a Committee formerly appointed by the Honourable House of Commons to enquire into that Affair, did not exceed One Hundred and Twenty on the wholeCoast, nor did their Forts and Castles appearto be any thing else than Settlements for theirFactors, nor was it ever made out, or indeedpretended, that they were fitted to wage aNational War, or to secure against a NationalInvasion, nor were there any Magazines laidup to expect a Siege from the Natives; norcould they hinder Interlopers from Tradingon the Coast, of what Nation soever, but theCompany having obtained Frigats from theGovernment, destroyed our own MerchantShips (unless permitted on the Payment ofgreat Mulcts at Home) whilst they let othersalone; This together with the Powers giventhem in their Charter, to Seize in the Plantations, such as had the good Fortune to escapethem on the Coast, and also their Cargoes,discouraged Private Traders, who else foundno Difficulties, the Natives receiving them asFriends, and chusing rather to deal with themthan the Company, whose Factories also being at remote Distances from each other, greatpart of that Coast was untraded to.

Nor do I see what Need there was to fight our way into a Trade, altogether as advantagiousto the Natives as to us; for whilst wesupplied them with things they wanted, andwere of Value amongst them, we took in exchange Slaves, which were else of little Worthto the Proprietors; and there was no reasonto think, that the People of this Kingdom,who had settled such large Colonies on theContinent of America, (besides its severalIslands) where there was at first such smallHopes of Advantage, without the Help of aCompany, should fall short in securing thisTrade, which carried with it the Prospect ofso great a Profit.

I will next consider the Inconveniencies that have attended this Monopoly, and theAdvantage the Nation reaps by the Tradesbeing laid open; we now send more Ships,and supply the Plantations with more Negroes, and vend more of our Commoditiesfor their Purchase: Besides, every Negro inthe Plantations gives a second Employ to theManufacturers of this Kingdom; and had wemany more to spare, the Spaniards would buythem, and pay us in Bullion, so there couldbe no Ground for putting this Trade into fewHands, unless ’twas designed those few shouldgrow Rich, whilst for their sakes the Nation suffered in its Trade and Navigation, theCompany having made this detrimental Useof their Charter, that they bought up ourManufactures cheaper at home, and made thePlanters pay dearer for Negroes abroad, thancould have been done, if there had beenmore Buyers for the One, and Sellers of theOther.

It is not to be doubted, whether the Vending our Manufactures, and Encouraging our Navigation, on Advantagious Terms, are thetrue Interest of this Kingdom, and that allForeign Commerce, as it advances either, ismore or less profitable to us; but the confining this Trade to an Exclusive Company couldpromote neither; and I believe ’tis one greatReason, why we know so little of that greatContinent, because the Company, findingWays enough to employ their Stock amongstthose few Settlements they had made on theSea-Coast, never endeavoured a farther InlandDiscovery; whereas, now the Trade is laidopen, the busy Merchant, that industriousBee of the Nation, will not leave any Creekor River untraded to, from whence he mayhope to make Advantage.

’Tis to Trade and Commerce we are beholding for what knowledge we have of Foreign Parts, and it is observable, that themore remote People dwell from the Sea, theless they are acquainted with Affairs abroad.Africa is a large Country, and doubtless theTrade to it may be much enlarged to ourAdvantage; Use and Experience make us bydegrees Masters of every thing, and tho’ thefirst Undertakers of a Design may fall shortof answering their private Ends, yet they oftenlay open Beaten Paths, wherein Posterity dotread with Success, tho’ they miscarried:Now that all Places are permitted freely tosend Ships, and to have the Management oftheir own Affairs, Industry is encourag’d, andPeoples Heads are set at Work how they mayout-do each other, by getting first into a newPlace of Trade. Besides, the more Traders,the more Buyers at home, and Sellers abroad,and by this means, our Plantations on thelarge Continent of America are betterfurnish’d with Negroes, for want of which theInhabitants there could never arrive to thoseImprovements they have done on the Islands, the Company having given them little or noSupply, but chose rather to send their Negroesto the latter, because they were able to makethem better Payments; but the Free-Tradershave since done it, to the great Advantage ofthose Plantations, and of the Nation in general.

As for the other Commodities brought in Returns from Africa, viz. Wax and Teeth,one serves for a Foreign Export, without anyDisadvantage to our own Product; and theother is Manufactured at home, and afterwardscarried to Markets abroad: And as for theGold brought thence, I need not mention howmuch it doth advance our Wealth, all allow itto be a good Barter.

On the whole, I take the African Trade, both for its Exports and Imports, and also asit supplies our Plantations, and advances Navigation, to be very beneficial to this Kingdom, and will every Year grow more so, if itremains open.

Ireland.I now come to discourse of Ireland, and of the Trade we interchangeably drive with thatKingdom, with whom it is necessary to maintain a good Correspondence, which must bedone on such Terms, as may be profitable tous both; and I think nothing is more likelyto answer this End, than the encouraging theLinnen Manufacture there, which it is highlyour Interest to promote, and theirs to set upon,being for the most part of another Nature,than what is made either in the North orSouth-Britain; for, besides the Employment it willgive to their Poor, large Tracts of Land willbe taken up for raising Hemp and Flax, bothwhich thrive well in many Parts of that Kingdom; on the other hand, the low Labour ofIreland being employed on that Manufacture,will no way prejudice ours, but make thembetter able to trade with us, for such thingswherewith they are supplied hence, it beingundoubtedly the Interest of this Kingdom,that all those Nations we trade with shouldgrow Rich, by any Methods that do not makeus Poor; and more especially Ireland, whoseProfits are generally spent here.

But then how shall this Manufacture be carried on? truly the first Step must be, byfurnishing Money on reasonable Interest, andreceiving it again by such Payments as theBorrowers can make, and buying up the Linnenswhen made, and then the Landed Menwill encourage it, on their own Estates, andthereby enable their Tenants to pay theirRents better; Which last Effect it hath alreadyhad in the North of Ireland, where by spinningthe Yarn in the Winter Nights, and gettingtheir Cloth ready, and fit for Sale, early inthe Year, they provide for their May Rents,without being constrained to sell their Cattlewhilst they are lean, and their November Payments do not become due, till they are fat,and their Harvest is over.

Now these Loans must be made, either by a Joint-Stock raised for that Purpose, or bythe Bank of England, which will be attendedwith good Security; for by reason of theRegister settled there by Act of Parliament,I take the Securities of Ireland, to be ratherbetter than those in England: And this way ofLending Money must likewise be very acceptable to all those whose Estates are under different Incumbrances, which may by this meansbe reduced into One, and paid off, as they canspare the Money by degrees.

Nor can I see how any ill Consequences will attend the bringing the Money to Par inboth Kingdoms, I know it had none whenthe Crown-Piece was some Years since reducedfrom six Shillings to pass at five Shillings andfive Pence, and all other Money in Proportion; It neither caused an Alteration in theRents to the Landlords, nor in the Price ofthe Product to the Tenants; and I cannotsee why the falling it to five Shillings (as itpasses here) should carry with it any ill Effect;the Lands of Ireland would thereby be moreworth to the Proprietors, who would then bemore willing, and better able, to spend theirMoney here, when they were freed from suchhigh Exchanges; besides the Advantage tothe King in his Revenue.

The Commodities we have thence are, Wooll, Hides, Tallow, and Skins, all usefulin our Manufactures; as also some Herrings,which we export again; and we ship fromthence for other Markets, Beef, Pork, Salmonand Butter; We likewise supply them withTobacco, Sugar, and other Plantation Goods;also with fine Broad-Cloth, Silk Manufactures,and several other things made here; and withsundry of our Products, as Lead, Tin, Coal,&c. of which last, so great Quantities arecarried thither yearly, that it will scarce becredited, how much they say there it amountsunto; besides Muslins, Callicoes, China-Ware,Tea, Coffee, and other East-India Goods:They have indeed, discouraged the Importation of Callicoes, by loading them with a greatDuty, but I wonder they do not totally prohibit them, for that single Commodity dothmore Injury to their Manufactures, both ofLinnen and Woollen, than all the Things theyimport besides.

I should be very glad to see the Linnen Manufacture there brought to a good Perfection; and I am sure if the Governmentwere at some Charge in doing it, ’twould notbe ill laid out.

Canaries.I shall proceed next to the Trade we drive to the Canary Islands, which brings us nothingbut what we consume, and I believe takesfrom us little of our Product or Manufactures;but since we must drink Wines, ’tis better tohave them from the Spaniard than the French;the first takes off much of our Manufactures, the other little; and I am apt to think,those Wines are paid for out of what we shipto Spain.

Spain.This brings me to the Spanish Trade, which I take to be very profitable to this Kingdom, as it vends much of our Product andManufactures, and supplies us with manythings necessary to be used in making theLatter, and furnishes us with great Quantitiesof Bullion; I shall divide it into three Parts,Spain, Biscay, and Flanders.

To begin with Spain, by which I mean, that Part from the Bay of Cadiz inclusive, East-wardinto the Straits of Gibralter, as far asCatalonia; whither we send all sorts ofWoollen Manufactures, Lead, Fish, Tin,Silk and Worsted Stockings, Butter, Tobacco,Ginger, Leather, Bees-Wax, and sundryother things. And in Returns we havethence, some things fit only forConsumption, such as Fruit and Wines, others for ourManufactures, such as Oil, Cochineal, Indigo, Anata, Barillia, and some Salt, with agreat Part in Gold and Silver, wherewiththey are supplied from their large Empireson the main Land of America, whitherthey export much of the Goods we carry tothem.

The Spaniards are a stately People, not much given to Trade or Manufacturesthemselves; therefore the first they carry on bysuch chargeable and dilatory Methods, bothfor their Ships and ways of Navigation, thatother Trading Nations, such as the English,French, Dutch, and Genoese, take Advantageof them; only Their Trade to theirWest-Indies, hath on strict Penalties been reserved to themselves; but having no Manufactures of their own, the Profit thereofcomes very much to be reaped by those whofurnish them; Nor is it so well guarded andsecured, but that the Inhabitants thereof havebeen plentifully supplied by us with Manufactures, and many other things from Jamaica, and may be more, by the liberty lately granted to the South-Sea Company, whereby we get greater Prices for them, thanwhen they were first Ship’d to Cadiz, andExported thence thither, which adds to theWealth of the Nation; This I take to bethe true Reason why our Vent for them atCadiz is lessened, because we supplyNew-Spain direct with those things they used tohave thence before.

By Biscay I mean all that Part under the Spanish Government which lies in the Bay ofthat Name, or adjoining to it; The Commodities we send thither are generally thesame as we do to Spain, and in Returns wehave Wool, Iron, and some Bullion, whereofthe first is the best and most Profitable Commodity, which could we secure wholly to ourselves, ’twould be of great Advantage to theNation; but both the Dutch and Frenchdo come in for their Shares; tho’ I am apt tothink the former might be induced to bringit hither by way of Merchandize, if we didso far relax the Act of Navigation, as to givethem liberty to do it.

The Third part of our Spanish Trade is That to Flanders, whereby I mean all thoseProvinces that were formerly under its Government, but are now under the Emperours,whether we send Commodities much of thesame Nature as those we send to the otherParts, tho’ not in so great Quantities, andamongst our Woollen Manufactures more coarseMedleys; also Muscovado Sugars and Coals,but not so much Leather as we have formerlydone, being supplied with Raw Hides fromIreland, which are Tann’d there; We havethence, Linnens, Thread, and other things,which are used both at Home, and also Shiptto our Plantations.

Portugal.The next is the Trade we drive to the Kingdom of Portugal and its Islands, wherewe Vend much of our Product and Manufactures, little different in their kinds fromwhat are sent to Spain; and from thence wehave in Returns, Salt, Oil, Woad, Fruitand Wines, besides Gold and Silver; Wehave, since the War with France, Increasedour Importation of their Wines, which ismore our Interest to do, than to have themfrom France, whence our Imports have beenalways more than our Exports would pay for,and to this Kingdom our Exports are greaterthan their Products can make us Returns,especially since we have desisted from bringinghither their Sugars and Tobacco, Commodities wherewith we are more Advantageouslysupplied from our Plantations in America, andare now able to furnish Foreign Marketscheaper than they can.

These People were formerly the great Navigators of the World, as appears bytheir many Discoveries, both in the East andWest-Indies, besides the several Islands of theAzores, Cape de Verd, and also Maderas,where they have settled Colonies; to thesethey admit us a Free Trade, but reserve theirRemoter Settlements on the Continent of Brazilmore strictly to themselves, whither they Export many of the Commodities we send them,and in Returns have Sugars and Tobacco,which are again Exported to the EuropeanMarkets, tho’ little of them hither; Besideswhich, they have of late brought from thencegreat Quantities of Gold; their Islands wesupply direct with our Manufactures, andfrom the Azores Load Corn, Woad, and someWines, which we receive in Barter for them,and are the Product of those Islands; the firstwe carry to Maderas, where ’tis again Bartered for the Wines of the Growth of that Island, which are Shipt thence to our Plantations in America; in these settlements theInhabitants live well, and are plentifullysupplied, because they have wherewith to pay forwhat is brought them; but those residing onthe Cape de Verd Islands, being generally madeup of Negroes, Molattoes, and such like People, and having little Product to give in Returns, are but meanly furnished, and havescarce enough to serve their Necessities, muchless to please their Luxuries, Asses, Beeves,and Salt, being all we have from them, whichwe generally carry to our Plantations in America; some Salt we bring home; Beef mightbe made there very cheap, could it be saved,being purchased for little, and Salt for less,but the Climate will not allow it; only theIsland of St. Jago is Rich, well Governed, anda Bishops See, where they are well suppliedwith Necessaries, because they have Money topay for what they Buy.

The Portugueze, as they are now become bad Navigators, so they are not great Manufacturers; some sorts of coarse Cloth they domake, which is often Shipt to the Islandsof Maderas and the Azores, where ’tis wornwith great Delight, and preferred before anyother of the like goodness, because its madein Portugal; and they did once attempt themaking Bays, for which they drew over someof our Workmen, but it soon came to anend, and they returned Home again by Encouragement given them here, so prudenta thing it is to stop an Evil in the Beginning.

Turkey.The Trade driven to Turkey is very Profitable, as it affords us Markets for great Quantities of our Woollen Manufactures, together with Lead, and other Product, Shipt henceto Constantinople, Scandaroon, and Smyrna, andfrom thence disperst all over the Turkish Dominions, as also into Persia; The Commodities we have thence in Returns are, Raw-Silk, Cotton-Wool and Yarn, Goats-Wool,Grogram-Yarn, Cordivants, Gauls, Pot-Ashes,and other things, which are theFoundations of several Manufactures differentfrom our own, by the Variety whereof webetter suit Cargoes to Export again; and tho’this Trade may require some Bullion to becarried thither, yet there is a great differencebetween Buying for Bullion, Commodities already Manufactured, which hinder the Useand Consumption of our own, such as thosebrought from the East-Indies, or things tobe spent on Luxury, such as Wines and Fruit, and Buying therewith Commodities to keep ourPoor at Work; these must be had, tho’ purchased with nothing else.

Italy.To the several Parts of Italy we send great Quantities of Lead and other our Product,and many sorts of Woollen Manufactures,but chiefly those made of Worsted; alsoFish, and Sugars, both White and Brown, thelast principally to Venice; We bring thenceRaw and Thrown Silk, and Red-Wool; alsoOyl and Soap, (of the latter we now makea great deal in England,) both used in Working up our Wool, some Paper, Currants,and other things.

Both Venice and Genoa have made some attempts on a Woollen Manufacture, beingfurnisht with Wool from Alicant, and thoseEastern Parts of Spain; Wrought Silks andGlass are not so much Imported thence asthe formerly were, since we have fallen onmaking them here.

Holland.The Dutch do likewise Buy many of our Manufactures, and much of our Product, as Coals, Butter, Lead, Tin, besidesthings of smaller Value, such as Clay, Redding, &c. which are Exported to Holland,not only for their own use, but being aMart of Trade for Germany, they dispersethem for the Expence of those Countries;among whom they also Vend our West-IndiaCommodities, such as Sugar, Tobacco, Indigo, Logwood, Fustick, Ginger, Cotton-Wool,besides what they use themselves;These are an Industrious People, but havinglittle Land, do want Product of their ownto Trade on, except what they raise by theirFisheries, or bring from the East-Indies, whereof Spices and Salt-Petre are many times admitted to be brought hither, tho’ contrary tothe Act of Navigation; Indeed the Trade ofthe Dutch consists rather in Buying and Sellingthan Manufactures, most of their Profits arisingfrom That, and the Freights they make oftheir Ships; which being Built for Burthen,are Imployed generally in a Home-Trade, forBulky Commodities, such as Salt from St. Ubesto the Baltick, Timber, Hemp, Corn, Pitch,and such sorts of Goods thence to their ownCountry, which Ships they Sail with fewHands; And This, together with Lowness ofInterest, enables them to afford those Commodities at such Rates, that they are oftenfetcht from them by other Nations, cheaperthen they could do it from the Places of theirGrowth, all charges considered; ’Tis strangeto see how these People Buz up and downamong themselves, the Vastness of whoseNumbers causes a Vast Expence, and thatExpence must be supplied from Abroad, soone Man gets by another, and they find byExperience, that as a Multitude of Peoplebrings Profit to the Government, so it creates Imployment to each other; Besides, theyInvent new ways of Trade, by Selling, notonly Things they have, but those they havenot, great Quantities of Brandy and otherCommodities being disposed of every Year,which are never intended to be delivered,only the Buyer and Seller get or loose, according to the Rates it bears at the time agreedon to make good the Bargain; such a Commerce to this Kingdom would be of littleAdvantage, and would not advance its Wealthmore than Stock-jobbing, our Profits depending on the improving our Product and Manufactures; But That Government raising itsIncome by the Multitude of its Inhabitants,who pay on all they eat, drink and wear, andalmost on every thing they do, cares not somuch by what Methods each Person gets, asthat they have People to pay; which are never wanting from all Nations, for as onegoes away another comes, and every Temporary Resident advances their Revenue; Therefore to encrease their Numbers, they make the Terms of Trade easy; Contrary tothe Customs of Cities and private Corporations with us, the Narrowness of whose Charters discourages Industry, and hinders Improvements both in Handicrafts and Manufactures, because they exclude better Artistsfrom their Societies, unless they purchase theirFreedoms at unreasonable Rates.

Hamburgh.Hamburgh is another Market for our Manufactures; This City vends great Quantities of our Cloth, as also Tobacco, Sugars,and other Plantation Commodities, togetherwith several of our Products, which are alsothence sent into Germany; from whence wehave in Returns Linnens, Linnen-yarn, andother Commodities, very necessary both forthe Use of our selves and of our Plantations,and little interfering with our own Manufactures.

Poland.Poland also takes off many of our Manufacturers, wherewith it is supplied chiefly from Dantzick, whither they are first carried, and thence disperst into all Parts ofthat Kingdom, which hath but little Wool ofits own, and that chiefly in Ukrania; But theExpence of our Cloth hath been lessened there,since Silesia, and the adjoining Parts of Germany, have turn’d their Looms to that Commodity, occasion’d by our disusing theirLinnens, and wearing Callicoes in their Room;we have thence some Linnens, also Potashes.

Russia.Russia is likewise supplied by way of St Angelo with our Woollen Manufactures,and other Things, also with some Tobacco;But the Sale of the latter is decreased, occasioned(as I am inform’d) by the Indiscretionof our Merchants that imported it; who putting an excessive Price thereon, caused the Czarto encourage the Planting it in his own Dominions,which being very large, and reaching fromthe Mare Album Northward, to the CaspianSea Southward, besides its vast Extent fromEast to West, affords Climates enough properfor it; By which Means, we are in danger oflosing the Sale of that Commodity, so profitable to the Nation, which we might havecontinued, if they had not been too Covetousat first: We have in Returns from thence,Hemp, Potashes, Russia Hides, with someLinnen, and other Commodities, both usefulat home, and fit to be carry’d abroad.

Sweden.Sweden and its Territories takes off great Quantities of our Manufactures, bothfine and coarse, and some of our Product, besidesTobacco and Sugars, and other Plantation Goods; But the Sales of our Cloth hathbeen lessen’d there, occasion’d by their loading it with great Duties, on purpose to encourage a Manufacture of their own; theirWool is coarse, so consequently the Clothmade thereof must be ordinary; however, thelate King encourag’d the Wearing it by hisown Example, and thought it the Interest ofhis Kingdom so to do: Yet all sorts of Serges,Stuffs, and Perpets are carry’d thither, and Ithink as freely as before; From thence we haveCopper, Iron, and some other Things.

Denmark and Norway.Denmark is supply’d from us with Woollen Manufactures, yet takes no greatQuantities, and Norway less, the People ofthe latter being generally poor; some Tobacco and Sugar is also shipp’d hence and spentamongst them.

From these three last Northern Kingdoms we are furnished with Pitch, Tar, Hemp,Masts, Baulks, and Deal-boards, all very usefulto us, and without which we can’t carryon our Navigation, and therefore we musthave them, though purchas’d with Money;but the Parliament having encouraged theImportation of some of them from our Plantations on the Continent of America, our Dependence on them for those things, will inall probability be lessen’d every Year: I lookon any thing that saves our Timber, to be anAdvantage to the Nation, which Baulks andBoards do.

France.The French Trade hath every Age grown less profitable to our Woollen Manufacturers,as the Inhabitants make wherewith to supply,both themselves, and other Nations, whichthey could not do, were they not furnishedwith Wool from hence and Ireland, their ownbeing unfit to Work by it self: Nor dothFrance spend much of the Growth and Product, either of this Kingdom, or of ourPlantations, and furnishes us with nothing tobe manufactured here, so that the Trade wedrive thither turns only to their Advantage;which being generally for Things consumedamong our selves, and our Imports exceedingour Exports, must needs be Loss to the Kingdom; But if the Linnen Manufacture can besettled in Scotland and Ireland, Paper, Distilling,and Silk Manufactures, encouraged here,the Ballance will soon be altered, especiallysince the Portuguese have made such Improvements in their Wines; only their Salt we shallstill want for our Fisheries.

South Sea.As to the South-Sea Trade, I cannot undertake to say much to it, being but lately enter’d upon, and limitted by Act of Parliament to an exclusive Company, according towhose Management it may prove more or lessAdvantagious to the Nation; only in this Ibelieve we may be certain, That they willnever carry away our Bullion, as the East-IndiaCompany does, but in all Probability willbring us more.

What Foreign Trades are profitable to our Manufactures, and what are not.And thus I have run through the Foreign Trades driven from this Kingdom, and shew’dhow they advance its Interest, by taking offour Product and Manufactures, and supplying us with Materials to be manufacturedagain; wherein ’tis a certain Rule, that so faras any Nation furnishes us with things alreadymanufactured, or only to be spent amongstour selves, so much less is our Advantage bythe Trade we drive with them; especially ifthose Manufactures interfere with our own,and are purchased with Bullion. Therefore Ithink the East-India Trade to be unprofitableto us, hindering by its Silks, Muslins, andCallicoes, the Consumption of more ofour Manufactures in Europe, than it doth takefrom us. The Spanish, Turkey, and PortugalTrades, are very advantageous, as they vendgreat Quantities of our Manufactures, andfurnish us with Materials to be wrought up here, and disperse our Commodities to other Places,where we could not so well send themour selves; This Spain doth to its Settlements inAmerica; Turkey to all its Territories, bothin Europe and Asia, and also to Persia; Portugal doth the same to Brazil. The Dutch,Hamburgh, and Dantzick Trades are veryuseful, as they supply Germany, Poland, and someParts of Russia, with our Manufactures, andlittle interfere with us in theirs. Sweden andDenmark are profitable, both in what theytake from us, and in what we have from themagain. Italy takes off much of our WorstedManufactures, and sends us little of its own,save wrought Silks, whereof we shall everyYear import less, as we increase that Manufacture at home; But above all I esteem theAfrican and West-India Trades to be most profitable to the Nation, as they imploy more ofour People at home, and give greaterIncouragement to our Navigation by their Product; But the French Trade is certainly ourLoss, France being like a Tavern, with whomwe spend what we get by other Nations; and’tis strange we should be so bewitcht to thatPeople, as to take off their Growth, whichconsists chiefly of things for Luxury, and receive a Value only for the Esteem we put onthem, whilst at the same time they prohibit our Manufactures, in order to set upthe like among themselves, which we Encourage, by furnishing them with Wool.

The Ballance of each Trade.The Ballance of That and the East-India Trade is always against us, from whom wehave in Goods more than we Ship them, andtherefore must lessen our Bullion; The Ballanceof Spain and Portugal is always in our Favour,and therefore must encrease it; As for theDutch, Germany, and Hamburgh, their Ballances are not yet agreed on; some think we Shipthem most, others, that we receive most fromthem; I incline to the former; The Northern Crowns supply us with more than theytake from us, but they are Commodities wecan’t be without, at least, till we can be betterfurnish’d with them from our Plantations inAmerica; Turkey may require some Bullion,yet the Trade we drive thither is very beneficial to us; Italy will grow more and morein its Ballance on our side, as the Importation of wrought Silks is lessen’d, and turn’dinto Raw and Thrown. Now considering,that almost the whole World is supplied byour Labour, and that our Plantations dodaily bring us such Incomes, ’tis strange ifthis Nation should not grow Rich, whichdoubtless it would do above all our Neighbours, were our Trade rightly looked after.

What Nations chiefly cope with us in our Manufactures.Those who cope with us in our Manufactures are chiefly the French, but let due care be taken to prevent their being suppliedwith Wool from hence and from Ireland,and we shall soon see an Alteration therein;’Tis true they have Wool of their own, butthey cannot work it without ours or Irish:The Commodities they make are generallyslight Stuffs, wherein they use a great deal ofCombing Wool; and these they not onlywear themselves, but send them to Portugal,and other Parts, with good Success; tocountermine which we have fallen onmaking them, by Assistance of the French Refugees; I wonder at the Fancies of those Men,who are always finding fault, that we do notmake our Manufactures as strong as formerlywe did, wherein I think they are to beblamed, for we must fit them to the Humoursof the Buyers, and slight Cloth brings as muchProfit to the Nation as strong, and the sameEmployment to the Poor; yet where Sealsand other Marks are set, let them be certainEvidences to the truth of what they certifie,either as to the Length of the Piece, or thatthe Inside is suitable to the Outside, or that ’tistruly Wove, and without Flaws; the samewith respect to the Colour, that ’tis Woaded,or Madder’d, or the like, But there is a greatdeal of Difference between this, and obligingthe Manufacturer to make his Cloth or Stuffto a certain Weight and Thickness, withoutrespect to the Buyer, or the Climate to whichit is sent; As for the Dutch, as I take themto be no good Planters, so likewise no goodManufacturers, their Heads are not turnedthat way, but rather to Traffick and Navigation; The Flanderkins were once famous inthe Art of Cloth-making, which they carriedon by the Wool they fetcht hence: But KingEdward the Third, by keeping our Wool atHome, put a stop to that Manufacture; Iftherefore the Prohibiting our Wool to becarry’d out had at that time so good an Effect and Consequence against those People,why should not our Care to prevent its beingcarryed out now, have the same against theFrench? we cannot indeed hinder them fromSpanish, but we may from our own and Irish;As for Sweden, I am apt to think their Manufactures will come to little; And as forGermany, the Woollen Manufacture is not so Natural to them as the Linnen, which theywould keep close to, if we gave them Encouragement, by wearing it here, and sending it to our Plantations, which would bemore advantagious to us, than by the use ofMuslins and Callicoes, to put them on Fencing with us at our own Weapons, which theyvery unwillingly undertake; The WoollenManufactures in Italy are but small, and thosechiefly among the Venetians, somethingamong the Genoese, these we cannot hinder,being supply’d with Wool from those Partsof Spain which are near them, except wecould promote a Contract with the Spaniardfor all he hath, and if it should be objected, that we should then have too much, ’tis better to burn the Overplus at the Charge ofthe Publick, (as the Dutch do their Spices) thanto have it wrought up abroad, which wecan’t otherwise prevent, seeing all the Woolof Europe is Manufactured somewhere; andif the Act for Burying in Woollen did extend to our Plantations in America, ’twouldbe of great use towards the Consumption ofour Wooll; Thus, when the Nation comes tosee, that the Labour of its People is itsWealth, ’twill put us on finding out Methodsto make every one work that is able; whichmust be done, by hindring such swarms fromgoing off to Idle and useless Employments, and by preventing such Multitudes of lazyPeople from being Maintained by Begging.

Difference in Employing our own Ships and those of other Nations.And this is farther to be noted in our Trade with Foreign Nations, that wherethey fetch from us our Product and Manufactures, and make their Imports to us, intheir own Ships, we get less by the Trade wedrive with them, than if we did it in ours,because That doth also Encourage our Navigation; and Freights are a great and profitable Article in Trade; Therefore we get moreby the Spanish Trade, because we generallydrive it in our own Bottoms; and we losemore by the French Trade when they bring ustheir Wines and Brandy, than when we fetchthem ourselves; and accordingly we may takeour Measures in judging of all other Trades.

Whether a true Judgment may be made of the Ballance of Foreign Trade.It hath been a great Debate how the Ballance of our Foreign Trade shall be computed, and what Methods we should take whereby to know it, and it has been thought,that the most proper way to make a trueJudgment therein is, by taking an Accountfrom the Custom-House Books of our Exportsand Imports; But if this Method would do,yet I do not think there can be any certainty,either of the one or the other, drawn fromthence; for, as for our Imports, the Bullion, and such things of Value, are not enteredthere, and seldom presented; and as to theExports, seeing our Woollen Manufacturesgo out Custom-Free, the Entries there madeof them cannot be depended on; But supposea more exact account of our Exports and Imports could be had, yet since so great a partof the Trade of this Kingdom is driven byExchange, and such vast Quantities of Commodities are Imported from our Plantationsfor account of the Inhabitants there, the Produce whereof they leave here as a stock atHome, and that they are supply’d hence withso many things for their own Consumption,I cannot see how any Moderate Computationcan be this way made of our general Trade,much less of that we drive with any particularNation, the Commodities which we receive at one place, being often carried to an another; Thus we transport to Italy the Sugars wereceive for our Manufactures in Portugal, andbring thence Silk and other things to bemanufactured here, and yet we must not conclude we lose by the Portugal Trade, becausethe Returns thence fall short by the Custom-HouseBooks, or that we get more by theItalian Trade, because it doth not appear bythose Books how we Exported Commoditiesto pay for what we Import thence; And as tothe Profits we make by the Freights of ourShips, it doth not at all appear from them,nor at what Rates our Product and Manufactures are sold abroad, or our PlantationGoods to Foreigners at home; so the thingmust still remain doubtful; and I know nomore certain way to Judge of it, than by theIncrease the Nation makes in its Bullion,which always arises from the over Ballance ofour Foreign Barter and Commerce.

Committee of Trade.And for the better Encouraging the Trade of this Kingdom, I think it well worthy theThoughts of a Parliament, whether a standingCommittee, made up of Men well verst therein, should not be appointed; whose soleBusiness it should be to consider the state thereof, and to find out Ways to Improve it; tosee how the Trades we drive with ForeignKingdoms, grow more or less profitable to us;How and by what Means we are out doneby others in the Trades we drive, or hindered from Emlarging them; what is necessary tobe prohibited, both in our Exports and Imports, and for how long time; to hear Complaints from our Factories abroad, and toCorrespond with our Ministers there, inaffairs relating to our Trade, and to representall things rightly to the Government, withtheir Advice, what Courses are proper to betaken for its Encouragement; and generallyto study by what means and Methods theTrade of this Kingdom may be Improved,both abroad and at home.

If this was well settled, the good Effects thereof would soon be seen; But then greatCare must be taken, that these Places be notfill’d up with such who know nothing of theBusiness, and thereby this Excellent Constitutionbecome only a Matter of Form and Expence.

In the Management of things of much less moment, we employ such who aresupposed to understand what they undertake, andbelieve they cannot be carryed on withoutthem; Whilst the general Trade of the Nation (which is the support of all) lies neglected, as if the Coggs that direct its Wheels didnot need skill to keep them true; Trade requires as much Policy as matters of State,and can never be kept in a regular Motionby Accident; when the Frame of our Tradeis out of Order, we know not where to begin to mend it, for want of a set of Experienced Builders, ready to receive Applications, and able to judge where the Defectlies.

Such a Committee as this will soon appear to be of great Use and Service, bothto the Parliament in Framing Laws relatingto Trade, and also to the Government inthe Treaties they make with Foreign Nations.

As to the First, It hath sometimes been thought, that when That Great and GloriousAssembly hath medled with Trade, theyhave left it worse than they found it; And theReason is, because the Laws relating to Trade,require more time to look into their distantConsequences, than a Session will admit;whereof we have had many Instances.

To begin with the French Trade; in the 22d Car. II. a new Import was laid on Wines,viz. Eight Pounds per Tun on the French,and Twelve Pounds per Tun on Spanish andPortuguese; This Difference (with the lowSubsidies put on their Linnens by former Acts,in respect to those of other Places) was agreat Means of bringing the Ballance of ThatTrade so much against us, that the Parliament in the 7th and 8th of Gul. III. thoughtfit to make an Act, (and is continued by thispresent Parliament for a longer time) whichin Effect prohibited all Trade with that Nation for One and Twenty Years, by layinga great Duty on the Importations thence, inorder to prevent a Correspondence, till theTrade should be better regulated.

In the 14th Car. II. Logwood was permitted by Act of Parliament to be imported, paying Five Pounds per Tun Duty; The sameAct repeals two Statutes of Queen Elizabethagainst Importing and Using it in Dyinghere, and sets forth the Ingenuity of our Dyers, in finding out ways to fix the Coloursmade with it; and yet at the same time gavea Draw-back of Three Pounds Fifteen Shillingsper Tun on all that should be Exported,whereby Foreigners use it so much cheaper intheir Manufactures than ours can here; whichproceeded from a too hasty making that Law,and being advised, or rather abused, by those,who regarded more their own Interest, thenThat of the Nation.

By an Act made 1 Ja. II. an Impost of Two Shillings and Four Pence per Ct. waslaid on Muscovado Sugars imported from thePlantations, to be drawn back at Exportation; the Traders to the Plantations stir’din this Matter, and set forth, That such aDuty would discourage the Refining themhere, by hindering the Exportation of RefinedSugars, which was then considerable, andcarry that Manufacture to Holland andFlanders; But the Commissioners of the Customsprevailed against them, and the Bill past; theFatal Consequences whereof soon appear’d, forthe Exporters of Muscavado Sugars, drawingback Two Shillings and Four Pence per Cent.by that Act, and nine Pence per Cent. by theAct of Tunnage and Poundage, Foreign Markets were supply’d with Refined Sugars fromother places cheaper, by about Twelve perCent, than we could furnish them hence, bywhich means we were beat out of that Trade;And tho’ the Duty of Two Shillings andFour Pence per Ct. was not continued on theExpiration of That Act by the Parliament2d W. and M. (as they did the Threepenceper Pound on Tobacco) the bad Effects thereof being then apparent, yet ’tis difficult toretrieve a Lost Trade, Trading Nations beinglike Expert Generals, who make Advantages of the Mistakes of each other, and takecare to hold what they get.

By a Statute 4th and 5th W. M. Twenty Shillings per Tun was laid on LapisCaliminaris Dug here and Exported, on anInformation given to the House of Commons, that it was not to be had any where else; theMerchants concerned in Exporting that Commodity made Application, and set forth, thatsuch a Duty would bring in Nothing to theCrown, but be a total Bar to its Exportation;yet the Act past, and we were like to havemade a fatal Experiment, for till the Statuteof the 7th and 8th of the same King, whichreduced the Duty to Two Shillings per Tun,the Exportation ceased; and in the meantime, those Places, which had been discouragedfrom Digging and Calcining it, because weundersold them, set again to Work, and suppliedthe Markets where we Vended ours.

What Injury was done by the Act made in the 9th and 10th W. IIId. for the moreeffectual Preventing the Importation of Foreign Bonelace, &c. doth sufficiently appearby the Preamble of That made in the 11thand 12th of the same Reign for repealing itThree Months after the Prohibition of ourWollen Manufactures in Flanders (which wasoccasioned by it) should be there taken off;but I don’t understand that is yet done, andit may prove an irrecoverable Loss to the Nation.

I mention these things with great Submission to the Judgment of that Glorious Assembly, the Wisdom and Strength of the Nation; to whom I only presume with all Humility to offer my Thoughts, that it wouldvery much tend to the putting Matters ofTrade into a True Light before them, if theywere first referred to a Body of Men, wellverst in the true Principles thereof, and ableto see through the Sophistical Arguments ofcontending Parties, to be by them considered,and well digested, before they received theSanction of a Law.

And as to Foreign Treaties; I do not think our Trade hath been so much betteredby them as it might have been, for want ofsuch a Committee; the Representations madeby Private Merchants, (who generally differaccording as their Interests clash with eachother) tending rather to distract, than to inform the Government; which would not be,if their first Applications were made to anExperienc’d Committee, who had Judgmentenough to subtract out of them what wasproper to be offer’d; By which means, our Demands might be rendred short and comprehensive.

We have Natural Advantages in Trade above other Nations, besides the Benefit ofour Scituation, the Foundation of our WoollenManufactures being as it were peculiar to ourown Growth, and may be retained amongstour selves; An Advantage the French have not,whose Wealth arising chiefly from the Exportation of their Wines, Brandy, Salt, Paper,Silks, and Linnens, both we and other Nations, have made such a Progress in them allsince the War began, as to render theirs lesssought for; whereas, nothing but our ownNeglects, and ill Managements, can let ourNeighbours into our Manufactures, which wemay soon put a stop to, by securing our Woolat Home.

Insurance.I cannot close this Discourse, without speaking something of Insurance; The first Designwhereof was to encourage the Merchants toExport more of our Product and Manufactures,when they knew how to ease themselves intheir Adventures, and to bear only such a Proportion thereof as they were willing and ableto do; but by the Irregular Practices of someMen, this first Intention is wholly obviated;who without any Interest, have put in earlyPolicies, and gotten large Subscriptions onShips, only to make Advantage by Sellingthem to Others; and therefore have Industriouslypromoted False Reports, and spreadRumours, to the Prejudice of the Ships andMasters, filling Mens Minds with Doubts,whereby the fair Trading Merchant, when hecomes to Insure his Interest, either can get noone to Underwrite, or at such high Rates, thathe finds it better to Buy the Others Policies atAdvance; by this means these Stock-Jobbersof Insurance have as it were turn’d it intoa Wager, to the great Prejudice of Trade;Likewise many ill designing Men, their Policiesbeing over-valued, have (to the Abhorence ofHonest Traders, and to the Scandal of Tradeit self) contriv’d the Loss of their own Ships;On the other side, the Underwriters, whena Loss is ever so fairly proved, boggle intheir Payments, and force the Insured to becontent with less than their Agreements, forfear of engaging themselves in long andchargeable Suits.

Now if the Parliament would please to take these things into their Consideration,they may reduce Insurance to its first Intention, by obliging the Insured to bear such aProportionable part of his Adventure (thePremio included) as to them shall seem fit,and also the Insurers, when a loss is fullymade out, to pay their Subscriptions withoutAbatement, which will prevent both; andif any Differences should arise, to direct easyways for adjusting them, without attendinglong Issues at Law, or being bound up tosuch nice Rules in their Proofs, as the Affairsof Foreign Trade will not admit.

Wilful casting away Ships by the Owners.I know, that by a Clause in a Statute made primo AnnÆ, the wilful Casting away, Burning,or otherwise destroying a Ship, by any Captain, Master, Mariner, or other Officer belonging to it, is made Felony, without Benefit of Clergy; But that Statute is so qualify’d,that it is difficult to Convict the Offender, because the Fact must be done, to the Prejudiceof the Owner or Owners, or of any Merchant or Merchants that shall load Goodsthereon, else he doth not come within itsPenalty, so it doth not reach the Evil I heremention, viz. the Abominable Contrivance ofthe Owners to have their own Shipsdestroyed, in order to make an Advantage by theirInsurances; (a Crime so black in it self, thatit cannot be mentioned without Horror).These Men, when they frame their dark Designs, will take care, for the Security of thosethey employ, that none besides themselvesshall load Goods on the Ships they intendshall be thus destroyed, and it cannot besupposed that they receive Prejudice therebythemselves, so the Prosecution on that Statuteis evaded; But if the Insured were bound tomake out their Interests, and to bear a Proportionable part of the Loss themselves, thiswould as it were Naturally prevent suchScandalous Practices.

Whether the Price of Labour is a Hindrance to Improvements in our Products and Manufactures.Before I enter on the Business of the Poor, I will consider of a Question that hatharisen, and I have heard sometimes debatedby Men of good Understanding, which is,Whether the Labour of the Poor being sohigh, does not hinder Improvements in ourProduct and Manufactures; Which havingsome Relation to the Subject Matter of thisDiscourse, I shall offer my Thoughts thereon,with Submission to better Judgments, viz.That both our Product and Manufacturesmay be carry’d on to Advantage, withoutrunning down the Labour of the Poor.

As to the first, our Product, I am of opinion, that the running down the Labour of the Poor is no advantage to it, nor is it theInterest of that part of the Kingdom calledEngland to do it, nor can the People thereoflive on so low Wages as they do in otherCountries; for we must consider, that Wagesmust bear a Rate in all Nations according tothe Price of Provisions; where Wheat is soldfor One Shilling per Bushel, and all thingssuitable, a labouring Man may afford to workfor Three Pence a day, as well as he can forTwelve Pence, where it is sold for Four Shillings; and this Price of Wheat arises chieflyfrom the Value of Land; For it cannotbe imagined, that the Farmer who givesTwenty Shillings per Acre, can afford it as lowas he whose Lands cost him but Five Shillingsper Acre, and produces the same Crop, norcan Labour be expected to be so low in sucha Country, as in the other; This is the Case ofEngland, whose Lands yielding great Rents,require good Prices for the Product; andthis is the Freeholders Advantage; forsupposing Necessaries to be the Current Paymentfor Labour, in such cases, whether we calla Bushel of Wheat One Shilling, or FourShillings, it will be all one to him, for somuch as he pays, but not for the Overplus ofhis Crop, which makes a great Difference into his Pocket; you cannot fall Wages, unlessyou fall Product; and if you fall Product,you must necessarily fall Lands.

And as for the Second, our Manufactures, I am of Opinion, that they may be carryed on toAdvantage, without running down the Labour of the Poor; for which I offer

1. Observation, or Experience of whathath been done; we have and daily do seethat it is so; the Refiners of Sugars sell forSix Pence per Pound, what yielded formerlyTwelve Pence; the Distillers sell their Spiritsfor one half of what they formerly did; GlassBottles, Silk-Stockins, and other Manufactures (too many to be here enumerated) aresold for not much more than half the Pricethey were some years since, without falling the Labour of the Poor.

But then the Question will be, how this is done? Truly it proceeds from the Ingenuity of the Manufacturer, and the Improvements he attains to in the ways of hisWorking; Thus the Refiners of Sugars gothrough that Operation by easier Methods, andin less time, than their Predecessors did;Thus the Distillers draw more Spirits fromthe things they work on, than those formerly did who taught them the Art; The Glass-Makerhath found a Quicker way of makingit out of things which cost him little; Silk-Stockings are Wove; Tobacco is cut by Engines; Books are Printed; Deal-Boards areSawn with Mills; Lead is Smelted byWind-Furnaces; all which save the Labour ofmany Hands, so the Wages of those employed need not be fallen.

Besides which, there is a Cunning crept into Trades; The Clock-maker hath improved his Art to such a degree, that Labour and Materials are the least Part theBuyer pays for; The variety of our WoollenManufactures is so pretty, that Fashion makesa thing worth twice the Price it is sold forafter, the Humour of the Buyer carrying agreat Sway in its Value; Artificers, by Toolsand Laves, fitted for different Uses, makesuch things, as would puzzle a stander by toset a Price on, according to the worth ofMens Labour; the Plummer by new Inventions casts a Tun of shot for Ten Shillings,which might seem to deserve Forty.

The same Art is crept into Navigation; Freights are much fallen from what theyformerly were at, and yet Sailor’s Wages are stillthe same; Ships are built more for Stowage,and made strong enough to be loaden betweenDecks, and Voyages are performed in lesstime; Wool is Steved into them by suchproper Instruments, that three or four Baggsare put, where one would not else lye;Cranes and Blocks help to draw up more forone Shilling, then Mens Labour withoutthem would do for Five.

New Projections are every day set on Foot to render the making our Woollen Manufactures easy, which should be render’d cheaper by the Contrivance of the Manufacturers,not by falling the Price of Labour; Cheapnesscreates Expence, and Expence gives fresh Employments, whereby the Poor will be still keptat Work.

The same for our Product; Mines and Pitts are drained by Engines and AquÆductsinstead of Hands; the Husband-Man turnsup the Ground with his Sullow, not Diggs itwith his Spade; covers his Grain with theHarrow, not with the Rake; brings homehis Harvest with Carts, not on Mens Backs;and many other easy Methods are used, bothfor Improving of Land, and raising its Product, which lessen the number of Labourers,and make room for better Wages to be given those that are Imployed.

Nor am I of their Opinion, who think the running down the Price of our Growthand Product, that so they may buy Provisionscheap, an Advantage to the InlandTrade of this Kingdom, but of the contrary.

To understand this rightly, let us begin with the Shop-keeper, or Buyer and Seller,who is the Wheel whereon the Inland Tradeturns, as he buys of the Importer and Manufacturer, and sells again to the Country;suppose this Man spends Two Hundred Poundsper Annum in all things necessary forhimself and Family, as Provisions, Cloaths,House-Rent, and other Expences, theQuestion will be, what part of this is laid outin Flesh, Corn, Butter, Cheese, &c. barelyconsidered according to their first Cost in theMarket? I presume Fifty or Sixty Pounds per Annum to be the most, whereon the Advanceto him will not be so much by keeping upour Product to a good Rate, as the Profitswhich will consequently arise in his Trade willamount unto; For by this means the Farmerwill be enabled to give a better Rent to hisLandlord, who may then keep a more Plentiful Table, spend more Wine, Fruit, Sugars,Spices, and other things wherewith he isfurnished from the City, suit himself and hisFamily oftner, and carry on a greater Splendourin every thing; the Farmer according tohis condition may do the same, and givehigher Wages to the Labourers imployed inHusbandry, who may then live better, andbuy new Cloaths oftner, instead of patchingup old ones; by this means the Manufacturerswill be encouraged to give a better Price forWooll and Labour, when they shall find aVent as fast as they can make; and a Flux ofWealth causing a Variety of Fashions, willadd Wings to their Inventions, when theyshall see their Manufactures advanced in theirValues by the Buyer’s Fancy; This likewisewill encourage the Merchants to encrease theirExports, when they shall find a quick Ventfor their Imports; By which regular Circulation, Payments will be short, and all willgrow rich; But when Trade deadens in theFountain, when the Gentlemen and the Farmers are kept low, every one in his order feelsit, It being most certain, and grounded onthe Observation of all Men who have looktinto it, That in those Countrys where Provisions are Cheap, the People are generallyPoor, both proceeding from the want ofTrade; so that he who will give a rightJudgment in this Matter, must not considerthings only as they offer themselves at thefirst Sight, but as they will be in theirConsequences.

As to the other part of Great Britain called Scotland, I can say little with Relation to this Matter, my Knowledge of that part ofthe Kingdom being not sufficient to enable meto do it: But I am apt to believe, that thesame General Maxim must hold good therealso, viz. That the Rates of Labour must beaccording to the Prices of Provisions, andthose according to the Rents of the Lands.

The Poor.Having thus gone through the State of the Nation with respect to its Trade, I willnext consider it with respect to the Poor.

And here it cannot but seem strange, that this Kingdom, which so much abounds inProduct and Manufactures, besides the Imploymentgiven in Navigation, should want workfor any of its People; the Dutch, who havelittle of the two former, if compared withus, and do not exceed us in the latter, sufferno Beggars; whereas we, whose Wealth consistsin the Labour of our Inhabitants, seemto encourage them in an Idle way of Living,contrary to their own and the NationsInterest.

The Curse under which Man first fell was Labour; That by the Sweat of his Brows heshould eat his Bread; This is a state ofHappiness, if compared to that which attendsIdleness: He that walks the Streets of London,and observes the Fatigues used by the Beggars tomake themselves seem Objects of Charity,must conclude, that they take more Painsthan an Honest Man doth at his Trade, andyet seem not to get Bread to eat: Beggaryis now become an Art or Mystery, to whichChildren are brought up from their Cradles;any thing that may move Compassion is madea Livelyhood, a Sore Leg or Arm, or forwant thereof a Pretended one; the Tricksand Devices I have observed to be used bythese People, have often made me think,that those Parts, if better employed, mightbe made useful to the Nation.

Here I will consider,

1. What hath been the Cause of this Mischiefof Idleness, and how it hath crept inupon us.

2. What must be done to restrain its going farther.

3. What Methods are proper to be used, in order to make a Provision for those whoare past their Labour.

As to the First; we shall find that it hath proceeded, partly from the Abuse of thoseLaws we have, and partly from want ofbetter; Licences for Ale-houses were at firstgranted for good Ends, not to draw Men asidefrom their Labour by Games and Sports, butto support and refresh them under it; and asthey were then a Maintainance to the Aged,so Poor Families had Opportunities of beingsupplied with a Cup of Ale from Abroad,who could not keep it at Home; greatObservation was also made to prevent Idle Tipling, our Fore-Fathers considered, that timeso spent was a Loss to the Nation, whoseInterest was improved by the Labour of itsInhabitants; Whereas Ale-houses are now encouraged, to promote the Income of Excise,on whom there must be no Restraint, lest theKing’s Revenue should be lessened; Thus we live by Sense, and look only at things wesee, without revolving on what the Issue willbe, not considering, that the Labour of eachMan, if well employ’d, whilst he sits in anAle-house, would be worth much more to theNation, than the Excise he pays.

But above all, our Laws to set the Poor at Work are short and Defective, tendingrather to Maintain them so, then to raise themto a better way of Living; ’Tis true, thoseLaws design well, but consisting only in Generals, and not reducing things to PracticableMethods, they fall short of answering theirEnds, and thereby render the Poor more bold,when they know the Parish Officers are bound,either to provide them Work, or to give themMaintenance.

Now, if we delighted more in the Encouraging our Manufactures, our Poor might be better Employed, and then ’twould be ashame, for any Person capable of Labour, tolive Idle; which leads me to the SecondConsideration, What must be done to restrainthis Habit of Idleness from going farther.

Here I find, that nothing but good Laws can do it, such as may provide Work forthose who are willing, and force them to Workthat are able; And for this use I think Work-housesvery expedient, but they must beFounded on such Principles, as may employ thePoor, for which they must be fitted, and thePoor for them; wherein Employments mustbe provided for all sorts of People, who mustalso be compelled to go thither when sent,and the Work-houses to receive them; andthe Materials which seem most proper forthem are Simples, such as Wooll, Hemp,Cotton, and the like, which may either besent in by the Manufacturers, or be boughtup on a Stock raised for that End; These willemploy great Numbers, of both Sexes, andall Ages, either by Beating and Fitting theHemp, or by Dressing and Spinning the Flax,or by Carding and Spinning the Wool andCotton, of Different Finenesses; and if a Reward was given to that Person who shouldspin the Finest Thread of either, as they doin Ireland for their Linnen, to be adjudgedYearly, and paid by the County, or by anyother manner as shall be thought fit, ’twouldvery much promote Industry and Ingenuity,whilst every one being stir’d up by Ambition,and Hopes of Profit, would endeavour to exceed the rest; by which means we should alsogrow more excellent in our Manufactures.

Nor should these Houses hinder any who desire to Work at Home, or the Manufacturers from Employing them, the Design being to Provide places for those who care notto Work any where, and to make the ParishOfficers more Industrious to find them out,when they know whither to send them, bywhich means they would be better able tomaintain the Impotent.

It seems also convenient, that these Work-houses, when setled in Cities and great Towns,should not be only Parochial, but one or morein each Place, as will best suit it; which wouldprevent the Poors being sent from Parish toParish, and Provided for no where; and whenonce the Poor shall come by use to be in lovewith Labour, ’twill be strange to see an IdlePerson; Then they will be so far from being aBurthen to the Nation, that they will becomeits Wealth, and their own Lives also will bemore comfortable to them.

There are other things which will employ the Poor besides our Manufactures, and are also equally Beneficial to the Nation; suchas Navigation, Husbandry, and Handicrafts; here if these or such like Rules were observed,they might be made more advantageous toall.

As First, Let the Justices of the Peace have Power to assign Youth to Artificers, Husbandry,Manufacturers, and Mariners, and tobind them Apprentices for a Time certain,at such Ages as they shall think ’em fit to goon those Employments, who should also beobliged to receive them; and tho’ thismay at first seem hard, as hindring the Masters from taking Servants who may bring themMoney, yet after some time it will not, whenthose who were so bound out themselves, shallonly do for others what was done for thembefore; and this also may be now made goodto them, by such an Overplus of years intheir Apprentiships, as may be an Equivalentto the Money.

And as for those of elder years, who will rather Beg than Work, let them be forced toserve the King in his Fleet, or the Merchantson board their Ships; the Sea is very goodto cure sore Leggs and Arms, especially suchas are Counterfeits, against which, theCapstern, with the Taunts of the Sailors, is acertain Remedy.

Next, for Ale-houses, Coffee-houses, and such like Employments, let them be keptonly by Aged People, or such who have numerous Families.

Let Masters of Ships be obliged to carry with them some Landmen every Voyage,which will increase our Seamen, and let theJustices have Power to force them to receivesuch as are willing to enter themselves, and tosettle the Rates of their Wages.

Let Young People be prohibited from Hawking about the streets, and from SingingBallads; if these things be allowed, they arefitter for Age.

Stage-Plays, Lotteries, and Gaming-houses should be strictly looked after, Youth,in this Age of Idleness and Luxury, beingnot only drawn aside by them, but also morewilling to put themselves on such easy waysof living, than on Labour.

These and such like Methods, being Improved by the Wisdom of a Parliament, may tend, not only to the Introducing a Habit ofVirtue amongst us, but also to the makingMultitudes of People serviceable, who arenow useless to the Nation; there being scarceany one, who is not capable of doing something towards his Maintenance, and what hisLabour doth fall short, must be made up byCharity; but as things now are, no Manknows where ’tis rightly plac’d, by whichmeans those who are truly Objects do notpartake thereof; And let it be consider’d, that ifevery Person did by his Labour add one Half-pennyper diem to the Publick, ’twould bringin Seven Millions six Hundred and Four Thousandone Hundred Sixty six Pounds thirteenShillings per Annum, (accounting ten Millionsof People to be in the Kingdom) so vast aSum may be raised from a Multitude, if everyone adds a little.

Nor is the sending lazy People to our Plantations abroad (who can neither by goodLaws be forced, or by Rewards be encourag’d to work at home) so prejudicial to theNation as some do imagine, where they mustexpect another sort of Treatment, if theywill not labour; ’tis true, they give no helpin the Manufactures here, but That is madeup in the Product they raise there, which isalso Profit to the Nation; Besides, the Humours and other Circumstances of People areto be enquired into, some have been very usefulthere, who would never have been so here: And if the People of this Kingdom beemploy’d to the Advantage of the Community,no Matter in what part of the King’s Dominions it is; many hundreds by going tothose Plantations, have become profitableMembers to the Common-wealth, who hadthey continued here, had still remain’d IdleDrones; now they raise Sugar, Cotton, Tobacco, and other things, which employSailors abroad, and Manufacturers at home,all which being the Product of Earth andLabour, I take to be the Wealth of the Nation.

The Employment of Watermen on the River Thames breeds many Sailors, and it weregood to keep them still fill’d with Apprentices; also the Employment of Bargemen,Lightermen, and Trowmen, both on That andother Rivers, does the same, who should beencouraged to breed up Landmen, and fitthem for the Sea.

Idleness is the Foundation of all those Vices which prevail among us, People, aimingto be maintained any way rather than by Labour, betake themselves to all sorts of Villanies;the ill Consequences whereof cannot be prevented, but by encouraging Youth in an earlydelight of Living by Industry, and on whatthey call their Own, rather than by Dependance on others, which will keep up a trueBritish Spirit, and put them on Honest Endeavours, and this will get them Credit andReputation, and give them Opportunities ofadvancing their Fortunes; and if such anEmulation went through the Kingdom, weshould not have so many Lazy Beggars, orLicentious Livers, as now there are; Nor isGOD more honour’d among any, than He isamong such Industrious People, who abhorVice, on equal Principles of Religion andgood Husbandry, Labour being usually aBarrier against Sin, which doth generally enterat the Doors of Idleness.

The Third Consideration is, What Methods must be used to provide for those, who eitherare not able to work, or whose Labour can’tsupport their Charge; Here I takeAlms-houses to be good Gifts, where they aredesigned to relieve Old Age, or Educate Youth;not to maintain idle Beggars, or ease RichParishes, but to provide for those who havebeen bred up in Careful Employments, tho’not able to stem the Current of Cross Fortunes:Two such have been sumptuously Founded,Mr. Edward Colson’s Two Almshouses in Bristol. and suitably Endowed, in the City of Bristol,Edward Colson, Esq; a Merchant and Nativethereof, who is still living; one of them forTwenty Four Men and Women, who had formerly lived well; the Other for One hundredBoys, to be Educated in the Principles ofVertue, and afterwards set out to Trades,whereby they may get their Livelihoods; aCharity so great in it self, and carried on sofree from Ostentation, that the like is not tobe seen in any Part of this Kingdom, of theFree Gift of One Gentleman in his Life-time;which he hath settled in the Society of Merchants Adventurers within That City, of whoseCare and Fidelity in the well Managementthereof, he is fully Satisfied.

Another way to provide for those who are true Objects of Charity is, by takingCare that the Poors Rates be made with moreequality in Cities and great Towns, especiallyin the former; where the greatest Number ofPoor usually residing together in the Suburbsor Out-Parishes, are very Serviceable by theirLabours to the Rich, in carrying on theirTrades; yet when Age, Sickness, or a Numerous Family, make them desire Relief, their chief Dependance must be on Peoplebut one step above their own Conditions; bywhich means these Out-Parishes are moreburthened in their Payments, than theIn-Parishes are, tho’ much Richer, and is oneReason why they are so ill Inhabited, noMan careing to come to a certain Charge:And this is attended with another ill Consequence, the want of better Inhabitantsmaking way for those Disorders which easilygrow among the Poor; whereas, if Cities andTowns were made but one Poors Rate, orequally divided into more, theseInconveniencies would be removed, and the Poorbe maintained by a more equal Contribution.

And that a better Provision may be made for the Relief of Sailors (who having spenttheir Labours in the Service of the Nation,and through Age and Disasters are no longerfit for the Fatigues of the Sea, ought to betaken Care of at Home) let a small Deductionbe made from the Freights of Ships, and fromSeamens Wages, to be Collected by a Societyof honest Men in every Sea-Port; This, withwhat Additions might be made by the Giftsof Worthy Benefactors, would be sufficientto Raise a Fund, to maintain them in theirOld-Age, who in their Youths were our Wallsand Bulwarks; But it must be settled by Law,and no Man left at his Liberty whether hewill pay or no; These are generally the mostLaborious People that we have; I do not meanthose scoundrel Fellows, who often creep inunder that Name, but the true Sailor, whocan turn his hand to any thing rather thanbegging, and I am many times troubled to seethe Miserable Conditions they and their Families are reduced to, when their Labours aredone; Alms-Houses Raised for them, are asgreat Acts of Piety as Building of Churches;Age requires Relief, especially where Youthhath been spent in Labour so Profitable to thePublick as That of a Sailor; And not onlythemselves, but their Widows ought to be provided for; In thisHospital for Ancient Sailors and their Widdows. the Worshipful Society of theMerchants Adventurers within the City ofBristol are a Worthy Pattern.

And as for those who loose their Lives or Limbs Fighting against the Enemy, Themselves or Families ought to be rewarded withBountiful Stipends, which if Raised by a Tax,I doubt not would be cheerfully paid; ’Tisattended with sad Thoughts, when a Womansees her Husband Prest into the Service, andknows if He miscarries her Family is undone, and She and They must come to theParish; whereas if this Provision was made,the Fleet would be more easily Mann’d, ourMerchants Ships better defended, Sailors moreready to serve in both, and their Wives to letthem go; But great Care must be taken, thatCharity be not Abused, by being put into thePockets of those who are appointed to disposeof it.

These or such like Heads being laid down in a former Discourse on this Subject,the Magistrates of the City of Bristol were thefirst that approved of the Scheme, anddesired the Substance thereof might be reducedto Particulars, suitable for that Place; whereupon the following Proposals were laid beforethem, viz.

That a Spacious Work-House be erected in some Vacant Place within this City on aGeneral Charge, large enough for the Poorwho are to be Employed therein, and also withRooms for such, who being unable to Work,are to be relieved by Charity.

That the Rules of this House be such, as may force all Persons to Work, that are able,and encourage the Manufacturers of this Cityto supply them with Materials to Work on;which they will be ready to do, having sogood a Security as this will be for theirbeing returned to them again when Wroughtup.

That all People who are not able to maintain their Children, may put them into this Work-House or Hospital at what Agesthey will, where they shall be settled till theAge of ### Years, by which means they may in the end be of no Charge to the said Work-House or Hospital; And the good Effects will be these, Children will be bred upto Labour, Principles of Virtue will be implanted in them early by the Good Government thereof, and Laziness and Beggary willbe discouraged.

That the Antient People who are past their Labours shall have Lodgings, andWeekly Pay, or be otherwise provided for according to their Wants, who may still dosomething towards their Mantenance, and theWomen may look after the young Children.

That the Rates of the Poor of this City, being all united into one commonFund, may be enough to carry on this goodWork; By which means the Magistrates willbe freed from the Trouble which they dailyhave about the Settlement of the Poor, theParish-Officers will be eased, the Poors Stockwill not be spent in Law, but they will beprovided for, without being sent from Parishto Parish, and their Children will be settledin ways of being Serviceable to the PublickGood, and not be bred up in all manner ofVice, as now they are.

That the Governors of this Hospital or Work-House have Power to force allPoor People to Work in it, who do not betake themselves to some Lawful Imploymentelsewhere, but spend their Time Lazily andIdly.

That the said Governors have Power to settle out the young People at such Ages asthey shall think fit; the Boys to Navigation,Husbandry, and Manufactures; the Maids inService, and to bind them Apprentices forcertain Years.

That this will prevent Children from being Starved, by the Poverty of their Parents,and neglect of the Parish Officers, which isnow a great Loss to the Nation; forasmuchas every Person if Imployed, would by hisLabour add to the Wealth of the Publick.

That this will encourage Men of Charity to make Endowments, when theyshall see their Bounties so well laid out.

That Application be made, in order to procure an Act of Parliament, for the betterCarrying on this Work.

Which Proposals being considered of in several Meetings of the Citizens Appointed forthat Purpose, were with some Alterationsmade the Model for an Act of Parliament,which past Anno Septimo & Octavo GulielmiTertii, being the first Act of that Nature,from which sundry Acts for many other Places have taken their Frame; and tho’ thePromoters thereof, met with more difficultiesand discouragements in the Execution, thanthey did expect, yet to the Honour of thoseGentlemen it must be said, that they neverlookt back, but with the utmost Application,prosecuted what they had undertaken, tillthey brought it to such a State, as to render itPlain and Practicable to their Successors; Andthis good Effect it hath had, that there is nota common Beggar, or disorderly Vagrant,seen in their Streets, but Charity is given inits proper Place and Manner, and the Magistratesare freed from the daily Trouble theyhad with the Poor, and the Parishes theylived in, and are discharged from the Invidious Fatigues of their Settlements, when agreat deal of what should have maintainedthem, was spent in determining what Parisheswere to do it.

I wish it could be said so of the Two Metropolitan Cities of England and Ireland, where such Swarms of Lazy Beggars pester the Streets,that they are not only Troublesome, but alsoNauseous to the Beholders; And the ChurchDoors are so crouded with them, that you canscarce pass to your Devotion; nor do youknow when you bestow your Charity rightly,Those who do not deserve it, taking suchMethods to move Compassion, that you cannot easily distinguish them from those whodo.

And since I have mentioned this Act, and the well Executing thereof by the first Undertakers, I think it cannot be amiss to set itforth Verbatim (being never yet Printed, saveonly some Copies for the Use of the Corporation) together with the steps whereby thefirst Guardians proceeded, and as it was laidbefore the Parliament Anno 1700; which Ihave done in the Appendix, because it mayprobably be of Use to those, who shall be willing to take Pains in a Work of such Service,both to God and the Publick.

But because this Act was adapted only for Cities and great Towns, and can’t be aModel for the Counties at large, I will heresubjoyn such Methods as may be proper tocarry on this Charitable Design throughout thewhole Kingdom, if Power be given by somePublick Act of Parliament, for all Places toIncorporate who are willing (but may not beable to be at the Charge of a Private Act) andto Build, or otherwise Provide, Hospitals,Work-Houses, and Houses of Correction, forthe better Maintaining and Imploying theirPoor, under the Management of such Corporations; which in the Counties must be byuniting One or more Hundreds, whose Parishesmust be comprehended in one Poors Rate,and each of them contribute to the Chargethereof, not by bringing them to an equalPound Rate on their Lands and PersonalEstates, as in Cities and great Towns, but byTaxing every Parish according to what it paidbefore, there not being the same Parity ofReason for that way of Raising Money in theHundreds, as there is in Cities and Towns; because in the former, the Parishes do not receive an equal Benefit from the Labour ofthe Poor of other Parishes, as they do in thelatter; which Hospitals, Work-Houses, andHouses of Correction, to be provided at theGeneral Charge of the Parshies thus united,according to the Proportion that each of thempays to the Poor.

The Guardians of these Corporations to consist of all the Justices of the Peace Inhabiting within the several Parishes thus united,together with a Number of Inhabitants chosenout of each Parish, in Proportion to the Sumof Money it Pays; which Choice to be madeevery Year, or once in Two Years, when onehalf of those that were first chosen must goout, and the Remainder stay in, to Instructthose who were last chosen; the Electors tobe the Freeholders of ### per Annum; and on the Death of any Guardian, another to be chosen in his Room, by the Parish forwhich he served.

That the Guardians being thus settled, they shall have Power to chuse a Governor,Deputy-Governor, Treasurer, and Assistants,Yearly, and to hold Courts, and makeBy-Laws, and appoint a Common-Seal; and also to Summon the Inhabitants to answer to Matters relating to the Corporation; and to compel all People, who seek for Relief, to dwell in their Hospitals and Work-Houses, if theysee fit; and to take in Young People of BothSexes, and breed them up to Work, who theyshall also be obliged to Teach to Write andRead, and what else shall be thoughtnecessary, and then to bind them out Apprentices; and likewise to Provide for the Agedand Impotent, and to assist those whose Labours will not Maintain their Charges, and toapprehend Rogues, Vagrants and Beggars,and cause them to be set at Work, and also toinflict reasonable Correction where they see itnecessary, and to entertain proper Officers,and pay them out of the Stock; with a Clauseto secure them from vexatious Suits; And theymust be obliged once in ### at least to hold a General Court, where the Governor, Deputy-Governor, or one half of theAssistants, together with such a proportionableNumber of the Guardians as they shall agreeon, shall be present.

That the Court shall once in Six Months agree and settle how much Money will be necessary for Maintaining and Imploying thePoor for the Six Months next ensuing, andcertifie the same to the Justices inhabitingwithin the said Hundred or Hundreds, at aMeeting to be had for that Purpose, who shallproportion the same Regularity in each Parish,and grant out their Warrants to proper Persons to Assess the same, and afterwards, otherWarrants to Collect, and Pay it to theTreasurer of the Corporation; with a Power toInflict Penalties on the Assessors and Collectors,if they refuse or neglect to do their Duty, inAssessing, Collecting, and Paying the saidMoney, according to their Warrants.

That each Corporation be one Body Politick in Law, and be capable of Suing and being Sued, and be enabled to Purchase, Take and Receive, Lands, Tenements and Hereditaments, Goods and Chattles, for the Benefit of the Poor.

These, or such like Methods, being Rectified by the Wisdom of a Parliament, willsoon appear to be of great Use to the Nation,and also to the Poor who are truly Objectsof Relief; and will also put a stop toWandering Vagrants, against whom, everyCorporation will then be a Barrier, and nonewill expect Charity, but from the Parishes towhich they belong, and who are the mostproper Judges whether they do deserve it.

Conclusion.And thus I have gone through what I Undertook, and have given my Thoughts ofthese Two Subjects; wherein I have noother View, than promoting the Welfare of thisKingdom, by Improving its Trade, and providing for the Poor in a RegularMethod; Both which will tend to the Honourof His Majesties Government, and the advancing the Wealth and Prosperity of the Nation.

FINIS.

The Appendix.

Anno Septimo & Octavo

GULIELMI III. Regis.

An Act for Erecting of Hospitals and Work-Houses within the City ofBristoll, for the better Employing andMaintaining the Poor thereof.

WHereas it is found by Experience, That the Poor in the City of Bristoll do daily multiply, and Idleness and Debaucheryamongst the meaner Sort doth greatlyIncrease, for want of Work-houses to set themto Work, and a sufficient Authority to Compel them thereto, as well as to the Charge ofthe Inhabitants, and Grief of the Charitableand Honest Citizens of the said City, as thegreat Distress of the Poor themselves; forwhich sufficient Redress hath not yet beenProvided: For Remedy whereof, Be it Enacted by the Kings most Excellent Majesty, byand with the Advice and Consent of theLords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commonsin Parliament Assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That from and after theTwelfth Day of May, which shall be in theYear of our Lord, One thousand six hundredninety and six, there be, and shall be, a Corporation to continue for ever within the saidCity of Bristoll, and the County thereof, consisting of the several Persons herein after mentioned (that is to say) of the Mayor and Aldermen for the time being, and of Eight andforty other Persons, to be Chosen out of theHonestest and Discreetest Inhabitants of the said City and County, by the Eleven Wards inthe said City, and the Castle Precincts there,which to all Intents and Purposes, shall befrom henceforth for ever a Ward within thesaid City (that is to say) Four out of eachWard, and of such other Charitable Personsas shall be Elected and Constituted Guardiansof the Poor of the said City, in a manner asis herein after expressed: And the First Eightand Forty Persons shall be Elected at a Courtfor that purpose to be held within each Ward,by the Alderman of the same, or his Deputy,by the Votes of the Inhabitants of such Ward,Paying One Penny per Week, or more, in hisown Right, for and towards the Relief of thePoor of the said City, or of the major partof them then present.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that the said Eight and Forty Persons shall be chosen in manner, as aforesaid,the Twelfth Day of May next following, andshall continue in their Office until others shallbe Elected in their Rooms, according to theDirection herein after mentioned; And in caseany of the said Persons so Elected, or anyother Person Elected in their Room, shall,after their respective Elections, happen to Die,That then it shall, and may be Lawful to andfor the Alderman of the Ward, for whichsuch Person so Dying was Elected, or hisDeputy, at a Court to be held within thesaid Ward for that purpose, within the spaceof Ten Days next after the Death of suchPersons, to Elect others in their Place, inmanner, as aforesaid; which Court and Election, such Alderman, or his Deputy, is andare hereby required to Hold and Make:Which said Mayor and Aldermen, and Forty eightPersons, and such other Charitable Persons, so Elected and Constituted for the timebeing, shall be called Guardians of the Poorof the City of Bristoll.

And to the intent that the said Guardians so Elected out of the said Wards may haveperpetual Succession, Be it further Enacted bythe Authority aforesaid, That the said respective Aldermen for the time being, ortheir respective Deputies, shall and may, andare hereby required, on the First Thursday inApril, in every Second Year, from henceforth,to hold a Court in their respective Wards,and then and there, by the Votes of the Inhabitants of such Ward, so qualified, as aforesaid, or of the Majority of them then present,to Elect and Choose Two of the Honestest andDiscreetest Persons out of the said Inhabitantsof the said City, to be Guardians of the Poorof the said City for the said Ward; whichsaid Two Persons, so Elected, shall be Guardians, and shall succeed the Two Persons beforethat time first Elected, and then being Guardiansfor the said Ward; and the said Two Personsso first Elected, shall immediately upon suchElection, and Notice thereof given to them,cease to be Guardians.

And be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Mayor, Aldermen, Eight and forty Persons, and such other CharitablePersons Elected and Constituted, as is hereinmentioned and expressed, for the time being,shall for ever hereafter in Name and Fact, beOne Body Politick and Corporate in Law, toall Intents and Purposes, and shall have aperpetual Succession, and be called by theName of The Governor, Deputy-Governor,Assistants and Guardians of the Poor in thesaid City of Bristoll; And that they shall beEnabled to Plead and Sue, and to be Sued andImpleaded by that Name, in all Courts andPlaces of Judicature within this Kingdom;and by that Name shall and may, withoutLicense in Mortmain, Purchase, Take, orReceive any Lands, Tenements or Hereditaments, of the Gift, Alienation or Demise ofany Person or Persons, who are hereby,without further Licence, Enabled to Transferthe same, and any Goods and Chattles whatsoever, for the Use and Benefit of the Corporation aforesaid. And for the better Governing of the said Corporation, the said Mayor,Aldermen, and Eight and forty Persons orthe Majority of them, shall have, and hereby have Authority to meet on the NineteenthDay of May next following, in St. George’sChapel in the said City, or in some otherconvenient Place there, and shall on that Day,or any other Day or Time, that to themshall seem convenient, Elect and Constituteout of and from amongst themselves, the several Officers following (that is to say) OneGovernor, One Deputy-Governor, One Treasurer, and Twelve Assistants, to continue in thesaid Office for One Year, and no longer; andfrom thenceforth the said Governor,Deputy-Governor, Assistants, Treasurer, and otherOfficers, shall Yearly, and every Year, bythe said Mayor, Aldermen, Forty eight Persons, and such other Charitable Persons as shallbe Elected and Constituted as is herein mentioned and expressed, or the Majority of them,be Elected and Constituted out of and fromamongst themselves, on the Second Thursdayin the Month of April, or any other Day orTime, as they shall think convenient, to continue in their respective Offices for One Year, and no longer; And the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Forty eight Persons, and such otherCharitable Persons that shall be Elected andConstituted, as is herein mentioned and expressed, for the time being, or the Majority ofthem, shall have Power, in case of the Deathof any such Officer so Elected and Constituted,before their said Year expired, to Elect andConstitute others in their Room, to hold thesaid Office for the Remainder of the said Year,and shall have Power and Authority at anytime or times, for just Cause, to remove,displace and put out any such Officer out ofhis said Office, and to Elect and Constituteanother in his Room.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Governor, or in his Default, the said Deputy-Governor, orin both their Defaults, Six of the said Assistants for the time being, shall have, andhereby have Power and Authority, and arehereby Enjoyned and Required from time totime, upon the Second Thursday in every Second Month in every Year, accounting January for the First Month, to hold and keep aCourt or Assembly of the said Corporationwithin the said City of Bristoll, of One andTwenty of the said Guardians at least, onthe Days and Time, and in manner, and forthe ends in this Act mentioned; (that is tosay) The said Governor shall hold the saidCourt or Assembly between the Hours of Oneand Two in the Afternoon; and in his Default, the said Deputy-Governor, or any Sixof the said Assistants, shall, after the Hourof Two, hold the same; And also, the saidGovernor for the time being, shall have, andhereby hath Power and Authority, at anysuch other time or times as to him shall seemmeet, to Summon, Assemble and Hold aCourt or Assembly of the said Corporation,upon Two Days Notice or Warning at theleast to be given of such Court or Assemblyto be held; And in case any Twenty of thesaid Guardians, upon any Emergency, signifying it under their Hands to the Governorfor the time being, That it is their Desirethat an Extraordinary Court or Assembly ofthe said Corporation may be Called and Held,the said Governor shall be Bound, and is hereby Enjoyned and Required to Call and Holdsuch Court or Assembly at such time as thesaid Twenty Guardians shall so desire; and onhis Refusal, the said Deputy-Governor for thetime being, on such signification, shall beBound, and is hereby likewise Enjoyned andRequired to Call and Hold the said Court orAssembly, and on his Refusal, any Six of thesaid Assistants shall have, and hereby have Authority to Call and Hold the said Court orAssembly; at all which Courts or Assembliesall and every Member and Members of thesaid Corporation for the time being, arehereby Enjoyned to appear and be present,and not to depart from the same without theLicence of the said Court or Assembly, onpain to Forfeit such reasonable Sum and Sumsof Money, not exceeding Five Shillings, tothe Use of the said Corporation, as by thesaid Court or Assembly, or any succeedingCourt or Assembly, shall be Assessed uponthem, unless they can shew some reasonableExcuse to be Allowed of by the said Court orAssembly; And the said Court or Assemblyare hereby Impowered to Summon to appearbefore them any of the Inhabitants of the saidCity to answer to Matters relating to the saidCorporation, who are hereby Required to appear upon such Summons, and answer suchQuestions, on Forfeiture, to the Use of thesaid Corporation, of a Sum not exceeding TwoShillings and Six Pence for every Default tobe Levied as is herein after directed.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, Thar the said Corporation, at the said Court or Assembly, shall have, andhereby have Power and Authority from timeto time to make and appoint a Common Sealor Seals for the Use of the said Corporation,and to Make and Ordain By-Laws, Rules andOrdinances for and concerning the better Governing the said Corporation, and the Poorof the said City, and shall have, and havehereby Power to Purchase, Buy or Erect anHospital or Hospitals, Work-house orWork-houses, House or Houses of Correction, andto Provide what other Necessaries they shall thinkconvenient for the Setting to Work the Poorof the said City, of what Sex or Age soeverthey be, and shall have, and hereby havePower and Authority to Compel such Idle orPoor People begging or seeking Relief, whodo not betake themselves to some lawful Imployments, and such other Poor who do orshall hereafter Receive Alms of the respectiveParishes or Places where they Inhabit or Seekthe same, or by any of the Laws now in forceought to be Maintained or Provided for byany Parish or Place within the said City, toDwell and Inhabit in such Hospital or Hospitals, Work-house or Work-houses, and todo such Work as they shall think them Ableand Fit for; and to detain and keep in theService of the said Corporation, until the Ageof Sixteen Years, any Poor Child or Childrenof the said City, left to be Maintained by thesaid City, or any Parish or Place in the same,or begging or seeking Relief, or which byany of the Laws now in force ought to beMaintained and Provided for by any Parish orPlace within the said City, or the Child orChildren of any other Person or Persons, thatare or shall be willing or desirous to place orput their Child or Children in such Hospitalor Hospitals, until their said Age of SixteenYears; and after they shall have attained theirsaid Age of Sixteen Years or sooner, the saidCorporation, by Indenture, shall have Powerto Bind and Put forth such Child or ChildrenApprentices, to any Honest Person or Personswithin the Kingdom of England, for anyNumber of Years, not exceeding Seven Years,as they shall think convenient; which Indenture shall be binding to such Child or Children.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Court or Assembly so Constituted, as aforesaid, shall have, and hereby have Power to inflict such reasonableCorrection and Punishment on any Poor Person or Persons within the said Hospital orHospitals, Work-house or Work-houses,House or Houses of Correction, that shallnot conform to such Rules, Orders and Ordinances so made, as aforesaid, or misbehavethemselves in the same; And that the saidCourt or Assembly so Constituted, as aforesaid,shall have, and hereby have Power to appointa Committee to consist of One and Twenty ofthe Guardians at the least, who, or any Fiveof them, of which Two shall be Assistants,shall from time to time, or at any time untilthe next Court, have Power to inflict suchreasonable Correction and Punishment, asaforesaid, on any such Poor Person or Personsoffending, as aforesaid.

And for the better Carrying on so Pious and Charitable a Work, be it Enacted bythe Authority aforesaid, That it shall and maybe Lawfull for the said Corporation, in theirsaid Courts or Assemblies, from time to time, to set down and ascertain what Sum, or Sumsof Money shall be needful for the Buildingand Erecting of such Hospitals, Work-houses,or Houses of Correction, so that the same donot exceed the Sum of Five Thousand Pounds,to be raised within the Space of Three Years,or any longer time, as to them shall seemmeet, by such Quarterly or other Payments,as they in their discretion shall think fit;And also from time to time, to Set down andAscertain what Weekly, Monthly, or otherSums, shall be needful for the Maintenanceof the Poor in the said Hospital or Hospitals,Work-house or Work-houses, House or Housesof Correction, or within the Care of the saidCorporation, so that the same do not exceedwhat hath been Paid in the said City towardsthe Maintenance of the Poor thereof, in anyone of the Three last Years; And shall andmay, under their Common Seal, certify thesame unto the Mayor and Aldermen of thesaid City for the time being; which saidMayor and any Two of the Aldermen, or anyFive of the said Aldermen without the Mayor,may and are hereby Required from time totime, to cause the same to be Raised and Leviedby Taxation of every Inhabitant, and of allLands, Houses, Tythes Impropriate, Appropriation of Tythes, and all Stocks and Estatesin the said City and County of the same, inequal Proportion, according to their respectiveWorth and Values: And in order thereunto,the said Mayor and any Two of the saidAldermen, or any Five of the said Aldermenwithout the Mayor, shall have power, and arehereby required indifferently, to proportionout the said Sum and Sums upon each Parishand Precinct within the said City, and bytheir Warrants under their Hands and Sealsto Authorize and Require the Church-wardensand Overseers of the Poor of each respectiveParish and Precinct, to Assess the same respectively; And after such Assessment made,by like Warrant under their Hands and Seals,to Authorize the said respective Church-wardens and Overseers to Demand, Gather, andReceive the same, and for Non-paymentthereof (being Lawfully Demanded) to Levythe same by Distress and Sale of the Goodsof the Offender, restoring the Surplusage tothe Party so Distrained; And if no Distresscan be found, then it shall and may be Lawfulto and for the said Mayor, and any Two ofthe Aldermen, or any Five of the said Aldermen without the Mayor, to commit such Offender to Prison, there to remain withoutBail or Mainprize, till the same shall be Paid:And after the same shall be Received, to Paythe same unto the Treasurer of the said Corporation for the time being. Provided always,That if any Person or Persons, Parish orPrecinct, find him or themselves to be unequally Taxed or Assessed, he or they mayAppeal to the Justices of the Peace of thesaid City and County, at their next GeneralQuarter-Sessions after such Assessment madeand demanded, who shall and hereby have fullPower and Authority, to take and make afinal Order therein.

And for the Encouragement of such as shall be Benefactors to so good a Design, Beit Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That ifany Man charitably disposed, shall give Onehundred Pounds, or more, towards carryingon the said Work, It shall and may be Lawful for the said Corporation, at a Court wherethere shall be present Three and thirty of thesaid Guardians at the least, to elect and constitute such Charitable Person to be Guardian ofthe Poor of the said City, and to continue inthe said Office, as long as to the said Corporation shall seem meet.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Corporation shall have the Care of, and provide for the Maintenance of all the Poor of the said City, ofwhat Age or Kind soever they be, except such as shallbe otherwise sufficiently Provided for by thecharitable Gifts of other Persons, or in Hospitals or Almshouses within the said City already Erected: And in order thereunto shallhave full Power to Examine, Search and Seewhat Poor Persons there are come into, Inhabiting and Residing within the said City orany Part thereof; And shall have Power to Apprehend or cause to be Apprehended anyRogues, Vagrants, or Sturdy-Beggars, or Idleor Disorderly Persons within the said City andthe County thereof, and to cause them to bekept and set to Work in the saidWork-houses, Hospitals or Houses of Correction, forthe Space of Three Years.

Provided always, and be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That this Act, or anything herein contained, shall not any waysextend to give the said Corporation any Power or Authority over any Almshouse, orHospital, or any other Charitable Gift or Use,within the said City, already Given, Settledor Erected, but that the same shall be whollyexempted therefrom; Any thing herein to theContrary notwithstanding.

And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Corporation in their said Court or Assembly, shall have hereby Power to choose and entertain all suchother Officers as shall be needful to be employed in and about the Premisses, and themor any of them, from time to time to removeas they shall see Cause; and upon the Deathor Removal of them, or any of them, tochoose others in their Place, and to makeand give such reasonable Allowances to them,or any of them, out of the Stock or Revenuebelonging to the said Corporation or Hospitals,as they shall think fit.

Provided always, and be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That no Officer or Officers, who shall be Elected,chosen, Appointed or Employ’d, in the Execution of, or by Virtue of this Act, or anyof the Powers or Authorities thereby given,shall be liable for or by reason of such Officeor Execution, to any of the Penalties mentioned in an Act made the Five and TwentiethYear of the Reign of King Charles the Second, for the Preventing the Dangers whichmay happen from Popish Recusants.

And it is further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Treasurer for the Time being, and all other Officers belongingto the said Corporation, Hospitals,Work-houses, or Houses of Correction, shall, fromtime to time, before such Person or Personsas the said Corporation shall thereto appoint,account for such Moneys, Stock, and otherThings belonging to the said Corporation,Hospitals, Work-houses, or Houses of Correction, as shall come to their respectiveHands, or be under their respective Care, upon every reasonable Warning and Notice thereof, by the said Corporation to them respectively given; And on their Neglect or Refusal toAccount, as aforesaid, shall or may be, by thesaid Mayor, or any Two of the said Aldermen,committed to the County Goal for the saidCity and County of Bristoll, there to remainwithout Bail or Mainprize, until they shallbecome conformable, and Account, as aforesaid; And if upon such Account there shallappear any Thing to be in their Hands belonging to the said Corporation, Hospitals,Work-houses, or Houses of Correction, theyshall Pay and Deliver the same, as the saidCorporation shall direct, or give such Securityfor the same, as the said Corporation shall approve of, on pain to forfeit Double the Valuethereof, to be Recovered by the said Corporation, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint or Information in which no Protection, Essoign,or Wager in Law, or any more than OneImparlance, shall be admitted or allowed.

And it is further Enacted, That all other Pains, Penalties and Forfeitures by this Actappointed, shall be Levied by Distress andSale of the Offenders Goods, by Warrant under the Hand and Seal of the said Treasurerfor the time being, Restoring to the Offenderthe Overplus.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Person or Persons shall be Sued for any Matter or Thing whichhe shall do in Execution of this Act, he mayplead the General Issue, and give the specialMatter in Evidence: And if the Verdict shallpass for the Defendant, or the Plaintiff shallbe nonsuited, or discontinue his Suit, the Defendant shall Recover his Treble Costs. And this Act shall be Taken and be Allowed in all Courts within this Kingdom as a Publick Act;And all Judges and Justices are hereby Requir’d, as such, to take Notice thereof, without specially Pleading the same; And allMayors, Justices, Sheriffs, Bayliffs, Constables,and all other Officers and Ministers of Justice,are hereby Required to be Aiding and Assistingto the said Corporation, and to such Officersas shall be employed by them, or any ofthem, in Execution of this Act, or any ofthe Powers or Authorities hereby given.

AN

ACCOUNT

OF THE

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

Corporation of Bristol,

In Execution of the

Act of Parliament

For the Better

Employing and Maintaining

the

Of That CITY.

TO THE

Right Honourable

AND

HONOURABLE,

THE

Lords Spiritual and Temporal,

AND

Commons in Parliament

assembled.

May it please your Honours,

I HUMBLY make bold to lay before You an Account of ourProceedings in the City ofBristol, on the Act of Parliament for Erecting Hospitals and Work-houses for the better Employing and Maintaining the Poor of that City, whichpassed in the first Sessions of the Parliamentbegun at Westminster the 22d of November 1695. whereby the Power invested in theCorporation commenced from the 12th ofMay 1696.

The first Thing we did was to choose Four Guardians for each of our Twelve Wards,as the Statute does direct, which, with theMayor and Aldermen, amounted to SixtyGuardians, and made up our Court.

The Court being thus constituted, at our first Meeting we chose our Officers appointedby the said Act, viz. a Governor, aDeputy-Governor, Twelve Assistants, a Treasurer, aClerk, and a Beadle.

This being done, we order’d the Guardians who dwelt in each Parish, to bring in an Account of all the Poor in their respectiveParishes, their Names, Ages, Sexes, andQualifications. Also an Account of theCharges expended for maintaining them ineach of the last three Years, that so we mightbring it to a Medium. We also appointedcertain standing Rules for the better governing our Debates, and ordered all things donein the Court to be fairly enter’d in a Journal.

We likewise consider’d which would be most for the advantage of the Corporation, tobuild Work-houses, or to purchase suchHouses, which being already built, might bealtered and made fit for our purpose.

These things spent much time, and it was about the Month of September before wecould settle the Medium of the Poor’s Rates,in order to certifie to the Mayor and Aldermen what Sum was necessary to be Raised onthe City for the next Year.

But here we met with an unexpected Remora, Mr. Samuel Wallis was succeeded inhis Majoralty by Mr. J. H. and this Changemade a great Alteration in our Affairs: Forwhereas the former had given us all the Incouragement we could expect from him, andhad done us the honour to be our first Governor, the latter resolved to obstruct us allhe could. And because the power of raisingMoney was vested in him and the Aldermen,he absolutely refused to put that Power inExecution.

This, together with his other Endeavours to Brow-beat the Corporation, kept us at a stand till October (97.) only our Courtmet, and discourst things, and we labouredto keep up the Spirits of our Friends, whobegan to sink under these Discouragements,and to despair of Success, the Work seemingdifficult enough in it self; our undertakingbeing nothing less, then to put to Work agreat Number of People, many of whichhad been habited to Laziness and Beggary;to civilize such as had been bred up in all theVices that want of Education could exposethem to; and to Clothe, Lodge, and feedthem well, with the same Sum of Moneywhich was distributed among them whenthey begg’d, lay in the Streets, and wentalmost naked.

Yet all this would not have discouraged us, could we have prevailed on Mr. Mayorto have joyned with us. We often sought it,and he as often refused us, till his time being expired, his Successor granted our Request; and then, having lost much time, wewere forced to make large steps.

The first we made was, a Vote to take on us the Care of the Poor of the City; andas I remember, this Vote passed in Octoberor November 1697. though we had then noMoney raised, nor could we expect any tillafter our Lady-day 1698. So that from thepassing that Vote to this time is about twoYears.

The next step was to appoint a Committee of Twelve to hear the Complaints of the Poor, to relieve them, and set themat work; Six whereof were to go out everyMonth, and to be succeeded by Six more,to be chosen by Ballating.

We had formerly obtained from the Mayor and Common Council, in the Majoralty ofAlderman Wallis, the Grant of a Work-house,which then lay unoccupied, and the Courthad appointed a Committee to place as manyGirls in it as it would conveniently contain,both as to Lodging and Working. This isthat we called the New work-house.

But all things having stood still so long, we resolved now to lose no more time; yetwe had no Money, nor could we expect anyin less than Six Months, from the Poor’sRates; therefore we resolved to make ourseveral Loans for Twelve Months without Interest to the Corporation on the Credit oftheir Common Seal; in which Design manyof the Citizens lent their Assistance, wherebywe became soon Masters of about Six Hundred Pounds Stock. Likewise our Guardians, who were appointed to pay the Poor in theirseveral Parishes, voluntarily advanced theirweekly Payments, till they could be reimburst by the Treasurer. The other Stockwe Employed to furnish Beds and other Necessaries for our House, Clothes and Provisions for our Children to be taken in, andMaterials for their Working.

We had now Two Committees; one for the Poor, the other for the NewWork-house.

The Committee for the Poor met twice every Week: And in this Committee weproceeded thus;

First, We Voted that the Poor of the City should be visited in their respective Parishes,and that new Poor’s Rates should be made;and accordingly we ordered the Guardians ofeach Parish to bring together the Poor on acertain day in some convenient Place, wherethe Committee met, and without Partialityendeavoured to provide for every one according to their Wants, We likewise took notice of all the young Girls that were on ourPoor’s Books, and of such whose Parents tookno due Care of them; and these we recommended to the Committee of the NewWork-house, to be taken in, and Employed bythem.

Our Poor’s Rates we made in this manner: Every One that expected Relief came before us with their whole Families, exceptsuch as was impotent and could not come:In our Books we put down the Name ofthe Man, the Woman, and each Child;together with the Qualifications of all, eitheras to Age, Health, Civility, &c. what eachPerson did or could get by the Week, andin what Employment. We likewise setdown for what Reason the Charity was bestowed, that when that should cease, or wecould find out any other way to provide forit, the Charity should likewise cease.

Having thus seen the state of all our Poor, and provided for them, the Committeesat twice a Week in the Publick Court, tohear and provide for all casual Complaints;which we did in this Manner; We orderedthat the Poor in their respective Parishes,should first apply themselves to their Guardian or Guardians, who were to relieve themas they saw fit, till the next Sitting of theCommittee, when they were to bring themup with their Complaints, if they were ableto come; and this we did, lest the Committee (three whereof made a Quorum) shouldbe deceived; who could not be supposed toknow the state of all the Poor in the City,and by this means we had the Opinion ofthe Guardian of each Parish; nor could heeasily deceive us, because he brought the Poorwith him, and thereby the Committee became Judges of the Matter laid before them.At these Meetings, care was taken of the various Cases and Exigencies which offered, andin all things there was a regard, as much ascould be, to put People on living by their ownLabours.

To such as were sick, we gave Warrants to our Physician to visit them; such as wanted the Assistance of our Surgeons were directed to them, and all were Relieved tillthey were able to Work; by which meansthe Poor having been well attended, were setat Work again, who by neglect, might withtheir Families have been chargeable to theCorporation; for some we provided Cloaths,for others Work; where we found Peoplecareful, but wanted a Stock to Employ themselves and their Children, we either lent or gaveit; where they wanted Houses, we eitherpaid the Rent, or became Security for it;where we found them opprest, we stood bythem; where Differences arose, we endeavoured to compose them; so that in a littletime all the Complaints of the Poor came tothis Committee, (which saved our Magistratesa great deal of trouble) and care was takenthat none went away unheard.

The Committee at first sat twice a Week, but now only once in a Fortnight; not thatwe grew slack in the Care of our Poor, butbecause their Number being so much abated,by those received into our severalWork-houses, the Business does not require their meeting oftner.

The other Committee, (viz.) That for the New Work-house, having first furnished it inorder to receive in the young Girls, beganwith such as were recommended to them bythe Committee for the Poor; and this Method hath been generally observed ever since,both by that Committee, and also by the Committee since chosen for our other Work-house;not that either of them depends on the other,but because the first application for Relief ismade to the Committee for the Poor.

But before we took in the Girls, we first considered of proper Officers to govern them;and these consisted of a Master, whose Business was to receive in Work, and deliver itout again, and to keep the Account of theHouse, &c.

A Mistress, whose Business was to look after the Kitchen and Lodgings, to providetheir Meals at set times, and other thingswhich related to the Government of theHouse.

Tutresses to teach them to Spin, under each of which we put Five and Twenty Girls.

A School-Mistress, to teach them to Read.

Servants in the Kitchen, and for washing, &c. but these we soon discharged, and caused our biggest Girls to take their Turnsevery Week.

We also appointed an old Man to keep the Door, and to carry forth and fetch in Work,and such kind of Services.

Being thus provided, we received in One Hundred Girls, and set them to Work at Spinning of Worsted Yarn; all which we firstcaused to be stript by the Mistress, Washed,and new Clothed from Head to Foot; which,together with wholesome Dyet at set Hours,and good Beds to Lye on, so incouraged theChildren, that they willingly betook themselves to their Work.

We likewise provided for them Apparel for Sundays; they went to Church every Lord’sDay; were taught their Catechisms at home,and had Prayers twice every Day; we appointed them set Hours for working, eating, andplaying; and gave them leave to walk onthe Hills with their Tutresses, when theirWork was over, and the Weather fair; bywhich means we won them into Civility, anda love to their Labour. But we had a greatdeal of trouble with their Parents, and thosewho formerly kept them, who having lost thesweetness of their Pay, did all they could toset both their Children and others against us;but this was soon over.

Hitherto things answered above our Expectations; our Children grew sober, andWorked willingly, but we very much questioned, whether their Labours at the Rates wewere paid, would answer the charge of theirMaintenance; and if not, our great doubtwas how we might advance it, without prejudicing the Manufactures.

To clear the first, we supposed our selves in a fair way, having appointed their Diets tobe made up of such Provisions as were verywholesome, afforded good nourishment, andwere not costly in Price, (viz.) Beef, Pease, Potatoes, Broath, Pease-porridge, Milk-porridge,Bread and Cheese, good Bear, (such as wedrank at our own Tables) Cabage, Carrots,Turnips, &c. in which we took the Adviceof our Physician, and bought the best of everysort. They had three Meals every day, andas I remember, it stood us (with Soap towash) in about Sixteen pence per Week foreach of the One hundred Girls. We soonfound the effect of their Change of Living,Nature being well supported, threw out agreat deal of foulness, so that we had generally Twenty down at a time, in the Measels,Small-pox, and other Distempers; but by theCare of our Physician, and the Blessing ofGod on his Endeavours, we never Buried butTwo, though we have had seldom less thanOne hundred in the House at any time.

Having thus provided for their Dyets, we next appointed their times of Working;which in the Summer was Ten hours and ahalf every Day, and an Hour less in theWinter; by which means we answered thetwo Objections raised against the Poor, (viz.) That they will not Work, and that they spendwhat they get in fine feeding.

But we soon found, that the great cause of begging did proceed from the low Wagesfor Labour; for after about Eight Monthstime, our Children could not get half somuch as we expended in their Provisions.The Manufacturers, who Employed us, werealways complaining the Yarn was spun course,but would not advance above Eight pence perPound for Spinning, and we must either takethis, or have no Work. On the other side,we were labouring to understand how wemight distinguish, and put a Value on ourWork, according to its Fineness. This wedid by the Snap Reel, which when we wereMasters of, the Committee made an Order,That the Master should buy in a Stock ofWool, and Spin it up for our own Accounts,and then proceeded to set the Price of Spinning by the Snap Reel, wherein we endeavoured to discourage Course Work, and to Encourage Fine, because we saw the latter waslikely to bring more Profit, not only to thePoor, but to the Kingdom in general. Welikewise ordered some things to be made upof the several sorts of Yarn, at the Rateswe had set them; and on the whole, wefound the Commodities made of fine Yarn, though they were much better than thosemade of Course, yet stood us in little more;because what the one exceeded in the chargeof Spinning, was very much made good inabatement of the Quantity used. We therefore sent to the Manufacturers, and shewedthem what Experiments we had made; butfinding them still unwilling to advance abovethe old Rate, the Committee Voted that theywould give Employment to all the Poor ofthe City, who would make application tothem, at the Rates we offered to work,and pay them ready Money for their Labour.

We soon found we had taken the right Course, for in a few Weeks we had Sale forour Fine Yarn as fast as we could make it,and they gave us from Eight pence to TwoShillings per Pound for Spinning the sameGoods, for which a little before they paid butEight pence, and were very well pleased withit, because they were now able to distinguishbetween the Fine and the Course Yarn, and toapply each sort to the use for which it wasmost proper: Since which, they have givenus Two Shillings and Six Pence per Poundfor a great many Pounds, and we Spin someworth Three Shillings and Six Pence per PoundSpinning.

By this means we had the pleasure of seeing the Children’s Labour advanced, which alittle before I came up, amounted to nearSix Pounds per Week, and would have beenmuch more, but that our biggest Girls, weeither settle forth, or put in the Kitchen;and those we receive in being generally small,are able to do but little for some timeafter.

The encouragement we had received on this beginning, put us on proceeding further:The Court resolved to purchase a great Sugar-House, out of the Money directed by theAct to be raised for Building ofWork-Houses, and fit it up for the receiving in theremainder of the Poor, (viz.) ancient People, Boys, and young Children; which wasaccordingly done, and a Committee wasappointed to manage it. This we calledthe Mint Work-House, because it had beenhired by the Lords of the Treasury for that Use.

The Committee began to take in the Boys in August last; these we Cloathed, Dyeted, andGoverned, much after the same manner as wehad done the Girls, but put them on a different Employment, (viz.) Spinning of CottonWool, and Weaving of Fustians: We havenow about One Hundred of them together,who settle well to their Work, and everyDay mend their Hands; they get us alreadySix Pounds per Week; they are likewisetaught to Read, and we shall hereafter teachthem to Write.

We next took in our ancient People; and here we had principally a regard to such aswere impotent, and had no Friends to helpthem, and to such as we could not keep fromthe lazy Trade of Begging; these we Cloathedas we saw they needed, and put on such Employments as were fit for their Ages andStrengths, having our Eyes chiefly on thoseto which they were bred; we found it difficult at first to bend them down to good Orders, but by degrees we have brought themunder Government.

Then we called in all the Children that were on our Poor’s Books, and put them under Nurses; those who can speak and go, are carried down into the School, to learntheir A, B, C, &c. As they grow up, weshall put them into the Working Rooms.

The Boys are kept at a distance from the ancient People, who do also lodge in distinctApartments, the Men in several Chamberson one Floor, and the Women on another;all do something, though perhaps some oftheir Labours comes to little, yet it keepsthem from Idleness: Both the Old and Youngattend Prayers twice a day, (except the Bedridden, for whom other Care is taken) and goto Church twice on Sun days.

We have now three standing Committees, (viz.) For the Poor, for the NewWork-house, and for the Mint Work-house: Thefirst gives all Directions, and makes all Allowances, for the Poor, without whose Orderno Guardian can act any thing considerable,except in Cases of absolute Necessity, whichat the next Meeting of the Committee hemust give an Account of, and desire theirApprobation. The other two Committeeshave Power to Act in the Affairs of thatWork-House for which they are chosen:They receive in both Old and Young; theybind forth Apprentices, Correct, order the Dyet as they please, oversee the Working, Sell the Manufactures when made, order thePayment of all Moneys, which cannot bedone unless the Note be sign’d by the Chair-man; and generally direct every thing relating to those Houses.

The Accounts are made up thus: The Treasurers Account is audited every Year,by a Committee chosen for that purpose;at which time he is succeeded by anotherTreasurer, chosen by the Court: The Accounts of the Guardians who pay the Poor intheir several Parishes are audited every ThreeMonths, by a select Committee chosenlikewise by the Court, and are then paid by theTreasurer: The Accounts for eachWorkhouse are audited by the respective Committeeevery Month, when the Master adjusts, notonly his Account of Cash, but also of eachparticular Specie of Goods he hath under hisCare, the Ballance whereof is still carried forward to the next, which when allowed of issigned by the Chairman: And the Accountfor each House is so stated, that it shews atone sight, what the House is indebted; whatDebts are outstanding, and from whom; what Goods remain in the House, and the Quantity of each Specie.

At the making up these Accounts nothing (unless very trivial) is allowed, for which anOrder is not produced, or found enteredin our Books, so that ’tis very difficult towrong the Corporation of any thing, if theGuardians should endeavour it.

These Committees keep their Journal Books, wherein all they do is fairly transcribed, and signed by the Chairman.

This is what at present occurs to my Memory touching our Work-Houses at Bristol; I have been as brief as the nature of the thingwould admit: The Success hath answered ourExpectation; we are freed from Beggars, ourold People are comfortably provided for; ourBoys and Girls are educated to Sobriety, andbrought to delight in Labour; our youngChildren are well lookt after, and not spoiledby the neglect of ill Nurses; and the Face ofour City is so changed already, that we havegreat reason to hope these young Plants willproduce a vertuous and laborious Generation,with whom Immortality and Prophaness mayfind little Incouragement; nor does our hopesappear to be groundless, for among ThreeHundred Persons now under our Charge within Doors, there is neither Cursing nor Swearing, nor prophane Language, to be heard,though many of them were bred up in allmanner of Vices, which neither Bridewellnor Whippings could fright them from, because, returning to their bad Company forwant of Employment, they were rather madeworse then bettered by those Corrections;whereas the Change we have wrought onthem is by fair means. We have a Bridewell, Stocks, and Whipping-Post, always intheir sights, but never had occasion to makeuse of either.

What is done in that City, I humbly hope may be carried on by the same stepsthroughout the Kingdom; The Poor may beset at Work, their Wages advanced withoutdanger to our Manufactures, and they thereby enabled to live on their own Labours,whereby the Charge of the Poor’s Rates maybe saved, and a great many worthy Benefactors encouraged to give, when they shall seetheir Charity so well disposed of. This I havegreat reason to hope, because we have hadnear One Thousand Pounds freely given to uswithin the compass of one Year, and muchthereof by Gentlemen who dwelt at a Distance from us, only were willing to Encourage a Work they saw likely to be carriedon, which might be of good Example to theNation.

I am,

Right Honourable

and Honourable,

Your Honours most

Obedient Servant

JOHN CARY.

AN