Chapter MDCCXLV: TO (3)

_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.

[Sidenote: Sweden.]

_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.

[Sidenote: Denmark and Norway.]

_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.

[Sidenote: 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, 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.

[Sidenote: South Sea.]

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.

[Sidenote: 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’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.

[Sidenote: The Ballance of each Trade.]

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.

[Sidenote: 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 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.

[Sidenote: 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 where they fetch from us our Product and Manufactures, and make their Imports to us, in their own Ships, we get less by the Trade we drive 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 more by the _Spanish_ Trade, because we generally drive it in our own Bottoms; and we lose more by the _French_ Trade, when they bring us their Wines and Brandy, than when we fetch them ourselves; and accordingly we may take our Measures in judging of all other Trades.

[Sidenote: 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 true Judgment therein is, by taking an Account from the Custom-house Books of our Exports and 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 from thence; for, as for our Imports, the Bullion, and such Things of Value, are not entered there, and seldom presented; and as to the Exports, seeing our Woollen Manufactures go out Custom-Free, the Entries there made of them cannot be depended on; but suppose a more exact Account of our Exports and Imports could be had, yet, since so great a part of the Trade of this Kingdom is driven by Exchange, and such vast Quantities of Commodities are Imported from our Plantations for Account of the Inhabitants there, the Produce whereof they leave here as a stock at Home, and that they are supply’d hence with so many Things for their own Consumption, I cannot see how any moderate Computation can be this way made of our general Trade, much less of that we drive with any particular Nation, the Commodities which we receive at one place, being often carried to another; thus we transport to _Italy_ the Sugars we receive for our Manufactures in _Portugal_, and bring thence Silk and other Things to be manufactured here, and yet we must not conclude we lose by the _Portugal_ Trade, because the Returns thence fall short by the Custom-House Books, or that we get more by the _Italian_ Trade, because it doth not appear by those Books how we exported Commodities to pay for what we Import thence; and as to the Profits we make by the Freights of our Ships, it doth not at all appear from them, nor at what Rates our Product and Manufactures are sold Abroad, or our Plantation Goods to Foreigners at home; so the Thing must still remain doubtful; and I know no more certain way to Judge of it, than by the Increase the Nation makes in its Bullion, which always arises from the over Ballance of our Foreign Barter and Commerce.

[Sidenote: Committee of Trade.]

And for the better Encouraging the Trade of this Kingdom, I think it well worthy the Thoughts of a Parliament, whether a standing Committee, made up of Men well verst therein, should not be appointed; whose sole Business it should be to consider the State thereof, and to find out Ways to improve it; to see how the Trades we drive with Foreign Kingdoms, grow more or less profitable to us; how, and by what Means we are out-done by others in the Trades we drive, or hindered from enlarging them; what is necessary to be prohibited, both in our Exports and Imports, and for how long Time; to hear Complaints from our Factories Abroad, and to correspond with our Ministers there, in Affairs relating to our Trade, and to represent all Things rightly to the Government, with their Advice, what Courses are proper to be taken for its Encouragement; and generally to study by what means and Methods the Trade 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, great Care must be taken, that these Places be not fill’d up with such who know nothing of the Business, and thereby this excellent Constitution become only a Matter of Form and Expence.

In the Management of Things of much less moment, we employ such who are supposed to understand what they undertake, and believe they cannot be carryed on without them; whilst the general Trade of the Nation (which is the support of all) lies neglected, as if the Coggs that direct its Wheels did not need skill to keep them true: Trade requires as much Policy as Matters of State, and can never be kept in a regular Motion by Accident; when the Frame of our Trade is 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 Defect lies.

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

As to the first, it hath sometimes been thought, that when that great and glorious Assembly hath medled with Trade, they have left it worse than they found it; and the Reason is, because the Laws relating to Trade, require more time to look into their distant Consequences, 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_ Ton on the _French_, and Twelve Pounds _per_ Ton on _Spanish_ and _Portuguese_: This Difference (with the low Subsidies put on their Linnens by former Acts, in respect to those of other Places) was a great Means of bringing the Ballance of that Trade so much against us, that the Parliament in the 7th and 8th of _Gul._ III. thought fit to make an Act, (and is continued by this present Parliament for a longer time) which in Effect, prohibited all Trade with that Nation for One and Twenty Years, by laying a great Duty on the Importations thence, in order to prevent a Correspondence, till the Trade should be better regulated.

In the 14th _Car._ II. Logwood was permitted by Act of Parliament to be imported, paying five Pounds _per_ Ton Duty; the same Act repeals two Statutes of Queen _Elizabeth_ against Importing and Using it in Dying here, and sets forth the Ingenuity of our Dyers, in finding out Ways to fix the Colours made with it; and yet at the same time gave a Draw-back of three Pounds fifteen Shillings _per_ Ton on all that should be Exported, whereby Foreigners use it so much cheaper in their Manufactures than ours can here; which proceeded from a too hasty making that Law, and being advised, or rather abused, by those, who regarded more their own Interest, than that of the Nation.

By an Act made 1 _Ja._ II. an Impost of Two Shillings and Four Pence _per Cent._ was laid on Muscovado Sugars imported from the Plantations, to be drawn back at Exportation; the Traders to the Plantations stirr’d in this Matter, and set forth, That such a Duty would discourage the Refining them here, by hindering the Exportation of refined Sugars, which was then considerable, and carry that Manufacture to _Holland_ and _Flanders_; but the Commissioners of the Customs prevailed against them, and the Bill past; the fatal Consequences whereof soon appear’d; for the Exporters of Muscavado Sugars, drawing back two Shillings and Four-pence _per Cent._ by that Act, and Nine-pence _per Cent._ by the Act of Tunnage and Poundage, foreign Markets were supplied with refined Sugars from other Places cheaper, by about Twelve _per Cent._ than we could furnish them hence, by which means we were beat out of that Trade: and though the Duty of two Shillings and Four-pence _per Cent._ was not continued on the Expiration of that Act, by the Parliament 2d W. and M. (as they did the Three-pence _per_ Pound on Tobacco) the bad Effects thereof being then apparent, yet ’tis Difficult to retrieve a lost Trade, trading Nations being like expert Generals, who make Advantages of the Mistakes of each other, and take care to hold what they get.

By a Statute 4th and 5th W. and M. twenty Shillings _per_ Ton was laid on _Lapis Caliminaris_ dug here and Exported, on an Information given to the House of Commons, that it was not to had any where else; the Merchants concerned in exporting that Commodity, made Application, and set forth, that such a Duty would bring in nothing to the Crown, but be a total Bar to its Exportation; yet the Act past, and we were like to have made a fatal Experiment; for till the Statute of the 7th and 8th of the same King, which reduced the Duty to two Shillings _per_ Ton, the Exportation ceased; and in the mean Time, those Places which had been discouraged from digging, and calcining it, because we undersold them, set again to work, and supplied the Markets where we vended ours.

What Injury was done by the Act made in the 9th and 10th W. III. for the more effectual preventing the Importation of Foreign Bonelace, &c. doth sufficiently appear by the Preamble of that made in the 11th and 12th of the same Reign, for repealing it three Months after the Prohibition of our Woollen Manufactures in _Flanders_ (which was occasioned by it) should be there taken off; but I don’t understand that is yet done, and it 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 would very much tend to the putting Matters of Trade into a true Light before them, if they were first referred to a Body of Men, well versed in the true Principles thereof, and able to see through the Sophistical Arguments of contending Parties, to be by them considered, and well digested, before they received the Sanction of a Law.

And as to foreign Treaties; I do not think our Trade hath been so much bettered by them as it might have been, for want of such a Committee; the Representations made by private Merchants, (who generally differ according as their Interests clash with each other) tending rather to distract, than to inform the Government; which would not be, if their first Applications were made to an experienced Committee, who had Judgment enough to substract out of them what was proper to be offer’d; by which means, our Demands might be rendered short and comprehensive.

We have natural Advantages in Trade above other Nations, besides the Benefit of our Situation, the Foundation of our Woolen Manufactures being as it were peculiar to our own Growth, and may be retained amongst ourselves; 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 all since the War began, as to render theirs less sought for; whereas, nothing but our own Neglects, and ill Managements, can let our Neighbours into our Manufactures, which we may soon put a stop to, by securing our Wool at Home.

[Sidenote: Insurance.]

I cannot close this Discourse without speaking something of Insurance. The first Design whereof, was to encourage the Merchants to export more of our Product and Manufactures, when they knew how to ease themselves in their Adventures, and to bear only such a Proportion thereof as they were willing and able to do; but by the Irregular Practices of some Men, this first Intention is wholly obviated; who without any Interest, have put in early Policies, and gotten large Subscriptions on Ships, only to make Advantage by selling them to others; and therefore have industriously promoted false Reports, and spread Rumours, to the Prejudice of the Ships and Masters, filling Mens Minds with Doubts, whereby the fair Trading Merchant, when he comes to insure his Interest, either can get no one to underwrite, or at such high Rates, that he finds it better to buy the others Policies at advance; by this means these Stock-Jobbers of Insurance, have, as it were, turn’d it into a Wager, to the great Prejudice of Trade: likewise many ill-designing Men, their Policies being over-valued, have (to the Abhorence of honest Traders, and to the Scandal of Trade itself) contriv’d the Loss of their own Ships: On the other Side, the Underwriters, when a Loss is ever so fairly proved, boggle in their Payments, and force the Insured to be content with less than their Agreements, for fear of engaging themselves in long and chargeable 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 a proportionable Part of his Adventure, (the Premio included) as to them shall seem fit, and also the Insurers, when a Loss is fully made out, to pay their Subscriptions without Abatement, which will prevent both; and if any Differences should arise, to direct easy ways for adjusting them, without attending long Issues at Law, or being bound up to such nice Rules in their Proofs, as the Affairs of foreign Trade will not admit.

[Sidenote: 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 Prejudice of the Owner, or Owners, or of any Merchant or Merchants that shall load Goods thereon, else he doth not come within its Penalty, so it doth not reach the Evil I here mention, _viz._ the abominable Contrivance of the Owners to have their own Ships destroyed, in order to make an Advantage by their Insurances; (a Crime so black in itself, that it cannot be mentioned without Horror.) These Men, when they frame their dark Designs, will take Care, for the Security of those they employ, that none besides themselves shall load Goods on the Ships they intend shall be thus destroyed, and it cannot be supposed that they receive Prejudice thereby themselves, so the Prosecution on that Statute is evaded; but if the Insured were bound to make out their Interests, and to bear a Proportionable Part of the Loss themselves, this would, as it were, naturally prevent such scandalous Practices.

[Sidenote: 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 hath arrisen, and I have heard sometimes debated by Men of good Understanding, which is, Whether the Labour of the Poor being so high, does not hinder Improvements in our Product and Manufactures; which having some Relation to the Subject Matter of this Discourse, I shall offer my Thoughts thereon, with Submission to better Judgments, _viz._ That both our Product and Manufactures may be carried on to Advantage, without running down the Labour of the Poor.

As to the first, our Product, I am of Opinion, that the running down the Labour the Poor, is no advantage to it, nor is it the Interest of that part of the Kingdom called _England_ to do it, nor can the People thereof live on so low Wages as they do in other Countries; for we must consider, that Wages must bear a Rate in all Nations according to the Price of Provisions; where Wheat is sold for one Shilling _per_ Bushel, and all Things suitable, a labouring Man may afford to work for Three-pence a Day, as well as he can for Twelve-pence, where it is sold for four Shillings; and this Price of Wheat arises chiefly from the Value of the Land; for it cannot be imagined, that the Farmer who gives twenty Shillings _per_ Acre, can afford it as low as he whose Lands cost him but five Shillings _per_ Acre, and produces the same Crop, nor can Labour be expected to be so low in such a Country, as in the other; this is the Case of _England_, whose Lands yielding great Rents, require good Prices for the Product; and this is the Freeholders Advantage; for supposing Necessaries to be the Current Payment for Labour, in such Cases, whether we call a Bushel of Wheat one Shilling, or Four Shillings, it will be all one to him, for so much as he pays, but not for the Overplus of his Crop, which makes a great Difference into his Pocket; you cannot fall Wages, unless you 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 carried on to Advantage, without running down the Labour of the Poor; for which I offer,

1. Observation, or Experience of what hath been done; we have and daily do see that it is so; the Refiners of Sugars sell for Six-pence _per_ Pound, what yielded formerly Twelve-pence; the Distillers sell their Spirits for one half of what they formerly did: Glass Bottles, Silk Stockings, and other Manufactures (too many to be here enumerated) are sold for not much more than half the Price they were some Years since, without falling 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 his Working: Thus the Refiners of Sugars go through that Operation by easier Methods, and in less Time, than their Predecessors did: Thus the Distillers draw more Spirits from the Things they work on, than those formerly did who taught them the Art. The Glass-Maker hath found a quicker way of making it out of Things which cost him little. Silk Stockings are wove; Tobacco is cut by Engines; Books are printed; Deal Boards are sawn with Mills; Lead is smelted by Wind-Furnaces; all which save the Labour of many 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 the Buyer pays for. The Variety of our Woollen Manufactures is so pretty, that Fashion makes a Thing worth twice the Price it is sold for after, the Humour of the Buyer carrying a great Sway in its Value. Artificers, by Tools and Laves, fitted for different Uses, make such Things, as would puzzle a Stander-by to set a Price on, according to the worth of Mens 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 they formerly were at, and yet Sailors Wages are still the same: Ships are built more for Stowage, and made strong enough to be loaden between Decks, and Voyages are performed in less Time. Wool is steved into them by such proper Instruments, that three or four Bags are put, where one would not else lye; Cranes and Blocks help to draw up more for one Shilling, than Mens Labour without them would do for Five.

New Projections are every Day set on Foot to render the making our Woollen Manufactures easy, which should be rendered cheaper by the Contrivance of the Manufacturers, not by falling the Price of Labour: Cheapness creates Expence, and gives fresh Employments, whereby the Poor will be still kept at Work.

The same for our Product; Mines and Pits are drained by Engines and Aquæducts instead of Hands: The Husbandman turns up the Ground with his Sullow, not digs it with his Spade; covers his Grain with the Harrow, not with the Rake; brings home his Harvest with Carts, not on Mens Backs; and many other easier Methods are used, both for 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 employed.

Nor am I of their Opinion, who think the running down the Price of our Growth and Product, that so they may buy Provisions cheap, an Advantage to the inland Trade 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 Trade turns, as he buys of the Importer and Manufacturer, and sells again to the Country; suppose this Man spends two hundred Pounds _per Annum_, in all Things necessary for himself and Family, as Provisions, Cloaths, House-Rent, and other Expences, the Question will be, what Part of this is laid out in Flesh, Corn, Butter, Cheese, &c. barely considered according to their first cost in the Market? I presume fifty or sixty Pounds _per Annum_ to be the most, whereon the Advance to him will not be so much, by keeping up our Product to a good Rate, as the Profits which will consequently arise in his Trade will amount unto: For by this Means the Farmer will be enabled to give a better Rent to his Landlord, who may then keep a more plentiful Table, spend more Wine, Fruit, Sugar, Spices, and other Things wherewith he is furnished from the City, suit himself and his Family oftner, and carry on a great Splendor in every Thing; the Farmer according to his Condition may do the same, and give higher Wages to the Labourers imployed in Husbandry, who may then live better, and buy new Cloathes oftner, instead of patching up old ones; by this means the Manufacturers will be encouraged to give a better Price for Wool and Labour, when they shall find a Vent as fast as they can make; and a Flux of Wealth causing a Variety of Fashions, will add Wings to their Inventions, when they shall see their Manufactures advanced in their Values by the Buyer’s Fancy; this likewise will encourage the Merchants to encrease their Exports, when they shall find a quick Vent for their Imports; by which regular Circulation, Payments will be short, and all will grow rich; but when Trade deadens in the Fountain, when the Gentlemen and the Farmers are kept low, every one in his Order feels it: It being most certain, and grounded on the Observation of all Men who have lookt into it, that in those Countries where Provisions are Cheap, the People are generally Poor, both proceeding from the want of Trade; so that he who will give a right Judgment in this Matter, must not consider Things only as they offer themselves at the first Sight, but as they will be in their Consequences.

As to the other Part of _Great Britain_, called _Scotland_, I can say little with Relation to this Matter, my Knowledge of that part of the Kingdom being not sufficient to enable me to do it: But I am apt to believe, that the same general Maxim must hold good there also, _viz._ That the Rates of Labour must be according to the Prices of Provisions, and those according to the Rents of the Lands.

[Sidenote: The Poor.]

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

And here it cannot but seem strange, that this Kingdom, which so much abounds in Product and Manufactures, besides the Imployment given in Navigation, should want work for any of its People; the _Dutch_, who have little of the two former, if compared with us, and do not exceed us in the latter, suffer no Beggars; whereas we, whose Wealth consists in the Labour of our Inhabitants, seem to encourage them in an idle way of Living, contrary to their own and the Nations Interest.

The Curse under which Man first fell, was Labour; _That by the Sweat of his Brows he should eat his Bread_: This is a state of Happiness, if compared to that which attends Idleness: He that walks the Streets of _London_, and observes the Fatigues used by _Beggars_, to make themselves seem Objects of Charity, must conclude, that they take more Pains than an honest Man doth at his Trade, and yet seem not to get Bread to eat: Beggary is now become an Art or Mystery, to which Children are brought up from their Cradles; any thing that may move Compassion is made a Livelyhood, a sore Leg or Arm, or for want thereof a pretended one; the Tricks and Devices I have observed to be used by these People, have often made me think, that those Parts, if better employed, might be made useful to the Nation.

Here I will consider,

1. What hath been the Cause of this Mischief of Idleness, and how it hath crept in upon 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 who are past their Labour.

As to the first, we shall find that it hath proceeded, partly from the Abuse of those Laws we have, and partly from want of better; Licences for Alehouses were at first granted for good Ends, not to draw Men aside from their Labour by Games and Sports, but to support and refresh them under it; and as they were then a Maintainance to the Aged, so poor Families had Opportunities of being supplied with a Cup of Ale from Abroad, who could not keep it at Home; great Observation was also made to prevent idle Tipling, our Fore-fathers considered, that Time so spent, was a Loss to the Nation, whose Interest was improved by the Labour of its Inhabitants; whereas, Alehouses are now encouraged, to promote the Income of Excise, on whom there must be no Restraint, lest the King’s Revenue should be lessened; thus we live by Sense, and look only at Things we see, without revolving on what the Issue will be, not considering, that the Labour of each Man, if well employ’d, whilst he sits in an Ale-house, would be worth much more to the Nation, than the Excise he pays.

But above all, our Laws to set the Poor at Work are short and Defective, tending rather to maintain them so, then to raise them to a better way of Living; ’tis true, those Laws design well, but consisting only in Generals, and not reducing Things to practicable Methods, they fall short of answering their Ends, and thereby render the Poor more bold, when they know the Parish Officers are bound, either to provide them Work, or to give them Maintenance.

Now, if we delighted more in the Encouraging our Manufactures, our Poor might be better Employed, and then ’twould be a shame, for any Person capable of Labour, to live idle; which leads me to the second Consideration, What must be done to restrain this Habit of Idleness from going farther.

Here I find, that nothing but good Laws can do it, such as may provide Work for those who arc willing, and force them to work that are able; and for this use, I think Work-houses very expedient, but they must be founded on such Principles, as may employ the Poor, for which they must be fitted, and the Poor for them; wherein Employments must be provided for all sorts of People, who must also be compelled to go thither when sent, and the Work-houses to receive them; and the Materials which seem most proper for them are Simples, such as Wool, Hemp, Cotton, and the like, which may either be sent in by the Manufacturers, or be bought up on a Stock raised for that End; these will employ great Numbers, of both Sexes, and all Ages, either by beating and fitting the Hemp, or by dressing and spinning the Flax, or by carding and Spinning the Wool and Cotton, of different Finenesses; and if a Reward was given to that Person who should spin the finest Thread of either, as they do in _Ireland_ for their Linnen, to be adjudged Yearly, and paid by the County, or by any other manner as shall be thought fit, ’twould very 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 also grow 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 not to Work any where, and to make the Parish Officers more Industrious to find them out, when they know whither to send them, by which means they would be better able to maintain the Impotent.

It seems also convenient, that these Work-houses, when settled in Cities and great Towns, should not be only Parochial, but one or more in each Place, as will best suit it; which would prevent the Poors being sent from Parish to Parish, and provided for no where; and when once the Poor shall come by use to be in love with Labour, ’twill be strange to see an idle Person; then they will be so far from being a Burthen to the Nation, that they will become its Wealth, and their own Lives also will be more comfortable to them.

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

As first, Let the Justices of the Peace have Power to assign Youth to Artificers, Husbandry, Manufacturers, and Mariners, and to bind them Apprentices for a Time certain, at such Ages as they shall think ’em fit to go on those Employments, who should also be obliged to receive them; and though this may at first seem hard, as hindring the Masters from taking Servants who may bring them Money, yet after some time it will not, when those who were so bound out themselves, shall only do for others, what was done for them before; and this also may be now made good to them, by such an Overplus of Years in their Apprentiships, as may be an Equivalent to the Money.

And as for those of elder Years, who will rather Beg than Work, let them be forced to serve the King in his Fleet, or the Merchants on board their Ships; the Sea is very good to cure sore Legs and Arms, especially such as are Counterfeits, against which, the Capstern, with the Taunts of the Sailors, is a certain Remedy.

Next, for Ale-houses, Coffee-houses, and such like Employments, let them be kept only 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 the Justices have Power to force them to receive such as are willing to enter themselves, and to settle the Rates of their Wages.

Let young People be prohibited from Hawking about the Streets, and from Singing Ballads; if these Things be allowed, they are fitter for Age.

Stage-Plays, Lotteries, and Gaming-houses should be strictly look’d after, Youth, in this Age of Idleness and Luxury, being not only drawn aside by them, but also more willing to put themselves on such easy ways of 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 of Virtue amongst us, but also to the making Multitudes of People serviceable, who are now useless to the Nation; there being scarce any one, who is not capable of doing something towards his Maintenance, and what his Labour doth fall short, must be made up by Charity: but as Things now are, no Man knows where ’tis rightly plac’d, by which means those who are truly Objects do not partake thereof; and let it be consider’d, that if every Person did by his Labour add one Half-penny _per diem_ to the Public, ’twould bring in Seven Millions six Hundred and four Thousand one Hundred Sixty-six Pounds thirteen Shillings _per Annum_, (accounting ten Millions of People to be in the Kingdom) so vast a sum may be raised from a Multitude, if every one adds a little.

Nor is the sending lazy People to our Plantations abroad (who can neither by good Laws be forced, or by Rewards be encourag’d to work at home) so prejudicial to the Nation as some do imagine, where they must expect another sort of Treatment, if they will not labour; ’tis true, they give no help in the Manufactures here, but That is made up in the Product they raise there, which is also Profit to the Nation; besides, the Humours and other Circumstances of People are to be enquir’d into, some have been very useful there, who would never have been so here: And if the People of this Kingdom be employ’d to the Advantage of the Community, no Matter in what part of the King’s Dominions it is; many hundreds by going to those Plantations, have become profitable Members to the Common-wealth, who, had they continued here, had still remain’d idle Drones; now they raise Sugar, Cotton, Tobacco, and other Things, which employ Sailors abroad, and Manufacturers at home, all which being the Product of Earth and Labour, I take to be the Wealth of the Nation.

The Employment of Watermen on the River _Thames_ breeds many Sailors, and it were good to keep them still fill’d with Apprentices; also the Employment of Bargemen, Lightermen, and Trowmen, both on that and other Rivers, does the same, who should be encouraged to breed up Landmen, and fit them for the Sea.

Idleness is the Foundation of all those Vices which prevail among us, People aiming to be maintain’d 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 early delight of living by Industry, and on what they call their own, rather than by Dependance on others, which will keep up a true British Spirit, and put them on honest Endeavours, and will get them Credit and Reputation, and give them Opportunities of advancing their Fortunes; and if such an Emulation went through the Kingdom, we should not have so many lazy Beggars, or licentious Livers, as now there are; nor is God more honoured among any, than He is among such industrious People, who abhor Vice, on equal Principles of Religion and good Husbandry, Labour being usually a Barrier against Sin, which generally enter at the Doors of Idleness.

[Sidenote: Mr. Edward Colson's two Almshouses in Bristol.]

The third Consideration is, what Methods must be used to provide for those, who either are not able to work, or whose Labour can’t support their Charge; here I take Alms-houses to be good Gifts, where they are designed to relieve old Age, or educate Youth; not to maintain idle Beggars, or ease rich Parishes, but to provide for those who have been bred up in careful Employments, tho’ not able to stem the Current of cross Fortunes: Two such have been sumptuously founded, and suitably endowed, in the City of _Bristol_, _Edward Colson_, Esq; a Merchant and Native thereof, who is still living; one of them for twenty-four Men and Women, who had formerly lived well; the other for one hundred Boys, to be educated in the Principles of Vertue, and afterwards set out to Trades, whereby they may get their Livelihoods; a Charity so great in itself, and carried on so free from Ostentation, that the like is not to be seen in any Part of this Kingdom, of the free Gift of one Gentleman in his Life-time; which he hath settled in the Society of Merchants-Adventurers within that City, of whose Care and Fidelity in the well Management thereof, he is fully satisfied.

Another way to provide for those who are true Objects of Charity, is, by taking Care that the Poors Rates be made with more equality in Cities and great Towns, especially in the former; where the greatest Number of Poor usually residing together in the Suburbs or Out-parishes, are very serviceable by their Labours, to the Rich, in carrying on their Trades; yet when Age, Sickness, or a numerous Family, may make them desire Relief, their chief Dependance must be on People but one step above their own Conditions; by which means these Out-parishes are more burthened in their Payments, than the In-parishes are, though much richer, and is one Reason why they are so ill Inhabited, no Man caring to come to a certain Charge: And this is attended with another ill Consequence, the wanting of better Inhabitants making way for those Disorders which easily grow among the Poor; whereas, if Cities and Towns were made but one Poors Rate, or equally divided into more, these Inconveniencies would be removed, and the Poor be maintained by a more equal Contribution.

[Sidenote: Hospital for ancient Sailors and their Widows.]

And that a better Provision may be made for the Relief of Sailors (who having spent their Labours in the Service of the Nation, and through Age and Disasters are no longer fit for the Fatigues of the Sea, ought to be taken Care of at Home) let a small Deduction be made from the Freights of Ships, and from Seamens Wages, to be collected by a Society of honest Men in every Sea-port; this, with what Additions might be made by the Gifts of worthy Benefactors, would be sufficient to raise a Fund, to maintain them in their old Age, who in their Youths were our Walls and Bulwarks; but it must be settled by Law, and no Man left at his Liberty whether he will pay or no; these are generally the most laborious People that we have; I do not mean those scoundrel Fellows, who often creep in under that Name, but the true Sailor, who can turn his Hand to any thing rather than begging, and I am many times troubled to see the miserable Conditions they and their Families are reduced to, when their Labours are done. Alms-Houses raised for them, are as great Acts of Piety as building of Churches, Age requires relief, especially where Youth hath been spent in Labour so profitable to the Public as that of a Sailor; and not only themselves, but their Widows ought to be provided for; in this, the Worshipful Society of the Merchants-Adventurers within the City of _Bristol_ 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 with bountiful Stipends, which if raised by a Tax, I doubt not would be cheerfully paid: ’Tis attended with sad Thoughts, when a Woman sees her Husband prest into the Service, and knows, if he miscarries, her Family is undone, and she and they must come to the Parish; whereas, if this Provision was made, the Fleet would be more easily mann’d, our Merchants Ships better defended, Sailors more ready to serve in both, and their Wives to let them go; but great Care must be taken, that Charity be not abused, by being put into the Pockets of those who are appointed to dispose of it.

These, or such-like Heads, being laid down in a former Discourse on this Subject, the Magistrates of the City of _Bristol_ were the first that approved of the Scheme, and desired the Substance thereof might be reduced to Particulars, suitable for that Place; whereupon the following Proposals were laid before them, _viz._

1. That a spacious Work-house be erected in some vacant Place within this City, on a general Charge, large enough for the Poor who are to be employed therein, and also with Rooms for such, who being unable to work, are to be relieved by Charity.

2. That the Rules of this House be such, as may force all Persons to work, that are able, and encourage the Manufacturers of this City to supply them with Materials to work on; which they will be ready to do, having so good a Security as this will be, for their being returned to them again when wrought up.

3. That all People who are not able to maintain their Children, may put them into this Work-house or Hospital at what Ages they will, where they shall be settled till the Age 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 up to Labour, Principles of Virtue will be implanted in them early by the good Government thereof, and Laziness and Beggary will be discouraged.

4. That the antient People who are past their Labours, shall have Lodgings, and weekly pay, or be otherwise provided for, according to their Wants, who may still do something towards their mantenance, and the Women may look after the young Children.