Selected quad for the lemma: land_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
land_n	henry_n	king_n	year_n	7,248	5	5.2669	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A86571	Inclosure thrown open: or, Depopulation depopulated. Not by spades and mattocks; but, by the word of God, the laws of the land, and solid arguments. And the most material pleas that can be brought for it, considered and answered. / By Henry Halhead.	Halhead, Henry.	1650 (1650)	Wing H284; Thomason E619_2; ESTC R206364	16,888	23

to turne the faces at least we hope the hearts of the whole Nation towards the same I beseech you all our Representatives in Parliament as you tender the glory of God and the flourishing of this Common-wealth that you deny your own Interest wherein it tends to the Ruine of a Country or Nation and that ye all joyne Heart and Hand together for the recovering of this almost-ruined Land out of this weake estate whereinto it is fallen by Depopulation that so ye repairing the old waste places and raising up the Foundations of many Generations may justly be called The Repairers of the Breach Restorers of paths to dwell in Oh! how would this engage the hearts of the people unto you I know some will say they did not Depopulate or inclose but they bought it so or it was so left them by their Fathers and the Poore were provided for when it was first inclosed and turned to pasture I but where are they and their breed Are they not constrained to flee into other Towns to the great annoyance and charge of the places whither they were driven Where I say are those good House-keepers that brought store of Corne to the Market and where are the Horse Beasts and Sheep that were bred there besides Men Women and Children that dwelt there These things would be enlarged by the experiences of ancient men that know more of this then I can utter And this may be one Reason why Free-Quarter of Souldiers is so exceeding burthensome because many houses of Husbandry are decayed and the Lands layd down to Sheep-pasture whereby it comes to pass that the charge lies but upon a few But of the Reasons and Arguments against Depopulation in their place And to reduce what I have to say to some Method I shall First Endeavour to convict this sin by the Lawes of God and of the Land where we live to be a forbidden an accursed thing Secondly I shall endeavour to lay open the Mystery and the way of it Thirdly I shall offer such Arguments as I have ready against it Fourthly I shall answer what Objections I have met withall in the behalfe of it The first Scripture-evidence I shall produce against it is Isa. 5.8 Woe unto them that joyne house to house and that lay field to field till there be no place left that they may dwell alone in the midst of the Earth In mine eares said the Lord of hosts Of a truth many houses shall be desolate even great and faire without inhabitant The place is plaine and pregnant I shall forbear to gloss upon it Onely at the Event we may give glory to God and be his Witnesses that what he hath spoken with his mouth he hath fulfilled with his hand As might I call all the Ancient men to witness they were able to say Where ever they knew any that did throw down Townships and houses of Husbandrie to set up faire houses for themselves and theirs and either They or their Children came not to poverty and want See in the next place Mich. 2.1 A Woe denounced against them that devise iniquity and worke evil upon their beds and when the morning is light they practise it because it is in the power of their hands And what is the evil Why vers. 2. They covet fields and take them by violence and houses and take them away so they oppress a man and his house even a man and his heritage Therefore behold vers. 3 the Lord comes in with his device Thus saith the Lord Behold against this Family do I devise an evil from which you shall not remove your neckes neither shall you goe haughtily for this time is evil In that day they shall take up a parable against you and lament with a doleful lamentation and truely so they do now-a-dayes and say We are utterly spoiled for they have taken our fields Now follows their judgement Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the Congregation of the Lord For the meaning whereof whether it be that for their Cruelty and Oppression they were to be cut off from the Assemblies of the godly in that time or that in time of dividing their Inheritances they were to have no lot among their Brethren or both these I commend you to the godly learned to examine Habakkuk likewise denounceth against this wickedness Hab. 2.9 10 11. Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house that he may set his nest on high that he may be delivered from the power of evil Thou hast cosulted shame to thy self by cutting off many people and hast sinned against thy soule For the stone shall cry out of the wall and the beame out of the timber shall answer it How many of these houses have there been of late years that were built by blood and cruelty by Wracking of Rents and overthrowing whole Townships and houses of Husbandry Thus we may see by some few instances the Lawes of God are against this sin of Depopulation Neither are the Lawes of the Land for it First in the fourth yeer of Henry the seventh Chap. 19. Item The King our Soveraign Lord having a singular Pleasure above all things to avoid such Enormities and Mischiefs as be hurtful and prejudicial to the Common-weal of this His Land and His Subjects of the same Remembreth that amongst all other things great Inconveniences daily do increase by Desolation and pulling down and wilful waste of Houses and Towns within this Realm and laying to Pasture Lands which Customably have béen used in Tilth whereby Idleness which is the ground and beginning of all Mischiefs daily doth increase For where in some Towns two hundred persons were occupied and lived in their lawful Labours now bin there occupied two or thrée Herds-men and the residue fall into Idleness Thereby Husbandry which is one of the greatest Commodities of this Realm is greatly decayed Churches destroyed the Service of God withdrawn the Patrons and Curates wronged the defence of this Land against our Enemies much féebled and impaired to the great displeasure of God to the subversion of the Policie and good Rules of this Land if Remedy be not provided Wherefore the King our Soveraign Lord by the Advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in the said Parliament assembled and by the Authority of the same Have Ordained Enacted and Established that no person of what Estate Degrée or Condition soever he be that hath any House or Houses that at any time within thrée yéers past hath béen or now is or hereafter shall be letten to Farm with twenty Acres at least or more lying in Tillage and Husbandry That the Owner or Owners of every such House or Houses and Land to kéep sustain and maintain Houses and Buildings upon the said Ground or Land convenient and necessary for maintaining and upholding of the said Tillage and Husbandry So also in the Statute made anno 39 of Queen Elizabeth intituled An Act

will you know a further Reason It is because much Land is laid down from a Common use and Men are much diminished in such depopulated places and Cattel are much abated and become fewer then have been in former times For if there were Men to spend it and Cattel Swine and Pullen proportionable to former times much Corn would be spent that way which is now saved Much Corn would be for Seed which now is not used Horses might be better kept which should be for Service and Store would be preserved against a time of Dearth Mankinde the best of all the Creatures would be nourished and bred up stronger and able to do more service to God and their Country and have in their hand to lay up for their Posterity But if you do but take notice of it you shall see those House-keepers that of old used to buy a Strike of Corn do now buy a Loaf or two of Bread People are not kept in heart they are famished in many places and are so pinched with Poverty that it would grive the heart of man to see neither have they any thing about them but live poor and meanly And as for works of Mercy and for the maintenance of the Worship of God they have not any thing to contribute no not to pay for the education of their children So then the laying down of Land is the diminishing of Men and Cattel and that is the cause of cheapness of Corn in plentiful times 5 Object I but such Inclosers will plow up their Pasture-grounds when Corn is dear and so bring in Plenty When the Land hath gotten strength they will take out that strength and so the Incloser doth good Answ. The Answer to which is There lieth a great Mystery but I will tell you mine opinion That the Corn so increased turneth to no good to the Common-wealth First when the Land is laid down it is a good space of time before it turn to be a good Sward which is a hurt to the Common-wealth Then they will break it up But observe they will keep no constant houses of Husbandry therewith but take the heart out of the Land and lay it down again So that the time before it gather heart and the time after it is laid down it is no way so profitable for a Common good But the Yeoman or Husbandman that keepeth a constant Family upon his Land doth till it and when it groweth out of heart doth fetch it in again and it never lieth still but one yeer in four for the better husbandry of it which fourth yeer will by Gods blessing bring a double increase Then again the Gentleman sells his Corn at dear rates dearer then the Husbandman for he can give some time with his Corn and so wrap in the poor Husbandman that in haste he cannot get out The poor man selleth for his need to buy necessaries and most commonly selleth six pence in a Strike cheaper then the Gentleman doth So that when the Yeoman should make his profit at Seed-time he cannot sell his Corn the Country is supplied with one that keeps no constant Husbandry 6 Object The sixth Objection is That Ditches do preserve Corn from spoiling by passengers that travel upon the way and therefore it is good Answ. Then might they ditch from the Way onely and not divide it into smaller parcels and ditch also in such places where there are stones to make good such High-ways and not in deep Clay-Countries where to inclose is to bring High-ways to such a dangerous passage that no man can passe without danger both of horse and man at least to the great annoyance of both many having perished of late yeers thereby And besides all this the former exchanging of Lands before shewed shews mens intent Thus have I endeavoured to answer the most of their Objections as I can remember 7. I but it will be demanded Will you say that Inclosures in all places are unlawful We see that such Countries where there are such Inclosures are the richest of all Let me not be mistaken I say and shall prove that all Inclosures wherein is Depopulation and thrusting out of poor men from their dwellings or making their dwellings uncomfortable to them wherein one fair House is set up by the throwing down of many Housholds is utterly unlawful both by the Law of God and this Land and is one of the Crying sins of our Time And if in any Country this be practised it is the overthrow of that Country as hereafter will more appear Now therefore I beseech you all that are the ancient Yeomen and Husbandmen of every County declare your experiences of the evil of Depopulation and overthrowing of houses of Husbandry and what you have seen and what hath befallen those that have been actors in it and the evils that have come of it and the pressure and burden that hath come upon those Towns that have not been inclosed by the means of those that have been inclosed and turned from the Common use Oh that in all the Counties of this Kingdom there might be a View of all the Villages and Towns and Houses of Husbandry that have been decayed within these fifty yeers and the Desolation that hath come by that means by laying of Lands accustomed to Tillage and now turned into Pasture-grounds whereby Idleness one of the sins of Sodom is much increased Men women and children and their Progenies be diminished and Husbandry the greatest Commodity of the Land for the sustenance of Man is decayed Churches be destroyed the service of God is withdrawn Cities and Market-towns be brought to great ruine and decay Necessaries for mans use and sustenance be made scarce and dear the people of this Common-wealth be sore minished the power and defence thereof is enfeebled and decayed to the high displeasure of God and against his Laws and to the subversion of the Common-wealth and desolation of the same Wherefore and for the redress thereof there have been good Laws made in Parliament in former times for the repressing of these Disorders but never put in execution in my time whereby this Oppression and Desolation is very usual and common Yea so bold are they grown that now in Parliament-time which we thought should have been a time of Easing of Burdens this Monster none dares to attempt Oh that our present Parliament might be of the number of them that build the old waste places and raise up the foundations of many generations that they might be called The Repairers of the breach and the Restorers of places to dwell in Wherefore you the Yeomen and Husbandmen of all Counties should humbly petition to the honourable House of Parliament now that they intend the Reformation of things amiss that they amongst their great affairs of this distracted Nation would be pleased to look upon this Horrible Oppressing Desolating Crying sin which no doubt amongst and above most other is one of the highest nature and worst consequence