A Fifth ESSAY, At Removing
National Prejudices;
WITH A REPLY TO
Some AUTHORS,
Who have Printed their Objections against An Union with
England.
Printed in the Year M.DC.VII.
The PREFACE.
I Confess, the Occasions of my appearing in Print again upon this Subject, are unexpected; and as the writing a
Fifth Essay
is Contrary to my real Design, and more so to my Inclination, I cannot but say something by way of Introduction to it.
The Management of this present Treaty, I mean, without Doors, has something in it peculiarly odd, and to me very surprizing; Reason and Argument, nay even Demonstration cannot reach it; Men will argue against, nay Banter, and be Witty upon the several Branches, & yet at the end of the Discourse profess, They do not Understand them—They will be silenc't, and yet not at all Convinc't; they wont believe, when they cannot reply; when they own, they gain by it, they are not pleased; when they fancy, they are Losers, they are fond of Complaining; and when they can't make it out, rail on those that Endeavour to Confute them.
Words can have no Effect on such Persons, no Argument can touch them; either they Can't, or Won't, Understand any thing but what they like. Bitterness possesses their Souls, and breaks out too much at their Tongues: and I must tell them, I think, I bear more than my Share of this from them too, and that without Cause.
'Tis hard, Gentlemen, that an Attempt calmly to remove Prejudices (and I am sure, I have done it both Calmly and Cautiously) should fill any Body with Prejudices at the Author.
Scotland
has been in some Reputation for Courtesy to Strangers, & I should be very sorry, you should break in upon that part of your Character, only with a Reconciler. An Attempt to remove Prejudices, can have nothing in it; unless that the Truths spoken, move the Spleen of some, who would not be reconciled, and therefore cannot bear the Demonstration.
Nor would I be mistaken here, I am far from being Concern'd at the Ribauldry of the Street, calling my Name about to every Ballad, making me the Author of Papers I never saw; when Gentlemen lampoon one another, calling it mine, and the like, this is an old Method taken with me, and I am used to it.—
My Muse must be the Whore of Poetry,
And all
Apollo
's Bastards laid to me.
The Gentlemen are wellcome, and the Mob of Writers by all their Witticisms, shall only provoke me to Silence. I remember, and I wish, some other Gentlemen here would take the hint as I do—My Lord
Rochester
advising My Lord—not to reply to Satyr and Lampoon, has these two Merry Lines.
Fellows that ne'er were Heard or read of,
If thou writ'st on, will write thy head off.
Others, I am told, are furnishing themselves with Scandal, and Design to answer my Arguments with Personal Reflection.
I thank GOD, my Life, however mixt with Misfortunes, has not been such, that I am asham'd to see it in Print. Nor shall I offer any Capitulations with such Gentlemen, only intreat them for their own Sakes, to say nothing but what is true:—and then to add at the Bottom of their Story, what mighty Signification it has to the Argument in hand.
When our Saviour had healed the Man born blind, and he, appearing before the Elders, answered them with a Testimony to the Divinity of the Healer, which they could not reply to,
viz.
That he must be GOD, since nothing of a Man could ha' wrought such a Cure—To answer the Conviction of his Reasoning, they fall upon the Poor Man,
Thou wer't altogether born in sin and doest thon teach us—and they Cast him Out
—and yet after all what the Poor Man said, was very true—
Now Gentlemen, if what I say be true, why will you not hear it? if not true, why will ye not answer it?— Let the Author be never so Despicable or Mean in your Eyes, he is in no Man's meaner than in his Own: but Truth in the meanest Hand, deserves your Regard; Accept the Truth, and use the Author as you like, he is perfectly unconcern'd about that.
But all this does not yet reach the Matter which I Complain of: But I think it hardest, when Gentlemen, who pretend to answer what pinches them in Fact, Charge me with Falsities, wrong representing things & the like, & to make it out, give their own Assertions only, without the least Proof either to make Good their own, or Detect mine.
When Gentlemen reflect on what I have wrote, as not true, and use me ill on that head, at the same time contradicting it, with nothing but what is manifestly false, imposing upon the World their own Affirmative without Proof against Arguments, which are, and can be prov'd by Undoubted and undeniable Authority; this, I must own, is using a Stranger very ill.
I shall give but two or three Instances of this here, and shall meet with the rest as I go.
1
st.
Here's a Gentleman tells me in Print, That the small Beer in
England
does pay more than 1
sh.
3.
d. per
Barrel if sold for above 6
sh: per
Barrel; that the Foreign Salt payes 10
sh: per
Busbel Custom, that there are Duties & Restrictions on the Export of the
English
Woollen Manufacture and the like. And this the Gentleman calls a Confuting my Fourth Essay.
Now as this wants but a short Answer, so that Answer will detect the Gentleman's Ignorance
first,
and
then
his forwardness of Charging me vvithout Proof.
'Tis true, the Act of Parliament in
England,
prescribes the Excise to only tvvo Denominations of Beer, Small and Strong, and that the Small Beer is strictly call'd 6
sh:
Beer: and I suppose in Charity to him, that he looked no further than the Letter of the Act.
But if he thinks fit to examine the Practice in
England,
and the Nature of the thing, he will find three things.
1. That there is no Small Beer sold in
England
at 6 Shillings
per
Barrel.
2. That the Houshold Beer sold in
London,
and Parts adjacent at 10
sh. per
Barrel, and some at 12
sh. per
Barrel, pays no more Excise than as Small Beer,
viz.
1
sh.
3
d. per
Barrel; and of this I can bring him several Witnesses of People of both Nations now here.
3. That by the Nature of the Act, it can be no otherwise, since the Act does not say, all Beer above 6 ss. shall pay as Strong Beer, but the word, Strong Beer, is governed by the Usage of Excise, and is all sold as Ale from 18
sh. per
Barrel to above 40
sh.
If it is
asked
me, Why the Act calls it 6
sh.
Beer? I
answer,
Because, that Act having been made above 30 Year ago, the Small Beer in those days, was sold at that price; and this Excise being but in two Heads or Denominations as before, the Term needed no Alteration, tho' the price of Sale was risen: since it follow'd by the Name of Small Beer, that nothing could pay as Strong, that had not the first Runnings of the Malt.
I need enlarge no further, to prove the justice of my Calculation, or the unfairness of being Charg'd here with Imposing on the World.
The
second
Case is in the same Gentleman's Paper, who tells me, the Duty on Foreign Salt is 10 ss.
per
Bushel; and to insult me the more, adds, That 'tis
by them that know it as well as I.
Now as this showes the Gentleman's Heat to run before his Discretion, I must tell him, there can be no just Comparison between any Man's Knowledge here, since the Acts of Parl. are plain, in which the Taxes upon Salt are settled, and that there may be no Dispute on the Difference of Measure, the Bushel is Determined to weigh 84
l:
weight
Avoir du pois,
and if he pleases to search the said Acts, and the
English
Book of Rates, he will find the Duty stands thus.
By the Act. 5. and 6.
Will.
and
Mary.
Cap. 7.
3
d. per
Gallon on Foreign Salt.
7. and 8.
William
III. Cap. 31.
the Duty Continued.
9. and 10.
William
III. Cap. 44.
7
d. per
Gallon, Added,
 
10
d. per
Gallon
10
d. per
Gallon—8 Gallon to the Bushel is 80
d.
or 6. sh. 8.
per
Bushel. The Subsidies and Impost formerly laid amount to—2
d.
⅝
per
Bushel—
2⅝
6. 10⅝ or thereabout.
Either I am Right or wrong: if wrong, let the Acts of Parliament decide that Controversy; if I am Right,—then this Gentleman and his Author, who, he says,
knows it as well as I,
have something more to account for to the world, than an homest Man cares to be charg'd with: and if I had used him so, I would frankly ask his Pardon.
As to the Duties and Restrictions on the Woollen Manufacture in
England
on Export, the 36 Minute of Parliament has answered and confuted it for me,—I need say nothing in my own Vindication after such an Authority, only recommend it to the Gentleman himself to consider, whether he has used either me or his Country honestly.
A Fifth ESSAY,
&c.
IN the last Essay, I went thro' a great many Branches of the Popular Objections raised in
Scotland,
against the Union.—I wish I could exactly distinguish between those that Men raise only to oppose the Thing in General, and prevent the Uniting the Nations
on any Terms whatever,
and those which are really offered from honest Scruple at the Particulars.
However, whether I can distinguish them in their Arguments, or no; I shall distinguish them as well as I can in the following Discourse, in which I shall have all due regard to honest Reasoning and fair Argument, but not so much to Cavil and Frivolous or Malicious Opposition.
I little thought it had been possible that any
Scots-man,
at least such as understand the Affairs here, could say, That
Scotland
does not gain by
England
in Trade, much less that you do, or can Trade abroad with equal Advantages to other Nations.
I could not imagine any Man would offer that it is your Advantage to Trade with
France,
where you bring back nothing but what drains you of Money, and send little thither but what you ought to keep at Home.
Less was it to be expected, that Men should publish in Print, that your Trade will be ruin'd by an Union with
England.
Wherefore to all these Heads, I shall say something as plain and Concise as I can, if possible, to remove the Prejudices which are form'd in the Heads of the Ignorant, as if on Purpose to set them in the light of your future Advantages.
But before I come to this, I must say a Word or two to a mighty Champion, that has undertaken from my own Writing in another Case, to overthrow the very Foundation of the present Treaty, and setting
D. F.
against
D. F.
Demonstrates, as he thinks, that the Parliament of
Scotland
has no Power to enter upon this Treaty, nor go on with it without the Consent of their Constituents that Choose them.
And to do this, he Quotes a long Part of a Book wrote some time since in
England,
Entitled,
The Original Right of the Collective Body of the People of
England
Vindicated and Asserted,
in Answer to Sir
Humphra Mackworth
's Book, Called,
A Vindication of the Commons of
England,
&c.
In this Book I lay down Four Maxims of Government, which this Gentleman Quotes, at large.
Now 'tis so strange a thing, notwithstanding all this, That these Gentlemen should bring this Quotation to prove the want of Power in the present Parliament of
Scotland,
to enter upon the Ʋ nion, that I must own I never saw any thing fetcht so remote in Argument in my Life.
If any Man therefore please but to Examine two things, he will see thro' all this Cloud of Cavil, and soon distinguish the Case.
All that this long Quotation amounts to, is sum'd up in this, That ail Government being constituted for the Publick Good, all the Parts of Government Ceasing to Act for the Publick Good, cease from the same Publick Capacity in which they were Constituted, the end of their Authority being Destroyed.
This only then leads us to Examine, whether the present Parliament of
Scotland
are Acting for the Publick Good, or no, and I shall be very glad to join Issue with any Body on that Head.
The other Case quoted, refers to Parliaments
making Laws against Reason, Nature, or the Divine Law.
—And had the Author here quoted me fairly, he would have gone on and show'd an Instance I gave to explain the rest,
Viz. If the People of
England
find their Representatives going about to betray the Religion and Liberties of their Country,
what the said People
by the Laws of Reason, Nature and Religion ought to do?
And to Illustrate this, I gave Instances of the Parliament in
England
alternately Re-establishing to Day Popery, to Morrow the Protestant Religion; to Day one King, to Morrow another; to Day declaring Queen
Mary
Legitimate, and Queen
Elisabeth
a Bastard; to Morrow Queen
Elisabeth
a Legitimate, and Queen
Mary
a Bastard; and from thence I argued to the Subversion of Justice and Corruption of the Laws in these Cases; I think all I have advanced there very Just and Plain, and I never yet heard it objected against.
But with Submission to this Gentleman's Understanding, all this proves nothing in the Case before us, unless it be also made appear, That the Parliament of
Scotland
is acting something against the Laws of God, Nature or Reason, subverting the Laws, Corrupting Justice, Oppressing the People whom they should protect, and betraying the Trust reposed in them by their Country, and thus we are just where we were before.
Indeed the Drift of my Author, appearing plainly at last, to Declare it self for a League with
France,
and consequently a Restoring some body, who
this Nation, I believe, had much
better be without,
it requires no further Reply than this, and therefore I leave it.
I frankly own the Positions, this Person Quotes,
(viz.) Of the People collectively considered, having a Right to oppose any constituted Body of Government, Suppressing and Betraying their Fundamental Right.
But I do not see any thing infer'd from hence, unless it be first proved, That the Treaty now on foot,
is a Betraying the Fundamentals of their Country, Overthrowing and Subverting the Laws, Perverting and Corrupting Justice, and a General Enslaving the People.
Much I know has been Talkt of, to prove these things, but with so little Reason, and on such Weak Fundations, that I think, I need say no more to it, till Mr.
H—s
or some Body for him, Refutes
The Scheme of the National Right of Parliament asserted in the last Tract.
—Wherein I have, to the best of my Judgment, Described it; and shall willingly Recant it, when I find it not able to consist with Justice and Reason.
But before I dismiss this Article, and that I may give this Gentleman full scope for his Argument, I offer to prove, That tho' the Fundation he lays down were Just,
which 'tis plain is otherwise,
yet the Inference would not hold in this Case.
For Example, suppose (which yet I by no means grant) That the People who are the Constituents of Parliament, were so far Judges of the actions of Parliament, as to have a Right to give them Instructions; and as a Worthy Author has it among the rest of his wise Sayings, to Address the Parliament
COMMANDING them not to proceed,
&c.
Two things must necessarily follow upon this most Important Supposition.
1. That these People so Limiting the Parliament, must be such,
and only such,
as have a Right of Election, for they only can Direct their Representatives who have a Right to be Represented, and they only have a Right to be Represented, who have a Voice in the Election of a Representative.
Thus, there are all your
Glasgow
Armies Disbanded, and turn'd Rebels at once, and all your
Dumfries
Protestors with their Troops of Horse and Armies of Foot, such only excepted as have a Right to Vote in an Election.
2. Of those who have a Right of Voting in Election, the Right of Contraveening the Actions of the Members, must depend at least on the Majority of them;
some are of the Opinion,
it must have every Individual in an Action of such moment: But this is certain, it must have a Majority, and this Majority must include the Nobility too, who are not Represented, but sit in Person; and how shall it appear, that this Majority are in the Persons now Addressing?
Let us Examine the Probability of it, for a certain Examination
I
believe impracticable now; but as to Probability when shall we see it.
Some of the Addresses have been Signed by 6, some 7, 10. 12 hands, only to assist in the Clamour. Are these the Majority of the Electors in the Shires or Towns? some have more, but 'tis where the Proportion is much greater.
Let us take it in the Address of the Burghs, which has been often calculated, and take the Burghs that refused to Address, and these that did not think it worth while to appear, and the Majority against the Addressers, is by the Proportion of
their Cess
as 86 to 14. Nay, suppose all those that did not appear to be Affirmatives, tho' that be altogether improbable, and that they would have been for the Address, yet the Proportion had been as 31 to 69.—
But if
the Rate of the Cess
be not a just Estimate of the Value of the Burghs,
tho I can prove it was the Original of their
Right of being Burghs;
then I refer to any Man to calculate the Inhabitants and Number of Free-men in each Burgh, and he will find the 20 Burghs that refused to address, have more Inhabitants in them than both the 24 that address'd, and the 22 that were absent, the City of
Edinburgh
excepted.
And where now is the Majority? and how shall a Parliament regulate themselves by this Method? For here a Majority of the Shires
(suppose it was so)
addrest against the Union, and a Majority of the Burghs are for it; now take the Minor Part of the Freeholders, and the Major Part of the Burroughs, and draw a just Proportion of Members in the House, I mean of Representatives, and add these to the great Number of the Lords who are for the Union, and who are not represented at all, and I dare say, the Majority would appear for the Union.
To take it another way, divide the Freeholders in
Scotland,
and place the Numbers of either the Representing or the Represented by the Value of their Estates, for the Original of all depends upon the Freehold; I dare say, including the Nobility, two Thirds of the Freehold of
Scotland
belong to such as are for the Union.
I care not to enter into Inviduous Comparisons,
as the more exact Calculating such things as these must necessarily come to;
I leave it to those that please to examine further into the Majority: I am perswaded, if these People will have the Majority of the Freeholders of
Scotland
be against the Union, they must,
as Mr.
Hodges
does,
draw the Ladies into the Party; and if they are against it,
as some say,
the Reasons they give are too light for this Discourse.
I think this Estimate of probable Majorities as just as may support my Arguments; I'll submit them to any Man that can confute them.
As to all the rest of the People of
Scotland,
who have no Right to elect Representatives,
I affirm,
and think the nature of the thing demonstrates it, They can have no Right to direct those who they have no part in constituting.
And here all the People drawn in to sign Addresses to the Parliament against the Union, so far as the Members are to be bound by these Addresses, are meddling with what they have no Right to be meddling with, nor are any way concerned in.
But besides all this,
suppose SOME RIGHT of limiting the Proceedings of Parliament by their Constituents,
and the Majority in one Place addresses them against an Union, and the Majority of other Places addressed for it or acquiesced, which is the same thing, What Confusions, what intolerable Exigencies and Labyrinths must this run the Parliament into? and when should any thing be resolved, which tho of never so great Concern, had so much Difficulty in it?
I leave this here, with this short Remark on it, That I do not see,
tho the Constituent had Power to restrain the House,
that by any Estimate which can be yet made, a Majority has yet appear'd willing to do so; if there was a Majority, it does not appear they had a Right to do it, unless what the Parliament was doing, was in it self destructive of the Laws, Liberties, Religion or Property of the People, or subverting their Essential Privileges; and therefore hitherto the Parliament have been Regular in their Proceedings, and Wiser than to regard the Clamours of Tumultuous People, not qualified to interrupt them.
The further Designs of this Author discovers the more naked part of the Design,
viz.
Uniting, or at least Confederating with Popish and
French
Tyranny—And I cannot but observe here, how those People are pleasing themselves with that small Advantage of Trade to
France,
and magnifying them to unusual Hights,
tho 'tis plain the Returns from thence are all to your Dammage in general,
and at the same time the Trade to
England,
the Returns of which now are chiefly in Money, and after the Union must be more so, are disparag'd, lessen'd and reduced to nothing.
The Author of this Book is honest in this, whatever he is in other things, and owns his Drift is a Treaty not with
England,
but with
France.
I should have entred further into his Disputes of the much better Treaty with
France
than
England,
if I had not been happily prevented by a Book, which appears just while I am writing this, entitled,
The Advantages of
Scotland
by an Incorporate Ʋ nion, &c.
In which he is so fairly confuted, and the Argument handled so clearly, that it would be an Injustice to the Gentleman that wrote it, tho I know not who he is, not to acknowledge that he has done his Country Justice, and the Argument too; and I believe will not be replyed to in haste.
After what has been there said, I shall not so much as think my self able to say any thing fit to be added; and shall always let the World see, that whether I know when to speak or no, I always know when to hold my Tongue.
But I cannot quit this Discourse, without drawing one Inference from all these things.
viz.
That in all these Debates, and however different the Opinions of some People are from others in that matter of the Union,—
I
know not by what concurrence of Causes it happens, but this seems to be the general Concession of all the contending Parties,
viz.
That
Scotland
is not in a condition to Subsist, or at least to Flourish by Her self.—That She seems under some necessity to Unite or Confederate some where.—And so the Debate, is not whether She shall Unite with some body or no, but whether She shall Unite with this or that, with
England, France, Holland,
or who?
If I were a
Scots
Man, or if you could bear with Plainness and Truth from a Stranger, that strives to speak impartial Truth, and has not one Shilling to gain or lose, let it go which way it will—I would ask some of these Gentlemen, Whether they have considered their National Circumstances as to
England,
and examin'd not how they could break with
England?
For I am not a going to insult
Scotland
—But in what Posture, as to Trade,
Scotland
would be upon an universal Prohibition between
England, Ireland
and
Scotland.
'Tis true, there is a kind of Prohibition already as to
England:
You have prohibited almost all the Manufactures, and take nothing from them you can well be without—But they have not yet treated you so; they have not return'd you
in kind.
I would ask these Gentlemen, How they would look, and in what Condition, as to Trade and ready Money,
Scotland
would be, if there were equal Prohibitions and an universal Stop of Trade between the Nations, that neither your Cattle nor Linnen was admitted there; the Return of which is now wholly in Cash.
Some Gentlemen have said, You can do without it, and perhaps you may: Come, Gentlemen, let us examine how.
Why first these Gentlemen say,
France
will take off your Wool, Lead, Salmond and Herring—Well, Gentlemen, and what will they give you for it?—Wine, Brandy, Fruit, Silk, Toys and Trinkets. I won't engage here with the Gentlemen, and disoblige the Men of the Bottle so far, as to make a Calculation of the wondrous Advantages of Wine and Brandy, and how much they contribute to the Wealth of the Nation; and therefore I leave that Debate, only this I must say, That your Import every Year exceeds your Export; and if this Trade is to encrease your Wealth and People, it will still encrease your Consumption; and you must pay
France
the Over-plus in specie, and so promote the Manufacture of Drunkenness at the Price of the Consumption of your Bullion.
But then as to Wool, 'tis own'd
France
will take little Wool, if any of your own Growth, at least not without
English
Wool with it—And if effectual Care is taken to prevent the Export of that Wool from
England,
I suppose you will find a Decay there—And if you oblige
France
to take your Fish, and cannot supply them with Wool, you must make them Amends some other way; as perhaps by filling their Armies with
Scots
Troops, and sending your Gentlemen into their Service. So exporting your
Scots
Blood by their Gallantry and Courage, help
France
to pull down the Protestant Religion, and enslave
Europe,
of which Bondage you must at last come in for a share.
But next to this says another Gentleman, we may export our Linnen to
Spain,
and our Beef to the
Canaries
and
Madera.
For the first, so you may, if you please, with an Union as well as now: So that whatever you gain of Export to
England,
is all as clear as it was before; for you may make enough for both Trades, if you please, and consequently employ more People in the Work, more Land in the Planting, and so the Trade to
Spain
is just as it was, and receives no manner of Alteration.
For the sending Beef to the
Canaries,
&c. I suppose the Gentlemen that have been so forward in that Argument, have never been at, or have never Traded to those Islands, otherwise they would not offer such odd kind of Proposals: And to shorten them, I discreetly would revise their Calculations, and compare them with the following Circumstances, and then I perswade my self they will have Honour enough to change their Sentiments.
1st.
England
in the Year 1699 took from
Scotland
in Trade, and for which they paid ready Money,
31608 Head of Black Cattel.
25470 Sheep.
Over and besides the Number of both sorts, which are secretly convoyed over the Borders, and which is impossible, the Tract of Land being so great, can by any Vigilance of Officers be prevented; which some say amounts to as many more, but all agree, are a very great Quantity.
Now I would be glad to know, where the Gentlemen would export this Quantity of Cattel.
1. As to the
Canaries
and
Madera,
the Inhabitants are few, the Flesh they eat little; and if they were to have all the Beef they buy from
Scotland,
they would not take off 5000 Bullocks or Beeves a year.
2. They have
New-England
and
New-York,
from whence they are supplied with Pipe-staves, which ly so much nearer to them; and from whom they are supplied with Beef and Pork, so cheap, that I wonder how these Gentlemen could think of those Places to sell thirty thousand Black Cattel a year in.
If they could sell those Cattel, where would they sell the Returns?
Madera
Wine they could not dispose of any where, and of
Canary
but a small Quantity, without Help of
England;
and Silver is not to be had in those Islands: Which way they would either make their Returns, or get Loading back for their Ships, is a Mystery past any Man's Understanding.
4. But were all these Difficulties over, had those Islands no Flesh from the Continent of
America,
had
Scotland
a vent at home for 20 Ships Load of
Canary
and
Modera
Wine to secure their Ships a back Freight.—Yet at last, I say, they could not Sell ten Barrels of Beef a year, in either
Canaries
or
Madera,
—And I think the Reason is plain.
The
Irish
Beef is so much Better, so much Cheaper, and their Shipping and Sailing so much Easier, that they would be able to out-sell them there, reckoning Value and Price above a hundred
per Cent:
—Now to make this out, I shall not give the Reader the trouble of Calculations, only let him know, that the best
Irish
Beef, Large and Fat, not to make Comparison, has been to be had at
Kinsale, Cork
or
Galloway,
for under 6
sh. per
Hundred weight, for some years past, that is to say, for very little more than half penny
Sterling per lib.
and I leave the Calcule to any Body that please to make it.
While this is so, I must take leave to say, neither
England
or
Scotland,
nay, nor
New-England,
or
New York,
can come into that Trade.
Then the
Irish
Selling their Beef to
English
Merchants, and sending it in
English
Bottoms, can carry the
Madera
Wines to the Islands, or bring the
Canarie
Wines to
England
in the same Ship; this the
Scots
can never come up to
without an Ʋ nion:
and I appeal to all the World, for the Truth of Fact in this particular.
Where the Gentlemen then will dispose of 30000 to 50000 of Black Cattel to Ballance the
English
Trade, I know not.
I Recommend this Thought, to those Gentlemen who are so very warm for Draw-backs upon Beef Exported for Sale; and I would be glad, they would tell us, to what place of the World the whole Island of
Britain,
sends 10 Last of Beef in Seven Year for Sale; and if so, why they will Clog the Treaty with such Demands.—
I come next to the Linnen, You have in the Publick account of the Exports of Linnen, to
England
and other parts, above 1800000 Ells of Linnen carried out of
Scotland,
in one year.
This may be all sent to
Spain, they say;
suppose that were true,
tho' as to quantity I question it,
yet since the
English,
as every body knows, have sent none of this to
Spain,
the War having Stopt that Trade; then if the
Scots
can send so much to
Spain,
they yet lose the Sale of so much more in
England.
So that here is above 800000 Ells of Linnen, 31608 Black Cattle, and 25240 Sheep, left on your hands, by rejecting the
English
Trade; and all the ready Money they bring with them now, kept out of the Kingdom, upon a breach with
England.
I would be glad to see these Gentlemen, offer some of their Equivalents for this, for an Equivalent,
as much as they banter that poor Word,
must be had some where, or else it will be worse.—Above all, I wait for their
French
Equivalent, and the account of the Return they would make from
France,
for their Fish, Lead and Wool.—I suppose, they will not expect to send Linnen to
France.
—
While I am Writing this, I am presented with a Book Intitled,
A Letter concerning the Consequences of an Incorporating Ʋ nion, in relation to Trade.
I
confess it is a wonderful Book, & partakes of the rest of the Miracles of this Age, wherein Arguments are raised out of contradicting Systems, to Prove and Disprove what Men please. I must own,
I
think the Author of this Book, seems to be in a Plot for the Union, and that by laying down Arguments, that even the Gentlemen, who have Declared against the Union, have too much Sense than to make use of, he would confound the Debate with Absurdities and Contradictions, and argue People into it by showing them a heap of Ridiculous Arguments against it.
I can not satisfie my self, to waste either my own time or the Reader's, with entering into his manifold weighty Reasons, but I'll repeat a few of them.
1. He tells us, That all Trade is Exchanging one Commodity for another, for the Convenience of Life and the supplying Nations with what their Neighbours have, which they want.
In prosecuting this, he is merry on the
English
Trade, and thinks he banters those who say 'tis Advantageous to
Scotland,
since, says he, we shall only get one Commodity for another.
Without running his length, I shall bring it to a short head. His notion of Trade by Exchanges is Right enough, only that he forgot to say, That where any Nation has more want of Foreign Goods, than She has Goods of her own to purchase them with, She must make up the Value in Money.
On this turns the whole State of the Question, and the Gentleman was in the right to forget it, for it would have overthrown all his System.
Money is an Intrinsick, plac'd as a Medium in the Center of Trade, to supply the differences in Value, between the Export and Import of one Nation to and from another.
This is what we call Ballance of Trade, a thing many People talk of, tho' few understand.
That Nation only can be said to Gain by another, who send more Value in its own Product to that other Nation, than is receiv'd from it, because the Ballance must be made good in this Intrinsick, called
Specie.
From hence 'tis a certain Maxim in Trade, That what ever any Country can part with of its own Growth and Product, is so much clear Gain to the publick Stock of that Nation.
Whatever any Nation wants of the Growth and Product of another Nation, is so much Dead Loss to the Public Stock of that Nation.
And the Consequence is Natural, that which a Nation partswith, or wants most in those Terms, Gains or Loses just so much in the General Ballance of Trade.
These are things too plain to need Repetition, and had not this Gentleman forgot this, whether wilfully or no, I do not determine, he would have never said at first,
That
Scotland
does not want the
English
Money,
&c. I say every Nation wants to Export all the Product of their Country they can spare, and all the Product of their Peoples Labour they can spare; and every Nation wants their Neighbours Money for their Product, because every Nation wants
in the Language of Trade
to be Gainers.
And therefore to Export the People, instead of the Labour of the People is by the way, letting out the Life-Blood of a Nation: but of that by it self.
It remains therefore for this Gentleman, to tell us on a fair Examination, not whether you want the
English
Trade, or no, now, or after the Ʋ nion; but whether you gain Money by it or no, let any one tell me, whether you Gain by it or no? I'll tell him whether you want it or no.—
To find out this I shall come to his own worthy Argument
Pag.
6—
'We shall Import into
England
(says he) all our Commodities; as to the Word
free of Duttes,
I ll speak to it by it self.—
But he goes on,
We send Linnen Cloth into
England:
What shall we get in return? Why Woollen Cloth, or what else the Persons that sell the Linnen think they can get most by at Home.
—And from hence this worthy Gentleman concludes,
Here can be no Gain to
Scotland.
Now I'll only state the Case on a Supposition, which I think no Man can deny me.
Suppose
Scotland
sends Linnen Cloth to
England,
to the Vaue of 200000
per Annum,
and the Persons that sell it there, can sell but 100000
l.
in the Woollen return.—What must the Merchant bring Home? And how must
England
pay for the Linnen?—Must it not be in Money, and Who is the Gainer?
From hence I leave it to the Reader to Calculate,
Scotland
has sent 1828415 Ells of Linnen to
England
31608 Black Cattel, 25420 Sheep in one Year, Pray what returns have they fetcht for this Trade? not VVoollen Goods, I believe any Body will grant. Who then has been the Gainer in that Year of Trade,
Scotland
or
England?
The Objection that this is before the Ʋ nion, is not to the Purpose for after the Union, your Export may be Double in Coal, Salt, Corn and Wool, your Linnen double, and the like.
Then it will remain to ask, How is it possible
Scotland
should consume a Quantity of Woollen Goods from
England
equal to this, you having both Wool and Manufactures of your own proportioned? 'tis impracticable, and where then all the rest of your Export must be supplyed, is another of this Author's Ʋ naccountables.
But says he, It is pretended
Scotland
must Export the
English
Goods again to the Plantations: This makes Good what I said before, That he offers this to Banter the Opposers of the Ʋ nion, and bring them in talking ridiculously, on purpose to expose them.
For no Body ever but himself, pretended that
Scotland
should Trade to the Colonies with
English
Goods; that were to make it a Trade and no Trade to them, turn them into meer Pedlars, or Second-hand Chap-men, and to put a Banter upon the Colonies, to think they should send to
Scotland
for
English
Manufacture, when at the same time, they Trade to
England
directly.
And why pray cannot
Scotland
Trade to the Colonies with her own Product, and the Labour of her own People? Her Linnens, her low priz'd Woollens are as vendible, and as much wanted there, as any
English
Goods what ever, and she wants no quantity.
Her Returns for these are,
First,
The imployment of her Shipping and Seamen.
Secondly,
The Product of the Plantations, which she now buys in
England,
and bringing which from the Colonies, will encrease the Ballance between
England
and
Scotland
still higher.
But says the Author, You cannot dispose of the Sugars and Tobacco; and if you send them Abroad, you get nothing but Linnen from
Holland,
or Lace from
Flanders,
or Naval Stores from the East.—Very good. Do you want these things or no? If you do not, you wont Import them; if you do, you will Import them, and unless you can pay for them in Goods, you must in Money: So that still the Advantage of Exporting your Tobacco and Sugar is equal to Exporting your own Product; because it either returns you directly in Money, or saves you sending your own Money abroad, which is letting the Nation blood in the Vitals.
Thus, with Submission to this Gentleman, bringing things back to first Principles, will unravel all this Clue of Knotty Argument, and if I Mistake not, will discover the Nakedness of it more than sufficiently to the World.
The same Author, to Answer an Objection of the
Scots
Working Cheaper than the
English,
has this further Deep Consideration, That either the
English
must come down to our low Wages, or the
Scots
must come up to their high Wages; and therefore the
Scots
Manufactures cannot be Cheaper than the
English.
Now to make this out, I desire, he would be pleased then to reconcile the following Heads to his Maxim, That
Scotland
shall not get by the Trade.
First,
He says, The Workmen will certainly Live where they can get most for their Labour,
That I grant him readily.
Now, If the
English
should be forced to be brought down to the low Wages in
Scotland,
it must be, that they see the
Scots
fall so heartily into their Manufactures, Ʋ ndersel and and Underwork them, that if they do not sink the Price too, they shall lose their Trade. Or,
Secondly,
If the
Scots
come up to the high Wages of
England,
the poor People will live here, as well as they do in
England,
and the Trade will be in Proportion Greater; and I will be Content to hear, which of these Consequences will be a Damnage to
Scotland.
But now, Gentlemen, more Wonders are arriv'd, and the Strangeness to me is very Great, I Confess, except that 'tis true that Miracles are not Ceased, and this is very Particular.
First,
He says, and introduces it with an
I AFFIRM
the
Scots
can be no Gainers by the Freedom of their Trade to the Plantations; Nay, if the
English
would give the
Scots
all their Plantations, they would be no Advantage to them.
Secondly,
The
English
gain nothing by the Plantations themselves, nor have they been ever any Gain to them.
This wretched Stuff is follow'd by another, That bringing home Naval Stores, can be no Advantage to you; because building or imploying Ships, will be no Advantage, only Dispeopleing your Country.
I need but name these things to the World, they are certainly done to Banter the Case; the Man is certainly pleading for the Union, it cannot be otherwise:
But mark the Foundation on which all this is Built, is,
England
gains by no Foreign Trade, only gains by her Manufactures.
And how could we Gain by our Manufactures, if there was not a Foreign Trade to Vent them?
But we Gain nothing, but what is returned in unperishable Commodities,—Allow that now,—Why then, we have Gain'd all the ready Money in
England,
all the Plate, all the Bullion, all the Iron, Brass, Steel, or Mettals imported.
All the Moveable Stock of the Nation, is clear Gain to it, be it in Ships Buildings, Furniture, Stores, Wares,
&c.
How have they Gain'd all this? it must be by Trade, and the Personal Estates in
England,
such as Houses, Ships, Goods, Cattel, Plate, Jewels, Money,
&c.
are computed at much more than the Value of the Fee simple of all the Land at 100 Years Purchase.
But I'll tyre you no more with this Miserable Stuff, pray, Gentlemen, pardon me the Freedom I take with this Author, and do not think I imagine
Scotland
can be capable of such Nonsence; I am very well assured, this is another
English
Author, and that this Book came from
England,
it tastes both of the Spirit, the Temper and Ʋ nderstanding of some Gentlemen there, who set up to Instruct you here, in what you know better than they.
But now, Gentlemen, to come Home to your own Trade with
England,
either as it is, or as it may be with or without an Ʋ nion.
If an Ʋ nion go on, 'tis alledg'd you shall have higher Customs than you have now.—To this the Resolution of your Committee is a full Reply, in which they tell you, how all the Customs of
England
which shall expire at 1710, being deducted, your Customs Rated on the present Export and Import of
Scotland
shall be less than they are now, by 150000
l. Scots per Annum,
besides upwards of 220000
l. Scots
taken off from your Manufactures when Exported to
England.
This, I think, has in a manner silenc'd the Gentlemen, that throng'd the Town with their Calculs of Customs rising upon you, as something else has done about the Re-payment of the Equivalent.
The Trade lying thus, let me state it two ways.
'Tis evident by the Report of the Persons employ'd by the Government to calculate this, that your Exports to
England
now without an Union, amount to 200000 lib. Sterling
per Annum.
No Man has yet ventur'd to say, That you make any Returns from thence that bear a Proportion to this,—all their Manufactures being prohibit. But because I would give all reasonable Allowance, I am content to suppose, that you receive from
England
in Goods 50000 li
per Annum.
I'll suppose, that the Noblemen and Gentlemen of
Scotland
in their Expenses, and the Fine Things they buy there, spend 50000 lib. more, tho both these Sums exceedingly out-do the Probability of the thing.
But this being allowed, then 'tis yet true, that
Scotland
gets 100000 lib.
per Annum
in Money from
England
by Trade; how she would make her self Amends for that Loss by a Trade to
France,
I can see no room to find out: And for a Trade to
Spain,
She has it with the Trade to
England,
and may enlarge it as she thinks fit; and
England
will help, not hinder Her to enlarge it.
If then you get 100000 lib.
per Annum
by
England,
'tis a good Trade without an Union: Let's now examine if the Union will make it greater or less; and upon this the whole State of the Case will turn.
First,
We are told here, that after the Union, the
English
Woollen Manufactures will throng in upon
Scotland
—And tho' I think 'tis your own Fault, if you do not make all the same you do now, and both better and cheaper: yet for discourse sake, suppose you to buy the
English
Woollen Goods; pray what Goods shall you send to
England
then, more than you do now?
If then after the Union, you shall send more Goods to
England,
over and above the Quantity you now send, than you shall receive from thence, over and above what you now receive, you are still more Gainers than you were before.
And first, I am to suppose, that all the Import of Tobacco, Sugar, Ginger, Dye stuffs, &c. which come from the
West-Indies,
shall be taken off from the Debit of your Import from
England,
since either you will have them directly from thence, and in return for your own Manufactures and Money to boot, or you must be much weaker in your pursuing your own Advantages, than I take ye to he.
If you imported 50000 lib.
per Annum
in Goods from
England,
I believe, a full half of that Sum is made up by those kinds of Goods, with which we are supplied from
England.
To encrease this Trade to
England,
I come to ask a few Questions, which I would be glad to hear any Body answer.
1. How many Coals shall go away yearly from the Firth of
Edinburgh
to
England,
when 7
sh.
and 6
d.
Duty is taken off by the Union, and they as cheap here as at
New-Castle;
and 5 sh.
per
Chalder always above them at
London?
I assure you, when I have said, it shall amount to 100000 Chalder, I have been blam'd, as not guessing above half the Quantity.
2. How many Weigh of Salt, of which some say 20000 Wey? I am content to say half that Quantity, and I dare say, it shall not fall short of that.
3. VVhat Quantity of Corn shall go to
England
yearly, especially that we call
Horse-Corn,
such as
Oats, Beans
and
Pease,
which always yield a good Price at
London,
and much more than in
Scotland?
If this Article does not amount to 100000
l: per Annum
more,
then I have no guess at what
Scotland
can part with of those Sorts;
for I am free to say, If they will send them to
England,
they will always buy them there, and at a good Price.
4.
The Wool,
and now we come to a great
Question,
What Amends will be made to
Scotland
for the loss of the Wool Trade, and the difference of Price, between the Wool after the Prohibition, and what it is now, when we Export it Abroad?
To this I Answer,
Sinking the Price indeed is the Immediate Consequence, but the present Exporting it has several attending Circumstances, which I conceive are not sufficiently considered, by those who are so angry at this head.
1. The present Price of Wool, for which the
Sheep-Masters
claim a Satisfaction, is not an Original; the first Exporting the Wool
Raised it,
and stopping that Export, is only Checking the Exorbitant Gain they make now, at the Price of their Country's Ruin, and bringing them back
where they were before.
2. 'Tis a Trade Destructive to Industry, Ruinous to Manufactures, and tends to Robbing the Poor of their Imployment; as is evident in your Exporting it to the
Baltick,
and the North; where, if they had not
your Wool,
they must Buy
your course Manufactures,
and certainly Buy the less of the one, by how much the more they get of the other.
3. If you will not work your Wool at home, tho' that is certainly your Advantage, especially, when you may then have
English
Wool freely to mix with it.—Still you may send it all to
England,
who
opens their Doors
to all the Wool, the whole World thinks fit to send them.
If it be Objected, they will not give the Price you get for it Abroad?
I Answer,
They will give, what you had better take than the Foreign Price, and what you shall get as much by.
Suppose I have 100 Packs of Wool at
Edinburgh,
50 Packs I'll send to
France,
or to
Sweden, or where you like,
and for that I'll get 10
s: per
Stone; 50 I send to
England,
and for that I get but 5
s: per
Stone; yet I say, I had better send to
England
than Abroad.
For Example,
First, I run the Risque of the Sea
On-ward
bound, next the Risque of Factors and Buyers
Abroad.
2. I pay Freight and Commission Abroad. 3. The Risque
is Repeated
back again on the Sea.—And
lastly,
All this, at least, Imploys the Stock six Months in time.
If I think fit to Trade to
England
for Wool, I can always Sell it, and always Sell it for Ready Money, and may if I please, make 12 Returns of my Money, in that 6 Months time which I take in one Voyage the other way; and in doing this, I run no Risque at all, and have my Money in my hand every time.
If it be Objected, The price to the Wool-Master is low. I
Answer, England
will give as much for yours, as for their own in proportion to its Goodness.—If yours is not so good as some of theirs, it is better than others, and still you have Neighbours Fair and Right Dealing.
I could run out here, and not Unprofitably perhaps tell you, That the Badness of your Wool in
Scotland,
is not owing either to the
Climate,
the
Soil,
the Nature of the
Grass,
or any of those Circumstances the Flegmatick Fancies of some People Suggest,
which some,
tho' they care not to hear other Folks Mention, are forward enough to mention themselves.
I could take the liberty to tell these Gentlemen,
and perhaps make it out too,
That the Courseness of the Wool here, is owing to the ill Husbandry of the People, not the Inclemencies of Nature; and that they are too forward to Injure their own Country, and load her with the Effects of their own Inexcusable Negligence; and this both in the Miss-using the Sheep that breed this Wool, and spoiling the Wool with Tar, Grease, and horrible foolish Applications to it, when it is on the Sheeps back.
Indeed I avoid entring on this Matter here, because I am preparing an Essay upon the Improvement of
Scotland
by it self, which I design for the Publick Service in this very case; but this I undertake to say
before hand,
with respect to the Wool, That whether by better Management, your VVool might be made as Good as
English, I do not affirm,
tho' I believe it.—But certainly by your Management there, the
English
VVool might be brought to be every whit as bad as yours.
Negligence and ill Husbandry, will Spoil the best Country in the VVorld, and the best Product in the VVorld; and
tho' I am not for finding Fault,
yet I must own the Conduct of the Gentlemen in
Scotland
with their Sheep, and
not a little with their Land too,
is one of the most Unaccountable things in the VVorld.—And if I have the Honour to Dictate some Methods of Rectification in these cases, to their Advantage, whether they make the Experiment or no, I hope no Man will be angry with me, or count me an Enemy to
Scotland,
for showing the way to its Improvement.
But
I proceed
to the Trade of
Scotland,
and I cannot but enter a little here into a short Trifle of Trade, call'd The Trade to
America
or the
West-Indies,
and 'tis very Remarkable and well worth Observation; what pains has been taken to render this as the most Contemptible thing in the VVorld, a thing not worth
England
's granting or
Scotland
's accepting, much less a thing that
England
ought to Value her self upon, or so much as suggest that
Scotland
is beholding to her for.
One Author has the face to say, England
never got any thing by the Trade of the Colonies her self, and if she would give them to
Scotland,
it was not a Gift
worth Receiving,
nor could
Scotland
be ever the better for it.
I confess these are strange things,
and 'tis hard to have to do with some kind of Gentlemen in Trade, who give themselves a liberty to say what they please, without being Encumbred with, or any way Subjecting themselves
to the Bondage
of speaking Truth.
And yet this Monstruous Story, as I am told, comes from
England,
from whence I only draw one Inference,
(viz.) That this Ignorance is not for want of an Opportunity of knowing better.
—But there are some Gentlemen there, who have all along carefully furnisht the Town here, with something which no Man durst say, but such as are
out of Sight
as to Blushing, and
out of Hearing
as to Reproach.
The short
Scale of the Trade
from
Scotland
to the
West-Indies,
consists in these Heads, which when they are right stated, I shall think 'tis easy for any body to Determine whether that Trade is to be carried on to the Advantage of
Scotland,
yea or no?
First,
What you carry out is entirely,
if you please,
the Product of your own Land, and the Labour of your own People.
2.
What you bring home,
may, at least ¾ parts of it, be again Exported by you to Foreign parts, and the Product by consequence return to you in Money; and
if the remaining
¼
part is expended at home,
'tis expended in the room of those Goods of the same kind, which you now buy with your Money in
England, or with your Goods at a short Advance,
and which would otherwise return you Money.
3.
What Goods you carry out
to the Colonies, are generally Sold there, at the extravagant Advance of 100
per Cent:
Profit on the Continent, and
if for Loss on the Islands,
then great quantities of Bullion are return'd home for them, in the return of which, the Loss is less in Proportion.
4. All this Trade shall be carried on
in your own Ships,
furnished with
your own Provisions,
Built if you please
in your own Ports,
and Manned with your
own Seamen.
Here is Published,
A Letter from some Merchants of the
Scots
Nation Residing at
London, where this Trade is Estimated to 400000
per Annum,
Profit to the Traders of
Scotland;
and the
Guinea
Trade to 50000
l. per Annum.
I confess in the length of the particulars they
Out-do me,
and it must be some time before
Scotland
can carry it on to that hight.—Indeed, I forbear Compting the Advantages of these things, because I do not affect talking of Millions and great Sums.—But look into these things, Gentlemen,
you that are to be convinc't by Demonstrations,
take them to pieces your selves, see if you can avoid
Confessing the Advantages;
see if such a Trade can be driven without a prodigious Gain, without incredible Fluxes of Wealth to the Nation
in General,
as well as to the Merchants
in particular.
To say, you have no Manufactures fit for the Colonies, or that you must
Buy them from
England, is to say, you have no
, no Wool, no Flax.—Or to say, you
will not
make use of them; and certainly if you will not stir, you shall always be poor. He that will not Eat,
must be Starv'd,
there is no Remedy.
But why should the Gentlemen, that
talk you up so high
on one hand, and threaten the great Things you can do another way,
talk you down so low in this,
as if you were a Nation that had netheir Hands to Work, Heads to Direct, or Understandings to close with Advantages of Commerce and Improvement, when they were put into your Hands.
I allow
Scotland
is,
and has been,
under Discouragement both as to Foreign Trade and Manufactures.
I allow
your Poor are very low, and your Rich Men backward to Launch out.—And any Man, that takes me in the general scope, will easily see, this was the Intent and Meaning of my Arguing in
England,
when I wrote
the second
of these Essays, and Argued, that you should be Exempted for some years from the Taxes on
Malt
and
Salt.
And I cannot but think, that Noble Lord,
asking his Lord ship
's
Pardon for this Freedom,
who quoted my Arguments on this head in Parliament, will do me that Justice, that they were all concluded in this very thing; and had his Lordship thought fit to have quoted but one Paragraph further, it would have appear'd,
Essay
II.
P.
29. That
Scotland
being very low,
and the Poor Unable to
pay Taxes at all, should
be Exempted from the Taxes of Malt and Salt, for a certain term of years.
Now, If I first concluded the Poor unable to bear the Burthen of the Salt and Malt Tax at all, why should I argue for Limited Exemption?
But on this Supposition,
That by the Increase of Trade, Shipping, Manufactures and Labour, the Increase of Wages, and bettering the way of the Poor's Living, would be the Consequence, and then the Taxes would not be equally Burthensome as now.
In this, if I may be allowed to plead any Merit with
Scotland,
who am a Stranger, was then in
England,
and yet moved earnestly for Ease and Exemption for the Poor of this Kingdom, till they should be enabled to pay Taxes, I think I acted a part no Man here ought to blame me for; and 'tis a little hard to draw an Argument from thence, that therefore
they must never be charged at all.
Without doubt, if Trade in
Scotland
encreases, Labour will encrease; if Labour encreases, Wages will encrease; for a Demand of Work makes a Demand of Wages of Course.
So that I think, there remains only to prove, that there will be an Encrease of Trade: I think I have perform'd that in part; I shall be glad to see some other more able Hand perfect my Generals into Particulars by Schemes of Profit and Advantage
on the Returns
to
Scotland,
on the Advantages of building Ships, and consequently a great
Norway
and
Baltick
Trade for Fish out, and Naval Stores home; again, on the Number of Families employ'd at home in Building, Fitting and Furnishing Ships; and lastly, the Nursery of Sea men, and employing them in your own Ships, with the Consequences of such a Trade.
Were due and just Schemes of these things laid down, I cannot but believe the mouths of those People would for ever be stopt, who lessen and misrepresent the Advantages of Trade which
Scotland
shall obtain.
It is enough however to my purpose, having not room here for Particulars to have laid down this general Scheme of a profitable Trade—
That Trade only can be profitable, which employing their own People, carries out their own Growth or Product, and does not consume all the Returns, but draws in the Surplus to it self in Bullion, and this you do here exactly. To explain this,
I would be glad any Man would state me the following Voyage, suppose a thousand Pound
Sterling
in
Scots
Linnen, and in Woollen Goods sent to
New-England, New York,
or
Virginia,
in a
Scots
Ship, and is there vested in Sugars, Mellasses or Tobacco, at the usual Rate of Advance in those Places, which is too
per Cent,
sometimes much more.
If these Returns come safe home to
Scotland,
and being not consumed here, are again exported to
Amsterdam
in a
Scots
Vessel also, and at last the Effects produce 1250 lib.
Sterling
clear of all Charges, which is no unusual nor extraordinary thing.
What Profit does
Scotland
gain by this Voyage? I say,
Scotland,
because we are to examine the Encrease to the Publick Stock, as well as to the private Merchant, in the Discourse we are now upon.
First,
Scotland
gains
all the Profit of the Labour of the People in the Manufactures that were exported, for all the Wages any Person earns in
Scotland
by his Labour, over and above what his Subsistance cost him during his Labour,
is clear gain to the general Stock.
Secondly,
Scotland
gains
all the Profit of the Labour of every Person employ'd on Board the Ship for that Voyage, and of the Labour of all the Artificers, Labourers, &c. employ'd in furnishing that Ship for that Voyage.
Thirdly,
All the Provisions expended in the Voyage, and all the Stores carried out, and not brought home, are clear Gain to the Stock of the Nation.
Fourthly,
Scotland
gains
all the Particulars of the same kinds again, on the Ship that carries the Goods away to
Holland.
Lastly,
Scotland
gains
the Profit on the foot of the Voyage to the Merchant and Owners.
So that, if the Merchant here clears but 250 lib. by his Voyage, the National Publick Advantage may be 1500 lib. more, in the Freights and Furniture of the Ship and Cargo.
From hence
'tis also worth note,
That if 20 such Ships a Year went out from
Scotland,
it might very well be possible, that the Merchant should not get a Farthing, nay might lose by the Voyage, and yet the Publick National Stock be Gainer at least 25000 lib.
Sterl. per Annum.
If any Man will
after this
tell me, That
Scotland
shall get nothing by the Plantation Trade,—I must own he is no Man for me to talk with, I must leave him to his own Delusions.
I shall conclude this Essay with only one Note about the Popular Objection,
That after the Union
all your Places, Preferments and Offices in the Customs, Excises, Taxes, Army and Navy, will be at the Disposal of the
English,
and
Englishmen
will be put upon you in all those Cases.
It is not for me to determine, who shall or shall not be put into Places of Trust
in this Nation;
I make no question the Government will regard the Recommendation of the Council and of Honest Men here, as it does now in
England.
But I would have these Gentlemen consider two or three things.
1. Why should the Government be more partial to
England
as to Places here,
than at home in their own Country,
where a
Scots-man,
notwithstanding the separate Posture of the Nations, is as capable of Preferment as an
English-man,
and promiscously preferr'd on all Occasions?
2. Would these Gentlemen be content to retain that Mark of Distinction between the Nations, that
Scots-men
only should be preferr'd in
Scotland,
and
English-men
in
England?
And would not
Scotland
be vastly a Loser by it, while many of Her Nation are now in Places of the greatest Honour and Trust in
England?
3. Is it any Mark of
England
's Partiality to
Scotland,
much less of any Distrust of the Nation, That the only three strong Places in
England,
the Keys of Her Wealth, of Her Trade, and of Her Navy, have for above 17 years past been committed to three Natives of
Scotland,
viz.
Tilbury
Fort, the Guard of the River
Thames
and City of
London,
to Colonel
Saint Clare; Sheerness
Fort, the Key of
Chatam
River and Guard of the Royal Navy, to Colonel
Crawford;
and
Portsmouth,
the greatest Fortification and Magazin on the South of
Britain,
to Sir
John Gibson.
Besides, innumerable Gentlemen of the
Scots
Nation, now in Trust in the Service, Admiral
Mitchel, Wishart,
and Comodore
Ker
in the Navy, with 6 or 7 Captains in the Fleet, besides Lieutenant General
Steuart, Murray
and
Collier
the Lord
Portmore,
his Grace the Duke of
Argyle,
and several others I willingly omit in the Army.
These trusts, Gentlemen, do not favour of Partiality, and are as good Arguments to Ward against the Suggestion, as I think need to be made use of. On the other hand, there is no Question but the Merit of the
Scots
Gentlemen will alwise render them valuable and useful to
Britain;
and as they have alwise had their share of Advancement in all Publick Business, so there is no Question they will be more likely to obtain it now.
I foresee the Debate in the Parliament will have run its length, before the Printer will be pleased to let these Sheets come into the World, which makes me lay by what I had prepar'd to say about the keeping up, or dissolving the
Scots Caledonia
Company.
I Confess, 'tis my Opinion, as I have said already, that your Company, as it was at first Establish'd, could never have been of any Use to
Scotland,
unless by Force you had been able to have reduc'd
Spain
to a Necessity of establishing a Trade with your Colony in
America,
and all the Prospect of a Trade to
India
by the South-Seas, or any other way, without the Help of
England,
could never have Answer'd for want of a Mercat for Goods, the
Dutch
and
French
being otherwise supplyed.
But I wave entering on those things here, the present Enquiry is, Why must we lose our Company? Why must we give up all the Privileges of the Company?
If I may be allow'd, without Offence, to speak a little plainly here, perhaps it may touch the Point nearly enough.
First,
Who is this WE, for it is necessary to distinguish who speaks; if it be We the Company, or We the Nation.
If you mean We the Company, the Reason is Direct, you ought to part with your Company and be thankful, and take your Money, and say you have made a good Voyage, since you recover what you had lost.—You get Principal and Interest, in a Case where I know several of the Members would have been content to have lost all they had paid in, to have been secur'd against paying in any more.
Of all People in the World these are the most Unacountable, who have Stocks there, and can give very little Account what other things they could ever expect, but the loss of these Stocks, and yet are not for parting with their Company.
All such People can say, is, That if an Union was to come on, and the Company to stand, they might fill it with
English
Subscriptions, and make it a Rival Company in the Trade with the
English
—And what would
Scotland
Gain by that? the Trade would be entirely in
England,
the whole Returns there, and all the Consequence would be the pleasure of ruining both Companies, as would have been the certain Case with the two Companies in
England,
if the plain prospect of it had not made them both Wise enough to Unite.
But 2
dly.
Let us come to the other Case, We the People of
Scotland,
why should We part with the Company?
First,
Gentlemen, any wise People will part with what would be their Destruction to keep.
Secondly,
You cannot Unite with
England,
without parting with it, two Companies being Intolerable in
Britain.
As to the first,—an
East-India
Company abstracted from your Trade to
England,
would be the Destruction of all your Commerce, for two Reasons.
1. You could export nothing but your ready Money.
2. You would import what you could neither sell in
Scotland,
nor carry Abroad to any Advantage.
The
First
of these needs no Explication, 'tis the Complaint in
England,
and a Complaint not very easily answer'd, and from whence some pretend to say, The
East-India
Trade is a Grievance to
England, tho I do not say I am of that Mind neither:
But I am certain of this, that
Scotland
could not bear the Export of their Bullion, at least not now.
As to the
Second,
'tis evident the Import could not be vended here: And as for Foreign Markets, the
Dutch
are the great Staple—and what can be imagin'd you can get by them? Some Particulars indeed might be sold in
Spain,
and a little at
Hamburgh,
but far short of enough to support the Trade. The
English
uphold their Trade by the Strength of their Home Consumpt, which is a vast Gulph of Trade; and the Export again is but upon Circumstances and Trifles compar'd to the Gross; and
Scotland
having no Home Consumpt, an
East-India
Trade would be ruinous to them; a
West-India
Trade would involve them in a War, and a War, which I think, without reflecting at all upon
Scotland,
She is very unfit to carry on, having no Naval Force to cope with the
Spaniards.
Thus either way She is in no National Capacity to carry on the Trade, or to keep up the Company; why then should She not part with it, when good Conditions are to be had for the Exchange, and all her Merchants are at liberty to Trade in the general Stock in
England,
as much as any Merchant there?
2. You cannot Unite with
England
without parting with this Company.
The Reason for this is very plain; Two Companies in
England
had not only almost destroyed one another, but they bid fair for ruining the whole Nation, by dividing all the Parties to one side or other; and influencing all Publick Affairs to their Favour, they became the very Center of all the National Divisions, and all the Factions seem'd to be Incorporated into the two Companies.
Thus the Nation began to be Stock jobb'd into Bargain and Sale; and the Power of two such Rivals made even the King himself concern himself to bring them to Conditions: and the whole Nation was made uneasy by the Agreement, which by this time, had the Breach continued, might have embroil'd us all. This is a Reason sufficient why
England
cannot Unite, while two
East-India
Companies subsist.
Well, say some Gentlemen, with all our Hearts we dont desire they should let them let it alone.
Why? truly there I believe much of the Case lyes; they that Argue for the having the
African
Company kept up, do it chiefly, that if possible, it might be a Cheque to the Ʋ nion; and so 'tis the Ʋ nion, not the Company they are Debating.
As to the Ʋ nion, Gentlemen, I avoid mentioning it as much as I can, because some People are so Chary, they will not bear to have it mentioned, and I am loth to give any Body Offence.
But in this Case it cannot be helpt,
England
cannot Ʋ nite with an open Trade to
India;
She cannot come into the same Confusion as she was in, under two Companies before, it is Inconsistent with her Peace, and with her Trade, and in the End would be so to yours too.
As to them that would not have her Ʋ nite, and therefore Argues about keeping the Company, I have nothing to say to their Ʋ niting, but never let them bring this as a Difficulty; for let it go what way it will, the Company can never be of any Benefit to
Scotland;
nor shall it be ever true, that by the Union
Scotland
shall not be vastly Gainer.
Well, but says another Gentleman, What if all this be true? must we needs Unite with you, if we do get 300000
per Annum,
and all the things you talk of?—
We han't a mind to Ʋ nite:
And what then? Why should we be forc'd to it?
No, by no means, say I, I abhor Force; I am laying out the Advantages to Perswade; if Force was to be used, there could be no need of Perswading.—God forbid I should think, much less talk of
Englands
Forcing
Scotland
to Ʋ nite.—And I have said my mind on that Head to your Advantage long before I thought of coming to these Parts.—Nor should I expect any Good from such a Compulsion.
But it is a Compulsion of Reasoning,
Argument Constrains;
and such a Force there will be indeed; and you will notwithstanding all this Struggle, whether you Ʋ nite or no, come to stoop your Reason to the Force of the Thing, and hereafter, not too late, I hope, own your selves Mistaken.
If you wont Ʋ nite, Gentlemen, I cannot help that: but in the mean time do not pretend to Reason it out of your sight, for all manner of Argument is against you; And you can reject an Ʋ nion upon no Foot, but that of Acting against your own Light, and the Invincible Power of your own Reason.
FINIS.
ADVERTISEMENT.
These are to give Notice, That the fourth Essay is to be had at the
Caledonia
Coffee-House, over against the Cross in
Edinburgh;
where also, will be had, the First and Second Essays of the
London
Impression.