I AM sorry , that not seeing me in six Months , should make you so much forget the natural Caution of my Temper , as to believe I would , after the late Address , presume to send you any thing more concerning the Affairs of Parliament , than what you find in the printed Votes . I always thought it pragmatical in Men without , to pretend to relate the secret Springs and Turns of Affairs transacted within Doors . I know indeed , that it is the Right of all Constituents to instruct their Representatives as far as concerns their particular Interests ; but the Representatives are not obliged to consult their Electors , and much less other People , upon the Common Good of the whole Republick , unless where Fundamental Alterations are consider'd : and I believe many sagacious Members are of Opinion , that our Curiosity ought to be abundantly satisfy'd with what they have ordered their Speaker to publish to the World , till by their Debates they have matur'd their Propositions into Acts.

But , Tom , tho I will not meddle with the Business of the Senate-House , I will , because you say you love to read my Scribbles , set you down short Narratives of some Conversation I have met with .

I have met with strange Men , who yet plead for Excises ; and it is impossible to convince them , that , in case we had Excises , the landed Men would pay all the Reckoning at last . Indeed they have been a little struck , when I have told them that a General Excise , artfully managed , would supply the Want of a Standing Army ; and insensibly regulate Corporations .

I told them 〈◇〉 , in the hurry of our Discourse , that perhaps too great Impositions upon Trade were not so proper as some imagine : for if you load home Commodities with too great Customs , you hinder their Exportation ; and what is charged upon Foreign Goods , comes at length out of the Pockets of the Consumers .

But I will proceed to the next Pack of Politicians , who would scarce have us eat , drink , or wear , but what is the Produce of our own Country . To these I have , sometimes with , and sometimes without success , made answer :

That our Riches , the Figure we make in Europe , our Safety from Foreign Invaders , and the Security of our Liberties at Home , do all of them depend upon our Trading Abroad . And these Assertions I have endeavoured to make good by saying ,

That particular Persons may , but a Nation cannot , grow richer by Trading only within it self .

That we must no longer hope to be the Umpires of Europe , if our Wealth should fail us .

That we cannot breed Seamen , or maintain a Navy ( which are the Forts and Garisons of an Island ) if we entertain not Commerce with other Nations .

That if we had none , or an insufficient Navy , Standing Forces , which might , nay would one time or other , enslave us , must become indispensibly necessary to preserve us from being insulted and invaded by our Neighbours ; and consequently , that if we leave off to be a Trading we must resolve to be a Military Kingdom , and be content with a Government proportioned to that State of Things .

No sooner had I said this , but I was asked my Opinion of the East-India Trade ; and was forced to reply , That having never been bred up to any Trade , it was hard to examine me concerning the particular Branches of it : However I thought long Voyages made able Seamen ; bulky Merchant Ships might , in case of Necessity , be turn'd into small Men of War : and since we could by no Sumptuary Laws prohibit the wearing them in other Countrys , whatever we might do in our own , it was possibly worth while to consider , whether we , or our Neighbours , should be the European Carriers of the East-Indian Commodities . However , I said , the Parliament is perhaps in the right to examine the Quantities of Bullion exported by trading to those Parts .

From hence we fell into a Discourse concerning Publick Credit ; and I had the impudence to maintain ,

That it must , like Cesar's Wife , not only be chaste , but unsuspected ; and , if the Publick has given a Security , that can be by Chicanery contested , yet the Interpretation must lean towards the Interest of the Creditors of the Community ; for it may reasonably be supposed , that those Creditors rather trusted to the Equity and honest Meaning of those they dealt with , than to their own Judgment and Skill in Conveyances .

That it is more necessary it should be so in these days than ever , because , as honest old Wallop us'd to say , War is changed from Fighting into Eating , Drinking , and Campaigning : To carry on which new sort of Military Art , I am sure Money is the one thing necessary .

That , as in great Conflagrations , because they don't know how or where to be repay'd for them , Men are not willing to let their Houses be blown up till they are overtaken with the Fire : So in a great and general Exigence , Men will rather keep their Money till it be seiz'd by the Enemy , than lend it to the Publick , if a Nation defeats the Security it gives , or does not make good all its Contracts with private Men .

That it is more particularly necessary for us to be careful of Publick Credit at this Juncture , because , tho the Scots are a necessitous , yet they are a stout and warm People , and we may possibly have troubles from that Quarter .

I don 't say this as if I doubted whether we should at long run be too hard for them ; but our danger from that sensible and daring People will be greater , and may be more lasting , if Men should be once possess'd with an Opinion , that they can't lend securely on an Act of Parliament .

And here I can't but commend to thee , Dear Tom , what the Lords have lately done in the Case of the Bankers , where , tho they had the Opinion of great Men that differ'd , yet they decided according to those Arguments which seem'd most favourable to Publick Credit .

I will tell you another Reason , why it is more particularly necessary to be careful at this Juncture of Publick Credit , and then conclude ; and that is , Because otherwise Men will scarce buy Irish Lands , tho the Parliament makes an Act for selling them .

Thus I have , to appease you for my not meddling with things above me , sent you my Rambles , with which you may light your Pipe . And so , Dear Tom , adieu .