Читать книгу An Essay on the State of England - John Cary - Страница 4

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May it please Your Majesty,

IT is not a Desire to appear in Print hath made me to write, or a fond Opinion of what I have written, to affix Your Great Name to these Papers, but a true Affection to my Native Country,and the Cause Your Majesty is now engag'd in; A War, on whose good Success depends theSecurity of Religion, Liberty, and Property, both to Your own Subjects, and likewise to all theProtestant Interest in Europe; A War, as it is absolutely necessary, and must be carried on withVigour, so it is like to be long and chargeable, and so much longer, as we abate in OurVigorous Prosecution; A War, which may strain the Nerves and Sinews of our Treasure beforeit be ended, and therefore as in Martial Discipline great Wisdom must be used to secure thosePosts where the Enemy bends most of his Forces, so here 'tis Prudence to strengthen ourTreasure, by advancing and securing our Trade which must bring it in; If this was done, Taxeswould be easily paid, and little felt, and without it this Nation will at last become Bankrupt,when its Expences exceed its Profits.

The Foundations of the Wealth of this Kingdom are, Land, Manufactures, and Foreign Trade, these are its Pillars, which ought not to be overshaken, they have hitherto borne the Burthen,and felt the Smart of the War, and 'tis time now they should slide their Necks out of the Collar,other ways may be found out to raise a greater Summ annually than Your Majesty's Occasionswill require, without Four Shillings per Pound on the first, Excises on the second, or a TunnageBill on Ships on the last, an Act which lighted heavy on the Merchant, and left no room toconsider whither he gained or lost by the Voyage, or whither the Ship returned home full orempty.

The Methods for Raising Money must be easie, when the annual necessary Summs are to be so great, therefore it would be Policy in our Law-makers to make use of those which may leasthurt any part of our Vitals, such as Land and Trade are; I mean that part of Trade which isuseful to the Publick God, not that which is managed only for private Men's Advantage; it maybe possible to rate the Trader, and yet to spare the Trade.

There are two things which seem to be of great Importance to this Nation, and very necessary to be look'd into.

First, The better securing our Plantation Trade, so as it may more absolutely depend on this Kingdom than it hath hitherto done; this will not only encourage our Navigation, when all theirProduct shall be imported hither, but also much advance Your Majesty's Revenues, when suchquantities of Tobacco shall not be carried thence directly to foreign Markets; to prevent which,and secure Your Majesty's Duties when Imported, plain and practicable Methods may beproposed; and the Consequence thereof would be, that this Kingdom being the Mistress of thatCommodity, Your Majesty's Coffers would be filled, not only from its Home Expence, but alsoby a Tribute raised from Foreign Nations, where it would very much lie in Your Majesty'sPower to set its Price; I do not think new Imposts upon the Importer will so much advance YourMajesty's Revenue as they will discourage the Merchant, 'twould be better to take away thosealready laid, and instead thereof to raise a far greater Summ on the Consumer, which may bedone without the Clog or Oppression of Officers, in such a manner, that it shall scarce be felt,either by the Retailer or Spender.

The next thing is the securing our Wool at Home, and making this a Market for all the Wool of Christendom, whereby England would soon become the Queen of Europe, and flourishing in itsManufactures grow Rich by the Labour of its People, and consequently might better afford toimport Commodities to be spent on Luxury; I take it to be one great Reason why the Kingdomof Spain still continues poor notwithstanding its Indies, because all that the Inhabitants buy ispurchased for its full Value in Treasure or Product, their Labour adding nothing to its Wealth,for want of Manufactures; I am apt to think greater Steps may be made in this than havehitherto been done, and our Wool may be kept at home, not by punishing the Exporter withDeath, but by apt Methods to prevent his doing it; and when a Lock is put on Ireland andRumny-Marsh, Foreign Countrys will more easily be prevailed on to send us theirs.

These things seem worth the Consideration of the ensuing Parliament, a great many Members of the last to my certain Knowledge began to be much in Love with Trade, and have oftenlamented the dark Notions That House had of it, for want of being put into a better Light bythose who ought to have represented it truly to them.

Which hath been a great Inducement to me in the writing this Tract, that I might set forth the Interest of England in Relation to its Domestick and Foreign Traffick, and how both may bebetter improved to the Advantage of the Nation.

King Solomon, who was pleased to encourage Trade in his Dominions by his Royal Example, soon found it to be the weightiest Jewel in his Dyadem, bringing him in more Treasure fromabroad, than all the Tribute he received from Judea; The Trade of this Kingdom hath alwaysbeen a profitable Ornament to the Crowns of Your Royal Predecessors, Kings and Queens ofthis Realm, and it may be still so to Your Majesty's, if the Causes of its languishing wereinquired into, and apt Methods applyed for its Recovery.

That it may please God to make this Nation happy, by giving Your Majesty a long Life, crown'd with Victories over the Enemies of its Peace and Tranquility, is the Prayer of

Your Majesty's most Faithful,

And most Obedient Subject,