A letter from a gentleman in Ireland to his brother in England, relating to the concerns of Ireland in matter of trade Marvell, Andrew, 1621-1678. 1677 Approx. 42 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 13 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2011-04 (EEBO-TCP Phase 2). A70661 Wing M871B ESTC R13907 13138646 ocm 13138646 97958

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Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 2, no. A70661) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 97958) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 426:8 or 1727:5) A letter from a gentleman in Ireland to his brother in England, relating to the concerns of Ireland in matter of trade Marvell, Andrew, 1621-1678. 24 p. Printed and are to be sold by Langley Curtiss ..., London : 1677. Attributed to Andrew Marvell. Cf. BM. "Licensed, March 26, 1677. Roger L'Estrange." This item appears at reel 426:8 as Wing L1385 (number cancelled in Wing 2nd ed.), and at reel 1727:5 as Wing M871B. Reproduction of originals in National Library of Scotland (Advocates') and Huntington Library.

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eng Ireland -- Commerce -- England. Great Britain -- Commerce -- Ireland. 2020-09-21 Content of 'availability' element changed when EEBO Phase 2 texts came into the public domain 2007-02 Assigned for keying and markup 2007-03 Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2009-02 Sampled and proofread 2009-02 Text and markup reviewed and edited 2009-09 Batch review (QC) and XML conversion

A LETTER From a GENTLEMAN in IRELAND To his BROTHER in ENGLAND, Relating to the Concerns of IRELAND in matter of TRADE.

Licenſed,

Roger L'Estrange. March 26. 1677.

LONDON, Printed and are to be ſold by Langley Curtiſs, in Goat-Court upon Ludgate-hill. 1677.

Honoured Brother,

I Have lately received yours, wherein you give me account of the Fall of your Rents, the Cheapneſs of your Wools, the decay of your Manufacture in England; and you aſcribe the cauſe of it principally to Ireland; which is a double Melancholly to me, that you, firſt, who are the Head of our Family, ſhould find your ſelf ſo ſtraitned hat you cannot ſupport its Dignity with the ſame eaſe and plenty that you did formerly: but that I, then, who have for you all the affection and tenderneſs of ſo dear a Relation, ſhould be engaged in a Country and Intereſt oppoſite as it ſeems to yours, and acceſſory to your ruine, there is nothing worſe could happen to me, then that it were real. And yet, did I find my ſelf here in a more happy condition, I could better reliſh your complaints, and my opportunity of ſerving you, would extinguiſh in me all other ſenſe of your misfortunes. I ſhould take an innocent pride out of a younger Brothers fortunes to ſupply the Elder. For as in Timber, the ſap deſcends in Winter, ſo it is but natural and reaſonable, that in hard times the Branches ſhould pinch to ſuccour the Root of the Family. But alas, the caſe with us is far otherwiſe, ſo deſtitute of affording you help, that we can ſcarce find our ſelves a ſubſiſtance: but ſo abſurd is our calamity, that we labour under abundance of want in a moſt plentiful Country. And what aggravates it the more, is, that you in England concur to it; not by accident only, but upon judgement and deliberation: as if you had entertained a maxime of deſtroying us for your own preſervation, and pulling off that Twig which at one time or other might ſave you from ſinking. Your Head akes, your Heart trembles, your Liver ulcerates; yet all your Diſeaſes and Diſtempers muſt be attributed to Ireland, which lyes and ſwells, you think, like the Spleen upon the ſide of England. Whereas, if you could cut it off, you would fin your ſelves by the loſs of ſuch a Receptacle much impaired, but no advantage either in your Health or good Humour. It is you in England only, that have been the cauſe both of your own and our ſufferings, and have a mind, I doubt, to continue ſo. But, that I may not ſpend your time in Recriminations (which is the ſolace of the Deſperate) I ſhall ſtrive to convince you of it by Reaſon (which is the Remedy of the Curable.) And therefore I ſhall diſcourſe it with you with that freedom which the neceſſity of the Caſe requires, and which is moſt ſuitable to the intimacy of our Fraternal Relation; the beſt Emblem of that Correſpondence which were to be wiſhed between the two Nations for their Mutual Happineſs.

And becauſe what is freſheſt in memory, doth moſt affect the Underſtanding, I ſhall date this Argument no further back then the Kings bleſſed Reſtauration: that Caroline period, from which, as a ſecond Creation of our leſſer world, it were proper to reckon a New Stile; and, were it of the ſame labour, to have reformed both the Times and the Calendar. That ſeaſonable return had filled all minds with ſo general a ſatisfaction, that it ſeemed no man had cauſe, or leiſure, or inclination to wiſh worſe to others, or themſelves better. And as the reſt, ſo we in Ireland (happy becauſe contented) lived in a condition tolerable to our ſelves, and ſerviceable to England. For without buſie proſpects of greater advantage, we gave our ſelves in a manner wholly to that harmleſs and primitive courſe of breeding Cattel; which we tranſported to you, and ſold at eaſie rates in your Markets: wherein we had but that ſingle, you a manifold profit; both in the Groſs, by ſtocking your Grounds therewith to feed them; and in the Retail, by thoſe ſeveral Commodities that ariſe in the Slaughter; the Tallow, the Victual, the Hides, and the Fleeces, all which turned to account of the reſpective Trades therein concerned. And, which is yet more weighty to conſider, we did not hereby drain away your Money to hoard it up, or brood upon it in Ireland: but very ſimply and honeſtly, as ſoon as we had received it with one hand, we laid it out again with the other, with you for your Manufactures, or for the Foreign Commodities of which you were our Merchants; or elſe it went to furniſh ſuch of our Nobility as reſided in your Court for their Expences. And it requires much ſubtilty to invent what more you could have deſired of us, and how either in Commerce we could be more ſubſervient, or in Policy we could be more dependent upon you, then by this means we were rendred, without attempting or dreaming on our ſide of any further intercourſe: all the benefit of Ireland redounding to you, while to us there remained no more but a bare livelihood. And yet after ſome years that things had continued on in this tenour, all on a ſudden, and, if we were rightly informed, not without ſome repugnance at firſt in His Majeſty, the Importation of our Iriſh Cattel is by Act of Parliament prohibited. And (to clench it the faſter, and to ſet (if I may ſo ſay) a Spell upon His Majeſties Power and Prudence, leſt he might upon occaſion redreſs it for the future) it is in a Magical and ſevere term of Law declared to be a publick Nuſance. What could be the reaſon, it is not for me to conjecture, much leſs to determine. But whatſoever leſs and inviſible Spring might, as is uſual in other great affairs, animate this motion, it cannot be otherwiſe in ſo numerous and prudent an Aſſembly, ſo involved in the Intereſt of their Country, and ſenſible of their own, but it muſt have been repreſented under the moſt ſpecious, colourable, and neceſſary Arguments; That by this Importation, your own breed of Cattel decayed, your Markets were glutted, and your Rents ſtarved. Wherein give me leave to ſay, that it happened to you as with men who having run themſelves out, do ſet up late for Frugality; they entertain themſelves with every Project that firſt preſents it ſelf, and what is next, does always ſeem moſt reaſonable. For admitting that ſome of your Counties might be prejudiced by the Importation of our Cattel, yet whatſoever profit accrued to others by it, did, upon the mutual neceſſities of all, circle into the common Stock of your Nation. And it ſeems to me, that whatſoever private Obligation a Parliament-man hath to the place where he is elected; yet, when once he comes to ſit, his Truſt and his Mind is inlarged, and he does no more conſider himſelf as the Polititian of a Shire, or the Patriot of a Borough, but as a Repreſenter of the Univerſality. Whereas otherwiſe, if any County, one or more, chance to be more fertile then other in Members of Parliament, and they Act by ſuch narrow Meaſures; the Deciſion would be by Multitude, not by Reaſon; Arithmetick would be Logick, and the greater Herd, as among Cattel, would carry it. You beſt know how that matter went who are one of them; and however your opinion ſtand in other things as to us in Ireland; yet I need not Divine your thoughts on this Queſtion, ſerving as you do for—, and ſo the Bias of your Intereſt there corroborating the general rectitude of your Judgment. And if the buſineſs were now to tell Counties, I have been lately aſſured by ſome from England, that thoſe Counties that find themſelves not benefited, and thoſe that are really aggrieved by this Act, do by this time upon Experiment and ſecond thoughts, make up the greateſt party. For, if we account like Merchants by Profit and Loſs, all the Profit that can be made by this Act, returns only to ſuch Counties which are proper for Breeding, or the deeper Feeding of Cattel of your own growth; whereby they do but raiſe the price upon their Neighbours, and Monopolize the reſt of your Nation. Theſe other in the mean time have their Grounds thrown up into their own hands, which uſed to be ſtock'd with our leſſer Cattel, that ſerved them, as ſmall Money does poor People, for Change at the Market. And your whole Nation hath hereby loſt in great meaſure the Vent of their Home and Foreign Commodities to Ireland, and wholly the increaſing Product to you of our Cattel in ſpecie. But as to the Political point, you did herein, as much as in you then was, cut off all that ſtronger, as more Natural dependance of that Kingdom upon yours, and neceſſitate your ſelves to govern it rather by the force of Authority, then by the influential benignity of Intereſt. It were too tragical to deſcribe to you the ſurprize and aſtoniſhment with which the firſt News of that Act ſeized and affected us. Our condition did contrarily reſemble his in the Fable, who ſaw every thing turn'd into Gold that he ſhould have fed upon, but we could only feed upon that, which before we converted into Money. It may beſt be compared and conceived by the decrying of Coin, whereby he that was one day Maſter, as he imagined, of great Wealth, finds the next morning nothing but an unvaluable lump, wherein to contemplate his Poverty. What was to be done in this exigent? when we were reduced to the perfect ſtate of Boccaneers, to kill Cows and ſurfeit our ſelves on the Carkaſſes, that we might ſell the Hides to the next charitable Foreigner that chanced to viſit us.

Being thus to begin the world again, and conſtrained to look out for a new way to ſuſtain Nature, we took councel of neceſſity. Our Commodities out of which we could ſubſiſt, were either our Corn, our greater Cattel, or our Sheep. For the Iriſh Corn, it could ſerve us only to Market with among our ſelves; being by reaſon of the Climate, not ſo large, firm and dry a Grain, that it ſhould be proper for Tranſportation: And conſequently we Plowed no more then might ſerve us yearly from hand to mouth for our own ſpending. For our Cattel, we continued the breeding of them, and imployed part of our grounds to feed them: Finding, for the proportion, more Advantage by Victualling it out to Foreigners, then what we had formerly by their Whole-ſale in England. But that Vent was nothing equal to what thoſe Tracts of Land, that lay idle before us would have furniſhed: And therefore we betook our ſelves more generally to the Grazing of Sheep, in which you know, how numerous Flocks, and wide Paſtures are managed by one Shepherd. So that this courſe did beſt ſuit with our Purſe, that could not anſwer any more expenſive profit; and with our Diſpoſitions, that are not made for Laborious improvements; and with your Jealouſie, who interpret our induſtry as Theft, and that we defraud you as oft as we make the leaſt attempt to work out an honeſt Living. So that the Wool now was the onely thing that we had to reſt upon: And you were provided with ſufficient Act of Parliament to be the onely Mart for it: It being made Felony to Tranſport it into forain parts; and Confiſcation to Import it to you, otherwiſe than crude and unmanufactur'd. And yet, having thus again patched up a ſlender Subſiſtence and method of being, we had re-compoſed our ſelves, enjoying Poverty and Eaſe, and leading an Arcadian-life, ſolaced among the Sheep with our Paſtorals. We had left muttering any more at your Act againſt Iriſh-Cattle, and onely ſmiled, as in a Triumph, not of Malice, but of Reaſon, to ſee that you were now the perſons agrieved; and if not yet convinced of the cauſe, yet labouring under the effects of it. For, whereas ſome Co •• ties onely could complain of our Cattle, the cheap ••• s of Wools was become a general incommodity to your whole Nation. For, I believe, as you were ready enough to imagine, that by importing upon you all the Wools of this Kingdom, yours were partly choaked; having more of your own upon your hands already, than, in the preſent ſtate of Trade thorough the World, your own Manufactors could work, or your ••• chants vend beyond Sea. Although, we paying the King's and Lieutenant's Duty, which is at leaſt Two ſhillings for every Stone, beſide the fraught of the Ships that bring it over, and the other charges of Factorage and Market, are competently guarded from the danger of underſelling you. For, by this means it is eaſie to compute, that in reſpect to your Wools, ours are ſold at that which Merchants call Fifty per Cent. diſadvantage. Yet, as the Trade of our Cattle injured you before, ſo now our Wools grow toward a Nuiſance: what was lawful for us and profitable to you, you prohibited; what you conſtrain us to, you accuſe: you are neither well full nor faſting; I know not what you would have, unleſs you could furniſh us with a breed of Sheep that bore no fleeces. Is it not the ſame, that thoſe fleeces bear no price? But though thoſe Gentlemen among you whoſe Rents depend much upon that product, do doubtleſs finde their Eſtates by the late cheapneſs of Wool much reduced; yet I ſhall, ere I cloſe this Letter, ſhew you that our Iriſh-wool is the leaſt acceſſory to it. And however, your Kingdom doth ſo abound with native Commodities (which, were you not ſo in love with the forain, would multiply to you in Treaſure and Bullion) that you might well, or much better than we, diſpence with the common calamity upon that Trade, who have ſo many more to truſt to: Whereas this is in a manner the onely one that is left us, and that too fails us. For it is not to be preſum'd that, while your own Wool ſells not, you will out of good nature prefer ours at a Market: Nor that you are ſo new-fangled, as much ſtrangers as you make us, that you will enquire out for la Lained' Irlande, and make it your mode to wear it. But it remain a eer Drug, although you are thoſe that will be the Ingroſſers. In this condition, miſerable to our ſelves, and yet ſubject to your envy, what can be propounded for our relief, or toward your ſatisfaction? Shall we ſteal our Wool beyond Sea? which yet were but to ſteal our own goods; that you will ſay would be a greater prejudice to you. Shall we manufacture it at home? That, although a double benefit to us, would ſeem to you a double inconvenience. And yet there is no third way left, unleſs, like your Spiders, to weave out our own Bowels.

And here it may not be amiſs to inform you, ſomething better than I perceive you are at preſent, concerning the ſtate of our Manufac •• re in Ireland: not ſo much becauſe it is in it ſelf grown ſo conſiderable that it deſerves mention, ( 〈◊〉 of all Virtues, Induſtry is the laſt of which you will have cauſe to accuſe us) as by reaſon it hath of late made a great noiſe with you, as things uſually do that are moſt empty. About ten or twelve years ago (before your Act againſt the Iriſh Cattle) ſome Weſtern Cloathiers finding, ſo early, and upon other reaſons than are now ſuborned, that Trade decaying, and many of them reduced to extream Poverty, removed themſelves and their Families over into Ireland; invited by the cheapneſs there of Wool and of Livelihood. Theſe erected then a Manufactory (great in reſpect to Ireland) at Dublin, which hath been carried on ever ſince, and increaſes dayly. There came alſo over, much about the ſame time, Sixty Families from Holland, ſetting up another at Lymerick; which by occaſion of the ſucceeding Wars decayed. But after theſe, more of the Engliſh Cloathiers came and fixed about Corke and Kinſale, where they continue, and are grown not inconſiderable. Some French have ſince reſorted to Waterford, to make Druggets there, and other Commodities of their faſhion. And about a year or two ago, ſome Merchants of London raiſed another Manufacture at Clonmel, managing it by their Agents. Some ſmall Attempts of the like nature may be met with here and there in the Countries, but not worth ſp •• king of. Theſe are the Crimes of which we are gu ••• y before any Law to prohibit us: it were more allowable to plant Poyſon than Manufacture with 〈◊〉 and we lie it ſeems under ſuch an Obloquy and Clamo •• 〈◊〉 which as far as I can judge by your Letter, you alſo liſten to) that, as to import our Cattle to you is a Nuiſance, and to export our Wools is Felon ; ſo, by gradation, to erect here a Manufacture ought to be no leſs than Treaſon. And yet there is more Cry than Wool in all this matter: For I dare, and do aſſure you, that, modeſtly ſpeaking, the whole quantity of what we work up in Ireland, amounts not to the half of what any one Cloathing-County in England. Of what Importance Manufacture is to us, appears more than ſufficiently by this jealouſie of it that you have conceived, and by that Life which ſo ſmall but active a Particle inſinuates into this poor and idle Body of a Nation. If it were Promoted as carefully as it is Diſcouraged, it would make his Majeſty's Revenue here riſe with more Eaſe to the Subject, and proportionably increaſe it for the future. It would repleniſh the Country with People, raiſe the price of our Lands, and wear off the Barbarity of the common Iriſh, when once they were inured to Labour: For Induſtry is the firſt ſtep to Civility, and the ſecureſt pledge to Government; thoſe that will take pains for their own living, being the leaſt inclined to invade anothers Propriety. If thoſe that are the Heads of ſuch Undertakings reſide with you in England, all the Product they ſhould make here, would return over to you into the common Stock of your Nation: If they do not, but reſide with us, we indeed receive the Advantages abovementioned; but to you there is no other difference, than that you are Rich on this ſide of the water.

All that can be objected reaſonably (for none, I hope do officiouſly maligne us) is, that you are however the neareſt Neighbours to your ſelves, and whatever becomes of us, ſink or ſwim, you muſt provide that you ſuffer not by us, either in exhauſting your People, whereof you are already not too numerous; or by diminiſhing your Trade, which is already much decayed. As to the danger of depopulating you, which is the firſt, it is a thing you can onely preſuppoſe and imagine, but which we, were it a thing to be wiſhed, could never hope for. God forbid (if it be lawful to make ſo unneceſſary and vain a requeſt) that any accident or extremity ſhould cauſe you to exchange Middleſex for Lemſter, and prefer Dublin before London, to be the Imperial Seat and Chamber of the Monarchy. It is indeed, as the profit of an Huſbandman, to have his Land full ſtock'd with Cattle; ſo of a Prince, to have his Dominions mann'd with a proportionable complement of People. And one of our Country-men intereſſed in both Nations, hath therefore well calculated how much the Publick miſſes or gains in the perſon of every Individual. The Bodies of Men are not onely eſtimable while living, but when dead: And, were it not to play the Coqueten in Trade, I could demonſtrate what prejudice the Nation receives by the burying of every Engliſh-man beyond Sea; and how far the Smith, the Iron-monger, the Joyner, and the Curate, with ſeveral other Trades, are thereby damnified, and our Neighbours advantaged. And I could then diſpute, that an Act againſt Oaken Coffins were no leſs neceſſary at home for preſerving your Timber, than that for Flannel-ſhrowds was for the incouragement of your Woollen Manufacture. But if this of the Dead ſeems ridiculous to you, pardon me if I ſay, that were we not of the two the more melancholy Nation, neither could we refrain from ſmiling at this your frugality of the Living. For, how can we think you ſerious in ſo ſpeculative and remote a Conſideration, that, as to us, it is rather a Caſe put, than what can ever be preſumed to fall out in practice. For, while herein you repreſent the Weaver, who overſhooting his Shuttle into the Wall, although a Batchelor, wet his cheeks and his Manufacture to think, how if his onely ſon had received that blow, his Majeſty had loſt a Subject, and himſelf the ſtay of his Family; you nevertheleſs at the ſame time, and while at Peace, tranſport yearly many thouſands of Engliſh to be kill'd in the Wars, and are become the Magazine of men to your Neighbours. You do not onely ſend out yearly ſwarms of men to your old Colonies, but, wanting, it ſeems, Hives for your multitude, you do every day increaſe your new Buildings at home, and abroad deſign new Plantations. And even your Merchants, incorporated with others, whoſe greater quality may ſuppoſe them to be States-men in that particular; yet, inſtead of bringing over more Gold from Guiny, do, as I am told, ſo inhanſe their ſole Trade of Negroes, that your Planters, not able to go to the price, are forced to load their Ships continually with Engliſh Servants. And, if there were this penury of people with you, it is probable that you would finde out Employment for ſo many idle perſons that, as I obſerved when I came laſt over, notwithſtanding thoſe conſtant draughts beyond Sea, do both Natives and Forrainers peſter you ſtill at home, and ſo incumber your Streets and your High-ways, that a man of buſineſs can ſcarce paſs without juſtling. Therefore it is time for you to quit this Notion, which you ſo many ways ſlight in effect, and contradict in practiſe, and in our caſe is ſo ſingular: unleſs you will affix your inhabitants like Trees to the Soil, and lay as ſevere an Injunction againſt your Engliſh mens going abroad, as that wherewith you have impounded our Cattle at home in Ireland.

That which may afford more appearance of reality is, that our Woollen Manufactures interrupt the Vent of yours. But I have already ſhewn you how ſlender a quantity is wrought up with us; ſo ſmall a pittance, that it cannot affect even your Norwich, much leſs your whole Kingdom: nor is there yet any Law (I hope will not) to interdict us what, if real, were ſo neceſſary. The Dutch, the French, any Forrainer have Liberty, and make uſe of it, to work with us; and ſhall either the Iriſh or Engliſh of both Countries be rather debarr'd, whether Rich from planting Manufacture, or whether Poor from labouring it in Ireland? I know not that ever it entred into your minds to forbid your Engliſh the purchaſing of Land among us: and what reaſon is there greater to hinder them from imploying their Money with us upon any other occaſion to private and publick advantage? But what do I inſtance in Land, a thing the moſt improbable; and to which, as it ſtands with us, the Engliſh can at preſent have no temptation? when, beſide the novelty, weakneſs, and mutability of Titles, every thing from which the profit might reſult, is rendred ſo incommodious to us, and unpracticable, that as the Tenant hath onely his Labour for his Pains, ſo the Purchaſer, inſtead of Rent, can only have his Land for his Money. Therefore I ſubmit it to you to chuſe any more particular and proper inſtance (if ſuch there be) where Engliſh mens Eſtates lie under ſuch a perpetual Tuition, and others may adminiſter to him that is yet living. But this Clamour hath ſo little of a publick ſpirit in it, that it ſavours rather of that envy which is among little Artificers, or meaner Merchants that trade or factor in the ſame Commodity: For there is indeed no man but doth in ſome ſort prejudice another; no Trade but is to the detriment of another Trade in ſome meaſure: yet theſe are all reconciled in the publick Convenience or Neceſſity; otherwiſe every County, every Company, every Member would ſtand in anothers way, and there ſhould be no end of Diviſibility. But, if you were in earneſt, methinks it would better require your good Huſbandry and Inſpection to rectifie thoſe, whether Trades or Perſons, that ſuck out your very blood, tranſvaſating forrain Juyces into your Veins; and that, while they export your Treaſure and Bullion, prey upon your Vitals. And to diſcover ſuch others, who, under the quality of Engliſh Merchants, are, as is ſaid, but Factors for Aliens, and dayly ſpirit away the Wealth and Strength of your Nation beyond Sea. But however you judge and diſpoſe of your Domeſtick Affairs, ſuffer not your ſelves, in regard of us, to be impoſed on by falſe ſuggeſtions againſt your own and our Intereſt.

For the deadneſs of your Manufactures, as well as ours, proceeds not from their interfering with one another, but from much differing cauſes, wherein it may befit you, firſt to conſider (for I will not, to the diſ-reputation of ſo many worthy Merchants, affirm what is reported at this diſtance) whether ſeveral of thoſe Companies that are intruſted and impower'd with the ſole Trade of your home-bred Commodities in remote Regions, do not for their more exceſſive advantage, forbear to buy up that quantity which ſo great a part of the world as lies ſtretch'd out in their Patents, but unviſited in their Traffick, would take off, at a more moderate profit. And whether they do not, for what Quantity they do utter, methodize their buying ſo artificially, to ſuch times, conditions, and reſtrictive regulations, practiſing upon the Manufactors neceſſity, that the poor men lie at the Merchants mercy, and their goods lie ſo long upon their hands, till they are forced to receive any rate from the ſingle Chapman's diſcretion. For, whether it be ſo or no in this particular, there is that general malignity in Commerce, that the rich Buyer does ſet the Dice always upon the neceſſitous Seller: as in the moſt plentiful years of Corn, the Ingroſſer never thinks the Market low enough. But a more evident and certain reaſon of yours and our conſuming for want of Conſumption, is the Wars, with which formerly and of later years, Europe has generally been infeſted. So that in moſt parts thereof, which were uſually ſupplied from you, the people have been much impoveriſhed, and thereby neceſſitated to be their own Clothiers firſt, and from thence enabled, Induſtry increaſing, ſome of them to furniſh their Neighbours. And to this ſeveral of your own Subjects have concurred, who either not finding themſelves well and eaſie at home, or inticed over by greater profit, have inſtructed Forainers in the whole myſtery of Cloathing, till they now have made 〈◊〉 Staple Commodity, and out-do yours for perfection, and, what between their finer and courſer Manufactures, can both over and under-ſell you at any Market; where you too, that were the ſole Merchants, do often condeſcend to be their Chapmen. Thus by the reciprocation of humane affairs, that Trade which the Wars, upon the Forainers refuge with you, firſt introduced, is upon occaſion of the Wars revolved back again, and the Drapery reſtored to them in great meaſure, even by means of your own 〈◊〉 .

But the grand ſpring of this whole matter lies in France. That King is a moſt vigilant and potent Prince, ſtrong in Arms, in Councel, in Treaſure, and in People, and who meaſures Juſtice by his Intereſt. And accordingly, ever ſince he manifeſted himſelf, and aſſumed the whole direction of his own affairs, he hath made war to all Europe: with his Sword, againſt his Enemies; but againſt his Friends, (and Enemies alſo) by Traffique; which is indeed, as the more juſt, ſo the moſt effectual way of deſtroying them. But, among all, none hath on this latter account more ſuffered than the Subjects of England. For, beſide the Wines, which we purchaſe at moſt exceſſive rates, and for the moſt part with pure Money, (although, if it pleaſed the King and Parliament, there might more generous Wines and upon better terms be imported from Italy and the Mediterranean) and beſide thoſe Trinkets, of which we are ſo fond, and to the making of which the French Genius was formerly moſt adapted: He hath, now for many years, applied his people to the more ſolid Trades of Cloath, Silk, and Stuffs, indeed of all things valuable; embracing in effect, or in projection, the univerſal Monarchy of Commerce. Never did any Prince, except our own, addict himſelf ſo wholly to the encouragement of Trade and Navigation. Therefore he hath not onely promoted the building of Merchants-ſhips, to carry in and out; but provided himſelf alſo of a formidable Navy, fit to juſtifie whatſoever he ſhall think reaſon to attempt. He hath both trained up his own Subjects to Sea, which before they nauſeated, and allured over great numbers of your beſt Mariners into his ſervice. To this, he hath either wholly prohibited or which is tantamount, laid ſo exceſſive Impoſitions upon all 〈◊〉 Manufactures, and other Merchandizes which were vendible there, that they are in a manner totally excluded, and you have no Commodity to exchange with, but whatever you have of his (and have it you will whatſoever it coſt you) muſt be bought with the Penny. Inſomuch, that I have ſeen here a particular, drawn up as 'tis ſaid in your Parliament, wherein they computed, beſide the Lucrum ceſſans, that your Nation ſuſtains a clear loſs of Eleven hundred thouſand pounds yearly by the French Trade. And what would any private man's Eſtate with ſuch Huſbandry come to in a ſhort period? ••• eby the French, that were before, at beſt, but the •• llainers of Europe, are now become, or pretend to be, the Cape-merchants; and their King gives, not onely the Mode, but the Garment to all Chriſtendome, and the World puts it ſelf into his Livery at their own Expences. Well may you in England complain of the death rather than deadneſs of your Manufacture, when from this cauſe it receives ſuch an obſtruction, even to ſuffocation, when you are not onely deprived of that general and gainful vent that you had formerly in France it ſelf, but in all other places where you traffique you meet the French now at every turn; and the Forrain Poſt brings News from all parts that they are before you, and have under-ſold you in the ſame Commodities.

And to this Diſeaſe ſo mortal, and which it is beyond any private man to remedy, your ſelves do more particularly contribute, by thoſe vaſt quantities of Wool hich, they tell us here, are daily, and now more than ever tranſported for France; (a thing that you always prohibit, but it ſeems you always tolerate) ſo that in effect Cal •• is ſtill no leſs your Staple than while it was formerly under the Engliſh Dominion. I will not excuſe our ſelves in Ireland from the ſame Crime, although in leſs proportion: For whereſoever any Commodity is ſo pent up, as with us, it will force it ſelf a vent one way or other. But you have, as I hear, a Militia, that in defiance of all Authority, convoy their Caravans of Wool to the Shallop with ſuch a ſtrength, that your Officers dare not offend them: while whatſoever we do of that kind, is more modeſt; and whereſoe're it loſes its way afterwards at Sea, it is firſt entred for England, and pays, as I told you before, both the King's Duty, and that to the Lord-Lieutenant, for Licenſe: So that, as we cannot Trade, ſo neither can we Steal with you on equal terms.

By this time I hope you are ſatisfied and convinced, that Ireland deſerves not your Complaint, but your Pity: and that thoſe things which ſome have aſcribed to us, are but the common Calamity of both Nations, occaſioned by the Flux of Humane Affairs, and Accidents of the preſent Conjuncture thorow Europe: and therefore that you will not only conſult how to redreſs our common Grievances, but that you will alſo remedy thoſe more particular Preſſures that we ſuffer by or under you. For Ireland is indeed a Country ſcituate with great advantage for Commerce, and eſpecially toward the Weſtern and Southern Navigation. The Ports are many, and of the moſt capable and commodious. The Soil is fertile, and where not, yet pregnant, in many places with Minerals, and elſewhere large and well grown Woods, fit to be ſhaped out into Navies; with ſuch convenience for building, that I have often wondred how, in ſuch ſcarcity of Timber, you have not ſometimes thought of having one Chatham at leaſt in Ireland.

Nature has indeed been kinde to us, were You ſo likewiſe. But you prohibit our Cattel, you reſtrain our Wool; our Manufacture is intolerable; you forbid our Trading with any Forreign Commodities in your own Plantations: what we buy there, we muſt enter in England; and before we land it, muſt make a ſecond and more dangerous Voyage, to pay you double Cuſtoms. We are in all things, indeed, treated by you like, or worſe than Aliens. In the mean time, we pay Quit-rents, Chimney-money, Exciſe, Cuſtoms; and have been as ready as you to Supply his Majeſtie upon occaſions with Taxes extraordinary. Nor yet is the Revenue eaſier to us, by being collected by Farmers.

It would require an exquiſite memory, to tell you of any late Act of State relating to Ireland, that hath not, one way or other, turn'd to our prejudice. And yet, though unhappie, we are Conſtant; nor hath it ever yet been in your power to diſoblige our Affection, much leſs our Loyalty. But I can anſwer for my ſelf: who is he that can enter a perpetual Guaranty for a whole Kingdom? The moſt Sacred Tyes will not hold, when worn out continually by ill uſage. How incident it is to a Woman to be Debauched, if ſhe finde not the Contents of Marriage! eſpecially if ſhe be Idle, have entertained former correſpondence with one that appears more potent, and who promiſes to maintain her in an higher Equipage. If any of your Neighbours ſhould be at leaſure to apply both Force and Courtſhip to this Kingdom when it were in ill humour, it muſt be of an extraordinary Vertue to reſiſt the Temptation: and ſhould he gain its Good-will, he would make you pay afterwards what Alimony he pleaſed. You might then too late compute how neceſſary it had been to preſerve and cheriſh it by all means poſſible: what damage, what diminution you receive both in your Honour and Revenue. Another would know how to improve, and againſt your ſelves, thoſe Advantages that you have ſlighted: and this Iſland which, partly by the Natural, but more by its Political Scituation, lies like a Mole ſit to ſhield you from Forreign Winds, to repel the Neighbouring Seas from breaking in upon you, and to make England the moſt quiet Station of all Europe, (Inſula Portum efficit) would in a Strangers power ſerve him as a Bridge to land upon you more commodiouſly. For it is not ſo old as true a Saw, That He who will win England, must begin with Ireland.

In concluſion, the ſame aſpect that Sicily has to Italy, that, in all Parallels, hath Ireland to England: and it concerns your utmoſt care that you govern it not after the Spaniſh manner, leſt you prepare it to Revolt unto another Dominion. Therefore I would humbly adviſe you, Brother, in particular, no more to look upon us (which is the Common Errour) as a diſtinct, but as a conjunct Intereſt and People; and to do your part, what we are now rather in ſhew, to Conſolidate us really into your own Subſtance. You have told me, I remember, formerly, how many miles of barren Hills the Citie of Genoua hath, at vaſt expence, taken into their Fortifications; with that Inſcription at the Entrance: Ne munimenta Naturae Hostis verteret in Pericula. But what Method to uſe in particular, I am not capable to delineate; nor were I, yet neither am I proper to preſcribe to your Parliamentary prudence. For even Phyſicians, when ſick, diſtruſt their own Skill, and ſubmit to another's Counſel.

Whether you will think ſit to reverſe your Act againſt our Cattel, I know not; nor can I anſwer for the Effect that it would produce. But I have often obſerved how gladly Waters that have been diverted return and fall again into their former Chanel.

That you ſhould make any Act to encourage Manufacture with us, is what can ſcarce be expected; but I hope you will make none to diſcourage it. For, as it requires no Phyſician to tell, that to keep a man warm is good againſt a Cold; ſo I, though no Politician, dare ſay in general, that it concerns you to uſe us kindly, and to indulge us in all things that tend to Civilize, Cultivate, and People this Nation; whereby you will or may have, within ten hours ſail of you, a Plantation worth all thoſe other that weaken you at ſo great a diſtance, while we ſhould always be at hand, and within call, not more ready to defend our ſelves than you, upon the firſt inſult of an Enemy. By how much you have uſed us to expect leſs, the leſs will oblige us. We will allow you eaſily to make, what we are, younger Brothers of us; onely uſe us as Brethren, not as Slaves. For it is an equal oppreſſion, to command men to make Brick without Straw, and where there is both Brick and Straw to countermand it. The moſt adequate Preſident whereby I can repreſent to you both our Conditions, and what to do in our caſe, is that of Abraham and Lot in the 13th of Geneſis. Abraham was, like you, very rich in Cattle, in Silver, and in Gold: but Lot had onely Flocks and Herds, and Tents. And, as they journyed, their ſubſtance as ſo great, that they could not dwell together: but there was a ſtrife between the Herdſmen of Abraham's cattle and the Herdſmen of Lot's cattle; and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abraham ſaid unto Lot, Let there be no ſtrife, I pray thee, betwixt me and thee, and between my Herdſmen and thy Herdſmen, for we are Brethren. Is not the whole land before us? If thou wilt go to the left hand, I will go to the right; and if thou depart to the right hand, then will, I go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, and Lot choſe him all the plain of Jordan. Abraham dwelt in the land of Canaan. The Text is ſo plain, and applies it ſelf ſo eaſily betwixt us, that it needs no Commentary. Onely Abraham here was the Elder Brother; but, being ſeveral ways the richer, ſeems therefore, out of a natural equity and condeſcention, to have left the choice to Lot, who was the Son of the Younger, and had nothing but his Flocks and Herds to truſt to. Whereas we ſhall willingly ſubmit to the Order of Nature and of our Government, deſiring you to chuſe for us. And ſo God direct you in all your Councils, to His Glory, the Honour of His Majeſtie, and to the Wealth and Welfare of both Nations: which is the conſtant Prayer of

Honoured Brother, Your moſt humble Servant, and moſt affectionate Brother. Dublin, Jan. 15. 1676/7. FINIS.