[]A BRIEF STATE OF THE Inland or Home Trade, &c.

CHAP. I. Of the Excellent Order and Method of carrying on our Home Trade in Eng⯑land, from the firſt Principles or Materials of our Manufactures, to the finiſhing of them.

PRODUCTION and CON⯑SUMPTION are the Be⯑ginning and End of all Trade.

The Materials produc'd, whether they are the Pro⯑duction of Nature or Art, are the SUBJECT of Trade.

The paſſing of thoſe Productions thro' the ſeveral working Hands, neceſſary for their [6] Improvement, or to their ſeveral Markets for Sale, is not improperly called the CIRCU⯑LATION of Trade.

The admirable Order of this Circulation of Trade is a moſt agreeable Speculation.

It is an Inquiry not unworthy the moſt Exalted Genius, not below the moſt Superior Dignity.

The Cauſes of it are found in the Nature of the Thing, and the Conſequences of it, in the Wealth and Proſperity of the Whole Kingdom.

How the meaneſt Trifles accumulate a Va⯑lue, as they paſs from Hand to Hand: How they become Important, Rich, Uſeful, and Beautiful, by the Addition of Time, Labour, and the Improvement of Art; and how the meaneſt Labourer or Mechanick contributes by unwearied Application, to finiſh (in a mere Road of inſtructed Workmanſhip) thoſe Beauties in Nature, which even he himſelf does not at all underſtand.

As in a Piece of the fineſt Clock-Work, we find each Man working on his diſtinct Part to the greateſt Perfection; yet the Beau⯑ties are not ſeen till the whole Frame is form'd by another Agent; which Agent alſo can no more perform the ſeparate Parts, than the ſe⯑parate Workmen can the Whole.

But the Beauty of this Oeconomy in Trade is not all; for Speculation is not our Buſineſs here: But this Circulation is the eſſential vi⯑tal [7] Part of the Proſperity of our Commerce, and eſpecially of our Home Trade in this Nation; and as ſuch it becomes the juſt Con⯑cern of every Lover of his Country.

Every Head and Hand ought to be em⯑ploy'd to Preſerve, Support, Enlarge, and En⯑creaſe it, as the main Thing on which the Health of Trade depends; and in the Decay, Shortning or Contracting of which, our Trade muſt neceſſarily Languiſh, Droop, and Die; and this brings us down directly, and without any Circumlocutions or Explana⯑tions, to the Caſe before us.

This Beautiful Scheme of Trade as de⯑ſcrihed in all its Circulating Meanders, of which we ſhall ſpeak in their Place, has of a long Time ſuffered a Decay; it has felt ſtrange Shocks and Convulſions, and met with great Obſtructions among us, and that of many Kinds, and from many ſeveral Cauſes.

Particularly it has been attack'd by open E⯑nemies, who have even endanger'd the Whole Oeconomy, and do ſtill threaten ſomething fatal to us, if timely Help and Aſſiſtance be not obtained, and the Evils removed by ſome powerful Succour of Laws and Government; and this is, in ſhort, the Sum and Subſtance of the Caſe before us.

The Circulation of Trade, (to go back to what has been laid down above,) takes in all the ſeveral Progreſſions, which our Produce or Manufactures make in their ordinary [8] Courſe, from the firſt Principles of Trade, to the Retailer who hands them on to the Con⯑ſumer.

Almoſt every thing that is Sold, whether it be the Product of Nature or Art, paſſes thro' a great Variety of Hands, and ſome Variety of Operations alſo, before it becomes (what we call) fit for Sale.

Even our very Proviſions, which may be ſaid to make the leaſt Stop, and paſs thro' the feweſt Hands, yet are trac'd thro' ſeveral, before they come to the Conſumer: For Example,

1. Our Fleſh-Meat; the Cattle are firſt Bred, then Fed, then Driven to one Fair or Market, then to another, then Sold to the Butcher, and then to the Eater. In every one of thoſe Circulating Removes, the Breeder, Feeder, Drover, Butcher, with their Cattle, Horſes, Servants, and Families, are ſeverally maintain'd by, and get a ſmall Share of Pro⯑fits from the Creature Sold; and which is at laſt charg'd upon, and return'd from the Price of the Meat when kill'd, and Bought by the Conſumer.

2. The Corn, as ſuppoſe the Wheat; here is firſt, the Farmer, who raiſes the Crop, (not to mention the Landed-Man,) the Plough, the Seed, the Harveſting, and the carrying it to Market, is the Buſineſs of the Farmer; but under him it paſſes all the Ope⯑rations of the Horſes, the Servants, the Car⯑riages, [9] and ſeveral other things included in that Part call'd Husbandry; and for the Sup⯑port of which ſeveral other Tradeſmen are concern'd; ſuch as the Smith, the Wheel⯑wright, the Collar and Harneſs-maker, the Tanner, and many others; all whoſe Fami⯑lies find their Subſiſtance out of the mere Husbandry, (ſo it is very properly called) of the Corn. But when all that is over, it paſ⯑ſes another whole Claſs of Operators, before it comes to the end of its Circulating Race. 1. It is carry'd to the Mill to be Ground; under that Head comes in the Mill-wright, ſeveral Tradeſmen furniſhing the Timber, the Iron-work, and Braſs-work for the Mill; the Millſtones out of Derbyſhire, or from France. The Carriage of thoſe heavy Articles and all the Etcetera's depending thereon.

Then the Dreſſing, the Grinding for Fine or Coarſe; then it paſſes one Sale at leaſt to the Baker, then 'tis bak'd into Bread its laſt Operation, and paſſes many depending Hands upon that Account.

2. The Second Branch of Corn is the Bar⯑ley; this is firſt Sold to the Malſter; then Malted, then Sold again (perhaps more than once) then Brew'd, pays Exciſe, and is dou⯑bly Gauged in the Malt and in the Liquor; then ſold to the Victualler and Innholder, and then to the Conſumer; in all which Motions neceſſary to their Sale, the ſeveral Tradeſmen thro' whoſe Hands they paſs, with their Ser⯑vants, [10] Horſes, and Families, and many others depending upon them, eſpecially in the Brew⯑ing and Malting, gain a Maintenance out of the increaſing Value, and live by the Profits of their Trade; and the like of other Sorts of Proviſions, ſome of which come from the Growth to the Mouth with a ſhorter, ſome with a larger Circulation.

But ſetting theſe Kinds aſide, which (as we ſay) come thus under a ſhorter Operation, becauſe the Species differ exceedingly, when we come to ſpeak of the Productions of Art, that is to ſay, the Manufactures: Here we find an innumerable Multitude of Families concerned in and maintained by them, the ſeveral Kinds of their Manual Operation are numberleſs, and the Operators are much more ſo; the Produce of Nature is indeed the Materia Fabricata of all Manufactures, but the Improvements of Art give a new Face to the very Species, ſo that you know it no more either by its Form, or by its Name.

The Tranſmutation is performed by an infinite Number of People; the Wooll which bears every where the ſame Denomination at firſt, retains its Name but a very little while, and its Form leſs; after its firſt paſ⯑ſing the Co [...] or the Comb it comes to the Spinner, and is then no more call'd Wooll but Yarn; from thence to the Weaver, and there it aſſumes as many Shapes as Names, and is called Cloth, Stuff, Serge, Drugget, Bay, [11] Say, and a numberleſs Catalogue of Deno⯑minations, as the Fancy of the ſeveral Clothiers and Manufacturers pleaſe to Coin for it.

While it is in the Hands of the Weaver and continues rough and undreſt, it retains the Shape of the Yarn both in the Woof and the Warp, which are viſible in the Stuff, let the Kind be what it will: But when it has paſt the Fuller's Art, and been hurried into a violent Motion in the Thicking-Mill, it comes out with another Face; and being then dreſs'd under the Sheets and the Preſs, we ſee no more the Thread, but a fine and beautiful Face, ſet forth to all poſſible Advantage by the Cloath-workers Art.

It is not poſſible to give the Detail in the narrow Compaſs of this Work, of all the ſe⯑veral Sorts of Workmen, their Engines, Mills, Looms, and other Tackle, with the ſeveral Operations, through which our Woollen Ma⯑nufactures paſs, before they come to Market, or before, as the Tradeſmen call it, they are fit for Sale. All which Workmen, as well as the Makers of all the Engines, Looms, Mills, &c. with their Families and Depen⯑dants, are maintain'd, fed, cloath'd, (nay, enrich'd) by the ſaid Manufactures, and out of the advanc'd Value which they bear with them when they go to Market: The Variety is ſuch, That ſome undertake to tell us, there is not a Broad-Cloth that goes to [12] Blackwell-Hall, but that 10,000 People have ſomething to do, by the Means of it, and all get ſomething out of it before it comes there.

It is the ſame with the Silk Manufacture in its Degree, with this Difference only, that there are a numberleſs Multitude of People concerned in the Silk, before it comes to us: Several Trades are maintained by thoſe particular Articles of Commerce, which are neceſſarily run thro' before the Workmen can come at the firſt Principles of this Manu⯑facture, I mean the Raw or Thrown-Silk; it does not immediately come thither from the Worm that ſpins or makes it, but paſſes many a Climate, travels many a Deſart, employs many a Hand, loads many a Camel, and Freights many a Ship before it arrives here; and where at laſt it comes in return for other Manufactures, or in Exchange for our Money.

Again, even the Money as it is a Foreign Specie, is it ſelf alſo a Merchandize; is a Return for other Trade, and paſſes thro' many Thouſands of Hands, in the Mine, in the Coin, in the Navigation, and all the other Apparatus of its Arrival in England, before it reaches thus far, and before it can purchaſe and pay for the Species which begins the Silk Manufacture.

[13] It is the like in all our hard Ware Ma⯑nufactures; whether in Iron, Tin, Cop⯑per, Lead, Gold, Silver, or what other Specie they may be; ſome of the Metal is found in our own Mountains, ſome in thoſe of Spain, Africa, Sweden, Denmark, India and America.

To bring this all to the ſame Point; With what admirable Skill and Dexterity, do the proper Artiſts apply to the differing Shares or Tasks allotted to them, by the Nature of their ſeveral Employments, in forming all the beautiful Things which are produced from thoſe differing Principles? Thro' how many Hands does every Species paſs? What a Va⯑riety of Figures do they Form? In how many Shapes do they appear? From the Braſs Can⯑non of 50 to 60 hundred Weight, to half an Inch of Braſs Wire, called a Pin, all equally uſeful in their Place and Proportions?

On the other Hand, how does even the leaſt Pin contribute its nameleſs Proportion to the Maintenance, Profit, and Support of every Hand, and every Family concerned in thoſe Operations, from the Copper Mine in Africa, to the Retailer's-Shop in the Country Village, however remote? And this brings us down to the Circulation of the Manufactures, in that we call the buying and ſelling Part, as well Wholeſale as Retale; which I refer to a Chapter by it ſelf.

CHAP. II. Of the Circulation of the Inland Trade, after the finiſhing the ſeveral Ma⯑nufactures in remote and different Places.

THE Country is ordinarily the Seat of the Manufactures, there they aſ⯑ſume their firſt Being, as a marketable Species.

It is true the City has of late Years en⯑croacht a little, and we find a very great Stroke of the Manufacturing Trade carried on here, eſpecially in Spittle-fields and Parts adjacent: But of that by it ſelf.

Let us now ſuppoſe every Manufacture form'd in its proper Place, every Trade run⯑ning in its right Channel.

• The fine Spaniſh Cloths and Druggets, are made in Wiltſhire, Somerſetſhire, Bark⯑ſhire, &c.
• The Serges, Duroys, Perpets, and Long-Ells, in Devonſhire and Somerſetſhire.
• The Stuffs of many Sorts, Camblets, &c. at Norwich.
• The Tammies and Callamancoes, at Co⯑ventry.
• [15] The Stockings knit in Frames, at Leiceſter and Nottingham.
• The Narrow-Cloth, Kerſies, and Shalloons, in Yorkſhire; and ſo of all the other Kinds of Goods called Woollen Manufactures in their ſeveral particular Parts.

Let us ſuppoſe theſe, I ſay, all finiſhed and made ready for Sale, in the ſeveral Places or Counties as above, or any where elſe, and reſting in the Hands of the Maſter-Maker, or Manufacturer, ordinarily called a Clo⯑thier.

That he may put them off, and they may be ſold to the proper Perſons, who are to uſe or wear them, it is neceſſary to have them ſent to Market: This Market Occaſions ſeve⯑ral very Extraordinary Removes, which when particularly mentioned will naturally deſcribe the Circulation ſpoken of above.

Nature and the Courſe of Buſineſs has made London the Chief or Principal Market, for all theſe things call'd Manufactures, not thoſe above ſpecify'd only, but all the reſt: And it is eaſy to ſhow, 1. That there muſt be ſuch a Chief or Principal Market. And 2. That it is alſo neceſſary that London ſhould be the Place.

1. It is neceſſary there ſhould be ſuch a Chief Market, becauſe as the Manufactures and Tradeſmen in the Country have much to ſell; that is to ſay, more than leſſer and [16] meaner Towns can take off, ſo they have by themſelves, and their Correſpondents in the Country much to buy; that is to ſay, more than any leſs Capital Port and Market, or a Place of leſs General Correſpondence could ſupply, nothing leſs than London could anſwer the Ends of a Wholeſale Trade.

2. This proves alſo that London muſt be the Place: The Merchants of London carrying on a general Correſpondence with all the World, are able to vend the Quantity of Manufactures, which the Clothiers ſend up, be it never ſo great and this they do by the Bulk of their Exportation; They are alſo able to ſupply the Carriers with Back-Carriage, from the Bulk of their Importations, and thus they ſpread and circulate the Growth of Foreign Countries in return for our own.

This no ſingle Town, City, or Sea-Port in England can do, London and Briſtol excepted; nor can Briſtol do it ſo univerſally as London; for this Reaſon the Manufacturers every where in the Country, will ſend their Goods to London, becauſe here their Carriers can have a Back-Carriage; without which they cannot travel. Here they (the Clothiers) and the Shopkeepers their Neighbours, can buy all the ſeveral Kinds of Foreign Importations from what Part of the World ſoever they come, which can no where elſe be done, at leaſt not at firſt Hand.

[17] And which goes yet farther, ſuch is the Wealth, and ſo great the Stocks of the London Dealers; That here the Makers can have Money for their Manufactures, and here they and the Shopkeepers alſo, can have Credit, and that to a Degree, which no other Place can give; they can always ſell for Money, and general⯑ly buy without; take Credit, and give none; nor is it boaſting in Behalf of the Citizens and Wholeſale Men of London, to ſay, That the Shopkeepers in the Country (generally ſpeaking) trade upon their Stocks.

Theſe are ſome of the Reaſons which ſe⯑cure the groſs of the Trade to London, and will do ſo tho' the Grievances and Diſcourage⯑ments which we are now to complain of, tend to leſſen and impair it; here the main Stream will run as to the Center, as the Rivers to the Ocean, and as the Blood to the Heart; and it is certainly for the Health of the whole Body of Trade, that it ſhould be ſo, and the Proof of that is as evident as the other.

By this ſending up the finiſhed Manufa⯑ctures in bulk to the City of London, and the Country Shopkeepers buying their Goods from thence in Return, the following Advan⯑tages follow to the general Body of the Peo⯑ple of England, (viz.)

[18] 1. All that innumerable Number of Car⯑riages, Horſes, and Servants, with all the neceſſary Appendices of Land Carriage which ſuch a Trade calls for are main⯑tain'd. It is not the Buſineſs of this Work to make Calculations of Numbers, but it is our Buſineſs to give the Reader a clear View of the Benefit and Gain of the ſeveral Branches of our circulating Trade; that he may have a like clear View of the injurious Conſequence of thoſe New Methods of Trade which would deſtroy it.

2. As the Carriage is prodigious great, as well by Land as Water (for it is the firſt we are now ſpeaking of) ſo the Number of Inns and Publick-houſes are incredible, which are now to be ſeen, not only in the Towns and Cities, but every where on the Roads, where thoſe Carriers and Travellers paſs: All theſe are chiefly maintain'd by thoſe Carriages, and by the Men and Horſes which travel conti⯑nually for the carrying on the general Cor⯑reſpondence too and from London: Their Number is really prodigious.

3. The Increaſe of Trade among thoſe Inns, &c. and by their Means the Conſumption of Fodder, Hay, Corn, &c. with Proviſions of all Sorts is unaccountably great, and the Be⯑nefit of it to the landed Intereſt, is a Specu⯑lation worth the Notice of all Gentlemen of Eſtates throughout England. They feel moſt ſenſibly the Benefit of this Circulation; they [19] are eaſily made ſenſible what the Benefit to Trade is, that London is able to furniſh a back Carriage by Shopkeepers Goods (as they are called) ſuch as Grocery, Oyl, Wine, Fruit, and in a Word, all Goods of Foreign Importation; without this, how would the Sheffield and Birmingham Carriers bring up their wrought Iron, Things of a heavy Car⯑riage? How would the Warwickſhire People bring up their Cheeſe? The Yorkſhire Men their coarſe Cloths? The Manufacturers of Exeter, Taunton, Norwich, Wilts, Glouceſter, and Wor⯑ceſter their fine Goods? They muſt all come the dearer to Market.

No more (on the other Hand) could the Ci⯑tizens of London ſupply the Country Chap⯑men with Foreign Goods, without a double Charge for Carriage, which would make the Price ſo much the dearer to the Buyer; ſo that this Circulation is an Alternative to Trade, the Country is a Help to the City, and the City is a Help to the Country; as a French Proverb expreſſes it, One Hand waſhes t'other Hand, and both Hands waſh the Face.

Unhappy Creatures muſt they be, whoſe Station in Life, by the Fate of their own ill Policy is placed in the midſt of this Stream, to intercept the Courſe of the Trade in its na⯑tural Channels, and where it circulates ſo apt⯑ly for the Good of the Whole, and who would cut ſhort the Means of its doing good to the whole Community.

[20] The wretched Pedlar would at once blow up this happy Order of Things; he cuts off the Carriage too and from the Center of Trade, and pretends to carry things a nearer Way, tho' quite out of their own Road: And indeed 'tis but a Pretence, for he does all the Miſchief to Trade, that its worſt Enemy can do, and fails in all the Pretences of Good, as we ſhall make appear in its Place.

CHAP. III. Of the Manner of carrying on the Re⯑tale Trade, by the Aſſiſtance of the City of London, in all the moſt di⯑ſtant Parts of this Kingdom.

BY this admirable Oeconomy of Trade, Buſineſs is extended into the remoteſt Parts of the Kingdom; Shops are opened in every Pariſh, nay, in every Village and Hamlet. Theſe ſmaller Shops diffuſe and ſpread not the Manufactures of the remoteſt Part of the Country only, but the Product and imported Growth of Foreign Countries and Kingdoms, into every Corner of the Iſland; where they are all ſold by Retale, to [21] the particular Families and Inhabitants of their Neighbourhood.

By this Means the Tea of China, the Cof⯑fee of Arabia, the Chocolate of America, the Spices of the Molucca's, the Sugars of the Caribees, and the Fruit of the Mediterranean Iſlands, are all to be found in the remoteſt Corners of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland: By this Method alſo, all the ſeveral Manufactures of England, tho' made in the moſt different and the remoteſt Counties, are to be bought in every Place, all being ſupplied from the great Center of the Nations Commerce, the City of London. The reaſon of mention⯑ing this, ſhall appear preſently; let us look a little firſt into the Conſequences of it.

Thoſe little Retaling Shops are the Life of all our Trade; by thoſe the Bulk of the Buſineſs is carried on to the laſt Conſumer, and here all the Wholeſale Trade, as well of Home Manufactures as Foreign Importations is terminated and finiſhed.

The People that keep theſe Shops are ſup⯑lied at the like Tradeſmens Shops, in the larger Towns or Cities, according as Situation directs; the Keepers of thoſe Shops being ſuppoſed to have larger Stocks, and ſo are able to give theſe leſſer Dealers ſome Credit: Again, the Shop-keepers in thoſe greater Towns are furniſhed by the Wholeſale Men, (who are ſuch as we call Country Dealers in London, who likewiſe give Credit to thoſe [22] Chapmen in the principal Towns in the Country.

Theſe Wholeſale Men in London are indeed the ſupport of the whole Trade, they give Credit to the Country Tradeſmen (Chapmen) and even to the Merchants themſelves; ſo that both Home Trade and Foreign Trade is in a great Meaſure carried on upon their Stocks.

To theſe Men, or to the Factors and Warehouſe Men, of whom theſe Dealers buy, all the Manufactures of England, in whatſo⯑ever Part of the Country they are made, are ſent up to London for Sale, and from Lon⯑don circulated again as above, into all the remoteſt Parts among the Shop-keepers; and by them in Retale Trade to the Wearers and Conſumers.

It is on theſe Retalers, that all the People of England depend for the Supply of common Neceſſaries, whether for Food, Cloths, Hou⯑ſhold-Stuff, Ornament, or whatever elſe they think fit to lay their Money out in; even the Clothier himſelf cannot Cloth himſelf, or the Farmer feed himſelf or Family without them.

The Farmer may have Corn ſufficient, and Cattle ſufficient for the Supply of his Fami⯑ly: But when he comes to kill them for Food, he ſends to the Shopkeeper for Salt, or the Beef will ſpoil before he can uſe it; he muſt ſend to the Shop for Fruit, for Spice, [23] for Sugar, to ſupply his Wife in her Kitchen; he muſt ſend to another Shop for Pewter and Braſs for his Kitchen-Utenſils, to the Smith for Spits and Jack, Iron-Pots, and the like of other things; and all this, tho' the Iron, Tin, Copper, and the Salt are the Growth of his own Country, for they do not grow at his own Door, and the Mines are not in his Farm; nor are the Manufacturers of Hard-Ware, the Smiths of Sheffield and Birmingham at his Door; the Caſters of Iron, Tin or Lead, do not live in his Town, ſo he muſt ſend to the Shopkeepers for all thoſe Things, as he wants them. The Shop⯑keeper for the ſame Reaſon, muſt have them from London; for if he would ſend to Sheffield or to Birmingham for them, he could find no Carriers to bring them; and if they did, he had nothing to load them back with, ſo that the Goods would coſt him double Carriage: Of this alſo we ſhall have Occaſion to ſpeak again.

Come we next to the Clothiers, they are moſt Importent Men in their Way; ſpeaking of them in general Terms, we ſay they are able to cloth the whole World. But it muſt be taken with a due Latitude, for them and their Neighbours; for there is not a Clothier in England that can Cloath himſelf; nay, he cannot make himſelf a Coat, take him in what Country you will; he can indeed make [24] the Out-ſide, and he can call for a Taylor, who is every where at hand to make it up.

But even the Taylor himſelf muſt ſend to the Shop for Silk and Thread to ſew it toge⯑ther; and for even Needles and a Thimble, or he will make but poor Work; he muſt ſend to another Shop for Sheers and Siſſars to cut out with, and the like.

Then for the Clothier himſelf when he has made the Cloth, he muſt buy Shalloon, or perhaps ſome other Manufacture made 150 Miles off for a Lining; he muſt have Buttons out of Cheſhire about Macclesfield; Dimity to line the Waſtcoat out of Mancheſter; Linnen to line the Breeches, out of Ireland; and a Hundred little nameleſs things; ſome out of one County, ſome out of another, before the Clothier can be clothed; his Hat comes from one Place, Stockings from another, Gloves from a Third; and ſo on, all thoſe he ſends to the Shop-keeper for, and the Shop-keeper to the London Wholeſale Man, and he to the ſeveral Counties, where thoſe ſeveral things are, the proper Buſineſs of the Place; and thus we ſee the City muſt of Neceſſity be the Center of the Trade; for the London Dealer has every Sort of Goods brought up by the proper Carriers, and he enables thoſe Carriers to bring them up cheap; becauſe he or the Dealers in other Goods which the Shop-keepers in that Coun⯑try call for, can load them back and ſo get the Carrier a double Freight.

[25] We might enquire here into the probable Number of theſe Shopkeepers in the ſeveral Countries all over this Iſland, thereby farther to illuſtrate this Argument, and judge of the Importance of this Circulation of Trade.

But the Thing is impracticable, it is out of the reach of all Calculation, it is enough to ſay they are in their Particulars innume⯑rable, and may only be talk'd off by Thou⯑ſands and Hundreds of Thouſands; for taking them with their real Dependencies, they include almoſt the whole Body of our People.

This will ſerve to ſtop the Mouths of all thoſe who having no other Plea to bring in Favour of the Hawkers and private Traders, thoſe Enemies to all fair Trade, would move us to Pity and Compaſſion for them on Account of their great Numbers: Whereas they do not reflect how infinitely more numerous the Fa⯑milies of the Shopkeepers, Manufacturers, and Wholeſale Dealers are, who they injure, and may be ſaid to ſtarve and reduce; and how numerous the Poor are who depend on thoſe fair Traders for Employment and Sub⯑ſiſtence, and who all cry to them for their Bread. Here Compaſſion ought to work, theſe we ſhould turn our Eyes to, and not to the other who eat them up and devour them, and who either for their Numbers of ſignifi⯑cance are not to be named with them.

But we ſhall ſee the Importance of them very diſtinctly, by looking into the Miſchiefs which we already feel by the Breaches made in this [26] excellent Oeconomy, and the Ruin which threatens us if it be not ſpeedily prevented, and this is the Subject of the next Chapter.

CHAP. IV. That all this Home Trade is interrup⯑ted and diſtreſs'd by the Invaſion of Hawkers, Pedlars, and other Clan⯑deſtine Traders; the Circulation ſtopt, and the Retaling Shopkeepers, who are the Life of the Whole Trade intercepted and ſupplanted.

AVARICE mask'd with a Pretence of Frugality, is the moſt fatal Snare of a Tradeſman; it leads him not into Miſchiefs only which are Perſonal, and which wound himſelf, but it puſhes him upon Meaſures ruinous to Trade in general, and ſo he becomes an Enemy to his Country, and envies the Proſperity of all about him.

He ſees Trade run on in a happy Round of Buying and Selling, Importing and Exporting, Carrying up and Carrying down, and that all the Way as it paſſes, tho' thro' a Multitude of Hands, it leaves ſomething of Gain every where behind it, and yet leſſens not the Va⯑lue of what it carries on; and looking on this Beautiful Order of the Trade with an [27] evil Eye, he projects to cut off the Progreſs of Things from their Natural Courſe; ſhor⯑ten the length of the Circulation, which is indeed the Life of the Whole, and thinking to put all the Gain of Five or Six Stages of the Trade, into his own Pocket, he contrives or at leaſt pretends to carry the Goods a ſhorter Way to the laſt Conſumer; ſo bringing Things to an immediate Period, making him⯑ſelf the Carrier, Factor, Wholeſale-Dealer, Chapman, and Retailer all in one Hand, put⯑ting the Gain of all thoſe Trades into the ſin⯑gle Purſe of a Pedlar; and this is the Man we are now to ſpeak of.

His Original as above is founded in Ava⯑rice and Envy, and the Meaſures he purſues, tells us, that it is his Trade to be a Supplanter; He acts like a Man that maliciouſly turns the Stream of a Mill-River to his own private Uſe, perhaps triſling and mean; valuing not the ſtarving twenty Mills which lie on the ſame Stream and muſt get their Bread, and the Subſiſtence of their Families, by the fair Pro⯑duce of their Labour.

In this he acts like a Thief and Deſtroyer, not only to the Trade in general, an Invader and Pirate to the fair Trader in particular, but at the ſame Time is a Cheat to the Buyers and Conſumers of the Goods he ſells; and in the whole to himſelf; for he defeats his own Expectations, and generally dies a Beggar, all which we doubt not to make appear to the meaneſt Underſtanding in the Proceſs of theſe Sheets.

[28] At an unhappy Juncture of Time, when FUNDS for raiſing Money to the Govern⯑ment were wretchedly wanting, and at a Time when the Fair Traders ſtood in need of all poſſible Encouragement, to enable them to pay the great Taxes which they then began to feel the Weight of; at that very Time, and we may ſay, in an Evil Hour, a Project to licence theſe Pernitious People was propoſed, and for a trifling Payment, compar'd to the fatal Ef⯑fects of it to Trade, was cloſed with, and the ſaid Licences granted. We call it a tri⯑fling Payment, becauſe it ſeems to be ſo, not only by Compariſon as above, but by the ſmall Sums it brings in to the Publick.

Ever ſince that Time they have been like Moths in Trade, and have eaten into the ve⯑ry Vitals of our Commerce, in a fatal and moſt injurious Manner; encroaching upon the Fair Traders, almoſt in every Branch of Buſi⯑neſs, where the Goods they ſell are light and portable; ſpreading themſelves into all Parts of the Country as well as City; inſinuating into the Opinion of the Ignorant, by noto⯑rious Falſhoods and Suggeſtions; particularly that they have their Goods from the Makers, buy them at the beſt hand, have the beſt of every thing in its Kind, and to ſum up all, that they ſell every thing at a cheaper Rate, than they (the Buyer) can be ſupply'd at by the Shops; all which in every Particular we take upon us to prove are downright Falſ⯑hoods, [29] calculated on Purpoſe to deceive and and impoſe upon the ignorant Buyer: And in a Word, That their whole Trade is a ſtated and premeditated Fraud, that it is ſo in the very Nature and Method of it, as well as in the Deſign.

If then in the Proceſs of this Work we ſhow, as we doubt not to do, that they nei⯑ther buy at the beſt Hand, are furniſhed with the beſt Goods, nor are able to ſell the beſt cheap; we hope there will be no Difficulty to convince the Honourable Perſons, to whom we addreſs theſe Sheets, that they are a People pernitious in themſelves, and that they ought to be ſuppreſt.

It may look like making room for an Ob⯑jection here, to ſay that theſe Men do not buy, and cannot ſell cheaper than the fair trading Shopkeepers; for then it may be ſaid, what hurt can they do to Trade?

The Anſwer is very plain and direct, (viz.) 1. That they pretend too, and loudly affirm the contrary, and ſo abuſe the ignorant Buyers; they intercept the Trade, they turn the Stream from the Mill, as was ob⯑ſerved above, they invert the due Order and Courſe of Buſineſs; for inſtead of the Cuſtomers going to the Shop, they carry the Shop to the Cuſtomers; inſtead of the Coun⯑try Inhabitants frequenting the Markets, which are the proper Places of Trade, they make the Markets walk about to the Inha⯑bitants, [30] calling upon them at their Doors; where if the People get nothing elſe, they are gratified by ſaving them the Trouble of going out of Doors to the Shops, or to the Market Towns; (which in ſome Caſes is to them a thing of Conſequence, as Diſtance and Situa⯑tion of Places may be) and if it were no more than this, the Shopkeeper is ſupplanted and cut out of the Trade, and all the Chap⯑men and Dealers between him and the Lon⯑don Wholeſale Men, are likewiſe cut out of their Buſineſs in their Proportion.

We might enlarge here upon the fatal Con⯑ſequences of thus cutting off the Country Shopkeepers from their Buſineſs, intercepting Trade, and obſtructing its regular Courſe, the Neceſſity of which for the publick Pro⯑ſperity, we have ſo largely inſiſted upon above, how by that Means ſo many Thouſands of Families are ſupplanted in their Trades, open their Shops in vain, and are left deſtitute; But we leave that to its proper Place.

It is needful firſt to take theſe People in their own Way, and lay open a little the Fraud which they uſe in their ordinary Courſe of Buſineſs: How the People in the Countries (ay and in the City too) are impos'd upon by them; and when we have detected them in their known Cheats, we ſhall have the clearer View of the fatal Conſequences of thoſe Cheats in Trade.

[31] FAIR DEALING is the Honour of Trade, and the Credit of the Tradeſman; a Shopkeeper may perhaps run out ſometimes in Words, for the ſetting out his Goods, (and the Buyer in running him down, and not believing Truth in the moſt ſolemn Manner expreſt, is really the principal Cauſe of all thoſe Excurſions of Words, which the Shop⯑keeper is as it were under a Neceſſity of ma⯑king) But theſe People can ſpeak no other Dialect; Truth is out of their way; their Buſineſs will not bear it; their Trade is a Fraud in it ſelf, and muſt be ſupported by Falſhood, and if they ſhould at any Time de⯑viate into Sincerity, they would be kick'd out of Doors; they can Trade no longer than they can L—e, for the very Beginning and End of their Buſineſs is to deceive. Let us look a little into the Particulars,

1. That they buy their Goods at the beſt Hand. This even in it ſelf is falſe, and known to be ſo; for we ſee them every Day in the Shops and Warehouſes of the Whole⯑ſale Dealers, in all Places where the Country Chapmen deal, and where they buy indeed what the others leave, which leads of Courſe to the next Pretence, (viz.)

2. That they buy the beſt Goods, which is as falſe as the other; for it is well known that they buy the worſt and meaneſt Goods of the ſeveral Kinds they deal in, and par⯑ticularly that which the Country Chapmen [32] refuſe; nor indeed will the Wholeſale Dealers; where they are Men of Honeſty, and have the Senſe of their own Intereſt, as well as of Juſtice in Trade, ſell to ſuch People as thoſe the beſt of their Goods, which are lay'd in to ſupply their conſtant Chapmen, who buy large Quantities, and Merit to be uſed well; nor does the Pedlars bringing his ready Money weigh in this Caſe; for the Country Chapman who as above, deals largely and conſtantly, and pays well, Merits to be uſed as well, and indeed better than a Hawking Clandeſtine Trader, who brings his Money becauſe he has no Credit; and pays down, becauſe he cannot buy without it, who runs about from Warehouſe to Warehouſe to pick out any thing for the ſake of Cheapneſs, and is fixt no where: The Warehouſe Men will never ſhow theſe their beſt Goods. They know alſo, 1. They are not for their Turn. And, 2. They will not give a Price for them, and in this Manner the Pedlars ſtock them⯑ſelves with Goods.

Let us View them next upon their Circuits in the Country, for ſelling them off: It is true they travel as we call it cheap, that they feed their Horſe upon the Waſte and themſelves upon the Spoil, that they lodge at the mean⯑eſt Houſes and in the meaneſt Places, where they live like themſelves, that is, wretchedly and at little or no Expence, and this indeed is one juſt Article againſt their being ſuffered [33] in Trade for at the ſame time, that they ſup⯑plant the eſtabliſh'd ſettled Shopkeepers, who as above are the Supports of the whole Body, maintain both Church and State, the Civil and Religious Government, feed the Poor, and cloth the Rich: Theſe People do nothing in Civil Government, pay for nothing, bear no Offices, raiſe no Taxes, and which is ſtill more, pay no Rent, for they have no Houſes nor legal Settlement: They pay neither Scot or Lot, Church or Poor, but in ſhort, are compleat Vagrants; and ought, their late unhappy Advantage excepted, to be treated as ſuch.

Yet notwithſtanding, take them with all theſe Advantages, it is not true in Fact, that they can carry their Goods cheaper in Bulk than the Shopkeeper can have them carried, and the Reaſon is very plain, becauſe the Carriers by having conſtant Buſineſs back⯑ward, ſhall deliver Goods one kind with another, at a cheaper Rate, than even the Ped⯑lar himſelf can carry them; and if we allow for Carriage by Water, whether by Sea or River Navigation, much cheaper.

The ſame Argument is againſt him in his Selling for leſs Profit than the Shopkeeper, which is alſo a Miſtake; becauſe the Shop⯑keeper out does him in Quantity, which makes up the Profit in the whole to him, tho' in the Particulars he may not gain ſo much: It is a Maxim in Trade, that light [34] Gain makes a heavy Purſe, and the Meaning is, that a ſmall Profit on a large Return makes the Tradeſman Rich; now 'tis a Miſtake to ſay the Pedlar or private Trader can live on leſs Profit than the Shopkeeper, becauſe where the one Returns one Hundred Pound, the other Returns a Thouſand, perhaps much more, and can by Conſequence lay up more by an Advance of two or three per Cent. on his Goods, than the other can by an Advance of ten per Cent.

This makes the miſchievous Conſequence of the Pedlar more and more evident; for if by intercepting the Shopkeeper's Trade, as above, he prevents the ſaid Shopkeeper ma⯑king ſo large a Return; he by the ſame Rule prevents his ſelling his Goods at all to Profit, and ſo the poor Retailer is ruined of Courſe.

But to return, it is plain from hence, that the private Trader cannot ſell cheaper than the fair Shopkeeper, no nor ſo cheap; his return being ſmall and the others large. It is the ſame thing between the Retale Chap⯑man and the Wholeſale Dealer, of whom he buys; The latter ſelling in Bulk, and by large Parcels, can afford to ſell at a low Rate; that is to ſay, for a ſmall Profit, ſup⯑poſe by Commiſſion from the Maker, or otherwiſe, in which Caſe he is content with 2 and a half, or perhaps 2 per Cent. Proviſion for Sales; whereas the Shopkeeper retailing the ſame Goods by ſmall Quantities, requires [35] a large Gain, yet even his ſmall Quantity may be called large, compared to the ſmaller Re⯑turns of the Hawker, and for that Reaſon the Hawker or Clandeſtine Trader cannot under ſell the Shopkeeper; beſides the Advan⯑tage on the Shopkeepers ſide of ſelling the beſt Goods as above.

If then, he neither buys the beſt Goods nor ſells beſt cheap, as is plain above, what can be ſaid for a ſet of Men, who ſupplant the fair Seller, and do the Buyer no good? They muſt be taken as they really are, for Pyrates in Trade, Thieves to their Country; for tho' they may not be ſaid to rob and break open Houſes, (tho' they ſtand pretty fair for a Charge of that Kind too ſometimes,) yet they rob their Country in a moſt egregious Man⯑ner, ſupplanting the Tradeſmen, and con⯑founding the Courſe of Trade, by which the whole Country is maintained; and in this they are Enemies to the publick Proſperity, they ſtarve the Poor, impoveriſh the dilligent induſtrious Tradeſmen, and by Conſequence the Manufacturers alſo who depend upon the Trade, as it is carried on in its due Courſe, and would be brought to ſtarve and ſink in the ſinking of the Shopkeepers, and that in a moſt deplorable Manner.

CHAP. V. That theſe Hawkers and Clandeſtine Traders are the great ſupport of the Smugglers, and are the Tools of thoſe Enemies to all the fair Trade, by whom ſo fatal a Correſpondence is carried on.

CLandeſtine Traders are the Agents and Support of Cladeſtine Trade; were there no receivers, there would be no Thieves: The firſt Part of the Hawkers Buſineſs is a Pyracy upon the Home Trade: So in this laſt and baſeſt Part they are Pyrates, upon the Laws of Trade in General, and of their Country in Particular; as in the firſt they merit to be ſuppreſt and, prevented, ſo in the ſecond they merit to be puniſhed; in the firſt they deſerve Reſentment, but in the ſecond they deſerve the Gallows: For indeed the carrying on a Smuggling Trade (and eſpe⯑cially as thoſe Men do it avowedly) is not a Breach of the Law only, but a Contempt and Defiance of that very common Juſtice, which is the only Reaſon of Law: And doubtleſs, it is as real a Felony in the Eſ⯑ſence of the Crime, as robbing a Houſe is in the Letter of it; and therefore running Goods [37] uſed to be called, and that with great Proprie⯑ty, Stealing the Cuſtoms.

But we have not room here to enlarge upon the Nature of the Sin of Smuggling, or of the fatal Conſequences of it to Trade; which would take up a Volume by it ſelf; our pre⯑ſent Work is to prove theſe People guilty of it, only we crave leave to lay it before our Supe⯑riors as what is well worth their Conſiderati⯑on, (viz.) That they will never be able en⯑tirely to ſuppreſs the Smugglers, till they can firſt ſuppreſs theſe Clandeſtine Traders.

As the Retailer is the Life of all Trade, ſo the Pedlar is the Eſſence of all Clandeſtine Trade; as the Receiver is the Support of all Thieving, ſo the Hawker is the Life of all Smuggling; he hands on the Goods to the Conſumer; as he comes at them in the Dark, ſo he diſperſes them in the Dark; into innu⯑merable Hands, and into ſmall Parcels where it is not poſſible to the Officers to diſcover or detect them; for when uncuſtomed Goods are divided into innumerable Parts, like the Blood in the capillary Veſſels, it is impoſſible to come at them in the Form of a legal Pro⯑ſecution.

It may be ſaid that this is not a direct Charge upon the Hawker, &c. and that the Fact of Smuggling cannot be proved upon them: But we ſay it is a direct Charge for all that: For we do not ſay they are really the Smugglers or Runners of the Goods them⯑ſelves; [38] but that they are Venders and Sellers of uncuſtom'd run Goods, and in that Capa⯑city they are the Supporters and Encouragers of that wicked Trade. This they are not aſham'd to acknowledge, and even to uſe it as an Argument, why their Cuſtomers ſhould believe them, that the Goods they ſell are cheap, namely, That they get them immediately from on Board a Ship, or that they had them from ſuch and ſuch Seamen or Officers who get them on Shore ſo and ſo; that is to ſay, they are run and have paid no Duty.

Now tho' even in this they may be ſome⯑times, and are often times like a certain fa⯑mous Gentleman, who was known to boaſt of more Sins than ever he could commit, and that they pretend the Goods are Run when they are not; that ſo the Buyers as above, may believe them cheap when they are not; yet it muſt be ſaid, that if in any thing they are able to underſell, and offer their Goods cheaper than the fair Traders, it muſt be in this; where they are Goods ſmuggled and clandeſtinely got on Shore without pay⯑ing the Cuſtom, which is too often the Caſe.

Thieves they ſay, ſell good Pennyworths; they muſt do ſo elſe no Body would buy, what they buy in the Dark they muſt ſell in the Dark; and we will not diſpute this Part with them, ſince they boaſt of the Crime [39] they ought to bluſh for, let them take their Lot with the Devonſhire Man that called himſelf the Miller when he was not. See the Hiſtory of Edward VI.

This we are ſure of, that there is not one Article in this Part but what argues ſtrongly againſt them, and adds to the reaſonableneſs of the Tradeſmens Petition; indeed there needs nothing more to be ſaid to this Part, as they are the Promoters of that vile ſmuggling Trade, which in ſpight of Laws, and in ſpight of all the Application of the Govern⯑ment to put thoſe Laws in Execution, yet continues to be carried on among us in a moſt unaccountable Manner, they ought to be fenc'd againſt as Enemies to their Country Deſtroyers of its Commerce, and in a Word, of all fair and honeſt Dealing.

It may be, another little Exception in the Way alſo, that this Charge does not reach to all the Hawkers and Pedlars, and all the clandeſtine Traders in the Kingdom; that is to ſay, not this particular Part of the Charge.

This does not make the Complaint of the Tradeſman leſs juſt, nor do we alledge any ſuch thing; but we may without a Slander ſay, ſince a great Number offend in this Part, and all are deſtructive in ſome Parts; and we may ſay we believe it is rather want of Opportunity than Will, if they are not concerned in this alſo; as ſome Ladies are ſaid to be Virtuous becauſe they have not been tempted.

[40] Many of the Hawkers have their Circuits out of the way, in the Inland Counties, remote from the Sea Coaſt, where this black Buſineſs of ſmuggling is only to be carried on, and they do not, becauſe they cannot meddle with it: But ſetting them a Side, as it would be hard to charge them with the Crime who cannot commit it; ſo I would be as loth to affirm that any of them have declined it, whoſe Station has been in the way of it; and we have good Reaſon to ſay from their com⯑mon Dialect in their Trade, that they value themſelves upon it, whether they may be⯑liev'd againſt themſelves or no, is a Queſtion by it ſelf.

But it is ſufficient to the Purpoſe in Hand, if they are generally guilty in the Places where it is practicable: We do not Charge any body with running Goods on Shore, where there is no Shore or ſtealing Cuſtom, where no Cuſtom is paid: The Inland Counties that have no Sea Ports cannot be concerned in that Part of the Crime: But even thoſe Inland Coun⯑ties may be, and are the Markets where the ſmuggled Goods are ſold, and where the Agents of thoſe Thieves of Trade, diſpoſe of them, and this Part is performed by the People we ſpeak of: Here they harangue their Cuſtomers with the long Journies which they make, the Pains they are at, and the Hazards they run, to get thoſe Goods at the Sea Side, and out of the Ships that bring them over, (tho' in [41] Fact,) they never came there but have that Part done to their Hands: By theſe fine Stories they delude the ignorant People, and perſuade them to believe the Goods Foreign, when they are not, and cheap when they are dear.

We might obſerve from this particular Part of their Management; how fond they are to be thought worſe Knaves than they are, and to make the Buyers believe thoſe Goods are run, which really are not; at the ſame time being very rarely without others that are; nor would it be an unprofitable thing to argue upon, in repreſenting theſe People to the Parliament, ſince it would be well worth the Conſideration of that Honourable Houſe, Whether a ſet of People ſhould be any longer continued in Trade, whoſe great⯑eſt Advantage it is to have their Cuſtomers believe them to be Knaves and Thieves, and who are chiefly traded with upon that Foot; a Set of Men who if they were really juſt and honeſt, could not live by their Buſineſs, and if their Cuſtomers did not think them Rogues, (that is Smugglers) would have no Buſineſs at all. Some People ſince the Application that has been made for the ſuppreſſing theſe Pedlars, have been apt to ask a groſs Que⯑ſtion, (viz.) what harm do they do to Trade, or where is the Hurt of permitting them?

[42] Such a Queſtion can hardly be ask'd for want of Ignorance, that's certain; but ſince 'tis neceſſary the ignorant Inquirer ſhould be informed alſo, we think this very Chapter will go a great way to do it; name⯑ly, that they are the great Receivers and Diſperſers of prohibited Goods, the Propa⯑gators of contraband Trade; and the En⯑couragers of thoſe profeſt Enemies of fair Trading, the Smugglers; and in a Word, in doing that they break the Laws, and invade the Property of Fair Dealing and clean Tradeſmen, who they injure in the higheſt Degree.

Nor would it be unworthy the Conſidera⯑tion of the Honourable Houſe of Commons; whether it will be practicable, (however ſevere the Laws againſt Smuggling may be) to put a Stop to that wicked Trade, while thoſe People are permitted, who thus ſupport and encourage it.

One clandeſtine Trade always upholds a⯑nother; the Smugglers (to give them their due) run Risk enough as the Laws now lye againſt them, and the Difficulties they are under to diſpoſe of their prohibited Goods, are very great; and if they had not theſe private Traders to take them off, and no doubt but they ſell Pennyworths to engage them to do ſo, and to diſpoſe them by Re⯑tale, they would never be able to go on; but if theſe private Venders of uncuſtom'd Goods [43] be but once taken off, (who are their laſt Reſort) they, the Smugglers would be utterly at a Loſs, and not able to put off the Goods when they had them, of which we ſhall ſay more in its Place.

This is in it ſelf a full Anſwer to the groſs Queſtion mentioned above, of what harm they do to Trade, and why they ſhould not be permitted.

The Miſchief they do in other Caſes, as in ſupplanting the Shopkeepers cutting off their Trade, and ſerving their Cuſtomers at their own Doors, and ſo ſhortning the Cir⯑culation of Buſineſs in the ſeveral Counties; where they travel, leſſening the Carriage, and in many other Articles have been fully ſpoken off already.

It ſhould be obſerv'd here, tho' we have but juſt room to name it, That as the Smug⯑gling Trade has of late ſurpriſingly encreaſed, and been carried up to a prodigious heighth, which appears plainly by the ſevere Acts of Parliament lately made againſt them; ſo the Numbers of theſe private and clandeſtine Traders, of whom we ſhall ſay more in the next Chapter, have alſo encreaſed; which mani⯑feſtly ſhews (and for that End we mention it here,) the Correſpondence that has been kept up between them, and their plain Dependence upon one another.

CHAP. VI. Of the various Species of Pedlars who are concerned in this clandeſtine un⯑lawful and deſtructive Trade; and how they are diſtinguiſh'd by their manner of Trading; but all joyn in this Part, (viz.) The fatal Blow they give to the ſettled Trade of this Kingdom, and to the fair Traders mentioned before.

THE Complaint in General lies indeed againſt the licenc'd Hawker or Ped⯑lar, and in order to have thoſe Licences taken away; and it ſeems by that Part, as if theſe were the only People againſt whom the Charge lies; But we are to obſerve that there are of late a great Number of other People crept into the ſame Buſineſs; who alſo may be called Hawkers and Pedlars as well as any of the reſt; and who merit as much to be ſuppreſt; theſe have no Licences, and yet taking the Hazard of the Penalty, run up and down in all the great Towns and Cities in Britain, but eſpecially in London, to private Houſes with their Goods: Here they get into [45] the Favour of the Ladies, and eſpecially of their Maids Servants; pretending that having Goods immediately from on board a Ship, or from particular Intereſts with other Perſons, that have them ſo, they are able to ſell cheaper than the Shops.

Theſe are a ſet of People, who as we have obſerved before, value themſelves upon being guilty of more Sins than they can commit; and pretend to have run and uncuſtomed Goods to ſell when they have not, as well as when they have.

Theſe have their Arts however to delude and impoſe upon the Buyers, and particularly by ſelling ſome Goods to loſs, rather than not ſuit the Fancy of the Lady they are dealing with; that ſo the Perſon may boaſt of the Pennyworth, and recommend the private Trader; in which caſe they forget not, and ſeldom fail to make up their Loſs with Ad⯑vantage at the next Occaſion.

By thus inſinuating themſelves into the Opinion of the Buyers, they have infinite Ad⯑vantages to deceive and impoſe upon them; nor need we argue here upon the Power of the Imagination, which acts ſo much in their Favour, or how eaſy it is to abuſe the Judgment by poſſeſſing the Fancy; it is too well known in many like Caſes, that where the Buyer is previouſly poſſeſs'd with a Belief, that the Perſon can ſell cheaper than others, 'tis next to impoſſible to perſuade them that [46] he does not, and harder ſtill to perſuade them that they are cheated and abuſed.

This Charge particularly relates to ſuch private Traders as go from Houſe to Houſe, but would not be called Hawkers or Pedlars, nor do they take any Licences, ſo that they defraud the Publick both ways: Theſe appa⯑rently carry no Goods, for what they have to ſell being in ſmall Bulk they eaſily conceal it; or if not, they have Servants to carry for them at ſome Diſtance, ſo as to be called on any Occaſion.

That they are really Hawkers in the Senſe of the Act, is out of Queſtion, and they ought by the Act to take Licences; that they really do ſell uncuſtom'd and prohibited Goods is equally certain, and that they frequently abuſe thoſe they ſell to, by pretending their Goods are ſuch, is as certain; and they have been frequently detected, and made to confeſs the Fraud. For Example,

Theſe People frequently ſell Silk Handker⯑chiefs, and call them India; Muſlins, and call them run from on board the India Ships; when in truth the firſt are bought in Spittle⯑fields, and the latter at the ordinary Drapers Shops; and upon their being challeng'd, they have made no ſcruple to confeſs it, as is ſaid above.

On the other Hand they likewiſe ſell India Silks, Chints, painted Callicoes, and other Things; ſuch as are not only prohibited, be⯑ing [47] ſold, but even the Uſe and Wearing alſo.

By the firſt part of this Buſineſs they are Cheats in Trade, abuſe and impoſe upon the Buyer by Falſhoods and foul Practices of ſeveral Sorts, and on that Account ought to be ſuppreſt, as Enemies of the Home Trade in General; and by the latter Part they are Smugglers, and Parties to the Smugglers, dealing in, felling, and diſperſing prohibited and uncuſtom'd Goods; and are puniſhable by the ſeveral Laws they act againſt; and in this laſt Caſe, with Submiſſion to our Supe⯑riors, we humbly ſuggeſt that they merit to be ſuppreſt, tho' the Injury which they do to the fair Traders, and to the general Com⯑merce of the whole Kingdom, was not to be taken notice of. The Reaſon I give for that, is, becauſe it is the Wiſdom of juſt Govern⯑ments, to endeavour to prevent the Subjects Offending, rather than to deſire to puniſh when Offences are committed.

It is worth Conſideration alſo, whether ſome Laws more ſtrictly forbidding this clandeſtine Commerce, than any yet in being, and more eaſily put in Execution, are not abſolutely neceſſary; and if it be only with this View; namely, for the preventing the ſelling and diſperſing prohibited and uncuſtom'd Goods; ſeeing as is ſaid above, it is utterly impracticable to prevent the Smuggling Trade, if the receiving, ſelling, and diſper⯑ſing [48] the Goods when they are Run, cannot be alſo prevented; and this we believe to be utterly impoſſible, but by putting a ſtop to the Hawkers, Pedlars, and private Traders as above.

Beſides theſe private and clandeſtine Traders there are another ſort of Pedlars who carry on the Trade, but evade the Force of the Act, and theſe are ſuch as Trade under the Pro⯑tection of the ſeveral Proviſoes in the Act, reſerv'd; and ſtand it out, if they are called upon, inſiſting that they are not Hawkers or Pedlars within the Senſe of the Law, and that therefore they are not obliged to take out Licences.

This and the backwardneſs of the Juſtices of Peace, to put the Laws in Execution a⯑gainſt them, encourages ſuch to carry on their Trade, as it were in Defiance of the Act for Licenſing Hawkers, &c. Theſe are ſuch as travelling about the Country, pretend to be the Makers and Manufacturers of the Goods they ſell, or the Agents or Servants of ſuch Makers and Manufacturers, and as ſuch, they pretend they are allow'd not only by the Act of Parliament for Licences, but by ſeveral other Acts of Parliament, (formerly made a⯑gainſt Hawkers and Pedlars) to Trade, and Travel, as they do from Town to Town.

Now as the Pretence is in it ſelf a Fraud, and the Practice is in it ſelf as pernicious to Trade, as any other of the Hawkers and Ped⯑lars [49] Buſineſs, except the laſt mentioned of Smuggling and encouraging the Smugglers Trade, ſo it is needful to give a Brief Account of that Liberty which they pretend to, how far it extends and how far not, as alſo how it is abuſed by the Practiſes of thoſe who pre⯑tend to it.

It is true that in an Act 3 & 4 Annae Reginae, entitul'd an Act for continuing Duties upon Low Wines, and upon Coffee, Tea, Chocolate, Spices, &c. and upon Howkers, Pedlars, and Petty Chapmen, there is the following Proviſo. Pa. 125. of the ſaid Act.

‘'Provided nevertheleſs, That whereas ſeveral Doubts have ariſen touching Traders in the Woollen or Linnen Manufactures, who Trade by Wholeſale, and ſet many Thouſands of Poor to Work, and yet for Want of the Convenience of Water-Carriage, are obliged to ſend their Goods, when Ma⯑nufactured, by Horſes and otherwiſe, to the Publick Markets, Fairs and other Places: Be it Enacted and Declared by the Authority aforeſaid, that all Perſons Trading in the Woollen or Linnen Manufactures of this Kingdom, and Selling the ſame by Wholeſale, ſhall not be deemed or taken to be Hawkers, Pedlars, and Petty-Chapmen within this or any other Act, but that ſuch Perſon or Perſons, and thoſe that ſhall be immediately imployed under them to ſell (by Wholeſale only,) may carry abroad, Expoſe, [50] and Sell the ſaid Manufactures; Any thing in this Act, or any other Act or Acts, to the contrary thereof notwithſtanding.’

By this Proviſo, abundance of travelling People go about, pretending to be the Makers and Manufacturers of the Goods they Sell, or Agents and Servants of ſuch; but even in that Caſe they do not obſerve that the Law allows, even ſuch to ſell by Wholeſale only, ſo that it is really nothing to the Purpoſe, nor will it protect the People we ſpeak of.

There is likewiſe an Act made 4 Georgii I. paſſed in Favour of the Bone-lace Makers in the following Terms.

‘'And whereas ſeveral of the Makers and Traders in Engliſh Bone-lace, who Trade by Wholeſale, and employ many Thouſands of Poor People in the ſaid Manufacture of Bone-lace, have been lately informed againſt, Proſecuted, and Moleſted in the carrying on their Trades, under pretence that they ought to take and have Licences, according to the Directions and Proviſoes of the Act before mentioned, or of ſome other Acts touching Hawkers and Pedlars; be it Enacted and Declared by the King's moſt excellent Majeſty, by and with the Advice and Conſent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in this preſent Parliament aſſembled, and by the Authority of the ſame, That no Perſon, being a Maker or Wholeſale Trader in Engliſh Bone-lace, [51] and Selling the ſame by Wholeſale, ſhall be adjudged, deemed, or taken to be a Hawker, Pedlar, or Petty-Chapman, with⯑in the Intent and Meaning of the ſaid Acts, or of any or either of them; and that all and every ſuch Perſon or Perſons, his, her, or their Children, Apprentices, Servants, or Agents (Selling by Wholeſale only) ſhall and may go from Houſe to Houſe, and from Shop to Shop, to any of their Cuſtomers (who Sell again by Wholeſale or Retale) without being ſubject or liable to any the Penalties or Forfeitures contained in any of the ſaid Acts touching Hawkers, Pedlars, and Petty-Chapmen; Any thing in the ſaid Acts contained to the contrary thereof in any wiſe notwithſtanding.’

Under the Protection of this Clauſe, abun⯑dance of unlawful Trade is carried on, and other Goods beſides Bone-lace, are ſold in a private and a retale Manner, all which are equally ruinous to Trade, whereas it is to be obſerved, that even the Liberty given to theſe Bone-lace Men is, even for their own Manu⯑facture to ſell by Wholeſale only.

Again in the Act of the 9th & 10th Wil⯑liam III. for Licenſing Hawkers, &c. there is an Exemption of ſeveral Traders.

‘'And on this Clauſe the Juſtices of the Peace's Clerks and Hawkers have form'd a formal Protection, which was only at firſt in Writing occaſionally, but now in reſpect of [52] the Multiplicity of them, and for giving it the greater Countenance, they have Printed it on Parchment, with the Queen's Arms on the Top, (as annexed) by which Means the Commiſſioners conceive ſeveral Traders that ought to pay the Duty are permitted to go free.’

Sir Edward Northey Attorney General, being conſulted upon this Practice of the Juſtices Clerks, gave it under his Hand, that it was an illegal Practice; his Opinion is as follows:

‘'I conceive the Juſtices do ill to make ſuch Certificates, for that it is impoſſible for them to be certain, that the Perſons for whom they ſo Certify, ſhall not Sell other Goods than what he or his Maſter makes; and the making ſuch Certificates may contribute to defraud the Crown of the Duty to be paid by Hawkers, &c. However, I think the Certificate ought not to be of any avail to the Perſon producing the ſame, but he is to prove (if inſiſted on) before the Juſtice, before whom he ſhall be brought, that he is the Maker, or Servant of the Maker of the Goods he Sells, or ought to be convicted for Selling without a Licence, contrary to the Act; and I think it will be fit to adviſe the Juſtices not to make any more ſuch Cer⯑tificates for the future, and to exhibit an Information againſt them, if they ſhall make any ſuch.’ Edward Northey.

[53] Another ſort of Pedlars, are ſuch as travel from Town to Town.

‘'There are a ſort of People that travel from Town to Town, and pretend to be Whole⯑ſale-Men, and take up ſome Rooms in ſome Inn or other of the ſaid Towns, where they generally Sell by whole Pieces; and theſe People commonly ſend about Town to let them know, that ſuch Traders are come to Town, and that they may be fur⯑niſhed with ſuch Commodities as they Sell.’

There are many other Shifts and Turns made uſe of by the real Pedlars to evade the Act, even for ſo ſmall a Thing as the Licence only: But we have not room here to give a Liſt of them all, it is enough to ſay, that even in thoſe Caſes where any Liberties are allow'd by the Law, they are always Tranſ⯑greſſors of that Law, and carry that Liberty farther than it was intended, or farther than is allow'd by the true Intent and Meaning of the Law. So induſtrious are theſe People to preſerve a Liberty for carrying on a Buſineſs univerſally deſtructive to the Publick, and ſo injurious to the fair Traders.

Particularly it is to be obſerved here, that even before the Acts for Licenſing theſe People were paſt, they were expreſly forbidden, as well by ſeveral Acts of Parliament, as by the Privileges granted by Charter to ſeveral Ci⯑ties, [54] Towns and Corporations, to open their Packs, or expoſe their Goods to Sale in thoſe Cities, Towns, or Corporations; except on Publick Fairs and Market Days, and in the open and publick Market Places reſpectively; yet, now under pretence of theſe Licences granted by Law, they have taken upon them to traffick, ſell, and carry about their Goods, and open their Packs even in the City of London, and the Suburbs thereof; as if law⯑fully permitted to do ſo, and eſpecially the private Traders mentioned above, do it con⯑tinually without Regard, to either the Laws called Acts of Parliament, or the By-Laws of the ſaid City, and ſo in divers other Corpora⯑tions alſo.

So that it is evident the fair Traders are diſtreſs'd by them in all Places, as well City as Country; and this neceſſitates them to apply in this Manner, for ſome new Law in a more ſummary and direct Manner to convict and ſuppreſs them; and particularly to aſcertain what kind of Traders (and how Trading) ſhall be adjudg'd Pedlars in the Senſe of the Law; as for the Methods to limit and reſtrain theſe People, we will not pretend to lead; That Part is entirely to be left to, and adjuſted in ſuch a Manner as to the Honourable Houſe of Parliament, ſhall appear Reaſonable and Juſt.

CHAP. VII. Of the Neceſſity there is to ſuppreſs not the Licenſed Hawkers only, but all the private Traders of whatſoever Denomination, and of the great Ad⯑vantage it would be to the Publick to do ſo.

IT comes now of Courſe to obſerve, that tho' it is true, that the Licenſing theſe People is a manifeſt Grievance to Trade, and by which they are encouraged to inſult the Tradeſ⯑men, even in thoſe Towns and Cities where they have no legal Right, no not by their Li⯑cences to Trade, yet the bare taking off or repealing the Acts of Parliament for granting ſuch Licences, is not the only Subject of this humble Application.

It is true that the Licenc'd Hawkers have been the Original of all, or moſt Part of the Miſchief ſuffered, and that thoſe Licences have in a great Meaſure taken off the Edge of the People's juſt Averſion to them, believing that the Laws would not have allowed them, if they had been really injurious to Trade in General, or to the Shopkeepers in Particular.

But this is not all, from this Abatement of the People's diſguſt at the Pedlars and Haw⯑kers, Throngs of private Traders have broke [56] in, upon, even the Hawkers and Pedlars themſelves; who would not be called by the Name, but do equal Miſchief, in plying as it were at People's Doors, and that even in the greateſt Cities, and beſt governed Cor⯑porations; carrying their Goods in ſmall Parcels not to be diſcovered, and ſelling them to the Ladies even in their Bed-Chambers; as effectually and fatally circumventing and anticipating the fair Traders, as it is poſſible for any Pedlar or Hawker to do.

So that tho' it is true, that we complain of the Licenſing and permitting the Hawkers and Pedlars as ſuch, and under the ſeveral Denominations and Deſcriptions given of them above, and humbly hope for Relief againſt them, by the Repeal of the ſeveral Laws, granting thoſe Licenſing, yet we muſt inſiſt alſo, that it is abſolutely neceſſary to have ſome proper Clauſes, granted in ſuch new Law as ſhall be made, as may effectually ſup⯑preſs all thoſe private clandeſtine Traders alſo, otherwiſe the reſt will be of no Effect.

It is not the Men that we ſo earneſtly move againſt, as they are Men, but as they are Injurious and Deſtructive by their foul Prac⯑tice in Trade; 'tis the Hawking and Peddling in all its various Forms and Shapes, however diſguiſed and concealed, whether with or without a Licence, and indeed of the two, thoſe without a Licence ſeem to be the moſt miſchievous in great Towns and Cities; thoſe [57] with the Licence are ſo in Country Towns and Villages, and eſpecially at lone Houſes as we call them, Houſes ſtanding ſingle and ſcat⯑ter'd about the Country.

Thoſe who Ply or Practice (call it as you will) in Cities and populous Towns, and eſ⯑pecially in London, are ſuppoſed to be more in Number than thoſe that are Licenc'd, and conſequently may do moſt Miſchief; beſides they have the Chance to deal among the richer Sort of People, and with thoſe who have moſt Money to lay out; ſo that they not only take more ready Money than the other, but as they can ſooner ſupply themſelves with Quantities of the like Goods, than they can who Travel farther off, ſo they make quicker Returns, and require leſs Stock.

Every one of theſe Articles are Injurious to the fair Trader, for all theſe Sums of ready Money if not thus intercepted would circulate in a regular Manner, in the ordinary Way of Trade, and give Life and Spirit to the Shopkeeper, of whatever Trades the Buyer was formerly uſed to deal with; and the Goods paſs, thro' all the circulating Mean⯑ders of Trade, which are known ſo much to ſupport the Body of our Tradeſmen.

This is a Reaſon well worthy the Con⯑ſideration of the Legiſlature, and which if duly Weigh'd would ſhew the Neceſſity of ſuppreſ⯑ſing theſe People; namely, that by this they [58] will reſtore Trade to its ancient State ſuch as it was, when the Wealth and Oppulence of this Nation was firſt raiſed; for we muſt inſiſt that the Greatneſs of our Country has been chiefly, if we may not ſay wholly raiſed by our Trade.

The Increaſe of our People, the raiſing the Value of Lands, the infinite Improvements, in Cultivation, in Navigation, in Arts, in Manufactures, and in a Word, in every valua⯑ble Thing, has been all (under Providence) owing to our Trade; and of all Trade, our Home Trade is the Life, the Soul, and the Support of all the reſt.

This Home Trade is wounded, weaken'd, we may almoſt ſay, murther'd by theſe Py⯑rates, and by their Depredations; it languiſhes like Children without the Breaſt; the Stream as is ſaid above, is turned away from the Mill; the Buyers or Cuſtomers are turned away from the Shops; the Money which was the Life of their Trade, runs into other Hands: If any Trade is left to the Shopkeeper it is the truſting Part, where the Money comes ſlow, and where Loſſes often falls heavy; ſo that the Shopkeeper has the Gleanings of the Trade, while the Pedlar and the Haw⯑ker have the Harveſt; the Shopkeeper has the Milk, and the Pedlar the Cream.

With theſe Diſadvantages in the Trade, the poor decaying Shopkeeper has a large Rent to pay, and Family to Support; he maintains [59] not his own Children only, but all the poor Orphans and Widows in his Pariſh; nay, ſometimes the Widows and Orphans of the very Pedlar or Hawker, who has thus fatally laboured to ſtarve him: How often when they periſh in their unjuſt Dealings, are their Wives and Orphans paſt home to the Pariſhes, for the injured oppreſt Tradeſman to help maintain.

Were theſe People remov'd, Trade would ſoon return and revive; when once Trade came to flow in its right Channel, it would recover its former Magnitude and Glory, and the Shopkeepers would thrive again as they formerly did.

We have had abundance of Inquiries made into the Reaſon of the decay of our Trade, and the declining of our Tradeſmen; why ſo many Commiſſions of Bankrupts are granted, why the Goals are (however frequently empty'd,) ſo ſoon fill'd again with demoliſh'd Tradeſmen and broken Shop⯑keepers; we muſt ſay, we think they go round about in ſeeking for the Cauſe, who look any farther than to this unhappy miſerable Invaſion of Trade, by Vagrants and Thieves.

Theſe are the People who ruin both the Buying and the Selling; the ſelling Pedlar robs the fair Trader of his ready Money Cuſtomers; and the Smuggling Pedlar robs him of his buying to Advantage: They buy of the Smugglers, who by robbing the Government of the Cuſtoms, [60] bring in Goods from the Foreigner, and the Profit (at leaſt great Part of it) goes away to Strangers; they have the Market, and we the Loſs; for it is evident, much of the Smuggling Trade is managed by Foreigners: They bring the Brandy, the Salt, the Tea, the Coffee to our Coaſt, and into our Ports; we, (that is our Thieves) go on Board and buy, and tho' they may buy cheap compared to the Price, which the fair Trader pays, yet they pay dear compared to what the Foreigner can afford to ſell for.

We might enlarge upon the Proof of this, by enquiring into the Trade for Brandy in ſmall Casks, carried on for ſome Years paſt, by the Jerſey and Guernſey Men; by the Iſle of Man Merchants, and ſeveral others: But 'tis enough to name them, the reſt is too well known, to need any Explanations.

Were theſe Hawkers, private and clande⯑ſtine Traders, effectually ſuppreſs'd by Law, all theſe Evils would be at once remov'd, and (as is ſaid above,) Trade would be reſtored to its antient Channel, and would of Courſe revive and enrich the whole Na⯑tion: On this Account it is, that we ſay, it is a thing of Value, ſufficient to move the Con⯑ſideration of the whole Legiſlature, and with that Confidence we preſume thus to lay it before them.

CHAP. VIII. Of the Numbers of the People em⯑ploy'd thus in clandeſtine Trade, and whether it be juſt, to throw ſo many Hands out of Buſineſs, and perhaps out of the Kingdom; ſince Numbers of Inhabitants are the Wealth and Strength of a Nation.

NUmbers of People are without Queſtion, the Strength and Wealth of a Nation; we moſt readily grant the General.

But then it muſt be Numbers of legally ſettled Inhabitants, not Numbers of Vagrants and wan⯑dering People: Settled Inhabitants, are Induſtri⯑ous, Laborious, and lend their helping Hands to all the Exigences of the whole Body; whether Publick or Private. They pay their juſt Proportions in all Rates, Aſſeſſments and Taxes, as well to the Government, and to the Church, as to the Maintenance of the Poor, to the Repair of Highways, Bridges, publick Edifices, and whatever the Community calls for.

Theſe are the Inhabitants whoſe Numbers are of Import in a Government; and if we had two Millions or three Millions of ſuch [60] more than we have, the Kingdom would be ſtill ſo much the Richer and Stronger: Theſe all live by honeſt Means, carry on lawful Employments, and ſupport their Families by Induſtry and Application in their reſpective Callings; and if they have not Eſtates before Hand, oftentimes raiſe Eſtates by their own Genius and Inclination to Buſineſs.

This very Argument therefore is on our Side with all imaginable Advantage; for if theſe fair Traders are the People, in whoſe Numbers and Encreaſe, the publick Oppu⯑lence ſo really conſiſts, (and ſuch it is plain the Manufacturers, Artifficers, Shopkeepers and Retailers are, as well in the Cities as in the Countries) then it muſt certainly be the Wiſdom of every Government to nouriſh and preſerve them; and by all juſt Aſſiſtance of Laws and Magiſtrates to keep them from being ſupplanted and oppreſt by unfair and clandeſtine Traders: As for the Numbers on the other Side, how many ſoever they may be ſaid to be, they are not to be nam'd in com⯑pariſon to the Multitudes who are injured and oppreſs'd by them, as we ſhall obſerve preſently; on the other Hand to the Queſtion of what ſhall become of them, the Anſwer is ſhort and direct.

1. Let them ſettle themſelves, fix their Habitations, open Shops, and Trade fairly as others do: The Country is open, and the Trade is open, indeed the excluſive Privi⯑leges [63] of ſome Places may here and there ſhut them out, but there is room enough for them to come into Buſineſs almoſt where they pleaſe; and were they inclined to do ſo, and be⯑come fair Tradeſmen as others do, deal in a regular Manner, and carry on their Buſineſs as other Dealers do, we doubt not but ſuch Clauſes might be obtain'd in their Favour, as to take away all Excuſes for Pedling and Smuggling from them: But it is not in their very Nature as Pedlars, as it is not in the Nature of Beggars to Work; ſo after a Man has once commenc'd Pedlar, he can no more fall into Trade in a fair and legal Way, than a Fiſh can live out of Water.

We know they pretend they are ſhut out of the great Trading Cities, Towns, and Cor⯑porations, by the reſpective Charters and all other ſettled Privileges of thoſe Places: But we anſwer, that tho' for want of legal In⯑troduction they may not be able to ſet up in Cities, Corporations, &c. yet there are many Places of very great Trade, where no Corporation Privileges would obſtruct them, of which preſently.

2. If any of them ſhould be reduc'd, and as ſome alledge, be brought to the Pariſh to keep; that is to ſay, their Wives and Children, the Manufacturers, the Shop⯑keepers who confeſſedly make up the principal Numbers of thoſe Corporations, and are the chief Supporters of the Pariſhes, will be much [64] more willing to maintain them, than to be ruin'd by them.

But to return to the great Objection, about the Numbers of them; we inſiſt that it is all a Deluſion; Nor are the Numbers of thoſe People, ſo great as to be nam'd in Compe⯑tition with the Numbers of the People who ſuffer by them: They are numerous indeed, when we ſpeak of the Injury they do, for a ſmall Number may ruin a greater, and a few are ſufficient to do Miſchief to a whole Com⯑munity; but we ſay, they are ſo few com⯑pared to the very great Numbers of the Tradeſmen and Manufacturers who are op⯑preſs'd by them, that we are not affraid hum⯑bly to referr that Part to the juſt Conſidera⯑tion of the Parliament, who cannot be at a Loſs for good Reaſons to diſmiſs them from the Deſtructive Trade, which they now car⯑ry on, and to find ſome other way to pro⯑vide for their Numbers, or to employ their Numbers, ſuch as may render them uſeful to their Country, not Deſtroyers of it.

That they are Deſtroyers, as they are now ſtation'd in Trade, is out of all Doubt: As Smuggling is to the fair Merchant, ſo Ped⯑ling is to the fair Shopkeeper; one cheats the Government of their Duties, and the other cheats the Shopkeeper of his due Profits in Buſineſs; the one turns the Channel of Trade from the Wholeſale Man and from the Retailer to the Pedlar, the other turns the [65] Merchants Trade from the Importer to the Smuggler. But this is ſufficiently explained already, we mention it again here to inforce the preſent Argument, that their Trade and Practice being in its own Nature unjuſt and ruinous to the Community, the Numbers that may be concerned in it, ought to be ſo far from a Plea for their Continuance, that on the other Hand it is the ſtrongeſt Plea imagi⯑nable for their being ſuppreſt.

The greater the Evil is, the more preſſing is the Complaint; and the more moving in Favour of the Complainer, if their Number indeed was formidable; if we could be ſo weak as to ſuppoſe, that it would not be ſafe to attempt them, we ſhould talk in another Dialect of them, and they might go on till the whole Inland-Trade of England was dwindled into Pedling and Hawking, as it is at this time in Poland and Lithuania, and other Countries on that Side of the World.

But the Caſe is juſt the Reverſe in England; they are a great Number indeed conſidering them qua. Pedlars, and they do an incredible Miſchief to our Trade; but they are a moſt contemptible few, when we view them in the Hands of Juſtice; and ſhould the Parlia⯑ment think fit to diſarm them of their Li⯑cences, or legal Claim to this walking Em⯑ploy, and add ſome needful Clauſes, to put a ſtop to the clandeſtine unlicenc'd Rabble which now break in upon us, the fair Traders will [66] never want any Aid, but that of the Civil Magiſtrate, and his Peace Officers to cruſh the whole Body of them; nor unleſs by any fla⯑grant Crime, they merit farther Juſtice, will they that are refractory need any other Goal than the Cage; or other Puniſhment, than the Stocks or the Whipping-Poſt.

It is true the Miſchief is much greater to Trade than otherwiſe it would be, becauſe of the unhappy Temper of thoſe who deal with, and encourage theſe private Traders; we mean the Buyers; who being ſometimes gratified with the Advantage of buying a prohibited or clandeſtinely run Commodity, in which they think they have what they call a Penny⯑worth; not only admit them freely into their Houſes, but recommend them from one to another; not regarding the publick Evil which they encourage, or the Damage they do to Trade in General.

It is wonderful to reflect, how this Hu⯑mour in Trade firſt crept inſenſibly upon us, and ſtill more wonderful to think, to what a fatal Degree it is increaſed within a few Years paſt: Till it has ſapp'd the very Foun⯑dations of our Commerce, and brought a great Part of that flouriſhing Buſineſs which we uſed to call Wholeſale Trade, and which made ſuch a Figure in this Nation, and in the City of London eſpecially, to dwindle almoſt wholly into Pedling and Pack-Markets; till our Shops are ſhut up in a frightful Manner [67] and Number; and inſtead of the Conſumer going to the proper Market to clothe and equip themſelves, the Trade is become va⯑guing and ambulatory, and as we ſaid above, the Shop follows the Cuſtomers, not the Cuſtomers the Shop.

But our Buſineſs is not to ſit ſtill bemoan⯑ing the Decay of our Trade, but to apply warmly and vigorouſly to the Remedy; and to implore the Aid of our happy Repreſenta⯑tives, in whoſe Power it is, and prevail with them to find out for us, the proper and imme⯑diate Specifick for this chronical Diſeaſe.

It is our Happineſs that in this Application, we can make it appear, that we do not ſpeak our own Sentiments alone, or the Language of the Cityonly; tho' that great Body conſiſting of the principal Merchants and Wholeſale Dealers in England, might be well ſuppoſed to un⯑derſtand the true Intereſt of Trade in General, as well as of their own Trade in Particular.

But the Complaint comes from all Parts of the Kingdom, even the moſt remote; and we have Letters from Places the moſt diſtant from one another, and who have no Correſ⯑pondence with one another, yet all concurring in the ſame Complaint, and praying the Aid of the Citizens of London and Weſtminſter, in puſhing on their earneſt Applications to the Parliament for Redreſs of this Grievance.

Some of our Letters expreſs in a moſt feel⯑ing and affectionate Manner, the great Con⯑cern [68] they are under in the Country, from the Apprehenſions (may we not call them juſt Ap⯑prehenſions), that their Trade will be entirely ruin'd and loſt, by the puſhing on this de⯑structive Method of Selling by Hawkers and Pedlars.

Were the Numbers of People (not to men⯑tion the Weight and Value of them) as Tradeſ⯑men, Manufacturers, and Shopkeepers but to be ſuggeſted, who have already ſent, and would upon the leaſt Hint of the Occaſion, ſend up their earneſt Complaints in this Caſe; ſhould we but ſuppoſe what a Porportion they bear to the whole Body, we ſhould no more ſpeak of the Numbers of the Pedlars and Hawkers, who would be diſtreſs'd by this Law: The Que⯑ſtion would be as groſs as it would be, to ask whether a Thouſand People ſhould ſuffer, or a Hundred Thouſand, whether in a Word, twenty Thouſand or a Million; the Numbers of the Shopkeepers, Manufacturers, and fair Traders, bearing, to that of the Pedlars as much diffe⯑rence in Proportion as that and much greater.

If then the Numbers of the Pedlars, or their Weight in the common Wealth, can bear no Proportion to the Numbers of the Shop⯑keepers and Manufacturers, who are thus inju⯑ried by their Means; what have we to conſi⯑der on their Account? The only thing that re⯑mains, ſeems to be to recommend it to them to ſeek Employments for themſelves, and to get [69] their Bread by ſome other and more honeſt Way of Buſineſs, that may not expoſe them to the juſt Reſentment of their Country, and cauſe them to be treated as Enemies.

Why may we not as well pity the brave Body of Soldiers and Seamen, which upon the Concluſion of a War are uſually reduc'd, diſ⯑banded, and ſent Home oftentimes without Money, or with but very little; and who are left to ſeek their Bread where 'they can get it. The Law does not ſpare them, if they Rob and Plunder, or commit any of the or⯑dinary Excurſions uſual in the Armies and in the Field; and tho' they may be ſaid to have deſerv'd well of their Country, they are not ſuppoſed to be injured, neither are they injur'd that they are left deſtitute of Buſineſs, and have their Bread to ſeek.

How much leſs then are theſe People uſed ill, who are only disbanded from a really injurious, and in its Nature unlawful Trade, but are left at Liberty to turn honeſt Men, and apply themſelves to other Buſineſs for their Subſiſtence.

Nor can they plead, that they are Cripples and diſabled from Labour, or ſuperannuated, and paſt uſing other Means; for they that are able to travel the Country, loaden, as they ge⯑nerally are, with heavy Packs and Parcels of Goods, carrying them from Houſe to Houſe, and from Town to Town, cannot be ſuppoſed to be weak Bodies and unfit for Labour; on the con⯑trary, [70] moſt of them are luſty, young, ſtrong and able for Labour, and enur'd to Hardſhips; and as for thoſe that have (and travel with) Horſes, they are generally Men of ſome Sub⯑ſtance, and may be ſuppoſed able to take Shops as we have ſaid, ſettle in Towns, and become honeſt Tradeſmen among their Neighbours.

If there are any poor among them who me⯑rit Regard, the Method for them is plain and eaſy, viz. They may be paſs'd Home to the reſpective Pariſhes, to which they belong; where even the Shopkeepers themſelves (tho' ſo much injur'd by them) will be willing to aſſiſt to their Maintenance in a legal Manner.

Thus either way the Oppreſſion will be light, if it may be called an Oppreſſion, the greateſt Grievance to Trade that ever did or ever can befal it in this Nation, would be redreſt, and the Pedlars becoming honeſt Shopkeepers, would be ſo far from being the Peſt and Grievance of the Towns and Pariſhes, that they would ſet their Shoulders to the common Burthen, and be the Support of that Commerce which before they deſtroy'd.