I will consider of one Objection

But before I enter farther thereon, I will consider of one Objection, it having been a great Question among many thoughtful Men, whether the settling our Plantations Abroad has been an Advantage to the Nation; the Reasons they give against them are, That they have drained us of Multitudes of our People, who might have been serviceable at Home, and advanced Improvement in Husbandry and Manufactures; that this Kingdom is worse peopled, by so much as they are increased; and that Inhabitants being the Wealth of a Nation, by how much they are lessened, by so much we are poorer, than when we first began to settle those Colonies.

To all which I answer; that though I allow the last Proposition to be true, that People are the Wealth of a Nation, yet it can only be so, where we find Imployment for them, otherwise they must be a Burthen to it: ’Tis my Opinion, that our Plantations are an Advantage to this Kingdom, though not all alike, but every one more or less, as they take off our Product and Manufactures, supply us with Commodities, which may be either wrought up here, or exported again, or prevent fetching things of the same Nature from other Places for our Home Consumption, employ our Poor, and encourage our Navigation; for I take this Kingdom, and all its Plantations, to be one great Body, those being as so many Limbs or Counties belonging to it; therefore when we consume their Growth, we do as it were spend the Fruits of our own Land; and what thereof we sell to our Neighbours, brings a second Profit to the Nation.

These Plantations are either the great Continent from Hudson’s-Bay Northward to Florida Southward, containing Nova Scotia, New-England, New-Jersy, New-York, Pensilvania, Virginia, Mary-Land, Carolina; and also our Islands, the Chief whereof are, Newfoundland, Barbadoes, Antegoa, Nevis, St. Christophers, Montserat, and Jamaica; the Commodities they afford us are more especially Sugars, Cotton, Tobacco, Piamento and Fustick, of their own Growth; also Logwood, which we bring from Jamaica (but first brought thither from the Bay of Campechia on the Continent of Mexico, belonging to the Spaniards, but cut by the Subjects of this Kingdom, who have made small settlements there) besides great Quantities of Fish, taken on the Coasts both of Newfoundland and New-England: These being the Product of Earth, Sea and Labour, are clear Profit to the Kingdom, and give a double Employment to our People, first to those who raise them there, next to those who prepare Manufactures here, wherewith they are supplied, besides the Advantage they afford to our Navigation; for the Commodities exported thither, and those imported thence hither, being generally bulky, do thereby employ more Ships, and consequently more Sailors, which leaves more Room for other labouring People to be kept at work in our Husbandry and Manufactures, whilst they consume the Product of the one, and the Effects of the other, in an Employment of a distinct Nature from either.

This was the first Design of settling Plantations abroad, that we might better maintain a Commerce and Trade among ourselves, 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 Necessaries save from hence only, and both to be done in our own Ships, navigated by our own Sailors, except in some Cases permitted by the Act of Navigation; and so much as the Reins of 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 to this Kingdom; for the Inhabitants thereof employing themselves rather by trading to the others, than raising a Product proper to be transported hither, and supplying them (especially the Islands) with Fish (which they catch on their Coart) Deal-Boards, Pipe-Staves, Horses, and such like Things of their own Growth, which they cannot be so well furnished with hence, also with Bread, Flower, Pease, and other Grain; and from thence fetching the respective Products of those Islands, and sometimes Tobacco from Virginia and Mary-Land, have carried them to foreign Markets, to the great Prejudice of this Kingdom: But to prevent this, they have been by sundry Laws obliged to bring them all hither, except what is consumed among themselves: By which Means this Kingdom is become the Center of Trade, and standing like the Sun in the midst of its Plantations, doth not only refresh them, but also draws Profit from them: And indeed it is a Matter of exact Justice that it should be so, for from hence it is that Fleets of Ships, and Regiments of Soldiers are frequently sent for their Defence, at the Charge of the Inhabitants, towards which they contribute but little.

Besides the forementioned Commodities, we have from Carolina excellent Rice, and there has been Cocheneel taken, which as yet is but a Discovery, and perhaps may not meet with any considerable Improvement, till that Colony is better peopled; what I have seen thereof in the Hands of a Gentleman who brought it thence, seems by its Figure, to be much like what we call a Lady-Cow, or Lady-Bird, but is very small, and I take it to be the Fœtus of an Insect, which laying its Eggs on a Shrub called the Prickle-Pear, or something very like it, leaves them there, till Time brings 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 Fœtus may find its Food, so soon as it wants its Sustenance. It gives a very curious Colour when bruised, but being extraordinary small, does require long Time to gather in any Quantity, and Labour being very dear there, ’twill not yet answer the Charge; but by cultivating and improving the Plant, which now grows wild, and by being better acquainted with the proper Seasons to collect them, when they are at a more mature Growth, greater Quantities may probably hereafter be procured, and at less Charge; and I think it would be a good Step towards it, if an Encouragement was given on its Importation hither, in such a Manner, as to the Wisdom of the Parliament shall seem fit and proper.

Now, that which makes these Plantations more profitable to this Kingdom, is the Trade to Africa, whereby the Planters are supplied with Negroes for their Use and Service; a Trade of the most Advantage of any we drive, and as it were all Profit, the first cost being some Things of our own Manufactures, and others generally purchased with them, for which we have in return, Gold, Teeth, Wax, and Negroes, the last whereof is indeed the best Traffic the Kingdom hath, as it occasionally gives so vast an Employment to our People both by Sea and Land. These are the Hands whereby our Plantations are improved, and it is by their Labours such great Quantities of Sugar, Tobacco, Cotton, Ginger, Fustick and Indigo, are raised, which employ great Numbers of Ships for transporting them hither; and the greater Number of Ships, employs the greater Number of Handicraft Trades at home, spends more of our Product and Manufactures, and makes more Sailors, who are maintained by a separate Employment; for if every one raised the Provisions he eat, or made the Manufactures he wore, Traffic would cease, which is a Variety of Employments Men have set themselves on, whereby one is serviceable to another, adapted to their particular Genius’s, without invading each other’s Provinces: Thus the Husbandman raises Corn, the Miller grinds it, the Baker makes it into Bread, and the Citizens eats it: Thus the Grasier fats Cattle, and the Butcher kills them for the Market: Thus the Shepherd sheers his Sheep, the Spinster turns the Wool into Yarn, the Weaver makes it into Cloth, and the Merchant exports it, and every one lives by each other: Thus the Country supplies the City with Provisions, and that the Country with Necessaries; now the advising a former Reign to monopolize this Trade, and confine it to an exclusive Company, was the same, as to advise the People of Ægypt, to raise high Banks to keep the River Nilus from overflowing, least it should fertilize their Lands; or the King of Spain to shut up his Mines, least he should fill his Kingdom too full of Silver: This Trade indeed is our Silver Mine, for by the Overplus of Negroes above what will serve our Plantations, we draw great Quantities thereof from the Spaniards, who are settled on the Continent of America, both for the Negroes we furnish from Jamaica, and also by the Assiento, lately settled by a Compact of both Nations: ’Twas these which first introduced 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 what Reasons should persuade that Government to monopolize it, and what has been the Consequences thereof, in order to obviate any future Attempts that may be made to get it done again.

As for the First; The Necessity of having Forts, Castles, and Soldiers to defend the Trade which could not be carried on without them, had then Force enough to prevail.

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

The greatest Number of Soldiers, offered 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 whole Coast, nor did their Forts and Castles appear to be any thing else than Settlements for their Factors, nor was it ever made out, or indeed pretended, that they were fitted to wage a National War, or to secure against a National Invasion, nor were there any Magazines laid up to expect a Siege from the Natives; nor could they hinder Interlopers from trading on the Coast of what Nation soever; but the Company having obtained Frigates from the Government, destroyed our own Merchant Ships (unless permitted on the Payment of great Mulcts at home) whilst they let others alone: This, together with the Powers given them in their Charter, to seize in the Plantations, such as had the good Fortune to escape them on the Coast, and also their Cargoes, discouraged private Traders, who else found no Difficulties, the Natives receiving them as Friends, and chusing rather to deal with them than the Company, whose Factories also being at remote Distances from each other, great Part of that Coast was untraded to.

Nor do I see what Need there was to fight our Way into a Trade, altogether as advantageous to the Natives as to us; for whilst we supplied them with Things they wanted, and were of Value amongst them, we took in exchange Slaves, which were else of little Worth to the Proprietors; and there was no Reason to think, that the People of this Kingdom, who had settled such large Colonies on the Continent of America, (besides it several Islands) where there was at first such small Hopes of Advantage, without the Help of a Company, should fall short in securing this Trade, which carried with it the Prospect of so great a Profit.

I will next consider the Inconveniencies that have attended this Monopoly, and the Advantage the Nation reaps by the Trades being laid open; we now send more Ships, and supply the Plantations with more Negroes, and vend more of our Commodities for their Purchase: Besides, every Negro in the Plantations gives a second Employ to the Manufacturers of this Kingdom; and had we many more to spare, the Spaniards would buy them, and pay us in Bullion, so there could be no Ground for putting this Trade into few Hands, unless ’twas designed those few should grow rich, whilst for their Sakes, the Nation suffered in its Trade and Navigation, the Company having made this detrimental Use of their Charter, that they bought up our Manufactures cheaper at home, and made the Planters pay dearer for Negroes abroad, than could have been done, if there had been more Buyers for the One, and Sellers of the Other.

It is not to be doubted, whether the vending our Manufactures, and encouraging our Navigation, on advantagious Terms, are the true Interest of this Kingdom, and that all Foreign Commerce, as it advances either, is more or less profitable to us; but the confining this Trade to an exclusive Company could promote neither; and I believe ’tis one great Reason, why we know so little of that great Continent, because the Company, finding Ways enough to employ their Stock amongst those few Settlements they had made on the Sea-Coast, never endeavoured a farther Inland Discovery; whereas, now the Trade is laid open, the busy Merchant, that industrious Bee of the Nation, will not leave any Creek or River untraded to, from whence he may hope to make Advantage.

’Tis to Trade and Commerce we are beholding for what knowledge we have of foreign Parts, and it is observable, that the more remote People dwell from the Sea, the less they are acquainted with Affairs abroad. Africa is a large Country, and doubtless the Trade to it, may be much enlarged to our Advantage: Use and Experience, make us by degrees, Masters of every thing, and tho’ the first Undertakers of a Design may fall short of answering their private Ends, yet they often lay open beaten Paths, wherein Posterity do tread with Success, though they miscarried: Now that all Places are permitted freely to send Ships, and to have the Management of their own Affairs, Industry is encouraged, and Peoples Heads are set at work how they may out-do each other, by getting first into a new Place of Trade. Besides, the more Traders, the more Buyers at home, and Sellers abroad, and by this means, our Plantations on the large Continent of America, are better furnished with Negroes, for want of which the Inhabitants there could never arrive to those Improvements they have done on the Islands, the Company having given them little or no Supply, but chose rather to send their Negroes to the latter, because they were able to make them better Payments; but the Free-traders have since done it, to the great Advantage of those 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 any Disadvantage to our own Product; and the other is manufactured at home, and afterwards carried to Markets abroad: And as for the Gold brought thence, I need not mention how much it doth advance our Wealth, all allow it to be a good Barter.

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

I come now to discourse of Ireland, and of the Trade we interchangeably drive with that Kingdom, with whom it is necessary to maintain a good Correspondence, which must be done on such Terms, as may be profitable to us both; and I think nothing is more likely to answer this End, than the encouraging the Linnen Manufacture there, which it is highly our Interest to promote, and theirs to set upon, being for the most Part of another Nature, than what is made either in the North or South-Britain; for, besides the Employment it will give to the Poor, large Tracts of Land will be taken up for raising Hemp and Flax, both which thrive well in many Parts of that Kingdom; on the other Hand, the low Labour of Ireland being employed on that Manufacture, will no way prejudice ours, but make them better able to trade with us, for such things wherewith they are supplied hence, it being undoubtedly the Interest of this Kingdom, that all those Nations we trade with should grow rich, by any Methods that do not make us Poor; and more-especially Ireland, whose Profits are generally spent here.

But then, how shall this Manufacture be carried on? Truly, the first Step must be, by furnishing Money on reasonable Interest, and receiving it again by such Payments as the Borrowers can make, and buying up the Linnens when made, and then the landed Men will encourage it, on their own Estates, and thereby enable their Tenants to pay their Rents better; which last Effect it hath already had in the North of Ireland, where by spinning the Yarn in the Winter Nights, and getting their Cloth ready, and fit for Sale, early in the Year, they provide for their May Rents, without being constrained to sell their Cattle whilst 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, of by the Bank of England, which will be attended with good Security; for by reason of the Register settled there by Act of Parliament, I take the Securities of Ireland, to be rather better than those in England: and this way of lending Money, must likewise be very acceptable to all those whose Estates are under different Incumbrances, which may by this means be reduced into one, and paid off, as they can spare the Money by degrees.

Nor can I see how any ill Consequences will attend the bringing the Money to Par in both Kingdoms, I know it had none when the Crown-piece was some Years since reduced from six Shillings to pass at five Shillings and five Pence, and all other Money in Proportion; it neither caused an Alteration in the Rents to the Landlords, nor in the Price of the Product to the Tenants; and I cannot see why the falling it to five Shillings (as it passes here) should carry with it any ill Effect; the Lands of Ireland would thereby be more worth to the Proprietors, who would then be more willing, and better able, to spend their Money here, when they were freed from such high Exchanges; besides the Advantage to the King in his Revenue.

The Commodities we have thence are, Wool, Hides, Tallow, and Skins, all useful in our Manufactures; as also some Herrings, which we export again; and we ship from thence for other Markets, Beef, Pork, Salmon and Butter; we likewise supply them with Tobacco, Sugar, and other Plantation Goods; also with fine Broad-Cloth, Silk Manufactures, and several other things made here; and with sundry of our Products, as Lead, Tin, Coal, &c. of which last, so great Quantities are carried thither yearly, that it will scarce be credited, how much they say there it amounts unto; 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 great Duty, but I wonder they do not totally prohibit them, for that single Commodity doth more Injury to their Manufactures, both of Linnen and Wollen, than all the Things they import besides.

I should be very glad to see the Linnen Manufacture there brought to a good Perfection; and I am sure if the Government were at some Charge in doing it, ’twould not be ill laid out.

I shall proceed next to the Trade we drive to the Canary-Islands, which brings us nothing but what we consume, and I believe takes from us little of our Product or Manufactures; but since we must drink Wines, ’tis better to have 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 ship to 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 and Manufactures, and supplies us with many Things necessary to be used in making the Latter, and furnishes us with great Quantities of 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, Eastward into the Straits of Gibraltar, as far as Catalonia; whither we send all Sorts of Woollen Manufactures, Lead, Fish, Tin, Silk and Worsted Stockings, Butter, Tobacco, Ginger, Leather, Bees-Wax, and sundry other Things. And in Return we have thence, some Things fit only for Consumption, such as Fruit and Wines; others for our Manufactures, such as Oil, Cochineal, Indigo, Anata, Barillia, and some Salt, with a great Part in Gold and Silver, wherewith they are supplied from their large Empires on the main Land of America, whither they export much of the Goods we carry to them.

The Spaniards are a stately People, not much given to Trade or Manufactures themselves; therefore the first they carry on by such chargeable and dilatory Methods, both for their Ships and ways of Navigation, that other trading Nations, such as the English, French, Dutch, and Genoese, take Advantage of them; only their Trade to their West-Indies, hath, on strict Penalties, been reserved to themselves; but having no Manufactures of their own, the Profit thereof comes very much to be reaped by those who furnish them: Nor is it so well guarded and secured, but that the Inhabitants thereof have been 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 Prizes for them, than when they were first shipp’d to Cadiz, and exported thence thither, which adds to the Wealth of the Nation: This I take to be the true Reason why our Vent for them at Cadiz is lessened, because we supply New-Spain direct with those Things they used to have thence before.

By Biscay, I mean all that Part under the Spanish Government, which lies in the Bay of that Name, or adjoining to it: The Commodities we send thither are generally the same as we do to Spain, and in Return we have Wool, Iron, and some Bullion, whereof the first is the best and most profitable Commodity, which could we secure wholly to our selves, ’twould be of great Advantage to the Nation; but both the Dutch and French come in for their Shares; tho’ I am apt to think the former might be induced to bring it hither by way of Merchandize, if we did so far relax the Act of Navigation, as to give them Liberty to do it.

The third Part of our Spanish Trade is that to Flanders, whereby I mean all those Provinces that were formerly under its Government, but are now under the Emperors, whether we send Commodities much of the same Nature as those we send to the other Parts, tho’ not in so great Quantities, and among our Woollen Manufactures more coarse Medleys; also Muscovado Sugars and Coals, but not so much Leather as we have formerly done, being supplied with raw Hides from Ireland, which are tann’d there: We have thence Linnens, Thread, and other Things, which are used both at Home, and also shipp’d to our Plantations.

The next is the Trade we drive to the Kingdom of Portugal, and its Islands, where we vend much of our Product and Manufactures, little different in their kinds from what are sent to Spain; and from thence we have in Return, Salt, Oil, Woad, Fruit, and Wines, besides Gold and Silver: We have, since the Wat with France, increased our Importation of their Wines, which is more our Interest to do, than to have them from France, whence our Imports have been always more than our Exports would pay for, and to this Kingdom our Exports are greater than their Products can make us Returns, especially since we have desisted from bringing hither their Sugars and Tobacco, Commodities wherewith we are more advantageously supplied from our Plantations in America, and are now able to furnish foreign Markets cheaper than they can.

These People were formerly the great Navigators of the World, as appears by their many Discoveries, both in the East and West-Indies, besides the several Islands os the Azores, Cape de Verd, and also Maderas, where they have settled Colonies; to these they admit us a free Trade, but reserve their remoter Settlements on the Continent of Brazil more strictly to themselves, whither they export many of the Commodities we send them, and in Return have Sugars and Tobacco, which are again exported to the European Markets, though little of them hither: Besides which, they have of late brought from thence great Quantities of Gold; their Islands we supply directly with our Manufactures, and from the Azores load Corn, Woad, and some Wines, which we receive in Barter for them, and are the Product of those Islands; the first we 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 the Inhabitants live well, and are plentifully supplied, because they have wherewith to pay for what is brought them; but those residing on the Cape de Verd Islands, being generally made up of Negroes, Molattoes, and such like People, and having little Product to give in Returns, are but meanly furnished, and have scarce enough to serve their Necessities, much less to please their Luxuries, Asses, Beeves, and Salt, being all we have from them, which we generally carry to our Plantations in America: some Salt we bring home; Beef might be made there very cheap, could it be saved, being purchased for little, and Salt for less, but the Climate will not allow it; only the Island of St. Jago is rich, well governed, and a Bishop’s See, where they are well supplied with Necessaries, because they have Money to pay 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 do make, which is often shipp’d to the Islands of Maderas and the Azores, where ’tis worn with great Delight, and preferred before any other of the like Goodness, because its made in Portugal; and they did once attempt the making Bays, for which they drew over some of our Workmen, but it soon came to an End, and they returned Home again by Encouragement given them here, so prudent a Thing it is to stop an Evil in the Beginning.

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, shipp’d hence to Constantinople, Scandaroon, and Smyrna, and from thence disperst all over the Turkish Dominions, as also into Persia. The Commodities we have thence in Return are, Raw Silk, Cotton-Wool and Yarn, Goat’s-Wool, Grogram-Yarn, Cordivants, Gauls, Pot-Ashes, and other Things, which are the Foundations of several Manufactures different from our own, by the Variety whereof we better suit Cargoes to export again; and tho’ this Trade may require some Bullion to be carried thither, yet there is a great Difference between buying for Bullion, Commodities already manufactur’d, which hinder the Use and Consumption of our own, such as those brought from the East-Indies, or Things to be spent on Luxury, such as Wines and Fruit, buying therewith Commodities to keep our Poor at Work; these must be had, tho’ purchased with nothing else.

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; also Fish, and Sugars, both white and brown, the last principally to Venice; We bring thence raw and thrown Silk, and Red-Wooll; also Oyl and Soap, (of the latter we now make a 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, being furnished with Wool from Alicant, and those Eastern Parts of Spain; wrought Silks and Glass are not so much imported thence as the formerly were, since we have fallen on making them here.

The Dutch likewise Buy many of our Manufactures, and much of our Product, as Coals, Butter, Lead, Tin, besides things of smaller Value, such as Clay, Redding, &c. which are exported to Holland, not only for their own use, but being a Mart of Trade for Germany, they disperse them for the Expence of those Countries; among whom they also Vend our West-India Commodities, such as Sugar, Tobacco, Indigo, Logwood, Fustick, Ginger, Cotton-Wool, besides what they use themselves; they are an industrious People, but having little Land, want Product of their own to Trade on, except what they raise by their Fisheries, or bring from the East-Indies, whereof Spices and Salt-Petre are many times admitted to be brought hither, tho’ contrary to the Act of Navigation; indeed the Trade of the Dutch consists rather in Buying and Selling than Manufactures, most of their Profits arising from that, and the Freights they make of their Ships; which being Built for Burthen, are imployed generally in a Home-Trade, for bulky Commodities, such as Salt from St. Ubes to the Baltick, Timber, Hemp, Corn, Pitch, and such sorts of Goods thence to their own Country, which Ships they Sail with few Hands; and this, together with Lowness of Interest, enables them to afford those Commodities at such Rates, that they are often fetcht from them by other Nations, cheaper then they could do it from the Places of their Growth, all charges considered: ’Tis strange to see how these People Buz up and down among themselves, the Greatness of whose Numbers causes a vast Expence, and that Expence must be supplied from Abroad, so one Man gets by another, and they find by Experience, that as a Multitude of People brings Profit to the Government, so it creates Imployment to each other; besides they Invent new ways of Trade, by selling, not only Things they have, but those they have not, great Quantities of Brandy and other Commodities 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 agreed on to make good the Bargain; such a Commerce to this Kingdom would be of little Advantage, and would not advance its Wealth more than Stock-jobbing, our Profits depending on the improving our Product and Manufactures; but that Government raising its Income by the Multitude of its Inhabitants, who pay on all they eat, drink and wear, and almost on every thing they do, cares not so much by what Methods each Person gets, as that they have People to pay; which are never wanting from all Nations, for as one goes away, another comes, and every temporary Resident advances their Revenue; therefore to increase their Numbers, they make the Terms of Trade easy; contrary to the 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 Artists from their Societies, unless they purchase their Freedoms at unreasonable Rates.

HAMBURGH is another Market for our Manufactures; this City vends great Quantities of our Cloth, as also Tobacco, Sugars, and other Plantation Commodities, together with several of our Products, which are also thence sent into Germany; from whence we have in Return Linnens, Linnen-yarn, and other Commodities, very necessary both for the Use of our selves and of our Plantations, and little interferring with our own Manufactures.

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 of that Kingdom, which hath but little Wool of its own, and that chiefly in Ukrania; but the Expence of our Cloth hath been lessened there, since Silesia, and the adjoining Parts of Germany, have turn’d their Looms to that Commodity, occasioned by our disusing their Linnens, and wearing Callicoes in their Room; we have thence some Linnens, also Potashes.

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 informed) by the Indiscretion of our Merchants that imported it; who putting an excessive Price thereon, caused the Czar to encourage the Planting it in his Dominions, which being very large, and reaching from the Mare Album Northward, to the Caspian Sea Southward, besides its vast Extent from East to West, affords Climates enough proper for it; by which means, we are in danger of losing the Sale of that Commodity, so profitable to the Nation, which we might have continued, if they had not been too covetous at first: We have in Return from thence, Hemp, Potashes, Russia Hides, with some Linnen, and other Commodities, both useful at Home, and fit to be carried abroad.

SWEDEN and its Territories, takes off great Quantities of our Manufactures, both fine and coarse, and some of our Product, besides Tobacco and Sugars, and other Plantation Goods; but the Sale of our Cloth hath been lessen’d there, occasion’d by their loading it with great Duties, on purpose to encourage a Manufacture of their own; their Wool is coarse, so consequently the Cloth made thereof must be ordinary; however, the late King encouraged the Wearing it, by his own Example, and thought it the Interest of his Kingdom so to do: Yet all sorts of Serges, Stuffs, and Perpets are carried thither, and I think as freely as before; from thence we have Copper, Iron, and some other Things.

DENMARK is supplied from us with Woollen Manufactures, yet takes no great Quantities, and Norway less, the People of the latter being generally poor; some Tobacco and Sugar is also shipp’d hence and spent amongst them.

From these three last Northern Kingdoms we are furnished with Pitch, Tar, Hemp, Masts, Baulks, and Deal boards, all very useful to us, and without which, we can’t carry on our Navigation, and therefore we must have them, though purchas’d with Money; but the Parliament having encouraged the Importation of some of them from our Plantations on the Continent of America, our Dependence on them for those Things, will in all probability be lessened every Year: I look on any thing that saves our Timber, to be an Advantage to the Nation, which Baulks and Boards do.

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, which they could not do, were they not furnished with Wool from hence and Ireland, their own being unfit to work by it self: Nor doth France spend much of the Growth and Product, either of this Kingdom, or of our Plantations, and furnishes us with nothing to be manufactured here, so that the Trade we drive thither, turns only to their Advantage; which being generally for Things consumed among ourselves, and our Imports exceeding our Exports, must needs be Loss to the Kingdom; but if the Linnen Manufacture can be settled in Scotland and Ireland, Paper, Distilling, and Silk Manufactures, encouraged here, the Ballance will soon be altered, especially since the Portuguese have made such Improvements in their Wines; only their Salt we shall still want for our Fisheries.

As to the South-Sea Trade, I cannot undertake to say much to it, being but lately entered upon, and limited by Act of Parliament to an exclusive Company, according to whose Management it may prove more or less Advantagious to the Nation; only in this I believe we may be certain, that they will never carry away our Bullion, as the East-India Company does, but in all Probability, will bring us more.

And thus I have run through the Foreign Trades driven from this Kingdom, and shew’d how they advance its Interest, by taking off our Product and Manufactures, and supplying us with Materials to be manufactured again; wherein ’tis a certain Rule, that so far as any Nation furnishes us with things already manufactured, or only to be spent amongst our selves, so much less is our Advantage by the Trade we drive with them; especially if those Manufactures interfere with our own, and are purchased with Bullion. Therefore I think the East-India Trade to be unprofitable to us, hindering by its Silks, Muslins, and Callicoes, the Consumption of more of our Manufactures in Europe, than it takes from us. The Spanish, Turkey, and Portugal Trades, are very advantagious, as they vend great Quantities of our Manufactures, and furnish us with Materials to be wrought up here, and disperse our Commodities to other Places, where we could not so well send them ourselves; this Spain doth to its Settlements in America; Turkey to all its Territories, both in Europe and Asia, and also to Persia; Portugal doth the same to Brazil. The Dutch, Hamburgh, and Dantzick Trades are very useful, as they supply Germany, Poland, and some Parts of Russia, with our Manufactures, and little interfere with us in theirs. Sweden and Denmark are profitable, both in what they take from us, and in what we have from them again. Italy takes off much of our Worsted Manufactures, and sends us little of its own, save wrought Silks, whereof we shall every Year import less, as we increase that Manufacture at home; but above all, I esteem the African and West-India Trades to be most profitable to the Nation, as they imploy more of our People at Home, and give greater Incouragement to our Navigation by their Product; but the French Trade is certainly our Loss, France being like a Tavern, with whom we spend what we get by other Nations; and ’tis strange, we should be so bewitcht to that People, as to take off their Growth, which consists chiefly of things for Luxury, and receive a Value only for the Esteem we put on them, whilst at the same Time, they prohibit our Manufactures, in order to set up the like among themselves, which we encourage, by furnishing them with Wool.

The Ballance of that and the East-India Trade, is always against us, from whom we have in Goods more than we ship them, and therefore must lessen our Bullion; the Ballance of Spain and Portugal is always in our Favour, and therefore must encrease it; as for the Dutch, Germany, and Hamburgh, their Ballances are not yet agreed on; some think we ship them most, others, that we receive most from them; I incline to the former: The Northern Crowns supply us with more than they take from us, but they are Commodities we can’t be without, at least, till we can be better furnish’d with them from our Plantations in America; Turkey may require some Bullion, yet the Trade we drive thither is very beneficial to us; Italy will grow more and more in its Ballance on our Side, as the Importation of wrought Silks is lessen’d, and turn’d into raw and thrown. Now considering, that almost the whole World is supplied by our Labour, and that our Plantations do daily bring us such Incomes, ’tis strange, if this Nation should not grow rich, which doubtless it would do above all our Neighbours, were our Trade rightly looked after.

Those who cope with us in our Manufactures, are chiefly the French; but let due Care be taken to prevent their being supplied with Wool from hence, and from Ireland, and we shall soon see an Alteration therein: ’Tis true, they have Wool of their own, but they cannot work it without ours or Irish: The Commodities they make, are generally slight Stuffs, wherein they use a great deal of Combing Wool; and these they not only wear themselves, but send them to Portugal, and other Parts, with good Success; to countermine which, We have fallen on making them, by Assistance of the French Refugees; I wonder at the Fancies of those Men, who are always finding Fault, that we do not make our Manufactures as strong as formerly we did, wherein I think they are to be blamed, for we must fit them to the Humours of the Buyers, and slight Cloth brings as much Profit to the Nation as strong, and the same Employment to the Poor; yet where Seals and other Marks are set, let them be certain Evidences to the Truth of what they certify, either as to the Length of the Piece, or that the Inside is suitable to the Outside, or that ’tis truly wove, and without Flaws; the same with respect to the Colour, that ’tis woaded, or madder’d, or the like: But there is a great deal of Difference between this, and obliging the Manufacturer to make his Cloth or Stuff to a certain Weight and Thickness, without respect to the Buyer, or the Climate to which it is sent. As for the Dutch, as I take them to be no good Planters, so likewise no good Manufacturers, their Heads are not turned that Way, but rather to Traffic and Navigation. The Flanderkins were once famous in the Art of Cloth-making, which they carried on by the Wool they fetch’d hence: But King Edward the Third, by keeping our Wool at home, put a stop to that Manufacture. If therefore the prohibiting our Wool to be carried out, had at that Time so good an Effect and Consequence against those People, why should not our Care to prevent its being carried out now, have the same against the French? We cannot indeed hinder them from Spanish, but we may from our own and Irish. As for Sweden, I am apt to think their Manufactures will come to little. And as for Germany, the Woollen Manufacture is not so natural to them as the Linnen, which they would keep close to, if we gave them Encouragement, by wearing it here, and sending it to our Plantations, which would be more advantagious to us, than by the use of Muslins and Callicoes, to put them on fencing with us at our own Weapons, which they very unwillingly undertake. The Woollen Manufactures in Italy are but small, and those chiefly among the Venetians, something among the Genoese; these we cannot hinder, being supplied with Wool from those Parts of Spain which are near them, except we could promote a Contract with the Spaniard for 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 of the Public (as the Dutch do their Spices) than to have it wrought up abroad, which we can’t otherwise prevent, seeing all the Wool of Europe is Manufactured somewhere; and if the Act for burying in Woollen did extend to our Plantations in America, ’twould be of great use towards the Consumption of our Wooll; thus, when the Nation comes to see, that the Labour of its People is its Wealth, ’twill put us on finding out Methods to make every one Work that is able; which must be done, by hindring such swarms from going off to idle and useless Employments, and by preventing such Multitudes of lazy People from being maintained by begging.