true, that People are the Wealth of a Nation, yet it can only be so,
where we find Imployment for them, otherwise they must be a Burthen to
it: ’Tis my Opinion, that our Plantations are an Advantage to this
Kingdom, though not all alike, but every one more or less, as they take
off our Product and Manufactures, supply us with Commodities, which may
be either wrought up here, or exported again, or prevent fetching things
of the same Nature from other Places for our Home Consumption, employ our
Poor, and encourage our Navigation; for I take this Kingdom, and all its
Plantations, to be one great Body, those being as so many Limbs or
Counties belonging to it; therefore when we consume their Growth, we do
as it were spend the Fruits of our own Land; and what thereof we sell to
our Neighbours, brings a second Profit to the Nation.
These Plantations are either the great Continent from _Hudson’s-Bay_
Northward to _Florida_ Southward, containing _Nova Scotia_,
_New-England_, _New-Jersy_, _New-York_, _Pensilvania_, _Virginia_,
_Mary-Land_, _Carolina_; and also our Islands, the Chief whereof are,
_Newfoundland_, _Barbadoes_, _Antegoa_, _Nevis_, _St. Christophers_,
_Montserat_, and _Jamaica_; the Commodities they afford us are more
especially Sugars, Cotton, Tobacco, Piamento and Fustick, of their own
Growth; also Logwood, which we bring from _Jamaica_ (but first brought
thither from the Bay of _Campechia_ on the Continent of _Mexico_,
belonging to the _Spaniards_, but cut by the Subjects of this Kingdom,
who have made small settlements there) besides great Quantities of Fish,
taken on the Coasts both of _Newfoundland_ and _New-England_: These being
the Product of Earth, Sea and Labour, are clear Profit to the Kingdom,
and give a double Employment to our People, first to those who raise them
there, next to those who prepare Manufactures here, wherewith they are
supplied, besides the Advantage they afford to our Navigation; for the
Commodities exported thither, and those imported thence hither, being
generally bulky, do thereby employ more Ships, and consequently more
Sailors, which leaves more Room for other labouring People to be kept at
work in our Husbandry and Manufactures, whilst they consume the Product
of the one, and the Effects of the other, in an Employment of a distinct
Nature from either.
This was the first Design of settling Plantations abroad, that we might
better maintain a Commerce and Trade among ourselves, the Profit whereof
might redound to the Center: And therefore Laws were made to prevent the
carrying their Product to other Places, and their being supply’d with
Necessaries save from hence only, and both to be done in our own Ships,
navigated by our own Sailors, except in some Cases permitted by the Act
of Navigation; and so much as the Reins of those Laws are let loose, so
much less profitable are the Plantations to us.
Among these Plantations, I look upon _New-England_ to bring the least
Advantage to this Kingdom; for the Inhabitants thereof employing
themselves rather by trading to the others, than raising a Product proper
to be transported hither, and supplying them (especially the Islands)
with Fish (which they catch on their Coart) Deal-Boards, Pipe-Staves,
Horses, and such like Things of their own Growth, which they cannot be so
well furnished with hence, also with Bread, Flower, Pease, and other
Grain; and from thence fetching the respective Products of those Islands,
and sometimes Tobacco from _Virginia_ and _Mary-Land_, have carried them
to foreign Markets, to the great Prejudice of this Kingdom: But to
prevent this, they have been by sundry Laws obliged to bring them all
hither, except what is consumed among themselves: By which Means this
Kingdom is become the Center of Trade, and standing like the Sun in the
midst of its Plantations, doth not only refresh them, but also draws
Profit from them: And indeed it is a Matter of exact Justice that it
should be so, for from hence it is that Fleets of Ships, and Regiments of
Soldiers are frequently sent for their Defence, at the Charge of the
Inhabitants, towards which they contribute but little.
Besides the forementioned Commodities, we have from _Carolina_ excellent
Rice, and there has been Cocheneel taken, which as yet is but a
Discovery, and perhaps may not meet with any considerable Improvement,
till that Colony is better peopled; what I have seen thereof in the Hands
of a Gentleman who brought it thence, seems by its Figure, to be much
like what we call a Lady-Cow, or Lady-Bird, but is very small, and I take
it to be the _Fœtus_ of an Insect, which laying its Eggs on a Shrub
called the Prickle-Pear, or something very like it, leaves them there,
till Time brings them to Maturity, in the same Manner as the Caterpillar
does with us in the Cabbage or Collard Leaves, wise Nature thus
directing, that the _Fœtus_ may find its Food, so soon as it wants its
Sustenance. It gives a very curious Colour when bruised, but being
extraordinary small, does require long Time to gather in any Quantity,
and Labour being very dear there, ’twill not yet answer the Charge; but
by cultivating and improving the Plant, which now grows wild, and by
being better acquainted with the proper Seasons to collect them, when
they are at a more mature Growth, greater Quantities may probably
hereafter be procured, and at less Charge; and I think it would be a good
Step towards it, if an Encouragement was given on its Importation hither,
in such a Manner, as to the Wisdom of the Parliament shall seem fit and
proper.
[Sidenote: Africa.]
Now, that which makes these Plantations more profitable to this Kingdom,
is the Trade to _Africa_, whereby the Planters are supplied with Negroes
for their Use and Service; a Trade of the most Advantage of any we drive,
and as it were all Profit, the first cost being some Things of our own
Manufactures, and others generally purchased with them, for which we have
in return, Gold, Teeth, Wax, and Negroes, the last whereof is indeed the
best Traffic the Kingdom hath, as it occasionally gives so vast an
Employment to our People both by Sea and Land. These are the Hands
whereby our Plantations are improved, and it is by their Labours such
great Quantities of Sugar, Tobacco, Cotton, Ginger, Fustick and Indigo,
are raised, which employ great Numbers of Ships for transporting them
hither; and the greater Number of Ships, employs the greater Number of
Handicraft Trades at home, spends more of our Product and Manufactures,
and makes more Sailors, who are maintained by a separate Employment; for
if every one raised the Provisions he eat, or made the Manufactures he
wore, Traffic would cease, which is a Variety of Employments Men have set
themselves on, whereby one is serviceable to another, adapted to their
particular Genius’s, without invading each other’s Provinces: Thus
the Husbandman raises Corn, the Miller grinds it, the Baker makes it into
Bread, and the Citizens eats it: Thus the Grasier fats Cattle, and the
Butcher kills them for the Market: Thus the Shepherd sheers his Sheep,
the Spinster turns the Wool into Yarn, the Weaver makes it into Cloth,
and the Merchant exports it, and every one lives by each other: Thus the
Country supplies the City with Provisions, and that the Country with
Necessaries; now the advising a former Reign to monopolize this Trade,
and confine it to an exclusive Company, was the same, as to advise the
People of _Ægypt_, to raise high Banks to keep the River _Nilus_ from
overflowing, least it should fertilize their Lands; or the King of
_Spain_ to shut up his Mines, least he should fill his Kingdom too full
of Silver: This Trade indeed is our Silver Mine, for by the Overplus of
Negroes above what will serve our Plantations, we draw great Quantities
thereof from the _Spaniards_, who are settled on the Continent of
_America_, both for the Negroes we furnish from _Jamaica_, and also by
the Assiento, lately settled by a Compact of both Nations: ’Twas these
which first introduced our Commerce with that People, and gave us
Opportunities of selling our Manufactures to them.
But tho’ this Trade be now laid open, yet it will not be amiss to
enquire what Reasons should persuade that Government to monopolize it,
and what has been the Consequences thereof, in order to obviate any
future Attempts that may be made to get it done again.
As for the First; The Necessity of having Forts, Castles, and Soldiers to
defend the Trade which could not be carried on without them, had then
Force enough to prevail.
But let us consider what these Forts, Castles, and Soldiers were, their
Use, and whither the Trade is not as well secured now it lies open.
The greatest Number of Soldiers, offered as I remember at a Committee
formerly appointed by the honourable House of Commons to enquire into
that Affair, did not exceed One Hundred and Twenty on the whole Coast,
nor did their Forts and Castles appear to be any thing else than
Settlements for their Factors, nor was it ever made out, or indeed
pretended, that they were fitted to wage a National War, or to secure
against a National Invasion, nor were there any Magazines laid up to
expect a Siege from the Natives; nor could they hinder Interlopers from
trading on the Coast of what Nation soever; but the Company having
obtained Frigates from the Government, destroyed our own Merchant Ships
(unless permitted on the Payment of great Mulcts at home) whilst they let
others alone: This, together with the Powers given them in their Charter,
to seize in the Plantations, such as had the good Fortune to escape them
on the Coast, and also their Cargoes, discouraged private Traders, who
else found no Difficulties, the Natives receiving them as Friends, and
chusing rather to deal with them than the Company, whose Factories also
being at remote Distances from each other, great Part of that Coast was
untraded to.
Nor do I see what Need there was to fight our Way into a Trade,
altogether as advantageous to the Natives as to us; for whilst we
supplied them with Things they wanted, and were of Value amongst them, we
took in exchange Slaves, which were else of little Worth to the
Proprietors; and there was no Reason to think, that the People of this
Kingdom, who had settled such large Colonies on the Continent of
_America_, (besides it several Islands) where there was at first such
small Hopes of Advantage, without the Help of a Company, should fall
short in securing this Trade, which carried with it the Prospect of so
great a Profit.
I will next consider the Inconveniencies that have attended this
Monopoly, and the Advantage the Nation reaps by the Trades being laid
open; we now send more Ships, and supply the Plantations with more
Negroes, and vend more of our Commodities for their Purchase: Besides,
every Negro in the Plantations gives a second Employ to the Manufacturers
of this Kingdom; and had we many more to spare, the _Spaniards_ would buy
them, and pay us in Bullion, so there could be no Ground for putting this
Trade into few Hands, unless ’twas designed those few should grow rich,
whilst for their Sakes, the Nation suffered in its Trade and Navigation,
the Company having made this detrimental Use of their Charter, that they
bought up our Manufactures cheaper at home, and made the Planters pay
dearer for Negroes abroad, than could have been done, if there had been
more Buyers for the One, and Sellers of the Other.
It is not to be doubted, whether the vending our Manufactures, and
encouraging our Navigation, on advantagious Terms, are the true Interest
of this Kingdom, and that all Foreign Commerce, as it advances either, is
more or less profitable to us; but the confining this Trade to an
exclusive Company could promote neither; and I believe ’tis one great
Reason, why we know so little of that great Continent, because the
Company, finding Ways enough to employ their Stock amongst those few
Settlements they had made on the Sea-Coast, never endeavoured a farther
Inland Discovery; whereas, now the Trade is laid open, the busy Merchant,
that industrious Bee of the Nation, will not leave any Creek or River
untraded to, from whence he may hope to make Advantage.
’Tis to Trade and Commerce we are beholding for what knowledge we have
of foreign Parts, and it is observable, that the more remote People dwell
from the Sea, the less they are acquainted with Affairs abroad. _Africa_
is a large Country, and doubtless the Trade to it, may be much enlarged
to our Advantage: Use and Experience, make us by degrees, Masters of
every thing, and tho’ the first Undertakers of a Design may fall short
of answering their private Ends, yet they often lay open beaten Paths,
wherein Posterity do tread with Success, though they miscarried: Now that
all Places are permitted freely to send Ships, and to have the Management
of their own Affairs, Industry is encouraged, and Peoples Heads are set
at work how they may out-do each other, by getting first into a new Place
of Trade. Besides, the more Traders, the more Buyers at home, and Sellers
abroad, and by this means, our Plantations on the large Continent of
_America_, are better furnished with Negroes, for want of which the
Inhabitants there could never arrive to those Improvements they have done
on the Islands, the Company having given them little or no Supply, but
chose rather to send their Negroes to the latter, because they were able
to make them better Payments; but the Free-traders have since done it, to
the great Advantage of those Plantations, and of the Nation in general.
As for the other Commodities brought in returns from _Africa_, _viz._ Wax
and Teeth, one serves for a foreign Export, without any Disadvantage to
our own Product; and the other is manufactured at home, and afterwards
carried to Markets abroad: And as for the Gold brought thence, I need not
mention how much it doth advance our Wealth, all allow it to be a good
Barter.
On the whole, I take the _African_ Trade, both for its Exports and
Imports, and also, as it supplies our Plantations, and advances
Navigation, to be very beneficial to this Kingdom, and will every Year
grow more so, if it remains open.
[Sidenote: Ireland.]
I come now to discourse of _Ireland_, and of the Trade we interchangeably
drive with that Kingdom, with whom it is necessary to maintain a good
Correspondence, which must be done on such Terms, as may be profitable to
us both; and I think nothing is more likely to answer this End, than the
encouraging the Linnen Manufacture there, which it is highly our Interest
to promote, and theirs to set upon, being for the most Part of another
Nature, than what is made either in the _North_ or _South-Britain_; for,
besides the Employment it will give to the Poor, large Tracts of Land
will be taken up for raising Hemp and Flax, both which thrive well in
many Parts of that Kingdom; on the other Hand, the low Labour of
_Ireland_ being employed on that Manufacture, will no way prejudice ours,
but make them better able to trade with us, for such things wherewith
they are supplied hence, it being undoubtedly the Interest of this
Kingdom, that all those Nations we trade with should grow rich, by any
Methods that do not make us Poor; and more-especially _Ireland_, whose
Profits are generally spent here.
But then, how shall this Manufacture be carried on? Truly, the first Step
must be, by furnishing Money on reasonable Interest, and receiving it
again by such Payments as the Borrowers can make, and buying up the
Linnens when made, and then the landed Men will encourage it, on their
own Estates, and thereby enable their Tenants to pay their Rents better;
which last Effect it hath already had in the North of _Ireland_, where by
spinning the Yarn in the Winter Nights, and getting their Cloth ready,
and fit for Sale, early in the Year, they provide for their _May_ Rents,
without being constrained to sell their Cattle whilst they are lean, and
their _November_ Payments do not become due, till they are fat, and their
Harvest is over.
Now these Loans must be made, either by a Joint-Stock raised for that
Purpose, of by the Bank of _England_, which will be attended with good
Security; for by reason of the Register settled there by Act of
Parliament, I take the Securities of _Ireland_, to be rather better than
those in _England_: and this way of lending Money, must likewise be very
acceptable to all those whose Estates are under different Incumbrances,
which may by this means be reduced into one, and paid off, as they can
spare the Money by degrees.
Nor can I see how any ill Consequences will attend the bringing the Money
to _Par_ in both Kingdoms, I know it had none when the Crown-piece was
some Years since reduced from six Shillings to pass at five Shillings and
five Pence, and all other Money in Proportion; it neither caused an
Alteration in the Rents to the Landlords, nor in the Price of the Product
to the Tenants; and I cannot see why the falling it to five Shillings (as
it passes here) should carry with it any ill Effect; the Lands of
_Ireland_ would thereby be more worth to the Proprietors, who would then
be more willing, and better able, to spend their Money here, when they
were freed from such high Exchanges; besides the Advantage to the King in
his Revenue.
The Commodities we have thence are, Wool, Hides, Tallow, and Skins, all
useful in our Manufactures; as also some Herrings, which we export again;
and we ship from thence for other Markets, Beef, Pork, Salmon and Butter;
we likewise supply them with Tobacco, Sugar, and other Plantation Goods;
also with fine Broad-Cloth, Silk Manufactures, and several other things
made here; and with sundry of our Products, as Lead, Tin, Coal, &c. of
which last, so great Quantities are carried thither yearly, that it will
scarce be credited, how much they say there it amounts unto; besides
Muslins, Callicoes, China-Ware, Tea, Coffee, and other _East-India_
Goods: They have indeed, discouraged the Importation of Callicoes, by
loading them with a great Duty, but I wonder they do not totally prohibit
them, for that single Commodity doth more Injury to their Manufactures,
both of Linnen and Wollen, than all the Things they import besides.
I should be very glad to see the Linnen Manufacture there brought to a
good Perfection; and I am sure if the Government were at some Charge in
doing it, ’twould not be ill laid out.
[Sidenote: Canaries.]
I shall proceed next to the Trade we drive to the _Canary-Islands_, which
brings us nothing but what we consume, and I believe takes from us little
of our Product or Manufactures; but since we must drink Wines, ’tis
better to have them from the _Spaniard_ than the _French_; the first
takes off much of our Manufactures, the other little; and I am apt to
think, those Wines are paid for out of what we ship to _Spain_.
[Sidenote: Spain.]
This brings me to the _Spanish_ Trade, which I take to be very profitable
to this Kingdom, as it vends much of our Product and Manufactures, and
supplies us with many Things necessary to be used in making the Latter,
and furnishes us with great Quantities of Bullion; I shall divide it into
three Parts, _Spain_, _Biscay_, and _Flanders_.
To begin with _Spain_, by which I mean, that Part from the Bay of _Cadiz_
inclusive, Eastward into the Straits of _Gibraltar_, as far as
_Catalonia_; whither we send all Sorts of Woollen Manufactures, Lead,
Fish, Tin, Silk and Worsted Stockings, Butter, Tobacco, Ginger, Leather,
Bees-Wax, and sundry other Things. And in Return we have thence, some
Things fit only for Consumption, such as Fruit and Wines; others for our
Manufactures, such as Oil, Cochineal, Indigo, Anata, Barillia, and some
Salt, with a great Part in Gold and Silver, wherewith they are supplied
from their large Empires on the main Land of _America_, whither they
export much of the Goods we carry to them.
The _Spaniards_ are a stately People, not much given to Trade or
Manufactures themselves; therefore the first they carry on by such
chargeable and dilatory Methods, both for their Ships and ways of
Navigation, that other trading Nations, such as the _English_, _French_,
_Dutch_, and _Genoese_, take Advantage of them; only their Trade to their
_West-Indies_, hath, on strict Penalties, been reserved to themselves;
but having no Manufactures of their own, the Profit thereof comes very
much to be reaped by those who furnish them: Nor is it so well guarded
and secured, but that the Inhabitants thereof have been plentifully
supplied by us with Manufactures, and many other Things from _Jamaica_,
and may be more, by the Liberty lately granted to the _South-Sea_
Company, whereby we get greater Prizes for them, than when they were
first shipp’d to _Cadiz_, and exported thence thither, which adds to
the Wealth of the Nation: This I take to be the true Reason why our Vent
for them at _Cadiz_ is lessened, because we supply _New-Spain_ direct
with those Things they used to have thence before.
By _Biscay_, I mean all that Part under the _Spanish_ Government, which
lies in the Bay of that Name, or adjoining to it: The Commodities we send
thither are generally the same as we do to _Spain_, and in Return we have
Wool, Iron, and some Bullion, whereof the first is the best and most
profitable Commodity, which could we secure wholly to our selves,
’twould be of great Advantage to the Nation; but both the _Dutch_ and
_French_ come in for their Shares; tho’ I am apt to think the former
might be induced to bring it hither by way of Merchandize, if we did so
far relax the Act of Navigation, as to give them Liberty to do it.
The third Part of our _Spanish_ Trade is that to _Flanders_, whereby I
mean all those Provinces that were formerly under its Government, but are
now under the Emperors, whether we send Commodities much of the same
Nature as those we send to the other Parts, tho’ not in so great
Quantities, and among our Woollen Manufactures more coarse Medleys; also
Muscovado Sugars and Coals, but not so much Leather as we have formerly
done, being supplied with raw Hides from _Ireland_, which are tann’d
there: We have thence Linnens, Thread, and other Things, which are used
both at Home, and also shipp’d to our Plantations.
[Sidenote: Portugal.]
The next is the Trade we drive to the Kingdom of _Portugal_, and its
Islands, where we vend much of our Product and Manufactures, little
different in their kinds from what are sent to _Spain_; and from thence
we have in Return, Salt, Oil, Woad, Fruit, and Wines, besides Gold and
Silver: We have, since the Wat with _France_, increased our Importation
of their Wines, which is more our Interest to do, than to have them from
_France_, whence our Imports have been always more than our Exports would
pay for, and to this Kingdom our Exports are greater than their Products
can make us Returns, especially since we have desisted from bringing
hither their Sugars and Tobacco, Commodities wherewith we are more
advantageously supplied from our Plantations in _America_, and are now
able to furnish foreign Markets cheaper than they can.