IV. They pray to have leave to quit their Employments a Modesty and Self-Denyal not very common in this Age and that their Accompts might be pass'd upon which the House of Commons directed Persons to audit and state the said Accompts The Record is very curious we shall therefore give it in Words at length * Rot. Parl. 7 8 Hen. 4. Nu. 44. Item mesme le Jour le dit Mr. John Tibetot then Speaker monstra de par les ditz Communes coment au Parlement nadgaires tenuz a Coventre Thomas sire de Furnival Mr. John Pelham furent assignez Tresorers pur les Guerres Come pierd de Record en Rolle de Parlement puis qel Temps les ditz Tresorers ont desirez molt diligeamment pursâ—is as diverses foits a nostre Seigneur le Roy as toutes les Estates de ceste present Parlement de estre deschargez de lour dit Office auxint ont suppliez as dits Communes qe leur pleust de faire instance request pur mesme les Tresorers a mesme nostre Seigneur le Roy as touts les Estates suisdits pur eux finalement outrement deschargier de lour dit Office Sur quoy pria le dit Mr. John Tibetot en nom des dits Comunez a mesme nostre Seigneur le Roy qe les dits Tresorers soient outrement finalement deschargiez de lour dit Office Et qe leurs Heirs Executours ne Terre Tenants ne soient aucunement en temps avenir grievez molestez enquietez ou pur le exercice de ycelle qe cestes prier reqest soient endrez de Record en Rolle de Parlement Qeux prier reqest nostre dit Seigneur le Roy graceousement ottroia purtant qil ad pleu a nostre dit Seigneur le Roy qe les dits Tresorers soint deschargiez de lour dit Office de assigner certains Auditours cest assavoir le Seignour de Roos le chief Baron de le Escheqer qil est la volonte du Roy a ceo qe les dits Comunez ont entenduz qe mesmes les comunez deussent nomer autres Auditours doier terminer les Accompts des dits Tresorrers du temps passe Mesme yceux Comunes ont nomez certains Persones comprises en une cedule delivre per les dits Comunes en Parlement tielx come leur semble necessaires en ceo cas pur le poure estat de les Comunes dessuis dits Cestassavoir Mr. Hugh Lutherel Mr. Richard Redeman Lawrance Drewe Thomas Shelrey David Holbeche William Staundon Cinq Qatre Trois ou Deux de Eux Furnivale and Sir John Pelham for so he is call'd afterwards were as the * Rot. ibid Num. 63. Record says Ordeignez Tresoreres de les Guerres or what we call Paymasters of the Army and press'd the Parliament to take their Accompts An Example which we hope all their Successors in that Employment will desire to follow The Powers likewise which the Parliament gave to these Commissioners are fit to be observ'd Qe pleise a vostre tres gracieuse Seignourie de ordeigner qe les dits Auditours ensi nomez soint Auditours de Record eiants plein poair authoritie du Parlement de Oier Terminer le dit Accompte de faire Allowance as avant dits Tresorers si bien de les Paiments delivrances par eux faits per vertue authorite des vos Lettres Mandements dessous vostre Seale a eux directs pur les causes suisdits sur les Dependantz dycelle Come de les Paiments Delivrances per mesmes leâ— Tresorers per Authorite de lour dit Office faits pur semblable Causes les Dependants dycelle That is Power was given not only to inspect but finally to conclude the said Accompt To which the King assented And it seems our Ancestors thought such a Commission necessary to hinder the Publick Mony from being embeâ—zel'd 5. Parliaments have preserv'd the King's Revenue by inquiring into the Cause why some Branches yielded nothing as in Edw. 3d's Reign it was ask'd Why Ireland was rather a Burtheâ— than a Profit to the Crown The Commons desiring if the Fault lay in the Ministers that they may be remov'd * Rot. Parl. 21 Edw. 3. Num. 41. Item pleise a nostre Seignour le Roy fairâ— enqerer per bons Gents la Cause purqoi il 〈◊〉 prent profit de ce qil ad in Irland come toâ—â— ses Ancestres avoint Aide de luy de lâ— Comune pur meyntenir sa guerre depuis qiâ— ad plus en Irland qe uulle de ses Ancestres navoint si defaute soit trove en ses Ministres laundreit qe autrez y soient ordeignez en lour lieu tieux qi voudreut respondrâ— aâ— Roy du Profit qil averoit dilloqes de reson Resp Il plest a nostre Seignour le Roy qe ensi soit These were some of the Methods by which the House of Commons endeavour'd to preserve the Crown-Revenue from the greedy Hands of those who were always desiring therewith to inrich themselves But the Kings greatest Safety lay in the very Constitution of the Exchequer which if bad Ministers had not broken into our former Princes could not have been robb'd so much to the Impoverishment of the People The Constitution of the Exchequer we may rather call it the Constitution of the Kingdom has contriv'd to put a great many Letts and Obstructions in the way of designing Favourites and rapacious Followers of the Court and that no Grant should pass from the King but upon strict Inquiry and after mature Deliberation In order to which the State thought it necessary to be at the Expence of several Great Officers who should be as so many Centinels continually watching that the King may not be surprized nor defrauded Regularly and according to the Laws of the Land Grants from the Crown ought to make the following Steps The Petition is first made to the King in which as we have noted before the Petitioner ought to incert the true and express Value of the Thing demanded The King refers this Petition to the Treasurer of the Exchequer now call'd Lord High Treasurer of England whose first Step is to have a Particular of the Thing petition'd for from the Auditor if it lies before him or from the King's Remembrancer if it lies before him This Care is taken that the State may not be deceiv'd in the value of the Thing The Petition is first referr'd to this High Officer because the Law presumes that the whole State and Condition of the Revenue lies before him that he knows what Debts and Engagements the King has upon him and whither the Expences of his Wars and the other necessary Charges of his Government are not such as for the Peoples Ease and by the Rules of Justice ought for the present to restrain his Bounty If the Thing to be granted be of great
Value if it cannot be given away without great Damage to the Crown if by reason of such Gift he is hindred from paying his just Debts or from having wherewithal to defray the Charges of the Government or to provide for the Kingdoms Defence or if by this and other Gifts he must be driven through the failing of his own Revenue to lay heavy Burthens upon the People 't is the Duty of the Lord Treasurer to represent the whole Matter honestly and impartially to the King and to hinder the Grant from proceeding any further And as a Tie upon him he takes the following Oath Ye shall swear That well and truly ye shall serve the King our Soveraign Lord and his People in the Office of Treasurer and ye shall do right to all manner of People Poor and Rich of such Things as toucheth your Office And that King's Treasure truly ye shall keep and dispend And truly ye shall counsail the King and his Counsel ye shall layn and keep And that ye shall neither know nor suffer the King 's Hurt nor his dis-heriting nor that the Rights of his Crown be distressed by any means as far forth as ye may let And if ye may not let it ye shall make knowledge thereof clearly and expressly to the King with your true Advice and Counsel And ye shall do and purchase the King's Profit in all that ye may reasonably do as God you help and the Holy Evangelists It was hardly possible to devise a more binding Oath And the Words Ye shall well and truly serve the King our Soveraign Lord and his People in the Office of Treasurer are an Evidence that our Forefathers took themselves to have some kind of Interest in what was call'd the Crown-Revenue If the Grant meets with no Objection at the Treasury the King signs a Warrant directed to the Attorny or Sollicitor-General who is another Great Officer impowering him to prepare a Bill containing such a Grant And if the Grant be of Mony appropriated by Act of Parliament or of Lands annex'd to the Crown by Act of Parliament or if the Grant be any ways illegal or prejudicial to the Crown it is the Attorny or Sollicitor-General's Duty to advertise thereof After Mr. Attorny has pass'd it it goes to the Signet the Custody whereof is in the Secretary of State who being a Minister in high Office is presum'd by the Laws to be watchful for the King 's Good and to inquire into all Matters relating to the Weal Publick He is presum'd to be apris'd of the Persons Merits to whom the Grant is to be made and likewise to understand either the Affluence or Want in the King's Coffers and the general Condition of his Revenue And having an Allowance for Intelligence he is presum'd to know the Discourses and Opinions of the People and how such Grants are relish'd If therefore the Person suing out the Grant has no Merit at all or at least no sort of pretention to so great a Reward or if he knows the Publick to be press'd with Wants and Debts or if he hears that the People murmur at the Taxes which Profusion introduces and Clamour to see the Nations Mony wasted by his Duty as Privy Councellor and by his Oath he is bound faithfully and plainly thereof to inform the King From the Signet it should go to the Privy Seal who is likewise another Great Officer who being near the Person of the King is presum'd to know the Condition of the Kingdom and therefore the Law has made him another Check He takes this Oath Ye shall as far forth as your Cunning and â—â—â—cretion sufficeth truly justly and evenly execute and exercise the Office of Keeper of the King 's Privy Seal to you by his Highness committed not leaving or eschewing so to do for Affection Love Meed Doubt or Dread of any Person or Persons c. So that if the Lord Privy Seal finds that through Corruption in other Offices or that by Power Importunity or partial Favour a Grant tending greatly to the Publick Damage and to the Diminution of his Prince's Revenue has pass'd so far as to his Office he ought to stop it there and is bound in Duty and by his Oath to lay the whole Matter before the King From the Privy Seal it goes to the Great Seal in the Custody of the Lord Keeper or Lord Chancellor of England who is accompted the Kingdom 's as well as the King's Officer and there the Grant is compleated upon which score in the Eye of the Law this Great Minister is most look'd upon his Oath is the same with that of the Lord Treasurer He swears Well and truly to serve the King and his People in the Office of Chancellor truly to Counsel the King not to suffer his Hurt or Dis-heriting nor that the Rights of the Crown be distress'd by any Means as far forth as he may let And if he may not let it he is to make it clearly and expresly known to the King with true Advice and Counsel And in all that he may he is to do and purchase the King's Profit So that more than any other as the highest Officer and as the last Check the Laws presume him to consult for the King 's good Therefore if the Grant be exorbitant if it be made to an undeserving Person if it notoriously surpasses the Merits of the Suitor if it was obtain'd upon wrong Suggestions if it occasions Obloquy to the Government or Discontent among the People if the King's Debts are many and clamorous if the Nation labours at the same time as the Gift is made under heavy Taxes and if the Grant tends greatly to the Hurt and Impoverishment of the Crown with all which Matters the Law presumes so great a Minister in the State to be acquainted he is bound in Duty and by his Oath not to fix the Great Seal to the said Grant but thereupon faithfully and impartially to advise the King And Chancellors who have acted otherwise and who contrary to the Trust of their Office have ventur'd to pass outragious Gifts Douns Outrageuses as the Records call 'em whereby the Crown has been impoverish'd have been heretofore as we shall show by and by question'd impeach'd and attainted in Parliament These were the ancient Steps in Passing Grants from the Crown which were afterwards inforc'd by a positive * Anno 27 Hen. 8. Cap. 11. Law in the Reign of Henry the Eighth a Prince jealous enough of the Regal Authority 'T is true by the Suggestion in the Preamble it looks as if the Act were made to preserve the Fees belonging to the Clerks of the Signet but bringing in Fees to Officers being never the Object of a Parliaments Care we ought to conclude that the House of Commons gave that fair Colour in the Reign of a Suspicious and Arbitrary Prince to the Regulations they intended to make as to Passing Grants from the Crown First the Law directs That the King's
far from thinking his Prerogative injur'd by Acts of Grace and Favour by which good Government might be promoted that he himself desir'd of the House of Commons that his whole Privy Council might be named and Established Rot. Parl. 7 8. Hen. 4. Num 31. in Parliament Et rehercea outre coment l'Erceveqe de Canterbirs lour avoit fait report qe le Roy vorroit estre conseilez per les pluis sages Seignours du Royalme lesqeux deussent avoir survieu de tout ceo qe seroit fait pur la bone Gouvernance de son Royalme A qel cbose faire le Roy sagrea rehercea per son bouche propre qil fuist savolonte entier Et sur ceo fust lue une Bille fait per le Roy mesme de sa volonte propre de les noms des Seignours qi seront de son Conseil Afterwards the Privy Counsellors are actually nam'd in the Bill and the Lord Chancellor Lord Treasurer Privy Seal and other great Officers are therein directed to act nothing of Importance without the concurrent Advice of the rest of the Council Et qe Billes a endorser per le Chambrelayn Lettres dessous le Signet de nostre dit Seignour le Roy a Adressers autres Mandements a doner as Chanceller Tresorer Gardien du Privee Seale autres Officiers qeconqes desore en avant en tielx Causes come desuis seront endorsez ou faitz per advys du Conseil Et qe les dits Chanceller Tresorer Gardien du Privee Seale autres Officiers ne facent en tielx Causes si non per advys du dit Consil The King goes on farther and desires his own Authority may be circumscribed in several Points and yet when he made those Concessions he was neither in his Nonage nor did he doat nor was he press'd by any Insurrection of the People and 't is notorious he neither wanted Policy nor Courage But 't is rather probable that he thought it Honest and Wise and no diminution to his Honour to oblige that People with wholsome Laws and good Government who had given him the Crown and who had been at such Expences to support his Title Magnanimous Kings have not only been Favourers of Publick Liberty but they have likewise been frugal of the Peoples Money as appears in the Instances of Henry the 1st Henry the 2d Edward the 1st Henry the 4th Henry the 5th Henry the 7th and Q. Elizabeth which shows how wrong their Notion is who think Wise and Thrifty Princes dangerous to the Freedom of a Country whereas profuse Kings such as John Henry the 3d Edward and Richard the 2d did not ouly waste the Nations Treasure but every one of 'em compell'd the People to fight Pitch'd Battles in defence of their Civil Rights Gallant Princes desire to make the People easie Henry the 4th of France our present King 's great Grand-Father said once he hop'd to order Matters so that every Man in his Kingdom should have a boil'd Capon to his Dinner None of the Apothegms utter'd by great Men and so much commended by the Antients could become the Mouth of a King so well as this Noble and Well-natur'd Saying 'T is probable had he liv'd he would have brought it about which if he could have done 't would have been a nobler Trophey to his Fame than all the Victories he had obtain'd The Honour of a King consists chiefly in doing good to the Universal Body of his People and the Publick Welfare is to weigh with him above all other Respects He is often to divest himself of the narrow Thoughts which sway among private Men and he can hardly be a good Ruler unless he does now and then in his Politick what he would not do in his Natural Capacity He is a Person intrusted by the Common-Wealth and what he acts in discharge of that Trust cannot be call'd dishonourable The Commons in the Resumption made 1 Hen. 7. tell the King in their Bill It is for his own Suerty Honor and Weal and for the Vniversal Weal Ease Rest and Suerty of his Land the which he ought to prefer before the Favour of any Person or any Place or other thing Earthly The same Words made a part of the Preamble in most-of the other Bills of the like Nature by which it appears to have been the continu'd Sense of our Ancestors that the Reputation of a Prince was never injur'd by Acts wherein the Ease and Relief of his People was consulted 'T is true such a Minister as the Chancellor de la Pool had other Sentiments and gave Advice of another kind being willing to countenance his own Depredations by the Example of others Such as he may engage the King's Honour in the Protection of their Crimes so to shelter themselves under his Wings and pretend things lessen his Fame which will only lessen their Estates But good Ministers have always thought that nothing could more hurt the Reputation of a Prince than to be reduc'd by Profusion to Courses by which his Country must be opprest with Taxes 'T was a common practice with the Duke of Sully to obstruct and often to vacate his Masters Gifts and Grants yet this great Man was sufficiently jealous of his Princes Fame In Spain Henry the Amirante Pacieco d' Ascolone and Henry de la Fortuna three Grandees had obtain'd of Ferdinand each of em a Million of Livres of Gold charg'd on the Revenue of Peru and should have receiv'd it at the Return of the Plate-Fleet but Cardinal Ximenes utterly * Bandier le Ministere du Card. Ximenes annulled these immoderate Gifts tho' de la Fortuna was the King's own Kinsman saying The Revenue of Princes tho' great in it self is always too little for the Necessities of the State And notwithstanding the Spanish Punto of Honor we do not find this Proceeding resented by King Ferdinand Before his Greatness was so establish'd seeing a very disadvantagious Farm of the Silks of Granada let for Ten Years by the Advice of Don Manuel the Treasurer to which the King had consented and which was offer'd at Council to be seal'd he took the Charter and tore it pnblickly of which the Pieces are kept among the Records of Arcala as a Memorial of this Ministers Courage and Integrity saying Salto Don Manuel were you not my very good Friend the King should cause your Head to be taken off Dare you make Grants so prejudicial to the State Nor did Phillip the 1st take it ill that his own and his Favourites Doings were thus revoked We agree that Princes in all their Actions are to consider Fame because Opinion is one of the main Pillars to support their Authority But let any reasonable Man answer Is it not more glorious for a Prince to let the whole People under his Reign enjoy Ease and Plenty without new Impositions and Duties than to enrich a few Minions and Favourites with the Spoils of a whole
in every Sessions a Claim has been put in by the Representatives of the People and as we have set forth Twelve several Bills have been presented and read all tending to appropriate these Forfeitures to the uses of the War So that the new Possessors of these Estates cannot pretend that any Silence has given a Sanction to what has been done or that a quiet and unquestiond enjoyment has so far confirm'd their Right as that thereby they may plead Praescription If any of these Lands have been sold or traffick'd about the Purchasers cannot plead Ignorance by the Steps made in Parliament they could not but know they bought a litigated Title the same may be said as to Marriage Settlements Jointures or any other civil contract that has Relation to the Grants lately made 4thly What Crown-Lands K. Charles gave away descended lineally to him from his Ancestors The Irish Forfeitures have been lately purchas'd with the Blood and Treasure of this Kingdom If any Man could think that a Resumption retrospecting so far as the beginning of King Charles Il's Reign would be for the Publick Good why has it been never set afoot or mention'd at any other time but when the Parliament had a desire by a Resumption in Ireland to ease the People in their Taxes All the Premisses consider'd perhaps it will appear to any unbiass'd Person who desires to help the Affairs of England by a Resumption That to follow the greatest Number of Presidents and according to the Rules of Prudence and Justice the Bill ought to look no farther backwards than this or the Reign immediately preceeding We hope to have made it evident in the Series of this Discourse That according to the Constitution of this Kingdom the late Grants may be resumed We have produc'd variety of Presidents to justify such a Proceeding 'T is hoped we have given them a full Answer who would engage the Kings Honour in Countenancing their Depredations upon the Publick Peradventure we have produc'd undeniable Proofs that the People of England have an Interest in these Lands and Perhaps we have silenc'd those who to clog a good thing would put us upon a wrong scent by proposing to look farther backwards than in Justice and Reason we ought to do And if we have made out all these Positions it will not be difficult for good Englishmen to think inferr and conclude That more especially the forfeited Estates in Ireland ought to be apply'd towards Payment of the Publick Debts The Writer of these Papers from the first time he bent his Studies to Matters of this Nature has all along endeavour'd to propose such Ways and Means of raising Mony as might give ease to the Landed Interest of which he hopes what he has formerly publish'd is a sufficient Evidence 'T is true the freedom and Sincerity with which he has handled these Points may have drawn upon him powerful enmities but if he has given any Hints by which England may save two Millions and remain this Yearwithout a Land Tax he shall think his Labour well employ'd and little value the displeasure of Particular and Interested Persons whose Resentments ought truly not to fall upon him but rather upon those whose general ill Conduct has made so rough a thing as a Resumption necessary However he who looks into any Male administration stirs up a Nest of Hornets If any one be touch'd who has been concern'd in Procuring Grants all that have participated in his Guilt will be alarm'd Tacit. Hist l. 4. and think themselves bound to act in his Defence for if one Criminal falls the rest are all in danger * Nam si Marcellus Eprius caderet Agmen Reorum Sterneretur There is an Anecdote or secret History belonging to these Grants well worth the Knowledge of good Patriots the Writer of these Papers is not quite without Materials for it Nor is he at all withheld by any of those private and mean Fears which commonly obstruct National Designs but the Truth is he has not this time had leisure to put so Dark and Intâ—icate a matter into any tolerable Method The Manner of procuring several of the Irish Forfeitures has been as criminal by its Circumstances as in itsself but of this at another Season To look into the Depredations lately committed is so copious a subject that he who bends his Thoughts this way is sure to have matter enough before him and if all things were well examin'd it would perhaps be found that the Resumption here propos'd is not the only way of raising Mony to ease the People in their Taxes There have been of late Years given in Parliament upwards of Fifty Millions This immense Summ as we all know has been transmitted into two Offices for the use of the War And by an Inquisition into those Offices peradventure something very considerable is to be recover'd The Author thinks he cannot employ his Hours of Leisure more to his Country's Service than in Inquiries of this Nature And next Year if he finds a Continuation of these Foul Practices which have been so destructive to England and so prejudicial to the King's Interest he purposes to open a new Scene That Zeal for the Publick which has now warm'd him shall not in the least cool and though he should be left to stand alone he will still combat on and neither ask nor give Quarter in the Conflict he intends to maintain with the Corruptions of the Age. FINIS Compare page 335 image 168 on the sudden he could not govern himself in the Change But Prosperity laid open the secret Faults of his Mind which were suppress'd and choaked before Thomas of Walsingham calls him Michael Atte Pole and says he was convicted in Parliament of notorious Frauds Walsing p. 324. Num. 10. Convicerant eum nempe de multis Fraudibus et quibusdam proditionibus in Regem quos nequaquam inficiari nequibat unde et cum responsis astaret et objecta negare nequibat Rex pro ipso verecundatus et rubore suffusus caput agitans heu heu inquit Michael vide quid fecisti But as soon as the Parliament was up the King took him into greater Favour than before But the Weight of a Parliament will at last bear down a bad Minister so that de la-Pool durst not stand the next Sessions but fled to France where he died in Exile But take from Walsingham the Character of this Chancellor with the Account of his Death Ibid. p. 339. Hac Aestata persidiae promptuarium Sentina Avaritiae Auriga Proditionis Archa Malitiae Odii Seminator Mendacii Fabricator susurro nequissimus dolo praestantissimus artificiosus detractor Patriae delator Michael Atte Pole quondam Comes Southfolchiae Regnique Cancellarius Compare page 297 image 149 he is to make it clearly and expresly known to the King with true Advice and Counsel And in all that he may he is to do and purchase the King's Profit So that more than any other as the highest Officer and as the last Check the Laws presume him to consult for the King 's good Therefore if the Grant be exorbitant if it be made to an undeserving Person if it notoriously surpasses the Merits of the Suitor if it was obtain'd upon wrong Suggestions if it occasions Obloquy to the Government or Discontent among the People if the King's Debts are many and clamorous if the Nation labours at the same time as the Gift is made under heavy Taxes and if the Grant tends greatly to the Hurt and Impoverishment of the Crown with all which Matters the Law presumes so great a Minister in the State to be acquainted he is bound in Duty and by his Oath not to fix the Great Sale to the said Grant but thereupon faithfully and impartially to advise the King And Chancellors who have acted otherwise and who contrary to the Trust of their Office have ventur'd to pass outragious Gifts Douns Outrageuses as the Records call 'em whereby the Crown has
again accus'd Articles exhibited against him for procuring Grants of the Crown-Revenues The Judgmeut The Record 324 Symon de Beurle Lord Chamberlain impeach'd by the Commons among other Crimes for having perswaded the King to make Grants of the Crown-Revenue to Foreigners The Record 333 The First Article against Richard the Second when he was Abdicated That he had given the Possessions of the Crown to Persons unworthy 338 William de la Pool Duke of Suffolk impeach'd by the Commons 28 Hen. 6. for having procur'd to himself and those of his Alliance and Party Grants of the Crown-Revenue from 340 to 352 The Judgment against him 353 An Act of Resumption could not be obtain'd till the corrupt Minister was impeach'd and banish'd 356 Articles against the Duke of Buckingham 385 to 364 Character of the Duke of Buckingham 365 How Favourites since have differ'd from him 366 An Article against the Earl os Strafford ibid. An Article against the Lord Chancellor Clarendon 367 Articles against the Earl of Arlington 368 369 Articles against the Earl of Danby Lord Treasurer of England 370 371 How a Statesman is to behave himself when he finds his Prince in danger of being hurt by his Liberalities 373 A Minister who cannot prevent the doing of irregular Things ought to quit his Employment what Simon Normannus did upon the like Occasion 374 A faithful Minister ought to be contented with moderate Rewards 378 Why Attaindures have been repeal'd in England 380 Other Countries as well as England have resum'd the Crown-Revenues The Authorities for it cited by Grotius 380 381 Male-Administration in the publick Revenues punish'd in other Countries 381 The Crimen Peculatus ibid. In France several have been capitally punish'd for Frauds committed in the King's Revenue 382 Girard de Possi made a Restitution of his own accord ibid Engherand le Portier punish'd capitally for Frauds committed in the Revenue 383 Peter de Remy Sieur de Montigny pnnish'd in the same Manner 384 John de Montaigu capitally punish'd for the same Crime Mezeray's Character and Description of this Man 384 385 SECT V. That the Forfeited Estates in Ireland ought to be applied towards Payment of the Publick Debts AN Accompt of the Deficiencies 387 388 The Nation engaged in Honour to make 'em good 389 Fonds very difficult to find ibid. The usual Ways and Means of raising Money considered 390 Remote Fonds dangerous to Liberty 391 Of Exchequer Bills ibid. Whither a Resumption of the late Grants especially the forfeited Estates in Ireland may not save England the Land-Tax 393 Three Points therein to be consider'd 1st How far it may be consistant with the Honour of a Prince to promote an Act of Resumption 394 The most Magnanimous of our Kings the most free in doing good to the People Examples of it 394 395 Henry the 4th desired his Privy-Council might be nam'd and appointed in Parliament The Record 395 Good Kings frugal of the Nations Treasure Examples of it 397 Galant Princes desire to make their People easie instanc'd in Henry the 4th of France ibid. Clamorous Debts dishonourable to a Prince 401 How many great and warlike Kings in England have resum'd 402 2dly What Interest the People of England have in the Lands granted away 403 How far a Prince can alienate c. The Opinion of several eminent Civilians in the Case 403 404 What a Prince conquers at his private Expence is at his own Disposal 407 But 't is otherwise if the Expedition be made at the common Expence of his People 409 An Accompt of the Expences for the Reduction of Ireland 410 411 The Four Millions expended in this War give the People of England a Title to the Irish Forfeitures 411 Whether this Title be lost or laps'd for want of putting in a Claim 416 Proceedings in Parliament in relation to the Irish Forfeitures 417 to 427 3dly How far in an Act of Resumption it is just and reasonable to look backwards 428 How the Presidents run 428 to 430 The generality of the Presidents reach only to the present or the Reign immediately preceding 431 Whether by the Rules of Justice the Grants made by King Charles the Second may be resumed 440 441 The Difference stated between his Grants and these lately made 442 to 444 Conclusion 446 ADVERTISEMENT THis BOOK having been Printed off in haste some Litteral Errors may probably have escaped Correction which the Reader is desir'd to amend with his Pen. BOOKS Printed for and sold by J. Knapton at the Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard DIscourses on the Publick Revenues and on the Trade of England In Two Parts viz. I. Of the Use of Political Arithmetick in all Considerations about the Revenues and Trade II. On Credit and the Means and Methods by which it may be restored III. On the Management of the King's Revenues IV. Whether to Farm the Revenues may not in this Juncture be most for the Publick Service V. On the Publick Debts and Engagements By the Author of The Essay on Ways and Means Part 1. To which is added A Discourse upon Improving the Revenue of the State of Athens Discourses on the Publick Revenues and on the Trade of England which more immediately treat of the Foreign Traffick of this Kingdom viz. I. That the Foreign Trade is beneficial to England II. On the Protection and Care of Trade III. On the Plantation Trade IV. On the East-India Trade By the Author of The Essay on Ways and Means Part II. To which is added the late Essay on the East-India Trade By the same Hand An Essay upon the probable Methods of Making a People Gainers in the Ballance of Trade Treating of these Heads viz. Of the People of England or the Land of England and in what Manner the Ballance of Trade may be thereby affected That a Country cannot increase in Wealth and Power but by private Men doing their Duty to the Publick and but by a steady Course of Henesty and Wisdom in such as are trusted with the Administration of Affairs By the Author of The Essay on Ways and Means Dampier's Voyages In 2 Vol. 80 Wafer's Descriptions of the Isthmns of Darien In Octavo Hacke's Collection of Voyages In Octavo Clark's Essay In Octavo Reflection on Amintor Wingate's Arithmetick The Memoirs of Monsieur Pontis who served in the French Armies 56 Years Translated by Ch. Cotton Esq Fol. Malbranch's Treatise of Morality In Octavo A DISCOURSE UPON GRANTS SECT I. INTRODUCTION ALL Governments well and wisely constituted as soon as they began to form themselves into a Politick Existence have separated from Private Use a certain Proportion of their Wealth and assign'd it to the Uses of the Publick And this has not only been thought a point of Wisdom by Particular Nations but Confederated Cities and States have done the same for the Grecians had a Common Treasury kept in the Temple of Apollo Delphicus ready at all times to supply such Affairs as they manag'd with united Councils 'T is so necessary
to particular Nations that there never was a Common-wealth without a Publick Stock which was either great or little sometimes according as the State continued in Peace or was harrass'd with Wars but most commonly according to the Prudence or Weakness of such as Govern'd for there have been Examples as shall be shewn by and by of States wisely rul'd whom Wars have inrich'd and of others loosely manag'd that have been impoverish'd in times of the profoundest Peace Commonwealths either in their first Institution have alotted part of their Territory or in their further Progress have assign'd part of the Lands coming to 'em by Conquest for the constant Services of the State both in War and in Peace and this they probably did that they might not be compell'd at every turn to call upon the People for Contributions Where the Government has been by a Single Person the Prince has had his Portion of Land for his domestick Expences as appears in the Instance of Tarquin whose Fields upon his Expulsion were made Publick but the Burthen of any War lay upon the whole In the Kingships settled by the Hunns Goths and Vandals where the Expedition was at the Common Expence of all the Conquer'd Country was divided The Prince had his Proportion his principal Captains and Commanders had theirs and the Common Soldier was not without his Share Thus Genserick King of the Vandals when he prevail'd in Africk reserv'd to himself the Provinces Bizacena Azuritana Getulia and part of Numidia and to his Army he destributed by way of Inheritance Zeugitana and Affrica Proconsularis In the Establishments made by the Northern Nations in consideration of the Lands so held certain Services were due from the Soldier to his Captain and from the Captain to the Prince and upon the strength of such Tenures in after times the Descendants of these People and their Kings did subsist and make their Wars but of this in another place What they thus took or what was alotted to 'em as their Share by Compact among their Followers Good Princes have always reckon'd as belonging to the Publick and they always made a Distinction between what they held in their Private Capacities and what they held as Publick Persons and Heads of the Commonwealth And tho in the Eastern Monarchies erected by Force and which were Invasions upon the Common Rights of Mankind the Prince might account himself Supream and uncontrollable Lord of the whole and not bounded by any Laws and tho these Tyrants look'd upon the People as no better than so many Herds of Cattle yet it was not so in the Roman Government as 't was model'd by Augustus and as he meant it should be transmitted to his Successors and most certainly it was otherwise in the several Kingdoms erected by the Hunns Goths and Vandals upon the Ruins of the Roman Empire All which shall manifestly appear in the Series of this Discourse Good Princes have not only made a Distinction between what was their own Patrimonially as the Civil Law Books term it and what the Stte had an Interest in but many of them as we shall show by and by in Care of the Publick and right Oeconomy have equal'd the most prudent Commonwealths And no doubt such Thrift was always esteem'd a Point of the highest Wisdom because the expences of War consider'd even in the remotest times shatter'd indigent Governments and wanting Princes have been seldom known to compasa great things besides being without Money the Nerves of War they are obnoxious to the Insults and Invasions of their Neighbours not but that wealthy Countreys have been and may be invaded but we mean that those Nations are most liable to be over-run and conquer'd where the People are Rich and where for want of good Conduct the Publick is poor Moreover there are infinite Examples in History of Kings whose Necessities have made Taxes too often repeated the only Fault in their Reigns and who have thereby lost the Affection of their Subjects But setting aside the Dangers Foreign and Domestick that arise from Profusion in what belongs to the Publick it depraves all the different ranks of men for in profuse Governments it has been ever observ'd that the People from bad Example have grown lazy and expensive the Court has become luxurious and mercenary and the Camp insolent and seditious Where wasting the Publick Treasure has obtain'd in a Court all good Order is banish'd because he who would promote it and be frugal for his Prince is look'd upon as a common Enemy to all the rest Virtue is neglected which raises men by leisurely steps when Vice and Flattery will in a little time in a Ministry who mind not what is given away bring a man to a great Estate nor is Industry cultivated where he does his business sufficiently who knows which way to apply and how to beg in a lucky and critical moment And at such a Season many of the Peoples Representatives lose their Integrity when they see others running from every Bench to share in the universal Plunder of a Nation Kings reduced to Streights either by their own or by the negligence of their Predecessors have been always involved in dark and mean Intreagues They have been forc'd to court such as in their Hearts they abhor and to frown upon those whose Abilities and Virtues they secretly approve of and Reverence instead of being Heads of the whole Commonwealth as in Law and in Reason they ought to be they have often been compell'd to put themselves in the Front sometimes of one and sometimes of another Party as they saw it prevalent A Policy in the end ever fatal to Rulers Being intangled they have been constrain'd to bring into the cheif Administration of their affairs Projectors and Inventors of new Taxes who being hateful to the People seldom fail of bringing Odium upon their Master And these little Fellows whose only skill lies that way when they become Ministers being commonly of the lower Rank of Understandings manage accordingly for their own Ignorance in matters of Government occasions more necessities than their Arts of raising Money are able to supply but wanting States make use of these sort of men and Princes often think they are well serv'd by such because now and then they can palliate present Evils but they do but film over a Sore which breaks out afterwards with greater Rancour whereas able Statesmen would obviate the Mischief in its growth and by wholsome Councels restrain their Masters Bounty before he has nothing left to give and before his People are weary of feeding endless Expences But one of the worst Effects of Poverty in a State is that it frights such as are able to mend things men of sublime Skill Integrity and Virtue from meddling in Affairs for they well know how clamorous slippery and difficult the Ministerial Part of Government proves when a Nation is plung'd in Debts which generally in all times have produc'd so many Hurricanes and popular Storms
be that they meditated something else and bore ill will towards the present Government Indeed the Ambition of Mankind consider'd it was a wonder in former Reigns to see Persons the most conspicuous for Understanding deep Reach and Experience employ their time with their Books in making Gardens or in Building and that they should not rather seek those Dignities to which their Birth and Superior Abilities did in a manner give 'em a just Right Why did they let the chief Offices of the State be polluted by mean Hands Why did they suffer others to ruin that Country which was in their Power to save And why all this Philosophy in so light and busie Times Why has there been now and then a kind of a Press issu'd out for Ministers so that as it were the Vagabonds and Loyterers were taken in Why have some Men been condol'd by their Friends for having been drawn in to take a Great Place and why have others been universally Congratulated when turn'd out tho with Marks of Displeasure when all this happen'd it could not be without a Reason there must have been some Strong Inducements that should move the Prime Persons of a Nation to shun Employments attended with Power and Profit No doubt in former Reigns it was Because they did not like the Administration of affairs nor the Persons with whom they were to be ioyn'd Because they perceiv'd dark Designs carry'd on against our Liberties and that they were not willing to mix in desperate Councils nor to participate in the Blame of what they should not be able to hinder Because they saw the Prince Robb'd by those about him his Crown Lands all shar'd and given away and his Treasure wasted and Because they saw Things done that would bear no Inquiry and that could never be justifyed before the People They knew that our Laws put little Difference between a Minister who contracts actual Guilt himself and him who permits others to commit a Crime which by the Authority of his Office he might have prevented Therefore when bad Things were in Agitation and when destructive Advices were promoted Some have refus'd Employments others have laid down White Staves the Secretaries Seals the Privy Seal the Great Seal and other Offices of high Trust rather than Act against their Masters true Interest and the Constitution of their Country And for these Reasons in former Reigns the Ablest and Greatest Persons in the Nation and sometimes whole Parties of Men have refus'd to meddle in the Employments and Business of the State But when these Errors may be corrected which a few commit at the Expence of the whole Kingdom when things will bear a right Administration when the Nations Money may be frugally manag'd when the Thefts upon the Public can be look'd into and Punish'd when those Servants may be call'd to an Accompt who have broken their Trust and in their Offices consented to the Plunder of their Master When true Order is promoted When that Thrift can be set afoot which will ease the People in their Taxes When the pleasant Work of doing Good is to be perform'd and When they have not before their Eyes the frightful and heavy Task of supporting ill Conduct All Persons will embrace the Government All Parties will cheerfully come in and the best Men will be the most Eager to assist the state with their Purses Councils Endeavours and Affections And thus we hope to have fully answer'd their Arguments who would deter a Prince from looking into their Corruptions by making him believe that thereby he will injure his only Friends and who would narrow his Interest by confining his Favours to their Party A King never wants Assistance who will look into abuses and their Faction whose Interest it is to protect Male-administration will be found very weak when He is earnest to have what has been amiss amended because but a few are Gainers by Misgovernment and a Multitude are injur'd by it But as all Seasons are not proper for Physick so all Times are not fit for purging the Body Politick Times of Action and War are not so convenient for such Councils as tend to correct Abuses in the State Perhaps during the late War some Things may have been done in England which the King in his high wisdom may think necessary to animadvert upon now when He is at leisure from His Business in the Field And no doubt when He goes upon so good a Work He will be assisted by all the best Men of all Parties and by the whole Body of His People The Writer of these Papers has constantly endeavour'd to make his Studies tend to the Service of the Publick and his Aim has been to incite in Young Gentlemen a Desire of being acquainted with the Business of the Nation and this knowledge lying under abundance of Rubbish his Scope has been to remove this Rubbish and to dress up crabbed Matters as agreeably as he can and to give as it were short Maps of Things which others will not take the Pains to travel through themselves In order to which he has devoted his Hours of Leisure to Inquiries into the Trade and Revenues of this Kingdom And not serving his Country in an Active Life he hopes to make his Solitude and Contemplation of some use so as to show himself not altogether an unprofitable Member of the Commonwealth And the Parliament having last Sessions Constituted Commissioners for Inquiring into and Taking an Accompt of all such Estates both Real and Personal within the Kingdom of Ireland which have been Forfeited for High Treason by any Person or Persons whatsoever during the late Rebellion within that Kingdom And the House of Commons as appears by their Printed Votes having directed that the Grants of the Crown Revenue in England should be laid before 'em And it being Notorious that almost all the Land remaining in the Crown of England at the Revolution and that much the largest Share of the late forfeited Estates in Ireland are now got into Private Hands And the People at this time lying under a great Variety of New Taxes And the Necessities of the State being very pressing And the Publick lying under many heavy Engagements and the Honor of the Nation being in a manner at Stake to make good several Deficiencies All Ways and Means of Raising Money being likewise difficult to the last Degree It appearing also reasonable to consult the Land Interest and at last to give the Landed Gentlemen some Ease who have born the chief Burthen of the War And no Fond being large enough to come in the Room and Place of Land except the late Forfeitures in Ireland And all Men thinking it but just and fair that the War in Ireland should pay some part of its Expence Our Debts likewise being so immence that every thing should be look'd into and all possible Thrift thought upon Mankind also abhorring to behold a Few inriched with the Spoils of a whole Country and to see Private
Persons accumulating to themselves vast Wealth in this Poverty of the Publick And the Universal Voice of the People seeming to call for some kind of Resumption The Writer of these Papers thought â—t might not be unseasonable to Publish a Discourse upon Grants in handling of which Subject he purposes to take the following Method First he will show how the Greatness of the Romans took its Rise from the Thrift that was shown in all Matters relating to the Publick That this Wise Nation made almost every Foreign Expedition bear its own Charge That the best of their Emperors were the most Frugal That such Emperors did not look upon the Treasure and Revenues of the State to be their own and absolutely at their Disposal but always thought that the Publick and the Commonwealth had an Interest in it That when the Treasure and Revenues of the State were exhausted by Prodigality it made way for the Invasions of the Northern People and at last produc'd the utter Ruin of the Empire This will be the Subject of the Second Section In the third Section he will show how careful our Ancestors in England were at the forming this Constitution to make ample Provision for maintaining the Kings Crown and Dignity And that when those Lands and Revenues had been parted with which were alotted for his and the States Service Parliaments have seldom fail'd to relieve and restore his Affairs by Acts of Resumption In the fourth Section he will show how our Ancestors have handled such Ministers of State as in breach of their Trust did presume to procure to themselves Grants of the Kings Lands And how both this Nation and other Countreys have proceeded with those who did imbezzle or convert to their own use the Revenues of the Prince In the fifth Section he will state the present Deficiencies in diverse Fonds and offer several Reasons why the Forfeited Estates in Ireland ought to be apply'd towards Payment of the Publick Debts SECT II. Observations upon the Management of the Romans in their Public Revenues IT may not be amiss to give the Prospect of a vast Empire rais'd to its Greatness by Wisdom and Frugality and ruin'd by Profusion and ill Conduct the only use of History being To give us good Rules by which we should square our own Actions and to mark out the Shelves and Rocks upon which other Governments have split that thereby we may learn to steer our own Course better and to avoid the like Dangers Macrob. l. 1. Saturnal c. 6. Valerius Publicola was the first who order'd that the Revenue accruing to the Commonwealth should be laid up in the Temple of Saturn perhaps that the Reverence of the Place might make it be held the more Sacred They ledg'd there two sorts of Treasure the one in daily use consisting of Tributes and ordinary Payments the other was called the * Tit. Liv. l. 27. Aurum Vicesimarium which was not to be touch'd but in cases of the last Necessity 'T is true for some Ages the Publick had but little occasion for Money because till the Siege of Veies which was about Three Hundred and Fifty Years after the Foundation of the City their Soldiers had no stipend However to have a Reserve which might answer any great Emergency well suited with the Foresight and Wisdom of that People As their Empire grew and as they entertain'd Thoughts of enlarging their Dominion by distant Conquests they became more sollicitous to gather such a stock as might uphold the State in times both of War and Peace without burthening the â—lebeians a matter by them ever carefully avoided in which they were very much assisted by the virtue of those to whom they intrusted the Command of their Armies of which for a long time every one behav'd himself like a faithful Steward to the Commonwealth accompting exactly for such Spoils as were made upon their Enemies To the Common Treasury were brought the Riches of Carthage Sicily of the Cities of Asia of the Kingdom of Macedonia and of the other Conquer'd Provinces of Greece Their Generals as well as their Statesmen did not think of building up Fortunes to Themselves but of inriching the Commonwealth And till some few years after the last Punick War we hardly read of any one who grew wealthy by the Plunder of Provinces In the following Age indeed several began to convert to their own use part of the Spoils gotten abroad but they were Men that hatch'd wicked Designs against their Country and who thought Private Wealth an Engine very needful for such as purpos'd to overthrow Publick Liberty of which number were Marius Sylla Pompey and Caesar Among these Robbers of the World Lucullus may be reckon'd who perhaps had the same Intention as the rest of inslaving Rome but 't is probable the Mutiny he found among his Soldiers after his famous Victories and wonderful conduct made him out of love with Action so that he employ'd in a quiet Life join'd with excessive Luxury what the others made subservient chiefly to their Ambition Not but that his Riotous Pomp had in its Example Effects very dangerous to Liberty since it is a necessary Ground for all free Governments that as well the manner of Living as the Estates of the Citizens should bear some sort of Equality However tho these men minded their own Concerns more than became good Patriots yet all of 'em enrich'd their Country and the vast summs of Gold and Silver brought into the common Treasury made a principal part of their Triumphs Besides they who had the Management of Affairs took Care that every War should at least maintain itself which they did by laying a Tribute upon the Conquer'd Nation Fabritius having overcome the Lucani Brutij and the Samnites * Diâ—nisii Fragm Lib. 6. Militem ditavit quadringenta Talenta in Aerarium retulit whose Example †Ammian l. 24. Julianus propos'd to himself and and Soldiers Scipio in his Treaty of Peace with the Carthaginians oblig'd them to the Payment of ten thousand Talents in fifty years * Tit. Liv. l. 30. Decem M Talentum Argenti descripta pensionibus aequis in annos L solverent over and above which Argenti tulit in Aerarium pondo Centum Millia XXXIII And in the Treaty between T. Quintius Flaminius and K. Philip one Article was †Tit. Liv. l. â—3 Mille Talentum daret Populo Romano dimidium presens dimidium pensionibus decem annorum Nor did Spain afford an ill Crop from one part of which Cornelius Lentulus brought * Ibid. Auri Mille Quingenta pondo quindecim Argenti Viginta Millia Signati Denarios triginta quatuor Millia quingentos quinquaginta And from the other part L. Stertinius quinquaginta Millia pondo Argenti And from whence not long after Helvius brought †Tit. Liv. l. 34. Argenti infecti quatuordeâ—im Millia pondo Septingenta triginta duo Signati bigatorum XVII Millia XXIII oscensis Argenti CXX
in a short time what had been hoarded up by his Predecessor Claudius the infinite Riches he had from his Mothers Succession and what came to him from the Confiscation of Seneca's Wealth which amounted Tacit. 13. An. to 2,343,750 * Ter Millies HS. And when his Gifts were look'd into by Galba it was found that he had this way consum'd what answers in our Money to 17,187,500 l. * Tacit. l. â— Hist Bis vicies Millies HS. Donationibus Nero effuderat Tho the Servile part of Mankind are apt to extol profuse Princes yet whoever considers the Story of the Roman Emperors will find that their Vices took rise principally from this profuse temper and by contemplating their Lives he will see that Prodigality drove 'em into Want Want into Rapine and Extortion when they had oppress'd the People they became Odious when they were Hated they grew Fearful and Suspicious Fear and Suspicion made 'em immediately dip their hands in Blood and this ever was and ever will be the Natural Progress of Tyranny as particularly appears by the Actions of Caius Caligula Nero Vitellius Domitian Commodus Julianus Antoninus Caracalla Heliogabalus and those other Monsters under whom the World groan'd for many Years and who by their Profusion were first led into Rapine and Murther And as a further Instance how fatal the Prodigality of Princes is to their Nations The Roman Empire was so distress'd by the Riots and Expences of Nero Otho Vitellius who altogether including Galba's time reign'd but fifteen years and eight Months according to Dion Cassius that when Vespasian took the Government in hand he declared the Commonwealth could not subsist unless Ways and Means were found out of raisâ—â—g what answers to 312,500,000 l. of our Money †Suet. T. Fl. Vesp Professus Quadringenties Millies opus esse ut Resp stare possit Into such an immense Debt was the Empire brought by Tigellinus Nymphidius Patrobius Polycletus Vatinius Elius Titus Vinius Cornelius Laco Icelus Caecina Fabius Valens Asiaticus Marcellus Eprius and the other Rapacious Ministers of State who under those dissolute and negligent Reigns devour'd the Commonwealth Insomuch that Vespasian a most excellent Prince who came to rescue his Country out of these destructive hands when he went about to disengage the Publick and to put the Empire into a posture of Defence was fore'd against his Inclination and the Goodness of his Nature to oppress †Ibid. the People with Taxes * Ad Manubias Rapinas necessitate Compulsus summa Aerarii Fiscique inopia by which it appears how much it imports the Ruler of a Nation with careful Eyes to look after his Treasure since the want of it may compell him to Actions for which at the time and in after Ages his Virtue will be censur'd For tho this Wise Emperour had nothing in his thoughts but the good of humane kind and tho this Character be given of him That †Iâ—ld male * Partis optime usus est In 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Genus liberaliâ—simus expleviâ— Censum Senatorium Consular inopes susâ—entavit pluriâ—nas per totum orberâ— civitates terrae molu aut incendio afflictas restituit in melius Ingenia Artes veâ— maxime fovit And tho these and many other Noble things are said of him yet he is reproach'd with his ways of raising Money for not only he set up again several Impositions abolish'd by Galba but he added new and more heavy burthens he augmented the Tributes of the Provinces and in some Places doubled 'em He himself exercis'd divers sordid Monopolies He made an open Traffick of Honors Employments and Pardons He put into Offices of Trust the greatest Harpies he could find that himself might afterwards have the squeezing of 'em for their Oppressions All which doings are so many Blots upon his Fame If then the wants of the State could force the best of Men upon the worst of Actions how carefully should Princes avoid being reduc'd to such Necessities How far Vespasian proceeded in disengaging the Publick from the Debt of 312,500,000 l. History is Silent but we may presume he and his Son Titus who between 'em govern'd upwards of twelve Years went a good way towards putting things in order however all was again unravell'd by the younger Son Domitian But the Golden bunch of Flesh which Domitian dreamt grew out behind his Neck that is the Succeeding Emperors Nerva Trajan Adrian and Antoninus Pius whose Rule took up about Sixty four Years gave the Affairs of the Commonwealth a better Complexion They had been so careful of the Publick Revenue that when Marcus Aurelius Antoninus came to the Empire he found in the Treasury what answers in our Money to * Xiphil ex Dione Partin 21,093,750 l. This Marcus Antoninus tho in his Nature very bountiful having given to the People a larger Donative than they had ever seen before was yet so frugal of the Publick Money that when he was going upon an Expedition against the Seythians he would not draw any Summ from the Treasury withâ—â—â— first having permission from the Senate affirming †Xiphil ex Dion M. Anto. That such Money and every thing else belong'd to the People of Rome and saying before the Fathers He had nothing in particular no not so much as the House beliv'd in This Prince and Philosopher another time before being press'd by his Army for a Donative after a Signaâ— Victory refus'd it with this memorabâ—â— Saying The more I give these young Soldiers the more I must oppress their Pâ—rents What had been collected in fivâ— wise and frugal Reigns was dissolutelâ— wasted by Commodus in twelve Year and Nine Months Insomuch that wheâ— Pertinax came to the Empire he founâ— in the Treasury as he declar'd before thâ— Senate but what answers in our Money to * Xiphil ex Dione Pertin 7812 l. 10 s. Whereby 't is seen that the Prudence of a whole Age may be defeated in a short space of time if the Prince be either bad in his own Inclinations or if he let himself be mis-led by ill Statesmen But whoever considers the Lives of such as have rul'd tyrannically and oppress'd the People will find that but few of 'em were wicked through an innate temper of their Minds for the Beginnings of the worst Reigns were generally blameless which is a proof that the Dictates of Nature were right enough How comes it then to pass that so many have govern'd ill and why have most of 'em rather inclin'd to bad than Good Gnari Meliorum quae Fama Clemenâ—iam †Tacit. â— 4. An. sequeretur tristiora Mallâ— The reason is obvious enough They were corrupted by those about 'em for tho their Persons are made Sacred and defended by innumerable Laws tho they are set so much above the rest of Mankind in Titles and Priviledges tho their smaller Faults are either forgiven or approv'd of tho they have ample Provision made for their State Pomp and Safety and
Consuls they Snellius in Erotost-Batavo Coin'd from the Roman Pound of Gold 42 Aurei Nummi under the Emperor they came to Coin from the pound 48 From Augustus to Vespasian the Silver Coin from time to time lessen'd in weight From Vespasian to â—lex Severus it stood at a stay in respecâ— of weight Under Severus and Gordianus it recovered its ancient weight and so continued till Justinian with little difference in the weight buâ— frequent Change and Abasement by Alloy But after Justinian wheâ— the barbarous Nations made Eruption upon the Empire they brought universal Confusions upon the Coins 〈◊〉 they did upon all other things thaâ— related to good Politie The Gold Coin did likewise suffer its changeâ— â— Greaves of the Roman Foot and Denarius and diminution For * Greaves who in his Travels had weigh'd many of the Aurei collected in curious Cabinets abroad and not impair'd by time found 'em from the first to the last of the Twelve Caesars to weigh from 123 to 112 Grains English and from Nerva to Heraclius from 111 to 69 Gr. English This in general may be observ'd that with the Empire the Roman Coins declin'd necessity driving the Prince as the Species grew scarce to put a higher value upon it When we reflect upon the vast Summs mentioned in their Histories we must be driven to own that about the time of Tiberius Money was as plentiful in Italy as it is as this day in any part of Europe and that it bore the same proportion with other Commodities as it does at present And that a Summ of their Money answerng to ours would maintain a Man in the same Port as the same Summ does Tacit. 13. Ann. now As for Example Nero allow'd â—aâ—erius Messalla of a most noble Family great Grandson to Corvinus the Orator by annual Pension Quingena â—estertia which in our Money answers to â—6â—96 l. Quibus Messalla paupertatem â—nnoxiam sustentâ—ret Vesâ—asian maintain'd â—uch Senators as were of Consular Dignity and had fallen to decay with â—he like Annual Pension * Suet. T. Fl. Vesp Consulares in â—pes Quingenis Sestertius annuis Sustentaâ—it which shows that what was then about 3906 l. would support a Man of the best Quality in an honourable way of living and not less for Vespasian who look'd to what he did would not have given so much if less would have suffic'd That the Species abounded then in Italy as much as it does now in any Country appears by many other Instances too tedious to be here inserted But this will not seem strange to such as consider that the Wealth of all the known Parts of the World had for several Ages been drawing thither to center in one City And there it might have continu'd and in the near adjacent Provinces and this Wealth might for ought we know have preserv'd the State to this day if as in the times of the Common-wealth or as was done under wise Reigns they had preserv'd a sufficient Proportion of it treasur'd up for the uses of the Publick But when the Emperors and when after their Example the People fell into an Excess of Luxury to feed that Luxury Foreign Countries in the way of Trade soon got back that Gold and Silver which the Romans had before taken from them by Force of Arms And when the Publick was so exhausted and when Private Men were so impoverished as not to be in a condition to help the Publick the Empire was left naked and defenceless For a great Dominion is to be secur'd but two Ways either by Virtue or Force by Virtue such as the Romans and Athenians shew'd in the beginning of their Commonwealth By Force such as the Persian Kings and the Roman Emperors were Masters of which consisted in Immense Treasures laid up large Tributes arising from the People great Fleets and Armies But when Countries are effeminated by Luxury and impoverish'd by Riot and ill Conduct that is when they have neither Virtue nor Strength remaining they presently become a Prey to the Warlike Nations that will invade them We have made this short Digression and given Instances of several Changes in the Roman Money To shew how much the Coin of a Country is its true Pulse and That if it beats irregularly 't is a Symptom that the Body Politick labours under some dangerous distemper That if the Prince be compell'd to diminish its weight t is a Token that the Species begins to be drawn out of his Dominions That if he be forc'd to substitute something else in the room of Gold and Silver as Caracalla did Lead and Copper 't is a mark that a great Part of it is gone That if the Species comes to be drain d away or universally corrupted as it was toward the latter end of the Roman Empire 't is a Demonstration that the ruin of the State is coming on apace But to resume our Discourse After Caracalla Macrinus was chosen who tho obscurely born and rising to Greatness by leisurely Steps yet could not avoid plunging himself into the Volupruous courses of his Predecessor Warring with the Parthians he was defeated in two Battles by †Xiphil â—x Dion Macrin Artabanus and forc d to purchase a Peace at the Expence of what answers to 156â—â—0 l. of our Money a thing very strange to the Romans who were wont to sell and not to buy Peace but this Gap being open'd their wealth afterwards more than once flew out the same way After this ignominious Treaty Macrinus was soon overthrown by an Army led by a Woman Maesa Sister to Julia the Wife of Severus who placed upon the Imperial Seat Antoninus Heliogabalus her Grandson This Monster exceeded all that ever went before him in Rapine Cruelty and Riot He was Slain for his detestable Vices His Mother Mammaea had perswaded him to adopt his Cousin German Alexander Severus who succeeded * Lampridius in Alex. He govern'd well and wisely In this Reign which laâ—â—ed thirteen Years endeavours were made to reduce things to some Order But the times could not bear a good Prince He was slain by his Soldiers in Gauâ—â— After his Reign there were mauy Revolutions in the Empire and much confusion till Constantine took the Government upon him Alexander Severus was kill d in the 988th year ab V. C. and Constantine began to rule alone Anno ab V. C. 10â—7 And whereas two good Princes Edw 3d and Q. Eliz. rul'd in this Kingdom above 94 years Rome between the time of Alex. Severus and Constantine which was but 89 Years saw Nineteen Reigns and more than twenty Emperors many during that space having usurped the Title not to reckon the Thirty Tyrants who set up themselves in several Provinces in the Reign of Gallienus to such Miseries and Changes are Corrupted Countries obnoxious During this time many things happened which tended to the Impoverishment and weakning of the Zosimus l. 1. Empire under Trajanus Decius the Goths began to
great Increase besides 't is notorious K. Henry the Eighth either sold or gave away a great Part of the Church-Lands From all which it must follow by undeniable Consequence that the fore-mention'd Acts of Resumption did restore the Crown-Revenue consisting in Rents and Farms to the State and Condition wherein it was in the beginning of King Charles the Second's Reign And Lastly For their Satisfaction who pretend Resumptions are against the Fundamentals of our English Law we shall produce the Opinion of a Venerable and Learned Lawyer in this Point 't is taken out of a Book written by Sir John Fortescue Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas in the Reign of Henry the Sixth The Manuscript is in the Bodleian Library at Oxford 't is intituled Sir John Fortescue's Treatise De Dominio Regali and De Dominio Regali Politico But let the Author himself speak with his Old English Heart as well as in his Old English Words CHAP. XI Hereafter ys schewyd what of the Kyng's Lyvelood geven away may best be takyn ageyne Bib. Bodl. Digh. 145 The Kyng our Souveraign Lord had by times sethen he Reyned upon us Lyvelood in Lordshipps Londs Tenements and Rents nere hand to the Value of the 5th Part of his Realme above the Possessions of the Chirche by whiche Lyvelood if it had abydyn still in his Hands he had been more mighty of good Revenues than any of the sayd Two Kyngs sc the Kyng of France or the Sowdan of Babylon or any Kyng that now reyneth upon Cristen Men. But this was not possible to have done for to sum parte thereof the Heyres of them that sum time owyd it be restored sum by reason of Taylys sum by reason of other Tytles which the Kyng hath considered and thought them good and reasonable And sum of the same Lyvelood hys good Grace hath gyven to such as hath servyd him so notably that as their Renown will be eternal so it befetteth the Kyngs Magnificence to make their Rewards everlasting in their Heyres to his Honour and their perpetual Memory And also the Kyng hath gyven parte of Lyvelood to his most honourable Brethren which not onley have servid hym in the manner aforesaid but byn also so nygh in Blode to his Highnesse that it befet not his Magnificence to have done otherwise Neverthelesse some Men have done hym Service for which it is reasonable that his Grace had rewardyd them and for lack of Money the Kyng than rewarded them with Lond And to sum Men he hath done yn likewise above their Demerits thorow Importunite of their Sewtes And yt is supposyd that to some of them is gyven a C l. worth Lond yerely that would have hould him content with CC l. in Money if they might have had it in hande wherefore yt is thought yf such Giftes and namely those which have byn made inconsyderately or above the Merits of then that have them ware reformyd and they rewardyd with Money or Offices or somewhat Lyvelood for terme of Life which after their Deths wold then return to the Crown the Kyng schuld have such Lyvelood as we now seke for sufficient for the Maintenance of his Estate And yf yt would not then be so grete I hold yt for undoubtyd that the People of this Lond wol be wyllyng to graunte hym a Snbsidye upon such Commodities of his Realm as be before specifyd as schal accomplish that which schal lack him of such Lyvelood So that his Highnesse wol wel establish the same Lyvelood then remaynyng to abide perpetually to his Crown without translatyng therof to any other Use For when that schal happyn hereafter to be given hytte schal nede that his Commons be chargyd with a newe Subsidye and be alwaye kepte in Povertie Hereafter ys schewyd why yt needeth that there be a Resumption We found by grete Causys yt was nedefull that all such Gyftes as have ben made of the Kynges Lyvelood inconsyderately as not deservyd or above the Merites of them that hath getyn them were reformyd so that they which have done Service be not over rewardyd which thyng as me thynketh may not perfitly be done without a general Resumption made by Act of Parlement And that ther be gevyn the Kynge by the Auctorite of the same Parlement a grete Subsidye with which his Highness with the Advice of his Counceil may reward those that have deservyd rewards and ought not therefore to have parte of his Revenues by which his Estate must nedes be mainteyned or ought not to have so much of the Revenues as they have now or not so grete Estate in the same Consyderyng that all such geving away of the Kynges Lyvelood is harmfull to all his Leige Men which schal therbye as is before schewyd be artyd to a new Charge for the Sustentation of his Estate But yet or any such Resumption be made yt schal be good that an honorable and notable Counceil be establyshyd by the advyse of which all new Gyftes and Rewards may be moderyd and made as yf no such Gyftes or Rewards had ben made before this time Provyded alway that no Man be harmyd by reason of such Resumption in the Arrearages oâ— such Lyvelood as he schal then have which schold ron after the Resumption and before the sayd new Gyftes and Rewards And when such a Counceil is fully create and establyshyd hyt schal be good that all Supplications which schal be made to the Kynge for any Gyfte or Reward be sent to the same Counceil and ther debatyd and delibered First whither the Suppliant have deservyd such Reward as he askyth and yf he have deservyd yt yet yt nedeth that yt be delibered whether the Kynge may gyve such Rewards as he asketh of his Revenues savyng to hymself sufficient for the Sustenaunce of his Estate or else such gevyng war no Vertue but rather a Spice of Prodigality and as for so much it war delapidation of his Crown Wherfor no private Person wol by reason of liberalite or of reward so abate his own Lyvelood as he may not kepe such Estate as he did before And truly it war better that a private Person lackyd his Reward which he hath wel deservyd than that by his Reward the good Publicke and also the Lond were hurt Wherfor to eschewe these two Harmes hyt may than be advysyd by the Counceil how such a person may be rewardyd with Office Money Marriage Fraunchise Privilege or such other thyng of which the Crown hath grete Rychesse and veryly if thys Order be kepte the Kynge schal not be be grevyd by importunyte of Sewters nor they schal by importunyte or brocage optain any unreasonable desires O what myghty quiet schal growe to the Kynge by this Order and in what rest schal al hys People lyve havyng no Colour of grutchyng with such as schal be about hys Person As they were wont to have for the gyvyng away of his Londs and for miscounceiling hym in many other Causis nor of
But 't is left to the Gentlemen of the Long Robe to determin in this Point However tho' this Doctrin of Non Obstantes invented perhaps first to enlarge the Prerogative for the People's benefit and made use of afterwards to extend it to the King and People's Damage may have heretofore receiv'd Countenance in Westrninster-hall there is another Place where in no Age it has met with Favour And the Reasons why so many Resumptions have been made might be First That it gave Offence to the Legislative Authority to see the Ministers make use of this dispensing Power Secondly That it appear'd the Suggestions were wrong upon which the Grants were grounded That is that the Soveraign did not proceed Ex certa Scientia namely that he was surpris'd and misinform'd in the value of the Thing given That he did not proceed Ex mero motu but that the Gift was wrested from him by his importunate and undeserving Courtiers That he did not proceed Ex Speciali Gratia but was rather induc'd to bestow the Favour through the necessity of his Affairs to quiet some great Man or to please some powerful Party And in all probability upon such or the like Accompts Parliaments have look'd into Grants and the best Princes have not thought it dishonorable to join in Revoking what had been thus Extorted from them And as to the distinction which the Lawyers make between Directive and Coercive Admit the Forms by which the Law has directed all Grants shall pass should be only Directive to the Soveraign and devised for his greater Ease and Safety yet without doubt they are Coercive to his Ministers No Law-givers ever intended that a solemn Law made upon mature Deliberation and prescribing a Rule in high Affairs of State should have no effect at all But the 27 Hen. VIII which Chalks out to the Secretary Lord Privy Seal and Lord Chancellor the regular Steps they are to make in passing Grants would be of no sort of signification if they may pass per Saltum and by immediate Warrant without being enter'd in the several Offices When Parliaments advise the Prince 't is humbly submitted to his Wisdom whether or no he thinks fit to approve of their Councils But when by a written Law they give Advice and lay down Rules and Directions in Matters of State for the Ministers to walk by and observe without doubt they intend Advice so solemnly given should be follow'd Hitherto we have mention'd the Cautions Provisions Restrictions and Forms which our Ancestors establish'd and made use of to preserve the King's Revenue by which the Publick was to be supported But notwithstanding all this the Wickedness of Men was either too Cunning or too Powerful for the Wisdom of the Laws in being And from time to time Great Men Ministers Minions and Favourites have broken down the Fences contriv'd and settled in our Constitution they have made a Prey of the Common-wealth plum'd the Prince and converted to their own Use what was intended for the Service and Preservation of the State We shall therefore proceed to show That to obviate this Mischief the Legislative Authority has all along interpos'd with Inquiries Accusations and Impeachments till at last such dangerous Heads were reach'd For as Courts have been watchful to Rob the Prince so antiently the Barons and afterwards Parliaments from time to time have been as vigilant to prevent his Ruin showing in the progress of their Councils great Wisdom mixt with Duty and Temper join'd with Courage The first Great Person whom we find question'd since the Norman Government was Ranulphus Bishop of Durham who bore the Office of what we now call * Dugdale Series Chronica p. 1. Lord Treasurer of England in the time of William Rufus This Man had been the Principal Instrument of the Profusion and of what is its Consequence those Extortions that disgrac'd the Reign of Rufus Of whose times William of Malmsbury speaking says None were then Rich but such as dealt with the Exchequer * Will. Malms p. 123. Nullus Dives uisi Nummularius This wicked Minister was brought to Punishment by Henry I. who cast him into Prison and loaded him with Chains Matthew Paris says †Mat. Paris p. 56. De Communi Consilio Gentis Anglorum posuit eum Rex in vinculis Malmsbury gives him this Character * Wil. Malms p. 123. Radulphus Clericus ex infimo genere hominum Lingua Assiduitate provectus ad summum Expilator Divitum Exterminator Pauperum Confiscator alienarum Hereditatum Invictus Caussidicus cum verbis tum rebus immodicus nec aliorum curaret odium dummodo complaceret Dominum It seems he was a little insolent Fellow who by his fluent Tongue and cringing at Court had got Power enough to do much hurt in England A mischievous Tool against the Publick as well as an Oppressor of private Men Subtle to invent Wickedness and Bold to put it in Execution and one who would stick at nothing to raise himself Matthew Paris speaking of him says he was †Mat. Paris p. 56. Homo perversus ad omne Scelus paratus quem Rex constituerat Procuratorem suum in Regno ut evelleret destraeret raperet disperderet omnia omnium bona ad Fifci Commodum comportaret We have thus painted out this Statesman in the Colours as he is represented by those two Venerable Writers And he so much resembles several bad Ministers who in the Ages since have succeeded both to his Post and Power that one would think they had chosen to take him for their Pattern In the 5 of Edward II. Pieres de Gaveston was accused in Parliament for having given the King ill Council and for having cheated the King of his Treasure and sent it beyond Sea and for having Estranged the King's Heart from his People so as he slighted their Councils and for having remov'd all faithful Ministers and plac'd only his own Creatures or Foreigners about the King and for having caus'd the King to grant Lands Tenements and Offices to himself and his Heirs and to divers other People insomuch that by his Wealth he was become dangerous to the great damage and injury of the King and his Crown For which he was Banish'd the Realm so as if he return'd he should be treated as an Enemy to the King Kingdom and People But take the Words of the Record because 't is very curious Rot. Ord. 5. Edw. 2. Num. 20. Purceo qe conue chose est per le examinement de Prelatz Countes Barouns Chivalers autres bones Gentz du Roialme trovez qe Pieres de Gaveston ad Malmeuez mal Conseillez nostre Seignour le Roy lad enticee a malfaire en divers Manieres deceivances en accoillant a lui toute le Tresor le Roi lad esloigne hors du Roialme en attreant a lui royal Poer royal Dignite come en aliaunce faire de Gentz par sermentz
Coâ— 1. It was an Article against the Duke of Buckingham that he had such a Multiplicity of High Offices in the State as no one Person could well and truly discharge That for his own particular Gain he had sold Patents to be Peers of England to the prejudice of the Gentry and dishonour of the Nobility of this Kingdom That besides his great Employments and the Profits thereunto belonging which might have satisfy'd any moderate Ambition He had procur'd to himself several Grants of the Crown Revenue amounting to a high Value But that the Reader may have this matter of Impeachments more fully before him we shall here incert the three Articles which have Reference to our present subject tho they are already publish'd in Rushworth Rush Coll. 1 vol. p. 306. Art I. That whereas the Great Offices expressed in the said Duke's Stile and Title heretofore have been the singular Preferments of several Persons eminent in Wisdom and Trust and fully able for the weighty Service and greatest Employments of the State whereby the said Offices were both carefully and sufficiently executed by several Persons of such Wisdom Trust and Ability And others also that were employ'd by the Royal Progenitors of our Sovereign Lord the King in Places of less Dignity were much encouraged with the Hopes of Advancement And whereas divers of the said Places severally of themselves and necessarily require the whole care industry and attendance of a most provident and most able Person He the said Duke being young and unexperienced hath of late Years with exorbitant Ambition and for his own profit and advantage procured and ingrossed into his own hands the said several Offices both to the danger of the State the prejudice of that Service which should have been performed in them and to the great discouragement of others who by this his procuring and ingrossing of the said Offices are precluded from such hopes as their Vertues Abilities and Publick Employments might otherwise have given them p. 334. Art IX Whereas the Titles of Honour of this Kingdom of England were wont to be conferred as great Rewards upon such virtuous and industrious Persons as had merited them by their faithfull Service the said Duke by his importunate and subtle Procurement had not only perverted that antient and most honourable Way but also unduly for his own particular Gain he hath enforced some that were rich though unwilling to purchase Honour as the Lord R. Baron of T. who by practice of the said Duke and his Agents was drawn up to London in or about October in the Two and twentieth Year of the Reign of the late King James of famous Memory and there so threatned and dealt withal that by reason thereof he yielded to give and accordingly did pay the summ of Ten thousand pounds to the said Duke and to his use For which said Summ the said Duke in the Month January in the Two and twentieth Year of the said late King procured the Title of Baron R. of T. to the said Lord R. In which practice as the said Lord R. was much wronged in this particular so the example thereof tendeth to the prejudice of the Gentry and dishonour of the Nobility of this Kingdom p. 340. Art XII He the said Duke not contented with the great Advancement formerly received from the late King of famous Memory by his procurement and Practice in the fourteenth Year of the said King for the support of the many Places Honours and Dignities conferred on him did obtain a Grant of divers Manners Parcel of the Revenue of the Crown and of the Duchy of Lancaster to the yearly value of One thousand six hundred ninety seven pounds two shillings half-penny farthing of the old Rent with all Woods Timber Trees and Advowson part whereof amounting to the Summ of Seven hundred forty seven pounds thirteen Shillings and four Pence was rated at Two and thirty thousand Pounds but in truth of a far greater Value And likewise in the Sixteenth Year of the same Kings Reign did procure divers others Manners annexed to the Crown of the yearly value at the old Rent of Twelve hundred Pounds or thereabouts according as in a Schedule hereunto annexed appeareth In the Warrant for passing of which Lands he by his great Favour procured divers unusual Clauses to be incerted viz. That no Perquisites of Courts should be valued and that all Bailiffs Fees should be reprised in the Particulars upon which those Lands were rated whereby a President hath been introduced which all those who since that time have obtained any Lands from the Crown have pursued to the damage of his late Majesty and of our Sovereign Lord the King that now is to an exceeding great Value And afterwards he surrendred to his said Majesty divers Mannors and Lands parcel of those Lands formerly granted unto him to the Value of Seven hundred twenty three Pounds eighteen Shillings and two Pence Half-peny per annum in consideration of which surrender he procured divers other Lands of the said late King to be sold and contracted for by his own Servants and Agents and thereupon hath obtained Grants of the same to pass from his late Majesty to several Persons of this Kingdom and hath caused Tallies to be stricken for the Money being the Consideration mentioned in those Grants in the Receipt of the Exchequer as if any such Moneys had really come to his Majesties Coffers whereas the Duke or some other by his Appointment hath indeed received the same Summs and expended them upon his own Occasions And notwithstanding the great and inestimable Gain by him made by the sale of Offices Honours and by others Suits by him obtained from his Majesty and for the countenancing of divers Projects and other Courses burthensome to his Majesty's Realms both of England and Ireland the said Duke hath likewise by his procurement and practice received into his hands and disbursed to his own use exceeding great Summs that were the Moneys of the late King of famous memory as appeareth also in the said Schedule hereunto annexed And the better to colour his doings in that behalf hath obtained several Privy-Seals from his late Majesty and his Majesty that now is warranting the Payment of great Summs to Persons by him named causing it to be recited in such Privy-Seals as if those Summs were directed for seeret Services concerning the State whicâ— were notwithstanding disposed of to his own use and other Privy-Seals by him have been procured for the discharge of those Persons without Accompt and by the like fraud and practise under colour of free Gifts from his Majesty he hath gotten into his hands great Sums which were intended by his Majesty to be disbursed for the preparing furnishing and victualling of his Royal Navy by which secret and colourable devices the constant and ordinary course of the Exchequer hath been broken there being no means by matter of Record to charge either the Treasurer or Victualler of
jus Regibus tribuere And a little before * Subscribere Ibid. n. 8. non possumus Jurisconsultis qui ad Regulam de non alienandis Imperii partibus adjiciunt exceptiones duas de publica utilitate de necessitate nisi hoc sensu ut ubi eadem est utilitas communis Corporis Partis facile ex silentio etiam non longi temporis consensus populi partis intervenisse videatur facilius vero si etiam necessitas appareat At ubi manifesta est in contrarium voluntas aut corporis aut partis nihil actum debet intelligi And a little lower he says Ibid. n. 11. * Nec admitto exceptionem si res modisticum valeat quia quod meum non est ejus nec exiguam partem alienare mihi jus est sed in rebus modicis quam in magnis consensus Populiex scientia ex silentio facilius praesumitur So that this great Civilian is of Opinion that the Acquiescence and long silence of one of the Constituent parts of a State is in a manner an Approbation of what the other does No doubt the People by their Representatives have a Right to complain when they see that wasted which must be supplied out of their Purses and they have a Right to propose Resumptions when they become of absolute Necessity But this Right they may suspend for a Season pro hac vice Ibid. cap 4. n. 4. renounce * Venit enim hoc non ex Jure Civili sed ex Jure Naturali quo quâ—sque suum potest abdicare No doubt the People may lay claim to what the whole has an Interest in to wit the Publick Revenues but this claim ought to be made within some moderate Compass of Time so as not to produce any distraction or disturbance in Men's Titles and Possessions For otherwise such a Claim will occasion more Disorders than it can propose to remedy But when it has been forborn too long and when the People have been suffer'd to imagin that the Circumstances of the time admitted of a such a Profusion or that their Representatives have acted upon some Reason of State and that they did not resume because 't was better these Estates of the Crown should be in private Hands When the Silence of those who had right to complain seems to have justified such proceedings and when upon all these Presumptions private Men have gon on for many Years to buy and sell in the way of their common Business to come afterwards with Cato's Rule and say There is no praescribing against the Publick would be unjust and dangerous Sylla made strange Alterations in the State of Rome in its Governments Magistracies and also in the Properties of Men however the Senate had submitted and in a tract of Time the People was accustomed to these Establishments but Cataline and his Accomplices not out of Love to the Common-wealth Vit. Cic. as * Plutarch notes and rather to innovate in things and to find matter for Civil War would change what was already fix'd but Cicero and the best Citizens of Rome thought the Mischief had taken too deep a Root that to alter what had been done some Years before and which concern'd so many would alarm and affect too great a number of Persons therefore the good Patriots of that Age would not consent to break into the Acts of Sylla In the same manner most certainly King Charles acted against the Trust of his high Office in permitting such a Spoil to be made of his and the Nations Revenue but no good Man who loves the Peace and Quiet of his Country would desire to unravel what has been done so many Years ago and in which so many Thousands are concern'd The Evil is grown too big for Correction 'T is like a Disease which is become in a manner part of the Constitution of which to attempt the Cure would be to kill the Patient They whose Duty it was to take Care of the Body Politick have suffer'd the Distemper to proceed too far By the Negligence of the State which for Forty Years together has let this Matter go on without Check and Inquiry most of those who are in Possession of Grants from King Charles are now Possessors bona fide and purchasors upon a valuable Consideration Were they now in the Possession of those who had first procured the Grants no doubt according to the Constitution of this Kingdom they might justly be resumed But the Case is notoriously quite otherwise in the space of Forty Years most of those Estates have been sold over and over and from time to time have pass'd through so many Hands that a Resumption from the 1st Day of his Reign as they propose who would load this matter to perplex and defeat it cannot be made without breaking into so many private Contracts Marriage Settlements Jointures Mortgages and Sales for Valuable Consideration that there is hardly any Tax which probably the People of England would not consent to rather than bring so vast a Disorder and Ruin upon such a number of private Families From what has been here laid down it will appear to any disinterested Reader that King Charles's Grants and those lately made do not stand upon the same Foot and that the Cases differ in many and very material Circumstances 1st The Law is perhaps otherwise now than the common and receiv'd Practice of it then was but as we have before said 't is submitted to the Gentlemen of the long Robe to determin in that Point 2dly What King Charles had done was winked at because the flourishing Trade Wealth of the Nation and its long Peace might bear such Gifts which were not to be supply'd by new and heavy Taxes But our present Condition is not the same there was not then rais'd upon the People quite two Millions per Annum England of late has paid and for some time to come will pay at least Five Millions per Annum The Publick had not then been exhausted and was not in Debt we have in Ten Years actually levyed Thirty Millions and still owe near Twenty Millions above four of which are not yet provided for 3dly The Nation seem'd to acquiesce in what King Charles had done for tho' something was mov'd at first to restrain and regulate Alienations from the Crown the matter had little Progress and afterwards we have not heard it was pushed on with any Vigour the Claim was not so strongly made as by the Rules of Justice to take away from the Possessors any Pretences to Praescription But in our present Case a solemn Assurance has been given from the Throne That no grant should be made of the forfeited Lands in England and Ireland till there should be another Opportunity of setling that Matter in Parliament in such manner as should be thought expedient Afterwards as we have shewn an Address was presented that no Grant might be made of the forfeited Lands in Ireland And almost