found there and you are forced to connive at other Mens Guilts least you discover your own We therefore earnestly pray you for your own sakes as well as ours that before you give any more Money you will carefully examine the Publick Accounts and see first what is become of the last That you will diligently inspect through whose hands it passed to whom dispos'd and for what uses And we do not doubt but you will find at the least the one half of it imbezled or misapplied and we hope you will not only detect and punish whom you shall find Guilty but make them refund and restore also what in plain English they have stolen from the Nation 2. The Exportation of Corn in a time of Scarcity or which is all one to make a time of Scarcity Wheaten Bread is now in London 12 s. 8 d. a Bushel and White Bread 18 s. and Corn all over the Kingdom bears some Proportion to this and rises in the Price respectively to the different Places and is Three times dearer than usual especially considering the seasonable Harvest And this is plainly the Effect of Exportation and we have Dutch Factors all over the Nation raising the Markets and starving the Poor And we cannot but take notice of a late Proclamation both here and in Ireland forbidding under strict Penalties to transport Corn to France which is a pleasant Business when 't is already by Act of Parliament made Treason to correspond there But this Proclamation has two Edges the one was to lay the Odium of the Dearth upon we know not who Jacobites as if all the Corn had been by their means transported into France And this hath been Artificially and Industrioufly spread through the Countries but this had like to have spoil'd the Project for the Countrey took the Alarm and was glad of any occasion to keep their Corn at home and rose unanimously to defend their Corn from French Harpies But upon second thoughts it was judg'd convenient to send some Souldiers to the Ports and other Places to keep the People in order and patiently to see their Corn carried away before their Eyes From whence 't is notorious enough that our Corn goes to Holland and not to France And accordingly the other End of the Proclamation is plainly to encourage the Transporting it to Holland A Prohibition to France is a tacit Direction to Holland It had not been very plausible nor perhaps safe to have sent out Orders for the Transporting Corn to the Low-Countreys but this might be done as well by a side Wind 't is but proclaiming that none must be sent to France and then the Inference is obvious there is no danger in carrying it to Holland nay not to leave the matter to Inference and Collection there are positive and direct Orders in the Ports of England and Ireland not only to permit the Factors for Corn to Buy and Ship it but are ordered Convoys to guard them to Holland From whence we plainly see from what Quarter our Scarcity comes and what great Compassion we bear to the Poor of England Let the Dutch have but Plenty and it is no matter if our Poor be Starv'd We need say very little in this particular to awaken your Diligence in examining it nor what great Care our Laws have taken to preserve equal the Prizes of Corn by the Provisions they make against Restrators Forestallers and Monopolizers For if you do not take some Care and that speedily too the Poor will carve for themselves as they have already in some Places Hunger breaks through Stone Walls and if Famine comes on us by your neglect you must thank your selves if the Poor fill their Bellys at your Cost and eat up what you had provided for your own Meals 3. The Corrupt Administration of Justice This is the worst Crime in a Commonwealth A Murtherer or Thief breaks the Laws but a Corrupt Judg both breaks and debauches it and poysons the Fountains of Justice Do we not daily see the Judges acting under the Directions of the Ministers of State as if a Judg was sworn not be guided by the Laws but by the Secretaries The poor and scandalous Acts of picking up and cherishing the most profligate Villains to make Evidences of as in the Case of Fuller Holland c. The intolerable and illegal Fines when a Man not worth a Farthing shall be Fined Two or Three hundred Pounds contrary to the direction of Law which always limits Fines to Mens Abilities and with a Salvo contenemento of this every Sessions gives notorious Instances and particularly the last when one Mr. Cooke upon the single Evidence of a Beggar and vagabond Papist and that Evidence not direct to the Fact neither but only by hear-say for she swears she saw him set a Seal and heard Mrs. M. say it was the Seal of my Lord N. and this is all that came up to the Indictment and yet upon such an Evidence the Man was found Guilty and Fined 200 l. and Mr. Recorder by wonderul Eloquence made him believe the Court did him a favour in not setting him in the Pillory And is not this think you an admirable Course of Justice when an Evidence by hear-say shall be sufficient to convict a Man And if you please to consult the Records of the Sessions you will find a great Number of such shameless Cases Perhaps it may be said here that the Persons convicted either were or were suspected to be Jacobites and so no Friends to the Government and no matter what became of them But we are not Pleading for the Jacobites but for Justice and Justice is blind and knows no Parties And we presume under former Governments when these things were complain'd of the respective Persons under such Sentences were not thought to be Friends to the respective Governments If the Administration of Justice is limited to Persons and Parties and not to Things and legal Proofs 't is partial and corrupt and we are not governed by the plain Rules of Law but by Faction and Passion But if this was the worst and such partial distributing of Justice concerned only the Subjects Liberty and Property it might be the better borne But in the Case of Life it is just the same these Men make no more to Hang a Man contrary to Law than to Fine him The Case of Capt. Ashton you all know and there hath long since an Opinion been given of it in the House of Peers But there is a fresh Instance of one Anderton a Printer who was Murther'd by the Bench against the plain Words and express Direction of the Law in that very Case made and provided The whole is very well worthy your Notice but we shall not take up your time with mentioning the want of One much less of Two direct Evidences to the Fact charg'd upon him which the Law expresly requires in the Case of Treason nor the indirect means to induce the Jury to find him Guilty by
A Supplement to his Majesties most Gracious SPEECH Directed to the Honourable House of Commons by the Commons of England TO add to the Works of the greatest Men if the Nature of the Subject permits or requires it hath never yet been thought an immodest Undertaking nor prejudicial to the Honour of the first Author You are now most about the Ardua Regni and indeed more Arduous Matters never yet came before your Honourable Body It is not therefore to be conceived that Things of such a great and various Nature should be all summ'd up in a short Speech nor is there reason to expect that the King should charge his Memory by a long recital of Particulars how important soever they may be and necessary for your Inspection We therefore in all humility in the Name of all the Commons of England make bold to lay before you such Additional Matters which seem to us to be of the greatest Weight and absolutely require your Consideration and your grave Wisdoms to apply some speedy and effectual Remedy and which are either but slightly touch'd or wholly pretermitted by the King We confess indeed that the King has laid the Scene very large and wide when he reckons our Misfortunes and the Miscarriages that have been this last year according to this Division Such as have been upon Land and such as have been at Sea This Division is comprehensive extends to all the Calamities we groan under and if you please to examine what hath been acted or what hath been defective for want of acting on these Two Elements according to the full Latitude of these Expressions you will not fail to discharge the Trust reposed in you and to see the Cause and Occasion of all our Miseries But however the King hath been so large in the General we conceive he is not so express in Particulars which therefore we humbly crave leave to supply and lay before you by a just and impartial Representation of such Instances which nothing in the World can obscure palliate or excuse And out of Deference and Reverence to his Majesty we shall do it according to the same Division And we shall begin with the latter Such Miscarriages as have been at Sea These have been so terrible that they make all our Hearts ake the Merchant feels the immediate stroke but the influence extends all over the Kingdom The Loss of the Effects how great and considerable soever is the least of the Evils The whole Trade is in danger to be lost or mightily diminished The industrious Merchant is exhausted and discouraged many have not the Ability and many not the Will to venture any more their Interests under that unfortunate and impolitick Conduct they have already so often and so dreadfully miscarried The King calls this a Disgrace and indeed it is so but if that was all it was no great Matter the Merchants we suppose could bear the Shame well enough if they had but their Effects And if such prodigious Losses affect only the Modesty of the Nation we are pretty well yet we may blush or so and the harm is over If the Merchants interpret that which hath suckt out their very Hearts blood to be only some Disgrace to them we presume they are the modestest Men living However let the Disgrace be what it will that might be repaired again by an honourable Action But as the case stands this is irreparable our Honour and Interest are both sunk together The most beneficial Trade we have is almost if not altogether ruin'd and that apparently by ill Management The Winds and the Storms the Merchant bears patiently and his Losses redouble his Vigour and Industry But when he is ruin'd by his Guard when he is convoy'd into Destruction this admits of neither Remedy nor Hope and there is not so much as Chance or Contingency to encourage him And every Man will conclude 't is time to give over and to sit still rather than to fraight his Ships for the Benefit of Enemies and run the Risque of such desperate Adventures The King tells you That Trade is Essential to the Welfare of this Kingdom Then our Welfare is lost with our Trade as being Essential to it and the most flourishing Kingdom in Europe is reduced to Barrenness and Penury Our Money is gone abroad already and if our Trade which should supply us with more is gone after it too we have nothing left but to lament our Miseries and with that stinging Aggravation that they are irrecoverable The Commodiousness of our Ports the Skill of our Merchants the Expertness of our Sea-men all the Cost in the World will stand us in no stead but to make us more unhappy All the Advantages are poysoned in the Conduct and made the Instruments of our Misfortunes But here the King tells you That he hath Resented it extreamly and that he will take Care that those who have not done their Duty shall be Punished It may be so but here we crave leave to add this Supplement That we hope this will not hinder nor abate the Resentments nor take off the Care from bringing the Offenders to condign Punishment The King's Resentments and Cares ought to be a spur to yours and thereby by yours will do two great things at once both imitate the King and consult the Safety of the Nation and in order to this we humbly propose these following things as highly deserving your Enquiry 1. How it came to pass and by whose means that the Merchants after so many Petitions and Addresses were for some Months detained and no importunity could obtain either Convoy or Leave to prosecute their Voyage And they were reserved to that Critical Time when the French Fleet were just ready and prepared to receive them If the French themselves had had the Conduct of our Fleet they could never have timed it better they are no sooner got into the Streights but our Smirna Fleet is sent into their Mouths Put these together that the Merchants were ready many Months before and all the Application they could make could never procure Liberty but they must go then just then when nothing could hinder them from falling into the French hands And we shall leave it with any considering Man whether it be possible to believe but there was Treachery in the case at whose door soever it will lye And it is not for nothing that our Fleet was scarcely out of sight bur there was a general Report about the Town that it was in danger to be taken by the French Which evidently proves that the Contrivers of their going out were privy to te Secret and knew well enough what would become of them To this may be added 2. What was the Reason and who was in the Fault that our Grand Fleet which set out with them did not see them out of danger Was the Grand Fleet designed only to Complement Sir George Rook and the Merchant-men and to bring them so far on their way and
own our selves beholding to him if he does not carve liberally for himself though it be upon our Bones and Carcases And if you please to consider the Posture of Foreigners amongst us you will find not only that most of our Troops are composed of our old Task-masters the Danes and of the Dutch and the French Refugees But which extreamly sharpens this Consideration that there are also a great Party of Foreigners in the heart of the Nation who may soon be if they are not already prepared to second any Attempt if not to act in conjunction with them This Inference is so natural that nothing but the utmost Forgetfulness of our selves can make us careless on that hand But if there be violent Presumptions nay apparent Evidences that some great Matter is brewing among them 't is no less than desperate Infatuation to lye secure and negligent under such treatning Dangers in our own Bowels It is not unkown to you how great a Number there are of French Refugees in and about this City who are in full Union with their Brethren in the Army nor what Military Authority and Power the Duke of Lemster their Countryman hath in this Kingdom nor can it be doubted but he hath great Authority and Influence over them and manages them according to such Methods and Councils as may best answer the Ends which are driven at That accordingly most of the French Refugees who are able to bear Arms are actually Arm'd and Listed under distinct Officers and of whom the said Duke is Chief That there have been several Sums of Money distributed to them and some in particular by the said Duke in all probability to supply themselves with Weapons to use upon such Occasions as they shall be call'd to when Opportunity serves That in pursuance of this several thousands of Arms have been made and bought up by them and that in particular one Gunsmith in the Minories contracted with some of the French Refugees for 500 Case of Pistols of a size shorter than Holster Pistols and which he accordingly made and half of the Money was paid him before hand and the rest at the delivery of the Pistols And that other Gunsmiths in the Minories had full Imployment from the same hands in the same Work and 't is said they have not bought up less than 8000 of these Cases of Pistols It is here matter of your serious Consideration what use these kind of Pistols are to be put to It is certain they are not for Imployment in the Field And it is as certain they are sitted for the Work they drive at and we shall leave it with you whether it does not portend some sudden and secret Execution of a barbarous Nature That accordingly several threatning Speeches have been given out That some Persons at a certain time should have their Throats Cut and some of them are grown to that Confidence as to make particular Threatnings which shews they are almost sure of their Design A French Minister sent several Letters to a very considerable Clergy-man threatning him That he was a dead Man That he was to buy a Halter for himself That there was a Gallows prepared for him which he must first ascend and mount Further yet That there have been not long since 700 Tickets of mysterious Figures and Characters scatter'd about St. Anns Parish among the Habitations of the French Refugees and thrown into several Houses which plainly import some secret and mysterious Design And to close up all there are almost every Week great Numbers of French Refugees and other Foreigners brought over hither from beyond the Seas on pretence to go and inhabit in Ireland who notwithstanding are kept in England and no doubt to augmet their Forces and strengthen the Consederacy And now Gentlemen you that are the Trustees and Representatives of your Countrey we intreat you impartially to reflect what these things mean Is it not apparent that a Design is hatching and a great Storm gathering which when it breaks may overwhelm you and your Posterities if not prevented Is it possible for you to believe your Lives Liberties and Estates safe in such Circumstances Did ever a wise Nation suffer Foreigners to become formidable in their own Countrey Look into the Records of Time and see if there be one single Instance in the whole World where Strangers had gain'd Power and Force enough they did not make use of it to advance themselves and ruin the Natives Was there no visible ground of Jealousy the very Nature of the thing would alarm your uttermost Caution And you have besides that the Experience of all Ages to quicken your Councils in this Case But when Men of seperate Councils Measures and Interests from yours when they are arm'd with Power and Number too when there is apparently a bold Design actually sorm'd and run through the whole Party in such a Case the Danger is brought home to your own Doors and 't is high time to awake out of Sleep and to apply your utmost Wisdoms to the providing a speedy and effectual Remedy 5. We have but one thing more to trouble you with though it may not seem Grievous in the Nature of it yet in the Consequence it may be a more dreadful Miscarriage than any of the rest and if you do not Remedy this you can Remedy none of the other and that is The Post-poning the Redress of Grievances to the giving Supplies This is lodg'd in your own House and you have hitherto fatally laboured under it you your selves know by the Experience of your former Sessions and all the Kingdom knows that so soon as you have given our Money the Court hath done with you and our Grievances remain the same or grow greater and you rise re infecta you have done the Business of the Court indeed but not that of the Countrey and so your great Trust is but half executed and the least half too The Question therefore here is not concerning the Nature of Things or the Preference of one before the other though yet we believe the Redressing our Grievances is every way as necessary to our Welfare as if not preferable to the giving Supplies but concerning the Order of Time We pray you let that be done first which otherwise will not be done at all We are sure the Court will permit you to sit to give Money And we are as sure you will not sit to Redress our Evils if you give that first Money will be welcome first or last but our Grievances must be remedy'd first or never Let your Time therefore be suted to the Occasions First examine the State of the Nation consider the Miscarriages at Sea and Land and apply effectual remedies to the respective Miseries we groan under and then we shall more chearfully part with our Money And thus we have presumed to lay before you some part of those manifold Miscarriages our unhappy Nation hath lately felt and still feels the smart of and which we humbly conceive highly require your Consideration We hope this humble Address will not be unacceptable to you And we are sure we have herein done our duty to God to your Selves and to our Country However if our humble Supplication will not deserve the Thanks of the House we perswade our selves the subject Matter of it will deserve your Care which is the utmost Aim of Your humble Petitioners THE COMMONS of ENGLAND FINIS