Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	act_n	king_n	parliament_n	3,039	5	6.6283	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93489	Some considerations humbly offered to the Parliament being a short discourse shewing the great inconvenience of joyning the plantation charters with those of England in the general act of restoration, and the necessity of having for them a particular act. Wherein is contained, a full answer to a late pamphlet intituled, New-England vindicated, &c. By a true lover of his country, and a hearty wisher of prosperity of the said plantations.		1689 (1689)	Wing S4486H; ESTC R215635	5,602	6

Some CONSIDERATIONS humbly Offered to the PARLIAMENT Being a Short DISCOURSE SHEWING The great Inconvenience of joyning the Plantation CHARTERS with those of ENGLAND in the General Act of Restoration and the Necessity of having for them a Particular ACT. Wherein is Contained A full ANSWER to a late Pamphlet Intituled NEW-ENGLAND Vindicated c. By a true Lover of his Country and a hearty Wisher of the Prosperity of the said PLANTATIONS THE Bill now depending in the Honourable House of Commons for restoring Charters to the state they were in in the year 1660 is perhaps as necessary a Law as any amongst the many excellent ones the Parliament have passed this Sessions yet if it should include as it appears by the Votes it is design'd to do those Charters of the Foreign Plantations which were taken away on quite different Reasons from these in England as will appear by and by and highly agreeable to the sense of former Parliaments it might prove in a few years as prejudicial to England by ruining the Trade Navigation and Staple Manufactures thereof as the breach of all the others could do And this will appear to any Rational Man who will consider The great Powers granted to some of those Foreign Plantations but more particularly that of the Massachusets Colony in America who affect to call themselves by the general Name of New England though they are not above a tenth of those Colonies which go under that denomination the Inconveniencies of which could not be so well foreseen until they began to grow somewhat numerous and then it was so obvious that the Parliament in King Charles I. time presented it as one of the greatest grievances of the Kingdom and contrary to the Law and Privileges of the Subjects the Parliament doubting they would in a short time wholly shake off the Royal Jurisdiction But the King having granted it thought it a diminution to his Prerogative to have it question'd Vide Sir Ferdinando Gorges Account of New-England p. 43. And so Dissolving the Parliament and the Wars breaking out nothing was done in it until King Charles II. his Restoration when immediately he and his Council began to be very sensible of the great mischief those Plantations in America did to the Trade of England and the Unlimited Authority some of them pretended to exercise as well among themselves as over their weaker Neighbours And vast numbers of complaints came daily over as well of their viz. the Massachusets Incroachments on their said Neighbours with Petitions for Redress from the Colonies so grieved as also of their Abominable Illegal way of Trade As to the Trade the Parliament took it into Consideration and made several Laws to Regulate it as the Act of Navigation in the 12th of the said King and others made in the 22d and 23d and the 25th of the same King. But the Government of the Massachusets Colony being in the hands of those who were the Principal Offenders those Acts had no effect there though 't is worth observing that they in the year 1663 made a Law That the said Act of Navigation should be observed there which plainly demonstrates that they think the Laws of England of no force there unless Confirmed by their General Court as indeed it appears by their first Law in their law-Law-book Printed in the year 1672 by Authority of their said General Court viz. That no Law shall be submitted to but what is made in their General Court But this was only a Colour for it was never known either that any of their Governours whatever they may pretend who were Chosen by their Charter did take the Oath prescribed in that Act or that any man was ever punished by Vertue of it though the Offences were as frequent as before And when these and all other the Law of Trade were broken as they were daily no Redress could be had for the Persons offending were those chiefly concerned in the Government These innumerable complaints put the King to vast Expence to maintain Persons in several places of Europe as France Hamborough Holland c. to detect their Illegal Traders after by long Experience having found it impracticable in New England by reason of the largness of the Country and the many Navigable Rivers there But after such Detection no Redress could be had or indeed expected from Persons who must be Party Judge and Jury and whose Determinations there are final for they will allow of no Appeal to England as all other the Plantations do and ought to submit to which makes them as absolutely Independant on the Crown of England as are the Subjects of any other Prince And this made them boldly employ two or three hundred Sail of Ships yearly Trading to and fro from the several Plantations and most Parts of Europe supplying those several places with such Commodities as ought by Law to be had from no place but England or paying English Duties and this without being under the Restrictions of such Laws as put our Merchants to vast Charges either by Customs or otherwise which inabled them to under-sell our English Merchants 50 per Cent. at least to the unspeakable prejudice of the Kings Customs and the decay of our Manufactures as well as an Infallible Bait to all our Manufacturers to remove thither where People Trade with such advantage over their fellow Subjects But why do I call them Subjects when indeed they Act as a Free and Independant Commonwealth as they in their law-Law-book stile themselves though I am not ignorant that a certain Person has lately with as much confidence as falsity affirmed that word Commonwealth to be Repealed And this was what the Parliament in K. Charles I. time did suspect and thereupon all Persons were Prohibited going thither without first taking the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy but this was never observed Now to shew the Unlimited Authority they pretend to in some few of those many Instances might be produced Vide Law Book p. 43 45 48 55 56 58. 1. They took upon them to Coyn Money in the Name of the Commonwealth as they call it 2. To make several Laws sufficiently repugnant to those of England especially in matters of Religion as well as making many offences Capital which are not so in England though this was absolutely against the very words of their Charter as may be seen for the more ease in an Abstract of some of their Laws lately Printed and presented to the Members of the Honourable House of Commons 3. Their Arbitrary and Barbarous usage of the Kings Commanders of his Ships To Instance particularly Sir John Weybourn who they dragged about by the Hair of the Head and beat most Inhumanly for which neither he nor the King could have any satisfaction And they shew themselves excellent observers of the Laws of Navigation when they cannot distinguish the Kings Ships and Legal Traders from Pirates which is the weak pretence made use of by he who calls himself the