have been forced to redeeme their peace with large summes and they still emaine by law as lyable to a new question as before for it is agreed by all that the King cannot licence a common Nusance and although in deed these are not such yet it is a matter of very ill consequence that under that name they should be compounded for and may in ill times be made a president for the Kings of this Realme to claime a power of licencing such things as are Nusances indeed The seventh the Military charges laid upon the severall Counties Military charges of the Kingdom sometimes by warrant under his Majesties signature sometimes by Letters from the Councel Table sometimes such hath been the boldnes and presumption of some men by the order of the Lord Lievtenants or deputy Leivtenant alone This is a growing evill still multiplying and increasing from a few particulars to many from small summes to great it began A growing evill first to be practised as a loane for supply of coat and conduct money Coat and conduct money 〈◊〉 practised by Q Eliz. for this it hath some countenance from the use in Q Eliz. time when the Lords of the Councell did often desire the deputy Lievtenants to procure so much mony to be laid out in the Country as the service did require with a promise to pay it againe in London for which purpose there was a constant warrant in the Exchequer This he said was the practice in her time and in a great part of K James and the payments so certain as it was little otherwise than taking up mony upon bils of exchange at this day they follow these presidents in the manner of the demand for it is with a promise of a repayment but not in the certainty and readines of satisfaction The first particular brought into a tax as he thought was the Muster masters wages Muster Masters wages at which many repined but being for small summes it began to be generally digested yet in the last Parliament this House was sensible of it and to avoyd the danger of the president that the Subjects should bee forced to make any payments without consent in Parliament they thought upon a Bill that may bee a rule to the Lieutenants what to demand and to the People what to pay But the hopes of this Bill were dasht in the dissolution of that Parliament Now of late divers other particulars are growing into practice which make the grievance much more heavy those mentioned were these Preâ—â—ing 1 Pressing men against their will and forcing them which are rich or unwilling to serve to find others in their place Publike magazins 2 The provision of publike Magazins for powder and other Munition Spades and Pickaxes Salary of officers 3 The Salary of Divers officers besides the Muster-Master Cart horses and Carts 4 The buying of Cart-horses and Carts and hyring of Carts for Cariages Extrajudiciall declarations of Iudges The eighth the extrajudiciall declarations of Judges whereby the subjects have beene bound in matters of great importance without hearing of Counsell or Argument on their part and are left without legall remedie by writ of errour or otherwise he remembred the expression used by another member of the House of a teeming Parliament this hee said was a teeming grievance from hence have issued most of the great grievances now in being A teeming grievance The Shipmoney the pretended Nusances already mentioned and some others which have not yet beene toucht upon Especially that concerning the proceedings of Ecclesiasticall Courts The ninth That the authority and wisdom of the Councell Table Monopolies countenanced by the Councell Table The ancient oath of couÌ„cellours have bin applyed to the contriving and managing of severall Monopolies and other great grievances he said The institution of the Councell Table was much for the advantage and security of the subject to avoyd surreptions and precipitate Courts in the great affaires of the Kingdome That by Law an oath is to be taken by all those of the Kings Counsell in which amongst other things it is exprest that they should for no cause forbeare to doe right to all the Kings people and if such an oath be not now taken he wisht it might be brought into use againe It was the honour of that Table to bee as it were incorporated Their trust dignity with the King His royall power and greatnesse did shine most conspicuously in their actions and in their Counsels We have heard of Projectors and Resurees here tofore and what opinion and relish they have found in this House is not unknowne But that any such thing should bee acted by the Councell Table which might give strength and countenance to Monopolies as it hath not beene used till now of late so it cannot be apprehended without the just griefe of the honest subject and incouragement of those who are ill affected He remembred that in Tortio of King A Noble Gentleman then a very worthy member of the Commons Much diminished and debased House now a Great Lord and eminent Councellour of State did in this place declare this opinion concerning that clause used to bee inserted in Pattents of Monopoly whereby Iustices of Peace are commanded to assist the Pattentees this he urged as a great dishonour to those Gentlemen which are in Commission to bee so meanely imployed with much more reason may we in jealousie of the honour of the Councell Table humbly desire that their precious By being imployed in matters of such ill report time their great abilities designed to the publike care and service of the Kingdome may not receive such a staine such a diminution as to be imployed in matters of so ill report in the estimation of the law of so ill effect in the apprehension of the people Star chamber a great Councell The tenth The High Court of Starchamber which some think succeed that which in the Parliament Rolles is called Magnum Concilium and to which Parliaments were wont so often to referre those important matters which they had no time to determine This Court which in the late restauration or erection of it A court erected against oppression in Henry the seventh's time was especially designed to restraine the oppression of great men and to remove the obstructions and impediments of the Law This which is both a Court of Councell and a Court of Justice hath beene made an instrument of erecting and defending Monopolies and other grievances to set a face of right upon these things which are unlawfull in their owne nature a face of publike good upon such as are pernicious in their use and execution The Soape-Patent and diverse other Applyed the establishing of Monopolies evidences thereof may be given so well knowne as not to require a particular relation And as if this were not enough this Court haâ—h lately intermedled with the Ship-money diverse Sheriffes
poundage impositions He began with the Tonnage and poundage and other impositions not warranted by Law and because these burdens had long lyen upon us and the principles which produced them are the same from whence diverse others are derived he thought it necessary to premise a short narrative and relation of the grounds and proceedâ—ngs of the power of imposing herein practised It was he said a fundamentall Not to be taken but by consent in Parliament truth essentiall to the constitution and government oâ— this kingdome an hereditary liberty and priviledge of all the free borne subjects of the Land that no tax tallage or othâ—r charge might be laid upon us without common consent in Parliament this was acknowledged by the Conqueror Acknowledged by the Conqueror ratified in that contract which hee made with this Nation upon his admittance to the Kingdome declared and confirmed in the Lawes which he published Sometimes broken by other Kings but never denyed This hath never bin denyed to any of our Kings though broken and interrupted by some of them especially by K. Iohn and Hen. 3. then againe confirmed by Mag. Chart. and other succeeding lawes yet not so well setled but that it was sometime attempted by the two succeeding Edwards in whose times the subjects werâ— very sensible of all the breaches made upon the common â—ibertie and by the opportunitie of frequent Parliaments pursued them with fresh complaints and for the most part found redresse Those breaches repaired by succeeding Parliaments and procured the right of the subject to be fortfied by new Statutes He observed that those Kings even in the Acts whereby they did Some mixture of evidence for the subject in these very breaches break the Law did really affirme the subjects liberty and disclaime that right of imposing which is now chaleÌ„ged for they did usually procure the Merchants consent to such taxes as were laid therby to put a colour of justice upon their proceeding and ordinarily they were limited to a short time and then propounded to the ratification of the Parliament where they were cancell'd or confirmed as the necessity and state of the Kingdome did require But for the most part such charges upon merchandize were taken The grant by Parliament most usuall by authority of Parliament and granted for some short time in a greater or lesser proportion as was requisite for supply of the publike occasions 6 or 12 in the pound for one two or three yeers as they saw cause to be imployed for the defence of the Sea and it was acknowledged so clearly to be in the power of Parliament that they At first variously limited in respect of time and persons have sometimes bin granted to Noble men sometimes to Merchants to be disposed for that use Afterward they were granted to the King for life Afterwards Confirmed to the King for life and so continued for divers descents yet still as a gift and grant of the Commons No contrary practise between Ed. 3 and Q Mary Betwixt the time of Ed. the third and Q. Mary never Prince that he could remember offered to demand any imposition but by graÌ„t in Parliament Q. Mary laid a charge upon cloth by the equity of the Statute of Tunnage Poundage because the rate set upon wool was much more than upon cloth there being little wool carried out of the Kingdom unwrought the Q thought she had reason to lay somwhat more yet not ful so much as brought them to an equallity Pretended equity for the Custome upon cloth but that there stil continued a lesse charge upon wool wrought The grounds of the pretermitted Custome into cloth than upon wool carried out unwrought until K. Jame's times when upon Nicholsons project there was a further addition of charge but still upon pretence of the Statute which is that we call the pretermitted custome In Q. Eliz. time one or two litle impositions crept in the general Bates Case prosperity of her raign overshadowing small errours and innovations one of these was upon Currans by occasion of the Merchants complaints that the Venetians had laid a charge upon the English cloth that so we might be even with them and force them the sooner to take it off this being demanded by K. Iames was denied The judgement therein for the King by one Bates a Merchant and upon a suit in the Exchequer was adjudged for the King The manner of which judgement was thus There were then but three Iudges in that Court all differing from one another in the grounds of their sentences The first was of opinion the King might impose upon such commodities as were forraigne and superfluous Resulting from different opinions of the Iudges as Currans were but not upon such as were native and to be transported or necessary and to be imported for the use of the kingdom The second Iudge was of opinion he might impose upon all forraign Merchandise whether superfluous or no but not upon native The third that for as much as the King had the custody of the Ports and the guard of the Seas and that he might open and shut up the ports as he pleased he had a prerogative to impose upon all Merchandise both exported and imported This single distracted divided judgement is the foundation of The only foundation of â—he power oâ— imposing all the imposâ—tions now in practice for after this K. Iam laid new charges upon all commodities outward and inward not limited to a certaine time and occasion but reserved to himselfe his heires and successors for ever the first imposâ—tions in fee simple that were followed with complaints and preserved by breaches of Parliaments ever heard of in this kingdome This judgement and the right of imposing thereupon assumed was a question in septimo duodecimo of that King and was the cause of the breach of both those Parliaments In 18. and 21. Jacobi it was declined by this House that they might preserve the favour of the K. for the dispatch of some other great businesses upon which they were more especially attentive In 1. of his Majesty It necessarily came to be remembred upon the The redresse desired without diminution of the Kings profit proposition on the Kings part for renewing the bill of Tonnage and Poundage but so moderate was that Parliament that they thought rather to confirme the impositions already set by a law to be made than to abolish them by a judgement in Parliament but that and divers insuing Parliaments have been unhappily broken before that endeavour could be accomplished only at the last meeting a Remonstrance was made concerning the liberty of the Subject in this point and it hath alwayes been exprest to be the meaning of the House and so it was as hee said his owne meaning in the proposition now made to settle and restore the right according to law and not to diminish the Kings profit
such provision is left to hazard and much uncertainty either not to be retained or not duly accounted of 6 It is apt to weaken the Industry and Courage of the Subject if By weakning the industry and courage of the subject they be left uncertain whether they shall reap the benefit of their own paines and hazard those who are brought into the Condition of slaves will easily grow to a slavish disposition who having nothing to lose doe commonly shew more boldnesse in disturbing than in defending a kingdome 7 These irregular Courses do give opportunity to ill Instruments By introducing ill Instruments into the Kings service to insinuate themselves into the Kings service for wee cannot but observe that if a man bee officious in furthering their inordinate burdens of Ship money Monopolies and the like it varnisheth over all other faults and makes him fit both for Imployment and preferment So that out of their offices they are furnisht for vast expences purchases Buildings and the King loseth often more in desperate debts at their deaths than he got by them all their lives whether this were not lately verified in a Westerne man much imployed while he lived he leaves to the Knowledge of those who wâ—re acquainted with his Course and hee doubted not but others might be found in the like case Those that are affected to Popery to prophanesse and to superstitious innovations in matters of Religion All kinde of Spies and intelligencers have meanes to be countenanced and trusted if they will be but zealous in these kinde of services which how much it detracts from His Majestie in honour in profit and prosperity of publike affaires lyes open to every mans apprehension and from these reasons or some of them hee thought it proceeded that through the whole course of the English story it might be observed that those Kings who had bin most respectfull of the Lawes had bin most eminent in greatnesse in Glory and successe both at home and abroad and that others who thought to subsist by the violation of them did often fall into a state of weaknesse poverty and Infortunitie 8 The differences and discontents betwixt his Majestie and the By diverting the KINGS thoughts from divers great and hopeful enterprises people at home have in all likely-hood diverted his Royal thoughts and Councells from those great opportunities which hee might have not only to weaken the House of Austria to restore the Palatinate but to gaine to himself a higher pitch of power and greatnesse than any of his Ancestors It is not unknown how weak how distracted how discontented the Spanish Colonies are in the West Indies There are now in those parts in New England Virginia and the Caribe-Islands and in the Barmudos at least 60000 able persons of this Nation many of them well armed and their bodies seasoned to that Climate which with a very small charge might bee set down in some advantagious parts of these pleasant rich and fruitfull Countreys and easily make his Majestie Master of all that treasure which not only foments the war but is the great support of Popery in all parts of Christendom 9 Lastly Those courses are apt to produce such distempers in the By producing many chargeable distempers state as may not be setled without great charge and losse by which means more may be consumed in a few moneths than shall be gotten by such wayes in many yeeres Having past through the two first generall Branches he was now come to the third wherein he was to set downe the wayes of healing The wayes of remedying their grievances and removing those grievances which consisted of two maine Branches first in declaring the Law where it was doubtfull The second in better provision for the execution of Law where it is cleere But he said because hee had already spent much time and began to find some confusion in his Memory he would refer the particulars to another opportunity and for the present only move that which was generall to all and would give waight and advantage to all the particular wayes of redresse that is that we should speedily desire a Conference with the Lords and acquaint them with the Miserable condition wherein we find the Church and State and as wee have already resolved to joyn in a religious seeking of God in a day of fast and humiliation so to intreat them to concur with us in a Parliamentary course of petitioning the King as there should bee occasion and in searching out the causes and remedies of these many insupportable grievances under which we lye that so by the united wisdome and authority of both Houses such courses may bee taken as through Gods blessing may advance the honour and greatnesse of His Majâ—sty and restore and establish the peace and prosperity of the Kingdome This hee said Wee might undertake with comfort and hope of successe for though there bee a darknesse upon the Land a thicke and palpable darknesse like that of Egypt yet as in that the Sunne had not lost his light nor the Aegyptians their sight the interruption was onely in the Medium so with us there is still God bee thanked light in the Sunne Wisdome and Justice in Hâ—s Majestie to dispell this darknesse and in us there remaines a visuall faculty whereby wee are inabled to apprehend and moved to desire light and when wee shall be blessed in the enjoying of it we shall thereby be incited to returne His Majesty such thankes as may make it thine more cleerely in the world to His owne glory and in the hearts of his people to their joy and contentment FINIS