CHAP. III. Whether the Ballance of Dominion in Land be the Na∣tural Cause of Empire.

THe Doctrine of the Ballance is that, though he strain at it, which choaks the Prevaricator: for this of all other is that Principle, which makes the Politiques (not so before the Invention of the same) to be undeniable throughout; and (not to meddle with the Mathematicks Page  11 an Art I understand as little as Mathematicians doe this) the most demonstrable of any whatsoever.

For this cause I shall rather take pleasure then pains to look back or tread the same path with other and perhaps plainer steps; As thus; If a man having one hundred pounds a year, may keep one servant, or have one man at his Command, then having one hundred times so much, he may keep one hundred servants; and this multiply'd by a thousand, he may have one hundred thousand men at his Command. Now that the single person, or Nobility in any Countrey of Europe, that had but half so many men at Command, would be King or Prince, is that which I think no Man will doubt. But (Point d'argent Point de Suisse) if the Money be flown, so are the Men also. Though riches in general have wings, and be apt to bate; yet those in Land are the most hooded and ty'd unto the Pearch, whereas those in money have the least hold, and are the swiftest of flight. A Bank where the money takes not wing, but to come home seased, or like a Coy Duck, may well be great; but the Treasure of the Indies going out, and not upon returns makes no Bank; Whence a Bank never paid an Army, or paying an Army, soon became no Bank. But where a Prince or a Nobility hath an estate in Land, the Revenue whereof will defray this Charge; there their men are planted, have toes that are roots, and Armes that bring forth what fruit you please.

Thus a single person is made, or a Nobility makes a King not with difficulty or any great prudence, but with ease, the rest comming home, as the Oxe that not only knows his masters Crib, but must starve or repair to it. Nor for the same reason is government acquired with more ease then it is preserved; that is, if the Foundation of Propriety be in Land; but if in money, lightly come, lightly go. The rea∣son why a single person or the Nobility that hath One hundred Thousand men, or half so many at Command, will have the Government, is that the Estate in Land whereby they are able to maintain so many, in any Euro∣paean Territory, must overballance the rest that remains unto the People, at least, three parts in four, by which means they are no more able to dispute the Government Page  12 with him or them, then your servant is with you. Now for the same reason, if the People hold three parts in four of the Territory, it is plain there can neither be any single person nor Nobility able to dispute the Government with them; in this case therefore (except force be interposed) they govern themselves. So by this computation of the ballance of propriety or dominion in Land, you have according unto the Threefold Foundation of Propriety, the root or generation of the Threefold kind of Govern∣ment or Empire.

If one man be sole Landlord of a Territory, or over∣ballance* the whole People, three parts in four, or therea∣bouts, he is grand Seignior; for so the Turk not from his Empire, but his Propriety is called, and the Empire in this case is absolute Monarchy.

If the few, or a Nobility, or a Nobility with a Clergy be Landlords unto such a proportion as over ballanceth the People in like manner; they may make whom they please King, or if they be not pleased with their King, down with him, and set up whom they like better, an Henry the fourth, or the seventh, a Guise, a Montforth, a Nevil, or a Por∣ter, should they find that best for their own ends and pur∣poses: For as not the ballance of the King, but that of the Nobility in this case is the cause of the Government, so not the Estate or riches of the Prince or Captain, but his virtue or ability, or fitnesse for the ends of the Nobility, acquires that Command or Office. This for Aristocracy, or mixed Monarchy. But if the whole People be Landlords, or hold the Land so divided among them, that no one Man, or Number of Men within the Compasse of the Few or Aristo∣cracy overballance them, it is a Common-wealth. Such is the branch in the Root, or the ballance of Propriety na∣turally producing Empire, which not confuted, no Man shall be able to batter my superstructures, and which con∣futed, I lay down my Armes. Till then, if the Cause ne∣cessarily praecede the effect, Propriety must have a being before Empire, or beginning with it, must be still first in order.

Propriety comes to have a being before Empire or Go∣vernment two wayes, either by Natural or violent revolu∣tion. Page  13 Natural revolution happeneth from within, or by Commerce, as when a Government erected upon one •••∣lance, that for example of a Nobility or a Clergy, through the decay of their Estates comes to alter unto another bal∣lance; which alteration in the Root of Propriety leaves all unto Confusion, or produceth a New branch or Govern∣ment according to the kind or nature of the roote. Vio∣lent revolution happeneth from without, or by Armes, as when upon Conquest there followes confiscation. Confis∣cation again is of three kindes, when the Captain taking all unto himself, plants his Army by way of Military Colo∣nies, Benefices, or Timars, which was the policy of Maho∣met; or when the Captain hath some sharers, or a Nobi∣lity that divides with him, which was the policy introdu∣ced by the Goths and Vandals; or when the Captain di∣vides the Inheritance by lots, or otherwise, unto the whole People; which Policy was instituted by God or Moses in the Commonwealth of Israel. This triple distribution whether from natural or violent revolution, returns as to the generation of Empire, unto the same thing that is unto the nature of the ballance already stated and demonstra∣ted; Now let us see what the Praevaricator will say, which first is this.

The Assertion that Propriety producing Empire consisteth only in Land, appears too positive. A Pig of my own Sow;* this is no more then I told him, only there is more imply'd in what I told him, then he will see; which therefore I shall now farther explain. The ballance in money may be as good or better then that of Land in three cases. First, where there is no propriety of Land yet introduced, as in Greece during the time of her Antient imbecility, whence (as is noted by Thucidides) the meaner sort through desire of gain, underwent the servitude of the Mighty. Se∣condly, in Cities of small Territory and great Trade, as Holland and Genoa, the Land not being able to feed the People, who must live upon Traffick, is overballanced by the means of that Traffick; which is money. Thirdly, in a narrow Countrey, where the lots are at a low scantling, as among the Israelites, if Care be not had of money in the regulation of the same, it will eat out the ballance of Page  14 Land. For which cause though an Israelite might both have money, and put it forth unto usury; (Faenera∣bis multis gentibus, Thou shalt lend (upon usury) unto many nations) yet might he not lend it upon usury unto a Citi∣zen* or brother (Non Faenerabis fratri tuo) whence two things are manifest. First, that Usury in it self is not unlawful. And next that Usury in Israel was no other∣wise forbidden, then as it might come to overthrow the ballance or foundation of the Government, for where a Lot as to the General amounted not perhaps to four acres: a Man that should have had a Thousand pounds in his Purse, would not have regarded such a lot in compari∣rison of his mony, & he that should have been half so much in debt, would have been quite eaten out. Usury is of such a Nature as not forbidden in like cases, must devour the Government. The Roman People while their Territory was no bigger, and their lots (which exceeded not two Acres a Man) were yet scanter, were flead alive with it; and if they had not helped themselves by their tumults and the institution of their Tribunes, it had totally ruin'd both them and their Government. In a Commonwealth whose Territory is very small, the ballance of the Go∣vernment being laid upon the Land, as in Lacedemon, it will not be sufficient to forbid usury; but money it self must be forbidden; Whence Lycurgns allow'd of none, or of such only as being of Old, or otherwise useless Iron, was little better, or (if you will) little worse than none. The Prudence of which Law appeared in the neglect of it, as when Lysander General for the Lacedemonians in the Peloponesian war, having taken Athens, and brought home the spoil of it, occasion'd the ruine of that Commonwealth in her Victory. The Land of Canaan compared with Spain or England, was at the most but a Yorkeshire, and Laconia was lesse then Canaan. Now if we imagine York∣shire divided as was Canaan, into six hundred thousand lots, or as was Laconia into thirty Thousand; a Yorkeshire Man having one Thousand pounds in his purse, would, I believe, have a better estate in Money then in Land; wherefore in this Case to make the Land hold the bal∣lance, there is no way but either that of Israel, by forbid∣ding Page  15 usury, or that of Lacedemon, by forbidding money. Where a small summe may come to overballance a Mans estate in Land, there I say Usury or money for the preser∣vation of the ballance in Land, must of Necessity be for∣bidden, or the Government will rather rest upon the bal∣lance of money, then upon that of Land, as in Holland and Genoa. But in a Territory of such extent as Spain, or England, the Land being not to be overballanced by money, there needeth no forbidding of money or usury. In Lacedemon Merchandize was forbidden, in Israel and Rome it was not exercised; wherefore unto these Usury must have been the more destructive; but in a Countrey where Merchandise is exercised, it is so far from being de∣structive, that it is necessary; else that which might be of profit to the Commonwealth would rust unprofitably in private purses, there being no Man that will venture his money but through hope of some gain; which if it be so regulated that the Borrower may gain more by it then the Lender (as at four in the Hundred, or thereabouts) Usu∣ry becomes a Mighty profit unto the Publique, and Cha∣rity unto private Men; in which sense we may not be per∣swaded by them that do not observe the different causes that it is against Scripture. Had usury to a brother been permitted in Israel that government had been overthrown: but that such a Territory as England or Spain cannot be overballanced by money, whether it be a scarce or a plen∣tiful Commodity, whether it be accumulated by Parsi∣mony, as in the purse of Henry the 7th, or presented by Fortune, as in the Revenue of the Indies, is sufficiently demonstrated, or shall be.

First, by an Argument (ad hominem one) good enough* for the Praevaricator, who argues thus; The wisedom or the riches of another Man can never give him a Title to my Obe∣dience, nor oblige Mr. Harrington to give his Cloaths or Money to the next Man he meets, wiser or richer then himself.

If he had said stronger, he had spoiled all; for the par∣ting with a mans Cloaths or Money in that case cannot be helped; now the richer as to the case in debate, is the stronger; that is, the advantage of strength remains unto the ballance. But well; he presumes me to have Cloaths Page  16 and Money of mine own, Let him put the same case in the People or the similitude doth not hold: But if the people have Cloaths and Money of their own, these must either rise (for the bulk) out of Propriety in Land, or at the least out of cultivation of the Land, or the revenue of Industry, which if it be dependent, they must give such part of their Cloaths and Money to preserve that dependence out of which the rest ariseth, to him or them upon whom they depend, as he or they shall think fit, or parting with no∣thing unto this end must lose all; that is, if they be Te∣nants, they must pay their Rent or be turned out. So if they have Clothes and Money dependently, the ballance of Land is in the Landlord or Landlords of the People: but if they have cloaths and money independently, then the ballance of Land must of Necessity be in the People them∣selves, in which case they neither would if there were any such, nor can because there be none such, give their money or cloaths to such as are wiser, or richer, or stron∣ger then themselves. So it is not a mans cloaths and money, or riches, that obligeth him to acknowledge the title of his obedience unto him that is wiser or richer, but a mans no cloaths, nor money, or his poverty, with which if the Praevaricator should come to want, he could not so finely praevaricate but he must serve somebody, so he were rich, no matter if less wise then himself; Wherefore seeing the People cannot be said to have cloaths and mo∣ney of their own without the ballance in Land, and ha∣ving the ballance in Land, will never give their cloaths, or money, or obedience unto a single person or a Nobility, though these should be the richer in money, the Praevari∣cator by his own Argument hath evinced that in such a Territory as England or Spain, Money can never come to overballance Land.

For a second Demonstration of this Truth, Henry the Seventh (albeit he mist of the Indies, in which for my part I think he hit) was the richest in money of English Princes. Neverthelesse this accession of Revenue did not at all praeponderate on the Kings part, nor change the bal∣lance. But while making Farmes of a Standard, he en∣creased the Yeomanry; and cutting off Retainers, he a∣based Page  17 the Nobility, began that breach in the ballance of Land, which proceeding hath ruin'd the Nobility, and in them that Government.

For a Third, the Monarchy of Spain, since the silver of Potosi sailed up the Guadalquivir, which in English is, since that King had the Indies, stands upon the same ballance in the Lands of the Nobility on which it al∣ways stood.

And so the Learned Conclusion of the Praevaricator,* That it is not to be doubted but a Revenue sufficient to main∣tain a force, able (to cry ware hornes) or beat down all opposition, does equally conduce to Empire, whether it arise from Rents, Lands, Profits of ready Money, Duties, Customs. &c. asks you no more then where you saw her premisses: For unless they ascended his Monti, and his Banks, it is not to be imagined which way they went, and with these be∣cause he is a profest Zealot for Monarchy; I would wish him by no means to be Montebanking or medling; for the Purse of a Prince never yet made a Bank; nor till Spending and Trading money be all one, ever shall. The Genoese (which the King of Spain could never doe with the Indies) can make you a Bank out of Letters of Exchange, and the Hollander with Herrings. Let him come no more here; Where there is a bank, ten to one, there is a Commonwealth. A King is a Souldier, or a Lover; neither of which makes a good Merchant; and without Merchandize, you will have a lean bank. It is true, the Family of the Medice's were both Merchants, and made a Bank into a Throne: but it was in a Commonwealth of Merchants, in a small Territory, by great purchases in Land, and rather in a meer confusion then under any set∣tled government; which causes if he can give them all such another meeting, may do as much for another Man; otherwise let it be agreed and resolved, that in a Terri∣tory of any extent, the ballance of Empire consists in Land and not in money, always provided that in case a Prince have Occasion to run away (as Henry the third of France out of Poland) his ballance in ready money is abso∣lutely the most proper for the carrying on of so great, and suddain an Enterprize.

Page  18It is an excellent way of disputing, when a man hath alled∣ged no experience, no example, no reason to conclude with no doubt. Certainly upon such occasions it is not unlawful nor unreasonable to be merry. Reasons (says one Comme∣dian) are not so common as Blackberrys. For all that (saith an∣other Commedian) no doubt but a revenue in taxes is as good as a revenue in fee-simple, for this, in brief, is the sense of his former particular, or that part of it, which the Monti and the Banks being already discharged, remains to be answer'd. Yet that the Rents and Profits of a mans land in Fee-simple or Propriety, come in naturally and easily, by common consent or concernment; that is, by virtue of the Law founded upon the publick interest, and there∣fore voluntarily established by the whole people, is an ap∣parent thing. So a man that will receive the Rents and Profits of other mens Lands, must either take them by meer force, or bring the people to make a Law devesting them∣selves of so much of their Propriety; which upon the mat∣ter is all one, because a people possest of the ballance, can no otherwise be brought to make such a Law farther then they see necessary for their common defense, but by force, nor to keep it any longer then that force continues. It is true, there is not only such a thing in nature as health, but as sickness: nor do I deny that there is such a thing as a government against the ballance. But look about, seek, find where it stood, how it was ycleeped, how liked, or how long it lasted. Otherwise the comical Proposition comes to this, It is not to be doubted but that violence may be permanent or durable, and the Blackberry for it is be∣cause nature is permanent or durable! What other con∣struction can be made of these words? It is not to be doubted but a revenue sufficient to maintain a force able to beat down all opposition (that is a force able to raise such a revenue) doth equally (on which word grows the Blackberry) con∣duce to Empire: that is as much as could any natural ballance of the same! He may stain mouths, as he hath done some, but he shall never make a Politician. The Earth yieldeth her natural increase without losing her heart; but if you come once to force her, look your force continue, or she yields you nothing: and the ballance of Page  19 Empire consisting of Earth, is of the nature of her E∣lement.

Divines are given to speak much of things which the Considerer baulks in this place that would check them, to* the end he may fly out with them in others, whereunto they do not belong, as where he saith, that Government is founded either upon Paternity, and the natural advantage the first Father had over all the rest of Mankind, who were his sons, or else from the increase of strength and power in some Man or Men, to whose will the rest submit, that by their submission they may avoid such mischief, as otherwise would be brought upon them. Which two Vagaries are to be fetched home unto this place.

For the former; if Adam had lived till now, he could have seen no other then his own Children, and so that he must have been King by the right of Nature, was his pecu∣liar Prerogative. But whether the eldest son of his house, if the Praevaricator can find him, at this time of the day. have the same right, is somewhat disputable; because it was early when Abraham and Lot dividing Territories, became several Kings: and not long after when the sons of Jacob being all Patriarchs, by the appointment of God (whose right sure was not inferiour unto that of Adam though he had lived) came under Popular Government. Wherefore the advantage of the first Father is for grave Men a pleasant phancy, neverthelesse if he had lived till now, I hope they understand that the whole Earth would have been his demeans, and so the ballance of his pro∣priety must have answered unto his Empire: as did that also of Abraham and Lot unto theirs. Wherefore this way of deduction comes directly home again unto the ballance. (Pater familias Latifundia possidens, & neminem aliâ lege in suas terras recipiens quam ut ditioni suae, qui recipiuntur,* se subjiciant est Rex) Fathers of families are of three sorts, either a sole Landlord, as Adam, and then he is an abso∣lute Monarch; or a few Landlords as Lot and Abraham with the Patriarchs of those days, who if they joyned not together, were so many Princes, or if they joyned, made a mixed Monarchy, or as Grotius believes a kind of Com∣monwealth administred in the Land of Canaan by Melchi∣sedec, Page  20 unto whom as King and Priest Abraham paid tithes of all that he had. Such a Magistracy was that also of Je∣thro King and Priest in the Commonwealth of Midian. Fathers of families for the Third sort, as when the Multi∣tude are Landlords (which hapned in the division of the Land of Canaan) make a Commonwealth; and thus much how ever it was out of the Praevaricators head in the place now reduced, he excepting no farther against the ballance, then that it might consist as well in money, as in land, had confessed before.

His second Vagary is in his deduction of Empire from increase of strength, for which we must once more round a∣bout our Coal fire. The strength wherof this effect can be expected, consists not in a pair of fists, but in an Army, and an Army is a beast with a great belly, which subsisteth not without very large pastures; so if one man have sufficient pasture, he may feed such a beast, if a few have the pasture they must feed the beast, and the Beast is theirs that feed it. But if the People be the sheep of their own pastures, they are not onely a flock of sheep, but an Army of Lyons, though by some accidents, as I confessed before, they be for a season confinable unto their Dens. So the advan∣tage or increase of strength depends also upon the bal∣lance. There is nothing in the world to swear this Prin∣ciple out of countenance, but the fame of Phalaris, Gelon, Dionysius, Agathocles, Nabis, &c. with which much good do them that like it. It is proper unto a Government upon the ballance to take root at home and spread out∣wards; and to a Government against the ballance to seek a root abroad, and to spread inwards; The former is sure, but the later never successeful. Agathocles for having conquer'd Affrica, took not the better root in Sy∣racusa. (Parvi sunt arma for as nisi sit consilium domi.)

To conclude this Chapter, the Praevaricator gives me this thank for finding out the ballance of dominion (be∣ing as antient in Nature as her self, and yet as new in Art as my writings) that I have given the world cause to com∣plain of a great disappointment, who while at my hand that satisfaction in the Principles of Government was expected, which several great wits had in vain studied, have in diver∣sifying Page  21 riches in words only as Propriety, Dominion, Agrarian, Ballance, made up no more then a new Lexicon expressing the same thing that was known before, seeing the opinion that riches are power is (as antient as the first book of Thucydi∣des or the Politicks of Aristotle, and) not omitted by M. Hobbs, or any other Politician. Which is as if he had told Dr. Harvey, that whereas the blood is the life, was an O∣pinion as antient as Moses, and no girl ever prickt her fin∣ger, but knew it must have a course; he had given the world cause to complain of a great disappointment in not shewing a man to be made of Gingerbread, and his Veins to run Malmesey.