'To proue that a quantity of Tin cannot be had in ye East Indies'
To prove that a quantity of Tin cannot be had in the East Indies
The Dutch Merchants and Pewterers, and the English Merchants & pewterers stood it out against the Queens farm nere two Yeare in which time there was little or no Tin sold, and the designe was very playn, that it was to put her Majestie out of Conceit with what she had done, & to cast off the Farm, and she had very likely answered their Expectation if my Lord Treasurer could have gotten out handsomly without losse. In this time of their standing it out it is not so much as to be quested but that they ordered for all the Tin which could be had in the Ear Indies, or any other where, and one would think they should have Returnes in 2 Year, I have the Invoys of 12 of their East India ships two year after, and they did not bring 20 Tun, neither could they bring 50 Tun in 3 or 4 Year, and it must of necessity be granted that seeing they did not, they could not, for if Tin could be had in any part of the world it would be procured in that time, for they brought Tin att great losse only to keep downe the price of our Tin.
All the Tin in the Indies is bought up & exported, & Consumed from year to year and the places where it is vended at this time will want it, if the Dutch bring it home, for there are not Mountaines of Tin in the East Indies, but it must be searched for and dugg out off the earth as in Cornwall, for either it is dugge out off the earth, or it is not, but remaines in the bowells off the earth, if it be dugge out & remaines their to be sold, why doe not the Dutch or others buy it, and vent it abroad in the world, they may have it att any price, if it be there & no body buys it, for people must sell their goods as it will yield, but if it be bought up & sent abroad, then these persons doe make Vse of it, and if so, and it should be carryed to other places, they will want it.
Iff it be not dugg out off the Eearth, but is hid & can't be found, how doe they know it is their, for noe doubt but they digg all they can find.
There is no more stock of Tin, in the Queens Cusstody now than there was in the Farmers hands, 40 years since in the time of the Farm; I prove it thus: 3 of the greatest Monyed Men, in the Nation, Farmed the Tin, & the Merchants pewterers stood it out against them so long, untill their Creditt failed and broak them, by which it plainly appears that there was as much stock then as now, & from thence, it appears, That Tin is Consumed for year to year, & it must be Inquired how it is Consumed, There can be no more Consumed by Pewter than what is wasted in makeing, the Pewter is wrought up againe, and is allwayes a stock upon hand.
It cannot be questioned but it is Naturall, for the Generallity of Mankind to desire to be as Rich as {they} can, and he that can gett most Tin whilest he can have mony for it, must of Consequence have most mony therefore it must be allowed thatthey can procure no more Tin than they doe, if it were possible, they would digg all the Tin in Cornwall in One Year, but I know providence in Nothing, more vissible, than in this, in hideing it from them, so as if they would spend all their Estates, they cannot find it untill providence, doth as it were hand it out of her store, by which meanes, there is Tin preserved & handed out from Age to Age; when one Mine is wrought out then Providence discovers another which could never be found before & is contrary to all Experience to Argue, that if Tin were dearer, they would digge more for they cannot, neither in Cornwall nor in the East Indies since my Time the Tinners were offered a Farm att 5li. the hundred, & they refused it, & att that time there was no more Tin came from other places than there doth now, but the Dutch {burn} their spice to lessen the quantity & make it dear, & put lead with our Tin to Increase the quantity & make it cheap they are our Enemys in Trade, & we should act Contrary to what they advise.
