Petty. 370 ENGLAND SPENDS NEARLY AS MUCH AS FRANCE. [P 1677 supplied with all gross and bulky commodities of foreign growth and manufacture, at far cheaper rates than France can be, viz., at about 4s. per cent. cheaper: the land carriage for the difference of the distance between England and France from a port being so much, or near thereabouts. Now to what advantage this conveniency amounteth, upon the importation or exportation of bulky commodities, cannot be less than the labour of 1,000,000 of people: meaning by bulky commodities all sorts of timber, plank, and staves for caske: all iron, lead, stone, bricks, and tiles for building; all corn, salt, and drinks; all flesh and fish; and indeed all other commodities wherein the gain and loss of 4s. per cent. is considerable: where note, that the like wines are sold in the inner parts of France for £4 or £5 a tun, which near the ports, yield £7. timber in Eng. Moreover, upon this principle, the decay of timber in The decay of England is no very formidable thing, as the land is no very rebuilding of London [after the Fire of 1666] and of the ships wasted by the Dutch War [1665-7] do clearly manifest. formidable matter. Nor can there be any want of corn, or other necessary provisions in England; unless the weather hath been universally unseasonable for the growth of the same, which seldom or never happens. For the same causes which make dearth in one place, do often cause plenty in another; wet weather being propitious to high lands, which drowneth the low. It is observed that the poor in France have generally less wages than in England; and yet their victuals are generally dearer there; which being so, there may be more superlucration in England than in France. Lastly, I offer to the consideration of all those who have travelled through England and France, Whether the plebians of England, for they constitute the bulk of the The King of nation, do not spend a sixth part more than the England's sub- plebians of France? And if so, it is necessary nearly as much that they must first get it: and consequently that 10,000,000 of the King of England's subjects are equivalent to 12,000,000 of the King of France; jects spend as the King of and, upon the whole matter, to the 13,000,000 at which the French nation was estimated. splendour of It will here be objected that the splendour and magnificences of the King of France appearing greater than those of England, the wealth of France must be proportionably greater than that of England. But that doth not The greater follow, forasmuch as the apparent greatness of the King of the King doth depend upon the quota pars of the France no cerpeople's wealth which he levieth from them. For of the greater supposing the people to be equally rich, if one of people. the sovereigns levy a Fifth part and the other a Fifteenth; the one seems actually thrice as rich as the other: whereas, potentially, they are but equal. tain argument wealth of his the foreign Having thus discoursed of the Territory, People, Superlucration, and Defensibleness of both Dominions; Comparison of and in some measure of their Trade so far as we Trade of had occasion to mention ships, shipping, and near- France. ness to ports: we come, next, to enlarge a little further upon the Trade of each. England and Some have estimated that there are not above 300,000,000 people in the whole world. Whether that be so, or not, is not very material to be known: but I have fair grounds to conjecture, and would be glad to know it more certainly, that there are not above 80,000,000 with whom the English and Dutch have commerce; no Europeans that I know of, trading directly or indirectly, where they do now. So that the Commercial World, or World of Trade, consisteth of about 80,000,000 souls as aforesaid. And I further estimate that the value of all commodities yearly exchanged amongst them doth not exceed the value of £45,000,000 =£135,000,000 now]. Now the Wealth of every nation consisting chiefly in the share which they have in the Foreign Trade with the whole Commercial World, rather than in the Domestic trade of ordinary meat, drink, and clothes, &c., which bring in little gold, silver, jewels, and other Universal Sir W. Petty. ? 372 THE TRADE OF THE WORLD IN 1677. [Si 1677. Wealth: we are to consider, Whether the subjects of the King of England, head for head, have not a greater share [in the Foreign Trade] than those of France? To which purpose it hath been considered that the manufactures of wool yearly exported out of England into several parts of the world, viz.: all sorts of cloth, serges, stuffs, cottons, bayes, sayes, frieze, perpetuanas; as also stockings, caps, rugs, &c., exported out of England, Scotland, and Ireland, do amount unto £5,000,000 [=£15,000,000 now]. The value of lead, tin, and coals, to be £500,000 [=£1,500,000 now]. The value of all clothes, household stuff, &c., carried into America [i.e., the English Colonies there], £200,000 £600,000 now]. The value of silver and gold taken [in the way of trade] from the Spaniards, £60,000 [=£180,000 now]. The value of sugar, indigo, tobacco, cotton, and cocoa, brought from the southward parts of America, £600,000 £1,800,000 now]. The value of the fish, pipe staves, masts, beaver, &c., brought from New England and the northern parts of America, £200,000 [=£600,000 now]. The value of the wool, butter, hides, tallow, beef, herrings, pilchards, and salmon exported out of Ireland, £800,000 £2,400,000 now]. = The value of the coals, salt, linen, yarn, herrings, pilchards, salmon, linen cloth, and yarn brought out of Scotland and Ireland, £500,000 £1,500,000 now]. The value of saltpetre, pepper, calicoes, diamonds, drugs, and silks brought out of the East Indies (above what was spent in England), £800,000 [= £2,400,000 now]. The value of the slaves brought out of Africa, to serve in our America Plantations, £20,000[=£60,000 now]. Which with the Freight of English shipping trading into foreign parts, being above £1,500,000 [=£4,500,000 now], makes in all £10,180,000 [=£30,540,000 now]. Petty Which computation is sufficiently justified by the Custom of the three Kingdoms, whose intrinsic value is thought to be nearly £1,000,000 £3,000,000 now] per annum, viz.: £600,000 [=£1,800,000 now] payable to the King. £200,000 [= £600,000 now] smuckled [smuggled] by £100,000 £1,000,000 according to common opinion and men's sayings. And this agrees also with that proportion or part of the whole Trade of the World, which I have estimated the subjects of the King of England to be possessed of, viz., of about £10,000,000 of £45,000,000. But the value of the French commodities brought into England, notwithstanding some current estimates, is not above £1,200,000 [=£3,600,000 now] per annum; and the value of all they export into all the world besides, not above three or four times as much: which computation also agreeth well enough with the account we have of the Customs of France. So as France not exporting above Half the value of what England doth; and for that all the commodities of France -except wines, brandy, paper; and the first patterns and fashions of clothes and furniture (of which France is the mint)-are imitable by the English; and having withal more people than England: it follows that the people of England, &c., have, head for head, Thrice as much Foreign Trade as the people of France, and about Two parts out of Nine of the Trade of the whole Commercial World: and about Two parts in Seven of all the Shipping. Notwithstanding all which, it is not to be denied, that the King and some Great Men of France appear more rich and splendid than those of the like Quality in England: all which arises rather from the nature of their Government, than from the intrinsic and natural causes of wealth and power. 374 Two PAN- ENGLISH GRAND COUNCILS. [Sir W. Pets CHAPTER V. ? 1677 That the impediments of England's greatness are but contingent and removeable. HE first Impediment of England's greatness is that The disunion tories of England is an of the Terri impediment of and, I may say, into so many Kingdoms and its greatness. several Governments, viz.: There be three distinct Legislative Powers in England, Scotland, Ireland; the which instead of uniting together, do oftèn cross one another's Interest, putimpediment. ting bars and impediments upon one another's trades, not only as if they were foreigners to each other, but sometimes as enemies. Legislatures, another 2. The islands of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man are under jurisdictions different from those, either of England, Scotland, or Ireland. 3. The Government of New England, both Civil and The Colonies Ecclesiastical, doth so differ from that of His belonging to England, a Majesty's other Dominions, that it is hard to say, diminution to the Empire. what may be the consequence of it. And the Government of the other Plantations doth also differ very much from any of the rest; although there be not, naturally, substantial reasons, from the situation, trade, and condition of the people, why there should be such differences. From all which, it comes to pass that small divided remote Governments, being seldom able to defend themselves, the burden of protecting of them all, must lie upon the Chief Kingdom, England and so all the smaller kingdoms and dominions, instead of being additions, are really diminutions. But the same is remedied by making Two such Grand Councils as may equally represent the whole Empire: one to be chosen by the King, the other by the People. The wealth of a King is threefold. One is the Wealth of his subjects. The second is the Quota pars of his subjects' wealth, given him for the public defence, honour, and orna |