The Ballance of that and the _East-India_ Trade, is always against us, from whom we have in Goods more than we ship them, and therefore must lessen our Bullion; the Ballance of _Spain_ and _Portugal_ is always in our Favour, and therefore must encrease it; as for the _Dutch_, _Germany_, and _Hamburgh_, their Ballances are not yet agreed on; some think we ship them most, others, that we receive most from them; I incline to the former: The Northern Crowns supply us with more than they take from us, but they are Commodities we can’t be without, at least, till we can be better furnish’d with them from our Plantations in _America_; _Turkey_ may require some Bullion, yet the Trade we drive thither is very beneficial to us; _Italy_ will grow more and more in its Ballance on our Side, as the Importation of wrought Silks is lessen’d, and turn’d into raw and thrown. Now considering, that almost the whole World is supplied by our Labour, and that our Plantations do daily bring us such Incomes, ’tis strange, if this Nation should not grow rich, which doubtless it would do above all our Neighbours, were our Trade rightly looked after. [Sidenote: What Nations chiefly cope with us in our Manufactures.] Those who cope with us in our Manufactures, are chiefly the _French_; but let due Care be taken to prevent their being supplied with Wool from hence, and from _Ireland_, and we shall soon see an Alteration therein: ’Tis true, they have Wool of their own, but they cannot work it without ours or _Irish_: The Commodities they make, are generally slight Stuffs, wherein they use a great deal of Combing Wool; and these they not only wear themselves, but send them to _Portugal_, and other Parts, with good Success; to countermine which, We have fallen on making them, by Assistance of the _French_ Refugees; I wonder at the Fancies of those Men, who are always finding Fault, that we do not make our Manufactures as strong as formerly we did, wherein I think they are to be blamed, for we must fit them to the Humours of the Buyers, and slight Cloth brings as much Profit to the Nation as strong, and the same Employment to the Poor; yet where Seals and other Marks are set, let them be certain Evidences to the Truth of what they certify, either as to the Length of the Piece, or that the Inside is suitable to the Outside, or that ’tis truly wove, and without Flaws; the same with respect to the Colour, that ’tis woaded, or madder’d, or the like: But there is a great deal of Difference between this, and obliging the Manufacturer to make his Cloth or Stuff to a certain Weight and Thickness, without respect to the Buyer, or the Climate to which it is sent. As for the _Dutch_, as I take them to be no good Planters, so likewise no good Manufacturers, their Heads are not turned that Way, but rather to Traffic and Navigation. The _Flanderkins_ were once famous in the Art of Cloth-making, which they carried on by the Wool they fetch’d hence: But King _Edward_ the Third,