,transcribed from the #ahhg ,cassell ,company by ,david ,price1 email ccx#jgdpglaf4org ,picture3 ,book cover ,,cassell',s ,,national ,,library4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,an ,,essay ,,upon ,,projects4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,by ,,daniel ,,defoe4 ,picture3 ,decorative graphic ,,cassell ,,company1 ,limited3 ,,london1 ,,paris1 ,,new ,,york ,,melbourne4 #ahhg ,,introduction4 ,,defoe',s 8,essay on ,projects0 was the first volume he published1 and no great writer ever published a first book more characteristic in expression of his tone of thought4 ,it is practical in the highest degree1 while running over with fresh speculation that seeks everywhere the well-being of society by growth of material and moral power4 ,there is a wonderful fertility of mind1 and almost whimsical precision of detail1 with good sense and good humour to form the groundwork of a happy ,english style4 ,defoe in this book ran again and again into sound suggestions that first came to be realised long after he was dead4 ,upon one subject1 indeed1 the education of women1 we have only just now caught him up4 ,defoe wrote the book in #afib or #afic1 when his age was a year or two over thirty1 and he published it in #afig4 ,defoe was the son of ,james ,foe1 of ,st4 ,giles's1 ,cripplegate1 whose family had owned grazing land in the country1 and who himself throve as a meat salesman in ,london4 ,james ,foe went to ,cripplegate ,church1 where the minister was ,dr4 ,annesley4 ,but in #affb1 a year after the birth of ,daniel ,foe1 ,dr4 ,annesley was one of the three thousand clergymen who were driven out of their benefices by the ,act of ,uniformity4 ,james ,foe was then one of the congregation that followed him into exile1 and looked up to him as spiritual guide when he was able to open a meeting-house in ,little ,st4 ,helen's4 ,thus ,daniel ,foe1 not yet ,de ,foe1 was trained under the influence of ,dr4 ,annesley1 and by his advice sent to the ,academy at ,newington ,green1 where ,charles ,morton1 a good ,oxford scholar1 trained young men for the pulpits of the ,nonconformists4 ,in later days1 when driven to ,america by the persecution of opinion1 ,morton became ,vice-,president of ,harvard ,college4 ,charles ,morton sought to include in his teaching at ,newington ,green a training in such knowledge of current history as would show his boys the origin and meaning of the controversies of the day in which1 as men1 they might hereafter take their part4 ,he took pains1 also1 to train them in the use of ,english4 8,we were not10 ,defoe said afterwards1 8destitute of language1 but we were made masters of ,english2 and more of us excelled in that particular than of any school at that time40 ,daniel ,foe did not pass on into the ministry for which he had been trained4 ,he said afterwards1 in his 8,review10 8,it was my disaster first to be set apart for1 and then to be set apart from1 the honour of that sacred employ40 ,at the age of about nineteen he went into business as a hose factor in ,freeman's ,court1 ,cornhill4 ,he may have bought succession to a business1 or sought to make one in a way of life that required no capital4 ,he acted simply as broker between the manufacturer and the retailer4 ,he remained at the business in ,freeman's ,court for seven years1 subject to political distractions4 ,in #afhc1 still in the reign of ,charles the ,second1 ,daniel ,foe1 aged twenty-two1 published a pamphlet called 8,presbytery ,roughdrawn40 ,charles died on the #fth of ,february1 #afhe4 ,on the #adth of the next ,june the ,duke of ,monmouth landed at ,lyme with eighty-three followers1 hoping that ,englishmen enough would flock about his standard to overthrow the ,government of ,james the ,second1 for whose exclusion1 as a ,roman ,catholic1 from the succession to the throne there had been so long a struggle in his brother's reign4 ,daniel ,foe took leave of absence from his business in ,freeman's ,court1 joined ,monmouth1 and shared the defeat at ,sedgmoor on the #fth of ,july4 ,judge ,jeffreys then made progress through the ,west1 and ,daniel ,foe escaped from his clutches4 ,on the #aeth of ,july ,monmouth was executed4 ,daniel ,foe found it convenient at that time to pay personal attention to some business affairs in ,spain4 ,his name suggests an ,english reading of a ,spanish name1 ,fo1 and more than once in his life there are indications of friends in ,spain about whom we know nothing4 ,daniel ,foe went to ,spain in the time of danger to his life1 for taking part in the rebellion of the ,duke of ,monmouth1 and when he came back he wrote himself ,de ,foe4 ,he may have heard pedigree discussed among his ,spanish friends2 he may have wished to avoid drawing attention to a name entered under the letter ,f in a list of rebels4 ,he may have played on the distinction between himself and his father1 still living1 that one was ,mr4 ,foe1 the other ,mr4 ,d4 ,foe4 ,he may have meant to write much1 and wishing to be a friend to his country1 meant also to deprive punsters of the opportunity of calling him a ,foe4 ,whatever his chief reason for the change1 we may be sure that it was practical4 ,in ,april1 #afhg1 ,james the ,second issued a ,declaration for ,liberty of ,conscience in ,england1 by which he suspended penal laws against all ,roman ,catholics and ,nonconformists1 and dispensed with oaths and tests established by the law4 ,this was a stretch of the king's prerogative that produced results immediately welcome to the ,nonconformists1 who sent up addresses of thanks4 ,defoe saw clearly that a king who is thanked for overruling an unwelcome law has the whole point conceded to him of right to overrule the law4 ,in that sense he wrote1 8,a ,letter containing some ,reflections on ,his ,majesty's ,declaration for ,liberty of ,conscience10 to warn the ,nonconformists of the great mistake into which some were falling4 8,was ever anything10 he asked afterwards1 8more absurd than this conduct of ,king ,james and his party1 in wheedling the ,dissenters2 giving them liberty of conscience by his own arbitrary dispensing authority1 and his expecting they should be content with their religious liberty at the price of the ,constitution80 ,in the letter itself he pointed out that 8the king's suspending of laws strikes at the root of this whole ,government1 and subverts it quite4 ,the ,lords and ,commons have such a share in it1 that no law can be either made1 repealed1 or1 which is all one1 suspended1 but by their consent40 ,in ,january1 #afhh1 ,defoe having inherited the freedom of the ,city of ,london1 took it up1 and signed his name in the ,chamberlain's book1 on the #bfth of that month1 without the 8de10 8,daniel ,foe40 ,on the #eth of ,november1 #afhh1 there was another landing1 that of ,william of ,orange1 in ,torbay1 which threatened the government of ,james the ,second4 ,defoe again rode out1 met the army of ,william at ,henley-on-,thames1 and joined its second line as a volunteer4 ,he was present when it was resolved1 on the #acth of ,february1 #afhi1 that the flight of ,james had been an abdication2 and he was one of the mounted citizens who formed a guard of honour when ,william and ,mary paid their first visit to ,guildhall4 ,defoe was at this time twenty-eight years old1 married1 and living in a house at ,tooting1 where he had also been active in foundation of a chapel4 ,from hose factor he had become merchant adventurer in trade with ,spain1 and is said by one writer of his time to have been a 8civet-cat merchant40 ,failing then in some venture in #afib1 he became bankrupt1 and had one vindictive creditor who1 according to the law of those days1 had power to shut him in prison1 and destroy all power of recovering his loss and putting himself straight with the world4 ,until his other creditors had conquered that one enemy1 and could give him freedom to earn money again and pay his debts--when that time came he proved his sense of honesty to much larger than the letter of the law--,defoe left ,london for ,bristol1 and there kept out of the way of arrest4 ,he was visible only on ,sunday1 and known1 therefore1 as 8the ,sunday ,gentleman40 ,his lodging was at the ,red ,lion ,inn1 in ,castle ,street4 ,the house1 no longer an inn1 still stands1 as numbers #hj and #ha in that street4 ,there ,defoe wrote this 8,essay on ,projects40 ,he was there until #afid1 when he received offers that would have settled him prosperously in business at ,cadiz1 but he held by his country4 ,the cheek on free action was removed1 and the ,government received with favour a project of his1 which is not included in the ,essay1 8for raising money to supply the occasions of the war then newly begun40 ,he had also a project for the raising of money to supply his own occasions by the establishment of pantile works1 which proved successful4 ,defoe could not be idle4 ,in a desert island he would1 like his ,robinson ,crusoe1 have spent time1 not in lamentation1 but in steady work to get away4 ,h4 ,m4 ,,author',s ,,preface4 ,,to ,,dalby ,,thomas1 ,,esq41 ,one of the ,commission's for ,managing ,his majesty's ,duties on ,glass1 c4 ,,sir1 ,,this preface comes directed to you1 not as commissioner1 c41 under whom ,i have the honour to serve his ,majesty1 nor as a friend1 though ,i have great obligations of that sort also1 but as the most proper judge of the subjects treated of1 and more capable than the greatest part of mankind to distinguish and understand them4 ,books are useful only to such whose genius are suitable to the subject of them2 and to dedicate a book of projects to a person who had never concerned himself to think that way would be like music to one that has no ear4 ,and yet your having a capacity to judge of these things no way brings you under the despicable title of a projector1 any more than knowing the practices and subtleties of wicked men makes a man guilty of their crimes4 ,the several chapters of this book are the results of particular thoughts occasioned by conversing with the public affairs during the present war with ,france4 ,the losses and casualties which attend all trading nations in the world1 when involved in so cruel a war as this1 have reached us all1 and ,i am none of the least sufferers2 if this has put me1 as well as others1 on inventions and projects1 so much the subject of this book1 it is no more than a proof of the reason ,i give for the general projecting humour of the nation4 ,one unhappiness ,i lie under in the following book1 viz43 ,that having kept the greatest part of it by me for near five years1 several of the thoughts seem to be hit by other hands1 and some by the public1 which turns the tables upon me1 as if ,i had borrowed from them4 ,as particularly that of the seamen1 which you know well ,i had contrived long before the ,act for registering seamen was proposed4 ,and that of educating women1 which ,i think myself bound to declare1 was formed long before the book called 8,advice to the ,ladies0 was made public2 and yet ,i do not write this to magnify my own invention1 but to acquit myself from grafting on other people's thoughts4 ,if ,i have trespassed upon any person in the world1 it is upon yourself1 from whom ,i had some of the notions about county banks1 and factories for goods1 in the chapter of banks2 and yet ,i do not think that my proposal for the women or the seamen clashes at all1 either with that book1 or the public method of registering seamen4 ,i have been told since this was done that my proposal for a commission of inquiries into bankrupt estates is borrowed from the ,dutch2 if there is anything like it among the ,dutch1 it is more than ever ,i knew1 or know yet2 but if so1 ,i hope it is no objection against our having the same here1 especially if it be true that it would be so publicly beneficial as is expressed4 ,what is said of friendly societies1 ,i think no man will dispute with me1 since one has met with so much success already in the practice of it4 ,i mean the ,friendly ,society for ,widows1 of which you have been pleased to be a governor4 ,friendly societies are very extensive1 and1 as ,i have hinted1 might be carried on to many particulars4 ,i have omitted one which was mentioned in discourse with yourself1 where a hundred tradesmen1 all of several trades1 agree together to buy whatever they want of one another1 and nowhere else1 prices and payments to be settled among themselves2 whereby every man is sure to have ninety-nine customers1 and can never want a trade2 and ,i could have filled up the book with instances of like nature1 but ,i never designed to fire the reader with particulars4 ,the proposal of the pension office you will soon see offered to the public as an attempt for the relief of the poor2 which1 if it meets with encouragement1 will every way answer all the great things ,i have said of it4 ,i had wrote a great many sheets about the coin1 about bringing in plate to the ,mint1 and about our standard2 but so many great heads being upon it1 with some of whom my opinion does not agree1 ,i would not adventure to appear in print upon that subject4 ,ways and means also ,i have laid by on the same score3 only adhering to this one point1 that be it by taxing the wares they sell1 be it by taxing them in stock1 be it by composition--which1 by the way1 ,i believe is the best--be it by what way soever the ,parliament please1 the retailers are the men who seem to call upon us to be taxed2 if not by their own extraordinary good circumstances1 though that might bear it1 yet by the contrary in all other degrees of the kingdom4 ,besides1 the retailers are the only men who could pay it with least damage1 because it is in their power to levy it again upon their customers in the prices of their goods1 and is no more than paying a higher rent for their shops4 ,the retailers of manufactures1 especially so far as relates to the inland trade1 have never been taxed yet1 and their wealth or number is not easily calculated4 ,trade and land has been handled roughly enough1 and these are the men who now lie as a reserve to carry on the burden of the war4 ,these are the men who1 were the land tax collected as it should be1 ought to pay the king more than that whole ,bill ever produced2 and yet these are the men who1 ,i think ,i may venture to say1 do not pay a twentieth part in that ,bill4 ,should the king appoint a survey over the assessors1 and indict all those who were found faulty1 allowing a reward to any discoverer of an assessment made lower than the literal sense of the ,act implies1 what a register of frauds and connivances would be found out6 ,in a general tax1 if any should be excused1 it should be the poor1 who are not able to pay1 or at least are pinched in the necessary parts of life by paying4 ,and yet here a poor labourer1 who works for twelve pence or eighteen pence a day1 does not drink a pot of beer but pays the king a tenth part for excise2 and really pays more to the king's taxes in a year than a country shopkeeper1 who is alderman of the town1 worth perhaps two or three thousand pounds1 brews his own beer1 pays no excise1 and in the land-tax is rated it may be at #ajj1 and pays #a #ds4 per annum1 but ought1 if the ,act were put in due execution1 to pay #cf per annum to the king4 ,if ,i were to be asked how ,i would remedy this1 ,i would answer1 it should be by some method in which every man may be taxed in the due proportion to his estate1 and the ,act put in execution1 according to the true intent and meaning of it1 in order to which a commission of assessment should be granted to twelve men1 such as his ,majesty should be well satisfied of1 who should go through the whole kingdom1 three in a body1 and should make a new assessment of personal estates1 not to meddle with land4 ,to these assessors should all the old rates1 parish books1 poor rates1 and highway rates1 also be delivered2 and upon due inquiry to be made into the manner of living1 and reputed wealth of the people1 the stock or personal estate of every man should be assessed1 without connivance2 and he who is reputed to be worth a thousand pounds should be taxed at a thousand pounds1 and so on2 and he who was an overgrown rich tradesman of twenty or thirty thousand pounds estate should be taxed so1 and plain ,english and plain dealing be practised indifferently throughout the kingdom2 tradesmen and landed men should have neighbours' fare1 as we call it1 and a rich man should not be passed by when a poor man pays4 ,we read of the inhabitants of ,constantinople1 that they suffered their city to be lost for want of contributing in time for its defence1 and pleaded poverty to their generous emperor when he went from house to house to persuade them2 and yet when the ,turks took it1 the prodigious immense wealth they found in it1 made them wonder at the sordid temper of the citizens4 ,england 7with due exceptions to the ,parliament1 and the freedom wherewith they have given to the public charge7 is much like ,constantinople2 we are involved in a dangerous1 a chargeable1 but withal a most just and necessary war1 and the richest and moneyed men in the kingdom plead poverty2 and the ,french1 or ,king ,james1 or the devil may come for them1 if they can but conceal their estates from the public notice1 and get the assessors to tax them at an under rate4 ,these are the men this commission would discover2 and here they should find men taxed at #ejj stock who are worth #bj1jjj4 ,here they should find a certain rich man near ,hackney rated to-day in the tax-book at #a1jjj stock1 and to-morrow offering #bg1jjj for an estate4 ,here they should find ,sir ,j-- ,c-- perhaps taxed to the king at #e1jjj stock1 perhaps not so much1 whose cash no man can guess at2 and multitudes of instances ,i could give by name without wrong to the gentlemen4 ,and1 not to run on in particulars1 ,i affirm that in the land-tax ten certain gentlemen in ,london put together did not pay for half so much personal estate1 called stock1 as the poorest of them is reputed really to possess4 ,i do not inquire at whose door this fraud must lie2 it is none of my business4 ,i wish they would search into it whose power can punish it4 ,but this1 with submission1 ,i presume to say3 ,the king is thereby defrauded and horribly abused1 the true intent and meaning of ,acts of ,parliament evaded1 the nation involved in debt by fatal deficiencies and interests1 fellow-subjects abused1 and new inventions for taxes occasioned4 ,the last chapter in this book is a proposal about entering all the seamen in ,england into the king's pay--a subject which deserves to be enlarged into a book itself2 and ,i have a little volume of calculations and particulars by me on that head1 but ,i thought them too long to publish4 ,in short1 ,i am persuaded1 was that method proposed to those gentlemen to whom such things belong1 the greatest sum of money might be raised by it1 with the least injury to those who pay it1 that ever was or will be during the war4 ,projectors1 they say1 are generally to be taken with allowance of one-half at least2 they always have their mouths full of millions1 and talk big of their own proposals4 ,and therefore ,i have not exposed the vast sums my calculations amount to2 but ,i venture to say ,i could procure a farm on such a proposal as this at three millions per annum1 and give very good security for payment--such an opinion ,i have of the value of such a method2 and when that is done1 the nation would get three more by paying it1 which is very strange1 but might easily be made out4 ,in the chapter of academies ,i have ventured to reprove the vicious custom of swearing4 ,i shall make no apology for the fact1 for no man ought to be ashamed of exposing what all men ought to be ashamed of practising4 ,but methinks ,i stand corrected by my own laws a little1 in forcing the reader to repeat some of the worst of our vulgar imprecations1 in reading my thoughts against it2 to which1 however1 ,i have this to reply3 ,first1 ,i did not find it easy to express what ,i mean without putting down the very words--at least1 not so as to be very intelligible4 ,secondly1 why should words repeated only to expose the vice1 taint the reader more than a sermon preached against lewdness should the assembly8--for of necessity it leads the hearer to the thoughts of the fact4 ,but the morality of every action lies in the end2 and if the reader by ill-use renders himself guilty of the fact in reading1 which ,i designed to expose by writing1 the fault is his1 not mine4 ,i have endeavoured everywhere in this book to be as concise as possible1 except where calculations obliged me to be particular2 and having avoided impertinence in the book1 ,i would avoid it too1 in the preface1 and therefore shall break off with subscribing myself1 ,sir1 ,your most obliged1 humble servant ,d4 ,f4 ,,author',s ,,introduction4 ,,necessity1 which is allowed to be the mother of invention1 has so violently agitated the wits of men at this time that it seems not at all improper1 by way of distinction1 to call it the ,projecting ,age4 ,for though in times of war and public confusions the like humour of invention has seemed to stir1 yet1 without being partial to the present1 it is1 ,i think1 no injury to say the past ages have never come up to the degree of projecting and inventing1 as it refers to matters of negotiation and methods of civil polity1 which we see this age arrived to4 ,nor is it a hard matter to assign probable causes of the perfection in this modern art4 ,i am not of their melancholy opinion who ascribe it to the general poverty of the nation1 since ,i believe it is easy to prove the nation itself1 taking it as one general stock1 is not at all diminished or impoverished by this long1 this chargeable war1 but1 on the contrary1 was never richer since it was inhabited4 ,nor am ,i absolutely of the opinion that we are so happy as to be wiser in this age than our forefathers2 though at the same time ,i must own some parts of knowledge in science as well as art have received improvements in this age altogether concealed from the former4 ,the art of war1 which ,i take to be the highest perfection of human knowledge1 is a sufficient proof of what ,i say1 especially in conducting armies and in offensive engines4 ,witness the now ways of rallies1 fougades1 entrenchments1 attacks1 lodgments1 and a long et cetera of new inventions which want names1 practised in sieges and encampments2 witness the new forts of bombs and unheard-of mortars1 of seven to ten ton weight1 with which our fleets1 standing two or three miles off at sea1 can imitate ,god ,almighty ,himself and rain fire and brimstone out of heaven1 as it were1 upon towns built on the firm land2 witness also our new-invented child of hell1 the machine which carries thunder1 lightning1 and earthquakes in its bowels1 and tears up the most impregnable fortification4 ,but if ,i would search for a cause from whence it comes to pass that this age swarms with such a multitude of projectors more than usual1 who--besides the innumerable conceptions1 which die in the bringing forth1 and 7like abortions of the brain7 only come into the air and dissolve--do really every day produce new contrivances1 engines1 and projects to get money1 never before thought of2 if1 ,i say1 ,i would examine whence this comes to pass1 it must be thus3 ,the losses and depredations which this war brought with it at first were exceeding many1 suffered chiefly by the ill-conduct of merchants themselves1 who did not apprehend the danger to be really what it was3 for before our ,admiralty could possibly settle convoys1 cruisers1 and stations for men-of-war all over the world1 the ,french covered the sea with their privateers and took an incredible number of our ships4 ,i have heard the loss computed1 by those who pretended they were able to guess1 at above fifteen millions of pounds sterling1 in ships and goods1 in the first two or three years of the war--a sum which1 if put into ,french1 would make such a rumbling sound of great numbers as would fright a weak accountant out of his belief1 being no less than one hundred and ninety millions of livres4 ,the weight of this loss fell chiefly on the trading part of the nation1 and1 amongst them1 on the merchants2 and amongst them1 again1 upon the most refined capacities1 as the insurers1 c4 ,and an incredible number of the best merchants in the kingdom sunk under the load1 as may appear a little by a ,bill which once passed the ,house of ,commons for the relief of merchant-insurers1 who had suffered by the war with ,france4 ,if a great many fell1 much greater were the number of those who felt a sensible ebb of their fortunes1 and with difficulty bore up under the loss of great part of their estates4 ,these1 prompted by necessity1 rack their wits for new contrivances1 new inventions1 new trades1 stocks1 projects1 and anything to retrieve the desperate credit of their fortunes4 ,that this is probable to be the cause will appear further thus4 ,france 7though ,i do not believe all the great outcries we make of their misery and distress--if one-half of which be true1 they are certainly the best subjects in the world7 yet without question has felt its share of the losses and damages of the war2 but the poverty there falling chiefly on the poorer sort of people1 they have not been so fruitful in inventions and practices of this nature1 their genius being quite of another strain4 ,as for the gentry and more capable sort1 the first thing a ,frenchman flies to in his distress is the army2 and he seldom comes back from thence to get an estate by painful industry1 but either has his brains knocked out or makes his fortune there4 ,if industry be in any business rewarded with success it is in the merchandising part of the world1 who indeed may more truly be said to live by their wits than any people whatsoever4 ,all foreign negotiation1 though to some it is a plain road by the help of custom1 yet is in its beginning all project1 contrivance1 and invention4 ,every new voyage the merchant contrives is a project2 and ships are sent from port to port1 as markets and merchandises differ1 by the help of strange and universal intelligence--wherein some are so exquisite1 so swift1 and so exact1 that a merchant sitting at home in his counting-house at once converses with all parts of the known world4 ,this and travel make a true-bred merchant the most intelligent man in the world1 and consequently the most capable1 when urged by necessity1 to contrive new ways to live4 ,and from hence1 ,i humbly conceive1 may very properly be derived the projects1 so much the subject of the present discourse4 ,and to this sort of men it is easy to trace the original of banks1 stocks1 stock-jobbing1 assurances1 friendly societies1 lotteries1 and the like4 ,to this may be added the long annual inquiry in the ,house of ,commons for ways and means1 which has been a particular movement to set all the heads of the nation at work2 and ,i appeal1 with submission1 to the gentlemen of that honourable ,house1 if the greatest part of all the ways and means out of the common road of land taxes1 polls1 and the like1 have not been handed to them from the merchant1 and in a great measure paid by them too4 ,however1 ,i offer this but as an essay at the original of this prevailing humour of the people2 and as it is probable1 so it is also possible to be otherwise1 which ,i submit to future demonstration4 ,of the several ways this faculty of projecting have exerted itself1 and of the various methods1 as the genius of the authors has inclined1 ,i have been a diligent observer and1 in most1 an unconcerned spectator1 and perhaps have some advantage from thence more easily to discover the faux pas of the actors4 ,if ,i have given an essay towards anything new1 or made discovery to advantage of any contrivance now on foot1 all men are at the liberty to make use of the improvement2 if any fraud is discovered1 as now practised1 it is without any particular reflection upon parties or persons4 ,projects of the nature ,i treat about are doubtless in general of public advantage1 as they tend to improvement of trade1 and employment of the poor1 and the circulation and increase of the public stock of the kingdom2 but this is supposed of such as are built on the honest basis of ingenuity and improvement1 in which1 though ,i will allow the author to aim primarily at his own advantage1 yet with the circumstances of public benefit added4 ,wherefore it is necessary to distinguish among the projects of the present times between the honest and the dishonest4 ,there are1 and that too many1 fair pretences of fine discoveries1 new inventions1 engines1 and ,i know not what1 which--being advanced in notion1 and talked up to great things to be performed when such and such sums of money shall be advanced1 and such and such engines are made--have raised the fancies of credulous people to such a height that1 merely on the shadow of expectation1 they have formed companies1 chose committees1 appointed officers1 shares1 and books1 raised great stocks1 and cried up an empty notion to that degree that people have been betrayed to part with their money for shares in a new nothing2 and when the inventors have carried on the jest till they have sold all their own interest1 they leave the cloud to vanish of itself1 and the poor purchasers to quarrel with one another1 and go to law about settlements1 transferrings1 and some bone or other thrown among them by the subtlety of the author to lay the blame of the miscarriage upon themselves4 ,thus the shares at first begin to fall by degrees1 and happy is he that sells in time2 till1 like brass money1 it will go at last for nothing at all4 ,so have ,i seen shares in joint-stocks1 patents1 engines1 and undertakings1 blown up by the air of great words1 and the name of some man of credit concerned1 to #ajj for a five-hundredth part or share 7some more71 and at last dwindle away till it has been stock-jobbed down to #aj1 #ab1 #i1 #h a share1 and at last no buyer 7that is1 in short1 the fine new word for nothing-worth71 and many families ruined by the purchase4 ,if ,i should name linen manufactures1 saltpetre-works1 copper mines1 diving engines1 dipping1 and the like1 for instances of this1 ,i should1 ,i believe1 do no wrong to truth1 or to some persons too visibly guilty4 ,i might go on upon this subject to expose the frauds and tricks of stock-jobbers1 engineers1 patentees1 committees1 with those ,exchange mountebanks we very properly call brokers1 but ,i have not gaul enough for such a work2 but as a general rule of caution to those who would not be tricked out of their estates by such pretenders to new inventions1 let them observe that all such people who may be suspected of design have assuredly this in their proposal3 your money to the author must go before the experiment4 ,and here ,i could give a very diverting history of a patent-monger whose cully was nobody but myself1 but ,i refer it to another occasion4 ,but this is no reason why invention upon honest foundations and to fair purposes should not be encouraged2 no1 nor why the author of any such fair contrivances should not reap the harvest of his own ingenuity4 ,our ,acts of ,parliament for granting patents to first inventors for fourteen years is a sufficient acknowledgment of the due regard which ought to be had to such as find out anything which may be of public advantage2 new discoveries in trade1 in arts and mysteries1 of manufacturing goods1 or improvement of land1 are without question of as great benefit as any discoveries made in the works of nature by all the academies and royal societies in the world4 ,there is1 it is true1 a great difference between new inventions and projects1 between improvement of manufactures or lands 7which tend to the immediate benefit of the public1 and employing of the poor71 and projects framed by subtle heads with a sort of a deceptio visus and legerdemain1 to bring people to run needless and unusual hazards3 ,i grant it1 and give a due preference to the first4 ,and yet success has so sanctified some of those other sorts of projects that it would be a kind of blasphemy against fortune to disallow them4 ,witness ,sir ,william ,phips's voyage to the wreck2 it was a mere project2 a lottery of a hundred thousand to one odds2 a hazard which1 if it had failed1 everybody would have been ashamed to have owned themselves concerned in2 a voyage that would have been as much ridiculed as ,don ,quixote's adventure upon the windmill4 ,bless us6 that folks should go three thousand miles to angle in the open sea for pieces of eight6 ,why1 they would have made ballads of it1 and the merchants would have said of every unlikely adventure1 8,it1 was like ,phips's wreck-voyage40 ,but it had success1 and who reflects upon the project8 8,nothing's so partial as the laws of fate1 ,erecting blockheads to suppress the great4 ,sir ,francis ,drake the ,spanish plate-fleet won2 ,he had been a pirate if he had got none4 ,sir ,walter ,raleigh strove1 but missed the plate1 ,and therefore died a traitor to the ,state4 ,endeavour bears a value more or less1 ,just as 'tis recommended by success3 ,the lucky coxcomb ev'ry man will prize1 ,and prosp'rous actions always pass for wise40 ,however1 this sort of projects comes under no reflection as to their honesty1 save that there is a kind of honesty a man owes to himself and to his family that prohibits him throwing away his estate in impracticable1 improbable adventures2 but still some hit1 even of the most unlikely1 of which this was one of ,sir ,william ,phips1 who brought home a cargo of silver of near #bjj1jjj sterling1 in pieces of eight1 fished up out of the open sea1 remote from any shore1 from an old ,spanish ship which had been sunk above forty years4 ,,the ,,history ,,of ,,projects4 ,,when ,i speak of writing a ,history of ,projects1 ,i do not mean either of the introduction of1 or continuing1 necessary inventions1 or the improvement of arts and sciences before known1 but a short account of projects and projecting1 as the word is allowed in the general acceptation at this present time2 and ,i need not go far back for the original of the practice4 ,invention of arts1 with engines and handicraft instruments for their improvement1 requires a chronology as far back as the eldest son of ,adam1 and has to this day afforded some new discovery in every age4 ,the building of the ,ark by ,noah1 so far as you will allow it a human work1 was the first project ,i read of2 and1 no question1 seemed so ridiculous to the graver heads of that wise1 though wicked1 age that poor ,noah was sufficiently bantered for it3 and1 had he not been set on work by a very peculiar direction from heaven1 the good old man would certainly have been laughed out of it as a most senseless ridiculous project4 ,the building of ,babel was a right project2 for indeed the true definition of a project1 according to modern acceptation1 is1 as is said before1 a vast undertaking1 too big to be managed1 and therefore likely enough to come to nothing4 ,and yet1 as great as they are1 it is certainly true of them all1 even as the projectors propose3 that1 according to the old tale1 if so many eggs are hatched1 there will be so many chickens1 and those chickens may lay so many eggs more1 and those eggs produce so many chickens more1 and so on4 ,thus it was most certainly true that if the people of the ,old ,world could have built a house up to heaven1 they should never be drowned again on earth1 and they only had forgot to measure the height2 that is1 as in other projects1 it only miscarried1 or else it would have succeeded4 ,and yet1 when all is done1 that very building1 and the incredible height it was carried1 is a demonstration of the vast knowledge of that infant age of the world1 who had no advantage of the experiments or invention of any before themselves4 8,thus when our fathers1 touched with guilt1 ,that huge stupendous staircase built2 ,we mock1 indeed1 the fruitless enterprise 7,for fruitless actions seldom pass for wise71 ,but were the mighty ruins left1 they'd show ,to what degree that untaught age did know40 ,i believe a very diverting account might be given of this1 but ,i shall not attempt it4 ,some are apt to say with ,solomon1 8,no new thing happens under the sun2 but what is1 has been30 yet ,i make no question but some considerable discovery has been made in these latter ages1 and inventions of human origin produced1 which the world was ever without before1 either in whole or in part2 and ,i refer only to two cardinal points1 the use of the loadstone at sea1 and the use of gunpowder and guns3 both which1 as to the inventing part1 ,i believe the world owes as absolutely to those particular ages as it does the working in brass and iron to ,tubal ,cain1 or the inventing of music to ,jubal1 his brother4 ,as to engines and instruments for handicraftsmen1 this age1 ,i daresay1 can show such as never were so much as thought of1 much less imitated before2 for ,i do not call that a real invention which has something before done like it--,i account that more properly an improvement4 ,for handicraft instruments1 ,i know none owes more to true genuine contrivance1 without borrowing from any former use1 than a mechanic engine contrived in our time called a knitting-frame1 which1 built with admirable symmetry1 works really with a very happy success1 and may be observed by the curious to have a more than ordinary composition2 for which ,i refer to the engine itself1 to be seen in every stocking-weaver's garret4 ,i shall trace the original of the projecting humour that now reigns no farther back than the year #afhj1 dating its birth as a monster then1 though by times it had indeed something of life in the time of the late civil war4 ,i allow1 no age has been altogether without something of this nature1 and some very happy projects are left to us as a taste of their success2 as the water-houses for supplying of the city of ,london with water1 and1 since that1 the ,new ,river--both very considerable undertakings1 and perfect projects1 adventured on the risk of success4 ,in the reign of ,king ,charles ,i4 infinite projects were set on foot for raising money without a ,parliament3 oppressing by monopolies and privy seals2 but these are excluded our scheme as irregularities1 for thus the ,french are as fruitful in projects as we2 and these are rather stratagems than projects4 ,after the ,fire of ,london the contrivance of an engine to quench fires was a project the author was said to get well by1 and we have found to be very useful4 ,but about the year #afhj began the art and mystery of projecting to creep into the world4 ,prince ,rupert1 uncle to ,king ,charles ,,ii41 gave great encouragement to that part of it that respects engines and mechanical motions2 and ,bishop ,wilkins added as much of the theory to it as writing a book could do4 ,the prince has left us a metal called by his name2 and the first project upon that was1 as ,i remember1 casting of guns of that metal and boring them--done both by a peculiar method of his own1 and which died with him1 to the great loss of the undertaker1 who to that purpose had1 with no small charge1 erected a water-mill at ,hackney ,marsh1 known by the name of the ,temple ,mill1 which mill very happily performed all parts of the work2 and ,i have seen some of those guns on board the ,royal ,charles1 a first-rate ship1 being of a reddish colour1 different either from brass or copper4 ,i have heard some reasons of state assigned why that project was not permitted to go forward2 but ,i omit them1 because ,i have no good authority for them4 ,after this we saw a floating-machine1 to be wrought with horses1 for the towing of great ships both against wind and tide2 and another for the raising of ballast1 which1 as unperforming engines1 had the honour of being made1 exposed1 tried1 and laid by before the prince died4 ,if thus we introduce it into the world under the conduct of that prince1 when he died it was left a hopeless brat1 and had hardly any hand to own it1 till the wreck-voyage before noted1 performed so happily by ,captain ,phips1 afterwards ,sir ,william1 whose strange performance set a great many heads on work to contrive something for themselves4 ,he was immediately followed by my ,lord ,mordant1 ,sir ,john ,narborough1 and others from several parts1 whose success made them soon weary of the work4 ,the project of the ,penny ,post1 so well known and still practised1 ,i cannot omit1 nor the contriver1 ,mr4 ,dockwra1 who has had the honour to have the injury done him in that affair repaired in some measure by the public justice of the ,parliament4 ,and1 the experiment proving it to be a noble and useful design1 the author must be remembered1 wherever mention is made of that affair1 to his very great reputation4 ,it was1 no question1 a great hardship for a man to be master of so fine a thought1 that had both the essential ends of a project in it 7public good and private want71 and that the public should reap the benefit and the author be left out2 the injustice of which1 no doubt1 discouraged many a good design4 ,but since an alteration in public circumstances has recovered the lost attribute of justice1 the like is not to be feared4 ,and ,mr4 ,dockwra has had the satisfaction to see the former injury disowned1 and an honourable return made1 even by them who did not the injury1 in bare respect to his ingenuity4 ,a while before this several people1 under the patronage of some great persons1 had engaged in planting of foreign colonies 7as ,william ,penn1 the ,lord ,shaftesbury1 ,dr4 ,cox1 and others7 in ,pennsylvania1 ,carolina1 ,east and ,west ,jersey1 and the like places1 which ,i do not call projects1 because it was only prosecuting what had been formerly begun4 ,but here began the forming of public joint-stocks1 which1 together with the ,east ,india1 ,african1 and ,hudson's ,bay ,companies1 before established1 begot a new trade1 which we call by a new name stock-jobbing1 which was at first only the simple occasional transferring of interest and shares from one to another1 as persons alienated their estates2 but by the industry of the ,exchange brokers1 who got the business into their hands1 it became a trade1 and one perhaps managed with the greatest intrigue1 artifice1 and trick that ever anything that appeared with a face of honesty could be handled with2 for while the brokers held the box1 they made the whole ,exchange the gamesters1 and raised and lowered the prices of stocks as they pleased1 and always had both buyers and sellers who stood ready innocently to commit their money to the mercy of their mercenary tongues4 ,this upstart of a trade1 having tasted the sweetness of success which generally attends a novel proposal1 introduces the illegitimate wandering object ,i speak of1 as a proper engine to find work for the brokers4 ,thus stock-jobbing nursed projecting1 and projecting1 in return1 has very diligently pimped for its foster-parent1 till both are arrived to be public grievances1 and indeed are now almost grown scandalous4 ,,of ,,projectors4 ,,man is the worst of all ,god's creatures to shift for himself2 no other animal is ever starved to death2 nature without has provided them both food and clothes1 and nature within has placed an instinct that never fails to direct them to proper means for a supply2 but man must either work or starve1 slave or die4 ,he has indeed reason given him to direct him1 and few who follow the dictates of that reason come to such unhappy exigences2 but when by the errors of a man's youth he has reduced himself to such a degree of distress as to be absolutely without three things--money1 friends1 and health--he dies in a ditch1 or in some worse place1 a hospital4 ,ten thousand ways there are to bring a man to this1 and but very few to bring him out again4 ,death is the universal deliverer1 and therefore some who want courage to bear what they see before them1 hang themselves for fear2 for certainly self-destruction is the effect of cowardice in the highest extreme4 ,others break the bounds of laws to satisfy that general law of nature1 and turn open thieves1 house-breakers1 highwaymen1 clippers1 coiners1 c41 till they run the length of the gallows1 and get a deliverance the nearest way at ,st4 ,tyburn4 ,others1 being masters of more cunning than their neighbours1 turn their thoughts to private methods of trick and cheat1 a modern way of thieving every jot as criminal1 and in some degree worse than the other1 by which honest men are gulled with fair pretences to part from their money1 and then left to take their course with the author1 who skulks behind the curtain of a protection1 or in the ,mint or ,friars1 and bids defiance as well to honesty as the law4 ,others1 yet urged by the same necessity1 turn their thoughts to honest invention1 founded upon the platform of ingenuity and integrity4 ,these two last sorts are those we call projectors2 and as there was always more geese than swans1 the number of the latter are very inconsiderable in comparison of the former2 and as the greater number denominates the less1 the just contempt we have of the former sort bespatters the other1 who1 like cuckolds1 bear the reproach of other people's crimes4 ,a mere projector1 then1 is a contemptible thing1 driven by his own desperate fortune to such a strait that he must be delivered by a miracle1 or starve2 and when he has beat his brains for some such miracle in vain1 he finds no remedy but to paint up some bauble or other1 as players make puppets talk big1 to show like a strange thing1 and then cry it up for a new invention1 gets a patent for it1 divides it into shares1 and they must be sold4 ,ways and means are not wanting to swell the new whim to a vast magnitude2 thousands and hundreds of thousands are the least of his discourse1 and sometimes millions1 till the ambition of some honest coxcomb is wheedled to part with his money for it1 and then 7nascitur ridiculus mus7 the adventurer is left to carry on the project1 and the projector laughs at him4 ,the diver shall walk at the bottom of the ,thames1 the saltpetre maker shall build ,tom ,t--d's pond into houses1 the engineers build models and windmills to draw water1 till funds are raised to carry it on by men who have more money than brains1 and then good-night patent and invention2 the projector has done his business and is gone4 ,but the honest projector is he who1 having by fair and plain principles of sense1 honesty1 and ingenuity brought any contrivance to a suitable perfection1 makes out what he pretends to1 picks nobody's pocket1 puts his project in execution1 and contents himself with the real produce as the profit of his invention4 ,,of ,,banks4 ,,banks1 without question1 if rightly managed are1 or may be1 of great advantage1 especially to a trading people1 as the ,english are2 and1 among many others1 this is one particular case in which that benefit appears3 that they bring down the interest of money1 and take from the goldsmiths1 scriveners1 and others1 who have command of running cash1 their most delicious trade of making advantage of the necessities of the merchant in extravagant discounts and premiums for advance of money1 when either large customs or foreign remittances call for disbursements beyond his common ability2 for by the easiness of terms on which the merchant may have money1 he is encouraged to venture further in trade than otherwise he would do4 ,not but that there are other great advantages a ,royal ,bank might procure in this kingdom1 as has been seen in part by this2 as advancing money to the ,exchequer upon ,parliamentary funds and securities1 by which in time of a war our preparations for any expedition need not be in danger of miscarriage for want of money1 though the taxes raised be not speedily paid1 nor the ,exchequer burthened with the excessive interests paid in former reigns upon anticipations of the revenue2 landed men might be supplied with moneys upon securities on easier terms1 which would prevent the loss of multitudes of estates1 now ruined and devoured by insolent and merciless mortgagees1 and the like4 ,but now we unhappily see a ,royal ,bank established by ,act of ,parliament1 and another with a large fund upon the ,orphans' stock2 and yet these advantages1 or others1 which we expected1 not answered1 though the pretensions in both have not been wanting at such time as they found it needful to introduce themselves into public esteem1 by giving out prints of what they were rather able to do than really intended to practise4 ,so that our having two banks at this time settled1 and more erecting1 has not yet been able to reduce the interest of money1 not because the nature and foundation of their constitution does not tend towards it1 but because1 finding their hands full of better business1 they are wiser than by being slaves to old obsolete proposals to lose the advantage of the great improvement they can make of their stock4 ,this1 however1 does not at all reflect on the nature of a bank1 nor of the benefit it would be to the public trading part of the kingdom1 whatever it may seem to do on the practice of the present4 ,we find four or five banks now in view to be settled4 ,i confess ,i expect no more from those to come than we have found from the past1 and ,i think ,i make no broach on either my charity or good manners in saying so2 and ,i reflect not upon any of the banks that are or shall be established for not doing what ,i mention1 but for making such publications of what they would do4 ,i cannot think any man had expected the ,royal ,bank should lend money on mortgages at #d per cent4 7nor was it much the better for them to make publication they would do so from the beginning of ,january next after their settlement71 since to this day1 as ,i am informed1 they have not lent one farthing in that manner4 ,our banks are indeed nothing but so many goldsmiths' shops1 where the credit being high 7and the directors as high7 people lodge their money2 and they--the directors1 ,i mean--make their advantage of it4 ,if you lay it at demand1 they allow you nothing2 if at time1 #c per cent42 and so would any goldsmith in ,lombard ,street have done before4 ,but the very banks themselves are so awkward in lending1 so strict1 so tedious1 so inquisitive1 and withal so public in their taking securities1 that men who are anything tender won't go to them2 and so the easiness of borrowing money1 so much designed1 is defeated4 ,for here is a private interest to be made1 though it be a public one2 and1 in short1 it is only a great trade carried on for the private gain of a few concerned in the original stock2 and though we are to hope for great things1 because they have promised them1 yet they are all future that we know of4 ,and yet all this while a bank might be very beneficial to this kingdom2 and this might be so1 if either their own ingenuity or public authority would oblige them to take the public good into equal concern with their private interest4 ,to explain what ,i mean2 banks1 being established by public authority1 ought also1 as all public things are1 to be under limitations and restrictions from that authority2 and those limitations being regulated with a proper regard to the ease of trade in general1 and the improvement of the stock in particular1 would make a bank a useful1 profitable thing indeed4 ,first1 a bank ought to be of a magnitude proportioned to the trade of the country it is in1 which this bank is so far from that it is no more to the whole than the least goldsmith's cash in ,lombard ,street is to the bank1 from whence it comes to pass that already more banks are contriving4 ,and ,i question not but banks in ,london will ere long be as frequent as lotteries2 the consequence of which1 in all probability1 will be the diminishing their reputation1 or a civil war with one another4 ,it is true1 the ,bank of ,england has a capital stock2 but yet1 was that stock wholly clear of the public concern of the ,government1 it is not above a fifth part of what would be necessary to manage the whole business of the town--which it ought1 though not to do1 at least to be able to do4 ,and ,i suppose ,i may venture to say above one-half of the stock of the present bank is taken up in the affairs of the ,exchequer4 ,i suppose nobody will take this discourse for an invective against the ,bank of ,england4 ,i believe it is a very good fund1 a very useful one1 and a very profitable one4 ,it has been useful to the ,government1 and it is profitable to the proprietors2 and the establishing it at such a juncture1 when our enemies were making great boasts of our poverty and want of money1 was a particular glory to our nation1 and the city in particular4 ,that when the ,paris ,gazette informed the world that the ,parliament had indeed given the king grants for raising money in funds to be paid in remote years1 but money was so scarce that no anticipations could be procured2 that just then1 besides three millions paid into the ,exchequer that spring on other taxes by way of advance1 there was an overplus-stock to be found of #a1bjj1jjj sterling1 or 7to make it speak ,french7 of above fifteen millions1 which was all paid voluntarily into the ,exchequer4 ,besides this1 ,i believe the present ,bank of ,england has been very useful to the ,exchequer1 and to supply the king with remittances for the payment of the army in ,flanders1 which has also1 by the way1 been very profitable to itself4 ,but still this bank is not of that bulk that the business done here requires1 nor is it able1 with all the stock it has1 to procure the great proposed benefit1 the lowering the interest of money3 whereas all foreign banks absolutely govern the interest1 both at ,amsterdam1 ,genoa1 and other places4 ,and this defect ,i conceive the multiplicity of banks cannot supply1 unless a perfect understanding could be secured between them4 ,to remedy this defect1 several methods might be proposed4 ,some ,i shall take the freedom to hint at3-- ,first1 that the present bank increase their stock to at least five millions sterling1 to be settled as they are already1 with some small limitations to make the methods more beneficial4 ,five millions sterling is an immense sum2 to which add the credit of their cash1 which would supply them with all the overplus-money in the town1 and probably might amount to half as much more2 and then the credit of running bills1 which by circulating would1 no question1 be an equivalent to the other half3 so that in stock1 credit1 and bank-bills the balance of their cash would be always ten millions sterling--a sum that everybody who can talk of does not understand4 ,but then to find business for all this stock1 which1 though it be a strange thing to think of1 is nevertheless easy when it comes to be examined4 ,and first for the business2 this bank should enlarge the number of their directors1 as they do of their stock1 and should then establish several sub-committees1 composed of their own members1 who should have the directing of several offices relating to the distinct sorts of business they referred to1 to be overruled and governed by the governor and directors in a body1 but to have a conclusive power as to contracts4 ,of these there should be-- ,one office for loan of money for customs of goods1 which by a plain method might be so ordered that the merchant might with ease pay the highest customs down1 and so1 by allowing the bank #d per cent4 advance1 be first sure to secure the #aj per cent4 which the king allows for prompt payment at the ,custom ,house1 and be also freed from the troublesome work of finding bondsmen and securities for the money--which has exposed many a man to the tyranny of extents1 either for himself or his friend1 to his utter ruin1 who under a more moderate prosecution had been able to pay all his debts1 and by this method has been torn to pieces and disabled from making any tolerable proposal to his creditors4 ,this is a scene of large business1 and would1 in proportion1 employ a large cash1 and it is the easiest thing in the world to make the bank the paymaster of all the large customs1 and yet the merchant have so honourable a possession of his goods1 as may be neither any diminution to his reputation or any hindrance to their sale4 ,as1 for example1 suppose ,i have #ajj hogsheads of tobacco to import1 whose customs by several duties come to #a1jjj1 and want cash to clear them4 ,i go with my bill of loading to the bank1 who appoint their officer to enter the goods and pay the duties1 which goods1 so entered by the bank1 shall give them title enough to any part1 or the whole1 without the trouble of bills of sale1 or conveyances1 defeasances1 and the like4 ,the goods are carried to a warehouse at the waterside1 where the merchant has a free and public access to them1 as if in his own warehouse and an honourable liberty to sell and deliver either the whole 7paying their disburse7 or a part without it1 leaving but sufficient for the payment1 and out of that part delivered1 either by notes under the hand of the purchaser1 or any other way1 he may clear the same1 without any exactions1 but of #d per cent41 and the rest are his own4 ,the ease this would bring to trade1 the deliverance it would bring to the merchants from the insults of goldsmiths1 c41 and the honour it would give to our management of public imposts1 with the advantages to the ,custom ,house itself1 and the utter destruction of extortion1 would be such as would give a due value to the bank1 and make all mankind acknowledge it to be a public good4 ,the grievance of exactions upon merchants in this case is very great1 and when ,i lay the blame on the goldsmiths1 because they are the principal people made use of in such occasions1 ,i include a great many other sorts of brokers and money-jobbing artists1 who all get a snip out of the merchant4 ,i myself have known a goldsmith in ,lombard ,street lend a man #gjj to pay the customs of a hundred pipes of ,spanish wines2 the wines were made over to him for security by bill of sale1 and put into a cellar1 of which the goldsmith kept the key2 the merchant was to pay #f per cent4 interest on the bond1 and to allow #aj percent4 premium for advancing the money4 ,when he had the wines in possession the owner could not send his cooper to look after them1 but the goldsmith's man must attend all the while1 for which he would be paid #es4 a day4 ,if he brought a customer to see them1 the goldsmith's man must show them4 ,the money was lent for two months4 ,he could not be admitted to sell or deliver a pipe of wine out single1 or two or three at a time1 as he might have sold them2 but on a word or two spoken amiss to the goldsmith 7or which he was pleased to take so71 he would have none sold but the whole parcel together4 ,by this usage the goods lay on hand1 and every month the money remained the goldsmith demanded a guinea per cent4 forbearance1 besides the interest1 till at last by leakage1 decay1 and other accidents1 the wines began to lessen4 ,then the goldsmith begins to tell the merchant he is afraid the wines are not worth the money he has lent1 and demands further security1 and in a little while1 growing higher and rougher1 he tells him he must have his money4 ,the merchant--too much at his mercy1 because he cannot provide the money--is forced to consent to the sale2 and the goods1 being reduced to seventy pipes sound--wine and four unsound 7the rest being sunk for filling up71 were sold for #ac per pipe the sound1 and #c the unsound1 which amounted to #ibb together4 s4 d4 ,the cooper's bill came to #cj #j #j ,the cellarage a year and a half to #ah #j #j ,interests on the bond to #fc #j #j ,the goldsmith's men for attendance #h #j #j ,allowance for advance of the money and #gd #j #j forbearance #aic #j #j ,principal money borrowed #gjj #j #j #hic #j #j ,due to the merchant #bi #j #j #ibb #j #j ,by the moderatest computation that can be1 these wines cost the merchant as follows3-- ,first ,cost with ,charges on ,board4 s4 d4 ,in ,lisbon #ae mille reis per pipe is #a1ejj #dge #j #j mille reis2 exchange1 at #fs4 #d;d4 per mille rei ,freight to ,london1 then at #c per ton #aej #j #j ,assurance on #ejj at #b per cent4 #aj #j #j ,petty charges #e #j #j #fdj #j #j ,so that it is manifest by the extortion of this banker1 the poor man lost the whole capital with freight and charges1 and made but #bi produce of a hundred pipes of wine4 ,one other office of this bank1 and which would take up a considerable branch of the stock1 is for lending money upon pledges1 which should have annexed to it a warehouse and factory1 where all sorts of goods might publicly be sold by the consent of the owners1 to the great advantage of the owner1 the bank receiving #d per cent4 interest41 and #b per cent4 commission for sale of the goods4 ,a third office should be appointed for discounting bills1 tallies1 and notes1 by which all tallies of the ,exchequer1 and any part of the revenue1 should at stated allowances be ready money to any person1 to the great advantage of the ,government1 and ease of all such as are any ways concerned in public undertakings4 ,a fourth office for lending money upon land securities at #d per cent4 interest1 by which the cruelty and injustice of mortgagees would be wholly restrained1 and a register of mortgages might be very well kept1 to prevent frauds4 ,a fifth office for exchanges and foreign correspondences4 ,a sixth for inland exchanges1 where a very large field of business lies before them4 ,under this head it will not be improper to consider that this method will most effectually answer all the notions and proposals of county banks2 for by this office they would be all rendered useless and unprofitable1 since one bank of the magnitude ,i mention1 with a branch of its office set apart for that business1 might with ease manage all the inland exchange of the kingdom4 ,by which such a correspondence with all the trading towns in ,england might be maintained1 as that the whole kingdom should trade with the bank4 ,under the direction of this office a public cashier should be appointed in every county1 to reside in the capital town as to trade 7and in some counties more71 through whose hands all the cash of the revenue of the gentry and of trade should be returned on the bank in ,london1 and from the bank again on their cashier in every respective county or town1 at the small exchange of #j4e per cent41 by which means all loss of money carried upon the road1 to the encouragement of robbers and ruining of the country1 who are sued for those robberies1 would be more effectually prevented than by all the statutes against highwaymen that are or can be made4 ,as to public advancings of money to the ,government1 they may be left to the directors in a body1 as all other disputes and contingent cases are2 and whoever examines these heads of business apart1 and has any judgment in the particulars1 will1 ,i suppose1 allow that a stock of ten millions may find employment in them1 though it be indeed a very great sum4 ,i could offer some very good reasons why this way of management by particular offices for every particular sort of business is not only the easiest1 but the safest1 way of executing an affair of such variety and consequence2 also ,i could state a method for the proceedings of those private offices1 their conjunction with and dependence on the general court of the directors1 and how the various accounts should centre in one general capital account of stock1 with regulations and appeals2 but ,i believe them to be needless--at least1 in this place4 ,if it be objected here that it is impossible for one joint-stock to go through the whole business of the kingdom1 ,i answer1 ,i believe it is not either impossible or impracticable1 particularly on this one account3 that almost all the country business would be managed by running bills1 and those the longest abroad of any1 their distance keeping them out1 to the increasing the credit1 and consequently the stock of the bank4 ,of the ,multiplicity of ,banks4 ,what is touched at in the foregoing part of this chapter refers to one bank royal to preside1 as it were1 over the whole cash of the kingdom3 but because some people do suppose this work fitter for many banks than for one1 ,i must a little consider that head4 ,and first1 allowing those many banks could1 without clashing1 maintain a constant correspondence with one another1 in passing each other's bills as current from one to another1 ,i know not but it might be better performed by many than by one2 for as harmony makes music in sound1 so it produces success in business4 ,a civil war among merchants is always the rain of trade3 ,i cannot think a multitude of banks could so consist with one another in ,england as to join interests and uphold one another's credit1 without joining stocks too2 ,i confess1 if it could be done1 the convenience to trade would be visible4 ,if ,i were to propose which way these banks should be established1 ,i answer1 allowing a due regard to some gentlemen who have had thoughts of the same 7whose methods ,i shall not so much as touch upon1 much less discover2 my thoughts run upon quite different methods1 both for the fund and the establishment74 ,every principal town in ,england is a corporation1 upon which the fund may be settled1 which will sufficiently answer the difficult and chargeable work of suing for a corporation by patent or ,act of ,parliament4 ,a general subscription of stock being made1 and by deeds of settlement placed in the mayor and aldermen of the city or corporation for the time being1 in trust1 to be declared by deeds of uses1 some of the directors being always made members of the said corporation1 and joined in the trust2 the bank hereby becomes the public stock of the town 7something like what they call the rentes of the town-house in ,france71 and is managed in the name of the said corporation1 to whom the directors are accountable1 and they back again to the general court4 ,for example3 suppose the gentlemen or tradesmen of the county of ,norfolk1 by a subscription of cash1 design to establish a bank4 ,the subscriptions being made1 the stock is paid into the chamber of the city of ,norwich1 and managed by a court of directors1 as all banks are1 and chosen out of the subscribers1 the mayor only of the city to be always one2 to be managed in the name of the corporation of the city of ,norwich1 but for the uses in a deed of trust to be made by the subscribers1 and mayor and aldermen1 at large mentioned4 ,i make no question but a bank thus settled would have as firm a foundation as any bank need to have1 and every way answer the ends of a corporation4 ,of these sorts of banks ,england might very well establish fifteen1 at the several towns hereafter mentioned4 ,some of which1 though they are not the capital towns of the counties1 yet are more the centre of trade1 which in ,england runs in veins1 like mines of metal in the earth3 ,canterbury4 ,salisbury4 ,exeter4 ,bristol4 ,worcester4 ,shrewsbury4 ,manchester4 ,newcastle-upon-,tyne4 ,leeds1 or ,halifax1 or ,york4 ,warwick or ,birmingham4 ,oxford or ,reading4 ,bedford4 ,norwich4 ,colchester4 ,every one of these banks to have a cashier in ,london1 unless they could all have a general correspondence and credit with the bank royal4 ,these banks in their respective counties should be a general staple and factory for the manufactures of the said county1 where every man that had goods made1 might have money at a small interest for advance1 the goods in the meantime being sent forward to market1 to a warehouse for that purpose erected in ,london1 where they should be disposed of to all the advantages the owner could expect1 paying only #a per cent4 commission4 ,or if the maker wanted credit in ,london either for ,spanish wool1 cotton1 oil1 or any goods1 while his goods were in the warehouse of the said bank1 his bill should be paid by the bank to the full value of his goods1 or at least within a small matter4 ,these banks1 either by correspondence with each other1 or an order to their cashier in ,london1 might with ease so pass each other's bills that a man who has cash at ,plymouth1 and wants money at ,berwick1 may transfer his cash at ,plymouth to ,newcastle in half-an-hour's time1 without either hazard1 or charge1 or time1 allowing only #j4e per cent4 exchange2 and so of all the most distant parts of the kingdom4 ,or if he wants money at ,newcastle1 and has goods at ,worcester or at any other clothing town1 sending his goods to be sold by the factory of the bank of ,worcester1 he may remit by the bank to ,newcastle1 or anywhere else1 as readily as if his goods were sold and paid for and no exactions made upon him for the convenience he enjoys4 ,this discourse of banks1 the reader is to understand1 to have no relation to the present posture of affairs1 with respect to the scarcity of current money1 which seems to have put a stop to that part of a stock we call credit1 which always is1 and indeed must be1 the most essential part of a bank1 and without which no bank can pretend to subsist--at least1 to advantage4 ,a bank is only a great stock of money put together1 to be employed by some of the subscribers1 in the name of the rest1 for the benefit of the whole4 ,this stock of money subsists not barely on the profits of its own stock 7for that would be inconsiderable71 but upon the contingencies and accidents which multiplicity of business occasions4 ,as1 for instance1 a man that comes for money1 and knows he may have it to-morrow2 perhaps he is in haste1 and won't take it to-day3 only1 that he may be sure of it to-morrow1 he takes a memorandum under the hand of the officer1 that he shall have it whenever he calls for it1 and this memorandum we call a bill4 ,to-morrow1 when he intended to fetch his money1 comes a man to him for money1 and1 to save himself the labour of telling1 he gives him the memorandum or bill aforesaid for his money2 this second man does as the first1 and a third does as he did1 and so the bill runs about a mouth1 two or three4 ,and this is that we call credit1 for by the circulation of a quantity of these bills1 the bank enjoys the full benefit of as much stock in real value as the suppositious value of the bills amounts to2 and wherever this credit fails1 this advantage fails2 for immediately all men come for their money1 and the bank must die of itself3 for ,i am sure no bank1 by the simple improvement of their single stock1 can ever make any considerable advantage4 ,i confess1 a bank who can lay a fund for the security of their bills1 which shall produce first an annual profit to the owner1 and yet make good the passant bill1 may stand1 and be advantageous1 too1 because there is a real and a suppositious value both1 and the real always ready to make good the suppositious3 and this ,i know no way to bring to pass but by land1 which1 at the same time that it lies transferred to secure the value of every bill given out1 brings in a separate profit to the owner2 and this way no question but the whole kingdom might be a bank to itself1 though no ready money were to be found in it4 ,i had gone on in some sheets with my notion of land being the best bottom for public banks1 and the easiness of bringing it to answer all the ends of money deposited with double advantage1 but ,i find myself happily prevented by a gentleman who has published the very same1 though since this was wrote2 and ,i was always master of so much wit as to hold my tongue while they spoke who understood the thing better than myself4 ,mr4 ,john ,asgill1 of ,lincoln's ,inn1 in a small tract entitled1 8,several ,assertions proved1 in order to create another ,species of ,money than ,gold and ,silver10 has so distinctly handled this very case1 with such strength of argument1 such clearness of reason1 such a judgment1 and such a style1 as all the ingenious part of the world must acknowledge themselves extremely obliged to him for that piece4 ,at the sight of which book ,i laid by all that had been written by me on that subject1 for ,i had much rather confess myself incapable of handling that point like him1 than have convinced the world of it by my impertinence4 ,,of ,,the ,,highways4 ,,it is a prodigious charge the whole nation groans under for the repair of highways1 which1 after all1 lie in a very ill posture too4 ,i make no question but if it was taken into consideration by those who have the power to direct it1 the kingdom might be wholly eased of that burden1 and the highways be kept in good condition1 which now lie in a most shameful manner in most parts of the kingdom1 and in many places wholly unpassable1 from whence arise tolls and impositions upon passengers and travellers1 and1 on the other hand1 trespasses and encroachments upon lands adjacent1 to the great damage of the owners4 ,the rate for the highways is the most arbitrary and unequal tax in the kingdom3 in some places two or three rates of sixpence per pound in the year2 in others the whole parish cannot raise wherewith to defray the charge1 either by the very bad condition of the road or distance of materials2 in others the surveyors raise what they never expend2 and the abuses1 exactions1 connivances1 frauds1 and embezzlements are innumerable4 ,the ,romans1 while they governed this island1 made it one of their principal cares to make and repair the highways of the kingdom1 and the chief roads we now use are of their marking out2 the consequence of maintaining them was such1 or at least so esteemed1 that they thought it not below them to employ their legionary troops in the work2 and it was sometimes the business of whole armies1 either when in winter quarters or in the intervals of truce or peace with the natives4 ,nor have the ,romans left us any greater tokens of their grandeur and magnificence than the ruins of those causeways and street-ways which are at this day to be seen in many parts of the kingdom1 some of which have by the visible remains been discovered to traverse the whole kingdom1 and others for more than a hundred miles are to be traced from colony to colony1 as they had particular occasion4 ,the famous highway or street called ,watling ,street1 which some will tell you began at ,london ,stone1 and passing that very street in the ,city which we to this day call by that name1 went on west to that spot where ,tyburn now stands1 and then turned north-west in so straight a line to ,st4 ,albans that it is now the exactest road 7in one line for twenty miles7 in the kingdom2 and though disused now as the chief1 yet is as good1 and1 ,i believe1 the best road to ,st4 ,albans1 and is still called the ,streetway4 ,from whence it is traced into ,shropshire1 above a hundred and sixty miles1 with a multitude of visible antiquities upon it1 discovered and described very accurately by ,mr4 ,cambden4 ,the ,fosse1 another ,roman work1 lies at this day as visible1 and as plain a high causeway1 of above thirty feet broad1 ditched on either side1 and coped and paved where need is--as exact and every jot as beautiful as the king's new road through ,hyde ,park1 in which figure it now lies from near ,marshfield to ,cirencester1 and again from ,cirencester to the ,hill1 three miles on this side ,gloucester1 which is not less than twenty-six miles1 and is made use of as the great road to those towns1 and probably has been so for a thousand years with little repairs4 ,if we set aside the barbarity and customs of the ,romans as heathens1 and take them as a civil government1 we must allow they were the pattern of the whole world for improvement and increase of arts and learning1 civilising and methodising nations and countries conquered by their valour2 and if this was one of their great cares1 that consideration ought to move something4 ,but to the great example of that generous people ,i will add three arguments3-- #a4 ,it is useful1 and that as it is convenient for carriages1 which in a trading country is a great help to negotiation1 and promotes universal correspondence1 without which our inland trade could not be managed4 ,and under this head ,i could name a thousand conveniences of a safe1 pleasant1 well-repaired highway1 both to the inhabitant and the traveller1 but ,i think it is needless4 #b4 ,it is easy4 ,i question not to make it appear it is easy to put all the highroads1 especially in ,england1 in a noble figure2 large1 dry1 and clean2 well drained1 and free from floods1 unpassable sloughs1 deep cart-ruts1 high ridges1 and all the inconveniences they now are full of2 and1 when once done1 much easier still to be maintained so4 #c4 ,it may be cheaper1 and the whole assessment for the repairs of highways for ever be dropped or applied to other uses for the public benefit4 ,here ,i beg the reader's favour for a small digression4 ,i am not proposing this as an undertaker1 or setting a price to the public for which ,i will perform it1 like one of the projectors ,i speak of1 but laying open a project for the performance1 which1 whenever the public affairs will admit our governors to consider of1 will be found so feasible that no question they may find undertakers enough for the performance2 and in this undertaking age ,i do not doubt but it would be easy at any time to procure persons at their own charge to perform it for any single county1 as a pattern and experiment for the whole kingdom4 ,the proposal is as follows3--,first1 that an ,act of ,parliament be made with liberty for the undertakers to dig and trench1 to cut down hedges and trees1 or whatever is needful for ditching1 draining and carrying off water1 cleaning1 enlarging and levelling the roads1 with power to lay open or enclose lands2 to encroach into lands2 dig1 raise1 and level fences2 plant and pull up hedges or trees 7for the enlarging1 widening1 and draining the highways71 with power to turn either the roads or watercourses1 rivers and brooks1 as by the directors of the works shall be found needful1 always allowing satisfaction to be first made to the owners of such lands 7either by assigning to them equivalent lands or payment in money1 the value to be adjusted by two indifferent persons to be named by the ,lord ,chancellor or ,lord ,keeper for the time being71 and no watercourse to be turned from any water-mill without satisfaction first made both to the landlord and tenant4 ,but before ,i proceed1 ,i must say a word or two to this article4 ,the chief1 and almost the only1 cause of the deepness and foulness of the roads is occasioned by the standing water1 which 7for want of due care to draw it off by scouring and opening ditches and drains1 and other watercourses1 and clearing of passages7 soaks into the earth1 and softens it to such a degree that it cannot bear the weight of horses and carriages2 to prevent which1 the power to dig1 trench1 and cut down1 c41 mentioned above will be of absolute necessity4 ,but because the liberty seems very large1 and some may think it is too great a power to be granted to any body of men over their neighbours1 it is answered3-- #a4 ,it is absolutely necessary1 or the work cannot be done1 and the doing of the work is of much greater benefit than the damage can amount to4 #b4 ,satisfaction to be made to the owner 7and that first1 too1 before the damage be done7 is an unquestionable equivalent2 and both together1 ,i think1 are a very full answer to any objection in that case4 ,besides this ,act of ,parliament1 a commission must be granted to fifteen at least1 in the name of the undertakers1 to whom every county shall have power to join ten1 who are to sit with the said fifteen so often and so long as the said fifteen do sit for affairs relating to that county1 which fifteen1 or any seven of them1 shall be directors of the works1 to be advised by the said ten1 or any five of them1 in matters of right and claim1 and the said ten to adjust differences in the countries1 and to have right by process to appeal in the name either of lords of manors1 or privileges of towns or corporations1 who shall be either damaged or encroached upon by the said work4 ,all appeals to be heard and determined immediately by the said ,lord ,chancellor1 or commission from him1 that the work may receive no interruption4 ,this commission shall give power to the said fifteen to press waggons1 carts1 and horses1 oxen and men1 and detain them to work a certain limited time1 and within certain limited space of miles from their own dwellings1 and at a certain rate of payment4 ,no men1 horses1 or carts to be pressed against their consent during the times of hay-time or harvest1 or upon market-days1 if the person aggrieved will make affidavit he is obliged to be with his horses or carts at the said markets4 ,it is well known to all who have any knowledge of the condition the highways in ,england now lie in that in most places there is a convenient distance land left open for travelling1 either for driving of cattle1 or marching of troops of horse1 with perhaps as few lanes or defiles as in any countries4 ,the cross-roads1 which are generally narrow1 are yet broad enough in most places for two carriages to pass2 but1 on the other hand1 we have on most of the highroads a great deal1 if waste land thrown in 7as it were1 for an overplus to the highway71 which1 though it be used of course by cattle and travellers on occasion1 is indeed no benefit at all either to the traveller as a road or to the poor as a common1 or to the lord of the manor as a waste2 upon it grows neither timber nor grass1 in any quantity answerable to the land1 but1 though to no purpose1 is trodden down1 poached1 and overrun by drifts of cattle in the winter1 or spoiled with the dust in the summer4 ,and this ,i have observed in many parts of ,england to be as good land as any of the neighbouring enclosures1 as capable of improvement1 and to as good purpose4 ,these lands only being enclosed and manured1 leaving the roads to dimensions without measure sufficient1 are the fund upon which ,i build the prodigious stock of money that must do this work4 ,these lands 7which ,i shall afterwards make an essay to value71 being enclosed1 will be either saleable to raise money1 or fit to exchange with those gentlemen who must part with some land where the ways are narrow1 always reserving a quantity of these lands to be let out to tenants1 the rent to be paid into the public stock or bank of the undertakers1 and to be reserved for keeping the ways in the same repair1 and the said bank to forfeit the lands if they are not so maintained4 ,another branch of the stock must be hands 7for a stock of men is a stock of money71 to which purpose every county1 city1 town1 and parish shall be rated at a set price1 equivalent to eight years' payment1 for the repair of highways1 which each county1 c41 shall raise1 not by assessment in money1 but by pressing of men1 horses1 and carriages for the work 7the men1 horses1 c41 to be employed by the directors72 in which case all corporal punishments--as of whippings1 stocks1 pillories1 houses of correction1 c4--might be easily transmitted to a certain number of days' work on the highways1 and in consideration of this provision of men the country should for ever after be acquitted of any contribution1 either in money or work1 for repair of the highways--building of bridges excepted4 ,there lie some popular objections against this undertaking2 and the first is 7the great controverted point of ,england7 enclosure of the common1 which tends to depopulation1 and injures the poor4 #b4 ,who shall be judges or surveyors of the work1 to oblige the undertakers to perform to a certain limited degree8 ,for the first1 8the enclosure of the common0--a clause that runs as far as to an encroachment upon ,magna ,charta1 and a most considerable branch of the property of the poor--,i answer it thus3-- #a4 ,the lands we enclose are not such as from which the poor do indeed reap any benefit--or1 at least1 any that is considerable4 #b4 ,the bank and public stock1 who are to manage this great undertaking1 will have so many little labours to perform and offices to bestow1 that are fit only for labouring poor persons to do1 as will put them in a condition to provide for the poor who are so injured1 that can work2 and to those who cannot1 may allow pensions for overseeing1 supervising1 and the like1 which will be more than equivalent4 #c4 ,for depopulations1 the contrary should be secured1 by obliging the undertakers1 at such and such certain distances1 to erect cottages1 two at least in a place 7which would be useful to the work and safety of the traveller71 to which should be an allotment of land1 always sufficient to invite the poor inhabitant1 in which the poor should be tenant for life gratis1 doing duty upon the highway as should be appointed1 by which1 and many other methods1 the poor should be great gainers by the proposal1 instead of being injured4 #d4 ,by this erecting of cottages at proper distances a man might travel over all ,england as through a street1 where he could never want either rescue from thieves or directions for his way4 #e4 ,this very undertaking1 once duly settled1 might in a few years so order it that there should be no poor for the common2 and1 if so1 what need of a common for the poor8 ,of which in its proper place4 ,as to the second objection1 8,who should oblige the undertakers to the performance80 ,i answer-- #a4 ,their ,commission and charter should become void1 and all their stock forfeit1 and the lands enclosed and unsold remain as a pledge1 which would be security sufficient4 #b4 ,the ten persons chosen out of every county should have power to inspect and complain1 and the ,lord ,chancellor1 upon such complaint1 to make a survey1 and to determine by a jury1 in which case1 on default1 they shall be obliged to proceed4 #c4 ,the lands settled on the bank shall be liable to be extended for the uses mentioned1 if the same at any time be not maintained in the condition at first provided1 and the bank to be amerced upon complaint of the country4 ,these and other conditions1 which on a legal settlement to be made by wiser heads than mine might be thought on1 ,i do believe would form a constitution so firm1 so fair1 and so equally advantageous to the country1 to the poor1 and to the public1 as has not been put in practice in these later ages of the world4 ,to discourse of this a little in general1 and to instance in a place perhaps that has not its fellow in the kingdom--the parish of ,islington1 in ,middlesex4 ,there lies through this large parish the greatest road in ,england1 and the most frequented1 especially by cattle for ,smithfield market2 this great road has so many branches1 and lies for so long a way through the parish1 and withal has the inconvenience of a clayey ground1 and no gravel at hand1 that1 modestly speaking1 the parish is not able to keep it in repair2 by which means several cross-roads in the parish lie wholly unpassable1 and carts and horses 7and men too7 have been almost buried in holes and sloughs2 and the main road itself has for many years lain in a very ordinary condition1 which occasioned several motions in ,parliament to raise a toll at ,highgate for the performance of what it was impossible the parish should do1 and yet was of so absolute necessity to be done4 ,and is it not very probable the parish of ,islington would part with all the waste land upon their roads1 to be eased of the intolerable assessment for repair of the highway1 and answer the poor1 who reap but a small benefit from it1 some other way8 ,and yet ,i am free to affirm that for a grant of waste and almost useless land1 lying open to the highway 7those lands to be improved1 as they might easily be71 together with the eight years' assessment to be provided in workmen1 a noble1 magnificent causeway might be erected1 with ditches on either side1 deep enough to receive the water1 and drains sufficient to carry it off1 which causeway should be four feet high at least1 and from thirty to forty feet broad1 to reach from ,london to ,barnet1 paved in the middle1 to keep it coped1 and so supplied with gravel and other proper materials as should secure it from decay with small repairing4 ,i hope no man would be so weak now as to imagine that by lands lying open to the road1 to be assigned to the undertakers1 ,i should mean that all ,finchley ,common should be enclosed and sold for this work2 but1 lest somebody should start such a preposterous objection1 ,i think it is not improper to mention1 that wherever a highway is to be carried over a large common1 forest1 or waste1 without a hedge on either hand for a certain distance1 there the several parishes shall allot the directors a certain quantity of the common1 to lie parallel with the road1 at a proportioned number of feet to the length and breadth of the said road--consideration also to be had to the nature of the ground2 or else1 giving them only room for the road directly shall suffer them to inclose in any one spot so much of the said common as shall be equivalent to the like quantity of land lying by the road4 ,thus where the land is good and the materials for erecting a causeway near1 the less land may serve2 and on the contrary1 the more2 but in general allowing them the quantity of land proportioned to the length of the causeway1 and forty rods in breadth3 though where the land is poor1 as on downs and plains1 the proportion must be considered to be adjusted by the country4 ,another point for the dimensions of roads should be adjusted2 and the breadth of them1 ,i think1 cannot be less than thus3 ,from ,london every way ten miles the high post-road to be built full forty feet in breadth and four feet high1 the ditches eight feet broad and six feet deep1 and from thence onward thirty feet1 and so in proportion4 ,cross-roads to be twenty feet broad1 and ditches proportioned2 no lanes and passes less than nine feet without ditches4 ,the middle of the high causeways to be paved with stone1 chalk1 or gravel1 and kept always two feet higher than the sides1 that the water might have a free course into the ditches2 and persons kept in constant employ to fill up holes1 let out water1 open drains1 and the like1 as there should be occasion--a proper work for highwaymen and such malefactors1 as might on those services be exempted from the gallows4 ,it may here be objected that eight years' assessment to be demanded down is too much in reason to expect any of the poorer sort can pay2 as1 for instance1 if a farmer who keeps a team of horse be at the common assessment to work a week1 it must not be put so hard upon any man as to work eight weeks together4 ,it is easy to answer this objection4 ,so many as are wanted1 must be had2 if a farmer's team cannot be spared without prejudice to him so long together1 he may spare it at sundry times1 or agree to be assessed1 and pay the assessment at sundry payments2 and the bank may make it as easy to them as they please4 ,another method1 however1 might be found to fix this work at once4 ,as suppose a bank be settled for the highways of the county of ,middlesex1 which as they are1 without doubt1 the most used of any in the kingdom1 so also they require the more charge1 and in some parts lie in the worst condition of any in the kingdom4 ,if the ,parliament fix the charge of the survey of the highways upon a bank to be appointed for that purpose for a certain term of years1 the bank undertaking to do the work1 or to forfeit the said settlement4 ,as thus3 suppose the tax on land and tenements for the whole county of ,middlesex does1 or should be so ordered as it might1 amount to #bj1jjj per annum more or less1 which it now does1 and much more1 including the work of the farmers' teams1 which must be accounted as money1 and is equivalent to it1 with some allowance to be rated for the city of ,london1 c41 who do enjoy the benefit1 and make the most use of the said roads1 both for carrying of goods and bringing provisions to the city1 and therefore in reason ought to contribute towards the highways 7for it is a most unequal thing that the road from ,highgate to ,smithfield ,market1 by which the whole city is1 in a manner1 supplied with live cattle1 and the road by those cattle horribly spoiled1 should lie all upon that one parish of ,islington to repair72 wherefore ,i will suppose a rate for the highways to be gathered through the city of ,london of #aj1jjj per annum more1 which may be appointed to be paid by carriers1 drovers1 and all such as keep teams1 horses1 or coaches1 and the like1 or many ways1 as is most equal and reasonable2 the waste lands in the said county1 which by the consent of the parishes1 lords of the manors1 and proprietors shall be allowed to the undertakers1 when inclosed and let out1 may 7the land in ,middlesex generally letting high7 amount to #e1jjj per annum more4 ,if1 then1 an ,act of ,parliament be procured to settle the tax of #cj1jjj per annum for eight years1 most of which will be levied in workmen and not in money1 and the waste lands for ever1 ,i dare be bold to offer that the highways for the whole county of ,middlesex should be put into the following form1 and the #e1jjj per annum land be bound to remain as a security to maintain them so1 and the county be never burdened with any further tax for the repair of the highways4 ,and that ,i may not propose a matter in general1 like begging the question1 without demonstration1 ,i shall enter into the particulars how it may be performed1 and that under these following heads of articles3 #a4 ,what ,i propose to do to the highways4 #b4 ,what the charge will be4 #c4 ,how to be raised4 #d4 ,what security for performance4 #e4 ,what profit to the undertaker4 #a4 ,what ,i propose to do to the highways4--,i answer first1 not repair them2 and yet secondly1 not alter them--that is1 not alter the course they run2 but perfectly build them as a fabric4 ,and1 to descend to the particulars1 it is first necessary to note which are the roads ,i mean1 and their dimensions4 ,first1 the high post-roads1 and they are for the county of ,middlesex as follows3 ,from ,london to ,miles4 ,staines1 which is #ae ,colebrook is from ,hounslow #e ,uxbridge #ae ,bushey1 the ,old ,street-way #aj ,barnet1 or near it #i ,waltham ,cross1 in ,ware ,road #aa ,bow #b #fg ,besides these1 there1 are cross-roads1 bye-roads1 and lanes1 which must also be looked after2 and that some of them may be put into condition1 others may be wholly slighted and shut up1 or made drift-ways1 bridle-ways1 or foot-ways1 as may be thought convenient by the counties4 ,the cross-roads of most repute are as follows3 ,from ,to ,miles4 ,london ,hackney1 ,old ,ford1 and ,bow #e ,hackney ,dalston and ,islington #b ,ditto ,hornsey1 ,muswell ,hill1 to ,whetstone #h ,tottenham ,the ,chase1 ,southgate1 c41 called ,green #f ,lanes ,enfield ,wash ,enfield ,town1 ,whetstone1 ,totteridge1 to #aj ,edgworth ,london ,hampstead1 ,hendon1 and ,edgworth #h ,edgworth ,stanmore1 to ,pinner1 to ,uxbridge #h ,london ,harrow and ,pinner ,green #aa ,ditto ,chelsea1 ,fulham #d ,brentford ,thistleworth1 ,twittenham1 and ,kingston #f ,kingston ,staines1 ,colebrook1 and ,uxbridge #ag ,ditto ,chertsey ,bridge #e #ij ,overplus miles #ej #adj ,and because there may be many parts of the crossroads which cannot be accounted in the number abovementioned1 or may slip my knowledge or memory1 ,i allow an overplus of #ej miles1 to be added to the #ij miles above1 which together make the cross-roads of ,middlesex to be #adj miles4 ,for the bye-lanes such as may be slighted need nothing but to be ditched up2 such as are for private use of lands1 for carrying off corn1 and driving cattle1 are to be looked after by private hands4 ,but of the last sort1 not to be accounted by particulars1 in the small county of ,middlesex we cannot allow less in cross-bye-lanes1 from village to village1 and from dwelling-houses which stand out of the way to the roads1 than #a1jjj miles4 ,so in the whole county ,i reckon up-- ,miles4 ,of the high post-road #fg ,of cross-roads less public #adj ,of bye-lanes and passes #a1jjj #a1bjg ,these are the roads ,i mean1 and thus divided under their several denominations4 ,to the question1 what ,i would do to them ,i answer-- 7#a74 ,for the sixty-seven miles of high post-road ,i propose to throw up a firm strong causeway well-bottomed1 six feet high in the middle and four feet on the side1 faced with brick or stone1 and crowned with gravel1 chalk1 or stone1 as the several counties they are made through will afford1 being forty-four feet in breadth1 with ditches on either side eight feet broad and four feet deep2 so the whole breadth will be sixty feet1 if the ground will permit4 ,at the end of every two miles1 or such like convenient distances1 shall be a cottage erected1 with half an acre of ground allowed1 which shall be given gratis1 with one shilling per week wages1 to such poor man of the parish as shall be approved1 who shall1 once at least every day1 view his walk1 to open passages for the water to run into the ditches1 to fill up holes or soft places4 ,two riders shall be allowed to be always moving the rounds1 to view everything out of repair1 and make report to the directors1 and to see that the cottagers do their duty4 7#b74 ,for the #adj miles of cross-road a like causeway to be made1 but of different dimensions--the breadth twenty feet1 if the ground will allow it2 the ditches four feet broad1 three feet deep2 the height in the middle three feet1 and on the sides one foot1 or two where it may be needful2 to be also crowned with gravel1 and one shilling per week to be allowed to the poor of every parish1 the constables to be bound to find a man to walk on the highway every division for the same purpose as the cottagers do on the greater roads4 ,posts to be set up at every turning to note whither it goes1 for the direction of strangers1 and how many miles distant4 7#c74 ,for the #a1jjj miles of bye-lanes1 only good and sufficient care to keep them in repair as they are1 and to carry the water off by clearing and cutting the ditches1 and laying materials where they are wanted4 ,this is what ,i propose to do to them1 and what1 if once performed1 ,i suppose all people would own to be an undertaking both useful and honourable4 #b4 ,the second question ,i propose to give an account of is1 ,what the charge will be1 which ,i account thus4 ,the work of the great causeway ,i propose1 shall not cost less than ten shillings per foot 7supposing materials to be bought1 carriage1 and men's labour to be all hired71 which for sixty-seven miles in length is no less than the sum of #agf1hhj2 as thus3 ,every mile accounted at #a1gfj yards1 and three feet to the yard1 is #e1bhj feet1 which at ten shillings per foot is #b1fdj per mile1 and that1 again1 multiplied by sixty-seven1 makes the sum of #agf1hhj1 into which ,i include the charge of water-courses1 mills to throw off water where needful1 drains1 c4 ,to this charge must be added1 ditching to inclose land for thirty cottages1 and building thirty cottages at #dj each1 which is #a1bjj4 ,the work of the smaller causeway ,i propose to finish at the rate of a shilling per foot1 which being for #adi miles in length1 at #e1bhj feet per mile1 amounts to #cf1ifj4 ,ditching1 draining1 and repairing #a1jjj miles1 ,supposed at three shillings per rod1 as for #cbj1jjj rods1 is #dh1jjj1 which1 added to the two former accounts1 is thus3 ,the high post-roads1 or the great causeway #agh1jhj ,the small causeway #cf1ifj ,bye-lanes1 c4 #dh1jjj #bfc1jdj ,if ,i were to propose some measures for the easing this charge1 ,i could perhaps lay a scheme down how it may be performed for less than one-half of this charge4 ,as first1 by a grant of the court at the ,old ,bailey whereby all such criminals as are condemned to die for smaller crimes may1 instead of transportation1 be ordered a year's work on the highways2 others1 instead of whippings1 a proportioned time1 and the like2 which would1 by a moderate computation1 provide us generally a supply of #bjj workmen1 and coming in as fast as they go off2 and let the overseers alone to make them work4 ,secondly1 by an agreement with the ,guinea ,company to furnish #bjj negroes1 who are generally persons that do a great deal of work2 and all these are subsisted very reasonably out of a public storehouse4 ,thirdly1 by carts and horses to be bought1 not hired1 with a few able carters2 and to the other a few workmen that have judgment to direct the rest1 and thus ,i question not the great causeway shall be done for four shillings per foot charge2 but of this by-the-bye4 ,fourthly1 a liberty to ask charities and benevolences to the work4 #c4 ,to the question1 ,how this money shall be raised4 ,i think if the ,parliament settle the tax on the county for eight years at #cj1jjj per annum1 no man need ask how it shall be raised 4 4 4 ,it will be easy enough to raise the money2 and no parish can grudge to pay a little larger rate for such a term1 on condition never to be taxed for the highways any more4 ,eight years' assessment at #cj1jjj per annum is enough to afford to borrow the money by way of anticipation1 if need be2 the fund being secured by ,parliament1 and appropriated to that use and no other4 #d4 ,as to ,what security for performance4 ,the lands which are inclosed may be appropriated by the same ,act of ,parliament to the bank and undertakers1 upon condition of performance1 and to be forfeit to the use of the several parishes to which they belong1 in case upon presentation by the grand juries1 and reasonable time given1 any part of the roads in such and such parishes be not kept and maintained in that posture they are proposed to be4 ,now the lands thus settled are an eternal security to the country for the keeping the roads in repair2 because1 they will always be of so much value over the needful charge as will make it worth while to the undertakers to preserve their title to them2 and the tenure of them being so precarious as to be liable to forfeiture on default1 they will always be careful to uphold the causeways4 ,lastly1 ,what profit to the undertakers4 ,for we must allow them to gain1 and that considerably1 or no man would undertake such a work4 ,to this ,i propose3 first1 during the work1 allow them out of the stock #c1jjj per annum for management4 ,after the work is finished1 so much of the #e1jjj per annum as can be saved1 and the roads kept in good repair1 let be their own2 and if the lands secured be not of the value of #e1jjj a year1 let so much of the eight years' tax be set apart as may purchase land to make them up2 if they come to more1 let the benefit be to the adventurers4 ,it may be objected here that a tax of #cj1jjj for eight years will come in as fast as it can well be laid out1 and so no anticipations will be requisite2 for the whole work proposed cannot be probably finished in less time2 and1 if so1 ,the charge of the county amounts to #bdj1jjj ,the lands saved eight years' revenue #dj1jjj #bhj1jjj which is #ac1jjj more than the charge2 and if the work be done so much cheaper1 as is mentioned1 the profit to the undertaker will be unreasonable4 ,to this ,i say ,i would have the undertakers bound to accept the salary of #c1jjj per annum for management1 and if a whole year's tax can be spared1 either leave it unraised upon the country1 or put it in bank to be improved against any occasion--of building1 perhaps1 a great bridge2 or some very wet season or frost may so damnify the works as to make them require more than ordinary repair4 ,but the undertakers should make no private advantage of such an overplus2 there might be ways enough found for it4 ,another objection lies against the possibility of inclosing the lands upon the waste1 which generally belongs to some manor1 whose different tenures may be so cross1 and so otherwise encumbered1 that even the lords of those manors1 though they were willing1 could not convey them4 ,this may be answered in general1 that an ,act of ,parliament is omnipotent with respect to titles and tenures of land1 and can empower lords and tenants to consent to what else they could not2 as to particulars1 they cannot be answered till they are proposed2 but there is no doubt but an ,act of ,parliament may adjust it all in one head4 ,what a kingdom would ,england be if this were performed in all the counties of it6 ,and yet ,i believe it is feasible1 even in the worst4 ,i have narrowly deserved all the considerable ways in that unpassable county of ,sussex1 which 7especially in some parts in the wild1 as they very properly call it1 of the county7 hardly admits the country people to travel to markets in winter1 and makes corn dear at market because it cannot be brought1 and cheap at the farmer's house because he cannot carry it to market2 yet even in that county would ,i undertake to carry on this proposal1 and that to great advantage1 if backed with the authority of an ,act of ,parliament4 ,i have seen in that horrible country the road1 sixty to a hundred yards broad1 lie from side to side all poached with cattle1 the land of no manner of benefit1 and yet no going with a horse1 but at every step up to the shoulders1 full of sloughs and holes1 and covered with standing water4 ,it costs them incredible sums of money to repair them2 and the very places that are mended would fright a young traveller to go over them4 ,the ,romans mastered this work1 and by a firm causeway made a highway quite through this deep country1 through ,darkin in ,surrey to ,stansted1 and thence to ,okeley1 and so on to ,arundel2 its name tells us what it was made of 7for it was called ,stone ,street71 and many visible parts of it remain to this day4 ,now would any lord of a manor refuse to allow forty yards in breadth out of that road ,i mentioned1 to have the other twenty made into a firm1 fair1 and pleasant causeway over that wilderness of a country8 ,or would not any man acknowledge that putting this country into a condition for carriages and travellers to pass would be a great work8 ,the gentlemen would find the benefit of it in the rent of their land and price of their timber2 the country people would find the difference in the sale of their goods1 which now they cannot carry beyond the first market town1 and hardly thither2 and the whole county would reap an advantage a hundred to one greater than the charge of it4 ,and since the want we feel of any convenience is generally the first motive to contrivance for a remedy1 ,i wonder no man over thought of some expedient for so considerable a defect4 ,,of ,,assurances4 ,,assurances among merchants1 ,i believe1 may plead prescription1 and have been of use time out of mind in trade1 though perhaps never so much a trade as now4 ,it is a compact among merchants4 ,its beginning being an accident to trade1 and arose from the disease of men's tempers1 who1 having run larger adventures in a single bottom than afterwards they found convenient1 grew fearful and uneasy2 and discovering their uneasiness to others1 who perhaps had no effects in the same vessel1 they offer to bear part of the hazard for part of the profit3 convenience made this a custom1 and custom brought it into a method1 till at last it becomes a trade4 ,i cannot question the lawfulness of it1 since all risk in trade is for gain1 and when ,i am necessitated to have a greater cargo of goods in such or such a bottom than my stock can afford to lose1 another may surely offer to go a part with me2 and as it is just if ,i give another part of the gain1 he should run part of the risk1 so it is as just that if he runs part of my risk1 he should have part of the gain4 ,some object the disparity of the premium to the hazard1 when the insurer runs the risk of #ajj on the seas from ,jamaica to ,london for #djs41 which1 say they1 is preposterous and unequal4 ,though this objection is hardly worth answering to men of business1 yet it looks something fair to them that know no better2 and for the information of such1 ,i trouble the reader with a few heads3 ,first1 they must consider the insurer is out no stock4 ,secondly1 it is but one risk the insurer runs2 whereas the assured has had a risk out1 a risk of debts abroad1 a risk of a market1 and a risk of his factor1 and has a risk of a market to come1 and therefore ought to have an answerable profit4 ,thirdly1 if it has been a trading voyage1 perhaps the adventurer has paid three or four such premiums1 which sometimes make the insurer clear more by a voyage than the merchant4 ,i myself have paid #ajj insurances in those small premiums on a voyage ,i have not gotten #ej by2 and ,i suppose ,i am not the first that has done so either4 ,this way of assuring has also1 as other arts of trade have1 suffered some improvement 7if ,i may be allowed that term7 in our age2 and the first step upon it was an insurance office for houses1 to insure them from fire4 ,common fame gives the project to ,dr4 ,barebone--a man1 ,i suppose1 better known as a builder than a physician4 ,whether it were his1 or whose it was1 ,i do not inquire2 it was settled on a fund of ground rents1 to answer in case of loss1 and met with very good acceptance4 ,but it was soon followed by another1 by way of friendly society1 where all who subscribe pay their quota to build up any man's house who is a contributor1 if it shall happen to be burnt4 ,i won't decide which is the best1 or which succeeded best1 but ,i believe the latter brings in most money to the contriver4 ,only one benefit ,i cannot omit which they reap from these two societies who are not concerned in either2 that if any fire happen1 whether in houses insured or not insured1 they have each of them a set of lusty fellows1 generally watermen1 who being immediately called up1 wherever they live1 by watchmen appointed1 are1 it must be confessed1 very active and diligent in helping to put out the fire4 ,as to any further improvement to be made upon assurances in trade1 no question there may2 and ,i doubt not but on payment of a small duty to the government the king might be made the general insurer of all foreign trade1 of which more under another head4 ,i am of the opinion also that an office of insurance erected to insure the titles of lands1 in an age where they are so precarious as now1 might be a project not unlikely to succeed1 if established on a good fund4 ,but ,i shall say no more to that1 because it seems to be a design in hand by some persons in town1 and is indeed no thought of my own4 ,insuring of life ,i cannot admire2 ,i shall say nothing to it but that in ,italy1 where stabbing and poisoning is so much in vogue1 something may be said for it1 and on contingent annuities2 and yet ,i never knew the thing much approved of on any account4 ,,of ,,friendly ,,societies4 ,,another branch of insurance is by contribution1 or 7to borrow the term from that before mentioned7 friendly societies2 which is1 in short1 a number of people entering into a mutual compact to help one another in case any disaster or distress fall upon them4 ,if mankind could agree1 as these might be regulated1 all things which have casualty in them might be secured4 ,but one thing is particularly required in this way of assurances3 none can be admitted but such whose circumstances are 7at least1 in some degree7 alike1 and so mankind must be sorted into classes2 and as their contingencies differ1 every different sort may be a society upon even terms2 for the circumstances of people1 as to life1 differ extremely by the age and constitution of their bodies and difference of employment--as he that lives on shore against him that goes to sea1 or a young man against an old man1 or a shopkeeper against a soldier1 are unequal4 ,i do not pretend to determine the controverted point of predestination1 the foreknowledge and decrees of ,providence4 ,perhaps1 if a man be decreed to be killed in the trenches1 the same foreknowledge ordered him to list himself a soldier1 that it might come to pass1 and the like of a seaman4 ,but this ,i am sure1 speaking of second causes1 a seaman or a soldier are subject to more contingent hazards than other men1 and therefore are not upon equal terms to form such a society2 nor is an annuity on the life of such a man worth so much as it is upon other men3 therefore if a society should agree together to pay the executor of every member so much after the decease of the said member1 the seamen's executors would most certainly have an advantage1 and receive more than they pay4 ,so that it is necessary to sort the world into parcels--seamen with seamen1 soldiers with soldiers1 and the like4 ,nor is this a new thing2 the friendly society must not pretend to assume to themselves the contrivance of the method1 or think us guilty of borrowing from them1 when we draw this into other branches2 for ,i know nothing is taken from them but the bare words1 8friendly society10 which they cannot pretend to be any considerable piece of invention either4 ,i can refer them to the very individual practice in other things1 which claims prescription beyond the beginning of the last age1 and that is in our marshes and fens in ,essex1 ,kent1 and the ,isle of ,ely2 where great quantities of land being with much pains and a vast charge recovered out of the seas and rivers1 and maintained with banks 7which they call walls71 the owners of those lands agree to contribute to the keeping up those walls and keeping out the sea1 which is all one with a friendly society2 and if ,i have a piece of land in any level or marsh1 though it bounds nowhere on the sea or river1 yet ,i pay my proportion to the maintenance of the said wall or bank2 and if at any time the sea breaks in1 the damage is not laid upon the man in whose land the breach happened1 unless it was by his neglect1 but it lies on the whole land1 and is called a 8level lot40 ,again1 ,i have known it practised in troops of horse1 especially when it was so ordered that the troopers mounted themselves2 where every private trooper has agreed to pay1 perhaps1 #b;d4 per diem out of his pay into a public stock1 which stock was employed to remount any of the troop who by accident should lose his horse4 ,again1 the sailors' contribution to the ,chest at ,chatham is another friendly society1 and more might be named4 ,to argue against the lawfulness of this would be to cry down common equity as well as charity3 for as it is kind that my neighbour should relieve me if ,i fall into distress or decay1 so it is but equal he should do so if ,i agreed to have done the same for him2 and if ,god ,almighty has commanded us to relieve and help one another in distress1 surely it must be commendable to bind ourselves by agreement to obey that command2 nay1 it seems to be a project that we are led to by the divine rule1 and has such a latitude in it that for aught ,i know1 as ,i said1 all the disasters in the world might be prevented by it1 and mankind be secured from all the miseries1 indigences1 and distresses that happen in the world4 ,in which ,i crave leave to be a little particular4 ,first general peace might be secured all over the world by it1 if all the powers agreed to suppress him that usurped or encroached upon his neighbour4 ,all the contingencies of life might be fenced against by this method 7as fire is already71 as thieves1 floods by land1 storms by sea1 losses of all sorts1 and death itself1 in a manner1 by making it up to the survivor4 ,i shall begin with the seamen2 for as their lives are subject to more hazards than others1 they seem to come first in view4 ,of ,seamen4 ,sailors are les enfants perdus1 8the forlorn hope of the world20 they are fellows that bid defiance to terror1 and maintain a constant war with the elements2 who1 by the magic of their art1 trade in the very confines of death1 and are always posted within shot1 as ,i may say1 of the grave4 ,it is true1 their familiarity with danger makes them despise it 7for which1 ,i hope1 nobody will say they are the wiser72 and custom has so hardened them that we find them the worst of men1 though always in view of their last moment4 ,i have observed one great error in the custom of ,england relating to these sort of people1 and which this way of friendly society would be a remedy for3 ,if a seaman who enters himself1 or is pressed into1 the king's service be by any accident wounded or disabled1 to recompense him for the loss1 he receives a pension during life1 which the sailors call 8smart-money10 and is proportioned to their hurt1 as for the loss of an eye1 arm1 leg1 or finger1 and the like3 and as it is a very honourable thing1 so it is but reasonable that a poor man who loses his limbs 7which are his estate7 in the service of the ,government1 and is thereby disabled from his labour to get his bread1 should be provided for1 and not suffer to beg or starve for want of those limbs he lost in the service of his country4 ,but if you come to the seamen in the merchants' service1 not the least provision is made3 which has been the loss of many a good ship1 with many a rich cargo1 which would otherwise have been saved4 ,and the sailors are in the right of it1 too4 ,for instance1 a merchant ship coming home from the ,indies1 perhaps very rich1 meets with a privateer 7not so strong but that she might fight him and perhaps get off72 the captain calls up his crew1 tells them1 8,gentlemen1 you see how it is2 ,i don't question but we may clear ourselves of this caper1 if you will stand by me40 ,one of the crew1 as willing to fight as the rest1 and as far from a coward as the captain1 but endowed with a little more wit than his fellows1 replies1 8,noble captain1 we are all willing to fight1 and don't question but to beat him off2 but here is the case3 if we are taken1 we shall be set on shore and then sent home1 and lose perhaps our clothes and a little pay2 but if we fight and beat the privateer1 perhaps half a score of us may be wounded and lose our limbs1 and then we are undone and our families4 ,if you will sign an obligation to us that the owners or merchants shall allow a pension to such as are maimed1 that we may not fight for the ship1 and go a-begging ourselves1 we will bring off the ship or sink by her side2 otherwise ,i am not willing to fight1 for my part40 ,the captain cannot do this2 so they strike1 and the ship and cargo are lost4 ,if ,i should turn this supposed example into a real history1 and name the ship and the captain that did so1 it would be too plain to be contradicted4 ,wherefore1 for the encouragement of sailors in the service of the merchant1 ,i would have a friendly society erected for seamen2 wherein all sailors or seafaring men1 entering their names1 places of abode1 and the voyages they go upon at an office of insurance for seamen1 and paying there a certain small quarterage of #as4 per quarter1 should have a sealed certificate from the governors of the said office for the articles hereafter mentioned3 ,i4 ,if any such seaman1 either in fight or by any other accident at sea1 come to be disabled1 he should receive from the said office the following sums of money1 either in pension for life1 or ready money1 as he pleased3 ,for the loss of or per annum for life ,an eye #be #b ,both eyes #ajj #h ,one leg #ej #d ,both legs #hj #f ,right hand #hj #f ,left hand #ej #d ,right arm #ajj #h ,left arm #hj #f ,both hands #afj #ab ,both arms #bjj #af ,any broken arm1 or leg1 or thigh1 towards the cure #aj ,if taken by the ,turks1 #ej towards his ransom4 ,if he become infirm and unable to go to sea or maintain himself by age or sickness #f per annum4 ,to their wives if they are killed or drowned #ej 99 99 99 99 99 ,in consideration of this1 every seaman subscribing to the society shall agree to pay to the receipt of the said office his quota of the sum to be paid whenever1 and as often as1 such claims are made1 the claims to be entered into the office and upon sufficient proof made1 the governors to regulate the division and publish it in print4 ,for example1 suppose #d1jjj seamen subscribe to this society1 and after six months--for no man should claim sooner than six months--a merchant's ship having engaged a privateer1 there comes several claims together1 as thus-- ,a was wounded and lost one leg #ej ,b blown up with powder1 and has lost an eye #be ,c had a great shot took off his arm #ajj ,d with a splinter had an eye struck out #be ,e was killed with a great shot2 to be paid to his wife #ej #bej ,the governors hereupon settle the claims of these persons1 and make publication 8that whereas such and such seamen1 members of the society1 have in an engagement with a ,french privateer been so and so hurt1 their claims upon the office1 by the rules and agreement of the said office1 being adjusted by the governors1 amounts to #bej1 which1 being equally divided among the subscribers1 comes to #as4 #c;d4 each1 which all persons that are subscribers to the said office are desired to pay in for their respective subscriptions1 that the said wounded persons may be relieved accordingly1 as they expect to be relieved if the same or the like casualty should befall them40 ,it is but a small matter for a man to contribute1 if he gave #as4 #c;d4 out of his wages to relieve five wounded men of his own fraternity2 but at the same time to be assured that if he is hurt or maimed he shall have the same relief1 is a thing so rational that hardly anything but a hare-brained follow1 that thinks of nothing1 would omit entering himself into such an office4 ,i shall not enter further into this affair1 because perhaps ,i may give the proposal to some persons who may set it on foot1 and then the world may see the benefit of it by the execution4 ,,ii4--,,for ,,widows4 ,the same method of friendly society1 ,i conceive1 would be a very proper proposal for widows4 ,we have abundance of women1 who have been bred well and lived well1 ruined in a few years1 and perhaps left young with a houseful of children and nothing to support them1 which falls generally upon the wives of the inferior clergy1 or of shopkeepers and artificers4 ,they marry wives with perhaps #cjj to #a1jjj portion1 and can settle no jointure upon them4 ,either they are extravagant and idle1 and waste it2 or trade decays2 or losses or a thousand contingencies happen to bring a tradesman to poverty1 and he breaks4 ,the poor young woman1 it may be1 has three or four children1 and is driven to a thousand shifts1 while he lies in the ,mint or ,friars under the dilemma of a statute of bankruptcy2 but if he dies1 then she is absolutely undone1 unless she has friends to go to4 ,suppose an office to be erected1 to be called an office of insurance for widows1 upon the following conditions3 ,two thousand women1 or their husbands for them1 enter their names into a register to be kept for that purpose1 with the names1 age1 and trade of their husbands1 with the place of their abode1 paying at the time of their entering #es4 down with #as4 #d;d4 per quarter1 which is to the setting up and support of an office with clerks and all proper officers for the same2 for there is no maintaining such without charge4 ,they receive every one of them a certificate sealed by the secretary of the office1 and signed by the governors1 for the articles hereafter mentioned3 ,if any one of the women become a widow at any time after six months from the date of her subscription1 upon due notice given1 and claim made at the office in form as shall be directed1 she shall receive within six mouths after such claim made the sum of #ejj in money without any deductions1 saving some small fees to the officers1 which the trustees must settle1 that they may be known4 ,in consideration of this1 every woman so subscribing obliges herself to pay1 as often as any member of the society becomes a widow1 the due proportion or share1 allotted to her to pay towards the #ejj for the said widow1 provided her share does not exceed the sum of #es4 ,no seamen's or soldiers' wives to be accepted into such a proposal as this1 on the account before mentioned1 because the contingencies of their lives are not equal to others--unless they will admit this general exception1 supposing they do not die out of the kingdom4 ,it might also be an exception that if the widow that claimed had really1 bon fide1 left her by her husband to her own use1 clear of all debts and legacies1 #b1jjj1 she should have no claim1 the intent being to aid the poor1 not add to the rich4 ,but there lie a great many objections against such an article1 as-- #a4 ,it may tempt some to forswear themselves4 #b4 ,people will order their wills so as to defraud the exception4 ,one exception must be made1 and that is1 either very unequal matches 7as when a woman of nineteen marries an old man of seventy71 or women who have infirm husbands--,i mean1 known and publicly so2 to remedy which two things are to be done3 #a4 ,the office must have moving officers without doors1 who shall inform themselves of such matters1 and if any such circumstances appear1 the office should have fourteen days' time to return their money and declare their subscriptions void4 #b4 ,no woman whose husband had any visible distemper should claim under a year after her subscription4 ,one grand objection against this proposal is1 how you will oblige people to pay either their subscription or their quarterage4 ,to this ,i answer1 by no compulsion 7though that might be performed too71 but altogether voluntary2 only with this argument to move it1 that if they do not continue their payments1 they lose the benefit of their past contributions4 ,i know it lies as a fair objection against such a project as this1 that the number of claims are so uncertain that nobody knows what they engage in when they subscribe1 for so many may die annually out of two thousand as may make my payment #bj or #be per annum2 and if a woman happen to pay that for twenty years1 though she receives the #ejj at last1 she is a great loser2 but if she dies before her husband1 she has lessened his estate considerably1 and brought a great loss upon him4 ,first1 ,i say to this that ,i would have such a proposal as this be so fair and so easy1 that if any person who had subscribed found the payments too high and the claims fall too often1 it should be at their liberty at any time1 upon notice given1 to be released1 and stand obliged no longer2 and1 if so1 volenti non fit injuria4 ,every one knows best what their own circumstances will bear4 ,in the next place1 because death is a contingency no man can directly calculate1 and all that subscribe must take the hazard2 yet that a prejudice against this notion may not be built on wrong grounds1 let us examine a little the probable hazard1 and see how many shall die annually out of #b1jjj subscribers1 accounting by the common proportion of burials to the number of the living4 ,sir ,william ,petty1 in his political arithmetic1 by a very ingenious calculation1 brings the account of burials in ,london to be one in forty annually1 and proves it by all the proper rules of proportioned computation2 and ,i will take my scheme from thence4 ,if1 then1 one in forty of all the people in ,england die1 that supposes fifty to die every year out of our two thousand subscribers2 and for a woman to contribute #es4 to every one1 would certainly be to agree to pay #ab #ajs4 per annum4 upon her husband's life1 to receive #ejj when he died1 and lose it if she died first2 and yet this would not be a hazard beyond reason too great for the gain4 ,but ,i shall offer some reasons to prove this to be impossible in our case3 first1 ,sir ,william ,petty allows the city of ,london to contain about a million of people1 and our yearly bill of mortality never yet amounted to #be1jjj in the most sickly years we have had 7plague years excepted72 sometimes but to #bj1jjj1 which is but one in fifty4 ,now it is to be considered here that children and ancient people make up1 one time with another1 at least one-third of our bills of mortality1 and our assurances lie upon none but the middling age of the people1 which is the only age wherein life is anything steady2 and if that be allowed1 there cannot die by his computation above one in eighty of such people every year2 but because ,i would be sure to leave room for casualty1 ,i will allow one in fifty shall die out of our number subscribed4 ,secondly1 it must be allowed that our payments falling due only on the death of husbands1 this one in fifty must not be reckoned upon the two thousand1 for it is to be supposed at least as many women shall die as men1 and then there is nothing to pay2 so that one in fifty upon one thousand is the most that ,i can suppose shall claim the contribution in a year1 which is twenty claims a year at #es4 each1 and is #e per annum4 ,and if a woman pays this for twenty years1 and claims at last1 she is gainer enough1 and no extraordinary loser if she never claims at all4 ,and ,i verily believe any office might undertake to demand at all adventures not above #f per annum1 and secure the subscriber #ejj in case she come to claim as a widow4 ,i forbear being more particular on this thought1 having occasion to be larger in other prints1 the experiment being resolved upon by some friends who are pleased to think this too useful a project not to be put in execution1 and therefore ,i refer the reader to the public practice of it4 ,i have named these two cases as special experiments of what might be done by assurances in way of friendly society2 and ,i believe ,i might1 without arrogance1 affirm that the same thought might be improved into methods that should prevent the general misery and poverty of mankind1 and at once secure us against beggars1 parish poor1 almshouses1 and hospitals2 and by which not a creature so miserable or so poor but should claim subsistence as their due1 and not ask it of charity4 ,i cannot believe any creature so wretchedly base as to beg of mere choice1 but either it must proceed from want or sordid prodigious covetousness2 and thence ,i affirm there can be no beggar but he ought to be either relieved or punished1 or both4 ,if a man begs for more covetousness without want1 it is a baseness of soul so extremely sordid as ought to be used with the utmost contempt1 and punished with the correction due to a dog4 ,if he begs for want1 that want is procured by slothfulness and idleness1 or by accident2 if the latter1 he ought to be relieved2 if the former1 he ought to be punished for the cause1 but at the same time relieved also1 for no man ought to starve1 let his crime be what it will4 ,i shall proceed1 therefore1 to a scheme by which all mankind1 be he never so mean1 so poor1 so unable1 shall gain for himself a just claim to a comfortable subsistence whosoever age or casualty shall reduce him to a necessity of making use of it4 ,there is a poverty so far from being despicable that it is honourable1 when a man by direct casualty1 sudden ,providence1 and without any procuring of his own1 is reduced to want relief from others1 as by fire1 shipwreck1 loss of limbs1 and the like4 ,these are sometimes so apparent that they command the charity of others2 but there are also many families reduced to decay whose conditions are not so public1 and yet their necessities as great4 ,innumerable circumstances reduce men to want2 and pressing poverty obliges some people to make their cases public1 or starve2 and from thence came the custom of begging1 which sloth and idleness has improved into a trade4 ,but the method ,i propose1 thoroughly put in practice1 would remove the cause1 and the effect would cease of course4 ,want of consideration is the great reason why people do not provide in their youth and strength for old age and sickness2 and the ensuing proposal is1 in short1 only this--that all persons in the time of their health and youth1 while they are able to work and spare it1 should lay up some small inconsiderable part of their gettings as a deposit in safe hands1 to lie as a store in bank to relieve them1 if by age or accident they come to be disabled1 or incapable to provide for themselves2 and that if ,god so bless them that they nor theirs never come to need it1 the overplus may be employed to relieve such as shall4 ,if an office in the same nature with this were appointed in every county in ,england1 ,i doubt not but poverty might easily be prevented1 and begging wholly suppressed4 ,,the ,,proposal ,,is ,,for ,a ,,pension ,,office4 ,,that an office be erected in some convenient place1 where shall be a secretary1 a clerk1 and a searcher1 always attending4 ,that all sorts of people who are labouring people and of honest repute1 of what calling or condition soever1 men or women 7beggars and soldiers excepted71 who1 being sound of their limbs and under fifty years of age1 shall come to the said office and enter their names1 trades1 and places of abode into a register to be kept for that purpose1 and shall pay down at the time of the said entering the sum of sixpence1 and from thence one shilling per quarter1 shall every one have an assurance under the seal of the said office for these following conditions3 #a4 ,every such subscriber1 if by any casualty 7drunkenness and quarrels excepted7 they break their limbs1 dislocate joints1 or are dangerously maimed or bruised1 able surgeons appointed for that purpose shall take them into their care1 and endeavour their cure gratis4 #b4 ,if they are at any time dangerously sick1 on notice given to the said office able physicians shall be appointed to visit them1 and give their prescriptions gratis4 #c4 ,if by sickness or accident1 as aforesaid1 they lose their limbs or eyes1 so as to be visibly disabled to work1 and are otherwise poor and unable to provide for themselves1 they shall either be cured at the charge of the office1 or be allowed a pension for subsistence during life4 #d4 ,if they become lame1 aged1 bedrid1 or by real infirmity of body are unable to work1 and otherwise incapable to provide for themselves1 on proof made that it is really and honestly so they shall be taken into a college or hospital provided for that purpose1 and be decently maintained during life4 #e4 ,if they are seamen1 and die abroad on board the merchants' ships they were employed in1 or are cast away and drowned1 or taken and die in slavery1 their widows shall receive a pension during their widowhood4 #f4 ,if they were tradesmen and paid the parish rates1 if by decay and failure of trade they break and are put in prison for debt1 they shall receive a pension for subsistence during close imprisonment4 #g4 ,if by sickness or accidents they are reduced to extremities of poverty for a season1 on a true representation to the office they shall be relieved as the governors shall see cause4 ,it is to be noted that in the fourth article such as by sickness and age are disabled from work1 and poor1 shall be taken into the house and provided for2 whereas in the third article they who are blind or have lost limbs1 c41 shall have pensions allowed them4 ,the reason of this difference is this3 ,a poor man or woman that has lost his hand1 or leg1 or sight1 is visibly disabled1 and we cannot be deceived2 whereas other infirmities are not so easily judged of1 and everybody would be claiming a pension1 when but few will demand being taken into a hospital but such as are really in want4 ,and that this might be managed with such care and candour as a design which carries so good a face ought to be1 ,i propose the following method for putting it into practice3 ,i suppose every undertaking of such a magnitude must have some principal agent to push it forward1 who must manage and direct everything1 always with direction of the governors4 ,and first ,i will suppose one general office erected for the great parishes of ,stepney and ,whitechapel2 and as ,i shall lay down afterwards some methods to oblige all people to come in and subscribe1 so ,i may be allowed to suppose here that all the inhabitants of those two large parishes 7the meaner labouring sort1 ,i mean7 should enter their names1 and that the number of them should be #ajj1jjj1 as ,i believe they would be at least4 ,first1 there should be named fifty of the principal inhabitants of the said parishes 7of which the church-wardens for the time being1 and all the justices of the peace dwelling in the bounds of the said parish1 and the ministers resident for the time being1 to be part7 to be governors of the said office4 ,the said fifty to be first nominated by the ,lord ,mayor of ,london for the time being1 and every vacancy to be supplied in ten days at farthest by the majority of voices of the rest4 ,the fifty to choose a committee of eleven1 to sit twice a week1 of whom three to be a quorum2 with a chief governor1 a deputy-governor1 and a treasurer4 ,in the office1 a secretary with clerks of his own1 a registrar and two clerks1 four searchers1 a messenger 7one in daily attendance under salary71 a physician1 a surgeon1 and four visitors4 ,in the hospital1 more or less 7according to the number of people entertained71 a housekeeper1 a steward1 nurses1 a porter1 and a chaplain4 ,for the support of this office1 and that the deposit money might go to none but the persons and uses for whom it is paid1 and that it might not be said officers and salaries was the chief end of the undertaking 7as in many a project it has been71 ,i propose that the manager or undertaker1 whom ,i mentioned before1 be the secretary1 who shall have a clerk allowed him1 whose business it shall be to keep the register1 take the entries1 and give out the tickets 7sealed by the governors and signed by himself71 and to enter always the payment of quarterage of every subscriber4 ,and that there may be no fraud or connivance1 and too great trust be not reposed in the said secretary1 every subscriber who brings his quarterage is to put it into a great chest1 locked up with eleven locks1 every member of the committee to keep a key1 so that it cannot be opened but in the presence of them all2 and every time a subscriber pays his quarterage1 the secretary shall give him a sealed ticket thus ,christmas #if which shall be allowed as the receipt of quarterage for that quarter4 ,note4--,the reason why every subscriber shall take a receipt or ticket for his quarterage is because this must be the standing law of the office--that if any subscribers fail to pay their quarterage1 they shall never claim after it until double so much be paid1 nor not at all that quarter1 whatever befalls them4 ,the secretary should be allowed to have #b;d4 for every ticket of entry he gives out1 and ld4 for every receipt he gives for quarterage1 to be accounted for as follows3 ,one-third to himself in lieu of salary1 he being to pay three clerks out of it4 ,one-third to the clerks and other officers among them4 ,and one-third to defray the incident charge of the office4 ,thus calculated4 ,per annum4 s4 d4 #ajj1jjj subscribers paying #a;d4 each #a1fff #c #d every quarter is ,one-third ,to the secretary per annum and three #eee #g #i clerks ,one-third per annum4 ,to a registrar #ajj ,to a clerk #ej ,to four searchers #ajj ,to a physician #ajj ,to a surgeon #ajj ,to four visitors #ajj #eej #j #j ,one-third to incident charges1 such as ,to ten committee-men1 #bfj #es4 each sitting1 twice per week is ,to a clerk of #ej committees ,to a messenger #dj ,a house for the office #dj ,a house for the #ajj hospital ,contingencies #gj #aes4 #g;d4 #efj #ae #g #a1fff #c #d ,all the charge being thus paid out of such a trifle as ld4 per quarter1 the next consideration is to examine what the incomes of this subscription may be1 and in time what may be the demands upon it4 s4 d4 ,if #ajj1jjj persons subscribe1 they pay #b1ejj #j #j down at their entering each #f;d41 which is ,and the first year's payment is in stock #bj1jjj #j #j at #as4 per quarter ,it must be allowed that under three #age #j #j months the subscriptions will not be well complete2 so the payment of quarterage shall not begin but from the day after the books are full1 or shut up2 and from thence one year is to pass before any claim can be made2 and the money coming in at separate times1 ,i suppose no improvement upon it for the first year1 except of the #b1ejj1 which1 lent to the king on some good fund at #g per cent4 interest1 advances the first year ,the quarterage of the second year1 #ai1hjj #j #j abating for #a1jjj claims ,and the interest of the first year's #a1ggd #aj #j money at the end of the second year1 lent to the king1 as aforesaid1 at #g per cent4 interest1 is ,the quarterage of the third year1 #ai1djj #j #j abating for claims ,the interest of former cash to the end #c1bhd #h #j of the third year ,income of three years #ff1icc #ah #j ,note4--,any persons may pay #bs4 up to #es4 quarterly1 if they please1 and upon a claim will be allowed in proportion4 ,to assign what shall be the charge upon this1 where contingency has so great a share1 is not to be done2 but by way of political arithmetic a probable guess may be made4 ,it is to be noted that the pensions ,i propose to be paid to persons claiming by the third1 fifth1 and sixth articles are thus3 every person who paid #as4 quarterly shall receive #ab;d4 weekly1 and so in proportion every #ab;d4 paid quarterly by any one person to receive so many shillings weekly1 if they come to claim a pension4 ,the first year no claim is allowed2 so the bank has in stock completely #bb1ejj4 ,from thence we are to consider the number of claims4 ,sir ,william ,petty1 in his 8,political ,arithmetic10 supposes not above one in forty to die per annum out of the whole number of people2 and ,i can by no means allow that the circumstances of our claims will be as frequent as death1 for these reasons3 #a4 ,our subscriptions respect all persons grown and in the prime of their age2 past the first1 and providing against the last1 part of danger 7,sir ,william's account including children and old people1 which always make up one-third of the bills of mortality74 #b4 ,our claims will fall thin at first for several years2 and let but the money increase for ten years1 as it does in the account for three years1 it would be almost sufficient to maintain the whole number4 #c4 ,allow that casualty and poverty are our debtor side2 health1 prosperity1 and death are the creditor side of the account2 and in all probable accounts those three articles will carry off three fourth-parts of the number1 as follows3 ,if one in forty shall die annually 7as no doubt they shall1 and more71 that is #b1ejj a year1 which in twenty years is #ej1jjj of the number2 ,i hope ,i may be allowed one-third to be out of condition to claim1 apparently living without the help of charity1 and one third in health and body1 and able to work2 which1 put together1 make #hc1ccb2 so it leaves #af1ffh to make claims of charity and pensions in the first twenty years1 and one-half of them must1 according to ,sir ,william ,petty1 die on our hands in twenty years2 so there remains but #h1ccd4 ,but to put it out of doubt1 beyond the proportion to be guessed at1 ,i will allow they shall fall thus3 ,the first year1 we are to note1 none can claim2 and the second year the number must be very few1 but increasing3 wherefore ,i suppose ,one in every #ejj shall claim the second year1 which is #ejj #bjj2 the charge whereof is ,one in every #ajj the third year is #a1jjj2 the charge #b1ejj ,together with the former #bjj #ejj #c1ejj ,to carry on the calculation4 s4 d4 ,we find the stock at the end of the #ff1icc #ah #j third year ,the quarterage of the fourth year1 #ai1jjj #j #j abating as before ,interest of the stock #d1hhb #ag #f ,the quarterage of the fifth year #ah1fjj #j #j ,interest of the stock #f1dgc #j #j #aae1hhi #ae #f ,the charge #c1jjj #j #j #b1jjj to fall the fourth year #e1jjj #j #j ,and the old continued #c1ejj #j #j #b1jjj the fifth year #e1jjj #j #j ,the old continued #aa1jjj #j #j #bg1ejj #j #j ,by this computation the stock is increased above the charge in five years #hi1cgi #aes4 #f;d42 and yet here are sundry articles to be considered on both sides of the account that will necessarily increase the stock and diminish the charge3 ,first1 in the five years' time #f1bjj #c1djj #j #j having claimed charity1 the number being abated for in the reckoning above for stock1 it may be allowed new subscriptions will be taken in to keep the number full1 which in five years amounts to ,their sixpences is #aae #j #j #c1eee #j #j ,which added to #aae1hhi #aes4 #f;d4 augments #aai1ddd #ae #f be stock to ,six thousand two hundred persons claiming #d1jjj #j #j help1 which falls1 to be sure1 on the aged and infirm1 ,i think1 at a modest computation1 in five years' time #ejj of them may be dead1 which1 without allowing annually1 we take at an abatement of #d1jjj out of the charge ,which reduces the charge to #bc1ejj #j #j ,besides this1 the interest of the quarterage1 which is supposed in the former account to lie dead till the year is out1 which cast up from quarter to quarter1 allowing it to be put out quarterly1 as it may well be1 amounts to1 by computation for five years1 #e1bej4 ,from the fifth year1 as near as can be computed1 the number of pensioners being so great1 ,i make no doubt but they shall die off the hands of the undertaker as fast as they shall fall in1 excepting1 so much difference as the payment of every year1 which the interest of the stock shall supply4 ,for example3 s4 d4 ,at the end of the fifth year the stock #id1fbi #ae #f in hand ,the payment of the sixth year #bj1jjj #j #j ,interest of the stock #e1djh #d #j #abj1jcg #ai #f ,allow an overplus charge for keeping in #aj1jjj #j #j the house1 which will be dearer than pensions1 #aj1jjj per annum ,charge of the sixth year #bb1ejj #j #j ,balance in cash #hg1ecg #ai #f #abj1jcg #ai #f ,this also is to be allowed--that all those persons who are kept by the office in the house shall have employment provided for them1 whereby no persons shall be kept idle1 the works to be suited to every one's capacity without rigour1 only some distinction to those who are most willing to work2 the profits of the said work to the stock of the house4 ,besides this1 there may great and very profitable methods be found out to improve the stock beyond the settled interest of #g per cent41 which perhaps may not always be to be had1 for the ,exchequer is not always borrowing money2 but a bank of #hj1jjj1 employed by faithful hands1 need not want opportunities of great1 and very considerable improvement4 ,also it would be a very good object for persons who die rich to leave legacies to1 which in time might be very well supposed to raise a standing revenue to it4 ,i will not say but various contingencies may alter the charge of this undertaking1 and swell the claims beyond proportion further than ,i extend it2 but all that1 and much more1 is sufficiently answered in the calculations by above #hj1jjj in stock to provide for it4 ,as to the calculation being made on a vast number of subscribers1 and more than1 perhaps1 will be allowed likely to subscribe1 ,i think the proportion may hold good in a few as well as in a great many2 and perhaps if #bj1jjj subscribed1 it might be as effectual4 ,i am indeed willing to think all men should have sense enough to see the usefulness of such a design1 and be persuaded by their interest to engage in it2 but some men have less prudence than brutes1 and will make no provision against age till it comes2 and to deal with such1 two ways might be used by authority to compel them4 #a4 ,the churchwardens and justices of peace should send the beadle of the parish1 with an officer belonging to this office1 about to the poorer parishioners to tell them that1 since such honourable provision is made for them to secure themselves in old age from poverty and distress1 they should expect no relief from the parish if they refused to enter themselves1 and by sparing so small a part of their earnings to prevent future misery4 #b4 ,the churchwardens of every parish might refuse the removal of persons and families into their parish but upon their having entered into this office4 #c4 ,all persons should be publicly desired to forbear giving anything to beggars1 and all common beggars suppressed after a certain time2 for this would effectually suppress beggary at last4 ,and1 to oblige the parishes to do this on behalf of such a project1 the governor of the house should secure the parish against all charges coming upon them from any person who did subscribe and pay the quarterage1 and that would most certainly oblige any parish to endeavour that all the labouring meaner people in the parish should enter their names2 for in time it would most certainly take all the poor in the parish off of their hands4 ,i know that by law no parish can refuse to relieve any person or family fallen into distress2 and therefore to send them word they must expect no relief1 would seem a vain threatening4 ,but thus far the parish may do3 they shall be esteemed as persons who deserve no relief1 and shall be used accordingly2 for who indeed would ever pity that man in his distress who at the expense of two pots of beer a month might have prevented it1 and would not spare it8 ,as to my calculations1 on which ,i do not depend either1 ,i say this3 if they are probable1 and that in five years' time a subscription of a hundred thousand persons would have #hg1ecg #ais4 #f;d4 in cash1 all charges paid1 ,i desire any one but to reflect what will not such a sum do4 ,for instance1 were it laid out in the ,million ,lottery tickets1 which are now sold at #f each1 and bring in #a per annum for fifteen years1 every #a1jjj so laid out pays back in time #b1ejj1 and that time would be as fast as it would be wanted1 and therefore be as good as money2 or if laid out in improving rents1 as ground-rents with buildings to devolve in time1 there is no question but a revenue would be raised in time to maintain one-third part of the number of subscribers1 if they should come to claim charity4 ,and ,i desire any man to consider the present state of this kingdom1 and tell me1 if all the people of ,england1 old and young1 rich and poor1 were to pay into one common bank #ds4 per annum a head1 and that #ds4 duly and honestly managed1 whether the overplus paid by those who die off1 and by those who never come to want1 would not in all probability maintain all that should be poor1 and for ever banish beggary and poverty out of the kingdom4 ,,of ,,wagering4 ,,wagering1 as now practised by politics and contracts1 is become a branch of assurances2 it was before more properly a part of gaming1 and as it deserved1 had but a very low esteem2 but shifting sides1 and the war providing proper subjects1 as the contingencies of sieges1 battles1 treaties1 and campaigns1 it increased to an extraordinary reputation1 and offices were erected on purpose which managed it to a strange degree and with great advantage1 especially to the office-keepers2 so that1 as has been computed1 there was not less gaged on one side and other1 upon the second siege of ,limerick1 than two hundred thousand pounds4 ,how it is managed1 and by what trick and artifice it became a trade1 and how insensibly men were drawn into it1 an easy account may be given4 ,i believe novelty was the first wheel that set it on work1 and ,i need make no reflection upon the power of that charm3 it was wholly a new thing1 at least upon the ,exchange of ,london2 and the first occasion that gave it a room among public discourse1 was some persons forming wagers on the return and success of ,king ,james1 for which the ,government took occasion to use them as they deserved4 ,i have heard a bookseller in ,king ,james's time say1 8,that if he would have a book sell1 he would have it burnt by the hand of the common hangman20 the man1 no doubt1 valued his profit above his reputation2 but people are so addicted to prosecute a thing that seems forbid1 that this very practice seemed to be encouraged by its being contraband4 ,the trade increased1 and first on the ,exchange and then in coffee-houses it got life1 till the brokers1 those vermin of trade1 got hold of it1 and then particular offices were set apart for it1 and an incredible resort thither was to be seen every day4 ,these offices had not been long in being1 but they were thronged with sharpers and setters as much as the groom-porters1 or any gaming-ordinary in town1 where a man had nothing to do but to make a good figure and prepare the keeper of the office to give him a credit as a good man1 and though he had not a groat to pay1 he should take guineas and sign polities1 till he had received1 perhaps1 #cjj or #djj in money1 on condition to pay great odds1 and then success tries the man2 if he wins his fortune is made2 if not1 he's a better man than he was before by just so much money1 for as to the debt1 he is your humble servant in the ,temple or ,whitehall4 ,but besides those who are but the thieves of the trade1 there is a method as effectual to get money as possible1 managed with more appearing honesty1 but no less art1 by which the wagerer1 in confederacy with the office-keeper1 shall lay vast sums1 great odds1 and yet be always sure to win4 ,for example3 ,a town in ,flanders1 or elsewhere1 during the war is besieged2 perhaps at the beginning of the siege the defence is vigorous1 and relief probable1 and it is the opinion of most people the town will hold out so long1 or perhaps not be taken at all3 the wagerer has two or three more of his sort in conjunction1 of which always the office-keeper is one2 and they run down all discourse of the taking the town1 and offer great odds it shall not be taken by such a day4 ,perhaps this goes on a week1 and then the scale turns2 and though they seem to hold the same opinion still1 yet underhand the office-keeper has orders to take all the odds which by their example was before given against the taking the town2 and so all their first-given odds are easily secured1 and yet the people brought into a vein of betting against the siege of the town too4 ,then they order all the odds to be taken as long as they will run1 while they themselves openly give odds1 and sign polities1 and oftentimes take their own money1 till they have received perhaps double what they at first laid4 ,then they turn the scale at once1 and cry down the town1 and lay that it shall be taken1 till the length of the first odds is fully run2 and by this manage1 if the town be taken they win perhaps two or three thousand pounds1 and if it be not taken1 they are no losers neither4 ,it is visible by experience1 not one town in ten is besieged but it is taken4 ,the art of war is so improved1 and our generals are so wary1 that an army seldom attempts a siege1 but when they are almost sure to go on with it2 and no town can hold out if a relief cannot be had from abroad4 ,now1 if ,i can by first laying #ejj to #bjj with ,a1 that the town shall not be taken1 wheedle in ,b to lay me #e1jjj to #b1jjj of the same2 and after that1 by bringing down the vogue of the siege1 reduce the wagers to even-hand1 and lay #b1jjj with ,c that the town shall not be taken2 by this method1 it is plain-- ,if the town be not taken1 ,i win #b1bjj and lose #b1jjj4 ,if the town be taken1 ,i win #e1jjj and lose #b1ejj4 ,this is gaming by rule1 and in such a knot it is impossible to lose2 for if it is in any man's or company of men's power1 by any artifice to alter the odds1 it is in their power to command the money out of every man's pocket1 who has no more wit than to venture4 ,,of ,,fools4 ,,of all persons who are objects of our charity1 none move my compassion like those whom it has pleased ,god to leave in a full state health and strength1 but deprived of reason to act for themselves4 ,and it is1 in my opinion1 one of the greatest scandals upon the understanding of others to mock at those who want it4 ,upon this account ,i think the hospital we call ,bedlam to be a noble foundation1 a visible instance of the sense our ancestors had of the greatest unhappiness which can befall humankind2 since as the soul in man distinguishes him from a brute1 so where the soul is dead 7for so it is as to acting7 no brute so much a beast as a man4 ,but since never to have it1 and to have lost it1 are synonymous in the effect1 ,i wonder how it came to pass that in the settlement of that hospital they made no provision for persons born without the use of their reason1 such as we call fools1 or1 more properly1 naturals4 ,we use such in ,england with the last contempt1 which ,i think is a strange error1 since though they are useless to the commonwealth1 they are only so by ,god's direct providence1 and no previous fault4 ,i think it would very well become this wise age to take care of such2 and perhaps they are a particular rent-charge on the great family of mankind1 left by the ,maker of us all1 like a younger brother1 who though the estate be given from him1 yet his father expected the heir should take some care of him4 ,if ,i were to be asked1 ,who ought in particular to be charged with this work8 ,i would answer in general those who have a portion of understanding extraordinary4 ,not that ,i would lay a tax upon any man's brains1 or discourage wit by appointing wise men to maintain fools2 but1 some tribute is due to ,god's goodness for bestowing extraordinary gifts2 and who can it be better paid to than such as suffer for want of the same bounty8 ,for the providing1 therefore1 some subsistence for such that natural defects may not be exposed3 ,it is proposed that a fool-house be erected1 either by public authority1 or by the city1 or by an ,act of ,parliament1 into which all that are naturals or born fools1 without respect or distinction1 should be admitted and maintained4 ,for the maintenance of this1 a small stated contribution1 settled by the authority of an ,act of ,parliament1 without any damage to the persons paying the same1 might be very easily raised by a tax upon learning1 to be paid by the authors of books3 ,every book that shall be printed in folio1 from #dj sheets #e and upwards1 to pay at the licensing 7for the whole impression7 ,under #dj sheets #djs4 ,every quarto #bjs4 ,every octavo of #aj sheets and upward #bjs4 ,every octavo under #aj sheets1 and every bound book in #abmo #ajs4 ,every stitched pamphlet #bs4 ,reprinted copies the same rates4 ,this tax to be paid into the ,chamber of ,london for the space of twenty years1 would1 without question1 raise a fund sufficient to build and purchase a settlement for this house4 ,i suppose this little tax being to be raised at so few places as the printing-presses1 or the licensers of books1 and consequently the charge but very small in gathering1 might bring in about #a1ejj per annum for the term of twenty years1 which would perform the work to the degree following3 ,the house should be plain and decent 7for ,i don't think the ostentation of buildings necessary or suitable to works of charity71 and be built somewhere out of town for the sake of the air4 ,the building to cost about #a1jjj1 or1 if the revenue exceed1 to cost #b1jjj at most1 and the salaries mean in proportion4 ,in the ,house4 ,per annum4 ,a steward #cj ,a purveyor #bj ,a cook #bj ,a butler #bj ,six women to assist the cook and clean the house1 #d #bd each ,six nurses to tend the people1 #c each #ah ,a chaplain #bj #aeb ,a hundred alms-people at #h per annum1 diet1 c4 #hjj #ieb ,the table for the officers1 and contingencies1 and #ejj clothes for the alms-people1 and firing1 put together ,an auditor of the accounts1 a committee of the governors1 and two clerks4 ,here ,i suppose #a1ejj per annum revenue1 to be settled upon the house1 which1 it is very probable might be raised from the tax aforesaid4 ,but since an ,act of ,parliament is necessary to be had for the collecting this duty1 and that taxes for keeping of fools would be difficultly obtained1 while they are so much wanted for wise men1 ,i would propose to raise the money by voluntary charity1 which would be a work that would leave more honour to the undertakers than feasts and great shows1 which our public bodies too much diminish their stocks with4 ,but to pass all suppositious ways1 which are easily thought of1 but hardly procured1 ,i propose to maintain fools out of our own folly4 ,and whereas a great deal of money has been thrown about in lotteries1 the following proposal would very easily perfect our work4 ,a ,,charity-,,lottery4 ,that a lottery be set up by the authority of the ,lord ,mayor and ,court of ,aldermen1 for a hundred thousand tickets1 at twenty shillings each1 to be drawn by the known way and method of drawing lotteries1 as the million-lottery was drawn1 in which no allowance to be made to anybody1 but the fortunate to receive the full sum of one hundred thousand pounds put in1 without discount1 and yet this double advantage to follow3 #a4 ,that an immediate sum of one hundred thousand pounds shall be raised and paid into the ,exchequer for the public use4 #b4 ,a sum of above twenty thousand pounds be gained1 to be put into the hands of known trustees1 to be laid out in a charity for the maintenance of the poor4 ,that as soon as the money shall be come in1 it shall be paid into the ,exchequer1 either on some good fund1 if any suitable1 or on the credit of the ,exchequer2 and that when the lottery is drawn1 the fortunate to receive tallies or bills from the ,exchequer for their money1 payable at four years4 ,the ,exchequer receives this money1 and gives out tallies according to the prizes1 when it is drawn1 all payable at four years2 and the interest of this money for four years is struck in tallies proportioned to the maintenance2 which no parish would refuse that subsisted them wholly before4 ,i make no question but that if such a hospital was erected within a mile or two of the city1 one great circumstance would happen1 viz41 that the common sort of people1 who are very much addicted to rambling in the fields1 would make this house the customary walk1 to divert themselves with the objects to be seen there1 and to make what they call sport with the calamity of others1 as is now shamefully allowed in ,bedlam4 ,to prevent this1 and that the condition of such1 which deserves pity1 not contempt1 might not be the more exposed by this charity1 it should be ordered3 that the steward of the house be in commission of the peace within the precincts of the house only1 and authorised to punish by limited fines or otherwise any person that shall offer any abuse to the poor alms-people1 or shall offer to make sport at their condition4 ,if any person at reading of this should be so impertinent as to ask to what purpose ,i would appoint a chaplain in a hospital of fools1 ,i could answer him very well by saying1 for the use of the other persons1 officers1 and attendants in the house4 ,but besides that1 pray1 why not a chaplain for fools1 as well as for knaves1 since both1 though in a different manner1 are incapable of reaping any benefit by religion1 unless by some invisible influence they are made docile2 and since the same secret power can restore these to their reason1 as must make the other sensible1 pray why not a chaplain8 ,idiots indeed were denied the communion in the primitive churches1 but ,i never read they were not to be prayed for1 or were not admitted to hear4 ,if we allow any religion1 and a ,divine ,supreme ,power1 whose influence works invisibly on the hearts of men 7as he must be worse than the people we talk of1 who denies it71 we must allow at the same time that ,power can restore the reasoning faculty to an idiot1 and it is our part to use the proper means of supplicating ,heaven to that end1 leaving the disposing part to the issue of unalterable ,providence4 ,the wisdom of ,providence has not left us without examples of some of the most stupid natural idiots in the world who have been restored to their reason1 or1 as one would think1 had reason infused after a long life of idiotism2 perhaps1 among other wise ends1 to confute that sordid supposition that idiots have no souls4 ,,of ,,bankrupts4 ,,this chapter has some right to stand next to that of fools1 for besides the common acceptation of late1 which makes every unfortunate man a fool1 ,i think no man so much made a fool of as a bankrupt4 ,if ,i may be allowed so much liberty with our laws1 which are generally good1 and above all things are tempered with mercy1 lenity1 and freedom1 this has something in it of barbarity2 it gives a loose to the malice and revenge of the creditor1 as well as a power to right himself1 while it leaves the debtor no way to show himself honest4 ,it contrives all the ways possible to drive the debtor to despair1 and encourages no new industry1 for it makes him perfectly incapable of anything but starving4 ,this law1 especially as it is now frequently executed1 tends wholly to the destruction of the debtor1 and yet very little to the advantage of the creditor4 #a4 ,the severities to the debtor are unreasonable1 and1 if ,i may so say1 a little inhuman1 for it not only strips him of all in a moment1 but renders him for ever incapable of helping himself1 or relieving his family by future industry4 ,if he escapes from prison1 which is hardly done too1 if he has nothing left1 he must starve or live on charity2 if he goes to work no man dare pay him his wages1 but he shall pay it again to the creditors2 if he has any private stock left for a subsistence he can put it nowhere2 every man is bound to be a thief and take it from him2 if he trusts it in the hands of a friend he must receive it again as a great courtesy1 for that friend is liable to account for it4 ,i have known a poor man prosecuted by a statute to that degree that all he had left was a little money which he knew not where to hide2 at last1 that he might not starve1 he gives it to his brother who had entertained him2 the brother1 after he had his money quarrels with him to get him out of his house1 and when he desires him to let him have the money lent him1 gives him this for answer1 ,i cannot pay you safely1 for there is a statute against you2 which run the poor man to such extremities that he destroyed himself4 ,nothing is more frequent than for men who are reduced by miscarriage in trade to compound and set up again and get good estates2 but a statute1 as we call it1 for ever shuts up all doors to the debtor's recovery1 as if breaking were a crime so capital that he ought to be cast out of human society and exposed to extremities worse than death4 ,and1 which will further expose the fruitless severity of this law1 it is easy to make it appear that all this cruelty to the debtor is so far1 generally speaking1 from advantaging the creditors1 that it destroys the estate1 consumes it in extravagant charges1 and unless the debtor be consenting1 seldom makes any considerable dividends4 ,and ,i am bold to say there is no advantage made by the prosecuting of a statute with severity1 but what might be doubly made by methods more merciful4 ,and though ,i am not to prescribe to the legislators of the nation1 yet by way of essay ,i take leave to give my opinion and my experience in the methods1 consequences1 and remedies of this law4 ,all people know1 who remember anything of the times when that law was made1 that the evil it was pointed at was grown very rank1 and breaking to defraud creditors so much a trade1 that the parliament had good reason to set up a fury to deal with it2 and ,i am far from reflecting on the makers of that law1 who1 no question1 saw it was necessary at that time4 ,but as laws1 though in themselves good1 are more or less so1 as they are more or less seasonable1 squared1 and adapted to the circumstances and time of the evil they are made against2 so it were worth while 7with submission7 for the same authority to examine3 #a4 ,whether the length of time since that act was made has not given opportunity to debtors1 7#a7 ,to evade the force of the act by ways and shifts to avoid the power of it1 and secure their estates out of the reach of it4 7#b7 ,to turn the point of it against those whom it was made to relieve4 ,since we see frequently now that bankrupts desire statutes1 and procure them to be taken out against themselves4 #b4 ,whether the extremities of this law are not often carried on beyond the true intent and meaning of the act itself by persons who1 besides being creditors1 are also malicious1 and gratify their private revenge by prosecuting the offender1 to the ruin of his family4 ,if these two points are to be proved1 then ,i am sure it will follow that this act is now a public grievance to the nation1 and ,i doubt not but will be one time or other repealed by the same wise authority which made it4 #a4 ,time and experience has furnished the debtors with ways and means to evade the force of this statute1 and to secure their estate against the reach of it1 which renders it often insignificant1 and consequently1 the knave against whom the law was particularly bent gets off1 while he only who fails of mere necessity1 and whose honest principle will not permit him to practise those methods1 is exposed to the fury of this act4 ,and as things are now ordered1 nothing is more easy than for a man to order his estate so that a statute shall have no power over it1 or at least but a little4 ,if the bankrupt be a merchant1 no statute can reach his effects beyond the seas2 so that he has nothing to secure but his books1 and away he goes into the ,friars4 ,if a ,shopkeeper1 he has more difficulty3 but that is made easy1 for there are men and carts to be had whose trade it is1 and who in one night shall remove the greatest warehouse of goods or cellar of wines in the town and carry them off into those nurseries of rogues1 the ,mint and ,friars2 and our constables and watch1 who are the allowed magistrates of the night1 and who shall stop a poor little lurking thief1 that it may be has stole a bundle of old clothes1 worth five shilling1 shall let them all pass without any disturbance1 and hundred honest men robbed of their estates before their faces1 to the eternal infamy of the justice of the nation4 ,and were a man but to hear the discourse among the inhabitants of those dens of thieves1 when they first swarm about a new-comer to comfort him1 for they are not all hardened to a like degree at once4 8,well10 says the first1 8come1 don't be concerned1 you have got a good parcel of goods away ,i promise you1 you need not value all the world40 8,all6 would ,i had done so10 says another1 8,i'd a laughed at all my creditors40 8,ay10 says the young proficient in the hardened trade1 8but my creditors60 8,hang the creditors60 says a third2 8why1 there's such a one1 and such a one1 they have creditors too1 and they won't agree with them1 and here they live like gentlemen1 and care not a farthing for them4 ,offer your creditors half a crown in the pound1 and pay it them in old debts1 and if they won't take it let them alone2 they'll come after you1 never fear it40 8,oh6 but a statute10 says he again4 8,oh6 but the devil10 cries the ,minter4 8,why1 'tis the statutes we live by10 say they2 8why1 if it were not for statutes1 creditors would comply1 and debtors would compound1 and we honest fellows here of the ,mint would be starved4 ,prithee1 what need you care for a statute8 ,a thousand statutes can't reach you here40 ,this is the language of the country1 and the new-comer soon learns to speak it2 for ,i think ,i may say1 without wronging any man1 ,i have known many a man go in among them honest1 that is1 without ill design1 but ,i never knew one come away so again4 ,then comes a graver sort among this black crew 7for here1 as in hell1 are fiends of degrees and different magnitude71 and he falls into discourse with the new-comer1 and gives him more solid advice4 8,look you1 sir1 ,i am concerned to see you melancholy2 ,i am in your circumstance too1 and if you'll accept of it1 ,i'll give you the best advice ,i can10 and so begins the grave discourse4 ,the man is in too much trouble not to want counsel1 so he thanks him1 and he goes on3--8,send a summons to your creditors1 and offer them what you can propose in the pound 7always reserving a good stock to begin the world again71 which if they will take1 you are a free man1 and better than you were before2 if they won't take it1 you know the worst of it1 you are on the better side of the hedge with them3 if they will not take it1 but will proceed to a statute1 you have nothing to do but to oppose force with force2 for the laws of nature tell you1 you must not starve2 and a statute is so barbarous1 so unjust1 so malicious a way of proceeding against a man1 that ,i do not think any debtor obliged to consider anything but his own preservation1 when once they go on with that40 8,for why10 says the old studied wretch1 8should the creditors spend your estate in the commission1 and then demand the debt of you too8 ,do you owe anything to the commission of the statute80 8,no10 says he4 8,why1 then10 says he1 8,i warrant their charges will come to #bjj out of your estate1 and they must have #ajs4 a day for starving you and your family4 ,i cannot see why any man should think ,i am bound in conscience to pay the extravagance of other men4 ,if my creditors spend #ejj in getting in my estate by a statute1 which ,i offered to surrender without it1 ,i'll reckon that #ejj paid them1 let them take it among them1 for equity is due to a bankrupt as well as to any man1 and if the laws do not give it us1 we must take it40 ,this is too rational discourse not to please him1 and he proceeds by this advice2 the creditors cannot agree1 but take out a statute2 and the man that offered at first it may be #ajs4 in the pound1 is kept in that cursed place till he has spent it all and can offer nothing1 and then gets away beyond sea1 or after a long consumption gets off by an act of relief to poor debtors1 and all the charges of the statute fall among the creditors4 ,thus ,i knew a statute taken out against a shopkeeper in the country1 and a considerable parcel of goods too seized1 and yet the creditors1 what with charges and two or three suits at law1 lost their whole debts and #hs4 per pound contribution money for charges1 and the poor debtor1 like a man under the surgeon's hand1 died in the operation4 #b4 ,another evil that time and experience has brought to light from this act is1 when the debtor himself shall confederate with some particular creditor to take out a statute1 and this is a masterpiece of plot and intrigue4 ,for perhaps some creditor honestly received in the way of trade a large sum of money of the debtor for goods sold him when he was sui juris1 and he by consent shall own himself a bankrupt before that time1 and the statute shall reach back to bring in an honest man's estate1 to help pay a rogue's debt4 ,or a man shall go and borrow a sum of money upon a parcel of goods1 and lay them to pledge2 he keeps the money1 and the statute shall fetch away the goods to help forward the composition4 ,these are tricks ,i can give too good an account of1 having more than once suffered by the experiment4 ,i could give a scheme1 of more ways1 but ,i think it is needless to prove the necessity of laying aside that law1 which is pernicious to both debtor and creditor1 and chiefly hurtful to the honest man whom it was made to preserve4 ,the next inquiry is1 whether the extremities of this law are not often carried on beyond the true intent and meaning of the act itself1 for malicious and private ends to gratify passion and revenge8 ,i remember the answer a person gave me1 who had taken out statutes against several persons1 and some his near relations1 who had failed in his debt2 and when ,i was one time dissuading him from prosecuting a man who owed me money as well as him1 ,i used this argument with him3--8,you know the man has nothing left to pay40 8,that's true10 says he2 8,i know that well enough40 8,to what purpose1 then10 said ,i1 8will you prosecute him80 8,why1 revenge is sweet10 said he4 ,now a man that will prosecute a debtor1 not as a debtor1 but by way of revenge1 such a man is1 ,i think1 not intentionally within the benefit of our law4 ,in order to state the case right1 there are four sorts of people to be considered in this discourse2 and the true case is how to distinguish them1 #a4 ,there is the honest debtor1 who fails by visible necessity1 losses1 sickness1 decay of trade1 or the like4 #b4 ,the knavish1 designing1 or idle1 extravagant debtor1 who fails because either he has run out his estate in excesses1 or on purpose to cheat and abuse his creditors4 #c4 ,there is the moderate creditor1 who seeks but his own1 but will omit no lawful means to gain it1 and yet will hear reasonable and just arguments and proposals4 #d4 ,there is the rigorous severe creditor1 that values not whether the debtor be honest man or knave1 able or unable1 but will have his debt1 whether it be to be had or no1 without mercy1 without compassion1 full of ill language1 passion1 and revenge4 ,how to make a law to suit to all these is the case4 ,that a necessary favour might be shown to the first1 in pity and compassion to the unfortunate1 in commiseration of casualty and poverty1 which no man is exempt from the danger of4 ,that a due rigour and restraint be laid upon the second1 that villainy and knavery might not be encouraged by a law4 ,that a due care be taken of the third1 that men's estates may as far as can be secured to them4 ,and due limits set to the last1 that no man may have an unlimited power over his fellow-subjects1 to the ruin of both life and estate4 ,all which ,i humbly conceive might be brought to pass by the following method1 to which ,i give the title of ,a ,court of ,inquiries4 ,this court should consist of a select number of persons1 to be chosen yearly out of the several wards of the ,city by the ,lord ,mayor and ,court of ,aldermen1 and out of the several ,inns of ,court by the ,lord ,chancellor1 or ,lord ,keeper1 for the time being1 and to consist of1 ,a ,president1 ,to be chosen by the rest1 and named every year also4 ,a ,secretary1 ,a ,treasurer1 ,a judge of causes for the proof of debts4 ,fifty-two citizens1 out of every ward two2 of which number to be twelve merchants4 ,two lawyers 7barristers at least7 out of each of the ,inns of ,court4 ,that a ,commission of ,inquiry into bankrupts' estates be given to these1 confirmed and settled by ,act of ,parliament1 with power to hear1 try1 and determine causes as to proof of debts1 and disputes in accounts between debtor and creditor1 without appeal4 ,the office for this court to be at ,guildhall1 where clerks should be always attending1 and a quorum of the commissioners to sit de die in diem1 from three to six o'clock in the afternoon4 ,to this court every man who finds himself pressed by his affairs1 so that he cannot carry on his business1 shall apply himself as follows3-- ,he shall go to the secretary's office1 and give in his name1 with this short petition3-- ,to the ,honourable the ,president and ,commissioners of ,his ,majesty's ,court of ,inquiries4 ,the humble petition of ,a4 ,b41 of the ,parish of -- in the -- ,haberdasher4 ,showeth ,that your petitioner being unable to carry on his business1 by reason of great losses and decay of trade1 and being ready and willing to make a full and entire discovery of his whole estate1 and to deliver up the same to your honours upon oath1 as the law directs for the satisfaction of his creditors1 and having to that purpose entered his name into the books of your office on the -- of this instant4 ,your petitioner humbly prays the protection of this ,honourable ,court4 ,and shall ever pray1 c4 ,the secretary is to lay this petition before the commissioners1 who shall sign it of course2 and the petitioner shall have an officer sent home with him immediately1 who shall take possession of his house and goods1 and an exact inventory of everything therein shall be taken at his entrance by other officers also1 appointed by the court2 according to which inventory the first officer and the bankrupt also shall be accountable4 ,this officer shall supersede even the ,sheriff in possession1 excepting by an extent for the king2 only with this provision3-- ,that if the ,sheriff be in possession by warrant on judgment obtained by due course of law1 and without fraud or deceit1 and1 bon fide1 in possession before the debtor entered his name in the office1 in such case the plaintiff to have a double dividend allotted to his debt2 for it was the fault of the debtor to let execution come upon his goods before he sought for protection2 but this not to be allowed upon judgment confessed4 ,if the ,sheriff be in possession by fieri facias for debt immediately due to the king1 the officer1 however1 shall quit his possession to the commissioners1 and they shall see the king's debt fully satisfied before any division be made to the creditors4 ,the officers in this case to take no fee from the bankrupt1 nor to use any indecent or uncivil behaviour to the family 7which is a most notorious abuse now permitted to the sheriff's officers71 whose fees ,i have known1 on small executions1 on pretence of civility1 amount to as much as the debt1 and yet behave themselves with unsufferable insolence all the while4 ,this officer being in possession1 the goods may be removed1 or not removed2 the shop shut up or not shut up2 as the bankrupt upon his reasons given to the commissioners may desire4 ,the inventory being taken1 the bankrupt shall have fourteen days' time1 and more if desired1 upon showing good reasons to the commissioners1 to settle his books and draw up his accounts2 and then shall deliver up all his books1 together with a full and true account of his whole estate1 real and personal1 to which account he shall make oath1 and afterwards to any particular of it1 if the commissioners require4 ,after this account given in1 the commissioners shall have power to examine upon oath all his servants1 or any other person2 and if it appears that he has concealed anything1 in breach of his oath1 to punish him1 as is hereafter specified4 ,upon a fair and just surrender of all his estate and effects1 bon fide1 according to the true intent and meaning of the act1 the commissioners shall return to him in money1 or such of his goods as he shall choose1 at a value by a just appraisement1 #e per cent4 of all the estate he surrendered1 together with a full and free discharge from all his creditors4 ,the remainder of the estate of the debtor to be fairly and equally divided among the creditors1 who are to apply themselves to the commissioners4 ,the commissioners to make a necessary inquiry into the nature and circumstances of the debts demanded1 that no pretended debt be claimed for the private account of the debtor2 in order to which inquiry they shall administer the following oath to the creditor1 for the proof of the debt4 ,i1 ,a4 ,b41 do solemnly swear and attest that the account hereto annexed is true and right1 and every article therein rightly and truly stated and charged in the names of the persons to whom they belong2 and that there is no person or name named1 concealed1 or altered in the said account by me1 or by my knowledge1 order1 or consent4 ,and that the said -- does really and bon fide owe and stand indebted to me for my own proper account the full sum of -- mentioned in the said account1 and that for a fair and just value made good to him1 as by the said account expressed2 and also that ,i have not made or known of any private contract1 promise1 or agreement between him the said -- 7or any body for him7 and me1 or any person whatsoever4 ,so help me ,god4 ,upon this oath1 and no circumstances to render the person suspected1 the creditor shall have an unquestioned right to his dividend1 which shall be made without the delays and charges that attend the commissions of bankrupts4 ,for1 #a4 ,the goods of the debtor shall upon the first meeting of the creditors be either sold in parcels1 as they shall agree1 or divided among them in due proportion to their debts4 #b4 ,what debts are standing out1 the debtors shall receive summonses from the commissioners1 to pay by a certain time limited2 and in the meantime the secretary is to transmit accounts to the persons owing it1 appointing them a reasonable time to consent or disprove the account4 ,and every six months a just dividend shall be made among the creditors of the money received2 and so1 if the effects lie abroad1 authentic procurations shall be signed by the bankrupt to the commissioners1 who thereupon correspond with the persons abroad1 in whose hands such effects are1 who are to remit the same as the commissioners order2 the dividend to be made1 as before1 every six months1 or oftener1 if the court see cause4 ,if any man thinks the bankrupt has so much favour by these articles1 that those who can dispense with an oath have an opportunity to cheat their creditors1 and that hereby too much encouragement is given to men to turn bankrupt2 let them consider the easiness of the discovery1 the difficulty of a concealment1 and the penalty on the offender4 #a4 ,i would have a reward of #cj per cent4 be provided to be paid to any person who should make discovery of any part of the bankrupt's estate concealed by him1 which would make discoveries easy and frequent4 #b4 ,any person who should claim any debt among the creditors1 for the account of the bankrupt1 or his wife or children1 or with design to relieve them out of it1 other or more than is1 bon fide1 due to him for value received1 and to be made out2 or any person who shall receive in trust1 or by deed of gift1 any part of the goods or other estate of the bankrupt1 with design to preserve them for the use of the said bankrupt1 or his wife or children1 or with design to conceal them from the creditors1 shall forfeit for every such act #ejj1 and have his name published as a cheat1 and a person not fit to be credited by any man4 ,this would make it very difficult for the bankrupt to conceal anything4 #c4 ,the bankrupt having given his name1 and put the officer into possession1 shall not remove out of the house any of his books2 but during the fourteen days' time which he shall have to settle the accounts shall every night deliver the books into the hands of the officer2 and the commissioners shall have liberty1 if they please1 to take the books the first day1 and cause duplicates to be made1 and then to give them back to the bankrupt to settle the accounts4 #d4 ,if it shall appear that the bankrupt has given in a false account1 has concealed any part of his goods or debts1 in breach of his oath1 he shall be set in the pillory at his own door1 and be imprisoned during life without bail4 #e4 ,to prevent the bankrupt concealing any debts abroad1 it should be enacted that the name of the bankrupt being entered at the office1 where every man might search gratis1 should be publication enough2 and that after such entry1 no discharge from the bankrupt should be allowed in account to any man1 but whoever would adventure to pay any money to the said bankrupt or his order should be still debtor to the estate1 and pay it again to the commissioners4 ,and whereas wiser heads than mine must be employed to compose this law1 if ever it be made1 they will have time to consider of more ways to secure the estate for the creditors1 and1 if possible1 to tie the hands of the bankrupt yet faster4 ,this law1 if ever such a happiness should arise to this kingdom1 would be a present remedy for a multitude of evils which now we feel1 and which are a sensible detriment to the trade of this nation4 #a4 ,with submission1 ,i question not but it would prevent a great number of bankrupts1 which now fall by divers causes4 ,for1 7#a47 ,it would effectually remove all crafty designed breakings1 by which many honest men are ruined4 ,and 7#b47 ,of course 'twould prevent the fall of those tradesmen who are forced to break by the knavery of such4 #b4 ,it would effectually suppress all those sanctuaries and refuges of thieves1 the ,mint1 ,friars1 ,savoy1 ,rules1 and the like2 and that these two ways3-- 7#a47 ,honest men would have no need of it1 here being a more safe1 easy1 and more honourable way to get out of trouble4 7#b47 ,knaves should have no protection from those places1 and the ,act be fortified against those places by the following clauses1 which ,i have on purpose reserved to this head4 ,since the provision this court of inquiries makes for the ease and deliverance of every debtor who is honest is so considerable1 'tis most certain that no man but he who has a design to cheat his creditors will refuse to accept of the favour2 and therefore it should be enacted1 ,that if any man who is a tradesman or merchant shall break or fail1 or shut up shop1 or leave off trade1 and shall not either pay or secure to his creditors their full and whole debts1 twenty shillings in the pound1 without abatement or deduction2 or shall convey away their books or goods1 in order to bring their creditors to any composition2 or shall not apply to this office as aforesaid1 shall be guilty of felony1 and upon conviction of the same shall suffer as a felon1 without benefit of clergy4 ,and if any such person shall take sanctuary either in the ,mint1 ,friars1 or other pretended privilege place1 or shall convey thither any of their goods as aforesaid1 to secure them from their creditors1 upon complaint thereof made to any of ,his ,majesty's ,justices of the ,peace1 they shall immediately grant warrants to the constable1 c41 to search for the said persons and goods1 who shall be aided and assisted by the trained bands1 if need be1 without any charge to the creditors1 to search for1 and discover the said persons and goods2 and whoever were aiding in the carrying in the said goods1 or whoever knowingly received either the goods or the person1 should be also guilty of felony4 ,for as the indigent debtor is a branch of the commonwealth which deserves its care1 so the wilful bankrupt is one of the worst sort of thieves4 ,and it seems a little unequal that a poor fellow who for mere want steals from his neighbour some trifle shall be sent out of the kingdom1 and sometimes out of the world1 while a sort of people who defy justice1 and violently resist the law1 shall be suffered to carry men's estates away before their faces1 and no officers to be found who dare execute the law upon them4 ,any man would be concerned to hear with what scandal and reproach foreigners do speak of the impotence of our constitution in this point2 that in a civilised ,government1 as ours is1 the strangest contempt of authority is shown that can be instanced in the world4 ,i may be a little the warmer on this head1 on account that ,i have been a larger sufferer by such means than ordinary4 ,but ,i appeal to all the world as to the equity of the case4 ,what the difference is between having my house broken up in the night to be robbed1 and a man coming in good credit1 and with a proffer of ready money in the middle of the day1 and buying #ejj of goods1 and carrying them directly from my warehouse into the ,mint1 and the next day laugh at me1 and bid me defiance2 yet this ,i have seen done4 ,i think 'tis the justest thing in the world that the last should be esteemed the greater thief1 and deserves most to be hanged4 ,i have seen a creditor come with his wife and children1 and beg of the debtor only to let him have part of his own goods again1 which he had bought1 knowing and designing to break4 ,i have seen him with tears and entreaties petition for his own1 or but some of it1 and be taunted and sworn at1 and denied by a saucy insolent bankrupt4 ,that the poor man has been wholly ruined by the cheat4 ,it is by the villainy of such many an honest man is undone1 families starved and sent a begging1 and yet no punishment prescribed by our laws for it4 ,by the aforesaid commission of inquiry all this might be most effectually prevented1 an honest1 indigent tradesman preserved1 knavery detected and punished2 ,mints1 ,friars1 and privilege-places suppressed1 and without doubt a great number of insolencies avoided and prevented2 of which many more particulars might be insisted upon1 but ,i think these may be sufficient to lead anybody into the thought2 and for the method1 ,i leave it to the wise heads of the nation1 who know better than ,i how to state the law to the circumstances of the crime4 ,,of ,,academies4 ,,we have in ,england fewer of these than in any part of the world1 at least where learning is in so much esteem4 ,but to make amends1 the two great seminaries we have are1 without comparison1 the greatest1 ,i won't say the best1 in the world2 and though much might be said here concerning universities in general1 and foreign academies in particular1 ,i content myself with noting that part in which we seem defective4 ,the ,french1 who justly value themselves upon erecting the most celebrated academy of ,europe1 owe the lustre of it very much to the great encouragement the kings of ,france have given to it4 ,and one of the members making a speech at his entrance tells you that it is not the least of the glories of their invincible monarch to have engrossed all the learning of the world in that sublime body4 ,the peculiar study of the academy of ,paris has been to refine and correct their own language1 which they have done to that happy degree that we see it now spoken in all the courts of ,christendom1 as the language allowed to be most universal4 ,i had the honour once to be a member of a small society1 who seemed to offer at this noble design in ,england4 ,but the greatness of the work1 and the modesty of the gentlemen concerned1 prevailed with them to desist an enterprise which appeared too great for private hands to undertake4 ,we want1 indeed1 a ,richelieu to commence such a work4 ,for ,i am persuaded were there such a genius in our kingdom to lead the way1 there would not want capacities who could carry on the work to a glory equal to all that has gone before them4 ,the ,english tongue is a subject not at all less worthy the labour of such a society than the ,french1 and capable of a much greater perfection4 ,the learned among the ,french will own that the comprehensiveness of expression is a glory in which the ,english tongue not only equals but excels its neighbours2 ,rapin1 ,st4 ,evremont1 and the most eminent ,french authors have acknowledged it4 ,and my lord ,roscommon1 who is allowed to be a good judge of ,english1 because he wrote it as exactly as any ever did1 expresses what ,i mean in these lines3-- 8,for who did ever in ,french authors see ,the comprehensive ,english energy8 ,the weighty bullion of one sterling line1 ,drawn to ,french wire would through whole pages shine40 8,and if our neighbours will yield us1 as their greatest critic has done1 the preference for sublimity and nobleness of style1 we will willingly quit all pretensions to their insignificant gaiety40 ,it is great pity that a subject so noble should not have some as noble to attempt it4 ,and for a method1 what greater can be set before us than the academy of ,paris8 ,which1 to give the ,french their due1 stands foremost among all the great attempts in the learned part of the world4 ,the present ,king of ,england1 of whom we have seen the whole world writing panegyrics and encomiums1 and whom his enemies1 when their interest does not silence them1 are apt to say more of than ourselves2 as in the war he has given surprising instances of a greatness of spirit more than common3 so in peace1 ,i daresay1 with submission1 he shall never have an opportunity to illustrate his memory more than by such a foundation4 ,by which he shall have opportunity to darken the glory of the ,french king in peace1 as he has by his daring attempts in the war4 ,nothing but pride loves to be flattered1 and that only as it is a vice which blinds us to our own imperfections4 ,i think princes as particularly unhappy in having their good actions magnified as their evil actions covered4 ,but ,king ,william1 who has already won praise by the steps of dangerous virtue1 seems reserved for some actions which are above the touch of flattery1 whose praise is in themselves4 ,and such would this be4 ,and because ,i am speaking of a work which seems to be proper only for the hand of the king himself1 ,i shall not presume to carry on this chapter to the model1 as ,i have done in other subjects4 ,only thus far3 ,that a society be erected by the king himself1 if his ,majesty thought fit1 and composed of none but persons of the first figure in learning2 and it were to be wished our gentry were so much lovers of learning that birth might always be joined with capacity4 ,the work of this society should be to encourage polite learning1 to polish and refine the ,english tongue1 and advance the so much neglected faculty of correct language1 to establish purity and propriety of style1 and to purge it from all the irregular additions that ignorance and affectation have introduced2 and all those innovations in speech1 if ,i may call them such1 which some dogmatic writers have the confidence to foster upon their native language1 as if their authority were sufficient to make their own fancy legitimate4 ,by such a society ,i daresay the true glory of our ,english style would appear2 and among all the learned part of the world be esteemed1 as it really is1 the noblest and most comprehensive of all the vulgar languages in the world4 ,into this society should be admitted none but persons eminent for learning1 and yet none1 or but very few1 whose business or trade was learning4 ,for ,i may be allowed1 ,i suppose1 to say we have seen many great scholars mere learned men1 and graduates in the last degree of study1 whose ,english has been far from polite1 full of stiffness and affectation1 hard words1 and long unusual coupling of syllables and sentences1 which sound harsh and untuneable to the ear1 and shock the reader both in expression and understanding4 ,in short1 there should be room in this society for neither clergyman1 physician1 nor lawyer4 ,not that ,i would put an affront upon the learning of any of those honourable employments1 much less upon their persons4 ,but if ,i do think that their several professions do naturally and severally prescribe habits of speech to them peculiar to their practice1 and prejudicial to the study ,i speak of1 ,i believe ,i do them no wrong4 ,nor do ,i deny but there may be1 and now are1 among some of all those professions men of style and language1 great masters of ,english1 whom few men will undertake to correct2 and where such do at any time appear1 their extraordinary merit should find them a place in this society2 but it should be rare1 and upon very extraordinary occasions that such be admitted4 ,i would therefore have this society wholly composed of gentlemen2 whereof twelve to be of the nobility1 if possible1 and twelve private gentlemen1 and a class of twelve to be left open for mere merit1 let it be found in who or what sort it would1 which should lie as the crown of their study1 who have done something eminent to deserve it4 ,the voice of this society should be sufficient authority for the usage of words1 and sufficient also to expose the innovations of other men's fancies2 they should preside with a sort of judicature over the learning of the age1 and have liberty to correct and censure the exorbitance of writers1 especially of translators4 ,the reputation of this society would be enough to make them the allowed judges of style and language1 and no author would have the impudence to coin without their authority4 ,custom1 which is now our best authority for words1 would always have its original here1 and not be allowed without it4 ,there should be no more occasion to search for derivations and constructions1 and 'twould be as criminal then to coin words as money4 ,the exercises of this society would be lectures on the ,english tongue1 essays on the nature1 original1 usage1 authorities1 and differences of words1 or the propriety1 parity1 and cadence of style1 and of the politeness and manner in writing2 reflections upon irregular usages1 and corrections of erroneous customs in words2 and1 in short1 everything that would appear necessary to the bringing our ,english tongue to a due perfection1 and our gentlemen to a capacity of writing like themselves2 to banish pride and pedantry1 and silence the impudence and impertinence of young authors1 whose ambition is to be known1 though it be by their folly4 ,i ask leave here for a thought or two about that inundation custom has made upon our language and discourse by familiar swearing2 and ,i place it here1 because custom has so far prevailed in this foolish vice that a man's discourse is hardly agreeable without it2 and some have taken upon them to say it is pity it should not be lawful1 it is such a grace in a man's speech1 and adds so much vigour to his language4 ,i desire to be understood right1 and that by swearing ,i mean all those cursory oaths1 curses1 execrations1 imprecations1 asseverations1 and by whatsoever other names they are distinguished1 which are used in vehemence of discourse1 in the mouths almost of all men more or less1 of what sort soever4 ,i am not about to argue anything of their being sinful and unlawful1 as forbid by divine rules2 let the parson alone to tell you that1 who has1 no question1 said as much to as little purpose in this case as in any other4 ,but ,i am of the opinion that there is nothing so impertinent1 so insignificant1 so senseless1 and foolish as our vulgar way of discourse when mixed with oaths and curses1 and ,i would only recommend a little consideration to our gentlemen1 who have sense and wit enough1 and would be ashamed to speak nonsense in other things1 but value themselves upon their parts1 ,i would but ask them to put into writing the commonplaces of their discourse1 and read them over again1 and examine the ,english1 the cadence1 the grammar of them2 then let then turn them into ,latin1 or translate them into any other language1 and but see what a jargon and confusion of speech they make together4 ,swearing1 that lewdness of the tongue1 that scum and excrement of the mouth1 is of all vices the most foolish and senseless4 ,it makes a man's conversation unpleasant1 his discourse fruitless1 and his language nonsense4 ,it makes conversation unpleasant1 at least to those who do not use the same foolish way of discourse1 and1 indeed1 is an affront to all the company who swear not as he does2 for if ,i swear and curse in company ,i either presume all the company likes it or affront them who do not4 ,then it is fruitless2 for no man is believed a jot the more for all the asseverations1 damnings1 and swearings he makes4 ,those who are used to it themselves do not believe a man the more because they know they are so customary that they signify little to bind a man's intention1 and they who practise them not have so mean an opinion of those that do as makes them think they deserve no belief4 ,then1 they are the spoilers and destroyers of a man's discourse1 and turn it into perfect nonsense2 and to make it out ,i must descend a little to particulars1 and desire the reader a little to foul his mouth with the brutish1 sordid1 senseless expressions which some gentlemen call polite ,english1 and speaking with a grace4 ,some part of them indeed1 though they are foolish enough1 as effects of a mad1 inconsiderate rage1 are yet ,english2 as when a man swears he will do this or1 that1 and it may be adds1 8,god damn him he will20 that is1 8,god damn him if he don't40 ,this1 though it be horrid in another sense1 yet may be read in writing1 and is ,english3 but what language is this8 8,jack1 ,god damn me1 ,jack1 how dost do8 ,how hast thou done this long time1 by ,god80 ,and then they kiss2 and the other1 as lewd as himself1 goes on3-- 8,dear ,tom1 ,i am glad to see thee with all my heart1 let me die4 ,come1 let us go take a bottle1 we must not part so2 pr'ythee let's go and be drunk by ,god40 ,this is some of our new florid language1 and the graces and delicacies of style1 which if it were put into ,latin1 ,i would fain know which is the principal verb4 ,but for a little further remembrance of this impertinence1 go among the gamesters1 and there nothing is more frequent than1 8,god damn the dice10 or 8,god damn the bowls40 ,among the sportsmen it is1 8,god damn the hounds10 when they are at a fault2 or1 8,god damn the horse10 if he baulks a leap4 ,they call men 8sons of --10 and 8dogs10 and innumerable instances may be given of the like gallantry of language1 grown now so much a custom4 ,it is true1 custom is allowed to be our best authority for words1 and it is fit it should be so2 but reason must be the judge of sense in language1 and custom can never prevail over it4 ,words1 indeed1 like ceremonies in religion1 may be submitted to the magistrate2 but sense1 like the essentials1 is positive1 unalterable1 and cannot be submitted to any jurisdiction2 it is a law to itself2 it is ever the same2 even an ,act of ,parliament cannot alter it4 ,words1 and even usages in style1 may be altered by custom1 and proprieties in speech differ according to the several dialects of the country1 and according to the different manner in which several languages do severally express themselves4 ,but there is a direct signification of words1 or a cadence in expression1 which we call speaking sense2 this1 like truth1 is sullen and the same1 ever was and will be so1 in what manner1 and in what language soever it is expressed4 ,words without it are only noise1 which any brute can make as well as we1 and birds much better2 for words without sense make but dull music4 ,thus a man may speak in words1 but perfectly unintelligible as to meaning2 he may talk a great deal1 but say nothing4 ,but it is the proper position of words1 adapted to their significations1 which makes them intelligible1 and conveys the meaning of the speaker to the understanding of the hearer2 the contrary to which we call nonsense2 and there is a superfluous crowding in of insignificant words1 more than are needful to express the thing intended1 and this is impertinence2 and that again1 carried to an extreme1 is ridiculous4 ,thus when our discourse is interlined with needless oaths1 curses1 and long parentheses of imprecations1 and with some of very indirect signification1 they become very impertinent2 and these being run to the extravagant degree instanced in before1 become perfectly ridiculous and nonsense1 and without forming it into an argument1 it appears to be nonsense by the contradictoriness2 and it appears impertinent by the insignificancy of the expression4 ,after all1 how little it becomes a gentleman to debauch his mouth with foul language1 ,i refer to themselves in a few particulars4 ,this vicious custom has prevailed upon good manners too far2 but yet there are some degrees to which it has not yet arrived4 ,as1 first1 the worst slaves to this folly will neither teach it to nor approve of it in their children4 ,some of the most careless will indeed negatively teach it by not reproving them for it2 but sure no man ever ordered his children to be taught to curse or swear4 #b4 ,the grace of swearing has not obtained to be a mode yet among the women3 8,god damn ye0 does not fit well upon a female tongue2 it seems to be a masculine vice1 which the women are not arrived to yet2 and ,i would only desire those gentlemen who practice it themselves to hear a woman swear3 it has no music at all there1 ,i am sure2 and just as little does it become any gentleman1 if he would suffer himself to be judged by all the laws of sense or good manners in the world4 ,it is a senseless1 foolish1 ridiculous practice2 it is a mean to no manner of end2 it is words spoken which signify nothing2 it is folly acted for the sake of folly1 which is a thing even the devil himself don't practice4 ,the devil does evil1 we say1 but it is for some design1 either to seduce others1 or1 as some divines say1 from a principle of enmity to his ,maker4 ,men steal for gain1 and murder to gratify their avarice or revenge2 whoredoms and ravishments1 adulteries and sodomy1 are committed to please a vicious appetite1 and have always alluring objects2 and generally all vices have some previous cause1 and some visible tendency4 ,but this1 of all vicious practices1 seems the most nonsensical and ridiculous2 there is neither pleasure nor profit1 no design pursued1 no lust gratified1 but is a mere frenzy of the tongue1 a vomit of the brain1 which works by putting a contrary upon the course of nature4 ,again1 other vices men find some reason or other to give for1 or excuses to palliate4 ,men plead want to extenuate theft1 and strong provocations to excuse murders1 and many a lame excuse they will bring for whoring2 but this sordid habit even those that practise it will own to be a crime1 and make no excuse for it2 and the most ,i could ever hear a man say for it was that he could not help it4 ,besides1 as it is an inexcusable impertinence1 so it is a breach upon good manners and conversation1 for a man to impose the clamour of his oaths upon the company he converses with2 if there be any one person in the company that does not approve the way1 it is an imposing upon him with a freedom beyond civility4 ,to suppress this1 laws1 ,acts of ,parliament1 and proclamations are baubles and banters1 the laughter of the lewd party1 and never had1 as ,i could perceive1 any influence upon the practice2 nor are any of our magistrates fond or forward of putting them in execution4 ,it must be example1 not penalties1 must sink this crime2 and if the gentlemen of ,england would once drop it as a mode1 the vice is so foolish and ridiculous in itself1 it would soon grow odious and out of fashion4 ,this work such an academy might begin1 and ,i believe nothing would so soon explode the practice as the public discouragement of it by such a society2 where all our customs and habits1 both in speech and behaviour1 should receive an authority4 ,all the disputes about precedency of wit1 with the manners1 customs1 and usages of the theatre1 would be decided here2 plays should pass here before they were acted1 and the critics might give their censures and damn at their pleasure2 nothing would ever die which once received life at this original4 ,the two theatres might end their jangle1 and dispute for priority no more2 wit and real worth should decide the controversy1 and here should be the infallible judge4 ,the strife would then be only to do well1 ,and he alone be crowned who did excel4 ,ye call them ,whigs1 who from the church withdrew1 ,but now we have our stage dissenters too1 ,who scruple ceremonies of pit and box1 ,and very few are sound and orthodox1 ,but love disorder so1 and are so nice1 ,they hate conformity1 though 'tis in vice4 ,some are for patent hierarchy2 and some1 ,like the old ,gauls1 seek out for elbow room2 ,their arbitrary governors disown1 ,and build a conventicle stage of their own4 ,fanatic beaux make up the gaudy show1 ,and wit alone appears incognito4 ,wit and religion suffer equal fate2 ,neglect of both attends the warm debate4 ,for while the parties strive and countermine1 ,wit will as well as piety decline4 ,next to this1 which ,i esteem as the most noble and most useful proposal in this book1 ,i proceed to academies for military studies1 and because ,i design rather to express my meaning than make a large book1 ,i bring them all into one chapter4 ,i allow the war is the best academy in the world1 where men study by necessity and practice by force1 and both to some purpose1 with duty in the action1 and a reward in the end2 and it is evident to any man who knows the world1 or has made any observations on things1 what an improvement the ,english nation has made during this seven years' war4 ,but should you ask how clear it first cost1 and what a condition ,england was in for a war at first on this account--how almost all our engineers and great officers were foreigners1 it may put us in mind how necessary it is to have our people so practised in the arts of war that they may not be novices when they come to the experiment4 ,i have heard some who were no great friends to the ,government take advantage to reflect upon the king1 in the beginning of his wars in ,ireland1 that he did not care to trust the ,english1 but all his great officers1 his generals1 and engineers were foreigners4 ,and though the case was so plain as to need no answer1 and the persons such as deserved none1 yet this must be observed1 though it was very strange3 that when the present king took possession of this kingdom1 and1 seeing himself entering upon the bloodiest war this age has known1 began to regulate his army1 he found but very few among the whole martial part of the nation fit to make use of for general officers1 and was forced to employ strangers1 and make them ,englishmen 7as the ,counts ,schomberg1 ,ginkel1 ,solms1 ,ruvigny1 and others72 and yet it is to be observed also that all the encouragement imaginable was given to the ,english gentlemen to qualify themselves1 by giving no less than sixteen regiments to gentlemen of good families who had never been in any service and knew but very little how to command them4 ,of these1 several are now in the army1 and have the rewards suitable to their merit1 being major-generals1 brigadiers1 and the like4 ,if1 then1 a long peace had so reduced us to a degree of ignorance that might have been dangerous to us1 had we not a king who is always followed by the greatest masters in the world1 who knows what peace and different governors may bring us to again8 ,the manner of making war differs perhaps as much as anything in the world2 and if we look no further back than our civil wars1 it is plain a general then would hardly be fit to be a colonel now1 saving his capacity of improvement4 ,the defensive art always follows the offensive2 and though the latter has extremely got the start of the former in this age1 yet the other is mightily improving also4 ,we saw in ,england a bloody civil war1 where1 according to the old temper of the ,english1 fighting was the business4 ,to have an army lying in such a post as not to be able to come at them was a thing never heard of in that war2 even the weakest party would always come out and fight 7,dunbar fight1 for instance72 and they that were beaten to-day would fight again to-morrow1 and seek one another out with such eagerness1 as if they had been in haste to have their brains knocked out4 ,encampments1 intrenchments1 batteries1 counter-marchings1 fortifying of camps1 and cannonadings were strange and almost unknown things2 and whole campaigns were passed over1 and hardly any tents made use of4 ,battles1 surprises1 storming of towns1 skirmishes1 sieges1 ambuscades1 and beating up quarters was the news of every day4 ,now it is frequent to have armies of fifty thousand men of a side stand at bay within view of one another1 and spend a whole campaign in dodging 7or1 as it is genteelly called1 observing7 one another1 and then march off into winter quarters4 ,the difference is in the maxims of war1 which now differ as much from what they were formerly as long perukes do from piqued beards1 or as the habits of the people do now from what they then were4 ,the present maxims of the war are3 8,never fight without a manifest advantage40 8,and always encamp so as not to be forced to it40 ,and if two opposite generals nicely observe both these rules1 it is impossible they should ever come to fight4 ,i grant that this way of making war spends generally more money and less blood than former wars did2 but then it spins wars out to a greater length2 and ,i almost question whether1 if this had been the way of fighting of old1 our civil war had not lasted till this day4 ,their maxim was3 8,wherever you meet your enemy1 fight him40 ,but the case is quite different now2 and ,i think it is plain in the present war that it is not he who has the longest sword1 so much as he who has the longest purse1 will hold the war out best4 ,europe is all engaged in the war1 and the men will never be exhausted while either party can find money2 but he who finds himself poorest must give out first2 and this is evident in the ,french king1 who now inclines to peace1 and owns it1 while at the same time his armies are numerous and whole4 ,but the sinews fail2 he finds his exchequer fail1 his kingdom drained1 and money hard to come at3 not that ,i believe half the reports we have had of the misery and poverty of the ,french are true2 but it is manifest the ,king of ,france finds1 whatever his armies may do1 his money won't hold out so long as the ,confederates1 and therefore he uses all the means possible to procure a peace1 while he may do it with the most advantage4 ,there is no question but the ,french may hold the war out several years longer2 but their king is too wise to let things run to extremity4 ,he will rather condescend to peace upon hard terms now than stay longer1 if he finds himself in danger to be forced to worse4 ,this being the only digression ,i design to be guilty of1 ,i hope ,i shall be excused it4 ,the sum of all is this3 that1 since it is so necessary to be in a condition for war in a time of peace1 our people should be inured to it4 ,it is strange that everything should be ready but the soldier3 ships are ready1 and our trade keeps the seamen always taught1 and breeds up more2 but soldiers1 horsemen1 engineers1 gunners1 and the like must be bred and taught2 men are not born with muskets on their shoulders1 nor fortifications in their heads2 it is not natural to shoot bombs and undermine towns3 for which purpose ,i propose a ,royal ,academy for ,military ,exercises4 ,the founder the king himself2 the charge to be paid by the public1 and settled by a revenue from the ,crown1 to be paid yearly4 ,i propose this to consist of four parts3 #a4 ,a college for breeding up of artists in the useful practice of all military exercises2 the scholars to be taken in young1 and be maintained1 and afterwards under the king's care for preferment1 as their merit and ,his ,majesty's favour shall recommend them2 from whence ,his ,majesty would at all times be furnished with able engineers1 gunners1 fire-masters4 bombardiers1 miners1 and the like4 ,the second college for voluntary students in the same exercises2 who should all upon certain limited conditions be entertained1 and have all the advantages of the lectures1 experiments1 and learning of the college1 and be also capable of several titles1 profits1 and settlements in the said college1 answerable to the ,fellows in the ,universities4 ,the third college for temporary study1 into which any person who is a gentleman and an ,englishman1 entering his name and conforming to the orders of the house1 shall be entertained like a gentleman for one whole year gratis1 and taught by masters appointed out of the second college4 ,the fourth college1 of schools only1 where all persons whatsoever for a small allowance shall be taught and entered in all the particular exercises they desire2 and this to be supplied by the proficients of the first college4 ,i could lay out the dimensions and necessary incidents of all this work1 but since the method of such a foundation is easy and regular from the model of other colleges1 ,i shall only state the economy of the house4 ,the building must be very large1 and should rather be stately and magnificent in figure than gay and costly in ornament3 and ,i think such a house as ,chelsea ,college1 only about four times as big1 would answer it2 and yet1 ,i believe1 might be finished for as little charge as has been laid out in that palace-like hospital4 ,the first college should consist of one general1 five colonels1 twenty captains4 ,being such as graduates by preferment1 at first named by the founder2 and after the first settlement to be chosen out of the first or second colleges2 with apartments in the college1 and salaries4 per ann4 ,the general #cjj ,the colonels #ajj ,the captains #fj #b1jjj scholars1 among whom shall be the following degrees3 allowed per ann4 ,governors #ajj #aj ,directors #bjj #e ,exempts #bjj #e ,proficients #ejj ,juniors #a1jjj ,the general to be named by the founder1 out of the colonels2 the colonels to be named by the general1 out of the captains2 the captains out of the governors2 the governors from the directors2 and the directors from the exempts2 and so on4 ,the juniors to be divided into ten schools2 the schools to be thus governed3 every school has #ajj juniors1 in #aj classes4 ,every class to have #b directors4 #ajj classes of juniors is #a1jjj ,each class #b directors #bjj #a1bjj ,the proficients to be divided into five schools3 ,every school to have ten classes of #aj each4 ,every class #b governors4 #ej classes of proficients is #ejj ,each class #b governors is #ajj #fjj ,the exempts to be supernumerary1 having a small allowance1 and maintained in the college till preferment offer4 ,the second college to consist of voluntary students1 to be taken in1 after a certain degree of learning1 from among the proficients of the first1 or from any other schools1 after such and such limitations of learning2 who study at their own charge1 being allowed certain privileges2 as-- ,chambers rent-free on condition of residence4 ,commons gratis1 for certain fixed terms4 ,preferment1 on condition of a term of years' residence4 ,use of libraries1 instruments1 and lectures of the college4 ,this college should have the following preferments1 with salaries per ann4 ,a governor #bjj ,a president #ajj #ej college-majors #ej #bjj proficients #aj #ejj voluntary students1 without allowance4 ,the third and fourth colleges1 consisting only of schools for temporary study1 may be thus3 ,the third--being for gentlemen to learn the necessary arts and exercises to qualify them for the service of their country1 and entertaining them one whole year at the public charge--may be supposed to have always one thousand persons on its hands1 and cannot have less than #ajj teachers1 whom ,i would thus order3 ,every teacher shall continue at least one year1 but by allowance two years at most2 shall have #bj per annum extraordinary allowance2 shall be bound to give their constant attendance2 and shall have always five college-majors of the second college to supervise them1 who shall command a month1 and then be succeeded by five others1 and1 so on--#aj per annum extraordinary to be paid them for their attendance4 ,the gentlemen who practise to be put to no manner of charge1 but to be obliged strictly to the following articles3 #a4 ,to constant residence1 not to lie out of the house without leave of the college-major4 #b4 ,to perform all the college exercises1 as appointed by the masters1 without dispute4 #c4 ,to submit to the orders of the house4 ,to quarrel or give ill-language should be a crime to be punished by way of fine only1 the college-major to be judge1 and the offender be put into custody till he ask pardon of the person wronged2 by which means every gentleman who has been affronted has sufficient satisfaction4 ,but to strike challenge1 draw1 or fight1 should be more severely punished2 the offender to be declared no gentleman1 his name posted up at the college-gate1 his person expelled the house1 and to be pumped as a rake if ever he is taken within the college-walls4 ,the teachers of this college to be chosen1 one half out of the exempts of the first college1 and the other out of the proficients of the second4 ,the fourth college1 being only of schools1 will be neither chargeable nor troublesome1 but may consist of as many as shall offer themselves to be taught1 and supplied with teachers from the other schools4 ,the proposal1 being of so large an extent1 must have a proportionable settlement for its maintenance2 and the benefit being to the whole kingdom1 the charge will naturally lie upon the public1 and cannot well be less1 considering the number of persons to be maintained1 than as follows4 ,,first ,,college4 per ann4 ,the general #cjj #e colonels at #ajj per ann4 each #ejj #bj captains at #fj 11 #a1bjj #ajj governors at #aj 11 #a1jjj #bjj directors at #e 11 #a1jjj #bjj exempts at #e 11 #a1jjj #b1jjj heads for subsistence1 at #bj per head per #dj1jjj ann41 including provision1 and all the officers' salaries in the house1 as butlers1 cooks1 purveyors1 nurses1 maids1 laundresses1 stewards1 clerks1 servants1 chaplains1 porters1 and attendants1 which are numerous4 ,,second ,,college4 ,a governor #bjj ,a president #ajj #ej college-majors at #ej per ann4 each #b1ejj #bjj proficients at #aj #b1jjj ,commons for #ejj students during times of exercises at #b1ejj #e per ann4 each #bjj proficients' subsistence1 reckoning as above #d1jjj ,,third ,,college4 ,the gentlemen here are maintained as gentlemen1 and #be1jjj are to have good tables1 who shall therefore have an allowance at the rate of #be per head1 all officers to be maintained out of it2 which is #ajj teachers1 salary and subsistence ditto #d1ejj #ej college-majors at #aj per ann4 is #ejj ,annual charge #hf1cjj ,the building to cost #ej1jjj ,furniture1 beds1 tables1 chairs1 linen1 c4 #aj1jjj ,books1 instruments1 and utensils for experiments #b1jjj ,so the immediate charge would be #fb1jjj ,the annual charge #hf1cjj ,to which add the charges of exercises and experiments #c1gjj #ij1jjj ,the king's magazines to furnish them with #ejj barrels of gunpowder per annum for the public uses of exercises and experiments4 ,in the first of these colleges should remain the governing part1 and all the preferments to be made from thence1 to be supplied in course from the other2 the general of the first to give orders to the other1 and be subject only to the founder4 ,the government should be all military1 with a constitution for the same regulated for that purpose1 and a council to hear and determine the differences and trespasses by the college laws4 ,the public exercises likewise military1 and all the schools be disciplined under proper officers1 who are so in turn or by order of the general1 and continue but for the day4 ,the several classes to perform several studies1 and but one study to a distinct class1 and the persons1 as they remove from one study to another1 to change their classes1 but so as that in the general exercises all the scholars may be qualified to act all the several parts as they may be ordered4 ,the proper studies of this college should be the following3 ,geometry4 ,bombarding4 ,astronomy4 ,gunnery4 ,history4 ,fortification4 ,navigation4 ,encamping4 ,decimal arithmetic4 ,intrenching4 ,trigonometry4 ,approaching4 ,dialing4 ,attacking4 ,gauging4 ,delineation4 ,mining4 ,architecture4 ,fireworking4 ,surveying4 ,and all arts or sciences appendices to such as these1 with exercises for the body1 to which all should be obliged1 as their genius and capacities led them1 as3 #a4 ,swimming2 which no soldier1 and1 indeed1 no man whatever1 ought to be without4 #b4 ,handling all sorts of firearms4 #c4 ,marching and counter-marching in form4 #d4 ,fencing and the long-staff4 #e4 ,riding and managing1 or horsemanship4 #f4 ,running1 leaping1 and wrestling4 ,and herewith should also be preserved and carefully taught all the customs1 usages1 terms of war1 and terms of art used in sieges1 marches of armies and encampments1 that so a gentleman taught in this college should be no novice when he comes into the king's armies1 though he has seen no service abroad4 ,i remember the story of an ,english gentleman1 an officer at the siege of ,limerick1 in ,ireland1 who1 though he was brave enough upon action1 yet for the only matter of being ignorant in the terms of art1 and knowing not how to talk camp language1 was exposed to be laughed at by the whole army for mistaking the opening of the trenches1 which he thought had been a mine against the town4 ,the experiments of these colleges would be as well worth publishing as the acts of the ,royal ,society4 ,to which purpose the house must be built where they may have ground to cast bombs1 to raise regular works1 as batteries1 bastions1 half-moons1 redoubts1 horn-works1 forts1 and the like2 with the convenience of water to draw round such works1 to exercise the engineers in all the necessary experiments of draining and mining under ditches4 ,there must be room to fire great shot at a distance1 to cannonade a camp1 to throw all sorts of fireworks and machines that are1 or shall be1 invented2 to open trenches1 form camps1 c4 ,their public exercises will be also very diverting1 and more worth while for any gentleman to see than the sights or shows which our people in ,england are so fond of4 ,i believe as a constitution might be formed from these generals1 this would be the greatest1 the gallantest and the most useful foundation in the world4 ,the ,english gentry would be the best qualified1 and consequently best accepted abroad1 and most useful at home of any people in the world2 and ,his ,majesty should never more be exposed to the necessity of employing foreigners in the posts of trust and service in his armies4 ,and that the whole kingdom might in some degree be better qualified for service1 ,i think the following project would be very useful3 ,when our military weapon was the long-bow1 at which our ,english nation in some measure excelled the whole world1 the meanest countryman was a good archer2 and that which qualified them so much for service in the war was their diversion in times of peace1 which also had this good effect--that when an army was to be raised they needed no disciplining3 and for the encouragement of the people to an exercise so publicly profitable an ,act of ,parliament was made to oblige every parish to maintain butts for the youth in the country to shoot at4 ,since our way of fighting is now altered1 and this destructive engine the musket is the proper arms for the soldier1 ,i could wish the diversion also of the ,english would change too1 that our pleasures and profit might correspond4 ,it is a great hindrance to this nation1 especially where standing armies are a grievance1 that if ever a war commence1 men must have at least a year before they are thought fit to face an enemy1 to instruct them how to handle their arms2 and new-raised men are called raw soldiers4 ,to help this--at least1 in some1 measure--,i would propose that the public exercises of our youth should by some public encouragement 7for penalties won't do it7 be drawn off from the foolish boyish sports of cocking and cricketing1 and from tippling1 to shooting with a firelock 7an exercise as pleasant as it is manly and generous7 and swimming1 which is a thing so many ways profitable1 besides its being a great preservative of health1 that methinks no man ought to be without it4 #a4 ,for shooting1 the colleges ,i have mentioned above1 having provided for the instructing the gentry at the king's charge1 that the gentry1 in return of a favour1 should introduce it among the country people1 which might easily be done thus3 ,if every country gentleman1 according to his degree1 would contribute to set-up a prize to be shot for by the town he lives in or the neighbourhood1 about once a year1 or twice a year1 or oftener1 as they think fit2 which prize not single only to him who shoots nearest1 but according to the custom of shooting4 ,this would certainly set all the young men in ,england a-shooting1 and make them marksmen2 for they would be always practising1 and making matches among themselves too1 and the advantage would be found in a war2 for1 no doubt1 if all the soldiers in a battalion took a true level at their enemy there would be much more execution done at a distance than there is2 whereas it has been known how that a battalion of men has received the fire of another battalion1 and not lost above thirty or forty men2 and ,i suppose it will not easily be forgotten how1 at the battle of ,agrim1 a battalion of the ,english army received the whole fire of an ,irish regiment of ,dragoons1 but never knew to this day whether they had any bullets or no2 and ,i need appeal no further than to any officer that served in the ,irish war1 what advantages the ,english armies made of the ,irish being such wonderful marksmen4 ,under this head of academies ,i might bring in a project for an ,academy for ,women4 ,i have often thought of it as one of the most barbarous customs in the world1 considering us as a civilised and a ,christian country1 that we deny the advantages of learning to women4 ,we reproach the sex every day with folly and impertinence1 while ,i am confident1 had they the advantages of education equal to us1 they would be guilty of less than ourselves4 ,one would wonder indeed how it should happen that women are conversable at all1 since they are only beholding to natural parts for all their knowledge4 ,their youth is spent to teach them to stitch and sew1 or make baubles4 ,they are taught to read indeed1 and perhaps to write their names1 or so1 and that is the height of a woman's education4 ,and ,i would but ask any who slight the sex for their understanding1 ,what is a man 7a gentleman1 ,i mean7 good for that is taught no more8 ,i need not give instances1 or examine the character of a gentleman with a good estate1 and of a good family1 and with tolerable parts1 and examine what figure he makes for want of education4 ,the soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond1 and must be polished1 or the lustre of it will never appear4 ,and it is manifest that as the rational soul distinguishes us from brutes1 so education carries on the distinction1 and makes some less brutish than others4 ,this is too evident to need any demonstration4 ,but why1 then1 should women be denied the benefit of instruction8 ,if knowledge and understanding had been useless additions to the sex1 ,god ,almighty would never have given them capacities1 for ,he made nothing needless3 besides1 ,i would ask such what they can see in ignorance that they should think it a necessary ornament to a woman4 ,or1 ,how much worse is a wise woman than a fool8 or1 ,what has the woman done to forfeit the privilege of being taught8 ,does she plague us with her pride and impertinence8 ,why did we not let her learn1 that she might have had more wit8 ,shall we upbraid women with folly1 when it is only the error of this inhuman custom that hindered them being made wiser8 ,the capacities of women are supposed to be greater and their senses quicker than those of the men2 and what they might be capable of being bred to is plain from some instances of female wit which this age is not without1 which upbraids us with injustice1 and looks as if we denied women the advantages of education for fear they should vie with the men in their improvements4 ,to remove this objection1 and that women might have at least a needful opportunity of education in all sorts of useful learning1 ,i propose the draft of an academy for that purpose4 ,i know it is dangerous to make public appearances of the sex2 they are not either to be confined or exposed3 the first will disagree with their inclinations1 and the last with their reputations2 and therefore it is somewhat difficult2 and ,i doubt a method proposed by an ingenious lady1 in a little book called1 8,advice to the ,ladies10 would be found impracticable4 ,for1 saving my respect to the sex1 the levity which perhaps is a little peculiar to them 7at least in their youth7 will not bear the restraint2 and ,i am satisfied nothing but the height of bigotry can keep up a nunnery4 ,women are extravagantly desirous of going to heaven1 and will punish their pretty bodies to get thither2 but nothing else will do it1 and even in that case sometimes it falls out that nature will prevail4 ,when ,i talk therefore of an academy for women ,i mean both the model1 the teaching1 and the government different from what is proposed by that ingenious lady1 for whose proposal ,i have a very great esteem1 and also a great opinion of her wit2 different1 too1 from all sorts of religious confinement1 and1 above all1 from vows of celibacy4 ,wherefore the academy ,i propose should differ but little from public schools1 wherein such ladies as were willing to study should have all the advantages of learning suitable to their genius4 ,but since some severities of discipline more than ordinary would be absolutely necessary to preserve the reputation of the house1 that persons of quality and fortune might not be afraid to venture their children thither1 ,i shall venture to make a small scheme by way of essay4 ,the house ,i would have built in a form by itself1 as well as in a place by itself4 ,the building should be of three plain fronts1 without any jettings or bearing-work1 that the eye might at a glance see from one coin to the other2 the gardens walled in the same triangular figure1 with a large moat1 and but one entrance4 ,when thus every part of the situation was contrived as well as might be for discovery1 and to render intriguing dangerous1 ,i would have no guards1 no eyes1 no spies set over the ladies1 but shall expect them to be tried by the principles of honour and strict virtue4 ,and if ,i am asked why1 ,i must ask pardon of my own sex for giving this reason for it3 ,i am so much in charity with women1 and so well acquainted with men1 that it is my opinion there needs no other care to prevent intriguing than to keep the men effectually away4 ,for though inclination1 which we prettily call love1 does sometimes move a little too visibly in the sex1 and frailty often follows1 yet ,i think verily custom1 which we miscall modesty1 has so far the ascendant over the sex that solicitation always goes before it4 8,custom with women1 'stead of virtue1 rules2 ,it leads the wisest1 and commands the fools2 ,for this alone1 when inclinations reign1 ,though virtue's fled1 will acts of vice restrain4 ,only by custom 'tis that virtue lives1 ,and love requires to be asked before it gives4 ,for that which we call modesty is pride3 ,they scorn to ask1 and hate to be denied4 ',tis custom thus prevails upon their want2 ,they'll never beg what1 asked1 they easily grant4 ,and when the needless ceremony's over1 ,themselves the weakness of the sex discover4 ,if1 then1 desires are strong1 and nature free1 ,keep from her men and opportunity4 ,else 'twill be vain to curb her by restraint2 ,but keep the question off1 you keep the saint40 ,in short1 let a woman have never such a coming principle1 she will let you ask before she complies--at least1 if she be a woman of any honour4 ,upon this ground ,i am persuaded such measures might be taken that the ladies might have all the freedom in the world within their own walls1 and yet no intriguing1 no indecencies1 nor scandalous affairs happen2 and in order to this1 the following customs and laws should be observed in the colleges1 of which ,i would propose one at least in every county in ,england1 and about ten for the city of ,london4 ,after the regulation of the form of the building as before2 #a4 ,all the ladies who enter into the house should set their hands to the orders of the house1 to signify their consent to submit to them4 #b4 ,as no woman should be received but who declared herself willing1 and that it was the act of her choice to enter herself1 so no person should be confined to continue there a moment longer than the same voluntary choice inclined her4 #c4 ,the charges of the house being to be paid by the ladies1 every one that entered should have only this incumbrance--that she should pay for the whole year1 though her mind should change as to her continuance4 #d4 ,an ,act of ,parliament should make it felony1 without clergy1 for any man to enter by force or fraud into the house1 or to solicit any woman1 though it were to marry1 while she was in the house4 ,and this law would by no means be severe1 because any woman who was willing to receive the addresses of a man might discharge herself of the house when she pleased2 and1 on the contrary1 any woman who had occasion might discharge herself of the impertinent addresses of any person she had an aversion to by entering into the house4 ,in this house the persons who enter should be taught all sorts of breeding suitable to both their genius and their quality1 and1 in particular1 music and dancing1 which it would be cruelty to bar the sex of1 because they are their darlings2 but1 besides this1 they should be taught languages1 as particularly ,french and ,italian2 and ,i would venture the injury of giving a woman more tongues than one4 ,they should1 as a particular study1 be taught all the graces of speech1 and all the necessary air of conversation1 which our common education is so defective in that ,i need not expose it4 ,they should be brought to read books1 and especially history1 and so to read as to make them understand the world1 and be able to know and judge of things when they hear of them4 ,to such whose genius would lead them to it ,i would deny no sort of learning3 but the chief thing in general is to cultivate the understandings of the sex1 that they may be capable of all sorts of conversation2 that1 their parts and judgments being improved1 they may be as profitable in their conversation as they are pleasant4 ,women1 in my observation1 have little or no difference in them but as they are1 or are not1 distinguished by education4 ,tempers indeed may in some degree influence them1 but the main distinguishing part is their breeding4 ,the whole sex are generally quick and sharp2 ,i believe ,i may be allowed to say generally so2 for you rarely see them lumpish and heavy when they are children1 as boys will often be4 ,if a woman be well bred1 and taught the proper management of her natural wit1 she proves generally very sensible and retentive2 and1 without partiality1 a woman of sense and manners is the finest and most delicate part of ,god's creation1 the glory of her ,maker1 and the great instance of ,his singular regard to man 7,his darling creature71 to whom ,he gave the best gift either ,god could bestow or man receive2 and it is the most sordid piece of folly and ingratitude in the world to withhold from the sex the due lustre which the advantages of education gives to the natural beauty of their minds4 ,a woman well bred and well taught1 furnished with the additional accomplishments of knowledge and behaviour1 is a creature without comparison2 her society is the emblem of sublimer enjoyments2 her person is angelic1 and her conversation heavenly2 she is all softness and sweetness1 peace1 love1 wit1 and delight2 she is every way suitable to the sublimest wish1 and the man that has such a one to his portion has nothing to do but to rejoice in her1 and be thankful4 ,on the other hand1 suppose her to be the very same woman1 and rob her of the benefit of education1 and it follows thus3 ,if her temper be good1 want of education makes her soft and easy4 ,her wit1 for want of teaching1 makes her impertinent and talkative4 ,her knowledge1 for want of judgment and experience1 makes her fanciful and whimsical4 ,if her temper be bad1 want of breeding makes her worse1 and she grows haughty1 insolent1 and loud4 ,if she be passionate1 want of manners makes her termagant and a scold1 which is much at one with lunatic4 ,if she be proud1 want of discretion 7which still is breeding7 makes her conceited1 fantastic1 and ridiculous4 ,and from these she degenerates to be turbulent1 clamorous1 noisy1 nasty1 and 8the devil40 ,methinks mankind for their own sakes 7since1 say what we will of the women1 we all think fit one time or other to be concerned with them7 should take some care to breed them up to be suitable and serviceable1 if they expected no such thing as delight from them4 ,bless us6 what care do we take to breed up a good horse1 and to break him well6 ,and what a value do we put upon him when it is done6--and all because he should be fit for our use4 ,and why not a woman8--since all her ornaments and beauty1 without suitable behaviour1 is a cheat in nature1 like the false tradesman who puts the best of his goods uppermost1 that the buyer may think the rest are of the same goodness4 ,beauty of the body1 which is the women's glory1 seems to be now unequally bestowed1 and nature 7or1 rather1 ,providence7 to lie under some scandal about it1 as if it was given a woman for a snare to men1 and so make a kind of a she-devil of her3 because1 they say1 exquisite beauty is rarely given with wit1 more rarely with goodness of temper1 and never at all with modesty4 ,and some1 pretending to justify the equity of such a distribution1 will tell us it is the effect of the justice of ,providence in dividing particular excellences among all ,his creatures1 8,share and share alike1 as it were10 that all might for something or other be acceptable to one another1 else some would be despised4 ,i think both these notions false2 and yet the last1 which has the show of respect to ,providence1 is the worst2 for it supposes ,providence to be indigent and empty1 as if it had not wherewith to furnish all the creatures it had made1 but was fain to be parsimonious in its gifts1 and distribute them by piece-meal1 for fear of being exhausted4 ,if ,i might venture my opinion against an almost universal notion1 ,i would say most men mistake the proceedings of ,providence in this case1 and all the world at this day are mistaken in their practice about it4 ,and1 because the assertion is very bold1 ,i desire to explain myself4 ,that ,almighty ,first ,cause which made us all is certainly the fountain of excellence1 as it is of being1 and by an invisible influence could have diffused equal qualities and perfections to all the creatures it has made1 as the sun does its light1 without the least ebb or diminution to ,himself2 and has given indeed to every individual sufficient to the figure ,his providence had designed him in the world4 ,i believe it might be defended if ,i should say that ,i do suppose ,god has given to all mankind equal gifts and capacities1 in that ,he has given them all souls equally capable2 and that the whole difference in mankind proceeds either from accidental difference in the make of their bodies1 or from the foolish difference of education4 #a4 ,from accidental difference in bodies4--,i would avoid discoursing here of the philosophical position of the soul in the body3 but if it be true1 as philosophers do affirm1 that the understanding and memory is dilated or contracted according to the accidental dimensions of the organ through which it is conveyed1 then1 though ,god has given a soul as capable to me as another1 yet if ,i have any natural defect in those parts of the body by which the soul should act1 ,i may have the same soul infused as another man1 and yet he be a wise man and ,i a very fool4 ,for example1 if a child naturally have a defect in the organ of hearing1 so that he could never distinguish any sound1 that child shall never be able to speak or read1 though it have a soul capable of all the accomplishments in the world4 ,the brain is the centre of the soul's actings1 where all the distinguishing faculties of it reside2 and it is observable1 a man who has a narrow contracted head1 in which there is not room for the due and necessary operations of nature by the brain1 is never a man of very great judgment2 and that proverb1 8,a great head and little wit10 is not meant by nature1 but is a reproof upon sloth2 as if one should1 by way of wonder say1 8,fie1 fie1 you that have a great head have but little wit2 that's strange6 that must certainly be your own fault40 ,from this notion ,i do believe there is a great matter in the breed of men and women2 not that wise men shall always get wise children3 but ,i believe strong and healthy bodies have the wisest children2 and sickly1 weakly bodies affect the wits as well as the bodies of their children4 ,we are easily persuaded to believe this in the breeds of horses1 cocks1 dogs1 and other creatures2 and ,i believe it is as visible in men4 ,but to come closer to the business2 the great distinguishing difference which is seen in the world between men and women is in their education2 and this is manifested by comparing it with the difference between one man or woman and another4 ,and herein it is that ,i take upon me to make such a bold assertion1 that all the world are mistaken in their practice about women3 for ,i cannot think that ,god ,almighty ever made them so delicate1 so glorious creatures1 and furnished them with such charms1 so agreeable and so delightful to mankind1 with souls capable of the same accomplishments with men1 and all to be only stewards of our houses1 cooks1 and slaves4 ,not that ,i am for exalting the female government in the least3 but1 in short1 ,i would have men take women for companions1 and educate them to be fit for it4 ,a woman of sense and breeding will scorn as much to encroach upon the prerogative of the man as a man of sense will scorn to oppress the weakness of the woman4 ,but if the women's souls were refined and improved by teaching1 that word would be lost2 to say1 8the weakness of the sex10 as to judgment1 would be nonsense2 for ignorance and folly would be no more to be found among women than men4 ,i remember a passage which ,i heard from a very fine woman2 she had wit and capacity enough1 an extraordinary shape and face1 and a great fortune1 but had been cloistered up all her time1 and1 for fear of being stolen1 had not had the liberty of being taught the common necessary knowledge of women's affairs2 and when she came to converse in the world her natural wit made her so sensible of the want of education that she gave this short reflection on herself3 8,i am ashamed to talk with my very maids10 says she1 8for ,i don't know when they do right or wrong3 ,i had more need go to school than be married40 ,i need not enlarge on the loss the defect of education is to the sex1 nor argue the benefit of the contrary practice2 it is a thing will be more easily granted than remedied3 this chapter is but an essay at the thing1 and ,i refer the practice to those happy days1 if ever they shall be1 when men shall be wise enough to mend it4 ,,of ,a ,,court ,,merchant4 ,i ,,ask pardon of the learned gentlemen of the long robe if ,i do them any wrong in this chapter1 having no design to affront them when ,i say that in matters of debate among merchants1 when they come to be argued by lawyers at the bar1 they are strangely handled4 ,i myself have heard very famous lawyers make sorry work of a cause between the merchant and his factor2 and when they come to argue about exchanges1 discounts1 protests1 demurrages1 charter-parties1 freights1 port-charges1 assurances1 barratries1 bottomries1 accounts current1 accounts in commission1 and accounts in company1 and the like1 the solicitor has not been able to draw a brief1 nor the counsel to understand it4 ,never was young parson more put to it to make out his text when he is got into the pulpit without his notes than ,i have seen a counsel at the bar when he would make out a cause between two merchants4 ,and ,i remember a pretty history of a particular case1 by way of instance1 when two merchants1 contending about a long factorage account1 that had all the niceties of merchandising in it1 and labouring on both sides to instruct their counsel1 and to put them in when they were out1 at last they found them make such ridiculous stuff of it that they both threw up the cause and agreed to a reference1 which reference in one week1 without any charge1 ended all the dispute1 which they had spent a great deal of money in before to no purpose4 ,nay1 the very judges themselves 7no reflection upon their learning7 have been very much at a loss in giving instructions to a jury1 and juries much more to understand them2 for1 when all is done1 juries1 which are not always1 nor often indeed1 of the wisest men1 are1 to be sure1 in umpires in causes so nice that the very lawyer and judge can hardly understand them4 ,the affairs of merchants are accompanied with such variety of circumstances1 such new and unusual contingencies1 which change and differ in every age1 with a multitude of niceties and punctilios 7and those1 again1 altering as the customs and usages of countries and states do alter71 that it has been found impracticable to make any laws that could extend to all cases4 ,and our law itself does tacitly acknowledge its own imperfection in this case1 by allowing the custom of merchants to pass as a kind of law in cases of difficulty4 ,wherefore it seems to me a most natural proceeding that such affairs should be heard before1 and judged by1 such as by known experience and long practice in the customs and usages of foreign negotiation are of course the most capable to determine the same4 ,besides the reasonableness of the argument there are some cases in our laws in which it is impossible for a plaintiff to make out his case1 or a defendant to make out his plea2 as1 in particular1 when his proofs are beyond seas 7for no protests1 certifications1 or procurations are allowed in our courts as evidence72 and the damages are infinite and irretrievable by any of the proceedings of our laws4 ,for the answering all these circumstances1 a court might be erected by authority of ,parliament1 to be composed of six judges commissioners1 who should have power to hear and decide as a court of equity1 under the title of a 8,court ,merchant40 ,the proceedings of this court should be short1 the trials speedy1 the fees easy1 that every man might have immediate remedy where wrong is done4 ,for in trials at law about merchants' affairs the circumstances of the case are often such as the long proceedings of courts of equity are more pernicious than in other cases2 because the matters to which they are generally relating are under greater contingencies than in other cases1 as effects in hands abroad1 which want orders1 ships1 and seamen lying at demurrage and in pay1 and the like4 ,these six judges should be chosen of the most eminent merchants of the kingdom1 to reside in ,london1 and to have power by commission to summon a council of merchants1 who should decide all cases on the hearing1 of both parties1 with appeal to the said judges4 ,also to delegate by commission petty councils of merchants in the most considerable ports of the kingdom for the same purpose4 ,the six judges themselves to be only judges of appeal2 all trials to be heard before the council of merchants by methods and proceedings singular and concise4 ,the council to be sworn to do justice1 and to be chosen annually out of the principal merchants of the city4 ,the proceedings here should be without delay2 the plaintiff to exhibit his grievance by way of brief1 and the defendant to give in his answer1 and a time of hearing to be appointed immediately4 ,the defendant by motion shall have liberty to put off hearing upon showing good cause1 not otherwise4 ,at hearing1 every man to argue his own cause if he pleases1 or introduce any person to do it for him4 ,attestations and protests from foreign parts1 regularly procured and authentically signified in due form1 to pass in evidence2 affidavits in due form likewise attested and done before proper magistrates within the king's dominions1 to be allowed as evidence4 ,the party grieved may appeal to the six judges1 before whom they shall plead by counsel1 and from their judgment to have no appeal4 ,by this method infinite controversies would be avoided and disputes amicably ended1 a multitude of present inconveniences avoided1 and merchandising matters would in a merchant-like manner be decided by the known customs and methods of trade4 ,,of ,,seamen4 ,,it is observable that whenever this kingdom is engaged in a war with any of its neighbours two great inconveniences constantly follow3 one to the king and one to trade4 #a4 ,that to the king is1 that he is forced to press seamen for the manning of his navy1 and force them involuntarily into the service3 which way of violently dragging men into the fleet is attended with sundry ill circumstances1 as3 7#a47 ,our naval preparations are retarded1 and our fleets always late for want of men1 which has exposed them not a little1 and been the ruin of many a good and well-laid expedition4 7#b47 ,several irregularities follow1 as the officers taking money to dismiss able seamen1 and filling up their complement with raw and improper persons4 7#c47 ,oppressions1 quarrellings1 and oftentimes murders1 by the rashness of press-masters and the obstinacy of some unwilling to go4 7#d47 ,a secret aversion to the service from a natural principle1 common to the ,english nation1 to hate compulsion4 7#e47 ,kidnapping people out of the kingdom1 robbing houses1 and picking pockets1 frequently practised under pretence of pressing1 as has been very much used of late4 ,with various abuses of the like nature1 some to the king1 and some to the subject4 #b4 ,to trade4 ,by the extravagant price set on wages for seamen1 which they impose on the merchant with a sort of authority1 and he is obliged to give by reason of the scarcity of men1 and that not from a real want of men 7for in the height of a press1 if a merchant-man wanted men1 and could get a protection for them1 he might have any number immediately1 and none without it1 so shy were they of the public service74 ,the first of these things has cost the king above three millions sterling since the war1 in these three particulars3 #a4 ,charge of pressing on sea and on shore1 and in small craft employed for that purpose4 #b4 ,ships lying in harbour for want of men1 at a vast charge of pay and victuals for those they had4 #c4 ,keeping the whole navy in constant pay and provisions all the winter1 for fear of losing the men against summer1 which has now been done several years1 besides bounty money and other expenses to court and oblige the seamen4 ,the second of these 7viz41 the great wages paid by the merchant7 has cost trade1 since the war1 above twenty millions sterling4 ,the coal trade gives a specimen of it1 who for the first three years of the war gave #i a voyage to common seamen1 who before sailed for #cfs42 which1 computing the number of ships and men used in the coal trade1 and of voyages made1 at eight hands to a vessel1 does1 modestly accounting1 make #hi1fjj difference in one year in wages to seamen in the coal trade only4 ,for other voyages the difference of sailors' wages is #ejs1 per month and #ees4 per month to foremast-men1 who before went for #bfs4 per month2 besides subjecting the merchant to the insolence of the seamen1 who are not now to be pleased with any provisions1 will admit no half-pay1 and command of the captains even what they please2 nay1 the king himself can hardly please them4 ,for cure of these inconveniences it is the following project is proposed1 with which the seamen can have no reason to be dissatisfied1 nor are not at all injured2 and yet the damage sustained will be prevented1 and an immense sum of money spared1 which is now squandered away by the profuseness and luxury of the seamen4 ,for if prodigality weakens the public wealth of the kingdom in general1 then are the seamen but ill commonwealths-men1 who are not visibly the richer for the prodigious sums of money paid them either by the king or the merchant4 ,the project is this3 that by an ,act of ,parliament an office or court be erected1 within the jurisdiction of the ,court of ,admiralty1 and subject to the ,lord ,high ,admiral1 or otherwise independent1 and subject only to a parliamentary authority1 as the commission for taking and stating the public accounts4 ,in this court or office1 or the several branches of it 7which1 to that end1 shall be subdivided and placed in every sea-port in the kingdom71 shall be listed and entered into immediate pay all the seamen in the kingdom1 who shall be divided into colleges or chambers of sundry degrees1 suitable to their several capacities1 with pay in proportion to their qualities2 as boys1 youths1 servants1 men able and raw1 midshipmen1 officers1 pilots1 old men1 and pensioners4 ,the circumstantials of this office3 #a4 ,no captain or master of any ship or vessel should dare to hire or carry to sea with him any seamen but such as he shall receive from the office aforesaid4 #b4 ,no man whatsoever1 seaman or other1 but applying himself to the said office to be employed as a sailor1 should immediately enter into pay1 and receive for every able seaman #bds4 per month1 and juniors in proportion2 to receive half-pay while unemployed1 and liberty to work for themselves3 only to be at call of the office1 and leave an account where to be found4 #c4 ,no sailor could desert1 because no employment would be to be had elsewhere4 #d4 ,all ships at their clearing at the ,custom ,house should receive a ticket to the office for men1 where would be always choice rather than scarcity1 who should be delivered over by the office to the captain or master without any trouble or delay2 all liberty of choice to be allowed both to master and men1 only so as to give up all disputes to the officers appointed to decide4 ,note4--,by this would be avoided the great charge captains and owners are at to keep men on board before they are ready to go2 whereas now the care of getting men will be over1 and all come on board in one day3 for1 the captain carrying the ticket to the office1 he may go and choose his men if he will2 otherwise they will be sent on board to him1 by tickets sent to their dwellings to repair on board such a ship4 #e4 ,for all these men that the captain or master of the ship takes he shall pay the office1 not the seamen1 #bhs4 per month 7which #ds4 per month overplus of wages will be employed to pay the half-pay to the men out of employ71 and so in proportion of wages for juniors4 #f4 ,all disputes concerning the mutinying of mariners1 or other matters of debate between the captains and men1 to be tried by way of appeal in a court for that purpose to be erected1 as aforesaid4 #g4 ,all discounting of wages and time1 all damages of goods1 averages1 stopping of pay1 and the like1 to be adjusted by stated and public rules and laws in print1 established by the same ,act of ,parliament1 by which means all litigious suits in the ,court of ,admiralty 7which are infinite7 would be prevented4 #h4 ,no ship that is permitted to enter at the ,custom ,house and take in goods should ever be refused men1 or delayed in the delivering them above five days after a demand made and a ticket from the ,custom ,house delivered 7general cases1 as arrests and embargoes1 excepted74 ,the ,consequences of this ,method4 #a4 ,by this means the public would have no want of seamen1 and all the charges and other inconveniences of pressing men would be prevented4 #b4 ,the intolerable oppression upon trade1 from the exorbitance of wages and insolence of mariners1 would be taken off4 #c4 ,the following sums of money should be paid to the office1 to lie in bank as a public fund for the service of the nation1 to be disposed of by order of ,parliament1 and not otherwise2 a committee being a ways substituted in the intervals of the session to audit the accounts1 and a treasury for the money1 to be composed of members of the ,house1 and to be changed every session of ,parliament3 7#a74 ,four shillings per month wages advanced by the merchants to the office for the men1 more than the office pays them4 7#b74 ,in consideration of the reducing men's wages1 and consequently freights1 to the former prices 7or near them71 the owners of ships or merchants shall pay at the importation of all goods forty shillings per ton freight1 to be stated upon all goods and ports in proportion2 reckoning it on wine tonnage from ,canaries as the standard1 and on special freights in proportion to the freight formerly paid1 and half the said price in times of peace4 ,note4--,this may well be done1 and no burden2 for if freights are reduced to their former prices 7or near it71 as they will be if wages are so too1 then the merchant may well pay it3 as1 for instance1 freight from ,jamaica to ,london1 formerly at #f #ajs4 per ton1 now at #ah and #bj2 from ,virginia1 at #e to #f #ajs41 now at #ad1 #af1 and #ag2 from ,barbadoes1 at #f1 now at #af2 from ,oporto1 at #b1 now at #f2 and the like4 ,the payment of the above-said sums being a large bank for a fund1 and it being supposed to be in fair hands and currently managed1 the merchants shall further pay upon all goods shipped out1 and shipped on board from abroad1 for and from any port of this kingdom1 #d per cent4 on the real value1 bon fide2 to be sworn to if demanded4 ,in consideration whereof the said office shall be obliged to pay and make good all losses1 damages1 averages1 and casualties whatsoever1 as fully as by the custom of assurances now is done1 without any discounts1 rebates1 or delays whatsoever2 the said #d per cent4 to be stated on the voyage to the ,barbadoes1 and enlarged or taken off1 in proportion to the voyage1 by rules and laws to be printed and publicly known4 ,reserving only1 that then1 as reason good1 the said office shall have power to direct ships of all sorts1 how and in what manner1 and how long they shall sail with or wait for convoys2 and shall have power 7with limitations7 to lay embargoes on ships1 in order to compose fleets for the benefit of convoys4 ,these rules1 formerly noted1 to extend to all trading by sea1 the coasting and home-fishing trade excepted2 and for them it should be ordered-- ,first1 for coals2 the colliers being provided with men at #bhs4 per month1 and convoys in sufficient number1 and proper stations from ,tynemouth ,bar to the river1 so as they need not go in fleets1 but as wind and weather presents1 run all the way under the protection of the men-of-war1 who should be continually cruising from station to station1 they would be able to perform their voyage1 in as short time as formerly1 and at as cheap pay1 and consequently could afford to sell their coals at #ags4 per chaldron1 as well as formerly at #aes4 ,wherefore there should be paid into the treasury appointed at ,newcastle1 by bond to be paid where they deliver1 #ajs4 per chaldron1 ,newcastle measure2 and the stated price at ,london to be #bgs4 per chaldron in the ,pool1 which is #cjs4 at the buyer's house2 and is so far from being dear1 a time of war especially1 as it is cheaper than ever was known in a war2 and the officers should by proclamation confine the seller to that price4 ,in consideration also of the charge of convoys1 the ships bringing coals shall all pay #a per cent4 on the value of the ship1 to be agreed on at the office2 and all convoy-money exacted by commanders of ships shall be relinquished1 and the office to make good all losses of ships1 not goods1 that shall be lost by enemies only4 ,these heads1 indeed1 are such as would need some explication1 if the experiment were to be made2 and1 with submission1 would reduce the seamen to better circumstances2 at least1 it would have them in readiness for any public service much easier than by all the late methods of encouragement by registering seamen1 c4 ,for by this method all the seamen in the kingdom should be the king's hired servants1 and receive their wages from him1 whoever employed them2 and no man could hire or employ them but from him4 ,the merchant should hire them of the king1 and pay the king for them2 nor would there be a seaman in ,england out of employ--which1 by the way1 would prevent their seeking service abroad4 ,if they were not actually at sea they would receive half-pay1 and might be employed in works about the yards1 stores1 and navy1 to keep all things in repair4 ,if a fleet or squadron was to be fitted out they would be manned in a week's time1 for all the seamen in ,england would be ready4 ,nor would they be shy of the service2 for it is not an aversion to the king's service1 nor it is not that the duty is harder in the men-of-war than the merchant-men1 nor it is not fear of danger which makes our seamen lurk and hide and hang back in a time of war1 but it is wages is the matter3 #bds4 per month in the king's service1 and #djs4 to #ejs4 per month from the merchant1 is the true cause2 and the seaman is in the right of it1 too2 for who would serve his king and country1 and fight1 and be knocked on the head at #bds4 per month that can have #ejs4 without that hazard8 ,and till this be remedied1 in vain are all the encouragements which can be given to seamen2 for they tend but to make them insolent1 and encourage their extravagance4 ,nor would this proceeding be any damage to the seamen in general2 for #bds4 per month wages1 and to be kept in constant service 7or half-pay when idle71 is really better to the seaman than #des4 per month1 as they now take it1 considering how long they often lie idle on shore out of pay2 for the extravagant price of seamen's wages1 though it has been an intolerable burden to trade1 has not visibly enriched the sailors1 and they may as well be content with #bds4 per month now as formerly4 ,on the other hand1 trade would be sensibly revived by it1 the intolerable price of freights would be reduced1 and the public would reap an immense benefit by the payments mentioned in the proposal2 as-- #a4 #ds4 per month upon the wages of all the seamen employed by the merchant 7which if we allow #bjj1jjj seamen always in employ1 as there cannot be less in all the ships belonging to ,england7 is #dj1jjj per month4 #b4 #djs4 per ton freight upon all goods imported4 #c4 #d per cent4 on the value of all goods exported or imported4 #d4 #ajs4 per chaldron upon all the coals shipped at ,newcastle1 and #a per cent4 on the ships which carry them4 ,what these four articles would pay to the ,exchequer yearly it would be very difficult to calculate1 and ,i am too near the end of this book to attempt it3 but ,i believe no tax ever given since this war has come near it4 ,it is true1 out of this the public would be to pay half-pay to the seamen who shall be out of employ1 and all the losses1 and damages on goods and ships2 which1 though it might be considerable1 would be small1 compared to the payment aforesaid3 for as the premium of #d per cent4 is but small1 so the safety lies upon all men being bound to insure4 ,for ,i believe any one will grant me this3 it is not the smallness of a premium ruins the insurer1 but it is the smallness of the quantity he insures2 and ,i am not at all ashamed to affirm that1 let but a premium of #d per cent4 be paid into one man's hand for all goods imported and exported1 and any man may be the general insurer of the kingdom1 and yet that premium can never hurt the merchant either4 ,so that the vast revenue this would raise would be felt nowhere3 neither poor nor rich would pay the more for coals2 foreign goods would be brought home cheaper1 and our own goods carried to market cheaper2 owners would get more by ships1 merchants by goods2 and losses by sea would be no loss at all to anybody1 because repaid by the public stock4 ,another unseen advantage would arise by it3 we should be able to outwork all our neighbours1 even the ,dutch themselves1 by sailing as cheap and carrying goods as cheap in a time of war as in peace--an advantage which has more in it than is easily thought of1 and would have a noble influence upon all our foreign trade4 ,for what could the ,dutch do in trade if we could carry our goods to ,cadiz at #ejs4 per ton freight1 and they give #h or #aj and the like in other places8 ,whereby we could be able to sell cheaper or get more than our neighbours4 ,there are several considerable clauses might be added to this proposal 7some of great advantage to the general trade of the kingdom1 some to particular trades1 and more to the public71 but ,i avoid being too particular in things which are but the product of my own private opinion4 ,if the ,government should ever proceed to the experiment1 no question but much more than has been hinted at would appear2 nor do ,i see any great difficulty in the attempt1 or who would be aggrieved at it2 and there ,i leave it1 rather wishing than expecting to see it undertaken4 ,,the ,,conclusion4 ,,upon a review of the several chapters of this book ,i find that1 instead of being able to go further1 some things may have suffered for want of being fully expressed2 which if any person object against1 ,i only say1 ,i cannot now avoid it4 ,i have endeavoured to keep to my title1 and offered but an essay2 which any one is at liberty to go on with as they please1 for ,i can promise no supplement4 ,as to errors of opinion1 though ,i am not yet convinced of any1 yet ,i nowhere pretend to infallibility4 ,however1 ,i do not willingly assert anything which ,i have not good grounds for4 ,if ,i am mistaken1 let him that finds the error inform the world better1 and never trouble himself to animadvert upon this1 since ,i assure him ,i shall not enter into any pen-and-ink contest on the matter4 ,as to objections which may lie against any of the proposals made in this book1 ,i have in some places mentioned such as occurred to my thoughts4 ,i shall never assume that arrogance to pretend no other or further objections may be raised2 but ,i do really believe no such objection can be raised as will overthrow any scheme here laid down so as to render the thing impracticable4 ,neither do ,i think but that all men will acknowledge most of the proposals in this book would be of as great1 and perhaps greater1 advantage to the public than ,i have pretended to4 ,as for such who read books only to find out the author's faux pas1 who will quarrel at the meanness of style1 errors of pointing1 dulness of expression1 or the like1 ,i have but little to say to them4 ,i thought ,i had corrected it very carefully1 and yet some mispointings and small errors have slipped me1 which it is too late to help4 ,as to language1 ,i have been rather careful to make it speak ,english suitable to the manner of the story than to dress it up with exactness of style1 choosing rather to have it free and familiar1 according to the nature of essays1 than to strain at a perfection of language which ,i rather wish for than pretend to be master of4 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,printed by ,cassell and ,company1 ,limited1 ,la ,bella ,sauvage1 ,london1 ,e4,c4