Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n
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A81055
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Brief observations upon the present distresses of the publick with some account of the causes thereof, viz. the corruptions in the government. Humbly presented to the consideration of the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled. By Robert Crosfeild.
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Crosfeild, Robert.
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1696
(1696)
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Wing C7241; ESTC R225365
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4,694
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4
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BRIEF OBSERVATIONS UPON THE Present Distresses of the Publick With some ACCOUNT of the Causes thereof Viz. THE Corruptions in the Government Humbly Presented to the Consideration of the Lords and Commons in Parliament Assembled By ROBERT CROSFEILD First I Shall observe to your Honours the Prodigious and Immence summs of Mony that have been Expended this War in about seven years which I Conceive is more than has been Rais'd in many Ages past even down to the Norman Conquest all which together with the Ill Management has brought the Nation to such distress by the great Decay and Ruine of Trade and Universal Poverty of the middle sort of people That the poor are grown to such vast Numbers and do daily increase to such a degree That if a speedy stop be not put to our Grievances they will in a manner ere long be ready to eat the rest of the people up alive And further it is sad to consider how a certain Cabal of Men have made a prey of the publick all this War for 't is Demonstrable that a Moyety of what has been Expended this Reign had it been Committed to the Management of wise and faithful Men might with Gods blessing have given Laws to Europe and long before this time have brought our Enemies to a lasting honourable and well Grounded Peace Whereas those that have hitherto been Intrusted have Acted as if they were not willing to Conquer our Enemies too soon but rather desired to turn the War into a Trade and to squeese out even the very Marrow of the People to Inrich themselves for to our shame be it spoken the Enemy at this day seems to be almost upon an equal Ballance with us and the War as likely to Continue as ever Secondly That whereas during this great Action and the raising such vast summs of Mony there ought to have been the greatest Care and Strictness Immaginable to have examin'd Accounts and Punish'd all Tardy Officers the direct Contraâ—y has been practic'd hardly any Accounts having been Regularly or strictly Examin'd Numerous great and Notorious Frauds and other Crimes pass'd over in silence and those that according to Oath and Duty have discover'd and laid open any Miscarriages in the Government have been shamefully oppress'd Persecuted and Ruin'd for the Incouragement of Offenders and the Terrour of all honest Men to avoid all Acts of Duty for the future For Thirdly The present Navy-Board has been publickly accus'd of horrible practies in wasting the publick Treasure 1. By fraudulent Contracts 2. By Countenancing Incouraging and Advocating vast Embezelments of the * Amongst the various Naval Frauds I shall give the following Instance A certain worthy Citizen of London discover'd a parcel of Hemp going under the Name of Rakings or Flyings which was sold as such by the Navy-board for 16 Tun 12 Hundred weight at thirty Shillings per Tun amounting to 24 l. 18 s. being Goods as they pretended that were useless for the King's Service But on the contrary this person prov'd that the said Goods were Bona Fide the Bands and Ribbs of Hemp and that Instead of the above said small quantity there was found about 240 Tun 70 or 80 Tuns of which was actually delivered which the aforesaid Citizen prov'd upon Oath to the Navy-Board and offer'd 15 l. a Tun for the same but to no purpose for the matter was stifled And thus a great quantity of serviceable Hemp was Embezelled and pretended to be sold under the Notion of Rakings or Flyings for only 24 l. 18 s. and then sold to the King again for good Hemp as it really was for about 3000 l. And this I can prove when requir'd and I offer it as an Instance of the Method of those Gentlemens Defrauding their King and Country under the Head of Embezelments that none may wonder how they 〈◊〉 their Estates Kings stores 3 By driving a Misterious and Diabolical Trade in the poor Saylors Tickets which are generally sold at 10 or 12 shillings in the pound loss to a Cursed crew of Extortioners kept up and Incourag'd by the Navy-Board who ought to suppress them also thousands of poor Creatures are Robb'd of their Right by the horrid Customs of putting Queries and Runs upon the Saylors Pay the blood of whose perishing families does now cry aloud for Vengeance against the Nation their dreadful Miseries having been hitherto disregarded tho often laid open in Print and offered to be proved By all which Cursed Practices the Commissioners of the Navy have gotten vast Estates some of them that were Clerks and not worth Two Hundred Pounds at the Revolution have openly and publickly laid out about Twenty Thousand Pound in purchases besides the vast summs of Money lying by them Whereas admitting they have been Commissioners of the Navy seven years their Salary at 500 l. per Annum is but 3500 l. And for such Men to make such purchases besides the Charge of Maintaining their Families keeping their Coaches c. I conceive is one clear Demonstration of the publicks being Cheated But further some of these Gentlemen have been accus'd of being disaffected to the Government holding Constant and Private Consults with the Kings known Enemies such as pay double Taxes All which crimes and many more too long to insert have most part been prov'd before the Admiralty c. And the rest laid before them and offer'd to be prov'd but have all been quash'd in a strange and unaccountable manner and the Navy-Board hath Contrary to Law Justice and the Interest of the Nation been protected and kept in their Employments to this day whereby they and all the Numerous Train of their subordinate offenders have been Incourag'd in their Crimes to the great Ruin of the King and Kingdom Fourthly The Lords of the Admiralty under whose Jurisdiction the Navy-Board is have been publickly accus'd for Stifling Concealing and Incouraging their Crimes and Discouraging and Ruining those that laid them open part of which has also been prov'd against their Lordships and the rest offer'd to be prov'd But all has been strangely quash'd and their Lordships remain in Commission at this day as if no Evil had been laid to their Charge Fifthly The present Commissioners for Sick and Wounded have been likewise accus'd by Mr. Baston one of their Clerks who laid down his Employment of horrible Crimes of holding an unlawful Correspondence with the French all this War to the betraying the Kings Councils and also using the French Prisoners here in so barbarous a manner by cheating them of their Allowance of Victuals c. that thousands of our Poor English Captives in France lost their Lives and Perish'd through the Cruelty of the French only by way of Reprizal also they were accus'd of Cheating the King in their Accounts and using the Sick and Wounded Seamen barbarously in the Hospital at Plymouth with other great Miscarriages all which was twice fully prov'd against them almost two years since in a Juditial Manner by his
Majesties special order 1. Before the Lords of the Admiralty and 2. Before the Lords of the Council and two Reports made of the truth thereof and also the aforemention'd Crimes have been a third time prov'd against them before the late Commissioners for stating the publick Accounts where some of â—heir Witnesses appear'd to be Notoriously perjur'd And lastly the said Mr. Baston at the opening the present Session of Parliament Printed and Publish'd his case Containing only matter of fact being a full Account of the Crimes three times prov'd against the said Commissioners all which iâ— quash'd and Law and Justice stopt from taking place and the said Commissioner Viat Armis Incourag'd supported upheld and kept in their Employments to this Day AND now it may be considered If the aforesaid Crimes had ever been call'd to sincere and hearty Examination and any of those persons punish'd in earnest that were found to be Criminal then all the Corruption and Fraud in the Government might have been soon laid open For the horrible Cabal of the Nations Destroyers would have been divided and they would have Impeach'd and Accus'd one another when they saw the Government was resolv'd to proceed against them in Earnest But on the contrary all imaginable Care has been taken to hush up and stifle all manner of Crimes by discouraging persecuting and Ruining such persons as have according to Oath and Duty endeavour'd to lay them open and also the worst and most abominable Criminals Traitors to God and their Country have been encouraged protected and preferr'd All which pernicious Examples have tended not only to confirm Tardy Officers in their Wicked Practices but also to debauch those few Honest Gentlemen that were left in publick Employments For it is in Effect giving Publick Notice with divers Evidences of woful Examples That the way to keep an Employment and get an Estate is to break the Law betray ones Country and act all manner of Wickedness And that on the contrary to practice Honesty neither to Cheat King or Country nor suffer others to do it without discovering the same and to discharge ones Duty faithfully in all the Branches thereof is the certain way to be utterly Ruin'd Begger'd and Destroy'd And now certainly no Considering Man can be much surpriz'd at the breaking out of the present Damnable and Hellish Plot to Assassinate His Majesty's Sacred Person and subvert the Government But rather admire the wonderful Providence of God that his Majesty has sat safe in his Throne so long in regard so great a Number of his known Enemies have been Thrust into and hitherto Kept in his Service And how our King or Country can be safe with so few real Friends and so many and powerful Enemies both at home and abroad is beyond my apprehension to Conceive Nay 't is Demonstrably plain that our Enemies at home By their Superlative Covetousness Fraud Pride Negligence Ignorance c. Have done us much more mischief than all the power of France this War for the Cabal of our Enemies at home are so Strong and their Power so Great That his Majesties Royal Person with the Laws Estates and Liberties of his loving Subjects seems to be Besieg'd and Surrounded by them and to call aloud for your Honours Assistance to Disperse this Wretched Crew before they grow too strong for the Parliament it self Or till our wickedness spreads it self so far that all come to be Offenders and so our Crimes grow too Bulky to be ever Examin'd into at all and reduce us to such a wretched Condition as to verify the Words of the Poet Lucan who says Where all offend the Crimes unpunishable And then our utter and final Ruin must unavoidably follow God grant there may not be Cause to Record of this Nation in Ages to come That notwithstanding the wonderful Revolution that God wrought for them and Rescued them from Popery and Slavery and notwithstanding the great advantage of a Wise Good Valiant and true Protestant King to Reign over them and also the Immense Riches they possess'd and all the other Advantages of the Strength Number Courage and Bravery of their Forces by Sea and Land c. all which was more than sufficient to have soon lower'd their Enemies and brought them into subjection Yet were they by their own sordid Covetousness and Wickedness within themselves shamefully brought to Beggery Ruin and Slavery I say God grant we may not give our own Posterity and other Nations this Cause to Curse and Contemn us The above Grievances have been publickly complain'd of and offered to be proved for these several Years pass'd as also laid open in Print the last Session and this Session of Parliament by me and others tho hitherto quash'd or over-rul'd And I having this Session of Parliament Exhibited a Petition and Articles in the House of Peers where it is now depending Complaining of the aforesaid Corruptions and Grievances and having humbly pray'd in my said Petition That the Matters therein contain'd may be brought to a Legal Hearing I do again make the same Humble Request in the behalf of my Country which has been and is sorely Oppress'd by the aforesaid Evil Practices and shall think it my Duty to persist in the same until I be Legally heard or Commanded by the Government to Cease being able fully to prove whatever I have set forth Clerkenwel-Close March 17. 1695 6. Robert Crosfeild FINIS