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 A Reprint of Economic Tracts 
 
 Edited by 
 
 JACOB H. HOLLANDER, Ph. D. 
 
 Professor of Political Economy 
 Johns Hopkins University 
 
 Nicholas Barbon 
 
 on 
 
 A Discourse of Trade 
 1690
 
 CorYRKiHTKO IftOS, BV 
 
 THK JOHNS HOPKINS I'KKSS 
 
 S«?i'oiul impression: reprinted hy the Planograph Method, December, 1934. 
 
 Printed in United Statbs of Amebica
 
 ::::> 
 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 The careful researches of Professor Stephen Bauer have thrown 
 much needed light upon the life of Nicholas Barbon and upon 
 his proper place in the history of economic thought.* Born in 
 London, probably in 1640, the son of Praisegod Barebone — " ana- 
 P^ baptist, leather-seller, and politician,"* — he studied medicine at 
 Cn Leyden, received a medical degree at Utrecht in 1661, and was 
 I^ admitted as an honorary fellow of the College of Physicians in 
 1664. After the great fire of 1666, he established the first insur- 
 ance office in London, and participated actively in rebuilding the 
 ^^ city. He was a member of Parliament in 1690, and again in 1695; 
 ^^ he founded and conducted a land bank in 1695-96, and he died in 
 ;S^ 1698, making John Asgill the executor of his will, and directing 
 that none of his debts should be paid. 
 
 Barbon's writings stand for the most part in immediate relation 
 to the economic events of the period in which he lived. He 
 defended his scheme of fire insurance; he advocated building 
 extension in London; he discussed the possibilities of land-bank- 
 ing and he contributed a remarkable tract* to the currency 
 controversy of 1696. 
 
 Of more general scope than these semi-controversial pamphlets 
 is the essay here reprinted. Of the circumstances under which 
 it was written and of the obscurity into which it appears promptly 
 to have fallen nothing is known. Less enthusiastic critics will 
 dissent from Professor Bauer's opinions that certain of its pass- 
 ages place Barbon as an economist above both Petty and Locke, 
 and that it contains the ablest refutation of the theory of the 
 balance of trade previous to Hume and Adam Smith. But none 
 will deny that the essay is surely entitled to reissue in accessible 
 form, and that Barbon may properly receive, to a greater degree 
 than has heretofore been accorded him, the attention of students 
 of the development of economic thought from Hobbes to Hume. 
 
 ^ Jahrbiicher fiir Nationalokonomie und Statistik (Jena), Bd. 
 XXI (1890). N. F.. pp. 561-590; also " Bart)on " In "Dictionary of 
 Political Economy" (ed. Palgrave), Vol. I, pp. 119-121. 
 
 ' " Praisegod Barebone " In " Dictionary of National Biography " 
 (ed. Stephen), Vol. Ill, p. 151. 
 
 *" A Discourse Concerning Coining the New Money lighter. In 
 Answer to Mr. Lock's Considerations about raising the Value of 
 Money" (London, 1696). 
 
 1^67421
 
 2 Introduction 
 
 The present edition is a reprint of Barbon's essay as issued In 
 1690.* The general appearance of the title page has been pre- 
 served, the original pagination has been indicated and a few notes 
 have been appended. 
 
 Baltimobe, February, 1905. 
 
 *The formal collation of the tract is as follows: Title page, 
 reverse blank; Preface, nine folios without pagination; Contents, 
 one folio; Text, ninety-two folios. Size, small 16mo.
 
 Difcourfe 
 
 O F 
 
 TRADE. 
 
 BY 
 
 N. B. M. D. 
 
 LONT>ON, 
 
 Printed by Tbo, Milboum for 
 the Author, 1690.
 
 THE 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THe Oreatness and Riches of the United Provinces, and 
 States of Venice, Considered, with the little Tract 
 of Orotmd that belongs to either of their Territo- 
 RiES, sufficiently Demonstrate the great Adva/ntage and Profit 
 that Trade brings to a Nation. 
 
 And since the Old Ammurdtion and Artillery of the 
 Grecians and Eomans are grown out \\ of Use; sv^h as 
 Stones, Bows, Arrows, and battering Rams, with other Wooden 
 Engines, which were in all Places easily procured or made: 
 And the Invention of Gunpowder hath introduced another 
 sort of Ammunition and Artillery, whose Materials are made 
 of Minerals, that are not to be found in all Countries; such as 
 Iron, Brass, Lead, Salt-petre, and Brimstone; and therefore 
 where they are wanting, must be procured by TrafficTc. Tradb / y 
 is now become as necessary to Preserve Governments, as it isif 
 useful to make them Rich. 
 
 And notwithstanding the great Influence, that Trade now 
 hath in the Support and Welfare of \\ States and Kingdoms, 
 yet there is nothing more unknown, or that Men differ more 
 in their Sentiments, than about the True Causes that raise 
 and promote Trade. 
 
 LivT, and those Antient Writers, whose elevated Genius 
 set them upon the Inquiries into the Causes of the Rise and 
 Fall of Governments, have been very exact in describing the 
 several Forms of Military Discipline, but take no Notice of 
 Trade; and Machiavel a Modern Writer, and the best, 
 though he lived in a Government, where the Family of 
 Medicis had advanced themselves to the Soveraignty by their 
 Riches, acquired by Merchandizing, doth not mention Trade, 
 as any way \\ interested in the Affairs of State; for until
 
 6 Preface 
 
 Trade became necessary to provide Weapons of War, it was 
 always thought Prejudicial to the Growth of Empire, as too 
 m,uch softening the People hy Ease and Luxury, which made 
 their Bodies unfit to Endure the Labour and Hardships of 
 War. And therefore the Romans who made War, (the only 
 Way to Raise & Enlarge their Dominion) did in the almost 
 Infancy of their Staie, Conquer that Rich and Trading City 
 of Carthage, though Defended by Hanibal their General, 
 one of the greatest Captains in the World: so that, since 
 Trade was not in those days useful to provide Magazines for 
 Wars, an Account, of it || is not fly be expected from those 
 Writers. The Merchant, and other Traders who should un- 
 derstand the true Interest of Trade, do either not under- 
 stand it, or else, lest it might hinder their private Gain, will 
 not Discover it. Mr. Munn a Merchant, in his Treatise of 
 TRADu'doth better set forth the Rule to maJce an Accomplished 
 Merchant, than how it may be most Profitable to the Nation; 
 and those Arguments every day met with from the Traders, 
 seem byassed with Private Interest, and run contrary to one 
 another, as their Interest are opposite. 
 
 The TxTRKEY-Merchants Argue against the East-India- || 
 Company, the Woollen-'Draper against the Mercers, and 
 the Upholster against the Cain-Chair-Maker ; some think 
 there are too many Traders, and Complain against the Num- 
 ber of Builders ; others against the Number of Ale-Houses ; 
 some use Arguments for the Sole making of particular Com- 
 modities, others Plead for the Sole Trading to particular 
 Countries: So that, if these Gentlemens Reasons might prevail 
 in getting those Laws they so much solicite, {which all of 
 them Affirm, would be for the Advance of Trade, and Publick 
 Good of the Nation) there would be but a few Trades left for 
 the next Generation of Men to be Em || ploy'd in, a much 
 fewer sorts of Goods to make, and not a Corner of the World 
 to Trade to, unless they purchase a License from them. 
 
 And how fair and coiwincing soever their Premises may 
 appear for the Inlarging and Advancement of Trade, the 
 Conclusions of their Arguments, which are for Limiting and
 
 Preface 7 
 
 Confining of it to Number, Persons and Places, are directly 
 opposite to the Inlarging of it. 
 
 The Reasons why many Men have not a true Idea of Trade, 
 is, Because they Apply their Thoughts to particular Parts of 
 Trade, wherein they are chiefly concerned in Interest; and 
 having \\ found out the best Rules and Laws for forming that 
 particular Part, they govern their Thoughts by the same 
 NOTIONS in forming the Great BODY of Trade, and not 
 Reflecting on the different Rules of Proportions betwixt the 
 Body and Parts, have a very disagreeable Conception; and 
 like those, who having learnt to Draw well an Eye, Ear, Hand, 
 and other Parts of the Body, (being Unskilful in the Laws of 
 Symmetry) when they joyn them together, make a very De- 
 formed Body. 
 
 Therefore, whoever will maJce a true Representation of 
 Trade, mu^t Dramy a rough Sketch of the Body and Parts 
 together, which \\ though it will not entertain with so much 
 Pleasure as a well-finish't Piece, yet the Agreeableness of the 
 Parts may be as well discern' d, and thereby such Measures 
 taken, as may best suit the Shape of the Body.
 
 THE 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 OF Trade and the Stock, or Wares of Trade. 
 Of the Quantity and Quality of Wares. 
 Of the Value and Price of Wares. 
 Of Money, Credit, and Interest. 
 Of the Use and Benefit of Trade. 
 Of the Chief Causes that promote Trade. 
 Of the Chief Causes of the Decay of Trade, and the Fall Of 
 the Rents of Land.
 
 A 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 OF 
 
 TRADE. 
 
 Of Trade and the Stock, or Wares of Trade. 
 
 TEADE is the Making, and Selling of one sort of 
 Goods for another ; The making is called Handy- 
 Craft Trade, and the ma || ker an Artificer; The 2 
 Selling is called Merchandizing, and the Seller 
 a Merchant : The Artificer is called by several Names from the 
 sort of Goods he makes. As a Clothier, Silk-weaver, Shoo- 
 maker, or Hatter, &c. from Making of Cloth, Silk, Shooes, or 
 Hats; And the Merchant is distinguished by the Names of 
 the Countrey he deals to, and is called, Dutch, French, Spanish 
 or Turkey Merchant. 
 
 The chief End or Business of Trade, is to make a profitable 
 Bargain: In making of a Bargain there are these things to 
 be considered; The Wares to be Sold, the Quantity and 
 Quality of those Wares, the Value or Price of them, the 
 Money or Creditj by which the Wares are bought, the Interest 
 that relates to the time of performing the Bargain. 
 
 The Stock and Wares of all || Trade ?ire the Animals, Vegi- 3 
 tables, and Minerals of the whole Universe, whatsoever the 
 Land or Sea produceth. These Wares may be divided into 
 Natural and Artificial; Natural Wares are those which are 
 sold as Nature Produceth them; As Flesh, Fish, and Fruits,
 
 10 Nicholas Baepon 
 
 &c. Artificial Wares are those which by Art are Changed into 
 another Form than Nature gave them; As Cloth, Calicoes, 
 and wrought Silks, &c. which are made of Wool, Flax, Cotten, 
 and Raw Silks. 
 
 Both these Sorts of Wares are called the Staple Com- 
 moditys of those Countreys where they chiefly abound, or are 
 made. There are Different Climates of the Heavens, some 
 very Hot, some very Cold, others Temperate; these Different 
 Climates produce Different Animals, Vegitables, & Minerals. 
 4 The Staples of the hot Coun || try are Spices; the Staples of 
 the Cold, Furrs; but the more Temperate Climates produce 
 much the same sorts of Commoditys; but by difference of 
 the Quality or Conveniency of place where they abound, they 
 become the Staple of each Country, where they are either 
 best or easier acquired or exchanged : Thus, Herrings, and 
 other Fish are the Staples of Holland; the Dutch living 
 amongst the Water, are most naturally inclined to Fishing: 
 English Wool being the best in the World, is the Staple of 
 England, for the same reason. Oyles of Italy, Fruits of 
 Spain, Wine of France, with several other sorts of Com- 
 moditys, are the Staples of their several Countrys. 
 
 Staple Commodities may be divided into Native or For- 
 reign ; the Native Staple is what Each Country doth Naturally 
 5 and best produce; Forreign Sta || pie, is any Forreign Com- 
 modity, which a Country acquires by the sole Trade to a 
 Forreign Place, or sole possession of a particular Art; as 
 Spices are the Staple of Holland; and the making of Glass 
 and Paper, were the Staple of Venice. 
 
 From the Stock, or Wares of Trade, these Three Things 
 are Observable: 
 
 1. The Native Staple of each Country is the Eiches of the 
 Country, and is perpetual, and never to be consumed ; Beasts 
 of the Earth, Fowls of the Air, and Fishes of the Sea, Nat- 
 urally Increase: There is Every Year a New Spring and 
 Autumn, which produceth a New Stock of Plants and Fruits. 
 And the Minerals of the Earth are Unexhaustable ; and if the 
 Natural Stock be Infinite, the Artificial Stock that is made of
 
 A Discourse of Trade 11 
 
 the Natural, must be Infinite, as Woollen and Linnen || Cloth, 6 
 Calicoes, and wrought Silk, which are made of Flax, Wool, 
 Cotton, and Eaw Silks. 
 
 This sheweth a Mistake of Mr. Munn, in his Discourse of ^ 
 Trade, who commends Parsimony, Frugality, and Sumptuary 
 Laws, as the means to make a Nation Rich; and uses an 
 Argument, from a Simile, supposing a Man to have 1000 I. 
 per Annum, and 2000 /. in a Chest, and spends Yearly 1500 I. 
 per Annum, he will in four Years time Waste his 2000 1.* This 
 is true, of a Person, but not of a Nation ; because his Estate 
 is Finite, but the Stock of a Nation Infinite, and can never 
 be consumed; For what is Infinite, can neither receive Addi- 
 tion by Parsimony, nor suffer" Diminution, by Prodigality. .^ 
 
 2, The Native Staple of Each Country, is the Foundation 
 
 of it's Forreign Trade: And no Na || tion have any Forreign? ^ 
 
 Commodities, but what are at first brought in by the Exchange ^ 
 
 of the Native ; for at the first beginning of Forreign Trade, a 
 Nation hath nothing else to Exchange; The Silver & Gold 
 from Spain; the Silks from Turkey, Oyls from Italy, Wine 
 from France, and all other Forreign Goods are brought into 
 England, by the Exchange of the English Cloth, or some other 
 Staple of England. 
 
 3. That Forreign Staples are uncertain Wealth: Some 
 Countries by the Sole Trade to another Country, or by the 
 Sole Possession of some Arts, gain a Staple of Forreign Com- 
 modities, which may be as profitable as the Native, so long as 
 they enjoy the Sole possession of that Trade or Art. But 
 that is uncertain; for other Nations find out the way of || 8 
 Trading to the same place : The Artists for Advantage, Travel 
 into other Countries, and the Arts are discover'd. Thus Por- 
 tugal had the Sole Trade of India; afterwards the Venetians 
 got a great Share of the Trade, and now the Dutch and 
 English, have a greater share than both : The Arts of making 
 several sorts of Silks, were chiefly confined to Genoa, & 
 Naples; afterward Travelled into France, since into England 
 and Holland, and are now Practised there in as great perfec- 
 tion as they were in Italy; So have other Arts wander'd, as
 
 12 Nicholas Barbon 
 
 the making of Looking-Glasses from Venice into England, the 
 making of Paper from Venice into France and Holland. 
 
 Of the Quantity and Quality of Wares. 
 
 THE Quantity of all Wares are known by Weight or Meas- 
 ure. The Season of Gravity is not understood, neither is 
 it Material to this Purpose ; Whether it proceeds from the Elas- 
 tisity of the Air, or Weight of the utmost Spheer, or from 
 what other Causes, its sufiBcient, that the ways of Trying the 
 Weights of Bodies are perfectly discover'd by the Ballance. 
 There are Two Sorts of Weights in Common Use, the Troy, 
 and Averdupois. 
 
 The First are used to Weigh Goods of most Value, as Gold, 
 Silver and Silk, &c. The Latter for Coarser, and more 
 
 10 Bulky Goods, as Lead, Iron, &c. || 
 
 There are Two Sorts of Measures, the one for Fluid Bodies, 
 as the Bushel, Gallon and Quart, for Measuring Corn, Wine 
 and Oyl; the other for the Measuring the Dimensions of 
 Solid Bodies, as a Yard, Ell, &c. to Measure Cloth, Silk. &c. 
 
 The Weights and Measures of all Countries differs, but 
 that is no Prejudice to Trade; they are all made certain by 
 the Custom or Laws of the Place, and the Trader knows the 
 Weight or Measure in Use, in the Place he Deals to. It is the 
 Care of the Government, to prevent and punish the Fraud of 
 False Weights and Measures, and in most Trading-Cities, 
 there are Publick Weigh-Houses, and Measurers: The Fraud 
 of the Ballance, which is from the unequal Length of the end 
 
 11 of the Beam, is least perceivable ; and therefore in Weighing || 
 Goods of Value, they usually Weigh them in both Scales. 
 
 The Qualities of Wares are known by their Colour, Sound, 
 Smell, Taste, Make, or Shape. 
 
 The Difference in the Qualities of Wares are very difficultly 
 distinguished; those Organs that are the proper Judges of 
 those Differencies, do very much disagree; some Men have
 
 A Discourse of Trade 13 
 
 clearer Eyes, some more distinguishing Ears, and other nicer 
 Noses and Tastes; and every Man having a good Opinion of 
 his own Faculties, it is hard to find a Judge to determine 
 which is best: Besides, those Qualities that belong to Arti- 
 ficial Wares, such as depend upon the Mixture, Make or Shape 
 of them, are more difficultly discover'd: Those Wares, whose 
 Quality are produced by the just Mixture of different Bodies, 
 such as Knives and Eazors, whose || sharpness arise from the 12 
 Good Temperament and Mixture of the Steel & Iron, are not 
 to be found out, but by the Use of them : And so doth the 
 Mixture, and well making of Hats, Cloth, and many other 
 things. 
 
 Because the Difference in the Qualities of Wares, are so 
 difficultly understood, it is that the Trader serves an Appren- 
 ticeship to learn them; and the Knowledge of them is called 
 the Mystery of Trade; and in common Dealing, the Buyer is 
 forced to rely on the Skill and Honesty of the Seller, to 
 deliver Wares with such Qualities as he affirms them to have : 
 It is the Sellers Interest, from the Expectation of further 
 Dealing, not to deceive ; because his Shop, the Place of Deal- 
 ing, is known : Therefore, those Persons that buy of Pedlars, 
 and Wandering People, run Great || Hazard of being Cheated, is 
 
 Those Wares, whose Chief Qualities consist in Shape, such 
 as all Wearing Apparel, do not so much depend upon the 
 Honesty of the Seller; for the' the Trader or Maker, is the 
 Inventor of the Shape, yet it is the Fancy and Approbation^ 
 of the Buyer, that brings it into Use, and makes it pass for a 
 Fashion. 
 
 Of the Value and Price of Wares. 
 
 THE Value of all Wares arise from their Use ; Things of no 
 Use, have no Value, as the English Phrase is, They are 
 good for nothing. 
 
 The Use of Things, are to supply the Wants and Necessities 
 of Man : There are Two General Wants that Mankind is born
 
 14 Nicholas Barbon 
 
 14 with; II the Wants of the Body, and the Wants of the Mind; 
 To supply these two Necessities, all things under the Sun 
 become useful, and therefore have a Value. 
 
 Wares, useful to supply the Wants of the Body, are all 
 things necessary to support Life, such are in Common Esti- 
 mation ; all those Goods which are useful to supply the Three 
 General Necessities of Man, Food, Clothes and Lodging; But 
 if strictly Examined, nothing is absolutely necessary to sup- 
 port Life, but Food ; for a great Part of Mankind go Naked, 
 and lye in Huts and Caves; so that there are but few things 
 that are absolutely necessary to supply the Wants of the Body. 
 
 Wares, that have their Value from supplying the Wants of 
 the Mind, are all such things that can satisfie Desire; Desire 
 isimplys Want: It is the Appetite of the || Soul, and is as nat- 
 ural to the Soul, as Hunger to the Body. 
 
 The Wants of the Mind are infinite, Man naturally Aspires, 
 and as his Mind is elevated, his Senses grow more refined, and 
 more capable of Delight; his Desires are inlarged, and his 
 Wants increase with his Wishes, which is for every thing that 
 is rare, can gratifie his Senses, adorn his Body, and promote 
 the Ease, Pleasure, and Pomp of Life. 
 
 Amongst the great Variety of things to satisfie the Wants 
 of the Mind, those that adorn Mans Body, and advance the 
 Pomp of Life, have the most general Use, and in all Ages, 
 and amongst all sorts of Mankind, have been of Value. 
 
 The first Effects that the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge 
 wrought upon the Parents of Mankind, was to make them 
 16 cloath themselves, and it has made the most Visible || Distinc- 
 tion of his Eace, from the rest of the Creation : It is that by 
 which his Posterity may write Man, for no Creatures adorn 
 the Body but Man : Beside, the decking of the Body, doth not 
 onely distinguish Man from Beast, but is the Mark of Differ- 
 ence and Superiority betwixt Man and Man. 
 
 There was never any part of Mankind so wild and bar- 
 barous, but they had Difference and Degree of Men amongst 
 them, and invented some things to shew that Distinction. 
 
 Those that Cloathed with Skins, wore the Skins of those
 
 A Discourse op Trade 15 
 
 Beasts that are most difficultly taken; thus Hercules wore a 
 Lyons Skin; and the Ermins and Sable, are still Badges of 
 Honour. The Degree of Quality amongst the Affricans, is 
 known by the waste Cloth, and amongst those that go naked, 
 by adorning their Bodies with Co || lours, most rare amongst 17 
 them, as the Red was the Colour most in Esteem amongst the 
 Ancient Britains. 
 
 And the most Ancient and best of Histories, the Bible, 
 shews. That amongst the Civilized People of the World, Ear- 
 Eings, Bracelets, Hoods and Vails, with Changeable Suits of 
 Apparel, were then worn : And the same Ornaments for the 
 Body are still, and ever since have been Worn, only differing 
 in Shapes and Fashions, according to the Custom of the 
 Country. 
 
 The Shapes of Habits are much in use, to denote the 
 Qualities of several men; but things rare and difficult to be 
 obtained, are General Badges of Honour: From this Use, 
 Pearls, Diamonds, and Precious Stones, have their Value: 
 Things Eare are proper Ensigns of Honour, because it is || 18 
 Honourable to acquire Things Difficult. 
 
 The Price of Wares is the present Value ; And ariseth by ■ 
 Computing the occasions or use for them, with the Quantity 
 to serve that Occasion ; for the Value of things depending on 
 the use of them, the Over-plitss of Those Wares, which are 
 more than can be used, become worth nothing ; So that Plenty, 
 in respect of the occasion, makes things cheap ; and Scarcity, ^ 
 dear. 
 
 There is no fixt Price or Value of any thing for the Wares 
 of Trades; The Animals, and Vegetables of the Earth, depend 
 on the Influence of Heaven, which sometimes causes Mur- 
 rains, Dearth, Famine, and sometimes Years of great Plenty ; 
 therefore, the Value of things must accordingly Alter. Be- 
 sides, the Use of most things being to supply the Wants of || 19 
 the Mind, and not the Necessitys of the Body; and those 
 Wants, most of them proceeding from imagination, the Mind 
 Changeth; the things gro w out of Use , and so lose their 
 Value.
 
 16 Nicholas Barbon 
 
 There are two ways, by. which the value of things are a little 
 guessed at; by the Price of the Merchant, and the Price of 
 the Artificer: The Price that the Merchant sets upon his 
 Wares, is by reckoning Prime Cost, Charges and Interest. 
 
 The Price of the Artificer, is by reckoning the Cost of the 
 Materials, with the time of working them ; The Price of Time 
 is according to the Value of the Art, and the Skill of the 
 Artist. Some Artificers Eeckon Twelve, others Fifteen, and 
 some Twenty, and Thirty Shillings per Week. 
 20 Interest is the Eule that the || Merchant Trades by; And 
 Time, the Artificer, By which they cast up Profit, and Loss; 
 for if the Price of their Wares, so alter either by Plenty, or 
 by Change of the Use, that they do not pay the Merchant 
 Interest, nor the Artificer for his Time, they both reckon they 
 lose by their Trade. 
 
 But the Market is the best Judge of Value; for by the 
 Concourse of Buyers and Sellers, the Quantity of Wares, and 
 the Occasion for them are Best known : Things are just worth 
 so much, as they can be sold for, according to the Old Rule, 
 Ydlet Quanium Vendi potest. 
 
 Of Many, Credit and Interest. 
 
 MOny is a Value made by a Law ; And the Difference of 
 its Value is known by the Stamp, and Size of the Piece. || 
 
 One Use of MONY is. It is the Measure of Value, By which 
 the Value of all other things are reckoned ; as when the Value 
 of any thing is erpressed, its said. It's worth so many shillings, 
 or so many Pounds : Another Use of Mony is ; It is a Change 
 or Pawn for the Value of all other Things : For this Reason, 
 the Value of Mony must be made certain by Law, "or else it 
 could not be made a certain Measure, nor an Exchange for the 
 Value of all things. 
 
 It is not absolutely necessary, Mony should be made of Gold 
 or Silver; for having its sole Value from the Law, it is not 
 Material upon what Metal the Stamp be set. Mony hath the
 
 A Discourse of Trade 17 
 
 same Value, and performs the same Uses, if it be made of 
 Brass, Copper, Tin, or any thing else. The Brass Mony of 
 Spain, the Copper Mony of Sweeden, and Tin || Farthings of 23 
 England, have the same Value in Exchange, according to the 
 Eate they are set at and perform the same Uses, to Cast up the 
 Val'ie of things, as the Gold and Silver Mony does ; Six Pence 
 in Farthings will buy the same thing as Six Pence in Silver ; 
 and the Value of a thing is well understood by saying. It is 
 worth Eight Farthings, as that it is worth Two Pence: Gold 
 and Silver, as well as Brass, Copper and Tin Mony, change 
 their Value in those Countries, where the Law has no Force, 
 and yield no more than the Price of the Metal that bears the 
 STAMP : Therefore, all Foreign Coins go by Weight, and are 
 of no certain Value, but rise and fall with the Price of the 
 Metal. Pieces of Eight, yield sometimes 4 sh. 6 (?. 4 sh. 7 d. 
 and 4 sh. 8 d. as the Value of Silver is higher or lower: || And 23 
 so doth Dollars, and all Forreign Coin, change their Value; 
 and were it not for the Law that fixeth the Value, an English 
 Crown Piece would now yield Five Shillings and Two Pence, 
 for so much is the Value of it, if it were melted, or in a For- 
 eign Country. But the chief Advantage of making Mony of 
 Silver and Gold, is to prevent Counterfeiting; for Silver and 
 Gold, being Metals of great Value, those who design Profit 
 by Counterfeiting the Coin, must Counterfeit the Metals, aS 
 well as the Stamp, which is more difficult than the Stamp. 
 There's another Benefit to the Merchant, by such Mony; for 
 Gold and Silver being Commodities for other Uses, than to 
 make Mony; to make Plate, Gold & Silver Lace, Silks, &c. 
 And Coins of little Bulk, in respect of their Value, the Mer- 1| 24 
 chant transmits such Mony from Place to Place, in Specie, 
 according as he finds his Advantage, by the Else of Bulloin; 
 though this may be a Conveniency to the Merchant, it often 
 proves a Prejudice to the State, by making Mony scarce: 
 Therefore, there are Laws in most Countries, that Prohibit 
 the Transportation of Mony, yet it cannot be prevented; for 
 in Spain, though it be Capital, yet in Two Months after the 
 Gallions are come home, there is scarce any Silver Mony to be 
 seen in the Country.
 
 18 Nicholas Baebon 
 
 Some Men have so great an Esteem for Grold and Silver, 
 that they believe they have an intrinsick Value in themselves, 
 and cast up the value of every thing by them : The Eeason of 
 the Mistake, is. Because Mony being made of Gold and Silver, 
 
 25 they do not distinguish betwixt Mony, || and Gold and Silver. 
 Mony hath a certain Value, because of the Law ; but the Value 
 of Gold and Silver are uncertain, & varies their Price, as 
 much as Copper, Lead, or other Metals: And in the Places 
 where they are dug, considering the smalness of their Veins, 
 with the Charges of getting them, they do not yield much 
 more Profit than other Minerals, nor pay the Miners better 
 Wages for digging them. 
 
 And were it not for the Waste, made of Gi)ld and Silver, by 
 Plate, Lace, Silks, and Guilding, and the Custom of the 
 Eastern Princes, to lay them up and bury them, that Half 
 which is dug in the West, is buried in the East. The great 
 Quantities dug out of the Earth, since the Discovery of the 
 West-Indies, would have so much lessened the Value, that 
 
 26 by this time, they would not have || much exceeded the Value 
 of Tin, or Copper : Therefore, How greatly would those Gen- 
 tlemen be disappointed, that are searching after the Philoso- 
 pher's Stone, if they should at last happen to find it ? For, if 
 they should make but so great a Quantity of Gold and Silver, 
 as they, and their Predecessors have spent in search after it, 
 it would so alter, and bring down the Price of those Metals, 
 that it might be a Question, whether they would get so much 
 Over-plus by it, as would pay for the Metal they change into 
 Gold and Silver. It is only the Scarcity that keeps up the 
 Value, and not any Intrinsick Vertue or Quality in the 
 Metals; For if the Vertue were to be considered, the Affrican 
 that gives Gold for Knives, and Things made of Iron, would 
 have the Odds in the Exchange; Iron being a much more 
 
 27 Useful II Metal, than either Gold or Silver. To Conclude this 
 / 1 Objection, Nothing in it self hath a certain Value ; One thing 
 
 is as much worth as another : And it is time, and place, that 
 give a difference to the Value of all things. 
 
 Credit is a Value raised by Opinion, it buys Goods as Mony
 
 A Discourse of Trade 19 
 
 doe's ; and in all Trading Citys, there's more Wares sold upon 
 Credit, then for present Mony. 
 
 -^ There are Two Sorts of Credit; the one, is Grounded upon 
 the Ability of the Buyer ; the other, upon the Honesty : The 
 first is called a Grood Man, which implys an Able Man; he 
 generally buys upon short Time; to pay in a Month, which 
 is accounted as ready Mony, and the Price is made accord- 
 ingly. The other is accoimted an Honest Man; He may be 
 poor; he Generally || buys for three and Six Months or longer, 28 
 so as to pay the Merchant by the Ketum of his own Goods; 
 and therefore, the Seller relys more upon the Honesty of the 
 Buyer, than his Ability : Most of the Eetail Traders buy upon 
 this Sort of Credit, and are usually Trusted for more than 
 double they are worth. 
 
 In Citys of great Trade, there are publick Banks of Credit, 
 as at Amsterdam and Venice: They are of great Advantage 
 to Trade, for they make Payments easie, by preventing the 
 Continual Trouble of telling over Mony, and cause a great 
 Dispatch in Business: Publick Banks are of so great a Con- 
 cern in Trade, that the Merchants of London, for want of 
 such a Bank, have been forced to Carry their Cash to Gold- 
 Smiths, and have thereby Kaised such a Credit upon Gold- || 29 
 Smiths Notes, that they pass in Pajrments from one to another 
 like Notes upon the Bank; And although by this way of 
 Credit, there hath been very Vast Sums of Mony lost, not less 
 then too Millions within five and Twenty Years, yet the Dis- 
 patch and Ease in Trade is so great by such Notes, that the 
 Credit is still in some Measure kept up. 
 
 Therefore, it is much to be wondered at, that since the City 
 of London is the Largest, Kichest, and Chiefest City in the 
 World, for Trade ; Since there is so much Ease, Dispatch, and 
 Safety in a Publick Bank; and since such vast Losses has 
 Happened for want of it ; That the Merchant and Traders of 
 London have not long before this time Addressed themselves, 
 to the Government, for the Establishing of a Publick Bank. 
 
 The Common Objection, that || a Publick Bank cannot be 30 
 safe in a Monarchy, is not worth the Answering; As if Princes
 
 20 Nicholas Barbon 
 
 were not Governed by the same Eules of Policy, as States are, 
 To do all things for the Well-fair of the Subjects, wherein 
 their own Interest is concerned. 
 
 It is True, in a Government wholly Dispotical, whose Sup- 
 port is altogether in it's Millitary Forces; where Trade hath 
 no Concern in the Affaires of the State; Brings no Eevenue, 
 There might be a Jealousy, That such a Bank might tempt a 
 Prince to Seize it; when by doing it, he doth not Prejudice 
 the Affairs of his Government: But in England, where the 
 Grovernment is not Dispotical; But the People Free; and 
 have as great a Share in the Soveraign Legislative Power, as 
 the Subjects of any States have, or ever had; where the 
 
 31 Customs II makes great Figures, in the Kings Exchequer; 
 where Ships are the Bullworks of the Kingdom; and where 
 the Flourish of Trade is as much the Interest of the King as 
 of the People, There can be no such Cause of Fear : For, What 
 Objections can any Man make, that his Mony in the Bank, 
 may not be as well secured by a Law, as his Property is ? Or ; 
 Why he should be more afraid of Losing his Mony, than his 
 Land or Goods? 
 
 Interest is the Eent of Stock, and is the same as the Eent 
 
 of Land : The First, is the Eent of the Wrought or Artificial 
 Stock ; the Latter, of the Unwrought, or Natural Stock. 
 
 Interest is commonly reckoned for Mony; because the 
 Mony Borrowed at Interest, is to be repayed in Mony; but 
 
 32 this is a mistake; For the Interest is || paid for Stock: for 
 the Mony borrowed, is laid out to buy Goods, or pay for them 
 before bought: No Man takes up Mony at Interest, to lay it 
 by him, and lose the Interest of it. 
 
 One use of Interest: It is the Eule by which the Trader 
 makes up the Account of Profit and Loss; The Merchant 
 expects by Dealing, to get more then Interest by his Goods; 
 because of bad Debts, and other Hazards which he runs; and 
 therefore, reckons all he gets above Interest, is Gain; all 
 under, Loss ; but if no more than Interest, neither Profit, nor 
 Loss. 
 
 Another use of Interest, is. It is the measure of the Value
 
 A Discourse of Trade 21 
 
 _of the Rent of Land ; it sets the Price in Buying and Selling 
 of Land : For, by adding three Years Interest more than is 
 in II the Principle, Makes the usual Value of the Land of the 33 
 Country; The difference of three Year is allowed; Because 
 Land is more certain than Mony or Stock. Thus in Holland, 
 where Mony is at three per. Cent, by reckoning how many 
 times three is in a Hundred Pounds, which is Thirty Three; 
 and Adding three Years more; makes Thirty Six Years Pur- 
 chase; the Value of the Land in Holland: And by the same 
 Rule, interest being at six per Cent, in England, Land is 
 worth but Twenty Years Purchase ; and in Ireland, but Thir- 
 teen; Interest being there at Ten per Cent: so that, accord- 
 ing to the Rate of Interest, is that Value of the Land in the 
 Country. 
 
 Therefore, Interest in all Countrys is setled by a Law, to 
 make it certain; or else it could not || be a Rule for the Mer-34 
 chant to make up his Account, nor the Gentleman, to Sell his 
 Land By. 
 
 Of the Use and Benefit of Trade. 
 
 THe Use of Trade is to make, and provide things Necessary : 
 Or useful for the Support, Defence, Ease, Pleasure, and 
 Pomp of Life : Thus the Brewers, Bakers, Butchers, Poulter- 
 ers, and Cooks, with the Apothecaries, Surgeons, and their 
 Dependencies provide Food, and Medicine for the support of 
 Life: The Cutlers, Gun-smiths, Powder-makers, with their 
 Company of Traders, make things for Defence; The Shoe- 
 makers Sadlers, Couch, and Chair-makers, || with abundance 35 
 more for the Ease of Life : The Perfumers, Fidlers, Painters, 
 and Booksellers, and all those Trades that make things to 
 gratifie the Sense, or delight the Mind, promote Pleasure: 
 But those Trades that are implo/d to express the Pomp of 
 Life, are Infinite; for, besides those that adorn Mans Body, 
 as the Glover, Hosier, Hatter, Semstriss, Taylor, and many 
 more, with those that make the Materials to Deck it; as
 
 22 Nicholas Baebon 
 
 Clothier, Silk- Weaver, Lace-Maker, Eibbon-Weaver, with their 
 Assistance of Drapers, Mercers, and Milliners, and a Thousand 
 more: Those Trades that make the Equipage for Servants, 
 Trappings for Horses; and those that Build, Furnish, and 
 Adorn Houses, are innumerable. 
 
 Thus Busie Man is imployed, and it is for his own Benefit ; 
 
 86 For by Trade, the Natural Stock of || the Country is improved, 
 the Wool and Flax, are made into Cloth; the Skins, into 
 Leather; and the Wood, Lead, Iron and Tin, wrought into 
 Thousand useful Things: The Over-plus of these Wares not 
 useful, are transported by the Merchants, and Exchanged for 
 the Wines, Oyls, Spices, and every Thing that is good of 
 Forreign Countries: The Trader hath One Share for his 
 Pains, and the Land-Lord the Other for his Rent: So, that 
 by Trade, the Inhabitants in general, are not only well Fed, 
 Clothed and Lodged; but the Richer sort are Furnished with 
 all things to promote the Ease, Pleasure, & Pomp of Life: 
 Whereas, in the same Country, where there's no Trade, the 
 Land-Lords would have but Coarse Diet, Coarser Clothes, and 
 worse Lodgings ; and nothing for the Rent of their Lands, but 
 
 87 the II Homage and Attendance of their Poor Bare-footed 
 Tenants, for they have nothing else to give. 
 
 Trade Raiseth the Rent of the Land, for by the Use of sev- 
 eral sorts of Improvements, the Land Yieldeth a greater Nat- 
 ural Stock; by which, the Land-lord's Share is the greater: 
 And it is the same thing, whether his Share be paid in Mony, 
 or Goods ; for the Mony must be laid out to Buy such Good's : 
 Mony is an Immaginary Value made by a Law, for the Con- 
 veniency of Exchange: It is the Natural Stock that is the 
 Real Value, and Rent of the Land. 
 
 Another Benefit of Trade, is. That, it doth not only bring 
 Plenty, but hath occasioned Peace: For the Northern Na- 
 tions, as they increased, were forced from the Necessities of 
 
 88 their Climates, to Remove; and used to || Destroy, and Con- 
 quer the Inhabitants of the Warmer Climates to make Room 
 for themselves; thence was a Proverb, Omne Malum ah Aqui- 
 lone: But those Northern People being settled in Trade, the
 
 A Discourse of Trade 23 
 
 Land by their Industry, is made more Fertile; and by the 
 Exchange of the Nations Stock, for Wines and Spices, of 
 Hotter Climates, those Countries become most Habitable; and 
 the Inhabitants having Warmer Food, Clothes, and Lodgings, 
 are better able to endure the Extreamitys of their Cold Sea- 
 sons: This seems to be the Reason, That for these Seven or 
 Eight Hundred Years last past, there has been no such In- 
 vasions from the Northern part of the World, as used to de- 
 stroy the Inhabitants of the Warmer Countries: Besides, 
 Trade AUows a better Price for Labourers, than is paid for 
 Fighting: So it is become |1 more the Interest of Mankind to 89 
 live at home in Peace, than to seek their fortunes abroad by 
 Wars. 
 
 These are the Benefits of Trade, as they Relate to Man- 
 kind ; those that Relate to Government, are many. 
 
 Trade Increaseth the Revenue of the Government, by pro- 
 viding an Imploy for the People : For every Man that Works, 
 pay by those things which he Eats and Wears, somthing to 
 the Government. Thus the Excise and Custom's are Raised, 
 and the more every Man Earns, the more he Consumes, and 
 the King's Revenue is the more Increased. 
 
 This shews the way of Determining those Controversies, 
 about which sort of Goods are most beneficial to the Govern- 
 ment, by their Making, or Importing: The sole difference is 
 from the Number of hands implo/d in making them ; Hence 
 the Importation of Raw || Silk, is more Profitable to the Gov- 40 
 ernment than Gi)ld, or Silver ; Because there are more Hands 
 imployd in the Throwing, and Weaving of the First; than 
 there can be in working the Latter. 
 
 Another Benefit of Trade is. It is Useful for the Defence 
 of the Government ; It Provides the Magazines of Warr. The 
 Guns, Powder, and Bullets, are all made of Minerals, and are 
 wrought by Traders; Besides, those Minerals are not to be 
 had in all Countries ; The great Stock of Saltpeter is brought 
 from the East Indies, and therefore must be Imported by the 
 Merchant, for the Exchange of the Natives Stock. 
 
 The last Benefit is. That Trade may be Assistant to the
 
 24 Nicholas Baebon 
 
 Inlarging of Empire; and if an Universal Empire, or Do- 
 
 41 minion of very Large Extent, can again be rais || ed in the 
 World, It seems more probable to be done by the Help of 
 Trade; By the Increase of Ships at Sea, than by Arms at 
 Land : This is too large a Subject to be here Treated of ; but 
 the French King's seeming Attempt to Kaise Empire in 
 Europe, being that Common Theam of Mens Discourse, has 
 caused some short Eeflections, which will appear by Compar- 
 ing the Difficulty of the one, with the Probability of the other. 
 
 The Difficulties of Raising a Dominion of very Large Ex- 
 tent; especially in Europe, are Many. 
 
 First, Europe is grown more Populous than formerly, and 
 there are more Fortified Towns and Cities, than were in the 
 time of the Roman Empire, which was the last extended Do- 
 minion; and therefore, not easily Subjected to the Power of 
 
 42 any one Prince. || 
 
 Whether Europe be grown more Populous, Solely by the 
 Natural Increase of Mankind; There being more Born than 
 Dye, which first Peopled the World ? 
 
 Or, Whether, since the Inhabitants of Europe being Ad- 
 dicted to Trade, the ground is made more Fertile, and yields 
 greater Plenty of Food; which hath prevented famine, that 
 formerly destroyed great Numbers of Mankind: So that no 
 great Famines, has been taken Notice of by Historians, in 
 these Last Three Hundred Years? 
 
 Whether by Dreining Great Bogs, Lakes, and Fens, and 
 Cutting down vast Woods, to make Room for the Increase of 
 Mankind, the Air is Grown more Healthy; So that Plagues, 
 and other Epidemical Diseases, are not so destructive as for- 
 merly ? none so violent, as Procopius * and Wallsingham ' Re- 
 
 43 port, which de || stroyed such Vast Numbers in Italy, that 
 there were not left Ten in a Thousand ; and in other Parts of 
 Europe, not enough alive to Bury the Dead. Whereas, the 
 Plague in (1665) the Greatest since, did not take away the 
 Hundredth Person in England, Holland, and other Countries, 
 where it Raged? 
 
 Whether, since the Invention of Guns and Gun-Powder, so
 
 A Discourse of Trade 25 
 
 many Men are not slain in the Wars as formerly? Xerxes 
 lost 260000 in one Battle against the Grecians; ALEXAN- 
 DER, destroyed 110000 of Darius' s Army; Marius, slew 
 120000 of the Cimhri; and in great Battles, seldome less 
 than 100000 fell: But now 20000 Men are accounted very 
 great Slaughter. 
 
 Wnether, since the Northern People have fallen on Trade, 
 such II vast Numbers, are not destroyed by Invasions? 44 
 
 Whether, by all those Ways, or by which of them most, 
 Europe is grown Populous, is not Material to this Discourse : 
 It is sufficient to shew. That the Matter of Fact is so, which 
 does appear by comparing the Antient Histories of Countries 
 with the Modern ? 
 
 In the Antient Descriptions, the Countries are full of Vast 
 Woods, wild Beasts; the Inhabitants barbarous, and as wild, 
 without Arts, and the Governments are like Colonies, or Herds 
 of People: But in the Modern, the Woods are cut down, and 
 the Lyons, Bears, and wild Beasts destroyed ; no Flesh-Eaters 
 are left to inhabit with Man, but those Dogs and Cats that he 
 tames for his Use: Corn grows where the Woods did, and 
 with the Timber || are built Cities, Towns and Villages; the 45 
 People are Cloathed, and have all Arts among them; and 
 those little Colonies and Families, are increased into Great 
 States and Kingdoms ; and the most undeniable Proof of the 
 Increase of Mankind in England, is the Doom-Day-Book, 
 which was a Survey taken of all the Inhabitants of England, 
 in the Reign of William the Conquerour ; by which it appears, 
 that the People of England are increased more than double 
 since that time: But since the Mosaical Hypothesis of the 
 Increase of the World, is generally believed amongst the Chris- 
 tians. And the late Lord Chief Justice Hales, in his Book 
 of the Origination of Mankind,' hath eiideavoured to satisfie 
 all the rest of the World. It would be misspending of Time, 
 to use any other Topick for the further Proof || thereof, than 46 
 what naturally follows in this Discourse, which is from the 
 Different Success of Arms, in the Latter and Former Ages. 
 
 In the Infancy of the World, Governments began with little
 
 86 Nicholas Baebon 
 
 Families and Colonies of Men; so that, when ever any Gov- 
 ernment arrived to greater Heighth than the rest, either by 
 the great Wisdom or Courage of the Governor, they after- 
 wards grew a pace: It was no Difficulty for Ninus, that was 
 the oldest Government, and consequently, the most Populous, 
 to begin the Assyrian Empire; nor for his Successors to con- 
 tinue and inlarge it: Such Vast Armies of Cyrus, Darius, 
 Hystospis and Xerxes, the least of their Forces amounting to 
 above 500000, could not be Eesisted, when the World was but 
 
 47 thin Peopled. || 
 
 These great Armies might at first sight, seem to infer, 
 That the World was more Populous than now; because the 
 Armies of the greatest Princes, seldom now exceed the Num- 
 ber of Fifty, or Sixty Thousand Men ; But the Reason of those 
 great Numbers, was. They were not so well Skilled in Mili- 
 tary Arts, and shew that the World was in the Infancy of its 
 Knowledge, rather than Populous; for all that were able to 
 bear Arms, went to the Wars : And if that were now the Cus- 
 tom, there might be an Army in England of above Three 
 Million, allowing the Inhabitants to be Seven Millions; and 
 by the same Proportion, the King of France's Country, (being 
 four Times bigger) might raise Twelve Millions; such a Num- 
 
 48 ber was never heard of in this World. || 
 
 The next Difficulty against the inlarging of Empire by 
 Arms, is. That since Printing, and the Use of the Needle hath 
 been discovered. Navigation is better known, and thence is a 
 Greater Commerce amongst Men, the Countries and Lan- 
 guages are more understood. Knowledge more dispersed, and 
 the Arts of War in all Places known; so that. Men fight more 
 upon equal Terms than formerly ; and like two Skilful Fenc- 
 ers, fight a long Time, before either gets Advantage. 
 
 The Assyrians & Persians Conquered more by the Number 
 of Souldiers, than Discipline ; the Grecians and Romans, more 
 by Discipline than Number ; as the World grew older, it grew 
 wiser: Learning first flourished among the Grecians, after- 
 wards among the Romans; and as the Latter succeeded in 
 
 49 Learning, so they || did in EMPIRE. But now both Parties are
 
 A Discourse of Trade 27 
 
 Equally Disciplin'd and Arm'd ; and the Successes of War are 
 not 80 great; Victorj is seldom gained without some Consid- 
 erable Loss to the Conquerour. 
 
 Another Difficulty to the inlarging of Dominion by Arms, 
 is. That the Qoths Overcoming the greatest Part of Europe, 
 did by their Form of Government, so settle Liberty, and 
 Property of Land, that it is difficult for any PRINCE to 
 Change that Form. 
 
 Whether the Goths were Part of the Ten Tribes, as some 
 are of Opinion, and to Countenance their Conjectures, have 
 Compared the Languages of the Inhabitants, Wales, Finland 
 and Orchadis, and other Northern Parts (little frequented by 
 Strangers, which might alter their Language) and || find 50 
 them to agree with the Hebrew in many Words and Sound, 
 all their Speech being Guttural. This is certain, their Form 
 of Government seems framed after the Examples of Moses's 
 Government in the Land of Canaan, by dividing the Legisla- 
 tive Power, according to the Property of Land, according to 
 that Antient Maxim, That Dominion is founded upon Prop- 
 erty of Land. There Monarchy seems to be made by an easie 
 Division of Land into Thirds, by a Conquering Army, setting 
 down in Peace; the General being King, has one Third; the 
 Colonels being the Lords, another Third; and the Captains, 
 and other Inferiour Officers being Gentlemen, another; the 
 Common Souldiers are the Farmers, and the Conquered are 
 the Villains : The Legislative Power is divided amongst them, 
 according to their || Share in the Land; it being necessary 51 
 that those that have Property of Land, should have Power to 
 make Laws to Preserve it. 
 
 There seems to be but two settled Forms of Government; _ 
 The Turkish, and Oothick, or English Monarchy: They are 
 both founded upon Property of Land ; in the First, the Prop- 
 erty and Legislative Power is solely ip the Prince; In the 
 Latter, they are in both the Prince and People: The one is 
 best fitted to raise Dominion by Armies ; for the Prince must 
 be Absolute to give Command, according to the Various For- 
 tunes of Warr: The other is Best for Trade; for men are
 
 28 Nicholas Barbon 
 
 most industrious, where they are most free, and secure to 
 injoy the Effects of their Labours. 
 
 52 All other Sorts of Government, || either Aristocracy, or 
 Democracy, where the Supream Magistrate is Elective, are 
 Imperfect, Tumultuous, and Unsettled : For Man is Naturally 
 Ambitious ; he inherits the same Euleing Spirit that God gave 
 to Adam, to Govern the Creation with: And the oftner that 
 the Throne is Empty, the oftner will Contentions and Strug- 
 gles Happen to get into it: Where deter digniori is the Kule, 
 Warr always Ensues for the Golden Prize. Such Govern- 
 ments will never be without such Men as Marius and Scilla, 
 to disturb them ; nor without such a Man as Caesar to Usurp 
 them; notwithstanding all the Contrivance for their Defence 
 by those Polititians who seems fond of such Formes of Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 The Gothich Government being a well fixed Form, and the 
 
 68 People so free under it, is great hinde- 1| drance to the En- 
 larging of Dominion ; for a People under a good Government 
 do more Vigorously Defend it: A free People have more to 
 lose than Slaves, and their Success is better Kewarded than 
 by any Mercenary Pay, and therefore, make a better Eesist- 
 ance : It was the Freedom of the Grecians and Romans that 
 raised their Courage, and had an equal Share in raising their 
 Empires, with their Millitary Discipline: The free City of 
 Tyre put Alexander to more Trouble to Conquer, than all the 
 Citys of Asia. 
 
 The People of Asia, living under a Dispotick Power, made 
 little Resistance; Alexander subdued Libia, Phoenicia, Pam- 
 philia, without much Opposition in his Journey to meet 
 Darius; Egypt came under Subjection without Fighting, and 
 
 54 80 did many Countries, || being willing to Change the Persian 
 Yoak: Besides, he Fought but two Battles for the whole 
 Persian Empire; and the Resistance of those slavish People 
 was 80 weak, that he did not lose 500 Grecians in either of the 
 Battles, tho' Darius Number far exceeded his; the one being 
 above 260000, and the other not Forty; And there was as 
 great Disproportion in the Slaughter; for at the Battle in
 
 A Discourse of Trade 29 
 
 Cilicia he slew 110000, and that at Arbela 40000; whereas, the 
 Spartan, a Free People, about the same time, fought with 
 Antipater his Vice-Eoy of Macedon; and in a Fight, where 
 neither Army exceeded 60000, slew 1013 of the Macedonians, 
 which was more than Alexander lost in both his Battles: So 
 great is the Difference of fighting against a Free, and a 
 Slavish Effeminate People. 
 
 For the same Seasons, That the || World is grown more 55 
 Populous, That the Arts of War are more known. That the 
 People of Europe live under a Free Government. It is as 
 difficult to keep a Country in Subjection, as to Conquer it. 
 The People are too Numerous to be kept in Obedience: To 
 destroy the greatest Part, were too Bloody, and Inhuman ; To 
 Bum the Towns, and Villages, and so force the People to 
 remove, Is to lose the greatest share in Conquest ; for the 
 People are the Eiches and the Strength of the Country, And it 
 is not much more Advantage to a Prince, to have a Title to 
 Lands, in Terra Incognita, As to Countries without People. 
 
 Besides, Countries and Languages being more known; And 
 Mankind more acquainted than formerly: The Oppressed 
 People remove into the next Country they || can find Shelter 56 
 in, & become the Subjects of other Governments. By such 
 Addition of Subjects, those Governments growing stronger, 
 are better able to Eesist the Incroaches of Empire: So that, 
 every Conquest makes the next more difficult, from the Assist- 
 ance of those People before Conquered; To Transplant the 
 Conquered into a Eemote Country, as formerly, Is not to be 
 Practised; There is now no Eoom, the World is so full of 
 People. 
 
 To Conquer, and leave them Free, only paying Tribute and 
 Homage, Is the same as not to Conquer them : For there is no 
 Eeason to expect their Submission longer, than till they are 
 able to Eesist; which will not be long before they make the 
 same Opposition, if they continue in the same Possession; 
 and therefore, though the Romans in the Infan || cy of their 57 
 Government, did leave several Countries Free, as an Assist- 
 ance to other CONQUEST; yet, when they grew stronger.
 
 30 Nicholas Baebon 
 
 they turned all their Conquest into Provinces, heing the surest 
 way to keep them from Eevolting. 
 
 These are the Difficulties of inlarging Dominion at Land, 
 but are not Impediments to its Eise at Sea : For those Things 
 that Obstruct the Growth of Empire at Land, do rather Pro- 
 mote its Growth at Sea, That the World is more Populous, 
 is no Prejudice, there is Room enough upon the Sea ; the many 
 Fortified Towns may hinder the March of an Army, but not 
 the Sailing of Ships : The Arts of Navigation being discovered, 
 hath added an Unlimited Compass to the Naval Power. There 
 needs no Change of the GothicJc Government; for that best 
 58 Agrees with such an Empire. || 
 
 The Ways of preserving Conquests gain'd by Sea, are dif- 
 ferent from those at Land. By the one, the Cities, Towns and 
 Villages are burnt, to thin the People, that they may be the 
 easier Governed, and kept into Subjection; by the other, the 
 Cities must be inlarged, and New ones built : Instead of Ban- 
 ishing the People, they must be continued, in their Possession, 
 or invited to the Seat of Empire ; by the one, the Inhabitants 
 are inslaved, by the other, they are made Free : The Seat of 
 such an Empire, must be in an Island, that their Defence 
 may be solely in Shipping; the same way to defend their 
 Dominion, as to inlarge it. 
 
 To Conclude, there needs no other Argument, That Empire 
 may be raised sooner at Sea, than at Land ; than by observing 
 69 the Growth of the United Provinces, \\ within One Hundred 
 Years last past, who have Changed their Style, from Poor 
 Distressed, into that of High and Mighty States of the United 
 Provinces: And Amsterdam, that was not long since, a poor 
 Fisher-Town, is now one of the Chief Cities in Europe; and 
 within the same Compass of Time, that the Spaniard & French 
 have been endeavouring to Raise an Universal Empire upon 
 the Land ; they have risen to that Heighth, as to be an equal 
 Match for either of them at Sea ; and were their Government 
 fitted for a Dominion of large Extent, and their Country sepa- 
 rated from their Troublesome Neighbour the Continent, which 
 would Free them from that Military Charge in defending
 
 A Discourse of Trade 31 
 
 themselves, they might, in a short Time, Contend for the 
 Soveraignity of the Seats. 
 
 But England seems the Properer || Seat for such an Empire : 60 
 It is an Island, therefore requires no Military Force to de- 
 fend it. Besides, Merchants and Souldiers never thrive in 
 the same Place; It hath many large Harbours fitting for a 
 large Dominion: The Inhabitants are naturally Couragious, 
 as appears from the Effects of the Climate, in the Game Cocks, 
 and Mastiff Dogs, being no where else so stout: The Mon- 
 archy is both fitted for Trade and Empire. And were there 
 an Act for a General Naturalization, that all Forreigners, 
 purchasing Land in England^ might Enjoy the Freedom of 
 Englishmen, It might within much less Compass of Time, 
 than any Government by Arms at Land, arrive to such a 
 Dominion : For since, in some Parts of Europe, Mankind is 
 harrassed and disturbed with Wars; Since, some Governours 
 have incroached upon the Eights of their || Subjects, and in- 61 
 slaved them ; Since the People of England enjoy the Largest 
 Freedoms, and Best Government in the World; and since by 
 Navigation and Letters, there is a great Commerce, and a 
 General Acquaintance among Mankind, by which the Laws 
 and the Liberties of all Nations, are known; those that are 
 oppressed and inslaved, may probably Eemove, and become 
 the Subjects of England: And if the Subjects increase, the 
 Ships, Excise and Customs, which are the Strength and 
 Eevenue of the Kingdom, will in Proportion increase, -which 
 may be so Great in a short TIME, not only to preserve its 
 Antient Soveraignty over the Narrow Seas, but to extend its 
 Dominion over all the Great Ocean : An Empire, not less 
 Glorious, & of a much larger Extent, than either Alexander's 
 or Ceasar's. || 63 
 
 Of the Chief Causes that Promote Trade. 
 
 THE Chief Causes that Promote Trade, (not to mention 
 Good Government, Peace, and Scituation, with other Ad- 
 vantages) are Industry in the Poor, and Liberality in the Eich :
 
 32 Nicholas Barbon 
 
 Liberality, is the free Usage of all those things that are 
 made by the Industry of the Poor, for the Use of the Body 
 and Mind; It Kelates chiefly to Man's self, but doth not 
 hinder him from being Liberal to others. 
 
 The Two Extreams to this Vertue, are Prodigality and 
 Covetousness : Prodigality is a Vice that is prejudicial to the 
 Man, but not to Trade; It is living a pace, and spending that 
 
 63 in a Year, that should last all his || Life: Covetousness is a 
 Vice, prejudicial both to Man & Trade; It starves the Man, 
 and breaks the Trader; and by the same way the Covetous 
 Man thinks he grows rich, he grows poor; for by not con- 
 suming the Goods that are provided for Man's Use, there 
 ariseth a dead Stock, called Plenty, and the Value of those 
 Goods fall, and the Covetous Man's Estates, whether in Land, 
 or Mony, become less worth: And a Conspiracy of the Eich 
 Men to be Covetous, and not spend, would be as dangerous to 
 a Trading State, as a Forreign War; for though they them- 
 selves get nothing by their Covetousness, nor grow the Eicher, 
 yet they would make the Nation poor, and the Government 
 great Losers in the Customs and Excises that ariseth from 
 
 64 Expence. || 
 
 Liberality ought Chiefly to be Exercised in an equal Division 
 of the Expence amongst those things that relate to Food, 
 Cloaths, and Lodging; according to the Portion, or Station, 
 that is allotted to every Man, with some allowance for the 
 more refined Pleasures of the Mind ; with such Distributions, 
 as may please both sect of Philosophers, Platonist and Epi- 
 cureans: The Belly must not be starved to cloath the Back- 
 Part. 
 Those Expences that most Promote Trade, are in Cloaths 
 
 and Lodging: In Adorning the Body and the House, There 
 are a Thousand Traders Imploy'd in Cloathing and Decking 
 the Body, and Building, and Furnishing of Houses, for one 
 that is Imploy'd in providing Food. Belonging to Cloaths, is 
 65 Fashion ; which is the Shape or Form of Apparel. || 
 
 In some places, it is fixt and certain ; as all over Asia, and 
 in Spain; but in France, England, and other places, the Dress
 
 A Discourse of Trade 33 
 
 alters; Fashion or the alteration of Dress, is a great Pro- 
 moter of Trade, because it occasions the Expence of Cloaths, 
 before the Old ones are worn out: It is the Spirit and Life 
 of Trade; It makes a Circulation, and gives a Value by 
 Turns, to all sorts of Commodities; keeps the great Body of 
 Trade in Motion ; it is an Invention to Dress a Man, as if he 
 Lived in a perpetual Spring; he never sees the Autum of his 
 Cloaths : The following of the Fashion, Is a Eespect paid to 
 the Prince and his Court, by approving his Choice in the 
 shape of the Dress. It lyes under an ill Name amongst many 
 Grave and Sober. People, but without any Just Cause ; for 
 those that Exclaim against the || Vanity of the New Fashion, 66 
 and at the same time, commend the Decency of the Old one, 
 forget that every Old Fashion was once New, and then the 
 same Argument might have been used against it. And if an 
 Indian, or Stranger, that never saw any person Cloathed be- 
 fore, were to be Judge of the Controversy, and were to Deter- 
 min upon seeing at the same time a well Dr est- Courtier in 
 the New Fashion, and another in the Old, which is accounted 
 Decent; and a third in the Eobes of an Officer, which by 
 common Esteem, had a Eeverence: It will be Two to One, 
 against any One of the Grave Fashions ; for it's only Use and 
 Custom by which Habits become Grave and Decent, and not 
 any particular Conveniency in the shape; for if Conveniency 
 were the Eule of Commendation, there would arise || a Ques-67 
 tion not Easily to be Determined, Whether the Spanish Garb 
 made strait to the Body, or the loose Habit of the Turks, were 
 to be Chosen? And therefore since all Habits are equally 
 handsome, and hard to know which is most Convenient : The 
 Promoting of New Fashions, ought to be Encouraged, because 
 it provides a Livelihood for a great Part of Mankind. 
 
 The next Expence that chiefly promotes Trade, is Building, 
 which is natural to Mankind, being the making of a Nest or 
 Place for his Birth, it is the most proper and vible Distinction 
 of Eiches, and Greatness ; because the Expences are too Great 
 for Mean Persons to follow. It is a Pleasure fit to entertain 
 Princes; for a Magnificent Structure doth best represent the
 
 34 Nicholas Barbon 
 
 Majesty of the Person that lives in it, and is the most lasting 
 
 68 and II truest History of the Greatness of his Person. 
 
 Building is the chiefest Promoter of Trade^; it Imploys a 
 greater Number of Trades and People, than Feeding or 
 Cloathing: The Artificers that belong to Building, such as 
 Bricklayers, Carpenters, Plaisterers, &c. imploy many Hands ; 
 Those that make the Materials for Building, such as BricJcs, 
 Lyme, Tyle, &c. imploy more; and with those that Furnish 
 the Houses, such as Upholsterers, Pewterers, &e. they are 
 almost Innumerable. 
 
 In Holland, where Trade hath made the Inhabitants very 
 Eich, It is the Care of the Government, to Incourage the 
 Builder, and at the Charge of the State, the Grafts and 
 Streets are made. And at Amsterdam, they have three 
 
 69 Times, at great Expence, Thrown down the Walls of their || 
 City, and Dreined the Boggs, to make Eoom for the Builder : 
 For Houses are the Places where the Artificers make their 
 Goods, and Merchants Sell them; and without New Houses, 
 the Trades and Inhabitants could not Increase. 
 
 Beside, There is another great Advantage to Trade, by 
 Enlarging of Cities; the Two Beneficial Expences of Cloath- 
 ing and Lodging, are Increased ; Man being Naturally Ambi- 
 tious, the Living together, occasion Emulation, which is seen 
 by Out- Vying one another in Apparel, Equipage, and Furni- 
 ture of the House; whereas, if a Man lived Solitary alone, 
 his chiefest Expence, would be Food. It is from this very 
 Custom ; If the Gentry of France Living in Cities, with the 
 Invention of Fashion; That France, tho' a Country no way 
 70 fitted for Trade, has so great a share || of it: It is from Fash- 
 ion in Cloaths, and Living in Cities, That the King of France's 
 Eevenues is so great, by which he is become troublesome to 
 his Neighbours, and will always be so, while he can preserve 
 Peace within his own Country ; by which, those Fountains of 
 Eiches, may run Interrupted into his Exchequer. 
 
 71
 
 A Discourse of Trade 35 
 
 Of the Chief Causes of the Decay of Trade in 
 England, and Fall of the Rents of Land. 
 
 THE Two Chief Causes of the Decay of Trade, are the 
 many Prohibitions and high Interest. 
 
 The Prohibition of Trade, is the Cause of its Decay; for 
 all Forreign Wares are brought in by the Exchange of the 
 Native : So that the Prohibiting of any Foreign Commodity, 
 doth hinder the Making and Exportation of so much of the 
 Native, as used to be Made and Exchanged for it. The Arti- 
 ficers and Merchants, that Dealt in such Goods, lose their 
 Trades; and the Profit that was gained by such Trades, and 
 laid out amongst other Traders, is Lost. The Native Stock 
 for want of such Ex || portation, Falls in Value, and the 73 
 Eent of the Land must Fall with the Value of the Stock. 
 
 The common Argument for the Prohibiting Foreign Com- 
 modities, is. That the Bringing in, and Consuming such For- 
 eign Wares, hinders the Making and Consuming the like sort 
 of Goods of our own Native Make and Growth; therefore 
 Flanders-L&ce, French-'H.sits, Gloves, Silks, Westphalia-Bacon, 
 &c. are Prohibited, because it is supposed, they hinder the 
 Consumption of EngUsh-La,ce, Gloves, Hats, Silk, Bacon, &c. 
 But this is a mistaken Eeason, and ariseth by not considering 
 what it is that Occasions Trade. It is not Necessity that 
 causeth the Consumption, Nature may be Satisfied with little ; 
 but it is the wants of the Mind, Fashion, and desire of Novel- 
 ties, and Things scarce, that causeth || Trade. A Person may 73 
 have English-Lsice, Gloves, or Silk, as much as he wants, and 
 will Buy no more such ; and yet, lay out his Mony on a Point 
 of Venice, Jessimine-Glovea, or French-Silks; he may desire 
 to Eat Westphalia-B&con, when he will not English; so that, 
 the Prohibition of Forreign Wares, does not necessarily cause 
 a greater Consumption of the like sort of English. 
 
 Besides, There is the same wants of the Mind in Foreigners, 
 as in the English; they desire Novelties; they Value English- 
 Cloth., Hats, and Gloves, and Foreign Goods, more than their
 
 36 Nicholas Barbon 
 
 Native make; so that, tho' the Wearing or Consuming of 
 Forreign Things, might lessen the Consuming of the same 
 sort in England; yet there may not be a lesser Quantity made ; 
 
 74 and if the same Quantity be made, it || will be a greater Ad- 
 vantage to the Nation, if they are Consumed in Foreign Coun- 
 tries, than at Home; because the Charge, and Imploy of the 
 Freight, is Gained by it, which in bulky Goods, may be a 
 Fourth Part of the whole Value. 
 
 The particular Trades that expect an Advantage by such 
 Prohibition, are often mistaken; For if the Use of most 
 Commodities depending upon Fashion, which often alters; 
 The Use of those Goods cease. As to Instance, Suppose a 
 Law to Prohibit Cane-Chairs; It would not necessarily fol- 
 low. That those that make TurTcei/-WoTk Chairs, would have 
 a better Trade. For the Fashion may Introduce, Wooden, 
 Leather, or Silk Chairs, (which are already in Use amongst 
 tne Gentry, The Cane-Chairs being grown too Cheap and 
 
 75 Common) || or else, they may lay aside the Use of all Chairs, 
 Introducing the Custom of Lying upon Carpets ; the Ancient 
 Roman Fashion; still in Use amongst the Turks, Persians, 
 and all the Eastern Princes. 
 
 Lastly, If the Suppressing or Prohibiting of some sorts of 
 Goods, should prove an Advantage to the Trader, and Increase 
 the Consumption of the same sort of our Native Commodity : 
 Yet it may prove a Loss to the Nation. For the Advantage 
 to the Nation from Trade, is, from the Customs, and from 
 those Goods that Imploys most Hands. So that, tho' the 
 Prohibition may Increase, as the Consumption of the like 
 sort of the Native ; yet if it should Obstruct the Transporting 
 of other Goods which were Exchanged for them, that Paid 
 "fimore Custom, Freight, or Imployed more Hands in || making; 
 The Nation will be a loser by the Prohibition : As to Instance, 
 If Tobacco or Woollen-Cloth were used to Exchange for 
 Westphaly-Bsieon, The Nation loseth by the Prohibition, tho' 
 it should Increase the Consumption of English-Ba,con ; be- 
 cause the First, Pays more Freight, and Custom; and the 
 Latter, Imploys more Hands. By this Eule it appears. That
 
 A Discourse of Trade 37 
 
 the Prohibiting of all unwrought Goods, such as raw Silk, 
 Cotton, Flax, &c. and all Bulky Goods; such as Wines, Oyls, 
 Fruits, &c. would be a Loss to the Nation; because nothing 
 can be sent in Exchange that Imploys fewer Hands than the 
 First, or Pays greater Freight than the Latter, 
 
 It doth not alter the Case, If the Ballance of the Account, 
 or all the Foreign Goods, were bought by Silver or Gold; 
 For II Silver and Gold, are Foreign Commodities; Pay but 77 
 little Freight, and Imploy but few Hands in the Working; 
 And are at First brought into England, by the Exchange of 
 some Native Goods, and having Paid for their coming hither, 
 must Pay for the Carriage out. It is true. That if our Serge, 
 Stuffs, or Cloth, are Exchanged for Unmanufactured Goods, 
 it would be a greater Advantage to the Nation, because of the 
 difference in Number of Hands in the making of the First, 
 and the Later. 
 
 But all Trading Countries Study their Advantage of Trade, 
 and Know the difference of the Profit by the Exchange of 
 wrought Goods, for unwrought: And therefore, for any 
 Nation to make a Law to Prohibit all Foreign Goods, but such 
 only as are most Advantageous; Is to put other || Nations 78 
 upon making the same Laws; and the Consequence will be 
 to Euine all Foreign Trade. For the Foundation of all For- 
 reign Trade, is, from the Exchange of the Native Commodities 
 of each Country, for one another. 
 
 To Conclude, If the bringing in of Foreign Goods, should 
 hinder the making and consuming of the Native, which will 
 very seldom happen ; this disadvantage is not to be Remedied 
 by a Prohibition of those Goods; but by Laying so great 
 Duties upon them, that they may be always Dearer than those 
 of our Country make : The Dearness will hinder the common 
 Consumption of them, and preserve them for the Use of the 
 Gentry, who may Esteem them, because they are Dear; and 
 perhaps, might not Consume more of the En \\ glish Growth, 79 
 were the other not Imported. By such Duties, the Revenue 
 of the Crown, will be Increased; And no Exceptions can be 
 taken by any Foreign Prince, or Government; Since it is in 
 
 *m^'^ 
 
 G7421
 
 38 Nicholas Barbon 
 
 the Liberty of every Government, To Lay what Duty or Impo- 
 sition they please. Trade will continue Open, and Free ; and 
 the Traders, Enjoy the Profit of their Trade: The Dead Stock 
 of the Nation, that is more than can be Used, will be Carried 
 off, which will keep up the Price of the Native Stock, and the 
 Rent of the Land. 
 
 The next Cause of the Decay of TRADE in England, and the 
 Fall of Bents, is. That Interest is higher in England, than in 
 Holland, and other places of great Trade : It is at Six per Cent. 
 in England, and at Three in Holland; For all Merchants 
 
 80 that II Trade in the same sort of Goods, to the same Ports, 
 shoidd Trade by the same Interest. 
 
 Interest is the Rule of Buying and Selling : And being higher 
 in England, than in Holland; The English Merchant Trades 
 with a Disadvantage, because he cannot Sell the same sort of 
 Goods in the same Port, for the same Value as the Dutch 
 Merchant. The Dutch Merchant can Sell 100 I. worth of 
 Goods, for 103 I. And the English Merchant must Sell the 
 same sort, for 106 I. to make the same Account of Principal 
 and Interest. 
 
 When Sir Thomas Oresham had almost the sole Trade of 
 Spain, and the Twr^-Company the sole Selling of Cloth into 
 TurTcy, and several other places; The Difference of Interest 
 was then, no prejudice to Trade, tho' Interest was then in 
 
 i\ England, at Eight || per Cent. Because, whoe're has the sole 
 Trade to a place, may set what Price he pleaseth upon his 
 Goods : But now. Trade is dispersed, the same sort of Manu- 
 facture, is made in several Countries. The Dutch and English 
 Merchants, Trade in the same sort of Goods, to the same For- 
 reign Parts, and therefore they ought to Deal by the same 
 Interest, which is the Measure of Trade. 
 
 Besides, And the English Merchant hath the same Disad- 
 vantage in the Return of the Goods he Buys; for the Dutch 
 Merchant making his Return in the same sort of Goods, can 
 under-Sell him. 
 
 By this Difference of Interest, Holland is become to be the 
 great Magazine, and Store-House of this Part of Europe, for
 
 A Discourse of Trade 39 
 
 all sorts of Goods: For they may be laid up Cheaper in || 82 
 Holland, than in England. 
 
 It is impossible for the Merchant when he has Bought his 
 Goods, To know what he shall Sell them for: The Value of 
 them, depends upon the Difference betwixt the Occasion and 
 the Quantity ; tho' that be the Chiefest of the Merchants Care 
 to observe, yet it Depends upon so many Circumstances, that 
 it's impossible to know it. Therefore if the plenty of the 
 Goods, has brought down the Price; the Merchant layeth 
 them up, till the Quantity is consumed, and the Price riseth. 
 But the English Merchant, cannot lay up his, but with Disad- 
 vantage; for by that time, the Price is risen so as to pay 
 Charges and Interest at Six per Cent, the same Goods are 
 sent for from Holland, and bring down the Price: For they 
 are laid up there, at Three per Cent, and 1| can therefore be 83 
 Sold Cheaper. 
 
 For want of Considering this, in England, many an English 
 Merchant has been undone ; for, though by observing the Bill 
 of Lading, he was able to make some Guess of the Stock that 
 was Imported here; and therefore, hath kept his Goods by 
 him for a Eise: But not knowing what Stock there was in 
 Holland, hath not been able to sell his Goods to Profit, the 
 same Goods being brought from thence before the Price riseth 
 high enough to pay Ware-House-Room, and Interest. 
 
 So that, now the great part of the English Trade is driven 
 by a quick Return, every Day Buying and Selling, according 
 to a Bill of Rate every day Printed. By this Means, the 
 English Trade is narrowed and confined, and the King loseth 
 the Revenue II of Importation, which he would have, if 84 
 England were the Magazine of Europe; and the Nation loseth 
 the Profit, which would arise from the Hands imploy'd in 
 Freight and Shipping. 
 
 Interest being so high in England, is the Cause of the Fall 
 of Rents ; for Trade being confined to a Quick Return : And 
 the Merchant being not able to lay up Foreign Goods, at the 
 same Interest as in Holland, he Exports less of the Native; — , 
 and the Plenty of the Native Stock Brings down the Rent of
 
 40 Nicholas Babbon 
 
 Land; for the rest of the Land that produceth the Stock, 
 must fall, as the Price of the Stock doth. 
 
 Whereas, if Interest were at the same Eates as in Holland, 
 
 I at Three per Cent, it would make the Rent more certain, and 
 raise the Value of the Land. 
 
 8S This Difference of Three per \\ Cent, is so Considerable, that 
 many Dutch Merchants Living in Holland, having Sold their 
 Gk)od8 in England; give Order, to put out their Stock to 
 Interest in England; thinking That a better Advantage than 
 they can make by Trade. 
 
 It will raise the Bent of some Estates, and preserve the 
 Rent of others : For the Farmer must make up hi« Account, 
 as the Merchant doth; the Interest of the Stock, must be 
 reckoned, as well as the Rent of Land: Now if the Farmer 
 hath 3.00 I. Stock, upon his Farm, that is so easily Rented, 
 that he Lives well upon it ; he may add 9 I. per Annum more 
 to the Rent, when the Interest is at Three per Cent, and make 
 the same Account of Profit from the Farm : As he doth now 
 Interest, is at Six per Cent. And those Farmers that are 
 
 8« hard || Rented, having the same Stock, will have 9 I. per An- 
 num Advance in the Account, towards the Easing the Rent: 
 For altho' the Farmer gets nothing more at the Years end, yet 
 in TTiftlring up of Account, there must 9 I. add to the Value 
 of Land, and taken from the Account of the Stock. If Inter- 
 est were at Three per Cent, there would always be a Magazine 
 of Com and Wooll in England, which would be a great Ad- 
 vantage to the Farmer, and make his Rent more certain ; for 
 there are Years of Plenty, and Scarcity; and there arc more 
 Farmers undone by Years of great Plenty, than Recover them- 
 selves in Years of Scarcity; for when the Price is very low, 
 the Crop doth not pay the Charge of Sowing, Farming, and 
 Carr3ring to Market; and when it is Dear, It doth not fall to 
 
 87 all Mens For || tune that were losers by Plenty, to have a Crop : 
 Now if Interest were at Three per Cent. Com and Wooll in 
 Years of great Plenty, would be Bought and Laid up to be 
 Sold in Years of Scarcity. The Buying in Years of Plenty, 
 would keep the Price from Falling too Low; and the Selling
 
 A Discourse op Trade 41 
 
 in Years of Scarcity, would prevent it from Rising too High ; 
 by this means, a moderate Price, being best upon Com and 
 Wooll; the Farmers Stock and Rent of the Land, would be 
 more certain. 
 
 But now Holland being the great Magazine of Com, Man 
 will Lay up any considerable Quantity in England at Six per 
 Cent, when be may always Buy as much as he wants, that 
 was Laid up at Three per Cent, and may bring it from thence, 
 as Soon, and as Cheap, into any Parts of || England, as if it 88 
 were Laid up here. 
 
 Thirdly, If Interest were at Three per Cent, the Land of 
 England, would be worth from Thirty Six, to Forty Years 
 Purchase ; for Interest, sets the Price in the Buying and Sell- 
 ing of Land. 
 
 The bringing down of Interest, will not alter the Value of 
 other Wares; for the Value of all Wares, arriveth from their 
 Use; and the Deamess and Cheapness of them, from their 
 Plenty and Scarcity: Nor will it make Mony more Scarce. 
 For if the Law allow no more Interest, than Three per Cent. 
 they that Live upon it, must Lend at that rate, or have no 
 Interest ; for they cannot put it forth any where else to better 
 Advantage. But if it be supposed. That it may make Mony 
 scarce, and that it || may be a Prejudice to the Government, 89 
 who want the Advance of the Mony ; It may be provided for, 
 by a Clause, that all that Lend Mony to the King, shall have 
 6 I. per Cent.; such Advantage would make all Men Lend to 
 the Government: And the King will save two per Cent, by 
 such a Law. 
 
 The seeming Prejudice from such a Law, is, It will lessen 
 the Revenue of those who live upon Interest : But this will not 
 be a General Prejudice; for many of those Persons have 
 Land as well as Mony, and will get as much by the Rise of 
 one, as the by the Fall of the other. Besides, many of them, 
 are Persons that live Thriftily, and much within the Compass 
 of their Estates; and therefore, will not want it, but in 
 Opinion. They have had a long Time, the Advantage of || the 90 
 Borrower ; for the Land yielding but 4 I. per Cent, and the
 
 42 Nicholas Babbon 
 
 Interest being at 6 I per Cent, a new Debt is every Year con- 
 tracted of 2 I. per Cent, more than the Value of the Debt in 
 Land will pay, which hath Devoured many a good Farm ; and 
 eat up the Estates of many of the Ancient Gentry of England. 
 Moses, that Wise Law-Giver, who designed, that the Land, 
 divided amongst the Jews, should continue in their Families ; 
 forbid the Jews to pay Interest, well knowing that the Mer- 
 chants of Tyre, who were to be their near Neighbours, would, 
 by Lending Mony at Interest, at last get their Lands: And 
 that this seems to be the Reason, is plain ; For the Jews might 
 take Interest of Strangers, but not pay; for by taking Inter- 
 est, they could not lose their Estates. 
 
 91 The Lawyers have invented In |1 tails, to preserve Estates 
 in Families; and the bringing down of Interest to Three 
 per Cent, will much help to continue it; because the Estates 
 being raised to double the Value, will require double the Time, 
 after the same Proportion of Expence to Consume it in. 
 
 The raising the Value of Land, at this Time, seems most 
 necessary, when the Nation is Engaged in such a Chargeable 
 War : For the Land is the Fund that must support and pre- 
 serve the Grovemment ; and the Taxes wiU be lesser and easier 
 payd ; for they will not be so great : For 3 sh. in the Pound, 
 is now 133^ Part of every Mans Estate in Land, reckoning 
 at Twenty Years Purchase. But if the Value of the Land be 
 doubled, it will be the 226 Part of the Land, which may be 
 
 93 much easier bom. || 
 
 Campinella, who Wrote an 100 years since, upon consider- 
 ing of the great Tract of the Land of France; says. That if 
 ever it were United under one Prince, it would produce so 
 great a Revenue ; It might give Law to all Europe.^ 
 
 The Effect of this Calculation, Is since, seen by the Attempts 
 of this present King of France: And therefore, since England 
 
 ^■i is an Island, and the Number of Acres cannot be Increased; 
 It seems absolutely necessary. That the Value of them, should 
 be raised to Defend the Nation against such a Powerful Force : 
 It will be some Recompence to the Gentry, whose Lands must 
 bear the Burthen of the War, to have the Value of their
 
 A DiscouESE OF Trade 43 
 
 Estates Eaised; which is the Fund and Support of the Gov- 
 ernment ; Is a great Advantage to the whole Nation ; and if s 
 the greater, because it doth not Disturb, Lessen, nor Alter 
 the Value of any Thing else. 
 
 FINIS. II «.
 
 NOTES 
 
 Mpage 5) In the original tract the pages of "The Preface" 
 and " The Contents " are unnumbered. 
 
 '(page 6) "England's Treasure by Forralgn Trade. Or, The 
 Ballance of our Forraign Trade Is The Rule of our Treasure " 
 (London, 1664); see chapter I ('The knowledge and qualities, 
 which are required to be in a perfect Merchant of forraign trade '). 
 
 '(page 11) IHd., chap. II ('The means to enrich the Kingdom, 
 and to encrease our Treasure '). 
 
 '(page 24) "Corpus scriptorum historiae Byzantinae. Edito 
 emendatior et copiosior, consilio B. G. Niebuhrii C. F. Instituta 
 auctoritate Academiae Litterarum Regiae Borussicae Continuata, 
 Pars II: Procopius " (Bonnae, 1883); see I, 249-255 (De Bello 
 Persico) and II, 162 (De Bello Gotthico). 
 
 "(page 24) " Ypodigma Neustriae" (ed. by Henry Thomas 
 Riley in Gt. Brit. Rolls Chron., London, 1876) ; cf. p. 292 (A. D. 
 1349). The work was first published in 1574, and again appeared, 
 as part of the " Anglica, Normannica, Hibemica, Cambrica, a 
 Veteribus scripta," of William Camden, published at Frankfort 
 in 1603. 
 
 "(page 25) Sir Matthew Hale (1609-76) "The Primitive Ori- 
 gination of Mankind, considered and examined according to the 
 Light of Nature." According to the " Dictionary of National 
 Biography" (XXIV, 22), the work was not published until after 
 Hale's death. 
 
 '(page 42) " Th. Campenella de Monarchia Hispania." Editio 
 novissima, aucta et emendata ut praefatio ad lectorem indicat 
 (Amsterodami, 1653); see chap. XXIV (De Gallia), p. 187,
 
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 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACIL 
 
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