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<NAME>Megan Marion</NAME>
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<P>SOME THOUGHTS ON THE BILL Depending before the Right Honourable THE HOUSE OF LORDS, FOR Prohibiting the EXPORTATION of the Woollen Manufactures of <HI>Ireland</HI> to Foreign Parts.</P>
<P>Humbly offer'd to their Lord&s;hips.</P>
<P><HI>D&V;BLIN,</HI> Printed by <HI>J. Ray</HI> in <HI>Skinner Row,</HI> over again&s;t the <HI>Thol&s;el,</HI> for <HI>Eliphal Dob&s;on,</HI> Book&s;eller in <HI>Ca&s;tle &s;treet,</HI> 1698.</P>
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<PB REF="2">
<PB N="3" REF="2">
<HEAD>REASONS again&s;t the Bill for Prohibiting the Exportation of the Woollen Manufactures of <HI>Ireland,</HI> to Foreign Parts.</HEAD>
<P>THE Bill for Prohibiting the Exportation of the Woollen Manufacture out of <HI>Ireland</HI> to Foreign Parts, being now under your Lord&s;hips Con&s;ide|ration, I have pre&s;umed to offer my Thoughts concerning it, and &s;hall endeavour to &s;hew it will be detrimental to the Intere&s;t of both <HI>England</HI> and <HI>Ireland.</HI> If this hath the end I de&s;ign by it, I &s;hall think my time well &s;pent; If not, I hope the Sincerity of my Intentions will atone for my Ina|bility of Performance.</P>
<P>I &s;hall begin by &s;hewing the great Advantages <HI>Eng|land</HI> reaps by the Trade of <HI>Ireland,</HI> that your Lord&s;hips may judge how little Rea&s;on there is to be jealous of them, and how tender this Nation ought to be of put|ting unnece&s;&s;ary Difficulties upon them.</P>
<P>'Tis a common Saying among&s;t us, that it would be well for <HI>England</HI> if <HI>Ireland</HI> was under the Sea; whereas I hope to make it appear, that <HI>England</HI> gets more by <HI>Ireland</HI> than by the Trade of the whole World be&s;ides; and if in the late Reigns <HI>Ireland</HI> had not in a great mea&s;ure &s;upplied the Lo&s;&s;es we &s;uffer'd by the French, Indian and Ea&s;tern Trades, we had been long &s;ince undone, and it had not been now the common Debate of the Town how to undo them.</P>
<P><PB N="4" REF="3">This will appear to be evident, if we con&s;ider the Particulars relating to both Kingdoms.</P>
<P>Near a third part of all the Lands of that Kingdom, belonging to Engli&s;h Proprietors who inhabit here, and have their Rents con&s;tantly return'd in ready Money.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides this, mo&s;t of the Nobility and Gentry of <HI>Ire|land</HI> &s;pend their E&s;tates here; they live no longer in <HI>Ire|land</HI> than to rai&s;e a &s;um of Money to &s;pend here in their Plea&s;ures. This is the Seat of Government: Here are the Court and the Societies of Law: Here all the Nobi|lity and Gentry come for Employments, Education, or Plea&s;ure; which Con&s;iderations alone would exhau&s;t that Kingdom, if it had the Riches of both <HI>Indies.</HI></P>
<P>I will add to this, that <HI>England</HI> &s;upplies <HI>Ireland</HI> with mo&s;t of the Commodities they con&s;ume; and notwith|&s;tanding all our frights, there are nine in ten of that Country, that are able to buy it, clothed in Woollen Manufactures &s;ent from <HI>England,</HI> and in exchange we have very few Commodities from them; for their Cattle are prohibited, there are Impo&s;itions upon their Tallow, Leather, and Corn, which almo&s;t amount to a Prohibi|tion; and la&s;t Year the Tonnage and Poundage was dou|bled upon their Linen and other Manufactures; and &s;uch Commodities as are &s;uffer'd to come from thence are either ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary to us, or Materials for our Manu|factures, as Wooll, Flax, Cony skins, raw Hides, Sheep-skins, Rape-&s;eed, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>In times of Peace there was near 100000 <HI>l. per annum</HI> return'd neat to the Court, be&s;ides the Charge of that Government; and &s;ince the War they have contributed to the Publick Charge as far as their late Misfortunes would &s;uffer them, and without doubt in a new War will advance large Supplies of Men and Money, if we do not di&s;able them.</P>
<P><PB N="5" REF="3">Be&s;ides this, mo&s;t of the Trade of that Kingdom is carried on by Engli&s;h Stocks, and in Engli&s;h Bottoms; and a great number of their E&s;tates are mortgaged to Engli&s;h Men at the unrea&s;onable Intere&s;t of ten <HI>per cent.</HI> They are but Factors, and mo&s;t of the Profit redounds to us; they toil for our Advantage, they &s;ow and we reap.</P>
<P>I have enumerated the&s;e Particulars, to &s;hew, that what&s;oever <HI>Ireland</HI> gets by Trade from the whole World centers in <HI>England,</HI> and is returned hither by Bills of Ex|change from <HI>Spain, Holland, France,</HI> the <HI>We&s;t-Indies,</HI> and other places. If they gain'd ten Millions a Year, it would come to <HI>England;</HI> and if they get but ten Thou|&s;and Pounds, we can have no more from them. They have no Mines of Silver and Gold, and therefore can &s;end none to us but what they get fir&s;t from others; and if we hinder them from making Advantages of other Nations, we can make none of them; &s;o that what is lo&s;t in the Pari&s;h is got in the Hundred. Nor is it po&s;&s;i|ble that <HI>Ireland</HI> &s;hould advance in Riches in any propor|tion to <HI>England,</HI> for the former I&s;&s;ues will draw away their Wealth as fa&s;t as ever they get it: and this is mani|fe&s;ted by twenty Years Experience before the War; for though they got a great many Millions over-balance from the re&s;t of the World, yet according to the be&s;t Computations they never had above three hundred thou|&s;and Pounds in that Kingdom.</P>
<P>The Particulars I have mentioned amount to above 600000 <HI>l. per annum,</HI> be&s;ides the great Advantages we re|ceive by being &s;upplied from thence with Materials for our Manufactures, as before-mentioned. If &s;o, I &s;ub|mit to your Lord&s;hips, whether the Over-balance we have of the re&s;t of the World amount to as much more: If it does, I am &s;ure we &s;hall quickly be a rich People;
<PB N="6" REF="4">
but if not, then how tenderly ought we to u&s;e a Nation that yields us &s;o much Profit? There is a Mediocrity in Nature which we cannot exceed without de&s;troying what we de&s;ign to advance. Moderate Impo&s;itions rai&s;e large Sums, and great ones often rai&s;e nothing. We may &s;heer our Sheep &s;o clo&s;e, as to flee them that they &s;hall never bear Wooll again. I have heard of a Man that try'd to bring his Hor&s;e to live without Meat, and then he died. I wi&s;h this be not the ca&s;e of <HI>Ireland,</HI> that we de&s;ire to get &s;o much from them, till at la&s;t we put them out of a condition to pay us any thing.</P>
<P>But there is another Con&s;ideration which &s;trikes deep|er yet; Whether by Bills of this kind we &s;hall not make the Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of that Kingdom in&s;ecure to us, and after &s;o much expence of Blood and Trea&s;ure at la&s;t throw it again into Iri&s;h hands.</P>
<P>My Lords I have heard but of two ways of keeping con|quered Countries in Subjection, by Arms, or by Colonies</P>
<P>As to the fir&s;t (be&s;ides the Charge of it, which com|monly eats up the whole Profit) I think few will deny but it is equally dangerous to the conquering or the conquered Country: There can be no Force in the Province but may be brought to the Mother Kingdom; and if they are &s;uffi|cient without other A&s;&s;i&s;tance to keep one Country in en|tire Subjection, in time they will keep the other &s;o too.</P>
<P>The other way is by Colonies, and this is the method that free Governments have always taken to &s;ecure their Con|que&s;ts. This <HI>Rome</HI> did for four hundred years, till at la&s;t their Conque&s;ts were &s;o large that their Government grew top-heavy, the Trunk was not large enough to &s;up|port its Branches. This our Ance&s;tors did to &s;ecure <HI>Ireland,</HI> and is the ea&s;ie&s;t, lea&s;t chargeable, and lea&s;t dan|gerous Method.</P>
<P><PB N="7" REF="4">Now the e&s;tabli&s;hing Colonies, my Lords, is often done by e&s;tabli&s;hing the conquering Army on &s;ome part of the conquered Lands, &s;ometimes by &s;ending forth a number of your People to inhabit there; but always by giving them &s;uch Encouragements, that it &s;hall be their Intere&s;t to keep the Natives in &s;ubjection.</P>
<P>This is the ca&s;e of <HI>Ireland,</HI> that after five hundred years contending, 52 Rebellions and Ma&s;&s;acres, to the lo&s;s of a Million of Engli&s;h, the conquering Army often planted in the Country, and multitudes be&s;ides leaving <HI>England</HI> to in|habit there, almo&s;t the whole Kingdom is at la&s;t got into the Engli&s;h hands; and if we &s;hould lay &s;uch difficulties up|on them, that they &s;hould think it their Intere&s;t to leave the Country, or not be very &s;olicitous for the Engli&s;h Intere&s;t there, I &s;ubmit to your Lord&s;hips great Wi&s;dom, whether that Kingdom may not hereafter give us fre&s;h trouble. <HI>France</HI> is but a new Friend, and <HI>Scotland</HI> for late rea&s;ons is not much in humour with us; and we know the whole North of <HI>Ireland</HI> is inhabited by that Nation, and multi|tudes of them go over every day, and will do &s;o notwith|&s;tanding this or any other Law that can be made.</P>
<P>I would not &s;ugge&s;t &s;uch improbable and &s;uch wicked thoughts, as that the Engli&s;h of that Country &s;hould join with them in any Intere&s;t but in &s;ub&s;erviency to <HI>England;</HI> but I hope I may &s;ay without offence that the better any People are u&s;ed, the better Subjects they will make: And I believe no one will deny, if they had thought it their In|tere&s;t to have joined with the late King, we had had much more trouble in reducing the Country. The Town of <HI>Londonderry,</HI> the <HI>Iniskillen-men,</HI> and the <HI>Militia</HI> of <HI>Ireland,</HI> had their &s;hare, and a con&s;iderable one too, in bringing the Country to obedience.</P>
<P><PB N="8" REF="5">No one knows what unhappy occa&s;ions may ari&s;e in ages to come of difference between our Kings and Peo|ple and therefore we ought to be tender how we make it the Intere&s;t of a whole Kingdom to be &s;ub&s;ervient to the de&s;igns of a corrupt Court, who will offer them any advantages. Mo&s;t of us have read, and &s;ome of us have &s;een with our Eyes, tho&s;e times that Courts have plaid <HI>England</HI> again&s;t <HI>Scotland, Scotland</HI> again&s;t <HI>England,</HI> and <HI>Ireland</HI> again&s;t both; and we have heard of the time, that an Iri&s;h Parliament hath been called to give Money to reduce an Engli&s;h one.</P>
<P>They are not contending for Power or great Riches; they neither Trade to the <HI>Ea&s;t-Indies, Turkey,</HI> or <HI>Africa;</HI> they have neither <HI>Hamborough, Hud&s;ons-Bay, Green|land,</HI> or <HI>Ru&s;&s;ia</HI> Companies; they have no Fleets or Plantations; they ask only the common benefits of Earth and Air. They de&s;ire only to change their native Com|modities for tho&s;e they want, and to manufacture a &s;mall part of their own Product, which is a liberty &s;eems to be allowed them by the Law of Nature, and which I don't find hath been denied by the mo&s;t &s;evere Conquerors.</P>
<P>And here, my Lords, I would di&s;tingui&s;h between Colonies for Trade, and Colonies for Empire. The fir&s;t is when a &s;mall number of your people are &s;ent forth to plant Commodities which your native Country does not produce, as in the <HI>We&s;t-Indies,</HI> or el&s;e when they are &s;ent to negotiate a Trade with the Natives, and build Forts for their Security, as in <HI>Africa</HI> and the <HI>Ea&s;t Indies.</HI> In both the&s;e ca&s;es it hath been u&s;ual to re&s;train their whole Trade to their Mother Kingdom; for there can be no other rea&s;on for their e&s;tabli&s;hment, and their number being &s;mall, they will have &s;ufficient encouragement for all their Charge, Indu&s;try, and Hazard.</P>
<P><PB N="9" REF="5">But Colonies for Empire &s;tand upon quite different rea|&s;ons; they are always planted to keep great Countries in &s;ub|jection, and prevent the charge and hazard of con&s;tant &s;tand|ing Armies. The&s;e have always received the utmo&s;t Encou|ragement, much le&s;s been re&s;trained from making the be&s;t advantage of their natural Product, and having their whole Trade re&s;trained to their Mother-Kingdom; but with hum|ble &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion, the Ca&s;e of <HI>Ireland</HI> is yet harder: for by this Act they will be re&s;trained to carry their Woollen Manufa|ctures to Foreign parts, and the Impo&s;itions formerly laid, are &s;ufficient to hinder them from coming hither, &s;o that they mu&s;t carry them no where.</P>
<P>But my Lords, if we had de&s;troyed the Woollen Manufa|cture in <HI>Ireland,</HI> is it nece&s;&s;ary that all will be made in <HI>Eng|land,</HI> that is hindred from being made in <HI>Ireland?</HI> That's a Tartar's Conceit, that if they kill any man, they &s;hall imme|diately enjoy his Wi&s;dom and Beauty; but I am afraid this will not be the Ca&s;e of <HI>England:</HI> for <HI>Holland, Scotland, Venice, Germany,</HI> and <HI>France,</HI> pretend to the Woollen Manufacture as well as they; and <HI>France</HI> hath been always equal, if not &s;u|periour to us, in their skill of making Stuffs: and can it be conceived that they will not &s;hare, if not in a great mea&s;ure engro&s;s the benefit we propo&s;e in the de&s;truction of that Ma|nufacture in <HI>Ireland?</HI> If &s;o, then how much more will it be to our advantage to receive the whole profit at &s;econd hand, than at be&s;t to divide it with other Nations, and chiefly with <HI>France,</HI> which hath always &s;ent Stuffs to <HI>Spain</HI> and <HI>Portugal,</HI> as well as <HI>England?</HI> and the&s;e are the only Nations I have heard of, which <HI>Ireland</HI> hath dealt with in that kind; and th&ocirc; for a few years before the War, <HI>Ireland</HI> might increa&s;e in their Manufacture of Stuffs, yet it is very plain it was not upon the ruines of <HI>England,</HI> for tho&s;e Manufactures both then, and during the War, have advanced prodigiou&s;ly here, as will appear by the Entries in the Cu&s;tom-hou&s;e, as well as by
<PB N="10" REF="6">
a greater con&s;umption of them at home; and it &s;eems a very hard ca&s;e to hinder <HI>Ireland</HI> from enriching them&s;elves, and it con&s;equence this Kingdom, at the expence of other Nations.</P>
<P>But it &s;eems we are particularly afraid of <HI>Ireland,</HI> becau&s;e we are told they can under-work us, and &s;end their Commo|dities to a Foreign Market cheaper than we; which fa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> with humble &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion is otherwi&s;e. 'Tis true, common la+bour in Husbandry is much cheaper there then here, b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> &s;uch as requires skill and knowledg is not &s;o: and this i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> true not only in <HI>Ireland,</HI> but in all Countries thin of people for there cannot be brought together numbers enough t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> carry on any Manufacture with &s;ucce&s;s; and if they could Stocks and Materials are wanting to &s;et them to work: be|&s;ides, naturally men choo&s;e rather to live in idlene&s;s and &s;loth than labour; and in poor Countries, where they can &s;atisfy the ordinary occa&s;ions of life with little indu&s;try, they wi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> hardly be per&s;waded to learn an Art, to which it will co&s;t them &s;even years pains to attain; and tho&s;e who give them|&s;elves that trouble, will be &s;ure to be better paid than in a we<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> peopled Country, where they mu&s;t either work or &s;tar<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">e This is the rea&s;on that in the <HI>We&s;t-Indies,</HI> where the labour of a Black, is not worth above Six pence a day, yet an ordina|ry Artificer will earn a Crown, and &s;ometimes ten Shillings. This is the rea&s;on that linnen Cloth doth not thrive &s;o well in <HI>Ireland</HI> as in <HI>Holland,</HI> where common labour is three time<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> as dear; and this is the rea&s;on that Woollen Cloth could ne|ver be made in <HI>Ireland</HI> &s;o cheap as it is &s;ent from <HI>England,</HI> not|with&s;tanding Freight and great Cu&s;toms paid there; which appears by their being never able to &s;et up that Manufactur<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> with &s;ucce&s;s, mo&s;t of the Gentry and Merchants of tha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> Kingdom being cloth'd with Engli&s;h Cloth. They make on|ly a few Stockings, Stuffs, and Frizes, which are different from tho&s;e made in <HI>England,</HI> and the &s;ale of them is more ow|ing to the particular way of making them, than any advan|tage
<PB N="11" REF="6">
in the price; and yet notwith&s;tanding they &s;end but very few abroad, it appearing by the Cu&s;tom-hou&s;e Books of <HI>Ire|land,</HI> that the Woollen Manufacture imported into <HI>Ireland</HI> from <HI>England,</HI> is ten times the value of what is exported from <HI>Ireland</HI> to the re&s;t of the World. But admitting they could work cheaper there, yet 'tis no con&s;equence they can fell the Manufacture cheaper. There are &s;everal Foreign Ma|terials nece&s;&s;ary to it, which come cheaper to us than them: be&s;ides, the difference of Intere&s;t gives us a great advantage. No man will imploy his Time and Stock in any Manufa|cture without trebling the common Intere&s;t of his Money. This Con&s;ideration alone makes above fifteen <HI>per cent.</HI> diffe|rence: be&s;ides, men upon &s;mall Stocks, and in a poor Coun|try, will expect to get much more in proportion, than upon great ones in a rich Country, becau&s;e there are &s;o many ways in the former, of turning their money to advantage. Great Stocks and low Intere&s;t carry away the Trade of the World; and, as is ob&s;erved by Sir <HI>Jo&s;iah Child</HI> in his Book of Trade, where Labour is deare&s;t, there are mo&s;t Manufactures, as in <HI>Holland</HI> and <HI>England,</HI> more than in any Countries in <HI>Europe,</HI> and in the We&s;t of <HI>England</HI> more than the North. Whether this is the Cau&s;e or Effect, is not material, &s;ince 'tis plain that Dearne&s;s of Wages does not de&s;troy Manufactures, but al|ways is an Evidence that they thrive, as we experience every day, that when the Woollen Manufacture is mo&s;t deman|ded, Wages run highe&s;t.</P>
<P>But they tell us, that <HI>Ireland</HI> will drein away our People; th&ocirc; by the way they give but a &s;curvy Argument for it, when they &s;ay, they can earn le&s;s Wages there. Now, my Lords, I could be glad to know how many People have gone to <HI>Ire|land</HI> that could live in <HI>England?</HI> Few Men leave their Coun|try, their Acquaintance and Relations, but for nece&s;&s;ity, be|cau&s;e they would not hang or &s;tarve at home; Men who are in Debt, Unfortunate, or &s;pent what they had; and if they
<PB N="12" REF="7">
had not <HI>Ireland</HI> to go to, would go to the Plantations, or el&s;e to <HI>Holland</HI> and other Countries, and be lo&s;t to the Kingdom for ever.</P>
<P>But what &s;hall tho&s;e men do, that are bred up to that Ma|nufacture in <HI>Ireland,</HI> and under&s;tand nothing el&s;e? Men that have &s;pent their whole Life-time in learning an Art, will not go to School again to learn a new one: They will rather leave their Country, and find another, where they may re|ceive more Encouragement. They can't come to <HI>England,</HI> for the Laws of the Poor prohibit them to live in any Pari&s;h: <HI>Holland</HI> will receive the Prote&s;tants, and <HI>France</HI> the Papi&s;ts; or perhaps they will go to &s;ome Country, and &s;et up the Ma|nufacture where 'tis not yet pretended to. All the Nations in the World would promote any Propo&s;ition of that kind, and with open Arms receive tho&s;e who would give them any A&s;&s;i|&s;tance. 'Twas the Duke of <HI>Alva</HI>'s driving out the Flemins that &s;et up the Woollen Manufacture in <HI>England,</HI> and the Per|&s;ecution in <HI>France</HI> hath very much improv'd it, and many of the French Prote&s;tants for want of Imployment in <HI>England,</HI> are gone to <HI>Ireland;</HI> and if we &s;hould drive them and other Prote&s;tants out there, they will go &s;omewhere el&s;e, where they will be &s;ure to be received: and the Con&s;equence to the Publick is the &s;ame, whether People leave their Country for fear of Per&s;ecution, or becau&s;e they can't live in it; but the Con&s;equence will be much more fatal to <HI>Ireland,</HI> by dri|ving out &s;uch a number of Prote&s;tants, to the le&s;&s;ening the Engli&s;h Intere&s;t there.</P>
<P>And after all, are we &s;ure, my Lords, this Act will an&s;wer the ends de&s;igned by it? I would not &s;ugge&s;t &s;o unbe|coming a Thought, as that the Magi&s;trates in <HI>Ireland</HI> &s;hould not do their utmo&s;t to execute it, but that we find the Of|ficers in other Countries are not over-zealous for the pub|lick Intere&s;t when their own is concerned. Few Men are in any Imployments in <HI>Ireland,</HI> but either have or hope to have
<PB N="13" REF="7">
an Intere&s;t in the Country: and what probability can there be of having a Law well executed, when the Nobility, the Gentry, and the whole Body of the People have an Intere&s;t again&s;t it? We have an In&s;tance of this in the Coa&s;ts of <HI>Kent</HI> and <HI>Su&s;&s;ex:</HI> for though 'tis the Intere&s;t of the whole Kingdom be&s;ides to prohibit Wooll going to <HI>France,</HI> yet becau&s;e 'tis the Intere&s;t of a few hundreds that it &s;hould, all the Laws made to the contrary have proved ineffectual; and in my humble Opinion it is worth your Lord&s;hips deepe&s;t Con&s;ideration, whether this Law may not put <HI>Ireland</HI> upon negotiating a &s;ecret Trade with <HI>France,</HI> than which nothing can be more fatal to <HI>England.</HI> But there is another Country that pretends to the Woollen Manufacture nearer than <HI>France. Scotland</HI> lies but three hours &s;ail from <HI>Ireland,</HI> and the whole North of that Kingdom is inhabited by Scots, and if we &s;hould put &s;uch Hard&s;hips upon them, I am afraid it will not be an ea&s;y matter to hinder their trafficking with their Country-men, which may be done in little Boats; and what is not work'd up in <HI>Scotland,</HI> may be &s;ent from thence to <HI>France.</HI> The whole Kingdom of <HI>Ireland</HI> thinks it as much their In|tere&s;t as ours to prohibit the carrying their Wooll to Fo|reign Parts: but if we &s;hould hinder them from &s;haring in the Benefit of that Law, 'tis to be feared they will &s;end it where they can get mo&s;t for it, notwith&s;tanding this or any Laws that can be made to prevent it. Be&s;ides, there is another thing worthy of Con&s;ideration, whether if we &s;hould hinder the People of <HI>Ireland</HI> from &s;ending any of their Woollen Ma|nufactures abroad, they will not agree together to &s;pend none but their own at home, which if they do, this Act will recoil upon <HI>England</HI> with a witne&s;s. The Bill prohibiting their importing Iri&s;h Cattel hath put them upon Navigation, and an extentive Trade with other Nations; and 'tis to be feared, if we &s;hould hinder them from &s;elling their Manufactures to other Nations, they will have Wit enough to &s;pend none but their own in <HI>Ireland.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="14" REF="8">But if, my Lords, notwith&s;tanding all that may be &s;aid, it &s;hall be thought the Intere&s;t of <HI>England</HI> to de&s;troy the Wool|len Manufacture in <HI>Ireland,</HI> there is an ea&s;ier and Gentler way of doing it. The Power of the Government is very great in that Country, and may give it &s;ecret Di&s;courage|ments, and let it decline by degrees: they may divert it by &s;etting up the Linnen Manufacture in the places where the Woollen mo&s;t pro&s;pers. Perhaps the Parliament of <HI>Ireland,</HI> now they &s;ee the Plea&s;ure of <HI>England,</HI> will do their Endeavours to divert their Stock and People to the Linnen Manufacture; but with the utmo&s;t <HI>Submi&s;&s;ion</HI> I &s;ay it, that it &s;eems too &s;evere to tell them and the whole World in &s;o &s;olemn a manner, that they &s;hall not Manufacture any of their own Product; it bears a Sting in the Tail of it, and teaches them this hard Le&s;&s;on, that whenever hereafter they with great Charge, Hazard, and perhaps forty Years Indu&s;try arrive to a degree of Perfection in any thing, if it appears to be the real or mi|&s;taken Intere&s;t of <HI>England</HI> to &s;uppre&s;s it, all their hopes and Endeavours mu&s;t be da&s;ht to pieces in a moment, their Cat|tle are already prohibited, their Corn, their Leather, their Tallow, are &s;o in a great mea&s;ure, they cannot come from the <HI>We&s;t-Indies</HI> but mu&s;t touch in <HI>England:</HI> But this Bill goes farther yet; it &s;ays, in effect, they &s;hall not bring their Ma|nufactures here, nor carry them any where el&s;e: why may they not expect that another Parliament will &s;ay, that the carrying abroad their Beef will le&s;&s;on the Price of our Beef, the carrying abroad their Corn will le&s;&s;en the Price of our Corn, and &s;o the re&s;t of their Commodities; and with &s;o much the greater probability, as they have the Precedent of this Act to ju&s;tify the Rea&s;onablene&s;s of it; Nay, my Lords, 'tis the common Subject of the Pamphlets, and Di&s;|cour&s;e of the Town, that it ought to be done already; and what A&s;&s;urance &s;hall they have that the Linnen Manufa|cture (which they are &s;o often complimented with) will ne|ver
<PB N="15" REF="8">
be &s;et up in <HI>England?</HI> It hath been often attempted, and the want of Succe&s;s in my poor Opinion hath been more owing to the Stock-jobbing and ill Conduct of the Managers, than any rea&s;on from the nature of the thing: yet notwith|&s;tanding a great deal of Linnen is made in <HI>Lanca&s;hire, We&s;t|moreland</HI> and other Parts of the North of <HI>England,</HI> who be|gin already to grumble at the bringing in Flax and Linnen from <HI>Ireland.</HI> And if tho&s;e Countries &s;hould improve in that Manufacture, I know no rea&s;on why it &s;hould not be as much Ju&s;tice to prohibit the Linnen Manufacture in <HI>Ireland</HI> as now the Woollen, and no doubt the Parliament will not want Petitions to that purpo&s;e; they trade in no Commodi|ties that <HI>England</HI> does not produce, and if they mu&s;t not trade in tho&s;e, they mu&s;t trade in none; and then the Eng|li&s;h at be&s;t will quit the Country, and it mu&s;t be maintained by va&s;t Armies &s;upported by the Men and Money of <HI>Eng|land;</HI> and even that is an uncertain Security, when all the Natives are their Enemies, and neighbouring Nations ready to a&s;&s;i&s;t them. But what &s;eeems harde&s;t yet is, that the Peo|ple of <HI>England</HI> &s;hould do that, now almo&s;t the whole King|dom is in Engli&s;h and Prote&s;tants hands, which was never thought fit to be done whil&s;t in Iri&s;h and Popi&s;h.</P>
<P>I have often lamented that &s;ome method hath not been found out to make <HI>England</HI> and <HI>Ireland</HI> joyn hand in hand in the &s;ame Intere&s;t, that <HI>England</HI> may not look upon <HI>Ireland</HI> as Rivals of their Trade, nor <HI>Ireland</HI> upon <HI>England</HI> as &s;evere Ma&s;ters, who would &s;acrifice them upon every imaginary and perhaps mi&s;taken advantage. <HI>I</HI> doubt not but Expe|dients of this kind may be offered, but 'tis not now my Pro|vince, 'tis a Subject worthy of the Legi&s;lative Power, and your Lord&s;hips great Wi&s;dom; but I humbly conceive Acts to ruine their Trade will work a quite contrary effect, and make <HI>Ire|land</HI> look upon <HI>England</HI> in&s;tead of their Protectors, as the check to all their endeavours, and the ob&s;tacle to all their
<PB N="16" REF="9">
hopes. I know your Lord&s;hips are not to be diverted from your purpo&s;es by di&s;tant Surmi&s;es; but 'tis no di&s;honour to apprehend ju&s;t con&s;equences; for to fear nothing is as great an extravagance, as to fear every thing.</P>
<P>It's your Lord&s;hips noble Province in this Government un|der Heaven, to redre&s;s Grievances, to relieve the Oppre&s;&s;ed, and not only to correct the Exhorbitances of Inferiour Courts, but to moderate the Exce&s;&s;es (if any &s;hould happen) of the other parts of the Government; and 'tis to your ge|nerous compa&s;&s;ion that is offered the condition of an un|happy Nation, who in the cau&s;e, and for the &s;ake of <HI>England</HI> have lo&s;t their Fathers, their Children, their Brothers, their Relations; who have &s;een their Country every where on a light fire, their Cities and Towns laid in rubbi&s;h and a&s;hes, their E&s;tates ravi&s;hed from them, their Faith tortured, and their own blood &s;pilt promi&s;cuou&s;ly in the Fields and Lanes, in the High-ways and Streets. Few have e&s;caped this ge|neral de&s;truction; and 'tis hoped you will not let tho&s;e few be in the condition of poor &s;hipwrackt men on &s;ome Coa&s;ts, who when they are thrown half dead a &s;hore, meet their ruine from tho&s;e of whom they did expect relief. They are Engli&s;hmen &s;ent over to conquer <HI>Ireland,</HI> your Countrymen, your Brothers, your Sons, your Relations your Acquaintance; governed by the &s;ame King, the &s;ame Laws; of the &s;ame Re|ligion, and in the &s;ame Intere&s;t, and equally engaged in the &s;ame common cau&s;e of Liberty. And they hope this Na|tion that hath &s;o lately e&s;caped the fetters of Tyranny, will &s;hew them&s;elves ea&s;y and Gentle Ma&s;ters to them; they hope you will not let them by their &s;ervice to <HI>England,</HI> their zeal to their Religion, their love to their Liberty, and by the lo&s;s of their Stock, and benefit of their E&s;tates for a great many years, purcha&s;e the lo&s;s of them for ever.</P>
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</TEXT>
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</ETS>
