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confidered, is this any disparaging Account of our old Herring and Pilchard Fithery.

We are next to confider what is called the White Fishery; and in the first Place it is to be observed, we take considerable Quantities of Cod in the North Seas, and from thence it is called North Sea Cod, of which large Quantities are fold to the Fifhmongers here in London; and it is vended also in most of our Sea-Ports, serving for Provisions in thort Voyages, as well as for Confumption on Shore; fo that though this Fithery does not bring us any great Sums of Money, yet it saves much, and is confequently in this Light very beneficial. There is a Fishery of the fame Kind in North Britain, chiefly about Dunbar, and it serves to subsist a good Number of People, and in other Respects turns to the fame Account as the former. But the North British Fishery on the West Side, and among the Orkney Islands, is a Thing of greater Comequence, into which of late Years the Irish are fallen, and before the War with Spain they carried on a very confiderable Trade thither; but neither is this so advantageous as it might be, or at least was not before the Legislature thought fit to erect the Company before-mentioned. But after all, the principal White Fishery is that for Cod in Newfoundland, and the fame all along the North Coast of New England, which is of prodigious Importance. It employs many thoufand People at Sea and on Shore, it increases our Shipping, it procures a large Sale for our Manufactures, and, befides all this, the Produce of it is very large, not less, fome Years ago, when, a very exact Computation was made of it, than two hundred and thirty thousand Quintals; which were dispoted of in Spain and Portugal, as alfo in Italy, more especially at Leghorn, and at the Canaries, Madeira, and Cape de Verd Islands, not to mention what is confumed in our own Colonies.

THERE are, befides these, several other Fisheries that deserve Notice; fuch as the Whale Fishery on the Coaft of Long Island, Rhode Island, and New York; but this is not a little uncertain, and the taking of what are called Sperma Citi Whales, among the Islands of Bermudas, much more fo. We were once intirely possessed of the Greenland Whale Fishery, and for many Years had the most confiderable Share in it, till gradually beat out of it by the Dutch, from whom we are now in a fair Way of recovering it. Our Salmon Fishery is carried on in North Britain at Aberdeen, in South Britain at Berwick, and in several Places in Ireland. There is alfo a confiderable Fishery carried on in the Rivers in the Island of Newfoundland, which was faid to be increating be

fore the late War broke out, and one would imagine must by this Time be grown very confiderable. Upon the Whole, it may be truly affirmed, that if the Dutch go much beyond us in the Herring Fishery, we also very much exceed them in the White Fishery; in the Greenland they had almost all, and it is still nearly the Cafe with respect to the Iceland Fishery, which was also once in our Hands, if we had known how to keep it. I believe it may be true, that while we lofe on one Side, we get on another; but this is no Reason why we should neglect the regaining of loft Trades, and more especially Fisheries; and those Fisheries particularly which lie nearest our own Coasts, for these would infallibly furnish us with a constant Supply of experienced, active, and healthy Sailors, that might upon any Emergency be employed in manning our Navy, and by reasonable Encouragements, might be brought to become so useful in that Respect, as to render needless the oppreffive and illegal Practice of taking Men by Force.

BESIDES, when it is remembered, that taking and curing Fish is fo much shorter a Thing than digging for and melting Ore, and at the fame Time, in point of Nets, Vessels, People, Salt, and Cafks, not at all less expensive; so that we come sooner to Market, and yet find as good a Price for this Commodity as for any Metal or Mineral we have; it ought to be confidered as a great and conftant Source of Riches, and, which is still more to our Purpose, an inexhaustible Source; for the more we have, the more we are like to have; by which I mean, that there is no Danger of extending our Fisheries too far. The greater they grow, the better our Fish will be cured; the more People and the more Vessels will be employed, not in the catching, but in the exporting them; and at the fame Time this would add to our naval Force; which I mention again, as having a particular Connection with this Subject; for without a naval Force, such an extensive Fishery as we might have, could not be protected; whereas the gradual Increase of this natural Advantage, infeparably annexed to our Situation as an Island, would very foon increase that Force to such a Degree, as might withstand all Europe; so that the Project formed in the Reign of King Charles I. of establishing a Herring Fishery on the Coaft of Scotland, out of the Profits of which a' constant Squadron of Men of War was to be maintained, does not appear to have been ill founded; but we stand in need of no such Projects now; for if our Fishery be improved, which is in our Power, and the Exportation increased, which would follow of course, this would

would augment the Balance of Trade, and the better enable the Nation to keep in conftant Employment an invincible Navy, a Thing equally suitable to her Interest and to her Glory.

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CHAP. VII.*

Of our Plantations, the Nature and Benefit of them explained; their great Importance to this Country demonstrated; the vaft Change they have made in our Affairs ftated and accounted for; and all Objections against them answered.

HERE is

THERE hardly any Subject that better deserves a young

Man's Attention than this, whether we confider the Im

portance thereof in itself, and the Advantages that arife from thoroughly understanding it, or, the Dangers that attend falling into those vulgar Errors with which Multitudes are infected, and are commonly labouring by their Discourse to infect others. When we hear fuch as have either refided. long in our Colonies, or have confiderable Interests in them, extolling the Benefits derived from them to Great Britain, and insisting that a reciprocal Regard is confequently due, we must be quite at a Loss in our Judgements, in cafe we have no previous Conception of the Matters on which they insist; and on the other hand, when we fee not only the Populace, but even People of better Figure, expreffing a Coldness, and Want of Kindness, if not Disdain and Contempt, for their Countrymen in those Parts, as if their Interests were as far removed from them as their Persons; we are in Danger of being carried away by the Stream, and falling imperceptibly into a Mistake, out of which it is a great Chance if ever we recover. I had Reafon therefore to fay,

• In this Chapter, and feveral other Parts of this Tract, some Things will be found not at present applicable. The Separation of fo great a Part of North America from the British Empire muit neceffarily materially affect this Subject; that Event, however, is yet too recent, and the Intercourse of Trade, in confequence, too unfettled, to admit its Adaption to present Circumstances. It is judged expedient, therefore, to reprint this Discourse as it was originally written, upwards of thirty Years ago; which will, it is prefumed, still merit the Reader's Attention, on Account of its general Utility, however particular Pallages may be impinged by the Revolution of Affairs.

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that it very much imports a young Man to acquire right Notions upon this Head early, and these too established upon found and folid Principles, that he may stand secure, and not have his Opinion shaken by any witty Declamations, or fophistical Arguments, that are sometimes used to the Discredit of all, but very frequently employed to ensnare and miflead us with respect to particular Plantations.

IT would he no very difficult Matter to shew from Reaforn alone, that Plantations are highly beneficial, and that nothing can contribute more to the Riches and Welfare of any Country, or at least of any trading Country, than fixing Settlements in foreign Parts, and more especially in fuch a Country as America, where vast Regions may be obtained merely by eftablishing Colonies in them. But there is no Need of doing this, fince Experience affords us a shorter and eafier Method. There is no Instance of any great trading Nation, ancient or modern, that ever had this in their Power and neglected it; from whence we may infer, that what has been always and every-where judged reasonable, must really be fo. Befides, let us confider what rendered the Portuguese heretofore rich and powerful, and what in some Measure keeps them so still; is it not their Plantations? If we asked the fame Question with regard to Spain, we must receive the fame Answer; and yet there is nothing more certain, than that both these Nations are under vast Inconveniencies with respect to their Plantations; for they draw nothing from them but in Satisfaction for Commodities and Manufactures, and yet the far greatest Part, indeed almost all these Commodities and Manufactures, they purchase themselves from other Nations; notwithstanding which prodigious Obstacle, it is apparent, that their Plantations are not only the great and conftant, but almost the sole Source of their Riches. This alone, to a Man of Sense and Reflection, will afford a full Conviction of the Truth of what has been advanced, as to the Benefit of Plantations in general.

THERE is no shorter Method with respect to our own in particular, than to confider one that has fome staple Commodity, which may ferve as a Model for the rest; and I know of none that can answer this Purpose so well as Virginia, one of the oldest, best cultivated, and most populous of our Colonies upon the Continent. It is computed that the Number of Souls, indiscriminately, may amount in Virginia to about half a Million, and of these about one hundred and twenty thoufand Men, Women, and Children, may be white, which thews this Colony is in itself a Thing of prodigious Importance; portance; the next Thing is to find out what Advantages this Country derives from such a Number of its Subjects dwelling there. In the first Place, it must be observed, that as the Value of Labour differs in several Parts of this Kingdom, so the Labour of a Man in most of the Plantations, is not only as advantageous to his native Country as if he worked at Home, but much more so: I believe, upon a moderate Computation, we may reckon, that such a Person contributes to the public Stock, by which I mean the Income and Wealth of the British Nation, four Times as much. So that we may with Reason reckon, that the white People in Virginia, one with another, produce twelve Pounds to this Nation; the Reafon of which will appear, when we confider the Nature of their Commerce more particularly. But befides this the Negroes are of great Advantage to this Kingdom, though of infinitely lefs than white People would be, if they were employed in the fame Work: for every one of these poor Creatures confumes yearly two Hilling-hoes, two Weeding-hoes, two Grubbinghoes, befides Axes, Saws, Wimbles, Nails, and other Iron Tools and Materials. On the Whole, there can be no Sort of Question, because it appears a plain Matter of Fact, that these People necessarily take off the Sum of one hundred and fifty thousand Pounds in the Commodities of this Country.

I HAVE before stated (agreeable to what able Authors have asserted upon this Subject) some general Principles of Computation, fuch as that every Head in this Plantation may be reckoned worth twelve Pounds a Year to the Nation, which must seem prodigious; and indeed so does every Thing grounded on Calculation, to such as have not applied themselves thereto; and so they always will, unless clearly explained, which is what I shall next attempt, as defiring to inculcate useful Truths capable of influencing Men's Practice, and not write paradoxical Discourses for my own and other People's Amusement, In order to untie these Knots, we must confider, that the People in this Colony of Virginia live exactly as we do, or rather, more freely, in that generous, open, hofpitable, and confequently expensive Method that prevailed here in the last Age But as they are supplied both with Neceffaries and Conveniencies, with the Instruments of Labour, as well as the Means of Luxury, from England, it follows of course, that they must employ an infinite Number of Hands to provide these. For it is generally known, that these Demands must be fupplied from those Handicrafts and Mechanics that