A. D. 1657, 4y^ 



The following is the eftimate of the public expenditure and revenue 

 of England, Ireland, and Scotland, for the year ending i ft November 

 1657- 



The charge of the fea - . _ L994,5oo o o 



Ditto of the army in the three kingdoms 1,132,489 o o 



Ditto of the civil government - - 200,000 o o 



Total 



The prefent revenue, viz. 

 The aflefTment in England, Scotland, and Ireland 

 The excife and cuftoms, eftimated at 

 The other revenue, payable on the receipt of the 

 exchequer, eftimated at _ _ _ 



Total 2,362,000 4 o 



The revenue of Ireland for two years, ending lil 



November, 1657. - . - 137,558 13 3 



Ex'penfe of ditto for faid two years - 142,509 11 



o 



Expenfe more than the revenue - - 4.959 17 9 



Scotland's revenue for one year - - 37,690 19 o 



But Scotland's expenfe is not mentioned. \jThurke, V. vi, p. 825, and 



P- 444-] 



What De Witt has faid of his nation's wifdom in fecuring their mer- 

 cantile ftiipping trading into the Mediterranean by proper convoys, and 

 the negled; of England in that refpedt, is in part confirmed, and partly, 

 alfo, contradided, by a pamphlet addrefled to the protedor this year, 

 by Samuel Lamb, a merchant, entitled Seafonable obfervations for the 

 encouraging of foreign commerce : wherein he fpeaks ' of our mer- 

 ' chants' ftiipping as having been of late the beft in the world ; witnefs 

 ' the many fingle fights at fea againft the Turks, to whom, it is be- 

 ' lieved, the Dutch lole ten ftiips for our one ; and the remarkable 

 ' fea-fights againft the Hollanders themfelves in the late wars ; wherein 

 ' many merchant fliips, from about 300 to 500 tons, did engage againft 

 * the enemy with the ftates ftiips, to our great advantage ; the enemy 

 ' notwithftandhig exceeding us in every fight in ftiips and tonnage.' 

 This (though perhaps fomewhat exaggerated) ftiews the ftoutnefs of our 

 trading ftiips in the Mediterranean in thofe times, as well as the bravery 

 of our failors ; of which fundry old fongs and ballads alfo give teftimony, 

 in their encounters with the Barbary pirates. 



Before the commencement of the civil wars in England we find, by 

 the Eaft-India company's account, that they alone employed 15,000 tons 



Vol. II. ' 3 O 



