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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

CHAP. XVI.

And this is confirm’d by Examples.

THIS is Reason,The Roman Lands not impair’d by the Tributes; and this is also confirm’d by the experience of many Countries: The Romans conquer’d great Nations, they injoin’d the conquer’d People to send them Tributes of their Manufactures, the Manufactures of every Nation were to be seen at Rome; from Sicily, Africa, and other neighbouring Provinces, they receiv’d their Corn; this was not done for want of Land enough for Tillage in Italy; we are taught by their Historians, that Italy was always able to bear Corn sufficient for their Inhabitants. Yet in such quantities ’twas imported, that the Romans were forc’d from their antient Husbandry, they were disabled this way to make profit of their lands; yet their Lands did not lye idle, the Produce of their Estates preserv’d its value, their Rents were not abated.

But,Nor the Dutch Lands by their vast Imports; Men are afraid of comparisons with the Romans, therefore later instances must be given: The Dutch import things of Foreign Growth and Manufacture, not so cheap indeed as the antient Romans, and ’tis to be hop’d they never will, yet cheaper far than like things can be brought into any other Country, and this they do with the greatest Freedom. They import into Holland, Corn, Wine, and grown Cattel, so very cheap, that they quite deprive themselves of the Articles of Tillage and Breeding. Pasture, Dairy, and the production of Flax and Madder, are almost all the imployment they have for Lands in Holland; yet, as if they wou’d have no use of their Pasture, they import such quantities of Herrings and fatted Cattel, as are sufficient for many such Countries as Holland, and so very cheap that no Country can do the like. As if they intended to spoil their Dairies, they import from Sweden such quantities of Butter, that they are forc’d to look out Foreign Markets for their own. And, as if they intended to run down the price of every thing at home, they import with the greatest freedom and in the greatest quantities, Hemp and Flax from the East Country, Linens from Germany, and other Manufactures from the East-Indies. They labour as it were, to abate the value of the Produce of their own Lands; in vain, for in no other Country are the Rents of Lands so high as those of Holland.

Again, England imports neither so many things,Nor indeed the English. nor so cheap as Holland; yet of late, the Importations have been very great; the Customs are greater far than ever heretofore. Prodigious quantities of Silks, Callicoes, and other Indian things have been imported, equal as is said, to all the Woollen Manufacture. Norwich and Canterbury are almost beaten out of their Trades: However, in general the Woollen Manufacture has flourish’d, Wool has carried a better price, and generally Rents have been rais’d over all the Kingdom.

If the price of Wool is not abated by the importation of Indian Manufactures, why shou’d the importation of Corn, of Wine, of Cattel, of Herrings, abate the Rents of England? Why shou’d the price of the Produce of the Estate be abated by any Importations?

The Rents of Lands in Holland, are generally higher than the Rents of the same kind of Lands in England, and perhaps at a medium are as high again. If the importation of Wine, of Corn, of Cattel, has not abated the higher Rent of Holland, Why shou’d it abate the lesser Rent of England? If the Dutch Pasture is not abated below the Rent of Forty Shillings, by the importation of Butter, Fish, and Fatted Cattel, why shou’d the Rent of as good Pasture here be less than Twenty Shillings, tho’ all these things shou’d be imported into England.

It is in vain to say,A small quantity of Land does not therefore yield a greater Rent. There is but little Land in Holland, that therefore Rents are higher there than in any other Country, but if they had Land as much as England, their Rents wou’d be soon affected by such mighty Importations. This can never be a reason that the Rents are high in Holland. Indeed, where there is little Land and many Purchasers, the Purchace must be dearer; but the Tenant, the Yearly Renter, will give no more Rent than can be made of the Produce of the Estate; and besides the Rent for the Landlord, he will expect a living Profit for himself. Wherefore Rents in Holland are not high, a great price is not given for the Produce of the Estate, because there is but little Land in Holland.

Besides, Holland is upon the Continent; the Lands adjoining are large enough in reason; Are any other Lands impair’d in Yearly value by their Neighbourhood to Holland? The Rents of Holland are higher far than those of any other Country; the Yearly value of other Lands is always greater, the less their distance is from thence; great Importations into Holland have neither abated the Rents of that nor any other place: And therefore, as great Importations wou’d not abate the Rents in England, neither upon the Coast, nor in the midland Country.

Wherefore,The most likely ways to raise the Rents. better Reasons may be given; that the importation of things of Foreign Growth and Manufacture, is not the way to impair the Yearly value of the Lands of any Country. It is certainly the way to create a plenty of the conveniences of Life; this will invite Purchasers and People thither, and these will preserve the Yearly value of the Lands. Again, if plenty shall invite People into any Country, the value of such a Country must needs be rais’d; the People will give more for the Produce of Lands at home, than for like things at a greater distance, to be at the charge of Carriage. Besides, the increase of our Superfluities must needs increase our Exportations, must return more Bullion into England, must multiply Money to be given for the Produce of the Estate. Lastly, The importation of things of Foreign Growth and Manufacture is the most likely way to abate the price of Labour, which is to be mix’d with the Produce of the Estate, it is consequently the way to raise the value of the Produce of the Estate.

Whatsoever shall become of these Reasons, Matter of Fact is certain; great Importations have always rais’d the value of every other Country, there is no reason to believe they can impair the Rents of England. And thus the Experience of several Countries, especially of our own, might teach Gentlemen to apprehend but little danger from the Indian Manufactures.