Page:William Petty - Economic Writings (1899) vol 1.djvu/376

278 maintainance of the triple Militia, and of the Auxilliary Seamen above-mentioned, do all five of them together, amount to one Million of mony, the raising whereof is not a Million spent, but gain unto the Common-Wealth, unless it can be made appear, that by reason of all, or any of them, the Exportation of Woollen Manufactures, Lead, and Tin, are lessened; or of such Commodities, as our own East and West India Trade do produce, forasmuch as I conceive, that the Exporta-|[51]|tion of these last mentioned Commodities, is the Touch-stone whereby the Wealth of England is tryed, and the Pulse whereby the Health of the Kingdom may be discerned.

 

Ower at Sea consists chiefly of Men, able to fight at Sea, and that in such Shipping, as is most proper for the Seas wherein they serve: and those are in these Northern Seas, Ships from between three hundred to one thousand three hundred Tuns; and of those such as draw much Water, and have a deep Latch in the Sea, in order to keep a good Wind, and not to fall to Leeward, a matter of vast advantage in Sea Service: Wherefore it is to be examined, 1. Whether the King of France, hath Ports in the Northern Seas (where |[52]| he hath most occasion for his Fleets of War, in any contests with England) able to receive the Vessels above-mentioned, in all Weathers, both in Winter and Summer Season. For if the King of France, would bring to Sea an equal number of fighting Men, with the English and Hollanders, in small floaty Leeward Vessels, he would certainly be of the weaker 