Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	king_n	lord_n	parliament_n	19,882	5	6.8393	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A44605	Royal institutions being proposals for articles to establish and confirm laws, liberties, & customs of silver & gold mines, to all the king's subjects, in such parts of Africa and America, which are now (or shall be) annexed to, and dependant on the crown of England : with rules, laws and methods of mining and getting precious stones, the working and making of salt-petre, and also, the digging and getting of lead, tin, copper, and quick-silver oars [sic] ... / by Thomas Houghton ...; Royal institutions	Houghton, Thomas, Gent.	1694 (1694)	Wing H2935; ESTC R8964	13,512	140

for the first Finders or Owners of those Rakes and Veyns to Hold Work and Enjoy the same all the Product thereof that shall be got within the Compass and Bounds of those Rakes or Veyns without any Disturbance or Hindrance from or by the Owners or Masters of the Flat-Works because such Rakes and Veyns lye in the Earth after another Manner and Nature quite different to Flat-Works and are Separate Things And so successively every one in the same Rakes or Veyns according to his or their Taking and Possessing with Stowes sooner or later shall be served Hold and Enjoy the Meers of Ground so Taken and Possest in those Rakes and Veyns And if there be no Veyns or Rakes Found within that Compass of Ground so Taken and Possest for Flat-Work but the Flat-Work shall continue and extend it self bearing Gold or the Oars of any other Metal further and beyond the Limits of the Ground so Possest with Stowes as afore-said for Flat-Works That then the first and next Taker Possessor and Stower of the next adjoyning Ground shall Hold and Enjoy as many Meers of Ground each Meer containing Twenty Nine Yards of Square Ground upon the Superficies as he or they have Taken and Set on Stowes for the same Flat-Work within the Time afore-said and so successively every other Person or Persons shall be served sooner or later according to his or their Taking Possessing and Stowing up of the same Flat-Work be it in Gold Mines or in Seams and Beds of Salt-Petre or Precious Stones lying in the Earth Soyl or Rocks in Flat-Works as afore-said or any other Metal and Oars lying in the same manner whatsoever Art X. THAT where any Oars shall be got made and run into Copper Lead Tin or Quick-Silver all and every Part of those Metals that shall be used and spent in the Countrey where they are got shall Pay no other Duty to the KING but only that before-mentioned for the Reason of giving the Inhabitants and Adventurers all the Encouragement that may be to Work the Mines and to Carry on the Field But if the Finders Getters or Owners thereof or any other Person shall have a mind and finds it for his or their Benefit and Advantage to Transport and Ship them or any of them from the Countries where they are got to other Places beyond the Seas he or they that Ships them shall Pay for every Tunn of Copper so Shipt Twenty Shillings to the KING's Officer for the Use of the KING and the same Sum of Twenty Shillings the Tunn for Salt-Petre and Tin and Five Pounds for every Tunn of Quick-Silver so Shipt off and Transported from the Countries where they are got For the Payment of which Duties and the Twelfth Part or Caract of all Precious Stones as afore-said All Diggers Finders Owners Buyers Adventurers or Dealers therein or in any of them shall have free Liberty to Sell Ship and Transport them to any Part or Place whatsoever to the best of his or their Advantage The End of the Articles ALL which Methods Rules and Articles that they and every of them may be Enacted Established and Confirmed by the King 's most Excellent Majesty and this present Parliament now Assembled as LAWS and CUSTOMS hereafter to be Practised Used and Observed by all the Subjects of the Crown of England in all Parts of Africa and America for the Discovering Working and Carrying on any of the Mines before-mentioned when and where they or any of them shall be Found is the most Humble Petition and Request of a well-Wisher to the Nation 's Interest T. H. Postscript TO THE LORDS Spiritual and Temporal Together with the COMMONS Assembled in this present PARLIAMENT Gentlemen IT is Worth your Thoughts Considerations to Enquire into the Reasons and Causes Why no English King Prince Noble-Man Merchant nor any other Person of Heroick Spirit should not in all this Time since America hath been Discovered endeavour to be Master of Silver and Gold Mines as well as the Spaniards there being in many Places of America now in the Hands of the English as Rich and as Plentiful Veyns and Mines to be Found as any the Spaniards have in Peru or New-Spain But one Reason of this Misfortune I believe to be this He that hath had Substance to have undertaken this Enterprise hath wanted Skill and durst not Trust another with a small Stock out of Sight nor would not go himself with such as had Judgment therein Or He that hath had Skill hath wanted Money and Encouragement to Manage and Carry on this Affair and so could not undertake it for want of a Stock and as yet no Person hath Petitioned any KING or PRINCE about it However it is plain and too true the Mines have been Neglected which one would think since all the Kings Princes Grandees and Persons of Estates in Europe have known That for 150 Years last past the Spaniards have imported at Cales from Ten to Forty Millions a Year in Silver and Gold besides many Precious Stones and other Rich Commodities of great Value The Knowledge of which one would imagine should have strongly induced some other Prince or Heroick Spirited Men to have used all their Endeavours to have Found and Discovered such Mines and have given them sufficient Cause to have pursued the same by sending such Persons about this Affair as well Understandeth such Things But the chief Reason and Mischief that these Mines have layn so long Neglected is Because a few PROPRIETORS as is before recited in the PREFACE having together with the Land got Grants from the Crown of the Royalties where Mines and Mineral Countries are and not using any effectual Means to Discover the Mines themselves at their Charge the Enterprise hath remained intricate and no ways feasable to Others by Reason of those Grants all other Persons being prohibited to engage therein For to what purpose shall a Man spend his Time Labour and Money to Enrich Others by Seeking for That which when he hath found neither He nor his Heirs shall Enjoy nor any part thereof To Engage in this would be perfect Madness This is the chief Reason why the English are not Masters of Silver and Gold Mines as well as the Spaniards and not the want of such Mines being within the English Territories and Dominions for if this Sore was once Cured The English would have a Plate-Fleet in a few Years Arrive in England as well as the Flota doth in Spain How great the Loss of which hath been and is and how Acceptable and Profitable the Discovering of such Mines and an Arrival of a Plate-Fleet Yearly in England would be I leave every one to Judge that knows the Use and Service of Silver and Gold And the Cause and Causes why there are no such Mines Wrought in America but what are Wrought by the Spaniards are only the Reasons afore-said concerning which I hope I have said sufficient and that some better Care will be taken

for the Future whereby all those Grants relating to the Mines in America may be Null'd Revok'd and made Void only in such Clauses as concern Mines by the King 's most Excellent Majesty and the Prudence of this Present Parliament and that the KING hereafter may remain sole Lord of the Field and Royalties in all Parts of Africa and America that are now or shall be Annexed to the CROWN of England c. The Indians both on the South and North Side the Aequinoctial had Found the Mines and Wrought in them after their Fashion for above Three Hundred Years before the Spaniards came there or else most of the Mines had layn Undiscovered to this Day by Reason of the Spaniards Laziness for the Indians of Peru having Lived some Hundreds of Years in a civiliz'd Government before the Spaniards Arrival had Wrought the Mines and got great Quantities of Silver and Gold although they were in no proper way of Working them nor had any Iron or Steeled Tools fit for the Service of the Mines but only Tools of Copper which they Valued more than Silver or Gold in regard the Tools and Utensils of Copper were most serviceable for their Domestick Affairs and all other Occasions in their Times So that for many Years where-ever the Spaniards came unless they Found Vessels of Silver and Gold in the Indians Houses or somewhere Wore about them at their Ears Lips Necks or Noses or was conducted by the Indians to the Mines and Places where the Silver and Gold had been got The best and Richest Mines the Spaniards now have lay Void and for a long Time Unwrought being no more taken Notice of than some Mineral Countries now are by the English in several Parts of America And the best Method for Gathering and Taking up Gold most of the Spaniards had for many Years was only to Cleanse and Scower up the small Rivers and Brooks of the Countrey falling from the Mountains from the Sands whereof they Gathered much Gold without the Experience of Digging Mining and Sinking of Shafts to seek for Veyns and Rakes The Knowledge of which hath not been many Years Understood and Practised by them nor is yet Understood Used and Practised to that Heighth and to such Advantage as it might be So that in many Places which are now in the Possession of the English there was never any Shafts Sunk and put down either by the English or the Spaniards their chief Objects and Places of Tryal being only the Surface of the Earth with the Brooks and Rivers as afore-said And therefore it remains without Contradiction there is all the probable Signs and Symptomes of Rich Veyns to be had and Found for Digging and Seeking for And to this Day the best Method and Way that is Known Practised and Used by the Spaniards and Indians for Gathering and Taking up Gold in Flat-Work is as followeth The Spaniards set their Indians and Negro Slaves out a Parcel of Ground Forty or Fifty Yards Square more or less as the Patroon or Master thinks fit which Ground the Indians and Slaves Dig up as Deep as they Find any Gold in it and as they Dig it throw it into Wheel-Barrows which being done their other Slaves run it away to the next River or Running-Brook and there lays it down and Returns for more and in this Manner they Labour till their Days Work is done in Digging and carrying of Earth At the River or Running Brook there are also several other Indian Women Boys Girls or Slaves at Work having Bowls or small Treays with Handles where a Negro Boy or Girl having first broken and beaten the Lumps of Earth small where by Reason of the Heat it immediately dryes which when it is dry they put about an English Peck of that small Earth so beaten and dryed into one of those Treays as afore-said at a Time and then the Woman shakes and dances it about in the Water turning the Bowl or Treay about and about till the Water hath Washt away all the Earth and Rubbish and what Gold is in it sinks and remains at the Bottom which not being fully Cleansed from the Earth is put into a Bowl that stands by to undergo a second and a third Cleansing And in this Manner the Women Boys and Girls renew filling of their Treays and Bowls with that Earth till their Days Work is done and so daily gather more or less Gold according as it happens and as that Flat-Work is more or less Plentiful of Gold Pursuing this Method in Digging Carrying and Washing as long as that Earth hath any Gold in it worth their Labour and then they remove to another Place After this Way they Work out all their Earth and Land that lies near Rivers or Running-Brooks that hath Gold in it but where the Gold lies at a great Distance from any Running Water they are obliged to let all alone or else to lose the greatest Part of the Gold that is small for in such Places that are remote from the Water as on the Tops and Plains of the Mountains where there is generally the most plentiful Store of Gold the best Ways they Use or Understand to gather it there are these They Dig the Earth Dry it then Beat it small and Sift it which done they Spread or Strow it thin upon the Ground and there it lies till the next Showers of Rain Wash it and then they pick out what Gold they can which being done they draw the Earth up and down with Coal-Rakes or turn it with Shovels and spread it thin again and let it lye till other Rains wash it and so pick it over again which Operation being twice or thrice Repeated and having taken what Gold they can out this Way they then shovel all the Earth together upon Heaps and if there be no Pools or standing Waters near they make Ponds or Pools which when the Rain-Water hath filled they carry that Earth so laid upon Heaps thither and wash it with their Treays and Bowls in those Pools as aforesaid And by this Means they get some more Gold although most of the fine and small Gold is quite lost because the Water of those standing Pools soon grows dirty and muddy and thereby rendred unfit to seperate the fine dust Gold from the Earth for want of clear running-Waters which Error and Defect might easily be amended and all the Gold though never so small preserved if they understood the way of Hushing and using long Buddles and Landers As much Gold might be taken up in a Month by the same Number of Hands as they now take up in Seven Years But whether this be a proper Place and a fit Time to Shew and Describe the Way of Hushing and Using these Buddles and Landers I know not till I find what Reception and Countenance these ARTICLES will meet with And if the Design of this Book meets with Encouragement I will Publish a Book Entituled The Royal Miner in which the whole

Royal Institutions Being Proposals for ARTICLES To Establish and Confirm Laws Liberties Customs OF Silver Gold Mines TO ALL The KING's Subjects in such Parts of AFRICA and AMERICA which are Now or Shall be Annexed to and Dependant on the CROWN of England With Rules Laws and Methods of Mining and Getting of Precious Stones The Working and Making of Salt-Petre And also The Digging and Getting of Lead Tin Copper and Quick-Silver Oars in Any or Either of those Countries Whereby Navigation and Trade with the Subjects Interest and Riches together with the CROWN 's Revenues would be greatly Encreased in a little Time Most Humbly Offered to the Consideration of the King 's most Excellent Majesty this Present Parliament By Thomas Houghton of Lime Street Licensed DANIEL POPLAR LONDON Printed for the Author 1694. TO THE KING's MOST Excellent Majesty Together with the Present PARLIAMENT Assembled this Thirtenth Day of February 1693 4. Great Caesar and Senators In all Humility most Humbly I inform You THere is nothing more Certain and True Than that there are many extraordinary Rich Veyns Mines and Mineral Countries in some Parts of America which are now Annexed to and Dependant on the CROWN of England the Experience and Truth of which nothing but want of Skill in Mineral Affairs and Incredulity can or will deny which Veyns and Mines if they was Sought for and Set to Work by any that understands them would undoubtedly in a little Time prove as Rich as any the Spaniards have in Peru or on the North Side of the Aequinox in New-Spain and in a few Years would produce and raise great Quantities of Silver Gold Copper and other Valuable Things to the great Content and Satisfaction of the English provided there was any Regular LAWS RULES and METHODS Settled for Working and Carrying on the said Mines by which LAWS the Enterprisers or Undertakers thereof might Enjoy and Secure their Rights Interests and Properties therein to Them their Heirs and Assigns after they have been at the Cost and Charges of Finding and Discovering the said Mines But as the Royalties thereof stand at present in their respective and separate Grants from the CROWN to a few PROPRIETORS who formerly hath not at present doth not nor hereafter in all Probability will not use any effectual Ways and Means to Work an Discover the same whereby this excellent Undertaking hath hitherto been Neglected and Slighted and is yet rendred Impracticable to all English-Men and so will remain to Posterity by which many Rich Veyns and Mines have been are will be of no Benefit but continue Void and utterly Lost unless some further Care be taken than yet hath been for Settling and Methodizing the same The evil Circumstances of which hath been is and will be if not remedied an unvaluable Loss to the English Nation in Neglecting to give all due Encouragement to improve this Honourable Enterprize which would greatly encrease the Revenues of the CROWN and advance the English Nation 's Interest to an unspeakable Degree in a little Time Therefore that the King 's most excellent Majesty in his Princely Wisdom together with this Present Parliament would be Graciously Pleased to take it into Consideration and amend this Mischief by making the following ARTICLES or some such other as the Government shall approve off for Standing LAWS and CUSTOMS to be Observed and Practised by all the KING's Subjects in America whereby the Enterprize would become National to the English Posterity and every Free-Born Subject have Liberty to Seek Find and Enjoy the Fruit of his Labours Paying to the CROWN the Duties and Reservations here-after mentioned Is the sole Desire and earnest Request of Your most Humble Most Dutiful and most Obedient Petitioner Thom. Houghton ROYAL Institutions Article I. THAT it is the Right and Prerogative of the CROWN to Elect and Choose an Officer and Officers for the Management of the Royal Treasures when and where Occasion doth or shall require to take the Care and Charge of the KING's Part in all Royal Mines and also in all Mines of Base Metal where the Royalties yet remain annexed to the Crown Which Officer and Officers shall be Sworn to do Right and Justice as much as in Him or Them lieth according to the best of his or their Skill and Knowledge between his Soveraign Majesty the KING and the Miner Maintainer or Venturer and also between Miner and Miner and Miner and Maintainer of such Mines and shall either Himself or by his or their Lawful Deputy or Deputies duly Execute and faithfully put in Practice amongst the Miners and Adventurers and all other of the KING's Subjects these ARTICLES as Rules Laws and Customs fit to be kept and observed in all Parts of Africa America or the West-India Islands where any Silver or Gold Mines or any other Mines of Tin Lead Copper Quick-Silver Precious Stones and Salt-Petre shall be Found Dug Made and Discovered hereafter which Officer shall be called the Bar-Master and shall remain Overseer and Superviser of the Royal Mines and other Mines of Base Metal for the KING's Part during his Majesty's Pleasure Article II. THAT all or any of the KING's Subjects of what Degree Quality or Estate soever they be shall have full Power free Liberty to Dig Delve Work Mine and Break up Ground in any of the Countries afore-said to seek for Silver Gold Lead Tin Copper Quick-Silver Precious Stones and Salt-Petre in any Part or Place whatsoever Houses Orchards Gardens and Enclosures of Sugar-works excepted upon the Terms and Conditions following That is to say He or they who findeth them or any of them shall pay to the KING's Officer for the Use of the KING in Oars ready drest and cleansed from the Earth Stone and Rubbish made fit for Smelting Melting and Refining Of all Gold and Silver Oars one Sixth Part And of all Lead Tin Copper Quick-Silver-Oars and Precious Stones one Twelfth Part And of all Salt-Petre every Twelfth Tunn For Payment of which Sixth and Twelfth Parts as afore-said every Miner Maintainer or any of the KING's Subjects shall have free Liberty to Dig Work Break up Grounds in any of the Countries afore-said except in such Places as is before excepted Art III. THAT all Rakes or Veyns of Silver or Gold Lead Tin Copper and Quick-Silver and all Pipes and Flat-Works of Precious Stones or Salt-Petre shall in three Days Time next after they or any of them are found be possest with one pair of Stowes or more by the Owners of first Finders thereof and Notice shall be given or sent to the KING's Officer by Word of Mouth or Writing concerning the same within three Months Time next after such Veyn or Veyns Rake or Rakes Pipe or Pipes Flat-Work or Flat-Works are Found and Discovered and for want of such Officer to the Minister of the Parish or the next Magistrate or Justice of the Peace or Governour of the Place where such Mines are Found who shall immediately go