IF I should value the discouragements of appearing in publick in this Matter, I should be silent, but obser­ving the Nature of this National Mischief of exporting Wooll, and the necessity of preventing it; that the greatest Strength of the Nation in People, the greatest Power up­on the Seas in Shipping, the greatest Revenues of his Ma­jesty, being his Customs, do all arise from Clothing.

And considering these great Advantages are endeavour'd to be gained from us by a powerful Neighbour abroad, while some at home are not only reasoning, but appear in Print for it, and others despairing upon a preposest opinion, that all endeavours to recover our selves, will be rendred fruitless and vain.

The consideration whereof, hath prompted me to use the utmost of my little Skill, that the threatned Ruine of all may be prevented, and some good part of that, which is lost, may be recovered,

I shall therefore in this Discourse relate very little more than Matter of Fact; the Wooll of England, before King Edward the 3d's time, was always of great accompt and esteem abroad, sufficiently testified by the great Amity which it begat, and for a long time maintained between the Kings of England and the Dukes of Burgundy, only by the [Page 2] great advantage from that Commodity did accrue to those People (who at that time had the sole Manufacturing of Wooll) in so much that they received the English Wooll at 6 d. per l. and returned the Cloth made thereof into Eng­land at 10 s. per yard, (whereas Wooll now worrh 10 d. per l. will not make Cloth worth above 6 s. per yard.) to the great inriching of the Burgundian State, both in the ad­vancement of the Revenues of their Dukes, and in a full Employment of their People, whereby the Merchants of England were occasioned (as a People unwilling to be wholly dispriviledged of so great abenefit) to transplant themselves (with their Families in great numbers) into Flanders, from whence they held a constant Commerce with most parts of the World, this Amity continued without intermission, between England and Burgundy, until King Edward the 3d. made his mighty Conquest over France and Scotland, and during his residence in Flanders, where he ac­quainting himself with the Flemings Affairs, and obtaining then by his assistance in their War with France, thereby gained a good opinion amongst them, and he, in order to draw over the Woollen Artificers into England, repre­sented to them, the danger they were in by the bordering Wars with France, and the peaceable condition of England and freedom of the People that are Subjects here, propounds an Invitation for them to come over hither, wherein he promises them the same Priviledges and Immunities with his own Subjects, which they accepted and came over, and brought their families with them; and the said King most Royally performed those promises, and by it also replant­ed many of his own Subjects in England, who had been long setled in Flanders, and in a short time by Act of Par­liament prohibites the exportation of Wooll, the advantage whereof hath been very great to this Nation thereby, for some hundred years past, by the vigilancy of the Govern­ment, and the protection of its Laws, in the careful exe­cution [Page 3] thereof upon Offenders; but so it is (for some years past) the French by their Diligence to enrich themselves upon us, hath so far exceeded our Care to preserve our selves that its come to, if not beyond, a question who may have the greatest benefit of the Manufacture of English Wooll, they who have no right to it, or they to whom of right it doth belong.

That this is so will appear, that not only Holland hath for a long time been Rivals with us in our Trade: But France is like to be too hard for us also, for the reasons be­fore given, besides our damage, in putting that value on the French Fancies, by giving them double the worth for the same Manufacture, (which we our selves make) of our English Wooll, so much have we been deceived (in this matter) that whereas in the time of the late War with the Dutch and French, that French Druggets, and other Stuffs, not coming so freely from France, some English broad Cloaths striped, at 10 s. per yard, were rent in 3 parts (Viz) Breadths, and put in the form of French Druggets, and each part sold for 8 s. per yard, which makes that one yard come to 24 s. which, as English Cloth was sold for 10 s, and the like Fancy many have for Dutch Black Cloth, if it have the name of Dutch, tho' of our own Make, this is real matter of Fact.

To return, it's aver'd, that the Exportation of English and Irish Wooll is of a Dangerous and Destructive Conse­quence to the very Being of our Trade, and to the riches and strength of this Kingdom, and to his Majestie's Cust­omes, notwithstanding the Objections produced against it, with respect to the Graziers Advantage thereby, suppo­sing, as before at large premised, that 40 s. upon a Pack of Wooll was advanced for a year or two by Exportation, yet other things would be lessned by it, it being not to be de­nyed at the same time, that the poore and laborious People can be employed, as to have money to buy them Bread, [Page 4] Beef, much less Mutton, the want of which must of necessity fall the price of all manner of Victuals, and if we name only Mutton (which is relative to our subject) and that be sold but 6 d. per quarter the less, which being 2 s. in the carkass, which comes to 10 l. for 100 Sheep, they producing a Pack of Wooll, which at that rate is the value of the said Pack modestly computed: But then for Beef and Corn, if that be lesned proportionable, it must be of course a greater damage to the Farmer and Grazier, it being reckoned three times the value of Wooll through­out the Nation, one with another. And supposing there should be grown yearly in England Fourteen Hundred Thousand packs of Wooll, one year with another: And supposing that once in foure years the sheep were all kill'd, (Viz) 25 yearly, which 25 Sheep valued so low as 10 l. which is the value of the Wooll yearly shorn.

It may therefore prevaile upon us to beleive, that Beef and all sorts of Corn must be of a far grater value than Mutton, (and consequently of Wooll) because the great­est number of People by far, are the poor and labourious People which consume Beef, Bread and Bear, and few of such do often buy Mutton, or at at least any quantity pro­portionable to other provision, and therefore whatever some others think, that a Country can be inriched without the poor laborious People, I am of another opinion: For it's matter of Fact, that in England it self, in those parts where the inhabitants are thin, and the Countries not full of People, that the Land in those parts will not yeild much above half the value, as Land of the same goodness will yeild near Townes well Inhabited, or Countries where Trade is good, and if thus in England it's much less in Ire­land, which I think is a good Demonstration; for the Clo­thier can no way possibly conceale his Markets, being be­trayed by his hastning his Cloth not then ready for the like Market, by which meanes the Grazier raiseth the [Page 5] price of his Wooll, and the Workfolks advance their wages, the profit whereof goeth to the said Grazier and Farmer, it being obvious such people do not lay up their money, but lay out most for the Belly.

These things considered on the other hand, it will ma­nifestly appear, that the Exportation of Wooll unmanu­factured will not only be destructive to the Merchants and Clothiers Trade, and the exposing the poor to distress, for want of employment; but confequently the Farmer and Grasier will not be able to pay his Rent: For if it be so, that whilest we have have some little Trade left, there are such general complaints, what may be expected if our Forreign Trade should be wholly taken away, which is now in more danger, by the French, than it hath been this three hundred Years past, and we seem to sleep and take no notice of it.

And then we may consider what price Wooll will bear, when we, some of us by our remissness, and others wilful­ness have lost our Trade, by the circumventing practises of Forreiners, and we our selves helping forward, for fear they should not be able to do it alone, and all this for a meere fancied and supposed profit, for there was not more Art and Skill used by our Ancestors, to bring home the workers at first to the Wooll, and Prohibiting the Ex­portation thereof, and setling the Manufacturing of it in England, than is now us'd to Export the materials unma­nufactured to Forreign Artificers; and if by the means of that which is exported already, Wooll is now made so cheap as it is, a greater Exportation would make it yet cheaper, supposing ten thousand Packs shipped into France, which by their sort of working it and mixing it with Lining, and their own course Wooll, and thinness of their work, goes as far there, and makes as many yards in the whole, as twen­ty thousand Packs if Manufactured here, into more thick and substantial Cloth and Stuffs, which Ten Thousand [Page 6] Packs, if they were not Exported into France, it would unavoydably follow, that France would take of us the quantity of Twenty Thousand Packs, in our Manu­facture.

By all which it's obvious, that in time to come, the Wooll in England will be much more cheaper than now it is, because, by the aforesaid meanes, more Wooll will be Exported, and less will of course be used in England, and that little which will be Manufactured here can beare lit­tle or no price, Forreigners making that themselves, which we should furnish them with; which if it be true, as it's generally asserted, that Wooll is as cheap in France, as in some parts of England at this time, it's but rationall to think it must be much cheaper hereafter, when our Wooll dos encrease on our hands, and our Manufacture decrease, both in quantity and value.

For the better clearing of this point, give me leave to in­sert one instance or two, as matter of Fact: That when Wooll was wholly Manufactured in England, and very little, if any at all Exported raw, the price thereof for several yeares togeather continued, betwixt 12 d. and 18 d. per l. weight, and I verily beleive as much, if not more, Wooll was grown in England at that time, (Viz) betwixt 20 and 30 yeares agoe, then is now at this time, the reason is plain, from the great quantity of our Woollen Manufacture vended be­yond Sea, which was so considerable, that it kept up the price of Wooll at home. On the other hand in Ed. 3's. time, when all the Wooll was Exported Un-manufactured, it was sold for 6 d. per pound, as is before asserted, by which it's manifest, that the advancement of the price of Wooll, con­sists in the consumtion and vent of our Manufacture freely beyond the Seas, and not in the Exportation of our Wooll Un-manufactured.

Before I conclude, give me leave to add here, what Sr. Walter Rawlegh in his time presented to King James the [Page 7] first, (Viz) that by meanes only of the Exportation of Cloth undyed and undressed, was lost to the Kingdom above Foure Hundred Thousand Pounds yearly, in the Workmanship, which the Dressers and Dyers, and other Artificers would have gained thereby, besides the damage to the King, in discouraging the Importation of Dying Stuffs, which pay a considerable Custome.

Now, if it was thus with England when the Wooll was made up into Cloth, and that only for want of the Dres­sing and Dying it here, so much loss came to this King­dom thereby, what must the loss be, when 'tis not Manu­factured here at all, but the Materials Exported raw, with­out any manner of gain to any Artificer at home?

For if we first consider his Majestie's loss, next the Merchants and Clothiers, after which must follow, the Detriment to all other Persons depending on Trade, there being such a connexion of Trades one to another, that the damage of one harmes the rest, and profit of one advances others, while the whole is enlarged by the abounding of working and laborious people, who supply the Farmer and Grazier with money, with which he payes his Rent to the Nobility and Gentry, and they again disperse it a­mongst Tradesmen, by which circulation all degrees of Men are either employed or enriched or both, and hence naturally comes content, harmony and pleasure, that one condition of Men take in the other, the poor being by em­ployment delivered from fear of want, the Nobility, Gen­try, Merchant and Trades-man, being also secure from those inconveniencies, the want of poor may naturally ex­pose them to, employment rationally is the strength of any People, but Idleness brings Poverty, Shame, and Ru­ine, which is a temptation to Theft, and all manner of vi­lany; certainly we are all concerned more or less in this rich treasure of Wooll, because 'tis that which sets more than half the hands of the Nation to work, I may say three [Page 8] parts of the laborious and industrious employed about it, considering that much of the Shipping is imployed in this affair, and also many other Trades-men depending, either for materials, provision, or other necessaries on the Cloth­ing Trade, and so from his Majestie down to the meanest, all are more or less concerned, the King mostly, not only in that his People are by that most imployed, and provi­ded for, but because so great Revenues comes directly into him, upon the Trade of Importation occasioned thereby.

But before I conclude this first part of my discourse, give me leave here to insert the advantage we do receive by one Pack of Wooll, manufactured into Stockings, being that which is obvious to the meanest capacity, (viz.) a Pack and half of fleece Wooll, worth 10 l. per. Pack, making a Pack of comb'd worth 20 l. and one pound of such Wooll, at that rate comes to 20 d. which will make two pair of Hose at 5 s. per pair, or three pair at 3 s. and 4 d. or the slight­est, four pair at 2 s. and 6 d. per pair; either sort, the pound of Wooll is improved from 20 d. to 10 s. So that a Pack of such Wooll containing 240 pounds weight, being so many 10 s. in Stockings, comes to 120 l. out of which deduct 20 l. for the Wooll, and there remains 100 l. Sterling, gain'd only by the labour of spinning and knitting, besides the dy­ing, leging, packing and fitting it for Sea; but there are some sorts of Stockings made about Norwich, worth 7 or 8 s. per. pair, made of fine Wooll, and one pound will make 3 pair of such Hose, so that such a Pack would be worth 200 l. and more, and some sorts of Stuffs made in Norwich, worth 6 l. and the Wooll not worth above 10 s.

I shall in the next place, Impartialy relate the substance of what hath been objected against me, in my Opponents answer, caled Reasons for a Limited Exportation of Wooll.