might better maintain a Commerce and Trade among our selves, 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 Coast) 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 Season 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 Incouragement 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 Traffick the Kingdom hath, as it
occasionally gives so vast an Imployment to our People both by Sea
and Land; These are the Hands whereby our Plantations are improved,
and ’tis by their Labours such great Quantities of Sugar, Tobacco,
Cotton, Ginger, Fustick and Indigo, are raised, which Imploy great
Numbers of Ships for transporting them hither; and the greater Number
of Ships, Imploys the greater Number of Handicrafts Trades at home,
spends more of our Product and Manufactures, and makes more Sailors,
who are maintained by a separate Imployment; for if every one raised
the Provisions he Eat, or made the Manufactures he Wore, Traffick
would cease, which is a variety of Imployments Men have set
themselves on, whereby one is serviceable to another, adapted to
their particular Genius’s, without invading each others Provinces;
Thus the Husbandman raises Corn, the Miller grinds it, the Baker
makes it into Bread, and the Citizen 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, lest 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 perswade 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, offer’d 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 Frigats 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 advantagious 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 its 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,
tho’ they miscarried: Now that all Places are permitted freely to
send Ships, and to have the Management of their own Affairs, Industry
is encourag’d, 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 furnish’d 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 now come 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 their 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, or 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, Wooll, 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 Woollen, 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, East-ward into the Straits of _Gibralter_, 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 Returns 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 Prices for
them, than when they were first Ship’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
Returns 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_ do 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 Emperours, whether we send Commodities much of
the same Nature as those we send to the other Parts, tho’ not in so
great Quantities, and amongst 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 Shipt 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 Returns, Salt, Oil, Woad, Fruit and Wines, besides
Gold and Silver; We have, since the War 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.
These People were formerly the great Navigators of the World, as
appears by their many Discoveries, both in the _East_ and
_West-Indies_, besides the several Islands of the _Azores_, _Cape de
Verd_, and also _Maderas_, where they have settled Colonies; to these
they admit us a Free Trade, but reserve their Remoter Settlements on
the Continent of _Brazil_ more strictly to themselves, whither they
Export many of the Commodities we send them, and in Returns have
Sugars and Tobacco, which are again Exported to the _European_
Markets, tho’ little of them hither; Besides which, they have of
late brought from thence great Quantities of Gold; their Islands we
supply direct with our Manufactures, and from the _Azores_ Load Corn,
Woad, and some Wines, which we receive in Barter for them, and are
the Product of those Islands; the first we carry to _Maderas_, where
’tis again Bartered for the Wines of the Growth of that Island,
which are Shipt thence to our Plantations in _America_; in these
settlements the Inhabitants live well, and are plentifully supplied,
because they have wherewith to pay for what is brought them; but
those residing on the _Cape de Verd_ Islands, being generally made up
of Negroes, Molattoes, and such like People, and having little
Product to give in Returns, are but meanly furnished, and have scarce
enough to serve their Necessities, much less to please their
Luxuries, Asses, Beeves, and Salt, being all we have from them, which
we generally carry to our Plantations in _America_; some Salt we
bring home; Beef might be made there very cheap, could it be saved,
being purchased for little, and Salt for less, but the Climate will
not allow it; only the Island of St. _Jago_ is Rich, well Governed,
and a Bishops See, where they are well supplied with Necessaries,
because they have Money to pay for what they Buy.
The _Portugueze_, as they are now become bad Navigators, so they are
not great Manufacturers; some sorts of coarse Cloth they do make,
which is often Shipt to the Islands of _Maderas_ and the _Azores_,
where ’tis worn with great Delight, and preferred before any other
of the like goodness, because its made in _Portugal_; and they did
once attempt the making Bays, for which they drew over some of our
Workmen, but it soon came to an end, and they returned Home again by
Encouragement given them here, so prudent a thing it is to stop an
Evil in the Beginning.
[Sidenote: Turkey.]
The Trade driven to _Turkey_ is very Profitable, as it affords us
Markets for great Quantities of our Woollen Manufactures, together
with Lead, and other Product, Shipt hence to _Constantinople_,
_Scandaroon_, and _Smyrna_, and from thence disperst all over the
_Turkish_ Dominions, as also into _Persia_; The Commodities we have
thence in Returns are, Raw-Silk, Cotton-Wool and Yarn, Goats-Wool,
Grogram-Yarn, Cordivants, Gauls, Pot-Ashes, and other things, which
are the Foundations of several Manufactures different from our own,
by the Variety whereof we better suit Cargoes to Export again; and
tho’ this Trade may require some Bullion to be carried thither, yet
there is a great difference between Buying for Bullion, Commodities
already Manufactured, which hinder the Use and Consumption of our
own, such as those brought from the _East-Indies_, or things to be
spent on Luxury, such as Wines and Fruit, and Buying therewith
Commodities to keep our Poor at Work; these must be had, tho’
purchased with nothing else.
[Sidenote: Italy.]