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• Preface.
• A Select Collection of Early English Tracts On Commerce
• Thomas Mun, a Discoverse of Trade From England Vnto the East-indies: Answering to Diuerse Obiections Which Are Vsually Made Against the Same.
• Lewes Roberts, the Treasure of Traffike, Or a Discoourse of Forraigne Trade.
• Thomas Mun, England’s Treasure By Forraign Trade. Or. the Ballance of Our Forraign Trade Is the Rule of Our Treasure.
• Chap. I.: The Qualities Which Are Required In a Perfect Merchant of Forraign Trade.
• Chap. II.: The Means to Enrich This Kingdom, and to Encrease Our Treasure.
• Chap. III.: The Particular Ways and Means to Encrease the Exportation of Our Commodities, and to Decrease Our Consumption of Forraign Wares.
• Chap. IV.: The Exportation of Our Moneys In Trade of Merchandize Is a Means to Encrease Our Treasure.
• Chap. V.: Forraign Trade Is the Only Means to Improve the Price of Our Lands.
• Chap. VI.: The Spanish Treasure Cannot Be Kept From Other Kingdoms By Any Prohibition Made In Spain.
• Chap. VII.: The Diversity of Gain By Forraign Trade.
• Chap. VIII.: The Enhansing Or Debasing Our Moneys Cannot Enrich the Kingdom With Treasure, Nor Hinder the Exportation Thereof.
• Chap. IX.: A Toleration For Forraign Coins to Pass Currant Here At Higher Rates Then Their Value With Our Standard, Will Not Encrease Our Treasure.
• Chap. X.: The Observation of the Statute of Imployments to Be Made By Strangers, Cannot Encrease, Nor Yet Preserve Our Treasure.
• Chap. XI.: It Will Not Increase Our Treasure to Enjoyn the Merchant That Exporteth Fish, Corn Or Munition, to Return All Or Part of the Value In Money.
• Chap. XII.: The Undervaluing of Our Money Which Is Delivered Or Received By Bills of Exchange Here Or Beyond the Seas, Cannot Decrease Our Treasure.
• Chap. XIII.: The Merchant Who Is a Mere Exchanger of Money By Bills Cannot Increase Or Decrease Our Treasure.
• Chap. XIV.: The Admirable Feats Supposed to Be Done By Bankers and the Merchants Exchange.
• Chap. XV.: Of Some Excesses and Evils In the Commonwealth, Which Notwithstanding Decay Not Our Trade Nor Treasure.
• Chap. XVI.: How the Revenues and Incomes of Princes May Justly Be Raised.
• Chap. XVII.: Whether It Be Necessary For Great Princes to Lay Up Store of Treasure.
• Chap. XVIII.: How Much Treasure a Prince May Conveniently Lay Up Yearly.
• Chap. XIX.: Of Some Different Effects, Which Proceed From Naturall and Artificiall Wealth.
• Chap. XX.: The Order and Means Whereby We May Draw Up the Ballance of Our Forraign Trade.
• Chap. XXI.: The Conclusion Upon All That Hath Been Said, Concerning the Exportation Or Importation of Treasure.
• Samuel Fortrey, Englands Interest and Improvement.
• England’s Great Happiness; Or, a Dialogue Between Content and Complaint.
• Britannia Languens, Or a Discourse of Trade
• The Preface.
• The Introduction.
• Section I.: Trade National Or Private, Home Or Forreign Treasures Imported By Trade, Thence Land-rents, Populacy Increased, the Revenues of All Ranks of Men Depend Upon Trade, People and Treasure Make National Strength, Particular Advantages In Treasure,
• Sect. II.: The Several Kinds of Forreign Trade, of Trading With Home Or Forreign Navigation, Some General Application.
• Sect. III.: Of Forreign Trade Consisting In Exportation, of the Advantages of Home Manufactures, and Manufactures, Incidently Other Home Trades, and Imployments Are Considered; and Which of Them Enrich a Nation; of the Fishing-trade, and the Annual Export
• Sect. IV.: Of Forreign Trade From Port to Port, the Nature and Advantage of It, Differs From Meer Carriage, and Meer Importation; the Necessity of a Home Storehouse: the Ordinary Exporting of Money Or Bullion, of Dangerous Consequence; How to Be Avoided:
• Sect. V.: That Our Home and Forreign Market Is Incumbered, and Prejudiced By Extraordinary and Unequal Charges, and Cloggs In Our Merchandize Above What Are In Our Neighbour-nations, Viz. In the Building and Furniture of Our Ships, Victuals, Sea-mens Wa
• Sect. VI.: Other Cloggs On Our Trade, Viz. the Late Acts of Navigation, Which, With the Other Difficulties, Have Begot Monopolies; Made Our Navigation Yet Dearer, So Forreign Materials of Manufacture Cause Meer Importations, Hinder Our Forreign Vent of
• Sect. VII.: Forreigners Eased In Trade; Other Clogs and Difficulties Upon Ours; Want of Populacy, Incidently of Extream Prizes of Victuals, and How the Duration of Land-rents May Be Secured, Our People Restrained From Manufactures; the Abuse of the Act
• Sect. VIII.: That a Nation May Grow Poor By Forreign Trade, Viz. By an Excess of Meer Importations, Illustrated By Some Observations: This Facilitated By Exporting Money Or Bullion; the Fatal Consequences and Symptoms of a Consumptive Trade, Decay of Ma
• Sect. IX.: That a Consumptive Trade Must Render a Nation Still Weaker and Weaker: How Far the Meer Establishment of Absolute Power, Or Meer Liberty and Property, May Alter the Case.
• Sect. X.: Further Presumptions of Our Late National Overballance In Trade; an Account From the Mint In November 75. and Thence Our Former Ballance of Trade Estimated.
• Sect. XI.: Particular Decays In Our Exportations, and the Beneficial Parts of Our Trade; Instances In the Decay of Our Foreign-trade For Woollen Clothing, In the Several Countries and Ports We Traded To, In the Sinking of the Foreign Price of This Manufac
• Sect. XII.: Instances In Late Increases and Excesses of Our Forreign Importations, and Therein of the Decay of Some Other of Our Own Manufactures Which Supplyed Our Home Uses, Viz. In Linnens of All Sorts, More Dear Fine Linnens Used; Incidently of the
• Sect. XIII.: That a Considerable Part of Our Late Treasure Is Exhausted: Application to Our Publick and Private Revenues: Objections Answered, Viz. the Plenty of Money to Be Let On Securities, Stores of Money In London, Stocks In Merchandize, the Over
• Sect. XIV.: People and Treasure the True Pillars of the National Strength: the Odds In the Different Vse and Imployment of People. the Absoluteness of the French Monarchy No Cause of the Present French Grandure: the Late Application of the French Co
• Dudley North, Discourses Upon Trade
• The Preface.
• A Discourse Concerning the Abatement of Interest.
• A Discourse of Coyned Money.
• Postscript. Upon Farther Consideration of the Foregoing Matters, I Think Fit to Add the Following Notes.
• Considerations On the East-india Trade
• To the Reader.
• Chap. I.: The Objections Against the East-india Trade; Viz. the Exportation of Bullion For Manufactures to Be Consum’d In England; the Loss of the Labourer’s Employment; the Abatement of Rents Are Enforc’d.
• Chap. II.: The Exportation of Bullion For Indian Manufactures, Is an Exchange of Less For Greater Value.
• Chap. III.: A More Open East-india- Trade, Is More Profitable to the Kingdom.
• Chap. IV.: The East-india Trade Does Not So Much Diminish the Riches of Some Private Persons, As It Increases the Riches of the Kingdom.
• Chap. V.: The East-india Trade Is the Way to Increase Our Bullion.
• Chap. VI.: The East-india Trade Must Increase Our Exportations.
• Chap. VII.: Notwithstanding the Idleness of the Mint, the Money and the Bullion Are Increas’d.
• Chap. VIII.: The Increase of Paper Money Is to Be Ascrib’d to the Increase of Real Money, Rather Than the Apparent Plenty of Money to the Increase of Current Paper.
• Chap. IX.: The Kingdom Is Not More Impoverish’d By the Consumption of Indian Than of English Manufactures.
• Chap. X.: The East-india Trade Destroys No Imployment of the People Which Is Profitable to the Kingdom.
• Chap. XI.: The East-india Trade Is the Most Likely Way to Inlarge the Business In the Present Manufactures.
• Chap. XII.: By Being the Cause of the Invention of Arts and Engines, of Order and Regularity In Our Manufactures, the East-india Trade, Without Abating the Wages of Labourers, Abates the Price of Manufactures.
• Chap. XIII.: The East-india Trade Is the Most Likely Way to Set On Foot New Manufactures For Imployment of the People.
• Chap. XIV.: The East-india Trade Does Not Abate the Rents, By the Exportation of Bullion, By the Diminution of Consumers, By the Abatement of Wages; the Importation of Indian Manufactures Is Less Likely to Abate Rents Than the Importation of the Unwro
• Chap. XV.: The Importation of Indian Manufactures Abates Only the Price of Labour, But Raises the Price of the Produce of the Estate.
• Chap. XVI.: And This Is Confirm’d By Examples.
• Chap. XVII.: The East-india Trade Does Not Abate the Rents of the Landholder By Destroying His Monopoly.
• Chap. XVIII.: The Fishing-trade Is Not So Profitable As the Importation of Irish Cattel, Or of Indian Manufactures; and Is More Likely Than Either to Abate the Rents of England.
• Chap. XIX.: The Herring-fishery Not Practicable In the Present Circumstances of England; the Dutch Can Sell Cheaper.
• Chap. XX.: The Way to Bring England to Be Contented With As Little Profit In the Fishing-trade As Holland.
• Chap. XXI.: That the Way to Enable England to Catch and Cure Their Herrings As Cheap As Holland, Is, First to Have Materials For That Trade As Cheap: and That This Is Most Likely to Be Done, By Discharging the Customs Upon Such Things, By Making the T
• Chap. XXII.: The Way to Make English Labour In the Fishing-trade As Cheap As That of Holland; That the People Here Must Cohabit As Close Together; and the Most Probable Methods For Effecting This, Are to Erect a Free-port, to Impower Parishes to Send

SECT. VIII.

That a Nation may grow poor by Forreign Trade, viz. by an excess of meer Importations, illustrated by some Observations: this facilitated by exporting Money or Bullion; the fatal Consequences and Symptoms of a Consumptive Trade, decay of Manufactures, other ways of living over-stocked, fall of Rents, general Poverty, an increase of Criminals of all sorts, Depopulation; some Application to the present Case of England, and amongst others the occasion of the new Buildings about London; of Incontinency, Cunning, &c.

AS a Nation may grow Rich and Populous, and consequently strong by Forreign Trade; so may a Nation grow poor and dispeopled, and consequently weak by Forreign Trade; nor is there any possible or practicable way for the Treasure of a Nation in peace, to be exhausted and exported into another Nation to any considerable and sensible degree, but by Forreign Trade.

This must necessarily happen by the excess of meer Importation, viz. when the Commodities imported from abroad, and spent at home, do cost more than the National gain by Trade amounts to; as suppose such yearly Importations into England should cost two Millions, and the National gain by Exportations or otherwise should amount but to 1500000l. the Nation of England must yearly lose 500000l. of its Treasure by Trade, because so much must yearly be exported by the English Merchants to satisfie the over-ballance.

That the English Trade might fall into such a Consumption, is easily and highly credible.

For suppose the utmost neat gain of our former English Trade amounted to but 300000l. per An’ one year with another; then if the Exportations and beneficial Merchandize of England should become worse by 400000l. per An’ one year with another than before, the Nation of England must lose 100000l. per An’ of its National Treasure, though our yearly Importations be no more in value than before; whence it appears, that by this means the same Importations may become excessive.

So though our Exportations, and the beneficial part of our Merchandize, continue as valuable as before, yet if our yearly Consumptive Importations grow to be more in value by 400000l. per An’ than before, the Nation must also in this case lose 100000l. per An’ by Trade.

But what if both the beneficial part of the Trade grow worse, and also the Importations increase? Certainly this must cut deepest on the National Stock, and must soonest grind it out; for then if the beneficial part grow worse by 400000l. and the Importing part be increased 400000l. per An’ value, the Nation must then lose 500000l. per Annum; or suppose but to half those values in each, the Nation must lose 100000l. per Annum.

To accommodate these Hypotheses to England; first, we may conclude, that the beneficial part of our Trade hath grown much less and worse yearly, by reason of the unequal cloggs and difficulties on our Home and Forreign Trade.

And that on the other side our Importations must as necessarily be increased, both by the decay of our own former Manufactures at home, and by our modern gawd’ry and affectation of foreign Goods; and as our Trade from Port to Port hath become more impracticable to any advantage, the Exporters of our remaining Manufactures and other home-Commodities, must either come back empty, or else must freight themselves homewards with such consumptive foreign Commodities, as for Gawdry, Novelty, Cheapness, or Lyquorishness, will dazle, tempt and bewitch our People to buy them; in which course of Trade our Merchants may gain considerable proportions of our remaining Treasures as long as there is any in the Nation.

Nay, rather than sit idle, they will,See Mr. Mun of Foreign Trade, Chap. 12. p. 83, to 92. and that the over ballance of Trade in any particular Country, causes the Exchange to be high, so that the exporting of money shall save the Merchant 10l. per Cent or more, as the exchange is. and do freight themselves outwards with meer Ballast and Bills of Exchange (by which the Importation of foreign Bullion or money is prevented:) or if Bills of Exchange cannot reasonably be had (as they usually cannot to those Countries where we are overballanced in Trade) then they export Mony and Bullion, and buy and import Consumptive Goods which are spent at home; which kind of Trade deserves rather to be called Foreign Pedling, than Merchandise.

It may be remembred here, how much the beneficial part of our Trade may be prejudiced by the loss of 100000 of our Manufactures, and what odds the same loss may produce in our Importations, since if they get but 6l. per Ann. a peice, it must sink the former gain by Trade no less than 600000l. per Ann.

And on the other side, that if a Million of Families or Persons in a Nation, do one with the other consume to the value of 20s. a piece more, yearly in foreign Manufactures, Drinks, &c. than before, this must increase our Importations to the value of a Million per Ann. which I observe here to shew how imperceptibly an over-ballance of Importation may creep upon a Nation; and that the Reader may with the less difficulty conjecture at the late and present ballance of Trade in England.

It must also much assist this Importing Trade, if the Merchants shall export Mony, or Bullion; especially in such a Nation as England, where a Trade from Port to Port is not ordinarily practicable to any advantage: for in that Case the Goods Imported being spent at home, the Treasure Exported must be lost to the Nation; and as long as the English Merchant can have Bullion or Mony to Export, and can have a vent for his Importations at home, his private gain will never oblige him to complain of the want of Exportable home-Manufactures, or the Clogs upon Trade, especially in England, where our Merchants have such a Monopoly of those Importations on the rest of the People.

This Consumptive Importing Trade must be of very fatal Consequence in its Nature; for first, whilest the National Stock is greater, it will exhaust the Treasure almost insensibly; but as the Treasure grows less and less, it will work more palpably and grievously, because it will consume more and more of that little which remains.

And as the National Treasure comes to be more and more diminished, the People must generally have less and less, which must cause the price of all home-Commodities, and consequently Land-Rents to fall continually, the home Manufactures must be choaked and stifled by Importations, so that both the Farmers and Manufacturers must fling up; the values of their Stocks must be contracted, and will be eaten out by Rent, Wages and other standing charges before they are aware; men cannot provide against misfortunes which have unseen Causes: and as home-trade grows worse and worse, Industry it self must be tired and foiled, to the great amazement, as well as affliction of the People.

For at the same time Liberty and Property may remain inviolated, many Merchants shall grow rich and shall be well satisfied as long as there is Vanity and Money at home; so shall their Retailers and Salesmen of foreign Wares, such are Mercers, Lacemen, Linnen-Drapers, Exchange-men, Grocers, Vintners and most others; there may seem to be the same Navigation for a time, the Customs must also necessarily much increase as the Importations increase (especially in England where the Customs on Importations are so high) and by that means may cause a reputation and sound of Trade amongst many, when indeed such a swelling of the Customs does only denounce their growing poverty and ruine.

It may be these ranks of men, who stand not in the direct Channel of Trade, may seem to flourish for a time, as Officers, Lawyers, Physitians, and others: nay perhaps some Officers may have greater opportunities of gain during the first Convulsions of a growing Poverty; since the necessities of men obliging them to be more Criminous, it may for a while occasion greater and more frequent gratuities, and a more absolute subservience; so may many Lawyers get more than ever whilst mens Estates are rending to pieces, (as doubtless did some Bricklayers get Estates by the burning of the City). So perhaps sickly men whilst they can, may strain hard to secure the Faith and Care of their Physitians with as good Fees as before, so some Clergy-men. Scriveners and Pen-men of all sorts, Usurers and such others may seem to stem the torrent better than the Landholders and Manufacturers, whose Revenues immediately depend on the home-market, and who make up the gross body and strength of a Nation; many of these former rankes of men (being at ease themselves) may seem insensible of the Common Afflictions, but must be gradually involved with the rest.

And the sooner, because as men fling up their Farms and Manufactures, and others are discouraged, multitudes of those that want Imployments, observing what other sorts of men continue to live at some ease, will naturally and inevitably throng themselves into the like, viz. importing Merchandise, Retayling, Shopkeeping, the Law, Clergy, and Priesthood of all sorts, Offices, Scrivening, Solliciting, and Physick; by which these Imployments must be so over-clogged, that they will be hardly able to live by one another; vast numbers of others must betake themselves to Inn-keeping, Ale-keeping, Victualing, &c. and those who have little or no stocks or literature, and therefore cannot crowd themselves into some of these ways of Livelihood must lye on the Parish, or being higher or worse minded must fall to Cheating, Canting, Shifting, Perjury, Forgery, Whoredom, Sherking, Chipping, Coyning, Buffooning, Tumbling, Pimping, Pilfering, Robbery, &c. for their ordinary maintenances; the more honest or industrious will transport themselves into foreign parts, as soon as they have opportunity, rather than live miserable at home, especially if they have an Ireland and Plantations to go to; nor is it possible (as I conceive) for any Laws or Penalties effectually to restrain the swelling numbers of any of the former professions, but by opening the beneficial and Comprehensive Imployments of Manufactures, Farming, &c.; nor can the daily increase of Ale-houses, or of Frauds, Perjuries and Criminals of all sorts be otherwise corrected; no Statutes, nay, or Preaching, though never so learned or florid, can prevail with necessitous men.

But the increase of these former more Gentleman-like, Scholar-like, Retailing and Shopkeeping-Imployments, must yet bring a farther inconvenience, viz. a more general affectation of Finery and Gawdery, than before; for these being sedentary and easie professions, will not only admit of, but occasion greater curiosity in Apparel, Modes, and dresses than the active and laborious ways of living by Farming or Manufactures. And as this Gawdery grows more in use it will spread amongst the rest, and the People emulating one another, will be gawdy as long as they can, though never so poor; which must support and increase Foreign Importations, whilst every one is contending who shall have the finest Foreign Livery, so will People thus at leisure most naturally fall into the habits of drinking and other ill Courses.

Too many of these symptoms of a Consumptive Trade may be generally observed in England; of late years any man who had but an indifferent Stock might have set himself to Tillage, Grazing, Daiery, Cloathing, Fulling, &c. in almost any part of England, and might not only have maintained his Family plentifully, but as his Stock and Ingenuity were more or less, might have left an Estate behind him; it was not extraordinary for a man thus employed to get an Estate of 3, or 4000l. some 10, some 20, some 30000l. whereas now, and of these later years these home-imployments have been the usual Shipwracks of mens Stocks and Estates in most parts of England, or so dull and cold that men can hardly endure to live so meanly.

Our late Wealthy Yeomanry are impoverished, or much reduced in their stocks, a man shall hardly find three in a County able to rent 3, or 400l. per Ann. they are forced to sink their Rents on the Gentry continually, or else to fling up their Farms; much Land is fallen a fifth part, some a fourth part, some a third part, some to half of the late Rent, (unless in some few Countys in whose benefit the Irish Acts were made, and there Rents are not risen and are now like to fall low enough:) by which continual contracting of Rents the very earth seems to shrink and consume under us, and whilst many of our late opulent and mighty Gentry since the general decay of their Revenues have been striving to support the antient honour and dignity of their Families, they are become immerged and fettered in inextricable debts and securities; great numbers of our Clothiers and other Manufacturers are undone, or have given up; the rest remain under a languishing hope of better Markets: and multitudes of those people, whose Labours brought Mony, Trade and Comfort to our Corporations, are now become chargeable burthens: it being computed that our Poor are increased to near ten times their late number within this last twenty years, and that their maintenance doth cost the Nation 400000l. per Ann. constant Tax.

On the other side, the increase of those sorts of men, whose Imployments either may prejudice, or else can add no increase of Treasure to the Nation, is very visible: by which increase the inconveniencies must be still the greater; for where the foreign Trade of a Nation is so much driven in importations, the increase of Merchants will oblige an increase of Importation; so an increase of Retailers dealing in foreign Goods, will open a greater vent for Importations; suppose such a Retailer sells for 10l. per Cent. profit, the Nation must lose about nine pence for every peny he gets, what then shall the Nation lose by the Trade of a Merchant or Retailer, who by vending Foreign Wares shall get an Estate of 10, or 20000l. over and besides a profuse maintenance? Or what will it signifie to the Wealth or Glory of a Nation, or City, to have many such 10000l. men as these? Have we any reason to rejoyce in such a flourishing Trade? These Retailers and Shop-keepers, gleaning the Mony, from the People, hand it up to the Importers, who export this Commodity in Trade as occasion does require; and as our Manufactures have decayed, so have Shop-keepers of all sorts increased; our Cities and Corporations are stuffed with them more and more; there being at least ten times more in the Nation than were 20, or 30 years since.

Thus also have we multitudes of more Lawyers, Attorneys, Solicitors, Scriviners, and Pen-men of all sorts, than of late years we had; which occasions more Querks, Tricks, and Cheats in the Law.Author of the grounds and reasons of the contempt of the English Clergy. We have vastly more Scholars and Clergymen, which a late Author observing, thought it necessary to export Tunns of Divines instead of Manufacture: This does cause an universal competition for Benefices; of which the needy Laity taking advantage, make Simonaical presentations,pag. 141. and thence must follow perjury in Institutions, and thence seared Consciences; but of all other Imployments we have the greatest questing after Offices; Men will almost give any thing, say any thing, or do any thing for an Office; so that some Offices which were thought hardly worth the medling with of late years, will now yield near ten years purchase for one life, which competition hath also in a manner virtually repealed the Statute against buying and selling of Offices, and obliges those who buy trusts to sell trusts. We have also far more Physitians, men of Medicine and Quacks, especially Pox-Doctors than ever, so have we (with our poverty) far more Finery and Gawdery, more Daintyness, Delicacy and Luxury.

So have we a vast increase of Inn-keepers and Ale-keepers both in City and Country, by which the common-people are debauched, made impious, poor and effeminate: all which mischiefs do in union cause the vast increase of new Buildings in and about London; for most of the Offices are in London, or there to be gotten, there is also the ready access to Church-preferment, and the best and most easie Imployments for Lawyers, Solicitors, Scriviners, Physitians, and such others, and the rather, because the publick Taxes and Importing-trade drawing the mony up to London, it will there be stirring as long as we have any in the Nation; whilst the Country is left poorer and barer every day; and therefore besides these higher ranks of men, the ordinary People who used heretofore to begin upon Farming or Manufacture, hearing of mony in London, do post from the starving Country, and apply themselves to the selling of Ale, Brandy, Tobacco, Coffee, Brokery of all sorts, letting of Lodgings in or about London, and such like Imployments, which too commonly end in Bawdery and the Gallows, by which there is room made for new Comers and Tenants; I have heard it said, that Madrid is grown much bigger and more Populous of late years.

From these and other sorts of People, both in City and Country, we have more and more Criminals of all the sorts and species mentioned before; our Gaols are fuller and fuller, great numbers of which are yearly executed or transported; vast numbers of others have betaken themselves to voluntary exile from this their Native Country, in hopes of a better condition, rather than to endure certain poverty or persecution for Conscience at home; besides those gone into Ireland, and the Plantations, there are many thousands of Protestants gone from us into the Low Countries, into France, into Germany, and into Poland, where being Woollen Manufacturers, they have taught, and set up this Manufacsure, and thereby helped to work our ruine. These being of the most strong and able part of our People, leave their Wives and Children, and other impotent and lazy People at home.

And thus shall a Nation be inevitably dispeopled, as well as impoverished by a consumptive Trade; Nay, it shall hinder the ordinary increase of People by procreation, especially in a Nation where venereal sins are become general, habitual and shameless; for the People being poor, or vicious, or both, dare not, or care not to engage in the charge or virtuous Obligations of Marriage, (unless here and there where a man gets a Catch with a Wife which shall be equal to an Office,) but will rather use unlawful promiscuous Copulation, which breeds no Children, but infinite Claps and Poxes to the common weakning of Posterity, and present scandal of a Nation: (thus have our Women also lost their choice of Chapmen for Husbands:) how many of our most beautiful Women (which might have made good and vertuous Wives, and brought forth numbers of as beautiful Children,) are for want of convenient Matches tempted, or forced for a little mony, to sell their souls to the Devil, and their delicate bodies to lust and rottenness, nay to the Gallows, when proving with Child, the remains of their natural modesty, will not in their extremities permit them to call Witnesses of their shame, whilst the Gallants which beget them go free, and glory in their great performance.

All which mischiefs of a consumptive Trade are yet more fatal, because the growing vice and poverty which attends it, will generally bring a languor and difficulty on mens understandings; as men sink in their Estates, their Spirits and Thoughts will be lower and narrower, and their Minds clouded with anxieties and cares, this (with the common disability of making advantages upon Forreigners in the course of Trade) leads them into a kind of unhappy Cunning, consisting in the over-reaching of one another at home; and he will be accounted wise, who by any means can shift himself out of the common wants, nor will he think his own happiness small, (especially if his beginnings were low) when (like one standing on the Sands) he can behold the Shipwreck of others.