the Fifth Part of his Peoples Wealth; and yet great Ostentation is made of the Present Riches and Strength of that Kingdom. Now[1] 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[2], 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 That Ireland may be more advantageously taxed by a Pole in Flax.wherein are about 1200 Thousand People, and near[3] 300 Thousand Smokes[4] or Hearths[5]; 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- ↑ S, 'Although,' altered to 'Now' by Petty.
- ↑ S, 'Moreover' inserted by Petty.
- ↑ S, 'about,' altered to 'near' by Petty.
- ↑ These estimates, being larger than those given in the Polit. Anat., p. 141, argue the later completion of the Polit. Arith. Cf. p. 236.
- ↑ The 8 August, 1662 the Irish Commons, after a long debate, unanimously agreed to abolish the court of wards and to substitute a tax of two shillings annually upon all the hearths in Ireland for ever, according to a similar tax in England. Mountmorres, Hist. of the Irish Parlt., ii. 126, 127; see 14 & 15 Charles II. c. 17, Ireland. The duty was payable by the occupier at one entire payment on the 10th January each year, and was recoverable by distress and sale of his goods. No persons were exempt except those who lived upon alms and widows who procured certificates from two justices of the peace yearly, in writing, that the houses which they inhabited were of no greater value than 8s. a year and that they did not have chattels to the value of 4£. Evasions led to the passage of 17 & 18 Charles II. c. 18, Ireland (1665), which imposed fines for the concealment of hearths and provided that houses having no fixed hearth should be charged two hearths. Until 1704 this tax was farmed by counties to the highest bidder. Howard, A Treatise of the Exchequer and Revenue of Ireland, i. 89—91. The tax, was beyond question, exceedingly oppressive, and evasions must have been so frequent as to render the returns but an imperfect basis for calculating the population.
