He had added to his great
wealth by marriage, and was the founder of the family in which
another Sir William Petty became Earl of Shelburne and first Marquis
of Lansdowne. The son of that first Marquis was Henry third Marquis
of Lansdowne, who took a conspicuous part in our political history
during the present century.
Sir William Petty's survey of the land in Ireland, called the Down
Survey, because its details were set down in maps, remains the legal
record of the title on which half the land in Ireland is held. The
original maps are preserved in the Public Record Office at Dublin,
and many of Petty's MSS. are in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
He published in 1662 and 1685 a "Treatise of Taxes and
Contributions, the same being frequently to the present state and
affairs of Ireland," of which his view started from the general
opinion that men should contribute to the public charge according to
their interest in the public peace--that is, according to their
riches. "Now, he said, "there are two sorts of riches--one actual,
and the other potential. A man is actually and truly rich according
to what he eateth, drinketh, weareth, or in any other way really and
actually enjoyeth. Others are but potentially and imaginatively
rich, who though they have power over much, make little use of it,
these being rather stewards and exchangers for the other sort than
owners for themselves." He then showed how he considered that
"every man ought to contribute according to what he taketh to
himself, and actually enjoyeth.
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