A Letter from N. J. to E. T. Esq his Representative in Parliament.  
AT your request, I give you, Sir, my hasty thoughts upon your Proposals; not only as knowing that I have neither leisure nor ability, but that I am under no necessity of dressing nor improving them: Truth is self-evident, and carries with it a Natural Eloquence, in persuading or convincing its Adversaries; and if it needs any assistance, it is secure of a good Advocate, when under your Protection.  
The Nation is now in such a … tion, as requires all your care; in a desperate Crisis Men are wont to be easily persuaded to any appearance of remedy: And I know you are one of those who would propose; and I doubt not that the Liberty of all Englishmen is now so well secured, that you in your Station may offer any thing for its relief, without the danger that the Locrian Senators were Subject to, of proposing a Law with an Halter about their Necks.  
The chief Business that Parliaments in the late Reigns were Summoned for, was Money, and though Now undoubtedly, the Welfare of the Nation is the Chief Design of your Meeting, yet that little old circumstance of Taxes, will, even in this Session, employ some of your spare Hours, when other weightier Affairs give you leave for it. That Money must be raised, you easily take for granted; and seem not to doubt of a more material Question, That there is Money in the Nation to be raised: And since these two are not put upon me, I am not fond of the Office of proving either of them, but shall proceed to the great Subject of your Enquiry, How it is to be Assessed, and what's the best and easiest Method of rating the Subject in this juncture; and so far I agree with you, That when a Dose is very unpleasant and often repeated, there is need of skill in making it any ways palatable to the Patient.  
It is said, That Land cannot maintain a farther Supply; That the Gentry of England have already paid more than they can well bear; That the Interest of many Mortgages is behind, their Tenants Insolvent, and their Estates of little other use to them, than that they entitle them to Expenses proportionable rather to the reputed value than the product of them.  
As to Trade, The Customs seem high enough already; and yet, though such, our Merchants would willingly pay, if their Effects could come home to the Quey. Their Complaint is, they do not pay the Customs of all their Goods, for more are carried into the Ports of France than brought home; and that our Traffic is for the Advantage of France, though all Trade with it is prohibited.  
It may be as hard to deny the Truth of these matters, as it is easy to confute the inference that is drawn from them. That the only Expedient now left is a Home Excise, as a Tax that relieves the Gentry, and lays itself equally on the whole Nation, and makes the Burden as extensive and universal as the benefit that arises from it.  
I must confess, that the Notion is plausible, and (as new and untried) hath at present many Advocates; and though it is very Natural for Men, that are under a Distemper, to court not only a Remedy but a Change; yet it ought to be considered, that Feverish Persons are often restless, without relief; and that when the Motion is violent from one place to another, that which was designed to cure the pain, only increases the heat.  
What therefore is to be proved, is, That this double Poison is no Antidote, That the Tax will still rest as heavy on Land, and will give our Gentry no other ease, than as it communicates the Load to others, but does not divide it: For is it not evident to any considering Person, That either the Country must eat as much after this Starving Act as before it, or must upon it betake themselves to Roots and Pottage, and undergo the Discipline of Foreign Frugality?  
If their manner of Living be the same, and withal (as it necessarily must be) more chargeable, than Wages must increase proportionable to Expenses, and the Gentry will only pay as much more to the Workmen and Hirelings, as less to the Government: And if after this Act, Labourers will be so Loyal as to Diet themselves with less Bread and Beef than formerly, than the Vent of Commodities of our own growth must sink, and the Gentry's Disbursements will only so much decrease, as their Receipts abate; and if it be granted, that our Gentry, and their Tenants, will not be the only Sharers in this public Imposition; but that common Artificers and ordinary Tradesmen, who neither have Land, nor are concerned for the improvement of it, must bear their proportion; yet still as these Men's Charges increase, the Price of their Work must be raised; and the only alteration will be, That our Gentry must pay that to the Shop, which they deduct from the Exchequer; or rather will make Tradesmen their Receivers, to carry their Money to the Treasury.  
And here will be this farther unhappiness too, That Men, who thus bleed to Death by a gradual and insensible loss of their Wealth, will be less admonished to retrench their Expenses, than if a gross Sum should give them a Quarterly remembrance of the stated and settled Taxes.  
If then a Home Excise be, upon these Reasons, Relief only in Shadow and Appearance; I am sure, upon many other Accounts, it is a Mischief in reality and Substance; for not only our Stalls and our Markets will be viewed, but our Kitchens surveyed, our Ovens searched, and our Hen-roosts ransacked; each Town must contain a Herd of Collectors and Assessors, who shall be Witnesses of our Entertainments, and Spies upon our Hospitality.  
What have we and our Ancestors been contending for, since the Conquest? Why have our Heroes suffered Imprisonment, Banishment, and Death, to entail upon their Families the Freedom of Eating, at least, without danger of an Excise Man.  
When our Smoke was to be Taxed, we could still live without Fire; when our Beer was Excised, we had Water free; but an Imposition on Victuals is as scandalous as that of Vespasian upon Urine, and falls upon the common and indispensable Necessities of Life.  
I would willingly know, what, in their time, Selden, Cotton, and Rawley would have thought of these Proposals? And if probably they would have ventured their Lives in opposition to such a perpetual Badge of Slavery: Is it reasonable that we should willingly choose in the best of Reigns, what would not have been born in the worst?  
Shall we free ourselves from our Original dependence on Kings, and the Ancient Bonds of our Constitution; and afterwards bore our own Ears, and voluntarily submit to the Tyranny of Excise-Men?  
In short, Sir, there is no need of nice Sense and Application, to apprehend what I think hath been seen and laid down by all Politicians whatsoever, that Taxes ought, First rather, to be laid upon Luxury than Necessity; and, Secondly, rather on things of Foreign than Domestic growth.  
And since it is the happiness of this Island, that all those Wares, which are imported from abroad, conduce only for our Ease, not our Support; and all our Domestic Commodities, are necessary to our Being, or well being: It follows, that the two Rules, laid down before, do in this Nation fall into one, and carry only a double reason with them for one and the same Action.  
Money being undoubtedly the measure of Wealth, it is therefore clear, there is nothing can immediately improve the Riches of the Nation, but what increases the Coin of it: Now our Iron, Tin, Corn, Wool, Leather, and other the intrinsic Commodities of this Nation, add so much to our Riches as the outward Trade over-ballances the inward, and no more; and the cheaper the Exports of this Nation can be sold, the Vent is the quicker, and the Trade more certain. This is so plain a Proposition, that it may be proved by a thousand obvious Instances, which need not be mentioned, since the truth of it depends on this Axiom, That a Trading Nation, that sells more than it buys, is a Gainer, and that buys more than it sells, is a Loser.  
Now can there be a greater stupidity in any Nation, than to lay a Tax on the Manufactures of our own Product, and in a time when we have need of the greatest support, to Seethe the Kid in its Mother's Milk, and Prey upon our Subsistance?  
Most of our Ancient wholesome Laws were made for the improvement of Domestic Manufactures; many Corporations, that Now retain nothing of their former Wealth and Grandeur, but their Mace and Gowns, the Signs or rather Shadows of their Ancient Riches, were erected for that End, and flourished by it: And if in the late Reigns, the neglect or dis-encouragement of Home-Trade exposed it to decay, there is nothing wanting, but this last fatal Blow, to subject it to ruin.  
If, Sir, there was no other Reason against a Home-Excise, this would be a strong one with me, That it defeats all the great and signal Blessings which this Most Happy Reign has brought upon us; for Liberty is an excellent thing when joined with Property; but is a sound only, and a very Metaphysical and a Speculative Happiness without it. The outmost Nations of the North, have always been the freest People in the World, as those which could not allure or support a Tyrant; and therefore constantly enjoyed a Liberty of acting and starving as they pleased. Liberty is that which secures our Property, and the one is no more worth after the loss of the other, than the preservation of the Case, after the Shipwreck of the Jewel; and we may easily bid adieu to the Prosperity of the Nation, when a Tax is once established upon that which at first created its Wealth, and at present supports it; and however Legal the Proceed, and however Mild the Methods in it may be, it is certainly the same thing, when the Vitals are endangered, whether they are violently devoured or gently consumed; whether the Radical Moisture be at once exhausted, or gradually sucked out.  
Much more, Sir, might be said against the Home-Excise, if I did not hasten to answer what is pleaded for it; and that is, Necessity; a Word that has no Law, and silences all Reason: And it is to be observed, That the same Word was guilty of Ship-money in Charles the First's Reign, and a Dispensing Power in King James the Second Time, which is brought to introduce a Home-Excise in the most prosperous and most glorious Reign of his present most gracious Majesty.  
I must confess therefore I have no great respect for Necessity, as that which has occasioned very hard things, when true and real, and many ill things, when false and pretended. But since this is a violent Storm, of the Consequences of which we judge better at a distance, let us a little examine the Necessity in the late Times, by which we may the better judge of it for the future.  
Was it of Necessity, that Englishmen should be disgraced, and turned out of their Employments, and Foreigners, French, Irish, and others put in their Places? Was not this accounted a plain Demonstration, That the English should not be trusted? And where there is no Confidence, there is the less Obligation.  
Was it of Necessity, That a mean-born, haughty, parasitical, designing Black-coat, the then Famed Father Petre's, I mean, should manage Affairs of State, overrule our Ancient Nobility, oppress the Famous Universities, and Favour all those that acted against them, patronise all the Schismatics and Sectaries, bring our worthy and venerable Prelates to ruin for adhering to the Law of the Land, and the Dictates of their Conscience, and seize upon their Revenues himself (contrary to the known Law of the Kingdom) enjoying those of the Archbishopric of York, and persuade the King, That he could reconcile his Subjects to him, who was himself the greatest Cause of Grievance, and the very Nuisance of the Kingdom?  
Was it of Necessity, That the Hereditary Revenues of our Nation should be exhausted in Pensions to flattering Minions, and Men generally of no Sense, but always of no Principle?  
Was it of Necessity, That Parliament-Men should be bribed to betray their Country, and securely lay a Tax upon our Nation, in which their Poverty exempts them from being Sharers?  
Was it of Necessity, That the Ancient Church of England, which had as good a Right to its Revenues as the King to his Crown, should be subjected to Men of no Mercy, Honour or Truth, who never did nor will do a good Act, unless in betraying their unjust Benefactors?  
If this was Necessity, I have another Quarrel to it, as that which takes different Shapes and Appearances, and is at the same time as evident at Court as an Earthquake, or Inundation; but as invisible in the Country as Money after a Tax. Now a Public Necessity unseen, is the same thing as an unperceivable Whirldwind, as Thunder that cannot be heard, and a Tempest that cannot be felt. It was nicely distinguished by a Judge in the Case of Ship money, That there is a Necessity of preventing a Necessity; and by the same Rule, there is a Necessity of preventing that Necessity, that may bring on Necessity. But if the Matter should prove that there is little Necessity of giving, and a greater Necessity of keeping the little we have, and the greatest of all of not giving what we have not; then I suppose that one Necessity may balance another, and so Necessity may be wholly out of the Case.  
Now to bring the Matter home to our present Circumstances, there is a Necessity of keeping a Navy; for without it, we export nothing of our own Growth, and bring in no Money in lieu of it, and get nothing as our Neighbours do, by being Carriers to Europe; and therefore the Wealth of the Nation cannot increase, and consequently must necessarily decay. There is likewise a Necessity of maintaining Men of War, because generally Privateers observe no Rules of Property, and oftentimes make no Conscience of taking other Men's Goods without any Colour of Right; and therefore we should provide a little for a Defence, and not a little for Reprizals: It may not be improbable too, that the Grand Lewis, though he hath not so good a Title to the Place, may have as much Mind to England as we had lately to France; and therefore may be as maliciously inclined against the one, as we are courageously bend against the other. A Fleet then may be as necessary to an Island, as Walls to a Town, and the stronger the Bulwarks are in this Case, the greater the Security; and since our Brethren the Dutch have not always held the same good Correspondence with us in point of Trade, as now, and have all the Reason in Politics to oppose and depress us: It is not certain that their good Nature will always prevail above their Interest; and that the Friendship will be eternal, though cemented by Religion. And therefore such a Fleet as could beat the French would do well; but such as could defeat them and the Dutch jointly would do much better. And this I profess is all the Necessity I am sensible of, as that which comprehends all the immediate Dangers we can fall under; and if obviated, leave us secure of Safety, at least, if not of Glory.  
For since Britain is like another World, encompassed and fortified by its Seas, there is no possibility of our Ruin as long as our Sovereignty of the Ocean is maintained; and there is no end of our Fears as long as that is precarious: The French Naval Force is now much lessened, and that undoubtedly; for we are told from Lambeth, our Victory was the greatest that ever was obtained since the Sun run its Course. And as the French were defeated under Russel, so the Dutch suffered not a little under Torrington; and both those Accidents, however different they seem in their Nature, may equally contribute to the Advantage of England.  
All that we can dread from the taking of Flanders, is, That it is a step to the Conquest of Holland, and consequently a great Addition may thereby be made to the Maritime Power of France; and till Men have Wings, a very potent, foreign Navy, is the only just Cause of our Fear from any Invasion; therefore certainly the lower the Naval Power of both these States are, the less is our Apprehension from each of them severally, or from both of them hereafter jointly: And if the Two and twenty Millions already raised, had (as was proposed by a worthy Member, and one of the most ancient and the best experienced of your House) been spent in our Fleet and Seamen only, I flatter myself that we need not fear the taking of Charleroy o● Brussels.  
If the Nation indeed had plenty of Money, and were at a loss how to expend it; it is to be owned, That the Support of the Confederacy, and the Relief of the poor King of Spain, would be proper Objects of our Liberality: But since all we can spare is only sufficient for our own Security, there can be no scruple but it ought wholly to be laid out where the Safety of this Island naturally directs and requires the Employment of it; especially, since what is given to the Fleet by a quick Circulation returns into the Nation, and what is laid out on the Confederates is not only spent but lost, unless at last an Expedient can be contrived by Men of very deep Capacity to prevent the Exportation of our Bullion.  
Seeing the Sea will exhaust our Treasure, it is but Reason the Sea should supply it; and though our Taxes at present lie heavy upon the Merchants, yet the greater the Expenses are upon Shipping, and the more the Taxes arise in proportion to them, the greater will be the Traders Security; and consequently the Imposition more easy, the Grievance will abate as the Subsidy increases the Sum that will arise from taking off the Prohibition of French Commodities is incredible. And if the Kingdom of France loses nothing by the Sale, proportionable to what the Nation loses by the Customs, and if much Wine be still brought into England, and the Carriers of it gain as much as the Proprietor, we cannot reasonably expect that the Kingdom of France will soon be broke by the loss or failure of our Commerce; but we see that our Merchants suffer much, and the Customs more by Discontinuance of that Trade.  
Now, Sir, when Men are wealthy, and securely liberal, Accounts are but a troublesome thing, and incompatible with Generosity; but when our Estates are at a low Ebb, we betake ourselves naturally to Arithmetic, and consider what part of the vast Bank we have expended, may be retrieved, and how the last stake may be best employed.  
All Strictness in these Public Acc … 'tis would be necessary to those who consider the generality of the last Items, set down in those delivered into Parliament: In which the Disbursements were so set down, that no Enquiry into them could be made; and a general Account where all search into Particulars is prohibited, can only convince Men of mean Capacity, That all is gone: And though perhaps it ought not to be doubted, but that all the Ministers of this Government can in their respective Stations answer any such Charge, and acquit themselves; yet still an Account is necessary, as that which though it should give no Relief to the Bankrupt; yet affords him Satisfaction.  
Another thing, Sir, I would hint to you: That Men who pay a Fine usually expect good Covenants, and that large Taxes have more frequently been the Fountain of good Laws than bad Manners. There is no Law, that can countervail a Home-Excise, because in a little time that which is left and secured will not be equal to what is spent, and a Guard upon an empty House is no proportionable Reward for a full one.  
Magna Charta, and the Charter of the Forest cost the Nation but One Fifteenth: which how inconsiderable a Sum it then was, all Antiquaries know; and after a Gift of Two and Twenty Millions, I am confident we never should have had a Negative given to the Treason-Bill, if it had not been artfully lost by a double Adherence.  
The Perjury of Fuller, Young, and Blackhead, is such an horrid Villainy, that not only calls for Vengeance in the Persons, but obliges us to Enquiry into the Forgers of that Contrivance: For Subornation seldom wants Accomplices; and we should search into the Priest, who lay behind these speaking Engines, and inspired the dull Curtain into false Oracles.  
Sir, I have said more than I designed, and yet not enough for the Matter: What in general I leave with you, is, That you would consider what you have given, and what you have left. That withal you would think what you give more, and to whom and why, and that you would so give, as to leave yourself still in a Capacity of giving.  
FINIS.