Volume 1

The economic writings of Sir William Petty together with the Observations upon the bills of mortality, more probably by Captain John Graunt / edited by Charles Henry Hull.

  • Petty, William, Sir, 1623-1687.
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The economic writings of Sir William Petty together with the Observations upon the bills of mortality, more probably by Captain John Graunt / edited by Charles Henry Hull. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    maintainance of the triple Militia, and of the Auxilliary Seamen above-mentioned, do all five of them together, amount to one Million of mony, the raising whereof is not a Million spent, but gain unto the Common-Wealth, unless it can be made appear, that by reason of all, or any of them, the Exportation of Woollen Manufactures, Lead, and Tin, are lessened ; or of such Commodities, as our own East and West India Trade do produce, forasmuch as I conceive, that the [51] Exporta-|]tion of these last mentioned Commodities, is the Touch-stone whereby the Wealth of England is tryed, and the Pulse whereby the Health of the Kingdom may be discerned. Chap. III. That France cannot by reason of natural, and perpetual Impediments, be more powerftil at Sea, than the English, or Hollanders1 now are, or may be. The qua- T_)Ower at Sea consists chiefly of Men, able to fight at Sea, Ships°fit and that in such Shipping, as is most proper for the for the de- 5eas wherein they serve; and those are in these Northern England. Seas, Ships from between three hundred to one thousand three hundred Tuns ; and of those such as draw much Water, and have a deep Latch in the Sea, in order to keep a good Wind, and not to fall to Leeward, a matter of vast advantage in Sea Service: Wherefore it is to be examined, 1. Whether the King of France, hath Ports in the Northern Seas (where || [52] he hath most occasion for his Fleets of W7ar, in any contests2 with England) able to receive the Vessels above-mentioned, in all Weathers, both in Winter and Summer Season. For if the King of France, would3 bring to Sea an equal number of fighting Men, with the English and Hollanders, in small floaty Leeward Vessels, he would certainly be of the weaker 1 S, R, omit ‘now are, or may be.’ R, ‘than England or the Dutch,’ altered to ‘ or the low countries ’ by Petty. 2 S, ‘ with England ’ inserted by Petty, not in R. 3 S, ‘could,’ R, ‘would.’ 1691, ‘would’ corrected to ‘should’ in errata.