greater than formerly, required such provision; yet how heinously and spitefully was it represented by some, as if it proceeded only from prejudice to king William? So that though the Act went through the house of commons, to be lodged with the lords, with them it slept. I insist the more upon this observation, That Excise raised once (though on pretence of the greatest necessity, and that it shall be only temporary, and but for a short time) never fails by one means or other, to be continued, because I desire the importance of the thing may be considered; and in case it should so fall out in the Excise, which now some seem to desire, it ought sure, at least, seriously to be considered, what our case will be thereupon.-We know very well, that 800,000l. per ann. or thereabouts, with good husbandry, will discharge all the Expences of the Government in time of peace; therefore in 1660, when the court had scrued their demands to the highest, they desired only the standing Revenue to be 1,200,000l. and whatever they got afterwards, was not on pretence that more was necessary, but that they had not so much.-That very standing Revenue which was settled in king Charles's time was so great, that every body remembers, when a great Army was raised, the house of commons was tried to give but one 300,000l. per ann. more, which if they could have got, no one doubts but it was designed there should have been an end of Parliaments. And that very thing was prest so handsomely, and so much to the purpose by some, who were then members of the house of commons, that the very Pensioners of that parliament voted against the augmentation of the Revenue which was desired, lest parliaments should end. all at once, and their Pensions with them. The Revenue now in time of peace will yield, above all Charges, 1,500,000l. per ann.; if more be given in this way of Excise, and it should be continued, it is the giving up the very being of parliaments. There are still many other Reasons against this way of taxing by an Excise.-I have shewed already, that this is a giving men know not what: that Moiety of the Excise given in 1660 for 100,000l. per ann. hath since proved worth three and a half: that which king Charles desired as 300,000l. when it was got by king James, proved to be worth more than double that value. And to this I may add, That the more such Revenues prove, if they should be continued, the more dangerous for the nation. -This is a troublesome and a slavish sort of tax. The present government came in upon a foot of Liberty: what was the reason that the Chimney-money was taken off, but only this, That every man might have his house free? Shall the nation be mocked by taking off a feather, and in the room of it laying on a millstone? This is a way to bring a lord-Dane into every one of our families.-The difficulty of raising this tax will be very great, the people of England disrelish it extremely. I have heard some of the wisest and honestest mem bers of the house of commons say, They would be hanged up at the door of the house, before they would consent to it. All that lived in the late times remember with what difficulty the Excise was raised by those who were then in the government; and it is certain they could never have compassed it, but for the terror of the Army then kept up. Now if the parliament should raise Money in this way to pay our Army, and should be necessitated, as they were, to keep up a Standing Army to gather it, we shall be at a fine pass. The Money must be raised to pay our armies, that they may carry on the war vigorously against our enemies; but instead of any such service from them, they must be kept at home to raise the Excise. The common argument for an Excise, that it will spare our lands, is grounded upon a false supposition: this is not a sparing our lands, but a charging them for ever with double what is needful. The dearer the farmer pays for his coinmodities, the less rent he will pay; and the less his product yields him clear, accordingly he must value his farm. The more (for example) is laid on lead, the less will wood and oar yield; and so of other com- modities.-The greatest Excises which are laid in Holland, are upon commodities which are not of the growth of the country: their corn comes from Dantzick, their flesh from Denmark, and so of several other things; so that by loading them, they oblige their people to consume the goods of their own growth and country, such as cheese, milk, herrings, &c. Whereas if an Excise he laid here, it must be upon things growing in this kingdom, which undoubtedly will hinder the consumption of such things; for the dearer they are, the less people will buy of them, and the more they will reduce their families, that they may live cheap.-The policy of our ancestors tended to encourage the consumption of all home-commodities, which is certainly the true interest of the nation. Such a tax would go directly against this maxim. Heretofore the gentry and nobility of England lived altogether in the country, where they continually spent the product of the land; now they all flock to London, where their way of living is quite different from that used heretofore, and they do not expend in proportion the third part of things of our product, to what they did when they lived among their neighbours. The yeomen and gentlemen of smaller estates are now, generally speaking, the only constant residents in the country. If an Excise should come to raise the price of all things, how shall these men maintain their families? And if they put them off, or diminish them, who shall spend the growth of the lands?-It is evident, this Tax will fall very hard every where upon the poor farmers; and those who are best able to pay it," will be most spared. For example; if an Excise should be laid upon Malt, where will the burden lie? The price of it will certainly sink in the country, for want of consumption, by reason of the new imposition. The brewers in great cities and towns, such as London, Bristol, Exeter, Norwich, &c. will be the only gainers, since they will buy their malt cheap, and sell their drink as dear or dearer than hiefore; and the poor farmer must bear the loss, which will quickly be the cause of throwing up the lands in all parts of the kingdom. But another thing which, I confess, with me is of the highest weight, is this: We know the safety of the nation depends upon the Liberty of Elections of members to parliament. The Excisemen go already a great way in many corporations, by their interest in inns and alehouses, in influencing the elections to parliament. What then do we think they will do when they have an interest in every private house? If there were no other objection against taxing by an Excise, I should think this one abundantly sufficient, with any man that knows how much the being and well-being of the nation depends upon Free Parliaments, and consequently upon the intire liberty of those who are electors, in giving their votes. If such an Excise should not be general at first, yet when once that way of taxing is brought in, it will quickly grow general: if it be laid one time upon some commodities, it will next time be laid on others. All we have, will come to be exciseable; and it will be with us at length, as it is at Amsterdam, where (to use the words of one who has lately written in that country) a dish of Fish with its sauce, before it be served up to the table, pays Excise thirty several times.' And this indeed ought to be considered the more, because of those in our court and councils, who have been bred up in Holland, where every thing is taxed.-One thing more I must add, which is, That no tax whatever is so chargeable in the gathering, as an Excise that which is laid already upon Beer and Ale, costs above 80,000l. per ann. in collecting; and if there should be a general Excise raised, it would come to near three tinies that sum. My chief design in writing this Paper, was to shew the Danger of granting an Excise by act of parliament, which I hear discoursed of in several parts of the kingdom, as a way which will be offered by some to support this war, though it was debated and rejected the last session of parliament. Perhaps there may be some, who do not sufficiently apprehend the dangerous consequence of this manner of taxing; and for their service it is, that I set down my thoughts upon this matter. No man in England is more thoroughly sensible than I am, of the necessity of carrying on this war. I am of opinion, that the Liberty of this nation, the preservation of this Government, and the security of the Protestant interest throughout Europe, do mainly depend upon the success of it. I have shewed, that it is impossible to go on with it, without giving great sums of money; and I am heartily for giving those sums, when our representatives shall know what they are, by having an exact state of the war for the next year laid before them, which I presume will be their first care. This is reasonable and necessary, and more than this cannot be desired: only we would have the Taxes so laid, as when the necessity of taxing ceases, the taxes may cease with that necessity. There are other ways of raising Money besides a General Excise. The English nation has now, at the expence of its own money and blood, reduced Ireland; must none of the Lands of those rebels, after all, be applied to the charge of this War? Is all that has been said and declared in parliament, upon that head, to no purpose? Must the Irish Papists be again restored to the possession of their estates, and so this kingdom not only brought under the necessity of maintaining a great Standing Army, to keep them from rising and cutting the Protestants throats; but likewise be defeated of the lands, which they were made believe should serve in a great measure, to reimburse them for the prodigious sums that have been advanced for the reducing of that country? I hope the wisdom of the parliament will take that matter into consideration, ánɗ not suffer themselves to be frustrated of so great a sum of money, as those Irish Lands will yield; which, if they were exposed to sale, would find purchasers enough, at such kind of rates as they were formerly sold for upon the like occasion; and the Money which should arise from them, would serve for a Fund to defray a great part of the next year's expence of the war. It were better to return to the Chimneymoney, than to load the nation with this new Excise. I do not say that ought to be done, for I think it absurd and dishonourable, after having taken off that burden so latély, with so much pompous ostentation and expression of desire to gratify the people, to lay it on anew; that would have a very ill look. But yet, Í think, supposing such a necessity, it were wisdom, of two evils to take the least; and rather return under the pressure of an old burden, than submit to a greater, and run so great an hazard as that of settling a Revenue; which if continued, might give opportunity and encouragement to ill ministers of state to attempt, and perhaps achieve designs like those, which we tell the world were the cause of our joining in the late Revolution.-There are Commissioners of Public Accounts, sitting by authority of parliament, to examine how the treasure of the nation has been laid out for these last three years. It will be seen in this Report, what immoderate Pensions have been granted, and to what kind of men; and what incredible sums of money the nation has been cheated of, by those employed in civil and military trusts. I do not know why such people should not be obliged to refund; and if there be care taken for the future to prevent such abuses, the sums of money which must be raised for the defence of the nation, and the support of the government, will be very much lessened. There will doubtless be many Proposals for. Let no man be missed, by a pretence of convenience, or disburthening his Land in this way of taxing, all those are mistaken arguments. And though they were not so, though all the conveniences in the world were to be found in this new method, though there were ever so great ease to our lands in it; yet the single consideration of what the nation hazards in giving a Revenue, that probably will never be discontinued, and the dan made in parliament, of different natures, for ways and methods of raising Money. Whenever there is occasion for a Tax, there is always great variety of projects of that kind. But when all is done, I humbly conceive, there will be nothing upon the whole matter found so safe, and so much for the good of the nation, as a Land-Tax. Other things may help, but this will be the main resource: it is true, this will smart while it lasts, but we are sure to have an end of it. The members of parlia-ger to which the Liberties of the kingdom will ment themselves will be obliged in interest to take it off, when the occasion ceases; and besides, the Freeholders of England will never endure the continuance of a Land-Tax, longer than there is an evident necessity for it. This is the way which our ancestors walked in upon these occasions, and this is the safe and sure way. It has been laid down in parliament as a good rule, to support the Government in time of peace, by taxes upon Trade; and in time of war, to have recourse to the Land, because that tax will not be in danger of being continued when the war is over.-I do not decide which of the two sorts of Taxes upon Land is best, the Monthly Assessment, or the PoundRate, which likewise comprehends personal estates, as far as they can be discovered. I know opinions are much divided upon this point: the Associated Counties, and some others, are much for the latter of these Taxes; the north of England and other parts for the former. Such a question is too nice to be handled by a man without doors: the choice must be determined, in this difficulty, by the wisdom of the parliament. But one thing, I think, all are for, the preserving of the Constitution, and the maintaining our Liberty, for the sake whereof all this Money is to be raised; and that is all which I am pleading be exposed, if ever the Crown shall be rich enough to govern without Parliaments, is abundantly sufficient to overbalance whatever can be alleged to the contrary from topics of present ease, or private interest. The Constitution, the Constitution is our happiness. Let any inconveniences be submitted to, rather than that brought into danger. We stand upon a needless point, the Revenue of the Crown is so very high already, that one remove more does our business. England can never be undone, but by its own consent; have a care then of giving that fatal consent. We have hitherto been the envy of all our neighbours for our Liberties, and the Privileges we enjoy; the greatest of which, is being governed by Laws made by our own Representatives. All we have is owing to the preservation of Parliaments, and making their frequent meetings necessary. Let Taxes be laid so, that they may cease with their cause, and so Parliaments may not become unnecessary. I shall stop here, and say no more concerning a Land-Tax, because this Paper is too long already, and because my chief intent in writing it, as I said before, was not so much to urge arguments for a Land-Tax, as to offer some considerations which might shew the Danger of a General Excise. NO VII. Some short CONSIDERATIONS concerning the STATE of the NATION. A DAY being appointed by the house of berty and Country, or the ruin of all.--Perhaps commons for considering the State of the Na- there never was any time in which it was more tion, before the day which they have set for necessary to join beads and hearts for the serconsidering the king's Speech, we are encou- vice of our native country, that so a safe and raged to hope that they intend to proceed effectual method may be agreed upon to bring with great deliberation and caution in their the nation through the great and many difficuldebates concerning the weighty matters which ties it labours under, to attain the end which now lie before them, greater than which never was proposed in the late Revolution, and in lay, nor can lie before any parliament; and that War in which we are engaged for the desuch, as that the measures taken upon them fence of all that is dear unto us, against those must determine the happiness or misery of this who are the sworn enemies of our Religion and kingdom, the preservation of our Religion, Li-Country.-It is plain, the evils and dangers State Tracts, published during the Reign of William III. vol. ii. p. 320. VOL. V. Appendix. which press us are great and numerous, and we acknowledge the Parliament (which is our great State-Physician, and, under God, the e Remedy of all our ills) has already given a sin- | gular instance of their wisdom and care of the public, in appointing a time to consider the state and condition in which we are. It is impossible to cure a distemper till the state of the patient be known. Matter of fact must always go first: it is in vain to imagine or propose expedients for our Relief, till we are fully informed and agreed what our case is; and when that is well understood, the nature of the disease will naturally lead to those Remedies that are most proper. This order of proceeding has always been practised in our parliaments, who never mistook when they would give themselves the time thoroughly to examine the state of things before they came to a determination. Precipitate counsels have often done us great mischief; but when matters of great importance have been freely debated and clearly understood, before any resolution was taken, the end has never been otherwise than happy.-There is not a body of men in the world, who have so noble a trust reposed in them, as that which is in the House of Commons from the people of England. Our neighbours the Dutch, though they send deputies to their States to manage their public affairs, yet limit them with Instructions and Orders beyond which they cannot go and if any new matter of debate arise in the Assembly of their States, the deputies can do nothing till first they go or send to their Towns for new instructions. And the same I might say of limitation of trusts and powers in other governments, where deputies are appointed and authorized to act in the name of the people. But in England the case is quite otherwise; the people of this nation do intirely put themselves and their whole concerns into the hands of their Representatives in parliament. They have no distrust of them, and therefore put no manner of shackles upon them; but taking it for granted they will employ their utmost skill and wisdom for their good, they frankly entrust them with their power, purses, and all other things wherein the strength of the nation consists; that being clothed with so great and unbounded an authority, they may be the better enabled to direct the money, men, arms, shipping, and all other advantages of the nation, to the defence, safety and preservation of the whole, the care of which is their proper province. The greatness and frankness of this trust from the people to their representatives, is the highest obligation imaginable upon all members of parliament to lay out themselves with the utmost industry and application for the service of those by whom they are thus entrusted. And this obligation is at this time greater than usual, since his majesty has been pleased so graciously in his speech, at the opening of this session of parliament, to demand the advice and assistance of the two houses in the measures which he is to follow. If this parliament should separate what the king has so wisely joined together, and should either give assistance without ad vice, or assistance before advice, our affairs are ruined and the nation is undone. The order which the king has prescribed is the only one that can reasonably be followed. Counsel must go before supplies, and consideration before counsel. Since the king puts himself so generously upon the advice of his great council in this exigency of affairs, it were an injury to his goodness and sincerity, to doubt whether he will follow it when it is given; and the more maturely he sees things examined, stated and debated in the beginning of this session, the more reason he will have to follow advices grounded upon such deliberations. The thought of this inclines me to set down some few reflections upon the state of the nation at present, which is the thing now in question, and must be the ground-work of whatever can reasonably be done afterwards. If we can come but once to a right understanding whereabouts we are, and what our condition is, it will not then be difficult for us to know what we have to do: but if through want of consideration, or through misinformation, or for any other reason whatever, we neglect the discovery of our true dangers and difficulties; or if we palliate or cover those wounds which can never be cured unless they are first searched to the bottom, there is little hope of our being saved, and (which is the most killing thought of all) we must acknowledge ourselves to be the authors of our own ruin.-The first thing which occurs to me, when I consider the State of this nation, is, that we are in a state of war; and here I propose to consider both against whom, and for what ends it is that we make this war.-The enemy with whom we have to deal is the French king, who is not only our enemy, but, in some sort, may be said to be the enemy of mankind. If there be any thing dear and valuable to mankind, he has given the example of tearing and ravishing it from them, without the least pretence or colour of justice; if there be any thing sacred and binding, if contracts and engagements have any force or obliging virtue, it is he that has grounded his whole politics upon infringing and trampling upon those sacred ties, both with his own subjects and strangers. It has been the design of his whole life to establish in Europe what they call an Universal Monarchy; which may more properly be called, the enslaving of all Europe. We know and can prove the particulars of his private treaties with both our late kings, for the extirpating the remainders of liberty out of the world, by destroying the governments of England and Holland, which were looked upon by him as dangerous examples of the people's pretending to rights and privileges, and putting restrictions upon regal power.-As to our religion, we know his rancour against that, by the cruelty we have seen him exercise upon his own faithful and innocent subjects, merely because they would not quit the profession of it. His hatred to all that bear the name of Protestants, is inveterate and invincible. It is he alone that maintains our late abdicated, fugi now, derstood by our representatives, in whose prudent counsels, next under God, we place the hopes of our safety and deliverance from all our dangers. If this be not rightly known, they will proceed upon false suppositions, which must certainly prove fatal to us in this great juncture. And therefore I shall mention some few of my farther observations, in reference to the State of the Nation, without fearing to give offence to any one by touching upon truths which are but too obvious, and must be considered if things he intended to be put upon a right bottom, and the nation saved.-I am afraid then that we are not only in a state of war, but also in a state of decay and consum 1. As to our shipping. It is incredible what numbers of ships we have lost since the beginning of this war. Can any man say he knows the State of the Nation at this time, or pretend to go about to redress it, unless he be first rightly informed of this particular? It is a very easy matter for the parliament to know it if they please for the merchant-ships (of which it is said we have lost two thousand already) it is but sending to every port (which may be done thrice a week by the post) to know from them, exactly and distinctly, how many ships have been lost from each of them; and a true account of this may easily be had in a very short time. The loss of men of war will be known from the commissioners of the admiralty without difficulty. And this certainly is a point that must not be omitted, when the parliament has the State of the Nation under consideration. tive king against us; and who, by restoring him again, would reduce all our miseries, and engage us in new ones too great to be thought on without the utmost horror.-And as his malice against us is great, so his power is every way answerable. His armies are the most great and numerous that at any time were ever on foot in Europe. His generals and officers consummated in the trade of war. His fleets which were lately inconsiderable, are by the treachery of our late kings, grown so powerful, that he is able with them to look England and Holland in the face at the same time. There is no hope nor prospect of any safe peace to be made with him, unless we can destroy and ruin his power at sea, and by cut-ing, and that in many respects. ting off all manner of commerce between him and our neighbour states and princes, put a stop to those supplies of stores and provisions for his armies, which enable him to carry on the war for if we should rely on the faith of any treaty whereby he might endeavour to deceive and lul! us asleep, we should then indeed deserve neither help nor pity, since his perfidiousness and perjury are so universally known, that no one now expects he should observe any promises or engagements, any farther than he is swayed by his own interest and advantage. This enemy, thus potent, thus malicious, thus false is he with whom we have our present war. The causes and ends of our war are both just and necessary in the highest degree: self-defence, the maintenance of our antient free government, the asserting our rights and liberties; and above all, the preservation of the Protestant religion against Popery and Idolatry, these are the ends for which we first 2. Another complaint of decay at this time, declared, and for which we are now prose- I doubt, may too justly be made in reference cuting this war. In a word, our business is to to our seamen: the occasion of this decay is make good the revolution which we have com- this; we have indeed acts of navigation, and passed, and that for no other end but to main-one would think our own interest should incline tain our antient rights and liberties delivered us sufficiently to employ our own men in matto us by our brave ancestors, which were so ters of trade: yet there is so great opportunity unjustly invaded in the last reigns, and for the given to employ foreigners, by want of convoys, saving and recovery whereof, we have both un- and the breeding of seamen being interrupted dertaken the war with France, and made the by the loss of so many of our ships, and giving present establishment. So that it appears we up the Bank-fishing, and Newfoundland-fishare engaged in a necessary war with an enemy, ing, in a manner intirely to the French; that who must be subdued, or we ourselves intirely our trade insensibly slips from us, our merruined in all respects; and this enemy so pow-chants are disappointed and undone, and our erful and so politic, as that our utmost strength, wisdom, integrity and resolution, are requisite to manage the war against him with hopes of success. This, in short, is our case in reference to the present war.-It comes next to be considered, in what state and condition we are for the carrying on this great war, which has already lasted almost four years, and is like still to last much longer, and at length to end unhappily, if effectual measures be not taken by the parliament to manage it in such a way, and for such ends as are consistent with our ability, present condition, and true interest.-I must here make a melancholy picture, which cannot but be very disagreeable to all good English-men; but it is necessary the truth should be known, and our condition truly un seamen discouraged and diminished, in whom notwithstanding consists the true strength and safeguard of this island. This must be inquired into, and the fault charged by the parliament where it is due, before they can say they have a right understanding of the State of the Nation. 3. A third instance of our decaying condition is in our trade. Not to mention again the prodigious number of trading ships taken by our enemies, and the discouragement of our seamen by employing foreigners, it is well known that all nations now drive on a free trade with France, and we alone are excepted from that benefit; while on the other hand we bear three parts in four of the charge of this war. The Swedes, Danes, Portuguese, Vene |