Plain Truth: OR, ARGUMENTS Humbly offered to prove, That nothing inferior to A Total Prohibition OF ALL GOLD and SILVER ONCE Melted in England, Will prevent its Exportation.  
THE Melting down of almost all our milled Money, The present great want of Treasure to defray the expense of the War, The deadness of our Manufactures( especially Woollen) The unparallelled abuse of Clipping and Counterfeiting; The raising of Guinea's above their intrinsic Value; The turning the small remains of our milled and Broad Money into a sort of Ware, so that 'tis bought and sold, at Prices far beyond its Original Value, With the extravagant price of Silver and Gold Bullion, are All so plainly the Mischievous Consequences of the Exportation of the Treasure of the Land, that it has pleased the Great Council of Our Nation to take the Matter into their Consideration, in order to apply a Remedy to these Growing Evils.  
But the Men who have brought these Mischiefs upon us, being sensible, That if An Effectual Means were used to Prevent Exportation, it would stop the Current of their Profit; have therefore used all their Power and Interest( and do still use it) to hinder such a Good Law, Or if They cannot altogether hinder a Law, then to procure such an one as may put the whole Power into their Own hands.  
And here since the Open and Bare-faced Truth must be spoken( Loqui Volumus, nam scimus Amyclas tacendo periisse) Some of the most powerful Goldsmiths and Refiners, &c. of London have been the Great Exporters of our Treasure, if not worse— Clippings and Ingots of milled Money are not distinguished by Smell, from foreign Silver.  
These are The Men that have been the great remoras of this most Necessary and Profitable Law; And therefore when the House of Lords were pleased to intimate to the Goldsmiths, that they should prepare a Bill to prevent these Mischiefs; 'twas descanted( agreeable to the sincerity of these Men) in these Words, Since they Will have a Rattle, they must have a Rattle.  
'tis Natural to All Men, to remove the Scandal to their Neighbours Door which should lye at their Own, and therefore say these Men( with a seeming Concern) Those Rogues the jews carry away all the Silver out of the Nation( so sensible are they that Exportation of our Treasure is Odious and Destructive) Tho' at the same time they are careful that the Guilt of the Nations ruin shall not lye altogether on the jews, by Eporting Themselves as much as they can.  
If therefore the Power of determining whether Silver be Lawful, i.e. foreign Bullion, be left to These Men, 'twill be, in plain Words( since we must speak plain) To make Criminals Judges of their own Offence.  
That an Oath of the Lawfulness of Bullion to be Transported, will not stop the Mischief, is apparent; since if the Exporter▪ himself Melt either Clippings, Money, &c.( which is neither difficult, tedious, or laborious) privately first into small Ingots, &c. and his Servant afterwards melt the same Numerical Ingots, &c. into larger, for Exportation, The Servant will become capable of Swearing, that what he Melted was neither Clippings, Plate, nor the Coin of the Kingdom.  
Those who have evaded the Law in Melting down our milled Money, and Clipping the Broad; Those who raise to themselves Estates by secret Gainful ways, &c. Will never want Men to Swear( if they boggle themselves) to evade a New Law, which leaves 'em the liberty of Exporting what they please, at the expense of an Oath.  
It's from a due Regard to the Honour which a Bill that has past thro The most Honourable House of Lords, and has been twice red in the Honourable House of Commons, has thence obtained( and not as it came from Those who called it a Rattle) that we do not presume to show the Invalidity of That Bill, &c. But surely there can be no Material Objection against the Prohibiting All Gold and Silver once Melted in England, but such as carries with it some dark-side to hid some Mens particular Profits, at the damage of the Nation, and the Encouragement of Perjury.  
It's therefore humbly prayed,  
That a Law be made to Prohibit All Gold and Silver once Melted in England, and the Proof to lye on the Exporter, that what he Exports is foreign Bullion( according to that most just and provident Resolution of the Committee, &c.) to facilitate which( if the Parliament think fit) it may be Enacted,  
That All foreign Bullion Imported in Ingots for the future( foreign Coins by their Stamp and Character will speak for themselves, and may be exempted) be entered at the Custom-House, Custom free, and there to receive some Stamp, &c. Gratis, On Oath first made, that That Bullion was received on board from some parts beyond the Seas, in the same form which now it bears, &c. Which Entrance will( if it comes to be Exported) help the Exporter in his Proof: And that no Bullion be Exported, but what is found so entered.  
That All Gold Imported, not in Ingots( if Exported) be not Melted here in this Nation.  
Such a Law can be detrimental to None, but Such as desire to increase their private Wealth, by ways destructive to the National Interest.  
This will give Liberty to no sort of Men to use the Law to insult on their Neighbours, or raise Objections where there are none, or to find none where they ought to be raised.  
'twill establish no new Office, or harras the Subject by new Directors of what is, or is not fit to be Exported.  
'twill lay no Men under the Temptation of Perjury, by Profit to themselves, or fear of a Master, &c. And as to what relates to the Prevention of Clipping, if our Money be new milled( which is the only Effectual Way to prevent it) nothing need be added on that Head.  
And for Preventing the Melting of our Money for the future, if the Law Provide that the Money be raised▪( according to the Resolution of the Committee) and whatever is raised, to go towards the Fund for making good the clipped Money, This will prevent Melting down at Home, and will also return it, if carried Abroad, and also pefectly Cure a Pernicious practise used by some Men, of Culling the Weightiest Money to Melt down, in order to be Recoin'd; which practise will still continue, if the Profits of Coinage be not diverted to some such good Purpose, as making good the dificiency of our light Money, &c.  
This Honourable House will soon distinguish betwixt this Paper and that Shoal of Proposals, Projects &c. offered with intimations of private Advantages to particular Men, Since here's no other Good but the public, designed: No New Offices proposed to gratify Projecters, &c. No dangerous and tempting Profits to be put into the Power of a few Men who have already given no very good proofs of their preferring the public before Private Interest.  
The Honesty of this Paper will therefore( it's hoped) carry with it it's own Recommendation to this August Assembly; Whom the Great God bless and make truly Honourable, in becoming the Healers of the Wounds of this Nation.   

Plain Truth: OR, ARGUMENTS Humbly offered to Prove, That nothing inferior to A Total Prohibition OF ALL GOLD and SILVER ONCE Melted in England, Will prevent its Exportation.