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 Title: A brief essay on the advantages and disadvantages which 
 
 respectively attend France and Great Britain : with regard to 
 trade. With some proposals for removing the principal 
 disadvantages of Great Britain. In a new method 
 Author: Tucker, Josiah, 1712-1799 
 
 Publisher, year: Dublin : G. Faulkner, 1757 
 
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 ISBN of reproduction: 978-1-926748-71-9 
 
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(n*^ . OJJL. 
 
A 
 
 Brief ESSAY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 Advantages and Disadvantages 
 
 Which relpe&ively ttend 
 
 France and Great Britain, 
 
 With Regard to 
 
 TRADE. 
 
 WITH SOME 
 
 PROPOSALS 
 
 For Removing the 
 
 Principal Disadvantages of 
 
 G REAT B RITA I IV. 
 
 IN A NEW METHOD. 
 
 By JOS I A H ‘TUCKER, M. A. 
 
 Re&or of St. Stephen’s in Brijlol, and Chaplain to the 
 Right Reverend the Lord Bithop of Briftol. 
 
 The THIRD EDITION Corrected, 
 With Additions. 
 
 DUBLIN: 
 
 Printed by GEORGE FAULKNER iaEjJexJlt'eet t 
 Mdcclvii. 
 
To the Right Honourable 
 
 THE 
 
 Earl of Halifax, 
 
 Firft Lord Commiilioner 
 
 For 'Trade and Plantations . 
 
 My LORD, 
 
 P ERMIT me once more to wait 
 upon Your Lordlhip with a new 
 Edition of the enfuing Treatife, now 
 greatly enlarged, and* I hope, in fome 
 
 A 2 Refpe&s, 
 
iv DEDICATION. 
 
 Refpe&s, made lefs unworthy of Your 
 Lordlhip’s Proteftion. A Treatife 
 relating to the Intereft and Commerce 
 of Great Britain , naturally feeks to 
 lhelter itfelf under the Patronage of 
 an Earl of Halifax. 
 
 But there is ftill a more particular 
 Motive for this Addrefs. His Majefty, 
 ever ftudious of the Good of his People, 
 in appointing Y our Lordlhip F irft Com- 
 miflioner of Trade and Plantations, 
 hath fhewn the mod vigilant Regard 
 to the Welfare of both, by commit- 
 ing this important Superintendency 
 to Hands univerfally allowed the moll 
 able, and the moft inclined to execute 
 fo great a Trull with increaling Suc- 
 cefs t Your Lordlhip, in a very fhort 
 Space of Time, has confirmed our 
 warmeft Hopes. And Great Britain , 
 with its dependent Colonies, form to 
 
 them- 
 
V 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 themfelves the moft pleating Profpedts 
 on this Occation. 
 
 Were not Your Lordfhip’s Can- 
 dour great as your Abilities, this in- 
 contiderable Performance would never 
 have appeared before fo titilful a Judge, 
 nor the Author have prefumed to pro- 
 fefs Himfelf in fo publick a manner, 
 what in great Truth He is, with the 
 utmoft Refpedt and Efteem, 
 
 My LORD, 
 
 Tour Lordjhif s mojl Obedient , 
 And mojl Devoted 
 Humble Servant , 
 
 Jofiah Tucker. 
 
THE 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 A LL Commerce is founded upon the Wants, na- 
 tural or artificial , real or imaginary , which the 
 People of different Countries, or the different 
 Claffes of Inhabitants of the fame Country, 
 are deiirous, in defeat of their own fingle Abilities, to 
 fupply by mutual Intercourse. If this Commecre be car- 
 ried on between the Inhabitants of the fame Country, 
 with the Growth or Manufacture of the fame Country 
 only, it is called Home Consumption : which is fo 
 far ferviceable, as it preferves the feveral Profeffions and 
 Stations of Life in their due Order , as it promotes Arts 
 and Sciences, with a Rotation of Induftry, Wealth, 
 and mutual good Offices between the Members of any 
 Community. For thefe Reafons, Traffick, merely of 
 this kind, is of great Importance, though it neither in - 
 creafes nor diminijbes the Publick Stock of Gold and 
 Sil ver - 
 
 But Providence having intended that there fhould 
 be a mutual Dependance and Connection between Man- 
 kind in general, we find it almoft impoffible for any 
 particular People to live, with tolerable Comfort, and 
 in a civilized State, independant of all their Neighbours. 
 Befides, it is natural for Men to extend their Views, 
 
 and their Wifhes beyond the Limits of a fingle Com* 
 
 g munity. 
 
ii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 munity, and to be defirous of enjoying the Produce or 
 Manufactures of other Countries, which they muft 
 purchafe by fome Exchange. Now this Intercourle 
 with other Nations is called Foreign Trade. And 
 in the Exchange of Commodities, if one Nation pays 
 the other a Quantity of Gold or Silver over and above 
 its Property of other Kinds, this is called a Balance 
 ogainjl that Nation in favour of the other. And the 
 Science of gainful Commerce principally conftjls in the bring- 
 ing this fngle Point to bear *. Now there can be but one 
 general Method for putting it in Pradlice ; and that is, 
 lince Gold and Silver are become the common Meafure 
 for computing the Value, and regulating the Price of the 
 Commodities or Manufactures of both Countries, To 
 export larger Quantities of our own, and import 
 less oP theirs ; fo that what is waiting in the Value of 
 ‘their Merchandife, compared with ours, may be paid m 
 Gold and Silver. The Confequence of which will be. 
 That thefe Metals will be continually increafmg with Us, 
 as far as relates to that particular Trade and Nation, 
 and decreaftng with them. And in what Proportion fo- 
 ever their Money comes into our Country, in that Pro- 
 portion it may truly be affirmed, that our Sailors, 
 Freighters, Merchants , Tradefmen, Manufacturers, ’Te- 
 nants, Landlords, Duties, Taxes , Excifes , &c. &C. are 
 paid at their Expence. 
 
 * This is fpoken with refpeCt to the ultimate Balance of 
 Trade. For in reference to the mtermediate Balance, it doth 
 hot always hold true. A Trade may be beneficial to the 
 Nation where the Imports exceed the Exports, and confe- 
 quently the Balance paid in Specie, if that Trade diredtly or 
 indirettly, is neceffary for the carrying on of another more 
 profitable and advantageous. But then it is to be obferved. 
 This Trade is not beneficial, confidered in itfelf, but only 
 as it is relative and fubfervient to the carrying on of another. 
 This is the Cafe, with refpeft to the greateft Part of our 
 Trade to the Baltick, and the Eaft Indies: They are infiru- 
 piental in procuring a Balance elfevohere, though properly 
 fpeaking, difadvantageous in tbemfelves.. Which brings the 
 Matter to the Point from whence we fet out ; viz. “ That 
 “ the Science of gainful Commerce confifts, ultimately , in 
 “ procuring a Balance of Gold or Silver to Qurfelves from 
 “ other Nations.’* 
 
INTRODUCTION. iii 
 
 Or, to put the Matter in another Light; when two 
 Countries are exchanging their Produce or Manufa&ures 
 with each other, that Nation, which has the greateft 
 Number employed in this reciprocalTra.de, is laid to re- 
 ceive a Balance from the other ; becaufe the Price of 
 the Overplus Labour muft be paid in Gold and Sil- 
 ver. For Example ; If there are only ten tkoufand Per- 
 fons employed in England in making Goods or railing 
 fome kind of Produce for the Market of France ; and 
 forty tboufand in France for the Market of England.—* 
 Then we muft pay thefe additional 30,000 Frenchmen in 
 Gold and Silver ; that is, be at the Charge of main- 
 taining them. This is the cleareft and jufteft Method 
 of determining the Balance between Nation and Na- 
 tion : For though a Difference in the Value of the re- 
 fpeftive Commodities may make fome Difference in 
 the Sum a&ually paid to Balance Accounts, yet the 
 general Principle, That Labour (not Money) is the 
 Riches of a People, will always prove, That the Ad- 
 vantage is on the fide of that Nation, which has mod 
 Hands employed in Labour. 
 
 The Principles of Trade therefore being fo clear 
 and certain in themfelves, and withal fo obvious to any 
 Man of common Capacity and Application , it is a very 
 furprizing Matter how it comes to pafs, that both Men 
 of good Underftanding are many times totally ignorant 
 of them, and Merchants themfelves fo divided in their 
 Sentiments about them. 
 
 As to the firjl Cafe, perhaps it may be accounted 
 for, if we confider what Difadvantageous Notions Men 
 of a liberal and learned Education have imbibed of this 
 noble and interejling Science ; on which the Riches , the 
 Strength, the Glory , and, I may add, the Morals and 
 Freedom of our Country, fo effentially depend. Yet it 
 has been reprefented as a dry unentertaining Subjeft, 
 dark and crabbed, perplexed with endlefs Difficulties, 
 not reducible to any fixed and certain Principles ; and 
 therefore fit for none, but the Mercantile Part of the 
 World, to give themfelves any Trouble concerning it. 
 But upon a fair Examination it will perhaps appear, 
 that this Reprefentation is very falfe and injurious. 
 
 As to the Second, it muft be indeed confeffed, That 
 Merchants themfelves are very often divided in r heir 
 
 B 2 Sentiments 
 
iv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Sentiments concerning Trade. Sir* Jofiah Child, 
 
 Gee, Mr. Cary of Brijlol , and almoft all Gornmerci 
 Writers, have long ago taken Notice of this VMerenL 
 of Opinions. But, however Jlrange and unaccountable 
 may appear to Perfons not converfant in thole Matters, 
 there is a very ftrong and convincing Reafon, when tne 
 Affair is fearched to the Bottom, for the difagrmng Opi- 
 nions of different Merchants purfumg their refpettive In- 
 terefts. The leading Idea, or the Point armed at by 
 every Merchant mull be, in the Nature of Things, and 
 in every Country, a Balance in favour of himfelf. But it 
 doth not always follow, That this Balance is likewile 
 in favour of the Nation ; much lefs of other Merchants, 
 whofe Interefts may be oppofite to his own. . While 
 therefore each Perfon fees in a favourable Light his 
 own Branch of Commerce and defires to procure all 
 poffible Advantages to that Traffick, on which the Pro- 
 Jperity of himfelf and his Family, perhaps totally depends , 
 it is but reafonable to expert their Sentiments ihould 
 (lajk. 
 
 Hence therefore fome have thought. That a Per- 
 fon of a liberal and learned Education, not concerned in 
 Trade, is better qualified to engage in the Study of it aa 
 
 a Science, 
 
 * The Words of Sir 'Jofiah Child firongly corroborate 
 what is here alledged. “ Merchants, fays he, while they 
 “ are in the bufy and eager Profecution of their particular 
 “ Trades, although they be very wife and good Men, are 
 “ not always the beft Judges of Trade, as it relates to the 
 “ Power and Profit of a Kingdom. The Reafon may be,- be- 
 “ caufe their Eyes are fo continually fixed upon what makes 
 
 for their peculiar Gain or Lofs, that they have no Leifure 
 “ to expatiate or turn their Thoughts to what is moft ad- 
 “ vantageous to the Kingdom in general — 
 
 “ The like may be faid of all Shop-keepers , Artificers , 
 <c Clothiers, and other Manufacturers, until they have left 
 “ off their Trades, and, being Rich, become by the Pur- 
 “ chafe of Lands of the fame common Interefi with mod of 
 “ their Countrymen.” 
 
 Thisjuftly celebrated Writer was himfelf an Inftance of 
 the Truth of this Obfervation. For, if I am not greatly 
 miftaken, he did not write this very Treatife, Pill he had 
 left off Tsade, and, being Rich, became by the Purcbafe of 
 Lands of the fame common Interefi with the Refi of his Coun- 
 trymen. 
 
V 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 a Science, than a Merchant himfelf: becaufe, (ay 
 they, his Mind is freer from the Prejudice of Self-lute - 
 refl, and therefore more open to Conviftion in Things 
 relating to the General Good. They add. That though 
 he may not underftand the Buying and Selling of particu- 
 lar Commodities, or the fitted: Time to bring them to 
 a profitable Market, (which is the proper Province of a 
 Merchant) yet he may underftand, in what refpetts the 
 Nature of that Trade contributes to the Lofs or Gain of 
 the Publicity with a Degree of Evidence, which perhaps 
 the Merchants never thought of : as being indeed not 
 concerned, merely as a Merchant , in fuch kinds of Dif- 
 -quilitions. 
 
 But without pretending to determine who are the 
 beft qualified to engage in the Study of this moft ufeful 
 and extenfive Science, let Us rather humbly recom- 
 mend it to the Attention of them both. For undoubtedly 
 both have their Advantages ; and perhaps the Applica- 
 tion of both together might be more fuccefsful than, 
 either of them feparately. If the one Ihould happen 
 to be lejs felf-interefted, by means of his Situation in 
 Life, and more open to Conviftion in Cafes relating to 
 the general Good j the Other, for the very fame Reafon, 
 is more Jkilful in the Practice of Trade , and a better 
 fudge whether the Project, perhaps fo fair in Theory, is 
 feaftbk in Fa£l. 
 
 As to the Private Inter eft of Merchants , which is here 
 fuppofed to be a Biafs upon their Minds, this, moft: 
 certainly, coincides, for the moft Part, with the General 
 Intereft of their Country : and fo far it can be no Ar- 
 gument in their Disfavour. But neverthelefs, Truth 
 obliges Us to acknowledge. That in certain Cafes, * 
 “ A Merchant may have a diftinft Intereft from that of 
 t( his Country. He may thrive by a Trade which may 
 tc prove her Ruin.” Nay more, He may be impoverijked 
 by a Trade that is beneficial to her. But undoubtedly, 
 the Moment he perceives he is carrying on a lofing 
 Trade, he will quit it, and employ his Thoughts and 
 his Subftance in the Profecutiop of fome other. More- 
 
 B 3 over, 
 
 * Britljh Merchants , Vol. II. p- 141- 8ve. Edition, 1721. 
 See likewife the Inft»nce.s there given to copfirra this Qbfer- 
 vsuion. 
 
VI 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 over, as it is a Balance in favour of himfelf , which is 
 the principal Objett of his Aims and Endeavours, it 
 cannot be expected, but of two Trades, both advan- 
 tageous to the Community, he will embrace that which 
 is mofl: profitable to himfelf, though it fhould happen 
 to be lefs gainful to the Publick. It is a Maxim with 
 Traders, and a juftifiable one, To get all that can be got 
 in a legal and honeft Way. And if the Laws of their 
 Country do give them the Permiffion of carrying on any 
 particular gainful Trade, it is their Bufinefs, as Mer - 
 chants , to engage in the Profecution of it.*-— As to the 
 great Point of National Advantage, or Difadvantage, 
 this is properly the Concern of others, who fit at the 
 Helm of Government, and confequently whofe Province 
 it is. To frame the Laws and Regulations relating to Trade 
 in fuch a Manner , as may caufe the Private Intereft of the 
 Merchant to fall in with the General Good of his Country . 
 
 For thefe Reafons therefore the Appointment of the 
 Board of Trade mult certainly appear a very wife 
 and neceffary Infiitution. The Intent and Defign being, 
 as I humbly conceive, to anfwer this very End. And 
 the Honourable Members of it may be looked upon in 
 this Light, as the Guardians of the Publick Wel- 
 fare. In prefi ding over the General Commercial In- 
 terells of the Kingdom, they are to infpeft the feveral 
 Branches of Traffick, that are carried on, and to give 
 Notice to the Legiflature , whether the Profit of the King- 
 dom or of the Merchant, is molt promoted ; that the pro- 
 per Remedies, or Encouragements may be applied, ac- 
 cording as the Cafe requires, by J topping up the former 
 Channels of a difadvantageous Tirade, opening new ones, 
 which may enrich the Publick and the Adventurer toge- 
 ther : encouraging him to perfevere, and to enlarge his 
 Dealings in every Branch, which is beneficial to the 
 Community ; and, in one Word, by enabling the Mer- 
 chant to find his own private Advantage in labouring for 
 the Good of his Country. Self and focial Happinefs, in 
 this Cafe, mull be made to unite: otherwife it will 
 happen in this, as in moll other Affairs, that focial 
 Happinefs will not be promoted at all. 
 
 And as the Affairs of Commerce muft for thefe 
 Reafons ultimately come under the Cognisance of the 
 Legiflature , it were greatly to be wilhed. That Men of 
 
 Eminence 
 
INTRODUCTION. ili 
 
 Eminence and Diflinttion, whole Birth and Fortunes pro- 
 cure them an Admiffion into the Rritijh Senate , would 
 employ a little more of their Time in the Cultivation 
 of a Science, fo worthy of their greatefl Regard and 
 Attention. The Intejreft of their Country, and their 
 own, do both concur in requiring fuch a Conduct from 
 them. I beg Leave to mention not only the Intereffc 
 of their Country, but their own : For it is a mofl cer- 
 tain Fadt, though not fufficiently attended to. That the 
 Landed Gentleman is more deeply concerned in the Nation - 
 al Effects of an Advantageous or Difadvantageous Com- 
 merce, than the Merchant himfelf. If this Aflertion 
 fhould appear a Paradox to any one, I hope a few Lines 
 will convince him of the Truth of it. 
 
 Suppose then fome General Calamity to befal the 
 Trade of the Kingdom: — Or, to put a mor e Jiriking 
 Cafe, Suppofe the Mouth of the Thames to be choked up 
 with Sands and Marjhes (as that fine River in France , the 
 Rhone , really is) fo as to afford no Port worth menti- 
 oning for the Purpofes of Commerce : In fuch a me- 
 lancholy Cafe, the Merchants , Manufacturers , Owners of 
 Ships , Sailors , and all the Multitudes of Tradefmen de- 
 pendant upon this Commerce, would indeed be the firjl 
 affedted ; but they would not be the greatest Lo- 
 sers. For after the fir ft Shock, they would eafily re- 
 move with the bell of their Effedls, and try their For- 
 tunes elfewhere. But the Landed Gentleman, what mull: 
 he do ? he is bound dawn to the Soil, and cannot remove 
 his Eftate, though the Perfons are gone, who ufed to 
 confume the Product of it. Thus the Evil becomes in- 
 curable, and perpetual with regard to him, and every Day 
 increafmg: whereas with refpedt to the Merchant, it 
 was only a Shock at firft, which he has the Chance of 
 getting the better of, by removing to a more advanta- 
 geous Situation. 
 
 It is fervently to be wifhed, that Providence may 
 never vifit Us with fo terrible a Judgment, as the chok- 
 ing up the Mouth of our Principal River leading to the 
 Metropolis of the Kingdom. But the bare Suppofal of 
 fuch a Cafe is fufficient to prove, I humbly prefume, 
 with irrefiftible Evidence, That the Landed Gentlemen 
 in the Counties adjacent to London are more deeply in- 
 tended in. the Confequences of the Trade of London, 
 
 than 
 
viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 than the Merchants themfelves : And therefore. That 
 thole fuppofed Diftinfiions of Landed Intereft and "Trad- 
 ing Intereft, in the Senfe they are commonly ufed, are 
 the moft idle and filly, as well as falfe and injurious , that 
 ever divided Mankind. 
 
 But above all, we muft beg leave to obferve, by 
 way of Inducement to the Landed Gentleman to turn his 
 Thoughts to this Study, That his very private Interejl is 
 rather a Help, than a Detriment to him in the Profecution 
 of it. It puts no wrong Biafs upon his Mind, but di- 
 retts him to the true Point of Light, from whence to 
 fee, and to judge of thefe Affairs: which is a Circum- 
 fiance in fome refpefts peculiar to his Situation. 
 
 For, if we fuppofe the Scene ftill to continue in 
 and about London , ( though the fame would hold true of 
 any other Part of the Kingdom) as the private Intereft 
 of the Landed Gentleman arifes from the General Com- 
 merce of the Place, he can have no partial Views in re- 
 lation to Trade, nor can reap any Advantage from Mo- 
 nopolies , Exclufive Companies, or fuch like deftruftive 
 Artifices. The more Perfons there are employed in every 
 Branch of Bufinefs, the more there will be to confume 
 the Produce of his Eftate : fo that he will have no Temp- 
 tations to complain, That the Trade is over Jlocked, or 
 wifh the Promotion of this Trade, in order to th e Declen- 
 [ton of that. In fhort, his own Interejl is connected with 
 the Good of the Whole ; fo that he cannot but be ex- 
 tremely well qualified to underjland and to promote it, if 
 he will pleafe to make Ufe of the Advantages’he is hap- 
 pily poffefTed of, 
 
 A 
 
A BRIEF 
 
 ESSAY on TRADE. 
 
 The principal Advantages e/FRANCE 
 with refpeSl to Trade. 
 
 H E Natural Produce and Commodities of 
 the Country.— Thek are chiefly Wines, 
 Brandies, Silk, Linen, Hemp, and 
 Oil. I do not mention Corn , for 
 though they raife a great deal, yet, as 
 they are great Bread-Eaters, they con . 
 fume a great deal, and have little to fpare for Exportation. 
 Their Harvefts alfo are more precarious than ours, and 
 often fail. 
 
 II. The Subordination of the common People is an un- 
 fpeakable Advantage to them in refpect to Trade. — By this 
 means, the Manufacturers are always kept induftrious : 
 They dare not run into Ihocking Lewdnefs and Debauch- 
 ery ; to Drunkennefs they are not inclined. They * are 
 obliged to enter into the married State ; whereby they 
 raife up large Families to Labour, and keep down the Price 
 
 of 
 
 * The Law of France obliges all unmarried Men to ferve 
 as common Soldiers in the Militia and the Army, unlefs they 
 have particular Exemptions on Account of then Stations and 
 Profeflions . 
 
10 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 of it : and confequently, by working cheaper , enable the 
 Merchant to fell the cheaper. 
 
 III. The Rules and Regulations they are obliged to ob- 
 ferve in Manufacturing their Goods , and Expofmg them to 
 Sale , is a great Advantage to the Credit of their Ma- 
 nufactures, and confequently to Trade. All Sorts of 
 Goods for Exportation muft undergo an Inlpedtion of 
 the proper Officer in the publick Hall ; there they are 
 compared with the Patterns or Samples delivered in be- 
 fore. The Bad, and fuch as do not anfwer to their Sam- 
 ples, are confifcated , with a Fine levied upon the Offend- 
 er. By thefe means, the fraudulent Defigns of private 
 Traders, who would get rich at the publick Expence , are 
 prevented , and the National Manufaftury conftantly kept 
 up in high Credit. 
 
 IV. Their excellent Roads , their navigable Rivers and Ca- 
 nals , are of fmgular Advantage to their Trade . — Their 
 great Roads are always in good Order, and always car- 
 ried on in a Jlraight Line, where the Nature of the 
 Ground will permit ; and made at a mod prodigious 
 Expence ; each Province being obliged to make and re- 
 pair their own Roads. And yet there is no Expence 
 for Turnpikes from one End of the Kingdom to the other. 
 
 Their Rivers are indeed, for the mod Part, the 
 Work of Nature ; the Seine, the Loire, the Garonne, and 
 the Rhone, with all the Rivers which fall into them, help 
 to carry on ’a Communication with mod of the great 
 Cities of the Kingdom. 
 
 But their Canals are their own proper Praife ; and 
 equally deferving Admiration on Account of their Gran- 
 deur and Contrivance, as for thCixUfefulnef to Trade, in 
 lowering the Price of Carriage. Among thefe, that of 
 Languedoc, and the two Canals of Orleans and Briare, 
 are worthy to be particularly mentioned. By means of 
 the former, a Communication is opened between Bour- 
 deaux and Marfeilles , between the Ocean and the Medi- 
 terranean, without palling through the Streights of Gib- 
 raltar, and furrounding all the Coafts of Portugal and 
 Spain: and by Virtue of the two latter, an eafy Inter- 
 courfe is maintained between all the great Towns iitu- 
 ated on the Seine and the Loire. Many other Canals 
 theie aie, and more Hill intended to be made, greatly ad- 
 vantageous to their Commerce. 
 
 V. The 
 
An Essay on Trade. rr 
 
 V. The French enjoy a great Advantage in the Goodnefs 
 of their Sugar Colonies. — It is not owing to any fuperiar 
 Skill in them , or wrong Conduct in us, nor yet any great- 
 er Oeconomy in their Planters, or Profufenefs in ours, (for 
 upon the drifted Enquiry both will be found to be very 
 culpable) that they exceed us in the Cheapnefs or Goodnefs 
 of their Commodities ; but becaufe our Leeward Ijlands 
 are worn out , being originally of no Depth of Soil ; and 
 the Ground is more upon a Level, confequently more 
 fubjcft to be burnt up ; whereas their Iflands are dill ve- 
 ry good. In Martinico particularly the Ground is rich , 
 the Soil deep, diverfifred with high Hills, affording copioui 
 Streams of Water, and refrefhing Shades. Another great 
 Advantage which the French have over the Englfij in 
 their Sugar Colonies is their Agrarian Law , whereby 
 Monopolifts are prevented from engroffing too much 
 Land. So that the Number of Whites are greatly en* 
 creafed, the Lands improved, more Commodities raifed, 
 the Planters obliged to a more frugal Manner of Living, 
 and all Things rendered cheaper. By thefe Means Mar- 
 tinico can muder 16000 fighting Men ; but Jamaica , 
 which is near three Times as large, only 4000. Add 
 to this, that the Inhabitants of old France do notufe the 
 tenth Part of the Sugars for Home Confumption, which the 
 Englifh do ; and therefore have that Commodity to export 
 again to Foreign Markets, and with it to encreafe the Na- 
 tional Wealth. 
 
 VI. The French Colonies receive all their Luxuries and 
 Refinements of Living from their Mother Country ; which is 
 a very great Advantage to it. They are not fuffered, nor 
 indeed doth it appear that they are much inclined, to go 
 to any other Shop or Market for thefe Things. Neither 
 have they fet up any Manufactures of their own, to the 
 Prejudice of their Mother Country. Indeed, as to the 
 Neceffaries of Life, they fupply themfelves with them 
 where they can ; and frequently buy of th sEnglifh. But 
 this is a Cafe of Neceffity , which cannot be fubjeft to 
 Reflraints. As to Articles of Luxury , Parade , and Pica- 
 fure, we very feldom hear that they buy any of them 
 from us. 
 
 VII. The Manner of collecting their Duties on feveral 
 Sorts of Goods imported is of greater Advantage to T rade, 
 than can eafily be imagined. In the Port of Bouraeaux , 
 
 and 
 
12 An Essay on Trade, 
 
 (and I take it for granted fo good a Regulation obtains 
 in other Places) there are public Warehoufes, very pro- 
 per and convenient, adjoining to the Cuftom-houfe. And 
 all Provifions and Goods neceflary for the Ufe of their 
 Sugar Colonies are there depofited by the Merchant, 
 till the Ship fails, Duty free, paying only a moderate 
 Price for Gellerage. When lhe returns, the Sugars, lAc. 
 are landed in the King’s Ware-houfes, where they remain, 
 till the Importer has found a Purchafer for a proper 
 Quantity : Then he pays the Duty for that, and has it 
 taken away, letting the Reft continue. Or if he intends 
 thefe Goods for Exportation, there they lie ready and 
 convenient. By this means he is never driven to Streights 
 on Account of the King’s Duty ; and is enabled to car- 
 ry on a very extenfwe Trade with a J, mall Stock. The 
 Confequence of which is, that many Perfons are here- 
 by capacitated to enter confidera'bly into Commerce, who 
 could not otherwife have done it. For jooo /. 
 Sterling in France will go near as far as Two Thoufand 
 Pounds in England. Not to mention. That as there is 
 no Money immediately advanced on Account of the 
 King’s Duty, the whole Gains of the Merchant will 
 arife only from the Money actually in Trade : Now as 
 this is lefs by near one half to what it would have been, 
 had the Duty been all paid at once ; confequently he can 
 afford to fell one half lefs than he muft have demanded in 
 the other Cafe. 
 
 VIII. Their Neighbourhood to Spain, and prefent Con- 
 nexion with it, is of fo great Advantage, as to be worth 
 all their Trade befides. For it is certain, they get more 
 from .he Spaniards than all the Trading Nations in 
 Europe. Their Poor from Perigord , Limofsn, and other 
 Places, come yearly into Spain to reap their Corn, and 
 gather in their Vintage ; and carry back what they have 
 earned to fpend in France. The Fijhermen from Bayonne, 
 and the neighbouring Places, fupply them with great 
 Quantities both of fre/h and fait Fifti to eat on Fa/l-Days 
 and to keep Lent. The Pedlars and Shopkeepers in Spain 
 are moftly French, who retire into their own Country 
 when they have made their Fortunes. The Towns in 
 Languedoc fupply them with Cloth, Silks, and Stockings 
 R°den with Hats, and coarfe Linen Stuffs ; Abbeville, with 
 fuperfine Cloths ; Amiens and Arras, with Worfted and 
 
 Camblet 
 
A Essay m Trace. I3 
 
 Camblet Stuffs ; and Lions , with all Sorts of rich Silks, 
 Gold and Silver Lace, FAc. for their Confumption both 
 in Europe and America . In fhort, the greateft Part of 
 the Produce of the Mines of Potofns brought into France. 
 Hence it is, that their Payments are all in Silver: and 
 Geld is more fcarce in France, in the Currency of Coin, 
 than Silver is in England. A plain Proof, that they have 
 the great Trade to Spain , as we have to Portugal, 
 
 IX. Their Addrefs in drawing raw Materials from other 
 Countries to work up in their own ferves greatly to enlarge 
 and extend their Trade. France produces fome Wool 
 and Silk, but not a fourth Fart of what they manufacture. 
 Wool they import from Barbary , the Levant , and Spain. 
 They alfo 'bring Wool from Switzerland. Some little 
 perhaps is run from England ; but, I have good Reafon 
 to believe, not much. The Quantity from Ireland is 
 very confiderable ; which is owing to our own wrong Po- 
 licy. The beft of their raw Silk they draw from Pie - 
 tnont , the Levant, Italy , and Spain. Their Cotton is 
 brought from the Levant, and from their Sugar Co- 
 lonies. And the AJhes for making Soap at Marfeillei , 
 are chiefly imported from Egypt. 
 
 X. They reap unfpeakable Advantage , by the Permiffton and 
 Encouragement given to Foreign Merchants and Manufacturers 
 to fettle among them. By this good Policy the Price of La- 
 bour is always kept fufficiently low. A Competition and 
 Emulation are raifed, who lhall work, and fell the cheap- 
 ejl 5 which muff turn out greatly to the National Advan- 
 tage, though it may not be fo favourable to the private 
 Inter eft of Individuals. For thefe Reafons, the Govern- 
 ment is particularly gentle and indulgent to Foreigners. And 
 the Situation of the Country is greatly afliftant to this 
 Difpofition of the Government. France is furrounded 
 with populous, that is, prolifick Nations, who have no 
 Trade and Manufactures of their own to employ their 
 Poor. Flanders, all Germany on the Side of the Rhine , 
 Switzerland , Savoy, and fome Parts of Italy , pour their 
 fupernumerary Hands every Tear into France ; where they 
 are careffed, and received into the Army, or the Manu- 
 facture, according to their Inclinations. The Rhone is 
 fo eafy and cheap a Conveyance, for the Swarms of In- 
 habitants bordering on the Lake of Geneva, that fo fmall 
 a §um. as One Shilling, or Eighteen Pence each Perfon, 
 
14 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 will bring them to the chief Manufa&uring Town in the 
 Kingdom, viz. Lions. And there are faid to be no lefs 
 than Ten Thoufand Swifs and Germans employed in that 
 City. The Numbers alfo in all the other Commercial 
 Towns are very great, and daily increafing. 
 
 XI. The Englilh Monopolies , which are fa deftruCtive to 
 
 the Interejh of Great Britain, become, for the very fame Rea- 
 fin, of the great eft Benefit and Advantage France. — Mar- 
 
 feilles is a flagrant, and a melancholy Proof of this Af- 
 fertion. For the Trade of this Place hath flaurifhed and 
 increafed juft in the fame Proportion, as that of our Turky 
 Company funk and declined . All the fine Streets and 
 new Buildings of the City date their Original from this 
 Period. So that we may truly fay, They were built, and 
 are now fupported, by the exclufive Turky Company of 
 England. Moreover, the Englijh Hudfin’ s-Bay Company 
 is the only Caufe, which can make the French Settle- 
 ments in fo wretched a Country as the Northern Parts of 
 Canada , to fiourilh ; with fo difficult and dangerous a Na- 
 vigation, as that up the Bay of St. Lawrence. It is this, 
 and no other, is the Caufe that enables them to extend their 
 Colonies, and to underfell thzEngli/h in all the Articles of 
 Furr; which they apparently do in Times of Peace. 
 
 XII. The pub lick Stock of Wealth is greatly increafed , by 
 Foreigners of all Countries travelling among them. — 'The Ad- 
 vantages from hence accruing have not been fo much 
 attended to, as, I humbly think, they juftly deferve. 
 For while thefe Foreigners refide in the Country, they 
 not only pay for their Food and Board at an high Rate i 
 but they alfo cloath themfelves with the Manufactures of 
 it, and buy many Curioftties. But this is not all : For, 
 having contracted a Liking to the Produce and Manu- 
 factures of the Country they travelled in, they continue 
 to ufe them when they are returned to their own ; and 
 fo introduce them to the Knowledge , Efteem, and Approba- 
 tion of others : This begets a Demand : and a Demand 
 for them draws on a Correfpondence, and a fettled Com- 
 merce. Thefe are the Advantages which the French en- 
 joy by fuch Numbers of Foreigners travelling among them ; 
 whereas they fcarce ever travel themfelves : and by that 
 Means circulate the Money in their own Country. 
 
 XIII. France enjoys no fmall Advantage , as it doth not 
 lofe much by the Article of Smuggling, in comparifon to what 
 
 England 
 
An E s s a y on T a a d e. 15 
 
 England doth. This is owing to the Striftnefs of their 
 
 Government, the many Spies they have upon every 
 Man’s Actions, and being able to punifh the flighted: 
 Offence more feveiely, and in a more fummary Way 
 than we can, or is confident with a free Conftitutioa 
 to do. 
 
 *The Principal Disadvantages of Franc# 
 with regard to Trade. 
 
 I. CfHE firjl 'Difadvantage to a free Trade is the Go- 
 vernment , which is arbitrary and defpotick ; and 
 therefore fuch a Merchant would not chufe to live un- 
 der, if he knows the Sweets of Liberty in another 
 Country, and has no Attachment of Family, or Inte- 
 red to keep him dill in France. It mud be acknow- 
 
 ledged, his Property, generally fpeaking, is fecure enough, 
 but his Perfon is not fo. To explain this, we mud beg 
 Leave to obferve, That though there are fixed and Jiated 
 Laws in France to decide all Caufes, as here in England ; 
 fo that a Man may know the Rules he is to be govern-, 
 ed by in thofe Refpe&s, and can have an open Trial for 
 his Life and Fortune : yet there are no Laws to afcer- 
 tain the Nature of Political Offences, or to circumfcribe 
 the Power of the Judge : So that he mud be entirely at 
 the Mercy of the Lieutenant de Police, and his Deputies ; 
 who can imprifon him at will , without afligning any Rea- 
 fon, or bringing any Evidence to confront him. And 
 therefore his only Security confids, in being continually 
 lavijh in the Praife of the King and the Miniflry , and in 
 faying nothing which may afford the lead Pretence to 
 the Spies, who f warm ad over the Kingdom, to inform 
 againft him. 
 
 IL The fecond Difadvantage to the Freedom of Trade, it 
 the Romilh Religion ; which has added to its many other 
 Abfurdities a Spirit of Cruelty and Perfecution, fo re- 
 pugnant to the Scope and Tendency of the C of pel. There- 
 
 fore a Protejlant Merchant, if at the fame Time a con- 
 Man, will find himfelf very often reduced to 
 
 great 
 
1 6 An E s s a y on T R a d e. 
 
 great Difficulties, in order to avoid, on the one Hand the 
 Sin of Hypocrify, by Compliances againft his Conscience, or 
 on the other, the Danger attending the Exercifie of his 
 Religion, and the Educating of his Children in the Pro- 
 teftant Way. This, I fay, will often happen, even at 
 prefent ; though the Bigotry of the Court of France is 
 not near fo great, as it was in former times. 
 
 III. Another great Burden, and confequently a Difi- 
 advantage to the T rade of France, is, The great Number 
 of Religious of both Sexes. -" - The loweft Computation 
 of thefe amounts to near Three Hundred Thoufand 
 Perfons: a great Part of which Number might, and 
 would be employed in Trade and Manufactures ; and the 
 Reft might be ufeful to Society in other Spheres. But 
 that is not all ; They are a very heavy Weight upon the 
 Publick. Vaft Eftates are appropriated for the Support of 
 fame of the Religious Orders, whofe Fund is continually 
 accumulating , not only by Legacies and Donations, but 
 alfo by whatever Fortune each Perfon is pojfejjed of , at 
 the Time of taking the Vow. And others, who are of 
 the Mendicant Orders, and are allowed to have no Pro- 
 perty, become a continual Tax upon the Induftry and 
 Charity of the People : and thefe moftly of the middling 
 and lower Sort. Not to mention the increafing Riches 
 and dead Wealth in all their Churches. 
 
 IV, A fourth great Difadvantage to the Trade of 
 
 France , is the numerous and poor Nobility. The Nature 
 
 and Confutation of that Government requi-e d e Notion 
 of Birth and Family to be kept up very high, as it will 
 always create an indigent Nobility, and confequently de- 
 pendant upon the Court for fuch Preferments as may not 
 derogate , or bring a Stain upon their Family. Moreover, 
 the fame refined Policy induces the Court to make the 
 Military Service be efteemed the moft Honourable ; as it 
 muft render the whole Body of the Nobility Soldiers to 
 fight their Battles ; the Richer ferving for Glory, and the 
 Poorer . for an honourable Support. The Confequence of 
 all this is. That they heartily defpije the Bourgeois *, 
 
 that 
 
 * In France, the Inhabitants are ufually difiinguifbed by 
 three Ranks, or Orders; The NobleJJe, the Bourgeois, and 
 the Paifans. Each of thefe are totally diftinit from the other 
 
 The 
 
A Essay w Trade. 17 
 
 that is, the Merchant and Tradefman : and he, when he 
 gets rich, is as defirous of quitting fo dijhonourable an 
 Employ, therein his Riches cannot fecure him from 
 Infult and Contempt. Being therefore ambitious of rai- 
 ling his own Family to be of the Noblejfe , he leaves off 
 Trade asfoon as he can, and breeds up his Sons to the 
 Military Profeffion, or purchafes fome Office in the 
 Law or Civil Government, which may enable them. 
 
 V. The Trade of France futfers another Inconve- 
 
 niency by the Nature of its Taxes. - Some of thefe, 
 
 in certain Provinces, are very arbitrary, as the Taille, 
 which is levied moftly upon the poor Peafants and Ma- 
 nufacturers in the Country Villages. Others are very 
 heavy : as the Duty upon Salt, which is Jhociingly oppref- 
 five, Others again, though not quite fo oppreffive, are 
 yet equally improperly laid ; becaufe they are upon the 
 Neceffaries of Life, which are to feed the Tradefnen , 
 and to viSlual the Shipping. Thus, for Example, all 
 Sorts of Provifions, Corn, Wine, Butchers Meat, Poul- 
 try, Eggs, Fifh, Garden-Stuff, and Fruit, pay a Duty 
 at the Entrance of fome of their great Cities. There 
 are Duties alfo lately laid upon Soap and Candles. And 
 in the Pais des Etats, where the mojl grievous of thefe 
 Imports are not levied, they lay a Provincial Duty upon 
 
 ' all 
 
 The Pofterity of the Noblejfe are «//Nobleffe, though ever fo 
 poor, and though not honoured with the Titles of Count, 
 Marquis, &c. as Noblemen are here in England. The Pojierity 
 of a Bourgeois, though ever (orick, and though the Family- 
 have left off Trade a Hundred Years ago, are ftill but Bour- 
 goeis, until they are ennobled by Patent or have wiped off the 
 Difgrace of having been Merchants, by fome fignal Military 
 Service, or have pur chafed fome honourable Employ. There- 
 fore when th t Noblejfe call the Merchants Bourgeois, Burgefies, 
 they mean it as a Term of Infamy and Reproach, anfwering to 
 that of pitiful low Merchant in Englijh. Indeed, by fome 
 Ordinances, the Nobleffe are permitted to engage in certain 
 Branches of foreign and wholefale Trade, without bringing 
 any Stain upon their Family. But thefe Permiffions will have 
 little Efficacy to induce the Nobility to turn Merchants, as 
 long as the Military Service is fo highly exalted in Credit and 
 Reputation above Merchandize. The very Genius of the 
 Government, makes a it Scandal not to be a Soldier : Laws 
 will have little Force againft this. 
 
 C 
 
iS E s s a y m Trade. 
 
 all Things going in or out of that Province ; which makes 
 the Merchandize fo pajfmg through become the dearer 
 at a foreign Market. 
 
 VL The Maitrifes, which fo generally prevail in 
 
 prance , is a Clog to the Trade of the C o untry . Th e fe 
 
 Maitrifes are much the fame as our Companies in Towns 
 Corporate ; only we have this Advantage, That in 
 England their pernicious Effects can be more eafily 
 eluded by having Shops, &c. within Glafs Windows. 
 Belides, our hejl Manufacturing Towns, fuch as Ber- 
 mingham, Manchejler , and even four fifths of London 
 itfelf, viz. Wejlminfter , Southwark, and all the Suburbs, 
 have no Companies at all. Whereas in France allTradef- 
 men are obliged to be free of their proper Maitrifes, 
 before they can fet up. The Fine for this, in fome 
 Trades, is very confiderable. And there is alfo, in 
 Times of War, an annual Demand of a certain Pro- 
 portion of Men out of each Maitrife : which is under- 
 ftood to imply a Sum of Money by way of equivalent. 
 Thus, the more thefe Maitrifes become ufeful to fupply 
 the Exigencies of the Government at a Pinch, the more 
 Privileges they will acquire ; and the greater the Privi- 
 lege is of an y particular Company, the lefs will be the 
 general Trade of the Country. 
 
 VII. The French fuftain fome Difadvantage by their 
 Monopolies and exclufive Characters, —They have an Eaft- 
 lndia Company at Port VOrient : Marfeillesls a free Port 
 for the Levant and Barbary Trade ; whereas there is a 
 Duty of 20 per Cent, upon all Merchandize of thofe 
 Countries, if imported into any other Port of France in 
 the Mediterranean. And even at Marfeilles, there is a 
 particular exclufive Company for importing Corn and 
 Wool from Africa. Lions is free for all Silks entering, 
 or going out ; whereas there is an heavy Duty in the 
 neighbouring Towns; by which means, Lions may be 
 faid to have an exclufive Charafter. And there is good 
 Reafon to conclude, there is fomething of the fame 
 Nature for the Turky Cloth at Carcaffonne, the Silk and 
 Worded Stockings at Nifmes, the Clothing for the Sol- 
 diery at Lodeve , the Superfine Cloth at Abbeville , the 
 Stuffs at Amiens, the Camblets at Arras, the painted 
 Linens and Cottons at Rouen, &c. 
 
 VIII. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 19 
 
 VIII. The French labour under no fmall Disadvan- 
 tage on Account of the Expence they are at in the Article of 
 
 Shipping. They have more Men to navigate thelr 
 
 Ships than the Englijh, becaufe they are not fo expert 
 Sailors- They mull carry fome fupcrnumerary Land- 
 men, by the King’s Orders : They mud have many Of- 
 ficers to govern thefe Men, becaufe the Merchant is to 
 be refponfible for them when the Ship returns. Thefe 
 Officers will have a grand Table, a Cook, and new 
 Bread every Day. The Ship lies long in Port, if fent 
 to the Weft- Indies to difpofe of the Cargo : Becaufe 
 their Creolians are faid to be fo difboneft , that they do 
 not care to truft them with Commiffions. And fo the 
 Expences of the Officers and of the Crew run very 
 high. Add to this, that the Officer belonging to the 
 Marine in France will find Ways and Means to give 
 great Trouble to tfie Merchant, both as to the Choice 
 of Sailors, and of Officers, unlefs he is properly confi - 
 dered: Which is generally done by buying fome Ship 
 Stores of himfelf, or Friends, at an extraordinary Price. 
 
 IX. The two National Vices of the French, Gaming 
 
 and Fine Clothes, is a great Hurt to their Trade. 
 
 Thefe Expences cannot be fupported but by a large ‘ 
 Profit ; and that wall always lejfen the Demand at a fo- 
 reign Market, if their Neighbours can afford to fell cheaper . 
 Not to mention the fwift Ruin which Gaming fometimes 
 brings on, and the Ldfs of Time occafioned by it. 
 
 X. The Situation of the French Ports, is a great 
 Difadvantage to them, with refpeft to the Hamburg and 
 Northern Trade : And in regard to the Southern and 
 Wejl- Indies, they are not better fituated ; and are not 
 near fo many, nor fo good as ours, efpecially if we take 
 Ireland into the Account. They h^ve only an Advan- 
 tage with relpeft to the Mediterranean, 
 
 XI. The Farming of the Revenue is another great 
 Difadvantage to the Commerce of France. For thefe 
 have molt immoderate Profits, and live in all the Splen- 
 dor and Expence of the firft Princes of the Blood. 
 And as they aft by the King’s Authority, they tyrannize 
 over the Subjects with Impunity. — Yet I cannot fee 
 how the French Government can be without fuch a Set 
 of People. For when Money is wanted, they ar« 
 ready to lend, while the Subjeft is afraid : Therefore 
 
 G 2 they 
 
20 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 they borrow of the Subject, giving their own Securi- 
 ties, and then lend the Government at an advanced 
 Price, paying themfelves, as the Duties are collected. 
 
 T o thefe Difadvantages, it has been intimated, I 
 ought to have mentioned their many Holidays, on 
 which they “ muft not work, and their pompous Pro- 
 “ ceffions which draw the People a gazing after them.’ 
 —The Thought did occur to me before, at the Time 
 of writing the firfl Edition : But I fuppreffed it then, 
 and now beg Leave to affign the Reafons ; viz. In the 
 firfl Place, thefe Things are greatly wearing off in. 
 France every Day ; fo that the Lofs of Time is not fo 
 confiderable, as one may imagine. Secondly, Allow- 
 ing that fome Time is idled away during thefe Holidays, 
 and in feeing Proceffions, &c. ftill, if we call: up the 
 Account of the Time and Money which are fpent here 
 in England by all forts of Manufacturers in Horfe-Races, 
 Cock-fightings, Cricket-Matches, Bull-baitings, bu& 
 more efpecially in Mobbing and Ele&ioneering, (all 
 which are not in France ) I am perfwaded, we fhall find 
 the Advantage gained over them, on the Score of their 
 Holidays and Proceffions, to be none at all ; and that 
 upon comparing both Articles together, the Amount of 
 the Difadvantages will be found to be greater on our 
 Side, than on theirs. 
 
 qOqqQqqQqqQqqO q qQqqOqqOq 
 
 'The prmcipal Advantages of Great 
 Britain with refpeff to Trade. 
 
 I.rnHE cc natural Produce and Commodities of 
 “ the Country Corn, Wool, Lead, Tin, 
 Copper, Coal, Butter, Cheefe, Tallow, Leather.— 
 All which are not to be found in France , in that Plenty 
 and Abundance they are in England. 
 
 II. “ The Number, Goodnefs, and Situation of our 
 l( Ports.” — Thofe on the Weftern Side of Great Bri- 
 tain (efpecially if we reckon Ireland a Part of ourfelves, 
 and include both Iflands under one General Inte- 
 rest, as in Reafon and Policy we ought to do) are 
 alraofl as well fituated for the Southern Trade, as the 
 
 French . 
 
21 
 
 An Ess at on Trade. 
 
 French : They are four times as many in Number, and 
 much better for Safety, and Depth of Water. And as 
 to the North and Baltick Trade, the French can come 
 into no Comparifon with ours. 
 
 IIJ. “ Nature has been very bountiful, in bellowing 
 “ on us fuch excellent Fisheries particularly the 
 Herring- Fifhery, on the Northern Coafts of Scotland, 
 and the Cod on the South Weft of Ireland. — Thefe 
 great Advantages are always in our Power to cultivate 
 and improve; and it is our Fault, and our Reproach, 
 that we do not. 
 
 IV. England enjoys another Advantage by means 
 of its “ free Government.”' — A Merchant can go to 
 Law with the Crown, as eafily as with a private Sub- 
 ject. The Judges are for the Life of the Prince on 
 the Throne, and confequently not under the immediate 
 Influence of the Court. No Man’s Perfon can be de- 
 tained, but a Reafon muft be given, and the Matter 
 brought to an open Trial, where his Equals are to be 
 his Judges, and to decide between him and the Crown, 
 whether he hath committed an Offence againft the 
 State, or not. 
 
 V. Another ineftimablc Blefling, and a great Ad- 
 vantage, confidered merely in a Commercial View, “ is 
 “ the Liberty of Confcience we enjoy in thefe King- 
 tt doms.” — Every Man is permitted to worfhip God 
 in the Way he thinks the right and true, without Fear 
 or Referve ; and may educate his Children in his own 
 Religion. The Roman Gatholicks indeed are under 
 fome legal Difcouragements : But it is plain, the Le- 
 giflature confidered them rather as a Political, than a 
 Religious Sedf, when thofe Laws were enacted. And 
 the prefent Government, by its Conduct towards them, 
 has given them fufficiently to underftand, That they 
 fhall not be difturbed in the free Exercife of their Re- 
 ligion, provided they will give no Diflurbance to the 
 State in Civil Affairs, by Tiding with its Enemies. This, 
 furely, is but a reafonable Demand : And here the 
 Matter feems to reft. 
 
 VI. England has always enjoy’d an Advantage in 
 Trade, “ as its Manufadturers have been in high Rq r 
 il pute for their Skill and Ingenuity.” — Our Lock?, 
 Chains, Clock-work, Mathematical Inftruments, 
 
 C 3 and 
 
2a A Essay <j« T r a p e. 
 
 and all Sorts of Cutlery Ware, far exceed all others at 
 this Day, and are defervedly preferred by foreign Na- 
 tions. And our Sailors are confiderably fuperior to the 
 French, in their Art and Dexterity. 
 
 VII. England enjoys a very vifible Advantage over 
 France, <e as the whole Bulk of our People may be 
 “ concerned in Trade, if they pleafe, without any Dif- 
 f i reputation to their Families.”' — 'The Profeflion of a 
 Merchant is efteemed full as honourable as that of an 
 Officer. And no Man need leave off Trade, when he 
 finds himfelf rich, in order to be refpefted as a Gentle- 
 man. It is likewife no Scandal for younger Brothers 
 of the moll antient Families to be bred up to Trade 
 and Bufinefs. 
 
 VIII. We enjoy a fingular Advantage by tc our vafi: 
 “ Colonies on the Continent of America.” — 'From 
 Newfoundland to Georgia, is an immenfe Country ; 
 where all the Inhabitants do ufe more or lefs of the 
 Growth of their Mother Country ; and England again 
 receives the Produce and Growth of theirs. This is a 
 mutual Benefit, and ftill improveable. 
 
 IX. The Ifland of Jamaica has fome Advantages 
 over any of the French Iflands, on Account of its Si- 
 tuation, to carry on a beneficial Trade with the Spanijh 
 Main ; the Sweets of which have been fo fufficiently 
 felt during the late War, as to need no further Illuftra- 
 tion. And this Ifland is capable of great Improve- 
 ments in many other Relpedls. 
 
 X. The very “ Wants of Great Britain, in one Re- 
 t{ fpe&, might be turned into a fingular Advantage over 
 “ the French in another.” — It is certain, France can- 
 ‘‘ not carry on a Trade to mod Countries, with that 
 “ Advantage to the Country it trades with, as the 
 “ Englijh can.” — For Example ; The Englijh can trade 
 with the Spaniards to mutual Advantage: If the 
 Englijh export Cloth and Stuffs to Spain, they can take 
 off Fruits, Oil, and Wine, by way of Barter. Whereas 
 the French can make no ufe of thefe Commodities, 
 having fo much of their own Growth both to ufe, and to 
 fpare. — A Confideration of this Nature, well timed, 
 and ffrongly urged, might have a good Effeft upon the 
 Spanijh Court, to induce them to favour the Englijh 
 Commerce, and difcountenance the French, It is owing 
 
 to 
 
A Essay «« Trade. 23 
 
 to the fuccefsful Application of Sir Paul Methuen on 
 this very Head, when Envoy to the Court of Portugal , 
 that the Englijh at this Day enjoy the whole Trade of 
 Portugal, and that the French , in a Manner, are excluded. 
 
 XI. “ The low Intereft of Money, and the ealy 
 c< and expeditious Transfers in the Funds, give to 
 “ Great Britain a manifeft Advantage in the Affairs of 
 “ CoInmerce.’ , For were the Intereft as high as in 
 France , the Exportation of our Manufatures would 
 be much dearer, as every Exporter would expet to 
 get a Profit fuperior to the Intereft of Money ; the 
 fure Confequence of which would be a Leffening of 
 the Quantity exported, — Befides, the Merchants of 
 London, by means of Eajl-India Bonds, and the quick 
 Transfer of Stocks, are enabled to make a Profit of 
 their Money, when not employed in Trade ; by which 
 Means they can afford to buy and fell for lefs Gains. 
 
 The principal Disadvantages of Great 
 Britain with regard to Trade 
 
 I.rr'tHE firft and capital Difadvantage, is “ the 
 “ Want of Subordination in the lower Clafs 
 “ of People”. — This is attended with dreadful Con- 
 fequences, both in a Commercial and a Moral View. 
 If they are Subjet to little or no Controul, they will 
 run into Vice : Vice is attended with Expence, which 
 muft be fupported either by an high Price for their 
 Labour, or by Methods ftill more deftrutive. The 
 End of all is Poverty and Difeafe ; and fo they be- 
 come a loath fome Burthen to the Publick. Nothing 
 is more vifible, than the great Difference between the 
 Morals and Induftry of the manufacturing Poor in 
 France and in England. In the former, they are fo- 
 ber, frugal, and laborious : They marry, and have 
 Flocks of Children, whom they bring up to Labour. 
 In the latter, they are given up to Drunkennefs and 
 Debauchery : The Streets fwarm with Proftitutes, whoi 
 foread the Infection, till they are carried to an Hofpi- 
 
 V C 4 
 
24 w/* Essay on Trade. 
 
 tal, or their Grave. The Men are as bad as can be de- 
 fcribed ; who become more vicious, more indigent an 
 idle, in Proportion to the Advance of Wages, and The 
 Cheapnefs of Provifions : Great Numbers of both 
 Sexes never working at all, while they have any thing 
 to fpend upon their Vices. 
 
 II The “ prodigious Expence of Electioneering, 
 “ is another fatal Stab to Trade and Induftry.”— It is 
 not only fo much Money fpent, but it is fpent moftly 
 upon Manufacturers ; and fo it gives them a Tafte for 
 Idlenefs, and brings on an Habit of Drunkennefs, and 
 Extravagance. The Want alfo of Subordination, juft 
 now complained of, is moftly to be imputed to the 
 fame Caufe, as itfets them above Controul, frees them 
 from all Reftraint, and brings down the Rich to pay 
 their Court to them, contrary to the juft and proper 
 Order of Society. 
 
 III. Another very great Burden on the Englijh 
 Commerce, “ is the vaft Numbers of Poor ; and thofe 
 “ every Day increafing,” — If we trace the Matter to 
 its Fountain-head, we ftxall find it to be owing princi- 
 pally to the fame Caufes, viz. Electioneering, and the 
 Want of Subordination. And if a Calculation was 
 made of the Expences of Electioneering, and the ru- 
 inous Conlequences of it, together with the annual 
 Poor Tax, I am very fure it would exceed, in the 
 Proportion, what France expends in maintaining Three 
 Hundred Thoufand Religious of both Sexes : So that 
 we gain no Advantage over France in this RefpeCt, 
 through our own Diftolutenefs and ill Management. 
 
 IV. Our Trade is greatly burthened by the “ Na- 
 “ ture of molt of our Taxes, and the Manner of col- 
 “ letting them.”—- The Cuftoms on the Goods im- 
 ported, make thofe Goods come much dearer to the 
 Confumer, than they would do, if the Confumer him- 
 felf was to pay the Duty .• And this becomes a ft rone 
 Temptation to our People to Smuggle. The Taxes 
 Opon the Neceflaries of Life, are in Fatt f 0 manv 
 Taxes upon Trade and Induftry : And fuch muft be 
 accounted the Duties upon Soap, Coal, Candles, Salt 
 and Leather. Likewife the Duties upon the Import 
 lion of Foreign raw Materials, to be employed in 
 Manufactures, are fo ffiany Fetters and Chains to pre- 
 vent 
 
An Essay on T r a d j, 25 
 
 vent the Progrefs of Labour and Circulation of Wealth. 
 Thefe Imports were flirt laid on, under a Notion of 
 promoting the Landed Intereft ; but happy would it 
 have been for thefe Kingdoms, if the Landed Gentle- 
 men had underftood their Zeal in promoting it. 
 
 Moreover, the expenfive Manner of collecting all 
 our Cuftoms, is (till an additional Difadvantage ; fuch 
 as the Multiplication and Splitting of Offices, Patent- 
 Places, Fees, Sine-Cures, Penfions, &c. &c. Thefe 
 Things indeed create a Dependance upon the Court, 
 and are faid to ftrengthen the Hands of the Govern- 
 ment ; but if they do fo in one Relpeft, they weaken 
 it much more in another. They give too juft Caufe for 
 Complaint; the belt Friends of the prefent Eftabliffi- 
 ment are grieved to fee any Meafures which they can- 
 not vindicate. Repeated Murmurs, where there is a 
 real Foundation for them, naturally tend to alienate the 
 AffeCiions of the Bulk of the People, which above all 
 Things ffiould be guarded againft ; becaufe in Times 
 of aftual Danger, it is the People, and not Place-Men 
 and Penfioners, who can fave the Government, and 
 oppofe themfelves againft the Invafions of Foreign, or 
 the InfurreCtions of Domeftick Enemies : .As was plain* 
 ly feen in the Cafe of the late Rebellion- 
 
 V. The e< great Number of Smugglers in England, 
 
 ,{ are of infinite Detriment to Trade.” — They carry 
 nothing but Bullion, or Wool out of the Kingdom, and 
 return moftly with the Commodities of France. They 
 are the neceffary Caufe of creating many Offices, main- 
 taining Sloops, Smacks, £sV. to guard againft them; 
 and they furniffi a Pretence for adding many more. 
 Thus they become doubly mifehievous. They tempt 
 others to do the like, for fear of being ruined in their 
 lawful Trades by being underfold. The PraCfice of 
 Smuggling debauches the Morals of the common Peo- 
 ple, it leads them into Perjury, and tutors them up in 
 all Vice and Extravagance. So many Expences incur- 
 ed, fo many deficiencies in the Revenue, muft be 
 made up fome other Way ; that is, by Duties not fo 
 liable to be embezzled. And therefore FaCl it is, That 
 every Man in paying Taxes for Land, £sV. pays for the 
 Damage done, or caufed by Smuggling. And yet till 
 there is a proper Subordination introduced, and the 
 
 Qualification 
 
a6 A E s u y m Trade. 
 
 Qualification for Voting fomething altered from what it 
 is at prefent, it is eafy to fee, there never can be any 
 effectual Cure for this growing Evil. Smugglers are, 
 for the moll part, Inhabitants of Boroughs and Towns 
 Corporate: They, or their Relations, Friends, Dealers, 
 Acquaintance, isV. are Voters, AnA—*—Ferlum fat 
 fapienti. 
 
 VI. ie Our Monopolies, publick Companies, and 
 “ Corporate Charters, are the Bane and Deftruftion of 
 “ a free Trade . ” By the Charter of the Eaji- India 
 Company, at leaf!: Nine Thoufand Nine Hundred and 
 Ninety Nine Briti/h Subjects, out of Ten Thoufand, 
 “ without having committed any Fault to dcferve fuch a 
 “ Puni(hment,’ > are excluded from trading any where 
 beyond the Gape of Good Hope. By the Charter of the 
 Turky Company a like, or a greater Number, are ex- 
 cluded from having any Commerce with the whole 'Turk- 
 ijh Empire. The Hudfon’s Bay Company cngroffes all 
 the Furr Trade with the Indians, in an Extent of Coun- 
 try almoft as large as half Europe. Thus the Interefl: of 
 Nine Thoufand Nine Hundred and Ninety Nine Fellow- 
 Subjefts is facrificed, in fo many RefpeCts, for the Sake 
 of a fingle One. The whole Nation buffers in its Com- 
 merce, and is debarred trading to more than three Fourths 
 of the Globe, to enrich a few rapacious Directors. They 
 get wealthy the very fame Way by which the Publick be- 
 comes poor, viz. Firft, By exporting fmall Quantities 
 of our own Manufactures, in order to have an exorbi- 
 tant Profit ; and idly, by importing but a few of the 
 raw Materials of foreign Countries, that they may have 
 the higher Price for what they bring home. A double 
 Mifchief ! equally fatal to the Community, both by the 
 Smallnefs of their Exports and Imports. 
 
 And as to corporate Charters, and Companies of 
 Trades, they are likewife fo many Monopolies in the 
 Places to which they belong, to the great Detriment of 
 National Commerce. To convince any one of this, 
 let him but fuppofe a Set of Town and Country Butchers 
 frequenting the fame Market; and that the Country 
 Butchers were excluded for a Market or two; would 
 not the Town Butchers raife their Price ? i. e. put all 
 their fellow Citizens under Contribution, by means of 
 this Privilege ? And doth not every other Company the 
 
 fame 
 
An Essay on Trade. 27 
 
 fame in all Things they fell ? And what is the Confe- 
 quence? A general Dearnefs among one another, which 
 muft light at laft upon the Foreign Trade, and therefore 
 diminifh the Quantity to be exported. 
 
 VII. “ Our. Imprudence and Narrow-fpiritednefs in 
 not inviting Foreigners to fettle among us is another 
 “ material Difadvantage to the Englijh Trade.” Fo- 
 reigners can never get rich in a ftrange Country, but by 
 working cheaper or better than the Natives. And if they 
 do fo, though Individuals may fuffer, the Publick is cer- 
 tainly a Gainer; as there is fo much Merchandize to be 
 exported upon cheaper Tenns, or fomuchfaved to the 
 Merchant, whereby he may afford to export the cheap- 
 er. Not to mention, that by this Means the Price of 
 Labour is continually beat down. Combinations of Jour- 
 neymen againft their Mailers are prevented, Induftry is 
 encouraged, and an Emulation excited. All which are 
 greatly for the publick Good. 
 
 Besides, a Foreigner juft efcaped from Slavery and 
 Gpprejfion , when he gets rich in a Land of Liberty and 
 Plenty, is not likely to return home, but will fettle 
 among Us, and become one of ourfelves, with his whole 
 Family. And what are all Englishmen but the Defend- 
 ants of Foreigners ? In ftiort, it is the fame weak Policy 
 to prevent Foreigners fettling among us,' as it is in the 
 Poor about London , to oppofe the Weljh and Irijh coming, 
 up to work in the Gardens, and carry in the Harveft ; 
 not confidering, that if the Gardener or Farmer cannot 
 have his Work done cheap, he cannot afford to fell the 
 Garden-Stuff, tsV. cheap to them. So that they them- 
 felves find their Account in the Cheapnefs of the La- 
 bour of thefe Perfons. Indeed the Englijh fhould give 
 more Encouragement, if poffible, to Strangers, than 
 France doth ; as for many other Reafons, fo particular- 
 ly for this, that the Flemijh, Germans, Swifs, Piedmon- 
 tefe, Italians, &c. can arrive at moft of the Manufactur- 
 ing Towns in France at a trifling Expence ; whereas the 
 long Journey from their own Country, and the PafTage 
 over into England, are a very great Difcouragement to 
 Foreign Manufacturers to come to fettle here. 
 
 VIII. “ Our jll -judged Policy, and unnatural Jea- 
 “ loufy in cramping the Commerce and Manufactures 
 41 of Ireland ,” is another very great Bar againft ex- 
 tending 
 
28 Essay w Trade. 
 
 tending our Trade. This is a mod unaccountable Infa- 
 tuation, which has not the Shadow of a publick and na- 
 tional Reafon to defend it. For if Ireland gets rich, 
 what is the Confequence i England will be rich too, 
 and France will be the poorer. The Wool which is 
 now fmuggled from * Ireland into France , and manu- 
 factured there, and from thence fent to oppofe our own 
 Commodities at foreign Markets, would be manufactur- 
 ed in Ireland ; the French would lofe the Benefit of it, 
 the Injh would get it : The Rents of the Eftates in Ire- 
 land would rife ; and then the Money would foon find 
 its Way into England. Befides, the lrijh might be in- 
 corporated into the Englijh Parliament, and make one 
 Nation with ourfelves, bearing an equal Share of Taxes, 
 and fo eafing England, at the fame Time that Ireland is 
 enriched. But more of this hereafter. 
 
 IX. “ Want of a lefs expenfive Way of Repairing 
 « ouivRoads ; Want of more Navigable Rivers and Ca- 
 *< nals,” are a very great Difadvantage to England , in 
 Comparifon of France. Every one mull: be fenfible of 
 the heavy Tax, which fo many Turnpikes lay upon 
 Trade ; and how bad even the Turnpike Roads are in 
 many Parts of the Country, diffcant from London. We 
 h.ave no Canals to open a Communication between City 
 and City, River and River, though our Country is much 
 better adapted for them than France. 
 
 X. We labour under a very great Difadvantage, IC as 
 “ moll of our Leeward Illands are now worn out,” 
 and indeed were never fo fertile, or of fo lading a Soil 
 as the French ; therefore they require a greater Expence 
 to cultivate them : So that our Sugars mull come the 
 dearer to Europe. Befides, as we ufe fo much for Home 
 Confumption, we have the Lefs to fpare for foreign 
 Markets. But the greatefi: Misfortune is, that the Plant- 
 ers 
 
 * A Clergyman, whofe Living is in the Weft of Ireland, 
 allured me, that juft after the Peace, the Wool Smugglers of 
 his Parilh got upwards of 50 per Cent, by the Wool they fold 
 to the French. As long as this is the Cafe, Laws and Re- 
 ftridtions will fignify nothing. If we have a Mind to prevent 
 the lrijh fending their Wool to France, we muft make it their 
 Intereft to keep it at home ; which can never be done, but by 
 permitting them to manufacture it themfelves, and export is 
 to any Market they can. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 2p 
 
 ers in thefe fmall Iflands are luffered to monopolize as 
 much Land as they pleafe ; by which Means the Planta- 
 tions are engroffed in a few Hands, and the Number of 
 Whites is daily increafing ; fo that the Sugar Colonies 
 now confume much lefs of the Produce of the Mother 
 Country ; and yet, in Time of Danger, England is 
 obliged to be at the Expence of a greater Force to pro- 
 tect them, as they are lefs able to defend themfelves. 
 
 XI . England labours under a peculiar Difadvantage 
 in Comparifon to France, “ as its Colonies are not fo 
 “ much under the Command of their Mother Country, 
 “ nor fo ftudious of her Welfare . ” In many of thefe 
 Colonies feveral Manufactures are fet up, and more in- 
 tended to be ereCted, which will greatly interfere with 
 the Trade of England. And we mult expert that this 
 Evil will not decreafe, but increafe by Time, unlefs an 
 effectual Method can Ipeedily be put in Practice, to di- 
 vert the Thoughts of our American Colonies from thefe 
 Purfuits to fome others, equally ferviceable to them, 
 and lefs detrimental to us. Befides, they not only fee 
 up Manufactures of their own in Oppofition to ours, but 
 they purchafe thofe Luxuries and Refinements of Liv- 
 ing from Foreigners, which we could furnifh them with'. 
 It is computed, that they are fupplied with at leaft one 
 third of thefe Articles from foreign Nations ; amongft 
 whom the French come in for the greateft Share. 
 
 XII. We alfo fuffer a further Inconvenience, u in 
 “ not inviting Foreigners to travel into England," and 
 fpend their Money among us; and in “ being too fond 
 “ of travelling ourfelves.” It is certain, England has 
 as many Curiofities for a Foreigner to obferve, as any 
 Country in the World : The whole Illand, and every 
 Thing belonging to it, beingin many Refpefts different 
 from the Continent, and worthy the Attention of a 
 Stranger. And even as to fine Paintings, original Sta- 
 tues, and Antiques, we have prodigious Collertions of 
 them in private Hands, though little known even to our 
 own Countrymen, for want of a publick and general 
 Catalogue. Moreover, our Englifh Travellers in France 
 and Italy are continually making new Collertions in or- 
 der to carry home, and embellilh their own Country. 
 And yet our Gentry are fo fhy to Strangers, the Ser- 
 vants expert fo much Vails, and the common People arc 
 
jo An Essay oh Trade. 
 
 lo rude and affronting, that very few care to travel in 
 
 fuch a Country. 
 
 XIII. The “ high Price of Labour is another infu- 
 “ perable Bar to a large Trade.” The Caufes of which 
 are fuch as have been alfigned already, viz. “ Eletftion- 
 “ eering — the corrupt Morals of the People — Taxes on 
 << the Neceflaries of Life — Monopolies, publickCom- 
 “ panics, and corporate Charters of Trades. 
 
 XIV. We fuffer a very great Detriment through the 
 Want of Publick Infpeflors, to fee that our Manufactur- 
 ers produce every Thing good in its Kind ; that they 
 give good Weight and Meafure, and fold the worfe Side 
 outermoft. And what is Hill worfe, where fuch have 
 been appointed, they have degenerated, through fome 
 unhappy Abufe, fo far as to increafe the Evil they were 
 intended to correct. 
 
 XV. Add to all thefe, the Difcouragements and Op- 
 pofitions which the moft generous Scheme will too often 
 meet with from lelf-interefted and defigning Men, who 
 pervert the invaluable Bleffing of Liberty and a free 
 Conflitution to fome of the worft of Purpofes. In a 
 defpotick Kingdom, the Miniflry have none to oppofe 
 them in their good Deligns : But among us, let their 
 Plan be ever fo well calculated for the publick Good, 
 yet if it clafties with the private Intercft of any particu- 
 lar Perfons, trading Companies, or Boroughs, (as it ne- 
 cefiarily muft do) then it is oppofed, under various Pre- 
 tences, by the united Force of falfe Patriots, who in- 
 flame the Populace with Words and Names, and blacken 
 and mifreprefent the belt Defigns in the moft malevolent 
 Manner. 
 
 Befides, in an abfolute Government, there is no Pof- 
 fibility of gaining Preferment by making one’s felf for- 
 midable to the Miniftry. Whereas in England , it is the 
 fure Road to it. A bold plaufible Speaker in the Houfe 
 embarafles the Schemes of the Miniftry, not becaufe he 
 thinks them wrong, but becaufe he expefts to be bought 
 off by a Place or a Penfion. A News- Writer, or a Pam- 
 phleteer, puts every Meafure of the Court in the moft 
 odious Light, in order to make his Paper fell the bet- 
 ter, or to be thought confiderable enough to be retained 
 on their Side. 
 
 Os 
 
An E S 3 A V on T R A D E . 2 1 
 
 On the other Hand, the Tuinifhy are too apt to en- 
 deavour to quafh a Motion, not becaufe it was a bad one, 
 but becaufe it came from the Party in the Oppofition. 
 A good Motion, a publick-fpirited and generous Propo- 
 fal, would raife the Credit of the Authors of them too 
 high with the People, were they carried into Execution, 
 to the Detriment of the Miniflry. Therefore falus s u r, 
 not falus Popu li, fuprema Lex e/lo . 
 
 Thus it is on both Sides : And an honeft well-mean- 
 ing Perfon, whofe Vie.vs are ftngle , and who is confcious 
 to himfelf of no other Attachment but the Good of his 
 Country, cannot but lament thefe pernicious Evils. And 
 the more fo, as he muft defpair of feeing them effectually 
 removed or cured, without introducing worfe Evils in 
 their Stead, — unlefs Men were much honelfer, and more 
 upright than they are ; which, it is to be feared, is not 
 likely to be foon the Cafe. 
 
 CERTAIN 
 
CERTAIN 
 
 PROPOSALS 
 
 For remedying many of the above-mentioned 
 Inconveniencies ; and increaiing the Trade 
 and Credit of Great Britain. 
 
 I. PROPOSAL. 
 
 T O “ alter the Qualification of Voting, and to 
 “ introduce a juft Subordination among the 
 “ People. — When * Forty Shillings a Year was 
 fixed upon as a Standard for a Voting Freeholder, it was 
 certainly more than an Equivalent to Twenty Pounds 
 
 per 
 
 * The very Recital of the Statue, which afcertained the 
 Qualification of Voting Freeholders, is the beft Proof of the 
 Reafonablenefs and Neceffity of what is here propofed. 
 
 “ Anno ottavo Henrici VI. cap. 7. 
 
 What Sorts of Men (ball be Choofers, and who fijall be chofen 
 Knights of the Parliament. 
 
 “ Whereas the Eleftions of Knights of Shires to come 
 to the Parliament of our Lord the King, in many Countries 
 of the Realme of England, have now of late been made by 
 very great outrageous and exceffiveNumber of People, dwell- 
 ing within the fame Counties of the Realme of England, of 
 the which moil part was of People of fmall Subftance, and 
 of no Value, whereof every of them pretended a Voice equi- 
 valent as to fuch Elections to be made, with the moll worthy 
 Knights and Efquires dwelling within the faia Counties ; 
 whereby Manflaughter, Riots, Batteries, and Divifions among 
 the Gentlemen and other People of the fame Counties (hall 
 very likely rife and be, unlefle convenient and due Remedy 
 be provided in this Behalf : Our Lord the King confidering 
 the Premifles, hath provided, ordained and eftablifhed, by 
 
 Authority 
 
An Essay on Trade. 32 
 
 per Ann . of modern Rent. Suppofe, now, that Twen- 
 ty Pounds per Ann. was the requifite Sum for a Free- 
 holder, and Two Hundred Pounds Stock ip Trade for 
 a Tradelman, to qualify them to vote ; the immediate 
 Confequence would neceflarily be, that the Manufactur- 
 ing Part of our Nation would not be called from their 
 Work, to run roving after every Electioneering: A pro- 
 per Subordination would be effectually introduced : The 
 Laws againft Idlenefs and Debauchery might be executed, 
 and Smuggling in a great Meafure fuppreffed : And all 
 this without running theRifkof difobliging fuch Voters, 
 and lofing their Votes. Moreover, when Things were 
 put upon fuch a Footing, it would be a Matter of Ho- 
 nour and Reputation to have a Vote ; and confequently, 
 the Voter would pique himfelf more upon his Integrity 
 and Uncorruptnels than he now doth. He would be 
 above that Bribery and Corruption, which appear fo 
 openly and avowedly on all Sides, at prefent, through- 
 out 
 
 Authority of this prefent Parliament, that the Knights of the 
 Shires to be chofen within the fame Realme of England , to 
 come to the Parliaments of our Lord the King, hereafter to 
 be holden, fhall be chofen in every County of the Realme of 
 England , by People dwelling and refident in the fame Coun-- 
 ties, whereof every one of them fhall have Land or Tene- 
 ment, to the Value of Forty Shillings by the Year at leaf!, 
 above all Charges ; and that they which fhall be fo chofen, 
 fhall be dwelling and refident within the fame Counties. . . . 
 Provided always, that he which cannot expend Forty Shil- 
 lings by the Year as afore is faid, fhall in no wife be Choofer 
 of the Knights for the Parliament.” 
 
 Here we find the fame Caufe tending to produce the fame 
 EffeCt in former Times, as in the prefent. Only there is this 
 Difference, that the Evil could not be near fo great then as 
 now ; becaufe the common People were ufed to much great- 
 er Subordination, and the Trade of the Kingdom was very 
 inconfiderable, confequently could not have buffered by it in 
 any Degree to what it doth at prefent. And yet, if fuch 
 were the Reafons which induced the Legiflature to pafs the 
 above-recited AC! at that Time, how much more Reafon have 
 we to follow their Example now ?— The prefent "Value of 
 Forty Shillings, is not a tenth Part of what they intended : 
 Therefore, if we would keep up to the Spirit and Meaning 
 of this Law, we fhould at leal! fix the Qualification at Twenr. 
 ty Pounds per Annum, 
 
 D 
 
34 An E s s a y en T r a d e. 
 
 out the Kingdom. Likewife a Spirit of Emulation and 
 Induftry would be excited ; and the Privilege of Vote- 
 ing would become a laudable Inducement to eveiy Ar- 
 tificer not to get drunk, or to take a paltry Bribe, as at 
 prefent is the Cafe, but to be frugal and faving, in or- 
 der to raife himfelf to the Degree of a Voter. And 
 many Artificers might accomplilh this by a few Years 
 Induftry after they are fet up. The Number alfo of the 
 Poor would confequently be leffened ; the Price of La- 
 bour reduced; and the Perfons themfelves, who would 
 be debarred of Voting by fuch a fuppofed Bill, much 
 happier, much richer, and quieter than they now are. 
 Add to this, that a Militia for Land Service, and a Re- 
 gifter for the Sea Service, might then be introduced, if 
 it was judged expedient ; whereas at prefent it is im- 
 practicable ; becaufe fuch a Power, wherever lodged, 
 would infallibly be applied to the bad Purpofes of influ- 
 encing Votes at the Time of Elections. 
 
 II. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To ereCl certain Courts in all manufacturing Places of 
 the Kingdom, where the chief Dealers themfelves (hall 
 petition for them, with the Title of * Guardians of 
 
 the 
 
 * The Complaints againft the Morals of the manufa&ure- 
 ing Poor become louder every Day, and certainly demand, if 
 any Thing doth, the ferious Attention of the Legiflature. 
 Combinations of Journeymen to extort exorbitant Wages. 
 This Money fpent in Drunkennefs and Debauchery, fo that 
 they are the Poorer rather than the Richer at the Week’s End, 
 by the advanced Price, — their Unfaithfulnefs to their Truft — 
 the Badnefs of their Work, whenever their Mailers have a 
 great Demand, and dare not turn them off, — the increafing 
 Number of the Poor j thefe, and many other Articles of the 
 like Nature, are the Complaints ju illy made on this Head. 
 
 A certain very ingenious Gentleman, and himfelf a great 
 Manufadlurer in the Clothing Way, has attended to them 
 with great Affiduity; and is engaged in a Scheme which he 
 intends to exhibit to the Publick, of a very lingular Nature, 
 for the Reformation of thefe Abufes. He has carefully ob- 
 ferved, that in exceeding dear Years, when Corn and Provi- 
 fions are at an extravagant Price, then the Work is bell and 
 cheapeft done:— but that in cheap Years, the Manufa&urers 
 
 are 
 
An Essay on Trade. 35 
 
 the Morals of the manufacturing Poor. Perhaps fome- 
 thing to the following Effect might fuggeft Hints to be 
 improved upon. 
 
 The Qualifications of each Member of this Court to 
 be as follows ; ijl. That he employs not lefs than 
 twenty Manufacturers on his own Account, the greater 
 Part of the Year ? By this Regulation, the molt eminent, 
 as well as the molt concerned, will be the only Perfons 
 admitted, idly , That each Member fubfcribes a certain 
 Sum, fuppofe two Guineas at leaft, every Year, towards 
 the good Purpofes hereafter to be mentioned ; but that 
 they be admitted to receive the Legacies and Donations 
 of others. 3 dly. That each Member be a married Man, 
 in order to fet the good Example here recommended. 
 
 The Aim of this Court to be to difcourage Vice, Idle- 
 nefs and Debauchery, and to encourage Induftry, Pro- 
 bity and Fidelity, in the lower Glafs of People. 
 
 D 2 The 
 
 are idle, Wages high, and Work ill done. He has carried 
 thefe Obfervations through many Years back ; and confirmed 
 them by the Teftimony of feveral great Writers upon Trade. 
 
 Therefore he infers, that the high Duties, Taxes and 
 Excifes upon the Neceffaries of Life, are fo far from being a 
 Difadvantage to Trade, as Things are circumftanced among 
 us, that they are eventually the chief Support of it: — and 
 ought to be higher {till, in order to oblige the Poor either to 
 Work or Starve. 
 
 Some Things may certainly be faid in favour of this 
 Scheme. But an humane and compaffionate Man cannot but 
 be forry to fee the Morals of the Poor fo very corrupt, as to 
 oblige any one to think of fuch an Expedient. In the mean 
 Time, as much may be faid again!! it; and as it would in- 
 volve the Innocent as well as the Guilty in the fame Punifh- 
 ment ; perhaps fome other Expedients would better anfwer 
 the good End propofed, and not be liable to the fame Ob- 
 jections. If the Qualification for Voting was fettled as in 
 the firft Propofal, and Court Guardians ereCted, as propofed 
 in this; and Foreign Manufacturers naturalized, in order to 
 keep down the Price of Labour, and prevent any Combina- 
 tions among our own People, (as fhall be mentioned in a fuc- 
 ceeding Propofal) perhaps the Morals of our Poor would be 
 as unexceptionable, and the Price of Labour as cheap as in 
 any other trading Country. 
 
 But which ever Scheme is right, or if neither are, the Af- 
 fair itfelf deferves the molt ferious Regard of every one who 
 wilhes well both to the Souls and Bodies of his Fellow Crea- 
 tures, and the Good of his Country. 
 
.36 An E s S A Y on T R A D E. 
 
 The Means to effectuate thefe good Defigns, with 
 great Submiflion, perhaps may be as follows. 
 
 i/l, By removing all Temptation, as much as pot- 
 fible, out of the Way, to which End, this Court Guar- 
 dian fhall have the foie Power of judging, how many 
 Alehoufes, &c. are neceffary to be licenfed in their re- 
 fpe&ive Diftrifts ; that is, they fhall not have a Power 
 to exceed the Number allowed by the Juftices, but to 
 leffen them as much as they pleafe. Neither fhall they 
 have the Power to nominate the Perfons to be licenfed ; 
 but after they have delivered in their Lifts, the Juftices 
 fhall nominate, — unlefs the Juftices delay to do it for a 
 Month after Delivery : in fuch Cafe, they fhall be im- 
 powered to nominate themfelves. They fhall likewife 
 have the Power of levying a certain Fine by Diftrefs of 
 Goods, or in Default of that, fhall inflift corporal Pu- 
 nifhment on all Perfons who keep Cock-pits, Skittle- 
 allies, and all fuch Places for the Refort of the common 
 People, within their Diftrift ; alfo thofe who fet up 
 Stages for Cudgel-playing, &c. or Booths for Horfe 
 Races, or bring Liquors, Cakes, Fruit, or any like 
 Temptations to draw People together. They fhall alfo 
 be impowered to expel out of their DiftriCl all fuch com- 
 mon People as cannot give a good Account of them- 
 felves by what Means they fubfift ; and fhall particularly 
 be enabled to remove fuch Women as are fufpefted to 
 have a bad Charafter, unlefs they can clear themfelves 
 from the Imputation by the Oaths of three, at leaft, of 
 their Neighbours of good Subftance and Repute, that 
 they believe them to be innocent of the Charge, and 
 efteem them to be honeft, chafte, and fober Perfons. 
 
 idly , These Court Guardians fhall endeavour to en- 
 courage Induftry, Probity, and praftical Religion, by 
 the following Methods, viz. By allowing forty Shillings 
 a piece to any young Couple going to be married, that 
 can make it appear by the Teftimony of their Matters, 
 that they have faved three Pounds and upwards, by 
 working in their Service ; and have behaved well. If 
 each of thefe can produce fuch a Charafter, then this 
 forty Shillings to be made four Pounds. But not to be 
 paid till a Year and a Day after Marriage, during which 
 time they are ftill to behave well. By allowing alfo 
 fomething difcretionally to thofe who are overburdened 
 
 with 
 
A Essay m Trade, 37 
 
 with large Families, or are Sick, whofe Characters are 
 known to be good. By prefenting alfo a few good 
 Books to the remarkably diligent and induftrious. Sup- 
 pofe thefe were the Bible, and GaftreT s Chrijiian InJU- 
 tutes ; which are Books that no Perfons of ever fo dif- 
 ferent religious Perfwafions can objeCt to. If thefe 
 were neatly bound, gilt on the Back and Leaves, with 
 a Cloth Cafe, and had flampt on one Side in Gold Let- 
 ters, 
 
 The Hand of the Diligent maketh Rich ; 
 
 And on the other. 
 
 To the Praise of them that do well : 
 
 they would be kept as Family Pieces and Trophies ; and 
 might excite the fame laudable Emulation in their Pofte- 
 rity, which it had done in themfelves. 
 
 N. B. The DiftriCt here fo often mentioned, is fup- 
 pofed to be ten Miles round from the Town or Place 
 appointed for keeping this Court. The Court to fit 
 every Month, at leaft, for the Difpatch of Bufinefs, 
 wherein the Attendance of three Members will be fuf- 
 ficient, and every Quarter a general Meeting, which 
 mud be compofed of feven. 
 
 These are only offered, with great Submiffion, to the 
 Publick, as Hints to be improved upon. The Import- 
 ance of the Affair requires that fome Expedients fhould 
 be tried without Delay. If thefe are judged improper, 
 the Author would exceedingly rejoice to fee better in 
 their Room ; and thofe effectually carried into Execu- 
 tion. 
 
 III. PROPOSAL, 
 
 “ To incorporate both the Britijb Ifles together, and 
 “ to make one Kingdom in all Refpe&s, as to Par- 
 t( liament. Trade and Taxes. 
 
 This Propofal of Incorporation has long been the 
 Wifh of every generous difinterefled Patriot of both 
 Kingdoms. And indeed, inexpreffibly great would be 
 the Benefit on both Sides, The Irijh would fhare in the 
 Advantage of our Trade, and we in theirs. By per- 
 mitting them to get rich at the Expcnce of the French , 
 
 D 3 they 
 
g§ An Essay on Trade. 
 
 they would be enabled to eafe us of the Burden of the 
 word and heavieft of our Taxes: "Whereas at prefent, 
 the French , thro’ our own unaccountable Infatuation, 
 get rich at their Expence. By this mutual Benefit, nei- 
 ther Kingdom would be looked upon as foreign to the 
 other : but the Goods of both would be imported Duty- 
 free, or perhaps be confidered only as coming Coaft- 
 wife. The hoftile Prohibition againft wearing or ufing 
 the Produce of either Kingdom, would be repealed ; 
 and all that unnatural War between the Commerce of the 
 two Nations would be at an End : Which would be at- 
 tended with thefe further happy Confequences, that ma- 
 ny of the Neceftaries of Lile would be imported cheap- 
 er into England, than they now can be purchafed ; a great 
 Advantage this to the Merchant and Manufacturer : And 
 many more of the Luxuries, Ornaments, and Delica- 
 cies of Living, would be exported from hence into 
 Ireland. For moll certain it is, that in Proportion as 
 Ireland grew rich, they would take the Lead for the rich- 
 eft of their Cloaths, Furniture, Plate, Jewels, Equi- 
 pages, fee. fee. from England. Like wife the Inducements 
 of being near the Parliament, the Court, the publick 
 Funds, &e. would bring many more Irijh Families to 
 refide and fpend their Fortunes here, than now do. In 
 Ihort, whatever Wealth Ireland would draw from other 
 Countries by its Produce, Manufactures, and happy Si- 
 tuation; all that would continually center in England. 
 
 But here, methinks, I hear Self-Interest making 
 an Outcry, “ They would run away with our Trade." 
 But pray let me calmly afk, Who would run away with 
 it? or where would they run to? Why truly our own 
 People, our own Countrymen, (who may as juftly be 
 called fo as the Inhabitants of any neighbouring County, 
 and are fome of the belt and moft faithful Subjects the 
 Government has) would perhaps carry fome part of a 
 Manufacture from us to themfelves. But what Detri- 
 ment would this be to the Publick ? The People of 
 Yorkjhire have done the very fame Thing by Gloucefter- 
 flnre and IF’iltJhire . Let us therefore have a Meeting of 
 the Clothiers of thefe two Counties to petition the Par- 
 liament, iC That the Yorkjhire Looms and Mills may be 
 “ all broke and deftroyed : for they have run away with 
 our Trade." This is fo ridiculous and abfurd a Pro- 
 
 polal, 
 
 U 
 
A Essat k Trade. 3 9 
 
 pofal, that I believe there is no Perfon living but mult 
 lee and feel it to be fo. And yet let me afk, is not this 
 the very Cafe with refpeft to the Objection again!! incor- 
 porating with Ireland ? Or if there be a Difference be- 
 tween the two Cafes, I fhould be glad to know wherein 
 it co’nfifts ? Is Ireland to be looked upon as a dillindl 
 Kingdom ? more is the Pity : For as the two Kingdoms 
 have but one common Head, one common Intereft both 
 in Church and State, the fame Friends, and the fame 
 Enemies ; they ought to have been long fince confoli- 
 dated together. But allowing it to be called a diflindl 
 Kingdom at prefent, till it is united : fo is Torkjhire a dif- 
 tinft County, and was formerly, in the Times of the 
 Heptarchy, a Kingdom likewife diflindl from the two 
 Counties above-mentioned. Is Ireland a great Way 
 diftant from England ? Torkjhire is at a greater Diftance 
 ftill from the Counties above-mentioned. And the Com- 
 munication between them is not fo eafy by Land, for 
 the Purpofes of Commerce, as the other is by Sea. 
 
 “ But Ireland is more advantageoully fituated for the 
 tc Trade to the Wejl Indies ; Therefore-Tr-” Therefore 
 we (null deny our own People the Benefit of Trading, 
 becaufe they are advantageoully fituated for carrying it 
 on. This is a weighty Argument ; Brijlol , for Inltance, 
 is better fituated for the Ir'Jh Trade than London ; there- 
 fore let us Londor\ers petition, that the Port of BriJlol 
 may be locked up. 
 
 It would be an endlefs and a tedious Piece of Work, 
 to wade through fuch grofs and palpable Abfurdities. 
 One Thing is plain apd obvious, that Self-Intereft, the 
 Bane of all publick Good, is driven to hard Shifts, in 
 order to cover fuch Views as Ihe dare not openly avow. 
 If England itfelf was divided into two Kingdoms, one 
 comprehending all the South, the other all the Ndrth 
 Side of the Thames, and there were hoftile Prohibitions 
 againft importing certain Sorts of Goods from London 
 to Southwark, and vice verfa, and high Duties upon all 
 the reft : Many Individuals on both Sides would find 
 their own private Intereft in upholding the Diviliom a °d 
 would cry out, upon any Propofal being made for an 
 Union, “ Thefe Foreigners will run away with our 
 “ Trade; they are better fituated than us ; our Trade 
 “ is in Danger.” But would this Cry weigh with up- 
 
 D 4 right 
 
40 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 right Men on both Sides, who had the Welfare of the 
 Community truly at Heart ? If it would not, what fhall 
 we think of the fame Argument, when urged again!! 
 Great Britain’s incorporating with Ireland. 
 
 IV. PROPOSAL. 
 
 After fuch an Union of the two Kingdoms, as 
 above propofed, “ To lay by Degrees the Englijh ’Tax- 
 ‘ ‘ es upon Ireland ; and to eafe the Englijh of the mod 
 “ burdenfome of theirs in the fame gradual Manner. — 
 Suppofe, therefore, the firft Year, that the Englijl) leaves 
 of Excife, and the Duties upon French Wines and Bran- 
 dies, are extended to Ireland ; then England might be 
 eafed of the Salt Tax, the fame Year, or the following 
 one. If in the fecond Year Ireland were charged with 
 the Stamp and Faper Duties, England might be difcharged 
 of the Tax upon Soap and Candles. If in the third, 
 a Tax was laid upon the Window-Lights in Ireland , the 
 Goal Duties might be taken off from England. If in 
 the fourth, the Tax was laid upon Coaches, this would 
 enable the Parliament to difcontinue the Duty upon 
 Leather. Laflly, if in the fifth Year, Ireland was fub- 
 jefted to a Land Tax, this would eafe the Lands and 
 Houfes of England of at leaf! one third of their Bur- 
 den. 
 
 V. PROPOSAL 
 
 “ To fet up Woollen and Silk Manufaflures in the 
 “ Weft of England , and South- Weft of Ireland , (fup- 
 “ pofing the former Proposal to take Place) in order 
 u to rival the French 
 
 The Price * qf Labour is as cheap in thefe Parts, 
 as any where in France. And when a proper Subordi- 
 nation 
 
 * The Price of Labour at the Places under mentioned 
 was given me, as follows : 
 
 At Lijle, the Wages of Journeymen Stocking and Cam- 
 blet Weavers, about 14 Sous per Day, i. e. about 13 Pence 
 Englijh ; a S'ous being a little more than an Halfpenny. 
 
 Abbeville and Amiens : Journemen Weavers and Cloth- 
 Workers, according to the Nature of the WoFk, and their 
 Dexterity, from xc tp 5c Sous per Pay. 
 
 Ditto ; 
 
An Essay on T r a t> e. 41 
 
 nation is introduced, the Temptation of Electioneering 
 removed, the moil grievous of our Taxes abolifhed, 
 and a Trade fet open; it is probable, that Labour 
 might be ftill much cheaper: By which Means, the 
 French might be cut out of a great deal of their Levant 
 and Span'ijh Trade. 
 
 Moreover, when the Woollen Manufactures come 
 to be effectually eftablifhed in thofe Parts, it will be 
 next to impoflible to run the Wool to France : For both 
 the Wool itfelf will bear a better Price, fo as not to 
 make it worth their while ; and each Manufacturer will 
 be a kind of Centinel, to prevent its being exported 
 unmanufactured. This therefore I humbly conceive, is 
 a much better Scheme of Prevention, than that of the 
 Reverend Mr. Smith, in his Memoirs of * Wool ; for it 
 
 anfwers 
 
 Ditto: To Women employed in the Manufacture, not 
 more than 1 2 Sous per Day. 
 
 Hedgers and pitchers in the Country, about 10 Sous per 
 Day. 
 
 Nants : Journeymen Ship-Carpenters, about 30 Sous per 
 Day. 
 
 Cajlelnaudary : Labourers mending the Canal of Langue- 
 doc, by the Jobb, earn about 1 2 Sous per Day. 
 
 Nifmes: Journeymen Weavers in the Silk and Stocking 
 Trade, from 30 to 35 Sous per Day. 
 
 Marfeilles : Journeymen Taylors 30 Sous per Day.— Ditto 
 Carpenters, 30.— Ditto Silk-Weavers, from 30 to 35 Sous 
 per Day. 
 
 Toulon: Journeymen Carpenters in the King’s Yards, 30 
 Sous per Day. 
 
 Lions: Journeymen Workmen have feveral Prices, accord- 
 ing to the Silks, Velvets, Gold Stuffs, Lace, fAc. lAc. from 
 50 to 100 Sous per Day. 
 
 Land-Carriages of Goods from Marfeilles to Lions, and 
 vice <verfa, (230 Englijh Miles) which is often done either 
 for Speed, or Safety ; the Rhone being difficult to mount, and 
 fine Goods may take Damage in going down, per Hundred, 
 (108 lb. Englijh) from 6 to 7 Livres. N. B. A Livre is 10 
 Pence Halfpenny Englijh. 
 
 * The Scheme of Prevention propofed by the Reverend 
 and Ingenious Author of the Memoirs of Wool, is to this 
 EffeCt f“ That the Ports be opened for Exportation, but 
 that fuch a Duty be laid upon the Wool, as fhall greatly dif- 
 
 courage. 
 
4% An Essay on Trade. 
 
 anfwers all the Ends propofed by him in that Scheme, 
 and is fubjeft to none of thofe Inconveniencies which 
 his is generally fuppofed to be attended with. This 
 Gentleman, — for his indefatigable Labours in collecting 
 all that has been ever faid upon the Subject, and pre- 
 fenting it to the Reader in one View, — for his judicious 
 Remarks, and the Pains he has taken in corre&ing.ma- 
 ny popular Errors, which had too generally prevailed, 
 
 ■ moil jullly deferves the univerfal Thanks and Ap- 
 plaufe of his Country. 
 
 But among the feveral Requifites necelTary to enable 
 us to rival the French in the Levant and Spanijb Trade, 
 one, and which ought principally to be regarded, is, to 
 lay the Trade open. Wherefore I now proceed to the 
 
 VI. PROPOSAL. 
 
 Viz. “ To lay open and extend our narrow and re- 
 11 flrained Companies beginning with the Turky and 
 Hudfon ’ s Bay Companies, which hurt the Trade of 
 Great-Britain more elfentially with relpedl to France , 
 than any other Company can do. 
 
 Here, again, that watchful Dragon, Self-Intereft , 
 will be apt to take the Alarm ; and I do not expeft any 
 thing I can fay will have Charm enough to lay him 
 
 afleep. Many fpecious Reafons have been offered 
 
 in favour of exclufive Companies ; which, though they 
 convinced none but thofe that were interefted in them, 
 yet they ferved to perplex a Debate, by drawing off 
 Mens Attention from the true Meijts of the Caufe. 
 
 I SHAIt 
 
 courage, or rather abfolutely prevent the Exportation of it; 
 unlefs the Markets in England happen to be fo low, and thofe 
 abroad fo high, that the Difference in the Price would coun- 
 tervail the Expence of Carriage, Freight, and the Duty paid 
 at the Exportation.” This is his Scheme fairly ftated : 
 Upon which I fnall only make this brief Remark, That the 
 Quantity of Wool run from England is extremely inconfide- 
 rable ; the Difficulty, Danger and Expence of Smuggling 
 together with the Hufh-money, necefEry on fuch Occafions, 
 being already almoft a fuff cient oar : But if his Scheme took 
 Place, the Quantity expormb of long combing Wool to make 
 .Stuffs, whiejr the French chiefly want, would fometimes be 
 much greater, and the Price at home always dearer than at 
 prefent. 
 
A Essay «b Trade. 43 
 
 1 shall endeavour therefore, for the Sake of fuch 
 as have honeft Intentions and a publick Spirit, to give 
 an impartial State of the Cafe, with as much Clearnefs 
 and Concifenefs as I can. 
 
 First then, I will allow, that in certain Cafes, and 
 at certain Junctures, exclusive Companies might have 
 been a prudent Inftitution, calculated for the publick 
 Good ; as, 
 
 ift, In order to introduce Arts, Sciences, and Ma- 
 nufactures among a barbarous and favage People : which 
 was their Cafe with the late Czar of Mufcovy. It was 
 neceffary for him, in his Circumftances, to give fuch 
 extenfive Privileges to Merchants and Tradefmen to 
 come and fettle in his Country, as would overbalance 
 the Temptation of Self-Intereil: for refiding any where 
 elfe. 
 
 adly, In order to convince Ikilful Artificers to come 
 and inftruft an ignorant People ; which undoubtedly 
 they will not do, unlefs upon a valuable Confideration. 
 
 - — This was the Cafe with our Englijh Prince about two 
 hundred Years ago, in granting fo many Privileges and 
 Exemptions to the Flemijh , and other foreign Manu- 
 facturers. 
 
 3dly, In order to conquer the deep-rooted habitual 
 Lazinefs of a People, by bringing Examples of Induf- 
 try and the good EffeCts of it before their Eyes. This, 
 among other Reafons, is much the Cafe with the Spanijh 
 Court at prefent, in being fo defirous of introducing 
 foreign Manufacturers into Spain. 
 
 4thly, In order to have a large Capital, fufficient to 
 embark in any hazardous Undertaking, which may call 
 for great Sums to be expended, before a ProjeCt can be 
 brought to bear, and the Trade to anfwer. And 
 whereas no private Perfons by tbemfelves, or voluntary 
 Afiociations, can be fuppofed equal to fuch an Under- 
 taking ; therefore when Individuals refufe or decline, 
 it is but reafonable that thofe who adventure in a joint 
 Stock fhould be incorporated, and have a Privilege ex- 
 cluding all others from interfering in this new Branch 
 of Commerce *, till the Adventurers are fufficiently 
 
 paid 
 
 * If private Perfons will not affociate voluntarily to em- 
 bark in hazardous Undertakings, the better Way would be. 
 
 To 
 
44 Essay on Trade. 
 
 paid for the Rifks they ran, and the Expences they 
 
 were at. . 
 
 Now all thefe are very good and fufficient Realons, 
 where they hold, for the Eftablifhing of exclufive Com- 
 panies. For it is better to have the Trade of an exclu- 
 five Company, than no Trade at all. And in procefs 
 of Time, according as the Reafons for continuing them 
 doceafe, the Trade fhould be laid open. 
 
 5 thly, There is alfo another Reafon in certain Go- 
 vernments, whofe Credit is not efteemedgood with the 
 People, for theerefting of fuch Publick Bodies. And 
 that is, For the Sake of borrowing Money at an Exi- 
 gence, when Individuals will not truft them. This, I 
 believe, was the Cafe with our own Government in for- 
 mer Times. 
 
 But 6thly, There is fill a further Motive remaining, 
 which, though a very bad and fcandalous one, yet it 
 is to be feared, hath had the greateft Share in eretting 
 Monopolies of all the Reft. And that is, in plain, but 
 very expreftive Englijh, Jobbing. And mod of the 
 Charters for Monopolies, which were fo plentifully 
 granted in the Time of King Charles the Second, whofe 
 Pleafures made himfelf and his Courtiers very needy of 
 Money, betray the Original from which they were de- 
 rived.— ——Particularly that famous one for the Hud- 
 forts Bay Company, which is a Grant without any 
 Bounds or Limits of Seas, Mountains, Rivers, De- 
 grees of Latitude or Longitude ; and therefore, if 
 valid, might impower the Company to challenge all the 
 Lands of Ajnerica , which were not dilpofed of by prior 
 Grants, as well as the Coafts on Hudfon’s Bay. 
 
 But enough, I hope, hath been faid, astotheRea- 
 fonsforthe Inftitutionof exclufive Companies. 
 
 My Second Attempt therefore, will be to fhew. 
 That none of thefe Reafons do hold in our prefent Cir- 
 
 cumftances. For if any of them do, let him alk 
 
 which? Is it the Firft, Second, or Third? I believe the 
 rnoft fanguine Advocate for exclufive Companies, will 
 
 not 
 
 To allow a fufficient Premium op Bounty to encourage all 
 Adventurers, rather than to grant exclufive Privileges to a 
 few. For both the one and the other are a Charge on the 
 Publick; but the Monopoly is by much the worfe, the dear- 
 eft and the moil difficult to be broken through. 
 
i!?» Essay c» Trade. ^ 
 
 not infill upon either of thefe. Is it then the Fourth ? 
 
 ‘This, I am aware, will be chiefly infilled on. . 
 
 Not that it can be pretended at this Day, That private 
 Adventurers are either unable, or unwilling to engage 
 in any Trade carried on by a Company, were it laid 
 open ; but the Pretence is, That a Recompence Ihould 
 be made them, before they are diflolved, for the Ex- 
 pences they have been at. And doubtlefs, if the ori- 
 ginal Adventurers, or their Reprefentatives, can make 
 it appear, That they have not yet received a reafo- 
 nable Profit for the Money advanced by them to make a 
 Capital Stock, the Publick will confider them fo far, as 
 to make good the Deficiency. They have a Plea of 
 
 Right and Equity for this. But they have no Colour 
 
 of Right for any imaginary Value, which they may put 
 upon their Stocks. Nor is the Publick concerned to 
 regard it: Nay, the very Plea defeats itfelf: For if 
 their Stocks have been really fold in the Market greatly 
 above Par, this is a plain Proof, that they have received 
 reafonable Profit already, for the Money advanced to 
 
 make a Capital. And therefore ought not to have any 
 
 farther Compojhion. 
 
 To proceed : As to the Fifth Reafon for exclufive 
 Companies, there can be no Pretence for it any longer 
 in our Times. For it is well known, the Credit of our 
 Government is fo good, that Individuals rather chufe to 
 lend their Money upon Publick, than private Securities. 
 -And that they do it even on cheaper Terms. 
 
 Wherefore, laftly, If thefe Nufances to a Free 
 Trade, and the Publick Good, fhall ftill continue, it 
 is too plain, that they will owe their Prefervation to the 
 
 fame Gaufe that gave them Birth, viz. A Job. But 
 
 that I may exprefs my utter Diflike againft them, in 
 common with every other disinterested Man, who 
 wilhes well to the Good of the whole Community, I 
 fhall go on. 
 
 Thirdly, To point out a few of the principal 
 Evils, and deftruiflive Confequences attending them. 
 
 In the ift Place, Thefe exclufive Companies cannot 
 trade, if they were inclined, upon fo eafy Terms, as 
 private Adventurers would do, were the Trade laid open. 
 So many Directors, Supercargoes, Stor^houfe-keepers, 
 
 Favors, Agents, Clarks ■, and all the Pickings of 
 
 their 
 
46 An E s s a y on T R a d e. 
 
 their feveral Dependants : — fo many Fees, Sweetnings, 
 &c, from the Manufacturer, or under Merchant, that 
 
 his Goods may have the Preference to others, and 
 
 the Expences of carrying many Sorts of Goods from 
 diftant Parts of the Country, where they are manufac- 
 tured, up to the Metropolis, there to be Shipped off, 
 inilead cf being exported from the next convenient 
 port and confequently of extending their Deal- 
 
 ings fo far as if the Trade was open. Note , For this 
 Reafon it has been always found, That if private Adven- 
 turers ill a 11 be permitted to engage in the fame Trade, 
 they will infallibly carry it away from the Company. * 
 
 And 
 
 * We have a convincing Proof of the Truth of both 
 thefe Obfervadons, ill, In the Cafe of the African Compa- 
 ny, and the Brijlol and Liver poole Traders : 2dly, we have 
 another, and a \,oeful one, in that of our Englijh Company 
 trading to Turky , and the French trading thither alfo from 
 Marfeilles. Our Englijh Company had formerly ail the 
 Trade for Cloth to the Levant : Which being obferved by 
 the French, ever jealous of the Englijh Commerce, they fet 
 Manufactures ot their own in Imitation of them. Thefe 
 Manufactures fill bear the Name from whence they were 
 derived, viz. Landains premiers. — Londrins fecond. — Londrins 
 larges. — —But they have fo fupplanted the Trade of London , 
 becaufe it is in the Hands of an exclufive Company, that 
 the Englijh have little or nothing of a Trade, comparatively 
 fpeaking in thole Parts. Whereas the French flipped off to 
 the Lev ant, the very Day the Seas were free, after the Peace, 
 July i 74 s > four Thousand Bales of the abovelaid 
 Cloth : Each Bale, one with another, worth about 1200 
 Livres. That is about 310,000/. Sterling in all. 
 
 If it Ihould be laid, That the trench have gotten this 
 Trade from Us, not fo much on the Account of^the Difad- 
 vantages we labour under from an exclufive Company as 
 the Advantageoufnefs of their Situation, I have this further 
 Remark to offer, viz. That if the Trade was open, We 
 have many Advantages which they have not, to counterba- 
 lance the Inconvenience of our Sit uation. — They are obliged 
 to import moll of their Wool from Turky, Spain, or Africa 
 into Marfeilles ; and to carry it chiefly by Land-carriage 
 
 fromthence to Carcaffanne , about 130 Miles Then to Ctfr- 
 
 ry the Cloth back to Marfeilles ; which cannot be done at a 
 liuail Expence. They are alfo obliged to fetch Tin, Lead 
 
An E s s a y on T r a d e. 47 
 
 And upon the fame Principle, If there are two Nati- 
 ons, Rivals in the fame Trade, that Nation which per- 
 mits a free and open Trade, will always be fuperior to 
 
 the other, which confines it to a Company : — other 
 
 Circumftances fuppofed to be equal, or nearly fo. 
 
 2dly, As they cannot trade fo cheap as private Ad- 
 venturers, even were they inclined. Note, They muff 
 therefore neceffarily omit many lelfer Branches, as not 
 anfwering their Expence, which in the Hands of Indivi- 
 duals would turn to good Account, and perhaps 
 give Bread to thoufands of Families. Thefe Articles 
 are called lelfer, not becaufe they are lefs extenfive, 
 for perhaps in that RefpeCl they may be the greateft, 
 but becaufe they are lefs gainful; which therefore a 
 Company mull leave untouched, unlefs they will trade 
 to their own lofs. 
 
 But, 3dly, It muff be obferved, That the Views of 
 every exclufive Company are quite of a different Na- 
 ture from what was fuppofed above. Note , For they 
 do not, and never did, defire to trade as cheap as 
 others, but as much dearer as they can. The Charac- 
 ter itfelf fecures them from any Competitors ; and 
 therefore they have no need to feek to get the Trade to 
 themfelves by felling cheap. But on the contrary, 
 
 wherever 
 
 and Shot from England , and Spices from Holland , for tha 
 Turkey Markets j in all which we have moft certainly the 
 Advantage over them. And therefore, if we had Woollen 
 Manufactures ereCted in the Weft of England, and the South- 
 Weft of Ireland, (according to Proposal V.) where Labour 
 is as cheap as in any Part of France, where we have Wool 
 on the Spot, — and when manufactured, might be imme- 
 diately exported, without being carried up to London ; 
 
 where Tin, Lead, and Spices, may be had upon much ear 
 Her Terms than they can at Marfeilles : I fay with all thefe 
 Advantages, and an open Trade, we could counterbalance 
 any Advantage that the French can draw from the Situation 
 of Marfeilles-. and then we might import the raw Materials 
 of Silk, Camels Hair, Skins, &c. much cheaper than at 
 prefent, to the Emolument of Thoufands of Families. But 
 for a more particular Detail of the Nature of the Turky 
 Company, fee a little TraCt juft publilhed, entitled, Reflec- 
 tions on the Expediency of opening the Trade to Turky, printed 
 for T. Trye, Holhorne, London. 
 
48 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 wherever they have the Market to themfelves, they 
 will both fell and buy at their own Price. 
 
 This is the greatefl: and mod intolerable ot an the 
 Evils of Monopolies. It is a Proftitution of the 1 rade 
 and Welfare of the Publick, to the mercilefs Ravages ot 
 greedy Individuals. Note, We may the bettter judge of 
 the mifchievous Effects of all Monopolies, by attentively 
 obferving the indefatigable Pains, and great Expence, 
 which every felf-interefted Perfon chearfully fubmrts to, 
 in order to acquire it, even in a free Trade. For if he 
 has a large Capital, he will fink fome Part to underfell 
 another Adventurer, who has lefs, in order to break 
 him : and then, when he has done that, he will raife 
 the Price of his Commodities again, fo as to make him- 
 felf foon whole for the Loffes he had incurred. Now if 
 a private Merchant can find his Account in lofing fo 
 much Money, in order to get at a Monopoly in a free 
 Trade, what exorbitant Gains mud an exclufive Com- 
 pany make, who are fenced in by Law, and have none 
 to rival them ? 
 
 Note, Nay the Evil becomes without Remedy in this 
 
 latter Cafe.. For whereas in the former, either the 
 
 Engroffer himfelf, or his Family, will retire from Bufi- 
 nefs, after they have amaffed great Riches ; by which 
 means the Trade will again be opened.— ——In the 
 latter Cafe, viz. that of a Company, One fucceeds 
 another upon the fame Plan of preying upon the Publick, 
 without Intermillion. So that neither the Death, nor 
 exorbitant Wealth of one fet of Proprietors, give Us 
 any Profpeft of being delivered from the Power and 
 Oppreflion of the next. 
 
 But the Affair of a Publick Company (viz. the Hud- 
 fon's Bay ) was, * laft Sellions, brought upon the Carpet 
 
 before the Britijh Parliament, Let us fee, therefore, 
 
 What they had to fay for themfelves, when called upon 
 by their Superiors, — and when, doubtlefs, they faid all 
 they could, — and gave every thing the beft Colouring. 
 
 It appears, therefore, from the Papers, which the 
 Honourable Committee, appointed to examine into the 
 State of their Affairs, were pleafed to make publick 
 for the general Information of the Kingdom, That the 
 following Particulars were proved to the Satisfaction of 
 
 * Viz. In the Year 1 -48. 
 
An Essay on Trade. 49 
 
 the Committee, — and even were not contradi&ed by 
 the Agents for the Company. 
 
 ift. That the Company always have difcouraged 
 the fettling a Colony in any Part of their vaft and bound- 
 lefs Empire. 
 
 2dly, That they difcouraged the Company’s Ser- 
 vants from converfing with the Indians, — whereas the 
 French promoted an Intercourfe with each other as 
 much as poffible. 
 
 3dly, That the Climate is much warmer, and the 
 Soil better, higher up the Country, than towards the 
 Sea-fide. — -Yet no Settlements attempted. 
 
 4thly, That the French have extended their Set- 
 tlements more and more : and wherever they have 
 come near the Englijh , they have carried mod of the 
 Trade from the Englijh , — — not vice verfa. 
 
 5thly, That the Forts * pretended to be erefted and 
 garrifoned, are of no Strength were they attacked by 
 
 an 
 
 * A great Strefs is laid by the Advocates for excluflve 
 Companies, on the Neceflity of ereiEting Forts in certain 
 diftant Countries, for fecuring the Trade to ourfelves 
 Therefore they infer Companies ought to be eftablifhed in 
 order to fupport this Expence. A ftrange. Argument this ! 
 And a ftranger Inference ! For if Forts are neceflary to be 
 erected ; againft whom are they neceflary ? Not againft the 
 People of the Country who are to trade with us. That is 
 
 too abfurd. We are to cultivate their Friendfhip, and ought 
 
 to ingratiate ourfelves by all due A6ts of Kindnefs into their 
 Favour. But if theft Forts are neceflary to be ereQed, in 
 order to keep the whole Trade to ourfelves, and prevent 
 other European Nations from interfering with us ; How came 
 it then to pafs, that we were fome Years ago fo alarmed at 
 the OJIend Company, who had no Forts, and no Defign of 
 attacking ours ? Yet it is very plain, they could carry bn a 
 Trade, and even underfell the Englijh Eajl-India Company, 
 notwithftanding their Forts. And the fame Fears are again 
 revived with regard to the Embden Company eftablifhed by 
 the King of Prujfia. — If the Trade was now to be laid open, 
 fubjeft only to the Angle Reftri&ion, That the private 
 Traders fhould not come into the fame Ports or Harbours, 
 where the Companies have Forts : — What would be the Con- 
 fequence ? Plainly this j That the Companies would be ru- 
 ined : and the private Adventurers, though deftitute of 
 
 E Forts, 
 
50 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 an European Enemy ; and only ferve to fubjeft the In- 
 dians to the Command of the Company. 
 
 6thly, That many other Branches, befides theftaple 
 Trade of the Company, might be attempted, were the 
 Trade open, with the greateil Probability of Succefs. 
 
 — Particularly the feveral Branches of the Filheries : 
 Whereas the Company, who know when they are well, 
 one of their Witnefles exprefled himfelf, or in Words 
 to that EfFeft, give themfelves no Concern about the 
 Matter. 
 
 7 thly, That the Indians do actually take a great 
 many more Beaver, than they carry to the Fa&ories. 
 
 — Not finding it worth their While to bring more to 
 trade with. 
 
 8thly, That the Indians cannot carry large Quanti- 
 ties, not any thing fo large as they take in Hunting, 
 were they defirous, — becaufe their Canoes, deeply 
 loaden, are not able to withfiand the Waves and Storms 
 they may meet with upon the Lakes j — becaufe they 
 
 are 
 
 Forts, would get all the Trade from them.— —If it is fard, 
 That thefe Forts are neceflary to guard and defend their 
 Magazines againft Thieves and Robbers ; How then comes 
 it to pafs, that the Eafl-lndia Company themfelves have 
 none on the Coaft of China , where the People are Paid 
 to be as tkievijh and dijhonejl as in any Place in the World ? 
 — — And how did the Brijlol and Liverpool Traders maintain 
 their Ground along the Coaft of Guinea, without Forts, 
 where the Natives are much more warlike than in any Part of 
 India. Befides, the Affair of Madrafs has fuffieiently opened 
 our Eyes, as to the Ufe and Importance of thefe pretended 
 Ports, - — and the National Advantage arifing from them. 
 And as to the Forts in Hudfon’s Bay, Father Charlevoix ob- 
 ferves in his Hiftory of Canada, that when a French Veffel 
 with about fifty Hands appeared before the beft of thefe 
 Forts, the brave Englijh Governor furrendered without firing 
 a Gun ! Thus it is that Forts, in the Hands of exclufive 
 Companies, have defended the Honour, and preferved the 
 Commerce of Great Britain ! 
 
 But even allowing, that they are neceffary and advan- 
 tageous to the general Trade of the Nation ; What need then 
 of a Company ? Is it not a National Concern ? If fo, Why 
 ihould not they be ere&ed and fupported at a National Ex- 
 pence ? Take the Argument therefore either Way, What 
 Reafon is there for an exclufive Company ? ' ' 
 
An E S S A If on T R A D E . 51 
 
 are forced to unload very often, and carry the Skins 
 upon their Backs, on account of the Falls and Cur- 
 rents ; which create much Fatigue and Labour, and 
 Lofs of Time: — becaufe alfo they are obliged to hunt 
 as they travel, for their daily Suftenance ; which Ar- 
 ticle alone caufes a Delay of a Fortnight, and longer, 
 in going the Space which might be gone in three Days. 
 
 But, 9thly, ail thefe Inconveniencies might be eafily 
 remedied, — by erecting a Fort about Sixty Leagues 
 above York Fort upon Nelfon River, upon a Fork, where 
 
 the River divides, .by making a Settlement about 
 
 Eighty or Ninety Leagues, upon the Lake of Pacbegoia , 
 
 . . - - - and by introducing our European Conveniences of 
 Magazines and Carriages. By thefe Means, all the 
 Beaver would be bought, which the Indians now make 
 ufe of otherways, as not anfwering to bring it to the 
 
 Forts, The Time might be faved, — and the French 
 
 driven to relinquifh all that Trade. In Ihort, both out 
 Exports and our Imports would be prodigioufly in- 
 creafed ; and many Tribes of Indians would, in that 
 large Trad of Country, be brought to trade with the 
 Englljh , who have yet fcarcely heard of the Englijh 
 Name. 
 
 So many important Particulars alledged, — proved,— 
 and even not contradicted, one would think, would 
 have been fufficient to have carried any National 
 Cause, againft the private Intereft of a few Indivi- 
 duals. 
 
 But — Let us in the next Place fee. What they and 
 their Friends had to offer in Juftification of their Con- 
 duct, Pretending, that they carried on a Trade 
 
 equally beneficial to the Nation, as if the Trade was 
 open. 
 
 The 1 ft Thing alledged, was. That they buy all the 
 
 Beaver which is brought them; and if more was 
 
 offered, more they would buy. 
 
 This may be very true; and yet no ways inconfift- 
 ent with the Charge fummed up in the above- cited 
 Particulars, againft them. — The Indians, as favage as 
 they are, have the Natural Logics of feeling 
 when they are well or ill ufed, as well as other People: 
 And if they find better Treatment in one Place than 
 another, will go to thg beft, and have as little Dealings 
 
 El with 
 
52 Ah Essay cm T r a d t. 
 
 with the worft, as they can. Nothing but abfolufe 
 Neceffity will oblige them (or any People) to bring 
 fheir Goods to a Market, where they expeft before- 
 hand to be ill ufed— And for that Reafon, they will 
 bring as little as they can. But when they have brought 
 them, Neceffity obliges them to fell for what the 
 Purchafers will give. It may therefore be very true, 
 that the Company buy all the Furrs that are offered 
 
 them. If they did not give half as much in Barter 
 
 as they do, they would buy all ; becaufe it would not 
 be worth the Indians while to carry them back ; and 
 becaufe 1 they greatly wanted European Goods. But 
 tliefe Indians would feek another Market againft the 
 next Time, if they could ; and would bring no more 
 Goods to the Company, than abfolute Neceffity obliged 
 them. 
 
 But, 2dly, It was alledged, That if more Good's 
 were given to the Indians in Exchange, they would not 
 bring more Beavers ; becaufe they are an idle, lazy 
 Race of People ; and having no artificial Wants to 
 gratify, have no Ambition to Ip-ur them on to take more 
 Pains. — It is true. They have not fuch artificial Wants 
 as We have ; They do not want fumptuous Houfes and 
 
 -Gardens, rich Furniture, or Coaches and Chairs:' 
 
 But they want Beads, Bells, little Looking- daffies. 
 Rings, and fuch Trinkets ; (belides many Articles of 
 their Cloathing, Bedding, Hunting, Fifhing, and Fowl- 
 ing, and are as impatient to be gratified in thefe Re- 
 fpefts, as we can be in ours. In thefe Things, there- 
 fore, they are as covetous and ambitious as the Reft of 
 Mankind, — ■ and repine and murmur at the Faftories, 
 when they have not as much for their Commodities as 
 they think they deferve. Befides, it fliould be remem- 
 bered that Hunting is rather a Diverfion with them, than 
 a Toil ; and that, in Fafr, they do take a great deal 
 more than they bring down to the Forts. — What they 
 confider as a Toil, is not the hunting Part, but the be- 
 ing obliged to be the Porters of what they have taken 
 in Hunting, down to the Fa&ories } and yet be paid fb 
 little for their Trouble. 
 
 But, gdly, As to the Charge againft them, of Ex- 
 porting fo little of our own Manufa&uries ; it was fard 
 by their Advocates, That if Five Thoufand Pounds 
 
 worth 
 
An Essay on T r a d e. 53 
 
 worth ®f Goods bought all the Furrs the Indians had to 
 fell, that * Sum was as good as TenThoufand Pounds : 
 Nay, it was better ; becaufe thereby Five Thoufand 
 Pounds were faved to the Nation. 
 
 This is a Reafon, which is (pecious enough at firfl: 
 View, but will not bear the examining. Firfl, there- 
 fore, wc deny the Fact; and infill upon it, That the 
 Indians had more Furrs to fell, if the Company would 
 have given a fufficient Price to the Indians, to have 
 made it worth their while to have brought them down ; 
 or rather. If the Company had built Settlements and 
 Magazines higher up, fo as to have fuperfeded the Ne- 
 ccffity of the Indians coming down. 
 
 But 2d, We will allow the Fa Cl, and argue with 
 them upon their own State of the Cafe. Now if Five 
 Thoufand Pounds worth of Manufactures, in this Re- 
 
 E 3 fpeft, 
 
 * There was an egregious Fallacy ufed in this Argu- 
 ment. — If the Barter or Exchange with the Indians had been 
 in Bullion, the Argument would have held good ; and fo 
 much Money would have been faved to the Nation. But as 
 it was all in our own Manufactures, i. e. the Labour of our 
 own People, the Diminilhing of fuch Exports, is inFattthe 
 Diminilhing our own Manufactures, and defrauding the Na- 
 tion of fo much Labour, whereby the Hands employed in 
 thofe Manufactures mull become a Rent-charge upon the 
 Publick— or Heal,— or ftarve, or fly their Country. Noti, 
 The Limitation which ought to be put upon the (Quantity of 
 our own Manufactures, to be exported, is what the Nature 
 of the Thing will of itfelf put upon them j <viz. To export 
 no more than is conflftent with the reafonable Gains and 
 Profit of the Exporter. If he can afford to export Ten 
 Thoufand Pounds worth of Englijh Manufactures, where an 
 exclufive Company would export but Five Thoufand ; it is 
 for the general Good of the Country that he Ihould do it. 
 And all Trade ought to be laid free and open, in order to 
 induce the Exporters to rival each other ; that the Publick 
 may obtain the general Good by their Competitorlhip. But 
 if they cannot afford to export lb much, there is no need to 
 reftrair. them by Laws and Penalties from doing that which 
 their own private Intereft will fugged: to them foon enough. 
 And it is really aftonilhing, That fuch a Fallacy, fo grofs in 
 itfelf, fo deftru&ive in its Confequences, could have efcaped 
 the Notice of a Britijh Senate, and could have palfed net 
 only without Cenlure, but with feme Degree of Applaufe. 
 
54- E n a r m Trade. 
 
 fpeft, is as good, nay better than Ten Thoufand Pounds 
 worth ; for the fame Reafon, One Thoufand Pounds 
 worth is better ftill, becaufe more would be faved to 
 the Nation. Suppofe, therefore, that the Company, 
 and every other Exporter in the Kingdom, (for every 
 other has the fame Right of arguing in this Manner) 
 fuppofe, I fay, that all Exporters could leflen the Ex- 
 portations of our own Manufactures by nine Tenths, 
 and yet could get as much Money or EffeCts in re- 
 turn, as they had before ; What would be the Confe- 
 rence ? Why, only this, That thefej Exporters would 
 become Princes ; and the reft of the Kingdom Beg- 
 gars. They would be like a Spanijh Don in Mexico or 
 Peru, who has a prodigious rich Mine, which required 
 but few Hands to work it. And therefore he indeed 
 would be a great Lord ; but all his Wealth would not 
 enrich the Neighbourhood, fo much as a fingle Manu- 
 facture here in England , which being branched out into 
 various Hands, gives a comfortable Subliftence to many 
 Families, caufing a general Circulation of Labour. 
 
 It is not therefore Gold and Silver, confidered 
 merely in themfelves, that can make a Kingdom flourifti, 
 but the Parcelling them out into proper Shares, by 
 means of the Divilions and Sub-divifions of different 
 Trades. Without this the more Riches in a few Hands, 
 « — the greater would be the Poverty of the Reft, and 
 the more abjeft and dependent their State would be. 
 And if all Merchants were no better Commonwealths 
 Men than thefe, the Interior of a Kingdom would be 
 very little profited by Foreign Merchandize,— nay, in 
 fome RefpeCts, would be much the Worfe. 
 
 In fhort, fuch an Argument as this, viz. to de- 
 rreafe our Exports, and increafe their Price abroad, 
 beyond what is neceffary for the comfortable Sub- 
 liftence of the Merchant and Manufacturer, Is only 
 worthy of fuch a Caufe. Were it put in Practice, it 
 would get all the Wealth of the Nation into a few 
 Hands, — it would turn nine Tenths of our Manufac- 
 turers a Begging, — and reduce them to the Neceftity 
 of becoming Lacqueys and Footmen to fuch Fxpor- 
 ters,— or ftarving, — or flying the Country. —It would 
 link the value of our Lands, and biing fwift Deftruc- 
 tion on the Manufacturer, Farmer, Gentleman, and 
 
 all 
 
An Es s a Y cn T R a d e. 55 
 
 all Stations, — except the Exporter. He indeed would 
 be great, — and he alone. One may therefore the 
 better judge of the Goodnefs of fuch a Caufe, which 
 required fuch kind of Arguments to fupport it. And 
 fo much for cxclufive Companies. 
 
 VII. PROPOSAL. 
 
 te To encourage Foreign Merchants and Tradefmen 
 te to fettle among Us, by a general Naturalization Aft 
 “ for all Proteftants.” And if it be judged improper 
 to admit them into Offices of Truft or Power, it is eafy 
 to add a Claufe, That thefe Privileges ffiall ftill be con- 
 fined to the natural-born Subjefts. 
 
 Here again the baleful Spirit of Self-Intereft exerts 
 all its Powers to oppofe fo publick and general a Bene- 
 fit,——— “ What! muft Foreigners, and we know not 
 “ who, come and take the Bread out of our Mouths ?’> 
 
 - An honeft Cambro-Briton would have called all 
 
 Englijhmen Foreigners, and he knows not who. But 
 waving that, — Let me calmly alk, What Bread do they 
 cat? — and out of whofe Mouth? It muft be Englijh 
 Bread: The Corn grew here, — was manufactured, 
 was fold here. And the Foreigners, who eat it, earn 
 it by their Labour, and pay for it. So far then, we 
 hope, there is no Offence. The more Inhabitants 
 there are to confume the Produce of our Lands, the 
 better can the Farmer and the Gentleman pay their 
 Shopkeepers and Tradefmen, and the more Manufac- 
 tures will they confume in every Refpeft. Let us fee 
 therefore, in the next Place, Out of whofe Mouth do 
 they take this Bread ? If they introduce new Manufac- 
 tures, or carry thofe already eftabliffied to greater Per- 
 fection, in that Cafe the Publick is greatly benefited, 
 and no Individual can be injured. If they employ 
 themfelves only in fuch as are already fettled and per- 
 fected, they will not defraud the Mouths of fober, fru- 
 gal, and induftrious Perfons, who may work as cheap, 
 and can work as well as Foreigners. And therefore 
 fhould be obliged to do both. It can be, therefore, 
 none but the abandoned, debauched, and diffolute, 
 who would chufe to be idle three or four Days in a 
 Week, and want to have their Wages fo high as to fup- 
 
 E 4 port 
 
56 Esur w Trad!. 
 
 port this Extravagance, that can make fuch a Complaint? 
 And fhall they be heard ? Shall we continue the Exclu- 
 fion of all fober and induftrious Foreigners, fo much 
 to the National Difadvantage, merely to gratify the ex- 
 travagant and unreafonable Humours of fuch Wretches 
 as thefe ? Surely, it is to be hoped, we fhall purfue 
 more prudent Meafures, both for our Sakes. and their 
 own. 
 
 But we are told farther, u That EngUJh Tradefmen, 
 tf of every Denomination, are used to live better 
 
 than Foreigners ; and therefore cannot afford to 
 
 work or fell fo cheap as they.”—— Be it fo : Carry 
 then this Argument to a Foreign Market, and fee whe- 
 ther it will perfwade the Inhabitants of that Country to 
 trade with you A French , and an Englijh Merchant, 
 are Competitors with, and Rivals to each other in the 
 Markets of Spain , Portugal, Italy , Turky, and in fhort 
 all over the World. The French Man offers his Goods 
 at 20, 15, xo, or s per Cent, cheaper than the Englijh. 
 Our Countryman is demanded, Why he will not fell 
 his Goods as cheap as others ? His Anfwer is, “ That 
 “ the Manufacturers and Merchants live better in Eng- 
 t( land than Foreigners do, and therefore he cannot 
 “ afford it.” This is a molt perfwafive Argument. — • 
 Undoubtedly he will fell much Cloth by alledging it. — 
 He is afked again, Why they will not in his Country 
 admit Foreigners, who work cheaper, to fettle among 
 them, that fo they may be able to trade upon an equal 
 Footing with their Neighbours? To this he replies, 
 tl That Foreigners, and he knows not who, ought not 
 <c to come and take the Bread out of the Mouths of 
 tl the Natives.”— —Such kind of Reafoning muft 
 give them an high Idea of the Senfe and Difcernment 
 of our Countryman. Let us therefore apply the Cafe 
 fo ourfelves, and not argue in that abfurd and ridiculous 
 Manner at home, which he is reprefented as doing 
 abroad. 
 
 The Admiffion then of Foreigners to fettle in our 
 Country, is fo far from taking the Bread out of the 
 Mouths of the Natives, that it is putting Bread into 
 the Mouths of thofe, who, otherwife, in a Ihort Time 
 mull have none. For the Englijh muft trade, at leaft, 
 upon an equal Footing with other Nations, or not 
 
 trade 
 
Essay on Trade. 57 
 
 trade at all.— -And then, when the not Trading at all 
 is the Confequence, we (hall indeed have no Foreigners 
 to complain of, but we (hall have a much forer Evil : 
 * — and then, perhaps when it is too late, the mod 
 Self-Interefted among us will be forry, that we had 
 not admitted the frugal and induflrious from all Parts of 
 the World, to (hare the Gains of Trade with them, 
 rather than to have nt>ne at all. 
 
 But let us try all this Reafoning by plain Matters 
 of Fad. The Town of Birmingham , for Example, ad- 
 mits allPerfons to come and fettle among them ; whom, 
 though they are Englijhmen, the original Natives of the 
 Place may as judly term Foreigners with regard to 
 
 them, as we ftile other Nations by that Name. . 
 
 “ Foreigners, therefore, and I know not who, came from 
 <e all Parts and fettled at Birmingham ; and — took the 
 “ Bread out of the Mouths of the original Natives." 
 What then was the Confequence of this great Wicked- 
 nefs ? — Why, within thefe few Years, the Trade and 
 Buildings of the Town have been prodigioufly increaf- 
 ed, and all the Eftates for a great many Miles round, 
 have felt the Benefit of this great Acceifion of Tra fe 
 and Inhabitants. Birmingham , from being a Place of 
 little Confequence, is now become one of the mod 
 flourifhing and confiderable in the Kingdom. And there 
 is no Town, with its exclufive Charters, that canboad 
 of fo many fkilful Artifts, as this which admits all 
 Comers. 
 
 Moreover, there are fewer Beggars in this Town, 
 Manchejler , and Leeds , where all are free, than in any 
 which has Companies of Trades, and exclufive Char- 
 ters. Note, So true and certain it is. That thefe Rights 
 and Privileges, as they are called, do multiply the 
 Numbers of the Poor, indead of diminifhing them ; 
 becaufe they damp the Spirit of Indudry, Frugality and 
 Emulation. A Manufacturer, who knows, that no 
 Foreigner dares come in to be a Competitor againd 
 him, thinks himfelf privileged to be idle. And 
 all fuch Privileges are jud fo many Combinations to 
 fink the Value of Lands, and prevent the Extenfion of 
 Commerce. 
 
 The other Indance I (hall mention, is the Cafe of 
 the French Flugonots , who fled from the Perfecution of 
 
 Lewis 
 
5$ An Essay on Trade. 
 
 Lewis XIV, and took refuge in England. But great 
 was the Outcry againft them, at their firft coming. 
 “ Poor England would be ruined ! Foreigners encou- 
 <e raged ! And our own People ftarving !” This was the 
 popular Cry of thofe Times.— But the Looms in Spit- 
 tle- Fields, and the Shops on Ludgate-Hill, have at laft 
 fufficiently taught us another Lefton. And now it is 
 hoped, we may fay without Offence, Thefe Hugonots 
 have been fo far from being of Differvice to the Na- 
 tion, that they have partly got, and partly faved, in 
 the Space of fifty Years, a Balance in our Favour of 
 at leafl: fifty Millions Sterling. 
 
 In fhort, Self-Intereft apart, What good Reafon can 
 be affigned, why we fhould not admit Foreigners among 
 Us ? — Our Country is but thinly inhabited, in Compa- 
 rifon to what it might be : And many hundred Thou- 
 fands of Acres of good Land, in England and Wales , 
 not to mention Scotland and Ireland, lie either entirely 
 wafte, or are not fufficiently cultivated, for want of 
 Hands and Perfons to confume the Product. Our vaft 
 Commons, all over the Kingdom, and many of the 
 Forefts and Chaces, might be parcelled out in Lots, 
 to fuch of the Foreigners as chufe a Country Life ; and 
 the Reft might find Employment, in fome Shape or 
 other, in the different Manufactures. The Natives of 
 England likewife do not increafe fo faft, as thofe of 
 other Countries ; our common People being much 
 more abandoned and debauched. The Marriage State 
 alfo is not fufficiently encouraged among Us : and ten 
 Thoufand common Whores are not fo fruitful (fetting 
 afide the Sin of the Parents, the Difeafes of the few 
 Children that are born, and their Want of a proper and 
 virtuous Education) I fay 10,000 common Whores are 
 not fo fruitful as fifty healthy young married Women, 
 that are honeft and virtuous: By which Means, the 
 State is defrauded of the Increafe of upwards of 199 
 SubjeCIs out of 200 every Year. — Add to this, that it 
 has been long obferved by Men of Thought and Spe- 
 culation, That more young Children die in England 
 from the Birth to two Years old, than in any other 
 Country. The Sea likewife, and our extenfive Planta- 
 tions, are a continual Drain upon us. And the manu- 
 facturing Poor at home are killing themfelves, and, if 
 
 I may 
 
Essay on Trade. 59 
 
 I may be allowed the Expreffion, their Pofterity like- 
 wife, as fall as they can, by thofe fure Tnftruments of 
 Death, Gin and Spirituous Liquors. For ali. thefe 
 Reafons therefore, as well as on Account of lowering 
 the Price of Labour, and preventing the Combinations 
 of Journeymen, fo loudly complained of, and feverely 
 felt throughout the Kingdom, it is humbly hoped, That 
 thofe Perfons who have hitherto oppofed the Naturali- 
 zation Bill, will fee Caufe to change their Sentiments ; 
 and will look upon it as highly ufeful and expedient, 
 and productive of the greatell National Advantages. 
 There are many Thoufands of Manufa&urers, both in 
 Silk and Woollen, in the South of France , all zealous 
 Proteftants, who would gladly come over, if they could 
 learn that they fhould meet with a kind Reception. 
 As to the Difficulty of making their El'cape out of the 
 French King’s Dominions, they would find Ways and 
 Means to deceive even the Vigilance of their Gover- 
 nors, by retiring as it were one by one, and re- 
 moving under various Pretences, towards the manu- 
 facturing Towns of Picardy and French Flanders , (from 
 whence they could fo eafily pafs over to us) were they 
 fure of finding Protection and reafonable Encourage- 
 ment. And as England and France are Rivals to each 
 oth^r, and Competitors in almoft all Branches of Com- 
 merce, every Angle Manufacturer fo coming over, 
 would be our Gain, and a double Loss to France 
 Upon a Review of this Propofal, as it flood in the 
 Second Edition, the Author cannot fee any Caufe for 
 that Fury and Refentment, fo liberally beftowed upon 
 him, for offering his Thoughts, he hopes in no impro- 
 per manner, to publick Confideration. — If his Argu- 
 ments were inconclufive, why were they not anfwered ? 
 
 ■ — If abfurd, they ought to have been defpiled : But 
 fince they were thought worthy of fo much Notice, 
 why doth not fome Perfon undertake to confute a late 
 Treatife, viz. “ Reflections on the Expediency of 
 “ naturalizing foreign Proteftants,” wrote exprefsly to 
 vindicate this Propofal ? Such a Method would have 
 been fair and ingenuous, deferring the Regard of the 
 Publick, and the Thanks of the Writer of this Treatife, 
 who would have thoughtit no Dilgrace to have ackno w- 
 ledged his Error in the moft open Manner. — But it ever 
 
 was 
 
6o Art Essat on Trade. 
 
 was the hard Fate of thofe who have laboured to pro- 
 mote the true Interefts of their Country, and to efta- 
 blifh a general Syftem for the Propagation of National 
 Virtue and good Morals, to be vilified and infulted, 
 while Living, and never to have real Juftice done to 
 their Chambers, till they are dead. A Man may write 
 Pieces of Entertainment, and be applauded : — Or he 
 may dip his Pen in Gall for the Ule of a Party, and 
 be adored : But he mull not bend his Studies for the 
 general Good, with a Dependence on any other Re- 
 ward, than that which arifes in his own Bread for have- 
 ing done his Duty. 
 
 VIII. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To encourage a Trade with our own Plantations, 
 in “ all fuch Articles as Ihall make for the mutual Be- 
 “ nefit of the Mother Country, and her Colonies.” 
 
 'The Reafons for this Propofal are very obvious and 
 convincing : — and yet, as felf-interefted Perfons will 
 be apt to ftart Objections, and raife Difficulties, it 
 may be proper to expatiate upon thefe Reafons a little. 
 
 i ft. Therefore, it is neceftary that we ffiould 
 encourage a Trade to our own Plantations for all Sorts 
 of Naval Stores, in order that we may not be too de- 
 pendent upon the Will and Pleafure of Foreign Courts, 
 with regard to thefe neceftary Things. Many, if not 
 moft of the Implements for Navigation, and confe- 
 quently for a Sea War, are purchafed from the feveral 
 Nations bordering upon the Baltick. Suppofe then that 
 Sweden, Rujjia, or Denmark, ffiould, for certain Rea- 
 fons of State, or by the Intrigues of the French, lay an 
 Embargo on thefe Commodities, at a Crifis when we 
 greatly wanted them ; — or ffiould refufe them to Us, 
 and fell them to our Enemies, to what a diftrefied Si- 
 tuation would this reduce us ? and who can tell what 
 might be the Confequences of it? And as the Poli- 
 ticks of Princes are ever fluctuating and changing, why 
 ffiould we put it in the Power of any Potentate to have 
 luch a Command over Us i 
 
 2dly, As the Balance in regard to all thefe Countries 
 is confiderably againft Us, common Prudence will fug. 
 geft, that we ought to turn it in our Favour, if we can. 
 
 Kuw 
 
An Essat h Tradi, (, t 
 
 Now this we fhall be able to do (or at the worft, bring 
 it to an Equilibrium, which in itfelf is no difadvantage- 
 ous kind of Commerce) if we can purchafe the fame 
 Commodities in our own Plantations, which we ufed 
 to import from thefe Courftries. Befides, the Balance 
 is not only againft Us with regard to Sweden , but alfo 
 the very Money which is drawn from Us by means of 
 this lofing T rade, is converted to fupport a French In- 
 tereft, in Oppofition to ours. But 
 
 3dly, Were the Cafe iudifferent, where we traded, 
 (which it is not) the natural AffeCtion, which the Mo- 
 ther Country fhould have for her Colonies, where we 
 have fo many Friends, Relations, and Acquaintance, 
 ffould determine Us to give them the Preference. — . 
 But indeed our own Intereft is nearly and effentially 
 concerned in this Affair : For, 
 
 4thly, Unless we promote a Trade with them, and 
 take off the Growth and Commodities of their Planta- 
 tions, they will be reduced to the Neceffity of Offer- 
 ing them to Sale at other Markets, or permitting other 
 Nations to come and trade with them : The Confc- 
 quence of which will be, that they will take the Pro- 
 duct and Manufactures of thefe Nations in return. 
 And indeed this is too much the Cafe at prefent : For 
 one third at leaft, of the Luxuries and Elegancies of 
 Life, brought into our Colonies (as was obferved * be- 
 fore) is the Growth and Manufacture of other Coun- 
 tries, and principally of France. And as our Trade, 
 particularly to fome of the Northern Colonies, is 
 growing lefs and lefs, this Evil mult daily increafe in 
 the fame Proportion. Moreover, 
 
 5thly, Unless we can fupply our Colonies with 
 fuch Commodities and Manufactures as they want, by 
 way of Barter for fome of theirs which they can fpare, 
 — They will be obliged to raife thofe Things themfelves. 
 And feeing that many of the New Settlements on the 
 Continent of America are fcveral hundred Miles up the 
 Country, between, and beyond the Mountains ; the 
 Diftance of Situation will increafe the Neceffity they 
 are already under of manufacturing for themfelves, — 
 Unlefs we can divert their Thoughts to fome other Pro- 
 jects. 
 
 * See the Xlth Difadvant&ge of Great Britain, Page 29, 
 
62 An Essay on T r a 0 t. 
 
 je&s. Nay more, when once a Manufacture is fct up 
 in thofe diftant Regions, it will extend itfelf downwards ; 
 and the Inhabitants on the Sea-Coaft will be fupplied 
 by their Neighbours in the Up-Lands, upon cheaper 
 and eafier Terms than we can fupply them. — It is a juft 
 Complaint, that many of the Provinces have fet up fe- 
 veral Species of Manufactures, which greatly interfere 
 with the Trade and Prolperity of their Mother Country. 
 
 Yet how lhall we prevent them ? There is but 
 
 one Way to do it, that is either juft, or practicable : 
 and that is, By an Exchange of Commodities to mu- 
 tual Dependence. And this Principle alone will 
 contribute more to the preferving of the Dependency 
 of our Colonies upon their Mother Country, than any 
 other Refinement or Invention. For if we are afraid, 
 that one Day or other they will revolt, and fet up for 
 themfelves, as fome feem to apprehend; Let us not 
 drive them to a Neceftity to feel themfelves indepen. 
 dent of us : — As they will do the Moment they per- 
 ceive, that they can be fupplied with all Things from 
 within themfelves, and do not need our Affiftance. If 
 we would keep them ftill dependent upon their Mo- 
 ther Country, and in fome RefpeCis fubfervient to her 
 Views and Welfare; — Let us make it their Interest 
 always fo to be. 
 
 For thefe Reafons therefore, it is humbly apprehend- 
 ed, That the Trade to our Colonies and Plantations, 
 muft appear to be of the utmoft Confequence to the 
 Power, Strength and Prolperity of Great- Britain. 
 But to effeftuate this good End, an important Queftion 
 comes next to be decided, viz. ‘ ‘ What Produce fhould 
 “ our Colonies be moft encouraged to raife and culti- 
 
 vate?. And what Sort of Manufactures fhall 
 
 “ they be allowed to barter in Return for ours It 
 
 is eafy to fee, that they cannot make large Payments 
 in Gold and Silver ; and it is equally plain and certain. 
 That we will not, cannot, indeed allow them to intro* 
 duce fuch Things among us, as will prevent the Con- 
 fumption of our own Commodities to fuch a Degree, as 
 to be upon the whole, of National Difadvantage. 
 
 Wherefore with great Submilfion, I will beg 
 Leave to offei fome few plain Obfervations, which per- 
 haps 
 
An Essay on Trade. 63 
 
 haps might not be altogether unferviceable as to the 
 Regulation of fuch a Trade. 
 
 First then, it feems chiefly requifite, that due En- 
 couragement fliould be given to our Colonies, to apply 
 their Thoughts towards the railing of fuch Commodi- 
 ties, as do not interfere with thofe of the Mother 
 Country. 
 
 Secondly, They fliould alfo not only be allowed, 
 but be particularly incouraged to import all fuch raw 
 Materials as are to be manufactured here in England ; 
 — even though we raife the fame Sort ourfelves : Be- 
 caufc the more we have of thefe, the better; fince the 
 cheaper they are purchafed, the more of them can be 
 worked up, and the more there are worked up, the 
 greater Number of Hands are employed ; and confe- 
 quently, the more Labour, or Employment is procured 
 to the Nation. Moreover, this Argument becomes fo 
 much the ftronger, if the raw Materials we have of our 
 own, are by no means fufficient for the Demand of the 
 Manufa&ure, either as to Quantity, or Goodnefs ; 
 which is the Cafe with the Bar-Iron here made in Eng- 
 land •, fo that we are obliged to have recourfe to foreign 
 
 Countries for a Supply ; as in the Cafe of Bar- 
 
 Iron we do to Sweden, to the Amount of near 200,000/. 
 Sterling a Year. 
 
 Thirdly, We ought to permit our Colonies to 
 fupply us upon eafy Terms with all fuch Articles of 
 Luxury as we are wedded to, and will have either 
 
 from them, or others. Confequently in Reafon and 
 
 good Policy, they ought to have the Preference, by 
 being indulged to import thefe Articles under the Ad- 
 vantage of an eafy and reafonable Duty ; whilft the 
 Commodities of foreign Nations are charged with 
 higher Impofts and Cuftoms. In fuch a Cafe, the mu- 
 tual Exchange of Commodities between us and the 
 Colonies would become a mutual Advantage ; But that 
 is not all ; For as the Duties would be moderate, the 
 Temptations to Smuggling would be fmall ; the Con- 
 fumption of the Commodities of our own Colonies 
 greater, and that of other Nations lefs : By which 
 means, the Revenue itfelf would rife much higher than 
 it doth, when there are large and heavy Duties : For 
 thefe will ever be attended with one or other of the fol- 
 lowing 
 
64 A Essay m T r i C i. 
 
 lowing Effecfts, either the preventing the Importation 
 of the Commodity, or its Entrance at the Guftoni- 
 houfe. 
 
 Fourthly, In the Regulation of a Trade with ctur 
 Colonies, fome Regard fhould be had to thofc diftant 
 Parts of the Country, which lie remoteft from the Sea ? 
 and even the far theft Inhabitants may likewife find Em- 
 ployment in the railing of fuch Commodities as are fit- 
 teft for their Situation, and are light of Carriage. And 
 if their Thoughts are properly taken up in the Cultiva- 
 tion of thefe Things, they will have neither Time, 
 nor Inclination to purfue other Projects, which might 
 prove detrimental to the Mother Country. 
 
 From thefe Principles therefore it feems clearly to 
 follow, That the Culture of Coffee, Cocoa Nut, Co- 
 chineal, Indico, and Pimento, ought efpecially to be 
 encouraged in the mountainous, inland Part of Jamaica. 
 — And that of Bar-Iron, Hemp, Flax, Indico, and 
 Raw Silk, in the Countries between, and beyond the 
 Mountains, on the Back of Carolina , Virginia , Pen- 
 filvttnia , &c. 
 
 Some of thefe indeed are heavy Goods ; and there- 
 fore feem not fo proper to be raifed in a Country fo 
 far diflant from any Sea-Port : But on the other hand, 
 when it is confidered how particularly rich the Soil in 
 thofe Parts is, and how well adapted the Country for 
 the railing fuch Articles, aud how conveniently the In- 
 habitants could load the Cattle they bring down every 
 Market Day, with thefe Commodities ; the Difficulty, 
 I hope, in great Part vanilhes, and the Propriety of 
 affigning thcle T rafts of Land for the Culture of them, 
 evidently appears. 
 
 Enough therefore has been faid, to evince beyond 
 all Contradiction, That it is the Interest of the 
 Kingdom, that fuch a Trade as here deferibed, ffiould 
 be carried on :,But whether it is the Intereft of the 
 Merchant to embark in it, is another Queftion : And 
 yet rill he can find his own private Account in the Af- 
 fair, it is too clear a Point, that whatever has been 
 faid to the Publick and National Advantage, will pafs 
 for nothing — A Merchant will not engage in a lofing 
 Trade, and ruin himfelf to benefit his Country. In- 
 deed it is unreafonable to expeft he fhould. And the 
 
 great 
 
Essir 58 Trade, 65 
 
 great Complaint againft the Trade to fome of our Nor- 
 thern Colonies long has been, That there is nothing to 
 be got by it ; that is. That the Merchant can get n6- 
 thing, or next to nothing, if compared to his Gains 
 to and from other Places. The Trade to Denmark , 
 Sweden, or Ruffia , is more advantageous to him, though 
 very detrimental to his Country ; and therefore, if we 
 could expeft the Merchant to turn his Thoughts wholly 
 to the Plantation- Trade, we muft caufe him to find his 
 chief Intereft in the Purfuit of it. 
 
 Now there are four Ways or Methods for turning a- 
 Trade into a new Channel, and flopping up the old 
 one. 
 
 The firft is, By laying an additional Duty upon 
 the Commodities of one Country, but not on thofe of 
 another. By this means, if the Commodities are in 
 any Degree equal to each other in Goodnefs and Va- 
 lue, the former will be prevented from being import- 
 ed, on Account of their Dearnefs to the Gonfumcr ; 
 and the latter will have the Preference, by reafon of 
 their Cheapnefs. But this Method, however expedi- 
 ent at particular Junctures, is to be ufed with great 
 Warinefs and Caution. For every fuch additional Duty 
 put upon the Commodities of a foreign Country, will 
 be looked upon by that Country as an Aft of Hof- 
 tility committed upon its Trade and Commerce ; which 
 they will be fure to revenge upon the Commodi- 
 ties and Manufactures of the Country that was the 
 Aggreflor. Befides, high additional Duties are too vi- 
 olent and precipitate a Method of turning a Trade into 
 A new Channel, — efpecially where the Manufacture is 
 yet in its Infancy, and cannot anfwer the Demand for 
 it. It is therefore much more fafe and prudent to in- 
 cline the Scale gently and gradually on the Side you 
 would favour ; that fo the Inhabitants of that Country 
 may have Time to raife the proper Quantity of the Com- 
 modities that are wanted, and may increafe and perfeft 
 their Manufactures, by due Application and Experience. 
 —And alfo, that we ourfelves may not be diftrefled on 
 Account of the Scarcenefs, or the Badnefs of the Com- 
 modity ; or be forced to pay an exorbitant Price, by 
 means of the Monopoly which the Inhabitants of the 
 favoured Country will have againft us. 
 
 F 
 
 Where 
 
66 An E s * a y on T n a d i. 
 
 Wherefore, fecondly, another more commodious,, 
 and lefs exceptionable Way, is, To grant certain Pri- 
 vileges and Exemptions which fhall continue 
 
 till the Trade is fufficiently eftablilhed, and needs rfo 
 Support ; that is, till the Merchant can find it worth 
 his while to engage in it, without being paid at the 
 publick Expence. Suppofe therefore, that at the Be- 
 ginning of fuch a Trade, certain Commodities were 
 
 permitted to be imported upon eafy Terms ; or 
 
 rather Duty free, which is better {till : Then our 
 Colonies would turn their Thoughts to the raifing them ; 
 and the Merchant would find his own private Account 
 in importing them. But if any thing obltruCted, fo 
 that this did not prove fufficient to engage them in the 
 Profecution of fuch Defigns ; or that the Demand ftitl 
 ran in favour of the Goods of another Nation ; then. 
 
 Thirdly, The Scale mull: be turned by the Addition 
 of a Bounty upon Importation : And to quicken 
 their Diligence, and excite a Spirit of Emulation, to 
 thefe Encouragements may ftill be added, 
 
 Fourthly, A Personal Premium to fuch Mer- 
 chants as fhall import the mod of thefe Commodities, 
 and the bed in their Kind. Prizes of this Nature are 
 obferved to do wonderful Things in the Railing and 
 Perfecting of a Manufacture. We have feen their 
 good EffeCts in Ireland ; and it were greatly to be wifh- 
 ed we had the lame laudable Inftitution here in England. 
 If certain Sums were veiled in the Board of Trade for 
 this Purpofe, we might not delpair of feeing the Mo- 
 ther Country in a few Years fupplied with Pot-Alhes, 
 Bar-Iron *, Flax, Hemp, Indico, Cochineal, Coffee, 
 Cocoa Nut, Pitch and Tar, all Sorts of Naval Stores, 
 
 and 
 
 * The great Clamour lately raifed againll the Introduction 
 of Bar-Iron is an aftonilhing Inftance of the Ignorance and 
 Infatuation of the Englijb in regard to their own Intereft. 
 For let us alk even an Iron-Master, If the Americans (hall 
 not be permitted to import Iron Duty free, what Courfe will 
 they, nay mult they take, but to manufacture it themfelves? 
 For how fhall they be able to pay for Englifh Goods, unlefs 
 they can make proper Returns ? And if you will not admit 
 their Bar-Iron, you drive them to the Necefllty of manufac- 
 turing it : Nay more, You give them a Bounty : For as the 
 
 Bar- 
 
An Essay on Trade. 67 
 
 and Raw Silk, chiefly from her own Colonies. The 
 FaCt is undeniable. That all thefe Things can be 
 raifed in our Plantations either on the Continent, or in 
 the Iflands. And though fome Difficulties would at- 
 tend the Enterprize at firft fetting out, yet Induftry and 
 Application, together with the Inducements of Boun- 
 ties and perfonal Premiums, would furmount them all. 
 If Prizes were fixed, viz. Co much to the firft, the fe- 
 cond, and the third Importer of the mod in Quantity, 
 and belt in Kind ; and Notice given thereof in the Ga- 
 zette by publick Authority ; What an Emulation would 
 it excite amongft all the Merchants of the Kingdom f 
 How gladly would our Colonies embrace fuch Propo- 
 fals, and quit the Purfuit of the Manufactures they are 
 now engaged in? It is certain, thefe Manufactures, 
 tho’ highly detrimental to us, are not fo advantageous 
 to them, as the Railing the above mentioned Commo- 
 dities would be ; becaufe they could employ their Ne- 
 groes in fuch Work; whereas the Negroes are found 
 to be not fo proper to engage in a Manufacture, which 
 has a long Courfe and different Parts before it is com- 
 pleated ; and the Labour of the white People is dear 
 and expenfive. 
 
 As to the Article of Raw Silk, the Importance of 
 it, I hope, will juftify the recommending of the Cul- 
 ture of it in a very particular Manner. The exceflive 
 Price it now bears, and the great Difficulties to which 
 the Manufacturers are driven, in order to get it at 
 any Rate, require that fomething fhould be attempted 
 without Delay. Every Nation now begins to perceive. 
 That it is imprudent and impolitick to fuffer fuch pernici- 
 ous Materials to be exported unmanufactured out of their 
 Country. They have therefore prohibited the doing it un- 
 der the feverelt Penalties : — And we cannot blame them. 
 But for that very Reafon we ought to endeavour to raife 
 the Commodities ourfelves. And, with humble Sub- 
 miffion, no Time ever feemed fo favourable for the 
 doing it, as the prefent. For as the Price is high, 
 
 F 2 this 
 
 Bar-Iron will be cheaper in America, if there is no Englijb 
 Market ; this Difference in the Price is in fadt a Bounty given 
 by yourfelves for the Encouragement of Iron Manufactures 
 in America. 
 
6$ An Essay on Trad*. 
 
 this is not only an Inducement to fet about it : but alfb 
 as we have now a different Sort of Inhabitants in our 
 Colonies to engage in it, than we had before, we have 
 therefore the greater Profpeft of Succefs. The Com- 
 plaint formerly was. That the Cultivation of it would 
 not anfwer on Account of the Dearnefs of Labour. 
 The Inhabitants towards the Sea-Coafts could employ 
 their Time to greater Advantage in the Culture of 
 Tobacco, Rice, &c. therefore the Scheme for Raw 
 Silk mufl fail. But atprefent we have feveral thoufands 
 of Palatines and Moravians fettled in the Villages be- 
 tween the Mountains, in a Country much like Piemont , 
 where the beft Silk grows : Now as they cannot culti- 
 vate Rice or Tobacco for Exportation ; and as they are 
 far removed from the Center of Trade, and are alfo a 
 parfimonious, abftemious People, they will certainly 
 work much cheaper than the Englijh heretofore to- 
 wards the Sea-fide, who were ever noted for the con- 
 trary Qualities. So that upon the Whole, the Time 
 and the Occafion invite ; the Necellities of the Manu- 
 facture, and the Intereft of our Country, require, that 
 fome Attempt fhould be fpeedily made for the railing 
 of Raw Silk in our Colonies. 
 
 IX. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To eftabfilh a Police for the Prevention of Smug- 
 ging- 
 
 * “ It may indeed be too difficult for a private Per- 
 “ fon to find out a Remedy equal to a Difeafe fo uni- 
 “ verfal, and of fo long a Continuance: But yet as 
 “ every well-meant Endeavour for the publick Service 
 “ is candidly accepted, when offered with Modefly and 
 “ Submiffion, it is to be hoped the following Thoughts, 
 <e which proceed no farther than by way of Query, 
 
 will be favourably received. 
 
 “ Query I. If the Privileges and Exemptions of 
 “ the Iflands ef Cuernfey and Jerfey, &c. were abolifh- 
 “ ed, and thofe Remains of the Dukedom of Nor- 
 
 ** mandy 
 
 * This Quotation is taken out of my ‘ Inquiry concerning 
 * the Ufe of low priced Spirituous Liquors/ printed for 
 7. ' Trye , Holhorn. 
 
Am E s s a t an Trade, 69 
 
 * c mandy perfe&ly united to the Briti/b Crown, could 
 the fame Frauds be then pra&ifed, as to the Running 
 of Goods which have a Drawback granted them, 
 <e Smuggling of French Wines, Brandies, Teas, Cof- 
 <( fee, Chocolate, Silk, Lace, and all other Commo- 
 “ dities, as are at prefent ? — Could the French Wines 
 “ be mixt with Port, and then entered as if they were 
 * c all the Growth of Portugal , to the great Detriment 
 “ of the Revenue, the manifeft Injury of the Portugal 
 u Trade, the certain irreparable Lofs to the Nation, 
 te and the open avowed Encouragement to Perjury ? 
 (< — Could the Smacks and Cruifers, which were de- 
 (e figned to guard the Coafl, have the fame Pretence 
 “ to enter the Ports of France , which they have now 
 tc to ftep into Guernfey and Jerfey, viz. to fee what 
 ie Veflels were lading ; and fometimes take in a Lading 
 “ for themfelves ? — Et quis Cuflodes cujlodiat ipfos? 
 
 “ Query II. If the Jqrifdiftion of the ijle of Man 
 <e was annexed to the Crown in the fame Manner as 
 tf the Hereditable Jurifdiftions in Scotland lately were, 
 “ could France , Holland , Denmark, &c. find any Place 
 u in our own Seas, as a Storehoufe or Magazine for 
 depofiting their feveral Contraband Goods, in order 
 to run them on the Coafts of England, Wales, Scot- 
 “ land, and Ireland f If the Collectors of the Guftoms 
 <e of the prefent noble Proprietor of this Ifland, v^erc 
 obliged to lay before the Parliament their Books of 
 <( Entries for the laft feven Years, and fuch Entries 
 l< compared with the Accounts that might be tranfmit- 
 Cf ed from France , Holland, Denmark, & c. would it 
 * e not appear, that the refpeCtive India Companies of 
 “ thofe Countries had imported vaft Quantities of Teas, 
 <e and other India Goods, principally with a View 
 tl to fmuggle them into Great- Britain and Ireland? 
 “ And ought not that Circumftance alone be an alarm- 
 “ ing Confideration to the Englijh Ea/l-India Company, 
 ie to the Government, and the whole Britijh Nation ? 
 
 * c — Do the French, Dutch, Danes, Sec- permit the 
 
 < l Englijh to ufe any Port of their Dominions for the 
 like Purpofes ? And would it not be more advantage- 
 ous to the Britijh Nation, as to the mere Article of 
 ,e Profit and Lofs, to pay Subfidies to thefe Countries 
 << of 200,000 /. pqr Annum, than to let Matters continue 
 
 F 3 “ on 
 
70 AEssir m Tntii. 
 
 “ on the prefent Footing? Laftly, With regard to our 
 own Subje&s, if this Ifland were annexed to the 
 “ Crown, could the corrupt Part of the Commanders 
 “ of tlae Smacks and Cruifers receive any Emolument 
 “ for conniving at the Evils here complained of? Or 
 iC the honeft Part be infulted, and even imprifoned by 
 tl the Deputy Governors or their Agents, for difcharge- 
 “ ing faithfully their Duty ? And would the neceftary 
 “ Expences for the Prevention of Smuggling be a. 
 “ fourth part the Sum, to which they now amount ? 
 
 “ Query III. Whether the prefent Methods of 
 “ collecting the Duties on French Brandies, and other 
 “ foreign Goods, are not found to be eventually pro- 
 “ duftive of great Temptations to fmuggle them ? 
 <£ Whether fuch Temptations could poffibly be fo 
 “ ftrong, if there was a Permiffion fomewhat of a like 
 Nature granted to the Importers of thefe Gommo- 
 “ dities, as there is now granted to the Importers of 
 £t Rum, viz. To put them in the King’s Warehoufe, 
 “ paying the Duties only for the Quantities they take 
 “ out, when they meet with a Purchafer, and leaving 
 <l the reft to continue ? Whether a Smuggler with one 
 “ hundred Pounds Stock, would run the Rifque of his 
 %< Life and Fortune, which the prefent Laws fubjeft 
 “ him to, if he could commence a fair Trader, to fuf- 
 “ ficient Advantage, with fo fmall a Capital ? And 
 ‘ ‘ whether, in Cafe of fuch a Permiffion, a Man would 
 “ not carry on a more extenfive Trade with one 
 “ hundred Pounds, in certain Sorts of Goods, than 
 he can do now with fix times the Sum ? 
 
 Note , “ Whether the great Frauds, lately com- 
 “ plained of in the Tobacco Trade, to the prodigious 
 “ Detriment of the Revenue, and the National Intereft, 
 “ cannot likewife be accounted for, upon the Principle 
 “ here fuggefted? And if the Importers of Tobacco 
 were allowed to lodge their Cargoes in the King’s 
 Warehoufe, or in their own, (under the Lock and Key 
 ie of the Cuftom-houfe Officer) and from thence to take 
 “ it away in fmall Quantities, viz. a Hoglhead or two 
 “ at a Time, finable to their Convenience, would not 
 “ this Circumftance alone caufe the Virginia Trade to 
 “ flouriffi, prevent Smuggling, and fuperfede the Ne- 
 “ ceffity of all other Devices ? 
 
 (< 
 
 Quirt 
 
ifc Essat «» Tiabe. 7 1 
 
 t( Query IV. If all Seizures were abfolutely pro- 
 << hibited to be fold for home Gonfumption, could they 
 ** then cover the Vending any confiderable Parcels of 
 “ un-euftomed Goods, which are now vended in large 
 “ Quantities by this Means ? And if the Seizures were 
 <( Rot to be ufed at home, would the Purchafers give 
 “ an higher Price for fuch Goods than they do for 
 others of like intrinfick Value? And is not the ad- 
 “ vanced Price bow given a plain Indication of the 
 “ Ufes to which they are applied ? 
 
 “ Query V. If the Commanders and Officers of 
 “ the Smacks and Cruifers were to be paid only one 
 “ half of their Salaries of Courfe, and the other half 
 by Way of Gratuity, when it appeared that they had 
 ■“ been vigilant and adtive to an high Degree, would 
 “ not this quicken their Motions, and add new Life 
 “ and Vigour to their Endeavours ? If thofe who could 
 “ give no Proof of an extraordinary Vigilance were 
 11 to lofe fuch Gratuities, and others to receive them, 
 
 “ as an additional Reward, who had diftinguiffied them- 
 “ felves the mod eminently, would not this be a Means 
 <e of raifing a Spirit of Emulation among them, and 
 “ making the attive Principles of Intereft, Shame, Fear, 
 te Honour, Difgrace, all unite and operate for the pub- 
 << lick Good. 
 
 “ Query VI. If a few independent Companies of 
 “ Light Horfe were raifed, in the Nature of Huffars, 
 would not fuch kind of Cavalry, (viz. Englijb Hunt- 
 “ ers) be much more proper to fcour the Coalt, and 
 “ purfue Smugglers, than heavy Horfe and Dragoons, 
 and regular Forces? And if their Officers were paid 
 11 in the fame Manner, as is propofed for the Officers 
 it of Smacks and Cruifers, would it not be an addition- 
 “ al Security for their Integrity, and an Incentive to 
 “ their Vigilance ? 
 
 “ Query VII. If the whole Seizures were given 
 <c to the Captors, would it not be a greater Encourage- 
 * e ment than giving them a Part? And if the Fees and 
 “ Expences of the Court of Exchequer for Condemna- 
 u tion did not rife fo high, would not this enhance the 
 Value of the Prize, and confequently make the Cap- 
 u tors more aftive and vigilant ? Whether there have 
 “ not been Inftances of Guftom-houfe Officers com- 
 
 “ pounding 
 
72 Esiay Cfl Tkade. 
 
 pounding with the Delinquents for petty Seizures, ra- 
 u ther than be at the Expence of condemning them in 
 “ the Exchequer, as that would fwallow up the Profit? 
 
 “ These Queries the Author would humbly offer to 
 u publick Confideration ; not doubting but m^ny other 
 “ Methods might be found out, greatly conducive to 
 u the fame good End. As to the Difficulties againft 
 “ putting this Scheme in immediate Execution, he is 
 “ not aware of any, but is far from prefuming to de- 
 t( termine that there are none.’ > 
 
 X. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To e( invite Foreigners of Di/iinSlion to travel among us f 
 that fo we may have fomething in return for the vaft 
 Sums which we yearly fend abroad. To this End there 
 is wanting a concife Treatife in French and Englijh , fet- 
 ing forth the Advantages which Perfons of different 
 Taftes and Inclinations may enjoy by fuch a Tour : The 
 Man of Pleafure and Diversion ; the Virtuofo ; the Scho- 
 lar and Man of Letters ; the Lawyer; Phyfician ; Di- 
 vine ; Merchant, &c. with Directions how to perform a 
 regular Tour ; a fhorter or a longer ; what Things are 
 moft remarkable to be feen ; Churches ; Seats ; Gar- 
 dens ; Pictures ; Manufactures ; Ports, <bc. what Books 
 or Treatifes are neceflary to be confulted ; how to learn 
 the Language ; with the proper Stages marked out ; 
 and a Calculation of the Expence in the moderate Way 
 of Travelling. 
 
 It has been obferved before, under the Xllth Advan- 
 tage of France, Page 14, that travelling into a Country 
 is of greater Confequence to the Trade and Manufactures 
 of that Country, than is ufually apprehended. And as 
 England is as deferving the Notice of curious and inqui- 
 fitive Foreigners as any Country on the Globe, it is a 
 great Pity that fome ingenious Hand hath not yet lent 
 them his friendly Affiftance, by an exprefs Treatife on 
 the Subject. It would be a great Pleafure to the Author 
 to contribute what he can, only as an inferior Work- 
 man, in the accompliffiing fuch a Defign. And there- 
 fore if he could fungi vice Cotis , as Horace expreffes it, 
 and be confidered only as a Whet-flone to give an Edge 
 to the Inclinations of others, who have Abilities to exe- 
 cute 
 
An E $ * a r on T R a d i. 73 
 
 cute fuch a Scheme, he would gladly offer his Aftiftance. 
 
 With thefe Sentiments, therefore, he begs Leave to 
 propofe the following rough Sketch, only as general 
 Hints to be improved upon, viz. 
 
 Suppose a modeft Treatife was wrote, without Puff- 
 ing, or too much extolling ourfelves, or our Country, 
 containing a Plan for a Foreigner to travel in England a 
 Year, or longer, with Pleafure and Advantage : 
 
 Chap. I. Setting forth the Situation of the Country, 
 the Air and Climate, Nature of the Soil, and its general 
 Produftions. 
 
 ChaP. II. Theprefent Inhabitants, Principles of their 
 Government, their Virtues and Vices, Humours, Diver- 
 fions, the Manner of converfing agreeably with them, 
 and accommodating one’s felf to the general Tafte and 
 Genius of the Country, Method of learning the Lan- 
 guage, and Pronunciation; Method and Expence of 
 Travelling; Manner of obtaining Recommendations 
 from Abroad to London, and from London to the other 
 Parts of the Kingdom. 
 
 Chap. III. Containing the Plan for a Foreigner to 
 make the Tour of England in eight Stages, within the 
 Compafs of a Year, each Stage illuftrated by a Map, con- 
 taining les Environs, or the Diftrift of ten Miles round the 
 Place of Refidence; in which Diftrift the principal Seats, 
 Towns, Manufactures, Curiofities, <bc. fhould be briefly 
 defcribed, viz. Supposing the Stranger landed the Begin- 
 ning of April ; then the 
 
 \Jl Stage, London and les Environs , in the Month of 
 April. 
 
 N. B. It might be improper a Foreigner fhould flay 
 longer in the Capital, upon firft coming over, than to 
 fettle his Correfpondences, and get Recommendations 
 to other Places ; left, whilft he is a Stranger to the Lan- 
 guage, he fhould aflociate too much with his own Coun- 
 trymen, and be little benefited by his Travelling. 
 
 ■zd Stage, Cambridge and les Environs, in May. Here 
 he fhould begin in earneft to learn the Language by tho 
 Help of fome good Grammar, and to learn the Pro- 
 nunciation by coming to Church with his French and 
 Englijh Common Prayer, and liftening to the Clergy- 
 man’s flow and deliberate Reading. If this Method 
 was duly praftifed, Foreigners would not find that Dif- 
 ficulty 
 
74 dtn E s s a r on T z x d i. 
 
 ficulty in learning the Pronunciation of our Language, 
 as they are apt to imagine. And this is an Advantage of 
 teaching it, in fomeRefpeft peculiar to us. 
 
 3 d Stage, Oxford and let Environs in June, Note, In 
 laying out the Route between Place and Place, it would 
 be proper to contrive it fo, as the Traveller might fee as 
 many Things worthy of Notice in his Paflage as he 
 could. 
 
 4 th Stage, Birmingham and les Environs in July. 
 
 gtb Stage, Briftol and les Environs in Augujl. 
 
 6th Stage, A Tour from Briftol to Portfmouth, through 
 Wilton, Salifbury , See. and then return to Bath at the End 
 of September. 
 
 •jth Stage, Bath and les Environs , during OSiober and 
 November. 
 
 %th Stage, London , during the Months of December , 
 January , February and March , which complete the Year. 
 
 If after this the Foreigner choofes to refide longer in 
 England, and to fee other Parts of the Kingdom, then 
 he might make a Tour of fix Months in the following 
 Manner ; viz. 
 
 1. York, and les Environs , in the Month of April. 
 
 2. Leeds and Manchefter, in May. 
 
 3. Liver poole and Chefter, in June. 
 
 4. Ckatfworth and Derby , in July. 
 
 5. Nottingham and Northampton , in Augujl. 
 
 6 . From thence through London to the Place of Em- 
 barkation, in September ; vifiting the principal Seats, 
 Towns, 6c. of Kent or EJfex , in the Way to Dover or 
 Harwich. 
 
 Chap. IV. Containing Obfervations on the Litera- 
 ture and Learning of the Englifh ; and the Advantages 
 which Perfons of different Taftes may reap from being 
 acquainted with them. Concluding with a fmall Cata- 
 logue of the choiceft Authors in polite Literature, and 
 the feveral Sciences ; with a Lift of our beft Plays, as 
 to Morals, Language, and Defign ; that fo a Foreign- 
 er may know when it fhall be worth his while to go to 
 our Theatres. 
 
 XI. PROPOSAL. 
 
 ** To cut fome Canals between our great Towns of 
 
 “ Trad* 
 
is Essay w Trade. 75 
 
 <( Trade, for the Conveniency and Gheapnefs of 
 “ Carriage.” Canals, are much preferable to the make- 
 ing Rivers navigable, even where both might be done. 
 For in the firft Place, the Expence is not greater, except 
 perhaps the Purchafe of the Ground. In the next Place, 
 they are kept and repaired at a much eafier Rate. They 
 are not fubjeCt to Inundations, or the Shifting of the 
 Sand and Gravel, and are generally much Ihorter and 
 {freighter. But what is above every other Confideration, 
 R Boat laden with Merchandize in a Canal, may be drawn 
 by a Angle Horfe, on a full Trot, as in Holland, up or 
 down the Stream, whether there be a Flood or not ; 
 and requires but two Men to guide it. 
 
 If a Canal was dug between Reading and Bath , then 
 there would be an eafy and cheap Communication be- 
 tween the two principal Cities of the Kingdom, London 
 and Brijlol: Goods and Paflengers might be carried at 
 one Quarter of the prefent Expence : And furely 75 /. 
 perCent. faved in Freight, deferves Confideration. The 
 River Rennet , from Reading to Silbury Hill , is a plain II- 
 luftration how practicable, fo far, fuch a Scheme might 
 be. And from thence to the Defcent towards Cain, on 
 the Bath Side, is the only Difficulty. But fuch who 
 have feen the great Canal of Languedoc , are very well 
 affined it might eafily be performed, and at a fortieth 
 Part of the Expence which the other was. IN ay, on 
 .flat Grounds near Yatefiirry Church, Water is fo plenty 
 in the Winter Time, that it lies upon the Surface for 
 Weeks together. And as there are rifing Grounds on 
 both Sides, Refervoirs might be made to receive the 
 Land Floods, and fupply the Canal with Water during 
 the dry Seafon. But if the Canal itfelf was only funk 
 ten or twelve Feet deeper than ordinary, for two or three 
 Furlongs, it is very probable, that natural Springs would 
 be met with between thofe Hills. For the Wells at Yatef- 
 bury, as I remember, are not twenty Feet deep. What a 
 pity is it therefore, that fo many Advantages are neg- 
 lected ? If the like Situation had been in France, a Canal 
 had been made long ago. Indeed fomething might have 
 been alledged in our Excufe, had we the fame Difficul- 
 ties to encounter with which the French furmounted in 
 making the Canal of Languedoc , and are again to fur- 
 mount in making the new Canal from the Durance to 
 
 Marfeilles. 
 
j6 /i* Ej?a? m Trad*. 
 
 MarfeiUes. But there are no ObftrufHons of Rivers and 
 Rivulets in our Way; no need of making Arches, and 
 Troughs of Stone to carry the Canal over them; no 
 fleep Hills to afcend, or Mountains to pierce through : 
 And yet the Thing is not fo much as attempted, though 
 the common Intereft, and the Situation of the Country, 
 fo ftrongly invite us to perform it. 
 
 A Canal alfo ought to be dug between Glafgmo and 
 the Shore oppofite to Alloway, which would open a 
 Communication between Glafgow , and Leith the Port of 
 Edinburgh. The Situation in thefe Parts is extremely 
 inviting, even more fo than the former ; as the Paflage 
 is much fhorter. And our Soldiers in Times of Peace 
 might be employed in the publick Works, alternately 
 with performing their Exercife, receiving a fuitable Ad- 
 dition to their Pay when when they are at Work. 
 
 XII. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To raife a Fifhery on the Northern Coaft of Scat- 
 “ land," by giving a double Premium for fome Years, 
 till the Trade is fufficiently eftablilhed, for all Herrings 
 caught and cured by Perfons refiding within certain Dif- 
 tri&s, and exported to foreign Markets. 
 
 Several other Schemes have been lately offered to 
 the Publick in relation to this Matter ; and all of them, 
 undoubtedly, good in fome Refpefts. Every Thing of 
 this Nature hath its refpe£Hve Convenience and Incon- 
 venience. And if the Scheme for carrying on the Fifh- 
 eries by means of a Joint Stock, and a Company, im- 
 powered to make By-Laws, and prefcribe Rules and Re- 
 gulations, can ftand clear of the imminent Hazard of 
 degenerating into a Jobb, through the corrupt Influence 
 and finifter Views of the Managers and Direftors of 
 fuch a Company. I fay, if the Scheme is freed from all 
 reafonabie Sufpicion of tending to fuch a Point, I Ihould 
 much rather prefer it to that which is here, with great 
 Submiffion, offered in its Stead. It is certain, that a 
 joint Stock is a quicker, and more expeditious Way; 
 but the Encouragement of a double Bounty appears to 
 be more fure, and lefs liable to be corrupted. For in 
 this latter Cafe, there are no Sums advanced till the 
 Work is done, and the Herrings publicity examined, 
 
 whether 
 
An Essay m Trade. 77 
 
 'whether they are marketable or not : There is no fin- 
 gering of the Money in the mean Time by Managers 
 and Direttors ; nor can there be any Items of Expences 
 and Dilburfements, Fees and Salaries, brought to Ac- 
 count : Things which are the Bane of all publick So- 
 cieties, and the great Caufe of their Corruption, and 
 degenerating from their original Inftitution. 
 
 Besides, if a double Bounty, or perhaps five Shil- 
 lings per Barrel, were given for all Herrings fo cured 
 and exported, it feems to me, that the Dutch themfelves 
 Would be tempted, by the Lucre of fuch a Bounty, to 
 fettle on the Northern Coafts of Scotland, and make one 
 People with the Inhabitants of the Country ; which 
 would be the greateft Advantage that Part of the King- 
 dom could poffibly receive. 
 
 XIII. PROPOSAL. 
 
 u To eftablifh Civil Governments at Gibraltar and 
 <$ Port- Mahon, and make them Free Ports.” The Si- 
 tuation of Gibraltar is extremely commodious for vend- 
 ing feveral Sorts of Commodities in Spain and Barbary : 
 And the Ifland of Minorca is not lefs happily fituated for 
 carrying on an advantageous Commerce with fome Parts 
 of France and Italy , and, by means of the neighbouring 
 Ifland of Majorca, with Spain alfo. Several Sorts of 
 coarfe Woollen Stuffs, and Mancbefler Goods, would be 
 acceptable in Barbary, provided they could be had rea- 
 fonably cheap : Which can never be, till there is a free 
 Port. Several Sorts of the Manufa&ures of Manchejler 
 and Spittle- Fields, would be very agreeable to the Tafte 
 of the Spaniards, French , and Italians . But above all, 
 our Birmingham W are, our Cutlery, Razors and Sciflars, 
 Watches and Chains, Locks, Metal Buttons, Snuff 
 Boxes, Toys, and all the Sorts of Bijoux d' Angleterre, 
 as the French call them, which they are inexpreffibly 
 fond of, would find a prodigious Vent in all thefe Coun- 
 tries. The lead Amount of the whole Trade, that might 
 be carried on by means of thefe two Ports, were they 
 made free, w. >uld be 1 00,000 /. a Year. And furely fuch 
 a Sum is worth the Getting ; efpecially by a Nation 
 80,000, oco /. in Debt. 
 
 It 
 
7 8 An E s s a r on T r a p e. 
 
 If a Scheme of this kind was to take Place in the 
 Ifland of Minorca , it would then alfo Hand a fair Chance 
 of being peopled by EngUJh Familes, or by fuch as are 
 well -affe died to the EngUJh Government. Whereas at 
 prefent there are fcarce any, except the Garrifon, but bi- 
 gotted Spaniards, who at the firft taking of the Place, 
 would have been glad to have parted with theirPoflelfions 
 for a Trifle, and to have retired into Spain. But now 
 they are got immenfely rich ; their Lands are faid to be 
 more than five Times their former Value ; and yet their 
 Bigotry and Averfion continue as ftrong as ever. 
 
 XIV. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To have publick InfpeCtors into all our Manufactures * 
 and to oblige all Exporters to deliver in Samples of the 
 Commodities they intend to export, in order that they 
 may be compared together, before the Goods are fuffer- 
 ed to be put on Ship-board. This, if faithfully and 
 honeftly executed, would always keep up the Credit of 
 our Manufactures at home and abroad, on which the 
 Spirit and Life of Trade principally depends. All pof- 
 fible Means fliould be taken to prevent private Frauds in 
 packing, Deficiencies in Weight and Meafure, undue 
 ftretching of Cloths upon the Rack, which alone hath 
 occafioned irreparable Lofs to this Nation. The Frau- 
 dulent and Deceitful fliould be prevented, as much as 
 it is poflible, from getting Rich at the Expence of their 
 honefl: Neighbours, and the Welfare of their Country, 
 which is to often facrificed to their Knavery. 
 
 In Ihort, in all Kinds of Manufactures, the worlt 
 Part of it fliould be put outermoft for a Sample, not 
 the Beft ; that fo the Buyer, in feeing the Mark and 
 Seal of the Office, may confide in that, and be allured, 
 that he is not deceived by what is out of Sight. 
 
 XV. PROPOSAL. 
 
 <e To alter the Method of collecting our Duties 
 upon particular Sorts of Goods imported, viz. ”* By 
 
 lodging 
 
 * Something hath been already faid on this Subject, Page 
 70. Query III. Where a Policy was propofed to prevent 
 
 Smug* 
 
A Essai m Tudi. if 
 
 lodging them in Warehoufes erefled at the publick Ex- 
 pence, till the Importer fetches them away, according 
 as he wants them, and pays the Duty, or caufes it to 
 be paid by the Perfon who purchafes of him. This 
 Scheme, I am fenfible, would rife a great Glamour, if 
 enforced by any compulfive Law ; but if left to each 
 Perfon’s free Choice, there is the higheft Probability, 
 that it would universally obtain. Suppofe, therefore, 
 that the Laws relating to the Cuftoms in general Ihould 
 continue as they are ; . but that Permilfion fhould be 
 granted to fuch Perfons as are defirous of ufing it, to 
 land their Goods in the publick Magazines, there to re- 
 main at the ufal moderate Rent for Cellarage, till fuch 
 Time as they find it their Intereft to remove them, and 
 then to pay the Duty. If fuch a Permilfion was grant- 
 ed the Importers of Sugars, Rum, Wines, Brandies, 
 Tobacco, Raifins, Prunes, and Currants, it is ealy to 
 forefee, that almoft every one concerned would embrace 
 it. For, in the firft Place, the * Expence of Ware- 
 houfe-Room would be juft the fame ; but the Difference 
 between paying the Duty all at once upon Importation, 
 and paying by Degrees, would be very great, and much 
 to the Advantage both of the Importer, and the Pub- 
 lick. The Importer would be a Gainer, as he would 
 not be ftreightned for Money to pay the Duties every 
 time the Ship arrives ; and might keep his Goods till 
 he faw a promifing Market, or might export them to 
 fome Foreign Country, if they bore there a better 
 Price. And this itfelf would be a great Advantage to 
 the Publick, as it would render our Country a kind of 
 common Magazine for others, and as we Ihould get by 
 it all the Profits of Freight and Gommilfion : And Per- 
 fons of Intelligence and Speculation would then engage 
 in the fpeculative Part of Trade ; that is, they would 
 buy up all Commodities that were cheap in Foreign 
 Countries, lodge them in their own, or the King’s Ware- 
 houfes, and then re-export them to thofe Countries 
 
 where 
 
 Smuggling : But as Truth is uniform throughout, and is at- 
 tended with all poffible Advantages, the Propofal is now con- 
 fidered under another View. 
 
 * If no Publick Magazines were erefled, the Merchant 
 mio'ht put the Goods in his own Ware-boufe, fiaving one 
 Key himfelf, and the King* Officer another. 
 
80 An Essay tn Trade. 
 
 where the demand ran higheft. But this cannot be done 
 upon the prefent Syftem of paying Duties. Moreover, 
 the Publick would be more elpecially benefited, as the 
 Trade would be increafed, and the Goods afforded much 
 the cheaper.*— — — ** When a Trade can be carried on 
 with a fmall Stock, the more Perfons are capable of 
 embarking in it : And when the Duties are not paid all 
 at once, but by Degrees, as the Goods can be fold, the 
 Home-Confumer will buy fo much the cheaper. For 
 he will only pay the King’s fimple Duty, the Expences 
 of the Adventure, and the Merchant’s fingle Gains 
 upon the Adventure : Whereas, according to the pre- 
 fent Way of colle&ing the Revenues, every Confu- 
 mer pays another conliderable Article, viz. “ The 
 “ Gains of the Merchant on the Sums advanced to pay 
 “ the King’s Duty.” And if the Goods have paffed 
 from the Merchant Importer to the laft Retailer, thro* 
 two or three Hands, before they come to the Gonfu- 
 mer, than he pays two or three Advances the more.* 
 So that in faft, he not only pays the firft Duty to the 
 King, but perhaps twice as much to others, by Means 
 of thefe Advances upon Advances. The Confequence 
 of all which is, that Trade becomes monopolized by a 
 few rich Perfons, becaufe their is a greater Stock re- 
 quired to carry it on .• And Smugglers will be the more 
 audacious, becaufe the Temptations to, and the Gains 
 of Smuggling, become fo much the greater. Where- 
 as by the Method now propofed, both thefe Mifchiefs 
 would be prevented to a great Degree. Note, Obferve, 
 lft. The Propofal here made, compels no Perfons to 
 fubmit to thefe Regulations, but only permits them to 
 make ufe of them, if they are difpofed to do it. Note, 
 Obferve, 2dly, That this Scheme requires no new Offi- 
 cers, even at the Commencement of it : And when it 
 .has been thoroughly tried and known, it would certain- 
 ly greatly leflen the Number of them. A Set of 'Pub- 
 lick Magazines (which, by the By, might be fo con- 
 trived as to be ornamental as well as ufeful) built 
 uniformly, and in a Quadrangular Figure, might eafily 
 
 be 
 
 * See this Affair fet in a true and ftrong Light in a Treatile 
 entitled, An Effcy on the Caufes of the Decline of the Foreign 
 Trade, London , 1744 Printed for J, Brotbertoa, London, 
 pages 16, and 17. 
 
An E s s a T in T r a d e. 8r 
 
 lie taken Care of and infpe&ed by a very few Officers* 
 might well be Ipared from the Numbers now employed 
 as Land-Waiters, Tide-Waiters, Deputies, Extraordi- 
 nary Men, &c. &c. " " r -Note, Obferve, 3dly, That 
 with relpefl to any Embezzlement, which thefe Maga- 
 zine-keepers might be tofpe&ed of, this might be pre- 
 vented, as much as any thing of fuch a Nature can pol- 
 fibly be (not only by weighing the Goods, gauging 
 them, and taking Samples before they are delivered in- 
 to the Officers Care) but alfo my making it neceffiary, 
 that thefe Officers ffiould be engaged with two fufficient 
 Bondfmen in two Sorts of Securities, one to the King, 
 to enforce their Fidelity to him, and another to the 
 Mayor or chief Magiftrate of the Town, and his Suc- 
 ceffiors, where the Magazine is kept, in Trull: for the 
 Merchants, to enfure their Honefty to them : And that 
 when any of thefe Officers are fulpefted of embezzling 
 the Merchants Property, the Party aggrieved may be at 
 Liberty to bring an Aflion in the Name of the Mayor* 
 or chief Magiftrate for the Time being, and recover 
 treble Damages, with Cofts of Suit, on Proof of fuch 
 Embezzlement. Now in all thefe Relpefts the prefent 
 Propofal differs entirely from the late famous Excife 
 Scheme ; and every Obje&ion made againft that, is 
 obviated here. 
 
 As this laft Propofal, and one or two more, would 
 be attended with fome Expence, were they carried into 
 Execution — —And as the Nation, in its prefent 
 Circumftances, might be fuppofed incapable of bear- 
 ing a farther Load ; I ffiall therefore endeavour to point 
 out a Method how certain Taxes might be raifed, with- 
 out burdening any of the Neceffaries of Life, and yet 
 fufficient to anfwer all thefe Expences, and be more- 
 over highly conducive to the Reformation of the Mo- 
 rals of the People, and the general Welfare of the 
 Kingdom, viz. 
 
 XVI. PROPOSAL. 
 
 To lay certain Taxes on the following Articles of 
 Luxury, Vice, or Extravagance ; which Taxes ffiall be 
 applied to the general Improvement of Commerce : By 
 Maintaining Contois, and eroding Forts, according to 
 
 G Propofal 
 
82 An E s s a Y en T r a d e. 
 
 Propofal VI. Building of Magazines and Warehoufes, 
 •as (pecified in Propofal XV. Giving Bounties and 
 Perlonal Premiums to the greateft Exporters of our 
 own Manufactures,- the like to the greateft Import- 
 ers of Rave Materials from Foreign Countries,— — 
 
 efpccially from our own Plantations, according to Pro- 
 pofal VIII.- And in fhort, by purfuing all fuch 
 
 Ways and Means, as ferve to excite the Merchant and 
 Manufacturer to promote the Intereft of their Country, 
 and their own together. Wherefore, the 
 
 i ft Tax propofed is, That upon Batchelors, and 
 Widowers, of a certain Age, without Children. 
 
 The manifold ill Confequences that flow from the 
 modifli Praftice of Men’s living Batchelors, are too 
 glaring and evident. For we may venture to pronouce, 
 without any Degree of Uncharitablenefs, That it is 
 one great Caufe of all the Lewdnefs and Debauchery 
 of this Age. Some few indeed undoubtedly there are, 
 who no ways contribute to thefe Immoralities by their 
 Angle Life. But they are too inconfiderable in Number 
 to deferve to have particular Exemptions, even were it 
 poffible to diftinguifh them from others, which it is not 
 poflible to do in a legal Way. In all Things calculated 
 for the general Good, fome Individuals muft fufler ; 
 and it cannot be avoided. Now ( to confider this Mat- 
 ter merely in a commercial Light) as there are at leaft 
 Ninety-nine in an Hundred, who gratify their Defires, 
 but fo as to add no proper increafe to the publick Stock 
 of Inhabitants, in which the Riches and Strength of a 
 Nation do confifl, one may eafily judge of the Evil of 
 fuch a Praftice, by its bad Confequences. And in 
 London particularly, where this Vice of living Batchelors 
 moftiy prevails, there it is obfervable, by the Bills of 
 * Mortality, that more Perfons die than are born, every 
 
 Year. 
 
 * To this Paragraph it has been objefted, that the yearly 
 Bills of Mortality, which make the Burials more than the 
 Births, are not to be relied upon, as to this Point : “ Be- 
 “ caufe there are no Births regiftered, but the Births of thofe 
 “ who are baptized according to the Form of the eftablifhed 
 “ Ghurehj whereas Diflenters of moft Denominations are 
 11 buried in the Church, and consequently regiitred there.” 
 Now as it is a very material Article to know, with fome 
 
 Degree 
 
Essay ot Trade, 83 
 
 Year. So that were it not for the continual Supplies 
 from the Country, where the Marriage State is not yet 
 quite fo unfafhionable, that great Metropolis would be 
 depopulated in a Courfe of Years. And yet there is 
 
 G 2 no 
 
 Degree of Certainty, Whether more Perfons die in London , 
 
 than are born ; and confequently, Whether the whole 
 
 City would not be depopulated in a Century or two, if the 
 Inhabitants followed the fame Courfes they now do, were it 
 not for the Influx of Strangers to fupply thefe Deficiencies j 
 I lhall therefore beg Leave to offer the following Confidera- 
 tions, in Reply to the above Objection. 
 
 I. Some Children are begot in the Country, yet born in 
 London •, fuch, for Inftance, whofe Mothers come up to Town 
 for the Convenience of fkilful Attendance : And as this is the 
 Cafe with many Families of Diftindtion, confequently the 
 Number of Births is fo much increafed. 
 
 II. Many Perfons contradt their Death-Sicknefs in London^ 
 yet are carried out of it for the Benefit of the Air, and die 
 in the Country ; there they are buried, and no Notice taken 
 of them in the Regifters within the Bills of Mortality. 
 
 III. Just the fame is the Cafe of thofe, who die in London , 
 yet are carried to their Burial-Places in the Country ; The 
 Number of thofe is confiderable in the Year ; whereas there 
 are few Inftances of Perfons being carried out of the Coun- 
 try, to be interred in London. 
 
 IV. Many Diffenters of different Denominations have 
 Burial-Places of their own ; and confequently, the Numbers 
 of their Dead do not fwell the Regifters of the eftablifhed 
 Church fo much as might be imagined. 
 
 But, allowing that the Numbers of Diffenters buried in 
 the eftablifhed Church may make fbme Difference in the Ac- 
 count, ftill this Difference cannot amount to any thing near 
 the Sum which is found to be the Difference between Births 
 and Burials, in the Compafs of a Year ; viz. about Seven 
 Thousand Souls. The Numbers of Births, generally 
 fpeaking, amount to 14 ©r 16000 in a Year ; and the Bu- 
 rials from 21 to 24000 in the fame Time : A Difference of 
 three to two. How foon would this depopulate any Country, 
 were it not for foreign Supplies? And how terrible do the 
 Effedts of Vice, Lewdnefs and Debauchery appear to the 
 <reneral Intereft of a Kingdom, when feen from this Point of 
 View? What an Abfurdity, therefore, was it in the Author 
 of The Fable of the Bees, to fay, That Private Vices are Pub- 
 lick Benefits! It is Virtue alone which can make a Nation 
 flourifh. And Vice of every Kind is, either immediately, 
 or in it* Confcquences, injuriou* to Commerce. 
 
§4 Jib E s s a r on T » * t> t. 
 
 r,o Plade in which there are fo great Numbers of the 
 Female Sex, in the Proportion, as in London. Can it 
 be credited, though perhaps it is too true, That in this 
 City alone there are upwards of Ten Thoufand loofe 
 Women, from fixteen Years old to forty, who have 
 not Fifty Children in a Year ? And the few they have, 
 are born with all forts of Diforders, and educated, if 
 they chance to live, in all kinds of Vices and Wicked- 
 nefs ? In fhort, it has been often remarked, That the 
 greateft Rakes that all Europe can produce, when they 
 arrive in England, and come to London, are quite fhock- 
 ed and fcandalized at the unparalleled Lewdnefs and 
 Debauchery reigning among Us, fo far beyond any 
 Thing they could have imagined. Now if thefe Ten 
 thoufand loofe Women had not been debauched and 
 corrupted, and were married to Perfons of their own 
 Rank and Condition, they might have had at leaf! One 
 Thoufand healthy Children every Year ; and thefe in a 
 fair Way to be bred to honeft Trades and Callings. 
 Befides, upon the prefent Footing, the Injuflice done 
 to the married Tradefmen, and Landed Gentlemen, is 
 mod grievous and intolerable. * For they pay the 
 Excife, and feveral other Duties, in Proportion to the 
 Confumption of their Families j but the Batchelor pays 
 only for his fingle Self; i. e. Thofe who are mod be- 
 neficial to the Publick, are doubly, trebly or quadruply 
 taxed, in Proportion as they are beneficial ; and others 
 who are a Nufance to it, are therefore exempted. Is 
 there any Juflice or Equity in this ? I add, Men may 
 underfland thefe Things as Patriots and Politicians, 
 who would turn a deaf Ear to Ledlures in Morality and 
 Divinity. Nay more. Such Abounding of Lewdnefs, 
 and Surfeiting of Proffitution, doth in Faff tend to in- 
 creafe the more unnatural Vices, inftead of preventing 
 them, as it is vulgarly, though erroneoufly, fuppofed. 
 And the Hiffory of all Nations, from the former Times 
 down to the prefent, confirms this AlTertion. Antient 
 Greece and Rome, and modern England , to mention no 
 more, have furnifhed too many Examples in proof of 
 this Point. And Reafon itfelf fhould tell us, That it 
 is with this, as with all other depraved Appetites, where 
 Surfeiting and Satiety are Inducements to feek out lefs 
 natural Ways of Gratification. 
 
 Wher tore 
 
 * Caufes of the Decline, &c. p. 8, 9, — . — and 15. 
 
An EmY «« Tkabi, 85 
 
 Whirifoie the Propofal here is. That all Bache- 
 lors, after they have attained to the Age of Twenty- 
 
 five Years, lhall pay treble King’s Tax,-- Poor 
 
 Tax, : Windovv Tax, and the Taxes upon 
 
 Coaches, till they marry: And that all Widowers, be- 
 tween Thirty and Fifty, if they have no Children, 
 fhall pay double. Thus the greateft, i. e. the 
 wealthieft Offenders, are properly mulcted. For un- 
 doubtedly they have it in their Power to fettle in the 
 World, if they will. They are the People who fet 
 bad Examples ; and by their Station, Riches, Intrigues, 
 and Addrefs, debauch thofe young Women at firft, 
 who afterwards become the common Proftitutes of the 
 Town. But as this only reaches the wealthieft of them ; 
 and as there are vaft Numbers of fingle Men, whom 
 this Scheme would not affeft, therefore there Ihould be 
 added to it a general Capitation Tax for all Batchelors, 
 of whatfoever Degree, above Twenty-five Years of 
 Age. And if this was fixed at twenty Shilling a Head 
 per Ann. for all above the Condition of Day-Labourers, 
 and at Ten Shillings, for them (with an Exemption only 
 for common Soldiers and Sailors) it would be a veryjuft 
 and equitable Law, and would certainly be attended 
 with many good Confequences, both as to the Morals 
 and the Commerce of the Nation. The 
 
 2d Tax propofed, is, That upon menial Men-Ser- 
 vants, i. e, fuch who are not employed either for the 
 Purpofes of Hulbandry or Commerce, but for State 
 and Grandeur. 
 
 It was the great Principle, which run through the 
 whole Plan of The Effay on the Caufes of the Decline of 
 Foreign Frade, before quoted, That each Perfon fhould 
 tax himfelf according to the Figure and Station of Life 
 
 he chofe to appear in ; But that all the Neceffaries 
 
 of Life Ihould be Duty free. Now in the Cafe before 
 Us, Livery Servants, Footmen, Valets, Men Cooks, 
 &c. &c. certainly cannot be ranked among the Necef- 
 faries of Life, and therefore are the proper Subjects 
 for fuch a Tax. If any one choofes to have them, he 
 himfelf choofes to appear in an elevated Condition, 
 and therefore is the fitteft to pay towards improving 
 the Commerce, and extending the general Intereft of 
 the Kingdom. 
 
 But that is not all : Forthefe Man- Servants, gene- 
 rally 
 
86 An Essay on Traps. 
 
 rally (peaking, are by Nature fitter for other Employ- 
 ments, had they not taken up with this idle one ; and 
 might have been ufeful to their Country, by Sea or 
 Land, either in the feveral Parts of Husbandry, or in 
 laborious Trades; whereas by their prefent Way! of 
 Living they render themfelves ufelefs in all Refpefts ; 
 and not only fo, but keep Thoufands of the other Sex 
 Out of an honeft Employrnent, which by Nature they 
 are fitteft for; and very often are tempted for the 
 Want of it to take to vicious Gourfes. I believe it will 
 hardly be denied, but that Women Servants might 
 peform all the Fun&ions, which Men Servants do, in 
 refpeT to waiting at Table, tending the Tea-kettle, 
 &c. and equally as well. They might walk behind their 
 Ladies, and carry their Books to Church, as well as any 
 Footmen, and why they are not permitted to do it, 
 is Matter of fome Aftonifhment to a thinking Mind. 
 In fhort, the poorer and the middling Patt of the Fe- 
 male Sex, are deprived of thofe Employments which 
 properly belong to them, very often to their own utter 
 Ruin, and the Detriment of Society. If a young Wo- 
 man has a genteel Education, and a fmall Fortune, 
 fhe {lands upon the Brink of Deftru&ion ; and even if 
 Ihe is defirous, {he fcarcely knows What Trade to put 
 lierfelf to, in order to be out of the Way of Temptation. 
 For, excepting two or three Trades, which Women 
 {fill retain, all the reft are engrofted by Men. We have 
 Men-Mantua-makers, Men- Milliners, Men- Stay-makers, 
 Men-Shoe -makers for Womens Shoes, Men-Hair-Cut- 
 ters for Womens Hair, &c. and very likely in time we 
 {hall have Sempftreffes, Laundreftes, and Clear- Starch- 
 ers of the fame Sex. 
 
 Such Perverfions as tbefe, of the Order of Society, 
 are not of fmall ill Confequence, either to the Welfare 
 of Individuals, or the Good of the State. And there- 
 fore to difeourage fuch Practices as much as may be, in 
 the Affair of Men-Servants, The Propofal is, That 
 each of them {hall be taxed Two- Shillings and Six- 
 Pence in the Pound, according to their Wages, to be 
 paid by their Mafters and MiftrefTes, and to be colle&ed 
 by the Officers of the Window-Tax. If a Scheme of 
 this Nature were effectually put in Practice, the Confe- 
 rence would be, either, That Women- Servants would 
 
 be 
 
An E s s a Y on T r a d e. 87 
 
 be employed, rather than Men, which would anfwer a. 
 
 good End in that Refpeft; or elfe, that thefe 
 
 Men-Servants, though idle and ufelefs in themfelves, 
 would contribute to the promoting of Commerce and 
 extending our Trade, by means of the Tax they pay 
 for this End ; though forely againft their Will. 
 
 The 3d Taxpropofed, is, That upon Saddle-Horfes. 
 
 The Tax upon Coaches, as far as it went, was an 
 excellent and publick-fpirited A£t of the Legiflature, 
 It was laying the Burden, where it ought always to be 
 laid, viz. upon the Luxuries, the Ornaments and Re- 
 finements of Living. But undoubtedly it was defective 
 as to its Extent : Many Gentlemen of Fortune, efpe- 
 cially if they are fingle, do not choofe to keep Coaches ; 
 and others may live in fuch Parts of the Country, 
 where the Situation is not convenient for their fo doing-. 
 Yet they all keep Saddle Horfes in abundance, Hunt- 
 ers, and perhaps Racers, — - — -without paying 
 
 any Tax; though thefe Things are Articles of mere 
 Luxury, Parade, and Pleafure, as much as Coaches. 
 Is there now any Equity or Juftice in this ? And are not 
 fuch Perfons the propereft Subjects to pay towards the 
 Support of our Manufactures, and extending our Com- 
 merce ? Undoubtedly they are : And therefore the Pro- 
 pofal is this. That all Owners of Saddle Horfes, young 
 Horfes under five Years old excepted, be taxed at the 
 
 Rate of five Shillings per Horfe every Year?- — -fav- 
 
 ing only one Horfe, which fhali be admitted to be kept 
 free from all Tax by each Owner, on the Suppofition, 
 That Riding may be neceffary for his Health, or on the 
 Account of Bufinefs. If greater Allowances than this 
 were made, it would be opening a Door for Fraud and 
 Collufion : And iflefs, it might bear hard upon the real 
 Wants and Neceffities of many People. Perhaps even 
 this Indulgence of one Horfe, Tax-free, to each Pro- 
 prietor, might feem too rigorous a Reflraint ; and might 
 actually be fo in certain Circum fiances ; . but in all Cafes 
 of publick Concern, it is impoffible to adjuft Things in 
 fuch a Manner, as that every Perfon can be pleafed,— - 
 or even that the Interefl of every Individual may be fo 
 particularly taken Care of, according to the Nature of 
 his peculiar Circumftances, as that he can have no juft 
 Reafon to complain. To proceed therefore, the 
 
 4th 
 
88 An £ s s a y »n T R a o e. 
 
 4th Tax propofed to be levied is on Dogs of every 
 Sort and Kind, except Shepherds Dogs, and Houfe 
 Dogs. For every thing beyond this, is mod undoubt- 
 edly an Article of Luxury and Diverfion ; and as fuch, 
 juftly liable to be Taxed. 
 
 Wherefore the Propofal is, That the Owners of 
 all Dogs (hall pay One Shilling for each Dog every 
 Year. And as there are fuch prodigious Numbers of 
 Hounds, Greyhounds, Pointers, Setters , Spaniels, Bea- 
 gles, Lap-Dogs and Turnfpits all over the Kingdom, 
 this would bring in a very confiderable Revenue, which 
 might be employed to the greateft National Advantage, 
 in lupporting and extending our Trade and Commerce. 
 ——If this Tax fhould caufe a Diminution of the Spe- 
 cies, there would be no Harm in that ; nay, it would be 
 attended with a great deal of Good ; as for many other 
 Reafons, fo particularly for this, That the dreadful and 
 (hocking Calamities attending the Bite of Mad Dogs, 
 
 would be lefs frequent than they now are. If any 
 
 one Ihould object, That Turn-fpits ought to be conli- 
 dered as neceJTary Implements for drelfing Victuals, and 
 therefore ought to be excepted out of this Regulation : 
 The Anfwer is obvious and eafy, viz. That Jacks and 
 Smoke-Jacks are preferable to Turn-fpits in every Re- 
 Ipeft : - They are cheaper, all Things confidered ; 
 
 and a Species of Manufacture which ought to be en- 
 couraged. But above all, there is no Danger from 
 them of thofe fhocking Confequences aforementioned, 
 which every Year have occafioned the Death of many 
 People, in the mofl dreadful manner. 
 
 Add to this, That no other Method, than what is 
 here propofed, can be effectual for the Prefervation of 
 the Game. For as long as Poachers of all Kinds are 
 allowed to keep Dogs, free of any Tax, it will be im- 
 poffible for Penal Laws, in fuch a Conftitution as 
 England is under, to prevent their ufing them to the 
 Deftruftion of the Game. But the laying a Tax upon 
 Dogs ftrikes at the principal Root of the Evil complain- 
 ed of. 
 
 The 5th Tax propofed, is a double Turnpike Tax 
 on all Perfons who travel on Sundays. A modiih and a 
 reigning Vice this ! which ought to receive fome Check 
 and Difcountenance from the Legiflature. Not once in 
 
 a thoufand 
 
4 n E s s A T on T r a u e. $9 
 
 a thoufand times can there be a juft and reafonable Ex- 
 cufe for this Practice ; and therefore it becomes a pro- 
 per and fit Subjeft for a Tax, according to the Princi- 
 ples before laid down. 
 
 In fhort, We fubmit it with great Deference to the 
 judgment of the intelligent Reader, Whether there is 
 not ample Provilion made in this Propofal, for all the 
 Expences which might be incurred by the Execution of 
 any of the Reft — -and that without burdening any 
 one Article of the real Neceflaries of Life. Were the 
 Taxes to be laid, as here recommended, they would 
 indeed very probably caufe a confiderable Diminution of 
 the xArticles which were to pay thefe Taxes : But even 
 that Circumftance would prove, in many Refpecls, a 
 very great National Advantage. And were the Mo- 
 
 nies raifed by thefe Taxes, properly, judicioufly, and 
 faithfully applied to the good Ufes and Purpofes before 
 mentioned, perhaps there would not be a Nation in the 
 World, which could vie with us in Number of Inhabit- 
 ants, Extent of Commerce, and the flourifhing State of 
 our Colonies and Faftories in both the Indies. 
 
 Taxes, in their own Nature, if they are properly 
 and judicioufly laid on, are fo far from caufing Com- 
 merce to ftagnate, that they quicken and enliven it : 
 And therefore may be compared to the pruning of a 
 Tree by a Skilful Hand, by which means the Tree is 
 preferved in Health, and lafts the longer. The Fruit 
 (upon the whole) is more in Quantity and better in Qua- 
 lity, and a vigorous Circulation and equal Nourifti- 
 ment are maintained throughout. Whereas on the 
 other Hand, one Angle Tax, though fmail in its A- 
 mount, if injudiciously laid on, fo as to flop the P10- 
 grefs or Circulation of Labour, is in fa<ft the heavieft 
 and mod infupportable of all others. This is a Doc- 
 trine little underftood, efpecially by the Landed Intereft, 
 who of all Perfons ought to ftudy it the moft, as it 
 never can be their Intereft to aft upon a contrary Prin- 
 ciple. 
 
 CON- 
 
90 
 
 An Essay en Traps. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 A ND thus have I ventured to give my Sentiments, 
 with that Freedom and Unrefervednefs, which is 
 natural to Men who mean well, and whofe foie Aim is 
 
 the Good and Profperity of their Country, As I 
 
 have no private Ends of my own to ferve, either the 
 one Way or the other, I have had no Biafs of Self-lnte- 
 refl upon my Mind. 
 
 It is true, I eonfefs that many of the Proposals 
 here made, are Subjefts very unpopular in the prefent 
 Times : Neither would I willingly have advanced any 
 thing harfh or difagreeable, even to prejudiced Minds, 
 were it poflible to have made Truth and Popularity, in 
 this Caie, confift together. But fince that cannot be, 
 what nuift be done ? Muft we Bill go on, increafihg in 
 our Diforders, and beholding our Rivals taking their 
 Advantage of thefe Misfortunes, merely becaufe fome 
 People do not choofe to be told where the Core of 
 the Evil lies, and how it may be taken out? If the 
 
 Altera- 
 
An E s s a r m Trade. gi 
 
 Ahe rations here propofed are nece/Tary or advantage- 
 ous to the Publick, that alone (hould be fufficient to re- 
 commend them to the Elteem of all Perfons of Worth 
 and Character ; But if they are not, I put in no Plea 
 
 or Apology for them : Only I will add, on behalf 
 
 of the Author, that his Intentions were good, though 
 He was miftaken. 
 
 I am alfo well aware, that there is a cuftomary Pre- 
 poflellion entertained againft Projects of all Kinds ; 
 And that Projectors are looked upon as a Race of Be- 
 ings who have fomething very lingular and whimfical in 
 their Compofition. And yet I think it mull be allowed, 
 that, notwithhanding all the Prejudices which fome 
 chimerical Gentlemen of this Stamp have drawn upon 
 thernfelves, there mull be both ProjeCts and Projectors, 
 when Things are bad, and want mending ; otherwife 
 they never could have been better, nor the Faults cor- 
 rected. 
 
 With RefpeCt to the Cafe before us, there are two 
 general Objections, as far as I am able to perceive, 
 which may be made again:! what has been advanced. 
 
 The fiilt is, that many of the Propofals, though they 
 may be right in Theory, are impracticable inFaCt. 
 
 The fecond is, that the Schemes here laid down, 
 are attended with their Inconveniencies as well as others. 
 
 To the First of thefe I reply ; That no one can 
 be certain of this, till an Attempt has been made to put 
 them in PraCtice : And we may be very lure, Every one 
 of them might be eafily put in Execution, were Perfons 
 as really animated with the Love of their Country, and 
 as truly concerned for its Welfare and Profperity, as 
 they pretend to be ; And had fome among us, in their 
 Oppofition to every flea fore of the Government, no 
 dark, latent Scheme at Heart, which they cover over 
 with fpecious Names. 
 
 Besides, None of thefe Schemes, no, not all of 
 them together, are fo difficult in thernfelves to be car- 
 ried into Execution, as that fingle one which has been 
 fb haepily perfected in our own Days, the Union with 
 Scotland.— —In that Cafe, inveterate National Preju- 
 
 dices, National Pride, Family- Intered. Sell Intereft, 
 Jacobitical Intcreft, Pretences of Gonfcience, Fears of 
 
A E«5iT m Txidi, 
 
 Religion, and the refpettive Churches of both King- 
 doms — All thefe confpired to heap up Difficulties 
 
 in the Way. And yet all were furmounted by the Firm- 
 nefs and Addrefs of thofe true Patriots of both King- 
 dr ms, to their immortal Honour, who had the Ma- 
 mgement of that Affair. Whereas in the prefent Cafe, 
 theie can be no Pretences of Confcience, no Fears of 
 the Church’s being in Danger, to encounter with : 
 There are no National Animofities, or National Pride, 
 or the Intereft of great Families, to obftruCI us ; And 
 very little of Party Spirit can mingle in any of thefe 
 Affairs : Self- Intereft is the chief Obftacle to be fur- 
 mounted. This is indeed a great one, which will draw 
 every Thing that it can to its Affiftance. But it is not 
 infuperable, if withftood by Men who have a true Love 
 for their Country, and Prudence and Difcretion to time 
 their Endeavours, and guide them aright. 
 
 Moreover : Suppofing none of thefe Propofals are 
 fuch as will go down at prefent, while Men are full of 
 their Prejudices, and fond of their own Opinions : 
 Yet, even in that Cafe, it may not be amifs to lay be- 
 fore them the Things that are right ; which they may 
 coniider of at their Leifure. When Men come to rea- 
 fon and refleCl, their Prejudices will begin to foften ; and 
 Time will reconcile them to thofe Expedients, which 
 they had inveighed bitterly againft before; perhaps for 
 want of underltanding and knowing them better.— Thus 
 it often happens, That Propofals deemed impracticable 
 at one Seafon, on account of the popular Outcry againft 
 them, may be called for at another, with equal Vehe- 
 mence and Impatience. And therefore, with humble 
 Submiffion, It may not be amifs to leave thefe Propo- 
 sals upon Record for future Examination, though 
 none of them Ihould be judged feafible at the prefent. 
 
 But befides the former Objection, a second is. 
 That this Scheme itfelf is attended with Inconvenien- 
 cies, as •."11 as others. 
 
 I grant it is : And furely no Man in his Senfes 
 could ever fuppofe, that there could be any Scheme cal- 
 culated for the general Good, which would not bear 
 
 hard upon the Interefts of fome particular People.- 
 
 The ti\.c Way of Eftimating any Propofal is, to con- 
 
 fder. 
 
An E s s k T on Trade:. 93 
 
 fider, whether it doth remedy more old Inconvenien- 
 cies than it introduces new ones ; And whether, upon 
 the Whole, it is beneficial or not, and its Benefits of 
 fuch Importance as deferve to be regarded? Lafily, 
 whether, likewife, fome of thefe very Inconveniencies 
 which are fuppofed to attend it, may not be prevented 
 or amended by further Experience and Obfervation. 
 This is the true Way for efiimating any Propofal : And 
 by this Rule I would choofe that my own Ihould be 
 tried ; and then let them ftand or fall. 
 
 We are always complaining of the bad Morals of our 
 People ; of a general Corruption ; and the being out- 
 rivalled in Trade. Neverthelefs, it is very certain, that 
 the prefent Syftem of Things greatly contributes to the 
 Increafe of each of thefe Evils. My Meaning is, that 
 
 it lays powerful Temptations in Peoples Way. - 
 
 And then, what can be expected? Some few perhaps 
 will prove their Virtue to be fuperior ; but the great 
 Majority will certainly be corrupted. For evident it is, 
 that the Innocence of the Bulk of Mankind is bell 
 preferved by their being kept ignorant of the Temp- 
 tation, or at a great Diltance from it. Now what is 
 the natural Tendency of Cuftom-houfe Oaths, Eledfion 
 Oaths, Freedom Oaths, &c. &c. but to entice and en- 
 courage Mankind to be guilty of the foul Sin of wilful 
 and deliberate Perjury ? What are the heavy Taxes upon 
 the married State, and Exemptions for Batchelors, but 
 the like Inducements to Men to remain fingle, and to 
 gratify their Defires in an unlawful Way ? What are all 
 the exclufive Companies, all the heavy Duties upon Im- 
 portation, and the many Statutes for cramping the 
 Trade of Ireland , but fo many continued Attempts to 
 drive away the Trade from ourfelves to the French, who 
 are not only our Rivals, but the mod dangerous ones 
 we can have ? And truly we have greatly fucceeded 
 in all thefe: Yet who can we blame but ourfelves? It 
 may be pleaded indeed in excufe for thefe Laws and 
 Eftablifhments, that they were not originally intended 
 to produce thofe bad Effefts. I allow they were not 5 
 nor are charged with any fuch Defign. But the Queftion 
 here is, Not what was the View of the Makers of 
 thefe Laws, or what was the End propofed by fuch 
 
 Efla- 
 
94 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 Ellablilhments, but what is the Tendency of them, as 
 verified by Experience, and how they do operate in 
 FaCt ? And if it is made to appear, they are fo deliruCl- 
 ive in their Gonfequences, and fubverlive of cur Mo- 
 rals, Liberties, and Commerce, it is but of little Con- 
 folation to know, that they were eftablilhed with a bet- 
 ter View ; as we are now considering the Things them- 
 felves, with their natural Gonfequences, not the Cha- 
 racters or Defign of their Authors and Projectors. 
 
 I will only add one Reflection more to what has 
 been faid ; viz. That if we would ftill keep on our 
 Trade at a Foreign Market, we mult, at leaft, be upon 
 an equal Footing with other Nations, as to the Good- 
 nefs andCheapnefs of what we have to fell ; otherwife 
 we cannot expeCt, that Foreigners fhould give us the 
 Preference to their own Lofs. This then being the 
 State of the Cafe, it neceflariry follows, that we mult 
 always have an Eye upon the Practices and Proceedings 
 of our Rivals, and take our Meafures accordingly, as 
 far as regards this mutual Emulation. If they contrive 
 Ways and Means to render their Manufactures cheaper 
 or better than they did before, fo as to outvie us; we 
 mult Itrive to outvie them in Gheapnefs and Goodnefs, 
 or be deprived of that Part of Commerce by them: If 
 they invite Foreigners to fettle among them, in order 
 to have the more Hands, and to keep down the Price 
 of Labour; we mult do the fame, or take the Con- 
 fequence to ourfelves : If they allow of no exclulive 
 Companies in a Branch of Trade which interferes with 
 our Trade ; we mult put down our Companies, or lofe 
 that Trade: If their Manufacturers are fober and in- 
 dultrious, and work for low Wages, and feldom be- 
 come a Burden upon their Parifhes ; we mult endeavour 
 to put ours upon the fame Footing, or be content with 
 the Poverty which will' be brought upon us ; If their 
 Government requires little or no Duties upon Importa- 
 tion, in order to encourage the greater Number to en- 
 gage in Trade, and that all Merchandize may come the 
 cheaper to the Confumer ; we mull imitate them in that 
 RefpeCt, and change Cufloms into In-land Duties ; or 
 adminifter continual Temptation to the Needy and Frau- 
 dulent to turn Smugglers, and fuffer ourfelves to link un- 
 der 
 
An Essay on Trade. 95 
 
 der thefe Evils, together with the Burden and Weight of 
 our Cuftoms. Thefe are the Alternatives which are fet 
 before us ; and one would think, that if Mankind were 
 not greatly blinded with their Prejudices, and biaffed by 
 private Interefts and fmifters Views, they need not be 
 long in deliberating which to choofe, — Not to mention, 
 that as every Country in Europe now begins to under- 
 ftand the Maxims of Trade, and apply themfelves to 
 Commerce, and are actually raifing all Sorts of Manu- 
 factures of their own, and have laid new Duties upon 
 ours j for thefe Reafons, we ought to be more intent 
 than ever to contrive all Ways and Means poffible to 
 lower the Price of every thing we export, in order to 
 overbalance thefe additional Duties by Dint of Cheap- 
 nefs of Labour, and to outvie thefe new Rivals by the 
 Goodnefs of our Manufactures. 
 
[96 ] 
 
 A N 
 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 Containing d Plan for raijing One only Tax 
 on the Cmf umers of Luxuries. 
 
 T HE foregoing Propofals were endeavoured to 
 be drawn up in fuch a Manner as pointed out 
 how the defired Alterations in our Syftems of 
 Commerce, and of colleding the Publick Revenue, 
 might be brought about as gradually as poffible. And 
 no greater Deviations were attempted ro be made from 
 the prefent State of thefe Affairs, than feemed abfolutely 
 neceffary; left too precipitate a Shock might prejudice 
 Mankind againft Convidion. I did not therefore propofe 
 fome of the above-mentioned Alterations, as what ap- 
 peared to me the very beft in our prefent Circumftan- 
 ces, and the likelieft to fucceed. For I am convinced, 
 That what I am now going to offer, is in itfelf a much 
 more effectual Remedy, if our Conftitution is ftrong 
 enough to admit the Application of it. 
 
 The Scheme is taken out of a Quarto Pamphlet, 
 which would do Honour to any Man, fevcral times 
 already quoted ; viz. “ An Eftay on the Caufes and 
 Decline of the Foreign Trade.” 
 
 But as I fhall take the Liberty to make fome few 
 Alterations from, and Additions to, what this mod in- 
 genious Author hath advanced, I fhall put thofe Ar. 
 tides in a different Manner, that they may be diftin- 
 guifhed from his ; And that his Original Plan may not 
 be involved in any Cenfure, which perhaps is only due 
 to my Additions and Alterations. — The Reafons which 
 induced me to believe that fome few Things might be 
 altered, or added for the better, fhall be laid before 
 the Reader in the Sequel. 
 
 An 
 
An Essay on Trade, 
 
 97 
 
 An Extradt from Page 44, &C. of the 
 EJfay on the Canfes and Decline of 
 the Foreign Frade. 
 
 Firft and Second Proposals. 
 
 T O lay one Tax on the Confumers of Luxuries, 
 and take off all our other Taxes, Excifes, and 
 Cuftoms : - —-And when that is done, to mts^e all our 
 Ports free. 
 
 As the Money-Affair is always the grand Objeft, 
 fomething by way of Equivalent muft be given for the 
 Taxes taken off : As fuch the following Scheme is 
 offered. 
 
 A Proposal for raifmg one only Tax on the Confumers 
 of Luxuries. 
 
 It is hereby propofed. That all Perfons ufing, wear- 
 ing, or drinking the following Articles of Luxury, as 
 particularly fpecified, be obliged to take out a Licence 
 Yearly, paying each one Subfidy for each Article of 
 three Half-pence in the Pound only, on the computed 
 Income they fhould have to fupport the Station of Life 
 they voluntarily place themfelves in, by the Article of 
 Luxury they ufe, wear, or drink, as by the Example 
 following. 
 
 H 
 
 ARTh 
 
A E s u r m Trade. 
 
 ITT sx ^ 
 
 Halfpence 
 per Pound, 
 
 £• £ 
 
 All Perfons I 
 
 t. Keeping two Coaches and Six for) g Q 
 
 their Ufe - - - * 1 ° 5 
 
 z. Ufing Dilhes or Plates of Silver atl 
 
 their Tables, commonly called Ser- >4000 2 
 
 vice of Plate - - - -3 
 
 ], Keeping a Coach andSix for their Ufe - 2000 1 
 
 u Keeping a Coach and F our for their Ufe 1 000 6 
 
 v Lrlnkf.g French Wine in their Hou- 1 * 
 
 r r > • t loop o 
 
 les cr Loogmgs - - - 3 
 
 Keeping a Coach and Two for their > 0 J 
 
 Ufe C 80 5 
 
 Note, Chariots, Four-wheel Chaifes, &c. 
 are included in the Term Coach. 
 
 n Wearing Jewels for their Drefs (be - 1 
 fides Necklaces, Solitaires, Rings, or r 
 Ear-Ring) - - - -3 
 
 i. IK g ’ing a Sedan Chair for their Ufe - 
 
 } . Wearing Gold and Silver, Men on J 
 their Coats and Hats ; and Women [ 
 on their Gowns and Shoes - - 3 
 
 10. Ufing Silver Plate for their Side - 1 
 
 boards qr Tables (not having Servi- /• 
 ces) 3 
 
 1 1. Ufing China Services, viz. Diflies } 
 
 and Plates at their Tables - - - 3 
 
 12. Wearing Necklaces or Solitaires of 1 
 
 Jewels. for their Drefs (befides Rings f 
 or Ear-Rings) - - - 3 
 
 1 3. Keeping a Chair or Chaife with? 
 
 one Horfe for their Ufe - - - 3 
 
 1 4. Keeping a Pack of Hounds 
 
 ij. Keeping a Man, or Men Servants 3 
 in Livery, or to wait at Table - - 5 
 
 f ib. Keeping more Saddle-Horfes than 1 
 
 800 5 
 800 5 
 500 3 
 
 250 1 
 
 250 1 
 
 250 1 11 
 
 J- 250 1 
 - 250 1 
 
 250 1 
 250 i 1 
 
An "Ess ay on Trade 
 
 ARTICLES of LUXURY. Halfpence 
 
 ter Pound. 
 
 All Perfons 
 
 1 7. Drinking Port Wine in their Houfe, 
 
 Lodging or Service. ---I have infert- / 
 ed the Word Port for Reafons here- > 
 after ; and all other Wines, except \ 
 French, are here included - - -J 
 
 18. Keeping Greyhounds, Setters, ? 
 
 Nets, Fowling-Pieces, &c. - - S 
 
 19. UJfing China Plates for Deferts? 
 only, (having no Services of China) - 5 
 
 20. Wearing Gold or Silver for their 1 
 
 Drefs (except on Coats, Gowns, > 
 Hats, or Shoes) - - - j 
 
 2 1 • Wearing Jewels in Rings, or Ear- 7 
 Rings - - - - J 
 
 22. Going to Plays, Operas, Concerts, 3 
 
 Balls, Mafquerades,Ridottos, Long > 
 Rooms, Public Gardens - - -3 
 
 23. Going to Bear and Bull- Baitings, 1 
 [ Prize-Fightings, Boxing- Matches, ?■ 
 
 Cock-Fightings, and Horfe-Races - 3 
 
 24. Ufing no Silver Plate but Spoons - 
 
 25. Drinking Brandy, Rum, or any ) 
 Spirits, in Houfe, Lodging or Ser-b> 
 
 29. Wearing Silk or Silk Stuffs in 
 Apparel - 
 
 27. Having Pi&ures, Paintings or 
 Prints in Houfe or Lodging - 
 
 28. Having more than one Looking- 
 
 glafs in ditto - - 
 
 29. Drinking Tea, Coffee, or Choco- 
 late, in Houfe Lodging or Service - 
 
 30. Ufing China Tea-Difhes, Cups, 
 or Saucers - 
 
 31. Playing at Cards, Dice, or any 
 other Game, which is not ufed for 
 the fake of bodily Exercife - 
 
 H 2 
 
 L- \£-\ s -c d - 
 
 12 6 
 
ioo An E s s a y on T r a d e. 
 
 This is the general Scheme of the Author ! And 1 
 have ventured to make fuch Additions to it, as, 1 hope, 
 are confiftent with his good Defign. I fhall therefore 
 make no Apology for each particular Alteration ; And 
 only obferve with refpeft to the 5th and the 1 7th Ar- 
 ticles, t. e. The Diftinftion between drinking French 
 Wines, and other Wines (which are the principal Al- 
 terations) that they both feem to me to be highly ne- 
 ceflary. The Author indeed makes no Difference 
 throughout the Treatife between promoting the Con- 
 fumption of French Wine or Port Wine, as if it was 
 the fame to the Commerce of this Kingdom : But, 
 though I acknowledge with Pleafure the Inftruction I 
 have received in other Parts of the Science of Com- 
 merce, I cannot follow him in this ; and mull ftill 
 (lick to the Maxims of all the former Writers on Trade, 
 till I can fee more Reafon for altering my Opinion, If 
 French Clarets, Burgundy , and Champaigne , were as 
 cheap as Port, few Men would hefitate long which to 
 choofe. The Britijh Merchant, I think, has fatisfac- 
 torily proved, That were we to abolifh all Duties on 
 French Goods, and they to do the fame on Englijh (as 
 was partly the Scheme of the Miniflry during the four 
 Iaft Years of Queen Ann) the Confequejice would be, 
 at leaft, for a great many Years, That England would 
 be over-run with French Silks, Laces, Wines, Brandies, 
 Cloths, Stuffs, Ribbands, Fans, Toys, &c. And the 
 French would take very little or nothing in Return, 
 more than at prefent. The Experiment therefore 
 which he propofes, feems to be too hazardous ; the 
 bad Effects of it would be violent and inftantaneous, 
 and the good ones very flow and gradual ; fo that the 
 Patient would be in Danger of expiring, as is often the 
 Cafe, before the Medicine .can operate. 
 
 Besides, we're we to give fuch Encouragement to 
 French Wines, as is here fuppofed, what would become 
 of our Portugal Trade ? which, as to the Balance of 
 it, is worth two Thirds of all the reft. The Court of 
 Portugal would lay an high Duty, and perhaps a Pro- 
 hibition, upon all Brit/Jh Commodities, the Moment 
 they found we did not give due Encouragement to 
 theirs : which indeed by Public Treaty we are bound 
 to do, And the French have always viewed this gain- 
 ful 
 
An Essay on Trade. lot 
 
 ful Trade with a longing Eye; and would be glad to 
 put in for it, if they found any Opening. 
 
 But to return : As to the Scheme in general, it ig 
 certainly very good. Perhaps the Valuation of the In- 
 come fuppofed neceflary for fome few of the principal 
 Articles is fet too high ; being, I prefume, calculated 
 for the Meridian of London , and the adjacent Counties : 
 Whereas the Calculation ftiould have been made more 
 upon a Medium with the more diftant Parts of the 
 Kingdom, where things are much cheapen But this is 
 a Trifle ; and might eafily be reftified. It is fufficient, 
 that the Scheme is good in itfelf, and is ftill capable 
 of great Improvements. 
 
 The Author in the next Place gives a general Rule, 
 * e That all Articles of the fame Degree, or under the 
 “ Article paid for, are included in it.” i. e. If I un- 
 derftand him rightly, The greater includes the lefs. 
 For Inftance, if a Perfon pays for a Coach and Six, he 
 is thereby entitled to ufe a Coach and Four, a Chariot, 
 a one Horfe-Chaife, or any other Vehicle he pleafes. 
 If he enters a whole Service of Plate, he may ufe Side 
 Boards, and all other Plate befides. If he takes out 
 a Licence for drinking French Wines, the fame will 
 ferve for Port, Spanijh , or any other, for Rum and 
 Brandy ; and fo on. 
 
 Indeed, as to playing at Cards, £ffc. I cannot al- 
 low this to be comprehended under the Article of go- 
 ing to fee Publick Diverfions, not only becaufe in the 
 one Cafe, Perfons are rather Spe&ators than Adlors, 
 but alfo becaufe Gaming of every kind ought to be dif- 
 countenanced as much as poflible. 
 
 I add alfo, what I conceive the Author has omitted. 
 That the higheft Article which any Man enters, gives 
 the Lead to all the reft ; fo that he is to pay for each 
 of the fucceeding the fame which he pays for the firft. 
 If a Perfon enters a Coach and Six, and pays Twelve 
 Pounds Ten Shillings, according to the Rates in the 
 Table he is to pay the fame Sum for every other Ar- 
 ticle he enters. And there are the following weighty 
 Reafons for it : Firft, That by fo doing, this Scheme 
 becomes the moft excellent fumptuary Law that evet 
 was devifed : And fecondly. That it is juft and rea- 
 fonable each Perfon Ihould pay in Proportion to what 
 
 H 3 he 
 
An Essay on Trade. 
 
 he Ufes of any Commodity : Now the moll probable 
 Grounds we can go upon (for the Affair will not ad- 
 mit of Certainty and Demonftration) is, That Perfons 
 in general live in Proportion to the Figure they make. 
 A Perfon who keeps a Coach and Six, is fuppofed to 
 have more Wine drank in his Family than one who 
 keeps only a fingle Chariot, and to ufe a greater Quan- 
 tity in Proportion of every other Article which he en- 
 ters ; and therefore in all Reafon and Juftice he fhould 
 pay the more. 
 
 The next Article that he propofes is, “ That Huf- 
 <f bands fhould pay for their Wives the one Fourth of 
 “ the Article they pay for themfelves, to entitle them 
 <c to Ufe the fame ; and that the Parents fhould pay for 
 xt each Child under Age the one Eighth of the Article 
 (l they pay for themfelves, to entitle them to ufe the 
 “ fame.” Here again I am forry I End myfelf obliged 
 to differ from the worthy Author. If the Hulband is 
 taxed for his Wife, and Parents for their Children in 
 Proportion to their Numbers ; this would be making 
 too near Approaches to the Fault the Author had him- 
 felf fo juftly condemned in our prefent Syftem. Befides, 
 when a Man has a Family, he is neceffarily obliged to 
 enter more Articles than he would do, were he fingle. 
 And it would be a great and difcouraging Hardfhip for 
 the Heads of Families to pay thefe Articles, or any 
 Part of them, over again, on Account of their W'ives 
 and Children. Moreover, I do not fee how we could 
 rightly diflinguifh which Articles belonged to the Huf- 
 band, which to the Wife, and which to the Children. 
 It therefore feems to me a more equitable way, That 
 the Hulband or Parent be refponfible for the whole 
 Family, and be confidered, as if he entered all the Ar- 
 ticles of his fingle Self. If the Family are extravagant, 
 and will ufe more Articles of Luxury than his Circum- 
 ftances will afford, it is his Bufinefs to reftrain them : 
 And the prefent Plan makes it his immediate Intereft, 
 as well as Duty fo to do« 
 
 The Author then propofes, “ That Batchelors 
 tc fhould be doubly taxed, if of Twenty one Years of 
 
 tl Age.’’ This, with Submiffion, is too foon. Sup- 
 
 pofe rather. That they paid a fingle Tax for each Ar- 
 ticle; till they arrived at Twenty Five Years } and then 
 
 were 
 
An Essay en Trade. 103 
 
 Were trebly taxed, till they married ; and that Widow- 
 ers Jikewife without Children, if upwards of Thirty, 
 and under Forty Five, were doubly taxed. 
 
 The Author then recommends, That all Perfons, 
 fuch as he there reckons up, who get their Livings by 
 the Luxuries and Extravagance of others, fhould be 
 obliged to pay for every Article they enter, as if they 
 
 had an Income of Five Hundred Pounds a Year. 
 
 But here I think there is a fufficient Diftinftion be- 
 tween the different Claffes of thefe People ; feeing that, 
 according to him, he muft pay alike, from the meaneft 
 Ale-houfe to the greateft: Tavern; which furely is a 
 very unequal way of Taxing, and not at all agreeable 
 to his own juft Maxims. Suppofe therefore, inftead of 
 fixing upon any particular Sum, That each of thefe 
 Perfons fhould tax himfelf, by his Way of Living, ac- 
 cording as others do, but only much higher, viz. 
 That ail Keepers of Taverns, Coffee-houfes, Long- 
 Rooms, Publick Gardens, Ale-houfes, £37. And that 
 all Players, Shew-men, &c. fhould be trebly taxed, as 
 
 long as they continue in fuch Profeflions ; and that 
 
 even this fhould be doubled on all thofe who retail 
 French Wines or Brandies. 
 
 But undoubtedly the Way and Manner of levying 
 fuch a Tax, is the Point which merits moft the Atten- 
 tion of the Publick. And on this Head the worthy 
 Author has given great Specimens of an uncommon Sa- 
 gacity and Penetration. I fhall not ftay to repeat all 
 his Rules and Direftions, but refer thofe who are dif- 
 pofed to the Treatife itfelf. But there is one Point, 
 which particularly deferves to be mentioned for its Sin* 
 gularity and Contrivance, and as it is the Mafter Key 
 to all the reft : And that is, the Method which he has 
 taken to make each Perfon immediately interefted in 
 detecting the Frauds and Impofitions of his Neighbours. 
 He obferves in the firft Place, That as the whole 
 Scheme is a Tax upon Vanity, the very Nature of this 
 Paflion betrays itfelf, and will not be concealed : Con- 
 fequently there can be little Room for defrauding the 
 
 Revenue in fuch a Cafe. -But fuppofe a few Cir- 
 
 cumftances ; then the following Method, which he 
 propofes, is the moft effectual Way of dete&ing them, 
 viz- Let each Perfoo for the firft Year voluntarily tax 
 
 himfelf 
 
io4 Essay on Trade. 
 
 himfelf according to the Station of Life he choofes to 
 appear in ; and let him take out a Licence of the pro- 
 per Officer in each Diftrift, fpecifying the feveral Ar- 
 ticles he enters : Let a Pariffi Regifter be kept of all 
 the Money fo raifed in the Year within that Pariffi; and 
 let the Tax fo collected, be a Standard for laying on 
 the Pariffi Rates of Church, Poor, Lamps, Scaven- 
 gers, and all other Parochial or County Payments for 
 the enfuing Year. The Confequence will be. That 
 thofe who pay moll, will naturally detett fuch of their 
 Neighbours as ufe any of the Articles above-mentioned 
 without entering them ; becaufe in fo doing, they 
 caufe this latter Burden of Taxes to light the eafier 
 Upon themfelves, and oblige their Neighbours to con- 
 tribute their Quota with them. And as the Author 
 propofes, that the fufpe£ted Perfon ffiould be charged 
 with the Onus Probandi , or Juftification of himfelf, this 
 Would ftill facilitate the Scheme. And the Idea of an 
 Informer would be very far from being confidered in 
 that contemptible and deteflable Light it is at prefent, 
 when the Bert, the Greateft, and thofe who make the 
 moft fplendid Figure in each Pariffi, would be of the 
 Number. 
 
 This Tax is propofed by the Author to be laid on 
 the firft Year without taking off any other, in order to 
 have a Fund beforehand, and to pay our National Debt 
 the fafler, and alfo to pay what it would amount to. 
 Then he propofes, that all other Taxes ffiould be abo- 
 liffied Year by Year, as this increafes, and is found 
 adequate to fupply their Places. 
 
 I will therefore fingle out a Gentleman of Two 
 Hundred and Fifty Pounds Income by the Year, with 
 a Wife and four Children : And I will fuppofe that he 
 enters every Article that he well can ; and compare the 
 Tax with the prefent, in order to fee what Advantages 
 paay be reaped by it. 
 
 A Gentle 
 
10 $ 
 
 An Essay on Trade. 
 
 A Gentleman of 250 L per Annum, living fomethW 
 
 prorulely, enters, ° 
 
 1. A Service of China, which includes all 1 
 
 other Articles of China - - ■ ■ - * 
 
 2. A Side-Board of Plate ; all other Plate J 
 
 (except Services) included 5 
 
 3. Jewels, viz. Necklaces and Solitaires j 7 
 
 Rings and Ear-rings included — — y 
 
 4 A two wheeled Chaife — . .. ■ 
 
 5. A Pack of Hounds ; Greyhounds, Guns, 1 
 
 Nets, &c. included ». ■ ( 
 
 6. Men-Servants in Livery, or to wait at 1 
 
 Table f 
 
 • 1 • Saddle Horfes »i — . 
 
 8. Port, and all Wines (except French) \ 
 
 Rum, Brandy, and Spirits included - - y 
 
 9.. Gold and Silver in Drefs (except onl 
 Coats, Hats, Shoes, and Gowns) Silk, > 
 and Silk-Stuffs included — y 
 
 10. Going to Plays ; all other Diverfions o 
 
 included • ■ ■ ■ - £ 
 
 11. Pictures, Prints, &c. 
 
 12. Tea, Coffee, and Chocolate ■ . ■ 
 
 53. Looking Glades - 
 
 14 Playing at Cards -- ■ . 
 
 Total, which this Gentleman would pay for ? 
 
 his Annual Licence ■ ■ • - y 
 
 Peduft Three Pence in the Pound Expen 
 ces in collecting, which is about - 
 
 -!» 
 
 Remains clear to the Government 
 
 l s. 
 
 d. 
 
 I 1 1 
 
 3 
 
 I II 
 
 2 
 
 I II 
 
 3 
 
 I 11 
 
 3 
 
 1 II 
 
 3 
 
 1 u. 
 
 3 
 
 I If 
 
 3 
 
 1 II 
 
 3 
 
 I II 
 
 3 
 
 I 11 
 
 3 
 
 I II 
 
 3 
 
 I II 
 
 3 
 
 I 11 
 
 3 
 
 I II 
 
 3 
 
 l 17 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 <Sl 
 
 r 
 
 6 
 
 21 ij q 
 
 Whereas a Gentleman of the fame Income, let 
 him be as frugal as he well can, pays at prefent for 
 himfelf, his Wife, Children, and Family, in Duties 
 Cuitoms, and Excifes to the King, and Perquifites to 
 Officers of the Cuftoms, with all their Train of en- 
 hancing Confequences, almoft double the former ; tho’ 
 the neat Produce, which comes clear to the Govern- 
 msnt is full one third lefs, by the following Eltimation. 
 
 !• Th« 
 
io6 An E s s a y en T r a d e. 
 
 /• > 
 
 l. The Gentleman is charged with the" 
 
 King’s Duty, Cuftoms and Excife,for all 
 the Soap, Salt, Leather, Candle, (and per- 
 haps Coal) all the Malt and Hops (and 
 perhaps Ale, Beer, Cyder and Perry) 
 all the Wine, Brandy, Rum, and Spi- 1 
 rits ; the Sugar, Raifins, Currants, Le- ^20 o o 
 mons, Oranges, Tobacco ; the Tea, 
 
 Coffee, and Chocolate, and other Ar- 
 ticles ufed and confumed by himfelf and 
 Family : Which, if he is very faving, 
 perhaps may amount to no more than 
 about - • _ 
 
 1 . He is charged with the primary kind of") 
 
 Advances on each of thefe Articles, I 
 i. e. The Advances which the Perfon j 
 who firft pays the Duty, makes on the v 
 next Buyer, and he on the next, till it 
 comes to the Conlumer, who mult pay 
 for ail; Which at leaft mull: amount 
 to • ■ ■ • 
 
 3 . * He is charged with all fecondary kind^ 
 of Advances, i. e . The reciprocal Ad- ■ 
 vances of the Price of Labour, Provi- I 
 fions, and all Commodities, which ! 
 Tradefmen, Landlords, and all People ^ 10 0 
 
 concerned, make upon one another. 
 
 This muft at leaft amount to as much 
 more - — ...J 
 
 Total paid at prefent, even with good 1 
 
 Oeconomy. — — — — } 4° 00 
 
 But 
 
 * The Nature of primary and fecondary Advances may be 
 beft explained by an Illuftration of both in the fame Trade. 
 Suppofe A. by Trade a Shoemaker : He buys his Leather 
 of the Tanner and Currier, and pays to them the King’s 
 Duty, with their Advances upon it : He charges this Duty, 
 with the Addition of their Advances, and 3 new one of his 
 
 own, 
 
107 
 
 An Essay on Trad*. 
 
 though the Gentleman concerned pays 
 4 °/- per Annum for the Duties and their 
 Confequences, yet the original Duty to 
 the King was no more than 
 Deduct therefore one third at leaf!: for col- 
 lecting ... 
 
 * 
 
 Remains clear to the Government - 13 6 S 
 
 I have here allowed one third for collefting : and 
 Xvhoever confiders the vaft Expence which the Govern- 
 ment is at, efpecially in the Salt and Cuftoms, will be 
 apt to conclude, that I have not allowed enough. As 
 there is a Draw-back upon all Salt exported, and Salt 
 for the Ufe of the Fiffieries ; therefore it is neceflary to 
 have Salt Officers in all the Ports and Creeks of the King- 
 dom, to prevent Frauds and Impofitions upon this Ac- 
 count. An amazing Expence which this amounts to. 
 And as to the Cuftoms, there is not one Port in ten (ex- 
 cept the Ports of London , Brijiol , Liverpool , Southamp- 
 ton t 
 
 own, upon the Shoes he fells. This is the Nature of all 
 primary Advances, be they multiplied ever fo often. The 
 Intereft of the Money fo paid and ufed in Trade, as Mat- 
 ters now ftand, make it neceflary that they fhould be. 
 
 But this is not all : for A. finds that B. C. D. E. F. G. &c. 
 That is, The Butchers, Brewers, Bakers, Farmers, Cheefe- 
 mongers, Chandlers, Grocers, Clothiers, Taylors, and in 
 fhort, all the Tradefmen whom he deals with, do likewife 
 charge him with their refpedtive Advances. Therefore, 
 as he has no Refource but what his Occupation brings in, 
 he charges his Shoes, as it were again, with a fecondary Ad- 
 vance, in order to anfwer their Demands. Thus the Affair 
 goes round, they charging him, and he them ; till the original 
 Price of each one’s Commodities is increafed to a prodigious 
 imaginary Value. It is therefore no longer to be wondered 
 at that a Pair of Shoes, which doth not pay four Pence Du- 
 ty’ to the King, is yet enhanced a Shilling or more in the 
 Price, fince the Duty laid upon Leather, and other Necefla- 
 ries of Life. Whereas no fuch Thing can happen according 
 to the Nature of the Scheme here recommended : All Necefla- 
 ries of Life, being Duty-free, and without Advances of any 
 iyiudt 
 
 ^20 o o 
 | 6i 3 4 
 
io8 An Ess a y on Trade. 
 
 ton , Hull, Newcajlle, Lynn, Leith, and Glafgow ) which 
 enter Merchandize enough to defray the Expences of 
 their own Officers. What a Difference is this, in com- 
 parifon to the Scheme propofed ! In that, as it is pro- 
 pofed that each Perfonffiall be obliged to come and en- 
 ter, and pay the Money without any farther Expence, 
 three Pence in the Pound would be full fufficient for the 
 Salary of the Receiver and his Clark : In this, fix Shil- 
 lings and eight Pence will fcarcely fatisfy for the col- 
 lefting of twenty Shillings, even by computing all upon 
 an Average. So that though the Subject, with all his 
 Oeconomy, pays annually forty Pounds, the King re- 
 ceives but one third of it, viz. thirteen Pounds fix Shil- 
 lings and eight Pence : Whereas, in the other Cafe, the 
 Subjeft would pay but twenty-one Pounds feventeCn 
 Shillings and fix Pence, tho’ he appeared in a much 
 gayer Scene of Life. And yet the Government would 
 receive, clear of all Charges, twenty one Pounds twelve 
 Shillings, which is upwards of one third more. What 
 then would it have been, had they both lived in the fame 
 Degree of Gaiety and Profufenefs ? 
 
 Such a Scheme therefore as here propofed, one would 
 think, ffiould recommend itfelf. For allPerfons in the 
 Nation would find their Account in it in the long Run, 
 if they could have the Patience to look forward, and 
 were not fo contrafted in their Views as to be chained 
 down to the prefent Advantage of private Intereft. — 
 But what has been already mentioned is only one good 
 Confequence, out of a Multitude of others which would 
 attend it. For as it would render all Things cheaper, 
 it would neceffarily increafe our Foreign Trade, enrich 
 our Country, employ our Poor, increafe the Stock of 
 Inhabitants, raife the real Value of all our Lands and 
 Commodities, and deprefs the prefent imaginary and 
 factitious one : As there would be no Duty upon Im- 
 portation, it would invite more Perfons to engage in 
 Trade, and prevent the very Poffibility of Smuggling : 
 As all Ports would be open, every Part of the Kingdom 
 would have a fair and equal Chance, and the Sun-ffiine 
 of Commerce and Plenty would be diffufed equally 
 throughout: Above all, it would be attended with two 
 excellent Confequence s ; which deferve tg be more par- 
 ticularly 
 
/in Essay on Trade. 109 
 
 ticularly noted, as we have little of the Kind now ex- 
 iting. F or firft, it would be a moft excellent fump- 
 tuary Law, to give a Check to the Luxury and Extra- 
 vagance of the Age. The higheft Article which a Man 
 enters giving the Lead to all the reft, would make it 
 his immediate Intereft to go as Low as poffible : So that 
 he would find himfelf under a continual Monitor to 
 forego his Pleafures, till he could better afford to pay 
 for them. His afpiring Vanity would be checked by 
 the Confideration, that he is to pay the more for every 
 other fucceeding Article in Confequence of the firft. 
 Secondly, It would be a Tax which no Man could 
 complain of, as it would be his own voluntary Afl and 
 Deed to rate himfelf in this or thatClafs, and to ap- 
 pear either in a higher or a lower Station of Life. 
 
 But alas! after ail, what can we expeft from fuch 
 a World as this? The Scheme before us is of too en- 
 larged and noble a Nature to be rightly comprehended 
 and truly relifhed by narrow and contrafted Minds. It 
 dallies with the prefent Intereft of too many Perfons to 
 be likely to fucceed. And I am afraid I may apply to 
 this Author the Words I heard in a Cafe not very differ- 
 ent from it : “ Sir, this is all right ; but it will never 
 “ do : It is too honeft. 
 
 However, there is a Satisfaction in offering Things 
 right and honeft to publick Confideration, whether they 
 are accepted or not. It is a laudable Paftion to be wil- 
 ling to do the moft extenfive Good. And there are not 
 many Men, though many may be honeft and uprighl 
 in their private Capacity, who think themfelves con- 
 cerned to be aftive and indefatigable in promoting the 
 Welfare of the Community. The Cafe with the Selfilh 
 and Defigning is quite the Reverfe : They are ever vi- 
 gilant and induftrious in defeating every Meafure which 
 is not calculated for 'their own private Advantage, to 
 the Detriment of others. Their Craft is endangered 
 by fuch a Syftem : And therefore they always cry it 
 down, and are zealous in oppofing it. 
 
 Thus it is. That in moft Contefts, where the Pub- 
 lick Good is concerned, a few knavilh and dilhoneft 
 Perfons are an Over-match by their Zeal and Activity 
 for greater Numbers, who are more negligent and in- 
 
 different 
 
HO An Essay on Trade. 
 
 different. Every generous and difinterefted Propofal 
 naturally alarms all thofe who prey upon the Publick. 
 But let the Event be what it will, an honefl: Man, who 
 doth his Duty, enjoys that Satisfa&ion which they are 
 Strangers to. 
 
 t 1 N / S,