REMARKS ' 
 
 O N T H E 
 
 ADVANTAGES 
 
 AND 
 
 DISADVANTAGES 
 
 •OF 
 
 FRANC E 
 
 A N D O F 
 
 GREAT-BRITAIN 
 
 With Refped: to Commerce, 
 
 AND 
 
 To the .'otKer Means of encreafing the 
 Wealth aria'Pcfwef-6f*'a'5ijite.: '• . >';- ->. 
 
 Being a (pretended) 'Ti*aAfiatioh; irom'the 
 Englifh, written by Sir John Nickolls, - 
 and printed at Ley den 1754. 
 
 Tranflated from the French Original. 
 ^ 
 
 y.^. LONDON: 
 J^ Printed for T. Osborne, in Gray's-Inn. 
 
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 THE 
 
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 A U T H O R's 
 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 
 ■^ 
 
 During the ftay of two years, I 
 made in France, the fight of 
 its towns was not the or^y 
 objeft of my curiofity : the Genius of 
 the Nation, and its principles of go- 
 vernment with regard to Commerce, 
 and to the other fprings of the Power 
 of States, were fometimes the fubjedl 
 of my Confideration. On my return 
 to England, the fame objedls attradled 
 my attention, and have procured in 
 feme refpeds a fatisfaftory compari- 
 fon: I offer thefe remarks to my Coun- 
 try, if they can be of any ^fe to it. 
 
 A 2 1 
 
iv PREFACE. 
 
 I hope that Mr. Jofiah Tucker, a 
 worthy clergyman of Briftol, and at 
 the fame time an eminent patriot, will, 
 without offence, fee fome of his ideas 
 amongfl mine: I borrowed from his 
 ElTay upon Commerce the title which 
 I have given to thefe Remarks; I have 
 taken from it almoft word for word 
 my kvcn lirft paragraphs by way of 
 neceflary introdudlion to my work : in 
 ihort, he it was who infpired me vdth 
 the refolution of travelling, and of 
 making obfervations : and I pay him 
 hommage of the fruits thereof, with 
 pleaftirc and gratitude, v / k c '' "^^ - ^ 
 
 • ' , . -4'' ■ ' 
 
 London 17 S^* : 
 
 \.-: i ;■'■; pr\"^ ji' '■•■^V. vh 
 
 ,'■,'!-. ■■■■* <■! 
 
 
 
 John NickoIIs. 
 
 
 
 
 AD- 
 

 .t . .; .. > 
 
 < ■» I . - .t I I I i J i 
 
 Advertifement^ ': /^ 
 
 ti' 
 
 THE following Work lately pub- 
 lifhed in the original French, 
 had, in that country, the great- 
 eft fuccefs that could be. In lefs than a 
 fortnight the firft edition was run off*. 
 There has been fince a fecond, the few 
 additions in which are comprehended in 
 this tranflation. The englilh turns of ftyle 
 in the original, and the bumor which runs 
 through it, made it, at the firft, on the 
 faith of the title- page, be taken for a tran- 
 flation. It is, however, now certainly 
 known to be the produ6tion of a young 
 gentleman, who has an employ at the 
 court of Verfailles, who travelled about 
 two years ago, into the different provinces 
 of England, and even into Scotland; in 
 the courfe of which, he made it his buli- 
 nefs to pry narrowly into the ftate of our 
 commerce, efpecially into our public funds, 
 and other objefts of Policy, and Govern- 
 
 -nient. 
 
[vi] 
 
 ment. On his return to France, he pub- 
 lifhed the refult of his obfervations, under 
 the fiditious name of Sir John Nickolls* 
 
 It will not be hard for the englifh reader 
 to give a candid allowance for the work 
 being written by a foreigner, nor will he 
 lump conclufions againft the whole, for a 
 few errors, and imperfedtions of fome ' 
 parts, inevitable to him on fuch a fubjedl. 
 For %he reft, in this fummary view, he 
 has prefented of the comparative Advan- 
 tages, and Difad vantages of the Britifh, 
 and French Nation, and of the importatat 
 points on which they turn, the fpirit in 
 which he writes, plainly enough pointa 
 out his drift of inftrufting his own nation, 
 by an oblique infinuation of truths, the di- 
 rect conveyance of which might have made 
 them lefs relifhed, and even not quite fafe 
 for himfelf. 
 
 
 
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 JT A B L E 
 
 . . O F T H E . j; r^ ^ 
 
 •• " >■ -„ . "" ■_ ■ ' ' . .ft ". . 
 
 Articles and Matters 
 
 : CONTAINED 'T •::/ ^ 
 
 In this W O Jl K. ; , 
 
 ADVANTAGES of France With re- 
 gard to Commerce -, and to other 
 means of increafing th« power and wealth 
 of a State, comprized in eight fedlions, 
 
 page I to lo 
 
 Disadvantages of France with refpedl 
 to Commerce, and to other means of 
 encreafing the power and wealth of a 
 State ^— — p. II 
 
 I. Dif. 
 
vlii A TABLE, &c. 
 
 I. Diladvantages with refpe<5l to the pro- 
 pagation of the human fpecies, and to 
 the employment of the individuals p. 1 1 
 
 Of Labourers — — — p. 14 
 Of Mechanics and Traders — p. 1 8 
 Of Mechanics — — ibid. 
 
 Of the Revenue. Of the Clergy. Of the 
 Magiftrates and Lawyers •, and of the 
 Military — — p* 23 
 
 Of the Revenue »i P* 24 
 
 Of the Clergy — — p. 25 
 
 Of Magiftrates and Lawyers — p. 27 
 
 Of the Military p. 28 
 
 Of the Nobility in general — P* 30 
 Conclufion from the premifles — P- 3 ^ 
 
 II. Difadvantage to France from the man- 
 ner in which it employs the genius 
 and intelledts of its inhabitants p. ^4. 
 
 JII. Difadvantage to France in the diftri- 
 , butiye,Oeconomy of its property p. 40 
 
 Intereft of money higher in France than in 
 Holland and England ^^ ,r-j p. 44 
 
 
 ' ' ' I i 
 
A T A B L E, &c. ix 
 
 Advantages and Disadvantages to , 
 Great Britain with regard to Com- 
 merce ; and to other means of en- 
 creafing the wealth and power of a 
 State ^ -^ ••— ^: _ TP- 5^ 
 
 I. Of the natural form of Great Britain, 
 
 II. Natural produce of England P* 55 
 Of grains, and cultivation in general p. 55 
 Of wool and cattle in general p. yo 
 Of the internal riches of the Earth •, ' Me-. 
 
 tals. Marl, Potters -Earth, Coals, &c. 
 ; r; -4 -^- -^ i..;.. p. 84 
 
 Of Fifheries .. - : ' p- 93. 
 
 Illi Advantages to Great-Britain from the 
 Conftitution of its Government, ol' all 
 principles the firft and the mod fruit-, 
 full ■■' ■ , . 101:. 
 
 Of the Power of our Conftitution in de- 
 termining the minds of the people to- 
 wards the public welfare p. 109 
 
 Of the probable ufefulnels of a Society, 
 which fhould be folely employed in the 
 ftudy of Culture and Trade, and of 
 the means of perfe6ting and encourag- 
 ing thofe two objeds — P* ^23 
 * a Agri- 
 
3C^^ A TABLE, &c.'. 
 
 Agriculture ■» . — — P* 124 
 
 Trade .— ■ ■ p. 128 
 
 IV. Of Incorporations of Trades. Of 
 ' Communities of Merchants. Of exclu- 
 i five Privileges. Of Trading Compa- 
 nies — p. 136 
 
 Monopolies in the Home- trade p* 137 
 
 Of Privileges — — P* '44 
 
 Monopolies in the Abroad- trade p. 149 
 
 Hudson's-Ba\ Company — p. 150 
 
 The African Company — p. 153 
 
 The East-India Company ; P» I55 
 
 The Sou TH-sE A Company p. v6t 
 The Levant or Turky Company p. 163 
 
 . Conciufion — — p. 175 
 
 V. Some reflexions upon Population ; the 
 ' t employment of individuals ; the Poor v 
 
 Marriages; and Naturalization p. 178 
 
 Of the Land-furvey — — p. 182 
 Of the RecenTion of the inhabitants confi- 
 : dered with refpe(5l to population m ge- 
 ■ neral, and the local diftribution of them 
 f into Counties, Towns, Boroughs, Vil- 
 lages and Parifhes — p. 186 
 Of the Recenfton of the inhabitants con- 
 ^ fidered with refpe6t to the employn^ent 
 f, of them .. ^' J! ■' ■ ■ -'yi. p. 192 
 
 .iixr/. • Firft 
 
yv T A B L E, &c. xi 
 
 Firft Clafs of Men — — p. 194 
 
 Induftry. Handycraft — P« 195 
 
 Second Clafs of Men — p. 202 
 
 Third Clafs of Men — p. 203 
 
 Of the Poor, and of Beggars p. 205 
 
 Means of encreafing Population p. 2 1 1 
 
 Of Manages » ibid. 
 
 Of Naturalization ' - ■ p. 2 1 8 
 
 VI. Of the riches in circulation. On th« 
 National debt. On Taxes p. 229 
 
 Of the effedts of the abufe of the Na- 
 tional credit . ■ p. 234 
 Caufes and progrefles of the National 
 
 Debt p. 240 - 
 
 Company of the Bank of England p. 243 
 Siftei'^ of the South- fea Company . p. 247 
 On the Sinking Fund - p. 250 
 
 Of Taxes P- 255 * 
 
 Of Cuftom-houfe Duties — p. 256 
 
 Excife -Duties p* 258 
 
 Taxes upon Confumptions — P* 259 
 Land-Tax ■ ■ p. 267 
 
 E N D of the T'A ^ L F. 
 
 AD- 
 
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 ADVANTAGES 
 
 FRANCE 
 
 With regard to Commerce ; 
 
 And to other means of increafing the 
 Wealth and Power of a State. 
 
 •■ — — — — ^ 1 1 1 <■ I II I, „ 
 
 I. The natural pfodu^lions of France. 
 
 1"^HE principal ones in which its 
 : trade confifts, are wines, brandys, 
 filks, flax, hemp, oik, &c. I lay 
 nothing of corn, though it yields a great 
 deal, becaufe as the French are great bread • » 
 eaters, their large confumption of grain 
 leaves little for exportation. Beiidcs, their ' 
 climate is fubjeft to great variations, and 
 their harvefts often fail. 
 
 II. The fubordination, docility, and fo- 
 briety of the common people. 
 
 Drunkennefs and debauchery arc not in 
 
 .V . ^v:j-^ • .|^, i France, 
 
 A« '>^'^. 
 
2 Remarks on the Advantages 
 
 France, as with * us, a predominant and 
 favorite vice, that takes them off their la- 
 hour : a double advantage this to the 
 State ; there is a greater quantity of work 
 done, and the manufadure is the kfs ex- 
 penfive. 
 
 III. The goodnefs of the roads, the num- 
 ber of rivers and navigable canals, with 
 which France is interfeded. 
 
 The convenience of communication, the 
 facility of carriage for the natural produc- 
 tions, and manufadures to the fea, are two 
 objeds of great importance for a king- 
 dom of fo vaft an extent as that of France. 
 Its principal rivers the Sein, the Loire, 
 the Garonne, the Rhone, with the others 
 that run into them, are an advantage it 
 owes to Nature. Its induftry has added to 
 it navigable canals admirable for the im- 
 menfity of the work, and for the profits 
 the Commerce draws from them. Such is 
 the canal of Languedoc, by means of 
 which Riquet eftablifhed a commodious 
 communication between Bourdeaux and 
 Marfeilles, that is to fay, between the 
 Ocean and the Mediterranean: fuch the 
 
 canals 
 
 * Here, and throughout, the reader mu(l carry 
 in his mind, that the author fpeaks in (he aJJuiMd 
 ckaiacter of an Engliihman. 
 
and Difad vantages of France, &c. 3 
 
 canals of Orleans and Briare between the 
 countries watered by the Seine and Loire •, 
 not to mention other canals, and projects 
 for rendering rivers navigable, the carry- 
 ing of which into execution will have re- 
 fpedlively their ufe, and advantage. 
 
 The high roads with which this King- 
 dom is interfered throughout its whole 
 extent, are remarkable for their breadth^ 
 the folidity of their conftrudlion, and the 
 good order in which they are kept. 
 
 They are laid down in a ftreight line, 
 as much as the ground will permit: their 
 conftrudlion and reparation are at the charge 
 of the provinces through which they run. 
 
 IV. The wile inftitution of a Council of 
 Trade, compofed of different members, 
 
 - to whom the adminiftration of Com- 
 merce, internal and external, is tn- 
 
 trufted. ; . , • 
 
 ( ...... 
 
 This Council it is which overfecs the 
 manufadlure^ of the kingdom, and pro- 
 cures to them thofe encouragements, that 
 liberty, and thofe immunities, which gave 
 birth to them, and preferves them. It di- 
 redls the mutual commerce between France 
 and its colonies to their beft common ad- 
 vantage. Well-informed of the ftate of 
 the national trade, by a comparilon of the 
 
 B 2 annual 
 
4 Remarks on the Advantages 
 
 annual imports, and exports, it obferves 
 Xhe branches ot it which want prote6lion. 
 From this knowledge it is that they gO' 
 vern opportunely their follicitations to fo- 
 reign Powers for new Advantages ; that 
 they defend thofe which they poflefs, or 
 •profit of thofe which prefent themfelves. 
 It is on the reprefentations from this Board 
 that thofe Treaties of Commerce are pro- 
 jected which commonly accompany Trea- 
 ties of Peace •, for Commerce is tht moft 
 effedlual remedy for War, as it is often the 
 occafion of it. In fhort, this Council is 
 a center of union for Trade, the Marine, 
 and the Revenue, to furniih one another 
 reciprocal and neceflary occafional aflift- 
 apiCe. 
 
 V. The great produce of the French Colo- 
 nies addidled to the cultivation of Sugars. 
 
 The iflands of Domingo, and Martinico, 
 have a great fuperiority over our wind- 
 ward iflands. Witnefs the price of the 
 Englilh fugars, higher than thofe of France 
 20, 30, and fometimes from 40 to 70 per 
 Cent, quality for quality. , . 
 
 The difference of the foil, and of the 
 expence of cultivation, is doubtlefs the 
 reafon of it •, our -mould comparatively 
 poor, fliallow, and worn out, craves ma- 
 
 i n <> nurej 
 
 
and Difadvantages of France, &c. g 
 
 nure-, our plantations of fugar canes in 
 plains without Ihelter are liable to be burnt 
 up in dry fummers. The French illands, 
 efpecially Martinico, have the advantage: . 
 of a richer and deeper foil, interfperied" 
 with hills, and rivulets, which give a frcdi- 
 ncfs and a flicker favorable to reculters ; 
 befides France not confuming in fugars the 
 tenth part of what England does, lends tc 
 the foreign market a fuperfluity which is 
 confiderable. ' v .%^- 
 
 Indigo is nor with lefs fuccefs cultivatipd- 
 in them. The cuftom on the import of it 
 had formerly difcouraged the cultivation of 
 it in our iflands, neither has it been re- 
 ftored, though the cuftom was not only 
 abolilhed, but even a bounty granted of 
 fix-pen<:e a pound on the indigo of our 
 colonies imported into England. The 
 French indigo has always kept up its ad- 
 vantage,' at marker, ruinoufly for ours.^ ^ 
 
 As France poflefles the moft: celebrated 
 manufadlures of articles for luxury and 
 fafliion, her colonies are lefs tempted than 
 ours, to fupply themfelves with foreign 
 merchandize. Thofe colonies too have not 
 formed up any manufadures which might 
 be prejudicial to France. They draw from 
 France, or the other colonies of it in 
 Northern America, the fupplies of nccef- 
 
^ Remarks on the Advantages 
 
 furies for living, nor buy any of us, or of. 
 tiie Dutch, unkfs in cafes of ncccfliry. :. » 
 
 VI. France, by means of her foreign 
 trade, and the indultry of her inhabitants, 
 has arrived at appropriating to her own 
 uft^ the natural productions of other coun- 
 tries. That country does not of itfelf yield 
 the fourth part of the wool, and raw filk, 
 which it employs in its manufa(ftures. It 
 draws wool from Spain, Barbary, &c. and 
 fome from Switzerland. Notwithftanding 
 too the fevere prohibitions and penalties 
 enaded againft the exportation of wool, 
 it gets fome quantity from England, and 
 a very great one from Ireland, though thi3 
 dandeftine outlet has fomcwhat diminiflied, 
 by permitting its importation into fome 
 ports in England : but a thorough remedy 
 againft it wiJl never take place, unlefs by 
 opening freely all the ports of England to 
 this importation, t • ' v 
 
 VII. France, bounded oil the Eaft by 
 Germany, Switzerland and Savoy, has made 
 its advantage oi the neighbourhood of thofe 
 countries, abounding as they do with men j 
 file has invited thofe foreigners without 
 
 - - • -? - employ 
 
 f Which has been done by an ad of the 6tJi f^f-' 
 fion, 3d parliament of George II. 1753. 
 
. and Dlfad vantages of France, &c. 7 
 
 employ at home, to come and fettle in hep 
 armies and manufadlures. A policy ol 
 which the advantages are well-judged ; 
 for, in fadl, the money fhe pays to fo- 
 reign troops is, in a good mcal'urc, ex- 
 pended within the kingdom, but flie would 
 be a gainer, even were that money to go 
 out of it. The foldier whom flie pays, 
 fpares her the taking off a labourer : and 
 the labourer produces more to the ftate, 
 than fhe pays to the foldier. The foreign 
 ardfts, whom fhe admits into her manu- 
 fadiures, contributes to keep the work at a 
 low rate, and eltabli^es an emulation fa- 
 vorable to their advancement. It is com- 
 puted that there are near ten thou fund 
 Swifs and Germans employed in tlie town 
 of Lyons ||. Thus France, in fome mea- 
 fure, replaces thofe inhabitants which Eng- 
 land, and the Proteftant countries in thcic 
 iurn, get from her. - 
 
 VIII. But an inestimable abvan- 
 TAGE is that which redounds to France,, 
 from that fpecies of madnefs with which 
 other nations have adopted the tafle, and 
 fiidiions of the French. By what incbant- 
 ment is it, that fo light- brained frivolous a 
 people, have been able to extend over the 
 B_4 Unl. 
 
 , _ II This is not exatt. 
 
8 Remarks on the Advantages 
 
 Univerfe, the ruinous and tyrannical cm- 
 ptre of its modes ? This nation, covetous 
 of glory and reputation, has fet up its 
 pretentions to hold the firft place in power, 
 in talents, in fciences, in agreeablenefs ; in 
 ihort, in acquifitions of all kinds, and is 
 arrived at giving herfelf, at leaft the ap- 
 pearance, of this univerfal fuperiority. 
 
 The Court of France is the moft fplendid 
 of any in Europe ; her armies are the moft 
 numerous. The higheft luxury, and the 
 moft opulent exterior, reign in her towns : 
 The ufeful as well as agreeable srts, the 
 fciences, and even Wit, have all their par- 
 ticular fchools, and academies : The ex- 
 ceflive tafte of the French for drefs, and 
 their paflion cfpecially for enjoying life 
 with oftentation, improves and fets off 
 thefe advantages, and prefents to the cu- 
 rious Foreigners, a fight which feduces, 
 whilft it dazzles them. All .nations then 
 owe to France at leaft the tribute of cu- 
 riofity, which is not always reftrained to 
 that fentiment. To fay nothing of the 
 money they fpend there, and which a- 
 mounts to very great fums : the grcatcft 
 mifcRief is, that each traveller, returning 
 to his country, carries away with hirrl fomc 
 french affedion, tafte or fafhion. Our- 
 felves, even we, whom our national pride 
 . * V and 
 
and Difad vantages of France, &c. 9 
 
 and rivalfhip have the mod preferved fronv 
 the French infedion, drefs out in French 
 deaths, and French fluffs, even on pubhc, 
 or birth days. We prefer the wines of 
 France, and keep french cooka. 
 
 In order to propagate this ieducement,. 
 the Court of Verfailles affedh the magni- 
 ficence of making prefents to foreign na- 
 tions of the fineft mafter- pieces of work- 
 from the principal manufadures of the 
 kingdom : dangerous prefents, which ought 
 to infpire a diftruft of their end,, iimeo- 
 Danaos^ ^ dona ferentes. For by this, 
 means it is that the manufadlures of France 
 have introduced; themfelves with fuch fuc- 
 cefs into other countries, forcing the bar- 
 riersy which high culloms, or prohibitions ^ 
 oppofe in vain to them. Thiis it is too 
 that the excefs of luxury, ruinous elfe- 
 where, is become as to France a fort of 
 neceflity, towards preferving to it that» 
 fuperiority of* which it is in pofiefTion, in- 
 point of faihions, and which alio fupportss 
 itpj nanufadlures. 
 
 ''rhe fame empire which Fiance has 
 ufurped over the taftes of other nation?, 
 the Court of France exercifts with yet a 
 greater power the fubjcds of the Capital, 
 and that Capital over the other towns. 
 This influence is capable gf the greateft 
 
 - B 5 cffeas. 
 
po Remarks on the Advantages, &c. 
 
 cffedls. Let but the King appear to coun- 
 tenance any beginning new manufa6ture, 
 it is fecure of the confumption of its pro- 
 duce, and of its fuccefs. On the other 
 hand, towards the effe<5lual prohibition of 
 any foreign (luff, the King need but pro- 
 fori be the ufe of it in his Courts or Pa- 
 lace??,, this means will be more efficacious 
 than the mod pofitive prohibition: but 
 fhould he himielf preferve the ufe of it,, 
 or tolerate it in thofe about him, his for- 
 bidding it would be of no effedt : his 
 example will be more attended to thaa. 
 
 llis orders, '^"VvMM}-/^*';;," : *r; ;' ,^:-.f -.- r 
 
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 DIS- 
 
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 irirti 
 
 disadvantages; 
 
 •■••OF ' ■ 
 
 FRANCE 
 
 Witlirefpc6l to Commerce;: 
 
 And to other Means of encreafing the 
 Power and Wealth of a State. 
 
 L Disadvantages with refpe5l to the- 
 Propagation o//^^ Human Species, 
 and to the Employment of the Indi-- 
 
 VIDUALS. * 
 
 A Moderate calculation makes the 
 number of priefts, clergy, and mo- 
 naitics of both fexes, in France amount tO' 
 five hundred thoufand: and thefe five 
 hundred thoufand deprive the kingdom' 
 of a mod valuable encreafe. The celibate 
 clergy is a gulph in which the fortieth* 
 part of the nation is continually annihilated,, 
 without ever being repaired. , . -* 
 
 But amongft other ranks of men who^ 
 are not condemned to celibacy, by, a ri- 
 gorous vow, there ar^ many realbns, fome 
 of convenience, according xo condition o( 
 . .. , . B^ life;> 
 
12 Remarks on the Advantages 
 
 life; others from prejudice, which are- 
 contrary to the multiplkation of the fpe- 
 cies. 
 
 Few foldiers care to marry, and France 
 has on foot, evert in time of Peace, at lealt 
 one hundred and fifty thoufand men*. 
 
 The Nobihty is numerous and not rich,, 
 and every family facrifices its daughters, 
 or younger brothers, to the vanity of rai- 
 fing, or perpetuating a fingle branch of 
 it, that muft engrofs its power, or wealth.. 
 Convents,, or church-benefices, aflford thofe 
 vidims a retreat.. 
 
 But Nobility is to be bought: every 
 commoner become rich, has an? ambition 
 to be made noble, and to liye up to that 
 charadter ; fo that the efi^eds of this de- 
 flrudlive principle proceed extending ad 
 infinitum. 
 
 The exceflive inequafity of the diftribu* 
 tion of property in France does not man^- 
 fed itfelf Jefs pernicious to propagation. 
 The effe^ of this is fenfibly felt in Pari?, 
 and the great towns. Thofe fortunes which 
 fwtll out of all fize, eflFedually diminifh 
 ' the eafe of thofe whofe fortane is fufcepti- 
 ble of no augmentation. The condition of 
 the Robe, for example, reduced to a me^ 
 f^iocricy almofi fcandalous, can fcarce aflford 
 to marry- the one half of its children : once 
 * ■"' •' mwet 
 
and Diladvantages of France, &c. r^- 
 
 more the clergy, and the convents are the 
 reflburce of the other half. 
 
 The excefs of luxury has lelTened the 
 number of marriages, even amongft thofe 
 who have eafy fortunes : many of them 
 remain ftngle, becaufe it b more genteel to 
 keep fix horfes ia their ftables, than to 
 furnifh children to their country,, and. tO{ 
 live with oeconomy. 
 
 Again over- delicacy, that companion of 
 luxury, overturning even the deureft ideaSs 
 ©f nature, has made a fettled point of it^ 
 that it is; inconvenient^ and evea. not fo 
 genteel for a mother to nurfe her children 
 herfelt. Soon the condition itfelf of mo- 
 ther came to, be held vexatious^ as above 
 ^11 the education of children too expenfive. 
 How many reafons deftrudive to thi? fe- 
 cund ity of marriages ! ; . : * ^- , : - 
 
 In France then^, two only divifion? of 
 rank remains fufceptible of a happy propa- 
 gation from that mediocrity, and fuppofed 
 eafe, of their condition, which might be 
 convenient for that purpofe. That of the 
 labourers, and that of the traders. .vn,i??» 
 
 As to the labourers, the country fur- 
 nifhes, 'in that clafs, as great living pro- 
 digies in mifery *and indigence, as ihe 
 towns can exhibit in wealth. Upon theni 
 it is that the burthen of the charges of 
 
 govera- 
 
154 Remarks on the Advantages 
 
 government falls with the hcaVieft weight. 
 A labourer, who has barely the ncceffaries 
 of life, muft naturally dread a number of 
 children as a misfortune. The fear then 
 of an unfupportable mifcry hinders many 
 from marrying, and even in this clafs,. 
 marriages are become lefs frequent, and 
 Icfs produdivc of children to the State. 
 
 Remains then folely the clafs of me- 
 chanics and traders, that can maintain nu^ 
 meFous families : but many reafons, to be 
 hereafter deduced, concurr to diminifli the 
 number of fubje<5ls even in that clafs. 
 ' Thus in France, the ccclefiaftical ftate,^ 
 military conflitution, the prejudices of the 
 nation with refpedl to nobility, the excef- 
 five inequality of the diftribution of pro- 
 perty, luxury, poverty, all combine to ftopj 
 the propagation of the human fpecies. 
 
 As to tlie employment of the individuals,, 
 •kt us go over the different profeflions. 
 
 J Of LABOURERSi 
 
 i If the queftion was to be put, whar 
 portion of fubje^ls the State ought to af- 
 ford towards the cultivation of land, the 
 anfwer would be nearly jufl, to fay that 
 no excefs need be feared in this profeflion* 
 But it may for a certainty be advanced, that 
 there are not labourers enough in a State, 
 
 when. 
 
and Difadvantagcs of France, &c. 1 5 
 
 vihen it might be rich enough in the hatu^ 
 ral produce of the country, to fell to others 
 its fuperfluity, and, inftead thereof, is on 
 the contrary obliged to purchafc a part of 
 its neceflaries from others. Now France is 
 often in this cafe. 
 
 Upon a fair furvey of forae of its pro*- 
 vinces, it would be found that not only a 
 great deal of their land remains in wafte, 
 which might produce grain, or fodder cat- 
 tle, but that the ground itfelf which is 
 cultivated docs not yield,, by far, in pro- 
 portion to its goodnefsy becaufe the la- 
 bourer wants the ftock, or means where- 
 withal! to improve its. 
 
 The cxtream mifery of the labourer in 
 France is commonly attributed to the ex- 
 orbitance of the taxes, which he is forced 
 to pay. He is taxied in proportion to the 
 land which he cultivates for the landlord, 
 in proportion to that of which hunfclf may 
 be owner, and in proportion to hia in- 
 duftry, eidier in improving it, or in trad- 
 ing in the produce of the earth : and tho* 
 it is. always the land-owner who pays the 
 taxes,, yet it is upon the farmer that the 
 weight of them falls dire6bly : for he \& 
 fubjed to the cofts of feifure and execu- 
 . tion, not only in proportion to his (lock, 
 and to bis indiJtry, but in proportion 
 a; to 
 
rf Remarks on the Advantages 
 
 to the land, though but the farmer, or 
 planter of it. . *; =. .»/ 
 
 The portion of the taxes which he pays 
 according to his late of induftry, is either 
 ib unjuftly eftimated^ fo exorbitant,, or 
 levied in fo difcouraging a manner, that a 
 farmer is afraid of clearing a new field, 
 of augmenting the number of his cattle,, 
 or in. fhort of difplaying frefh induftry, 
 fure as he is to fee himfelf loaded with a. 
 new arbitrary tax, though he has not fuf- 
 ficient to pay the old one.. Thus a fanner 
 can have no more emulation for acquiring^ 
 than a flave. who. only acquires for his 
 mafter ; he has no hopes of cncreafing his^ 
 property, and. his intereft requires him to: 
 appear poor,. '*' . - 
 
 It is a maxim received in France, that 
 the Peafantry muft be kept low, and not- 
 fufFered to. be at eafe. But fuppofing this 
 maxim to*be as true as it is' deftitute of 
 humanity.^, at leaft, nothing is more ccr** 
 tain, that it has been abufed- So far from 
 being at their eafe, the peafants in France 
 have not even a necefTary fubfiftence. They 
 are a fpecies of men, which begins to dcr- 
 cline and wear out atthe age of forty^ for 
 want of a reparation proportioned to its 
 fatigues* Humanity is hurt by the compa>- 
 rifgn of them with other men,, and above 
 tiT all; 
 
and Difad vantages of France, &c. 1 7 
 
 all with the Englifli peafants. Obferi/e 
 but the French labourers, and their exte- 
 rior alone points out the impairs of their 
 bodies, and the deftrudlion of the faculties 
 of their minds. 
 
 This profeflion then being the mod la- 
 borious, and the mod unhappy, muft of 
 courfe lofe every day Ibn-je of its fubjedls. 
 The luxury of the towns robs the country 
 of ufeful inhabitants, to make footmen of 
 them, or townfmen in idle profeflTions. 
 Some of them afpire to the ecclefiaftical 
 ftate, and get into it too. " 
 
 It is likewife principally at the expence 
 of this clafs that armies are formed. Every 
 Parifh is bound to furnifh a certain num- 
 ber of men, who are lifted only to fervc 
 for the fpacc of fix years, and are fuccef- 
 fively replaced by others j this is what is 
 called the Mtlitia, In time of peace, the 
 fervice not being efFedive, does no great 
 hurt to the cultivation of the land, but in 
 time of war, they are fo many workmen; 
 of which the country is deprived, and to 
 which they are rarely reftored. A foldier 
 who has lived a foldier's life, cares rarely 
 for refuming the plough. 
 
 Thus it is that this clafs of men, who 
 procure to the State the two moft effentia! 
 advantages, that of provifiojis, and mate- 
 rials 
 
1 S Remarks on the Advantages 
 
 rials for manufadlures, is continually tend- 
 ing to the being difpeopled ; fo that, in 
 France, every thing feems difpofed to- 
 wards procuring that there fhould be as 
 few labourers in it as poflible. 
 
 Of Mechanics tf»i Traders. 
 
 One may fay of this clafs as of that oF 
 labourers, that there can be no excefs in 
 the number of men which it fhall contain. 
 One may fay too, that in France, many 
 teafons tend to render it every day lefs 
 and Jefs numerous. 
 
 /fs to Mechanics.. 
 
 All fteps taken to cramp, diftrefe, of 
 over-tax induftry, tends diredly to deftroy 
 this clafs, and indire(5tly, by diminifhing 
 the confumption, from the augmentation 
 of the price of labor, and the diminution 
 of that labor. 
 
 And what can be more cramping, or 
 vexatious, than the length of the moft 
 part of the Prentice-fhips, the number of 
 Offices, and privileges of Mafters, the 
 multiplicity of Companies with exclufive 
 privileges, of which the aflertion in fad: is 
 almoft impoflible, and muft ncceffarily oc- 
 cafion litigations between them : infomuch 
 that thofe ftatutes, and regulations, the 
 ::.,:■■ i " pretext 
 
and Difadvantages of France, &c. 1 9 
 
 pretext of which is the Good of trade, are, 
 fn reality, through the number of them, 
 find the exclufivc fpirit which has dilated 
 llmoft all of them, an obftacle to the ad- 
 vancement of induftry, and trade. For 
 llvant of means to pay far a mailer's free- 
 dom, for reception, &c. a mechanic is of- 
 Mcn debarred from taking up the trade, to 
 * hich he has the mod natural vocation, 
 iy means too of Companies multiplied 
 )eyond neceffity, the fame work which 
 )a{res through different hands, does not 
 irrive at its perfedion, till aft^r having 
 ^ayed the charges of each company, which 
 encreafe its price without encreafing its 
 
 intrinfic value. 
 
 What again can be a greater burthen on 
 the clafs of mechanics^ than the taxes 
 impofed from time to time on the com- 
 panies, and bodies corporate, or the crea- 
 tions of new offices, or privileges, &c ! 
 yet, has this pradife been made if not an 
 objed, at lead a reffource of the revenue, 
 not only in difficult circumftances of the 
 State, but thefe taxes are adcually laid on, 
 in occafions of Joy, fuch as acceflions of 
 the Kings of France, marriages of Queens, 
 births of Dauphins: reffourccs always 
 paultry in themfelves, but exccflively, and 
 irreparably ruinous in their confcquences^ 
 
20 Remarks on the Advantages | 
 
 In ftiort, even the induftry of the me- 
 chanics, is almoft inevitably and refpec- 
 tively fubjedled to an arbitrary tax, info- 
 much that they are made to pay to the 
 State precifely, as it were a fine for the 
 having produced in that State, a value 
 which did not before exift in it : which is 
 obvioufly an expedient imagined for the 
 difcouragement of induftry. 
 
 I fhall add a remark here^ for want of 
 knowing where to place it better. The 
 number of holidays, or days prefcribed by 
 the roman religion, greatly reduces the 
 fum of labour. Though France has fup- 
 prefled fome of her holidays, we have at 
 kaft forty more workdays than fhc has : 
 which imports, that every thing elfe being 
 equal, the french workman muft work one 
 ninth of time lefs than ours, which muft 
 render his work a ninth dearer, and his 
 fubfiftence the harder in that clafs. Some 
 Other catholic countries have wifely re- 
 duced the duty on holidays fingly to 
 that of hearing Mafs, with permiffion to 
 work OR them, 
 
 ?■<■ \---1 - • - . : I.. r ,, .,' .... 
 
 ,^- ,u-»-fs^ Cy Traders, — '" 
 
 This clafs muft ncceffarily be afFedled 
 by the oppreflion of that of the mechanics : 
 the fewer there arc of thefe, the fewer 
 
 there 
 
and Difadvantages of France, &c. 2 1 
 
 there muft be of traders : the dearer too 
 the goods are, there will be the fewer 
 dealers, both in the inland and foreign 
 |rade -, befides the tax upon induftry does 
 'oot lie lefs heavy on this clafs than on that 
 
 «f the mechanics. Several traders, in or- 
 er to avoid it, draw their capitals out of 
 trade, and with them purchafe places that 
 exempt them from it, . 
 
 But nothing difpeoples more this clafs, 
 than that paflion common to all who are 
 grown rich, of acquiring nobility: fome 
 with a view to thofe immunities and privi- 
 vileges which the perfons and eftates of the 
 noblemen enjoy preferable to, and in pre- 
 judice of the perfons, and property of the 
 commonalty j others again from- the vain 
 ambition of exalting their rank in life. 
 This vanity,, it is faid, is nationally the 
 french genius, but it fhould feem that it is 
 ►nly in nations governed by themfelves, 
 lat the national character could make any 
 lernicious progrefs : but in a nation arbi- 
 arily governed, a miniftry ever watchful, 
 id without pafTions, has it in his power, 
 ►y wife difpoHtions, to corred: wrong in- 
 [linations: In France, it is manifeft enough, 
 lat this has been negledbed. In a nation 
 here every thing operates through the 
 ifluence of honor, or vanity, they have 
 / ' deprived 
 
22 Remarks on the Advantages 
 
 deprived of all emulation of honor, or va« 
 nity, the moft ufeful profefllons in the 
 whole State. Mechanics, manufafturers, 
 undertakers of manufactures, fhopkeepers, 
 adventurers by fea, all thefe claffes indiffe- 
 rently comprehended under the appellation 
 of merchants, are not the one more diftin- 
 guifhed, or confidered than another. It 
 was therefore in vain that Lewis XIV. 
 granted to the Nobility the permiflion of 
 trading in a wholefale way without dero- 
 gating. No body took the benefit of it: 
 and when he alfo granted to the traders 
 made noblemen the liberty of continuing 
 their traffic, had he effedually intended 
 that they Ihould ufe it, he ought to have 
 made it 'a condition of his conferring no- 
 bility upon them, that they fhould continue 
 their commerce, and bring their children 
 up in it. - ' 
 
 If fome manufactures, as amongft othersl 
 thofe of Vanrobais, and the Gobelins, have 
 received particular marks of honor and 
 protection : on the other hand, that wife 
 policy has been counter-aCted by vexatious 
 and mortifying difpofitions ; for example, 
 in that the children of merchants are ex-l 
 pofed to be draughted out on the militia- 
 duty, the fame with thofe of the loweftl 
 r#ink, and even with footmen. Thus it is 
 *•• • ' "* • 'that 
 
and Difadvantages of France, &c. 2 3 
 
 that merchants defpifcd, and debafed, have 
 become contemptible even in their own 
 eyes, and have gone to other countries in 
 fearch of a confideration and efteem re- 
 fiifed to them in their own, ruinoufly both 
 to the public and private intereft. A 
 merchant, an equipper of privateers, who 
 abandons a manufadure, or his dealings at 
 fea, deprives conf»merce, not only of the 
 confiderable capitals he employed in it, 
 but alfo of his credit. All the clafles of 
 people to whom he gave employ muft nc* 
 cefTarily feel the mifs of him, and thefc 
 lofies are doubtlefs ill repaired by thofe 
 who fucceed him with lefs capitals, credit, 
 abilities, and experience : thefe lofies are 
 too frequent •, they keep commerce, and 
 the clafs of artificers, workmen, and 
 traders, in a ftate of weaknefs and de- 
 cline. > ' • . 
 
 Of the Revenue. Of the Clergy ; of 
 Magistrates, and Lawyers j and 
 »f the Military. 
 
 Upon a mature examination of the 
 funftions of thefe different' orders, it can-, 
 not be difowned, that nothing can be more 
 reafonably defirable than that what they do 
 in a State, fhould be done by the fmalieil 
 polTible number of them. 
 
 On 
 
24 Remarks o!i the Advantages 
 
 On the contrary, in France, thefe four 
 ftates of life have acquired a continual 
 augmentation in number : the other clalTes 
 of the kingdom have no other views of 
 ambition than to get into the Revenue, the 
 Clergy, the Law, or the Army. 
 
 Thefe are the four States of life fo 
 named, as if none other could deferve that 
 pame. To get into one of thofe claffes, 
 is what is called in France, entering into a 
 ftate of life : the other fundtions of fub- 1 
 jeds, that is to fay of the mod ufeful ones, ■ 
 muft content themfelves with the humble 
 term of profejfwn^ or trade. In France, it 
 would be an impropriety in fpeech, to fay 
 that workmen, or merchants, have 2ifiate 
 <ff life, \ , 
 
 . . \ . Of the Revenue. 
 
 The levying of imports, taxes, &c. is I 
 a necelTary charge which adds to their I 
 weight; the receiver might, in another 
 pfofeflion, produce to the State a real] 
 good: it is then to*be wifhed that the| 
 feweft fubjeds poflible fliould be employed 
 in thofe colle(5i:ions. ' . ■ : 
 
 In France the nature of the taxes, their' 
 number, the inland cuftoms fo much mul- 
 tiplied, have in the fame proportion mul- 
 tiplied the colkdlors of dutys. ' 
 
 -■^' • This 
 
and Dlfad vantages of France, &c. 25 
 
 This clafs, is that into which the other 
 ones feck admiflion with all the eagernefs, 
 and paflion imaginable, and that for two 
 reafbns. . . . .: ii.:^ j , i.ijjr >: -t •♦ 
 
 The firft, becaufe great fortunes are 
 made in it, and that money is the price, 
 or at leaft the neceflary inltrument of at- 
 taining honors, and employments in tlie 
 three others. The fecond, becaufe the 
 clafs of the Revenue, has itlelf been made 
 fufceptible of honors: money has made 
 noblemen of almofl all the chief officers 
 of the revenue, and even many of the 
 fubaltern ones. All the clerks, and thofe 
 in the very lowed employs in it, wear a 
 fword, which naturally belongs only to 
 the military, and diitincbionally to the no- 
 bility. . ' ' ?' • ' ■; 
 
 The Revenue has acquired to itfelf a 
 I fort of illuftration by its alliances. We have 
 feen the higheft noblemen lay down their 
 pride at the feet of wealth, and court, in 
 an alliance with the farmers of the re- 
 venue, an opulence, which often after the 
 ceremony, they repay with a moft inhuman 
 |contempt. r • ' -^ ■ -> -^v ^ r • 7 ' ' y*r'^\- *» 
 
 Men of the Robe have often iinagined 
 jto find in the revenue, means of repairing 
 jtheir indigence : but inftead of a folid 
 jpermanent fortune^ they have often got 
 
 1 C nothing 
 
26 Remarks on the Advantages 
 
 nothing but the example, and the princi- 
 ples of a. ruinous luxury -, and if their in- 
 tegrity may have preferved itfelf exempt 
 from reproach : at leail their aufterity, and 
 fiioral-&, have fuffered Tome corruption. 
 
 ^''"' .0///^^ Clergy. • 
 
 There are inconteftably, in France, many 
 more minifters of religion, th^ is requi- 
 fite to teach, or preferve its depofite with 
 them : the necefifary number for thefe 
 two fundlions being once compleat, all 
 beyond that, have nothing to do but to 
 pofTefs ecclefiaftical benefices. It is faid, 
 that they are the recompence of younger 
 brothers in families which have been ruin- 
 ed in the military fervice of the ftate: 
 what a principle, and what a reffource muft 
 that be for a Government, to annihilate 
 one part of its fubjcdls, by way of recom- 
 pence to another part of them I ' 
 
 I have often heani it repeated in France,! 
 •* The convents of both fexes are a great 
 *• convenience : what could be done with 
 ^* our daughters, if there were not con-' 
 «* vents ? " This way of thinking in a ci-d 
 vilifed nation, ever appeared to me ex-P 
 treamly (Irange : certain barbarous people ^ 
 in Afia could imagine no better reffource ^ 
 Hg^inft indigence, than that of drowning a ^ 
 
and Difadvantages of France, &c. 27 
 
 part of thofe children, which the fertility 
 of nature had granted them. > - ^^ 
 
 An expedient has been imagined of 
 afligning to the military, penfions upon 
 feme of the ecclefiaftical benefices. Ano- 
 ther employ of the fuperfluity of the 
 church -pofleffions prefents itfelf more na- 
 turally, and that would be to take out of 
 them wherewith to portion young mar- 
 riageable men, and £'irls, in the country, 
 in order to provide the remedy of the 
 vil, out of the very caufe itfelf of it. •. u- 
 
 0/ Magistrates ^;/J Lawyers. 
 
 The Laws, and the adminiftration of 
 luftice, being rather the remedy of an evil, 
 pan a pofitive good in a State : one (hould 
 )refer the plaineft fimple methods in it, 
 id thofe which would employ ihe fmalleft 
 [umber of fubjeds. . 1 > » - :i ;* 
 In France, the Magi (Irate s, the Judges 
 the Courts of Juftice, fuperior and in- 
 irior. Royal and Leet, form an immenfe 
 body, which has a number, at leaft as 
 gpeat, under it of inftrunients, and officers 
 ^ juftice, fuch as follicitors, prod:ors> 
 attorneys, notarys, bayliffs, &c : a multi- 
 tude that is become at length itfelf one of 
 |e greateft nuifances of the adminiftration 
 Juftice. i^r:uv .*? r^ -^ y co i.,. :' .-• - ;- 
 
 C 2 This 
 
28 *' Remarks on the Advantages 
 
 This inferior clafs takes off a number 
 of fubjedts from the mod ufeful profcf- 
 fions, and multiplies datly^ on account of 
 the fortune which are made in it. 
 
 The fuperior clafs of the Magiftrates, 
 on the other hand, becomes, and remains 
 poor, becairfe their fortune in it, is not 
 fufceptible of augmentation, and yet what 
 refpedl ftill continues to fubfift for that 
 rank, draws fubjedts into it •, fome noble- 
 men ftill vouchfafe to hold employs in it, 
 and fome commoners feek earneftly to get 
 into it, for the fake of the privileges, and 
 ennoblement annexed to it. 
 
 So that the Body of the Law, and of 
 
 . thofe who belong to it, is as numerous as 
 
 poflibly it can be. '• c « .,> — . 
 
 ..." ■ 4 >■ "t 1. 
 
 ..; ' a PI ^^^ Military. '. ' 
 
 A Body which can never be formed bd 
 at the expence of the moft ufeful profef 
 fions to Society ; a Body which devour 
 its members, fince it only procures them| 
 fubfiftence for life, and is in its nature arj 
 enemy to marriage, ought to be as littl| 
 numerous as poflTible. In France however! 
 it is that which is the moft exceflive "" 
 proportion. - ^' ' 
 
 The ambition of France to hold 
 firft rank amongft the Powers of the Eanli 
 
and Difad vantages of France, &c. 2 9 
 
 is doubtlefs the principle of the enormous 
 encrcafe of her armies. The chara6ter of 
 the Nation, her prejudices have notably 
 fcconded the policy of the Government. 
 The military State is the only one which 
 befits the nobility : but the nobility is fo 
 numerous, and poor, and the military 
 employs not being fufiicient for the fub- 
 fidence of all ; honors were granted them 
 by w.iy of fupplement. The military is 
 then folely in poiTeflion of the higheft* ho- 
 nors, and attributes to itfelf exclufively 
 the title of nobility properly fo called. 
 
 What I fay here, relates principally to the 
 troops in the land-fervice. The fea-fervice 
 has been far from having the fame favor, 
 and attention Ihown to it by the Govern- 
 ment. The great expences which the main- 
 tenance of the firft exafts, are without 
 doubt the caufe of the mediocrity of en- 
 couragement given to the latter. In fhort, 
 in Franc^, the land-fervice is in all re- 
 fpeds the preferential one j as in England, 
 the marine.- - ' 
 
 But in France all the world defires to 
 be, and cap be noble, and every nobleman 
 can be nothing but military. This clafs 
 muft be then the moft numerous of all. 
 I ihall add fome remarks upon the nobi- 
 lity in general, r , ,i . ., 
 
 ;. ■■'(:' 3 Of 
 
3o Remarks on the Advantages 
 Of Nobility in generaL . 
 
 The Nobility, in France, carries with it 
 an exemption from a great part of the 
 taxes, and offices of the States thence^ 
 that defire fo little of the noble in it, and 
 yet lefs worthy of a patriot, which every 
 one has to acquire nobility, in order to be 
 difpenfed from contributing to the fervice 
 of the Public. At the fame time, through 
 an antient, eflablifhed, and encouraged 
 prejudice, a nobleman cannot, without 
 difhonor, enter into trade. He cannot 
 even, confidently with his honor, live 
 upon his eftate, and perfonally improve it 
 by keeping it in his own hands. It is re- 
 quifite for a nobleman to hold his fortune, 
 and eflimation from the military fervice, 
 that is to fay, that he fhould fubfift at the 
 expence of his Country. And yet, the 
 means of acquiring this^ nobility have been 
 multiplied. It is to be acquired by ferv- 
 ing a certain time in the Army. Some 
 employs in the Law confer it too. An 
 infinite number of other Offices feem to 
 have been created for no other purpofe 
 than to fell it. For a hundred thoufand 
 livres lent to the Government at four per 
 cent, one may have the place of Secretary 
 to the King, which confers nobility, with 
 
 all 
 
and Difad vantages of France, &c. 3 1 
 
 all its circumftances on him, or on the 
 defcendants of him who dies in that pofl, 
 or pofTefles it twenty year?, after which it 
 is fold, and makes another new nobleman. 
 A Grand -father who has many children, 
 by this means, makes at one flroke, a 
 multitude of heads of noble families : that 
 is to fay, he purchafes for them the ho- 
 nor, and necellity of fubfifting at the ex- 
 pence of their Country. Doubtlefs, they 
 might have tacked to thefe pofts the con- 
 dition of exercifing fome profeffion, ufeful 
 and profitable to the Public, or have 
 clapped fome reflri(^ions on the rights, 
 and enjoyment of this nobility : but then 
 thefe pofts would not have found a fale 
 quick enough, and the creation of the 
 greater number of them was a refiburce 
 for the Revenue. But what a ruinous bar- 
 gain are they for the State ! they have 
 multiplied its expences, diminiftied its 
 revenues, and the number of its ufeful 
 fubjeds, when they multiplied the means 
 of acquiring Nobility. - :; 
 
 Conclusion from the Premijfes. 
 
 To recapitulate in brief. In France, 
 the greateft number of thofe profeflions 
 which employ the individuals, contain 
 principles oppofed to the propagation of 
 
 C 4 them. 
 
 ' c 
 
22 Remarks on the Advantages 
 
 them, or neceiTary caufes of their dc- 
 ftrudlion. 
 
 Secondly, the clafles ufeful to the State, 
 that is to lay, thofe which produce in the 
 State a value which before did not exift 
 in it, are the moft loaded, and deprefled, 
 and the ftrongell tendency or determina- 
 tion of the fubjeds is towards thofe pro- 
 fcflions which produce leaft to the State, 
 and are the leaft fufceptible of population. 
 In Ihort, they have multiplied the means 
 of rendering men the leaft profitable to 
 the Public Weal. 
 
 A curious comparifon, but which I ■ 
 have not been able to procure for myfelf, I 
 would be that of the number of marriages 
 refpedively made in each of the clafles 
 abovementioned, fuch as the Military, the 
 Law, the Revenue, Traders, Artificers, 
 Labourers in eafy circumftances. Labourers 
 in uneafy ones. I would then, compare 
 the number of children in the families of 
 each different clafs, and I do not doubt, 
 but that the number of marriages would 
 be found lefler in certain clafTes, and the 
 children rarer in the marriages of thofe 
 clafles, in a proportion that would verify 
 what 1 have advanced. • '• » « 
 
 Another fatisfadory comparifon, would 
 be that of the number of men which 
 
 . . France 
 
and Difad vantages of France, &c. 3 j 
 
 France employs in the different profef- 
 fiofts, with that which England employs 
 in the fame. There would, doubtlefs, be 
 found a difproportion between them, that 
 would explain how Great Britain, lefs by 
 one half in extent of territory, and number 
 of men, poffeiTes a Marine, a trade, and 
 revenues fo fuperior to thofe of France, in 
 jroportion to thofe two points. 
 The affluence of the Englifli labourers, 
 Ithe encouraged cultivation of land, a nu- 
 Imerous body of artificers, of confide rable 
 [traders, on the one hand ; on the other, 
 [Land-troops in a moderate number,Clergy- 
 len in no greater one than neceflary for 
 [inftrudion, a refpe6i:able Marine, will give 
 the folution of this problem. 
 
 It is not without a fenfible joy that I have 
 
 remarked in the Government of France, a 
 
 nee of conftitution, of which the confe- 
 
 [uences are fo extenfive, and I have con- 
 
 Igratulated my Country upon it : but I 
 
 :ould not, at the fame time help feeling, 
 
 from the refledbion, how formidable muft 
 
 ive become this Power, this ambitious 
 
 rival of ours, if it had made the mod of 
 
 ihofe advantages, which offered themfelves 
 
 From its poffeliions, and number of fub- 
 
 liedts. ^j:}- - ,, -;.x...\.-.\ 
 
 .: ^5 r)lS- 
 
34 Remarks on the Advantages' ' 
 
 * 
 ■■■■Mi 
 
 II. Disadvantage of France, in the 
 
 manner in which it employs the Genius 
 and Intellects cf its Inhabitants. 
 
 FRANCE does not employ more to 
 its advantage the genius and Intel- 
 ledls of its inhabitants, than it does their 
 hands. It is the country in Europe whfch 
 contains the mod Ichools, colleges, aca- 
 demies of all kind. The frcnch tongue, 
 has, i.i its Capital, its appropriate aca- 
 demy. Th^. hlles lettres^ antiquities, paint- 
 ing, fculpture, mufic, have alfo theirs. 
 All the provinces of France, in emulation 
 of the Capital, have vyingly with one 
 another^ ereded academics : and yet with 
 all the number of them, one fees none that 
 wants members. The ambition of being 
 admitted into them, raifes an infinite num- 
 ber of writers, whom it takes off from 
 agriculture, from the ufeful arts, and from 
 trade. For in France, an author does no- 
 thing elfe befides writing, and forbids 
 himfelf abfolutely all ufeful profeffion. 
 Authors are a fpecies of nobility, or of 
 men who live nobly by the reputation of 
 their works,, and the protection of the rich, 
 Yet there are many of thefc writers wha 
 
 -. had 
 
and Difad vantages of France, &c. 3 5 
 
 had done much better at the plough's tail, 
 or in manufa6luring paper, inftead of 
 ftaining it, and had certainly been more 
 ufeful to the State. 
 
 Examine but the different objeds which 
 employ thofe academies, or are treated of 
 in their books, and you will find that the 
 difquifitions, the fciences, the arts of Ihecr 
 entertainment, or agreeable amufcmcnr, 
 have all the preference over thofe which 
 are only ufeful : but Wit efpeeially, or the 
 manner of writing, or fpeaking, is the ob- 
 je6t with which they appear mod taken 
 up : and in that it is indeed that they have 
 made the greateft progreffes. The French, 
 without difpute, write with more grace- 
 fulnefs and method than any other nation, 
 but it feems, that contented with this ad- 
 vantage, they have neglefted the manner 
 of thinking, and the choice of matters. *'; * 
 
 Amongft the many academies fo libe-i 
 raHy fpread throughout France \ commerce, 
 mechanic arts, agriculture, of which the 
 details are fo extenfive, have not defer ved 
 to have their particular academies. * Yet 
 arc not the names of thefe fciences un- 
 known 
 
 * Sola res ruftica, qua; fine dubitatione, proxima 
 
 & quafi confanguinea fapientiai eft, tarn difcentibus 
 
 ejget'^uam.magiftris. Adhuc'enim fcholas rhetorum, 
 
 V i - ^ ^ geome- 
 
 
36 Remarks on the Advantageis 
 
 known in fome of thofe academies ; but 
 they cannot attradl but a flight attention, 
 confounded as they are, with fo many]!' 
 other fciences more noble^ and more a-* 
 mufing. The prizes which thefe academies 
 diftribute, and which have ferved fo much 
 to multiply wits, poets, fcholars, painters, 
 Iculptors, &c. have never been thought 
 on to employ towards multiplying artills, 
 manufadlurers, hufbandmen : no public or 
 private fund is allotted to encourage dif- 
 coveries ufeful to Society. Be it that a 
 zealous patriot fliould ftart up, and furnifli 
 the Public with obfervations upon agri- 
 culture, the fruit perhaps of long, and 
 coftly experiments, there are few can make 
 the fame trials for want of means, or for 
 fear of the lofs Ihould they not fucceed. 
 Himfelf too, perhaps for want of aids, 
 /hall be forced to abandon a fludy to 
 which neither the labor, nor the abilities of 
 ^ fingle private perfon may be fufficieat. 
 In fliort, it is almoft a phenomenon a- 
 niongll the fubjedls of the prizes of aca- 
 demies, 
 
 geometrarum, muiicorumque ; vel quod magis mi- 
 randum eft, contemptdfiimorum vitiorum officinas, 
 gulofius condendi cibos, & luxuriofius ftrucndi fer- 
 cula, capitomque, & capillorum cincinnatores non 
 folum audivi, fed & ipfe vidi. Columella, de re 
 ruftica. Lib. I. cap. i. . : . 
 
and Difad vantages of France, &c. 3 7 
 
 demies, that which the academy of Amiens 
 propofed for the year 1753, in the fol- 
 lowing queftions : " What are the dif- 
 '' ferent qualities of the wool necelTary to 
 ■' the manufactures of France ? Can thefe 
 " manufactures be carried on without the 
 " fpanifh, irifh, or other foreign wool ? 
 " What would be the beft methods of 
 ** giving to the french wool the quality 
 ** it wants, or of augmenting its quan- 
 « tity ? 
 
 Amongft the french books, the mod ^ 
 rare, indifputably, are fuch as profefledly 
 treat of the arts, and fciences ufeful to fo- 
 ciety. They have next to nothing wrote 
 upon agriculture, or commerce in gene- 
 ral, and lefs yet upon the detail of thofe 
 objects, and upon fuch as relate to them : 
 they have even negleCted the helps of- 
 fered to tliem, in the writings of other 
 nations. In no library, public or private, 
 is to be found a fpecific collection of the 
 works»exifting upon trade and agriculture. 
 They have taken fpecial care to enrich 'the 
 french language with tranflations from the 
 poetry, and romances of all countries. 
 They have tranflated fome of our poets, 
 and romance-writers, good and bad ; but 
 our authors upon commerce and agricul- 
 . ture. 
 
 i i 
 
38 Remarks on the Advantages 
 
 ture, will be furc to be the laft known 
 amongft them, f 
 
 The education of men might here well 
 defer ve fome particular remarks. In all 
 countrys, it is ever inftituted in confor- 
 mity to the genius of the nation, and by 
 a neceffary circle, contributes to form, and 
 preferve that national genius. But I will 
 not undertake to enter into too prolix a 
 detail of thofe faults which may be com- 
 mon to the French education, as well as 
 to ours. Voyag( s are without doubt the 
 bed fchool in which to form men : and 
 in truth we run fo much into voyaging, 
 and even fo exceflively, that it might be 
 thought, that with many of us Englifh- 
 men, the tafte for travelling, is nothing ] 
 but a reftleflhefs in our natures, a defire, 
 or a want of exilling any where elfe but 
 at home. The French are not great tra- 
 vellers : which I am not apt to think is 
 owing to their contempt of other nations 
 
 Vhich 
 
 » l " ' — fc— ^— — ^»i— I II II iiaaanaaa i • i , i^mmm^^tmmm 
 
 f M. Duhamel de Monceau, of the royal aca- 
 demy of fciences at Paris, and member of the royal 
 fociety in London, has lately publiihed a treatife 
 on the cultivation of land, upon the principles of 
 Jethro T\x\\j with fome experiments upon this new 
 method. 
 
 He has fmce publifhed his excellent treatife iipoii 
 the prefervation of grains. 
 
and Difadvantages of France, &c. ^g 
 
 which they do not know : the plained ac- 
 count to be given for it, is that the luxury 
 of" parents, is not fo compatible with the 
 expence neceflary" to let their children tra- 
 vel. Yet one meets with Frenchmen who 
 have made the tour of Italy, and it feems 
 even that to have been in England begins* 
 to be a fort of fafhion amongft them. 
 The fenfible part of them who are returned 
 from thence, give a more decent and fa- 
 vorable character of our politenefs, and 
 manners, than formerly, and perhaps we 
 now defcrve it better. Some of them, at 
 their return, talk much of our horfes, 
 which they do not know how to ride ; of 
 more robberies, than they ever met with ;. 
 of our liberty, of which they have no 
 idea. I do not know -whether it is through 
 imitation (which we might conftrue for a 
 mark of efteem) or whether it is a caprice 
 of fafhion, but I have obferved in our 
 young Frenchmen in the morning, a great 
 deal of the englifh airs, juft as we re- 
 proach our youth with having adopted the 
 trench ones, in their drefs and manners ^ 
 the Youth of France, pafles a horfeback, 
 or fauntering about on foot, the morning 
 in doing of nothing, after the englifh 
 way; and the evening in doing of no- 
 thing, after the french one. But ftill they 
 
 imitate 
 
/^ Remarks on the Advantages -i*^ 
 
 imitate us aukwardly, their frocks are not 
 long waifted enough, and they will never 
 fet horfes on their haunches fo well as wc 
 do, O imiiatores s ., . .f 
 
 III. Disadvantage fo Ykahcz in the 
 dijiribtctive oeconomy <?/ P r op e r t y . 
 
 THE unequal diftribution of pro- 
 perty through the different condi- 
 tions of life, is one of the principal tyes 
 of fociety, and the moft powerful caufe 
 of the fubordination between the members 
 of it, from the Sovereign down to the 
 lowed lubje(5l. Luxury is the neceflary 
 effe6l of it, and at the fame time a remedy 
 to it : it is by this means, if right ma- 
 naged, that money circulates, and carries 
 life through all the parts of the Body- 
 
 Politic. .... j^ .^r. :rL* V. 
 
 . But this unequal diftribution of pro- 
 perty may be fo exceflive, or faulty, as 
 tjiat exceflive. wealth in one clafs of the 
 State, may caufe in the other part an ex- 
 ceflive poverty. As there is nothing but 
 the land, or trade that can produce in the 
 State a value that did not before exifl: in 
 it, all exceflive fortunes which do not 
 proceed from thofe fpring- heads, cannot 
 ^ .fr- ' t>ut 
 
and Dlfad vantages of France, &c. 4 1 
 
 I but be formed attheexpence of the trader^ 
 or the land-improver : whkh muft be a 
 fort of impofition on thofe two claffes, 
 prejudicial to cultivation, and induftry. 
 Befides the* exceffive proportion of over- 
 grown fortunes, is, in its nature, little 
 favorable to the confumption of provifions 
 and merchandize. The head of a family 
 of twenty thoufand pounds fterHng a year 
 will not confume fo much wine, for ex- 
 ample, as twenty families of a thoufand k 
 year each. The diflipation and wafte in 
 fiich an houfe of the necelTarys of life, will 
 not ballance the deficiency of confumption 
 by the mechanics, and peafants, deprived 
 of the means of it. 
 
 If a number of fuch enormous fortunes 
 Ihould ftart up, and not be dillributed, in 
 due proportion, over all the parts of the 
 kingdom, the effe(fl of them will be yet 
 more pernicious. There will necejflarify 
 refult from it a m if- ordered diftribution of 
 fubjeds : the inhabitants will be drawn 
 from all parts of the kingdom towards 
 that fpot of it, in which the wealth of the 
 State is concentered, and the evil will 
 grow boundlefs, if thefe men quit thofe 
 profeflions, which may be termed, of the 
 firft necefljty, to take up trades which (hall 
 produce nothing to the State, or which 
 . , have 
 
4« Remarks on the Advantages /.. 
 
 have only for obje6l a ruinous confump. 
 tion, and fuch are all thofe which are 
 maintained by an exceflive luxury. Thi^; 
 is what has happened in France. 
 
 France concenters in Verfailles, and Pa- 
 ri^, as in a fmgle point, all the powers 
 which can attradt mankind ; to Court, on 
 account of the greatnefs, and honors which 
 can be attained no where elfe, and which 
 are for none but thofe who live at it ; to 
 Paris, in which are not only all the trea- 
 fures of the State, but where all thofe 
 fubjeds of the State refide who are rich, 
 cither through the public, or their own 
 private revenue : fo • that all the wealthy 
 have fixed their habitation in this town, 
 from a preference owing to the neighbour- 
 hood of the Court. 
 
 A portion fo confiderable of the riches 
 of the State, as well as of the Subje<5b, per- 
 rnanently fixed in one fpot, cannot diffufe 
 its influence but to a certain diftance. 
 The neighbouring lands, and fuch as could 
 fend their produce to that market, might 
 feel the benefit of it, refpedlively in pro- 
 portion to their diftance. The fame may 
 be faid of the manufadlures neccfTary to 
 the demands of life, or of luxury. The 
 lands and the manufadures which want the 
 convenience of carriage thithen, have been 
 
 negledted, 
 
5 and Difad vantages of France, &c. 43 
 
 tneglefted, or deferted, for want of a fuf* 
 ficient confumption on the Ipot, or at pro- 
 per diftances. Neceffity has drawn to 
 Town the inhabitants of the Country, and 
 luxury has employed them to excefs, in all 
 the neceffary as well as fuperfluous pro- 
 eflions. Thence an enormous number of 
 botmen, and fervants of all ranks, peruke- 
 iiakers, artificers, and profefTors of the 
 oft frivolous arts, petty foggers, and other 
 arpers, a number which goes on en- 
 reafing every day, to fuch a degree.^ that 
 rellore that oeconomy which fhould be 
 bferved in the well- peopling of a nation, 
 aris ought to fend colonies to all the 
 arts of the kingdom, which have been 
 ifpeoplcd for its fake. 
 It may alfo be averred, that the diftri«i 
 ution of property is ill- regulated, when 
 ne fees the land-owners, occupying, in 
 own, fumptuous palaces, whilft their 
 iFamily- feats, their farms, their villages 
 are going to ruin : when the produce of 
 the provinces has no demand, or con- 
 fumption, bccaufe they live no longer on 
 their eftates, than ferves them to rack 
 wherewith to live in Town ; when a 
 fertile kingdom is reduced to want 
 graifly becaufe the labourer is forced by 
 Ws poverty to come to town to ferve 
 
 the 
 
44" Remarks on the Advantages ■''• 
 
 the wants or fancies of the rich : in fhort, 
 when the rich have no other way of luxury 
 left than confuming without meafure in 
 furniture of all forts, that gold and filver, 
 of which the cultivation of land (lands in 
 need. Luxury well-ordered breeds a be- 
 neficial confumption : exceffive luxury is 
 a deftrudive abufe. It is the luxury of 
 Cleopatra. 
 
 Interest ^ Money, higher in Fra^^ci 
 than in Holland ^«^ England. 
 
 WHY has F>ance held up the public 
 intereft of money at 5 per cent, 
 whilfl" Holland and England have brought 
 it down, by feveral fucceflive reductions 
 to 3 and 2-§r per cent? tf h 
 
 It is with States, as with private per- 
 fons ; he that has the lead credit, pays the 
 higheft intereft for the money he borrows ; 
 now the monarchical Government is na- 
 turally not fufceptible of fo great a con- 
 fidence as a republican one. Upon urgent 
 occafions, the borrower muft receive the 
 law impofed on him by the lender, and 
 France, for a century back, has often 
 found itfelf in this pofition: and as, a- 
 mongft all the Powers which faw them- 
 : * ' fclves 
 
' and Difadvantagcs of France, &c. 45 
 
 felves dragged into a War, France has 
 made the greateft efforts in proportion to 
 her ftrength, fhe has more than the reft 
 exhaufted her credit by all manner of ways • 
 and means of borrowing, fuch as creations 
 of offices of all kinds, alienations of taxes, 
 lotteries, tontines, arfnuitys, rents upon 
 the crown-lands, and upon the revenue, 
 &c« Belides all which reffources, the ex- 
 pedient was imagined of forming out of 
 the farmers of the revenue, and its trea- 
 iurers, a powerful Body, whofe credit 
 might fupply the Government occafional- 
 ly, which is juft as if a Lord without 
 credit, fhould borrow at ten per cent, of a 
 fleward of his, enriched at his expence, 
 what that fteward could raife upon the 
 Change at fix per cent. Reduced then to 
 thefe expedients, the King could not be 
 the mailer enough of the intereft of mo- 
 ney, to reduce the public intereft. But 
 as the French are naturally truftful, and 
 little capable of lafting impreffions, a few 
 years of peace, and of perfeverance in 
 keeping faith, in the engagements of the» 
 Government, may make pafled times be 
 forgot, and accomplifh the re-eftablifh- 
 ment of the public credit. Then a proper 
 (inking fund, and fome competent fums 
 which the farmers of the revenue, and 
 iK the 
 
4^ Remarks on the Advantages —■■ 
 
 the treafurers might advance at a low in- 
 tereft, the King's re-imburfing feme part 
 of the rents, his reducing the legal intereft 
 to four' per cent, and propofing the re- 
 imburfement of fome other debts, or the 
 reduftion of their interefl on that foot ; a 
 great part of the public debts might fuc- 
 ceflively be eftabliftied at that intereft, and 
 perhaps lower. An event to which Eng- 
 land has a great intereft that War fhould 
 produce obftacles. ^'oi • ? .) ci.iivM ' 
 
 But however that may be, in the mean 
 time, this high rate of intereft is of great 
 difadvantage to France. It puts France, 
 with refpeft to Holland and England, in 
 the fame pofition, as that of a borrower 
 with refpe<^ to an ufurer. The money of 
 thofe nations that goes to France, goes 
 thither in queft of the higheft intereft, and 
 makes her debtor to them for confidera- 
 ble fums. 1 :.:.». ' ,v...li ♦ . . . . /. .• . 
 
 The high intereft of money in France, 
 fwejls alfo that clafs of men whofe in- 
 duftry is loft to the ftate, a multitude of 
 idle ftock- holders. The number of traders 
 is diminiftied by it, and trade falling into 
 a few hands, is thereby contradled. The 
 effcrts of induftry are lefs adive, and lefs 
 multiplied. The foreign trade becomes 
 almoft a monopoly: large profits are 
 %M aimed 
 
and Difadvantages of France, &c. 47 
 
 ^imed at, and moderate ones neglefted: 
 11 principles the moft diredlly oppofed to 
 
 beneficial confumption, tp the employ- 
 lent of the poor, and to the propagation 
 )f the individuals. The markets dimi* 
 lilh, agriculture is difcouraged. The mo- 
 leyed men do not care to employ in the 
 mprovement of land, that money they 
 :an make more of by lending it at a high 
 itereft. 
 
 In fhort, as the intereft of money em* 
 )loyed in trade, is governed by the legal 
 )r eftablifhed intereft, it is evident that, 
 kvery thing elfe fuppofed to be equal, Hol- 
 land and England have the advantage over 
 ' ranee, of being able to undertake any 
 )oints of commerce three per cent, cheaper 
 [han France. • ' ' ' ' • * • ^" -' 
 
 The Laws of France do not allow of 
 [aking intereft of money, without alienat- 
 ing the fund •, notwithftanding which, in 
 :ontempt of thofe very laws, money is 
 |ent out, in trade, upon exigible notes, 
 
 'his ufury is tolerated, and has even efta- 
 )li(hed itfelt^ above the legal intereft, in 
 )roportion to the fcarcity of money in 
 trade, partly caufed by the prohibition of 
 the Law : thus the Law is not executed, 
 md yet trade fuffers by that Law. * 
 
 France 
 
48 Remarks on the Advantages,&c. I 
 
 France has in her hands a remedy for 
 all thefe difadvantages. She will doubtlefs 
 open her eyes on the happy experience 
 our Nation has made of the feveral re« 
 du6bions of the national intereft fince the 
 year 1^23, that it was at ten per cent. 
 The names of thofe patriots who advifed 
 them. Sir Thomas Colepepper, Sir Jofias 
 Child, Sir John Barnard, will be for ever 
 in honor, and dear to England. Before 
 them, the Chancellor Bacon, one of the 
 greateft geninfes of his Age, had perceived 
 thefe truths, and had given the fame coun- 
 fels, in his moral and political EfTays. 
 
 We ought not to fee without inquietude, 
 that there is yet left to France fo powerful 
 a reffource, which we indeed have gone 
 great lengths towards wearing out, and 
 which Holland has doubtlefs exhaufted, as 
 one may judge by obferving the intereft 
 of money there at two and a half per cent. 
 and at the fame time its commerce daily 
 reduced by all the other nations, who do 
 but retake what her induflry had ufurped, 
 whilft the cxcefTive load of her taxes keep 
 at the fame time her land without value. 
 
 AD- 
 
ADVANTAGES 
 
 AND 
 
 * 
 
 DISADVANTAGES 
 
 « 
 
 ^ ^^ OF -•;•■■ 
 
 ♦* , 
 
 Great -Britain 
 
 With regard to 
 
 COMM ER CEj 
 
 AND "'"■:. '-- 
 
 To other Means of encreafii>g 
 the Wealth and Power - 
 
 o F A 
 
 S T A T E. 
 
 - -Vt 
 
■~- V" 
 
 c 
 
 ♦I' 
 
 >• ' 
 
 -'^ . I* ■ 
 
 . w • C) 
 
 4 
 
 \ 
 
 I " * T 
 
 • - • 
 
 , , /» ■ . , • , , 
 
 . ..'-<•"•■» -. >J '■'•.'' •'' '(■'■■•) •*.'% f, 
 
 . J « ,7 v .1 iJlAii > I i . . . .V^ T » -'J 1 -J 
 
 A -: o 
 
 \ 
 
 
 e: 
 
 a 
 
[51 ] 
 
 ii" 
 
 ADVANTAGES 
 
 AND ' '' * 
 
 DIS ADV A N TAGES 
 
 ■■■■ •■■': OF ■ •■■ '1 
 
 GREAT-BRITAIN 
 
 With regard to Commerce ; 
 
 [And to other Means of encreanng the 
 Wealth and Power of a State. 
 
 O fcience can well be more necef- 
 fary than an exad knowledge of 
 one's own llrength, nor is it a 
 larren confideration that of one's advan- 
 iges, when the ftudy of their principles 
 ;oes along with it : of the ufe too made 
 them* and of the means to augment 
 lem, or to procure new ones. Com- ; 
 lonly lefs attention than there ought to 
 is given to thofe advantages for which 
 "V«e are only beholden to nature, either, 
 ^eaufeweare apt to take little notice of, 
 tie Good we enjoy without the trouble of 
 I D 2 feckinjg 
 
52 Advantages and Di fad vantages 
 
 feeking it ; or becaufe our pride gives the 
 preference to that which we hold from 
 our own induftry. Neverthelefs, the na- 
 tural advantages are the only true ones : 
 their pofltfTion is the lead lyable to be en- 
 Vtd, or taken away from us : they afford 
 tlie fureft recompence of the pains may 
 be taken to extend them, which are the 
 matter and intention of the following con- 
 Xiderations. 4 k i y* / - - . ^j. :. \J 
 
 — % 
 
 f. Of the Natural Form of Great 
 
 Britain. 
 y 
 
 According to the computation of Mr. 
 Edmund Halley, England, the firfl, 
 and the greateft of the two kingdoms in 
 Great Britain, contains about forty mil- 
 lions of fquare acres : and the form of it 
 is fuch, that no point of land in it the 
 mofl diftant from the fea-coafl: is farther] 
 than feventy miles from it. ^i. -- 
 
 It is obvious to conceive how an extent! 
 fo happily proportioned muft be favorable 
 to its inland-trade between its difFerentl 
 provinces, as well as to the external com- 
 merce of the natural produdions, and ma- 
 nufadures, and confequently to popula*] 
 
of Great Britain, &c/ 53 
 
 As an ifland, Great Britain pofTeflcs a 
 great number of maritime provinces, which 
 is, in courfe, attended with the molt na* 
 tural difpofition for having a great num- 
 ber of feamen, fifhermen, &c. . *rj : • 
 
 The fea rs her natural bulwark, her 
 fhips are her forts, at once oflfenfive, and 
 defenfive, in which they have the advan- 
 tage of fortifieations built upon frontiers : 
 a great one this for her, and a^ great ne- 
 celTity for her preferving the fuperiority 
 of her Navy, fo as to be even more in the 
 cafe of attacking, than barely (landing on 
 her defence. .ir: / . - 
 • The mod maritime Power was natu- 
 rally the propereft to become the moll 
 commercial one^ whilft her commerce, 
 and marine, ought naturally to procure 
 reciprocally one another's augmentation. 
 
 As a maritime, and commercial Power, 
 War mull be lefs chargeable to her than 
 to any other Power ; whilft France keeps 
 on foot four hundred thoufand men arm- 
 ed. Great Britain fcarce employs one hun- 
 dred thoufand men by fea and land, who 
 are fcarce mifled out of the cultivation of 
 the land, and the manufadures. WJiilft 
 fhe preferves her fuperiority at Sea, fhe 
 can, at the fame time, carry on her trade 
 in her natural prod udlions and hermanu- 
 
 „.. D 3 ^ fadlures : 
 
54 Advantages and Difadvantagcs 
 
 tures : fo that in War fhe is certainly the 
 Power which fpends the Icaft, and gains 
 the moft. 
 
 As an ifland, poflfefling a fufficient ex- 
 tent of fertile country, flie might juftly 
 renounce the fpirit of conqueft, and has 
 not been tempted to add to her continent, 
 other countries, by any convenience of ad- 
 jacency. A difpofition this favorable to 
 the fpirit of her commerce, as well as to 
 her conftitutioa and tranquillity. In a 
 State, the territories of which are of a 
 confiderable extent, the conftitution pre- 
 serves itfelf difficultly without difturbances* 
 (Be this faid, without any application of it 
 to our poiltffions in America, which arc 
 rather acquiiitions of commerce, than of 
 conqueft.) 
 
 The folitary, and infular exiftence for 
 which Great Britain is beholden to Nature, 
 has happily freed it from various depen- 
 dences, incident to the neighbourhood of 
 other countries. For example, fhe will 
 not permit France to get poffeffion of the 
 Auftrian Netherlands, but fhe does not 
 fear this event perfonally, as HoUand 
 muft. France may tranfport Ker vi^orious 
 artillery before every place in Germany 
 and Holland : but England will never 
 be afraid of France,, whilft the French 
 " ' Navy 
 
of Great Britain, &c. ^^ 
 
 Nary fhall be in no condition to be 
 feared. >., ,•-. .^j. ... r ; 
 
 But what is become of this fo invalua- 
 ble independence, fince a King of Great 
 Britain poflefles dominions which give him 
 an intereft foreign to that of the nation r 
 dominions which he muft defend, which 
 he wants to aggrarKlize, which he en- 
 riches with his favings : dominions in (hort 
 which give to a King of England, a 
 revenue, and troops which he does not 
 hold from the nation ? . . ...^ - » ...— 
 
 II. Natural Produce of England. 
 
 GR..i.IN, wool, and cattle, mines of 
 various forts, are the principal riches 
 which England owes to nature •, and her 
 induftry is naturally exercifed on improv- 
 ing thefe advantages by agriculture and 
 
 Of Grain, and Cultivation in general* . 
 
 The preference to which certain natural 
 produ^ions are entitled over others, is 
 full furely pointed out to us by our wants. 
 Thus Corn is almoft univerfally acknow- 
 ledged for the fpecies of which the culti- 
 vatioa deferves the firft care : and as the 
 
 - .,. D 4 want 
 
5? Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 want of it is a general one, and that the 
 confumption of it depends on a necefTity 
 independent on the caprices of Fafhion, 
 that State, which every thing elfe fuppofed 
 equal, fhall be fuperior in that point, will 
 enjoy the mod folid, and indifputabfe pre- 
 eminenee. **- ' 
 
 England was a long time without pro- 
 fiting from its advantages in this article. 
 It muft be owned, that corn is naturally 
 lefs necefTary to the Englifh than to any 
 other people in Europe. Truft-worthy 
 Hiftorians tell us, that before the Romans 
 had fet their foot on our ifland, at that 
 time extreamly populous, the common 
 nourifhment of Britons \s as milk, and the 
 flefh of wild, or tame animals, in which 
 the country abounded, that they lived lit- 
 tle upon grain, which was neither in 
 efteem, or in plenty amongft them. In 
 the North of Ireland to this day, the blood 
 of their cattle ferves them for nourifh- 
 ment, and chiefly milk. In the moun- 
 tains of Scotland, corn is not much ufed -, 
 m fhort, in England they eat but little 
 bread, a great deal of flefli-meat, and roots, 
 and greens. — - *'■ ' -. -i*--^ 
 
 Whilft England thought of no more 
 than cultivating the land for its own fub- [ 
 * ^ ^*' i fiftence, 
 
 . » > 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 57 
 
 fiftence, flie found herfelf often fliort of 
 it for her real wants, and obliged to fo- 
 reign markets for her grain, but fince Ihe 
 has made an ol^edt of commerce of it, 
 her cultivation of it has encreafed to fuch 
 a degree, that a good harveft is a provi- 
 fion for five years. A favorable climate, 
 and foil, afford her a fufficient certainty of 
 crops, and (he is now in a condition to 
 fupply, by her exports of grain, other 
 nations who want it. 
 
 I ihall quote here, for an inftance of 
 her prefent riches in that article, an ex- 
 trad of her exports from the years 1746 
 to 1750, comprehending all forts of 
 grain, as wheat, rye, barley, malt, and 
 oats, of the growth of England, Ihipped 
 off from fifty-feven of its ports, for Por- 
 tugal, Flanders, Holland, France, Dea-r 
 mark, Ruifiaj Africa,, &c. ^^ ^ 
 
 
 -> » 
 
 A t 
 
 1 1 . ;i, 
 
 >•* h 'k. o* • • , w ^ ^> 
 
 ^■« c 
 
 !? 
 
 "- ^ 1$' i'*r— iM iMi mim n 
 
 D 5 Extnift 
 
 »f4 
 
 
 (• 
 
 "•Ul 
 
58 Advanuges and Difadvantages 
 
 .:] "-."ilH Hi ' 
 
 .. /. T) 
 
 2 -«« 
 
 6 *- 
 
 i ^ 
 
 I « 
 
 J* 
 
 
 > 
 
 < 
 
 '"> 
 
 > 
 
 ^- 
 
 ••-»' 
 
 e 
 
 9 
 U 
 
 •s 
 
 I 
 
 
 ,o ^ 
 
 
 e > 
 
 ^ ■§.(§'1 
 
 
 (A 
 
 Is 
 
 lies' 
 
 ON On'O OO tJ- 
 
 co 1^ M^ O -- 
 CO -^ -^ ^ *o 
 
 vo 00 O « ^ 
 
 O >t 
 
 vo tvOO ON O 
 ^ '«1- ^ '^ iO 
 
 «>N x^ IV r>. i> 
 
 M H ^t M »iH 
 
 Upon 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 59 
 
 Upon thefe 5.289847 quarters of grain 
 of all forts, I find that France, for her 
 fhare, has extraded 260,000 quarters, al- 
 moft all of wheat, in the three years 
 1748, 1749, »75o, that is to fay, at 
 i/. 1 5 J. medium-priee of wheat for thofe 
 three years, to the amount of 455,000 /. 
 fterling, or 10.465000 livres. 
 
 It is obvious then, that for thofe five 
 years, that fum of 7.405,786/. fterl. was 
 io much lofs to other nations in the ba- 
 lance of Trade, and fo much clear gain 
 to the enrichment of England. To this 
 fum ought to be added the freight of thofe 
 grains payed almoft wholly to England 
 alone : for upon the total of thofe exports 
 for five years, the quantity fliipped off 
 upon foreign bottoms, does not amount to 
 45,887 quarters. This freight may be efti- 
 mated at 663,650/. fterl. (or 14.573,950 
 liTPes) at the rate of 2J. 6^. 4 per quarter. 
 But to conceive the whole extent of the 
 advantages of thefe exports, the number 
 of men ought to be calculated, that thefe 
 5.289847 quarters had employed in Eng- 
 land, in the cultivation, the carriage of 
 them to the fea, the purchafe and lale of 
 them within the kingdom, the building, 
 and fitting out die veflels which exported 
 
 •D 6 them. 
 
So Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 them, the number of fub]e(5ls who made 
 their livelyhood out of fupplying the 
 wants of thofe others, in fhort, all that 
 thefe men paid to the State in taxes for 
 what they con fumed r and then follows 
 this cx>n(i deration, that the employ, and 
 charges of thefe englifh fubjeds have been 
 paid by the countries who through their 
 wants were obliged ta apply to- them> 
 whilft the fame number of fubjeds in thofe 
 countries, flood in need of thofe oeeafions 
 of employ, which they procured, or wer^ 
 the caufes of elfe where. ^ •'»'«.. 
 
 It is the year 1689^ which may be 
 termed the epoch of the growth of rich 
 harvefts to England, for which fhe flands 
 indebted to that wife difpofition of the le- 
 giflature, which rnflituted a bounty on the 
 exportation of grain upon^ englifh bot- 
 toms. (I ' '^ . ;c ' ' • 
 
 .. • J. :j.i ^ .vci .1; \> jUi 'jA: ji (<Thi^ 
 
 ■I .11 . - - ■ . -- T tr rr- 1 - ■ I 1 
 
 H By afls of the i fl year of William and Mary, 
 5th of Queen Anne, 3d of George IL was granted 
 a bounty as follows per Quarter, (about 24 bu» 
 Ihels, Paris meafurc. J1 ; -^ • 
 
 :V' Not exceeding the price oC ". ?►.•; IJ Boanty, 
 
 Upon Wheat — 28 — * 5 o 
 
 ' Rye. I 12 — 3 6 
 
 ■ '; ' Barley — i 4 — - 2 6 
 
 . 'w i •- . ' . upon 
 
 • 
 
 \ 
 
 i!f- 
 
2 ^t)f Great Britain, &c, Ct 
 
 tf.'iThis method, always attended with fuc- 
 <ceft in the cafes m which it was pradlifed, 
 has neverthelefs .met with gainfayers a- 
 mongft the manufadturetis,. and traders.: 
 their objedtion is^ that the giving five (hil* 
 lings per quarter on corn exported, is as 
 much as to raife the price of it at our own 
 r markets> 
 
 ■ 1 1 
 
 
 ' ^ , Not exceeding the price of 
 
 /. I. 
 
 Upon Barley -malt i. 4 
 
 Wheat-malt z 8 
 
 ©atmeat 0. 15 
 
 . Bountyc. 
 i. d. 
 
 2 6 
 
 — a 6' 
 
 By the Tun* (or .506 . (1 . ' us 
 Paris pints) on fpirits , ^ ^ [.^ - 
 diililledfrom Barley- 
 malt and Barley, be> 
 ing at » - - - r 4 
 
 J. u. r''.:t£. (.v| 
 — ^ r a 
 
 The faid bounty payable only when the expoft 
 is made on englifh bottoms, the. mailer and crew 
 to he at leafl two thirds Britifh fubjedls, does not 
 take place on the corn exported for Aldemey, Jer- 
 ■fey and Guernfey. It is payable in every port on 
 furniihing a certificate of the export by the re- 
 ceivers of the cuilomsy or for want of funds, by 
 the receiver general, within three months. Thefe 
 lafl years, in which the exportation was confidera- 
 blc, the cuftoms were in arrcar of payment of the 
 bounty, which in 1748, as well as 1749, ex« 
 ceeded 200,000/. llerling, (or 4.600000 livres) 
 and in 1750, amounted to 325,405/. ilerling, 
 (7.484315 livres) and, upon the demand of the 
 exporters, the Parliament aliowed them, in its fixth 
 iedion, the intereft of tlie fums due to< them, in as 
 Ad of the 1 4th May 1 75 3» 
 
62 AdytautBigfis atid Difadvantages 
 
 marltets higher than it would otherwifc 
 be, and affords it ta the foreign ones,* 
 cheaper than ic can be affordtxi at our 
 o\Krn^, >Vhich muft lower the price of work 
 atnongft foreignersy and render ours the 
 dearer : this is the fum of the charge 
 brought againft the bounty. ^ -- ' 
 
 Experience, is the bed anfwer that can 
 fee made to fuch an obje^ion : and expe- 
 rience dcmonftrates tliat the bounty has 
 lowered the price of corn. 
 
 The intention of this bounty being to 
 encourage cultivation, by favoring the ex- 
 portation of a fuperfluity, it feems that to 
 find the courfe of the corn, to which the 
 bounty fhould be due, it was only nccef- 
 fcry to examine what the price of corn< 
 was, when it was only in a fufEcient quan- 
 tity to anfwer the demands of the annual 
 ftibfiflence, or to provide againfl the con- 
 tortgericy of a bad harveft. This was found 
 in the average-price of the years which 
 preceded 1689 : fince before that time, 
 England exported but little corn, and was 
 fometimes obliged to get it from foreign, 
 countries : and the average-price of the 
 43 years preceding 1689, having been 
 found to be 2/. 10 s. Sd. per quarter of 
 wheat, they fixed even beneath that price- 
 current, the contingence of the bounty : 
 
 . ' . v that 
 
of GREA.T Sritaim;^ 6ccJ^ 6^ 
 
 that i» to fay» at 2/. 8 /. But fince 16%^ 
 the average-price for 64 ytara, finifhing 
 at 17529 has been no more than iL is. 6ds 
 which has been a fall of Zs^. zdi per quar- 
 ter. Now this diinmutioii ©f price cak 
 only be attributed to the cncreafc of cuK 
 civation, which couid only be operated by 
 the bounty : and this (lands confirmed by 
 the comparifon of the ftate of the price 
 of corn, with the (late of the bounty,, 
 from the years 1746 to 1750.. ., . • 
 
 Average price •£ wheat^, 
 
 per quarter ^ 
 
 I /. 19 J. 
 
 1 /. 17 S^ 
 
 iL 16 /w. 
 
 - iL 12 A 6^ -'r 
 
 Years 
 
 1746 
 1748 
 
 1749 
 
 '^750 
 
 Bounty. 
 /. fterl. 
 
 99*3^5 
 202,637 
 
 2289^66 
 ii 325*405 
 
 'Tf.- 
 
 I ' ^ 
 
 By which fifiaiy be feen, that in tiipfe 
 y«tfs in which the fum of the bounty, and 
 coflfequentFy of the exports, was the 
 largeft, the price of €Ofn was the loweft. ' 
 
 The average price of corn^ above- 
 quoted^ was taken from the courfe of the 
 market* price for graie^ aiC Windfor, »d- 
 aftiy ntoted by the reverend Bi(hop Fleets- 
 wood, &em the year 1646 fo 1706, and 
 ifontiiiued to i/j^v 1^ a;V^rage price o£ 
 
 corn 
 
1^4 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 com of each year is formed out of die 
 two price-currents on Lady Day and Mi* 
 chaelmas.. Mun 5 'v : i a u tjn ,<t:.: i 
 
 The effedl of this bounty is not to 
 lower the price of corn abroad in favor 
 of the foreign markets, but is a neceflary 
 expedient to enable us to carry our corn 
 to fale at them, on a par of price with 
 Poland, Denmark, Hamburgh, Africa, 
 Sicily^ and even with our own colonies, 
 who furnifh Spain, Portugal, and Ireland 
 itfelf cheaper than we can : In fliort, it is 
 giving our laborers a bounty of 200,000/. 
 a year, that England may gain 1500,000/. 
 fterling, which, without that, it would 
 certainly not have. • 
 
 Generally fpeaking,. a bounty is the only 
 way that can be efFedually employed to 
 prefer ve to us our competition in all thofe 
 branches of commerce, in which foreigners 
 can underfell us. , This is what has made 
 the author of the Briiijh Merchant adr 
 vance, that we fhould be obliged to eftar 
 blifh a bounty even on the exportation of 
 our wool, if England Ihould become a 
 province of France, and that France could 
 bring her wool to be cheaper than ours: 
 a propofition which is exa6lly true, with 
 a falvo for the indecency of. the. firft of 
 
 the 
 
 «4 t^ ^ 
 
' of Great Britain, &c. ' 65 
 
 the fuppofitions on which it is founded, 
 and for the little probability there is of the 
 fecond. > »'• -^ -■" > :^ .'»•' ' ■> »; • ♦ 
 
 Another moft ineftimable effed of this 
 bounty is that of tempting, by the cheap- 
 nefs of our corn, other countries, which, 
 like France, might do without it, and of 
 its difcouraging in them the cultivation of 
 their land. Without doubt, was the price 
 of corn to rife, it would prove a warning 
 for them to addi6t thtmlclves to agriculr* 
 ture, and neceffity would oblige them to 
 fubftitute induftry to that indolence of 
 theirs which is fo advantageous to us. * 
 What a fall then would there be in the 
 value of our lands, if our corn was left on 
 our hands without demand, through other 
 countries not wanting it, and our wool 
 without price, as it adtually is,, through 
 the prohibition of its export ? Such an 
 event is doubtlefs difagreeable to. forefee : 
 yet is it a more natural Hate of things 
 than the prefent one, and perhaps not fa 
 remote as niay be imagined, r ^'4- - '^ 
 ; The advantages which the cultivation 
 
 of 
 
 . * Sir Thomas Colcpeppcr in 1621 complained 
 that the French imported fuch confiderable quanti- 
 ties of corny and at fo low a rate, that the englilh 
 corn could not, even in our own markets, fupport 
 a competition with them. 
 
66 Advantages and Diiadvantages 
 
 of our land has derived from this bounty 
 are not to be denied. It has changed the 
 face of England : Commons, either ill, 
 or not at all cultivated, dry, or deferted 
 paftures, are become, by means of hedges, 
 •wherewith they have been enclofed or fe- 
 parated, fertile Reldsy and rich meadows. 
 This bounty of five fhillings per quarter 
 has been employed by the farmer in clear- 
 ifng, and manuring his ground* This 
 bounty it is which has been the true teacher 
 to England of the art of cultivation. Our 
 tnticDt writers, on thas fubjedb,* were not 
 (o weld fkiiled in it as our modems^ be- 
 cauie they had not feen the experiments^ 
 which this encouragement has made be at^ 
 tempted. They had however fome glimpfc 
 of notion of the advantages which might 
 rcfult from clearing the land, and from en- 
 €lofures and other improvements : but it 
 was a bounty alone that could operate this 
 change, becaufe that alone could furni/h 
 the means of it. In line, ^ce i68q,, 
 there has not a year dapfed, in which tne 
 Parlianacnt has not palled fifteen or twenty 
 private adls for grants to enclofe, and fence 
 in Commons ; and univcrfal experience 
 lias flwwn, that lands thus rendered va- 
 luable, have doubled their income: this 
 melioratio'a could not either be a con- 
 
 .^ ... temptibk 
 
of Great Britain, &c. dj 
 
 ttmptiblc objeft for England, fince of the 
 forty millions of acres it contains, it is 
 eftimated that one third of them was in 
 commons : and what is yet remaining fo 
 of them, confirms that this computation' 
 was not cxagerated. 
 
 Cultivation could not encreafe, without 
 employing more horfes, oxef>, and flieep, 
 for the tillage, and manure of the grounds. 
 Thence that augmentation of wealth in 
 cattle, which is fo valuable in many re* 
 fpeds. : .. 
 
 Population has encreafed together with 
 the culture of the lands : the labor of en- 
 clofing them, has employed and main- 
 tained a gjreat number of men : thofe kce 
 dcfart waftes of country now fee habita- 
 tions on them, and villages have fendbly 
 multiplied. 
 
 The ports and little towns of our fian 
 coaft have experienced a proportional en- 
 creafe in the number of their fhipping, 
 and £b much the greater, for that grain 
 takes up large ilowage-room. The grow- 
 ing number of failors has greatly facilitated 
 ihe cftabiifliment of fifheries upon our 
 coaft, which are yet fufceptible gI* farther 
 advancement. 
 
 Various confumptions have encreafed ia 
 proportion to tbe number of men, and 
 
 the 
 
68 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 the accefTions of wealth. They have re- 
 paid with ihtereft to the State the expencc 
 of the bounty. ' "•"' • ^ ^^'^ 
 ' The State of the Exports (hews us, that 
 all the provinces of Fngland have par- 
 taken of the benefit of this bounty, and 
 this advantage could not hfave obtained 
 fo equal a repartition, unlefs in a penin- 
 fula, of which all the parts are at juft 
 diftances from the fca; a happy difpofi- 
 tion, to which it alio owes an eafy com- 
 munication, and ready help both by fca 
 and land from one province to another, 
 and which maintains, throughout the whole 
 extent of its continent, the plenty, and 
 price of its prod unions in a favorable e^ 
 quilibriurrp. 
 
 One might pufh ad infinitum a calcul- 
 tation of the particular advantages refulting 
 from a Good which has produced in lands, 
 in cattle, in men fo many valuables, which 
 were not before in exiftence. Cultivation 
 then is the greateft of all Goods, and the 
 laws which proted and augment it the 
 ivifeft of all laws. '^ i i x^ >r, • 
 
 'i'^ Let us then leave to other nations all 
 uneafinefs about the means of efcaping 
 famine ; let us obferve them fufFering a 
 dearth of provifions, amidft all the pro- 
 jedts, they form ta preferve themfelves 
 
 froro 
 
of Great Britain, &c. \ 69 
 
 from it : Wc have, in a much more ob- 
 vious, plain way, found the fecret to en- 
 joy, in tranquility, and abundance, one of 
 the lirft capital neceflaries of Jife : more 
 happy in that than our anceftors, we no 
 longer experience thofe ^xceflive and fud- 
 den alterations in the price of corn, al- 
 ways caufed more by the fear than by the 
 reality of a dearth: a fear which often 
 advances and augments the horrors of it. 
 In place of vaft and numerous granaries, 
 provided for reflburces in time of need, 
 we have vaft plains, pregnant with fu-- 
 ture crops, the produce of which is an- 
 nually renewed and icreafed. Our cul- 
 tivation, and harvcfts, are become unli- 
 mitable, from the time that our laborers 
 have been fecure of a certain confumption, 
 at home, and abroad, u ^ -7 ■• ; ,: ; 
 Thus, in our days, England without 
 trouble, or ruinous expence, has difcovered 
 on the furface of the land a new mine, of 
 more pretious poffefllon, and more mtrinfic 
 value than thofe of America. England is 
 that wife nation, which has made the beft 
 choice. Spain, in the midft of her trea- 
 fures, reprefents not amifs that King, in 
 the Fable, whom Bacchus had favored with 
 the gift of converting every thing he touch* 
 ^d to gold. . * 
 
 Of 
 
jra Advantages and Diladvantagcs 
 
 Of Wool and Cattle in general, 
 
 England owes to the temperature of its 
 dimate, and the nature of it's foil, th« 
 excellent quality of its wool : for the 
 abundance of it, fhc is obliged to the ac- 
 cidental diflribucion of its land, which has 
 naturally invioed the inhabitants to koep 
 great Hocks and herds of adl forts of 
 cactle. ' 
 
 Aboet the year 830, the Saxons having 
 compleated the conqueft of England, with 
 the help of an irruption of feveral petty 
 nacions from the north of Germany, the 
 lands were divided amongft the generals, 
 and chieitarns of thofe dlflferent nations, 
 and they refervod to themfelvcs a part, and 
 diftributed the reft between their foldicrs, 
 and the natives who remained in frntil 
 mimber. The country already difpeopled 
 became more fo afterwards, by the ra- 
 v)!?ges of the Danes. The inhabitants of 
 the ifland were not fufficient to the labor 
 bot of a fmall part of the lands : the reft 
 rdsnained w;^e, in defarts, or in paftures, 
 forefb;, the nioft part without proprietors, 
 and without repartition. 
 
 Every lord beftowed on thofe who held 
 lands of him, a right of pafture on thofe 
 uncultivated traces, for the cattle employed 
 
 in 
 
of Great Britain, &c. * y^ 
 
 in their huCbandry, fuch as horfes, oxsen, 
 fheep: feme tenants, fome villages, or 
 towns appropriated to thcmfelves a right 
 in neighbouring lands, by conveniency^ 
 and prefcriptioB. Even when William the 
 Conqueror feized on the forrefls of the 
 kingdom to his own ufe, and behoof, and 
 attributed to hinnfelf the exclufive prero- 
 gative of the dbace in them, which he need 
 but have fliarod with the nobiiity, and 
 people, he ^id not take the right of pa- 
 fture from the tieighbouring inhabitants^ 
 whofe all of property confided in cattle. 
 
 Such is the mod general origin of che 
 rights to commons, perpetuated to our 
 days; nights fo confecratcd by andent 
 ouftom, that they have cauicJ the keeping 
 vaft plains in wafte. The fornsfts de- 
 ftroyed by felling, by negled, bv inon- 
 mines, arc themfelves become vaft: tra£b 
 of land, for the moft part uncultivated, 
 under the names of commons, and which 
 could not be difcommoned but by virtue 
 of a6ks of Parliament There remained 
 then no other means of making any thing 
 of them, but paftaare-groiand for nume- 
 rous flocks, and thefe were for a long tnnc 
 all the wealth, amd induihy of the natiom. 
 Such extenfive tradls were not only thus 
 allotted to pafture, but there was yet 
 
 another 
 
 
jr^ Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 another provifion for it, within the limits 
 of the parks, which the lords had referved 
 to thcmfelves for their hunting, their deer, 
 and their cattle* 
 
 The Engiifli did not at firft know the 
 extent, and value of their poflelfions : all 
 they thought of v^ 4S, to make food of the 
 flefh of their cattle, and to cloath them- 
 felves from the fieece of their fheep. For 
 a long time they fold their wool to the 
 Dutch and Flemings, who then alone had 
 manufadures. Defoe fays, that under 
 Edward III. f the exports of our wool 
 amounted to ten million fterling, of our 
 prefent currency. (230 millions of livres) 
 
 Some englifh refugees, during the wars 
 of the two Rofes, in the States of the Duke 
 of Burgundy which were full of manu- 
 failures, carried back with them, at their 
 return to E*^ gland in the fifteenth century, 
 the firft knowledge of them 5 they were 
 favored by Henry VII. but did not ac- 
 quire a folid eftablifhment till under the 
 glorious reign of Queen Elizabeth, whofe 
 care fecured to them that continual fuccefs 
 they have had to our days. Then it was 
 that the exportation of our wool was fe- 
 rioufly prohibited, and under the moil 
 ^ *. •• . ' ■:. " -.! • fevere 
 
 t Between 1327 and 1377. 
 
 £ 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 73 
 
 fevere penalties. All the preceding ordi- 
 nances with regard to wool had been no- 
 thing more than ways and means of the 
 revenue, employed by our Kings in their 
 exigencies. 
 
 Induflry foon opened the eyes of the 
 Englifh on all the advantages that were to 
 be obtained from their different kinds of 
 cattle ||. The vidualment from them came 
 lo be reckoned amongft the fmalleft emo- 
 luments, and even that encreafed with the 
 fpecies Before that time, no condition 
 was fcarce known but the lazy one of 
 Ihepherds, or herdfmen, little favorable to 
 the employ, or propagation of men. Ma- 
 nufactures and arts encreafed the numbe.s 
 of fubjeds : the lands required a greater 
 cultivation, and wafte lands were cleared, 
 and improved. But they foon perceived 
 to what difadvantages a cultivation, iji 
 Common, was lyable. They began to en- 
 clofe their grounds, to obtain the greater 
 produce from them. Since that time 
 tillage, and pafturage, have been carried 
 to a perfection unknown to former times. 
 The different kinds of cattle, that of 
 fheep efpecially, have been meliorated to 
 the utmoft, by a ftudy of the food that 
 
 t. IS 
 
 As hides, fait meats, butter, chccfc, tallow, &c. 
 
74 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 is propereft for them, and by a mixture 
 of their breed. 
 
 At firft fome oppofition was made to 
 the enclofing of commons, under pretext 
 that the tillage of them would diminifli 
 the number of fheep j but fuch is the ef- 
 fe<5l of a good cultivation, that fuch an 
 acre, as before produced only fix bufliels 
 of corn, has yielded twenty, and an acre 
 of pafture-ground, well prepared, has fed 
 double the number of flicep that it ufed 
 to do. 
 
 England then pofleflls, in the greateft 
 abundance, the proptreft wool for the fa- 
 bric of all forts ot ftufFs, excepting only 
 the fuperfine cloth, which (he cannot well 
 manufadure without the help of fpanifli 
 wool. Amongft our fliorter forts of wool, 
 the beaucyfulleft is that of Cottefwold in 
 Glouceitc riliire : as the fintft, and neareft 
 approaching to that of Spain, are thofe of 
 Hereford fli he, Worcefter, 3c.c, 
 
 Our long wools for combing, are the 
 mod in requefl with other nations for their 
 length, and finenefs. Amongft thefe, the 
 moll renowned are thofe of Warwick, 
 Northampton, Lincoln, Durham, Romney- 
 marfhes, but thofe on the South of the 
 Marflies of Lincolnfhire and Leicefter, 
 oarr/ the name above all for their length, 
 
 . finenefs, 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 75 
 
 finenefs, foftnefs and glofs. Thcfe wools 
 are employed concurrently with thofc of 
 Ireland in fhaloons, ferges, camlets, cal- 
 Jimancoes, and other (luffs without num- 
 ber, which are for the moil part imitated,' 
 at Ailiiens, Abbeville, Lifle, in France •, 
 at Brufifels *, in Holland, at Harlem, and 
 in the neighbourhood of Amfterdam, and 
 Leyden. 
 
 i'tey are alfo employed together with 
 the carded wools in the make of bays, 
 druggets, flannels, &c. They are likewife 
 mixtd with cotton, and filk, in fevcral 
 fluffs, as alupeens, bombazines, crapes, &c. 
 
 Amongfl: the different forts of our fheep, 
 the horned ones of the lead' fize arc efteem- 
 ed the bell for giving a cherifhing warmth 
 to the grounds from the abundance of fairs 
 contained in their excrements. Their flelh 
 is not fo extraordinary no more than their 
 wool, r, . , > 
 
 The larger fized fheep yield from (ivq 
 to eight pounds of wool per fleece ; fome 
 of thcfe fheep, befides the long wool they 
 bear, afford a (hprt and fine wool, but in 
 fmall quantities, which is mixed with the 
 Ipanifh wool, in the woof, to bind it the 
 llronger. The Urgeft fheep, and of which 
 the weathers are the moft efteemed, are in 
 Lincdnfhire, in a place called Holland ; 
 
 £ 2 alfo 
 
y6 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 alfo in Lcicefler and Rumney. Weathers 
 of this fort have been fold as high as 
 twelve guineas. . ...vi r.* ,., .1; 
 
 For example of the abundance of fheep, 
 it is commonly computed that the falt- 
 rnarfhes of Rumney contain forty- four 
 thoufand acres, and one hundred and thirty- 
 two thoufand fheep, which is at the rat« 
 of three llieep per acre. It is reckoned 
 that Dorfetfhire maintains fix hundred thou- 
 fand flieep in a circle of twelve miles dia- 
 meter. *'••;' ■.•-»■; . - 
 
 Such numerous flocks, to fay nothing 
 of cattle of other kinds, could not doubt- 
 lefs be gathered under covered folds, with- 
 out a great expence : and therefore, in 
 mod provinces in England, they are not 
 put under fhelter, and the mildnefs of the 
 generally tolerable winters has allowed it. 
 in fome parts however they have conve- 
 ni: ncits to fhelter them, and it is pretended 
 that the wool is the better for it. It is 
 certain that in the provinces the moft fub- 
 je6b to cold, fuch as the northern ones 
 nearefl to Scotland, to proted in fome 
 fort the iheep from the feverity of the 
 winters, they are obliged, as it were, to 
 embalm them, that is to fay, to fmcar them 
 from head to foot with a compofition of 
 tar, tallow, &c. boiled together : but be- 
 
 . . fides. 
 
i-vof Great Britain, &c. 77 
 
 fiJts, that this precaution does not hinder 
 numbers of them from dying of cold, or 
 the rot, this compofition fpoils the wool 
 ftrangely, which does not eafily recover its 
 purity from it. '• • - * 
 
 Thofe provinces the leafl: proper for 
 feeding Hieep, and other cattle, have been 
 willing to procure to themfelves this ad- 
 vantage which nature had refufed them : 
 they made paftures in dry and fandy foils 
 by fowing trefoil and clover. They made 
 turnips fupply the place of grafs, where 
 the winter had caufed a fcarcity of it •, and 
 brought their fheep to feed on turnips, in 
 fuch fields as they wanted to have warm- 
 ed, and manured by their prtfence on 
 them : fo fufceptible of perfection is agri- 
 culture, and fo powerful an incitement 
 to encreafe induftry, '^ a certainty of con- 
 fiimption. , ,,) ^,.;j f:':v;/ji . j. • -j r 
 
 But fuch great advantages could not be 
 enjoyed without difquiet, and we might 
 well expedt that other nations would ufe 
 their endeavours to come in for a (hare 
 of them with us. Holland, Flanders, and 
 France above all, our mod formidable 
 rival in our manufactures, furnifli them- 
 felves from us, with arms againll our- 
 felves. Our wool is drawn thither and 
 preferably employed. Our prohibition of 
 -•!)::•• E 3 cxporta- 
 
7 8 Advantages and Di fad vantages 
 
 exportation has not had all the cfFcdt we 
 might cxpccft from it. True it is, we may 
 thank for it the miflaken policy of for'-^ 
 bidding abfoiutely the importation of irifh 
 wool into England. W hat now could 
 Ireland, without n.anufa<5lures, make of its 
 wool, but to It'll it to foreigners ndtVv'irh- 
 llanding the prohibition ^ We then in- 
 deed opened fome of our ports to the irifh 
 wool : but they had already tafled the 
 fweets of that counterband : and all our 
 guard-vefiels fin'ce have vainly endeavored 
 to interrupt the coiirfe of it. 
 
 Every fcflion of Parliament is attended 
 with complaints from the manufacturers of 
 the diminution of their trado^ fometiiwefs' 
 fcn^inded on the deatfh of materials, and 
 always on the fmugg'liing over of wool, 
 which employed in loreign manufa(5ture.?, 
 Ifflens by fo much the demand for 
 tlheirs* " j''^-'*' •■ ;*>«{uKm'u >.. * - . -> v*. 
 
 On the other hand, the land owners are 
 i^ady v^ith their complaints of the low 
 price, at which the prohibition of export-' 
 mg it keeps the ^'Ool t tltey pretend tb(y, 
 that this low price ill is, which caufes the 
 Counter- band ciirried on of it. 
 
 It is difficult to pronounce trpon' this 
 
 fbtnt, which of the two fides has mofli 
 
 J'caibn to' complatii : unkk one was to be 
 
 ; ; [/.. deter- 
 
of Great BRiTAm, &c. 79 
 
 determined by the general prejudice, whicli 
 is againft the maniifadlurers : for I never 
 heard of a complaint, or petition from 
 them againft the land-owners, which was 
 not fovtreignly unreafonable. 
 
 It does not to me appear lefs difficult to 
 find a fatisfadtory remedy for an evil of 
 which there is no diflembling to one felf 
 the reality : but to aictrtain the jufl: extent 
 of it, one fhould be fure of the truth of 
 what is advanced, that the foreign nations 
 cannot abfolutely do without our wools in 
 the greateft parts of their fluffs. Should 
 that be really the cafe ; the carrying our 
 wool abroad is an irreparable detriment 
 to England. But the Evil would not be 
 fo confiderable if, as others averr, the fo- 
 reigners can fubftitutionally mix the fpa- 
 jiiih wool^ with their own, for want of our 
 fineft- forts: and if befidiss they have qua.- 
 hties of wool, like to ours : which I can 
 take upon me to fay^ with certainty that 
 they have. 
 
 As to France, for example, I cannot 
 fay what quantity fhe employs oif our wools 
 of a fupcriof quality to thofe of her own 
 growth : but i can pofitiveiy affirm, that 
 1 have feen there fome of our common 
 forts of wool, which the want of quan- 
 tity of their own, and not of quality, 
 
 E 4 obliged 
 
^o Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 obliged them to employ. The engliHi 
 wools have yielded to the fmuggler of 
 them a profit of fifty per cent, and yet 
 did not exceed in price, thofe of the wools 
 in France, of the fame quality. This fad 
 clearly verified explains to us why our 
 wool is carried thither. The abundance 
 of our wool at home, keeps it at a price 
 beneath the real value, in our markets : 
 v/hilfi; the fcarcity of it in France holds it 
 up there a great deal above it. . ; 
 
 Doubtlefs then, there muft exift, in 
 France, fome powerful reafon of defedl, 
 oppugnant to the multiplication of that 
 tlcecy fpecies, whereby the wool is want- 
 ing, whilft the manufadlures of it are in 
 vigor,' , and afford good encouragement to 
 the workmen. With us, we have the very 
 contrary inconvenience to complain of, 
 ^pne would think nothing could difcourage 
 the breeding of fbeep j it has proceeded 
 encreafing in defpite of the moft rigorous 
 prohibition of exporting their wool. The 
 flefh of them, and the manure with which 
 they fertilize our lands, muft afford them 
 
 * a profit of it felf fufHcient to the farmer. 
 Our manufadlures are more than ever em- 
 ployed, but they could not encreafe in 
 
 ' proportion to the quantity of our wool. 
 V/hat then muft nave become of the 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 8i 
 
 fuperfluity ? It has more and more fallen 
 the price of the wool, and determined the 
 courfe of it more violently into the fo- 
 reign markets. . ^«.f • -' . ;>f«V tv^, ^.^5 
 
 Such, in truth, is our prefent condition 
 in that refpedl. Our wool, from its over- 
 abundance has been always under the price 
 of that in other countries, as may be cer- 
 tified by a comparifon with the price- 
 current of wool at Amfterdam, the greateft . 
 Staple in the Univcrfe. Yet, fince the 
 peace, the price of it has been raifed. 
 
 In 1750, and 1751, the iinefl long- 
 wool of Lincolnfhire has been fold, at an 
 average-price for fixteen pence (31 fols) 
 the pound, which is twenty per cent, more 
 than formerly ; and this enhancement is 
 the true foundation of the manufa6lurtrs 
 complaints : their private intereft is their 
 fole aim, whilft they infill, as they have 
 long infilled in their requeft, for opening, 
 all the ports of England without excep- 
 tion to the irifh wool in fleece, or in yarn, 
 their pretext is, that it is the only expe- 
 dient for flopping the export of the irifh ' 
 wool to foreign countries. " ' 
 
 The Land-owners, who forefee that this 
 encreafed importation of the irifh wool 
 into England, mufl yet lower the price 
 of theirs, oppofe to this, that it is in vaia 
 
 E 5 to 
 
8a Advantage andDiladvasntagcs 
 
 to open alt the markets of England to 
 I*eland, whilft the price of wool fhall be 
 ftill infinitely lower in England thaw in 
 the markets abroad : that befides, this li- 
 berty granted to the Irifh fmall craft to 
 hover all over the coaft of England, will, 
 ift fo cxtenfive a career, open to their 
 counterband an infinite number of ways, 
 or outlets, which the guard- veflfels will 
 be lefs able to ihut up, than when thofe 
 wool-veflels had no free paflage, but in 
 the weftern feas of England, which had 
 Biddiford, Liverpool, and Briftol for boun- 
 daries. • ^ * 
 
 Some there- are amongft thcfe laft who 
 pfopofe the taking off the prohibition of 
 the exportation of englifh wool, and pre- 
 tend that thejrcby, that commodity being 
 brought nearer the level of the common 
 price in the other markets of Europe, then 
 a well calculated duty on the exportation 
 might hinder, or at lead lefTen the carriage 
 of it abroad, more effedually than the 
 prohibition. ' ■'' ''^ 
 
 Amidft thefe different opinions^ dilated 
 by contrary interefts, I will hazard my 
 difinterefled fentiments. 
 
 It is for England a very valuable ad- 
 Vantage, that of having its wool at 4c, 
 50, and 60 per cent, cheapen than other 
 
 countries, 
 
of Great Britain, &c, S^ 
 
 countries, quality for quality. It is that 
 alone which can in fbme meafure compen- 
 fate for the high price of work in it, of- 
 ten 30 per cent, dearer than abroad. The 
 abundance then of its wool can alone keep 
 it at lb low a price •, if the lownefs of the 
 price occafions it to be fmuggled over to 
 foreign markets, it can be only the fu- 
 perfluous part of it. What thofe markets 
 extradt by this means from us, I am con- 
 vinced, is for the moft part, for want of 
 quantity of their own, which they might 
 procure of their own fund, and growth. 
 This exportation diminifhes then, in other 
 countries, the multiplication of their fhecp, 
 more than it diminiflies the work of our 
 manufadures : The proof of which is, that 
 in thofe years, in which the wool has born 
 the loweft price, and doubtlefs the expor- 
 tation of it been, in confequence, the 
 greater, the exportation of our wooHea 
 ituffs has been found commonly the great* 
 til, according to the extrads from the 
 cuftom-houfe books. ^ '■^^' 
 
 We ought then to guard againft all the 
 means which might enhance the price of 
 our wool ; and, at the fame time, we 
 ought to render the fmuggling of it more 
 difficult, that it may bear the higher price 
 in foreign markets. We ought to open 
 
 E6' . ■ all 
 
84 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 all our ports to the irifh wool, raw or 
 wrought •, the point of time is favorable 
 to it, fi nee our own wool has rifen twenty 
 per cent. Our guard veflels, on ftation, 
 fhould at the fame time redouble their 
 vigilance? for preventing any of the irifh 
 craft flipping by them, into foreign ports. 
 I will not anfwer that this Hberty of im- 
 portation will abfolutely put an end to the 
 irilh counterband : it was eafier to hinder 
 its getting footing, than it will be to de- 
 ilroy it. 
 
 , As to the general prohibition of ex- 
 porting englilh wool, it ought to be for 
 ever continued, becaufe that alone it is, 
 which can prefcrve to us the ineftimable 
 advantage of having the beft wool at fo 
 much a lower price than t|>e other markets 
 of Europe, and that of felling our fuper- 
 fluity of it to foreigners at the higheft 
 price of their markets. 
 
 Of the INTERNAL Riches of theEARTu : 
 Metals, Marl, Potter's-Earth, 
 Coals, &c. , .. 
 
 Amongfl the various treafures which 
 the earth contains in its bofom, gold and 
 filver are neither the firft, nor the mod 
 defirable riches : gold and filver have re- 
 duced to a mofl deplorable flavery their 
 - - t natural 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 85 
 
 natural pofTeflbrs, and the mafters of thofe 
 ilaves, and of their treafures, are not be- 
 come the more powerful for them: one 
 would think that from that inftant the 
 Spaniards had loft all fpirit of induftry^, 
 all aptitude for work, as a laborer who 
 Ihould find a treafure in his field, would 
 quit his plough for ever. If England pof- 
 fefles any of thofe fatal mines, it is to be 
 wifhed they may remain for ever unknown 
 
 to it. ■■ ^^. :. 
 
 England ought to fet a greater value 
 on the other liberalities of nature to it: 
 on the iron-mines in moft of its provinces, 
 as well as in Ireland : the copper ones in 
 St afford fhi re, Lancalhire, Cornwall, &c, 
 the leaden ones in abundance in the nor- 
 thern and weftern provinces, as well as in 
 Scotland : the tin ones in Devonfhire and 
 Cornwall. 
 
 But the mines of which England ought 
 chiefly to boaft, either from her poffeffing 
 them in greater plenty than any other na- 
 tion, or from her excelling them all in the 
 ufe Ihe makes of them, are 
 
 The Marl, of which fhe poffefles fo 
 many diflPerent forts, that there is no kind 
 of land Ihe cannot fertilize by means of 
 them. The experiences flie has made of 
 them, fince the inftoration of agriculture, 
 
 . are 
 
 - „ . i , •, ... 'i ■ 
 
$6 Advantages aftcf Dlfidvranwges 
 
 are without number, and the fliccefe of 
 them is daily extending j as for exaaiplc, 
 in the county of Norfolk: 
 
 Her Fuller's Earth, fo valuable for 
 the drefllng her woollen -fluffs, that the 
 exportation of it has been forbidden, under 
 the fame penalties, as that of her wool ; 
 this earth, the perfe(5lefl of all, and fuch 
 as neither Holland, nor France pofTefs any 
 like it, deferves a particular defcription. 
 
 It is found near Ryegate in Surrey, near 
 Maidftone in the county of Kent, near 
 Nutley in Suffex, near Wooburn in Bed- 
 fordiliire, near Brickhill in Staffordfhire, 
 in the ide of Sky in Scotland. 
 
 I Have feen it dug for between Brickill 
 and Wooburn, in a great heath, that ex- 
 tends over feveral hillocs that are full of 
 3^ The hole at top was a broad open- 
 ing, hollowed downwards in form of an 
 inverted cone, for the prop of the earth, 
 and upon the fide of one of thofe * hillocs, 
 Co as to let one fee the color, and thick- 
 nefs of the feveral beds of fand, under 
 which lay the fuller's- earth, about fifty or 
 fixty foot deep from the furface of the 
 aperture. The ground of this furface, 
 
 which 
 
 ♦ In the county oi Surrey, the earth is hollowed 
 into pits like wells ; of which the fides Are fup- 
 ported like thofe of the coal mines. 
 
of GftfiAT Bfti'TAfir^ &?<?.'- Sy 
 
 •svluch appeared to me to have biten for- 
 merly cuttivated, was of' poor, and drtdef* 
 colored mold, from five or fix iiKhcs to* 
 a foot deep ; btiieath which was a layer, 
 or ftratum of a fine rcddifli yclbw fand, 
 about nine or ten foot thick ; after which^ 
 for thirty or forty foot, were fcveral jhata 
 of white afrxi grey fand, of various con- 
 fidences, nriixed with reddifh ftreaks of 
 the color of thofe veins in iron-mines : 
 lower there was a flrratum of from two to 
 three foot of greafy fand mixed with red- 
 dilh earth and veins : then a foot*s depth 
 of earth, moderately unduous ; laftly the 
 earth perfe^kly fat, and pure for about 
 feven to eight foot. This bank of earth 
 difliinguifiied into different ftrata, by hori- 
 zontal crevices about a foot and a half 
 from one another v the fituation of thefe 
 banks lipon an horizontal plan, and very 
 equaly foi?m a regular difpofifdon, which* 
 commonly in all forts of beds, or fl:rata of 
 earths, or mines, indicates a gieat extent 
 of chem. Near, and round the mouth of 
 the pit, are htm chalk-hills fie to make 
 mortar of: the ground above is about 
 five or fiat inches thick, fome part of it is 
 cultivated, and yields a good enough pro- 
 duce. The workmen employed in digging 
 for this earthy with a pickax, earn about 
 
 tea 
 
88 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 ten pence a day (19 fols) two men only 
 are fufficient to dig, and load a cart with 
 a thoufand weight in one day : which load 
 taken on the fpot is commonly valued at 
 4 (hillings (or 4 livres and 12 fols.) > 
 
 This earth itfelf is of a greenifh gray, 
 the color of which fades in the air : the 
 confiflence of it is moderately firm, eafily 
 divided into pieces by the pick-ax : as it 
 dries, it becomes as hard as caftile-foap, 
 its quality unduous, and full of nitre. It 
 does not diflblve in water, unlefs it is well 
 flirred ; the fediment formed from it, when 
 it is dried, is foft and grcafy to the touch, 
 very friable, and may be reduced between 
 the fingers into an almoll impalpable pow- 
 der, that feems to lofe itfelf in the pores 
 of the Ikin, without any appearance of 
 fand, &c. This powder viewed with a 
 microfcope is dull- colored, opaque, and 
 has not the glitter of fandy particles : 
 qualities that render it fo fit to infinuate 
 itfelf into .the pores of the wool, and to 
 abforb its greafe, without oflfending the 
 web of the ftufF in the moft violent fric- 
 tions of it. 
 
 The Potters-Earth, fit to make to- 
 bacco pipes, &c. has the fame properties, 
 but rarely in the fame perfedlion, being fub- 
 je(5t to be mixed with particles of fand. In 
 
 V the 
 
; of Great Britain, &c. a 89 
 
 the pit, it is greenidi, foft to the touch, 
 and (lippery like foap. The perfedeft fort 
 is found in Northamptonfhire -, alfo near 
 Poole in Dorfetfhire, and in the ifle of 
 Wight; and is fold in London to twenty 
 (hillings the Ton. The exportation of it 
 is alio prohibited. ^ ^ ...^ ^..^^., t^. 
 
 Coals. Their fubflitution to wood in 
 almoft all the ufes for which fire is necef- 
 fary, naturally (larts the qiieftion ; what 
 has England gained by the change ? She 
 has certainly gained, at leaft that immenfe 
 track of land before covered by thofe 
 forrefls which furnifhed their confumption 
 in firing. In place then of thofe woods, 
 not very favorable to the encreafe of peo- 
 ple, from the fmall number of men they 
 employ, fhe now pofTefTes fertile fields, 
 and rich pafturages : and the corn and 
 wool fhe obtains from them, are fo much 
 clear gain to her. ii; , .; .,/] i^vj^i\:.^.A ^^ 
 
 Thofe forrefls, though vafl and numor 
 rous, in the reign of William the Con- 
 queror, the mofl part of them without 
 rnaflers, and then become Crown lands ; 
 thofe commons free for cattle, without 
 other laws adapted or belonging to them, 
 than what were relative to the prefcrva- 
 tion of the game, had nothing to expedt 
 from time, and confumption^ but a ne- 
 
go Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 ceflary deflrndlion, in the mid ft of a coun- 
 try, where the reft of the lands were open, 
 JMid in common for the moft part, with- 
 out fences, or hberty to enclofe them. 
 
 The working of the different mines, and 
 efpccially thofe of iron, in the counties of 
 Warwick, Stafford, Worcefter, Monmouth, 
 Shropfhiie, and SufTex, have forwarded 
 nearly the total ruin of the woods. Their 
 exorbitant price firftj. gave warning of their 
 fcapcity, and of the neccffity of preferving 
 what remained, for the fake of the fhip- 
 piitg, and buildings. In thefe circum- 
 ft-anccsf the Coa^fliines, fpread overEng* 
 }m\d mdt' Scbtlatid, have ftood in great 
 , ti<&ad : for Ireland itfelfj, \fhich was for- 
 merly a$ well as^ England, abounding inn 
 oaks the m^ effiecin«d fbr flnp-bairding, 
 has- been ar the feme timei and for the 
 f^me reafon* fo^ exhaiufbed of them, as to 
 be reduced to get all its timber for build- 
 ing frottv Nnurway, England, and eifc- 
 whcre, likewife bark ^ canning 5 nay 
 ^ftaS'feecTi obliged' tafHl hides m the raw 
 tty- H<&H<ind", Germany, and Flanders, 
 ^hipough warn of materials at home to tan 
 them. 
 
 The mines, and chiefly tfiofc of irorr, 
 l&F which the coal-fire is too flow, have 
 felt thefeancity of wood. Wed'raw an- 
 nually 
 
 i^^ 
 
of Great Eftiini'AiN, &ci /i 91 
 
 nually from Sweden for abovd 200,000 /i 
 iterling (or 4,600,000^ llvres) of iron bars^ 
 without reckoning the fteel. It were then 
 to be wifhed that* the mines of our colo- 
 nies were emx)uragexl enough m enable 
 them ro fupply the three kingdoms with 
 what they w^t, in fows of iron fperifi^* 
 cally. ...... 
 
 The aHjrtdance of wood in thofe coun^ 
 tries renders^ the thing poflible, and this 
 operation would produce a double advan- 
 jage, in extending the diearanee of thofe 
 laitds, and making that country mow 
 healthful : but as oup wo6d would not be 
 fuffidmit to reduce thofe fows into bars, 
 dfld other forms o^ iron wtjrkv itwouki: b« 
 fitting to propofe a recorppeixce forwho?- 
 ct>er fKouJd d ifcover the^ fcosw:: of making 
 ofc cheap, tfs we gee it fnom abcoid,. thi 
 iiioiii intt^ bafsy with a coal fiusy cWicr by 
 mixiwg different forts together, or joining 
 td k a pombrt ofl tr^-coat onfyt by 
 v^hieh rmam^ one m%hc swj- OYice pnwnaa 
 fhe deftniiiftJorf 6( the' forrefte, and: the dia.^ 
 rfiiag^ iirifirtg td rf^^ (bbje^jWhofc: eftattct 
 €cJn(i{^ in minesr swd w<k)dsi- ' • 
 
 Then would the afe of coerU' extend to 
 M our ^2[fiUr ^ ^^^ buiWinJigSv mirws^ 
 gkfs-works, brick-kilns, falt-pans, refine- 
 ries bf ewerksy &€, A«^ ^^ afe- di&rent 
 
92 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 forts of coal, one might choofe that which 
 is the fitteft for the employ defigned for 
 it.'' It may by fire be purged of the hi- 
 tumen, and fulphur, in its compofition, fo 
 that lofing to two thirds of its weight, and 
 very little of its volume, it remains a 
 combuftible fubftance, f but . freed from 
 the particles which exhale that difagreeable 
 and inconvenient fmoak which is objedeci 
 to it. Derby is the firfl: town which fub- 
 ftituted to ftraw, the ufe of this half-con- 
 
 * fumed coal, to dry malt, which has given 
 to its ale that whitenefs and mildnefs, for 
 "which it is fo efteemed. It ought alfo to 
 be ufed in thofe kilns defigned for drying 
 any corn fufpeded of damp, on the point 
 of fhipping it off. Ah ^ kj tu ^lu 
 
 But England has gathered from this na- 
 tural, wealth, by her manner of enjoying 
 it, an iadvantage far fuperior to the poflef- 
 fion itfelf. Three of her ports, that lie 
 neareft to her principal coal-mines, White- 
 haven, Newcaftle, and Swanfey in Wales, 
 are becomes the magazines from which 
 
 "England and Ireland draw their confump- 
 tion : Newcaftle furniflies all the Eaftern 
 coaft, as low as Portfmouth -, Swanzey 
 the Weftern coaft to Devonfhire, and parts 
 
 adjacent ; 
 
 ' ' ' '' 
 .^'iiOl t Cinders. ■ "- - V 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 93 
 
 adjacent; and Whitehaven, Ireland. This 
 fingle branch of commerce does not em- 
 ploy lefs than fifteen hundred vcflels, from 
 a hundred to two hundred tons, and keeps 
 up a body of feamen, reputed the ablcft 
 of their profeffion, who on preffing occa- 
 fions form a ready, and always fure ref- 
 fource. II The Thames alone diftributes the 
 coals it receives through London, and 
 nine provinces : the other rivers that run 
 into the fea, ferve refpedively in propor- 
 tion to each of their courfe. Other mines 
 near London have not been fuffered to be 
 opened, for fear of diminiihing that branch 
 of maritime commerce, the fchool of 
 failors, and nurfery for the engHfh navy, 
 which is the true bulwark and glory of 
 the nation. Riches thus multiplied have 
 deferved to thofe mines the appellation of 
 th black Indies. ^'V' '^ v * -^ '^^ 
 
 Cy Fisheries. * ,j,j ^-^| 
 
 Amongft the different fifh, with which 
 nature has enriched our waters, the falmon 
 
 of 
 
 ■ ■■-•'■' ■ "- ■ , 
 
 II If to this article is added the number of vef- 
 fels employed in the water-carriage of butter, cheefe, > 
 corn, fullers-earth, fait, &c. there will be found ^ : 
 upon a moderate calculation, above a hundred thou* 
 fand failors for the coad trade of England alone, 
 from port to port. ' 
 
94 AdvAnt^g«s ^d;Diftdv3ntag€S 
 
 of iBcrv^Uk and Newc^ftie, the Ccrfchefter 
 oi^ft^r^, the yarmouiih ^nd i/Cpftpff hef< 
 w«lgsi* .hold the mipft . confidierable rank : 
 but one would thinjc ibftt, M if contended 
 wich .pur other amcks rpf fwe^ltji, we had 
 DQt tlioMght of improving this ^dv^o.t^ge 
 beyond our homefcopfumptjon. 
 
 Xbe Scotch were die firfl;, ^nd fole ppf. 
 feflprs of the herring-fifliery : this filli de- 
 fcends :by Shetland to their qoafts, ^nd 
 from thence to ours. The .Dutch then 
 pr^itended no other right to it, th^n that 
 of buying the fifli pf thtini, to fell jt 
 
 The lirfi: ad: we have concerning this 
 fifhery, is in the thirteenth year cf the 
 reign of Edward III. 1341, which reca- 
 pitulates feveral wife difpofitions made by 
 his grandfather in this point. It is <afy 
 to difcover, by a cbmparifpn pf this Aft 
 with the Statutes of the Dutch, that thefe 
 have profited from it. Their filhery at 
 Enchuyfen did not begin to be in any re- 
 putation till the year 1416, or at mod 
 in .1397, that they found oiK the fecret of 
 curing, .and barrelling them. 
 
 Their commerce having fince then en- 
 creafed, their fifhery grew too limited 
 upon their own coafts, and they foon ex- 
 tended it to ours, and we very quietly 
 
 faw 
 
of (pJlEAT Br.it AIN, &C. \ g^ 
 
 law them cftabliih the cafts of their nets 
 upon our «>wn proper fifberks. So early 
 as the year i6iq. Sir Walter Ealcigh glvts 
 an account, which was not falfified by 
 that of John de Witte, of the trade they 
 drove to Ruflla, Gerjiiany, Flanders and 
 France, in herrings caught on the englifli, 
 fcotch, and irifli coafts, to the yearly 3- 
 mount of 2,659,000/. ftcrl. (61,157,000 
 livres) This fmgle article, fo early as in 
 thofe days, employed three thoufand vef- 
 fels or htiffes^ 'm xhat filhery, and fifty 
 thoufand hfliermen, without reckoning nine 
 thoufand other Ihips, or imall craft, and 
 one hundred and fifty thoufand men em- 
 ployed in the commerce of this iifh, and 
 in other branches of trade which this fiihery 
 occafioned. ^., ^,^,^i 
 
 Our indolence has fufSered thefe people 
 to enjoy our own property, and .to enrich 
 themfelves, at our expencc, to above the 
 amount of an hundred millions (Icrlinor. 
 Nor is it but fince this epoch that the 
 naval force of Holland ever made any fi- 
 gure. Even now, that her power has re- 
 ceived fuch great blows, that branch of 
 her commerce is of all others that which 
 has fufFered the leaft. > n 
 
 A ftate of their hcrring-fifliery in 1748, 
 reprefcnts jx thojoiand veffels employed 
 
 .:-T> ■ :< fii,i ♦ from 
 
|f# Advantages and Difadvantages - 
 
 from 70 to 100 tons, and cftimated 85 
 tons at an average : the total of their 
 fifliery, computed at 85,000 Laft*, at 
 |0A fterling Fr Laft, J .^y^^^oool. fieri. 
 
 Dedud for the fitting") 
 
 out and building the ( 850,000 ;• 
 
 1000 buffcs, cofts, f ! '*'''^»'' 
 
 charges, and rifks J ■ u — > 
 
 JN Neat profit per annum 850,000 
 
 If you add the profit 7 
 
 of thecod-fijfherycol-> 150,000 
 
 laterally carried on 3 -" 
 
 ^' Makes j,ooo,ooo/. fieri. 
 
 Fifhermen, 14 per each 7 
 
 bufs _ - X '^'^^^"'^'^ 
 Men employed on the 
 
 occafion of the fi- ^ 86,000 
 
 (hery — — 
 
 -n; - ;* Mtl\ — 100,000 
 
 Hitherto our efforts have been either 
 weak, or unfuccefsful, in all the attempts 
 we have made towards recovering advan- 
 tages too long negleded, and abandoned. 
 When we have fet up our pretentions, in 
 oppofition to the Dutch, of an exclufive 
 * H' * right 
 
 1 
 
 • Laft is 2 tons. ' 
 
"of Great Britain, &c. 97 
 
 right of filhing on our own coafts, f a right 
 as inconteflable as that of reaping alone the 
 harveft of our own fields : what has been 
 the effedt of our remonftrances, .rnd our 
 pretenfions ? Two great and learned trea- 
 tifes on the Dominion of the Sea were 
 written by Selden, and Grotius ; the que- 
 ftion has remained undecided, and the 
 Dutch have continued in poflefTion. 
 • In the mean time, there has a new^ 
 Company formed itlelf, for the herring- 
 fifliery, in virtue of an ad of Parliament, 
 but its projeds, and even its progrefs, (how 
 that this eftablilhment is in its infancy. 
 It is propofed to open a new market for 
 our herrings in our colonies. They have 
 given out three prizes of i^, 20, and 30/. 
 llerling for thofe bufles which fhall have 
 made the greateft take of fifh. They value 
 themfclves on having this year expended 
 three thoufand pounds fterling in nets : 
 they propofe fending next year iixty bufles^ 
 and three thoufand men on the herrino-, 
 and whale filheries, whilft but the Jaft Sep- 
 tember, there were counted above five hun- 
 dred foreign vefTels fifhing on the coafts of 
 Yarmouth, whilft even french fiflierniien 
 came thither to difturb our own. 1 
 
 - - . > F What 
 
 t Under Charles I. 
 
98 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 What fignifies our having the moft 
 powerful marine in the univerfe ? What 
 fignifies maintaining at fo great an expencc 
 two hundred men of war, mounted with 
 ten thouland guns, if we are not even 
 mailers enough to fi(h freely on our own 
 proper coafts, and if we are diftjrbed on 
 tliera, by who ? by fuch as have not the 
 leaft right to interfere on them. 
 
 It was towards the year 1597* that the 
 Englilh having difcovered the ifleofSpiltf- 
 bergen in Greenland, were the firft who 
 durft attempt the filhing for the whales 
 they had obferved in thofe feas : they were 
 qaiet pofleffors of this trade till 1612, 
 that the Dutch, according to their lauda- 
 ble ciiftom, came to fifli on thofe very 
 coafts, with fome engUfh fifhermcn whom 
 they had inveigled over to them for that 
 purpofe. They were at firft molefted : 
 but in 1617, having returned in force, 
 they revenged themfelves, by taking an 
 englifh fliip with her lading from that 
 filhery, and the Englifh fufFered it : This 
 matter of right to the filhery was treated 
 of between tlie two nations, nothing was 
 decided, and the fifhery was continued on 
 both fides, upon the coafts of the faid 
 ifland : foon after, the Danes, the Ham- 
 burghcrs, the French, the Spaniards, croud- 
 
of Great Britain, &c. •: 99 
 
 ed thither to come in for their fliare .cf 
 a3vantage in this fifhery ; the whales quit- 
 ted thofe parts, our eftablifhments on thole 
 idands became of no ufe, and the iifhery 
 was almoft entirely deferted by us. 
 
 In the mean time, we buy of the Dutch 
 our whalebone and train o^l : our wants 
 have produced with us no other than tardy 
 or too weak efforts : we are to this day 
 under a neceffity of propofing prasmiums 
 for the encouragement of this fifliery. 
 Within thefe five or fix years ther^ have 
 been from eight to ten Ihips fitted out 
 from Edinburgh ; whilft in 1675 to 1721 
 the Dutch fent thither 6995 veflels, which 
 took 32,908 whales, and the fifhery was 
 worth to them fourteen millions fterling* 
 (322 millions of livres.) ai i i v » *f 
 
 In fhort, that we might be able to boaft 
 that foreigners held from us their greatefl 
 fifheries, either by ufurpation, or concef- 
 fion, not contented with having given up 
 to the French a duty of 5 per cent, to 
 which they had fubmitted, in order to ob- 
 tain the permifllon of fifhing for cod, we 
 have left them, by the 13th article of the 
 Treaty of Utrecht, the liberty of filhing 
 upon the coafts of Newfoundland ; we 
 have ceded to them the ifland of Cape- 
 _ F 2 Breton, 
 
<'tco Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 Breton, a fifliery quite new, in exchange 
 for that of Newfoundland, which was ex- 
 haufted, |I we have permitted them to filh, 
 and cure their fifli upon our ifland, with- 
 out referving to ourfelves the fame pri- 
 vilege at Cape- Breton. 
 ^ Our blindnefs is equal to our weak- 
 hefs : Nations, friends and enemies to us, 
 have we fuffered to enrich themfelves at 
 our expence, as if we were ignorant that 
 the filheries are the nurferies of feamen, 
 and that that Power which has the moil 
 numerous marine employed in the fifhing- 
 craft, muft virtually have at the fame time 
 the moft formidable Marine. 
 
 I- . 
 
 ([ Neither in Hiftory nor in any Publicans, ij 
 to be found any mention of this pretended duty 
 of 5 per cent, which is delliti.te of all probabi- 
 lity, fince the French have ever fifhed on the banks 
 of Newfoundland without oppofition, op contrary 
 pretention on the part of England, v) ^ 
 4iyAs to the Ifland of Cape- Breton, the word ctdt 
 is at leaft an improper expreffion, fince before, and 
 after the Treaty of Utrecht, the French were in 
 undifputed poiTeifion of Cape Breton. 
 
 
 s 
 
of Great Britain, &c. loi^ 
 
 III. Advantages ^/ Great Britain, 
 from the Constitution of its Go- 
 vernment, of all principles the firfl^ 
 and the mojl fruitful, \ 
 
 AN encreafe of People, a florifhing , 
 cultivation, a powerful Marine, an J 
 extcnfivc trade could not have been efta- ,- 
 blilhed, nor fupport themfelves but with • 
 the help of tlie vvifeft laws, and of a vigi- t 
 lant Government. Tn other States, thefe 
 laws, and this adminiftration may be the ^ 
 work of particular Icgiilators, of diftercnc 
 minifters, to whom the Revenue, the 
 Marine, Trade, may be feverally com- 
 mitted: in England thefe fo important 
 intercfts are fure to be treated of and dil- 
 cufled in the general Council of the Na- 
 tion, reprtfented by its deputies from all' 
 its provinces, chofen in every order. Such 
 an afTembly mull naturally make the wifefl 
 laws, and the mod conformable to the 
 general interefl: of the Nation,, upon all 
 tliefe objeds. r ? ^^ * " 
 
 When a whole Nation has before it to 
 decide on the nature of impofitions, and 
 the neceflary fupplies for the charges, and 
 wants of the State ; it will certainly choofe 
 thofe taxes which will fall with the mod 
 
 F 3 equa- 
 
102 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 equality, and confequently with the lead 
 weight upon each of its members. • • 
 
 It can never happen that one part of 
 the fubjedls can exempt itfelf from the 
 common contribution, by privileges, by 
 immunities annexed to certain profeflions 
 acquired by money, or ufurpation : the 
 fubjeds, upon whom they would feek to 
 throw a part of the burthen, would have 
 a credit, as well as an intereft, in oppofing 
 their encroachments. - ' 
 
 The land owners, whether noblemen or 
 commoners, of whom fome even keep 
 lands m their own hands, will oppofe, m 
 Parliament, the eftablifliment of any over- 
 burthenfome land-tax, which might raifc 
 the price of the produce of the earth, even 
 to the point of flopping the confumption 
 
 of it. . . 
 
 • The merchants, and dealers, will watch 
 from intereft, that the overftraining of any 
 taxes on the confumption of commodities, 
 may not carry to an exceffive price, the 
 materials, and means of trade. 
 
 The llates of the imports, and exports, 
 compared with thofe of the cuftoms of 
 entry, and exportation, will fhow what is 
 die proportion of thofe cuftoms, which is 
 bcft adapted to the advantage of trade: 
 . . ^ the 
 
of Great Britain, Sec. loj 
 
 the Nation can neither deceive, nor be de- 
 ceived, fince it may annually order thofe' 
 dates to be laid before it, in full Par- 
 liament. 
 
 One fingle man will not be charged 
 with the weight of the adminiflration of 
 the Revenue, its various operations, its 
 reflburces upon State- emergencies: projeds 
 will not have for minifters, and authors, 
 any particular fet, whom a private intcrelt 
 may infpire: it muft be the whole Nation 
 that fhall imagine them : they muft be 
 propofed to the whole nation, and its exa- 
 mination will be the lefs liable to error. 
 
 And as nothing requires more intel-' 
 ligence, nor more particularly affe(5ls the 
 national interefl, than the juft commenfu- 
 ration, and the faithful apppropriation of 
 the fums allotted to the neceflary expencf s 
 of the Navy, the Ordinary and Extraor- 
 dinary of War, and the fubfidies payed- to 
 foreign countries, it will not be one mi- 
 nifter alone, or any fet of minifters for 
 cach^ department, that will regulate the 
 fums proper to aflign to each of thefe ob- 
 jeds. It will be the Nation itfelf that will 
 judge of the different requifite^ : it will 
 not beltow a miftaken preference on one 
 part above another : its forces maintained, 
 by fea, and land, in a juft equilibrium, 
 
 F 4 will 
 
104 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 will not grow out of compaf§, the one at 
 the expcnce of the other. The military 
 Marine will not clafh with the trading 
 Marine : an exadl harmony will refult from 
 the impartial diftribution of its favors, and 
 protedlion. In fine, lor afcertainment that 
 the fums afllgned have been faithfully ap- 
 plied to their deftination, the Nation may, 
 at pleafure, demand an account of their 
 expenditure. 
 
 'I'hcre are who find fault with the mani- 
 fellation to which this form of govern- 
 ment cxpofes our forces, and power to the 
 eyes of foreigners : but this is doubtlefs 
 only a reafon the more, to engage us to 
 be always in fuch a condition, as not to 
 fear the appearing other than what we 
 really are. Moreover, this publicity of our 
 forces, and revenue, is extreamly advan- 
 tageous in regard to the body of the Na- 
 tion. It is the lefs expofed to be itfelf 
 deceived with refpedt to its own condition : 
 the Public credit is the more folid for it, 
 being equally preferved from a falfe con- 
 fidence that might ruin it, ai>d from a falfe 
 diffidence which might diforder, or keep 
 it always weak. 
 
 The Merchants demands in the diffe- 
 rent branches of trade, the encouragement 
 of which any of them may (land in need, 
 • ».- , s -I N will 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 105 
 
 will be laid before members of Parliament, 
 who are themfclves merchants, Or who, • 
 what is better yet, have left off the being 
 fo, and are confequently the more capable , 
 to decide without partiality, but with know- 
 ledge, in favor of the general intereft of 
 trade, and not of the private intereft of 
 tradws, which may often be in oppofition 
 
 The Statutes, and regulations neceflary 
 for the advancement of the Marine, of the 
 nadonal revenue, of culture, of popula- 
 tion, of the employment of individuals, 
 propofed to Parliament, will eafily find in 
 a body of above feven hundred members, . 
 which compofe the two Houfes, a number 
 of fubjedls well-informed in each matter : 
 feveral particular corruriittees charged with 
 the digelling and modelling the laws, 
 will prevent the (lownefs, and diforder, 
 unavoidable in the difculTion of certain 
 matters in a general Committee. In a free 
 affembly, entitled to decide on fuch im- 
 portant objecfls, talents, merit, probity, 
 have a fair ftage on which to difplay them- 
 felves, in the fulleft light. Emulation, 
 Patriotifm, will raife and forrn great men, 
 in all kinds, give them reputation, and^ 
 reproduce new fubjedls every feven years. • 
 
 *■■"-•' ' - • '■• • • • » ..>" ) . 
 
 .'^•■;^^ F 5 IC 
 
ic6 Advantages and Difadvantagcs 
 
 It is eafy to conceive^ to fccl the advan- 
 tage of fuch a government over the admi* 
 niftration of one man for all the parts, or 
 for one part alone. Yet the judgments 
 even of a nation may not be exempt from 
 error : but it will be eafier to refoim timt 
 errofj than the error of a iingle perfan, 
 becaufe a nation has neither the inteitft, 
 nor the falfe pride of defending its errors: 
 befides, a fingle rnan is enough to c^n 
 the eyes of a whole nation, and any one of 
 thofe feven hundred members has a chance 
 to be that man. -i>>'' ' « ^i t> 
 
 Though the reprefentatives of the na^ 
 tion are renewed every Parliament, its pro- 
 jeds for the public welfare will not be 
 limited by a particular feafon, or by pri-^ 
 vate views : it muft have an intereft, and 
 adivity ever conftantly uniform. In ibort, 
 weaknefs, ignorance, treachery, or indo- 
 lence, are faults far lefs to be prefumed in 
 the Council of a nation which governs it- 
 k\f^ than in the adminiftration of a fingle 
 perfon. '- 
 
 A i^are of war being the mod diredly 
 oppofite to the happinefs of the people, 
 the Nation will think lefs of extending 
 its conquefts, than its trade. The protec- 
 tion of Its commerce will be the moft na- 
 tural objed of its wars : it muft dread the 
 
 having 
 
 , 
 
of Grbat Britain, &c. 107 
 
 having a king fond of the charader of a 
 conqueror, as it muft fear its liberty be- 
 coming at length one of his conqnefts. A 
 long peace will not to fuch a State, be 
 attended with the fame inconvcmencies, ai 
 to thofe whofe conftitution is military. 
 If misfortune, or a neceffity of circum- 
 ftances drags the Nation into inevitable 
 #ars, at leaft, ever clear- fighted on it* 
 frue irrtereftst, it will have the pow^r of 
 kttfing limits to the martial humor of its 
 king, or to the cabals which a minifter, 
 or a powerful party may make againft st 
 peace. -' -"^ *-^-' ' • ' "' ^ *^' 
 
 But fo beautiful] an harmony may be 
 fpoiit by corruption : I fay it to our 
 Ihame, I hy it with grief, * ''' 
 
 Venalis Populus^ venalis Curia Pairum, [ 
 
 ft is in vain that to guard againft the more 
 eafy, and lefs expenlive corruption, in cafe 
 of a perpetual Parliament, the duration of 
 each has been fixed at moft for fcven 
 years : the King may always buy votes in 
 eleftions, and fuffrages in Parliament : He 
 may attach to hi«ifelf Lords, whole eftates 
 have a right to fend feveral members to 
 Parliament. Commoners, who (hall have 
 vigoroufiy defended the rights of tit Na- 
 tion, when called by the King to the llouk? 
 
 F 6 ot 
 
loij Advantages and Li fad vantages 
 
 of Lords, will tye up their tongues, as a 
 price of their new dignity, or will make 
 a Ihamelefs proftitution of their eloquence 
 in favor of the Court. But, as it is only 
 with the Nation's money, that the King 
 can purchafe, againft itfelf, the votes of 
 its members, ought not that reflexion alone 
 to open its eyes on the danger of grant- 
 ing fupplies of wealth to the King, of 
 which the abufe may be fo pernicious in 
 his hands ? Can it ever be poflible that a 
 whole Nation affembled ihould be fo blind- 
 ed as itfelf to fell the liberty and property 
 of every fubje6l in it ? Or, in fbort, was 
 the corruption of the members who repre- 
 fent it to arrive at fuch excelTes, would it 
 not then happen, that, by a forced revolu- 
 tion, the Nation would (hake off a yoke 
 it could no longer endure, and that from 
 a neceffary diforder, the firft order of 
 things fhould take birth again ? much, 
 as in the bed conftituted body, if peccant 
 humors grow to a head with time, the 
 meafure of them being come to fulnefs, 
 the diftemper declares itfelf, breaks out, 
 and the patient qan only be faved by a vio- 
 lent crifis. 
 
 But to call off my reflexions from this 
 
 fubjedl, and turn them to a more agreeable 
 
 one, I (hall briefly touch on the efFed of 
 
 V . ; this 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 109 
 
 this Conftitution of our Government, on 
 the Genius and Public-fpirit of the Na- 
 
 0/ />^^ Power cf our Constitution in 
 determining the minds of the People to^ 
 wards the Public welfare. ' "' " ' '* *'•* 
 
 The ambition of arriving at the honor, 
 and diftindion which accompany the qua^ 
 Jity of Member of Pariiament, throws into 
 all orders of men a noble emulation, and 
 capable of the greateft effeds. Every fub- 
 jed: may reafonably afpire to this honor, 
 even to that of fitting in the Hpufe of 
 Lords. ''..-, 
 
 The right of giving one's votes at elec- 
 tions, the qualifications for being chofen 
 reprefentatives of Shires, Cities, and Bo- 
 roughs, are determined according to dif- 
 ferent Afe, by property refpedively ; fo 
 that whilft a man encreafes his fortune,, 
 he may encreafe the elevation of his pre- 
 tensions, ij-o-^^ ':\::yv'm ^ybiit ni mm 
 
 * Let us forget, for an in (Ian t, the abufes of 
 corruption, either in the perfon of the candidate 
 who bribes his voters, or in the perfon of him who 
 has a right to give his vote in eledlions : abufes 
 which will never be remedied, but by fixing at a 
 higher rate, the propertj^ of thofe who have that right 
 
 of 
 
1 10 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 A Merchant, a fobjeft in eafy circum* 
 (fences, living on his eftate, may be mem* 
 ber of Parliament, equally with a Peer of 
 the rcalm^ if he has three hundred, or fix 
 hundred pounds fterling a year, to qua- 
 lify him to be member of a Town, or bo- 
 rough, or to be Knight of the Shire : and 
 fhall fit in thft Houfe of Commons, with 
 the fons of Peers, who^ like him, maybe 
 members of that Houfe. This equality it 
 is, fair daughter of Liberty, which can 
 alone prefirrve to Commerce its honor, and 
 inf^irc to thofe who profcfs it, an efteem 
 for then" condition, and a nobility of fen- 
 timents which will for ever form the di- 
 ftindrve charadcr of a Briti{il Merchane. 
 
 The Lords can have no contempt for 
 the vtfchiW profeflions of their feJlbw fub- 
 jcifts, who dtc their equals, when aflen^bled 
 to regulate the public afi^rs of the nation : 
 rfrey will think it no diffionor to reckon 
 amongft their anceftors, merchants, or 
 loen in trades, mercers, grocers, brewers, 
 ^'* drapers, 
 
 of voting : tKe 40 (hillings a year freehold, fixed 
 under ifcnry VI. were nearly equivalent to 20 /. 
 fterling a year, preftnt currency. This freeholder 
 of 20/. per annum, would be in a condition, and 
 ^robab^ of morals lefs fufceptible of corruption, 
 m at leaft would fell himfelf doarer, which would 
 come to the fame thing. 
 
of Gil E AT B ft£t AI H^ 8rC. Ill 
 
 Jfopers, laylofs, &c who have given ta- 
 tbeir £ttnilios» names preferved. cm record, 
 decorated with the dignities of Loid-^ 
 Mayor, Mafter of the Rolhr, Privy-couiv 
 cellor. Chancellor, Earl, &C. They may 
 thetnfelves enter into trade: their children 
 may be fent to the comptiog^effices^ in the 
 City, there to learn conimeree^ or arlealt 
 to cry to get fome rich hexrefi^ either ^ich 
 the con&nt' of her parents, or only with^ 
 her own, in clandcftine marriage. 
 
 Thus the trader will not be ©bilged to 
 fceh in other countries ftsr honor*, or di- 
 ftindions : he may become a knight by 
 his Majefty^s grace and favor, or by means- 
 of money^ and that, without renouncing' 
 tcade, becaufe trade is in honor: ^vus^Qon* 
 ditions and ranks will nm tend to confu- 
 fion : the fubje^ who have deferved well 
 of their countty will receifve fignalt rc-^ 
 wards, but thofe fuitable, and confor^n to^ 
 the fervices they fiiall^ h^vt rendered, or 
 which are expcded from them^. The Duke- 
 of Marlborough and Grefham i^ have eaeli 
 aftatue; the one raifed on a high column 
 ia front of a magnificent pafece, which it 
 fdf was a prefent worthy of the heroe, and 
 
 f A celebrated Merch^int in the Reign of Queen 
 Elizabeth. 
 
tiz Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 of the Nation : the other placed lefs pom- 
 poufly in the Royal Exchange at London : 
 with this notable difference however, that 
 the ftatue of the General is erefted in the 
 midft of the privacy of a country retreat, 
 . fcqueftred from the eyes of the Nation, in 
 the folitude of an immenfc park: whilft 
 that of Grefham ftands in the midft of 
 his fellow-citizens, as if to ihow that his 
 example is the moft preferable one, and 
 that which the Nation has the greateft in- 
 tpreft to multiply. ^ • ' -r-K t -v ? ;>. • :^ 
 
 In a Conftitution where every fubjed 
 has, or imagines that he has, a fliare in 
 the Government, every fubje<5t will, ac- 
 cording to his capacity, concern himfelf in 
 the public affairs. Thence that multitude 
 of writings on all matters that relate to 
 the Public : and which every man may 
 ftudy at the fountain-head, in the colledtion 
 of A^s of Parliament, that pretious de- 
 pofite of the wife refolutions of the Na- 
 tion : it is the fubie6l*s univerfal book : 
 the debates, and difcufHons of which thofe 
 laws are often the occafion, are for our 
 Youth, the fchool of Rcafon, Liberty, 
 Patriotifm. Our greateft geniufes. Bacon, 
 Raleigh, Newton, Locke^ Temple, have 
 not difdained to write on Trade, Ex- 
 change, Coin, the National Debts, &c. 
 -'*.": ..Child, 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 113 
 
 Child, Petty, Mun, Davcnant, King, Gee, 
 &c. have extended our knowledge of thofe 
 articles. Upon Agriculture, and Natural 
 Hiftory, we have our Evelyns, Bradleys, 
 Millers, Tulls, &c. So many new writings 
 which are every year poured upon us, upon 
 the fame matters, and which for the moft 
 are only repetitions of the antient ones, 
 arc not without effedl and utility : they are 
 doubtlefs bought and read, fmce they are 
 for ever printing. Knowledge encreafes ; 
 even the mechanics gain new lights from 
 them i they ar:- not with us, as in other 
 countries, mere i.jachines, who give mo- 
 tion to other machines. Some of them 
 even write themfelves, in a bad ftyle no 
 doubt, but good things, upon the trade 
 which they refpedlively exercife with intel- 
 ligence, and diflinflion. .%» L.ij ^ :;> 
 In a Government, where every fubjedt 
 may in the General Council of the Nation, 
 either by himfelf, or fupported by fome 
 of the members of it, be the author of a 
 general Good ; a great number of fubjedts 
 will be full of that fpirit : feveral private 
 perfons will do things worthy of the Na- 
 tion itfelf, and their adlions will be di- 
 rected by the principles of the Public- 
 Good, Great advantages thefe which our 
 Conftitution, in which the Nation watches 
 
 for 
 
114 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 for itfelf, hay over an abfolute monarchy, 
 in which the Monarch takes upon himfelf 
 to dq every thing, in which the honor of 
 every thing redounds to the Monarch, in 
 which all benefits, ail encouragement can 
 come from no one but the Monarch. 
 
 It has been faid that, with us Britons, 
 our love of our Country, was a defirc, or 
 perhaps a pride natural for a nation which 
 governs itfelf, to take in being happy, or 
 well governed. Be this love of one's 
 Country whatever they pleafe, at leafV its 
 effects are not doubtfull, and multiply 
 without end in all the countries who have 
 the happinels to live under our Govern- 
 
 I owe to Ireland the juftice of men- 
 tioning her the Hrd. It is at Dublin that 
 the fir ft focieties formed themfelvcs, which 
 took for their objedt, the advancement, 
 and ftudy of trade, of manufactures, and 
 of agriculture. It is alfo they whofe fuc- 
 cefs has been the moft eminent ; it is to 
 them that are owing the elements of the 
 linnen-manufedlury, whofe progrefles have 
 been fb rapid* 
 
 This fociety has not confined itfelf to 
 this fingle objedt: all the arts, all the 
 branches of commerce, and of agriculture, 
 l»s it embraced: the generofity of the 
 
 members 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 115 
 
 members of it; and of the Public, has 
 furnifhed it with funds to defray the 
 prizes, which it diftributes yearly to the 
 number of fourfcore, or an hundred, and 
 to the amount of from 6 to 700/. ftcrl. (or 
 14 to 16,000 livres.) -^ ^ ^ • ^ 
 
 For example, there are prizes allotted, 
 TO him who fhall have given the beau- 
 tiful left dye in fcarlet, or any otiier 
 propofed color, to woollen, cotton, 
 filks, ftuffs, &c. 
 TO him who (hail have the made the beft 
 carpet, Turky, or Tournayfalbion. 
 The beft new llufF, after a propofed 
 
 • pattern. / •;; 
 
 • The beft drawings for ftufis. . 
 . The beft porcelain. . . 
 
 The heft paper after the I>uti;h man* 
 ner. :'-• '• ■ ^ '> ' ■■■\-a 
 
 The beft colors for painting. 
 TO him who ihall have invented the moft 
 ufeful machines for manufeftures^ or 
 agriculture. 
 TO fuch mafters, or miftreiles, who (halli 
 ^ have bred the beft apprentices ia cef^ 
 tain trades: as the beft cott»iSk or 
 ■ v: ftax-fpinners, dec. "* n >; <: 
 TO kirn who ihaii have coliefted, op fold 
 the moft linnennrags fof tlie paper 
 manufaftury. 
 
 TO 
 
11^ Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 TO him who fhall have made the moft 
 
 ■ barrels of pitch*;:! . it?!;/ ir i*j;in i..i 
 
 TO him who fhall have fown the moft 
 
 i. rr acres, above a given number, with 
 
 "' turnips, trefoil, flax, &c. 
 
 TO him who fhall have planted thegreat- 
 
 ^..cfl quantity of willows, and trees of 
 
 " all forts, &c. 
 TO him who fhall have grown hops of 
 
 the beft quality, { 
 
 TO him who fhall have drained the mofl 
 
 7. •^<' mrres of marfh-land, and made it va- 
 
 Jtcluable. iziA^ iMi .vAiii'l' -1j n, > 
 bOne private fubjedl alone. Dr. Samuel 
 Madden has confecrated yearly to fo laud- 
 able an employ from loo to 150/. ster- 
 ling (about 4000 livres) in different priteSt 
 which, like the precedent ones, arc ad- 
 judged by the Dublin-Society. 
 
 To encourage the emulation of the 
 competitors, they have afTigned firft, fe- 
 cond, and third prizes to each object : an 
 emulation of which the fruitfulnefs is not 
 lefs valuable, through the number of works 
 produced by pretentions to the prize, than 
 to thofe who win it. . Several of the pre- 
 tenders to it, content with purely the 
 honor of having obtained it, have returned 
 the fum allotted, towards augmenting the 
 funds of the next year. . ,„.,,..,..; 
 
 t. i * Edin* 
 
'of Great Britain, &Ci' ny 
 
 EbiNBURori haspoffeflfed a like Society, 
 to which it is that Scotland is indebted for 
 the wife projedion of thofe means which 
 have encouraged its linnen and other ma- 
 nufadluries, and its fifheries. 
 
 It is about twenty years fince thils town 
 invited, or gave reception to fome pro- 
 teftant families, which came out of Picar- 
 dy, and Flanders. Thefe were workmen 
 in lawns, or cambricks, who brought thi- 
 ther the firft knowledge of this fabric. A 
 peculiar quarter was afllgned to them be- 
 tween the town and its port, compofed of 
 thirteen houfes, in which they fettled thir- 
 teen french families. This quarter was 
 cd\kd Picardy from the name of its firft 
 inhabitants: they appointed to each the 
 ufe of a houfe for himfelf, and heirs, with 
 a fmall garden, a cow, and he was pro- 
 vided with utenfils. This colony has hi- 
 therto experienced, from that town, the 
 protedion, and afliftance which are deferv- 
 ed by ufefull foreigners. It has maintained 
 itfelf in nearly the fame condition : di- 
 minifhed only in one family, which went 
 to feek an eftablifliment in London. Each 
 of thefe families has thriven in proportion 
 to its induftry, and if notwithftanding the 
 eafe and conveniencies they enjoy, they 
 yet retain any regretful] remembrance of 
 
 * '■-■: i their 
 
4 18 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 their own ungratcfull country, Scotland 
 renders thofe regrets more cxcufable, and 
 more natural than they would have been 
 in England. 
 
 The two brothers R. and A. Foulls of 
 Glafcow, were known in the literary world 
 from the printing office they have lately 
 eftablifhed, and already celebrated for the 
 exquifite perfcdion of its types, and the 
 corredion of its editions, for which they 
 are indebted to the care of the learned pro- 
 feflbrs of the Univerfity in that town. i 
 
 But Trade alio will have its obligations 
 to them : they have begun to print the 
 bed works we have upon that fubjed. 
 Very lately too they have formed the pro- 
 ved: of raifing a fchool of Painting, and 
 Sculpture. They have furniflied the firft 
 advances, and feveral merchants have join- 
 ed with them in fo ufefuU an undertaking. 
 One of the two brothers, has ranged over 
 France, and Holland, to pick up the bed 
 italian, french, and flemifti pidures. He 
 has carried back with him from Paris an 
 able enough painter, a graver, and a rolling- 
 prefs printer, to whom there are good 
 appointments given. Painting will perhaps 
 be a long time, before it makes any 
 great prcgrefs : but the art of drawing 
 will be advanced : and this art is an im 
 
 portant 
 
of Great Britaik, &c. 119 
 
 portanc one towards the perfeAion of ma* 
 nufadures. ' •' 
 
 Public -fpirit diftinguiflics itfelf alfo, in 
 Edinburgh, in feveral eftabliflimcnts which 
 are fupported by the gencrofity of private 
 contributions : amongd others, there is a 
 houfe .appropriated to the orphan children 
 of merchants, who have become bank- 
 rupts: they are there brought up and 
 intruded in trade : their apprentice-fhip 
 to fome craft is payed, and they have fifty 
 pounds fterling given them to fet up with, 
 on their going out of the Houfe. 
 
 The hofpital of the infirmary, in which 
 they conftantly maintain three hundred 
 poor fick, is a modern monument of their 
 charity, and public-fpirit, which deferves 
 to be eternized. The charitable fubfcrip- 
 tions of private pcrfons have purchafed the 
 ground on which it is built : moft of the 
 materials were donations. The archite(fl, 
 mafons, painters, fcultors, have contri* 
 buted their time gratis^ and have adorned 
 this edifice with a noble and refpedlable 
 magnificence. Phyficians, and furgeons, 
 of the firft rank, have no other falaries, or 
 appointments, than the blelTings of the 
 fick : mofl of the domeftics ferve out of 
 charity : even the porter who fhows the 
 houfe, has made a vow (.a Angular and 
 
 almoil 
 
.I20 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 almoft incredible one in Great-Britain!) 
 not to afk, or accept any thing, on any 
 accouk t but for the ufe of the poor. 
 
 Amongll the names of the fubfcribers, 
 •which are contained in a framed lift, you 
 jfee infcribed the ifland of Jamaica for 
 fifteen hundred pounds fterling : thofe of 
 Antegoa, and Barbadoes, for three hun- 
 dred. In the Hall may be feen t-he pour- 
 -traits, and ftatues of fome principal bene- 
 fadors : Thus it is, that in offering to the 
 virtue of thofe generous fubjeds, that 
 hommage, which might have been the aim 
 of felf love, they tempt the gencrofity oi 
 thofe who arc incapable of doing a good 
 adion, if it was to be a fecret one. 
 
 We have at London, and all over 
 England, a number, and doubtlefs too 
 great an one, of Hc'pitals, fupported in 
 a great meafure by the annual fubfcrip- 
 tions of unknown benefadtors, in which 
 the poor, and children find and learn, the 
 means of fubfiftence-, fchools thefe infti- 
 tuted for affording to men a refuge againft 
 the diforders of idlenefs. 
 • The body of the failors at Newcaftle, 
 has fubmitted itfelf, by voluntary agree- 
 ment, to a contribution which has furnifh- 
 cd the funds for the building, and main- 
 tenance of a beautifull alms-houfe, in 
 
 which 
 
of Great Britain, &c. irti 
 
 which every one of their poor, or pafl: 
 their labor, finds an affured fubfiftence. 
 An eftabJifhment which may in feme mea- 
 fure be put in comparifon with that mag- 
 nificent hofpital at Greenwich, for the 
 invalids of the Marine, founded by our 
 kings and the Nation. 
 
 In 1 68 7, it was as much a point of 
 public fpirit, as of religion, which made 
 England give reception to the french re- 
 fugee proteftants. The gathering thac 
 was then made for them amounted to 
 ^3^7 ^3^' ^^' 3^' fterl. (near 1.500,000 
 livres.) That fame year there were maintain- 
 ed of them fifteen thoufand five' hundred, 
 of whom there were thirteen thoufand Evq 
 hundred alone in London, and parts ad- 
 jacent -, to fay nothing of thofe who came 
 over with their own means of fubfiftence. 
 The fame fpirit it is which to this day 
 prevails in Ireland, and allures over thither, 
 thofe of our brother-proteftants, who have 
 not, in their own country, the liberty of 
 finging the canticle of our Lord, or to 
 marry in it. In Ihort this fpirit it is, 
 which has propofed, though hitherto with- 
 out fuccefs, in our Parliament, the general 
 naturalization of all foreign proteftants. 
 
 But to quote fome examples, of the 
 private actions of patriots, who have figna- 
 
 G hzed 
 
122 Advantages and DiTad vantages 
 
 lized their love of their Country ; it is to 
 the Duke of Buckingham that England 
 owes its manufadory of glafs, the fecret of 
 which he brought from Venice. 
 . Lady Salton enriched Scotland with its 
 firft- knowledge of the fabric of linnens, 
 and the bleach of them : a knowledge of 
 which (he herfelf went pcrfonally in queft, 
 to Flanders and Holland. She had influ- 
 ence enough to engage the ladies, at their 
 principal aflemblies, to wear the firft hand- 
 kerchiefs and ruffles of the Scotch manu- 
 factory 5 an example which has been fince 
 imitated by our Society of AntigalUcans at 
 London, whofe firft vow is, that they will 
 make uie of no french wares in any part 
 of their drefs. 
 
 • To SirThomas Lombe it is that England 
 is beholding for a mill for organzining filk, 
 of which he brought his plan from Piemont, 
 fo exadly taken (not without pains and 
 danger) that he had one made by it at 
 Derby in 1734, perfectly like the model. 
 This admirable machine contains 26,586 
 wheels, and 97,746 movements, that work 
 73,726 yards of filk at every turn of the 
 wheel, that is to fay, 318,504,960 yards 
 (or 247,726,080 ells french^ in twenty-four 
 hours, at three turns of the wheel per mi- 
 
 fiute. 
 
 ; , .. The 
 
pf Great Britain, &c. i^^ 
 
 The reward of fo zealous a fubjea:, was 
 alfo dia:ated by public Spirit : inflead of 
 continuing to him the exclufive privilege 
 wiiich had been granted to him for a term 
 of years, the Parliament, by an exprefs 
 aft, made him a prefent of 14,000/. fter-^ 
 ling (250,000 livres) that the advantage 
 of this new invention might beloncr to the 
 nation in its whole extent. ^ 
 
 As in a nation ever watchful over its in- 
 terefts, projeds ufeful to the Good of the 
 community, are fure of fruftifying fooner 
 or later, the fame public-fpirit engages me 
 to fubjoin here the following reflexions. 
 
 Upon the PROBABLE USEFULNESS of a 
 
 Society which jhould be folely employed 
 tntheftudy of Q^^tvke and t/au^^ 
 and of the means of perfemng, and en- 
 couraging thofe two ohje8is, 
 
 Iprefume to put the queftion to thofc 
 >t my countrymen who are fenfible, in 
 he utmoft extent, of the importance of 
 griculture and trade, why England has 
 ot a public Society, to which the ad- 
 ancement of thefe two objeds fhould be 
 urufted ? Is it becaufe our lands are al- 
 ady very fertile, and our trade verv 
 )urifliing ? Granted. But are all of them ' 
 rtUe P may not they be made yet more 
 
 G 2 • fo? 
 
f 24 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 io^ and is our trade too at a point, be- 
 yond which we can have no hopes of yet 
 extending it ? 
 
 V ,1 
 
 ' ' ' Agriculture. • 
 
 As to the cultivation, and improvement 
 of land, we are rich in books antient and 
 modern which treat of this fcience : but 
 -thefe are riches we cannot enjoy, either 
 from the difgufting circumftance of their 
 being little better than a confufed heap of 
 inftrudlions without method, of experi- 
 iTients without philofophy, of reafonings 
 without pradice ; or becaufe thefe books 
 contain an infinite number of errors fuc- 
 ceflTively repeated, which the eyes alone of 
 experience can diftinguifh from truth : this 
 dilcrimination fhould be the firft endeavor 
 of the Society I would propofe. 
 
 The Society (hould choofe for its prin 
 cipal, and moft natural refidence, the 
 neighbourhood of fome unequal ground, 
 (of*wh'tch we have a great deal) that is to 
 fay, containing, within a moderate com- 
 pafs, feveral foils of different natures. 
 
 It fhould begin by trying feveral pradi 
 cal experiments : the fame ones upon foilsi 
 of different qualities, and different one 
 upon foils of the fame quality. 
 
 . »\\ . " ' . ■^^ 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 125 
 
 It fliould fend for from the provinces of 
 England, where the pradlices of agricul- 
 ture are the mod different from one ano- 
 ther, hufband-men to exercife thofe prac- 
 tices: thefe hufband-men, by converfing 
 with the members of the Society, would 
 improve into a kind of philofophical fpc- 
 culatills, and the natural philofophers would 
 learn from them the pradlical part of their 
 bufinefs, and help the better to form 
 others. 
 
 Members of this fociety, well verfed in 
 making experiments with fagacity, and 
 (iifcernment, and diftributcd into different 
 parts of the country, would teach the 
 luiiband-men, to improve their lands, from 
 the knowledge they would acquire. They 
 might found, in feveral parts, particular 
 fchools of agriculture, which Ihould cor- 
 refpond with the Head-fociety, either by 
 communicating their experiences to it, or 
 by reciprocally fending to each other huf- 
 band men already (killed, or to be in- 
 ftruded. * ^ • ' 
 
 This Society might employ itfelf in 
 perfecting its knowledge of the various 
 kinds of cattle, of their different ipecies, 
 and would find a vaft field for obferva- 
 tions, in the ftudy of the beft means of 
 
 ^.;u..'^. y:. :jj G 3,^j ..^ rearing, 
 
ii6 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 rearing, feeding them, and of treating 
 their diforders -, of augmenting their pro- 
 pagation, and meliorating their fpecies. 
 Its experiments fliould be made upon all 
 the different fpecies in the fame fpot, and 
 compared with thofe, which in different 
 parts of England, might be dircdted by the 
 particular fchools for it. 
 
 It would be neceffary, that a certain 
 number of aflbciates, fhould be fucceflively 
 fent every year to all the provinces of 
 England, to fearch into and compofe the 
 natural hiftory of them : that is to fay, 
 to examine the nature of their foils, and 
 the ufe to which they are put. Expe- 
 rience daily teaches us, that fome landa 
 £re either improperly cultivated, or not at 
 all, for want of having difcovered new 
 praflices, or imagined other produ6ts more 
 conformable to the climate, to the encreafe 
 * of inhabitants, to the natural difpofition 
 of the country, with refped to the con- 
 fumption, or communication, than fuch as 
 may have been long eriabliflied in them, 
 They would form a judgment of the 
 places which would be fittefl for planta 
 tions of wood, or to encreafe thofe whici 
 are yet remaining, or where to eftabhf 
 navigable channels, which are wanting i 
 fcveral parts, becaufc the convenience o: 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 127 
 
 the Sea has made us negledl the advan- 
 tages of an inward navigation. Some of 
 them might order the earth to be bored, 
 for the exploring of mines, marls, or 
 other materials, of which particular pro- 
 vinces are in want ; towards the perfec- 
 tion of our feverai manufadlures of porce- 
 lain, glafs, &c. 
 
 From the report of the ftate of the na- 
 tural produflions of the feverai parts thus 
 vifited, and examined, a judgment might 
 be formed of thofe where cultivation is 
 wanted to be eftablifhed, or encouraged. 
 The Society might then propofe particular, 
 and general prizes, according as their dit- 
 ferent objeds might require the culture 
 of fome ipot in a particular branch, or 
 affect Hufbandry in general. Thefe prizes 
 fhould have for their principal objeds, 
 thofe of drawing from lands already cul- 
 tivated ftill a greater produce ; or a new 
 one from thofe in wafte, fuch as fandy 
 foils, drainable marlhcs, &c. by converting 
 them into arable land, meadows, pa(lu>- 
 rages for all fort of cattle, by digging of 
 mines, planting forrefts, &c. in fhort, of 
 creating whatever value it fhould be, in 
 places where none exifts at prefent. 
 
 The ufefulnefs of fuch an eftablifhment 
 could not fail of afluring to it the pro- 
 
 G 4 tcdion 
 
128 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 te^ion of the King, and the aid of the 
 Nation : but even without that, the fub- 
 fcriptions alone of the nobility, and other 
 land owners, would be fufficient to defray 
 its expences : and this is not too much to 
 be prtfumed from the patriot generofity 
 of numbers, in a country, in which we 
 have leen in our days, a fingle private 
 i'ubjed, Thomas Guy, a bookfeller of 
 London, found himfelf alone an Hofpital 
 for incurables, of which the building cod 
 30,000/. fterling, (690,000 livres) and 
 endow it with 10,000/. a year (230,000 
 , livres.) ;i'. "v- % ■■ ■' -■■■•. .-• •: ' / , r: 
 
 '^ ^* •* Trade. - 
 
 • ' The fpirit of Trade having once breath* 
 €d itfelf into all nations, and got poffef- 
 fion of them, it will certainly happen that 
 fome of them will revindicate from the 
 others thofe branches which naturally be- 
 longed to them. Thofe Nations then, 
 whofe induftry has ufurped the moft from 
 the indolence of the reft, will lofe the 
 moft. We ought then to think not only 
 how to retain what we pofiefs, but to en- 
 ideavor at new acqui fit ions, if we mean 
 not to lofe. 
 
 : Our manufa^lures are, as far as I can 
 judge, already fo numerous, and at fuch a 
 sij.i.hif . . degree 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 129 
 
 degree of perfedion, that the point now is 
 lefs how to furnifh new ideas, and meanfi 
 to induftry, than to procure to their pro- 
 dudls, as well as to our natural ones, new 
 channels of home as well as foreign con- 
 fumption. i 
 
 A Society appointed to fulfill thefe two 
 intentions, ought to be compofed of aflb- 
 elates, who (hould unite in it the practical 
 knowledge, not only of the trade of Eng- 
 land, but even of the trade of foreigners, 
 between one another: There fhould be 
 of them dealers, well acquainted with our 
 principal manufadlures, and with the places 
 in which the vend of them is eftabJifhed •, 
 undertakers of manufadlures, feamen, tijer- 
 chants who fhould have traded in foreign 
 countries, and in not only thofe with whom 
 we have already an open trade, but in thole^ 
 where it is not yet fo. >:v . :. . . ^. . v^ 
 
 From all thefe united informations, there 
 would refult a current,and univerfal draught 
 of all the branches of Commerce in being, 
 which London is perhaps Iblely in a con- 
 dition to frame : a draught much more to 
 be depended on, than any which the mod 
 copious books could lurnifh us, and which 
 one head alone could not comprehend per- 
 tectly in all its parts. From a comparifbn 
 of thefe informations would certainly arile 
 
 G ^ new 
 
ijo Advantages and Diddyantages 
 
 new combinations, or fchemes of trade, 
 cither for extending the branches which 
 exift, or for creating fuch as do not.* 
 
 Our Youth travel, the moft part, with- 
 out meaning, or profit : now fome time 
 previoufly fpent in fuch a fchooJ, would 
 enable them to make their voyages ufefui 
 to their country, and to themfelves. The 
 Society might itfelf breed up pupils, upon 
 examination of whofe capacities, it might 
 appoint them accordingly to be fent into 
 other countries, there to gain inftrudiciis 
 on the ftate of their trade, their means, 
 their extent; their employ of their fub- 
 jedts, their induftry and its reflburces, their 
 
 revenues, 
 
 * Mr. Elton, in 1739, attempted to open to the 
 fngliili merchants fettled in Rufiia, a direft trade 
 with Perfia, by the Volga and Cafpian Sea, which 
 was the objeft of an Aft of Parliament in the 
 14th year of George II. (1740) and was an at- 
 tempt almoft forgot fince the year 1581. The 
 Nation has the obligation of this idea to him, not- 
 withftanding the fort of defertion, of which he 
 made himfelf in fome meafure guilty, in entering 
 into Shah Nadir's fervicc, which brought him 10 
 a tragical end in Perfia. After him, Mr. Hanway, 
 in i74«, did not meet with a much happier fuc- 
 ccffi for the merchandize he carried with him; 
 and indeed nothing better could be well expefted 
 amidft the troubles with which Pcrfia was then af- 
 
 maed. 
 
of Great Britain, &c, 131 
 
 revenues, taxes, the objedls of thofe taxes, 
 and their cffcfls ; the genius, nnianners of 
 the inhabitants, the way of tempting them 
 •with fonie new manufadlure, or other 6\o^c6t 
 ©f trade " * ' •'" ?" ^u-fvi '!iji ■•.":/ 
 Some of thefe pupils might be named 
 to the place of firft or fccond fecretary of 
 embafly, to all ambafladors, or minifters 
 of the Nation in foreign count ries^ either, 
 tinder favor of this function, to take more 
 particular and Icfs fufpicious informations, 
 upon all thefe objedts, or to watch efpe- 
 cially over any attempt which other na- 
 tions might make to extend their trade, 
 in order to counter-work their progrefs, 
 or to counter- ballance them by oppugnant 
 demands, or efforts. Merchants them- 
 felves, or Confuls eftablifhed in foreign 
 towns, could, and ought doubtlefs to ful- 
 fill thefe intentions, but moft merchants, 
 confined as they arc within too narrow a 
 circle of interefts, and views, mind only 
 what they do in a country, and very little 
 what might be done in it. Confuls who 
 are fuffered to grow old in the fame places, 
 lofe the activity of their ideas, and fee by 
 rote eternally the fame things as they are 
 ufed to fee in them. But pupils fuch as I 
 propofe them, would be able to throw 
 very important lights on the political fide 
 
 G 6 of 
 
132 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 ' of things, which trade cannot well do 
 without, for, in Politics, there is no know- 
 ing thoroughly the flrength of any Power, 
 without knowing the flrength of its trade : 
 Nor indeed one's own reffourccs, when 
 one does not know what is to be aimed 
 at, or gained, on the fide of commerce. 
 In Ihort, other nations muft have over 
 us a great advantage, if whilft the (late 
 of our forces, and power, are entirely in 
 manifeftation to them, we are not clearly 
 informed, on our parts, of their ftate, and 
 forces. Proper fubjeds then, inftrudled 
 in the method I mean, would be capable 
 of negotiating thofe treaties of commerce, 
 which accompany treaties of peace, and 
 which alone ftrike the ballance of profit 
 and lofs, at the clofe of a war, in favor of 
 the conqueror or of the conquered. 
 ,. Thefe pupils, on their return home, 
 svould become mod valuable members of 
 the Society : time would encreafe their 
 ^umber, and then the Society would find 
 it felf compofed, and conftituted, in aW 
 the perfedion defirable, and which cannot 
 be reafonably expeded in the firft moments 
 uf its eftablifliment. ■ -t 
 
 ^ Wlxat better ufe could our young men 
 make of their time, efpecially thofe who 
 arcdefigned for feats in Parliament? They 
 \'t . would 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 133 
 
 would fpend lefs money in France than 
 they do: they would profit more, they 
 would refide longer in other countries, 
 and it would fpare our true patriots the 
 eye-fore of feeing Englifhmen return from 
 their voyages Frmchmen^ and dare to Ihow 
 themfelves fo, even in London. 
 
 The home confumption of our manu- 
 fa6lures, and particularly of our woollen 
 ones, which is the natural manufadtory of 
 the Country, would not lead deferve the 
 attention of fuch a Society ; which doubt- 
 lefs would think of the beft means for 
 preventing the fmuggling of our wool, 
 chiefly caufed by the over-abundance of it. 
 The promotion of its confumption feems 
 to have been the motive of the Adt of 
 1666, whereby it was ordered that no one 
 thenceforward fhould be buried but in 
 woollens. A law that Ihould have obliged 
 the living to con fume more + woollens, for 
 their ufe, would doubtlefs have produced 
 
 f For example, in order to hinder the ufe of 
 woollens from being entirely aboliftied, amongft the 
 women, in their apparell, I do not doubt but that 
 it would be of fervice, to pafs a law, that for three 
 fundays, or on any other particular days in a fea- 
 fon, no man or woman fliould appear in Public 
 but in cloaths of fome woollen lluH^, under fuitabk 
 penalties, &c. 
 
134 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 a benefit more cxtenfive : The whims of 
 fafliion, and demands for confumption, 
 are fo fantaftic and unaccountable, and yet 
 the objcdt is of fuch capital importance, 
 that I never doubted of their being a pro- 
 J)er matter of cognizance, and controul, 
 from the legiflative power. England znd 
 France afford us a fcnfiblc example of this 
 .ftrange capricix^ufncfs. The abundance of 
 our wool is in fome meafurc cumberfome 
 to us, and yet one would imagine, that we 
 avoided the confumption of it. We fcarce 
 know the ufe of tapeflries, we lie on a 
 fmgie feather- bed : the curtains, and ap- 
 purtenances of which are chiefly Unnenj 
 our women, for the greater part, drefs in 
 linnens moftly from India, or other fo- 
 reign parts, notwithftanding the A£l of 
 prohibition. In France^ on the contrary, 
 where wool is both rare, and dear, there 
 are a number of manufadtories in woollen 
 tapeftry : Wool is employed in all the up- 
 holftery of the bed, raattraffes, curtains, 
 and in chairs : the women, at lead thofc 
 of the common form of life drefs in it : the 
 luxury, and conveniency of the cloth wear, 
 makes a frenchman ufe fix cloth-fuits, to 
 four that an englilhman will. The Dutch, 
 either from chance, or wifdom, have in 
 
 lieu 
 
 •V .■ 
 
of Great Bi^itaik, &c. 135 
 
 lieu of thefe two extreams, chofen a me- 
 dium, the moil: conform to dieir true in-* 
 tercft. As there grows but little wool in 
 their country* they confume but a mode- 
 rate quantity, though they manui&dtupe a 
 great one. 
 
 Peter Parifot, known in France, under 
 the name of Father Norbert^ has ktely e- 
 ftablifhed within three miles of London, 
 two manufaftures of woollen tapeftry, the 
 one after that of the Gobelins^ founded in 
 France by Francis the Ift ; and for which 
 were made thofe celebrated cartoons of 
 Raphael, that we have at Hampton-Court: 
 the other manufacture, after that of Chail- 
 lot near Paris, of which the art was brought 
 from Perfia, under the reign of Henry the 
 IVth: This cftablifbment certainly de- 
 fcrves the continuation to it, of the pro- 
 tection, and favors of the government. 
 
 I f <r 
 
 kl 
 
 41 
 
 ' ' : . ^ . . ; • ■ .V^ .' • i . a 
 
 I ' » ' <» > • 
 
 
 A .f ■ ^ : . . . ' I ' 
 
 
 IV. Of 
 
13$ Advantages and Dlfadvantages 
 
 IV. Of Incorporation of Trades. 
 r 0/* Communities (/Merchants. Of 
 
 . EXCLUSIVE PrIVILEQES. Cy TRADING 
 
 ; Companies, &c. :(^ jir:. , • : 
 
 / -t- - > 
 
 THE profperity of a commerce ftlll 
 florifhing amongft us, whilft m 
 moft other nations it is either in its in- 
 fancy, or decline ; the fuperior rank in 
 which it has eftabliflied us amongft the 
 Powers of Europe, have deferved to u$ 
 the reputation of being the greateft mafters 
 in the fcience of Trade : but we, who fee 
 into ourfclves nearer, and with eyes more 
 clearfighted than foreigners can, we cannot 
 diflcmble to ourfeives, that there is yet a 
 great deal to learn, to pcrfed, to reform, 
 in this branch of the public-weal. We are 
 not exempt from the perverfion, and per- 
 nicious influences of many antient preju- 
 dices, which private intereft perpetuates, 
 and reproduces. We have only this ad- 
 vantage over other nations, that we do not 
 want for fubjeds amongft us, who are 
 well-informed, who can diftinguifh falfe 
 principles, and who dare attack them with 
 liberty in their difcourfes, and writings. 
 But their zeal fhould not be damped by 
 
 the 
 
- of Great Britain, &c. 137 
 
 the little fuccefs of their fir ft efforts. It is 
 ofily for time, and perfeverance to dcftroy 
 abufes which time has confecrated ; in 
 which I particularly mean thofe monopolies 
 which cramp, and reftrid our trade both 
 at home and abroad. 
 
 ■ r ' ■ T 
 
 Monopolies in /^^ Home-Trade. 
 
 We cannot fo properly call by any other 
 name thofe privileged and exclufive Com- 
 panies of traders, mechanics, manufadu* 
 rers, &c. who, in fome of our towns, ex^ 
 elude from all bufinefs, or employ, as if 
 ftrangers, all fuch as are not born amongft 
 them •, and even amongft their own townfr 
 men, or countrymen, admits to the liberty 
 of working amongft them, none but fuch 
 as are born in their corporations, or who 
 have bought their freedom, either with 
 money, or with a long, chargeable ap- 
 prenticefliip. ..,-, 
 
 Thefe Companies feem to me bodies 
 feparate from the common wealth, who, of 
 their charters and privileges, have made 
 to themfelves ramparts againft the induftry 
 of their fellow-fubjeds in general, and 
 who oppofe to even that of their own 
 fellow-citizens, as many obftacles as are in 
 their power. ... . . 
 
 Ic. 
 
138 Advantages and Difadvantagcs 
 
 It was doubtlefs, in the firft infancy of 
 our commerce, necellary to grant to thofe 
 who brought us, or invented manufac- 
 tures, fuch advantages as might be capa- 
 ble of fixing, and fupporting them. It 
 ' was alfo perhaps expedient to have thefe 
 eftablifhments made in towns, where they 
 might find at hand the neceflary helps of 
 men and money. Subjedls fo ufefuU had 
 good pretences to impofe conditions : they 
 eafily obtained privileges, of which the 
 confequences were not then anticipated, 
 We feel them now. Mechanics, and jour- 
 neynaen, who have, in any town, an ex- 
 clufive privilege of working, are arbitra- 
 rily mafters of fetting the price of their 
 work. Any Body of manufadurers, or 
 merchants, which has alone the right of 
 manufadluring, or felling, has it not in its 
 power to give law to the confumers, and 
 to Trade ^ 
 
 How often, at London in the City, 
 have not the workmen and journeymen 
 entered into confpiracies againft their 
 mafters, to force them to raife their 
 wages ^ It is but very lately, and not till 
 after a law-fait of eleven months, that the 
 mafter workmen in London prevailed, that 
 they might, on application to the Lord- 
 mayor, 
 
- of Great Britain, &c. 139 
 
 mayor, obtain permifTion to employ 
 ftranger-workmen, for want of others, 
 which however was not to be granted 
 but to him who Ihould have at leaft one 
 apprentice : otherwife, the contraveners 
 were liable to a penalty of five pounds 
 per day, fettled by divers adts of the 
 Common-council. 
 
 Even this year, Norwich faw three hun- 
 dred wool-weavers, difcontented with their 
 wages, quit their bufmefs, retreat to a hill 
 three miles off, build huts, and flay fix 
 weeks there, fupported by the contribu- 
 tions of their fellow- workmen who had 
 remained in town, and all this, under pre- 
 text that a mafter-workman had employ- 
 ed, in quality of JQurneyman. before the 
 time required, a ftranger, that is to fay, 
 an Englifhman born out of the town oi 
 Norwich. ' - .'i ''i^ 
 
 ' I a(k any man who underftands me- 
 chanics, if there is any trade that can 
 exaft fcven years apprentice- ihipj before 
 one can be able to excrcife it ? Amongft 
 men, \vho have no other fupport but their 
 labor, and their induftry, are there many 
 who can afford giving feveti years of their 
 time, without earning any thing for them- 
 fclves ? Is the head of a numerous family 
 tQ be fuppofed in ft fondilion oi paying 
 
 • .■:...-■• • .' : . the 
 
140 Advantages and Dlfad vantages 
 
 the apprenticing out his children, at the 
 fame time that he is for fcven years to be 
 deprived of the benefit of their labor, ot 
 which the firft years are fo naturally due 
 to him. What good policy, or rather 
 what barbarity is there not in a law, which 
 fpecifically excludes from becoming ap- 
 prentices, fuch whofe father has not three 
 pounds, or at leaft 40 fhillings per year 
 income ? * In fhort, towards breeding up 
 youth to a habit and relifh for work, can 
 it be a promifmg method, that of con- 
 fining them to work for feven years for a 
 mafter, before they can do any thing for 
 themfelves ? Thence it naturally happens, 
 that numbers excluded, or difcouragcd by 
 the tcdioufnefs, and cxpenfivenefs of a long 
 apprenticefhip, renounce a trade which re- 
 turns them nothing, for the more lucrative 
 profefTion of beggars. It is remarked, 
 that the Poor are more numerous, in the 
 towns where the manufadtures are incorpo- 
 rated, than in free towns, and the poors 
 rate a third higher in them. •*■: .'>rj i: . 
 '» I have been curious to know, whether 
 thefe Bodies corporate, or Communities, 
 did not contribute to a better obfervation 
 of regulations and ftatutes in the manu- 
 
 fadures 
 
 * The Parifti-childrcn excepted. 
 
of Great Britain, &c. ^ 141 
 
 fa<flures un^er their diredion, than was 
 done in the free ones : and I found that 
 both had equally (haken off any yoke of 
 reftraint, as faft as they found it bear too 
 hard in any part. For the reft, I conceive 
 that it is as eafy to fubjed the free manu- 
 fadtures, as the incorporaff^ ones, ra the 
 fmall number of regulations that may fuf- 
 fice for the intereft of the workman, and 
 of trade. 
 
 What good can there refult to the par- 
 ticular trade of a town, or to commerce 
 in general, from the mechanics, and dealers 
 being fubdivided into a number of dif- 
 ferent Bodies-corporate, and that number 
 fo multiplied that their refpe6live limita- 
 tions, and privileges are almoft impoffible 
 to afcertain ? f What advantages can there 
 accrue to commerce, from that thefe cor- 
 porations fhould levy upon themfelvcs 
 funds in common, to build magnificent 
 Halls to affemble, and make feafts in, that 
 they (hould lend funis to the Government, 
 r . ::, ■ • nr them- 
 
 f For one example, amongft other, I remember 
 a law-fuit that was ftarted feme years ago, at Lon- 
 don, between the curriers, who are at the fame 
 time leather cutters, and the cordwainers, upon the 
 right of ^cutting the leather : a contcU fo hard to 
 decide, that both parties gave it up at length, after 
 a great deal of expence on both fides. 
 
142 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 themfelvcs afterwards borrow, and end in 
 a bankruptcy, as happened fometime ago 
 to the Mercers Company in London ? Are 
 not thefe expences, this luxury of commu- 
 nitys, juft fo much levied upon their mer- 
 chandize, to the detriment of commerce, 
 and of the confomption of goods. *• 
 
 • Our Commerce would have made but 
 (low advances, if, in all our towns, in- 
 duflry had been checked by fuch reftraints : 
 but the freedom left to fome towns in 
 England, has been able to eflablifh ma- 
 nufadures in them, in rivalfhip to the 
 others, and which were not long before 
 they furpaflfed them. Manchefter, Leeds, 
 Birmingham, where the name of Corpo* 
 poration, or Community, is happily un- 
 known, hold unconteflably the firft rank, 
 amongft our towns of manufa<5luries. The 
 town and parifh of Hallifax has, within 
 thefe forty yeari', feen the number of it*s 
 inhabitants quadrupled, whilft many other 
 towns, fubjeded to corporations, have ex- 
 perienced a fenfible diminution of theirs. 
 If fome flill remain florilhing, it is owing 
 to the fuperiority of their natural advan- 
 tages, either in point of materials, or of 
 fituation •, or becaufe their particular pri- 
 vileges have deprived other manufactures 
 that would otherwife have formed them- 
 felvcs, 
 
, of Great Britain, &c. 143 
 
 felves, of all hopes of rivalling them. It 
 is in thefe towns, that the Spirit of Mo- 
 nopoly is as antient as their Companies. 
 In thefe towns it is, one hears the mer- 
 chants boaft of the great fortunes that 
 were made in the firft, and early times of 
 manufadures, when the trade was in few 
 hands ; one hears them too complain that 
 trade is ruined, becaufe the number of 
 dealers is encreafed, and the profits lef- 
 fened by their being more divided, and 
 even declaim againft thofe merchants who 
 augment the confumption, and exporta- 
 tion, by seducing their views to a mode- 
 rate profit, or to fimply that of commif- 
 fions. It is alfo, in confequence of the 
 fame fpirit, that thefe towns are thofe, 
 which, on all occafions, ftand up the moft 
 ftiffly againft the general naturalization of 
 Proteftant- foreigners. . 
 
 London itfelf furnifhes us with a fcn- 
 fible proof, how much the reftraints of 
 thefe Companies are unfavorable to popu- 
 lation. Houfes (ituate within the precindls 
 of the City hardly find tenants, and num- 
 bers of them remain empty, whilft Weft- 
 minller, Southwark, and the other fuburbs 
 are continually encreafing. The reafon is 
 manifeft. Thefe fuburbs are free, and of- 
 fer a fair open field to the induftry of 
 
 every 
 
144 Advantages and Dlfadvantages 
 
 every fubjedl, whilft London fupports 
 within itfelf tburfcore and twelve exclu< 
 five Companies of all kinds, of which 
 one may fee the members annually adorn, 
 with a filly pageantry, the tumultuous 
 triumphal proceffion of the Lord- Mayor. 
 
 ■' " Of Privileges. 
 
 ' Commerce has not alone to complain of 
 the monopolies which certain towns enjoy, 
 in prejudice to the general intereft : fincc 
 even private perfons do, in contrariety to 
 the whole Nation, obtain exclufive privi- 
 leges, always fbllicited, and fometimcs 
 granted, through an avidity for unlawfull 
 gain. . ' * 
 •Without entering into the diftindion, 
 either of the matters, or of the time, for 
 which thefe privileges are granted, I fliall 
 not fcruple to lump the conclufion, that 
 there is not one of them that is not unjuft, 
 or unreafonable. 
 
 If a privilege, whofe duration is inde- 
 finite, is an Evil, that privilege is alfo one, 
 which is granted for a term of twenty- one 
 years : I fee no difference but in that of 
 the length, or fhortnefs of it. If a pn 
 vilege is a detainure from, or indeed robs 
 Society of a Public-Good : it cannot be 
 \ ' ' defended 
 
" of Great Britain, &c. 145 
 
 defended with a worfe grace, than from 
 the importance of the matter of it. 
 
 If a fubjedt has been fo happy as to 
 bring back with him, from his voyages, 
 9,n art, a fecret, of which only another 
 nation was in polTeflion : it is a merit in 
 him to his country ; and it doubtlefs ought 
 to recompence him, or rather by a re- 
 compence excite the emulation or other 
 fubjedls : but if he demands a Patent, 
 he lofes the rherit of his adbion. Should 
 it be granted to him, the State fhuts the 
 door againft all foreigners who might 
 bring us the fame art, with a freedom to 
 extend, and diffufe it. He alfo difcou- 
 rages other fubjedts, who in their voyages 
 might aim, at the fame difcovery, in their 
 perquifitions. . :* . : 
 
 But, it will be faid, if it is an eflay of 
 an undertaking, which requires confider- 
 able advances, either in refpedl to the na- 
 ture of it, or to the fortune of a private 
 perfon, he will not venture the firft coils, 
 for fear that another fhould fupplant him 
 in the fruits of them, and deprive him of 
 the means of recovering them, by taking 
 the advantage of his difcovery. To this, 
 1 anfwer, that it is yet worfe, that the 
 collateral induftry of numbers fhould be 
 checked, with-heki, and difcouraged by 
 
 H the 
 
146 Advantages and Dlfadvantages 
 
 the ftnr, that, after much time and trou- 
 ble,, fome Patent (hould get the ftart of 
 them, tliat would make them irretrievably 
 Jofe their advances, and their pains. 
 
 J. do not fo much as imagine, that it 
 will be objc6lcd to me, that pecuniary ad- 
 vances or rewards are an expence that 
 .can be grudged, or ill born by the Nation, 
 DOT that a fum once payed, can be put 
 trt comjiarifon with thofe which the re- 
 ftraints laid on induftry, and perfedlion, 
 fcv a Privilege, will make a State lofe. 
 Befides there are diftin6lions, there are 
 honors, which cod the Public nothing: 
 The thanks of the Houfe of Commons, 
 or of both Houfes of Parliament, will be 
 a more foothing reward to certain noble 
 minds, than money : and why fhould not 
 Honor be alfo properly employed amongft 
 the fprings of our government? • ' 
 
 If there is any new invention brought 
 to light by an induftrious genius -, this is 
 again a cafe, fof the higheft title to re- 
 wards and diflinaions : at the fame time 
 it is a cafe, in which a privilege may be 
 the mod prejudicial to the public Good. 
 Rarely does an inventer perfe<5l, or at 
 Jeaft advance fo far towards perfection, as 
 thofe that come after him : the imagina- 
 tion of one man is not fo fruitful! as that 
 
 of 
 
of Great Britain, &cc. 147 
 
 of many. If the firft perfon who in- 
 vented callimancoes, or very lately the 
 cotton-velvets, had required a Patent, 
 /hould we probably have had ten or twelve 
 forts of flutFs in thefe kinds, as we now 
 have J and would it not have been re- 
 nouncing other future ones, which may 
 yet derive from them ? In fhort, in the 
 art of manufadturing, as a new fluff is 
 often no more than a fubdivifion of the 
 lame fpecies, to grant a privilege in fuch 
 cafe, is an unjuft appropriation to a fingje 
 perfon, of a right which all nianufadurcrs 
 in the fame kind had to invent, and exe- 
 cute fuch a fluff. 
 
 I place alio in the clafs of privileges, 
 thofc over-fignal preferences granted by a 
 State to one manufacture over other?, 
 fither by opening to the materials it cm- 
 iopi only that Ipecific Port that lies moft 
 onvenient for it, or by a diminution of, 
 irexclufive exemption from cuftoms on 
 hem : and what does the State gain by 
 t? It raifes a great manufadviry, of which 
 he advantages are limited to a Tingle 
 wn ; whilft it might have feen four 
 lanufadurys form themfelves of their 
 wn accord, and enrich four towns, and 
 leir neighbourhoods, at the fame time 
 lac their concurrence, and emulation, 
 • •'■' H 2 v/ould 
 
148 Advantage and Difadvantagcs 
 
 would certainly have produced a greater 
 confumption. 
 
 All thofe who foUicit a Patent do not 
 fo much as bring a fingle plaufible pre- 
 text for obtaining it. If what they pro- 
 pofc is a fecret, what need have they of 
 a Patent to preferve a fecret which they 
 alone pofTefs ? Will they alledge, that their 
 works will be counterfeited ? but if theirs 
 are, in reality, the beft, they are fure of 
 the preference : if not, the Public is fure 
 of gaining by it. They do not then fear 
 their being counterfeited; but that they 
 fhall be excelled, or underfold. A Pa- 
 tent then can anfwer no end but favoring 
 lazinefs, or avarice, in prejudice to the 
 perfection, confumption, and the circula- 
 tion of work, which is the great principle 
 of the circulation of money. 
 
 But to have done •, the State is a So- 
 ciety. He who pretends to enjoy exclufive 
 advantages in it, renounces from that in- 
 ftant the aid and protedlion he had a right 
 to exped from it. No one ought to re- 
 gret the advantages he procures to others. 
 There is no one but finds more of their 
 in Society, than he can contribute to it 
 fince he finds in it his own fafe-guard 
 and the peaceable enjoyment of his pro 
 
 pCrty. ' '\yr 
 
 MoN 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 149 
 Monopolies in the Abroad-Trade. 
 
 There are known two forts of exclufive 
 Companies in the A broad- trade. 
 
 The one are a Society, by which an 
 exclufive trade is managed with a joint- 
 ibck, of which the profit and lofs are 
 in common to the Proprietors. 
 
 The others are a Body, of which the 
 members have acquired an exclufive right 
 of Trade, which each of them is free to 
 carry on, with feparate ilocks. 
 
 The principal grievances alledeed a- 
 gainft both, are reducible to the following 
 ones. 
 
 ift. That they beflow advantages on a 
 part of the fubje(5ls, at the expence of the 
 whole of the Nation. 
 
 2dly, That they cannot carry on trade 
 upon terms fo advantageous as private 
 perfons : burthened as thoie Companies 
 generally are with the exorbitant charges 
 of Diredion, eflablifhments, &c. 
 
 3dly, That their intention is the mofh 
 oppofite that can be to the general intereft 
 of Trade, in that their aim is to keep up 
 at the highefl price they can, both with- 
 out and within the kingdom, thofe goods 
 and merchandize which are the objeds of 
 their traffic. 
 
 n 3 4thly, 
 
150 Advantages and Difadvantagcs 
 
 4thly, That far from extending tracle, 
 they contra6l: it. Firft, becaufe a Com- 
 pany, from the nature of it, and through 
 limitation of funds, has often no propor- 
 tion with the extent of trade it embraces. 
 Secondly, having a fure profit, and an 
 exclufive right, it has not the fame fpirit 
 of difcovery, and attempts, as private per- 
 fons have. 
 
 Athly, That fome of thefe Trading Com- 
 panics, are in faft no more than a vain 
 empty name, and ruinous reflburces for 
 the Government in its occafions for mo- 
 ney. 
 
 Thefe reproaches are naturally applica- 
 ble, in general and in particular to the 
 Companies, amongft others, of Hudfon's 
 Bay, Africa, Eall-India, South-Sea, and 
 Turky. 
 
 Hudson's Bay Company. 
 
 The Hudfon's Bay Company ftands a 
 fenfible, and deplorable example to us, 
 that an exclufive Company may, for a 
 long time, enjoy a mod lucrative trade, 
 and contented with an exorbitant profit, 
 in refped to the original fum of its ftock, 
 negled all the facilities it had to extend 
 it ; in contempt of its duty, and of the 
 
 national intereft. ' 
 
 In 
 
of Great Britain, &:c. 151 
 
 In 1670, a Charter of Chai its II. incon- 
 fiderately granted away for evtr, to a Com- 
 pany, the property of all the lands adjacent 
 to, and beyond Hudibn's Bay, with the 
 exclufive trade from them, in bear-ikins, 
 fables, ermines, and other furrs, which are 
 to be had there in great abundance. Its 
 firft capital was only 10,500/. (or 341,500 
 livres) and as inconfiderable as it was, it 
 was fufEcient for the expences of its efta* 
 blilhment, and not withftan ding the lofles, 
 and thwartings with which it met from 
 the French, the profits of it were fuch, 
 that, in 1690, the Company in order to 
 conceal them, and to put more proportion 
 between its dividends, and its flock, took 
 a refolution to triple it, in appearance by 
 a feigned call on its proprietors ^ fo that 
 each of them, without difburfing anything, 
 faw his funds tripled by this deliberation. 
 The fame operation was given out in 
 1720, but it had no other efFed than to 
 augment to 103,500/. fieri. (2.380,500 
 livres) its dead and quick- flock, which 
 then before the call, flood rated by it at 
 94,500/. fieri. (2.173,500 livres.) 
 
 So early as 1690, the Company l)e- 
 ing defirous of fecuring its property by 
 flrengthening its title, had applied to Par- 
 liament for confirmation of its charter, 
 
 H 4 which, 
 
152 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 ■which, far from granting it, fet the term 
 of its continuance for no more than feven 
 years. It has neverthelefs, fincc the expi- 
 ration of it, enjoyed hitherto a trade, the 
 ^dminiftration and miftery of which hav- 
 ing been always concentered within the 
 frriall number of ninety proprietors, inte- 
 refted to conceal their profits, has not 
 excited the vigilance, and jealoufy of the 
 Nation. However, upon a new demand 
 formed by this Company for the confirma- 
 tion of its charter, the Parliament having 
 been pleafed to take cognizance of its 
 management in the ufe of it, it was found 
 proved by fads, and papers which the 
 Company itfelf furnifhed, that it had em- 
 ployed none of the proper methods for 
 extending its connexions with the Indians, 
 that it had fettled no colonies in the in- 
 land parts of the Country where the cli- 
 mate is favorable : that content with deal- 
 ing for a fmall quantity of ikins, and furrs, 
 which kept them up at a high price in 
 England, it had baulked and difgufted 
 the Indians from bringing them to marker, 
 either by offering them too low a price, 
 or by the diftance of its fettlements. It 
 was found that it had facilitated the efta- 
 blifhment, and commerce of the French 
 in their neighbouring pofls : that the pre- 
 tended 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 153 
 
 tended forts it had built are good at moft 
 againft the Indians, and of no fort of de- 
 fence againft any other enemies : that, in 
 Ihort, through an odious unfaithfulnefs, ic 
 had led the Nation into error, by itfelf 
 decrying a trade, and country, valuable 
 for the advantages of its climate and pro- 
 dudlions : advantages.it has preferred the 
 fuflfering to pafs to our enemies, to the 
 making the moft of them, in the fear oF 
 being obliged to (hare them with the Na- 
 tion, fhould they come to be known. 
 Such is the cxa6l hiftory of the origin, 
 adminiftration, and progrefTes of the Hud- 
 fon's Bay Company. 
 
 The African Company. 
 
 The different fuccefTes of the Jfricayt 
 Company prove to us, that a Company may 
 not fupport itfelf but at the expence of 
 the general intereft of commerce, and that 
 a Company cannot carry on trade upon 
 terms fo advantageous for the State, and 
 for kfelf, as merchants trading freely. 
 
 So long as exclufive Companies were in 
 polTeflion of the African trade, the greateft 
 bufinefs they annually did, did not exceed 
 five or i\x thoufand negroes. Since the 
 year 1697, that the Parliament thought 
 
 H 5 proper 
 
154 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 proper to lay the trade open to all, whilH: 
 however it dill permitted the exiftence o[ 
 the African Company to continue, the 
 extract of Negroes has, in certain years, 
 exceeded thirty thoufand. It is plain that 
 this difference mud have been a fenfible 
 advantage to our colonies, which other wife 
 the fcarcity, and dearth of Negroes would 
 infallibly have , ruined. 
 
 But what has been the fuccefs of this 
 Company, fincc all the fubjeds of Great- 
 Britain have had liberty to fliare with it 
 the African trade? Why, notwithltanding 
 the aids the Nation has granted to it, in 
 different times, to maintain and preferve 
 the forts and caftles it poflefled in thofe 
 countries, all was not ftill fufficient to de- 
 fray the charge of its former invafions of 
 the liberty of Commerce, at the expence 
 of which it carried on its own : whilft we 
 have feen at the fame time, merchants in 
 different ports in England, amongft other 
 thofe of Liverpool and Briftol, carry on 
 their traffic to the greateft advantages, 
 upon the coafts, in which they had no 
 forts to protedl them. 
 
 In fhort, the Company having been 
 
 forced to own, that it could not hold up 
 
 ^gainft their competition j the Nation came 
 
 1 * tQ 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 155 
 
 to a right underftanding of its true in- 
 tereft being to diflblve tiiat Royal Com- 
 pany, * with a referve to provide, as it 
 has fince done, for its reimburfement and 
 indemnification, and at the fame time to 
 open the African trade to all the fubjedls 
 of Great Britain, fubordinately to certain 
 regulations, and under the name of a 
 Company, in which every one might hold 
 feparatc Itocks, and to which it allows 
 10,000/. a year (230,000 livres) for the 
 maintenance of the fortifications ceded to it 
 by the old Company, the whole to take cf- 
 fedl and date from the loth of April 1752. 
 
 The East-India Company. 
 
 The Eajl- India Csmpany is one of the 
 moft glaring monuments of the abufe of 
 the Royal Prerogative, which proves, at 
 the fame time, how hard it is to deftroy a 
 monopoly once eftablifhed, and how great 
 a flrength it is able to gather, againft the 
 intereft, and even againft the bent of the 
 nation. 
 
 This Company founded by Queen Eli- 
 zabeth, and confirmed by James I. and 
 Charles II. began, in 1600, to enjoy the 
 exclufive right of trading to all the eaftern 
 
 H 6 countries, 
 
 • By an A<^ of the 23d year of George II. 
 
J 
 
 156 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 countries, with its firft original ftock of 
 369,891/. fieri. (8.507,493 livres) which 
 its profits fince carried up to 1.700,000/. 
 (or 39.ioo*,ooo livres.) 
 
 In 1698, the whole Nation having cla- 
 mored againft this monopoly, the minifter 
 then in want of money, took the advantage 
 of thefe circumftances, to have an ad of 
 Parliament paffed, which opened the trade 
 to every fubfcriber, or proprietor of a new 
 Company, which lent the Government two 
 millions at eight per Cent, and however 
 fo conftituted, that every proprietor fhould 
 be free to trade with his own feparate 
 ftock. The new Company in lefs than 
 two years, fent to India forty fhips, and 
 a million fterling in fpecie, that is to fay, 
 the double of what the old Company had 
 done, in its moft florilhing times : but as 
 this old one, to which had been left the 
 liberty of continuing its trade till the 
 year 1701. had had the prudence to under- 
 write great fums in the new Company, 
 and had preferved the principal fettlements 
 and forts on the coafts of India, it forced 
 the new proprietors to unite with it, 
 which in 1702 formed a new, fingle Com- 
 piny, under the authority of a Charter 
 from Queen Anne, which was abfolutely 
 of the fame tenor as that of the old 
 
 Company, 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 157 
 
 Company, who thereby rcpoffcfled it fclf 
 of the fame exelufive rights, and privi- 
 leges, with a greater domifnion and power 
 than before. Several fums fince lent to 
 the government by the Company, has 
 made it find fo much favor in its eyes, as 
 to have obtained for it the prolongation 
 of its exelufive privilege, untill it's reim- 
 burfement /"not before the year 1780) and 
 the continuation of its union for ever. 
 
 The power, and fuccefles of this Com- 
 pany, neither dazzle nor impofe on any 
 one in its favor : the riches of it, it is 
 true, are acquired to the State, but they 
 are unjuftly diftributed amongft the mem- 
 bers of the Common- wealth, of whom fome 
 enjoy them, whilft the reft are excluded. 
 By what right is it, or how could it be 
 imagined right, to appropriate to one 
 Company all Afia, and a part of Africa ? 
 What difcoveries, what new advantages 
 has not Trade loft by this exclufion ? The 
 Company itfelf finds the field of it toa 
 vaft for it, fmce it grants, under condition 
 of certain retributions, permiflions of trade 
 to private- ftock Ihips : that is to fay, it 
 farms out, or fells to its fellow fubjeds the 
 natural right of trading, of which it has 
 ft ripped them. Is not this at leaft owning, 
 that fo great a commerce cannot be exer- 
 t- . cifed. 
 
15$ Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 cifed, or carried on through the whole 
 extent of it, but by a Company, in which 
 every one may be admitted to a freedom 
 of trade ? Things would then abfolutely 
 return into order, if the command, and 
 maintenance of the Forts judged ncceflary, 
 were put into the hands of the Nation, 
 who would thereby take the trade under 
 its immediate protec^lion : and men of war 
 might, in fuch cafe, be preferably em- 
 ployed in the defc:nce of it. Does not the 
 Company itfelf do very well without forts 
 on the coafts of China ? Forts, troops in 
 the pay of the Company, have more than 
 one dangerous confequence. A Company 
 of traders, ading as if they had their ihops 
 on their backs, are quite out of character, 
 and afFed: with a very ill grace, a martial 
 fpifit. It is at the fame time to be feared, 
 that their management fhould encourage 
 nations to inftrucSt then)felves in the mili- 
 tary art: nations induftrious, numerous,, 
 and whofe intereft it is to give law to us 
 in Trade. 
 
 If it fliall be pretended, that the Com- 
 pany, from perfonal intereft, will better 
 defend its own fettlements, againft an 
 enemy, than troops in the national pay : 
 if it (hall be alledged, that diflenfions and 
 quarrels are td be teared between the chiefs 
 
 appointed 
 
of Great BaiTAiN^ &c. 159 
 
 appointed by the Company, and the Com-* 
 manders ot the troops, or even abufcs, 
 ind vexations on the part of the MiHtary •, 
 the fiege of Madrafs-f", and the ad mini-* . 
 (Iration of the Company form, upon all 
 thtfe points, violent prejudices againft if, 
 and its pretentions. 
 
 i will not defcend here into the odioui 
 allegations one may hear repeated againft 
 the integrity of Directors of Companiesi in 
 their adminiftration : I Ihall content niy 
 felf with obferving, that many able mer* 
 chants, who have been Diredors of Com- 
 panies, after having quitted them, as well 
 as bnfinefs, have thought it their duty to 
 bear witnefs to the truth, in their public 
 difcourfes, and writings, that Diredlions 
 were not more favorable to the private in- 
 tereft of the proprietors, than the Com- 
 panies themftlves are to the general intereft 
 of the Nation. ... 
 
 One fingle ftroke will ferve to form a 
 judgment from it on the fpirit of fuch a 
 Company, and on what the Nation may 
 
 expedt 
 
 1 -. . . * 
 
 f Or Fort St. George, taken by the French in 
 the late war ; upon which it was faid by a Nabob 
 of that country, that if he had inttuiled a place of 
 his to dancing girls, and they had given no better 
 account of it than the Englifh had done of that, 
 he would have ilruck their heads off. 
 
160 Advantages and Dlfadvantages [ 
 
 expc6l from it. In 1670, it fent to India 
 a colony of dyers, throwfters, and weavers, 
 to perre(5l the indian manufadtures, and 
 adapt them to the englifli tafle : and it is 
 to them that India owes, in a great mea- 
 fure, the great vogue, and footing, which 
 their fluffs have got in England, and to 
 which all the prohibitions of them have 
 not been able to put an effedlual (top. 
 
 I (hall conclude this article by a pre- 
 di<5lion, of which I dare fay, the truth will 
 make itfelf fenfible before the clofe of this 
 century. 
 
 The commerce of India, confiding, as 
 it does, of a barter of filver, and Tome 
 European manufadures, for confumable 
 articles of luxury, and for crude materials 
 which Europe and our own plantations 
 might furnifh us •, every European Nation 
 who has adventured to India, has already 
 felt, that its true interefts confifts in con- 
 fuming the leaft quantity poflible of its 
 produds, and to fell to others wherewith 
 to double at leaft the money carried out 
 thither ; that is to fay, every nation has 
 been willing to throw off from itfelf upon 
 another, the lofs from a commerce intrin- 
 fically ruinous : but as faft as all nations 
 acquire a clear notion of this principle, 
 they will be for carrying on a dircft trade 
 
 . . with 
 
of Great Britain, &c. i6i 
 
 with India. The Eafl then becoming open 
 to all Nations, the Dutch will lofe, cither 
 bjr force, or by new difcoveries in Afia, 
 and even in America, their monopoly of 
 the pepper and fpice-trade. The Manu- 
 liduKS of India will be no longer, a want, 
 for Europe. Several nations have already 
 prohibited them. Others have imitated 
 them at home. Thus the trade divided and 
 reduced, will go on dwindling to nothing, 
 and the profits will not be fufficient to de- 
 fray the Company's charges in their fettle- 
 ments, which too will become of no ufe. 
 
 South-Sea Company. ^ 
 
 Whoever fhall read the hiftory of the 
 Soutb'Sea Company^ will be puzzled to find 
 in it any chara(5ler of a trading Company, 
 or any affinity between its operations, and 
 the intention, or at leaft the pretext of its 
 inftitution in 1 710. • • 
 
 The exclufive privilege of its trade com- 
 prehended all the Eaffern and Southern 
 coaft of America, from the river Oroonoko, 
 and all its weftern-coafts from one pole to 
 the other. It was alfo to extend to its 
 procuring the greateft encouragement to 
 the Britilh-Fifhery. 
 
 Hitherto, we know of no new difco- 
 very, or any confiderable fcttlcnnent, for 
 
 which 
 
1 52 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 which the Nation is beholden to this Com- 
 pany. The trade of it to America has 
 been confined to the fupplying the fpanilh 
 colonies with negroes, and to the cargo 
 of a fhip of permiflion, agreed on by a 
 treaty of Afliento, which was interrupted 
 by the war of 1 740, four years before the 
 term of expiration : a treaty difadvan- 
 tageous to the Nation, inafmuch as it 
 cftablifhed a monopoly, to the prejudice of 
 our American colonies, and of which the 
 conditions || did not afford great profits to 
 the Company that had carried it into 
 execution. 
 
 The whale-fiibery is the only one it has 
 attempted, and even in that it has had but 
 an, indifferent fiiccefs. 
 
 But in lieu of commercial undertakingg, 
 one finds on its regiflers, bank-operations, 
 ftock jobbing, loans to the government, 
 which at one time flood debtor to it for 
 thirty-four millions fterling (782 millionj 
 of livres.) The prqjedt formed by it in 
 1719, to reimburfe the debts of the na- 
 tion, will render it for ever iamous, for 
 the calamities and exemplary changes of 
 
 - fortune 
 
 —III. .1 II I - 
 
 * Amongft others, the cuftom of 33I piaftres, 
 payable by the Company to the King of Spain, for 
 every negroe pie^a d'India it (hould furniih to the 
 Spaniards. 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 163 
 
 fortune which the proprietors and Dircdlors 
 underwent in 1720. 
 
 So that whether this Company is to be 
 fet down as a trading Company, or a refort 
 of the Revenue, it is certain, that rt has 
 not anfwered either of thofe tnds -, fince 
 the trade and fifheries have derived no en- 
 creafe from it, and the national debts have, 
 from the time of its inftitution to this day, 
 augmented to above forty millions more 
 than they were. : -/' ' ' 
 
 the Levant or Turky Company* 
 
 The Levant or *Turky Company, is an 
 antient eftablidiment of thofe times, which 
 may well be called barbarous ones, with 
 refped to Trade: times when minifters, 
 or favorites in power, and even kings 
 themfelves, made an odious traffic of the 
 natural rights of fubjeds, of which rights 
 and privileges they dripped one part, to 
 fell them to the avidity of another part. 
 There is no naming any branch of com- 
 merce then known, either of the abroad, 
 or home trade, nor perhaps any merchan- 
 dize, even of the moft neceffary articles 
 for life, which have not been the objeft 
 of exclufive Companies, of licences, pa- 
 tents, general and particular privileges, and 
 other monopolies, always ufhered in under 
 
 the 
 
164 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 the fpecious pretext of the Public-Good, 
 and always its greatefl enemies. 
 
 Letters-patent of the third year of 
 James I. (1606) confirmed by Charles II. 
 grant the exclufive privilege of trade, in 
 the Levant-feas, to a Company, in which 
 were not to be admitted any other fub- 
 jeds, but members of fome trading cor- 
 poration, citizens of London, if refidents 
 within twenty miles of London, on pay- 
 ment to the Company of 25/. fterling 
 (575 iJvrcs; by fuch as fhould bs under 
 twenty-fix years of age, and 50/. fterling 
 by fuch as fhould be above that age, with 
 liberty to employ each their ftock fepa- 
 rately in that trade, but fubordinately to 
 thofe particular regulations which the Go* 
 vernors, and chiefs of the Diredlion of the 
 faid Company, prefent in a general af- 
 fcmbly of its members, fhould enad by a 
 majority of votes, for the advantage of the 
 Company, and of Trade in general. 
 
 London was naturally pitched upon for 
 the refidence of this Company, which fet- 
 tled its Diredion in it. That port was 
 the rendezvous of the fhips employed in 
 th^t trade, and their number in procefs of 
 time was limited ; the members of the 
 Company had no longer the liberty to fend 
 out their ihips feparately ; by this means 
 
 that 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 165 
 
 that Diredion has at length accomplilhed 
 the putting London folely into pofleflion 
 of the navigation and trade of that Com- 
 pany : and it has taken care to prolong 
 hitherto the enjoyment of its ufurpations *, 
 not indeed without fome difturbance, but 
 by ever fuccefsfully ftifling the complaints 
 which the manufadlories of the Kingdom, 
 and even fome of its own members have 
 carried before the Parliament, againft the 
 oppreffion and tiranny of the leading-men 
 in the Diredion : but even in the Par- 
 liament itfeif, it did not want for inte- 
 refted votes to defend it. Befides, a pri- 
 vate perfon is always fo cautious, and 
 fearful of attacking a Company, and fuc- 
 ceeds fo rarely ! 
 
 Yet, how could there be any diffembling 
 to one-felf the pernicious confequences 
 which muft have refulted from a fiftem 
 which has concentered in London the whole 
 trade of the Levant ? 
 
 I ft, Theexclufion of the manufaftures 
 of England too remote from London, vir- 
 tually effedled by the advantage which the 
 nearer ones have over them, either from 
 the lefs charges of carriage, or the greater 
 
 facility 
 
 * The very recent alterations, with refpe(El to this 
 Company, will be oblerved in a note hereafter. 
 
i€6 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 facility of accommodating themfelvcs to 
 certain difpofitions not publiflied, befpoke, 
 or forefeen in time by the Company. 
 
 2dly, The hard laws which the Com- 
 pany could arbitrarily impofe on the ma- 
 nufactures it preferred to others, both and 
 all of which have complained the one as 
 loudly as the other. 
 
 ^dly. The greater charges of carriage 
 to London, for thofe manufadlures, which 
 have nearer ports : thofe alfo of Commif- 
 fion, Fadorfliip, Warehoufe-room, which 
 fome towns might have fpared to tlie 
 dealer, the expcnces in fhort of Ihipping 
 ;uid port-charges, much greater at London 
 than elfewhere. 
 
 4thly, The fame difadvantages for our 
 manufactures, in receiving by the fame 
 way, the filk, goats- hair, and other ma- 
 terials from the Levant, which they em- 
 ploy, or confume. Manchefter, Derby, 
 Norwich, Coventry, have reafon to com- 
 plain of the fort of monopoly, or pre- 
 ference which the manufadures of London 
 enjoy, by this means, to their prejudice. 
 It is in a manner forcing them to make 
 their filk, hair fluffs, mohairs, as dear as 
 thofe of London itfelf, the place in Eng- 
 land where work is the deareft. 
 
 The 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 167 
 
 The public, or fecret circumftances of 
 the condudt of that Company have left no 
 doubts to the Nation, of the fpirit that 
 has animated it. It is well known with 
 what ardor it foIKcitcd the adb of parlia- 
 ment which prohioited the importation of 
 filks from Italy. In 1740, we faw the 
 elForts it oppofed to the ellablifiiment of 
 a dired: commerce between the englifh 
 merchants of Ruflla, and Perfia, by the 
 Cafpian fea ; proofs thefe fufficient of its 
 ambition and jealoufy. 
 
 But the regiftcrs of its deliberations, 
 and particular regulations, and by-laws, 
 fubmitted to inrpe<ftion, would lay open, 
 in a greater detail, all the pra<5lices which 
 private intereft could invent againft the 
 Public-Good. One might fee all the re- 
 llraints laid on this trade, fuch as the firft 
 limitation of the number of its fhips, 
 upon which alone it was permitted to 
 lade one's merchandize : fuch too as fet- 
 ting the time of their departure : limita- 
 tion of quantity : alfo reftraints on the 
 ime of making their inveftments or pur- 
 chafes in England : on the conditions, 
 )rice, and time of fale in the Levant : 
 (tftraints, in fine, which fubjedt to a 
 :uftom, or rather a mukt of twenty per 
 ent. thole commodities which Ihould be 
 
 difpofcd 
 
i6S Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 difpofed of, contrary to the intention of 
 thofe laws : reftraints again of the like na- 
 ture» continued in England upon the fale" 
 of the commodities brought in return. 
 
 . On the firft view of thefe different re- 
 gulations, we fhould clearly difcern two 
 principles which have didtated almoft all 
 of them : the one, tending to confine 
 within the fmalleft number pofTible ofj 
 members, the profits of the Company^ 
 Now^* in a trade fubjeded to fo many! 
 reftraints, the richeft members, who aU 
 ways take the lead in the diredlion, fooner 
 or later compafs the difcouragement, on 
 exclufion ot the weaker ones. The timi 
 of buying and felling cannot be the fame 
 for a merchant who has a great capital^ 
 and for him who deals upon credit. Tiicl 
 other principle is confequential to the firltj 
 and tends to encreafe the profits of thJ 
 Company by the very means which conJ 
 tradl the trade to a narrower bottom. I 
 fhall cite for one example, the refolurion ii 
 took in 171 8, to delay for ten months the 
 departure of its fhips for Turky ; a delay 
 which it fince prolonged, from time to 
 time, and of which it openly, and pub 
 lickly declared the intention and motive 
 *' To be of raifing the price of engliO 
 *•' manufaftures in Turky, and that of llH 
 
 "i[ 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 169 
 
 «.< in England." It is thus that the Dutch 
 by a like policy, but a policy though 
 with which their country cannot reproach 
 them, burn, at times, or throw into the 
 fca, great quantities of pepper, fpice, corn, 
 to keep up the price of them. Thus the 
 fpirit of monopoly is ever a deftrudivc 
 one. For to ftop the exportation of the 
 woollens, what is it better, in effed, than 
 to burn the looms of the manufadures, 
 and at the fame time to wreft out of the 
 workmen's hands their means of fub- 
 fiftence ? Such is neverthelefs, and almoft 
 neceflarily, the fpirit of a Company : It 
 will prefer a gain of ten per cent, upon a 
 thoufand ton of exports, to five per cent. 
 upon two thoufand tons, which- it might 
 export. On the contrary, in a free trade, 
 competition neceflarily forces the merchants 
 to be fatisficd with moderate gains : their 
 only way to encreafe their profits, being 
 to multiply their exports. I aflc here, 
 which of thele two fyftems is the moil 
 profitable to the State ? 
 
 I'he advocates for the adminift ration of 
 the Company alledge, that it is neceflary to 
 fet juft bounds to exportation : that if once 
 the foreign markets are fuft'ercd to get 
 glutted With our commodities, the mer- 
 chants, and trade itfclf are ruined. : ' 
 
 I ' I an* 
 
•. 170 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 f' I anfwer, that the over-abundance cf 
 merchandizes in a place has lefs extraor- 
 dinary, and lefs fatal eflfeas. If the quan- 
 lity, for example, is double the confump. 
 tion of the year, in fuch cafe the mer- 1 
 chants wait fometimes before they fell, or 
 fell at a lefs price for riddance fake : the 
 confumption then will perhaps encreafe 
 by this' diminution of the price, and on 
 this occafion, the trade in general will 
 gain, though the merchants may not, and 
 that even fome of them may be ruined. 
 In the mean time, the trading towns, on 
 advice of this- over-abundance, diminilh 
 their confignments, and in a fhortcr, or 
 longer fpace of time, the equilibrium gets 
 
 reftored. 
 
 Befides, I would put the queftion to any 
 
 difintcrefted perfon, whether for the time 
 
 that this over-abundance caufes our ma 
 
 nufadures to languifh, thofe of the Fo 
 
 reigner do not feel the fame eflfeds fron 
 
 it, though the caufe docs not come fron 
 
 him: or whether, when the Forcigne 
 
 Ihall himfelf occafion this over abundana 
 
 our exports will not, though direded b 
 
 a Company, fuffer a momentary dimini 
 
 tion. Are not all our dealings in trad 
 
 . with Spain, Portugal, Holland, and eve 
 
 with our own colonies, liable to the 
 
 vie 
 
of Great Britain, &c. lyi 
 
 viciflitudes ? and will any one, under this 
 pretext, propofe the fubjedling them anew 
 :o the conf raints from wj;iich they have 
 been happily freed. 
 
 But France, it will be faid, France which 
 has got over to itfelf the greateft part of 
 this trade, fets bounds itfelf to its exports, 
 and the privileges granted to the town of 
 Marfeilks, have given to this town, and 
 to the fouthern manufaflures, an exclufivc 
 privilege of trading to the Levant. 
 
 To this I anfwer : Firft, that notwirh- 
 ftanding the authority of Gee, one ought 
 not, without great precaution, to take 
 France for a model in matter of trade, 
 fpecially where the liberties of it are con- 
 cern: d. 
 
 2dly, That, in France, as elfewhere, k 
 is an eternal truth, that to regulate expor- 
 tations, is the way to cramp them, and 
 confequently to lefTen them : that if Mar- 
 feilles does, in fad, enjoy an exclufivc pri- 
 nlege of trade to the ^vant, France 
 las, like England, deprived itfelf of 
 hofe bilinches of trade which the other 
 ms, and manufactories of the kingdom, 
 night have procured for themfelvcs in the 
 jcvant. - . ^ ' ' ' 
 
 But an irrefragable anfwer, and the true 
 ►ne, is, that France owes its fuperiority to 
 
 I 2 us 
 
 r» 
 
* ff 
 
 172 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 us in the Levant, only, and merely to the 
 fiiperiority of its cloth over ours : tor the 
 bed cloths artf thofe which fuit tiie befc 
 thofe countries in which they are con^ 
 funied -, and the French have taken care 
 to model, and adapt their manufadurcs 
 to the tafte of the people of the Le- 
 vant. 
 
 In that is the whole gift of the fecre 
 of the trade : as the infallible method 
 obtaining the preference over all competi 
 tors in any commerce, is that of workinj 
 beft, and cheapeft : a method, I averr 
 more certain than that of a monopoly 
 and withall exempt from the odious con 
 fequences of one : a principle this, whicl 
 is at once of a felf- evident truth, and 
 guide equally fure for the Statefman in hi 
 adminiftration, and for the private mer 
 chant in hisdealings. _ 
 
 The fummary, eftimate I fhall fubjoir 
 may give an idea of the importance ( 
 this trade, and of the diminution it k 
 fuffered from year to year, doubtkfs caufc 
 by our bad* policy, of which our riva 
 have taken care to make their advai 
 
 tage. \ ' 1 
 
 Between the years 1720 and 1740, n 
 
 amount of our yearly exports to Turk 
 
 in cloths, and other merchandize, w 
 
 coniput< 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 173 
 
 computed at iSo,ooo/. fieri. (4.140,000 
 livres) one year with another : The im- 
 portations for the fame time, and almoft: 
 the whole, in materials for our manufac- 
 tures, were cftimated at 236,470/. fterling 
 a year (5.438,810 livres.) 
 
 
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 000 o p o 
 
 ^J \^ W 4^ W 4^ 
 
 o <^ rv o '«^ ON 
 
 *^ *^ t^ t-s. t^ t^ 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 OS 
 
 o 
 
 V^VNJVVV 
 
 CO ^ vo o^ 
 ^ O r>» r>. <?o 
 
 CO 
 I 
 
 
 •r' 
 
 g-tJ 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
 €o CO eo c/^ 
 
 CO Ti- CO ^ 
 x^ t>^ r^ t^ 
 
 •-. •^ »^ i-i 
 
 o o O o 
 
 ^ «J <M ^ 
 "^ 0> tJ* Q^ 
 CO <^ «^ CO 
 
 t>x r^ t>* ^^ 
 
 U^ M 
 
 ^ o 
 
 O 
 
 c 
 o 
 
 ►J 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 I 
 
 It was 
 
 y4 ••' 
 
174 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 It was doubtlefs then without any foun- 
 dation that the Company hoped, or made 
 England hope, that it would render us 
 mafters of the trade to the Levant, by the 
 help of its adminiflration, its prefents*, 
 and its pradices : vain, unprofitable lerf 
 vices, with which the Nation might well I 
 have difpen(ed. The National Minifl:ers,i 
 and Confuls, could protec^t: the trade, by' 
 the ufual means in thofe countries: and! 
 the National power was able to command] 
 the f efpe6t due to it : and as to the Englilh 
 merchants, it was their part to deferve a 
 preference over other nations, by the ad-j 
 vantages the Turks fhould find in thelrl 
 dealings with them. But that is what theyj 
 will never attain to ; if they have not left 
 to them the liberty and choice of their 
 ports, and fhips, of the time and condi- 
 tions of the pUfchafe and Idle of their 
 goods, as well exported, as imported ir 
 return : and thofe regulations which maj 
 be needful! for the Good of the trade] 
 "Will be. always fufpedlable and dangerous] 
 when they are not of the framing of 
 
 Cojnj 
 
 P'W . . ♦^•j c» 
 
 • By the Company's accompts it appears, thai 
 between 1733 and 1740, its charges and expencesj 
 including the prefeats, at ContUntinople, Aleppoj 
 and Smyrna, have amounted yearly to 8000/. im 
 ling. ( I SffOOo lif res.) 
 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 175 
 
 Committee of merchants, at once well- 
 acquainted, and without any byafs of in- 
 tereft, in this trade t» - -' '" 4 ^^ ^ { ■' ' '- 
 
 Conclusion. ♦ 
 
 Thus it is that five exdufive Compa- 
 nies have got themfelves into poflefTion of 
 the three quarters of the known World : 
 
 and 
 
 f The nupierous complaints and petitions of the 
 principal ports« and manufaflures in England, lain 
 before the Parliament, obtained in the lull feffion, 
 the 26th year of George If. an a£l, of which the 
 bill could not pafs the preceding Parliament, which 
 tna^s, amongft other difpofitions, i .._^^ 
 
 That, to reckon from the 24th of June 1724, 
 every fubje£l of Great Britain may, on Jiis petition 
 I prefented to the Governor of that Company, be ad- 
 mitted, paying only 20/. entrance to the faid 
 Company. 
 
 That all members of the Company may export 
 feparately, or in joint (locks, to the Teas of the 
 Levant, all licit merchandizes, in fuch quantity, 
 in fuch time, and difpatched from fuch port of 
 Great Britain, as they fhall think fit. 
 
 That no particular regulation, or by-law of the 
 faid Company, (hall have any force, untill having 
 paifed two general aflemblies, and that all memo 
 bers of the Company, complainants, to the number 
 • of feven, (hall be admitted to appeal to the Com^ 
 miflioners of Trade and Plantations, againft any 
 regulations, or by-laws, they fhall judgtf to b<» 
 contrary to their interefl. 
 
 I4 
 
yy6 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 and. the free trade of England has feen it 
 felf reduced to Europe, and* to the con- 
 fined poflfeffions it has in the three oth^r 
 parts of the Globe. 
 
 As for the reft, the following proof 
 feems deducible from the analyfis, and 
 examination of the origin of the rights, 
 and of the fucceffes of the above Com- 
 panies, 
 
 ift, With refpedl to the abroad-trade, 
 that, if excluflve Companies have been ne- 
 cefTary in time paft, they may ceafe to be 
 fo in other circumftances : and that the 
 cfiffolution of them being once become 
 pofTible, is a certain gain to Trade m 
 
 , 2dly, That in the prefent pomt or time» 
 exclufive Companies are Icfs neccflary than 
 tvcr (if eVef they were fo) to eftablifh 
 new chanix^la of trade, and that they 
 ^rq' hurtfulij.and^TOAPUS, [n thpfe already 
 eftablifhed. .h^5bv ^*fi V 1 i^:?^ "!- 
 ^ 3dly, That evfen, , in the cafe of Com- 
 panies, ternied free^ arid not exclufive 
 ones^, which might be thought ufefuU, the 
 CKolufive ffiirit which reigrls amongft their 
 Governors : and Dire^ors, is fure to in- 
 troduce in the end monopoly, with all its * 
 pcrjaicious^ conlequencts. 
 
 : ■^'- >; , Ji.>ya ' >> 4tnly, 
 
 
•v: ' 1 
 
 of Qreat Pfti-y^iN, &c. 177. 
 
 4thly, That if forts, and troops, are 
 necei^y to prote<5b any eftablifliment of 
 tfade, thofe forts, and troops, like all 
 the reft,, ought to Ipe maintained at the 
 charges, and iUbordinate to the orders of 
 the Nation : agreeable to this principle, 
 that as Trade fpecially belongs to the Na- - 
 lion, fo ought alfo the charges incident 
 
 thereto. //•■;,'• *'»,-'-i»rfir/V-;' i >•■./; i-JiH** '.;,-! •.♦^^ 
 
 5thly, To conclude with fomething at 
 once applicable to the abrogd, as well as 
 to the home-trade : all eftabliihments, or 
 regulations concerning Tr^de, ought to 
 be effayed upon the following principles, 
 as upon fo many touchftones : to wit ; 
 That, in Trade, induftry is the offspring 
 of liberty : That the home and abroad 
 confumption depends on the cheapnefs of 
 the CQinpodity, which cheapnefs is the 
 confequ^nce of corppetition : That con- 
 fumption promotes the employ of indi- 
 vidual, and the encreafe of People, fgle 
 aftivc apd cres^tive principles in a State. 
 
 --{-^^■"i r-'i;::r/) I 5 ■■,;:■:;■; ,.. M.Som 
 
 .V-^MjItV 
 
-xyS Advantages and Difadvantagcs 
 
 y. Some Refiexions upon Population ; 
 
 Zhe EmPLOYMENH of IriDIVlDUALS ; 
 
 vtife Poor 5 Marriages; and Natu- 
 
 aiAllZATION/^ lv:.n^,3'Ui,i. i^^-" t r{ 
 
 
 IT is in proportion to the number of 
 men which a State poflefles, that it 
 can be efteemed powerfull. It is in pro- 
 portion to the number of its men, that its 
 fends can be better cultivated : that the 
 hands employed in its •manufa6hires, and 
 t!ie arms'^which defend it, are more nume- 
 rous 'y that the taxes and charges bear the 
 lighter upon every one. ■■'■■'^ of ^.»•:*^ff - 
 But how narrow, how confined is the 
 tnind of man 1 Thofe men to whom, un- 
 der the fupreme direcftion of a Providence 
 which embraces the whole Univerfe, the- 
 tare of earthly concerns is entrufted, fcarce 
 underftand which^is that form of Society, 
 wider which it would be moft advan- 
 tageous for them to live ; which is the 
 moft favorable diftribution of men to that 
 iiftem they have preferred. So many cir- 
 cumftances have contributed to form thefe 
 libcieties, thefe iiftems, that thOfe who have 
 found them eftablifhed, have been tempted 
 to believe them the work of Chance. The 
 
 greatef; 
 
r of Great Britain, &c. i79fj 
 
 grcateft number of men exift without.^ 
 perceiving the caufes of their exiftence, 
 and are the eff^ft of them, without know*? 
 ing that they are fo. Then again, thefe 
 caufes are fo complicated ! ajid befides 
 the intercft of knowing them touches fp: 
 few minds! :Yet, there is in every fiftem» 
 of government j. fome certdn proportioaj 
 more fa>^oi'able than another, of the ufe to> 
 be made of the earth, water, and pro-, 
 du6ls forced therefrom by human induftry ; 
 of the local diftribution of men, through, 
 countries, boroughs,- villages, and towns i. 
 of the, diftribution of the ditferent erT>-v 
 ploys in Society amongft thefe men; of 
 the diftribution of the labors in each clafs, 
 and of the produce of thofe labors, wealth, 
 or. eafy circumftances. But this pr.opor- 
 tion, fuppofe it in -adtuall exiftence, is 
 liable to fo many violent changes, as fa- 
 mine, plagues, wars, to fo many imper- 
 ceptible ones, as alterations in tr^de, luxury, 
 manners ! To fo many variations which its 
 relations to other States may .occafion j 
 and to fo many others, which may be the 
 work of Laws, that men often make with,- 
 out forefeeing their confequences ! 
 ^ Yet is it not indifferent for men to 
 conceive, or obtain clear notions of thi^ 
 ibcial CEConomy, of its proportions, change^ 
 :-j::1o-| 16 . ^ and 
 
j;? O Advantages and Difad vaAttges 
 
 flftkl thetr tonfequeitces. It is on the pcr- 
 fed relation of thefe caufcs to onp another 
 that depends the exiftencc of that fifteni 
 Under which th^y liv?. Thcmfeives are 
 fubjedl^ for their own prefcrvation, to the 
 ^ion of t^iofe fprings, whi^h themfehes 
 fe't, or keep going, without being able 
 to cakruliaijc fureJy their effe<5bs* A fingle 
 6ne of thefe fprings deftroyed, or weaken- 
 ed, extends fom^times its.diforders even 
 to the fpurces of life : and thefe haughty 
 Creatures, who imagine themfclves the final 
 caufe of all earthly things, perifli by their 
 own works, and with them. :^ / : ) t ^ : - ' ? • 
 I fcave to ih6 vaft fpeculatiohs of le- 
 giflative geniufes, to imagine the moft 
 favorable fiftems to population ; to critic 
 hiftorians the fearch- into what may have 
 feeen that of antii^nt empires -, to Politi- 
 cians the ftudy of what may be that of the 
 States with whom they are in any relation, 
 ©r of what th^y have to fear from it : I 
 ^all reftri6t myfelf to the examination of 
 tiie means of arriving at a circumftantial 
 knowledge of the population of England, 
 ?nd of making a profitable ufe of that 
 knowledge, which^ all fimple as it fecms, 
 is doubtlefs highly interefting. For Popu- 
 lation is the certain criterion b^ which we 
 ate taught the ftate of health of the Body- 
 irr. -1 politic: 
 
of Q&EAir B&ITAIK» &C. ,181 
 
 politic: that poiat of time in which it is 
 moil florifhing ; ought certainly , to {}& et* 
 fteemed that point pf time in y^hicH, un- 
 der all good governments, ^he ftrength oJF 
 the State is at the higheft. Praifes are^ 
 in Society, given to him who bufies hinv^ - 
 ^If in the ftucjy of the means to muUipfy 
 ^hofe comparatively vile, and ulefi^ll ani- 
 mals, which man cOmpells to ferve his, 
 Bies. : and how much more laudable ought 
 \i to appear, to meditate, and contribute \ 
 to the multiplication of the human fpe(?ies^ 
 of Man, that nobfeft of Beings in his pwn 
 eyes, of all thofe which breathe on the face 
 of the earth ||^;(:^!. - - / J vj v \o ' 
 
 ■' ^-' "-;•-',/.'-•.•■• The, 
 
 I ■ i ■ i«' II ■ I ' ' ■■ . • 1 III ' I , .1 ^. 
 
 , I Claudius QuvUetf a ii:encli poet, in hi$ dedica- 
 tion to the Cardinal Mazarin of his latin poein» 
 entitled Callipaedia, or, the Manner of gettf'ng bean' 
 tlfuU children, fays wick as moch truth, as graws : :, 
 
 Diu multumque cogitavi, Cardinalis EminentiJJime^ 
 ffudeniifne ammi Jorett hujus poemctis ediiionem fuh 
 Jacri tui nominii »u/picio moliri : ah hoc frofofito mi 
 dsterrehat tenerioris^ ' ec abunde grafvis, ut multi ex 
 prima /route cenfebnf /, ar^umenii conditio . ', . .\^'' \' 
 
 Sic dinjini Maro .it oJ>us Georgicon . .' . . . U. C» 
 Mecanati totius Imperii Romani, ipjiu/qtii Augujli Im-^ . 
 per a tori s adminiftro in/criptum quondam fuit .... 
 
 Enimn/ero quis /egetes etiam latas, latis thalamii i 
 ulmis adjun^as njitest Jponjis ad pAhhram fohohmt 
 dileSis i boum curam^ habendique pecoris cultum^ ,ip» 
 jiui hominit coahjciutitt nafcentis, (sf adolefcentit 
 
 " '" ' '■'■'' ■ ' i' ' -y ■ fujr^ ■ 
 
 • • • - » \* t . , J> 12 
 
t82 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 '*^^ ^e m6aris of obtaining an ufefullknow- 
 legc of the ftate of .population, are redu- 
 cible to the furvey of the land, and a 
 fecenfion of the inhabitants. It is in the 
 order of things to begin by the Land- 
 furvey : becaufe Man is more fubordinate 
 to the earth, for his means of life, and 
 multiplication, than the earth itfelf is to 
 Man for its produce. I do not propofe 
 to myfelf, the giving an exad plan of 
 thefe furveys and recenfions, but Ihall 
 content myfelf with a fymmary indication 
 of their general intentions. - •''' ^u^:,^. » , 
 
 0/ /iS'^ Land-survey, i.^* . 
 
 A country may doubtlefs contain more 
 inhabitants than it can fupport, or employ 
 with the produ6ts of its own growth : 
 but a people that has not within itfelf, at 
 leaft the neceflaries of life, all-powerfull as 
 
 n> 
 
 (Mt/e preponat, ntji mnJui rerum tfiimaUr haheri nen 
 erubejcat? -.?*'".> -»^ .- a., - >>«,:,,,,,,, ,^,,. ,^ 
 
 *:.Hi$ liceat aidere rationem^ quit carmin hoc noftrum 
 Regihus etiam Regnorumque tnoderatoribus /erio com' 
 mendet. ^t*^ ^^ ipforym Imperium, Imperiique 
 moderamen^ non in Jegetes^ aut pec or a ^ fed in ip/os 
 ■homines propria^ ^ conTenienti modo procedat ; quit 
 ■hac nojtra de human^^ pulchraque prolis hahendi ra^ 
 iione preecepta, ad Regnorum decus, roburque condu* 
 cere,, Sw^iQisque etiam legihus tn^ungenda e£s M4( 
 toncedat /*.•••«• 
 
of Great Britain, &?c»'- 18} 
 
 it may othcrwlfe be, holds no tetter tliah 
 a power ill-fecured, and precarious ; wbi<:h 
 time may reduce to its juft value, that i$ 
 to fey, to the value of its lands/^> ^r^rn ^ 
 
 Such a furvey of the land as would an* 
 fwer the good purpofes prefumable from 
 it, fliould be an exad map, ^vhich b^- 
 fides the diftances, riversj canals, (hould 
 contain, ." -— .-^ v, 
 
 I ft. The furface of the land applotted' 
 to towns, villages, boroughs, the number 
 of their houfes, and ftages of ere^ion., '^ t^i 
 , adly, The number of farms, and houfes 
 fcattered about the Country, belonging to 
 the cultivation of lands. '"^-^ 
 
 3dly, The number of acres of land be- 
 longing to each town, village, or bo- 
 rough. -^~ ^' :: 'Vp :. .' ; \:- 
 
 4thly, The number of acre&'bf lafi'd, in 
 cultivation, diftinguiihed by their feverai 
 fpecies of produdls. 'jvk ;- . .:^ TCiui:^ 
 
 5thly, The nature and extent of the 
 wafte or uncultivated lands.'-^^'^^^^i^ • >i '"\ 
 
 6thly, A numerical account of the cattle 
 of all forts. '^^^^^' • 
 
 From ail thefe tniths known and cer- 
 tified, compared with the number of in- 
 habitants, the following -conclufions might, 
 with certainty, be deduced, : * «*' * =wii 
 
 Firft^ Which that fpecies is of the pro- 
 
 :^ ^ ■ * ' ■■. du<as 
 
 1 
 
|J4 A^v;yitag^ ^nii.Djfe(jM4i)t^es 
 
 t}u4^$ of the eacthj that cmpipys the moft 
 ground, and the mott men irj the. c;iiltiva* 
 tipn of it i aod, in what proportiop, it may 
 be moft convenient to diftrjbgte pr alloc 
 th? land, to the different fpecics oi pro- 
 i^wcs^ Nor» without due knowledge of 
 tiiecauJfe, would one fpecies be fuff^red to 
 be encreafed, at^ the expence of another. 
 If a fudden augmentation of expprt, or 
 confumpticfn ihould happen to exhauft a 
 fpecies flow, of repairing, as ha^ happened 
 to the woods of England, a calculate, and 
 ^mpf^nfpn of years, would give warning 
 qf the coJ?)meiicement, and progrefles of 
 the evil, time enough to provide a remedy 
 ag^nfl it. 
 
 ^djy, A comparifon might be made of 
 the acres .of ground in adtual cultivation, 
 with the number of farn^s belonging to it, 
 It i^ natural that, according to the dif- 
 ference of their produ6ls, or of their fer- 
 tijity, thefe farms fhauld be at a greater 
 or lefs diftance from one another.: accord- 
 ing to dedu^ions from; this knpwkdge, 
 one might favor the converfion of cona? 
 ii^ons, an4 pafturages, into eacJofed and 
 arable lands : this would at the fame time 
 favor the miiltiplying of farms, which the 
 richer the country, become. every day the 
 l^s^nijmeJcpi^s, in p;:opoi^ioa to thp.exient 
 ^^AlIuX'-'' '.'''■'' ■ •' ' of 
 
> t of Great Britain, &c. 185, 
 
 of the farmed ground, through the land-*: 
 owners laying them together, in order toj 
 diminilh the charges of a more divided htf^T, 
 bandry : infomuch that a thoufand pounds- 
 fterling a year, in bad, or indifferent lands 
 let out to farm, will give fubGftencc to 
 thirty or forty families of laborers, v/hilft 
 iii^ a rich country the fame extent would 
 fcarce employ fix. \ ^t-a <u> » 
 
 3dly, Whereas, in a country of manu- 
 fadures, and commerce, the produ6ls of 
 the earth can never be rnuhiplied, 'but to 
 the greater benefit of confumption, and 
 exportation^ there ought no land to be 
 fuffered to remain uncultivated or in wafte. 
 lEvery Year then, thofe works, which the 
 land requires of men to render it habita-- 
 ble, would be promoted ; fueh as clearing, 
 the ground, navigation of riversj canals^ 
 and road& Should even foreigners, if ne,i 
 ceflai^y, be* called in to aid thofe purpofe3> 
 the Srate would gain by it the new value 
 of the improved lands, and, a new fund of 
 fiibjefe. ,jj •. * 
 
 ..4* Ufefidl animals, efpecially the live 
 ftock of cattle, hoJd> amongft the pro-? 
 duidbions of tdie earth, and relatively to 
 them, a very important rank : the propa?- 
 gation then of them might be encouraged 
 in thofe places, where, it would be mod 
 
 ad van- 
 
i86 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 advantageous. The decreafe of them pro* 
 ceeding from diftempers or other caufes, 
 might be remedied, or prevented by pro- 
 pofing premiums, for the difcovery of fpe- 
 cific remedies, which fhould be made pub- 
 lic by authority: and by granting to the 
 owners of the cattle affliSed with fuch 
 a fcourge, a gratification aflignable on t^e 
 poors-tax. ^ .... r 
 
 0« the Recension of the Ijjhabitants, 
 conftdered with refpe5i to the general 
 population^ and to the local diftrihution 
 of them into Counties, 'Towns, Boroughs, 
 VillagtSy and Parijhes, 
 
 Upon fo important an objeft as this, 
 why 'ontent one felf with conje^ures, with 
 calculates made on fuppolitions, of which 
 the exadnefs depends on (o many circum- 
 (lances, for the moft part ill known, when 
 it is fo eafy to procure yearly an exad 
 (late of the nun>]bers of every living foul 
 in every parifh of England, and even of 
 the three kingdoms, houfe by houfe? 
 Hitherto, confined as we have been to the 
 accounts of births, deaths, and diftempers, 
 what have we been able to know of the 
 general State of the Kingdom ? London 
 itfclf has no pofitive knowledge of the 
 number of its inhabitants : Some carry it 
 ■v^iivij.^- ■ ' ■ ^ .' *_ fo 
 
of Great Britain, &d * 187, 
 
 fo high as a million of fouls ; others only 
 to eight hundred thoufand : others again, 
 with more probability, to fix hundred and 
 ninety-five thoufand, according to the cal- 
 culations of Dr. Short. .,...-.; 
 
 By means of fuch a general recenfion,' 
 how many new points of knowledge would 
 manifeft themfelves to our eyes ? how 
 many errors would vanilh away ? how 
 many truths proved by fads ? how many 
 efFeds, hitherto unknown, would make 
 us trace out the caufcs of them equally 
 new to us ? 
 
 One might afcertain, by comparing 
 with one another, the flates of the mar- 
 riages and births in Towns, Boroughs, and 
 the Country, which of thefe different af- 
 femblages of men is the moft favorable to 
 population, "^*''5' ) t<{h. li ' ^nx^^.fn 1 rif» »fnt 1 
 
 As to London efpecially, the ftate of 
 births and deaths in it (to whicfi is not 
 joined that of the marriages) -f prefents 
 fads to us, of which the confequences 
 ought not but to akrm us, and which well 
 defer ve die mofl particular attendon of the . 
 i.^i liiv <^\n'miKi %ijki ii fii:i$u i^t 'Nation. \^ 
 
 ' ^— — I I , > ■ I I H II I I 
 
 ; f The bills of mortality in London take in 135 
 parifties,' contained within the diftridl of the towns 
 of London, Weftniinller, borough of Southwark, 
 and round about, in the countih ofMiddlefex, and 
 Surrey. 
 
ij88i Adyan^ges and DUadvantages 
 
 N 2om ' For example ; you find that 
 from 1600 to 1750^ the fum; total of 
 deaths has gone on yearly encreafing from 
 6000 to 25,000, and that of births no 
 more than from 6060 to 14,250: fo that 
 in proportion to the encreafe of thc: num- 
 ber of deaths, (thofe by the plague; non- 
 included) the difference between the births 
 and the deaths has , proceeded conftandy 
 encreafing, inforauch, that from 1000 to 
 1010, which in* the beginning of the fe- 
 yentcenth century was the . proportion of 
 the deaths to the births, it has infcnfiblyi 
 ^ome to be from 1000 to 576. 
 
 For this century alone, the difference of 
 the fum total of births, and the fum total 
 of deaths, exceed& 400,000., So that here 
 would, actually be 4O0,0!00, fc^er inhabir 
 tants in Lohdon, if the Country (as ex- 
 perience eternally proves) had not replaced 
 to it:tHis' annual deftruftion, which, in 
 thelfe laft fifteen years, has gone on en- 
 creafing to the amount of ten thoufand 
 one year with another. • 
 
 The rccenfion of the inhabitants, and 
 the ftate of deaths in each place, with the 
 circumfl:ances of age, feafons, diftempers, 
 plagues, famines, would fhow us which is 
 the raoft favorable diftribution to the life, 
 and health of niiaqkipd. '' :- /:'» ?.*^v^ 
 
 ■r'i. 
 
'• of Gr E AT 6ft 1 1 A IN, &Crf v r%%^ 
 
 '•■ 'A- ftate oP the births, • and deaths in the 
 Country, and in the fmall towns of it, 
 would probably tonfisTht the connnonly 
 received opinion, "Which is, that the fom 
 of each of them is pretty near equal, if 
 not even in favor of the bu*ths. ^. iy. i. . li 
 ' A conipat^ifon df-the ^annual rqoenfiohs 
 'of difftrent years wcmld fUrriifh authentic 
 teftimony of the encreafeor -decreafe of 
 the general population. One might alfa 
 defcend into the details of particular po- 
 pulation : one might fee what counties, 
 towns, or parilhes, difpeopled fafteft, or 
 made a contrary progrefs* 'Thefeeffeds 
 being the work of nature, or even of 
 human difpofitions : remedies, might be 
 applied to any diforders of the general 
 political machine, and induftry might fup- 
 plement, or improve natural advantages. 
 
 I take it for granted beforehand, that a 
 comparifon of all thefe enumerations would 
 teach us the following truths, doubtlefs 
 'unpleafing ones, but of which it is of im- 
 portance not to be ignorant. 
 
 I ft, That London, in comparifon with 
 fhe other towns of England, and fome 
 towns, in comparifon with the country, 
 * and with the boroughs and Villages in it, 
 have a fenfible difadvantage, in point of 
 'health, duration of life, number of mar- 
 riages. 
 

 ago Advantages and Pifedyantages 
 
 -riages, poor, and beggars, robberies and 
 .other enormities. < v ■> 
 
 2dly, That London has grown, and 
 continues dill to grow, out of compafs, at 
 the expence of and to the fenfible diminu- 
 tion of the other towns and boroughs, at 
 the expence in ,fliort of the clafs of la- 
 borers: and that fprne capital towns do 
 the like in their refpedlive counties, 
 oit From thence might be concluded, that 
 it has been the efFe6t of the greateft in- 
 confideration, and of the , worft policy 
 imaginable;^^' ^'^^•^'>J'' , .,r.;...,^» ,.■. . ,, .v, 
 * ift. To have concentered at London 
 the trade to the Eafl-Indies, Levant, 
 South-fea, &c. by eflablilhing the refi- 
 dence of thofe trading Companies in the 
 port of London. ; i^ , 
 
 2dly, To favor, or to fufFer in it the 
 eftablifliment of new manufadories. ^ 
 i One might be convinced, that thefe 
 Operations, or fuch other, as ftiould tend 
 to encreafe the growth ot London, or of 
 any other towQ already cqnfiderable, are 
 bad. . -^--K-': '■• ^T- -:.•' -' ■' ' •' 
 
 ift. If but for that alone that they pro- 
 duce this eflfeft, or tend to it. 
 ff 2dly, Becaufe the affluence and multi- 
 tude of men employed in London, in 
 thefe trades, and manufadlories, as dealers,- 
 
 packers, 
 
 
pji of Great Britain, &c. :igi 
 
 packers, porters, factors, workmen bi^ed 
 in it a dearnefs of provifions, and of work, 
 by which thefe trades, thefe manufadtories, 
 t and even agriculture itfelf, fufFer. Now, 
 fo many Poor whom the Public maintains, 
 fo many fuperfluous inhabitants of towns, 
 were they tranfmigrated, or allured by 
 any means whatever into the country, and 
 the uncultivated lands of it, this would 
 produce two great advantages, the difbur- 
 thening the Public, and the places they 
 would leave ; and new riches in the coun- 
 try they would inhabit. \ -■ ■ ': ; 
 
 Thefe conjediures, and the confequences 
 deduciblc from them, appear fo obvious 
 to the eyes but of common-fenfe, that one 
 cannot without furprize obferve Sir G. 
 Petty ferioufly difcufs, which of the two 
 following combinations would be m.oft ad- 
 vantageous to England : that is to fay, to 
 which of the two it would be belt for 
 England to approach the neareft : the one, 
 in which London alone fhould contain 
 4 millions 694 thoufand inhabitants, and 
 the other towns, and villages of England, 
 
 ,, i, , .only 
 
 i.l ':[ :''■}, ^, . »•■, „>■} t 
 
 f Witnefs, amongft others, the manufactory of 
 Chelfea-porcelain. Its wares bear no comparifon 
 with thofe of Saxony, in point of pafte, whitenefs, 
 drawing, or colors, and are neverthelefs at leaft a 
 third dearer. 
 
i f $2 Advaatiiges and Difadvantages 
 
 fonly 2 millions, 710 thoufand atnongfl: 
 
 ithem : the other, according to which Lon- 
 
 . r don fliould not contain above 96 thoufand 
 
 ♦ inhabitants, and the remaining 7 millions 
 
 * « 3^4 thoufand inhabitants to be diftfibuted, 
 
 /" f viz. 104 thoufand into little towns, and 
 
 ^7 millions 2ca thoufand into isoo thou- 
 
 <^iand houfes, having each a lot of 24 acres. 
 
 ^The byafs he.difcovcrs towards the firft 
 
 "Tuppofition, or at leaft the indecifion un- 
 
 X^ct which he leaves the queftion, defervcs 
 
 'doubtlefs the qualification himfelf gives 
 
 to the two fuppofuions,. which he "terms 
 
 ''extravagant. 
 
 *■ 
 
 fOf the Recension of the Inhabitants, 
 fl, mifidered with refpe^ to ike employment 
 m'^^cf them. .;jh/ v" '"-fUkl.... ^. 
 
 ' . Man, either in Society or out of it, 
 ^'can only draw hfe fubfiftence, and his de- 
 /Tence from his labor. In fociety, all ought 
 r to contribute to thofe expences which pro- 
 ^■cure the fafety and happinefs of the com- 
 ^^munity. Thefe charges are paid by every 
 f Che out of the furplufage of what he pol- 
 "^feffes, or of what he has earned by his 
 ; labor, beyond the neceffaries of life. It is 
 *^of importance then to a State, to multiply 
 ;^^the means of eai ploying its fubjedls : but 
 « there ace diSirent degrees of neceffityy and 
 
 • . - ufeful- 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 19^ 
 
 ufefulnefs, amongft thofe employments. 
 Now a recenfion, in which men (liouki be 
 divided into the feveral claffes formed by 
 thofe employments, can alone furnifli the 
 knowledge and ability of making a cer- 
 tain ufe ; and that ufe the beft poffible of 
 the fubjeds comprehended in it. ^ > 
 
 Without entering into a difcuffion of 
 the preferences, and precedences, due, or 
 granted to certain employs in fociety above 
 others, mankind might be generally di-' 
 vided into three clafles. fi* 'n .; n, .^ 
 
 Clafs the firft, containing thofe wJiich 
 properly form the mafs of the State, and 
 iurnifh it with means of fubfillence : fuch 
 as the landed- men, laborers, traders, and 
 manufadurers. . ...■.,.,,; ^k,. 
 
 The fecond, thofe men who receive 
 their -fubfiftence from the State, for the 
 fervices they have devoted to it ; that is 
 to fay, the Clergy, the land and f?a -forces, 
 the lawyers. 
 
 The third, thofe men who draw gra- 
 tuitoufly their fubfiftence from the State : 
 fuch as the Stock-holders, people in no 
 employ, and beggars. 
 
 i ».'jt ..■ » ' , 
 
 This fimple divifion clearly points out, 
 with what eye the State ought to lock 
 on thefe three clailes. i a^i.illii^:/- 
 
 ■ » 
 * K First 
 
; 194 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 ^^^* First Class of Men. 
 
 This Clafs will bear two great divi- 
 fions. 
 
 The Landed-men, and Laborers, 
 ^jTbe Man\ifa6lqrers, andTrader5. KwJ 
 
 Their intereft is evidently a commoa 
 ene •, or rather identically one and the 
 fame •, fince the land is only valuable ac- 
 cording to the confumption of its pro- 
 duces, and that Trade turns fpecifically and 
 eilentially upon thofe produdts. ■• ? 
 
 As to the landed- men, and laborers, it 
 fliould be obferved, that this firft employ 
 of men, being the . jundation of all the 
 reft, this clafs deferves the greateft atten- 
 tion to promote the progrefs of their in- 
 ^uftry, and population. : ,, H :jir: i 
 ^ No account then could be too circum- 
 ftantial, in defcribing the number of la- 
 borers in each parifb, the number of their 
 marriages, their fecundity, the duration of 
 the life of thefe valuable men, who exer- 
 . cife the moft neceflary, the moft labo- 
 rioiis, a^d the Icaft payed employment, in 
 fociety. Humanity, and the public in- 
 tereft, ought unanimoufly to concur to the 
 procuring, them the eafieft and happieft 
 "coAdition: for which the Stale would be 
 \':":^ ^^' \' ■■ •"; ' ■•■• '■' recom- 
 
^ Jof Great Britain, &<tV'^ 193 
 
 itcorrtpenM by the encrca'fe of its riches, 
 in nfitn, 'arad in produdtionsi^ i-^kaun yr^t 
 
 It wbtild be found that the helps of 
 Surgery, and Phific, too abundant inf 
 towns, are not enough fpread over the 
 country : that the pedfartts are fubjed td ' 
 difeafes nattirally fimple enough, but whiclTi 
 for want of proper care, degenerate intd 
 mortal weaknefTes, plnings away, madnefs, 
 cpilepfies, and other accidents which make 
 continual havock amongft them. I know 
 that a multitude of remedies, and all of 
 them fpecific, are quoted. But is there 
 one jcertainly fo? which is it? Do not 
 kh difcoveries deferve a fignal reward^ 
 and a mod authentic notoriety ? 
 
 The Manufadurers again, and Traders^' 
 add a value to the productions of the* 
 tarth^ and procure them confumpt'ion ac 
 bme and abroad. The fums which the 
 State receives on the ballance of trade, are 
 the produce of the induilry of this clafs 
 of men. There is then no being too fen- 
 ible of the regard they merit, fince the 
 cultivation of the land abfolutely owes its 
 progrefs to them. > • - ■• • -*^ -iij yf 
 
 ^f:fV 
 
 Industry. HAMovcRAFTi^ri^ |^, 
 
 The profit which the State draws from 
 nanufadtures, and trade, ought 'to be in-- 
 
 K 2 ' . comparably 
 
 
igS Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 comparably lefs efteemed, at the rate of 
 the number of pounds fterling, to which 
 the ballance of it amounts, than at the rate 
 of the number of men, to which this trade, 
 has given means of fubfiftence by employ- 
 *ing them. Such is the true Principle of 
 Trade : and fuch ought to be the fpirit 
 of the laws, by which it is governed. 
 
 , The employment of individuals aug- 
 ments by the confumption of commodi- 
 ^ ties, and that confumpdon by the cheap- 
 " nefs of them, which depends again on the 
 price of work, which rifes or falls with 
 that of the neceffaries of life, as being its 
 general, and moft immediate rule. 
 
 The induftry, and genius of men, in- 
 fluence next the price of this work, by 
 diminifhing the labor, or number of hands 
 employed. Such is the effedl of mills 
 worked with wind, or water, frames, and 
 other machines of valuable invention. I 
 fliall quote for examples, am ongft others, 
 that machine of the Organzine for filk 
 (page 122.) faw-mills for planks, in 
 * which, under the infpedion of one man, 
 by the means of a fingle axle-tree, one 
 may, in one hour, with a tolerable degree 
 of wind, work 90 planks of eighteen teet: 
 ribbon-frames of from twenty to thirty 
 fliuttles, which Manehefter, and Glafcow 
 - . M ' . :^ ' '1 ■ karni 
 
of Great BRITAI^7, &c. ig; 
 
 brnt from tlie Dutch, and which are 
 doubtlcfs known elfewherc. •■»'' '• • 
 
 An author of fome reputation in France, 
 Mias, with reafon advanced, fpeaking of 
 the induftry and ufe of machines, that the 
 fkill of •doing widi one man, what before 
 ufed to be done by two, is virtually doub- 
 ling the number of fubje(5ls. 
 
 ' Vi ^«-' 
 
 It was objefted to him, as amongft us, 
 it ftill continues to be objefted to thefc 
 machines, i -. vj :?..;. jii -tz/v t^u^ • ' 
 
 That every machine which diminifhes 
 labor by one half, docs, that inftant, in 
 fad, deprive the half of the workmen ia 
 that trade, of the means of fubfiftence, 
 unlefs they ftrike out of their induftry a 
 new employment in the fame trade, or in 
 fome other that may want hands : or, un- 
 lefs that the cheapnefs, occafioned by fuch 
 a machine, fhould produce the doubling 
 of the confumption at home and abroad. 
 That induftry is not always ready at a 
 call to replace to a man the employment, 
 of which he has been deprived. That it 
 is not even near credible, that other trades 
 ihould want hands, whilft there are adually 
 fo many poor who are a burthen to the 
 Public : that thefe workmen out of em- 
 ^ - ' K 3 ^^>>^r^ ^'^ploy, 
 
 * M. Melon. ' 
 
X98 Advantages and Diradvan(;ages 
 
 ploy, \vill fqonfr choofe to be maintamed, 
 as beggars, at the parifli charge, than in 
 a trade to which they are ftrangers ; in 
 fhort, that all confumption has its bounds, 
 aad that even luppofing it to augment 
 riie double of what it was before, that 
 aMgrperrtatioft will decreafe again, as foon 
 as foreigners fliall have procured them- 
 felves the like machines, and that thcn^ 
 there will remain to the inventor no ad- 
 vantage from his invention. Other reaibns: 
 have been added^ and of much the lame] 
 force, as .tko;fe whicb>tbfi bpatmenon th 
 Tl^mes alledged ^^inft . ^e bpilding 
 Weft minfter- bridge, ^nd'ith^ c^rt-men 0; 
 
 . London agj^inft the r^folutiqn fp often 
 propofed in vaifl, df r,end^f ing the paving 
 of this Town praftic^blie;.! ; i^^^ ^vnh 
 ff Bu^ thefe Qbt^aioii^ ar^ not even fpe 
 cipu$, or plajufible ones, unlcfs for preju- 
 diced minds, ^nd fuch as take the abufes 
 and reftraints, which actually hamper thi 
 pre(tnt flate of Commerce, for necefiar 
 an4 facred principles. What, becaufeth 
 means of fubfifting in a State withou 
 work have been multiplied : becaufe th 
 mean^ of fubfifting by work have beei 
 diminiflied by the reftraints laid on th 
 liberty of trade ; becaufe the unnecefTar 
 
 ' Icftgth of apprenticelhips deprives all th 
 
 'o 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 199 
 
 trades of aii infinite number of proper 
 fubjeds for them -, becaufe the privileges 
 and monopohes of the abroad- trade hinder 
 the confumption of commodities from 
 gaining ground; ought we to renounce 
 the advantage of reducing the price of 
 work* however not obtainable but by di- 
 minifliing the number of hands ? But, 
 were the principles of fuch obje(5lors juft : 
 their pretentions may be carried yet fur- 
 ther: in proportion th<it the confumption 
 fhall diminifli, ^as in fa<fl it diminifhes 
 daily) one fhould invent machines to en- 
 creafe the number of hands, by way of 
 fupplemeiit, to the want of employment 
 for thenv " '^ -^ ■ '' ' ' '^ e>^r •- » - 
 
 Thus, the rcftraints impofed on in- 
 duftry, will only ferve to beget new rc- 
 ftraints : whilft, on the contrary, the ef- 
 forts of induftry reftored to liberty, would 
 produce new matter of induftry, amongft 
 men who live by their labor^ and inimated 
 by emulation, and neceflity, * - ^-- •- • 
 
 Why Mrait for the time, when the in- 
 duftry of othei' nations ih employing ma- 
 chines, fliall force lis to adopt the ufe of 
 therri, if we woilld prtkrv^ our compe- 
 tition with them irt the fame markets? 
 The fureft profit will ever be for that 
 Nation, which ftiall have got the ftart, in 
 
 K 4 induftry. 
 
200 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 J' .... 
 induftry, and, every thing elfe fuppofed 
 
 equal, that nation whofe induftry enjoys 
 the greateft liberty will be the moft in- 
 duftrious. I approve, at the fame time, 
 that there fliould a prudent delay, and 
 preparation, precede the ufe of thofe ma- 
 chines which might make too fudden, and 
 violent a gap, in thofe trades which cm- 
 ploy workmen. Yet is not this prudence 
 particularly neceffary, but in a ftate of 
 reftraint, fuch as at prefent a<5lually fub- 
 fifts. Befides, whither through difcourage- 
 ment of invention, or through our proxi- 
 mity to perfection, our induftry feems to 
 be at fuch a point, that its gradations 
 are gentle, and any violent difcompofures 
 are lefs, to be feared than heretofore. 
 
 The occafions for employing manufac- 
 tuf er^ ; know no bounds but thofe of con- 
 finnption. The confumption admits of 
 none but from the price of work. That 
 Nation, in which work is cheapeft, and 
 of which the merchants will content them- 
 felves with the moft moderate profit, will 
 carry on , the moft lucrative^ and the moft 
 extenfive trade, all other circumftances 
 fuppofed equal. If our cloths are carried 
 at the Ipweft price to the markets of the 
 Levant : the cor>fumption of them vill 
 extend, without limit, to Perfia, Tartary, 
 
'W Great Britain, &c. ' 20I 
 
 feCc The liberty, and competition, be- 
 tween the workmen in hard- ware at Bir- 
 mingham, hrve brought, and eftablifhed 
 the works of thofe manufa(5lories at fo rea- 
 fonable a rate, that notwithftanding the 
 price of provifions, and work, commonly 
 dearer in England than in France, not- 
 withftanding the duties of entry on the 
 foreign Iron and Steel employed in them, 
 together with the charges of carriage to 
 France, by the way of Hamburgh, and 
 other foreign ports, and the duties of 
 entry into France, under the name of 
 German hard-ware, they obtain the pre- 
 ference over the works of all other ma- 
 nufadlures of the fame kind : and the 
 confumptibn of them has encreafed to fuch 
 a point, as almoft to equal the fum which 
 England adlually pays to France for her 
 cambrics, lawns, &c. a fum indeed greatly 
 diminifhed by the prohibition of them, 
 and by the advancement of our own 
 linnen-mariufadories. Such is the power 
 of Induflry Jet at liberty, whilft at the 
 fame time the channels of the home, and 
 abroad-trade are kept free : it knows how 
 to open new markets to the confumption 
 of its produfts, and even to force an en- 
 trance into thofe which are fhut ag4.inft 
 
 K /; * The 
 
^^^ Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 The price of the necelTaries of life being 
 the rule of that of work, does not that 
 frugality Mrhich reigns in the country, 
 clearly point how much better it is to 
 favor the eftablifhment of manufadlories 
 ia it, preferable to the towns diftinguifhed 
 fbr their luxury ? how many idle mo^ 
 mcnts in the fhort days of winter, might 
 not the peafants employ in making coarfe 
 cloths, and linnen ? Thefe profits would 
 turn to the advantage of the population ol 
 the Country, and of the culture of lands^ 
 which would gain extenfion over the fur- 
 face of ijt. ,..' ' ' , ." ' *• 
 
 *-'A general recenfion of all the men em- 
 ployed in the manufSadlures : a ftate, ia 
 particular, of the manufactures themfelves, 
 would inform us of the condition of each : 
 and the general refult of their fuccefles, 
 and population, would prove more certain 
 infl:ru6lions, than inferences drawn from 
 the Courfe of Exchange, and Ballance of 
 trade, as to the true ftate of our Com- 
 mercCj by Ihowirig us at the fame time, 
 what branches of it lliould ftand moft in 
 need of afilftance, reformation, or, en- 
 couragement, ,^^^ J ^,.,^ w.n r: • 
 
 ^- ' Second Class of Men. . ^"^^ 
 The Clergy, the Land and Sea-fervice,^ 
 
" of Great fiaiTAiN, &c/ idj 
 
 the Law, btfing folely* dompofed of fub- 
 jeds in the pay of t'he State, fbr the prc^ 
 fervation of the depofite of Religion, the 
 diftribution of Juftfce, and the rejielling 
 the attacks of an enehry ;' can Society, 
 with refpedl to thcfe threfe orders, be at a 
 lofs to know its trtie intereft ? or can that 
 intereft be any oth^r, but to reduce then! 
 precifely to that juft nunrtber of men, 
 which fhall be abfolutely neceflary to thofe 
 ends, to wit, of procuring to itfelf the 
 exercife of the Laws, divine and human, 
 and its own fafety, and all this at the 
 cheapeft rate poflible? . : v.u k^ 
 
 Third Class ,(?/ Men. |^ «< <>^ 
 
 Should comprehend the flock- holders, 
 the people without profefTions, and the 
 beggars. • ^-^-v,- -. .-^- . '~^ . .-^ .,. ^^.^.-.. 
 
 It would foon appear that the hurnber 
 of Hock* holders can only encreafe from a 
 fpirit of idlenefs, and at the expence of 
 Trade : that a (lock-holder is an uftlefs 
 fubjeft, whofe lazinefs lays a tax upon the 
 induftry of others. It would be obvious' 
 to fcnfe, that the public debts ought, for 
 a double reafon, be called burthens on the 
 State, fince they multiply the means of 
 fubfifling in a State, without induftry, or 
 Ubor. ' :' ^' ' y '"'Vi ■ • ■• - k'^'^h' ^" 
 
 '*.••- K 6 Under 
 

 204 Ad^ntegcs and Difadvantages 
 
 Und^r the name of People without pro- 
 feflions, n)ight be comprehended, ;^ r * ; 
 . Firft, Stockjobbers, brokers, follicitors 
 at Law, and others who live upon their 
 induftry : that is to fay, who exercife that 
 induflry of theirs, not in producing new 
 riches in the State, bvit in making the 
 riches of others change hands, by palTing 
 into their own. 
 
 2dly, That multitude of men, which 
 the luxury, rathqr than the wants of the 
 rich, mainrain in idlenefs, in the fervice 
 rather of their Vj^nity^ than of ^heir per- 
 fons. " «- -r 't*— ~ . •''- 
 
 3dly, So many mafters of, and retainers 
 to the lead ufefuU arts, which are much 
 better payed than the neceflary ones, and 
 of which the number is encreafed to an 
 incredible point of extravagance. ;, - ; - - 
 ; 4thiy, So many frivolous writers, whom 
 the impoflibility of getting into apprentice- 
 fliips, or the contempt of a mechanic 
 prf)felIion, has devoted to the trade of 
 making books. All thole Divines, thofe 
 Controverfiils, Sermon-writers, Interpre- 
 ters, Commentators, to whom the fpirit 
 of difpute, and curiofity, rather than Re- 
 ligion, didlates volumes without number, 
 in all fecSts, and even in the Church of 
 England, to the great damage of the true 
 
'T of Great Britain, &c. 205 
 
 faith, to ■ the fcandal . of the weak, to the 
 detriment of humanity, of peace, of the 
 other chriftian and moral virtues, and to 
 the (hame of the human underftanding. 
 
 5thly, The Beggars, of whom 1 ihall 
 treat hereafter. ' • * '. 
 
 The general reccnfion of thefe three dif- 
 ferent claffes of mankind, and of the fub- 
 divifions of thofe clafTes, would teach us 
 the proportions exifting between them : pro- 
 portions fo important to know, towards the 
 redudlion of luch, whofe progrefles might 
 grow too alarming for the others, and to 
 keep each within due bounds, according to 
 its refpedtive utility, or neceflity. v 
 
 ; Of the VooR^ and of Beggars, 
 
 There is certainly no State, in which 
 may be found more laws than in ours 
 concerning the Poor : Laws wifer in ap- 
 pearance, or, more humane, more equita- 
 ble : or fo many books, and excellent re- 
 prefentations, on this fubje<5t: fo many 
 hofpitals, or, in fhort, 'fo great a fund of 
 generofity, and charity, as in England : 
 At the fame time too, there is not perhaps 
 a country in which there arc fo many 
 Poor. 
 
 Yet thofe Laws mufl be intrinfically 
 defective, which, being fo important as 
 i:ly.di they 
 
icfS A4var^g€S and Di&d vantages 
 
 tliey are to every mcrt)ber of fociety, have 
 not the force to • make thiemfelv^s be exe*- 
 cuted, or which one may eaifily elude. 
 
 The Po6rs-rate, for England only, which 
 is from two fhillings, as far as to ux and 
 eight fliillings in the pound, in fortie parts', 
 exiieeds three millions and a half fterling 
 (8b millions of livfes) if 6nd adds to it 
 the private charitiesi, and foundations of 
 Hofpitals; a fum fiifficient to maintain 
 the tenth of the inhabitants. '^ " ^«-i ^ 
 ' The charges of the roads, and of the 
 public works, are ajfo immenfe ; and con- 
 tinual reffources for fuch as want employ- 
 ment. 
 
 The charity- fchools maintain, and bring 
 up the twentieth part of the children that 
 are born : neverthelefs, in the towns, the 
 ftreets fwarni with Poor, [ fome of whom 
 foon after perhaps beg, on the high- way, 
 with a prefented piftol in hand'.* ^ .'^ ;; 
 
 The abgfe of the particular adminiftra- 
 tions of the Poor's revenue, and the infuf- 
 ficiency of the Lawsj are too glaringly 
 evident, and the confequenccs of this evil 
 are too dreadfull for this adminiftration, 
 not to become a national concern.* 
 
 There is no more efFedual method of 
 
 redrefs for it, than to appoint a committee 
 
 of members of Parliament, before whom 
 
 i^'- .' fliould 
 
■^ C|f Great Brit AiNi, 8^c. aoy 
 
 Ihould be annually laid a (late of the fums 
 levied, or applied to the maintenance of 
 the poor, and a lift of the poor ' main- 
 tained in every county. ' • 
 
 By thefe circumftantial ftates„ and lifts, 
 by comparifons, and indifputable fadts, it 
 would be made manifeft,. 
 
 ift, That the principal caufes of there 
 being fo many poor, are, privileges, ex- 
 clufive rights ^^ freemen, and corporations ; 
 the indifcreet, .s well as unfaithfuU di- 
 ftribution of the parifti-alms, the money 
 fcattercd through Towns and Country, by 
 the candidates, in the time of elections ^ 
 the multiplicity of ale-houfes, taverns, and 
 other infamous fnares of idlenefs, and de- 
 bauchery. . . . ^. . ; ,.:. .i..ii ; 
 
 . 2dly, That robbers owe their origin^ 
 not to want, but to indifcreet charity^ 
 That clafs of men which has no right to 
 the parilli.alms, is far lefs abundant in 
 robbers than that which has. That right 
 is an encouragement to, and the certain 
 refuge of idlenefs, the parent of debau-*; 
 chery, and crimes- 
 
 In ftiort, it would appear convincingly 
 plain, that the only prompt remedy that 
 can be brought for' this urgent evil, would 
 
aoS Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 Firft, To form a common national mafs, 
 or aggregate, of all the Turns levied, 
 througholic all the parifhes, under the 
 name of the poor's tax, to which fticuld 
 be joined the funds of all the ancient cha- 
 ritable foundations : with refervation how- 
 ever of liberty to all future donors, to 
 appropriate particularly their chanties to 
 whatever counties, or parifhes they ihould 
 think fit. *' * • ' ' ^\ ' 
 
 adly, To take into work-houfes, or 
 alms-houfes, all beggars, even every per- 
 fpn applying to the pariQi for charity, 
 equally in cafe either of ficknefs, or of 
 health, without any diftinftion, even of 
 the private poor, that is to fay, of fuch 
 as are afhamed of begging : becaufe there 
 ought to be no poor, of that n^^ture, in a 
 nation where it is no Ihame for any one 
 
 to work. ^ ' " '^ *:.,n.>v >.. tl :0 4;* :» t* t 
 
 -?^ 3dly, To aflign to every "perfon fo re- 
 ceived into thefe work-houfes, that fort of 
 work of which he fhould be capable, in- 
 fomuch that the fick, and fuch as fliould 
 be deprived of the ufe of all their fenfes, 
 Ihould alone be difperfed with from it. 
 : 4thly, To divide thefe work-houfes into 
 two wards, the one for the poor, who 
 (hould work voluntarily : the other, for 
 t^i^i- . • ^^ . them 
 
of Cheat Britain, &c. 209 
 
 them to be carried to, in cafes of neceffary 
 corredlion, and forced to work, fhould 
 they refufe to fubmit to it. • ' ^ ^ 
 
 5thly, It would alfo be very neceffary 
 to colled together, in one common Houfe, 
 all the children difperfed in the different 
 fchools and eftabJiftiments of each parifh. 
 The care of their firft years of life, and of 
 breeding them up to work, would be bet- 
 ter adminiftered in one common Houfe, 
 than by parifh nurfes, who inhumanly fa- 
 crifice, even in the cradle, fo many inno- 
 cent vidims, to their barbarous avarice : 
 this is a truth inconteftably proved* by a 
 comparifon of the number of dead beneath 
 the age of feven years, amongfl the chil-: 
 dren nurfed by the parifh- nurfts, and 
 amongfl thofe brought up in the Found- 
 ling Hofpital. i.; ! :,•!. u; yxu ul ;m?:>:i 
 - 6thly, Every work-houfe, or alms-houfc 
 throughout England, fhould render an 
 account of its adminiflration, atteflcd by 
 the magiflrates, or officers of each town, 
 or parifh, to the committee of the nation. 
 Thefe accounts would ferve for checks 
 upon one another. ^ The Members for 
 every county, fhould be called to the in- 
 fpeclion of the account of the general 
 adminiflration, and upon the report of 
 this general Committee, the poors-tax 
 , i • • fhould 
 
 jt 
 
210 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 r fliould be fetdedt and pafled by the Na- 
 tion. .'■'• "7 ' .f'-^;-*' - 
 
 From fuch a form of adminidration as 
 this, would refult the following advan- 
 tages. 
 
 The real mifery of the fick, and difa- 
 bled, would receive the relief which is 
 
 due to it. L V'. .>:;»{ •?: a7lV{ *0 -. u- -> :; 
 
 ■ The malverfation of particular admini- 
 ftrations would be remedied. \ a- 
 
 The number of the poor would fenfibly 
 ' diminifh. Many now receive private alms, 
 who w6uld then refolve to work, rather 
 than receive public ones. 
 ^ Society would be delivered from beg- 
 
 gars, of whom the example, and enor- 
 mities are fo much to be dreaded. - -• 
 
 The produce of the work of fuch as 
 fliould be free to leave the houfe when 
 they pleafed, and the work of the poor 
 under confinement, would be a clear and 
 new profit to the Public. 
 
 The poors-tax would diminifli confi- 
 derably. . * . . . , 
 
 All the tecenfibns of the above^deduccd 
 three clafles of men, and of their fub- 
 divifions fliould be draughted, and framed, 
 in each parifli, by its refpedive church- 
 wardens, aldermen, overfeers of the poor, 
 or the like proper officers. A iliort enough 
 .V . time. 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 211 
 
 time, and a great deal of order and me- 
 thod would luffice to carry them to the 
 requifite perfedtion for making all the ufe 
 to be promifed from them : without much 
 
 « ' • • 
 
 Means' 6f mcreafmg Population, tht 
 Encouragement ^/Marriages, ^z»^NiV- 
 
 \ turalization. '. ,/',-,•.,, V ■''■\ 
 
 -''/■' Cy Marriages. iC^^*^ 
 
 * It may perhaps be true, that that har^ 
 mony of Society, which refults from the 
 fubjedion of marriages to the laWrS we 
 know, may b^ the moft perfed one pro^ 
 ducible by all the known laws, according 
 to which man and woman are joined in 
 that band* in order to fullfil the great dic- 
 tate of nature : but it may not be true at 
 tlie fame time, that the marriage-inftitutioo 
 in the form we at prefent enjoy it, is the 
 mod favorable fillem to a great popu- 
 lation. ^; . . .. ;;r 
 
 The importance, and indiflblubility of 
 fuch an engagement, may prefent to over- 
 confiderate minds, refkxions capable of 
 damping that fweet and violent allurement, 
 which naturally difpofes to this union, and 
 of poifoning the idea of that happinefs 
 €ne might expeft from it. One would 
 
 think 
 
212 AdvaAtages and Difadvantages 
 
 think there was never more occafion than 
 at pr^ent for excitative, and even coercive 
 laws, to bring into this ftate too many 
 fubjeds, rebellious or deaf to the voice 
 of Nature. 
 
 Yet, at this very time, under color of 
 morality, and public decency, you . may 
 hear declaimers rifing up, and inveighing 
 againft tJiQ facility of clandeftine marriages. 
 They would have added to the laws al- 
 ready prefcribed for this union, new forms, 
 new limitations, new rcftraints : but what 
 would fuch clogs produce, unlefs indeed 
 a diminution of the number of marriages ? 
 Is not every reftriftive, or cramping for- 
 mality deftrudtivc to .the objeft on which 
 it is impofed? . ,^ ^,v 
 . What fuch grievofis inconveniences has 
 this liberty of marriages hitherto produced, 
 that it is no longer to be born ? It will be 
 faid, difproportions of birth, and fortune 
 in matches.* But, what fignify mis-alliances 
 in a Nation, in Which equality is upheld, 
 and in efteem : in which nobility is not 
 alone derived from an antient extraftion : 
 in which great honors are not exclufively 
 appropriated to that extradion, but in 
 which the Conftitution favors the confer- 
 ring the mod diftinguifhed honors upon 
 thofe who (hall have deferved them ? be- 
 
of Great Britain', &c;,/, 213 
 
 fides, is not the union of the mod dif- 
 proportioned fortunes the beft, and moftr 
 advantageous policy for a State ? Yet this 
 vile, and fordid Intereft it is, which far 
 more than public decency, far more than 
 the rights of parents over their children, 
 IS at the bottom o\ this infiftenco for an- 
 nulling the liberty of marriages. It is ra- 
 ther the Rich, than the Noble, -who im- 
 peach and clamor fo loudly againft it. 
 If one fhould reckon up fome matches, * 
 which the advice of parents might have 
 perhaps better afforted than the inclination 
 of their children (which by the by is al- 
 moft always matter of indifference to the 
 State) will k not be a gre;it weight in the 
 other fcale, to confider the number of 
 marriages which the extravagance of pa- 
 rents, their unwillingnefs to part with any 
 thing, the grief of being kept afunder, 
 may fupprefs, or retard, in lofs to the 
 ftate, of thofe valuable, and too flinted 
 years of fecundity in women ? * 
 
 . V' <".;*•;• t'-f-** ;.i,i'.- s ;,-a- -iia. , ■. i, !■ ("A , An 
 
 ♦ By an aft of the laft Sefllon 1753, it was or- 
 dained, with refpcft to England only, (Scotland, 
 countries beyond- fe«, the Royal Family, Quakers, 
 and Jews, not being fubjefted to th« faid A61) that, 
 to reckon from the 25th of March 1754. 
 
 Seven days before the publication of the bans 
 
 of 
 
 *Vii M 
 
 m 
 
N 
 
 ' 1 14 Advantages and Difadvaritages 
 
 •''An account of the marriages and births, 
 in the feveral divifions of each of the 
 
 three 
 
 of matrimotiy, each of the partys Ihould fiirnifh in 
 ** writing his chriftian and fur-name, the name, and 
 date of his abode, to the minifter of the churches, 
 appointed for publication. ' " ***\ „ . ' ./, ' 
 
 That the publication of the bans fhould Be made 
 fucceflively on the three fundays preceding the ce- 
 lebratipn of the ceremony, in each of the parifhes 
 or 'public chapels nearelt the habitation of the 
 parties. 
 
 ' That the ceremfony fli >uld be perfornved tn onc^ 
 of the faid pariflies, or chapels ; in which cafe, 
 though: the partys fhould be under 21 year« of age, 
 the publication and the marriage fhould be valid, 
 if the father, mother, or guardians, &c. had made 
 iro oppofition : the minifter too not liable tb repre- 
 henfion. 
 
 That tKe celebration of the ceremony ftiall not 
 take place in any other church than in one of 
 thofc, in which the bans (hall have been publilhed, 
 (unlefs there fhould be a.difpenfation, wWclv fhall 
 not be granted but for the parifh or chapel of the. 
 aflual refidence of the parties, during at leaft four 
 weeks) otherwife the Minilfer to be tranfportei^ for 
 14 years to the American plantations, as guilty of 
 felony, and the marriage to be declared void, if 
 impleaded within three years. 
 
 That in the cafe of marriages performed under 
 favor of fuch a difpenfation, the want of confent of 
 father, mother, or guardians of the partys under 
 21 years of age, (hall render them abfolutely null, 
 and of no elTeft.* , , 
 
 That in all cafes, the ceremony (hall be per- 
 formed in prcfcncs of two witneffes befid^s the Mi- 
 
 niflcr : 
 
.. of GnEAt Britain, &c. 215 
 
 three clafles, and the comparifons between 
 tbcm, would Ihew us. ' *~ 
 
 Firft, That the numbers of unmarried 
 tnen, and of loofe women in towns, grow 
 and exift in .a reciprocal proportion the 
 one to the other : thence fo many quarrels 
 and difordirs in families. ..... , ^ t^^ •. ii 
 
 2dlyi That the great number of pro- 
 (litutes, of which London alone reckons 
 at lead ten thoufand, proceeds from the 
 little regard which has been had to prefervc 
 to women thofe means of fubfiltence, which 
 become their fex. The french fafhion has 
 inftead of wonnen head-drefTers, cooks^ 
 chambermaids., introduced hair- cutters, 
 peruke- makers, men-cooks, valets-de- 
 chambre for ladies, &c. ;. ,. = »'. .1/ < j. ,n^ 
 
 3dly, That the ftock-holders, .at kaft 
 the annuitants, people without employ, 
 footmen, the poor, are generally fpeaking 
 ufelefs to population. Mafters are averfe 
 to their fervants marrying Even Clergy- 
 men have the cruelty to refufe marrying, 
 thofe whom they know to be poor, under, 
 pretext that their children would become 
 a new burthen to their parifh. i •; .'^;; : ii 
 
 .:..--. •;)[-: ; r-r.-im:. . . . 4thly,. 
 
 nifter : the aft to be figned by them and the partys : * 
 and public regillers of the marriages to bel^ept in 
 thepariilies, &c. 
 
 '^. 
 
2i6 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 i^ 4thly, Finally, that both mifery, as well 
 as excefs of riches, joined to the luxury, 
 and difiblutenefs of towns, are become 
 contrary both to the fruitfulnefs, and to 
 the multiplicity of marriages, 
 i . To fome of thefe difordcrs, fo deftruc- 
 tive to the human fpecies, I preRime hum- 
 bly to propofe certain remedies. 
 ;. id. To fubftitute, in lieu of the ex- 
 pence of public (hows, and feafts, that of 
 endowing, in the Country, or in manu- 
 facturing towns, a number of young men 
 and women : of which France has given 
 the example, at the birth of the Duke of 
 Burgundy : Eiiam ab hofle con/ilium. 
 -\ 2dly, To endow annually, in the Coun- 
 try, a number of young men and women, 
 on condition of their clearing, for culti- 
 vation, a certain number of acres, the mod 
 conveniently fituated for them : to which 
 the lords of manors ihould be invited to 
 contribute refpedtively on their eftates, in 
 confideration of the iptereft of the Public, 
 and of their own. 
 
 gdly. To exempt, in the Country, from 
 the poor's tax, every family that«>fhould 
 
 have children, or any number that 
 
 may be fixed, * ' ; * ' : " " 
 
 4thly, In all public affcmblies, to re- 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 217 
 
 gulate the ranks between equals, according 
 to the number of their children. 
 7 5thly, To declare aU unmarried fub- 
 jefts incapable of filling the firft places in 
 the magiftracy, adminiftration of towns, 
 communities, &c. in the profitable em- 
 ployments in the Revenue, fuch as Re- 
 ceivers, Colleaors of taxes, and cuftoms, 
 and other public pofts (with a referve to 
 grant proper difpenfations, in confideration 
 of the fuperior talents required for cer- 
 tain 'employs, and the Military alfo ex- 
 cepted) incapable, in Ihort, ot voting at 
 eledlions, or of being chofen Members of 
 Parliament. , 
 
 6thly, To declare any benefit from col- 
 lateral inheritances, univerfal legacies, or 
 donations, forfeited by every batchelor 
 above thirty years of age, unlefs he marries 
 within the year of the oommencement ot 
 his right, ir-r r : v*. r »■ ?' -> ' 
 
 ; 7thly, To lay upon mafters of fervants, 
 
 in proportion to the number they keep, 
 
 ooe or more taxes of thofe underfpecified, 
 
 or compofed out of them. -- ..•^ . 
 
 A tax upon the number of fervants in 
 
 town, not equally at fo much per head, 
 
 but in proportion to their number, as of 
 
 I, 4, 16, 64, &c. {hillings, or in fuch other 
 
 proportron as may be thought fitted. 
 
 A particular t:ax of ..... pounds fter- 
 
 ■^•-^ 1^ ling. 
 
» 
 
 2i8 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 ling, for men cooks (inftead of womea- 
 ones) butlers, and valet-de-chambres. 
 
 A tax of .... . (hillings for every foot- 
 man about foot inches high, 
 
 in order to referve for agriculture, and 
 the military fcrvice, the ftouteft, comHeft 
 
 A tax of .... . (hillings a head for 
 every unmarried fervant of either fex. 
 
 8thly, To epad a tax, which might 
 be called //&<? tas^ en the unmarried^ of 
 cither fex, to be differently regulated by 
 the ages of 15, 1 8, 21, 25 years and up- 
 wards, payable by their fathers, and mo- 
 thers* or by themfelves when come to the 
 enjoyment of their rights, and fortunes. 
 
 A tax on widowers, and widows hav- 
 ing no children, , : 
 
 1 1 i . . y . /. 
 
 i ♦ » . • 
 
 Oh Naturalization. 
 
 :( 
 
 1 ' 
 
 A decreafe of population points out as 
 naturally the neceflity of inviting foreigners 
 to cofne and encreafe it, as a population 
 too great, or no more than floriihing, 
 points out the neceflity, and conveni'^ncc 
 of emigration for apart of its fubjefts, into 
 other countrys, there to acquire for them- 
 felves, and for their Country, new for- 
 tunes, and new lands, j > .< ' • 
 
 An A6l that fhould naturalize all fo- 
 rcigners, and prpceftants preferable to all 
 
 ..; others: 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 219 
 
 others : that is to fay, a general Adl which • 
 fhould exempt every foreigner who (hould 
 come and fettle amongft us, from the 
 formalities, and expences of a private adl 
 of naturalization, or of a denifons- charter, 
 was doubtlefs the only means, and the lealt 
 effort we ought to have made, to induce 
 men to quit their own country for ours. 
 My Lord Bacon, Sir J. Child, and other 
 good judges of the intereft of the nation, 
 had long ago felt, conceived, and declared 
 the advantages and neceflity of it. The 
 feventh year of the reign of Queen Anne 
 was remarkable for the general natural i*' 
 zation of proteftant foreigners : but this 
 wholefome law repfealed three years after, 
 through a fpirit of party, fcarce lafted 
 time enough to become a public one. 
 More than once has this law been at-" 
 tempted to be revived : but the voice of 
 the People (and furely not that of God) 
 tes been raifed againft it, and conftantly 
 prevailed. Neverthelefs all honor be to* 
 thofe generous minded patriots, who, in 
 this caufe, have more than once defended 
 the interefts of the Nation, without dread-* 
 ing the outrage^ and madnefs of a mob,' 
 ftupidly incenfed againft them.-f"; ,-, >, . * 
 
 f In 1747, the queftion of the general Naturali- 
 lion having been debated in Parliament, the people 
 
 L 2 of 
 
a20 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 . But what hopes can there be of eradi- 
 cating inveterate prejudices, handed down 
 to our days, by an unjuft trpdition, and 
 grafted upon the national charader ? or 
 rather, how wipe off that fo long deferved 
 reproach, Britannos hofpitibus feros ? 
 
 For, in fadt, if we turn to th©^ records 
 of our trade, in our remoteft times, what 
 traces do we not find of our barbarity? 
 Laws which prohibited to aliens the fell- 
 ing their goods to other aliens, or the 
 exporting any merchandize imported by 
 another alien : the making any contraft 
 amongft us but in ready money : in ihort, 
 that permitted feizing the goods of one 
 alien, for payment of the debt of another 
 aRen ! what cxcefTes, what violences com- 
 mitted towards foreigners who had brought 
 over their manufa6lures, and thofe too 
 
 of Brifto!; amongft others, diftinguilhcd themfclves 
 by a ftrenuous oppofition to this Bill, whilft on the 
 otiier hand the Mayor, M. de la Roche, foi of 
 proteftant refugees, and Mr. Jofiah Tucker, mi- 
 nifter of the fame town, declared highly in its 
 favor. The evening that the news came to Briftol 
 of the Bill being thrown out, the populace made 
 bonfires over all the town : the bells were rung, 
 aud thefe fenfelefs rejoicings were crowned with 
 • burning the Mayor in his robes, with this infcrip- 
 tion : the Proteftant Foreigner j the Minifter (Tucker) 
 and the Pope, each in efngy of the natural fize. 
 
•\ of Great Britain, Sec, 22t 
 
 new ones, to us ! Taxes were laid upon 
 thefe foreign artifts who had not fervcd 
 their apprentic^fhip in England : they were 
 forced to leave the Kingdom, or to quit 
 their n^anufadories, and looms, to ferve, 
 as journeymen, under englifla mafters. •;. 
 
 Thence thofe exclufive corporations, 
 thofe privileges of towns firft obtained 
 againft foreigners, and afterwards exerted 
 againft their own countrymen : the natives 
 of England themfelves. Thence the once 
 monopoly of the trade to Spain, France, 
 Dantzick, the German feas, Holland, fol- 
 licited and obtained by the merchants of 
 London, with a right not to admit any 
 one into their Company, butfuch as Ihould 
 pay 20/. entrance. Who does not again 
 obferve, in thefe prejudices, and in this 
 mean jealoufy, the principles of that ti- 
 rannical dependence under which we Iiave 
 kept Scotland, and Ireland : a depcndt^nce 
 ftretched far beyond the bounds which a 
 juft and prudent policy could exadl ! 
 
 Sir J. Child propofes the following 
 queftionj 
 
 Whether it would be for the intereft 
 of the Nation, to comprehend the Jews 
 in the naturalization of the foreigners, and 
 declares poflitivcly enough in favor of the 
 afErmative. "^ ' *^ > '^ ■ 
 
 L 3 An 
 
 
222 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 An A6t of the thirteenth year of the 
 reign of George the Second (1740) has 
 granted the rights of naturalization to fuch 
 Jews, as ftiould have refided for feven 
 years fucceflively, without longer abfence 
 than of two months, in our anaerican co- 
 Jonies. It is well known, what fruitiefs 
 efforts they have made, at diverfe times, 
 for obtaining, in extenfion of this favor, 
 that they fhould be admitted to be natu- 
 ralized, upon Bill prefentable to Parlia- 
 ment, as well as all other foreigners. This 
 caufe has been more than onee debated, 
 but, in my fenfe of things, with realbns 
 indifferent enough, in all confcience, on 
 both fides, or at leaft with reafons, for 
 the moft part, common, or equally appli- 
 cable to all foreigners, ^ , , ^.,,. 
 
 In fad, what lb great advantage can be 
 promifed. from the naturalization of the 
 Jews, with refpe<5t to their boafted im- 
 menle fortunes, unlefs one fhould think, 
 that, in retribution for that favor, the 
 Jewifh nation will offer to pay the half of 
 our national debt ? Does our' trade want 
 funds ? It wants them much lefs than it 
 does the feeing new channels for it opened 
 and multiplied. It is not 'fubjeds im- 
 menfely rich, that it is material for us to 
 acquire, but fubjeds whofe moderate for- 
 tunes 
 
^ :©f Great Britain, S^c, 223 
 
 tunes^ (hould obtain arriongft us a grtat 
 gncneife) by means of their active induftry, 
 that principle of circulation. • v.'^- 
 
 On the other hand, what can be alledged 
 againft them ? their ftock-jobbing genius, 
 their mis-belief? as if thefe inconveniences 
 w^rfe new, or to be augmented by their 
 iiattiralizatiOn. Oi^ the contrary, it feems 
 . a means of fecUi'irig amongfl: us the for- 
 tunes of thofe it (hould fix here : they 
 would inf^nribly lofe that fpirit of fund- 
 ing and flockjobbing with. which their be^^ 
 .bg deprived of any Country they could 
 call their owrtj n^ceflarily infpired them. 
 In fhort, as to their religion, is not the 
 benefit of naturalization a method more 
 fure, and more humane of converting 
 .them* than an horrible auto da fe? |I The 
 'toibition of being admitted to all the 
 fights of otlitr fubjei^s, would bring many 
 of them into our communion, and their 
 children will be as true believers as any 
 of Qurfelves. But it will not be any of 
 thefe reafons that will bring on this event : 
 .jji^j-Xum ofF(?r^4.^Q the mi4;iiftry, and the 
 ^' " ' *': ■ ■ "'■.:■' 'L 4. '• ' rei- 
 
 ii.r < II 
 
 jl An Aft of Faith ! in which Chriftians, fo 
 dyling therafelves, commit the bodies of thofe who 
 do not believe as they do, to flames, in tliis world*, 
 knd coniign their fouls to eternal damnation in the 
 
«24 Advantages and Dlfadvantage^ 
 
 resources it will pron>ife tt> itfelf in future 
 from it, will be the true motives of de- 
 ciding for it. * it -r; i.;, wf to "Jar^^mn v 
 
 To return to the general naturalization 
 of foreigners, that is to fay, a qualifica- 
 tion to acquire^ without expemce, the 
 rights of that naturalization, by a refidence 
 in England ; what can be oppofed to a 
 law fo full of humanity and reafon ? God 
 forbid the leaft credit fhould be given to 
 the odious infinuations which, on this oc- 
 cafion, have been attempted to be difle- 
 minated, againft the Family now on the 
 throne. We are not come to- that cxcefs 
 of misfortune, as to have a king over us, 
 whofe project or intereft it would be ta 
 form to himfelf, in the very bowells of 
 England, a peopje of foreign ftrangers^ 
 
 ,i ■-. •.. ;:J ■.:> '.V. who 
 • II - . -I • ' 
 
 * By an Aft of the fixth SdHon lysi* i' is or- 
 dained, that to reckon from the ift of June 1753', 
 every jew of the age of 18^, and Upwards, . known 
 to profefs the jewiih religion for three y^ar^ ^for« 
 at leall, who fhall have refided in ai^y part of the 
 Britifh dominions at leaft three years before, with- 
 out longer abfence than of three months, {hall be 
 admitted to be naturalized upon Bill prefented to 
 the Parliament : declared neverthelefs incapable of 
 acquiring any patronage, or right of prefentation, 
 any right to church • pofleffion^^ fcheols, hofpi- 
 tals, &c. ■ •• ' ■»-■'•■' ; "» 'V •'■ ""*'• -■ •■•" /^"V* '• '»''-'.i 
 5 s/The clamors of the people have lately caufed 
 this Ad to be repealed in the 7th feflion 175^* . i 
 
 V 
 
of Gre>^'*' Britain, &c. 225 
 
 who would not be itiore Englifhmen by 
 their hearts, than by their birth. 1 can- 
 not then conceive what can be oppofcd 
 to a general naturalization, unlefs the re- 
 ftftencc of a blinded mob, which cries out 
 that there are already but too many poor, 
 and that it would be taking away the 
 means of fubfiftence from the TubjeAs who 
 are employed. To this I anfwer, far lefs 
 for the fake of anfwering the mob, than 
 for that of paying to fo good a caufe the 
 hommage which is due to it. 
 
 Firil, That if, in fadl, there are fo 
 many poor, real poor, that is to fay, to 
 whom the occafions of employment are 
 wanting, this does not come from a fu- 
 perfluity of inhabitants, but from the want 
 of a due circulation of work, and from 
 the cramping the confumption, both caufed 
 by the reftraints before deduced, and by 
 the high price of work : fo that any new 
 fubjeds acquired to England » fo far from 
 being a burthen to it, would augment its- 
 riches, by bringing amongft us new arts 
 of manufadlure, new notions of trade, and 
 by adding their induftry to our own. 
 
 2dly, That the clamor of the violent 
 oppofition which the Nation has exerted 
 againft a general Naturalization, much 
 more than even the charges and fees of 
 
 I. ^ iNatura- 
 
226 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 Naturalization, tho* conGderablc enough, 
 keep away from our Country many fo- 
 reigners, whom the defire of a better, or 
 a new fortune, might tempt into it : many 
 perfecuted Proteftaots, who on the pro« 
 mulgation of fo wife a law, would haften 
 to adopt for their country a nation, which 
 above all others, enjoys the reputation of 
 being free, and of holding Commerce in 
 honor. 
 
 : 3dly, That of the foreigners, thofe only 
 would come to take the benefit of fuch a 
 law, who fhould have, in their own for- 
 tunes, or in their own induflty, the means 
 of fubfifting, as pad experience has proved. 
 
 Some of them would come to enjoy a- 
 nBongft us thofe fortunes, of which they 
 have already lodged a part in our public 
 funds : thus the Nation would gain yearly 
 confiderable fums, which the intereft pay- 
 able on their capitals in the flock, caufes 
 to be fent out of the Kingdom. . 
 
 itthly, Thefe induftrious foreigners, the 
 people is afraid of having come amongft 
 us, are fp^cificaliy thofe who deprive our 
 poor of the means of fubfiflence, by work- 
 ing in their own country cheaper than we 
 can do. It would thtn be a double gain 
 for the Nation to make their country lofe 
 
 - . ' th« 
 
of GRBilT ftlllTAIK^ &C. 22;|t 
 
 the benefit of chat work, by appropriating 
 k to ourfelves. * « -■■ o< ;/ " ir.icr r ■ » '% / <' 
 '. 5ChIy, Should they be difperfcd amongft 
 eur manufadories, what might be ex- 
 pcdled from them is this, that by com- 
 petition, emulation, and advancement of 
 induftry, in fhort, by their example of 
 thriftinefs, they would force the merchants 
 and workmen to content themfclves with 
 moderate profits. < ■ n.- -^ ,:-.#» 
 
 6thly, That, if diftributed into feparate 
 colonies, they fhould found new manu- 
 fadtories, as pad experience might give 
 leave to hope, in fuch cafe, even with- 
 out themfelves exercifing agriculture, they 
 would, by their confumption, contribute 
 to extend it over before uncultivated 
 
 7thly, That even fhould ten thoufand 
 foreigners draw nothing more from their 
 work, than barely the expence of their 
 confumption, without any profit, the State 
 would ftill be ten thoufand men • thei 
 ftronger for them. * 
 
 8thly, That the produce of the taxes 
 on confumption would thereby encreafe, 
 in eafe of the expences and charges of 
 the State, which would by no means be 
 encreafed on account of thefe new inha- 
 bitants, 
 
 L 6 9'i''lyi 
 
228 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 V i^thly. That an encreafe of people would 
 be, for our plantations, an encreafe of con- 
 fumption, and encouragement for their 
 culture ; that reciprocally our fubjeds go- 
 ing in greater numbers to our colonies, 
 would there raife the price of our'commo* 
 ditics and manufadlures. - '"" -* ■^■'V' "' 
 lothly, and finally, that England can 
 with eafe maintain half as many again in- 
 habitants, as what it now adually contains, 
 if one may judge from its exports of corn, 
 and from the extent of its uncultivated 
 lands. That this Kingdom is, perhaps of 
 all the kingdoms in Europe, the molt 
 qualified for a great population by its na- 
 tural fertility, and by the facility of com- 
 munication between, its different provinces, 
 by Ihort enough ways either by fea or 
 liand : advantages denied to France, or 
 to other States, who have great tracks of 
 land to crofs, and who have negleded 
 oiaking proper channels of communica- 
 •ion, .i-r;. :. . .r!.i : n:: •:• iiU u^:../ 
 
 < ' ^ . 
 
 VI. On 
 
 ' t 
 
I of Great Britain, &c. aaj 
 
 VI. On the Riches in CirculatioiI* 
 On /i>^ National Djbt. b» Taxes. 
 
 Here are a hundred projedls for ren- 
 dering a State wealthy, and power- 
 fully to one fingle one, of which the ain> 
 would be, to make every private perfon 
 enjoy his due iliare of the wealth and 
 power of the State. For a century back, 
 many private perfon s have profufely rilk- 
 cd, or facrificed their lives and fortunesi 
 to the making of the State more rich and 
 more powerfull : but are they themfelves 
 the richer, or the happier for it ?. Is the 
 State, in reality become more rich, or 
 more powerfull ? Are things then fo conr 
 ftituted, that the intereft of the Public 
 ftands in oppofition to the intereft of pri- 
 vate perfons ? or is it not fo, that the 
 intereft of the minifters of the State, is 
 often called the intereft of the State ? 
 
 Glory, Greatnefs, Power pf the Nation : 
 how vain and how void of fenfe are thefe 
 founds, compared to thofe of the Liberty,, 
 feafe, and Happinefs of the Subje6t ! Or 
 rather, can there be another way imagined 
 to render a nation rich and powerfull, 
 than to make the feveral members of it, 
 partake in the riches of the Nation, by. 
 
 means 
 
 •,A. 
 
2jO A<hrantag6& and Dif^v^tages 
 means of a diftribution wifely propor- 
 
 - The national riches are, fertile fends, 
 manufadures, trade, and gold and filver 
 which are the produce of.therft: but whae 
 afe thefe riches but fprings of the political 
 machine, to which proper powers muft be 
 appHed to put them in motion ? 
 
 If there yet remain uncultivated lands; 
 if there are a great number of poor in a 
 . nation, it muft be from fome faults or 
 defc<5h of adminiftration, which hinder the 
 diftribution of lands from taking place, 
 orfubfifting. •-»'''> • ti;n>/^- j n^ a 
 
 ^ If trade and manufactures do not go 
 on continually opening to themfelves- new 
 branches, new -ways and means^ it is 
 doubtlefs becaufe the reftraints on ' them, 
 da not permit every one freely from reap- 
 ing in a field, of which the produdlions 
 are without number, or Hmits. 
 
 If gold. and filver are not in circulation, 
 of what more yfe or avail are they, than 
 gold and filver in the mine before it is 
 opened? '^^ ^'^ ^fii*^^ 01 jrir-r* ' -*- ^^ ' ' 
 
 The advantages too of circulation are 
 not very material, if it is made to flow 
 through, under- or over-proportioned chan- 
 nels. Take, on one fide, a fingle fortune 
 0^25 thoufand a year, and on the other 
 
 fide 
 
of Great Britain^ &c.j^ ajl 
 
 fide 25 families of a thoufand a year each : 
 then compute on each fide the number, 
 and detaif of .the fervants in Town and 
 Country, the confumptions as to quan- 
 tity, and nature, the number of marriages, 
 &c. the efFeds of circulation will be found 
 much of more extenfive advantage, with 
 refpedt to the employment of individuals, 
 and of confumption, in the fecond, than 
 in the firft example. • . 
 
 In a State, as in the human body, health 
 and ficknefs, life and death capitally depend 
 on a circulation well or ill eftablifhed, con- 
 tinued or interrupted, of the riches in one, 
 and of the fluids in the other. 
 
 In a folitary, disjoined Nation, that was 
 to have no relation whatever with other 
 nations, the quantity of gold, filver, or 
 of any other circulating reprefentation of 
 value, would be matter of indifference. 
 It is not fo, in the Society eftablifhed be- 
 tween nations who jiiave let up, or taken 
 Gold and Silver for a common fign, or 
 meafure for their riches : becaufe, every 
 thing clfe being equal, that nation which 
 have* the moft gold and filver, in circula- 
 tion, will be the ftrongeft. Now, in the 
 ftate of war, open or underftood, conti- 
 nually fubfifting between all Nations, the 
 
 .-; . : ' . being 
 
2^2 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 being the ftrongeft, is not a matter of in- 
 difference. • ♦ ' ''■' 
 - Gold and filver, amongft thofe nations 
 who have no mines, are the produce of 
 their Commerce : and amongft nationsi ri- 
 vals in trade, every thing elfe being equal, 
 that nation which fells the cheapeft will 
 carry on the grcateft trade. But the gold 
 and filver, which the merchant receives 
 from the abroad-trade, being only in ex- 
 change for the gold and filver with which 
 be has paid" for his merchandize, to the 
 merchant in the home-trade : that quan- 
 tity of gold, and filver, coming to en- 
 creafe by the profits of that exchange •, 
 the price of the merchandife will alfo en- 
 creafe, if the quantity of the merchandize 
 that is made, and of that which is exported 
 remains the fame. 
 
 This^ difproportion and dearnefs will ftill 
 cncreafe more, if the common fign of gold 
 and filver is multiplied by fuch reprelen** 
 tations, as Bank bills, and other paper- 
 currencys of the Government, Companies, 
 &c. But the price of every thing will rife 
 in yet a greater proportion, than the quan- 
 tity of gold and filver will encreafe, if the 
 diftribution of this gold and filver is ex- 
 treamly unequal. If the half of the Nation 
 ^■'- '^ * , polfefles 
 
*;'. 'u of Great Britain, &c. 233 
 
 poffcffes two thirds of the gold and filver 
 of it, it will pay a higher price for what 
 it wants, than the other half, and will force 
 it to follow its price. 
 
 Then will the price of things in trade* 
 become fuch at home, that there will be 
 little or no profit to be got by carrying 
 them to foreign market, and trade will 
 ftagnate, and be at an end. One part of 
 the Nation will becorfie poor,: and the po- 
 pulation of it fenfibly diminifh. - ' ^ * 
 
 In ^ State well-peopled, to which com- 
 merce and manufadures are novekies, or 
 which Ihall have opened to itfelf a new 
 Irade, the importation of gold and filver, 
 is much a longer time, before it makes 
 that inconvenience be felt, which ariles front 
 its abundance : becaufe, as faft as money 
 becomes plentifull, induftry difplays itfelf : 
 the demands of luxury are multiplied : 
 the number of workmen encreafes : new 
 branches of foreign trade open 5 money is 
 rare in proportion to thefe employments 
 for it, and to the work they occafion^ 
 The importance of the cfiefts produced by 
 the encreafe of gold and filver, according 
 to this hypothefis, fhews whit ought to be 
 the uneafinefs,. and vigilance of a nation, 
 in which thefe e6Fe6l:s begin to be no longer 
 operated, but with diijiculty and Aruggling. 
 
 But 
 
234 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 ' But wh^t can we think 6f the policy of 
 a nation, which, at its point of abun^ 
 dance, ha^ begun to multiply to cxcefs the 
 reprefentative figns of gold, and filver, and 
 has raifed the price of its commodities, 
 and materials of trade, whilftthe occa- 
 fions for worky and employ, diminiflied 
 by reftrainCs kid oti its trade, have been 
 forcing it to provide for the fubfiflence of 
 a great number of its fubjedts, kept in 
 idlervefs. .- «ri; fc*->.*' xj: o-'K' ,.>,.''^''.- 
 
 This is however what England has done 
 by the abufe of it's credit, and the mulut- 
 plieity of it's taxes. ' " r 
 
 What th^ fruit of this policy has been, 
 and what the fuccefs of it m^ufl be, the 
 ftate of the national debt wiU fhow us. 
 
 Of /fe Effects dfthit Abuse of the NfA» 
 
 ^. The Whole of the home-trade may be 
 divided "into two parts ; the one a very 
 narrow one^ confifting of the mutual barter 
 of merchandize : the other, by the ex- 
 change of merchandize for gold and filver, 
 oty on credit of the dealers. To this furti 
 of circiilating funds, the Nation, by a 
 conftantly growing abufe of its credit, has 
 added within chisffe fixty years,, about four- 
 ■\^ ■ ,:j8^i^ cn^ plv.^iili:? f>:iv/ hAlAai fcore 
 
of Great Britain, &c 235 
 
 fcore millions fterling * of paper-currency, 
 
 ' negotiable upon the Change, and with even 
 an advantage over the coined one, under 
 
 ■ the name of Public Funds, which fome 
 have been pleafed to call our artificial 
 wealth •, fo that if you add together the 
 fum of the current coin, the original ca- 
 pital of the different debts of the Nation, 
 encreafed from 4, 10, 30, to 90 per cent, 
 that fome of thefe funds are fold for above 
 par, the Bank- bills. Exchequer- notes, India- 
 bonds, f there will not be found Icfs than 
 a fum oif an hundred and twenty milBon* 
 fterling (two thoufand feven hundred and 
 iixty millions of livres) doubtlefs a prodi- 
 gious fum, and out of all proportion to 
 the. quantity of foreign or home fpecie cur- 
 rent in trade, which 1 compute at eighteen 
 millions only, according to the beft au- 
 thorities, of writers, and others the moft 
 
 V thoroughly acquainted with thefe matters, 
 whofe calculates have not . for thefe twenty 
 years varied but from fifteen to eighteen 
 millions. Sir Gerard-^— ck was the 
 firft who durft carry it to thirty millions, 
 
 ^ and for the firft time at the Duke of 
 
 i:,V. „ .:;■ . .'..r. .^t„ '-^ '.. 'V;.; >:-,^, N le*S 
 
 ■ . . I.. .1111 II- 
 
 * 1 840 milliws of livres. : * * 
 
 f Amounting to near 4 millions fterling, renewed 
 
 every fix months, and ctrrying aa intereU of 3 per 
 
 Cent. 
 
2 j6 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 N— -le's, in prefenfce of a fuH levy. 
 This was in tlic time of the Jaft war, when 
 it was for his intereft to talk fo, to favor 
 the fubfcriptions to the loans, which the 
 Government employed him to get filled, 
 in order to continue it. This was how- 
 ever believed by none, unlefs perhaps by 
 himfclf, and by Mr. A. Hooke, who re- 
 peated it afterwards in his Oracles of 
 Briftol: but this oracle has met with but 
 little faith* It is not eafy to perfuade the 
 world that the flam of eflfe£live cafh has 
 almoft doubled within thefe fixty years, 
 when one confiders all that muft have 
 gone out of the Kingdom, for the expence 
 and maintenance of our armies abroad^ 
 during three long and expenfive wars; 
 for foreign fubfidics payed in time of war, 
 and of peace ; for the intereft of the fums 
 belonging to foreigners, in our funds : in 
 ihort, what has pafied of it to Hanover. 
 And, on the other hand, how little could 
 have been made to return ei it, by a trade 
 loaded with enormous, and conftantly 
 growing impofts, of cuftoms, duties, ex- 
 cife, &c. and confiderably diminifhed by 
 the encreafed dearnefs of commodities, and 
 by the almoft incredible augmentation of 
 the induftry and commerce of Nations our 
 rivals, during this period of time.. 
 
 But 
 
of Great Bhitaik, &c. 237 
 
 . But be the thing as it will, the exceffive 
 growth of our circulating funds has ne- 
 ceflarily changed the proportion which 
 exifted between merchandize and fnoney : 
 and as that change has been too fuddcn, 
 and has not been the lame in other trading 
 nations: the price of commodities muft 
 have rifen more fenfibly in England, than 
 amongft our rivals, all other circunJlanccs 
 being fuppofed equal. ;., .; . ., 
 
 This borrowing-cofFer, which the Na- 
 tion has never fhut fince the firft day that 
 it opened it, has been continually filling 
 with the money of thofe, who have begun 
 to prefer a terrain interefl, payed every 
 fix months, to the flow and precarious pro- 
 fits of Trade. What a lofs for the State 
 muft have arifen from this new employ 
 of money ! As things formerly ftood, the 
 foreigners payed the intereft of it, by the 
 ballance of trade j at prefent, the Nation 
 it is that pays it. -^ " * '^ ' ' 
 
 The profits from that ufury, tranfaded 
 by the moneyed men, with a neceffitous 
 Government, repeated without meafure, 
 and concentered in a fmall number of 
 hands, have augmented the inequality, in 
 the diftribution of riches. Every fuljjedt 
 has payed his (hare of the expences contri- 
 butablc to the wants of the Government, 
 
 * and 
 
238 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 and moreover, the Intereft of thofc fums, 
 to thofe who had furniflied the advances 
 on them : in fuch manner, that thefe hav- 
 ing bccdmc richer, whilft the others have, 
 at the fame time, been impoveriflied, the 
 reiterated exigencies of the State have aug- 
 mented the difficulty of the Icvys upon 
 the poor, and at the fame time the de« 
 pendence of the Government upon the 
 moneyed men, in all occafions of bor- 
 rowing. II - -* • ' 
 " ..s v,^ :;,^t .::■', ■ r .i ' -a.: '" )» ^u , --f In 
 
 ' ' '■ ^ L II ■ I ■■■ ■ Ill II i _ ■■ II I I I 
 
 II Ufuiy, or taking up money at. intereft, is for 
 the State, as well as for private perfons, a refTource 
 in cafes of need, but a more ufefull one for the 
 Sute, when private perfons tranfaft it with one 
 another, than when the State tranfads it with pri- 
 vate perfons : and it is ruinous for ,the State when 
 it deals with foreigners. But the excefs of ufu- 
 ry, that is to fay, an exoiljitant intereft, and the 
 ahufe which the State makes, and is fometimes 
 forced to make of this refTource, moft certainly take 
 their rife from that exceiTive inequality in the di« 
 ftribution of riches^ whence fome private perfons 
 are rich in the midft of a poor State. If then the 
 wrong principles of this diftribution ^re not fuccefs • 
 fully attacked, all the efforts of laws levelled a- 
 gainft the exceffes and abufe of ufury, will be for 
 ever without avail, as they have been in all times. 
 Free, unreftrained induftry, has alone the power of 
 difpenfing, and diftributing the riches of Trade, 
 and Agricufture, amongft the fubjefls, in the moft 
 favorable propofition to circulation. 
 
or Great Britaik, &c. 239 
 
 In fliort, the folidity of the natbnal 
 credit has .extended this abufe a3 far as it 
 could go : the foreigners, through a con- 
 fidence ruinous for us, have lodged in our 
 public funds, though at a more moderate 
 intereft than elfewhere, confiderahlc fums : 
 they are computed to amount to no kfs 
 than to a fourth, and by fome to a third, 
 of the national debt. We have neverthe- 
 lefs believed ourfelvcs rich with the riches 
 of others, and fcarce are we yet unde- 
 ceived, though the lowering of the Ex- 
 change might certify to us the large re- 
 mittances, we make every half-year to fo- 
 reigners, for the intereft of their ftock. 
 The capital of it is ftill due : that capital 
 which has been payed, and overpaid, to 
 them in intereft. If in the laft "^ars this 
 difadvantage in the Exchange was lefs 
 fenfibly felt, it was owing to the happy 
 reflburce we found in the abundance of 
 pur corn, and the dearth of it in the coun- 
 tries of our foreign creditors. Judge now 
 of the good fenfe, or of the candor of thofe 
 who envy or who boaft of Our artificial 
 riches : who pretend ihat the national debt 
 is nothing : that it is the right hand which 
 owes to the left hand : but even fhould 
 that be the only effect of this debt : is it 
 not itfelf a very great evil that the right- 
 
 '^«^' 'o hand 
 
240 Advantages and Difadvantage« 
 
 hand fhould grow every day more and 
 more indebted to the left hand ? a mem- 
 ber which gains a monftrous growth at 
 the expcnce of the fubftance of the others,, 
 which thereby become withered and para- 
 litica does it not threaten the body with a 
 total deftru6tion ? ;; t, i^ujv a^'J >..** ,.r.. 
 
 Causes and Progresses of tie Ua- 
 : ;.(> rij*^'^^^^ Debt.. .,,.,.,,^,i ,^, 
 The wars in the reigns of King William 
 and Queen Anne, the offenfive and de- 
 fcnfive alliances of the reigning Family 
 with the Continent, furnifh us wish the i 
 epochs of the origin and progrefs^ of the 
 national debt. They were the caufe, or 
 at lead the pretext of them. All the Ads 
 of Parliapient which have authdrifed the 
 expences, and eftablilhed the poverty of 
 the Nation, declare in their preamble, that 
 the money of the fubjed is defigned to 
 carry on the war with vigor againft Franccy 
 and the- other enemies of the Nation, 
 Thefe wars were violent, and obftinate. 
 Treaties of Peace are no longer dictated 
 by that infpired fpirit of concord which 
 touches every heart : they are no longer 
 other than the fad efFcdt of the wearinefs, 
 and exhaufted forces of the combatants. 
 How far thofe wars were ncceffary •, how 
 hml glorious 
 
 ■ jt ■-, ■- 
 
of Grtat Btiitain, &c. 241 
 
 glorious they have been j whither our tran- 
 quillity and power have been the better 
 cftabliihed for them, aie queftions hitherto 
 undecided amongft politicians. But, by 
 the (late of our debts, any one may judge 
 how dear that glory and thefe interells 
 have coft England. And any one may 
 modeflly prefume, that if a fmall part of 
 thofe immenfe expences had been employ* 
 ed to pufh our true interefts in America; 
 fole mafters of a Continent which is now 
 difputed with us by a rival nation, we had 
 left no pretext for a vain quarrtl about 
 limits. 
 
 When William mounted the throne, the 
 fum -total of the debts of the Nation was 
 under 700 thoufand pounds fterling f 16 
 millions of livres.) His reign- in thirteen 
 years, carried the expences ot the Nation 
 to 70 millions fterling (1610 millions o[ 
 livres) of which there remained due at his 
 death in 1702, ten millions fterling (230 
 millions of livres ) ' ^ ' 
 
 The twelve years and a half of the reign 
 of Queen Anne coft the Nation 75 mil- 
 lions of expence, and in 1714 the debts 
 exceeded 53 millions fterling. (12 19 mil- 
 lions of livres.) • " -■- 
 
 The thirteen years of the pacific reign 
 of George I. feemed tc owe us the pro- 
 
 M rnife 
 
 1 
 
2 j.2 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 mife of fome diminution of the national 
 debt: but George, in 1727, left it as he 
 had found it, within 200 thoufand pounds 
 ileriing, that is to fay, ft ill at 53 milhons 
 llerl. (1,219 millions of hvres.) 
 
 After the eleven firft years of the prefent 
 reign (of George II. ) which preceded the 
 war, the accounts of the national debt al- 
 lowed in Parliament (exclufive of that of 
 the Navy) carrifed it above 46 milHons 
 llerling. The war from 1740 to 1741, 
 ran it up to 71.340,397/. fterHng. - 
 
 The charges were ^^ millions fterling. 
 
 /. rteil. 
 
 In 1750, the debt was — 75028,886 
 In 1 75 1 — 74-309'5^2 
 
 In 1752, the debt ftood at 74.3^8,451 
 To which add the Navy-debt 1.665,493 
 And the milHon borrowed on 1 
 
 the tax on the penfions j" i'Ooo,oco 
 
 ■ 
 
 And you will find the a6i:ual *> 
 
 fum of the debt /. fterl. j77-033»944 
 
 (or 1.761,780,712 livres) of which the 
 intereft, notwithftanding all the operations 
 of its redudtion, amounts annually to 
 about three millions fterling (fixty-nine 
 millions of livres.) 
 
 They, 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 243 
 
 They, doubtlefs, were not friends to 
 the Nation, who advifed William to make 
 himfelf fure of the hearts of his fiibjcdLS, 
 by making himfelf mailer of their for- 
 tunes, by means of thefe public loans, of 
 which the folidity and intercd might be 
 the baits : an expedient fuccefsfully em- 
 ployed of yore by Pope Sixtus V. to bring 
 the Romans under an unlimited fubjedion. 
 The Miniftry of Queen Anne, and thofe 
 of the two following reigns have willingly 
 adopted a })clicy fo favorable to the royal 
 authority. The perfonal interefts of mem- 
 bers of Parliament in both Houfes, and 
 the influence of corruption have often 
 ftiflcd the impotent cries of the Nation a- 
 gainfl: the progrefles of an Evil, which is 
 become too evident, and too fenfible. 
 
 Three famous Companies, under the 
 name of the Bank, Eaft-India, and South- 
 Sea Companies, have been the fprings and 
 machines, which have built up the mon- 
 flrous pile of out debts. 
 
 A loan made to the Government, In 
 '694, of the fum of 1.200,000/ llerling, 
 at 8 per cent, reimburllible after 170 , 
 gave birth to that great Company, which 
 under the name of the Governor and Com- 
 pany of the Bank of England^ has concen- 
 tered in itlelf, as in a point, the wliole 
 
 M z credit 
 
-244 Advantages and Dlfad vantages 
 
 •credit of the Nation, and the truft of the 
 Subjedl. By means, and in confideration 
 of feveral other fums which the Bank has 
 fince lent to the Government in its wants 
 and exigencies, and of feveral reduflions 
 of intereft confented to, as to 4, 3 -ir, and 
 3 per cent, it has had fo much merit, as 
 to be continued to 1732, 1742, and laftly 
 to 1764: and its credit upon the Go- 
 vernment has rifen to above ten millions 
 ftcrling (230 millions of livres.) 
 
 The preference which its notes have 
 obtained over cafh, the great fums of which 
 private perfons make it depofitary, the 
 great and repeated profits it makes in its 
 money dealings with private perfons, and 
 upon its advances to the Government, 
 from which it receives 120 or 130 thou- 
 iand pounds annual intereft (near 30 mil- 
 lions of livres) to be divided amongft its 
 ilock-holders, and proprietors of the an- 
 nuities with which it has charged itfelf, 
 form the miftery, the foundation, and the 
 means of its credit: but the more pro- 
 digies this credit operates, that is to fay, 
 the more the greatnefs of the difproportion 
 between its real means, and its engage- 
 ments encreafes, the more muft the im- 
 poflibility encreafe of fatisfadlion in the 
 critical moment of a difcredit. There is 
 
 no 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 245: 
 
 no rcmembring, without fliuddering, the 
 alarms and the diftrefs to which it found 
 itfelf driven in 1 745, when the Pretender's' 
 fon was not above 120 miles (40 frendi- 
 leagues) from London : the public decla- 
 ration then made, and the aflbciation then- 
 formed amongft a number of merchants,, 
 proprietors in the public funds, not to re- 
 fufe payment, in bank notes, doubtlcl's 
 contributed more to fave it, than the paul- 
 try expedient of paying in fmall money 
 by way of gaining time : but if the rebels 
 had not foon been compelled to retire, on 
 the failure of the fuccors they expedted 
 from a defcent in the northern part of the 
 County of Norfolk, what mull have be- 
 come of the Bank ? what credit would it 
 then have found ?" and what aids could 
 have fupported it ?" in fuch a difafter, ic 
 might have perhaps been fome c©nfolation, 
 the having a plaufible occafion for a forced 
 bankruptcy with refpcd to foreigners, and 
 thereby to have lod for ever the ruinous 
 honor of their confidence. 
 
 Under the fame reign (of K, William') 
 in 1698, two millions fterling lent to the 
 Government, brought into exiftence a new 
 Eaft'India Company^ foon after united with 
 the antient one, continued from 171 1 to 
 our days, and to continue till 1780, in 
 
 M 3 favor 
 
 I 
 
24-6 Advantages and Dlfad vantages 
 
 favor of the fuccelTive redudlions of interefk 
 to which it has confented, and of other 
 funis Jent by it, which have carried its 
 capital to 4.200,000/. fterl. (96 millions 
 600 thoufand livres. 
 
 In the 9th year of the reign of Qiieen 
 Anne, the Government ftood in need of a 
 fum of about nine millions and a half fter- 
 ling, on account, for the mod part, of 
 the naval debt, which had been long payed 
 in navy-tickets and debentures, that were 
 then at a difcount of 40 and 50 per cent, 
 of exchange for cafh. A Company which 
 called in that difcredited ;paper-currency, 
 offered to lend the nine millions fterling, 
 at fix per cent, and obtained the excliLfive 
 privilege of trade to the Soulb Se^s, and 
 other parts of America, from whence it 
 took the name of South-Sea Company; 
 thd Government has fmce flood indebted 
 to it, at one time, about thirty millions 
 fterling : and after fome re-imburfcments, 
 and redudions of intereft to 4 and 3 per 
 cent, it has remained creditor for 25 mil- 
 lions fterling i ^ys millions of livres.) 
 
 Such have been the deftrudlive reforts of 
 a Nation, plunging deeper and deeper into 
 debt, and dragged on into certain ruin, 
 by the moft burrhenfome ways and means 
 of borrowing, fuch as annuities for one, 
 
 two, 
 
of Great Britain, Sec. I4.y 
 
 fwo, and three lives, loans negotiated upon 
 mortgaged revenues, with interefl and 
 premium on the advances, money taken 
 up by v/ay of lotteries, at the interefl: of 
 9, 6, 5, and 4 per cent, with premiums 
 of 25, 30, to 34 per cent. Exchequer- 
 bills, renewed for three or four years, from 
 three months to three months, the com- 
 pound interefl: being fucceflively added to 
 the principal from quarter to quarter at 
 the rate of 6 per cent : It is, I fay, by fo 
 ruinous an adminifl^ration of the finances, 
 and by the enormous profits of the len- 
 ders with the Government, that the Nation 
 has feen itfelf more and more intangled in 
 its bonds, and that the weight of them is 
 become more and more cumberfome, op- 
 prefl!ive, and difficult to fhake off. 
 
 The immcnfity of the national debts 
 doubtlefs demonftrates, in the mofl: pref- 
 fing manner, how important it is to pro- 
 vide for their reimburfement •, in order to 
 put an end to the ruinous interefl now 
 paid by the Public on them, and to exo- 
 nerate the revenue of the State, The ne- 
 celTity of this has been felt fo far back as 
 the year 1 7 1 7, when there was formed a 
 general fund, fince called the Sinking Fund, 
 dedicated to this ufe. The South-Sea Com- 
 pany propofcd to us in 1 7 1 9 a new ref- 
 
 M 4 fource. 
 
248 Advantages and Difad van cages 
 
 fource, when it offered to take up above 
 33 millions fterling of the public debts, 
 redeemable and non- redeemable, for the 
 like fum in new transferable llock, of 
 which it allowed that the intereft fhould 
 be reduced by the Government to 4 per 
 cent, after 1727 ; the difference from that 
 redudion being t© be carried to account of 
 the reimburfement of the capital debt. 
 
 The jealoufy of the Bank, who by its 
 offers to the Government, forced that 
 Company to engage itfelf to a farther pay- 
 ment of five millions fterling in acquittal 
 of the national debt, gave fo great an idea 
 of the bargain, that even before the Adl 
 was paffed, the South-fea ftock had got 
 up to 375 per cent. This infatuation grew 
 greater and greater from the eagernefs of 
 the Public, and the common talk of the 
 t)ired:ors, who, upon the pretended pro- 
 fits of the Company's trade, promifed not 
 lefs than 30, 40, and 50 per cent, divi- 
 dend for the laft fix months of 1720. 
 The Company, whofe firft intention had 
 been to open fubfcriptions only to the pro- 
 prietors of the national debt, was forced 
 to open fucceffively four money fubfcrip- 
 tions, on the foot of 3G0, 400, 800, and 
 1000/. per 100 of the new flock, which 
 were precipitantly filled : the two firft only 
 
 amounted 
 
of Great Britain, &:c. 249 
 
 amounted to above nine millions (lerling, of 
 which a million and a half was payed in 
 ready cafh. 
 
 It may be remembered how the charm 
 was broke, even before the operation was 
 confummated. A defire of realizing hav 
 ing fiicceeded to the rage of fubfcribing, 
 the number of the fellers was found to fo 
 much exceed that of the buyers, that be- 
 fore the clofe of 1720, the (lock at looo 
 was fallen to 200. 
 
 The Parliament fuccecded ill in repair- 
 ing the diforders caufed by thefe operations, 
 which v/ere as liable to the fufpicion of 
 unfairnefs as of imprudence, when it de- 
 clared thofe fubfcriptions valid. The tax 
 of about feventeen hundred thoufand pounds 
 llerlingi impofed on the eflates of thirty- 
 three Diredtors, then reputed worth near. 
 two millions fterling, and divided amongft 
 the proprietors of the Company's new 
 ftock, proved but a poor fatisladtion to all 
 thofe who had bartered their money, and 
 Jliares in the National debt, for fhares and 
 fubfcriptions in that Company. Thus the 
 fortunes of a number of private pcrfons 
 were deftroyed, and the Nation found it 
 felf juft as poor as it was before. 
 
 M 5 "pje 
 
t5o Advantages and Dlfad vantages 
 
 - The Sinking Fund. 
 
 ' -• . . ■ 
 
 In the mean time the Sinking Fund, 
 formed in 1717, feemed to afford more 
 folid hopes. More than fifty branches of 
 Duties, before partly mortgaged, were made 
 perpetual, and the produce of them ap- 
 propriated to it, as faft as they fhould be- 
 come free of the afTignments on them. 
 The annual produce of this fund exceeded 
 twelve hundred thoufand pounds flerling 
 fo early as the year 1727, notwithftanding 
 the fums which had been diverted from it: 
 and a fair calculate demonftrates that one 
 million annually reimburfed, with the fav- 
 ings of intereft added thereto, from the 
 fums reimburfed; would have in lefs than 
 thirty years acquitted above fifty millions 
 of our debts : whereas, by a deplorable 
 fatality, even during the length of pacific 
 years, with which Heaven favored the 
 reigns of George I. and George II. fundry 
 expences occafioned by the connexions of 
 the Reigning Family with the Continent : 
 annual fubfidies payed to foreigners from 
 five hundred thoufand to a niillion flerling, 
 in times of war : the civil lift * carried 
 
 from 
 
 * The civil lift is coinpofcd of the peculiar re- 
 venue 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 251 
 
 from five hundred to near a million 
 fterling : in fliort, the current fervice 
 have yearly abforbed that fund, which 
 cfught to have been facred. On the other 
 hand, the fum of the national debt has 
 been confidered as facred, in a contrary 
 fenfe, fince every reign, fo far from di- 
 minilhing, has fcrupuloully added to it, as 
 confcientioufly as the monarchs of India 
 add to the Royal treafure which has been 
 left them by their predeceflbrs. 
 
 The Sinking Fund carried up to above 
 1.400,000/. a year in 1749, is already 
 rifen to above i. 700^000/. and will ex- 
 ceed two millions fterling, by means of 
 the difference of the redudion of intereft 
 on above 57 millions fterling from 4 to 
 3 t and 3 per cent, to reckon from the 
 25th Decemb. 1750, and from the 25th 
 Decemb. 1757. But the example of the 
 paft has made us fo diftruftfull for the fu- 
 ture, that it has been almoft reproached ta 
 a moft worthy Patriot, who advifed and 
 demonftrated poiTible fo advantageous a 
 reduction, that he had no better than pre- 
 pared new means for new expences. 
 
 venue of the Crown, and certain funis granted to 
 the King for the maintenance of his Houfe-hold, 
 and other expences and charges of the Crown. 
 
 M 6 To 
 
252 Advantages and Dilad vantages 
 
 To conclude this article, if one confi- 
 ders the means, and efFedts of the feveral 
 redudions fucceflively operated fince the 
 Revolution : the ready quicknefs with 
 which in 1748 the fubfcription of a loan 
 of a million fterling at 3 per cent, was 
 filled, the motives which in the lad decla- 
 ration of a reduction of intereft, deter- 
 mined a great part of the proprietors of 
 the national debt at 4 per cent, to prefer 
 3 per cent, to commence from Decem- 
 ber 1757, with an afllirance of enjoying 
 3 1 per cent, from 1750 to 1757, to 
 the rcimburfcmenc with which they were 
 threatened in a very ihort time: the eager- 
 nefs with which the other part of the 
 public creditors, who had not fubfcribed 
 in the terms of the Ad, took the benefit 
 of the delay allowed them for fubfcribing» 
 accepting as a favor, the puniilimenc in- 
 fii(5led on them for their tardinefs, of 
 granting them the 3 4 pt^r cent, only to 
 December 1755, one may difcover ftveral 
 truths, which, it is grievous no doubt, 
 that there (hould be no poflibility of dif- 
 fcmbling to one felf, to wit. 
 
 That the aim has conftantly been ra- 
 ther to encreafe the Sinking Fund, than 
 to fink the debt effedually : that when the 
 red udt ions of intcreft were operated by re* 
 
 imburfe- 
 
of Great Britain, &c» 25^ 
 
 imburfements, the amount of the debt was 
 not lelTened, owing to the borrowings, at 
 the fame time being at lead equal to the 
 re-imburfement : nay, that it has even been 
 encreafed by the borrowing of frefh fums 
 upon the gain by the reduced interelt. 
 
 That the three great Companies de- 
 voted to the Government, or rather to the 
 advantage they found in lending money to 
 it, has been the too fatal caufe of that fa- 
 cility the nation has met with, in plunging; 
 itfelf into debt. 
 
 That thefe Companies had found it 
 confident w.th their intereft, to place out 
 again with the Government, even at a re- 
 duced intered, thofe great profits they had 
 made out of it. 
 
 That a hundred and ten Governors 
 and Diredors of thefe Companies, in place,, 
 out of place, and ready to return into 
 place, defirous of the good graces of the 
 Court, and engaged by what is remitted 
 to them on the fu'ns they advance, have 
 even forced thofe Companies to redudlions 
 of intered againd their will and inten- 
 tion, by taking upon themfelves to open 
 fubfcriptions, of which they were fure of 
 foon feeing a profit by the fhares being 
 negotiated above par on the Royal Ex- 
 
 change. 
 
 That 
 
254 Advantage* and Difadvantages 
 
 That tliefc creatures 6f the Miniftry, 
 thefe three Companies, give the Miniftry a 
 dreadfull advantage over the Nation, efpe- 
 ciallyin that iiiLimatecorrelpondence which 
 mutiiil interefts have eftabliflied between 
 the Bank and rhe Court : on the fide of 
 the Bank, for the fake of the profits it 
 makes, on the loans to it out of thofe 
 funds it lias at its difpofal, and which it 
 mukiplies at difcretion, and upon the cir- 
 culation of the Exchequer Notes, &c. On 
 the Cide of the Court, for the fake of the 
 prompt and powerful 1 aids it receives from 
 the Bank, without the participation of Par- 
 liament, and which it applies to the ad- 
 vancement of irs particular views. 
 
 Tha r the fum of thefe debts conftantly 
 encreafing, and in the fame proportion the 
 fum of their intererb, from an exadt pay- 
 ment of ir, in, and amongft the hands of 
 the proprietors of the national debt, have 
 been always a reafon to them for accept- 
 ing a lefs and lefs intereft, and that it is 
 almoft fure that a redudion may be at- 
 tained of the intereft on the national debt 
 to 2 -r per cent, after the year 1757. 
 
 That the dread of being re-imburfed 
 by the Government clearly points out the 
 abafement into which land is fallen, and at 
 the fame time the violent ftate, and con- 
 traded nefs 
 
of Great Britaik, &C; ^^^ 
 
 tradednefs of a Trade, wliich does not ob« 
 tain a preference over the placing out of 
 money at 3 -4- per cent. 
 
 That in Parliament, by a fatality hard 
 to furmount, all the members of the 
 Country, as well as of the Court- party, 
 concur with an equal ardor to (lave off the 
 re-imburfement of the national debt ; if 
 they are landed- men, by their oppofition 
 to any new burthens on their lands, which 
 might accelerate the clearance : if they are 
 proprietors in the national debt, from the 
 advantage they find in not being re- 
 im bur fed. , 
 
 That the more the finking-fund fhall 
 encreafe, either by the redudions of in- 
 tereft, or by the affluence of the lunds 
 incorporable with it, as faft as they get 
 clear, the more will the means extend of 
 encrcafing the national debts by the bor- 
 rowing of nev/ lums upon thofe funds : 
 that, in fhcrt, the more the national debt 
 fhall encr afe, the nearer will approach 
 that inevitable moment of the deplorable 
 cataftrophe of the National credit. 
 
 Unde nevus rerum ordo renafcetur. 
 
 Of Taxes. 
 Wars, interefts foreign to the Nation, 
 indifcrcetly purfued and defended, have 
 
 produced 
 
7^6 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 produced debts •, thofe debts repeated have 
 occafioned the multiplication of taxes : the 
 want of exadlnefs in re-imburfing, has 
 caufed their continuation, and perpetuity. 
 
 The hiftory of taxes of all kinds, which 
 have corapofed the revenues of the Crown 
 and Nation, fince the conqueft to this 
 day, would doubtlefs take up an immenfe 
 enumeration : but the ftate of thofe which 
 a(5tually fubfift, prefents an adequate enough 
 jdea of them. Within this lad Century, 
 our imagination has been admirable fertile 
 in creating new ones,, or in reviving old 
 ones, under new fhapes : ever keeping 
 equal pace with our debts, they have been 
 from annual, become fixed for two or 
 three years, afterwards prolonged, in fhort 
 perpetuated : and multiplied ad infinitum. 
 Fifteen, or fixteen branches of duties, 
 which exifted under Charles II. of which 
 hardly fix were perpetual, have begot above 
 an hundred, of which the g,reatefl part 
 fubfifts to this day. 
 
 This State prefent to us the Custom- 
 house duties, colle6led on importation, 
 with allowance indeed of a. draw-back in 
 cafe of exportation within a limited time, 
 but always over-burthenfome to Trade, 
 whether prefently payed down^ or on truft 
 upon bonding for them : becaufe this me- 
 thod 
 
of Great Britaiv, &c. 257 
 
 thod of pradice employs gi \\t funis of 
 ftock unprofitably for the in*: -chant, and 
 does not leave him the liberty nt choofing 
 the mofi: favorable times of lale : duties 
 befidts fo multiplied and fo complicated, 
 that the coUedlion of them bein<.j; become 
 perfedlly a deep fcience for the I'urveyors, 
 and a miftery for the merchants, has bred 
 queftions which have divided the opinions 
 of our ableft accomptants, and required 
 the decifion of Parliament upon them. 
 
 Duties upon the Tobacco, fo unaccount- 
 ably calculated, that a foreigner fliall buy 
 it with us at ad.i: the pound, whilft an 
 Englilhman fhall pay 8^. 4« And notwith- 
 ftanding the bounty of 3 j. o^. i for fix 
 pounds of manufactured Tobacco, receiv- 
 able at the time of exportation, fix pounds 
 of Tobacco exported by an Englilhmaa 
 will (land him in is, iid. 4r, whilft fix 
 pounds exported and manufadured by a 
 foreigner fhall only coft him is. 5 ^. i, 
 which making a difference of 25 P^r cent, 
 muft deferve to the foreigner fome pre- 
 ference over us in the foreign markets, not 
 to mention the advantage he has of inveft- 
 ing but 100 lb. where we muft inveft 345, 
 in the fame quantity of commodity. 
 
 Duties colledted in fome of our iflands 
 on the exportation of their products, al- 
 lotted 
 
258 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 lotted to the improvement of our colonies, 
 but applied here to other ufes. 
 
 Duties on the exportation of coals, fait, 
 candles, &c. and upon the imports of 
 whales from our fiflieries. 
 
 Duties of the Excise, additional, and 
 fuper-additional, on the make and home- 
 confumption of the merchandize, and com- 
 modities the moft necelTary to life, or which 
 are the moft natural materials of our Com- 
 merce : duties, which through the multi- 
 plicity of their objeds, have multiplied 
 Surveyors, Commiffioners, &c. all places 
 at the devotion of the Court •, duties, per- 
 nicious in their management to the liberty 
 of the Subjedl, and to the liberty of the 
 Nation, by the influence which the exac- 
 tors of thofe duties, have over the minds 
 and votes of the confume ;*s in the time of 
 ele^ions, by their threats, their rigor, or 
 their indulgence. 
 
 The Malt-tax, of which the produce has 
 been found fo great, and of a colledion fo 
 eafy, fo little liable to fraud, and fo little 
 expenfive, that it has been punctually con- 
 tinued from year to year for fixty years : 
 a tax which the poor pay, upon the whole 
 of the beer they buy, (befides the duties 
 on retail in the publican way) whilft' the 
 rich fcarce pay the half of it, being ad- 
 mitted 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 259 
 
 mittcd to compound for what they make 
 at home, at the rate of five fhillings per 
 head in their famihes. 
 
 Duties upon foap and candles, hops, 
 paper, cards, &c. upon tanned hides in 
 England, at more than thirty per cent, of 
 their value. 
 
 Duties upon fait, fo immediately op- 
 pofed to the advancement of our fifheries, 
 and from which it was fo long before they 
 were freed : a tax at the fame time the 
 moft chargeable in the colledion of it, fince 
 it did not carry into the Exchequer the 
 clear half of the fum colleded. 
 
 Duties upon Tea, fubjedt indeed to a 
 draw -back upon exportation, but fo exor- 
 bitant before their very recent reduction, 
 that there ufed to be almoft as much fmug- 
 gled in, as fairly entered. An abufe, doubt- 
 lels, and a very great one, but ft ill a lefe 
 than that of fmuggling over wines and 
 brandies, efpecially rrom France, caufed by 
 their exceflive duties : a fraudulent com- 
 merce, of which the difadvantage is dou- 
 ble for England, fince it is carried on in 
 exchange for our wool and for our guineas, 
 with which it fills the ports of France, and 
 of Holland, nearefc to our coafts. 
 
 I fhall here remark by the way, that 
 taxes upon confumptions in general, have 
 
 been 
 
26o Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 been preferred to others for many reafons, 
 the moft part of them fpecious, (without 
 mentioning the particular motives which 
 might feduce the legiCitors themfelves in 
 their favor) as for example. 
 
 Becaufe thefe taxes are the moil general 
 ones, that is to fay, fuch as it is the lead 
 poITiblc to evade, or get exempted from, 
 efpecially the more their objedt is that of 
 neceffary confumption. 
 
 Becaufe the duty fcems of light weight ; 
 and, at the fame time, of almoll an infinite 
 produce, by the infinite fubdivifion of the 
 petty fums of which it is compofed. 
 
 Becaufe it is not an arbitrary, or violent 
 impofition, and feems to be freely payed, 
 fince every one may fix, at his own difcre- 
 tion, the bounds of his confumption. 
 
 In fine, becaufe foreigners pay to us a 
 great portion of thefe duties, added to the 
 price of the commodities they buy from us. 
 
 But it cannot, at the fame time, be de- 
 nied, 
 
 I ft, That thefe taxes incurr the ob- 
 je(5lion of being unequal, and unjuft, in 
 that, for the portion of things abfolutely 
 neceflary to life, the poor and the rich 
 pay the fame fum : infomuch that whereas 
 the people being fuppofed divided ifito 
 two parts pretty near equal, of which the 
 
 one 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 261 
 
 one has only its induftry to live upon, the 
 other pofTefles riches, enjoys, and pays the 
 labor of the other : thefe two halves, fo 
 different in their abilities, fhai'e neverthe- 
 lefs equally the weight of thefe taxes upon 
 all the commodities, or rather neceflaries, 
 of which the confumption admits of little 
 or no abufe or luxury. The contribution 
 is light, for the batchelors or fingle per- 
 fons, in eafy and idle circumflances : but 
 is exceffive for thofe ufefull fubjeds, of 
 whom the families are numerous, and the 
 fortunes narrow. 
 
 2dly, If the fo confiderable produce of 
 thefe taxes was not greatly reduced by the 
 charges of management, ajid levy of them, 
 why multiply, and repeat them, as has fo 
 often been done, on the fame articles, till 
 the diminution of their confumption, has 
 at length given warning of alleviating the 
 duty ? 
 
 3dly, We have flattered ourfelves too 
 much, if we have believed that on aug- 
 menting the taxes upon the confumption, 
 we fhould bring our workmen to the fo- 
 briety, or frugality of a Frenchman, who 
 lives, or rather ftarves, upon roots, chef- 
 nuts, bread and water ; or to the thrif- 
 tinefs of a Dutchman, who contents him- 
 felf with dried fi/h, and butter-miJk. 
 
 When 
 
262 Advantages a!id Difadvantages 
 
 When our workmen can no longer raife 
 the price of their work to their mind, there 
 ftill remain two great refuges to them from 
 labor, the Parilh, and Robbing. 
 
 4thly, The taxes upon confumption ne- 
 ceflarily raifing the price of commodities, 
 if they go on encreafing, that part which 
 the foreigners are fuppofed to pay, mud 
 diminifli in proportion, through the con- 
 fequential diminution of the quantity of 
 our commodities confumed abroad. 
 
 We have two proofs of the cxceflive rife 
 of the price of our manufactures and pro- 
 duds. . 
 
 The one, the great excefs oi tnv nrice ot 
 the fugars of our iHands over that ot c her 
 nations, quality for quality, caufed by the 
 exceflive price of the commodities they 
 draw from England, fo much beyond the 
 price of thofe fent by France and other na- 
 tions to their colonies. Such, at lead, is 
 the very probable reafon alledged by Ja- 
 maica and our windward iflands for the 
 exceOive price of their fugars, verified 
 fince the war, dearer at London from 40 
 to 70 per cent than at Bourdeaux thofe of 
 the french iflands, quality for quahty. 
 This was at the fame time a plaufible mo- 
 tive for their follicitation to the Parlia- 
 ment, for a permilTion of drawing certain 
 
 commodities 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 263 
 
 commodities from France, and other places 
 where they were to be had cheaper: an 
 invitation, one would imagine, public e- 
 nough to foreigners, to introduce them 
 by fmuggling them in. 
 
 The other proof, is the Bounty, or gra- 
 tification, we have fallen upon granting 
 on the exportation of certain articles of 
 our commerce, to enable our merchants to 
 fupport a competition with foreigners in 
 the markets abroad : a very wife remedy 
 no doubt, which too it will be neceflary 
 to extend to other branches of our Com- 
 merce, in proportion as the induftry of 
 France, and the fuccefs of the new manu- 
 fadures which in Switzerland, Germany, 
 and the North, are daily fpringing up, 
 fhall oblige us to it : yet, on an analyfis 
 of this operation, fuppofing even that this 
 gratification, or bounty, pays back a fum 
 equal to the taxes on confumption, it will 
 be found that the duties are colledled, and 
 paid back without any advantage, and that 
 the charges of colledlion, and paying back, 
 are fo much neat lofs. 
 
 But there will be no being perfuaded, 
 that the bounty can be fufficient to repair 
 the damage done to Commerce by the 
 taxt's upon confumptions, if one may defer 
 
 to 
 
264 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 to the fentiment of Sir Matthew Decker, a 
 judicious author, and of known impartia- 
 lity ; he proves by an exadl, and moderate 
 calculation, into which he was led by 
 Locke and Davenant, that the taxes upon 
 confumptions, and crude materials, are 
 more than doubled upon the merchandize 
 by the augmentation which the taxes take, 
 in being . payed and repayed by all the 
 hands through which the merchandize 
 pafles, before it arrives at the confumers ; 
 and by the augmentations which this in- 
 creafed fum adds to the price of the crude 
 materials, to the price of work, to the ex- 
 pence of the workmen and merchants in 
 their own proper confumption, to the pro- 
 fit of the merchant, which muft come out 
 of the price of the merchandize, that has 
 undergone, and comprehends all thefe aug- 
 mentations, * &c. 
 
 Add 
 
 * He takes for example the tax upon leather, by 
 means of which he finds the price of (hoes is charge 
 ed with twelve augmentations which the leather has 
 payed, in pafling fucceflively from the hands of the 
 grazier, through thofe of the butcher, unner, and 
 his workmen, the leather-cutter, ihoemaker and his 
 workmen. Here are already feven proportional 
 augmentations of deirnefs for the (hoes which 
 themfelvcs ufc, an cxpence which every one of 
 
 them 
 
of Great Britain, &:c. 265 
 
 Add to all this fum of the Cuftom- and 
 Excife-duties thus doubled, the lum oF 
 the other taxes, land-tax, poors-rate, (?<:c. 
 
 it 
 
 them mull regain on leather itfelf: then the aug- 
 ^-mentation of the tax itfelf, and four augmentations 
 in proportion to the profit which muit be made 
 by the butcher, the tanner, the cutter, and tlie 
 (hoemaker, out of the price thus fwclled of the 
 leather. -^ 
 
 ,A like tax will operate the fame efTeft on the 
 make of candles, foap, and beer. 
 
 But thcfe graziers, tanners, (hocmnkers, Sec, all 
 confume for their own ufe candles, beer, foap, and 
 other neceflary commodities : here are then a,gain 
 twelve rcfpedtive augmentations on th|{ price of 
 fhoes, from every one of thofe articles. 
 
 Now all who contribute to the fabric and com- 
 merce of cloth.s, for jtxample, from the fliepherd to 
 the wholeikle merchant, ufe Ihoes ; and every one 
 of them mull charge the augmentation of the price 
 of them upon the wool, and upon the numberlefs 
 fafhionings it mud receive before it is made into 
 cloth. Thus the augmentations of the tax upon, 
 leather, and of all and any other tax on the con- 
 fumption of neceflaries, will be repeated, ad itijhti- 
 tut/iy till all thefe funis are ultimately payed in a 
 lump by the laft confumer. It wdll not then be 
 hard to believe, that before coming to him, the 
 tax will have been more than doubled : efpecially, 
 if it is obf«rvcd, that the tax is by every one of 
 thofe who pay it, and recover it a^ain upon the 
 meixhandife, encreafed at leall thj inter eft of the 
 advance he has made, reckoning Irom the lirft who 
 pays the naked tax of it. 
 
 N 
 
266 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 it will be found, that the fum total of 
 thefe taxes is at 3 1 per cent, of the an- 
 nual expence of the whole people of Eng- 
 land, whom he computes at eight millions 
 of men, at 8 /. fterling p)er head ( 1 84 
 Jivrcsj fince the war preceding the publi- 
 cation of his wark. I afk after that, 
 where is the nation with which we can 
 enter into a competition of commerce up- 
 on equal terms ; and what mighty matter 
 IS the two per cent, advantage we boaft 
 over Ibme of our rivals in the intereft of 
 money, towards reftoring the level be- 
 tween them and us .^^ 
 
 But to re fume the interrupted enumera- 
 tion of taxes, you will find, Taxes upon 
 apprentices, upon hawkers and pedlars, 
 upon marriages, births, burials, upon 
 itage- and hackney-coaches (thofe of pri- 
 vate perfons being exempted t) that is to 
 fay taxes oppugnant to induftry and popu- 
 iatiou, upon the wants of the Poor, and 
 not upon the luxury of the Rich. 
 
 Stamp-duties, which do not take in lefs 
 than three hundred articles fubjeded to 
 
 them, 
 
 f This has ceaft-d to be intiroly trut, fince a tax 
 has been laid on all wheel-carriages, without nota 
 blc exception, bal whether in a jult proportion is a 
 
 quer}-. . ; . . ^ 
 
r 
 
 of Great Britain, &:c. 2(7 
 
 them, and which contribute to the felliiu 
 juftice full dear to the Subjedt. 
 
 Taxes upon letters, and packets by tiie 
 Pod, become fo burthenfome, that Tnu-.r; 
 and commercial dealings have realbn to 
 complain of not being enough rtlpected 
 in them. 
 
 . Taxes upon the windows, that no Ne- 
 ceflary of life, not even the air, Ihould be 
 exempt from the being taxed, and that the 
 poor fhould be made to pay lor the light 
 neceflary for their work, as the rich, tor 
 that which lights them, in their idltnels. 
 Taxes upon Land, taxes upon Heredita- 
 ments, houfes, goods and ciiiutels, ofnccs, 
 penfions, wages, falarits <^\vcn by tiic 
 King, &:c. 
 
 The Land-tax, doubtlefs the wifcd, and 
 the leaft expenfive of all in the colle<ftion 
 of it, fince it does not ftand in fix- pence 
 half<ipenny a pound (lerling charged on it, 
 has two great faults ; the one, the flownefs 
 ot its levying, which is near two years ac- 
 complifhing : the other, the inequality of 
 it which has lafbed fince its inftituiion. 
 The firft: declaration of value being (liil 
 fubfifting, and the eftimate of the rentals 
 having been then fo unequally made, that 
 though the tax is the fame precifely for 
 
 N 2 every 
 
268 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 every County, or province in England, 
 Ibme Ihali pay four fliillings and perhaps 
 more in the pound, whilft others fhali pay 
 no more than three or two ^ infomueh, 
 that it is not doubted, but that upon a 
 fairer and exadler furvey, and eft i mate of 
 the lands, the fhilling a pound now com- 
 puted at five hundred thoufand pounds, 
 would have produced near a million. Such 
 a reflfource as this amendment of a tax con- 
 tinued from year to year, would doubclefs 
 have much forwarded the great work of 
 the reimburfement uf our debts : but the 
 landed-men have, at all times, fhowed no 
 other care, or concern than for lowering 
 the land-tax from 4 to 3, and in times or 
 peace to 2 Ihillings in the pound, infpired 
 by the propenfity, and power which the 
 rich have ever had to throw the burthen 
 off themfelves upon the Poor, and without 
 perceiving that the taxes they fhould per- 
 petuate by this falfe oeconomy, muft ulti- 
 mately fall again at length upon their own 
 lands, through the diminution of confump- 
 i ion at home, and abroad. . t ' ^ 
 
 The confideration of the different taxes! 
 which conftitute the Revenue of the State, 
 and of the inconveniencies of each, natu- 
 rally leads a Patriot to the dcfire of finding 
 
 the 
 
of Great BRITAI^r, &c. 269 
 
 tht means of taxing all the articles which 
 could, and ought to be made contribute, 
 in the jufteli, eaficft, equaled manner, to 
 the Public charge ; that is to fay, of tax- 
 ing every fubjcS in proportion to the ad- 
 vantage he draws from Society : infomuch, 
 that with refped to him who has no pro- 
 perty, fo far from depriving him of the 
 hopes of acquiring any, the influence of 
 the taxes fhould be no more than a gentle 
 fpur to his induftry, and that it ihould fall 
 reafonably, and not arbitrarily upon thofe 
 who have fome property, that is to fay, in 
 proportion to the real and perfonal eftates 
 they enjoy. 
 
 A free tax bearing folely Upon the dif- 
 ferent articles of luxury, and confumption 
 (thole of abfolute neceffity excepted) I'eems 
 the propereft to fulfill thefe intentions. Ic 
 is what the author above quoted. Sir Mat- 
 thew Decker, feems to have happily exe- 
 cuted in a recapitulation of divers articles 
 of luxury, as the ufe of coaches, chairs, 
 horfes, plate, Jewells, diamonds, wine in 
 the cellar, brandy, tea, coffee, chocolate 
 in private or public houfes, &c. He takes 
 each of thefe articles for the fign of a for- 
 tune of fuch a certain revenues, upon which 
 he is for impofing a tax of three pence for 
 ■ \^ " ' '■"* '"^"■" "" ' every 
 
270 Advantages and Difadvantages 
 
 every pound fterling, double upon unmar- 
 ried perfons, fimple as to houfekeepers 
 upon the mafter of the family, a fourth 
 upon women, an eighth upon each child 
 under age, &c. a tax which fiiould be le- 
 vied upon all the articles of luxury, for the- 
 permillion of which every fubjedt fhould ■ 
 take out yearly licences from tlie State. 
 He demonftrates this tax to be the freeft, 
 the lead eafy to evade by fraud, as it turns : 
 upon a public luxury which every one has 
 an intereft in difcovering of another: the 
 leaft difficult, and the lead expenfive in ■ 
 the colledion of it : of the readied reco- ; 
 very, by allowing a difcount for prompt ' 
 payment within 2, 6, or 9 months ; a tax, 
 in: Ihort, certainly more advantageous to 1 
 the proprietors of real, and perfonal e- ) 
 ftates, to the merchants, and to thofe i 
 who have no property, than the other i 
 a6lual taxes ||, fliould it be Aibdituted to * 
 them. ... . .,., i.QhiilLj:^' ._■. ... . > 
 
 II The crude materials, the necefiary' confump- ' 
 tions, the manufacturers being difburthened of the ' 
 duties, and the confequences of them, which double - 
 their pric^, this diminution would augment the ^ 
 Trade, the, revenues* and the eafe of jev^ry one. | 
 Thus every one' would have the means of luxury, 
 
 \' • but 
 
■; of Great Britain, &c. 271 
 
 '' This proje(5l is the means he propofes 
 to arrive at very eflential and interefting 
 reforms : but if the alterations he has 
 planned appear too arduous an under- 
 taking, nobody has refufed him the juftice 
 to allow, but that his projed: is the moft 
 defirable, and the beft to be fubftituted to 
 the fyftem of Excife, and Cuftom-houfe 
 duties, the moft capable of fufiicienqr. 
 
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 but the tax to which that luxury would be fub- 
 jefted, would be fo equitable, that it would be only 
 the more produdlive, the more luxury fhould ex- 
 ceed, or go beyond a neceflary confumption. The 
 tax too would be as free as the lu:|f:ury itfelf. 
 Then again, luxury would be moderate in trade, 
 and in the other ufcfull profeflions, from the great 
 advantages which the wife, and the frugal, would 
 find in their moderation, above thofe who Ihould 
 be otherwife. , ' ; ij 'h.T, \ ij o* 
 
 The aftual duties are repeated and augmented 
 in proportion to the neceffity of the articles of con- 
 fumption which are fubjeded to it, the confumer 
 - pays 200, where the State does not receive above 
 100; now the tax upon luxury will be io much 
 the farther removed from this inconveniency, as 
 the articles of it are removed from the necefTary, 
 and general confumption. ' "'' *';'' ' 
 
 The charges of colleding the Excife, and Cuftom- 
 houfe -duties, are at lead lo per cent, whereas in 
 this propofed tax, they will not be above three 
 pence in the pound, or i -^ per cent. 
 
372 Advantages and Difad vantages 
 
 to the ordinary occafions of the State, 
 and of extenfion, in c^fe of extraordinary 
 exigencies. -• J^- - 7 '• -^ . .c. 
 
 However, whether this fiftem be, or 
 be not adopted, a fhilling more only on 
 the adlual land-tax, or rather the two 
 (hillings a pound, as at prefent, but upon 
 a new, and exadl furvey, and eftimate, 
 
 , faithfully appropriated yearly in conjunc- 
 
 ( tion with the Sinking Fund, to the reim- 
 burfement of our debts, would in lefs than 
 twenty years efFedtuate the clearance of the 
 nation, and the fupprefiion of above four 
 millions fterling of annual taxes, or paid 
 
 • for intcreft. But it is vain for a patriot to 
 hope for his Country, all the good he ima- 
 gines, or fees poflible. The proprietors 
 of the debts have acquired too great a 
 credit •, the landed- men will remain blind 
 to their true interefls ; in fhort, the mini- 
 ftry will continue to purfue its old tracks : 
 
 . bribery, and corruption are become to it, 
 its fprings of government, the taxes mul- 
 tiplied under fo many Ihapes, produce lu- 
 crative employs without number to give 
 away, and fpread every where its influence 
 over eledlions: it will not then renounce 
 the firmeft prop of the empire it has u- 
 furped over the Nation, ar^d even over the 
 — ' ■ King 
 
of Great Britain, &c. 273 
 
 King to whom it leaves little at his di(- 
 pofal, under the fpecious pretext of ma- 
 naging for his intereft and fervice. 
 
 WhiKt then fo many intercfts are con- 
 currently united againil the Good of tiid 
 Public, what hopes can the Future prefenc 
 to us, or other than unprofitable regrets 
 for the deplorable overturn of a Confti- 
 tution the wifeft, the noblefl:, the mod 
 capable of rendering happy Men who will 
 be free, and the moft worthy of a King, 
 who Ihould place his content and glory in 
 commanding over men free, and who dt- 
 ferve to be fo 1 . . . 
 
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 (^Price On£ Shilling and Six-pence) 
 
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