Page:William Petty - Economic Writings (1899) vol 1.djvu/370

272 the Fifth Part of his Peoples Wealth; and yet great Ostentation is made of the Present Riches and Strength of that Kingdom. Now great care must be had in distinguishing between the Wealth of the People, and that of an absolute Monarch; who taketh from the People, where, when, and in what proportion he pleaseth. Moreover, the Subjects of two Monarchs may be equally Rich, and yet one Monarch may be double as Rich as the other; viz. If one take the tenth part of the Peoples Substance to his own dispose, and the other but the 20th. nay the Monarch of a poorer People, may appear more splendid and glorious, than that of a Richer; which perhaps may be somewhat the case of France, as hereafter shall be examined. As an instance and application of what hath been |[42]| said, I conceive that in Ireland wherein are about 1200 Thousand People, and near 300 Thousand Smokes or Hearths ; It were more tolerable for the People, and more profitable for the King; that each Head paid 2s., worth of Flax, than that each smoke should pay 2s. Silver; And that for the following reasons.

1. Ireland being under peopled, and Land, and Cattle